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whocaresstillthelouvre · 22 days

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Hear It In The Silence

Elks Chapter 6

Chapter Rating: Explicit. 18+ (Minors DNI) Chapter Summary: The changing of the season brings a realization of the feelings you hold for Joel. Chapter Warnings: Smut, fluff, feelings, p in v sex, apocalypse birth control (pulling out). Words: 3,900 Pairing: Jackson Joel Miller x Female Reader Series Summary: Life in Jackson is quite comfortable and simple for you. You love teaching your students and running your library, you love the comforts of living here, perfectly complacent with the company of your two cats, guitar, tattered CD book, and a few friends. You like comfortable and simple, though the feelings you feel whenever you see Joel Miller are quite the opposite. Once you meet him, it seems like he needs you in his life as much as you need him. A/N: I listened to "You Are In Love" by Taylor Swift and "Myths" by Beach House on repeat for this chapter. I love writing this happy story for Joel, I hope you like it too.

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Masterlist Playlist

***

“State Of Grace” by Taylor Swift.

Summer is always the busiest time in Jackson, the sun stays up higher making everybody work longer hours. You help out in the gardens after school until the sun dips below the mountains. Joel isn’t home much, patrollers take advantage of the increased daylight staying away for longer stretches of time. You and him try to spend as much time together as you can between your busy schedules and Ellie.

You sit together at community movie nights, his arm slung behind your chair, slowly running his fingers up and down your shoulder.

He sleeps over on the Fridays he’s not on patrol and walks you to your library, always grabbing the box of books you have.

He has Ellie help him fix up your fence and builds you a new feeder holder for your cats, even though they make him sneeze and sniffle, always caring for the things in your life.

He kisses you goodnight on your doorstep when he walks you home, the kiss usually turning heavy, both of you not caring who walks by as Joel backs you up against your door.

You stay over the nights before he leaves, always roused in the morning with a long, deep kiss before he picks up his boots and heads downstairs.

He finds small trinkets and art supplies for you, never coming home empty handed, always breathing you in deeply when you hug him hello.

Everyone knows about the two of you now, Tommy’s big mouth announcing how his big brother has been made a “big ol’ softy” thanks to you when he had one too many at the Bison. It’s a small town, news spreads quick.

Your lives become easily intertwined in the two months you’ve gotten to know him, you wouldn’t have it any other way. You leave CD’s at his place, he leaves an extra pair of boots at yours.

The quiet, bookish artist teacher and the big bad, brooding flannel clad stranger fall for each other like it’s straight out of a film you’d wear out watching in your VCR.

——

It’s late Saturday afternoon, it’s been a long day at the library, made even longer by the fact that today is the day Joel returns from his six nights away on patrol. You move quickly down the busy main street, nodding and saying hello to friends. Never stopping to chat, your destination is to Joel’s house. Your only thought is how much you hope he’s back already. Your heart tries to help you name this feeling.

Quick strides up his familiar walkway, two steps to his door, you now know exactly how to turn the door knob so it doesn’t stick. The house smells like him… a little like sawdust, a little like leather, a little like coffee, now your favorite scent. The comfortability of his home helps you to name it.

“Joel? I’m heeeere,” you shout down his hallway slacking your backpack down your shoulders and laying it near his door. He told you just last week he was going to hang a hook for it since you’re here all the time. Taking the effort to care for your possessions because they’re yours. His thoughtfulness helps you to name it.

There’s no answer, but there is a small jar of flowers on his coffee table. Oranges, purples and pink hued petals packed together haphazardly, all picked out specifically because he knows they’re your favorite colors. You bring the flowers up to your nose and inhale their smell. The sweet floral scent mixed with Joel’s house helps you to name it.

You smile as you imagine his large fingers holding such delicate blooms. His hand grabbing a jar out of the cupboard. His palms pressing dry against his plaid kitchen towel after filling the jar with water from the tap. His face as he takes a step back and intensely judges his arrangement for you. His back aching right in the spot that always ails him as he gently bends down to place the jar of flowers at the corner of his coffee table knowing it’ll be one of the first things you notice when you walk through his door. For someone who has lived and lost a thousand lives, for someone who should be forever cold and closed off to the world, romance is never lost on Joel. You can name the feeling. You’re in lo—

A loud clash comes from the back of the house interrupting your thoughts. You place the flowers back down on the table and race to his kitchen. A movement outside of the window catches your eyes… there he is. Working outside, taking advantage of the beautiful summer weather, never able to rest during the daytime. He just got home from patrol and yet he’s still working. Your heart begins to race as you watch him throw logs of wood into a dilapidated wheelbarrow. You want to run to him, but you know you need to take advantage of being able to watch him work so close and anonymously. His face focused on the task at hand, eyes staring straight forward, brow furrowed in concentration, mouth slightly open and frowning causing his mustache to turn downward. He’s sweaty, you can tell by how golden and dewey his skin is in the sunlight, strong arms glistening with sweat, the fabric of his gray shirt wet in the neck and chest straining with each lift and throw of a log, his unruly hair growing curlier the longer it gets laying a little flatter thanks to the moisture and heat his body is giving off. He pauses for a second, taking a glove off to wipe his brow, you can’t take it any longer. You practically sprint to his back door and throw it open, Joel’s head turning when he hears it creak. His smile, goodness, his smile, it’s so wide and so full of affection, his eyes disappearing behind crinkles on the side. He begins to walk towards you as you walk towards him, your footsteps getting quicker as the distance between you is closed. You’re finally swept up in his arms, head pushed against his chest tightly, inhaling the heady scent of him in after a contented sigh. His shirt is soaked with his sweat, making the scent of him even stronger.

“Hi sweetheart, missed you,” he smiles against your hair.

“Hi, welcome back, missed you too, so much,” your happiness spilling out of your mouth.

“Mm,” he moves a hand up to grab your chin and angle your face to look at him. “Five days is a long time.” Joel licks his lips as he stares down at yours.

He bends forward and kisses you, lips first softly pressing against yours. His hands moves to your face, one hand still clad in a glove, he’s too impatient to touch you to take the time to remove it. His thumbs press into your cheeks a little harder as he deepens the kiss, his tongue beginning to lick at yours. He pulls his lips away before the kiss becomes too indecent for his backyard. His forehead still rests against yours. “So happy to be home,” he whispers.

“Thank you for my flowers, I love them,” you grin.

“Yeah?” Joel joyfully respires against you.

“Mmhmm, they’re so beautiful, I’ve never gotten flowers before.”

Joel pulls his head away so he can look you in your eyes. “M’glad you like them,” his hands still on your face his thumbs swiping back and forth against your cheeks. You’ve doubted his feelings for you, finding it easier to believe you’re living in a daydream where the man you had a crush on is the man who you get to spend all of your extra time with. But this? The way he’s cradling your head in his hands, the way he’s smiling at you, the way his eyes are angled down to look into your eyes, the look on his face when he saw you in the doorway, the way his lips hesitated to pull away wanting to kiss you longer… it’s the same for him as it is for you.

