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#this is poorly drawn but i had the idea and had to get it done as quickly as possible hi
farfromharry · 2 years
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The angel and the devil | Eddie Munson fic
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Summary: The two of you met at a halloween costume in polar opposite outfits. What started as Eddie being a gentleman and helping out a drunk girl, turned into a rapidly blooming crush. He believed it to be one sided after he thought you were avoiding him, but you were falling hard too, just too shy to admit to the guy you nearly puked on that he was kind of cute. 
Word count - 9463
Warnings - lots of mentions of throwing up, language, talks of drinking
a/n i dont really like how i ended this but it was the best i could come up with. this man has had me a chokehold for nearly two weeks now 😭
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Eddie wasn’t one to usually go to parties, let alone parties thrown by people on a different level of social popularity than him, which was most; almost all, but when he was invited to a Halloween party by none other than Steve Harrington, he felt obligated. After all the shit that went down in Hawkins with Vecna just a short while ago, he and Steve had gotten to know each other pretty well. They saved each other’s lives more than once, and had become, he might even say, friends. That was part of the reason he didn’t feel like he could turn down the invitation to the party.
Regardless of his concerns he showed up anyway, in a poorly thrown together devil costume that people probably expected him to show up in. A dark red button up, black jeans and some plastic horns? That was good enough for him. What else would Eddie Munson be for Halloween? If anything he was only reinforcing the belief he was actually part of a cult, but that was part of his charm around Hawkins. If he could terrorize the insufferable members of the basketball team with one simple look, then what was the harm in the rumour, really?
He hadn’t been there long when he swore he fell in love. The first time he saw you that night, you were halfway across the room with some friends, dressed in the cutest little angel costume he had ever seen. He thought it was quite ironic, he dressed as the devil, you as an angel. You looked like an angel in your own right though, the way you laughed at someone’s joke, the smile that was almost permanently planted on your face. God he couldn’t take his eyes off of you.
He probably looked creepy, standing in the kitchen, looking through the crowd of people right at you; but he couldn’t help himself. All those people and he felt as though you were the only one he could see. He just felt drawn to you, but you probably didn’t even know his name. If you were friends with Steve then he could pretty much guarantee it, hell Harrington only knew his name because he had to learn it in a life or death situation. And on the off chance that you did know him, you probably knew him as the freak. 
He wished he had the courage to go over there and talk to you. From the minimal, and he means very minimal, interactions you had had with each other over the years, you seemed like a really sweet girl. But the fact you were surrounded by so many of your friends just made the idea all the more terrifying. That isn’t to say he’d have the balls to ask you out if you were alone either. 
In retrospect, if he wanted to ask you out tonight, or maybe ask you to dance, he should have done it sooner rather than later, because now you were stumbling into the kitchen after one too many drinks, looking for something to sober you up. Not that there were any drinks in the entire kitchen that weren’t filled with alcohol.
That was when you found Eddie, leaning against the counter, not so subtly watching you over the rim of his solo cup. After you caught him you apparently just couldn’t keep your mouth shut. He was cute, even cuter when his cheeks flushed after realising he had been caught staring. He didn’t think you would approach, he thought maybe after the glance his way you would rush off or just ignore him, but that didn’t happen.
You stumbled over your own feet when you made your way over to him, slipping past a few people who were getting themselves drinks. “You were staring,” you muttered, stating the obvious. He laughed nervously, nodding his head as he made a short routine out of looking to the ground bashfully, then back up to your face, and back to the ground again. On the spot he tried to come up with something he could say as an excuse. He didn’t have the kind of confidence a lot of Hawkin’s students did to just come out and say he was mesmerised by you. “I, uh– I like your halo,” he stuttered, motioning to the shitty, makeshift halo that sat on your head. It had been thrown together last minute with a random headband and some glue you found, simple yet effective for your costume. Which is why you didn’t really believe that was his reasoning, but you let it slide, you didn’t care all that much. 
You reciprocated the compliment. “I like these,” you said, raising your hand to his head to mess with the plastic that sat, now tangled, in his curly mane. When you took in his full costume it actually made you giggle, you fucking giggled. Eddie preached it was the sweetest noise he had ever heard, and if he wasn’t falling head over heels before then he was now. He was falling hard. “Oh cool, a devil. And ‘m an angel, s’like we were meant to be, huh?”
He didn’t say anything, fuck, he didn’t know what to say, staring at you like a fish out of water. He knew you didn’t mean that in the way he would have liked you to, but his heart didn’t know that. “You’re Eddie,” you muttered, lightly jabbing your finger into the middle of his chest as though you were proving a point, also bringing him back from his thoughts. He nodded, a little taken off guard that you actually knew his name.
He couldn’t help it though, a small grin split on his face at how cute you were. “That I am. And you’re drunk.” 
You chuckled, nodding your head. “That. I. am,” you teased, slinging your arms around his neck. It was more so a balance thing than anything else. You couldn’t seem to stop your body from swaying and you didn’t want to fall on your face right in the middle of a party; that would have been painfully embarrassing. And if Eddie minded your touch he didn’t complain. “I never see you at parties,” you observed, a small crease appearing between your eyebrows as they furrowed. 
He was so close to your face that he could actually see each crease and tiny detail of your skin, his breath hitching in his throat after he consciously realised the proximity. His hands lifted to settle on your waist after a few seconds of contemplating it, seeing it the most efficient way to help you keep your balance. “‘M never usually invited,” he answered. 
You seemed to study him closely for a few minutes before you spoke again, having changed the subject entirely. “Are you really in a cult?” you slurred, glazed eyes staring up at him wide, full of curiosity. He chuckled, thankful you probably wouldn’t remember the flush on his cheeks after tonight. “No, I’m not.” He may have enjoyed that rumour when it came to teasing the basketball goonies, but with you he felt like he could be honest; plus he didn’t think you were going to remember much of this interaction anyway by tomorrow. 
There was a sudden twist in your features that had concern bubbling in his chest, his head ducking a little bit to catch your gaze that had fallen to some place over his shoulder. “Y’okay?”
You shook your head, pulling back from him a little bit as your stomach churned. “Think ‘m gonna be sick,” you muttered, forcing his eyes to widen. He certainly couldn’t let you throw up where you were in the middle of the kitchen surrounded by people. He jumped into action quickly, as calmly yet hastily as he could, he guided you to the nearest bathroom, assuring you you would make it in time and be okay. 
Thankfully he was right, and within minutes he was holding your hair back out of your face as you threw up from all the alcohol you had ingested during the night. At some point when you started to sober up a little, you became more conscious of the hand stroking your back and the presence behind you. A groan slipped past your lips as you sat back on your feet, under the belief that you were finally done. 
“Feel any better?” he asked.
The two of you shuffled until you were sitting across from each other on the bathroom floor, knees brushing every now and then from the closeness. The more you thought about it the more mortified you were to think you just spewed your guts in front of Eddie Munson. “No,” you whined, clutching your stomach for dear life. “I’m sorry you had to see that, that must have been so unattractive.”
He chuckled, shaking his head. “Sweetheart, you don’t feel good. The least important thing right now is looking attractive.” Your eyes locked with his wide puppy ones and you felt something turn in your stomach that wasn’t the alcohol this time. Sweetheart. Oh.
Never once had you thought about the boy that way, in all the years you had known of him, but apparently one single night was changing all of that. You never realised quite how charming he could be. He would say he wasn’t, he didn’t have a way with ladies at all. He was a huge nerd and ‘the town freak’, and neither of those things are exactly considered chick magnets. But maybe he didn’t need any flirting ability or a special way with women to press the right buttons, him being his sweet self was doing that for him. 
The bliss of your thoughts didn’t last long before the uncomfortable feeling was back in your stomach, your nose scrunching from the discomfort. “What’s wrong?” Eddie questioned, reaching forward to place a hand on your knee. The simple touch was like the catalyst, your body spinning as you barely made it back over the toilet again. Even with your discomfort, one of the thoughts that was now plaguing your mind was that you nearly threw up on Eddie, how were you supposed to live that down? You could’ve even sworn you saw the fear in his eyes where he thought you were going to. How you wished the ground would open and swallow you whole.
You were very surprised he was still sitting in the bathroom with you when you were done for the second time. “You don’t have to stay. I’ll be fine.”
If you thought he was sweet before, he was certainly continuing to rack up the brownie points with you now. “No. I want to make sure you’re okay.” Your heart fluttered, but you didn’t get long to think on it before you were bracing yourself again. 
Coming into the party tonight you certainly never would have expected to be spending a lot of your night in Steve Harrington’s bathroom with Eddie Munson, especially while you were throwing up. Heck you wouldn’t have even expected to be in the same room as Eddie at all; but now you wouldn’t have had it any other way. You actually would have liked to have spent more time with him afterwards, not in a bathroom puking of course, but that was only if you could muster up the courage to face him again after almost spewing your guts all over his attempt at a devil costume. 
»»——⍟——««
Having to head to work the day after a booming Halloween party felt like some sort of penance for an evil deed you didn’t commit. Your head was pounding, stomach occasionally still churning and every possible light was too bright. The issue was that you couldn’t just wear sunglasses inside all day while you did your job, but there were too many lights in the store to stop your head from throbbing for more than thirty seconds. 
When you walked through the door of the video store, Steve spotted you, grinning like a maniac at the state of you. Usually you were pretty well put together, but today your hair was a mess, face dull, sunglasses on and you were much more delayed in your movements. Oh yeah he could tell you had a bad hangover, but just because you were friends didn’t mean he had to approach you with caution for the day. “Good morning, my favourite co-worker!” he called loudly, relishing in the way you winced at the volume of his voice. 
There was a cough that could be heard from behind him, and when he turned his head he saw a very unimpressed Robin watching him. He realised his mistake, but he actually jumped at the opportunity to torment you again. “Sorry,” he muttered to the girl. “Good morning, to one half of my joint favourite co-workers!” 
This time around you let out a loud groan as you reached the counter, crouching down so you could rest your head against the cool surface. “Steve, shut up.” You heard him laughing at your misery, leaving you to blindly swing your arms until they collided with his body, silently punishing him for being an asshole.
“Shouldn’t have gotten so drunk the night before a work day,” he teased, shrugging his shoulders as though he was entirely innocent in this situation. Like he wasn’t the one who threw the party in the first place, and actually supplied you with all the drinks. “It was your party, dickwad. And I swear you had more drinks than I did, how are you not dead?” 
You finally raised your head from the counter and the cocky look on his face made you want to hit him before he even spoke. “You see, I have this thing called a tolerance. Which is where–” You scoffed, rolling your eyes before you walked away, leaving him to finish his sentence without an audience. Even though you did sneak into the back room to get away from Steve, it was also to soak up the last few minutes of silence and a calm atmosphere before you officially opened for the day and were met with a wave of noisy customers. 
It really was no time at all to get yourself together before Robin was forcing you back out to the front with a fake smile planted on your face. You had to at least look a tiny bit alive to greet and help customers, even if that felt impossible at the moment. 
To your luck, there weren't many people filtering in and out of the store, meaning it was pretty chill. Robin was manning the counter in case anyone did come up wanting to rent, and you and Steve were stacking the shelves with new releases, making light conversation as you did so. Occasionally Robin would contribute, but for the most part she was stuck watching some random movie she decided to put on. One of the perks of working at a video store you supposed. 
“So, where did you disappear to last night? One minute you were there, then you were gone. No one knew where you were,” he said, bringing up the memories of your time with Eddie. The ones you had been trying to suppress for various reasons. You considered not telling him, or making something up, but you weren’t a brilliant liar and the man knew you too well to not suspect you. 
“Please don’t make me talk about it,” you whined, your face scrunching up in distaste at the embarrassment you still felt. It only intrigued Steve more though. 
“What could have happened that has you so mortified?” he asked, placing a hand on his hip sassily as he turned his full attention to you, leaving the videos unattended and unfinished on the shelf. If you had an embarrassing story to share then he definitely wanted to hear it. He also would never let you hear the end of it, and you knew that, but he also wouldn’t let this go until he got the story. It was a lose/lose situation for you really. 
You groaned, a groan that was meant to be in your head but just so happened to be out loud instead. “I nearly threw up on a guy in the bathroom,” you said simply. You didn’t particularly want to relive the memory, but it was obvious Steve was going to make you do exactly that because he believed your story was much too vague. He was a sucker for details. 
“What guy?”
Your whisper of the culprit’s name was too quiet for your friend to hear, so he made an obnoxious ‘huh’ sound in true Steve fashion and basically forced you to speak up. “It was Eddie Munson,” you stated, keeping your voice low just in case anyone was around and eavesdropping. Steve’s teasing you could deal with it, but if anyone else found out, especially one of the kids he was friends with? Oh you truly would not be able to handle it. 
He seemed shocked, wide eyed as a thousand thoughts swam in his head. “Eddie?” he questioned. You nodded your head, hiding your features behind your hands as embarrassment racked your body. “Eddie Munson? Really?”
“Yes, really, Steve.”
“Well, tell me everything.”
You rolled your eyes, setting down the video that was in your hand so you could turn to face him. Now neither of you were doing the jobs you were supposed to be doing. It probably wouldn’t be a very good look to your boss but thankfully he was rarely ever here to see it anyway. You internally decided it would be easier to tell Steve the most basic rendition of the events of the prior night. He didn’t need to know about the pet name Eddie threw out there, and he certainly didn’t need to know how it made you feel– or rethink every thought you ever had about the metal head. “I was heading to sober up, found him in your kitchen, we got to talking about our matching costumes– He was a devil, I was an angel,” you clarified for him. “And then I ran to the bathroom, and, viola.”
“So, he went with you? To watch you throw up?” he checked.
You huffed at the weird implications he was trying to imply. “Just because you wouldn’t help a drunk girl who needed to throw up, doesn’t mean everyone wouldn’t. Some people are gentlemen, Steve.”
His eyebrows raised and his face split into a grin, the warning sign that what was about to follow was not going to be very pleasant for you. “Oh, so you think Munson’s a gentleman now?” He had never once in his entire time of knowing you heard you mention Eddie for any reason, not even to jump on the bandwagon of making fun of him like most of Steve’s buddies had done over the years. So he thought it was ironic that the first time you did, it was only a few short weeks after he had befriended him. If that wasn’t the universe telling him to meddle then he didn’t know what was. 
“Shut up,” you muttered, swatting his arm. You had been hitting him a lot today it felt like, but he earned it. “H-He’s sweet.” That was the safest compliment you could throw out there, not wanting your friend to catch on to the feeling of butterflies in your stomach that appeared when you thought about Eddie for too long. Specifically thinking about his kind smile. But the flustered aroma surrounding you might have given that away without words. “Now can we move on, maybe do our jobs?”
He studied your face for a few more seconds until you turned your head away from him, not liking the harsh stare he was imposing on you. It felt like he was trying to look into your soul and you hated it. Eventually he gave in, raising both his hands in defeat. “Alright, alright. Whatever you want.” But deep down he was already plotting. 
»»——⍟——««
When Steve planned to meddle, he planned hard. You were none the wiser of what he was doing, but the sneaky bastard kept inviting both you and Eddie to the same place; telling neither of you he was doing so, to try and get you to talk. Though his plan was severely failing on the you-side. Eddie, who knew part of the plan as he was often persuaded to go places with the promise you’d be there, was actually eager to talk to you again.
It had been days since the Halloween party, and you had seen Eddie on a handful of occasions. Had you spoken to him once though? Nope. You were definitely avoiding him, and the hurt look on his face every time you saw him and dashed from somewhere, told you he knew as well. You felt bad, you did, but you couldn’t stand to face him if he were to bring up the events of the party. 
One day you knew you would have no choice but to talk to him again, you couldn’t avoid him forever. In such a small town that would have been physically impossible. But you didn’t think the day in question would have been today. When he showed up at your work there was literally anywhere for you to escape to.
The bell above the door was what indicated your arrival, your eyes jumping in the direction to see who entered. “Oh, shit,” you cursed, whipping your body around so your back was to the door, silently praying that Eddie didn’t recognise you. Upon hearing your curse Steve’s interest was piqued, his eyes following every inch of the scene. “What’s wrong?” the brunette teased, biting back a smile as he watched you freak. Oh he knew full well what was wrong, he was the one who went out of his way to drop by the Munson’s trailer this morning to tell him you would be working all day. “Eddie’s here,” you whined. 
