#her music is still as dope as I remember of course

[shadowwolf146]

I've been listening to a lot of P!nk this last week, and I'm having the time of my LIFE!! (musically at least. Personally, I miss my friends and I'm overwhelmed with school stuff lmao) but I have the serotonin blast of music that helped get me through elementary school, high school and into college.

I have so much homework and I'm watching P!nk spin in silks and cool dresses on stage lol

[pasta-in-the-pudding]

Hi sorry if this seems annoying!😭 can you do Ben and Jeff and masky with a newbie scared child reader like when they first saw them they where shaking in there boots? And just very scared of everyone😭 I hope you have an amazing day remember your worth it and im proud of youu!<3

Don't worry, you aren't annoying! Also, thank you for your kind words <33

Thank you so much for requesting!!

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

BEN

The first time BEN saw you was to bring you your uniform, as per his job as the supplier and technology manager

You were with sally, she was helping you get set up

When sally sees ben, she rushes over to him and asks if he wants to do a tea party with her and her new friend

He shakes his head "another time, sal"

Sally pouts while he walks over to put your uniform on your bed

"These are your uniform clothes. You wear them when you're working, especially if you're out on a mission. You're young, so you shouldn't have much work outside of the manor. Just keep them clean and ironed and you'll be good"

You stand there, looking up at him, shaking and furrowing your brows worriedly

He raises a brow and puts a hand on his hip "can you even manage a yes sir or a thank you? What a dope" he mutters before turning and leaving your room

After that he doesn't talk to you too often unless you talk to him

Which happens around 3 days later

"Mr. Ben can you help me...?"

"With what" he asks, not even pausing his game

"I don't know how to wash my clothes...im sorry" you whisper in a meek voice

He lets out a biiiiig sigh and stands up "alright, come on. Ask Tim for help with your clothes from now on. He's taller so he can actually reach the detergent. And he's also better at taking care of kids" he says as he walks downstairs to the laundry room

You follow behind him "im sorry.... mr. ben?"

"Hm?"

"Whos tim?"

Another biiiiig sigh

Jeff

Pretty much all of the kids were scared first time they saw jeff 💀

So no one was shocked when you reacted that way

After getting fairly acquainted with some other children, brian and liu, you mostly hung around them

One night however, there was a small party at the manor

Jeff, being the chronic hollywood undead listener of the house, of course is there

The party is being kept to the second level of the manor, in one of the living room areas, and is more so just a loud hangout than a party

The creeps partaking are listening to loud rock music, drinking beer and playing cards

You had gotten lost trying to find your room and eventually wandered into the area the get together was happening in

"Dude what's that little kid doing here" one of the creeps asks

This makes jeff turn the music down and look over at you

He is still in his work uniform, his hair is a mess and he looks obviously annoyed that he's getting interrupted

"You're that new kid, aren't ya? What are you doing up isn't it bed time for you worms?" He asks, standing and putting his beer on the table

Seeing how much taller he is than you only adds to the already intense fear "im sorry..." you whimper

"Yeah, yeah, run off to your room, kid" he says, waving his hand in a dismissing tone

"I-i don't know where it is" you whisper

He groans and bends down to your height "ok kid, do you have a caretaker around here somewhere?"

You shake your head and back away from him nervously. His breath reeks of nicotine and alcohol, and it makes your nose burn

"Alright, come on" he says, standing and grabbing your hand, leading you all the way down to Slender's office

There, slender is able to help you get back to your room safely while jeff goes back to drinking and playing cards upstairs

Masky

He is someone that a lot of kids turn to when they're unsure

He's one of the designated caretakers of the manor, basically meaning he helps the little kids with whatever they need

He doesn't mind this, because he likes to keep busy

So you coming to him was something he was pretty used to

However what he wasn't exactly used to was how timid you were

There are a lot of anxious kids in the manor, but to get a new kid in the manor is rare so it's been a while since he's had to deal with a kid this anxious

You knock on his door, to which he answers

"Um are you Tim?" You ask, fidgeting with your fingers

"Yeah, what's wrong, kiddo?" He asks, trying to make himself seem less threatning

Your face lights up a little bit at seeing you got the room number right "ok, uh i was told that you could help me reach the food? Im sorry, i just need the goldfish and I'll be out of your way"

He raises a brow "goldfish? Kid, it's only nine a.m. Don't you want some breakfast instead?"

"No that's ok i just need the goldfish..." you whisper

He steps out of his room and beckons you to follow "come on, I'll make you some actual food. How do you feel about pancakes? Or do you want something else?"

You scramble to follow after him, as he takes really big steps "no, pancakes is ok"

You sit at the table while he cooks your pancakes, and when he is done he sets the plate down in front of you and goes to pour you some juice

"Thank you" you whisper, beginning to eat

"Don't be afraid to come get me if you need anything else" he says, heading back up to his room

[trapangeles]

Tap'N with R&B Artist - Nisha J

Can you tell us about your background and how you first got into music?

I grew up around my father and his friends doing music. I remember wanting to be like my dad and do it too. Crazy part is I started off rapping because that’s what he did. Then I transition to singing because in church I would sing in the choir. Singing just felt more like home for me and you can sing about anything and make is sound so remarkable.

Your latest music video for "West Side" has received a lot of attention for its provocative themes. Can you talk about the inspiration behind the video and what you hope viewers take away from it?

Westside video I was actually suppose to use a guy but so many backed out. So I was like I’m gone use a girl. Girls are easier to work with and more fun. Theme actually came from a movie .. well parts of it. I wanted to figure out how can I keep people eyes on the screen and keep them interested. Then all my ideas came together and turned out to be dope af. With voice2hard with the edits he really brung it all together. I want the viewers to take away how dope R&B is still and that I’m here to make a statement and I’m coming with nothing but greatness.

You collaborated with DJ Cheeseburger and Joe Moses on the track "Real Love." What was it like working with them, and how did that collaboration come about?

Working with DJ Cheeseburger is fun because I can be myself around him and he makes everything easy and he don’t try and change what I’m doing. We always meet in the middle with whatever we do. Working with Joe Moses has been enlightening. It’s very educational because he know so much about the game. He always giving me gems and he really rock with me and it’s always a good feeling when you get recognized for your talents. The collaboration came about through Cheeseburger. I had sent him the song and I was like I hear someone else on the song and he was like I got the perfect person and book I get to the studio Joe was there and he was like play the song and he was on it and came out fire.

Your music is often described as a blend of R&B and pop. How would you describe your sound, and who are some of your biggest musical influences?

My sound is a unique sound. It’s a mixture of a lot combined into one. One of my biggest influences has been Mary J Blige I grew up listening to her and I was like I’m going to be just like her. What captivated me to her was her style, her songs, what she would sing about. Of course other influenced me but she’s number 1.

You've released several singles over the past year. Do you have any plans to release a full-length album or EP in the near future?

Yes, I do actually I’m dropping *STILL GOING* APRIL 7th it’s 7 tracks. So excited for it and for people to listen.

Your lyrics often touch on themes of love, relationships, and empowerment. Can you talk about the message you hope to convey through your music?

The message I would love for others to receive is that it’s okay to hurt, love, struggle and be happy. We all going through the same thing and I’m definitely one and if I can sing about and helps anyone get through hardship or celebrate moving forward. I’m thrilled.

You're based in Los Angeles, a city with a rich music scene. How has living and working in LA influenced your music and career?

I have found it challenging doing music in LA because for me it doesn’t feel like it’s a big outlet for R&B and for a female singer. Being from LA I’ve experienced a lot so I always have a lot to talk about in my music.

What's next for Nisha J? Any upcoming projects or collaborations that you're excited about?

What’s next for Nisha J is just to level up. I’m dropping new music, new visuals and projects this year. I’m hoping to collaborate with more artists in the future. Other than that this is a personal journey and I’m just trying make it doing what I love.

[cosmic-waves7]

Hello! I saw that you write for howls moving castle and I was wondering if you could do some hcs with howl and a reader who is a ballet dancer??

Note: Omg that's so pretty, of course, here u go bun. ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ

Also Sophie will be mentioned here but she's only formed a platonic friendships with both you and Howl, also her curse is broken.

Oh he could watch you for ages.

You were abseloutly stunning.

The way you held yourself so delicately with or without your pointe shoes had him entranced. (◠‿◕)

Twirling in a way that made him dizzy and doped up with love.

( ꈍᴗꈍ)

Howl couldn't fanthom how someone can keep such fragile positions for hours on end.

It was one of the things that you could do that pulled amazement and admiration from him.

He simply couldn't get enough of how wonderful you looked when you were dancing you way across the the wooden boards of the castle.

If he could, he'd watch you all day but then your feet would ache and he'd have his magic duties to keep up with unfortunately.

Howl is quite tardy but still knows when he is needed.

乁[ ◕ ᴥ ◕ ]ㄏ

He even comes back with new pointe shoes whenever you start sinking too much into your old ones, you've formed quite a collection. (◕દ◕)

He even magically installed a new closet just for your dancing equipment, from industrial glue for the shoes to little compartments to keep accessories.

Definitely has boasted about your skills before.

He's dramatic, it's expected.

"Can your s/o ballet dance? I think not." (⌐■-■)

He'll flaunt you at every opportunity.

Sometimes he'll take you by the hand to spin you around with him in a dainty but silly dance, his boots thudding against the ground while your toes either rested above his shoes or lightly pressing to the ground.

Whenever you're dancing with Howl there will always be flustering but comforting conversation and even whispered kisses pressed into your skin leaving you flushing bright crimson.

What can I say, he's an ultimate flirt. (ㆁωㆁ)

He knows nothing of ballet, but he'll slip into the motions with you anyway, it's a strange but pleasant rythm you both tend to find.

Even lifts you up into the air by the hips for a move if you'd ask nicely.

Anything for you. ꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡

The rest of the castle love to watch you when you practice although calcifer will desperately deny it when teased by Howl.

"She's beautiful, isn't she?"

"She's alright." ತ_ʖತ

You and Sophie like to pirouette around in the grass of random lands the castle ends up in or in the comfort of each others rooms.

Her hat will always fling off during those times, but she couldn't care less.

You're like a second sister, one she can properly relate to.

You'll catch glimpses of Markle peeking over from hedges and trying to copy your moving only to end up fast on the ground.

Pls help him up and teach him simple positions, he loves bonding and spending time with you, you're family to the little one. ಥ‿ಥ

Even hug him close and dance around aimlessly while he's in your hold, he'll giggle while Howl fondly watches you both. (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

Thinking of a distant future and a dancing happy child that looked a little bit like both you and him.

This Garden himbo is whipped I swear on it. 😌

Once Howl even floated you up along with him into the sky as you both flew over the garden while he caught your hands with his body behind yours and swayed gently in a simple ballet you remember from a long lost past.

A distant tune played that only you two could hear from an invisible music box that his magic fashioned while he softly hummed to into your ears in the tranquility of the clear lakes and blooming flowers.

Always makes sure to massage your sore feet before bed or after shows that help with income or just when he feels like you need it.

Your comfort comes first.

( ´◡‿ゝ◡`)

He's very supportive of your dancing and even likes to go overboard with a lot of flowy stage dresses.

You have to stop him from buying too many, Howl likes pretty things and soon enough you won't have space in your closet for anymore ballet shoes or dresses. ಡ ͜ ʖ ಡ

If there's any performances from the kingdom you ever participate in he'll be sure to sit in the crowd disguised.

You'll never see him until the end of the show but you'll always feel him there.

Doesn't matter where you go, he'll follow.

He's always there, just for you and only for you.

A definite simp and just adores you a lot.

Thinks you're ballet dancing talent is simply extraordinary.

(~￣³￣)~

[nny11writes]

Glitra Sings in the Shower

Okay, SOMEBODY sent me an ask about glitra singing in the shower and I thought I posted that BUT APPRANTLY MAYBE NOT?????

Anyhow I don’t remember who asked because I thought I could search my blog for it and am a fool who forgot my blog is on tumblr.

Anyways.

Here’s your ficlet :)

Catra’s girlfriend is loud. L-O-U-D loud.

She knew this from literally the first day Glimmer lived next to her, and she certainly knew it now that they’d started living together. Glimmer laughed loud enough to get dirty looks when they were out and about, when mad she’d blow up screaming, her voice got hilariously high-pitched and of course loud when frustrated or when she felt touched.

They had ground rules, they’d had to make them when Catra almost murdered her when Glimmer was just sleeping over for a weekend before she knew she needed earplugs.

But over all, her girlfriend was loud and Catra kinda loved that about her.

It was still shocking to realize she’d never been home when Glimmer was taking a shower, an activity that, if you’d asked Catra just five minutes before, she would’ve assumed was pretty quiet. Oh no.

“NO! I HAVEN’T HAD NO DOPE, LIFT UP THAT VELVET ROPE- MR. DOORMAN STOP TEASING, I’M FREEZING OUT HERE!”

Catra stood dumbly in the front door for a moment as she listened, and was promptly accosted by Melog who screamed and clawed at her legs. “Shit dude!”

“SEE I’VE GOT FRIENDS INSIDE- IT’S MY BIRTHDAY TONIGHT. AND I’M NOT WEARING TRAINERS, NOT TO MENTION KNICKERS!”

Catra finally closed the door behind her with her foot, juggling her work bag and her cat who was just upset that he wasn’t allowed in the bathroom to then complain that he wanted to be outside the bathroom. Grinning as she listened to Glimmer just belt out the song of the moment. She’d heard Glimmer sing before, but this wasn’t trying to put on a show for anyone, it was just one woman belting it out in a shower.

“OOOOOOOOh let me in or I’ll get physical with you!”

Catra snickered as she softly sang to herself and Melog, now cradled against her chest, “I just gotta dance right now, it’s critical to do.” Melog wiggled until she dropped him to run around the corner towards the kitchen to mewl at her. “No, you get fed in the morning.” He gave a very opinionated but soft retort as she began unpacking her work bag. She sighed after he went from insistent to pushy before sighing, “You know I don’t fall for that kiddo.” Melog poked his head around the corner to glare at her, then jumped as the bathroom door burst open.

Glimmer, wrapped in her oversized towel and carrying her wireless speaker, didn’t notice either of them as she continued to scream sing along to the music blasting out of such an improbably small device. “SO YOU CAN PLAY KARATE, YOU THICK ILLITERATI? I’M A BLACK BELT IN LIFE, SO GO HOME TO YOUR UGLY WIFE!” She paused to pop a hip out and tap at her chin, looking up towards the ceiling as if she could see something before continuing, “You forgot in your wisdom, the window to the ladies room. A whole new possibility for a cat like me!”

Catra leaned on the wall and smiled as she watched Glimmer start to rock out in the hallway, dancing and shimmying to the bedroom before shutting the door to get dressed.

“Does she always do this?” Catra asked Melog, who darted past her to inspect the bathroom for leftover water monsters. “Wow, thanks, I feel very seen right now buddy.”

The music finally turned down a few notches, although Glimmer continued to sing along. “You are one of them! Bum buh bum ba bump bump bump! Anything but femme! Dun duh hmm hmmm hmhmhm! You got the same sorta specs as the sex of men.”

This time Catra grit her teeth a little, much less enchanted by the song choice but oh well. She was apparently listening to the whole album so eventually they’d reach the ones she really liked. Maybe. And with that she got to work plucking lettuce leaves off their little tabletop garden, managing to just barely keep her commentary to herself for each one that was covered in cat nibbles, for a small salad as she left the oven to preheat. She was feeling a spiritual connection to the frozen pizza tonight but since it was the four meat one Glimmer would complain if there wasn’t veggies for them somewhere.

“I’m the swan that cra-ashed on your law-aw-aw-ah-awn! I’m the boy that’ll heal you, fix you- FUCK!?”

Catra jumped up on top of their counters, for no particular reason, shut up, holding the bowl of lettuce leaves out like a weapon. She stared down at Glimmer who was blushing as she fumbled with her phone to stop the music and hissed. “When the hell did you get out here?”

Glimmer blushed horribly as she stuttered, “When- when did I- when did YOU get here, huh? Playing hooky? Cutting out of work, punk?”

Catra pointedly looked at the clock on the wall, flashing a depressing 7:32 PM. 

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“I got here at a normal time, not my fault you were singing too loud to hear me.” She waited for a moment before smugly asking, “You totally forgot about daylight savings, didn’t you?”

