#//also now you know where that music comes from

[keen-li]

What you need | 03

Synopsis: everybody needs, but how do you define need? Do you even know what you need.

Genre: best friends au, angst, fluff, smut, slow burn.

Jungkook x femreader.

wc: 4.9k

Prev | next

-

Jungkook completed the end of his deal, now it’s your turn.

Your shoulders and eyebrows rise in unison as you walk into the moderately lit large space. Your eyes glance over all the arranged equipment and you can’t help but frown at yourself.

Your jean, turtle neck and black blazer outfit contradict the environment you’re in. You look so out of place that it warrants some unwanted eyes, but it could also be to the fact that you look lost.

The place is so intimidating, you feel like a little doe in a room full of lions. You wonder why they are so many men in here. You swear it was an all-gender gym.

You’ve seen this gym before but because you’ve never stepped foot into it, you barely know the layout or the rules.

The girl at the reception looked at you weird when she saw your outfit.

‘’do you have a membership?’’ she asks unamused, for whatever reason.

‘’no, I’m actually here to see a friend’’ you don’t care for a membership, with the way you walk around at work that’s enough working out for you.

‘’well that’s not how it works you need a membership to enter’’ she says matter-of-factly. You can’t help but notice how bitchy she sounds.

‘’i-well I’m not here to workout’’  i don’t know if you could tell.

She just stares at you and you stare back.

You can’t help but sigh and roll your eyes.

All this trouble just to be where you don’t want to be.

You guess that’s how jungkook felt when you had to style him and his hair for his date. But he did it anyways, and so do you. you don’t know how you’re gonna pass those doors though.

You could bolt through when someone who has a membership walks in, jungkook would laugh at that story. But you don’t want any bad blood or embarrass yourself with getting kicked out.

So you do the only thing you can do.

Call jungkook and cancel.

‘’i can’t kook because i don’t have a membership ‘’ you whine turning to squint at the girl at the reception. She looks like the type that’s bitchy cause she’s worked here for so long.

The corner of your upper lip twitches.

‘’i told her she should let you in when you come’’ he sounds so breathy ‘’did you tell her you’re here to see me’’

‘’nope but i told her I’m here to see a friend’’ you hear him chuckle. You can’t help but feel like he’s mocking you.

‘’tell her your name and that your here to see jungkook’’ his laugh dies down.

You scoff and roll your eyes. This is too much work.

‘’and how am i guaranteed that she’ll let me in?’’ you question with a little sass in your tone which jungkook catches. He always does.

‘’she will, trust me’’

jungkook knows you can be awkward, nervous and anxious in new situations. And since he knew you couldn’t walk in without a membership, he called in a favour from his good friend Liz. The woman you’re currently having a one-sided feud with.

You hum before the call is cut. And with your tail in between your legs you walk to the reception.

She stares at you ready for your words.

‘’i’m here for jungkook’’ you almost murmur almost too low for ears to catch

‘’your name?’’ you groan, how hard can she makes this for you. Being here dressed like a billionaire single mom here to see her son is embarrassing enough.

‘’y/n’’ you say tucking in your lips.

‘’okay you can go in’’

You release the breath you didn’t know you were holding.

So it was that easy, you slap yourself mentally. You give her one last look, as if apologising for overreacting.

Your heeled boots clink against the clean white floors. You’re glad the gym noises and music drown out your heels and banging hearts.

You look around for where jungkook texted you he’d be.

At the end with the dark windows.

Wooow. If only he knew how many ends had dark windows. You curse as you continue walking. You jump over rolling dumbbells and duck people doing pullups. Is this what being at the gym is:

Playing Mario kart.

You gasp when a figure bumps into you.

‘’im sorry i didn’t see you there’’ he turns.

And you couldn’t believe your eyes.

‘’hoseok? What the fuck are you doing here?’’ you once over him in his gym outfit. You never had seeing hoseok in the gym or sweaty on your bingo card.

‘’working out,duh’’ he gives you a look ‘’ i should be asking you the same, but looking at your outfit i don’t think you’re here to workout’’ his eyes glance you over, he saw you wearing this outfit at work today and he doesn’t know if he’s ever going to tell you how much this outfit doesn’t look so bad on you.

You can’t help but feel small under his intense gaze.

‘’i’m not. Just here to see a friend’’

He nods, not really caring. ‘’enjoy your workout’’ you say as he turns away.

You roll your eyes at how he just hums.

You never thought of hoseok as the gym type but you guess he didn’t get that figure for free. Maybe you should get to the gym too, hoseok was pretty much telling you that with his eyes anyways.

Now back to finding jungkook.

“yn’’ you were walking around aimlessly when a familiar voice calls out your name.

Oh that’s the end he was talking about. Honestly it looks the same with the others, except for the large punching bag hanging for the ceiling.

Your eyes are met with a smiling jungkook as you giddily walk over to him, you have to physically stop yourself from skipping.

Seeing jungkook is always comforting and peaceful.

His curly hair falls loosely on his face. It still shocks you how fast his hair grows.

His black t-shirt falls baggy over the his fern green cargo pants, you remember gifting him those when you were starting off your friendship. You didn’t know what to get him for his birthday cause you didn’t know him that well. So you just got him those pants with a hoodie. He was very appreciative. You would say you’re a better gift giver now, cause you know what he likes.

You walk over to him and his eyes don’t leave you as you approach.

You’re about to open your mouth to greet him and scold him for bad direction, but you’re shushed when his hands wrap around you and lift you off the ground. You use his shoulder for balance. The action takes you by surprise cause jungkook’s has never carried you like that, but you’ve never visited him at the gym as well.

As he sets you down you realise how nice it feels to be carried. His  hands don’t leave your waist as you look up at him.

‘’i like your outfit, but i thought you’d dress more...’’ his eyes look around and you understand what he means.

‘’i came here immediately after work kook, so i didn’t get to change’’ you stare down at your outfit with a pout. he licks his lips as he nods accepting your reason.

The close proximity causes you to see jungkook in another angle, a very good one at that. Your nose takes in his scent, even though you can smell the sweat it doesn’t bother you cause it somehow mixes with his cologne and forms a scent so masculine you wanna drown in it.

‘’plus i came here to watch you workout’’ you push him away at the chest and jungkook moves away, not offended at all. ‘’not me’’

As he moves away he realizes how carried away he got with the feeling of you being close. Having you look up at him like you just did makes his heart rate faster than exercise.

‘’i hear you chicken’’ he grins and you raise a brow at his new nickname for you.

He tries to play of the feeling of being enamoured by your scent.

‘’chicken?’’

‘’yeah chicken’’

‘’and why is that?’’ you fold your arms over your chest.

‘’because you failed to get past Liv’’

The receptionist? You roll your eyes. He can’t tease you for this cause he knows you get anxious and your brain stops working.

‘’you can’t bla-‘’

‘’chicken’’ he sing-songs swinging his head side to side as he puts his boxing gloves on.

You roll your eyes, he’s not going to stop teasing you with that.

‘’so am i a chicken or bunny’’ you take a seat on the bench next to his things, you know cause you recognize the scent.

‘’i think....’’ he pretends to think as he walk over and towers over you.

And in a low voice and flicking your chin he says ‘’...you’re mine’’

You’re taken aback by his words and it causes a tingle in your stomach. Yoiu brush off the feeling as a normal human reaction to being taken aback.

‘’i’m just joking, look at your face’’ he lets out a chuckle and so do you, but yours is more awkward.

‘’i think you’re more a bunny’’ he walks back ‘’that’s why i call you bunny’’

You just stay silent with your words not knowing what to say, you don’t think, or want to think any of it cause that’s how jungkook jokes. But it’s been a while since you’ve heard him joke like that, maybe it’s cause you were in a relationship with yunho. But now you’re not so he brings back his teasing.

That’s how he is, you can’t think more of it.

‘’oh i forgot to introduce you to yoongi’’ he says calling you from the abyss of you mind.

‘’ yn this is yoongi my boxing partner’’ he turns to you. ‘’and yoongi this is my good friend yn’’

You wave at yoongi and give him a warm smile, he simply raise his hand and mumbles out a hi.

With the way he doesn’t smile at you, you think he’s probably not fond of watchers or maybe it’s just you.

‘’you missed the warmup, but you can watch the first round’’ he informs. You hum still not used to the environment. your heart begins to quicken but you try to ignore it as you see them getting ready to start.

‘’you’re not going to wear head gear or something’’ they both laugh out and make you sound like a noob.

‘’it’s okay to take a hit or two raw sometimes, princess’’ new nickname unlocked.

You don’t know if the jk in the gym is the same one you know. He seems more cocky and ... flirty, nothing you can’t handle. Just not used to it.

You sit back and shut your mouth. You don’t want to say something and not seem like you know what you’re talking about.

‘’i’m not going to take it easy on you just cause your girl’s here ‘’ yoongi fixes his glove.

‘’i don’t need you to take it easy on me.‘’ jungkook husks out, eyes lowered and fists prepared.

Your scent grazes jungkook’s senses in that moment and he loves how, in addition to your perfume, you’ve been smelling like lavender lately.

The lavender scent is like a fuel for him.

Yoongi throws a punch and jungkook is almost met with it before he dodges it.

He grins as he licks his teeth. That would’ve been a bad way to start.

He’s tryna get you to like boxing, he can’t if he’s losing.

You’re sat shit scared in your seat as you watch jungkook almost get hit. You can’t handle this, and you just started.

Jungkook throws a punch but yoongi blocks.

Grunts, curses and smacks echo in the room as jungkook and yoongi go at it. No one’s taken a hit yet but that only makes your anxiety rise. Why does he have to have you here.

A form of motivation.

 A reminder of his strength.

That’s why jungkook boxes.

 He’s loved it ever since he was a child. He’s father had him in a class for a month before his mother said it was dangerous. If only his mother was willing to watch him box like you.

But you aren’t willing, you’re just on obligation.

‘’that was a light round’’ you hear him say out of breathe. The way he breathes and the way sweat drips down his face as he does so has your heart beating carelessly, and it shouldn’t.

You cross your legs as you watch him wipe his sweat off with his shirt.

‘’YN’’ he calls your name out aggressively.

‘’huh?’’ you come back from where you went.

‘’i said are you good, do you want water’’

You shake your head at the water.

‘’im fine.’’ You’re not. The room feels hot even though it’s an open space with air conditioning.

You wonder how much jungkook pays for that membership.

‘’good. Now time for round 3’’

Your eyes bulge out at his words.

‘’round 3?’’

Jungkook turns to you with knitted brows and laughs at then shock on your face. From your body language and eyes he can see how tired you look. You’ve been at work and it’s not fair for him to keep you here for over 45 minutes, when his date didn’t even last a quarter of that.

‘’i promise this is the last round then we can go home, okay?’’

You nod and lean back taking in the fact that you have to stay here longer. It’s getting late out and you wonder why the gym isn’t closing but then it clicks that it’s a 24hr gym.

If jungkook wanted he would stay here the whole night. Gym bros.

You stare at your gym bro analysing, there’s something different about jungkook. You wouldn’t place him as a gym bro, maybe because you know him outside the gym and he’s your friend.

But its nice and warms your heart to watch him do what he loves.

In the past two rounds not much has happened except for the hits yoongi had to take from jungkook. You found yourself unintentionally cheering, you wonder why it didn’t bother you seeing jungkook hit someone but the thought of.......

Bang.

That’s all you hear until your gasping, the blood drains from your face.

Yoongi just hit jungkook. Your mind is racing like a soccer mom until you see jungkook recover, still doesn’t help the ache in your heart.

You know it’s just a friendly game, but yoongi is really making a bad impression for himself.

The way yoongi throws another punch has you cringing in your seat.

This is torture.

For jungkook this is motivation, he blocks the third punch that comes his way.

No way he’s gonna let yoongi smack him a third time. Fuck no.

With determination filling him, he throws rapid smacks and punches. He continues until all yoongi can do is block.

‘’time out, time out, time out’’ yoongi calls out and jungkook ceases his throws. He smirks knowing he’s won.

‘’that wasn’t a win jeon’’

‘’it sure was’’ he chuckles out. ‘’what do you think bunny, did i win?’’

He turns to an exhausted looking you.

You have no opinions let alone knowledge on these things.

‘’what i think...’’ you make a dramatic pause ‘’ is that it’s time to go home’’

Jungkook scoffs as he rolls his eyes at you.

‘’fine’’ he starts taking off his gloves and bandages and nobody as ever looked hotter doing something mundane ‘’since you’re tired we’ll end it here’’

‘’how caring of you’’ you murmur.

He grabs his bag and you stand finally glad that this is over.

‘’it was nice beating you yoongi, see you later’’

Yoongi scoffs at him.

‘’it was nice meeting you yn, even though we didn’t talk much’’ he says instead.

You chuckle un-enthuastically. ‘’it was nice meeting you too, maybe we can talk when you’re not punching each other’’

You both awkwardly laugh at that.

You and jungkook walk out the gym doors as fast as light, mainly cause you’re pushing him out the door.

You walk a little slower to his car in the parking lot.

‘’you wanna drive?’’ he stretches his keys out to you but you shake your head so fast as you run to the passenger’s seat.

‘’chicken’’ he says as he opens the doors.

You’re sat and the warm air from the air conditioner pushes out the cold Seoul night air.

‘’did you enjoy?’’ his bellow voice speaks as he drives: one hand on the steering and the other on his thigh.

You turn your body to him, head still resting on the car seat and body relaxed. And as you stare at him your eyes almost closing you can’t help but think whether he looks hotter driving or boxing with yoongi.

‘’i enjoyed watching you do what you love’’

Watching him box, even though it was torture, was heart-warming. Cause even though you’ve been friends for long, there’s still somethings that you need to know and understand about each other.

‘’do you wanna watch me do it agai-‘’ he smiles but your abrupt voice interrupts him.

‘’nope.’’ You shake your head ‘’i never want to do that again’’ your head leave it’s comfortable position.

He chuckles and licks his lip. Your brows knit when you hear him hiss at the cut on the corner of his lip.

‘’you okay?’’

Jungkook’s confused at your question and when his turns to stare at you he’s met with your thumb on his wound.

‘’does it hurt?’’ you ask worried. Jungkook tries to keep his eyes on the road but his head turned to you.

‘’just stings’’ he speaks your thumb caressing his lip.

You don’t realiz but jungkook does, the way you caress his lip and stare at it makes the air tense.

‘’i’m okay yn’’ he wraps his hand around your wrist, and it’s nothing more than a warm and gentle touch ‘’but, you’re gonna make me crash’’

You were so focused on him that you didn’t realize he was driving. You feel stupid you don’t even know why you got carried away.

‘’oh, sorry’’ you abruptly move your hand away. Jungkook’s hand leaves yours almost like he didn’t want you to stop. But he lets it drop anyways, now he has both hands on the steering.

You fold your arms and let the silence sink in.

‘’who was that guy you were talking to’’ you give him a confused hum. ‘’in the gym’’

‘’uh, hoseok?’’

‘’hoseok? Isn’t that the collegue you say is a pain in your ass’’

‘’yep, but i think im a pain in his too’’ you chuckle ‘’were even’’

Jungkook shrugs.

‘’i was actually surprised to see him in the gym’’ jungkook watches you ponder on something ‘’but i guess he didn’t get that body from bossing me around’’

Jungkook looks at that lost look on your face.

‘’looks like someone has a crush’’ jungkook melodies out.

‘’heck no’’ you puff out ‘’ the last person i’d have a crush on is hoseok. He’s attractive of course but a crush is going too far’’ you argue.

‘’you think he’s attractive?’’ his voice lowers.

‘’yeah i do’’ you spit out reluctantly and watch the look on Jungkook’s face.

‘’what?’’

‘’you have a crush on him, yn’’

You scoff. ‘’i don’t have a crush on him’’ you argue. ‘’if i had a crush on everyone i found attractive, i’d have a crush on you’’ you spit out without thinking, you kinda regret saying that.

‘’i dont know if i should be offended or honored’’ jungkook chuckles.

You want to add on but his words cut you off.

‘’we’re here’’

You turn out the window and see the familiar building you haven’t seen in a while.

‘’kook, you were supposed to take me home’’ you whine.

‘’it’s the weekend, stay at mine. It’s been a while since you’ve visited me.’’ It’s almost like he’s begging you and it cause you a little smugness.

You ponder not needing much motivation anyways. ‘’okay’’

Jungkook’s surprised that you’ve accepted so easily but little does he know that you’ve been wanting an excuse to leave your house, too many pieces of yunho left around. Plus, you’ve missed you and jungkook’s little sleepovers.

‘’but i’m getting the bed’’ you declare.

