#bucket’s musical opinions

[tomatoluvr69]

Fugees have one of my top 5 albums of all time and they’ve been broken up since the nineties but they’re reuniting w/ Lauryn Hill to go on tour!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Which is amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Except they’re skipping the entire US south which means I would need to drive 7-9 hours to see them even though this tour is literally a dream come true/once in a lifetime opportunity for me. Actually genuinely considering doing it but christ is that an undertaking…eeek

[f1version]

DATES WITH YOU ♥︎ F1 HEADCANONS

includes: charles, carlos, max, daniel, lando, oscar, lewis, george, alex, logan, pierre, yuki, lance, mick, and sebastian.

summary: f1 drivers’ and their favorite themed dates!

author’s note: happy valentine’s day my loves!! this is incredibly late (almost 15th where i am) but here it is <3

love on top, a vday special ♥︎ general masterlist

now playing ♫₊⊹ until i found you by stephen sanchez

★ CHARLES LECLERC ( 16 ) — Charles has a bucket list with dates. Enjoys planning them curled up in bed, talks about how you shouldn’t repeat one until the list is done—unless you are a Drive-in theater date, he loves them. When they're arranged in Monaco, it's usually for old romcoms and coming-of-age movies, which is perfect in both of your eyes. Charles makes sure to bring snacks, blankets and pillows, everything so you can be comfortable while cuddling him. He whispers sweet nothings in your ear as the movie plays, dusk falling over you, looking as beautiful as ever. He loves this type of dates… it even gives him a chance to show off his magnificent car, but hey! that's off-topic.

★ CARLOS SAINZ JR. ( 55 ) — You and Carlos have a passion for trying new recipes, so sometimes, when you have everything you need, you decide to put on matching aprons, as well as toques, and start working on your next masterpiece. Usually, old Spanish songs play in the background, Carlos singing, grabbing you by the waist to distract you and dance a little. He loves days like these, your focused face and little scoldings are all he needs, especially because one way or another, you will end up laughing and dancing with him, sometimes full of flour and seasonings, the kitchen wearing its best perfume.

★ MAX VERSTAPPEN ( 1 ) — Max is always looking for ways to impress you, to catch you off guard and surprise you, he loves how you tease him about it. So that's why, when you go to one of your favorite places ever —the planetarium— as a date, he recollects as many details about the celestial objects as he can, waiting for your surprise when he drops a fact you didn't know he knew, starting a long, beautiful conversation about it. You know a lot more than him, but he's eager to learn, loves the way you explain every single thing to him, loves the way places like this brings you closer.

★ DANIEL RICCIARDO ( 3 ) — Daniel loves music, he spends hours on end with his headphones on, discovering new artists every day, sharing his songs, albums, and artists of the month with you, adding to his playlists your recommendations. So it's no surprise you find yourself going to multiple concerts. Dancing and singing, hugging and fangirling. Sometimes artists know Daniel and that's when you laugh the most because there's always a chance of him ending up on stage, singing to you (or trying to).

★ LANDO NORRIS ( 4 ) — Lando loves your creativity, he’s a fan of getting to know what's on your pretty mind and seeing your ideas come to life, he also loves sharing his own ideas with you, feels free doing so. His favorite dates with you consist of this: having a canvas, paper, or even pottery to paint on, gossiping and laughing for hours, having picnics and enjoying food. Lando would buy hundreds of utensils, wanting to try everything with you, forever. PD: He would have you paint him and his car, probably.

★ OSCAR PIASTRI ( 81 ) — It didn't start as a date per se, Oscar just couldn't sleep one night and you suggested building the Lego Star Wars ship in your closet, so you stayed up until 6 in the morning building it. He loves the tranquility it brings, how you can go from discussing the deepest topics to a comfortable silence. Focuses on the little things, like when your fingers brush his while reaching for a piece or that little celebration when you find another. In his apartment, he has a shelf dedicated to the Legos you've built together and photos to go with it. So, in Oscar's humble opinion, these are the best dates in the world.

★ LEWIS HAMILTON ( 44 ) — You and Lewis can live off two things: Roscoe and the beach. Surfing is something you have always bonded over, that's why you love heading to the beach early morning, going for a run with Roscoe, and then jumping to surf (taking Roscoe back inside first). You can stay out there for hours, challenging each other, improving your skills, and lying on your boards, talking about everything and nothing, loving every second of it.

★ GEORGE RUSSELL ( 63 ) — While experimenting with extreme sports would be a lovely date for George, he chooses to call his favorite something more domestic: comfy clothes, a good bottle of wine, and a long puzzle night ahead of you. He enjoys the challenging but relaxing parts of the activity, loves to strategize alongside you, and loses his focus when looking at you, falling deeper in love.

★ ALEX ALBON ( 23 ) — Playing Mario Kart as if your life depended on winning has always been part of your relationship — "It's our love language," Alex says— That's why you love to spend a large amount of time (and money) in arcades. You play against each other, with and without; also spend forty minutes trying to catch that one stuffed animal from the claw machine, cheering (and almost getting kicked out) when you get it. Alex loves it as much as he loves you.

★ LOGAN SARGEANT ( 2 ) — Logan fully believes that the best date in the history of dating are theme and amusement park dates. Whether it's a local funfair or the (in)famous Florida parks, Logan loves walking hand in hand, map and snacks in the other, trying to go on as many attractions as possible, calming the nerves of each other when necessary, laughing at the photos quickly taken on the rollercoasters (and going again to attempt looking good), and many other things that make this type of date his favorite.

★ PIERRE GASLY ( 10 ) — Pierre loves chaos and what's more chaotic than doing karaoke? Your catalog goes from High School Musical's "Gotta Go My Own Way" to Gaye and Terrell's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." Sometimes they end up drunk enough (from adrenaline, from love, or both) to sing French songs and attempt Celine Dion's highest notes. You can spend hours teasing each other, dancing to the rhythm, and sneaking kisses in between songs.

★ YUKI TSUNODA ( 22 ) — Contrary to popular belief, Yuki's favorite type of date isn't taking you to a restaurant or cooking together, because even though he does love doing those things with you, your trips to farmers markets are his favorite. When the season is right, you visit them hand-in-hand, no matter the country since there is nothing better than discovering new foods with your favorite person. And hey! If there is something to eat, why not mix dates?

★ LANCE STROLL ( 18 ) — No matter the weather or season, you and Lance will always be up for an ice cream date. You're on a quest to find the best flavors, and the fact that some dates end in small big disasters is enough to keep you searching together, chins full of ice cream and all.

★ MICK SCHUMACHER ( 47 ) — Two things about Mick: he really enjoys ice skating and he loves you. If you put them together, he's guaranteed to have the time of his life, so he's lucky you like ice skating as much as he does. You both spend hours on the rink, being careful not to fall while holding hands, yet most of the time it's Mick who ends up in the floor as you drown in laughter. He loves that sound. He loves making you laugh and smile, it's his favorite pastime, and seeing you shine on the ice rink makes him realize how much he adores this place.

★ SEBASTIAN VETTEL ( 5 ) — Seb’s favorite is going hiking and then camping with you in the beautiful Swiss mountains, away from the a much hectic side of life. Just you and him giving new meaning to the known, sharing not only the beauty of life but also the comfort of one another, wrapped around small info-dumps and timeless laughter. It’s therapeutic being so close to each other, so pure and loving. If you ask him, he would repeat this date a thousand times over.

[artificial-transmutations]

Hey I'm George. I am a 26 civil engineer working in a big company but it si not what i expected. It is so boring and I am only doing it since it ws what is expected of me. I wish you could transform me into a hot stripper or porn star cause that's has always been my secret dream. I don't wanna be transformed into an object.

Transformation Letters - The gay club

Even writing the letter to the unknown company has been an act of rebellion. All your life, you have been doing what was expected of you. You finished school with good grades and enrolled in an engineering degree program.

The first years were alright. It was still interesting, and you enjoyed the classes, but slowly you had to come to the realization that perhaps, engineering wasn't quite for you. The work was getting more and more monotonous, and the tasks were less and less creative. Regardless, you graduated with an acceptable degree and got a job in the field as a civil engineer.

Now, almost three years later, you are sitting in a small office cubicle, doing the same stuff that you did in the last few years.

"I hate it here.", you think and look at the blueprints on the wall. They are supposed to be "motivating", showing what your company builds. To you, however, they are nothing more than a reminder that the work is dull and unfulfilling.

As you get up and grab the coffee from the machine, you realize just how much of a rut your life has fallen into. Looking at the calendar on the wall, you recognize another thing: It's your birthday today. Yay. 26 wasted years, at least in your opinion. You don't have many friends or family, but for once, you decide to celebrate a bit on your own. You are going to visit a club tonight.

Some hours later, you find yourself in a gay nightclub. You are not out or anything, but your sexuality has been a matter of fact to you for some years now, so visiting a gay bar is on your bucket list anyway. The thumbing music surrounds you, making it near impossible to talk to anyone and even though it feels kind of exciting to be in such a location, you can't help but feeling kind of lonely and displaced here. Seeing all those hot guys dancing makes it terribly obvious for you that you are way too uptight to ever move your body to the music like that.

But... Perhaps you should just... try?

The thought is entirely alien to you, but... strangely appealing. So, you just try to dance to the music.

At first, it feels very awkward and a bit uncomfortable, but after a few moments, you relax. And, to your big surprise, you actually manage to move your body along with the beat. As your self-confidence grows, so does the speed and forcefulness of your movements. Before you know it, you have attracted the attention of a group of three men. Normally, being the center of attention would be something you despise, but right now it feels liberating and right. So right, in fact, that you do something crazy! The stage is empty right now, and, following these strange new impulses, you climb onto the stage and begin to dance to the music. You are still wearing your work attire and it is quickly becoming way too warm as you move your body. So, without thinking, you slowly begin to unbutton your shirt.

To your amazement, the crowd begins to cheer and applaud. It is like a wave of acceptance and approval washes over you, and the more buttons you undo, the more enthusiastic the cheering becomes. It is somehow getting easier and easier to follow the beat. Both your sense of rhythm as well as your physical fitness seem to increase and moving to the music quickly becomes a second nature for you. When you have finally unbuttoned your shirt, you slide out of it and spin it around your hand a few times before throwing it into the crowd. A bunch of hands shoot up, and the shirt quickly disappears. You keep moving to the music, now only wearing a white undershirt, which sticks to your skin and reveals your well-toned body. You have been working out once in a while, trying to keep yourself fit with mediocre success, but even you are a bit surprised how well your body looks right now. Your muscles are defined and bulging and when you pull the undershirt off as well, the cheers rise to an almost deafening level.

It feels like a wave of energy rushes through your body. You can barely think straight and the only thing you can focus on is the music and the movement. You have already gotten used to being the center of attention, but now, even more people join the crowd around you. They are staring at your body, and you can clearly make out their lust and admiration, making you smile. The next thing to go, is, of course, your pants, which you slowly peel off and, as with the shirt, throw them into the crowd, where they disappear as well.

Your movements are becoming faster and faster, and soon, you have almost completely shed your clothes, revealing your athletic and lean body, now shining with sweat. Your ample bulge is thinly veiled by your pair of bright blue briefs that do their best to set your assets, both your dick and your ass, into scene...

***

Hey, I’m Elias, a 22yo bartender with a French and Linguistics degree at University, though sometimes I wish I could trade smarts for sports and strength. I don’t think I’m unattractive, I never have much problem getting attention from guys at the club, but I feel like guys just look at me like I’m another pale twink with brown hair and hazel eyes. I don’t want to be an object, I like being a man: I just want to be more manly. Muscles and beard, I want to look powerful and have other guys be jealous of me.

It's a usual Friday evening for you, and you are tending bar in the towns gay club as usual. It's not too bad - your twinkish body usually gets you some tips, and today is no different. There are times, however, that you wish you were just a bit more... manly. Of course, everyone always wants to be what they are not. But seeing those sexy guys every day, made of beef and manliness makes you almost hate your thin and slender form. That is, after all, what made you write that letter some weeks ago, even though you already forgot about it by now.

All of a sudden, one of the club's visitors climbs onto the stage. Even though it's empty right now, people aren't supposed to go up there, for insurance reasons. Apparently, nobody else has noticed, so you decide to handle the situation yourself. You tell your colleague on the bar that you will be right back and then make your way to the stage.

The guy who has climbed up there seems to be some kind of office worker and is apparently completely focused on dancing. You just want to tell him to come down from the stage when he begins to unbutton his shirt in the rhythm of the music. Having forgotten what you meant to do for a moment, you stare, mesmerized at the guy on stage slowly getting out of his shirt. He looks quite attractive and moves his body like a pro. The crowd notices the show, and slowly, the whole scene becomes the focus of attention. The office guy has now spun his shirt around and thrown it into the crowd, which has now grown considerably. You have to admit, the whole show and the guy look kind of sexy. Not your usual type, he has more of a lean and athletic body that is revealed more and more with every move he takes. Still, he is good.

Next to you, directly in front of the stage, one of the red faux leather chairs has just become free, as the guy who sat in it went to get some drinks. The crowd is moving constantly and, without really thinking, you take a seat there. The office worker is still dancing, his sweaty body almost glowing, and his bulge looks impressively large, even in the low lighting of the club. You can feel yourself getting hard, and through your suit pants, you feel yourself up discreetly.

Actually.

Fuck discreetly. You rub your crotch through your pants while your eyes are still glued to the stripper on stage. Your mind is slowly going blank. You don't notice how the other bar patrons slowly stop moving to the music and gather around the stage instead, watching the office guy perform. You are completely entranced, unable to think, just staring at the spectacle in front of you, while your cock strains against the fabric of your pants.

Actually, your cock is not the only thing straining against your clothes. It is as if all your body is expanding, in every direction, all at once: Your shoulders, your arms, and your legs widen and grow thicker, while your ass and muscles swell. At the same time, the first hints of stubble and beard hairs break through your skin.

