#(also.. pls don’t tell me exactly what her motivations and thoughts are if that’s revealed later…

[fumingspice]

All The Things She Said

Pairing: Lana Winters x Reader

Request:  student x teacher au fic with lana, billie or cordelia?

Note: Added in a little sparkle with a soulmate AU. Those who are lucky enough to have a soulmate are assigned a necklace with a small pendant. No one knows where they come from or how they’re decided; they just appear and will match your soulmate’s identically. Also, yes the reader is eighteen, and yes there will probably be a part two.

Requests are open!

Your routine was like clock-work; every morning without fail. 5am you would get out of bed and go on a run. There was no reason, really. You weren't someone who was that interested in athletics, it was just a way to clear your mind and wake up your mind and body before going to school and having the energy sucked out of you.

You adored the way the sky looked this early in the morning as you ran through the country park. The heat gave you an extra kick of gratification as you watched the sky dance in colours of orange and pink, painting everything in shades of gold. The sun crept through the mountain like liquid glory and you couldn't get enough of it.

Realising the time, you made your way back to your neighbourhood, waving at neighbours you often saw at this time of morning.

You saw many of the same people on morning runs that you eventually learned by name while running past them, shouting a greeting and waving as you sped past them. This morning, you noticed that the home a few lots down from your own had been purchased; the new inhabitents were outside, speaking with a contractor.

As you ran, you noticed the woman watching you. Breaking your glance, you made a mental note to introduce yourself later.

The shower couldn't come soon enough as you lathered the cool water on your body. Cold showers after a run provided that little extra adrenaline rush that you needed to get you through the day, and boy would you need it today.

After months of persuasion, you had finally given in to skipping the end of school and heading to a gay bar with your friends Emmett and Heather. Being the model student you were, you had declined the offer time and time again; but after catching your boyfriend with another girl and the subsequent break up of one of the most liked couples in school, you decided that now would be the best time for it.

The school day rushed in and at 12pm on the dot, you and Emmett made your way to Heather's car, where she sat impatiently tapping her foot.

"You two took your sweet time," the blonde muttered, pulling on a pair of sunglasses and revving up the engine.

The plan was simple; Heather's parents were out of town for the week so the three of you planned to stay over. Today would be spent getting ready and having a few drinks before hitting the bar in order for you to have a "drink in celebration" for breaking up with your ex-boyfriend.

The bar was lively, and you could smell the mixture of cheap cigarettes, alcohol and weed and hear the music from the street behind. Emmett compared the similarity of the three of you strutting to the bar to the Sanderson sisters from Hocus Pocus.

Heather nudged you yet again, her elbow hitting a nerve in your ribs and making you bounce.

"Will you quit that?" you snapped, realising your fourth cocktail was making you slightly irritable.

Heather glared at you and pulled you over to whisper in your ear. "The brunette at seven o'clock has looked from her phone to you at least four times," she hissed, releasing you and nodding her head in the direction.

You nodded in understanding and gestured for her to tell you what to do. Picking chicks up at a bar wasn't exactly something you were accustomed to, after all.

"Go up to the bar and order something-" she looked at your outift, "-I don't know. Some business casual-sounding drink. Like an Old Fashioned or something. Make a joke about how much you've drank and if she's warm then ask if she's here with someone. Then go in for the kill and Emmett and I will be your wing-people when you break your seal."

"Break my what?"

Heather practically shoved you off your chair.

You shrugged and walked towards the bar, standing close to the brunette, but not close enough so that she knew what you were up to. The bartender approached and you smiled at her.

"Hey, could I get an Old Fashioned pl-"

"And get me another piña colada while you're making your move!" Heather called, acting more drunk than she was in an effort to hint off to the lady. You glared at her, and in return, for some added effect she lent into full view of the lady, shot her a cheesy grin and gave her a thumbs up.

You spun on your heel to see if the lady had noticed, and to your dismay she had. She looked at you with a raised eyebrow.

At least she didn't look disappointed.

"Was that for me?" She chuckled, taking a tip from her class. You grinned as casually as possible, looking down at your hands. You finished off your order and paid, waiting for Heather to get her drink to no avail.

"You know what, yeah I think it was for you actually," you replied. Keeping it cool was the buzz phrase Heather had been using all day. "I'm sorry but my friend claimed that she had seen you checking me out a few times and was pretty insistant that I come over and talk to you."

You sat in the stool, leaving one between you.

The lady chuckled. "It's fine," she said, taking another sip. "I'd be grateful for the company."

"You're alone? You're more than welcome to sit with my friends and I," you offered.

You cut off immediately by Heather collecting her drink, standing between you and muttering, "don't you fucking dare," into your ear before walking over to the woman and leaning over her shoulder.

"Now, you see, Ms- I'm sorry what's your name? Jesus, Y/N! When you flirt it's basic manners to ask for a name," Heather muttered.

"It's Lana," she replied, smiling at you.

Lana. A pretty name.

"Awh, that's a lovely name actually, I wish my parents liked me enough to call me something like that. Anyways, enough about me. So, anyways, my good friend Y/N here just got two-timed by a piece of human trash that she's way hotter than and everyone warned her against dating but hey- you know our Y/N, she's balls-ier than a dodgey testical. So, all I'm really gonna say is we came here because we really want to get her laid so she doesn't need to feel like she got the short end of the bargain so, you know-"

At this stage Heather was trying to communicate through a series of dramatic gestures. Emmett strod over, took Heather by the shoulders and apologised to Lana before walking your drunk friend back to your table.

You were both a little shell-shocked and you feared that Heather's drunken rant had ruined any sembelance of a chance that you had with getting anywhere with this.

"I- I'm so sorry. She doesn't get out much," you said. Lana's smile returned as she waved it off.

"Has anyone ever told you that you look a lot younger than twenty-one?" she asked. You couldn't tell if she was being genuine or if she was trying to hint that she thought you were younger than your ID said.

You nodded. "All the time," you say, it's not like that's a lie. "How old are you? If you're not offended by my asking."

"I'm twenty-nine. I hit the big three-oh in November," she replied. Lana reached into her bag and pulled out a box of Newport cigarettes. "I'm sorry, I've had a long day and I'm dying for a smoke. Care to join me?"

You sat still for a moment before excepting the offer. The club was absolutely packed and you could barely follow Lana through to the balcony without getting separated from her. She noticed and turned around, taking your hand and keeping you close so that you didn't get lost in the crowd.

Lana lent over the metal fence, cupping her hand over her lighter. You watched how her cheeks sucked in, defining her cheekbones and her jawline. You mirrored her position against the fence.

"Hard day at the office?" You asked, declining the cigarette she offered you. "Thanks but I don't smoke."

Lana smiled down at her cigarette. "I like a smart girl. Stay away from these for as long as possible," she took a long draw. "And to answer your question; I moved into a new house today only to find out that none of the plumbing was actually installed and contractor has no idea why."

"My house was like that too; turns out the pipes are just in really weird places," you replied. You turned to face in the opposite direction, laying your elbows onto the bar and watching the crowd. "What do you do? Career wise?"

Lana blew out a puff. "I'm a teacher. French and English Literature."

Ah great; a French student trying to hit on a French teacher. This was gonna be a fun story to tell the group.

"You're kidding? I'm studying French," you replied. 

Lana laughed. "Damn, Y/N. This just has to be written in the stars," she replied, you could sent the well-meant underlying sarcasm in her voice. "You think I have that chance?" You ask, your eyes dart down to her hand. Her ring finger, although bare had an imprint on it as if she had only recently removed a ring. She noticed you looking and brought her hand into a fist.

"Don't look at me like that, Y/N. We're getting divorced," she said. She bit her lip and looked down into the woods beneath. 

You felt slightly guilty. "Oh, I'm sorry." Lana shook her head in response.

"I'm in a gay bar for Christ's sake. We definetly weren't compatiable," she chuckled, reaching for another draw of her cigarette. She turned around, some noise in the background catching her attention. Her sleeve dropped a little bit, revealing two bruises at the side of her wrist that she had clearly tried to cover with foundation. Lana turned back around and you dropped your eyes before you noticed, unaware if it was your place to ask.

"If I'm honest, I don't really like bars. I know this really nice café a few places down. Do you wanna come with me?" You asked. Lana's head cocked slightly, her eyes scanned you as if they were looking for some alterier motive. "I'm not trying to get laid, Lana. I just don't like clubs and I don't think you do either."

Lana's shoulders relaxed, as if trying to decide. "Sure," she nodded. "I'd love to."

You walked back in through the bar, telling Emmett what you were doing. He made you promise to turn on your location and to call him to pick you up when you were ready to leave.

"It's nice that you have friends to watch your back," Lana said as you walked down the street. The air was now cold, nipping at your cheeks and nose. Lana slid her arm through yours after asking if it was okay to do so.

The café in question was small; dimly lit, decorated with plants. It was warm inside and the candles lit everything in orange. It was peaceful. You heard Lana sigh with relaxation as you asked her what she'd like to drink.

Two lattes later, you and Lana lay on the same old, green, springless couch. You giggled and talked for what could have been hours.

Lana noticed your Soul Necklace. “I have one too,” she said, touching the stone delicately. “I’ve never worn it though.”

She told you stories from high school and college while you sat and listened to her in some new form of fascination. You could listen to her talk forever. Your head rested on her shoulder, and hers rested on your head. There was an echo of peace which bounced around the both of you.

Eventually there came a moment when you had finally plucked up enough courage in a moment of silence between you to lift her chin with your finger and close in for a kiss. It was short and sweet, but you could still rellish the feeling of her lips kissing back against yours in a gentle passion.

She waited on you while Emmett drove back to get you, with an extremely drunk Heather in the backseat. 

"Are you free tomorrow night?" Lana asked before she walked away. You nodded. "Would you like to maybe go out? On a date?"

Her final question was asked with a shyness that you found adorable, and giving her a kiss on the cheek as

The next day you went to school in a good mood. Your run was better than ever. Your breakfast was tastier. The sky was more beautiful. You couldn't contain your giggles as Heather drove you and Emmett to school.

"I cannot believe you've landed yourself a date with a teacher," Emmett said as the three with you walked to your French class. You practically danced down the corridor with happiness. The three of you were slightly late to class.

You pushed the door open harder than you intended, making it crash against the wall with a loud bang. You muttered an apology while your friends laughed at you and the teacher settled them down, chuckling under her breath.

That it until she looked up at you.

And you looked up at her.

Lana muttered a profanity under her breath as she realised that she had asked one of her students on a date.

taglist: @its-soph-xx​

[pregnant-piggy]

Potions accident

Draco Malfoy x reader

Request: hey!! i saw your requests are open and i loved your draco x reader fic (all of them are amazing but i just love draco) can you do one where they are in a potions exam with a vile professor (not snape pls) all of the students are afraid of him, and the reader has a bad reaction to a ingredient and starts feeling dizzy and faint and she tells draco (they are a couple) idk is just an idea don’t worry if you don’t want to do it THANKS ❤️

Words: 1.2k

Warnings: fainting

A/N: this one’s a bit shorter. I’m sorry it took so long, my motivation decided to go on a vacation for a while. The ending is a little different, but I hope you like it!

----------

The tension was dancing through the air as the few students waited outside the Dungeons for the exam. Potions. Not from Snape. No, this year the ministry had decided the final exams should be conducted by a professor assigned by the Ministry itself. No one knew why these new measurements were taken, it wasn't exactly like Snape was one to give his own students extra credit.

The dark small space was filled with ten students, all their faces hidden in books, trying to get the last information in their head at the last moment.

The exam would exist of just brewing a potion. No one knew which one and how long it would take. There were four hours reserved for the exam, but you hoped that you wouldn't need all that time. Four hours was a long time.

The door of the classroom opened to reveal an old man with a beard, who asked everyone to come in. The students in the hall closed their books and headed in the cold dungeons.

There was a different vibe than there was with Snape. Maybe it was just the pressure of the exam but the dungeons were cold and dark. The air was a bit humid and as you took in a deep breath the scent of old books and mouldy ingredients entered your nose.

‘Good afternoon,’ the man who had opened the door spoke as everyone sat down at a table with a cauldron. ‘You are here to test if you have what it takes to master the art of potion brewing. I highly advise you all to stay focused on your own work, learning something by copying your neighbour is not learning. That is also for you, miss,’ the professor said and he looked at a Gryffindor in the back of the room, who had turned around to whisper something to her neighbour.

‘If you have something to share, please do so with the whole class.’

‘No, sir, nothing,’ the Gryffindor mumbled and she turned her gaze back to her own cauldron.

‘That's what I thought,’ the man said and he stroke his hand through his beard. ‘My name is professor Berger and I'll conduct your exam today.’

Berger went into detail about the potion you had to make and the more time passed, the less you started to like the man. He was arrogant, thinking that he knew everything about the subject, inconsiderate, ignoring the obvious nerves in the room, and on top of that his voice was cold and distant. Everything about the man made you lose more motivation as he kept talking.

‘Well, good luck then,’ he said, while everything in his eyes told you that he didn't wish any of the students good luck.

You gathered the ingredients and started to work on your potion as fast as possible. You knew how to do it, you could clearly remember the page with the instructions.

As you crushed, cut and steered, your classmates did the same. The room was silent, apart from the occasional swearing when something went wrong and the sighs as the realisation of how long four hours actually is set. Professor Berger walked around the room, looking in the cauldrons he passed and smacking his lips as he did so. He had passed your cauldron five times already in the past two hours and his eyes told you nothing.

‘Only two hours left!’ Berger yelled from the front of the class.

You looked at the light blue liquid in your cauldron and smiled happily; you were right on the schedule. You only had to add the dried snake skin and unicorn hair and all that was left after that was stirring.

As you took the dried skins your fingertips tingled softly. It was as if your hand had been asleep and blood was now trying to make its way there. But your hand hadn't been asleep.

Quickly you dropped the skins in the liquid and this turned a darker blue, just like it had to. The unicorn hair followed after and from dark blue came bright green. You smirked at yourself and grabbed your wand to steer.

The potion started to bubble and fumes formed above the surface of the liquid. They reached up to the ceilings, like a green cloud.

