#i like the idea that ghost has curly hair i think its cute

[ohnoivemadeamistake]

Well now I know that if I ever wanna draw ghostsoap to just play mitski

[tranzfalgar]

okay it’s time for some stardew valley headcanons for the bachelor/ette(s) so let’s GOOOO

Alex:

- he always awakes before his grandparents, and on warmer days he’ll go down to the beach to watch the sunrise.

- friends with elliot! the two of them sit on the side of the dock sometimes and just chat about life.

- knows how to make cookies, as evelyn taught him when he was a bit younger

- wary of the saloon, as he doesn’t really like the smell of alcohol and only goes into it if he’s forced to!

- if you marry him, he can and will pick you up randomly to surprise you while you’re working!

- if married, he will “bench press” your kids once they become toddlers, and it always makes them giggle

- hates the winter and gets cold really easily. on the first day of fall he’s already bundled up wanting it to be summer again.

Elliot:

- willy is like a father to him. the two of them sit on the docks and watch the fish swim by together

- sometimes he’ll braid his hair, and leah will bring flowers from the forest and weave them into his hair.

- has a rlly pretty singing voice, and likes to record piano covers in his spare time

- if you marry him and the two of u have kids, he’ll always braid their hair in the morning and tuck flowers behind their ears.

- he brings home fresh fish he caught and makes himself dinner every night. that’s why he’s an excellent cook.

- has actually caught a legendary fish before!

- his eyes change color, they can go from blue to green to brown in the same day. people call them the “prismatic shard of eyes”

Harvey:

- he’s so clumsy that sometimes he’ll even trip over air. due to this, he has little bruises all over his knees and elbows.

- his favorite animals are birds. sometimes he’ll go outside and just give them some bird seed. he loves watching them fly around.

- not only is he fascinated with planes, but he’s also fascinated with the weather. as a kid he used to watch the weather channel, and he dreamed of becoming a weatherman.

- when he needs to focus really hard, he’ll pull his hair back with a headband

- him and his mother were and still are very close, and he writes letters to her at least once a week

- he cannot cook to save his life, but he’s an incredible baker! will make you little treats if you’re friends or married

- he always wears a wristwatch, but the time is always 6 minutes behind. he likes it because it has a plane engraved into the side against his wrist.

Sam:

- he had adhd, and his stims include flapping his hands, tapping his foot and strumming his guitar

- he has a beautiful singing voice, think like wilbur soot but a bit more high pitched?

- the reason he likes cactus fruit so much is because he just plants them and lets them grow. he loves succulents because they don’t give him an allergic reaction!

- cannot play video games for shit. sebastian and abigail have banned him from multi-player games because he just sucks so bad.

- love language is acts of service, simply because he likes singing for people he cares about and doing little things for them!

- if you marry him, he will bring his guitar into the coop and/or barn and sing to the animals. they have learned to run over a greet him, since they love his singing.

- his hair is actually curly, but you’re unable to tell due to how much he gels and straightens his hair.

- has mastered the art of the puppy dog eyes

Sebastian:

- loves the hell out of halloween, but is scared of literally everything. he nearly cried watching a horror movie with sam and abigail.

- really good with a slingshot! so if he were to go into the mines, he would wreck some monsters shit with his slingshot skills

- he had glow in the dark stars on his ceiling, but removed them. he used to love the stars and space, but came to resent them because it was his sisters thing.

- he like…irl blushes. like an anime character. when he’s embarrassed, upset, flustered, his face will go all pink. everyone picks on him for it.

- has/had a crush on most of the towns singles. he is a bisexual disaster and secretly a romantic so….take from that what you will.

- a natural born ginger, but dyes his hair. he also has freckles on his nose! and he has an eyebrow slit because of a scar!!

- for some stupid reason, he takes really good care of his hands? like he always makes sure they don’t get calloused, and his nails are always painted black, despite using his hands all the time for work.

Shane:

- he cannot cook. he burned pasta noodles because he didn’t know you had to put water in the pan.

- he still has a chicken plushie from when he was a baby, and it still sits on his bed. and if he cuddles with it at night? no one needs to know.

- has a huge birthmark on his side shaped like a heart

- really good at mixology, so i think that when joja gets shut down, shane works at the saloon and makes the drinks while gus cooks. he adds a whole new section on the menu!

- friends with sebastian. they paint each other’s nails from time to time, or sit in the rain together and just talk.

- kinda strong as hell? he lifts boxes in joja for work, as well as carrying around jas, so i’m assuming he could just….pick the farmer and his friends up?

- he has the most contagious laugh, it used to be a rare sound, but now that it’s a pretty common occurrence, shane makes people laugh all the time with his own laugh.

Abigail:

- buff. she is buff as hell. her and alex work out together sometimes, since she expressed a desire for adventure. she has picked up sam and sebastian with no warning and thrown them into the ocean

- can talk to animals due to her being the daughter of the wizard! so sometimes she’ll go to marnies farm and just chat with the cows or something

- if she sees a tree, she WILL climb it. she loves it so much, it’s just so adrenaline inducing for her.

- her and sebastian tried to go into the mines before but sam stopped them because it wouldn’t have been very safe. they were all 14.

- trying to learn to play the ukulele with a little help from sam. it’s frustrating, but she really likes the sound of it, and she’s determined as hell.

- absolutely cracked at any and all video games he plays. mario kart? she will kick your ass. animal crossing? her island has 5 stars. pokémon? she always wins. you can’t stop her, she’s too powerful.

- she has glasses, but prefers contacts, since glasses would get in the way of her adventuring.

Emily:

- not only can she sew, but she also makes her own soaps and candles! any form of creation she adores.

- loves flowers, and has a lot of little potted ones in her room. she raises them, gives them little names and personalities, and then brings them to sandy and tells her all about each flower

- she can roller skate, and it’s her preferred method of transportation. she can do a bunch of fun tricks as well!

- has an eyebrow slit

- making cute little baskets of homemade gifts is her favorite thing to do for her friends. sometimes she’ll just leave them on their doorsteps for no reason other than she wants to!

- can SPRINT in heels. like even 6 inch heels she can just RUN and it scares everyone who sees it.

- she loves the sounds of birds chirping in the morning, and she’s able to identify the name of the bird by its chirping and calls

Haley:

- is able to perfectly crack and drink from coconuts. that’s why she loves them so much.

- has the worst sense of direction. she’s lucky she lives in a small town, or she’d get lost all the time

- the spring is her favorite time of year, simply because she loves to capture life coming back in those spring months. baby animals, blooming flowers, her friends on the beach or just chilling in the sun, all of it

- her most prized possession is the very first picture her and emily took as kids on their parents polaroid. it’s taped to her mirror

- has a little beauty mark under her lip, but it normally isn’t visible due to being covered with makeup!

- she’s able to do her own nails! this is because she is ambidextrous, yet she doesn’t know, because it’s never been brought up

- she fucking LOVES learning about and identifying plants, trees and flowers. she knows so many it’s crazy. she has a great memory.

Leah:

- resident true crime enthusiast and ghost hunter. she drags elliot with her around town to go hunting for ghosts. they also watch documentaries together!

- has a bunch of little scars on her hands from her artwork

- to get inspiration for works, she’ll go on walks at different times of the day, different seasons, different routes, and she’ll turn each walk into a work of art. depending on all the environment and those who she runs into, each piece is vastly different.

- animals love her, and will sometimes just follow her around for no reason. she doesn’t mind at all, she kinda loves it.

- friends with emily. they are currently teaching each other their own forms of art, since they love learning from each other!

- really good at dancing, she’ll dance while she’s working on projects and she’ll hum a song to herself

- her favorite statue was created after she went on a walk, ran into abigail, and the two of them went swimming in the ocean and stayed there as the sun set and the stars came out. she has a little crush on abigail.

Maru:

- her hair is ALWAYS tied up, it’s impossible for her to work if her hair is in her eyes

- when she was a kid she wanted to be an astronaut, because she loves the stars, but she found she prefers the science and math behind it all

- she pierced her own ears, she has little star earrings!

- watches cartoons and geeks out about them with penny when they meet up in town!

- for some odd reason, she is terrified of butterflies. no one who knows her, or even maru herself have ANY idea why, but she will run away if she sees one.

- her favorite memory was the one night her and sebastian stayed up really late as kids and snuck outside to look at the stars (back when sebastian still loved them) and they ended up seeing a meteor shower

- she presses flowers as a hobby, and just keeps them in a little notebook alongside her ideas for projects and gadgets.

Penny:

- while she’s cleaning her and pam’s home, she finds herself singing to herself. she has yet to be caught by anyone

- each day, her hair is done ever-so-slightly different. each morning, she likes to change it up, and sometimes jas or vincent will give her something to put in her hair

- also interested in ghosts, will occasionally join elliot and leah on their adventures

- she is naturally really warm, so she doesn’t have to bundle up as much during the winter. the kids cling to her because she’s like a human space heater

- has a bit of a geeky side, and she loves to watch cartoons a lot. when she can find the time, she always watches them. they being her lots of comfort.

- has a small scar on her side from when she tripped over as a child onto something sharp. she likes it because with two freckles, it makes a little smiley face

- loves the water and the feeling of sea wind in her hair. she secretly wants to learn to drive a boat, so she can feel that wind in her hair whenever she wants.

[unlikelyempathpruneauthor]

Girls just wanna have fun

summary: the girls and you take over the first set of the guys concert for fun and as a joke, but you guys are really good which makes fans go crazy with how real you all sound like a real band.

Setlist: Babylon, Valentine, Ghost of you, No shame,Wildflower.

a/n: this is a 12 in the morning idea lol, thought it would be really cool to write this and of course the reader spends time with calum practicing the bass haha. I thought it would be cute for all the guys to see their girls in different settings.

a/n: august 2nd, fuck it i’m posting it lol

“this might sound silly, but it sounds like a good idea too.” michael said as cal spoke up, “out with it then clifford.” he said as you all giggled very interested in what he had in mind for the guys, or well for you ladies, but you didn't know that.

“What if our ladies do the first set of our concert?” he said as Crystal spoke, “Wait actually?” she said as you and the girls raised your eyebrows looking at one another while the guys were actually considering it. “that would be a fun idea actually.” Luke spoke as Sierra laughed, “you really think fans would enjoy that? not saying that we're bad entertainers.” she said as you giggled and everyone continued to elaborate.

“it would be fun seeing the fans reactions when they are expecting us.'' Ash said as he also mentioned how the fans all enjoyed the time they switched instruments, from the guys' view the fans loved it. “Besides the fans always ask about you guys it would be a fun way for them to see you all together.” Michael said as kaykay spoke,“okay if we were to do it, when would we do it cus if we're actually playing and singing we need to practice.” kay kay said as you nodded, “i agree with that,” you said as cal looked over at you with a smile, “wait your actually considering it?” he asked as you nodded with a giggle, “i mean it could be fun and we are all going,” you shrugged as all the everyone nodded. Cal knew you were a pretty nervous person so he didn't want you to feel pressure at all, since you two also had just announced that you were dating for a while now. But it would be a nice way to get the fans to know you too since they know the other girls very well. After planning rehearsal time, the set list, and the final date you were pretty much prepared, you just had to dread the planning time on your half.

You were only doing one of the main 5 songs that fans enjoyed a lot when the guys sang, so it was pretty easy going for all of you to do the main one, since a whole set was pretty intimidating especially to you, but 5 songs wasn't that bad. Of course the girls and you had some sort of experience with playing their instruments, since quarantine. You had told all the girls on facetime what you were up to, and they had been doing the same as you.

