#And like. Their lyrics were always a lil cringe

[life-under-hypnosis]

Idk if this is too niche but I used to listen to HIM a lot, and that's embarrassing enough to admit, but Ville Valo put out his own solo album, which like. Good for him, but, respectfully, what in the FUCK are these lyrics bestie.

[joelalorian]

Fall Into Me - Chapter Seven: I'll Catch You Darlin'

dbf!Joel x f!reader

Summary: Joel is hanging on by a thread as a single father to a tenacious 10-year-old Sarah. Feeling like he's drowning, like the world is about to spit him out, he needs some help before he breaks in half. At your dad's insistence, you show up in his life and change everything.

Story is inspired by the song Fall Into Me by Forest Blakk. Chapter titles will be lyrics from the song.

Word Count: 3.9k

Chapter Warnings: Explicit, under 18 take a hike. No outbreak AU. Lots of feelings, unprotected p in v, flirting, dads being dads. Two idiots falling in love. Joel is his own warning. Age gap of about 9 years (Reader 24/25, Joel 33/34). No use of y/n. Reader has a nickname used only by her dad and Joel uses various terms of endearment (darlin', sweetheart, etc.).

Thank you so much to everyone who reads this self-indulgent story and extra thanks to those who comment and/or reblog - you all make me feel like a rock star!

Dividers by the wonderful @saradika-graphics

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Chapter Six | Main Masterlist

Moonlight peeked through the gap in the dark curtains, beams of soft light dancing across your face. Blinking your eyes open, you glanced around the room, momentarily uncertain where you were. Even in the pre-dawn light, the walls were noticeably darker than your room, furniture a rich mahogany, the bedding a deep blue. The spot in the bed beside you was empty but warm, and it jogged your memory.

You were in Joel’s room, in his bed.

You slept with Joel last night… but, no, wait. You didn’t, you know, sleep with him, though you wanted to and now wished you had.

The two of you made a mess of each other on the couch – you still couldn’t believe you made Joel come in his pants. You’d never done such a thing and it was so fucking hot! Even hotter was the fact that he wasn’t even embarrassed about it. Instead, he let you know how much of an effect you had on him, murmuring affectionate words in your ear. Afterwards, you both cleaned up, Joel loaning you a pair of boxer briefs and joggers to replace your soaked jeans and panties, and finally sat down to watch a movie and order pizza. It was a perfect Sunday date night in. When Sarah and Tommy returned, they joined you for a bit, Sarah cuddled into your left side as you cuddled into Joel on your right. Somehow, after Sarah went to bed and Tommy left, you ended up in Joel’s bed, the dark sheets covering you as he held you in his broad arms. Too tired for anything more, you fell asleep.

It was the best night of sleep you had in your entire life.

Glancing at the alarm clock on the nightstand, you sighed. Too early to rise, you huddled under the covers wondering where Joel went off to. Just then, the bathroom door creaked open, and Joel emerged, climbing back into bed next to you. His arms encased you in the warmth of his body and you hummed happily, placing soft kisses on his chest.

“Mmm, what are you doin’ awake, darlin’,” he murmured, nuzzling his nose in your hair.

“Dunno,” you replied, fingertips dancing along his arms and over his shoulders. Joel pulled you closer still and, with a tilt of your head, you pressed a kiss to his pouty lips, the scruff of his beard and mustache tickling your skin.

Just being in his arms, in his bed, caused a wave of arousal to pool in your lower belly. Thinking of last night on the couch, your hips pressed forward without conscious thought from your brain and your lower belly brushed against the swelling length of Joel’s cock.

“Is someone feelin’ a lil’ needy?” Joel asked, voice thick and velvety, as one hand wandered down the length of your back to squeeze at the plumpness of your ass.

“Always need you, Joel,” you practically whined, internally cringing at your own neediness. You always swore you wouldn’t beg for a man but with your skin practically burning for his every touch, you’d give anything for Joel to be inside you. You never wanted someone so much you felt like you could shatter from the wanton desire pulsing through you.

Shifting forward, Joel rolled you onto your back and hovered above you, bracing himself on one veiny forearm. The thumb of his free hand swiped slowly across your bottom lip, pulling at the pouty flesh, his dark eyes searing as your tongue darted out for a taste of his skin. With a growling moan, he darted forward to press his mouth to yours, nipping at that bottom lip while his hand traced a path down your neck and chest, seeking the roundness of your breasts. Precise in his movements, Joel swallowed your little mewls as he plucked at your nipples one at a time until they were hardened peaks. You squirmed as each delectable pinch sent a bolt of arousal straight to your pussy.

Without a word, Joel read your movements, his hand gliding further down your body to dip beneath the elastic of your panties. Leaning back slightly, his eyes met yours, pupils blown, and arched a single eyebrow. You were absolutely drenched, your arousal seeping through the fabric of your panties to coat the flesh of your inner thighs.

“All this for me? I’ve been so neglectful, you poor lil’ thing. Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of you, darlin’.”

Joel’s eyes never left yours as he swiped through your folds, the rough pad of his index finger strumming at your clit for a few beats before slipping inside you. It had been a while since you had anything other than a tampon inside you and your breath caught at the feeling of his thick finger stretching you. Soft mewls quickly turned to panting moans as he added another finger to the mix, curling them both to hit that little fleshy bundle of nerves that made you desperate to come as his thumb teased your clit.

“Shhh, darlin’. We need to be quiet,” Joel whispered, his breath in your ear causing goosebumps to prickle across your scalp and along your arms. Biting your lip, you did your best to stay quiet, breathing heavily through your nose as Joel scissored his fingers, opening you up to take the fullness of him.

Suddenly realizing you’ve been so focused on what Joel was doing to you that your hands hadn’t moved from his waist, you shifted. Hips arching up chasing the orgasm that teetered just out of reach, you slipped one hand around Joel’s hip, digging your fingers under the waistband of his boxer briefs to take the heft of him in hand.

Fuck, he was huge. Joel chuckled and your faced heated at the realization that you said that aloud. “That’s why I’m making sure you’re ready to take me, darlin’. I don’t want to hurt you, ever.”

How was this man real? He was everything you never knew you always wanted and then some. And God damn did he know how to work you right over the edge. Afraid of being too loud, you bit into the flesh of Joel’s shoulder to drown your moans as an intense orgasm washed over you. Joel’s fingers worked you through it, soothing you through the trembling aftershocks until you came back to your senses.

“Please, Joel. I need you. I’m ready. I need you now. Please,” you babbled, hands scrabbling at his underwear, wanting him as naked as you. So much for not begging.

Pushing back, Joel tugged his boxer briefs down his hips and thighs, kicking them away as he settled between your thighs. Your eyes widened when you caught a glimpse of his cock, mouth watering with the desire to taste him. Next time, you thought, as he tilted his hips forward, balancing his upper body on his arms. This was the moment you’d both been waiting patiently for.

Joel’s big brown eyes met yours, seeking confirmation that this was what you wanted, and you smiled. “Please, Joel,” you whimpered, hips bucking in search of friction.

Sealing his lips to yours, Joel pushed forward, easing his cock into you with an exaggerated slowness. The mixture of pleasure and slight pain was exquisite as inch after inch of his cock caressed your walls, eyes rolling back when he finally bottomed out.

“Fuck, baby. Y-you feel so fucking good wrapped around me, squeezing me so tight. I could live here, just like this, forever.” Joel’s voice a deep whisper as he rocked into you, cock sliding along your fluttering walls, hitting just the right spots with every movement. He was do deep inside you; you’d swear you could feel him deep in your belly.

The broadness of him surrounded you as he fed you his cock with steady thrusts. Sex never felt so good, and you knew it had everything to do with Joel and the way you felt about him. You’d never felt this way about anyone before and, though it overwhelmed you, it was the greatest thing in the world. You were bursting to tell him the true depth of your feelings, but hesitated, not wanting to be the first to make such a declaration, especially in the heat of the moment.

The pace picked up, Joel kissing you deeply as he rocked into you. You swallowed each other’s moans as you wrapped your legs around his hips, drawing him ever closer, ever deeper. The brush of his lower belly and coarse curls against you created just the right amount of friction on your clit it threw you right over the cliff, moaning into Joel’s mouth, fingernails digging into the skin of his back. No doubt there would be a dozen half moon markings on his back later.

Within a few thrusts, Joel’s pace turned erratic as he sought his own pleasure. Tearing his lips from yours, he frantically blurted, “Where?”

“Inside. Come inside me, baby,” your mewled, aching to feel him pulse inside you.

Two more thrusts and Joel came, his low groan muffled by your neck as he burrowed his head into the pillow. “Fuck,” he drew out the word, followed by a sigh of your name before he collapsed half on top of you. The bulk of him like a weighted blanket covering your body. “That was amazing. I can’t wait to do it again.”

Still delirious, you both chuckled as quietly as you could manage, chests heaving as you tried to catch your breath. Rolling off you, Joel pulled you close so that you were now sprawled half over him and cuddled you until your heart rates returned to normal.

A glance at the clock let you know you were out of time. Sarah would be up any minute looking for breakfast before getting ready for school. The thought of unwrapping yourself from Joel and leaving his bed pained you, but you both got up. You did a quick cleanup while Joel jumped in the shower. As much as you wanted to join him, you both knew you’d lose track of time if you did. Instead, you jumped in after Joel finished, letting him deal with getting Sarah’s breakfast.

It wasn’t until you emerged from the shower that nervous energy coursed through you at the thought of going downstairs. Did Sarah know you stayed over? Did Joel want Sarah to know that you stayed over? You should have talked to Joel about this before he went downstairs, but it was too late now. The questions still swirled in your head as you slipped on the borrowed joggers and scraped your hair into a knot at the back of your head. You wore a tank top to sleep in and were about to put your shirt from the night before on when one of Joel’s flannels caught your eye. Holding the fabric up to your nose, you breathed in the scent of him – fresh cut wood and a musk that was so uniquely Joel – and slipped the shirt on with a tender smile. Time to face the music, you thought.

Steps light as you walked down the stairs, you heard Sarah chattering away to Joel and smiled when Joel’s deep voice muttered responses. Their connection warmed your heart and you wanted so badly to be part of this family unit with them.

Catching sight of you as you turned the corner, Joel’s dark chocolate eyes lit up, lips twitching into a half smile. “Good mornin’, darlin’,” he greeted once you stepped through into the kitchen, leaning down to kiss the top of your head as if the two of you hadn’t spent the last hour getting full carnal knowledge of each other. “How’d you sleep?”

“Mmm, good morning you two,” you replied, slipping into the seat next to Sarah with a smile at the young girl. “That was the best night of sleep.”

Joel looked pleased with himself as he placed a glass of water on the table in front of you along with a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon. “Just what I hoped to hear.” He took the seat across from you at the little four-top table and the three of you dug in.

Sarah kept up a stream of chatter as you ate, telling you all about her ice cream date with Tommy the night before. About mid-way through breakfast, you nearly choked on your eggs when the little girl blurted, “You’re wearing Daddy’s clothes. Does that mean you’re officially his girlfriend now?”

Sputtering, your wide-eyed gaze darted to Joel. He sat there looking cool as a cucumber, lips quirked in a grin and umber eyes twinkling with mischief. “Yeah, darlin’. Does that mean you’re officially my girlfriend now?”

Eyes narrowing at the menace of a man sitting across the table, you smirked. Two could play this game. “Well, I don’t know. What do I get for being your official girlfriend?” you asked, voice dipping toward sultry.

Joel visibly gulped, eyes searching your face before he cleared his throat. “Anything you want.” He said it so simply, the words leaving his lips so effortlessly, and it threw you.

“What about what you want?” you deflected.

Sarah gazed between the two of you, nose scrunched, equal parts happy and confused. Why did adults make everything complicated?

Playfulness glinted in Joel’s eyes, winking at Sarah before turning back to you. “I want you to be my official girlfriend.”

“Okie dokie,” you replied with a nonchalant shrug of your shoulders, feigning indifference as you took the last bite of eggs on your plate to hide your smile.

Joel shook his head, wide grin splitting his face, and went to reply when his phone buzzed. He shot a brief look to you before answering. “Hey JB,” he greeted, listening as your dad spoke. “Yeah, she’s here. Just getting the nugget ready for school.”

One thick-fingered hand tapped a rhythm on the wooden table, phone to his left ear as he gazed at you. Your dad was talking a lot, the echo of his voice carried in the air, but you couldn’t decipher what he said.

“It’s no bother, man. She’s a good girl and we love having her here.” Joel winked at you again before motioning for Sarah to go finish getting ready. “Yeah, JB, you can talk to her.”

Accepting the phone as he passed it across the table, you sat back in the chair. “Hey Dad. What’s up?”

“What’s up with you, ya dirty stay out? I didn’t see your car last night or this morning and wondered where ya were. Guess I shoulda known you’d be over there.”

There was something off with your dad’s tone and you panicked, trying in vain to think of an excuse on why you would’ve stayed the night. Mouth opening and closing a few times, your dad beat you to the punch.

“Don’t be makin’ a nuisance of yourself over there, ya hear? It’s one thing to have a crush on the guy, but it’s another to force yourself into every aspect of their lives, Spud. Don’t be getting’ in the way of their family time. You know how important that is.”

Your dad kept going, rattling off some other advice you didn’t ask for, but you were stuck on one thing. He thought you had a crush on Joel. He was much more observant than you ever gave him credit for. You and Joel would not be able to keep your now official relationship secret for long, not with good ol’ JB nosing around.

Joel’s eyes burned into you, but you couldn’t meet his gaze, staring down at the flaws in the tabletop instead.

“Anyway, I just wanted to wish ya good luck on your meeting at the school today, sweetie. You make your old man proud,” your dad said. “Tell Joel I’ll see him later. Love you, Spud.”

“Thanks Dad, love you too,” you uttered, the line going dead before you finished speaking. Shaking your head to clear your thoughts, your eyes met Joel’s, finally. “He thinks I have a crush on you and shouldn’t interfere with your family time.”

Tilting his head to the side, brows pinched, Joel reached a hand across the table to link his fingers with yours. “We’ll tell him real soon, darlin’. Don’t want you keeping secrets from your dad like this.”

“You sure? What if…”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m here, in this, for the long haul,” Joel replied imploringly, his fingers squeezing yours. “I haven’t felt like this in too long, if ever, and I’m not givin’ it up for anything. Okay?”

The tell-tale tickle of tears welled but you refused to let them spill over, nodding with a watery smile. “Okay.”

The day started off cool, but the southern sun beat down on the back of Joel’s neck by early afternoon, causing him to shed the red flannel he wore to the job site. Gulping down a bottle of chilled water, he glanced at his phone hoping for a message from you.

You were on his mind constantly. Something triggered a memory or thought of you at almost every moment of the day. He’d see a bird and wonder if you knew what species it was. Or he’d hear something funny and wonder what you’d think about it. Or memories of you in his lap and in his bed would hit suddenly, making him hot under the collar and below the belt.

Joel Miller was a man falling in love and powerless to stop it. Not that he wanted to, anyway.

Just then his phone buzzed with a message from you asking him to call you when he had a moment. He’d always make time for you, he thought, his fingers already hitting the call symbol.

“Hey handsome,” you answered on the second ring, breathless as if you were running.

“Howdy darlin’,” he replied, voice deep and rumbly, just the way he knew you liked it. “How’d the meeting go?”

You were silent for a moment too long, and Joel pulled the phone from his ear, checking that the call didn’t drop.

 “Well, you’re talking to the new middle grade science teacher, so I’d say it went well.” He could feel the pride in your voice and his heart swelled.

“Congrats, darlin’. I knew you’d get it and you’ll be the best damn science teacher those kids will ever have.” He was already thinking about how lucky Sarah would be to have you as a teacher. Letting his voice go a little deeper, he added, “We should celebrate this weekend. Sarah has two sleepover birthday parties to go to, so we’ll have the house to ourselves. I can take my time in showing you just how proud I am of you, and we can be as loud as we want.”

Your breath audibly hitched on the other end of the phone, causing Joel’s lips to twitch into a smirk. “I’d really like that, Joel,” you breathed, and his jeans suddenly grew tighter.

Adjusting himself as subtly as possible, Joel sighed. “I should go, sweetheart. There’s a ton to do at this site and I’m already looking at a few long days this week. Call JB next. He’s dropping by in a bit, and I don’t want to let something slip that I shouldn’t know yet.”

Sighing deeply into the phone, you said, “Alright, I’ll call him now. We gotta tell him soon, Joel. This is only gonna get harder, you know.”

“I know, sweet cheeks. We will, I promise.” Hearing his name, Joel nodded to one of his crew before saying goodbye. Your sweet voice echoed in his ears as he worked like a dog the rest of the day. JB was a proud papa when he stopped by, bragging about you to anyone who would listen. Guilt gurgled in Joel’s gut knowing the two of you were keeping a secret from the guy, but he pushed it down, pretending that he didn’t know anything about your new job and let JB share the details. The sun set long before he left the site, and he arrived home to find leftovers warming on the stove while you got Sarah ready for bed.

The sight of you walking down the stairs, smiling sweetly at him, set his soul on fire. God, how he longed to be with you all the time, to wake up next to you every morning and come home to you every evening.

“Come ‘ere, my sexy teacher girlfriend,” he greeted softly, pulling you in for a scorching kiss. He wasted no time, tongue dipping into your mouth to tangle with yours. “You’re so beautiful and smart, I’m so lucky I get to call you mine.”

You laughed with a little shake of your head. “I’m the lucky one, Joel. I can’t believe some lucky lady hadn’t snatched you up before I came along.”

Even though he was dirty and probably stunk of sweat from working all day, Joel hesitated to let you out of his embrace. As if sensing his feelings, you nuzzled into him.

“I wish I could stay the night, but I should get back to my dad’s,” you said, reluctantly.

“I know, darlin’. We’ll tell him soon and then you can stay over whenever you want.” Joel walked you out the door, thanking you for taking care of Sarah and cooking dinner. He kissed you a few more times on the way to your car and even ducked down to buckle you in and kiss you one last time before finally stepping back. “I’ll see you in the mornin’. I—”

That pesky little four-letter word had been bouncing around his heart and mind for weeks, even before the two of you decided to give this thing before you a shot, but he hesitated to say it first. He’d never said it and meant it, and to him it was a really big thing that he needed to time just right.

The rest of the week passed in a blur of work for Joel. Business was good, keeping him, Tommy, and a few other guys busier than any of them preferred. It was getting to the point where Joel needed to hire another crew so they could run two jobs at once. Though it was a great thing, making changes to his business always increased Joel’s anxiety. Management wasn’t his forte and he was terrified of screwing something up, but maybe that’s what made him a great small business owner. He was hyper vigilant in both the business and construction side of operations, going the extra mile to make sure things ran safely and smoothly.

The downfall of being so busy was, of course, the complete lack of time to spend with Sarah or you. It made him extra happy to know that Sarah had you to lean on and spend time with while he was busy, though. You were the piece of the support system that Sarah had been missing and seeing the bond between the two of you grow stronger every day warmed his heart to the point of bursting.