You tried not to inhale too deeply, knowing that the potion was strong. But the fumes blew in your face and without wanting they got to your nose.

There was soft whizzing in your ear and your head started to spin. You lost your concentration and grabbed your head as you slowly felt the world moving under your feet. Dark spots formed in your sight and the dungeons disappeared as blackness filled your head.

-- - --

‘y/n? Darling? Please wake up.’

The first thing you noticed was the bright light around you. You couldn't be in the dungeons anymore. A hand was holding yours and under your body you felt a soft mattress.

As you opened your eyes and turned your head to the side, you saw Draco sitting next to your bed.

You were in the hospital wing, you saw as you looked around. Slowly everything got back to you. The dark dungeons, that cold man and the exam.

Your exam!

‘Don't worry, dear, the professor checked your potion and he said that it was good enough to let you pass,’ Draco said as he realised your panic. His hand squeezed yours softly and he lifted it so he could place a kiss on your knuckles.

‘How long have I been here?’ you asked.

‘A few hours, it's nearly dinner time,’ Draco answered with a shrug.

‘You have been here the entire time?’

‘Of course,’ Draco said like it was the most logical thing in the world.

‘But didn't you have exams to study for?’

‘You are more important than exams, darling.’

You smiled and tugged on Draco’s hand, asking him to lie down next to you. He crawled on the small space next to you and you rested your head in the crook of his neck. You wrapped your arm around his waist and breathed in his scent. It was a mix of cologne, ink and mint. Something about it calmed you. It was something familiar.

‘How are you?’ Draco whispered.

‘Fine, my head hurts a bit. And my bum,’ you said and Draco laughed.

He stroke your arm and pressed a kiss on the top of your head. The air from his nose brushed through your hair and you nuzzled your face further into his neck, your lips pressed against his cold skin.

‘I was worried about you,’ Draco mumbled. ‘I don't like seeing you hurt.’

‘I know, I don't like to see you in pain either,’ you whispered. ‘I love you too much.’

--------

taglist:

general: @kitkatkl @girllety @yuptha-tsme @sleep-i-ness @iamak20 @thefuturelawyer @weasleydream @missmulti @deafgirltingz @moonstarrnghtsky @bloodblossom73 @mytreec @lilulo-12fanfiction @emmaloo21 @kashishwrites

let me know if you want to be added!

MASTERLIST

[stray-tori]

TPN S02E04 - Initial Thoughts (anime-only)

viewing + post-ep talk with my friends: Google Drive (sorry, youtube denied me again)

(i) Translations are in the English (USA) CC (including the english bits as well for those who struggle with the audio/language, etc.)

pls validate my efforts and watch it.

there’s some anime-only talk about the adaptation towards the end, I wasn’t trying to be arrogant, just mention it to my friends based on some things I’d heard and without spoiling them about what is different that I do know of specifically. But if you want to avoid that, feel free to!

I definitely said it a bit too in favor of the anime, and obviously my friends’ just got my simplified thoughts on it? Like when they said it makes sense for the anime to move on quicker, but that’s not really what’s different. 

So yeah, please forgive the dubious things in that segment, I really just didn’t think about my words a lot.

.

. Random thoughts

The fish bug scenes were delightful TvT Also the animation during them trying to grab them???

The OST during Isabella’s scenes???? take me

I think we also heard the OST sneak peak from a while ago during the cave confrontation with the army force human

Don is a useless nightwatch, goddamn it Don

Don is an epic chairman.

Loved the shot of Ray shooting at the big demon (why didn’t Emma get a cool shot? :THONK:), very dynamic, very epic.

Also them running together to push the man off the cliff was... something haha.

I’m losing my mind that we’re actually just ending on the way ep1 started. Same animation loops too, eh. to be expected, and obviously adjusted for different clothing and items but. still as someone who wants to praise for not re-using animation, rip.

EMMA HAVING SLEEPING CHILDREN AROUND HER AWWWW

Eyy Ray took a bath with the others too, yay

.

. The bunker

So, the twist was that there was really.... no twist at all. Minerva was a good guy, he tried his best, he got discovered and chased.

And yet, I don’t think the bunker was previously discovered by the farms, which would at least warrant a “scare” like that, effectively making it a trap. They may have been aware of a shelter’s existence, but I don’t think they’ve been there before.

You could probably assume that the Troup that attacked our characters may have also removed the previous escapees from the scene --- but if that was the case, why leave all of the letters and other things in place. Not getting there immediately is understandable, they seem to arrived by foot (what? do you plan to keep an eye on the children the whole like 5 day march back or however long it took?? dang). So that’s not it.

So: what caused the HELPs? the person writing in the book seems to have been abandoned or more likely, are the only survivor of their group (maybe the only person in the group at all). Now it’d be an option for them to have found this safe haven and decided to just spend their days there, slowly losing their minds and doing the things on the wall. But then the message in the book, on the other hand, seems traumatized and sad, but not as lost as the carvings on the wall.

So either, they calmed down after going crazy and then once they did, they decided to leave.

Or it’s from two different people (or multiple), the one after the “HELP” one probably leaving the uplifting message in the book nearby of the scribbles.

I’m not sure which I’d find more likely, but all in all, I’m not sure why they didn’t just have the demons already know of the place and just have the letter (they probably wouldn’t have searched everything in the place) not be as obviously placed and then boom, they could still have made all discoveries they needed and when they found the help wall, it would have been from children trapped in the room while the men searched the bunker, wanting help.

* Clearly that’s not what they were going for, since there’s also day-counting things, but even that you could have explained by saying, they missed a child and the other escapees convinced them that they died, somehow and so they were left behind, traumatized by their friends being taken back and giving up for a while. It still runs into the same “but how can it be the same person?” doubt that my friend brought up, but I think that it’d justify the shock value of the wall more. Still not really making the whole “HELP” thing add up though, since that just sounds like there’s an immediate threat, when there isn’t. The only other thing I can think of is that the entire wall wasn’t one instance, so the counting could be solitude, the HELPs acute danger and the names probably also solitude. The drawing on the right also makes me think it was probably a child as well, fairly young. Poor kid.

Unless there’s something more to it I feel like it makes a little more sense, but still not a lot (WHY’D YOU LEAVE YOUR SNACKS, BRO) but seeing as we’ve left, I don’t think we’ll get to know.

.

I’m assuming the way the farm knew now is either a) they were aware but didn’t see any reason to go there unless there were children there, b) they saw the coordinate carvings (thanks Ray) or c) the pursuers contacted the farms (which would make sense, and again, thanks Ray).

.

.. the farm has a military force???

I also find it kind of funny that the farms have a military force??? Because so far, we’ve never seen them use guns to do anything. Which makes me think they might not be farm-intern but from an outside force, maybe the humans who are more “on-level” with them?

Like, what do they do all day. They’re probably not part of the buff demon guards and.... idk man haha-

.

. Isabella

Ahh I was happy to see her! I was even happier to be like “hah, prison. Knew it.” and then later reacting to the offer, even though that wasn’t exactly what I called, but damn. the pride. my fucking expression too lol, i couldn’t hide it at all pff.

Her jump in motivation is a little weird, but I do see it as, someone who has basically accepted their fate, and when that gets challenged, the will to live takes over. 

I’m also not quite sure how she’s supposed to capture them if she can’t leave?

And then of course there’s whatever they promised her aside from “freedom” (which, if that just means being let outside, good luck ma’am there’s demons everywhere) - or is the transportation to the human world included? :D

Based on her clothing in the OP, I might have guessed it’d be “become a grandma” but that doesn’t really go well with the promise of freedom so.... I don’t know where that entire thing is going pff-

We don’t know a lot about what drives Isabella but one of the few things we do know is a) will to live and b) Leslie (????), hence the lullaby in “stressful” situations.

She already got the will to live with the baseline deal, so the only thing I can think of that would make her react more than freedom would be that Leslie’s alive and she can see him if she helps.

I’m not sure if she’s interested in anything else, like how the world works or what she can do for anyone, like.... hm. Of course it could totally be something that we just don’t know yet but yeah I guess that’s my guess.

They probably won’t give up Ray and seeing as she’s more concerned about his brain than anything, I don’t think even if they did allow her to take him with her, it probably wouldn’t mean a lot to her. Plus, why lose another high quality cattle.

I guess it could be, she did seem she wanted to be a proper mother figure, but idk something tells me it’s probably not something like that.

It would also be more “???” than “OHHH” of an reveal. Then again, Leslie is also an obvious choice so.

Maybe it’s something entirely new, we’ll see :D

.

. The possibily wrong date

So when Anna writes a journal thingy, we see this

And, well, their escape happened in January 2046, so... for that to be true, somewhere along the line, an entire year would have had to pass.

I’m assume this is a production error because

they didn’t get to harvest once

they wouldn’t wait a year to talk about the plan to go back

Ray wouldn’t need an ear patch for so long, he only has a cut

the montage only showed 22nd and 23rd, if an entire year had passed, we’d have been shown more varied dates, etc.

then it makes even less sense for why the army shows up one year later out of nowhere :D

...

Smh, CloverWorks, what can you even do right.

.

Yee, thanks for reading!

[authenticcadence18]

Can’t Help Falling in Love Ch. 5

THE CHAPTER IS BACK UP, WOO!!!!! (it accidentally got deleted...but I’m finally fixing it, yay!!) Pls enjoy!! 

Warning: the next line contains a minor trigger warning which contains a minor spoiler.

(minor trigger warning for an injury in this chapter. It’s nothing serious...and mostly just in there as an excuse for some fluff...but I wanted to let y’all know just in case!)

First Chapter

Previous Chapter

AO3

...

Darling, so it goes…

Some things are meant to be…

...

“Alright! Before I let you and your partners discuss your projects for the last fifteen minutes of class, who can tell me something about dominant chords?”

Since the beginning of March, Ms. Chase had made a habit of asking her students one review question a day as a “pre-pre exam review.”

Unfortunately, the blank stares she got in response to today’s question seemed to indicate no one had a response.

Ms. Chase allowed the silence to linger for a few seconds, giving her students the opportunity to think critically about her question before determining she needed to move on. “Alright, I’ll review them again!” she said warmly. “There’s no point in waiting an eternity for someone to answer a question if no one knows the answer or wants to answer...we would just be wasting time.

“Dominant chords are built on the fifth note in a scale, and they create instability! Whenever you hear a dominant chord in a song, you instinctively wait for it to resolve. It sounds like it’s holding its breath! And, that resolution, or the exhale of relief, is typically found in a tonic chord!! Remember, the tonic chord is built on the first note of a scale, so when you go back to it, it’s like you’re going back home.”

Perhaps now that she’d reviewed the concept, the class would be able to answer a question!

“Can anyone think of a song that ends with a dominant chord resolving to the tonic?”

A student raised his hand.

“Yes, Django?”

Django’s answer was hesitant. “...‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’?”

“Excellent!!!” Ms. Chase replied with a grin. She wrote out the lyrics to the first verse of the tune on the whiteboard and gestured to them to elaborate on the lesson. “Imagine the words ‘what you’ being held out for an extended period of time instead of immediately being followed by the word ‘are’ and the final tonic chord....hear the unresolved dominant chord in your head…..FEEL the mounting tension that is DESPERATE to finally be resolved…...can you hear it? Can you FEEL the aching, burning desperation for resolution???”

A few particularly musically-inclined students—Isabella and Phineas included—nodded their heads enthusiastically. The majority of the class, however, seemed primarily caught off-guard by their teacher’s passion for chords (especially while discussing a children’s nursery rhyme).

Ms. Chase chuckled at their reactions (and her heart sang at the few students who DID seem to grasp the inherent beauty of dominant and tonic chords.)

“Look, I know this might seem boring and irrelevant now, but you’ll need this information to understand a simile in a couple of chapters!!”

“....don’t you mean to understand our exam review in a couple of weeks?”

“Yup! That’s what I said!!”

...

“Alright, by class time tomorrow, you and your partner need to decide whether your final project will be live, recorded, or elsewise! No matter what you decide to do, you will have to turn in your project along with your essays next Monday, exactly a week from today. You can turn in a scratch recording if you intend to do a live performance. And, just a reminder, presentations will start next week on Tuesday. Alright, you have the rest of class to discuss with your partners! Go!!!!”

Isabella and Phineas nodded at their teacher before facing one-another. Isabella opened her notebook and thumbed to a blank page, scribbling the words “Presentation Ideas” on the top.

“I’m sure glad we already got the essay out of the way!!” Phineas exclaimed as she wrote. “It was a great idea to do that first, Isabella.”

Isabella smiled sweetly (and maybe she blushed a little, but who could blame her?) and replied, “AND, just like you said, we have a better grasp on the song’s themes and structure now! That’ll make the presentation easier.”

“Easier,” of course, was a relative term for their situation. Understanding the themes and structure of their assigned song didn’t change what the lyrics meant to them personally.

Isabella and Phineas quite literally couldn’t help being in love with one another.

No amount of analysis could top that for inspiration.

“OK!!” Isabella shook her head to clear it of thoughts about her feelings for Phineas and the inherent irony in their song assignment. “Ideas for our presentation!! What do you want to do? Make a poster? Sing live? Record a video?”

(One would think two individuals as motivated and driven as Phineas and Isabella would have come to a decision about this by now. But they’d both been putting this conversation off for as long as they could.)

“Well….” Phineas rubbed the back of his neck and tried to hide the faint blush warming his face. “...I think it would be fun to sing together again. I mean, live. For the class. We haven’t done that—you know, sung together—in years.”

Deep down, Phineas knew singing with Isabella was perhaps not the best idea. Singing “Can’t Help Falling in Love” for their presentation—as opposed to making a poster or something about it—would almost CERTAINLY result in sly looks from the rest of their classmates as they performed...not to mention be difficult on Phineas himself.

But he loved singing with Isabella.

Some of his fondest memories from when they were kids involved musical numbers—be they spontaneous or rehearsed—in which they shared a melody.

