#awkward best friend talk placeholder tag

[amoralto]

Mid-June?, 1972: John talks to Sandra Shevey about having a partner who fulfills both creative and romantic aspirations, and the disorienting experience of working with Yoko for the first time as competitive equals in the recording studio on Some Time In New York City. (Note: @sweating-cobwebs, consider this is my gift to you.)

JOHN: It’s a plus, it’s not a minus. The plus is that your best friend, also, can hold you without… I mean, I’m not a homosexual, or we could have had a homosexual relationship and maybe that would have satisfied it, with working with other male artists. [faltering] An artist – it’s more – it’s much better to be working with another artist of the same energy, and that’s why there’s always been Beatles or Marx Brothers or men, together. Because it’s alright for them to work together or whatever it is. It’s the same except that we sleep together, you know? I mean, not counting love and all the things on the side, just as a working relationship with her, it has all the benefits of working with another male artist and all the joint inspiration, and then we can hold hands too, right?

SHEVEY: But Yoko is a very independent person. Isn’t it— [inaudible]

JOHN: Sure, and so were the men I worked with. The only difference is she’s female.

SHEVEY: But you didn’t find it difficult to make that transition?

JOHN: Oh yeah. I mean, it took me four years. I’m still not – I’m still only coming through it, you know.

[bbrandy2002]

Fools Rush In

Part 5

I participating in @wackydrabbles prompt 54: Don't get up, I’ll do it.

Word count: 1190

Book: The Royal Romance

Pairing: Liam x Riley

A/N: I don't know, this feels more like a filler chapter, but maybe not.

Previous chapters can be found here.

Warning: I don't think I have one. That might be a first.

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_____________________________

"You wanted to talk with me?"

Riley nodded and tugged on the hem of her cami, not entirely sure how to approach the topic; she still had all those what if's racing through her mind. "Yeah. About our marriage …"

Liam furrowed his brows; what more could Riley possibly want to discuss about a marriage neither one recalled asking for? Well, technically, he asked for it, but in his mind, that's just semantics and didn't count. 

"Okay.You want to discuss a marriage that will be annulled in the next few days?"

Uncertain of his response, she bit the corner of her lip wanting to disappear as Liam pulled out the barstool at the counter for her to sit. "Not necessarily. I was thinking more about ... the one we keep a little longer."

Liam smiled down at her and spoke sincerely, "You don't have to do this, Riley."

"Why not?" She swiveled her chair to follow him walking back into the kitchen. "Don't you want to be rid of that god-awful woman?" she asked, knowing full well he did.

He leaned down on the counter across from her. "Of course, I do ... but I won't put you in the middle of this."

"Liam, you're not," she protested.

Liam shook his head and tried not to be mesmerized by her sympathetic glare. He sighed and placed a grateful hand on hers. "Look, I appreciate what you're trying to do. No one has ever offered to do anything so selflessly for me before. And you don't seem even to want anything in return."

Riley shrugged. "I don't. Maybe just knowing I helped a friend in a bad situation is enough."

He searched her eyes, wondering if this woman was for real. "I've never met anyone like you. Everyone I know wants something from me. It's always about what I can do for their image or their status or what I can give them. But you..."

"Just want to be your friend. That's all. No strings attached." Riley smiled and placed her other hand on top of his and leaned in closer. "I can tell you're a good man, Liam. I don't know if it's the kindness in your eyes, the way you seem to care about your poor friends..." She cleared her throat. "venereal diseases. Or what I thought would be a walk of shame this morning that turned into you walking me to do the door, kissing my cheek, and not making me feel like I was just some booty call. You were sweet and gentle. And the way you took all the burden of handling this annulment meant something to me. I want to do this for you. Please."

He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes, thinking on her words. Doing this would mean he could return to Cordonia with a Queen and not one that was Madeleine. The situation might appear better in the press and to the people if it didn't seem like he made a haste decision with a stranger, but put some thought into it. And if Riley is as compassionate as she has demonstrated since he met her, that would bode well for his people. He chuckled sardonically to himself. Who am I kidding? I. Am. Screwed. 

Liam licked his lips before relenting.. "You know this won't be easy?"

Riley beamed at him. "Nothing worth having ever is."

The pair stared at each other for a moment, feeling that spark and fire generating between them. It was undeniable and surged throughout their bodies like a wildfire. Both inched their heads slowly together and parted their lips. 

The sound of a door opening just down the hall caused them to jolt away, and just like that, the moment was over. 

Liam turned and quickly grabbed an apple from a nearby basket, and Riley smoothed down her hair casually as if nothing almost happened between them. She placed her hands in her lap and tried to continue the conversation to break that awkward tension that had mounted. "Sooo, I don't have to teach again until August, and that gives you three months to get past the wedding date you were to have with Count Badeleine and hopefully time to find someone you do love. We'll say I couldn't hack it and wanted out and returned home."

"Like my mom? God rest her soul." Leo remarked as he strolled past and hopped on the stool next to Riley. He slung an arm of her shoulder with a big grin. "I knew you'd go back with us."

Surprised, Riley cocked her head. "How did you know I was going?"

Leo tapped the side of his head with a smug look and whispered, "It’s a fifth sense.I have ears like a cameltoe."

An heavy silence commenced as Riley stared blankly at her brother-in-law, trying to make any kind of sense of what he just said. 

She gave up.

"Alright, then." Riley rose from her seat and glanced back at Liam. "Would you mind taking me home? I need to pick up some things to take, and I still haven't showered since we … you know?"

Feeling a warm flush color his cheeks, Liam shifted uncomfortably on his feet and swallowed. "Since I hornswoggled you with my manhood." His eyes widened at the inexplicable words that just escaped his lips. Oh my God! What in the hell did I just say?  "Uh ... Yes! Let's go."

They almost kissed -- a fact that didn't escape the thoughts of either one. And as Liam called the front desk to request limo service, one thing he couldn't shake was her words: time to find someone you do love. Apparently, this kind gesture was only temporary on her part. She expected him to find someone else while serving as a placeholder to prevent a forced marriage.

But what if that someone was her.

Liam hung up and walked to the bedroom to get his wallet and shoes. He stood in the doorway, astonished at the water flowing from his private bathroom and had worked its way into his room. 

"Leo!" He yelled and stormed back into the kitchen. "What did you do to my room?"

Leo bit into the apple his brother left behind and half-shrugged. "What? The shitter's full, and the pizza slice that had a hair on it wouldn't go down. We should probably tell someone about that. Why? You need me to get something out of there for ya?"

Liam pinched the bridge of his nose and gritted his teeth. "Just ... just ... Don't get up. I”ll do it." 

Ten minutes later and one embarrassing stop at the front desk to request maintenance and housekeeping to the penthouse suite, Liam, Riley, and an uninvited Leo hopped into a limo to help the new Queen pack up for her journey to Cordonia.

_____________

Drake pulled out a key card to the room while Maxwell held his bags of medications and ointments. He swiped the card and heard the click of the lock releasing when a voice called out his name from behind them.

"Drake Walker?"

Maxwell shook his head at the man dressed in a beige polo shirt and khakis bearing a manila envelope in hand and gestured to his friend.

Drake sized the man up curiously, not really in the best mood, and replied, "Yeah, I'm Drake Walker. What's it to you?"

The man handed him the envelope. "Mr. Walker, I'm with the Clark County Division of Child Support. And you've been served."

[argylemnwrites]

Fight or Flight - Chapter 11: Weighing

Pairing: Drake Walker x MC (Riley Liu)

Book: The Royal Heir (canon divergent from the end of book 2)

Word Count: ~3300

Rating: PG-13 (language only)

Summary: Six days since The Walker Absconding

Author’s Note: This series follows the Walkers, their friends, and Cordonia as a whole after they flee the country with their daughter during Barthelemy Beaumont’s attempted coup. To catch up on this series, check out it’s masterlist. (link can be found via my bio - sorry, Tumblr is once again not putting my posts with links in tag searches)

Rashad sighed heavily as he sat in a chair that was much too big behind a desk that was much too formal in an office that was much too stuffy. He’d agreed to be king-regent because he knew Liam was backed into a corner, and that his previous turns as legal counsel to both the palace and the Beaumonts made him the only obviously neutral party in the nobility. But not even one week in, and he found himself wishing he’d refused the appointment. He missed his job, his duties, his office, and that didn’t even touch on the mess he’d been handed.

It’s not like he wasn’t used to complicated and stressful work. But at Sloan Enterprises, it was work he was passionate about, work that he found stimulating and enthralling. Now, he was engulfed in so many decisions ranging from the banal to the insane. It was work he honestly wanted no part of, but that hadn’t exactly been an option.

His goal had simply been to get through the social season and reach the Conclave without rocking the boat, so to speak. Keep Cordonia on a steady course until someone who wanted the title of monarch could assume it, then return to his life as quickly as possible. But that had rapidly proved to be an impossibility. He’d already had to initiate a treason and kidnapping investigation, strip a duke and duchess of their titles, and postpone the social season. He’d done more in a few days than he’d hoped to do during his entire “reign.”

Now, he was facing numerous protests across the country that he had no idea how to handle. He wasn’t some verbose, eloquent speaker. Any speech from him was unlikely to quell citizen unrest. But in the past 36 hours, he’d watched news coverage of five different protests from five different groups. There was the group that called themselves the True Cordonians, a collection of traditionalists who had always opposed Drake and Riley and their connections to the United States, who were upset that the “traitorous” Walkers hadn’t been found yet. Counter-protesters to them had popped up in front of the Valtoria estate, denouncing the kidnapping and treason charges. That group hadn’t named themselves, but “She’s their kid” had become their rallying cry. Then there were the protests in Lythikos that called for Olivia’s installation as the “rightful regent” as well as a pro-Beaumont group that had come out in support of Barthelemy in Ramsford following his exclusive interview with Ana de Luca. And of course, the Liberation Core was using all the turmoil to spread their anti-monarchy message. Even if Rashad had been confident in his abilities to give a national address, he was completely unsure how to find a message that would even partially unify all those opposing groups.