Your suit feels constricting, and you consider getting up to go to the bathroom to get out of them. But...

Actually.

Fuck modesty. With more raw strength than elegance, you remove your clothing while you still can. Your body continues to grow stronger and stronger and when your chest is bared, your nipples have hardened to the point where they seem like small pebbles.

It feels so fucking good to just get out of the clothes that are becoming more and more uncomfortable with every passing second. You watch with a superior smile as hair also grows on your chest and abs, as well as on your legs and arms, making your whole torso look furry.

When your pants are gone, your underwear is the only piece of clothing left on you.

And fuck, that's getting really tight!

But, as you watch, it is morphing into a different material. What was once a pair of cotton boxer briefs quickly becomes a pair of black shiny leather underwear, pronouncing the growing bulge of your hard cock. The bulge is, of course, not only growing because you're rock-hard: Also, inside the alien pair of leather underwear, your member is growing bigger and bigger with each throb, slowly becoming a true monster cock.

Other parts of you don't seem to be stopping growing larger as well: Your biceps are more than impressive right now, your forearms look like you can crush a watermelon with them and your thighs are as thick as tree trunks.

As the music keeps playing, the hair on your body grows denser and longer. You now have a manly full beard, and, as you cross your strong arms behind your head, a thick bush of hair emerges from each of your armpits, flooding the direct vicinity with your manly stench.

You grin as you look up to the stripper, who is just about to shed his pair of blue underwear and lick your lips. After the show, you're gonna take him home and breed him!

[starsworldd]

➴ astro observations pt 4 ➶

reminder to go listen to domino 1 by iamsagsssssss out on all platforms now <3 (i know the artist very well i promise it’s good ⭐️

remember to please take the following with a grain of salt ⭐️

⥺ mars conjunct mc people are very hard workers but are often met with conflicts with people at work also. could be business entrepreneurs

⥺ people who have moon sextile venus are very kind and endearing <3

⥺ scorpio mercuries often hide weird stuff (doesn’t have to be innapropiate but it’s just weird and odd) on their phones and more than other people don’t show people their photos, social media, texts, etc…

⥺ mercury conjunct uranus people are some smart people let me tell you. i find that they’re often pretty witty and good with defending themselves in arguments too!

⥺ sun in 6th house people get burnt out really easily but moon in 6th house people seem to be working 24/7 and seem unbothered by it?? maybe they just hide it better. moon in 6th house people are also really smart. i want to look more into that though, because moon and sun are both luminaries so you’d think they’d both get pretty burnt out being in the 6th house of daily work and service…

⥺ the 8th-9th-10th houses i think explain how one finds their purpose in life and their calling. of course all the houses are involved in this because a chart works as a whole story, but i want to focus specifically on these 3 houses: we start at the 8th house of trauma and transformation. 8th house transits usually signify a new beginning (though it usually doesn’t come without trouble and hardship) and it is in the 9th house that we find what we can do to help ourselves out of hardship. what do we believe in? what do i learn out of this difficult time? what experiences can i engage with that help me be a better me? pluto (ruling the 8th house) is the ruler of the underworld and from there we literally go to the king of the heavens (jupiter, ruler of 9th house) to one’s calling in life, signified by the 10th house. it is through one’s hardships and main battles (8th house) that can show us how we can put our best selves out into the world (10th house). sorry to rant, i just think this is so cool to point out! if you guys want i can make a post for the rising signs on this topic ⭐️

⥺ pisces venus people are obsessive over their crushes

⥺ venus conjunct saturn natives may not be that interested or rushed into getting into serious partnerships, in fact they seem to not prefer it, usually due to a past experience unfortunately :(

⥺ does anyone else get their period when the moon crosses their ascendant? just me? okay☺️

⥺ aries sun people are so attractive

⥺ people usually say that musicians with the same moon sign as you resonate with you more, but, this is kind of an iffy observation BUT, artists with their moon in your fourth house may also seem to make music you really like as well or you may just like them in general

⥺ cancer risings having an aries midheaven meaning that their life’s ambition is about defining themselves and being themselves unapologetically <3

⥺ people with venus in a detriment sign are often really attractive (aries, scorpio)

⥺ cancer and leo risings have a natural almost child-like glow to them. also really attractive placement in my opinion

⥺ scorpio risings and mars are often perceived as mean and intimidating. same for moons (unless if there’s aspects to venus i’ve noticed)

⥺ mars in gemini 🤝 over-competitive in games (especially games to do with the hands like spit, word hunt, certain sports, etc..)

⥺ moon conjunct jupiter people are so wholesome. they have very good morals and care deeply for the well-being of others. such a lovely placement <3

⥺ bucket-shaped chart is giving “you have all this pizazz and potential but…(insert planet here) is giving you some obstacles”

⥺ moon square neptune could be an indicator of a parent who struggles with alcoholic or drug addiction

⥺ chart ruler square neptune can give poor perception as to how you’re perceived by others or anxieties about it

thank you for reading! hope you’re well ! ⭐️

[d1instigator]

random and pointless head cannons

(i’m bored)

miles:

weirdly obsessed with iceberg videos on youtube like he will sit for 2 hours straight and watch an iceberg on a topic he knows nothing about

is terrified of getting sick because he got the flu for a week once

cant handle too much sugar/caffeine, he gets the shakes and stays up for hours. when he was 8, the day after halloween he got into his candy and ate a bunch, so he ran around the house for 30 minutes and rightfully crashed, knocked out cold and lightly snoring

listens to kendrick lamar religiously, he screamed when his parents got him tour tickets

gwen:

loves making lists. to-do lists, shopping lists, bucket list. if she can write it down she will

would have mental breakdowns when she was younger if her ponytail had bumps

music snob, and not in a bad way! she feels very strongly about her opinions of music/the industry and will info dump if you mention an artist she likes “did you know that she actually wrote this song for” despises new age radio and perfers physical music and streaming services

had a serious twilight phase. bought all the books and would ask people if they were team edward or team jacob

pavitr:

has a horrible fear of clowns, tenses up when he sees one and has nightmares for a week after

he loves making silly little tiktoks! keeps up with trends and has 100+ drafts of him messing with filters

he is a serious live tweeter like he would be in the middle of a war and be like “yoooo it’s getting tense over here guys”

gets homesick so easily, he was the type of kid who would leave the sleepover at 2 am because he was “sick”, in addition to that he gets super bad social burnout. it takes a while but if hes going out two days in a row he will shut down for a bit.

hobie:

has poked himself in the eye multiple times with his spikes

despises commercial holidays but loves valentines day for some reason??? he will go to a store and borrow some chocolates and cute cards, writes notes paragraphs to his friends about how much he appreciates them

very very smart! he’s quite literally the definition of this 🤓☝️ emoji

(kinda nsfw not really it’s just nipples) he lost a bet once and had to get nipple piercing but he actually really liked them so he kept them in, but he wears a classic barbell nun of ones with charms

[cheriladycl01]

Better than me - Charles Leclerc x Reader P3

Plot: You are a rookie in your first f1 season, adding to the ever-growing amount of Brits performing in the grid.

"I think this is the perfect outfit" your manager tells you, as you open the door for her. You'd asked for her opinion on what you should wear, knowing that you'd be in pictures with your friends tonight and you didn't want to come across badly on the media.

"Do you want to drive?" she asked, you didn't normally drink but she didn't know if you'd want to let loose and have some fun tonight where you'd performed so well in the race.

"Erm, no I'll drive. You know what I'm like" you smiled, the minute you passed your test on your 17th birthday you never let anyone else drive.

"Well, seems like your all ready. Bahrain has been a blast, so lets go party tonight and get you ready for Saudi yeah?" she smiles and you both head down to the rental Audi you'd been using while here in Bahrain.

You'd pulled up to the venue that Charles had sent you after you exchanged numbers. Half an hour after that you'd been added to a group chat called 'The Grid Boiss'

𝚈/𝙽: 𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚙 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝… 𝙻𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚌: 𝙾𝚑, 𝚑𝚖𝚖𝚖 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝙶𝚎𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝙷𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜! 𝙶𝚎𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚒𝚎: 𝙳𝚘 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚖𝚎, 𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚈/𝙽. 𝙻𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚘: 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚋𝚘𝚒 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚝? 𝚈/𝙽: 𝙽𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚢, 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗, 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚜! -𝙶𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚙𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙶𝚛𝚒𝚍 𝙱𝚘𝚒𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙶𝚛𝚒𝚍 𝙶𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚢 𝙶𝚎𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚒𝚎 𝙰𝚕𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛: 𝙶𝚎𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙! 𝚂𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚣 𝙹𝚛: 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙, 𝙰𝚕𝚎𝚡? 𝚂𝚒𝚛 𝙻𝚎𝚠𝚒𝚜: 𝙶𝚞𝚢𝚜, 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚊 𝚙𝚒𝚌 𝚘𝚏 𝚁𝚘𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎?

You'd laughed at the fact that the whole name had been changed just for you.

"Y/N over here! Come here!" you heard from the left and see a load of flashing cameras as you hop out the car. Your manager had agreed she would park your car while you went in and made appearances.

You walk over to see fans and the Paparazzi, all taking pictures. You start to sign objects thrusted towards you, some getting progressively stranger making you laugh with the fans. You had a few people ask for pictures and hugs so of course you oblige, taking selfies left and right giggling while people ask you numerous questions.

Eventually you say your goodbyes and head into the club, the bouncer not recognizing you, made a scrunched face waving his hand for you to leave.

"I've been invited by Charles Leclerc I'm a" you start but the tall man interrupts you.

"You know how many times I've heard that sweetheart, now lets ,move on and go down the street" he says his hand softly resting on your shoulder.

"I'm a driver, I'm with Audi this year sir. Not a fan" you try to explain but he scoffs.

"Sure you are... and I'm" he starts but Charles and Daniel come rolling out the club dying of laughter, before spotting you.

"Y'N" Daniel shines, pulling you in for a hug and leaning down to place a friendly kiss on your cheek.

"My apologies" the security guard admits. Nodding for you to follow the two guys in.

You take Danny's hand dragging him in, you walk through into the dark room faced by Neon lights and smoke from a machine up at the DJ booth.

"Is- is that Lando?" you shout to Danny and Charles over the music trying to work out in the person in the bucket hat up at the DJ booth messing around with the actual DJ.

"Yes, yes it is" Danny laughs shaking his head.

"Pierre, Alex!" you shout spotting them by the bar.

"Ahhh Y/N you want us to get you a drink?" Pierre smirks, looking behind you a Charles who had an odd expression on his face.

You'd only really given him a short hello when you'd first arrived and it irked him, he wanted you to talk to him, he wanted to get to know you.

But then again, the club wasn't exactly the best place for deep and meaningful conversations.

"Well Charles won today, so maybe let him buy the drinks?" Alex asks also seeing the expression on his face.

"One thing i wont ever say no to is a free drink, however I am driving so no alcohol please" you say twisting round to look at Charles having felt his presence behind you for a while.

"You've been driving all day, and you will drive here and back?" Charles asks, his gaze was so... prominent. It had your head dipping down not to meet his eye.

"I don't trust anyone else to drive" you smile, Pierre grabs you the drink, Charles leaning over you to swipe his card on the reader. He smiled down at you before taking the glass and bringing it to your waiting hand.

"Thanks, love" you grin, nodding you head at him.

"Hey guys, you look amazing Y/N" Lewis says coming over and joining the group, George trailing behind him. You pull him in for a hug thanking him for the compliment before returning it.

"You wanna go dance?" Charles asks placing his empty glass on the counter, looking over you.

"Yeah sure! You guys coming?" you ask the group that you'd situated yourself with for the night.

"Nah, we're gonna attempt to pull Lando away from the booth" Alex laughs, looking up to the stage, Lando was dancing to the beat, headphones on around his neck while the DJ just had his arms crossed watching him.

"Okay, if you need help just come and grab us" you smiled before taking Charles hand, you pull him into the middle of the dance floor.

You both are dancing together, originally you'd been facing each other, just watching each other and the way that they moved. However, as the dancing became more you'd turned around and his hands had swiftly made their way onto your waist.

Between the dancing Charles had gone back and forth getting drinks, having now been on his 4th shot and seventh drink he was beyond drunk.

You pulled him too a quiet corner, so that he could here you a little better.

"Charlie, listen to me. Do you have a way back to the hotel?" you ask, looking around to see if you can find Danny, Lewis or Pierre. The people you assumed that would be taking him home.

"Pierre he took me here" he grins, leaning into you resting his head on your stomach groaning.

"Okay stay here in this seat. I'm going to find him" you direct, you move back onto the dance floor, looking around for people. However, Pierre seemed to not be there, only Alex and George remained, talking to one another.

"Hey guys where's Pierre?" you ask, coming up next to their booth.

"Oh, he left with Lewis, Oscar and Lando a while ago" Alex offers, looking over at George hoping he'll add to the statement.

"Yeah Lando and Oscar were very drunk so they took them home. Why?" George asks.

"Charles is really drunk and he's saying Pierre was supposed to take him back!" you admit, not knowing what to do.

"Well, my cars full. You drove didn't you? Could you take him back?" Alex asks, smiling slightly making you groan.

"Sure, but if he throws up in MY rental, you Pierre and Charles are splitting that" you frown, looking back at Charles who is currently sat in his chair, scrolling aimlessly through his phone.

You walk back over, gripping his arm, he looks up at you with a massive grin.

"Come on, lets get you to bed" you tell him, he nods hopping up swaying a little bit in the process.

"You, are very very pretty" he grins, as he leans into you.

"Come on Charles" you laugh, gripping him so he wouldn't trip taking him to you car.

Tomorrow you'd actually talk to him.