Phineas also figured it would be less risky to sing live than make a video. If he and Isabella chose the latter option for their presentation, they would likely have to spend time editing footage together after recording...and Isabella could catch him gazing fondly at her in one of the videos...and his secret would be out. It would be better to just record the audio of their song once or twice for Ms. Chase and then sing it in front of the class.

And...there was one final reason Phineas wanted to sing “Can’t Help Falling in Love” with Isabella.

Doing so would be the safest way to say “I love you ” to her.

He didn’t expect her to return his feelings or even UNDERSTAND just how deeply the lyrics resonated in his heart while they sang together, of course.

But he wanted to tell her he loved her. Even if it was just through the lyrics of a half-a-century-old song. Even if it didn’t mean anything to her.

It would mean something to him.

Isabella smiled fondly as memories of singing with Phineas washed over her. “You know what? I think you’re right. That WOULD be fun. We should sing together. ...you know, live!”

(She also didn’t trust herself to film a video without making heart eyes at Phineas and potentially give her feelings away. Maybe he wouldn’t notice but...it was better to be safe than sorry.)

A bright smile unfolded over Phineas’s face, and Isabella giggled.

“It’s settled then!!” he exclaimed excitedly. “We’ll decide on some instruments to play and come up with an arrangement for the song, and then….” He gazed at her lovingly and took her hand in his. “All we’ll have to do is…run away together!!!”

Isabella beamed at him.

And then she blinked. And frowned.

Because what had Phineas said, exactly?

…and why did it feel uncomfortably familiar?

A bit of closer inspection revealed that Phineas wasn’t actually holding her hand. Or gazing at her lovingly.

...this didn’t bode well.  

Isabella took a deep breath. “......can you repeat that?” she asked hesitantly. “I think I zoned out for a second there.”

“Sure!” Phineas replied cheerfully. “I said, we’ll decide on some instruments to play and come up with an arrangement for the song, and then all we’ll have to do is record it for Ms. Chase and sing for the class!”

Isabella offered Phineas a thumbs up and a strained smile for the clarification.

On the inside, however...she was not smiling at all.

When Isabella was younger, she’d had a bad habit of occasionally falling into romantic daydreams about Phineas when he spoke to her and missing whatever he’d actually said. The rest of the Fireside Girls had lovingly dubbed this phenomenon “going to Phineasland.”

Isabella hadn’t been to Phineasland in years. Even now, though her feelings for Phineas were stronger than ever, she figured she’d outgrown it.

...except she apparently HADN’T outgrown it.

And she was going to scream.

Because if such daydreams became more frequent, Isabella had no idea how she’d be able to perform a love song with Phineas!! How was she supposed to discern between fantasy and reality while singing a romantic duet with him if she apparently couldn't even do it in regular conversation now??

...Isabella was just going to have to focus extra carefully whenever they interacted from now on. And take anything Phineas said (or sang) that could be interpreted as more than friendly with a grain of salt.

Several grains of salt.

“So. Do you want to get started on the song after school today?” Phineas asked.

“Sure!!” Isabella agreed quickly, eager to put thoughts of Phineasland out of her head and focus on literally anything else.  “I have soccer practice till 4:30, though. Do you have any meetings today? If not, I can come over to your house once I’m finished.”

“I don’t have any meetings today, but don’t mind hanging out here until you’re done!” Phineas replied. “Maybe I can sit outside on the bleachers while you and the team practice!! That way, you won’t have to walk home by yourself afterward.”

Isabella grinned, already looking forward to strolling home with Phineas (and maybe accidentally brushing her hand against his a few times as they walked).

(She could totally do that without going to Phineasland. Totally. 100%.)

“That sounds great!”  

...

Phineas smiled as a light breeze ruffled his hair.

It was a beautiful afternoon to sit outside and watch one’s crush play soccer.

It had been awhile since Phineas witnessed the soccer team in action. Their season ended back in autumn, and all their spring practices were primarily held to keep the team moving and prepare the underclassmen for next year’s season.

(Phineas hadn’t missed a game, of course. He loved supporting Isabella in any way he could...and watching her play soccer and lead the team was pretty awesome.)

His gaze gradually drifted away from the soccer field and down to the notebook in his lap. He added a bit of shading to the design for an invention he’d been ruminating on for awhile: a generator that could create any image in fireworks. Such an invention could be used for quite a few things, but Phineas had a particular idea in mind for it….

On the opposite page, he sketched out a horizon and penciled the phrase “Gitchee Gitchee Goo!” into the sky. A lopsided grin unfolded over his face as he absently doodled small hearts and sparks around the lyric.

...now that song was stuck in his head. He hummed a bit of the refrain.

Gitchee gitchee goo means that I love you!

Phineas smiled fondly at the familiar melody, one he and Isabella both knew very well. He wasn’t planning on confessing to her anytime soon...but it was still fun to daydream up different ways he could do so.

(Well. It was fun to daydream up different ways he could do so in a hypothetical scenario where confessing couldn’t result in their friendship being ruined forever. But that went without being said.)

“Hey, Phineas! Whatcha drawin’?”

Phineas’s pulse skyrocketed, and he nearly fell off the bleachers.

He’d been so wrapped up in his daydream, he didn’t realize Isabella was sitting next to him now.

And it was too late to shut the notebook. She’d already seen it.

...this didn’t bode well.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you!” Isabella said with an apologetic smile. “We’re taking a short break, so I wanted to see what you were up to.” She moved a bit closer to Phineas so she could admire his handiwork better. “Oooooh, that looks neat!! Is that a generator that makes custom fireworks?”

Phineas managed to nod, hoping his face didn’t look as red as it felt.

Isabella smiled as she read the familiar lyric scrawled in the paper sky. “Are you planning to use this to promote some sort of Phineas and the Ferbtones comeback concert?”

Some of the tension left Phineas’s shoulders.

Isabella had provided a perfect explanation for the fireworks he’d drawn!!

“YUP!!!” he replied quickly. “I’d use it to promote a comeback concert!! Or, well, a comeback-comeback concert, I guess. But probably not anytime soon. I’m in no rush to revisit being a one-hit wonder...there’s too much other stuff going on right now. But I bet it could be fun to do someday!”

“Well, whenever you schedule that concert, let me know! Being a Ferbette was tons of fun.” Isabella smiled and quietly sang a bit of the aforementioned one-hit wonder to herself. “Gitchee gitchee goo means that I love you!”

Phineas let out an inaudible sigh of relief (and tried to ignore the way his heart leapt to hear Isabella sing the words ‘ I love you ’ in his general vicinity).

THAT had been a close one.

“Isabella, Isabella!!!”

A younger soccer player—perhaps a sophomore—ran over to the bleachers, an excited smile plastered to her face and blond hair flying behind her.

“What’s up, Mel?” Isabella asked. “We’ve still got a few minutes before we start the next drill. Is everything okay?”

“Is this—" Mel paused to catch her breath (running across the soccer field in one go was no easy feat!) before starting again. “Is this who I think it is??” She gestured to Phineas excitedly.  

Isabella smiled proudly. “It sure is!!

“Phineas, meet Mel, soccer-extraodrinare! And Mel, meet Phineas!!! He and I are working on a project for a class together, so he’s hanging out here until the end of practice.”

“It’s nice to meet you!” Phineas said kindly, extending a hand towards Mel. “I’ve seen you play before: you’ve got great form!!”

Mel, in response, squealed elatedly.

Which kind of freaked Phineas out.

Isabella couldn’t help but laugh at his confused expression. “Your reputation precedes you,” she explained with a grin.

“You built a Football X7 stadium in your backyard when you were just a kid!!!!” Mel elaborated. “Isabella told us all about it last semester!!!”

“Well, TECHNICALLY, my brother, Isabella, and the rest of our friends also built the stadium,” Phineas replied with a smile. “It was a team effort!”

Football X7 was once a purely hypothetical concept. In the 1950s, a man named Professor Ross Eforp developed plans for a fully-enclosed football—or soccer, for any Americans reading—stadium in which players could run on walls and shoot goals from virtually anywhere! Unfortunately, he was never able to bring his dream into reality, and it was deemed impossible.

Fortunately, for Phineas, Ferb, and the rest of their friends, the only thing that was impossible was impossibility! They built the world’s first fully-functioning Football X7 stadium to play a match with Ferb’s cousins one summer day and gave it away to a popular football team once they were finished with it.

Mel grinned before taking a deep breath and shyly asking, “...have you ever thought about building another stadium sometime? Playing soccer on this field is great and all, but I’ve always wondered what it would be like to play Football X7. Isabella told us it was tons of fun!”

Phineas rubbed his chin thoughtfully. It had only taken a few hours to build the stadium when he and Isabella were kids, but they’d had the help of Ferb and the rest of their friends then (and no other responsibilities to tend to, since it had been the middle of summer). “Well, I don’t see why not!” he said. “That would be really cool! But, we might need some extra hands to build it quickly.”

Isabella’s eyes lit up. “Why not recruit the robotics club to help?” she suggested excitedly. “We could all work together to build it!! With so many people lending a hand, it wouldn’t take long at all!”

“That’s a great idea!!!!” Phineas replied with a grin. “Ferb and I have been trying to think of something we could build with the robotics club for the betterment of the school, and a Football X7 stadium would be perfect!! How about I bring it up at our meeting tomorrow afternoon, make sure everyone is on board and that it’s okay with the school administrators, and then we can decide where and when to build?”

“That sounds great!!!” Isabella said.

“And, once it’s built, we can play a match together, for old time’s sake,” Phineas added.

Isabella smirked, a competitive glint emerging in her eyes. “The robotics team against the soccer team? You’re on!!!”

Mel squealed excitedly before taking off across the field, loudly exclaiming the recent development to the rest of the team. A ripple of cheers spread amongst the players as the amazing news—Phineas Flynn was going to help build them a Football X7 stadium!!—sank in.

Their shouts of joy nearly brought tears to Isabella’s eyes. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen them so happy….” she whispered.

Isabella cared deeply for the members of the soccer team. Throughout high school, in all its ups and downs, they’d always been there for her—and she’d made it a top priority to look out for the younger players (both to pay it forward to the upperclassmen who’d looked out for her when she was just a freshman and because she loved helping others, period).

To have the opportunity to give back to them like this, to see them so excited...it was amazing.

...and it wouldn’t have been possible without the brilliant, kind-hearted boy beside her.

Isabella turned to Phineas with a warm smile, gratitude momentarily overriding any qualms at expressing affection towards him, and brushed a quick kiss against his cheek.

“Thank you, Phineas.”

And then she stood from the bleachers and started jogging across the field and towards the rest of the team—both to join their celebration and finish up their practice.

Isabella didn’t fully register that she’d kissed Phineas on the cheek until she was about midway across the field. This realization made her stumble, doubts and possible ramifications of the spontaneous gesture suddenly spinning about her skull.

Had that been too much? Had she given her feelings away??

A small, slightly-jaded voice in Isabella’s head whispered, “Please, Isabella. Phineas is perhaps the most oblivious person on this planet—nay, in this GALAXY. He wouldn’t be able to figure out you have feelings for him just by you giving him a thank-you kiss on the cheek. He probably thinks it was a friendly gesture.”

The small, slightly-jaded voice was right. Sort of.

Phineas couldn’t move.

Had that really just happened? Had that been real??

The pinprick of warmth, the signature of Isabella’s kiss, still glowing faintly on his cheek seemed to indicate it had, indeed, been real.

He told himself she’d just been expressing her gratitude. That kiss did not mean—COULD NOT HAVE MEANT—anything more than “thank you.” After all, friends could kiss each other on the cheek, couldn’t they? They did that in other countries, right? Like, in France? That had to be what Isabella had intended by kissing him.

But this perfectly logical explanation couldn’t stop Phineas’s heart from racing in a perfectly illogical way. Or his face from flushing in an equally illogical way.

Because Isabella had kissed him.

Even if it had been a friendly kiss.

She’d kissed him.

A dreamy smile unfurled across Phineas’s face.

Today was a good day.  

...

The walk home was relatively uneventful.

Isabella didn’t dare “accidentally” brush her hand against Phineas’s now, not after the stunt she’d pulled during soccer. Attempted hand-holding probably would have been pushing it...even for someone as oblivious as Phineas.

And Phineas didn’t dare bring up Isabella’s kiss. But he thought about it. He couldn’t stop thinking about it.

The duo simply walked home, chatting about school and their project and ideas for the Football X7 stadium.

When they arrived at the Flynn-Fletcher household, they settled in the living room to develop a game plan for their song.

“Alright, Isabella,” Phineas began as they sat on the ground. “Are there any particular instruments you want to play when we sing?”

“I’m just not sure…” Isabella replied, pursing her lips in thought. “I’ve been thinking about it, but I can play tons of instruments! I’m not sure how to choose just one.”

“Same here!!” Phineas agreed. “There’s so many great options to choose from! Only playing a couple of guitars or something for our performance would be boring.”

“Wait…..” Isabella’s eyes lit up with inspiration for the second time that day. “....what if we didn’t HAVE to choose? Didn’t Candace used to use the spare room upstairs as a music room??”

“Yeah, but what does that have to do with….WAIT A MINUTE.”

“We can turn it into a recording studio!!!!” Isabella exclaimed excitedly. “And record our own accompaniment track with as many instruments as we want!!!!”

“Isabella, you’re a genius!!!!!!!” Phineas declared brightly.

“I know I am!” Isabella replied with a playful shrug. She opened her laptop and pulled up a music notation website. “Shall we get started on an arrangement then?”

“Yes, yes we shall!!”

...

The next few days passed by in a flurry of productivity. Isabella and Phineas divided their time between their own individual commitments, working on plans for and leading the construction of Danville High’s new Football X7 stadium, and working on arranging and recording the instrumental track for their project. Now, it was Friday, and they were headed to school to unveil the newly-completed Football X7 stadium and play the ultimate game of football—er, soccer. Ferb walked beside them, listening amusedly as they argued over who would emerge the victor in the evening’s match.

“My team’s totally going to win,” Isabella gloated. “We’re literally the SOCCER team. How could we lose a soccer match?”

“You forget, our team developed the blueprints for the stadium!!” Phineas replied matter-of-factly. “We have the technical know-how. AND, we have Ferb!!”