‘’you’re gonna have to fight me on that one princess’’

You loved jungkook’s bed, there was something so soft and comforting about it. Maybe it’s the fluffy beddings and the fact that it smells like him.

-

When jungkook turns the lights on you realize how long it’s been and how you’ve missed the warm and homey feel of his home. Maybe it’s just because you’re finally in a place that has nothing to do with yunho.

The warm feeling in your heart extends to your skin.

Contrary to you’d thought before you met him, Jungkook’s house has a feminine and floral scent to it. Which creates a soft ambience (with the help from the light colours of his walls.)

he slumps himself on his couch, manspreading everywhere.

You place your purse on his minimalistic, white modern kitchen table.

You grunt as you slump down next to him, bodies only centimetres away from each other.

His body immediately turns to you as you sit.

‘’your house hasn’t changed one bit’’ you say and he looks around.

‘’yeah, i’m not that creative. It needs a woman’s touch’’ turns to you and you shift in your seat.

‘’you still have the plants I gifted you’’ you turn to the short three leafed one by the hallway the small one on his coffee table and the large ceiling touching one at the corner of the couch (which was a pain in the ass toe move in, for jungkook and jimin)

‘’they look healthy’’

 jungkook looks at you as you admire how attentive he’s been to your gift.

‘’yeah, i’m a great plant dad’’

You both smile.

And for a few minutes there’s a comfortable silence as you stare at each other. Nothing but smiles around, it’s almost awkward for some reason.

‘’are you sure your lip only stings’’ you go back to being worried about how it’s starting to bruise.

‘’i actually forgot it was there’’ he says softly as his fingers caress it and you watch every move he makes.

You watch him look at his fingers checking for any blood. There’s none and it cause a smile on his face, yours too.

You awkwardly and quickly move your eyes away when he lifts his eyes to look at you.

‘’you should put some petroleum jelly on it’’ you lecture out as you clear your throat.

Jungkook smiles.

‘’will do after i take a shower’’ he stands and your eyes follow him.

‘’do you wanna like..’’ he points between the both of you.

‘’ew, fuck not jungkook’’ you choke out.

‘’come on, we’ve done it before’’ he defends arms open.

‘’that was at the public beach shower and jimin and willoe were there too’’

‘’that doesn’t change anything’’ he grins sarcastically.

You roll your eyes.

You and jungkook are comfortable with eachother but you don’t think it’s that far that you can shower together. Naked.

You wouldn’t be able to do that, feels like crossing a line.

‘’go take a shower i’ll wait’’ you shoo him away.

Jungkook doesn’t argue and watches you pull out your phone.

He was only joking about the shower thing anyways, he hopes he doesn’t make you uncomfortable

But your legs on his couch make you look more than comfortable.

It makes him happy to watch you relax especially with what happened with your boyfriend, well ex now. That’s why he’s been trying to get you out and forget about it.

‘’pick a movie’’ he tells you before he leaves.

-

‘’i can’t believe how tight these shorts have become’’ you walk into the living room with the shorts you left at his house 6 months ago and one of his grey t-shirts.

Jungkook watches the subject of your concern. He doesn’t mean to but he’s got eyes. He watches the shorts you wore 6 months ago at your sleepovers and he can’t help but notice how they wrap tightly around your thighs, accentuating your curves.

‘’they don’t look bad right?’’ you frown.

And all jungkook can find to do is shake his head.

‘’as long as you’re comfortable’’ he can’t seem to move his eyes away from you.

‘’shockingly they’re still comfortable’’

You take a seat close to him and your shirt (well his) rolls over your thighs lightly.

‘’what snacks did you get’’ you lean over to the coffee table and Jungkook’s  eyes move with your body.

He can’t help but think of how a loser yunho is for letting you go. But you’ll find someone better than him. Someone who cares about you and will  take care of you like you deserve.

Jungkook coughs out causing your brows to frown.

He honestly doesn’t know why he’s behaving like this. It’s just you he shouldn’t be acting this way.

The air seems a little bit different ever since you and yunho broke up. As much as you’re still the same girl he’s known these years, same one who denies herself of good things and thinks any of these guys are good for her-ugh it pisses him off for whatever reason-

Whatever.

As much as you’re still the same girl, you just seem different nowadays and he doesn’t like it. Makes an uncomfortable feeling brew in his chest.

‘’you good?’’ you raise a brow at him.

‘’huh?’’ he sounds so dumb right now.

‘’you’re staring at me all weird’’ you give him an awkward smile and stuff your face with some snacks.

‘’yeah i was hoping you feel my glare for making me go on that date’’ he turns to the movie and grabs a can of beer.

A little beer sprits onto your thigh as he opens it. He quickly reaches out to wipe it and mumbles an apology.

Little goosebumps form on your skin at the touch and you shift in your seat.

‘’i was meaning to ask, how did it go?” you try to keep a relaxed tone.

‘’boring’’

You scoff.

‘’how was it boring? I picked the best’’ you lean your elbow against the couch to get a better look at him.

‘’you did, but she wasn’t my type’’

‘’has your type changed cause, last time i checked she’s definitely your type’’ you narrow your eyes at him.

You watch a smile grow on his face and one does on yours too.

‘’see? She is your type’’ you slap his shoulder and laugh.

‘’you’re right she is’’ he chuckles playing with his lip ring.

‘’then what happened?’’ you bug at him.

‘’i don’t know, i guess my priorities aren’t on dating right now’’

You groan at his words.

‘’then what are your priorities on?’’ you lower your voice in a mocking tone.

You watch him down his beer, place it on the table and turn to you with lowered eyes.

‘’you’’ he simply says but the one word stops your thinking and your tongue to stop.

‘’i’ve been worried about you’’

‘’and you don’t have to’’ your legs meet the carpet.

‘’you say that, but you’ve been off ever since...’’

At the thought of it your heart drops and your face does to.

‘’i don’t want to talk about it’’ you frown.

‘’that’s the problem, you’re avoiding it an waiting for the next douchebag to come and break your heart and give you a new reason to be depressed.’’ Jungkook says getting carried away in his passion to express his thoughts.

‘’what the fuck do you mean by that?’’ your reaction causes him to rethink his approach.

‘’yn-‘’

‘’-no. What are you tyring to say, that i jump from guy to guy’’ you raise a brow at him and his blood pressure raise. He knows his answer but he doesn’t think he should answer especially seeing your reaction.

‘’listen...’’

Jungkook doesn’t even get another word in when you’re standing.

‘’maybe i should just go to sleep’’ you say sounding down and jungkook couldn’t feel any sicker.

‘’yn please’’

‘’good night kook, see you in the morning’’

Jungkook sighs as he watches you disappears.

That’s not how he was wanting it to go.

He leans back into the couch. Well you did end up getting the bed after-all.

As you lay down you think about whether you’re actually upset. You know he’s kinda right, he’s delivery was awful though.

But you can’t deny.

That’s why you decided to leave the dating scene, nothing ever comes out of it but heart break.

You thought yunho would be your refuge, your final home. But instead he was your destruction and his reason for it was absolutely pathetic.

You feel a tear roll down your cheek but you immediately hide it when you hear jungkook walk in.

‘’sorry, just wanted a pillow’’

You just hum.

He grabs his pillow and you feel his figure linger for a little longer as if debating on wanting to say something.

But you assume he decides against saying anything and just walks out.

Immediately he leaves you feel the tears roll down like rain.

Jungkook can hear your sniffles from the living room and god he wishes you never met yunho.

-

an:wellllll

[chukys-mouthguard]

I have a request, Could you do where the reader is Luke's twin sister and they are it is there 21st birthday and Jack and Quinn are there to celebrate with them and Luke and the reader both get really drunk and Jack and Quinn take care of the when they are both drunk and hungover

Also love your fic's read them every time you post

seeing double

Genre: fluff

Featuring: Hughes brothers x Luke’s twin sister reader

Summary: it’s you and your twin brother luke’s 21st birthday and your brother’s Jack and Quinn have the pleasure of taking care of you both

Note: I’ve never written with the reader being a sister before, so this was new to me, but i think this still turned out cute 🫶🏼

“What time is it??”

You shouted over the music as you frantically searched the room for a phone to check yourself.

“Uhhh, 11:55.”

Your eyes wide as you quickly ran to the back door to look for the boys. Finding them all hanging around the fire pit shotgunning beers.

“Luke Warren Hughes! Get your ass in here and take a shot with me at midnight!”

It was yours and your twin brother Luke’s 21st birthday, well almost, and you were a bit more intoxicated than he was. But you were determined to change that, wanting to be sure that your twin brother was actually letting loose for the night. Luke not being much of a partier, he left that to Jack. But your older brothers were doing their best to get Luke to have more than just 2 beers for once.

The boys came in from the fire pit, joining you and your girl friends around the kitchen island as shots were passed around. Once everyone had a shot you noticed the time was now 11:58, hurrying to get out your toast before the clock struck midnight, finally signaling your birthday.

“Life is a waste of time. Time is a waste of life. So why not get wasted all the time, and have the time of our life!”

The group throwing back the shots in unison, followed by a loud roar of happy birthday. You and Luke taking another shot just the two of you as your friends recorded videos for Snapchat, Jack and Quinn both laughing at the two of you knocking back tequila like it was water.

“There’s no way we make it to breakfast with mom and dad tomorrow.”

“Not a fucking chance!”

The group had settled on flip cup and pong as the two games of choice, which was music to your ears knowing Luke was a secret weapon when drunk.

“Uh oh, it’s the Hughes showdown!!”

Quinn and Jack somehow made a miraculous comeback to face you and Luke in the final round of beer pong.

“Luke, we cannot lose to them! We will never live it down!”

Luke nodded his head through hooded eyes, the tequila shots very much hitting him like a ton of bricks. Noticing him swaying back and forth, you’d realized you were most likely carrying the team this round. Chugging some water you did your best to sober up and be sure to beat your brothers and earn bragging rights.

“It all comes down to this Lukey! Your shot, don’t fuck it up!”

Quinn and Jack teased Luke as he could barely see the cup at the opposite end of the table. Your final shot had missed by a mile, and at this point you were in desperate need of your bed. The tequila rightfully kicking your ass after one too many shots.

“Fuck.”

Luke cursed as his ball completely missed the table, bouncing off into the other room as Quinn and Jack hugged in celebration. The bragging rights would surely be held over you and Luke’s heads for months.

“Don’t sweat it Lukey boy, you’ll get a shot at revenge one day.”

Jack tapped him on the shoulder as you threw back another shot, hoping the taste of alcohol would make you forget the embarrassing display you put on in that game of pong.

By 2am, you and Luke collectively had enough alcohol for the entire Michigan Hockey Team and you were feeling it. Both of you dozing off on the couch as the party had come to an end.

“Y/n, y/n! Come on, let’s get you to bed.”

“I am in bed.” You groaned at Quinn, not wanting to move as you were very much comfortable on the couch squished next to Luke.

“Jack, can you take Luke? I’ll deal with y/n?”

Jack nodded as both boys picked the two of you up off the couch, Quinn carrying you while Jack simply threw Luke’s arm over his shoulder.

“Fuck Luke, stand up!”

Quinn laughed as Jack practically fell to the floor as Luke was purely dead weight. “Switch me, clearly your off season workouts aren’t cutting it!”

Jack rolled his eyes as he took you in his arms, letting Quinn take over with Luke.

“Jack, put me down.” The tequila now rearing its head as you grew nauseous from the boys carrying you.

“Y/n I’m taking you to bed, hush.”

Trying your best to fight out of Jack’s grip, you only made yourself more sick. Your hand immediately flying to your mouth, signaling to Jack you needed a toilet or a trash can, and fast.

“Shit, y/n don’t you dare!”

Jack sprinted to the bathroom with you in his arms, trying his best not to make the situation worse. Setting you down, he let you have a minute to hopefully settle your stomach, Jack never being good with puking.

“Do you need anything?”

He stood back as he watched you sitting on the floor, eyes closed as you took deep breaths, trying to calm your stomach.

“No, I think I’m-“

Before you could finish you were cut off by your nausea getting the best of you, Jack trying his best to be there for you despite him wanting to run as far away as possible.

“Jack, hold my hair please?”

“What? How?”

“Just grab my fucking hair like a ponytail and hold it back so I don’t puke on it!”

He cautiously made his way to you, grabbing a hold of your hair, standing as far back as he could, doing his best to distract himself from what was going on.

“Jack! Where are you?”

Hearing Quinn struggling carrying Luke down the hall, Jack called out, revealing your location only for Quinn to appear moments later.

“Fuck, I didn’t know you guys were in here….damnit.”

Quinn stopped to catch his breath as Luke groaned against his shoulder. “Quinn, I’m gonna yak.”

Jack sighed as he looked from Luke to you, wondering how he and Quinn got roped into dealing with you two knuckle heads.

“Look, I get you guys are twins, but really? Going as far as to puke together? Can’t you do anything without the other person?”

[felassan]

Just poring over some of the new images. ◕‿◕

Rogue Rook, Harding, Neve and Varric in Minrathous. A party of four temporarily, though the third non-Rook person is automatic and quest-related. Do you think this is Docktown (in Minrathous. the cranes or wooden pulleys give it that kind of impression) from another angle, or is Docktown in this image across the water from this point? Either way it's cool to see the same general location, in this case a city, both at night and during the day. It's raining and that makes me excited to experience different weather and environmental effects in different locations. :> Also the contrast of Minrathous in the rain here vs Minrathous when it's dry in the Docktown image. :> Maybe there is day/night cycles...?

Are the NPCs on the ground members of Tevinter society who live on the streets (there was an interactable NPC at the start of the gameplay reveal video whom it looked like Rook had the option of speaking to and giving a coin), or were they impacted during the attack of demons recently on this part of Minrathous and that's why they are on the ground? this scene looks to be from the same segment of gameplay as was shown in the gameplay reveal video, around the 10 minute mark. they have just 'recruited' Neve and are about to go and check out Solas' hideout beneath the statue on the right, Our Lady of Victory. the statue is of Andraste; one of her titles in the Chant of Light is Lady of Perpetual Victory. she has her arm outstretched as if hearing or beseeching the Maker. I'm interested to see more of Imperial/Tevene Andrastian belief and how it compares to the southern form of Andrastianism.

the magical 'neon' street lights and signs, rain, night-time, streets, etc remind me of this DA4 concept art, which we also know shows Minrathous. It's cool to see concept art realized as in-game art like this. in the center is a large tear in the Veil, like a gaping wound, which we know is caused as a result of Solas' ritual and which demons are coming through at this point. overhead is the floating building with its spotlights. I hope we can visit the floating building in the game. :D

is the long bridge a magic monorail or something, or just a bridge?

In this image we see a bar or tavern-type place. from the filename where this was originally posted, we know this to be situated in Docktown, Minrathous. Could this be the bar where the game starts off in Minrathous (where Rook has the choice of intimidating a bartender or not), the bar in which Varric and Harding are taking part in a bar fight in in the character trailer? or maybe this is the Swan, the tavern Corinne mentioned as being in Minrathous which has good tavern music? an article also mentioned a pub in the streets of Minrathous which has a dozen NPCs in it and which is reached via a wide, winding pathway. probably at least two of these various bar/pubs are actually the same one being described/shown in a different way hh. :D the screenshot has Tevene-y touches in places, like the vases with snakes and snakey patterns on them and the pointy chairs.

now that we know that every NPC in the world apart from main characters like party members was made using the same CC as we will use to create Rook, I'm looking extra-hard with interest at NPCs in images of the game like these to try and see e.g. some of the hairstyles that there are. in this image for example it looks like multiple different hairstyles can be seen. there are human and elven NPCs present, and a bouncer or guard at the steps. a cat sits by the fire. near the middle on the table it looks like a hookah, which we've seen before in northern Thedas, like in Antiva. only, this one has snakes in its design. which, yeah, we're in Tevinter. ^^ (this also makes me think of the Viper and the Shadow Dragon faction snake symbol, and wonder where their base of operations is.. Docktown is Neve's home, and she's affiliated with the Shadow Dragons.)