Taglist:

@littlesatanicassholebitch

@hockey-racing-fubol

@laura-naruto-fan1998

@22yuki

@simxican

@sinofwriting

@lewisroscoelove

@cmleitora

@stupidandunnecessary

@clayra-g

@daemyratwst

@cherry-piee

@honey-belden

@moonypixel

@lauralarsen

@vader-is-hot

@ironcowboycopnickel

@itsjustkhaos

[lenaariewrld]

C.27 — lovesick puppy(w)

ON THE AIR — childe x reader smau

| SYNOPSIS;; Teyvat University’s popular radio personality, Y/n L/n, has only one gripe with her life. Her classmate, neighbour, and all-around nuisance in her life, Tartaglia. Their rivalry extends just past academics and, to her horror, into her work. He becomes the music director and co-host for her radio show, working alongside her most nights and forcing himself even deeper into her life. But is he really trying to just be friends, or is there an ulterior motive to his actions?

| WC: 2.4k

previous! ~ masterlist ! ~ next!

The morning you end up spending with your friends is relaxing. It’s a once-in-a-blue moon event, where all three of you are completely free for a majority of the day. Once you all wake up and get yourselves properly caffeinated, you laze around. You end up telling Cyno and Ganyu about the entire timeline with you and Childe, and all your internal thoughts.

You feel significantly lighter, like a great burden lifted off your shoulders. It’s funny how you never realised just how much keeping all of those tiny details away from your dearest friends had affected you. And then you told them and it was fine. Better than better.

Cyno leaves later in the afternoon for work, and you and Ganyu chill before splitting off for your own activities for the day. You all agree to meet up later at the other woman’s apartment to get ready for the party.

The hours pass by in a breeze, by the time you’re all dolled up you completely forgot any anxieties that had built up in the past few weeks. Worries about your friends and their care for you, worries about childe ajax, worries about your social and academic life. All of it seemed to be much easier to handle when Ganyu waltzed around her living room with you or when Cyno twirled your hair into pigtails while you applied your finishing touches of makeup.

When you finish up, the three of you head out, opting to use an uber rather than having a designated driver. It wasn’t like you were planning on getting too drunk, but better to be safe than sorry in your opinion.

You make it to the party after plugging the address Childe had texted you into your phone. And after a rather slow and awkward conversation with your uber driver.

You three step inside the party, arriving with little introduction. You look around immediately, searching for the familiar head of ginger curls. However, instead of spotting Childe, you notice a couple of his friends through the crowd, mostly able to make out the figures of Ayato and Kaeya. You wave at them. Before you can divert or anything, though, your white-haired friend grabs your hand and pulls you towards the kitchen for some drinks.

“Welcome, we have beer, tequila, or our own special recipe; Santa’s punch!” One of the hockey players you don’t know the name of greets the two of you as you shuffle into the kitchen. He motions to different parts of the counter decorated with cups and buckets of ice. How they set up that much liquor you will never know, but you don’t care to ask.

“Set me up with that punch,” You agree readily, you and Cyno sharing a mischievous look as you take your red plastic cups and clink them together.

Santa’s punch, as it turns out, is one motherfucker of a drink. Be advised to never accept a random named concoction from a frat boy or athlete at a holiday house party. Never.

As you sip from your second refill of the mysterious drink, which was settling a nice warmth and buzz in your chest, you make a couple laps around the party. You knew quite a few people here. Or, at least, quite a few people knew you and came up to strike a conversation with you. You entertained most of them, happy to catch up with classmates or people who listened to your show. A couple more laps in, you get pulled into random games of pong or shot contests.

You dance with Ganyu a couple times, or check on Cyno who happily chats with his roommate and his friends outside, or chat with Childe’s friends whenever you run into them. Eventually, you depart briefly from the party after getting a glass of water from the kitchen, crashing on a nearby couch.

The substances in your system were still a light buzz, but it was starting to reach your head, creeping up the corners of your rational thinking.

You feel the couch dip and hum when you notice Thoma took a seat beside you. “How are you liking the party?” He asks, holding out his glass to clink with yours. You oblige and take a large gulp of your water.

“It’s fun,” You giggle, adjusting yourself to sit up straighter on the couch. “I’m surprised there aren’t more… festivities,” You joke, laughing when Thoma pulls a face. He rubs the back of his neck.

“Yeah, it was gonna be way worse originally. I talked ‘em out of hanging snowman string lights and putting up inflatable reindeer, though,” He informs you, the both of you sharing a laugh. The both of you continue to chat casually while you relax. He sips from his cup, occasionally. Halfway through some anecdote you’re saying, he perks up when he notices something across the way. You glance in the direction he’s looking in just as he’s stood up, your words forgotten.

“Oh, what the fuck is he doing now…”

Your brows furrow as Thoma whispers under his breath, standing up as well. You notice Kaeya standing by the bigger speakers, where the largest congregation of people are, a microphone in his hand. He clears his throat and the music turns down a little. A couple people boo.

“Sorry, sorry, everyone! I just wanted to make an announcement tonight, because it’s a very special time here,” The man apologises, his words not only catching your interest but seemingly the interest of everyone else in this part of the house. Thoma slips away but you stay put where you are, staring over the crowd at the dark-haired man addressing everyone.

Somehow, it seems like he’s just looking at you as he speaks.

He adjusts his hold on the microphone. “So, you see, I have an exciting update about one of my friends. You all might have heard of him. Mr Tartaglia, aka “Childe”?” Kaeya pauses as quite a few people cheer or respond similarly to his rhetorical question. “Well, recently, I’ve started noticing my friend acting odd. He seems so lighthearted now, way more than he ever was around me or any of us, his friends! And I was thinking, how could he be that way? Then I realized who finally got him out of his shell!”

This time you know Kaeya is looking at you as he speaks, finishing his words by pointing directly at where you’re standing by the couch. Your eyes widen as quite a few people turn their heads, more and more party-goers becoming piqued by the public scene happening right in front of them. “This woman right here!” Kaeya laughs, and though it’s light and charming like usual, it sends chills down your spine.

Why do you feel dread? Why does this feel like an omen?

He tilts his head as he looks over the crowd. “Okay, I can tell a couple of you are confused so let me clue you in on what’s going on,” He dramatically clears his throat and straightens his posture. Now everyone is positively enthralled by his words, his voice calm despite the slight slur and unbalance that he seems to be holding himself up with.

“Childe made a bet with us!” He laughs again, and all of a sudden you feel your chest grow tight. The buzz you had disappears as your blood runs cold, your body feeling a million tons heavier. “He bet us that if he could get Ms Y/n L/n to fall in love with us, he’d get complete control of our band! Despite the fact that he only writes the songs for us, that didn’t stop him! But you know what might?” Kaeya is giggling like a little kid sharing the funniest joke they’ve ever heard as he continues. His words buzz in your ears.

“What might stop him is the fact he’s just a lovesick puppy… Ironic really, given how Y/n over there was supposed to be head over heels for him while he hated her guts.. Or maybe he’s just a really good actor!” Kaeya stumbles a step to the side, but he never looks away from you. He smiles cruelly, his gaze cold as he stares you down. “And if you doubt me, ask how Diluc knew to ask for his help as your co-host–Hey–!” The man’s nonchalant shrug is interrupted as Thoma and Scaramouche rush forward to snatch the microphone away from him, insistently clawing it out of his fingers.

“Sorry everyone! Please ignore him, he’s had too many drinks!” Thoma pleads with an awkward chuckle.

But the damage has been done. Your heart is being squeezed in your chest, growing heavy and cracked as his words sink into your brain and poke their way through the alcohol fog. Tears prick at the corners of your eyes, the pieces clicking into place a little too neatly.

Childe’s convenient placement as your co-host, his insistence on talking to you, on seeing you, of ‘being on even footing’. Everything seems clear as day now for his true intentions, and suddenly everything becomes a guessing game, requiring a thorough second pass to decipher if you were being fooled all along or if there was any genuine intentions in the man’s actions.

It doesn’t matter, anyway. He still did it. And he, more importantly, didn’t tell you himself.

You feel suffocated in the atmosphere of the party, the eyes of people staring at you becoming too much. Your lungs can’t seem to work properly and your vision is getting fuzzy. Abruptly, you turn to leave, not sparing a glance at anyone or even wasting your time looking for your friends. You simply text them to meet you outside.

You can’t believe it. You shouldn’t.

And yet, it makes too much sense.

You trudge out of the house with your head swimming. The thoughts, snacks, and alcohol swirl around your stomach in a dangerous mix. You can feel the bile crawling up your throat. Thankfully, you stumble towards the lawn just in time to regurgitate your stomach’s contents onto the manicured grass, your breathing heavy. Harsh blinks keep you from completely doubling over, and a hand on each of your knees gives you a moment to catch your breath.

“Y/n? You alright?” Childe’s voice pulls you from the nauseating dizziness of your world and you round on your heels to face him. His face is contorted in concern, worry pinching his lips and brows together.

He was a damn good actor.

“Don’t fucking touch me,” You sneer venom as he reaches out to you, taking a large step back to maintain some distance. He pauses at this, his eyes widening as the crack in your voice, thick with too many emotions getting caught in your throat.

“What’s wrong?” He tries again, holding his hands up as if to show he means no harm. He can tell you’re on edge by the way your arms wrap around yourself, tears starting to roll down your cheeks. And he so desperately wishes you would tell him what was wrong, would let him pull you into his arms and wipe the tears off your pretty face until you feel better.

That doesn’t happen.

“What’s wrong is you’re a piece of shit, Tartaglia.” You seethe, noticing how Childe flinches at the way you say his name. Noticeably not Ajax or Taru, which you’d taken to calling him recently. You’re trying desperately not to sob, your emotions running high enough as is. His presence isn’t making it any better. “Your stupid bullshit, all this playing around with other people, better fucking be worth it. Because you’re going to end up alone carrying on like this,” You scoff, “Not that you care, right? As long as you win a bet,”

You see the color drain from his face, and you almost feel a sick satisfaction from seeing his concern for you morph into some horrified expression. “What did you hear–?”

“Enough,” You cut him off, holding up your hand to keep him from talking. He stands there dumbly, staring at you as you move past him, making your way towards the street.

“Wait, Y/n, let’s talk about this,” He calls after a second, seeming to snap out of his head. He attempts to follow you, but only gets a few steps before the front door slams open. Cyno and Ganyu rush forward into the cold night air.

Cyno stares between the two of you, seeing you taking deep breaths, hiccuping every now and then as your cheeks shimmer with tears. “What the fuck happened?” His voice is cold, and he turns to finally look at Childe, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. “What did you say?” In a split second, he’s stepped between you and the ginger man, shoving him back when he tries to skirt around Cyno.

“Cy, just leave him alone,” You murmur, leaning into Ganyu’s hold as she wraps her arms around your shoulders. The two men stare each other down, not wanting to move from their spot. “Cyno. Drop it.” You snap this time, calling his attention. He sneers at the ginger before he turns to you, taking you all in. His eyes soften, taking notice of the flush in your cheeks, your eyes red and already starting to get puffy.

“Y/n..” Childe attempts one more time. You glare in his direction. You already felt like shit, your heart dragging by your feet as you mustered the courage to keep walking. You didn’t need him trying to make amends to this shitty situation. You just needed him to leave you alone.

“Don’t ever talk to me,” You declare. Grabbing Cyno and Ganyu’s hands, you march away. The other girl keeps her arms around you, smoothing her hand over your hair while you let your tears fall freely. The three of you walk in silence to the end of the street before calling an uber, the fun atmosphere and lighthearted banter from before disappearing. 

You knew, logically, there was a chance Kaeya was just spouting bullshit just to get a reaction and to make a boring night more exciting. But you doubted it. It made too much sense. And besides, how’d he know Diluc was the one who found Childe to be the new co-host if he wasn’t telling the truth? Your chest felt hollow as your thoughts kept circling around this…

Maybe you should’ve kept hating Childe..

———

A/Ns: tada, the reveal!! as always, likes/reblogs/comments are greatly appreciated, lmk ur thoughts or wtv and don't forget to drink some liquid <33

TAGLIST: @popiizpops @scaradooche @yourfavoritefreakyhan @neversore @monocerosei @dontmindtheevie @kittywagun @yumidepain @kazumiku @hanilessa @nrviine @wren-art @state-of-grac3

[meatonfork]

hey guys! in honor of hitting 3,000 followers, INSANE BTW, i wrote a little something! it’s not cod. i’m so sorry. anyways, here we go!

——————————————————————————-

What Do I Do, Dad?

pairing: bradley “rooster” bradshaw x roommate!reader

warnings: reader has long hair. and one reference to naughty thoughts. but i believe that’s it!

i hope you enjoy!

——————————————————————————-

Moving into an apartment with a complete stranger was never on your bucket list. The idea of living with someone you knew nothing about wasn’t all that appealing in your opinion. You imagined most people shared the same sentiment towards the topic. Learning what your soon-to-be roommate did and did not like seemed like a grueling process. What’s their morning routine like? How long do they shower for? Are they a health nut? What’s their occupation? And the dreaded question, “what if they’re a serial killer?” But, you needed somewhere to live, and this had been your best option. 

You never expected your new roommate to be a 6’4, mustached, gentleman who was more than willing to accommodate your comfort zone and help move your belongings into the shared space. Bradley Bradshaw was an enigma at first. He was kind enough, but kept to himself. He was always up before you, and came home just after you walked in the door. His blue bronco was only ever seen by you if you happened to leave the house after he came home. 

You quickly learned he was a naval aviator, working on base just fifteen minutes from your shared apartment. Bradley was reserved, but respectful. He never dove too deep into his work day, nor did he have much of his personal life sitting on the tip of his tongue. But, he made dinner often, and made sure to not use all the hot water before you woke up and took a shower. 

Working closer to home and getting off before him allowed you to make sure the shared space wasn’t in a constant state of disarray. Though, it wasn’t like you had much to do anyway. Bradley was a very neat man, which you assumed the navy drilled into his brain. Due to his long work days, you didn’t spend much time with the man aside from, “hey, how was work today?” or, “what are you thinking for dinner?” before you both inevitably said your goodnights. But, this day was different. 