“I plead the fifth. Also get off the counter. Weirdo.” Glimmer bustled over to yank the bowl of greens away and stomped to the fridge to find some dressing.

And a few things finally clicked in her head as she jumped back to the floor. If Glimmer had heard her singing in the shower, Catra would’ve just died or blown up from embarrassment. And she had just caught Glimmer singing in the shower, something she’d never heard Glimmer do before. Glimmer had been hiding her shower singing for…reasons???? Maybe because she, too, was embarrassed by it? Huh.

So Catra carefully walked up to hug her from behind, kissing her shoulder and generally being obnoxiously in the way by being out of the way as she could. “Hey, you should sing more often. It was nice.”

“Don’t tease me about this.” Glimmer grumbled, pretending to look for dressing as if the ranch wasn’t right there at eye level.

“I’m not,” she promised, squeezing her a little more and then kissing behind her ear, “I liked it.”

“Yeah?” Glimmer asked, her voice sounding very small.

“Mm-hmm. You know if I didn’t I’d tell you.”

Glimmer wiggled around until they were face to face, and kissed her. “Yeah. I guess you would. So you liked it, huh?”

It was an opening, she could take it. Catra bumped their foreheads together affectionately instead, “I really, really did.”

Glimmer’s mouth opened and closed a few times, before she kissed Catra again. “God, it is hot when you’re a nice person.”

“Oh fuck you!”

“God, it is hot when you’re a mean person.”

“I hate you.”

“Actually it’s pronounced love, but we can work on that.”

“Great, now will you grab your nasty ranch or are you trying to cool the whole house via fridge power?”

They parted with a laugh as Glimmer went to grab her favorite salad flavor hider and Catra turned to get the oil and vinegar, only to realize that Melog was on the cutting board sloppily eating their lettuce.

She took one threatening step and he bolted for the bedroom, the only reason he made it there was Glimmer’s hand on Catra’s elbow. She fumed silently before huffing. “I’m thinking he’d make a nice scarf or set of ear muffs.”

“Oh please, like I don’t see you regularly drinking from water glasses he stole drinks from.”

“It’s-” Catra blushed, because no one had ever actually called her on that one, “It’s the principle of the matter!”

The salad was pathetically small but the pizza was good.

And the next day when Catra got home, Glimmer was singing in the shower.

[oddaodd]

If you want to, I’d love a fic with reader deciding to go to Margate with Alfie once he tells her he has cancer, she knows it will be much healthier for him to be there so she tells him to finish up all his business in London and they leave. She tries to make each day memorable, she wants him to enjoy whatever he had left so she bakes with him, she reads to him while cuddling on the couch, she takes him on walks around the beach, she dances with him while the music plays on his record player, etc... but of course Alfie is a badass and yes, some days he’s too tired to move or eat but he still gets to live lol because I can’t handle too much angst, I need my fluffy ending :)

· Life In Margate ·

Author’s note: Ahhhh this request was too cute and I’m sorry it took so long, but I really wanted it to be perfect and sweet. I hope you like it and have a lovely day! ❤️

Warnings: bittersweet emotions.

·

The sea breeze hitting her face as the car neared Margate brought an immense feeling of calm she didn’t know she had been needing so badly. With each breath she took she became more and more convinced that deciding to come to Margate with Alfie had been the best idea she had ever had.

During the first few days there, Alfie was worn out and still recovering from being shot. Drug fueled hallucinations and strange pains tormented him for full days during which Y/n never left his side.

She would never tell him, but with each wince that fell from his lips, she felt herself dying a little. She remembered the exact moment she felt a timer being set on her own life when he told her he had cancer and each pain and medication served as a dreadful reminder that the unavoidable was coming. Creeping up on her neck slowly but steadily like a crocodile does on an unsuspecting zebra.

One morning Y/n woke up and felt immediately panicked when she didn’t see Alfie laying in bed.

“Elizabeth?” She called with an anxious voice to one of the maids.

“Where’s my husband?” She asked frightened once the young woman walked into the room in a perfectly collected manner.

“He’s having breakfast, madame” she said politely.

Y/n rushed downstairs “Alf?” She asked softly as she neared the terrace in which a nice table was set with an array of alluring foods in front of Alfie.

“I would have thought that me coming down for breakfast wouldn’t cause you an attack” he said lightly, a soft teasing tone lingering in his gruff voice.

“I  didn’t even hear you get up” she said drawing out a chair and sitting down next to him

“You seemed peaceful sleeping, waking you up seemed sacrilegious”

Y/n chortled a bit before helping herself to some toast and jam, her initial shock of waking up without him next to her, not having dissipated yet. She couldn’t shake off her own nasty voice telling her that it would always be like that some dreadful day.  

Alfie noticed it immediately and went to hold her hand in his.

“Im alright, treacle. Feeling much better today, maybe its all this fresh air”

Y/n smiled weakly and intertwined her fingers with his. “I told you it would do you good”

They finished having breakfast among joyful banter. The sound of Alfie’s voice, that day unburdened by tiredness made Y/n feel joy for the first time in a long time.

That night they basked into each other’s embrace as Y/n read to him on a couch adjacent to an open window. The sea breeze pouring from the window  along Y/n’s soothing voice and occasional caresses made Alfie feel he was in heaven.

“I love everything you bake for me, Alf, but really, you should know by now I’m dangerous in the kitchen” Y/n said when Alfie lead her to the kitchen one Friday evening.

“You just need some patience” he assured “plus it can’t go wrong when you have me here to guide you”

“Alright” she said giving in with a smile “but I refuse to take the blame if this pie turns out awful”

And so Alfie lead her through the whole recipe and when the pie was ready they remained in the kitchen eating it and fooling around till the first rays of sun began teasing the morning sky.

Life in Margate felt like life in an alternate universe. An universe that belonged entirely to Alfie and Y/n, in which the troubles and worries of the outside world couldn’t penetrate.

Between informal dances in the living room and tender kisses in the kitchen, Y/n was fast to ignore the cruelty of the real world.

It wasn’t till one day Alfie was too tired to get out of bed that Y/n was reminded that not even Margate’s magical air could make everything disappear. She stayed in bed with him that day, fed him soup and took care of him as he rested.

It took some days for Alfie to feel better again and when he did Y/n felt she could breathe again. When Alfie suggested talking a walk on the beach Y/n couldn’t help but be a bit worried.

“Are you sure?”

“I can manage a walk down the beach” he said tenderly.

And so they ventured to roam the seashore, which was something that always brought great peace to both of them. When they tired of walking they doped for sitting down to admire the sunset.  Holding hands Y/n let her head rest on Alfie’s shoulder with a soft sigh.

Days and then months flew by and had less and less days where he couldn’t get out of bed. His sick days seemed long gone, but Y/n refused to let herself dwell into that dream. She knew life wasn’t that perfect.

The sound of soft music began flowing through the small parlor one late evening as Y/n stood on the balcony looking at a ship sailing at a distance. Soon after, she felt Alfie’s rough hands take hold of her was it and softly turn her around.

She smiled up at him and threw her arms over his shoulders as he started swaying softly to the tune. Y/n followed along, giggling as she let him spin her around.

“You are a sight for sore eyes” Alfie’s voice rang through her ears causing a soft red tinge to paint her cheeks.

“You don’t look to bad yourself, Mr. Solomons” Y/n smiled in a teasing tone before letting her head rest against Alfie’s chest, which vibrated with a chuckle at her compliment.

“I love you, Alfie” Y/n confessed as she listened to the beating of his heart.

“I love you more, treacle”  

·

@nyotamalfoy @writeroutoftime

[miraclesabound]

Baby, Let’s Go Steppin’ - Kinktober the 8th (Daddy Kink)

Summary: Charli comes up with an excellent idea for her and Max’s couples costume, and of course, Max gets to be the first to see it.

Pairing:  Max Phillips x Charlotte “Charli” Moore (Female Plus Size OC)

Notes/Warnings: Based on “Red Hot Riding Hood” by Tex Avery - Charli is using a wig and contacts to cosplay as Red; she can still be read as any race. Light daddy kink (played more for humor), some roleplay, slight possessiveness on Max’s part. Probably the least kinky thing I’m actually going to write this month.

Now with fan art by the magnificent @miranhas-art! (Note, Mari chose to draw Charli looking like me, a White woman.)

Tag List: @autumnleaves1991-blog, @clydesducktape, @hopeamarsu, @littlemisspascal, @writeforfandoms, @mswarriorbabe80, @princessxkenobi, @thirddeadlysin

Join my tag list here!

Charli had kept her costume for the party a surprise, and the outfit she’d put together for Max didn’t offer much of a hint. It was an old-fashioned tuxedo with tails and a top hat, and he had a gel in his hair that he swore dated from the 1940’s. He could admit it was a dapper effect, especially for having the matching gloves and walking stick, but didn’t all the guys before James Dean dress this way?

“I’m done!” Charli called from the other room. “I’m just setting up the music – and Max, I love you, but if you mess up this outfit, I’ll stake you myself, I worked hard on it!”

Max would object, but he remembered a T-shirt of hers that he’d accidentally mangled a few months back. Instead, he sat down on a chair, curling his fingers under the cushion so he wouldn’t be tempted. “Ok, I’m sitting on my hands!”

He heard a slight crackling noise, and then a trumpet fanfare. A voice like an old radio announcer said, “We now give you our new little sweetheart of swing, that little red-headed ball of fire, RED. HOT. RIDING HOOD!”

“Red Hot Riding Hood?” Max said. “Why does that sound fa–?” The question got swallowed in a gulp when Charli stepped out in a red cloak – and then dropped it to reveal a strapless corseted red leotard. Her hair was tucked under a red wig, and she had put in blue contacts. In a flash, Max remembered a cartoon he hadn’t seen in years – and now he knew exactly who he was supposed to be in this little scenario.

Charli began to sing in a brassy contralto:

“Hey-hey, Daddy,

I want a diamond ring, I want some bracelets and everything,

Daddy – you better get the best for me!”

Max did keep his promise not to touch – but throughout the rest of the song, he turned into a total goon. He whistled, pounded the table, generally made an idiot of himself, and just about fainted when Charli finished the song with a purr in her voice:

“I say, now Father,

I kinda think I’d look awful cute in mink!

Daddy, you gotta get the very best for me!...Oh, DADDY…”

The music stopped, and Max took Charli’s hand, pulling her close to him. “Hey, baby, what do ya say after this you and me go…steppin’?”

Charli’s laugh was haughty, but it was only to go with the part; she truly was delighted that Max was playing along. Doing her best Katharine Hepburn voice, she said, “Oh, you vampires, you wolves, you creatures, you’re all alike, REALLY you are! No, I’m terribly sorry, but you see, I’m expected at a party this evening with my cousin and her husband, really I am.”

Max rolled his eyes. “Ah, forget those dopes, they don’t deserve ya! Fly away with me, baby – I’ll get you the finest jewelry and furs, a great car, fantastic food and wine – what’s your answer to that, babe?”

Charli went off script and kissed Max all over his face. “Well, if Daddy insists.”

Max laughed, but then his face got businesslike. “You…do still actually want to go to the party, right?” he asked. “I’d feel like a jackass if you did all this work and we didn’t go.”

“Oh of course,” Charli said, returning to her normal voice. “I just wanted to see how long we could run with the bit. And please – ” She tipped his chin up to make him look at her. “If you really believe that Rose and Frankie are idiots, keep it to yourself.”

“I don’t – but if you keep calling me Daddy, I’ll believe anything you want me to believe.”

“Well then, Daddy – I do believe we need to be on our way.” Charli kissed Max hard, and then he helped her into her cloak and they got going.  And if Max was a little more possessive in how he held his large, gorgeous Red the rest of the evening at the Morales house – who would blame him?

[thebountyfucker]

The Two Princes - Royal AU

NSFW - 18+ ONLY

Embo x F!Reader x Cad Bane

Tags: sex party, public sex, double penetration, threesome, blowjob, handjob, overstimulation, maybe ooc but this is an AU so I don't care lol

CW: mentions of drugs, prostitution, power imbalance (the reader is a hired attendant, and both Embo and Cad are princes. Reader is not a part of either of their domains, so they have no control over her. However, I did want to include it just in case)

Here's a link to my masterpost and to the application for my taglist!

“So explain to me again what is going on?”

“There’s nothing else to say.” Your boss replied as he sorted through his collection of datapads, his fingers flicking through the stack until he found the right one. He pulled it out and thrust it in your direction. “Ya gotta sign it.”

“Sign… what?” You took the datapad into your hands and powered it on. A file appeared, one that was rather lengthy and full of legal words that you couldn’t, for the life of you, understand. You parsed through the paragraphs of Aurebesh, before pausing and glancing up. “Is this an NDA?”

“Yep.” Your boss was quick to reply, turning his stout body from you to search around his office for something else. You uneasily returned your attention to the swirling legalese, and faltered. Your boss noticed your hesitancy, and sighed. “I can tell you this - it’s the royal folk. One of them is planning some shindig, and needs you and the girls to help take care of them.”

“Is it… safe?”

“You tell me. You know them royal folk better than I do.”

You wouldn’t exactly say you knew them; one one-night stand with Prince Cad hardly seemed to count, in your opinion. Though, if this party was hosted by a royal, there was a good chance that you’d get to see him again. He’d protect you if things went wrong, right? You stared down at the datapad, and your boss huffed impatiently.

“Look, sign it or don’t. I need to know who to staff now. They aren’t the patient type.”

“Alright, alright.” You scribbled your signature down on the line and your boss snatched the datapad from your hand. He tossed it aside and waddled around from the other side of the desk, gesturing with two fingers for you to follow him.

“You and the others will caravan to The Veil, where you’ll meet the employer. Remember, none of what happens tonight can be talked about, or we’ll be sued to shit. You understand?” You nodded again at this, the uneasy sensation rising in your stomach once more. Your boss glanced over his shoulder at you, and scoffed. “They ain’t gonna eat you! Relax!”

“Easy for you, perhaps.” You muttered under your breath as you both slipped into the meeting room. About fifteen young women - your coworkers - were waiting in the room. Most seemed just as confused as you were.

“The employer has everything you’ll need. Don’t let them talk you into doing anything that isn’t in your job description, okay? You’re attendants, not whores.” Your boss drawled as he crossed his arms over his chest. The last line, specifically, caught your attention. You’re attendants, not whores. What about this job warranted that comment? He had to know more than he was letting on, and this bothered you. You supposed he, likely, had to sign a similar NDA, but at the same time, you hated going into jobs blind. Things were more likely to go wrong this way… and the royals weren’t the type you wanted to disappoint. “Get your asses moving. He’s waiting on you.”

-

The Veil was unlike anything you had ever seen before - it was a meeting hall affiliated with Azvergin Hotel - a high-end joint for billionaires and royals alike. This meeting hall was just as high-class, with high ceilings and sculpted arches and hand-carved crown moulding. Columns lined the grand hall, holding the heavy mosaic ceilings from toppling to the floor. Famous artwork was displayed along the walls. You were so caught in how awe-inspiring this hall was, you hardly noticed the room was empty. There were no tables or chairs to be seen - something you expected for a function fit for royalty.

“This way.” The grounds-keeper spoke, pulling your attention from the details of the room; it was then that you finally noticed how quiet everything was. You turned towards the groundskeeper, watching as they turned down a long hallway. You jogged after them, your coworkers following closely behind.

“Where is everything?” You asked, and the groundskeeper glanced over their shoulder at you.

“Downstairs.”

“Right…”

They turned to the left and knocked on a door; a small peephole opened, and someone from within called out.

“Who are these ladies?”

“Attendants.” The groundskeeper explained. “The prince sent for them.”

The peephole closed, and the door opened instead. The guard gestured for you to enter, which you did; you slowly descended down the flight of stairs, noting that the lighting had dimmed and that low, sultry music was playing over hidden speakers. You turned to look at your girls, the pieces of this puzzle slowly forming in your head; it wasn’t until the door opened that things finally started making sense.

The room was much smaller than the grand hall above, without the frills and displays of wealth. It was hard to tell what colors the walls and floors were, given how dark the room was compared to the hall above. Plush chairs, chaises, and even beds were dotted around the room. Men and women were already wandering around, dressed in lingerie or kink apparel. They glanced at you and your party, but didn’t say anything.

