#hi i also included. samuel. because i love him

[larsnicklas]

[240316 fla vs. tbl] matthew tkachuk catches tampa bay's brayden point with an enormous reverse hit in the corner just moments after linemate sam bennett sent nikita kucherov flying in a hard-nosed physical shift typical of their line.

+ bonus: bennett hit on kucherov

[det2x-fanfic-dump]

My Headcanon Human Names for the Obey Me Brothers + Their Name Meanings pt. 1

a.k.a. Aliases the Obey Me brothers use while they live in the human world since having demon names for humans is kind of a no no religion wise in my opinion. I am headcanon-ing this may also be their angel names idk lol

PART 1 || PART 2

Note: I'll either update this or post a new one in the future for Diavolo, Barbatos, Mephisto and Thirteen. The angels and Solomon don't include in this because their names are existing human names

1. Lucifer - Lucius

Lucius means Light or Light Bearer.

Not only Lucius also begins with Luci, it's kind of befitting since Lucifer was given the Ring of Light when he was an angel.

He's the eldest and deeply cares and looks out for his brothers. He's Mammon's mentor as an angel and everyone looks up to him so he's like a teacher, serving them as the light.

2. Mammon - Mark or Marcus

Roman Myth: War-like "God of War"

Other Meaning- Soft, tender ; Manly

To be honest, whenever I see Mammon's face, I'm like he looks like a Mark and it starts with M.

But seriously, Mammon is our lovable tsundere idiot. I believe he has guts to fight and start a fight and defend MC and his brothers showing his manly side but very much secretly a softie.

3. Leviathan - Levi

Levi means Joined and United

Levi is already a human name but I really find the meaning interesting since in my other headcanon, Leviathan is a dominion angel who helps deliver justice and governs the humans.

Additionally, he's an angel general and soldiers are pretty much united so it makes sense in my opinion

4. Satan - Samuel or Stanley

4.a. Samuel means Name of God, God has heard

I picked this because I find it ironic. In general, Satan is the name used as the general representation of any demon, the opposite of God and that's it.

4.b. Stanley means Stoney meadow, Associated with lucky number 6

As for Stanley, I picked this because Stan is just missing a second A. I often call him Stanley whenever I gush and got an SSR or higher cardof him lol

Also that lucky number 6...triple that and you get the number.

5. Asmodeus - Asmo or Erasmus

Erasmus - Beloved or Desired

Asmodeus will still use Asmo as a nickname yes...but he chooses Erasmus because it is kind of self explanatory. After all, he is the Avatar of Lust, wants any form of love even as an angel.

6. Beelzebub - Beel or Billy or William

Beel means Handsome and Fair

Billy/ William means Protection or Will Helmet

Beel is handsome yes. Beel is a cherubim and he's someone that has the desire to protect so it fits him perfectly.

7. Belphegor - Belphie or Thomas

7.a. Belphie means Lazy or Sleepy

The devs knows their stuff yesss.... Belphie will still use the nickname as a meaning

7.b. Thomas means Twin

I think it's cute for Belphie to name himself Thomas with that meaning in mind to value he's a twin with Beel.

As for me...there's a funny reason why I chose Thomas and William as their human names...

I present you...a certain RED train and a BLUE but can be purple train.

It's not intentional but I say duck it...it's too much of a coincidence for colors

[msmargaretmurry]

for the i wish you would write meme, post scf winner's room? if you're into winner's room. if not, your thoughts on post scf mattdrai break up to future fic exes to lovers

ok so i'm not NOT into winner's room, but i have to be in the exact right mood to vibe with it, you know? i'll read and enjoy it but don't think i'll ever write it because i get way too caught up in the logistics + consent issues when i am the one pulling the strings. like my immediate thought here is, when is anyone going to have time for a winner's room sesh admist all the celebrating??? i totally get the appeal of the concept but i think you'd need someone more able to commit to the bit than i am to figure out how to write it 🙈

so: post-scf breakup to futurefic makeup!

i do think matthew winning the cup is such a delicious moment for a breakup because while it is a totally logical place to realize, yeah okay this conflict of interest is too big to overcome, it still feels like a petty kneejerk sore loser reaction. like, oh, you beat me for the cup? well , fuck you, you can't have me anymore, and i hope that sucks for you. and even if that's not what leon would think/feel when he's not drowning in grief and frustration, it's what he feels in that very specific awful moment, and then it's done, and he has to hold onto that grudge so tightly for years to justify it.

there are several fics already of the "they end of on the same team later in their careers" genre but that's fine, we can have another one. i think it would be great here. it's been long enough that leon losing the cup to matthew and the whole rivalry there is kind of like, well, people assume that he's over it. it's been years! he didn't have florida in his nmc! he must be fine with going there! and sure, he's fine with going to the team, it's just matthew he has a problem with. also kinda has a problem with the return his team got for him, like, they had to retain salary for florida to take him, which is just embarrassing. he's having a kind of off season, that doesn't mean he's not worth his paycheck.

and oooh, it's rough. not because matthew is awkward around him, but because matthew is picture perfect cordial friendly welcoming committee. he's shaking leon's hand, welcoming him to the team, introducing him to guys and cracking jokes about how obviously everyone already knows who leon is. but none of them know the real history between leon and matthew, and it is both a relief and a special kind of excruciating to have to act like this is just a fully fresh start. he's the new guy in the room; he won't be afforded the grace to hold a grudge anymore. it's up to him to make a good impression. he's never been very good at not wearing his heart on his sleeve, but he has to try.

insert here a painful slow burn reconciliation where leon tries to be friends and runs smack into the emotional wall matthew has thrown up against him — acting the part of the welcoming committee and being actually glad that leon's here are two totally separate things. and leon is wrong about no one knowing about their history, too (he learns, mortifyingly, one night when samuel corners him with some mild threats about how he needs to treat matthew). of course he makes friends on the team but it sucks because everyone loves matthew so much that it's hard to feel like anyone is really in his corner. he misses being on a team that loved him that much.

but ofc things will slowly thaw and matthew will start slowly making genuine efforts instead of just performative efforts to include him in team stuff, and he starts getting his groove back on the ice, and eventually things will come to a head where maybe leon (drunk, in his feelings for whatever reason) tries to kiss matthew, which matthew is NOT having, and they finally have the big fight they need to have — best day of my life and you tried to make me feel shitty about it; yeah well worst day of my life and it was your fault, etc — and once they're finally being honest they can finally, tentatively work their way back to each other. and bone tenderly about it.

[unreleasedwrites]

Um hi I am kinda shy and can you please do a lookism men x black fem reader?

drabbling about lookism characters w a black woman

pov: lookism characters dating a black woman

character(s) included: multiple; Daniel Park, Zack Lee, Warren Chae, Euntae Lee, Jace Park, Jake Kim, Sinu Han, Jay Hong, Eli Jang, Kwak Brothers, Johan Seong, Gun Park, Samuel Seo, Goo Kim, Vin Jin, Yoojin, Yooseong, Baek Hangyeol, Baek Gyeol, Diego Kang/James Lee, Seongji Yook, Jaegyeon Na, Gitae Kim

cw: my opinion, tbh I wasn’t sure how to do this and I’d like to just state that I am not a black woman, but I did try my best to get this request done from what I know in social media and experiences of other black women that I know with their mans, although this can lowkey be seen as any person since i dont really know how to put ideas about them w a specific race, but i tried my best 😭, also wasn’t sure which character would do which so just imagine someone else if you’d like, in this scenarios— they all love you veryyyyyyyy much so if yiu imagine someone like yoojin doing all that for you, remember he is obsessed w you and they all are in these fics and drabbles ( im delusional ), also there are a lot of characters in each because i feel like they all could do that 😭😭

unwrapped on: Sunday Night, April 28 2024

wrapped up on: Saturday Night, May 11 2024

published on: Saturday Night, May 11 2024 (at around 9 PM)

Absolutely head over heels

Absolutely loves seeing you in FLASHY colors. He solely thinks that it highlights your skin tone incredibly well and he just loves matching with you whenever he can. He gets himself involved with all your hair appointments, even though they can take up to literal HOURS. He will literally and deliberately sit there and happily watch you without any complaints. Loves seeing your finished hairstyles, whether it’s any sort of braids, extensions, laid out edges, or new wigs that you had custom made— he is absolutely amazed with how it all turned out. This man tries to help you with your hair but really can’t figure it out so he ends up just watching you as per usual, patient and puppy dog eyed. Even if he isn’t used to it, he will try to do your makeup happily if you let him. If you do, he will be overjoyed and start off with your skincare products and the makeup is only after that. He clings onto you like a lost puppy whenever you just got back from shopping or an appointment because you just look, oh sooo pretty and he doesn’t know how to tell you that in words.

Daniel Park, Zack Lee, Warren Chae, Euntae Lee, Jace Park, Jake Kim, Sinu Han, Jay Hong, Eli Jang, Kwak Brothers, Johan Seong, Yooseong, Baek Hangyeol, Seongji Yook

If he wanted to he would (rich version)

Will rearrange his ENTIRE day to day schedule just for you. He will take you to get your hair done whenever and wherever you want. He comes around at the end of all your appointments to pay and smother you in compliments about how good you look, and if you don’t like what the stylist did, he’ll take care of it. He pays for everything, from your hair and lashes to your nails and makeup products. He doesn’t care about how much it all costs, as long as you’re happy with how it turned out and the service or products, he will never complain or even bring up having to pay for stuff because you can provide for yourself and actually don’t need him financially— but he insists. Of course, you find ways to make it up to him to which he is very happy with. Even if the stylist seemingly did a pretty bad job, he will never admit that even if it were true. He will make sure you feel secure and that it isn’t bad at all, and he immediately books and pays for your new appointment with your favorite stylist.

Gun Park, Samuel Seo, Goo Kim, Yoojin, Baek Hangyeol, Baek Gyeol, Diego Kang/James Lee

You’re just too perfect

Would love to try out the things you do normally but he’s never done before. Wearing bonnets? Count him in. Wanna do braids on / with him? He doesn’t mind. Cook him food he hasn’t tried before? He’ll love it as long as you made it. Also loves seeing GOLD on you. It just highlights your skin tone so well and he makes sure you’re always wearing what you’d like but he loves seeing you in shiny jewelry because it just compliments you so well. Loves all the hairstyles you do but one of the ones that baffles him the most is when you just unwrapped your silk press. He thinks its so satisfying and this man is also head over heels with every single aspect of your body. It doesn’t matter where or why, how small or how big, he is just absolutely obsessed with you. He will also specifically give you his clothes with the colors that he thinks suit you so insanely well.

i feel like all of them 😭😭: Daniel Park, Zack Lee, Warren Chae, Euntae Lee, Jace Park, Jake Kim, Sinu Han, Jay Hong, Eli Jang, Kwak Brothers, Johan Seong, Gun Park, Samuel Seo, Goo Kim, Vin Jin, Yoojin, Yooseong, Baek Hangyeol, Baek Gyeol, Diego Kang/James Lee, Seongji Yook, Jaegyeon Na, Gitae Kim

notes: some are in the cw (content warnings), but also im gonna be insanely busy for like the next 2 weeks but I will upload a masterlist (even though i dont have much works lol), plus an about me post so you can see info on requesting and what i write, i only wanted to post the about me since the masterlist is kinda empty, but in my about me post there is a supposed link that leads to the masterlist so yeah… Also if you look at my masterlist, you’ll be able to see what im currently writing in my drafts and some fics i may do soon!! andDDDDdddDd TYSM FOR 100 FOLLOWERS (107 to be exact) IM SO GRATEFUL FOR ALL OF YALL AND I NEVER WOULDVE IMAGINE THAT I COULD GET HERE AND THATS ALSO WHY IM UPLOADING THE MASTERLIST AND ABOUT ME 😭😭 also because ill be busy my only post within the next week and about a half will just be the masterlist and about me post so im sorry abt that but after ill be back to writing !! 💝💝 thank you so much ❤️🤍

- With or without proper credits, please don't try to steal or claim any of my works as your own

I genuinely appreciate any feedback like comments, likes, reblogs, and requests

Once again, I hope this isn't too bad and I will be doing more of these drabbles so just feel free to request but try to specify if a drabble is actually what you’re looking for and not a one shot, thank you!! 💝

[ultrainfinitepit]

Today I am sharing Ezekiel, he is also one of Sam's friends. Ezekiel is a guy who often dies but gets better, and has no memory of his past. This is because he is a lich. At certain points in his story he gets to be in full lich form which is quite intimidating. But usually he is a scaredy-cat guy who loves books and reclining wistfully like any good Victorian gentleman.

I don't have much artwork for them, but: Ezekiel eventually marries Lady Delphinia and they have some children, including Constance and Samuel.

Delphinia is the local spinster who lives in a haunted demon house, she and Ezekiel are both very introverted and will have long strategy sessions about how to discretely leave parties. Like any proper Victorian lady she eventually becomes a spooky ghost.

Constance is the oldest child, she is a selkie and an exorcist.

Samuel is the middle child, he is the imperfect reincarnation of a funeral angel. As you can imagine this causes a lot of trouble for him, leading to his madness and then death - but like his papa he gets better.

[wannaeatramyeon]

I love everything you write! Can I request some headcanons for Gun/Goo, crewheads, and the J-Highers? You can choose what you're comfortable writing about

Thanks anon! Just... hc? Ohh this is extremely wide-ranging, I'm panicking. Hope you don't mind if I go for a list with the tiniest sprinkling of hc.