“So what have you been up to y/n?” sierra asked as you held your finger up and moved the camera to the bass, “this is so weird, but i've been playing the bass with cal, since you know we're pretty much stuck here, i thought it would be cool to learn.” you said as kaykay gasped, “no way! So have I but with the drums, Ash has been teaching me a little, it's so fun!” she said as you gave you a virtual high five, “This is so weird that you guys are mentioning this, but Luke has been teaching me too, its so weird, he came up to me with his guitar and he was like ‘let's have a jam session’ and i got the hang of the piano and the guitar.” sierra said as crystal spoke up and you thought it was so uncanny, but i mean it was pretty practical that you would all be learning how to play the guy’s instruments.

“I think they planned this because Michaels been teaching me how to play as well..” she said as you were all laughing and then Sierra spoke, “I think I see a band about to be immense,” she said as you all continued your conversations.

You all had been practicing for a while so you had some skill. Of course then you hadn't thought anything about that, but you kinda thanked cal for teaching you a little bit, since now you were going to do it live as a joke, but you were actually going to play and sing.

Though practice was enough for you guys to be prepared you also had to rehearse together to see how you all sound with one another. The singing part was easy for all of you since you guys would always sing. The boys had no doubts, they knew you would vocally sound good, but you girls already knew that since you had gone to a vocal coach and she even loved your vocals all together. She had even told you guys you were all able to make it as stars, but I mean you were only doing it one time for fun.  As you all arrived to rehearsal you and girls had even dressed up like the boys, you thought it would be fun because you guys were also doing some video diaries for fun for fans to see the behind the scenes. When the cameras started rolling and the guys did the intro before the cameras were on you as the guys would watch.

“Did you guys dress up as us?” Luke asked as Sierra nodded, “holy shit i just realized that,” michael said and you started laughing how identical she dressed up as look and also michaels reaction, “for promo purposes we had to, also that screams Luke, sierra looks way better luke im sorry,” kaykay sneered as luke began to sniff and fake cry and you giggled from what she said in the beginning, Crystal then added, “okay, but have you seen y/n, she literally has everything on point.” she giggled as you stood up showing your outfit, “yeah, it's not that hard when you can sneak into his closet, just that the pants were a little big, so i bought my own.” you giggled as you all were explaining your outfit, “did cal not notice?” ash asked as you shrugged which was when cal had walked in, “noticed what? Love did you go through my closet?” Cal asked as you all just started laughing at how he had just noticed you were all dressed up very similar.

“But also, kaykay, is very on point as you can see, with the bandana, the loose tank and of course the sticks.” you said as kaykay and you hugged one another like cal and ash would.

After the various jokes you had started to rehearse and the only thing to say was that you were all so identical to them, but before that the talented just screams out of you. You all were so good the guys were looking at the cameras worried, “i think we might be out of a job soon,” cal joked as luke nodded and the guys were laughing, “they are actually really good like actually,” ash said as he was clapping and whooping as the other boys followed. Cal and the guys even had his flashlight on when you were singing Ghost of you.

“Dude, they are so good, they have been planning this haven't they?” Michael said as you were done with the set completely, you all were confident that you were gonna kick ass that night. Even if this was just a prank set, you were all actually really good, like really.

Cal was so proud of you, that all the practice you two had done was good for you, he was hoping you would actually even consider doing more music stuff. The boys were all proud of you guys and of course their ladies, they all had agreed as well that you guys have so much talent, but they knew this life wasn't for you guys, since separation would be much bigger, unless you toured together….but i'm getting ahead of myself.

Once you all hit the tour bus and were on your way to the first concert of the tour, you girls were actually playing tonight, you weren't as nervous as you thought you were, but at the same time you were a nervous wreck. You and Cal were cuddled up in your bunk as you were watching a movie, “are you nervous for tonight?” he asked as you giggled a little, “i mean yeah kinda, but that's normal right?” you asked as he nodded, “yeah it is, and besides you guys are really good, like actually, all that practice is going to be worth it.” he said as you nodded and he had his arms over your body. He loves how involved you are with his life and his career, and how supportive you are. You were always there for him and he will always be there for you too, even if this was a little way to entertain the fans and make a funny thing out of it.

As you arrived at the venue, you were getting excited as you and the girls had stayed in your dressing rooms getting ready while the boys were doing sound checks and greeting fans with VIP passes. You were still doing video diaries so you were all pretty chill and relaxed once you arrived at the dressing room and started to change and get prepared.

“Okay, so right now the guys are currently doing their thing while we change, and get into character, so uh..yeah.” you giggle as you all do your thing while the cameras are rolling and trying to catch small moments of you all. “Are you guys nervous?” the guy behind the camera asked as you all prused your lips, “uh not really, we all rehearsed and practiced i think we'll be great,” kay kay said as you giggled, “okay but we actually sound like a band when you say that.” you giggled as Sierra and Crystal nodded.

You all were getting into your guy’s signature clothing when it came to doing live performances and the end result is so uncanny. You were getting into the signature skater pants and black top with some vans. You had curled your hair slightly a lot like cal’s when it's curly wanting to have some of your hair out of your face. Sierra had worn the yellow silk shirt with classic leather black pants and a pair of boots, an outfit that fans loved, and Sierra killed it in that shirt. Crystal had worn a jean jacket with black pants with some boots, which you could say, SHE KILLED IT. Kaykay had gone with a red button up and some skinny jeans with some boots and let me tell you SHE ALSO KILLED ITTTTT. You all had killed it, it was perfect. You occasionally threw in the “i have no idea what we are doing?” for the video because you knew that had to be in there and the girls all laughed when you did it.

When you all got in for a picture together you literally posed like the guys and you were all getting quite excited for what's about to come. Minutes had passed by and the guys had come in and they were all kinda surprised with your outfits and they were slightly impressed, “hey, you look really good by the way good luck out there.” Calum said as he walked over to you with a hug as you hugged him back, giving him a kiss. Everyone was greeting their partner giving the last minute good luck before you left. You had recorded more stuff for the video diaries, of course you all were listening to Nickleback before going on the stage and you now understood how this helped with the nerves.

You then were all getting suited up as kay kay had walked out on stage while the lights were off and started playing some beats before you all went on. From what you guys could hear the fans were going crazy, this was going to be one fun night. The boys had headed up to the very front to see the show.  you and sierra created one of the most funniest moments in the diaries, “y/n, we should do the acoustic set moment!” sierra said as you giggled and nodded, “oh my gosh yes!” you said as the cameras were rolling and kay kay was still entertaining the fans out there, “..wait what are we doing? Are we gonna..?” sierra said as you looked back at her trying not to break character, “i think its an acoustic set.” you said as she walked over to you confused, “an acoustic set?....IT SOUNDS A BIT LOUD FOR AN ACOUSTIC SET Y/N!” she said as you just laughed not knowing what to do, that's when the backstage team had signaled you to all get out there running out and playing your chords for the intro as the fans at first were confused but when they noticed it was you girlies, they all began to scream and there was no end to the cheering. You looked over to the camera and looked over and said, “i still have no idea what we are doing.” you screamed as the fans were still cheering and you were so overwhelmed and excited, “fuck it” you screamed.

Then beat to Babylon had started and the fans went nuts as you were all playing as if you were a literal band, the fans cheering didn't stop until you started singing and they sang along with you. From the audience the boys were all cheering for you and none of the fans had even noticed they were there, that's how realistic this looked.

“Burn too bright, now the fire's gone, watch it all fall down!” you sang as the fans cheered you all and you began to giggle a little, you were able to even hear the guys cheering.

“So, holy cow, i don't know how the guys do this, but this is tiring, you gotta hand it to them.” Sierra said out of breath as you took a small break but made sure to hurry it up, “yeah they are pretty good at this, crystal, kay kay? How are you guys doing?” you asked as kaykay responded, “honestly great, i mean i get to sit down for most of this, but these girls are killing it.” she said as the fans cheered and all you could really do is giggled. “What about your crystal?” Sierra asked, “I'm doing fine, lots of head banging but it's there,” she said as you all laughed.

Then the beat to valentine had started and the fans were going crazy again, this was so new to you, all of you, you all liked this feeling, it was something you all had never got to feel, and it was one of those “i want to see what its” like moments, and you all enjoyed it. Whenever one of you would stop singing the fans continued on with the lyrics, which made you happy. You were all happy they are enjoying you guys.

“Valentine, valentine, valentine..” all of you sang as the beat continued to ghost of you, and yet again the fans screamed once again. Sierra started it off as the fans sang along waiting for your line, which from instagram you heard that it was one of their favorites because of the way cal would sing it, so yes you studied a little for this, “cleaning up today, i found that old zeppelin shirt, you wore when you ran away, and no one could feel your hurt, too young, too dumb, to know things like love, i know better now, better now.” you said as fans yelled waiting for the part where you all sang, “Dancing through our house with the ghost of you” you sang as fans were cheering on.

You then took a small break before heading onto the next 2 songs, “you guys are such a good audience we really thought you wouldn't like us.” Sierra laughed as you laughed, nodding as the fans yelled no. you saw a fan had yelled a question, “wheres duke?” she said very quietly but you heard her, “ did you ask where duke is?” you asked as you looked at the fan who asked and she nodded which made the girls laugh seeing you interact with the fans. “Duke's home with one of our friends I believe,” you spoke as all awed.

Then the beat to no shame had started and you were so excited for this one, it was your favorite song on the new album, “so we're gonna do like 2 more songs on the new album just for you guys.” you spoke as the cheered and sierra had started it, and for this one you didn't do much singing since in this one luke is the only one sining but there was also some added harmonies, but not much.

Sierra had killed this song completely shocking Luke, he had heard you guys sing this so many times, but hearing it live with fans singing it made it sound so good. You and Sierra had been the ones who took one for the team and sang one of their solos. You two didn't really mind and kay kay and crystal were not really up for it, but they had both said you two should do it and well here you were, no backing out now.

“Got no shame. I love the way you're screaming my name” she sang as the fans went wild and the beat to wildflower had started and you were getting ready to sing, “this is the last song we can sing for you guys, it's called wildflower, and out lovely y/n will be taking the lead here.'' Sierra said as the crowd went wild and you just smiled looking over at Cal who was just so proud, like we said before even if this was for a small joke, the talent you all carried was surreal. Seeing you sing this song made him feel many emotions, you were kinda hot singing this. All the boys thought their girls were hot right now, they had no idea how they were gonna continue the show with all these feelings they had that just wanted to come out.

“You're the only one who makes me. Every time we. Tell you what I like. My wildflower!” you sang finally as kaykay ended with the drums and you all had gone in the middle and bowed getting lots of cheering.

“That's all we have today fro you all, thanks for your cheering this was actually awesome.” Sierra said as you all nodded and you all left the stage as they were all cheering. Once you were all off you all got into a group hug and just celebrated this. You all enjoyed yourselves up there and honestly you were all down to do it again, but you were all happy with being able to do it once.

Before leaving to go see the guys, you had recreated a couple more of the diaries moments,

“Kaykay, my best friend, gonna be friends till the very end. Kaykay my best friend gonna be friends til the very end. Take it to the.. I love this gal, so damn much, i love this gal.” you said attempting to do the same movements as cal. As kaykay had kept playing the guitar and sierra walked up to you, “y/n my best friend, me and her until the very end, kaykay, is **********, i hate you so ******* much.'' Sierra said as you all continued to laugh, not being able to believe that you did this without laughing. You then all had gone down as well to see them and give them your support. Lucky fans didn't recognize you and you were able to enjoy the show.

After the show you all had headed to a hotel tired but full on energy at the same time. You had all gotten separate rooms to celebrate alone with your s/o the success of the beginning of the show and the start of the tour. The boys were definitely were wanting to see you guys preform again.

This is like some of the reactions fans would have.

@5SOSUPDATES:

THE FACT THAT THEY DRESSED EXACTLY LIKE THE GUYS IS SO CUTE.

@CALM5SOS:

So who wants to talk about how the girls took over the first set?!?!?