Against the wall closest to the entrance of the room was a table covered in sex toys, condoms, lube, and little flags of various colors.

You understood the NDA now; this was not your typical job. No… this was a sex party. You had been hired, by one of the royals, to attend to them while they’re likely doing dope and fucking the brains out of prostitutes. Great. This would be fun.

A door to the left of the room opened up, and out stepped Prince Embo, the tall, broad chested Kyuzan prince. He wore a loosely tied satin robe, which exposed his defined chest; tattooed across his exposed skin were dark green, blocky symbols. You could make out the facsimile of a sun printed along his collarbone, though no other shapes made sense to you. Your gaze trailed down his chest and abdomen, before noting the loose tie which held his robe shut. You wondered if he was wearing anything underneath it…

Embo cleared his throat, and you startled, your gaze ripped from the knot of his closure. Your gaze flicked up to his face, before you remember that he was royalty and some royals found eye contact with subordinates to be threatening; you briefly met his gaze, noting the amusement in his face, before you cast your gaze to the floor.

“What is this?” He inquired, looking you all over; he waded through the crowd, looking over each and every one of you personally. His hand ghosted across the back of your neck, sending shivers straight down your spine. “My attendants, yes? Come. I have uniforms for you.”

You tentatively followed him into the room he had just exited from. He started rifling through a box, paying no mind as the sixteen of you gathered around you.

“What will be our role here tonight, your majesty?”

“Attendants. As is your job title.” He answered bluntly as he pulled out enough uniforms and set them aside. “You do not have to do what you are not trained for. Just offer drinks and take care of my guests.”

“I… well… okay.” You nodded as you grabbed one of the dresses - they were short, but not too revealing. Guests would definitely be able to tell the difference between you and the entertainment, even in the dim light. You held it up to you, noting that the prince was watching you. His gaze held interest, but no ill intent; you weren’t sure why, but your stomach somersaulted and your heart skipped a beat.

“Is that a problem, miss?”

“No, your majesty.” You replied, and he stood to his full height, towering over you in a way not many others could. This, embarrassingly, sent spikes of pleasure to your cunt. If he was this tall, you knew he had a huge cock to match.

“Good. My guests shall be arriving any time now. Do not keep us waiting too long.”

He ducked out of the room, giving you ample room and privacy to change. You slipped out of your work uniform and pulled on the given dress; it was red in color, and made of silk. It clung to your body, accentuating your curves; there was something about this dress that made you feel so pretty. Most other uniforms you were given were unflattering at best and purposely ugly at the best. You appreciated the prince’s good tastes.

The others gossiped about the situation you all were in as you pulled on your shoes. You weren’t much for gossip usually, but you understood how odd this situation was.

“So the rumors of the Prince are true!”

“Who knew that a royal could have such a ravenous appetite!”

“Of course he would! Those types always get what they want.”

You chuckled as your mind wandered to your night with Cad. They weren’t entirely wrong; royals were just as fickle and just as horny as everyone else. But you couldn’t imagine Cad throwing such a party. Hell, you couldn’t even imagine him attending such a circus! Prince Embo surely was something else...

You made sure your shoes were on tightly, and slipped out the door. You wanted to get a feel for the place before the chaos began. You took note of the supplies on the table near the door, and of the bar you had somehow missed. So far, there was nothing illegal, but you weren’t certain it would stay that way.

The main floor was still only populated by prostitutes at this point, despite the Prince’s warning that guests would soon be arriving. Some were fixing their hair or make-up, and some were chatting it up with anyone around. Missing, however, was the Prince. You tried to find his towering frame in the crowd, but that was easier said than done.

A hand slid across your back to your shoulders, and you jumped in surprise. You turned, noting Prince Embo staring back at you. You lowered your gaze respectfully, and he responded by wheeling you around to face him, and gripping your chin in his free hand.

“I think I would like for you to be my personal attendant tonight.” He purred, tipping your head back so he could look at you better. His glowing gold eyes searched your soul, and you couldn’t help but bite your lip in response. “Pretty thing. It is too bad you are not one of my entertainers tonight.”

His presence was engulfing, and your heart skipped a beat. His thumb brushed over your lips, and you had to stop yourself from parting your lips and accepting it into your mouth. Mindlessly, you edged closer, and the hand on your shoulder slid downward….

“Well, I’ll be damned.” A familiar voice drawled and you winced; of all the people that could have walked through the door at this time, it had to be Cad. The only royal who actively had a past with you, and the one you figured wouldn’t dare be seen at such a function. You turned away from Embo’s grasp, glancing over at an amused Cad. “Didn’t expect t’ see ya here.”

“I only hire the best.” Embo explained, sauntering over to his chair, which overlooked the rest of the room.

“Yeah. De best.” Cad smirked. There was no malice in his tone; rather, you figured this was his attempt at teasing. “Dat’s de one dat spilled wine all over yer mother’s dress."

Blood rushed to your face, and you were thankful that the lights are so dim; you had just barely forgotten about that whole mess, and now Cad had to bring it back up - to the Queen’s own son, nonetheless! You wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole and die.

Your self-pitying was cut short by a loud laugh from Embo; at first, you were glad that he wasn’t upset by this information. But then, you realized that he was likely laughing at you. Your mood soured, and you crossed your arms over your chest in a pout.

“So that was you? Oh, my mother raved about you for days after that.” Embo leaned back on his little throne, spreading out like he owned the place. Maybe he did.

“I… what?” You dropped your arms, confused.

“You gave her an excuse to change out of that gods-awful dress my father bought her. She wanted to hire you to ruin whatever gifts he gave her, but we had to talk her out of it.”

“Shouldn’t have.” Cad chuckled. “It would be the best job she’d ever have in her miserable little peasant life.”

“Hey now.” You frowned. “We talked about this.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know.” Cad waved you off as he drew closer. “You wouldn’t happen t’ be available tonight?”

“She is an attendant, Cad. And mine for the night.”

“Figures. You always bag de good ones.” Cad shook his head as he stood; he looked you up and down with a licentious smirk. “I’ll see you ‘round, den.”

“Of course.”

You watched Cad retreat to settle in a nearby chair. One of the prostitutes - a handsome man - approached, sitting on the arm of the chair. Well… at least Cad was there in case things got out of hand.

Embo called to you, and you turned toward him; he gestured with his two fingers, watching with an intensity as you approached. You bowed your head when you reached the foot of his chair, and he tsked.

“None of that.” He told you. “There is no need for pleasantries here. Now… fetch me a drink.”

-

You had never been around so much sex in your entire life. Everywhere you turned, there was someone giving someone else head, or someone riding someone else’s dick. The room was filled with the sounds of skin against skin, of gagging, of slicked up cunts… and the moans… oh the moans!

You edged around one of the beds -where a princess was getting gangbanged by a group of various alien men- carrying the tray of goodies to your prince. Embo was leaned back in his chair, looking surprisingly bored even as two ladies fondled his cock. You leaned down to hand him his drink, which he accepted with a grunt.

“You don’t seem to be enjoying this, my Prince.”

He just shrugged nonchalantly as he sipped at his drink. “I am not feeling particularly inspired.”

With a wave of the hand, he dismissed the two ladies, and closed his robe up. You set your tray down and knelt before him. He carded a hand through your hair, muttering something in his mother tongue. “Is there anything I can do to make this a better experience?”

He glanced over at you, his gaze lazily trailing down your form; something - which you figured was lust- sparked in his golden eyes, but he was not quick to act on his feelings. He gestured with his free hand, and you offered him some sort of smokable, which you figured was not smart given his need for a breathing mask. He lit it and slumped back in his chair.

“No. Stay your course, kamour.”

“Are you sure, my Prince? I… am offering to help you. You hired me to help, right?” You inquired, reaching out to touch his hand. He glanced over at you, and you wondered how much convincing it would take him before he realized you were serious. Not much, it turned out.

“I am no monster. Say the word and I will let you go.”

“Of course.” You settled between his parted legs, your soft hands slowly sliding up his naked thighs. What was it your boss said? Oh, that you were attendants and not whores. Well, what he didn’t know wouldn’t kill him.

Your hands swept under his satin robe, parting it open to reveal his large cock. You wrapped your hand around the base of it, and slowly worked your way up his length. He was already hard from the ministrations of the prostitutes, the head of his cock flushed a deep and needy green. You leaned forward, gathering spit in your mouth before drooling it out onto his cock; you locked gazes with him as you spread your saliva down and around his shaft.

“Now, dat ain’t fair.” Cad’s voice startled you from your task, and you turned to spy him sitting on the arm of an unused chair. He was completely naked, with his arms crossed over his chest. “You said she was an attendant.”

“I did not lie. She is attending.” Embo put his mask back into place, and ran his hand through your hair. “She is doing her duty.”

“Yeah, well, I want in on dis.”

“That is up to her.”

You hardly even had to think - you reached for Cad, wrapping your hand around his slick, hard cock. You gave him a pump, and Cad hissed through gritted teeth in response. You gestured for him to move closer, and he did; the princes met gazes but said nothing to each other as you reached the other hand out to stroke Embo’s cock.

You stroked them both at the same time, reveling in the hisses and grunts trickling from their mouths. The way their cocks pulsed in your hands was enough to make your pussy tingle, and arousal slowly built within you. There was something depraved about this - about a lowly attendant pleasuring two powerful princes in the midst of a sex party - but the depravity only added to your pleasure. You could hardly stop yourself from grinding your needy cunt against the heel of your own foot.

“Enough of dis pussy-footin’. Are ya gonna suck me off or what?” Cad drawled, as impatient as ever; you quirked a brow as you leaned forward to give him a long, wet lick. He growled in response, his hands threading in your hair. ���Come on, doll… don’t be teasin’ me now.”

“You forget that you weren’t the first man I was pleasing.” You replied, your voice wavering. You weren’t sure it was a good idea to talk back to him, especially in this position. Though, you supposed, you held the power when you held his cock. Any wayward comment and you were in a prime position to bite him. You figured he wouldn’t risk it.

Cad scoffed and you leaned away to wrap your lips around the head of Embo’s cock. He chuckled and leaned back.

“She is not lying.”

“You shut up.” Cad muttered as he pressed a hand to the back of your head, almost as if he was trying to guide you. You rolled your eyes but didn’t protest.

It went like this for a while - you’d take one into your mouth, bobbing and sucking like a good little whore, before pulling away to take the other one. You felt oddly powerful knowing you had the ability to bring these two princes to their knees with only a touch. You reveled in this power for as long as you could before Embo lifted you up and sat you on his lap. He pulled you close to his chest, purring.

“I am going in you.” He told you, giving you ample time to back out of it. When you didn’t protest, he lifted you as though you weighed nothing, and turned you to face Cad. He guided you onto his cock, and you winced as the head slipped into your drooling cunt. You hadn’t realized that he was quite this large. He gripped your hips, controlling how slowly you eased down onto him so you didn’t hurt yourself.

Cad waited until you were ready before offering his cock to your mouth once more. You parted your lips, your eyes half-lidded and darkened with lust, and he chuckled.

“Are ya cock-dumb already, doll?” He reached out to tangle his hand in your hair. “Are our cocks just dat good?”

You nodded in response to this, greedily latching around his cock and sucking hard. He let out a hiss and tugged at your hair, spurning you to start bobbing up and down his length. At the same time, you had fully engulfed Embo, sheathing his cock deep within you. Your whine was lost amongst the sloppy slurps of Cad’s cock easing in and out of your wet mouth.

Embo slowly, gingerly, eased in and out of you, taking care not to hurt you in the process. Every time he pulled his cock half out of you, you took Cad’s cock to the hilt with a gag. Every time Embo bottomed out within you, you pulled away to breathe. It was tough to find the right rhythm at first, but when you did, the pleasure was all-encompassing. Your head was spinning, arousal burning deep within the well of your stomach; your eyes rolled back and your hands went to your breasts, squeezing so tightly you were sure they’d bruise.

“Think she could take us both in there?” Cad asked, and your mind wandered at the prospect. You imagined the sensation of their cocks filling up your cunt, stretching you out in a way you’ve never felt before. The idea was fascinating, and a bit frightening. You didn’t realize that you were drooling around Cad’s cock until your spit splattered on your thigh.

Embo leaned you back against his chest, a finger probing at your cock-stuffed pussy. He slipped it inside, and your eyes went wide; Cad’s cock slipped from your mouth as the air vacated your lungs. You quivered against Embo, a pathetic little whimper escaping your lips.

“No… not unless you intend to split her in half.”

“Shame.” Cad shook his head; he pondered for a minute, before tipping your chin up. “Stay here. I’ll be back.”

As if you had other plans. Embo rested his head against you shoulder, purring softly. “I would like to see your pretty face, kamour.”

“Alright.” You turned around, facing the prince; you couldn’t tell for sure, but you guessed he was smiling behind that mask of his. His large hand cupped your cheek, and you leaned into his warmth.

“Beautiful.” He slowly rocked his hips up into you again, and you whimpered. “A beautiful, sex drunk whore. You like my cock, hm?”

“Yes.” You breathed, matching his thrusts by rolling your hips; his finger slipped out of your cunt, and instead stroked your swollen, trembling clit. A fire built in your stomach, and your vision went blurry. Your orgasm was within reach! You gasped out his name, your voice strained yet velveteen. Embo’s eyes brightened at this, and he reached up to wrap a steady hand around your neck.

“Say it again. Say my name again.” He commanded, his voice husky with his own desire. You whimpered.

“Embo….”

“Again!” He rubbed at your clit faster, slamming up into you with a ferocity you had never felt before. You could hardly find the strength within you, but you couldn’t displease him.

“Embo!” You cried out, your entire body quivering as the fire of orgasm consumed you. Your head danced in the clouds as your body went limp and useless against him. He held you close, his hands dancing over your form.

“Shit, did I miss out on all de fun?”

You lifted your head and glanced over your shoulder to spy Cad with his hands on his hips. You shook your head, your tongue weighing like lead in your mouth. You gestured for him to draw closer, which he did, and you gave his now condom-clad cock a stroke.

“I do think she can take more.” Embo hummed, his hand rubbing at your thigh. You nodded in agreement at this, and Cad leaned down to nip at your neck.

“Good. Do you still want to take de both of us?”

“Yes!” You chirped, and Cad chuckled.

“So eager.” Cad maneuvered you into Embo’s chest, giving him better access to your ass. Cad lubed you up with a bottle he had grabbed from somewhere, and gently eased into you. A strangled cry escaped from somewhere within you as Cad brushed against the thin, sensitive wall separating his cock from Embo’s. You could hardly keep yourself upright, the sensations quickly overwhelming you; Embo had to keep you from falling completely limp onto his chest.

“Easy now. This is not too much for you, is it?”

You shook your head at this. “N-no.”

“‘Course it ain’t.” Cad yanked on your hair, pulling your head back enough so you could look him in the eyes. He smirked, and then sheathed himself within you. You let out a cry, and his smirk deepened into a depraved smile. “Yer a good lil’ doll. You can handle us.”

“Yes! Yes!” You whined in agreement as they both slowly rocked into you. Every inch of you was set ablaze as they took turns massaging that oh-so-sensitive wall. Cad released your hair, his hand instead sliding down to roll your nipple between two of his fingers. His other hand gripped at your hip, keeping you steady. Embo’s hand returned to your clit, pinching and rolling the overstimulated bud around until you were panting and pleading for release. Your admissions only made them hasten their paces, and soon, they were both slamming into you. Your head lolled back on your useless neck, resting squarely on Cad’s chest; your legs quivered and jerked as you chased after your second orgasm. Hands wandered, acquainting themselves with every aspect of your body; this only added fuel to the fire which threatened to consume you once more.

With only a few more thrusts, you came undone. Your vision went white as you rode waves of pure bliss, only faintly aware of how erratic their paces had become. It wasn’t until Cad lurched forward and bit you that you were pulled from your euphoria.

His fangs pierced your skin, surely drawing blood; his orgasm, contained by the condom, manifested in quick, jerky motions up into you. Slowly, he eased out of you, lapping up any blood that had trickled from the wound.

Embo found his pleasure not long after that, shooting his cum deep within you; the searing heat of his seed was unexpected, but wasn’t unpleasant. You were almost certain that if he hadn’t been wearing his mask, he probably would have bit you too. He, unlike Cad, didn’t ease out of you. He let you decide what it was you wanted to do, even if it meant keeping his soft cock in you until he hardened up again. You did, however, ease off of him to sit on his lap.

