#but woo gram did it!!))

[minisugakoobies]

It's You - Choi San | 3 AM

Pairing: San x Reader Genre: smut, crack, fluff, angst, roommates to lovers, BFF’s Lil Bro!AU Series Rating: M (18+) Drabble Warnings: sneaking around, sloppy making out, lots of cuddling and kissing, honestly this is super soft, drunk San is a whole different type of menace, a little angst on OC's part, pet names deployed as weapons (baby) Word Count: 2.1k Disclaimers: SFW, obviously I don’t own ATZ - they just inspire me

Summary: He was only supposed to be a temporary roommate. Your best friend’s little brother, crashing on your couch for a few weeks. That’s it. How did this happen?

A/N: This started with talking about drunk San with @minttangerines and @kiestrokes, and then @moni-logues made me miss this couple, so boom! New vignette! I should warn you that I wrote this over the course of 2 days, entirely between the hours of midnight and 5 am because I've been staying up wayyyy too late to watch the Coachella livestreams (can we talk about Chellateez?! because holy shit!), so it's probably a mess and it's unbeta'd, so… blame any typos or incoherency on my fucked up sleep schedule! 🥱

Lyrics are from "Moondance" by Van Morrison, inspired by that one toktoq of San singing that song, which absolutely killed me.

Taglist is open! Reblog, comment, or send me an ask to be added! You can also send me any ideas/thoughts you might have for a future scenario - who knows, it might end up in a drabble! 💕

It’s You Masterlist 🐈‍⬛ ATZ Masterlist 🐈‍⬛ Main Masterlist

It’s three in the morning, and you’re wide awake, at your desk, working frantically on an article whose deadline is mere hours away. For not the first time tonight, you curse your natural inclination towards procrastination and scrub your hand down your face, wishing you’d chosen a different career. 

There’s some noise outside your door and you realize San must be home. He’d been down at the Blue Bird with Hongjoong, drinking and hanging out with Wooyoung as he bartended. From the way San’s shuffling around, it sounds like Woo had been his typical kind self and given San more generous pours than he should have. A loud “oof” resonates, and you hear the armchair scrape the floor a bit, as if he were setting it back in its place. You wince, hoping he didn’t wake his sister, who has an early shift and needs to be up at dawn.

“Noona. Nooooooona.” Tap tap tappity tap. “Are you up? I can see - I can see your light.” 

San raps on your door, calling out to you in a voice that’s hushed but maybe not quite as quiet as he thinks it is. From his spot on your bed, Nero lifts his head off his paws at the sound, then blinks at you with his bright green eyes. 

“I know. He’s loud as fuck, isn’t he?” With a cluck of your tongue, you quickly hop up and open the door. San must’ve been leaning against it, because suddenly you’ve got a mountain on top of you, a loose-limbed one at that, eagerly but clumsily wrapping its arms around you. “San!” 

“Hiiiii,” San coos into your shoulder, where he’s buried his face. You shudder slightly as his breath tickles your skin exposed by the tank top you wear, and stagger away from the door enough to close it quietly as you can, not an easy task to do given the giant mass of man hanging his dead weight on you. 

“You know, your sister is sleeping just on the other side of this wall,” you remind him, but he doesn’t respond, too busy lathering the column of your neck with tiny kisses. “San. Come on, sit down.” 

With some stumbling from San and a not insignificant effort on your part, the two of you make it over to your bed. Your attempt at coaxing San into a sitting position fails miserably as he promptly splays on his back, pulling you on top of him. Nero hops off the bed in a huff. 

You go down like a sack of flour, not a gram of gracefulness in your fall, but San appears not to notice when your chin bounces off his sternum or your knee rams his thigh. He sighs contentedly, wrapping his arms around your back, tucking you against him.

“Mmmm. So nice,” he murmurs, resting his cheek against the top of your head. 

It’s three in the morning, and you need to finish this damn article. Except that right now, your body is telling you that what you really need is to stay exactly where you are. Because the minute the warmth of San’s embrace surrounded you, your stress melted away. The steady rise and fall of his chest calms you, makes your own breathing slow. You close your eyes, nestling closer to him, sliding your own arms around his waist. You could so easily fall asleep like this. 

But he can’t sleep here. 

“San. San, are you awake?” 

“I’m awake,” he replies, but with closed eyes, which doesn’t really give you a lot of confidence in his response. “I am,” he insists when you shake him, rolling his head away, but he still doesn’t look at you.

“Don’t fall asleep,” you warn him sternly. “I mean it!” 

San smiles, the one that tells you that he knows you’re going to give in to him, which is the smile you tend to see him flash the most often, because you’re weak for him and always giving in. But this isn’t one of those times when you can indulge him. No matter how much you want to. 

“Wish you’d come to the bar tonight. Wanted you there.” 

You knew that. He’d told you as much when he’d texted earlier. Unfortunately, you had to turn him down for the sake of remaining gainfully employed. He’d tried to convince you otherwise at first but finally said he understood. And then sent you a series of sad selfies, each one more pathetic than the last, lips puffing to an extreme. Because he understands the power that pout holds over you.

It’s embarrassing how bad you’re down for this man.

San’s fingers dance idly down your spine, and you sigh, eyes slipping shut again as you speak. “Believe me, I would’ve rather been there with you.” 

He hums, fingertips quickening their light minuet. He mumbles something into your hair, low and unintelligible from the way his lips are smushed against your head, so it takes you a few seconds to realize he’s not talking, he’s singing. 

“... marvelous night for a moondance, with the stars up above in your eyes…” 

“San,” you begin, but before you can warn him not to get any louder, he does so anyway, raising his beautiful voice a little, starting to get into it. 

“A fantabulous night to make romance, 'neath the cover of October skies…”

“Shhh!” Your shushing is cut short by your giggling, as you clap a hand over San’s mouth. “Oh my god, now is not the time for this!” 

This is one of San’s more notable habits - when a song gets stuck in his head, you’ll hear him singing it for days, just walking around the apartment humming the melody or, if he has an audience, belting out the lines. He knows how much you love his sweet tenor. Another fact about you he’s filed away to devastate you with at the most opportune times.

Like when you need to kick him out of your bed. 

He continues singing despite your hand pressing on his lips, slurring the words directly into your palm. His eyebrows are working overtime, top half of his face playfully conveying whatever lyrics are being smothered against your skin. He’s so ridiculous, so over-the-top, even at three in the morning when anyone else would be exhausted, like you felt before he walked into your room, since his energy is infectious and perked you up better than the multiple cups of coffee you downed in your desperate attempt to stay awake. That’s San for you - he’s always giving you something when you need it - his time, his help, his energy. 

So you decide to give him something back, and replace your hand with your mouth, drawing him into a tender kiss, imbuing it with all those things you feel but never say. His muffled singing becomes a hum becomes a moan, at first surprised, then pleased. One of his hands drops to your thigh and with a bit of urgent tugging, he maneuvers you on top of him, chest pressed to chest.

His kissing is only the slightest bit sloppier when he’s been drinking, wetter from his tongue caressing yours with somewhat less skill than usual, but it’s never bothered you. You like seeing this side of him, looser with his inhibitions, with whatever holds him in place - or holds him back. One day you’ll ask him to show you more, when you’re both sober. 

And when things are different. Less… ambiguous between the two of you. 

If you reach that point. 

“Noona.” San whispers, thankfully pulling you from the heavier thoughts threatening to sink you right out of the moment. You open your eyes to look at him as he pecks your cheeks.  “I like kissing you.” 

You grin, letting your forehead knock against his. “Yeah, I kinda noticed.” 

“Aren’t you going to say it back?” The look he gives you would melt the hardest of hearts. This is why you’re not afraid to be needy with San. There’s no reason to be, not when he’s just the same. 

“I like kissing you too,” you declare, kissing the tip of his nose, laughing at the way his eyes cross as he follows your lips. “But now’s not the time for that, either.” 

“Then what time is it?”

Laughing, you gently guide him into a sitting position, keeping your arms looped over his shoulders. His lust is morphing into sleepiness, eyelids drooping as he gazes at you, and your heart goes so soft at the sight of him. 

“It’s time for you to go to bed.” 

“Okay,” he chirps, immediately flopping onto his back again. 

“Ohhhh no, not here. You gotta go. I still have to finish my work, and you…” The words stick in your throat. You can’t be here. You don’t want to say them. You want him to be here. Tonight, and tomorrow, and on and on. 

But that’s a conversation for another time. Not three in the morning.

“You have to go,” you groan, sliding off the bed and grabbing his arms, less gentle and more insistent this time. “Come on, get up!” 

San lets out a whine of protest. “But baby, why can’t I stay here?” 

Oh, he would drop a ‘baby’ now, slipping it in so casually, so naturally, like there’s nothing unusual about him calling you that. As if it’s not something new he only started doing the other day, happening maybe a handful of times since. 

Since the two of you have been doing this undefined thing, there’s really only been one unspoken rule. You sleep in your bed, and he sleeps on the couch. Even on the nights when Haneul’s working the late shift, or she’s over at Jongho’s. You never know if she’ll come home early, so you don’t risk it. It’s just easier this way.

Doesn’t mean you like it, though. 

“Because. If Haneul catches you coming out of here - “

The sound of a door opening makes you freeze right down to your tongue, leaving your sentence unfinished. Your head swivels towards your own door. A pair of feet pad down the hall, getting closer, then fading away, until you hear another door being closed. The bathroom. 

“Noona.” 

You turn to find a sober-looking San staring at you. He reaches out, hands settling on your hips, holding on to you as you stand between his legs. Clinging again. 

“She’s in early today, right?” 

The two of you probably know Haneul’s schedule better than she does. You nod.

“Then I’ll just stay in here. She’ll think I never came home.” 

He makes it sound so simple. So reasonable. He’ll stay here until she leaves. Why didn’t you think of that? Is it because you don’t like thinking of San with someone else, even if said person is an imaginary person who exists solely to provide an excuse that will allow you to get what you want? And if you get what you want now, it’s only going to hurt more when you can’t have it anymore?

Yeah, that’s probably it. 

“I don’t know…” you bite your lip.

“Come on,” he wheedles, drawing you into his lap again, cupping your face with both hands. “Let me stay with you. Don’t you want me?” 

And there it goes, the last remaining bit of your resistance. 

“Okay.”

San seems a little shocked, face lighting up in delight, and you wonder if it’s at how quickly you agreed, or that you agreed at all. Maybe both.

“But we have to be quiet. So, you know…” You trail off, gesturing wordlessly. 

“No moondancing?” He emphasizes the word heavily, lifting a brow, and you roll your eyes but grin as well.

“Right, none of that.”

“Just cuddles?” 

As if he needs to ask. You nod. “But I’m not coming to bed until I finish my work.” You reclaim your seat at your desk, folding your arms over the back of it, trying to give the appearance of someone with a solid backbone, since yours is apparently made of pudding. 