All he wanted to do was to leave as little of a mark as possible as a ruler and to hand off the crown with Cordonia in a stable position. But it was rapidly seeming like those goals were mutually exclusive. And as loathe as he was to make big decisions, hiding away in the palace and letting the country fall to pieces was not something he could do. He needed to steady the ship, so to speak. And that’s why he was meeting with Lady Hana today.

Almost on cue, he heard a sharp tap on the main office door. After a second, Stefan entered, bowing his head slightly. Liam had offered to let his personal assistant stay on and help him with day to day tasks and the basics and essentials of the role. Rashad wasn’t naive enough to think that Stafan wasn’t essentially spying on him and reporting back to Liam, but he’d needed all the help he could get, and Stefan had proved invaluable, preparing daily briefings and news summaries, so he’d kept the man on his staff.

“Your Regency, Lady Hana is here for her appointment.”

“Thank you, Stefan. Send her in, please.”

A few moments later, Lady Hana entered, bowing her head slightly.

“Good afternoon, Your Regency.”

“Same to you, Lady Hana. Please, have a seat.” He gestured to the chairs in front of the desk. He was well aware this was probably awkward for her as well. She had probably been in this same office not that long ago with Liam behind the desk. 

“Thank you,” she said with a little nod, smoothing her skirt before she sat down.

“So, I figure we better get right down to business.”

“I’ve told Bastien and the investigators everything I know, but I can-”

“No! Not that; I know you’ve already given your statement. I wanted to talk to you about Valtoria.”

Hana was still and silent for just a moment before nodding crisply. “Very well. I would appreciate if I could have a day or two to move my belongings out of the estate.”

Rashad grimaced. This was so uncomfortable. “No, you misunderstand me, Lady Hana. I wanted to discuss whether you were open to accepting the title of Duchess of Valtoria.”

Her eyes widened at that. “Me? As a duchess?”

“Yes. You’ve been living there for about a year and a half at this point, and I am guessing you have served as an advisor to Lady Ri- er, the previous duchess at various points.”

“Well, yes. But it was really nothing.”

“I seriously doubt that.”

She gave him a little smile at that. “Why are you looking to appoint me?”

Rashad figured he had better level with her. She wasn’t going to respond well to flattery she found insincere. “There is too much instability across the kingdom at the moment. Too much is unfolding, and the citizens are rightly unsettled. You are a known presence at that duchy, and you are more than qualified to hold the title. You stepping into that role would help reduce the sense that everything is changing. I might not be able to keep Lythikos and Ramsford calm and peaceful, but if I can give Valtoria some sense of stability, that would be a start at least.”

“I don’t know. This seems like a gigantic call for you to make while you’re…”

“A placeholder?”

“I didn’t know how to phrase it politely,” she said with a little smile.

“That’s quite alright. To answer your question, I’m not sure if this is the right call, but it seems like a natural place to start. You know the people of Valtoria. You’ve lived there and you’ve served them and the country as a whole well. You have the skills and talents required for the position, and professional recruitment is one area I actually do have some experience, so I am confident you would do well in that role. But the choice is yours, of course.”

He watched her swallow, trying to read her expression, but her face wasn’t giving much away. He had no idea what she was thinking, but after a few seconds of tense silence, she nodded. “Alright then. If it’s what the citizens of Valtoria need, I’d be honored to accept. 

With that, she stretched her left hand across the desk, so Rashad grasped it firmly. As he pulled out some of the paperwork he’d prepared in hopes that she agreed and started going over some of the logistics, he hoped that his first major decision as regent would be one of his only major decisions. The fear of public scrutiny already loomed large in his mind, and this was a decision he was actually fairly confident in. Sadly, he was a realist, and he knew things were likely to get worse before they got better. All he could do, though, was keep trotting along, trying to get the country through the next couple of months relatively unscathed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Riley let out a groan, dropping her head into her hands. “Drake, this fucking sucks.”

“Yeah, it does.”

She glanced out the window, almost feeling like she would see a drone with a little camera courtesy of Amalas just peering into their room. Was she using drones? Did she have spies tailing them? Was she just scanning publicly accessible photos tagged in Greek cities with facial ID software? Did it even matter? The end result was the same. Someone she wasn’t sure she could trust knew where her family was, and that was mad nerve-wracking.

Riley glanced back down at Drake, who was sitting on the floor with Bridget, keeping her from using the dresser to pull up to standing. She’d discovered how to do so this morning, and she kept wanting to repeat it, but the last thing they needed was for her to pull the dresser down on top of herself. It made Riley think about all the furniture around their private quarters that Drake had bolted to the wall in preparation for this milestone. None of that would matter anymore.

For the moment, Bridget was distracted with a pile of blocks she was putting into a pillowcase over and over. Riley knew she would return to trying to escape Drake’s reach to try out her new skill soon enough, but for now, at least, she was safely and happily playing. 

Riley and Drake had been discussing what to do next for hours and hours at this point. They had called Olivia earlier, and after some back and forth, Drake and Olivia had both seemed confident that Amalas wasn’t actively following them and didn’t know their location beyond the city. After all, she had been eager to contact Olivia with her intel, and it seemed like too much of a coincidence for that call to come just a few hours after they had spent any real time out in public since their fleeing was common knowledge.

The best guess Drake had was that they had been in the background of someone’s Pictagram post or some shit like that, and that Amalas was just constantly running some sort of facial recognition program constantly on posts tagged with various cities in Greece. After all, she had to know they were trapped in Greece at this point. If they attempted to cross the borders, they would have to show their ID cards and they would likely be arrested on the spot.

Even if Amalas was just aware of their general location, it still was concerning that she was devoting that much effort to keeping tabs on them. But what actions they needed to take next were unclear to both of them. Hence them talking around in circles for hours and hours, just waiting for some idea that felt better than all the crappy ones they’d both thrown out there. 

“I just don’t like sitting around with her knowing where we are, Drake. Even if she doesn’t know the exact details.”

Drake glanced up at her and gave a little shrug. This wasn’t the first time she’d expressed that sentiment. “I don’t like it either. But there’s no guarantee things will be better if we move on to a new city.”

“Olivia said that she’s trying to use us as leverage. How does that sit right with you?”

He shot her a clearly annoyed glare before looking back at Bridget, emptying the pillowcase for her to start filling with blocks again before he said, “It doesn’t fucking sit right with me. But we need to think long term here. We will need to find places to stay for at least a couple of months. That’s the earliest the Conclave can happen, and the charges won’t be dropped before then. We’re also going to need food and warmer clothing when it’s not the middle of summer, and that beater of a car is not going to hold up forever. We need to be frugal and cautious now.”

Riley knew he was right. Her instinct was always to scramble and react, often impulsively. If they kept following her lead every step of the way, they were probably going to make things harder than they needed to be. And she did appreciate that Drake was trying to put more thought into concrete plans. Both of them drifting along without a clear plan, complacent beyond belief was how Bridget was named heir and they found themselves in this situation in the first place.

“Are we even going to have enough money to get us through the next couple of months?”

Drake let out a sigh and shook his head.

“How long?” Riley asked, scrunching her eyes closed as she braced for the answer.

“Three weeks, more or less, if we keep our expenses like they have been.” She opened her eyes and locked them on his. His shoulders sagged and his eyes were sad and heavy, like he was somehow letting her down by telling her the honest facts.

“Drake… How are we going…” she trailed off, unable to finish her thought.

“I’m gonna need to pick up some odd jobs or something, find a way to make some money.”

“How are we going to do that without any ID we can show or anything. I mean, Amalas is out as a source of forgeries at this point, so unless-”

“Olivia told us she was going to poke around, see what she could do. Hana has our passports, so that’s a start at least.”

“I don’t know. I just… I hate this. Everything we have to do feels like it’s gonna get us caught.”

Drake ran his hand over the stubble on his jaw. He hadn’t shaved this morning, and in all the time she had known him, Riley could count the number of times he hadn’t shaved on one hand. She wondered if he was trying to grow a beard to make himself less recognizable or if he had just been too stressed and sleep deprived to bother today. She knew he wasn’t sleeping well.

“I don’t know how to fix this perfectly, Riley. I just don’t.” He looked so dejected, placing his chin on his bent knee, so Riley slid off the end of the bed and joined him and Bridget on the floor, threading her legs under his raised leg in hopes of conveying some degree of comfort.

“Well, we’re just going to have to make a decision and not look back here. And it looks like the two least bad options are to either stay hiding out here for as long as possible and hope that Amalas doesn’t go blabbing, or move on to a new city and hope she doesn’t find us there and that it isn’t too much of an expense to do so.”

He nodded, reaching for her hand. She grabbed on tightly, threading their fingers together. Maybe it was for the best they were both mad conflicted here. It allowed them to really decide on their next move as a team.

“I know I’ve been kind of reluctant to head to a new city, but one thing that is worth considering is that if we went to a bigger city, I might be able to find some under the table work. Day labor, that sort of thing. Plus…” he trailed off and shook his head a little at that, so Riley pushed on.

“What?”

“Well, we have a better chance of finding someone to do a forgery for us in a bigger city, too.”

“You think we should just find a random stranger to forge us passports with new identities?”

“We might have to. I hope Olivia can come through for us, but I’m not counting on that. She’s not going to risk her reputation and good standing to really put her neck out there for us. It’s one thing to keep our location a secret, it’s another to draw attention to herself by asking a lot of questions about how to fake a convincing Greek passport. So if she isn’t able to help us, we’re probably going to have to find someone to do it for us at some point.”

“I thought you said the bigger cities would be the first place they would try to track us.”

“Yeah, but it’s been a few days. They are probably broadening their search at this point. I feel like that risk isn’t as bad as it used to be.”

“So are you saying you think we should head out?”

He paused for a moment and swallowed roughly, running his free hand through his hair. “I don’t know. I think we could stay here for a little while longer and wait to see what Olivia can do for us about fabricated identification, or we could cut our losses and start trying to plan for that on our own. I don’t exactly like either option, Walker, but I think those two I could live with. Where are you at?”

She bit her lip, trying to figure out what was best. She wished there was a clear sign that one option was better than another, but there just wasn’t. They were going to be gambling here no matter what, and while she normally loved a good game of poker, the fact that the stakes here included the safety of her daughter and her family left her feeling sick to her stomach.