@Lukstannings:

Okay but Sierra was rocking the yellow silk button up.

@mikeycliffordstan:

NO ONE TOLD ME THEY CAN SING

@ghostofyou5sos:

NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT HOW Y/N LITERALLY SANG CAL’S PART IN GHOST OF YOU THE SAME WAY HE DID.

@5SOSWILDFLOWER:

SIERRA SINGING NO SHAME AND Y/N SINGING WILDFLOWER IS LITERALLY ALL I NEED TO LIVE.

@c-swizzle:

Y/n’s spot on, her hair, her bass playing, she is literally calum in the making.

@cliffordhemmings:

Kaykay on the drums, is literally a dream of mine and it came true.

@y/nkaysierracrystalstan

They need to be a band idc what you say, you can't change my mind.

@5sosashsupdates:

Kaykay and Ashton are a couple goals.

@5sosmichealupdates:

Crystal wore michaels jean jacket. This is everything I need.

@ashiriwinsstan:

PLEASE THEY LITERALLY RECREATED SO MANY MOMENTS FROM THE DIARIES

@5SOS:

Looks like our ladies took over yesterday on the first set, might need to happen more often.

[lucysometimeswrites]

SUBMISSION: Prompt 1,20,29 from the Disney song list with Harry Holland ( I’m interested to see how this goes)

DUDE i am so sorry this took SOOOOO long but i hadn't had time for it and i didn't wanna just give you something rushed so anyway i hope you like it!

1. Please don’t shut me out again, please don’t slam the door.

20. Go on and kiss the girl.

29. Barely even friends, then somebody bends, unexpectedly

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

“God, that’s disgusting”, you grimaced at the newly-formed couple who was making out in the living room. The Holland’s living room, to be precise. Harry and you had been friends for a while, close enough to be invited to get-togethers and random drinking evenings. This was one of those evenings, where everyone wanted to unwind and have a good laugh to inaugurate the weekend, and Harry offered the perfect way to do that.

I mean, free booze, the guy you liked, and good music? How could you say no?

You and Harry had hit it off quite quickly after first meeting a few years ago, through mutual friends. You had a lot of similar interests, same sort of humour, and even in the things you thought differently on, you learned to like for the other. He was an absolute dream. Everyone saw it, too. They secretly hoped you’d get together soon, and already assumed something happened between the two of you but, alas, here you were. Angry at life and that innocent couple in the living room because of the stupid, lovey-dovey thoughts that just wouldn’t go away.

“Why the long face?” Harry asked with a chuckle as he entered the kitchen, stopping beside you and turning to look where your angry stare was headed.

You nodded towards the living room, and answered, “Them. Like, can you not do it in front of my face, please?”

“But you’re all the way here in the kitchen?” he said, confused.

“Shut up” you ended, giving a big swig of your cup. A silence made itself at home between you too, not necessarily uncomfortable as you would expect, but a little suffocating. You became self-conscious about every move you made, hating how the curly-headed boy could turn you into a mess with just his presence.

“I think it’s cute” he shrugged, breaking the silence.

“They’re barely even friends, then somebody bends, unexpectedly. Ha, what a joke” you challenged.

The quiet settled again and you didn’t notice, but Harry side-eyed you while a million thought ran through his mind. He remembered that one night where you found yourselves in a similar situation. Both drunk off your asses and looking at the world through a pink lens, you shared an intimate kiss just weeks after meeting each other. He also remembered how, after trying to talk about it with you, you shut him out and didn’t speak to him for an entire two weeks. It was after promising he’d never bring it up again that you ended the silent treatment, much to his delight.

As the night went on, you kept going into the kitchen for more drink refills, feeling a little tipsy. The people, getting rowdier and nastier, went on to find the darkest spots in the house for their shenanigans, and you were so distracted that you didn’t even realize when you were dragged to a circle that formed in the living room. The announcement that the classic “Spin The Bottle” game was about to be played was made and yup, cue the eye roll.

A bunch of rounds went by with no one you actually cared to remember the name of getting their turn, until the guy who looked a little to drunk to be managing the game yelled,

“Harry! My boy! Your turn to snog one of these lucky ladies here tonight” he motioned to the girls sitting around the circle, who all bit their lips or looked down in embarrassment.

“Snog? Shut up, mate,” the red-head answered and confidently spun the bottle.

You held your breath and did not tear your eyes from it, the stupid thing seeming to spin for ages until it slowly came to a stop.

Pointing at you.

Of course it’s me, you thought as you closed your eyes, damning every single power in the universe. When you opened them, Harry was intently staring at you, as if studying any movement you might make and trying to figure out what was going through your head. In response, you got on your knees and lightly slapped you hands on your thighs, showing you were ready. He didn’t move an inch, still analyzing your face. Harry knew this was thin ice he was treading on—one wrong move and everything would go to shit. He was dying to press his lips on yours, even if it was just a game, but the memories from a few weeks back flooded his mind and—

“C’mon mate! Go on and kiss the girl!” the guy from earlier encouraged.

Well, why the fuck not?, you both thought at the same time.

Harry crawled to you and you met him halfway, lips clashing with force and desire. His hand made its way to cradle your cheek and part of your neck, guiding the kiss and making you melt into a puddle instantly. Your mouth opened a little more, letting him kiss you deeper and hungrier like no one has ever before. It was absolutely everything you had ever wanted.

And it was everything you couldn’t have.

Parting your lips with your hands on his chest, you felt tears well up in your eyes, and whispered for only you and him to hear,

“This is why the fuck not”

You hurriedly got up as everyone cheered and hooted after the heated show they saw, quickly glancing at Harry but rushing towards the upstairs bathroom.

“Please! Y/N, wait!

Hearing a faint call of your name and footsteps catching up to you, you almost ran for the room you deemed safe. Before going in, however, Harry’s voice made you stop in your tracks.

“Please, please. Please don’t shut me out again, please don’t slam the door”, he begged.

You felt his presence a few feet behind you, the dark hallway only aiding in the tense atmosphere that surrounded you. Not daring to move an inch, the only thing you could do was stare ahead at the shower curtain, your mind going a thousand miles a minute on how anything that happened in the next few moments could make or break you.

A pair of warm, shaky hands found their place on your shoulders, making you tense and then relax as they carefully and lovingly caressed their way down your arms. You felt the ghost of his chest against your back, his breath fanning on your neck and you closed your eyes, savouring the moment but dreading having to face him and look him in the eye. Gently, he grabbed your elbows and turned you to him, still very close to you.

In all honesty, Harry did not have a plan. He ran after you because there was no way he was letting you get away once more, but now that he caught up to you and had you so close to him, he had no clue what to do. His mind had gone blank, the only thing filling it was the image of you. You, whom he had shared so many memories with. You, with the beautiful laugh and crinkly eyes that brought butterflies to his chest every time. You, who never failed to bring happiness into his life, even if you weren’t on the best terms. You, whom he loved so much.

Leaning his forehead against yours, he quietly pleaded one more time, “Please don’t run away from me again”.

“I’m not,” you answered with the same tone, eyes still very much closed.

“You were going to, though”

“I’m sorry”

“Why?” he furrowed his brows.

“For trying to run away”, you answered swiftly to each question, surprisingly. As if all your walls had been brought down just by his simple, loving touch.

“No, why do you keep running away?”

Not so swift anymore, huh?

You stayed silent, not knowing how to answer his question without sounding like a little girl scared of the dark.

“Y/N” he said again, waiting for your answer. His hands moved from your arms to your hands, stopping both pairs from shaking and lightly intertwining your fingers.

You knew you had to come clean. It wasn’t fair to him for you to not give him answers, and not fair to you to keep feeling this angst. So, still very quietly, you answered.

“I’m scared. I’m scared that I’m gonna get hurt if I let you in or that I may hurt you if you let me in. Or both. I care about you so much and I don’t want to ruin our relationship because what we have is great but I also really want to be with you and love you but then I’m also scared because of what I just sai—” your ramble being cut off by Harry’s chapped lips.

His hands held both sides of your face, making you feel secure in his embrace and the soft kiss radiating adoration. He poured everything he felt for you in it, only hoping you could feel it too and that it would bring you out of that fear that had you so trapped in yourself.

He broke the kiss, lightly running his thumb over your cheek and reassuring you immediately.

“With me? Darling, you don’t have to be scared with me. I promise you I feel the exact same way, I love you so much and the last thing I want or will do is hurt you, but I can’t let you get away anymore. I want to make you feel loved and make you feel happy and I want everyone to know you’re mine and that I’m yours. Please let me do that, Y/N. Let me love you the way you deserve to be and I promise you won’t—”

It was you who interrupted him this time. During his small speech, you felt safe enough to open your eyes and see him. You saw the honestly and frustration in his face, desperately wanting you to understand how he felt. It made you realize  that you would rather spend a few moments loving each other than the rest of your life watching him with someone else, not knowing what could have been.

“Okay,” you said after parting ways.

“Okay?” he asked you, eyes frantically scanning your features for any sign of doubt or humour.

“Yes. Yes, let’s do it!” you giggled, him mirroring your actions and pulling you into his chest for a tight hug. He buried his face in your hair and yours in his chest, feeling relief course through him at the idea of you being taken by none other than him. Just holding each other, you were about to share another kiss until a random voice interrupted you from behind,

“...can I use the bathroom now?”.

[thelittlepoetprincess]

ᴘᴏɪꜱᴏɴᴏᴜꜱ ʟᴏᴠᴇ [Dabi x Reader]

Author's Note: I personally am not a fan of Lizard king here but go off. This took a long ass time to write not to mention proofread and edit. No idea if I'm making another part to this. Also, a lot of this is therapy wagon material. If you want to be tagged in these just say so.

Warnings: Fluff for a bit, Implied depression, mild spoilers, light mental manipulation, degrading, power play, oral sex(F receiving), hate sex, death mentions, arson, and physical abuse.

Summary: You chose your job over Dabi, and then severely regret it once he survives.

The numbness of grief was overwhelming, even more so when the one you were grieving was your lover. You settled onto the sofa, watching the news drone on about the recent death of Villian Dabi, confirmed now to be Touya Todoroki. You'd turn off the TV and lie on your back, not needing the extraneous details of his death. After all, you killed him.

The memory of it haunted you like ghosts dancing in your memories: the heated warmth of his palms that threatened to burn you but never did, the way he always wore worn down leather or rough worn down jackets, everything about him attracted you and only made his death hit you harder.

You were a lesser-known hero with a restoration quirk, able to numb large areas and heal minor wounds while still using it in large quantities. You'd met Dabi while out on a mission to recover a kidnapped hero, and you couldn't keep your hands off his wounds. Not like he'd let you after he felt your gentle touch ease his pain for once.

Six months, it only took six months for the bad boy to entangle himself into your life. He snuck into your old apartment all the time, made you comfortable, and he'd break down in front of you. He was a surprisingly affectionate lover, despite his many flaws. You'd feel something in your throw blanket, shaking it loose to find the leather jacket he always wore.

The navy blue leather faded slightly and burnt in specific areas where he couldn't control his flames.

You felt the fresh hot tears welling up behind your eyes as you clutched the jacket to your chest. It was much larger than you since Dabi was slightly taller, so your face nuzzled into where his neck would be. It still smelled of cigarettes and burnt flesh, the scent you grew to love so much.

You took a deep inhale, the tears starting to flow as you replayed your shared memories, unable to help the grief overwhelming you. Suddenly, you had no energy nor will to do anything except sleep, even moving was deemed too much to handle. The scent of your boyfriend lulled you to sleep, though it'd be one of the last times it'd do so.

Dabi wrapped his hands around your waist before hoisting you high in the air while the wind blew at your hair in the flowy white lace dress you wore. The undetailed field of wildflowers went on far beyond your sight as he twirled you around before falling on his back with you. You'd both be laughing in the hazy daze of love before sharing a loving kiss as the gentle grass blades tickled your skin.

