Back On My Bullshit // Magnolia Park

Get your heart broke enough and it can't be put back together

how cute how cute! tagged for a lovely lil @celestialmickey tag game by @iansfreckles @y0itsbri and @metalheadmickey 🌷✨

your name: mel 

where in the world are you? nyc 🍎🗽

your favorite color: usually it’s blue/green but i am diggin pink lately 🌸

a song that always puts you in a good mood: i was absolutely BOOGYIN to a lil sylvan esso on the subway ride home tonight 🕺🏼

your favorite flower: daffodils, magnolias, HYDRANGEAS, peonies i just love them all 

it’s a beautiful sunny day and you’re going on a picnic with friends. what snack are you bringing to share? I AM BRINGING THE SWEET TEA 🍋

bumblebees or butterflies? realistically i want neither of these near me but in theory i want to be friends with them all 🐝🦋

describe your ideal weather: i want a drizzly irish day or i want warm sunny springtime, i contain multitudes ☀️ 

what are you reading right now? ooh! i am back on my brideshead revisited bullshit 😇

museum date or nature walk? nature walk to the museum? who’s down?

it’s movie night in the park and your turn to choose, what are we watching? ANASTASIA 🧪🦇👑 orrrr the s club 7 movie that i recently discovered I STILL HAVE ON DVD who wants in 😇

and finally, share some sunny words for your friends & followers: ahh! this life holds so much for you! there’s still so much in store! be kind to yourself, you are gonna be great. i am rooting for you 🥰 

tagging @gallawitchxx @heymrspatel @whatthebodygraspsnot @whatwouldmickeydo @ian-galagher @harrowhark-a-vagrant @mmmichyyy @thisdivorce @squidyyy23 @energievie @stocious @mishervellous @crossmydna @creepkinginc @sickness-health-all-that-shit @deedala @michellemisfit​

Fic Rec Friday 6/16/2023

Title: The Best Part of Me is That I’m the B-Side to You

Rating: Explicit

Archive Warning: Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Category: M/M

Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016)

Relationship: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson

Characters: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, And ensemble

Additional Tags: Hurt and comfort, Angst, Established Relationship, kind of, Fix-It, not a slow burn we burn fast like cheap cigarettes, [magnolia park's "i'm back on my bullshit" plays in the background]

Summary: Maybe it was too early to say that. Maybe it was too early to say Steve was in love. He usually fell hard. He thought he was in love with Nancy Wheeler. He fell hard for her too.

But Eddie Munson?

Eddie Munson is intoxicating.

----

AKA the one where Steve and Eddie have been dating Eddie's entire senior year.

———

*heavy breathing*

Okay. So. This one is a bit of a doozy for me. I hope the 80k isn’t too intimidating for you - if it is, I get it - because holy shit I cannot recommend it enough. You know a fic is fucking good when you read it once and immediately resign yourself to never reading it again because it’s just… too much. That was me months ago when I first read this. The very thought brought me to tears. And if that wasn’t enough, I couldn’t listen to Head Over Heels again until like a week or two ago, lol. And now I’ll have to wait months and months again before I can listen to it without immediately tearing up. The power of incredible writing.

This is probably (definitely) my favorite of the ‘Steve and Eddie are secretly dating’ subgenre of Steddie fics. As well as my favorite ‘Eddie and Steve knew each other while Steve worked at Scoops’ story. They’re both very niche genres, of course. So much of this fic has kind of wormed itself into my brain and my own headcanons that re-reading it for this rec was an eye-opening experience. “Wait, that was from this? I thought I made that up!”

I never would have thought that a substitute phrase for I Love You could make me tear up, but dammit, if I even slightly think of the words “I’m forever yours,” I’m gone. In tears as we speak. With that out of the way, yes - I cried again while re-reading it. Not as much as I did the first time, mind you, but yeah. Y’all know me; I am as soft as a gently baked batch of cookies.

To summarize: cute boys being cute together and almost dying makes Roosterbox cry like a baby, lol.

Highly, highly recommended.

Important side note: No link, except to the login page. The writer has locked the fic for the time being. Not gonna complain or judge them for it (if they’re reading this, I understand - you do what you feel you must), just FYI. You can still find it if you have an Ao3 account.

———

Next Week: Okay guys, I’m gonna level with you. I think it’s time to dive headfirst into one of my favorite fic tropes. One that a loooooot of people aren’t into. For various reasons. And I get it. I do, I swear I do. But you know… it’s always been one of my comfort tropes. I am, of course, talking about the M word. Mpreg. And it’s my favorite type of Mpreg story: one where it isn’t explained. Is it ABO? Maybe but probably not. Is the guy trans? Maybe. Is it just that men can get pregnant in this universe? Maaaaaaaybe. Draw your own conclusions and/or have your own headcanon. Just enjoy the ride.

Oh, and it’s Arthur/Eames by the way. Figured that was important to mention.

Until next week, darlings ❤️

hiii janelle 🫶🏻🫶🏻

🎶✨️when you get this, put 5 songs you actually listen to, then publish. Send this ask to 10 of your favorite followers/mutuals (non-negotiable, positivity is cool)🎶✨️

Thanks Annie!! 💙

I guess I'll post 5 songs I've been listening to a lot these days.

1. Back to December - Taylor Swift (even though I'm not a huge swiftie)

2. Wait For You - Elliot Yamin

3. Listen - One OK Rock ft Avril Lavigne

4. Back on My Bullshit - Magnolia Park

5. Beautiful Things - Grayscale

Magnolia Park was right, I really am back on my bullshit

Home Is Such a Lonely Place (Without You)

@spideytorchweek 2021: Day 6 # Time/Universe

“It would just be a quick trip, you said,” Peter groaned, pushing his palms into his eye sockets. Death would be much better than this. “Your exact words, were ‘Nothing dangerous or exciting, going to space for data stuff, y’know?” At least it was supposed to be, until they hit the weird wormhole between NGC-356 and NGC-7812. Next thing he knew, people were stepping over him as if he was in the way. Welcome back to New York City, he guessed. “Pete,” Johnny reached to smack Peter, who was no longer within reach. He turned around, Peter half a block away from him. “Peter!” Johnny pointed up. “I guess that answers if we’re home,” Peter said. “And it tells us where we’re going.”

AKA Peter and Johnny get stuck in another universe and have to find themselves to get back home.

He Makes You Feel Insecure ~ Laxus

A/N: Erik/Cobra will be up next! I’ll probably post it next Tuesday or something like that. Anyway let me know who you want me to do next! I was thinking Natsu or Rogue 🤔 (future me: well that was a big lie 😶)

warnings: insecurities (he makes you feel weak), cursing

genre: angst to fluff

Other versions:

Gray ~ Erik/Cobra ~ Bickslow ~ Gajeel ~ Natsu  ~ Jellal ~ Freed ~ Sting ~ Rogue

⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡

It was supposed to be an easy mission. Go in by morning, get back by noon. For some reason you couldn’t get yourself to focus, often leaving blind spots, but luckily Laxus was always in time to protect you from harm. 

You didn’t like relying on others, especially Laxus. It only made your overthinking worse. After all, why would he be with someone that’s not even S-class? You’ve heard the whispers in the guild and Magnolia. Mira-Jane and Laxus would’ve been a much better couple than you two. Even Erza would’ve been a better match, but he still chooses you. Was it out of pity? Did he think you’d get better eventually? Was it a joke? After all, you hadn’t been dating for that long. He could easily change his mind if he saw how weak you actually were.

As your thoughts kept going down the negative spiral, you once again left your right side completely open. Only this time Laxus wasn’t in time to protect you, resulting in a nasty cut that ran across your ribcage.

Laxus finally decided he had enough as he saw his significant other clutches her side, blood soaking through the fabric of your shirt. He electrocuted everyone around, making sure not to hit you. 

“I’m sorry-“ You wanted to apologize but quickly cowered at his stone-cold glare 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, (Y/N)? How many times am I gonna have to save you today? Get your head out of your ass and start taking this serious, or I’m going home.” He growled “I don’t need this job. If anything it’s an embarrassment that I still go on such low-class jobs. This wouldn’t have happend if I went with Freed”

The vile words that came out of Laxus mouth, confirmed your already overwhelming fears. You were too weak. You were nothing but a burden to him. The difference in power between you two was enormous. While this job seemed like a walk in the park for him, you still would’ve struggled even if you didn’t have an off day. You wouldn’t have gotten hurt that’s for sure, but you still would’ve been drained afterwards. 