Finally, Friday arrived, and Joel busted his ass to get done early, rushing home to shower and setup a little something in the backyard to celebrate you landing your first teaching position. He had the perfect evening planned.

tbc

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[pumpkinsy0]

we all talk about curly w the curtis gang but not PONY w curlys gang so heres hcs for it

•to get this out the way, this isnt the SHEPARD gang, this is curlys gang, i hc curly has his own lil group of friends, its kinda like the curtis gang

•literally everytime curly invites pony over to hang out w them ponys like “do u promise they wont ____ again” bc there was always some bs they did while pony was over

•pony and curly cant do SHIT next to each other, everytime they like share a drink, or look at each other, or just sit near each other, someone always has to butt in and tease them about being together

• they have their own ”pony and curly sittin in a tree” rhyme and pony hates it SO bad he cringes everytime he hears it because they switched up the lyrics a bit so its a bit more mature for audiences aka the poor bystandars in a 5 mile radius who can hear them yelling it

•but at the same time curlys telling them to stop but also laughing about it and jokingly pushing them away??? think of it like middle school boys teasing their friend who talking to their crush and the boy is splitting his attention between the two of em

•curlys friends only rlly heard of pony but never rlly talked to him so ik they r pestering pony w questions left and right while curlys trying to take him somewhere

•as much as they r a pretty overbearing bunch they r lowkey curlys wingmen bc ik for a FACT sometimes pony would b hanging w curly and his friends and the friends would just DITCH them so they were basically on a forced date lmao

•also curly is aware his friends can be too much (look whos talkin🤨)so there r times where he gets a lil annoyed w them and tells them to chill, for ponys sake

•while pony and curly are on dates, so VERY rarely theyre spying on em and curly notices and tries to pretend like everythings normal but pony notices that for a few minutes curly just disappears (its bc hes talking to his friends and his friends r giving him “tips”), poor ponys just left standing there not knowing what to do😭

•they r NOT like the curtis gang they rlly dont care who curlys dating BUT w ponys its different bc ponys rly not like anyone else curlys dated before so they r kinda just like “why him specifically🤨🤨”

[b1ackbunny]

LOVE LIES

CH. 06 | LUNCH DATE (?)

A Bada Lee smau-ish ff

pairing: bada lee x fem!dancer!oc (jia mei yu)

synopsis: bada lee wasn’t looking for love when it found her. jia mei yu couldn’t truly comprehend the feeling inside when she was with her, on and off the dancefloor. when these two dancers meet by chance, a bond is formed and uncharted territories are explored.

word count:

warnings: definitely au-like… no mentions of swf or smf, uhhh idk any more, bad writing, friendly violence, a little inaccurate, unedited

previous: chapter 5

next: chapter 7

taglist (open): @badasgirlfriend @tikitsune @lil-elliesgf @prilux @badagf @badaslali @avocifera

masterlist

a/n: #combackszn sorry for the long wait hope y'all enjoy their little date!! also sneaked in a set up for my tatter x laura fic i might make… I just feel like that would be too good to not happen 🫦 actually reading this chap while writing and I’m realizing that i may be forming a hyper golden retriever x calm golden retriever relationship i love this

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

Jia sat in front of her vanity, reading the comments on her livestream as they rolled in. She decided since she had time while getting ready for lunch with Bada, she’d do a short livestream. “Hello everyone! It’s been a minute since I’ve done one of these. I’m just hopping on while I get ready.”

She explained to the viewers, applying sunscreen to her fingertips before rubbing it into her face. “To pass the time, why don't we do a Q&A? Ask your questions and I'll answer them to the best of my ability.”

She fanned her face before grabbing her primer. Removing the lid, Jia read aloud the first question she saw:

user124: what are you getting ready for?

She spattered the primer onto her face as she talked. “Just the day, really. So far I’ve only went to the gym, ate breakfast, and answered some emails. But, I am going to lunch with a friend so there's that.” Jia mentioned, keeping a casual expression as she rubbed the primer into her skin.

user243: you're always wearing platformed shoes in most of your posts… how tall are you?

“I didn't even realize that. I'm 171.45 centimeters to be exact, last time I checked.” The girl applied a thin level of foundation and hummed to herself.

user947: what are the next groups you want to work with?

Jia thought about the question, tapping her chin. “That's a tough question… probably txt, nmixx, or ateez. Oh, and seventeen!” She began to contour her face and glance between the phone and her reflection in the mirror.

user328: what's your favorite song at the moment?

Jia began to fill and shape her eyebrows as she thought back to the song she'd played the most for the past few weeks. She cringed a little at the two songs that instantly came to mind, knowing that the viewers might think too deeply about the lyrics.

“Sorrows by Bryson Tiller or All I Want Is You by Miguel.” Almost immediately, she saw the comments come in faster. Holding back an eye roll, Jia began to shut down any ideas that were being sent.

“There isn't a specific reason why these are my favorite songs right now. So don't read too much into it.” Jia added concealer and skimmed through the comments, searching for her next question.

user429: is it true you’re collaborating with bada lee???

Jia laughed a little at the comment as she blended the makeup. “No, that's not true. However, if you guys convince her then maybe there's a chance. I'll have to think about it.” Jia smiled as she received a lot of comments along the lines of ‘challenge accepted’.

She answered multiple questions as she finished up her makeup, adding lip gloss before tossing it into her purse. She stood up and leaned close to the camera, giving a close-lipped smile as she wiggled her fingers under her face.

“Alright, now I have to accessorize, do my hair, and put on perfume, then I should be done!” Jia summed up as she moved to the bathroom. She opened one of the cabinets and took out her brush.

She held her hair into a ponytail and looked down at her outfit. “Ponytail of half up half down, which one should I do?” Jia kept her eyes on the comments as she took out a hair tie and a few bobby pins. The majority of the comments she saw said ponytail, so she went with it.

She added a little details to it by adding a middle part and styling bobby pins on each side of the front. Jia let some stray strands frame her face and she looked down at the phone and put two thumbs up.

Moving back to her room, she sat back in front of her vanity and opened her jewelry box. She tapped her chin before choosing a combination of silver pieces. “Alright, two final questions everyone. Choose wisely.”

user156: when will your next class be?

“Monday at ygx. I'm going to be there basically all day so come up to me if you catch me!” Jia responded while dabbing her signature scent in its regular places.

user805: are you dating anyone?

Jia instantly shook her head with a straight face. “No, I'm not seeing anyone. But, Jackson Wang if you're watching this… call me.” Jia quickly turned the question into a joke, holding a phone hand sign up to her ear and raising her brows before blowing a kiss to the screen.

Almost immediately, she dipped out of the frame and began laughing. The girl tried to return to the screen but read a few comments that only made her laughter grow. She covered her mouth and tried to relax her face.

“Alright… thanks for tuning in! See you guys later!” Jia blew a kiss to the camera and waved goodbye as she ended the live. She wiped a fake tear off her face and fanned her eyes. “I'm the funniest person I know.”

She stood up and looked at her outfit in the mirror. It really represented her maximalist meets minimalist sense of style. Jia picked up her tote and added her essentials before sitting on her bed. Bada texted the details last night, and she already forwarded them to Ryujin.

Jia looked at the time on her phone and sighed, thinking back to why she got ready so early. It was now around 10:40 and the pair agreed to meet at the location by 12. Jia made her way out of her room and contemplated what she wanted to do to waste time.

She walked down the hall and knocked on her sister’s door four times before going inside. Laura didn't bother to look up from her laptop as Jia walked in and lay down on her bed.

Kija hopped down from Laura’s lap and moved to lay against Jia’s side. Jia pet the cat who nuzzled into her side and stared at the ceiling before dramatically sighing. Laura ignored the girl as she typed away at her keyboard, increasing the volume of her music in the background.

Jia glanced at her sister before letting out an even more dramatic sigh. Laura rolled her eyes before swiveling her chair toward the direction of her bed. “What?” Jia immediately sat up with a bright smile painted on her face.

“Oh, nothing. I'm just excited to hang out with Bada today. You know, in person. Outside the dance studio.” Jia said with a sigh, continuing to pet Kija as she looked into the distance.

Laura glared and shook her head. “That was definitely a jab at me and Suyin… Just because we’re long distance doesn’t mean you can attack us like this.” Laura jokingly shook her head and wiped away her fake tears. Jia rolled her eyes and launched the closest stuffed animal at her sister.

Laura ducked out of the way and shook her head disappointingly, tisking at her sister as she spun back toward her laptop. “Next time Suyin visits I'm telling her to beat you up.”

Jia rolled her eyes and crossed her legs before placing Kija on the floor. “My apologies… Anyways, back to my thing. I did some research on the place we’re meeting and it's supposed to have a pretty scenery.”

Laura spun back in Jia’s direction with a smile on her face. “That sounds perfect for your date!” “Not a date…” Jia immediately followed up, earning an eye roll from Laura.

“It basically is. Watch, I bet Ryujin will confirm that it was, in fact, a date after her spying.” Laura confidently declared before leaning back into her chair and kicking her legs up onto the corner of her desk.

Jia sighed and leaned to the side, propping her head on top of her palm. “I feel like if it is, I won't be upset at all. It's just I don't wanna get my hopes up.” Laura peeked at her sister and sighed.

“Understandable. Also, why are you in here right now?” Laura crossed her arms and squinted at her sister. “I wanted to spend some quality time with my little sister!” Jia enthusiastically said, sweetly smiling at her sister’s straight face.

“Bullshit. Let me guess, you started getting ready too early because you were so excited.” Laura plainly worded, clicking the enter key on her laptop. Jia bit her lip in guilt, earning a laugh from Laura.

“You want her so bad.” Laura brought down her legs and completely spun in her sister’s direction. Jia rolled her eyes at the statement and fully sat up. “Yadda, yadda.”

“More like ‘Bada, Bada’ is the only thing on your mind.” Laura joked with a wink and Jia almost instantly cringed. She launched another stuffed animal in the girl’s direction, causing the younger to weave away from said stuffed animal.

“That was so bad, you need to be silenced.” Laura dramatically scoffed at Jia’s claim, holding a hand to her heart while her jaw slacked. “So now you want to silence queer voices? I'm already starting the cancel Jia Mei Yu tag as we speak.” Jia rolled her eyes and stood up from the bed.

“That's why you're not getting any leftover food I might bring back.” Laura gasped and immediately moved to apologize but Jia hushed her actions as she walked out of the room.

Quickly grabbing her bag and phone from her room, she trekked down the stairs and into the living room. Jia lounged on the couch and watched youtube videos while she waited for the appropriate time to leave.

She wanted to get there about fifteen minutes early so she would be able to talk with Ryujin before Bada was supposed to show up. When it reached a reasonable time, Jia stood up and grabbed her things.

Saying her goodbyes to Laura and Kija, she grabbed her keys and walked out the door. Once she made it out of the complex, Jia walked to her regular parking space and got into her car. She shot a text to Ryujin, telling her that she was leaving her apartment.

After she received a response, Jia ignited the engine and embarked on the journey.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

After parking, she got out of her car and looked at the time. Bada would be there in approximately ten minutes and Jia started to frantically text Ryujin while walking into the building. Apparently, the lunch spot was located on one of the higher levels.

Once she reached the destination, she couldn't help but notice how pretty it was. It looked to be a mostly outdoor-themed lunch spot and Jia had no idea how she hadn't been there before.

It kind of resembled a really pretty park area, but in the sky where you could see the skyline. There was a sign to first sit at your desired table and then press a button when you're ready to order. Jia found that pretty neat as she maneuvered through the tables.

She found a couple closer to the wall of the cafe and chose to wait at one of them. Jia scrolled through her phone as a text from Ryujin came in, telling her to look up and over to a table near the edge of the seating area.

Her head immediately snapped up and followed Ryujin’s directions. There, she saw her friend waving at her with a smile on her face. Jia smiled back and took a couple of pictures of her before shooting her heart sign, to which Ryujin reciprocated.

Jia anxiously bit her lip and scrolled through tiktoks in hopes of distracting herself enough for her mind to calm down before Bada showed up. She alternated between social media and texting Ryujin when she heard someone approach the table.

“Am I late?” Jia immediately looked up to see a slightly worried Bada reaching the table and she couldn't help the smile that took over her features. She shook her head and stood from her seat, meeting Bada in front of the table.

Due to the couple of inches from the platform sandals she sported, she was about the same height as Bada. She smugly smiled before greeting the girl with a hug. Her affections were immediately reciprocated and the pair hugged for a little before taking seats across from each other.

Jia discreetly looked over to Ryujin’s table where she was fake-reading a book while keeping most of her focus on the two. Jia turned her attention back onto the girl in front of her and held a soft smile.

“This place is so pretty, how did you discover it?” Jia questioned while looking around the sit-down cafe before moving her gaze back onto Bada.

“I found this place a couple of months ago with a few friends,” Bada answered with a smile as she pulled two menus from its holder off to the side. Jia hummed and thanked Bada for the menu when she handed it to her.

She skimmed the menu, secretly peeking at the girl across from her before setting it down. The casual attire that Bada wore looked good, and she smelled even better. Little did Jia know that the said outfit took Bada thirty minutes and five phone calls to put together.

Bada followed suit and pressed a button that summoned the waiter. While waiting for the waiter, the two began making conversation. Jia really enjoyed Bada’s facial expressions while talking, it made her look so passionate about the smallest things.

Jia also acknowledged how adorably dorky Bada was. She was convinced Bada’s little quirks made her like her even more. Once the waiter approached the table and greeted the two, they said their orders.

The pair continued their conversation after the waitress left, going back and forth with questions. “So, when's your birthday?” Bada asked while placing her chin on top of her propped-up palm.

“April 24th… I’m a Taurus.” Jia said, said with a hint of pride. She found her birthdate to be aesthetically satisfying to her mind when she thought about it in numeral form.

“Yours?” Jia rerouted the question back to Bada, subconsciously shifting in her seat to get closer to the girl.

A small smile hinted at Bada’s features before she began speaking. “September 22nd…” Jia’s hand immediately fell on the table. “Wait, you're telling me-” She cut herself off as she flipped her phone over.

Her gaze flickered between Bada and her phone, her shocked face morphed into an expression of realization. “Today is the 16th… its five days away!” Jia exclaimed, attempting to keep her voice lower than a shout.

Bada nodded with an amused smile. She found Jia’s whole reaction a mixture of entertaining and endearing. “This isn't funny, now I have to scour the earth to find a gift good enough for you in less than five days!” Jia half-joked with a huff, leaning back in her seat and crossing her arms.

“Just a ‘happy birthday’ will work,” Bada said while mimicking Jia’s sitting position. Jia instantly shook her head at the girl’s statement, finding it completely foolish.

“Yeah, that's not gonna happen. I'm a great gift-giver so I can't miss an opportunity like this. If anything, this is more for me than for you!” Jia rambled on, crossing her legs as she spoke and tried to reason with the girl.

They had a staring contest and once Jia tilted her head and raised a challenging brow, Bada gave in with a sigh. Jia’s expression changed into a victorious grin as she hummed satisfactorily.

The waiter returned with their orders and the two politely thanked them. Jia took a sip of her beverage before leaning against the table. “So, tell me what you're doing for your birthday.”

Bada thought a little before shrugging. “Nothing much. I'm probably just going to hang out in the studio with my crew, maybe go to a dinner and a movie with some friends.” Jia nodded at Bada’s statement, the soft smile that graced her lips was unable to abandon them.

The conversation flowed through various topics, from favorite shows to funny childhood stories. Jia took many opportunities to discreetly try and find out bits and pieces of Bada’s potential sexuality standing.

Most of the questions she asked were pretty obvious to Jia, but Bada really had no clue what she meant by them. At some point, Jia asked Bada if she had ever watched ‘The L Word’ and Bada couldn't have been any more confused.

Jia was in the middle of telling a story about her and Laura in middle school when she mentioned someone she had never really revealed existed to the public. “Wait, you have a brother?” Bada asked, the surprise evident in her tone.

“Oh, yeah. He's the youngest and is still in school. A real pain in the ass, but I guess he's alright.” Jia answered before sipping her beverage. Bada hummed in fascination, pleased to find out something new about Jia’s life.

While Bada was telling a story about something funny that happened earlier this year with her friends, Jia couldn't stop staring at the breadcrumb on the corner of the girl’s lips.

She contemplated whether she should tell the girl about it or not. Jia didn't want to cut off the girl’s cute ramblings so she opted for the second thing that came to mind. She slowly moved her hand toward the girl’s cheek and held it while wiping off the crumb at the corner of Bada’s lips.

As soon as Jia’s hand made contact with Bada’s face, Bada’s actions paused and her voice died in her throat. A light blush came over her features once Jia’s soft thumb made contact with the corner of her lips. After a few swipes, the warm feeling of Jia’s hand disappeared from Bada’s face, causing the girl to internally frown at the lack of warmth.

Jia’s eyes held a look of genuine innocence and cluelessness at the feelings she caused to arise in the girl across from her. She signaled for Bada to continue speaking and took a bite of her own food.

For a little while, Bada’s sentences held a slight stutter as she kept anxiously fixing her bangs from time to time. Jia intently paid attention to Bada’s words, not minding the stutter at all.

Bada passed the conversation onto Jia, relaxing a bit once the the girl started rambling about a subject she was interested in. After many conversations and laughs, the two girls had finished their lunches.

Both of them learned more about each other and it grew their connection, as well as their feelings for one another. Once the bill came, Jia instantly took it. Bada protested, saying that since she was the one to invite her, she should pay.

But Jia wouldn't back down. “You bought me a snack yesterday, so I buy you lunch today. Also, weren't you the one that said ‘friends buy friends things’?” Jia confidently recited, a slight smirk resting across her face as she took her wallet from her bag.

Bada sighed and jokingly rolled her eyes with a grin on her face. “Using my words against me, I see. Fine, but next time… I'm paying.” Bada waved a finger at the girl and Jia waved it off as she placed her card inside the bill holder and signed her signature before handing it back over to the waiter.

Jia sweetly smiled at Bada’s fake frown. “Thank you for letting me pay, I could see how much it pained you to do so.” She dramatically thanked the girl with both hands on her heart, causing Bada’s facade to crack and a laugh to escape.

“It really did hurt me watching you pay. My heart clenched in agony.” Bada mimicked Jia’s dramatics while deepening her playful frown. The waitress returned Jia’s card and wished the two a good day before attending to the next table.

The two girls simultaneously stood up with a sigh. “This was really fun, we have to do it again sometime soon.” Bada voiced with a charming smile. “I was just about to say the same thing.” Jia agreed with a matching smile and a head nod.

Bada and Jia slowly made their way down to the lower levels of the building, carrying out their conversation for as long as they could. The two frequently brushed arms in the process, but neither of them addressed it.

Jia thought that their paths would divide once they stepped out onto the concrete, but Bada offered to walk Jia to her car. Of course, the girl accepted the offer. The pair continued their conversation as they slowly strode to Jia’s car.

Both girls didn't want to end the conversation, but Jia knew if she didn't Bada would be late for the meeting she mentioned earlier. Jia hugged the girl goodbye, staying in each other’s hold for just a moment longer than what seemed customary.

Jia watched Bada walk in the other direction before getting into her own car. Instead of igniting the engine, she sat behind the wheel and reflected on the past hour she spent with Bada. She couldn't help the giddy smile that graced her features as she excitedly tapped against her wheel.

Her soul almost left her body when knocks were heard against her window. Jia’s eyes widened as a hand fell on her chest before she slowly turned toward the culprit.

A breath was released once she realized the guilty party was Ryujin. The girl laughed at her friend’s change of expression before signaling her to lower her window. Jia followed her friend’s signal as she caught her breath and steadied her heart.

“If I died just now, just know you would be the one responsible,” Jia uttered with narrowed eyes, causing Ryujin’s smile to grow. “Well, good thing you didn't because you wouldn't hear what I'm about to say.”

Jia’s expression changed as she turned her body toward the girl leaning on her car window. “First of all, that place was great. Ten out of ten food, I'll probably go again with-” “Okay, okay, I get it. The food was amazing, now tell me what I want to know.” Jia cut the girl off with a hopeful glint in her eyes.

“That, my friend, was definitely a date. I don't even know where to begin on how much of a date that was. It was so cute, you two are perfect.” Ryujin continued to gush at the memory of observing the date.

A bright grin, with a hint of shyness, grew on Jia’s face as she covered her mouth at what Ryujin revealed. “You're positive?” “Baby, why would I lie about this?” Ryujin rhetorically questioned, a smile still present on her features.

