#and I’m taking another trip this October that’s gonna be ~impossible~ to work around

[ilguna]

Ughhhh not to spoil what I wanted to do in October but I had this whole thing planned out but I can’t start because it’s too late to post in time before Halloween. Has something to do w what I did last year.

[taylizmasterpost]

Reconciliation and Late-Stage Tayliz (September 2014 - Present)

Despite not seeing each other for a while, Taylor and Liz clearly still hold a soft spot in each other’s hearts.

During the Secret Sessions for 1989 in Nashville, fans took pictures in Taylor’s home, and you can clearly see she has photos from Charleston displayed:

When it came time to mend the fences between Taylor and Liz, Claire Callaway was the one who ended up doing it:

2 October 2014 - Claire tweets a TBT to the Charleston trip. Liz responds to it:

That seems to get the ball rolling, because when Taylor drops Out of the Woods as a single, this happens:

14 October 2014 - Taylor and Liz tweet about how much they miss each other:

Then, when Taylor walks the runaway with Karlie at the VSFS, this happens:

Taylor is with Karlie at the time, and obviously nothing romantic is happening on Liz’s end either, because...

20 December 2014 - Liz gets engaged to Bryan Brown and has dinner with friends:

16 February 2015 - Liz tweets that Taylor is badass

8 April 2016 - Liz makes this gay post on Facebook that I’d like to think is a response to Style, since the MV had come out a few months before:

And Liz seems to have found a group of gay friends...

Although, that could just be a typo.

15 July 2015 - Liz posts on Facebook that “Thanks to some really talented friends, I got to record something beautiful today. Can’t wait to share this one.” The picture she attaches definitely looks like Taylor:

Liz also tweets this:

We do NOT know where Taylor was that day. However, she performed in DC on the 1989 tour on the 14th and was papped in NYC on the 16th so it’s not impossible she was in Nashville working on something with Liz. Unfortunately, whatever they worked on has yet to surface (unless you subscribe to the theory that Liz is WB...)

3 August 2015 - Shawn Brooks releases a song called Matter of Time that was written sometime in 2014 by Liz.

Notable lyrics include:

She’s got me lovestruck, crazy Going out of my mind She’s got me lovestruck, crazy But sooner or later, she’s gonna be mine It’s just a matter of time

Don’t know what this means for Liz or TayLiz, since Liz has been with Bryan since early 2013 at the latest, but this is very gay and fun.

27 August 2015 - Thirst tweet:

31 August 2015 - Liz calls Taylor sexy in response to the Wildest Dreams MV:

15 October 2015 - Liz tweets about Better Than Revenge:

28 October 2015 -  Liz quote tweets Taylor about OOTW acoustic:

11 November 2015 - Liz responds to Caitlin’s tweet tagging Taylor about nostalgia:

9 December 2015 - Liz congratulates Taylor on her Grammy noms:

13 December 2015 - Taylor’s birthday. Liz wishes her HBD:

29 January 2016 - Liz says her favorite song from 1989 is This Love:

15 February 2016 - Liz and Taylor both attend UMG’s Grammys afterparty at the Ace Hotel Theater :

26 February 2016 - Liz posts a TBT to Charleston:

16 April 2016 - Liz and Taylor both attend Coachella:

6 May 2016 - Liz tweets about This Love:

10 May 2016 - Liz possibly writes STFU and Hold Me (likely about Bryan, since he’s out on tour with the woman he’s going to leave Liz for, signaling to me that their relationship is on the fritz):

4 August 2016 - Liz posts a throwback to the Vogue photoshoot at the Bowery.

3 September 2016 - Liz and Bryan’s last interaction on Twitter:

(Bryan had been on tour with Jillian -- who he’d later marry -- and tweeting at her all summer, much more than he’d been tweeting with Liz). It’s important to note the way their relationship ended for when we start studying who Liz’s songs are about.

26 November 2016 - Liz tweets about Clean, possibly signaling her and Bryan have broken up by this point:

13 December 2016 - Liz wishes Taylor happy birthday with a post about Charleston (captions vary based on site). This also signals to me that her and Bryan are over, since she’s reminiscing on Taylor picking her up off the ground after her breakup with Jason:

11 July 2017 - Liz tells a fan that You Are In Love and All Too Well are her favorite songs from 1989 and Red (guess her favorite song is no longer This Love…):

11 August 2017 - Liz releases STFU and Hold Me:

This MV has a LOT of parallels to the IKYWT video. The lyrics talk about “staring with a bang” (”took off faster than a green light go”?), and reckless abandon (”this path is reckless”). MV parallels are as follows (thank you @mercuryonparklane​ for all the help finding this):

(notice the key necklace?)

So, either Liz is lowkey ripping off Taylor’s work or she’s trying to signal that she was the muse for IKYWT. However, considering Liz is deliberately trying to keep her image separate from Taylor, it doesn’t make any sense that she would try and rip her off. Of course, it could just be a big coincidence...

30 September 2017 - In an interview with The Young Folks, Liz says that STFU and Hold Me is about “getting to that point in a relationship where you’re sick of going around and around talking about the same issue with your partner and it’s time to wave the white flag,” Huett says. “We’ve all been there.”

Of the lyrics “I’m coming from a line of problems / I was born and I became a product” Liz says “I’m not exactly the most polished person. I’d rather be real than perfect and sometimes that means I say things that make people uncomfortable or act out in relationships and test limits, etc… I’m an honest mess but I believe I can and should be loved in light of that. :)”

I still think this song was written about the end of her relationship with Bryan, but it’s still interesting to see how Liz describes herself in relationships.

27 October 2017 - Liz releases H8U

This is another song that I think was written about Bryan. The lyrics reference taking another woman to a Tom Petty concert (Liz LOVES Tom Petty) and generally moving on quickly with another woman, which seems apt for the Bryan/Jillian situation going on.

HOWEVER, the lyrics also reference “our first date two years ago,” which doesn’t make any sense, since Liz and Bryan didn’t break up until 2016 and were together since early 2013. So it could maybe be lyrically about Taylor.

I do think the MV makes a deliberate Taylor reference, though, with the interrupting the wedding scene. Taylor famously had Liz dress as the Bridezilla on the Speak Now album art:

And, at the end of the H8U MV, Liz DOES kiss the blonde bride on the mouth after interrupting her wedding... which is... INTERESTING (especially since Liz is dressed in full RED the whole MV):

I don’t think it’s a stretch to presume Liz could’ve reversed their roles here. IDK.

9 November 2017 - Liz makes her “H8U, love these” playlist on Spotify, which features All Too Well.

1 November 2017 - Liz obsesses over Reputation:

15 November 2017 - Taylor posts an IG story with photos of her Liz and Caitlin in Australia in the background:

13 December 2017 - Liz wishes Taylor happy birthday:

20 December 2017 - In a now deleted tweet Liz obsesses over New Year’s Day

6 April 2018 - Liz releases Don’t LV U Anymore. Here are some interesting lyrics:

I don't steal your chapstick anymore / Don't wake up to your kiss anymore / And I don't have a washer and dryer full of guitar picks anymore / 'Cause you don't come over to my place anymore / Don't flirt with my roommate anymore / And I don't run to your friends / To get them on my side when we fight anymore / And I never say it / I keep it inside / But maybe I'm wasted / Or maybe it's time to get this off my chest, babe / ... / I don't love you anymore / But I don't love you any less / I don't play you my songs anymore / To see if they're good anymore / You don't tell me your secrets / 'Cause you don't know if I keep them to myself anymore / I don't go to church anymore / Don't know what to believe anymore / And I don't remember the beat of your heart / The smell of your car anymore / ... / Two years and counting / Still got all this weight on my chest / Two years and counting / And I can't remember what I can't forget

Based on the “two years and counting” line, as well as the line about a washer and dryer of guitar picks, I’m inclined to believe this is another song about Bryan. 

However, it is a really similar sentiment to that Civil Wars song Liz posted back when her and Taylor first ended things, and the line about running to get friends on a side when fighting is very similar to the “you go talk to your friends, talk to my friends talk to me” in WANEGBT and the image in Battle/Let’s Go of all their friends standing around watching them fight. Could go either way.

9 April 2018 - Liz reposts a Facebook post announcing Dammit that implies it was written a while ago. But we already knew that.

19 May 2018 - Reputation in Pasadena. Liz attends. Surprise Song: All Too Well. Camila Cabello is the opening act.  

27 May 2018 - Liz gives an interview at Bottlerock festival where she says that Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus is a song she used to get over someone (likely Bryan). She also says Havana was the song she last had stuck in her head -- probably because Camila performed it at Taylor’s show the previous week.

14 March 2019 - Liz makes a happy birthday post for Antoni (who’s dating her friend Trace):

27 April 2019 - Bryan and Jillian get married:

3 May 2019 - Liz releases Nothing Personal:

This feels like DIRECT BRYAN SHADE, since she released it right after his wedding. However, you definitely could also read it as being about being let go from The Agency.

Early May 2019 - Taylor shoots YNTCD. Her and Antoni bond over their love of The National (keep in mind Taylor would end up asking a member of the National to work on exile with her):

17 June 2019 - Liz likes Taylor’s post announcing YNTCD is out:

26 June 2019 - Liz posts on IG a video of unreleased song “One of These Days” with the caption “i’m emo” Lyrics:

One of these days I’ll rise above the blue / One of these days when I get sober too / I’ll be flying high you know / Gonna say I told you so / One of these days I’ll rise above the blue / The stars will align / My heart will come back to life / I won’t have to cry anymore / Someday soon, when I / When I get over you / One of these nights I’m gonna get some sleep / One of these nights you won’t be in my dreams / I will lay this love to rest / I will miss you in this bed / One of these nights I’m gonna get some sleep / The stars will align / My heart will come back to life / I won't have to cry anymore / Someday soon, someday / When I get over you

More evidence that Liz does, indeed, struggle with the things that Reddit post suggested.

14 August 2019 - Liz posts on IG a video of an unreleased song called “I Wanted It to Be You” with the caption “I really did” and a red rose emoji. Lyrics:

I’ll find someone else to take your place / In no time at all I’ll be okay / So you don’t have to say it babe / We don’t have to cry / ‘Cause I know you got shit to do / And baby so do I / I’ll find someone else to take your place, hey / I wanted it to be you I’m closing down the bar with / I wanted it to be you I’m fighting in the car with / Who I could push away / Come back and beg to stay / Ooh, I wanted it, I wanted it, I wanted it / I wanted it to be you

Likely for Bryan BUT maybe a red rose grew up out of frozen ground with no one around to tweet it (lol I’m joking the lakes is very likely not about Liz).

22 August 2019 - Taylor releases the Lover MV, featuring the “breakable heaven” board game:

In the bottom left corner, you can spot a blue 0527. May 27th is Liz’s birthday. What does this mean? I don’t know. I absolutely do not know, but whatever it is is driving me INSANE.

28 August 2019 - Liz posts on Twitter a screenshot of her listening to Cornelia Street:

16 October 2019 - Liz comments on a fan’s video of Taylor performing at the NPR Tiny Desk concert saying “she cute”:

19 November 2019 - Liz says on IG that her favorite songs from Lover are The Archer and Cornelia Street:

22 November 2019 - Liz releases That’s What You Get. This is the one late-stage Liz song that I FULLY BELIEVE is about TayLiz due to a few very specific lyric parallels:

“That’s what you get when you recklessly fall in love” >> “This path is reckless” from Treacherous

“That’s what you get for keeping your armor up” >> “You come around and the armor falls” from State of Grace >> “I would put my armor down if you said you’d rather love than fight” from Story of Us.

“And all your friends are lining up to hate me” >> “You go talk to your friends talk to my friends talk to me” from WANEGBT >> “First shot’s fired everybody’s gathered around” from Battle >> “I can't run to your friends anymore / To get them on my side when we fight anymore” from Don’t LV U Anymore.

It also, just from an outside perspective, doesn’t make any sense for Liz to write a breakup song about Bryan blaming herself when it seems very clear to me that they broke up because Bryan wanted to be with Jillian instead. That’s not her fault. So either this is about another breakup (I’d guess Taylor, based on the lyric parallels), or she’s just very very self-loathing and won’t let herself think it’s Bryan’s fault (which both H8U and Nothing Personal don’t suggest to me).

25 November 2016 - Liz posts a video on her IG story about Taylor at the VMAs.

6 December 2019 - Liz talks about That’s What You get with Earmilk and gives an interesting quote: 

Huett explains, “This song is about facing myself after a brutal season of running from it... I made a self-destructive choice that hurt someone I really value. The angle of the chorus is really sort of a letter to me after that first long look in the mirror. It SUCKED. However, in owning my shit (and sharing this song) my hope is that listeners might apply the sad lesson without having to learn the hard way, or, if they’ve ever found themselves in the regretful position I was once in, I hope this song can at least make them feel less alone."

This is SO DIFFERENT fro mhow her relationship with Bryan ended, but matches up so well with Liz getting help and owning her shit after spiraling in 2012.

24 July 2020 - Folklore drops. Two of the songs are written by the mysterious William Bowery. One of those songs is Betty -- a popular nickname for Elizabeth. Liz tweets at Taylor about the 1 because all of Taylor’s exes wanna think that song is about them.

So, IN CONCLUSION: Liz got help and worked through her shit and they’re on good terms now. They were possibly working on something together in 2015, although that never saw the light of day as far as we know. Liz seems to maybe be referencing Taylor in her music and MVs, but there’s no way to know for sure. Better Than Revenge on the Speak Now Tour was an iconic moment of sapphic energy, and maybe, just maybe, when Taylor re-records her masters, Liz will sing backup for her again.

Thanks for reading!

[presumenothing]

fmab (+03) fic masterlist

because even i’m starting to lose track of what i’ve posted so far. all writing is eventually crossposted to ao3, individual tumblr posts linked below the cut because it’s lengthy as hell 

(this is like 85% post-promised day fic with the occasional canon-divergence au for flavour, ft lots of resembool kids, riza, and roy. basically gen with near-zero ship content because that’s how i roll)

update: total wordcount has now broken 20k 25k 30k 35k 40k 45k(!!!!) 

update 2: now with crumbs of 03 content because yeehaw

april

“Actually, Winry – can you do something for me?” 

“Lieutenant. Would you ever consider learning alchemy?”

“I guess I just – want to figure out who I am. Me, not the Fullmetal Alchemist.”

Besides, the scars on his palms have been – pardon his language – hurting like a bitch ever since he woke to this gloomy weather this morning.

Ishval had given him plenty of practice at that soldier’s art of taking even the lightest of naps whenever circumstances permitted.

[au] Ed has never had reason to hate how swiftly his mind works, not until now.

It’s just simple clerical error that leads to Edward Elric retaining his title and pay as a State Alchemist, even after the Promised Day. No, really.

may

He’s just tired, not about to collapse.

These days Ed’s journals are actual proper travelogues, no coded shit or anything.

[au] It doesn’t even start until after they arrive in Resembool. 

(can’t have been the more socially-adjusted brother, obviously.)

[au] “I don’t,” Ed bites out, “know any damn alchemists.”

Maes raises an eyebrow and sloshes his near-empty cup pointedly. 

august

[wip] “Is this about Al, or you?”

“–of course I know these aren’t the most efficient routes!”

Ed seriously considers dyeing his hair more than once, in the After.

Winry only needs a glimpse of red to know what it must be.

Rush Valley talks. Winry listens.

Much as Al loves his brother to itty-bitty-and-very-shouty pieces,

The first time someone mistakes Al for the Fullmetal Alchemist, 

+ The thing is, Al gets it.  

“Brother told me that you told him about Ishval,” Alphonse says.

It’s an honest observation – as honest as he can ever get, at least –

[au] In another world, she is never named the Hawk’s Eye.

“Somehow I doubt your place is much better, sir.”

would it be the most impossible thing to have happened to the Elrics?

“I can’t believe he didn’t tell us,” Ed growls,

a minimum age limit on all candidates for the State Alchemist exam.

“There’s gotta be a shark somewhere around.”

The Elrics make transmuting without circles look easy.

The problem, if Riza is to put it into words,

Al completely botches the first dozen or so transmutations

(Ed? Talking about automail? Over food?)

[au] in the end it’s Al who really takes after their father.

“Fullmetal realising his celebrity status? Woe betide us,”

The tea is actually well-made, first of all, not burnt 

“Not like– I mean, personal about me, not you!” 

[au] “Huh,” Al says.

Still less work than getting entropy-murdered by Olivier, he decides.

[au] It’s not every dead person that he sees.

[au] They weren’t even meant to stop in Resembool.

Jean just wants to make one thing – okay, a few things – very clear.

Ed knows this firsthand from too much Winry exposure.

The lump on the couch lets out a string of wholly intelligible noises.

september

“Take me out to dinner,” Riza says.

“We’re not even in Amestris, though.”

[au] Riza had been angry too, when she had let herself be, but hers is a cold ire, locked beneath glaciers and the burn of frostbite. Wrath makes no such pretences.

[outline] But in the case of Fullmetal – more specifically in the case of Fullmetal and Youswell – Roy mostly wishes he could unknow things.

[au] Roy forces enough air into his lungs to get the words out. “You’re dead.”

[outline…?] winry’s gonna like this, al says.

Alphonse flaps a hand. “Oh, because it’s complete bullshit.”

“Y’know, you really aren’t that tall, Brother.”

getting to finally keep a cat hadn’t been very high on his list of priorities.

[au] “Edward. Get out of here, take Envy with you.”

[wtnv au] “Welcome to Resembool.” 

october

just because you’re immortal doesn’t mean you can’t die from food poisoning, young man.

[au snippet] It’s sort of a belief, in the eastern parts of Amestris,

[03] Al’s hug is the first real thing he’s felt in years.

[03] Never thought you were, Ed retorts lightly, and lets Alfons turn away with a huff.

“When you said to come visit you in Rush Valley this is not what I was expecting!”

(and jeez, only Ed would manage to make it necessary to keep a kit on hand for actual minor-to-major catastrophes during a semi-honeymoon trip)

november

[03] Except the sight of his brother only serves to make everything worse, for once.

[au] The worst thing about this is that it’s not even equivalent. 

[au] “You wanna know why? The real reason, not the quantum bullshit I fed Mustang.” (+ more in the tag)

[snippet] And just for that I won’t be leaving Wrath any.

“I shall finally exact the decisive vengeance that I have always dreamed of,” Scar booms right back before Armstrong can even ask, 

Al knows from the moment he wakes up that it’s going to be a good day.

[snippets] The real disaster comes when Ed learns how to weaponise his height.

[03 au] The man in the brown overcoat. That’s all anyone ever seems able to recall of Edward.

[au] They say the Elric house is haunted. Of course. Empty houses are always haunted.

Of course, this assumes that said person is an alchemist of some ability, and that said life has been one of some loss and strife. 

“Are you alright? Nod for yes, swear at me for no.”

from the intervening pause he surmises Riza is jotting something down on the notepad she keeps by the phone.

She’s been looking forward to the day when her hair finally gets long enough to – well, no longer be short.

“Remind me of this the next time I decide to trust Ling any further than I can throw him.” ( + xing tag)

december

Ed’s almost twenty when he realises that Hawkeye must’ve been around his age when she was deployed to Ishval.