Lookism Boys & Love Languages

Maxed out 2 per person. I feel like I need to explain myself for a few. Some are a vibe, some have an actual reason, some are just bullshit

Giving

Acts of service

Vin Jin: If he likes you, he will be running little errands and doing things for you. He'll grumble and beat himself up for being a simp as he does it, but he does do it.

Jibeom Kwak: Would do anything for his bros, and now that includes you too.

Gun Park: an absolute gentleman. Silently observing and anticipates your needs before you need to ask.

+ Daniel Park, Jay Hong, Zack Lee, Jake Kim, Samuel Seo, Jace Park, Warren Chae, Ryuhei Kuroda, Xiaolong

Physical Touch

Xiaolong: once he is used to you, then absolutely physical touch. This guy is so touch starved, when was the last time he even had an embrace where it wasn't riddled with guilt? Will never get over being able to just reach out and place his hand on your leg, or put his arm around his shoulders. Same reason why he likes to receive.

+ Vin Jin, Logan Lee, Ryuhei Kuroda.

Words of Affirmation

Warren Chae: He's so quiet usually, and never has been very vocal with Sally but she also didn't initially return his affections. Canonically, his sentences and speech got better with his confidence so once you're together? Warren really finds his voice and adores showering you in praises and telling you how much he loves you.

Jihan Kwak: Vibe that he is flirtatious as hell, muttering a lot of sweet nothings that will make you blush and your pulse race.

+ NOT Goo Kim: Honeyed words flow from his mouth to anyone and everyone. Don't bank on anything he says holding a grain of truth.

+ NOT Jake Kim: A bit like Goo Kim, a lot of shit runs from his mouth. Sorry Jake. Jokes, pick-up lines, flirtations, puns. You can't take him seriously half the time and he does it with pretty much everyone.

Quality Time

DG/James Lee: Time is extremely limited for this k-pop idol and one-time limb detacher. If he spends time with you, he must really like you.

Hudson Ahn: Very busy man training, keeping an eye on Ansan and his lackeys, eating snakes in the middle of nowhere with Taesoo. Doesn't give up his time and focus for just anyone.

+ Daniel Park, Zack Lee, Vasco Tabasco, Johan Seong, Gun Park, Goo Kim, Eli Jang, Eugene, Sinu Han, Jace Park

Gifts

Jay Hong: Hard one to place, act of service then split between Gifts and Quality Time but Jay likes traditional gift-giving. Also protects and looks after others with his money too. Will literally buy your way out of trouble. Our capitalist king.

Logan Lee: It's canon.

Johan Seong: To be honest, I imagine him a bit like an outdoor cat, going on adventures and bringing you back gifts that he thinks you'll like. A pair of shoes mysteriously in your size and a bit worn, or maybe just a random flower that was pretty. It was totally Eden and Miro that picked it, not him. Stop looking at him like that!

+Goo Kim, Samuel Seo

Receiving

Acts of service

Actions may speak louder than words, but more because these guys have god complexes and loves you doing things for them.

+ Vin Jin, Goo Kim, Samuel Seo

Physical Touch

Vasco Tabasco: once he's over how deviant touching one another is, he doesn't want you to keep your hands off him. He has a limit though, so please keep the touches quite innocent and pure. Hand holding? YES. Pinching his butt? OBSCENE! (but... maybe... that's ok too.)

DG/James Lee and Gun Park: Not ever on the receiving end of tender touches. Moreso that they're not going to let just anyone get their grubby mitts on them. Something as casual as you linking your arm through theirs? It's different. It's unusual. It's... Nice.

+ Johan Seong, Eugene, Jace Park, Warren Chae, Ryuhei Kuroda, Xiaolong, Hudson Ahn

Words of Affirmation

Daniel Park: Hangover from his childhood, where the only compliments are from his mom. Always nice for him to hear clearly and loudly your love for him. Actually praising his looks though, he can take it or leave it.

Jake Kim: As mentioned, he chats so much shit that he sometimes forgets that being on the receiving end of sincere, loving words can really be beautiful. Especially if they're from you. Genuine compliments and praise will make him blush.

Jibeom Kwak: Middle child syndrome for this and quality time love languages. Attention, please.

+ Zack Lee, Vasco Tabasco, Vin Jin, Jake Kim, Samuel Seo, Jace Park, Warren Chae

Quality Time

What's there to explain? They can't get enough of you. Even something as simple as sitting side by side, scrolling on your own phones. Just being in your presence is enough.

+ Daniel Park, Jay Hong, Zack Lee, Logan Lee, Johan Seong, Jake Kim, Gun Park, Eli Jang, Sinu Han, Ryuhei Kuroda, Jibeom Kwak

Gifts

Goo Kim: Here's a whole little drabble about this. He doesn't need expensive gifts, just tiny small things to show that he's on your mind. Yeah, almost as proof because he's an idiot like that.

Sinu Han: Can't you hear him giggling like a schoolgirl if you handed him a pretty leaf or something?

+ NOT Daniel Park: Jay gave him a wholeass designer wardrobe, and while he was grateful and was clueless about the cost, he didn't seem as fussed as someone who would truly appreciate it as a love language. Finds small things equally nice too.

[aurorialwolf]

Ok I’m feeling better (got burnt out) so now I’m gonna continue my posts about next gen redacted ocs!! I made a custom tag for these posts, so you can click that to see the rest of them :D (it’s tagged on this post)

This time: David’s son, Dante!

- His full name is Dante Gabriel Shaw

- His nickname is probably smth like Danny, so Davey and Danny lol

- He looks a lot like Gabe, his eyes being closer in shade to Gabe’s than David’s, and his facial structure & hair being very similar as well. This makes David both happy and a little sad, which Dante doesn’t understand until he’s a little older and David explains everything about Gabe to him.

- David brings him and Angel to visit Gabe’s grave regularly, and they leave dahlia flowers and honeysuckles (which i stole from other ppls flower hcs sry fhksdhjs)

- He’s besties with Ashlyn (Asher’s daughter) because of course

- He has a sort of inner circle who are all his friends in the pack, so that includes Samuel Jr., Ashlyn, and Milo’s daughter

- He’s always acted like a mini alpha, protecting his friends like David does, he started mimicking David when he was 2, attempting to do speeches to the rest of the pack toddlers

- He shifted for the first time when he was 14, a week before the winter solstice, and while it was painful, he managed pretty okay. His shifted form is very similar to his dad’s (large black wolf in my hc), but with a white swirl pattern on his right flank.

- He is the most responsible in his friend group, making sure they’re all eating, they’re on time, etc. would absolutely be the guy who has all the papers and passports when they go on an international trip.

- He may act a lot like his dad, having a gruff exterior, but it’s mostly a cover, and he can be a little goofball sometimes, like his other parent (Angel)

- He loves playing minecraft, started when he was 5, and co-ops with Angel often to make cool builds

Ok now for official alpha / security company stuff that he’d do!!

- He’s David’s only kid (in this version of things) so he’s naturally expected to become Alpha

- So, he often shadows his dad to important events, as well as security gigs

- One of the major things is he accompanies his dad to Solaire-hosted events, and while his dad greets William and shakes hands with him, Dante greets Emilie (William’s daughter), and shakes hands with her.

- She enjoys messing with him, and has held him in a couple second trance to see how he reacts (like I said in her post, she’s not great with mortals), which he eventually, after a couple meetings, can reliably break out of.

- Usually at these events, he stands around with his dad mostly separated from the vampires, interacting only with those who approach them, because David is worried about him being vulnerable to attacks or trances

- Luckily for him, Samuel Jr. (Sam’s son) is a regular attendee at these events, as William invites him, Vivienne (Vincent’s daughter), and their parents. Of course, Samuel is very protective of his friends, so whenever Dante has been at risk, he’s protected him, albeit maybe too violently, but it gets his point across.

- Now I feel like it’s a good time to mention that Samuel jr and Dante are boyfriends / eventual mates!! So it adds an extra layer considering Samuel has a rightful claim to him (the magic bite thingy), mostly for the purpose of being allowed by vampire law to protect him somewhat violently 👍 (Samuel also visits Gabe’s grave independently to leave flowers, because he’s paranoid about getting permission to date and eventually propose to Dante cuz blah blah tradition even though Gabe wouldn’t care if he were alive)

- He also shadows his dad on security gigs, learning all the best ways to keep large groups safe and orderly in case of an emergency. He also gets properly trained in gun use, just in case, and does pretty alright (they train at a typical gun range after he gets the proper licenses)

- Dante eventually heads his own event security gig, and manages pretty well. He’s doing it with his group of friends, so they goof off a bit over radio, which he scolds them for, though lightheartedly

- He does experience some rough gigs, not ever quite inversion level but there was a time when a clan of vampires descended on a large event being held in a stadium that had similar levels of danger, with luckily less losses

- One day, when Dante is ~25, David gets pretty sick, though is not in any danger, simply is somewhat immobilized and can’t perform his usual duties. Asher takes over, as a beta typically does, but starts trying to convince Dante to take over as alpha, which has been a previous conversation before, especially between Dante and David, but Asher is now making it a bit more urgent, and Dante is resistant to the idea.

- Dante says something along the lines of David not being dead, just sick, so he doesn’t need to take over yet, since he’s scared of taking over so soon. Asher flinches at that, and things become awkward. He eventually apologizes, but Asher insists it’s okay.

- Dante takes some convincing, but eventually decides to step up and take over, after David promises to support him in learning his duties.

- He picks Ashlyn to be his beta, and she does a good job! His takeover of the pack goes pretty well, mostly because everyone was expecting it anyways. David recovers fully, and helps him keep everything orderly, and keeps being in charge of the security company for a few more years before signing that over to him as well.

Taglist: @vegafan69 @darlin-collins @kxemii @professionallyyappin @sereh624

[aineryeo]

Lookism, South Korea — 갱단의 삶. » "The Gangster Life"

J-High School, Central Seoul. In South Korea, offer more than your soul.

Main Masterlist ; The Macrocosm

Warnings: Heavy Spoilers, Violence, NSFW.

*Most of these are going to be short, either one-shots or very few chapters because I still prioritize Marry Me First above all else but I'd like to work on other things every other time too. :-)

௹ Jake Kim (No. 1 Boss of Big Deal from Gangseo)

10 Things I Hate About You (1999): "On the very first day in Jerry Kwon's new school, he instantly falls for Ryang Sang-min, the girl of his dreams. The issue is that Sang-min is forbidden to date until her ill-tempered, completely un-dateable older sister (You) goes and dates someone too. In an attempt to solve his problem, Jerry singles out the only guy who might potentially be a match for Ryang (Name): His Senior and the person he can always rely on, Jake Kim."

*Set in a school environment & an alternate universe where Jake now attends J-High School, this includes the rest of the crew heads & Big Deal. There are no four major crews and no significant gang activity, but Jake is still renowned as Gapryong Kim's son. Sinu Han is also present.

௹ Johan Seong (God Dog of North River Gangbuk)

He's Just Not That Into You (2009): "The lives of these South Koreans overlap as they navigate the complexities and pitfalls of modern relationships as both friends and lovers." — You are tangled in a midst of blind dates and relationships only to be given the best advice you have ever received by a certain man who saw you in your woe after being dumped.

*Set in an alternate universe where the original cast lead relatively normal lives away from the gang life. Johan is sort of a playboy here! His mom is not sick, and his dad is not a deadbeat who is "in America", he's now still friends with Zack Lee and Mira Kim.

௹ Samuel Seo (Workers, 3rd & 4th Affiliate President | Former Big Deal)

W — Two Worlds Apart: In real life, Samuel Seo was just a drawing. You were one of the main artists in the team creating the webtoon alongside Taejun Pak, but after being pulled into the world of Lookism, you get entangled in the gang activity according to the plot... Which means you know exactly what will happen. Which also means... You are the most valuable person that Samuel can get a hold of. Or anyone, for that fact. But no one else has to know that but him.

௹ Kim Joon Goo (Goo Kim)

Bad and Crazy: The duo since the beginning was given a new team member to look after them after a certain circumstance. Two bads, and one crazy... Crazy because you think you could actually hold them both down.

௹ Park Jong Gun / Yamazaki Yuzuru (Gun Park)

Bad and Crazy: The duo since the beginning was given a new team member to look after them after a certain circumstance. Two bads, and one crazy... Crazy because you think you could actually hold them both down.

௹ Kuroda Ryuhei (Workers, 2nd Affiliate Director - Circus | Nomen)

She's Dating the Kagiroi!: In a desperate and stupid attempt to make Mitsuki Soma jealous as well as like him back, Ryuhei forces you to help him after you unknowingly messed up his "ultimate chance" with Mitsuki.

௹ Jace Park (No. 2 of Burn Knuckles, Central Seoul)

Can't Help Falling in Love: You are about to tie the knot with your handsome boyfriend, Choi Jong-in, as set by both your powerful families, but apparently, you're already married to... A complete stranger!?

௹ Euntae Lee (Vasco - Hero of Burn Knuckles, Central Seoul)

Way of the Househusband: It has been years since Euntae Lee, previously known as Hero Man: Vasco in his prime years, was involved in any gang activity. But his fame as the No. 1 of Burn Knuckles... or Leader of the Homeless... or Brekdak's Successor is not so easy to shake off after all...