“I guess I don’t trust Amalas knowing even our general location.”

“Even though…,” Drake started, taking a deep breath and giving her hand a squeeze before he continued, “even though you thought she might be a good resource for us yesterday?”

Riley opened her mouth to snap back at him, frustrated that he seemed to be trying to trap her or accuse her or something, but she stopped when she saw the look in his eyes. He was afraid of her. She’d never seen that look directed at her before, not quite like that. Sure, she’d seen him upset and terrified, but she had never been the source of it before. So she swallowed down her instinct to lash out and defend herself and let out a little sigh. She’d put him through enough with this whole fugitive status already, and she didn’t want him to feel like he couldn’t be honest with her, couldn’t challenge her. They had always pushed each other, even before they were together. She couldn’t risk losing that now.

“The situation has changed,” she said, trying to keep any defensiveness out of her voice. “If she’s putting the effort into keeping tabs on our whereabouts, she has something up her sleeve, and I don’t trust her. It was one thing when I hoped we might be able to leverage some juicy info and future political favors, but now… I just don’t think we’re going to be willing to pay the price she wants.”

Drake nodded a couple of times before he said, “Okay, so we’re moving on then?”

“If you’re okay with that.”

“As long as we go to a bigger city, I’m okay with it.”

She gave him a little smile and reached up to cup his cheek with her free hand. “Got a place in mind?”

“If we’re gonna do this, we might as well commit. I say Athens, unless you-”

But she cut him off, shaking her head before leaning over to kiss his cheek. “Thank you, Drake.”

“You don’t need to thank me. I’m-” he started, but threw himself to the side and grabbed Bridget who was crawling over to the dresser, tugging her into his lap. “Oh no you don’t, Peanut.”

Riley felt her lips widening into a genuine smile, a feeling that almost felt foreign after the past several days. But her family was here, and they were all just doing the best they could. Even if it all fell apart, at least she could take comfort in that fact. So for now, she just took in her husband and her daughter sharing a normal moment, happy simply to be together.

Permatag:  @walkerswhiskeygirl​   @riley--walker​  @bebepac​ @ravenpuff02​ @oofchoices​ @octobereighth​ @drakewalker04​ @kimmiedoo5​  @mfackenthal​  @thequeenofcronuts​  

The Royal Romance/The Royal Heir: @iaminlovewithtrr​ @ao719​ @mskaneko​ @katedrakeohd​ @jovialyouthmusic​ @marshmallowsandfire​ @axwalker​ @kingliam2019​ @sirbeepsalot​ @texaskitten30​ @princessleac1​ @ladyangel70​ @dcbbw​ @yaushie​

Drake x MC: @no-one-u-know​ @drakeandcamilleofvaltoria​  @iplaydrake​ @gibbles82​ @drakewalkerisreal​ @notoriouscs​  @drakesensworld​ @drake-colt-lover-99​

Fight or Flight: @masterofbluff​ @burnsoslow​ @bobasheebaby​ @shz256​​

[lady-of-the-spirit]

🖊 🖊 🖊 Pick 3 OCs and talk about them!

A little later than I wanted to answer this but better late than never

Joan: Joan’s not a warrior like the other immortals. She has some fight in her, self-defence lessons and all, but she’s nothing like the Guard. Her way of living life isn’t by fighting to make the world a better place, but rather creating. Helping. She’s an artist, has painted and written and sculpted, and also works to restore old art. She also works as a therapist and counsellor. She’s no warrior, but if her work can help even a single person - through creating an inspiring piece of art, through helping someone get through trauma, anything - then that is a life well-lived. It’s harder to track that than it is with Andy and the rest of the team, but it’s no less meaningful. 

Also the life she lives is, essentially, the life of the painter, Ursula, from Kiki’s Delivery Service - living on her own in the middle of the woods in Canada where she can just do her work all day. She moves to a different place every few years, but that house is her home and she loves it and lives there most of the time. There’s a town nearby where she can get anything she may need but for the most part she’s totally fine by herself. She’s super lonely though. And meeting the Guard doesn’t really help because she’s awkward, shy and quiet by nature, not even getting into how living some 600 centuries mostly alone affected that, and she has NO IDEA how to interact with these people who have been a family for centuries. She feels like an outsider with them and it’s super uncomfortable for her. (they’re going to try and fix that, though.)

Hestia: Okay I don’t think I’ve ever talked about Hestia before outside of tags but she’s an MCU OC and she and Thor are married. Hestia is an Olympian, another alien species like Asgardians, and obviously the inspiration for Greek myths. Honestly I came up with her while watching Thor: Ragnarok for the first time and I thought of how funny it would be to have someone sitting up with Loki and the Grandmaster while Thor was getting beaten up and being like “Loki. That’s Thor.” While Loki came up with excuses for why it was not Thor. Then I came up with this idea for a politically arranged marriage between Thor and that character, taking place before the events of the first Thor, and I went for Greek mythology to inspire me, and Hestia was created! She’s asexual, is quiet and reserved, has fire powers, and very tiny compared to Thor. They were married some centuries before the events of Thor 1, but it took Thor all of a few weeks to fall in love with her while Hestia took a century or so but is just as much in love as he is. Then the canon events of the MCU happened and it all got FUCKED UP. They’re still happily married but there’s so much drama going on that it puts a strain on them both (no thanks to Loki!). 

Ten: That really is only the name I’ve given him because for some reason, every time I thought about him, that’s the only thing I thought fit him. I went through several name charts and nothing fit him as well as that. It still might be a placeholder name, but for now, that’s his real name. He uses he/they pronouns and is the ultimate Ryoko stan. I created him because I knew that Ryoko needed some kind of companion for her story and I always get a kick out of the “super serious character is best friends with the goofball sweetheart character” trope. Plus Ryoko is in desperate need of someone to help her relax. It takes him some time to figure out she isn’t nearly as cold as she seems, but once he does, and finds out she’s nothing like the legends say, he starts to really care about her. He wants to be a god so he can help the people of his town, who have been suffering for a few years now, and also stick it to them because they thought he’d never amount to anything. (but now he’s gonna become a god and his best friend is literally the queen of the gods, so who’s laughing now??) For the most part, Ryoko is guiding him through the world with her millennia of knowledge, but he’s the one guiding her as he helps her ‘defrost’ basically (and also there are some things she just has zero knowledge of that astound him). 

Send me a “🖊+an OC“ and I will talk about that OC! It can be a headcanon, a fun fact, a small paragraph of backstory- anything!

[midastouches]

why i love long live (2010)

i really could break this down line by line but i will not micha this is for u honey enjoy <3

Long Live

I had this best guy friend, since like sixth grade. We really only became friends because he started dating my best girl friend and i actually dated his best friend for like a solid two weeks because well, sixth grade relationships :) ANYwho, me and this bgf would talk a lot because we spent a lot of time together because of my bff/his girlfriend. Anywho, eventaully our conversations got really deep and I developed a huge huge crush on him that I couldn’t admit because well, he was dating my best friend.

flash forward a few years later when i finally actually have my own phone and can talk to him, he and my best friend go through this huge messy breakup that essentially means I have to pick a side and can never talk to the other one. I pick the boy that this point i’ve had a crush on for four? years at this point of my best friend (this is actually one of my biggest regrets, and yes, me and girl bff made up later that year on valentines day wow im so bisexual woo)

we end up getting super close, and we talk a lot. i learn that he used to cut himself, except he would do it on his back so no one could see. i would tell him about how much i hate my body, how uncomfortable it makes me and how much i hate eating and gaining weight. we would talk about our depression and the things we hated about high school, and I really though he would fall for me, I did. 

He didn’t. 

I learned about his new girlfriend later that day at a winter strength and speed session. She was blonde, blue eyes, and i somehow convinced myself that she was essentially going to be someone he dated until I turned sixteen and would be able to date him. I recognize now how utterly stupid that was of me just to assume that, assume someone’s feeling were only a placeholder. 

Anyway, high school goes on, and we’re still super close, but there’s now a buffer. I turn sixteen, he and this girl still date. He turns sixteen. They still date. My anorexia gets even worse and my junior years goes to shit. I find it in myself that I can’t talk to him, I can’t be that girl who obsesses over someone elses. So, I simply start to remove myself from him for my own well-being. I put my feelings for in a denial mode and I start to flirt with other people, other boys that make me think I’m moving on, but I’m not. 

Because everytime I get a text or a snapchat from him, my whole face lights up and I know I’m fucked. 

And to my credit, I was not othe only one trying to convince myself he felt something for me. Countless other people in my high school shipped us, countless other people could tell I had a crush on him and they would tell me all the ways they could tell he secretly liked me. It made the narrative continue and my feelings for him were still buried. I couldn’t tell him, I wouldn’t tell him. I was not going to jeopardize our friendship, his relationship with his girlfriend all because I had a dumb crush on him. I just kept thinking it’ll go away, it’ll go away. 

It didn’t, but again, let’s go into the denial phase. 

Hit senior year. We barely talk now except for in person stuff, mainly because I’m trying to convince myself that he doen’t care about me at all. We’re both in cross country though so August hits and I see him eevery day. Except that I think the crush has faded a bit, and I’ve got this other guy I’m talking to, one who makes me feel seen and compliments me and is just overall an amazing guy. Septemeber passes by, now I have a boyfriend and there’s homecing nominations coming up. He gets nominated, I get nominated. I joke to my boyfriend that I’m not going to win, I’m not part of the popular crowd. He bets that I will win. 

This boy texts me in class later that month, after everyone’s voted and now the boy and girl our paired. He send a photo with the pairings and oh look, we’re paired together. All I can think is fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. There’s a ton of homecoming events, lots of pictures, and we’ll be in every single one of them together. 

(also one of the dress up days for homecoming that week is goth day and he gets smudged eyeliner put on him and i just about lose it)

spring forward to the pep rally and we’re all down there, facing eachother, me holding a rose covered in foil and tape with about a dozen other couples surrounding us. I’m looking at him, he’s looking at me. 