You felt a leathery hand touch the skin of your cheek, the thick smell of cigarette smoke tickling your nose and making you sneeze before you gently smacked away the hand. You hear a deep, raspy chuckle before the person mysteriously pulls the coat on you like a blanket.

"Little hero, do you love me?" You'd mumble a yes subconsciously, something saddeningly familiar about whoever it was looming over your sleeping form. "Ha, cute. . ." You heard something about leaving and the door shut with a click, leaving you to sleep once again.

Your peaceful sleep is dreadfully short as your friends came in, yanking you from the grasp of sleep with their tumultuous noise.

You quickly hid the jacket, sleepily rubbing at your eyes as they opened your curtains and turned on the TV. It droned on about the agency you worked at and fire. However, you didn't have the energy nor will to care since you planned on quitting anyway.

They droned on about how you'd slept for two days straight and needed to get out, and you agreed. Maybe it would take your mind off of Dabi and the arsenic incident, also the five missed calls from your agency from two days ago. You'd shower and change, pulling your hair back out of your face for the first time for days.

The curls were dry against your fingers so you oiled your hands and massaged them into the brown mass you called hair, plucking it out to its full shape. You pulled on the black and blue dress, noticing how the dress hugged your hips a bit then flowed out to your mid-thigh. Perhaps you've gained a bit of weight these past 2 months.

Tired bags were under your eyes from sleeping for so long. After some light makeup, you left with them to the carnival. 

Lights illuminated the dark navy blue sky as you got dragged about, the fun temporarily blinding you from the sadness overwhelming you. They led you into the Maze of Mirrors, their bodies contorting and bending around you confusedly while you searched for them until they disappeared. Their goofy laughter faded into an eerie silence with only your echoing footsteps left to fill the silence. You froze as you smelled a familiar scent: burnt flesh and cigarette smoke.

His chuckles were all around you as you saw the flashes of black and navy blue in the mirrors before he was suddenly standing in front of you.

He was pissed, you knew that snarky glare anywhere. It made you nervous as he closed the distance between the two of you without speaking a word until he backed you against the cold glass. He gently pressed himself against you, giving you no real way to escape him with his arms on both sides of your head. "Dabi-" "Shh, I don't wanna hear it. At least not here, too many people. They're already looking for me since I disappeared. We aren't safe, come on." He didn't ask as he hoisted you over his shoulders to carry you out the back exit.

He seemed gentle while he carried you, he wasn't rough at all. The heat you felt radiating from his palms as he held said otherwise as you worriedly fretted about him burning a hole in your clothes. Though you felt some relief knowing he wasn't dead: he was your love after all. You knew what was coming to you for feeding him arsenic wasn't going to be a gentle, loving reunion of star-crossed lovers. Dabi wasn't that kind of guy.

He made it back to your new apartment after knocking out the security guard at the gate and threw you onto the bed. He'd seemed to get angrier as he got closer to your apartment. Your hair messily fell around your face to make a curly halo around it. He was on top of you before you could attempt to sit up, his warm breath huffing down the side of your neck.

"Now what the fuck were you thinking, huh? An arsenic cupcake? You really wanna get rid of me that badly you snake." He seethed, and you felt the familiar feeling of your wrists being burnt by his flames. You cry out in pain, squirming under his grip with tears in your eyes.

"Oh you're crying, now you're crying. How do you think I felt getting sick and finding out my girlfriend poisoned me?" He'd growl out, as you stopped squirming and sucked it up. He was right, you deserved this. You tried to kill him, and all he'd done was be beside you and attempt to be somewhat of a lover to you. You looked up to him, his blue eyes lacking any gentleness or affection. It was hate, resentment, and importantly: lust.

That's when it hit you that you were a stress reliever for him. Everything that he kept pent up he always let it out on you, and for about a month now he hasn't had it. You'd reach out, gently tracing your fingers along his scars using your quirk to calm him and watch his eyes soften as he quite literally melted under your touch. He'd land on top of you, caging you underneath him with his arms, he exhaled a strained snarl before snatching your hands from his skin.

You couldn't help wincing once you felt the familiar burning sensation of Dabi's quirk in action yet again as the blue flames licked against your skin, at least it wasn't a third-degree this time.

"It was you, wasn't it? My agency, they called then it went up in flames." He didn't answer but you knew the answer by the way he buried into the side of your neck. He always did that when you accused him and he was guilty. You'd chuckle to yourself but yelp when you felt his teeth against the soft skin of your neck, suckling your skin.

You'd squirm as a familiar heat settled itself in the pit of your stomach. He huffed as he finally moved away from the purple bruise he left on your skin. His lips trailed down until he reached your exposed collarbone, chuckling before tracing his hands against your caramel skin sending chills down your spine. He'd kiss, lovingly at that, along the caramel curve of your breasts.

He'd yank you to the edge of the bed, moving between your legs with a focused look in his glimmering eyes. "Dabi, are you mad at me?" He'd chuckle before you'd feel a burn against your thighs while sinking his teeth into the soft plushness of your inner thigh. "Oh darling, I'm fucking furious." The sweet name rolled off his tongue, making you quiver when paired with his teasing licks over your soaked panties.

He paid no attention to your face, his main focus being on the slickness accumulating from your dripping hole. His hands traced up over the stretch marks gently decorating your skin so beautifully before burning off the panties, his tongue grazing the soaked slit before sliding his tongue up to your neglected clit. His mouth was warm and wet against your sensitive bud, making it grow under his expert tongue his suckling sent waves of pleasure coursing through your entire body, and core. The entire room felt hot, and it wasn't helping wherever his hands traced left heated burn trails. You'd run your fingers into hair, yanking it to where his tongue pressed against your hole. "Dabi, please I want it. . ."

"Shut it, I'm still pissed at you." He'd yank your arms away again, pressing his tongue into your hole. Your flavor flooded his tongue, making him lick and devour you hungrily. Your eyes rolled back, your hips subconsciously bucking against his tongue as it buried into your wet hole. Ecstasy, that's all you could describe the feeling at this moment. The waves of heat that swallowed you and threatened to keep you at this moment while your climax built up in that tight ball. You panted like a bitch in heat, your legs trembling as your fingers intertwined in his black hair. "Dabi, I'm. . . .I'm-!"

"Shut up, loud-ass slut. Come if you wanna come so bad!" 

He'd say before continuing to devour you, his tongue digging into your spot just enough to send you tottering over the edge in waves of heat. You'd throw your head back, sending your curls flying wildly behind you as you rode out your orgasm and Dabi's face. Your legs closed around his head like a vice, keeping his tongue in your hole while he drank you greedily. He moaned into your nether lips, finally able to pull away with an exasperated breath.

His lips and chin were a mess of your nectar and saliva, but a smirk was on his face now. He'd notice his jacket hidden poorly, but laugh as he moved to take it and pull it on. He'd once again hoist you over his shoulder, humming as he slid his fingers along the walls setting them ablaze. "Dabi-?! What are you doing?! My apartment!" "I let you have too much freedom last time, but don't worry. I'll make it so that I'm the only one you can lean on. Then you'll never leave again." 

He'd laugh as he carried you away, ignoring your cries and pleas while the building went up in flames along with everything you'd known up until now. His sick, twisted laughter filled your ears before you felt a hard force against your head, the inky blackness flooding your senses and knocking you out.

[sloppykyuu]

Hope u r ready for another great idea

Issei always tries to hit on m when we go out, even tho we r in a relationship, just because he likes to do it for the fun. So on night it ends in the bathroom of a club and we're making out and he pulls his dick out and I got "maybe I'll leave my boyfriend for u. R u single?" And he starts laughing and turns me around and slowly pushes in and goes "maybe I'll leave my girlfriend for u" and starts to fuck me till my legs give out and he has to help me walk home jskdjsjdjsd (◍•ᴗ•)

STEAMY I LOVE

“Did you just come out the oven? Because damn your hot.” You roll your eyes at the voice behind you.

“Oou, good one. Where’d you get that google?” You say flatly. The man chuckles and rests his forearm on the counter next to you.

You look over at him, a smile plastered across your face. “Yeah maybe.” He shrugs, “It was pretty good, though, don’t you think?”

You bite your lip to keep the smile from growing.

“I suppose it was,” you tug at the lapels of his jacket. “You’re kinda cute, are you single?”

He huffs a laugh and brings his face close to yours, lips ghosting over yours. “Hm,” he hums. “Why? Thinking about leaving your man for me?”

His voice husky and deep. Breath fanning across your lips, smelling of whisky, and faintly of marijuana.

“Who said I had one?” Your eyes flick down to meet his lips and back up, registering how close he was, before swiping your tongue across your lips.

“Someone as pretty as you couldn’t be single. Any man would be a fool to deny someone like you.” He whispers just loud enough before gently pressing his lips to yours.

Your hands wrap around his neck and tangle into his curly hair, tugging gently. He grunts at the feeling and squeezes your waist softly.

He pulls away from you. You see the slow rise and fall his chest as he catches his breath. He grabs your hand and helps you off of the bar stool.

Gently tugging you through the crowd. Pushing people out of the way to reach the bathroom and pushing you inside.

He tugs you into a stall,quickly locking it and pushing you against the door. His lips lock with yours and swipes his tongue on your bottom lip. His lower half pressing into your thigh, feeling his semi-hard length.

He puts his hand between your thighs rubbing at the thin cloth of your panties, wetness seeping through. Pushing aside the drenched frabic he stuffs two fingers deep inside your cunt, immediately massaging your sweet spot before thrusting them in fast pace.

Loud moans fell from your lips, “fuck, your pussy is so tight. Can’t wait to fuck it” he rasps into your ear, before pulling his fingers out, turning you around, and pressing your face into the stall door.

You hear shuffling as his belt and jeans get shoved down just enough for his achingly hard cock to be out.

He only pressed the thick head into you and you already feel like your splitting in half. Thick and long, forcing your tight littke cunt to stretch beyond its limit. It’s painful but the more he pushes in, the more filled you get, he touches every part of your tiny hole. Thick, long, and raw. Every vein, every ridge, every twitch is felt as he sits inside you. Head pressed on your shoulder groaning quietly.

“Holy shit-“ it’s deep and loud and rumbles against your back. “Feel so good, baby, might just have to leave my girl for you.”

You choke a laugh. “Show me your worth leaving my boyfriend for, fuck me, Issei. Please need it so bad,” desperate and whiny. Just how he likes it.

Without hesitation he pulls his hips back and slams right back in. Thick cock head slamming right into your poor cervix, bruising it with each thrust.

Your screams of pure pleasure were music to his ears but he didn’t want this pleasure to be taken away, so he shoves the two fingers down your throat, cock throbbing when you gag. You can taste your pussy on his fingers.

Not like it helped much. You can hear his balls slap on your clit, hips colliding into your ass, and the loud squelch of your wet cunt.

Each powerful thrust knocked the air out of your lungs, you couldn’t think straight anymore. He successfully turned your brain into mush as he abused your wet cunt. Before you could warn him, you came. Squirting all over his cock, wetting his jeans.

Your cunt clenched him even tighter then before, if he wasn’t so big he probably would have been pushed out, and fuck did it feel good.

“Fuck, baby-“ he ruts his hips and increases his speed, before spilling large loads of his thick cum deep inside of your womb.

He stills to catch his breath, cock buried in you still. He pressed kisses to your shoulder and neck and then pulls out, groaning as he watches your cream filled cunt spill all down your legs.

You turn around, a dopey smile on your lips. Issei couldn’t help the grin that breaks out on his face at the sight of you. A cute, happy, fucked out smile, and mascara running down your cheeks.

“God your fucking adorable,” he mutters before pressing his lips to yours softly. You hum in response wrapping your arms around his waist. “Love you so much, ya know?”