[au] At least this far out from Amestris Ed could mostly brush the first one off as an interplanetary translation fuckup.

bonus textposts and assorted nonsense

the Better Alchemist™️

on the topic of ed’s scrawl

al, defender of cat

*csi miami theme but with cats*

on the topic of flat affect + 200000% turbo by default

on the topic of pain tolerance + further thoughts

ed @ mustang’s problem solving skills

ok but about liore…

terrible TERRIBLE ideas (three of them)

putting the SHORT in SHORT-TEMPERED

clap reflex

you’re retired, ed, r e t i r e d

and by “ambidextrous” i mean “confused”

protip: you can’t

YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAH (aka csi miami theme, riza redux)

feral ducklings, the continuation(??)

does THIS count as elric telepathy

honestly, y’all

too much fire?? sounds fake

on the topic of academia

sometimes the stars align

on the topic of riza hawkeye

terrible idea, berthold version

immortal troubles

THE CHURCH OF EDWARD ELRIC

PRIDE (& WRATH): one, two, three (4koma)

objectively the worst post-cos timeline

serious stuff: fma drama cd, daughter of dusk

asks: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 aka izumi pwns roy, 9 aka not coffeeshop au, 10 aka legalities, 11 aka autograph woes

[averyrogers83writes]

Destiny

Title: Destiny Authors:  @endrega23  & @averyrogers83 Warnings: Fluffiness Rating: General Pairing: WinterHawk: Bucky Barnes/Clint Barton Summary: Clint is a sex-repulsed asexual - he falls fast for people, but since he doesn't want to have sex with them, they sooner or later leave him, because those just seem to be the kinds of people Clint would find for himself. Bucky on the other hand has a hard time falling in love with anyone and finds he’d much have a “friends with benefits” setup with Nat then to go out and find someone. That is until Nat knocks some sense into him and makes him realize something she’s known for a long time.   Words: 2904 A/N: This is a collaboration between @averyrogers83writes and @endrega23 for the Marvellous Ace Valentine’s Collab Link: Here

@kimmycup @one-crazy-writer @shield-agent78 @hotoffthepressfics @chuuulip @buckysforeverprincess @thorfanficwriter @the-soulofdevil 

There were three things Clint couldn’t function without. Coffee, pizza, and pretty much Bucky. Clinton Francis Barton, AKA Hawkeye, was a mess when Bucky wasn’t around. On his own during his down time he could be a basic basket case. He was like a kid with ADHD on steroids. It was probably all the coffee in his system. If he could, Clint would put an IV filled with coffee straight into his veins. It’s pretty much why Bucky often made two mugs of coffee before he left the apartment and would meet up with Clint on their way to work.  

Bucky sat down on his couch, looking out across the street through the very conveniently placed window. On the other side, he could just see into another apartment: Clint’s, who for some reason was extremely animated as he talked to Lucky. Bucky shook his head fondly. He never knew what Clint was up to at any given moment, but whatever it was, he could be sure to be amused and and exasperated.

His phone pinged. Bucky glanced down reflexively and his heart stopped for a moment.

Nat - 1:1

Any plans for Valentine’s, yet? I’m excited to see what you come up with this year ;)

Shit, Valentine’s was next week, wasn’t it? He needed to figure out what to do for Nat. She was hard to come up with ideas for. In fact he really couldn’t remember what he did for her last year for Valentine’s Day, but either way it was only right to do something nice for her.

Just as he was scrolling through his phone for ideas, there was a persistent pounding at the door.

“Alright, hold your horses, I’m coming!” he called out He reluctantly got up from the couch and opened the door without looking up from his phone. He knew it was Clint - no one else knocked quite so enthusiastically.  

“Bucky, dude, I need your help.” Clint pushed his way past Bucky, and Bucky looked up. Clint sounded… frantic, somehow.

“What is it this time? Please tell me you didn’t find another cat for me to adopt. Alpine is more than enough for me, thank you very much.”

“No,” Clint shook his head, practically jumping on his toes. He didn’t even rise to Bucky admitting to liking Alpine. What the hell? “I’ve found the one.”

“The one what?” Bucky asked, but damn he knew what the answer was gonna be. Not again.

“You know..the one I’m going to spend the rest of my life with. The one I’m going to marry.”

Bucky sighed. “Yep, exactly what he thought”. Being Clint’s best friend came with some exclusivities, mainly being privy to how chaotic his love life could be. Bucky knew everyone Clint was ever involved with because it seemed like he was with a new partner constantly. When Clint fell, he fell hard, only to break up with them a month or two later. All through college it was the same thing. Clint didn’t fall in love with someone because of what they offered physically, but more emotionally.  It’s one of the things that Bucky and Clint had in common.

That wasn’t the only thing they shared, though. Clint’s dad messed him up so badly that the poor kid ended up partially deaf in one ear after a beating. After that Clint swore that he’d find a way to get out and he did. Bucky’s dad was an alcoholic that was more mentally abusive than physically, but he was known to toss Bucky around a time or two. It sucked that their shitty childhoods are what they had in common, but it allowed them to understand each other more where others couldn’t.

“Yeah? And what makes this one different?”

“She’s hot, smart, makes gravity her bitch - I mean have you seen her dance moves? I just know she’s the one for me and I need your help to plan the perfect Valentine’s date. I’m going to ask her to marry me.” Clint shrugged, and Bucky pinched his nose. He could feel he was going to give in. “Please, dude, you’re my best friend and I really need your help on this one. I don’t want to screw this up.”

Bucky sighed again. How could he deny his best friend his assistance? Besides, maybe they could help each other out in trying to figure out the best dates.

“Fine. I’ll help you, but you’ve got to help me with setting something up for Nat.”

“Are you two finally getting serious?”

Bucky just grunted. Where Clint could fall in love with someone quickly, Bucky found it hard to fall in love. He fantasized about it, don’t get him wrong - but finding someone? So far, it really seemed impossible. It was easier to find someone that he didn’t mind hanging out and occasionally having sex with, but anything long-term was nothing more than a dream and the sex - well. He didn’t really care if the relationship was physical at all, but it certainly seemed like the only kind of intimacy he could get. So for the majority of the time he would hook up with Nat.

Natasha was another one of their long time friends. Where Nat and Clint would often partner up on projects, Bucky would be the one to help make their vision a reality. It was what made the three of them such great friends. It was also why Nat and Bucky were so good for each other. They both pretty much wanted the same thing: a friends with benefits situation where there was no real commitment to each other, just an occasion meet up for sex.

The rest of the day the two spent throwing ideas back and forth on what to do. The ideas went from the simple to the down right over the top. Bucky settled for a more simple route for Nat. She wasn’t one that liked frills and fancy stuff so a nice dinner and maybe some flowers would be enough.

Clint, on the other hand, wanted it to be a night Jessica would never forget. So Bucky helped make reservations at one of the most expensive and hard to get into restaurants in the city. Lucky for them they knew someone that could get them a table. Of course then he had to hire a violinist down to the best wine and champagne. But the more Clint talked about how Jessica was the one, the more Bucky felt agitated. He tried to help with getting the reservations set up or the flowers ordered and just found himself getting frustrated faster.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to or liked helping Clint, but the longer he had to deal with it, the shorter his fuse got. When Clint asked Bucky to go with him to the jeweler to help pick out the perfect ring, Bucky finally felt close to breaking. But it wasn’t like he really had a reason to be frustrated, right? Clint would do the same for him. So he made himself take a few deep breaths and went.

-------------------------------------------

The next day Nat invited him to the new Star Wars movie at the mall. The movie was fun (though Bucky would always swear by Star Trek), but what was really worth it was their usual sushi place next to the theater.

Bucky wasn’t quite in the mood, though. He was quiet, he knew - he just didn’t feel like talking.  He could feel Nat’s eyes on him, studying him, and he knew it would bite him in the ass, but…

“James.”

Bucky grunted.

“Do not do this with me,” Nat poked at him with her toe. “You are better than this.”

Bucky glanced at Nat and shrugged. “Am I though?”

“James, what is this?” Nat frowned and set her bowl down. “I thought we were over this. What brought it up?”

Bucky let his head fall back.

“Just… I don’t know, Nat. Clint is getting married and all I can feel is annoyed. It’s not like him getting married is so rare,” Bucky waved a hand in the air. “This is the third time I can remember, and you’ve known him longer. Just.” He rolled his head over to look at Nat. “Why can’t I be happy for him?”

Natasha blinked. "James…” she trailed off, then took a harder look at him. “Please tell me you’re just playing ignorant. Dummy, you're in love with Clint."

"What?" Bucky blinked. "I'm not... What?

He couldn't be, what was Natasha even talking about? Clint was his best friend. Sure, they hung out all the time, but it wasn't romantic. Was it? Noo, no way. It wasn't.

"James Buchanan Barnes." Natasha glared at him. Shit, full named? "Tell me you knew that.

"Nat, come on," Bucky pleaded, his eyes going wider. It couldn't be, right? "You're joking, right? Clint is my best friend, I'm not in love with him.

Natasha stared at him. "You're not kidding.

"Uhm..."

"I can't.” Natasha shook her head. “Just... Think a bit about it. I'm going to get ice cream.

"Rude," Bucky muttered to Natasha's departing back. Leaving him in an emotional crisis and getting ice cream without him? Rude. He should be the one getting the ice cream.

But Natasha couldn't be right, right?

October, 2014

Bucky stared out of his window. If he stood just so, he could see into Clint’s apartment on the other side of the street. Of course, Clint could also see into his, but where that would have bothered him with anyone else, with Clint, it was fine. Clint was fine.

Except right at that moment, Clint wasn’t right, because just as Bucky was preparing to turn away and settle in for his solo night in, Clint tripped right in the narrow strip Bucky could see. Probably over Lucky. The poor dog always got in Clint’s way whenever Clint was getting ready for a date, and really, Bucky couldn’t blame him. He often had the urge to trip Clint up, just so he couldn’t leave on his newest date.

Which was stupid. Clint was an adult, and they’ve known each other long enough that Bucky knew Clint didn’t appreciate others directing his life for him. So Bucky wouldn’t, really. Clint had the right to go on date after date, fall for person after person, and every time he got dumped, Bucky and Natasha would be there with ice cream. Because that’s what friends were for.

Clint tripped right in that narrow strip again, and Bucky sighed. Maybe he should go rescue Clint from Lucky. Maybe Alpine wouldn’t even mind, and that way, at least he’d have a cuddle buddy, even without Clint.

August, 2015

“Hey!” Clint shouted as he pushed open Bucky’s door. “You ready for our pizza night in?” Bucky sighed. “In the kitchen!” he called back. “You know, I distinctly remember locking the door.” “Oops?” Clint grinned at him from the kitchen doorway. “What are you making?” Bucky sighed again, but he couldn’t stop the smile curling his lips. “Just some salad. Natasha threatened again to force-feed you greens, thought I would preempt it.” “Awww, you’re my hero,” Clint fluttered his eyelids, and something in Bucky’s chest squeezed. “Yeah, well,” he said brusquely to cover it up, and pointed at the spare chopping board he set up. “Get chopping. The onions are yours.” “Aw, onions, no,” Clint complained, but obediently stepped up to the board. “Do you have to make me cry?” Only fair, Bucky thought, but bit his tongue before it slipped out. Where the hell did that even come from?

December, 2015

“Come on, Clint!” Bucky shouted to the kitchen, twisting impatiently. “The episode is starting!” “Shit!” Clint cursed, and something crashed. “I’m fine, don’t have to come!” “Sure you are, buddy,” Bucky muttered to himself. The day Clint would be fine in the kitchen was the day they married. Instead, he twisted back to look at the TV, playing the intro of Dog Cops. Why Clint loved that series, he’d never understand, but it made Clint happy so it didn’t much matter. “I’m here!” Clint announced and plopped down next to Bucky. “I think Alpine ate the chicken wings. Sorry.” “Well, whatever,” Bucky grumbled. “Come here.” “Yes, sir,” Clint grinned, and threw his head down on Bucky’s lap. “You’ll have to feed me, I can’t reach the popcorn this way.” “Oh no,” Bucky deadpanned, but obediently reached out to grab a fistful of popcorn. “Now shush.” He dropped the fistful into Clint’s open mouth. Clint grinned up at him, cheeky, but his mouth was full so Bucky just shoved his face to look at the TV. “Dog Cops. Now.”

As if on cue, the intro ended, and then suddenly Clint wasn’t that interested in annoying him anymore.

“Aww, I didn’t miss it!” Clint crowed from behind the popcorn in his mouth. “Yeah, dummy,” Bucky snorted, and sank his hand into Clint’s hair. Really, getting to       pet Clint might be his favorite part of watch parties.

“Oh, shit,” Bucky whispered. “I’m in love with Clint Barton.”

“What?” a voice came from behind him, and Bucky turned, confused.

“Jessica?”

“Yeah, dummy,” Jessica frowned at him from the door to the sushi place. “What did   you just say? Because to me it sounds like you just professed love to my boyfriend.”

“Oh shit,” Bucky cursed. Jessica was staring at him expectantly, but Bucky’s mind was blank. He could feel his heart start to race and his breath coming shorter. He couldn’t believe that he said that out loud, for fuck’s sake.

Jessica sighed. “It’s true, isn’t it? You know, I should thank you. You made things so much easier.”

“What?” Bucky frowned.

“Don’t you worry your pretty head about it.” Jessica smiled tightly and turned.

“What? Jessica…!” Bucky finally sprang into motion, but it was too late; Jessica was gone.

What the hell had she been talking about?

------------------------------------------

Bucky was going out of his mind. He wasn’t able to find Jessica in the mall, and she wouldn’t answer her phone. He wasn’t able to find Nat, either, and when he called her, she just laughed at him and hung up. Honestly, he should just call Clint, but…

But he was a coward. What if Jessica told Clint? What if Clint now hated Bucky? There was no way Clint felt the same way - Bucky knew what Clint in love looked like. It came quick, it was flaming, and it was over just as fast. They’ve known each other for years, now. He should just go to sleep, right? He had work in the morning. But when he looked around the apartment, it was… empty. Specifically, it had a Clint-shaped void gaping at the center. Well, that wasn’t going to change. He might as well get used to… Loud banging on his door interrupted Bucky’s train of thought. What the hell? He rushed to open the door before the banging woke the whole building. “Clint?” Shit, Clint looked awful.

“Jessica broke up with me. She just got up and broke up without any warning other than that I needed to talk to you.”

“Clint I…”

“Bucky what the….What did you say to her! Tell me!”

“Clint I didn’t realize that she was near and she...she apparently overheard me.” Bucky’s heart was racing, he knew he had to come clean, but… “Come in, at least? The whole building doesn’t need to hear us.”

“Oh,” Clint smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.”

They walked to the couch in silence, but Bucky could feel the tension bubbling up in Clint. To be fair, he wasn’t much calmer.

“Tell me what she overheard,” Clint demanded once they reached the couch.

Bucky took a big breath. Well, here goes nothing.

“She overheard me come to the realization that I love you. I know you don’t feel the same way, and I don’t expect you to. Honestly, I just want things to stay the same; I value your friendship more than any romance.” Bucky’s face flushed. “But I’ve never felt more like myself with anyone else, and, well. You wanted to know.” His palms were sweating and he felt like he was going to faint, and Clint was just staring at him with an open mouth. An actually, comically open mouth. “Clint?”

“Where the fuck did you get the idea that I don’t love you?”

“Wha..what?” Bucky blinked.

“I’ve loved you since the day we met,” Clint said, and a shit eating grin started to appear on his face. “You were everything I ever wanted from a relationship.”

“But…” Bucky blinked again. This was… this didn’t make sense. “You kept falling in love with people!”

“Polyamory,” Clint shrugged, and oh, that made sense. “I kept hoping someone would turn out half as good as you. No one did, though.”

“I… Okay, okay.” Bucky took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, this is a lot to process. Oh my god.” Relief started to fill him. A stupid smile stretched his face, and it felt like he could fly away. Oh god, could he really get to have this? “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Clint grinned back at him, then leaned over to kiss Bucky’s cheek, and Bucky’s face erupted in flames. “I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time.”

“We’ll have to talk things over.”

“I know.”

“Things can’t be this easy.”

“Can’t they though?”

“Wanna cuddle?”

“Hell yes.”

[sanderssidesfanfiction]

If There’s a Place I Could Be - Chapter Five

If There’s a Place I Could Be Tag

December 23rd, 1985

“I’m so sorry that I had to do that, sweetie, but you know it’s for your own good,” his mom said. “You can’t go around hugging everyone you see, it will give someone the wrong impression.”

Remy sniffled a little but pulled up his pants and nodded. He had only hugged his older cousins because he was happy to see them, he didn’t understand what the big deal was. But maybe it was some super secret adult thing. Remy didn’t know. If hugging people got him in trouble with a spanking, though, he definitely wasn’t going to hug them anymore. Even if Magenta begged, even if Nate chased him around the house.

He wasn’t going to get in trouble again.

October 14th, 2000

“I really don’t think this is a good idea, Emile...” Remy said. His heels were digging into the grass as Emile dragged him by the arm over to where a group of people were already chatting and laughing.

“Come on, Remy. You don’t have to be friends with any of these people, but as my friend I want to introduce you to my other friends,” Emile said.

“But...but you know what happened with Clara, what if it turns out that I insulted more of your friends?” Remy asked.

“Then you can apologize and work to make amends, Remy, it’s not that hard,” Emile said, tilting his head to the side with puppy-dog eyes. Remy hated those puppy-dog eyes; they were near impossible to say no to. “Please? Just give this a shot.”

Remy inwardly sighed. “I’ve...I’ve never really gotten in trouble before for what I’ve said. At least, not in the regular way most kids do when they backtalk. I...I don’t have experience with ‘proper apologies’ as you called them.”

Emile stopped and turned to face Remy fully, and Remy scratched the back of his neck. He was still terrified of Emile going ballistic over something Remy did. Even if last time they had fought Emile only left the situation, what would happen if that wasn’t possible? What would happen if Remy pushed beyond the point of no return? Emile was proving to be a good friend, someone who Remy could trust with the little things. He didn’t want to lose that. “Remy, I’m not mad with you, okay? If you need help apologizing, then I can help you. But I don’t want you shying away from talking to people just because you said some things you shouldn’t have while trying to defend yourself.”

Remy sighed again, outwardly this time, and nodded. Emile had a point. He always had a point. “Just...just promise me that you won’t leave me alone with these guys if I don’t feel comfortable with that?”

“Of course,” Emile assured. “I would never dream of hurting you, and that includes scaring you.”

Remy knew that was true, much as it confused him. He nodded, and together they walked over to Emile’s friends, who grew quiet when they all saw Remy. Remy cringed—had he really given off that much of a bad impression? “Guys, this is Remy,” Emile said, gesturing to him. “I invited him to play frisbee with us today. I hope you don’t mind?”

“I don’t know, Emile. You know we love you, but...sometimes the ‘friends’ you pick up off the street and take home with you aren’t the best. You don’t have the best judgement for who will or won’t hurt you,” one of the guys said.

Remy flinched. “You’re...Xavier, right?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Xavier said, leveling Remy with a glare. “And I don’t appreciate what you said about my girlfriend.”

“I’m...I’m really sorry about that,” Remy said. “I don’t have any good reason to have said what I did, because there is no good reason to insult anyone. Emile’s been teaching me that. Um. I...never really had a lot of friends growing up—”

“—Shocker,” Xavier said.

Remy’s eyes stung with tears. “Which means that I don’t know where the lines I shouldn’t cross are. You don’t have to be friends with me. That’s fine. But Emile was trying to be nice to me by inviting me to play with you guys. Don’t insult his judgement just because I’ve been a real...well, you can fill in the blank with whatever word you choose. They’re all pretty accurate.”

Xavier stared him down and Remy wanted to crawl under a rock and die right then and there. “Emile, I’m starting to think this was a bad idea,” Remy said in a pained whisper.

“Oh, yeah, you definitely shouldn’t have shown up,” Xavier growled, taking a step forward.

Remy flinched back and away, bringing his hands up to block an attack. His breathing was picking up, and he was wondering if this was it. Would Emile decide that Remy was a lost cause? Would Xavier punch him in the face? He certainly deserved it. He was so stupid—he should have stood his ground when Emile first invited him to this and said no. His foot slipped on a small rock as he tried to get away, sending him crashing to the ground. And great, now he was definitely crying, and panicking, and he didn’t see a way out of this. He was supposed to stay unattached so this sort of thing wouldn’t happen. This was why he didn’t make friends, he was too much of a crybaby, no one would ever take him seriously if he just kept crying at every obstacle he faced.

Now there were hands on him and Remy couldn’t get away, his whole body hurt from hitting the ground and he was having a panic attack and this was officially the worst day ever. Someone was saying his name, but it sounded distorted, like he was stuck underwater, or maybe behind a pane of glass. He kept his eyes screwed shut tight and rode out the wave of panic the best he could, and when he felt like he could breathe again he opened his eyes, just a crack. It was Emile who had put hands on his shoulders, and all of Emile’s friends were staring at him, including Xavier. “You good, man?” Xavier asked.

“Fine,” Remy lied. “I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine,” Clara said.

“Clara,” Emile warned.

“Just tripped, I’ll be fine. Just a little sore,” Remy said.