“Dat was good, doll. I might need t’ keep ya around.”

“Yes, well, you may have competition.” He leaned toward you, humming. “Though, I suppose it would be your choice.”

“Who says I have to choose?” You managed, your voice sultry. They cast glances at each other, and Cad shrugged.

“‘Spose that could work.”

Taglist!: @sat-nam-saint @that-clone-wars-girl

You leaned back into the warm chest of one of your Princes. Huh. You liked the sound of that. Who would have thought that someone like you could pull two Princes!

-

[daveeddiggsit]

No Return

Note: so this is not a new fic. i actually posted it back in 2017 (but deleted all my smut from this blog about a year afterwards haha we love being impulsive). but i’m over myself now, so i’m reposting! a lot of you have been asking about it, so... here you go. posted for all of y’all to enjoy again.

Word Count: 4.7k

Pairing: Daveed Diggs x Reader

Warnings: smut. cursing.

Summary: Diggs loses a bet which results in him owing you a lap dance.

Parties at Rafa’s place were always the best; the drinks were great, the music was amazing, the atmosphere was never dull, but the best part about them were the incredible people that made up each one; you were never bored. There was always something to do whether you were talking to people, dancing, playing drinking games, or just drinking in general. And that’s why whenever you were told that there was going to be a party at Rafael Casal’s apartment, you never turned it down...even if you ended up showing up late.

“Well, look at who finally decided to show up.” You heard a familiar voice say as you walked through the door to Rafa’s place. Daveed grinned widely at you before he slid an arm around your shoulders, pulling you close to him as you walked deeper into the apartment. “My favorite!”

Daveed was one of your closest friends and if you were being honest, it would have been a lie if you said you didn’t want him to become something more than that. The two of you often flirted and were constantly together (these occurrences happened so often that there were many times people believed you were dating), but neither of you had made a real move. You knew how you felt toward him, and he was giving you signs that he felt the same way, but no true actions were made by either party. So that’s why it stayed the way it was between you two: just close friends who often flirted with each other.

“Aw, I’m your favorite?” You asked, raising your voice so he could hear you over the loud music that was pumping through Rafa’s speakers.

“Uh, yeah,” he stated as if it was obvious, “but don’t tell anyone else. It’s a secret between you and me.” He whispered in your ear as you entered the kitchen.

Yeah, he had definitely downed a few drinks before you got here.

“Diggs, I’m pretty sure everyone heard you when you shouted it.” You laughed as you plucked the cup half-full of alcohol from his grasp, draining it of its contents. He pouted at you once you handed him back an empty cup.

“Y/N, hey! It’s been forever since I’ve seen you!” Adrienne said from beside Rafa who was pouring out a few drinks.

“Hey!” You pulled away from Daveed’s grasp to give her a hug. She’d been away in Canada for the last few weeks shooting for a new project she was working on. “I’ve missed you! Why’d you have to leave me alone to deal with these boys for so long?”

Adrienne laughed while Rafael furrowed his eyebrows.

“Oh, so you didn’t miss me? I see how it is, Y/N, I see how it is.” He feigned hurt, before pushing a couple of newly filled cups towards you and Daveed.

You rolled your eyes at him. “We had lunch a few days ago, Cash, it hasn’t been that long since I’ve seen you.”

“But so much has changed since then.”

You chuckled before taking a sip. “Like what? Did you finally finish that song you’ve been working on?”

“No.” Rafael replied before he smiled at Adrienne beside him. “Unlike Diggs, I am no longer a single and lonely Bay Boy.”

Daveed’s eyebrows furrowed as he cocked his head. “Yo, who said I was lone—?”

“You guys are finally together? Oh my god, congrats!” You cut in with widened eyes.

They both grinned at each other before Rafa leaned down to kiss her forehead.

“Aww,” you gushed, “you two are couple goals already.”

A few seconds passed before you felt Daveed’s arm drape around your shoulders again.

“You know, we could be couple goals too.” He said, looking down at you with a smirk.

You rolled your eyes, pushing him away. “Ha, you wish, Diggs.”

You laughed it off because you knew he was too tipsy to be serious. He always flirted with you like this, but why did this time feel so different?

A few drinks later, you were beginning to feel the familiar light-hearted, buzzing feeling course throughout your body, giving you a boost of energy. You had drifted away from Daveed and Rafa to roam through the house and catch up with people you hadn’t seen since your Hamilton days. You were talking with Adrienne and Ari when you heard your name being called from behind you.

“Aye, Y/L/N!”

You turned your head to see Daveed standing next to a table a few feet away. 

“Diggs!” You responded in the same playful tone.

He grinned at you before waving you over. “Come play Flip Cup with me.”

“Really?” You quirked an eyebrow. “You lose every time you play against me, D.”

“I’m feeling confident today. I’ve been practicing.”

You tried not to laugh as you rose from your seat and approached him. “Practicing?”

“Bruh,” Rafa snickered at his friend from the other end of the table. “You played a few games before this and won two in a row. That ain’t practicing.”

You let a smug grin show up on your face as you glanced back up at your best friend. “Daveed, I am the queen of Flip Cup, okay? You can’t beat me. Nobody ever has, and nobody ever will. That’s a fact.”

“I’m pretty sure I can beat you today, Y/N.” He said bluntly. Wow, he was forward when he was drunk. “I have a good feeling about this.”

“Ha,” you huffed out a laugh, “wanna bet?"

“What do you propose, oh mighty Queen of Flip Cup?”

You thought for a second. What was something you knew would make him think twice about challenging you? Something that would make him step down from this newfound cockiness he embodied.

When the idea formed in your head, you sent him a sly grin. “Winner gets a lap dance from the loser.”

You distinctly remembered an earlier conversation with him where he stated that he couldn’t dance. You knew it was untrue due to the times you’d seen him dance at the club or during some of the numbers in Hamilton, but you also knew that the wager wasn’t something he’d necessarily jump on (despite the confidence boost the alcohol had supplied him).

Rafa led the mini crowd that had formed around you in a chorus of “ooo”s.

“Deal.”

You looked up at Daveed in surprise. You hadn’t expected him to agree to the terms so easily.

“Diggs, that means if you lose— sorry, when you lose, you have to give me a lap dance.”

“I know.” He said seriously.

“And you’re good with that?”

“If it happens, which it won’t because I’m gonna win, then yes.” He stated, his mouth forming into a confident smile. “I’m good with that.”

Fine, he wanted a challenge? You were going to give him one.

“Alright, then.” You said, narrowing your eyes at him. “Game on."

⋆﹥━━━━━━━   ♛   ━━━━━━━﹤⋆

Daveed lost. Badly.

So badly, in fact, that you actually felt bad for him. So you tweaked it so it was the best out of five games...and even then, he still lost.

Oh well, it’s not like you didn’t warn him.

When the third game ended and Daveed realized his defeat, he threw his head back and groaned.

“Aww, don’t be such a sore loser. You lost fair and square, Diggs. ” You teased with a smile, wrapping your arms around his torso to hug him from behind. “I warned you. I told you I was the queen of Flip Cup, but you didn’t listen.”

“Those cups were rigged, Y/N.” He stated, turning around in your grasp so he could hug you back.

You laughed, rolling your eyes. “Say whatever you want to make yourself feel better. Nothing’s gonna change the fact that you owe me a lap dance.”

He was quiet for a moment before he murmured something. “You know I can’t dance, right?”

“First of all, yes you can. And secondly, lap dances are different, Diggs.”

“No, they’re not.”

“Yes they are. And if you don’t think they’re different, you dance at parties all the fucking time. You should be able to handle an easy lap dance.”

He lifted his head back up from your shoulder to look down at you. “But Y/N...”

You let out a laugh before you patted his cheek lightly. “You dug yourself into this hole, loser. Guess you’re just gonna have to figure it out because you’re not getting out of this one.”

⋆﹥━━━━━━━   ♛   ━━━━━━━﹤⋆

The next day you woke up to someone knocking on your door. In sweats and an old t-shirt, you made your way over to unlock it, squinting your eyes to adjust to the bright light. The slight hangover you had wasn’t really helping you get out of your groggy state.

“Daveed?” You asked, realizing who your visitor was once your vision adjusted. “What are you doing here so early?”

He was dressed in a yellow Oaklandish tank top that showed off his toned arms/shoulders and dark blue jeans with a brown belt buckled just enough to let them sit loosely on his hips. You also noticed that he decided to rock his glasses today.

You snapped your eyes up to his and away from his figure that left you breathless. You totally had not just checked him out.

“If your definition of early is 2 o’clock in the afternoon, I think you may need to reevaluate some things and consider fixing that sleep schedule of yours.” He replied with his lips turning up into an amused grin.

“Shut up, I had a late night last night.” You mumbled, turning around to walk away, leaving the door open so he could let himself into your apartment. “And you did too. I’m surprised you’re not asleep right now.” You glanced back at him to see him shrug.

“I had to meet Bill and Jon at the studio at 10. I’ve been up since, like, 9:30.”

“Damn, Diggs, you’re gonna have to teach me your ways.”

“Caffeine.” He chuckled, putting on his signature grin. “It works miracles.”

You returned the smile, before sending him a curious look. “So, why are you here? Not that I mind or anything, it’s good to see you, but you haven’t been over in like a month and a half.”

“Exactly! It’s been awhile since we’ve hung out alone, so I thought it’d be dope if we chilled and watched movies or something.” He replied before he went to ramble on. “I mean— only if you want to. If you’re really tired, I can leave so you can get some more sl—”

“No, no, it’s fine! That sounds great.” You cut him off and placed a hand on one of his toned arms to reassure him. 

“You sure?”

“Yeah!” You responded. “Just let me take a quick shower and we can start in like 20ish minutes.”

“A 20 minute shower counts as a quick shower?” He questioned with a teasing look.

“Yes,” you said, “or would you rather it be 45ish minutes?”

“20ish minutes is good. Have fun with your quick shower. Though, I think it would be more fun if I joined.” A tiny but noticeable smirk made its way onto Daveed’s face.

You laughed when he sent you a playful wink, dropping your hand from his arm to walk towards your room. “You wish, Daveed Diggs.”

“You have no idea.” He mumbled under his breath (inaudible to your ears) before he let his eyes follow your retreating figure.

“Maybe you could set up the movie in the meantime? It’s your turn to choose. The remote’s on the coffee table and you know where the popcorn and shit is in the kitchen. I’ll be out soon. If you need anything, yell.” You said before closing the door to your room.

Daveed sent a thumbs up in your direction even though he knew you couldn’t see it before he made his way to your living room.

Little did you know, Daveed had something else planned.

⋆﹥━━━━━━━   ♛   ━━━━━━━﹤⋆

When you emerged from your shower, you quickly dried yourself and combed through your now damp hair. After that, you exited your room and entered your living room to see that it was completely dark. Confused, you surveyed the room to look for your best friend, but there was no sign of him at all.

Did he leave? If he did, he didn’t text you or anything to let you know.

“D?” You called out, walking further into the room.

With each step you took, the more you realized how this seemed like a scene from a horror film. You weren’t a fan of them, but a few months back Daveed and Rafael had pretty much forced you to have a scary movie marathon with them.

“Daveed Diggs, I swear to God. If you’re trying to scare me right now, I will—”

You squeaked when a pair of arms snaked their way around your waist from behind. Daveed’s voice had come seemingly from out of nowhere. “You’ll what?”

“Kick your ass.” You glared at him, quickly turning around to push him away. “What the hell is wrong with you?!”

He laughed, smiling brightly. “I’m sorry, Y/N.”

“No, you’re not.” You grumbled, moving to sit on your couch. Daveed followed you.

“You right. It was so worth it.” He grinned at you, causing you to roll your eyes at him. You tried to stay mad at him, but it was damn near impossible when he was looking at you like that.

“We’re not friends anymore.” You stated, crossing your arms.

“What, why?” He asked, his grin dropping into a pout.

“You were mean to me, Diggs! How dare you scare me in my own home!” You were laughing internally.

“Okay, fine. I’m sorry for real this time. What can I do to make it up to you?”

When he asked, you contemplated it for a few moments before you looked up at him with a smirk.

“What?” He asked.

“Well, you still owe me that lap dance…”

He groaned, closing his eyes and letting his head fall back on the couch. “I thought you forgot about that.”

“Nope.” You said, your smirk forming into a smug grin. You had the upper hand now. “How could I forget you losing a bet against me, resulting in a lap dance from the great Daveed Diggs himself?”

After a couple of seconds, he sighed, opening his eyes and tilting his face towards you. “If I do this now, will I win back your friendship?”

“I’ll think about it.” You said, causing him to give you a deadpanned look. You laughed before you spoke again. “Yeah, I guess we could be friends again. But it has to be good.”

Daveed sighed again before he straightened himself up. “I don’t even know how to give a good lap dance, Y/N.”

“Improvise. C’mon, D, you’re great at improv. Treat it like you treat a freestyle. Just go with the flow.” You smiled widely at him.

“Fine.” He said, getting up from his spot next to you. “But I’m only pulling through with this because I like you.”

“Aww, you like me?” You asked teasingly to mask the actual feeling that was coursing through you. You continued to grin at him as he pulled out his phone to scroll through his music library. When he finally settled on a song by The Weeknd, he turned to you once he pressed play.

“Do I start now?”

“Yes,” you laughed. “C’mon, you know how a lap dance works. You’re not a novice when it comes to these things, stop fucking around.”

You could see him smile and rub his arm before he looked away for a second. When he started to slowly sway to the beat of the song, it was extremely hard for you to stifle your laugh. Your best friend was about to give you a lap dance and you could not take him seriously.

He continued to dance to the beat for a bit as he stared you down with a smirk. He was doing this shit on purpose. He was joking around until you couldn’t contain your laughter any longer.

“Diggs, I can’t take you seriously like this. I can—” You wheezed. “I just can’t.”

Your laughter and the slow, sexy beats of the music were the only audible things in your apartment until Daveed spoke again. 

“Are you ready for me, Y/N?” His smooth, low voice washed over you.

You let out yet another giggle. “Don’t make it sound so sexual.”

“It's supposed to sound sexual, Y/N, it’s a fucking lap dance.” He chuckled, now standing directly in front of you.

“Alright, show me what you got, Bay Boy.”

You continued to laugh at him as you watched him, but the moment he straddled your lap, you stopped. His arms were on each side of your head, using the couch to steady himself over you as his hips began to slowly grind against you. That’s when the atmosphere in the room completely changed.

Your eyes widened slightly when you saw him bite his bottom lip in concentration. When you envisioned Daveed giving you a lap dance the night prior, you didn’t think it would be like this...it was flustering you more than you thought it would. Before you knew it, you were struggling to control your movements. Your fists were clenching and unclenching as you so desperately tried to keep them anchored to your sides.

As if he had read your mind, Daveed murmured, “You can touch me, Y/N. Don’t be afraid.”

If you weren’t turned on before, you definitely were now. His gravelly voice paired with his hot breath right next to your ear caused you to shiver, making goosebumps appear across your entire body.

Then, you finally let your hands wander. They traveled up his chest to rest on his shoulders, then back down again to move under the hem of his tank top so you could feel his bare and strong torso. Sure it was a bold move, but the more and more Daveed grinded on you, the less and less you cared. When his tank top rode up to the point where you could see all of his abs, he paused to stand up and quickly get rid of the article of clothing before he came back to straddle you again. 

Your heart was beating wildly in your chest as you looked up at your best friend. He looked undeniably attractive when he was on top of you shirtless and with his glasses on. Every feeling you had ever felt for him came crashing down on you at that moment and that’s when you just about lost your self-control. Part of your brain was screaming at you, saying that you were about to cross a line that you could never cross again...but at the same time, all of your cares had disappeared.

You used your newfound courage to cup Daveed’s face in both of your hands and pull him into a deep kiss. He gasped softly, surprised at the sudden contact, but quickly eased into it. 

You had just passed the point of no return.

You didn’t know what to expect when you decided to kiss him, but it was better than you could have imagined. When you pulled back, his mouth was slightly dropped in awe and one of the sides slowly twitched up into a soft smile. (It was kind of adorable.)

“Daveed, I like you.” You blurted, short of breath.