Steve faked a gasp, the over exaggeration bringing you to roll your eyes as you tried to busy yourself. But to your dismay there was nothing for you to do. At least until Steve spoke up and you thought you might have had a shot at escaping a highly awkward encounter with Eddie.
“I think our customers need a little assistance,” he said, glancing between Eddie and the elderly woman who looked to be struggling to even read the movie titles on the video cases. 
“You take him, I take the old lady?” you suggested, already heading in her general direction. Steve chuckled, shaking his head before setting his hands on your shoulders. He turned you around, pushing you in the opposing direction with some force. At times like this you really wished you were a thousand times stronger than him, or maybe just a lot more stubborn. If you knew how to properly stand your ground then you would be well on your way to assisting the old woman by now. 
As you moved to head away from Eddie, you noted Steve was walking backwards towards your other customer, amusement sparkling in his eyes. You glared. “Steve, don’t you dare,” you whisper-yelled, shaking your head as you watched him come close enough to the woman that she noticed his presence. Within seconds she was asking him a hundred questions, the man’s bright grin never leaving his face as his scheme was set into motion. You threw your head back with a quiet groan before getting yourself together to go and talk to Eddie. 
When you turned on your heel to face him you caught him staring, the boy’s eyes widening as he quickly turned his head to face the other direction. Even from that angle you could see the blush that had fallen on his cheeks at the fact he’d been caught; just like the night of the party all over again. You got yourself together, giving yourself a quick pep talk before heading over to him; he was conveniently in the romance section. 
“Hi,” you greeted, simply. 
He turned to look at you and something you couldn’t make out flashed behind his eyes. “Hi. I was just, uh, looking for a movie to watch.” He pointed to the stack of shelves he was standing in front of, as well as the random VHS that was in his hands which he had just picked up on a limb as he saw you approach. He didn’t want you to yet again think he was some creep, though he really needed to get better at lying if he was going to continue to do it. 
You held back a laugh, nodding your head. “Yeah that’s what people usually do at video stores.” You wished you could have taken a picture of the look on his face when the realisation hit him. His mouth had been working a thousand times faster than his brain, so he didn’t know what he was saying before he said it. Thankfully you saved him from the pain of trying to dig himself out of that deeply embarrassing hole. “Didn’t take you for a romance kind of guy though.” 
“You’d be surprised. G-Given the chance I could woo your pants off like one of these romance guys.” He watched your features contort, his heart sinking into his stomach now he realised how dumb that sounded.
“Oh, that was terrible,” you cringed. “Did you get that from Steve?” You were sure that had worked for Harrington before, but it wasn’t the line itself that usually did it for him and the ladies. The women under this town were under some sort of spell with him, and his overconfidence really helped sell the show too. But Eddie had neither of those, stuttering through a pick up line meant it really didn’t have the same effect.
Eddie looked like he’d seen a ghost, a wave of humiliation hitting him full force at the thought of having ruined his shot with you by being a douche. You saw his eyes flicker over your shoulder in a nervous glance, nothing but a noise coming out of his mouth as his brain tried to come up with something to tell you. When you followed his gaze you watched as Steve’s hands dropped to his sides, the man trying to act natural and like he wasn’t saying something to the poor boy in front of you.
“W-Was it really that bad?” he asked.
You laughed, nodding your head. “It was so bad.” The sound of your sweet laughter gave him hope that he hadn’t completely messed up though. To him it sounded like amused laughter, not patronising laughter. He’d heard enough of that in his years to know the difference. The atmosphere quickly grew uncomfortable, and there was a clear shift in the conversation.
“I’m sorry, I just—“ he paused, inhaling sharply as he decided to lay it all out for you. “I really wanted to impress you. At the party I thought you looked so beautiful, a-and I think I got a bit of a crush,” he admitted. “But every time I’ve tried to talk to you since… you just walk away.” It was clear that what you had been doing was wounding him, and part of you knew that all along, but now it was presented to you right from the source, you felt guilty.
This was your chance to finally get yourself an answer. To find out if he’d been thinking about your near miss accident as much as you had. “I was embarrassed,” you muttered. The furrow in his brow felt like a good sign.
“About what?” 
Your eyes bulged. “I nearly threw up on you.” 
“When?” 
You scoffed. All that worrying you had been doing and the boy didn’t even remember. Or if he did, he didn’t care. “You really don’t remember?” you questioned. He shook his head, lifting a metaphorical weight off of your shoulders. It felt like you could relax for the first time in days when you thought about him. It was actually a pleasant feeling. “Well that makes me feel so much better actually.” 
The obvious tension that surrounded you both seemed to subside, the two of you gazing at each other with soft smiles. “So I didn’t completely mess up?” he asked. You shook your head. “Not at all. I actually really enjoyed talking with you the other night, even though we were in a bathroom.”
It looked like something clicked in him from that moment, his features lighting up and his posture straightening out, although it seemed he was looking anywhere but you. “Well, in that case, I was wondering–” When his eyes met yours he was ready to chicken out. Eddie Munson had never asked a girl out in his life, and he never even considered asking one out that was as enchanting as he found you. To say he was scared shitless right now would be an understatement. 
You got the gist of what he was probably going to ask, but the longer it took for him to spit out the words, the more worried you got that he’d changed his mind halfway through speaking. So, you did it yourself, removing the pressure from him. “Would you like to go out with me sometime, Eddie?”
You watched him let out a breath of relief, shoulders sagging again and a grateful grin splitting on his face. “I’d love to.”
»»——⍟——««
The night of your date had finally arrived and you were so nervous. You had spent the entire day stressing over every tiny detail, even the ones you couldn’t control. Both Robin and Steve had been driven crazy the whole time after you invited them over for their help and reassuring words. To be fair, you were driving them crazy too though.
You must have shown them six different outfits you could wear at this point, each one pretty much the same as the last. You had messed with your hair, whining to Robin about how it just didn’t look right, even though she assured you it was perfect. Then came the issue of makeup, all of which Steve seemed to complain he didn’t understand. He never cared about any of these things when he was going on dates with girls. But maybe that was just him.
“Y/N, he likes you, he isn’t going to care,” Steve said, believing he was making the situation better. That only made you feel worse, throwing yourself face first down onto your bed, groaning about how nothing was going to go right and you had made such an effort only to have one of your good friends throw it right back in your face like it was nothing. Robin scolded him, slapping his arm as the two whisper-yelled to each other in the hopes you wouldn’t hear them; but you did.
“Steve’s a dick, don’t listen to him. You look good, and Eddie’s gonna think you look good too,” she said, hand rubbing over the expanse of your back in a comforting gesture.
You lifted your head from where you’d buried it, glancing at your friend with a hopeful expression in your eyes. “Really?” you asked, earning a nod from her. “You look smokin’, he’s lucky to be getting this time with you,” she said.
As you moved to thank her your eyes caught the clock on your night stand, eyes growing wide at the fact he’d be showing up in no less than half an hour and you still didn’t have an outfit selected. Your friends saw the way your face contorted into fear, ushering you up from your bed so they could get you together and ready in enough time. And although Steve’s previous attempt at a pep talk had gone horribly, this time around he was calming you down just fine.
It felt like almost no time had passed when you heard the expected knock on the door. Robin had picked the perfect thing for you to wear, your hair looked good, and you felt beautiful. Part of you wouldn’t ever admit you were dressing to try and impress some boy, so the fact you felt so pretty was good enough for you.
With one last reminder that you could do this, you pulled open the door. “Hi,” you said, standing shyly on your doorstep. At first he just looked at you blankly, and you weren’t sure what you were supposed to do. You shifted a little awkwardly on your feet before turning to send a glance to Nancy and Steve. They didn’t help, just offered you a thumb’s up as it looked like Eddie finally came back to reality. “W-Wow, hi. You look beautiful.”
Your skin burned hot at the compliment, and you took in how he looked standing there. The jeans had no rips on them for a change, though he still had his tell tale chain dangling from the material. His shirt wasn’t any familiar band tee that he usually wore, but instead replaced with a white button up that showcased the effort he had put into looking good for this date. Not that he needed to put much effort in to look good. His many rings still adorned his fingers, and his hair looked a little more tamed, though it was clear he had been messing with it. “You clean up well, Munson.”
You saw his cheeks flush and it was the cutest thing, unable to bite back the smile that crept upon your face. “Shall we head out?” he asked. You tried to hide your excitement as you nodded, but you probably looked incredibly eager anyway. As you tugged the door closed you heard Steve and Robin muttering about ‘how they grow up so fast’ leaving you to sneak your hand through the gap to flash them a middle finger before you really left.
Even though the walk from your front door to where his car was parked at the end of your driveway was short, that didn’t stop him from shyly lacing your fingers together to lead the way, the feeling of his warm palm sliding across yours making your heart race. How did a guy you only really noticed for the first time, maybe a week ago, have such a hold on your heart already? He was magical.
You were snapped from your gaze when you felt his touch leave you, a little sad if you were being honest, but that was replaced with yet another flurry of butterflies at his next actions. “M’lady,” he said, pulling open the passenger door for you. You climbed in with a grin, thanking him for the gesture. “Thank you, kind sir.”
He swore he fell even more in love right then.
You had exactly two seconds to gather your thoughts before he was climbing in the driver’s side, and then your eyes were on him. This could have been the only chance you got to really study his features; when he literally couldn’t remove his eyes from the road. The more you looked at him, the more handsome he seemed to become. Though a lot of people hated the hair, it suited him well, you couldn’t imagine him without it; it was just so him. The way each strand curled perfectly, how it framed his face. You noticed every so often it’d get caught in his eyes, but he must have been so used to it that it didn’t bother him. With a quick shake of his head it’d be fixed.
His eyes, oh they were so enchanting. They had been one of the main things that sent you haywire when you looked at him. They were like a void, just a space you could so easily get lost in if you looked long enough. But they were dangerous, one glance from those puppy eyes would have you bending at his will in seconds.
You didn’t get to look at him for as long as you would have liked. He’d realised you weren’t saying anything, and when he glanced over you were just staring, in some sort of trance. But the expression on your face was too blank, too unreadable. “You ready, sweetheart?” he asked, softly, wondering if the silence was you changing your mind. There was that nickname again. The one that made you feel all fuzzy inside in a way you didn’t think you could describe with words. “So ready.”
The ride to your mystery location was pleasant. It was filled with chatter between the two of you and the sound of music through the tape in the player. It was some metal band that you weren’t really too fond of, but whatever made him happy. Conversation seemed so easy with him, so effortless, and you found yourself not wanting the night to end already and you hadn’t even left the van yet.
At first you didn’t know where he was going, driving down unfamiliar roads and heading in a direction you didn’t recognise. “Where are we going?” you eventually asked. You partially trusted him, but it was dawning on you how little you actually knew him. Going to an unfamiliar place with a man you didn’t know all that well probably wasn’t the best idea, but it was a bit late for second thoughts now. He glanced over briefly at the sound of your voice. “It’s a surprise. Trust me, I know a place.”
You narrowed your eyes at him, but settled back into the surprisingly comfortable passenger seat of the van. Another ten or so minutes passed by before the roads got darker, shrouded with trees and away from almost any civilization. It was like that for a little until the engine cut off, your eyes scoured your surroundings seeing he’d brought you to a clearing in the woods. Given the secluded location you felt like you had to ask the question plaguing your mind. “You aren’t about to murder me, right?” you asked, half-joking, half-actually-serious.
He laughed, shaking his head. “No, I’m not. I thought you believed me when I told you I wasn’t in a cult.”
You rolled your eyes. “‘S pretty easy to deny. ‘Oh are you in a cult?’ No.” You shrugged to emphasise your little show, hearing him chuckling to himself as he stepped out of the van. “See, easy. How do you know I’m not in a cult?” you questioned him as he pulled open your door for you again.
The grin on his face was positively precious, and the easy banter between you must have eased up his anxieties a little bit. His hand raised to lightly brush his thumb and pointer finger against your chin. “You’re too cute to be in a cult.”
You scoffed, eyes trailing his figure as he headed over to the sliding door on his van. “And you’re not? Munson you, so, aren’t the badass everyone thinks you are.” His eyes flickered over to you, his head cocking and the corner of his mouth curling up as if he was amused with what you were saying. “Oh really?” he queried. You nodded your head. “What am I then?”
“Deep down, you’re a big softie.” He didn’t protest what you were saying at all. He wasn’t like one of these egotistical freaks that felt they had to keep up a reputation. If you thought he was a softie it was because he was a huge softie for you, and he didn’t care who knew it. “Only for you, sweetheart.”
The look of utter adoration on your face was hard for him to ignore, he desperately wanted to let it go to his ego, but he couldn’t.
You cleared your throat when the initial flood of cloudiness subsided. “So, what’s in store for us?”
The smile on his face didn’t give anything away, other than the fact that whatever it was he was proud of. Your eyes followed his movements as he tugged open the sliding door, holding his arms out to showcase the inside of the van. It wasn’t at all what you expected. You were met with an adorable sight. He’d set the inside up like a bed, a mattress crammed in, some pillows and a couple blankets for you both. He’d even gone as far to add some fairy lights to brighten the place up, and you had to admit it did make it feel more romantic. “I, uh, I thought we could watch the stars. No one ever comes out here so—“ He trailed off when it looked like he remembered something else. You watched him lean into the van, doing who knows what before the soft sound of music started to play inside the vehicle. “And there’s music, and some food.”
When he turned to look at you he noted the frown on your lips, taking it as a sign he had gone way too over the top or maybe let your expectations down. He felt the need to suddenly apologise. “I know it’s probably not what you expected, but I—“ You cut him off with the touch of your fingertips on his cheek, turning his head to face you. Those puppy eyes of his seemed to widen when they realised how close you both had gotten, he wasn’t expecting to almost brush noses with you when he looked in your direction. “It’s perfect, Eddie. No one’s ever done anything like this for me before.”
For a moment his eyes flickered between your gaze and your lips, weighing out the pros and cons of leaning in and kissing you right now. But once again at the last minute he chickened out, leaving you a little disappointed if you were being completely honest. You didn’t say anything though, putting it down to the poor man’s nerves. “‘M glad,” he muttered.
He offered out his hand to help you climb into the back. Truly he didn’t need to, it wasn’t difficult to get into, but he felt like that was what guys should do on dates. You took a seat on the shockingly soft mattress, crossing your legs over one another as you waited for him to join you. When he finally did he let out a sigh, offering you a grin.
“So, what’s on the menu, chef?”
He stretched his arm behind him, bringing to your view a familiar looking box. It was from the pizza place that you were practically obsessed with. You would basically force Steve and Robin to order from there every time you hung out at your house. “Pizza for the lovely lady.” It was like he knew you were suspicious of him the second you saw the box, your eyes narrowing in his direction as you lifted the lid to find exactly what kind you expected.
“Who told you?”
He shrugged shyly. He had never put this much effort into anything, not even D&D or his band, especially not a person. So he didn’t really know how to act nonchalant about the reaction he was getting. He was quickly realising he loved the tiny twinkles of joy in your eyes every time he did something that made you weak in the knees. “I may have had a little talk with Harrington.”
“You sneaky bastard.”
He reached back behind him a second time, this time drinks were dangling from the grip of his fingers. “And I got beer.”
It didn’t take either of you long to dig in, especially seeing as you couldn’t shut up about how good the pizza was for at least five minutes before you started eating. Eventually he had taken to basically shoving a piece into your hand and then up to your mouth, laughing about how if you love it so much you should actually eat some. Once again conversation flowed smoothly between you, talking about your friends and how Eddie had managed to become friends. He left out the obvious crazy monsters bit, you were on a need to know basis, so it was pretty much all a lie.
You hadn’t been on that many dates in your time, the boys in Hawkins were grade-a-assholes ninety-percent of the time, but you could say wholeheartedly that this was the greatest one you had ever had. It might have been the only one you truly enjoyed. Eddie just had this thing about him that you couldn’t pinpoint, but it made him so easily likeable. You understand how Steve, a rather judgemental friend actually, could come to befriend him so fast. He was nothing like his reputation stated.
After you ate the boy shifted his position, taking to lying on his back with his head practically hanging out of the van. It actually gave him a perfect view of the stars. He patted the space beside him as he motioned for you to do the same. You didn’t hesitate, following his lead and realising that in fact the view was beautiful. “Wow.”
“Wow, indeed,” he muttered. His stare basically burned holes into your cheek, and with an eye roll you turned your head to the side to face him. You caught his eye and his smile only grew.
“Is this one of the ‘romance guy’ clichés you know?” you teased.
