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cobaltperun · 4 months

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Lost (12) - You had me from hello

Tara Carpenter x female Reader

Summary: To anyone on the outside, and to Tara’s friends, you were Tara’s fierce protector, the MMA fighter who’d take anyone on for Tara. The Guard Dog, as Amber called you. You had no idea you’d have to protect her from people who claimed they loved her. It didn’t matter. As long as you and Tara had one another there was nothing you wouldn’t be able to survive.

Story warnings: Scream violence, family issues, trauma, angst, certain sensitive topics

Word count: 3.7k

Story masterlist / First part / Previous part / Next part

-If I never told you I just want you to know you had me from hello-

Proving that yesterday was a fluke, Tara woke up to the sight of you already up and rolling the dough, which, knowing you, probably meant you were making crescent rolls. Tara stretched a bit and just watched you work for a couple of minutes. The years working as a cook really paid off, as you moved in the kitchen with practiced ease and Tara found herself swooning at the thoughts of eating your cooking for the rest of her life. She didn’t even feel like she was rushing with that thought. The two of you went through enough to know for sure that nothing, absolutely nothing, could separate you. And that thought made her smile. She let out a content sigh, humming as she got up and approached you. She hugged you from behind, the same way she did yesterday, only without putting her arms underneath your shirt this time.

"Good morning, Y/N," she said a bit sleepily, she lazily leaned down a bit and kissed you just beneath your shoulder blade, loving the way you went still just for a moment.

"Good morning, birthday girl," she didn't even need to look at you to know there was a grin on your face. She heard you moving a bit, and wiping something before she felt your hands on top of hers. "Great timing actually. What filling would you like?"

Tara hummed at that, it was tempting to go for something sweet, but she'd have her cake later. "How about pizza?" just some tomato sauce, cheese, and ham would be perfect.

You nodded, fake coughing and tapping her hand lightly. Right, she'd need to let you go. "Thank you," you teased, turning around to kiss her cheek before heading to the fridge.

Tara leaned against the counter, careful to avoid dough and flour. "You're making a lot. Are Sam, Chad and Mindy coming?"

"Yeah, apparently we owe them for leaving us alone yesterday. Although, should the three of you be this relaxed about school?" you asked causing Tara to freeze for a moment and look away. You approached, a bowl, ham, cheese and a bottle of tomato sauce in your hands, and you were carefully observing her. When you stood in front of Tara you set aside the bowl and ingredients down, took your apron off, and then tucked a few strands of hair behind Tara's ear. "What's wrong?"

You noticed. Not that she was surprised about that. No one knew her as well as you did. "It's been difficult lately," Tara sighed, if she wanted you to always be open with her, she'd have to be the same way with you.

You frowned and she swore she could see gears turning in your head. "Because of what happened?" you figured it out.

"Yeah," she leaned into you, seeking the comfort of having your arms around her gave her. And you gave her just that, pulling her in. "Promise me you won't go crazy when I tell you," if anyone knew you, she knew you. Even if she failed to recognize you weren't fine for years. She knew how you were when it came to her. She knew you'd get pissed off the moment you heard how things were at school.

Tara heard a reluctant sigh and smiled when she felt you picking her up and taking her to the sofa. You sat down, with her safely sitting on your lap. "I don't like it, but I promise."

"It's either pity or blame. You know, some say they are sorry for me because of what Amber did to me, some say I should have noticed Amber was... the way she was," some went on to say Tara wasn't any different, that she killed Amber, so she was just as dangerous and sick in the head as her now deceased ex. She couldn't tell you that. You'd want the names of those people regardless of what you promised.

She felt you clenching your fists, she felt the tension in your muscles as you held her, she heard the deep breaths you took.

"Y/N," she nuzzled into your neck, hoping she could calm you down with touch, with assurance that she was right there and fine, and that you didn’t need to get into trouble over this.

"I know, I know. I trust you to tell me if you need me to do anything," that was what she wanted to hear as she caressed your cheek, slowly kissing from your neck all the way to your lips. It was a soft, brief kiss, but it was enough to calm your down.

Tara pulled back first, smiling. "I love how protective you are. I love knowing you are always there when I need you. I still need to handle things myself, you know? I need you to get back to the way you were before I was attacked," back then you were protective, but not to the point of handling any problem she had yourself. You didn't get to that point now, either, but Tara worried you might if she didn't point it out to you right away.

Before you left two months ago Tara absolutely needed you. She needed help moving, she couldn't take care of herself properly and at first needed help with even some of the more basic tasks. That was embarrassing, but you were patient and made sure she never felt like she was an inconvenience. She couldn't do anything too difficult and with the damage to her hand, she'd still need help with certain tasks in the future. That was the physical side of things. Carrying her, carrying things she couldn't, all the things like that, all of that was fine. She knew her limits and she was fine with your help with what she couldn't do. That's how things were before she got attacked as well, only back then they were less intimate.

As for handling issues like the one she currently had at school, well, that was where she drew the line. She couldn't have you solving everything, or getting involved with everything. She needed you to go back to the way you were before. Where you'd only get involved if she asked you to and would otherwise just offer her the support.

"I can still get angry, right?" you asked, relaxing a bit at her words.

"There's not much I can do about that," Tara laughed and leaned down once again to kiss your cheek. "I have you," she kissed your cheek again. "And Sam, and Mindy, and Chad," with every name she kissed another part of your face, purposefully avoiding your lips. "I can handle anything this stupid town throws at me."

How she wished she could erase what happened, go to a place where no one knew who she was and what she went through so that she could live a normal life. Hopefully, she could do exactly that once she leaves Woodsboro with you, Chad, and Mindy, and, she hoped, Sam as well.

You got tired of her insistent avoidance of your lips and gently cupped her cheek to properly kiss her. "I know you can. You will. And then we'll leave this damn place and never come back," Tara liked that idea. She liked the slow and gentle way you were kissing even more, the soft caress of your thumb across the side of her face. You separated too quickly for her liking. "Breakfast, Tara" you reminded her.

"Breakfast, Tara" she repeated, dejectedly getting off your lap, and you just laughed. "What?" she asked, surprised by your reaction.

"Pancakes, Y/N," you reminded her, and Tara blinked a few times, realizing she did exactly what you did yesterday.

And so, she laughed as well, jokingly pushing you to get up quicker. You got together yesterday, no one could blame her for being a bit more eager for everything than it was necessary. Besides, you weren't any different. Give it a bit of time and you'll both get used to the relationship, which should, in turn, make you a bit less excited about being in a relationship than you currently were. Twice a day was definitely not a pace either of you needed.

You didn't head right back to the dough, instead, you dug for something in your bag and walked back to her with a small bag. "I saw them and figured your hand might be sensitive to cold," you handed her the package. "Happy birthday, Love," you said, quickly bending down to peck her lips one more time.

Tara, pulled you into a hug, the package still in her hand. "Thank you," she whispered in your ear. The gift turned out to be a pair of rechargeable hand warmers. "I love it," could she tell you? Was it too early? She kinda figured you weren't the most usual couple, between near-death experience and being in love for years. Shouldn't there be a build-up to those words? "Y/N."

"Yeah?" you looked taken aback when you looked her in the eyes.

"It's just, I-" she was sure of what she felt, she just feared you might think it was too soon.

You smiled. "I love you too, Tara," her jaw dropped.

"Wha- How?" she jumped to her feet as you laughed and went back to making crescent rolls. "Y/N!" she scolded you with a pout on her face.

"Eyes are the window to the soul, right? Well, no one has eyes quite as expressive as yours, Tara. Besides, we've been through so much together. Saying 'I love you' feels more like stating the obvious, rather than a huge declaration," you shrugged while you began grating the cheese

Tara wanted to be annoyed, but, frankly, she couldn't be. You just had to be right, didn’t you? Tara did have to admit most people didn’t go through what the two of you did. There certainly wasn’t a book about when to say ‘I love you’ if you and your partner survived a couple of crazy killers trying to kill you. "You're right. Let's redo it. I love you, Y/N," she said and your smile morphed into a wide grin.

"I love you too, Tara."

~X~

About an hour later Tara got a text from Sam that her, Chad, and Mindy were almost there, and just in time as you were just done setting the table. The crescent rolls smelled absolutely divine and if they weren’t fresh out of the oven Tara would have tried them already.

The two of you heard a knocking on the doors and Tara jumped to unlock them.

“Sam learnt her lesson,” you teased as Tara walked past you and she just grinned at you, blushing slightly at the reminder of what nearly happened yesterday.

The moment she opened the doors Sam burst in, hugging her tightly. “Easy Sam, I was with Y/N,” Tara laughed, hugging her sister back.

“In more ways than one,” Mindy quipped shamelessly.

“Mindy!” Chad, luckily, chastised her before Tara could.

But Mindy just smirked, patting Tara on the back. “Early birthday present? Seeing stars without getting punched?”

Tara blushed furiously, of course Mindy would keep teasing her even now that she got together with you. “That’s… It’s not,” damn it, why was she so embarrassed.

“Damn it, Mindy, we’re supposed to have breakfast,” Sam complained as she let go of Tara.

“Exactly, and leave Tara be,” Chad jumped in to defend her as well.

Mindy just smirked, and while she stopped talking she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively causing Tara to groan. “Well, I had my fun, happy birthday, T,” Mindy finally went and hugged her. “Also, seriously, about time you two!” she exclaimed loud enough for you to hear her as well, but considering the way you were looking at them, with your jaw dropped, you definitely heard everything that came before as well.

“What the dingus said, I mean the about time thing,” Chad grinned and pulled Tara in for a hug. “Happy birthday!”

“Thanks, all of you,” Tara smiled, and just for a moment, for a fleeting second, she expected to see three more faces there. As if what happened was a horrible nightmare, as if Wes and Liv were still alive and Amber was alive and not a crazy murderer. But they weren’t there, they were all dead.

She tried to keep the smile on her face as she the three of them inside. All five of you sat down and Tara snuggled as close to you as she could, seeking your warmth and trying to push those thoughts away.

You always had a sixth sense for her distress, and you wrapped your arm around her and kissed the top of her head.

“So, world champion?” Chad awkwardly patted you on the shoulder.

Ever since Tara told the three of them of your retirement, they weren’t sure how to approach the subject, and that was with Tara. Now you were right there, and that awkwardness came back like a boomerang, and it was only slightly eased by the fact that you won. Well, depending on how you looked at it. Chad, personally, thought that you winning made it even worse, since you wouldn’t get the chance to defend your title and dominate the women MMA.

“Until the next title match, yeah. Anya will probably take it right back by beating up whoever her unlucky opponent ends up being,” you weren’t bothered though, not even a bit and Tara trusted you were honest.

“I bet, that woman hits hard,” Sam agreed, wincing slightly when she remembered how much Tara was panicking while they were all watching your fight.

You chuckled. “Tell me about it,” and just like that the tension was gone. Tara eased her worried mind by leaning into your touch, and you eased the worries of all your friends by being fairly chill about the retirement. For a brief moment Tara even chastised herself for ever doubting you in the first place.

~X~

Later that day you were washing the dishes while Tara and the twins choose how to pass the time. That was when Sam approached you.

She leaned back against the fridge, not quite looking at you, instead she crossed her arms and looked at Tara. "So, you and Tara," Sam began a bit awkwardly.

"Yes?" you couldn't help bit smirk a bit, but when you noticed Sam’s nervousness and the fact that she chose to keep her tone low, your smirk dropped, and you dried your hands. You were done anyway.

"You're official?" there was the question, honestly, you expected it a bit sooner, but you guessed there just wasn’t a chance for Sam to ask. And you guessed she was a bit conflicted.

You should have been annoyed by her demeanor. And maybe you were a bit annoyed. She was gone for five years, came back only when she had to, and while you were thankful, she came back, you didn’t exactly appreciate the fact that she was tethering on the edge of protecting Tara from you of all people. But, you did understand. Tara went through a traumatic experience, and she jumped into a relationship with you the moment you came back. Not to mention the circumstances surrounding you leaving weren’t the best either. Sam couldn’t know that you and Tara completely talked it out, before you got together, and then during the rest of the day, you just talked it all over. Or at least the most important topics.

So, between understanding where Sam was coming from and the excitement you felt over being with Tara you couldn't wipe that stupid grin off your face as you glanced at Tara debating with Mindy on which movie to watch was enough of an answer on its own. "Yeah, it kinda just happened," you then quickly raised your hand. "Before you give me protective older sister speech, I know. I get it. If I ever hurt her you're free to do whatever you want," of course, after you chose your own fitting punishment.

Sam nodded, smiling at your reassurance. "Honestly, if it had to be anyone, I'm glad it's you," she looked at Tara, at the grin on her face that mirrored your own when she glanced toward you. "She's happy with you."

"Sam, Y/N, come on!" Tara said, interrupting the conversation you had with Sam, still, you doubted there was anything else left to say. Sam approved, even if she was justifiably concerned for her sister.

~X~

As the celebration began coming to a close the five of you were left sitting, just chilling in your and Tara’s apartment. Mindy and Chad were on the couch and Chad was eating his second slice of cake. Sam and Mindy refused the seconds, but you and Tara were sharing a piece, since Tara was already full, but craved something sweet and you weren't about to turn down extra cake. Sam was sitting at the bottom of your and Tara’s bed, while you sat cross-legged on your bed with Tara sitting on your lap. You had one arm around her waist while holding the plate in the other. Tara was the one with the duty to feed either of you.

"Hey, what should we do when we leave Woodsboro?" Chad suddenly asked as he took another bite of his cake.

"Go to university, get our degrees, you know how it goes," Mindy didn't seem too interested in the topic.

"Well yeah, but I'd like us to stick together. You know, after what we went through," he said and you couldn't help but feel relief at his words.

You glanced at Tara, seeing the hopeful look in her eyes. This clearly wasn't something they talked about before.

"I don't think I can trust other people easily, after what Amber did," Mindy admitted. "And I really care about you two," she said to Chad and Tara. "No offense, Y/N, Sam."

"None taken, I get it," Sam immediately assured her and you just grinned.

You and Mindy were friends, you were on good terms, you could see she was happy for you and Tara. You also fully understood it was a friendship that relied on your mutual connection to Tara.

"Well, I care about all of you," Chad was, for the lack of a better description, much more open to caring about people than Mindy. Granted, you had more in common with Chad than Mindy, so that may have had something to do with the closer friendship the two of you had.

"How about we pick the same university and rent an apartment together?" Tara went for the best-case scenario in her head.

Mindy immediately crossed her arms in an X shape. "No way, university yes, but living with you two? No, I can't handle how stuck together you two are," she immediately shut it down.

Tara laughed, jokingly smacking her shoulder. "We're not that bad!"

Mindy just looked at Tara blankly and shook her head. "T. We know what you did yesterday, a day into your relationship, by the way," Tara and you blushed at that. "Also, kind of hard to believe you when you haven't left Y/N's lap for longer than a minute the whole night."

"She got you there Snuggle Bear," you snickered, pulling the embarrassed girl closer to you.

Tara pouted and untangled herself from you, so she could go to Sam who happily accepted the role of hugging her sister.

"There, there, don't worry about it," Sam smoothed Tara's hair and pulled Tara to her right side. Tara eagerly leaned into Sam's embrace.

"See! This is what I'm talking about! As if being sweet with Y/N wasn't enough, there's Sam as well!" Mindy laughed and honestly, given the situation, you and Chad couldn't help but join in. "It never ends, and I worry it might be contagious."

Tara just turned around and stuck her tongue out.

'We're all just touch-starved, aren't we?' you couldn't help but think as you shook your head slightly.

"No, look at it from the brighter side, at least she's going from one to the other," and Chad had to say it.

Tara immediately perked up and looked at you. "Y/N," she said sweetly and made a 'come here' motion with her hand.

"No!" Mindy and Chad jumped to grabbed onto you.

"Duty calls," you smirked, getting up to shake the two off and get closer to Tara and Sam despite the two trying to pull you back.

"Stay with us Y/N! She has you wrapped around her little finger!" Mindy laughed.

"How does Tara hold you back and pull you around all the time?" Chad complained as he relented and gave up on trying to hold you back.

Looking over your shoulder you saw Mindy looking at Chad with an 'Are-you-serious' look on her face.

"I let her," you shrugged and dropped down next to Tara. "Yes, Tara?"

Tara glanced down at her left hand, resting on her thigh. Then she glanced at your own hand. Okay, you could figure that one out. You leaned back and slid your arm around Tara's lower back so you could reach her left hand from behind. "Like this?"

"Just like that," going by the smile on Tara's face she really enjoyed the moment. Sam having her arm around Tara's shoulders and you hugging her at the same time.

"See, it's like she has two guard dogs now," Mindy's laughter suddenly stopped. The reminder of Amber's nickname for you hanging in the air like an uncomfortable weight on everyone's shoulders. "Shit, sorry, Tara," she apologized.

"No, don't worry about it," Tara got up, but before you or Sam could go after her Mindy got up and pulled her into a hug.

"I'm really sorry. For teasing as well, hug them all you want," Mindy dropped the tough act just for a few moments.

Tara returned the hug and you saw her shoulders relaxing before the two girls separated.

"Uh, I'd like a hug too," Chad grinned sheepishly, prompting Tara to hug him as well.

If there really was a group of life-long friends forming between the five of you there was no doubt in your mind the heart and soul of that group was Tara.

A/N: The gift is an idea from Anon's headcanon, I didn't even know those were a thing until Anon mentioned them. Thank you, Anon!