Necropolis Halls [known from a file name], Nevarra. a flock of bats or birds flies overhead. Is the ceiling here a ginormous rib-cage in design or am I just seeing things? :D I'm amazed by the scale, grandiosity, and verticality in the design here. in the foreground, the party is made up of mage qunari Rook holding a really cool staff, Lucanis and Emmrich. I feel like, of course taking Emmrich with you when you explore the Necropolis is a good idea!! from behind, Lucanis' cape getup look like folded corvid wings. qunari Rook has a cool robe or cape, and is that his kneeguard/boot or does Lucanis has a knife or dagger strapped to his lower leg? btw, how many knives does this guy have. :D he already fights with two swords/daggers, and it looks like he has a knife strapped to his chest in this image too. I wonder also if this is the same qunari Rook as here? their staff and horns look similar, but the hair color isn't right.

on the right, we can see urns which look like they have the top halves of skulls as their lids. the bottom row of teeth are present on the non-lid part of the urn. the same asset can be seen on the right and left of the foreground here, which going by that and the tall skeletons in the background like we can see in this image, is also a picture in the Necropolis. the giant skeleton/undead statues (not unlike here), dressed in tatters (maybe they are designed to evoke bandages, like the Nevarran mummification death practises?) look like they are maybe holding torches or lights at their chests, as they are lit from around there in sickly-green 'undead vibes' light. the way their arms and hands are placed look like a person who is resting in a coffin. and if you look at the texture of their chest/ribcages, it's the same as the texture on the pillars they are fixed to, as if the pillars are rows of bones/ribcage shapes from the ground to the ceiling.

especially after Down Among The Dead Men in TN, I've been itching to explore the Necropolis!! lets goo.

Necropolis Halls again [known from a file name], Nevarra. the lighting here is different - it's darker, and the green necromancy-vibe lighting has increased. perhaps the previous Necropolis Halls image is from closer to the entrance of the place, and this one is deeper inside? the Necropolis has public open-air gardens and then lower crypts, to which access is restricted, deeper inside. it's eerie, like the vibe here, like that dragon dissection could be taking place just out of view through the green-lit doorway in this image. even the trees look dead and grasping.

maybe the green fire-torches here are Veilfire? and there are all kinds of vases and stuff - it gives the sense of canopic jars, like ancient Egyptians used to store viscera in during the mummification process, and of urns (Nevarrans prefer mummification to cremation ofc, but yea irl in the 'aesthetic vibes sense of a crypt full of undead', way, it reminds me of urns filled with peoples' ashes). when they said we would go to "to grim and gothic areas", one of the gothic-type ones was surely the Necropolis, right? ^^

this time the party looks to be human Rook, Harding and Neve. again the skeleton statues have the coffin-resting type pose, and the sense of bandages hanging from them and wound round their arms. and again the scale, verticality etc is amazing! the designs on the giant skull in the center interest me - is this just aesthetic design/Nevarran art, or is there an arcane aspect/function to it? lastly, from these two images it seems like maybe hexagons are an aspect of Nevarran art/design?

[nalyra-dreaming]

COMMENTS on 2x07 - SPOILERS

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . *FIRST OFF: GOD HAVE I CRIED *No breath, no relief, all the pain This… contains a lot of swearing. . . . . . . .

The fucking rat box - there is a significant time gap between Claudia being shoved in there and her on stage. I BET that will become "that" time frame later, when Armand.... finally gets to it.

Btw, the iron boxes... an iron entrapment. I'm not sure if deliberate, but there is a piece of lore from Blood Communion that could come into play here IF they should pick it up again, later on

I’m glad they made the mental influence clear right away. Like… it’s not even subtle. And Lestat acting weird AF isn’t subtle either. It’s clear. It’s scripted. It’s the “last play”. It’s been “designed, and rehearsed.”

The Achilles’ heel slashed is so… vicious

Louis sensing and smelling Lestat… oh honey

Like that they referred to “the old place” for the other theater

Them making him swear on her diary is sooooo…💀

Santiago is so PLEASED when Lestat returns to script lol… we don’t see it but I wonder how many of the jury it took

A story of love... 💀

They are using the music box music … the fuckers

Awwww Armand being “punished” to watch… nawwwwww glad Daniel is not buying it either... and by Sam, the playwright... with a scythe... nawww. Okay, everybody buying that after that little restaurant display raise their hands, lmao.

That Lestat sleeping in the dirt is just... wrong. We already KNOW he returned to Paris twice. Another hint!!!

The repeated hint at the “ancient blood”… very on the nose

Their eye contact

Them trying to make it seem as if Louis “hunted” Lestat… lmao. As if Louis could have if Lestat would not have wanted him to????

Santiago prompting Lestat…. they seem to have pushed the narrative into his mind

on a random note: the blue contacts look so much better this season???

Oh…. Lestat SNAPPING at “fags” - loved it - so fantastically intense and creepy

“where lies their disgust now”?

Lestat making that man feel what he feels - WHY didn’t you just show this to Louis?????

THE HAIR CHANGED!!! There is that strand again! And the perfect hair in other scenes!!! INFLUENCED!! Manipulated!! I’ve been fucking saying.

OOOOHHHHH MY GOD Claudia’s turning … Louis knowing about the laws, did Louis really promise to stay???? I mean that’s just bargaining, and Louis just… begging… oh god, AND THEN THE FUCKING CUT TO ARMAND’s LOOK OH YOU FUCKER

“you were manipulated into it”… yeah. Say it, Santiago

God. Lestat there. And Louis the way he sees him.

Lestat confirming that Louis did not share affection with him anymore, as said, for years

Yeah, no, Lestat’s pose there for the Antoinette reveal is totally… natural 💀

God, Claudia cackling at Lestat saying “she’s the best of my vampiric self”… 😭

Ep5 revisit. Uhhhhh boy did they expand on what we already knew. And I KNEW something happened in the coffin room that made Lestat snap!! I KNEW IT! Okay, they kept the weird logistics of the fall (for now at least), but… yeah. This makes at least… more sense than before, I guess. Also, Lestat fully breaking script and admitting it. KNOWING he had hurt Louis there. Knowing. (I still stand by the Amel theory for the outside part and the comment in 1x06. Since they are taking from Prince Lestat….)

“A wolf congratulated for not killing her pup”!!!!!!!!

Louis is wearing something other than black again!!!!

“and then - something real” - and Armand chiming in… how… inconspicuous 💅🏼

A Stoning. Indeed.

I’m not sure how much I believe of them waking Lestat tbh… like... with the supposed trial rehearsals... and the crossing over... nawwwww

That eating blood with a spoon is so… inefficient. Like, they drink so much more???? What kind of blood is that to savor it like that? Must be special??? Or it's just show.

Oh god. Madeleine choosing Claudia. She is my coven. God.

Ugh. Lestat breaking script for Claudia. AND BY GOD I HOPE CLAUDIA FULFILLS THAT PROMISE

Oohhhhwwwwwww and Armand working SO HARD ON SAVING LOUIS!!!!! YOU LITTLE…. GNAAAHHHHH I don’t even have a word. "bites something"

God the pebbles/rocks. The entombment. And the SAME stones at the Dubai tree…

Lestat, swaying on his feet

So. Armand tells us of Claudia facing her death bravely. And defiantly. And the stare of shock and pain on Lestat’s face. Armand… the last to know the truth… for now. -.-

PREVIEW

And Armand getting Louis out.. afterwards. When… the coven did not care anymore, right??????? Mh hmmm.

Louis getting their asses

Louis going to kill Lestat??? MHHHH

EPISODE INSIDER

"it’s a fake setup - props in a play". Yeah. THAT.

Claudia doesn’t give an inch - "she knows she’s right"

“She has Lestat’s blood - if they do anything, it’s come back with a vengeance”!!!!!!!!!!! YES PLEASE 😭

Claudia’s death represents Louis’ last connection to this world

“[Claudia] was a brilliant vampire.

IN - fucking - DEED

God, what an episode.

I am... somewhat irritated that the reshot the turning and did not really revisit murder night, because the discrepancies there still stand. Except they have always intended to return to it in s3, which might make sense. Still. A bit weird, all of it. And Lestat breaking out of the control and script to admit to hurting Louis. 😭

God.

[destinyc1020]

I find it weird how people are trying to come into my inbox and claim that Zendaya being shy is "all an act"🙄, when she HERSELF has said this, and also her teachers have said it as well!

Zendaya was even held back one grade in grade school because she was so shy and wouldn't ask questions when she didn't understand something.

She's been talking about this for YEARS y'all..... 😒 It's time to believe her.

.

.

.

.

.

I swear.....

People online on the internet trying to claim that they know someone's personality BETTER than the person themselves, or the people around them who actually KNOW them smh....

And I'm sorry, but racism is (yet again) at the forefront of why SOME people can't imagine that a black woman (or any woman of color) can actually be SHY! We are not a monolith! We as POC can have various different types of personalities. Some of us are actually kind of shy! (myself included)

I've had to learn how to grow out of it myself (now it's to the point where people can't even tell that I was an incredibly shy kid growing up), but it's something I STILL work at. I suffer from anxiety. I'm painfully shy whenever I have to do public speaking or whenever a lot of attention is on me. But I work through it IN spite of my anxiety and shyness. Some people think that just because you seem "fine" and "outgoing" that you can't possibly be shy. But ummm....YES you can. You don't know what that person is going through on the INSIDE. So, when people tell you that they are shy, simply just believe them!

And lastly....

[burning-outx]

Tomato Red - Chapter Two

Parings: Jesse Cash x Female Reader

Warnings/Triggers: Language, talks about relationship traumas/abuse, mother/father relationships, mentions of cheating, anxiety, nervousness/panicky behavior, self doubt, fluff, sexual tension.

Summary: The local cafe/bookstore down the street was Jesse's usual hang out spot where he spent hours reading books and working on music. Until one day when he meets a new barista working the bookstore cafe. Suddenly, Jesse's reasons for visiting the bookstore down the road were no longer just for reading and work... but were suddenly meant for much more.

Author's Note: This GIF took me forever to get right.. Tumblr gave me the hardest time BUT I was determined to make it work. I feel like it really captures Jesse's fidgetiness and anxiety that I tried to portray in this chapter. This one was a super fun one to write and I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I do. The story is just beginning ya'll, buckle in! Please feel free to share your thoughts! :)

The orange scones were heavily inspired by @thefallennightmare 's story "Just Pretend." IF you somehow haven't read it yet, do yourself the favor and exit out of this and go read it right now. Seriously. Thank you SO much again Tina for giving me the okay to add Jesse's fruit addiction to Tomato Red. You're the sweetest ever and I'm honored to have a little piece of Just Pretend be apart of this story.

I'm also trying to work on putting together a little master list so that all these chapters will be in one place that's easier to navigate for everyone. Thank you all for baring with me while I fought to get this chapter up. <3

Tags: @thefallennightmare @thatchickwiththecamera @xxkittenkissesxx @arkiliastuff @lma1986 @cncohshit @collidewiththesav

If you would like to be added to the tags list please let me know! I would be happy to do so! Thank you all for your support and for reading these. <3

READER

I rolled over on my side to shut off the alarm that loudly echoed from my phone which sat on my bedside nightstand. Pulling the charger cord out and letting it fall onto the floor, I dismissed the alarm and let out a long sigh. 5:00 am right on the dot.

I had to be at the cafe early this morning to help Kate bake the first few rounds of pastries for the front display case. Normally Kate could handle the morning bake load by herself. But, with it being so busy lately she asked me to start coming in a few times a week to help out since having to increase the morning bake amount.

I brushed the messy strands of hair away from my face and pulled the covers off of me to fully sit up in bed. I let out a long yawn and rubbed my eyes before finally stepping out into the cold air of my bedroom. 

Kate always kept the AC in the apartment on the temperature of Alaska and although I’ve lived with her for a little over a year, my Floridian blood still wasn’t used to it. Goosebumps lined both my arms and legs and I quickly rushed over to my dresser to remove the oversized shirt I had slept in. I then threw on a pair of black leggings followed by a pair of gray high socks, my white bra, and an oversized dark green sweatshirt.

I then made my way over to my bathroom within a few steps and ran my hand along the wall to find the light switch. With a loud click from flipping the switch up, the sudden brightness filled the room and caused my eyes to squint.

Taking a second for my eyes to adjust, I reached over to the side mirror on the wall and pulled out my toothbrush and toothpaste. With my toothbrush pushed to the side of my mouth I lazily threw my hair up in a messy bun. Not having the energy to put in the effort to do anything cute with it, other than potentially seeing the cutie from last night, and then finishing it off with a few sprays of dry shampoo, just in case.

Shaking the thought from my mind, I finished brushing my teeth with a quick gargle of mouthwash and then made my way back into my room to throw on my pair of black high top converse and sprayed myself with my usual coconut vanilla body mist.

I grabbed my purse off of the hook that hung on the back of my bedroom door, closing it behind me, and finally made my way out of the long hallway and into the front room of mine and Kate’s apartment. 

Stopping right before the front door to grab my car keys from the small side table and double checking to make sure I had my phone and cafe key on me. With everything in place, I reached for the front door handle and stepped out into the gray, dim, overcast LA weather. Feeling the breeze blow around the loose strands of my bun while I turned to lock the door behind me.

Taking in the fresh cool air as it swept across my nose I headed down the two flights of stairs, making my way to the parking lot, and finally into my car. Before inserting my key into the ignition I lifted my butt slightly above my seat to pull my phone out from my back pocket. Sitting back down and unlocking the screen to search for Kate and mine’s thread of text messages.

I quickly typed out, “Hey, currently in the car and on my way now. I made sure to leave a few minutes early today so you wouldn’t put me in a chokehold the second I walked through the door if I was late again. See you soon. Love you.” and then clicked send before starting my car and finally heading out of the parking lot. 

READER

I pulled into the back parking lot of the cafe and parked next to Kate’s blue Mini Cooper, which was the only other car in the lot. The cafe didn’t open until seven and since it was still pretty early the rest of the cafe crew hadn’t shown up yet. 

I shut the car off and reached over to the passenger seat to grab my purse and the rest of my belongings before stepping out of the car. I then headed towards the back door of the cafe and clicked the lock button on my car remote twice as the two car beeps echoed through the parking lot back to me. 

Inserting my cafe key into the lock and using a little bit of force to push the old wooden door open I was greeted by the warm heat that filled the air from the ovens and the sweet aroma of the fresh baked pastries Kate had been working on all morning.

“About time you showed up, I was wondering if you may have hit your snooze button a few extra times this morning.” I heard Kate call out from over by the bakers table.

Glancing down at my phone to check the time that now showed 5:47am, “What do you mean about time? I literally rushed out of the house so fast this morning you would have been proud. Plus you said to get here around six and I’m exactly thirteen minutes early, thank you very much”. I responded back while making my way over to her.

Flour, bowls of mixed pastry batter, baking utensils both clean and coated in all kinds of different pastry mix, and baking pans all covered the table before me. Kate had been here since four and it definitely showed from the mess that also coated her apron. She even managed to get some flour in the ends of her ponytail and on her face.

“Had a little accident this morning, did we?” I asked while swiping my finger across her cheek to scoop up some of the loose flower from her face.

“This mixer is crazy! I don’t know if it’s acting out in retaliation from the use and abuse I’ve been putting this thing through lately… but here I was rolling cinnamon rolls and when I had walked over to check the next batch of dough, the bowl about flew off the stand and threw flower all over the place, as you can clearly see.” Kate said while huffing her hair out of her face with a forceful sigh.

“Well I’ve come to your rescue! Where would you like me to start boss?” I replied with a snicker while pulling my apron strings into a tight knot around my waist.

“First and most importantly, can you bring me my iced coffee and hold it up to me so I can get a sip? I am in desperate need of rejuvenation.”  Kate asked while continuing to roll out the cinnamon rolls before her. “Then if you could start on the orange scones I would be forever in your debt.”

“Wow the orange scones huh? Normally those are your babies, are you suuure you want me to be making the tried and true orange scones? Afterall, I mean I know how particular you are -” 

“Oh shut up and just bring me my iced coffee you brat.” Kate said with a playful laugh.

I held the cup of iced coffee up to Kate’s mouth and she eagerly started sipping away at the half melted liquid inside. I went to set the cup back down on the table after she pulled away but not before noticing the strange look that she was suddenly giving me.

“What?” I asked.

“You’re oddly cheery this morning, normally when you come in you’re quiet and a little grumpy. But today you’re talkative and even have a sort of glow to you. You even texted me before you left home... Did I miss something somewhere from when I last saw you after yesterday’s crazy morning rush?” Kate replied while tapping her finger to her chin.

I could feel my cheeks suddenly getting warm and a rush of nervousness suddenly hit the inside of my stomach like a tsunami. Did Kristina say something to her about last night? I wondered.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m just saying as your sister, I know when something is different about you. I even got a whiff of your dry shampoo while you were standing next to me with my coffee. Which for you to put dry shampoo in your hair at five in the morning… is a pretty big deal.”

Rolling my eyes and shifting in my shoes I adjusted my apron and smoothed it down over my waist and legs. I was hesitant to respond to Kate’s assumptions. Not because she was wrong or because she’s always had an annoyingly accurate attention to detail. But because I was scared of the reaction I might get from her.