“That’s okay,” San says, already tugging his shirt off, then his pants, until he’s only in his boxer briefs. He peels back your comforter, sliding into the soft sheets, and again the action is so natural, so normal, like he does this every night, that something in your chest constricts. “I’ll just wait for you.” 

Your first thought is that you should inform him that he’s going to be waiting a while, but then again, maybe he won’t. 

You’re feeling suddenly inspired. 

(It’s three in the morning, and you’re falling in love.)

If you liked this fic, please consider reblogging! Likes do not help it get seen by other readers. 💕

Taglist: @sweetnspicy-noona @krystal-a @jennylychee @hiefisch

© 2023-24 by minisugakoobies. Crossposted to AO3. Please do not copy or repost. I do not allow translations of my work.

[blushweddinggowns]

They keep their relationship secret at the start, at Steve's request.

It's not that Steve was ashamed of Eddie or anything, but he knew what his friends were like. Nancy and Robin would have an absolute field day, especially with all of the whining and pining Steve had been giving them for months. The kids would immediately be all up in their business and he would probably get at least four different shovel talks when it did come out in the open. But worst of all they would all be biting at the bit to tell Eddie every embarrassing little thing they knew about him.

Steve could accept that, he could, he would, but could anyone blame him for wanting his boyfriend to not be aware of what a loser he could be? Eddie was still on the high of having Steve save his life and watching him not get his ass handed to him for once, and all Steve wanted was to keep that image alive during the early stages of their relationship. His image could be shattered after Eddie was madly in love with him.

Plus, Steve knew that he was Eddie's first real relationship and he wanted to give him the full King Steve wooing treatment. And that was a lot easier without being heckled by six children. And in Steve's humble opionion, he was doing a damn good job of it.

Calling every night just to ask how his day went? Check. Impromptu hugs from behind that involved picking Eddie up and twirling him around? Check. Special little presents throughout the week that never failed to make Eddie wear the prettiest blush Steve had ever seen? Double check.

He was even up for helping Eddie out with his drug deals on particularly busy weekends, always waving away Eddie's worried protests. No police officer in Hawkins would ever believe that drugs were being run through the Harrington household, even if the adult Harringtons themselves hadn't stepped foot in Hawkins for a year. Besides, he always managed to convince any of his lady clients to buy at embarrassingly high prices and was more than willing to be a charlatan for Eddie's financial sake.

So imagine his surprise when he wakes up to three furious kids pounding on his door the morning after scamming Tammy Thompson out of $30 for a gram of weed. He left Eddie behind in bed, thankful that he slept like the dead, kissing his hair before getting the door.

Max, Dustin, and Lucas stomped right past him the second he opened it, wasting no time before they started yelling over each other.

"Where is she?" Max gritted out, whipping her head around the living room, "And don't even try to lie, we saw her car here last night. And the weekend before!"

Steve pinched the bridge of his nose, completely confused but at least aware it was way to early for him to be dealing with this shit, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"We know you're cheating on Eddie, just admit it!" Dustin crossed his arms over his chest, "And after everything he's been through?"

Lucas was shaking his head, and giving Steve the most disappointed look he'd ever seen, it was cutting, "And with Tammy? I really thought you'd changed man. You have five minutes to explain yourself before we tell Mike, and he'll just kill you."

Steve just stared at the trio, his mind desperately trying to catch up to figure out how they knew about Eddie and why they thought Steve was stupid enough to throw it all away for a blonde kermit. Eddie choose that moment to sleepily wander down the stairs, eyes widening at the sight of three teenagers berating his boyfriend in defense of his honor.

It took a half hour for Eddie to convince them it was all a misunderstanding and even less time for Steve to find out that everyone knew about them from basically day one.

"When you suddenly stopped waxing poetry about Eddie's hair this and Eddie's eyes that, we just knew it had happened," Max shrugged.

"And I've seen you guys make out at the drive in like, three times now," Lucas added, "You're really not subtle."

"Not that we aren't happy for you!" Dustin smiled, immediately appeased by Eddie's explanation, "Robin just told us to give you space until you came clean, but everyone thinks it's great."

"Robin knows?!"

They all nodded, all way too pleased with themselves, "Who do you think told us?"

Steve groaned, she was never going to let him live this down when she found out about this stupid Tammy thing, let alone the fact that she had him clocked from the get-go.

Dustin turned to Eddie, still all smiles, "So now that you know we know, we have so much to tell you."

Steve watched, head in his hands as his favorite children started to regale his favorite person with all of his most embarrassing moments, debating on if he should be thankful that they managed to even wait as long as they had to spill the beans, or if he should examine just how poorly he had managed to hide his feelings.

Either way that was the last time Steve tried to hide anything from his kids.

[triflesandparsnips]

hey hey guess what it's time for

Update 4: Return of the (Soap) King

For those who haven't been following along, I've been having a nice time doing experimental archaeology and recreating cosmetics/household goods that are historically plausible for local idiot pirate Stede Bonnet to have had around.

Figure 1. Me, addressing my kitchen appliances.

So far we've had successful lip balm, yet-to-be-completed Oil of Lavender, the terrible tragedies that have so far befallen the pearl face cream, and, finally, the unending journey of the one household item actually mentioned on the dang show: the lavender soap (with updates 1-3 and several mini-updates).

Did this all secretly derive from my researching period-appropriate medical horror? Yes. Am I still going to write about it? Of course come on now I can't just keep that enema information to myself--

But TODAY IS NOT THAT DAY.

Figure 2. One very excited ship's surgeon who will unfortunately have to bide his fuckin time.

Nope, today we're on the next iteration of the lavender soap, because we're still at the "fuck around and find out" portion of this experimental process-- and so, behold:

Version 3.0 7 oz. dried soap 4 oz. ground orrisroot 1 oz. ground whole cloves 1 oz. ground benjamin 10 drops lavender essential oil oil of lavender, q.s. rosewater, q.s.

You may notice that I have, tragically, only added enough of anything lavenderish to allow myself the honesty of still calling this "lavender" soap -- as previously discussed, lavender essential oils (as we know them today) were not really a Thing, and the Oil of Lavender (...which is not an essential oil, but rather an infusion of lavender flowers and olive oil) is not quite ready for primetime scent vibes, so I genuinely don't think these are comparable to actually just grinding up and shoving in the dried flowers.

But for the sake of Science, I needed to find out if removing the flowers would help with the browning issue of previous versions, so-- out went the lavender. For now.

Figure 3. Oh no, I-- oh man, don't cry, I'm sorry, I'll put it back omg.

Other changes in this version are:

store-bought ground orrisroot (...listen, Thomas is but a wee lad, and not yet hearty enough to wreck regular orrisroot as hard as it needs);

store-bought ground benzoin (because it was cheaper to buy in bulk that the solid resin from the woo-woo shop);

increased the amount of orrisroot from 1 ounce to 4 ounces, in keeping with some other recipes, to try and bulk up the myristic acid content (i.e., the thing wot makes olive-oil based Nabulsi soap actually produce a bubbly lather)

I should at this point say that typically the scientific process recommends making only one change at a time when conducting Experiments, so that one may know what exactly affected a change in a positive, negative, or neutral manner.

Consider, however, that I have no patience. So fuck it, we ball.

Show us the soap, trifles

To get to the soap, you must first suffer through mortifying ordeal of process photos.

Figure 4. The ground orrisroot on my tiny digital scale (that actually measures grains, which itself is a holdover from apothecary measurements!)

Wait wait wait actually look at my tiny bullshit scale, I love it, look at its little one-gram calibration weight:

Figure 5. A baby.

Figures 6 and 7. An ounce of whole cloves (left) and the results of young Thomas's efforts thrown on top of the orrisroot and benjamin in the mortar (right).

I should note that rather than grinding the cloves in my granite mortar and pestle first, I put them straight into Thomas's maw-- I don't know if that led to how intensely clove-oily these grounds are, or the fact that the lavender flowers were not present to soak it up. Previously I got a grey-green powder out of grinding the both together, so this rich, wet clove-color did not bode well for my "can I stop this from being brown?" soap plans...

Figure 8. ...Or maybe it'll be fine? I added the dried soap, and now look at them all mixed together!

As a note, I had to actually use a whisk at this point rather than just rely on my pestle to do the work -- my mortar is Too Small for these shenanigans, and the four ounces' worth of orrisroot did not help matters. I won't say how much of this mix ended up outside the mortar and on my clothes, but it was... it was a non-zero amount.

Whatever, thought I. This is Science. This is me experiencing the divine art of creation across space-time with my alchemical forebears, and also this is why I should not be allowed in other people's kitchens.

Notably, the upped powder content meant that I had to add a lot more splashes of rosewater to get to a dough-y state where the soap could be hand-rolled, and I had to work significantly longer with the pestle-- while version 2.0 was, per my notes, about 8-10 minutes' worth of work, I would call this a solid 20 minutes at least of beating the ever-loving shit outta this mix until everything was incorporated.

And once it was, well--

Figure 9. Hello, brown.

As you can see, the soap mix does form up very nicely, though it still requires a spatula to clear the sides of the mortar and pestle.

At this point, remembering that the last time I hand-rolled wash balls my palms came away Very Brown, I donned some latex gloves before I commenced my rolling. However, because (and again, I cannot stress this enough) I lack patience, I threw in another change: rather than leaving them as balls, I squished them slightly between my palms to flatten them into slightly more traditional soap shapes.

Figure 10. Cookie dough or falafel: you decide.

A note regarding the scent: Whether it's the relative lack of the lavender, or the big bump to the orrisroot (or some magic alchemical combination of the two), the soaps, while still smelling strongly like spice cookies, now have an oddly-unfamiliar-but-fascinating scent profile, similar to what I found happened when I made the lip pomatum. There's no good reason why this should make me believe that I've come closer to a "real" recipe, but the feeling is there nonetheless -- and it's definitely interesting.

Finally, and because the flat sides of these soaps looked too innocent, too pure, I decided to try that octopus stamp again. For future reference, stamping immediately after making these? Not a great idea. The soap stuck to the stamp like a motherfucker, and so a lot of detail was lost. But regardless--

Figure 11. Spice cookie kraken soap cakes, holy shit.

And now, I actually do have to wait a few days before I can try them out, or they'll fall the fuck to pieces. Keep watch for mini-updates, though, as I check out how they dry and probably do more unfortunate stamp experiments on them.

[team-hot-wheels-imaginators]

From the outside looking in, the friendship between Brandon and Wyatt can seem...unbalanced. Almost like the relationship between the two boys resembles more of a hero/sidekick dynamic more than an equal dynamic.

Unfortunately, those observations are absolutely correct, we're not about to argue that.

However, the origins of the two's friendship may gave a bit of leeway to any who doubt the legitimacy of the boys' bond.

Straight from Gammy's scrapbook, there's a picture with a much younger version of both boys. Underneath, words written by none other than Gammy Gram herself, telling the whole story:

Wyatt made a new friend today.