“Let’s get inside,” Joel pulls you out of your thoughts, “s’been a long day for me, just started doing this to make the time go faster until you got here.”

———

“You ever been in the ocean?”

The sun has long gone down, Saturday night is always your favorite night. Joel sits next to you on his couch, hair still damp from his shower with an after dinner cup of coffee that the two of you split, he’s always mindful not to instantly gulp all of it down.

It’s become a shared routine for the two of you, low music coming from the stereo usually a new band that you introduce to him, maybe you’ll read the book you’re currently reading aloud, maybe he’ll fall asleep mouth agape emitting little snores as you quietly sketch, most of the time your night ends watching one of the few movies you share between your two households you falling asleep with your head in his lap. Typically it starts like this, discussions about life before, you always eager to remember, Joel always closing up perfectly happy to let you do all of the reminiscing for the two of you.

“Yeah, couple of times, used to go to a beach town in Texas. You?”

Joel’s answers, always straight and to the point.

“Once. Went on a vacation to California when I was a kid. I don’t remember much about it, but I remember how I couldn’t believe how big the ocean was. I know I was really afraid of swimming too far away from my dad, but wanting to just be taken away by the freedom of the waves. I miss swimming, used to swim for my high school, I don’t even know if I’m any good at all now after all of these years…”

Joel eyes you as you muse through your memories, always ever present right with you whenever you get lost in your thoughts. Your words always making up for his lack. His attentive silence urges your memories on.

“I used to stay in the water for so long, I miss the feeling of my body moving against it and feeling so weightless. We had one of those above ground pools for a few summers when I was younger, I’d put the radio on and just float for literally hours. My mom would have to buy me oil treatments for my hair because it’d get so dry from the chlorine.” You smile at the memory, “I hated the smell of it on my hair, smelled like old lady perfume."

Joel chuckles, leaning in and kissing the top of your head inhaling deeply. “Always love how your hair smells now.”

“Rosemary and yarrow, my own mixture.”

“Love it, you always smell so good and sweet.”

You smile and look up at him. “You always smell like such a man.”

“A man, huh?” He smirks, the lines around his eyes crinkling the exact way you love. You can always tells just how amused he is by how much his eyes disappear. You love that about him.

“Yeah, you just smell capable, always faintly like wood and leather. I love it.”

You love a lot of things about him. In fact everything that you know about him, you love. You love how gruff he can get when he doesn’t get his way, whether you beat him at a card game he brags about his prowess in or if he burnt the toast. You love how his first stop after learning of his patrol assignments is your house, ready to spend whatever remaining time before leaving he has with you. You love how he teases you, always in the sweetest way possible, never any sign of cruelty, never knowing just how funny he is. You love how he’ll adjust the chain of your daisy pendant, gently moving the clasp to the back of your neck, his hand lingering against your skin. You love the communal silence between the two of you as much as you love the small talk the two of you share. You love how your shoulders will brush while you walk together. You love how he always puts the pictures you draw for him around his home turning it into a gallery of your work. You love how he’s become your closest friend, sharing lighthearted inside jokes over meals. You love how he doesn’t even blink twice when he sees you open your door in his shirt, knowing you love how soft and worn it is. You love him, ground shaking, rip roaring love. It feels kind of like being carried away by the ocean.

You never thought you’d be able to feel this way about someone. Joel Miller, the man from Texas, so beautiful, so handsome, so soft, so capable. You know he’s lived a longer life than most even in the reality you and the world share now. You know just what he’s lost and what he’s sacrificed. He’s so complicated and yet you can tell exactly what he always needs.

“You look a little lost there sweetheart, you alright?” Joel pushes a strand of hair behind your ear.

“I’m okay,” you turn towards him, sitting on your knees. “Joel, I love you,” you breathe out in one, long nervous breath. “I– I think I am in love with you.”

Your anxiety beginning to peak at your admission.

Your heart beginning to race.

Your nerves begin to twist inside of you, your doubts begin to make themselves known… until the sight before you quiets all of them.

Joel blinks with the realization realization of your words as his eyes slowly look into yours, he gives you a crooked grin, his dimple deepening as his lips turn upright, a low exhale departs his lips.

“I love you too sweetheart, so much. Been feeling this way for quite awhile, just didn’t want to spook you. In fact, damn near kept me up the first night I realized it. Pretty sure I’ve loved you since the first day you showed up on my doorstep in those overalls with your box full of pretty colors wanting to make me something.”

It’s been named. It’s as golden as Joel’s skin, more tanned and golden from the longer summer days. It’s as warm as the cup of coffee Joel pours out into the chipped owl mug. It’s as sweet as the scent of the flowers he picked for you. It’s as safe as the feeling of being pressed up against his body in an embrace. It’s love.

“I love you.”

“Say it again sweetheart,” Joel pulls you into his chest, your body falling into his. “I love you.”

“Sounds perfect coming out of your mouth,” his hand coming up to lift your chin up towards his face. “I love you too darlin’, let’s go to bed.”

——

You used to call your home your sanctuary, but you’ve found a new oasis at Joel’s house in the second room down the hall upstairs, his bedroom. Light gray walls, a chair in the corner where he always lays his clothes out “just in case,” crates of records and a dilapidated record player that hisses loudly, a bedside table, a drawer of it now filled with your things, a large bed covered in a dark gray thin quilt he uses in the warm months that smells of him.

That same soft quilt you now lay under, your body clad only in his shirt. The way Joel watches you as he removes his jeans and shirt, the way he gently lifts the covers to join you in bed, the way he exhales against your forehead as he kisses it, this time it feels different. This time he pulls you closer, clutching his hands against your back tighter. You rub your bare legs against his, your hands rest against his chest as he leans in for a kiss. Soft lips meet yours, it’s the first time you’ve kissed him in his room since the two of you admitted your love.

It all started with a glance months ago, a nervous meeting in his living room, an accident leaving you splayed out on the road in front of his home, an early morning walk to your library, and a mural for him to remember his past. Now, Joel Miller is kissing you in his bed, surrounded by all of his things, inside his home.

You lean back from the kiss, the soft light of the lamp he’s left on bathing the room in aureate tones. “I love you,” you whisper, the hazel in his eyes shimmer as he gives you the same crooked smile he blessed you with earlier.

“I love you, so much sweetheart,” he returns against your lips, kissing you. The deep timbre of his words radiate through your body, spreading warmth through your limbs as you open your mouth and his tongue licks against yours.

Your hands grab his hair, fingers wrapping around his curly tendrils, breath hitching as he kisses down your neck, goosebumps covering your skin when his tongue dips out to lick the sensitive spot between your neck and collarbone. His hand snakes down to the hem of your shirt to lift up and remove it, taking the opportunity to roll you on your back, planting himself above you. His tongue roams down your body to lick and lave all over your now bare chest, dragging it back up to your mouth leaving a chaste kiss on your lips before moving back down to take a nipple in his mouth.