They finally tell us to unravel the roses and i can’t. i’m struggling. just about every other girl has their rose unwrapped  but I don’t hear any screaming yet, no winner has been declared. I’m looking at him and he’s got a damn smirk on his face watching me struggle when I finally get. The homecoming queen is announced when she is holding a red rose. 

As I finally get the foil off and stare at the rose in shock, I realize it’s as red as sin. The whole gymansium goes up in a roar of celebration and all the sudden he’s hugging me so tight tight tight and I’m hugging him back just as tight but we’re being pulled from eachother and the other girls who lost are hugging me and I glance back and he’s just go this huge smile on my face and 

holy shit we won. holy fuck shit. we aren’t popular in the way the others were. we were just a rag tag team of a girl and boy and we fucking won. 

we’re crowned king and queen and the entire time long live by taylor swift is stuck in my head. 

the photos of us are gorgeous. the candids, the staged. our crowns. 

and everytime i look back at them i just think of this: 

I said remember this moment In the back of my mind The time we stood with our shaking hands The crowds in stands went wild We were the kings and the queens And they read off our names The night you danced like you knew our lives Would never be the same You held your head like a hero On a history book page It was the end of a decade But the start of an age

flash foward to today. We don’t really talk at all. Occasionally I see him on a run, or at his work. Occasionally we’ll see eachother around, but it’s never awkward. He always brings the same grin to my face that makes me wonder if he ever knew. 

I still love to look at the photos. Every smile, every laugh. 

I think I’ll be in love with him forever. I think that a part of my heart will always belong to him, and I don’t think he’ll ever know. But I hope that sometimes, just sometimes I linger a bit too long in his mind as well. 

Hold on to spinning around Confetti falls to the ground May these memories break our fallCan you take a moment Promise me this: That you'll stand by me forever But if God forbid fate should step in And force us into a goodbye If you have children someday When they point to the pictures Please tell them my name Tell them how the crowds went wild Tell them how I hope they shine

Long live the walls we crashed through I had the time of my life with you

This is why Long Live is one of my favorite songs. It provides this amazing narrative for me to relate one of the greatest people who have ever touched my life. As far as I’m aware, he doesn’t have tumblr, so he’ll never actually see this, but yeah, that’s kinda it. if you read this far, tysm and I hope you have an amazing day <3

and for one moment a band of thieves and ripped up jeans got to rule the world. 

[rubyleaf]

JELLIE: AN OUTSIDE PERSPECTIVE – a character study

Or, a look at how the Voice in the Crowd fans overanalyze Elise and Jen’s interactions. And are surprisingly on the nose…Elise, you ain’t subtle. Do not click the links; they’re just placeholders and lead nowhere.

(Disclaimer: I am only okay with shipping real celebrities if/as far as they’ve consented to it. It’s a topic the story will deal with from several angles.)

Tag list: @writer-in-monochrome, @alicewestwater, @mouwwie (notify me to be added or removed!)

Anonymous asked: Do you really think Elise is in love w Jen? Because she always looks a bit distant to me and idk where people are getting the crush thing from. Not judging in any way just curious

streetlights--stagefrights answered:

Ok first off let me start by saying that as much as I ship Jellie I would NEVER EVER make definitive statements about the nature of their relationship, they’re real people and we need to respect their privacy. All I’m saying is that to me it looks a lot like shes in love and here’s my reasons why.

1. Her body language.

You’re saying she looks distant but Ellie’s body language is very typical for attraction. You can see her mirroring Jen’s body language a lot (in this interview, another interview, on stage, see also their a cappella instalive), and mirroring is definitely a sign of attraction. Second, see the way she leans into her (here and here, @nighthowlsearlywords also has a great gif compilation with more examples) – she’s all in her face whenever Jen talks with her eyes glued to her. See also the way she smiles at her all the time for literally no reason. Sure, she rarely initiates physical contact but look at the way she acts with Jen vs the rest of the band (or literally anyone else).

2. The way she reacts to Jen’s displays of affection.

Elise is closer to Jen than the rest of the band. But look how chill she is with hugs from the guys versus how she reacts when Jen hugs her or gives her a kiss on the cheek. You see how awkward she gets? Out of context it does look like she’s uncomfortable, but it wouldn’t make sense for her to be more comfortable with the boys, who she’s less close to, than her best friend and creative partner who’s also the same gender as her. See also old videos where she looks completely chill with the same displays of affection, suggesting she actually grew more awkward as they got closer.

3. How she talks about Jen (then and now).

We all know Jen gushes about Ellie a lot, and pre-Yikes era Ellie used to do the same. We all swooned over “She is the melody and I am the lyrics” but that wasn’t the only statement of that type. Old Elise talked at length about how Jen found her, how she made her believe in soulmates, how they’re basically married, and other very romantic stuff without batting an eye. Compare that to newer interviews: Her comments about Jen stay suspiciously vague, and look at the way she glosses over the subject while not looking directly at the camera (also, see how red her face gets). Some people take this as proof that the shipping is getting to her, but Elise has always said she doesn’t mind it and has yet to retract her statements.

4. The fact that she’s consistently single (and won’t tell us why).

Elise has been open about a lot of very personal things, including her love life in the past. But when asked about it today, she evades the subject; all we know for sure is that she’s single and not looking for a partner. Her explanation why she’s not looking when all her bandmates are dating someone stays very vague in a way that’s not like her at all. A few comments seem to allude to her having someone she likes but that’s the most detail she’s giving us. Of course, that could be anyone but it’s interesting that this aura of mystery started around the same time as the rest of her changed behaviors.

Tl;dr: I get why it looks like Elise is distancing herself from Jen to you, but to me it seems more like she caught feelings and doesn’t want Jen to know. Usual disclaimer that I could be wrong and we don’t actually know whats going on unless they tell us, this is just my opinion.

[writersrealmbts]

Sleigh Ride

Description: Christmas story raffle submission, Safe with Me Universe, Sanctuary Series. Hybrid Kook brings a friend over for Christmas holidays, and doesn't like it when Taehyung catches her under the mistletoe and leaves his scent on her. He needs to fix it, right now.

Warnings: Read Description

Posted: 12/25/2018

Tags:  Hybrid Jungkook, Bunny Hybrid Jungkook

Fluffy/angsty: 3,414 words

A/N: I used placeholder names for the other readers. Ava is another of the most common names, Ren because of the meaning, and Ariel because it means lion. Because I wasn’t going to go through the insanity of trying to leave everyone nameless.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Happy Holidays!