The giggle you return with makes his heart swell. “Love you more, ‘sei.”

He may seem like he’d give up his relationship for a quick fuck. But only with you. You’re the only one who made his brain so hazy with love. If you weren’t dating already, he’d leave whoever was occupying his bed in an I stand for even a crumb of your attention.

A/n: slowly getting my motivation back, just need more sleep hehe. Anyway rereading it made me a lil disappointed but I still fuck with it. Hope you like baby 🥺

[aharris00britney]

ASKS 20

lmao last time i did one of these was February there is a lot

Anonymous said: What's your collab process when you and other creators make packs? Like how do you decide to do it together and how do you split up the ideas and everything?

I’m going to answer another ask outside of this post that details this but I’ll answer this one here too. The way me and ayoshi do packs is not like a usual collab (in my opinion I don’t think people collab like this). I am good at making meshes. So usually I make a mesh for something and ayoshi makes a base texture that I can use to finish the base of the top/bottom and then we work together to fix any texture issues. Nothing we’ve made has ever been 100% mine or 100% his except for the hairs. Sometimes a mesh is easy but the texture requires a lot of work so it’s more work for him, sometimes I decide I want to try and texture something (like with this AxA I made textures for some of the clothes) and then ayoshi will clean the texture up for me and add some shading for me. So it’s a lot different than what I imagine most collabs are. But I love the way me and him work together and the ability to change something I don’t like because it isn’t just his, it’s ours. 

Anonymous said: I'm so excited for your new AxA collab that female hair is stunning!!

Anonymous said: I s2g if it werent for your cc my sims would just have to walk around naked lmao you literally make the game playable for me, so thank you ❤❤❤❤❤

thank you!!! Assuming the 2nd ask is about AxA too because that’s the only time I make clothes lmao. Excited for you guys to see everything this week. 

Anonymous said: Do you know anyone who recolours your hairs? They’re so gorgeous I’d love to see them in more colours! Xx

I usually reblog recolors of my hair at @aharris00britneyrecolors​.

Anonymous said: I'm a sucker for your sim Bella. Every time I see Bella as your hair models, I click and download

Anonymous said: Hi, sorry to bother, are you planning on uploading your Bella Sim Anytime soon? Love your content!

Bella is a queen, she’s a streamer in my game at the AH00B house. I don’t think I’m going to upload my Sims anymore though :( I have a ton of sliders and presets in my game and I have no idea which ones I use. I have 3 of the ones I know I use listed on my resource page but there are so many more and I don’t want to share them and they be broken in peoples games.

Anonymous said: will there be an axa this year im in desperate need of new clothes for my sims :(

I got this a few days ago before the teaser came out which I thought was funny fvghb yes there will be one

@lysssimpatico​ said: I was wondering if you might consider making the Elli hair have ombre accessory options. There aren't any cute curly ponytail ombres anywhere!

I think I tried making an ombre accessory for it when I made the hair and it didn’t fully work with the way I changed the UV maps. I’m sorry :(

Anonymous said: why the HELL is your dog so cute lemme have her please

Right? She’s an angel omg my dad is watching her while my foot heals but I miss her so much fghvbj 

Anonymous said: Your Daphne hair is so cute!!

thank you! 

Anonymous said: I have the feeling everyone knows what kind of Supernatural they would be if they were one, so what's yours?

I think I would want to be a ghost so i could fuck with people ya

Anonymous said: Does the Natilie hair need to be updated?

Nope, all the updated stuff is in my post that lists all the updated content off. Everything on my download page is up to date.

Anonymous said: Hi im just submitting an idea if you want to - i love your melanie hair and i was wondering if its possible to remove the accessory on it? im sorry if im bothering you im new to all this hope you have a nice day!!

hey :) I am pretty sure someone had to have made a hair similar to that already as it’s just the university ponytail with new ponytail on it. If not I could look into doing it sometime in the future. 

Anonymous said:I LOVE U 😍

and i love u

Anonymous said: Do you know if there’s any hair accessories (like ones that change the color of it) that work with your Elli Hair? ❤️

It comes with an accessory that changes the elastic :)

Anonymous said: Hellooo! first of all, how are you? how´s your day? i´m sorry but, do you know if someone makes maxis match hairs based in kpop videos? I´m searching for that bull all i can find is alpha hair and i´m not into alpha cc :( Thank you very much! have a great day!

I’m not sure if there are people that specifically only do that but I think there are a handful of creators that get inspired from kpop/music videos and make hairs similar to that. Cause we use EA meshes most of the time the hairs aren’t going to look exactly like the inspiration though. Like I have two hairs that are based off Go Won from loona (Go Won hair and Kelsey Hair) but i don’t think you can tell that just from looking at them. 

Anonymous said: I downloaded the new version of the sydnie braids but my game says they're corrupted and won't let me play with them in my mods folder

try to redownload and they should work, I haven’t had any other issues. 

Anonymous said: hey, i was just wondering whether you did or are thinking of doing eyelashes at any point

I am not lmao I don’t think I would be able to make my own eyelashes

Anonymous said: you are incredibly prolific. constantly amazed and delighted by your high-quality work. have a good day king

thank you!!!!

Anonymous said: aaaahh I know this is probably a long shot but I was wondering if you had the quartz eyes psd? I've been trying to find it but all of the links I've stumbled onto are dead :( thank you in advance!! ♥️ and no problem if you don't have it or can't share it :)

here is a link to a post that has the PSD

Anonymous said: the mica hair looks so cute 🥺 you’re amazing

thank you! It’s named after the main singer from Magdalena Bay ;n; i love them

@whendowestopcaring​ said: I love, love, love your work!! + your blog, aesthetic, etc. Keep it up!

thank you!!!! pink and blue all the way bb

@marsupialmother​ said: Not an ask, just a comment. All you stuff is so beautiful. Thank you for being such an amazing creator!!!

no, thank you for sending me this! I appreciate it a ton <3 have a wonderful day

Anonymous said: How long have you been creating CCs for?

I recolored a get together cardigan in Dec 2015 and started making hair in November of 2016 to promote Britney Spears lmao. So around 4-5 years. 

Anonymous said: hi!! just wanted to say i love the item index download option! thank you for your awesome cc and organization :)

You’re welcome! item indexes make things so much easier I agree, happy to help simplify things for downloaders. also they look nice so that’s a plus for me. 

Anonymous said: i love your cc, they are really beautiful but can you do more male hair cc? im just asking

I prefer doing female stuff tbh, I feel like I’m better at it and I get more ideas. But i did 4 male hairs in this upcoming AxA 2020 pack and a bunch of male clothes. I’m sorry I can’t do more :( I just don’t get inspired to make much male stuff personally.

Anonymous said: what happened to Ayoshi???

he’s in the basement working on AxA, don’t ask.  he actually just doesn’t like being on Simblr anymore but still likes making CC with me, so we just make cc on call sometimes when we get bored of a game we’re playing. he sends his regards from the basement of AH00B studios <3

Anonymous said: hello i love all your cc and you’re my favorite creator, i have a question, are you planning to make some more clothes anytime soon?

getting these while working on AxA was so funny because there are like 80 new clothes for male/female sims in it and i was like... these people don’t know what they have coming their way. thank you!

Anonymous said: 💃 How you make all your item index for your pack and collab? 💃

I make mine in Word using tables and then save as PDF. Here’s a peak at the AxA 2020 one

Anonymous said: am i on drugs or have u uploaded an eco lifestyle kids dress conversion? i remember seeing it so vividly, (the zip up kids dress), but maybe it was another creator... lol

I think that was from grimcookies! Here is a link to his eco lifestyle add on set that he made. 

Anonymous said: would you happen to know how to get rid of the weird gloss that can be on some cc hairs?

if you download Sims4Studio and open the package you can make the specular blank but that could cause issues in your game if you play on certain graphic settings. So do it with caution. 

Anonymous said: Awww we have very similar life aspirations, I just want a boring/calm life, settle down with a wife (I'm a lesbian) and become an lit teacher.

yup yup boring lifes are where it’s at. Like i just want something simple lmao if I wanted exciting I wouldn’t do teaching. 

Anonymous said: hi! i hope youre doing well! could you please tell me wcif the two toned jeans on the sim in your eco lifestyle addon collection?

They’re in AxA 2020! We have had so much of the stuff done for a while so i’ve been using it in previews for a while lmao. 

Anonymous said: WAIT is the Love Bomb palette named after the Fromis_9 song???

yessss ayoshi is their #1 fan

[arthurflecksgirl]

Hellooo, me again, I'm sorry to keep pestering ^--^ I was wondering if you would be willing to write a fic where Arthur's s/o is on doctor-prescribed bed rest for whatever reason and Arthur wants to take care of them (making them food/running to the store for them/comforting them through pain)? I have chronic but severe pain that makes me need to rest a lot and the idea of Arthur actually WANTING to take care of someone makes me ^--^

Heyyyyy Sabrina :) Thank you soooo sooo much for your request and why on earth would you ever apologize for making a request ? OMG. I appreciate your messages and asks so much! This is the result and I really really hope you like it.

Arthur taking care of you during “this time of the month”

Your hand reached out for the soft skin of Arthurs arm. You needed it wrapped around you tight. So tight it would ease the pain a bit. Arthurs skin on yours always eased the pain. The warmth of his body was the best medicine you could think of. It was this time of the month again when your body will torture you with serveral pain and cramps until you got too weak and tired to even go out of bed. Waking up from bad pains in your lower belly made you desperately search for Arthur under the sheets. Your eyes still closed, trying to breathe through the pain. "Arthur?" you whispered in the dark of the bedroom. The only thing your hand reached was Arthurs light blue pillow, still warm from him sleeping on it. You rolled up to his side of the bed and pressed your face into his pillow. You loved how his warmth was still holding on to the fabric. Or was it the farbric holding on to his warmth? Trying to make him stay? To make the remains of his body heath a ghost, lingering on the pillows and sheets? To proof that he just left some minutes ago? That he will be right back because this was his save place. Right here with you. Where the warmth of your body mixes with his. To become one bundle of comfort.

You rubbed your face into it. There was not just the warmth that remained but teh smell of his hair. A deep breath in made you feel like you just buried your face into the crook of his neck, except the sensation of his curls tickeling your nose was missing.

"Arthur?" you called out his name like a prayer. Like he would be right there when you call for him. And he was.

"Y/N? Hey....Good morning, sweetheart!"

"Arthur, I`m in so much pain..." you whimpered, while you abdomen felt like someone tried to tear it apart.

Arthur immediately got up on the ebd to cuddle you from behind "Oh no! Whats wrong?"  "Those horrible cramps again. I can barely move...."

Arthur pulled you closer to his naked chest. He was still in his Pjs. "Oh baby. Remember what the doctor said. You need to rest and stay in bed when this happens. Did you already took some pain killers by now?"

You shook your head "No, it just started. But I feel that its getting bad".

Arthur hurried, telling you that he will be right back.

He seemed a bit overwhelmed by this. He never had a girlfriend before and this was new to him. You have been together for some months now and he realized that what you were going through each month wasnt fun. He was always getting a bit nervous when he saw you struggeling. Worried about if he was doing everything right to help you with the pain, which was teh sweetest thing to wittness. Your ex boyfriend never payed any attention to this kind of struggle. But Arthur took it very seriously. He couldnt stand it to see you in this condition. So he tried to hide the fact that he felt a little helpless.

Arthur came back with some pain killers and a glass of water. "Here, take these. These are the ones the doctor perscripted you last time we visited him". He gently stoke the back of your head as you swallowed them down with a sip of water. "Thank you, Arthur. I can barely stand up...."

"Then dont. Just stay in bed and rest, okay? I can get anything for you if you need something. Just let me know."