“Yeah...no. You looked like you were convinced Xavier was gonna slug you,” another guy said. “Which, I mean, maybe he gets angry but he doesn’t hit people.”

Remy sat up, but noticed that Emile’s hands didn’t leave his shoulders. “Okay, everyone, your concern is touching, but I’m fine,” Remy insisted. “It was a tiny panic attack. It happens sometimes. We can all move on.” Stop pressing the issue, please.

“If you’re sure?” Emile asked.

Remy gave him a smile and a nod. “Yeah. I’m gonna hurt for like, twenty minutes, but I can still play, if you guys will have me. If you don’t, though, I get it.”

“Nah, man,” Xavier said. “I was letting a grudge override my better judgement. You apologized for your actions, that’s the end of that.”

“Really?” Remy asked, unable to hide his surprise.

Xavier nodded. “I might not be happy with you for a little while yet, but you can play with us if you want to.”

“Huh.” Remy blinked. “I’m not used to that, but sure, let’s play.”

Emile lightly touched Remy’s arm as everyone spread out while Clara grabbed a frisbee. Remy followed Emile to where he was starting as Clara tossed the frisbee in the air a few times. “You know, I think you scared Xavier pretty bad. Scared all of us, really.”

“Oh. Sorry,” Remy grimaced.

“Not something to apologize for,” Emile said softly. “But are you okay? Remy, that sort of response, the panic attack and the flinching away...you wouldn’t happen to...have a history of abuse? You don’t have to answer, but I worry.”

“I wasn’t abused, Emile,” Remy said, watching as Clara threw the frisbee across the quad and Xavier caught it. “Never had that sort of problem growing up, don’t worry. I just...had a panic attack from slipping and falling. It startled me more than I anticipated, I guess.”

Emile bit his lip. “You know, I worry about you Remy.”

Remy bristled. “I know. It’s honestly a little annoying. It was endearing at first, but I feel like you’ve been crowding into my space lately.”

“Have I?” Emile asked. “I’ll back off if you want me to. But you know, I’m always here if you want to talk.”

“I know,” Remy said as the frisbee got tossed their way and Remy caught it, before flinging it across the quad, causing several of Emile’s friends to rush after it. “You constantly remind me of that fact.”

Emile looked...not hurt, and not worried, but some combination of the two. Remy ran a hand through his hair with a sigh. “What did I do this time?” he asked.

“You just...called me caring annoying. I don’t mind backing off if I’m crowding you, but friends caring about other friends isn’t annoying,” Emile explained.

“Ah,” Remy said. “I...don’t know how to respond to that, in all honesty.”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to,” Emile said. “Just...make sure that you’re not pushing everyone away, preferably sooner rather than later.”

Remy idly nodded before the frisbee flew wide and both him and Emile rushed after it. Remy certainly wasn’t left alone to his introspection, but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t thinking. Everything he had been through, the yelling, the spanking, the neglect...that wasn’t abuse. Not in the sense that he had ever heard of. Spanking was discipline. Yelling just happened when people lost their temper. And the neglect...well, his parents had three kids. Someone had to get lost in the shuffle every once in a while. That didn’t point to abuse, right?

Sure, he may have been scared of Xavier hitting him, but he wouldn’t admit that to the others. They didn’t need to know about his problems, he didn’t need to burden them. And besides, if Emile had a real reason to worry, Remy doubted he would ever be left alone, when sometimes, that was exactly what he wanted.

He ran a hand through his hair again before catching the frisbee and tossing it to Emile, who was halfway across the quad. Playing around was fun, he had to admit, but none of these people were his friends, save Emile. He didn’t want friends beyond Emile, though. He barely wanted Emile to be his friend, half the time. He was nosy, constantly asking questions, and getting excited over things Remy didn’t understand. But then he’d hug Remy after they had talked for a while, or offer Remy half of the giant cookie he had gotten in the cafeteria when he noticed Remy’s stomach snarling, or even do something dorky like show Remy how to make flower crowns so once spring came around they could “be prepared,” and yeah, Remy had to admit that being friends with Emile also had its perks.

When everyone was pretty much done playing for the time being, they all reconvened at the edge of the quad, and chatted with each other for a little while. Apparently, half the people in this group were part of Emile’s DnD game, and the other half were those friends’ friends. Xavier came over to Remy and asked him softly, “You sure you’re okay, man? I didn’t mean to give you a panic attack.”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Remy brushed off. “It takes a little more than some aggression to hurt me. I was more startled about falling than I was at you being angry. And you had every right to be angry.”

“Bea is the love of my life, so yeah, I was more than a little upset when you insulted her. But Emile has talked about you before. He says that you don’t make friends easy. For whatever reason, you mostly prefer to be alone. And I respect that because you obviously have your reasons. But if you’re trying to isolate yourself, man, that’s not healthy,” Xavier said.

“I’m not trying to isolate myself,” Remy shrugged off. “At least not on a conscious level. Friends are a lot of work, and I usually don’t have the energy to put in what other people want to get out of it. It saves both parties a little time and energy.”

“Okay, edgelord,” Xavier said with a little laugh. “But if you ever want to, like, hang out with people without really needing to know them, a friend of a friend is gonna be throwing a killer Halloween party, and I know Emile’s going. The two of you could hang out, maybe he could introduce you to someone you get on with. Who knows? Point is, everyone’s invited to the party, and between you and me,” Xavier’s voice dropped to a whisper, “They’re bringing the good booze.”

Remy hummed. “I might go. Especially if I can see Emile drunk. That would be hilarious.”

“Yeah, man,” Xavier laughed. “Between you and me I’m bringing a video camera, just so that I can show people how trashed they get at parties.”

Remy chuckled. “Sounds like fun, you’ve got me. I’m in.”

[pink-bird-30]

RobStar Week 2020-Wedding Bells

Hi guys, I know I’m a day off for posting day 6 of RobStar week.  But if you saw my previous post, I had a sudden death in my family and I needed time to process it.  And I appreciate those who sent messgages in understanding.  I just didn’t feel right writing such a happy moment for Robin and Starfire while I felt so sad.

Nevertheless, I have finished writing yesterday’s prompt and I’m happy with it.  I wish I could write more on this, but then we’d be here for hours lol.

As always, my RobStar week postings are connected.  So please go read the other entires before this one.

I will be posting day 7 tomorrow even thought RobStar week has officially ended.  I just didn’t have it in me to write two stories today.

If you'd like to read all my entries in one sitting, here is a link to my FF.Net

(https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13635654/1/RobStar-Week-2020-All-Works)

Happy Reading!

-----------------

October 15, 2020

You are cordially invited to attend the wedding of Richard John Grayson & Kory Anderson.

Cyborg tucks his white and gold invitation into his tux as he and Beast Boy make their way to the groom’s suite.

“Yo, Vic.  Do you think he’s freaking out?”  Beast boy asks as he checks his reflection in every mirror they passed in the overly expensive hotel hallway.

Cyborg chuckles and rubs his hands together, “Dick freaking out over his wedding?  Man, oh man!  I hope so, I’m gonna need some sort of entertainment before the reception.”

The two laugh before knocking on the creme colored door that read ‘Groom’ and watched as it swung open, revealing a panic stricken groom.

“Thank god you’re both here, please tell me you have the rings.”

The word ‘rings’ hangs in the air for eternity.  Cyborg looks to Beast Boy, his eye growing wide, and Beast Boy looking at Cyborg with his mouth gapping.  

Oh Shit!!!!

Dick’s eyes widen before launching himself at Cyborg and Beast Boy, causing all three men to fall to the ground.

“WHERE ARE THE RINGS?!”

“Dick, man.  Just calm down.”  Cyborg tries to sit up but is knocked back down to the maroon carpet.

Dick gives him a pointed look, “Calm down?  Calm down!  Vic, this isn’t some mission where if I forgot my boa staff I still had my birdarangs as back up.  NO, THIS IS OUR WEDDING!”

Beast Boy turns a pale shade of green and tries to shake himself out of Dick’s hold, but he is no match for his angry leader’s strength.

Dick turns to Beast Boy next and seethed, “And you!  You thought it’d be smart to trust you both with such a simple task! ‘Rob, man.  You can trust us.  We gotchu.’ Ha!  Do you want to be the one to tell Starfire you left our rings halfway across the country?!”

The two Titans on the floor share a horrified glance, “No!”

“Good,”  Dick pushes off of them and gets to his feet, brushing off his dark blue tux pants and readjusting his suspenders and white dress shirt.

Dick storms back into his suit and throws himself onto the white couch.  He rests his elbows on his knees and his head falls into his hands.  The other two Titans cautiously walk inside the room and close the door behind them.

Cyborg approaches Dick warily before settling a hand on his shoulder, “Dick, we’ll get the rings.  Don’t worry about it.”

He groans knowing it was impossible for them to get the rings now.  It finally started to get dark in Gotham and knew the ceremony is about to begin.

Dick drops his hands and falls further back into the couch, “How am I supposed to be a good husband to Kori when I can’t even make sure the rings got here today?  What if it’s a sign, what if we’re not supposed to get married today, what if-“  Dick was cut off by a green hand slapping him across the face.

Beast Boy pulls Dick by his shirt and shakes him, “Pull yourself together man!  What do you mean, ‘How am I supposed to be a good husband’?  Dude, you fucking worship the ground that woman walks on and have taken care of her since day one.  There is no one else that would be a better husband for her than you.  So stop your whining and get your shit together!”

From besides him, Dick could hear Cyborg let out a low ‘Oh damn’.

Beast Boy slowly lets go of Dick and steps back quickly, afraid he’ll come to his senses and attacked him for slapping him.

Dick lets out a long breath, “You’re right.  I’m just nervous and I don’t want to mess this up.  She means too much to me.”  Dick smoothed out his shirt again and stands up.  He makes his way to his nightstand and pulls out his cellphone.  He quickly dials the one person he knew could help them out of their bind.

Dick paces the room waiting for the phone to pick up, “Grayson!  Are you freaking out yet?!”

Dick lets out a huff and cuts to the chase, “Wally, are you still in Star City?”  His voice short.

“Yeah, what up?  I said I’d be there before the ceremony began.  I’m not like Barry who’d be too late.”

“I need a huge favor.”

“Oh?  And what might this favor be?”  Dick can hear the playful tone in Wally’s voice, but he doesn’t have the patience right now.

Cyborg sees the anger start to swell in Dick’s blue eyes, “Damn, Wally has a death wish right now.”  He said to Beast Boy.

“No kidding, dude is an idiot.”

Before Dick has a chance to rip Wally a new one, Cyborg takes the phone out of Dick’s hands and puts it on speaker, “Yo, KF.  We need you to go into the tower and into my room to grab Dick and Kori’s wedding bands.  BB and I forgot them last night before the bachelor party.”

Wally paused on the other end of the phone before responding.  “Holy, shit.  You guys forgot the rings?  How are you two still breathing?!”

Beast Boy frowned, “Dick didn’t hurt us too much-“

“Not dick,” Wally cut in. “I thought for sure Kori would have torn you both in half.”

The room grew silent.

Wally howls with laughter on the other end of the phone, “You mean to tell me Kori has no idea you forgot the rings?  Dick, how are you not even married yet and already keeping secrets from your wife?”

“Wally.”  Dick warns.

Wally laughs again, “Alright, calm down Boy Wonder.  I’ll get the rings.”

Dick sighs in relief, “Thanks, Wally.  Now get here as soon as you can.  The ceremony is about to begin.”

“Roger that.”

And the call ends.

Beast Boy walks over to the fridge for a beer and pops it with his teeth, “See I told you it would work out.”

Dick glares at him and sends his shoe flying at his face.

“EEEPP!”

-------------------------

Kori sits still as the makeup artist puts the final touches on her look before she steps into her wedding gown.  Kori spent the week daydreaming about wearing this gown and walking down the aisle towards Dick.  It is a low back, sweetheart neckline mermaid gown with long lace sleeves and train.  The buttons on the back of her gown are small flowers with rhinestones that will glitter under the full moon.  The makeup artist added the lace and rhinestone veil to her hair.  Kori decided to wear her hair in a low braided bun with small star pins places throughout her auburn locks.

“Viola!  You are a bride!”  The makeup artist stood back to let Kori take a look in the mirror.  She felt herself tear up at her reflection.

“Oh!  I look most delightful, I am the grateful!”  She smiles at her helper through the mirror.

The makeup artists packs up her things and throws her bag over her shoulder, “In all my years of doing makeup, I neva’ thought I’d be doin’ makeup for Bruce Wayne’s son’s bride.  And I don’t think I’ve eva’ had sucha beautiful bride before, your beauty is out of this world!” she said in a thick Gotham accent.

Kori laughs to herself knowing that the makeup artist does not know where she was from.

“Thank you.” The makeup artist smiles at her one last time, takes a few pictures for her portfolio, and leaves the room.

“Friend, Raven.  The artist of makeup has left.  You may reappear.”

Raven steps through the portal she opens in the wall and takes a seat on Kori’s bed.

“Good, I don’t think I would have taken another moment of, “Darlin’ you would look fabulous in pink!’ Yeck.”  Raven rolls her purple eyes.

Kori smiles at her friend and grabs her bouquet of  yellow and red tulips before turning to Raven.

“Is it the time, yet?”

Raven smiles at her friend knowing how big of a moment this is for her.  All she can think back to was that fated day she came crashing into Jump City and changed their lives.  Who knew one day she’d be attending Dick and Kori’s wedding.  Raven can only think back to the feelings the two of them were harboring for one another for years before Dick finally told her how he felt.  The only way Raven could explain it was like being high.  Every time she’d walk in a room, and they were talking, it was like getting hit by a wave, so quick and ready to drag her under.

She knew the feeling all too well herself, but is afraid of how she’d handle her emotions if she were to let herself feel that kind of love completely.

Stupid pointy eared man with the cute fang.

A knock at the door brought Raven from her thoughts.

Starfire squeals knowing who it is.  She pulls up the sides of her dress to prevent herself from tripping on the fabric and dashes to the door.  When she pulls it open, Bruce is standing there adjusting the cufflinks on his black tux.  He looks up to see Starfire smiling at him and he couldn’t help but smile in return.

“Kori, you look stunning.”  He places a gentle kiss on her cheek.

Kori blushes slightly, “Thank you, Bruce.”

Alfred appears behind Bruce and smiles at the young bride, “Princess, you look quite marvelous in your gown.  But as the time precedes us, we mustn’t keep Richard waiting.  Don’t want him worrying, now do we?”

Starfire nods her head before turning around to grab her bouquet and pulls Raven from the room.

“Kori, slow down!”

------------------------------

It couldn’t have been a more perfect night for a rooftop wedding.  The full moon radiates high in the night sky, stark against the deep purple night.  Dick looks up, watching as a new stars appear as the moon travels through sky, going higher and higher.

Glancing across the rooftop, he takes note all the hard work he and Kori put into make this place special.  They spent hours hanging string lights across the rooftop for lighting.  It took two days making the floral lattice arch they would stand beneath when saying their vows, weaving red and yellow tulips all around it with sting lights.  The white chairs are all lined up with the chairs facing towards the aisle having small lanterns hanging from them, to light the path that Kori would be walking down.

All the guests started to come in from the cocktail hour and settle in their seats; Dick recognizes more than half of the guest as his fellow heroes. The remaining bunch were a few of Bruce’s board members that he invited to show good faith.  

Where the hell is Wally?!

Dick pulls back his dark blue tux sleeve to look at the time on his Rolex.

“Nervous?”

Dick looks up to see Raven.  She looks very nice in her deep purple strapless gown, which catches Dick off guard.  He notices a hint of makeup on her cheeks and lips, and her normally straight hair is hanging in lose curls.

“You look beautiful, Raven.  How’s Kori doing?”

Raven blushes and then slightly scowls, “You’re deflecting.”

Dick leans against the side of the roof and looks down to the city below.  It was strange to think that he’d been in Gotham twice this year.  Before he was engaged, he hadn’t come back to Gotham ever since he left when he was 16.

That seems like forever ago.

“Dick?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s time.”  Dick’s heart jumps into his throat as the quartet’s music flows across the roof.  Raven give Dick’s arm a pat before she walks back off the roof to accompany Beast Boy down the aisle.

Taking a deep breath, Dick sends a small prayer up to the stars.

I know you guys are here with me today, and I hope I’m making you proud.

Dick makes his way down the aisle, watching as Alfred takes his place under the lattice to officiate the wedding.  The butler smiles at Dick once he is settled to the left of him, waiting for the rest of the wedding party make their way down the aisle.

“Ready, Richard?”

Dick gives him a bright smile, “Yeah, I am.”

Cyborg and Bumble Bee begin the wedding by walking down the aisle.  It took some thinking, but Dick knew Cyborg was his best man.  He’s been there since day one for him, helping him to guide the team from the beginning, and being the friends he needed in tough times when he knew he couldn’t go to Kori.  They have each other’s backs.

Next, came Raven and Beasty boy.  Dick is surprised Raven is letting Beast Boy touch her as they walk down the aisle.  But from the looks on their faces, they seem to be comfortable with each other.

I’ll have to ask Kori about that later…

After they made their way down the aisle, the music transitions to ‘Here comes the bride’.  The doors in the back of the roof open revealing Kori in all her glory.  Dick is certain his mind blanked for a moment.  

She looks absolutely stunning.

Bruce offers his arm to Kori and she gladly takes it.

As Kori makes her way down the aisle her entire focus is on Dick.  She can see the emotion in his eyes as she takes one step closer to him.  He smiles brightly at her knowing he wants to commemorate this moment to memory and never let it go.  She watches as he wipes at his eyes, making her tear up a bit.

They’ve both come so far up until this point and it is finally happening.

As they reach the alter, Bruce steps in front of Kori to pull her vail over her head to reveal her face and places a kiss on her cheek.  He steps aside to give her hand to Dick’s, which he graciously takes before helping her up the remining steps to stand across from him under the floral lattice.

He brings her left hand up to his lips and brushes a kiss across her knuckles, “Hi.”

She couldn’t help but giggle, “Greetings.”

“Has anyone told you, you look absolutely gorgeous tonight?”

Kori pretends to think before smiling at him, “Perhaps not.  Although, I do not the minding of hearing it.”  

“Ahem,” Alfred clears his voice, trying to gain the attention of the bride and groom.  “if we are done with the pleasantries, may we continue.”

Dick nods.

Alfred goes into detail of Kori and Dick’s relationship, mindful to leave out how they really met just in case any reporters paid the staff for intel on the wedding.

“Do you, Richard John Grayson take Ms. Kory Anderson to be your wife?”

Dick rubs the back of her hands as he says, “I Do.”

“And do you, Kory Anderson take Mr. Richard John Grayson to be your husband?”

Kori sniffles, feeling the tears pool in her eyes.  “I Do.”

Alfred looks to the audience, “May we please have the rings.”

Dick’s eyes widen for a moment remember the debacle from earlier.

The rings!

As Dick was about to tell Kori what happened to their rings, Wally waltzes up the steps and hands Dick the ring box with his and Kori’s rings.  He gives Dick a pat on the back and whispers, “Told ya I’d get here in time.”

Dick shakes his head at Wally as he walks back down to his seat.  He hands Kory his ring and he takes Kori’s before sliding the box into his tux pocket.

“Repeat after me, ‘With this ring, I thee wed.’”

Dick places the ring on Kori’s finger, “With this ring, I thee wed.”

“Once more, ‘With this ring, I thee wed.’”

Kori places Dick’s ring on his finger and says, “With this ring, I thee wed.”

They’re eyes meet at the same time as Alfred finishes the ceremony.

“With the power vested in my granted by the City of Gotham, I now pronounce you husband and wife.  You may kiss your bride.”

Dick reaches forward and cups Kori’s face before pulling her lips to his.  In the distance there were cheers and applause for the new married couple.  As they pull apart the cheers slowed until Alfred stepped aside for everyone to see them.

“I now present Mr. and Mrs. Grayson.”  The room erupted in applause and whistles as they made their way down the aisle and into their new lives as husband and wife.