“No, you actually might be right. Thank you for your service, agent baby girl.” Jia jokingly drew out with a salute, although there was still some doubt in her head.

“Anytime, except for the rest of the day. I can't believe I had to play spy on my day off…” Ryujin voiced with slight disbelief, shaking her head before saying goodbye to Jia.

The girl laughed at her friend’s claim and watched her walk away from the window. She rolled it back up and laid her head against the seat. A satisfied him drew out of her matching smile before she decided to start her car.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

[ladykatibeth]

ok, I know ppl think the singing to each other was cringe but like!!!!! i don't care because the!!!! implications of it!!!!! like!!!!! I've posted about this before but!!! for an Angel who originally couldn't tell the difference between noise and music until Beelzebub pointed it out, Gabriel sure does Sing their song a lot-- something something, singing being inherenrly a behavior, not an art; something something, human beings sing when they are happy, even if they sing like shit and they know they sing like shit, they will sing, because happiness always begets singing. Something something, Gabriel being so happy with Beelzebub, he not only learns what music is, but learns to make it-- to SING it, as well!!

and then. singing as an indication that he'd fallen in love!! he never used to sing-- that's obvious from how surprised aziraphale was to hear him do it as jim. it's just noise, usually! but suddenly he's going around, humming under his breath, memorizing lyrics, smiling to himself as he does it. and he does it often enough that beelzebub knows how to harmonize with him!! like!!!!!! excuse you, you two, i need you to tell me when this lil habit started pls

but also!! there isn't always a juke box. or a radio. or a speaker. and it's weird to suddenly miracle the song to play from thin air, so gabriel sings it when they don't have anything to play it on. the song is always going to be there. in the juke box. and in gabriel. even when he wipes his mind, even if he can't remember a face or a name, something something his body keeps the score of their love. his mouth forms shapes around the sound of Them.

and then the song and the singing being the thing that graces their exit? lmao. bye. that is the most romantic shit i've come across. bravo.

No right like I adore these two’s ability to toe the line of sort of cringe but also 100% adorable. I saw another person say they were acting like 13 year olds, and that’s exactly it!

This is their very first love! Of course they’re being like that about it! How were you about your first love? I can guarantee for most people it was silly and awkward and cute.

And I just adore that. These people who have never had anyone else before—finally getting the opportunity to just be emotional and silly about everything.

And like—frankly Angels and Demons are just naturally a little socially inept, but also….this is the first time they’ve had a just positive relationship with someone else, they have no pre-conceived notions, it’s like love concentrated.

They’re doing love instinctively! And I’ve heard people say the difference is them being celestial, but actually it’s so so human.

Human’s sing to each other as a form of romance, but it’s also private. Like….that’s a romantic trope, humans have they’re own songs, specially for they’re special Romance—(cue our song by Taylor Swift)

But it’s also such young love to, adult humans have specific things they give each other than mean romance, pretty rocks and metal on chains, flowers, chocolate—

Meanwhile an Elementary schooler withe a crush with give them whatever they have that they think is cool on hand—like a fly in a match box for example.

I’m sorry it’s just—-awnbdhdjnd.

These ancient celestial beings, being able to be young and in love…..

[rodentgoth]

.X| "Answer Phone" - Ch.6 |X.

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WHAT'S THIS AN UPDATE AFTER SEVERAL MONTHS!? Sorry this is taking so long, but me and @candy12110 are gonna try and get this done! The next few chapters will be from Marvus's POV, and the last one will go back to Chixie's.

Rating:: 13+ // Teen

Fandom:: Homestuck

Themes/Kinks:: None

*1 month earlier*

Marvus was so tired. 

He'd been on his feet all day preparing for his set, and he finally got a chance to just breathe without some lovestruck groupie up his ass asking for an autograph, a hug, or trying to fill his quadrants.

 It was exhausting being loved. 

He was sitting in his dressing room alone for once, trying to relax while scrolling on Chittr. After scrolling past various adverts and stalkerish fan messages, he came across a video of some bronzeblood performing. They were in a seedy little bar, with a small crowd, and terrible lighting. He didn't have high expectations for them but he could always appreciate a fellow performer.

He watched the video to the very end and was mildly surprised by how much he enjoyed it. He went to the comments, and there were only a few. He wanted to comment but his publicist, and his fanbase, would kill him if he did. He could tell the few trolls that did comment were lower on the hemospectrum, they were pretty supportive. However, he did notice one from a familiar account that caused him to internally cringe.

THECODAKKEFFECT::  Great job, Bronzie boo! Sorry, I couldn't make it. I couldn't miss Marvus’s concert but you looked gorgeous on stage.

He stared at the screen curiously, there was no way in hell that indingdong was her matesprit. And if he was, there was no way he had any good intentions behind it, he was known for having his quadrants forever empty.

 Marvus rewatched the Bronzie’s performance, the shot was way too shitty to tell what they looked like. Morbid curiosity led him down the rabbit hole, he got the bronzeblood’s name from the video caption and started looking for anything he could find on them. 

Chixie? Chixie. Chixie!

He found a video with far better quality that finally showed what they looked like. Chixie was…shy? Nervous? He wouldn't necessarily say gorgeous, but she wasn't ugly either. She was…cute. She didn't have much presence or hype but she was talented. 

After watching at least ten videos of her performing and pouring out her soul he could reasonably say he was a fan. Her lyrics, composition, and the way she put her all into her performance even if he could tell she was scared for her life half the time. Honestly, her nervousness weirdly added to her cuteness. Like a hopbeast shivering in fear but still thumping along in an attempt to scare off predators. She was definitely brave, not fierce or powerful, but she held her own on stage and he liked that. 

He broke out of his thoughts to a knock at the door.

"Marvus, I'm coming in. I'm tired of all the noise out here," Chahut announced, busting through the door and entering the room with the rest of the purplebloods following her like quackbeasts.

"Honk!" The smallest clown, Karako, ran up to Marvus and hugged as tight as he could. As annoyed as he was with them barging in, he couldn’t stay mad at the little clown. 

"Hey to you too, little wriggler. Been causing trouble?" He patted the little clown’s messy fluff of hair, before actually holding onto him.

"Honk!" 

"Good. Never let 'em keep you in a box." 

"Honk?" Karako pointed at Marvus's palmhusk.

"What? Her? Nothing. I just liked her songs so I was giving ‘em a listen," He waved the runt off, quickly locking his palmhusk.

Chahut narrowed her eyes at him.

 “This another one of ya desperate lil’ groupies?”

“Nah, and mind ya business!”

"Mighty defensive are we?" Chahut stalked closer to Marvus. He instinctively moved the hand holding the device away from her, only for it to get snatched by one of the twins from behind.

They quickly opened the phone to see a video of the bronzie girl playing on a loop.

“Aww your love-sick for a lil’ Bronze girl,” Chahut said mockingly.

“How cute!” She quickly busted out laughing with the twins, before Marvus snatched it back!

“Didn’t I tell ya’ll to mind ya business!” Marvus responded with a clenched jaw. He didn't know why he was being so defensive, but he did find the invasion of his space and privacy annoying.

"Why should we? Mr. Unaffected is over here creeping on some bronzeblood. What happened? Embarrassed?" She said smirking and cocking her head.

The twins both shook their heads before speaking.

"You should be!"

"How embarrassing." 

Karako just looked up at the bigger clown confused.

"Honk?" 

Marvus’s face grew angrier by the second.

"I'm not feeling flushed for her little man. Why do y'all even care?"

“Cause we love to torture you!” 

Chahut commented as she gave the device back to him.

He immediately snatched it out of her hands, causing Chahut to jump back a bit.

“Jeez, we were just playin’!”

He glared up at her annoyed, before sitting back down. The room fell silent for a bit before the twins began to speak.

"You're not seriously developing feelings for the bronzie are you?" 

"..."

"You're not seriously developing feelings, right Marvus?!" They both repeated in unison.

His face became more annoyed.

“No, I ain’t!” 

"Good,” Chahut cut in sitting down on the couch.

”A troll of your status ain’t got no business foolin’ around with some lowblood girl. You remember what happened last time?”

"That ain't gon happen. A, I'm not foolin’ around with her. B, I don't even know her. C, she's not even a fan. D, most important of all, I ain't never even met her before. There is no business happening here. I saw a cool performance and I wanted to see if she had talent. You motherfuckers are the ones making it weird!"

"Fair enough. Just tryna make sure you ain't repeating that bullshit,"

"Time is money. Do you think I can afford to pay attention to every lowblood out there? Is my name Nova?" 

"Honk!"

"Right little man! I'm nothing like that fame chaser,"

“Honk! Honk!” Karako aggressively commented, while the other three just rolled their eyes.

“Whatever.” Chahut stretched her arms behind her head.

“I just can’t wait for you to finally be on vacation. You’re takin’ us with you, right?” 

Baizli asked.

“Yeah, we got everything packed up.” 

Barzum followed up.

“Honk?”

"You wanna go with me?" Marvus walked over to the smallest clown and picked him up, booped him on the nose.

"Honk!"

"I don't know, they been kinda annoying lately," Marvus teased the smaller troll.

Karako turned to the other purple bloods and shook his head side to side. 

"Oh, you not a part of they group? I guess you could come with me. We'll leave these losers behind,"

"Honk!"

"Hear that, it's me and little man's duo trip. But, maybe if ya’ll apologize, I’ll consider bringing yas along.” He and Karako gave a small chuckle

"We're so sorry," The twins enthusiastically responded.

"That's two more invited! Chahut you're next."

"As If I'm apologizin’ to your lame ass," Chahut crossed her arms. She barely moved to sit up before having three pleading faces staring at her. 

"Ooooh looks like the wrigglers are gonna miss you. How sad. But I guess you're too lame to hang with guys." 

"Fuck you."

"That's not an apology. Wanna try again?"

"I'm sorry, Marvus,” She said grumbling under her breath.

“That’s three!” He said, high-fiving Karako. 

"Vacation! Vacation! Vacation! Vacation," the twins chanted, flipping around the room.

"Honk! Honk!" Karako cheered along.

—

Marvus was sitting on his bed in the hivetel. He was wearing one of his old merch t-shirts, no point in wearing that clunky tux and scrolling through Chittr. Since the point Chahut made about that clingy lowblood from before he'd been trying to keep his mind off Chixie. Unfortunately, nothing like forbidden fruit makes you want to take a bite. As soon as he arrived and locked himself in his room he’d started watching more videos of the girl. In his scrolling, he came across a post on her actual account. 

Chixie:: I'll be performing at BloodBrawl bar tonight. Come out and show support!

Below the text was a picture of the lineup, there in big brown text was her name. She’d be the middle act and the bar was close to the hivetel. It was at that moment that Marvus got an amazing, and kinda stupid, idea. He did have a few toned-down outfits and his favorite black hoodie. It wouldn't hurt to just pop out for a drink real quick. 

He just saw a recommendation to come out to a local place that had good music. As an accomplished artist, how could he resist hearing fresh talent? If he just so happened to see the bronzeblood that he's been listening to for the past two days then so be it. It's their fault for choosing this hivetel, not his.

With his plan in mind, he memorized the time she’d be performing and went to gather everything he’d need, searching vigorously through his bags. He found his most raggedy hoodie, an old patched-up pair of sweats, and some platformed boots he wore for a concert messiah knows how long ago. To make things more convincing he decided to give himself a fake caste symbol. But there was only one person in their entire Hivetel with paint…Chahut.

He sighed walking down that hall towards her and Karako’s room. 

“Chachki!” He yelled knocking at the door.

He heard several large stomps before the door flew open.

“I thought I told ya to never call me that,” she looked down at him agitated.

“Whatcha want?”

“I need to borrow ya paint sis’.”

She cocked her eyebrow.

“What for?”

“I…Need to repaint some of my shoes.”

He all but mumbled out. It wasn’t a lie, after sweeps of performing a lot of his shoes and outfits were worn out. The bigger clown stared at him for a moment before sighing and going back into her room. She pulled a bag of spray paints out of her suitcase. She tossed them out to him, and he wandered off back to his room. He picked up the burgundy and quickly sprayed a fake caste symbol on his hoodie. 

He wanted to make sure  no one  recognized him, went into the washroom, tied his hair back, and did something he never thought he’d do. He washed his makeup off. It was weird seeing his gray skin after only seeing white on it for so long. For the piece de resistance, fake glasses and a face mask. 

He threw his newly painted hoodie on and slunk out of the hivetel room. He took the stairs to avoid any fans or press and snuck out the back of the building. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and hunched forward changing his overall image and hiding as much of his shape as possible. He didn't remember ever being able to leave a building without being watched or swarmed before but it was an exciting feeling.

Before he knew it he was on the streets, heading towards the bar. He did get a few looks on the way, he guessed they’d never seen a burgundy this big. Still, it didn’t stop some of the higher bloods from pushing and shoving him out of their way. To be honest he didn’t even notice most of them, they just bounced off of him. Plus he was too focused on seeing this gig to worry about any of them.

After a few minutes, he finally made it, and there wasn’t too long a line!

When he got in he noticed the place was fairly crowded, he thought back to the lineup, he did remember seeing some popular names. He looked around a bit to see if he could recognize Chixie before giving up and going to get a drink. He had a few songs to get through before he would get to hear hers anyway.

The act currently setting up was a purpleblood band. They were pretty good if he was being honest, but he wasn’t coming for them. He was here for one performance, and one performance only.

After them was a solo indigo.

And after that was another act and another…and another. If he was being honest, a lot of the acts were starting to meld into one another. 

Something else he noticed was how many of the acts were blatantly copying him. Not just his lyrics and beat, but his entire persona and style.

 Normally he wouldn’t mind this he loved it when people took inspiration from his work. But all of these acts felt the same, there was no flare or pizzazz. Just the same thing over and over expecting to get more applause than the last act, absolutely boring. But, it would all be worth it, soon, cause next up was Chixie!

Only the little bronzie didn’t come out, instead, it was another group of purples who, apparently came late. Marvus sat there confused, as to why Chixie wasn’t on stage.

Maybe they just rearranged her spot, so they could perform?

He didn't care for the abrupt change but it's fine he could sit through one more performance.

After them was another group, indigobloods. Then there was a teal solo act. Then two jade acts back to back.

It seemed like everyone but Chixie was performing tonight, as the show went on more and more trolls started to leave. Soon there was nothing but a handful of lowbloods and one indigo, standing in the front, left. Marvus was considering leaving himself, but he noticed a fairly short troll nervously walking on stage.

The last act came up, and there she was, Chixie. Despite his annoyance, Marvus felt a smile grow across his face when he saw her. He noticed her outfit, it was a long black button-down dress, a pair of white leggings, and a pair of black flats with baggy leg warmers. It wasn’t at all flashy, and it didn’t look expensive, but it was still cute!

His focus on her was broken by the sound of very out-of-place cheering; he looked forward to seeing the indigo loudly praising her and clapping. His eyes migrated back to the bronze girl, who was now awkwardly smiling and waving at him as she pulled down the mic off the stand.

A burgundy with a guitar wrapped around him stumbled out and started playing. 

She visibly sighed, before she started to sing.

The song she sang was a somber one. She didn’t do much, she wasn’t loud or flashy like the other acts. She didn’t have dance moves unless you counted hand gestures and hip sways.

She was just being herself, calm, but kind of nervous. Many would probably call her “Plain” or “simple” but that’s what made it all stand out. She wasn’t trying to be this big personality, she knew who she was, and that made her all the more unique to Marvus.

Soon the guitarist stopped and Chixie’s voice disappeared with the last few chords.

He was stunned. She was far better in person than the shitty video quality from Chittr. However, he did appreciate whoever was uploading videos of her performances. He sat for a while watching her interact with the few lowbloods left in the bar before visibly cringing as she turned to the indigoblood that was feeling a little too excited to see her.

"Hey Zebruh! I'm so…glad you could make it. I thought you were going to a concert for that purpleblood you liked."

"Marvus. His name is Marvus.”

The indigo corrected.

 “And I did wanna go to his show but I heard he went on vacation, so I decided to come support you in the meantime!"

"That's so sweet of you but you didn't have to-"

"What kind of manager would I be if I wasn't here to support my favorite bronzie!”

He interrupted getting in the bronze girl’s face.

"Oh. Well…You really didn't have to." 

"Nonsense! They already bullied you once. If you had let me, I would ' ve made sure they never changed your spot, but of course, you're just too kind," Zebruh smirked. Marvus eavesdropped for a bit and could feel the anger she was hiding from his backhanded compliment.

"I'm glad you think so," She smiled weirdly at the indigo, as he tried to put his hand on her but she turned away like she heard someone call her, barely missing his hand. 

"They called Trixie not Chixie," he said, dropping his arm to his side.

"Oh! Well, that's fine. Sorry, but I have to go, I gotta- feed my lusus! I'll see you later."

Without a second she turned and walked away.

"I love that about you. You're so responsible. Bye~"

He yelled at her from across the room.

The mousy girl quickly ran out of the bar, brushing past Marvus. His eyes focused on her face quickly taking in her features as she skittered past him. He wasn't expecting to get such a close-up- up but at least he was right and the trip wasn't a waste, she really was cute. 

Marvus made his way back to the hivetel. He figured using the stairs would be better but by the fifth floor, he started regretting his choice. He decided to just take off his sweater and take the elevator the rest of the way up. He managed to make it through the hall without being spotted or recognized. Soon enough he made it back to his room and he sighed loudly when he got in. 

His tiredness was soon replaced with panic when he noticed Karako sitting on the couch, legs and arms crossed.

"Honk."

"Woah! Hey little man, what you doing here?"

"Honk?" Karako glared at him, waiting for an answer.

"Where I been? What you mean, where I been? I just stepped out for a bit. I ain’t been gone long."

 Karako made an annoyed face at the obvious lie.

"Three hours ain't that long. Why were you in my room for three hours?" He tried to change the subject but the little clown steamrolled past it.

"Honk. Honk."

"Thanks for thinkin' of me but you really ain't have to and as you can see I'm fine."

"Honk?" Karako asked again.

"I just got a drink and forgot to check my palmhusk. Sorry little dude."

The little clowned glared him down, giving an exaggerated pout.

"Just down the block! Look, it's not that serious."

"…Honk," Karako glared at him suspiciously.

"No, I didn't go see that girl. What girl are you even talkin' about?"

Karako quickly showed the evidence on his palmhusk.

" I didn't go to see her! I just got a drink at a bar she just so happened to be performin' in."

“Honk!”

“My makeup? It needed to be redone, so I took it off!”

“...Honk,” The small clown pointed at the jacket, and glasses he still had in his hand. It was at this point Marvus knew the little clown wouldn’t give up, he sat next to him and began to explain.

“Okay, I ain’t confirmin’ or denyin’ nothing. But maybe,  maybe , I went to see her perform,” His panic was replaced with a small grin as he explained further.

“You should’a seen her! She was so sweet and so talented. I thought seeing her in person would, you know, scratch the itch. Sate my curiosity.”

Karako cocked his head at the older clown.

"Yeah, I probably should've left it alone but I couldn't not go after being told not to watch her." 

“Honk!” Karako began to chuckle as he stated the obvious.

“No! I ain’t got red feelings for her! I remember what happened last time!” He picked Karko up into his arms “Besides, you too young to be talkin’ bout that!”

“Honk?”

“Yeah…I did say this was different…”

“Honk!”

“No! I ain’t goin’ back to see her.”

Karako grabbed Marvus’s palmhusk again, going onto Chixie’s Profile.

He pointed at the red quadrant status, which was marked as empty.

"Karako, I can't do that again. Chahut would kill me if I brought another groupie around!"

"Honk!"