#tara carpenter x reader #tara carpenter #tara carpenter x you #tara carpenter x female reader #scream #jenna ortega x reader

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its-time-to-write · 5 months

Note

Hey!!! I hope you are doing well and with all life’s downs you have more ups!!! You’re a fantastic writer and love your voice! If you are willing/interested in could you write something involving the reader watching videos of little Jamie (like when things Georgie would have recorded of him at youth matches or school plays or just Jamie being a cheeky little bugger) and either it’s happening back at Manchester or a little career throwback video thing because he won something big or it’s like his 100th match at Richmond and the reader is helping put together this video to play for Jamie

Hey! Yeah I am doing well, just mega busy bc of holidays and everyone needing therapy and whatevs. Hope you’re well as well🩵🩵

play it back

“So he was always a little shit, huh?” you comment. You’re sitting on Georgie’s couch as you help her convert videos from old cameras to her computer.

“Oh yes,” she laughs. “But such a cute little bugger. Had the whole neighborhood wrapped around his finger.”

You click through videos, landing on one of him sitting on the grass. He’s not quite one, but he’s sitting up and clapping his pudgy hands.

“Oh my god, I can’t with that face,” you groan. “He’s too cute. I just want to squeeze him.”

“There’s a video of his first birthday party on here somewhere,” Georgie says, and you scramble to find it. You open a video of baby Jamie with his face covered in blue frosting. His hands are covered in chunks of cake, and he’s waving them around while laughing.

“The neighbors brought that cake over,” Georgie comments with a smile. “Jaim was being such a ham, making them laugh. He knew what he was doing, even then.”

You smile and continue forward. Baby Jamie in the tub, baby Jamie sleeping in his crib. Then toddler Jamie on Christmas.

“Show me what you’ve got,” comes Georgie’s voice from behind the camera.

Jamie’s tiny voice says, “It’s a fucking FOOTBALLLLL!” as he holds it over his head.

“Language, Jamie!” says Georgie, but you can tell she’s smiling. Jamie stands up and places the football on the ground.

Georgie says, “No, Jamie, don’t kick it in the-” and the camera tumbles to the ground. She swears, “Christ,” and it goes black.

“Classic,” you say.

Georgie chuckles a bit ruefully. “That was the beginning for him. Found it in a bargain bin and thought it’d get some of his fucking energy out. Think it just gave him more of a boost.”

The next is shaky footage of Jamie, aged six, as he runs on a pitch with other kids his age.

“Go, Jamieee!” Georgie screams. He barely looks at her as he kicks it into the goal, leagues ahead of the other team. He turns to his mum and gives her a thumbs up, followed by a swift two fingers up to the other team.

“Jamie, no!” Georgie shouts, and he switches back to a thumbs up and a shrug as if to say, I don’t know what you’re talking about. The video ends as the ref (someone’s father), pulls out a yellow card while trying to suppress laughter.

“Didn’t know you could get yellow cards at that age,” you grin.

“Well, you know Jamie; he played every part of that game,” Georgie replies.

“What are you on about?” Jamie asks, coming through the door. “Mum, you got the videos out?”

“She’s helping me put them on my new computer,” Georgie says. “Right helpful, she is. And tell me, what have you done today?”

Jamie blushes a bit. “Kicked the ball around the pitch. Soundly trounced some kids talking shit. Oh, and Simon and I went to get groceries.”

You raise an eyebrow. “And where are the groceries, Jamie?”

Jamie says, “Oh shit,” and rushes back outside to help Simon.

You roll your eyes affectionately and press play on the next video.

This one is another match, and Jamie’s older, maybe ten? It’s shot through the window of the council estate as he walks up, presumably from school. He’s dragging his feet but he’s got something in his hand.

“This was me birthday,” Georgie whispers.

“Whatcha got, Jaim?” Georgie asks as he swings the door open.

He smiles and launches himself into her arms, and for a moment, the camera is pointed at the ground. It gets righted and pointed at his smiling, dimpled face as he shoves a bundle of slightly wilted flowers into focus.

“Happy Birthday, Mummy!” he smiles. They’ve obviously been plucked on his walk back home from school.

“Thank you, baby,” she replies and again, you don’t need to see her to know she’s smiling. Georgie sweeps him into her arms as the video shuts off.

Georgie sniffs. “His dad had been round the day before. I had a fucking shiner to put the moon to shame that’s for sure, but my baby boy always knew how to get me smiling again.”

You lean your head against hers and she motions for you to keep on to the next video.

You click through a couple until you find one of him on the pitch again. It’s a couple years later and he’s a teenager, maybe thirteen, and he’s completely skipped the gangly phase you always thought was mandatory to growing up.

“He were twelve there,” Georgie says. “Got scouted in that very match.”

“Started me whole career,” Jamie interjects as he comes into the kitchen with an armful of bags. Simon’s right behind him, arms full as well.

You raise your eyebrows in surprise, but it’s not that shocking. You can tell he’s good, even at age twelve.

Jamie deposits the bags and wiggles into the non-existent space between you and Georgie.

“I was dead cute, weren’t I?” he asks.

“You were,” you agree. “Not sure what’s happened in recent years.”

Jamie protests with an, “Oi!” as you and Georgie dissolve into giggles. Simon (wisely) decides to stay out of it and busy himself with putting the food away.

“I’m putting these on the cloud so I can have that at home,” you tell Jamie, and he worms his way closer next to you.

“Mint. You gonna start a Jamie-table like mum, too?”

“Fuck no,” you reply. “You’re head’s fucking big enough as-is.”

“You like my big head,” he says, and you smack him.

“Not in front of your mum!” you shriek as he tickles your sides. Georgie gets up off the couch to go kiss Simon while Jamie continues to terrorize you, kissing all over your face as you make half-hearted attempts to push him off. He was cute back then, but your favorite version of Jamie is definitely the one you get to hold in your arms right now.

#jamie tartt x reader #jamie tartt fanfiction #jamie tartt imagine #jamie tartt x y/n #jamie tartt x you #jamie tartt #ted lasso

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chiiyuuvv · 8 months

Note

hi hi, can I request something like how xikers would spend their free time with you? 💗💞