Kate was older than me by five years and she always sort of took on a motherly role even when we were kids. Our mom was hardly present while we were growing up. Her and our father divorced and separated shortly after our dad started going out of town for months at a time for work. He was in the military and was constantly having to leave and would sometimes be gone for almost an entire year. Our mom did the best she could but couldn’t handle the stress of being the one to handle it all by herself while our dad was away. 

When he was home, they were constantly fighting and my sister was always trying to pick up the pieces. Not only for both of our parents but for me as well. When our parents finally decided to divorce and our father moved to North Carolina, our mother quickly grew lonely and would often try to desperately fill the void of our father in whatever man she could at the time. 

This resulted in her constantly bringing multiple men back to the house all throughout our childhood and her focus became more on whatever boyfriend she had for that short period of time, until something would happen and she’d be forced to move on to the next one. Which is probably why now both mine and Kate’s opinions on love is so fucked up.

…And is also probably why I stayed in my previous relationship for three years with my toxic ex boyfriend back in Florida. From the first month we were together, Kate picked up on all of Jake’s red flags while I was too mesmerized by the first boy that treated me with the bare minimum of what I thought was love.

The three years we lasted together Kate begged me throughout the entire relationship to cut things off but I was too scared of losing something that I thought I’d never find again. Regardless of how horrible it made me feel. It didn’t matter because I was young, dumb, and so blinded by the extremely little good moments me and Jake shared. Which casted such dark shadows over the actual reality of the entire relationship. 

When Kate first moved to California to start college, I moved in with Jake shortly after graduating high school so I wouldn’t have to deal with living with our mother by myself. But it only lasted for about a year before I caught Jake cheating on me with some girl he worked with. Which resulted in a loud screaming fight and me kicking all his shit out of the apartment. 

That same night after everything happened I broke down and called Kate and without zero hesitation she was on a plane to Florida the next day to help me pack my stuff to come move in with her in LA. Something that I’ll forever be grateful for, and the fact that she was always there to help me pick up the pieces when I couldn’t do it by myself.

But I knew if I mentioned my encounter with Jesse from last night, Kate would most likely give me shit for it. Which is why I was so nervous to mention it to her. I also knew that I couldn’t avoid her forever, especially when she was already picking up suspicions and I had just met the man last night. 

But, deep down I was eager to share my excitement about meeting him and wanted to get a second opinion on the conversation we had.

Fuck it.

I let out a deep sigh and tucked the few pieces of loose stray hairs that clung to the side of my face behind my ear. “I hate how you always know everything. I swear you’re a witch or something.” I said nervously while clearing a space on the baking table so I could begin prepping the orange scones.

“I’m your sister and we’ve lived together for basically our entire lives Y/N. I know when something is up or when you’re acting differently. That’s how I knew it was always you who would drink my capri suns, even though you would always blame mom. It was all over your face and you’ve always been bad at hiding shit.” Kate replied with a light chuckle.

“Promise me you won’t be mad?”

Suddenly halting in place, Kate immediately turned her head in my direction. “Please tell me you’re not talking with Jake again.”

“Oh God no, definitely not.”

Letting out a long sigh of relief, Kate turned back down to finish icing the rest of the cinnamon rolls on the tray in front of her before grabbing another rack to work on. 

“Thank the Heavens, you about gave me a damn heart attack. If it has nothing to do with that idiot, moron, piece of garbage, then I can’t think of a reason as to why I would be mad Y/N.” 

“Okay soooo,” I started with a long pause. “A really, really, really cute guy came into the cafe last night while me and Kristina were closing. I probably wouldn’t have even known he was there if it wasn’t for Kristina calling me up to the register to help show her how to cash out a card transaction.”

I glanced over at Kate in an attempt to read her body language. She wasn’t giving off any signs that raised any flags yet so I continued to describe my interaction from last night.

“Well anyways, I had also seen him earlier in the day during our morning rush when I had to go out and refill the cinnamon rolls…”

“Was it the same guy who I caught checking out your ass when you walked past him by chance?” Kate suddenly interrupted. 

Feeling the heat suddenly returning to my cheeks I glanced back over at Kate with wide eyes. 

“Wait, you caught him staring at my ass?”

“Uh yeah, he wasn’t exactly discreet about it. Pretty sure he knew I busted him because when he came up to the register he was all fidgety and nervous. Handed me his debit card with shaky hands too.”

For some reason Kate telling me how she picked up on Jesse’s nervousness suddenly made me feel a bit more at ease. I was so nervous and embarrassed yesterday after he had mentioned my name tag being upside down that I spent the entire drive back home thinking of ways to permanently attach my nametag to my apron so that it always stays upright.  

“Are you sure he was staring at my ass or are you just assuming he was because your big sister was showing?” 

Either way, I wasn’t complaining.

“Y/N, he was staring at your ass, trust me. But anyways, continue about last night.” Kate said while waving me off.

“Oh yeah so anyways, we made some small talk. I may have been a tad bit flirty to which I think he may have been flirty back?”

“I wouldn’t doubt it.” Kate mumbled under her breath.

Ignoring her comment I continued on with my description of last night, “Well, to keep a long story short I ended up asking him his name and he told me it was Jesse. We made some more flirty conversation and then I ended up telling him my name.”

I left the part out about me giving him the name tag. I knew Kate would have grown three gray hairs had I told her I was giving out name tags, especially after she went off on a tangent yesterday morning about how everyone keeps stealing all the backup name tags from her drawer up front.

“I unfortunately didn’t get much further than that with our conversation though. I still had a lot to show Kristina for the closing shift and wanted to make sure she was picking up on everything. So, I told him that I had hoped to see him around and that was pretty much that.” I said while grabbing a few metal baking pans from under the baking table so I could begin scooping the dough of the orange scones onto them.

Kate was finishing arranging the few plates of pastries she had finished baking earlier onto the plates for the pastry case. I tried to read her facial expression from the side to see if I could attempt to understand any of what she might be thinking. But, my detective skills weren’t nearly as up to par as hers.

“Well, just promise me you’ll take it slow. I know you’re older now and I’m trying hard not to mom you all the time. But, I just worry about you and the guys here in LA aren’t exactly much better than back home. If anything, I’d say they’re worse.” 

Kate actually took it a lot better than I thought she would and I definitely understood her reasons for being concerned. It felt good to finally be getting a weight off of my shoulders and to have told her about Jesse. 

“But despite me being your protective older sister it is nice to see you so glowy and happy, especially this early in the morning. Maybe I should thank Jesse myself if I see him again.” Kate  said while making her way towards the silver door with a few plates of pastries in her hands.

Rolling my eyes I then motioned towards the trays of orange scones before me, “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Before you head up front, come check these scones to see if they’re to your liking before I put them in the oven.”

Glancing over to the trays on the table a smile spread across Kate’s face.

“I taught you well. Now get started on the chocolate chip muffins while I start setting up out front. If your little crush comes in before you’re finished back here I’ll make sure to sound an alarm or something.” She said before finally stepping out from the back kitchen and making her way out to the cafe to begin setting up for the day.

JESSE

I sat on the kitchen countertop while swaying both my legs to the side as I was finishing up a bowl of oatmeal. I had spent the morning working on some more music for my band ERRA and also helping my roommates with some of their bands music as well.

I lived with my three best friends Michael, Noah, and Jolly ever since I moved from Nashville to California. Noah and Jolly were in a band called Bad Omens together and Michael was in a separate band called Chief. It was nice to live with three other musicians because we could always bounce back and forth ideas to one another.

Also if I ever needed advice or a second opinion on something, all I had to do was just take a few steps out into the hallway and I could knock on one of their bedroom doors regardless of whatever time it was. 

With us all being in touring bands it also worked out because we were usually on opposite touring schedules. So even though it was four of us in one house, I was still able to have some time away for myself when I needed it.  

“Would anyone know why the Crunchyroll login won’t work when I try to use it?” Noah’s voice suddenly echoing out from the front room.

“I don’t know man, I don’t watch those cartoons or whatever you guys call it. Maybe try logging in to the PBS Kids channel. You might have better luck.” Jolly responded back.

“Fuck off, they’re not cartoons man. The new Attack On Titan dropped and I was trying to watch it before my session with Ash. But for some reason all of a sudden I mysteriously can’t log in to my own account.” Noah said in an aggravated tone. 

…“Ah, the TV disconnected from the wifi and that’s why it won’t let me log in.” 

Hopping off the counter I brought my empty bowl over to the sink and rinsed it out before placing it in the dishwasher. I turned to head towards the front room where Jolly and Noah were sitting on the couch together.

“Aw, are my two boys over here having a little spiffle?” I asked as I entered the front room and then plopped down on the couch between them.

“Noah is just dumb and doesn’t know how to work a TV apparently.” Jolly responded in a joking tone.

“I know how to work a TV alright. It’s not my fault the wifi is faulty.”

“The wifi is faulty.” I repeated while laughing.

“I think it’s just user error.” Jolly retorted back.

Noah rolled his eyes and let out a long aggravated sigh. “Enough about the wifi. Where the hell were you last night? I came over to your room to see if you wanted to go grab something for dinner and when I knocked you weren’t in there. Michael had said you’d been gone all day?”

“Oh yeah, I got caught up at the cafe down the road working on some of the new ERRA songs.” I answered.

“All the way past 10:30?” Noah asked with a raised brow.

“Well I ended up having some friendly conversation with one of the girls who works at the cafe. So, I got a bit caught up and lost track of the time.”

Jolly and Noah both turned to each other. Both of them now having raised eyebrows as they returned their sight back to me.

“You got a bit caught up and lost track of the time? As in lost track of time with the girl from the cafe, if ya know what I’m sayin?” Jolly responded with a sly smirk while raising both his brows.

Noah now chiming back in, “Oh shit dude, is that why you were out so late? Good for you man.” 

“No, no, no. You guys are getting way too ahead of yourselves. Plus you both know better than anyone that I’m not the kind of guy to just be going out on lust filled adventures especially with someone I just met.” I responded while nervously running my hands over the tan pants that hugged my thighs.

Oh shit man, I didn’t mean to throw out accusations. I just thought maybe you were finally starting to open up and explore the dating world again, especially after the whole situation with what's her name.” Noah replied while patting the back of my shoulder.

I felt my shoulders tense up from his response. I tried to push that whole situation to the back of my mind as far as possible. So when someone would occasionally bring it back up, the bad taste that lingered on my tongue for so long would overtake all my taste buds. Leaving me with a burning taste of despair and disappointment that I desperately fought so long to be rid of.

“Uh -” I started with a hard swallow. “Not that I’m exploring the dating world per say. But more like she definitely caught my attention and I couldn’t help myself from wanting to talk to her.”

“Well man, don’t be shy. Share the details!” Jolly excitedly responded while sitting further up on the couch. 

Feeling a little more at ease with this new excitement about sharing my encounter with the beautiful girl from last night, I began sharing our interaction with my two friends.

“It actually all happened pretty suddenly. I went to the cafe like normal just to work on some shit for the band. Had myself a coffee and a croissant, yadda, yadda, yadda. When I went to go take my empty plate back up and to get another refill, that’s when I first saw her. She was putting a new plate of pastries in the little case thing up front and the sunlight that casted off her hair caught the corner of my eye.”

“Oh this sounds like some Titanic lovey dovey romance type shit.” Jolly said.

“Dude, did you even watch the movie? Did you see how it ended?” Noah responded with a click of his tongue.

“Uh yeah of course I’ve seen the movie, who hasn’t? That redhead girl and the blonde dude were smashing and then he drew that photo of her with her all naked on the chair and shit. Pretty romantic lovey dovey if you ask me.” 

“Jesus.” Noah said while rubbing both his eyes. “Jesse, please continue before this idiot continues talking.”

Turning my gaze away from Jolly I began explaining mine and Y/N’s encounter again.

“Yeah, so anyways…” Trying to regain my focus after Jolly’s Titanic comment. “I saw her standing there and I just couldn’t keep my eyes off of her. She was the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. I honestly think I stood there in my own disbelief because I couldn’t comprehend how she was real. She was so effortlessly beautiful in the way she did something as simple as putting some baked goods behind a glass container. Then when she walked past me and I caught the vanilla coconut scent coming off of her and I was put into an even bigger trance.”

I looked back up and over at Noah, who was sitting beside me silently listening to what I had been saying with his arm stretched over the back of the couch. My friend looked back at me with friendly yet concerned eyes, and I enterlocked my hands together before continuing further.

Taking in a deep breath I went to begin again but Jolly had interrupted once again.

“But were you staring at the booty though? Be honest!” 

My cheeks suddenly became hot and I could feel the saliva in my throat start to quickly dry. 

Fuck. Even I couldn’t deny to myself that I maybe caught a glance or two of her lower half from underneath her apron strings.

Noah suddenly broke out with laughter, “The silence is very telling. My man, you just got busted and by Jolly at all costs.”

“Okay, whatever. So I may have glanced at her ass once or twice. Sue me.” I said as I threw my hands up. “But that wasn’t the reason for why she caught my attention. Something about this girl had me weak in the knees from just the first sight of her.”

“You’re fucked Jesse.” Jolly stated while crossing his arms over his chest. 

“I hate to admit it, but I gotta agree with Jolly on this one. The way you’re describing this girl it sounds like you may be in love at first sight.” Noah added.

I also hated to admit it, but even I couldn’t help but agree with their statements. I was fucked. This girl had me hooked from just the first sight of her.

“Well, did you talk to her or what?” Noah asked while flipping up his hand.

“Later on in the night I did. I’m pretty sure she caught me staring at her while I was standing in line and I had to go work out my embarrassment before even thinking about facing her again. But once I calmed my nerves, I used wanting to get a refill on coffee as an excuse to try to talk to her again.” 

“And? Did it work?” Jolly asked eagerly. 

A smile now spread across my face and my heart began to pick up pace. “Yeah actually, it did. We exchanged some flirty banter and I think she was into me? It’s hard to tell though since it was just one conversation and she was working, so she may have just been being friendly. But we exchanged names and then I made a comment about her nametag being upside down and then she ended up making me my own upside down name tag. It was probably the cutest thing a girl has ever done for me.” I admitted.

“Is that what I saw this morning sitting on the counter by the coffee machine?” Michael asked, suddenly appearing out from the kitchen holding his leftover chipotle bowl.

“Wait, it's in the kitchen? Dude bring it in here so we can see it!” Jolly excitedly exclaimed.

Michael appeared back into the front room holding the name tag that Y/N had made for me last night and handed it over to Noah first.

“Dude, she’s definitely into you. No girl would take the time to do some shit like this if she was just being friendly.” Noah stated while holding the name tag in between his fingers.

“Oh definitely and look, she even added a little smiley face right next to his name”. Michael said with a mumbled tone from the chipotle he had shoved in his mouth.

Jolly now leaned over me so he could grab the name tag from Noah’s hand. “Oh fuck man, yeah she’s definitely feeling you. She took her time with this, look how much detail she added to the little frame around your name.”

I slunk back down into the couch, “You guys are embarrassing me.”

Ignoring my statement, “I think the real question now is, when are you going back to the cafe?” Noah turned to ask me.

I had been thinking about going back to the cafe the second I stepped out the front door of the cafe last night, from the entire drive back home, and up until this moment. That’s all I had been thinking about. 

“I say we all go to the cafe now so we can see who’s got our boy all flustered like this.” Michael said with a grin.

“Hey I’m down. I don’t have to meet up with Ash until a few hours from now. Plus, I could use some caffeine before my session anyways.” Noah replied while pushing his hands off his knees to stand up from the couch.

“Do I have a say in any of this?” I asked with nerves suddenly building up in my stomach.

“Nope.” The three of them all responded back at the same time.

“Quit being a pussy and go put your shoes on. We’re just going to grab some coffee and potentially force you to get her number.” Michael said while walking back over to the kitchen to throw out his now empty chipotle bowl. 

Fuck me.

KATE

This was the first time all morning that I was able to catch my breath. From the moment the cafe doors opened we were slammed back to back. We had a line that stretched almost all the way down to the bookstore registers.

Thankfully I staffed today’s shift with our strongest employees so everything went smoothly for the most part. Other than Kristina spilling an entire pot of hot coffee all over the floor. But, it could have gone worse I suppose. Plus, the floors were probably in need of a good scrubbing anyways.

I walked towards the silver door that separated the back of house from the front cafe and pushed it open to make my way back over towards the sink area to check on Y/N. With this being the first break we’ve had all morning she offered to go catch up on all the dishes from this morning's pastry bake.