He could’ve died right there on the spot thinking about that moment in the video store again. It certainly hadn’t been one of his best moments, and he wanted to move on from this topic very very quickly. “Just shut up and look at the stars.”
You must have spent hours gazing up at the sky, having Eddie point out what he said were various constellations, only to later come clean that he was lying out of his ass. It made you laugh nearly hysterically, the beer getting to your head a little. But all he’d been doing in his lies was trying to get that kind of reaction out of you. He’d found that in such a short time he’d quickly come to adore the sound of your laughter.
“Do you actually know any constellations?” you asked, grinning from ear to ear as you turned your head to look at him. The smile on his face was unmatched, and you’d argue that his eyes twinkled more than every star in the sky did.
His confession came with a slightly scrunched nose and red-twinged cheeks. “Nope. I’m repeating my senior for the third time, d’you really think I paid enough attention in school to learn about the stars?” he laughed.
“Fair play.” The words died on your tongue as your eyes locked, feeling like the biggest movie cliché was playing out in front of you. It would have been funny to point out how painfully ironic it was if you weren’t stuck in some lovesick trance. You tried to make it obvious that you were eyeing his lips, and you thought you had, but he didn’t seem to be making any first move.
Again, like back in the store, you felt you needed to make the first move or it would never happen. “Eddie,” you whispered, gaze unfaltering as you stared into those large doe eyes. You could and certainly had gotten lost in them, they were just so mesmerising. They held so much emotion in them, so many unsaid things that you were desperate to hear. He didn’t say anything, didn’t want to ruin the perfect little bubble you had found yourselves in, instead he just hummed as quietly as he could. “Please, kiss me.”
Now that he knew you wanted him to, he didn’t waste another second, leaning forward to finally meet your lips for the first time. He couldn’t help but note you tasted like beer and the coconut chapstick he watched you apply earlier, his new favourite combination he thought to himself. You were thinking the same, though he tasted like beer and a faint taste of weed. A strange two things to enjoy the taste of, but it was just so him.
As your lip-lock grew more intense he shifted again, rolling onto his side so he could get a better hold of you. He rested on his elbow, his other hand, the one with the chunky rings on, cradling your cheek gently, like you were made out of porcelain or something.
Your arms had found themselves snaking around his neck, wanting to desperately pull him closer to you. However, with that brought the tickling sensation of his hair hitting your skin, forcing you to part from him to let out the laughter that was building up. At first he didn’t know what was going on, a smile growing on his face nonetheless at the joy written all over your face. But you could tell he was confused. “Your hair… it’s tickling me,” you managed to get out through laughs.
To hear more of the angelic sound, he shook his hair against you, laughing with you as you called for him to knock it off.
When the laughter died down the two of you were left laying side by side, grinning like idiots at the ceiling of his van. The joy of just a few minutes ago was very much still present, neither of you spoke for a bit, just enjoyed the happy aura that engulfed you in your silence. That was until Eddie spoke up to break the silence, saying the four words you had been dreading all night. “We should head back.”
He heard you whine but unfortunately you couldn’t stay. “Steve’ll have my head if I don’t bring you back tonight. Or I would say we stay in a heartbeat.” The knowledge that he wanted to stay with you longer made your heart happy, and made you more willing to agree to heading home. He was right when he said Steve would be on him, because you knew if you had a phone with you right now he probably would have been blowing it up like your mom.
“Yeah, you’re right. We should do this again though some time.” You barely got your sentence out when he was leaning in to steal another quick kiss from your lips. For the first time since the party, when you looked at him he didn’t look nervous to have done something so bold. “Absolutely.”
»»——⍟——««
The drive home, though just as pleasant as the drive there, held a different atmosphere than it had before. Your hands were locked over the console, stealing glances at each other when you didn’t think the other was looking. It all felt so… blissful; natural. It was a feeling you hadn’t felt with any other boy you knew. You didn’t even need to communicate to know you both felt the exact same way.
When he turned the corner to your street you felt your heart sink a little bit, you really weren’t ready to leave him just yet. But you didn’t have much of a choice when the vehicle came to a stop at the end of your driveway. Eddie watched you pout, thinking it was the cutest thing. “Walk me to my door?” you asked, trying to grasp any extra time you could spend with him. He agreed instantly.
He caught you off guard when you got out of the van, where he was sweeping you into his arms, his lips capturing yours. It made your head swirl, giving you a sort of drunken sensation from just his kiss. “If you keep doing that, I dunno how you expect me to leave you.” His lips curled into a smile against yours, teeth clashing for a second which forced the two of you to pull away. “Maybe that’s my plan.”
You rolled your eyes, he was the one that wanted to take you home so he didn’t have to deal with Steve’s wrath, now he was proposing other ideas. “Thank you for tonight. I had a lot of fun,” you told him genuinely, twirling a strand of his curly hair around your fingers. The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled. “Me too. You’re not as bad as I thought you’d be, Y/L/N.”
“Asshole,” you chuckled, hitting his shoulder with the heel of your hand. You heard him laugh as you stepped past him, eyes set on the entrance of your home. You had barely made it a few steps closer to your front door before he was spinning you back around, his hands firmly planted on your waist. He too didn’t want this night to end, and if he had to stall you at your doorstep until the sun rose, he absolutely would.
“Okay, okay. But jus’ think, this all started because you make a really beautiful angel,” he murmured, brushing the tip of his nose against yours affectionately. He watched the smile bloom on your face, his heart fluttering. “You make a pretty hot devil, too.”
His lips were once again on yours, a feeling you had started to really enjoy since the first time it happened. You hoped it would have been happening a lot more from this point too. He pulled back at the feeling of a stare burning into him, his brow furrowing as he searched for the culprit. You saw his gaze flicker behind you, focusing on something for a second before he looked back to you. “Y’know they’re watching us through the window right?” he muttered. You audibly groaned, rolling your eyes as you leaned your head forward to dick it into his chest. “They’re insufferable.”
It was mere seconds before you heard the click of the door, followed by hasty, heavy footsteps that could only be from Steve. You pulled away from Eddie to stand beside him, still keeping close proximity, but just so you could see your friend. “Dude, what the hell? I told you to have her home by ten. It’s nearly three am!” he yelled. Robin sent you a sorry look over his shoulder. It looked like she had tried to keep him inside when they had heard the van pull up, but obviously wasn't very successful. And he clearly had no regard for your poor neighbours.
“You didn’t specify, I thought you meant ten am,” he teased, twisting his wrist so the clock face of the watch that decorated it was facing up towards him. “And in that case I actually brought her back early.” He looked over to you and flashed you a wink. You had to stifle a laugh so Steve didn’t turn to yell at you too.
The Harrington boy’s anger could be felt even from the distance you were at, and despite the lack of light you were sure you could see a vein popping out of his face too. “Don’t get smart with me Munson, I’m gonna kick your ass.”
With a sigh you took a step in front of Eddie, acting sort of as a human shield if your friend decided to take his little charade as far as that. “Okay, momma bear, calm down.” He looked almost offended that you weren’t taking his side. “Let’s not forget you lose every fight you participate in. Please don’t embarrass yourself more.”
Steve scoffed, his mouth gaping at you. You could hear Eddie laughing behind you, as well as Robin giggling behind her hand so your friend didn’t hear her. “I beat Billy the other year,” he tried. You pursed your lips, cocking your head as if to ask really? Surely he didn’t believe that. The look made him give in. “Okay, fine. I didn’t beat Hargove. I could take Eddie though.”
You took the time to size them both up, looking at Steve’s build compared to your dates. They were both pretty similar, but Eddie had a make believe hard exterior, and chunky rings donning his fingers, Steve didn’t have any of that advantage. He was pretty much all talk. “Yeah… no. Sorry, Stevie.”
“Y’know what?” he said, resting his hands on his hips as the infamous motherly side of the man appeared to your eyes. “Inside.” He pointed to the front door with his finger, forcing you to bite back a laugh as he tried to treat you like one of the kids he was always babysitting. “Now, missy.”
“Yes, mom,” you sighed, turning over your shoulder to glance at Eddie as you started stepping closer to Steve. You blew him a teasing kiss, holding your hand up to your ear in an imitation of a phone. “Call me, Munson.” With the promise that he would, you scurried inside with Robin, leaving the two males to sort their issues out together, as you recounted the entire night to your best friend starting with one word to sum it all up. Magical.
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morlock-holmes · 8 months
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Man, YouTube just recommended the most obnoxiously complacent and poorly thought-out anti-AI-art video. Good job algorithm, I did hatewatch as much as I could stand because that's the cyberpunk future and also I guess the past because EM Forster predicted all of this.
In particular, there is this incredibly poorly thought out attempt to distinguish between the tedious parts of artistic work, which are okay to automate, and the non-tedious parts, which are immoral to automate.
There's also a distinction drawn, equally thoughtlessly, between the kinds of automation that destroy jobs and the kinds of automation that don't.
For example, the idea of an AI cutting a trailer together is bad, because it puts an editor out of a job. The cgi crowds in The Lord of The Rings are good, because they allow one animator to do jobs that once would have had to have been done by hundreds of extras or at the very least, way more animators.
I'm really sick of this bizarre half-luddism. I'm also DEEPLY annoyed by this muddled economic idea that people with tedious, unpleasant jobs like it when automation takes over for them, because I can assure you that they fucking don't.
Like, the whole thing stems from this quixotic attempt to be a pro-automation luddite, but luddism is a reaction to economic conditions.
If you sell skilled labor, you can get more money for it because the supply of laborers capable of producing what you produce is low. If there is a sudden flood of supply that stands to quite possibly lower the cost at which you can sell your labor.
This is an economic process, not a moral one. The guy fucking up his bladder working in the Amazon warehouse without using the bathroom all day is not going to be elated when Amazon announces he's being replaced by a robot, because it means the demand for his labor is getting lower relative to supply, which means the price at which he can sell it gets lower, which means it just got a lot fucking harder for him to pay his rent.
This has nothing whatsoever to do with whether Amazon warehouse work is spiritually fulfilling or not.
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ministroni · 4 months
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Hobie Brown x gn!Reader - Pre-show Makeup (Imagine)
masterlist ミ☆
just a cute little getting ready idea I had whilst I was anxious to go see yves tumor last month. also an excuse to play with the hc i have of Hobie liking to do readers makeup with them sat in his lap.
warnings: none ! hobie being a little shit
1.07k words :: estab queer platonic relationship— oh YEAH!🗣️🗣️ :: i imagine the reader to be black n british but anyone should be able to see themselves within my work ! :: kinda proofread lol
summary: hobie does readers make-up before a show n gets a little carried away
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.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
"Babe, I know you're excited but I need you to sit still f'me yeah?" He chuckles, letting out a relaxed sigh as he deflated back into the sofa, arms limp at his sides. He held back the natural instinct to rest his hands against your hips, not wanting ruin your outfit with his makeup-stained fingers.
"You've re-drawn my left wing four times now," you tease, smirking when you see him roll his eyes, "You do realise Yves'll hardly see us in the crowd? I'm sure it looks great, love." You coo reassuringly.
"Fair but," He sits back up to wipe at your undereye with his thumb, you still in his lap, "I don't think it's a crime t'want y'to look good, mm?" Hobie coos back absentmindedly. You break out into a mischievous grin at his words, his ebony eyes flitter up to meet your own for a moment when you do.
Hobie kisses his teeth half-heartedly, "You know what I meant." He breathes, already knowing how you were about to spin his words. You snicker softly when he deftly pushes your face away from his playfully, before pulling you back and returning his focus on wiping excess makeup from your cheek.
You feel your stomach flutter when he puts his fingers to your chin, tilting your face back up towards him. You're met with warm, lidded eyes, the perpetual soft quirk of his lips, one that seemed specially reserved for you and almost forget what you were about to say when you feel the cold pad of this thumb brush against your face . Unfortunately for him, you don't.
"Mhmm, do I now?" You feign oblivion, still smirking, "'Cause all I heard was you telling me that I don't usually look good." Hobie sighs softly and relaxes back into the couch once more.
He shrugs, "You don't."
Your face immediately falls, to which Hobie breaks out into a poorly stifled giggle when he watches you roll your eyes and kiss your teeth. "It's what you heard, weren't it?" He teases, tilting his head as he runs his tongue over his front teeth- not quite able to mask his own amusement.
"Mmm." You're holding back a bashful smile but commit to the bit and begin to move out of your partners lap- causing his own face to fall now.
"Oi," Hobie protests "nono, c'mere", you snicker once more when he sits up to pull you in by the waist back into his lap, no longer caring about marking up your clothes. You wrap your arms around his neck and press a soft kiss to the corner of his lips before pulling away.
You admire his makeup. His favourite black lipstick, dramatic graphic eyeliner bordering his eyes with a smoked out undereye. You were mesmerised by how good he looked when he contoured his already pretty defined cheekbones with black. The paler base he used allowing his features to stand out even more.
God they were gorgeous. you often thought.
"Are you still not finished?" You huff with a lopsided smile, raising your brows pointedly as you refer to your makeup. Hobie rolls his eyes as you change the subject and inspects your face.
Seeing his face all dolled up just made you anxious to see your own. Hobie had done your makeup to match his, deciding to use the gig as an opportunity to practice. Initially he wasn't going to, but after some persistence (literal begging) he agreed if you abided by his two terms.
That if you:
1. sat in his lap while he did it
and—
2. that you couldn't look in a mirror until after he was done.
Hobie’s rubbing circles into your hips by the time he answers.
“Mm.. you’re almost there, jus need t’do your lips,” he hums. Hobie shakes his head in amusement when he notices you deflate slightly at hearing he wasn’t done yet. Sitting back up he coo's at you sarcastically with a smirk on his lips, cupping your cheeks to tilt your head up at him.
"Hobie, at this rate we're gonna be late." You whine and the look in his eye softens when he watches your brow furrow. You almost don't notice how he's beginning to lean in. He’s nodding but you can tell he's half-listening. You roll your eyes.
"Don't worry bug, I'll be quick," he murmurs lowly, smiling softly when he watches you roll your eyes and presses a tender kiss to your lips. You don't know how many times Hobie needs to kiss you for your breath to stop hitching every time he does it, but your worries quickly melt away for a moment as you kiss him back.
The kiss is sweet, but the sweetness doesn’t last long as Hobie punctuates the latter end of it with an exaggerated 'mmtwah!' before pulling away with his signature smug grin. "There we go!— oh." He purses his lips, brows raising in amusement as you give him a puzzled look.
"What?" You quirk a brow, the smile on your face slowly subsiding when you notice Hobie's lipstick was smudged.
Your eyes widen in realisation and you watch as Hobie nods excitedly. "No." is all you can say, almost pleading, shaking your head though an incredulous smile threatens to paint your face merely from your partners reaction.
"Mhm." He grins, biting his lip.
You groan and push yourself out of Hobie's lap and make a beeline out the room for the nearest mirror. The sounds of his giggling echoing behind you as he remains in the living room.
"Hobie- oh my go-- fucking hell!" Your exasperated groans of annoyance could be heard from the other room which makes his giggle break into bellowing laughter.
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.・。.・゜✭・ bonus・✫・゜・。.
"You said y'wanted us to match, love." He smirks down at you as the pair of you walked to the bus stop after the gig had ended. Black lipstick a mess smudged around his mouth as he shrugs, “we would've been stood a'the back if we left any later."
"Yeah but," you sigh softly when you feel him wrap an arm over your shoulder, he chuckles when you rest your head against his chest and words fail. You can't think of anything negative to say.
Hobie hums in contentment when you don't finish your sentence. Admittedly, the compliments and knowing glances from the concert goers only boosted your confidence. You both looked good together, better than good. Hobie watches your expression soften into a smile as you reminisce over the night fondly.
He grins smugly "Exactly," and you roll your eyes half-heartedly in return.
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*sighs* man, i love us— LMFAO no but fr this was so fun to write became a lot longer than anticipated but i’m happy!
i think hobie is so fun to write for when you remember he’s just a little shite who would most likely take the piss out of his zucchini (queer platonic partner) day in day out. our man is such a dork idk how we cope.
finally getting back into the swing of writing so those reqs are next on my list in terms of longer works! ty for reading my shit, hope you like it <333
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trashlama · 1 year
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FUTURE RISE!LEO X READER
∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆
Heyyyy-oooo it's me your guys favorite friendly pervy neighborhood consumer! Back with some more fics!
Yeaahh
Oh yeah I can totally sense your guys' excitement.