"I know she's not a groupie but still it's not gonna end well either way." Marvus slightly raised his voice, causing Karako to tear up a bit.

The little clown began to cry and fuss, Marvus sighed and brought him in for a hug.

“I’m sorry little man, it’s just I can’t be out here catching red feelings for a girl I don’t even know,” He pulled Karako back wiping his tears, smudging his makeup a bit.

“Besides, if I went chasing after her, you and me wouldn’t have time to hang out!” He booped the runt’s nose.

“And ya wouldn’t want that now would ya?”

Karako nodded his head “no”.

“Then let’s not focus on all that quadrant mess, okay?”

“...Honk!” Karako squeezed his arms around Marvus’s waist, pulling him in for one last hug.

"Yeah! Let's get some faygo and grubcorn. We can watch a movie. Let me just get my paint back on."

[drewzelle]

“nine mutuals you want to know better” tag game!

Tagged by @sarenhale ! I didn't have access to my computer the past couple days so I'm a bit late, but this was a lot of fun!! Thank you for the tag <3

Last Song: lately I've been relaxing to the Hollow Knight OST (City of Tears best track) but in terms of lyrical music, I recently rewatched the music video for "Little Dark Age" by MGMT because its vibes are fucking impeccable and mesmerizing (I can watch it on repeat for hours)

Favorite Color: purple is my go-to answer (especially blue-ish purples), but I also really love dark greens and desaturated earthy colors so much

Last Movie/TV Show: I feel like I haven't been watching movies lately (I'm more of a show person because I like longer form narratives) but I think the last one I watched was "Better Off Dead" while I was visiting my family for the holidays. It was a weird/surreal but good time! As for shows, I finally got around to watching Scavenger’s Reign!! Every aspect was just amazing, especially the worldbuilding and visuals. 2D animation is probably my favorite medium, so I'm really glad we're seeing more animation for adults that wants to tell a story instead of being a delivery device for lame sex jokes and cringe humor. OH ALSO DUNGEON MESHI!!! For a lot of the same reasons! Excited to watch the new episode tonight :>

Sweet / Spicy / Savory: I have a HUGE sweet tooth, so if I had to pick one, that would be it. Savory foods are great and I love them, I just have a leftover "now's your chance!" impulse from not being allowed much sugar as a kid that I can't seem to get rid of. I'm also weak to the "I deserve a lil treat" trap if I've got a bunch of sweet snacks around, so I have to be careful. As for spicy….I am SO completely unable to handle spicy food it’s almost funny, but really it’s just tragic because I LOVE cuisines known for being spicy, like mexican and thai. If I eat out, I always have to be like “can you please make it mild?” and even then, if it's not seasoned for the babiest of babies, my mouth will burn and my weak, white-person tummy will hurt.

Relationship Status: I keep forgetting I’m getting married in less than six months. My partner and I got engaged like two years ago and have lived together for almost five, so my brain just defaults to "there’s probably a guy nearby" and doesn’t think much deeper on it than that.

Last thing I googled: "morels" because I was discussing mushrooms with my friend and those are some cool lookin' guys! Shaggy ink caps too!

Current Obsession: …….One Piece 😅 I was a big fan as a teen but only got as far as the Skypiea arc before I fell off reading/watching it. The hype over the new live action version reminded me the series existed, so I’ve been not so slowly making my way through again, picking up where I left off. I love how absolutely bonkers, there-are-no-rules, anime-ass-anime it is, but also how genuine and heartfelt it can be. I also enjoy how character-driven so much of the plot is which works because of how interesting the characters are (Chopper, Robin, and Franky are my favs). I just got to the timeskip, so I’m maybe…halfway through? between this and BG3, RIP my free time lol

Last Book: I've been reading through Seiji Yoshida's "Houses with a Story" (slowly, because I want to really take it in and savor it) and it's been a delight. Very relaxing and inspiring :> (up next, I finally got copies of the Locked Tomb series, so soon I will be enjoying The Space Lesbians)

Looking forward to: Being able to organize and enjoy my "new" office space after some hectic days! My partner and I realized we barely spend any time in our bedroom except for sleeping, so we swapped my office into the bigger room in our apartment! There were some complications with getting the internet working on my PC, but we finally got it all smoothed out. Now I finally have all my books and sewing/crafting/creative stuff in one place without it feeling cramped or hiding things away in storage :>

Thank you again for the tag! I'm tagging @justagoos, @icicleteeth, @lunarliart, @saltsparkle, @fael-draws, @juliedillon, @ninamodaffari, @crabdominalpain, and the final slot for anyone else who wants to join in - but please don't feel obligated, this is just for fun! :>

[ghoulfr13nd]

oh man pls don't apologize it's totally ok! it really wasn't my intention to make you feel guilty or anything, i was just making sure because i suddenly remembered previous difficulties that's all! fgsdjka of course you can take as long as you need your comfort and time always comes first, obviously! 💗

and don't feel pressured to do aspect playlists or anything, that was just a suggestion :D and as fun as it is, it takes SO MUCH TIME! it took me and my friend DAYS, almost a week! so really don't worry about it hsdjdfs but i can still give some examples! (i had no idea if you meant for all aspects or just some examples in general but oh well!)

breath: Where No One Goes by Jónsi Bulletproof Heart by My Chemical Romance

blood: "99" by Barns Courtney Hey Brother by Avicii

light: All This And Heaven Too by Florence + The Machine Next Up Forever by AJR

void: Valley Of The Dolls by Marina The Underground by Unlike Pluto & 8 Graves

rage: STFU! by Rina Sawayama BLOODMONEY by Poppy

hope: The Real World by Owl City Counting Stars by OneRepublic

heart: Metamorphosis by Penny Parker still feel. by half•alive (with heart we focused more about identity than other things (especially not romance, i don't subscribe to the notion that Heart is a "Romance Aspect" like. at all.))

mind: Everything Moves by Bronze Radio Return Deadlock by Go! Child

doom: Troubled Times by Green Day Radioactive by Imagine Dragons

life: Bloody Mary by 缶缶 うっせぇわ by Ado

time: Industry Baby by Lil Nas X Elevate by DJ Khalil (with time we specifically went with The Extended Zodiac description so it's all about fighting and overcoming challenges!)

space: Obstacles by Syd Matters Spanish Sahara by Foals

(sorry if it's a lot!)

oooh Witch of Void sounds so cool! but Maid of Breath/Light is also great! it's so cool you went from Void to (potentially) Light since they are (allegedly) two opposite aspects! and hey i know this quiz, it was one that pointed me in the direction of my current classpect! :D i ignored the fanmade things too, they were put there to fill space probably anyway ;v; i love classpecting as personality test too! i used to be so intense about it too, you have no idea, oh man. the long hours i spend reading and exchanging theories… WOW fsdgjdfk but my classpect is probably page of heart! i've been identifying as Heart player since my early times in fandom, i tried to change it several times but i always turn back to it fsdjk and Page is just a class i feel the most connected to! :D

and i hope so too! :D that'd be my first concert of an artist i'd actually cared about! i hope it will bring me as much joy as you get out of your concert experiences, you make it sound magical! :D how's the progress in seeing all your gender artists? are you more than half-way to your final form perhaps? 👀

and thank you so much for listening to these songs it means a lot! ;v; and you know, that's fair, i basically grew up with german because i have some of my family living there and i had to learn it in school so i don't see it as unusual but i can totally see it sounding silly it takes some getting used to fgsdjk hmmm my thoughts… well, with Sonne i especialyl like the industrial sounds and this like- strong "drop" when the guitar comes up! and i really like the feminine vocalizations through! also. i know it sounds ridiculous but i used to want to make an undertale animatic to Sonne fgasdfjk (i am cringe but at least i am free!) with Links 2 3 4 i remember (for the first time in my life) looking for interviews with band members because i found their lyrics so interesting & i think i remember reading specifically about how they had to fight with accusations/assumptions of them being "right-wing" just because of being a german metal band, so they made a song to make a point they're left leaning ("They want my heart in the right place, but then I look away and down. There it beat left, left, left, left." < these lyrics are so on the nose with that context and i love them for it fdgasjkf) Amerika is just- a classic i think! one of first songs i heard from them and i think lyrics here are also very on the nose about americanization of the world etc and i felt that, especially as a middle schooler that just started being conscious of the world fgsdjka but mostly i chose these songs because they are the most nostalgic to me and/or slap, at least to me! fgsdjk

and also OMG THAT'S SUCH A NICE SENTIMENT!!! FGSDJFKSDHKL (excuse me while i try not to tear up! fhdsfds) i am so into this idea AAAAAAAA! ;v; when i saw the playlist with my alias my stomach made a little flip (in a good way!) it's so nice of you! ;v; oh man i'm excited! :D question though! by sending you a list you mean a list from specific playlists or just whatever? 👀 (though i won't be sending a list now because i already gave you a long list of aspect vibes so i don't want to overdue it! fgsjkfdhfjk)

music anon 🎶

hello my anon….. i went to work, for a couple of walks, played a LOT of pokemon go and took a cold shower. you have been on my mind the whole time.

dw dw i didnt think you were trying to make me feel guilty!! i understood what you were goin for, and i’m appreciative of it!!

like, i feel like this is going to sound rude, but i’m kind of at this place in my life where i dont really. feel. obligated to uphold these polite standards most people have? and i dont really expect others to have them with me. it’s like, i GUESS its polite, but really i just think its counterproductive. if i force myself to do something, im not giving my best, and i want to give my best! so i’m always going to wait until i feel like i can. and if that’s how i feel about it, it’s hypocritical to not extend that to others. uhhhh i lost my point. i just mean like. its hard to make me feel bad about something like that flsjdjdkdjdk. sorry for this long tangent, i just don’t want you to worry about making me feel bad by giving me a gentle nudge. i’m heartier than that!

AND on that note, i do NOT feel obligated to make aspect playlists. aspect playlists are RIGHT up my alley. i mentioned to one of my friends that you and i were talking about classpects and he was like “oh they came to the right fucking house” and i was like “I KNOW!!!!!!!!!” anyway i’m SO excited to do them i just havent been in the right mindset yet :0 and like. i’m incapable of. like. NOT being an oversharer. everyone knows what i’m thinking, for better or worse 😔

actually? you know what? full disclosure heres my results for the aspect part of that quiz

look. look at this. i feel like it tells you plenty. (i would also love to see yours if youre willing to share but you also absolutely don’t have to khldkf uhh. re: i’m incapable of not oversharing)

have we talked about Barns Courtney before???? i dont think we have. thats ANOTHER artist i’ve seen live!!!! it was such a good fucking concert!!!!!! it was actually at the SAME venue that both Autoheart and The Crane Wives were at! it’s a super cool little place. i dont have any videos of that concert unfortunately 😔 it was before i got into my current phase. BUT UHHH I ACTUALLY HAVE A TSHIRT WITH LYRICS FROM “99” ON IT THAT I GOT AT THAT CONCERT. THATS SO WILD. also i LOVE it for blood thats SO big brained!!!!

Valley of the Dolls for voiddddd yeeeesssssssss. i love it. actually begging for the full void playlist i related SO HARD to void back in the day!! i’m digging this so fucking hard actually uhh. this is um. this is. —

ALSO STFU FOR RAGE. YES. i actually havent heard this song in a while and i like it even more than i remember. it rocks. I also hadn’t heard bloodmoney and it rules too. i want the full rage playlist too gimme gimme

ALSO YEAH HEART IS *NOT* ABOUT ROMANCE. love love love this opinion heart is ABSOLUTELY about identity. whats it like to have such good and correct opinions, anon? adore your song choices too!!!! also like, obviously i want this full playlist, its YOUR ASPECT!!

took one look at the album covers for the life songs on spotify and was like. “oh these have animations on youtube” so i listened to them there!!! AND THEY WERE SO GOOD!!!!!! i also really love this interpretation of the aspect, but i also see what you meant by mostly listening to rage songs ghskdj. like うっせぇわ by Ado reminded me so much of Aggretsuko…. she’s just like me fr

i also really like where you went with time!! also this makes me. want to make classpect theories for the spiderverse characters fjsjdjdjjdk

i’d never heard obstacles before…. i really really enjoyed this song! SAME WITH SPANISH SAHARA? I REALLY REALLY DIG THE SPACE VIBES.

i did listen to all of your recs but these are the ones i had the most thoughts about!!

BUT YEAH!!!! i still really love witch of void and i still see a lot of myself in it, but i was also a different person when i formulated that identity. i kept things closer to my heart. though, a witch of void does manipulate void, so maybe thats a classpect that could imitate a light player in a way? maybe i’ll keep it actually fjskdjdk. i do see a lot of myself in the other two though 😔 i have a dnd character who i absolutely ADORE playing that actually would definitely be a light player :0 much to think about…..

VERY FUNNY TO ME THAT WE BOTH USE THE SAME QUIZ AND DID THE SAME THING…. more things to add to the center of our venn diagram.

page of heart!! actually. i have looked at this one for myself as well. shaking your hand enthusiastically. what does this title mean to you? do you have a land made up? i’d love to hear all about it!!

yeeeesssss!!!! are there any other artists you want to see live if they come there? whats your dream list…..

AND GKSJFJSKDN I WISH. MORE THAN HALF WAY. IN MY DREAMS. i’m FAR from seeing all of these artists live fjskjddj. some of them are impossible actually, theyre not making music anymore. but thats okay! gender-wise… idk where i want to end up. i’m still not super sure what i want :0 besides top surgery. i have never doubted that top surgery is in my future. but theres approx 23 artists on it and i’ve seen 4 i think? something like that!!

and ofc!!! thank YOU for listening to MY songs! i’m enjoying the exchange a lot! especially because we obviously have a lot of overlap in our tastes.

thats super cool though!! family in germany… my grandmother lived in germany very briefly with her first husband who was stationed there. she knows exactly one phrase and its the price of whatever she bought at the store gkgjhk. i don’t know any german myself (if that wasn’t abundantly obvious fksjdjd). i dont really have a second language, but i did learn a little french in high school, and i’m working really hard to learn hungarian! do you know many languages? :0

ALSO PLEASE TELL ME MORE ABOUT THIS UNDERTALE ANIMATIC? give me the play-by-play. being cringe is so fun i love being cringe.

thats such cool lore about Links 2 3 4 :0 but yeah uh. idk what it is about american dudes who are into german metal but i wont lie to you its usually a red flag to me 😔 i really didnt think it was something to worry about with you though, i dont remember what it was, but you had said something that had made me think “oh well this isnt an american person i have to worry about having a weird perverse relationship with german culture” fgkdkkd.

i can totally get why you would be into it! personally speaking amerika quite literally hits too close to home for me. i’m so tired 😭 there are things i love about where i live but also….. hhhhhh……..

thank you for sharing your thoughts!! and i’m so glad you like the playlist idea! as far as the question you asked — either! both! if you send me random songs, i’ll add them to your playlist, and if you send me a specific playlist i’ll create a new one for it. so whatever you feel!!

sorry for the. very very very long response. i spent so much time with this. like literally several hours. i will respond to the oc one another time so don’t worry when you don’t see it at the same time as this one!! i’ve already read it and im excited to reply it’s just midnight here now dkgdgkhdk

i hope you have a great morning/afternoon/evening/night!!!

[seokjinsonlyone]

this what i think bts love language is

a/n: this just my thoughts besties i ain’t do no formal type of research or nun just let my lil imagination sprint 🥸🤪

namjoon:

physical affection/words of affirmation

okay so i said physical affection for one bc like he seem to like initiate contact with people around him a lot

like in interviews he be having his hand on whoever next to him thigh or like when he be performing if it’s someone next to him he throws his arms around them a lot

not to mention like whenever jimin or jk or whoever start feeling up on him he never rejects it or makes a face or anything like yoongi does he just accepts it

like there’s so many stage clips where jimin will come and rest his chin on joon’s shoulder and he just lets him

or jk will just start touching on him some way grabbing his arms or sumn and it doesn’t phase him at all

another example is like on day 2 of sowoozoo when tae randomly came and linked arms with him and hobi during mikrokosmos hobi was like 🥴🥴 but joon was just 😌

and then there was that magic shop muster moment when jk was talking about how much he loved joon and how he was his beginning you know as president of the joon fan club does and namjoon couldn’t help but to go over and give his number one admirer a hug you know the moment

same thing with compliments he lowkey be eating them up

like you know how whenever hobi gets complimented he be like “😶 don’t say those things” joon don’t do that

like when they was asked to take their jackets off during the butter shoot and namjoon was like yeah okay and everyone started hyping him up and he was just 💁🏼‍♂️😜

and again on day 2 sowoozoo when he pushed his hair back from his forehead and everyone went OHHHHHSWJJSJS SEXY NAMJOON and then he decided to murder us all by tilting his head back on top of that adding insult to injury i would insert the picture but for my mental health i will not

and again whenever they talk about him being such a great leader he never shies away from it doesn’t cringe always accepts it so you know it must mean a lot for him to hear those things

aside from that tho he’s such a poetic person

like he is definitely involved in an intimate affair with language so there’s no way he wouldn’t appreciate you verbally telling him how he makes you feel

like just think about how many times he’s said he wants to sit down with each army and listen to their story

that being said if this was your man i think you’d definitely have to both show and tell him how you feel

like if he was about to head out for work you definitely got to kiss him before he leaves

and if you on the phone with him the last words you’re saying are i love you

and he’s definitely gonna cherish it each time always gonna have that cute little smile dimples caved in his cheeks bc you love him and he feels it

seokjin:

acts of service/words of affirmation

alright so ngl the reason i said acts of service for seokjin is like almost 100% based on his reaction to tae setting up that birthday event for him where he had his friends send him messages

he talked about it for WEEKS like he was genuinely so moved that i just like he has to love it

and then there’s like how much he bothers jk to like do simple stuff like i’m specifically thinking about that one moment in bon voyage 4 when he was sitting down at the table and called jk to help him up

and then there’s also little things he does for others like when he peeled tae’s tangerines for him or when he offered to feed yoongi bc he was driving or how he always offers bites of his food before even gets a chance to taste it

now i say words of affirmation bc he always searching for a compliment

my minds going to when jk hurt his foot and jin was pushing him in the wheelchair and kept feeding him lines to say about how he was such a good hyung and how he loves him

or in the behind the scenes for the boy with luv video and he kept tryna get tae to compliment him for being witty

and my boy never misses a chance to introduce himself as worldwide handsome

even though he does a lot of those things jokingly there are moments when he’s serious too about giving compliments and shy when he receives them like in those be interviews when he called jk a singing genius and jungkook was talking about how he had the most range and he got all ☺️☺️

or that moment from in the soop when he was comforting yoongi about like not having regrets and when yoongi told him he wanted to be like him just those kinds of moments let me know words are important to him

which just made me remember how hard he tries with his lyrics and how important they are to him like when he was writing awake and he talked about how he kept getting rejected but he was super insistent bc it was important for him to sing the words he wrote and don’t even get me started on moon i just-

anyway jin done said many times he is a man of the present so if you’re with him you gotta actively show/tell him

if you’re at the store pick him up some gummies

if you know he’s got a long day ahead of him maybe pack him some snacks to take with him in the morning

if his hair looks nice tell him

send him messages throughout the day even if he can’t respond immediately

he claims he’s a man of the present but whenever he takes a moment to reminisce the past he’ll look back and know just how much you care about him

yoongi:

quality time/acts of service

listen as much as this man loves spending time alone the time he spends with others means a lot to him

like how he always go fishing with jin even tho he ain’t particularly fond of it

or how like in in the soop he had made plans to play games with jimin and did so extensively

also from in the soop when he had spent most of his day outside reading but then he had heard everyone starting to make the theme song and immediately ran to get his equipment to record and what not

not to mention his poem from the end of that one run episode where they went on like a mini trip or whatever and he was like “what a relief that we have seven members. what a relief that we have each other.”