While I was trying to make my good ol' fashioned buttermilk pancakes for breakfast, I remembered halfway through that we'd run out of eggs! I sent Wyatt out to go see if we could borrow some from the neighbors. Much to my surprise, the boy came home with bumps, bruises, and a left eye bluer than the noon sky. Not an egg to to be seen anywhere, but in his arms, he was carrying an unfamiliar bag.

Tail between he legs, he started apologizing to me, but I knew a story when I saw one, and WOO NELLY, did he have a story to tell...

Apparently, on the way to the neighbors, Wyatt spotted a kid getting robbed of his backpack in the middle of the road.

Now I know my grandson... he ain't the type to spot something like that and keep moseying along. I raised him better than that.

He roughed up the thieves good, but by the time he had chased 'em off, the owner of the bag was long gone.

He had come home to ask me if I'd seen a scrawny boy with blonde hair go by, and while I hadn't, I had a hunch about he kid he was talking about.

His name was Brandon Skye, and I had met his parents when they were movin' into the neighborhood just a week ago. Poor boy was so fragile lookin', a faint breeze could've tipped him over.

I knew what I had to do. Putting the pancakes on hold, I drove my grandson right over to the boy's house, and we promptly returned the pack. We even invited the family over for breakfast, which they happily obliged. Ended up spending the whole day together... I hadn't seen Wyatt have so much fun since Willy moved away.

At the very end, just as we were about to go our separate ways, the Skye boy (who had been very cautious to approach me), suddenly gathered the courage to scoot up to me and ask if Wyatt could come over next week. I took this picture right after I said yes.

[cat-mermaid]

MTV'S LIQUID TELEVISION

Before the internet, this was how little kids got exposed to super fucked up animation

Liquid fucking Television on the MTV

parents who weren’t paying attention in the 90s would leave anything on in front of they kids if it was animated. As a result, many very young children got exposed to fucked up shit (like baby me)

check this one out:

this was the first thing I ever saw from Liquid Television

my gram gram put it on for me one night while she sat in her easy chair and read somthin, completely oblivious to what was goin on in front of her grandkid's peepers

that fucking part where the guy gets stabbed by the metal leg hit me so hard as a baby, you did flat out NOT see blood in cartoons back then and I was SHOOK

then thar was this one:

this was on MTV and Nickelodeon (back when Nick didn’t have enough original content to fill their air time they would just air random shit)

WHO THOUGHT THIS WAS OK FOR NICK???? MTV yes but fucking Nickelodeon?!?!?

Oh and then theres this one that super messed me up for awhile:

BABY.

SHOULD.

NOT.

HAVE.

WATCHED THIS.

but baby did

as a grown ass adult I LOOOOOVE these shorts, they’re wonderfully animated and dynamic, but as a tiny kid I was NOT ready for ANY of it

and don’t get me started on all the Aeon Flux I shouldnt o seen

The irony is that these are so tame compared to what I found once I had internet access. You should have seen Newgrounds when it first launched, holy fuck, but I was older and a little more ready for messed up shit (emphasis on a little)

oh! oh!

✨bonus!✨

this one:

FUN STORY

on a rainy afternoon me and some other relatives my age were watching mtv (because there were cartoons on, duh) and this came on

this upset one of them so fucking deeply that they had to call their mom to take them home

even I was disturbed by it, but I remembered it mainly cos of how it affected my relation

funny how back then this was considered really messed up but now kids the same age as we were back then....

....get to watch this:

anyways now I inflict/gift u all with these wonderful animated shorts

have one more for the road! Baby me really didn't like this one, woo!

[stormyoceans]

your answer was so interesting! i definitely agree, one couple that's also good with physicality is yinwar imo i don't know if you've watched love mechanics but the shower kiss is like woah. also blueming's dream kiss is soooo good! can i ask your favorite scenes where there's not a lot of physicality per se between the actors but there's physical chemistry or just chemistry? like i think there can be a LOT of chemistry in a fight for example... answer if you can think of something dw if not! <3

AAAAAAAA im really glad my answer about kisses with good physicality was interesting!!!! 🥺 and i definitely agree about the veemark's shower kiss in love mechanics!!!! i personally have some issues with the show itself, but yinwar's chemistry and physicality is NOT one of them, they possess an insane amount of both and i really hope to see them working together in another series soon!!!!

it's kinda hard to think about scenes where there's a lot of chemistry between the actors but not much physicality because most of the time the two things go hand in hand, like for example the first two scenes that popped into my mind are da woon getting the paint off si won in blueming and the "what can i do to get you back?" moment in we best love: fighting mr. 2nd, but i think those both have their own physicality that matches the tone of the scene

i did find some that may fit your request, though, so here we go!!! in no particular order....

1) basically all the scenes between jae young and sang woo in the first 6 episodes of semantic error. due to the early antagonistic nature of their relationship and the fact that sang woo doesn't like to be touched, they're the perfect example of a pairing who doesn't have a very prominent physicality for most of the show, but still has crazy physical chemistry

2) the "i thought we should know each other's name if we're going to be friends" scene in the eighth sense. when the gazing is so intense it sucks all the air out of the room and leaves you breathless

3) the "have you been well without me" scene in our dating sim. they don't have as much physical chemistry as other pairings in here, imho, but i LOVE this scene and i agree with you that fights, or even just arguments, bring out a lot of the chemistry between actors since the tension is high and there are a lot of emotions involved

4) the "you punch me once, i kiss you once" scene in the eclipse. one of the reasons enemies to lovers is so popular in fiction is because it's a type of dynamic where, just like in a full blown fight, the tension between the characters is so high that it brings out the chemistry between the actors. and when the chemistry is already there to begin with you get firstkhao as akkayan

5) the "are you saying that i hurt you" scene in kinnporsche. however people may feel about this show, i think it's undeniable that mileapo have great physical chemistry, even when the characters aren't actually all-over each other

6) palmnueng dancing with maggie and ben respectively in never let me go. pondphuwin's chemistry so deranged that they be dancing with other people and still have the most palpable tension with each other from across the room

7) the danyok "i find you"/"i want to know who you are" scene in not me. look, there are some actors who simply have chemistry with EVERYONE and mr. first kanaphan is one of them. all the early danyok scenes in particular were incredibly delicious from this point of view

speaking of not me and actors who have chemistry with everyone, do non-canon pairings in BLs still count here because the gram(black!)white study scene and toddblack gun fight scene are INSANE, chemistry-wise, and no im not still bitter neither pairing ended up happening what are you talking about :))))))))

honestly there are tons of other pairings that i think have fantastic chemistry but i just can't remember a particular scene where they don't show a lot of physicality, so im just gonna list some here if you're curious: tehohaew in i told sunset about you, both payurain and prapaisky in love in the air (again, doesn't matter how people feel about the show itself, the chemistry between the actors is undeniable), fightertutor in why r u, jimwen in moonlight chicken, winteam in until we meet again/between us, pluemkevin in ghost host ghost house......

[tllgrrl]

Hallelujah

by Nefertiri Jones aka @tllgrrl

(Moodboard and prompt by @idontgettechnology)

Chapter 3: Interlude — “A Whole New World”

Summary: A brief interlude in which we find Bucky playing piano for yet another Bachelorette party. (Sam wasn’t kidding. And when did Disney Princesses become…A Thing?)

As he accompanies the tipsy revelers and smiles for Instagram selfies, he semi-seriously starts to rethink his career choices while Sam laughs his butt off at him from behind the bar, getting his life…and digits from Bridesmaids.

* * * * * * * * * *

“Uh whole new wooooooooooorld…”

“Holdon. Waitaminute…”

The redhead in the spotlight straightens her crown.

“Mister Piano? Can you play that part again…?”

Her friends at the Party Table, all of them wearing little tiaras and matching neon pink and green t-shirts, hold up their drinks, cheering.

“You totally got this, Angie!!! Woooooo!!”

“Woooooo!!! Sing it Angieeeee! Yaaay!”

“Come on, Red!!! Woooooo!!”

(Ah, Christ. The “Woo” Girls. If I have to play this song one more time. I wonder if Landscaping would be an interesting job? I like plants…)

More than a couple of them are holding up their phones, recording their friend’s performance, and definitely making sure get plenty of shots of Bucky “for The 'Gram”.

“Hey, Mister Pianoooohhh!! Over here! Can I have a smile?” the brunette with the huge diamond on her left ring finger waves her phone, calling out to Bucky.

“Ohmygawd, look at him!” she whispers to her fellow bridesmaid. “Wasn’t he in GQ last month? Jeez. I’m married, but I’m liking what I’m seeing and we’re in The Big Easy.

He’s big…and I could totally be easy.”

“Behave yourself, Jeannie!!” the blonde with the bright pink streak in her hair fairly squeaks and laughs. “But it’s not just him. Did you get a look at the bartender? I’ll be right back. I need a closer look at those arms…”

While the singer continues living her Disney Princess Magic Carpet Life, Bucky throws an amiable grin over at one of the bridesmaids who has her Swarovski-encrusted phone trained on him.

He doesn’t recall ever seeing anything so aggressively sparkly.

Keep reading on AO3…

Ch. 1 / Ch. 2 / Ch. 4 / Ch. 5 / Ch. 6

[telltalesonline]

Sabrina Carpenter’s Dating History: A List of Boyfriends

It’s no secret that Espresso singer Sabrina Carpenter prefers to keep her love life under wraps.

Despite being linked to a string of eligible bachelors, the pop star has managed to keep *most* of her relationships safely on the DL. But behind the scenes, whispers of romance are still going strong. 

Did she actually date Dylan O’Brien? What was the deal with Joshua Bassett? And that steamy TikTok kiss with Charlie Puth…was it all for the ‘gram?

Let’s dive into the clues, decode the cryptic Instagram posts, and uncover the truth behind the singer’s hush-hush relationships. Scroll down for Sabrina Carpenter’s dating history!

Ex: Bradley Steven Perry

Long before she was belting out breakup songs, Sabrina was all smiles with Good Luck Charlie star Bradley Steven Perry.

Bradley recently revealed all on the Unplanned Podcast, explaining that he and Sabrina shared a “high-school style romance” while filming their shows Girl Meets World and Mighty Med. 

Apparently, young Brad went all out in an attempt to woo her. Speaking to J14 back in 2015, Sab stated, “It was a really unique way to ask someone out. It was like the pirate movies, like they do the little bottles and they put notes in them and send them across the ocean, like one of those, and he put a note inside. It was cute.”

After painting a picture-perfect teen romance on Instagram, ‘Brabina’ unexpectedly called it quits. Some fans speculate that someone else was on the scene, but the truth remains locked away in the Disney vault! 

Rumored Ex: Bradley Simpson

From one Bradley to the next… 

In 2017, Sabrina’s on-stage chemistry with The Vamps’ frontman Bradley Simpson had fans wondering whether the pair were more than just friends. After sharing snaps of her and the British-born singer on socials, Sab’s followers started to speculate whether another romance was on the cards.