௹ Eli Jang (Big Daddy - Hostel of Gangdong)

How I Eli Met Your Mother (2014): After Yenna's mom has passed, Eli has put all brakes on his love life. But this is the story of how Eli Jang fell in love again, finding his own "Big Mommy" — Something Warren Chae and Sally Park calls you for fun.

௹ DG / Dagyum Kang (James Lee)

W — Two Worlds Apart (DG Edition): In real life, DG a.k.a. James Lee in the past was just a drawing. You were one of the main artists in the team creating the webtoon alongside Taejun Pak, but after being pulled into the world of Lookism, you get entangled in the gang activity according to the plot... Which means you know exactly what will happen. The catch? Well, let's just say DG already met you way before he changed identities. And he's been looking for you ever since you've disappeared that day; to him, years. To you? A couple of days.

*This is set in a universe where instead of meeting Samuel Seo first, you meet DG instead. [Requested 📌]

Original Art Gallery: What you are visualized as + Scenes from the series with multiple characters (mostly from the characters listed above) !

10 Things I Hate About Jake Kim - Jake's outfits!

[kitheking]

Redacted Awards 2024 🌟 my submission post

hihihi so i nominated myself for Samuel Collin’s #1 fan and this is my attempt at convincing you why i should win. you might wanna sit down for this one <3

1. Sam’s playlist is how i discovered the Redacted Audio community bc he was the first character I ever listened to

2. he’s southern and I have spent half of my life being in the south so him and i are basically soul tied

3. I knew Sam was the Duke of the Solaire Clan WAY before it was revealed because i had a dream about it

4. i also had a hunch his eyes were brown pre-turning. i’m just that good.

5. Even after listening to other RA characters like Milo, Vincent, David (some of my other fav characters when i first started listening to the channel) etc, I was still drawn to Sam (because his character is written so well)

- I honestly love how we still don’t know everything about Sam’s life pre-turning in detail besides his relationship with his grandma. like he’s so mysterious

- he was originally a flawed character (when he was featured in Fredericks storyline) and that’s honestly what drew me to him more

6. he knows what the omegaverse and uses his knowledge to tease the pack, which is something i would 100% do (were like the same person)

7. He’s my comfort character, and I have rewatched his playlist so many times to the point where I have the: Moonlit Meeting With a Vampire, Vampire Tends to Your Injuries, Getting Closer to Your Vampire Mate, Cuddles and Confessions With Your Vampire Mate, Warming Up With Your Vampire Mate, Solstice Party With The Werewolf Pack, Going All the Way With Your Vampire Mate, Your Vampire Mate Makes You a Promise, Your Vampire Mate Tries to Learn a Video game, Cuddling Up and Watching a Scary Movie With Your Vampire Mate, Heating Up In The Bedroom w/ Your Vampire Mate Audios ALL memorized bar for bar…. and the moving in audio.. and cuddly morning audios (with and without asher)… and all the quinn audios.. uhhh the valentine’s day one…. all his lines in the summit and inversion… and the club one. Yeah i think that’s it. Oh yeah and the HBS one in the pool. Can you believe i just typed all that? 🔥

8. I have never related to an asmr listener more than i have related to darlin

9. I actually start to tweak when I go more than 3 months without a new Sam audio (i was struggling until i heard from him in the wedding audio)

10. my bio has included a Sam quote for 2 years now

11. here’s a few of my posts about sam that i think represent how much i think of him

majority of my posts have something to do w him and i post the most when a new sam audio drops

12. His favorite season is fall. guess what my favorite season is? BOOM. Guess what season my birthday just so happens to be in? EXACTLY.

13. Sam’s character helped me realize that I should never be ashamed to ask for help and that I never have to struggle alone

14. Umm this post? like c’mon i dare you to say i’m not dedicated

okay i’ll stop now! honestly my chance of winning is low cause there’s like a billion other people who are nominated for Sam’s #1 fan but that’s ok! if any of said ppl see this post good luck!

@plaqying thank you for coming up with this i’m genuinely so excited wether i win anything or not

[vylithscat]

coming to meet your parents - obey me! hcs

trying to be a little more consistent with posts, so here's a couple thoughts that came to mind when discussing families with a friend! {also, don't mind any format changes, trying new things!}

prompt: you've got a visit with your parents coming up, but you're not sure who'd be a good choose to bring.. genre: general, you/your pronouns, gn!mc pairings: bros + dateables (minus luke)

You were visiting home soon, very soon actually, and your family wanted to meet these new brothers. After you said that you met them on an exchange program, they were all very sweet towards you.. And who knows what else you spurted out when rambling on and on about them. Your parents always gave you weird looks when you talked about how good they were, and you never realized when you talked about it until they cut in, “Are you sure they’re everything you say they are?”

With a pounding headache creeping up at the thought of all seven of them coming up with you and causing chaos in your parents home, you snapped your pencil lead and cursed under your breath before looking through your bag for your sharpener, only for a familiar hand to appear beside you with one in his palm.

“How’s my favorite student doing?”

“Oh, haha,” You dryly responded, your nose scrunching up at Solomon as you took his sharpener, “You only said that because I snapped my pencil, huh?”

“You were also staring rather intensely at your paper beforehand.” You let out a sigh and began explaining your situation to him, his face beamed and you couldn’t help but worry at the look of pure joy on his face as the two of you approached..

Lucifer

He didn’t like the idea when it came from Solomon

But then he saw your pleading eyes,, He can’t say no to you,,

When going up, he goes by Lucien around family

He doesn’t need to act any different really, but he doesn't exactly go with the flow, so..

But for the most part, you’re fine sending yourself up with Lucifer!

Don’t stumble over his name though, he might correct you incorrectly

Your parents will most likely enjoy your time with him

Well spoken, good manners, and looks put together when he first steps in the house

I mean, have you seen his outfit in the human world? C’mon..

Bring him along for some tea, lunch, really anything involving food and drink and a quick chat, he shouldn’t be a problem

Just be sure somebody will be able to check on his brothers while you’re gone

Mammon

He doesn’t like being called Mason

But if it’s you, he might give it a chance..

Don’t go out somewhere, he’ll somehow end up blowing his money and setting a bad first impression

Leave any money at home, seriously..

Away from gambling, he’s a great time!

Good humor, really chipper and generally a good man

Just don't let ANY bets get on the table no matter what, please..

Keep your time busy with eating and chatting

Follow it up by some board games or card games if you’re up for it

You could be up late at night, fucking around, and your parents would get a nice impression

As long as you keep bribes and bets out of the photo, you’re fine

Leviathan

Unlike everyone else, he didn’t need to go by anyone else, so slipping up wasn’t a worry!

But getting him to even come with you?.. Good luck

He’ll be practically begging you to think it over, invite someone else

Literally anything to get out of it.. He loves you, but not other normies

He’ll be beyond nervous meeting your parents

You don’t have much to worry about unless somebody brings up anime or TSL

Really quiet, nervous shuffles while you eat

Find a way to include games into the bonding, one that he could pick up as easily as any other game

Although he might get a little ramble-y in his explanations, it shows he’s very passionate!

Your parents most likely will find him sweet, a bit on the quiet side though

And, praise him afterwards.. That was a lot for his shut-in otaku self..

Satan

If you call him ‘Sully,’ even for a joke, he’s gonna lose it. So, Samuel it is! (please..)

He’s well spoken and usually doesn’t cause problems, unless he’s pissed, so really do anything

Best bet would most likely be a café, cat themed, maybe with books and actual cats

He’ll be in absolute BLISS

But save it for the end, especially if your parents like cats too, just to end it off on a high note

Will be fine with giving book recommendations to your parents

He can do most other things though, that’s just your best bet

Parents want to have a chat over some coffee? Sure, about what?

A dinner? Fine by him, he’ll try anything

As long as they don’t get under his skin too much, he won’t have a problem

And your parents didn’t have a problem either, they find him knowledgeable and friendly

And if they saw him with cats, they believe he’s more gentle when alone with you, so they're happy

Asmodeus

He finds his human name of Atlas to be very alluring

So he doesn’t mind, but you need to make it up to him

Fuck, good luck with him though..

He’s really bad at holding his tongue about you and anyone who’s attractive to him

Not to mention he’s an influencer, so he may care about photos before touching any food

And you can’t really take away an influencer’s phone..

But, if your mom enjoys makeup and nails, they’ll get along fine

And if you’re dad’s open minded, they’ll get along fine

It all depends on what your parents are like, really

For the most part it can go super well, or super bad!

Not saying to not to pick him, just,, know it’s a dice roll

Beelzebub

He didn’t understand the whole human name thing,,

Beel isn’t a bad name is it? Regardless he’ll go along with the Bryan thing

There’s no way your parents can hate this gentle giant

I imagine he looks terrifying but then he starts talking and you can’t feel anything but safe

Just be careful on the food wait and how much he eats, or he might get bad looks from your parents

But for the most part he’s a safe choice!

Big ol’ sweetheart, you can’t go wrong if you’re careful

If you’re ever nervous about how he might react to waiting, bring a few snacks

Just explain he’s a sports guy and maybe they’ll look past the absolute speed at which he eats

Overall, your parents will probably feel good about Beel

Just,, warn them if he’s coming, so they can cook some extras or cancel the outing plans,, please.

Belphegor

He was half asleep when you explained meeting your parents and the whole him being called Beau for the day..

He shrugged, “Okay.” Slept again.

When he realized how soon it was coming up..

He didn’t get enough sleep for him to stay awake really

Best to go to some sort of observatory with stars so he can point out anything he knows, either directly or indirectly to your parents

He is practically falling asleep on you though, so good luck

When he is asleep, just explain he’s been working hard and must’ve exhausted himself

Parents will be concerned, but understanding (hopefully)

When he is awake though, let him enjoy the stars and the silence

You may need a few more visits for your parents to form a proper opinion, though..

Diavolo

A chance to go to the human world and avoid his work!?

Sign him UP!.. Oh, a new name? Damien? Okay!

He’s gonna accidentally introduce himself of Diavolo, no matter what

Your parents are,, confused to say the least

I mean, you’re with a man who owns a HOTEL? Definitely hit high, kiddo..

Good news, you don’t have to worry about stumbling over things!

Bad news, Diavolo wants to experience so many new things in the human world that it may slip he wishes he had it back home

Even simple things, like certain fair foods,, like hot dogs.

It confuses your parents beyond belief but you can play it off that he was sheltered (I mean, he was..)

Overall, they have a fun time! Taking him to an amusement park was a great idea

They saw a great man who was willing to experience new things, aside from thrill rides..

Bring the man back, he really wants to experience that again :(

Barbatos

His duties should take priority, but Diavolo gave him permission to go for the day

With a cleared schedule and a carefully picked out outfit,, fuck does he make a good impression

But, he’s stiff and really wants to help out, especially with things like teas

To a point your parents are furrowing their brows at you

And you aren’t about to force Barbatos to not be a butler, it’s in his nature by now

Once he does sit, he doesn’t answer much about him

But he always smiles when he responses, is quick to refill drinks and checks on you often if you seemed stressed or tired

It’s a great impression, showing he deeply cares for you

And that he comes off as hardworking or at least caring for others

So, you really can’t lose unless your parents have problems with not knowing everything at once

Just,, know if you fall asleep at all, he may lightly tease you with your parents

Simeon

Seriously, how can you fail with bringing him?

When he found out from Solomon you needed a plus-one, he offers to join you if nobody else can

Accept on the spot or later, he’ll manage to bring something for your parents

Usually some food, like his sandwiches, or something Luke made with proper praise of the boy

Your parents do accidentally assume that Luke’s your son though..

Consider dismissing that before Simeon starts joking at having kids

Aside from the first-first impression, he’s overall very sweet

He can talk about anything for a good amount of time, and always has honeyed words about you

If your parents manage to bring up TSL, slip in that he wrote it

It’s good praise, albeit a bit embarrassing for Simeon

But if your parents enjoy the series, meeting the author would be nice!

They feel blessed to have him in your life,,

(Regardless if they know he’s an author or not)

Solomon

Yeah, this was his idea, but after all the trial and error..