His face broke out into a full grin. “I like you too, Y/N.” 

“No,” you shook your head, moving your hands from his cheeks down to his shoulders. “I mean like— like like you.”

“I know,” he chuckled. “I mean, I figured given what just happened a few seconds ago. Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

You shrugged, breaking eye contact with him. You subconsciously traced one of your thumbs across his collarbone. “I was afraid of rejection, I guess.”

“Are you serious?”

“What?” You asked, sounding offended.

Daveed caught your gaze again, pushing a strand of your hair behind your ear. “Y/N, I’ve had like the biggest fuckin’ crush on you since Ari introduced us.”

“Wait, really?”

“Mhm,” he hummed. “I’m actually really surprised you didn’t notice.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about your crush earlier, Diggs?” You voiced, giving him a pointed look.

He gave you a shy smile when he moved off of you to sit beside you, still facing you. “Same reason as you.”

“You know what? I’m not even mad about not knowing sooner.” You said. “I’m glad we found out like this.”

“You’re just happy I gave you a lap dance with my amazing skills.” He teased with a laugh of his own.

You laughed again, and pushed at his chest so he could lay on his back and let you crawl on top of him to straddle his waist. “Not gonna lie, I didn’t think you had it in you, Diggs.”

His jaw dropped completely as he looked up at you. “But you said that I could do a lap dance when even I said I couldn’t!”

“That’s true, but to be fair, I never said you couldn’t do a lap dance. I just didn’t think you’d do as well as you did.”

Your response brought yet another smile to his face as you leaned closer to him. “I’mma take that as a compliment.” He said softly.

At this point, the song Daveed had chosen had ended a while ago and the lap dance was long over.

“Good.” You responded before you kissed him again.

This one was different from the first. It started off soft, but quickly turned passionate and heated. As your mouths moved against each other, Daveed’s hands moved from your hips up to the hem of your shirt, his fingertips grazing your bare sides, leaving goosebumps in their wake. The only word you could use to describe this feeling was just complete bliss.

When you reached down to Daveed’s belt buckle, he shivered, causing you to smile against his lips.

Then he pulled away, panting. “Y/N…” he breathed. “Are you sure about this? You don’t have to— fuck.” He cursed as you pulled back completely to unbuckle his pants. “I don’t wanna push y—” 

“Daveed,” You said, before pausing quickly to put a hand on his scruff, tenderly moving your thumb to caress his cheek. “I’m absolutely sure about this. Now please, shut the hell up so I can blow you.”

You smirked when you saw his eyes widen and when you crawled off of him to go in between his legs, you heard a quiet, “Okay.”

Wasting no more time, you removed his jeans and boxers to free his erection. You could see Daveed’s chest begin to rise and fall quicker when you took his length into your hand and pressed a kiss to the tip of it.

“Oh, shiiit.” He drawled softly when your mouth wrapped around him, slowly sucking your way down as far as you could. As you began to bob your head up and down, Daveed’s breathing increased with each suck and occasional flick of your tongue.

Now, he was fully panting. He lifted his head up to look down at you, causing him to groan. After a minute or two, he brought a hand down to move some strands of hair out of your face.

“Fuck, Y/N,” he babbled, “I...I shouldn’t...oh God, I shouldn’t be this fucking close.”

You slowly pulled off of him and he brought you back up to kiss him again.

“You,” Daveed breathed against your lips, “are way too fucking good at that.”

You grinned.

“And,” he continued, “this clothing situation is a bit unbalanced, don’t you think?” 

His thumbs grazed the waistband of your sweatpants. When you nodded, you pulled them down along with your underwear. You moved off of him to take them off completely and remove your shirt and bra, leaving you just as bare as he was.

You climbed back on top of him, straddling his washboard abs, when he ushered you to move up. You obeyed, moving forward an inch or two, but Daveed shook his head and grabbed your thighs, moving you himself.

“Daveed, what are you doing?”

“Returning the favor.” He said simply, bringing you over to his face.

“Oh,” you breathed when you felt his tongue lightly touch your clit.

The man’s mouth worked miracles from between your thighs. Daveed kept you still above his skilled tongue, occasionally giving your ass a squeeze.

“D-Daveed,” you gasped, your mouth forming a perfect ‘O’ as his tongue lightly circled your clit before he brought fully into his mouth to suck gently.

This was the best head you’d gotten...well ever, actually. He wanted you to feel the best you’d ever felt and he definitely achieved that.

Before you knew it, you were reaching your high, climaxing as you shouted Daveed’s name, not caring how loud it echoed throughout your apartment. When you crawled back down Daveed’s body, the two of you shared a sloppy kiss as you both breathed heavily.

Although you just came, you weren’t completely satisfied. You still wanted him... needed to feel him inside you.

You moved to position yourself above his cock, but he made you pause before you could do so.

“Y/N, stop,” Daveed panted. “Condom.”

“Don’t need it.” You replied quickly. “I’m on the pill.”

“Oh, fuck yes.” He replied, releasing you so you could resume what you were about to do.

You breathed out a laugh before you slowly sank down onto his length, making both you and him release a groan. 

“You are so fucking gorgeous,” he gasped. “You don’t know how long I’ve waited for this.”

Your fingers ghosted along his stubble-ridden jaw. “I think I have an idea.”

When you adjusted to his size, you began to bounce and he helped you, meeting each of your thrusts as he guided your hips onto him.

Your lips met Daveed’s yet again and you captured every moan that fell from his mouth, he did the same for you. As your pace quickened, so did each grunt, pant, and moan. You felt your pussy begin to clench again like it had when you came before.

“I’m gonna come,” Daveed said quickly against your mouth.

“Fuck.” You groaned. “Me too, D.”

“Come for me, sweetheart.” He breathed, bringing a hand up from your hip to cup your cheek. “You can do it.”

And you did.

Your walls clenched around him and you gasped, letting your orgasm wash over you in waves. Daveed came shortly after you, and continued to thrust, riding the both of you through your highs.

As you came down and pulled yourself off him, you collapsed, exhausted, halfway leaning on him and halfway laying on your couch. You moved a hand up to rest on his chest again, closing your eyes in bliss as you relaxed against him.

After a minute or two of silence, Daveed broke it.

“Wait, so...does this mean we’re friends again?” 

You looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. He was still on that? Wow, what a dork. “After this? Everything that just happened?” You asked bewildered. “God, I hope not.”

“Fine,” he said letting his signature bright smile show up on his face, still breathing heavily. “More than friends?”

Your heart fluttered in your chest and you grinned widely back at him. You leaned up to softly kiss his jaw before you gave him your answer.

“Way more than just friends, D.”

[cherry-interlude]

Lana Del Rey Unreleased Ranking (5)

This is a re-ranking of Lana's unreleased songs, after making a first a few years ago. This is all my opinion, which I don't mind anyone disagreeing with but don't come for me for it - honestly, I like every song, despite any criticism, and this ranking is very vague. It's based on objective and subjective opinion.

This is the fifth of five posts, with my favourites.

Wild One

Lana is nostalgic without the sadness, remembering how she’d shake it for Mike but is embracing her freedom. She lets country influence seep through her voice and her uncomplicated instrumentals – it would be an unsurprising addition to Chemtrails

True Love On The Side

Though simple in structure and lyrics, it’s more Lana’s grittier rock sound and her incredible vocals that make this one of my favourite unreleased tracks. Lana lets herself go and goes full pop rock chick for this track, whilst keeping in with her ‘other woman’ trope that makes the song still familiar despite its departure from her usual music.

Driving In Cars With Boys

Dripping in nostalgia, Driving In Cars With Boys makes you yearn for the kind of 1950s/1960s era Lana often laments over. Lana is a bad girl just having fun, doing what she pleases and giving in to her vices, and it’s this kind of song that is relatable in its escapism and desire to just do what you please. There are two versions, one with a more monotone chorus that matches the rest of the verses and another where Lana sings in a higher register, letting her cheerful, breezy love for driving with the boys shine through in her vocals.

Angels Forever Forever Angels

Perfect for Paradise, Angels Forever Forever Angels has that slow, rhythmic summer drive feel, a relaxed version of Ride which also has associations with the bikers that feature in both the music video for Ride and the lyrics to this unreleased song. It’s dreamy but grounded by Lana’s patriotic love for the grungier side of Americana.

Hollywood

It has a breathy chorus you could sing to, the feeling of a summer evening and blue skies. The ever building and dropping beat that keeps the song ticking as restlessly as Lana’s hopes and dreams gets me feeling pumped as much as her emphasised, dragged out “Hollywood” in the chorus makes me soothed. Lana is wishing for fame and fortune but it has the feel of an eighties American teen movie, iconic and deserving of a cult following.

Yes To Heaven

Hazy like a daydream, Yes To Heaven is made of sunlight and soft grass, closer to nature than the spotlights of Lana’s often alcohol-soaked, money drenched stages. Lana’s voice is tentative until it shimmers in the chorus, and though it was made for Ultraviolence, it wouldn’t be out of place on the shining beacon of hope that is Lana’s positive turn, Lust For Life.

Life Is Beautiful

This gorgeous song was intended for Age of Adaline’s trailer, and it’s been years of waiting for the full song to be released. Now we have it, it’s certainly worth the wait. Dreamy and soft, this track is a timeless classic that could underwhelm from it’s gentle feel but works perfectly well as a pure little love song.

On Our Way

Stripped back and with a country twang, Lana doesn’t add fuss and frills to this song, instead just crooning precisely how she feels in the kind of song that keeps you daydreaming for hours. Not even the smattering of her favourite imagery (Chevrolets and K-Mart lip gloss) overshadows the love that’s at the forefront of this track.

Never Let Me Go

Like On Our Way, Never Let Me Go has the country twang and stripped back feel that makes this a more subdued song, her lyrics shining even more. Lana’s additional strings layer this song well and her comparisons to the dangerous couple that is Sid and Nancy gives this track an edge, keeping it from being too frothy.

French Restaurant

A piano ballad, Lana strips back the hurt of Without You and dual dedication of Video Games to sing about how fame matters so little to her while she’s torn between two men. Her voice is beautiful and it does well to be so minimal in its production, her emotion driving the song clearly enough. Especially pretty are the backing vocals of the choruses, echoes of her thoughts that hammer home her broken feelings.

Trash Magic

Lana’s delicate and soft vocals help tie into the Lolita-esque character Lana often plays in her music. It has a similar feel to 1949, dripping with her delicious imagery, and wouldn’t be out of place on AKA Lizzy Grant. Lana is the fragile ‘daddy’s girl’ again in this song, and the sharp yet soothing music in the background sets the tone for a quiet trailer park night.

Us Against The World

Though fairly chilled out, Lana still hooks listeners with her characterisation of waitress by day/stripper by night, a dangerous girl tempting an equally dangerous guy. Lana drips sexiness in this song and though it’s not as exciting as some of her other unreleased pop hits, it is perfect for the Del Rey character.

Your Girl

Much like Caught You Boy, Lana is desperate for a man she can’t have but is instead a complete wreck. Lana just repeats over and over how she wishes she was this man’s girl, practically pleading after describing how she needs to be led off the stage from falling apart. Yet it’s still sultry, still passionate, and is topped off by her honey-like vocal demonstration in the bridge and the chorus.

Roses

Lana is the other woman with a twist – instead of moping about her man (Other Woman, Sad Girl) she is taking action. Fighting against him, not letting him go without making some noise and getting rid of his girlfriend, Lana storms into the song with a vengeful wrath and calls him out for his poor attempts at apologies. When this song first came out, I adored it, since it was the exact kind of strong-girl track I wanted from her with a great hook and all the right Lana-isms. Now, I still get that thrill listening to this song and its kick-ass fuck-you to the man she loves.

Playing Dangerous

The churning drums, the spoken verses and the coy vocals set this song apart from her others. It falls shorter during the choruses, the verses being the best parts of the track, but the way Lana interacts with the listener ultimately and is a more direct character of ‘innocent’ seductress who might actually be downright bad (arson is hinted).

Serene Queen

Lana is unbothered and unruffled, as collected as she is in Put Your Lips Together but this time with a definite Ultraviolence/Honeymoon feel. Lana is unshaken by the blazing guns, instead completely calm with her dangerous lover, questioning why he even has a problem in the first place. As it picks up in the chorus, almost smirking, it becomes one of her finer unreleased songs yet.

Ave Maria

This is just an instrumental but there’s something so beautifully haunting about it. It wouldn’t be out of place in a Hollywood movie, with shades of the Lolita soundtrack instantly coming to mind when it first starts. It even works well without singing, and I hope we get a full version soon.

Puppy Love

From the perspective of a Marilyn Monroe figure, Lana plays the teenage girl wishing for a traditional romance with her lover. It’s ever-so-adorable, harking back to the sweeter parts of the fifties, but there’s a sense of sadness throughout it. Under the surface of the puppy love is the reality that the references to Monroe do not forget her sadness, loneliness and ultimately her overdose. The tone shifts to such an unhappiness in the bridge, directly calling back to Monroe’s phone call shortly before she overdosed, twisting the song to something more melancholic.

Cherry Blossom

The lullaby that grew into the marvellous, completed Cherry Blossom is a lovely tribute to someone small and beloved. Though Lana doesn’t have children yet, the care in her voice and each of her heart-warming compliments and promises is still thoroughly enjoyable – and comforting.

Colour Blue

In a song that reminds me of the love/hate relationship of Norman Fucking Rockwell, Lana takes her time to question why she loves the men that she does and, ultimately, grow from it, beginning to want something different. It’s raw and personal, with a gushing chorus that is complimented fully by the guitar. This song is blue all over, from Lana's opening harmonisation to her abrupt, unhappy ending.

Paradise

This song is, of course, pure paradise. A summery beat, a flippant Lana simply enjoying her lover no matter how long she’ll have him for and her coos of “sick!” and “that’s dope!” make this into a tasty distraction fit for the sunny months. Her casualness in this track is fresh as well as the dance-happy music that she doesn’t often create in her albums.

Meet Me In The Pale Moonlight

Lana is the waitress with a crush in this bop of a track, trying to convince a guy to get with her instead of that “bitch”. Convincing she is, as she uses all of her charm, wit and insistence that there’s no promises behind her intentions to have a good time with him. It’s just a breath of fresh air compared to a lot of her music, not too heavy and perfectly polished. It’s self-assured as much as it is breezy, and calm as it is it’s still a riot to listen to.

Caught You Boy

A dream-esque confession of desire, obsession and pure, crazy love, Lana isn’t outright insane in this track (Kinda Outta Luck, Jealous Girl, Serial Killer) but she hints towards being slightly too attached to her beau and describing herself as an army of one. The song is sweet and flowery but there’s a sadness and danger to it that keeps it from being too sugary.

Fine China

Some of Lana’s best lyrics are in Fine China as she sings of her fractured relationship, unhappy wedding and many beautiful yet easily broken things. It’s a slow, unfussy ballad but her strong voice and stunning lyrics make it so much more than a throwaway unreleased song.

Thunder

What feels like a coming-of-age slow dance song but is ultimately a choir-backed break-up track. Lana’s lyrics are clever and her voice is the perfect complement to The Last Shadow Puppets, this combined work a sure hit that deserves some kind of release and recognition. Lana is frustrated but tender as she leads the song with plenty of presence.

Prom Song Gone Wrong

The fifties feel, the teenage romance, the warm and gorgeous vocals that switch from dreamily longing to a cheeky talk-rap suggest this is a song tied tightly to Puppy Love, except with a more hopeful feel to it. Lana is ready to leave and she wants her lover to come with her, and even if it’s a youthful mistake there’s no mistaking that the love she – and her man – feels is real. It’s a pretty dedication to the kind of head-spinning romance of younger years, though it has an edge to it. Lana’s choruses are desperate, her pleading genuine and the strange way the music builds and collapses right at the end give the illusion all isn’t the sunshine and rainbows Lana sings of – and hopes for.

[dirkjakeweekly]

DIRKJAKE FIC RECS

This is a rebloggeable version of our sidebar page reproduced in full, for those who prefer to save things on their own blogs for later!

INTRO

This page is not intended to be an encyclopedia, but rather a non-exhaustive list of a few Dirkjake Fanfics (and Fancomics) for those that may be interested in the ship, but a little too tired of trawling through AO3 search! Some of these contain NSFW or suggestive content, viewer discretion is advised.