You nodded before you fell back into the pillow. His one. The one that smelled like home and comfort. You heavily breathed into it. Trying to concentrate on relaxing but it seemed impossible. "The pills will ease the pan soon" . He had no idea that his soothing voice was much of a beter helper.

You body twitched.

"Oh darling. Is it that bad?"  Arthurs hand reached under your shirt to caress your belly as you curled yourself up into a ball. His fingers tenderly moving in circles while you just tried to breathe calmly.

"It is.....can you.....please just....lie here with me and wrap your arms around me? " You just had to feel him close to you now. Otherwise you would fall apart.

"Y/N....what a question. Sure. But first I gotta call my boss and tell him that I will stay away from work today."

"What? Arthur but....you cant do that. You know that Hoyt is going to be pissed."

"So what?" Arhur stood up to grab the phone "I dont care. I won`t leave you alone in this condition. I will stay right here with you and make sure you have anything you need."

As soon as Hoyt was on the phone, he told him he was on some new meds and they made him so sick to the stomach its impossible for him to leave his bed today. it was not possible for you to make out what Hoyts answer was like, but Arthur hung up the phone, rolling his eyes.

"He was mad, wasnt he?" you asked, trying to drink some water without throwing up.

"Forget about him. He will calm down. He`s just being Hoyt. One of my workmates can jum in for me today. " He crawled back on the bed, looking so lovable in his pajamas and messy morning hair.

"The kids will miss their cute Carnival. They need him."

"You need me more"

"Good point!" you replied, pulling him closer.

"Carnival can show you a lil dance later if you want. He`ll make anything to make you forget the pain."

You smiled "I know he would."

Arthur spooned you from behind so he`s got his hands free to caress your belly "Where does it hurt the most?" he asked. His fingers doing their magic. Sometimes you swore he had healing hands.

"Everywhere....on the inside, you know?"

"I wish I could crawl right into you and ease the pain from inside".

You angled your head to kiss him on the lips.Just to get a taste of him.

"I think I gotta go to the bathroom. I havent even brushed my teeth since I woke up.

"I dont care. Stay here. "

The tip of Arthurs nose traveled up and down your neck.

"Arthur?"

"Huh?"

"Can I put on your brown cardigan? I think it might help me calming down until the meds show results".

Arthur bend forwards to grab his worn out cardigan which was lying on the floor. He asked you to sit up and helped you to get in it. A smile was crossing his face. This meant much to him. Knowing that his old clothes gave you comfort.

"Better?" he asked.

"A lot, Arthur. Thank you."

"Is there anything I can do for you? A tea? A hot watter bottle? Please let me know." The way Arthur wanted to take care of you filled your heart with so much love. He wasnt doing this because he had to ,but because he wanted to. It meant something to him, to have someone to take care of. Someone who appreciated him being there and caring. Helping other people with feeling better had the same effect on him than making people smile by telling jokes. It filled his heavy heart with joy and made it lighter.

Arthur wanted other people to need him. Especially the ones close to him. He loved to be needed and wanted in any way. He never thought his hands would help someone feeling better. He never thought his voice would be heard by someone who loved the sound of it. All his life Arthur wished for someone to crave him. To long for his presence. And now he was able to help you. Just by being here. Being able to help made him feel important to someone.

But this wasnt just about him. he loved you with all his senses and seeing you being in pain was unbearable for him. He tried to get rid of the feeling of being helpless and worried  by asking you what else he could do for you.

"Um...maybe both?" you giggled, realizing that the pain has gottan at least a little bit better for now. Sure of the fact that it wasnt because of the meds but because of him.

"Alright. So a tea and a hot watter bottle " he nodded, running his fingers through his curly hair "Anything else? Like....do you think you can eat something? Or....?"

"Um....I`m not sure. I´m sick to the stomach...."

Arthur stroke your cheek. He knew this feeling too well.

"The only thing I can think of are these  small pretzels ....."

Arthur laughed out loud as he lit himself a cig "You really want pretzels right now?"

"Yeah...." now you had to laugh,too. Almost forgetting about the pain for a moment.

Arthur inhaled the smoke, the cig tugged between his mischievous smirk. "One moment, honey". He walked to the kitchen, into the bathroom and came back with a hot water bottle and a hot cup of tea. He placed the water bottle on your belly "I hope this will help you relax. We dont have any pretzles anymore I`m afraid. I ate the last one the other morning.I`m sorry".

"Oh Artie, dont ever be sorry for eating. I`m so happy everytime I watch you eat something.  Arthur put his shoes and hoodie on "You knwo what? There is this store just two blocks away and they sell those things. I will go get some for you okay? I`ll be right back!"

"Oh you really dont have to...."

"I willl hurry up, I promoise!"

"I only let you go when you promise me you will eat one,too."

Arthur leaned in to give you a sloppy kiss on teh forehead. He smelled like cigarettes. "I promise".

When Arthur was out the door you buried yourself in his pillow again. Thinking about how lucky you were to have a man like him on your side and how little the others knew about him.

Arthur met many people in his life, especially while working. He was always meeting them on birthday partys, hospitals  and other events. But they never really got in touch with him. What  a pity. To them he was eighter just the party clown or the mysterious, shy man in the background. They had no idea what they missed out on.

You were lucky enough to know him. To know what a wonderful lover he was. And it was obvious that Arthur would be an amazing friend if people would just give him a chance and try to take a closer look. A look behind the laughter that they tought was weird or creepy.

You felt the heath of the water bottle calming your muscles but it didnt had the same magical effect as Arthurs body heath. A deep sigh escaped your lips.

Maybe it wasnt just luck. Maybe it was because you saw him. His true self. And now his hands belonged to you. The gentleness of his touch, the softness of his skin, the warmth of his body at night, his lips, his dreams and hopes and darkest fears. It was all yours now and you embraced it with everything that was you.

It didnt took long until you`ve heard the keys in the lock. Which was a relief because you already felt the pain getting worse after he was gone for 5 minutes.

"I`m back with the pretzels!" his voice sounded like a humm as he threw a whole bag of it on the bed and got rid of his hoodie and shoes.

"Arthur. You forgot to change your pants." you chuckled.

He looked downon himself, realizing that he was leaving the house in his PJs "Oh!" he shrugged "Too late now I guess". He checked his hair like he always did when he got out of his hoodie.

"You`ve been okay?"

"Yeah"

Arthur opened the brown paper bag and fed you one of the pretzels. Just one bite and another. You had to go real slow to not get sick. Now you knew how Arthur felt about eating every day.

"Thank you Artie. You`re the best boyfriend a girl can wish for!"

His cheeks turned pink as you also fed him one and he bit off a small piece.

"You also gotta eat something, Arthur"

"Yeah but you too" he added as both of you kept feeding each other the smallest pieces.

After there were two less pretzels in the bag, you kissed each other on the mouth and layed down again. His naked toes playfully touching the back of your foot.

Another cramp again.

"You`re muscles are so tense" Arthur noticed. C`mon. Lets see how i can help."

He disappeared under the green blanket and rolled up the cardigan just enough to place some soft kisses on your lower belly.

"Does it help?" he whispered between the open mouth kisses.

"Oh yeah....a lot!" you breathed through the pain, which was getting better with every touch of Arthurs lips.

"I could do this forever" he added "I can taste the love you hold for me. Its right there....on the surface of your skin. Its right there waiting for me to taste it .... Does that sound crazy?"

You couldnt see his face, because he was covered with the sheets but you knew he was making a serious face asking you this.

"Not at all, Arthur. It sounds wonderful. "

Arthur compleately crawled under the blanket now and  positioned himself over you. Supporting himself with his elbows so you didnt had to carry the weight of his body on your aching belly.

"I love you so much" he muttered into your messy hair.

"Dito!" you replied.

"Now get some sleep, baby. I`ll be right here when you wake up...Or....maybe Carnival will take my place to cheer you up, who knows?"

You smiled right before you drifted into a painless sleep. Dreaming of the most caring clown with the biggest green wig and the purest heart imaginable.

[lifewithlemons00]

The Stark Internship P3

MASTERLIST

PART1   PART2

Synopsis: You worked really hard for an internship you thought you were a shoe in for. Turns out, a certain boy from Queens takes the opportunity from you.

Words: 2215

Triggers: tiny bit of swearing, lotsa fluff

A/N: Let me know if you’d like a part 4, I’d be open to the idea if anyone would be interested in that! Also, you can picture Reader wearing something to Homecoming, but if you’re just hear to read the story, I pictured her in a black body con off the shoulder full length dress!

___________________

It had been about two weeks since you told Peter you would go to Homecoming with him, and you two were inseparable. Whenever you had free time, you were at his apartment hanging out and planning homecoming. All your time together was making your confusing feelings for him pretty obvious. You had romantic feelings for Peter Parker.

“So, are you ready for tomorrow?” You ask said boy as you flip through your notes while sitting on his double bed.

You look over at him sitting next to you, his face is unreadable as he stares at the blank page in front of him. You had noticed he was a bit on edge for a couple days, and you couldn’t understand why. You thought maybe it was Flash getting to him a bit more, but he had assured you he was being teased the same amount everyday, not that that was any better, but it was something.

“Peter?” Your hand lands on his shoulder gently which makes him jump slightly.

“Huh?”

“What’s up? You’ve been spacing for a couple days now.” Your hand rubs slow circles into his shoulder as you stare into his chestnut eyes worriedly.

“It’s nothing, I’m just a bit tired.”

“You sure? I know we haven’t known each other very long, but you can trust me.” You flash him an encouraging smile.

“I’m fine, really. Just a bit stressed is all.” He gives you a reassuring smile as he grabs your hand from his shoulder to hold it in his.

“What’s got you so stressed? It must be important if it’s bothering you.”

“If you're sure i can talk about it… something happened a couple days ago.” He looks up at you, slight hesitation in his voice.

“Please don’t be angry when I tell you?”

“Of course not, what happened?” You give his hand an encouraging squeeze.

“I lost the Stark internship.” He tells you flatly as he looks away from you.

“You… What? How? What happened?”

“I don’t know I… I thought I was doing a good thing but I screwed it up, so he took it away… And now he doesn’t trust me, so I can’t get you the internship… I’m so sorry y/n, I really thought I could help you, but I guess I can’t do anything right…”

“Peter… don’t say that.”

“I mean, it’s true. I’ve been screwing everything up for everyone, especially you. I know that internship meant a lot to yo-“ before he could finish his sentence your lips crashed onto his.

His eyes grew wide at your gesture, but eventually his lips started moving in sync with yours. The heat in your cheeks was evident as you pulled away from him slowly.

“You… what just happened?” His face was a deep shade of crimson, his eyes confused.

“I don’t care about the internship anymore, Peter. I care about you.” A shy smile takes its place on your face.

“I guess… yeah I cared about the Internship a lot before, but after spending time with you I realized that, you know, I should focus on the present instead of the future for a change. And I’m sure other opportunities will come my way if I keep working hard enough so… yeah, I guess that’s my way of saying… I really like you, Pete.” The blush never faded from either of your faces as he pulls you into a tight embrace, mostly to hide his red face.

“I really like you too.” He chuckles nervously as your head rests on his shoulder.

“So uh…” he loosens his grip on you as he looks down at you.

“You wanna go to homecoming as my date, and my girlfriend?” You chuckle at his awkward way of asking you to be his girlfriend.

“Honestly? I couldn’t ask for anything better.”

——————-

It was finally the night of homecoming, and you couldn’t have been more excited to spend the night with Peter. You were currently doing your hair and talking to Michelle on Skype.

“I can’t believe you like that guy. Didn’t think he was your type.”

“What do you mean, he’s totally my type. He’s smart, cute, sensitive. You know, all that good stuff.” You smile to yourself as you think about the curly haired boy.

“He’s also incredibly flaky. He never shows up to anything he’s said he would.” You give her a look of confusion.