Groaning, you flipped over and stuck your hand out to grab your phone and turn off the annoying alarm that signaled you had to get up for work. It was a Saturday, and work was only in a couple hours. The downside of managing a small cafe meant you had an unconventional schedule. You had the option to have weekends off, but your caring nature wouldn’t allow you to leave your fellow coworkers to fend for themselves during a Saturday rush. You’d been there before, and figured they’d appreciate the help. 

Slapping your phone back down onto your stomach, you pushed whatever stray hairs were on your face aside. You got out of bed, grabbed your uniform and started to make your way to the bathroom to grab a quick shower before you made any other plans for the morning before work. Bradley shouldn’t be here, he never is on Saturday’s. Something about working in the hangar on Saturday’s with some other guy you’d yet to meet. You didn’t really know of anybody that Bradley spent his time with. Of course, you knew he had a squadron, but you’d never met them. And, he never really spoke of them. You just assumed he enjoyed keeping his work and home lives separate. Not that you blamed the man at all. 

Throwing a bagel into the toaster, the music coming from the speaker you’d set on the counter had you moving your hips along to the country song. Humming, you spun around to the fridge to grab cream cheese, when you came face to face with a mustache. 

“Oh, my God!” your hand clutched at your racing heart, “What the hell are you doing home? You’re never here.” You let out a puff of air as you caught your breath.

A chuckle met your ears as you backed up a couple steps, not wanting to have your face stuffed into his chest any longer. 

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. I decided I wanted a day at home.” His brown eyes trailed your figure as you reached into the fridge. Your hair was still damp, and managed to soak the left shoulder of your shirt, he noted. He leaned onto the counter, his arms crossed against his sleep shirt. 

“It’s all good, just didn’t expect you is all. So, if you’re not going down to the hangar, what are your plans?” You turned back around and noticed his hair was still mussed from his sleep, and his eyes held a certain grogginess you’d never been around to see before. He looked really warm, and you wondered if his arms were as comfy as they seemed. 

He hummed before giving a small shrug, “‘m not really sure yet, honestly. Kinda just wanna stay in today. Maybe watch a movie or two, do some work around here. What time are you off today?” His head tilted to the side as he watched you set the cream cheese down on the counter, turning to grab a butter knife for you from the drawer that was next to his hip. 

Thanking him, you grabbed the knife that looked comically small in his large hand, “I should be off around five, but who knows. I swear these people are giving me a run for my money. Why? Do I need to come home sooner? Or later, even?” A soft chuckle escaped your lips as the bagel popped out of the toaster. 

It’s not that you didn’t want to talk with Bradley, but you didn’t have much to talk about. Neither of you knew too much about each other aside from your occupations (and even then, you didn’t know much about his), and what time you went to bed. God, you wished you knew more about this man. But, if there’s one thing you did know about him, he was reserved. Kept to himself and in turn, you kept to yourself. You didn’t see the point in striking a conversation up when you knew you wouldn’t get much out of him. 

You wanted to know what life was like for him growing up, or who his best friend is. You ached to know how he got those scars that rested on his cheek and peeked from the collar of his shirt. You wanted to know what drove him to wear those hawaiian button ups, and what compelled him to grow out that mustache you oh so adored. You longed to know Bradley. And you often wondered if he wanted to know you too. But, the way he kept to himself made you quickly come to the conclusion that he simply didn’t want to. If he wanted to, he would talk to you more than just about how work was, or whose turn it was to go grocery shopping. 

“Yeah, well that’s what happens when you’re the big guy around there.” He gave a small chuckle and his lips pulled up into a small smile when he saw you gave a little shake of your head and rolled your eyes, “Anway, I was thinking we could order takeout and watch something tonight? I don’t feel like cooking tonight, and I doubt you want to either.” He tried, dear God, he tried to make it sound like a statement. But, his voice tilted at the last second, making it come off as a question. Mentally kicking himself, he realized he almost sounded nervous.

Truth be told, he was scared of you. Scratch that, he was terrified of you. You, who was stunning and so sure of yourself. You knew what you wanted, and you got it. Consequences be damned. You were so independent, hardly ever asking him (or anyone for that matter) for help. On top of that, you could cook, you made sure the house was clean, and you weren’t obnoxiously loud. You didn’t take up too much space, not that he would ever even think about complaining if you ever did. If anybody asked him about you, he’d say you were perfect, and it wouldn’t be a lie. And, God, were you gentle. Even frustrated, you didn’t raise your voice. You kept a level head, even after one of the worst shifts of your life. You never pushed for anything unless dire, and you brushed off most inconveniences that made head in your path. To him, you were a breath of fresh air he didn’t know he needed. And, little did he know, you felt the same. 

“Uh, yeah. Actually, that seems pretty nice. I’m already anticipating the end of my shift,” a small grin made its way to your lips and your heart fluttered at the prospect of Bradley wanting to finally, finally spend time with you. 

“Aren’t you always?” he teased back. Lord, did he look good. Tanned skin, eyes bright, shirt squeezing his biceps, and sweats that hung loosely on his hips. How you made it this far without jumping his bones already? You’d never know.

A laugh pushed its way past your lips, “Yeah, yeah I am.” You took a bite of your bagel before putting the knife in the sink and the cream cheese away. One glance at the clock told you that you needed to be out the door in five minutes, or you’d be late. And that was something you never were. “I gotta get going, but send me some menus and what you want. I’ll place the order and pick it up on the way home.” You made your way to the front door, bagel and keys in hand.

“Alright, sounds good. Have a good day.” And with that, you were out the door and on the way to sling drinks for middle aged pricks and stuck up teenagers. 

It wasn’t until 4:30 that you were able to check your phone. You were covered in multiple syrups, and coffee grounds. You even had steamed milk run down your apron and onto your leg at one point. You felt more than disgusting, and if one more customer decided to complain to you about something unimportant one more time, you might have lost your cool. 

Sitting in a random chair in the break room, you let out an exasperated sigh and looked at your messages. Bradley. He had sent his order to you about 10 minutes prior, and you looked through the same menu. Quickly coming to the decision you wanted honey walnut shrimp and chicken chow mein, you called the place and got your order taken care of. 

The last 30 minutes of your shift went by agonizingly slowly, and the moment the clock struck five, you were clocking out and bidding your coworkers goodnight while you bolted out the front door. 

The drive seemed to drag on, and all you wanted was a shower and to eat dinner with your painstakingly attractive roommate while you watched trashy tv. Pulling into the driveway, you didn’t waste a second to drag your aching body out of your car and up to the door. The moment you walked in, feet dragging behind, you noticed Bradley sat on the couch. Body leaning on one armrest while his long legs splayed out over the cushions. He sat up and paused the tv to look at you.

“Hey- oh. Rough day?” his smile fell at the sight of you with mocha on your neck, and they way you just looked sticky. 

Your lips thinned as you ran a hand over your ponytail, “Yeah. I’m beat to shit, man. Do you mind if I take a quick shower before we eat? I promise I won’t be long.” Your shoes landed in a pile next to the door, and your eyes hung as you looked up at him. 

You were met with a nod from the man, “Of course. I don’t mind. In fact, I’d prefer if you didn’t get syrup all over our couch,” he teased while he got up. His hands met yours as he took the white bag from your hands and moved towards the kitchen. You almost stopped breathing.

“Yeah, no kidding. Thanks, I’ll be right back,” you let out a quiet sigh and made your way to your bedroom that was right next to his. You grabbed a change of clothes and made your way to the bathroom. True to your words, you were out in less than 10 minutes before you made your way back down the hall. 

While you were showering, Bradley had taken it upon himself to put the food on two plates, grab a blanket from the linen closet and set everything up in the living area. At the sight of something so cozy after a long day, you felt the familiar prick of tears on your waterline. Shoulders slumped and a defeated look in your eyes, you made your way to the couch and plopped yourself beside your roommate. 

“Hey, what’re the tears for?” his voice was soft, and thus the tears rolled down the apples of your cheeks. 

“It’s just really nice to come home to food and a comfy couch after a fucked day,” you wiped at your cheeks and sunk further into the couch. Bradley let out a soft hum in understanding. You often took care of him, whether you realized it or not. And, he saw this as his opportunity to do the same. Reaching over your back, he grabbed the blanket from earlier and splayed it across your lap.

“Well, on the bright side, hon, you don’t have to go back tomorrow and we’ve got some good food to eat tonight. What movie are you feelin’? Up to you.” You tried not to let the nickname get to you, the butterflies pooling in your stomach made it that much harder. You let the blanket warm up your shorts clad legs, Bradley kept the ac on cool most times and you didn’t like to turn it up in fear making him too warm. 

A soft hum came from the back of your mouth as you settled even further before you spoke up, “Howl’s Moving Castle, please.” 

A snort escaped him before he nodded and settled as well, “Alright, I can make that happen for you.” He quickly brought the movie up and leaned down to hand you your plate of food. The steam coming from it let you know he heated it up while you cleaned up and the idea of the gesture almost made you tear up again. 

Living so far from your parents was a hard decision to make, but you knew you had to do it. Your hometown just didn’t provide you with the opportunities you were longing for. The idea of being stuck somewhere you knew you couldn’t grow the way you craved made you feel trapped. Your parents didn’t blame you. They could see the longer you made the sacrifice of staying near them, the more you became a drained, hollow version of yourself. No matter how much you loved living in sunny California on the beach, you still craved to be held by them sometimes. You often found yourself missing the way they took care of you. And, the way Bradley took care of you in this moment made you miss them more. 

“Where’d you go? Hmm?” Bradley’s soft voice pulled you from your thoughts. He could see the far away look that took over your eyes as you sat next to him. It’s not like you were normally loud, again, Bradley loved how quiet you tended to be. You weren’t too quiet, nor too loud. Perfect. But, you were keeping your thoughts to yourself a little more than usual tonight. 

“I’m still here. I was just thinking of my parents. I haven’t talked to them this week yet. I should do that soon.” Your voice was just as soft as his. 

“Ah, I see. I miss mine too.” He gave a small shrug and smile that eased your loud mind. 

“Are they far?” Of course you didn’t know. He couldn’t fault you for asking. He never told you, thought it would be pretty awkward to throw it out there. 

“Uh, no. They’re buried in town, I just haven’t gone to see them in a while.” The way you stilled and your eyes widened had him opening his mouth before you could say anything, “It’s okay. You didn’t know. Although, they’d love you.” His shoulder bounced off of yours, a smile playing on his lips. 

“I’m so sorry, Bradley.” You let your hand fall on his arm. Warmth shot up his arm, his cheeks feeling the heat. You felt awful, and he could tell. 

“Really, it’s fine. But, this reminds me that we don’t know much about each other. So how ‘bout a game? 20 questions?” He turned his body to face you, his eyes soft and a small bit of hair resting on his forehead. 

You moved your head as if you were thinking hard on it before a smile took over your face, “Yeah, why not?”

“Okay, okay. Uh, what is your hometown like?” 

You spent the better part of an hour talking about anything and everything your minds could come up with. You learned his dad was Nick “Goose” Bradshaw, and he was a fighter pilot just like the man sitting in front of you. You learned of the saint his mother, Carole, was. You heard a bit about his squadron, and who the mysterious man he worked on the plane with every Saturday was. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, who was his father’s best friend, and the man who took Bradley under his wing after his father passed. You learned his favorite movie, color, dream vacation. You finally figured out why he wore the hawaiian button ups, and grew out the mustache you adored. Discovering his love of playing the piano when he went to the bar had you begging him to take you so you could hear it for yourself.  You laughed at his terrible jokes, and gasped at his stories in the air. 

He learned about your hometown, and what high school was like for you. He learned your favorite foods, and what colors you absolutely despised. He learned that you’re a lightweight, which immediately had him coming up with the idea of taking you out with the squad to the Hard Deck. He learned, on his own conclusion, that you would love them. And, they would adore you. He wanted so desperately for you to have more friends after finding out you weren’t from anywhere near here. He scoffed at the idea that you and Hangman would, unfortunately, get along due to your love of rodeos and country music. He learned that you put way too much cream cheese on your bagel, in his uncultured opinion.  

After a while, he noticed your eyes held a tired film over them, and your body slumped with your arm propping your head up on the back of the couch. You both had finished your food long before, and before you fell asleep with the plate in your lap, he took it upon himself to put the dishes in the sink. He’d worry about them later. 

“Your turn to pick a movie, Bradshaw.” You piped up once he sat back down, and you shifted so your feet were underneath you. 

“Last name? Am I in trouble all of a sudden?” He scoffed out as he flopped onto the couch. He grabbed the remote, browsing for something that piqued his interest.

“No. I don’t know why I felt compelled to do that, honestly.” You laughed out. 

He just shook his head, and finally picked a movie. The 2011 Footloose. You sat quietly until you finally spoke out, “Huh. That guy kinda looks like you. Don’t you think so?”

“I don’t see it. I’m way better looking than that guy.” He hummed out, a side glance being shot your way. God, you looked beautiful. Tiredness took over your soft features and you gave him a little smile. 

“Yeah, sure. Whatever you say, B.”

He laughed, and turned back to the movie playing before the two of you. It wasn’t for another 20 minutes that anything was said. Until, he felt a soft thump hit his shoulder. He looked down and saw your head leaning on his shoulder. Faint breaths escaped your mouth, and he moved very slowly to shift so he was holding you to his chest. His legs spread out the length of the couch, and he held his breath as you shifted. Your hand gripped the white shirt that he wore before you finally stilled. 

If he thought you were perfect before, his whole world just shifted. He’d never seen someone so at peace. So unbothered by the world around them. He could get used to seeing this every day for the rest of his life, he thought. Holding you close while you peacefully slept after a long day. He wanted to be the one to make you smile every day, and wipe your tears on the particularly hard days. He wanted his friends to love you almost as much as he did. He was a little greedy on that front. But, most importantly, he didn’t want anyone else to share these moments with you. 