[ FIC RECS (last updated Jan 2021, click readmore for full list) ]

It’s only a canvas sky

Their guardians dead at the hands of the Condesce, growing up in the shadow of her slow takeover of the Skaian Federation, Dirk Strider and Jake English have spent their whole lives alone up until shortly before their twelfth birthdays.

Or: Dirk fixes a transmitter, makes a friend, builds a robot, and tries to communicate affection over distance to the barest possible minimum.

Read here!

GOD’S BRAND NEW FATE SELECTOR (Fancomics)

In ONE PARTICULAR TIMELINE, detached from many similar ones, an aspiring divorcee stands by his baby’s cradle and attempts to hatch an escape plan with some aid from the ghost of his long-deceased boyfriend. He’s not exactly helpful.

SOMEWHERE ELSE ENTIRELY, Dirk Strider is overcame by the nagging feeling his splinters may be getting a little out of hand and far too into his head, when he gets a booty call.

One timeline is Epilogues-Compliant, another Epilogues-Divergent. 

Read here!

We’re All Friends & Family Here (And Frankly, We’re Sick Of Your Shit)

It’s been about a year since the big Fast Forward, and sure, things on Earth C aren’t perfect for everyone. But they’re fine. Really. It’s fine. Everything is super fuckin’ swell, and that’s that.

It’s not like one night is going to change anything.

Read here!

Perpetuity

“Call it a car crash waiting to happen, you’ll just call it your downfall”

Dirk is a romantic, just not a particularly optimistic one.

(Written pre-epilogues release, post-game, fix-it)

Read here!

Tailspinning Into the Epilogues with Dirk and Jake (complete series)

Read here!

Stark Nonfiction (Part of the Tailspinning series)

Jake tries his hand at a gentler epilogue.

Read here!

Between the Lines (Part of the Tailspinning series)

“It’s just… I can’t remember the last time I felt so at peace, I guess. It was such a lovely jaunt with Jade, and instead of being all torn up about coming home, I feel even better, now. It’s actually been a real while and a half since I felt… bad, you know? Like actually bad.”

You don’t have much in the way of emotional permanence about that sort of thing. Surely it was months ago, when you were staring gloomily at the bottoms of bottles like the world’s most up-his-own-ass useless overdramatic dilettante. Did it even really happen, if it all, in hindsight, just seems like a dumb pantomime of misery to get attention? A successful dumb pantomime of misery to get attention, mind you, you definitely got it, and a boyfriend to boot. Was it ever really as atrocious and apocalyptic and unsurvivable as it seemed?

Read here!

A Palate Cleanser (Part of the Tailspinning series)

ROXY: hay everybody its jakes turn! ROXY: hes got a few words hed like to say about our dear departed buddy

The eulogy we missed on Candy’s page 15.

Read here!

Eschewal

“you hope he’s a benevolent god”

Read here!

Grublr. (Fancomic)

In the consort kingdom, atop of the large, humongous mansion where the god of Hope lives, there is an apartment complex.

Read here!

The Hitchhikers Guide to Your Ex-Boyfriend (Fancomic)

Jake English waking up sore and alone on a cold floor is not a strange occurrence for him as of late. The ethereal beam of light and sluggishly churning floor is new, but he’s woken up in stranger places.

If circumstances were better he’d probably have something shocked and relevant to say about this strange landscape he’s found himself in, but circumstances are in fact legendarily shit right now.

(A comic/fic where Jake English gets rights)

Read here!

The Four Kings, the God Thief, and the Black Diamond Pirates

Dirk and Vriska have it good. They raid ships, pillage merchant vessels, constantly poison each other, possess a lucrative pact with the Wind King, sing a lot of dope fuckin’ sea shanties, and captain a loveable crew of pirate scum. They’re ready to kick back, take it easy, and become the vile and revered scourge of the diamond trading line.

Then they find someone in the water.

Read here!

Sea shanties for Thots (Four Kings continuation)

Jake English has never done anything wrong, ever, in his life, if you don’t count literally all that stuff from the first installment of oxfordRoulette’s diegetic-musical-cum-found-family-pirate-AU. Luckily, that was in the last story, and he is completely better now in all respects. None of that nonsense is a thing anymore and it will not be relevant at all! Surrounded by friends and allies, with a very cool piratey boyfriend and a hold full of treasure from his recently decimated country, he’s got everything a fellow could want.

What will he do?

Befriend an octopus god. Learn to fish. Kick back. Take it easy. Kiss his boyfriend a lot. Open a jewelry company? Pursue immortality. Confront his past. Embrace his future. Maybe save the world. One thing’s for sure: there will be a lot of songs involved.

Read here!

Two idiots at Homoville, N69, TX

In a moment of desperation, Dirk goes on r/relationships. Things get oversharey real quick. He types as follows:

“I [23M] cannot understand my [24M?] roommate. He is the most bizarre man to ever set foot on earth and I’m afraid I’m losing him.”

or, and They Were Roommates.

Read here!

Drive it home with one headlight

Some mistakes are so fucking big that they divert the path of your life entirely, sending you somewhere you were never meant to go. Some mistakes are so seismic and so obvious that when you look back on your life all you can see is the beacon where you made them. Some mistakes leave you so far off course you don’t even recognize who you are or why you’re still here.

You don’t usually get a chance to make amends.

Read here!

A Tallied List of Various Occasions in Which Jake English Encountered the Elusive Smile Belonging to One Dirk Strider

Jake English, explorer extraordinaire, tracks down the most unique treasure of all: a nerd in pointy sunglasses.

Read here!

BONES OF BLACK MARROW

Dirk summons a demon for the exclusive purpose of ‘cathartic boning.’ He gets what he wants.

NOTE: This fic is ergodic (think House of Leaves), which means it cannot be downloaded for offline perusal on your kindle/pdf reader. Also has CYOA elements, so clicking “Entire Work” will make the fic impossible to read.

Read here!

fire fly

A wedding. An anxiety attack. A daring tryst.

Read here!

DIRK TOPS (Fancomic)

Ever think about how Dirk Strider got full narrative awareness of the fanfics where he’s the big scary hunk in charge and went “I can do that” when he wasn’t, in fact, able to do that? i do. i think about that.

Read here!

MLM stands for Moron loving Moron (Fancomic)

aren’t you TIRED of longing? don’t you just want to go APESHIT while dating your best bro? i mean, you’ve earned it, right? (Collection of oneshot comics. marked as complete, updates whenever)

Read here!

fist is a four letter word

Jake’s face quirks. “App?“ 

“Yeah, app. Like, application. You know your phone can do other things right? Like, apps.”

“You sure do keep using that word! I’m not quite sure I understand what you mean.”

“You know, apps.” You try to think of how to explain apps. You suddenly can’t think of what apps are.

What’s the name of an app.

Literally just name any app.

He’s staring at you.

Oh my god.

Read here!

Witching Hour

There’s something almost magical about that time between too late at night and too early in the morning. It’s the perfect time to meet a stranger and go on an adventure.

Read here!

[sailorsero]

you know i’m stupid for you 1/?

author: claire (@sailorsero​) ship: adult kaminari denki x reader prompt/genre: band/musician!au/poppunk!denki wordcount: 1483 warnings: swearing (for the moment, this is all) a/n: • written for the BNHarem Making Beautiful Music Collaboration - check out the masterlist to see everyone elses!) • thank you to @unbreakablekiribaku​ for the header!  • i do not give permission for this (or any of my writing) to be reposted, by anyone, on this or any other website. please don’t do it! • title from ‘stupid for you’ by waterparks

you know i’m stupid for you part one

***

RIOT! PRESENTS: DYNAMIGHT - A ROTATING HEADLINE TOUR Combining forces for the second annual Riot! Radio/Magazine empire tour are punk pop staples Chargebolt, indie rockers Plus Ultra! and newcomers Rolling Thunder, fresh off the release of their debut album, ‘Revelry in the Dark’. The tour format of a different running order each night, the mix of genres and an abundance of talent promises a sick show you won’t want to miss! The tour starts tomorrow night in Fukuoka, ending in Sapporo at the end of the month. Tickets | Details

Day 1: Fukuoka

***

The past 24 hours had been hectic and overwhelming; the last minute preparations, the packing, the 17 FaceTime calls Mina insisted were necessary for packing, the flight to Fukuoka, the hotel, meeting the approximately 3674 people involved in the tour (okay, really approximately), the soundchecks, the press, making sure Todoroki didn’t get lost (again). It could have been enough to have you considering your plan B vocation of Professional Kitten Cuddler (you’d seen a Buzzfeed article once), if it wasn’t for this feeling, right here and now.

The house lights had dimmed away to almost nothing, causing the steady thrum of chatter from the crowd to surge into a roar of anticipation that matched your own perfectly; waiting sidestage in the dark knowing you were on the precipice of doing what you loved most always made you feel electric.

You’d followed Shinsou onto the stage as the eyewateringly bright lights hit, securing the strap of your bass before looking without seeing out at where you knew the crowd was. You were really here, on this stage, with your best friends, on the biggest tour you’d done so far as a band. You let yourself bask in the joy that brought for a moment longer, before turning towards your bandmates, tilting your head in silent question. Quick nods from Tokoyami and Shinsou and a peace sign from Mina were all you needed before you turned to Todoroki to count in. Everything after that was the most beautiful white noise.

***

8 songs flew by quicker than you could ever remember, Shinsou’s synths fading out as Mina yelled into the mic like she was going for Present Mic’s radio slot.

“Our record is available from the merch table and we are on all relevant social media - @ rollingthunder! Our TikToks are epic! We have been Rolling Thunder, you have been fucking beautiful - goodnight!!!”

“‘Our TikToks are epic’?!” Shinsou rounded on the lead singer as soon as you were all sidestage again.

Mina put her hands on her hips, giving off the energy of an elementary school teacher who had to do this a lot. “They are epic! It’s not my fault you never want to be in them!”

“Maybe that’s why they’re epic?” Todoroki deadpanned, removing the sweat-soaked towel from around his neck.

The snort you gave out at the impossible-to-tell-if-it-was-intended-as-an-insult-or-not-because-it’s-Todoroki insult died off early as you caught sight of him.

Fuck. He’d actually gotten hotter overnight.

Kaminari made a beeline straight for you from the door that lead to the backstage area, 100 watt smile firmly in place. “Hey, you. Great set out there! Totally dope!”

“You were watching?” You were too caught off guard to school your tone into anything less giddy, and you knew you’d be hearing about it until you could hide in your bunk on the tourbus. Maybe not even then if your bandmates didn’t respect the sanctity of the curtain.

“Yeah, of course! We were up on the balcony, in the private bit? You know?” You assumed Sero and Kirishima formed the ‘we’ he was talking about, as they appeared one after another through the same door, grinning widely.

“Yeah, totally, I remember they said there was somewhere to watch the other sets from...cool!”

A part of you died inside as you heard yourself reply and you wondered briefly if there was any chance your whole band wasn’t watching this interaction. Hearing ‘cool!!!’ mimicked in four wildly different attempts at your voice shut that down.

There was no way Kaminari hadn’t heard all four impressions, but he was nice enough to pretend he hadn’t.

“Yeah! So, uh...you could totally watch our set, now! If, you know, you want...” He trailed off, looking hesitantly hopeful and fiddling with one of his many, many earrings.

His golden eyes had been staring into yours for the whole of your conversation so far and you found yourself getting lost in his gaze, all of the noise of the crowd buzzing and the crew swapping the setup over becoming distant to your ears.

Until his bassist slapped him on his back - hard - shit-eating grin all over his face.

“Smooth like silk, Denks!”

“Shut up, Sero!” Kaminari whined, breaking eye contact with you to shove at his bandmate’s arm. 

No one said anything for what felt like the longest seven seconds in history. Kirishima cleared his throat politely and smiled encouragingly, but seemed to run out of ideas after that.

“We’ll watch you guys! But only if you tell us how awesome we were!” Mina’s arm slid seamlessly to link with yours as you remembered how much you loved this pink-haired angel. She was a socialising expert and had rescued you all right before the silence had slid past the point of no return into Awkwardsville.

Kaminari seemed to share your sentiment, as it wasn’t with only a little relief he began to shower the rest of your band with praise. It was only when he’d rambled his way to complimenting the way Tokoyami held his guitar that Shinsou decided it was his turn to steer the conversation. “Don’t you have a drummer? Did he not want to watch our set?”

“Nah, he said he ‘didn’t wanna watch a bunch of electro emos with stupid hair sing about going to Hot Topic or what-the-fuck-whatever’,” Sero cheerfully announced, ignoring the choking sound the apparently-direct quote forced out of the blonde you couldn’t take your eyes off of.

“Wow. He’s charming.” Shinsou replied, voice dripping with sarcasm.

“He is, isn’t he?” Kirishima sighed, sounding like he’d have actual stars in his eyes if you could bring yoursef to stop looking at Kaminari and check. Which you Absolutely Could Not.

You’d met Kaminari at 1 this afternoon, and he’d been pretty much all you’d thought about since 1:01.

***

“Okay, so, Chargebolt - Eijirou Kirishima, Hanta Sero, Katsuki Bakugou, Denki Kaminari. Plus Ultra! - Izu...”

You were pretty sure one of the tour managers was still speaking, introducing the other band you were sharing this tour with, but you couldn’t focus on anything else. Kaminari. Denki. Denki Kaminari.

The ear you could see was adorned with multiple piercings, and the one you couldn’t was covered with a sweep of blonde hair with a black lightening bolt dyed into it. Golden eyes, pink lips. Not particularly tall, or jacked, but lean and muscled where you could see. A black Fatgum Records T-shirt over a black and white striped longsleeve, tucked into ripped jeans that fell into laced up boots. Were those fingers tattoos? It was definitely yellow nail polish and a multitude of silver rings. Talk about ‘exactly my type on paper’. Fuck!

You wondered for a second who exactly it was who had given this man the right. Then you realised he was moving - towards you.

“Hey! Y/N Y/L/N, right? I heard you guys on Present Mic’s show, the Live Lounge? That was incredible!”

Had your mouth been wide open the entire time he was talking? You really couldn’t be sure either way.

“Hey! Yeah, that’s uh...me! Thanks, I was really nervous but he was so cool.”

Kaminari nodded enthusiastically, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Present Mic? Yeah, what a legend! We haven’t been on for a hot minute but we’ll probably go back next album cycle.”

You were pretty sure you were supposed to be making introductions to everyone in the room right now, but before you knew it, it had been fifteen minutes and the only person you’d spoken to was Kaminari. A way-too-stressed-for-the-first-day-of-tour looking woman was trying to politely usher Kaminari away to wherever Chargebolt’s schedule had them being right now, but he hesitated after he said a (hopefully) reluctant goodbye.

“Yeah, so...it’s so cool to be working with you! And, y’know, that work is...touring together, so we could like...hang out! Yeah? If you want?”

You ignored your own manager materialising at your side tapping her watch for a moment longer to nod quickly and breathe out a response.

“Yeah, we could, I want.”

Kaminari’s face broke out into a smile as big as the gag Shinsou was doing behind him. “Yeah. Yeah! Great! See you later!”

You’d pretended not to watch them leave the room.

The rest of your band had been only too happy to inform you that you’d failed to pull it off.

***

i have decided to make this a multi-chapter fic and will post/link a masterlist and link to ao3 when i post there so you can follow this story if you would like to!

ao3  • collab masterlist

[throughtosunrise]

Beau/Yasha. Beau drags Yasha down to the second Level in the tower and slow dances with her.

"Come on." Beau laughs a bit as she says it, tugging at Yasha's hand.

"You haven't told me what we're doing yet," Yasha points out, but Beau's hand is warm and solid in hers, and the expression on her face is a unique blend of eager and slightly nervous that is an absurdly new, endearing look on her, so Yasha's voice is only low and amused as they drift downward through the middle of the tower toward the Great Hall.

"Well, yeah, it's a surprise." They touch down on the second floor as Beau says it, already leading Yasha toward one of the sliding wooden doors. She ducks her head, just a trace of sheepishness visible in her posture, and Yasha can definitely appreciate the way that the floating magical lights that illuminate this floor outline Beau's features in profile as she says, "I don't get to do this kind of thing for people very much."