like being all together is important to him

like i just think about that one scene from one of they movies ion remember which one but they were all gathered around the table and it was when he had told them how he actually hurt his shoulder and they was talking about how they was worried about jk and how he need to come out his room and it’s not even the content of the scene but just like the fact that he ain’t have to be there but he was

and also can’t neglect to mention how he whined for y e a r s about how ain’t nobody come to visit him on set when he was filming the videos for his first mixtape like mans wouldn’t let that go and then how touched he was when they made appearances on his daechwita set even if he couldn’t express it properly

and how he begged for them to make cameos in the video and how happy he was when jin and jk did

and he doesn’t ever forget to mention whenever him and hobi hang out he’s like yeah we went for a drink and dinner and talked and blah blah

he loves it when people make an effort to be around him

now acts of service i got this all on a whim okay like… listen… we all been there we have all watched an ideal type video on youtube don’t lie okay

and up there it be like he want someone to bring him food in the studio and take care of him and stuff like that and in this case the math maths

you really can see that in how he treats others

like just the other day i saw a gifset somewhere and the boys were like yeah yoongi always takes care of us he don’t make eye contact tho

not to mention how he always cooks for them when they go on trips

and even though he ain’t give seokjin his song yet we know it’s coming! eventually!

and whenever they be ganging up on jungkook yoongi always the first one to be like “stooooppp you gon make him cry”

my baby just always be doing little things for others to show he cares okay 🥺

so if you got with my baby you gotta take care of him 🥺🥺🥺

he really needs someone that understands him bc he not gonna say anything

if you’re all hanging out together make sure you’re by his side so he knows you want to be there with him

if he’s busy stuck in his studio drop by even if you just end up laying on the couch he’s gonna appreciate you just being with him

and bring food my baby getting buff he need all the veggies and protein he can get

hoseok:

receiving gifts

i really had to think about this one but once i connected the dots yeah it makes total sense

like he looooves shopping loves getting stuff so when other people give him stuff i know he just 🥰🥰🥰

hobi lights up when he gets gifts they don’t always have to be big but i know he very much appreciates them

like how in the army corner store festa video when asked to bring something meaningful to them he brought those figurines which was the first gift a fan gifted him

which makes me think about how those limited edition figurines dropped and hobi was like i need to get one for namjoon and then namjoon was like i need to get one for hobi and so they ended up with like two of them or something like that

also from festa in the little photo booth mission every time he won a prize he was like yaaasss omg and was thinking of ways to put it to use like when he got that picture frame he immediately stuck them film strips in it he probably got it hanging in his room or in his studio by now tbh

and i think it was on the canada run bts episode where jk bought him those slippers and he was super happy

even when they were in hawaii and him and jin were hungry on the bus and he asked jin for gummies like ofc jin had to get on his nerves first but when he finally gave him his snacks he went from 😐 to 😚

or how he still has that change purse that namjoon bought him in malta (probably still got the money in there too tbh)

speaking of malta got me thinking about how tae went out of his way to win hobi that flamingo bc he said he’d never seen one and when tae gave it to him he went parading it around telling everyone that tae won it for him and then said he was gonna put it in his studio

and he got that chicken leg pillow they gave him from you quiz on the couch in his studio

and i think it was from the 2020 winter package he was so happy when jin bought him those ugly little troll elf things with the hat you know what i’m talking about

and he commented like three times when jungkook drew that picture of him for his birthday

and we know mans be giving gifts too

like how he got yoongi that coffee truck on the set of daechwita

and when they were on the speak yourself tour and he went out shopping on a day off and bought jin a sweater or something

and how he slaved through like 2 or 3 lives making bracelets for the members and then gave it to them on the bang bang con live

and the most devastating one of all when they had to give each other gifts i think it was on the run episode with all the water games but i could be wrong anyway and like most of them gave each other gag gifts like their merch or whatever but hobi gave jimin (and the rest of the members) a cd for his song promise it had a little photo book in it and everything 😭😭😭

so like whoever gets with this fine specimen gon have to throw a few dollars together to make sure this man is kept

not really i’m sure he doesn’t expect you to sell your car for a gucci peacoat or your soul for a rolex

but if you did decide to save up for some time to get him a little extravagant gift i know he’d more than appreciate it

more often than not though it’d be the little things that got to him like if you bought a simple t shirt from the store but then kinda like upcycled it drew little doodles on it wrote “i’m your hope” somewhere on it there would definitely be a picture uploaded of him on weverse or twitter wearing it

or if you decided to compile the pictures of you two together into a scrapbook or something he’d keep it somewhere accessible like in a drawer in his desk in his studio and flip through it with a little smile on his face when he’s missing you

and even if it was something even smaller than that like say he mentioned in passing that like idk he was out of eggs or something and you bought him some he just might marry you

jimin:

physical affection/quality time

the first thing that comes to mind with this for jimin is how he comforts his boys

like there’s so many behind the scenes clips from tour where like jk or tae will be upset with their performance and crying and jimin would be the one to come up behind them and hug them and wipe their tears

same concept for that one moment in bon voyage 3 when they told him that tae was crying and he just kinda hugged him and wiped his tears and hovered around him to make sure he was okay

or when they left hobi at the gas station in bon voyage 4 and then went back to pick him up he still hugged hobi even as he was laughing evilly

also in bon voyage 4 when they went on that helicopter tour and they was on the mountain and him and tae tackled each other and was rolling in the snow

and he is just like always in jk arms like he just jumps on him for no reason like in that video where lee hyun is acting as one of bts’ management

also in the behind from i think when they were practicing for the 2019 bbmas i believe at some point jungkook was holding that man spinning him in circles or sumn like that

and there’s also that one comeback show when him and tae were in the comic book cafe and they were just cuddled up together looking at tae’s phone practicing english i think

and on that one joon live when him and tae crashed and just caused a whole lot of commotion i’m pretty sure at one point they were cuddled on the couch and then jimin told tae his breath stinks and tae proceeded to open his mouth over the air purifier

anyway clearly he is a man with hands

but he also is someone who loves to spend time together it’s important to him

like i just think about how when they had their “break” back in 2019 he talked about how he just traveled the entire time and he went with various friends and family

and i’m pretty sure it was bon voyage 3 when they were doing their friendship trips and trying to make fresh pairings or whatever he was like i don’t think there’s any surprising pairing with me and it’s like… that’s true

like you got minimoni, minimini, jikook etc… all tried tested and true man gets around his band

and he’s the main one who’s always like “yeah bro we should live in the dorms until we’re 50”

and he always talks about how he can’t be alone and how he’s always gotta be doing something with someone

and his lives!!! his lives!!!! when he spends time with us it’s always so intimate and personable

like you can’t tell me that i ain’t have dinner with him and jin after a show in the hotel room and we drank off camera even after the staff told us we couldn’t 😤🤚

there’s also that time he went live and someone said they had some kind of condition and then he took it upon himself to look it up and try to find treatments

just liiiike whenever he goes live every minute counts bro and yes this is me trying to summon him bc we ain’t had a solo jimin live since october and i know they super busy but i miss 😓😓😓

so for this mans i just feel like you just gotta really be with him

just like he makes every second count you have to as well

like he’s gonna want to have your full attention and you’ll definitely have his he’ll be obsessed with you tbh

however he doesn’t always have the time and his schedule definitely isn’t the most accommodating so he’s gonna want someone to put in the effort

but as long as you make sure he knows you’re all in he’ll always meet you halfway

taehyung:

words of affirmation

now this one has been stated explicitly multiple times and he’s admitted it himself

specifically during let’s bts in their segment within the segment and namjoon was like taehyung the kind of person who grows from compliments

and i ain’t even got the right words to express how i feel about the smile he couldn’t help when hobi had them all tell tae that they like him

not to mention the story he told during the festa video last year about how he always tried his very best to get hobi to praise him and how disappointed he was when hobi didn’t get it

and i may be tripping but didn’t like earlier this year he didn’t post on weverse or twitter for like a month or so because he wanted to keep seeing us say how much we miss him???

and in bon voyage season 2 when they had to write letters to each other and he wrote his to jimin and then cried when he read it

there’s also a moment in bon voyage 4 when he and rm were about to sleep in the same space and he asked joon if he could cuddle him and joon was like 🥴🤚 how bout no and tae was like you do like me right? and rm was like yeah of course but let’s not cuddle bro

also in that weverse magazine interview they did he talked about how depressed he got when they weren’t able to perform and he only felt happy for a while when he was able to communicate with us

and in turn he’s very verbally supportive as well

like at that one fan sign they was talking about bon voyage and they asked army which season they liked better 1 or 2 and someone said 1 and taehyung was like “😐 now why would you say that bc namjoon won’t even in that” even though really it was only like 1 or 2 episodes he missed out on

and like he’s always hyping seokjin up like when they were doing the map of the soul 7 comeback live and jin was talking about how he wasn’t a good dancer and taehyung was like 😡 don’t say that bc it’s not true you’re good and you always been good

and in the let’s bts thing again it was important for him to let jimin know that he likes him best like they really are best friends y’all 😭

and when he talks about how much he loves suga’s raps

and that moment in the soop when he set up a date for him and jungkook to talk out whatever tension they had or whatever

and how during those individual be interviews he had hobi flustered when he complimented his passion for music

and he always be saying like the most comforting stuff on weverse letting army know he’s there as a source of comfort at all times even when he can’t be

like this man is literally the creator of borahae meaning that we’ll love and support each other for a long time

so if you get with tae communication is key!!!

you gotta tell him how you feel about him

if you’re out and about and see something that reminds you of him? tell him. if you like his hair that day? tell him. if he does something that pisses you off? tell him. if you miss him? tell him. if you love him? tell him.

like y’all gon talk about everything and nothing at all some days you’ll be discussing aliens and parallel universes other days you’ll be like discussing the future of your relationship

and ya know he a busy man so you not always gon be having long and drawn out heart to hearts so i think he’d love it if you just sent messages throughout the day something that let him know you were thinking of him even if it’s just a picture of a possum you chased down or if you spammed him with tiktoks you thought he’d like

he’d be looking at his phone like 🥰🤳 thinking about how much he loves you

jungkook:

physical affection

now this lil menace right here is touchy

always down for a cuddle

like on the canada episode of run when they were about to pick out rooms and he was like firmly latched onto hobi on the couch while they waited

and when they were practicing home for the magic shop muster and yoongi sat in the arm chair and immediately jk sat in his lap and tae sat in his lap

or how in in the soop after they were done eating he just went and latched onto jin’s back

and how tae had went to go wake jk up that one time and they ended up falling asleep

or how jk had went to wake up jimin that one time and they ended up falling asleep

there was just a lot of jk cuddles going on in in the soop so i’ll move on

let’s talk about the pool water debate run episode where in the end jk decided to latch onto jin’s back yet again

i’ll take this moment to mention the jinkook moment that lives in my head rent free for no valid reason it’s from the life goes on countdown video where they were reading the post cards and he was wearing that big pink sweatshirt and jin was wearing that pink and black bomber jacket and jk just grabbed jin’s arm and held onto it and played with it and when he was done he just threw it away i… i think about that moment a lot there’s an entire section in both my head and heart dedicated to that moment anyway continuing on

i’ll talk about that time they were backstage for a show and they had them blow up mattresses and suga was minding his business resting and jk just rolled up and moved his legs and laid beside him and then hobi decided to pile on top

and whenever they’re on stage he’s always the most delighted when joon would suggest a hug he’d be the first one over there nose scrunched up giggling he loves it

there’s also many instances in interviews and lives where he just can’t keep him hands to himself

just like that last butter live when tae ended up with a crown of forks thanks to mr kook

and he never misses an opportunity to feel up joon

which makes me remember that time he kissed namjoon on the forehead

and he is just always carrying jimin for some reason

so in conclusion… physical affection

and if he was your mans you’d be on the frontlines of receiving all he has to give

not necessarily in public or around a lot of people but in a space where you both were comfortable yes

you’d just have to accept that when you’re standing around he’s going to give you a shoulder/neck/back massage for no particular reason

and he will latch onto you in different positions for extended periods of time

and you gotta do the same! like that’s your man! go give him a hug! a kiss! let him know you love him

cuddle up to him while y’all chilling watching tv

hold his hand while y’all talking

just like grab onto him and never let him go

he’ll be hoping you don’t

[eddiemunsonsimpp]

Love at first Reconnect | Eddie Munson x Fem!Henderson Reader | part one

masterlist

part two

warnings: drug use(just a lil mentions of smokin ganja)??? not sure of anything else AAAA

this is the first of what’s gonna be a few parts of a childhood best friends to lovers fic 🥺💕 I appreciate any and all feedback ily guys🖤

wc: 2.3k

_________________________

You and Eddie had always been inseparable since you were in 3rd grade together, all the way through middle school. Your mom and his uncle Wayne had a plethora of scrapbooks filled with pictures of you two throughout the years. There wasn’t a day that went by that you weren’t going on little adventures together. That was, until High school cliques had lead you two to drift apart at the beginning of sophomore year.

Until your little brother joined Hellfire, which, being the older sister, you of course had to take him to.

Three times a week, 6:30 sharp.

Now, it’s mid January, and you’re waiting in the car outside of the high school, snow falling all around and painting the parking lot. You shivered into your jacket and pressed it against your body, cranking the heat up once again. You mindlessly flicked through your cassettes before settling on the album Master of Reality by Black Sabbath. You pressed play and skipped through the tracklist to your favorite song on the album, Sweet Leaf. You bopped your head along to the tune as you rummaged through your bag, eventually pulling out the blunt you had rolled earlier and a lighter. Might as well if I’m gonna wait.

You took a long draw, filling your mouth with smoke before deeply inhaling through your nose, immediately letting your back press against the seat, slumping your posture as you lazily nursed the burning wrap. You shut your eyes momentarily, moving your arms oddly in an attempt to dance to the music, murmuring the lyrics quietly as you smoked your blunt halfway down, before you jumped out of your skin at the sound of a quick tapping on the passenger window. You looked up, wide eyed, stoned and terrified. You relaxed once you saw through the smoke it was just Dustin. You paused for a minute, glancing around, trying to wrap your stoned mind around priorities. You quickly put out the blunt in your fingers, shoving it in an ashtray you had put in one of the cup holders and turned to unlock the doors. Smoke quickly flew out of the car and, unfortunately, into your younger brothers face, causing you both to cringe. You shot him a reserved, ‘sorry’ as he swung his leg inside, scooting into the seat but leaving the door open so the remaining smoke could escape. You sighed deeply and pressed your forehead into the steering wheel.

“Sorry, Dusty.” You muttered weakly. “I wasn’t expecting you that… quickly.” He rolled his eyes and shook his head, plugging his nose with his fingers. After a moment, you put the car in reverse and were on your way back home. “So, how was the campaignnn?” You grinned at him, poking him with your elbow. He swatted at your arm with a meek giggle. “It was great, per usual. But, it was the first game since winter break, so EVERYONE was super excited, and Eddie actually went pretty easy on us consi-“

“Whoa, whoa whoa. Eddie?” You echoed the name of his presumed DM.

He gave you a confused look. “Y-yeah? Anyway, he-“

“What’s his last name?” You asked, your voice rising about 2 octaves as you blushed and scratched the back of your neck.

“…Munson? Anyway-“

You pulled up to a stop sign, pressing the brakes harder than you meant to, jolting the car forward.

“Eddie Munson? Your DM is Eddie Munson?” You fully turned your body to your brother. “Yes! What’s the deal?! I know, he’s the town ‘freak’ but he’s not li-“ He began shrieking at you, before trailing off seeing the big goofy grin plastered over your face. “Holy shit.” You let out a breathy giggle. Your brother continued to give you a confused look. “What? Do you, like, know him or something?”

You let out another short giggle and nodded your head. “Know him? We were best friends when we were kids!” You stated what you thought was the obvious, before pausing.

“You probably don’t remember that, though, you might have been too little.”

“No way you were friends with Eddie.” His remark was met with a quick smack to the arm.

“Yes, I was! And, hey, you’re friends with Eddie and we’re basically the same fuckin’ person.” You retorted, getting a scoff and eye roll out of him.

“No, we are not.”

You laughed.

“Oh, please. You got into Star Wars because I was into Star Wars. You got into Marvel comics because I was into Marvel comics. Your whole personality is molded around none other than mine.” You sassed.

“Anyway.” You drawled. “Mom has like, a shitton of scrapbooks at the house, I know there’s plenty of pictures of me and Eddie in there. I’ll show you.”

“I don’t know how he is nowadays, we sort of… stopped being friends sophomore year. But, I have a feeling if he knew I was showing you his 3rd grade and middle school pictures, he would have my head on a stick.”

You giggled to yourself as you made your way to one of the many bookshelves adorning one of the walls of the living room, trailing your finger along it until it landed on a large, blue binder.

You pulled it out and flicked through it until you landed on your third grade pictures, sitting down next to your brother on the couch, and setting the open book on the table.

You glanced over the pages until your eyes landed on a picture of you and Eddie, on the same couch you were currently sitting on.

He sat crosslegged and his tongue poked out in concentration, a gaming controller in his hands.

His now long, brown hair was buzzed, and soft freckles adorned his face.

You sat next to him, propped up on your knees, clearly mid giggle, a big, open mouthed grin on your face, green eyes sparkling as you seemingly cheered him on, whatever game he was playing.

You grinned widely and giggled, pointing to the picture and tilting the book towards Dustin. He blinked and leaned closer, studying the picture. “Holy shit, is that Eddie?” He asked with a giggle which you matched, nodding your head, “Yeah, yeah it is.” Dustin broke out into a hearty laugh.

You continued pointing out pictures of you two throughout the years, both of you giggling as you explained the stories behind them.

“So, why aren’t you guys friends now?”

“Mm, just high school shit, I guess?… Wait, Eddie’s still in school?” Your eyebrows furrowed.

You knew he had to repeat one year, sure, but twice? Dustin nodded. “Double repeat senior, but he’s trying to be on track to graduate in August.” He shrugged.

“Damn.”

“What’s this one from?” Dustin queried, pointing to another picture from 3rd grade, you two, no older than 8, arms wrapped around each other, sickeningly sweet smiles on your faces, the picture clearly being taken in the living room of his trailer, trucker hats and coffee mugs decorating the wall behind you. You threw your head back in a laugh as you eyed the picture.

“3rd grade camping trip!” You cackled.

“You remember Mr. Snuffles from when I was a kid?” Dustin nodded his head and you continued, barely making it through without giggling,

“Eddie was a really anxious kid, and he didn’t have his blankie with him, so he essentially had a meltdown when lights went out. I wound up giving him Mr. Snuffles to help calm him down.” You summarized the story and Dustin matched your goofy giggle. After another 20 minutes of looking at various pictures ranging from you and Eddie as kids, to you and Dustin’s baby pictures, you leaned back against the couch and yawned heavily, glancing at the clock on the wall.

10:30.

You patted your brother on the leg. “You gotta get to bed, man.” He grumbled slightly before standing from the couch and stretching.

“Oh, we have another game tomorrow.” He mentioned haphazardly and you sighed a little, “same time?” He nodded his head and with that, trotted off to his room. You quickly put the scrapbook back in its place, lazily walking to your room and collapsing on the bed, falling asleep rather fast.

___________________________

You let out a huff as you tossed your bag onto your bed, shrugging off your work uniform and slipping into an oversized hoodie and jeans. You retreated into the living room, Walkman and headphones in hand. You plopped dramatically onto the couch and slid your headphones over your head, leaning your head against the back of the couch as music filled your ears. You contently bopped your head and shut your eyes, humming softly as your body finally relaxed.

Your relaxation was cut short as Dustin shot out of his bedroom. “Let’s go!” He urged.