The two brothers exchanged a fist bump.

Isabella rolled her eyes with a grin. “Yeah, yeah, talk all you want. You’re so gonna lose.”

“No, YOU’RE gonna lose.”

“YOU ARE.”

“NO YOU.”

“I’M going to lose my appetite if you two keep flirting with each other,” Ferb chimed in.

Phineas and Isabella exchanged flabbergasted glances before shooting identical glares at him.

“FERB!!!”

“We are NOT flirting!!”

“Right!! We’re not!!!”

“That was just...friendly trash-talk!!!!”

“Yeah!!!!!!”

Ferb rolled his eyes with a smirk. “Whatever you say!” he conceded.

Phineas and Isabella eyed each other before frantically looking in opposite directions, both trying to hide their burning faces.

…..they hadn’t actually been flirting, right? Ferb was just messing with them...right??

The direction Phineas chose to look happened to line up with where Ferb stood. “....why do you hate me?” he mouthed, a steely look in his eyes.

Ferb just shrugged cheekily, pretending he didn’t understand his brother’s retort.

Someday, Phineas and Isabella would understand he did these things because he loved them.

(And because they loved each other but were really bad at figuring it out.)

...

After a rousing opening ceremony, the Football X7 match between the soccer and robotics teams was underway!!!!

(There wasn’t much room for seating within the stadium itself—the only non-athletic space inside was a small observation deck suspended in its middle—so any onlookers were allowed to sit and watch the match on a screen set up outside.)

So far, Isabella’s prediction had proven true: the soccer team had a few points on the robotics team! She grinned from her position guarding her team’s goal, eyeing the trajectory of the ball as the players kicked it around the stadium. She had a great view of the action from here, since the goals were elevated!!

Though Isabella didn’t think he’d played in years, Phineas was still pretty good at soccer. He kept up with the rest of the players easily and even managed to move the ball a few times!

(She was a better player than him, of course. That went without being said. But he was still pretty good.)

Isabella moved from foot to foot impatiently: she wanted the first period of the game to end. Playing goalie was definitely fun, but she was ready to run along the ceiling!! Kick the ball!! Really get her legs moving!!! Run next to Phineas and maybe trash-talk him some more!!!

And then, towards the bottom of the stadium, an enthusiastic member of the robotics team kicked the ball a bit too hard...and it crashed directly into Phineas’s head.

Phineas crumbled to the ground.

And Isabella didn’t need to wait for the next period to start running anymore.

“PHINEAS!!!!” Isabella leapt off the goal, sprinted down the nearest wall, and frantically ran to where Phineas lay before kneeling next to him on the ground. “Phineas, are you okay?? Can you hear me??”

Phineas groaned, but he didn’t open his eyes.  

Ferb crouched opposite Isabella at his brother’s side. “He got hit pretty hard….” he voiced quietly, an unfamiliar edge of worry in his tone.

“Oh no!!! I’m so sorry!!!!!” The aforementioned enthusiastic player took a hesitant step towards the three of them before burying his head in his hands. “It was an accident!!!”

“It’s okay, these things happen,” Isabella replied, though she wasn’t really paying attention to him.

She looked up at Ferb and said, “When I was younger, I earned a Concussion First Aid patch. Hopefully Phineas doesn’t have one...but, if he does, I can help.”

She took a shaky breath and tried to stay calm.

Phineas was going to be okay. He had to be.

She’d make sure of it.

...

Phineas blinked slowly as reality gradually returned to him. The world was a blur, and a dull pain throbbed in the back of his skull. He could only make out the green haze of the Football X7 stadium all around him, and the green haze of Ferb’s hair to his right….and Isabella. She hovered right above him. She was smiling at him.

Gosh, she was beautiful.

Isabella couldn’t hide the relieved grin that unfolded over her face as Phineas opened his eyes. “Is your head okay, Phineas?” she asked gently. “You got hit with the ball. Do you remember that?”

“I...think I remember…” Phineas managed to say. “And...my head’s fine...”

Sure, his head hurt, but he was alright. He’d never been better, actually, because Isabella was right here, gazing at him kindly and looking as pretty as ever. He smiled softly before reaching out to gently brush a strand of hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her ear.

“I’m still seeing stars, though.”

Isabella’s breath caught, and her face—already slightly pink from playing soccer for the past half hour—flushed crimson.

...had Phineas just tenderly brushed the hair from her face and said he was seeing stars while looking at her?

…..or was this another daydream?

……..it was probably a daydream.

“Now is NOT the time to go to Phineasland!!!” Isabella told herself sternly. “Phineas might need your help!!!”

She needed to be completely focused right now. Not lost in an ill-timed fantasy!!!

“Ok, I’m going to take him up to the observation deck to make sure everything’s alright!!!” Isabella announced loudly. She looked at Ferb. “I’ll take care of Phineas, you hold down the fort here.”

…why was Ferb smirking at her?

…..he could probably tell she’d been in Phineasland.

This was so embarrassing.

“Alright, Phineas! Ready to go?”

“...I think so.”

Isabella slowly helped Phineas to his feet and, together, they walked towards the elevator that led to the observation deck. She’d be able to assess any damage more thoroughly up there—and give herself time to refocus on the way up.

(She couldn’t BELIEVE she was daydreaming about Phineas at a time like this, when she needed to be level-headed for his sake. It was absurd. It was MORTIFYING.)

Phineas didn’t say anything: his head was still a little fuzzy. But he was more than glad to follow Isabella wherever she went. He’d follow her anywhere.

The remaining students exchanged apprehensive glances as Isabella and Phineas disappeared into the elevator.

“Do you think he’ll be okay?” someone asked.

“He’ll be fine,” Ferb assured them with a smile. “He’s in good hands. We can keep playing for now and check on him later.”

Another student chuckled behind her hands. “So like….are they dating or something?” she asked.

Phineas’s “seeing stars” comment—and Isabella’s reaction to it—had been hard to miss.

“Unfortunately, they are not,” Ferb replied. “But who knows? That could change soon.”

...

Phineas regained his bearings on the way up to the observation deck. He’d been a little out of it when he first woke up, but the fog in his head was finally clearing.

And here, beside Isabella in the elevator, he was having a bit of a crisis as he remembered the events of a minute ago.

“ .....did I tenderly brush the hair from Isabella’s face and say I was seeing stars while looking at her??

“….oh my gosh. I tenderly brushed the hair from Isabella’s face and said I was seeing stars while looking at her.

“. ...this is so embarrassing. ”

Maybe Isabella understood he’d been out of it. Maybe she wouldn’t ask him to explain why he’d done what he had.

…..maybe Phineas should stop thinking about this before she noticed he was blushing.

“Alright, here we are!” Isabella announced as the elevator stopped. She took Phineas’s hand (and Phineas blushed even harder) and guided him to sit in a chair near the wrap-around window overlooking the stadium. “How does your head feel now?”

“Not as bad as it did when I first woke up, I guess…” Phineas replied. “But it still hurts a little.”

“Are you nauseous?” Isabella asked.

“No.”

“Dizzy? Fatigued?”

“Not really, no.”

“Do you remember what happened right before and after you got hit?”

It took Phineas a second to think of a suitable response to that question.

“.....yes? I was running before I got hit and fell down, and then...I opened my eyes and talked to you.”

Isabella nodded, seemingly satisfied with his answer. “Okay, you probably don’t have a concussion. But if you start feeling weird tomorrow or the next day, you should probably see a doctor. Just in case.” She examined the back of his head. “You’re definitely going to have a gnarly bruise back here. Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine,” Phineas replied. “That’s a part of the game, you know?”

“Yeah, it is….” Isabella agreed, finally taking a seat beside him. “I’ve been knocked in the head with a soccer ball at LEAST three times. It builds character.” She chuckled before tilting her head at Phineas with a gentle smile and quietly voicing, “...I’m really glad you’re okay…”

“How could I not be okay?” Phineas said. He grinned. “I’ve got you to take care of me!”

Isabella rubbed the back of her neck with a shy smile. “I’m just doing my former Fireside Girl thing, that’s all!”

“...so, now that you know I’m alright, are you gonna go back down there?” Phineas asked. “I think I’m done with Football X7 for today, but you can still play!”

(He didn’t WANT Isabella to leave, of course. But he didn’t want to keep her from playing, either.)

Isabella didn’t need time to consider her answer. “Nah, I’d rather stay here with you. I can’t leave you up here all by yourself! And we’ve got a great view of the match...so we’ll both be able to see it when the soccer team wins!!”

“You mean when the ROBOTICS team wins,” Phineas stated matter-of-factly.

They held tense eye contact for a moment before bursting into laughter.

It felt so good to laugh together.

Isabella’s smile faded a bit as she looked out over the stadium. “....we should have built this for Danville High years ago….” she mused, a hint of melancholy coloring her voice. “Maybe if we’d hung out more when we first started high school…if I hadn’t been so busy...” She winced, unsure if she should be hinting at this to Phineas at all.

After all, SHE was the reason they’d drifted apart in the first place. It was her fault they hadn’t thought to build something together for their peers until a month before their graduation...her fault they’d missed out on years of spending time together.

“Hey.” Phineas placed a hand on Isabella’s shoulder and squeezed it gently, unwilling to let her stay sad.  “The important thing is that it’s built now, no matter how long it took.

“And, we’re hanging out again!” He smiled softly at her. “...we’re going to keep hanging out from now on, right?”

“Definitely!” Isabella agreed with a grin.  

Phineas always knew just what to say to cheer her up.

...

Isabella and Phineas watched the rest of the match unfold from their seats. The soccer team remained in the lead for the rest of the game, much to Isabella’s delight (and Phineas’s chagrin). At last, the game ended, and Isabella shot up from her chair with a shriek of joy.

“WE WON!!!!!!!!! I told you we’d win and WE DID!!!!! WOOOOO!!!!!!!! Who was right??? ME!!”

She plopped back into the chair with a contented sigh.

Phineas frowned and pouted.

“....ok, you know what, you don’t have to rub it in.”

They were so busy reacting to the outcome of the match, they didn’t hear a third party enter the observation deck.

“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

Ferb exited the elevator and strode over to where they sat.

And Phineas and Isabella blushed and pretended they hadn’t heard what he said.

“Nice playing out there, Ferb!!” Phineas exclaimed. (He was eager to change the subject). “Even though we lost. You looked great!”

“Thanks! How’s his head, Isabella?” Ferb asked.

“It looks alright!!” Isabella replied with a smile. “I think he’s just going to have a bad bruise.”

Ferb patted his brother on the shoulder. “I think he’ll survive that. Nothing can keep this guy down.”

Phineas grinned. “How’s the stadium holding up down there?”

“It’s holding up well!” Ferb replied. “I did think of ONE modification we could add, though.”

“You did? What is it?”

“A skylight.”

Isabella and Phineas both cocked their heads at Ferb, momentarily confused.

“...not that that’s a bad idea, but why do you want to add a skylight?” Phineas voiced. “Wouldn’t that get in the way of the players’ mobility?”

“Perhaps, but it would make the stadium feel less enclosed, let the players see the sun and clouds during the day and the stars at night.” Ferb explained. He rubbed his chin pensively. “Although…

“I suppose you didn’t need a skylight to see stars earlier....right, Phineas?”

Isabella’s heart practically leapt out of her chest.

“. ...did he just say Phineas didn’t need a skylight to see stars earlier? But...if Ferb said that...then that means….Phineas actually tenderly brushed the hair from my face and said he was seeing stars while looking at me?? That was real????”

Phineas didn’t condone acts of violence.

…..but at this point Ferb was ASKING to be pushed. Or shoved. Or pummeled with an entire arms’ worth of pillows.

“FERB!!!! I was out of it when I said that, okay???” Phineas exclaimed, trying to save face as best he could (and failing, because his face was beet red). “I didn’t know what I was saying!!!”

“....Phineas actually tenderly brushed the hair from my face and said he was seeing stars while looking at me. That was real. Oh my gosh. Ohhhh my gosh. Ohhhhh mY GOSH.”

Phineas dared a glance at Isabella and winced because she was staring at him with wide eyes.

Perhaps she’d forgotten about the “seeing stars” incident until Ferb reminded her of it, and now she was remembering just how weird it had been. She was probably embarrassed. PHINEAS was certainly embarrassed.

…..for the second time that day, he wondered why Ferb hated him.

“Isabella...I’m sorry….” Phineas rubbed the back of his neck, desperate to move past this awkward hurdle and pretend it hadn’t happened at all. “I honestly don’t know what came over me down there, my head was so fuzzy after I got hit. Whatever I said, I didn’t mean it.”

Waaaaait that didn’t sound right.

“I MEAN. Not that you aren’t as beautiful as the stars! Which is what I meant! You are!! I meant that!! That’s true!!! But—I just—"

He was making it worse.

He needed to stop.

“......maybe I hit my head harder than I thought.”

At this point, Ferb deduced the situation had escalated too far for Phineas to handle it alone. It was time for some damage control.

“Alright, Phineas. I think we should head home. You should probably get some sleep.” He nudged Phineas out of his chair. “Isabella, are you walking with us?”

Isabella nodded numbly as she stood. She didn’t trust herself to speak at the moment.

“ .....PHINEAS THINKS I’M BEAUTIFUL?!??!?!??!”

...

The walk home was quiet.

Ferb didn’t usually talk much, so said quiet wasn’t unusual on his end.

But Phineas and Isabella weren’t saying much either. Which was very unusual.

Ferb knew he was probably to blame for that. So he’d decided to give the teasing a rest for the night.

When they arrived in front of Isabella’s house, Ferb said goodbye to her before taking his leave and crossing the street.

(He wasn’t sure whether or not she and Phineas wanted to talk alone, but he wanted to give them space in case they did.)

“So! Uh…” Phineas rubbed the back of his neck. He and Isabella hadn’t really spoken since they left the Football X7 stadium. “Do you want to come over and put the finishing touches on our song tomorrow?”

Isabella blinked and nodded. In all the commotion of the past couple of hours, she’d nearly forgotten about the project. “Yeah, yeah...we should probably do that....we don’t want to put it off until Sunday.”