HANGING OUT WITH XIKERS °

~~~~~~~~♡

Minjae ☆

Your birthday was coming up and minjae wanted to surprise you

And because you kept talking about it, he took you to a dog cafe <3

Taking turns feeding and playing with the dogs <3

Got very full yourself XD

While you were playing with the dogs, minjae sneaked a picture, finding you cute ♡

Junmin ☆

You and junmin were talking about heights when you brought up bungee jumping

Junmin preceded to tease you until you made a bet

He lost the bet

You made him go bungee jumping with you, and he was screaming like a scaredy cat the entire time

You had to push him off ♡

Sumin ☆

Sumin would smile so wide when he hears the doorbell ring (no pun intended), quickly opening the door and dragging you to his room to show you his assorted beads and string

"You begged me to come to.." "MAKE FRIENDSHIP BRACELETS WITH ME!!" he'd cut you off, his eyes glowing like stars

You'd find him cute, sitting down and opening the containers

You two would chat happily, showing each other patterns and techniques

"OH MY GOD CLOSE YOUR EYES" he'd shout your name, grabbing you wrist and putting on the most prettiest bracelet on you ♡

Jinsik ☆

The power had went out so you were bored in his living room

Playing around with your fingers, he would suddenly ask to play truth or dare

You didnt really want to at first, but come on, who can resist Ham Jinsik?

"Truth or dare?" "Hmm.. truth." "Do you like anyone at school?" "..yeah.." "OMG WHO?!"

"You." ♡

Hyunwoo ☆

You two were going out shopping for the upcoming school dance

Hyunwoo wanted to ask for you to be his partner for the dance, but he was so shy

You'd brag him to the dressing room and pop out with different outfits on

At first it was for shits and giggles until you came out wearing this light blue, sparkling dress

Hyunwoo would gasp so loud, standing up towards you as he blushes

Would compliment you on how pretty you look as he finally gathers all his courage, asking you out to the dance ♡

Junghoon ☆

You and junghoon were talking on his bed, remicing your childhoods

Junghoon was starting it get a little sleepy as he pulls the blanket over the two of you, resting his head on your lap

You were a little taken back, before running you hand through his hair

"You look like a cat hoon." You would say as he hums, closing his eyes

Would start to braid his hair as he sleeps ♡

Seeun ☆

Seeun spent all day teasing you for various things and you were fed up

Secretly plotting you notice seeun falling asleep on the couch

You quietly run to your bag, pulling out a black sharpie

Trying to hold your laughter as you doodle on his face

Would hide yourself when he wakes up and goes to use the bathroom, cackling when he starts screaming ♡

Yujun ☆

Yujun invited you over for a sleepover because he wanted to show you a new game he found

Luckily, it was a 2 player game so you guys could play at the same time

Would defo make bets for the person the loses, but get mad when he loses

Would try to change the rules but you already did your punishment

Would defo try to act like hes so hurt, until you offer snacks and he would jump up like nothing happened ♡

Hunter ☆

You'd come back from the bathroom to find hunter in a apron

"There you are!" He'd smile all cutely and walk towards you, wrapping another apron around your waist

You could feel his breath on your neck as it seemed like time stopped, before he flashed you a cute smile

If you put the wrong measurement or something hunter would laugh at you before reassuring it was okay

Feeding him little spoonfuls of food because he is a baby :(( ♡

Yechan ☆

You were at yechans house helping him clean his room when you stumbled upon some old Halloween costumes

Yechan smiles at you mischievously, before kicking some stuff to the side to form a "runway"

You come back to the bathroom in one of your old costumes to find all the stuff animals lined up as the audience

Yechan starts acting like a cameraman while you model. "Yeah.. yeah. Turn. OHHH. another turn? YEAHHH"

You trip over something ♡

Thank you for requesting again! And thank you to my bestie for helping me <3

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courtneysartblog · 8 months

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The Music of Good Omens

Let me take you on the little musical rabbit hole I went on yesterday. (And be mindful this is coming from a listener of music, not a professional aka I never took a class in this and haven't read sheet music in over ten years).

So when I first started listening to the Good Omens 2 soundtrack (done by the amazing David Arnold) I found it really intriguing that neither Crowley or Aziraphale had tracks really named for them. And that got me thinking, they don't really have motifs either. At least they didn't have motifs that are uniquely dedicated to themselves as characters separate from each other. Looking through the season 2 soundtrack that also seems to be the case. While there are a couple songs named for characters, often times paired together, (Maggie and Nina, Crowley and Muriel, Gabriel and Beelzebub) these tracks aren't really repeated throughout the show (from what I remember), so they aren't these defining songs that make you stick the tune to the character and/or some emotion they are feeling. So basically there are songs named for characters because the scenes are these character moments, but the songs are not used as repeating motifs. For example He's Smoking and Crowley Goes Large, feel like moments that could have the motif (because of character and tone) but don't really. Even characters that have a lot of songs named for them, don't have a through-line. For instance Beelzebub in Hell and Beelzebub Isn't Happy don't have any shared motifs. The soundtrack rather has great moments to bring the tone and setting and feel into the story. But, at least from my hearing, there aren't a lot of strong motifs repeating for these characters, to say, show when a character is triumphing or about to do something important/thematic.

So then I went back to the original soundtrack, where there are a lot more character specific tracks, and where there are are also a lot more motifs used. The most recognizable to me being Anathema and Adam and the Dog as both have a very folky, almost hobbit kind of sound. They sound very different from the rest of the soundtrack and seem to connote the perfect world of Tadfield. And you will hear the motifs throughout the show at appropriate moments.

Again these motifs aren't super present and not every character has one, so I'm guessing it's either David Arnolds style to not be ham-fisted with themes or else was not his vision for Good Omens. But they aren't absent either, just more subtle than say a major blockbuster score, which a lot of times are trying to make you feel a certain way with a lot of big emotions in a short amount of time. The world of Good Omens is fantastical and quirky, and it feels like the music works to express this. The soundscape seems focused on tone and setting more so than say characters. Which isn't a bad thing because the motifs that do show up feel very natural to the emotions of the scene. But it also means that motifs overlap different characters sometimes.

But let's get back to Aziraphale and Crowley, who as I said, don't have any character motifs of their own. But they do have one together! There are two major motifs for them. One is the main theme (0.17 secs), which is that recognizable staccato section you would start singing if asked you to sing the theme. It's not always exclusive to them, but more often than not if they are getting into shenanigans you will hear the theme crop up into the score. And how amazing is that! They share a motif. It's wholly them, and it's the theme for the entire show! For me the theme captures the quirk of the show, the idea of the ineffable.

The second motif also comes from the main theme. I'm guessing that this is the bridge of the song, but don't quote me on it as, again I do not have enough musical knowledge. But it's the softer section of the title theme(0.51 secs) that sometimes has a twinkly sound, sometimes has a more sweeping feel. And I think for a lot of us it's most memorable as the song Crowley sings to Warlock as a nanny, and then the 1941 blitz scene (6.23) where Crowley saves the books and Aziraphale realizes he's in love. If you want to give it a listen Lullaby is the track you will want to pop on. I absolutely love this theme for them because it's so romantic, so soft, and in the original theme it sounds like two people dancing together. The entire opening theme is a Walts in 3/4 time, so really the whole song is a dance, but this part especially sounds like two characters going back and forth with each other. I watched this interview of David Arnold talking about the music and learned that this song was actually the first track written for Good Omens. How crazy is that! And from there or lullaby melody was incorporated with the rest of the theme. Along with that, Arnold has commented that this opening theme is a dance between these two characters. This is their theme and it was created to reflect the dynamic between the two. Because the show is about an angel and a demon, heaven and hell, Arnold paired moments of levity with darker moments to show the duality between the two. The entire score is literally Crowley and Aziraphale. Wow.

But as for this main lullaby melody, this is what I think of as the Nightingale in song form. The musical motif that shows everything is alright.

So that had me re-listening to the original soundtrack to pick up on where the lullaby motif plays. We of course hear it in the 1941 scene, which is not on the soundtrack at all. (This has me thinking that there could be other tracks are not in the soundtrack, and maybe I do need to rewatch everything to see if the motif is snuck in other places but for this post I'll go off of what we have). We also hear it in the track Lullaby, Adam(0.41), and Adam Sleeping, which are all moments when either Crowley is singing a child to sleep or Adam is sleeping. I think the motif is less paired to Adam as a character and more as a counterpoint to Warlock being sung the same theme.

We then we hear it again Witch, during Agnus Nutter’s burning at the stake, which is kind of an odd one that I could connect to her prophetic nature to shape things towards the ineffable, but I think that would be a stretch. The next section we hear it is the 1941 moment, and it doesn't crop up again until the end of the show in End of the Story, Shadwell and Tracy, All Change. And I think this motif is most notable here at the end of the story, in moments where characters are coming together, where things are right with the world again, aka Nightingales. It's used in a lot of moments with a lot of different characters but again, it's a song at least I connect a lot with that 1941 moment and then the section with Crowley and Aziraphale right before they go to the Ritz and the final scene of the show.

So then that had me going back to the Season 2 soundtrack to find our motif there. The opening theme is riffed on a lot in the soundtrack, perfectly fitting Crowley and Aziraphale getting into trouble, but our romantic motif doesn't crop up a lot, at least on the soundtrack, again the entire show would need a rewatch to pick out if it's slipped in anywhere. There's a new more distorted appearance of the song at the beginning of the 1941 Blitz scene (also not on the track), but from the soundtrack this motif only really appears in flashbacks. Most notably It's What God Wants, and His New Children from the Job mini-sode and then Not Kind from the Grave Robbing mini-sode. And it's very much used in these moments of Crowley doing something for Aziraphale, when they are on the same page with each other, being tender, in these small moments similar to season one and the 1941 Blitz.

But you know where the theme doesn't appear? During that kiss. Instead of our motif we get this angelic vocal moments slipping down into a deeper sound. It's sinks where as the lullaby motif floats. And this is why I think we will see the lullaby motif in season three especially in a kiss scene...

Okay I won't start another essay, but yes. I think or lullaby romantic theme is important, and we see it so little in season two because all is not okay. There are no nightingales. Even if so many moments are romantic, these characters are not quite dancing with each other anymore.

But you know what new motif we see a lot of. Yep it's that really depressing, heart-wrenching one. Fallen Angel, which of course plays during the Job mini-sode when Aziraphale thinks he has done wrong by lying and thwarting the will of God, and now believes he's destined to fall to hell. It's also him realizing he is now separate from heaven, just like Crowley is from hell, on their own side. But it's lonely there.

I love the Fallen Angel track, and we get to hear it's melody a fair amount, starting in We're Going to Hell and then a little in Need to Cut and most notably in I'm Going to Save Her, (the moment where Aziraphale is ready to do something entirely against the rules for humanity). It's so thematic why Fallen Angel reprises in the Edinburgh mini-sode. This song is a code for Aziraphale's journey as he struggles with his idea of goodness and where heaven fits and doesn't fit this. This motif depicts the heartbreaking conflict Aziraphale is going through so well. He's lonely separated from Heaven. He struggling with what he thinks is the right thing, and he's still holding on tight to his ideas of heaven. But it's not just Aziraphale's moment. Crowley is there too, also being reflected by this song. He understands the truth of Heaven. But he's lonely from his own fall, and lonely from not fitting in amongst the demons of hell. This is a lot of what season two is about, these two characters struggling with their relationship with Heaven and Hell and with each other, and it's reflected through this motif.

But it's not limited to the flashbacks.

Let's put a pin in this and just talk about the musical roller coaster that is the final four songs of the GOS2 soundtrack, going from I Forgive You into Don't Bother, The Biggest Decision and then The End? Because oh my god. I Forgive You is the kiss scene, and the score here is crazy. It's starts with this angelic choral bit that we've heard throughout the soundtrack and then we hear a bell toll. Which for me was just such a symbolic sound. The tolling bells go off throughout the soundtrack, especially as a way to transition from softer, choral bits into the darker more intense sounds. And here, as the kiss goes from airy, the bell tolling lets us know, this isn't going to end well. And then the song sinks. The next three tracks are crazy to me, because as you watch the show, there is no hope, it's just a consistent downward spiral of heartbreak. But the soundtrack keeps oscillating from soft and angelic, into dark and depressing. Back and forth until we finally settle into The End?

Don't Bother and The End? are especially interesting to me, as it feels like these two songs are a part of a whole, to the point that it's almost jarring that The Biggest Decision , which uses the main theme, is between them. Oh my god the connotation of giving us the main theme sans the romantic lullaby melody and then just taking it away? Snatching any kind of comfort or hope from that ending by not ending with the theme? Their song? Damn.

But going back to Don't Bother and The End?, you know what these two songs, especially Don't Bother, sound like? They sound like Fallen Angel.

From what I can hear, it is not the same melody used. But they do go together. Fallen Angel and Don't Bother are part of the same song or if not, they are at least companions. I don't think it's just they have the same artist or that they are a part of the same score. To me they sound like they are a part of a whole.

And why does the song denoting loneliness and self conflict come up during Aziraphale and Crowley's divorce?

Of course this sound would be brought back. It's a motif of conflict of loneliness and that's what the last moments of GOS2 is.

But it's not like the Fallen Angel motif pops up anywhere in season one. It's a season two original to perfectly connote Aziraphale's struggle with right and wrong. Sure there are songs like Holy Water, and Crucified and We're Not Killing Anybody, that are in the same ballpark as Fallen Angel, but its not like the motif crops up in the first season at all...

We're Not Killing Anybody has the Fallen Angel motif in it. You know, We're Not Killing Anybody. The scene where... What scene was that? Oh yeah, Crowley and Aziraphale talking at the bandstand.

THE BANDSTAND BREAK UP SCENE IN S1E3 HAS THE FALLEN ANGEL MOTIF IN IT. THE SCENE WHERE THESE TWO CHARACTERS CAN'T FIND THEIR WAY TOGETHER AND WHERE AZIRAPHALE STRUGGLES WITH RIGHT AND WRONG AND HEAVEN AND--

So yeah. It comes full circle. The Band Stand Breakup is Fallen Angel, is our Divorce motif. Fallen Angel has always been them. It's always been the song in absence of nightingales. It's always been the song where they walk away from each other. God Damn.

The Fallen Angel motif has, at least for season 2, replaced our beloved romantic motif. That's why the lullaby is absent this season. No nightingales.

Doesn't that hurt just so good? Really the music is so subtle but so so smart.

#good omens #goodomensseason2 #crowly x aziraphale #ineffable husbands #aziracrow #crowley #good omens 2 #aziraphale #good omens soundtrack #good omens music

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imastrangeone98 · 10 months

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The Room Where It Happened - Chapter 1: A Place to Go

(A/N: no one asked for it yet here it is- my Miguel o'hara thirst posts in a weird convoluted one shot complication)

Warning: spoilers for across the spider verse. Also fem!korean spider "oc" who is unnamed as of yet so I will call it "reader"

"No, not this universe either! And the other spiders are probably gonna get close to either him or us before we find him!" Gwen raked her fingers through her hair, tugging painfully at the strands. "I need to think, I need to think..."

"Relax, kid. Not only are we not getting anywhere, we're all exhausted and hungry," Peter B. sighed. He knew that she was getting desperate- hell, all of them were.

Miles was nowhere to be found, and with the unhappy revelation that he had not gone to his true universe, they were forced to bounce back and forth between worlds. Thankfully, Spider-Byte and Peni Parker had managed to narrow it down to a few possibilities, but it still didn't change the fact that without Miles' watch, they had no real way of knowing whether he was in that world or not.

And not to mention, the high likelihood of the Spider Society being hot on their tails did not make it easier on them.

"I'm detecting a signal," Margo said suddenly, checking her monitors. "It looks like a shift in inter-dimensional energy!"

"Then that means-!" Pavitr's eyes widened.

"They on our tail," Hobie sighed out with a crack of his knuckles. "Ain't gotta get ya Alan Wickers in a twist; I got a plan."

"And what could that possibly be-?" Gwen was about to ask, frustrated, but Hobie didn't pay any mind. He instead turned to Margo, giving what sounded like coordinates.

"...Are you sure about that one?" Margo whispered to him, eyes wide. "Isn't that...?"

"Yeah; it's the one place he ain't gonna poke his nose in." He gestured to the now open portal. "Goin' in or not? Or wouldja rather waste time gettin' a hook?"

Without waiting for the rest, he jumped in. The others, upon hearing the tell-tale sound of webs flying behind them, all followed the spider rebel. Just in the nick of time, as two other spider-people landed right as the portal closed.

"We just missed them! What are we gonna tell Miguel now?!" the first one hissed. The second ignored their partner, checking their watch for the coordinates, only to drop their hands in shock.

"Ah, poopsack. They went to that world."

"Dude, Peter. You're not making things very clear."

"Oh, shut it, Peter! You know damn well why! It's-"

[EARTH-51802: SEOULBECA]

"Oof! Get your fat butt off me, Peter!"

"That ain't me- that's Mayday! Has anyone seen Mayday, by the way?"

"All of you! Get off!"

The gang immediately tried to disentangle themselves (except Margo- she was a hologram). Hobie immediately moved to swing up to the roof of the nearest building, leaving the others to follow him. But once they did, nearly all of them gaped at the city below them.

"Are you sure... this is New York?" Gwen gasped, admiring the strange yet beautiful mix of nature and man-made metropolis- tall, green trees on par with skyscrapers; large bridges that spanned pristine rivers and meadows of lush flowerbeds; happy, carefree citizens going about their day-to-day lives seemed to be the only thing this universe shared in common with all their own.

"Seoulbeca, Gwendy. Ya ain't seenit?" Hobie stretched his arms and jumped off the roof, zipping away towards some unknown destination. The others didn't hesitate to follow.

"Oh, man! If only Mumbattan had this level of controlled traffic!" Pav cried out in joy, inhaling the surprisingly fresh air.

"The colors on this place, I need to study them further," Spider-Noir mumbled, much to Spider-Ham's chagrin and Peni's amusement.

"Hobie, seriously, where are we headed?" Gwen called out to her friend. "What is this world? Why haven't I ever seen it?"

"Why did you bring us here, Hobie?" Peter B. yelled. For some reason, he seemed exceptionally nervous. "Why this one? You know this world is off-limits!"

"First'a all, ya ask too many questions." Hobie landed on the roof of a hotel building, keeping an eye on the ground below. "Second'a all, rules ain't my thing. Third'a all, she is the reason we ain't gotta worry about Miguel."

He pointed straight down, and almost immediately, a piercing shriek filled the air. The gang peered off the ledge to see what was clearly a spider-person fighting a fox-like demonic creature with nine tails lashing to and fro.

"¡Es el Gumiho!

“Everyone, run!"

“거미 다! 거미!”

The Spider-Woman was so quick, nearly sipping around the battlefield, webs flying and quickly subduing the monster, who yelped and roared, thrashing in its bonds before collapsing to the ground.

"Dang..." Peni whispered to Noir. "She's good."

"She's fast," Pavitr concurred. "How does she move around like that? It's like she's got skates for feet!"

"Y'know," the Spider-Woman laughed below them at the villain, "I've always wondered what foxes actually said. Now I know: they cry about not surrendering to the police!" With a flick of her wrist, the monster's head was forced downward, and it slammed to the ground so hard the building they were on was shaking. It then stopped moving, only its chest rising up and down an indicator that it was still alive.