“Oh, dad. What do I do?”

——————————————————————————-

please let me know what y’all think, and if i made any mistakes! i’ve missed you lot :’)

[angel-bees]

Silly Baby ( Nadja X Fem Familiar Reader )

SUMMARY: Reader makes a tardy mistake and is a sensitive baby about it. Love from Lazlo too.

WARNINGS: Cursing, sensitive reader, slightly out of character ( but that’s okay, old Chap ) Short, I do apologise.

You had been a loyal and faithful familiar to Nadja and Lazlo for just more than a year. Being a quiet and unassuming mortal, you often found yourself feeling alienated and invisible. Guillermo had spoken to you a few times but never truly bonded with you for reasons unknown.

And so you sat in your room for the majority of the morning, reading your old novels and listening to melancholy music. At least Nadja and Lazlo had given you a better room than what Guillermo had.

The late evening came about and you had clearly lost track of time. You were meant to help Nadja with her hair and check her emails but you, completely oblivious to every passing minute, sat on your bed, reading.

Moments passed and all of a sudden, loud knocks could be heard on your door.

“ Where the hell are you, familiar?” Lazlo called through the door. Your eyes widened and you looked at your watch.

“ Shit, shit, shit.” You mumbled to yourself as you got up and opened the door. Before Lazlo could speak, you immediately bombarded the poor man with apologies. “ I’m sorry, master. I…I lost track of time. I’m sorry it won’t happen agai—“

Lazlo cut you off. “ It's fine. My darling wife is angry. Keep your emotions in control and deal with her. She’s in our room.” Lazlo gestured in the direction to the staircase.

Without another word, you ran upstairs. Lazlo shook his head in disapproval and made his way to the piano.

You knocked on Nadja’s door. “ Mistress?” Your voice quivered— you hated when Nadja was angry.

“ Finally. Where the fuck were you?” She looked at you and you looked back at her through the peek of the door. You stepped inside the room.

“ I’m really sorry, I…lost track of time.” You paused, crossing your arms for comfort.

“ Don’t give me attitude, missy!” She scowled and fondled with her hair.

Maybe you were too sensitive, but hearing Nadja shout at you made you want to cry buckets.

�� Let me help you, mistress.” Your voice was a squeak and you went behind Nadja, not daring to make eye contact with her in the mirror as you began to style her hair.

“ You look like you are sad.” She frowned.

“ I’m not.” You whispered.

“ Don’t be a silly baby and tell me why you’re all—“ Of course, Nadja tried to mimic you in the most offensive way possible but you tried to pay no mind to it.

“ I’m sorry for…disappointing you.” You admitted. “ I hate it when you’re angry with me.”

Nadja tried to hide her softened expression with a scoff.

“ Why would my opinions matter?” She shook her head. “ You’re just a familiar.”

Your heart broke at the reminder but you nodded anyway. “ I know I’m only a familiar…but…”

Nadja sighed and pulled you down to sit on her lap, she wrapped her arms around your body. “ Come here, sensitive baby.”

Your eyes widened slightly and the tension within you softened in Nadja’s embrace. You played with the lace on her collar, not making eye contact.

“ I know I’m soft. But…but I enjoy my job, really I do. I love being a familiar to you and Lazlo but…yes I’m sensitive.” You kept your head down as you spoke.

A soft chuckle escaped Nadja’s red-tinted mouth. “ And we enjoy having you as a familiar. Silly baby.” She shook her head and kissed your temple.

Lazlo walked in, seeing you in Nadja’s lap.

“ I see all is resolved.” He smiled and rummaged through his closet.

“ All is resolved, my love. Our familiar is apparently too sensitive for our harsh words.”

“ Of course she is.” He looked at Nadja and then at you. He wrapped his coat around your shoulders as you looked a bit cold. You tried to hide your surprise.

“ T-thank you, master.” You looked up at him, he waved it off and fondled the papers on his desk. You thought it was your cue to leave so you tried to get up, only to be pulled back down by Nadja’s strong arms.

“ No, I’m keeping you here.” She held you to her chest like a doll and you honestly couldn’t complain so you kept silent, a small smile tugged at your lips.

They were keeping you.

[voidartisan]

CORRIE GUARD BRAINROT????

RIGHT. YES. OKAY. HEADCANONS

The CG has like. a totally different culture than the rest of the GAR due to them being more settled/attached to one place. rituals are more attached to specific times and places than events

There's a specific noodle shop that will give them free noodles once a week bc the owner likes them

Also definitely one bakery that donates all of the pastries that they were gonna throw out at the end of the day

they never take off their helmets in front of natborns so they go wild with their appearances. as long as your haircut can fit under your bucket, its been tried by someone. dying facial hair neon colors. makeup (thorn is especially fond of eyeliner). all kinds of piercings.

they have more contact w/civilians, which makes them both hyper-aware of how most of the galaxy views them but ALSO means they have higher chances of encountering ones that actually see them as people. they're more likely to have significant others (is marriage to them legal? who knows! CT-7768's spouse doesn't care! the ceremony was legally binding on their home planet), civilian friends, and civilian clothes

multiple have applied to coruscant's most prestigious universities as a joke. at least one definitely got in with a full-ride scholarship and is halfway finished with his undergrad degree by the time the war ends

three words: corrie. guard. radio. a project that got set up by some bored padawans in conjunction with a few communications students looking for a senior project. it's got news, it's got music (specific songs played at shift changes and also takes requests!), it's got a radio show hosted by some random captain in the guard who wanted something to do with his limited free time, it's even got sports! only accessible over their comm channels.

because of this, you might notice corries on-shift nodding rhythmically during patrol, even dancing. this also means that sometimes only a pair of shinies assigned to cover a shift change know that Marshal Commander Fox is essentially strutting down the corridor to the beat of the gffa equivalent of 9 to 5. (the real question is: does he know?)

they're fond of jedi, and technically have access to most of the resources in the temple, but rarely work with them directly (unless they're in the diplomatic service)

they have mixed opinions on sheev. some love him, some hate him, some are apathetic, others are ambivalent.

palpatine definitely does override their free will and use them to do his dirty work at times through a combination of sith techniques and other specially programmed orders in their inhibitor chips. mostly commanders, but sometimes those in lower ranks, too. whoever's convenient.

[arvandus]

Beloved Arvs, I would love to know your thoughts on Diavolo or Lucifer and gift giving/receiving. Like how does he go about picking what they think is “the right one”? Does he fuss a bit before giving the gift, nervous it won’t be received well or is he confident without doubt it’s the best thing the recipient will ever receive?

ohhh, bestie. I love this, and they'd both be so different, so I'm going to do both of them.... but Lucifer is getting double because I think it will also depend on if we're talking about OG Lucifer or NB Lucifer.

Lucifer (OG):

Incredibly observant, will definitely have an idea of what to get you

Picks up on all the minutiae: what game you're playing with Levi, what books you're discussing with Satan, what foods you're sharing with Beel, etc. He really benefits from having you under the same roof as him, a blessing considering his busy schedule.

Will also make mental notes of colors you wear, scents you wear (if any), will notice the things that catch your eye through the shop windows...

I can also definitely picture him gifting you something that is important to him, trusting that if it's important to him, then it'll be important to you as well.

More than anything, he'll go for something that is meaningful to both of you, something that ties to a special private moment between the two of you.

Very confident in his choice(s), will be utterly miffed if you don't like it.

Lucifer (NB):

Still very much observant of course, but doesn't have the benefit of living under the same roof as you.

Even so, you visit from time to time, so he'll try to catch what he can when passing by in the hall... but with all the work he has to do to help Diavolo set up RAD, he's bound to miss stuff. He can't be in two places at once, after all...

When he is ready to get you a gift, he'll set it up a way to expose you to his idea without exposing his plot. It could be walking by a window shop, trying a specific restaurant or vendor, listening to a particular track of music, etc.

HOWEVER... despite all of his research, I think his pride will sometimes take over a bit and cross into overconfidence. Which leads to....

Overlooking what you think you want in favor of what he knows you need.

The worst part is.... he's fucking right.

Diavolo:

He's a little simpler in that I think he'd be more or less the same in both OG and NB.

Either way, he's Prince of the Devildom, and his time with you is severely limited because of it.

He will be far more nervous than Lucifer would be when it comes to gift-giving...

First off, he's not had a lot of opportunities to do it. There's very few people he feels close enough to in order to gift give, let alone knowing exactly what to get them.

Second off, he's usually the one gifts are given to, not the other way around.

The nice thing about Diavolo is that he has a far better grip on his Pride than Lucifer does.

Which means he has no issues asking others for help when it comes to ideas (as a side note, Lucifer would NEVER ask for help).

Would absolutely text the Fantastic Three group chat to get both Barb's and Luci's opinions, as they're his two closest friends and the ones he trusts the most. He knows they're both powerfully observant and would pick up on small details that he may not have been around to catch.

When he finally is ready to give his gift, he does it with perfectly practiced calmness.

But internally, he's sweating buckets.

Maybe it's the knowledge that you have no issues refusing him, unlike so many others.

But his worries are unnecessary...

Because what he's gotten you is absolutely perfect.

[i-really-like-phrogs]

So I watched Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and I have some thoughts.

(BIG SPOILERS. If you have not watched it yet, do so before reading)

I didn’t have any expectations for this movie. Sure, I wasn’t thrilled that it was actually going to exist and was no longer a rumor; but I went in with as blind expectations of it as I could so I would take it at face value.

I nearly cried, several times—in the theater, and the entire ride home afterward… and it did not have anything to do with emotional beats.

I will be very honest, I’m really disappointed with how this movie turned out. They had everything going for them: The original actor, directors, the use of puppetry and special effects… but it just felt felt flat and washed out.

The biggest problem was that the story had zero focus. There were lots of good ideas: I loved the character of Delores, I was interested in learning about Beetlejuice’s past, Astrid and Lydia were okay… Except they were all just brushed over and added nothing to the story.

The scene where Astrid met her father and they reunited and he told them to take care of eachother didn’t make sense to me, because Lydia was just pretty much there, and Astrid was kind of a brat for no reason??? Yes, she hates her mom because she’s ’always talking to shitty ghosts’ or whatever, but why not do more with that? They should have put way more attention on Astrid and Lydia in my opinion, showed more of them actually trying to bond, because the end scene felt rushed and undeserved.

Also, the characterization just did not make sense. It was all the same faces, but none of the characters bounced off eachother or had any chemistry. They all felt flat, less than one dimensional. It really felt like an SNL parody of them rather than an official movie.

And the lack of ENERGY in the movie? Please do not get me started! They were trying to do lots of funny things with visuals and whatnot, but there was no heart to it, or campiness with something to say. you laughed, but it didn’t resonate with you because it just felt like it was thrown at you to try and cover up the fact that the story itself had no legs. Why was Delores even there when all she did was suck some unimportant characters, only to get eaten by a sandworm? Why didn’t she cause any problems to Lydia, or heck, even to Beetlejuice? I hate to say it, but you could take her out of the movie and nothing would change!

Grrr, grrr grrr… This movie made me very sad, because it forgot everything about the heart and goofiness that made the original special. The fact that most of the better fanfiction I have read does a better job of capturing this and their characters makes me angry to no end!

I’m sorry for being so mad. I will have some nicer things to say, but as for right now… I am going to take up my offer on pretending this movie doesn’t exist.

The movie was disheartening, but it doesn’t change how much I love the original as well as the other adaptations. I will adore every second of the original, there will still be cartoon doodles all over my sketchbook, the musical will still be on my bucket list of things to see live.

If anything, I can let it inspire me to create my own version of these characters thirty years into the future. Fanart is a valuable skill eable way to build on an idea and learn new skills, plus it helps me figure out what I do like in a story and what I want to avoid.

I will have much, much more to say… but I think that’s it for now.

[agentnico]

Dune: Part Two (2024) review

I’m fully aware that the Dune sequel has been hit by acclaim from both critics and audiences, and I shall share my own thoughts in due course, but also whilst presenting itself as a serious and sophisticated piece of artsy science fiction tackling challenging themes of religion and politics, from a marketing standpoint this film has been a major farcical meme. From the popcorn buckets shaped like suggestive sand worms (or more so accurately as deformed buttholes) to the viral TikTok video of an unnamed man riding a makeshift sand worm around a cinema lobby on his way to Arrakis, or more likely to one of the gazillion screenings of Dune: Part Two. But yes, absolutely mad bonkers advertising techniques, and not at all reflective of how seriously and straight faced the actual film plays. Anyway, let’s talk Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuneee…..

Plot: Paul Atreides unites with Chani and the Fremen while seeking revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the universe, he must prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.

Controversial opinion - I was not a fan of the first Dune. I thought it was all spectacle and no substance, and even then in regards to said spectacle, it was just sand. Lots of sand and bland dark visuals. I understand that the first movie acts as a massive exposition piece with lots of world building and introductions of all the characters and various political families and the spice trade and all that sweet jazz, but honestly it all felt so dragged out. Also a lot of narrative choices felt really immature and I did not buy it. In fact, the only memorable part for me was that female voice screaming on the music score every time something crazy happened, and my does that woman have some strong vocal pipe work! Like damn, her screams…. I really felt them!

Going into Dune: Part Two, I was very much of two mindsets. One was more so a feeling of obligation to watch it, as I wasted 3 hours of my life watching the first one that I felt I deserved some kind of closure for my efforts. The other being Denis Villeneuve. Aside from the first Dune, he’s a director that has constantly impressed me with his unique vision and style. Simply look at his past filmography! Prisoners. Enemy. Arrival. Sicario. All impressive pieces of genre filmmaking. Then there’s Blade Runner 2049, that took the classic Ridley Scott movie and managed to improve on it and become one of the most thrilling science fiction epics of the last decade. Also the trailers looked appropriately exciting, and it seemed like the second movie was actually gonna deal with some serious shit finally. Again, my problem with the first Dune wasn’t that it was slow. I mean, I can happily watch Paris, Texas any day of the week and be mesmerised by the empty yet beautiful takes of the American desert. It’s more-so that the first Dune felt aimless and messy. As for Dune: Part Two?