“Alright. I guess, uh...I guess I’ll text you tomorrow. And then I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“That sounds good. ...I’ll see you then.”

Isabella didn’t look at him as she said goodbye. Her eyes were instead cast upward at the sky and illuminated with starlight.

“....they really are beautiful, aren’t they?” she whispered softly.

Phineas followed her gaze...and his heart stuttered when he realized what she must have been thinking about (and when he realized she didn’t sound embarrassed or flustered at all but rather...somewhat awestruck).

A few seconds ambled by.

Phineas bit his lip and steeled his courage...and then reached out for Isabella’s hand.

“.....they sure are…” he agreed.

Except he wasn’t looking at the sky anymore.

Isabella glanced down at their hands, and then up at Phineas...who was already gazing at her.

Her pulse quickened.

“And...you’re beautiful too…” Phineas whispered gently. “Inside and out….”

He leaned in and pressed a tender kiss to her cheek.

“Thanks for taking care of me earlier. Goodnight, Isabella.”

(Isabella had given him a thank-you kiss a few days ago, after all. If she asked, Phineas could say he was simply returning the favor.)

Isabella couldn’t move. She could barely even stand. Her knees were going to give out any second now.

She watched as Phineas crossed the street, as he made it to his front door, as he waved at her.

She should probably go open her own door.

But she couldn’t move.

Her stomach was in knots and her head was spinning and her heart was pounding so loudly the entire neighborhood could probably hear it.

….she wasn’t in Phineasland again, was she?

She blinked and shook her head, just to be sure.

The rosy warmth on her cheek didn’t fade away. Phineas’s words still echoed clear as day in her mind.

That kiss had been real. His words had been real.

Phineas had said she was beautiful. Twice.

Phineas had kissed her.

…Phineas was still standing outside, waiting for her to go inside.

Somehow, Isabella managed to make it to her front door and open it. Phineas waved in her direction again before shutting his own door (and subsequently melting into a puddle in the foyer, though Isabella had no way of knowing that last bit).

She gazed out across the street and then up at the stars for a few moments as a tentative grin blossomed over her face.

Isabella wasn’t sure what tomorrow would bring...but after tonight, she had a pretty good feeling about it.

“....goodnight, Phineas.”

Ferb chuckled as he stared down at his brother, who lay sprawled out in the middle of the foyer with a lovestruck grin on his face.

“I take it things went well out there?”

Phineas beamed.

“...yes, yes they did.”

...

Thanks so much for reading, and thanks as always to @youruinedmylifebynotbeingreal for being a lovely beta!!!! 

I posted doodles of a few scenes (you can probably guess which ones, lol) for this chapteron my blog if you’d like to check them out!! 

(also @dragonairice drew an AMAZING digital version of the “I suppose you didn’t need a skylight to see stars” scene that you can find here!! pls go check it out, it’s fantastic!!!!) 

Thanks so much for reading, and I’ll see you soonish for chapter 6! It’s gonna be a good one!!! ;D

(also, if there are any music theorists reading this, pls don't hate me for the barebones theory lesson at the beginning of the chapter. I tried to explain dominant and tonic chords as simply as I could, but I know there is a lot more to them than what I wrote! LOL)

[fandom-imagination]

A Love like War

Request: Hi can u pls do angst savitar barry x reader? In which u always in love with barry but he only has eyes for iris. Even when he finally notices u n dates u in the end he still choose iris. U thought u finally have the man u love especially when u see glimpse of the future where u r happy with barry. Apparently its with the wrong barry. Savitar appearance scares everyone with iris death threat n all. But he seem very fond of u. Pls do this.🙆🙇🙏

A/N: TBH this ended up way longer than I was expecting. Holy crap. And it definitely doesn’t follow the show, like at all, but whatever. I hope that this is what the requester wanted??? Also, I’m like dying (not really, I just have two ear infections so my brain isn’t working well right now) so sorry if this is crap? I don’t know.

If you like it, you can leave feedback. Requests are open so if you want another story like this or something different, just send in a request. Anyway, let me stop rambling. Happy reading!

Imagine: Savitar x Reader

Y/N has been in love with Barry since the day he moved into the West house next door, but Barry's heart has always belonged to Iris. When it finally seemed that he was choosing Y/N, fate intervened. Now Iris and Barry are together, for the long run.

What has plagued Y/N's mind for a while now is what she saw in the future. She was happy with Barry. Did Savitar win? Was she just the consolation prize? Savitar's timely appearance is what answers all her questions.

I peak my head around the concrete wall. Sitting there on the bench, only a few feet away, are Barry and I (well future me). My heart skips a beat. They have their backs turned to me, so I can't see their faces, but it's obvious who it is. Future me has their head nuzzled against Barry's shoulder. He wraps his arm around future me's shoulder. My hand goes to my mouth.  Joyful laugh comes from their direction. They look happy.

My mind becomes a jumbled mess. So many thoughts are swirling around. Where's Iris? Did…did it come true? Did Savitar actually win? I slide down the concrete wall. My chest heaves as I struggle to breathe. I don't want to be happy at the cost of Iris's life. I don't want to be Barry's consolation prize.

At that moment, my eyes snap open and I sit straight up in bed. For weeks now, whenever I close my eyes I see the future playback. I haven't told anyone about what I saw. It just breaks my heart too much. I can't let them know how I'm happy because one of our closest friends is dead.

I run my hands across my face. It's starting to take a toll on me. I haven't been sleeping well and I can hardly stand being in the same room as Barry or Iris.

The numbers on the clock blink 3:43 am. My phone starts to ring. "Hello?"

"That was quick…"

"Yea, I was already awake, Cisco."

"Are you doing okay? You haven't seemed well lately," I sigh. No, I'm not okay. But you can't know that.

"I'm fine. What's up,"

"You need to get down to the lab. Something happened,"

With that, there was a shout in the back and the line cut out. I throw the covers aside and jump out of bed. I have no idea what that sound in the back could have been.

I walk into the cortex and everyone is crowded around the computer. Cisco turns to me and his eyes lock on the steaming coffee in my hands. "Did you stop for coffee?"

"There's a 24-hour convenience store next to my apartment…and it's really early,"

"Whatever. Come here,"

On the screen is the security feed from the cell with a man inside. The man slowly turns toward the camera revealing his face. My eyes slowly gaze up to Barry. The man is identical to Barry, except he has a burn scar across one side of his face. A weird feeling washes over me. The images plaguing my nightmares dance around in my head. I rub at my temples. "Who is that?"

"Savitar," Barry's voice is laced with anger.

My eyes widen. "You're Savitar?"

I knew the mistake with my words right as they left my mouth. "That. Is. Not. Me."

His words came out through gritted teeth. Iris glares at me. I massage the bridge of my nose. "Right, it's just that you two, you know, share a face…"

“And that’s all,” Iris states. Since my short stint of a relationship with Barry last year and the distance I’ve been placing between us because of what I saw in the future, my relationship with Barry and Iris has become extremely strained. We used to be the three musketeers, now… I don’t even know if we’re friends.

“I get it. It’s just that it’s a shock you know. I don’t think that anyone expected Savitar to look like Barry. Everyone processes differently.” I sigh quietly. Cisco’s eyes shift between the three of us. “Anyway, has anyone talked to him or has he just sat in there by himself?”

Everyone looks away from me. So, I guess that means that no one has spoken to him. Iris turns to me. “We wanted to come up with a game plan about what to say,”

“Well, since I’m the psychologist, I guess I’ll be the one to talk to him. Getting at underlying motivations is kind of my thing,” I shuffle away, coffee still in hand.

I walk up to the cell. Savitar still has his back turned to me. I stand there staring at him. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about him that is giving me a weird feeling. I clear my throat to draw his attention. At first, his expression is full of sarcasm and superiority, but upon seeing me it softens. “Well, who are you? The Flash couldn’t grace me with his presence?”

“First, that cocky pretense isn’t going to work with me,” I pull a chair up to the window. I take a sip of my coffee and let the warmth flow through me. “Second, I’m Y/N. Nice to meet you, too,”

“Y/N… has a nice ring to it,”

“So, how are you?” His eyes widen. His body slackens slightly. He leans against the glass.

“You’re concerned with how I’m doing?”

“Yea, how are you?”

“Ecstatic. I’m this close to defeating the Flash,” A smirk pulls at his lips.

“Well, why do you want to defeat the Flash? He’s a hero, isn’t he? Well loved, right?” I cross my legs and lean back in my chair. I’m often the one to go and talk to the criminals. Get at what their motivations are, try and stop them. But right now, it seems different. It feels like flirting?

“Ha, a hero with no regard to the consequences of his actions.” A bitter laugh escaped my lips. This draws his attention. “What does that little expression mean? Harbored feelings against the ‘hero’?”

“It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you tell me what you want. Why are you doing this?”

“I’ll tell you if you tell me,”

“Fine. The Flash and I date for a bit last year, but he chose someone else. He didn’t think about what I felt, he just dated me to try and get over her. Obviously, it didn’t work,”

“Well, I guess the Flash isn’t so much of a hero, is he. If he would use those closest to him,”

I sigh. I know he’s just saying these things to get under my skin but I can’t let him. “Your turn. Why do you want to kill Iris?”

“Because the God deserves to feel the pain he wrought,” I quirk a brow. The God? “The Flash thinks he can just change time without caring for the consequences.”

“Are you talking about Flashpoint? He told all of us what happened and tried to fix it…”

“Well, by creating Flashpoint, he created me. The Flash created time remnants to stop me in the future. And I killed them all but one, me. But you guys shunned me. I was an aberration. I wasn’t the real Barry. So, I didn’t matter.” His next line comes out with so much sarcasm. “Who knows what we would become if we didn’t have love.”

“You want to kill Iris, to take away his love. The thing that makes him who he is. And drive him to his lowest point.”

“It’s your fault he’s here,” I sip my newly brewed coffee. Barry whirls around on the balls of his feet. He glares at me. I lean back in my seat and tuck my feet underneath me.

“What the hell do you mean ‘it’s my fault’?” I sigh.

“Don’t act like you don’t know. He told you exactly what he told me. You created him by creating Flashpoint. You tried to play God and it was thrown back in your face. Hard.”

“Why are you being like this?”

“Like what? Pissed off? You act like your actions don’t have consequences. You do whatever you want without a thought to how it would affect other people!” I set my mug down on the table beside me. It’s normally easy for me to keep my cool demeanor but honestly, I am so fed up right now. What Savitar said is right. Barry isn’t a hero. He uses us for his own gain.

“Are you seriously bringing up our breakup now?” He throws his arms into the air. I blow out my cheeks.

“No. But now that you’ve brought it up. You used me. You wanted to get over Iris, so you exploited my feelings for you. You don’t care about what other people want or think. You just make decisions for yourself. You’re the Flash. So, you get to play God, right?”

“What the hell, Y/N! Is that what you really think?”

“Honestly, yes. Ever since the break-up you and Iris, just ignore me. You got what you wanted so why care about me?” I storm out of the room. I don’t have any idea where I’m going, I just need to get away.

Not too far from the lab is a small courtyard in front of the water. There is a bench that I usually go to watch the water whenever I am feeling anxious or stressed. Often, it’s a place I just end up. Like right now.

What I didn’t realize is this is the bench that I ended up at when I went to the future. I round the corner before the courtyard and see a man sitting on the bench. I stop in my tracks.

The man turns around. I gasp. It’s Savitar. “Hey, Y/N.”

“H-hi,” I stand there frozen in place. I had never expected to see him outside of the lab. “What are you d-doing here?”

“You don’t need to be scared. I’m not going to do anything,” He waved his hand and collapsed onto the bench. He just seemed so tired. The therapist in me kicked in and I take a seat beside him.

“What’s wrong?”

“What does it matter. You don’t even care,”

“I do. What’s going on? You seemed so…cocky this morning. For lack of a better word,” I turn my body toward him. His eyes remain trained on the water. I sit and wait for him to respond.

“You’re different you know that, right? You don’t treat me like a monster or villain. You treat me like a human,”

“Well, I’ve always believed that you should treat everyone with respect regardless of anything. As a therapist, especially for criminals, you meet a lot of people that have done bad things. If you want them to open up to you so you can help them, you need to show the respect. It’s what builds trust. That’s what the team doesn’t understand. They think once you’ve done something wrong you should be written off.”

“I guess you understand how I feel,” He lays his hand against the back of the bench behind me.

“Is that what’s wrong. People not treating you like a human being?”

“Yes, but no. I’m just so tired of everything. You know I didn’t want any of this, right. I didn’t want to go after all these people. It’s just… I’m hurt,”

“Do you think that you have to go through with it? Your plan to kill Iris.” His body tenses. He turns to me with a blank expression.

“Of course, I do. I can’t let them get away with all the pain they caused me.” I nod my head. I understand what he’s going through. Why he’s so hurt and why he wants to hurt Iris. But I obviously can’t let him.

For the next few weeks, we meet up at the bench almost every day. At first, it started out as therapy. I was listening to his problems and helping him. But it quickly transitioned to us just talking and hanging out. We built such a close bond. We were able to talk about anything and everything. It was so much fun and just so relaxing. I had built up so much stress and just having someone to talk too made it better.

“So, why don’t we make this a thing?” He looks at me with a bright smile.

“I thought this was already a thing,” I lean my head against his shoulder.

“No, I mean yes. But I mean something where we get to go out and go somewhere other than a secluded bench.”

I pick up my head and look into his eyes. They are full of so much hope and happiness. I sigh and look at the water. “We can’t,”

“What? I thought you liked this,”

“I do. But I can’t deny the inevitable. You still want to go through with your plan. I can’t stay with you knowing you want to hurt my family.”

“I’ll give up my plan if it means I can be with you.”

“Who knows what we would become if we didn’t have love.”

“What?”

“It’s what you said to me the first time that we met,”

“And how true it came to be,” He pulls me into his side. We sit here and watch the sunset together.