You invited him instead of the demons, for your own sanity

His title carries some weight, so there’s no doubt he’s known by your parents

But you assure them he’s not as bad as the rumors say

Get used to him intentionally trying to embarrass your ass, because he will do it ALL the time

If you’ve told your parents about your training, he’ll non-stop praise you and your skills

If not, he’ll praise your general learning skill and how you’re a great listener

In any sense, you’ll be very embarrassed by the end

Your parents will give you many smiles and laughs about it too

He does say some stuff weird, and dances around personal questions, but that's about it

He’s not a bad choice at all, just a little odd for a human

Your parents will get a good impression of him and (hopefully) change their views about him

[melljam]

gosh this facial expression samuel makes is sooo interesting to me >_<

looong analysis below

only skimmed over some chapters to find it so im not sure if this is necessarily always the case but so far, all the instances ive seen of it have been in relation to samuels inferiority complex and jake

all of situations have been ones where samuel is evidently unstable (because of jake) and yet he can still look strangely calm while being in a manic state , which is considerably unsettling and adds some depth to his unwell behavior beyond “i will beat your ass reeeaally hard” (which is fun but ouhh the psychological aspects of his fights are so interestingg)

-> first image (and its context)

from chapter 311, samuels cruel treatment of the big deal girls prompt them to protest the conditions that he is forcing them to work in to make a 100k won in a month. yeonhui tries to bring up jake and how he would never do this to them and samuel immediately responds by trying to hit her (thank god jerry intervened)

when i first read this chapter and saw this scene i was so enamored with it because oh my god . its just so indicative of samuels character and how much his feelings of inferiority get to him. he doesnt care that he was about to hit yeonhui in front of everyone, he only knows that she compared him to jake and insinuated that jake is better than him, which strikes his sorest spot in the worst way possible (and no one truly understands why)

samuel got a lot more expressive after the big deal arc but his eyes in that picture say so much . he is brimming with rage and jealously over the mere mention of jakes name and comparison to him. the implication that jake could have done better, would have done better, than him just destroys any of his self esteem and sense of achievement while also bringing back all of the grief over feeling like he is no longer on equal footing with jake. he is being reminded of how he is now below him in every aspect (morally, family-wise due to gapryong, and later on in terms of strength since he loses against jake)

he is overwhelmed with his emotions and the only way that it can play out on his face is with a seemingly neutral expression displaying a crazed ache deeply ingrained into his eyes

-> second and third image

from chapter 466, during jake and samuels fight while samuel is drugged to give him a heightened feeling of inferiority and subsequent mania (or ‘frenzy’ as the official translation puts it)

all of his insecurities and terrible feelings are being intensified and it is absolutely not being helped by the fact he is fighting jake, the catalyst for his inferiority complex.

he is also remembering (and experiencing in his delusions) the sequence of events that happened during middle school: meet his real dad and committing patricide, learning that jake is gapryongs son, failing to receive guns approval twice, and becoming goos secret friend

(okay this is a side tangent but i love how this chapter was written to include all of that. the scene where samuel chokes alexander and sees his dad in him, the way he saw middle school jake and his own middle school self after re-realizing that jake is gaps son, the way he keeps on quoting people to show how much those events still affect him. its all written so gut wrenchingly well. i love the mental anguish)

he is effectively feeling his worst throughout this entire fight, and his face spells it outright for us

the second picture is samuels reaction to jake grabbing his collar after he ‘sentences him to death’ and lands a bunch of hits on him in tandem. this is probably looking waaaay too deep into it (but so is this entire post ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) however it almost like samuel is being reminded of his perceived inferiority simply by being stopped by jake. even though he cant be gapryongs son, he can still be stronger than him, right? right? jake continually disprove this and no matter how strong samuel gets, jake always seems to come out on top regardless.

in the third picture samuel is stepping away from his frenzied insanity (and the terrible, terrifying facial expressions that he makes because of it) to quietly question why it is that the universe has put jake in front of him to make him feel awful all over again, with a similar neutral face that displays undertones of distress and misery

and here he says it directly! jake shows up and makes samuel feel pathetic no matter what happens and its just … so perfect how his solemn face reflects how utterly defeated he is by that feeling

the way he is stepping on jake here, quite literally on top of him, yet he still feels lesser to him. he can beat jake up all he wants while smiling but at the end of it? he is still left with a burning feeling of inferiority that never gets resolved. and he can only wonder why that is

the frustration from not being able to figure it out overwhelms him, and thus causes the sudden change of his expression to a serious one. this is the issue that plagues his entire character and so it is only fitting that he reserve a special look for it; one of somber neutrality as the only way he can express his feelings of defeat and inadequacy

-> stylistic analysis

so all of that covered the context which surrounds that facial expression and the psychological aspects of it. while that serves to make the expression impactful as the culmination of all of those factors, the way that his face is artistically depicted also plays into its effect

i mentioned the look in his eyes before when discussing the first image, so lets just build onto that point of a crazed ache in his eyes by explaining why it evokes that feeling. his irises are small and much of the white of his eyes are showing, which is a stylistic choice that usually signals to us that a characters mental health has plummeted

his eyes are also shown to look like that in his other frenzied faces, but the contrast of his crazed eyes with the rest of his emotionless features distinguishes it well

and the second artistic choice i would like to point out is the use of lighting and shadows to depict his face to the audience

shadows are a very useful tool for artists to convey emotion on seemingly neutral or indifferent expressions as a little signal for the reader that the character is seriously ticked off but attempt to not show it

in all of the images, the light source seems to behind his head and leaves his face in the shadows. this lighting conveys a sense of seriousness along with undertones of horror. his somber expression is incredibly unsettling in contrast to all of the emotional turmoil he is feeling, and the use of shadows excels at giving us this visual cue

and its very interesting how the lighting stays consistent whenever he makes a face, signaling a certain emotion (of disdain? of grim comtemplation?? something along those lines i think) each time

final thoughts

well, my first final thought is that i wrote too much about this and somehow managed to overanalyze three panels into a little mess of angsty mush but it was sure fun :)

but secondly, i love how ptj does facial expressions, of course samuels faces in particular (this whole post is about him after all) since he is always so incredibly expressive. i love unhinged samuel, i love his ‘actively in mental decline’ faces. so freaky, so awesome ^_^

third and lastly, the parallels for samuel throughout the story are so, so interesting. i had to resist multiple tangents that go waaay beyond the scope of this post while writing it because of the sheer amount of stuff i found out i wanted to write about. so i will likely be writing more about that stuff in the future :p

thanks for reading !!!

[jokeroutsubs]

Nace Jordan on the cover of Slovenian tabloid Lady (22 February 2023)

Nace Jordan from the band Joker Out

"They even impressed grandma Marija"

Nace Jordan is not a new name on the Slovenian music scene, as his bass guitar can be heard in many songs by various music artists, and we also spent some time with him on the entertainment show 'V Petek Zvečer' (On Friday Night). But he, of course, is having the time of his life since he became an indispensable member of the hottest music band in Slovenia at the moment, our Eurovision representatives, Joker Out.

"The rest of the guys tell me that I can just chill and be happy because I joined them now when they're having the best of times," says Nace Jordan, who can't hide his excitement about becoming a member of Joker Out. "I'm very positive by nature and I find something good in everything, and coming into the band is definitely one of the best things that has happened to me." He also feels a little troubled about it, though. "What if someone says that now that Nace has come into the group, it's going downhill. You never know, that's just how I think," he says self-critically, but he has nothing to fear. Bojan Cvjetičanin, the singer of the group, knew who he was calling when he invited him for a coffee. "Having jumped into some bands before as a substitute, I knew it could be very difficult. Especially if there are some disagreements in the band. So I first asked Bojan if they had had a fight. And him confirming to me that they didn't was the decisive factor that made me accept the invitation," says the 28-year-old from Kranj.

Caption 1: Nace Jordan is the newest and the oldest member of the band Joker Out.

From dreams to reality

Nace joined the band with a wealth of musical experience, as the description of his work states that he is a musician, bassist and producer. But he started -like most young people- with the dream of becoming a singer. "I loved to sing when I was little and I always said I would be a singer when I grew up. Then my cousin, Miha Zore, also a musician, inspired me to pick up the guitar for the first time.

At home, they didn't want to buy it for him because they were convinced that his first enthusiasm would soon pass. Then he found his mother's old guitar at his grandmother's house, and he practised so hard that his parents relented. However, he switched to bass guitar quite early on, because he realised that there was a shortage of bass guitarists in this country. He says he is self-taught, but he has had some very good mentors, including Primož Grašič, Matej Hotek and Englishman Scott Devine, who has one of the biggest bassist schools on YouTube today. There are also his musical friends Denis Beganović - Kiki, a renowned multi-instrumentalist from the Primorska region, who played with Magnifico for a long time, and his drummer colleagues David Morgan, who plays with Avtomobili, and Anže Langus, who he says believed in him, supported him and opened many doors for him. "I'm grateful to all of them for passing on their knowledge and encouraging me," he says modestly, adding that he also had a hand in writing down the tunes. "That's why they call me a musical jukebox. I am lucky that I learn a tune quickly and remember it quickly. Today, for example, I still know all 200 songs, including quite a few German shlager songs, that I played on a cruise ship one summer, by heart."

Nace earned his first real money from music when he went to play on a cruise ship at the age of 18. "At a jam session in Kranj, I met musicians who told me about working on the ship. I auditioned and was selected. We then cruised the Baltic with Maja Založnik and others and played," he says, easily recalling those days. It is much harder when he has to remember all the musicians he later worked with as a bassist. "I have fond memories of working with Katarina Mala. I loved playing with Samuel Lucas and his band. I accompanied Nina Pušlar a few times. I consider it an honour to have worked with Elda Viler. And I could go on and on." But he prefers to stop, because he really doesn't want to forget anyone, and he admits that he will miss his musical friends from V petek zvečer (On Friday Night), with whom he had a great time for two years. He is now saying goodbye to them, as he would not be able to bear being on two ends at the same time. At the same time as saying goodbye to the show, he is also saying goodbye to the hat that has been his trademark for many years. "I put that hat on my head for the first time in 2013 and people liked it so much that they kept asking me about it. Then it started annoying me because I realised that people thought I was bald. So I took it off, because I have a fine haircut," he explains with a laugh, running his fingers through his hair.

Caption 2: "The real passion is not the music, it's the people you make it with, play it with. And that's what I've got now," says the satisfied Kranj inhabitant. PHOTO: Primož Lavre

Night jogging

As befits a true Gorenjska inhabitant, Nace also likes to ski, but this winter that is not an option. "Just recently, Bojan and I, who is a keen snowboarder like me, were talking about how good it would be to go skiing. But we really can't afford it this year, because it would be unwise to get injured before Eurovision," he says. He still has some sporting activities to do despite Eurovision. "Apart from skiing, I really like swimming, badminton and running. The latter is still the one I do the most, but I'm probably the funniest runner in the world. I'm the slowest and the latest. I like to run between 11 p.m. and midnight. This stayed with me from the days when I was much heavier, and I felt awkward running in the daytime. But I really enjoy running," he admits. Since he's sculpted his physique, he also enjoys looking in the mirror. Nace finds it easy to talk about the period when he was chubby, but he prefers to explain that he feels much better since he started to pay attention to his diet due to health problems. "When I started to watch what I ate, the weight just melted off. I found a lot of useful things online and I've put together a lunch menu of seven dishes that I really like." Nace mostly cooks for himself, but he is also very grateful to his mother Darja for helping him now that he is busy. Even though they have not always been enthusiastic about his musical pursuits, his family has always been there for him. "I listened to them for a long time, wondering 'When will our Nace find a job?', but now I know they are happy for me. They see that I enjoy what I do, that it's such a big part of me that I can't do without it. And just the other day at lunch, my grandmother Marija said: 'Well, now we're going to have a celebrity in the family too?'" he tells, laughing.

Caption 3: He enjoys being on stage because he is always 100% ready to perform.

Article by: Simona Dakič Nemanič

Scans and translation by: @kurooscoffee

[sky-is-the-limit]

I like König purely becuase tall masked man but Gaz. Our man Gaz. He's beautiful. He's committed to what he believes in and he delivers some good one liners. In my eyes it's the same shit different fandom. Whenever a popular piece of media gains traction the only poc characters mysteriously disappear. I want to make it clear to the finicky people of fandoms you don't have to read or write or draw characters you don't like.That being said a discussion needs to be had about how fandoms often treat poc characters. To see people replace the main character with someone not even evolved in the main campaign is mind boggling. "But I don't know Gaz well enough" then you don't know Price well enough seeing as they're with each other most of the campaign. "But the actors sexuality" let me tell yall now how yall don't care. There's plenty of actors whose characters you write for are married with whole ass families or of a different sexuality and you still write their characters ignoring those facts. Yall didn't care before and yall dont care now don't try and act like you have some sort of upper ground. If you're not attracted to Gaz that's fine no one is forcing you to be. But completely writing out his character or not including him in TF 141 edits is mad. There's plenty of fics I've read where Gaz is not the main love interest but more of a friend/brotherly figure but at least he is there and the writer does his character justice. But I will say the Gaz fics are some of the fluffiest ones I've read. Real heart warming stuff.

AMEN. I also thirst after König because he's a big masked man, I devour all the smut content and the edits, I'm as thirsty as the next hoe in this place, there's nothing wrong with thirsting after König or Keegan or whoever else. There's also nothing wrong with NOT thirsting after Gaz, like no one is forcing someone to like a character they don't, that's just stupid. Also if you haven't played the games because you don't have access to do so or even don't want to that's totally valid and fine, many people read the wikis/watch vids/engage with the fandom and that's really cool to see, even if you're just here to thirst, been there done that.

With that being said, the stupid excuses that raise concern in this fandom are totally valid to be talked about. 1) "I'm not attracted to Gaz/I don't add him in 141 thirst content because Elliot is gay" What does the actor's sexuality have to do with the character? As far as I know Gaz' sexuality is nowhere discussed or confirmed, same way for the rest of the characters so why on earth does Elliot's sexuality matter in this context?

I don't see this being a big deal to people who ship Ghost x Soap since Neil and Samuel are only involved with women irl because guess what? It.doesn't.matter. They're ACTORS. Their personal lives have nothing to do with the characters they portray so why is it only an issue when it comes to Gaz/Elliot?

2) "I don't know him well enough." From that it's clear that you haven't played the games cause Gaz is literally who you play as in both MW1/MW2 so you know him as much as Price and MORE than Ghost or Soap. Which again, it's totally fine but when it's paired with König who you literally don't know cause that mf has only 1 paragraph on his wiki and the only thing said about him is that he had anxiety growing up (that some people infantilize and it's weird) in freaking 141 content that he has NOTHING to do with but leave out the first member of TF141 then...?