[smolbeandrabbles]

Bienvenue From Hell, Mon Amour - Ralph Anderson x Reader Drabble (The Outsider)

🎃 Happy Halloween! 🎃

Author’s Note: Here’s a five second fic idea I got Tuesday night... So you do get a Halloween themed fic after all! Eh... This trailer is giving me so much anxiety I just needed to get this one out of my system... 😬 In the words of Shakira, from whom my title is borrowed, I’m in ‘anxious anticipation’  No lyrics today, we’re going straight in!   Disclaimer: As before, I’m never going to do justice to Stephen King, I just love the character’s so much that I’ll just try my best...! / Once again I’ve read the book I’m allowed to do this, but I’m always gonna advise spoilers before the show comes out. / AU set with no Derek or Jeannie. Premise: Hot on the heels of a suspect, this house (and your partner) are about to test a lot more than just your nerve...

Words: 2035

Warnings: Potential ‘The Outsider’ Spoilers

______ The house stood alone in the middle of the field; grass overgrown on both sides and the remoteness - including trek up here made it almost impossible to reach by car. And you were pretty grumpy by the time you reached it. This place looked one “Welcome To Hell” sign away from a Supernatural episode. Something else your partner borderline refused to watch with you.  “Is there a reason we had to do this in the middle of the night?!” You hissed to your two companions.  Ralph and Yune looked to each other - smiles twitching on their lips, you could tell they were both itching to laugh out loud. Considering the circumstances, they decided against it. “Well, Y/N...” Ralph folded his arms, speaking softly “You wanna catch the guy don’t you?” “...” You narrowed your eyes at him “Yes.” “Alright then we have the warrant, we search the house! Time is of the essence-!” “What - we just gonna knock on the door?!” You indicated “There are no lights on!” They looked at each other again; “We have a warrant, we’ll just force it.” Yune gave a shrug like it was the obvious answer; You rolled your eyes; ugh men!  Turns out you did have to force the door, and it creaked open in an unnecessarily creepy way. You shivered; “Look I know it’s October 31st but seriously-!?” Ralph smacked your arm to get you to shut up and switched on his flashlight. The three of you listened for a minute, but there wasn’t a sound. You all exchanged looks before agreeing to step inside. Yune tried the light switch, “No power...” “Fantastic...” That left the two of you also reaching for your flashlights to follow detective Anderson’s lead; “it’s almost like this house knows the date!” “Maybe it’s haunted.” “Ralph!” He chuckled, it had never been something he’d thought about before. Funny how one case could completely change his perspective on the world. Placing his hands on his hips he turned to Yune, “I say we split... you take the upstairs, we’ll take the down...” “Alright.” He agreed with a nod, “If I find the power I’ll see if I can get that going...” Ralph gave a nod back “Thanks. Be careful.” “And you two. Watch out for El Cuco, Y/N!” You wheeled around; “Will you two STOP!”  Ralph clamped a hand over your mouth and pressed a finger to his lips as the house creaked again. But that only led you to glare at him.   “Alright, he could still be here... Keep your arms close...” He pushed you gently through into the corridor, “Call if you need anything...” “Feel like you’re dealing with the problem for me, Ralph!” Yune couldn’t help that last jab, which had you glaring at him next. But you knew the effect was lost in the gloomy house.  “This place is awful. Do people really live like this?” You visibly shivered, it was starting to give you the creeps. “Apparently so?” Ralph kept close enough for his shoulder to brush yours, but you noticed he wasn’t holding your hand just yet. Guess if you needed to spring into action it wouldn’t really help. You liked the way your light beams occasionally crossed as you swept the house, and he could see that gentle smile even in the dark. You were such a sap sometimes. He almost pushed you, but decided you might crash into something, so he nudged you instead; “Keep it professional.” “Oh. So I can’t smile around you now?” “Certainly not, imagine what everyone would say!” But there was amusement in his voice that only had you smiling more. At least he was here; the eeriness of the house would probably be really getting to you if not. And it was so quiet, even your breathing seemed too loud. “UGH-!” You ran into another spiderweb and he had to watch you fight with it for a moment whilst still trying to stay quiet, “This place is HELL!” Eventually you reached a room that even your flashlights couldn’t penetrate. “We need better torches...” He peered around, “No, I think we just need to step inside.” You glanced at him from the other side of the doorway - there was no way in hell you were going in there first. “Well, you’re the most senior detective here.” Ralph rolled his eyes grabbing your arm, “And yet it’s your case!” He shoved you in, and you tripped on the threshold causing you to stumble with a yell. Then he couldn’t hold his laugh in. “Yeah! Very funny!”  That only made him laugh harder, so you unclipped your spare torch battery and chucked it at him. “Ow! Geez-! You know that’s FCPD property!! You better go find it now! I’m not being responsible for you losing it!” “Well you are!” You pointed your light at his face and he had to shield his eyes; “No way! You threw it at me! Now search the room and do your job, detective.” You lowered your beam to the floor and then up to the wall. “This certainly looks like the kind of house a creepy murderer would live in.” “Innocent until evidence proves otherwise...” “Don’t make me blind you again...” You swept the beam over the wall, “I’m definitely thinking this is murder.” “Well...” He leant against the door frame, “What do you see detective?” You were about to answer him when there was a loud bang and a second loud creak above you. You visibly jumped, and placed your hand over your heart. It was almost impressive that you didn’t add a shriek. Ralph didn’t. “...It’s probably just Yune, it’s okay...” You looked across to him, opened your mouth and realised you might need a few more moments. He shook his head, “How exactly did you become a detective?!” “Do you want me to find something else to throw at you-!? Shut up!” He grinned “Tsk tsk! So feisty!” He liked that about you though; you were the hot headed impulsive one and you were a good foil to the way he was used to doing things. He learned a lot with you...  You took a deep breath to focus on the wall again, but before you had a chance to answer him the room was suddenly thrown into excruciatingly bright light. “AH-!” That has you both covering your eyes. “FOUND THE LIGHTS-!” Yune called triumphantly from upstairs. “Thanks Yune! We got it!” Ralph kept his head in his arm for a second until those spots disappeared “... Think you overdid it-!!” “Oops! Sorry guys!” When you opened them again you realised that someone had got a little too creative with the fake blood, and shut off your torch. Ralph’s hands were on his hips, “Well, congratulations! You found your real crime scene!” You looked around. Yeah someone had got really creative. You knew this was supposed to be fun for Halloween but... this didn’t even look realistic anymore. He pointed, “Ah look, there’s your battery...” you followed Ralph’s point and realised that it had rolled through a particularly sticky patch of blood, leaving another streak across the floor “...Compromising evidence Y/N, just... not a good start is it.” “Shut up!!” Ralph was starting to think that was your favourite phrase of the evening. Yune’s running footsteps announced him and his face appeared in the door way, “Did she find it in time?!” “She did. Sort of. I might have had to push her in!” This was the little house that most CSI’s used for training. They had done it up especially for Halloween and you wanted to check it out. Ralph wanted in for a laugh and so had come up with an elaborate case for you to work on, based on what the forensics team had told him, and had given you until tonight to figure out the who and where. The time limit was find the room it happened in before the lights went on. So, he’d enlisted a little help from Yune to throw ‘Impossible Case’ stories at you the whole way over here to up the ante. That left you with a good case of Halloween jitters. It wasn’t funny when the monsters were real…  You placed your hands on your hips, much the same way he did, and Ralph figured you were beginning to pick up some of his habits. He’d have to curb the enthusiasm just a bit. Like you hadn’t been outed for idolising him enough... You peered around; glad at least for some light thrown on the situation, you didn’t fancy the idea of stumbling around here in the dark now you know what befell you. You stepped carefully around the crime scene to retrieve your battery. They’d really overdone it on the fake spiderwebs, plastic body parts and been… liberal… with the fake blood. Even Ralph didn’t think he’d seen it in this much of a state before now. Yune grinned as you grimaced at your coated battery, trying to find something to wipe it on, “You’d love the back bedroom; fake skeletons just piled up everywhere. They should just open this as a haunted house, what do you think?” “Yes.” “NO!” Your and Ralph’s views were as extreme as the way in which you’d answered. And your partner chuckled again. You replaced everything on your belt and walked over, “What else have they done?” “Do they need to do anything? Isn’t it creepy enough?” Yune gave a shrug “Nah-!” Ralph nudged him “What did you drop? She jumped about 3 feet in the air.” You huffed as Yune peeled off into laughter again; “It’s gonna become a real crime scene in a minute!” Ralph raised an eyebrow and straightened his stance to give himself a couple more inches on you, his tone serious, “Threatening the life of an officer is an arrestable offence, young lady.” “Well, go on then.” He turned to Yune, “You’re the officer here...” Yune waved his hands; “Oh no, you made the threat.” Ralph folded his arms and looked back to you, “Looks like you’re off the hook.” “Oh? Forget your handcuffs, detective Anderson?” “No. I figure as I have a personal stake in this I simply cannot be involved.” You looked to Yune, who once again looked like he was trying desperately hard not to crack up. “I can’t believe you dealt with this in Texas.” He let out enough of a laugh then, “I can’t believe you deal with this - in fact you choose to deal with this.” “Appreciate the support.” Ralph’s voice was dry and he took a step back looking around; “Oh no!” He gasped, “Guess I forgot my kit-! Can’t be helped, we’ll have to call in CSI... tomorrow.” “Tomorrow?! When we stand in the middle of the scene?!” You spread your arms and walked in a tight circle to make your point,   “Surely we should be processing this immediately-! What about the integrity of the crime scene!?” You tapped your watch; much the same as he was constantly doing with you. Ralph liked teasing you as if you were a rookie, because you were susceptible to answering him back in ways that often made him laugh. And he knew he needed that - still, he didn’t really want to end up having to handle a mini version of himself.   Yup. I defiantly have to curb the enthusiasm...  He waved a hand at the mark your spare battery had left; “There’s your integrity right there...” You glared at it for a minute; damn equipment-! Yune checked his watch at seeing you tap yours, “Yeah, c’mon man-! You gotta be kidding, it’s barely even midnight!” “Which means it isn’t Halloween, it’s November 1st, and we can leave.” He looked expectantly to you, “Plus they’ll want it back for actual work tomorrow... c’mon I had a hard-enough time pushing you in here don’t tell me I have to drag you out?!” Your eyes flicked between them again, before you sighed, defeated “... He has a point.” “Thank you!”  Yune looked more than a little disappointed as you tracked back through the house and you tried not to marvel at the Halloween decorations too much. But someone in that CSI team had a pretty wild imagination to say the least. “...Next time...” He flicked the lights off “It’s gonna take me two hours to find the lights..!!” Ralph held his hand out for you to hop back out into the grass, and this time put his arm around you to walk back to the car, “I’ll allow it...” “It was fun...” You at least agreed, cuddling a little further into your partner in the cool night air. Ralph looked over his shoulder at Yune with a grin, “That was kinda fun... next time we should get some live actors though, see how she deals with that.” “RALPH!!!” 

---- @dennismitchell @happyskywhale @wltz-bby #MendoTagSquad.

[bi-bi-richie]

The Stars and The Moon, He Hung Them Just For You ( 1 / 12)

“Wait.” Richie said, putting his hands up, “do you know who I’ll be working next to?”

Stan opened his mouth to answer, but he was cut off by a woman walking towards them with red hair and a boy trailing behind her.

“Stan!” The girl called his name. She was in the same outfit as Stan, Richie immediately assumed that she was another employee.

“Bev, I assume you have the other new guy?” Stan asked. Bev rolled her eyes and slapped a hand onto his shoulder.

“Don’t be so uptight! Yeah, this is Eddie.”

Playlist* - Ao3

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 

*The playlist goes in a specific order that starts with Richie’s pov and goes to Eddie’s throughout the whole thing (one song is how Richie feels and the next is about how Eddie feels). 

Richie Tozier, in short, has lost everything. Right before he turned sixteen, Richie was diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorder. At sixteen, Richie had lost any friends he managed to make because they didn’t find him worth the trouble, trouble meaning being anxious and bisexual. Somewhere between sixteen and seventeen, Richie’s grandparents died in a car accident and they had yet to find the person who hit them. Right before he turned seventeen, one of his old “friends” told the whole school that Richie was bi, it wasn’t taken kindly. At seventeen, Richie’s neighbors demanded that he and his family moved away because of Richie’s sexuality. Somewhere between seventeen and eighteen, Richie’s house had the word “Faggot” spray-painted across it in red. Right before he turned eighteen, Richie’s family moved from Derry, Maine to Los Angeles, California. At eighteen, Richie had lost everything.

Richie was hoping that he’d like California, nobody from Derry would end up here, nobody in California knew him. It was all hope though, he couldn’t help but feel even more anxious and terrified living in a new state. Yes, nobody knew him, but the price of that was awfully high.

Richie wasn’t coping in the healthiest way either. More often than not, he spent the day clutching onto his favorite pillow and tried not to cry. Maybe one day he’d hold his dog instead, but his dog, Timber, wasn’t big on cuddling, but she’d let him rest his head on her hips. At most, Richie will play background music.

The background music is an interesting mix of songs that he relates to, and love songs, the ones he wishes he had the balls to live. Richie, however, stopped listening to the lyrics of the songs long ago. Lately, he couldn’t even tell what song was on.

Gee, he thought, for someone with anxiety, you sure are depressed.

But, Richie was getting his final hours of rest in. Richie had agreed with his parents to take up a part-time job at the local museum. The museum had been looking for people to sell tickets outside the planetarium, something that wouldn’t call for much social interaction and he wasn’t bound to keeping the job forever, considering it won’t be open very long. Richie thought his job was dumb, though, why would you pay for the planetarium when you’ve already paid for the museum tickets? But, Richie wouldn’t complain too much. The planetarium was only staying open up until the new year, and it was already October. As far as Richie knew, he was only going to be working with one other person. The thought of meeting a new person scared Richie, yes, but he couldn’t let his parents down. Not when they wanted this so bad.

For now, Richie decides to lay in his bed and play his favorite music.

…

He’s up early at eight the next morning, but his shift doesn’t start until ten. He resists the urge to check his phone for notifications, after all, he doesn’t have friends to talk to anyway. At the foot of his bed, Timber starts to shift and wake up. Richie knows that in a matter of minutes, he’ll have to pull himself from his bed to let her outside to their new, “luxurious”, California backyard.

He doesn’t bother texting his parents and asking if they can let her out, he knows they’re already up and out of the house. His dad, Wentworth, already had a job, that was half the reason they even moved. Meanwhile, His mom, Maggie, was in the process of finding a job. Richie imagines she’ll do volunteer work for a short amount of time. Wentworth makes enough money on his own to support their family, Maggie had a job in Derry to give them the freedom to not worry about spending too much when they go out. Now, Richie has a job for the sake of getting his parents off his ass.

As predicted, Richie was dragging his feet as he walked to the sliding door that led to the backyard to let Timber out. It’s eight thirty by then, which was just enough time for him to eat and get ready for work. He’s quick to pull out a box of Lucky Charms and pour them into a bowl he nearly dropped. When he’s done pouring milk into the bowl, he gets a text from his mom.

Mom: Have an amazing first day! Make a friend!

Richie sighs sadly and shakes his head. He wasn’t in the job to make friends, he didn’t even feel entirely comfortable with the idea of meeting the person he’ll be working with. With his long history of failed friendships, the last thing on his list was to try and meet someone. Granted, the person he’ll be working with could be different. There’s no way they’re from Derry, and there’s no way they’ll know who Richie even is. But the risk of being put through the same torture that he endured with his past friends was too great.

I won’t get attached. He promised himself.

I won’t.

…

Richie is early to work. About thirty minutes or so. He hated the idea of being late and making it seem like he wasn’t serious about working, even if he wasn’t. He decided to sit in his car for the remainder of the time he had left, but that felt even more awkward. The whole time he was messing with a scarf he had been crocheting for about a week with just his fingers. He had always preferred crocheting with his fingers, that way he could rely on the feeling of the yarn when he would poke and pull through the loops rather than watching to make sure he did it right. It made him proud, and he doesn’t get to feel that a whole lot.

When it was finally time to go in, Richie wanted to turn back. He definitely feels better not having to work with a whole crew of people barely out of high school, but he was still dreading the idea of meeting anyone. He kinda hoped the person he’d be working with would ignore him, maybe someone who is just as scared as he is so they’ll both just not talk. That’s just wishful thinking though, he knows he’s not that lucky.

As he walked into the building, he noticed how dead it was. Sure, it was a Monday morning and it’s a museum, but Richie could clearly tell the owners were definitely having a hard time attracting any guests. He didn’t like walking in the empty room, it made him feel awkward and uncomfortable, but the way to sign in was right across from him. In front of the Employees Only room Richie had to go into was a man around his age in a white polo and black pants. The guy looked tired and bored, he was running his hand through his blonde curly hair and letting out a tired sigh when Richie reached him.

“Are you the new guy?” The man asked impatiently.

“Yes,” Richie nodded his head, “that’s me. Richie Tozier.” He stuck his hand out.

“Stan Uris.” Stan shook his hand, something that relieved Richie more than words could say, he was scared Stan wouldn’t even acknowledge it.

“Alright Richie, I already signed you in, I’m just walking you to the planetarium and showing you how to print the tickets.” Stan started walking off as he spoke, Richie almost tripped when he realized they were moving.

“Are you the manager?” Richie asked.

“Nope, I actually work in the front where the museum tickets are sold.”

“Oh. Will I be moved to the front in this job? Or am I just gonna sell planetarium tickets?”

“Well,” Stan scratched the back of his neck, the action made him look more human to Richie. “We’re not understaffed, actually we get a lot of people during the weekends, they pay us the most. But we’re not understaffed, and we probably won’t be anytime soon, and you’re only working until the planetarium closes. So chances are you’re really only gonna work back here.”

Richie was barely paying attention to Stan, he was observing the exhibits around them as they got there. He got the basics of it though, he’ll be with all the planets for the rest of the year. Good thing Richie adored space.

“Alright,” Stan said as they finally reached the ticket stands. Nothing fancy, they were really just two counters with cash registers and small printers. But, with the layout, Richie knew he would have to be closer than expected with his coworker.

“Let me get you set up-”

“Wait.” Richie said, putting his hands up, “do you know who I’ll be working next to?”

Stan opened his mouth to answer, but he was cut off by a woman walking towards them with red hair and a boy trailing behind her.

“Stan!” The girl called his name. She was in the same outfit as Stan, Richie immediately assumed that she was another employee.

“Bev, I assume you have the other new guy?” Stan asked. Bev rolled her eyes and slapped a hand onto his shoulder.

“Don’t be so uptight! Yeah, this is Eddie.”

Eddie was shyly standing next to Bev, he’s looking up but not meeting anyone’s eyes. He looks nervous, Richie can relate to that. Eddie has soft brown hair that lies just above his eyes, he’s got tan skin with faint freckles spread all throughout his face. He’s short, shorter than Richie at least, but he looks like he would be able to take Richie down in a matter of seconds. Richie tries not to think about the other details of Eddie, like how soft his lips look and how impossibly attractive he is. It takes Richie a few seconds to realize that Eddie’s soft brown eyes have found his own blue ones. Richie jumps back a bit, embarrassed from being caught, and his cheeks go a dark red. His mind races with a million thoughts along the lines of oh god I hope he doesn’t think I’m a creep, oh shit- but all of it is cut off when he hears Eddie giggle. He giggles.

“Alright, let’s get started.” Stan declares as Bev walks away in the direction they came in.

I don’t think I’m ready. Richie thinks, and he knows he’s not thinking about the job.

…

“If you don’t have any questions, I’ll head back now,” Stan says. They didn’t spend much time learning the equipment, it was all very simple honestly. Neither of the two had many questions, all of Richie’s questions were answered earlier and Eddie seemed to already know the situation. Both boys watched in silence as Stan walked away until he was out of sight.

Now Richie actually had to interact with Eddie.

Oh god.

“Stan seems nice,” Eddie mumbles quietly. He’s looking down at his hands and fidgeting with his fingers.

“Oh, yeah he seems pretty cool,” Richie responds dryly, cringing at himself when it comes out.

There’s another beat of uncomfortable silence before Eddie actually looks at Richie and makes another effort. He holds his hand out and smiles warmly.

“I’m Eddie.” He says softly, it makes Richie feel a little less anxious about the situation.

“I know.” Richie blurts before he can stop himself. “Wait- no, I mean- I do know, I heard the girl- Bev?- introduce you to Stan and me-”

Then Eddie is giggling again, hand covering his mouth and a smile that reaches his eyes. Normally Richie would think that Eddie is laughing at him, but with his genuine and kind everything about Eddie is, he doesn’t dare think that.