Bringing Y/N to work at the cafe with me was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Even though we also lived together, me and Y/N very rarely ever got into arguments. Even as children, we would bicker and then we would always be able to patch it up right then and there. So I was so thankful when she finally agreed to come work with me after months of desperately begging every day. 

Despite being my sister, Y/N was reliable and I could count on her. Plus she was a hard worker and I never had to worry if she would show up for her shifts or not.

Finally making my way to the sink I came up beside Y/N and put my hand on the back of her shoulder. “Thank you for coming in this morning to help me and for knocking out these dishes. I know I say it a lot but, I really am grateful you decided to come work here with me.”

Turning her head to meet my gaze, “You’re sucking up, what do you want?” 

“Nothing.” I replied back with a laugh. “I just want you to know that I’m thankful and I’m happy to have you here is all. But, don’t let it go to your head. You still owe me a matcha latte for being late yesterday. Don’t think I forgot!”

“Ah, so it was a matcha latte you wanted.” Y/N replied back with a grin across her face. “Give me a few seconds to get cleaned up and I’ll be out there to make it for you, brat.”

“Did I ever mention that you’re the best sister ever?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, suuuuure.” Y/N responded while waving me off.

I turned to make my way back towards the cafe. Pushing the silver door open and checking the times on the pots of coffee. I bent down to the cabinet underneath the coffee pots and scooped out two cups of coffee beans and poured them into the grinder. 

Once they were all grinded up I lined the coffee pot trays with coffee filters and then poured the ground coffee grinds inside and began brewing fresh pots of coffee for the afternoon. When I went to turn back around there was a gentleman standing at the register. 

Holy mother of God.

This man was absolutely beautiful. His short brown hair framed his face perfectly and he was covered from neck to toe with tattoos. Not to mention the fact that he practically towered over the register, and those arms… Jesus those arms.

I took in a deep breath and tried to find my footing again before finally making my way over to the register. I licked my lips and had to do a double take to make sure I wasn’t drooling down my apron.

“Good afternoon, did you have any questions about the menu?” I asked.

“Oh no, I was just reading over everything you guys have here. I’m actually waiting for the rest of my friends to come up but they went to grab a table over in the book store first.”

Mmm, I’d like to grab something myself.

“Okay no worries, take your time and whenever you’re ready to order just holler.” 

“Will do.” He responded back with a friendly smile while tucking his hands into his pockets.

I walked back over to the coffee pots to make it seem like I was doing something while peeking out from behind the coffee grinder so I could continue to stare at the man up at the register.

He was wearing a white shirt that appeared to have an image of Jesus playing basketball with Satan and a pair of black shorts that hugged his thighs perfectly. He had paired them with a pair of high white socks and all white vans.

Suddenly another man appeared beside him. He had long brown hair and was also covered in tattoos. He wore a black tee shirt paired with black sweatpants and had them tucked into a pair of yellow high top shoes. 

What was in the air today? My God. These two men were gorgeous.

“Jesse’s being a pussy so Michael stayed back to try to work up his confidence.” The second man said to the short haired man.

He had an accent that I couldn’t exactly place my finger on. But whatever it was, it sounded beautiful and I wished he would whisper sweet nothings into my ears forever after hearing it.

“Uh Kate, what are you doing?” 

Almost slamming face first into the coffee grinder I whipped my head around to see Jasmine standing at the food counter staring at me with a wild expression on her face.

“Oh, um, I was just listening to the grinder. It has been making a weird sound all morning and I just wanted to make sure the motor wasn’t going bad or anything.” I said with a shaky breath.

“Riiiiiiiight.” She responded with a sly smirk and then glanced over to the register. “Must really be making some concerning sounds then.”

Rolling my eyes at her comment I then brushed my hair back down with my hands and flattened out my apron double checking to make sure I didn’t have any food or coffee gunk on me.

Two more men suddenly appeared behind the two tall gentlemen who had been standing up at the register. One of them caught my attention immediately. I recognized the gray hat he was wearing that had a white flower embroidered on the front. He hung towards the back with his arms nervously crossed over his chest. 

The man with the long brown hair turned over in my direction, “Excuse me ma'am, we are ready to order whenever you’re ready.” He called out with a smile.

Oh shit. I quickly turned over to Jasmine, “Hey can you do me a favor really quick? Can you go in the back and have Y/N come up front please. Tell her it’s urgent. I’m gonna need her to help me knock out these next orders of drinks.” 

“Sure thing!” She responded and turned to head towards the silver door. But before she could place her hands on it to push it open it already began to push forward from the back. Y/N now stepping out into the cafe.

“Hey sorry I took so long, I ended up getting water all over the front of my apron so I had to go search for a new one.” 

“No, it’s okay.” I quickly replied back. “You came at the perfect time. I’m going to need you at the register to help me take these four guys' orders, especially the one in the back.” Then winked my right eye at her.

Y/N quickly looked up and her eyes suddenly grew wide. I could see the pink starting to flush into her cheeks. 

“I’m also going to need you to hold me upright while I have to talk to these two tall ones in the front.” I said while urging Y/N back towards the register with me.

JESSE

“I hate all of you.” I let out with a nervous sigh as I stood behind Noah, Michael, and Jesse in line.

“Oh stop being such a wuss. We are gonna keep conversation with the brunette girl because she clearly can’t keep her eyes off of Noah, and then you can slide on over and try to catch a conversation with your little crush.” Michael replied.

Jolly turned to look back at me, “I do see what you mean though Jesse, she is pretty cute.” 

If you think she’s cute from this far back just wait until you're up close to her. She’s breathtaking. I thought.

“Oh shit dude, they’re walking over this way. Jesse get your ass up here.” Noah then turned to place his giant ass hand on my shoulder and pushed me up to the front between him and Jolly.

There she was, standing right before me once again. Her hair tied up in a messy bun while the loose strands hugged around her face. Her dark green sweater hugged her slender frame and her cheeks were flushed pink, highlighting the beautiful paleness of her skin.

“Alrighty, what can we get started for you guys?” Kate asked while Y/N stood still at her side.

“Do you guys know what you want?” Noah turned around to ask us all.

“Uhhh, let me just get a white mocha please.” Jolly responded.

“Okay, one white mocha. Anything else?”

“Oh it’s all gonna be together, todays a special occasion.” Noah answered back while bumping his shoulder into mine.

Just end me now please.

Y/N glanced up and I immediately made eye contact with her. I gave her a small smile to which she had returned.

Michael leaned over to whisper in my ear, “Now’s your chance man get your ass over there and go ask her for her number.”

Ignoring his comment and letting out a deep breath I inched a little bit closer to the side of the counter where Y/N stood.

“Can I have an iced sugar free vanilla latte with oat milk please.” Noah asked and then shifted over to let Michael come up between us to order next.

“Okay an iced sugar free vanilla latte for you and did you want anything else?” Kate asked with a shaky tone to her voice.

“Nah, he's gotta drink just his fancy little sugar free beverage because he’s gotta go get swole after this.” Michael blurted out with a chuckle.

“Man shut up.” Noah replied back with a long sigh.

“You do order like a girl”, Jolly chimed in with a playful smack to Noah’s arm.

“I’m sick of your guys shit. When we get back home I’m turning the AC down to 62.” 

Kate and Y/N both let out a laugh at Noah’s comment. That was the first time I heard her laugh. It was just as beautiful as she was. Everything about this girl set my soul on fire. Every time I was near her my fingertips tingled with nerves and it was so hard to think straight. 

I knew soon I was going to have to step out of my comfort zone before one of these idiots made a scene and embarrassed me even further. So, I took in a deep breath and came up close to the counter where Y/N was standing to be directly right in front of her.

Her eyes last night were tired and glossy but today, they shined brightly with the sunlight that shone in from the windows. I could probably stand here forever just getting lost in them.

“Hey you.” Y/N’s voice suddenly broke me from getting lost any further in thought.

“Hey yourself.” I replied back with a grin.

“What can I get started for you?” She asked, her smile now growing a little wider to show her teeth.

“I’m feeling adventurous and kind of want to stray away from my usual hot coffee order. What do you recommend?”

“Hmmm” she replied while tapping her fingers to her chin. “It depends, are you looking for something sweet or are you looking for something to wake you up?”

“How about both?”

“I think I can do that.” Y/N responded while reaching over to grab one of the white cups from out of the holder. 

“Just the coffee then?” Kate asked.

Staring intently at the pastry case to the side, I caught sight of a plate that was filled with a stack of orange scones. My stomach suddenly growled and my mouth watered at the sight of the white icing and pieces of orange zest that lined the top of them.

“Can I also get one of those orange scones? I have a sweet spot for anything sweet and fruity.” I turned to look back over at Kate.

“Good choice. My sister actually made those fresh this morning.” She replied back while motioning over to Y/N who was working on making mine and the guys drinks.

Kate walked over to the pastry case and put on a pair of plastic gloves. She opened the door to the back of the case and grabbed the orange scone that rested on the top of the stack and then placed it inside of a brown pastry bag.

“I’d offer to warm it up for you but the icing melts and gets all hard on the top when we do.”

“Oh it’s no worries, I’m sure it will be delicious either way.” I responded back to her.

She handed me the bag that held the orange scone inside. I grabbed it from her and then turned around to face my three friends again. “Are you guys finished ordering?” I asked.

“Yeah I think so.” Jolly answered back.

I set the bag down on the counter and reached into my back pocket to pull my wallet out. But before I could finish pulling my debit card out of its slot Noah came up beside me and handed his debit card over to Kate.

“Hey man, what are you doing?” I asked.

“I told you, it’s a special day. So it’s my treat.”

“Noah, you didn’t have to do that, seriously.” 

Retrieving his card from Kate, he then slid it into the holder he had on the back of his phone, and then shoved his phone back into his pocket. “Seriously, don’t worry about it. We put you through enough hell today so it’s the least I can do.” He replied quietly while patting my back.

“Thanks Noah, I appreciate it.” I grabbed the bag off the counter and looked back over to Y/N who had her back turned towards my direction. She was still working on finishing up our drinks. Noah and the rest of the guys turned to go head back over to the table they found earlier.

I knew this was their attempt at leaving me alone so I could talk with Y/N.

“You don’t have to stand and wait. I’ll have Y/N bring your drinks over if you want to go take a seat.” Kate said while motioning over to Noah, Jolly, and Michael. 

“Oh, are you sure? I don’t mind waiting.”

“I’m sure Y/N wouldn’t mind at all.” She replied back with a wink.

READER

I really, really hope he likes this. I thought to myself while placing the lid on top of the drink I made for Jesse.

“What did you decide on?” Kate asked while leaning over my shoulder to look down at the drinks before me.

“You’re favorite, a vanilla matcha latte. I also made one for you, it’s the cup over there by the espresso machine. I didn’t forget about it.” I said while nudging her arm with my elbow.

“Good choice, after he takes one sip of that he’ll probably get down on one knee.” Kate eagerly turned to grab her matcha latte off the counter and brought it up to take a sip. “I told him to go take a seat while they waited for their drinks. I may have also told him that you’d personally bring it out to him.”

I slowly turned my head to her and shot her a look, “You what?”

“I figured you’d want some time to talk to him more one on one without having to worry about other people being around. I can handle the front by myself for now, plus Jasmine is still here so if we get a little pop we will be okay. Now go, before the coffee and your feet both get cold.” 

I grabbed the tray that held the four coffees. My hands shook with nerves and I tried to focus my breathing before making my way around the counter. Trying to clear my thoughts so by the time I approached the table where he was sitting with his friends I would appear more confident than what I actually was. 

Shifting in my shoes I quickly turned around to smile back at Kate, “Thank you, sis.” I said before finally turning around and walking over towards the corner table of the bookstore where the four guys all sat around exchanging smiles and laughter.

I took in a deep breath as I slowly made my way closer to them. Still trying to focus on my breathing and doing the best to shake out the nerves. I could pick up the smell from the coffees I was holding as I continued walking forward and as I appeared at the table Jesse immediately looked up to greet me with a smile. 

“Okay I have all four coffees here and ready” I reached down to pull the first coffee out of the top left corner of the drink holder, picking it up and reading the description label and name Kate had written on the side. “Alright, I’ve got one white mocha for Jolly?.” I asked while holding up the beverage.

The man with long brown hair sitting furthest in the corner facing me lifted up a finger, “Ah yes, that would be mine.” 

I reached across the table, Jesse now right at my side. I could feel his warm breath fan across the side of my arm and it gave me goosebumps. Trying not to focus too hard over it I reached out to hand Jolly, who sat directly next to Jesse, his beverage.

“Thank you so much.” He responded.

“You’re very welcome” I replied back with a smile. Now reaching over to grab the next drink, I lifted the clear cold cup out of the holder and turned it to the side to read the name and description. “Alright next up, I’ve got an iced sugar free vanilla latte with oat milk for Noah.” I said while holding out the cup.

The man sitting in the chair across from Jesse lifted his head up to look at me and with a soft smile he reached over to take the cup from me, “Yep, that's me. Thank you!” He kindly replied back.

“You’re also very welcome.” I answered back with a light chuckle. I reached back down to grab the next drink, making sure to save Jesse’s for last. I wrote something special on his cup so I knew which cup was his from before I walked over here. 

“Okay next up, I’ve got a strawberry banana smoothie for Michael.” The man who sat next to Noah and across from Jolly raised his hand. “That one is for me” he said while dragging out the e playfully.

“You came to a bookstore coffee shop and ordered a smoothie?” Noah asked him with a sigh.

“Oh sorry, we can’t all be sugar free, oat milk, fancy getting swole, coffee drinkers like you Noah.” He responded back while taking the drink from me. Michael then looked back up from Noah, who was rolling his eyes, to thank me for handing him his beverage.

“Alright, last but certainly not least, I have a vanilla matcha latte for Jesse.” I said while pulling the last cup out of the holder and handing it to the man who was sitting directly next to me. He reached out to take it from me and his fingers brushed against mine. His hands were warm and a little rough. But I still shivered from his touch.

“Wow that’s fancy, probably the fanciest coffee I’ll ever drink in my life.” Jesse replied back with a laugh. “Thank you very much, Y/N. For not only making all of our drinks but for also bringing them over here to us. I told your sister I think it was? That I didn’t mind waiting for them but she insisted that you wouldn’t mind bringing them out.” His gaze continued to linger on me.

I could feel all four of them staring at me now and I knew my cheeks were probably putting my nervousness right on display. I placed my hand on the back of my neck and with a hard swallow I replied back, “Yeah it's no problem at all, my sister Kate likes everyone to be able to relax and grab a book while they wait. That’s her inner manager coming out.” 

“Oh shit, she’s your sister and your manager? Do you guys ever duke it out back there?” Jolly asked while taking a sip of his coffee.

“Surprisingly no, me and Kate actually get along really well together, for the most part. When she isn’t keeping our apartment in the temperatures of Alaska.” I responded back with a chuckle.

“Well, your sister and Noah have something in common.” Jesse said while motioning towards Noah.

“Do you guys all live together?” I asked. 

“Unfortunately.” Noah responded in a joking tone.

“He doesn’t mean that. I know your ass misses me when I’m gone.” Jesse replied while giving Noah a light kick under the table.

I laughed in response to their interaction. I could tell just from the few moments standing here conversing with them that they were all very close. It reminded me a lot of mine and Kate’s relationship and it made me feel safe to be around in their presence. Something that was very rare, especially around a group of guys in LA. 

“Did you want to sit down? If you’re not busy that is.” Jesse asked while tapping at the chair next to him. 

Suddenly all of my focus was on Jesse and I turned back over to make direct eye contact with him. His eyes were a beautiful golden brown. They were sweet and shined like honey from the sunlight that laid across his face which casted in from the windows. 

His voice was soft and kind and his lips were a warm shade of pink from which his teeth peaked out from behind. I traced his face down to his neck that met at his off white tee shirt, then down his tattoo covered arm, and finally over to his hand which was covered with a red mandala tattoo that was tapping against the seat.

I would have rather taken a seat right on his lap but for now, the chair will have to do.

He scooched over the orange scone that was sitting on the table on top of one of the brown bags from the cafe. There were two bites taken out of it and crumbs lined the top of the bag. I made my way over to the chair next to him and sat down right beside him.

I glanced back up to meet his face, and my eyes lingered on his lips. They looked soft and warm and I found myself thinking about what they would taste like. Possibly from the vanilla matcha latte that lingered on his breath, or the hints of orange scone he had eaten from earlier.

Jesse shifted a bit closer to me and now our thighs were touching. I could feel my heart beat pick up and I opened my mouth slightly to breathe in some air to prevent myself from getting light headed. My leg brushed up against his and I could feel him lean into the touch.