However, in an interview with Seventeen magazine, Sabrina quickly dispelled the rumors, saying, “We completely ignore it. For me, first of all, I didn’t know about all this. Bradley also isn’t on social media very much. I think we just try to live in reality as much as we can.”

Was their intense on-stage eye contact a sign of hidden feelings? Or were they just good friends putting on a show? 

We’ll never know for sure, but it certainly made for a great performance!

Rumored Ex: Corey Fogelmanis

Just a year after rumors were spread about Brabrina 2.0, fans started to play detective again, linking Sabrina with Girl Meets World co-star Corey Fogelmanis. Pictured in many playful snaps together, the pair seemed to have a lot of love for each other, but according to them, they’ve never been romantically involved.

Wishing Corey a happy 19th birthday back in 2018, Sab wrote on Instagram: “you’re a great friend and I’m honored to know you, and not date you. thanks for being there for me and not dating me. love u so much. Platonically.”

Corey has since openly embraced his identity as a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, using his platform to advocate for acceptance and visibility.

Continue reading at Tell Tales Online

[libidomechanica]

Who worse, the worship

Which or he who can body should.     If you out more return! With accompt, unties he torturing     the gradually is travelling at a quantity of     vowels a voice the fire she smooth Iv’ry Parties, Forsook, to     be more sweet, sweet joke abode

when you would many spirit’s     out of a Court na a flitts the faults. But where but my love     and call, desister’s Ball; what cannot be at! Who worse, the     worship afar: tossings at his dear, vanish; more leaves on     will the hies; thou hast liness

waterfalls, to stem keeps     resume when shed up. Tyrant air, and perish’d by and mean     tea in safely to sorry pantinople, like a long,     hang on he regular moved, and might I devoutly world’s     station be hopeth all

the sung near my three were he millio     for lover-sward could barbers’ eyes! Never senates     I in me, and they doe his in skies and lur’d try climb, and     she splashing child the grace, that you sit all alone, art, smiling’s     filled around him aid,

your eye. But carpe died. And screwy     fiddle all the road ambrosial render in the lady     had heaven only in whirl’d. Come away, kindest moment     of like Leaders clean, magnified to grammed wide, unworth!     A drum in day this

tenancient as drove pats the Divinity;     but t is but sounds feet went back to his my eyes!     Sever, patron widely supply each fair holly; a dead,     as prey, till be such a verse: no more he stay’d, which ten ye     what ocean—Truth! Those to

read, and Destiny, he near. And     let me on me; He began ten thus maiden Aunt. Him at     mountains undoing too brilliant repent in bed, here? When,     by the tinkling, bush, when the Carian’s down, as if thou now     languish’d the undefile

the boated and entail lone     Endymion speak steeps his bow, as he had bursts gracious horns,     and quiet luxury; and once;—esteem, likewise, What Juan;     will be back, and freckless and put the gate, too soon, room gat     sacrilegious birth; an

old my Mother should at first, the     confusion; here! Is for nonsentence, and is over     Endymion first attack the river, while clock,—a clean, by the     Noose by thee, oh this tyrants in the presence they call’d     Paradise, and days to the

did place, except their goal, had chose,     rob’d in Figured firmation bestow. Which grac’d his flood serene     and we know when in there we’d alive, the sacking earth-     flower the assault, nor fear, disting grass you wilt swimming     fleet or we to the poor

John half Englishman, and laught yellow,     each the breathed river. Our day I did grow rich, rank like     a faults, midst other worm the once to some guests once full-length     that’s my wealth, and soaring rain, and deep; for, evention wail,     wooing spangled upon

them twere is sigh. Soon as aged     sires, or was it be her! Gift fragrant in the though your face:     ev’ry Wordswords, nor cast most for Life, from his nights are great     god cans’t be at our euphony: that I would reading and     Monumental for a

laggard interrupt my flame. She     had implor’d pigeon eggs: and play, an’ tease thy so equal     topics: poem—of—I know it underside my brain for     her demand thy purl the fled with Nature, Thy holy, the     observation follows

murder, dismal knell; he, will be     safety to the Earth to my faith. By our human Race in     the Powder from thy Fate, to Sir Ralph from th’ Attack’d;     that snapped the bed to they were nearer bird so softer     pomanded man, and now he

hath summer the groans, and we’ll leads     are all that closing Cross, and loud? When she limbs are faint     afterward, the curs’d thy Fate, must then heaven foreign of silent     and up in Slumber of speechless made in youth and Noons,     slops into one’s favour

through the rose, rob’d in the stranger     in reflection, while with become a moment’s infusion     the loose overhead flew this that I am button bloud     is delight’st his sacred poor Susan those, his     All these wonders to me.

[shafhimo1]

Kundru ki Sabji | Tendli Recipe

There are few vegetables used in Indian cuisine, which are not really popular and are not given their due credit by many people. Ivy gourd or tendli/tindora/kundru is one of them. Most of the people have an aversion towards this veggie, hence, it is not even that common in households. However, I guarantee that with this Tendli Bhaji, that notion will change. This Tendli Recipe is a Gujarati style Kundru ki Sabji made with ivy gourd, potatoes and is easy, vegan and gluten free too.

About Kundru ki Sabji

I got this simple Tendli Recipe from a Gujarati friend of my husband. Thanks to him and his mother, I now know a couple of Gujarati recipes too. There’s something about this particular food culture that may not woo a lot of people at the first go. But once you keep trying dishes from the Gujarati food culture, you’ll know the versatility and the real flavors, which are much more than just sweet. This Gujarati style Kundru ki Sabji is one of those recipes, which are not just super simple and quite basic at the very first look, but also packs super flavors in it and is very well textured too. The veggies ivy gourd (tendli) and potatoes (aloo) add to the texture bit as well as make the dish comforting too.

Ivy gourd has many regional names in India. For instance, it is ‘tendli or kundru’ in Hindi and Konkani, ‘tondli’ in Marathi, ‘tindora’ in Gujarati, ‘dondakaya’ in Telugu, ‘kovakkai’ in Tamil, ‘tonde kayi’ in Kannada, ‘kundri or toruni’ in Bengali, etc. It is small in size, but is considered as a wonder ingredient because of its medicinal and health benefits. You really don’t have to do much to prepare this Kundru ki Sabji. Just fry your whole spices like mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves, ginger, green chilies along with the chopped ivy gourds and potatoes in a pressure cooker. Then, spice it up with turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and red chili powder (if using), pour in some water and season it well. Next, just cover and pressure cook till well done. You can keep the Tendli Bhaji gravyish or simmer it further for a semi-dry version.

More On This Recipe

Tendli or tindora has been a regular vegetable at my mother’s place. She would make a Goan style Tendli Recipe, which we would relish with chapatis and dal. It was so regular at my place that after some time I quite got bored of it. When I was away from home, I did miss this vegetable. Such are our minds. When we have it, we get bored of it or take it for granted, and when we do not have it, we miss it or long for it. Because of this Kundru ki Sabji, I’ve again got a hang of it and have now made it a part of my meals, whenever I get ivy gourds. My mother would make various Goan-style coconut based stir-fries with almost all the vegetables including ivy gourds and I would simply love all of them. In addition to chapatis and dal, this Tendli Recipe tastes really amazing with Gujarati rotli, plain paratha or even dal-rice combination. Step-by-Step Guide

How to make Kundru ki Sabji

Preparation 1. Clean 250 grams of tendli or tindora or kundru (ivy gourd) in water. Then, wipe them with a kitchen towel and chop lengthwise into 4 pieces. Wash, peel and dice 1 large potato too.

Make Tendli Recipe 2. Heat 2 tablespoons oil or ghee in a 2 litre pressure cooker. Add ½ teaspoon mustard seeds. I have made Tendli Bhaji in my small pressure cooker. It saves time, fuel and is easy for me. However, you can cook this recipe in a heavy bottomed pan or kadai/wok too. 

3. When the mustard seeds crackle, add ½ teaspoon cumin seeds.

4. Now, add 1 sprig curry leaves, 1 inch finely chopped ginger, 1 slit green chili and fry for a minute.

5. Add the chopped tendli and potatoes.

6. Add the following ground spices: - ½ teaspoon turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon coriander powder - 1 teaspoon cumin powder - ¼ teaspoon red chili powder, if using – the addition of red chili powder is optional.

7. Stir to combine the spices evenly with the veggies. Add ½ cup water and salt as required.

8. Pressure cook on medium heat for 1 to 2 whistles or till both the ivy gourds and potatoes are tender and cooked well. Check if there is any water still remaining. If yes, then keep the cooker on the stovetop, so that the water dries up. Also, the potatoes and ivy gourds should be completely cooked.

9. If you want a little gravy, then you can keep the water and no need to simmer the gravy. Since we like this Tendli Recipe as a side dish with roti, I prefer it with no water.

10. You can serve Kundru ki Sabji or Tendli Bhaji with Gujarati rotli or chapatis. This sabzi also goes well with plain paratha. You can also have it as a side dish with dal and rice.

Expert Tips

- To save on time, fuel and make it an easy task, I usually cook this recipe in a small pressure cooker. However, you can also make it in a heavy bottomed kadai or pan/wok. Just that it will take some more time for the veggies to cook. - You can opt to make the recipe with either oil or ghee (clarified butter). - Adding red chili powder in this recipe is optional. You can skip it. - If you like coconut, add some coconut to the veggies, once the cooking is complete. Read the full article

[terrminallycapricious]

Gamzee: Get rid of her.

Gram was surprised he even slept for a single hour. Waking up, he didnt want to waste any time. He fed the dogs, fed the snake, fed the kitten. Got this and that done in the house, before getting ready to go to Alternia once again.

Can't be too careful, so he slips on full protective clothing. Nothing heavy, or anything. Just to cover his exposed skin enough, except his head. The sun wasn't up, that wasn't the issue, here. Though, he wishes he had some bulletproof vests or something. Oh, well. The boots are the last to go on, and he's out to the transportalizer, putting in the coordinates, and appearing in the nearest port closest to the palace.

Stepping off and making his way closer, his heart starts to race, knowing what hes going to be doing. Luckily, things don't seem horribly busy, but a few trolls keep noticing him and talking amongst themselves, pointing. The Empress may be alerted before he even goes there, not like she would hide, though. She has way too much pride to be hiding or stepping down in any way. Soon, that won't be even a thought.

Gram makes his way straight into the palace. Guards run up to him, not too many, but he is now in full focus. He shoves away guards, some he just ignores quick enough to not get hit or shot. He didn't want to wear himself down using his power already for just the guards, so hands are good enough. Some poor guards even suffer a large claw wound from him, which makes gram have to shake his hand off before entering the throneroom as quickly as possible. The clown runs straight in the large doors, kicking out the guards, punching them, tripping them, just so he can close the heavy doors and lock them. He had learned how when he was working under the Empress. So much gold on them, though. Was that reaaaaally a good idea? Anyway.

Once those are closed, there are about 6 guards in the room, and outside the other currently closed doors, and there she is, the Empress. She knows exactly who is here, she doesn't need to see him at all. She sits up a bit more, looking in the direction she hears him breathing in. "You came back?"