And then it started to shrink. The monster slowly drew in on itself, transforming into an exhausted young woman. The Spider-Woman, after quickly giving the woman a once-over, swiftly picked her up and deposited her with the shocked police officers before zipping away.

"Oh, crap, she's getting away- wait, is she looking at us?" Gwen asked. Her eyes were fixated on the disappearing woman... no, her eyes didn't deceive her. The woman was definitely waving right at their direction.

"That's our cue, innit?" Hobie snapped under her nose, and gestured for the others to follow him.

By the time they managed to catch up to the punk, they found him casually chatting with the woman.

"Peter," Gwen whisper-hissed to her friend, "you know her? How come I've never seen her before?"

He glanced at her, nervousness evident in his eyes. But he didn't say anything, returning his attention to Hobie- who had taken off his mask- and the mysterious Spider-Woman, who was affectionately rubbing his head and booping his nose.

"So!" she called out to the others, turning to them with a friendly wave. "You're the guests my little buddy told me about, huh?"

"Oi, I ain't little-"

"I'm 거미, the one and only Spider-Woman of this world! Welcome to Seoulbeca!" She gestured grandly behind her towards her city with pride. "Hobie filled me in on what happened; don't worry, you'll be safe here. Come with me; you all must be hungry!"

She quickly leaped off the edge, leaving the others to follow.

"I like her," Pavitr chuckled. Hobie grinned and briefly rubbed his head before resuming his swinging.

"Is her name seriously 'Gummy?'" Gwen couldn't help but ask.

"It's not with a 'g' sound, Gwen!" Peni called out. "It's more of a soft 'k!'"

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

A/N: I like this movie way too much for my own good. Miguel O'Hara is too attractive for his own good 🤤

거미 다! 거미! - It's the Spider! Spider!

#atsv #hobie brown #gwen stacy #peter b parker #miguel x reader #not yet tho #there's some drama to build rn

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luxwazhere · 9 months

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Jumba x Pleakley : Nosy/Experiment 199

Summary :: Experiment 199, Nosy, reveals Pleakley's biggest secret.

Warnings :: Physical touch, like one swear word.

Notes :: This is (obviously) based on/inspired by the episode Nosy!

Pleakley was sitting at the picnic table in the backyard with his ohana and the Jameson family. He bounced his leg anxiously, knowing that Nani's job opportunity could be screwed up by Stitch or Jumba's destructive tendencies. For Gods sake, Jumba made the radioactive ham which everyone was eating right now! Something good though was that experiment 199—Nosy— given to Gantu. One thing out of everyone's hair, right?

Pleakley bounced his 3rd leg under the table more.

He saw how Nosy had exposed Lilo's crush on Keoni effortlessly. Just wait until he found out about his crush, who happened to be sitting right across from him.

What if he found the love letters that he wrote for Jumba? No, that's impossible! Because he threw them out! It's not like Jumba found all of the notes in the trash and now stores them in his drawers or anything... But what about his other notes?? In that journal he hasn't updated for the past 3 weeks? He wrote about Jumba in there. A LOT about Jumba.

As he was mid thought, now fidgeting with his fingers, he heard the sound of the back door creaking open.

"What... nobody invited ME to brunch? What kinda hospitality is THAT?" The experiment said as he walked up to the table.

Oh great. Wonderful. Absolutely amazing. Nosy was back and this time, with even more secrets.

Keoni smiled at Nosy, whom he knew as 'Wacky Uncle Jared.' "Heyy! Wacky Uncle Jared is back!!" He exclaimed.

The pink experiment plopped himself down on the table. "Ohh man, do I have some NEWS!" He said with a snicker. "Did YOU know..." He pointed to Pleakley. "That this fella right here writes LOVE LETTERS for..." He pointed to Jumba. "That guy?"

Pleakley's heart stopped. He could feel his face turning a purple-pink shade. His heart then unfroze and started beating about 1,000 miles a minute. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jumba looking at him with an eyebrow raised. Pleakley looked away quickly, but for a second, he swore that there was the same purpley pink color on Jumba's cheeks.

"Oh boy, does he has a HUGE crush on Jumba!" Nosy finished with. Lilo quickly ran over to where the experiment was and covered his mouth before he could say anything else.

"Ohh, Wacky Uncle Jared..! Always making things up... ESPECIALLY about crushes!!" She quickly whispered something to Stitch, then he grabbed Nosy and carried him back into the house.

Pleakley had no words. He was embarrassed beyond belief, so he ran into the house after Stitch, but instead he went to his (and Jumba's) room and locked the door. He dug through all of his trinkets in his drawer until he found his old Journal. He tried ripping the whole thing in half at first, but that basically impossible for him. So he started ripping up the pages on by one, then throwing the pieces into the garbage can.

He sat on the bed, trying to calm himself by talking deep breaths. "Okay. Okay. It's fine. He might know about your crush... But... Oh sweet mother of Korplex what am I gonna DOOOO?!" He covered his face with his hands.

As he sat on his bed trying to think of an excuse to get out of this situation, there was a knock at the door.

"Pleakley..??"

It was Jumba.

"Ohh NO what am I gonna DO?! Okay!! Okay... uhh... just uh... Think man, THINK!!"

"Pleakley, please open door." Jumba said as he twisted the door knob.

A few seconds passed, then Jumba heard a click from inside. He tried opening the door, and was met with Pleakley staring straight at him. He had his signature look on— 'I'm trying to be serious and calm but I'm about to FREAK OUT.'

"...Uh... Please to be explaining what happened?"

His eye widened. "What are you... talking about..?"

Jumba entered their room and closed the door behind him. "You know what! The whole... crushing on me thing."

Pleakley turned purpley pink again. "I-I... uh..."

"Like me..?" Jumba raised his right eyebrow. "Like those notes you made for me? That you threw out? That I found?"

The slim green alien could barley muster out any words. "NO!! I-Its not like that!!! I DONT LIKE YOU! O-OKAY? That's WEIRD! So... WEIRD!!" He crossed his arms.

They stood together in silence for a bit, then Jumba placed his big hand on Pleakley's arms. "Little one eyed one isn't good at hiding secret.." He giggled.

Jumba cleared his throat and added; "My little one eyed one." Pleakley blushed deeply at the pet name. The last time Jumba had called him that was in the life or death situation where Gantu was hunting down Jumba and his other experiments.

"Experiment 199 isn't liar. And, I am thinking he has point. We pretend to be earth couple, no?"

Pleakley hesitantly nodded. "Where are you going with this..?"

"Maybe we... we could... be real Earth couple."

Pleakley jumped up from the bed and tackled Jumba in a hug. The big alien was surprised, but hugged him back with the same passion nonetheless. "You have NO idea how long I've wanted to hear you say that.."

"...Y-you know... uh." Jumba looked into Pleakley's eye. "I wasn't truly pretending when I call you dear, or darling." He looked his two big eyes away, but his other two smaller eyes stayed looking at Pleakley.

He giggled at Jumba's flustered behavior, even though he was acting the same way 2 minutes ago. "You're really cute, y'know that? I mean, as far as being a cute evil genius goes."

Jumba's ears turned down and flapped lightly while his face turned pink. "Uhm... s-sure."

"Really! I mean it!" Pleakley smiled and grabbed the sides of Jumba's face. This only worsened his blushing. Pleakley moved his slim body closer to Jumba's and rubbed his forehead against his own. As he finished and stepped back, Jumba's entire face was a purple-pink color and his ears were flapping.

He didn't say anything for a moment, but then calmed himself down. "I like that." Is all he could muster.

"Awwwwww Jumbaaaaaaaa......." He held the sides of Jumba's face again. Jumba seemed a bit awkward, but Pleakley didn't blame him. Jumba's not very experienced in dating or having crushes, since the last time he had any 'romantic' relations with anyone was his ex-wife, who in the end was an absolute asshole.

Jumba just sat there, awkwardly (but happily) smiling. He moved his hand up to Pleakley's head and patted him. After doing this, both of the aliens started smiling and blushing more, almost like an inexperienced middle school couple.

"...I think I like you." Jumba said randomly.

Pleakley rolled his eye. "W-well... duh."

"Felt good to say out loud." He slightly shrugged his shoulders.

They stopped talking for a bit after that. They stayed in eachothers arms in silence. Then, Pleakley opened his mouth.

"What are we gonna tell Lilo? And... and Nani? And Stitch?? And those other guys???" Pleakley rambled. "I-I don't want people to know that I'm... y'know."

"What? Gay?" Jumba said with a chuckle. Pleakley was surprised of how easily Jumba could say that word out loud. "Because am thinking it doesn't matter what people think. As long as we are with ohana, we are okay."

"B-but what if-"

He put a finger to his mouth. "Shh. All that is mattering is that I and you are loving each other. And of course, bigger girl, little girl, and 626. You know, bigger girl is like me. Liking men and women."

Pleakley gasped. "Really?!"

"Yes, really." He said with a smile. "We had talk about it few weeks ago. Said she dated that lifeguard! And... Well, I did tell bigger girl that I also feel that same type of feeling around you, for you."

"...And what did she say??"

"She said she could tell it. Apparently, me and you make it very super obviously."

They both blushed. "Oh.. y-yeah..."

Jumba smiled, then put a finger in the middle of Pleakley's face—where is nose would be. "Yes, one eyed noodle. Yes."

#lilo and stitch #l&s #lilo and stitch the series #jumba x pleakley #jumba jookiba #wendy pleakley #jumba and pleakley #Wendy Pleakley #Jumba Jookiba #pleakley x jumba

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super-unpredictable98 · 9 months

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Make Me Sway | Song of Sway Lake AU

Chapter 5: Hidden Gems

Warning: Strong language, mention of death, smut, a little angst

(Make Me Sway masterlist)

"Thank you, Ollie," Lada curled up against the wall of the supply closet, but jumped when she felt the wood budge behind her. "Fuck, what's this?"

"Looks like a door," he pointed his lantern at the spot where the opening seemed to be.

"Wanna see what's behind it?" She smiled.

"What if it's bad?"

"What if it's good?"

"Fine, fine..." Ollie gave her the lantern. "You go first then."

She slowly crawled inside the secret den and up the wooden stairs, and her mouth fell open. "Oliver! Come here, come here! The records..."

"What?" He followed. "Oh, my God!"

That place was minuscule, could barely fit both of them at the same time, and was filled to the brim with records of all kinds, drawings, notes, and letters on the walls. It was like in that tiny little room, their father was still alive.

"Music for my son Ollie who understands me," Lada read one of the notes on the wall. Her eyes filled with tears, she could almost hear his voice in each word.

"Music for my daughter Lada who turned beauty into kindness," Ollie offered her a bag. Inside the bag there was a music box with a pretty ballerina on top, it was for sure made by hand and had details in what seemed to be real gold.

"I miss him so much," she sobbed quietly. "He wasn't great to himself, but he was a great dad to us when he could."

Oliver nodded. Seeing that vulnerability he never sensed in his grandma, who proudly announced to everyone she didn't cry, made him regret ever treating his sister like he did. She was just like him, someone trying to fight the role that was imposed on her ever since she was a child.

Lada looked through the records while Ollie read through the catalog their father left behind detailing every item from his collection. Right at the end, he found a photo of their old man when he was just a kid.

"You're not ugly," Oliver whispered, sobbing as well.

"No, he isn't, and neither are you," Lada pulled out a record wrapped in brown paper. "Ollie... this is it. Sway Lake, the original. Still sealed."

He stared at the leather sleeve under the paper in disbelief. He had finally found his perfect record, the only thing he could never sell or give up. For a moment he feared Lada would take it and run to give it to their grandma, but she handed it to him instead.

"Dad would want you to have it," she smiled, wiping her tears away. "Take good care of the memories in there."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely, I wouldn't want someone else to have it either. It's yours."

The two siblings finally hugged, really actually hugged, after the longest time. Their heartbeats were in synchrony and they found comfort in each other's arms knowing they were the only people left in the world to care for one another. It was a lonely, scary comfort.

"Let's find a safe place to hide it," Lada suggested, already making her way down the stairs with her music box in hand.

After concealing the record behind Ollie's bed and the music box under one of the floorboards in Lada's room, the two of them went back to the living room.

The others were already sitting around the table, they didn't even wait to start eating under the flickering candlelight. Half of a ham, half of a loaf of bread, half a bottle of wine, and a half conversation.

"Oh, the Arctic Sea? Oh please, try this lake, 5 AM in April," Charlie laughed delightedly at Nikolai. "Hal and I used to swim naked."

"Great topic, grandma," Lada sat in between them, slightly uncomfortable seeing him talking to her grandma alone, especially after her suspicions from earlier. He was not doing a very good job to impress her and he immediately knew it with one look at her beautiful face illuminated by the candles.

"Nikolai was telling me about his adventures. Did you know he used to go looking for soldiers in St. Petersburg with his father?"

"No, he never told me," she forced a smile.

"My pop used to take me in the spring, what he loved about the USA is you don't leave your soldiers dead in the mud. You take every soldier home, that is what makes this country the best nation on earth," Nikolai said.

"I see you didn't fix the lights?" she asked instead of engaging.

"So sorry, lovely, I couldn't. But it is more romantic this way, don't you think?" He winked.

"Does it matter? Nobody here is in the mood for romance."

Lada leaned back, her arms folded petulantly. Why was she so jealous? Of her grandmother? Maybe because that is who he wanted her to be, an old movie heroine who just doesn't even realize how charming she is.

"Why are you angry, beautiful?" Nikolai whispered, discreetly kissing her exposed shoulder while nobody was looking. "What have I done? Just tell me and I'll fix it! Unless this is about the lights, then I have to wait until morning to fix, I can't see the box when it's dark."

"Give me a break... Who are you trying to impress?"

"Nikolai and I were just talking, dear..." Charlie smiled, not knowing why seeing her grandaughter so angry made her giddy. "Your grandfather would have loved him."

"Is that so? I thought Grandpa hated those- how did he say it? Commie bastards," Lada murmured and Ollie had to cover his mouth not to laugh.

"What did you say to her? Why is your sister upset with me?" Nikolai asked Oliver, thinking maybe he had mentioned his past or some woman he had been with.

"I didn't say anything, she was happy until we got here," he whispered, also finding his sister's attitude weird after all they talked about in the secret hiding spot and the moment they shared.

"If you'll excuse me, I lost my appetite," Lada got up without waiting for her grandmother's permission, knocking over the wine bottle and spilling it all over the table.

"Lada!" Charlie screamed. "Can't you move around like a normal person? You have always been like this, knocking everything over... I don't know how you managed to get on Broadway being so ungraceful."

"Here, it's alright, no harm done," Nikolai grabbed a napkin and soaked up the mess before it could ruin any clothes. "There, brand new."

"Never look at me again," the young woman managed to hiss before storming off to her room.

She didn't understand that feeling stirring in her stomach. He talked to her grandma in the same exact way he talked to her... was that what bothered her so much? How he seemed to want to impress that old hag? It was the most confusing sensation she had ever experienced and the worst part is that her biggest wish was for him to follow her and make everything right again.

"Lada," he called from the doorstep while she watched the lake from her window. "You are scared of the dark, what are you doing all alone up here?"

"Leave me alone!" She shouted without meaning it.

"Why? What happened?"

"You know what happened!"

"I don't! Please tell me," he insisted, joining her after closing the door.

"You were... You know what you were doing. Stay away from me, you liar!" She wiped her tears, looking the other way so he wouldn't see them. "I know why you like me, the real reason."

"I want to make your grandmother like me. If she likes me, she gives her blessing and you'll be mine."

"That was not what you were doing, you were-" Lada choked on her own words. "Flirting."

He stared at her for a few moments before bursting out laughing, which only made her angrier. How dared he? All that talk of true love and now this?

"Are you jealous, my love?"

"What? No!"

"It's cute."

"SHUT UP! I saw the way you looked at her, I saw the way she looked at you, I saw the way you looked at her old photos! Get out!" Lada screamed. "Sick bastard, I'm taking a cab back to the city and I'll never set foot on this fucking house again!"

"I think you are having the same trouble as your brother... You think I like you because of the way you look and if I like you because of the way you look, I actually like her. You both put the fact that you are so similar above anything else."

"I am not stupid, Nikolai!"

"You are not, in fact, you are very smart. You are also funny, sweet, elegant, charming... You are so many things. That is you, you are the one I like."

"I don't believe you."

"You will have to, because if you don't become my girlfriend I am jumping in that lake and never coming out."

That was incredibly manipulative, Lada knew that, but she also liked it. She liked how he made it seem like there was no life for him without her.

"Just like my dad."

When Nikolai noticed his mistake, it was too late. He had already said it and probably sounded like an insensitive prick. Now he feared he ruined any chance of her saying yes. Of course he didn't mean to mock her father's death, it was just an expression, but he couldn't tell by her face how offended she was.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for saying that and for... trying to boast to someone else. You are the only one I want to impress. I would never look at another woman if you were mine."

"Not even her?"

"Is that even a question? Of course not!"

She giggled, looking away once again even if the darkness hid the blushing of her cheeks. She couldn't risk letting him know what sort of effect he had on her, even if she thought he already knew.

"What?" He laughed.

"Your accent."

"You have a thing for my accent, don't you?"

"Who told you that? I just thought it was funny the way you-"

"So you don't want me to speak Russian to you?" Nikolai whispered, leaning closer until his lips brushed gently the shell of her ear. "Ya khotela tebya ves' den', Lada."

She still had a bad feeling about the whole situation, but looking at someone with rose-colored glasses makes red flags seem like simple flags.

"Nikolai... your Russian does nothing to me," Lada was pretty much determined to make him beg for her, give him a couple nights to regret what he'd done.

But unfortunately, he was very clever and noticed the signs that contradicted what she was saying.

"I don't think you're being honest with me," he said while pressing open-mouthed kisses to her chest. He reached under her panties and feel her up and smiled against her feverish skin. "See? I know what I do to you, my beautiful lady of the flowers."

"No I don't- I don't wanna do it right now."

"No? Why no, beautiful?" He purred. "If your body clearly wants to."

"Because I don't want you to think... I'm easy. I'm not!"

"I know you are not, you're making me wallow around just to say yes to being my girlfriend. Usually women throw themselves at me on the first night, I had to work hard for the privilege to have you. You are not easy, I promise."

"But I'm still angry at you."

"You are? I know how to make it better," Nikolai quickly undressed and carried her to bed. She didn't protest as he slid her dress off and then her underwear until they were both skin-to-skin.

"Still angry," she muttered despite not making any effort to stop him.

"Even when you're angry you are so beautiful," he kissed down her body, giving every single inch the attention it deserved until he reached her sex. "When I was younger I learned a very good medicine for anger and sadness."

"What is it?"

He delved between her thick thighs and savored the taste of her pleasure. His tongue explored her sensitive spots, finding exactly what made her squirm the most and the more he tasted, the harder he became.

"Nicky!" Lada gasped, tugging at his short curls. "Oh fuck..."

"It looks like the effect is already happening," he teased as he caught his breath for a moment before going back to pleasuring her.

"Lada, could you stop being so childish and-" Charlie opened the door and caught a glimpse of the couple making love under the candlelight. "Oh!"

"Grandma! Get out! Can't you knock?" She cried, covering herself while Nikolai swiftly moved away, for once bothering to cover his privates, feeling like his lover would not appreciate him being so carefree in front of someone she was so jealous of.

"Can't you lock the door?" Charlie countered, leaving out how she could hear the moans from outside but still decided to barge in.

"Sorry, Mrs. Sway, it was my fault," Nikolai chuckled. "I forgot."

"Well... don't let it happen again," she stared him up and down with an intrigued look before leaving. "I'll say what I have to say tomorrow morning."

Lada groaned in frustration, on the verge of tears when her grandmother closed the door. Nikolai quickly got up to lock it, not wanting another accident.

"She was staring at you! She was- I think I'm gonna be sick!" She growled. "That fucking old hag! She can't stand to see me happy, she wants me to be miserable like her because I'm young and she's older than sliced bread!"

Nikolai wanted to say she wasn't staring, but he knew that wasn't true and Lada was much too smart to just ignore that. He felt really bad, but at the same time, he felt more wanted than he ever did before.