Well, if we’re going to use The Lord of the Rings terminology, and boy am I happy to refer to the dear-to-my-heart Middle Earth whenever I have the chance, then Dune: Part Two holds the scale of The Two Towers. I may not agree with all of it, and there are still some moments that drag, though The Two Towers is also guilty of that - I’m looking at you Treebeard! But overall this is one hell of a cinematic experience and achievement. Visually for one this is eye-candy. And yes, yet again there’s lots of sand, but this time around Villeneuve manages to find very creative ways to add/take away colour to make many sequences truly impressive. There’s an early scene where the Fremen are fighting Harkonnen goons in the desert and the entire thing is seeped in this blood orange palette, reminiscent of the Martian Chronicles, and then there’s the part where we are introduced to the Harkonnen home planet where the entire screen is drenched in hardcore intense black-and-white due to their sun only giving out white and black light, and instead of fireworks there are these watercolour stroked exploding in the sky, to of course the much talked about eye-dropping sand worm riding into battle scene that had the feel of the giant elephants appearing in The Return of the King, and yes that was another most delightful reference to Lord of the Rings! As I was saying though, the entire movie visually is certainly something to be in awe of.

Also Hans Zimmer’s score!! Of course the man’s a genius, having composed so many of cinema’s greatest musical compositions. I can recommend his Live in Prague performance! Hit after hit, and I find myself spinning it on my record player a good few times. Hans Zimmer’s Dune: Part Two soundtrack feels like a thunderously bombastic continuation and expansion of the first film’s more quiet and moody opener, and that shift in tone allows for some truly spectacular weaving of the composer’s thematic tapestry for Dune – with the finest new thread being the absolutely gorgeous love theme for Paul and Chani. A truly beautiful piece that echoes the heartbreaking tragic nature of the central romance of the film. Needless to say I’ve already pre-ordered the limited edition coloured vinyl of Dune 2’s soundtrack from Mutant (the new Mondo).

As for the narrative, as that is where I felt the first film faltered the most in my humble opinion (which I share so publicly online). I really do feel like the sequel is a major set up, for since the first one focused more on the endless word building and set-ups, this movie is all about the character developments. The scope is still big with the various political and religious elements that are tackled and explored throughout, however at the same time Dune: Part Two manages to feel more intimate compared to its predecessor, with the unravelling of the romance between Paul and Chani, but more so the inner struggles of Paul Atreides, as he tries to balance his emotions of revenge with the feeling of wanting to belong somewhere, as well as his denial of being called the so-called Messiah to the Fremen people. Look, the idea of the chosen one has been a concept that has been done over and over again, however I felt here they managed to really make it feel unique and different, with Paul choosing not to take this major responsibility due to visions of the future where he sees this choice result in darkness and dread, yet at the same time realising he has no choice but to follow his destiny and calling. It’s powerful stuff.

The cast list is stacked in this one. Timothee Chalamet is a rising star, having previously excelled his dramatic chops in Call Me by Your Name and his charismatic whimsy in last year’s Wonka, but this is by far his most impressive acting feat. You truly feel his character turning from boy to man, and it’s a real and raw performance. Zendaya shares great chemistry with him, but also in her own right gives a strong turn as a warrior Fremen conflicted with what she sees and thinks. Javier Bardem’s Stilgar adds a slice of surprising humour to the mix, being so obsessed with Paul being part of the prophecy that anything he’d do, Stilgar would find that to be part of what has been foretold. Paul Atreides could literally fart and Stilgar would observe in wonder proclaiming “as it was written”. There’s also a tiny No Country for Old Men reunion with Bardem being joined by Josh Brolin, who’s alright by the way, though it’s a typical Brolin brute role. Charlotte Rampling as the Reverend Mother continues being truly despicable and honestly that wench deserves to be put in her place - the movie’s ending is very satisfying in this regard. There’s also some newcomers to the Dune world too. Florence Pugh as the Princess reminded me a lot of Padme from Star Wars, and Christopher Walken I felt was tad miscast as the Emperor. Don’t get me wrong, Walken is a great actor, but his way of speech has been impersonated and overdone so many times that it is difficult to take him seriously in a role like this. Minus a couple of strong deliveries Walken felt really lazy here. You know who wasn’t lazy though? Austin Butler! This guy understood the assignment, playing the psychotic nutter Feyd-Rautha and he’s truly unrecognisable. Even his voice is different. Gone is Elvis and in cometh his Skarsgard impression! He’s brutal and maniacal and was honestly superb, and I wish there was more of him in this movie.

Again, it’s far from a perfect movie. There are parts still that drag, and certain times where things feel surprisingly rushed, but overall this is an experience through and through, and unlike my feelings after the first film, here I find myself really looking forward to the inevitable third part. In fact f*ck it, who am I kidding - this movie is bloody incredible!! Like I can’t even - it’s abso-fricking-lutely spectacular!! And by the way I read a bit about the Frank Herbert Dune books now and the future sequels are gonna be mad, just saying. Paul’s son becomes this half-man half-worm known as the God Emperor! Things are gonna get weird! Anyway, Dune: Part Two - go see it if you haven’t already. And in Austin Butler’s voice: “may thy knife chip and shatter”.

Overall score: 9/10

[holocene-sims]

next // previous

august 26, 2021 4:00 a.m. a balcony, somewhere

time somehow seems to simultaneously slow to a crawl and race beyond the speed of light. grant doesn’t remember when they’d ended up perched like lovebirds at the pinnacle of a staircase, peering out over the night-drenched landscape, but it must have been a while ago. customers have long since stopped streaming in and out of the restaurant on the street below.

he remembers in better detail the stream of their conversation–they’d shifted from food and a strangely peaceful, humorous discussion of kicking the bucket to movies, and at some point, paranormal stories came up along the way.

it’d be hard to forget talking to yunha.

there’s something curiously enrapturing about her, something that had drawn him to her when he first made eye-contact with her.

the look in her eyes, maybe. it’s piercing, like she’s baring right through your skin and into your soul, but not malicious or judgmental. it’s friendly, it’s curious, it’s playful.

the way she speaks, maybe. she’s the most engaged conversationalist he’s ever encountered. everything you say, whether she agrees or disagrees, is met with affirmations and a lot of nodding. yes, yes, of course. i see, i see. i understand. ohhh, wow! really?

she’s unraveling every shard of the puzzle that is his personality and piecing it back together in one whole picture, analyzing it. figuring it out. appreciating it.

or maybe it’s the sweetness that radiates off her. she appears unafraid to smile, instead all too happy to flash those pretty, crooked bunny teeth for the world to see.

“so, i'm going to guess you’re not accidentally good at singing.”

she seems not to mind revealing her own puzzle pieces either, and the more she says about herself, the more fascinated he is with her. with who she is. with what makes her tick.

“i hope it’s not an accident,” yunha replies, laughing, “because shit, then years worth of practice was a waste.”

“time enjoyed is never time wasted.”

the unabashed cringe of the line garners an immediate eye roll, but she still seems to find it funny.

they’ve definitely been sitting here a while. grant straightens his back, fixing his gradually slouching posture, and is is met with an immediate flash of pain, distinct from the chronic dull ache underlying every day of his life, that radiates down every vertebra.

“what got you into music, though?”

yunha’s rosy pink lips purse in thought as she dwells on the question.

“a lot of things. my parents like music. i listened to a lot of different kinds of songs my whole life, first with them, and then later with my friends. i had some time between classes and studying to spend having fun, but i couldn't spend any money, so my friends and i would go to this music store. we walked around and picked random albums to listen to on the headphones. we never bought anything.”

grant nods supportively. “what’s, like, the first album you remember really liking? or albums. you don’t have to pick one.”

“ah! i treasure so many albums. seo taiji and boys IV. i think that’s still my favorite nostalgic album ever. i also remember fondly, um, this girl’s in love with you by aretha franklin. i heard that at the music store, and i was so impressed by her talent. i still am.”

“i'm not a music expert. surprise! i know, i know, i'm sorry to tell you, i did not practice for centuries for that wonderful spice girls performance earlier. no, but seriously, i most often just listen to the same old emo stuff i liked when i was 13. so, unfortunately i don’t know the first album at all, at least not yet, but i do know the second one. you have fantastic taste, that’s a classic.”

despite his ignorance, yunha still smiles from ear to ear. “you should look up the first one! look up, like, seo taiji ‘come back home.’ that’s the most popular song on the album. i don’t wanna bias you, so listen on your own and make your own opinions.”

“wilco. and if you don’t mind me asking, how’d you turn the interest in music into a skill? you are talented, but i know it's very much a skill. it does take a lot of practice to become tangibly good at music.”

“to express myself,” yunha says plainly, “it’s easier to tell your story in art than talking about it, and singing is free. you don’t need supplies to learn it. but yes, i needed that kind of outlet, you know? i always liked singing, always did it, but i needed more than only entertainment from it over time.”

“oh yeah, art is helpful. i really should have gotten on that train earlier. i got on board about a year ago. it's much better for you than intellectualizing everything. or at least that's what i tend to do. do you perform, by the way? outside of karaoke, that is."

"sometimes. but also, not in a long time."

there falls a brief, but peaceful lull in the conversation. grant’s eyes draw to black night sky as he recalls the last haphazard art he’d created–the mushy-gushy attempt at processing the universe. seeing it hanging above him now, his thoughts are no less conflicting. light pollution washes out the shining sea of stars, but the sky still retains its beauty, its bewilderment. visible or not, an infinite chain of dimensions and celestial bodies exist in the vacuum of space, orbiting independent of him, yet factoring in the tiny fraction of his mass on the mass of the earth in their delicate ballerina dance across the fabric of spacetime.

the universe must have created me for some reason, for something other than anguish.

his own words. again. ever-present.

“i miss seeing the stars.” yunha’s buttery soft voice breaks his concentration. “you can’t see anything here.”

“polaris.” grant raises his left arm and draws his index finger across the sky until it hovers above the only star he’s seen thus far. “technically, that means we should be able to see sirius, too, but we don’t need to get all science-y and talk about magnitude and that polaris isn’t–”

“i would like it if you did.”

she was thinking of the stars, too.

synchronicity.

“aw shucks! well. i’ll say this, polaris isn’t the brightest star. we just talk about it way more frequently because it has the most cultural significance in the northern hemisphere for, you know, navigation reasons. but hey, give it about 12,000 more years, and it even won’t be the north star anymore. thank you, wobbly earth axis. but also boo, woobly earth axis, because it's a little sad to think about.”

yunha’s eyes glitter with fascination. “it’ll be something else?”

“yep! the next north star will be vega,” he explains, “come on down, you’re the next contestant!”

“maybe we’ll see it happen.”

“if my consciousness is still floating around as little dust particles, that’d be pretty sick. you know? forget fly me to the moon, fly me to vega. why not?”

“i don’t think i'll be dust,” yunha says, not missing a beat at all, even as her focus remains fixed on the faintest twinkle emanating from polaris, “it’s kind of troubling. you don’t want to be, like, stuck in the whole cycle of the universe, but if you’re still here, you can see some really beautiful things.”

“ah. reincarnation?”

“if you’re asking me, you’re not going to be dust. either you escape the suffering or you come back in some kind of physical form, human or not, and you try again.”

grant thinks about it for a moment. and then the feelings, like usual, spill out at once.

“i'm not going to lie, that idea has always given me the heebie-jeebies. i think it’s very cool as a concept, but i'm, like, man, i don’t want to do this shit again. also, look, we're doing the thing again. oh, and shit, that sounded judgmental. i just run my mouth too much."

"most people don't know they lived before. you can't really remember your other lives without a lot of study," she answers, "and no, you don't. i prefer to hear your real opinion. it's actually stupid when people tell you what they think you want to hear."

"do you ever wonder what you were up to last go-around?"

"not too much, but i always heard strange birthmarks and scars are signs from your last death. fears, too. things you avoid. so, i guess, like, a clown stabbed me in the neck with needles."

"are you afraid of storm drains, by any chance? if so, i think pennywise had it out for you."

"hahaha." yunha shakes her head. "wait, i have to ask. is it not worse thinking you can only live once? that's not uncomfortable? feeling like you have to make everything perfect in your one lifetime?"

"oh no, it's terrifying. dying and just being done with everything is eerie, too, because there are nice things to do and see here in the real world. you’re right about that. and yeah, there is a lot of pressure to get it all right. also, that's not even mentioning that there are people i love that i don’t want to be gone forever. i'd like to think they remain somehow. conscious or not. i kind of think they do, but i don’t know. am i contradicting myself? capital-P probably."

“you don’t know what to think.”

grant immediately bursts out laughing. “yeah, no, absolutely not. i do not know. i just kinda waffle around and hope some scientist throws out some numbers and whatnot that proves some explanation of everything correct. but that’s impossible. it’s literally impossible. we can’t even simulate or predict the wacky physics that were going on at the exact moment the big bang happened.”

“not to be, like, all quirky, but...” yunha reaches over, patting him on the shoulder. “maybe don’t think about it? you’re gonna go crazy. you can just not know? and it's fine. this doesn’t mean anything anyway. the answer to anything is already in you, it’s not out there.”

and then she, too, starts giggling all over again and her cheeks blush deep red from sheepish cringe.

another stereotypical line, but he doesn't mind. they sound better coming from her than him anyhow.

a second later and she checks the time on her phone. her cheesy smile erodes into a slight frown.

“ahh, i really need to leave soon. i have a schedule in the morning.”

grant checks the time as well, drawing the sleeve of his hoodie up just enough to read the minuscule roman numerals on his watch.

on the watch an ex-girlfriend gifted him. not päivi, but...