“I’m Richie.” He eventually says quietly, he takes Eddie’s hand and shakes it gently. Eddie gives him another soft smile.

“Nice to meet you, Richie.”

“Yeah… you too.”

[goblinupwizards]

WIP story.

"You're home!"

"Finally, you miss me, babe?"

"More than you can imagine! What took you so long?"

"I know, I know, traffic was hell. Let me put my cycle away and I'll join you up on the porch."

"Nope, I've got a surprise for you inside."

As she turns to go inside I park my bike in its spot, and join her in the living room. What I see there leaves me nearly speechless.

"My... my jacket. You found it! Where was it?"

"I went over to your parents place while you were gone on that trip a year back. It was in a closet, I fixed it up. Do you like it?"

"Like it? I love it! I can't believe you did that!"

"Try it on, I need to see if it fits!"

I walk towards the jacket, circle it, lift the sleeves, it's been made just like new, except for a little patch right over the heart on the inside.

"What's this?"

"My initials, and yours. I figured I could make a few changes while I was fixing it up."

"There's more? Where?"

No answer, just that sly smile of hers, that one that she knows drives me crazy.

"Just try it on, come on!"

Lifting the jacket off the rack feels just like my high school days, the same familiar weight if the heavy brown leather, and as I slip it over my arms I have flashbacks to those days. My first kiss, in a movie theater. My first motorbike, bought after two years of saving, and even more arguing with my parents. Meeting Abi, after crashing in a storm trying to get home.

"This... I can't believe you did this for me. It's perfect."

I slip my hands into the pockets and feel something else, pulling it out I find a pair of aviators, well tinted.

"I thought you might like those" Abi says.

"It's all perfect. Thank you."

Bringing her into a kiss reminds me of something I got for her, after finally getting back from a week long trip for work.

"I've got a surprise for you, too."

She looks up at me, quizzically.

"I'm off for the week, only to be called in case of an extreme emergency."

"The whole week! You haven't been off for that long in two years! What happened?"

"I put my foot down, told them if I didn't get some quality time with my girl I was done, they bent."

"That's great honey! We can finally go to that barbecue with my family!"

"I can't wait, but first I need a day with you, and only you. I was thinking a movie, and then down to the pier for a while, check out the carnival."

"That sounds amazing, but tomorrow, tonight I just want to be alone with you"

The next day is one for the memory books. Abi goes all out, wearing the sundress I love, and the perfume she wore on our first date. I give my new jacket a test run in the movie, and get a few annoyed looks for paying more attention to Abi's lips then the movie. Lunch at the pier turns out to be phenomenal, with greasy medium rare burgers, and crispy fries. The pier carnival holds up to the rest of the day, with Abi winning a small bear, and me crushing her and winning a massive duck stuffed animal. Somehow the two switched hands partway through the day, I couldn't say how. Even the ride home is a good one, the sunset illuminating Abi's beautiful red hair, and the mallard's green fuzz sandwiched between us.

"Today was amazing," Abi says as we lay in bed, "tomorrow we meet my family in the park for the get together you've been promising for a year now"

"Alright, I get it, sorry my job is so demanding" I say, while I can't help smirking at her blatant sarcasm.

Rolling up to the park Abi's kid sister, Cat, is the first to notice us.

"Abi! You guys finally made it"

"Sorry, someone" she says while looking pointedly at me, "couldn't get up on time"

"Sorry, sorry, it would have been easier had someone not been jabbering in my ear all night."

"Alright you two, calm down and come get some brats" Abi's dad says as he walks over, with two sausages, handing one to Abi and one to me.

"It's great to finally get together again, sorry my job has been so demanding"

"Well you can make up for it by pushing me on the swing" Cat says, grabbing my hand and pulling me to the swing set. Abi follows, and leans against me while I push.

"Thank you for coming out"

"Babe, there is nowhere I would rather be"

Just then I hear a yell, distinctly stupid, "Hey, Grip, boss wants you."

"Tell her to shove off, and I told you not to call me that when I'm off the clock, I told her I wouldn't be available all week. Unless the world is literally ending, I don't want to hear it."

"She said you'd say that, she said to tell you that it would end for you if you don't come in"

"And I say I'm not coming in, I'm busy."

The goon's phone rings, he answers it then passes it to me.

"Grip, it's hit the fan. You need to come in." That oddly twinges voice of the boss ringing through the speakers.

"Boss. You know I can't. I told you, I'm with Abi and her family.  I'm busy."

"Sucks, we need you to come in. And you know you don't get a choice here. Tell you what, you do this, you're even. No more, not unless you want. Full freedom, full severance, for life"

That was a good deal. The thing is, I did need this job, at least this last one. That full severance pay would support Abi and me, along with her whole family, if they wanted. I had gotten mixed up with this group, you may have heard of them. They usually go by the FBI. This branch, the Watch, was special though, they dealt with the weird, and I don't mean like naked dudes in LA. I mean like magic. I had dabbled in magic for a while, before I realized I had no skill for it, may or may not have blown up a small warehouse. I'm not at liberty to say. These guys found me, smoking from most orifices and quite a few pores, buried under the rubble. In return for saving my life I've done odd jobs for them for a while.

"Abi-"

"No. Nope. You promised. You said a week."

"I know. But-"

"No buts. You owe me at least today."

"You could let me talk to her," comes a tinny voice from the phone, which I was still holding up. "I'll explain the urgency if you'd just let me."

"No, boss, are you sure the job can't wait till tomorrow?"

"I'll give you twelve hours. Then you need to be here. That's all we can take."

"Thank you. Really."

I look up at Abi, almost in tears, and smile at her.

"I've got twelve hours, let's make the most of it."

She jumps into my arms, tears wetting my shoulder. Cat breaks us up by tugging on my arm,

"Well if you're not gonna talk in the phone, you could at least push me!"

Those twelve hours were the best of my life, after the barbecue Abi and I went home and watched a film, some obscure German film she wanted to see, and I almost fell asleep on the couch, only kept awake by her insistent jabbing in my ribs. At 11:30 I left her sleeping in bed, and rode to the office.

I get ushered up by the same goons that came to the park, straight to Mrs. Boss, real name unknown by all, probably even her cat.

"About time" I'm still five minutes early. "We have reports of a large magic blast inside the Great Sand Dunes, Colorado. You need to go and investigate."

"Colorado? I hear it's nice this time of year."

"Your flight leaves in 20 minutes. I trust you packed?"

"You know me. When was the last time I packed?"

She just rolls her eyes, almost imperceptibly, and gives me my key card to the basement.

I love the basement, it's full of guns and armor, but even cooler, it's full of funky gadgets. like a watch that can shoot little darts, or a ring that can absorb and release energy, or even a necklace that can make people explode if they put it on wrong. They've never let me take that.

"Pleased to see you again, Grip."

"You can't be sneaking up on me like that when I'm down here, I'll end up shooting you with a watch or something."

"I wish you best of luck with that, but we can argue over your skill later, now I get to show you what you can take."

"Oh goody, my favorite part. Which guns do I get this time?"

"The same as always. A 9mm and a shotgun. Why do you always ask?"

"Force of habit I guess, any other goodies in that bag of yours? Don't make me trick or treat for them."

"I would love to see that. But no, we don't have time. You get a ring, as per usual, and you get this."

He pulls out a small knife, sheathed in leather, with a strange glow about it.

"What is that? You know I prefer my distance."

"This is a single use sniper. It can hit any target within sight lines. You needn't even get within magic range of our guy."

Why they haven't used it before makes me curious, and Jones reads that in my eyebrow raise.

"We need to be in sight lines. And this magician is very good at staying hidden. We don't even have a photo of him."

"Then how am I supposed to see him? If the nation's best can't even spot him, what can I do?"

"That's where it gets tricky. And that's also where you have operational lead."

In other words, I have to improvise. Great. Well, that is why the hired me.

"Alright. Thanks for the gear. I'll be going now. To my certain demise."

"Bah, you said that last time."

After landing in Colorado I realize I should have packed a warmer jacket, even in October it's cold. Driving from Denver down to the dunes, arriving after a night of flying, and entering the regional office, it sinks in how this job might go. Just like the fireball that sinks into the concrete at my feet. I dive into the building, but no more flames impact around me. I get into a crouch behind a desk, and see a young intern around the corner. He motions for me to join him, and explains the buildings defenses, no magic can get in, at the cost of magic in the building being impossible. He leads me to the office of the general, who motions for me to sit and wait while he's on the phone.

His office is small, with pale yellow walls and a too big wooden desk. On the desk was a picture of a young girl, I assume his daughter, and a lamp. A pin on his chest announces his rank and name, Gen. Watt. He murmurs into the phone for another minute then motions me over.

"Thank you for coming. I assume you met the little goblin at the door?"

"Charming, isn't he? Is that our man?"

"If it were that easy, we wouldn't need you. That's a golem he's put there, when we destroy it another just shows up."

"Well, what have you got for me then? Anything better than somewhere in a park larger than Connecticut?"

"Not really, I'm sure you've heard how elusive he is. All I can give you is a wish for good luck."

"Well, I'll head out then. Thanks for the rest stop."

After our closing remarks I head out into the park, taking the back this time. Making my way to the motel down the road I try to come up with a game plan, preferably one that avoids fireball slinging gremlins.

It's amazing what your mind thinks of when you are on the verge of death. I remembered the night I met Abi. I had just crashed my bike. She was a first responder. My phone, having registered a spike in heart rate had queried a 911 call. My last act before passing out was to accept. I woke up in a hospital, nearly dead. The doctors said I would have, had a donor not given a large sum of money. That donor was the government, and that's why I'm working for them, at least on the outside. Abi was the ambulance driver. She came to visit me in the hospital, said she did it for all her patients. Later she admitted to thinking I was cute, even, especially, all beat up, and unconscious. She was by my side for most of the recovery. Once I got out, we moved in together. The rest is, as they say, history.

I wake up tired to a chair. I heard a grunt,

"Oy! Was he awake fer!"

Darkness encloses me as a fist collides with my jaw.

I again join the world of the living. My first sight is an ugly nose, pressed near my face, as a humoncolus inspects my head.

"Yes, all very well. Fine and dandy. Superb", it says in a nasally voice, with a distinct lack of caring. Once it notices I'm awake it jumps away, and starts to inform me of my situation. I've been captured by the wizard, who is holding me until further notice. After the clay bore leaves I check my gear. The guns are gone, so is my ring, but the knife is still sheathed in my boot, on top of my foot. That'll be a fun challenge to get to. It must have slipped down when they got me.

As I'm finishing the check for broken bones, none, a woman walks in. She is wearing a red robe, almost like a bath robe, except more like silk than cotton. She also has on dark green combat boot, the ones with straps and laces most of the way to the knee. Her dark hair is cut in a bob that almost covers her eyes. As she walks in she starts speaking.

"So, you're the infamous Grip. I thought you would be harder to catch"

I try to reply, only to find my jaw erupting in pain.

"Ah, you've discovered what I like to call my 'anti-sarcasm muzzle. Although it won't let you talk at all. I suppose that anti-sarcasm is wrong, but I'm sure you would only reply in sarcasm anyway, so it might work. But I digress, welcome to my abode."

She said this last part in a very unwelcoming way, with a distinctly angry smirk. Almost like we were hunting each other.

"I trust you weren't hurt to much? You never can tell with those golems."

Just then a clay abomination walks in.

"Ma'am, you should probably come see this. There's a lady outside yelling at the door," again, the nasally voice grates on me, why do they always have to be annoying? The witch walks out, and as she does I realize that she is probably the wizard I was looking for. I might be a bit concussed, not as fast as I could be. Or, not fast at all. I try to yell a question at her back, but am once again stopped by her stupid magic muzzle thing.

She comes back sometime later, this time with a staff, and a dark purple robe. I can't tell if this is still the same day, my cell not having any windows, so I assume the clothes change marks a new dawn. She says nothing, just smiles, maybe a bit sadly, and casts a quiet spell. All my joints instantly erupt into pain. She turns and walks out the door. As she leaves I hear a screaming, and I realize as my throat gets sore that it's me, not one of her golems.

After what felt like years she returns, that same faint, sad look on her face. She casts another spell and the pain recedes.

"That was one hour. You held up remarkably well, I'm surprised at how long it took you to faint. That was to show you just what I'll do, and trust me, it wasn't as far as I'll go. I don't want anything from you. I don't even want the Watch to leave me alone. They will be a non-issue here very soon."

As she turns to leave she remembers something.

"That girl at the door, you might know her. Her name is Abigail."

A whole new kind if pain washes over me, hurting worse than her magic ever could.

A homunculus comes into my cell. It brings a tray of food, along with a glass of water. It unlocks my hands, sets the tray in the floor, and leaves. I would the food down, this being the first meal I've had since landing in DIA. It consists of bread, and a thick potato soup. The dirt on the floor getting into the soup only enhances the flavor. I find a note under the bowl,

Sorry I forgot to feed you. Oops. I'm not used to this whole "gaoler" thing. Don't worry, I've fed Abigail. She seems very healthy. I think. Is she usually that pale?  Anyway, I'll be back tomorrow morning. Don't wait up. Ha.

The note almost takes away my appetite. But I haven't eaten in so long I manage to choke the rest down. I fall I to a fitful sleep, finally able to stretch on the floor as long as I don't move my feet to much.

I'm woken by the door clanging open. I sit up, and quickly realize just sore my whole body is, after fitful sleeps in a chair and on a stone floor. It's her again, this time in a light green robe.

"Do you only wear robes? That seems cliche" I manage to get out, through my sore throat.

"Oh. My muzzle seems to have worn off."

I feel a clamp over my face, and am unable to speak again. She moves a bit closer, and taps her staff against the chains on my feet, which fall into the stone. She taps it again on the far wall, and a small cot appears.

"Truly sorry, as my note said I'm really not used to this whole prisoner thing. I've come to talk with, or I guess to, you. As you can't leave, having seen me, you will have to stay here forever. Or at least until I finish my task."

With that, she turns around and walks out of the cell, the door closing behind her.

Days pass, food appears on the floor, nothing changes. With each meal I make a mark on the wall, the lines slowly add up.

I can speak again, and I've started talking to myself, quietly recounting the events that led up to this. I almost manage to convince myself there was nothing I could've done, but I'm never quite able to shake the image of Abi in a cell like mine. Each time I try to remember how I got caught. Each time my memory blanks after I leave the office. What if I had left out the front? Would she still have gotten me?

Eventually the sorceress returns. Her robes are gently smoking and covered in ash. Through the various holes I can see her undershirt, a tasteful red to go with what I assume to have been a purple robe.

"Good to see you're still here. I almost thought you would have tried to escape by now. Is Abi really that important to you? I wouldn't hurt her. I'm not like that."

By now my knife is accessible, and I'm only waiting for am opportunity to use it.

"What do you want with me? What are your plans here?"

"I told you, I don't want anything from you. You are just a nuisance in my way. As for my plans, I only want equality for the masses."

[  ] Robin Hood approach!!!

[  ] Plan (eat the rich? The FBI? Gov in general?)

[  ] Grip doesn't believe, then does(?)

[  ] Abi reunited

[  ] Grip agrees to help

[  ] Sorceress dies(?) Disappears(?)

[  ] Grip finds Gov being bad

[  ] Grip + sorceress defeated by tyrant(?) Or beat them(?)

[renegade-is-in-my-blood]

I’ve already told you about my adventures through Czechia with my American friend in my previous articles:

Exploring Czechia with an American: Kutna Hora edition

Exploring Czechia with an American: Karlstejn Castle edition

This time we were exploring the beautiful city of Karlovy Vary. There is plenty to do in Karlovy Vary so I’m gonna divide it by the days we spend there. Here is what happened in Karlovy Vary day one -Night in the city.

All of our explorations occurred by trains. One of my favorite moments of the whole week of exploration was how astonished my American friend was with the prices. Everything was so cheap for him. Once we sat on a 3-hour long train ride to Karlovy Vary he finally understood.

Price equals quality.

I’m used to it by now but to the outsider is a very memorable experience.

Old. Smelly. Rusty. Noisy. Broken for most of the part. Super uncomfortable. Always late.

But I wouldn’t change it for the world.

I’ve been traveling by buses or trains for over 8 years now regularly and it’s terrible every time but I have the greatest, most bizarre stories to tell from my travels.

Traveling by public transportation comes naturally with station visits.

For me personally, stations are associated as a really scary place. No matter the number of people on the station or the number of policemen around, creepy guys just seems to be magically attracted to me. Stations are really dark places for me and I’m trying to avoid them for my own good as much as possible.

That’s why Karlovy Varys train station came as a huge surprise for me.

When we got out of our poor old train we found ourselves at the most beautiful, cleanest train station I ever saw. Everything was plain white color and it looked almost sterile. Seriously I’ve been to hospitals who were not as clean as this train station.

Plenty of places to sit, informative boards everywhere and even though it was not as big in size, it made it up with the quality.

During the whole of our trips, we were met with incredibly nice people willing to help us. The same goes for Karlovy Vary.

We were kind of lost with how are we gonna get to our hotel from the station.

The easiest option would be to take a cab but that one is not very adventurous. Instead, we found our how the public transportation works, got the cheapest ticket and asked the nearby security guard for directions.

There is like a main public transportation station where most of the city buses head and you can get pretty much everywhere from there. It’s just one bus stop from the train station and it’s quite easy to maneuver even though we were there for the first time. The signs are very big so it’s impossible to miss it. And if somehow you do get lost just ask someone. Trust me they are super friendly.

By the time we arrived, it was already dark, around 8 in the evening and the temperatures were crazy low.

Our plan was to check-in the hotel, leave our bags and head to the city for late dinner and we did just that.

We were staying at Hotel Marttel we found on booking. Our request was pretty simple. Good location in the center, breakfast and cheap price. Hotel Marttel met our demands perfectly. Great for one night we were staying there. We literally spend just slept, showered and ate breakfast there. Even though we checked out in the morning they were kind enough to keep our bags at the hotel for the time of our Karlovy Varys explorations

Continuing with nice people the receptionist recommended us some closest restaurants but we went much further anyway. Most of the Karlovy Vary is on a hill. Our hotel was almost at the top so the walk down was pretty great but the way back not so much. The whole place is full of twists and turns so the car or bus ride might take even longer that simple walk because of the slow, careful traffic.

People living in Karlovy Vary must have crazy good physical condition walking those hills every day.

Another great surprise that followed was the empty city center. It was around 9 in the evening and most of the stores were already closed! I mean, it was just a Wednesday evening and it was early October but still, I expected such a huge touristy place to have a more active nightlife.

We were in a mood for pizza so we went to Ristorante-Pizzeria Palermo that has great TripAdvisor recommendations and we can only add 5 stars. I found it hilarious that the very friendly staff were talking in Czech with me but English with Kevin. A little break from translating for me.

After we were finally full and happy with great pizza, we went out to the cold weather and explored the mostly empty streets of Karlovy Vary.

We wanted to visit some famous spas the next day when they open so we went on a search for some.

The closest and most recommended for tourists are Elizabeth’s spas. 

The convenient location in the basic center is very favorable for the tourists.

Even though it was closed by the time we arrived the sight of the outside of it was still something special.

The whole city was something special, to be fair.

I’m a sucker for that neoclassical architectural style. Perfectly lit city on a calm night with no other tourists was so magical. I guess most of the tourists were somewhere inside as we found one, let’s call it a disco for older people, and oh boy do they know how to party. We were only watching them from the window but we were losing it.

Karlovy Varys streets remind me of my trip to the Netherlands with those beautiful buildings but with some extra luxurious style added.

Karlovy Vary is full of Spas Colonnades that are basically a place where the famous thermal water is erupting from the ground. The buildings surrounding the colonnades are just spectacular. A truly breathtaking sight.

You can take the healing water with you for free just take some bottle or something to pour it in. The water is safe for drinking but oh boy it’s so disgusting. It tastes like sulfur and tastes just the same. Not that I ever tasted pure sulfur but that’s’ how I imagine it tastes like.

Kevin did pour water from one stream we found to a plastic bottle, but he poured it out the next day as it’s too gross to drink and the bottle could be used for normal drinkable water instead.