“He’s not flaky, he always shows up if we have plans.” This makes Michelle roll her eyes.

“Yeah, cause you’re in the honeymoon phase, obviously. For example, when we went to Washington for the academic decathlon, he totally bailed. Said he had a stomach ache but honestly? I could tell he was lying.”

“That’s one time, and if he wasn’t feeling well, I think that’s a pretty good reason to not go.” You defend, feeling a bit upset she was talking about Peter in this light.

“He also skips school quite often now, he actually got detention for it, and he didn’t even stay when he was in detention, he left pretty early.”

“How do you even know these things?”

“I like to draw people in crisis.” She shrugs, her face uncaring.

“Well, I’m sure he had a logical explanation.”

“Look, all I’m saying is to be careful. I don’t want you to get hurt.” Her face turns soft as she says this.

You thought about what she said. It didn’t seem very characteristic of Peter to get detention, let alone skip detention.

‘Was it because he lost the internship?’ You thought, obviously puzzled at the things you were told.

“Okay… I’ll be careful, but I don’t think I have anything to worry about. Peter is a pretty open book.”

“Honestly? I think he’s hiding something, he always seems so on edge.” You eyebrow raises at her statement.

“Peter? Hiding something? Yeah, alright, he couldn’t keep a secret if his life depended on it.” Michelle nods at your statement.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

You suddenly hear a knock at the front door, and your heart skips a beat.

“That’s probably Peter, wait outside the school for us?”

“Yeah, sure. See ya, loser.” You laugh as you end the call and add the finishing touches to your hair before going out to see if Peter was here.

Once you reach the living room, you see Peter standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. His hair was perfectly styled, his tux was simple, a white shirt with his pants and blazer being black. He was also sporting some converse on his feet. Even if he didn’t look traditionally formal, You thought he looked perfect.

“You’re here already.” You state as he turns to see you.

His eyes go wide as he sees you and his cheeks tinge pink.

“Y/n you look… stunning.” You smile as you walk towards him; he hands the corsage in his hands to you.

You quickly open the plastic container and gently grab the delicate flower.

“Put it on for me?” You hand the white flower over to him.

You watch with humor as he fumbles to try and slip it over your wrist.

“Sorry, I’m not good at this kind of stuff.” He chuckles, embarrassed.

“I think you’re doing perfectly.” You give him an encouraging smile as you intertwine your fingers.

“Are you ready to go, sweetie?” You look over to your mom who had entered the room.

“I think so, let me grab my purse.” You keep your fingers interlocked with Peter’s as you walk toward your room.

You open the door and let go of his hand so you could grab the purse left on your bed.

“So this is your room.” He comments as he curiously looks around.

“Yeah, you like it?” You smile as you walk towards him and wrap your arms around his neck.

“It’s very… You.” You chuckle at his statement.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He wraps his arms around your waist slowly.

“We, it’s very clean and precise, it doesn’t look like there’s anything out of place. It’s nice, I like it.” A smile makes its way to your lips as you gently connect them with his. He tightens his grip on your waist as he deepens the kiss, your lips perfectly in sync for that moment.

“My mom's waiting, we should probably go.” You smile at him as you look into his chocolate brown eyes.

“You’re probably right.” He reluctantly unwraps his arms from your waist and instead takes your hand in his.

“Shall we?” He gives you a crooked smile

“We shall.”

———————

You step out of the car, and bid your mom goodbye as you look over at Peter.

“I have to talk to Liz about the Academic decathlon, could you go in with Michelle and I’ll meet you in there?” You nod, thinking he probably needed to apologize for not showing up for the competition in Washington.

“Sure, I'll see you in there then.” You offer a small smile before walking toward Michelle.

“Where’s lover boy?” She asks as you link your arms together.

“He mentioned he has to talk to Liz about something.” She raises an eyebrow at you.

“Told you he was flaky.”

“It’s not like that, he said he would meet up with us in the gym.” She rolls her eyes, but let’s go of the conversation.

She leads you toward the gymnasium and you could see crowds of people dancing and socializing inside. You couldn’t remember the last time you went to an event your school hosted, it made you regret spending so much time on studying, and less time on having a social life.

“whats up, loser.” Michelle greets Ned with a smirk on her face.

“Thanks for that.” He chuckles, as he looks over to you.

“Where’s Peter?”

“He’ll be inside in a second.” He nods in understanding.

A couple moments pass as you talk to Michelle and Ned about random topics, before you feel a tap on your shoulder. You turn around and smile at the curly haired boy in front of you.

“Peter, hey.” Your smile is replaced by concern as you see his face was as pale as a ghost.

“What’s wrong?” He looks at you with regret in his eyes.

“I have to go.”

“What do you mean you, Peter!” He bolts out of the double doors on the other side of the gymnasium before you could finish your sentence.

You look over at Michelle with pure confusion written all over your face.

“Told you.” She tells you

You were left speechless, but you decided on one thing, you were going to go after Peter. You run toward the doors he escaped through. As you reach the double doors, you reach down to grab your heels from your feet so you could run faster. You notice that his tie and blazer was sprawled across the floor, and your face twisted in bewilderment.

‘Why would he undress in the middle of the hallway?’ You follow the trail of clothing, as you reach the doors outside.

Two figures were quickly noticeable, one being dressed in some sort of red and blue sweatsuit with a mask on their face, and the other large man in completely black attire. Your eyes widen as you start to piece together what was happening.

‘Peter is… in that sweatsuit which means…’ your thoughts were cut short as the masked person gets punched roughly with some sort of gauntlet, resulting in him getting blown into the side of the school bus.

‘That’s Peter… Peter is Spider-Man.’ If possible, your eyes grow even wider, your boyfriend was Spider-Man.

And he was getting his ass handed to him, you noted. As he was getting thrown around like a rag doll, you looked around to see if you could find anything you could help him with. You noted there were two bracelet looking objects on the ground. You quickly run over to them, and read ‘web shooters MK1’ engraved on them.

You hastily put one of them on your wrist, as you shoot toward the large man's gauntlet and squeeze your eyes shut, not wanting to see the impact it was about to make on Peter. You hear him shout excitedly, and decide to open one of your eyes slowly. The bracelet is quickly grabbed from your wrist and you open your eyes as you see Peter use them to stick the large man to the school bus. You hear Peter clear his voice, before speaking.

“Thank you, brave citizen.”

“Peter, I know it’s you.” You walk over to him and tear the mask off his head.

“H-how did you know?” You raise an eyebrow at your boyfriend.

“Peter, I’m not stupid. My boyfriend suddenly tells me he has to leave, his clothes are strewn across the hallways, and there’s this guy the same size as him fighting someone.” His eyes widen as he looks over to the guy on the pavement. He grabs both your hands gently as he looks into your e/c.

“Right. I have to go, but.. I’ll explain everything after, I promise.” You nod and he hastily places a kiss on your lips, before throwing his mask back on and soaring away with his web shooters.

You stand there in awe as you watch him swing away.

“Out of all the things that could have happened at my first homecoming...”

TAGLIST

@marvel-is-a-mood @lukesbabylon @loud-binch @sspidermanss @supernaturalwriter24

[mamusings]

Supernatural Season 1 Thoughts

So I'm rewatching mainly to distract myself from the dogs breakfast the show has descended into. But also because my feelings about the show as a whole are decidedly mixed. I come to it as a buffy fan. I've always been curious about spn as a successor show to buffy, but only watched thr first 13 seasons in 2020. Blame lockdown.

Anyway s1. Blinding start, blinding finish. But the middle is just too many MOTW episodes without enough season arc development. I keep wondering who the show is for. It feels aesthetically very male. Lots of blood, guns and violence. Well-realised horror feel - although I think it's hard to really feel fear when you dont particularly care about who might die. It's only when you threaten a major character death that things hit harder. Also the genuflecting to realism by drawing on urban myths feels like something for stereotypically 'male' rather than 'female'. Probably reflects my preferences that I was never to into the MOTW format some buffy fans loved and that I was always more interested in the story telling than realism or even consistency. Monsters as metaphors works better for me. But Spn is a much more cloistered universe. Two guys and their absent father is what s1 is about. But it dits weirdly between being comfort viewing and needing attention. There's much that starts to feel formulaic with MOTW episodes: Impala on the road scene, some rock music, an opener that gives you a new mystery and people to go with it blah blah. You can practically set your watch by the final denouement happening in the final 8 mins. It feels like the show is diligently checking off every myth and monster going which gets tedious. I found the need for setting up yet another family in danger was something that gets hard to care about. "Oh look a couple, someone's gonna die, shall I fast forward until sam and dean show up." And yet there are some interesting undercutting of the white working class vibe the show has. Two that stand out to me are: the 'female gazing' of the camera work off Sam and Dean. There's a lot of panning - are we getting in the boys with the guns and hardware and then offering up the handsome male bodies for women? I felt a little cheap, but they they are v cute. The other is having a black/bi racial woman play Dean's only serious love interest. The ghost truck thing is terrible but putting attitudes to race at the centre of this particular storyline was intriguing. Perhaps a counter balance to the overall wwc feel of things. (Full disclosure I am a black woman and I enjoyed seeing this - even tho I did have several moments of wondering was the predominant female look so uniform back then. All the girls have the same build (and did we all wear such low rise jeans?) plus long, wavy/curly hair...except Meg who basically has Sam's hairstyle ha ha)

What's impressive? The first few episodes give us a cluster of core lines: bitch/jerk, no chick flick moments, and the sibling dynamic This show hits its stride right in the pilot and wendigo is still one of the scarier episodes. Thats a really good opening shot imo.

It's no surprise that what's really riveting is Sam and Dean. But on rewatching I saw a lot more on why this is so interesting. Basically when the characters are introduced you first get Sam. He's your archetypal nice guy whis hot everything though for him. Stanford, girlfriend, friends, great test score but also and crucially hes likeable. Then you get Dean and hes introduced as a dick. Breaks in, wrestles Sam, comes on to/is sleazy with Sams gf. So cocky bad boy: check.

In the pilot dean is the annoying big brother to a t. So they set up two contrasting personalities. Dean is disrespectful to cops, Sam is embarrassed by it. Dean is into hunting, Sam is unwillingly persuaded. Dean is insensitive, Sam kinder and sweet. Dean plays dumb, Sam's the academic achiever. But what we witness over the course of the season essentially reverses this. Sam's the real rebel defying his father, Dean the obedient son. Dean gets a lot of scenes showing him make swift emotional connections esp with children or people in caretaker roles. Dean's very adult 'I'm 26 of course I go on hunts alone' is unmasked by the fact he gets Sam to help him because hes lonely. And Dean (often clumsily) tries to help Sam move on about Jess and open up about his nightmares. While the explicit dialogue casts Sam as the geeky loser brother what we see in this season is that the loser is actually Dean. Sam has friends, Sam has a relationship, Sam has a life he wants to get back to. Dean has no one and some of the hardest emotional hits this season are when his mask is lifted to show us just that. For instance shape shifter Dean voices his jealousy in Skin. Also Azazel taunts Dean about how he needs Sam and John in a way that they dont need him.

The closing episodes really bring some of these contrasts home. Dead Mans Blood gives us a great bonding scene between Sam and John, for me that's a moment where it falls into place that they so much in common that it leaves Dean on the outside. They both loved women they lost to a demon. For both of them (at this stage) the mission, as in killing this demon, matters more than family. Its Dean who constantly prioritises family, even while his family deprioritise him. Both Sam in Salvation and John in Devils Trap put sacrificing themselves to kill the demon as their first priority. Whereas Dean consistently argues for family, first persuading John that they are stronger together, then telling Sam that the three of us 'is all I have' in Salvation. The point gets hammered home in Devils Trap where Dean says (in case the stupid viewer missed it "you and Dad are a lot more alike..cant wait to sacrifice yourselves, but I'm going to be the one to bury you").