You squirm underneath him feeling the weight of his cock resting against your thigh, you want him so bad. His hand grabs your ass as you bring your leg up to give him more access to your now aching cunt.

The two of you have fooled around in his bed, you’ve explored each other’s bodies, you’ve had him in your mouth, he’s had you in his, but there’s been a silent agreement between the two of you to not take it a step further. Tonight? Tonight that’s going to change.

You reach a hand down to palm him through his briefs, he smiles against your chest as you moan at how hard he is.

Another moan strangles out of your mouth as his hand moves from your ass to your cunt, running a line from your entrance to your clit and back down.

“So wet f’me, I love how wet you always are f’me. Fuck, I love you baby,” he dips a thick finger into you, his thumb rubs against your clit, “love this pussy.”

“Joel,” you whimper when he adds another finger, “make love to me.”

“I will baby, it’s all I’ve wanted to do, just need to get you ready f’me.”

He buries his fingers deeper, curling them up and hitting the sensitive spot inside of you. Your legs begin to quake as his two thick fingers fuck you through an orgasm, slick spilling out onto his fingers. Your hands clutch the sheets as you stare wide eyed at his handsome face.

“S’beautiful. My beautiful girl, love how you cum for me.”

“Please,” you beg. “Please let me feel you inside me.”

The way his hand pets your knee reminds you of the way he softly touched you the day you fell. A tumble from a rock setting in motion your love story. You’re naked on Joel Miller’s bed begging him to make love to you because of that one little rock. You wish you could put it on display in your home.

He groans as he leans back on his haunches and pulls his briefs down, his cock springing free and already leaking. He’s so hard and so ready. He’s all yours and he loves you.

His large body climbs over you, entrapping you underneath him, the only place you’ve ever wanted to be since that first day you saw him. Your hips rise to try to get his cock closer to you, legs spreading open to offer him your pussy.

He leans down and kisses your neck, licking his way up to your mouth as you grab his cock and begin to pump him bringing it closer to your dripping entrance.

You guide it in, he’s so big it stings. You have to remind yourself to breathe as he slowly begins to move in and out of you. A slight grin on Joel’s face breaks out as he feels your pussy grip him.

“I love you,” tears prick at the edges of your eyes, you’ve never felt so secure, so warm, so full as Joel moves inside of you, his broad body looming over yours. Your legs wrap around his waist as your hands run up and down his broad chest and stomach, feeling his muscles pulse as he moves inside of you.

“Love you too baby, so much,” he groans as your cunt flutters around him. He takes his time, languidly entering and exiting.

He’s everything you’ve ever wanted, a protector, a listener, a lover, his cock stretches your pussy as you think about how much you love him. How lucky you are to have him.

“You feel so good in me, you fill me so well,” you praise. Joel’s eyes burning into yours as you moan your words out with each push of his hips against you.

His grunts mix with your moans as he kisses you, your whole body begins to shake. His nose bumps against yours as he thrusts harder.

You’re so overwhelmed by his body, by his cock, by his love. You grab his biceps as your orgasm begins to peak, your pussy tightening around his cock. You’ve never had him this way, and you fear you’ll never get enough of it.

“Yes baby,” he grunts, his pace becoming relentless, the sound of his body against yours echoing in his room. “Cum f’me, cum f’me. I love you.”

You gasp “I love you” as your orgasm crescendos, nails digging into his arms, heart beating rapidly against your chest, body quivering underneath Joel as he fucks into your soaked cunt.

“Love you baby," he growls as he pulls out and shoots his cum across your stomach.

You stare up at the sight, his face blissed out after cumming all over you, his mouth slightly agape panting for air, the one curl of his hair you love that always rests against his forehead hanging forward as his big brown eyes stare into yours.

"I love you darling," he smiles dipping his head down to kiss you.

"Love you," you say against his lips.

Whatever you did to deserve Joel Miller’s love, whatever brought him to you, whether it’s a rock or fate in the apocalypse, whatever caused this love between the two of you, it’s like a myth.

Later that night, you fall asleep next to Joel in his bed, the last words you hear as you drift off to sleep is “I love you” whispered against your neck.

A/N: See you next Monday!

Tag list: @orcasoul, @dvmbazzsworld, @glitterymanboy

#pedro pascal #joel miller #joel miller fanfiction #joel miller x reader #pedro pascal fanfiction #the last of us fanfiction #elks #joel miller smut #joel miller ff #pedro pascal character fanfiction #joel miller x you #joel miller/reader #the last of us fic #joel tlou #tlou joel

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dduane · 5 months

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I just want to say your books (Young Wizards) were the first audiobooks I chose to listen to as a kid (on CD, I had to carry around a cd holder of all of them) and I listened to them a LOT. I re read them last year and they were just as good as they were to child me. And following you now and reading backstory on a lot of it has been a treat! So thank you for giving both child me and adult me a wonderful world to enjoy.

You're very welcome indeed. :)

(and ye gads, a CD holder...!)

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seananmcguire · 11 months

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Hey, I understand if you're sick of the questions and don't want to answer this, but given the recent discourse I've been ruminating the possibility of a website where people could submit prompts and by submitting relinquish their rights to the idea. The submissions could be sorted by genre etc and tagged for specific franchises like Star Trek or The Simpsons or whatever. The understanding would be that these ideas are now free to use, for anyone from fanfic authors up to the shows creators themselves and so long as an author can show they took the original prompt from this creative commons-esq website they should be protected from legal action.

I'm sure there is something I'm missing as to why a website like this wouldn't work, but I was just wondering about its potential as a person who has many ideas for how shows should go and not enough executive function to make my own version.

So ideas are not the issue. Ideas have never been the issue. Creators have ideas by the truckload, or we wouldn't have become creators. At the end of the day, we have the same excess of ideas as the most invested fans, and we don't need the help.

So why the avoidance? Contamination. That's where the issue comes in. If we execute an idea the same way someone else did, we open ourselves or the IPs we're working on to lawsuits. We create doubt. "Oh why do you have to be so careful not to steal ideas if you don't need them?" Because sometimes we won't know we've done it.

Look. I am a songwriter, in addition to prose, and I've released several CDs. I don't need anyone else's ideas. I am also not a huge Green Day fan. This is relevant because I once spent a month working on a song with a really cool hook that had just popped into my head one day. I was very pleased with the song as a whole!

And then I realized I'd stolen the hook wholesale from "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day, and had to scrap the whole thing. Theft is not always intentional. The chance of contamination from such a site would be dangerous enough.

But what happens when you make your perfect site, and then someone takes your free-to-use ideas and writes a bestselling novel from them? And then the book gets made into a movie, and the lawyers for the movie studio go after everyone else who took that idea? I'm sure you could set up the initial site in such a way that they'd be in the clear, but lawsuits still cost time and money, and it's better to avoid them when possible.