“I’ll be better,” You said quietly as you bit through the pain. You recollected yourself and fought off the remaining bad guys, making sure that you were covered on all sides.

All throughout the fight, the pain in your side got worse. It felt like someone was stabbing you repeatedly, but you bit your tongue and decided to ignore it. You didn’t want to look even weaker in front of your boyfriend. After all, it was just a light graze, right?

“How’s your wound?” Laxus asked once you left the job requester’s house with your payment. “It’s fine don’t worry about it”

“Really? Let me take a look” He pressed, but you pushed his reaching hands away “I’m serious, Laxus, it’s just a small cut nothing to be worried about”

That was a massive lie. The cut burned with every step you took. The both of you didn’t even notice that there was still some blood spilling out of it due to your shirt being incredibly dirty from the mud and blood mixed together.

Once back at the guild, Laxus went straight up to Freed, Bixlow and Evergreen, while you went and sat at the table Lucy, Wendy and Carle were seated at.

“How did the job go?” Wendy asked as she sipped on whatever drink she had ordered from Mira-Jane.

“Some cuts and bruises, but the payment was worth it” You joked. The two girls and Exeed laughed at that before talking about something else.

You zoomed out as your wound was taking up all of your attention. It felt as if your heart was beating right where the cut was. With every heartbeat, you had to do your best to suppress a wince. 

“(Y/N)? Are you okay? You look a bit pale” Carle suddenly asked, snapping you out of your thoughts

“Yeah… I’m going to the toilet” You didn’t make it far, because the moment you stood up you collapsed to the ground, fainting from the amount of blood you had lost.

“(Y/N)?” Laxus called out, panicked, as he saw your familiar figure hit the ground with a thud. He quickly shot out of his seat and was in mere seconds crouched next to your body, picking your head up carefully. 

“Everyone, step back!” Makarov ordered as Wendy knelt next to you as well. She lifted your shirt and gasped at the deep cut.

“How did you not know about this?” Wendy asked the older mage as Mira-Jane quickly ran off to get a wet towel to clean out your wound and some bandages.

“I know she got hit, but when I asked her about it, she told me it wasn’t anything serious” Wendy was already performing a healing spell on you while Mira-Jane rejoined to clean out the wound. “She lost a lot of blood, so she’ll need some rest, other than that, I think I healed her”

“I’ll take her home. Thank you, Wendy” Laxus picked you up carefully before saying goodbye to the others and reassuring them he’d look after you.

As he walked the short walk home, he couldn’t help but wonder why you lied to him. Did you not trust him? 

He had laid you down in bed and decided to prepare the both of you some food while you were still out cold. This is the reason why you woke up to the smell of something burning. “Laxus?” You croaked as you recognized the all too familiar room you woke up in.

“You shouldn’t be out of bed” He quickly rushed you back. It was a rare sight to see Laxus worry about someone this much, but it was a sight you often got to see when you two were alone.

“What happened?” You asked as you peaked over his shoulders at the steam coming out of your kitchen.

“I wanted to make us some food since you were still out cold, but as you can see, it didn’t really go as planned.” He replied as he scratched the back of his neck with the ever slightest tone of pink visible on his cheeks.

“It was very thoughtful of you, thank you,” You said as you got back in bed with you back rested against the headboard. 

Laxus sat down as well, but at the end of the bed, putting some distance between the two of you, signalling that something was up. He made it even more clear when he let out a heavy sigh “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I didn’t think it was that big of a deal-“ “that’s bullshit, (Y/N), and you know it” He cut you off before you could finish your excuse. A heavy silence was placed upon the two of you. You were contemplating whether you should let him in on your thoughts or not.

“Do you not trust me?” He asked softly, you had never heard the feared Laxus this vulnerable, it made you feel guilty for making him feel that way. 

“No! No, of course not. I trust you with all my heart, it’s just…” You trailed off, at a lost for words once again. You didn’t want to seem weak in front of him. Furthermore, you wanted to prove that you were just fine, but you couldn’t think of a believable lie.

“(Y/N), please, tell me what’s on your mind. Was it something I said?” He pressed on.

“What is it that you see in me, Laxus?” You asked softly. “Where is this coming from?”

You sighed, making sure you were 100% okay with letting him in on your insecurities before continuing “You can’t tell me you haven’t heard the whispers on the street about you and Mira. You two would be a much better match. I’m just some weak mage that’s only holding you back. I’ll never reach your level. Not only that, but I don’t even get why you still want to go out with me on these kind of jobs ‘cause it’s as you said, it’s an embarrassment for you to still do these. The fact that I still see them as hard only proofs how I’ll never be good enough to be an S-class wizard like Mira or Erza. I’ll never live up to the standard of being the girlfriend of the powerful Laxus. I’m just… Not good enough I guess”

He listened carefully that every word that left your mouth and realization struck him as you recalled his words. He had made you doubt yourself. “Is that really what you think I care about?”

You looked up at him and softly nodded your head while biting down your lip. Afraid of him starting to laugh at you for your insecurities. “Listen, (Y/N), I wouldn’t give two flying shits about you being strong or not. Hell, I wouldn’t even care if you had magic or not. I fell in love with you for who you are. You are the smartest, most creative, breathtaking woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. Don’t even get me started on that smile. I am deeply sorry for playing into your securities. I was frustrated with myself for not protecting you from that bad guy in time. Please, don’t ever feel like you can’t tell me something because you’re afraid that you’ll come across as weak. I care much more for your health than your pride”

“You love me?” You asked as you looked at him with puppy eyes.

“That’s all you took from that?” He chuckled softly, making you give him a sheepish smile “But, yes, I love you. I know we’ve only been dating for a couple of months and I don’t expect you to say it back, so-“

“I love you too, Laxus. Sorry for making you think I couldn’t trust you.” You said as you inched closer to give him a sweet kiss “So, how about some take out?”

Flower crown headcanons

Characters: Mina Ashido, Katsuki Bakugou, Shouto Todoroki, Izuku Midoryia, Momo Yaoyorozu

Warning: flowers, fluff, mention of blood (because of roses), swearing (because of Bakugou), might be OOC, not really proofread

Disclaimer: My Hero Academia and the characters belong to Kohei Horikoshi.

Summary: Making flower crowns with them.

Quirk: not mentioned

A/N: It's my first time that I write headcanons. I hope you will enjoy it. The reader is in a developed relationship with them. The reader is gender neutral.

Masterlist

Mina Ashido:

If you suggest making each other flower crowns, she is totally up for it

Despite you suggested it, she'll drag you out of the dorms to going to pick flowers

The two of you end up on a large flower field

Since she is a stylish icon, she knows which color will suit you and your personality.

Will search for perfect flowers that match with your outfit that you are wearing

She puts her whole heart into the crown

will use geberas to symbolize that you make everything more beautiful

also a big fan of primroses (Idk why, but I feel like she would like them)

If she gives you the finished flower crown and you put it on, she will definitely shoot thousands of pictures. To use the best (you smiling brightly) as a background

every time she will look at the picture, her heart swells up with love

She will remember that day so clearly that every time she thinks of it, it feels like she is sitting with you in this large flower field, with the sun warming both of you and the smell of grass and flowers surrounding you.

Katsuki Bakugou:

"What? I don't do bullshit like that." was his first phrase as you mentioned to do some flower crowns

You annoy him until he finally gives in

"If it makes you happy dumbass."

You drag him through Musutafu until you finally find a park with a variety of different flowers

Acts like he isn't interested but thinks it's endearing that you are so passionate about flower crowns

You start to pick some flowers, while you are at it, Bakugou waits with his hand in his pocket until your done

"You can't just stand there Katsu. You should also pick some flowers."

Will scoff at first but eventually gets going

His parents are designers, so he knows what color suit you

The flower crown that you make for him contains red chrysanthemums, cloves, and a bit of lavender

he uses magnolias, zinnias, and some daisies for your flower crown

If even one stalk breaks off, he will make everything new and probably freak out (so prepare for a lot of swearing)

He is gifted, so even if he has never done this, his flower crown will be stunning

when you put your crown on his ash blond, spiky hair, a slight blush will creep up his cheeks

He will keep this flower crown so safe and wears it when no one is looking. Just to remember the wonderful day the two of you had

When the flowers wither, he is sad and gives you vague indications that he wants to do the whole thing again

Shouto Todoroki:

The two of you had a date on a flower field that Todoroki found one day

It reminded him of you, and so he took you to the spot

The bright colors of the flowers made him clear that you are the most colorful flower in his life and that you made his life more colorful as well

Since sitting in the sun and talking about everything and nothing got a bit boring for you, you decided to make him a flower crown

"What are doing, darling?"