So this idea wasn't mine. I was lurking through the ROTTMNT fandom since recently I was too busy being dragged down the Record of Ragnarok fandom pit. It's like Hetalia all over again.
Anyways— I was lurking and came across one of my favorite creators ( @yanteetle ) that got a request for a fic. And like the idea was too good not to write a one-shot for it.
Like there was already a fic for it out there but, I thought I'd try my hand.
I really enjoyed writing this, I'll probably do another part except with the second idea with young Leo being little brother blocked by Casey Jr. cause Casey knows how Leo is with his future relationship with (y/n).
And maybe another one that has a different take on the first idea. But with a ✨ Age Gap✨. Cause man do I love myself a DILF.
Like brah there is no way you can't tell me future Leo isn't a DILF.
Anyways—
Enjoy the fic!
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PICTURE NOT MINE! FOUND IT ON PINTEREST AND FELT LIKE IT WAS PERFECT-O
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Rushing water flooded the ancient channels that you were trudging through. The bottoms of your cargo pants were drenched despite being tucked into the openings of your pleather boots. Frigid rosey digits clung to the insides of the pockets to your cobalt colored coat. A shiver shot down your spine. Not from the chill of the down pour above you but rather, the ghost that didn't seem to want to leave you alone. Even now you were quite sure. Somewhere amongst the ruins of New York's sewer system, he was lurking. Never too far behind but, still too close for comfort.
You've been here for two years and five months in a few days according to the calendar that hung in your shared quarters. However you weren't planning on staying for the anniversary.
A brown satchel that hung from your shoulders carried all that you had for the perceived future until you could wrangle up some more scraps of rations from orphaned establishments on the road.
You weren't going back to the base. You refuse.
Onwards you marched. According to the directions Casey had given you it was just a little further until you reached a small opening that you would need to crawl through to get to the connecting manhole that would lead you straight out of the safe haven of the sewers and into the fry-pan of NYC city boundries. The teen even went as far as described an outpost just a couple miles Northwest towards New Jersey. Having scrambliled together a poorly drawn map of the terrain to gift you on your journey.
You and Casey both knew of the dangers there were trying to escape this place. Mutant or not. Though it didn't mean it was going to stop them from at least trying to free you from your gilded cage.
You had thanked the boy who had felt like a kid brother during your encampment at the base. Both shedding a tear for one another as you departed ways. Wishing the other luck as the world slowly continues to crumble around them. Unsure of the others fate.
The flashback helped to revitalize your will, spurring the need to flee as your pace began to pick up. Heart beat and foot falls mirroring another.
You didn't know how much longer you had before he caught up with you....
Speaking of the Devil.
A random splash not too far off sent you rocketing forward. Feet pounded through the stream of water lapping at your ankles. Unrelenting like the hunter that was behind you.
You didn't even want to look back. You feared if you did your knees would buckle at the very sight of his domineering form lunging for you.
Tokyo Drifting the corner, you spun to the left, a skirt of water splashing your legs once again, in further indirect efforts of creating a swimming pool in your boots.
He was fucking with you. You could tell.
If Leo was really being serious he would've captured you in his hold the moment he originally found you. Most likely had woken up due to the lack of your warm presence next to him in the cot you shared.
If you knew the red eared slider, which you felt at this point you did.
You knew he had been on your tail since the minute you left. Stepping foot outside the main body of the base.
°°°°°°°°°°°
"(Y/n)....? Honey...." Leo groaned half awake. It was the middle of the night and his body had suddenly woken him from the bliss of his dreams.
Tired olive hands searched the sheets for your figure...only to find the lack of it.
Dark eyes flew open.
You. Weren't. Here.
Out of the bed he sprung, eyes stabbed through the dark. Only to find the lack of you and your belongings that had been here when the two of you had gone to bed.
His mind flew into chaos at the realization however, unlike his adolescent self he was able to control his panic. He calmed his ragging breath remembering his father's sage advice to not let his feelings get the better of him. That it was unbecoming for a ninja and a leader.
Honestly Leo should've seen it coming.
He wasn't any genuis-boy Donnie by any means but, didn't mean Leo was a fool.
He had saw the signs for a while now.
Eagerly you'd volunteer for any job if it meant being at odd schedules with him. It didn't matter if it was patrol or scavenging, if it got you away from him, even for a little while, you did it.
When approached about it, you simply claimed that you wanted to be useful for The Resistance. Reassuring Leo that your desire for work came from your feelings of being needed rather than the lumbering turtle's overbearing presence being the cause behind your disappearing acts.
Leo being ever so observant would notice how your close comrades and Casey Jr. would also actively participate in these same runs with you.
Everytime.
Tigers gnawed at his stomach lining and baboons pounded in his chest when he thought about what they could be discussing. What they could be doing.
In the beginning you and Leo had been soooo close.
Since teenagers. He had known you even before you knew him.
He had saved you.
Him.
He was seventeen and feeling free. The Krrang hadn't attacked yet, he still had his arm, and Ralph wasn't dead.
You had been just another girl he came upon on a nightly patrol.
Beforehand he and Raph had gotten into another disagreement. Something stupid about him not being a team player and not listening to his comrades.
Whatever. Leo didn't care.
Leo was his own one-man show— he liked to believe. Although when the going got tough, he knew he had his brothers to fall back on. They relied on one another even if they didn't like to admit it all the time. They were children after all.
Squeaky sneakers and labored breaths filled the illuminated basketball court. Within the fenced primiters was a single girl shooting hoops. And not too badly for the self-proclaimed professional's standards if he did say so himself.
She kept herself grounded but, still agile. Launching the basketball from all the points lines, even the ones that have long since been faded by eroding weather and age. (h/l) (h/c) hair pulled back into a high poney tail that whipped around with her movements.
She was like a basketball ballerina dancing a Lebron James Swan Lake. It was ethereal.
Time passed like rain droplets down car windows. Before he knew it the similarly aged female was packing up getting ready to go. Obvious signs being the (2f/c)towel around her neck and the (f/c) sports jacket she threw on over her fitted tank top.
Alas Leo didn't have the right mojo to go pursue her. Nor the right disguise.
For the next few weeks(at least how long he felt it had been emotionally. He wasn't keeping track.) Leo would return to that same basketball court, eager to see the basketball ballerina again.
Sometimes she was there, sometimes not. When she was it typically was late, at least for human standards. And always alone. Leo felt for her but, didn't particularly mind since that meant there was no one to disturb the skilled performance.
The (y/c) haired girl would show up. Shoot some hoops for a while before walking away into the night.
Her (e/c) eyes always looked absent when she shot her baskets. Emotions didn't voice themselves on her neutral complexion. The only real thing that was direct about her was that she was focused with the task at hand. Which was shooting hoops.
Leo wasn't a hundred percent sure what led her to the rundown court almost every night but, he was grateful for the occurrence.
Until one night he wasn't.
Like the last few nights, the red eared slider teen came to the court to spectate his favorite four pointer dancer. Only to find a lack of her usual performance. Instead sat the empty eroding court.
It was two in the morning and his brothers would start wondering where he is soon.(Not that they weren't already curious where their blue bandana brother was going.) A light sprinkle had started to pick up overhead that pushed the olive turtle to call it night.
Standing up from the ledge the turtle was about to leap from his position but, only froze upon hearing laughter. Down below underneath the iridescent fluorescent lamps was you.
The obvious lack of your usual athletic attire suggested you weren't here to play basketball. Instead of a tank top with a pair of shorts; dark jeans hugged your hips complimented by a (2f/c) Lou Jitsu t-shirt and (f/c) sport jacket.
With said jacket you shielded yourself from the drizzle. The lighting made you look like you were glowing, the uncharacteristic smile on your face added to the image.
What broke the breath-taking view was by whom he assumed were your friends. The two of them ran after you into the court with their own grins plastered on their complexions.
The scene of the trio caused the red eared slider's stomach to bumble with jealousy. He wanted to be down there with you. The sound of your guys' conjoined laughter would make together would simply be the best. Leo didn't have a doubt about it.
If only.
For the next two hours the three humans ran through the city streets. Asphalt turned into water slides as they slid and skid. None of them aware of the mutant turtle following them from the rooftops.
By four, the other two humans who he learned names were Jonathan and Melissa(I know so unique) departed for the night.
(Y/n), as he overheard from your comrades, left to go your own way home.
Leo knew he shouldn't continue being out this late by himself. Especially without telling his brothers where. But, Leo couldn't pass up the chance to see where you lived.
By the time you got back to your apartment complex it was pushing five in the morning. Leo could make out from his spot hidden in the fire escape that you were an only child.
Apparent by the lack of anything in the unit. The only things that pointed towards any form of life were the pictures that hung on the plain beige walls.
Inside the cramped dingy apartment you procured yourself some top ramen before sitting on the old futon in the main room to watch some TV. Switching to a channel that played older movies.
Zapped onto the screen was an old Lou Jitsu film. The sight of the movie excited the red eared slider, hopeful thoughts of having similar interests made the monkey in his rib cage pound harder.
Before Leo knew it you were passed out with the remote in hand with the sun peeking out over the Manhattan bay.
Giving one last look towards you before retreating back into the sewers.
The following weeks passed by and Leo grew to like you more. Even if it's from a distance. Always excited when you appear whether it's on the court or in his dreams.
His heart was always so elated when he watched you perform. And the one time he's late of course some dumb delinquents want to mess up his usual date.
Upon arrival he could tell something was wrong right away. Your (f/c) bag sat on alone on the bench left halfway unzipped and abandoned. The ball you brought with you every time you came to the court was flattened and punctured.
Something was very wrong.
"Back off Creeps!"
It was your voice.
Leo not giving a moment's thought to the possibility of being seen by the public eye. Leapt from his perch down to the court.
Hidden off in the alleyway was you and a pair of petty thieves. One a mutant rooster the other just a normal ass-hat both dressed in stereotypical black attire.
"Shadap! If you'd just given us yer stupid wallet and phone from the start then we would've been gone already!" The rooster barked. His beak set in a displeased frown that matched his human accomplice's equally displeased sner.
Both were armed.
The human with a baseball bat, and the rooster with a small pocket knife.
Observing the scene, Leo quickly determined this would be a rather easy take down as long as he did it right.
"Stop the stallin' and give us yer cash!"
The rooster's feathers acting like fingers reached out for you. Instantly the rooster's right wing received a sudden shave.
"WTF!?" The avian mutant screeched using his left wing to clutch his clipped one to his chest.
Quick to defend from the unforeseen attack the human whipped around to swing his bat; .... only to find an empty space.
"What in the name of..."
"Aaghkk!" Straight in the face you had punched the rooster.
Leo swore his chest grew warmer at the action.
While Leo was temporarily distracted by your fists of fury, the ass-hat had swung at the olive-green turtle. Quickly the red eared slider dodged the attack to only return with his own. Easily slicing the bat into small unusable chunks.
Whilst Leo dealt with the ass-hat you fought the retaliating mutant chicken.
It was a somewhat fair fight considering the difference in DNA and physical capabilities.
You would've won too, had you not underestimated how strong a mutant chicken's punches were.
Next thing you knew you were K.O.ed. Your (H/c) head in a tizzy from bouncing your brain around in your cranium.
The blue bandana wearing turtle was not pleased by this.
The rooster gulped at the obvious displeasure emanating off the red eared slider. Not even having a chance to escape Leo swiftly knocked the chicken out before tying him up with his accomplice.
"Oh (Y/n).... I'm sorry I was late for the performance.." Leo apologized under his tired breath. Adoration gleamed in dark pools as he stared down at the object that plauged his dreams for last month.
Even with three digits per hand the sturdy turtle held you against his plastron securely as he returned you to your apartment.
The cold air whipped around the two of you as he sprinted across rooftops of Manhattan.
He was the happiest turtle alive having you in his arms. He never wanted to let you go.
But he did.
And how Leo missed you so dearly for the years that followed.
Not until he was pushing forty did he find you again.
New recruits weren't too much of an uncommon occurrence. However as leader it was his job to familiarize himself with his team to the best of his ability.
And when it came time to welcome in the greenhorns, there you were.
Despite the years that have added on your complexion you were still that beautiful basketball ballerina he found all those years ago.
His heart swelled.
Leo did his best to protect you better this time.
Even if, it meant keeping you here with him against your wishes.
Very quickly it was known amongst The Resistance how much you meant to the Commander.
Within six months he had you transferred under his supervision despite your skills aligning with General April's or even General Donnie's precincts.
It didn't matter.
Leo wanted you. And that was that.
There was no room to argue when it came to the leader's order.
Within the year, you were sharing quarters with the adult red eared slider and in the following months, his cot.
The few freedoms you found away from Leo were doing patrols or hanging with deceased General Cassandra's son.
Even then the interactions were limited.
It's hard to say no when the world around you is dying and you have no other choice in survival.
Which brings us back to the current present.
Racing like a bat out of hell you fleed your pursuer who was hot on your trail.
The basketball bunny runing from the hunter with a shell.
Oh God please! Please let me make this!
It was right in front of you.
Approximately two turns up ahead laid a small tunnel. It was a tight squeeze even for your stature but, if you could crawl far enough into there before Leo reached you. You'd make it.
You threw yourself into the stone wall. The rough texture scraped your palms but you didn't care. You kept running.
"(Y/n) please come back!" Leo hollered.
His voice was not far behind. He had to be literally on your tail.
This would be a miracle if you made this.
"(Y/n) wait! You can't leave!" Anger could be heard in his deep voice. The same tone he used when displeased with your behavior when socializing amongst your fellow comrades.
There it was!
Right there!
Not even thinking about it—
You dove for the small tunnel. Knees instantly bowed to the floor as you began crawling into the opening. The hole was disgusting but, you didn't mind that as you shuffled your body forwards.
" NO! " Leo growled.
A yelp escaped your throat. Clawing hands clasping around your ankle before attempting pull you back. Despite scraping at the edges of the rusted entrance. All it took was a single tug from the adult red eared slider to dragged you out of the small hideaway. Sadness and anger quick to take over his desperate senses.
"Why!? Why did you try to leave me!?" The mutant demanded.
You didn't know what to do. You were frozen. He caught you. You didn't plan for this. You hadn't really thought—
You really had hoped—
"(Y/n)! Answer me!"
"Is everything I do for you and your kind not enough? Why can't I have you?" Leo cried.
His aged but charming features stared you down with so much hurt. He loves you so much. Too much. So why would you go?
"I've always been there for you (Y/n)... my basketball ballerina...don't I...deserve you?" Leo reasoned. His voice displayed the hurt he felt as he reasoned with you.
Well more like manipulated.
"I love you so much.... I just can't lose you again."
Muscular arms pressed you against his plastron. Underneath it you could hear the bird fluttering in his ribs.
Your mind was running a mile a minute, terrified, flustered, unsure what comes next.
" I love you (y/n)...". Was the last thing your brain registered before feeling a pinch to the bundle of nerves in your neck. Falling limp like a ragdoll in the Commander's arms.
Releasing a sigh the tired adult red eared slider held you in the one-sided embrace for just a little longer. Relishing in the warmth from your body that wasn't accompanied by the small trembles from you.
The hug didn't last long before the mutant readjusted his hold on you so that you laid in his arms. Leo didn't mind doing this every once in awhile when the anniversary of your arrival came up. As long as you don't do it again for another year.
He would have to disperse that support group of yours....
Once back in the safe confinements of Resistance HQ; Leo made a B-line to your guys shared room. There he stripped you of your drenched coat and boots before tucking you back into the shared bed. In your spot next to him.
The blue bandana wearing turtle let out a tired yawn as he closed the door before crawling inside the sheets to lay besides you.
Leo was aware he was being selfish but, he just couldn't live without you. Not again. And certainly not in this cruel world that just wants to take away everything he holds dear.
Dark pools stared down at your resting face. His prosthetic hand lovingly caressed the soft skin of your face. Soothing both you and himself in the process.
Slipping away into the land of rest. Even while dreaming the Resistance Commander held on dearly to you.
Not allowing you the same chance to escape his embrace twice.
¶¶ Creator's Notes¶¶
Thank you for reading!
If you liked this part please enjoy part 2!
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dearlymrme · 1 year
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Te lo meriti! (CopiaxReader)
Summary: A birthday present for my dearest @nocturnal-birb I did my best and hope you like it. This also goes out to all you folks who feel this way and need a Papa’s support and reassurance.