So many stories have been born from ideas for specific IPs that then wind up nowhere near the final creations, I would hate to see you pouring that much passion into a platform that no sensible IP holder is going to touch, and most creators are going to avoid, because you only want to do the fun, easy part. Let us work uncontaminated, and hopefully we'll make you happy.

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harrywavycurly · 1 year

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Single dad Eddie dropping daughter off at daycare and instead of waving goodbye they make “ Monster faces” at each other ☺️

Hiiii lovey!! So firstly…you’re rude but it’s fine and I love you still but really…rude🫠 I hope you enjoy this little tiny blurb!💖

-in this I imagine the daughter is around four or five✨

*Eddie isn’t like a regular dad…he’s a cool dad*

“Okay what’s the deal for today Princess?” Eddie asks his little girl as he helps her get buckled into her car seat. He holds back a laugh as she places her monster truck toy in one of her cup holders so she can slide her arms through the straps easier. This is all part of their routine on days she goes to daycare, he asks what she wants if she gets sent home without any complaints and an empty lunch box and usually it’s a visit to the park or adding an extra book at bedtime.

“Gummy bears.” Eddie raises an eyebrow at her as she looks up at him with a smile. He wasn’t expecting her to want candy as a reward, letting him know she saw the stash of Easter candy he had in the back of the pantry saved from a few weekends ago.

“Gummy bears?” He asks as he finishes getting her situated in her seat. She just nods as she grabs the monster truck and holds it in her lap while Eddie places her backpack on the floor near her feet, a little trick he learned helps him not forget to give it to her when he gets her out of the car. “Only if you finish your dinner when we get home and don’t fight me when I’m doing your hair before bed.” He negotiates and he swears she looks just like her mom when she taps her index finger to her chin like she’s thinking it over.

“You’ve got a deal daddy.” He just smiles as he leans down and places a kiss to her forehead before closing her door and climbing into the driver’s seat. The ride to school always consists of her asking him to turn up the music so she can jam out to whatever kids bop version of heavy metal he has in the cd player. When he puts the car in park he gives his daughter a smile as he looks at her in the rearview mirror before he gets out of the car so one of her teachers can walk her to class.

“Okay kiddo,” she looks at him with a big smile as he opens her door and helps her out of her seat so she can stand on the sidewalk. “Remember you’re super cool and extremely awesome and if someone says otherwise they are lame and wouldn’t know cool if it bit them in the butt okay?” She just nods as he slides her backpack over her shoulders.

“You’re awesome too daddy.” Eddie just lets out a dramatic huff as he shrugs making her laugh as he bends down so he can give her a hug.

“Love you, I’ll be here to pick you up later.” He adds as he gives her cheek a kiss before standing up just as a teacher comes over and grabs her hand to walk her to class.

“Bye daddy!” Eddie turns just in time to see his daughter make one of her signature silly faces that consists of her sticking her tongue out and using her free hand to make the rock and roll sign. Eddie laughs as he makes his classic Munson Monster face causing her to laugh as she enters the school.

“Yup she’s all mine.” He mumbles as he gets back into his car and heads off to work.

#eddie munson fluff #eddie munson fanfiction #dad!eddie munson #eddie munson request #single!dad eddie munson #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x you fluff #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x fem!reader fluff #dad eddie munson #single dad eddie #eddie munson #my little dungeon master baby #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson blurb

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hooked-on-elvis · 1 month

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ONE NIGHT WITH YOU OF SIN ❤️‍🔥

50s Elvis can't sing something like this!

Well, this is something I just found out. That's why I love listening to Elvis' songs and researching on them. We always can learn interesting things that took place during the recording sessions, which makes EP's songs much, much precious.

I was listening to "Elvis: From the Vaults 50's" album, released as part of the 60-CD set "Elvis Presley: The Album Collection" (2016) — I love the "Elvis: From the Vaults" trilogy to death, by the way — when I crossed something very interesting.

The song "One Night (With You)", that Elvis performed with such passion during the '68 Comeback Special, was recorded by him in the 50s and originally had a slightly different lyrics.

The most known version, the "light" or "family friendly" (per say) version of the chorus of this one song goes like this:

"One night with you is what I'm now praying for."

youtube

The "explicit" version tho, as originally written by Dave Bartholomew and that came to be a R&B hit for Smiley Lewis in 1956, the version of the song Elvis recorded in 1957, actually sounds like this:

"One night of sin is what I'm now paying for."

youtube

I mean, the lyrics is clearly about sex in either words, but why the change in the words actually happened really intrigued me. I, as usually, looked for answers in one of my favorite books, and that's what I'm gonna share with you now.

So, Elvis was recording songs for the '57 Loving You movie soundtrack when the song was recorded. "One Night" was meant to be featured in this soundtrack album but it wasn't. The track went through a long way before it was put out there for Elvis' audience. To give you an idea, Elvis released the Loving You soundtrack album (June 20, 1957), recorded the songs that were featured in the Jailhouse Rock movie (there wasn't an official soundtrack album out for this movie), released one Christmas album ("Elvis' Christmas Album" - October 15, 1957) and the King Creole soundtrack album too (September 19, 1958), all of this before "One Night (With You)" could be finally released in October 1958, moment he was already officially "Private Presley", serving the US Army while stationed in Germany. But... what happened? Why this song wasn't featured in the Loving You movie and its soundtrack album released in 1957? Why the lyrics changed?

LET'S DIG INTO IT:

SOUNDTRACK RECORDINGS FOR PARAMOUNT’S LOVING YOU - JANUARY 15–18, 21–22 (PARAMOUNT SCORING STAGE) AND FEBRUARY 14, 1957 (RADIO RECORDERS, HOLLYWOOD) (...) When Hal Wallis asked for a few more songs for the movie, Elvis and the boys spent some time rehearsing cover versions of Fats Domino’s current hit "Blueberry Hill" and Smiley Lewis’s "One Night (Of Sin)," written by Domino’s musical partner Dave Bartholomew and credited in part to Bartholomew’s wife.

LISTEN TO SMILEY LEWIS’S "ONE NIGHT (OF SIN)":

youtube

So, Elvis first covered this song, and it was recorded in studio, as originally written but the official song he performed had a new lyrics. Let's understand why he recorded the song again before putting it out there for us to listen to.

STUDIO SESSIONS FOR RCA JANUARY 19, 1957: RADIO RECORDERS, HOLLYWOOD (...) Both the Colonel and RCA had serious reservations about the words of the song, but Elvis liked it so much that they appealed to Hill & Range to negotiate with the song’s copyright holder, Lew Chudd of Imperial Records, for permission to rewrite the lyrics.