I've had many people under my posts commenting that the way some people treat Gaz in this fandom feels kinda racist and I admit this was not my initial thought due to me being privileged enough to not have it as such but after reading all these comments it does seem that way for some (like I said many do it due to either thirsting after masked men or haven't played/bothered with the games) and it's not fucking okay cause that goes further than fiction (someone said that 'oh they're fictional, they don't care if they're included or not' yeah Emily but you're excluding a 141 member from 141 content who happens to be a poc and his VA/FA is a gay man so let's talk about it.)

To the people who get annoyed/upset that I talk about this as if I don't have the right to, if you're in a fandom you can talk about the things you don't like/criticise certain behaviour without it being "such a big deal" since we're talking about fictional characters, when people are engaging with a fandom, spend hours reading/watching/playing content, they're also allowed to talk about things they don't like in said fandom. Relax.

Anyway, stan Kyle 'Gaz' Garrick cause he's the coolest mf in MW ✌️

[cursed-elements-blog]

mmm yummy perspectives thank you for giving your imput on this little man, by the by, turning back the clock by 100 or so years what is your opinion on chunter 0 . o*, Samuel ayers?

*[parsed zero 'point' oh] (felt the need to include this because i would be too dumb to get it and would only see it as the 0.o face)

Sam "Mr Misfortune" Ayers oh boy!

love Sam, he can be aloof and he has a dry sense of humor and i love that in protagonists. he's fascinating cause like, he's bitter about his circumstances and life and yet he has this sense of god-fearing self sacrificial-ness? like he kinda believes that he deserves some of the shit that's happening to him while ALSO romanticizing the idea of leaving and restarting his life and that's some good shit.

I think Sam is at his strongest in terms of writing in Murdoch's route and Cliff's. now i haven't read the last six or so TSR updates (busy girl here) so i can't really talk about his current character in Nik's and Will's but ough Sam in Cliff and Murdoch's routes is so fucking good. His interactions with the Byrnes family, Blithe, the traveling group in Cliff's route, the Meseta, OUGHGH!! it's like, god he's so well written there. just seeing how he takes in the world around him and processes it vs his own goals and how he grows and changes as he gets close to the people around him.

like he can definitely be warm and accommodating, especially when working, but he is undeniably selfish in his actions beyond that and i really like his sense of action (especially compared to other vn protags *cough cough* adastra). he isn't like, malicious, just kinda reckless and very self-serving

great character! love that gougar

[lukeevangelista]

imagine joe burrows little sister dating a umich hockey boy (maybe one of the sophs) and when she tells him he gets all protective

Burrow’s Sister

Here’s the long awaited Burrow!Reader fic..

Enjoy

I’m including Sam in this… well bc I love Sam. I don’t have an actual excuse

Also you didn’t specify which year so SURPRISE! Enjoy and find out who the boy i went with is!

———————————————————————————-

“Of all schools, it had to be someone from Michigan?” Sam chuckled as you walked down the hallway with him, looking for your brother.

You had came down to visit and catch the Ravens game during your school break and obviously see your family while you were in town.

Being close to Sam, Sam had agreed to help you around the facility to find your brother. Plus, Sam was like another brother to you. You had been around, especially when you came down to see your family and Joe, long enough to know most of the boys that were still in Cincinnati since Joe had been there.

When you came down, Joe and Olivia were more than happy to host you, especially because while you did love your parents, they could be overbearing at times and Joe knew this. With him not getting to see you often due to school for you and football for him, he was over the moon when you asked to stay with him.

“I mean..” you awkwardly laughed, “you can’t still be holding a grudge years later Sam.”

“Hey! Once a Buckeye, always a Buckeye.”

“I hate you.” You sighed before letting out a soft chuckle.

Sam tossed his arm around your shoulder, “C’mon, I think he’s in the weight room.” He said, “Can’t wait to watch him flip.”

**

You chickened out.

You did not tell Joe about Johnny. Joe was already upset about some things and you decided not to press the issue with telling him about Johnny.

“You-“ Sam facepalmed as you two walked out of the weight room, “You should have told him. Because when Jason-“

“Johnny.” You corrected.

“Right- shows up Sunday, Joe isn’t going to be too happy with you and liable to go all protective on you. You know how he is.” Sam said, “Don’t forget how he was about Tristan.”

“Yeah I know.” You sighed, “but don’t forget he was right about Tris tho- as much as I hate to admit it.”

“Oh trust me. He didn’t shut up for weeks about him being right.” Sam mentioned as he opened the front door for you, “We’re all just glad you wisened up because he was literal trash.”

“Oh I know.” You chuckled as Sam walked you to your car, “I’ll see you later Samuel.”

“I told you to stop calling me that!” He playfully shouted as he started to walk back towards the building.

“Never!” You yelled out the window, his flipping you off as you pulled out of the parking lot.

****

“Hi baby.” Johnny grinned as he walked up to you in the parking lot. You were currently tailgating with Olivia and some of the other wives and girlfriend, waiting to enter the stadium.

Johnny had to arrived later than you because of Michigan playing Ohio State that Friday and Saturday night. You were worried he wouldn’t make it, but he assured you he would be there and that he wouldn’t miss it for the world.

“Hi honey.” You wrapped your arms around his waist, feeling him pull you in close as you heard the murmurs from around you.

“Going to introduce us?” Olivia asked as she gave Johnny a small wave, him offering a soft smile as you pulled away from him.

“This is Johnny. My boyfriend.” You said, your voice fading out with the last words as you looked towards the sky, tucking your hands in your back pockets. 

“Boyfriend?” Olivia choked on the sip of beer she took, Paige lightly smacking her back as she let out a splutter of coughs, “Joe is going to murder you for keeping this from him.” 

“Oh I’m prepared and I’ve warned Johnny.” You nervously chuckled, “Besides, how mad can he be?”

**

“Don’t be mad.” Olivia said as she laced her hand with Joe’s, him not seeing you with your parents just yet. More importantly, not seeing Johnny just yet.

“Why would I be mad?” He asked as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

“Oh, just wait.” She sighed, “We also might have a slightly unexpected guest tonight.”

“What do you mean slightly?” Joe cocked an eyebrow at her, her shrugging.

“Oh you’ll see.”

Joe and Olivia had finally made their way over to your family. A scowl appeared on Joe’s face the moment he saw you wrapped in an unfamiliar faces arms. 

His little sister? With some man he didnt recognize? Who had facial hair? No way. 

“And you are?” Joe asked, his chest puffing out slightly as he eyed Johnny up and down, clearly judging him. 

“John Beecher.” Johnny unraveled his hand from yours, holding it out to shakes Joe’s, who just ignored it. 

“Got it.” He snidely replied as Olivia nudged him the ribs.

“Play nice.” She whispered causing him to roll his eyes at his girlfriend, “I’m assuming well see you at home?” She asked as she watched you nod.

“I think we’re going to go to mom and dad’s and then we’ll be over to settle in. J has his stuff in my car so we’ll get him unpacked for the week.”

Olivia nodded, bidding you both goodbye as Joe followed her to his car.

“Week?!” Joe practically shrieked as they both got into the car, “No fucking way is that.. fuck boy staying with us.” 

“He seems nice Joe.” She sighed, “Give him a chance.” she continued, “Don’t forget. You were once that boy too and she’s not twelve anymore.”

Joe let out a grumble under his breath as he started the car. 

**

“He’s not staying here.” Joe grumbled to you ask you sat down beside him, you rolling your eyes.

“Olivia said it was okay.”

“Well you’re not staying in the same room.”

“Liv said it was fine.”

“I did.” Olivia said as she walked into the room.

“You’re being just as overbearing as mom right now J.” You replied, it coming out a little harsher than intended, “Maybe I should have just stayed with mom.”

“Maybe you should have.” He remarked, “At least I wouldn’t have some random dude that’s probably boning my sister in my house.”

“Fuck you Joe.” You hissed as you stood up, “When you’re over whatever this is, then we’ll talk.” You continued, “Until then, just leave me alone.”

“Where are you going?”

“Somewhere where you’re not.” You said as you walked up the stairs to the room you were staying in. 

Olivia glared at Joe, him tossing his hands up at her, “What?” He asked, his voice laced with slight hostility. 

“You Joe.” She grumbled, “You’ve gotta give this whole protective bullshit up. This is absolutely insane. You’re going to push her away with this.”

Joe let out a groan, knowing she was right as he looked towards her.

“Why are you taking her side?” He asked.

“Because I’ve been in that position with brothers who didn’t like the guy I was dating.” She said causing him to raise his eyebrows at her.

“Oh yeah? Who didn’t they like?” He questioned.

“You.” She stated.

“Wait there’s no way they didn’t like-”

“Don’t try and defend yourself now Burrow. They hated you.” She said, “And you wanna know why?” She watched his reaction, continuing once she saw him nod, “It was because they thought you were exactly how you think that poor boy upstairs is. A complete fuck boy who was going to hurt their sister. Use her and leave her in the dust when he went pro.”

Joe stayed silent as he listened to Olivia speak, “I think you need to give him and chance and I think you need to give her more credit than you do. She’s a smart girl. She’s been hurt once and I know she won't let the same mistake happen again. You and I both know this.” She stated, “I think you need to go makeup with her Joe.” she patted his leg as he let out a sigh, knowing she was right, “I think you should get to know him before you start judging him. He seems like a nice guy and your sister really likes him babe.” 

**

The tension in the room was thick as you sat down.

“I heard.” He said, “I can leave if I need to sweetheart. I don’t want me being here to cause a rift.”

“It’s not J.” You let out a heavy sigh, “Joe is just being Joe. He was like this with the last guy. It’s just a protective thing- he just doesn’t want me getting hurt.”

“I understand that Y/N, but I also don’t want to be the reason you two fight all week either.”

“I’m not doing this.” You stated as you pinched the bridge of your nose, “He’ll get over it. He’s just- he’s Joe. I’m his little sister.” You said as you looked towards Johnny, watching his face change, “I’m his only little sister.” You reiterated, “He’s naturally more protective. He’s always been like this. It’s nothing new-“

“It isn’t.” You heard Joe’s voice butt in, both yours and Johnny’s head snapping towards the door frame, seeing Joe standing there with his arms across his chest, “and it’ll never change.” He said as he walked into the room.

“When did you-“

“I’ve been standing there a couple of minutes.” He chuckled, “but that’s besides the point Y/N.” He continued as he sat down on the desk chair before rolling over to be in front of you and Johnny, “I’ve just been thinking and I was being an ass. You’re my little sister Y/N-“

“Yeah we’ve established that.”

“Okay smartass.” He chuckled, “as I was saying, I’ll always be protective. That’ll never stop. But what will stop is me questioning your choices. You’re a smart girl. You know what you’re doing.” He said, “I have faith in that.”

“Did Olivia tell you to say this?” You scowled. Your brother would never-

“No. She didn’t.” He said, reassuringly, “Maybe a little nudge, but this all from me, not Liv. I need to realize you’re not a child anymore. You’re a young lady who can make her own decisions. You’ve got this.” He said, “and I know you’ll come to me if anything happens and you know I’ll be there. In a heartbeat.”

You leaned forward, quickly wrapping your arms around Joe’s neck, him reciprocating the action, “Thank you Joe.”

“You’re welcome.” He said as he pressed a kiss to the side of your head before you detached yourself from him.

He gave you a grin as he stood up, the chair sliding backwards hitting the wall with a soft thud.

“I’m Joe.” He said as he held his hand out to Johnny, Johnny immediately standing up as he realized what was going on.

“Nice to meet you Joe, I’m Johnny.” Johnny said as he shook his hand.

“Now c’mon downstairs, I think we need to get to know you better.” Joe grinned, “I think you’ll be sticking around for a while.”

“Does this mean he doesn’t have to move his stuff?” You laughed as you watched Joe whip around, his eyes glaring at you before them softening, “Too far?”

“Just no funny business, okay?” He sighed.

“Deal.” You letting out another laugh as you three made it down the stairs.

Olivia was sitting on the couch, her watching their every move as she saw Johnny and Joe start to joke around as you both sat down beside her, Joe on the other side.

With a soft smile on your face, you cuddled into Johnny’s side as his arm was slung over your shoulder as you watched two of the most important men in your life starting to finally get along, warming your heart to no end.

“Thank you for coming.” You whispered as you looked up at him.

“Thank you for having me.” He grinned as he pressed a kiss to your forehead.

“Gross.” Joe muttered under his breath before letting out a chuckle at your reaction.

“Fuck off Burrow.” You whipping your head around, staring at him.

“You first.”

“Go to bed you little shit,” he said as he reached over, giving your head a light shove, “You all will have an early morning.”

“Wait- why?”

“You’re crazy if you think we don’t have stuff planned.” He said as he stood up, “Goodnight kid.” He wrapped his arms around you, giving you a tight squeeze.

“Goodnight Joe.” You whispered into his chest, wrapping your arms around his waist, your cheek smooshed against him. “Love you.”

“Love you more.” He said, “Now get to bed. We’ve got a long day tomorrow.”

You gave Olivia a side hug as you and Johnny made your way up the stairs.

“I think he likes me.” Johnny grinned from beside you as you two brushed your teeth, getting ready for bed.

“Oh really?” You laughed as you spat the toothpaste into the sink, “I think-“

“Please don’t diminish my hope.” He chuckled.

“You know I can’t do that.” You smiled as you turned towards him, your hands on his shoulders, slowly making their way down his chest, “You know I love ruining your day.” You joked.

“You could never ruin my day.” He said, pressing a kiss to the top of your head, “Never ever.”

You gave him a quick kiss as you two finished getting ready for bed, quickly setting an alarm.