"I am picking flowers to make you a flower crown."

His stoic face will turn into a questioning look, and you explain with such passion what a flower crown is that Todoroki will fly on cloud 9

His face lights up, and he begins to search for flowers

As you try to pick some red roses, you got poked by one, and you start bleeding a little

Shouto noticed your short hiss in pain and is immediately at your side

will check if everything's fine

he kisses your wounded finger

"A kiss will hopefully make the pain go away."

"It's perfectly fine now. Thank you."

The two of you will finish and hand each other the crowns you made

Todorokis crown is a bit loose, but luckily the flowers stick together

The flower crown that you made fits his hair

To finish the date, you took a picture of the two of you and made it your profile picture on (favorite messenger app)

Momo Yaoyorozu:

The two of you went for a walk

You passed a flower field, and you got an idea

"Should we make each other a flower crown?"

"I would love to."

With that, you got going and picked the most beautiful flowers for your love

The flowers you pick represent the love you feel towards her and that you trust her

She picked flowers that reminded them of you

As you finished, you hid the flower crown behind your back

"Alright, close your eyes," you told her

She closed her black eyes and waited for your next move

You put the flower crown on her head while you tried not to mess up her high ponytail

You used your selfie camera on your cell phone as a mirror

"Open your eyes."

She opened them, and you smiled widely at her

"You look stunning, babe."

She also smiled and handed you your crown

"You also look ravishing, my love."

The two of you wore the crowns for the rest of the day

Izuku Midoryia:

The two of you were training outside since the weather got slowly better

Well, at least you tried to train, but you couldn't help yourself and stare at your boyfriend

As he noticed your staring he blushed and tried to cover his face

"Why are you staring at me like this?"

"Because you're handsome."

His blush deepened and you smile at his reaction

"You know what would make it even better? A flower crown"

You searched around the area and found some daisies

With careful movements, you knotted the stalks together

After you finished you handed the simple crown to your boyfriend

"Thanks, honey."

He put it on, and you took a photo immediately

This was going to be your new wallpaper on your phone

On that day, he didn't let the flower crown fall from his head

He wore the crown until the flowers withered

On your next date, he prepared two flowers crowns for the both of you since you loved them so much

Meaning of the flowers:

daisies: trust

red roses: passionated love

magnolias: Symbolism is grace, beauty, true love, purity, strength from the depths.

zinnias: loyalty

red chrysanthemums:Love

cloves: In red they symbolize strong passion, in white eternal loyalty

lavender:loyalty

primroses: often seen as representations of youth and everlasting existence.

geberas: "They make everything more beautiful!"

let's save the world

season two, episode six

five hargreeves x reader

summary: you attend a light supper with the hargreeves family- you’re confident to say it was a shit supper

warnings: cursing, the asshole reginald

word count: 4.5k

a/n: okay, i’m so sorry that this part took so long to come out (it’s also kinda short but that’s more because the episode focuses a lot more on the other siblings), at first i stopped writing for a week or two and then i kinda focused on requests because i didn’t want those people waiting too long, but hopefully i’ll be able to crank these out over the next week and finish the second season. which comes the question: when season three comes out, do you want me to continue this? it might be a while, and it will also depend if i feel like continuing, but i want to know what you want as well. thanks :) please enjoy

i’m also sorry if there are any inconsistencies. i realized i’ve had r go back to the cafe on multiple occasions when she said she wouldn’t be back- i went ahead and changed that. i might have to read through my own story to fix my mistakes 😪

after your drunken four person party at the hair salon, everyone went on their own ways to confront the issues they had so that they could have some semblance of peace before the six days you had were up.

you couldn’t exactly face your problem. it came in the form of a certain fifty-eight year old man that had fucked up both of your bodies, and you didn’t know where he was. sure, you could admit the problem and see that as facing it, but you wanted to at least tell five. you had no clue as to why.

for that moment, you allowed yourself to let it go. you were stumbling through the streets with the near empty bottle of champagne almost slipping from your grip. it was definitely a sight to see, one that would definitely be concerning to the passerby- only a few spared you a glance, though.

when you ended up at the cafe that you had missed, even after only being away for a day or two, you looked through the window from a few feet away. taking one last glance to the bottle, you quickly downed the remaining drink before tossing it into a nearby trash can and pushing through the door that rang a bell atop it.

stacy happened to be on shift, and when she looked over to see you, she had a smile at first- until she noticed your state. “y/n? what happened?”

waving your hand in dismissal, you push past the swinging gate. her face scrunches up as you move past her, “is that- are you drunk?”

with a shrug, you lean against the door to the back, only a push away from falling straight onto your back. “i’d like to think i hold my alcohol well,” you lick your lips, a small smile tugging your lips up, “it’s nice to see you again.”

before she had a chance to respond- to question why you were drinking, since she thought you to be a teenager, you had pushed through into the kitchen. you could walk to the stairs to the apartment with your eyes closed, and you nearly did. it was made a bit more difficult, since you were unable to balance fully on your feet, but you managed.

it only took you a few minutes to wrestle with the lock before you stumbled through the door and to the bed, falling onto the soft mattress, almost instantaneously passing out.

-

when you woke up, you had a killer headache, and you had to lay with your face in the pillow beneath your head- one that had a pool of drool sinking into the fabric, but you couldn’t care for that right now- for a few minutes to remember what you did yesterday that gave you the horrible ache. it came back to you slowly, and you sighed heavily as you sat up, running your fingers through your messed hair.

standing from the bed, you made your way into the bathroom, looking in the mirror hanging above the sink to fix you hair that seemed to have gone through hell, with how it had been messed up so severely.

you shook your head once you were done, fixing your shirt slightly and grabbing a pain killer before shutting the light off and moving to leave the apartment. your eyebrows furrowed when your gaze fell upon an envelope that looked like it had been slipped through the crack at the bottom of your door.

glancing around the small room cautiously, you slowly stepped towards it, snatching it up off of the wooden floor once you made it. it was plain, save for the circular golden sticker holding the flap closed.

you pursed your lips, hesitantly pulling the sticker off and pulling the card inside out. your eyes skimmed over the words written.

from the office of sir reginald hargreeves

to my pursuers:

i, reginald hargreeves, request the pleasure of your company for a light supper on the twentieth of november, nineteen sixty-three, at half past seven o’clock.

-1624 magnolia street-

dallas, texas

“shit,” you mutter to yourself quietly, the envelope drifting to the floor as you release your grip on it to scratch your scalp. glancing towards the calendar, which had previously been used to count the days you were stuck here alone, your eyebrows furrow. “that’s today.”

-

you make your way to the address listed on the paper, looking at the tall building once you finally make it.

southland life.

reading the card once more to be sure this was the place, you sighed softly and walked across the parking lot to get to the entrance, not sparing another look up as you walk through the door.

looking around as you make your way up polished steps, you stuff the now folded card into your back pocket. as you get to the elevators, you see that one is already opened, so you quickly walk over to get in before it leaves you behind.

when you look into the opened doors, you stop for a moment when you see five. “oh,” you stare at him for a moment. “you’re back.”

“yeah.” he motions to his side for you to actually step in, and you realize that you hadn’t actually done that yet, practically jumping inside.

you stick your hands in your pockets. “you usually don’t just up and go like that on me.” you point out his previous actions, indirectly questioning where he had gone that was so important to leave you behind.

“sorry,” he glances to the ground, and you could tell he actually was. “i-”

he was cut off by the sight of a hand stopping the doors just as they nearly closed, “wait up.”

it’s diego who steps into the small space next, and you all look at each other in surprise and confusion, before the rest of the hargreeves family files in, all glancing at each other. it ends with luther, who you have to move to the side for.

the doors finally close on all of you, and there is a silence that you know is from the anticipation of what exactly is going to happen. the numbers over the doors begin to light up, one by one, each letting a ding echo through the space.

after a few seconds, a stench fills the air that has your nose beginning to scrunch up as you try not to breathe in- everyone else notices the smell, and soon it’s realized that luther was the one who had caused it. “sorry.” he stared straight at the numbers, not looking at any of you, “i’m nervous.”

the doors take way too long to open, but when they do everyone is rushing out, covering their noses to avoid smelling it any longer.

when you enter the floor, a sign hanging from a pole supporting the roof tells you that it is a tiki bar- if it wasn’t obvious enough from the beachy decorations surrounding you.