STUDIO SESSIONS FOR RCA FEBRUARY 23–24, 1957: RADIO RECORDERS, HOLLYWOOD (...) Meanwhile the new, bowdlerized lyrics for the Dave Bartholomew song had been produced as requested; "One night of sin is what I’m now paying for" became "One night with you is what I'm now praying for," and the deal they'd prayed and paid for freed them to pencil the song in for the Loving You album. In the end, the rewrite was a fortunate stroke. The discerning listener might have missed the more direct lyrics of the original, but Elvis's performance on the new version made up for it: Freed from worry about the song itself, he was all intensity and command. "One Night" was so good, in fact, that it was eventually dropped from the soundtrack and picked as a single with "I Beg Of You" for some indeterminate future date.

So, yes, the song needed the change in the lyrics because of its content. It was too sexual, too explicit for Elvis' audience, mainly composed by teenagers. Elvis apparently wasn't bother by this. He liked the song anyway, even with the new lyrics. He liked the idea of releasing this song but although "One Night", as recorded by Elvis in 1957, was considered a fine material for a new single, Elvis was such a perfectionist he used to redo many of his recordings before he considered they were proper to be released. He was the man picking his own singles, so they always needed his approval before they were out. He wanted work some more in "One Night" because he was not satisfied with the result, but other songs came in the way.

One work after the other, there wasn't time to redo this track recording before Elvis became a soldier in 1958. When "One Night" was finally released it was against Elvis' will. It was not about the new lyrics tho, he just thought the song could sound much better than it was. Even so, the RCA and Colonel Parker, his manager, had to make choices without his consent once his main focus was in being a soldier, between 1958-1960. Elvis used to work "by demand", that means if there was a movie to be filmed, soundtrack recording sessions were made specifically for it, if there was a new Elvis album planned to be released, then recording sessions were scheduled specifically for the new album. They didn't use to work on recording sessions to "save" tracks to be future released. Very few songs used to surplus from each recording session and that only happened when some of the tracks originally planned to be featured in one specific release weren't considered good enough, concerning the quality of the material, or due to contractual deals that weren't still set by the time that specific LP (or EP) needed to be released. When Elvis was officially inducted in the US Army, in March 1960, there wasn't enough material for 2 years of future releases and this caused a lack in songs for the RCA and Colonel Parker to work with considering they needed a certain amount of new tracks to fill an album. For 1958 and 1959, there was a certain lack in new recording material to be out but they needed to keep Elvis' name in the spotlights since there was still a huge demand for him and they couldn't miss the chance to make money just because the US Army would keep their golden boy busy to work in his records for the next couple of years, besides Colonel had promised Elvis (and of course it was his interest as well) that when he came back from the Army he would still have a career to linger on. They chose to release "One Night "as a single, the way it was recorded in 1957, even if Elvis himself didn't agree with this. It was needed.

THE RELEASE (1958):

As you can notice, plans change. The same way "One Night" wasn't featured in the originally planned "Loving You" album in 1957, when the song was released as a single the opposite track wasn't "I Beg of You" as planned previously, instead they picked "I Got Stung" as the A-side.

1958–59: GOETHESTRASSE A new single had to be chosen, and both Sholes and the Colonel were still pulling for "One Night" over Elvis’s objections; the publishing company had made a deal for part of the royalties, but the deal depended upon the song’s release as a single and couldn’t be extended past October 31, 1958. The Colonel felt it would be foolish not to take advantage of the deal, and at last he persuaded Elvis to agree. With "I Got Stung" from the June session as the B-side, the new single caused an immediate sensation. DJs clearly preferred the A-side, but both cuts shot up the charts right away, eventually reaching number four and number eight, respectively. Split airplay may well have been what stopped "One Night" from going to number one on the charts, but the single sold several hundred thousand copies more than the last two releases, even matching "Don’t"/"I Beg Of You."

Excerpts: "Elvis Presley: A Life in Music" by Ernst Jorgensen. Foreword by Peter Guralnick (1998)

Singles "One Night" (B-SIDE) and "I Got Stung" (A-SIDE) -- Released October 21, 1958 -- Recorded on February 23, 1957.

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AFTERWARDS:

As far as I know (and I say this because I am still studying Elvis' career and many things can come to my knowledge in the future), ever since released, Elvis performed the song as it was officially out, leaving "One Night (Of Sin)" to be heard only as a posthumous released track, after 1983 as it came out featuring the album "Elvis: A Legendary Performer (Vol 4)".

"One Night Of Sin" and "One Night" were featured together in the 2006 Follow That Dream (FTD) label re-issue of the "Loving You" soundtrack album. On the previous year (2005) FTD re-issue of the same album, there was only "One Night Of Sin" in the album, as it was supposed to be if the lyrics hadn't changed and the song had came out in the album it was meant to be in.

youtube

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LET'S DISCUSS IT:

First of all, I totally understand Colonel Parker's fears over the lyrics. "One Night (Of Sin)" would have been a risky song for Elvis in the 50s to perform/release and, the way I see it, the change in the lyrics came as a way of not giving munition to conservative people to "cancel" Elvis, to cause an even bigger fuss on his already pretty "stained" image as a "troublemaker", a "rock and roller rebel", an "imoral young man who's such a bad influence on the America's youth". Let's face it, have a conservative parent heard their kids listening to "One night of sin is what I'm paying for" there would have been "Loving You" LPs being burned in trashes all over the US, a lot more of badmouthing Elvis' name scenes with older folks using this song as an example of Presley's kind of "antics" and "imoral behavior", and maybe even the Loving You movie could have been forbidden if the song was performed in it, suffering boycott fired up by church leaders and all.

I wonder if that song was in fact in the movie tho. The Loving You movie is very, very "family friendly", all cute and sweet. I can't even imagine Deke Rivers singing "One Night Of Sin" onstage, since we know Elvis performed songs using not only his voice but his whole body. I mean, of course he performed "One Night (With You)" with the usual sex appeal inherent of him but the original lyrics would add much more sensuality into the performance, no doubt. I wish I could've watch him performing this son,g with its original lyrics, in the 50s... it would be something else, I tell ya. But it would also be quite scandalous for his image back then. Even so, I can't quite understand how that song was never performed by him the way he recorded at first, "One Night of Sin", during the '68 Comeback Special - or any other Elvis performance. He had no more reasons to try to play the "cool and nice southern religious boy" anymore by then, so why Elvis didn't sing this song the way it was originally recorded? I guess, concerning the '68 TV Special, this time it was a matter of being in television - you know... the sponsorship for the show would probably not agree with such "explicit" lyrics considering it was supposed to be a Christmas TV special, again, family oriented. Maybe he never performed the song with its original lyrics because nobody heard him sing it before since it was only released for the public after Elvis died. Such a shame.