4:00 a.m.

fuck.

right.

you’re leaving the country in two hours.

[lorre-verie]

₊˚ʚ ᗢ. ᴛʀᴜᴛʜ ᴏʀ ᴅᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴛ. ꜰᴏᴜʀ ₊˚✧ ﾟ.

aka, the chapter where  the title of the series really comes into play.

the unfortunate pair: ao’nung x fem! sully! reader

chapter summary: crossing off stuff from your bucket list is fun, but in your opinion it was just going too slowly. so what if you sped things up a little? your decisions garner unexpected results, but i suppose in the end, you’re satisfied with the way they turned out.

warnings: cussing, kissing (just a light lil peck yk) reader being an absolute tease, ohmygawd the TENSION IM SCREAMINGGG, sully family shenanigans

word count: 4.7k 

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | masterlist

“I keep thinkin’, bout his angel eyes!” you belted out, eyes on the screen in front of you.

“I keep thinking, AAHHH!” Kiri followed, putting all her soul into the song.

Bucket List! 

Dance with a partner to my favourite song.

Drink alcohol

Go on your first date

Have a sleepover with my friends and siblings

Karaoke night

Have my first kiss 

Receive an oshalia flower 

Per your wishes, your family had graciously agreed to having a karaoke night in your marui. It was really a good thing that your tent was isolated from the rest of the metkayina’s, lest your neighbours would have to try and sleep through incessant screaming all night long. 

Your mother didn’t really want to participate though, understandably. And of course, your father followed her. Even though he really, really did want to join in on the fun, he loved your mother more than he loved Taylor Swift.

It had been a week since your official diagnosis, Norm and Max confirming your illness from all the way in the lab in the forest. But there was still hope for you. And they were doing everything in their power to find a cure. 

While they were probably pulling their hairs out, you and Kiri were singing your souls out, so passionately that even Eywa would stop the wind to listen to how unbelievably horrid hypnotising your voices were.

“LAST NIGHT, I WAS TAKING A WALK ALONG THE RIVER!” you half shouted, taking bold steps across the floor, your brothers laughing at your strutting.

“WHEN I SAW HIM TOGETHER WITH A YOUNG GIRL,” Kiri followed behind you, before pointing at Tuk’s rubber duck with a tophat (whom she dubbed Paul).

“AND THE LOOK THAT HE GAVE HER MADE ME SHIVER-” you scooped Paul up, ignoring Tuk’s whining. “Give him back!”

“CAUSE HE ALWAYS USED TO LOOK AT ME THAT WAYYYY!” Kiri and you sang in unison, back against each other, and you held Paul up to the light that seeped in through the night, glaring at him accusingly. 

Kiri yanked Paul from your hands and threw him down to the floor, much to your littlest sister’s distress.

“HEY!” Tuk screamed, crawling to save her poor Paul.

Just then, 3- no 4- metkayinan teenagers stepped through the flap of the marui, wondering what the hell the noises coming from your marui were. 

Veyä went through first, followed by Tsireya, Rotxo, then Ao’nung. You continued singing with Kiri, unbothered by their sudden presence. “What is going on here???” Rotxo practically screeched, trying to make his voice heard.

The four looked horrified at the alien technology in front of them, the giant projector showing the lyrics in english, and the mics in your and Kiri’s hands. 

Combined with the background music playing out of seemingly nowhere, it looked like you and your siblings were performing some sort of ritual.

“LOOK INTO HIS ANGEL EYES, ONE LOOK AND YOU’RE HYPNOTISED!” 

Eventually, with some explanation that this was not a demonic ritual from Neteyam, the metkayinans settled down to enjoy the show, you and Kiri breathless after finishing the song. You stumbled down to the floor, acting as if you were passing out. 

Lo’ak grabbed your mic and switched to a different song (a rap song 💀) and you crouched along the floor to talk to your friends and the frog. 

Veyä tilted her head, smiling welcomingly as you sat in front of her. Tsireya and Rotxo waved, and Ao’nung just..looked at you. 

“You’re all invited to a sleepover tomorrow night,” you smiled. 

Tsireya’s ears perked up. “A slumber party? Here?” she sat up straight.

“Yep, it’s going to be super fun. There’s gonna be a movie- I’ll explain what that is later-” you added, internally groaning at their confused faces, “and we can play some games! And after, you can sleep here. We have a few extra sleeping bags.”

“We’ll be there!” Tsireya almost shouted, she was clearly excited about spending some time with a certain someone who was stumbling over his words at the moment. “Won’t we, dear brother?” she turned to Ao’nung, a hopeful look on her face. 

He frowned, eyes flickering from Rotxo to Tsireya, who were both looking up at him with stars in their eyes. 

“Well I, for one, am definitely going to be there,” Veyä shrugged, angling her chin upwards. 

“We can go.” Ao’nung turned his head to you, the corner of his lip twitching upwards once he saw the bright smile etched on your face.

What he didn’t know was that beneath your “genuine” smile, your brain was meticulously planning all the ways you could trick him into doing whatever you wanted.

“Just wear whatever you sleep in,” you put your hands on the floor to push yourself back up. Eywa forbid Neteyam got to the tablet before you, he’d show off his singing skills like he was Ninat’s son and not your mother’s.

Soon you all were divided into 2 groups; the girls and the boys sat in separate circles, each one hyping their sully member up as they came up to sing. 

“It’s kinda like..a moving picture? A picture is like a memory captured in time, like you can see the videos- moving pictures- being displayed on the screen there” Kiri painstakingly explained to Veyä, who seemed to catch on rather quickly. 

“Where is Tuk?” Tsireya whispered to you with her signature sweetener smile. “I miss her presence.”

You looked back at her, about to respond, but you closed your mouth back up again once you saw that she wasn���t looking at you, but rather behind you. 

Lo’ak, you rolled your eyes, turning to confirm your suspicions.

Lo and behold; they were making sickening lovey dovey puppy dog eyes at each other, completely oblivious to you and your twin brother who were about to projectile vomit onto the floor right next to them. 

Rotxo was trying his best to pronounce the english words on the screen, but his singing was rather alright. Nothing compared to Neteyam, of course, but pretty good. 

You shared mirrored frowns with your older brother, shaking your head at the exact same time. You mouthed, “How’d he get a girl that quickly?” 

Neteyam shrugged, “It’s the good girl and bad boy trope.” 

You winced, remembering all the books you read about the relationship dynamic as a child. It was okay, but you loved the enemies to lovers and sad stories much more. *wink wink*

The best idea you’d ever conjured up in your life tugged at your lower lips, that devilish smile appearing on your face as it’s done every time you were about to dare someone to do something stupid. Neteyam picked up on this immediately, his eyes widening and immediately mouthing ‘NO’.

As you shook your head up and down, you both were unaware of Ao’nung confusedly looking back and forth at your wordless conversation, his fingers intertwined. He was an excellent lip reader, but you guys weren’t speaking na’vi, so he wondered if you guys just made up your own language.

‘I dare you to pretend you like her.’ you mouthed back, but by this time, Lo’ak had seen the words come out of your mouth. 

Alas, your beautiful plan was fooled. (but wouldn’t that be funny as hell)

You let out a laugh, covering your mouth as you did so. His eyes fell on you, gazing at the way your body buckled forwards, at the way your yellow eyes were fixed on the floor as you tried to stop the giggles spilling out of your mouth, at your w- 

“Hello??? Are you okay?” Tsireya waved her hand in front of his face, to which immediately jolted backwards like she was threatening to cut all of his beautiful hair off.

“Brother, are you sick? You seem very out of it today.” she crouched down in front of him concerned, for his eyes seemed like they were popping out of their sockets.

Today had been an incredibly stressful day for Ao’nung. He’d been unable to focus on any of his duties today, because of well, you.

You showed him a different side of yourself, above the petty insults and the snarky exchanges you two would have everyday. 

That night he didn’t see you as the nasty forest imp. 

He saw you, for you.

And he was unable to get you out of his mind for the whole day. 

“Ao’nung, the fish have all already gone at this point,” Tonowari signed. It was the next day; the day of the slumber party. 

The afternoon light seeped into the water, illuminating beautifully the hunting grounds that Ao’nung and his father would often traverse to together, and the Olo’eyktan quickly noticed his son’s strange behaviour. 

Ao’nung gripped his crossbow with such intensity that if he squeezed it just a little bit tighter, he’d be able to break it into two. Besides that, he was aiming at an empty spot in the sand, the rest of his body hidden from nothing by a rock structure.

As he stared at nothing, his father grew increasingly concerned. Tonowari tucked his knife into a strap wrapped diagonally across his chest, placing a hand on his son’s shoulder to get his attention. 

Ao’nung whipped around to face him, releasing the trigger on the crossbow as he did so. The arrow flew into sand, scattering tiny bits of it everywhere, floating aimlessly in the water. 

Tonowari simply shook his head with a slight frown, signing ‘Up.’ 

Even as they rose to the surface, Ao’nung’s heart felt like it was dropping lower and lower as he pushed his arms back. What if his father was angry that he was slacking off and getting lost in his thoughts? He should’ve been more focused- he should’ve been more aware-

“So, who’s the girl?” Tonowari half smirked, placing his hand on Ao’nung’s head. 

“What?” Ao’nung looked at his father, his eyes as wide as a tulkun’s.

“Don’t try to lie to me, son. I had that exact same look on my face when I was in love with your ma,” he chuckled, resisting the urge to ruffle Ao’nung’s hair– if that even was possible, being tied up into a bun. 

The frog said nothing, only parting his lips in surprise. 

First of all, why would his father assume he’d been thinking about a girl? He wasn’t. He was thinking of someone completely opposite a “girl.” No, no, no, absolutely NOT. You had attacked him, beat him up, left him with bruises on his beautiful face- Why would he like you??? (what he’s been repeating to himself for the past 24 hours)

Second of all, his father’s huge hand was threatening to ruin his beautiful hair. 

Third of all, ew, he didn’t need to hear another story of how his dad pined over his mother like his life depended on it. 

“Is it Veyä? I heard she’s been a hot topic with the teenagers these days,” his dad pondered, and he gagged in response. “Ugh, no way.” Ao’nung snorted, wanting to punch himself in his own face for not even trying to deny he was thinking about a girl in the first place. 

“Hm. I can see that.” Tonowari pursed his lips. “It doesn’t seem like you’d be her type either. From what I’ve heard, she’s much more popular with the girls.”

“Ew.” Ao’nung cringed, a shiver running down his spine at the thought of his childhood friend being subjected to such….affectionate thoughts? gossip? He didn’t know the word for it, he just knew it wasn’t something he wanted to hear.

“On that subject, is it a boy? Perhaps I’ve been getting all of this wrong.” Tonowari looked at his son, seemingly assessing who he thought he liked. 

“Dad, please no. I am not thinking of anyone,” he groaned, a pained expression on his face. 

“Bah! Nonsense! I know that look when I see it. I am wise beyond my years my son, you cannot fool me that easily.” Tonowari dismissed him, Ao’nung’s shoulders slumping down.

“It must be someone you’d be embarrassed about if you’re this desperate to get me off your back,” he jutted his lips out as he thought.

Ao’nung slapped a hand to his face, groaning even harder. He wasn’t even desperate. Was he?

His father let out a sharp gasp, looking at his son panickingly, seemingly choking on his words.

“What? What? Father, what is it?” Ao’nung swam closer to his father, brows knitted together in concern. He placed a hand on his dad’s chest, checking his heartbeat and breaths like his mother taught him. 

“Great mother-” Tonowari spurted out, causing Ao’nung a greater deal of worry. But upon examining his heart and the timing of his breathing, he seemed perfectly fine. 

“It’s that girl from the Sully’s, isn’t it?? What was her name- Y/N?” Tonowari stumbled over his words. 

“Great mother, father you had me thinking you were having a heart attack-” Ao’nung sighed in relief, backing away from his father who was in fact, not dying in front of him. But then his eyes widened. He had said your name. 

The look on Ao’nung’s face when they locked eyes said it all. 

“Dad NO-” 

“MY SON IS COURTING THE DAUGHTER OF TORUK MAKTO????”

“And remember, do NOT let any of the boys touch you,” Jake pointed his finger directly into your face. 

“Yes, dad, I get it.” you rolled your eyes, shoulders slouched and a pout on your face. 

Eclipse had fallen, and your dad for the past 5 minutes had been laying down all the ground rules for the slumber party as Neteyam and Lo’ak set the sleeping bags on the floor behind you, Kiri off to accompany the metkayinan teenagers here, and Tuk sleeping over at one of her little friend’s homes. 

“And that Veyä girl too, I don’t trust her. She’s already gotten your sister-”

“What??” you looked at him. 

“Yeah, didn’t you see them yesterday? They were giggling with each other and all,” he rolled his eyes, “and when I tried to talk to her about it she flipped me off. My poor baby is beyond saving.” 

“You’re insane, dude. She flipped you off cause there’s NOTHING going on between them. Honestly, I thought you watched enough romcoms to know they’re just friends? You’re getting so old.” you crossed your arms, a slight smile on your face as you teased your own father. 

Neteyam chuckled behind you. “If Lo’ak said that, he’d get 40 lashes right then and there.”

Lo’ak rolled his eyes, unable to say anything cause he knew his older brother was right. 

“Hey hey, first of all, don’t “dude” me, young lady.” 

You rolled your eyes, there he was with his over-a-100-year-old father attitude, like seriously didn't those expire in the 2050's?

“Second, I’m not that old alright?” 

You pursed your lips, holding back a laugh. 

“Third, there’s SOMETHING going on there, I’m tellin’ ya, but if you don’t believe me, just see for yourself,” he raised his arms in the air surrenderingly.

“And fourth, Neteyam, where’d you get that from? You guys know I have never punished any of you by physical force–” he was interrupted by Lo’ak’s scoff. 