You two laid there for what felt like ever, but in reality, it was only 30 minutes before you rolled over to face him.

“You know, he does like you.” You said, your eyes scanning the profile of his face.

“I figured.” He said, “I’m glad he does. I know he means a lot to you.”

“Good.” You replied, “You mean a lot to me too.” You said, “ Just as much.”

“Good.” He said, pulling you into his chest, you both slowly drifting off to sleep.

[seenoversundown]

Sparrow Of The Dawn : Chapter Five

Sam x Willa (Fem OC)

Warnings: Swearing, One mention of the word 'Daddy', mentions of boners? Mild accidental groping, light talk of spit kink if you squint, a lot of movie references, Jumpscare Warning: Jeremy Allen White, mentions of very minor injury, Girls Night (gender neutral term), guys being dudes, mentions of avoiding a car accident, fluff, and per usual Sam just being his usual self.

Word Count: 8k.

Author’s Note: Taco Bell IS on the boycott list and just included for entertainment purposes. Also, if you need help with figuring out which companies are on the boycott list you can download the “No Thanks” app to keep track!

Summary: Sam unfortunately finds himself in not so meet cute with Willa. Hopeful that he doesn't cross her path again; the world works in mysterious ways and not always in your favor.

That's Not My Name - The Ting Tings “Are you callin' me darlin', are you callin' me bird?”

‘If it weren’t for bad luck, we wouldn’t have any luck at all’ is a phrase my grandfather repeated growing up. I feel that a little more deeply these days, especially when it comes to my truck. As I sit here, willing her to turn over every time I twist the key, I lose a bit more hope. I have got to get her looked at. I pull my phone from my back pocket and text the group chat, praying that someone is awake this early. 

Me: Is anyone awake that loves me enough to drive me into work. Edith wont start again ☹️

Tweedle Dee 🦐: It’s your lucky day.

It only takes about ten minutes before Josh pulls up in his white Jeep truck, and I’ve never been more thankful that we all live so close. 

“You look awfully dapper for 7:30 in the morning,” I remark, eyebrow cocked. 

“And you are just a pair of cargo shorts away from being Steve Irwin, but you don’t hear me questioning you.” He retorts. Touche. “I thought I was dropping you off at the newspaper office?”

“You are, but we’re going to Wolfe’s Neck to take some nature photos for the assignment we’re working on. I’m meeting her at the office first.” Josh and I haven’t spoken much in the last few days; he’s always busy lately, working at the bar or devoid of his phone for hours, so I fill him in on the project.

“An incredible idea, Sammy. All hers, I assume?” He chides.

“Not.. all hers. I helped.” I speak a bit more defensively than I mean to. 

“Convincing.”

“I did! We’re even using a couple of my film cameras because I’m so nice.” I further defend my stance.

He pulls up to the curb, effectively cutting our conversation short, thankfully, and I exit his car.

“Sam!” He yells jovially, and I turn around, his window fully unrolled. “Have a good day, Sammy Boy! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” He twists the dial on his stereo volume. The soundtrack of my suffering plays to the tune of ‘Barbie Girl’ by Aqua. I wave him ‘goodbye’ with a simple middle finger as he drives off. As I make my way back to the front door, there she is. 

Birdie. 

She greets me with, “I bet he’s a nightmare in the morning.”

“You have no idea.” I reach for the door, opening it for us both and letting her walk in first because I am a gentleman; however, I am still a pain in the ass. “Is it not too early in the morning for my voice today?” 

“It's always far too early to hear your voice, Samuel.” She presses the button on the elevator and twists her shoulders toward me. 

“How are we supposed to work together if you refuse to talk to me, huh?”

“It’s not like taking pictures requires conversation.” The sound of the elevator dinging catches our attention, and we both enter. Birdie reaches to press the correct floor button.

“How about,” I start, facing her and smirking with a cocked eyebrow, “we stop for coffee and breakfast, my treat? Since now, I don’t have to break the news to you that you have to drive.”

“You.. have my attention.” The elevator arrives, and we exit right, down the hallway, through the glass door, and past the reception desk. Sharon greets us warmly with a wave; she’s no Daisy, but she is lovely. Once we reach the cubicles, we separate, unloading our belongings on our own desks. Birdie looks good today. Her earth-toned Patagonia pullover fits snuggly, along with the black leggings on her legs. The tail ends of her brown bob poking out the bottom of her tan Carhartt beanie. 

“I see you’ve dressed for the occasion.”

“Oh, uh yeah. I couldn’t exactly wear my Steve Maddens in the forest.” She stares down at the white socks and brown hiking boots I know are on her feet. “Where are we going, by the way? You never told me, just said, ‘I have a place.’”

“Wolfe’s Neck State Park, you been before?” 

“Surprisingly, no. It’s on my list though.”

“It doesn’t open until 9, so we have a little bit of time to kill before we have to leave; it’s only a half-hour drive. Maybe forty-five or fifty with breakfast.”

“Did you wanna hit up Dunkies for breakfast?” she asks.

“Please, god no. They can never get my food right. I swear they have a secret vendetta against vegetarians.” 

“I didn’t know you were a vegetarian. Is it an animals with faces thing?”

“Nah, Daniel, bet me fifty bucks I couldn’t do it. I never turn down a bet.” I sit down on my desk and cross my arms. Looking at her over the divider.

“How’d that turn out for you?”

“A new diet and fifty bucks richer,” I snicker. 

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

The trail I lead her down is not a very long one. I can hear her small feet padding behind me, breaking branches and rustling leaves in quick steps. She takes two to match my every one. I figured one of the shorter trails would work better for getting in and out with enough time to head back and finish our project. 

“Ooooh, it's giving Twilight,” she beams, eyes huge with excitement.

I turn to follow her gaze toward the large, moss-covered rock wall. A few fallen, slimmer trees lay around the bottom. She runs over toward it.

“This is the skin of a killer, Bella.” Reenacting a scene from the movie. A movie I’ve definitely never seen. “I don’t care. You won’t hurt me.” she quotes dramatically, switching from Edward to Bella. She matches Bella’s awkward movements perfectly. It’s hard not to laugh, her head bobbing, arms flailing, jumping back and forth between spots for each character. I haven’t seen this side of her yet, A fun side. Who knew Birdie had it in her? 

“You know I’ve never seen Twilight before.” I lie as I slip one strap off my shoulder and pull my bag around to the front of my body. Unzipping the compartment that has her camera in it, I pull it out and give it a wiggle. She walks over to meet me. 

“Never had a girlfriend in high school who forced you to watch it?” she smiles, jokingly as she takes the camera from my hand and slips the strap around her neck, checking over her settings.

“Nope.” popping the ‘p’, “Never really dated til I got to college.” I take out my own camera.

“Aw got no game huh?” She makes a mocking frown at me as we walk down the trail. 

“Got no game, huh?” I mimic her. Way to go, Sammy. Wicked come back. That’ll teach her. 

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

We take our time, snapping photos as we go until we reach the water. It's beautiful here. Large formed rocks surround the lake that makes up an amazing scenic view. The sunshine only adds to the effect. It's breathtaking every time. I can’t believe she’s never been here before. We slowly walk up to the edge of the water. She finds little crevices that the water runs through. In her continued child-like wonder she can’t help but kneel down to run her fingers through it, picking up small rocks to inspect before dropping them back into the tiny flowing river. The sun’s rays bounce off the water, the reflection a bit blinding, but I’ll take it on a day like today. It sparkles off the waves created by the small gusts of wind, which keeps me comfortable, but I notice the little shivers that run through her shoulders. Despite the minimal clouds in the sky, the sun isn’t strong enough to truly warm you from within this time of year. 

I watch as Birdie steps onto one of the taller rock formations. She brings the camera to her eye, the clicking sound pleasantly mixed with the sound of all the petite rivers running nearby. She drops her camera and tilts her face toward the sun, eyes closed, taking in the warmth from the sunshine above. She looks as peaceful as it feels out here. I snap a photo of her. She brings her arms out as if she's standing at the head of the Titanic; I snap another one. That is what Maine is about, the simplistic beauty of being with nature. Any time of year, any weather. Just enjoying the feeling of connecting to nature. Water, trees, rocks, sunshine. All of it. Always. 

I’m so lost in thoughts of her and home I don’t notice her suddenly standing in front of me. 

“Earth to Samuel.” She sing-songs, fingers waving in front of my face.

I shake my head, willing my brain to focus on the task at hand. “Yeah, what.”

“Can I put this in your bag?” She’s holding a rock. A damp, white-ish looking rock clutched between her delicate fingers. 

“Uh, sure?” I’m very confused. I open a compartment, and as she places the rock inside, she shivers again. I guess it is chilly despite the day’s sunshine. It's still March after all, though I’m not a great gauge for temperature because I run warm.

“Are you cold, Birdie?” I question.

She scrunches her nose in response. I fight with the thought of how cute that is. “I’ll be fine,” she dismisses. “I’m always cold.”

“Here, take my scarf. I’m hot anyway.” Pulling my scarf from around my neck.

She immediately gives me a side-eye. 

“It’s.. not gonna bite, Birdie?” I tease her with a little wave of the scarf.

“Not my name,” she scrunches her nose again, apprehensively reaching out to grab it. “Biting I'm not worried about. It being magically cursed into strangling me when I least suspect it, on the other hand.” She tosses her hands back and forth like an invisible set of scales. Her hands work intently as she folds the scarf in half and places it around her neck, taking the ends through the loop and pulling it tight. 

“What am I? Harry Potter?” I scoff. 

She lets out a cackle. “Not even remotely. More like Lucius Malfoy.” She raises an eyebrow at me. 

“Wow, straight to Lucius. Not even Draco, huh? Yeah, I guess I am Daddy.” I stop in my tracks as I watch her pluck another rock from the tiny river leading out toward the water.

“Ew. God, no.” Her infectious laugh hits me right in the gut.

“See, Lucius was evil.” She stands, and her eyes give me a once over before placing the rock in my hand, presumably to be put in my bag with the other one. “Draco had a good heart even if he was a little chicken. Plus,” raising her pointer finger, “he was hot. And you are neither of those things.” She turns back to the small river of flowing water.

My mind flashes back to the other night at the bar, where she’s sitting with her friend. “No, you’re right, Wilson. Sam IS cute.” Replaying in my head. 

“Oh, really?” my mischievous side coming out to play. I step toward her. 

“Mhmm.” 

“OH, REALLY??” I repeat louder, taking another step. She stands to face me.

“YES,” she says pointedly. 

I smile wide, now looking down at her. 

“That’s not what your friend said the other night.” I bite my lip, tilting my head to the side and running my hand along my jawline. I watch as her eyes follow my movement, a fire lighting behind them. I know I’ve gotten under her skin by calling her out. 

She raises both of her eyebrows, this time taking a step toward me to fully bridge the gap between us. Nearly chest to chest, nose to nose, she says, “Wow, I’m actually shocked you were able to pull your head out of your ass long enough to hear someone speak besides yourself.”

I chuckle, running my tongue along my teeth. “I don’t hear you denying it. Go on, you can say it. You think I’m hot.”

“And why would I need to deny such a clearly false statement, Samuel?” Confusion etched across her face. “You know, when you come up for air, usually you can hear better. You should try it sometime.”

“So, that’s not what I heard, huh? ‘You’re right, he IS really cute.’ ? Your friend never said that?”

“No, you didn’t. Because no, they didn’t.” She huffs. I pick up on the use of ‘they.’  

“Right, right.” I nod my head. “So, do they frequently lie to embarrass you?” a silent acknowledgment between us. 

She pulls out her phone, tapping away. 

“Whaaaat are ya doing?” I question her clear deflection. 

“Just looking to see if there is a quick care clinic open on our way home because, obviously, you need to have your ears checked out,” She pockets her phone. “Can we continue, please?” A swift eye roll follows as she turns to walk back toward the little river.

“Wait, wait, wait,” a breathy chuckle falling from my lips. “If it's not you who thinks I’m cute. Then it must be your friend, right?” She opens her mouth to try to cut me off before I even get started, but, “So, can I have their number then?” slips out before she can manage. I relish in the fact that I know I’m bothering her. 

“No, no. Absolutely not.”

“Wow, for being Birdie, you’re not much of a wing-woman, are you?”

“First off, they would hate you. Second off, what makes you think I’d ever be your wing-woman. And THIRD-OFF, that’s not my name.”

I feel a bit of satisfaction and a warm swell of my belly when her nose scrunches in distaste. 

I wander off back toward the trail we came down, keeping my gaze pointed toward the opening in the trees. Trying to focus in between the little gaps for anything interesting or photo-worthy. The leaves are not quite growing yet, and the ground still wet with leftover melted snow. I can hear the squish of the damp soil with every step I take. The lead into spring is probably my favorite time of year. Most people enjoy the summer because the weather is nice and warm and the surrounding cities are alive with tourists and events. But those moments of fresh life leading into spring show you that despite the dark coldness of the winter, you can still grow and bloom into beautiful potential. The hope of it all, to come out the other end of the darkness to greet the sunshine, is why it's such a valued season to me. 

Just then, Birdie comes padding over to me with two more rocks in her hands.

“Sam, I found more.” She calls on her way over. I, once again, pull my bag to the front, and she opens a pocket, attempting to deposit the rocks herself.

“No, not there, I have a lens in there.” I zip it back up and choose a different one. “Try this one.” As she’s trying to fit the larger of the two in there, something clicks inside my brain.