“alright,” five is the first to get to the table, standing by a seat surrounding the circle. “when dad gets here, i’ll do the talking, okay?”

it’s more of a statement than a question- you know that and you aren’t about to argue. the only thing you know about the man is what five told you when he was actually thirteen. that he was a man who cared for nothing but himself and creating a team that he could control. you believed it. it was hard not to.

“i’ve got a few questions for him myself.” diego tells him, and you know if he actually managed to ask any of them, this whole meeting would be over in an instant. he wasn’t exactly the calm and understanding type.

you shake your head as you turn to look at them, standing at the chair next to five, “we don’t want to scare him off.” you tell them, glancing over everyone, “he might be able to help us stop this new apocalypse and get home.”

the man isn’t so ready to cooperate. “no, y/n, we need to figure out why he’s planning to kill the president.”

“okay, this is a matter of life and death, you imbecile!” five argues back, and you can tell this supper is going to be a real shit show.

“okay, maybe we should take turns talking?” vanya suggests, everyone looking to her as she grabs one of the decorations, “alright, whoever has this conch shell gets to talk.”

you run a hand down your face. this family and their terrible communication. “vanya, we don’t have time for a debate, okay?” five tells her, already seeming to begin to lose his patience.

“maybe i should lead.” allison walks forward and takes the shell from the other girl, “we all know i’m a much better public speaker than the rest of you.”

diego looks at her from where he paces, “okay, daddy’s girl.” the jab is small, but you know it’s going to set off a lot. you look to five, your expression showing all of what you think. he just shrugs.

“oh, jealous number two?” the girl questions, raising an eyebrow at him.

the man moves around the table, “hey, no more numbers.” he glances around, “no more bullshit. we’re team zero.”

your eyebrows furrow in confusion. what is this crap? team zero?

“uh, diego.” luther speaks from his seat, “you don’t have the conch.” he motions to the object in allison’s hand.

you have to look down at the table to hold in your laugh at that.

the man gives a tight lipped smile, holding his finger up for a second before taking the conch from allison and... throwing it, letting it shatter against the wall.

you’re about to finally let your laugh out, until the door comes swinging open, reginald swiftly making his way to the table as everyone stares. he sits and everyone is silent as they take their seats as well, and you fidget with your fingers.

“you have not only burglarized my lab, set my chimp loose,” his tone is serious as he fixes the cuffs of his sleeves, “conned your way into the mexican consulate, repeatedly stalked and attacked me,” you didn’t realize how much you had really done until you had gotten the list from the old man, and you see that he has brought a notebook with him when he brings out a pencil. “but you have, on numerous occasions, called me...”

klaus is pulling a chair out next to him, a drink in hand. of course he had gone to the bar already. “hey, pop.” he smiles as he sits and leans back in the chair, “how’s it hangin’?”

reginald barely looks at him when he intrudes his little speech, his eyes moving to look around at all of you. “...dad.” you glance to your side to see how five’s doing, and as you had expected, he was annoyed. you could tell by the way his jaw had begun to lock in it’s place. “my reconnaissance tells me that you are not cia, not kgb, certainly not mi-five, so.” he places the pencil on the table, “who are you?”

everyone is silent, not sure exactly what to say, but five speaks up after a moment. “we’re your children.”

“except for me.” you cut in, holding up a finger just so he knew. you did not want to be associated with this man.

his gaze falls on you two as five takes a quick glance in your direction, “we’re from the future.” he continues as if you hadn’t interrupted him, “in nineteen eighty-nine, you adopted us and trained us to fight against the end of the world.” the old man looks around, seemingly not believing what he was saying. “called us the umbrella academy.”

his gaze continues to move around, “why on earth would i adopt six-”

“seven.” he is cut off by allison, “one of us isn’t here.”

diego is staring at the table, “dead.” he informs, looking up, “one of us is dead.”

“yeah, ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba, enough of that now,” klaus speaks from his chair and you all look to him, slightly confused as he had turned to talk to what seemed like an empty space behind him. he turns back to the table, waving his hand in a silent sign to continue.

reginald laces his fingers together on the table, “regardless,” he looks away from who looked like a crazy person, “what would possess me to adopt seven ill-mannered malcontents?”

“we all have special abilities,” you lean forward on the table with a pursed smile on your face, “but, once again, you didn’t get me.” you wag your finger in the air, feeling the need to reassure that point.

“special?” reginald seems to ignore your second point, an eyebrow raised in interest, “in what sense?”

“in the superpower sense.” luther speaks from beside him, giving a small smile as he nods.

the old man looks to him, “call me old fashioned, but i’m a stickler for a pesky little thing called evidence.” he returns his gaze to everyone, “show me.”

allison picks up her drink, stirring it with her straw, “everyone wants to see powers all of a sudden,” she jokes, taking a sip.

“we’re not circus animals, okay?” luther informs him, “we’re not going to balance balls on our noses and... clap our hands like seals for your amusement.” he claps his hands together a few times. just as he finished speaking, though, a knife flies through the air, curving around reginald to stick in one of the wooden pillars.

it’s quiet as everyone looks at the knife, before reginald opens his notebook and begins scribbling something. everyone leans forward, “what are you writing?” diego questions quickly.

he looks up from the paper, “you are zero for two, young man.”

allison giggles into her drink, and diego begins to push away from the table to go after their dad. you try to stand and stop him, but five gets there before you in a flash of blue. “stop!” he whispers to him, his hands on his shoulders for a moment to keep him from moving any further.

you sit back down in your seat, and look to reginald, who seems impressed. “now, that is interesting.”

with a sigh, five moves away. “alright, quick run down.” he begins to move around the table, pointing to each person as he gives away their powers, “luther: super strength, klaus can commune with the dead, y/n can create and control fire, and allison can rumor anyone to do anything.”

“but she never uses it.” diego takes his seat again, and allison rolls her eyes.

looking up from her drink, she looks to him. “i heard a rumor, you punched yourself in the face.” his eyes turn white and his hand balls into his fist before colliding with his face, and you cringe as he groans in pain, holding his head in his hands.

as he curses in pain, reginald seems to ignore it as he looks to the woman sitting next to him. vanya. “and you?” he questions her.

“uh, maybe we don’t take vanya for a test run.” luther suggests, and everyone seems to agree.

she looks nonchalant about it. “it’s fine.” she says with a shrug, “i can handle it.”

she reaches for a fork, and everyone begins to try to stop her, “handle it?” allison questions with a raised brow, “last time you handled it, you definitely blew up the moon.”

when she doesn’t seem to be stopping to everyone’s protests, clinking the metal to her glass, all of you begin to push away from the table, but it’s too late when the fruit at the center of the table explodes, covering the table and everyone around it.

you look to your shirt in disgust. she couldn’t have done something a bit less messy?

she smiles in her seat, shrugging her shoulders as she looks to the table. “oops.”

allison presses her lips together as she gets another drink and switches her straw over. diego stands from his seat, leaning onto the table. “look, we know you’re involved in a plot to assassinate the president.” he speaks, and you roll your eyes at his continued insistence to save the president, as if that wouldn’t change the timeline one bit.

reginald looks to him. “you were recently hospitalized, correct?” you can’t help but to clench your jaw at the mention, “you still appear to be suffering from delusions of grandeur and acute paranoia.” his tone is matter of fact.

you look to five, who also seems to be knowing the direction this dinner was taking. south. plummeting into a near-erupting volcano that bubbled at the surface.

“am i?” diego pulls the picture of their dad in the grassy knoll out of his back pocket, reaching over the table to put it in front of him. “that’s you.” he informs, pointing to his figure in the picture, “that’s two days from now on the grassy knoll, at the exact spot the president is going to get shot.”

picking the paper up, he looks to him after inspecting it for a moment. “well...” he looks around before passing the picture back over the table, “i suppose you’ve solved it. you have single handedly unearthed my nefarious plot.”

diego looks at him, and you bite your lip. suddenly, you feel bad for him- mostly because reginald was a bastard that you could easily burn for everything he had done. “is that what you wanted to hear?” he questions, “you fancy yourself a do-gooder? the last man who will save us from our descent into corruption and conspiracy?” everyone is silent as he continues, “this is a fantastic delusion. despite the reality that you are a desperate man, tragically unaware of his own insignificance, desperately clinging to his own ineffectual reasoning. more succinctly, a man in over his head.”

he had sunk back down to his seat throughout his father’s speech, and you could see the tears gathering in his eyes. you look to five and he returns your gaze, and you can feel the frown that sets into your face. he sighs softly, looking down to the table as diego stutters his denial.

everyone is silent for another few moments, and you shake your head. “look, forget about the president.” you wave your hand as if to swat the idea out of the air, “we have a catastrophic war coming in five days. we need to figure out how to stop it.”

reginald looks at you. “war? men will always be at war with one another.”