"Don't worry about her, darling! I am yours, I told you that," he said instead, joining her in bed once again. "Do you want to keep going?"

"I'm not in the mood anymore, she ruined it."

"Aw, my lady of the flowers," Nikolai took her in his arms, kissing her neck teasingly. "If you let her ruin our night, you are just giving her what she wants. You are so beautiful, you smell so good, your skin is so soft... I don't wanna stop, I want to make you finish properly. You look so gorgeous when I'm pleasuring you."

"Stop that, you're trying to seduce me."

"I know, and it seems like it's working," he pointed out, reaching between her legs to feel how wet she was.

Lada sighed, letting her head fall back and rest on his shoulder as he blew gently in her ear. It did feel really good before her grandma ruined the fun, why should she let her dictate when it ends?

"Can I help you get hard again?" She finally caved.

"I never stopped, my darling," he huffed a soft laugh, pulling her closer to feel his erection. "You are too perfect, just the thought of you is enough to keep me up."

Tag List: @seanfalco @firstpersonnarrator @salvador-daley @elliethesuperfruitlover

"Oh, I love younger men..." she giggled, climbing onto his lap again.

#song of sway lake fanfic #song of sway lake #song of sway lake nikolai #nikolai x oc #nikolai #fanfic #robert sheehan character fic #robert sheehan fanfic #sway lake

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unluckyhoneybee · 2 years

Text

The Handsome Artist. 2 (Daniel Ricciardo)

Just checking. It takes a while, but Abigail decides to text.

MASTERLIST. Moodboard and Playlist.

Previous part: Fidelity.

Notes: second chapter!!! I love this fic and love writing it. I want to friendly remind you that this whole fic will probably be slow burn.

Warning: I swear a lot, probably writing too.

I had some busy days. Suddenly it was Sunday and I found myself getting some flower arrangements for a wedding. The bride wanted a white bouquet but blue and lilac flowers to decorate the church. It had given me a few headaches, but it seemed to be over know. Everything was packed and the bouquet was waiting on water. Soon, they would come to pick it and I could just go home.

Molly: hi bestie. How is that awful wedding going? I just wanted you to remember that that Ric guy is probably working hard on your tattoo.

I read the message on the screan. Fucking Molly. I really loved her. But she was too much.

Me: no.

She started typing and soon there was another message.

Molly: you better check some placements for your tattoo and talk to him now.

The idea of the tattoo hadn't left my mind during these days. But I wasn't still sure of where I wanted it.

Leaning back on the wooden table, I opened Google and typed plant tattoo. There bunch of designs. All of them were different plants, ferns, calatheas, pines, lavender flowers...

"Fuck, they are beautiful." I muttered to myself.

But then one appeared and caught my eye. The plant was perfectly drawn around the girl's breast, coming from under it and traveling up her sternum. It was beautiful.

I bit my finger. I could definetly send this to Daniel. I could ask him to tattoo my breast. My cheeks warmed at the thought and my heart started beating fast. How the fuck would I go to the parlor and tell him to do it?

I decided to text Molly first and tell the idea, ending with her calling me and shouting right on the phone.

"Oooh my cheeky girl" She excitedly said. "You want Ricciardo to see your tits"

I blushed even more.

"Of course not! I just think it's pretty"

"Fuck he is. Have you seen his nose? That boy is hot"

"The tattoo! I'm talking about the tattoo!"

She was laughing on the other side.

"I hate you Molly"

"You love me. But really, Abi. I love the idea. You will look absolutely stunning with it."

"Really? Isn't it too much?"

"It's perfect. Just text the boy and make his job easier"

"Thanks"

"You love me"

"I do"

When I hung the call, I let the phone fall in front of me. I had to go and check my bag for the little card with Ham&Avo's contact information.

I looked at it and bit my lip. I was gonna do it. I typed Daniel's number and created the new contact before going to the message app and opening the empty chat. On his profile picture he had a picture of himself somewhere in the country. He looked cute with a big smile on his lips and a hat on his head.

I finally grew the courage to send him the photo and write a short message.

Me: hey, it's Abigail.

Me: I saw this and loved it. What do you think?

I wasn't expecting an answer soon, but when I went to bed and I still didn't have one, I felt something on my chest.

The next day at lunch time, I still didn't have an answer. But at middle afternoon, when I was attending one of the last clients, the phone ringed.

Daniel Ricciardo: Hey. Sorry for not answering. I got a bit thing this morning.

Daniel Ricciardo: I love the idea. Brave girl. The place it's painful. Think about it.

My hands were slightly shaking. I had a good tolerance for pain, but I had never got a tattoo so I didn't really know how it would feel like.

Me: that bad?

Only a second after, he texted back.

Daniel Ricciardo: I don't have one there. But I have seen guys big as bears crying.

Me: I'm scared now.

I went to the door and put on the Closed signal before closing the lock and going to the back of the shop.

Daniel Ricciardo: oh, don't be. Girls are always better clients than guys.

Daniel Ricciardo: I will work on this design and on thursday we will see if you prefer another one on our appointment, okay?

Daniel Ricciardo: first ideas are always the right decision 😉

It made me smile.

Me: okay, I will see if I find something else. See you.

Our appointment came and suddenly I found myself standing alone in front of the place. I rang twice before hearing a bark. Through the glass I saw a dog running to the door and suddenly Lewis was there opening.

"Be nice with the lady, Roscoe"

"Hi Lewis. Hi Roscoe" I said touching the dog's head.

"Good afternoon, Abigail. Come in. Danny will be here in a second. He went to get some coffee."

"Oh, okay"

"Do you mind waiting here? I have a guy half tattooed in there"

"Oh no, don't worry. Do your job"

He smiled warmly.

"Nice. Take care of her, Roscoe"

I went to sit in one of the armchairs next to the window and the dog followed me. I tried to keep myself busy on the phone, but the nerves were growing bigger on my stomach. I could really go home with a tattoo today.

The door opened Daniel came in. He had some coffee on his hand and a helmet hanging on his elbow.

"Oh, hi" A smile beamed on his face.

"Hi"

"Came here soon?"

"A bit." I shyly smiled.

"Well, just... Give me a second."

While he moved around the hall, I took a look of his appearance. Big funky shirt, tight jeans and black vans, a chain on his neck and tattoos on his left arm.

He went to Lewis studio with a coffee and let Roscoe go back with him before coming to me.

"Ready?"

"I don't think so" I said with half smile.

"Oh, no. Don't say that." He turned to the counter and took the two coffees there. "I didn't know what you liked, so I got some iced coffee with lots of milk because it's delicious"

Oh.

He brought me coffee.

"You got me coffee?" I said completely shocked. I had noticed the three cups when he came in but didn't expect one of them to be for me.

"Yeah" He smiled and my knees went weak.

"Really?"

"Yes. Let's go inside. I have tons of things to show you"

As a hyperactive kid, Daniel walked to his studio and called me from inside.

The guy was so nice he brought me coffee without even knowing me.

I followed him. He had left the helmet in a corner and the coffees on the desk, already pulled an additional chair for me and taken his iPad out.

"You are fast"

He smiled.

"I am. Feel free to sit."

I took a sit and he sat on his chair.

"Well, Abigail..."

I loved how he said my name. It made my skin tingle.

"I have been looking for some examples of what you want. I found similar things and with that and the three hundred pics of Argelian ivy I checked I came up with this.

Opening some drawing app, he showed me the design. It was perfect. A branch with a curve shape, almost circular. The leaves looked exactly how Argelian ivy's leaves are supposed to look. It was perfectly drawn.

"Oh wow, Daniel. It's stunning" I couldn't contain the smile. A weird feeling set on my stomach. As excitement.

I couldn't take my eyes off it, only did it when he gave me a notebook.

It was the same, hand-drawn and probably on what would be its real-life size.

"This shape is basically to follow the line of the breast" He carefully said. He was being cautious. His voice was low and his eyes were on my face. No weird looks or glances to the area in question.

I nodded in understanding.

"We could curve it in the other way so the plant would born under one breast and end over the other. Just like this" He showed me the next page. "See? Instead of a circle, it's an S shape."

I bit my lip. Both were beautiful, but for my first tattoo, the S was way too much.

He was patiently waiting for me to decide. But it was difficult. I was nervous and my hands were shaking. Was I really ready for this?

"You are nervous" He stated.

I looked at him.

"How can you tell?"

"Lip, hands, foot"

I was biting my lip, my hands were shaking and my foot was tapping the floor. Wow. Impressive. I swallowed and looked down at the notebook.

Maybe Molly was right. Maybe I was shy after all. Or maybe Daniel had that intense gaze and beautiful face. It was fucking impossible to not think about it.

"So? Do I have a 100% of sureness?"

I chuckled a bit.

"Um..."

"If you have to think about it, it's a no" He said laughing.

He took the coffee cup and then sip from it. I had to take my eyes away. Why was I like this? Why did the first guy to appear on the corner got me like this?

"Okay. Listen. Stay here for a bit. I'm going to take the paper and draw it. You stay here and tell me if you like it. We can work together on the final design. I draw, you like plants. I suppose you know your favourite Ivy well so..."

I nodded. I had nothing else to do. Charlotte was in the shop, so I had the afternoon free.

"I like the plan, okay"

He clasped his hands and unpocketed his phone. "Nice, any song you want me to play?"

"Um... Nothing too noisy?"

"You like folk?"

"I do."

The huge smile on his face was extraordinary.

"Fuck yes. I wish there were more people like you"

My heart beat fast. I will need to tell my therapist about this.

"See, this is Caamp. They are my mates. Good musicians, better people. All the debts I owe. Enjoy, lady"

Why the fuck couldn't I stop smiling?

"Okay, let's get to it."

He pulled a pencil out of a bottle and looked at me.

"S shape or circle?"

"I think I prefer the circle"

"Yeah. Me too." He bit the pencil and wanted to slap his hand away.

"Why?"

"Well... It was your first option. It's always the best really. Trust me, I have seen regret in people's eyes."

That made me chuckle.

"Really?"

"Yeah"

We spent so much time, I really lost the track of it. He was drawing, talking, dancing, telling the worst dad jokes ever, singing along the lyrics, ... All of it at the same time.

"They all have like these five arms?" He said about the leaves.

"Yeah. It's a thing of theirs"

"Good" He took a deep breath and shot a glance at me. "Can I ask for the meaning?"

I doubted. I wouldn't tell a stranger how bad my ex had fucked me up. How I had been going to therapy for months.

"Fidelity"

He nodded and let the pencil fall.

"To someone special?" He asked cautiously.

"Only me" I whispered. His stare had become too intense, so I had to take my eyes from him.

He stayed in silence for the first time in the afternoon.

"Okay. That's perfect. Be yourself. Love yourself. Who better?"

I smiled.

"So... Armenian ivy for Abigail, a woman true to herself" He read out loud as he wrote behind the paper.

I bit my lip. Oh, Daniel.

"I will say that the design is finished?"

I peeked over his hands, getting closer to him and smelling his cologne.

"Fuck, Daniel. That's... wow" If I was a cartoon, my eyes would have brilliant stars in them.

"You really like it?" He asked excitedly.

"I love it" And for the first time I saw myself with it.

"How much?"

"100%" I was smiling, I couldn't stop.

"Fuck yeah, that's what I needed to hear"

I felt a tinkling feeling on my belly.

"When?"

"Oh wow, girl" He said laughing. He patted my knee and I almost flinch back, not scared but not used to others touching me. He didn't notice, hopefully. "Yeah. It's pretty late now. But... Tomorrow?"

I shook my head.

"I work the whole day"

"Fuck. Hey. When is your free day?"

"I could get some free time on Tuesday and Thursday too."

"Shit." He opened his calendar. "Those days are full."

I bit my lip.

"Maybe I could get someone to..."

"No, no, hey. I will try and see if I can make some space for you. I don't get folk listeners every day" He winked at me.

Is he flirting? Or is he always like this?

"Thank you" I whispered.

"I'm excited. I haven't done something like this in a while. Really"

I smiled. Daniel was a nice guy. He exuded this energy, he was laid back and spontaneous. Something I was not. I felt a bit jealous.

"So, can I text you?"

"Yes." I answered not thinking much about it.

"I will talk to you quite soon."

We looked at each other. His eyes were pretty, really pretty. HAd I already said he was handsome?

"You will look stunning with it" He said.

"Are you imagining my tits?" Why the fuck do you say that?

"No! Well. Not your tits. Just the tattoo."

I awkwardly laughed.

"I'm sorry. I'm nervous and I say stupid stuff when I am."

He pinched his lips and looked at me.

"Do I make you nervous?"

"Yeah. A lot. You are going to mark me for life with a needle."

He barked a laugh.

"You are right, Abi"

Abi. Only friends and close people called me that. So only Molly and Charlotte called me that.

I should have corrected him, but I couldn't get myself to do it. It sounded good.

"Well, we are done here"

I almost pout. The atmosphere in the studio had been so light, so carefree and easy. I wanted to stay for a bit more. But I didn't know him. What was the point?

"Ok. I will get going then" I got up and picked my stuff.

"Here, take this with you." He pulled the first drawing from the notebook.

"Oh no. It's your job"

"Shhh. I want you to have it. I have the original one. The one I can work with. That's a small drawing. Just take care of it"

I smiled and nodded.

"You are good at this" I said from the bottom of my heart.

Daniel opened his eyes to speak but instead took a breath.

"Thank you" He walked me to the door. "Here, your coffee. And... I'll text you"

I nodded.

"Nice. See you"

"Bye bye. Be careful!"

And I left then, a stupid smile on my face and the already cold coffee in my hand.

Danny POV.

"Why are you standing there?"

Lewis's voice pulled me out of the trance. I was observing her, walking away with that sweetness of hers and graceful walk.

"Just checking"

"Your new client?"

Caught? Yeah. Right at the beginning.

"She is pretty"

"Fuck, she is, mate."

Lewis laughed and I blushed.

"Are you already in love with the girl?"

"I'm not in love"

"No, you only keep giving her appointments as an excuse to see her again"

I gasped dramatically and put my hand on my chest.

"How do you dare? I'm a professional."

"You are. With tattoos and with women. If you like her, just go for it"

"She is..."

"Diferent? I saw. She is cute."

I bit my lip. She was beautiful, her voice was soft and her freckled skin looked so perfect. She had that curly hair, half made in a messy bun, with pieces falling around her face. And that face of hers? Wow. So sweet and delicate.

"Molly is a hard woman. She won't doubt if she has to break your legs. Be careful with her friend"

"Mate..."

"Just saying" He said with a laugh.

I rolled my eyes and looked through the window. Gone.

Now I would rearrange my whole schedule. Because Lewis was right. I was dying to see her again.

Here it is. I hope you like it!! Just guess by its name what will the next chapter be about...

Next chapter: Mark your skin.

#daniel ricciardo #dr #the handsome artist #tattooartist!au #fluff #f1 fic

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damonjuicyscock · 2 years

Text

Pictures of you-Chapter 2 (90's Liam Gallagher X Reader)

Pairing: 90's Liam Gallagher X Reader

Warnings: Language, mentions of wounds, maybe a few spelling mistakes.

Words: 803

Summary: The ferry incident or how it is told by the reader, what happened, and how Liam's and Reader's relationship evolved.

A/N: Heya ! Here's chapter 2, it's short but efficient. Chapter 3 will be uploaded next week and chapter 4 in three weeks because in two weeks, I'll be seeing Gorillaz live ! Of course, I'll put some pictures and videos like the previous time.

Enjoy !

Two years passed and we had been touring with The Verve at first. I think you probably heard about the ferry incident… Well… I was there.

February 17th 1994- The ferry to Amsterdam:

We were on our way to Amsterdam. I tried to get along with Liam, but he didn’t seem interested and was behaving like an asshole with me since the day we met. And God, I hated him.

This event was going to convince me even more about what I thought about him. Happily, Noel was here, and the rest of the band too. If someone left me alone with Liam, I wasn’t sure the others would see us alive again.

We were all watching a soccer match on the telly except Noel, who was reading in another room.

I can’t tell who started first, but there was a massive fight. We all were drunk, except Noel, once again, and Liam and the others fucked up while Noel and I were nice.

It was Manchester City V West Ham, and you all know which team they supported.

Liam was like “It’s punk rock man” But in truth, it was and wasn’t at the same time.

At first, the band was accused to pay their drinks with fake banknotes. Mark Coyle and I tried to calm things down, but it was too late, because a fight started.

A fight that led to another and another. None of us was implied in this fight at first, but the hard-boiled kid that Liam was, was seen running on the ferry deck, chased by cops, then again in the casino, throwing tokens in the air. This kid was fucking chaotic. Then it was Guigsy’s turn. Mark found them down a stairwell, on the ground, with three or four cops trying to get them up. Liam tried to punch one of them but didn’t get to it, and he fell on the ground. The whole band, except once more, Noel and I, got arrested.

And Noel… was furious.

Noel, I think you should calm down first and then call McGee.

Calm down? Y/N, it wasn’t fun, they all fucked up! Am I the only one to be at least a bit mature and sensible?

Yeah, okay they fucked up. But I don’t think McGee will accept to talk to you in the state you are in. So please, before, take deep breaths.

He followed my instructions and tried to calm down. He wasn’t getting angry like his brother, but still, being “calm” during a call is useful.

Okay…Okay, I’m gonna call McGee.

Good, I’m going to join the others.

It was funny of ye though.

What was funny?

Ye, trying to calm me down, knowing ye are the first to get enraged everytime.

Learning to control my emotions Noely. Learning to.

I went to the back of the ferry to see them. Liam and Guigsy were a bit hurt. I asked one of the cops to give me a first aid kit so I could try to cure them. Guigsy apologized, but Liam didn’t. Anyway, it isn’t like him to do so.

I approached him and sat in front of him, taking a compress with rubbing alcohol.

It’s going to sting a bit. I said dryly

Don’t mind, me. He answered

I rubbed the compress on his lip and hurt eyebrow, which made him jump a little and…

Ouch it hurts! Be gentle!

Though you didn’t mind? And were you gentle? You can’t help it, huh?

Who do ye think ye are? Me mam? No, so just be gentle and shut the fuck up. Yer not a member in this band, you have nothing to say.

And here he was, making me angry again. For the millionth time in two years.

I grabbed a fistful of his hair and pulled them a little.

Listen to me you asshole, I may not be a part of this band, but I care, so stop behaving like a little shit and fucking grow up! We’re sent back to the UK because of your bullshit. You had one fucking job, just behaving and do your fucking gig, but you can’t fucking help it!

Liam grabbed my wrist and squeezed it hard.

Yer know what? I’m not here to listen to yer shit, I’m biblical and this event will go down in history, so fuck ye.

I’d rather fuck Tony, you fucking knobhead.

I fucking hate ye.

No worries, it’s fucking mutual.

I struggled and finished treating him before coming back to Noel.

We indeed were just two to be allowed to enter the Netherlands. On another side, when Noel called McGee, he described this event as brilliant and Rock N’Roll. Wow.

#90's liam gallagher #liam gallagher x reader #liam gallagher smut #liam gallagher fanfic #liam and noel #noel gallagher x reader #noel gallagher smut #oasis band #oasis

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popculturebuffet · 2 years

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Pirate Month!: Pirates!: Adventures with Scientists (Band of Misfits) Review!: Release The British Cut (Commison for WeirdKev27)

Come aboard all ye happy swabs, i’m yer Captain Jake and this is Pirate Month, where I review a bunch of the finest works to sale the seven seas.

And while Darkwing Dubloon got us kicked off, it’s now time to sale right and proper with what i’ve found on rewatch to be a true classic: Pirates; An Adventure with Scientests! Or as it was known here in the US, Pirates: Band of Misfits.

Pirates is the fifth film from beloved animation studio Aardman and isn’t he first film i’ve covered of theres on there blog, as last year I did a Wallace and Gromit retrospective, cumulating in Curse of the Were-Rabbit, which is excellent. And since Kev, my patron turned friend who still pays me money to review things was the one behind that, it was only a matter of time before I came back, and gladly as i’ve always loved Aardman and remembered liking what I saw of this films when my niece and nibling got it when they were young. So I was happy to give it another look.

Before I can get into what I thought about it (aka what I was paid for and frankly would’ve done for free but mans gotta eat), a bit of backstory: For starters to my shock Pirates is actually based on a book of the same name, starting a whole SERIES by author Gideon DaFoe who wrote the script for the movie on top of this. Had I known this I would’ve tired to get and read the book beforehand, so as a result I can’t say how it stacks as an adaptation. I can say however that, in part due to having the authors input and clearly loving said source material it seems in the same spirit: Madcap adventures with pirates following the daft Pirate Captain (which everyone uses as if it was his name) and his crew of ham loving pirates who don’t really have names just descrptions such as number 2, albino pirate, and suprsiingly curvacious pirate (aka a woman whose only disguise is a fake bushy beard), who get into shenanigans. In short just from what I could find out about the book and the other books, it was PERFECT material for Aardman to adapt.