You and Jungkook met by chance when you started tutoring alongside your best friend’s brother for some extra cash. You were meeting up with Josh to get his advice on how to help a student you were tutoring when you ran into the bunny-hybrid and you just sort of blinked in surprise as he caught the book you dropped. He was a little shy, but so were you. You both stood there, trying to think of something to say until you both started talking at once. Josh intervened right about then, asking you to take over tutoring Jungkook because the help he needed was more in your wheelhouse. Thus, you two started getting coffee together and he told you about his family and you told him about your lack-thereof. Just you and your former owner, who would be on his honeymoon for Christmas. That’s when he got the idea to invite you to his family’s Christmas, insisting that they wouldn’t mind and that there would totally be enough food for you and that they wouldn’t buy presents for you so you didn’t have to buy presents for them. “What if I already got you a Christmas present?” You teased, thinking of how it was waiting in your room to be wrapped and how you had planned to give it to him at your next tutoring session. You were always well prepared for things, storing them away due to your squirrel genes. You finished Christmas shopping before December even hit. He had gotten flustered. “Well…we could exchange gifts. No sense in returning them.” You grinned at him. “You got me a gift already?” He looked away, sort of sheepish. “Jungkook, you are a complete sweetheart. But…won’t it be a little…awkward?” He shook his head. “Dinner is technically completely separate occasion for us. We’ve already done presents in the morning and lunch is the big thing. Dinner is mostly whatever was left of lunch and we’re all just…chilling. Goofing off. The kids are with Eomma and Appa. We’re playing games and barely hitting the eggnog and mulled cider. Jimin, Yoongi, and Jimin’s wife enjoy some catnip. You’ll like them. Well, Namjoon and his mate can be a little standoffish, but they’ll warm up. They’re wolf hybrids.” “Really? That’s so cool. You know they’re going extinct,” You said. “Actually, that’s going to be on the next test. Write that down.” His eyes widened, muttering a curse under his breath and jotting it into his study notes. “This final is going to suck.” “You’ll be fine. As long as you remember that the breeding of wolf hybrids stopped being practiced the year before I was born.” You jotted down the year in his notes. “You’re positive that your family won’t mind?” “Eomma and Appa are always saying my friends are more than welcome. They sort of adopt people anyway. Christmas dinner isn’t a big deal. Now, are you going to accept and move on to helping me pass this final, or are we going to schedule tutoring sessions for next semester when I have to retake this course?” You rolled your eyes and hit his head with your fluffy tail. “You’ve passed so far. You’d get a good enough grade to pass. Wouldn’t look great for your GPA, but you’d still pass.” You stirred your hot chocolate and turned your attention to your own textbook. “You’re coming, right?” He asked softly, his bunny ears back against his head. You smiled and nodded. “Yeah, Kook. I’d love to.” “Good.” ———— You rang the doorbell, though you doubted you really needed to when Jungkook opened the door the moment you pressed it. He grinned. “You came!” “I told you I would,” You replied, smiling and following him inside. You let him take your coat and scarf. Three curious little heads were peeking around the doorway, whispering and giggling. Jungkook gestured toward them. “The triplets, Nari, Kaemon, and Minsu. You guys can meet her, she doesn’t bite. Right y/n?” You nodded. “Right. Jungkook has told me lots about you.” Nari and one of the boys hurried forward, sniffing and smiling at you. “Are you Jungkook’s girlfriend?” The boy asked. “Yah, Minsu, what have we told you about sticking your nose where it isn’t wanted?” Jungkook asked, tossing the boy over his shoulder. Minsu just laughed. “Hyung!” Nari hopped closer. “Hi, you smell good.” “That’s not how we start polite conversation,” A woman, Emma—you assumed, said softly. Nari gave her a sheepish smile. “Hello, I’m Nari, Jungkook-oppa’s little sister. That’s Minsu, and this is Kaemon,” She said, pulling the last little boy from where he was hiding shyly beside his mother’s legs. “Nice to meet you, Nari.” You shook her little hand, then stood back up at smiled at the woman. “You must be Emma?” She nodded. “And you’re y/n. Jungkook has told us a lot about you.” “All good?” She laughed when Kook gave both of you a scared look. “Of course.” You smiled. “Thank you for letting me come here—” “Oh, don’t even mention it. We’re happy to have you. Alright, my little munchkins, time for quiet time with your appa and me.” She herded the two on the floor toward the stairs. “Have fun. Don’t burn the house down. Same rules as always,” She told Jungkook, kissing his cheek after he put Minsu down. “Yes, eomma,” He replied softly, looking at her with more love than you had ever seen on his face before. It was strange seeing him at home. He was nice, really and truly, but he always seemed a little nervous even around his friends. Here he was completely relaxed, ears in a neutral position and expression completely open. You loved it. She disappeared upstairs, calling over her shoulder, “Tell Jin to bring the can of whipped cream.” “Yes, eomma,” Jungkook waved for you to follow him into the next room. “Bathroom is over there. This is the kitchen and living room.” You nodded, scurrying a little closer because now you were feeling a little shy as you saw his family all gathered in the area, most of the attention was on a toddler that was playing with a stuffed animal the same size as her, her stump of a tail lashing playfully. “Appa, eomma said to bring the can of whipped cream,” Jungkook told a dog-hybrid that was putting mugs on a tray. “This is y/n. Y/n, this is Jin. He’s the one who adopted me.” You smiled. “Jungkook’s told me all about you. And Emma. Actually, all of you. I’m sort of a history buff, I like hearing people’s stories.” Jin smiled at you. “Welcome to our house. Glad to meet you. We understand that you’re the reason Jungkook’s passed most of his classes this semester.” You giggled as Jungkook groaned and rolled his eyes. “He just needed someone to make him sit down and study, right, Kook?” He grumbled something about regrets. You turned as someone tapped your shoulder. The monkey-hybrid grinned at you. “I’m Taehyung. And you’re standing under mistletoe.” You looked up, eyes widening. He dropped a kiss on your lips quickly, then darted away with a mischievous laugh. You stared after him, then quickly sidestepped away from the mistletoe before anyone else got any bright ideas. Your pressed the back of your cold fingers to your burning cheeks. Jin was barely suppressing his laughter. Jungkook was rigid, eyes huge, brow furrowed, and lips parted in surprise. You cleared your throat. “Um, introduce me to the others before they decide to introduce themselves to me under mistletoe.” Jungkook scowled momentarily, then nodded and led the way over to the others. “That’s Yoongi and his daughter Eunyeong, that’s Taehyung, who you met. Namjoon and his mate, Ava. Jimin and his wife, Ariel. Hoseok and Ren. This is y/n. My friend.” “Good kisser,” Taehyung chuckled. You closed your eyes, listening as Taehyung was scolded and teased and told to behave. Jungkook put an arm around you. “Don’t worry. I’ll take him if he tries anything again.” You glanced up at him and then let him lead you to a seat on the couch Yoongi was sitting on. Eunyeong came over, curious. “Hi.” “Hello,” You replied, waving a little. She grinned. “Hi.” You giggled. “Hello, what’s your name?” “Euny,” She replied, hugging your legs as she sniffed you. “W’as you name?” “Y/n,” You told her gently. She parroted you, then giggled and let go, going over to Yoongi. “Appa, that’s y/n,” She said, crawling up into his lap and then reaching precariously to pull the stuffed animal up as well. He stopped her, picking it up himself and setting it on Jungkook’s lap. “Careful, Euny.” He spoke in a tired voice, unemotional, but she just purred and snuggled into him, earning a small smile. Ava, Namjoon’s mate, smiled at you. “Jungkook talks a lot about you. What about him? What’s he like when he’s not around us?” “Jumpy,” You replied, hearing a small grunt of protest from Jungkook. You nudged him. “Don’t deny it. Took me two months, that’s fourteen study sessions where we spent three hours together to get him to even look my in the eyes and speak a sentence without then blushing and running out on some fruitless errand like getting more coffee or a snack before inevitably having to return and continue studying. When he finally did start talking to me, it was because he saw my boyfriend cheating on me.” “That was a mess,” Jungkook muttered, arm going around your shoulders again and his nose twitching like he smelled something bad. Ren gave a sympathetic smile. “Jerk?” “Major jerk. Made it so I was afraid to even talk to him. Jungkook and my friends had to back me up. Even then, my former owner had to threaten him to never come around me again. My roommate was extremely concerned. But that was forever ago. Jungkook’s talked to me ever since.” You gently elbowed him, smiling at him. Ava flashed you a big grin. “How long have you two been—” “Isn’t it time for Eunyeong’s nap?” Jungkook asked a little too loudly. Yoongi gave Jungkook a glare you would never want to receive. Euny went still, eyes getting huge, tail fluffing out. “Nooooo!” She mewled out, sounding absolutely heartbroken. Tears immediately fell down her face. The entire room was tense. Ava and Namjoon looked like they were looking for something to attack. Jimin’s ears were back, looking almost as heartbroken as Eunyeong sounded and Ariel was holding onto him and biting her lip. Hoseok had his face behind his hand and Ren was giving Yoongi a sympathetic look. Jungkook looked like he had serious regrets. “Hyung, I’m sorry.” Yoongi snatched up Eunyeong and her stuffed animal. “Shh, baby, it’s not time for a nap.” He went into a different room that Jungkook hadn’t labeled. Taehyung reached out, looking upset, but he then gave Jungkook a hard look. “Yah! Jungkook! We just told you not to mention naps around Euny!” Jungkook’s ears were flat and the scent he gave off spoke of how ashamed he felt. “Sorry, hyung.” You reached out and touched Taehyung’s shoulder as he got ready to speak again. “I’m sure it wasn’t intentional, oppa.” Taehyung looked at you, expression softening into something a little more like an upset pout. He took your hand. Then Jungkook had him pinned to the floor and Taehyung was yelping in surprise. You flinched. Jimin quickly pulled Jungkook off of Taehyung after some harshly whispered words and a stern look. Jungkook tore away from Jimin, grabbed your arm and pulled you out of the room, he tossed your coat, purse, and scarf at you before dragging you outside. “Jungkook?!” You finally tore away from him once you were both outside. He whipped around and glared at you. “Why did you do that?” “Do what?” You asked, folding your arms, and glaring right back. “Let him kiss you! Touch him! Calling him oppa! What are you doing treating him like that? Now his smell is all over you!” He grabbed you and pulled you to his chest, holding you there as he growled a very un-bunny-like growl. You were sort of stunned into complacency as he started rubbing all over you, covering you with his scent. “Stupid mistletoe, stupid Taehyung,” He muttered, suddenly nipping at your scent gland. You jumped. “Jungkook?” He pulled away when he heard your tone, wincing. “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.” You just looked at him, bewildered. “What is going on, Jungkook?” He looked down. “I don’t want his scent on you.” “So you tackled him and then dragged me out into the cold?” You slipped your coat on. “And basically kicked me out of your house after inviting me. I haven’t even been here half an hour. If you didn’t want me to come, then you shouldn’t have invited me!” He looked up at you with alarm. “What? No! I want you here! I’m not kicking you out, I just had to get you away from him! From them! It’s not fair for their scent to be on you when none of mine is!” You frowned at him. “Jungkook, your scent is all over me. Taehyung barely touched me. You’ve been hanging all over me for weeks. It’d take four showers and a completely new wardrobe to get your scent out.” He blinked at you. “Could you just say it? Could you just tell me that you want to date me. To be my mate already. Do you even realize that you’ve basically been going through all the regular mating rituals without ever saying anything?” You folded your arms, frowning at him. “Or kissing me. I think I’ve been pretty patient through all of this, don’t you?” His eyes were huge, staring at you, but also distant as his mind went over everything. “Oh man, holy—” “Jungkook?” Emma asked, opening the front door. “What is going on?” He looked over at her, then back at you as you pulled your scarf tightly around you to ward off the cold. You wore your dress jacket because you were just going from the car to the house and it provided very little warmth. “Y/n, are you leaving already?” Emma asked, still giving Jungkook that mom look. “I honestly don’t know,” You replied, folding your arms and hunching your shoulders to try and contain the warmth. Jungkook closed his eyes. “Eomma, could you go back inside. We’ll be back in soon.” She looked at you, silently asking if you were okay. You hesitated, then nodded. She nodded and went back inside. Jungkook put both hands on your shoulders. “I didn’t realize I was doing it.” “I’m seeing that.” “I’m sorry. I…should have been more careful and I shouldn’t have reacted like that. I just…after seeing you with your ex…I never wanted to see you hurt again and when Taehyung kissed you…” He scowled at the ground, then looked into your eyes with determination. “Will you still have me?” You blinked at the intensity in his gaze. “I don’t know.” He looked down, then stepped closer and kissed you. It was soft, sweet, everything you knew he was. Perfect. You looked up at him. “You can’t just freak out like that. Not around your family. It’s embarrassing for me, you know.” He nodded. “I’m sorry. I just…I didn’t want to lose you so I never said anything.” “Jungkook,” You said softly. “Just kiss me.” He relaxed, smiling and leaning down to kiss you again. Then again. His arms wrapped around you, and you curled into the warmth that emanated from him. He pulled away, running his fingers through your hair with a small smile. “I’ve always wanted to play with your hair. And feel your ears. Can I feel your ears?” You nodded, leaning into his chest. His hand slid through your hair, then pet it down before he tentatively slid his hand over your ears. “They’re so small and cute,” He murmured. You giggled softly. “I’m a squirrel-hybrid. What did you expect?” He leaned down and kissed you. “Is it weird that we’re different hybrid species?” “Do you really care? Because if you do, then we can’t go forward.” “I don’t. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t think so. You met Ariel. She’s a mix of two hybrid species. She’s fox and cat. We’re at least in the same family of species.” Jungkook looked thoughtful. “Um,” You started, wondering if you should burst his bubble. “Actually, squirrels are in the order Rodentia while rabbits are in the order Lagomorpha, which puts me in the family Sciuridae and you in the family Leporidae.” He blinked at you blankly. “But…” “It changed a few years ago. Like twelve.” He looked at the ground. “Well, that’s going to affect my grade in Biology…” You winced. “That was actually on your test?” He nodded. “Well, you should still be able to pass. Come on. I’m freezing. And I was promised food.” He blinked a few more times, then nodded. “Right. You look cute when you eat. Your cheeks get all puffy.” You groaned. “Do not let me store food in my cheeks in front of your family. I am not going to behave like a squirrel in front of them.” “It’s cute. If we’re dating, can I play with your tail? It’s so fluffy.” “Not in front of other people. I have pride, you know.” You hit him in the face with your tail. He smiled at you. “Can we cuddle?” “Sure, but don’t trap me. I’ll freak out.” He caught you, ears perked with excitement. “Can we hang out without studying?” “We better,” You replied, smiling up at him. He bit his lip. “I freaked out earlier and mentioned Eunyeong’s naptime because Ava was about to ask how long we’ve been dating. She’s trouble. I could see the question in her eyes and I didn’t want her to ask that and make things awkward and everything just spiraled out of control from there. I am so sorry, I promise I won’t do anything like that ever again.” You just smiled at him. “It’s okay, Kook. It’s nice seeing you here. Where you’re most comfortable. I just want you to be relaxed and happy. Nothing’s going to happen with me and any other guy.” He nodded, eyes closed as you kissed him. His arm slid gently around your waist, guiding you back inside. He helped you take your coat off, hanging it up with your scarf and purse. He then guided you back into the room where the rest of his family was, including Yoongi and Eunyeong but excluding Emma, Jin, and the triplets. Jimin came over, looking worried. “Everything okay?” Jungkook nodded. “Yeah, hyung. I was just being stupid.” You nudged him gently. “We’re good now. Go apologize to Taehyung.” He nodded again. “Can you wait here? I want to sit by you.” You nodded, nudging him again gently. Jimin stood with you, watching him go. “He never clarified this was a date, did he?” You laughed softly. “I don’t think he even thought of it as a date until Taehyung kissed me and he didn’t like it.” He grinned. “You’re all he talks about.” “I’ve been accused of doing the same by my friends and family,” You replied, biting your lip. “How awkward was it when we left?” “We’ve had weirder. We just gave Taehyung some sweet potato chips and showed him the pictures of the kids Ariel is working with at the clinic. They’ll talk it out. Ren, Hoseok, and Ava are getting dinner together.” He gestured toward the kitchen where they were working. Jungkook came back over. “We’re good. Time to eat, Noona?” “Almost,” Ren replied, setting more dishes on the table. Jungkook wrapped his arms around you cautiously, sneakily kissing your cheek. “Your tail, that’s going to be enemy number 1, isn’t it?” “Always,” You replied cheerfully, resting your cheek against his. “But it’s nice and warm like a blanket in winter.” He smiled. “That does sound nice,” He whispered in your ear. Taehyung’s laugh filled the room. “Hey! They’re matching shades of red!” He grinned at the two of you and then started dodging around the table as Jungkook playfully chased him. Your eyes followed your bunny, grateful for this wonderful, magical day.