He sat up and leaned in closer to me putting his elbow on the table, “By the way your sister told me you had baked the orange scones and I must say they’re quite delicious. I have a sweet spot for all things fruit flavored but especially anything citrusy.” His warm breath fanned across my face.

I was so dazed by this man that I forgot there were three other people sitting at the same table with us. If they weren’t sitting here I probably would have leaned in to taste his lips by now.

I leaned in closer to him, our lips just a few inches apart now. “Well now that I know you enjoy them so much I’ll be sure to always keep a few extra in the back just for you.” 

“Is that an attempt to keep me coming back?” He asked with a raised brow.

“If it was, would you say it was working?” I asked him back.

“If I’m being honest, the orange scones wouldn’t be the reason to keep me coming back. Although they are quite tasty, It would be the girl who made them that would keep bringing me back.”

Holy hell. Holy shit. Holy fuck.

I laid my arm down on the table and brought my hand closer to his elbow. I let my finger rest up against the side of his arm and Jesse brought his arm down to place his hand on top of mine. 

“If it’s alright with you and if I’m not coming off too strong, I am experiencing a wave of confidence I normally don’t carry. So I would really like to take advantage of it and ask you for your number.”

A wide smile spread across my face and I looked down at the table to hide my bright red cheeks. I felt like a little girl in a candy store with the way this man flooded my heart and my stomach with butterflies. 

He took his finger and gently placed it under my chin to lift my face back up to him. Our eyes greeted and it took everything in me to hold restraint and not kiss him. I knew Kate was probably watching and if she caught me sucking face with this guy at work and in my work uniform I would never hear the end of it.

I reached over to his now empty cup and picked it up, “I had already written a little message on here for you earlier but since you asked so nicely..” I took out one of the sharpies from my apron, using my teeth to take the lid off, and began writing my phone number onto the cup. 

I placed the cup back in front of him, “I went ahead and added my number here on the bottom.” I spun the cup around where the message I had written earlier and my phone number was now facing Jesse.

With a giant smile spreading across his face he picked it up and I could see his cheeks begin to lightly flush pink. “I’m a very happy boy right now.” He responded while setting the cup back down on the table before us.

[giggly-squiggily]

Fiesty (Blue Lock)

Heyo everyone! It's come to my attention that despite loving these boys very much, I have yet to write anything with Kunigami and Isagi. I am ashamed, and shall repent by bringing you this fic of the boys being dorks together :D I hope you like it!

Cloud 9 (Taglist Peeps):

@myreygn @cupcake-spice13 @chibsstuff @imjusthere07 @riisada @ticklish-n-stuff @intheticklecloset (I know y'all aren't on my Taglist but like-blue lock! :D)

“Whoops, my bad!” Kunigami called out as his shirt flew, landing on Isagi’s face.

Normally Isagi would brush it off with a “It’s cool, man” or something to that nature, maybe even bring it back to the self-proclaimed hero.

Today though: today he was feeling a bit feisty. So much so he balled up Kunigami’s shirt and slugged it as hard as he could towards the back of his head.

The effect was anticlimactic. The shirt unfurled halfway there. What was supposed to be a satisfying whack turned into it haphazardly landing on Kunigami’s own face, briefly blinding him.

Silence. The two boys just kinda sat there as they let what just happened sink in. Slowly, Kunigami pulled it off, turning to look at Isagi with raised brows. The brunette stiffened- an apology on his lips.

Then that feistiness came back and he opted to square his shoulders, raising his chin with a mild glare. No words though- just a glare. The silence stretched.

“...Do you wanna fight?” Kunigami blinked- his tone lacking any anger despite the words. If anything, he sounded more amused. Isagi felt his temper flair some as he glared harder- hoping the shape of his mouth was a tight lipped frown and not a pout. “Is that what we’re doing right now?”

“Y-Yeah! We’re fighting!” Isagi finally spoke, puffing up. “Let’s go, you and me! Right here, right now!”

Kunigami stared at him, unreadable. Then he grinned, standing up and rolling out his arms. “Alright. A fight it is.”

Isagi pulled up further, readying himself. It was also at this moment he realized he had no idea how to fight. He had never been in one before- he’d only seen the kids at his school get into them, and even then he stayed out of it.

Kunigami closed the gap while he realized this, and after looking into the ginger’s eyes, he realized this wasn’t the kind of fight he expected at all.

“Wait- wait I take it back! I take it ba-ahhahaack!” Isagi went to run, but Kunigami had him by the collar, pulling him into his chest. Seconds later, fingers were flying up and down his sides, making him yelp and kick. “Kuhuhuuhuhunighahahahahahmi!”

“Come on, Isagi- you don’t run from a fight you initiated!” The older boy chided gently, pulling up an arm with one hand and pinching up his ribs with the other. “That makes you look weak! When you challenge someone to a fight, you have to be prepared to go all out!”

“Buhuhuhut I dohohohon’t wahhahahanahaha fiihihihght no mohohohore!” Isagi cried through his giggles, clawing at the hand stubbornly attached to his mid-set ribs. “Iihihihih’m ahahahhall abohohohout thahahaht phahahahahcefihihihist lihihihife nohohohw!”

“Pfft- yeah, says the guy who’s not afraid to get physical on the soccer field.” Kunigami laughed good naturedly, daring to drop a hand to Isagi’s lower ribs just to hear him scream. “Where’s all that edge? That fiest? That zest of life you had five minutes ago?”

“Whahahaht the hehehehehell ahahahre yhohohohou gohohohoing on abohohohout?” Isagi snorted through his laughter, legs growing weak with each squeeze to that terrible spot. He tried to rip himself away, but a quick tug and sweep left him flat on his ass, trapped within a leg grip as Kunigami dug into his belly. “AHehahahahahahah noohoohohoho!”

“Eh, a bunch of words I heard Gagamaru say when describing dumplings. I think their lyrics to a song? You know his odd taste in music.” The hero snickered as he dug both hands in, leaving no spot on Isagi’s belly untouched as the brunette writhed about. “Hey, you’re always humming those silly anime tunes of yours- why not sing me something? Anything! Then I’ll let you win this fight.”

“LIHIHIHKE HEHEHHELL! GEHAHHAHAHHA!” Isagi all but howled at the tickles, cheeks on fire and starting to hurt from how much he was smiling. “I CHAHAHAN’T SIIIHHING FOR SHIHIHIHIHIIHIHI-EHEHEHE!”

“Who can? Well- he can.” Kunigami hummed as he moved his hands to Isagi’s armpits, making him nearly croak from silent mirth. “Well, I guess I can count this squawking of yours as music. It’s a new version of screamo, yeah?” He finally let him be, pulling his hands back and gently patting Isagi between the shoulderblades as Isagi gasped for air. “There- still want to fight?”

“Gehahah…ahahah…yohoohu’re an ahahaass.” Isagi groaned, jerking with a giggle when Kunigami pinched his sides. “Yoohohu started it- the whole fight thing!”

“I did? Oh- wait, yeah I did.” Kunigami released him fully, pulling back as Isagi turned to face him. “Sorry- I didn’t know anyone else was in the room. I should be more mindful.”

“Pfft- it’s fine, really. I don’t know what got into me.” Isagi smiled, lightly kicking him in the shin. “I threw it back pretty hard, so I’m no better.”

“That was hard?” Kunigami asked- followed quickly with them saying in unison “That’s what she said”. Isagi cackled, delighted, and Kunigami wheezed. Laughing like children on the locker room floor, they carried on changing into sweats before making their way to the main room, still laughing.

“What’s got you so giggly?” Chigiri asked, unable to fight off a grin as Kunigami sat beside him. “Bit by the tickle bug or something?”

Isagi blushed a few feet away as Kunigami laughed more. Shaking his head, he turned to Bachira- finding the other curled up half asleep against both his and Isagi’s futons. “Scoot over some.”

“Cuddles if I do?” Bachira pouted up at him, sprawling out further. Isagi snorted, nodding as he gently moved him, fitting perfectly into Bachira’s arms.

“Always.”

Thanks for reading!

[lionacuty]

did the 3 main magical "girls" designs from my au, needs colours but I can manage that anyways here they are!!!

Niko Terrier is a sheep that lived with Ratau and his husband Flinky in the lush city of Darkwood when the mystic seller approached them and Méliva for the ultimate question of "Do you want to be a magical girl", now they live in a shared apartment with Méliva in the city of death, they're an art student, with a sassy and confident personality they easily took the position of the leader withing the trio, planning what to do next to defeat the eldritch being that's ravaging the cities, as a magical girl they are know under the name of Nyx-Shepherd with their weapon of choice being the trusting of the sword

Méliva Seashore is a house cat and shortfin mako shark hybrid who lived in the cool aquatic like city of Anchordeep when the mystic seller approached her and Niko to pose the question of "do you want to be a magical girl?", he lives along side Niko in a apartment complexe as a art student and music student learning the violin, with their shy and extremely honest personality they have a grand aid into helping with planing and destroying either physically or mentally the eldritch beings as it's words cuts deep and aren't afraid to go ham when it comes to insults, as a magical girl it's known under the name of Aqua-Gula with it's weapon of choice being the heavy and strong hammer which the longest they use, the more quick they are with mainning the hammer like it was a sword

And finally, Leshy Amery who currently lives with 4 out of 9 siblings in a apartment a floor lower than Niko's and Méliva's apartment, the mystic seller posed the question "do you want to be a magical girl?" during the time where he followed Niko and Méliva cuz they were acting sketchy and both said they were in a hurry, he's the one of the trio to have joined, he is also studying game designs to hopefully be a game developer in the future, with it's snarky and mischievous personality he tends to trap or trick the eldritch being before using it's signature magical girl move to destroy them according to plan if it wanted to listen, as a magical girl he is known under the name of Flower-Breaker and his weapon of choice is the powerful and precise bow

btw, this is not all the magical girls, there are two more magical girls plus two part time magical girls so stay tune

[randompandabaewrites]

Field Trip Time!

Human Hotel Fic! Part 1

Hazbin Hotel ₊⁺⋆ Charlastor ₊⁺⋆ Eventually Explicit

This one is probably T-rated ~ 1.7k

// Slowish-burn, Bi!Charlie, GrayAce!Alastor, Based on this art [Link] about Charlie and Alastor taking a field trip to a human hotel for "business experience." Human Alastor based on this art [Link] (I'm also GrayAce //

⊹❀⊹❀⊹✨❀⊹❀⊹

Charlie Morningstar twirled down the grand staircase of her Hazbin Hotel, arms lifted, and a musical “Ta-da!” on her now pink lips. 

She paused dramatically in the lobby, striking a pose to show off her new human look. Charlie’s usual excitement sparkled out of amber eyes and pale beige face. She gave a spin, showing of the pink lounge wear and a foot less of golden blonde hair. 

“What do you think? Pretty convincing, right?”

Angel Dust raised an eyebrow from his perch at the bar. “Not bad, toots. You’ll pass as a boring old human.”

“Thanks!” Charlie’s smile didn’t falter as she hopped onto the barstool on the other side of the spider demon from Cherri. “I just can’t wait, a real, human hotel experience! It’s going to be so…educational!” the princess spun in her seat, knocking her crossed ankles into one of half a dozen matching pink luggage piled up by the bar.

“Whoops, so maybe I over packed a bit.” She admitted, hefting the suitcase back onto the stack. “But it’s better to be prepared!”

Husk scowled from behind the bar, resting on an elbow as he watched Charlie’s attics. “Yeah, sounds real thrilling—ya do realize your powers are next to useless up there, right?”

“Aw, don’t be sucha buzzkill, ya old furball.” Cherri bombed chimed in, slamming her glass down on the bartop. “Could be fun to raise a lil’ hell topside.” 

Charlie’s grin was a little forced as she thanked Cherri for her…support? 

Angel sipped his martini delicately, his elbow resting on the bar and one of the other arms cocked on his hip. “Speakin’ of hell raising, you sure this isn’t just a little vacay to distract ya, from a certain someone runnin’ off to heaven again?”

Charlie’s perpetual positivity faltered, but only for a moment. 

“What? No, of course not! This is purely for research purposes. Totally business professional.”

But as Charlie busied herself  glacing through the human phone she’d acquired for the trip, she couldn’t quite banish the twinge of heartache that flared at the mention of her ex. 

Charlie straightened up, her sunny demeanor returning full force. “No, it’s not about Vaggie at all. I’m genuinely excited for this experience! And I’m happy that Vaggie is busy with her new role as our emissary to Heaven. It’s a great opportunity for her.”

Angel couldn’t resist another jab. “Yeah, I hear she’s really hit it off with that Emily gal up there. Real angelic connection, if you know what I mean.”

Charlie’s smile tightened almost imperceptibly, but she chose to ignore Angel’s comment. Instead, she busied herself with adjusting the strap on one of her many bags.

This trip was exactly what she need, she reassured herself. A fresh start and a chance to prove that she could make this hotel work. No more distractions.

“Well, I say go for it, girl! Live it up in the land of the living!” Cherri grinned, a mischievous glint in her eye. “But wait, you’re not going solo, are ya? That’d be a real bummer.”

Charlie’s eyes lit up. “Oh, no! I won’t be alone. Alastor’s coming with me!”

The reaction was instantaneous. Angel choked on his martini, Husk’s jaw dropped, and even Cherri looked taken aback.

The spider demon was the first to recover. 

“Hold up, hold the fucking phone.” He gestured with his glass, sloshing the contents around and making Husk growl and grab a rag. “You’re taking Smiles? As in, the Radio Demon, the former serial killer? Back to the place where he…ya know, serially killed?”

Charlie blinked—she hadn’t thought about it like that. 

“Can’t believe the pompous bastard even agreed to go, he likes bein’ in Hell.” Husk slammed his martini shaker onto the bar, maybe a little too hard. “He’s gotta have an angle.” 

“He doesn’t exactly blend in, ya know? Oozes that creepy staticy sound.” Cherri agreed, wiggling her fingers. 

“You all need to have a little faith!” Charlie huffed, putting her hands on her hips. “He’s my business partner. Besides! This is a chance to show even him that there’s beauty in redemption, in saving human souls!” 

⊹❀⊹❀⊹✨❀⊹❀⊹

A commotion from the main staircase drew everyone’s attention to a squealing red and brown blur tumbling down the steps. 

With a resounding crash, Niffty landed face-first on the lobby floor, an old leather suitcase sprawled beside her.

“Yeesh, you okay there, toots?” Angel winced. 

Niffty’s single, oversized eye blinked rapidly as she lifted her head, and then widened with a sparkle. “Pretty bad boy~” she cooed.

The group followed her gaze up, and a hush fell over the lobby. 

Descending the staircase with effortless grace was a man Charlie barely recognized. 

Gone were the ashen skin, the glowing red eyes, and the razor-sharp edges that made the Radio Demon look dangerous to touch. 

 In their place stood a strikingly handsome man with perfectly coiffed black hair, warm medium-brown skin, and intelligent dark eyes peering through round glasses above an actually pleasant smile. 

Alastor had arrived, and left the rest of the hotel’s residents speechless. 

“Where the hell did you get that look?” Husk, the skeptic, demanded, his eyes narrowed on his boss. 

 Adjusting his glasses, Alastor smiled wider, revealing a flash of sharp teeth. “Why, from a mirror about a century ago, my friend.” He replied, his voice still carrying that tinny, radio-like quality despite his appearance. “This is how I appeared before my, tragic and untimely death.”

“Tragic, huh?” Husk scoffed under his breath, already moved on to his next drink. 

Alastor spun his microphone staff with a flourish, shrinking it to the size of a fountain pen, before tucking it into the inner pocket of the black vest he wore. 

Angel, Cherri, and Niffty continued to stare openly, their jaws practically on the floor.

Alastor’s gaze slid to Charlie, and the princess felt her cheeks warm under the weight of those eyes. She tamped down the unexpected flutter in her chest. 

One of his eyebrows gave a little raise, almost like he was seeking her approval. 

Ha, no, this was Alastor. Get a grip, she scolded herself.

Angel let out a low whistle. “Holy fuck, I can see why folks followed you into dark alleys if ya looked like that back in the day,” He winked.

Charlie’s gaze flicked between them, a strange twinge in her chest.

“Still not happening, my effeminate fellow.” Alastor gave a high laugh, and stooped elegantly to pick up his suitcase. And set Niffty back on her spindly little legs. 

“Ah dammit.” Angel huffed, though it was good natured as his eyes slid back across bartop. “Worth a shot.” 

Cherri and Niffty were still ogling, shamelessly. 

Charlie clapped her hands together, trying to diffuse the tension that had settled over the lobby.