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  The first impression of Karlovy Vary for me was that it’s a beautiful calm city. I’m so glad we got the chance to have such a peaceful night walk over the town cuz the next day was super busy. But all about that in the next part coming out soon.

Stay tuned for day two in Karlovy Vary.

Exploring Czechia with an American: Karlovy Vary Day one edition I've already told you about my adventures through Czechia with my American friend in my previous articles:

[a-walk-in-silence]

The Past Is For The Past (Pt. 1)

Pairing: Cop!Tom Holland x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 2.5k

Summary: As a teenager, you were stalked and sent death threats. They were never caught. Now as an adult, you start dating a cop, Tom Holland. Everything seemed normal until... something happens.

Warnings: Character death, description of dead bodies, blood, major past trauma, 

A/N: Hey! This is Liza! So even though I’mma primarily be the one posting/writing, I gotta give props to my girls @thedaydreamingwriter and @hollands-poppet for helping with the idea for this series as well as helping form this into a brilliant idea. So like go give them love! Thank you! Also, this is a 5 part series! I’m going to try and schedule these updates periodically so that way the last part comes out on Halloween! I’m already a few days off but oh well! Enjoy!

Key:

Y/N - Your Name

L/N - Your Last Name

Italics - Flashback

Bold Italics - Notes

9 a.m. October 31st

“So tell me about what happened when you were 16,” said the calming voice of your therapist, casually leaning back in his chair. On his knee was a notepad, filled with information that you had told him. “Every session that we have, we always seem to come to a... blockade, if you well, when talking about your teenage years. As it is my understanding, your boyfriend- what was his name?” Dr. Carmichael once more shifted in his chair, posing his pen so that he can write.

“Tom,” you responded, readjusting your legs so that they were crossed. “He’s, uh... he’s a cop, actually. We met in college.”

A smile perched itself on your therapists lips as he leaned forward a bit, copying your words. “Right, Tom. He’s the one who convinced you to come here, right?” The piercing eyes of your therapist met yours as he tried to dig through your psyche right before your very eyes. At your nod, he smiled calmly, relaxing once more. “So, have you told anyone besides your family and boyfriend about what happened? If the answer is yes, then I’d like you to think of me as a friend. Open up to me about what happened. Only you and I can work on fixing this problem together.”

You chewed on your bottom lip for a moment, contemplating his words. You knew you wanted help, to forget what had happened. But you were scared to open up. You weren’t sure what to make of anything. You knew he only had your best interest in mind...

“I... uh... was in high school, at the time. Central London. My mother had just passed away from cancer, so it was just my father and I. The first incident happened while I was studying for my GCSE’s.” You cleared your throat suddenly, feeling as though you were being suffocated by the tears that were threatening to spill. “S-Sorry... I... I was putting away my books...”

----

You laughed in your friend’s direction as she awkwardly tripped over her own two feet as she attempted to reach the higher level book shelves. She landed straight on her bum, looking mildly annoyed as you laughed. “It’s not funny!” Terra practically hissed, tossing the book towards you. “Go on! Why don’t you put it up!”

Shaking your head, you casually reached forward, sliding the book into it’s proper place. You threw a victorious smile over your shoulder as Terra silently fumed for a moment before laughing herself. “You’re such a clutz. How do you ever expect to do anything if you can’t stand on your own two feet?”

“Enough you two,” Amy laughed, giving you a playful shove. “I can’t believe you’re acting like a bunch of children right now instead of studying. Our GCSE’s are soon! You’ll both fail if you don’t study!”

You merely shrugged in response to her remark. “Why study and stress when I can wing it and do just fine?

----

You seemed to trail off when talking about your friends. Your heart stopped beating as images flashed in front of your eyes. The things your stalker had done to your friends was seared into your memory. Their unblinking eyes at nothing as their chests stopped rising and falling.

You weren’t aware of the fact that you were now scratching your fingers along your arm, causing red streak marks along the soft flesh. It took your therapist clearing his throat for you to look up and stop scratching at your arm.

“Don’t push yourself to talk about it,” he said, voice soft. “I want you to be comfortable and tell me about everything that you can. If something is too difficult to remember, then I want you to stop and take a moment to gather your thoughts. If you still can’t talk about it after you’ve taken a breather, then skip it. There’s always tomorrow to fill in the blanks.”

Slowly you nodded, rocking back and forth in the chair for a moment. Your eyes glanced back up towards the clock that hung over your therapists head. You still had another 40 minutes left in this session. As of right now, you didn’t want to continue the conversation, but you knew you had to. Tom was waiting for you back home, and you needed to do this for him. Taking a deep breath, you decided to continue on with your story.

----

Terra glanced down at her watch and suddenly jumped to her feet. “Crap! I have to get going home! It’s late! Amy, can you walk me home? Please? My dad’ll kill me if I’m not home soon!”

Amy groaned before standing up, shoving her notepads into her back pack. “Yeah, yeah. Come on. You coming with, Y/N?”

You shook your head, smiling at the two of them. “I’m gonna do some more studying and then I’ll walk home. I live right down the street any way. Have fun, loves.”

The two gave you a small look before looking at one another. They seemed to communicate silently, judging what to do. Terra’s eyes were pleading with Amy to just leave, so that’s what they did. With one last glance, the two disappeared, leaving you alone in the library.

While studying, you kept getting the uneasy feeling that someone was watching you. Something just felt so wrong. But every time you looked over your shoulder, there was no one there. So you just continued to study until it became late.

----

“I-I started walking home after I finished... And I-” Your phone started to suddenly ring in the middle of your sentence, causing you to practically jump out of your skin. You cautiously looked down, staring at the picture of Tom’s bright smile looking back at you. “Sorry, it’s Tom, can I-?”

“Of course. I’ll be here when you’re done.” Dr. Carmichael smiled warmly at you. Visibly, you relaxed as you got out of your chair and excused yourself from the main room, closing yourself into the small bathroom that was apart of his office.

You placed the phone up to your ear once you answered, relaxing against the door. “Tommy?” you asked, crossing your arms across your midrift. “What’s happening? I’m in the middle of therapy and-”

“Oh crap, I forgot.” He groaned on the other end of the line. “I’m sorry, darling. I was just calling to say I’ll be home early but I forgot you had therapy and you won’t be home when I get home and-”

“Love,” you interrupted, trying to suppress a small giggle as he awkwardly tried to make excuses. “It’s okay, really. Is there anything that you needed? Was there any reason of why you called?”

He sighed on the other end. “I think it’s better for in person. If you want I can pick you up once your done at therapy. How long do you have left?”

“Around 25 minutes or so. So see you then?” you answered. You rested your head back against the door, trying to relax. Just what did he need to tell you that needed to be said in person?

“Yes, love. Sounds amazing. I have to go now.” Before you could say anything, the line went dead on his end. You stared at your phone for a moment, curious as to why he suddenly hung up on you. However, you didn’t have time to really process why when your therapist knocked on the bathroom door.

“Y/N, are you quite alright? Should I cancel the rest of the session?” he asked, sounding genuinely worried.

You sighed, pocketing your phone in your back pocket. “No, no. I’m coming out now.” You opened the door, meeting Dr. Carmichael’s kind brown eyes. “Sorry, Tom was calling to tell me he was getting off early. We should, um... probably get back to the session. He should be coming to pick me up soon.”

His warm smile was the only response as he lead you back to your seat, gently urging you to sit once more before sitting opposite of you. “I’m ready when you are,” he said, once more holding his pen and pad of paper to copy anything you might say.

----

The night air was chilly as you bundled your clothes tightly to your body. The air, despite being so chilly, was still. A low fog hung low to the ground, making it near impossible to see your feet or the sidewalk underneath. The only light seemed to come from passing cars and the fluorescent yellow street lamps placed every couple hundred feet.

While walking, your foot kicked something large. It sent you catapulting into the sidewalk. Your hands flew out, trying to catch your fall and resulting in multiple scraps along your hands and forearms. You glanced behind yourself to see what had tripped you up when you saw something you never thought you would ever see in your life.

On the ground was Terra, her mouth opened in permanent shock. Her eyes were wide open, staring straight into the sky yet seeing nothing. Her skin was pale, even under the bright yellow street lamps.

Her throat was cut open cleanly, blood dripped out of her open wound. Her hair was dyed from the blood now pooling on the side walk. Your throat seemed to constrict, and you couldn’t make a sound. You desperately crawled over to your friends body, holding her tightly.

Tears stung in your eyes as you stared down at her unseeing eyes. You finally screamed, holding her tightly. A car pulled up beside the two of you, the driver jumping out.

“Please! Call the police!” you shouted desperately, holding your friend. Your tears finally spilled from your eyes are you stared into her lifeless eyes. They seemed so blank.

While the person called the cops, a shout came from farther away. You glanced over your shoulder and saw a young woman standing in the ditch, staring down at something that you couldn’t see because of the thick fog. “Oh my God! There’s a dead body!”

Numbly, you moved away from Terra, following the sound of the woman’s screams. In the ditch was Amy, her dark hair tangled with sticks and blades of grass. Her eyes were just like Terra’s, cold and lifeless, staring at nothing. You screamed, covering your mouth with a bloody hand.

You crawled towards your friend, cautiously running your fingers across her now pale face. Her mouth was wide open, and inside you could see a bloody piece of paper, folded small to be discreet.

Cautiously you removed it, unfolding the piece of paper. On the slip was a note that chilled you two your bones.

Happy Halloween, Y/N.

----

You purposefully didn’t tell your therapist what the note had said. You simply told him that the note had your name written on it. 

A knock pulled you from the memory, quieting your words. The secretary from outside peeked her head inside. She looked awkward, her bright red hair pulled up into a bun. “Mr. Holland is here to pick up Miss L/N.”

You nodded, numbly moving from your seat. Your therapist seemed a little stunned from your story, but you only felt numb. “T-Thank you... I guess. I’ll... be back next week.”

Your voice seemed to pull him from his thoughts that he had previously been engaged in. He forced a smile before standing up, offering his hand. “Yes. Of course. I hope you and I can work next session on unlocking new information on your life.” Before you could contemplate anything, he offered you a smile. “Ah, and Y/N? Happy Halloween.”

Slowly, ever so slowly, you nodded. Dr. Carmichael seemed completely unfazed by his comment. He took his seat once more as you left his office.

Sitting in the lobby was Tom, still in uniform from work. A grim look was settled over his face until his beautiful brown eyes fell on you. He quickly jumped to his feet, enveloping you in his arms. You hid your face in his shoulder, still reliving the memories you had just gone through moments before. Your body was rigid. Not even his tight embrace could help you relax.

“It’s okay, love. I’m here,” Tom mumbled, running his fingers through your hair to try and attempt to calm you down.

You shake your head, relaxing into his arms. “I just wanna go home. Please.”

He nodded, his chin resting on the top of your head once he was done. “Okay, okay. Let’s go home, darling.”

----

The ride back to Tom’s was silent, filled with the quiet music that Tom had put on in an attempt to fill the silence. It didn’t really work.

He pulled into the driveway of the house. The gentle sound of the motor came to a stop, ending the music as well. You clambered out of the car, dragging your bag with you as you practically ran into the overly spacious house.

The house had been a gift from one of his aunts who had passed away a couple years ago. Before hand, the two of you had been living in an apartment near your college. Now, at the ripe old age of 24, the two of you were living in his dead aunt’s house that was far too big for the two of you. Not even Tessa could fill up the space.

You opened the front door that opened straight into the living room. From the back of the house, you could hear the patter of Tessa’s nails on the hardwood floors. A few moments later, the blue Staffordshire Bull Terrier came bowling towards you. Before she has a chance to knock you over, Tom’s strong arms wrapped around you, keeping you upright as the dog came jumping in an attempt to lick your face.

“Hey- Hi Tess.” You knelt down next to the pup as she licked your face. You scratched her ears, trying to calm down her excitement. “I know. It’s the day of the party. Aren’t you excited, girl?”

Her tail wagged in excitement as she turned her attention to Tom. You watched the two interact for a moment before giving him a hard look. There was something that he wasn’t telling you. Something that involved his work day.

After a minute of getting attention, Tessa trotted away in search of her next snack. You leaned against the back of the couch, crossing your arms over your chest. “So? What happened today?”

Tom sighed, leaning against the couch as well. His eyes were hard as he looked forward. “Y/N, you remember Jacob? One of my old college friends. He was supposed to be coming to the party tonight.”

“Yeah, I remember Jacob. Batalon, right? Wasn’t he doing local theatre or something like that?” You shrugged your shoulders, glancing at Tom’s side profile. “What about him?”

“He’s dead.” His voice was hard as he shifted uncomfortably, staring at his feet now. “He was found dead around 3 in the morning. There was a note in his mouth.” Tom pulled out his phone, pulling up a photo on his phone.

You stared at the screen. The picture of a piece of paper covered in blood. On the note were words that you thought you would never have to read again in your life.

Happy Halloween, Y/N.

Tags:

@thedaydreamingwriter @hollands-poppet @hollandroos @starksparker @peeterparkr @dodie-y3llow @youreafangirl-harry @spidey-pal

[atruththatyoudeny]

Monthly Reads | October 2017

❤ THANK YOU TO ALL WRITERS FOR YOUR HARD WORK AND FOR SHARING YOUR STORIES! ❤ Top 5 + 7 more under the cut: Walk That Mile

by purpledaisy for 1D Reverse Bang 2017 | Road Trip | strangers to enemies to friends to lovers | 141k Harry stares at him, the line of his jaw standing out scarily. “I wanted to get the most out of this trip so I planned it carefully.” His voice is low and steady and somehow that’s worse than when he was yelling. “So far, you’ve put your sticky fingers on everything I’ve tried to do.” “Sticky fingers?” Louis repeats, offended. “Are you saying it’s my fault you got stung by a bee? Had you been alone you would have gotten halfway to the Dotty Diner and ran the car off the road because of an allergic reaction, so don’t go blaming me.” “Polk-A-Dot Drive In,” Harry spits before getting out of the car. He slams the door shut with a deafening reverb and Louis rolls his eyes. - A Route 66 AU where falling in love was never part of the plan.

No One Like You

by myownspark for 1D Reverse Bang 2017 | historical | friends to lovers | art history | slow burn| 19k Dear Niall, I was glad to have the chance to talk with you again at the AHA conference. Your idea that the Musee D’Orsay Tomlinson painting is in fact not a self-portrait is an intriguing one, and I may have discovered something that will have a bearing on that theory. Some background: as you may remember, I’ve been researching for a book I’m writing about Harry Styles. I’ve been in communication with Styles’ last living descendant, who is in possession of a trunk that her family believed to have belonged to Styles himself. It held some personal items she presumes to be his, including two unmounted paintings and a small collection of letters. Upon spending the last few days in Provins studying these items, I believe there to be a connection between Tomlinson and Styles, and I would very much like your opinion. Are you up for a trip to France? Sincerely, Liam Payne Where Liam and Niall are art historians discovering the truth about two nineteenth century painters on opposite sides of an artistic divide.

You Might Want to Marry My Husband

by Rearviewdreamer | friends to lovers | minor character death | 24k When Harry’s husband dies, he asks one thing of him; to find love and happiness again without him. It’s a request that Harry is happy to disregard, until he meets the one person who is impossible to ignore.

Like One of Your French Girls

by elsi_bee for 1D Reverse Bang 2017 | friends to lovers | 46k Harry thumbs through his sketchpad before he stops on a blank page. He looks Louis over for a moment, seemingly studying him. It’s a odd feeling, even if it is what Louis signed up for, just sitting in a crowd in broad daylight while a stranger looks him up and down. Louis is the subject of Harry’s first year art project, and what starts as an assignment blossoms into a friendship. It’s unfortunate that only one of them wishes it could be more.

We're What's Right In This World

by BriaMaria for 1D Reverse Bang 2017 | World War II | PTSD | blind Louis | soldier Harry | period-typical homophobia | 48k “Why did you talk like that in Brighton? If you weren’t planning on ever telling me?” Louis asked. “Is it because you think you’re going to die?” “It’s war, Lou,” Harry said finally. The words were a knife slipped between his ribs. Everything hurt and he was bleeding. He shifted up, his palms cradling Harry’s jaw, his lips against his boy’s. Not kissing, just resting there, so Louis could feel him. “Promise you’ll come back to me.” Harry’s hands smoothed down the sides of Louis’ body. “You know I can’t do that. I’ll never lie to you.” “Promise me. We’re going to have our cottage. And our dogs. And our breakfast in the garden where nothing grows because of the wind from the sea. Promise me.” “I won’t.” Stubborn as always, his boy. “I’ll promise you, I’ll love you all my life. I’ll promise you, you’ll never leave my thoughts. I’ll promise you, you’re my forever and my always. But promising you something I can’t cheapens the things I can.” ---- Or the World War II AU where Harry goes off to fight and all Louis wants to do is be the boy who brings him home.

Threadbare

by kiwikero  for HL Historical Fic Exchange | historical | period-typical homophobia | hurt/comfort | major character injury | friends to lovers | 20k Harry Styles was eight years old when Louis Tomlinson kept him from falling into a machine in a Manchester textile mill. He was 18 years old when nothing, not even the threat of death, could keep Harry from falling in love with Louis.

I'm still learning to love

by stylinsonau | minor character death | kid fic | babysitter Louis | CEO Harry | 74k “Hello there.” Louis crouches in front of the small child, brunette with light sleepy eyes. He smiles fondly. He looks a lot like his father, but with a little less laugh lines, and frowns, and grumpiness. The child continues to rub at his eyes, clutching at his little shark before he asks, “Are you gonna be my new Dada?” Harry stiffens. Or An au where Harry has almost everything in the world except for the will to move on.

Forget-me-not

by SexyAssWoman for HL Historical Fic Exchange | major character death | Salem Witch Trials | witches | enemies to friends to lovers | angst | 26k “I- I can't move” the elder one finally croaked out, and with more distress Harry came to see that the vines had wrapped itself around the lad's ankles. With a dumb nod Harry took a couple of steps forward. He could see Louis flinch with his sudden movement but he tried not to think about it. Instead, he lifted his hands, and tried his best to concentrate, hoping his power would listen to him just this once around the other man and untie him. Ever so slowly, the vines started to detach themselves from Louis's calves, and soon enough, the man was free. With shaking legs, Louis stood up from the position he was in, and suddenly the air around them got thicker. “You're- you're a witch.” Louis hissed under the harsh wind, making Harry flinch at the accusation in his voice. or, Where Harry had something he did not wish to have. Louis was just trying to figure him out.

The dead things we carry

by Anonymous for HL Historical Fic Exchange | World War II | post-war | PTSD | injury | hidden relationship | angst | 25k September ‘49 He hasn’t seen him since that day in France, that horrible muddy day where for one terrifyingly long second, Louis really thought he was going to die. He winces with the phantom pain, the hand not holding his cane going to his stomach automatically, remembering the franticness, the tenderness, of Harry’s hands while Louis was bleeding out. This is the man who saved Louis’ life. For one second, Louis fears Harry won’t recognise him, but his eyes widen when he turns to his left and they meet Louis’. He takes a step forward, reaching for him with a shaky hand before stopping himself. “Louis,’ Harry says with a shudder and Louis doesn’t think his name has ever carried more weight. This is the only man Louis ever thought about kissing for real. “Oh,” Mrs. Padley says, clearly taken aback. “You two know each other?” There are some things people never fully come home from. Until, one day, if they’re lucky, home comes to them.

Can I just be the same?

by Star_Henderson for 1D Reverse Bang 2017 | vampires | 17k “Are you skint?” Louis studied his face. “I can give you the bloody bus fare home, Harry. You don't have to walk.” His voice was soft. Caring. Harry stopped, his body tingling. Fuck. He shouldn’t have crossed the road. Keep walking. Always keep walking. “I’m not skint, but thanks for the offer. There’s not many kind people like you around. You’re lovely, you know that?” Harry reached his hand out tentatively, cupping Louis’ elbow and squeezing. “Thank you.” His voice hitched a little. He’d roamed the country for centuries, coming in and out of people’s lives, never able to forge bonds. Or, if he did, breaking them and suffering the pain of lost love. That was his life forever. Stuck in this limbo with not one other person in the whole world who cared about him. So the kindness of a stranger really hit home, and this stranger with the bluest eyes and brightest smile was making Harry feel alive again. Reminding him of what he was missing OR Harry is a two hundred year old Vampire with no one in the whole world and Louis is the kind hearted stranger who comes into Harry's life bringing something that Harry had missed. Love. But Harry is forever running, can Louis be the one to change all that?