Masterlist. ~~  Series Masterpost.  ~~  Next Part

[hazyheel]

WWE Monday Night Raw 6/3/19 Review

We started out with Roman Reigns, although Shane McMahon quickly interrupted him. Shane said that he would tap out Reigns at Super Showdown for the first time in his career, which is wild that he has never tapped to anything, I didn’t know that. He said that he would make him pass out after the match, and Shane sounded kinda ridiculous here. Roman told him to shut up, and he said that he would put him through the mat. He then said that after he won at Super Showdown, he would beat McIntyre at Stomping ground. He said that they need to show Shane some respect. McIntyre said that he would win, and The Revival attacked from behind. The usos then ran out to help him, and we went right into a match.

So, we went into the 6-man tag. Roman Reigns and the Usos vs. Drew McIntyre and the Revival. There was a lot of action right here, with the heels isolating Jimmy. There was an awesome sequence where Jey was tagged in, and he hit McIntyre with an Ensiguri, followed by a superman punch from Reigns. Jey was going to go for a splash, but Shane grabbed him and crotched him. Reigns confronted Shane, but McIntyre drilled him with a claymore on the outside. The Revival hit Jimmy with a shatter machine on the outside, and then McIntyre hit Jey with a claymore in the ring for the win.

After the match, the heels beat up Roman, who was super over tonight, giving him a shatter machine, another claymore, and a terrible looking spear from Shane.

Grade: A-. Awesome opener, which is not something I normally think about Raw. They were all action, fast paced, and looked great doing it. Also, the shatter machine is badass, and I’m happy to see it again. The match of the night happened really early this week.

Then we had Miz TV, so Miz was out next. He quickly called out Seth Rollins to talk about the looming threat of Brock Lesnar, who vowed that he would cash in this week, definitely for real. So Miz asked what was running through Rollins head, and he said that he hoped that Lesnar would cash in so that he could focus on being a good champion again. He wants all his focus to be on Baron Corbin. As they were talking, Brock Lesnar showed up in a car, and he seemed like they would cash in now, but decided against it.

Grade: C. This was fine, not much really happened here, nothing new from Rollins and nothing from Miz at all. Brock did not end up cashing in, and maybe he will later in the evening, but he hadn’t yet. This was a placeholder, and I didn’t like it.

The Lucha House Party were out next for a tag match, but Lars Sullivan came out instead. He beat them up a little bit, and then they all fought back together and made him back down.

Grade: C+. Simple way to hype up the match at super showdown. Nothing offensive, but nothing good either.

Backstage, the IIconics were being mean to Nikki Cross and called Becky Lynch a mut. Alexa Bliss came by to stand up for Cross. Bliss offered Cross a coffee, and Cross was shocked. Bliss said that she knows that Cross was getting close with Lynch, who does not like Bliss. She said that no one seemed to like her, and was upset about it until Cross said that it didn’t matter what she used to be like, because she was friends with Cross. Bliss said that she would be in Cross’s corner for her match with Peyton Royce later on. I don’t grade segments like these, but it was so far out of both of their characters that I hated it. I’m fine with Bliss being a face, but she shouldn’t suddenly be insecure. And Cross is crazy, she doesn’t need a little girlfriend. Although the IIconics were funny with the way they walked away.

Then Becky Lynch came out next, she cut a promo. She talked about her accomplishments, and got a “you deserve it” chant. This is a good crowd. She said that she was getting content, and it was pissing her off. She called out Lacy Evans, and Evans showed up. She said that Becky didn’t deserve to represent the Women’s division of Raw. Becky said that she would rip her arm off, and Evans just sorta ignored it and said that she would be the next Raw Women’s Champion. Charlotte showed up and said that Lynch had to admit that she just lost. This was a wild segment, because all three people hated each other. Charlotte seemed to be there to be mean to Evans, and Evans just sorta told her to leave. Evans then attacked her, and a ref showed up out of nowhere for a match between Evans and Charlotte.

Grade: C-. They can all talk, but what the hell was this segment? To set up the match? We didn’t need it. They already have beef. If they weren’t good promos, this would be much lower.

So, into that match, they brawled like crazy right from the bell, while Lynch stood at ringside as the fans chanted for her. Charlotte didn’t let Evans get anything in, and was really kicking her ass. At one point, Charlotte went for the figure 4, but Evans was supposed to counter and just kinda didn’t which made for an awkward spot. At one point, they were both down, so Becky attacked Charlotte for the DQ, and then hit Evans with a manhandle slam to stand tall.

Grade: F. This was terrible. I don’t know how two talented wrestlers can have such a bad match, but it was full of botches and terrible spots, and no noise from the crowd and ended in a DQ. Fucking awful.

Rey Mysterio was out to relinquish his United States Championship. He was avoiding the word wrestling, but he was saying that he loved wrestling. He said that he was going to relinquish the championship to set a good example for Dominic, his son, and to be a good champion. Samoa Joe came out to interrupt him. He said that he was out to accept his championship. Joe said that he was relinquishing the championship because he never beat Joe. Mysterio said that he was relinquishing the belt to Joe because of his shoulder injury, and he said he was being a man. Joe accepted and then locked in the Coquina clutch on him to end the segment. I’m not gonna grade this one, because it is just a thing that kinda had to happen.

Cesaro cut a quick promo on Ricochet, saying that he would beat Ricochet. Ricochet then said that he would try his best to win.

Braun Strowman then came out for an arm Wrestle with Bobby Lashley. There was actually a ref in for this, and the crowd was weirdly hot, meaning the chanted a bit in the beginning. Lashley slapped him before they could start, and Braun nearly murdered him, by knocking over the table. They slipped, and had to start over with chalk on their hands. Strowman won, and they even rang the bell. Lashley attacked him after, throwing chalk in his face. Lashley hit a running powerslam to finish it off.

Grade: D-. W-why? Just why? What did this accomplish? Was it entertaining for anyone? This was pointless, and also bad.

They then showed the 24/7 title change on the golf course, where Jinder Mahal pinned R-Truth, only to be pinned right back. They then showed Carmella looking for Truth backstage, and also Drake Maverick and EC3 following her with a ref to get the belt. Maverick hadn’t shaved, which was a nice touch.

Then we had Petyon Royce vs. Nikki Cross. Alexa was in Nikki’s corner. There was one point where Royce had a tarantula locked in the ropes, but had to let go. On the outside, Cay knocked Bliss’s coffee out of her hand and knocked her over, so he had a bunch of coffee on her pants. Cross was able to get the win with the swinging neckbreaker because of the distraction. Bliss was so angry about the coffee that she attacked Cay with a dropkick. Cross pulled her off of Cay and then walked away as friends.

Grade: D-. Again, why? The match was definitely bad, but I knocked it down a bit because of more bad booking. First of all, this was stupid in general, the coffee spilling thing. Second, the Women’s Tag Team Champion Peyton Royce was pinned yet again, and those belts look like garbage. Third, why was she so angry? Isn’t she a babyface now? Like, she was getting bullied half as bad as she used to bully people, and is getting super pissed off about it. And of course, Nikki Cross, the insane lady who actually went through a table with one of the Authors of Pain at Takeover Brooklyn 3, was the voice of reason. Happy to see Bliss be able to work, but it was terrible.