When the day finally came, everyone was on edge. Everyone except me. I couldn’t say that I knew she would be okay. I would have to tell them why I knew that, and I can’t. I couldn’t tell them that I had been hanging out with the man that threatened Iris’s life. They would never forgive me. And despite everything that happened between us, I still love and appreciate everyone on Team Flash.

“How are you so calm?” Cisco walks into my office.

“I guess I’m just good at compartmentalizing.”

“No, it’s something else. You’ve been different the past few weeks. First you were oddly distant and never slept. Now you’re all of a sudden happy. When someone we care about is going to die.”

“What are you trying to say Cisco?”

“I don’t know. I just don’t understand you anymore,”

“Honestly, Cisco. Iris’s fate is weighing down on me too,” His brows narrow. Although I am a good liar, I don’t believe what I said. I run my hands down my face.

“Whatever, Y/N. I didn’t think you would stoop to this. We all understand how much you love Barry and know what he did to you was wrong. But to be happy about Iris’s death,” Before I can say another word, he storms out. It feels like he just punched me in my heart. I pull out my phone and send a quick text.

I need to see you.

I wait in the city square. The place Barry saw Iris die. I rub my hands together, to produce some heat. My breath is visible when I exhale. God, do I hate the cold.

As the minutes tick by we come closer to the moment we have been dreading. I feel a hand grasp my shoulder so I turn around. A smile spreads across my face. Savitar stands there with a large hot coffee in his hands. “I know how much you hate the cold, so I brought you a hot coffee.”

“Bless you! I’m freezing my ass off,” I take the coffee and lean it to place a kiss on his lips. A shout from behind stops me. My eyes squeeze shut and I slowly turn toward the voice.

“I…I-” Barry’s mouth hangs agape. “Are you two dating?”

“Yes,”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. He wants to kill Iris!”

“No, I don’t.” Barry’s jaw drops. Savitar steps in front of me. I grab his arm but he shakes away my hand. “I finally understand what you have with Iris. I still hate you with everything I have. But there is something – someone more important than revenge,” He turns back to me. I smile. “I love her. I can’t lose that,”

“Y/N, how could you…” Barry’s body goes slack.

“How could I?” My voice is a whisper. My heart aches. I step around Savitar and inch my way toward Barry. “All I ever did was love and support you. Over the past few months, I wrecked myself trying to find a way to save Iris. The person I’ve always been second place to. Because you both still mean the entire world to me. You’re my family. But I’ve felt that I couldn’t be myself around either of you ever since our break up. I couldn’t tell you what kept me from sleeping night after night. But it’s not like you even noticed. You didn’t notice my pain. I wanted to protect you from what I saw in the future. But now I understand I didn’t even need to protect you. I thought I saw us together in the future. Happy… without Iris. It made me feel sick…”

Barry exhales sharply. I keep inching toward him. Anger coursing through me. “But I now realize that it wasn’t even you. It was Savitar.”

I turn toward Savitar. In the distance I see Iris, holding up a gun. My instinct kicks in and I leap forward. “Iris no!”

I suddenly feel a burning sensation in my chest. My legs give out beneath me. Savitar catches me before I fall to the ground. When I look at my chest, I see a pool of red. I squeeze my eyes shut. “I’m sorry,”

“Don’t apologize. You saved me. More than once,” His voices wavers. I reach up and wipe away a stray tear from his eye.

“I love you,” He grabs my hand and squeezes tightly.

“I love you, too.”

6 Years Later

Savitar sits on the bench overlooking the water. He’s sat here many times before. It’s been a haven for him. A place where he found himself, and the love of his life.

“I knew I would find you here,” Savitar turns toward the voice. A smile spreads across his lips.

“I didn’t doubt you,”

He jumps to his feet and wheels my chair over to the bench. “I’ve always loved coming here. The view of the water is so beautiful, especially when the sun is setting like this.”

“You know what else is beautiful?” I roll my eyes, knowing his answer. I turn toward him and my jaw drops. “You,”

He’s down on one knee beside me. Tears well in my eyes. “You-you’re not serious.”

“Y/N L/N, will you do me the honor and marry me,”

“Of course!” Savitar stands and slips the ring onto my finger. He leans down and places a kiss on my lips.

“I love you,” He sits beside me on the bench. I lean my head on his shoulder.

“I love you too.”

[peter-parker-imagines]

Rescue Me, Kiss Me Again

Requested by: @lookclosernow and a couple anon’s, and a couple others too

Request: A part 2 for Rescue Me, Kiss Me. Read Part 1 [here]

Word count: 3k

Warnings: Some curse words but not many

A/N: I didn’t know if many people would have wanted a part 2 for my first reader insert on this account but here it is, very long, and not very good imo. Feel free to request anything you’d like via my asks ;D

Peter rushed home that night, faster than he had ever before. He had to tell Ned what happened, this could possibly be the best night of his life so far. He could not believe that he was able to get a kiss from the girl that had captured his heart. The emotions running through him couldn’t be pinned on one emotion. Happy, excited, motivated, ecstatic… But part of him held some worry. Worry that [Y/N] likes Spider-Man, not the guy under the mask. How would she react if she knew that this big hero was just plain, boring Peter Parker?

Swinging up onto a nearby rooftop, Peter removed his mask and sharpy inhaled the cold winters air. He removed his phone from a handy little pocket that Tony had installed in his suit. From time to time he will listen to some music to keep himself awake, but nothing too loud. After turning on the phone screen, he saw that he had a few text messages and a missed call from Ned. Why was Ned calling him, he hadn’t even heard the news yet! Unless there was a sudden psychic connect that began development… Deciding to quickly check his missed text messages, it had all suddenly become clear. The messages were sent to a group chat that had Peter, MJ, Ned, and [Y/N] in it. They mainly used it to pass on homework notes, planning meetups, and the sorts. The group hadn’t been used in a while, maybe a couple of weeks. To be honest, Peter had begun to miss the group talking together. He was interested to see who had started the group back up again. It seems like [Y/N] was the one to start the conversation tonight, which was not much of a shock to Peter. His eyes scanned over the slew of messages that had been left.

[Y/N]: My dudes, I have good news and bad news

MJ: What’s the bad news?

Ned: Was about to ask that

[Y/N]: Almost got stabbed and mugged in an alleyway lmao

MJ: Wtf why were you out so late??

[Y/N]: Mac and Cheese needed some milk, why else?

Ned: [Y/N], you’re a different kind of special…

MJ: What’s the good news?

[Y/N]: My life got saved AND I got my first kiss!

Ned: Who did you kiss??

MJ: Gossip time w/the idiot crew

Ned: Don’t be so mean, MJ

[Y/N]: It was Spider-Man! THE SPIDER-MAN!!

Ned: No. Way.

MJ: I don’t know if I can believe you or not

[Y/N]: It’s true! He saved me from being stabbed and robbed, then I just kinda kissed him!

MJ: Mask on or off? [Y/N]: Off

MJ: Tongue?

[Y/N]: MJ fck off

Ned: Well, was there??

[Y/N]: You guys, I swear. Of course there wasn’t any tongue. Also, any of you mention this to anyone, I’ll murder you ALL!

Ned: Okay but real question, how the fuck do you kinda kiss him without a mask?

That was the last message that had been sent to the chat. It had now made sense why he had one missed call, and it would probably be the smartest idea to give his good buddy Ned a call. Just as he was searching for him in his contacts, his guy in the chair decides to call him again. Instantly, Peter answers the call without hesitation.

“Hello this is your friendly neighbourhood Peter Parker, what’s up Ned?” Peter said using a calm tone, he really was trying his hardest not to smile too wide.

“You saved [Y/N]’s life AND she kisses you!? Dude, how are you winning with life right now?” Ned sounds slightly panicked, but also sounds very happy for his best friend.

“I know! I-I honestly can’t believe it! I’m glad I was able to save her… god, I don’t know what I would have done if I was too late… And I wasn’t even the one to ask for the kiss! She just offered it, and I was very nervous that she was going to take my whole mask off but she just took part of it off, and I just don’t know what to do, Ned. I want to go to her apartment and tell her that it’s me, but I also want to wait. I really care about her, and I like her so much. What if she gets really disappointed that it’s me under the mask? What if she’s expecting this amazing, handsome, and strong guy who has millions of dollars in his bank account!? I only have $1.30 left in my account…” It was at this point that Peter began to think of all the things that could happen, and none of them included anything good that could come from it. No one knows what would happen if he revealed himself to [Y/N], but the only things that can be thought about are bad in his mind.

“Peter, your starting to babble. It’s getting late and you should really sleep. Never do something without thinking.. I know you. And you will act without thinking and something will go wrong. Listen to the guy in the chair, that’s what they always do in movies.” Ned knew that he was right, and so did Peter. A loud sigh came from Peter’s side of the phone.

“You’re right, I’ll probably sleep on it and think of what I should do. Thanks, Ned. I’ll see you at school tomorrow.” A small smile graces Peter’s face as he hears his dear friend hang up the phone. Wiping the sleep away from his eyes, he places his mask back on his face and decides to head home.

Just as the night had been cold, the morning was just as bitter. [Y/N] was making breakfast quickly before she had to rush off to school, telling herself that she would get the hardened mac and cheese from out of the pot. After she had returned home last night, she couldn’t help but keep a smile on for hours. She had worked up the courage to have her first kiss, and it was with the hero that saves so many people. A hero was her first kiss. After making (and burning some of) her mac and cheese, [Y/N] went to bed. She had a dream that night, it was a dream that was a little fuzzy the next morning when she woke up. One thing that she remembered from it was… Spider-Man was about to take off his mask. The [E/C] eyed girl desperately wanted to know who was under that mask, and she made it her goal to try and figure out who it was. Grabbing her book bag, her travel mug, and her keys, [Y/N] walked out of the door of her apartment and started heading towards her school. Luckily the school was only around a ten minute walk from where she lived, so she would either bike or walk there. Today was one of the days that she wanted to listen to her music, so she chose to walk. Putting her earphones in her ears and turning up one of her favourite songs, she took a sip of her hot drink as she walked to school.

Arriving at school exactly 11 minutes after leaving, [Y/N] made her way quickly towards her locker. She wanted to put her stuff away and find her friends as soon as possible. She had some theories on who was behind the mask, and she was eager to hear everyone’s opinions.

Peter was incredibly nervous while he was standing by his locker, just thinking of what he was going to end up saying to [Y/N]. The girl that had kissed him after he saved her life. The girl that he had fallen in love with, and couldn’t seem to ever stop thinking about. What could he possibly say? He couldn’t just tell her that it was him she kissed, she would probably run away and never come back. As Peter slips into a daydream like state, [Y/N] walks up to him and gently taps his shoulder.

“Peter Parker, just the guy I wanted to see. You didn’t say anything in the chat last night, did you die or something?” [Y/N] spoke with a slight softness in a voice, as to not speak too loudly in the crowded halls.

“I didn’t say anything because I was… uh… sleeping. Yeah, I was sleeping because that is a very important thing to do!” Nervous laughter slipped from Peter’s lips, biting down gently to try to keep it at bay. There was only one real question on Peter’s mind, but he just wasn’t sure of how to bring it up. How could he ask [Y/N] how she imagines the guy under the mask? Or ask her how she would feel about it being a nerdy teenager who just has a gigantic crush on her? There was no easy way to ask anything to do with the kiss, honestly.

“Well as much as sleep is good, you missed out on my whole ‘I kissed a masked hero who saved my life’ spill last night! I honestly never believed I could do such a thi-” Before [Y/N] was able to finish her sentence, the schools bell cut her off. A smile graced her face before she waved to Peter before running off to her class.

“I really need to have a talk to her…” Peter sighed before shutting his locker, quickly making his way to his chemistry class.

It was now late in the afternoon, Peter was sitting at his desk working on his chemistry work assigned that day. [Y/N] would just not leave his head, she was the only thought on his mind. He was feeling disappointed in himself all day long. He could barely bring himself to look at her in the eyes today, it felt as if he was hiding a deep, dark secret. If only it was easy to just tell her that he was Spider-Man, it just didn’t seem like those words would escape those lips of his. Lost in his train of thought once again, which wasn’t surprising to say the least, Aunt May came into his room.

“You have a visitor, something about needing to talk to you about algebra help? I’ll just send her in, and I’ll go make your two something to eat!” Peter’s head quickly shot up at his aunt’s words, quickly trying to remember if he had invited anyone over tonight. But then it clicked. [Y/N] had approached him earlier that day asking him if he could help her with some homework she had, and he quickly said yes and to come to his place when she was ready.

“Hope you didn’t forget about me coming over, I was going to text you but we live only a few streets away from each other… so I thought I could just hurry over after I made my dinner.” [Y/N] stepped into Peter’s room, putting her satchel on the floor next to his desk. Grabbing out her folder filled with worksheets and miscellaneous notes, she placed it on Peter’s desk.

“Now, let’s get down to business so I can actually pass this class.” [Y/N] said with a large smile on her face, hope filled in her eyes and voice. Peter stood up from his desk, offering his seat to her.

“I’m just going to go check on Aunt May, why don’t you get the stuff out that you want some help with? And please don’t say all of it, because I know that you can handle a lot of this by yourself.” With that, Peter quickly left the room, most likely going to explain to his aunt as to why there was a girl in his room.

[Y/N] felt strange being in Peter’s room. She had been feeling strange all day long, like she had betrayed her own feelings. She had a crush on Peter ever since he began helping her when she first came to Midtown High School. He was always so sweet to her, making sure that she was all caught up on work and wasn’t falling behind in anything. So why did she feel the need to kiss the man that had saved her? She didn’t really think she could have something for heros, but something inside her just said to kiss him. After she got home that night and calmed herself down, she realised that she betrayed her feelings for Peter through that kiss. It was her dream to give her first kiss to Peter, and now that had gone down the drain.

Taking out the sheets she needed to work on, she began to write down examples of what she needed to work on more. Frustratingly enough, the black pen that she had been using had stopped working half way through writing a word. This was one of the things she hadn’t prepared for, as she had only thought to take the one pen with her. Knowing that Peter was bound to have a pen somewhere in his desk, she began to search through his drawers. Nothing in the first drawer but letters and extra paper, so she tried the second. Nothing in there but a mask and suit. Specifically a Spider-Man mask and suit.