“no, this isn’t just some war.” five tells him from beside you, his fingers laced together on the table that he leans on, “we’re talking about a doomsday. the end of the world.”

the old man looks at him for a moment. “well,” he says after a moment, raising his hands to motion to the group, “you’re the special ones, aren’t you?” he smiles, but you can see the sarcasm behind it, “why don’t you band together and do something about it?”

you all stare at him, until from the chair next to him, klaus’ hands fly up into the air and he begins to shake, choked gasps escaping him. “is he having a seizure?” allison asks in concern, everyone looking at him in confusion.

“overdosing, probably.” diego comments.

luther’s eyebrows furrow, “should we do something?”

“klaus!” five whisper-yells at the man as he leans over the table, “now is not the time! what are you doing?”

he slowly turns towards where you’re sitting, and you grimace as you see the vessels that are beginning to pop out from beneath his skin, his face turning red from his choked breathing. “i’m...” the word is barely there.

“out with it, boy!” reginald exclaims.

“ben!” after the word is spoken, he goes limp and falls to the ground, shuddering from where he lays on the wood.

reginald closes his book, placing it on top of some folders that he had also brought, “well...” standing from his seat, he tucks the things in the nook of his arm, “thank you all for coming. i’ve seen about enough.”

as he steps over the barely conscious klaus, luther watches, “no- i-” after a second, his hands slam down onto the table, making you flinch slightly from the sudden bang. he stands, ripping his button-up open, “look at what you did to me!” he seems distressed as he shouts, “look at it!”

five lets out a slight huff, falling back into his seat. “oh, shit. why?”

you bury your face in your hands, unable to comprehend how broken this family is. what is wrong with all of them? you don’t think you’ll ever know.

you look back up as reginald glances around before pointing to five. “you in the culottes.” the young-looking boy lifts his head to look at him, “a word, in private?” he doesn’t give him a chance to answer as he turns to leave, walking away from the family.

watching as five gets up, you fight for words but can’t manage to say anything as he leaves you behind. he seems to enjoy doing that these past two days.

“check, please.” allison holds her finger up for the waiter to end this shit show already. you don’t even wait for the paper to come, standing from your seat to get in the elevator ahead of them all.

the numbers ticked down as you stare up at them, letting out a soft sigh in the otherwise silent space. when the doors slide open, you’re left staring out into the hallway for a moment before you finally stepped out and left the building to be hit with the chilly night air.

deciding to stay a bit to possibly catch five on his way out you move to the side of the entrance on the sidewalk, sitting down on the cold concrete. you can see the cars waiting in the parking lot. you think one of them must be reginald’s.

a few minutes later the other siblings exit the building, and you watch silently as they begin to make their way away from the building- but diego and luther come to talk to you first.

“you’re not heading back to elliott’s place?” the knife thrower questions, raising an eyebrow at you as you look at him.

shaking your head, you pull your knees to your chest to get a bit more warmth. “i’m going to try to wait for five. i’d rather he not leave me behind for something important again.”

it’s quiet for a moment as the two nod, before luther claps his hands together. “alright, then. we’ll see you when you get back.”

you play with your fingers as they walk away and one of the car leaves- vanya had gotten in, so you assume it was her ‘farm frau’ as klaus had called her. the rest of the siblings quickly disappeared to... wherever they were going, and you were left alone (aside from the car that awaited reginald’s exit).

after waiting for you don’t know how long- maybe about twenty minutes or so- you see the flash of blue that signals five’s arrival and you quickly jump up from the concrete.

“oh, finally.” you sigh, brushing off your pants as he does the same with his uniform jacket, “it was starting to get too cold. what did the old man say? does he know how to stop this thing?”

the frown on his face tells you otherwise, and he sighs softly. “he didn’t help with anything. just told me what i already know.”

you run your fingers through your hair, staying quiet for a moment. “so, what do we do now?” the question almost makes you sound weak, and you hate it. you were just tired of having to save the world from something that you don’t even know.

“now, we make a deal.” he tells you, and you furrow your eyebrows in confusion, watching as he glances to the ground. “the handler told me she would give us a briefcase in return for a favor.”

you feel your shoulders slump slightly at the mention of the woman. “i can’t believe this.” you shake your head with a sigh, but you’re already grabbing his hand so he can flash you to wherever she may be.

when he doesn’t do it, you look at him with a raised eyebrow. he looks surprised, for some reason. “you’re not going to ask what it is?” he asks, wondering why you just blindly agreed.

“i trust you.” you shrug, and you yourself also find it incredibly stupid. the deal could be a death trap that you didn’t know about, yet you’re ready just because he thinks it will help save everyone’s ass.

after a moment of quiet, he nods. “okay.” he blows out some air, and you feel his hand tighten around yours slightly. “you should know, though. she wants us to kill the board.”

that is what really gets you. “the board? how are we even supposed to do that?”

“she knows when and where they’re meeting.” he tells you, and you purse your lips.

“alright.” you take a deep breath, “let’s make this deal before i change my mind.”

he nods, and without another second, you’ve appeared in front of the door of a room that looks to be in a very fancy hotel. you keep hold of his hand, not able to deny the nervousness that washes over you at this task. but you could do it. you were one of the best assassins, so what’s killing a few more people?

after five knocks on the doors a few times, they open to show a smiling handler. “ah!” she exclaims, and you can tell she had been waiting on the two of you. “just in time for a nightcap.”

she walks away from the door and you finally release his hand when you step in and close the doors behind you. “to be clear.” five speaks as the handler holds a cocktail out to him, “we take out the board... you get us all home. no doomsday, no apocalypse.”

as he speaks she had moved to the bed, laying on top of the covers on her side as she takes a drag from her cigarette. holding a paper up in the air. “that’s the deal.”

“we’re in.” you tell her before you can think any further, just knowing that this was a way to get home, the only way you knew of at the moment. if you didn’t take this, who knows if you would be able to stop this. the first time around you didn’t even stop the apocalypse, only escaped it.

when she waved the paper, you stepped forward and took it, unfolding the invitation. five looks over your shoulder. there’s a seal of a bird at the top, and you quickly skim over the words.

the lonely lodger inn

oshkosh wisconsin, 1982

taglists

main: @horrorklaus @megasimpleplan4ever

tua: @rasberrymay @noodlextrash @atomicpillar @malfovs @andreasworlsboring101​

five taglist: @anapocalypseinmymind @five-hargreeves-official @insatiable-ivy @coffee-e-addict @xplrreylo @fandomfreakff @colie-babi @flowertoty

let’s save the world: @aspiringwriter1 @thetrashypanda423 @lilacs-lavender @wow-lookit-all-the-fandoms @ohmyitsfaith @xplrreylo @fandomfreakff @onedollarduck @sleepygal124 @faith-quake @stripedchickens @youcandalekmyballs @pettyjayy @libidinexx @bts-chub @theoriginalkat @flowertoty @whenyouwantdeath @ot7purple @ purblerain @megasimpleplan4ever @whenyouregrungeaff @dumdumsun @malfovs @hxney-lemcn @frnks-stuff

A stroll through Magnolia Park

One of the weird ironies of living in the US and having family, friends and colleagues abroad is the vast, iniquitous gap in vaccine availability based on where you live, and, more particularly, whether you live in a poor country or a rich one.

Vaccine Apartheid is a global terror and horror, but that’s not the “ironic” part. That would be the American vaccine deniers who have effectively killed the dream of herd immunity, and taken anti-vax from a threat to public health to a threat to civilization itself.

The way this manifests is often quirky and personal — like the news that some of my beloved cousins in Canada and the US have become anti-vax, anti-mask conspiracists, losing themselves in the Qanon cult.

They’re never far from my thoughts, but doubly so yesterday. You see, here in LA, we have high levels of vaccination and a general lifting of restrictions that — in contrast to the premature “re-openings” elsewhere that led to lethal outbreaks — feel prudent and safe.