Rollins then came out, because apparently Brock would be cashing in. They accidentally played Brock’s music early, but then Rollins dared him to come out and cash in so that they could actually fight for it. Baron Corbin then came out. Corbin said that he would retire Rollins just like he retired Kurt Angle. They brawled all around, and then Lesnar’s music played, but he didn’t come out. Corbin then hit the end of days, and then Lesnar came out for real.  He gave Rollins a low blow, and then punished him with a chair. Then he german suplexed him, and beat him up, Heyman said that he should cash in, but Lesnar wanted to continue to destroy him. He gave Rollins an F5 on the outside, but didn’t seem too interested in cashing in. Lesnar refused to cash in, and said that he would Cash in at the super showdown. Lesnar then beat him with the briefcase, and even busted open Rollins’ back. Rollins did a stretcher job afterwards.

Grade: B-. This was really good, but a bit confusing. I loved the paranoia that Brock was causing, although I liked the idea that he wouldn’t be on TV for a while but was just looming with the briefcase. I really liked how that helped Corbin actually beat Rollins up, and I liked that attack that actually happened. Starting with the low blow was awesome, and the attack was brutal. But like, why doesn’t he just cash in now? If he wants the belt that bad, then why not do it now? Just odd. Plus, saying that he would cash in on Friday means that the whole “I have a year” thing from last week is meaningless. But anyway, this was exciting, although it made no sense. I will rate it on the positive side because the action was cool, but seriously, no sense.

Then we had the firefly funhouse. It was about Wyatt opening a gym. A Vince McMahon puppet showed up to fire a big that was eating too much. Then they all danced, and there was like some subliminal messaging in it as well, which was creepy and awesome.

Grade: B. Not as good as other versions of the segment, but still good.

Then we had a face to face between Randy Orton and Triple H. Trips came out to loud chants of NXT, and he said that he wanted to talk about Orton, and then Orton came out. Trips just said that these face to faces are about drumming up interest and jaw jacking each other, but they have already said everything there is to be said to each other. Trips just said that he wasn’t gonna waste his time, and he would kick his ass on Friday. Orton said that he was the legend killer, and he would put another notch on his belt when he beats him. Trips put him over strong, saying he is one of the best ever to be in the ring, and kinda took credit for him becoming that. He said that no one can put him down, and they are all gone (a lot of people have, but lets ignore that) he said that Orton was not the guy to do it. Orton then asked him to promise that he’d take his balls from Steph’s purse. Trips said that he would, and said that he has her hold them because they are too big for him to carry around all the time. Then he said that Randy never had any balls.

Grade: B-. Fun promo, they can talk. But they couldn’t just now start to hype that match up. It will not be as good as they could’ve made it. But the promo was fun, and they were clearly enjoying themselves out there.

Backstage, Corbin was interviewed about how he was thrilled that Rollins was beaten up. He said he’d be the next universal Champion, not really understanding that Lesnar would happily cash in on him as well.

Then we had Cesaro vs. Ricochet, the rubber match. Ricochet was flying around right as the match started. Cesaro busted out his old deadlift superplex on Ricochet. Ricochet went for the same spike rana spot that he won with last week, but Cesaro countered with the Cesaro swing. They countered around a bit, and Ricochet was able to roll up Cesasro to get the win.

Grade: B-. They are really good, and can surely do better than this. This was a good match, but it was between two guys who can definitely put on a match that is better. They just seem to have more potential than this.

Cesaro attacked after the match a little bit. He pulled out a table, and Truth was lying down on it, I Guess he was hiding there all night. Ricochet then took out Cesaro with a suicide dive. The low card guys all ran at him, and Cedric Alexander did a dive onto the crowd. Maverick confronted Truth in the ring, but Carmella superkicked him and they ran.

24/7 Grade: B-. We only really had the one segment here, but it was a funny reveal, so it’s enough to get on the positive side for me.

And the main event of the evening, we had Undertaker making an appearance. He talked about how Goldberg will look death in the eye on Friday. He said that he will make the match on Friday his last. He said that he would claim Goldberg’s soul.

Grade: B+. This was short, but it was so damn cool.

Overall Grade: C-. It should come out to a C+, but considering that most of this show was just fine, and there were a bunch of stinkers in there too, i;m giving this what it deserves.

Pros: 6-man tag; firefly funhouse; undertaker showed up; truth’s reveal was pretty funny

Cons: Miz TV; charlotte vs. evans; lynch/ charlotte/ evans promo; arm wrestling; cross vs. royce; brock didn’t cash in for some reason; corbin doesn’t realize that brock might cash in on him at super showdown.

[letterstomidnightkids]

thank you @velvet-moss​ for tagging me!

Is there a song/album that helped you shape some elements of your WIP or characters? What is it?

Troye Sivan’s Blue Neighborhood; Lorde’s Melodrama; Lorde’s Pure Heroine; Hayley Kiyoko’s everything but especially Girls Like Girls, Gravel To Tempo, Feelings, and Sleepover; Tegan and Sara’s Love You to Death and Heartthrob; Mary Lambert’s Bold; lots of alt pop and just things I would want in a high school movie? OMW is a book that I would want to see as a high school rom com and music that sounds like it would belong on the soundtrack of a movie like that shapes the plot+characters.

Is your character a picky or adventurous eater? What is their favorite thing to eat?

Victoria and Dani are both adventurous eaters (within reason for Dani, she’s lactose intolerant so anything with dairy is a no go). Victoria’s favorite food is the cinnamon rolls her mom makes at Christmas and Dani’s is vegan waffles.

Do you prefer to outline or wing it?

Outline to get ideas flowing and then if the story wants to go somewhere else, follow that

What is your favorite line you’ve written so far?

All from On My Way

About halfway through reminders to come to the football game Friday, Maddie bursts into class in a whirlwind of black and glitter.

- this is Maddie (one of Victoria’s best friends and 1/3 of the gay disasters squad)’s entrance and it suits her as a character for reasons that will be revealed later, she’s a performer and she tries to project this aura of cool but she really cares about her friends and what other people think of her

The silence is about as awkward as the time Caleb and I got sent into a closet during an 8th grade party. During which I promptly came out.

- I like this line bc it’s indicative of their relationship+plus there’s some irony in the sense of they get sent to the closet and V comes out? I just like it. Caleb doesn’t figure himself out til later, but this is about when he started to get the first idea that he wasn’t just into girls.

“Um, you can turn the radio on if you want,” I say. “Or plug your phone in, the aux chord should be around here somewhere.”

“Lot of trust you’re placing in someone you barely know,” [Dani] teases.

“I could take it back,” I tease back. “Or we could keep the whole silence thing going.”

“Guess you’ll just have to trust me.”

- I just think this is neat. first time Victoria and Dani, her tutor/love interest, get to talk outside of school, idk how to flirt so i’m hoping they’re doing a better job than me

What was the first story you ever wrote?

I was in 5th? grade and my school had this thing called the all school write where everyone had a prompt and had to write something. They were usually things like ‘what superhero would you want to switch places with?’ or ‘describe yourself’, but my 5th grade year the prompt was ‘He opened the door and to his surprise he found...’. I wrote a story about a guy who found a world beyond the door and there was a blue wolf (named Sapphire of course) and a maze and magic. I don’t know where that story is now but it got me really invested in stories and the idea that I could write them too.

Did it take you a while to settle on a pen name (if you use one)?

Still not 100% settled on one. I’d keep my first name but probably use a different last name and there’s three that I go between when debating pen names.

What would you say your biggest inspiration was for your current WIP?

For On My Way:

Anna and the French Kiss, Simon Vs., and the general frustration I had with finding fluffy books about wlw (I know they’re out there but sometimes they just seem so hard to find). On My Way is super self indulgent and is a lot of things I love, and it’s for me.

Do names come to you easily? Or do characters tend to remain nameless for a while?

They come easy, but I usually have to end up changing them so it’s almost like the original name is a placeholder.

If you weren’t planning on making writing your career, what would you have gone for?

Teacher! I love working with kids, and helping other people be excited about learning! I’ll probably end up teaching for a while anyway and it’s something I love and like, all the women on my mom’s side have been teachers so it feels kinda inevitable, but not in a bad way bc it’s something that I love instead of something I was/am being told to do.

If you could live anywhere else in the world, where would it be?

I’m pretty happy where I’m at, but if I could live in Spain for a while and teach English, that would be pretty cool.

I tag @leofailsatwriting​, @xanderswriteblr​, @jess---writes​, @bodoramzap​, @progress-in-writing​, @veronicadent​, and anyone else who wants to do this!

[raendown]

WIP List Game

So @copyninken decided I needed to play this tag game, the rules of which are that you talk about all your current WIPs. Fucking strap in kids.

(Edit: also tagged by: @bouncyirwin @denilmo and @kunoichi-ume)

I’m not including the abandoned works which I know will never get finished. Also not including the ideas that I would like to write but have not yet actually started a document for. Some of these have titles and some of them just have terrible placeholder names until I actually title them.

Fuck sake I didn’t realize how much time travel I wrote until I compiled all this…

1.       Buff N’ Stuff Chapter three – KakaSaku – Sakura and Gai working out while Kakashi has a small aneurysm in the corner watching his new girlfriend throw around weights.

2.       In Times Of Peace – MadaTobi – Their clans were never at war but brokered peace during Butsuma and Tajima’s reign to avoid the possibility of it in the future. They bind themselves together through an arranged marriage – the marriage of Madara and Tobirama.

3.       Misunderstood Tobirama – IzuTobi – Tobirama has a massive crush on Izuna but the other man despises him because Tobirama is socially inept and even when he’s asking innocent questions he sounds confrontational. Until Izuna overhears a life-changing conversation.

4.       Time Travel Mess – MadaKaka/TobiObi – Kakashi has already been in the past for a few years and fallen in love with Madara when suddenly Obito falls out of the sky as well.