“So Peter is a Spider-Man fan then…” A small giggle was had at the suit, taking the mask out of the drawer. She made sure to examine it, not being able to believe how accurate the designer had been to include so many of the details. Everything was spot on, not a single thing was missed from what she could tell. It was almost a little bit too accurate. There wasn’t a single chance that Peter could be Spider-Man, could there? There was only one way to find out, and [Y/N] wasn’t too sure if she wanted to take that leap. The curiosity got the best of her, however, needing to know if her suspicions were correct. Turning the mask inside out exposed different little wires and transmitters. This was not what she was expecting to find, her [E/C] eyes scanning over every little thing.

“Oh my god, Peter is Spider-Man…” She said ever so quietly, not wanting to yell it out. Quickly turning it in the right way, the mask was quickly flung into the drawer and shut. And all she wanted to look for was a pen.

It had been about an hour since [Y/N] and Peter sat down to study. Aunt May had brought both of them cups of hot chocolate to help them stay warm, making sure to check up on them from time to time so that they weren’t doing anything funny. A few off topic questions came up here and there, however there was one question that was still bouncing around Peter’s mind.

“So… you know how you kissed Spider-Man and everything? How do you imagine the guy under the mask to be like?” There, he had finally said it. He finally said it out loud for her to hear, and now he is just hoping for the answer to be something that he desired to hear. The [H/C] girl paused for a moment, trying to think how she would go about explaining, then began to spoke.

“I imagine him as a brave man. I see him as a smart guy too, one that certainly had his head on his shoulders. I think that he would also be incredibly handsome, amazingly sweet, very gifted and talented. You know what? I also bet he is a huge Star Wars nerd too.” Peter was honestly shocked by her words, not knowing what to say or how to react.

“Wouldn’t you expect someone rich and manly to be under that mask? I mean he is a superhero after all.”

“Not everyone has to be rich to be a hero. Also I bet Spider-Man’s real name is Peter Parker, and I know for a fact he isn’t rich.” That sentence had caused all of the colour to completely drain from Peter’s face. This was it, the untying of his identity. How on earth did she even find out? How was he going to confront her about it? What was he going to say?

“By the way, don’t hide your suit in a drawer, it’s too easy to find when all I was looking for was a pen to write with.” [Y/N] hadn’t even looked up from her page, not really wanting to look at the mortified look on the boys face. Peter was indeed mortified at what he had just found out, how was he meant to react to it all?

“I-I don’t know what to say… I guess I’m sorry I wasn’t exactly what you were expecting… I mean, when we kissed I was so happy but so worried you were hoping it was a different guy… Jeez, I don’t know how to even react. Just know you were a really good kisser upside-down.” Peter let out a light chuckle to lighten the mood, as the air had seemed to become very heavy, maybe even filled with worry for both parties. [Y/N] inhaled sharply and put her book down, moving closer towards Peter.

“I wonder if I’m a better kisser the right way around..” Before Peter could say anything, the two shared a light kiss. Just light enough for it to be felt, and lasted just long enough to be sweet. Peter smiled before kissing the girl in front of him, this time a little bit heavier on the lips. They both knew that this was the true start to something special.

Tag List: @cherryblossomcharlotte

[Message me to be added to my tag list for all imagines and headacannons/anything Peter Parker/Spider-Man realted!]

[literarymerritt]

✧ﾟHaikyuu!! Tag Meme ✧ﾟ

TAGGED BY: So I was tagged in this by my bae @greendoodle​ like...almost a year ago, I think?? And (being the person that I am.. = v =;;) I totally forgot about it until the lovely @sarukui​ tagged me in hers!! So I’m picking this back up again and finally finishing it~!! (I’m sorry it took so long, Cookie... TT v TT )

Rules: 
- All your answers should have only ONE character, unless stated otherwise. (i understand that it’ll be hard since all the Haikyuu characters are all so lovable but pls, pick only ONE otherwise there wouldn’t be any point to this game!)  - If you want to elaborate your answer as to why you picked something, go ahead! there is an implied why in all the questions.  - Tag at least 10 other people. (share the Haikyuu love ♥‿  ♥)  - If you get tagged, pls copy the rules as well. - And enjoy! (★^O^★) the whole point of this tag game is to have fun~

What position would you like to play in Volleyball?

I’m hoping there’s an implied “if you were good at playing sports” in there because I absolutely suck at all physical activities. XDD But if I could be good at volleyball, I think I would like to be a libero?? ( * v * ) Defensive positions appeal to me more than offense, I like the idea of supporting everyone from behind~ (And when it comes to height, I am on the short side, so I don’t imagine I’m suited to be a blocker, haha~)

Pick any FOUR Haikyuu characters to form your friend squad with.

Tokyo squad: Bokuto, Kuroo, Akaashi, Kenma!! ( > w < ) ♡ I legitimately want to hang out with these four so badly~

Your roommate in college?

This may seem random but.. that super chill Fukurodani manager?? I just looked it up, her name is Shirofuku Yukie! Idk, she just seems really cool and relaxed, but also not super outgoing, so I feel like maybe we’d get along well as roommates~!!

Haikyuu Crush?


It’s funny because as much as I am attracted to and love these characters, I don’t actually see any of them are romantic interests for me (if that makes sense). BUT if I had to pick one, I think I’d actually date THE HECK out of Tanaka (provided, of course, that he was my age). I feel like he’s super underrated, like sure he’s loud and obnoxious, bUT YOU’RE LYING IF YOU SAY THAT THE GUY WOULDN’T MAKE AN AMAZING BOYFRIEND.

Which character resembles you, in terms of personality, the most?

This question is interesting to me because I don’t think there’s any one character in HQ!! that is a lot like me.. But if I had to choose, I’d go with Kozume Kenma. I feel like that boy is my spirit animal, he’s very self-conscious and aware of the people around him, which leads to a lot of internal analysis, something I do A LOT. We both lack motivation, can spend hours on our electronic devices, and have a dislike for activities that require too much effort, but can perform well when determined. We also both love apple pie. I do feel that I’m pretty different to Kenma in how I express myself and outwardly relate to other people, but overall, he’s definitely the character I relate to the most.

Which character inspires you the most?

Ennoshita Chikara. I relate to the guy A LOT because if something is too stressful or requires too much energy from me, my first response is just to quit. I really love how Ennoshita isn’t quite like a lot of the other characters, he doesn’t have (initially) that drive to just give up EVERYTHING for volleyball, nor does he possess any amazing skills or abilities that make him stand out on the court. But in spite of this, he doesn’t give up, he keeps playing and working hard at volleyball, eventually gaining the trust and respect of his teammates, and I really admire that about him.

Favorite character development?

FRICKING TSUKISHIMA KEI. OH MY FRICK. I’ll tell you, I did not like Tsukki when he was first introduced, he seemed to me to be irritating, aloof, a little stuck-up, and needlessly unkind. But oh my gOSH, the way this series has slowly revealed more and more about his background and true nature has been absolutely brilliant. Watching Tsukki go from an uninvested club member who didn’t see anything special in himself, didn’t understand what it meant to love volleyball, and didn’t feel the need to put a lot of time and energy into it... to a team player who is more aware of his strengths and what he can do for the team, understands the thrill of the game, and is willing to give his all for it... has been one of the most SATISFYING journeys any series has ever taken me on. Tsukishima is one of my absolute favorite characters now, GOSH, he is s o  g o o d .

Prettiest Character?

A K A A S H I FRICKING K E I J I. I mean, fRICK, have you SEEN him???

Hottest?

Bokuto Koutarou is supremely handsome, and I will fight ALL of you on this.

Ultimate OTP?

♡  B O K U A K A  ♡  O H  ♡  M Y  ♡  H E C K  ♡ (If you follow my blog for my art and don’t know this, then I must be doing something wrong.)

Ultimate BROTP?

Oya oya?

Oya oya oya.

(Leaving Cookie’s answer because YES. X’DDD ♡ ♡ ♡ )

Favorite Stage Play Actor?

This is so hard, omg. ( TT w TT ) Until recently I would have said Kimura Tatsunari, but nOW THAT BOKUTO’S STAGE PLAY ACTOR HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED, IDK, I’M HAVING SECOND THOUGHTS. But for now, I’ll just say Tatsunari because he is an absolutely PERFECT Kageyama. He’s also too cute for me to live, oh my word, boy has the smile of an ANGEL??? I’m honestly so heartbroken that he’s not going to be cast as Kags in future performances. TT TT

Adopt as your child?

GOSHIKI TSUTOMU, OH MY GOSH, LET ME PROTECT THIS PRECIOUS SWAN BBY. ( TT v TT )

Favorite team chant?

Dateko’s is objectively the best, like hands down, but I gotta admit that I’m rather fond of Shiratorizawa’s NICE KILL U-SHI-JI-MA!! (THUMP THUMP) USHIJIMA!! because I would do it all the time with one of my friends at work. Like we’d be on opposite sides of a room, one of us would start the chant and the other one would join in, we’d both stomp our feet against the floor and other people would look at us weird, it was great. XD

Favorite team banner?

Karasuno’s “FLY”!! It’s simple, but bold and inspiring, I love it.

Did Haikyuu inspire you to do something you would not have done before?

Now I’ve never really cared about sports in my entire life (unless it was a game one of my brothers was competing in), but this freaking anime has given me an IMMENSE appreciation for ACTUAL REAL LIFE VOLLEYBALL. During the 2016 Summer Olympics, I watched some of the volleyball games and??? IT WAS FRICKING THRILLING??? I never thought the day would come when I would just sit down and watch a sport on TV, but thanks to Haikyuu!!, I have now not only done that, but I have actually enjoyed it A LOT. (Idk if that quite meets the parameters of the question because I wasn’t exactly “inspired” to watch volleyball, but eh, close enough~ XD)

Haikyuu!! character as your:  

Mom?

SUGAMAMA~ ♡ ♡ ♡

Dad?

DADCHI~ ♡ ♡ ♡

(I mean, c’mon, how could I not choose the Karasuno parents?? > w < )

Elder sister?

I want Saeko as my older sister, yeeeesssss!!

Older brother?

AND TANAKA AS MY OLDER BROTHER PLS?? (I just want to be related to the Tanaka’s, because let’s be real.)

Younger sister?

Yachi Hitoka!! ♡ Precious girl, I love her so much~ ( ; u ; )

Younger brother?

I feel like Tsukki could be my younger brother (not that he’s anything like my actual younger brothers, haha, but like... I just want to tease him and support him)~

Aside from Haikyuu!!, what is your favorite anime? (This question was thrown in for us all to share another fantastic anime with the Haikyuu fandom~)

My favorite anime right now are Free! (for which I am trash, always and forever), Ao no Exorcist, Natsume Yuujinchou, and Uchouten Kazoku~!!

TAGGING: I’m don’t know a lot of people on Tumblr anymore (I wish I had more friends on here, but I also am absolute crap at responding to messages and asks and stuff...;;) so I don’t have that many people to tag... But @puddingcatbae and @dontperishyet, if you guys haven’t done this yet (and would like to), I tag you!! ( > v < ) /

And if any of my other followers/mutuals want to do this, please fill it out and tag me!! I would love to see how you guys would respond to these questions!! Thanks again to @greendoodle and @sarukui for tagging me in this, I had so much fun~!! ♡♡♡

[sole-cuore-amore-e-droga]

Tel Aviv 2019: Straight outta Albania to Eurovision with ethno beats

Sorry to be late to start all this, but you know, Albanians love doing their show around the Christmas period - whether before or after. xD So after this show, I was rather engulfed in Christmas and stuff, packing the gifs for every family member, putting them under the tree and waking up to see their (belated) reactions to their own gifts. Oh, and a festive dinner on the Eve. (And now it's been less than 1 and a half months since the end of this!)

But enough about that, you guys are here for my honest review, right?

Right.

I, for one, am a true fan of the ridiculous runtime of Festivali i Këngës në Radiotelevizion Shqiptar (and how the full lenght title is pronounced with the broadcaster’s name included every other single time), and that's because it allows me to discuss every single detail that I see, that goes wrong, that's just plain hilarious, and printscreen those said things. Among all these weird sights that can be seen during the interval acts and advertisements there's at least one instance of somebody in the show being such a "mood". Just like the broadcaster's current higher up for all things Eurovision at home (i.e.: commentator, spokesperson and occasional conversator), Andri Xhahu:

“mmhmm sure, keep on telling how much you love all the acts while I pretend I care, but in fact I’d rather just go home and eat something real quick”

Trust me, everyone in this show is a master of not giving a single damn. Artists, backings, instrumentalists, interval acts even maybe? All kinds of people in Albania are just mediocred out by things happening in FiK, thus nothing is remotely surprising!

Well, except for the results this year. Sure, everyone had their little outrage on social media the very time it was revealed that the international public’s darling Mirud did not impress the FiK jurors enough to qualify, but others were simply rejoicing that at least another big fave qualified - and to the fans’ dy shokë, a favourite won once again! And this one is an artsy, mid-tempo call to all of the abroad Albanians to “return to the land”, provided by the one and only, Jonida Maliqi.

And so you thought a big FiK favourite wouldn’t manage to win 2 years in a row... let alone reach Eurovision. It was nearly a given FiK juries could rather have had their traditional FiK-ness when picking the winner and that it would have become Lidia Lufi or even one of those old people, one of them being THE CONDUCTOR OF THE WHOLE SHOW (and if he was not qualifying, he’d probably have been ultra upset and leave his position from FiK’s orchestra that he has now observed every year since idk), so it’s refreshing to see Albania take on some new winds - last year with Eugent Bushpepa, this year with Jonida. Not that she was a big favourite of mine though, but you know, “Mall” was so incredibly difficult to top standart-wise that I actually didn’t really mind letting go of the songs by Dilan Reka, Klinti Çollaku and Alar Band (and 3 more nonqualifiers) emotionally. I mean, with the competition this incredibly improving in competence and easy good winners, it was a given that none of these would have even come close to reach a stellar placing in the final leaderboard of FiK. And yes, I consider my taste incredibly out of fashion with what everyone wants. Thank you for noticing.