You peeked a glance at the clock and sighed heavily, slipping on your boots and a warm hat, bracing yourself for the cold winter air.

The two of you sped out of the front door and hopped into your car, turning the ignition and blasting hot air into your faces.

You let out a small string of cusses under your breath as you shivered, carefully reversing out of the driveway and making your way towards the school.

You peeled into the parking lot, parking in front of the drama room. Dustin shot you a quick, “See you in a few hours!” And shut the door behind him.

You leaned back your seat and grabbed the blunt you had set in the ashtray the night before and made haste sparking up. Not making the same mistake as yesterday. You turned the radio up as you finished your blunt, deeply feeling your high, Metallica’s newest album filling your ears.

You headbanged and sang along theatrically, occasionally giggling at yourself. As the song ended, you laid back in your seat, shutting your eyes and willing the three hours until they were done to pass.

Apparently, it had worked, as you flinched back to consciousness at the usual knock on the window. You turned and unlocked the car, Dustin hopping in and cussing under his breath, his cheeks dusted pink from the cold air outside. You went to put the car in reverse before noticing a tall, lanky figure, sprinting across the parking lot and waving their hand frantically.

Dustin rolled down the window as the figure caught up to the car.

Now that you could see him clearer, your heart panged in your chest, recognizing Eddie unmistakably. He huffed and puffed, holding up a bag of dice and shaking it, making a funny clinking sound.

“You almost left these , Henderson.” He shot a grin at Dustin before his eyes locked on yours, his grin only grew into a big toothy smile. “Hey there, stranger.” You returned the same big smile. “Hey, Eds.” You could’ve sworn you saw him blush slightly at the old nickname. You sat in a comfortable silence as you smiled at each other.

Dustin huffed and snatched the dice bag out of Eddie’s hand, making his grin fall and shoot him a look. You swiftly landed a quick smack upside Dustin’s head, causing Eddie to snicker. “Alright, I’m gonna head off before I freeze to death out here.” Eddie stated and flashed you a quick smile, drumming his hands on the open window before starting back off to his van with a wave.

You turned to Dustin and stared at him for a second. “What?” He returned the same confused look.

“You have such an attitude problem.” You stated with a giggle as you rolled your eyes, switching the car into reverse and began your trek home.

____________________________

The next time you saw Eddie, you were about 3 hours into your shift at Family Video. You huffed dramatically and laid your arms over the counter. “Is it time for me to leave yet?” You groaned to Steve, who only gave the same disappointed yet amused eyeroll. “You’ve been here for 3 hours, you don’t get off until 6.”

“Besides,” Robin chimed in from your right. “Do you really wanna get away from your best friends that bad?” She grinned and nudged you, only making another groan leave your throat.

“I need a smoke.” You grumbled before hearing the bell signaling the door had opened, quickly straightening back up and putting on your best customer-friendly face, all of that fell as your eyes landed on Eddie, who had quickly delved into chatting up Steve as he stocked various tapes. Eventually, he spotted you and broke out into a smile, striding over to the counter and leaning on it.

“Didn’t know you worked over here, Henderson.” He greeted.

“Didn’t know you came around here.” You retorted. Suddenly, Steve tossed a tape onto the counter between the two of you. You glanced at it, quickly recognizing it as the original Evil Dead. You broke out in a smile. Your eyes flickered back up to his.

“Good choice, Munson.”

He grinned brightly down at you.

“Yeah? We should watch it together, like old times?”

Your big toothy grin returned, alongside a flush to your cheeks.

“Yeah, I’d like that. Wanna come pick me up after work? I get off at 6.”

He nodded, holding up the tape is his hand with a smirk tugging at his lips.

“It’s a date, Henderson.”

You opened your mouth to quickly object to the word ‘date’ as your face flushed a bright red, but he had already turned around and sped off.

“A date, huh?” Robin teased at your side. You poked your elbow into her side, making her yelp. “Shut up, Robin! It’s not an actual date.” You huffed as she broke out into a giggle.

“…Did he pay for that tape?” Steve spoke up, leaving you to throw your head back in a short laugh.

[stray-kids-react]

Doing WAP dance perfectly

(If you don't know what WAP is. It's a suggestive dance with a lot of twerking and grinding.)

Masterlist

...

Bang Chan

° Chan always called you cute, you would try your hardest to be hot... But he'd still see you as an adorable lil bean. You became worried that he didn't see you in a sexual way at all, and decided to see if you could possibly get him flustered by doing such a dirty dance.

° You wore the sexiest outfit in your closet, leaving barely anything to the imagination. You walked into Chan's studio with a large trench coat hiding the treat you had in store for your boyfriend. Noticing Chan was alone, you decided to let the coat drop to your feet.

° Blush crept onto his cheeks, bottom lip bittne by his teeth. It was making a mark on him, until you started the music. That song was too much of a meme to be sexy to him, especially since Felix tried to attempt it in front of him once and gave up half way.

° Even if you looked extremely sexy while pounding into the ground, he couldn't help but giggle by the choice of song. If it were something more sensual and romantic, than he would be on the ground with you. But WAP turned him off quite a bit.

"Chan! I wanted to be sexy... Am I not hot?"

"Of course you are hot, it's just the song."

Lee Know

° Minho is a tease who loves you very much, but is not a fan of that trend. He can't help but cringe when he sees someone do it in public for everyone to see, he doesn't know why but it just effects him a lot in all of the wrong ways. But you didn't know this.

° While he alone in the dance practice room, you walked in with WAP blaring from your phone. You then put it on the bench and began to dance along with it perfectly, the phone was recording everything. Including Minho's uncomfortable expression.

° He was impressed by your hips, but the whole song and trend gave him terrible flashbacks to the tiktok he witnessed before. Even if he wanted to smile, it came off very fake or turned into some mixture of cringe and fake happiness.

° Minho did not want to hurt your feelings, but he truly couldn't help it when you did the WAP dance. You thought he was teasing you and trying to annoy you, and you continue to think that til this day. But he was truly not impressed by that trend that you did.

"I know you secretly loved it, don't deny it."

"Oh trust me, I won't deny anything."

Changbin

° You were trying so hard to learn this dance, you wanted to do it for yourself and to also impress your boyfriend. Even when you failed miserabley, Changbin still sent hearts of encouragement and asked if you could give him another show of it.

° He would be lying if he denied that he didn't get a tiny bit turned on when you pounded into the ground, but he didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable so he didn't tell you unless you noticed or asked him about it. Which you did a couple of times.

° Wonders how your body can move so smoothly while doing such harsh and sexual moves, especially when it comes to the twerking. You challenged Changbin to twerk with you, and you weren't surprised when he was actually pretty good at it.

° Will record the challenge, helping you edit it and re recording it if you don't like the final product. Changbin is supportive of your interests and even if he isn't overly into WAP, he finds anything you do breathtaking. And think your better than Cardi B herself.

"I swear you are better than Cardi B babe."

"Stop buttering me up lover boy."

Hyunjin

° Truly conflicted. He is impressed by your dance skills, but also doesn't want your followers to see you dancing so proactively. He wants to be the only one to see you acting this way, but he also finds it a bit amusing on how serious you seem.

° Your dancing to a song called 'Wet Ass Pussy' and yet your face seems like your doing an interview at the job of your dreams. This will calm his nerves a tiny bit, knowing you aren't doing this to get attention. But rather because you're bored and wanted to.

° Will sometimes hum along to the song while it's playing, getting shy if he reads out the dirty lyrics about sex. Even though it has become more of a meme than a sensual getting it on song, it still makes him flustered because of how raunchy it is.

° Claps when you've finally succeeded the dance, smiling proudly since he saw how hard you worked for a non benefitial trend. Once you posted the challenge, he would like and save it immediately. Secretly watching it while he goes on tour.

"Does it hurt when you hump the ground?"

"You get used to it after a while."

Han

° Knew that you were going to want to do it, you like to try out different trends to see if you like them or not. He just wasn't expecting to see you do WAP so closely, he thought he'd scroll through tik tok and then you'd be twerking on his feed.

° He was scrolling through Instagram when you got up and began to do the dance, he was trying to comprehend what was going on since you did so out of the blue. Became your personal cheerleader when you went into the splits, hyping you up quite a bit.

° Won't see it as a sensual dance, is more impressed than turned on. He'll high five you afterwards, and then 'high fives' your toosh for doing most of the work. You will become flustered with his compliments, giggling as he drums your bottom teasingly.

° Goes through your social media accounts later, to make sure there aren't any pervs commenting degrading things. If he sees any he'll report them, knowing he is the only one to say things such as 'that's some fine peice of ass' to you.

"Baby, are you scrolling my comments?"

"mhm, there are some creepy followers."

Felix

° Tik tok master, already knows all of the moves and probably taught you them. Felix likes to boost your confidence up and become your own personal happiness, even if you thought you looked cringey and horrid in the video, he'd tell you the opposite.

° Won't force you to do it in front of people or even post the video, even though you look amazing he still doesn't mind if keeping it private. Is a protective sunshine who would feel a bit of relief if you didn't post it, but would never ever admit that to you.

° When you were your best friend was visiting, you both decided to attempt the popular trend. She stopped half way through do to laughter, while you kept going. Felix rushed to you from the kitchen, beginning to throw money on you to enhance the laughter.

° If you get embarrassed when dialing one of the many attempts, he'll comfort you and shower you with kisses til you feel better. Over all he is a sweetheart who cherishes your happiness, and he'll do anything to hear your beautiful laugh and see your smile.

"Don't be shy love *kiss* you were great. *kiss*."

"The kisses make me more shy Felix."

Seungmin

° Knew you were on tik tok, and witnessed you attempt a couple of trends, mosy dance challenges. But never expected you to do WAP, you both were generally introverted and were much more soft with each other in public rather than all over each other.

° Even in photos of you two together, the most anyone will see is hand holding. That's why many people were surprised to see you doing such a bold and raunchy dance for many people to see, the reason behind it was a dare from your close friend.

° A staff member showed him the video, giggling as they couldn't beleive what you did. Seungmin smiled, seeing you so confident and bold made him feel proud. He wasn't upset or jealous in the slightest, he was extactic to see you be so confident.

° When he arrived home, you asked him about his opinion on the video. He could tell you didn't like it and were self conscious about it. So instead o replying at first, he embraced you in a gentle hug. Rubbing your shoulder blades as he complimented you.

"You looked stunning in the video."

"A-are you sure? Don't lie to me Seungmin."

Jeongin

° Stray kids knew you for as long as they knew Jeongin, you were his best friend turned lover and they saw you as family. That is why it made it 10x more awkward for both you and Jeongin when Felix noticed your newest post on tik tok.

° You thought you saved it privately, and did NOT want it to be public due to having such an open account with many followers. Your family even followed your account, so this made you nearly pass out knowing many people have already seen this video.

° You immediately deleted the video, even though it was far too late. Jeongin was a bit shy from witnessing you do such a raunchy dance, but he wanted to comfort you nonetheless. His ears were bright pink as you clung onto him, trying to calm down.

° A couple days after the incident, Minho and Han would tease you lightly. Jeongin occasionally joined in, unless he noticed you became very flustered and would then put a stop to the teasing. He still found it adorable how embarrassed you were of the video.

"What if my mom saw this!?"

"... What if she didn't. There is a chance."

[praphit]

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everybody! 

The start of this year was similar to that of the mini-series “WandaVision”

(my runner-up show of the year)

We were all wounded by 2020, so we kinda locked into some delusional hopes for 2021. It was cute.

Eventually, things seemed suspicious, like plans weren’t going to go forward as we had hoped. 

(Olson, my actress of the year)

Then, we chose our sides, and wanted (and still want) to fight each other.

Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of reasons to want to fight.

Virus  (best movie with symbiotes in it).

Our climate ( in more ways than one).

She was actually made free! But, there are “Free Britney Activists” in the world now, so... I guess now they’ll devote their time to freeing ALL of the Britney’s of the world. 

Rich white people doing rich white people things.

The machines path to inevitably taking over.

The list goes on and on...

It didn’t take us long to give into fear and hate did it?

But, I don’t want to focus on that right now. Let’s celebrate some of the moments of 2021 that put smiles on our faces.

ADELE CAME BACK!- 

To make us emotional... for now... though I’m certain she’ll abandon us for another 3 to 5 years, only to make us emotional again (lather, rinse, repeat) It’s a weird relationship we have with her isn’t it?

(my runner-up Album of the Year)

Mac & Cheese Ice Cream!

Yep :- /

Bernie Sanders, as always, making it cool to be old and crotchety. 

I put out new music. Yesir! 

(a taste)

(more than a taste)

(My Album of the Year. You might be saying “How can you give yourself your own award?” 

I do whatever the hell I want :) Don’t hate cuz my tunes make the kids feel :)

PAUL RUDD became 2021′s sexiest man alive.

I can see that... 

It’s not so much a Michael B Jordan type of sexiness, but more of a... a man watching the kids (not his) of a woman (his girlfriend... sure) who’s out partying tonight... with her guy-friend (totally not a date). And even though she won’t be back until the next morning (late morning), he trusts her. 

- that type of sexiness, I can see that for sure :)

Silk Sonic (my Sexiest Album of the Year Award). Even this pic is oozing with sensuality.

If you don’t believe that music alone could get someone pregnant, just take a listen, and you will.

“I Think You Should Leave” season 2

(Tim Robinson is def my Funny Person of the Year)

LUBIN TOOBIN IS BACK!

For all of you perverts out there who have been longing for the day you can do what he did, and have it be no big deal... that day came this year. Congrats.

The 2021 Olympics!

As always, giving us reasons to cheer and to simultaneously cringe.

Cash in the walls!

Times have been tough for everyone, including churches. But, God, apparently, “blessed” Joel Osteen with gobs of money in the walls of his church.

I’m not making that up! Hey, preachers, pick yourselves up a sledgehammer and try your faith.

The Washington Football Team scandal (and no real punishment in sight).

You might be asking how this could be a good thing? Well, it’s not. It’s a truly horrible thing (it’s worth looking up if you haven’t heard). BUT, if you’re as rich and powerful as the owners of the NFL are, then this story might give you a smile of relief. Finally, a win for the rich,abusive, white guys out there.

And... this - Ye (my Artist of the Year), DaBaby, and Marilyn Manson? - on stage with each other? Mac & Cheese Ice Cream was more predictable.

It has to be the work of the same god who put money in Joel Osteen’s walls that made that happen.

We can’t reflect only on the good. We must learn from difficulties and battles of 2021 as well, right??

We learned that dragons ARE real! 

... and that no matter how slip... sorry, wrong pic

We learned that dragons ARE real! And that no matter how slippery they can be, with diligence and some hocus pocus on your side, they can be slayed.

(”Shang-Chi”, btw, my Personal Fave Flick of the Year - don’t argue with me)

Lil Nas X’s “Montero”!

The music is NOT the bad thing. I liked most it (though if you listen to the lyrics of some songs, he seems sad)! I like him as an artist. I like his style, and his videos. I, for one, salute his marketing strategy in 2021.

I just can’t get the imagery of someone twerking on the lap of a seemingly bored Satan, out of my mind. The devil doesn’t look like he’s having any fun does he?

And our kids are going to imitate this art. I don’t know if any of the parenting books out there prepare parents for kids shaking it in front of Satan, and then putting blood in their shoes.

“MALIGNANT” - my Comedy of the Year

“Why?” “How?” If you watch the 3rd act of this movie, then you’ll know.

VAGINA CANDLES ARE EXPLODING!

A real story and a real problem!

Dr. Seuss... racist as shit!

TOM BRADY (my Athlete of the Year)

- proving that unlike Bernie Sanders, one is not doomed to being cold and lovably irritable when they get old. Sometimes, when you get old, you when another Super Bowl ring.

The Weeknd was lost and confused.

.... as were many, who started wondering, if the cult rumors were true with this performance. I dug it though:)

There has been an increase of conspiracy theories that certain artists, including The Weeknd, are conjuring spirits and portals to Hell during their performances. 

Obviously, that’s nutty. But... nothing would surprise me after the last couple of years.

Perhaps the end of all things will kickoff during an Olivia Rodrigo concert.

And lastly, we learned a lot from “Squid Game” (my Show of the Year)

Probably not as much as we should have learned from it, but more to never play “Red Light, Green Light” ever again.

(the old man, btw, my Actor of the Year ---- which doesn’t make much sense, only that I loved that character.)

2021 Praphie Award goes to - 

Willem Dafoe!

This is completely an inside joke that’s not worth explaining, but imagine this fine actor selling products such as:

“Willem Dafoe’s Sauerkraut Juice”

“Willem Dafoe’s Homemade Breast Milk”

“ Willem Dafoe’s Half-Eaten Apple Pies”

“Willem Dafoe’s Sexy-Parts Trimmer”

I want to publicly thank Willem Dafoe for all of the laughter he’s given me and my colleagues in 2021.

The more this face can sell, the better off we’ll all be.

Last Year’s Slogan to live by:

“If you love something, let it go. If it doesn’t return to you, hunt it down, and kill it.”

This saying was truly inspirational.

2022′s slogan shall be:

“Recently, I made a promise to myself that the next time I got a boyfriend, I’d be on the lookout for red flags. And if I saw any, I would do the healthy thing and I would murder him.” ~ Harley Quinn (”Suicide Squad 2″)

I think there’s a lot of wisdom there, people. 

Meditate upon it, build healthy relationships, have fun, stop overreacting, and ENJOY THE COMING OF 2022.... oh, and don’t look up.

Much love!

[nat-20s]

what’s poppin everyone please have this fun lil writing warmup/short story inspired by me thinking “Dancing in the Moonlight” was definitely 100% about werewolves

~*~

“So, this your first transformation?”

The counselor? Leader? Tour guide? Asked this with a perfectly jovial tone, as if the typical social mores surrounding, ugh, lycanthropy, didn’t apply to her. They didn’t know what exact title to call her, and her name tag just said “Luna”, which, reflecting on it, either was a joke on her part or a reflection of her parents’ sense of humor.

Picking at the scabs from last month, they cringed and replied, “No. Uh. Second.”

Luna lets out a low whistle. “Oof. That sucks. Guessing you got bitten rather than inherited the ol’ wolfman gene?”

“That’s...kind of personal?”

Unlocking the front door of the log cabin that served as King Harvest’s Headquarters, Luna shrugs and says, “Shit, sorry. Forgot the whole weird stigma around your source of the once monthly nightmare, as if it fuckin matters. Also, I know, I know, ass out of you and me. Hey, you got any dietary restrictions? Gluten, peanut allergies, the like?”

Voice flat, they tell her, “I’m vegetarian,” and waits for the obvious response.

As they wander through the cabin towards the kitchen, Luna flipping on the light switches, generic club music starts to filter in. Instead of the obvious response, Luna asks, “You like veggie burgers? Or maybe pasta? I’d offer salad, but that’s really not gonna cut it for tonight.”

“I ate before I came.”

With a snort, she tells them, “Oh yeah? Did you have about 4000 calories?”

“No? Why would I have?”

Sweeping out her arm, she gestures at the food laying out on the counter and tells them, “Then eat up! 4000 is really a minimum for the night if you don’t want to feel like someone physically beat out all of your energy in the morning. 6000 is more the target area, but we got, hmm, about 15 minutes before things get uncomfortable, and half an hour max before things get dire.”

They glance down to the food, and, admittedly, the broccoli alfredo does look pretty appealing. Still, they have to ask, “Is this a cult?”

Luna lets out a bark of a laugh that has nothing to do with her (maybe) being a werewolf. “Okay, first of all, what kind of cult is like ‘fuck yeah, we’re a cult’? Secondly, despite the first thing, I can say that we’re not a cult. I know how “King Harvest: Center for Movement Therapy” sounds, both clinical and vague enough to be suspicious as hell, but I didn’t come up with the title, blame my long deceased dad for that one. Plus, ‘King Harvest: Bitchin’ Wolf Dance House’ probably wouldn’t look good on the grant applications.”