It was also something they’d wanted to do fairly quick as the book came out in 2004 and was what the crew wanted to do as their next film at Dreamworks after Curse of the Were-Rabbit. And Jeffrey Katzenberg’s response?

Yeah Jeff’s justification was that “Pirate movies just aren’t profitable right now” Given this was after Pirates of The Carribean had been a MASSIVE sleeper hit for disney and was on track to have two sequels which would end up being monster hits, I can only guess that his real justification was ‘I’M NOT GIVING THOSE GREASY BASTARDS THE SATSIFACTION OF COPYING THEM. I’LL SHOW THEM BY NOT MAKING MONEY. SEE HOW THEY LIKE IT”. Which somehow ISN’T the dumbest corprate decision i’ve read about in the past week, but only because Warner Bros just torched a film people woul’dve gladly seen for a tax writeoff and still hasn’t backed down from this monumentally dumbass and not remotely seen as smart decsion, so it kinda came in at a bad week.

SHOCKINGLY their partnership with Dreamworks only lasted through flushed away after this kind of sterling decision, so they went to Sony next, pre-knowing what they were doing with animation so it only lasted Arthur Christmas, another film I need to cover sometime, and this flim.

That said even if the Pirates of The Caribbiean craze was gone, Sony still smartly backed the studio who knew better than them, so this flim happened. Production was apparently really smooth, with Aardman taking their cg knowledge to the film, allowing them to do a film with water and on boats like this FAR easier than in the past. Hence the water in the film is cg and some of the sets were expanded with it. And i’m entirley okay with this: I’m sure some claymation purists aren’t, but sometimes there’s only SO FAR you can go with a medium budget and time wise, and it’s done in a way that I GENINELY thought the water was done with stop motion. And even once I knew otherwise., I still couldn’t tell looking at the sets and water that it wasn’t stop motion. I’ts blended perfectly and thus allows the film to be as grand and swashbuckling as it should be.

That said a good production... didn’t translate to good box office. It did eh in the united states. I think part of this is the title as in the US we got band of misfits which isn’t bad, it’s an apt title, but it’s just not as inherently funny as “In an adventure with scientests” and was bafflingly changed because the books weren’t as big here.. forgetting that an adaptation of books can MAKE the books big. I didn’t even know Over the Hedge existed before the movie, and i’m a huge comic strip nerd, and How to Train Your Dragon, while being vastly diffrent from the books, still got them to sell and wider distribution.

IT also probably dosen’t hlep that for older fans they cut a lot of risque jokes from the film. I watched the UK cut this go round, which I want to get a wider release as it’s REALLY funny, and it does have some adult jokes such as Charles Darwin outright mentiong his monkey bob’s “Unsightly ass” and a scientest promoting an airship , which would change travel, as really being the best because you can look down ladies tops (which Charles confirms later). It also weirdly swapped out the actors for Albino pirate for no real reason.

But honestly while it had those things working against it.. what ultimately doomed it was opening between avengers and hunger games. In short.. it was SONY’S fault, not the films. Even edited down, it simply coudln’t compete with the two biggest films of the year, and thus Sony ended the partnership and Aardman has gone mostly independent, most recently partnering with Netflix, which has me worried given how the last few partnerships went and Netflix current state, but hopefully it pans out. That said provided Sony no longer has the rights to the books, it does mean since their making plenty of sequels out of the gate, we have a chance at a sequel for this film, as Aardman DID have one planned and there are plenty of nutty adventures from the books to adapt in addition to the adventures with cowboys idea: they adventure with captain ahab, mary shelley and COMMUNISTS. Yes there really is an adventure with communists including Karl Marks. I REALLY gotta get my hands on these books because hot damn this is amazing and deserves a tv series. Or a series of movies. Just aardman, somehow continue this. I beg you.

Before we get into why i’m begging them, we have one last bit of buisness to cover for those unlucky souls who haven’t seen the movie and those of you who like me hadn’t seen it in a decade and thus don’t remember it that well.

Pirates follows Pirate Captain, played by Hugh Grant whose easily the best part of this flim. And keep in mind the voice cast ofr this flim is NOT remotely shallow: We have Martin Freeman as Number Two (Aka Pirate with a Scarf) Pirate Captain’s oft ignored and frustrated #2, Imelda Staunton flexing her Umbridge Muscles (While I may be frosty towards harry potter for obvious TERF shaped reasons, I won’t deny that her performance in the film was fucking pitch perfect and she’s pretty much playing umbridge as the queen of england here, same mixture of sometines going full ham mixed with icy could authortanisim with a sugary hint of malice), David Fucking Tennant in one of his earlier VA rolls as Charles Darwin, the wonderful Selma Hayek in a sadly short roll as Cutlass LIz, extra shouty king of kings BRIAN BELSSED as The Pirate King, and in the US Cut, the late great Anton Yelchen. Add in some great UK voices I don’t recognize in name but do a great job, with my faviotie being the equally underultizied pegleg hastings by Lenny Henry and scottishy Ashely Jennings as Suprisingly Curvacious Pirate, and you have one hell of a cast and Grant still tops them. Grant plays Pirate Captain to the hilt, playing him as on the surface a jolly swashbuckler with a sense of gravitas, a mastery of disguise, and a flair.. while also being a bit impulsive, rekckless, egotistical and his most crippling selfish, putting his desire for Pirate Of the Year over common sense, which he has little of to begin with and often taking his second for granted, to Number Two’s frustration.

You also see though WHY he wants this so bad: the three front runners, Liz, Hastings and “Sigh” Black Belamy. Black Belamy is played by Jeremy Piven, and he broes it up to hell and back and it just does not FIT at all. Aardman is a very british company and while I don’t have anything against using a yank actor if it’s for contrast like say casting future abuser and anti-semite mel gibson as Rocky in Chicken Run,. As TERRIBLE as that turned out in hindsight, which to Aardman and Dreamworks credit they coudln’t of possibly seen coming, casting a big time american actory to play a very american rooster, who deliberatley contrasts the very british hens, works. Their TRYING to do that here, but it just dosen’t work, as while Vance Waggoner was set up as a kind of 50′s rockstar to contrast the 40′s setting... Belamy however is just...

That’s all. He’s the weakest part of the film as a result and feels very much like he was added soley because Sony wanted a bigger name in the cast.

So to one up Black Bodyspray, Pirate Captain tries looting a few ships to hilarious but unfruitful results. One was SUPPOSED to be a leper colony, but was changed to plauge boat as Aardman got backlash from the Leper Community, which they, like myself, likely didn’t realise still exist and I salute them for taking a backlash like that and changing it instead of just you know screaming NO YOUR WRONG like many often do. Aardman is a class act and while it was a low bar they cleared it.

Thankfully he gets thrown a bone as the next boat, while not having treasure, contains Charles freaking Darwin. And i’ve glossed over it till now, but yes, a CRITICAL character in this film is Charles Darwin. And as I said this was not only in the book, if in a diffrent form judging from wikipedia but spirals from mildly rediculous here to metting Karl Marks and the Captain romancing Mary Shelley. And given the books are fairly cheap, I will defintely be keeping an eye out for them at bookstores and possibly reviewing them in the future because they sound delightful as they are ridiculous.

Darwin nearly walks the plank because the Captain needs a pick me up after throwing a Tommy Wiseau style tantrum, but Darwin saves his own life, and gets drudged out of the sea after Suprisingly Curvacious PIrate jumps the gun and sends him overboard, by spotting Polly.. and revealing she’s a Dodo. The captain is understandably not receptive to showing her off at the science expo, not helped by it being in London, home of the Queen who hates pirates as much as the Marines in One PIece and is just as harsh towards them. But the promise of Untold Riches means the Captain decideds fuck it and they head to London. Darwin serves as the antagonist for this portion as the untold riches end up being an audience with the queen, and as such he keeps trying to either take Pirate Captain’s place or outright steal Polly for himself, being foiled by the fact that Pirate Captain is only HALF as stupid as he seems and thus either has clever counters to any way Darwin could present the bhird himsef, without realizing it no less, and foils a kidnapping attempt. I mean he’s still stubborn enough and stupid enough he can’t put two and two together that Charles wants the bird, to Number Two’s utter exasperation, but give him credit: Just because he’s an idiot dosne’t mean he’s not an experinced one as seen with refrences to previous adventures, from librarians to barbarians to that buisness in madagascar with an old pal they find hanging in a cage as a warning to pirates.

Naturally said prize leads to Pirate Captain being discovered after he refuses to hand over Polly to the queen as she’s family... for now, and only escapes decaptatation because he hid the parrot, with the queen leaving it to Darwin to steal the bird. We also get a great scene of Darwing taking the captain, who was publicly pardoned, out , including Captain talking about who would win in a fight between a shark and a dracula and instructing Jane Austen to write it into her next book. God I would pay to see that. Also for the record since i’m nerdy, as for who would win: Using a regular vampire and a regular shark, a shark as most vampires can’t cross water and thus likely if pushed will sink. If it’s Dracula versus, let’s say Jaws to make it a fair fight as Jaws is both a big boy and more intellegent than a regular shark, if not thatna dracula, it’s a bhit more complicated as Dracula can shapeshift, so he may be able to become a shark himself, or simply turn into a fish after using his vampire powers on him. He coudln’t really use wolf form or mist obviously because water, but I do feel Dracula would win as he could lure jaws to land and simply get in his mouth via a smaller transfomratoin then turn bigger and tear up his insides, or tear his ass to pieces with pure strength and skill then shark his way up to the surface.

Now we’ve covered the subject of Dracula fighting Jaws, and given Universal a VERY easy pitch for a jaws and dracula reboot, especially if Dracula rides Jaws at some point, Darwin says to hell with subtley and just tries to have his monkey Bobo threaten him at gunpoint. And Bobo is delight, a silent chimp who uses cards to talk, having to use one in lower caps to whisper and when noping out later leaving a trail of cards saying “Are you out of your #$@#%$ minds?”.

A chase ensues which ends up with them in the tower of london and in front of the queen who literally dumps poor charles. We even get a great bit where Captain undrestands doing crazy shit for a girl.. though is UTTERLY baffled in Charles lack of taste.

But soon is tempted by the ultimate shortcut to everything he wants: a shit ton of the queens gold in exchange for Polly.. and he gives her up, as he feels she’ll be fine. It’s also well done as while the protaganist doing something terrible and then it backfiring horribly for a short term gain is usualy in these movies this has been well set up: The captain has time and again chosen his own glory over the logical solution or his crew’s well being, and while it’s clear he loves them, it’s also clear he loves himself more and when choosing between the crew member he loves most (sorry Number Two) and his glory.. he picks the glory and looses everything: He has pirate of the year for all of a minute before Bellamy outs his pardon and BRIAN BLESSED STRIPS HIS TITLES, and the rest of the crew sadly abandon him. Even the use of the utterly great Flight of the Conchords song i’m not crying can’t undercut how sad it is. Again this is a pretty usual plot beat for a film.. but it’s been building all film. The pirate captain had been pushing his crew, just enough to make us not hate him but to be annoyed at him all the same, and they finally had enough. The captain, left with nothing and retiring to make baby clothes (And seeing Jane Austen hook up with the Elephant Man which is a crack ship I ddin’t know I needed), sees a sign of polly and realizes he NEEDS to save her.

The bad news, as Charles, now a “tramp”, horrifiedly relays is that Polly has been taken from the Zoo.. by the queen. As he found out shortly after being dumped into the trash, literally, and as made him realize what a selfish horny ass he’d been (Charles can be a bit annoying at times i’ll admit but suffers enough slapstick especially in the last act to punish him for his actions, so it evf3ens out), as it turns out the Queen just wants to eat Polly and is part of a cabal of world leaders who secretly eat endangered species. And i’d honestly be shocked if there wreen’t a club like that back then let alone in present day.

So the two go to steal the air ship to look down ladies tops save polly, and we get a heck of a third act as Uncle Sam reprsents america at the club. Yes really. It’s so stujpid I of course love it, stage a daring rescue and we get a GENUINELY tense fight between Captain and the Queen, who fucking dual wields. Thankfully darwin got the crew, who forgive captain since he’s making up for his actoins and they win the day, with The Queen ultimately sent away on a blimp while our heroes regain polly.

As a result all ends well for our heroes: The captain is given the highest bounty ever of 100,000 pounds and is left a world fugivitive, and as a result is not only welcomed back into pirate town, as seen thorugh a bunch of credits scenes set to you can get it if you really want, but is happier that way. Darwin heads to the galapagos and possibly finds love, Bobo stays with the crew and Black Broddude gets his trophy taken by Brain Blessed and his magical flying clamshell. The rest of the credits rock out to the utterly awesome song Alright by Supergrass which fun fact, lives in my head rent free thanks to these credits and did so at the time of the film.

So as you could probably guess I REALLY loved this film and the plot isn’t at all that serious and follows a pretty basic plot structure.. but it works because it’s just so damn creative and funny. It just throws tons of jokes at you, almost all of them clever ,and never really lets up for a moment. As a result there were WAY too many moments to recap here, from the Pirate Of the Year awards having BRIAN BLESSED as a vocal volume, to the mad scientest with a rubix cube who just throws it at the wall, to the ladies tops bit, there’s just so much here it’s great. The writing is witty, rapid fire and unabashidley ludcrious, not carring for period accuracy or common sense, just what’s funny and the actors all deliver it well.. again except piven. It’s the same kind of very british style as wallace and gromit but where as those films are subdued, this one goes full tilt bonkers and it works.

Animation wise it may be Ardman’s Prettiest Film and despite it having been years since they got to do a stop motion feature, they hadn’t missed a step: The anmiation is agonizlingly gorgeous, goofy enough to fit the tone but still beautiful and painstaking and in such a high resolution you can see it quite clearly how beautiful it looks. It’s the sum total of their efforts

So yeah... WATCH THIS FILM. It’s currently not streaming but can be gotten on amazon on dvd and on most digital platforms, and while that’s the us verison it at least has

So it’s not all bad. Find this film however you can and watch it. And if you enjoyed this review consider joining my patreon, dming me for my discord or following for more and see you tommorow for Muppet Treasure Island!

#pirates! in an adventure with scientests #pirates band of misfits #hugh grant #aardman #David Tennant #selma hayek #imelda staunton #BRIAN BLESSED #sony pictures animation

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pllanarally · 15 days

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XIM WRLD

The task was to make an interactive 3D environment but I went a little ham on it and made a whole game.

[ itch.io download here ]

I was browsing the asset store to get inspired and saw a city builder asset pack and thought it might be fun to make a little maze... the concept is something something eerie urban sprawl, you're a rat in a maze, get out!

First up, building the city.

I found a maze template and started with the road layout that I filled the buildings around. I actually built a whole city up but then I didn't like it because there was too much differentiation between building assets and I wanted the feeling of being lost to be more apparent, so I cut down the asset pack to fewer buildings and did it all over again. I also put my first person controller in there so I could feel what it was like to move around.

Looks pretty cool. Then, I wanted to make a "reprieve" from the city once you got out, so I set about making a landscape for the player to fall into once they escaped the metropolis.

Terrain tools, trees, water shader, you name it. However I wanted the character to fall into the water, and when they did, for the camera to have a blue tint on it. I found a youtube tutorial that taught me how to do collision triggers; I made a "water" game object that would change the fog settings once the character collider entered it. However, I was having trouble with the collider only triggering once.

Something in my code was wrong and after much fervored googling I figured it out!

I would end up using this little trick again for another game element: my clouds! I was feeling inspired by Super Mario 64 (I had subsequently used one of its skyboxes which created a very surreal vibe to the environment) and so decided to make the city sitting on top of some clouds. First I had to slice up a blender model I found online, and then place the city on top of it. Then I added a few more clouds around for flavor; but also because I wanted the player to be able to jump from cloud to cloud! I had to change up the code a little now, instead of just turning fog on and off, I had to have three different fog states. Not too hard with the power of god & anime on my side ( & google).

Looking pretty cute. I added colliders around the world and under the clouds so the player could land on them. However, just moving around the world wasn't quite enough. What's a playground without some toys?

I wanted to make three kinds of collectibles; a coin system that would eventually trigger a Win state, but also, potions that would boost the player's speed and jumping, so you could eventually feel like you were flying around Xim Wrld...

First, the coins. I created and animated the model myself in blender!

Shiny!!

Using another youtube tutorial and then banging my head against the wall for awhile, I created a new collision trigger script for collecting the coins, making them disappear once the player collects them. I also was able to link that up to changes in the UI, and make sure the scene would change once the player found all 100 coins. By making a coin prefab with the "coin" tag attatched, I was able to place my hundred coins all around the city & clouds of the map.

Why no coins in the landscape below? Something about the bounty of nature being enough... you don't need money when you're among the birds & trees!

...But it is more fun to play around when you can jump super high & run super fast. Next up: boosters!

Using all I had learned about collision triggers, I made a speed booster and a jump booster. Took some fiddling around with the numbers to make it so you don't go too fast, but I think I landed close enough. It might not control as tightly as Mario does in 64, but it's pretty fun to float around! I also made sure to add a UI animation element so the player would know what the potions did.

I finished it all up with some sound effects, some music [a jon brion song recorded & played by me, edited to fit the moods...] and a win scene... which you will have to beat the game to see :)

Thank you & Enjoy!!

#480 #blender #unity

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nervousglitterdelusion · 21 days

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SNM 5-Show Speedrun

Well, like many of us in the community, my "last ever" visit in December 2023 turned out to just be the start of my journey with this show. With the perpetual extensions and the announcement of the Remixed show, I hauled my ass across the continent for another round of mischief. This time around I had some dear friends from the Discord community waiting for me.

Show #1 (Sunday matinee)

Miguel completely charmed me with his pre-elevator speech! I don't know him very well but I absolutely loved his energy and his hair was styled so beautifully.

Loop 1: Malcolm (Tim Creavin):

This was a truly magnificent way to start off my visit - Tim C's Malcolm is dearly beloved by my Discord bestie and we were so hoping we'd have some luck with looping him together on the 3 shows we had together that week. To see him dancing with Gabe's Boy Witch in the ballroom filled me with gleeful agitation. The Hotel was already providing <3. Tim's Malcolm went absolutely ham thrashing on the stairs after being hexed by Boy Witch; I knew we were really in for a treat with this poor fellow. Up in the Detective Agency, I was unbelievably lucky to get pulled for Malcolm's 1:1 - again, what a way to start off my return to the hotel 😭😭. I had mistakenly thought the 1:1 happened in the darkroom so I was thrilled to get dragged along to a completely new space. I feel like when you get a 1:1 for the first time everything is a blur, so I won't do the sequence a disservice by trying to list everything that happened 😅. What I do remember is the amount of times I supported this poor man's body in my arms as he thrashed and coughed and choked... Malc bb we have GOT to keep it together if we're gonna solve this case 😭. I'm glad I had gotten intel about Tim C's enthusiasm with the forearm to the throat moment because I could practically feel the anatomy of my windpipe against his arm like SIR 😭. I came out of the 1:1 gasping and joined back up with my friend for a wellness check 😅. We're back baby!!!