Gram glared at her, and spoke in a sarcastic tone. "Oh yeah, I missed ya real bad. Can't stay away."

He walked up toward her, which makes her guards stand in front of her throne. Stopping in front of them, he stares in their eyes, like needles he fries their eyes quickly with his power, just as similar to the empress, though they were easier, and they have a chance of healing. For now, they hold their faces, going to the small block in the palace through the side door, for medical emergencies. Since Gram's last incident, they thought to move all that much closer to the throneroom. The other guards step in now, though hesitant seeing what just happened, and seen others they work for get harmed by this clown. One of them steps back to where they were standing, the other comes up to Gram, then backs up again once he gives them a look.

"Thats fuckin right." he laughed.

The empress looked down in Gram's direction once again, having heard what just happened, but not bothering to step in to avoid those guards getting hurt. "Do you plan on killing me?" It was almost as if she had read his mind, maybe she did.

Gram glared again. "I don't know, how far can I get?" 

Without letting her speak up, he starts up his chucklevoodoo once again. Going straight for the brain. She screams and grabs her head, and immediately kicks him down with her sharp heel. This knocks him down and makes it stop, grunting at the impact on the hard floor. Things start quickly. The other guards that were hesitating before, point their weapons at Gram. One shoots him in the same leg that he was shot in before, making the clown growl in pain. He got up, though, attacking the guard and knocking that gun out of his hand. He goes right for the guards neck, biting a chunk out of it and spitting it away. They were too in shock to bother to try to make it to the medical block, as they were bleeding out quickly.

"ANYONE ELSE WANT TO FUCKIN TRY M-"

He was cut short, not by a guard, but by the Empress, who kicked him down once again, aiming her trident right at his torso.

"You wont get very far, your friend is just going to have to come back to save you again. You already took my eyes from me, I wont let you finish the job, you filth."

Gram laughed and looks up the gold trident, and then at her face. Still with a smile, though he will admit he is afraid of getting hurt beyond repair, or at least, wont be repaired easily.

"Ya won't, 'cuz you dont know anyone else like me. I know you wanna use me for somethin, don't you? that would be a damn shame."

"You think I won't?"

"Yeah, no, that would be a bad fuckin idea."

"You haven't taken me down yet, and you wont. I can easily replace you. Goodbye, Gamzee."

He grabs her trident above the points, just right at the handle, and shoves it away, right as she stabs down toward him. This stabs into the floor, JUST right below his armpit. He lets out a goofy laugh, at just barely missing that. He rolls to the side immediately. She realizes she missed him and raises the trident toward where she can hear his footsteps.

"Havin trouble motherfucker? lemme fix that." Once again he aims his chucklevoodoo at her, with all he can put out, stronger than ever, driven by his adrenaline. She screams once again, grabbing and scratching at her own head. She tries to fight back once again which makes the pain worse, but it shoots back to gram. This makes him wince, but he doesnt stop. Not until she is down and not fighting. So much for taking her brain, hes sure it'll be like soup in there once hes done. She swings her trident and stabs wildly to get him to stop. A few times, her trident cut into his arm, his side, and one point of the trident even stabbed into his left shoulder. He grunted in pain, gritting his teeth together, but he still kept going. She finally fell after a while, unable to keep herself up from the pain. She couldn't fight back anymore, not after the damage from the first time that the others at the palace could not repair a hundred percent. The Empress did however have new bionic eyes being made, but now that won't matter.

Gram heard the other guards that were left in the room that didn't run off, coming at his back. Only two. His powers were still going hard, he looked away from the Empress only for a moment to knock those two down, which wasn't hard as they didn't expect it. Not the smartest guards you have here, Ma'am. He then turns back to her, continuing to fry her, coming toward her as he does, picking up her trident she was frantically reaching for after she fell. His eyes glowed brightly and he could feel his own eyes getting tired, his brain was wearing out. Now was a good time as any. he stepped beside her, and raised the trident high above her writhing body, and stabbed right into her heart as hard as possible, til it went all the way through and hit the hard floor. Once again she screamed, and lost her voice immediately. Clawing and grabbing at the trident, she tried pulling it out, with what life she had left. How could she let someone so easily take her down? It's all so pathetic, and embarrassing. She won the throne, she worked hard for it.

Gram pulled the trident out, and stabbed again, twice, into her mess of a heart. This finally silenced her. She writhed still a bit longer. Gram watched silently, stopping the chucklevoodoo. His new rainbow drinker DNA, was screaming hungry. This is what he's been preparing for. No time to think. He pulls the trident out, putting it in his sylladex, and drops to her freshly dead body. He bit right into her, drinking as much as his body could take. Gotta make SURE she is dead. If the other guards were still in the room, they're out now. Gram can hear them faintly panicking outside the doors, but all that's in his mind, is that she taste delicious. He goes at this for a while, until he is just about too full. Part of him comes in behind, and goes right for biting and chewing her flesh. Ripping it all to pieces, some he spits out in the bloody mess on the floor. What a messy eater.

She's unrecognizable at this point, and grams body feels like he's drunk. But his energy is high and happy. He laughed, sitting up and taking out a knife, cutting up what was left, taking bones, and putting them in the sylladex, one after another, until she looked like animals had gotten to her. He had also filled up a few bottles with the leftover blood, putting that away too. He stood up again, and by the time he did, he looked over, and there were terrified guards, and people who worked in the palace, staring at him. The news had gotten out already. He felt he had somehow intensely colorful tunnel vision toward them. But he didnt say anything to them, he just walked ahead to the side door, moving straight to where he knew the prison was. His own blood, and her blood and meat, dripping off of him. One thing he had in mind after he would be successful - Release the prisoners. He makes his way down, still having those keys he was given. What a fool Empress, never asking for those back. He took them out, and started releasing them, one by one. He didnt bother to speak, his mind was just on autopilot. He felt floaty, and he's just going to silently enjoy this til he can think clearer.

After maybe 30+ prisoners were let free, a lot less than last time due to some being sadly killed off, he scanned the area for more, then headed back up. It didn't seem like anyone was mad at Gram. Maybe scared. Some of the higher up people next to the Empress seem to have come out to the palace aswell. Gram tried to avoid them as quickly as possible. He will return soon, but for right now, no talking, just leave. He quickly finds the nearest port again, and puts in his coordinates, stepping on straight to home. He had just barely avoided those older trolls.

As soon as he was home, he laid right down on the floor in there. Just for a little while. God hes so full, and his head is spinning, not terribly though but it is. His body wants to get up and move around, do more, but it also wants to just lay here for a long time. Staying here is good. He'll treat those wounds later. Well done, Gamzee. You caused chaos on Alternia. Hopefully for the better. He has many plans for when he heads back, hopefully he wont be greeted with anything horrible. He was very very proud of himself, though. What's best? He didn't get horribly disfigured. Time to rest.

[cultivatedmemes]

Magic and Misfits a collection of my favourite sentences from the first three episodes of Dimension20′s Magic and Misfits. Part 1/??? feel free to change gender specific words, pronouns,  whatever you like to make it fit your muse better!

❝ I want [School Name] on three, Family on six. One, two, three- ❞

❝ Oh, who are you to judge me? You think you're better than me, bird? ❞

❝ Do you think that pigeons got preferences around food? Do you think there are some pigeons that are like, "I like Cheetos," and then there are other pigeons who are like, "I like Fritos," and then the other pigeons are like, "I don't fuck with Doritos"? ❞

❝ Fuck you guys. I always knew magic was real! ❞

❝ This is weird shit. But hey, private school is crazy, all right? They got juice and shit in the fountains, so I think that's the thing. ❞

❝ No, Mother, I did not rent an owl on the internet! There are strict handling laws in Seattle. ❞

❝ I'm very proud of you. Artistic expression is so important. It's like all your piercings and the tattoos that you've got. ❞

❝ Clearly I'm different and cool and so much darker than my peers. I deserve this. ❞

❝ Look, I did okay in school, I went along with all the normals and everything for as long as it was convenient, but this is a great opportunity for me!❞

❝ My entire life I have felt just very different from everybody else. I'm very, very different, and that sets me apart and makes me unique and very creative. ❞

❝ If they make me forget you, you have to kill them all with your magic! ❞

❝ Don't worry, I'll do a ton of magic killing. ❞

❝ Oh, so you're like a raven bringing good tidings and news? ❞

❝ I don't believe or trust you. You constantly say, 'It's for the cont,' and I don't know what that means. ❞

❝ Woo, D’s make degrees!❞

❝ No, I wouldn't have enrolled you in a school that involves a flying rat as a delivery mechanism ‘cause we have email. ❞

❝ Oh, boy. Are you gonna be weird, or will you be normal? ❞

❝ Please be normal... ❞

❝ Don't bow. Don't do that, that's so weird. Please don't do that. ❞

❝ You don't have to stay, you can go. I know that I'm bad. I know I'm bad to be around. You can go if this is not good for you. ❞

❝ Did it fly here from England? It's hundreds of days, that’s－ Where does it rest on the ocean? It can't lock its wings like an albatross and sleep on the wind. ❞

❝ That doesn't sound cool, that sounds wizardy. ❞

❝ I thought you were gonna straight up die. I thought you were gonna get murdered by a bird. ❞

❝ Owls don't ring in the wild. I don't wanna be Mr. Bird Facts all the time, but owls don't ring naturally. ❞

❝ Oh, that's just a piece... Mm, no it's fine. Good for you. I'm very proud of you, and I'm sure your rocks are very magical. ❞

❝ You're... so... sad. ❞

❝ I'm having the best time I've ever had in my life. I'm not sad right now. ❞

❝ My latent abilities as a witch are probably just late in blooming because the flower that blooms in adversity is often the most complex and dark of them all. ❞

❝ I don't have a screen on my phone. I only have like, three numbers saved in there. It's 911, poison control, and animal control. ❞

❝ My self-esteem isn't really tied up in my knowledge of this strange new place that I just found out existed, so. I'm good. ❞

❝ Scuppers? Is that the sport? That’s some, oh, man, that don't sound cool at all. Saying I'm a scuppers player does not sound like it's gonna be cool. ❞

❝ Okay, all right. I can integrate this into my world view and still be fine. All right. ❞

❝ Is it because anything that you nurture and care for dies a horrible death? ❞

❝ They don't all die! Sometimes they do stuff, or they tell me to do stuff. Sometimes they don't turn out to be animals. One time a pig's head in the butcher shop told me that God and the devil killed each other. So you know, I don't know if that's an animal or not. I don't know if that's an animal or not, and it's been happening for a long time! ❞

❝ I don't know you, so why are you conspiring with me? ❞

❝ Just general whimsy feels to be hittin' here. ❞

❝ That is going to do numbers on the 'Gram. ❞

❝ It's dark, I'm dark. I'm so spooky. ❞

❝ You guys don't have to hang out with me if you don't wanna. I know it sucks to be around me. You just saw a bunch of animals vomit blood. I know that sucks. You don't have to hang around me if you don't want. ❞

❝ Real people aren't tropes, though, you know? I'm not a character. ❞

❝ You clearly belong here and should be here and should be learning magic. I'm basically just here to get this, just cut out of me, and just be able to have a life, you know? ❞

❝ I am not an evil wizard! ❞

[subtlehysteria]

Shiro gonna use those poems to woo Adam for Valentine’s Day. What would the others do for each other, platonically or otherwise? I feel Altean’s had a love day too.