It'll be

by styleandsin for  pining | implied violence | secret identity | friends to lovers | 17k Harry meets Louis at university. Once he finally gets the nerve to take their friendship to the next level, Louis vanishes without a trace. Harry doesn’t see him again for four years. Only now he goes by Charlie, and pretends not to know who Harry is. Now Harry wants answers more than ever.

Ocean Eyes

by LSFOREVER for HL Fic Exchange 2017 | Farmer Harry | enemies to lovers | 25k “I want to buy your land." “Get out of my house.” “I’d hardly call it a house…” “I’d hardly call you the respectable business man you claimed yourself to be when you introduced yourself!” “Touché. I’ll break you one way or another, Mr. Styles. Just you wait.” or, where harry is a farmer, louis is a rich business man, and niall and liam are the best mates anyone could ask for.

[fourteenacross]

ghost quartet - nytw next door - october 8, 2017

H'okay, so, this may all be a little blurry around the edges because the circumstances in which I traveled to and from New York on Sunday were not ideal and the anxiety around them muted parts of my brain more than I would have liked. BUT. Here we are.

First of all, it was humid as dicks and the house manager was very kind and let us inside the air conditioned lobby like, twenty minutes early, bless him.

Obviously "sixty-five seat black box theatre" implies that the space is small, but...man, the space is small. That was excellent, really--it added to the intimacy of the show--but it was still weird to walk into a space the size of my living room and dining room combined and have that be all. We sat in the section next to the door and, as I implied yesterday, I was directly behind Brent. If I could do it again, I probably would have sat in either of the other sections, just because that meant I really only saw Brent during "Fathers and Sons," but the place is so tiny it really hardly mattered. And, speaking of tininess/hardly mattering, the reserved seats were just the first row of each section and definitely not worth the additional thirty bucks, imo. This run is over, but if you're going to another Next Door performance that does a similar seating style, just...fyi.

The set dressing is great. It would have been cool if the seating was a little more informal, but it still felt like you were hanging out in your friends' basement, listening to them tell you an elaborate story. There were neat little touches around all of their stations--there was a little bear and a little pot of honey on the table next to Brent, as well as a mason jar, which I initially took to be a reference to his verse in "Four Friends," but it turns out Brent just takes water in his whiskey. (I mean, it might have ALSO been a nod to that, but it also served a practical purpose.)

I had listened to the music a few times last spring and a few times in August and a few times this month, in preparation, so I was familiar with the story and the songs, but seeing it live definitely adds another dimension. There were certain bits of staging that were surprises to me, and certain bits of staging that made things that pop up on the McKittrick recording make a lot more sense, heh.

Anyway, I'm gonna do this old school.

I Don’t Know - This song felt almost like a frame story, setting the stage for what's to come, except that the structure of the show is such that, with all the narratives twisting together, it was like framing a frame framing a frame. It was like an MC Escher frame, all twisted around and then turning into birds. I have theories about how this and "Four Friends" and "Any Kind of Dead Person" fit into the timeline(s) of the show, but I'm still trying to twist them into words.

Anyway, I was sitting right behind Brent and he's really good at the cello, in case you were unaware.

The Camera Shop - This opening is so interesting because of where it takes place in the larger narrative(s). Brittain/Rose comes in very, very nervous and unsettled, but as Gelsey starts behaving strangely, she starts to get more comfortable in the way you get comfortable when you assess that someone is kind of off-the-wall and you are a Rational Being and thus above them. There's still some of that nervousness as Gelsey starts to go into the story, but it comes off more as nerves from being around someone eerie than the nerves that we know Rose has around what she just did (or didn't do, as the case may be.).

Brittain and Gelsey work so incredibly well together, and this was the first time that the complexity of this piece, on an acting level, really set in. Everyone's playing at least four characters, sometimes several at once, and this is a good example. Brittain goes from Camera!Rose to Rose Red to Starchild within minutes, sliding seamlessly between them as the narrative dictates. It was pretty awesome.

Starchild - confession: I love Brittain's voice, I love her solo music, but this song didn't click with me on the cast recordings? Which is crazy, because it's super my jam, both musically and narratively. Seeing it live definitely changed that and I'm low-key obsessed with it now. She really acts with her whole body, as anyone who's seen Great Comet knows, and seeing all of that poured into "Starchild" just squeezed my heart.

Subway - This is one that I assumed worked better live than it does on the recording and I was right. The rhythm is a little clunky as a purely aural experience, but seeing the four of them perform it adds this incredible mounting tension. You can feel it in the room, the way that Gelsey bangs that drum and everyone sings over each other, the lighting flickering. (And, this is a whole other post, but I feel like that's maybe at the core of why some of Dave's stuff just doesn't click with people who are just listening to it. Fans obvs embrace his aversion to rhyme and the way he plays with rhythm in sort of non-traditional-musical-theatre ways, but when you're more a traditional-musical-theatre person and you're just listening to it instead of watching it, it's harder to grasp? idk, it's something that I've been thinking about, vis-a-vis friends saying, "I listened to the GC cast recording and it was fine and then I SAW IT and everything clicked and weird choices on the recording made sense!" and even my own feelings about listening to GQ vs. seeing it. Obviously, cast recordings are never going to substitute for actually seeing a thing in person and aren't 100% meant to, but I think that it's a particularly strong divide in GC and GQ. Anyway, I just said this needed to be a whole post in and of itself, so I'll stop now.)

Usher, Part 1 - I have not read this story since college, which was *mumblemumble* years ago, and I meant to re-read it before coming to the show, but I...didn't. Which is maybe better! Who knows! Anyway, this starts with just a light on Gelsey as she recites the opening monologue and plays the harp. It's simultaneously creepy and a little funny? She definitely plays up both sides of it, the funny and the creepy, which makes it get more creepy and less funny as time goes on, so by the time Dave comes in for the song, you're getting full-on chills.

Soldier and Rose - Gelsey is full-on Gelsey in this one. Which I say as the highest compliment, obvs. The juxtaposition of Brittain/Rose being awkwardly, desperately flirtatious and Gelsey/Soldier's utter Doneness is hilarious. Rose lays it on thick to a very impassive soldier who responds to all her entreaties by shaking a thunder tube at her.

Any Kind of Dead Person - This is just a fun number. Brittain hams it up and Gelsey gives out a succession of percussion instruments over the course of it, to people sitting all over the room, which just intensifies the feeling of this being your four weird friends telling stories in their basement and trying to get you to join in.

The Astronomer - Dave came out from behind the piano to sing this in front of Gelsey and Brittain's station and took some time to praise the other three as he got into position. He also tripped over the rug and then could not get it to lie flat. Otherwise, the patter is almost identical to the live show.

ANYWAY, I fucking love this song a lot, okay? It was my favorite song before seeing the show and remains my favorite after having seen it. I don't have much to say about it, performance/staging-wise, just lots of gushing about how much I fucking love it. The universality (is that a word) of the lyrics is just so sadly haunting, especially when you think of it as coming from the Astronomer, who's kind of a dick, but now also has this depth that I appreciate.

Family Meeting - Just as hilarious as you're picturing it in your mind, for sure. Brent and Brittain as kids are excellent, and Brittain's monologue is stellar. The transition between that little-kid-ness and flat out anger and frustration at the end is fabulous. (And the "and no Brent, it's not so perfect it's boring!" made me snort-laugh.) The "you're gonna be dead in like, thirty years" got a BIG laugh.

Four Friends - So, during this song, Dave pulled out three bottles of Evan Williams and plastic cups and passed them around, which was amazing, I would like all of my shows to come with a shot or so of liquor with the price of admission. I would prefer if it wasn't whiskey, which I don't particularly care for, but as I said yesterday, when Dave Malloy hands you whiskey, you suck it up and drink it, even if it's physically impossible for you to get over to the ice so you have to just drink it straight. Anyway, the sort of informal whiskey drinking again compounded that feeling of just hanging out with your buddies, so it was almost hard not to sing along. I was def bobbing a little. At the start of each verse, they poured a shot of the whiskey they were singing about that they handed out to the audience, which I probably wouldn't have noticed except when Dave went to hand out the Lagavulin, the girl who jumped up to get it was hilariously into it. I actually ended up standing near her when she talked to Dave after and she was like, "Uh, sorry if I was disruptive when I asked for the Lagavulin, I just love it and never get to drink it because it's so expensive?" which he commiserated with her about.

Fathers and Sons - They moved the drums to the center of the room, facing each other, and Brent and Dave moved to stand in font of them and play. Brittain and Gelsey held the mics out for them and I know I keep talking about how low-tech and "hanging with your buddies" this show is, but...I really love that aspect of it and I think it super adds to the narrative(s).

Usher, Part 2 - This was very eerie, overall, but "I'm right here" got a big laugh anyway. It's interesting, as Roxie's dying, the way that the walls of the narrative for this story, tenuous as the walls between the narratives in all these stories are, start to slip down. With Scheherazade being an "ancient" and all, it makes sense that the lines between narratives are more blurry there, and in the "Camera Shop" plot line, Pearl is already aware of what's going on, so despite a few references, "Usher" feels the most cut off from the other stories, but here that begins to fall apart.

The Telescope - This song is such an interesting counterpoint to "The Astronomer;" the dude seems like such a sleaze in this song, whereas we get him at this sort of open bareness earlier, where he's relatable and joyful. As Rose points out new stars, there's a spotlight on one of the lighting fixtures (the show is largely lit by lamps and a variety of thrift story chandeliers). Rose's intensity is breathtaking, but the music gives a very eerie quality to the shared refrain, even moreso when you take into account the upcoming split between Rose and the Astronomer.

Tango Dancer - This plotline was the one that it was most difficult for me to wrap my brain around from listening to the cast recordings, and seeing it def helped iron out some of that. I love the interactions between Brittain and Gelsey here--again, I love both of their ability to shift between these characters so fluidly and shift their chemistry just as fluidly as they change characters. The stiffness between them here is really the beginning of the end for me--Rose's awkwardness and the audience's knowledge of how these timelines are starting to come together. It's played really well.

Anyway, Gelsey really nails this, as if I even have to say that? And Brittain's awkwardness as she watches and tries to interpret all of it is excellent. "Myself didn't have time for me / didn't have time for anyone so used up" is too fucking true and haunting.

Monk - When sitting and seeing this bit live, for the first time it occurred to me that Rose's "Were they outside, in a park or something?" and Scheherazade's confirmation are Rose's past lives starting to leak through, giving her that knowledge. (Also "doesn't Lady Usher have a security system?" got a big laugh) Anyway, this is a nice little interlude before shit gets real. I was so into it that I almost forgot that shit was about to get real.

Light’s Out - It was fucking DARK. Which I did not realize was going to happen. I loooooved it. My eyes were def playing some tricks on me, the longer we stayed in the dark. Also, there was some light of something somewhere behind me (maybe the exit sign?) that kept reflecting off the inside of my glasses that was distracting me. Def a problem with my glasses rather than the show.

Anyway, this bit always makes me think of Can’t You Sleep, Little Bear?, so much so that I might ask Malloy about it on Twitter.

The Photograph - Goddamn this is creepy in the dark. And Gelsey going full Gelsey made it ninety times creepier. I want to hire her for my Halloween parties. I love the balance of the creepiness and rationality when the things that Rose believes in are rattled off. It's the sort of thing that makes me think of a horror novel, in the tense moments where the protagonist has to confront the impossible and spends a moment clinging all the more harder to their beliefs as if those beliefs will fight off something supernatural.

Bad Men - Super tense and frenetic. Rose losing it is so foreboding and perfect and intense. The confrontation with the bear as she reaches the pinnacle of losing herself to revenge and accepting that she wants this enough to do it herself. Yikes.

Usher, Part 3 - I love all the stories merging in this song, as we're all sitting in the dark with flashes of light and all of these threads are twisting together. It really ups the sense of danger and tension. Pearl's monologue at the end is so eerie. Those last few lines, shit. They are that much more intense when they're happening right in front of you.

Prayer - I think this was when the lights started to come back up? This always kind of blurs into other songs for me and I forget it's there a little?

Hero - Jesus, what a song, what a performance. I know Brittain talks all the time about how she's not an ~*~actor~*~ just a musician that got roped into acting in her friend's shows, but jesus christ, she's fantastic. This song just scrapes out whatever's left of your insides and leaves you feeling entirely hollow and shaky.

Midnight - This is such a neat way to tie up the end of the show. Again, you've got that "friends hanging out" vibe as things become clearer for everyone. Brittain and Dave dance, as Brittain's characters settle and sort of come to terms with all that's happened in all of the timelines. Malloy has excellent comic timing--his ramble about why Thelonius Monk's ghost is still kicking around and the way it breaks into Rose and Pearl's reconciliation. I snort-laughed at "Or maybe there just isn't Heaven. That's actually pretty likely." And then again with "I guess in the abstract, yeah...I don't really make a lot down at the MTA?"

Anyway, Dave and Brittain dancing was very sweet, and "You're a really good cello player, Brent!" got a big laugh.

Wind and Rain - I love this song a lot and the performance of it was lovely. As the song went on, they started handing out instruments again, but not just little percussion things--they kept going, moving up to their own instruments, until they'd given everything to the audience, at which point they walked off stage and left the audience to play out the song. I think they kept going for maybe a minute or two after everyone left before it fell apart, mostly, I think, because a couple of people were so wildly off-beat it was hard to keep on beat.

Afterwards, they came back to applause and gave a kind of informal, "thanks for coming, tell your friends, buy our merch or stick around and talk!"

We stayed to talk, though I didn't buy anything because I don't wear t-shirts and we have zero room for more glasses at this point. But I still took a moment to tell everyone they were great and the show was great and all that. I was wearing one of my ghost dresses and everyone commented on it.

ANYWAY, that's basically it, unless I remember anything else important! Maybe I will write some more of my thoughts about the narratives and storytelling and setting and all that shit a little more formally, but... probably not. Gotta finish the next ghosthunters story some time this year.

[kxlebcross]

multiples of three, please.

oh man i cant believe ur making me do maths at 4:18 am... but here goes nothing! (it’s gonna be long so i put it under a read more)

3. Ever done any drugs? uhhhh... yeah, for a short period yrs ago i had a friend group and with them we smoked weed pretty much every weekend... they did some hard drugs too but i never dared trying those cuz im a lil bitch lmao aaaaand i don’t do that anymore, it’s an expensive hobby to have and i usually waste my drugs money on pc games and ordering food srgsdfg

6. Describe your dream home. probs somewhere in a big city, close to the center because i love being a big city kid.... a mid-sized flat with lots of plants and those neat cat playgrounds mounted on the wall because i plan on having at least 4 cats in the future asdsd and i’d love to have a bigger balcony which i could transform into a little jungle and hand a hammock there and just chill and listen to the city’s noises at night when i can’t sleep

9. Do you watch porn? you may not believe but i actually don’t sdgsdfg the horny teen phase is over for me, if i wanna interact with anything pornographic i just read fanfiction dfgsdfgsf

12. What’s one of your fantasies? i hope it’s not supposed to be an erotic one lmao but i really wanna go on a road trip through europe, just pack up my shit and drive around, also i wanna visit haunted places all around england and get into the gaming business as a game translator/tester eventually

15. Are you in a relationship? thank god not anymore... and honestly i don’t miss it anymore, all of my previous ones were disasters and ended in a really ugly manner so.. no, i’m all good with my cat

18. What tattoos do you want? i don’t have specific plans for motives - though i’d really like a kitsune mask somewhere and a moon and one song quote. i’d like to have my whole left sleeve done, maybe part of my back, a half sleeve on my right hand and something smaller on my ankle - and i’m actually open to anything the tattooists would pick out; i care more about who’s gonna create my tattoo than what’s it gonna be, as my actually existing 2 tattoos r also premade, randomly picked out ones (though they accidentally matched up in some way and look pretty neat imo)

21. Describe your best friend. that’s a hard one.... i don’t think i have one anymore. i used to have this girl in my life, M, who i was really close to, but we had a fallout in october and she never came around to fix this even though i was open to the idea... so i lost my best friend, which is kinda sad considering that she was the only person i could open up to in the last 3 yrs. but hey that happens! i moved on and have a close friend still so im all good.

24. What are three places you want to travel? i really wanna visit scotland! it has this specific atmosphere i really long to experience, and i wanna see the landmarks and grassy fields and loch ness and haunted places and just roam around there for a while. i also wanna see moscow - it’s been sort of an obsession of mine since reading glukhovsky’s metro series, and also it’s a beautiful city worth visiting. i’d also like to get on the trans-siberian express but that’s not a specific place dsfsgdf the last place would be the aokigahara forest in japan - also one of the places i feel drawn to for ages now. found out about it years ago and since it’s been sort of a plan of mine to visit one time. if i manage to graduate university my mum promised to send me on a trip to japan - so if it works out, ill be on my way there baby! (i just need to work on my language skills first sasdfgf)

27. What’s your pet peeve? loud breathing, loud chewing... generally people being loud and annoying. ppl not covering their mouths while coughing. ppl who walk super slowly and take up all of the walkway like FUCK OFF OF MY WAY GODDAMMIT. in games when the npc walks a lot slower than ur running, but walking a lot faster than ur walking so its impossible to keep up with them. ppl not using headphones in public spaces. old ppl demanding respect when they treat u like shit. ppl forcing their religion on u (im looking at u auntie). ppl slurping their drinks. couples almost f*cking each other in public places... just get a room smh

30. Tag someone you want to talk to but have been too shy to message. oh i don’t need to tag them cuz i already got over that shyness and they totes know already that i wanted to talk to them for a while! (i admitted to it in the tackiest, cheesiest, most awkward anon ask i ever sent in to anyone sdfgsdf)

33. If money was no object, what would your wardrobe be like? pretty much the same as now, all black and flannels and jeans, cuz i rly thing that major clothes shopping sprees r a waste of money sdfdf but i’d probably own a lot lot more shoes like custom made cat patterned vans and some more nikes and some creepers cuz i wanted to get some of those for like yrs now dfgdfg

36. Do you still have feelings for any of your exes? uhhhh... kind of? not romantic ones tho, i just miss the long talks and the trust and understanding between us. i never got the closure i needed to move on and it still left some bad feelings towards her so its a weird mix of resentment and sympathy, and i try to not think abt it too much.

39. Are you a virgin? hahahahahahahahah, no, really. 

42. Describe the hottest person you know. the hottest person i personally know is one of the ppl i used to be on my universitys e-sport team on with dfasd i always had a weak spot for ppl taller than me and hes literally model material with nice cheekbones and the perfect jawline and the best sense of humor ever. though he’s a widowmaker main in overwatch and thats a big big minus for him :(

45. What’s the worst date you’ve ever been on? lmaooooo thats a funny one listen up... so i was fresh out of breakup and wanted to make some friends.... wait for it.... ON TINDER. i live in an university town so i was like kewl imma make some ppl my age (until then all of my friends were A LOT older than me) and have some friends and if romance happens then it happens, w/e. so i set up this bar night with this one guy, i believe his name was David? so David and i meet up for drinks, i grab a gintonic and we sit down to talk... what he never knew abt me is that i am on the adhd spectrum and i have to get my hands busy with smth so i can focus on what im saying otherwise my thoughs r all over the place. so im casually keeping my hands busy with just spinning my locked phone there and back, or just  messing around with the lime slice on my glass and at a random moment David goes like “u know.... i hate when ppl cant stop messing around with their phone” and im like ????? dude im literally just spinning it, not even messaging anyone or unlocking it or shit. and he goes on this rant that he always expects ppl to pay full attention to him when talking, looking at him (i never look ppl in the eyes cuz i tend to just go into panic mode from long eye contact and also i think its creepy to just stare at someone constantly) and just not doing anything else except paying attention to him so i go on explaining to him that i need to keep myself busy and im not doing it to annoy him - but he keeps on insisting so i excuse myself to a cigarette (he also hated smokers lmao) and call the widowmaker main friend from the previous question and am like “hey man i have the worst date of my life can u be at this place in 40 minutes and then we hit the night life” and hes like fine so i go back to David and tell him “sorry mate i just remembered i have my last bus home in 30 minutes and the next one is in 1,5 hrs and i really cant stay out that late so can we wrap this up and schedule an other meeting some other time” and hes like fine... got me to the bus stop, i sat on the bus.... got off at the next bus stop, met up with widowmaker main guy and went out for drinks and decided to never go on tinder dates again sdfgsdfg

48. Describe your ideal partner. thats a hard one, hey! but i dont think i have an ideal, guess ill work with anyone whos a decent human being who wont require me to be the housemaid and cook and clean and do everything for them. oh and they totally need to know how to use a washing machine... one of my exes was incapable of this (and here i was thinking that in 2018 ppl saw a washing machine already... looks like i was wrong and im still not over that incident 2 yrs ago). oh and they gotta be fine with the idea of never having kids cuz theres no way im putting myself through raising one of those, im a man of career and money, totally not responsible enough to raise another living human being sdsdgdf

[trade-baby-blues]

In Bloom

Pairing: Bones x Reader

Word Count: 1697

Warnings: 90% Fluff, one little swear word, a small amount of angst 

A/N: This is technically Part 2 of Wilted but can be read as a standalone I guess. If you want to, though, Part 1 is here. This trip was inspired by a road trip I took to Gibbs Gardens over the weekend. It’s an amazingly beautiful place, and it probably shows you my priorities that I spent the whole time thinking about how cool it would be if we found alien plants and planted them among our own gardens. Anyway, that’s enough rambling for one post, so as always, I hope you enjoy and let me know if you want tagged in anything!