5.       Sick Of This Chapter 4 – MinaKaka – Now out of the hospital, Kakashi adjusts to the idea that Minato actually loves him back. Minato goes a little overboard on the affection.

6.       Time Travel Threesome – KakaTobiObi – Over the course of his life Kakashi continues to accidentally travel back in time at random periods, always straight to Tobirama’s side. It’s only a couple years for Tobirama but it is an entire childhood for Kakashi. He grow up and falls in love with Obito…but also with Tobirama.

7.       Were-Tobi – MadaTobi – The Senju are a clan of shapeshifters, each with their own unique animal form. The Uchiha are hunters, humans who use prayers and hand signs to borrow the power of the gods. An accident between their clans generations ago made them mortals enemies and now Tobirama has been captured by the Uchiha to be kept as Madara’s pet.

8.       A Broken Soul Sequel – MinaKaka – Things are equally awkward as they are beautiful as Minato slowly leaves behind his previous life and learns to accept his current one.

9.       Argumentative – MadaKaka – Madara and Kakashi getting in each other’s faces for the hundredth time, arguing as usual, until Kakashi accidentally reveals a secret in the heat of his anger. Madara discovers that Kakashi isn’t exactly from around here.

10.   Brother Knows Best – MadaTobi – Hashirama really wants his best friend and his brother to get along. And he’s going to make that happen, one way or another.

11.   Clandestine – MadaTobi – They’ve been fucking in secret for so long now and Tobirama is more than aware of exactly what he means to Madara. Or, what he doesn’t mean. There are moments when he thinks Madara might let them become something more but the illusion never lasts. At least, it’s never lasted this long before.

12.   Couples Week – 7 different fics for 7 different days but I won’t spoil those particular surprises.

13.   Dessert For Dinner – MinaKaka – Kakashi only came over for a quick visit. After a slight kitchen mishap he ends up staying for ‘dessert’ as well.

14.   In The Ether – MinaKaka – When Minato sealed himself in to the belly of the Shinigami, not all of him was sealed. As the only living person left bearing the Hiraishin seal of Namikaze Minato, Kakashi is also the unwitting bearer of part of his soul. And now that part is calling to him.

15.   Kakashi Time Travels – No pairing, possibly ObiKaka – Team 7 travel back in time to Kakashi’s childhood, arriving just at the right moment to stop him from killing Rin. Instead, Older Kakashi throws himself in front of the girl who still haunts his nightmares. As the past is changed the future fades, but not before he has a chance to impart a few words of wisdom.

16.   Past Mistakes – MinaKaka – Kakashi travels back in time to the Kyuubi attack. He doesn’t quite make it in time to save Kushina but he has enough time to accept the Kyuubi in to his own body, saving Naruto and Minato both. Young Kakashi is not at all impressed by this older look-alike.

17.   Prank King Tobirama – MadaTobi – No one would ever suspect a man who never laughs as the one behind the rash of pranks around the village. In fact, he’s been doing this for years and no one has ever caught him. When they finally do, they realize he’s been holding back an even juicier secret from the world.

18.   Soulmate Chapter 88 Sequel – MadaKaka – Madara is instantly protective of the one he’s been waiting a century for. Kakashi is young and Madara doesn’t see him romantically – until suddenly the boy isn’t so young anymore and romance has a chance to blossom. Awkwardly.

19.   Shit You’re Not A Cat – MadaTobi – Magic AU in which Madara assumes the giant snow leopard that always hangs around his best friend’s house is just Hashirama’s familiar. That is, until suddenly the cat stops being a cat and starts being a really hot guy.

20.   Time Travel Scars – MadaKaka – Soulmate AU in which scars on your body show up on your soulmate’s as well. Between one day and the next Madara suddenly has a lot more scars than he used to. Kakashi only travelled back to ensure war never happened; he never expected to get any sort of personal reward out of the venture.  

21.   Time Travelling Tobirama – MadaTobi – Near the end of his life Tobirama finally completes a method to travel through time. He uses it to appear before himself in the middle of the battle in which Izuna was killed – but instead he strikes down himself. As the Tobirama of the past chokes on his own blood, the Tobirama of the future whispers of all the evil which was inspired by this one act. Better that he die here. Past Tobirama survives but is now burdened with terrible knowledge and a terrible choice.

And there we are. I’ve shortened the list a lot lately, finishing up a bunch of the smaller projects that were just sitting around waiting for me. Feels good to see the list getting a bit smaller but we all know it’s only going to grow again. >.<

People I would like to see WIP lists from, if they would be willing: @malazuzu22 @purple-possibilities @shiranuigenma @dimancheetoile @bouncyirwin

[amoralto]

Quotes for curious contemplation: John on distinguishing between best friends and partners, creative and romantic, male and female. (a compilation in progress)

(Note: I’ve had this sitting in my drafts for an age and have frankly forgotten why I even started it, but it was probably the product of some vagrant thoughts and some amused despair/despairing amusement at John Being Awkward About The Distinction (Or Lack Thereof) Between Who You Collaborate With And Who You Have Romantic And Sexual Feelings For And Whether They’re Female (Or Decidedly Not). So in lieu of a succinct and self-reflexive #tag that would suitably express this, here’s a compilation post of sorts! For now. I did not include quotes with comparisons between partnerships and marriages or more general comparisons between Yoko and Paul or relevant thoughts about love and loss, because we’d be here for days, and anyway, this post is meant to be a bit specific and silly.)

It’s just handy to fuck your best friend. That’s what it is. And once I resolved the fact that it was a woman as well, it’s all right. We go through the trauma of life and death every day so it’s not so much of a worry about what sex we are anymore.

— John Lennon, interview w/ Jonathan Cott for Rolling Stone: Yoko Ono and her sixteen-track voice. (March 18th, 1971)

I just realized that [Yoko] knew everything I knew, and more, probably, and it was coming out of a woman’s head. It just sort of bowled me over, you know? And it was like finding gold or something. To find somebody that you can go and get pissed with, and have exactly the same relationship as any mate in Liverpool you’d ever had, but also you could go to bed with him, and it could stroke your head when you felt tired, or sick, or depressed. It could also be Mother. And obviously, that’s what the male-female – you know, you could take those roles with each other.

— John Lennon, interview w/ Peter McCabe and Robert D. Schonfeld c/o Peter McCabe and Robert D. Schonfeld, John Lennon: For The Record. (September 5th, 1971)

Still, while the Lennon and McCartney tiff made for good press, even Lennon admitted (to a Syracuse University audience, on the day of the [Imagine] album’s release), that ‘How Do You Sleep?’ was “an outburst. Things are still the same between us. He was and still is my closest friend, except for Yoko.”

— John Lennon, c/o Tom Zito, Washington Post: Peace, love, art and Yoko. (October 9th, 1971) c/o Kenneth Womack, The Cambridge Companion to The Beatles. (2009)

JOHN: Well, [‘How Do You Sleep’]’s an answer, you know? Paul, uh, personally doesn’t feel as though I insulted him or anything. ’Cause I had dinner with him last week, and he was quite happy.

YOKO: They were friends, you know, and they were swearing at each other or, you know. It’s nothing.

JOHN: If I can’t have a fight with my best friend, I don’t know who I can have a fight with. 

DOUGLAS: Is he your best friend? Paul?

JOHN: I guess... in the male sex, he – he was. I don’t know about now, because I don’t see much of him.

— John Lennon, interview w/ Mike Douglas on The Mike Douglas Show. (February 12th, 1972) 

JOHN: It’s a plus, it’s not a minus. The plus is that your best friend, also, can hold you without… I mean, I’m not a homosexual, or we could have had a homosexual relationship and maybe that would have satisfied it, with working with other male artists. [faltering] An artist – it’s more – it’s much better to be working with another artist of the same energy, and that’s why there’s always been Beatles or Marx Brothers or men, together. Because it’s alright for them to work together or whatever it is. It’s the same except that we sleep together, you know? I mean, not counting love and all the things on the side, just as a working relationship with her, it has all the benefits of working with another male artist and all the joint inspiration, and then we can hold hands too, right?

SHEVEY: But Yoko is a very independent person. Isn’t it— [inaudible]

JOHN: Sure, and so were the men I worked with. The only difference is she’s female.

SHEVEY: But you didn’t find it difficult to make that transition?

JOHN: Oh yeah. I mean, it took me four years. I’m still not – I’m still only coming through it, you know.

— John Lennon, interview w/ Sandra Shevey. (Mid-June?, 1972)

I’ve only selected to work with – for more than a one night stand, say with an odd thing with [David] Bowie, or an odd thing with Elton [John], or anybody who was hanging around – two people. Paul McCartney, and Yoko Ono. Okay? I brought Paul into the original group, The Quarrymen, he brought George in, and George brought Ringo in. I had a say in whether they did join or not, but the only initial move I ever made was bringing Paul McCartney into the group. The second person of that much interest to me as an artist, and somebody who I could work with, was Yoko Ono.

— John Lennon, interview w/ Jonathan Cott for Rolling Stone. (December 5th, 1980)

I was saying to somebody the other day, “There’s only two artists I’ve ever worked with for more than a one night stand, as it were. That’s Paul McCartney, and Yoko Ono.” And I think that’s a pretty damned good choice! [...] Now George came through Paul, and Ringo came through George, although of course I had a say in where they came from. But the only – the person I actually picked as my partner, who I’d recognised had talent, and I could get on with, was Paul.

Now, twelve or however many years later, I met Yoko, I had the same feeling. It was a different feel, but I had the same feeling. So I think as a talent scout, I’ve done pretty damn well!

— John Lennon, interview w/ Dave Sholin for RKO Radio. (December 8th, 1980)

After all, we’re presenting ourselves as a couple, and to work with your best friend is a joy, and I don’t intend to stop it. [...] I’ve had the boyhood thing of being the ‘Elvis’ and doing my thing and getting my spot on the show. Now I want to be with my best friend – my best friend is my wife. Who could ask for anything more?

— John Lennon, interview w/ Dave Sholin for RKO Radio. (December 8th, 1980)

[amoralto]

— John Lennon (with Yoko Ono) in response to a fan’s question about ‘How Do You Sleep’ on The Mike Douglas Show. (February 18th, 1972)