Tim C continued to thrill through his scenes and he absolutely broke my heart at the banquet finale - he really emulated a boyish grief as he nestled himself into Andrew R's Duncan's waist. Back upstairs when Malcolm was sitting at his typewriter, I knew the razor scene was coming. This is not a triggering concept for me and I had seen this scene before without being too distressed, but this time around it hit me really hard. The combination of Tim C's ability as a performer and the moments we had shared earlier in the 1:1 had instilled the most unexpected affection and care for his Malcolm and I found myself moved to tears. I moved away to catch my breath and fortunately my friend was close at hand to make sure I was coping all right. It was inexplicably sweet to finish up that loop with the shaving scene - Tim and Andrew are absolutely perfect together. It felt so right to close the loop with a giggle at Malcom's authentic guffawing when Duncan fell back in surprise during the pivotal moment of the scene.

Loop 2: Fate Witch (Junyla Simons):

After being put through the absolute wringer chasing Malcolm up and down the stairs, my ability to follow Fate was a bit diminished 😅. Junyla was SO flirty and teasing as she hexed Spencer's Banquo. I had never seen the Fulton-Fate morgue scene before and that was a really exciting sequence! I had the best view of the rave yet and Junyla was absolutely mesmerizing as she thrashed under the strobe lights. My jaw dropped when she screamed. Blood curdling is the only way I can describe it and I have so much respect for her putting her voice through that kind of stress for our benefit. Her post-rave dance was such a showstopper - the way Junyla threw herself around with so little inhibition was thrilling. At that point Fate's crowd was feeling unpleasantly full so I had to abandon ship. I'm a bit sad as this meant I've never been able to catch Fate's scene with Speaks but I just couldn't put myself through the jostling and elbowing anymore.

Loop 3: Wandering!

For this trip, I wanted to be able to poke around parts of the set I'd never seen before and catch some of my favourite sequences again. I was able to catch Aliza Danvers and Doug Macduff's door dance from a great angle, much better than the last time I had seen this pas de deux. I jumped back up to the Lobby and caught Gabe Boy Witch's Is That All There Is - I didn't know this was Gabe's last day so it was very lucky that I caught it. Boy and his emotional arc have been a favourite of mine from the beginning, so I was excited to see what Gabe brought to this scene. He was so sweet and demure as he emulated Peggy Lee and ended the number very vulnerably and shyly. Bon voyage Gabe 😭. I poked around Duncan's quarters and was finally able to make sense of where all the rooms were in relation to one another. I enjoyed the moments of quiet leafing through the props and petting the various taxidermy 😅. When I don't really know how to wrap up a show, I usually follow Nurse and Matron to the Macbeth residence to watch them clean up the bathtub and make the bed. It's become a very meditative and blissfully quiet way to end the show. The finale was a showstopper as usual and I couldn't believe my luck when Georgia as Nurse turned from the balcony and gave me the walkout. I learned the next day that this was her last day so that was unbelievably special. We exchanged lots of smiles as we made our way back to the bar and she gave me the sweetest hug.

Show #2 (Sunday evening):

Once in the Manderlay Bar my buddies were buzzing about how Mallory was playing the role of Woman in Bar that night. I had never met Mal and didn't know very much about her, but I could tell she was someone very special! Moments later I met her character, and yeah, the rumours are true y'all. Mal is dripping with charisma! I joke that if these cast members started a cult I'd be one of the first ones in the white outfit shedding my earthly possessions and sitting at their feet - Mal is definitely one of those people who could likely convince me of just about anything.

Loop 1: Lady Macduff (Georgia Usborne):

The Lady Duff... I have made most of my career out of working with pregnant folks so I had been avoiding this character.. However I really couldn't resist her anymore and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw beautiful Georgia on in the ballroom. As I was fresh off her walkout I felt like it was meant to be. As she collapsed into an audience member's arms in the ballroom her hand fell into my lap so I took it and tried to give her some reassurance as she woke. I followed her up to her quarters (not without giving Danvers a withering glare) and magically she took me in for the 1:1. When she opened with the words "you're finally here!" I couldn't help but smile given we'd just had our walkout together hours earlier. Her Lady Duff was so tender as she spoke to me, but her body language betrayed her immense anxiety. Being a reformed church girl I am such a sucker for any religious elements, so her crosses of protection really got me good 😭. I safely tucked the packet of salt into my skirt and away we went. My hatred of Danvers grew exponentially as I watched her toy with my Lady, it was so heartbreaking to watch Danvers humiliate this innocent young mother. I wasn't sure how Lady Duff's murder would affect me so I positioned myself near the back of the audience so I could have an exit strategy. Her fight with Zach's Macbeth was incredibly athletic, but very difficult to watch. Fortunately I was perfectly positioned to see Georgia slam her hand against the wall as Macbeth "killed" her so I could avoid any feelings of overwhelm in that moment. As she awoke she looked so confused and lost. We held eye contact for a moment and then she left.

Loops 2 & 3: Fulton (Spencer William Grossman) & Taxi (Tim Creavin)

I decided not to do a full Lady Duff loop as I had just done a Macduff loop in December and wanted to see as much new content as possible before I had to (possibly?) check out permanently. As I hopped between 2 characters for 2 loops I'm kind of merging all the content I saw into one sequential loop. Between character moments I also got to check out all the remaining rooms and spaces I hadn't yet seen on Gallow Green. I went up to 4th to find Fulton and Spencer was such a treat in this role! I found myself absorbed in all the quirks his character displayed as he focused on his rituals. He was so charming with Agnes but sadly I lost him for a while after he chased after her.

When it came time for Taxi to emerge, my friend was able to come find me as I worried I would miss his entrance. In strides Tim Creavin with the most glorious middle part I have ever seen. This man was SLICK with gel. As many have discussed, Tim C is all chaos all the time. Doug Speaks came into the Taxidermy shop at one point and took one of the candies laid in tribute at the feet of our poor Turkey. Taxi was already eating a candy of his own but was obviously displeased at Speaks taking one for himself, so he both snorted like a pig and obnoxiously open-mouthed chewed his candy in Speaks' direction 😅.

When he went to visit (harass) Fulton, he took what I think was a taxidermied caiman head with him. He made the head "walk" along Fulton's desk towards him, and Fulton very paternally smiled as if to say "what are you doing, please don't". Taxi of course continues the assault and the caiman head starts to make its way over the side of the desk and down towards Fulton's pants 😅. Fulton puts a stop to this, and Taxi was very upset so he grabbed Fulton's dress form on wheels and dragged it stomping back to his office. He tried to put the caiman head onto the neck of the dress form but it didn't stay on, so he found another skull and somehow secured it better. He put his coat onto the dress form and then made "hands" for his creation out of antlers, placing one hand in the chest pocket of the coat. He then took peacock feathers out of a vase and filled the eye holes of the skull with them. Satisfied, he rolled his masterpiece back to Fulton and gestured as if to say "look". Spencer Fulton was the perfect foil to Tim C's Taxi, so demure and indulgent of Taxi's childlike shenanigans 😅. Their dance sequences were absolutely incredible, these were more numbers I hadn't seen before and I was blown away. It's so special to be so up close and personal to such exciting art!

I followed Fulton to the Speakeasy and his dance with Doug Speaks was so unexpectedly flirtatious! I have never looped Speaks so I don't know much about his character past the moments I've seen of him as I've looped other characters, but the way he teased Fulton to check him for witch's marks was really effective. I met up unexpectedly with Tim's Taxi after his first 1:1 pull and a small group of us followed him up to the 5th floor cemetery. Taxi placed whatever he was holding through the gate and then just... lay face down with his neck on the cross bar of the gate. I was like can you breathe?? Very evocative of planking. He finally got up up and started doing the most feral yoga sequence in front of the gate, from extended child's pose to wheel to humping the air to beating the ground, over and over and over and faster each time. VERY unusual to witness 😅.

I found myself sticking with Fulton as he huddled off to the side while the witches passed in preparation for the rave. I followed his crowd to the Rep Bar and most of the White Masks didn't notice Fulton had stopped at the wall opposite the doorway, so I ended up right next to him. Fulton became more and more distressed as the rave gained momentum, alternating between scrabbling along the floor towards the doorway and cowering against the wall. Once the scene hit its peak, Fulton's eyes crossed and rolled back into his head; he turned and "looked" at me each time this happened and it was SO intense and unexpected. On the final "possession" he rose up from the floor and dragged his body up my legs and waist, I was so at a loss for how to help him so I just held him at his back like "ride the wave friend and hopefully this will be over soon" 😅. We eventually left and watched Macbeth and Banquo fight - again, no one seemed to be following Fulton too closely so he and I stood on the raised platform to watch together through the shelf.

We fearfully watched Hecate pass from inside the funeral home before returning to his office . Suddenly he stopped and looked up at me - other than at the rave, Fulton never seemed to acknowledge any of us WMs so this was quite surprising! He took a charm on a red string and held it up to me with a questioning look on his face. I nodded and dipped my head to receive it. He offered me his hand and down we went to the ballroom! The stair crowd was quite pushy and at times we were almost separated and I had to raise our arms to keep his hand in mine. He would look back at me like girl what are you doing 😅. I have never had a walkout where we watched the finale from the ballroom level so I was very excited, but very much trying to match Fulton's religious anxiety. Initially we watched together from the back of the crowd and as Macbeth and Banquo toasted each other, I looked at him with concern and he met my energy perfectly. We found our way to the front and when it came time for the crowd to be moved back, people were NOT having it. Spencer had to turn and face the crowd to really intimidate people into stepping back. We stepped forward together and held each other and I saw Noah Banquo shaking his head as he coiled the rope around its hook - I realized I was in for my first strangling finale! Fulton and I continued to exchange worried looks and when it came for Macbeth to meet his end I clung onto him for dear life. It was so much more intense to see Macbeth's bloody and manic face up close as he fought against his friends. Instead of one long squeeze, Fulton gave me a series of squeezes and it almost felt like he was comforting me instead of trying to intensify the experience. As the lights came up we turned and looked at each other almost as if to say we'd better get out of here before we're next! Off we went to the Manderlay Bar and again Fulton was too sweet. He looked at me questioningly and waited for my nod before slowly removing my mask and giving me a hug, and that was the end of my double day!

Show #3 - Remix!

The energy in the chat for Remix was so electric and the tailgate party was unmatched. We had a friendship bracelet making station, pizza party, dessert trays, and just a wonderful time clowning around. It was so great to put faces to names from the Discord and share in the excitement together. We were handed golden masks before the elevator and we all giggled as the doors opened to Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood" on the 5th floor.

Loop 1: Banquo (Javon "Ja'Moon" Jones)

I planned to start with a single character loop and I ended up choosing Banquo once I made it to the ballroom. I was so caught up in the excitement that I hardly remember any of the song differences but I'm sure other people have made records. To have the ballroom pop off with Felix Jaehn's "Ain't Nobody" was SO energizing and it was way too fun clapping and cheering when Duncan got lifted in 😭. Despite it being the first loop it felt very crowded, the consequences of a building full of professional WMs! I still enjoyed all of Banquo's dances (and boy he has so many of them!) and when it came time for his murder, Smooth Criminal was blasting in the Speakeasy. Macbeth and Banquo punctuated the scene with MJ vocalizations which made it absolutely hilarious. I had a very embarrassing moment where DLP Macduff was trying to get me to move out of his way in the Taxi shop - he rested his hand quite gently on my shoulder and I assumed it was one of my friends saying hi, so I simply placed my hand over top of his and kept walking for a few paces. I turned to see who it was and was met with the most enormous shoulders in a white button down and immediately knew no one from the Discord was rocking that kind of wingspan (no one that I've met anyway). I jumped out of his way and gave him a very apologetic touch on the arm as he passed.

Loop 2: I had hoped to bounce around on the 4th floor to catch different sequences and move away from crowds as necessary, but I obviously don't know the show as well as I thought as I was met with a lot of empty and dark rooms! I did manage to catch Jordan's Boy Witch Pool Table dance but I was quite far back. I was hoping to catch a Malcolm and Agnes dance but it turned into a Malcolm procedural scene as Agnes missed her cue (laugh). I made it to the rave and despite being a few rows deep it was AWESOME. Killing in the Name by Rage and Faint by Linkin Park were so nostalgic for my millennial heart and the bass was REALLY bassing. The crowds dispersed enough for me to enjoy Fate's dance on the bar (to the original score) and I stuck with Hecate for a couple beats just to get a break from the crowds.

Loop 3: I hopped down to the Lobby and got a pretty good view of the prophecy scenes (possibly also to the original score?). At this point Issa had swapped in for Boy and they lip synced to Diamonds are Forever - Boy was so impossibly glam in this moment and we were eating it up. It was so fun to holler and clap for him! I LOVED Will Porter's happy dance to "I Wanna Dance with Somebody", especially since I hadn't seen it since my first visit last November. When it was Boy's turn to dance in the phone booth, Ginuwine's Pony was blasting and Issa COMPLETELY devoured it. I think most of us can agree that Boy is pretty damn enticing but in that moment... It was borderline illegal. Once Boy darted off to the 4th floor I decided to wrap things up in the Macbeth apartment as I was feeling at a bit of a loss at where to go next and knew I would find Nurse and Matron there eventually - I watched Chantelle Lady Beth solo dance to Heart's "Alone" which was awesome. All sequences after that were to the usual score. She bathed Sean Macbeth (another sequence I hadn't seen since my first visit), I watched her suitcase room dance, and then eventually Nurse and Matron came in to tidy up. I followed them down to balcony and then the show was finished!

The afterparty was very fun, to spend more time in the Manderlay Bar and the Lobby was so great. The drinks were flowing and to be honest I'm shocked I found my way home to my hostel intact. I'm so glad the Discord server exists because there's no way any of us could have seen everything in that show, so it's been cool to read other folks' recaps!

Show #4: Wednesday Evening

I was very grateful to have a day off from the show on Tuesday - between the double on Sunday and the marathon event that was Remix my body and mind desperately needed the break. On Wednesday evening NYC was experiencing a pretty juicy thunderstorm so we were let into the hotel at 6:30! That was a first for me.

Loops 1 & 2: Fulton (Javon "Ja'Moon" Jones")

I initially started out with Issa's Boy Witch but I got a bit distracted by Tim J's Porter and lost Issa for a bit. Once I went up to the High Street I found Ja'Moon's Fulton and made a clutch decision to pivot from Boy. I followed him from room to room as he gathered materials, performed rituals, and peered out through windows. This was a very nice and quiet loop, which was a breath of fresh air! He had this beautiful rhythm of securing his hair before each ritual, whether it was taken down in the scene following or it fell down on its own I always seemed to miss it happening!

Towards the end of his narrative loop he put on his coat and secured his tie - a few of us were looking at him in the mirror and he made eye contact with me for the first time. I was so so lucky to have a hand extended to me and Fulton and I went to the mortuary. We initially joined hands in prayer, and then Fulton seemed to be in multiple places at once, first next to me reading my palm with ash, then clambering up the shelves to access various bottles and jars, placing a line of ash down my forehead, and I think at one point he was up on the mortuary table? He spoke to me not in English (I believe Ja'Moon has been known to speak French Creole in their one on ones, as I believe they did in my Boy Witch 1:1 with them last December). He blew a palmful of ash up into the air and the way it danced in the light completely captured my imagination; it was so beautiful! He gifted me a charm of protection that he retrieved from what felt like an impossibly high spot in the room and then stood in the corner holding my mask up at my eye level - I walked into it and he secured it which was SUCH a cool way to receive my mask back! I was guided back to the Funeral Home, the door was slammed, and I was alone with a Black Mask! I was still standing there processing when Doug Speaks bursts through the door and looks at me with the most hysterical expression on his face... So irreverent and almost teasing, like "wow you really thought that little Christian man was all that huh". He turned and spun one of the crosses on the wall around on its nail and then strode out to the High Street. This was such a funny character moment from Doug - in the 5 shows I attended he will have worked every single one and while I'm sad I never got to loop him, I really enjoyed that moment we shared.

When Fulton pelted his window with (salt? Whatever those cubes were) I couldn't help but laugh quietly, it was just so comically ineffective. Ja'Moon's Fulton was beautifully paired with Hailey's Agnes and Ja'Moon played the hopeful lover boy so well. They ate a HUGE mouthful of jelly beans in Paisley Sweets before playing "eenie meenie minie mo" to choose a candy for Agnes, funnily enough he didn't end up choosing the one his finger landed on 😅. As Agnes left and Fulton continued to wander and complete his rituals, we started to gather more and more of a crowd. I was far in the back at this point as I had accidentally bumped the back of Ja'Moon's shoe earlier in the loop and I felt so terrible. By the time it came time to go down to the 3rd floor cemetery it was pretty full and some folks in their excitement started to overtake Fulton on the pathway. He turned and gestured to say "no", got to the end of the path, and threw down their umbrella - naughty WMs don't get the privilege of helping their character!! I finished off my loop with another showstopping Fate/Fulton mortuary dance and off I went to the rave!

Loops 2 & 3: Boy Witch (Issa)

I cannot have a trip to the Hotel without getting a least 1 Boy Witch loop under my belt, so I followed Issa's Boy in the direction of the shower room. Someone pushed past me to be first behind them and as Issa went to close the door, the person tried to fight them to keep it open?? I was so shook and embarrassed on their behalf. When Issa finally wrenched the door closed I decided why not just hang around Taxi's little back office and tail Boy once he's ready to rock again. I got to see Jordan's Taxi come out which was awesome but fae already had a huge crowd and I feared that could be a cursed loop for audience behaviour, even though I was completely charmed by her James at the top of the show. Boy eventually emerged and I poked my head out from Taxi's side room so as to not startle him with my stalker-ish behaviour. I tailed him to the Banquet and positioned myself for a good vantage point for his part in the tableau. Issa completely killed their spotlight dance post-Banquet, making complete use of the space and the light, and it was lovely to not be too crowded in that moment. It was just stunning.

Back up to the Lobby we went and it was eventually time for Boy's lip sync. I have been lucky enough to see 3 different performers' versions of this scene so I was on the edge of my proverbial seat wondering what Issa would bring. Things were going pretty swimmingly until that third verse - Issa brought a level of emotion that was completely unexpected and raw. I have certainly gotten misty eyed in this Hotel but that final verse and the closing had my eyes and nose streaming. Issa hadn't chosen anyone to sit in the "main" chair for the performance so I wasn't sure what was coming next, but after Boy got his tissue from the Porter, he reached over a couple heads to pull me forward and wipe his tears. I had rather long and pointy black nails on and as I was still crying I watched in horror as Issa guided my index finger under his eye and the point of my nail dragged across his lower lid. I deliberately twisted my hand with the second wipe so I couldn't accidentally maim him (I have to assume they could see my nails in their field of vision and knew what they were doing but I was so worried). Fortunately they seemed unharmed and off we trotted to the telephone booth. It goes without saying Issa occupies nearly all of the vertical space in that booth and I just peeked up at them through my tears. I got my whispered message and my kiss and then it was time for the ballroom!