Copia x Reader || Papa Emeritus iv x Reader || Fluff || Comfort Fic || Established Relationship || Poorly Translated Italian || WC: 1716
You stand before Copia’s door with a manilla folder in hand full of official documents for him to sign off on. There’s a few about his next sermon, some to do with the next tour, and notices from the clergy.
You gently rapped your knuckles against his door, loud enough to get his attention while your other hand brushes invisible dust off your habit and straightens the small amount of wrinkles. You wish you had more time to tidy up. Your hair was being very uncooperative today and you had been in such a rush this morning that you had forgone makeup.
You hoped he wouldn’t mind that you didn’t look your best. However, knowing Copia, it’s not because of your makeup that he’s always staring at your face with his dopey lovesick eyes. You smile at imagining him getting distracted again in the midst of paperwork coercing you that neither of you get any work done.
“One minute!” You frown in concern at the sharpness of his voice, even behind the door. He sounds panicked.
“Papa?” You worry and jump when you hear a loud thump and yelp followed by cursing.
“Merda! Ti userò come legna da ardere!” It’s a hard thing to try and hold back a snicker when you hear him muttering curses at the furniture and wonder just what has him so unsettled that he’s bumping into things. You clearly caught him in the middle of something. You wait, expecting him to open the door but there is more shuffling from the other side before it goes quiet and then he clears his throat.
“Come in.”
You grab the handle and open the door, raising a brow at the dark room. The fireplace is out. The lights are off. The shades are drawn. The only light in the room is that from the now opened doorway, illuminating your Papa’s desk but even it is darkened by your own shadow. You tip your head curiously and reach for the light switch as you step into the room and close the door behind you.
For a split second the whole room was pitch black before you flip the switch and the lights came on, revealing…Just the office, but there are multicolored paper streamers hanging from the ceiling and not much else has changed besides the fact that on the coffee table to the side is a cake with candles and two glasses. It’s small but still just enough to make your stomach drop and the implications.
“Cazzo!” You're startled to set your gaze on the man right beside you. Copia, the most powerful figure in the church, your lover, was standing in such a position that he had to have been hiding in the shadow of the door when you opened it.
In his hand is a colorful cardboard cylinder, which he fumbles with awkwardly.
“Wait! Shit. I had this all planned out and-” He curses and you lift a hand to stop him.
“Copia.”
“AHA!”
And then there is a loud pop and glitter goes flying everywhere. You momentarily transfixed on the shimmering flakes as they catch the light and gracefully fall to the floor. The smell of the explosive breaks you out of your stupor and you glance back to Copia’s smiling and expecting face.
You open your mouth but no words come out and he misinterprets this as a good sign.
“It’s good, si? Took your breath away?” He grins and shakes his hands jazz-like to gesture at the cake and candles and streamers.
“I wondered why you never took your birthday off. You never even mentioned it, I had to look it up. Surprise!” He happily cheered. You bite your lip and take a unsteady breath as you walk over and drop the folder on his desk before turning and looking back at the door.
The brief idea of running away crosses your mind and then you look back to the small preparations he made for this and then at him who stands eager for your reaction, you flush with humiliation.
You lick your lip before crossing your arms over yourself and that causes him to drop his expecting smile. He tentatively approaches and begins to worry with his hands.
“Mia cuore, what is wrong? Don’t you like it?” He asked and you shake your head, looking down at the floor and rub at your arms with nervous energy
“It’s not that. It’s very nice Papa-” He flinches at the title because this is meant to be a moment between you, a happy moment, and when you are being happy together you use his name. You are not happy. You wince at your mistake, so clearly giving away your down mood that only goes further down. He worked hard on this, he wants to see you happy, you should be happy he went through all this effort.
“Copia.” You correct but the damage is done and he looks at you with worry and even a bit of hurt in his eyes. You lick your lips again as you try to figure out a way to explain it.
“Did I do something wrong?” He asked and you quickly shook your head.
“No, you didn’t do anything wrong. I’m the problem. I don’t-” You gesture and swallow the knot forming in your throat. Your voice goes tight and what you say ends up a mutter in your shame.
“Say that again?” And you take a deep breath, dropping your arms and curling your fingers into fists at your side.
“You didn’t have to do this for me.”
“Of course I did. Today is a special day.” You shake your head and deny.
“No, you shouldn’t have…I…I’m not worth it.” You say, gesturing to the decorations, meager as they may be, he went and took time out of his busy schedule to put this together.
“You probably had so many other things you could have been doing.” You huff a pathetic attempt at a laugh to try and lighten your own mood but fail. “
Hell, I came to deliver you more paperwork. This is a busy time of the year for you, you know.” You clear your throat and then start to babble as you try to distract from the fact that you feel like absolute shit. Because he went through all this effort and you can’t even muster a smile at him.
You didn’t deserve it. You didn’t deserve him.
“You’ve got the new tour to worry about. Assignments from the clergy. The sermons for next week. Meetings with officials from the Norwegian abbey in a month and-” You gesture to yourself.
“I’m like…You shouldn’t have taken time to…You got other things you could be doing than waste throwing me a party.” You snicker wetly and shake your head, “We need to work on getting your priorities in the right order.”
Copia gives a shocked gasp and you can’t even muster the courage to look at him, focused on the floor and the glitter that litters the carpet and will most certainly be a pain for the cleaners.
“Sorry, I’m gonna-” You make a move to leave and are halted as he snatched up one of your hands.
“Cara mia.” He says adoringly, sympathetically, concerned. You bite your lip and sniffle as it starts to strike at your heart. You still cannot meet his eyes, ashamed of the emotion that litters his voice that he’s wasting on you.
“Look at me?” He suggests in a gentle tone and when you still refuse he gently cups you by the chin with his thumb and guides your head up. Your eyes remain on the floor and your cheeks burn. “Amore, please.”
That breaks you and you finally look at him and wince when you see heartbreak in his eyes. It makes you feel one hundred percent worse.
“La mia amica del cuore. You listen carefully.” You nod as a tear streaks down your cheek.
“My priorities are in order.” He explains.
“Getting you to smile, to be happy, to blush and to laugh?” He smiles at you and moves his hand from your chin to wipe away your tears.
“That is one of my highest priorities.”
It absolutely strangles your heart that such a sweet man can say such sweet things to you, of all people, he says these things to you. And the way he looks at you with such a soft expression and concern on his face as he brings your hand to his lips and presses gentle kisses to your knuckles.
It makes you choke and flush embarrassedly.
“I think this is a momentous day, you know.” You sniff and don’t resist when he pulls you close before wrapping his arms around you, thumbing your shoulder gently and pressing a hard kiss to the top of your head. “This is the day you were born, mia cuore. And if you hadn't been born I would have never met you.”
“I don’t know who has told you or led you to believe that you're not worth celebrating but I have some harsh words for them.” He clicks his tongue. “Who? Who has told you that you are not worth it?” He asks you and you shrug, neglecting to answer but he picks up the silent clue too well.
“Oh, well then I have some harsh words for you.”
He places another kiss on your head and hits you with what he deems are cold hard facts.
“You are worth it.” He kisses your forehead.
“You do deserve it.” And he tips your head up once more to claim your lips with his own.
“I love you, mia amore.”
“And I will throw as many birthday parties as it takes before you start believing it. I will not rest until I get these tears of sadness to turn into tears of joy.” He promises before claiming your lips again in a sweet peck.
You sniff before wrapping your arms around his chest and nuzzling your face into his shoulder. A tremble runs through you as he glides his fingers through your hair and strokes your arm.
It’s spoken like a promise. It’s kept like a vow.
“As many hugs. As many kisses. As many parties. As many presents. As many as it takes before you see yourself as worthy of it as I do. Anything and everything, my heart.”
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rogueddie · 4 months
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Stranger Things: The First Shadow
This is going to be a full review; starting with production, some characterization issues and some of the plot holes.
But, before I get into the spoilers, I would just like to clarify my biggest issue; these characters are not the same characters that we see in the show. Every play demands suspension of disbelief, but it was completely impossible with this play.
I knew the play would be bad when I got my tickets. I didn't think I would have a bad time watching it.
warning; I am about to level a truly gruesome amount of critisism at the stage show. if you liked it, I'm glad you did; this is just my opinion and experience xoxo
My Review:
The production was, physically, beautiful. The designs and use of space was extremely well done. Some of the ways they used the screens and projections was stunning. It had the potential to add a lot to the story.
The sets are easily the strongest part of the production. The use of screens, levels and painted background- especially in the introduction- were stunning. It doesn't feel overwhelming and it makes it almost easy to remain engaged in both scenes playing out at once.
The design for the lab, too, is extremely well made. Having a box that can be rolled onto the stage is the perfect idea for the scene- it appears even smaller thanks to the contrast with the larger stage and the bright lights in white walls, the set feels ominous.
Unfortunately, the production ended up sabotaging itself. They default to special effects, screens and pyrotechnics to create the experience instead of trusting their designs or actors. It makes it seem like they are trying to hide their designs instead of enhancing them.
The introduction scene is the perfect example. The smoke machine initially added to the scene, it added an element of reality that could have drawn the audience in.
But, with how the smoke machine was overused, it ended up hiding the second set used in the "boat scene". In the stalls, I could barely see anything and was drawn out of the show completely and immediately- instead of watching a play, suddenly I'm worrying about whether I need to get my inhaler or not.
They overused everything. The screens were used so often that I have to wonder why they didn't just make a short movie instead of a play.
Similarly, the pyrotechnics were immediately overused- the first scene should not be making me wonder if you are using all of the visually compelling tricks in the first five minutes. But to keep using them at the same frequency? It makes it seem like you are more interested in making something look cool and care very little for the story you are supposed to be telling.
The lighting and music was simply poor. Half the time I couldn't hear what the actors were saying due to the music blasting at a painfully loud volume and, in scenes where the actors are clearly giving a brilliant performance, they are so poorly lit that they might as well not bother.
The poor lighting was very similar the show though. Props to them for managing that horrendous feat.
The directing definitely didn't help. The actors use of space is so poor and unnatural that, at least, I hope it was the director.
The lab set, for example; the actors both left the box set made. Henry's character roams the entire length of the stage, which makes the small lab set feel entirely pointless. His character never feels trapped or in any way boxed in by the box set. Instead of adding to the scene, it takes away- it's a giant set design that is ignored or takes up space in a way that is obtrusive.
On a positive note, I would like to point out that most of the actors did a phenomenol job. But I would especially like to emphasize how well Anika Boyle, Christopher Buckley, Oscar Lloyd, Louis McCartney and Isabella Pappas did. I can't wait to see what they do next.
Unfortunately, they're brilliant performances could do nothing to save a script that had already doomed them and their characters.
Doctor Brenner is easily the biggest problem when it comes to the characters. I'm not sure if it was the actor, the director or simply the writing, but he is the worst part of the entire play. He has no discernible motivation, none of his actions make sense with his character- if he can even be called a character. The show twists him so much that he becomes a caricature that bares no resemblence to the Doctor Brenner we see in the show.
Throughout the show, he's constantly encouraging Henry to kill. Literally, he verbally tells Henry to kill people. It's completely different to the sly and manipulative Brenner we see in the show- and not in a way that would make sense for him to have evolved from the stage Brenner to the show Brenner.
"Kill her," Doctor Brenner, The First Shadow, 2k23. Why does he say this? Uh... he wants the big scary interdimensional monster. Why does he want that? Uh... HEY, LOOK OVER THERE, PYROTECHNICS!
Henry Creels issues mostly stem from plot holes and retconning well established canon. In the show, he is not a victim and that fact is made abundantly clear. It's not that he's tricked into thinking he's in control, he simply is. The stage show tries to completely turn that on it's head and make him the poor little victim to something that, in canon, he made.
If he was a different character, or if we are to take the stage show as an au of sorts, I think he's pretty well written. His motivations and powers are well established. We, as the audience, understand his thought process. He is a believable character... even if the 'siezures' do often come across as nonsensical, borderline silly.
Hopper, Joyce and Bob were almost perfect too. It's something that has been slowly irritating me more and more- they could have easily been the protagonists, taking attention away from plot holes and poor characterization. They were strong enough as a trio and well written enough to be- almost- convincing.
I'm not sure how to explain my issues with Hoppers character in the show without it boiling down to 'dissappointing'. Nothing about the arc he goes through makes sense to me and it feels like the show forced him into the ending he had simply to remind the audience of the show, despite it making no sense with the story or arc that his character went through during the show.
My issues with Joyce are both- it breaks canon for her to know so much, so intimately, and her ending is also incredibly forced. The budding enemies-to-lovers that she had with Hopper also led to the ending feeling unsatisfying. It feels like the growth is for nothing.
The characters in the background too, somehow, are full of just as many flaws.
Claudia is the perfect example. When her cat is killed by Henry, she is immediately ready to start a literal witch hunt. She's insistant and frequant about it. There's even a small scene where she is seen to be irritating with how much she brings up her witch theory.
Yet, she stops talking about that very suddenly. She doesn't express as much as distaste for the play- about witches and killing. She's actually excited.
Her pets death and her character are important, but only until the plot demands she be quiet so they can move on, hoping that the audience will somehow forget this somewhat major B plot.
I could go on forever about the characters. A lot of the plot holes stem from how poorly they're handled and how much they immediately change to fit the narrative around Henry. None of them act like people and the play does not treat any of them like they, as characters, matter at all. They are just people to fill the space whilst Henry and Patty have a love story.
But, even then, the characters the play seems to care about are completely mishandled as well.
Joyce, in her introduction, spends most of in trousers and a bra. She's supposed to be a student in high school. It feels weird to ask your audience to watch someone standing on a stage in their underwear whilst also asking them to believe she is underage. It is so incredibly uncomfortable to think about. She didn't need to be topless for as long as she was.
Pattys ending made no sense. She died, but also she went to see her mother. So... she's alive? But also she's dead. But she's there, physically, so she must be alive... but also it's made clear that she died.
Eleven being 10(ish?) in the end made no sense with the timeline. They reduce characters to badly told jokes; Ted the idiot and Karen the blonde "slut".
I don't have the energy to go over the plot. There are so many holes and problems that it would take forever to deal with act one alone.
But, to summerize; this play had a lot of potential. There are parts that were almost brilliant and there are a lot of incredibly talented people working on it behind the scenes. The way all of that talent and potential is wasted for something as simple as lack of effort in the writing and directing? Dissappointing is not a harsh enough word.
0.5 / 10
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Note
Hello!
Can I make a request with the guardians who find out that in another world fem!MC didn't have a good father figure? She has suffered psychological trauma and is afraid of men. Therefore fem!MC literally cries every time the guardian shows concern for her or gives her some kind of gift, because her father never did it.
Thank you for considering my request!
— anon🍤
We're really in it for the daddy issues huh, anon? well, same.
Guardian! School staff + fem! Mc with a shitty father back in her Home- world
Characters : Dire Crowley, Divus Crewel, Mozus Trein, Ashton Vargas
TW : Crowley being delusional. Slight mentions of emotional abuse.
Context : (y/n) is always doing her best as both a student and a classmate, helping people all the time and studying must be exhausting! her guardian knows that, and as recognition for her efforts, he sends her a gift. (Not Trein tho, he has enough kids to notice somethings wrong right away)
But wait, why is she frowning like that?
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Dire Crowley
Oh! what a good student you are! what a kind classmate, no doubt!
of course all thanks to your amazing role model.
You're such a good kid! you never complain when your beloved dad asks for tiny little favors!
unlike your crusty, musty, almost rodent- excuse for a roommate
Ah, yes! such a great attitude is worthy of a sweet, sweet reward, right?
when you go back to Ramshackle after your classes, you notice a package in front of the door.
it has a note on it.
"Like father, like daughter! thanks for being such a great example for the others, (y/n)! ( please, open this inside)"
it also has a little poorly drawn picture of himself smiling and waving in the back of it.
when you get inside and you open it, it has ten claw-shaped silver rings, similar to the ones your guardian is always wearing.
you put them on one by one, and stare at your hands for a while.
you're frowning.
in fact, you feel your cheeks get warm, your eyes water.
what is this?
Crowley literally spawns out of nowhere, from behind you.
He rushes to see what's wrong.
you don't even question his presence, i mean, it's Crowley.
he's probably been there for a while, just to see your genuine, grateful reaction to his amazing gift!
and now you're crying.
"Are you okay, y/n ?? Does it hurt your skin???" he says noticing you're not wearing gloves underneath. "wait you're not fae either way... what's wrong????"
Your weird-ass dad is worried sick and that only makes you more emotional.
you two sit down on one of the couches.