That’s given my neighborhood — Burbank’s Magnolia Park — a new vitality. The centerpiece of the neighborhood is a couple miles’ worth of pedestrian friendly, retail, dominated by independent and idiosyncratic retailers that draw people from all over the city.

Many of these did not survive the pandemic, but a heartening number of them held on, and it’s great to see crowds out there on a Saturday. Yesterday, I rode my bike up to one end of the strip, outside Porto’s, the regionally famous Cuban sandwich shop, locked up and strolled.

Magnolia Park’s retail is dominated by vintage clothes and memorabilia stores, a legacy of our proximity to the studios (Disney, Warner and Universal are all a few minutes’ drive), which created demand for wardrobe and set pieces, and a supply of post-shoot surplus items.

It’s also got some great restaurants, like The New Deal. Unfortunately, thanks to Burbank’s antiquated blue laws, almost no one has a real liquor license (wine and beer licenses are easy to get, but spirits licenses are all but impossible).

The sole exception on the strip is…unfortunate. Tinhorn Flats (AKA “Tinfoil Hats”) is a fake saloon with a nice back garden that had one of those rare liquor license, and paired it with mediocre bar food. The best thing about it is its fantastic neon sign.

The worst thing about is that it’s owned by mask-denying, covid-denying far right Trumpian conspiracists who defied public health orders, flooded their social media with culture war bullshit, and became a rallying point for every Bircher, Klansman and Qanon in the Valley.

I do mean “rallying point.” As Tinhorn Flats waged war — installing generators after its power was cut, removing the boards over the door, etc — it hosted weekly Sat gatherings of unmasked, unhinged conspiracists waving American flags and signs decrying “Hollywood pedos.”

They’re still out there, every Sat. If you’re one of the many people who comes to our great family owned grocery Handy Market (whose neon is better than Tinhorn’s!) for their weekly Saturday parking-lot BBQ, you’ve seen ’em, screaming about frazzledrip and “small business.”

They were there yesterday, between my stops at The Mystic Museum and Halloween Town, two of our three goth superstores (the third being Dark Delicacies) — Burbank will costume you, sell you an articulated bat skeleton and fill your bookshelves.

Then you can tour the museum-grade replica of the horror section at a 1980s video store:

https://www.themysticmuseum.com/slashback

and buy merchandise from a wholly hypothetical slasher summer-camp:

https://beardedladysmysticmuseum.square.site/#MJosnZ

It’s such an odd juxtaposition, to be walking around a neighborhood that is making a brave recovery from the lockdown, stopping in at these improbable, scrappy shops, and then walk past these superspreaders screaming in front of the chainlink-surrounded derelict bar.

But my first fully vaccinated Saturday stroll down Magnolia was rescued by a discovery at Halloween Town: the discovery of Round2’s “Haunted Manor” model kits, cheeky remakes of the classic “Zap/Action” MPC Haunted Mansion kits of the 1970s.

https://www.round2corp.com/?s=HAUNTED+MANOR&post_type=product&type_aws=true

The original models were from the high-water mark of Haunted Mansion merch, the era of the UV-paint-doped “changing portrait” cards, the magnificent board-game, and Randotti skulls, models and plaques.

http://www.hauntedmansion.com/spgm/index.php?spgmGal=Vintage_Collectibles&spgmPic=2#spgmPicture

They ingeniously incorporated rubber bands into their interiors to create pop-up effects, like a corpse that popped out a grave, causing the poor grave-digger to spin about. Between the kinetics, glow-in-the-dark plastic, and a good paint job, these were just fantastic.

Even if you never owned one of these kits, if you read comics in the 70s and early 80s, you can’t have missed their distinctive, brilliantly conceived full-page comics ads. Small wonder that these kits sell for stupid money in the secondary market.

The Take2 models (sold under the Polar Lights mark) are not quite replicas of the MPC models (presumably they couldn’t get a license), but they’re fabulous reinterpretations of the vintage designs and I love the renaming (i.e. ”Play It Again, Sam” becomes “Play It Again, Tom”).

Alas, I couldn’t find any sign of a Polar Lights remake of the MPC Zap/Action Pirates of the Caribbean models (whose ads were even better!).

https://pirates.fandom.com/wiki/Pirates_of_the_Caribbean_model_kits

After all that, I confess I didn’t buy the kits (though I may go back today and rectify that). My daily work-load is so high that I’m lucky if I can manage to carve out half an hour every couple days to read a book, let alone put together and paint a model.

But of all the aspirational hobbies I’m wishing I was engaging in, assembling these models tops the list. Building a “Grave Robber’s Demise” kit wouldn’t quite be a “nature is healing” moment, but I know it would give me joy.

In the meantime, I hope you get vaccinated, too — and if you’re ever in Burbank, be sure to patronize our wonderful indie stores (and don’t miss Iliad Bookshop, one of the great used bookstores of the region!).

PRomance - Part Three

Paring: Chris Evans x Famous Reader

Rating: PG

Word Count: 1,412

Warnings: Some swearing and mention of COVID-19

Description: Chris needs some good press. He convinces one of his closest friends to partake in a PRomance.

A/N: It has been, what, 84 years since I updated this story. I apologize. Like everyone, last year was tough. It was hard to find motivation to write. Hopefully, it won’t take me as long to update, but I can’t make any promises since I do have other fics that also need my attention. 

I do not permit my work to be to be posted on any other site without my permission.

Tag list:  @ccolz88-blog @katiew1973  @inlovewith3 @thevelvetseries​ @syms-things-5

When the paparazzi’s Valentine’s Day pictures of you and Chris were released to the media, everything was surprisingly calm. No major freak-outs. No major firestorms. The media was ecstatic at the prospect of a new celebrity couple they could fawn over. The fans of both stars appeared to rejoice at the pairing. Yes, some fans were upset and already pegged it as a PR relationship. But from what Megan had seen online, the overall consensus was that people were happy for you and Chris. It helped divert any negative attention Chris was getting for ASP.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 occurred, and the whole world seemed to stop. It was a crazy and scary time for everyone. Chris chose to quarantine in Massachusetts while you remained in Los Angeles to continue filming your daytime talk show. No longer were you filming the show on a sound stage, but now in your own home. Your crew had helped set up a special room in your home where you could film the show. It was a big adjustment. Especially since the show was in its first season.

You and Chris made sure to continue to keep the PRomance going during that time but kept it quiet and did not blast it everywhere. Which was easy since neither of you could go anywhere.

Once in a while, you both would appear on each other’s Instagram page, but it was sparingly. It was important to keep things minimal and not overblown.

The PRomance was only something to be brought up when you or Chris needed a PR boost. First-round went to Chris.

The second round would go to you. The show had been nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award, and a PR boost was needed to keep you in the news. Thankfully, it helped that Ellen DeGeneres was going through a scandal about certain behaviors behind the scenes. This had already given you a nice PR boost about people wanting you to take over Ellen’s spot as daytime’s new queen. However, you knew that was not enough.

You knew it was a risk asking Chris to travel during COVID, but thankfully, he agreed. He promised he would take extra precautions when traveling. Plus, Chris had already planned on traveling to L.A. to help Scott move out of his boyfriend’s apartment. In fact, it was one of Scott’s neighbors who snapped a picture of you and Chris moving boxes from the apartment, which quickly spread throughout social media. It was a nice reminder for fans and the media to view it as you two still together.

Of course, Scott knew the truth. “I love you both very much, but I neither of you can bullshit this bullshitter,” he said to Chris while you were outside arranging the boxes in the moving truck. “Now, I’m not judging either of you. I understand the Hollywood game. I simply worry about people like Mom, Carly, and Shanna getting too attached to the idea of you two dating. What’s going to happen when all this is over, huh? Hearts are going to be broken in this situation. It’s bound to happen. Someone is going to get hurt.”

“No one is going to get hurt. When the time is appropriate, I’ll explain everything to Ma, okay. She’ll understand. Carly and Shanna will understand as well,” Chris explained to his little brother, but Scott wasn’t so sure.

Scott spoke your name and asked about you. “What about her?” Chris asked, confused at where Scott was getting at.

He looked around to make sure that you weren’t nearby and said, “Chris…how can I put this lightly, but this whole PRomance is not going to end well. I just have this feeling that one of you will get hurt. If I were to place a bet, then it would on the woman outside taking the time to help me move. She is my friend too, and I don’t want to see her get hurt just because you need some PR everyone in a while to make sure people realize that you are still around since you are no longer Captain America.”