Oooooh interesting ask! Let me think...

Adam would 100% bring Shiro breakfast in bed and I can defs see Shiro getting Adam really cheesy cards with cute poems in them. Shiro would also order the most over the top ridiculous bouquet of flowers for Adam and sometimes even a Sing-A-Gram to deliver them. Its sort of an inside joke between them that Shiro be as cheesy as possible on Valentines. (Adam secretly loves it, and Shiro knows it, but they’ve both agreed to never acknowledge it lol)

I think Adam and Shiro would both start getting Keith little things on Valentines day as well so he doesn’t feel left out but also because he’s family and they care. They’d maybe go out to their favourite diner and Keith can enjoy his favourite strawberry milkshake - dairy-free of course.

Lance would be that one friend who gets all of his friends chocolates or roses on Valentines. For Keith, I feel like he’d maybe serenade him with a song. Keith isn’t comfortable with huge showy gifts, he’s more of a low-key romantic where Lance loves the more overtop stuff. I can see Keith maybe taking Lance out on a hoverbike ride and maybe the two having a picnic while they watch the sunset over the desert, or if they’re near a beach then they’d probs have their picnic there.

Pidge isn’t really big on Valentines Day mainly because people put such a big emphasis on only romantic love. However, Matt would always have a small flower arrangement and a slice of her favourite dessert sent to her school and she’d always give some gadget he’d been eyeing in return.

Hunk bakes cupcakes for everyone and with Shay I think he’d go full out and cook a full three-course meal the two can enjoy together. I could even see Shay maybe helping him cook and that sort of becomes their tradition.

Hmmm if Altea did have a type of Valentines holiday I think they’d be a little more advanced than Earth in that they celebrate all kinds of love, from romantic to platonic to familial etc. It would literally be a Love Day where you shower the ones you love the most with gifts to show how much you appreciate them.

I could see Allura spoiling Romelle with a shopping trip or maybe a spa day together. Coran’s love day plans are always next level. He would spoil his romantic partner rotten. And of course, Allura and Coran would give each other and all their friends small personalized gifts. Team Voltron sort of adopts the Altean’s version of Valentines Day and end up giving each other small gifts, whether it be chocolates, flowers or something more personalized like new art pencils for Keith or a charm for Allura’s bracelet for example!

[ozzieowens]

☾ ` - ozzie owens, the gifted that resembles froy gutierrez ust walked by. they are twenty three years old and have been in seattle for twenty three years (non-sequentially). they are currently a barista / aspiring author when i see them i���m reminded of broken mirrors, bloodshot glares, muttering to himself, worn out keypads, and bitter coffee.  oh and that song hospital by the modern lovers. their pronouns are he + him. ( mazzy ) ` mediumship [can see/communicate with the dead]

𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐒

FULL NAME: Ozzie Oliver Owens NICKNAMES: N/A BIRTHDAY: February 1st, 1998 AGE: Twenty-Three SUN/MOON/RISING: Aquarius/Aries/Gemini ORIENTATION: Heterosexual EDUCATION: Bachelor’s in English from UCLA OCCUPATION: Barista at Pluto Organic Cafe POSITIVE TRAITS: creative, intelligent, honest . . . he is just not a pleasant boy ! - a review by lexi NEGATIVE TRAITS: pessimistic, avoidant, resentful, scatterbrained, anti-social, callous, critical.

𝐅𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐘

FATHER: oscar owens MOTHER: catherine nilsen GRANDMOTHER: sylvia nilsen OTHER FAMILY: caroline nilsen (aunt, deceased.), nora leveaux (cousin.)

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐏𝐎

Klaus Hargreeves (The Umbrella Academy) [in relation to: gifts]

Dani Clayton (Bly Manor) [in relation to: backstory]

 𝐁𝐈𝐎 ( death tw, divorce tw)

nora had always been gram’s favorite, but at least ozzie had a dad. (well, at least he did for a little while.)

that was how life would be set up from the moment he was born twelve hours after his cousin, nora leveaux. she had this, but he had that. it was a constant wheel of comparisons too large for a child’s mind to fully process. it manifested for the both of them in fights, both physical and verbal, but above all else, childhood was eclipsed by memories of spending days under gram’s fun, but less than responsible eye. they would crush herbs, water plants, make candles, and study tarot decks. he never cared for any of it, and of course, nora got more attention because she excelled. luckily the bitter parts of childhood have gone and ozzie spends his time with nora subtly bonding by going for walks at family thanksgiving, or ordering her lunch at work. although sometimes it has felt like it, ozzie’s life didn’t begin with nora, and he’s not planning on it ending with her either. but with his luck, she’ll probably die twelve hours after him or something of the irritating sort.

contrary to his own belief, ozzie’s life officially began when oscar owens and catherine nilsen crossed paths at a bar of all places. nine months later, catherine was walking down the aisle, given away by her mother and sister with newborn ozzie in her arms serving as a bouquet. it was a disaster from the start and before ozzie could even make memories of his parents being together he was spending his first thanks-christmas in reno with his dad at age seven. 

for most of the year, ozzie lived in seattle with his mom. this meant constantly being around nora, and his aunt caroline, and their gram. he didn’t ever buy into the witchy-woo stories gram liked to tell, nor did he care for long hours in the diner with his mom. and aunt caroline...well now he can’t recall exactly where aunt caroline was running off too all of the time. instead, ozzie’s attention turned to academics. he loved stories and eventually his love for reading blossomed into writing, and eventually ozzie reached high school and had fully converted himself into the blacksheep of the family simply by valuing his education.

that value of education got him a scholarship out of seattle, away from nora, and into UCLA. ozzie was going to be someone, he was going to accomplish things, he would write books and do interviews in the paper. until he met her. sophia manning. she was a journalism major who not only cracked cases, but cracked ozzie’s shell. she was perfect, his soulmate, they fell hard and fast, which is what led to him doing something as stupid as proposing just before his twenty-first birthday. the excitement of their proposal didn’t last long though because a short two days after his twenty first, aunt caroline passed. suddenly, rapidly. for the first time in their lives, nora and ozzie made amends.  

then the trouble really started. 

ozzie began to see aunt caroline everywhere. in his rearview mirror, on his way to class, in his dreams. any time he got too caught up in his head, sophia shackled him back into the present. he wasn’t stupid enough to tell nora, or do something dumb like move back home, but life changed after that february. his big dreams of becoming an author were still insatiable, but he began to put a lot of energy into this upcoming wedding of his. he didn’t mind the idea of being a husband forever, and maybe even having an ankle biter or two. but right when the grief reached manageable, tragedy struck again when sophia never made it home off of interstate 405. 

ozzie spiraled, but managed to make it to graduation. this was like aunt caroline but ten fold. sophia indented their bed at night, she whispered to him while he was brushing his teeth, he’d get his morning coffee and see her sitting at a table in the cafe. every therapist he’s tried to talk to and article he’s read says it part of the process. the process sucks. seeing sophia everywhere became too much to bare and then he moved home. not even escaping to seattle saved him of these visions, but at least he found a friend in nora. 

he’s been back a year now, working, letting that novel collect dust, and finding company in whatever part of his grief that isn’t letting go of sophia.

𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐒

caroline and catherine (nora + ozzie’s moms) are twins, so it was some big joke to everyone that him and nora were born on the same day. gram calls it magic, ozzie calls it punishment from the universe. 

speaking of gram and magic ??? she insists that there’s been a curse on their family for generations that thwarts it’s members from finding true love. while it is a little weird he doesn’t know anybody in his family with a semblance of a healthy love life, he doesn’t buy into it (classic man move) 

mf never even liked california

he was a broody asshole before all of his Tragedy, but now he’s like...an extra broody asshole deluxe

he’s predictable and likes his coffee black

nora is shockingly the only person he’s nice to these days

his mom, catherine, moved on from working at the diner when ozzie was about sixteen, and she now owns her own natural fragrance shop full of soaps and bath bombs. tourists love it. 

[cgbraincell]

This is Chally, she is one of my geckos (compared to foster boys). She was similar in younger structure to another of my geckos I bought from a pet store (it’s the one you shouldn’t, and that is a conversation to another time), and I had named him Grahm, so it fit. Grahm has since hit very different proportions.

Chally is my designated “Spicy Girl,” due to her not being shy about letting me know when I have plucked her up - usually off my back - in a manner she finds uncomfortable. She is well within her right to nip me and I apologize to her for it since I am in the wrong in those cases. I cannot for the life of me get her colors photographed right, when fired down she is a lovely greenish tone, with cream raised scales and this incredible variable orange all over her body. When fired up, the green turns a chocolate brown. My favorite bit is how her firing scales blend into the orange in an almost airbrush fashion along her head and dorsal.

Chally was adopted to me from my friend who I have mentioned, and in general our geckos are more part of our collective, although some are obviously hers or mine. In the case of either of us needing a hand, break, or anything happening to us, we entrust our gecko care to the other.

Why I want to talk about Chally has everything to do with sexing.

When my friend picked Chally up (from a location my “Shin” has come from alongside one of her gargoyle geckos) and looked at her in the parking lot, she noticed the indent in Chally’s post-cloacal bulge and assumed a male. Later when I was introduced to Chally - unnamed at the time - I noted overlapping scales and some instance of pores. Chally has been a mystery to us.

Here is a chart that is often used for sexing, and there are of course folks using loupes (not affiliated) to look for pores. It is a generality that the sexing can be done looking for the features mentioned in the chart and my insecure fellow Io has all of these markers, with a seriously incredible amount of wax coming from his pores.

Primary and secondary sexual characteristics can vary and intermix in just about any animal, so it is of no surprise to find a gecko who had overlapping scales, some pores, and this bulge indent, only for me to be fairly certain that she is, in fact, female. As Chally has grown, I have noticed the overlap has lessened, and although she still has some ‘pseudo’ pores, I have no doubt she is female.

As I have mentioned, there is some degree of my interaction with my geckos that would be marked as irresponsible as a whole. Based in my own curiosity, I have let different geckos ‘meet’ in neutral spaces where they have been watched closely. Previously, I let Alduin smell something from Eddie’s enclosure and he was all over it. I also let him meet Eddie and he had some definite interest. I figured he would be a good critter to get a read on Chally, and he showed the same interest, including singing to her from a distance. His attempts to woo are clumsy, so I put my fingers in the way for him to bite during his amorous display.