You see, Crowley is not the best person on earth, let alone guardian.
In fact, in a lot of ways he's very questionable.
you knew that.
And still he was so much better than your actual father back home.
He had never ever insulted you, or shouted at you while he watched you cry.
It's true that sometimes he could be a little off-putting, but you never felt the need to be alert in his presence.
And when he gives you a gift it's not something he doesn't want, hell, it isn't any kind of up-front payment for any favor.
it wasn't an apology.
it was just a gift.
and for some reason, there's something so heartbreaking about that notion, there's so much grief that you're feeling, and have no idea of what to do with it.
so things like this do happen, huh?
you didn't want to think you hated men. it was stupid to hate half of the population.
And yet you always found yourself avoiding your teachers, and many students, except for Epel, for some reason.
Crowley was a good reason as to why believe that men in general were straight up sketchy.
And still, there he was. Silently by your side. waiting for you to let it all out. (confused, but trying)
Maybe he wanted to hug you, he wasn't sure if he should.
You just covered your face with your clawed hands.
Once you were done crying, you looked at them silently.
you weren't alone anymore. And the tears shining as they slid off the silver were proof of that.
By the way, Crowley is finally researching how to reach your world, but just so he can punch your father in the gut.
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Divus Crewel
In Crewels eyes, you were the perfect kid. No questions asked.
You were always sincere about anything he asked you regarding his appearance.
"What do you think about this new tie, y/n?" "Do you think the socks and my coat are mismatched today? i have the impression..." "Hey, pup! is it noticeable that I'm wearing scarlet gloves today, instead of the usual crimson?"
Also, you showed to be quite determined and responsible, which was amazing but,
you were always alone, for some reason.
Anyone would think you were just very shy and introverted.
He kinda knew there was more to that but he also thought it would be better to let you open up to him about that subject.
also, you kept asking him to do your projects alone, in potionology, alchemy and so on, you always insisted in not having a partner, stuff like that.
even with this habit of taking all the work to yourself, you had pretty decent grades, so he decided to buy you a gift.
after your last class of the day, your guardian texts you, he has a surprise for you, so come see him!
When you do, he's waiting for you holding a beautifully wrapped box.
you open it and....!
there's a plushie of a puppy inside!
"Do you like it, pup? would you at least let him accompany you?"
you stay silent.
"it reminded me of you... Hey, are you okay?"
Why are you holding the plush like that, sinking your fingers on it? so tight that it looks like you want to suffocate it?
And why isn't Crewel immediately asking for something in return?
why does he look actually concerned, instead of expecting?
And most important, why are you asking yourself that?
"how much did it cost...?" you ask faintly.
"Why would you ask me that? y/n, are you okay?"
"Sorry, i didn't mean to-" and there they are, the tears that had been blurring your vision.
Since you got here, on Twisted Wonderland, no one has really treated you like back at home.
The boys tend to be kind and chaotic, and if they try to tease you they're immediately scolded by the teachers.
Right, the teachers. Your new guardian, Crewel never treated you with disrespect, he didn't scream at you like your father did, he was sassy on occasion, but he never insulted you.
But you weren't as relieved by that as you thought you should be, so
why were you so mad? so enraged?
why was your blood boiling while you stared at the cute puppy you were holding?
Because you had always deserved that, that's why.
Because it's right now, and not sooner, that you're finally experiencing the treatment you had always deserved.
Because you didn't even know what was it like to be loved and appreciated by your father, you only knew that yours was failing you at that.
you finally let yourself cry like a baby, Crewel, unsure of what to do, hugs you from the side and lets you complain about how you hated how your father back at home treated you.
You thank him for the gift and finally express your issue with men in general, you had to grow wary of them as a result of your home life.
next day you suddenly have a partner for the next upcoming project, and it seems like it's a certain someone that is more than glad to help you, and that will be patient no matter what.
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Mozus Trein
I tell you, this man knows what's up.
He got really mad at you once, you kept dozing off during his lesson and threw a tiny piece of chalk at you.
obviously it wasn't meant to hurt you or anything
but your reaction was... strange.
just by raising his hand he noticed that you were... a little startled.
you flinched even before the chalk flew towards you, like if you fully expected it.
It was the first and last time he did that, because he didn't quite like that look on your face.
also, you apologized a little too many times about that.
For goodness sake, you hadn't killed his cat or anything.
So yeah, he kept an eye on you after that.
He noticed that you didn't like to hang out with your peers, it was strange
Because personality wise, you were nothing like, let's say, mr.Shroud.
Today, you're not even looking at him in the eye.
Suspicious.
when he asks about homework, you mutter that Grim ate it.
Now, don't misinterpretate this situation ok?
he believes you
But Grim is your roommate, you LIVE WITH HIM
listen. you know him. YOU SHOULD'VE KNOWN BETTER THAN PUTTING YOUR HOMEWORK IN A PLACE WHERE HE COULD REACH IT.
It's your responsibility yk you're the one living with a literal monster.
As scary as Mr.Trein sounds, the rest of the students are laughing their ass off behind their books
and i don't blame them.
but you're starting to get a little too upset.
So you get up and and go away.
you were crying. literal tears???? but why????
he had only raised his voiced a little.
It wasn't even that big of an issue-
why were you crying???
you're more embarrassed than upset ngl
when the lesson ends you're a bit more calm, and he calls you in.
He knows that you've been crying.
You know he knows.
what a mess.
after apologizing a million times for leaving earlier, he finally asks you directly.
was he really that scary?
Since you've had time to think, you explain what kind of home life you had before and that in retrospective, it may had fucked you up a little bit.
after a very uncomfortable silence, maybe you can't tell-
But his gaze has softened.
"y/n, dear... that is not going to happen again, and I'm personally responsible for your wellbeing so, if i try and show more patience, could you perhaps gift me some of your trust?"
yeah it's definitely easier said than done.
Still, the following days every time you fuck up he will teach you how to do things right, instead of angrily asking you why you didn't get them right in the first place.
it's a little step at a time, but you're already feeling better.
Also, Grim is a great ice breaker, you find out that half of your classmates are straight up himbos.
you're safe here.
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Ashton Vargas
this is yet another overly proud dad.
he will refer to himself as your dad no matter what. you're his kid now alright.
Truth is, you two don't have a lot in common, at least interest-wise.
but he appreciates you for always trying your best.
lately he had noticed you yelling obscenities at the tv.
you're not really into sports but you've been watching the sport's channel a lot.
turns out there was certain team from certain academy that you ABSOLUTELY DESPISED
so you watch their competitions just to pray on their downfall. It's really satisfying seeing them lose especially since they are so popular.
Ashton finds this so entertaining omg
It's almost as funny as watching the first time Mr.Ashengrotto tried to get on a broom.
next weekend he surprises you with two tickets to their next game!
you are so excited!!
since the very minute the game starts you insult them every chance you get, every time they mess up.
your guardian is also having the time of his life seeing you so invested.
Dad is so proud of his little hater girl!!!
suddenly the crowd goes silent.
there's so much tension in the air!!!
AAAAAAND BY 3 POINTS THOSE ASSHOLES HAVE LOST!!!! HAHAHAHA!!!!
you jump and cheer, to no one in particular actually.
then he notices you're tearing up a little.
"what's wrong? did you actually want them to win???" he shouts so you can hear him
you look at him as tears run down your face, at first you have a big smile on your face but then...
Your guardian can be a little too much at times.
He can be tiring, sometimes he can be very hard headed.
But he always means well.
Since you got to twisted wonderland, he's the one you come after when you're scared, or tired, or sad.
he's very good at being a dad!
oh you can tell.
because never in your life you would be living a moment like this back at home.
it's a bittersweet feeling, really.
Because your own father could not even treat you like a person with, actual feelings most days.
And then, this teacher that knows so little about your previous life is so open to help you whenever you need, to lift up your spirits and push you to be better...
when you arrived you were intimidated by the rest of the school staff but honestly this man has made everything easier.
is it enough reason to feel so moved?
maybe, who knows...
you will tell him everything he should know about what kind of challenges you went through
but now,
right now,
This stupid team that you hate so much has lost yet another time.
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ell-arts · 6 months
Note
There's a ton of strange things going on with this show, including using parodies (namely the Terminator for "Stand By Your Pac-Man" and The Wizard of Oz for "The Wizard of Odd".
All it does is aid to the already large filler that no one (or close to it) particularly needed. Not to mention the crass jokes that started showing up as early as episode 2.
Episode. Two.
So here's my question: What made you stay in the Fandom after the shows untimely cancelation? Was it for the memes and shitposts that people made off It? Or was it for the idea that, in a way, it had more potential to it?
Personally it's both the former and latter, but I've always wanted to know what made someone stay in this weird phase of Pac-Man history
That's a loaded question XD
First, I must acknowledge that my answer is only one perspective out of many. Other fans may have varying reasons for why they stayed in the fandom.
So, as for me?
I'm a simple person. I'm easily entertained :)
It's the little things that I am drawn to. Not the crass/toilet humour, of course, but I like the little design details and how the main trio looks out for each other, and some of the funny shenanigans that the ghosts end up in. I can block out/ignore the poorly done bits and genuinely enjoy the rest of it that was fun to watch.
I really don't mind the amount of parodies, I think each of them at least had something that was still relevant to the story - Stand By Your Pac-Man set the stage for Apex's reveal (in that the Pacinator revealed it was someone else who completely wiped out the yellows, however brief the reveal may be), and while Wizard of Odd was more filler than anything else, I still found enjoyment in it and we got a bit of lore on other parallel dimensions being a thing in the universe. The one parody episode I can think of that was 100% filler and probs unnecessary was Rip van Packle.
I'll admit, PMATGA is not the best show nor can I pretend that it's as great as other stories I'm interested in, like The Chronicles of Narnia or HTTYD. Whenever new people ask me what shows I'm interested in, I make a big effort not to mention PMATGA lmao. It's a guilty pleasure, simple as that.
To be honest, it was neither the memes nor the wasted potential that I stayed for (trust me, 15-year-old me was actually quite miffed about people dissing my favourite show at the time XD).
I stayed because I had sort of build up my own sets of fanons and theories of the show that I could latch onto, and build up upon for years to come, because the characters of this show are surprisingly good to use as a foundation for bigger and more epic stories, sort of like that one meme where the world you created in your head about the show is better than the show itself lol. I guess that did stem out of the show's wasted potential.
And, well, hyperfixation is a thing, innit? That definitely played a small role in why I stayed.
Over the years my interest in the show did wean a little, and up until the beginning of the year, I had been entirely inactive in the fandom. Perhaps I did lose interest in the show then. But I didn't lose interest in the fan stories I've come up with in the meantime. I guess that's the biggest reason why I stayed - I started something with my fanfics, and I've spent a lot of time building up their plots, so much so that to just leave it all now would feel wrong. Especially since I still get enjoyment out of them.
It ends up being a domino effect in and of itself tbh, because as I write more for the fanfics that I refuse to abandon, the more stories and fan content I come up with, and so the drive continues for as long as it's capable of doing so.
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Hiya! Don't mind me rambling, so since I was re-reading your lackadaisy fanfic flu (p.s your fic is good btw.) Like the part where the Marigold trio gets sick, my brain cannot help inserting Lucio forced taking care of them XD cause I don't think fish and Wes or anyone would be taking care of them other than him.
Lucio would feel annoyed consider the fact not only the savoys are sick but including Mordecai too since he got infected.
So he's just like "Are you all forgetting to take care of yourself? Pathetic.." *wHeEzE* (Bro is so done with his entire life.)
headcannon ideas I guess?:
•As always Lucio wasn't impressed hearing the info he gotten, he had hearded strange Noises at Mordecai's room and the Savoys too.
•He'll prepared necessities, like blankets, pillows, warm clothing, and lastly tea.
•I feel like he probably going to either make herbal type of teas like green tea, ginger tea, or calamansi tea with honey added as a sweetener, or straight up adding little sugar.
(if you don't know about calamansi it's just a Philippine lime/lemon fruit.)
•Basically his mother used to teach him on making tea but also cooking hence why his going to cook some soup. (Yep cooking is his other hobby other than crafting firearms-)
•Keeping an eye on Mordecai since he was a bit tricky to handle with, luckily he tucked the tuxedo cat with blanket.
•Until he witnessed Mordecai's nigthwalking part he's literally having a migraine today.
•As for the Savoys? No they weren't easy, he had to get several tissues for their constant sneezing and cold lmao. At least the soup and tea is working.
•During 'babysitting' them Lucio is silently praying he won't catch a cold from them, If he did then he'll kill the three for it, however his restraining the temptation doing so.
•The chicken is somewhere else in a farm, Lucio had to yeet it to avoid distraction and potential infection lol.
Also drawing:
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It's a doodle of Lucio with different hair, ingore the terrible poorly drawn hands.
(Random rambling: I kinda headcannon Lucio voice to be a bit deepish and rough/gruff kind of voice.. He does have a accent but it's not prominent, just slight or faintly. Its basically where he lacks the pronoucations of F and V, lol imagine where Lucio intentionally pronounce Viktors name wrong then he wouldn't be alive longer.)
Anyways I am done with my rambling, I hope you have a good day/Night! :)
bHHAHAHA bro my flu fanfic is so OLDDD 😭😭😭 I still remember fucking writing nico and my first time writing mordecai. i am surprised people are still reading it- 💀
also thanks for the compliment!
but anyway, i seriously love how Lucio is basically so DONE with everything and it shows on his face in the drawing hAhha-
also its nice to see you again and I can see lucio is already being developed so fast! You're quick and i love seeing lucio (grumpy boii) grow so fast! It's great to learn more about him! Thanks for sharing your interpretation on how Lucio reacts to the marigold trio being sick and pathetic lmao.
Oh my god that reminds me. I had a fun (incredibly hard time) writing mordecai and how he started sleepwalking. I remembered doing actual research on flus and sleepwalking! As for Nicodeme, i had fun making him suffer based on him being my favorite character teehee >:) imagine having Lucio deal with nico fucking puking like a child who ate too much candy ughh 💀💀I feel sorry for Lucio.
The reason why they got sick in the first place was from a public, crowded ambush for hunting down a runaway target. Serafine got sick first due to being next to a sick man, then nico got sick because of her just weeks after she got better and mordecai thought he was safe but no it seems that nico got him sick by sharing the same car with him after nico's little barfing incident
Technically they all put this on themselves 💀💀💀
Thanks for stopping by! ❤️❤️❤️
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enmusthighs · 2 months
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Had an idea for an AU (because I’m unsatisfied with the zombie episode’s wasted potential 😤). Also this is the first I’ve ever tried to write out a fandom concept so sorry if it sounds bad 😅
Basically when Shockwave tries to put Starscream’s optic out on that spike of cybermatter, Starscream’s hand slips and he’s impaled all the way through the back of his head. Shockwave and Megatron are both a little stunned, but just before Megatron can order Starscream’s corpse be removed and melted down, he starts struggling to get off the spike on his own. While they’re both shocked he’s alive, he ends up being seen to by Knockout and besides an obvious hole through the Optic and processor, he appears to be functioning just fine.
Later on he starts getting spacy and forgetful. It’s enough cause for concern for Knockout but as per Megatron’s usual character he doesn’t care so long as his duties are getting done.
Just the next day he’s missing. After a short search they find he collapsed against a wall somewhere, cybermatter having taken root and grown through his entire head. Which wouldn’t be much of a problem, if it wasn’t now puncturing and growing inside the walls. Rapidly.
Now that the walls ceiling and floor seem to just be full of these spears, you can bet other troops are likely going to snag or prick themselves on it.
(As an unrelated sidenote I can’t take my own thoughts on this seriously 😭. I pictured a poorly drawn nemesis growing quills like a porcupine and then falling out of the sky and blowing up)
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frost-queen · 1 year
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A writer’s muse (Male!Reader x Count Olaf)
Requested by: anon, Forever tag: @missmelodramatic, @theletterhart, @alex--awesome--22​, @elllie-does-the-posts​, @floatlosers​, @merlieve​, @queen-of-books​, @glimmering-darling-dolly​, @denkisclown​, @wildieflower​, @meyocoko​, @bubblybrianna​, @justanothercoco​ @idkwhatmyusernam,  @subjecta13-thefangirl
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The lights light up as the curtain dropped. The entire theatre clapped slowly and unsure what to think of the play they just witnessed. You were vigorously writing on the top paper of your stack. Idea’s flooding through your mind as you had to write them all down. Bits and pieces of scenes. The person beside you gave you a curious glance. You were so occupied with your own fantasies that you could care less. The spotlight shot onto the curtains. 