Chris was stunned by Scott’s words. “Wow. That was pretty fucking harsh.”

Scott sighed. “I…okay, that last part was fucking rude of me to say. I’m sorry. But the rest I stand by. Don’t fuck this up, Chris.” And with that, Scott walked out of the apartment and joined you in the truck.

Later that week, you and Chris would have your second official PRomance outing. It would be simple: a walk in the park.

In truth, neither wanted to stay behind to help Scott unpack his things at Chris’s house.  

As Chris remembers, he held your hand “waffle style” and led you to an area on the grace that looked secluded.

“I’m tired,” Chris said, yawning and covering his eyes with his arm. You laid down next to him, keeping a good distance between each other.

“I’m tired too. I miss being around people, Chris. I’m miss doing the show in front of a live audience. It is not the same filming at home. I’m sick of Zoom,” you ranted. Lately, everything was upsetting you. It was a depressing time for everyone. But you knew that you were fortunate to still be able to do what you loved to do: entertaining people. You still had your home and a steady income. While others were not as lucky.

“I fucking hate Zoom. It makes everything so awkward,” Chris replied, and he turned his body towards you. He took off his mask since there were no other people around. You did the same.

He reached his arm towards you and began to stroke your hair. Without thinking too much, you scooted over to him and nestled under his arm. You laid your head on his chest while he continued to stroke your hair. It felt nice being close to someone. That is what you both were missing during these times, the closeness with other people. Affection. Intimacy.

You both stayed like that for a while. Neither knew how long time passed until Chris felt buzzing in his pants. It was his phone, and most likely Scott calling him.

“Scott?” you confirmed, looking up at Chris.

He reached for his phone, and low and behold, it was Scott texting that he needed help.

“We should get back, or else nothing is going to get unpacked,” said Chris with a sigh. It had been a week since Scott moved into his home and still had boxes everywhere.

“Give him a break. He is going through a breakup. It is the worst time to go through a breakup. Scott needs our support. Come on, get up,” you uttered, getting up and brushing the grass off of your clothes. You grabbed Chris’s arm and pulled him as well.

“We should stop by the liquor store and pick up some pizza on the way back,” you suggested to Chris as you both walked back to his car.

When you both made it back to Chris’s house, Scott was crying on the couch watching the ‘Notebook.’

“No!” you yelled out. “Not the ‘Notebook,’ Scott. That doesn’t help anyone.”

“I’m in mourning! Don’t judge me!” Scott yelled back. “Is that pizza?”

“You get pizza if you turn off the movie. Come on, we are going to skip the ‘Notebook’ phase of the breakup. Let’s move on to the ‘Steel Magnolias’ phase, which is a much better phase. We’ll still cry but also laugh.”

“I vote for ‘Steel Magnolias’ phase too,’ Chris piped in the pizza boxes on the kitchen counter and got out the blender. “I’ll make the margaritas.”

The park pictures were met with mixed emotions from the media and fans. One side found the pictures adorable. The other side was upset that you two were out walking the streets during these trying times. Unfortunately, it appeared that the critical side was louder this time around.

Thankfully, the negative press didn’t hinder you from winning your first Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host. By July, and after a long time of delays, A Starting Point was finally launched to decent reviews. Chris was happy. You were happy. Neither of you knew where to go from there. Would the PRomance come to an end? Was it still needed since both of you got what you wanted out of the arrangement? Or was it something you both were willing to still put on?

San Francisco playlist

San Francisco  - my favorite city in the world! The bands, the music, the songs are all here, in this playlist I created. I threw in a bit of Sac and went south by San Jose, Monterrey and up past Sausalito. Can we make it to 250 songs? Let me know what bands/songs I left out.

Have I left out a song or a band in this San Francisco playlist? Let me know! Cheers! 

Play the songs here at this link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-iHPcxymC1-HLG9q5rZLsqs8EYh6bhu- San Francisco