Initially, this told me Chally was female, until I had Alduin meet “Thel,” wherein Alduin seemed somewhat interested sexually. Thel is another conversation piece entirely. Yesterday, I let Chally and Io meet, knowing that Io is...uncertain how to put this. He tries to claim his space with his scent in any way possible, including regularly dropping waste or projectile urinating (seriously) when he is out and smells anyone else. He’s not shy about taking fifteen minutes to rub his wax all over a surface either. As an aside, I’ve noticed what appears to be pores on his hemepenal bulge as well. That being said, he does not seem to know how to react to a female.

He spent fifteen minutes doing this.

Although he spent some time smelling Chally, his sexual interest did not culminate in anything - nor would I have let it. Chally, however, was entirely receptive to his presence alone, lifting her back end to allow vent access. While I suppose there is a chance I have read this wrong and she was threatening to poop on him, I’ve suspected since I met her that she is actually female, and it just seemed to be another check mark on that list of why she definitely is.

Chally was acting ‘odd’ recently. I have been working to get everyone set up in ideal enclosures and she is meant to go into the 20 gallon Hex from Thrive (PetSmart), but in the meantime she was in a bin that was admittedly too small. She had started fitting herself under this habba hut she could barely squeeze under, and otherwise was guarding it. I set something up quickly in an enclosure I could stick substrate in, under the belief that she was, perhaps, about to lay duds. We do not know her age but she had grown rather quickly to about 8″ (20.3cm) long and 34g since I got her. I suspect she is about a year old, so likely too early, but they will surprise us sometimes. I see she has been enjoying this new setup and has not been shy about eating, but she dropped two grams after I put her into it. I have not dug around it yet, however she has been eating an awful lot since I got her so could just be a variance of whether or not There Was Poop in that Gecko.

They can surprise us sometimes, showing markers of being one thing or another and then we find out suddenly they are not that. I am probably fairly safe in saying Chally is female. Time will tell.

In the meantime, I sit in fear wondering, if she grew 3″ in 3 months, how big will she end up being? She is lacking certain adult proportion. I may have a very big lady on my hands, and I am both excited and terrified.

Also just to be clear, you should not have your geckos ‘meet.’ Just because I am a curious fool does not mean it is wise, and I accept that, and recommend against it.

[bittysvalentines]

la dolce far niente

To: @insertatitlehere​

From: @wrathofthestag​ 

 For @insertatitlehere​ who wanted some family drama, pets, some introspective Jack, or social media.  How about all of them? :) I hope you like it. From @wrathofthestag​

 Fic Summary:  With Bitty out of town for a few days, can Jack learn to unwind and enjoy the sweetness of doing nothing?

 Rating:  General Audience.

It had come as a surprise.  Just as Jack and Bitty had settled in for an evening of Netflix and Chinese takeout to enjoy the last sleepy summer days before Jack’s preseason the call came in.

“He did what?” Bitty sat upright on the couch, practically knocking over the bowl of pepper steak on his lap.  “Oh no!”

Jack looked at Bitty, who in turn, stroked Jack’s arm and shook his head, as their husky, Netty, nervously paced around the room.  

“Coach broke his leg, he’s okay,” Bitty quickly whispered then returned to the call at hand.  “What did the doctor say?”

Bitty spoke to Suzanne, throwing out an occasional, “uh-huh,” and finally hung up with a big whooshing exhale.

“What happened, Bits? Is Coach okay?”  

“That darn man!  He insisted on cleaning the gutters himself—even after mama warned him not to—and he slipped as he was coming down the ladder. Bam! Broken fibula!” 

And just like that, Bitty was off to Madison the next day to help Suzanne out and act as referee between her and his Aunt Marlene.

The night of Bitty’s departure, Jack sat in bed catching up on long-ignored emails.  He waited for Bitty to text him, letting him know he arrived safely.

He saw an email from Ruben, the Falcs head of social media, and groaned. The subject was read Social Media Update.  He’d been on Jack for a while to get his Instagram going and much to Jack’s chagrin, George agreed.

Ruben had called Jack into his office, a while back, and Jack already knew what was coming.

"George said photography’s your hobby,” Ruben said matter-of-factly.  “So let's set you up with an Instagram." 

"Bitty already did, I just haven't done anything with it,"  Jack said as he fidgeted with the Falcs paperweight on Ruben’s desk.

"Jack, the only thing worse than no social media is bad social media," Ruben sighed.

"You sound just like Bitty, " Jack said as he shrugged helplessly.

"Yeah, well, there’s a reason I like that boy."  Ruben smiled.  "Now let's get some content in there.”  

Since that meeting, Jack uploaded exactly zero images. That was three weeks ago.  He now took to ducking into empty rooms whenever he’d see Ruben walking his direction.

+++

Jack's alarm had gone off twenty minutes ago but he remembered the conversation he had with Bitty before he left...  

“Why don’t you finally do all those little things you’ve been wanting to do, but never have time?”

“Little things?”

“Yeah, you know.  Treat yourself."

Bitty leaned in and kissed Jack.  A big lush kiss. 

"You know how you’re always saying you want to sleep in more, try some new recipes, read a book on the balcony—those things. Do it. Do a little nothing."

Jack smiled thinking of the possibilities, and so he opted to stay in bed.  He stretched lazily and watched the sunlight waft in. The light made curious shapes on the bedroom ceiling. 

He turned to look at Bitty's side of the bed. Even though Jack had the entire bed to himself, he stayed on his side the entire night.  He reached over and took Bitty's pillow and pressed it to his face.  It no longer smelled of him, but Jack hugged it to his chest.

Just then Netty walked in, the look on her face clearly demanded breakfast.  She gingerly strolled over and placed her chin on the empty side and looked up at Jack through lowered lashes.

"I know, girl.  I miss him too."

Netty’s tail wagged.  

Bitty was never really a pet person, and it had taken a whole month for him to really warm up to Netty, but when Jack went a long roadie, Netty stuck to Bitty’s side.  By the time Jack returned, Bitty now called her Punkin, Cookie, Biscuit, and about a million other baking-related nicknames.   

“Jack, she’s just so sweet—and has your eyes.  Don’t you, my little praline?”  Bitty had said as he scratched Netty’s chin.

Jack put the pillow down and sat up. Netty perked up.

"All right, let's get you some food and we'll go out for a run.  Let me just see if I got any messages from Bits."

Jack reached for his phone and checked it. He already had a message waiting for him.

Bitty: Morning, handsome! Text me when you're up. Say hi to my little cupcake.

Jack: Netty said your pillow is VERY soft. We might have to make room for her every night.

Bitty: Jack Laurent, please tell me you did not let her sleep in our bed.

Jack: Maybe? 

 Bitty: Jack!

Jack: Haha. Just kidding. I might, though. The bed's too big without you.  

Bitty: <3333

Jack smiled.  He got out of bed and turned back to look at it. He was struck with the urge to take a photo of it, and then on a whim opened up Instagram.  Scrolling through the filters, Jack felt overwhelmed by all the choices so he skipped that part and typed his caption.

The bed feels too big this morning.

He smiled and pressed "share."

"Shit.  Was I supposed to do hash things?"

Netty looked up at him and Jack frowned. He edited the post and tagged Bitty. 

"There."

Jack walked into the bathroom and saw his toothbrush sitting solitary.  He felt an instant pang of longing as he missed having Bitty's toothbrush next to his.  A toothbrush.  Jack felt so silly.  The chirping would have been endless if the guys—Samwell and Falcs alike—could see him now.

He looked at his reflection in the mirror and blushed.  Jack decided in that instance that rather than feeling sorry for himself (Bitty had only been gone one day and Jack needed to pull himself together, tabarnak) he would document his day to show Bitty what he was doing.  Also, he could finally get his Instagram going and get Ruben off his back, but mainly it was for Bitty… and a little teeny bit for Jack.

The caption read: Good oral hygiene is the cornerstone to any healthy smile. Which comes in handy when you have someone who makes you smile. @omgcheckplease 

After he brushed his teeth, Jack walked to the kitchen and poured some kibble into Netty's bowl and she eagerly dug.  Jack took out the coffee grounds from the cupboard and was about to get the pot going when he stopped and remembered the Chemex Nursey had gotten him for his birthday.  

He had used it a few times, but mainly he’d stick to the coffee machine because Bitty would be so antsy for his morning cup.  This time, however, Jack knew he could be a bit slower.  He'd drink that “hipster bullshit”—Shitty's words, not Jack's—and really savor his morning cup.

He ground the beans and set the kettle to boil. He folded a coffee filter into a conical shape and wet it.  After he had placed it on top of the Chemex, he put the grounds into the filter.  Once the water was ready, Jack slowly poured it over the grounds and watched it drip, drip, drip away. 

Jack's thoughts suddenly took him to his childhood. Every morning when maman was home, he'd make her coffee.  He hadn't thought about it in years, but he would get up early (anxious insomnia kept slept at bay often for young Jack) and make her some coffee in the old silver Italian percolator that always sat on the stove.  

"Jacky, you made me coffee!" Alicia would say every single time, sounding just as surprised and genuine as the time before. 

He remembered how he watched her carefully a few times and then memorized all the steps so that one day, he would be able to do it on his own. And he did! Jack felt less alone somehow, brewing coffee for his mother as the rest of the world slept.

A great cup of coffee this morning, thanks to @derekmaliknurse’s birthday gift. @omgcheckplease should I pour you a cup? #chemex 

Netty pressed her nose to Jack's calf. 

"Hey, girl.  As soon as I'm done with my coffee, I promise we’ll go."

Just then, his phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Do my eyes fucking deceive me?"

"Hey, Shits."

"Don't 'Hey, Shits,' me."

"What do you mean?" 

Jack could already hear the teasing mirth in Shitty's voice.

"Well, I'm sitting here in Haus 2.0, chowing on some cereal, having my morning caw-fee, scrolling through my ‘Gram when lo and behold, not one but two—two motherfucking super soft JLZ posts appear on my feed."

Jack grinned.  "Oh?"

"I just about spat out my Oops Berries, brah."

"The front office asked me to step up my online presence,  that's all."

"That's all? Lemme talk to Bitty."

"He's in Madison."

"Madison? Why?"

"Coach broke his leg and he's out there helping Suzanne."

Shitty was quiet, almost too quiet.

"Shits?"  Jack asked, eyebrow quirked. 

Shitty guffawed.  "Jack, I love you but let's call a spade a spade."

"What do you mean?" He asked feeling transparent. 

"Brah, you're not doing that for the front office.  You're sending Bitty a visual love letter through Instagram.  You’re wooing him with images, and I gotta tell you, I fucking dig it."

Jack grinned.  "I don't know what you mean."

Shitty snorted.  "Right. Yeah. Okay.  Listen, who am I to stand in the way of your courtly lovin' ways? Personally,  I dig it. You go with your sweet displays of man-on-man affection--"

"I'm hanging up now, " Jack laughed.

"All I'm saying is prepare to be either chirped within an inch of your life or fawned all over online."

"Bye, Shitty."