"Beau." Yasha squeezes her hand, though it's nothing compared to the way that confession wrings at her heart, and pulls her just a touch closer. It takes a moment, but when Beau lifts her head again Yasha meets her gaze and murmurs, "You have done nothing but surprise me over and over again since we met. In a good way, I mean," she amends quickly at the flash of hesitation in Beau's eyes.

Beau chuckles, and it's one of those low, brief laughs of hers where Yasha has learned to read uncertainty into what sounds like obnoxiousness. "As long as it's in the good way."

They've come to a stop at the doors by now; Yasha pulls Beau's hand up to press the back of it against her lips just so she can bask in the way Beau's face lights up, all giddy and pleased, at the gesture. "Only the best, I promise."

(She might be making a resolution right here and now to get that reaction out of Beau as often and in as many ways as possible. She's got years of neglect and missed casual affection to make up for, and she'd better get started immediately.)

The faint flush to Beau's cheeks as she looks at the back of her hand is, Yasha decides, absolutely adorable.

"Well, shit," says Beau with another self-deprecating laugh. "Now I hope I can keep the streak going."

Yasha's about to say something, assure her that there's no pressure, really, but with a visible deep breath to brace herself Beau slides the door open. She leads Yasha into a small, modest dance hall — nothing terribly fancy, more reminiscent of Caleb's dance hall in Rexxentrum than anything else, and vacant except for the quintet of fey cats with instruments held in their prehensile tails, which they start to play in some sort of waltz as soon as Yasha shuts the door behind her.

A small laugh bubbles up from Yasha's chest, and it's so easy; it's gotten easier to laugh these past couple of months, with the Mighty Nein, but Beau especially coaxes that lightness out of her without even trying. "What's this?" she asks.

Beau rubs at the back of her neck with her free hand and mumbles, "Something I've been thinking about for a while. Hey, Fluffy!" One of the cats looks at her with what Yasha would swear is a long-suffering air. "Waltzing sucks. Can we, like, change this music up a bit?"

Fluffy's disdainful look intensifies, it seems like, but the song changes to something that Yasha doesn't recognize, but it's languid and gentle and strikes her as one that doesn't call for an especially structured kind of dance. And that's just fine with her — even if she knew much about waltzing, being this close to Beau guarantees that she wouldn't be able to concentrate on her steps if she tried.

They make their way out into the middle of the dance floor, Beau's hands coming to rest on Yasha's hips and Yasha's arms draped over her shoulders. It's easy enough to just sway in time with the music like this, matching goofy smiles on their faces as they look into each other's eyes. No defenses, no holding back, just a raw vulnerability that's so intense that it spills over from terrifying to euphoric.

"I've been thinking about this for a while," Beau says again when they finally remember how to speak. "I just didn't want, you know, an audience for it."

Yasha ducks her head down and kisses her in appreciation for the thoughtfulness; Beau makes a soft happy noise against her lips and shifts closer so that they're pressed together, then when they pull apart tucks her head in under Yasha's chin and almost snuggles into her. Really, what can Yasha do in response to that but slide her arms all the way around Beau's waist?

"Since when?" she wants to know.

"Hmm?" Beau sounds so cute when she's blissfully distracted.

"How long have you been thinking about this?"

"Since I met you?" Beau laughs. "No, but seriously — I mean, that's true too, but what you're asking — I think it was on Rumblecusp, when I was watching you out on the dance floor with Jester."

"I thought about it then too," admits Yasha, "but I wasn't sure yet how you felt, and there were so many people, anyway."

It's impossible to see Beau's expression when they're standing like this, of course, but Yasha can feel the way her face pulls into a grin, and she's been watching Beau for so long that she knows exactly what it looks like.

"Too many," Beau agrees, and she doesn't have to elaborate; they've always gotten each other on some unspoken level, since well before either of them was willing to admit it. Anyway, it wasn't as if they would have been ready for it at the time. "Next time, maybe... since when have you been thinking about this?"

Yasha nuzzles into her hair, just breathing in her scent, as she laughs. "Since I met you."

She doesn't need to elaborate on that either, and she's warmed by a sudden overwhelming sense of gratitude that Beau completely understands the arduous journey she's had to take to be able to be here now. She does pull Beau a little more closely against her, though, and feels Beau's arms tighten around her waist in response.

"Dope," Beau says, her voice slightly muffled against Yasha's chest, and then there really isn't anything more to be said. There will be other taverns and dance halls on their travels. Other times when Beau can, as she's said half-jokingly a few times, make everyone else jealous that her girlfriend is the hottest. (And that's still a new enough word that Beau breaks out into a dopey smile every time she says it and it feels like an entire herd of Jester's hamster unicorns is carousing merrily in Yasha's stomach.) Other opportunities for Yasha to revel in the novel and heady thrill of finally, finally being able to love someone openly and without fear.

Happiness is always better shared, Yasha's always thought that, and it was never in question that there's a euphoria in letting everyone around her see how deeply she cares for Beau, but sometimes...

Sometimes happiness is an intimate thing, best shared with only the people who are the cause of it. Tonight it's just the music (and the cats) and the two of them in each other arms, and that's more than enough for now.

[mint-yooxgi]

Young Forever, Tear and Love Yourself had always been the best era of BTS for me. Their songs, music videos and mostly, the theories/stories behind them blew my mind. I've learned a lot of things from those and that's what made me most aware about depression, anxiety, etc. I'm curious of what made you a fan of them and what's your favorite era of BTS?

(Oh, btw, I'm still a newbie here. Please go easy on me if I ever said something wrong hehe)

That's wonderful to hear! Music can definitely be a way to broaden our understanding of things, especially when they're not usually talked about in certain music genres. My personal favourite era of theirs is Wings/You Never Walk Alone cause that's around the time I got into them. How I got into them, though, well now, that's a funny story.

So, picture this, it's around November, end of 2016, and I had heard of K-Pop and had been wanting to get into it for some time, I just didn't know where to start. I had heard of BTS and they were trending on Tumblr, so I clicked into their tag cause I think Blood, Sweat & Tears had just been released of something like that. The gifs and comments kind of intimidated me, so I clicked out and decided that that night was not going to be the night I got into K-Pop.

Flash forward about a week or so, and my best friend was over and she had told me she recently started listening to K-Pop. So, I did the first thing I thought of and asked her to show me. Of course, she showed me SHINee and I was instantly hooked.

As I started listening to more and more groups, I eventually branch out into BTS and I started with their song Fire. Now, the first time I heard it, I didn't really like the style of the song so I though I wouldn't really like them. However, I decided to give another one of their songs a chance and I listened to Dope next. Needless to say I was hooked. I remember I listened to the Wings album at least once a week for a while there, I just loved it so much. Then they released Spring Day, and that song still remains my favourite of theirs today. I really enjoyed the messages they put into their music, and I thought it was really cool how each of them got their own solo song for Wings, which they all had a hand in producing/writing.

I'm not as into BTS now as I was then, but I do still enjoy their music. Yoongi is probably in my top 5 biases still.

And omg, don't even worry, you're all good! Welcome, welcome!!

[obtusemedia]

Ranking Lady Gaga's albums, from worst to best

Being a Lady Gaga fan can be an exercise in frustration.

Gaga is far more ambitious than most popstars — I doubt we’ll ever see Ariana Grande or Ed Sheeran make an album as left-field as Born This Way or ARTPOP. But she's also far less consistent, with numerous misbegotten projects.

Gaga's undeniably successful, with five #1 hits, an Oscar and multiple iconic music videos to her name. But her messy album rollouts and tradition of underperforming lead singles make her feel like an underdog compared to the more polished, precise careers of her contemporaries like Taylor Swift, Beyoncé or Bruno Mars.

Gaga is kind of a mess. But she's our mess. This album ranking will cover some records I can't stand — albums that make me constantly hit the fast-forward button, or albums I ignore altogether. But there isn't a single record on here that wasn't a bold move. Even the "back to basics" albums made strong aesthetic choices.

So let's dive into the career of the most fascinating Millennial popstar.

#8: Cheek To Cheek (2014)

This really shouldn't count. It's a Lady Gaga album in name only. But, technically it's a Gaga album, so here we are.

I've got nothing against Gaga having fun playing Rat Pack-era dress-up with Tony Bennett. She's a theatre kid at heart, and I'm sure every theatre kid would kill to make a Great American Songbook covers record like this. It sounds like she and Tony enjoyed themselves, so I'm happy for them!

...but I'm sorry. I can't be objective about Cheek To Cheek, it's the opposite of my taste. There's only so many bland lounge ballads I can take.

BEST SONGS: I have to pick one? "Anything Goes" is cute, I guess.

WORST SONG: "Sophisticated Lady"

#7: A Star Is Born (2018)

Let me first make this clear — A Star Is Born, the movie starring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga? It's a masterpiece. It's electrifying and tragic and I'm still upset it didn't sweep the Oscars that year. There's even a cute dog! You won't hear me say a bad word about it.

But A Star Is Born, the accompanying soundtrack? It's extremely hit-and-miss.

Yes, it includes arguably Gaga's best-ever song and one of the greatest movie hits ever written, "Shallow." And there's plenty of other great tunes in the tracklist too — "Always Remember Us This Way," "I'll Never Love Again," the "La Vie En Rose" cover.

Even the country-rock songs from Bradley Cooper (who, reminder, is not a professional singer) are mostly good! "Black Eyes" RIPS, and "Maybe It's Time" feels like a long-lost classic.

But sadly, there are so many mediocre filler tracks on this thing. The second half of A Star Is Born's hour-plus runtime (Gaga's longest!) is padded with generic songs like "Look What I've Found," "Heal Me" and "I Don't Know What Love Is." The only good one out of the bunch is the silly, intentionally-bad "Why Did You Do That?"

In the movie, these filler tracks serve a point – they're meant to show Gaga's character selling out. They work in the movie when you hear them for a few seconds and see Cooper make a drunkly disappointed scowl. But I don't want to listen to them, and sadly, they make up half the album.

In other words — A Star Is Born would've made an incredible six or seven-song EP. But as an 63-minute-long record? It's a slog.

BEST SONGS: "Shallow", "Always Remember Us This Way," "Maybe It's Time"

WORST SONG: "Heal Me"

#6: Joanne (2016)

After Born This Way and ARTPOP, I get why Gaga needed to make a more lowkey, back-to-basics album. I also understand that many of these songs have extremely personal lyrics for her.

But is a down-to-earth album what I really want from our most outré popstar? Not really.

Luckily, Joanne is better than that description suggests. Yes, there are some bland acoustic ballads and awkward hippie-era throwbacks (two styles that are really not in Gaga's wheelhouse), but there's also some Springsteen-style heartland rockers! And those go hard in the paint.

Joanne works best when Gaga works the record's dusty aesthetics into her brand of weirdo pop, like on the sizzling "John Wayne," the winking "A-YO" or the delightfully extra Florence Welch duet "Hey Girl."

The record also has "Perfect Illusion" — a glorious red herring of a lead single that sounds nothing like anything else on Joanne. It's a roided-up mixture of woozy Tame Impala production and hair metal histrionics, and it rules. It might be Gaga's best-ever lead single! (at the very least, it's her most underrated.)

And there is one slow tune that's unambiguously great: "Million Reasons," another solid Gaga lighters-in-the-air power ballad pastiche.

Despite what some Little Monsters may tell you, Joanne isn't a disaster. There's some great stuff in there, and even the worst songs are just forgettable. But it's still far from her best.

BEST SONGS: "Perfect Illusion," "Diamond Heart," "Million Reasons"

WORST SONG: "Come To Mama"

#5: Chromatica (2020)

When Chromatica was released near the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, it had been seven years since Gaga had released music in her classic gonzo-synthpop vein. I can easily picture the record serving as an "ugh fine, I'll give you what you want" response to the many Little Monsters annoyed with Gaga's half-decade of folksy ballads and Julie Andrews cosplay.

I'll say this about Chromatica — outside of The Fame Monster, it's her most consistent record. There's not a single track that's a glaring mistake. And the three singles — "Stupid Love," "911" and the triumphant Ariana Grande duet "Rain On Me" — easily stand among her best tracks.

But although "all bangers, no ballads" album sounds rad in theory, it doesn't really succeed in practice. Chromatica is solid, but it's also a very same-y record. It feels like Gaga had one really great idea for the album ('90s club music with super-depressing lyrics) and repeated it over and over and over again to diminishing results.

There are some songs that are able to separate themselves: the three singles, of course, as well as the goofy "Babylon" and "Sine From Above," the Elton John duet that's the closest Chromatica gets to a ballad. But by the end of the album, you feel more worn out than electrified.

Also — and this is probably unfair, but still — Chromatica came out just a couple months after another retro-dance blockbuster pop album: Dua Lipa's magnum opus, Future Nostalgia. That's not a flattering comparison.

BEST SONGS: "Rain On Me," "Stupid Love," "911"

WORST SONG: "1000 Doves"

#4: The Fame (2008)

Out of all of Gaga's records, The Fame is most like a time capsule. It REEKS of late '00s/early '10s pop — which isn't an entirely fair criticism, seeing as Gaga popularized that era's sleazy, synthy aesthetic. It's also not a bad thing! I don't mind a little nostalgia!

As you already know, The Fame's singles are masterworks. "Just Dance," "Poker Face," "Paparazzi" — these tracks have titanic legacies for good reason. And although it's probably the least-beloved of this album's hits, despite being a total banger, "LoveGame" should still be commended for having arguably the most Gaga lyric ever (you know, the "disco stick" line).

And even though those tracks are front-loaded on The Fame, there are some gems deeper in the tracklist. "Summerboy" is basically Gwen Stefani covering The Strokes (so obviously, it's great). "Eh, Eh" is adorable. "Starstruck" is the most 2008 song ever recorded, with aggressive Auto-Tune and Flo Rida showing up to make Starbucks jokes.

Sadly, The Fame still feels like Gaga before she became fully-formed at certain points. The back half has a number of songs that feel like generic club tracks forced by the label, and "Paper Gangsta" is one of the clunkiest songs in Gaga's catalogue.

But at the very least, the bad songs on The Fame at least serve as little nostalgia bombs for that era of pop. And the best songs are untouchable classics.

BEST SONGS: "Paparazzi," "Just Dance," "Summerboy"

WORST SONG: "Paper Gangsta"

#3: ARTPOP (2013)

For much of Gaga's career, she's been ahead of the curve. She tries something, and a year or a few years later, other popstars try something similar to diminishing results.

That doesn't just apply to the successful stuff, like Gaga's extravagant music videos inspiring many copycats from 2010-2013. It also applies to the mid-late '10s trend of legacy popstars making a controversial record with risky aesthetic or lyrical choices that backfired: reputation. Witness. Man of The Woods.

Gaga did this first, with ARTPOP — arguably the most abrasive, and bizzare major label album released by a major modern popstar. And she did it better, because unlike Swift, Perry and Timberlake, Gaga's weirdness was for real. And it was in service of some prime, hyper-aggressive bangers.

ARTPOP isn't Gaga's best work — some of her experiments on it are major misfires, from the obnoxious "Mary Jane Holland" to the bland Born This Way leftover (and Romani slur-utilizing) "Gypsy."

But when ARTPOP is on, it's ON. The opening stretch in particular, from "Aura" to "Venus" to "G.U.Y." to "Sexxx Dreams," is chaotic synthpop at its finest. Those songs took Gaga's classic sound to an apocalyptic, demented extreme, and they're fantastic.

"MANiCURE" is a great glam-rock banger, "Dope" is another classic Gaga piano ballad, the title track is some sikly-smooth dreampop; even the misguided, clunky trap anthem "Jewels N' Drugs" is bad in a hilarious, charming way!

Trust me: ARTPOP will go down in history not as a flop, but as a gutsy, underrated record from a legend. Less Witness, more In Utero.

BEST SONGS: "G.U.Y.," "Venus," "Sexxx Dreams"

WORST SONG: "Gypsy"

#2: The Fame Monster (2009)

Objectively speaking, this is probably the best Gaga album.

It's her one record with no fluff, no filler — only 34 minutes and 8 tracks, all of them stellar.

It's the record that took Gaga from "wow, this new woman is a fresh new face in pop!" to "this woman IS pop."

It's the record with her signature track, "Bad Romance," which was accompanied by arguably the greatest music video of the 21st Century. (It also has my absolute favorite Gaga track, the relentlessly catchy "Telephone.")