“Hey, come on now.” he frowned, his heart sinking slowly, looking at how Lo'ak ignored him as he pat the wrinkles off his own sleeping bag.

“Y’know what, I’ll let your mother take over.” Jake whispered to you quickly. 

“Lo’ak, walk with me.” he called him over. Your younger brother begrudgingly agreed, and they stalked off into the night. 

“If he wasn’t such a troublemaker, he’d be the favourite child,” you stared at their backs as they disappeared into the trees, seemingly having a conversation. 

“Well you’re the favourite child and you’re a troublemaker.” Neteyam responded nonchalantly, shrugging behind you. 

“Well that’s just cause I have irresistible charm,” you smiled smugly at him, crossing your arms.

“Not to mention I inherited mom’s boldness, dad’s charisma, grandma’s wisdom, oh and I’m super talent- AGH” your list was interrupted by Neteyam throwing a pillow right smack into your face. 

He laughed in your face, using the walls as support. You were about to throw the pillow back at him, raising your arm and gathering the force in your shoulder, but your mother stopped you. 

“Y/N,” she leaned on the archways to the entrance of the marui, one of her hands holding up the flap. “Come. I wish to talk to you,” she gave you a small smile.

You dropped the pillow immediately, hopping outside after your favourite parent (shh, don’t tell Jake), abandoning Neteyam in the process. 

“I suspect your father has given you enough rules to work with?” she smiled knowing how protective Jake was of you (AND your siblings, of course).

You nodded rather aggressively, and she laughed slightly, the sound spreading a warmth into your heart. She hadn’t really been the same since the news about..you know. 

As you stood there with her, feeling her left hand tenderly pressed against the side of your head, you couldn't help but be grateful for her unwavering support. 

With a small smile on her face, she shared the news that your dad's friends had made a discovery - something that could potentially cure you. “But they are unsure,” she trailed off, lips straightening into a thin line. 

You could see the tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes, but you pretended not to notice.

You wished above all else you could say something, anything, to comfort her, but you knew that this was something beyond your control. At least, for now. 

Without uttering a word, she pulled you into a gentle embrace, holding you close as you both hoped for a brighter future. It was the type of hug a mother would give if her only daughter was leaving for something like college.

But permanently. 

You felt her basically crush your lungs, but you didn’t bother commenting about it. Luckily for you, she noticed how hard she was gripping you and loosened up a bit. 

“Have fun tonight.” she whispered into your ear. You nodded, and the pain around your body served as a reminder of how much you meant to her.

You finally broke away from her death hug, waving a goodbye as your mother went away with her arms interlocked with your dad’s for their fun little date night. 

“I hope they have fun.” Lo’ak stepped up behind you, watching your parents head to the ikrans together. “Just not too much fun, we really don’t need another sibling.”

“Ew! Why would you even say that??” you covered your mouth with your hand, unable to get the image out of your head, as Lo’ak laughed. 

“That’s what I said like 7 years ago, and then Tuk appeared.” he shrugged, a cheeky smile on his face as he scampered back into the marui before you could hit him on the head. 

“Lo’ak!” you sighed, following him back inside to wait for the rest of your friends to attend. 

“Lo’ak, I dare you to take a dip in the water!” 

“WHAT?” Lo’ak yelled. “Please bro, it’s freezing cold at night!” he pleaded to Rotxo, practically gruelling at his feet as the metkayina simply held in a laugh. 

“It’s alright baby bro, worst case scenario, you’ll get hypothermia and die.” Kiri commented, waving her hand around in the air as she did so, Veyä giggling in response. 

The metkayinans were getting situated with your favourite game, which would’ve made you super excited under normal circumstances. But your mind was stuck thinking about your bucket list. How in Eywa’s name were you going to find someone to go on a date with you? 

You could’ve just asked Veyä, but unfortunately, your dad seemed to be right. Kiri and Veyä had sat directly next to each other, and everytime one of them spoke, they’d look at each other like… ew? Okay, we get it?

Rotxo was 100% oblivious to Kiri and Veyä’s relationship so unfortunately, he was still pining over your dear sister. So he was out of the question. 

If you even tried to imply anything to Tsireya, Lo’ak would slit your throat while you were sleeping. 

And Ao’nung would never say yes. 

You would have to find some other metkayinan your age, be friends with them, woo them over, and ask them to go out on a date with you, and then have to explain to them that you were dying soon. So, that was out of the question too since you didn’t even have the energy for the first step.

“Ah Lo’ak, don’t be such a wuss.” Neteyam slapped Lo’ak on the back, earning a hoarse growl from the boy. 

“After all, you have an audience,” he whispered, subtly nodding his head to point in Tsireya’s direction, and once he did, it’s like a fire arose within Lo’ak’s chest. He stood up immediately, stomping outside. 

“It looks like he’s got his source of motivation.” Veyä chuckled wryly, and everyone went up to follow them. 

Everyone except you and the frog. 

“Are you not going to watch?” the frog spoke, eyes blinking slowly. He hugged his knees as he sat, his usually neat bun having strands flow down the sides of his face. With that, you realised that you’d be able to see him with his hair down tonight, which was certainly interesting to think about.

“Hm, no. I’m busy contemplating the best way I can do something that I need to do,” you responded, looking down at the floor. But then you thought about the game. 

Oh.

Oh.

Your gaze switched from the floor to Ao’nung immediately, a light twinkling in them like nothing you’d ever experienced before. As he tilted his head, wondering what was up with you and your sudden mood swings, your resolve was set.

The right half your mouth curled up into the most wicked smirk he’d ever seen on you. Goosebumps ran down his shoulders down to the very tips of his fingers, his lips parting subconsciously. Just then, Lo’ak burst through the flap of the marui. 

“JESUS BALLS THATS FUCKING COLD” was one of the endless strings of profanity he shouted out as he grabbed a cloth from near his sleeping bag, rubbing it all over his soaking wet body in desperate attempt to free himself from the chains of being ‘shitting my ass freezing’. In order, Tsireya, Neteyam, Kiri, Veyä, and Rotxo came inside, laughing their behinds off. 

By the time Ao’nung looked back at you, you looked as sweet as the dessert they’d serve at the day of an official mating, sitting cross legged with your hands placed on your knees, blinking your eyes innocently with a seemingly genuine smile on your face, acting like nothing had happened just moments before. 

The laughter died down slowly, Lo’ak’s breaths becoming shaky as he struggled to regain his body heat. The order of the circle went: Neteyam, Lo’ak, Tsireya, Ao’nung, Rotxo, You, Kiri, and then Veyä. So by the rules, it was your turn to ask someone a truth or dare. 

You pretended to look around, pretended to consider your options, pretended that you didn’t have everything planned out in your head already. 

“Ao’nung.” you smiled innocently. 

“Truth or dare?” you tilted your head to the left, trying to make your smile seem as innocent as possible so that it would seem wrong.

So wrong that he’d think you’d have a trap for him placed on truth. As he took his time thinking, he decided that you couldn’t possibly make him do something that would genuinely inconvenience him if he picked dare. 

“Dare.” he nodded, and Neteyam’s eyes widened, knowing first hand how cruel your dares would be. Your smile turned wider on the right side, the sweet smile now turned into a grin of malicious victory.

He cringed; he knew that look. The look that would make the person his dear twin sister dared regret all their life decisions leading up to that very point. Would you make him lick the sand? Would you make him dance for everyone? Would you make him cuss out his friends without explanation? The possibilities were endless-

“I dare you,” 

everyone held their breath.

“to go out on a date with me.” 

And the circle erupted. 

Neteyam was the first to react, letting out an extremely loud WHAT THE FUCK, Lo’ak let out a high pitched squeal that would’ve been Tsireya’s if she wasn’t covering her mouth out of surprise, Kiri’s jaw dropped straight to the floor, Veyä was just impressed, and poor Rotxo didn’t even hear what you had said. 

And Ao’nung? 

Oh, Ao’nung.

He was frozen. 

Veyä started to hush everyone down, intrigued by the reason you’d even suggest that idea.

Without a single word leaving his lips, Ao’nung stood up, walking behind Rotxo. Then he grabbed your hand and led you outside, Veyä and Tsireya sending whistles and ‘whoops’ your way, and Rotxo had joined the fight in trying to push Neteyam back before he kicked Ao’nung in the shin. 

You would’ve thought his grip on your wrist would hurt, but it didn’t. He was surprisingly gentle with you, and you willingly did most of the work getting yourself there.

He pulled you in front of a tree, his face just centimetres from yours. You looked up at him amusedly, smugly, even. 

“Is there anything I can help you with, Ao’nung?” 

His proper name on your tongue sounded like the most bitter of venoms and the most sweet of honeys to him at that moment. He searched your eyes as if he’d find anything other than yellow and black in them, and you stood there, back pressed against the smooth bark of the tree. 

“Why?” he whispered, the huskiness of his voice combined with his metkayinan accent sending a delicious blaze down your spine. 

“Why not?” you replied coolly, going so far as to let your eyes wander down his face, landing on his lips for a brief second. 

It didn’t look like it, but you were doing your best to keep your heart from pumping out of your chest. He was so painfully close to you, his right leg in between yours. 

He was already confused about you–– everything about you made his head spin. You spoke not truth nor lies, always in riddles. You were a troublemaker yet deemed responsible. Your personality was blazing hot, yet your skin always felt cold to the touch. 

His eyes landed on your cheek, a tiny scratch embedded between the stripes that adorned your face like a piece of beautiful art. You were smaller than him in every aspect, yet you were stronger. 

His attention turned to the little strip of hair above your eye, which enunciated the differences between you even further. You were a human, but you were also na’vi. 

Then, his eyes finally fell on your smile. It described you like no other part of your face or body did. It could smile like a goddess but grin like the devil. 

Without thinking, he leaned in (rather harshly, as you recall), pressing his lips to yours. 

Bucket List!

Dance with a partner to my favourite song.

Drink alcohol

Go on your first date

Have a sleepover with my friends and siblings

Karaoke night

Have my first kiss 

Receive an oshalia flower 

It was just a small peck, and you both pulled away in an instant, and you looked at his neck blankly. 

This was NOT what you intended.

You wanted a date and instead you got a kiss, but hey, something crossed off is something crossed off, righ—

His fingers pulled your chin up, interrupting your panicked train of thoughts. And the moment you looked into his eyes, you knew you were fucked. 

You turned him insane. He spent the last 2 days thinking of not kissing you and there you both were. 

As you both took a breath and processed things, Ao’nung brushed his thumb over his lips to see if he wasn’t dreaming, which made you smirk just a teeny tiny bit. (You were on the verge of screaming your lungs out cause what in the divinity of Eywa just happened?)

“So… I take it it’s a yes to that date?”

“...can you shut up”

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | masterlist

STOP iiiiiiidk if that was the right thing to DOOO my plan for the first kiss was not supposed to be in this part but it just happened and i think it’s good??? Idkkkkkkkkkkkkkk im having doubts but i hope u guys enjoyed it 😭 

but as for the rest of the slumber party they def stopped playing truth or dare because of neteyam, so they watched a movie instead, then they played charades, would you rather and whos most likely to :) originally i was planning on including all those things but it’d be way too boring and way too long so 💀 nvm!!!!!

So yeah! as always, i appreciate you all so much 💗💗💗💗 tysm for your support on this series! it means so much to me, you couldn't imagine.

much loved, lorre.

Taglist: @eywas-heir @elegantkidfansoul @yeosxxx @whoreforpomegranates @fanboyluvr @thecrazyswamp @shkudss @stvrligghtt @ratchetprime211 @dearstelll @littlecrisisworld @itssomeonereading @goodiesinthecloset21 @ilovejakesullysdick @larkkyoris @opalescentblog @lovedbychoi @plzfeedmebread @holysaladapricothero @arminsgfloll @evans-bitch @seashelldom @quest-for-pluto @bananasplits-world @ken-zah @anxietydrogz @inluvwithneteyam @www-interludeshadow-com @anonmously-anonomous

note: names in red are the ones i've added to the taglist but i couldn’t tag!

[kaibacorpintern]

So true about Kaiba being a moody dramatic Rachmaninoff piano concerto hoe lmao. Would he give Chopin a pass for ballade in g/winter winds you think, or is anyone who writes frilly little etudes automatically disqualified from the playlists on principle?

Oh god so here's my opinion as someone who played classical piano for eight years and interned at a classical music organization for a while: as the adopted son of a rich man who was (according to DM) invested in cultivating some kind of philanthropic/cultured image, Kaiba was probably dragged along to many, many classical music events as a young lad, and sat there in his penguin suit under strict orders not to fall asleep, fold the program into paper airplanes, fidget too much, or let Mokuba fidget too much. What he truly knows about classical music might fill a bucket (the four major eras, the big name composers, some basic music theory) but not a swimming pool.

Like I don't love seeing "rich people" cliches stuck on Kaiba, because his life story is far more complex than that, but I do think this one--"ultrawealthy donor attends a night at the symphony because it's a good look for them, not because they understand the intricacies of Mahler"--might apply here. He IS going to see Yuja Wang play Prokofiev, but he does not know why/how Prokofiev is important, and unless he took a dedicated interest in music (leading to your exquisite insights) he might just slap KAIBA SYMPHONIC HALL atop the arts center, mail over a check for $20mil, and be done with it Gozaburo style.

That being said, this is my answer to your question: I think he pays attention during a performance of Chopin's Tristesse (or, Ravel's Pavane por une infante défunte?) feels one too many feelings, and wants to go crawl into a dirt hole about them afterwards, like a dying animal. But he has to schmooze at the donor's club, so he can't. He is wearing a cummerbund and a bowtie, and now he is twice as miserable.

When he locks himself in his lab later, to burn the midnight oil, he listens to the Chopin again, in private, and discovers new feelings--which are actually just the old feelings, newly remembered.

Also his favorite symphony is Mahler 5. Look me in the eyes and tell me he wouldn't go ballistic for the trumpet solo.