As far as I know, Elvis never performed One Night Of Sin live but it would have been VERY, EXTREMELY suitable for late 60s/70s Elvis. I personally would give almost anything to watch him singing this song in the 70s, really but I guess it is what it is. The timing wasn't what good when this track came to him — or it actually was because, if you think about it, now we have two versions of that song sang by Elvis. What could be better than one Elvis song than two (and hundreds more)?

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You can listen to "One Night (Of Sin)" by Elvis Presley on:

"Elvis: A Legendary Performer" Vol 4. (1983)

"The King of Rock’n’Roll – The Complete 50’s Masters" (1992)

"Loving You" (2005) – FTD (re-issue)

"Loving You" (2006) – FTD (re-issue)

"Elvis: From the Vaults 50's" (2016)

#elvis presley #elvis history #elvis music #50s elvis #one night #1958 #loving you #elvis movies #elvis films #1957 #50s music #elvis the king #elvis fans #elvis fandom #elvis #Youtube

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yuzuwakano · 3 months

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Niko Ikkis room isn't very decorated. He's never been one to care about things like that, but the things he does have are unique and special to him. A twin sized bed sits in the middle of the room, adorned with not much more than a single pillow and light blue blanket. On the left of the bed closest to the door, is a small nightstand. In the bottom drawer is a number of gacha figures, keychains and small knick-knacks. In the top drawer is Nikos' collection of YU-GI-OH cards, along with everything he would need to play and trade them: photo sleeves, toploaders, cards and envelopes from Daiso. On top of the nightstand is a lamp that constantly stays on until Niko decides to sleep, from the base of which Niko has his phone charger plugged in.

On the other side of the bed is a tall shelf set, in its shelves are Nikos collection of manga and anime CD sets for his more favored series and a few school journals, with the exception of the center shelf holding an expensive Madoka Magica figure. Akemi Homura is hovering above the base plate in a sitting position with her legs crossed over each other as if she was in a chair. She's wearing a black dress, shorter in the front and spanning out in fabric and feathers in the back. Behind her are large black and gray wings whose feathers blend with that of her dress, spinning around in a tornado of shadow until it meets the base plate underneath her.

Across the room is a dark brown drawer with a small TV on top. On the left is a small figure, it's wonky, and half of the time Niko can hardly name the character from an anime he hadn't watched since he was 12 but his mother had got it for him on his birthday, so displayed it was. On the right is a small stack of manga pushed up against the wall, a laptop charger wrapped around itself, and a poetry journal that's gone untouched since he started playing soccer.

Pushed against the farthest wall, underneath a large window, is Nikos desk. A dark brown, matching the drawer set. On the left is a white pencil holder, filled with pencils and pens he's collected over the years, a light blue mousepad and white mouse. On the right is Nikos laptop, propped up on a stand, and another lamp, which was also constantly on. In the center is a small stack of school work, books, journals and homework with a stray pencil sitting on top. The desk chair, a dark blue fabric and wheeled, was a constant representation if Niko was home, wearing his school blazer when he was and bare when he wasn't.

The walls were basically white, with the smallest tinge of blue that made Niko wonder if his parents had meant to get pure white and didn't notice the true hue. There was a Death Note calendar above his desk next to the window, constantly opened to June 2019, displaying an image from the opening sequence of Light and L on top of two buildings, staring each other down.

Above his bed was a framed picture of him and his parents after he won his first large YU-GI-OH championship at the age of 9. He's holding a trophy plate in one hand and a large bouquet of flowers in the other and his hair is awkwardly pushed out of his eyes via his mother who insisted that ‘just for the pictures’ their matching eyes would be on display. His parents are behind him smiling excitedly and leaning down to match his height. Behind him are 2nd and 3rd place, a mildly annoyed acne riddled teenager and a royally pissed off middle aged, balding, fat man who ended up cussing the child out in the parking lot. Nikos thought about a million comebacks for that guy since, but that day he only hid behind his father who told the man to get a life.

Standing in his doorway, Niko drops his bag, after so long in Blue Lock Niko realized his bedroom wasn't too different to the prison-like dorms of the facility, and he lets out a “I need a poster,” under his breath. He couldn't help to imagine what the other Blue Lockers rooms looked like, were they as underwhelmed as he was? Or were their rooms covered wall to wall with posters, pictures and decoration. He tried to imagine what they would have, what did they like other than soccer? Did Kurona have shark posters? Would Reo have expensive paintings? Niko imagined Otoya’s wall covered in photos of him with all of his alleged girlfriends and let out a huff of a laugh.

Collapsing on his bed, Niko pulled out his phone, excited to catch up on what he had missed while in the facility and trying not to be sour about his lack of notifications. Nikos' phone answered his silent wish for him buzzing with a new notification. Maybe: Isagi xxx-xxx-xxxx

Maybe:Isagi: hey niko! it's Isagi!

Isagi: me and a couple of other blue lockers are gonna go out tomorrow! we're meeting at a cafe in shibuya and probably going to an arcade and maybe karaoke after, wanna go?

Niko: No, not really.

Isagi: oh okay !! no worries !! enjoy your break !!

Niko: You too.

That was a no brainer. Niko would rather be doing anything else than walking around a crowded city and being forced into doing karaoke by people he would hardly call friends. Isagi Yoichi means well, but he can mean well with his actual friends. Maybe this is why Niko didn't have any…

thanks for reading! i know its a bunch of nothing but i couldn't not post for nikos birthday :3

#blue lock #bllk #niko ikki #ikki niko #niko blue lock #character study

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hero-deserves-to-be-happy · 12 days

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Hero’s Messy Desk Drawer: An Unsolicited Fic Excerpt

(A/N: This fic excerpt is from a story that utilized our OCs (in an AU separate from our “When Sun Shines Again” series) but wasn’t posted to this blog because it didn’t follow our strict side ship rules and wasn’t really about Hero (aside from a brief subplot). We mods have agreed that this short, Hero-centric excerpt is acceptable, however, and have decided to post it since Mod Acacia’s headcanon about Hero’s junk drawer was just discussed in this post.)

OMORI SPOILERS but no other warnings just friendship and messy desk drawers here. Thank you for reading! 💙🧡🩷

There was something familiar, almost cozy about Hero’s room. In a way, it reminded Kel of the room they had shared back home. The left side of the room was bright and colorful with chaotic clusters of photos and posters on the wall. It was cleaner than Kel generally kept his room, but just as cluttered with books, CDs, school supplies, and bottles of something or other haphazardly strewn across the dresser and desk. Though the bed was made, the duvet was crinkled, wrinkly, and the pillows looked like they had been scooped up and thrown at the headboard in a hurry. Sunny would probably give it a 4 out of 10.

To be perfectly fair, however, it probably would have just looked “lived in” if it wasn’t for the left side of the room: simple with pale, muted colors, but perfectly pristine like something out of a catalog. Nothing was out of place, and there was no clutter to be had: no knickknacks, no mementos, and just three photos in matching gray frames on the desk. Every book, every record, every CD had been carefully placed on the shelf and all office supplies were housed in drawers or an unassuming gray pencil holder. The blue duvet was perfectly smooth with pillows perfectly arranged. Even their coats and bags that had been placed on the bed had been carefully, thoughtfully lined up in a neat order against the wall.