001 The Dillinger Escape Plan w/Mike Patton -  When Good Dogs Do Bad Things 002 Night flight Orchestra - California Morning 003 Quincy Jones - Call Me Mister Tibbs OST (Main Title) 004 James Taylor Quartet - Dirty Harry theme song 005 Faith No More - Seperation anxiety 006 Streets of San Francisco TV show theme song 007 Santana -  Evil Ways 008 High on Fire -  Electric Messiah 009 Metallica - Disposable Heroes 010 Hammers Of Misfortune -  Dead Revolution 011 Buddy Guy -  Hello San Francisco 012 Faith No More - Jungle 013 Isaac Hayes - Shaft 014 Orange Peels  - Back In San Francisco 015 Idris Ackamoor and the Pyramids - Message To My People 016 Thee Oh Sees - The Dream 017 Merle Haggard - Here In Frisco 018 Audrey Horne -  California 019 Journey -  Lights 020 Death Angel -  Hatred United / United Hate 021 Mel Tor Me - Got The Date On The Golden Gate 022 Duke Ellington -  Tourist Point Of View 023 Sons of Anarchy  - This Life (Sons of Anarchy Theme Song) 024 Larry Graham's Central Station - Earthquake 025 LARD - I Wanna Be A Drug Sniffing Dog 026 Machine Head -  California Bleeding 027 Neurosis -  The Doorway 028 KING WOMAN - Utopia 029 Lalo Schifrin - Magnum Force OST  Main Title 030 Forbidden -  Adapt Or Die 031 DBUK - In San Francisco Bay 032 Jack Name - Werewolf Factory 033 John Carpenter - Theme from "The Fog" 034 Khiis - Saboor 035 Richie Havens -  San Francisco Bay Blues 036 Metallica - Battery 037 Autopsy - charred remains 038 ExTREMITY_-_Crepuscular_Crescendo 039 The Otherside -  Streetcar 040 Quincy Jones - Ironside (TV Theme) 041 Megadeth -  Back in the Day 042 Sly and the Family Stone - Stand! 043 Faith No More -  From Out of Nowhere 044 Willie Hutch-Vampin (The Mack OST 045 Orchid -  Mouths Of Madness 046 Lalo Schifrin - Bullitt OST - On The Way To San Mateo 047 Vince Guaraldi - Woodstock's Dream 048 Fantomas -  4-11-05 049 Violation Wound - Fearmonger + State of Alarm 050 Primus - Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweekers 051 The Flower Pot Men - Let's Go to San Francisco (Part.1-2) 052 Bosse-de-Nage - Crux 053 Rod McKuen - The Beat Generation 054 Dionne Warwick - Do You Know The Way To San Jose 055 The Watchers - Sabbath Highway 056 Possessed - the eyes of horror 057 Scott McKenzie – San Francisco (Be Sure to wear flowers) 058 Tower Of Power -  Oakland Stroke 059 Big Trouble In Little China OST - Pork chop express 060 Vio-lence -  Calling In The Coroner 061 Black Oak Arkansas - The Big Ones Still Coming 062 Mr. Bungle - Love Is a Fist 063 VUUR -  The Fire - San Francisco 064 Testament - The Haunting 065 Electronicat - Frisco Bay 066 Y&T - Mean Streak 067 Thee Oh Sees -  Toe Cutter/Thumb Buster 068 Sweet - California Nights - Promo Clip (OFFICIAL) 069 Sadus - Swallowed In Black 070 Chuck Berry - San Francisco Dues 071 Sammy Hagar - Keep on rockin' 072 Fuzz -  Sleigh Ride 073 Otis Redding - Sittin' on The Dock of the Bay 074 Pleasure Leftits - The Gate 075 BL'AST - Sometimes 076 Santana - Samba de Sausalito 077 Acephalix - Upon This Altar 078 Sun Ra    - Lady With The Golden Stockings 079 Chris Isaak - San Francisco Days 080 Pointer Sisters - How Long (Betcha' Got A Chick On The Side) 081 High On Fire -  Carcosa 082 Will Haven -  When The Walls Close In 083 The Coup -  Laugh/Love/Fuck 084 King Khan - Teeth Are Shite 085 Deafheaven -  Irresistible 086 Glitter Wizard -  Blood of the Serpent 087 Jefferson Airplane -  It's No Secret 088 Cannonball Adderley - This Here 089 The Warlocks -  Can't Come Down 090 Squirmy Sax Man - I Still Believe 091 Acid King - Coming Down from Outer Space 092 George Duke - Sausalito 093 The Lost Boys - Cry Little Sister (Theme From The Lost Boys OST) 094 Betty Davis - [They Say I'm Different] He Was a Big Freak 095 Fever Tree - San Francisco Girls 096 The Dillinger Escape Plan w/ Mike Patton -  Pig Latin 097 Build Them to Break - Lucky Strike 098 Montrose - Rock Candy 099 PRIMUS - THE TOYS GO WINDING DOWN 100 Joe Satriani - Big Bad Moon 101 Sleater Kinney - Jumpers 102 GRUESOME - Dimensions Of Horror 103 Sly & the Family Stone - Everday People 104 Huey Lewis and the News - Back in Time 105 Hammers Of Misfortune - 2 17th Street 106 Jerry Fielding - Prologue _ Main Title (The Enforcer OST) 107 Metal Church - The Dark 108 Deftones - Ohms 109  John Lee Hooker - Frisco Blues 110 DRI - Go Die 111 16th & Valencia Roxy Music- Devendra Banhart, What We Will Be 112 MC Hammer - Too Legit to Quit 113 Dead Kennedys-Police Truck 114 Rancid - Adina 115 San Francisco's Shiver - Up My Sleeve 116 Bernard Herrmann - Vertigo OST - The Bay 117 Faith No More - Last Cup Of Sorrow 118 Blackburn & Snow -  Stranger In a Strange Land 119 The Doobie Brothers - What A Fool Believes 120 The Grateful Dead - Sugar Magnolia 121 Cab Calloway - San Francisco Fan 122 The Charlatans - codine 123 Buck Owens - Want To Live In San Francisco 124 Sleep - Dragonaut 125 Death Angel - 5 Steps Of Freedom 126 Neil Young - Heart of Gold 127 Vastum -  Reveries in Autophagia 128 Dead Kennedys -  Moon Over Marin 129 EchoBrain -  Colder World 130 Riz Ortolani    - Lombard Street   131 Waylon Jennings - San Francisco Mabel Joy   132 Con Funk Shun - Confunkshunizeya 133 Chic - Hes the Greatest Dancer 134 Peace Creep - Radio Free Alcatraz   135 ABBA - Santa Rosa 136 Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks - San Fransisco 137 Together Band - California Curl California Girl 138 The Hellers - It's 74 In San Francisco 139 Pat Todd - No Place Like Home 140 Nancy Wilson - I'm Always Drunk In San Francisco (And I Don't Drink At All) 141 Anathema -  San Francisco 142 Blue Cheer -  Fool 143 Exhumed - Gravewalker 144 Darondo - Let My People Go 145 Exodus -  Blood In Blood Out 146 Lalo Schifrin Dirty Harry OST - Scorpios Theme   147 Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues 148 Wild Light - California on my mid 149 Herbie Hancock - Man-child -  Hang Up Your Hang Ups 150 Fantomas -  Spider Baby 151 The Lord Weird Slough Feg -  Headhunter 152 The Animals - San Franciscan Nights 153 Twilight - Dance with Me 154 THE POINTER SISTERS - Yes We Can Can 155 Residents - Hello Skinny 156 CCR HEADCLEANER - Eat This Riff 157 LEON WARE  - Thats Why I Came To California 158 Creedence Clearwater Revival - I Put A Spell On You 159 Comorant - The First Man 160 Bosse-de-Nage  - The Trench 161 Hell Fire - Free Again   162 Riz Ortolani  - Golden Gate Bridge 163 Fleetwood Mac - You Make Loving Fun 164 Uther Pendragon - San Francisco Earthquake 165 Melvins - Zodiac 166 La Luz - California Finally 167 The Wyatt Act - Push 168 Santana - Soul Sacrifice 169 Cheap Trick - On the Radio 170 Electric Wizard -  Venus In Furs 171 Led Zeppelin -  Misty Mountain Hop 172 Tommy Castro - Callin' San Francisco 173 Viscious Rumors - Digital Dictator 174 Ghoul-Off With Their Heads 175 Diesel - Sausalito Summernight (Single Version) 176 Sheila E - A Love Bizarre 177 Starship - Nothings Gonna Stop Us Now 178 Jeffry Osboune - I Really Don't Need No Light 179 Nazareth -  Alcatraz 180 Freak of Nature - Rescue Me 181 Metallica - Crash Course In Brain Surgery 182 10000 Maniacs - Hey Jack Kerouac 183 Faith No More -  Get Out 184  URSA -  Wizard's Path 185 Jefferson Airplane - Aerie (Gang of Eagles) 186 Tower of Power - Just Enough and Too Much 187 Fred Hughes - san francisco is a lonely town 188 Mamaleek - Eating Unblessed Meat 189 Moby Grape - Naked If I Want To 190 Exodus - Metal Command 191 Pig Destroyer - Alcatraz Metaphors 192 the Donnas - You Make Me Hot 193 Hot Tuna - True Religion 194 Heathen - Opiate of the Masses 195 Fanny - Come and Hold Me 196 Sadus - Hands Of Fate 197 Negative Trend - Meathouse 198 Forbidden - Forbidden Evil 199 Spazz - Crush Kill Destroy 200 Testament - The Preacher 201 HEXX - Morbid Reality 202 Vio-Lence - Phobophobia 203 Dead Kennedys - One Way Ticket To Pluto 204 Tom Waits - Get Behind The Mule 205 CRETIN - It 206 RAMONES - Judy Is A Punk 207 Full House - Intro 208 Willie Alexander and the Boom Boom Band - Kerouac 209 Primus - Dirty Drowning Man 210 Wooden Shjips -  Motorbike 211 The Tony Williams Lifetime Ego - Clap City 212 Middle of the Road - Sacramento (A Wonderful Town) 213 Green Day - At the Library 214 Slayer -  Gemini 215 Tetema - Cutlass Eye 216 Defiance - Death Machine 217 Brisco County Jr theme 218 Doug McKechnie - Crazy Ray 219 Ulthar - Furnace Hibernation 220 Mr. Bungle -  ANARCHY UP YOUR ANUS 221 Dirty Ghosts  - Let It Pretend 222 They Might Be Giants - San Francisco (In Situ) 223 Metallica - The Shortest Straw 224 OM - Unitive Knowledge of the Godhead 225 Laaz Rockit - City's Gonna Burn 226 Autopsy - Skullptures 227 Mordred - Spectacle of Fear 228 Sly & the Family Stone - Luv N' Haight 229 Possessed - Seven Churches 230 Machine Head - The Rage to Overcome 231 Thelonius Monk - San Francisco Holiday 232 The Units - The Mission Is Bitchin 233 Del Tha Funkee Homosapien - Mistadobalina 234 Arnocorps - Dead lift 235 The Grateful Dead - The Golden Road 236 DRI - All for nothing 237 Jim Martin - Disco dust 238 Thee Oh Sees - I come from the mountain 239 Death Angel - Discontinued 240 Starship - We Built This City 241 Captured! by Robots - Endless Circle of Bullshit 242 Pins Of Light - My revenge 243 Sun Ra - We Travel the Spaceways 244 Faith No More - caffeine 245 David Lee Roth - Just like paradise 246 San Francisco Fog Horns by Golden Gate Bridge 247 Abscess - Tormented 248 Mortuous - Bitterness 249 Dead Kennedy's - California uber alles 250 Twitch Angry - San Francisco 666 Neurosis - Water Is Not Enough

So, hop on a cable car, grab ice cream at Swenson’s or bark back at the seals down by Pier 39. Catch a Bear’s game at Berkeley and do some squirmy sax moves in the Haight after you down some beers at the Toronado and play my San Fran playlist! Here are the songs in the link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-iHPcxymC1-HLG9q5rZLsqs8EYh6bhu-

I was tagged by @megsamforever

Five songs I’ve been listening to on repeat lately:

Deal with It by Ashnikko

Cloud 9 by beach bunny ft. Tegan and Sara

Hate Me Sometimes by Stand Atlantic

Never Coming Home by Point North

Back on My Bullshit by Magnolia Park

Currently watching: I’m like 1/4 of the way through S3 of Hannibal, but I’m mostly taking a break from television to work on crafts. 

Last movie: Twister. Classic, I rewatch it at least once a year. 

Currently reading: Mostly Harry Potter fanfiction at the moment, though I am making my (slow) way through The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware. 

I’m tagging @eyeslikeonyx, @neaislove, @chickadeeee, @plasticviolets, @dougiehamsandwich, and anyone else who wants to do it. (pls tag me so i can see your answers!)