When I first heard this, I didn’t really have a great impression on this track - the 1st verse/chorus and the 2nd verse/chorus have an extreeeeemely long gap between each other, which bothered me. Shouldn’t the song have some short enough gateway to pass the point across easier? The second thing is that it’s a little too slow. Not long after she won I became acquainted with the song’s Nightcore versions (yep! 2 of them exist apparently), and going back to he studio version of this, the slowness of it put me off. But on later listens I managed to appreciate its better qualities - the song is intense, tackles a decent topic (which will probably be underlooked if the staging does not account for it clearly enough - looking at you France 2018), the folksy interlude is too precious to be gotten rid off for the upcoming revamp (I just think it needed to be placed elsewhere... until I realized it is in an alright position songwise), the backing vocals at the last few seconds add some charm to the song, and at least there are some vocalisations! Juries obviously love it when an act tests their high vocal abilities, and often great notes don’t go too unnoticed by them. Remember why was Eugent’s performance so loved by the juries - if he haven’t done THAT, nothing would have given him a final ticket in the first place.

So that means that the first time viewers at home have a hefty fine chance to also not get what’s happening, right? Unless the music gets drastically devamped (like in 2016) and the performance is too heavy to connect with this song, it is probably going to do alright. The 2nd night performances this FiK were all devoted to the idea of preparing the acts for Eurovision in an unavoidable case of one of them winning. And Jonida’s performance uses rather cartoonish (but decent cartoonish) city-at-night shots in the background (with street lamps, traffic lights, maybe a bridge and the rest) and several random dancers too, which you can see for yourselves below:

(I’d like to inform her though that constantly interchanging street motives on the background aren’t a very good addition - Latvia 2009 went with all-round street and city signs and that didn’t work, and the 2009 stage was HUGE! Also maybe the dress is a little too extravagant for the topic of the song but that’s a nitpick. Sorry about it)

And even though it’s just 1 song (and the reason the top 1s keep poping up right after FiK is over - a common practice even among very small Eurovision fan Youtube channels) (edit: now we have 4 songs at the point of me finishing this but still), I do believe that already writing it off is harsh. Obviously the Albanian revamp curse is going to take place, but sometimes it comes to a complete advantage if the artist knows what he or she is doing and how to turn everything to their strenght rather than weakness. Eugent just happened to do more impressive vocal heights than Lindita. And Eugent didn’t even need to wear something too extra unlike Lindita, which for some reason was having to deal with a bridal attire..? not a really suitable wear for a song about world problems, yanno what I mean?? So it’s for the better if Jonida’s team doesn’t have to harm the song all too much, choose a connecting staging, do something piercing about it, don’t make Jonida look like a clown on stage, and generally don’t let her come across as too weird and cold-hearted. She should be seen pouring her heart out and let the world know that she’s talking to the Albanians (and hopefully even Kosovars) ‘round the world - to all the Ritas, to all the Duas, to all the Bebes.

Approval factor: I didn’t say I hate it so I approve it wholeheartedly! Yes I like.

Follow-up factor: in my sole opinion I would still find “Mall” way better but this current entry is good enough also, so it’s obviously a fair enough follow-up after the previous and the rest past entries for Albania.

Qualification factor: somewhere in the middle of things right now, if only Jonida’s capable of making everythhing against her work in her favour and shock the naysayers like Eugent did post-revamp that looked like it killed his chances

NATIONAL FINAL BONUS

If you don’t want to read any more of my review from this point on, just simply leave this post, thanks!

But if, however, you do want to read these post-ramblings, pls b mah frien.

So did we have Fest 57 through and it always delivered a fiesta of too many ads and too many intervals. Like you could have sworn that this show should have ended 5 years earlier than initially planned. Yet you wake up and find it still going, but more in the post-show form, with the jury still continuing to blabber about what exactly do they like in a contestant’s song for some reason. And then, when you least expect anything to happen - they mention “lista finale”! Ahh what a miracle.

Anyway, in this segment I’m here to highlight some special things that have happened:

• The puppetmaster from Night 2. No one knew what was that for, no one knew why was it needed, no one knew if it was even a little bit funny. But this Francesca Michielin’s auntie delivered a bunch of stuffed ‘humans’ to show around in front of the camera and stage something out of them. And the world was s h o o k

• Sound problems. One contestants had quiet mics at the beginning of the song (and this is FiK, which means that the poor acts WILL get a definite repeat of their entry, even if they had said their word against it. Sorry Miss Põldvere...), and another act got away with the entirety of it being completely not tuned in correctly soundwise, thus sounding completely all reverb-y and at one point even the mic feed for the backings was louder than the vocals of the artist. Hilariously enough, the both reprised acts won an award!

• Speaking of which, everyone thought that the first award of the night was actually the winner announcement. Even me. Oh how much we were falsely alarmed on this particular thing... xD

• Obviously the results. I honestly don’t think that Mirud’s nonqualification is such a mystery, despite the fact that as of lately the FiK juries are down for uplifting the audience faves. But I saw something that could have turned his song into something unbearably weak and nondescript, despite his pain and heart streamed out in bold colors through the song, considering this is the country that revamps their entries a lot. It could have been, and I’m dreading to say this but I am gonna say it anyway, a meaningless R’n’B ballad trying to show something, but projecting it too weakly. Of course I liked it, but I wouldn’t have pointed at it saying; “that right there, it’s definitely a contender”. But I definitely felt sorry for him and his song. Look what I messaged him:

• Dilan Reka’s quality stepdown. Look, I didn’t even listen to “Mos harro” as of yet, but I can definitely feel that “Karma” is some sort of a sub-par standart entry everyone gave hard time for because it wasn’t as likeable as “Mos harro”, which could have been the beginner of the good Albanian streak I suppose had it won the NF over Lindita? Or at least that’s what the fans think. Anyways, I liked “Karma” and I don’t ever want to stop defending its fun factor. The only thing not worth defending in this is Dilan’s styling:

No but WHO TOLD HIM YELLOW SUNGLASSES AND THIS SUIT WERE A GOOD IDEA???? leave.

• The girl who sang "Hallelujah" during a results break (there were several of these, can you believe that?). That was presumably Ana Kondra (you know, the one that advised to not touch her tree two years back? In JESC?) presumably singing in a personally warped take on English language, if not the actual English.

• Somewhere in the world there was hype-a-comin’ for these two: the cheap beats queen Soni Malaj and the retro hipster queen Orgesa Zaimi. While I can’t say I disliked their songs legit, it beats me as to what is attracting people to support the latter a lot, considering Orgesa submitted a bit of a huge stepdown from the cheerful “Ngrije zërin“. She at least retained her hipster attire though, even if without those French sunglasses. Oh and as for Soni, I gotta commend the Eurofan audience for still giving in some cheap Balkan pop trash! Though for country like Albania, it was never gonna win anyways. And I wasn’t hyped either. Seriously, who thought that adding some extra confused guys spout “bum bum bum” at the beginning was remotely GOOD??

Think I noted all momentswise. May I add that I’m glad to hear Jonida was allowed to sing in Albanian by RTSH (who apparently DECIDE what kind of language is more fitting for their own entry once it’s decided it’s ready for Eurovision???? I feel you, Elhaida’s composer from FiK 2014, if I had to face these rules, I’d have quit too)? It definitely takes this song up for advantage, and who cares if no one can understand it - we still have had an Albanian song about personal matters qualify, plus it was performed live on such an unfortunate occasion back at home so the power had to be extremely maxed out for that to work, and it did.

And one last thing: I did only watch the final of this, and the first time I heard this performed live, I was lowkey convinced this would indeed win because the orchestra made it sound like a stereotypical FiK winner - dramatic female ballad/midtempo/whatever having this dramatic power in chorus with all of the instruments blown right onto it. Not even the rest of the top 3 and other ballads this year were this much instrumentally packed. So there goes.

[pinksweatergettingbetter]

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“he can read a trial’s karma and ultimate fate”

ok well now you’re going from poorly thought out mind games to absolute bullshit

what the fuck does that even mean??? what karma does a trial have?? with my understanding of karma, that means Sadmad literally goes “hm i feel like letting this kid off would please the universe, as she’s innocent. fuck, you win apollo.”

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'What is THAT supposed to mean?’ -Apollo Justice 2028

I'm wheezing the second i got mad he said exactly what I'm thinking 

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“he can foresee how arguments will go and lead his opposition”

>leading the court is   i l l e g a l

>foreseeing arguments is kind of what every prosecutor does only they set traps. this one actually just sounds like Edgeworth’s logic applied to future tense instead of past so i guess i’ll give it a grudging pass.

>but thats Edgeworth’s power and also LEADING THE COURT IS FUCKING ILLEGAL, NOT A SUPER POWER.

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me: [fuming]

game: [reminds me that phoenix Believes In Apollo]

me: [relaxes SOMEwhat]

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trucy: sounds like he's chanting a prayer

me: its funny because juxtaposition 

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I’m so fucking tired of Prosecutors being silent when the judge asks them if theyre ready

like jesus christ guys i know, we get it; youre too cool for school. just nod or some shit ok i wanna get on with my court case with a minimum of dick measuring 

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whats frustrating is that the nickname ‘last rights prosecutor’ is actually kind of heartwarming because it means that all Nahyuta wants to do is secure the true villain of the case to punish them, thereby putting the victim’s soul at rest

BUT considering the trainwreck of emotional depth that was DD he’s probably just going to be another shithead who assaults you and calls you a moron instead of actually listening 

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...his case info’s on a scroll. um. how delightfully foreign?

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sadmad: why do you think she's innocent 

apollo: um well i believe in her, also its too early for me to exactly give you direct proof and also and most importantly the point of this court is to give the defendant a Fair Trial so 

sadmad: (does a Z move and performs an unfortunate bout of Voice Acting)

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sadmad: sorry I'm probably going to make a lot of mistakes since i’m new here and my court system is really different

me: oh well he’s understanding and ready to learn, that’s coo

sadmad: lawyers are sinners and i shall cut them down with my holy wrath if they dare so much as do their job in this country 

me: ...wow what was that five seconds?? he’s raring to get to those mistakes

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judge: don’t threaten peoples’ lives

sadmad: its part of my CULTURE you fucking RACIST

judge: shit, please continue 

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sadmad you'd better get a fucktonne more likeable in the next three seconds or I'm condemning you to your shit hell myself.

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ema: no stress no snacks

[enters court]

ema: all stress all snacks

:( poor ema

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ema; i think trucy’s innocent

sadmad: you will be punished

ema: fuck ok nevermind I'm sorry

BOATLOAD OF CHARM, SADMAD, I SAID BOATLOAD OF CHARM, NOT ABUSING YOUR DETECTIVE

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this motive is stupid and youre stupid but to be fair most proposed motives in ace attorney are stupid so i guess you get a pass. a very grudging pass.

wait no never mind

apollo: thats conjecture wheres your evidence 

sadmad: a girl said it happened

apollo: well fuck 

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i just dont get it. when franziska is a dick she’s funny but when sadmad’s a dick he's just a dick and i want to throttle him with his pretentious braid 

pls game you were going strong there; make sadmadhi funny and likeable in his dickishness (like the trilogy era guys, and sometimes Klavier) and not utterly insufferable 

I'm willing to hear you out 

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nahyuta: I'm cutting your pay

[shrug]  i guess when you run out of ideas you just recycle edgeworth?? cause he's popular right

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as douchey as he is sadmad is right about telling ema not to choose a side. cmon ema, just trust that apollo will figure it out. and apollo, quit begging her to choose a side! sheesh i cant believe I'm agreeing with sadmad.

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please sadmad i hate frozen stop referencing it

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apollo thinks stag beetles are cool and thats adorable 

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oh hello Reunion and Turnabout, it’s been a while. 

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sadmad: Assault in the name of the Holy Mother is Legal and Allowed also allow me to talk AND TALK AND TALK AS IS THIS GAME’S WONT 

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“youre just a child” says the 25 year old. cram it, airy-fairy. besides, your shit princess is >14< and you let her dance around in a mini skirt and declare rulings. so double cram it.

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“Ema, wait! I have to prove that I’m not a dick by quickly praising you so as to prove that I’m not a dick! Wait!! Seriously!! I HAVE TO BE LIKEABLE!!!”

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again, i just dont get why its funny when Franziska whips Lotta Hart and annoying as fuck when Sadmad threatens Bonny with, um... rosary bondage i guess

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tbf apollo is rly being aggressive on the WELL YOUU DONT THINK SHE DID IT, RIGHT??? i mean we all know she didnt but it’s your job to prove this, apollo, not coerce witnesses into siding with you. even phoenix wasn’t like that when he had to defend Maya or Maggey.

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[wheezes]

sadmad: you lied to me

betty: lol so? dump me in hell idgaf

i like betty. she’s a dick to trucy and nobody touches my baby girl but still. love that defiance 

both sisters are p sweet i gotta say.

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sadmad: so, you think a girl killed a guy so she could get revenge on another girl because she loathed her? how stupid. you stupid red fire hydrant pissed upon by wicked dogs. 

apollo: and you think that a magician faced with their secrets being revealed couldn’t, like, conjure up some duct tape? no? had to be death?? 

sadmad: ...;;;;;;; 

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did bonny just meep 

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“just be nice and quite like a good little bunny”

heehee typo

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“I’ll yank your fucking hair out!”

“Whatever it’ll just grow back”

thats the best response ive ever heard (sobs)

good on ya polly

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“showing up dead in the coffin was part of the prank”

um then if it was planned as such how is trucy responsible for this???

also shit guys i hope Take2 TV was willing to pay for the damage done by the falling set piece cause that shit splintered like crazy.

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“But for some reason, he really DID turn up dead, so he kinda just stayed on the ground”

i know its inappropriate to laugh but I'm laughing so hard

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sadmad quit calling down someone’s soul just to look cool; theyre trying to rest in peace 

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“she signed her name to the bottom of an incriminating note” yeah for really reals that sounds smrt

“the handwriting matches yours” ah yeah the signature but not the fucking note just by looking its not the same its typed

you people are such morons

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