“Well! Isn’t this exciting?” she chirped, her voice a touch too high-pitched. “Dad will be here any moment to open the portal for us. Won’t this be fun, Alastor?”

The Radio Demon’s perpetual smile cooled slightly at the mention of Lucifer. “Indeed,” he replied, his tone carefully neutral.

Now that Charlie could push aside the distraction of his face, she realized what Alastor was wearing. “Um, Al? Don’t you think you’re a bit... overdressed for a casual trip?”

The others chimed in, eyeing Alastor’s vest, bowtie, and gloves critically.

“Yeah, ya look like you’re heading to a speakeasy, not a modern hotel,” Cherri remarked.

Alastor’s smile tightened. “I assure you, this is perfectly acceptable attire. Anyone who thinks otherwise needs to raise their standards.”

“C’mon Smiles, live a little. Lose the tie, roll up those sleeves.” Angel cajoled.

To Charlie’s surprise, Alastor actually seemed to consider it. 

“Very well. If we must adhere to modern sensibilities...” With a put-upon sigh, he began removing his gloves and untying his bowtie. 

Charlie found herself transfixed as Alastor pulled the ribbon of fabric from his collar, and then undid his sleeves, revealing the skin of his forearms. 

She’d never seen the Radio Demon with so much as a button undone. The casual gesture felt strangely…enticing.

“Charlie,” Husk’s gruff voice snapped her back to reality. “You’re only stayin’ the night, right? You’re packin’ like you’re movin’ in up there.”

 “Right! Of course. I’ll just... go do that now.” Flustered, Charlie tore her gaze from Alastor. 

As she hurried to reorganize her luggage, Charlie couldn’t shake the feeling that this trip was going to be far more complicated than she’d anticipated.

⊹❀⊹❀⊹✨❀⊹❀⊹

Charlie’s heart raced as she glanced at the clock. 

Any moment now, her father would arrive to open the portal. A flicker of worry crossed her mind. 

What if her dad made a scene about Alastor looking the way he did—he already despised the Radio Demon. 

She imagined Lucifer’s reaction to his daughter gallivanting off with such an attractive man to spend the night, by themselves, alone. 

Just then, a leather-bound book materialized on the bar with a pop, a duck-shaped sticky note attached to its cover.

“Oh!” Charlie exclaimed, rushing over. “It’s Dad’s grimoire!”

Can’t make it in person, pumpkin! Portal inside. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do! 

- XOXO Dad

Charlie sighed. “Well, that’s...convenient.”

As she flipped through the grimoire, Alastor approached, effortlessly hefting two of her larger bags. “Allow me, my dear,” he offered, his voice sounding strange coming from the handsomely human face.

“Thanks, Al,” Charlie murmured, distracted by the arcane text. She didn’t see Husk and Angel exchanging a look that was heavy with silent conversation. The cat tilted her head to him, and the spider demon nodded. 

With a flourish, the Princess recited the spell. A swirling vortex of light burst into existence.

“Ready?” Charlie asked, bouncing on her heels with excitement.

“After you,” Alastor gestured chivalrously.

Charlie beamed, grabbed her suitcase and purse, and leaped through the portal, Alastor stepping up close behind.

“Hold up,” Angel called out. “Where exactly are you two lovebirds headed?”

Alastor paused at the threshold, a sharp-toothed smirk spreading across his face. “New Orleans, of course. My old... hunting grounds.”

With that, he stepped through, the portal closing behind him.

 “Doesn’t he mean stomping grounds?” Cherri asked over his glass. 

Angel shook his head, taking a long sip of his martini. “Nope. He doesn’t.”

[jesncin]

Hi I love you guys' work. I know I already sent in an ask before, but I'm also a queer Indonesian creator who loves animated stories and musicals. And plans to make her own animated indie musical show on YouTube. Which is queer and based on space. And the main character is plus sized, queer, and has a non binary love interest. I wanted to ask since Indonesia is still really homophobic, how do you deal with being a queer Indonesian creator making queer content while your country is extremely homophobic. Because I often feel scared to do so because of what the government might think. Sorry for randomly asking this btw

Hello there! That sounds like a very ambitious project! Best of luck to you, I'm all for more queer space adventures.

So I'm sure to a lot of queer Indonesians looking at the work I'm doing, they're thinking "how the heck are jesncin doing all that and being so loud about it" haha. At least so far (who knows what the future holds now that my book is out) I've managed to create queer Indonesian art online for years (including smaller published work) and had very little homophobic pushback. Which I know I'm very lucky with- I've lost a lot of peers to bigoted locals and hate campaigns. It's a mix of strategies and contingencies I keep to foster as safe a space as I can.

It's a common practice among queer Indonesian activists to speak predominantly in english, something I already do because of my language barrier. Most locals don't bother interacting with an account speaking in english- weaponizing their language barrier haha. I stuck to western spaces early on, but because I drew a lot of blatantly queer Indonesian art- queer Indonesians (diaspora or otherwise) naturally flocked to my stuff. The audience filters itself. I don't interact with local discourse at all. I also stayed away from visibility events (on twidder like #artIDN or #ArtistsofIndonesia or even #tetapbangga for Malaysians) until I felt comfortable with the community I fostered to join in. It's common especially for queer tags to be monitored by bigots looking for people to pick on. Speaking of which, block and don't interact with them. Don't give into the temptation of replying to bigots because it just gives them more ammo. Their goal is to exhaust you so you lock your account and "can't spread your agenda" or whatever.

I purposefully wanted to publish my stories through an American publisher for a lot of reasons, but it certainly helps that Lunar Boy can be out and proud out there where it can't get to be in Indonesia. I notice queer authors here tend to publish either online or internationally with an independent publisher too. Still- you'd be surprised how much the local queer community is enthusiastically ready to support you. Because of the state of Indonesia as it is, everything is handled more "under the radar" for the sake of safety. My personal biggest fear is starting another moral panic incident- but the many queer Indonesian communities I've been in have their own strict rules and precautions to keep members safe. They're worried about that too, but they want to help you succeed! Once my book released, the Indonesian queer community had my back and even helped me with some author events and exclusive meetups. At least for me, it was instrumental to be connected to the local community.

That's where I am for now. I created Lunar Boy while being closeted the entire time. I've erased my queer publications from my resume when applying to author events locally. There's always some kind of assimilation that happens in the process. I'll always be scared of pushback or sparking another moral panic incident. But that's the risk this kind of representation is, isn't it? I had no one else to look up to. No other queer Indonesian graphic novelist making explicitly queer Indonesian stories. It was an isolating experience making this book. But now that I'm here, the next person who comes along won't be alone. And seeing the people who've connected to Lunar Boy, especially other queer Indonesians from all around the world, makes it so worth it.

[runningfrom2am]

requiem // part two

summary: according to coriolanus snow, his best friend had the most beautiful voice in all of panem. she had been training her whole life constantly to get where she was; being up for a residency at the most elite opera house in all of panem. singing was her passion. her true love; and when that got stripped from her in a second, his world became a whole lot quieter. he loathed every minute of it.

pairing: coriolanus snow x fem!reader

wc: 2.7k

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tags/warnings: opera singer!mentor!reader (blink and you'll miss it), she's kind of a prodigy!! p cool imo, mute!reader, bestfriend!coryo, friends to lovers trope ooo, mentions of graphic violence early on (particularly the prologue) but after that it's pretty safe, depictions of ptsd/trauma, mental illness and minor suicidal ideation but at least she's not entirely alone, descriptions of minor medical treatments and use of medication.

a/n: the playlist is up now and i think it's cute so far!! if you have any song suggestions that should go on it please let me know!

the songs in this part are "Into the Unknown" by Idina Menzel, "Never Enough" by Loren Allred, and "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" by Celine Dion !!

my asks are also open to talk about this series! (i do have emoji anons open now too!)

send me any and all of your thoughts! here!

series masterlist // playlist // pinterest board

four months earlier

"Hey, what did I say about breathing, hun?" You turn on your piano bench, stopping your playing abruptly. "You sound strained."

The little girl giggles, shaking her head. "I'm sorry! I always forget!"

"Okay, well, forgetting to breathe won't do you much good, will it?" You ask, smile on your face as you raise an eyebrow at her.

"Probably not, miss."

"Definitely not!" You laugh, placing your hands on your knees to push yourself up from your seated position. "Here's what we'll do. No music, we'll just go through the first verses together without breathing. Go as long as we can, yeah?"

The little girl nods, and you take a deep, dramatic breath before you start your part with the three big interjections so she would know when to start. You smile as you watch her take a big deep breath too before her part comes in, and you continue with her.

"You're not a voice, you're just a ringing in my ear. And if I heard you, which I don't," She giggles at the spoken line, which you know is her favorite. You smile and motion for her to keep going with you. "I'm spoken for, I fear. Everyone I've ever loved is here within these walls. I'm sorry, secret siren, but I'm blocking out your calls."

That's the part where she can't continue, her singing voice fading into a strained whisper as she tries to get it out, but you can keep going.

"I've had my adventure, I don't need something new. I'm afraid of what I'm risking if I follow you..." You don't make it much farther, considering you had started much sooner and had some belted interjections, but you try your best. You both laugh as you gasp for a deep breath when you're done, chest feeling tight.

"Even you can't sing for long without breathing!" She laughs, and you nod.

"See? That's what I'm saying! I lasted just a little longer, but that comes with years of practice, so you've gotta focus on your breathing now, and you'll outsing me in no time."

"Now," You start, walking up to her and grabbing her hand, molding it to be held out flat in front of her. "Hold your hand right here, and every time you breathe, you should be feeling your tummy hit your hand. Big, quick breaths. You got it?" You ask the little blonde girl.

Coryo watches from the crack in the door as she tries it out, and you make sure her hand is in the right place. He smiles a little to himself, seeing how good you are with her. You had just started teaching a few months ago, and you told him you loved it, but he had never stopped by during your lessons before.

"Yes, just like that. Are we ready for music again?" You smile, and she nods, arm held out firmly in front of herself exactly where you placed it.

You gently pat her shoulders and head back over to your piano seat, flipping back to the first page of the old yellowed sheet music in front of you.

He watches your hands as you play at the same time as you sing, looking back over your shoulder to cue her and play her in.

"Big, big voice!" You remind her as she reaches the chorus, wanting her to really push.

"I'm afraid of what I'm risking if I follow you, into the unknown!"

"Yes, good! You're an angel!" You smile when she nails it, pushing into the piano keys.

"Keep going, let's do the whole thing." You encourage her, normally you would do it in small sections to work on little bits and pieces, but you wanted her to try out the full thing at least once before her lesson was done for the day.

With your waiting room at the academy just a little ways down the hall, Coryo is sure he could still hear your accompaniments from there, so he goes to sit and wait for you to be done.

"Alright, you did amazing today! What are we going to work on tomorrow?" You ask, holding the door for the little girl as she walks out with her backpack.

"Breathing!"

"Yes, good. Now remember your hand, where does it go?" Coryo assumes she's showing you when he hears you praise her. "Yes! Good girl. Go through the whole thing ten times tomorrow with your mother, and I'll see you on Thursday, okay?" He stands up when he hears you say your goodbye, grabbing his bag and preparing to go.

"Thank you, miss! See you on Thursday!" He can hear her skipping off down the hall, followed by the main doors opening and closing before he walks over to your training room.

He peeks through the open doorway, watching you gather up your sheet music and put it carefully into your book bag.

"What song was that? I've never heard it before."

You jump, turning quickly and staring at him with wide eyes, which quickly relax when you see your best friend. "Coryo." You laugh softly, shaking your head. "You scared me!"

"Sorry." He chuckles, taking that as permission to come in, stepping in and looking around.

"It's from an old, old movie. I've never heard of it, but the company that composed them for the films had tons of pieces more suited for children." You explain, holding out the unpacked bit of sheet music to him. He takes it carefully from your hand, flipping through the old book, labeled 'Disney' across the front. "Those ones are harder, a bit above her level, but I wanted to try pushing her, and she likes it, which helps." You explain, holding your hand out for him to pass it back when he's done.

"Did you learn many of these?" He asks, tilting his head at you as he hands it back.

"Oh, all of them." You laugh, carefully tucking it into your bag. "I performed one from that same film when I was about... twelve? Yes. Twelve. My teacher accompanied me for the sirens' part."

"Is that what you were singing in hers?" Coryo asks. He's sure he must be annoying, laying into you with question after question, but he was truly interested. He loved hearing you sing- he wanted to know everything you were willing to share about your life. Especially the massive part of it he knew he would never quite fully understand; your music.

"Yes, it is." You nod, cheeks flushing as you close up the piano. "It's so beautiful, I've always wanted to try that part. If she excels at it, maybe I'll accompany her at the gala."

"Oh, right. Where can I buy tickets again?" The music academy had a gala at the end of every year, and the students would all perform something- you were one of very few who got a solo. You'd gotten one every year since you had enrolled officially at five, and every year the people of the Capitol looked forward to it. Tickets were hard to come by, but that's because they were held for family and friends of the students. This year would be your last, and next year, no one doubted you would have a residency performing for the elites. You had done so a few times before, but Coryo could never afford a ticket- though, that never stopped you from offering them up first. Another benefit to be added to the list of things he can afford after he wins the Plinth Prize.

"I have spares, they're all yours if you want them." You smile at him, heading for the door and flicking off the lights. "But you don't have to come."

"It's your last gala, of course I'll come." He insists, closing the door behind himself as he follows you out.

"Yay! Then I'll get you the tickets." You grin, heels clicking as you walk alongside him down the hallway.

"Thank you." Coryo grins. "Hey, do you want to work on that English assignment together tonight? We could go to that coffee shop you like."

"I have rehearsals." You sigh. "Sorry, but maybe tomorrow? After I practice?"

"Rehearsals? Already?"

You raise an eyebrow at him. That was a stupid question and he knew it.

"You're right. That was dumb." He laughs. "Can I come?"

"To rehearsals?" You ask, stopping as he opens the door for you. He nods. "I guess so. You'll just have to hide in the back so Miss Cornelia doesn't see you."

"Alright, guess I'll be hiding then." He smiles.

It doesn't take long to walk across campus to the theater, and you and Coryo part ways when you take the stage entrance.

He walks around to the side of the building, sneaking in through an emergency exit. He can hear you warming up already, your voice carrying through every hall and stairwell in the theater.

When the door at the very back upper level of the theater creaks open slowly, you have to keep yourself from looking or drawing attention to your friend's entrance as you continue with your scale. You were already warmed up from your lesson, but Miss Cornelia always insists you do anyway. Realistically, there was rarely a moment when you weren't asleep that you weren't "warmed up."

"We're starting with 'Never Enough,' " Your instructor tells you, and you nod slightly, taking a final sip of water while she signals for whoever was in the booth today to start the instrumental record. If you were to perform this live, you would have the orchestra there, but it was difficult to get forty people to agree to come practice just for your rehearsals. By now, everyone knew you didn't need it anyway.

You didn't want to start with this song- you didn't even want to perform it anymore, but she liked it. It was below your skill level, by this point, but people liked to hear it. It was a beautiful piece, but ironically, it wasn't enough anymore if you wanted to progress your career.

Coryo pulls out his homework on his lap, finding the sound of your voice very relaxing to work behind.

"Stop- stop!" Miss Cornelia calls out, and you're hardly past the first chorus. The music cuts out, and Coryo looks up from his book. You look at her with a furrowed brow. "You're listening to yourself. Stop that. You know better. Now, start again."

The piano starts, but your argument makes it halt again. "I'm listening because I want to hear something different. I've been doing this song for years, I want to at least improve somehow if I must keep beating this dead horse."

Your instructor raises an eyebrow at you. "Oh?" She asks, dropping her pen down on her notepad. "You think you've perfected it, have you?"

You swallow your fear, nodding slightly.

"Okay, well, you still sound stiff in the bridge, and the final chorus is still under-supported." She critiques you, challenging you with her stare.

Coryo watches the interaction, confused as to what on earth this woman was talking about. He knew little about the technical terms and what she meant, but to him, it sounded perfect. He had heard it before several times- you definitely knew what you were doing.

"I'm not performing this." You reply simply, shaking your head as you reach for your water bottle. You had enough self confidence with your singing to know she was just letting the music fall on deaf ears- so familiar with the piece and your particular voice that she would never find it perfect. "Let me do something else."

"Not until this is perfect."

"Sorry, allow me to rephrase: I won't be performing this. I'll be doing something else." You insist, bringing the bottle to your lips and Coryo wants to cheer you on for standing up for yourself, but he stays silent.

"Okay." Miss Cornelia replies, clapping her hands together. "What do you suggest? Since you're the professional."