Tim C was on as Malcolm and since my eyes were following Issa I got to enjoy Tim C's character moments as well. His Malcolm is a perfectly Charlie Brown-like, little old me character - whenever someone would cut in and steal his partner, he would give the crowd a little look and a shrug like "well, what can you do?". I just love getting those little unexpected morsels of character moments. Issa flirted and teased and thrashed their way to the Rave and this time I got myself a better viewing point. Junyla absolutely stole the show again with her Fate Witch screams, nothing but pure terror in that moment!

Then it was back to the shower room and since Issa's Boy had not invited us in on the last loop I wanted to follow at a respectful distance and let the scene play out as they wanted it to. The door stayed open and a few of us filed in. Once Boy was done in the shower he pointed very defeatedly at the towel without looking at anyone. Not wanting to hog Boy's attention I didn't make a move, but when no one else did anything for several beats I finally snatched it and thrust it into his hand - terribly self conscious that it wasn't meant for me. The same thing happened with the shirt, he didn't look at any of us but simply pointed at the shirt, and when no one else moved I grabbed it. I couldn't figure out how to hang the hanger back onto the stall and I was terrified someone would slip on it so I shoved it underneath the stall very awkwardly 😅. Issa has impossibly long limbs so it took a bit of maneuvering to get their hands in both sleeves simultaneously and guide the shirt up onto their shoulders. They put their underwear, socks, and knee sleeves on and then sat down. They held out their pants and I made a slow move to take them but they yoinked them out of my grasp and handed them to the person next to me 😅. This blessed individual fumbled back and forth to find the front (in fairness the suspenders make it terribly confusing), Issa stuck their feet up in the air to receive the pants, and the poor WM made a mild attempt at assisting them before panicking and giving up. Boy ROLLED his eyes rudely, shimmied the pants up, and then turned to me and extended his hands for a boost up. I took his hands and he made the most minimal effort to support his own weight. I popped the deepest squat I can to find some power and hauled this tree of a human upright. I'm pretty sure a grunt escaped my lips with the effort. Issa tucked in their shirt (but didn't bother with the buttons), laughed in our faces, and ran off to the ballroom. It was absolutely hysterical.

I had a great vantage point for the hanging, nice and close to enjoy all of Sean Macbeth's emotional reactions as he processed his execution. I left that show on such a high having had so many funny and emotional experiences!

Show #5: Thursday Evening

My final show of my trip 😭. I had felt so completely spoiled by Ja'Moon and Issa the night before that I walked into this show feeling zero sense of urgency or desperation to see anything in particular. It was such a full circle moment to find Tim C and Robyne in the bar. Robyne was a favourite performer of mine in December both as Hecate and Simone in bar and Tim had given me so many wonderful moments as Malcolm and Taxi this visit. We had some lovely chats and then off we popped into the elevator. Who should be playing the role of James but Issa! I'd like to think they remembered me from our loop the day before but what do I know 😅. After the elevator spiel, I found myself on the elusive 6th floor of the hotel 😭😭😭. I found myself in a very dark and unfamiliar hallway. I turned a corner to find Noah waiting for me - Noah is another all-time great in my books. Their interpretation of Banquo, the vulnerability they showed and their dance ability all blew me away back in December. To see Noah standing there was so so special. Embarrassingly I am still somewhat afraid of the dark, so I was quite literally clinging to Noah for dear life when the lights went down. Noah executed everything perfectly and I found myself crying as they spoke about how we would never be able to go back to Manderlay. I didn't know about the flash paper or the costume change, so that completely thrilled me! The wheelchair excursion was absolutely beautiful and everything was just... perfect. The combination of the set, the lighting, the sound design, and Noah's performance... I was floored. Sadly it had to come to a close and I was sent on my way.

Loop 2: Bald Witch (Ruth Howard)

I caught my breath in the stairwell and pivoted to the ballroom where I wanted to catch up with Bald Witch for a first-time loop. I found her as she was about to reset the trees post-Banquet and for a brief moment she and I were alone in a quiet corner of the ballroom. She lovingly caressed my mask and breathed a few lines into my ear. I was immediately hers and knew I was locked in for an incredible loop. Bald had an equally committed friend following (if it was someone in the Discord, you had a lovely vibe!) so I knew I would be sharing her affection that evening. I finally got to see the Bald and Fate grooming/prep session in the tiny parlour off the Lobby - it's so special to pop into a completely new space! It was so intimate and cozy in there. I was starting to get too warm to keep my hair down and tucked my hair up into a clip - Bald caught me doing this in the mirror and gave me a cheeky wink as she was securing her own hair. I was in the pretty ladies club 🥺. Bald v. Ja'Moon's Banquo was wonderful as always, but Banquo had amassed quite a crowd so I didn't have the best vantage point. I was in for a treat with two new sequences post-ballroom: Bald's transformation dance and her fight with Macduff. WOW is Ruth an incredible dancer! Her articulation and use of the space were so so stunning. My heart filled to see Doug Macduff enter the space, like I mentioned earlier he has been such a constant presence for me this week and it was so special to see some more dance content from him. These two were very evenly matched and it was just an excellent sequence.

Rave was awesome as usual, Ruth did choose her loyal follower for the dry-off but I think she knew she also had my heart as she gave me a little tickle under the chin afterwards, as if to say "and I love you too". It takes very little to charm me 😅. I hadn't spent a ton of time in the apothecary or seen Bald's post-rave scene before, so it was all so exciting! After she left I decided to skip the second banquet scene and find something new while I still had time.

Loop 2.75: Matron (Ilana Gilovich)

I found myself drawn up to the 5th floor as I had only spent time there once in a very crowded Nurse loop and then briefly while following Taxi. I walked through the wooded maze to check in on Matron - she wasn't in but I decided to just enjoy the cool air and the spooky vibes. Soon enough Matron came up the maze without anyone following her. I met her halfway and followed behind, then watched her enter her hut and close the door. I was hopeful she might re-open the door and invite me in so I hung around, but eventually she opened the window and chose someone else who had was standing in the right spot (I didn't realize it was the "right spot" at the time 😅). I stayed behind to enjoy the audio being played in the maze and the vibes. Eventually Matron exited the hut and wandered back down the maze. I was mesmerized as she scrawled in chalk on the post - the combination of the pleasant coolness, the low crowds, and the incomparable performance ability of THE Dr Ilana Gilovich was just perfection. As she inverted over and the light hit her from the hut, my imagination was sparked in a whole new way. This was one of those iconic Sleep No More moments that will stay with me for a long time.

Haley as Nurse came along the maze and helped Matron back to her hut. I watched the rocking chair scene and again stayed at the doorway hoping I might be able to meet Matron on my own. I realized after she pulled someone else again that one really had to be by the window in order to catch her eye 😅. So, I decided I would stay for just a little while longer and if it wasn't in the cards for me I would move on. After Matron ushered the WM she chose out of the hut, she closed the door and most of the other guests left the area. I peeked through the cracks in the shingles and was amazed to see Ilana performing all alone in the hut! I could only see little slivers of it which only made it all the more thrilling. Again, something about this moment was so serene and satisfying. I hung around a little while longer, Matron opened the window, and her eyes landed on me 🥺.

As I entered her hut, I feel like I was whipping my head around trying to take everything in. I took my seat at her invitation and she prepared tea for me, asking me wordlessly whether I took cream and sugar. I can honestly say I've never been spoon fed a liquid like that as an adult, so I had to think a bit about the best way to accept it without making a mess 😅. After 3 spoonfuls we settled into the story she had for me. This storytelling experience was one of the most real and raw experiences I've had in the McKittrick. Again, the sound, the lighting, and Ilana's impeccable performance had my eyes widening in fear and watering in despair. I was completely devastated in that moment. Ilana handled me extra gently as she brought the experience to a close and looked at me longingly as I gazed up from the stairs. Once she closed the door, I essentially ran crying through the maze and down the stairs to find my sweet Robyne/Simone in bar. I've always smiled at the PIB line that mentions coming back to the Manderlay Bar if things become too intense - I have had a lot of intense experiences in this Hotel, but nothing quite like my experience with Matron. I just needed to leave the space and catch my breath (and wipe my eyes).

Loop 3: PIB (Robyne Parrish, Karen Marie Richardson, and Tim Creavin) and Duncan (Miguel Anaya)

I grabbed some water and eventually found Robyne and Karen seated in the back of the bar. They were so patient with my sniffling ass and helped me catch my breath. Then, Robyne turned to me asked, "have you seen our special little corner of the bar?". I replied that I hadn't. She asked me "would you like to go see it?". I nodded yes. She took me by the hand to a room I'd never noticed before where Tim C as Theo was waiting for me. The PIB 1:1 has been scripted online already so I won't butcher it here, but Tim showed the greatest tenderness and care to me in that moment. His message mean a lot to me then and there but it has continued to unfurl for me as I've returned home. I returned to Robyne and Karen with fresh tears and they apologized for not really helping in that department 😅. I chatted with them for a few more minutes while I dried my eyes and decided it was time to hop back into the show to say goodbye.

I made my way down to the ballroom where the final tableau was being set. I had the most wonderful "behind the curtain" view I've ever had - I was off to the side where I could see all the hidden details of the cast supporting each other through the finale. A hand to boost another up onto the table, the clipping of a harness, a gentle squeeze on the ankle to signal all was proceeding as it should. I'd never noticed how Boy and Bald slip under the table and I enjoyed seeing Duncan just lay down quietly on the floor 😅. It was a perfect finish as usual, and as I took my eyes off of Macbeth, I turned to see Miguel's Duncan smiling down at me from the stage stairs and reaching out his hand to me. I took it gratefully and made that final climb to the Manderlay Bar while exchanging the sweetest of smiles with Duncan. Tim C as Theo was welcoming us back and he also gave me the loveliest of smiles seeing me hand in hand with Duncan. I held onto that final hug a little tighter and squeezed his hands once more before saying goodbye.

Final Thoughts:

This trip was so much more than I ever thought it could be. I was so warmly welcomed into the fold by everyone in the fandom and it was so beautiful to have friends to chat excitedly with in line and debrief with after in the Bar. While I left the trip exhausted, my soul was also fed in so many ways. Thank you to everyone who I met who made this experience what it was. Love to all of you 💗💗💗.

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mysticaldreamwitch · 1 year

Text

God of the Dead

This is a OC x Dream ship and therefore NOT canon by any means, I just enjoy them, please don't feel offended.

Characters: Dream of the Endless; Senka (OC)

Pairing: Senpheus (Dream x Senka)

Warnings: swearing

Featured music: God of the Dead by Darren Korb

She gladly accepted the proposal to play some more, eager now to show him why she enjoyed this game so much. She was not the best at it, taking some hits where she didn't need to take them, when she couldn't dodge aside, because she already used the dashes given to her to make some more powerful hits. Senka found the whole thing a little embarrassing, especially in front of Morpheus, but he didn't really seem to mind. To be fair, he had no idea what and if she was even doing something wrong, considering he barely had a grasp on what videogames were in general.

The whole mood in the room changed however, when she ran into Charon again, the shopkeeper. "Alright…guess it's time." Senka stated and placed the controller aside, wiping her hands on the blanket to get rid of the slight sweatiness. "Time for what?" The Lord of Dreams got curious beside her, noticing how she usually wiped her hands before something major happened in any kind of game. A nervous gesture, as far as he could tell. "Time to beat the asshole into a pile of…undying dust. Cause he keeps coming back, and I take that personally." The night howler didn't even look over to him, yet he could see a glint in her eyes marked with determination and just a slight bit of hatred, when she entered another room.

The room turned out to be an arena, and in the middle stood two figures, one of them addressing the main character immediately, and Morpheus just needed to see the smug grin on the sprite of the character and hear his voice for longer then a second to understand why Senka had reverted to calling this guy an asshole immediately.

"You hellspawn shall not traverse this gate behind me, whilst my compatriot and I equivalently live and breathe!"

"He sounds like he…is quite the character-" - "He's a bitch baby asshole." Senka was very quick to interrupt his train of thought, while she went ham on the bullman next to the aforementioned asshole. "When you get him down to half-health he calls upon an olympian to help him, little bitch that he is." Dream frowned softly. "But so do you." She looked over for a moment, giving him a judging glance. "Yeah, but that's not the point! The point is that Theseus was an asshole and an awful person in life, he has not changed a little in death and I want to beat in his smug, little athenian face and yell at him." He watched her, while her voice started to get louder, getting really worked up over this guy she didn't even know. "And I really wish he wouldn't be such a wussy and hide behind his shield all the time so I could actually smack his face, but no, I'm required to beat his ass. Which I'm not too mad about- blood and darkness!" She shouted out when the bullman hit her. "Asterius, please, I'm just trying to beat up Theseus, if you could just die…there we go!" The bull vanished into dust beside her, and she quickly dashed away. "Now it's just me and you, trash king…and I will make you regret it!" She yelled at the TV, moving onto the edge of the couch, the blanket slipping off her shoulders. Dream watched her with something that could be defined as increasing concern. He had never seen her getting this worked up about something as trivial as a videogame, though it wouldn't be terribly out of character for her. Instead of commenting on it however, he proceeded to run his thumb over the side of her hip. His touch had an immediate effect on her, her back relaxing a bit, and her hands loosening their tight grip on the controller. Morpheus smiled lightly, continuing the gentle caress, watching her relax herself bit by bit, however she did not give into it fully, until the Athenian king crumbled into dust behind her after having called on some help from Aphrodite. She collected her reward, before walking up to the side of the stadium, where, between all the blue shades, a red one was floating, a small banner of Zagreus in front of him.

"I dedicate this victory to you, good shade!"

She then ran off back towards the door. "You always say hello to the good shade." She told her lord, when she found herself in a chamber filled with cogs, the quite sound of turning machinery echoing through the room.

Placing the controller aside, she moved back onto the couch again, adjusting the blanket around herself, this time accounting for him as well, wrapping one end around his shoulder. With a soft smile the dreamlord allowed for it, taking it a step further even, in gently ushering her to move onto his lap. "I'll keep you warm better than this." He noted, while he pulled the blanket around them loosely, causing her to chuckle in response.

She enjoyed when he held her close like this, his arms loosely around her waist, his hand spread across her hip, while his thumb drew circles onto her skin through her shirt. It was the most comfortable way to sit with him. Though she could be biased, and she probably was too.

She went through another chamber, collecting some upgrades, before venturing on through yet another room filled with cogs and chains, before winding up in a long pathway. Running along, he saw a door on the other end, surely the exit, however it was blocked off by a big scarlet hound with three heads. "Is this Cerberus?" Dream asked, chuckling amused. "Yes! And he is bestest pup. To get out of here, we gotta collect some food for him. I just wanted to say hi." She smiled, before running back towards another pathway to the side, leading to five smaller doors. "So, we gotta go through these until we find his food. Usually you're lucky after two or three, and I usually do the easy ones, unless the hard ones have something I really want, like a god I could have a duo-boon with. So, we gonna go…here." She opened a chamber marked with a heart and got straight to the smashing and thrashing of the place and its inhabitants. The place was rather small, which made her method effective, only in the big endroom she struggled a bit, losing a third of her health. Not having found what she was looking for, she let out a light curse under her breath, taking the gateway back to the beginning, from which she took another gate, hoping it would take her to victory. This went on for another two gates and she was very low on health when she finally came to a quiet chamber, where she picked up her reward and a sack. "Finally…that took forever." She remarked, then gave a light sigh, when she made her way back after refreshing her health. "I'm glad tho, I was not prepared for any of the minibosses…" Back in the initial chamber she ran off to the side, a little erray of boons and other power-ups displayed there, able to be bought for coin. She had a decent amount of money, so she went straight into buying the power-ups she could afford. "Okaaay, I am ready. I've never been so ready in my life, you don't believe how ready I am!" She exclaimed, as she ran up to the dog and paid him off with the snacks she had gotten from the sideway paths, then walked off towards the big door, opening it.

The screen turned blindingly white for a moment, then a winterly landscape appeared in front of them, the character leaving footprints in the snow with his flaming feet. Slowly approaching further into the clearing, a figure revealed itself, standing on the edge of a pond or river of some kind.

"You bypassed Cerberus again, I see. Unfortunately for the both of us."

The voice boomed through the room, deep and rich, as the one who receives many guests shrugged off his cloak, and a fight ensued between the two figures, which had Senka tense up on Dreams lap. This was it, the final bossfight for this run and she fought very hard against her own overconfidence. She had done this many times before and knew she would be her own downfall if she didn't stay on top of her game and carefully choose her moves. She rocked an unga-bunga me smash build, but that didn't mean she was invincible.

Much to her own dismay, today didn't seem to be her day, and she cursed just a few seconds later, as she was hit by an attack which she could have avoided by simply measuring her dashes more consequently. Morpheus set there, watching her, unable to hide his amusement about the seriousness of the moment. He had never quite understood her dedication towards activities like this, though he knew from her that many people pursued these in their free time and that she was by far not the most dedicated of this community, actually calling herself an amateur more than anything. If she really was, he couldn't quite say, stemming from the fact that he lacked any kind of experience in this field he could judge from.

He could tell however, that things were not going as she wanted them to by the amount of swearing she made use of and the slight red tint around the edges of the screen, which indicated a low health meter for the character. According to her it was a kind of imagery used fairly often by games, to show the player they were low on health without having to check the health display itself, assuming there even was one. It was fascinating what humans were able to come up with, when faced with creative ways to show certain things. He didn't know a lot about the 'language of videogames' as Senka always called it, but he was as willing to learn, as she was eager to teach.

Noticing the dwindling health of her opponent, he thought he would find her relaxing, but instead she set up straighter, like she prepared for something else, as suddenly the Ruler of Many went down onto his knees. "You did it, little nightmare." Morpheus chuckled proudly, only earning a soft scoff from the nightmare currently occupying his lap. "I wish." Just in this moment, the health of her enemy shot back up to full. "Welcome to phase two." She said, but her face now featured a wide smile. "The better one of the phases if you ask me." She turned her attention fully towards the screen, full concentration on the fight. "Now father, we'll see who prevails!"

Will I ever stop talking about Hades, as in like the game Hades? No. No probably not.

Tags: @queenshelby @tsintotwo

#dream x oc #sandmanverse oc #tom sturridge #morpheus x oc #own character #sandmanverse #senpheus #hades game #hades fanfic kinda i guess

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