“No guessing which side’s Hero’s, huh?” quipped Aubrey as she climbed over the mattress for her purse. “Always neat as a pin.”

As she began digging through her bag, most likely for the case for her contact lenses, Kel turned towards Hero’s desk to search for the first aid kit. Like everything else belonging to his brother, it was clean, sanitized, boring though Kel felt badly for thinking that. He was happy to see the photos though—the only truly personalized things of Hero’s in the room. One was of him with his group of college friends—laughing together probably at some party just like this one by the look of it. The second was their most recent family photo, and the third was of their group of friends in Faraway Park when they were kids back when Mari had been alive.

Kel’s chest ached. They looked so different back then—especially Aubrey. He glanced over at her now, still digging through her bag, long pink hair rippling down her back rather than the dark brown locks she had sported in that photo and for the majority of her life. Her eyes were different too—an icy teal now from her colored contacts. That reminded him…he had better start looking for those eyedrops.

As he pulled open the bottom left drawer of Hero’s desk, he paused—blinking in surprise.

“Woah!” he exclaimed before he could stop himself.

“What?” asked Aubrey.

“This drawer is a mess,” he mumbled, so stunned he wasn’t even able to look up at her. In an entire lifetime of knowing Hero, Kel had never known anything of his brother’s to be a mess. He sighed and supposed that there really was a first time for everything. Kel’s brow furrowed as he began sifting through odds and ends—a whole junk drawer of papers, notebooks, books, a couple CDs, even some receipts, a few pictures, and who even knew what else. “There’s all kinds of crap in here…”

Aubrey snorted a partially stifled laugh. “I didn’t know Hero could make a mess.”

“Me neither,” quipped Kel, pushing some of the papers around looking for anything resembling a first aid kit.

“Hey uh…” She sighed. “Speaking of Hero…do you think he’s…”—she paused as if trying to think of the right word—“worried that we’d all be upset if he…if he was, you know—dating again?”

Kel stopped, but he sighed heavily. He had just been wondering the same thing after all. He shrugged his shoulders—focusing his attention on digging through the desk drawer, but he answered, “I think Hero worries about a lot of things he doesn’t have to worry about.”

“I just wouldn’t want him to feel like he couldn’t put himself back out there, you know… because of what we’d think or because he’s scared we’d be upset or think he was disrespecting Mari…” Her voice trailed. “I wish there was a way we could tell him that we’d all be happy…without it sounding like we were prying or making assumptions.”

Kel nodded, but let out a heavy, somewhat helpless sigh. “Don’t look at me. I’d probably just say the wrong thing,” he chuckled, self-deprecatingly—rubbing his hand across the nape of his neck.

“Kel…” Aubrey’s tone softened, but he didn’t look up at her, instead choosing to quickly shrug it off and change directions.

“Besides he says he’s not interested in having that kind of relationship anymore anyway, so he probably just isn’t—no matter what we’d think about it. You know how Hero is. He’s been…”—he paused, unable to think of the right word—“really weird about that kind of thing ever since Mari died. I just…I don’t know if he’ll ever want that again…”

As Kel continued rifling through the drawer, Aubrey sighed. “I know…and I understand that. I wasn’t suggesting we push him or anything I just…didn’t want to be part of whatever was holding him back.” She paused, sighing again. “He looked so happy, and…I really like her.”

“Me too. I’m pretty sure she’s the only reason I’m not failing math right now,” Kel bantered with a laugh before his face softened. He knew he didn’t have to say the rest—didn’t have to say how much he loved Zoey for being such a good friend to Hero, for always studying with him or going on runs with him at the crack of dawn, for helping him do the dishes at their college parties or talking to him about his favorite foods or favorite kinds of music, for being that lone voice of reason in Hero’s somewhat chaotic group of college friends, for making him laugh and smile, and, most of all, for bringing something out in him that they had never imagined they’d get to see again.

“But it’s really not like that,” Kel added, though he wasn’t sure if was reminding himself or reminding Aubrey. “They both swear they’re just friends, and I believe them. I mean, I wish…Maybe someday, but I just—it’s Hero. I don’t know if he’s ever gonna be ready for it.” Kel stopped with a heavy sigh—brow furrowing as he pushed some of the papers around in Hero’s messy desk drawer. “I mean…he’s got a bunch of books about widowers in here…”

“Kel, don’t snoop through Hero’s stuff,” Aubrey scolded with a huff.

Kel’s face flushed, but he shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not trying to. It’s just such a mess in here. There’s papers everywhere and notebooks and books and CDs and…ooh! A present!” Curiously if also a little impulsively, Kel picked up a small, wrapped box tied with a red ribbon. “It’s heavy. I bet it’s jewelry.”

“Kel! Stop snooping,” Aubrey snapped at him. He fumbled around with the box before placing it back in the drawer.

“Look, I’m not being nosy. I’m just looking for the first aid kit. It’s not in here.”

Aubrey huffed. “You’re looking in the wrong drawer. Hero said lower right not lower left.”

Kel took a step back to stare at the desk—tilting his head. “Okay but…my right or the desk’s right?”

“Just check the other drawer!”

Kel closed the messy drawer then opened its identical twin on the other side of the desk—nearly empty except for a neat stack of blank notebook paper, a metal pencil case, and a first aid kit. “Found it!” he declared triumphantly—ignoring the way Aubrey was shaking her head at him.

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idiot-mushroom · 1 year

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What are your personal head cannons for rot and 2012 tmnt?

2012 tmnt headcannons:

they all decorate their weapons with beads

raph makes pins outta soda caps

raph and leo wrap the other’s bandages (mikey is too jittery/donnie likes how raph wraps his hands tightly (compression stim is superior)

mikey is a gacha kid

they have a cd book with colorful cd holders (donnie organizes it by genre and color)

Splinter will correct them when they do virtually anything (doing dishes/making food/ect.) (not in a condescending way, more like a ‘i want this to be easier for u and I actually have cool tips to help)

rottmnt headcannons:

leo has gone to atleast one of hueso jr.’s birthdays (and loved it (although he did get beat up by a bunch of elementary kids for trying to get candy from the piñata))

raph has had atleast 2 partners and has done some frisky stuff w/ said partners but is quiet abt it bc he wants to lead by example (as a teenager i can vouch that teenagers like kissing other teenagers smtimes)

donnie has a weed farm and gets some of his money that way (i mean he does say that he like botany (in a deleted episode) and lets be honest there is no way he gets that much money from just selling cool military grade gadgets and gizmos on the internet)

mikey’s weapon is secretly a onibi (fire yokai spirit thibgy) and is in fact alive and envies mikey’s life and when shredder destroys the weapon he kills the spirit.

if raph ever became human he would be hawaiin, no arguments, i am right.

thanks for coming to my ted talk

#shroom talks #my personal headcanon #ask reply #thx for the ask!