"I Will Always Love You." you offer, placing your water bottle back down, screwing the lid back on. "Or Skyfall, or Human, or Time to Say Goodbye, Memory, With or Without You, Mandy, Praying, I don't know- any of these other songs that I have been working on for years!" you exclaim, speed and volume increasing with every title you throw at her. "Don't you think any of those could be more representative of my range?"

"No." Your instructor shuts you down quickly, pushing her glasses up her nose. "We have been preparing this for your final gala for too long to change it now. That's not fair to the orchestra or the board. The university is expecting it as well."

"It's All Coming Back to Me Now." You demand, and the theater gets so silent in the moment that follows that Coryo is sure you could hear his breathing from the stage if he wasn't already holding it back.

He doesn't know the song, but the deafening silence that followed your suggestion led him to believe it was something difficult or different than what he's used to hearing from you.

"That piece isn't difficult, the orchestra doesn't even have to learn it. I can play for myself on the piano and they will be that much more impressed, no? The hardest part is the vocals and I know I can do it- I've been practicing it for years. My family says it's outstanding." You continue, determined in your every word.

"Your family? Oh, well, that's wonderful. Maybe they should coach you, then. Since they're experts." She scoffs in response. "Like I said, the university scouts are expecting 'Never Enough.' We couldn't change our submission now if we wished to- and even if we could, the unprofessionalism you'd be displaying would be astounding. So no, absolutely not."

You sigh. You don't need that stupid scholarship- you probably won't even need to go to university for anything more than the title you'd get after you graduate. You were essentially promised a residency at the opera house already, but she was right. It wasn't fair to the orchestra to throw something new at them only one semester away from the gala, or remove them from the plan altogether.

"Again." She says, not giving you the chance to fight with her before the music meets your ears again.

You shake your head, waving a hand dismissively at the sound booth. "Let me play it for you, then decide."

Coriolanus could feel the tensity of the situation somehow increase as your coach nodded in unenthused approval.

She was willing to hear you out, that was good.

You take a deep breath, turning on your heel to go over to the piano on the stage. Every footstep masks the pounding of your heart at the small victory, your nerves only spiking when you remembered your best friend was there to listen today.

Oh, but when he hears you play...

He did not expect the intensity at which your voice came in as he tried to make out your hands moving across the keys, eyes straining from the back of the large auditorium to try and hold on to your every word and note. You didn't even have any sheet music, and your eyes were closed as you played. You had certainly been practicing this piece for quite some time.

This was unlike anything he had ever heard you perform before.

"There were nights of endless pleasure, it was more than any laws would allow..."

Particularly, he realized, in subject matter.

You were not kids anymore, that much he had to come to terms with very suddenly. He didn't expect you to be so comfortable with the verses leaving your lips, but if you were nervous by them, it was unreadable.

God, this song must be like ten minutes long.

Every time he thinks you're done you're not, and with every high note, every borderline scandalous line, he's not sure how you haven't fainted. Well, no. He knows better than that, but he knows for certain that he definitely would have.

No one in Panem can sing quite like you.

"The flesh and the fantasies, all coming back to me.

I can barely recall, but it's all coming back to me now."

Coryo wonders if you even know the implications of every word. If you understood and just didn't care, or if you were innocently ignorant. The idea of sex wasn't something you ever spoke of, but he figures himself foolish to hear you sing this with such clear passion and assume that you didn't understand. To sing about heartbreak and lovemaking and complex emotions all in one song and belt it like you felt every word, well, he didn't even realize he was holding his breath until he couldn't hold it anymore.

Coryo, you're both eighteen. If you get it, she gets it. Be realistic.

Maybe that day, homework long abandoned in his lap, your best friend started looking at you just a little bit differently.

no taglist this time around!! my fics usually get over a hundred requests to be added to the taglist so instead i made a library! follow me over on @runningfrom2am-library and turn on notifs to get updates when i post new parts!!

[hzrnvm]

in detail explanation of why the song Ghost Town means so much to me

Ghost Town by Ye is one of my favourite songs of all time. it touches me very deeply and I like it a lot. i'm now gonna go through the lyrics and explain why (it's more than just the lyrics, ofc, that make it beautiful to me. but, they're the easiest for me to explain, and they make up the bulk of it). I do also wanna clarify that at points I may disagree slightly with how the lyrics are written on Genius. this is because Genius isn't always right.

The intro is a sample from a song from the 1960s. it mainly serves to introduce the main theme, of someday. though it is worth pointing out that she says "wanna wear", rather than just "wear". there's something about the difference between wanting something vs desiring the freedom to want it at all

More somedays. "laying down, like God did, on Sunday" to me just is resting. being unvigilant, letting down your guard. then lines 3-5 are more mumbled, more for the flow and musical aspect than lyrical meaning.

and then he says "someday, I'm gonna tell everybody" coming out!!!!!!!! it's about coming out! there is a constant push from deep inside of me to tell everybody!

"somedays I wanna hit the red dot on everybody" it's a violent lyric, I intereperet it more as the life you live making you just want everyone around you to be gone. not necessarily a fantasy of their death, just, their becoming disconnected from you. then the last two lines I read as simply speaking on the life they will live once Someday. doing all the things they aren't allowed to do, doing whatever they wanna. freedom

me to my parents

to go more in detail it's that when I was first caught, I genuinely tried for the possibility that maybe they could love who I really am, maybe they could love hzrn. but everything I tried just, hurt me, it just repeatedly showed me that they don't love hzrn. and it took them further from me by making me go further and further into hiding from and avoiding them, total discommunication

and, when I listen to this song, i imagine a music video in my head. mainly starting around the first chorus, and, when the first chorus ends it's in a situation where the figure representing me is alone in a dark room, after walking away from her parents.

and when Ye's verse starts, i picture my future self coming to comfort me. she hugs me and tells me someday we're gonna do what we know we need, someday we're gonna take off this mask, and not to hurt myself

"you might think they wrote you off" you might think you're doomed, fated to a future of death and failure, that the author of the Universe wrote you off.

"they gon' have to rope me off" 'me' here refers specifically to my future self, the person I truly am who is currently unrealized, Hzrn. and Hzrn isn't giving up. they'll have to kill me to make me give up on hzr

"someday the drama'll be gone" someday you won't have to fear about safety and getting caught. someday all the fighting will stop. someday you'll be away from all the scary things. (the fourth line is pretty much incomprehensible, i take it more as sort of mumble-singing than anything. still incredibly beautiful, though)

"sometimes I take all the shine / talk like I drank all the wine" see when you're closeted you don't have the freedom to take all the shine, or talk like you drank all the wine! you simply don't have the freedom to do those things. you can't attract attention to yourself, you can't get silly with it, and any approximations of those things are Unsafe and therefore very scary. one of my greatest fears, before i got them removed, was getting my wisdom teeth removed. because what if the aenesthetic they put me on makes me not think about safety and hiding and I let it slip. I'll die, that's what if! and the idea of my future self coming up to me and saying, sometimes she takes all the shine, and talks like she drank all the wine, it makes me tear up. it does. because that's fucking hope, man! that's solace!

"years ahead but way behind" i'm years ahead on the inside, because living like this you kinda have to spend a lot of time just dreaming about the future, but. when you dream about the future so much it makes the past feel like way behind. I am years ahead but way behind. (and the fourth line is just nice-sounding, to me. it doesnt really factor that much into it, beyond maybe being a countup of years? because, in 5 years, I'll be 23, and, i think it's safe to say that things will be better then. maybe not all the way better but, better)

"no half-truths, just naked minds" this is what i long for. I want someday who i can look in the face, in the real world, and tell them the truth. no half truths. just naked minds, nudity. I want to bare myself to somebody, that's really what i want. i want to bare my mind to somebody. I have recently been really really touched by the image of two humanoids with exposed brains touching foreheads. connecting their minds. i dont know

"caught between space and time" I am. Hzrn is online or future, and she doesn't have the freedom to exist in the irl and past. I'm stuck between the present and the future with my constant escapism; i constantly remind myself that someday the life i'm living, I'll start forget it. it'll become a closed chapter and it'll fade from me. but reminding myself repeatedly, it's like putting myself in the mind of the hzrn who it starts to fade from. I'm trying to transpose myself into the future. and that just leaves me caught between space and time

this line makes me cry. idk if i need to explain it. if you know my sideblog @hzrnvmkta, it has the title "not what they had in mind". because, god, yeah. this isn't what they had in mind, but. idk. maybe someday

this time the chorus has a different meaning, with the different context. it's not a lamentation of this fact, but an acceptance of it. and an acknowledgement that, the goal of making them love me isn't something I should be pursuing any longer.

it's freedom. the outro is of after hzrn takes off into space, far far away from her family, and, once again she feels like a child, free and not vigilant. she lets go of the protocol, she removes the coat of paint she was wearing and lets her skin feel the air. and nothing hurts anymore; things still do hurt, but, not as much. she's able to recognize that the person she is now and that little boy she was then are one and the same; her parents were the one who pushed the wedge between then; she's still the kid she used to be (and, the use of 'we'"' here rather than 'i' I take as her finding community). she's just, in disbelief, that Someday came

so yeah! that's why this song means so much to me. I love you.

responding to this is allowed, btw, it's in fact encouraged

[creative-hanyou-girl]

I don't know if anyone else feels this way but I think a big reason why I'm so chill about the changes made to the PJO show from the books is because I kind of look at each other as their own seperate canon.

Like, I read a lot of anime and manga, and anime adaptations have a huge habit for changing plot points for various reasons, and as a fan of said anime and manga, I've found that I can enjoy both versions of the same story even with the differences when I look at them as their own universe or canon. That's not to say I don't want them to be faithful or true to the source material, but if a scene or situation plays out differently for a logical or entertaining reason, than I can still appreciate that deviation from the manga even if I still like the other original version of that part more. And I can even like the reversal way if I feel an anime does something better than even the manga. But if I want to, I can look at certain moments as more canon than others because I got 2 different versions of that same scene or moment.

And, I don't know, I kind of apply that reasoning to the PJO series as well, mainly with the books, the show, and even the musical (not the movies put that right back where it came from). So far I'm loving the TV show, and while I miss some of the things they changed (like the pink poodle), this adaptation really is doing a great job with staying true to the heart and spirit of the original book that I personally am not even really bothered by the changes, especially when I remember that the books will always still be there with it's own version, or canon, of events.

Like, I will say 1 thing I adore in the books that isn't really in the show is the fact that a lot of Percy and Annabeth's "rivalry" during TLT has more to do with the rivalry between Poseidon and Athena. I just really like on how this adds a level of "forbidden friendship/love" to their relationship 'cause I personally eat the forbidden relationship trope up, especially when it's done well like with Percabeth.

Yet, even if this isn't really the reason percabeth have beef with each other in the show, I can still appreciate and enjoy that according to the show's canon, they have issues because they genuinely have problems with each other as actual people rather than their parents' rivalry, because at the end of the day, that's the PJO TV show canon, and I can always turn to the books for that version of Percabeth's "rivalry", as that is the PJO book canon.

Same goes for the characters too. I will always have and love my dark haired Percy and blond haired Annabeth in the books, but I can also welcome and love Walker's Percy and Leah's Annabeth from the show. And so far, they along with Aryan are KILLING IT as those characters.

I can love both versions of the characters.

I can love both versions of the same story.

I can look at both versions as they own seperate canon or mix them together if I so wish too (especially since both versions of PJO are written by the same guy)

And that's ok. The adaptation doesn't have to be a complete copy of the books. It doesn't have to have things play out eactly the same way. The characters don't have to look exactly the way they are described as in the books. And that's ok. I will still always have the books to love and appreciate, but I can also start to love and appreciate the new adaptation for it's new spin and twists to the same story that sets it apart as it's own canon while still staying true to the spirit of its predecessor.

Anyway, sorry if I'm not making a lot of sense. I just think the people complaining about the changes in the show are looking at it all the wrong way. The show has it's own canon just as the books have their own canon, or even the musical. At the end of the day, isn't that kind of cool to have different versions of the same story and characters? Doesn't it give you so many more options to look at the story in different ways that you can prefer or choose from? Doesn't it give you new versions of canon that you choose from? And really, as long as the PJO adaptation, or any adaptation for that matter, stays true to the heart and spirit of the original story and characters, do the changes made really matter?

[averlym]

whshdfhfjf.,,,

[reel-fear]

Honestly, every single time the whole 'poppy playtime is a bendy rip-off' stuff ever shows up I find it all extremely unconvincing and silly.

For one thing, rip-off usually is meant to imply that it's a cheap lazy copy of a better more polished thing, and uh. Sorry but even from chapter 1? Poppy Playtime is a better game than Bendy, it has a simple but understandable story, the game manages to be thrilling, creepy, and very intense at times... I mean that Huggy chase in the vents ALONE puts it way above Batim for me.

I mean BATDR had the most slow stupid chase I've ever seen [and every other encounter with the ink demon is text telling u he's there and then a timer goes down and u get jumpscared] and batim's chases were either silly or just not nearly as theatric or terrifying as that.

When making the vent sequence I mean not only is it absolutely horrifying to realize how fast Huggy is in there but also it's so theatric and cool? The fact that you round a corner after thinking you escaped only to see a terrifying animation of that thing crawling toward you is awesome! I wish Bendy had stuff like that!

And all the stuff it shares with Bendy are generic things Bendy ripped from other horror games/media anyways. I'm not saying Poppy Playtime isn't inspired by Bendy I for sure think it is but Bendy is such a generic story that somehow fails to do tropes 100 other horror games have done any comparison only makes Poppy Playtime look better.

"It has employees being sacrificed for their company" That is not a concept Bendy invented, literally look at any of the sci-fi horror series Bendy is very inspired by. This is literally a twist in the original Alien.

"It has a scary woman forcing you to do tasks for her" Once again, not a concept Bendy invented, a scary mysterious person forcing you to do fetch-quests is a concept found in tons of horror media. And at least Poppy Playtime gave you a chase with her and let you defeat her, look at poor malice. She's barely on screen for more than 10 minutes before she gets stabbed.

"It has a cult worshipping the monster" This is something tons of horror games and media have done too. I mean In The Tall Grass has a guy who worships a giant magical rock in the middle of a grass maze, Bioshock [which Bendy has only been taking more and more direct inspiration from while failing to grab any of the compelling parts] also had a lot of themes of religion and cult-ish behavior, almost every horror media franchise has at one point done a cult thing.

Bendy couldn't even come up with a reason Sammy worships the ink demon, the best motivation we've ever gotten is just that 'he's crazzyyyy the ink made him insaneeee'. Who is the cheap rip-off here?

At least Poppy Playtime gave their cultist a motive for worshipping the monster + a proper boss fight that feels intense and looks awesome! Bendy didn't even let you kill Malice [she got stabbed in front of you and then just collapsed on the floor how thrilling] meanwhile you get to kill three of the villains in Poppy Playtime and the gameplay and action in those scenes have only gotten better as the game went on.

I mean Sammy walks into a room and goes "AAA SCARY I'M BEING MURDERED" then later shows up and for NO REASON sees a normal human man and assumes it's the ink demon before once again someone else kills him for you. In Poppy Playtime you defeat Catnap as he floods the world with this horrible nightmare-inducing gas that intensifies the color palette and his design. Fight off versions of him that are illusions that you need your flare gun for, then watch in a wonderful animation as he mistakes the monster for his savior before getting killed by it, in a brutal way I might add, which game are we accusing of being cheap, lazy garbage again?

I just find this argument to be people who Really Really need to find a reason to hate Poppy Playtime which I think is silly. The devs being weird, shady people is already enough reason to dislike the game, you don't need to invent reasons why secretly every part of the game is malicious or bad. But esp when I see Bendy fans saying they don't support Poppy Playtime or dislike it bc of its devs or even saying its cringe ummmm.

I have bad news about the fact Bendy's devs are worse and it took not one, but TWO over an hour long videos to cover it all. Plus the Bendy games are just the worse games in every aspect, if I could sell my batim copy for a copy of Poppy Playtime I wouldn't hesitate at all.

Saying this as a bendy fan, we have no right to be super judgy towards Poppy Playtime. If Poppy Playtime is embarrassing cringe, Bendy is too and is way more embarrassing of an interest. We shouldn't spread misinformation just because we all want to hate Poppy Playtime, you can dislike Poppy Playtime without making up a bunch of nonsense to justify it.

Honestly seeing people just blatantly be unfairly mean to Poppy Playtime only makes its critics look worse and makes it hard to take any backlash to the games seriously. Because surprise surprise if you spread misinformation to make a point people will quickly stop listening to Anything you have to say bc they won't trust you're telling the truth anymore.