“You’re one of those girls, aren’t you?” 

“One of what?” Her brows are knit in frustration when she realizes the rock is too big. She picks another, thankfully empty, pocket.

“One of those girls that sits around with her crystals and her tarot and her moon water.” I chide.

Her hands stop what they are doing and she slowly looks up at me, eyes narrowing. “How do you know about moon water?”

“It’s a long story.” I shake my head and sidestep the comment so I don’t have to talk about ‘she who shall not be named’. “You know my brother is into all that shit. He’s got crystals all over the place.” 

“The brother that owns the bar or the one with the mustache?”

“Uhh.. both of my brothers have a mustache.” 

“You sure about that.” She smirks. Oh, they’re both gunna just looove that. “Actually, why don’t you give him my number since we seem to actually have things in common.”

“No.” immediately denying her. “If you refuse to be my wing-woman. I refuse to be your wingman. No way.”

“Fine then, at least make yourself useful and find some space to fit this in your bag.” Flashing the rock, she couldn’t fit before. 

“Seriously, how many more of these do you need, Birdie? My bag is getting heavy.” 

“How about you hold this one.” She pulls a small crystal from her bra, and drops it into my open hand. “It’s good for grounding. Maybe it’ll help center you. Woo sah, Sam. Woo Sah.” 

Very funny.

I offer to drive the way home and now I’m curled uncomfortably in the driver's seat of Birdie’s car. Partly to get warm again and partly because of the intense growling of my stomach. 

“We should stop for lunch before we head into the office,” I suggest.  

“Where?” She pulls out her phone, searching for options.

“Is there a Taco Bell nearby?” 

“You can eat at Taco Bell? I wouldn’t think a Mexican food place would be vegetarian friendly.”

“Taco Bell is hardly Mexican, but you can sub almost anything out for beans. Plus, I’m craving a crunchwrap.” 

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We pull up to the drive-through speaker, and I place my order. “I’ll have a cravings box with a black bean crunchwrap supreme, a spicy potato taco, and cheesy fiesta potatoes, and a Large Dr. Pepper, please.” Her eyes are boring holes into the side of my skull as I pull out my card to pay. I scrunch my face in question. 

“Nothing.” is all she says.

She leans over the center console to place her order, elbows perched and ass off the seat. I know she’s trying to be able to project her voice from across the car, but she is so close. I shrink back into my seat to try and give her space, but I can't escape her sweet floral perfume. Oh, she smells so good. I close my eyes, reveling in the mixture of orange blossoms and vanilla as it clouds my brain.

“I’ll have two soft taco supremes and a medium Baja Blast, please.” She plops her ass back in her seat, “Ready?” 

I open my eyes again. “Yep.”

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I hand the cashier my card and receive the receipt and we pull up to the second window. She is staring at me again with the most unpleasant face. 

“Okay, what gives. Why are you looking at me like that?”

The worker opens the window and hands us our order. Birdie's own customer service voice shining through her ‘thank you so much!’ Unwrapping our straws and sticking them in our respective drinks while I slowly pull away from the building. I reach for my Dr. Pepper and take a large, satisfying gulp. 

“How can you possibly drink that?” 

“A Dr. Pepper?”

“Yes! It's like.. Against the law in at least 22 states to not order Baja Blast when you go to Taco Bell.” she quips.

“Oh, you’re not gunna like this.” I pause.

She stares intently.

I take a deep breath in and exhale slowly, “I.. don’t.. Like Baja Blast.” 

She stares some more. This time, the brown of her eyes barely peeking through the thin space between her eyelids. 

“Dr. Pepper just hits better.” I shrug.

“We- Are not friends.” Turning back to the food in her lap.

“Consider it one of my 19 crimes,” mumbling around a bite of my lunch. 

“Every sip is a little act of warfare, Sam.” She argues a bit further down the road. “I cannot believe you would commit such.. Such TREASON in my own car.” Her hands wave theatrically in front of her.

“Oh, you’re a Queen now, are you?”

“It is my car, so if I say I’m the Queen of my car, then I’m the Queen of my car. And I rule that drinking Dr. Pepper is an act of treason.” She crosses her arms, chin raised high, a playful smirk sitting on her plush, chapstick-covered lips.  

I laugh, a good, full-bellied laugh. She’s fun when she wants to be. When she’s not being so combative.

“I’m so sorry, Your Grace,” I respond and enthusiastically take a bite of my spicy potato taco. She rolls her eyes at me.

“How much food did you order?”

“What? I’m a growing boy!” I argue.

As soon as I take another bite, chipotle sauce comes out the bottom and lands right in my lap. “Oh shit!” I once again say around my food. She starts to rummage through the bag for some napkins. When she finds one, I reach my hand out to take it, but she bypasses me completely, leaning right over the center console with her head nearly in my lap, hands working to try and get the sauce out before it stains.

That’s how I ended up praying to the Gods above that I don’t accidentally pop a boner while she cleans up my crotch. What have I done to deserve this?

“It’s fine. It’s not on the seat. It’s just on your pants. Hold on.” I squirm under the pressure of her fingers as she tugs to flatten out the fabric of my khakis to make sure she gets it all. 

“It's fine, Birdie. Birdie!” raising my voice to catch her attention, to no avail. “I can take care of it when we get back. Or we can stop off at my apartment, and I can change.” I plead, desperately wishing for this to be over. 

“I almost got it. Stop moving!” I glance down as she slaps my thigh. Holy shit. She licks the napkin then and I swear I see Jesus in the middle of the freeway. I press the brakes to slow down to avoid a collision. Trying my best to focus on the road ahead, but instead, now all I can think about is her spit on my dick. Oh God. My eyes go wide as soon as the thought crosses my mind, and my dick definitely twitches. 

Oh, don’t go there. Not now. Think Sam, Think. Grandma Althea. Her house is old and smells like moth balls. Her hands are always dry from all the fabric she touches because she’s always sewing something. She coughs really loud and wet because of the cigarettes she smokes. I breathe a heavy sigh of relief when Birdie sits up. She clears her throat, “I uh think it should be all set.”

We drive the rest of the way back to the office in silence. I really hope she didn’t notice. But then again, I do have terrible luck.

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When I walk into the dark room, Birdie is already in there; the red lights casting a glow on her that reminds me of the first time she walked into my brother’s bar. Though now she’s rifling through the lower shelves.

“Whatcha lookin’ for?”  

“I uhh, I haven’t developed film since college. Tryna find some instructions.” Her ass in the air as she continues her search. 

“I don’t have nine film cameras for nothing, Birdie. I know how to develop film I can help.”

She stands and faces me, the uncomfortable expression on her face taking on a completely different view under the light. I wish I knew her well enough to know why she’s so uncomfortable. 

I get us set up with our film canisters and developing mixture while she grabs the rolls of film from my bag. We each carefully cut the film off the cassette. I try to focus on what I’m doing instead of how our fingers gently brush each other while loading the film onto the reel. I pour the developing mixture into each canister while she watches on. 

“We have to shake them every, like thirty seconds for a few minutes, and then we can do the stop bath,” I instruct her, and she nods.

Her small, delicate hands hold the rather large container as she shakes it back and forth. “Like this?” She questions, her brow furrowed. And.. I am only a man. Staring too closely at the motion of her hands, I freeze. For christ’s sake Sam. Be normal for 5 seconds. As I clear my throat to answer, I drop my canister. In her attempt to help me we end up crashing our heads together.

“OW.” “Oh Fuck.” We mumble at the same time. I feel around for the edge of the counter and end up knocking the other film canisters into the sink. 

“For fuck’s sake,” I whine. I reach to grab those, and Birdie bends down to grab the one I dropped. And, it is so dark in here she ends up ramming her head right into my junk.

“Fuck!” I yell. At the rate we’re both complaining, I’m sure they think we’re trying to fuck. If only I were that lucky. Instead, I now need to ice my goods.

I hold my breath, willing the pain to stop.

“Sorry.” her apology is small. 

A strained “It’s fine” tumbles from my lips.

We continue awkwardly fumbling around each other, trying to make sure the rest of the containers stay properly agitated, and instead, she gets properly agitated. If this was a cartoon, I’m positive that steam would be coming out of her ears.

“It’s too small in here; you are far too large, and it's too dark.” She huffs. 

“I don't know what to tell you, Birdie. It’s a darkroom, and I cannot get any smaller.”

“That’s not my fucking name.” Angrily, setting down the container with a loud thud. 

We add the stop bath and then the fixer, making sure to keep a good distance from each other, and then finally rinse and soak the film. 

When we hang the film up to dry, I realize I have about a foot on her.

“Need me to get you a stool, shortie? Or should you just hop on, and I could lift you up.” A cocky smirk spreads across my lips. 

“Nah, you’re the man you could do the heavy lifting,” she makes air quotes around ‘heavy lifting’. 

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 Once they’re fully dry, I gather the film strips and bring them to the lightbox. Scooting our stools close and setting each strip up one by one to see the negatives of our photos. Shooting nature is one of my favorite things but Birdie really does have an incredible eye for it. Of course, I’d never tell her that because she would hold it over my head. Our styles are very different, which is clear to see lined up next to each other, but they still look amazing together. 

“These.. Are really great, Birdie.” I smile down at her and bump her with my shoulder gently. Her face softens a bit and I can’t help but think how beautiful she looks. I am a man- I’m not blind.

“The hard part is choosing the best ones. It feels like choosing my favorite children.” Her infectious laugh plays through my ears, and I smile back.

We take some time discussing which ones have the best lighting or the best proportions. Which ones we think will make great features and finally settle on eight ‘prized children’ to print. The other eight photos selected for our presentation will be digitally edited and printed outside of the darkroom, making at least half of this project easy. At least the editing and printing we can do from the comfort of our homes in our PJs. Which is exactly what I will be doing after I see Daniel for dinner. 

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We settle back in the dark room using the projectors to print our respective photos. I don’t know what’s in the air today because I keep messing up. Either exposing for too long or too short and I keep running back and forth between the developing tray and my projector to try to correct it. On one of my passes, I run smack into Birdie. In my effort to stop the collision, I put my one unoccupied hand out to cushion the momentum and ended up grabbing her boob instead. For fucks sake. How does this shit keep happening?

I pause, slowly backing away. She just heavily sighs.

“Well.” She brushes her hands off and adjusts her beanie. “That’s the most action I’ve had in a minute.”

Before I can stop myself, I blurt out, “Is that why you’re such a tight ass?”

“No, I have,” she emphasizes, “such a tight ass because I do squats.” And now I’m thinking about her in tight gym pants doing squats.

“Well, if you ever need help loosening up a bit, you know who to call.” 

“Jeremy Allen White?” 

“Who?” I match her confused expression.

“Oh, you know, he was in Shameless. The bear?” her brow further knits each second that passes. “He just had that big ad campaign for Calvin Klein?” Calvin Klein? As in.. models. Cool. First Edward, then Draco, now.. models.

“Yes, because I definitely seem like the kind of guy who keeps up with Calvin Klein campaigns.” Really trying to drive the point home with a snarky tone. 

“Oh..” I try to read the expression on her face before she continues, “I just thought because of you.. You know, actually know how to dress yourself.”

“I’m going to take that as a compliment.”

“You shouldn’t. Your competition is the genre of men who pick up a shirt off the floor and go, ‘yeah, this smells clean’.” She stands on her tiptoes as she hangs her last photo and then promptly exits the darkroom. 

A few minutes later, she returns through the circular door. It always reminds me of something a magician would have on stage. A weird sort of contraption to ensure the light stays out and doesn’t ruin the developing process for those inside.

“Sam.” her voice is quiet again, just above a whisper. I look up at her and can barely make out her petite frame in the dark. She’s just standing, a strip of film pinched between her fingers, head hung low. 

She continues just as quietly, “Did you.. Um. When did you take these?” The realization hits me. I forgot about the pictures of her. 

“Oh. Uhh. You were just.. Ya know in your element. And I sorta thought. Well, this is a big part of what Maine is like. Ya know. Outside, nature. You just seemed.. Happy. Thought it should be captured..” I trail off. Oh God, she’s gonna think it's weird. It's not weird, though, right? No, Sam, it's fine. 

The length of silence kills me. The longer she doesn’t talk the more I start to internally freak out. As if being a naturally warm-blooded person wasn’t bad enough, I feel myself start to sweat. I wipe my forehead of the perspiration gathering there and grab at my wrists for a hair tie, of which is conveniently missing at this moment. Please say something… please.

“This.. um.” she pauses, inhaling and exhaling a deep breath. “They’re lovely, Sammy. Thank you.”

Sammy.

“Yeah.. yeah. You’re welcome.” I shift my focus back to my photo.

“So, uh.. Anyways,” she says, calling my attention back to her. “Since we’re printing the photos here and we’re editing the digital ones at home, you can just email me the finished ones when you’re done, and we can talk about the bullet points we’ll go over for the presentation.” She turns on the projector light until she gets the desired contrast, and then turns it off and carries her photo to the developer bin. I grab my own photo and walk over to meet her, dropping it in the solution to join hers. She idly uses the tongs to move her photo around the bin to help the developing process. Just like shaking a Polaroid picture, it doesn’t really work; it only passes the time. 

“That sounds good, Birdie.” I reach to grab the other set of tongs and end up blindly bumping her arm in the process, knocking hers to the ground. She bends down to retrieve them, and I set my sights on a different pair of tongs to my left. Two things happen at once. First, I bend slightly to reach the other pair. Second, she headbutts my ass. That’s two parts of me she has head-butted today.