The curtains ruffled as one tried to get through. Count Olaf stepped out in the open, taking a deep bow. – “Thank you, thank you.” – he recited with a theatre bow. Grand and luxurious. Your head shot up; eyes wide on him. Dropping your pen, you started clapping loud. Louder than anyone else. Count Olaf’s attention got drawn to it, seeing you clap excitedly. You certainly stood out as no one else clapped this approving to him. Count Olaf extended his arm out to you.
“Thank you!” – he said kissing his palm that he waved at you. Your chest rose at your deep inhale. What an honor it was that he noticed you. Count Olaf motioned to the person in charge of the spotlight letting him know to cut it. The light blacked out. He straightened his vest. The curtains flew up as he made his escape through it.
You gulped collecting all of your papers in a messy pile. – “Sorry… could you…” – you said getting up. You gestured for passage. The man beside you puffed as he tucked his belly in. – “Thank you.” – you responded passing him. – “Forgive me… thank you… If you would be so kind…” – you kept saying urging your way out of the seat row. People murmured leaving a way open for you. Some pulled their legs up, others got up to let you pass.
“Thank you.” – you breathed out, hopping out of the row as your foot got caught with another pair of legs. – “Maniac!” – someone huffed at you. You exhaled brief, looking back at the seat row. You then started running down the steps. – “Excuse me!” – you called out, jumping between a couple that got up to leave. 
You bumped hard against someone as they fell to the ground. – “Sorry!” – you apologized without pausing. You needed to catch him before he left. The person on the ground rose their fist to you, scolding. You ducked down under a pair that were about to take their coat. – “Hey!” – they said as you clumsily proceeded your way.
You came to the backstage door. You were about to simply pass through when a tall blunt man stopped you. – “No passage.” – he said making you sigh. – “I won’t take long… I just have to meet him.” – you explained. The tall blunt man shook his head, arms crossed. – “Please! I am begging you. Let me meet him. I need to meet Count Olaf!” – you urged. He shook his head again. – “I am a writer.” – you said. – “I wish to share my idea’s with the brilliant man.” – you hoped someway you were convincing him. 
“Please… just one chat.” – you begged. The tall blunt man stepped aside opening the door. – “Follow me.” – he spoke waving for you to follow him. – “Thank you! Thank you.” – you responded going after him. You looked quickly around the backstage area. A bald man cleaning his claw made you swallow nervously. An old pair of twins bickering over a piece of scarf while pulling at it. 
You stepped up your pace as you were falling behind. The tall blunt man came to a stop near a door with a plastered star on it. The star looking rather poorly as if oneself had done it. The top point hanging low, the words Count Olaf written with an inky pen that had left a few smudges here and there. He opened the door bowing down to enter. – “Boss.” – he said.
Count Olaf turned around in his chair with a whiff of arrogance. His fingers pressed together. – “Who is he?” – he said with a gesture at you. – “I…I…” – you began stepping forwards. You were so nervous that your stack of papers dropped onto the floor. You dived to the ground to collect them, Count Olaf rolling his eyes. – “Why did you let him in?” – Count Olaf asked his henchman. The tall blunt man pulled his shoulders up. – “He insisted.” – he responded making Count Olaf purr.
“I…I am a writer.” – you said out loud getting up as some papers fell once more in the process. – “A writer?” – Count Olaf repeated curious. – “Yes… I… I saw your play and let me just say that it was marvelous. Like nothing I have ever seen.” – you complimented. – “Go on.” – Count Olaf said, leaning back in his chair. – “Your play gave me an idea for another one…” – you scrambled through your papers trying to find the right one through your own mess. 
“You are a very talented man.” – you added seeing him gleam with pride. – “I see you are one to spot talent!” – he responded waving for his henchman to leave. You found the right piece of paper handing it over. You bowed low, stepping back. Count Olaf quirked his eyebrow up reading your notes. – “If it is not of your liking, I…I have a million other idea’s.” – you said since his expression was unreadable. You couldn’t tell if he liked it or loathed it.
“I don’t know what I was thinking but when I saw you on that stage… I was stunned. The idea’s flooded in my mind as I couldn’t stop. Count Olaf.” – you dropped to your knees. – “You are a marvelous man… and… if you allow me, I’d like to write your next play… You can take any of my idea’s… I wouldn’t mind. Take them all!” – you blurted out not sure what overcame you. 
Count Olaf took a deep breath getting up from his chair. – “Any play?” – he asked. You got up to your feet nodding hastily. Count Olaf stuck his hand out with a smirk. – “You have yourself a deal young man!” – You shook it overjoyed. – “Thank you, Count Olaf,… I look forwards working with you.” – you bowed your head still shaking his hand. That made him curl his lip up, pulling his hand away. – “Now I need my rest!” – he snapped his finger. – “Of course…” – you commented picking up the fallen papers.
Months you were now working with the great man. The first play he did of yours was a great success. People even threw roses on stage in stead of shoes at him. It was a wonderful feeling that finally he got the recognition he deserved and wanted. It was the time between a new play as you sat in his study re-writing a scene. Count Olaf entered as you immediately noticed his presence. – “Olaf! I have this amazing idea for the boat scene. It came to me last night; I know you’ll like it!” – you rambled excitedly. 
Count Olaf looked around his study. He couldn’t tell his mess apart from yours anymore. It had become one giant mess. Stacks of papers everywhere. Empty pots of ink on the floor and desk. You were taking quick notes with a focused mind. Count Olaf observed you, intrigued by your facial expressions. There was something about a focused genius that flattered him. Seeing you get so lost in your work like he does with his plays. – “Oh! Imagine a sea creature!” – you blurted out, getting the thought. You smiled eagerly writing it down. Count Olaf smiled as well. He approached the desk plucking your piece of paper from underneath your nose.
You stared bewildered at him, reading your notes. – “Come on Y/n you can do better than this!” – he said slapping his hand against paper. – “Is… is it bad?” – you asked nervous. – “I knew it… you hate it… let me scratch that idea!” – you wanted to snatch the paper from him as he moved it out of your grip. – “I never said I hated it.” – he answered. – “I simply told you; you could do better.” – he repeated. – “For example add another sailor.” – he said placing the paper down. – “Another sailor?” – you blinked confused as he tapped the paper with a smirk. 
“That is wonderful… but we don’t have any more actors…unless you want me to search for one? Around this time it will be hard, not to give away they would have to catch up with weeks preparations.” – you told him, informing that it wasn’t a simple manner. – “I don’t need any new actors.” – he said, placing his palms onto the desk. – “You don’t?” – you replied, your eyes widening when he came leaning in. – “You’ll do it.” – he said making you gasp loud. – “Sir...” – you stuttered out flustered. – “I am a writer… not an actor.” – you reminded him. – “On the contrary, you are the perfect man to be on stage with me.”
Count Olaf moved his hand on top of yours, looking briefly down at it. – “You will be with me on stage, nothing to be frightful of.” – his touch made you swallow nervously. – “How… how will you fit him in the play then?” – you asked referring to your character. Count Olaf let his finger trail up your wrist to your arm. – “A lonely sea captain must have a companion.” – he said sparking up your interest. When his fingers were up your arm, he quickly snatched your tie pulling you forwards. – “Do you not agree Y/n?” – you nodded flustered at how close he was. – “I have very good notes to add to your play Sir.” – he grinned letting his gaze go from your eyes to your lips. You swallowed bashful at his approach. – “I look forward to your intel Sir.” – you responded seeing a smile curl up.
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Read more of my fics on my Masterlists!
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hannahmcgill · 8 months
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To anyone who was wondering about Warlock'd:
I've completed writing it a few times, in fact I have completed it to the stage where I had it all laid out twice, too. In each case, I haven't felt confident enough to go forward with the art.
It's a special sort of production hell where the only person working on the project (...me) started out with no idea what they were doing. So I hope that people don't mind updates. They are markers of my general ability to actually make a whole graphic novel. This is just something I have to try and fail a few times to get right. I'm happy enough to share my progress so long as it doesn't feel like false promises.
Currently I'm doing another outline and then I'm going to use some layout/art production techniques I picked up from the Amphiox project. Hopefully this is the last writing do-over. I want it to result in a story where people like reading about the characters and feel like they are friends. I want the sequence of events in the story to make sense and to have interesting consequences.
Anyway, I drew this portrait of Pierre (or Cleric Stone) on my iPad with Fresco down in the nice cool basement. August is horrible for drawing anyway. Better to whole up and fix writing problems.
[img id] Digital art done with a Fresco brush meant to mimic pencil or charcoal. It's a bust portrait of a 12th century cleric named Pierre...or maybe Cleric Stone. He's Black. He wears his hair in mini-braids under a red hat. The hat has one crenellation on the brim to indicate that Stone has a few royal indulgences. Three hoopoe wing feathers stick out of the cap. Stone is otherwise dressed like most clerics of 12th century Paris, with a luxurious black cape held shut with a daisy wheel clasp. He wears fitted black gloves and is about to throw a poorly-drawn firework into a crowd. [/id]
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fizzingwizard · 2 months
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Time for some semi-ritual bitching about one of my favorite bitch-worthy topics, Yugioh
Why couldn't they have just done Memory World properly
Why make us suffer through Doma... and especially KC Grand Prix, a single episode of which is more boring than filler in any other fandom... and they made an entire filler arc out of it! Like Doma has lots of faults but at least it tried to do something interesting. It tried to develop characters, which proooobably shouldn't have been undertaken by a filler arc with no canon script to follow, but gold star for trying! Had a shitty finale not remotely worthy of its awesome beginning, but did we really expect any better? lol. KC Grand Prix tho, no. That's just there to Idk be mean to men with pink hair and dumb names?? In the ridiculous hair dumb names anime???
cut because Fizz has the curse of long-windedness thanks my evil fairy godmother
anyway back to Memory World, maybe the issue was the story in the manga still lagged behind where the anime was. I don't remember. If so I guess there was no choice but filler. Still, did they have to blow the budget on it? They lost most of their good animators during Doma, where they also introduced a couple new crap ones who stuck around till the end of course -___- And no doubt the animators were getting paid peanuts for long hours of work, and if they'd run out of budget to even pay that... well clearly the show should have been shorter. Like two whole filler arcs shorter. Just take a break, take a pause, come back when you're ready to do Memory World the way it should be done. Back then no one took breaks, "The fans will forget us," nowadays TV shows just up and away for multiple years at a time x'D before returning suddenly with a new season.
The reason I'm still salty and plan to be salty to my grave is just this. Memory World is the one and only YGO arc since season zero that was not explicitly about card games. They'd been dropping hints since the first that we could expect ancient Egypytian shenanigans in the finale. We were supposed to find out about Atem's lost memories and recover his name. That was the driving force behind everything that wasn't filler. I specifically became a fan as a kid because I enjoyed reading about Ancient Egypt and thought the idea of a millennia-old feud between a pharaoh and whoever Bakura really was sounded neat. So I watched hours and hours and hours of card games all for the sake of making it to Ancient Egypt.
(don't get me wrong I enjoyed the card games lol. Never ask a YGO fan to explain how watching characters stand around and yell "Pot of Greed allows me to draw two cards from my deck!" for hundreds of episodes somehow stayed fresh and interesting)
So we reach Memory World at loooooooong last and. And the animation is the worst. Atem falls off a cliff it's just like "ow." Bakura isn't have as intriguing anymore now that he's a poorly drawn anime guy with scars. He arrives toting Atem's father's mummy it should be scary. It should be shocking. But instead, for some reason we watched dancing girls of questionable historical accuracy repeat the same frame several times, while Atem makes a face like a baby trying his hardest to go number two in his diaper. In the manga this scene is really funny, with Siamun being Sugoroku in every way, and Atem in his awkwardness being more Yugi-like than we've ever seen him. In the anime they are just going through the motions. There's no life in anything.
The one thing the anime version got right was understanding that this was the one and only opportunity we'd have to learn about Atem. You know, half of the main character for the whole show. Even the manga is really so busy doing plot stuff it kind of forgets to make us care about the ancient Egyptian cast. The anime took advantage of the need for pacing to give us a couple low key moments about Atem & Friends, but for some reason it decided we should 1) know what Atem looked like falling flat on his nose as a toddler, and 2) show us that from a young age he was making grand progressive speeches about equality. Seeing Atem portrayed as a nice guy who cared about people gave me mixed emotions after watching him struggle for seasons with the possibility that he might have been a bad king and not remember it. Because we got a whole season of him making mistakes and disappointing fans in Doma, and now in Memory World the final answer to what kind of person Atem was is just "well he's a good guy in the modern sense of the word lol" and then we move on. Also, neither that speech, nor Doma, are manga canon, but fans on the whole remember Doma much better than they remember nice guy baby Atem. Which is so very nice -.-;
So Memory World could have been so much fun, exciting, adventurous in a way you can't always be when you have to stay put on a holo-duel stage (card games on motorcycles hasn't been invented yet!), and insightful about a character who has been the central point of everything yet whom we knew next to nothing about. Instead it was a poorly animated clusterfuck of battle scenes that were difficult to make sense of. The Bakura stuff was the best. The Kaiba-insert filler was the worst. I was disappointed with Set's arc in the manga as well, another thing that had been built up for years and years and ended up more about the mysterious waif-like dragon girl than Set vs Atem. If the anime changed something to add in Kaiba, I wish they'd have rewritten the Set vs Atem duel so it was mildly interesting, and Idk maybe Kaiba could have teamed up with Atem against his past self, which would have aggravated him to no end? Instead of just wandering around insisting none of this could really be happening. Or he should just not have been there at all. Personally I go the DSOD route and pretend Kaiba was never in Memory World, same as the manga. It's not like erasing him from the anime version has any impact on events bahahaha. He was included for MONEY MONEY MONEY popular character NEEDS to stick around even if he has abso-fucking-lutely nothing to do because MONEY MONEY MONEY
I love DSOD to pieces. But my own dream for the anniversary project was a remake of Memory World. Even if it had been a 90 min movie version instead of several episodes, as long as it was better quality, and invested in Atem as a character instead of simply as a pawn in a game, I would have enjoyed those 90 mins better than the entire Memory World season. Doma and KC Grand Prix were a mistake if they played a role in how awful Memory World was.
But they did the Millennium Duel well. Not astonishing, but really, except for useless Kaiba being there, it was more than adequate. (And although Kaiba himsefl was useless, it was cool seeing him rejected as an opponent for Atem in favor of Yugi. Actually I kinda wish they'd made a bigger deal out of that...) Kid me cried buckets (actually I must have been well into my teens by then bahahaha. I def cried though). Thanks to those final two episodes, the series send-off didn't leave me with a bad taste in my mouth. If it had ended with Memory World it would have been an even bigger disappointment to me than the finale of Bleach. And I despise the finale of Bleach x'D
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ausetkmt · 7 months
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https://t.co/Aw6AMY3eW5?s=09
Florida school ‘segregated’ Black students for talk on test scores, parents say
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Black students at a Florida elementary school were singled out and pulled from class for an assembly about how it was a “problem” that they had performed poorly on their standardized tests, school district officials said Wednesday. The incident drew outrage from parents and prompted an investigation by the school district.
Only Black fourth- and fifth-grade students at Bunnell Elementary School in Flagler County, Fla., were taken out of class on Friday for the assembly on how to improve their grades — even students who had passing grades. Students were selected to attend based on their race, Flagler Schools spokesman Jason Wheeler told The Washington Post on Wednesday.
Black teachers showed the students a typo-laden PowerPoint presentation titled, “AA Presentation,” which noted how Black students had underperformed on standardized tests for the past three years. On the slide titled “The Problem,” the school district identified Black students as “AA,” or African Americans, in its assessment of their low overall scores, according to the presentation obtained by The Post.
The incident has drawn backlash from parents who were not alerted about an event that had “segregated” their 9- and 10-year-olds. Some say their children were told in the assembly that they could end up dead or in jail if they did not do well on their upcoming tests.
“It told my child that she was not good enough,” Jacinda Arrington told WOFL, a Fox affiliate in Orlando. “The color of your skin means that you are not good enough, when, in fact, she’s one of the smartest kids in her class.”
Another parent, Alexis Smith, told WFTV, an ABC affiliate in Orlando, that her son was panicking after the assembly. She said he asked her, “So I’m going to die, I’m going to get shot, I’m going to go to jail if I don’t do right?”