I don't think I need to explain what makes mega-smashes "Bad Romance" and "Telephone" and "Alejandro" great, nor the accompanying legendary deep cuts "Speechless" and "Dance In The Dark." They speak for themselves.

However — the sleek, calculated perfection of The Fame Monster, while incredible, isn't something I return to often. It's just not the side of Gaga that's my favorite. That honor would have to go to...

BEST SONGS: "Telephone," "Dance In The Dark," "Bad Romance"

WORST SONG: "So Happy I Could Die" (but it's still pretty solid)

#1: Born This Way (2011)

One of my favorite podcasts is Blank Check. The concept of the show is to analyze each movie by a famous director — in particular, those who had big success early on and then got a blank check to make whatever crazy passion project they wanted. Here's a great example: because Batman was a massive hit, Tim Burton got to make whatever Hot Topic-core movies he wanted to for decades, from Edward Scissorhands to a creepy Willy Wonka remake.

That long-winded tangent is just to say: Born This Way was Lady Gaga's blank check. By early 2011, she had conquered the pop universe, notching hit after hit after hit. Every other pop star was copying her quirky music videos. So the label let Gaga do whatever she wanted — and she didn't waste that opportunity.

Born This Way is wildly overproduced. It's both extremely trend-chasing (those synths were cutting edge at the time but charmingly dated now), but also deeply uncaring about what the teens want (I don't think Springsteen and Queen homages were big at the time). And I love every messy, overblown second of it.

From the hair-metal/synthpop hybrid opener "Marry The Night" to the majestic '80s power ballad "The Edge of Glory," Born This Way starts at an 11. And Gaga never takes her foot off the pedal for the album's entire hour-plus run time. Clanging electric guitars, thunderous synths and Clarence Clemons (!!!) sax solos collide into each other as Gaga champions every misfit and loser in the world. It's gloriously corny in the best way possible.

Born This Way is also the perfect middle ground of pop-savvy Gaga and gonzo Gaga. It doesn't go quite as hard as ARTPOP, but the hooks are stronger. And the oddball moments are tons of fun, from the sci-fi biker anthem "Highway Unicorn" to the goofy presidential-sex banger "Government Hooker" ("Put your hands on me/John F. Kennedy" might be the greatest line in pop history).

Born This Way will always be my favorite Gaga album. It's armed with nuclear-grade hooks, slamming beats, and soaring anthems. Although it's not as untouchably pristine as the Mt. Rushmore of '10s pop classics (for the record, that's 1989, EMOTION, Lemonade and, of course, Melodrama), Gaga isn't best served by meticulousness. She's proudly tacky and histrionic, and so that's what makes Born This Way an utter joy.

BEST SONGS: "The Edge of Glory," "You and I," "Marry The Night"

WORST SONG: "Bloody Mary"

[kz-i-co]

Incomparable: Part II

Summary: As you feel like you and Kihyun's relationship start to develop, something or someone gets in the way.

Pairing: Yoo Kihyun/ Reader

Genre: Angst x fluff

Words: 2.6k

m.list ╫ mx masterlist

Part 1

A/N: I was thinking about this for a while now......but I might rewrite this one, so please stand by

-

"Hey you made it." Jooheon smiled as soon as you and Kihyun walked through the door.

"Yeah sorry I'm late. I had to speak with my professor."

"You're here that's all that matters." You couldn't help but blush.

Jooheon still gave you feelings you couldn't explain but now Kihyun was in the picture. You liked seeing his playful side and he really showed to be a caring person but how were things going to change now.

"(Y/N) come on. You need to try this cake that Gihyun made. It's amazing."

"Stop." Gihyun blushed.

"No seriously. You should be a culinary major." He continued complimenting.

"Hey thank you for bringing my canvas." You said to Gihyun.

"No problem (Y/N)." She smiled warmly.

"I love my gift. Can't believe how talented you are. You made me look dope." He smiled showing off his dimples.

"Hey dude." Wonho greeted Kihyun as he leaned against the wall on the opposite side. "What's with you?"

"W-what? Nothing." He shook off. He glanced at you still engaged with Jooheon. You were smiling and laughing and he can tell you were enjoying his company.

"You reek of jealousy."

"What would I be jealous of?" He snipped.

"Obviously the cute girl talking to Jooheon you entered with."

"It's so cute." He continued as he leaned forward to pinch his cheeks but Kihyun quickly stopped him.

"I'm not jealous. I was helping her out with Jooheon, that's all."

"If you say so."

"Hey (Y/N), if you want, there is a concert in the park tomorrow. You want to go?" Jooheon asked you. Was he asking you out? Oh no, what should you do. "I understand if you have something planned already with Kihyun."

"No, I don't have any plans tomorrow."

"Great. It will be fun."

"I'm bringing the snacks." Gihyun winked. She's going? Maybe it's not what you think.

"Hey let me get your number so I can tell you the details." Jooheon smiled and you blushed as you gave him your phone.

"Cute wallpaper." He said handing it back.

"Thank you."

"Jooheon." More people walked into the tight dorm. "Happy birthday."

"I'll be right back." He started walking away. "There's tons of food, eat up." He left you alone with your thoughts.

You looked around not sure what to do until your eyes spotted a lonely Kihyun sipping down a drink while playing on his phone.

"Hey." You greeted.

He looked up at you all flushed. You figured it was his drink taking control.

"Thanks again, for what you did."

"Why do you keep thanking me, It was my fault." He arched his eyebrows.

"It was both of our faults, but it was fun doing it." You smiled.

"If you say so."

"Are you drunk?" You leaned forward looking in his drowsy eyes.

"No." He stood up straight, denying.

"I think you are." You gave a slight giggle.

"(Y/N) were playing beer pong come on." Jooheon smiled.

"Um." You looked back at Kihyun but he was already out the door. "Wait."

"Come on (Y/N)." Gihyun continued.

You just shrugged it off hoping he was okay.

....

You looked around causally trying to spot Kihyun as you hung out with Jooheon and Gihyun. The more you hung out with Gihyun the more you disliked her. She had a comment for everything, and always had to one up herself for everything that came out of your mouth. Like she was competing with you.

"I'm going to use the restroom." You told Jooheon as he nodded. You had to get away from Gihyun and her constant chatting. The closer you traveled down the hall, you heard loud music of people singing along and the loud chaos of people cheering.

"Bang bang bang!" You turned the corner seeing a crowd in the hang out as two figures were singing along to the tv as it layered lyrics down the screen as they stood on the couch.

This can't be good this late at night.

You got closer about to head down the other hall until the familiar voice got you off guard. Kihyun? Oh no.

"Yeojadeureun get low. Danggyeora BANG BANG BANG- Hey (Y/N)!" Kihyun made eye contact with you. "Come up here."

You just shook your head.

"Please."

"What the fuck is going on?" The RN came in as you were quick to get Jooheon.

"Um Jooheon." You started but you could feel a sudden presence behind you.

"Jooheon you said you were gonna keep this party out of control."

"What are you talking about?" He looked at the RN.

"Your friends are drunk and causing a ruckus. Please just send everyone back to their rooms before we get into trouble." She left in a rush.

You followed Jooheon back out to the hangout as everyone was already gone. "Sorry Jooheon." A boy with blonde hair spoke.

"Minhyuk, where is Kihyun?" He pointed to a figure laying on the floor against the wall.

"Shit." Jooheon mumbled concerned for his friend. "Kihyun doesn't do this, ever. I've seen him drunk before but not this bad."

"I'll help clean up Jooheon." Gihyun said sweetly.

"I'll take Kihyun to his room." It was your turn to speak.

"You sure?" He asked.

"Yeah." You smiled and was already on the move.

"Okay, let's go." You grabbed his hands trying to pull him up. "Let's get you to bed."

"I can sleep here." He said pulling you down to lay on the floor. He wrapped his arms around you, cuddling you cutely. Okay maybe Kihyun was the cutest drunk ever.

"Kihyun, we need to lay in our beds not the floor." You giggled.

"My bed is like a hour away. I'll just stay here." He whispered.

"This floor is disgusting." You whined. "How about my bed? It's closer."

He hummed in agreement but still chose not to move. "Kihyun." You whispered closer to you but he bumped his head against yours causing you both to winch away.

"Who are you?"

"(Y/N)." You giggled some more. But he just looked at you trying to be proven correct.

"I wished you like me instead."

You immediately felt that punch in the gut feeling. The short time you knew him, he wasn't very keen on sharing but he liked you, it was confirmed.

He didn't deserve you by the way you look at it. You used him for his friend and continued to like his friend. It wasn't that you didn't feel anything for him but you couldn't forget about the other.

"Let's go. For real this time." You continued to help him back to your bed.

Once you finally settled him down, your friend must of slept somewhere since she was no where to be found. You attempted to sleep in her bed until Kihyun's clingy ass forced you in your own bed with him. He was definitely not what you expected when he drinks.

-

The next morning, you woke from Kihyun quickly getting up alerted.

"Kihyun?"

"Sorry (Y/N) I'm gonna be late for my showcase."

"What showcase?" You asked yawning.

"My photography course. I'll see you later."

You got ready as the day was starting and quickly made your way out of the dorm.

"Hey (Y/N)." Jooheon smiled as he approached you with Gihyun.

"Hey."

"The concert got cancelled, on the count of rain...." He began. "But did you want to do something anyway?"

"Umm....okay." You shrugged.

"We're so happy we bumped into you. We were just thinking what we should do." Gihyun spoke with that annoying fake tone. "It's funny, we were just talking about you and how amazing your artwork is."

"How long have you been painting?" She continued.

"About 12 years." You said clearly uncomfortable with her as Jooheon just nodded along.

"Wow. You and Kihyun are so artistic. Probably why you make such a great pair."

"Thanks....technically we're not a pair."

"Not yet, at least." She giggled as you tried not to roll your eyes.

"Well it was nice talking to you guys, I'm gonna run." You waved goodbye as you continued to get your morning coffee you were urging for.

"(Y/N)! Wait up!" Jooheon ran after you.

"Hey."

"Wait, so you and Kihyun aren't together?" He asked confused.

"No, we're just friends. We've only met recently for tutoring."

"Oh okay.....Look I know Gihyun wants to do something but you busy right now? We can do something just the two of us?" Oh no. Why were you still feeling flustered when Kihyun is the one you should like.

"Um....no, I'm just getting coffee." You smiled.

"Mind if I join you?" His tone was sweet.

"No." Yes. Why was this happening now?

"I'm sorry that Gihyun is constantly clinging on to me." He laughed. "I mean, she's great and all but I don't want to hang out with her 24/7. I need a break."

"Well, she likes you." You laughed.

"Ha no."

"Yes. I thought you guys were together at first."

"I guess we were both wrong." He smiled with a slight blush warming his cheeks.

"How long have you and Kihyun been friends?"

"We met our third year of high school." Jooheon opened the door for you.

"Did he ever sing at all?" You couldn't help but wondered about the boy that was slowly taking your heart.

"Sure, I mean no more then the average person, but it wasn't something he showed interest in." You ordered your drinks and sat down.

"Well he should." He smiled at your response.

...

You knocked on Kihyun's door and answered it, dressed all neat and formal. "Hey." You began confused. "How was your showcase?"

"Fine." He shrugged. You followed him into the dorm as he was setting up his portfolio.

"Do you remember anything from last night?" You couldn't help but wonder.

"Not really."

"Just want to say that you are a very cute drunk." You laughed.

"Great, you saw a side I probably didn't want you to see." He rolled his eyes.

"Nah, I liked it." You bit your lip. "Very clingy, I should add."

"Is something wrong?" You asked from his silence.

"Nothing, I'm just wondering why you aren't with Jooheon right now." He began.

"Well....I was with him before, but it was just coffee."

"Ah...so he asked you out, like you wanted?" He laughed like nothing was different.

"It was just coffee, I wouldn't really call it a date." You looked at him confused. "Why are we talking about this?"

"Well....it turns out that Jooheon likes you. I guess you got your wish."

"He likes me? How do you even know that?"

"Because he told me." He finally looked at you, putting his work down. "I guess we're done here."

"But what about yesterday?"

"We can forget about that. We just got caught up in the moment."

You shrugged confused. "Kihyun-"

"It's okay (Y/N), Jooheon likes you. That's great." Sure he was right, you should be happy but why weren't you. Seeing Jooheon early, still gave you all those old feelings but now everything was different. "You don't owe me anything (Y/N). It was the deal remember."

"I don't understand-"

"You like him and now he likes you. It's what you wanted."

"Did something happen between you two?" You continued to ask from the sudden change in his behavior. He was acting the way you first met him.

"No, he was just asking about you. I'm sorry I really need to finish this."

"But Kihyun." You were at a loss of words.

"(Y/N)." He gave you a look you didn't quite understand. He was clearly hurt and trying to push you away.

....

You couldn't stop thinking about Kihyun. Why was he lying to you? What happened this morning?

You quickly rushed through the door. "Where were you all day?" Your friend asked.

"Oh um....The concert in the park."

"Wasn't that cancelled?" She arched her eyebrows.

"Yeah." You sighed. "I was with Jooheon and his side dish Gihyun, who clearly can't take a hint."

"Still competing with that girl?" She laughed.

"I really don't think I want to. I think I'm ready to move on."

"Don't tell me its because of Kihyun?"

"Why not?"

"Nothing, I just thought you were into Jooheon." She smiled. "I was confused because everyone is saying you're with Kihyun. Remember you both mysteriously walked in covered in paint."

"We were just goofing off." You said hiding the truth. Not that you knew yourself. You didn't know where things stood now. You felt something with that kiss and you sensed he did too. But now Jooheon was interested and Kihyun was acting like he supports it. You feel like everything is all mixed up now and you didn't know what to do.

"Sure. You've guys been attached lately."

"I don't know what to do." You sighed siting on the bed. "I like Jooheon but now since Kihyun and I kissed, I'm having mixed feelings."

"Excuse me! You kissed?" She looked at you baffled that you completely forgot to even mention it.

"I thought I told you."

"You certainly had not! When?"

"Yesterday. I was cleaning the art room and he came and helped me and then we started dancing and it just happened."

"So now what are you going to do?" She asked. "You don't want to string on two guys."

"I'm not." You whined. "Kihyun doesn't even like me, at least that's what he said."

"It's hard, if you're making it hard."

-

"Are you going to go talk to him?" Sowon asked as you gathered your belongs since class was almost over.

"Talk to who?"

"Kihyun dummy."

"Why would I do that?" You kept asking.

"Because you like him."

"How many times do I have to tell you?"

"I'm not an idiot (Y/N), you've fallen for him hard, and it seems like he thinks you and Jooheon can be all happy together but that's probably because he doesn't know that you like him back."

"Kihyun hates me. It's no use."

"Then maybe staring at him the whole class should be stopped." She smirked.

"You know what.....whatever." You got up.

"It's true." She laughed. "You and Kihyun sitting in a tree...."

"Please shut up, he's right there."

Then class started piling out. "Hey Kihyun (Y/N) wants to ask you something."

He looked at you with no mood in his expression and continued leaving with the class.

"Ouch."

"I told you. He hates me."

"So......go kiss and make up with him."

"Kihyun please wait." You caught up with him and pulled him into an empty classroom.

"What do you want, trouble in paradise?"

"Why did you lie to me?"

"I didn't lie."

"You told Jooheon I liked him? He told me last night."

"That wasn't a lie." He arched his eyebrows.

"You said you weren't gonna say anything."

"I was just trying to speed up the process, it was getting exhausting."

"I want the truth. We seemed fine and all of a sudden you're being your old jerk self again." You folded your arms.

"He asked about you." He shrugged.

"Like how?"

"He said he liked you, what more information do you need?"

"So what?"

"You like Jooheon, why are you questioning this?" He sounded offended.

"Maybe I changed my mind." You shrugged.

"Well then I can't help you there."

"Why are you acting like such an idiot. Yes I liked Jooheon but it changed once we started hanging out and now things feel different."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" He looked at you puzzled. You nodded confirming. "You're choosing me over him?"

"Why are you acting so surprised. I'm the one that should be surprised. You have been such a jerk to me. Who knew." He finally smiled.

"So finding out Jooheon likes you, means nothing."

"It means nothing." You smiled back. "So um, maybe we can make it official by going out tonight?"

"I don't get you." He shook his head amused and reached to hold your hand.