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beaing-of-many-forms · 8 months

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thinking about being able to tinker with my own body

thinking about little compartments built into all this wasted space on our thighs or wherever to hold tools or maybe a little plushie fren

thinking about sitting at a desk watching youtube while idly tinkering with my own leg sitting on the desk

thinking about having just a thin little static arm that folds out from under my forearm that doesn't articulate or anything but can just hold something when i need it

thinking about having a "ribcage" like those old CD case holders where i can just slot some books or other things i wanna carry around

thinking about swappable mounts on our shoulders and hips for changing out tool limbs and comfort limbs, the latter being like beymax except gel or something instead

idk i just think being a robot would be pretty neat

(also hoping this post might expose me to the tumblr robot crowd i have thoughts like this *often*)

#robot

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incorrectgallaghergirlsquotes · 1 year

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Yes, please, a further elaboration (maybe short scenarios?) Of zach bonding with bex, macey and liz please! Maybe throw in a bit of Rachel? Would really love to see that, thank you bery muchhhh

Anytime Rebecca Baxter approached Zachary Goode it was with intent. The same could be said for anytime Zach sought her out, it was always with reason.

"Goode," Rebecca started. "Do you refrigerate ketchup?"

It wasn't always an important reason.

Zach looked up at the girl putting grocery in her fridge. "Yes."

"No you don't!" She exclaimed.

"Then why did you ask?"

"I thought maybe you had some sense about you!"

"It literally says refrigerate after opening on the bottle!"

"It hasn't been opened yet!"

Zach plucked the bottle from her hands and opened it. "Now it has," he said offering it back to her.

Bex glared at him. "This doesn't make you right." she said, snatching it back.

"Yes, it does," he said, earning a loud groan in response.

For the past hour there hadn't been much noise in the room besides pens tapping paper. But Zach had been tapping the end of his on the edge of his book for a few minutes. Which meant that soon-

“Three letter word for donut shaped music holder.” He said.

Liz’s brow furrowed as she looked up. He passed his over to her. After scanning it for less than ten seconds she handed it back. “CDS.”

“Damn,” Zach said, filling it in. “I took it too literally.”

“You always take it too literally,” Liz told him. “You we’re thinking music holder like a stand or something?”

“Mhm,” Zach mumbled, both of them refocusing on their puzzles.

Liz was next, with a loud groan. “I know, I know this one!”

Zach raised an eyebrow, not yet looking up. Sometimes Liz got there on her own. She was the smartest person Zach knew and he’d never not give her the full credit she deserved for that.

“Four letter word, Taylor Swift, ‘So it blank…’”

“Goes.” He supplied, immediately.

“Ugh!” Liz groaned, filling it in. “How did you know that?”

“Cammie loves Taylor.”

“We all love Taylor.”

Zach chuckled to himself. “I know. She likes that one. And so do I.”

Liz has moved on to her next word. Halfway through the answered she paused, looking up at Zach. “What does that mean?”

“What?”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Do you know what that song is about?”

“Yep.” He fought the urge to chuckle again as he was sure Liz’s eyes had widened at him. “You wanna switch to Sudoku?”

“Yes, please.”

Macey was only going to kill Cammie a little bit for making her attend this lecture. But Cammie was sick so she couldn’t go and she really wanted the extra credit. And Macey couldn’t say no to a sick Cammie. So, that’s how she found herself wearing a blonde wig, next to Zach in a lecture hall.

“You can take Zach for company,” Cammie had said. “He was going to come with me anyway.”

Sure enough, he still tagged along even though it was Macey, not Cammie he was sitting next to.

“I’m surprised you’re not staying back and doting on her,” she commented.

“She’s gonna sleep for a few hours,” Zach said. “I’ll be back before she’s awake again and she’ll let me take care of her.” He reached into Cammie’s bag- the one she’d given Macey to carry- and produced a pen and a notebook. He placed them in front of her and then took out another pen for himself.

Macey glanced down at the objects, almost absently. “She still doodles during lectures.”

“Yep.” Zach said. More people trickled in and started filling in the seats around them. He pulled a pack of gum out of his pocket and offered Macey a piece. She took one. The professor came in among the crowd of students and began setting up.

“What is this lecture for, again?” Macey mumbled.

“History,” Zach answered. “Up until the civil war.”

Macey looked at him then, eyes wide and brows knitted together. Zach gave her a nod in response. Macey inhaled, turning her eyes back to the notebook and picking up the pen.

They still had a few minutes before the lecture was scheduled to start. A particularly loud group of friends had sat somewhat near the pair, having an interesting conversation.

“No, I just assume everyone’s parents are divorced,” one girl was saying, getting laughs and looks from her other friends. “That’s what being a child of divorce does to you.” She looked at one of her friends who was laughing. “Are your parents divorced?”

“No,” he said, still laughing.

“But are they happy?”

Macey looked to Zach again, both of them with wide eyes and the corners of their mouths upturned. They knew a thing or two about unhappy parents, whether they were together or not or shouldn’t be together.

Thankfully, the lecture began just as the groups conversation turned to meth- “No, it’s not meth it’s speed, if you want to be technical.” Macey continued pretending to take notes while Zach fidgeted with his pen next to her.

The lecture seemed to focus in on the Boston Tea Party, the professor showing a reenactment scene of tea tax protestors dumping boiling tar on a man trying to uphold the tax. They then proceeded to cover the man in feathers and take him through town. The clip ended and the professor asked a question. A few people raised their hands- not Zach or Macey- and he called on one of them.

“I mean that was interesting,” the student was saying. “I had no idea that was a thing people did. We only ever really hear about the tea in the harbor part. And it looked like they were dumping like black ink on that guy?”

That got Macey and Zach’s attention. They side eyed each other.

“Um,” the professor began. “The black stuff? That was tar.”

“Oh.” The student said. “Really? It looked like ink.”

Macey turned to Zach again, bringing her hand up to her face as if she was touching her hair, but really she was hiding her incredulous expression. Zach tilted the notebook toward himself.

“Yes, it was boiling hot tar,” the professor confirmed before continuing to get back on track.

Zach pushed the notebook back to Macey. He has written ‘the word tar was in the title of the video’. Macey wrote back ‘literally’ and underlined it. The two sighed at the same time. It was gonna be a long hour but there were worse people to spend it with.

#ask #answered #blurbs #gallagher girls #I got carried away with maceys because it’s real #the group of friends is a real conversation my friends and I had in public #the tar video and comment really happened in a class I don’t even pay attention to #how am I not paying attention and I know more of what’s going on than you #the crosswords were also real #zach goode #bex baxter #macey mchenry #liz sutton #I FORGOT RACHEL

28 notes · View notes