Things had calmed down since your talk with Leonard. Well, it wasn’t talking as much as it was sobbing. Then, when Leonard walked you back to your quarters there wasn’t much of that either. You had to hand it to him - the man sure knew his way around your anatomy. Right now, your little tryst was forgotten, though, because you were annoyed. It was the second day of shore leave, and he’d pulled you up at 6 a.m. for something other than a morning quickie.

“Please, Leeee,” you whined, dragging out the vowels. “Just let me sleep another hour.”

“As cute as you are when you sleep, we need to get going. It’ll be nicer when there’s not as many people around.”

“There’s not many people here.” You groaned as Leonard pulled the covers off of you. When that didn’t rouse you, he pulled the pillow from your arms and hit you over the head with it. You let out a sigh of defeat.

“Fine, but I hope you know I hate you for this.” You shoved yourself off the bed, heading for your bags. “What do I wear?”

“Boots. It’ll be muddy with the rain last night and maybe a sweater. It’s a little cold for October.” Leonard leaned against the door, arms crossed watching you undress.

“You don’t have to watch, you know. I can manage to dress myself.”

“Yeah, ‘cause you’re not gonna go straight back to sleep when I turn my back.”

“You just like watching me get naked,” you said, poking your tongue out at him.

“Guilty,” he said, walking over to you. “But I like seeing you wear my sweaters even more.” His voice dropped to a low growl as you pulled his old academy sweater on. When he kissed you he tasted like coffee, and you groaned softly. His fingers dug into your hips, dragging up the bottom of the sweater.

“I swear to God, Len, if you made me get dressed this early in the morning just to undress me I’m never speaking to you again.”

“Mm, you don't have to talk, baby.” Leonard smirked before brushing his lips against yours again. You slapped him playfully on the arm and he pulled away with a laugh, hands still trapping your hips against his. “Lord help me, you are so beautiful.” He tucked a lock of hair behind your ear as you snorted.

“That's what beauty sleep does for ya. Might wanna try it yourself sometime, Doc.” You slapped his ass as you walked past him out of the bedroom. “Tell me you saved some coffee for me,” you called over your shoulder.

After you were fed and properly caffeinated, Leonard loaded you and a basket of food (and another thermos of coffee, at your request) into the car. He still refused to tell you where you were going, so you’d taken it upon yourself to annoy him until he caved or you got wherever it was you were heading. So far, he didn't look like he would break.

“Cow,” you said, pointing at a ranch as you sped past. The wind whipped your hair around your face and you enjoyed the sting of the cold air. “Cow,” you said again, passing another group of cattle. “Oh! Horse! Lots of horses. Oh, Len that one's just a baby!” Leonard only chuckled at your enthusiasm. After a few more minutes, it seemed like you were only annoying yourself, so you looked up some music on your PADD, trying to figure out what song Leonard would hate the most. You barely managed to bite back a laugh as you pulled up a classical song and synced your PADD to the car. There was a brief pause before the song started, and you turned the volume up as far as it could go.

The speakers rattled when the song started: “My anaconda don't. My anaconda don't. My anaconda don't want none unless you got buns hun.”

The verse didn't even start before Leonard smashed the radio off. “No,” he said.

“But Leonard,” you fake-gasped, placing a hand over your heart, “I thought you liked my buns. Maybe you just need some reminding,” you purred. Loosening your seatbelt, you turned in your seat to face Leonard. You brushed your lips against his neck, and you could see his grip on the steering wheel tighten.

“I’m driving, sugar.” Leonard said, and you threw yourself back into your seat with a huff, crossing your arms over your chest.

“You're no fun.”

Leonard laughed. “I’m plenty fun. You're just cranky ‘cause I woke you up this early.” You only grumbled in response, watching the landscape fly by out the window. Leonard put a hand on your knee. “Just go to sleep, sweetheart. I’ll wake you when we get there.”

Between the cool breeze on your face and Leonard’s thumb stroking your knee while he hummed under his breath, you were asleep in minutes. You were still grumpy when he woke you up again and asked you to put on a blindfold. You agreed, though, tripping as you clambered out of the car and fell straight into Leonard’s chest.

You buried your head into his chest as he laughed, hardly able to keep off your own smile at how ridiculous you felt. “Don't worry. I’ve got you.” Leonard laced his fingers through yours as he led you forward.

You felt wood under your feet and then gravel. You could hear water trickling, so you guessed it was a bridge. You smelled flowers, too, which led you to believe this was another one of Leonard’s nature adventures and you groaned softly.

“Wait here,” he said, letting your hand go. You immediately turned away, reaching blindly for a wall or a sign of some sort. “Hey, hey, I said wait here,” Leonard said, cursing under your breath as you knocked something over. He barely managed to catch it, setting it upright before dragging you back to the counter and wrapping you tightly in his arms. There was money exchanged and the cashier handed Leonard a map, but he declined. Said he’d been here a million times before, and then the two of you were off again.

The road went from concrete to gravel to dirt and grass. You were glad you listened to Leonard and wore boots, because you felt yourself sinking into the damp soil. The two of you walked in silence, Leonard no doubt enjoying the serenity of nature. You scoffed at the thought, still annoyed that he woke you up so early. You were about to cave and start whining again when Leonard finally stopped, setting something down and hooking an arm around your waist.

“You can take the blindfold of now.”

“Yeah, but then I have to look at you again,” you teased. Leonard laughed, a deep infectious laugh that even made you crack a smile.

“Just take it off, smartass,” he said, pressing a kiss to your temple. When Leonard spoke, it was barely a whisper. “My sister brought me the first time. Right after Jocelyn and I split.”

You looked at him first as you slipped the blindfold off, then hazarded a look around. You gasped softly as the colors flooded your eyes. Beautiful Japanese maples blending with blue flowers and orange plants you couldn't identify. You re

“I was in a bad way. Especially after she got custody of Jo,” Leonard let go of your waist and out of the corner of your eye you saw him reach into the basket he brought. “My sister thought bringing me here would remind me that there's ‘still beauty in the world,’” Leonard continued. You chuckled at his impression of his sister.

You stared into the pond in front of you, watching the trees dance in the reflection on the surface. “Did it work?”

“Bless her heart, no. She tried everything but, I didn't see beauty in the world again until I met you.”

You looked at Leonard, eyes dropping when you saw him kneeling in front of you. You heart jumped to your throat when you saw the ring. “Len.” It's all you manage to get before your voice breaks.

“Y/N, I know I’m closed off and temperamental and I wake you up too early and nag you about all the caffeine you drink - which is still too much, by the way,” Leonard laughed. You laughed with him, tears slipping down your cheeks. “It’s all just because I love you, which isn't something I thought I’d ever say to a woman again, but damn if you didn't make it impossible not to love you. I’d like to tell you exactly how much for the rest of our lives.”

You dropped to your knees in front of Leonard and nodded your head vigorously. You threw your arms around him, trying to form words but not trusting yourself to not start crying. You peppered kisses along his jaw before pulling back to kiss him on the lips. The damp grass was soaking your knees but you didn't care. You wanted to live in this moment forever. “Yes. God yes.” Leonard smiled wider than you’d ever seen, pulling the ring out of the box and slipping it on your finger. “It's perfect,” you breathed.

“I asked your dad your ring size before the shuttle crash. Wanted to do this right and get his blessing.” Your chest tightened, thinking about walking down the aisle without him. Leonard saw your worry and pressed a hand to your cheek. “My pa’ll walk you down, if you want. He already thinks of you as his daughter anyhow.”

“I’d love that,” you said. You looked at Leonard again, admiring the lines of his face. The wrinkles at his eyes and the corners of his mouth, revealing more laughter than his typical scowl suggested. You pressed your lips against his again, slipping your tongue in his mouth. Tasting the coffee and honey he had for breakfast, tasting the love he had for you. As the breeze blew your hair around you, you realized Leonard was right. There was still beauty in the world and it was seated right in front of you.

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Here’s a pic of what the maples look like in Fall in case you’re not in GA and are curious: 

[ruinitpop]

2500+  mostly unedited words on why I love Simple Plan

Here we go, I’ll try not to ruin it:

Come with me back to my childhood. Far enough back that you might not remember when you first saw something that is extremely important to you, for me apparently that’s 2002. The live-action adaptation Scooby-Doo comes out that summer and it has what I like to call “kick ASS pop-punk soundtrack”. I remember liking the movie so much that my friends and I definitely tried to reenact the entire thing on the playground one day. Anyway, Simple Plan had a song on the soundtrack, It was Grow Up and it plays over an establishing shot of Spooky Island. Yes, I’ve seen the movie several times and I know the song by heart. 

Go forward a year and another movie comes out with a “kick-ass pop-punk soundtrack”. It was 2003...anyone have any guesses? Steve Martin fans in the room? It was Cheaper By the Dozen, a movie kind of about a book that I don’t know if anyone has actually read. But the movie is great, I love it. You may not think so but I reserve the right to life things that are objectively bad. (See my love of the live-action Scoo-Doo movies) Anyway, Simple Plan had a song on the soundtrack. It was I’m Just A Kid and it plays over the scene where all the kids have their first day at the new school and some preppy asshole shouts “MY LATTE!”. 

One more year passes and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed comes out and it, for a period of time, becomes MY FAVORITE movie. Like, I went on a trip for a kinda nerdy thing I did in 4th grade and we watched Scooby-Doo 2 easily 4 times over the course of that one week trip. AND I’m pretty sure this trip is the first time remember listening to No Pads, No Helmets, Just Balls from beginning to end. Anyway, again, Simple Plan had a song written for the film on the soundtrack. It was Don’t Wanna Think About You and it’s seriously...just...so good! It’s emotional, and it like perfectly accents what’s happening in the movie! I cry when Shaggy says “They’re like totally having a montage in there without us Scoob” 

Now I’m just gonna rattle off a ranking of their soundtrack appearances as they appear in my brain: 

Don’t Wanna Think About You from Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed.

Because duh

 I’m Just A Kid from Cheaper by the Dozen. 

Kinda scandalous for this to beat Grow Up but I like the scene it plays over better

 Grow Up from Scooby-Doo. 

This could be purely nostalgia-driven but I just love the movie so much and it was basically where so many people first heard them and there is a huge significance to that in my head.

What’s New Scooby-Doo from the show of the same name.

 This song is awesome and I remember seeing them play it for what they claimed was the first time in over a decade in Santa Anna California in 2016 and I remember Pierre doing a little intro but not saying what song it was and I looked at my sister and said “holy shit they’re about to play What’s New Scooby-Doo!” so that’s why it’s on this list even though it’s TV and it’s my list I’ll do what I want. That memory warms my cold heart

Christmas List from the Unaccompanied Minors soundtrack

 Full Disclosure I still haven’t this movie (what kind of movie guy am I?) but the song is also a bonus track and also full of dated pop culture references like PlayStation2 and DVDs which I love to chuckle at to this day. When I got my first MacBook in early 2012 one of the first things I did was use garage band to split the bonus track off as it’s own track. 

Vacation from New York Minute

I had a weird interaction a little over a year ago where a Gen Z kid was randomly singing it and I was like “How do you know this song?” and he was like “oh some Mary-Kate and Ashley movie” and I said “So it is Vacation by Simple Plan. Accept I know it because I love Simple Plan. To this day I have never seen that movie but I know it’s from that movie and this little memory gives that song a special place.

Happy Together, a cover that was produced and on the soundtrack to Freaky Friday

This song it the top cover because it’s actually good AND the movie has grown in a significant tentpole of pop culture

Can’t Keep My Hands Off You from Disney’s Prom

This came out in 2011, I haven’t seen it. I imagine it’s not great but seeing as how the song is pretty good on its own and I have no other attached feelings it goes here on the list. But even this movie appearance isn’t as unsatisfying as...

Surrender from the Fantastic Four (2005)

We all remember this movie, people have mixed opinions. Mine are basically that the movie is fine, there are definitely better superhero movies now but this doesn’t necessarily deserve to be panned at trash or anything. It was 2005 and it’s at least as good and Sam Rami’s Spiderman.

Apparently there is a site for this but it doesn’t include New York Minute but it does include Clockstoppers. A movie I know I’ve seen but I don’t remember noticing there was a Simple Plan in it. There was a cool scene where they pause time next to a sprinkler and they push the droplets around and stuff. I just found this out after I typed my list. You can look at the link but it doesn’t have my opinions on it so why would you?

So, if you’ve read this blog before or maybe even know me in person you know I’m a big movie buff so it’s no surprise that I kinda discovered my love for them through movies. However, Simple Plans music nostalgia goes really deep.

I remember my first MP3 player. It was terrible, I’m going to date myself a little here but it only has physical buttons, it worked like a flash drive so if you didn’t organize your file folders properly it was basically impossible to navigate, and it only held like 100 songs. In comparison, my old sister had a Microsoft Zune. (You know Zune? The thing that Star Lord gets and the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 which was directed by James Gunn; the same guy who did the screenplays for both the live action Scooby-Doo movies that introduced me to Simple Plan in the first place! Which is part of why I’m writing this post!! If that dumb full-circle moment doesn’t give you warm and fuzzies you can stop reading) She had a pretty substantial library already and I had to carefully pick and choose what to put on it and I remember one the first songs was My Alien which isn’t a super popular track but it spoke to middle school me. There were definitely more of their songs from NPNHJB and Still Not Getting Any because self-titled Simple Plan didn’t come out until 2008. Eventually, I got an iPod nano with a whopping 16gb of storage and my life changed! I could hold basically all the music I wanted and that included all three of the Simple Plan albums that were out at the time. I have a very clear memory of making my mom listen to them a few times on the way to/from the orthodontist (which was a 40 minute drive because everything is far away in rural America) and she told me that I was just as good as a singer as Pierre. There’s no way, Pierre is an icon.

Over the course of the last decade, a few Simple Plan experiences have occurred around my birthday and I’m convinced they must know when my birthday is. The first time this happened was 2011 when they released Get Your Heart On! Which might be my favorite album if I was going to pick one but they’ve literally never written a bad song so why actually pick favorites? I remember a friend saying “This sounds like their old stuff and I love it” and I was offended. Like, how dare they slander Still Not Getting Any and Simple Plan like that?

As high school went on I started to have a very stressful Junior year. I bit off more than I could shew academically and one day I had a massive stress attack and I basically shut down but Untitled really got me through, I listened to so much Simple Plan that night but Untitled really helped me calm down and relax enough to get my head straight. While I’m talking about the song I’m gonna mention it was a charity track and the music video WILL make you cry but it’s super important and you should watch it.

Forward a couple more years and I’m in my first semester of college. I had chosen the wrong path at the time and I was in the process of fixing that by completely changing up my education including changing schools and giving up a rather big scholarship. I was feeling pretty good but uneasy about what I was doing at the time and what do you know? Right when I needed something comforting Simple Plan gave me an early Christmas present and released the EP Get Your Heart On - The Second Coming and every track on the EP reached into my soul and helped me process. I also started to GYHO again heavily and Gone Too Soon helped my deal with how much I was missing home and how much I missed a lot of my friends (I know the song isn’t really “about” that but it helped). 

At this point in my life, I’ve mostly given up hiding my fandom. I started following the band members on social media and I was VERY closely following the release of the next album. Which I was sure was going to be released by my birthday. (this is the second time a birthday coincidence happened) The band had another plan, which was to hype me up for an album drop and then only release a non-album single Saturday that wasn’t even on the album that came out later! I accepted their gift though because I wanted more songs so desperately! I was so thirsty for Simple Plan content that I also listened to an episode of the Lead Singer Syndrome podcast with Pierre and learned so much about the band and their careers together, it warmed my heart! The album Taking One For the Team wouldn’t drop for almost an entire year! But when it did they also announce their first tour in the US in years!

In early October 2016, I finally saw then live for the first time. I already talked about this, it’s when they played What’s New Scooby-Doo! The place where my sister and I chose to stand was near a stantioned-off area that looked VIP. Before the band went on their families came out escorted by security and watched the set right behind me! That trip was so fun! It was also my first concert ever, I had been to Warped Tour the previous summer but I choose to call that my first festival. 

The tour I saw them on kinda just morphed into the 15th-anniversary tour for NPNHJB. Remember when I went on about Scooby-Doo? Yeah reader, it’s been 15 years. I saw Simple Plan for the second time in April 2017 and I was able to convince a bunch of Set It Off (great band) fans to come with me because they were also playing. My roommate at the time said that seeing me at the concert was one of the times they’d seen me happiest. I thought that was very sweet and I’m glad I was able to have that experience with those people. Weirdly enough though, I had just started a new job and my new boss was also at the show. There isn’t much more to that particular story but I still think it’s funny. 

After this I closed a chapter of my life by leaving the fraternity I was a part of for most of my college experience. At the alumni ceremony, people often do personal things for those leaving, gifts, speeches, etc. For me, a few of my Brothers played Welcome To My Life. It was one of the sweetest things anyone could have done. 

The next time I saw them was on the final Warped Tour. I was so excited! I took time off so I could go and see them in San Diego because it was closer to (this is the 3rd coincidence) my birthday! I drove to San Diego alone and stayed in a hotel alone and had a couple of meals alone and saw a movie alone all so I could see Simple Plan. I did meet up with some friends at the festival on the day of and it was amazing! One of the people is very close to me and we shared a lot of music that day. I waited in line for over an hour at the SP merch tent and I was going to have sign some stuff with a happy birthday but they ended up having to leave the tent to get ready for their set and I nabbed a quick picture with Pierre. They closed their set with Perfect and everything felt melancholy but very “right” you know?

Most recently I saw Simple Plan alone in Phoenix. It was awesome! I was uneasy just seeing a show alone but being in that room with people who probably have a ton of stories just like this one (though probably not so many words) was exhilarating. They definitely had the best set and this time I noticed some of the things they kinda always do at shows. Like Chuck crowd surfing or the same call response to their most popular songs and another rendition of What’s New Scooby-Doo! 

This pretty much brings us to the present, thanks for taking this 2500+ word journey down memory lane with me. Currently, I’m feeling upset that the tour planned for this summer was called off because of the COVID-19 epidemic and I kinda have no idea when the album might drop. I am in no way diminishing anything that has happened to anyone else but for me, the current way of the world has taken a lot of what makes me happy away. My career is on hold, I can’t go to movies, and it even took away Simple Plan. Writing this has been mildly therapeutic and that was the point. If for some reason this post reaches the band I just want to thank them all. Pierre, Chuck, Seb, David, and Jeff. You guys are unbelievably amazing! Thank you for being somehow integrated into a lot of things that I really hold dear but most importantly thank you for the music! I can’t wait for more! Now, I’ll leave this train of thought before all this nostalgia makes me sick (get it?). 

I tried not to ruin it but this is almost 2600 words so I probably did.