The school district is investigating how Black students were the only group that attended an event aimed at encouraging improvement in test scores. As an incentive, the students were promised meals from McDonald’s, Flagler interim superintendent LaShakia Moore said in a statement Tuesday.
“While the desire to help this particular subgroup of students is to be commended, how this was done does not meet the expectations we desire among Flagler Schools,” said Moore, who is Black.
Moore added that after speaking with Donelle Evensen, Bunnell Elementary’s new principal, “it is clear there was no malice intended in planning this student outreach.” But, she said, “sometimes, when you try to think ‘outside the box,’ you forget why the box is there.”
On Wednesday, Moore posted a video apologizing to parents.
Evensen did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday morning. County School Board Chair Cheryl Massaro told The Post that while the event wasn’t intended to hurt the Black students or their parents, the School Board did not know about the plans for an assembly and would have advised against having only Black students in attendance.
“We know it was wrong, and it shouldn’t have happened. It wasn’t a great idea,” Massaro said. “It’s sad that it was segregated by race because that’s not fair. But that’s what happened.”
Wheeler said that no information has been given about what exactly was said in the assembly, specifically the claims from parents that students could end up dead or imprisoned if they didn’t perform better.
The event and the backlash to it come as Florida has dramatically changed its standards on how race and history are taught in the classroom.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, and his administration have faced strong criticism over a new policy that requires teachers to instruct middle-school students that enslaved people “developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.” DeSantis’s administration has also blocked a high school Advanced Placement course on African American studies from being taught and pushed through the “Stop Woke Act” to limit discussions on race in schools and by corporations.
Wheeler told The Post that what happened at the elementary school had “nothing to do with education initiatives from Tallahassee.”
The elementary school is in Bunnell, Fla., about 75 miles north of Orlando. About 19 percent of the public school’s students are Black, and roughly 70 percent of the total enrollment are classified as economically disadvantaged, according to U.S. News & World Report. Evensen was named Bunnell’s principal last month after four years as an assistant principal at the school.
It’s unclear how many Black students were pulled from their classes for the presentation on Friday.
The state grades students on standardized tests between Levels 1 and 5, with 5 being the best score. As part of the presentation, the school said that 32 percent of its Black students scored at Level 3 or above for math and language arts. The school noted that 41 percent should be at Level 3 or above, according to state testing guidelines.
One slide said that Black students could improve their scores if they “commit to earning at least a Level 3 or higher on all standardized assessments” and “concentrate on passing all curriculum based assessments with at least a 75 percent or higher.” High-performing Black students were also called up by teachers and presented as examples to their peers who needed improvement, parents told WESH, an NBC affiliate in Daytona Beach.
Those students who show improvement, and win individual assessment matchups, “will have a meal from McDonald’s,” the school said in its presentation.
An in-school suspension supervisor also attended the assembly with two Black teachers, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Massaro, the School Board chair, said the assembly should have included all of the students who scored below Level 3.
“If we had done this and there was information about it to the parents, then it would have been a cross-section of everyone,” she told The Post. “There are White and Asian students who also don’t score well.”
Moore emphasized Tuesday that the school wants its parents and guardians to “actively participate in their children’s educational successes,” saying it was wrong not to alert families about plans for an assembly targeting Black students.
“Without informing them of this assembly or of the plans to raise these scores, our parents were not properly engaged,” she said in a statement. “… [F]rom this point forward, all of our schools will engage our parents, no matter what group or subgroup their children may be in, in our continued efforts to raise achievement among all students.”
But some parents are still upset, noting that the assembly targeting their Black children should have never happened in the first place.
“No other child needs to ever experience being singled out, being targeted, being discriminated against because of their color,” Francine Howard, whose daughter was in the assembly, told First Coast News.
“It’s 2023, and they segregated our babies,” Arrington said.
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rarepairheathen · 5 months
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I’m dressed as President Snow’s rose garden. In an all white onesie with too big green shoes, I say: Trick or Treat!
Tell me a bit about how Ruby and Haymitch spend the Halloween season. You can pick either fandom's universe or go with modern!
Special request: Turn that into a drabble! Or, if you'd prefer, tell me about a current WIP and a line from there :)
...I want to get out the watering can after reading that, lol! Awesome choice.
(This is so much fun, thank you!)
Ruby (living in our world) knew everything there was about Halloween, Haymitch didn't get that chance. And neither would Katniss or Peeta.
I could go with a line from a current WIP but you gave me a great idea for some fluff and a couples costume. (more below the cut.)
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Many months went into planning this year’s Halloween’s festivities and even more work went into keeping it a secret. Since Ruby found out Haymitch and the kids never had the opportunity of enjoying the spookiest day of the year. She made it her mission to fix that.
The best part was roping Katniss and Peeta in on the surprise.
On the day of, Ruby had Peeta get Haymitch out of the house while she and Katniss decorated everything in black and orange with fake spider webs and plastic spiders at the windows and up the banister; an uncalled pumpkin for each of them; and bowls of candy placed sporadically throughout the house so that at every turn there was a sweet treat. It didn’t look scary, but it looked perfect for a Halloween party. Ruby wanted every bit of this to make up for all the years without.
“Why do we dress up?” Katniss grimaced as her face was being drawn on. She was in a black sweater and pants and wore a pointy eared headband as her best attempt to dress like a feline. It was only recently that she had grown fond of her late sister’s cat Buttercup.
“You know,” Ruby paused thoughtfully and chuckled, “I don’t know. I never bothered to ask. I always enjoyed the costumes and spookiness of it all.”
Ruby was adding the final touches to Katniss’s whiskers (It wasn’t a stellar job, Peeta could do better of that she was sure, this was the best she could do on her own) when the front door opened promptly followed by a, “What the hell?”
The two ladies exchanged a look just before dropping what they were doing with Katniss’s face half done, the makeup falling to the floor in a clatter as they jumped up and rushed to the foyer. They got there in time find a frustrated Peeta and an annoyed Haymitch.
A disgruntled meow came from Buttercup, Victors Village’s own feline resident, who was crouched down on one of the steps, peering at them through the banister balusters in judgment. He hissed when Ruby unknowingly got too close to him. She was always fighting a losing battle with felines.
“I tried –” Peeta lifted and dropped his arms full of disappointment. When they discussed the plan initially, he was equally excited to plan all this to fine detail.
“What is all this for?” Haymitch asked, noting to the abundance of faux webbing at the windows and plenty of black and orange in sight. Then he laid eyes on Katniss with her face half done poorly with cat whiskers and triangle nose barely begun. “What is up with the cat face?”
Ruby couldn’t tell if that was disapproval or interest in the novelty makeup.
Katniss rolled her eyes in the typical teenage way at Haymitch. Mockingjay or not, she was still a teenager. “It’s part of my costume,” she stretched out her arms and it was a very minimal costume of black clothing and black cat ears. “I’m a ‘Cat’niss. With a C.”
“It was all my idea. The decorations and costumes,” Ruby intervened.
“C’mon,” Peeta offered to Katniss, observing her hand drawn and a little shakily done. He offered to fix her makeup, just as a way to excuse themselves so the two adults could be alone. Peeta was always more aware of this than Katniss was, often pulling her away or occupying her time.
“Okay…” Haymitch said unfazed momentarily watching a Katniss having to sit still which made her even grumpier than usual. He redirected his attention back to Ruby. “But why?”
“None of you ever got to enjoy Halloween. You said you never even heard of it,” Ruby explained, or tried to.
“You did all this for us?” There was no masking the genuine grin he wore. By now she had been able to detect the differences between how he interacted with others and how he did with her. He looked to be studying her before he added, “And who are you supposed to be dressed as?”
“Oh!”
She dashed to the living room where she had it draped over the back of the sofa, collected her old red cloak as well as the handmade mask she asked Peeta to craft, a handmade wolf mask.
Pulling on her cloak, “I’m Little Red Riding Hood, of course!”
“Of course,” he agreed, knowing full well she was the fairy tale character with an entirely different kind of story.
She held up the mask, “And you’ll be the wolf for a change.”
When she stepped forward to put it on him, not only did he let her, but helped to adjust it. She was half pleased and half surprised he willingly went along with it as it took plenty of coaxing from Katniss.
“C’mon,” she grabbed his hand, “We’ve got pumpkins to carve and candy to eat.”
The four of them sat around the fireplace, drawing silly faces on each of the pumpkins and snacking on candy and the baked goods Peeta made for the evening. There were accusations (mainly from Haymitch) that Katniss cheated.
“I did not!” she said defensively.
“I saw him help you,” Haymitch argued back.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have made it a competition,” Ruby muttered, sneaking another piece of candy.
“They’d find something else to argue about,” Peeta retorted, ignoring the other two and working on his elaborate design.
There was no surprise when Peeta’s jack-o-lantern won best artwork and Ruby admitted defeat and her lack of artistry, but was still proud of her accomplishment to just give it a silly face.
The candy bowls and platters of baked goods were left partially consumed before the two teenagers fell asleep as they told scary stories. The kids were out after the sugar crash and Ruby didn’t even get to finish her story about Greg and Tamara. Instead of urging them to bed, she pulled a blanket over them and let them sleep as long as they needed to. And she was too comfortable, a little sleepy, sitting next to Haymitch, opposite the sleeping teenagers. Everything turned out better than she had imagined.
“You really went all out for this,” he told her, finally removing the wolf mask and setting it aside. “Thanks for doing all of this. The kids really liked it.”
“Just the kids?” she shifted to face him to see him already laughing at his own comment.
“Okay – I did too.”
She gave him a quick kiss, “I know,” then settled back, resting her head on his shoulder, “Happy Halloween.”
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Text
To save a mockingbird
Next>>>
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Some random idea in the morning because I've been going down the Hux rabbit hole for a while ever since I read about his backstory. Hux needs solace in his life and to think they gave him a stupid end after everything he endured makes me feel angry 😆
So not sure if this should be continued or if anyone is even going to read this.
It starts a little before Hux gets shot in episode 9, its to prevent that and take it into a more better direction haha. I actually liked the sequel characters, because of those movies I got into Starwars in the first place but to think they were handled so poorly is what frustrates me.
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Plot: Marjorie is a rebel spy sent to retrieve Hux from the First Order once Leia gets to know that he is the agent helping the resistance with valuable information.
Warnings: angst
Word count: 1500
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They know. Bring him in before they execute him, his information will prove valuable to us.
That was all the message from General Leia read as Marjorie sat in the stalls of the restroom within the great fleet of the first order.
She knew what she had to do now was more dangerous than anything she had done so far as a spy for the resistance. She was going to abduct General Hux.
For quite some time now, the resistance had been tipped off with information that was so vital from within the First Order, an unseen ally or atleast that was what Marjorie had thought until she saw him. As he walked down the hallway with his ever present scowl and fiery hair, she could not believe it at first. This man’s sole ambition was to destroy the rebels, to chase them down with his hyperspace tracker, to eradicate them, to never let them relish peace. But the more time she spent shadowing him, she knew it was more than just revenge that he was seeking.
The enemy of his enemy had become some sort of a tolerable friend atleast till he could betray them when time befitted him. She smoothed down her uniform, it never felt a part of her but for the General, it was him. He would very much die if he was ripped of his status or his well beloved black coat. She steeled herself, the coordinates to the extraction point pinged in her pocket. This had be to done. It had to be done now.
So she took off, knowing his habits and schedule well purely because she had been preparing for this mission, that if she was given the order, she could take him and be off as soon as possible.
He was in his office as usual. She placed a soft knock as she held a data pad with details about a possible attack on the rebel fleet, a mock alert to get him to leave his post to inform Poe.
"Enter.", his voice resounded devoid of emotion.
"Sir, this has just been passed down from the command center.", Marjorie entered with an urgency, her eyes frantic as she put on an act to get his attention.
His cold green eyes slid to hers as a furrow formed between his brows. She was always drawn to his mannerisms, he was the opposite of the Supreme Leader. It was easy to spot Leia’s son under the cracks of Kylo’s helmet, he was in a battle with himself which only worsened when he had met Rey.
But Hux was different, he was sealed tight like the buttons on his lapel. His hair pushed back with precision that no one could even tell if his life was a mess or not. Maybe that’s why he succeeded so well in maintaining a dual life. He had his morning caf sitting in a steel cup next to him as he beckoned for the report, she leaned forward to place in his hands and also to drop in the sedatives into his drink as he remained distracted.
He sat back, his eyes skimming over the plans and the strategy that was laid out, she had studied the structure of First Order reports in order to draft this one. She was certain of it fooling him, what was a bit tricky to get going was if he would drink the beverage. She waited, her hands clasped behind her back, her eyes ever so often monitoring him.
With the report in one hand, his other reached for the cup, she exhaled with relief. She had been right, he skipped meals and sleep even but never his cup of caf. His lips touched the edge of the container as he took a sip while unbeknownst to her she had been staring. Frustrating, that if a man was so cruel why then did the stars bestow him with such tender lips?
"Why are you still here?", his eyes narrowed at her to which she straightened, looking away.
"To convey your command on what needs to be done next, Sir.", she spoke without looking at him.
He took a moment to think, before he downed his drink and got up.
"You’re dismissed. I will take care of it from here. He got up and walked out.", without his knowledge he was going to notify the resistance of these plans which was a sign to Leia that Marjorie’s plan in bringing him in was going well. She felt a sly grin spread across her face when she envisioned the bragging rights she would receive once she got back to camp, Poe could no longer lawd it over her that he called him 'General Hugs' and still got away with taking out the blasters from his ship.
She followed him again, he would most often go into the more secluded parts of the fleet where foot fall was less and only droids were present, to send through his message. But the signs of the sedative were showing up too, he missed a step, he then touched his forehead and then whipped around to see if he was being followed to which Marjorie hid into the crevice within the wall.
He went into his allocated area and locked the door behind him giving her enough time to change into medical gear for the final part of her stunt. All that was needed now was to get to the hangar bay and steal a transport.
The door clicked open but Hux looked worse for wear, his eyes were closing in on him and his impeccable stance had now been reduced to being hunched over. She walked along with the stretcher as she took the data pad out of his hand. He was in no state to put up a fight but his eyes focused on her features.
“You.” he mumbled before he blacked out. Placing his tall frame onto the stretcher, she covered him with a cloth as she began her journey to the hangar.
“Is it all set, T-2?”, she asked to which a cheerful droid responded. Great, the transport had been secured and in a few moments she would be free of this uniform and this stale dark fleet.
She snuck into the open back door of the transport and breathed a sigh of relief when she spotted her droid at the wheel. Pulling away the mask from her face and the gloves from her hands she cranked the engine to take flight when the alarms began to go off. A warning of a rogue vehicle spread through the channel when the bay doors were beginning to close. She propelled the vehicle forward while activating the shields to repel the blaster fire and zoomed out the tight space between the closing doors.
Now evading the fleet’s canon and preparing for the onset of tie fighters, the droid prepped the transport for a space jump. Punching in the coordinates as the tie fighters drew closer, she couldn’t think of alternatives, this felt natural to her, to be in the moment and follow her instinct. She pushed down on the lever and instantly, the light of hyperspace enveloped the transport and they were set on the road to freedom. T-2 chirped triumphantly while Marjorie sunk into the seat. The adrenaline began to wash off her when she realized she had to secure the General. The moment he comes to consciousness, he was a threat.
Walking back to the cargo unit, she found the stretcher latched securely but the sheet had moved away to reveal his face. This was the first time she had seen him in a state of rest, his eyes closed to reveal how tired they were. He had all the features a spy would need, she thought as she scoffed. Eyes that hid what he thought and felt, lips to pout and distract, his jaw and cheek set in stone that anyone would believe he could survive anything and his hair, which now was a mess, was a reminder of the burning hatred he carried, the fuel to his soul, that the moment he awoke, she was going to be added to his vendetta list.
She didn’t know why she cared. She had never spoken to the man except for today and she was certain he had never seen her before. As she gazed upon him, she could tell that in all his life he had never once witnessed kindness and because that was all she was taught to be, she wanted to render some of it to him. She could be the first in his life to show him that life could be different. Her finger hovered over his cheek, almost as if she wanted to wipe away his unseen tears but the truth set in. That the moment his eyes flashed green and he saw her, his notion of her sentiment was going to be very, very different. She would have been the one who ruined his life.
So she pulled the sheet to cover his face again, secured his hands into a cuff and made sure he had no weapon on him before she got back to the cockpit.
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