“Grants?”

“Oh yeah. This bad boy’s been publicly funded since its opening in 1972. Hence no membership fees.”

“Is that why animal control is giving out your business card? Are they one of your sponsors?”

“Nah, that’s just Jack. Me ‘n’ him go way back, hell, to his park ranger days.  I mean, yeah, I think he’ll campaign for us, but mostly I think he just hates capturing a wolf in the night only to have a naked, trembling human in the morning, and he knows that our program significantly reduces the odds of that happening, at least in this neck of the woods.”

They let out a hum, then glance back down to the food. As appealing as it down look, they’re still about..30% convinced this is an elaborate organ harvesting operation. Or sketchy sex thing.

Apparently sensing their hesitation, Luna says, “You got a favorite chip?”

“Salt and vinegar.”

Grabbing a sealed family sized bag from the overhead cabinets, Luna tosses it to them. “If you come back next full moon, either eat enough in advance or have a real meal here. That being said, excuse the turn of phrase, you should wolf that down. It’s sure as hell better than nothing.”

They catch it, and the bag opens with a puff of air that speaks to a reassuring lack of tampering. As they toss a chip into their mouth, Luna grabs a water bottle from the fridge and places it down next to them. “So? Any questions for me? We’ve still got about ten minutes before we have to go out there.”

Rolling their eyes, they tell her, “No. None at all.”

“Great! Soon as you’re done eating we’ll get you started.”

“I was being sarcastic.”

“Yeah, no shit, smart-ass. Seriously, what are your, we haven’t got much time.”

“I don’t know? The whole..thing? I mean, how is it supposed to..work? Like? At all?”

“You ever see Amok Time?”

“Is that relevant?”

“It’s a yes or no question babe.”

“And if I say no?”

“Then the explanation is going to be a lot more technical and take a lot longer, ultimately to likely make less sense.”

“...I’ve seen it.”

“Great! So, Pon Farr is basically this chemical blood imbalance that results in fuck or die disorder, yeah? But then Spock neither fucks nor dies, and eventually the vulcans get their shit together and find out that an intense fight can serve the same function, and the blood fever chills out. Lycanthropy operates on a similar enough basis for comparison. You’re compelled to act out on energetically heavy base instincts, returning to the ways of the wolf or whatever. Traditionally, that’s done through running and hunting, which has, historically, been a crapshoot at best. Theoretically, sex can also get the job done, but I’m sure you can imagine how that gets extremely dicey extremely quickly. Either restraints or isolation has been implemented for a while, but, c’mon, they’re bandaid solutions, and they’re far from foolproof. Luckily for us all, my grandmother decided to connect back with her ancestors, and there was a handful of stories having huge festivals to deal with ‘moon violence’. She tried it out, and, yeah, dancing works.”

“That sounds…”

They don’t know how that sounds. Made up, mostly.

“Like a bunch of hippie bullshit? Yeah, it kind of is, Grandma Josephine was a huge hippie, but it’s hippie bullshit that works. In fact, let’s go see the others, it almost always makes things clearer.”

Figuring that whatever they’re about to see can’t be worse than their transformation last month. They head through the sliding glass door out the back, the thump of the music suddenly loud enough to be felt in their chest. The sight that awaits them makes them drop their chips and let out a gasp. Barely able to speak, they exhale out, “None of them...they’re not wolves. How..how??”

Indeed, the roughly forty people jumping to the pulse of whatever they’re listening to (some to the in house DJ, some, apparently, to what’s playing over the large headphones they have adorned), resemble the image of a wolfman much more accurately. They bare claws, fangs, elongated snouts, upright ears, and  serious amounts of hair, but they’re on two legs, and moving like humans. Some of them are even singing along to the lyrics, which really shouldn’t be possible.

Luna grins, making it obvious that she’s used to this level of shell shocks. “Ultimately, you do have to give into some damn rigorous instincts. But dancing is a human instinct, not a canine one, so you end up, well, humanoid. Pretty nifty, huh?”

“And they all..they all keep their minds? I didn’t...they don’t blackout?”

“Not since we banned alcohol in the 90s! Here, watch this.”

Luna nods her head at the DJ, and the DJ, obligingly, turns down the music for a moment. The members of the crowd not listening to their own music pause, then look towards the door. She cries out, “Hey gang! HOW WE ALL DOIN’ TONIGHT?”, and gets a mix between a howl and “WOO!” cried back. The DJ then turns the music back up, and the general movement of the crowd resumes.

They should be more skeptical. They want to be more skeptical, they were just minutes before, but it’s hard to disagree with something right in front of you. “This will work for me? I just..have to dance?”

“Well, it’s not guaranteed. Few things are. But we have yet to have someone turn violent on us. If you start to fell yourself slipping from consciousness, though, I do ask that you start heading further into the woods, as to not hurt other guest. If you find yourself just getting tired, there’s beds inside, and a fair amount of pillows around the edge of the quote unquote dance floor, if you end up in more of a nesting mood. Also, I recommend taking off your shoes before you start.”

“What? Why?”

Luna gives a pointed glance at the dancers’ feet, which, ah. They’re about twice as large as normal and at least twice as sharp. The converse on their feet would be no match. “Ah.”

“Ready?”

They shove off their shoes and place the remainder of their chips aside. “As I’ll ever be.”

Good thing, too, as they’re starting to feel an uncomfortable pressure in their chest that was the prelude to disaster last month.

Luna strides to the center of the dance floor, which is really a plush lawn surrounded by forest. The crowd naturally moves around her, and she yells out, “Aiyana! Play my song!”

Aiyana gives a nod, and the opening notes of “Dancing in the Moonlight” start to sound out. “Seriously?”

Luna shrugs, grinning like a fool, and says, “It’s a classic!”

“It’s cliché at best.”

Luna shrugs, and then begins dancing. She’s hardly elegant, but she is dazzlingly joyful in her uncoordinated movements. As the song reaches the first chorus, she gives a twirl, and in the split second it takes, she’s transformed. They blink in shock, not knowing you could transform that seamlessly, that quickly, that painlessly. Luna in half wolf form is just as expressive as the human Luna, and she gives a nod over her shoulder as if to say Come on.

Feeling somewhat foolish, they start to bop their head to the tune. Luna lets out a huff and grabs their hands, spinning them around and forcing them to get moving. At first, it’s them indulging Luna, but as they let themselves get lost in rhythm, they feel a stretching sensation in their face and limbs. It’s not unpleasant, more like when you wake up and work out the tension in your spine. They open their eyes and look down at their hands, now covered in fur in and made for slashing. It didn’t hurt. It didn’t hurt, and they’re still themselves, and they had no idea that full moons could be like this, maybe for the rest of their lives.

They turn their head to the night sky, and their body can’t help but continue to dance. Despite all their fear, all their dread, “movement therapy” worked, and they can admit, at least to themselves, that they feel warm and bright.

[romiantic]

𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆

⇢ ˗ˏˋ 𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒕𝒂 𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒙 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓!𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌!𝒇𝒆𝒎!𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓 ࿐ྂ

彡 ❛ 𝐚 𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 ❜

彡 𝗳𝘁. ryota kise

彡 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: fluff with very little angst

彡 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁: 2.3k

彡 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀: suggestive theme at the end

彡 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿’𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲: all characters are 18+. also can we talk about how BOMB this song is 🤧 y’all sleepin on this song fr

·˚ ༘ੈ✩‧₊˚ ╰┈➤ ❛❛ 𝙄 𝙇𝙊𝙑𝙀 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙒𝘼𝙔 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝘿𝙊 𝙄𝙏 ❜❜

❝ 𝐘/𝐍 𝐇𝐔𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐘𝐎 𝐀𝐒𝐒 𝐔𝐏! You have two minutes till showtime.” Your manager, AKA, older brother, barged and announced to you like he didn’t update you almost five minutes ago.

You did your usual of sucking your teeth and rolling your teeth every time he barged in and interrupted your call, you replied with annoyance in your tone, “AJ I know! Can you wait a minute? Damn, so impatient for absolutely no reason.”

“I’m sorry who’s the one with hundreds of thousands of fans screaming their name and waiting for their ass outside? Me or you? Oh okay. Anyways, end yo little call with yo boyfr-”

“He’s not my boyfriend!” You interrupted, becoming irritated with your brother and simply wanted him to shut the fuck up. A great manager and brother, yet way too uptight for his job.

AJ rolled his eyes and muttered something but you flipped him off and pretended not to hear him until he left your dressing room. You gave your attention back to your phone, giving a cheeky smile to the blonde boy on your screen. From the corner of his eye, he noticed a nervous look growing on you but from what you could tell, he was choosing what shirt to wear to his photoshoot. Leaving him to be seen with a no top on and a pair of denim jeans.

Though it was typical to see your best friend’s exposed upper body, it was a sight you never got used to. His well-toned body, results from years of playing basketball in middle and high school, making your face hot, adding on to the nervousness you were already facing from your upcoming performance. Along with the pearly white smile he flashed at you creating a sick feeling in your stomach, something that you made you clench onto it and try to ignore. Now was not the time to be drooling over your best friend, who interrupted your stare with a laugh and said, “Are you gonna keep staring or are you gonna take a picture?”

Of course, he’d ruin it with some cocky line like that, you rolled your eyes and sucked your teeth. “Boy calm down, ain’t nobody wanna was staring.”

“Your nervous face said otherwise.”

“Akekeke, don’t you have a photoshoot to go to?”

Kise replied with the same energy as yours, “And don’t you have a performance to go to?”

You held up a finger to a screen then crossed your arms, “Aht aht, don’t worry about me now. Worry about yo lil pictures with that famous ass Russian model.” You wanted to roll your eyes just thinking about the brought-up woman but it would make it seem like you’re being jealous for no reason.

Kise let out a small laugh, adoring the irritated look that was starting to creep up on your face. “Somebody sounds jealous.”

You rolled your eyes and let out a scoff, “Oh please, like I would be.” You looked at the time on your watch and noticed it was about one minute until your performance. Your eyes widened at the time and hurried, you quickly ended the call with Kise, “Shit, fuck! I gotta go perform but I’ll call you back when I’m done.”

“And I’ll be waiting for you beautiful when you get back.” The golden-eyed boy winked at you yet you cringed and scrunched your face. “You’re so fucking corny Kise.” You hung up the call, grab any other pieces missing from your outfit, and headed out of your dressing room.

You traveled quickly around backstage, passing by many coworkers and background dancers waiting for you, to head into the small tunnel for artists to come out on stage. You stopped at the exit and gulped as you scanned the stage. An outside arena with hundreds of thousands of fans cheering your name, waiting for your appearance.

Usually, you would be at ease with concerts this large but for some reason this time is different. Unknowing the reason nor cause, you started to feel anxious, your hands mildly shaking and your throat going dry.

There was something in the back of your mind attempting to not make you perform, something telling you to not do it, it won’t be good, people will hate you. A voice there to influence thoughts, hoping that you would fall into the trap and just give up on singing. Though of course, you wouldn’t listen to that voice, that voice always lingered around whenever you were brought to perform, no matter where you were.

The only thing to distract you and keep you safe from that tiny voice is someone who you’ve longed to love. One who just settles your nerves, bringing comfort, and removing all anxious thoughts. One who would deem you as one of the greatest artists he’s ever listened to, maybe it’s opinionated but he loves you too much to disagree.

The now dawdling thought of his soft voice whenever he spoke or his flirtatious nature when you two joked around made a familiar feeling grow greater than before. Something replaced the anxiousness that was growing, a feeling that replaced the nervousness and calmed your shaky hands. Something that was the thought of Ryota Kise, he was like the medicine to all the pain you’ve suffered. A remedy to your anxiety, one of the many causes of the cheeky smile social media often sees you with.

Someone who you grew up and spent all your life with, always noticing how protective he was of you or the way he hummed one of your pre-recorded tracks that he was the only one to listen to. Celebrating one of your songs had hit #1 on the Billboard chart and the way he helped out whenever you hit writer’s block.

Every single thing, noticeable or not, made you grown to love the boy, starting from a platonic, playground friendship blooming to many years of trying to figure out if you are romantically in love with him. Growing familiar feelings of butterflies mixed with the thought of just wanting to cup his face and kiss him whenever he was around.

Just the ultimate feeling of wanting to be buried in the blonde boy’s arms and explain the blooming love for him made you want to sing the song you wrote for him. A new single that you never wanted to put out since you wanted only Kise to hear it, including that the song was your way of telling him what you felt all these years.

Though something changed your mind, something in your brain told you to tell everyone around you that you’re singing solo, no backup singers or dancers, only you on that stage. In this performance, you just had to do it yourself, nothing but you, the stage, and the microphone.

Everyone was confused by the last-minute change of plans but went along with it. They rescheduled it to where your first “official” song to start the concert with was right after your solo performance. You gave thanks to your team and took some deep breaths. You made sure your Bluetooth set was on and working properly in your ear, AJ handed you a mic and brushed off any wrinkling from your outfit and any smoothed out your hair. Uptight about his job yet made sure his little sister was looking the greatest for her performances.

You took deep breaths again, shook off any bad nerves, and walked on stage. The already excited crowd enraged and their volume expanded as they saw you stand before them. Everyone waving their signs that said, “I love you y/n!!” or “Y/N is so beautiful!” You waved to the audience and stopped at the middle of the stage, walking closer to the front of the stage as well.

You turned on the mic and tapped it to see if it was working, “Mic check one two, can you guys hear me?” The crowd immediately responded yes, you continued on to talk to them, “Okay good, have been getting technical difficulties with my mic and I really don’t feel like switching mics three times. Anyways, afternoon to all my lovely fans who made it out here or to those that are watching me live. I love you all and thank you for supporting me, I truly am grateful for every single one of y’all.” Everyone screamed out how much they love you and adore you, showing off their merch that they bought and waving the homemade posters.

You smiled at their response and cleared your throat as you introduced the song, “Thank you, I love you too. This first song is one that has been sitting too comfortably in my heart. A piece that came from genuine emotions and feelings I’ve tried to bury yet couldn’t no matter how hard I tried. It’s something that I never planned on dropping but I just felt like the world had to hear what I had to say. Hopefully, you guys enjoy it cause I did when I was writing this song at two in the morning before I snuck into the studio and recorded it. Was it worth it? Definitely. Now I may introduce to you, Not Another Love Song. A contradicting title isn’t it?”

You took a large breath in and out, you took a position as you waited for the beat to drop. As soon as you heard the familiar melody start, you sang, “I don’t wanna mess this up, could it be too much to say I’m in?”

The crowd lowered down and became silent to hear your new single, grasping the beautiful new lyrics you were singing and just vibing along with it.

You yourself were placing emotion as you sang, not noticing how proudly you sang the chorus or how you were smiling at the crowd the entire time. One thing was clouding your mind to even pay attention to those details, the same thing that more than likely pushed you to sing the song.

As you sang, the feelings for your best friend grew stronger, butterflies in your stomach, and the deprivation of his touch grew on you. Not even realizing how much you missed him until you turned initially to smile at AJ and your team yet saw a familiar face appear as well. You questioned it but then turned back to continue singing to the audience, only thinking that mind is playing games with you.

“I'm finna take my time, my mind, my rules. This ain't no crimе makin' love to you, though you ain't say this. But I had a hard time waitin' for you, boy. Like ooh, boy, you, boy. Got me where you want, just gotta say and it's on, it's like, ooh, boy, do you know you got me like where do you go when you're alone?”

As you sang, you noticed the crowd growing silent, their eyes widening, and their jaws dropping. You were utterly confused at was catching their attention, you turned to your team and your brother pointed behind, giving you a goofy smile as well.

You turned around to what was the cause of this silent commotion and right along with everyone else, your jaw drop and your eyes widened. The flirtatious, handsome model that everyone knew of was standing in front of you with a bouquet of roses in his hand. He walked up to you and smiled greatly, closing in the large gap between the both of you.

Seeing him walk closer to you made you want to say forget concert and sing the rest to him. Half of your feeling was already poured out, not even knowing he was listening to all of it. You didn’t think he would even be here since he had a photoshoot, not standing on an outside stage with a bouquet of roses and dressed in casual attire.

He handed you the roses and kissed your forehead, telling you, “Alone with you, away from the world, where else would I be when I’m alone?”

No response came from you, not even a single gasp or a sniffle to signify that you might cry. The way you responded to his presence was something that shocked the arena, everyone watching you on live, your team, and even the two of you yourself. Who would’ve thought you would be bold enough to grab his face and kiss him right then and there? You snaked your arm around his waist and pulled him closer to deepen the kiss. He responded back by wrapping his hands around your shoulders and hugging you tightly, holding onto you to make sure you wouldn’t separate from him.

You pulled back from the kiss and smiled, softly combed his blonde hair, and expressed, “I love you, Kise.” Saying his name like it was something you’ve been aching to say, a name that you’ve buried away yet brought out today. A name that sounded so lovely and romantic when you say it.

Kise expressed as well, “I love you too y/n. I’ve always loved you and I will never stop loving you.” He kissed you again, he removed his hand from your shoulders and trailed around to find your hands. He removed your hands from his waist and instead intertwined them with his.

He felt you smile when he held your hand and smiled back. He stated in between kisses, “You know I’m staying on this stage to hear you finish that song right?”

“It’s fine, I need someone to do my next performance on anyways.” He looked at you and you did nothing but wink and mischievously smiled at him. Kise had a small idea of what he could expect but suppressed it to enjoy the soft moment he wanted between the both of you. A moment that he’ll never forget and a concert that will always be remembered for everyone around you.

彡 it’s like 5 am and I’m tired 🦧 the only thing that kept me up was the fact that I don’t have school plus I loveeeeee kise

彡 also the show olivia

彡 I don’t think I ever mentioned to y’all how much I love his ass but now is definitely not the time 😁

彡 I’m convinced if it silent black hair blue eye powerful men weren’t my type, cocky and flirtatious ones would be runner up

彡 anyways hope you guys enjoy + pleaseee listen to the song, I highly recommend plus ella mai is VERY underrated

bye babes, drink your water, stay hydrated, and remember that you are the baddest bitch on the planet 🥰 no matter what ANYONE says

𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦 𝟏𝟖:𝟑𝟎 💗

© 𝟤𝟢𝟤𝟣 𝗄𝗈𝗂𝗌𝗁𝗂𝗀𝗎𝗋𝗈. 𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝗋𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍𝗌 𝗋𝖾𝗌𝖾𝗋𝗏𝖾𝖽

[the-last-cuddlebender]

I’m Here

The airbenders had a secret, beautiful-sounding, wordless-word language, and Aang is a lonely lil bird after he becomes the last airbender. ...so the Gaang improvises. 

**********************************************

A/N: A lil Gaang-love hurt/comfort/FLUFF one-shot because Aang needs a hug, and the Gaang will start taking people out at the knees to give him one. 

Rating: G (H for hugs)

Words: 3,491

ArchiveOfOurOwn

**********************************************

When Aang was a boy in the Southern Air Temple, he talked with his friends in whistle-speak all the time. 

They sang challenges over gales when they surfed around with their gliders, they stitched banter out of wind when they raced their bison, and they bled joyful congratulations and soft comforts into the air when words failed—when babies were born or when elders died.

He and his friends often used it to sneak around the temple. They channeled winds so high-pitched that the elders, sleeping or not, couldn’t hear them. Two tunes were a gusted high-five, and eight lifts and two pauses were a jest and a smack on the back. It was even their calling card on hot days when they were too lazy to move from their sunning spots or their bison’s backs to find each other to play. The passing breeze carried their conversations and their laughs, and it curled warmly around them with memories of good times. 