“We’ve touched more today than I ever thought we would in this lifetime.” She groans.

“Think about us touching often, huh?” because I can’t help but try to get under her skin every chance I get. 

“Why are you like this?” she complains. She tosses the tongs back on the counter and goes to fish the photo out with her fingers. I lunge to stop her, but I’m too slow.

Now, it’s definitely not life-threatening to handle photo-developing chemicals without gloves. But they are, at the end of the day, chemicals and can sting like a bitch if you have opened wounds. Given how clumsy she is, I anticipate –

“Ouch, FUCK!” she yells, cradling her hand. I grab her by the wrist and shimmy us over to the sink, where I turn the water on cold. When the temperature is cool enough, I pull her finger under the running water.

“That was stupid of you.” I gently scold her. There’s no weight behind my words, just concern. 

“How stupid, Sam? I didn’t realize I had a cut. Is it bad? Do I need to see a doctor?” She rattles off. 

“Hey, hey, hey.” I leave one hand on her wrist, keeping it in place under the faucet, the other one I place on her cheek. Settling in the crook of her neck beneath her ear. The palm of my hand burns against her cool skin; she really is always cold. Despite the darkness of the room I still pull her gaze to meet mine. “Calm down, okay? You’re fine, I promise. A little stupid, maybe. But you’re fine.” I rub my thumb along her cheekbone, hoping to soothe her worries. I can barely make out her eyelids as they flutter closed for a moment and then open again. 

“You promise?” I can feel the anxiety radiating off her.

“I’d pinky promise if you wanted me to.” I joke, and she lets out a small giggle. Pride settles in my chest, knowing a crisis is averted.

“God, that was stupid.” she laughs again and rests her forehead against my chest.

“Lil bit.” I shake my head and slide my hand down to rub her back. Part of me doesn’t want to move from this spot, knowing she's comforted, but I ruin the moment anyway. I pull back from her, hand resting on her shoulder now. 

“Lesson learned, huh?”

She zips the top portion of her Patagonia pullover a little higher when we make it outside. I pull out my phone to see who is available to be my chauffeur home.

“Did you need a ride home, Sam?” She asks, pulling her collar up to her ears. The ends of her hair start to stick out. 

“I was just going to see which brother was a spare and could swing by.” I drop my eyes back to my phone. 

“I can give you a ride home if you want? I know you’re not too far out of my way, I can just.. Drop you off?” placing her foot on the next step down and pointing toward the parking lot. 

“You don’t have to do that. None of them do anything productive anyway.” I laugh. 

“Do you have more than just the two?” I bite my lip and smile when her brow furrows in confusion. 

“No, but you know Daniel? The bouncer? We went to grade school together so he’s been my best friend since we were like six. He's basically a brother at this point. Ya know, brotha from anotha motha.” Her gentle laugh bringing forth another swirl in my belly. 

“Oh, I was about to say. I’m not sure the world could realistically handle any more of you Kiszkas.” She says when we finally reach the sidewalk. 

“Yeah, they broke the mold with me. Realized I was peak Kiszka genes and said, ‘all done’.”

“Seriously though, I can give you a ride. It’s no big deal.”

I fall in step with her, “Why not? None of my degenerate brothers are answering me anyway.”

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The drive back to my apartment is quiet. Almost too quiet for us. The awkwardness of the day still lingering in the air. I clear my throat to cut the silence, but I can’t think of anything to say to fill it. I just fidget with my fingers instead.

“How are you getting to Boston tomorrow?”

“Uhm, well, the plan was to ride the train in like I did last time, but Edith almost made me miss it.”

“Edith. Right. Your truck.” 

“She’s having trouble turning over.” I run a hand through my hair.

“Well, I don’t want to have to worry about you missing your train and messing up this presentation for us by not being there, so i'll pick you up at like 6 a.m. if that’s fine with you.”

“You don’t have to do that. I told you I live close to my brothers. I'm sure one of them can take me.” 

“It’s really fine. I have to make the drive anyway and I really want this presentation to go off without a hitch. It would make me feel better if I knew for sure you’d be there.”

I don’t read into that sentiment. She just wants the project to be successful, and I know that. So I agree, much to my dismay. I hate feeling like a burden to people, and with Edith giving me trouble, I feel pretty much like a burden to everyone who has to deal with me. 

When we reach my apartment, she pulls over to the sidewalk out front. 

“Why don’t you put your number in my phone, and I’ll text you when I leave my apartment. I’m only like ten minutes away.” She pulls her phone out from the center console near her gear shift, and I put my contact info in. Entering my phone number and email under Sammy Kiszka with the camera emoji.

“I put my email in there so you can flag it, but shoot me a text with yours when you get home so I know where to send the digitals.” I place her phone back in her palm. “Thanks again for.. carting me around.” I let out an awkward laugh and scratch the back of my neck. 

“No problem, see you in the morning,” she gives me a tight-lipped smile. 

“Yeah, see you tomorrow.” I grab my camera bag and hop out of her car. Shutting the door with a small wave through the window. 

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When I hear the signature knock, I know Daniel’s arrived. Two quick knocks, a pause, a single knock, another pause, and ending with two quick knocks. I don’t know when he developed that habit, but he only uses it on my door. Penelope lets out a loud boof of a bark and runs ahead of me, her shaggy hair swaying with her little jumps. Well, little for Pen. When I open the door, she’s already sniffing and pawing at his legs. 

“I brought beer.” He says as he holds up the 12-pack of coronas, careful not to trip around her. “Hope you got limes.”

“It’s me. Of course, I do.” Gesturing to myself and stepping aside to let him in, “Plus, I have an extra large meat-lovers pizza on the way.” I resist the urge to make a joke about ‘meat-lovers and guys night.’ “So.. tell me what’s wrong.” I continue, following him into my kitchen. He's stacking the beers one by one inside the fridge to keep cold, Penelope impatiently waiting for her attention from her favorite uncle. Her words not mine. I can tell by the expression on his face he’s struggling with whatever is on his mind. He closes the refrigerator door and shrugs off his coat, setting it on a nearby chair. 

“Hello, Penny girl. I wouldn’t forget about you, I promise.” She laps at his fingers as he playfully pets her face. Still reaching for her head as he stands, he takes a deep breath. “I, uhh, went on a date last night..”

“Still living up to your name, I see. How was it? Awful? Terrible? Did she have a big head or lipstick on her teeth?”

“Very funny.” He snarks back. “It was terrible, thank you very much.”

Eventually, I get the full story out of him. His date, named Allie, a very adorable waitress he met through a friend of a friend, was completely horrible (pleasant), didn’t let him pay (she wanted to split the bill because her drink was expensive and she felt bad), and.. the kicker? She opened the door for him (she got to the door first). We’re each two slices and a few beers deep, and I can’t figure out where the awful comes in. 

“She sounded completely fine, Daniel. I don’t get it?” I lean back against the couch, Penny quietly snoring by my feet. 

“She ordered a salad, Sam.” he looks at me expectantly as if that answers everything. “A SALAD!”

“Oh no. A salad. How completely terrible of her.” I roll my eyes. 

“I.. want a girl who isn’t afraid of eating a burger.” he shrugs, drawing a sip of his corona and lime. 

“Do you want me to be honest with you?” I pinch the bridge of my nose and close my eyes in frustration.

“Always.”

“Bro.. you have got to get over Melody.”

He stands, effectively scaring Pen awake, and I watch him pace back and forth in front of my TV. She pads over to him, nails clicking against the hardwood until she can get her paws on him. 

“This has nothing to do with her.” He stops and reaches down to run his fingers through her fur for some comfort through this uncomfortable topic. 

 The subject of Melody has always been a touchy one.  He dated her in high school, and we were all pretty good friends for most of our childhood. I really liked her for him, actually. Until she broke his heart when we all graduated and ran off to college, leaving him in the dust and I was the one who was left to clean up the mess. The mess being Daniel because he was.. A full blown mess. He would never admit that, though. But what can you expect when you get your heart broken for the first time? I kind of get it. He has always been and always will be my brother, and I’ll always be there for him. No matter what. Which naturally means I’ll always harbor a severe distaste for her, even if I know I don’t have to worry about seeing her ever again.

“This has everything to do with her. You haven’t been able to make it past the first day with a girl since you broke up. It’s been what? six years?” I shoot him a pointed glare. He stops pacing and crosses his arms, waiting for whatever else I have to say.

“Have you considered that trying to get to know someone while eating food is actually incredibly awkward? Or is this really just about the monstrous salad?”

“She also wanted to go for a walk after dinner.” He defends. The sigh I let out.. My God. “Why would I wanna go for a walk when I stand all day at work?” 

He cannot be serious right now. The weakest arguments known to man.

“You’re an active guy, Daniel. Why wouldn’t you want to go for a walk? Doesn’t Linda always go on about your golf arms or whatever?” 

“No, that’s completely different, and you know Linda is the love of my life.” he smiles wide, his tongue poking out just beyond his teeth. 

“Right. So what other red flags did she have?” I dig a little more. 

“Okay, well, she tried to kiss me?”

“GASP.” I feign shock. “She wanted to kiss you? How very dare she. Daniel, that’s absolutely insane. It’s not like you guys went out on a date or anything.” 

“I don’t wanna talk about this anymore.” he plops himself back down on the couch beside me, his shadow following him until she perches her head on his knee. I swear, when he’s here, it's like I don’t exist. “Tell me about poking girl. How’s that going?” He lays his head back and pulls his trucker hat down over his eyes. 

“Good. Project is good. I still can’t ever tell if she likes me or not. We bicker and banter all day long. It’s entertaining as hell for me. Then, there are some moments where she acts like a sweet, normal girl. But most of the time, it's just bickering.” I take a swig of my beer. “I gave her a nickname to get under her skin, and she makes this face every time I say it. It's very.. Samantha from Bewitched.” I swallow my laugh down with another sip. 

“Whaddya call her?” he asks with a smirk, eyes poking out from underneath the brim.

“Birdie.”

“Birdie? Why on earth does that get under her skin?”

“Dunno.” I shrug. “But it does. And I take sick enjoyment out of irritating the fuck out of her.” I set my empty beer back down on my coffee table. 

A maniacal laugh escapes him. Clutching stomach, he bends forward. I start to wonder if he got high before he came over because what the hell is so funny?

“Oh god.” He wipes a tear from his eye and rights himself on the couch. “So you think she’s cute, huh?” 

“I mean.. I.. have eyes, yeah?” I answer with confusion heavily present in my tone. “But we don’t get along. As in cannot go five minutes without bickering, don’t get along.”

“You always did like em’ psychotic, Sam. None of us are stupid.” he chuckles.. to himself because I am not laughing. 

“No, I don’t!”

“Right, and Chelsea was what? Totally normal? You didn’t listen to a single one of us on that one, and we all told you.”  I forgot about her. The girl I dated right before ‘she who shall not be named.’ We saw each other for only a few months but what a whirlwind it was. We went to a concert an hour away, and she ran off with one of the roadies. A fricken roadie? Left me there to get home by myself, considering, yep, she drove. But again, she was hot, so what was I to do?

“Hey now! She wasn’t.. that bad.” I say innocently.

“Right, that’s what you always say. Sam – I never take advice from anyone – Kiszka.” 

“Yeah, alright, keep laughing. As if I’d take advice from ‘One Date Daniel’.” I elbow him in my defense. “Besides, I’m not sure I have much to worry about. Once the project is over, I won’t have to see her again unless we actually do well.”

I get up and head to the kitchen to retrieve another beer from the fridge, and my own dog doesn’t even glance up at me. She just rests peacefully by Daniel’s side. I open the drawer to the left and pick up the bottle opener, and pop the top. I take a long drink before I reenter the living room.

“I uhh, actually the receptionist at the Boston Globe is really cute. Her name is Daisy. We hit it off a bit when I was there last.” I point to the flowers laid on the shelf. “I stopped by the farmer’s market after work and picked up some daisies. Thought I might ask her out tomorrow.”

“Daisies for Daisy. Real creative, Sam.”

“Hey!”

“How’s Birdie gonna feel about that?” he inquires. I pick up the flowers from where they rest and give them a light sniff. 

“Oh, she’ll hate it. She already chirped me about hitting on Daisy last time we were there. Said something about ‘it's easier watching teenagers flirt.’ or whatever.” I set them back down and take up my spot on the couch. 

“Yeah, you never did have any game.” He tips his corona back, finishing the remaining liquid and setting it on the coffee table.

“You say that like your game is any better.” I shove his shoulder.

“I may be ‘One Date Daniel,’ but at least I get dates.” he chides, linking his fingers together with a crack of his knuckles in front of him and placing them behind his head.

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Chapter Four

Chapter Six

Masterpost | Taglist (or reply and let me know if you want to be added!)

Other fics / one shots are here

Taglist bestiees! (I missed you all week and i'm so glad that we're back together again 🫶🏻 I hope you enjoy the chapter!!)

@gvfsstardust , @myleftsock , @mindastreamofcolours , @dont-go-home-without-me , @literal-dead-leaf , @lizzys-sunflower , @mackalah , @klarxtr , @ourlovesdesire , @threadofstars , @edgingthedarkness , @writingcold , @takenbythemadness , @i-love-gvf , @ladywhimsymoon , @earthgrlsreasy , @peaceloveunitygvf , @violet-hayes , @musicspeaks , @anythingforjtk