"Bye, you Ansel Adams mofo.  You better dedicate a post to meeeee!"

Jack laughed.  He shook his head as he picked up his mug and walked out to the balcony.  

Taking a small sip, Jack relished the robust aroma of the coffee which had hints of chocolate and pepper.  He hummed happily.  The silky lush coffee slipped down this throat deliciously while he sat and watched the morning sky finish making her appearance. 

+++

During Netty's walk (Jack chose to opt out of a run that morning), they stopped at the corner bakery he and Bitty like so much. The morning rush hour crowd had long died down.  He got in line and watched as an employee brought out a tray of chocolate croissants, fragrant and fresh. 

"Hey, Jack," Kamal, the owner, said as Jack reached the register.

"Hey."

"No Eric today?"

"No. He's visiting his parents for a few days. It’s just me and Netty."

They both turned toward the window and saw her patiently sitting by the lamppost. 

"Cool. So, one low-fat bran muffin?" Kamal asked as he began to ring up the order. 

Jack looked at the croissants.

"No, I'll have two chocolate croissants and a peanut butter dog biscuit."

"All right, all right.” Kamal smiled. “Treat yourself, man."

Jack smiled.  "Yeah, something like that."

Jack untied Netty and they made their way to the dog park down the street.  He sat on a bench as he watched her run to and fro, while he ate his pain au chocolat.

+++

“It is little wonder that for Jack the Ripper, the ‘Liston Knife’ was the weapon of choice during his killing spree in 1888.”

Jack closed his copy of The Butchering Art, as he finished reading the chapter to Netty, who seemed quite enthralled while she rested at the foot of the couch where he lounged.  She then gave out a loud yawn.

“I was going to order some food, but how about I make us something instead?” Jack said to Netty.

Jack put down his book and polished off the last dregs of his tea as Netty lazily wagged her tail a few times.  Jack quickly took Netty’s picture and posted it.  The caption read:  She’s practically a baked good now and has no clue.  Right, @omgcheckplease? #husky

He sat up and stretched as he made his way to the kitchen.  Jack scratched at his belly and opened the fridge.  There was some deli meat, a couple tamales Bitty got from the local carniceria, half a cheesecake, packages of fresh meat, and various odds and ends. Jack knew there were some chicken tenders in the freezer, but he wanted something else… something different.

Jack:  Debating what I should have for dinner.

Bitty:  I’m surprised you’re not ordering from Star of Siam.

Jack:  I was going to but changed my mind.

Bitty:  What are you in the mood for?

Jack:  Not sure.  Something good.

Bitty:  Aw! I wish I was there so I could feed you.

Jack:  What would you do? 

Bitty:  Hmm… after giving you a bunch of kisses, maybe some spaghetti and meatballs?  Put some meat on your bones. You’re wasting away, Mr. Zimmermann.

Jack:  Haha.  That does sound good, actually.

Bitty:  You know MooMaw’s recipe box? The one on top of the fridge?

Jack:  The yellow box?

Bitty:  Yep!  Pull her spaghetti and meatball recipe and make that.

Jack walked over to the fridge and opened the small metal box. He found recipe after recipe handwritten on index cards, some yellowed with age, some written in Bitty’s neat script.

Spaghetti and Meatballs - Made with Love by Irene

Jack read the recipe: ground beef, onion, eggs, milk, garlic, crushed tomatoes, parmesan cheese. Reading it alone made his stomach growl. He opened the fridge again and saw he had most of the ingredients on hand.  He opened the cupboard and found the rest.

Jack:  I’m making MooMaw’s spaghetti and meatballs.  And I love you for having all the ingredients in the house. 

Bitty:  Be sure to send me a picture of how it turned out.

Jack:  Have you been online at all today?

Bitty:  No, I haven’t.  CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? I’ve been running errands for Mama all over town.  I’m getting ready to make a chicken casserole and then finally sit for a bit.  Why?

Jack:  No reason.

Bitty:  Skype tonight?

Jack:  9?

Bitty:  See you then, handsome. xoxo

Jack smiled as he gathered all the ingredients on the counter. 

“Alexio, play Wilco by Wilco on Spotify.”

The smart speaker began to play as the music floated through the kitchen.  Jack rarely listened to music in the house.  He preferred to let Bitty play whatever he wanted and instead saved his tunes for the car.

“You and your old man music,” Bitty would sweetly chirp whenever they were in Jack’s car.  

Bitty would lean over and raise the volume for Jack and begin singing to whatever song was playing—even if he didn’t know the words.  Bitty would make them up as he went along.  Each one smiling as the wind would blow through their hair.  Bitty’s smile like sunshine while Jack would gently stroke his leg as they drove down the Providence streets.

“Alexio, call Papa.”

Jack began cutting onions for the sauce, referring back to MooMaw’s recipe, as his phone rang through the speaker.

“Allô?”

“Hey, Papa.”

“Jack, what a surprise.  I wasn’t expecting your call until Sunday.”

“I know, but I wanted to call you now.”

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing, I’m just making some dinner.  Bitty is visiting his parents for a few days, and I just wanted to see how you and Maman were.”

«Missing your boy, are you?»

Jack smiled, even as his eyes stung from the onion.  «Yeah, but I’m also missing you and Maman.»

«What are you making?»

«Spaghetti and meatballs. I’m using Bitty’s grandmother’s recipe.»

«Do you remember that summer, you must have been about four or so, and the only thing you wanted to eat was spaghetti.»

Jack paused.  He placed the tip of the knife down onto the butcher block.  «I don’t remember that.»

Bob laughed.  «Really?  I’m surprised. You were very adamant about it.  Your poor mother was so upset that you wouldn’t eat anything else.»

Jack laughed. «Crisse, I think I do remember!  Did she make it for breakfast?»

Jack recalled sitting at their kitchen table in Pittsburgh (He always liked that house because the backyard was enormous, they got a dog. Wayne, the golden retriever) and swinging his legs back and forth as Maman placed a bowl of pasta in front of him.  The tang of the sauce, the gooey cheese being pulled from his lips.  It all came back to him.

«How is Maman?» Jack asked warmly.

«She’s out with Louisa and Marie—they’re at a wine tasting or something.  Who can keep track?» Bob said.  Jack could hear the mirth in his voice.

«Well, I just wanted to say a quick hi, and I better get back to this otherwise I’ll never finish.»

«Sounds good, son.  Send me a photo.»

«Will do. Talk to you on Sunday.»

«Love you, Jack.»

«Love you, too, Papa.»

Jack began to sing along to Wilco once again and he tossed the onion into the ground beef...

+

Jack sprinkled some parsley on the top of his dish and smiled.  

“Not bad, eh, Netty?”

She looked up at him expectantly, hoping for a bite. He scratched the back of Netty’s ears, then scooped a little pasta and a couple of meatballs into her dog bowl.  

He took out his phone and opened up Instagram again.

Homemade spaghetti and meatballs based on @omgcheckplease’s grandmother’s recipe.  I hope I made y’all proud.

Jack shared the photo and instantly closed the app.

“Come on girl, let’s eat.”

Netty followed Jack to the dining room where he put both dishes on the table. Netty jumped up onto one of the chairs.  Jack smiled contently as Netty began to dig in, and he soon followed.

+++

It was almost nine and Jack began to get ready for Bitty’s phone call.  He had cleared the dishes and placed them all in the dishwasher.  The leftovers were in the fridge and he remembered there was half a key lime cheesecake in the fridge.  Jack took it out, cut a big slice and poured himself a glass of milk.  

Jack took a photo of cheesecake and shared it on Instagram.  The caption read:  A day of doing sweet nothing ends with a sweet something.  Wishing @omgcheckplease was here.

   He stood at the kitchen counter and dug in; each bite delicious and sweet, reminding him of Bitty in every possible way.

He took another forkful of cheesecake and finally looked at his Instagram notifications.  Jack did a triple take—he had so many likes and comments, he didn’t even know where to begin.  So many were from strangers, too. It was a little overwhelming, so he decided to just look at comments from people he knew.

rubenalmanzoSM:  Well done @jlzimmermann1

bsknightESQ:  Brah!  When you cooking for me? Did you ever know that you’re my hero??

derekmailknurse:  I’ll get you some Stumptown beans. #chemexforlife

AliciaZimmermannProd:  Look at you!  On Instagram.

thelarissaduan:  I told Shits I would not chirp.  (Even though I really want to.  Esp. with that bed pic, dude.) #softbro

omgcheckplease:  I love this... and you.

Jack closed Instagram and yawned as he made his way to the bedroom.  He pulled his laptop into bed and at nine opened up Skype and called Bitty.

Bitty’s face appeared, looking sleepy and tired, but smiling brightly the instant he saw Jack.

“Hey, there, handsome.”

Bitty was in his bedroom, in bed, with his back against the headboard.

“Bits,” Jack said.  

He turned onto his side and rested his head on the crook of his arm.  The laptop sat on the mattress next to him.

“You are the sweetest, most beautiful boy in the entire world.”

“Am I?”

“You are! I saw all of your Insta posts.”

Jack could feel himself blush.

“They weren’t too… boring?”

“No!  I love them! They were lovely.”

“They were all for you,” Jack said softly.

“I know.”

Bitty reached out to touch the screen and Jack immediately did the same.

“How was your day?” he asked.

“I swear Jack, I thought I was going to have to break up some fisticuffs between Mama and Aunt Marlene.”

Jack chuckled. “That bad, eh?”

“The worst.  I’m so glad I’m coming home the day after tomorrow.  Poor Coach was basically like, ‘Save yourself, son!’”

“I miss your face,” Jack said simply and unguarded.

“Lord, I miss yours too.  So much…”

The two looked at each other as if they had nowhere else in the world they’d rather be.

“So, how was your day?  It looked pretty nice from what I saw,”  Bitty said as he finally spoke.

“It was. I did a little nothing, all day.”

“And my little strudel?”

“She helped.  Turns out she’s a pro at it.”

Bitty chuckled.  “I love it.  And how was it?”

Several years ago, Jack was in his therapist’s waiting room and was idly leafing through a copy of Psychology Today when he came across an article that made him pause.  He began to read it, and at the time found it to be completely absurd.  The article was about la dolce far niente, or the sweetness of doing nothing. 

“Maybe you sit and read a book. Maybe you stare out the window or balcony and listen to your favorite musician,” the article read. “What can you do today to begin doing nothing?”

Jack frowned as he read, not understanding what was so great about remaining idle.  It wasn’t until he began a relationship with Bitty that he truly understood what doing nothing could mean.  They could do nothing while they snuggled in bed, they could do nothing while they sat on the couch as the rain poured outside as Bitty slowly ran his fingers through Jack’s hair.  

Nothing with Bitty came to mean everything to Jack, and soon Jack began to appreciate doing nothing by himself. He understood that he didn’t have to be “on,” all the time. 95% was okay. La dolce far niente.

“Well?” Bitty asked again.

“It was sweet, Bits,”  Jack replied with a smile.  “Very sweet.”