But, sometimes, when he was without a partner in the woods, Aang whistled a whirlwind that echoed across the canyon.

/I’m here./

And then he waited. And someone, somewhere, would always call back. Sometimes it was to chastise him for wandering too far, and sometimes it was to make fun of him for being so scared. He didn’t care, though. Their winds wound around him and comforted him all the same.

He hated silence. Mostly because he was so used to hearing his friends and Gyatso speaking or whistle-speaking all the time that, when it was quiet, it felt like he was alone in the world. Like something was missing.

Like he had been forgotten.

He wasn’t the only one, though. All airbenders didn't like to be alone, to an extent. Nomads migrated together. 

...But then the storm happened. And the Fire Nation. And now he was fighting a war he was a hundred years late for.

But even now he finds himself doing it on instinct. Sometimes it’s when they’re lounging as they set up camp, and other times it’s when he goes off on his own to collect kindling. Usually, it’s when he lounges on Appa’s head with his eyes on the sky, and the wordless words burning at the back of his mind spill out in braided winds.

His friends don’t notice the pain pinching his face whenever he catches himself doing it. And they couldn’t possibly feel his heart cringing—frozen—before convincing itself to keep beating. His family adores his whistle-speak, though he doesn’t tell them what it really is. He doesn’t want to talk about it. Whistle-speak was never about talking.

They say it sounds beautiful, like the wind itself was singing. They ask him on occasion—many, many occasions—to do it, just because it was pretty. 

It gets harder to hide how sad it makes him. But he would have preferred the sad feeling to what came when sadness became easy to bear.

He starts to feel nothing for the wind that carries his words without words. 

Just thinking about it made his eyes sting.

Aang loves his friends, his new family. He loves the smiles his whistle-speak puts on their faces—even Zuko’s face, once he joins them. He loves the relaxed atmosphere brought on like a spell as the winds wind around them, too.  

But he hates the pit each lyric digs deeper into his chest. The emptiness consumes him in pieces, and it only grows deeper with each note he sings. Because although he loves what they sow on his new family, his heart always bleeds into his winds those questions that never get answers—and that never will.

/I’m here. Where are you? I’m here. Are you there? I’m right here./

Aang doesn’t stop doing it, even though the silence yawns wider and wider every time. He does it without thinking when he’s alone, on instinct when it feels like his back is facing the void. 

/I’m here./

His shoulders curl to his ears, and he waits for minutes at a time. It’s only when he starts worrying why faces from a lifetime ago aren’t answering him that he remembers. He grips his staff tighter and shuffles away. He kicks the dead leaves even though their crunching screech raked across his ears. Even they are better than silence. He whistles softly between each step.

Sometimes he whistles things that Gyatso often did. Whistle-speak wasn’t as individual as a person’s voice, and if he bent the air just right, he could almost pretend it was his old master’s. He did it just to hear it. Just a familiar security. 

/Oh, there you are. I’ve been looking for you, Soft. I thought I might find you here. Are you alright?/

He keeps doing it even after it loses its ability to make him cry.

The Gaang eventually catches on, but not until after the war. Not until after Appa starts calling for other bison and looking sad, one day leaving them for several weeks and coming home with two other bison. His family had all guessed what Appa’s calls were for, so they weren’t surprised when he came home with friends. 

But Aang had always felt not as alone since Appa was alone with him. And after his buddy comes home with other bison and he hears them ‘talking’ softly to one another late at night when all else is quiet and he is alone in his bed, Aang finds himself whistling a broken tune. Even Momo finds more of his own after searching hard enough.

Now, he was truly alone. And the silence is deafening.

That’s when his new family notices something isn’t right. It gets eerily quiet, and they can’t find him one day. They split and search for him. 

It’s Sokka who finds him. 

He finds Aang sitting on a branch high up in a large, ancient tree. The young Avatar is hugging one of his knees while the other leg dangles, and he is whistling. The whistle is soft and soothing on Sokka’s ears even though the sound somehow carries for miles. 

After a few seconds of whistle-music, Aang stops, waiting expectantly. He swings his dangling leg to tic off the seconds.

Sokka waits to see what the airbender paused for. After a near minute, a bird somewhere deeper in the forest chirps and tweets, not holding a candle to the melodic sounds Aang can make, and after a few seconds, it stops, waiting.

And then Aang whistles again. And then he waits. 

And then the bird sings again. And then it waits.

The back and forth goes on for a while, and Sokka thinks Aang’s gone crazy. 

But then, when next the bird sings and Aang prepares to answer, another bird cuts him off. 

Aang flinches like the newcomer had smacked him in the face. Sokka winces along with him, and Aang hugs his leg a little tighter, hiding the lower half of his face behind his knee. His shoulders curl to his ears. His leg stops swinging. 

The two birds call to each other, singing together, without him. They harmonize like it was the most natural thing in the world, knowing the lyric and rhyme of their shared song so well that they don’t need to take pauses in their duet. They fly further and further away, taking their songs with them, now that they’ve found each other. 

Their chirps fade and die somewhere beyond the mountain, though their last notes echo like footprints left in their wake.

And then it’s quiet. It’s quiet for a while. It’s almost creepily quiet without the birds or Aang making any music. Sokka could’ve sworn he heard his heart beating. Even the wind died, and the trees were all still.

And then, like a beaten animal approaching its master, Aang whistles again, just a few notes. Hardly a song. More like a call. A plea.

His whistle carries loud and far, but just like the birds, it disappears into the mountains.

And then he waits. 

And he waits. 

And he waits.

He waits so long that Sokka starts to shift and sweat. Gravity itself was growing heavier in the quiet.

Aang waits some more.

Sokka’s lungs suddenly feel three sizes too small, and his heart falls somewhere by his stomach. That moment is when he realizes that Aang’s whistles are more than just the melodies of pretty songs. They’re the lyrics as well. 

He knows this because, when next Aang whistles, the sound is wet and choppy as his shoulders shake and he hugs both of his knees to his chest. His lyrics are so raw and broken and desperate that it makes Sokka’s chest cave-in like they were strikes from a metal pole to his sternum. Aang’s whistle was a universal sound, as unmistakable as a smile was for happiness or tears for sadness—a wolf’s howl after being separated from its pack.

/I’m here./

Sokka doesn’t know how Aang wants to mourn since he went out of his way to be alone, so he leaves him to get back to the others. 

And as he leaves, more whistles and long pauses follow behind him, like the mournful wails from the creatures in the sad stories told by tribesmen who’ve been at sea for too long. 

...The group discusses this finding, and Zuko, who studied air nomads in his quest to capture the Avatar, pieces everything together. They are all heartbroken and think back on every time Aang had whistled and how much they liked the sound and how they even sometimes asked him to do it. They all feel horrible. 

But Katara has a plan, and Sokka has the brainpower to make it work. 

So over the next few weeks, Katara and Toph follow close behind Aang whenever he wanders off. They study his songs, and Toph, having the best ears of all of them, can pinpoint almost every note that he makes. When they rejoin the others, Katara makes little ice vases and bends water atop them to emulate the whistles, and Toph is the gauge by which the pitch is corrected. They do this as well as they can for as many notes as they can (also trying to write down Aang’s songs like sheet music, but it is very difficult). 

Once they have enough data, Sokka spends several weeks, as often as he can with Zuko’s assistance whenever the Firelord has time, whittling the sizes, diameters, and depths of the correct notes into a type of ocarina. He makes one for each of them. Every ocarina is about the size of their palm and is given a little personalized flair that Sokka is quite proud of. 

They spend weeks and weeks practicing Aang’s songs. They dodge him and collaborate their schedules like they were planning to invade the Fire Nation while undercover all over again.

And then, one day, they master a few of his songs. They’re not nearly as flowing or clear or beautiful as Aang’s whistle-speak (Zuko said that’s what it was called)—and the sounds don’t carry nearly as far—but they were as good as they could get. It was, after all, impossible to capture the songs of the wind unless you were born of them.

...And not too long after comes the day to surprise him. 

Aang is up in his tree again, singing and waiting, when, from out of nowhere, there comes a response. 

He damn near breaks his face as he falls from his branch to the ground. He slips on the dead leaves and falls three more times as he scrambles to stand. 

Aang’s pulse pounds so loud in his ears that each thump feels like an earthbender somewhere is lifting and dropping a mountain. He has no idea what the whistle-speak said, so he asks, on impulse, one of the same questions he had been singing since he woke up in the South Pole. 

/Are you here?/ 

And he gets four responses.

/I miss you./ 

/I’m here./ 

/Where are you?/ 

/I’m here./ 

And Aang’s heart throws itself so hard and so fast against the cage of his chest that it felt like it might burst out of his torso. 

He chases their sounds, whistle-speaking like he was talking a million miles an hour—

He skids to a stop when he sees them. 

He stares, and they stare back. 

He is still high on adrenaline and frozen in place when he notices the small blanket they were sitting on. And the tea and small fire pit. And the few bits of burning incense—incense that he hadn’t smelled since a lifetime ago.

His confusion is nearing critical mass, but then Katara plays her ocarina. 

And Aang freezes, his breath leaving him like he had just been thrust under icy water.

There’s an awkward pause as he doesn’t respond, but then Sokka plays the same notes that Katara had.

And then Toph.

And then Zuko.

And each lyric plucks Aang’s heart in his chest.

/I’m here./ they all say.

Aang only makes it three steps towards them, his shaking legs not letting him run over and hug them before his first sob breaks him into a kneel. The next brings him to his knees, and he is surrounded by warmth and kind voices just as he learns to breathe again.

And he weeps.

He weeps so hard that even the presence of his past lives at the edge of his mind is somber and sad.

But his family holds him closer, holds him tighter, and they each tell him that he is theirs and that they will never let him go. They won’t let him drown in the silence anymore.

They eventually break apart, and Zuko places something in his hand as Aang chases away the last of his tears. It’s an ocarina. The wood is smooth and the whittling is sloppy, but the focus put into each cut is clear and shakily sanded as carefully as one could. 

It has a messy, squiggled air nomad crest carved onto its front, and on the underside, protected under a thick coating of lacquer, are the names of his family in four sets of handwriting that he recognized. And there’s a message, right beneath, in Sokka’s nearly illegible but very carefully carved font. 

/We’re here./

Aang vaults himself into his big brother’s arms. 

Sokka pats his back and tries to hide from the others how tightly he returns his hug.

There’s tea and more talk, and Toph asks Aang to teach them the ‘whistle-speak’ like she was asking him to share the code to unlock some large safe. Aang just smiles and asks them to teach him since he didn’t know how to work this thing.

He doesn’t need to learn, but he wants to. He wants to learn and have them share as much with him as he with them. He wants them to learn together in that moment.

And so, Aang teaches his family the language of the wind, the whistle-speak of his people.

The silence becomes a passing thought like a fading bad dream. 

And when next Aang is by himself and feels that inky blackness winding around him like chains and sinking into his racing heart like claws, he swallows dryly, scared like he was about to jump from a cliff without his glider, and he whistles.

His lyrics are weak and timid in the night air, but they carry far because they came from an airbender’s lungs. 

/I’m here./

There’s a long beat of silence, but then, in the distance, there comes an answer. It’s incredibly high and scratchy because whoever was making it was blowing their lungs out trying to make the sound travel as far as possible, but it was a response, nonetheless. 

Then there is another, a little further to the left. And then another. And then another, close by. 

/Oh, there you are./ 

/I’m here./ 

/Where are you?/ 

/Looking for you./

Something blossoms in his chest. It’s warm like he’s never felt before. It makes him feel all fuzzy inside. 

Aang whistles again.

/I love you./

He gets four immediate responses—one now much closer than before.

And there are no pauses in their group duet. 

/I love you./ 

/Are okay?/ 

/You okay, Soft./ 

/Find you here./

He is laughing and crying when Katara—the closest whistle—appears at his side, looking concerned. She doesn’t get more than three doting questions in before Aang is hugging her and drowning his jumbles of tearful laughs into her dress. 

The others whistle more—high, fluttering sounds concerned with the lack of Aang’s response. Katara one-handed whistles back a choppy response. 

/I’m here. Soft okay./ 

She hugs him tighter and rubs his back. Aang melts into her until even his legs give. Katara kneels with him on the ground, and she pulls him deeper into the protective circle of her arms, guiding his head to her shoulder and rocking them as she fills his ears with gentle words and soft coos. He is laughing and crying so hard that he can’t speak, and his grip becomes desperate like he thought she would be ripped away from him.

Katara holds him closer. She fists handfuls of his robes like she was silently promising to never let him go. She kisses the dip of his neck and shoulder, and, for the first time, whistles without her ocarina.

/I’m here./

Aang cries harder and for a while before he stops, not because he wanted to or because he had emptied all that he was feeling but because his body had nothing left to give. But by that time, his family had whistled demanding their location, and Katara had vaguely answered one-handedly. Everyone is there as he chokes down his final sobs. He just smiles, now, utterly exhausted. 

They sit on their knees and hug him until their legs tingle numbly. Aang is too exhausted to walk when they get up, so Zuko crouches and makes a ‘come on’ motion with his hands behind his back. 

/I’m here, Soft./

Aang’s smile is tired but blinding as he crawls onto his Sifu Hotman’s back and latches on like a koalapanda. He doesn’t have the strength to form words. When he tries, it’s a gargled hum. 

He whistles. 

/You’re here./

Zuko laughs and pats his leg.

And Aang gets four responses. 

/I love you./ they all say.

Aang closes his eyes and hangs his arms over Zuko’s chest. Katara and Toph hold his fingers in a gentle grip to remind him that they were there. Sokka walks behind him with his hands on Aang’s shoulders—patting and rubbing his back intermittently—, and when Aang teeters dangerously on unconsciousness, Sokka is half-keeping him pushed up on Zuko’s back. 

And on the way back to camp, his family practices a little whistle-speak conversation without their ocarinas. Aang didn’t know they had been practicing such a skill, and he doesn’t question the choppiness in their winds (the sounds are almost scratchy because they were blowing and not bending the air, but he could not give any less of a damn. They curled around him just the same).

Aang gently, tiredly, chimes into their conversation, forcing himself awake, even though he couldn’t even force his eyes open, so he doesn’t miss a single lyric. 

...They keep the whistle-speak their little secret for the longest time—years and years—, but when their kids all learn it with their own ocarinas, their offspring exploit it as much as they can. 

And their collective parents are driven crazy by the antics they accomplish with it. 

Except for Aang.

The once boy now man lets them get away with anything short of a felony. He even plays dumb when Katara demands that he at least try to stop Bumi the next time the toddler tries to raise hell with his sister and little Lin. 

Aang nods his head but crosses his fingers, and he couldn’t care less about that little guilt as he sits on the roof and listens to the whistle-speak of their little ones’ conspiring. Their plotting reminds him so much of him and his friends when he was a boy—the time gray and faded in his mind like a past life—that it nearly pains him from how happy it makes him. 

And then, one night, little Tenzin is awake. And he is alone. 

/I’m here./

His shaky whistle is wet and high-pitched like a choked whimper. 

/I’m here. I’m here./

And Aang is at his side in an instant. He hushes and coos him, easing away his little tears and rocking him in the protective circle of his arms. Small hands curl chubby fingers into his robes like his son thought his father would be ripped away from him. 

Aang smiles and soothes him to the tune of a whistled lullaby, gentle winds curling around them.

/I’m here./

**********************************************

I think imma make a part II because everyone ALWAYS needs more hugs

Bonus Point about whistle-speak

PREVIEW OF PART II: “Are You There?”

PART II: Are You There?

[commajade]

I have a bit of a musical inquiry:

My friend said Bad Love is outdated, came out too late, he would like it if it came out a few years earlier. Madonna (Luna), to you, felt a little outdated, but still fun.

What makes a song outdated if it's purposefully retro, as Bad Love demonstrates? What about the composition of Madonna makes that one outdated, bc I thought it felt a lil' fresh, if a bit strange.

with pop music whether u like a song or not and whether u think it's fresh or outdated is in the immediate indescribable feeling u get from the overall sound, usually an opinion formed in the first 3 seconds of the song. but this split second feeling is evoked by the accumulation of so many individual choices that the writers producers composers and artists of the song made on purpose to go for a certain feeling and all of that is informed by trends. bad love by key and madonna by luna are actually pretty similar because they're both from second gen sm groups famous for talent and they're both retro tracks but both of them were making personal statements and weren't prompted by the trend to make the retro song. for luna she left sm and this is her first music release in years and she said she didn't almost consider herself a singer anymore but was moved to make music again by this song demo. and for key he's been dreaming of this retro space concept for 14 years because it's full of everything he loves and that when he heard this demo he had to make it his. so the original composers were both influenced by the retro trend but luna made it a personal statement and key already had his own idea of what retro sounds like and found the song that fit that for him.

i love luna and i love the song madonna and i'm extremely happy that she's back and the sound sounds very true to herself which is rooted in 2000s/early 2010s western pop and second to third gen kpop. and it's one of those self-confidence be yourself songs and she's so talented that the cheesiness of it all becomes a benefit to it, it's full of energy and feeling even as i'm a little cringe at it. luna is a pop diva through and through and the opening of madonna is 2000s pop diva style, piano and guitar strums and dramatic belted opening. and then the beat drops and we're in second gen kpop/late 2000s western pop. the melodic topline for the verse is monotone sing talking like snsd or boa or idk kara would've done that in 2010 esp the way the tone goes up at the end of the lines. and the prechorus is these pop diva swelling harmonies that end a little too soon and the chorus is a big western singalong type tune. catchy and kinda emotional but the chord progression is extremely basic and the synths aren't anything special they're not even particularly retro it's the standard kpop "90s drumtrack" that makes it a retro song. also the slang is a little outdated as well and "on fleek" is both cringey and a little racist. the whole song is a 50/50 mix of early 2010s american pop and 2010s kpop. the gorgeous rnb and acapella style backing vocals she layers is the best part of the song. it could've been the "madonna madonna madonna" voice sample(?) in the beat but the lyric writing for that postchorus is a little grating to me. there's a sparkling classic feeling and talent oozing from it because it's a good song and it's luna but it's obviously way lower budget than an sm soloist would be from lyric writing to mv to production and no one involved is super on trend or trying to be cutting edge, luna did what she wanted to do and she did it very well.

on the other hand, ur friend can fucking fight me bad love is a masterpiece. key is a top sm star approaching unprecedented heights in his career both as a musician with shinee's huge post-hiatus cb promotions and his variety career. he's extremely industry savvy with keen and specific taste and always has been, and he micromanaged the fuck out of this cb to make it as authentic to himself and his own taste as possible and the result is a timeless 80s inspired pop track like hologram and power. it literally feels like all these kpop groups have been playing at retro with a superficial retro gimmick in the songs like the 90s drumtrack and vaguely 80s synths but bad love feels like it just dropped in an alternate universe 80s mtv like the synths are REAL 80s the drumtrack is REAL 80s the production is slick and polished and sophisticated the song is crazy ambitious and pulled off exceptionally well. i've seen a lot of korean people talk about how luxurious and sophisticated and skillful the whole thing feels, especially the lyric writing. the alien/spaceships sounding synths are SO tasteful and fitting and fun like every choice in this song was micromanaged by someone that's a genius at tracking trends but is choosing to abandon the need to follow them. the melodic topline is a work of art. the transitions are seamless. it's just perfectly made. and he's belting it like its a power ballad the whole time but with incredible diction and detail. it's not risky or experimental at all and it's also not at all a trendy kpop song it's just a thing of its own there is literally not a song that it occurs to compare it too but also it's not a weird or unexpected sound at all. it's not kpop it's not recent western pop it's genuinely an 80s style track from the chord progression to vocal style but with cutting edge synths and expert lyric writing like it's kenzie and adrian mckinnon it's obviously gonna be good.