Much of the rest of the relationship development is about showing us the partnership Sam and Dean are developing. You see increasing ease in working together - maybe most cliched in how they toss weapons back and forth in Hell House. Plus that interesting sibling dynamic when you love someone and find them intensely annoying that feels enjoyable even if your own sibling relationship is nothing like it.

But what's interesting is that while Dean's character is revealed throughout the season. You see through the episodes the difference between his Dean presents himself and hiw he is, but dean doesn't change. Hes immature and emotionally driven I'd also savvy and brave. Its Sam who changes. Not in how he is, but in his priorities. Sam realises the good bit about Dean among the stuff that irritates him. But most importantly the final episode shows us Sam moving from thinking the mission is what matters just like John. To thinking his family matters more. He doesnt shoot Azazel inside John and when John berates him for it his look at the bloodied-up Dean in the rearview mirror speaks volumes.

It's all the more striking because thus argument has been the core dilemma for the last 3 episodes. It's also the crux of how Dean, for all his obedience, sees himself as falling short of who his father wants him to be. He cant turn his heart off. Its Dean who calls his dad sounding like a tearful little boy in Home. It's when John approves of him making the heart choice and using the colt to save Sam, that Dean realises it's not his father but Azazel speaking. I find that painful to watch it's been so well set up. You get lots of preview of Dean really wanting approval and when it finally comes and you're all ahh fsmily bonding, Dean puts it together and goes you're not my father. Ouch.

Absent fathers and eventually I guess an absent God is a big spn theme. So there is something to say for looking at it in this season. John's absence is the driver of the whole season. But it's also the foundation stone of both Sam and Dean's character. What we get most of in s1 is a sense of the impact of his fathers absence on Dean. The childhood neglect, but also the absence of approval. My European background always makes it jarring when children address their father as sir so I hope I'm not over reading this. When John gets back the way it emasculates Dean is jarring. The jumping to attention with the yessirs and the following orders is such a distance from the cocky law breaker. Its interesting that the first scenes in which I recall the boys speaking in unison are these yessirs. But the scene I remember most is a trivial one, Dean offers John a machete out of Babys messy looking trunk - hes already been pulled up by dad for inadequate car maintenance. But John pulls a bigger, better, cleaner machete out of his high spec truck - Dead Mans Blood. Sums it up for me. Dean is so eager for approval, his father withholds it so casually. Sam is less like this, because he had Dean to parent him however ineptly. Sam did not have a hoid parent in Dean, but Dean showed up. Sam starts to make that realisation in season 1 and there are a few thank you moments. Contrast Dean's only outburst against his father when hes admonished to call when in trouble. He takes a leaf out of Sam's book and notes that they did call in Lawrence and they called when Dean was dying in Faith, hes angry and rightly so. John didn't show. But its interesting that Dean's fight with John sounds like a child fighting with a parent. It even ends with 'I dont care for your tone' from John even as he accepts Dean's point. Constrast Sam and John who have a much deeper ongoing disagreement. But Sam fights his father from an adult position. He's not looking for approval or acceptance, Sam claims his ground, argues his point. Dean still just needs to be loved.

But as well as the impact of the absent parent there is also having grown beyond the parent. I feel like the final few episodes show us that 'the boys' have surpassed their father. John's fake colt idea is lame and Dean calls it. By contrast the devils trap at Bobby's to catch Meg feels like a moment of brilliance particularly as the trap is sprung on the viewer so we feel surprised too.. Sure they call in help from Bobby, but what they do is well planned and they pull it off. And calling in helo when you need it us grown up.

Theres an element of fate vs character exploration when it comes to Sam and Dean. What happens to Sam is fate. It's not related to how he is or how he behaves. We find that out more fully soon. Whereas what happend to Dean relates to his character. IMO Dean actually has the option of walking away from hunting that Sam tried to exercise. Unlike Sam, hunting wouldn't have pursued Dean by killing his girlfriend. But Dean's character means he doesnt chose to walk away because family is important to him, in a way that it isn't for Sam until the end of this season. Its interesting that Sam perceives of himself as having choices he doesn't have. Whereas Dean sees himself as having no choice, when in fact he does. But I guess we don't know that yet so maybe the argument doesn't work?

#supernatural #sam #dean #winchester

[taurusnoir]

taste of a twilight fruit

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug

Pairing: Adrien/Marinette 

Rating: M

Summary:  In which Adrien falls in love with a girl he met at a bar, Marinette is just trying to prove to Alya she can have a one night stand, and Nino desperately needs a drink.

ao3

Adrien almost drops the rhythm and his bass when he sees her at the bar. He quickly finds his place again, grip tightening around the neck of his instrument, and the girl with blue eyes smirks under her mask. The bar they’re playing at has deemed Friday’s “masquerade nights”, and she’s evidently gone all out with the suggestion. Her mask is black, trimmed with delicate red lace. It’s a beautiful piece, and Adrien feels the heat in his cheeks when he realizes his face is covered with a shitty halloween cat mask. The girl winks at him, and she has her lips wrapped around what appears to be a red curly straw, liquid slowly rising up to her mouth from her drink, and Adrien curses Nino for ever forcing him to play in his stupid band. 

He’d only agreed because he likes making music with his best friend, and Nino’s talent was starting to get recognized. They’d moved up from playing house shows to actual bar gigs, and nice bars too. But Adrien didn’t sign up for this- pretty black-haired girls  with freckles who looked like they wanted to eat him alive. He can’t move, stuck on the bar’s small stage, caught between the music and the girl’s stare. Heat creeps under his collar and Adrien is very aware he can’t do anything about it because of the guitar in his hands. Somehow he doesn’t lose the placement of his fingers, the chord progression locked tight in his muscle memory, and he’s thankful for it. It feels like a cruel irony- Nino’s drawl exclaiming the presence of a heartbreaker, and Adrien drowning in the mystery girl at the bar. 

The universe must decide to spare him though, as the song comes to an end and with it their set. He needs to get the bar as soon as he can. He has no idea what he’s going to do once he gets there, but thinking ahead was never his strong suit. 

“Dude, that was sick. You killed it.” Nino praises him, grabbing the cord from his amp and wrapping it around his hands. Adrien is only half listening, lost in the task of trying to slide his bass in the fabric case as quickly as he can, but his shaking hands refuse to cooperate with him.

 “Thanks, but you’re the main man, Nino. Can’t do it without you.”  

His stupid- fucking- guitar won’t return to it’s case. He looks at the bar, trying to locate the girl, and lets out a frustrated growl at his bass. Grabbing his shoulder, Nino gives him a worried look, “Woah there, Agreste. You okay?” 

Adrien cocks his head to the direction of the bar. “There’s a girl-” 

Before he can finish, Nino throws his head back, laughing. “I should’ve known. You look like you saw a ghost.” 

He finally gets the godforsaken thing in it’s case. Nino is still laughing, and Adrien looks up and scowls at him. It only makes his best friend laugh harder. 

“Remember dude, you gotta mention the bass. Girls always want to-” He cackles.  

“Nino if you say ‘fuck the bassist’, I’m revoking your best friend card.” 

The other boy just snorts, “Go get her tiger.” 

By the time Adrien gets to the bar, the girl is gone.

Adrien finds himself at Clyde’s the next Friday. He contemplated not coming, he knows it’s ridiculous. Why would she come this friday just because she came last time? But there’s a lingering hope that has solidified itself in the back of his mind, and it’s not going anywhere. He scans the room, observes the bodies pulsing beside one another, wondering if his mystery girl is one of them, and sips his drink. 

“Looking for someone?” Adrien almost drops his glass. She’s snuck up behind him, and Adrien almost chokes at the sight of her. It’s the girl from the bar, black hair and blue eyes shining and swimming with mirth at sneaking up on him. She has even more freckles up close, and her cheeks and mouth are soft and rose-colored. She’s wearing a different mask than before, this one red silk, with black dots and an embroidered lattice. It matches the rest of her outfit, which consists of a black off the shoulder top tucked into the tightest red miniskirt Adrien’s ever seen. His mouth goes dry. 

“Possibly.”

She grins at him. “I’ve been looking for the super cute bassist from the band last week- have you seen him?” 

She’s leaning against the wall, nonchalant, and Adrien feels like he’s going to explode. 

“I- uh- Have you checked the lost and found?” 

She throws her head back in a laugh, exposing the elegant line of her neck. Adrien wants to press his mouth to it, enraptured by the tone of her joy. She smiles at him and Adrien knows he’s absolutely and completely fucked. 

“I have to go look- last time I was in there all I found was some underwear. I was trying to find some to throw at the blonde guy in the band.” 

 It shocks a laugh out of him. She’s looking at him with excitement, like he’s a brand new chew toy and she can't wait to get her teeth around him. There’s something innocent and hungry about it, and Adrien struggles to keep up with her.

“You couldn’t use your own?,” he counters. She looks down bashfully and shrugs. 

“I wasn’t wearing any.” 

Adrien chokes on the liquid in his throat.

“Can I buy you a drink?,” He asks, once he can breathe again. 

“You know, that really is such a nice offer, but I think I’ll just have yours,” Before he can say anything she’s plucked the whiskey and coke from his hands and knocks it back. He sputters. This woman can’t be real. She sucks on one of the ice cubes from his drink and looks around as if she’s pondering something. She shifts her gaze to him and speaks.

“Oh well, looks like you lost your drink. Can I buy you another one?” Jesus. She’s looking at him expectedly, like she hasn’t completely reached into his circuity and torn out all his wires. She’s fast, and Adrien’s brain is slowly turning to syrup. He feels three steps behind, still drinking in the presence of her. Her lips are coated with a fine sheen of gloss, and Adrien has to catch himself from getting lost in watching the lights of the bar refract off of it. 

“Hello?” She waves a hand in front of his face. “Come on, that wasn’t even my best move.” There’s a small shadow of anxiety on her face, as if she’s worried she’s overstepped. 

Adrien shakes his head. “I’m gone, broken. You’ve ruined me.” He looks at her, pleading. “A margarita, please.” 

The fear eases from her face and she breaks out in a grin. “Stay here, I’ll go get that for you.” He has no idea what he’s done in his life to deserve this, and he can’t decide if its punishment or a gift.

He watches her saunter to the bar. She’s a tiny girl, and her skirt’s even smaller. He can’t tell if the material is latex or leather, and he should definitely know these things, but the sway of her hips as she walks to the bar has turned his mind into a puddle of goo. His gaze is ripped from her legs as she turns around suddenly, and he’s been caught. He can feel the heat rising in his face and he reaches up to rub the back of his neck. Everything is so warm, and he can’t tell if its the pulsing of bodies around him or the pulsing of his heart. She winks at him and waves down the bartender. 

He keeps staring at her, trying to find some sort of clues to solve the mystery she’s presented him. Adrien doesn’t even know what her name is. Her top must be made of tulle, and it contrasts against her pale expense of back. Everything looks exquisitely made, almost made for her, and he has half a mind to ask her who her tailor is. She’s got a smattering of freckles in between her shoulder blades and across her shoulders, and Adrien wants to trace each and every single one of them, map out constellations and tell her she's out of this world. Something in Adrien’s mind is sounding off an alarm, he’s getting way over his head, this woman is so out of his league but he can’t run. She’s told him to stay here and he feels like fly seduced by the silk of a web; he’s stretched out, exposed and all he can do is wait for her to come back and kill him. He knows next to nothing about her except that she could tell him to jump off a bridge and he’d be all too happy to do it for her. It’s dangerous, and Adrien can’t do anything but lean against the wall and wait. 

She returns with two drinks in her hand. 

Smiling, she extends one of them out to him.

“A margarita for the cat.”

Adrien graciously accepts the drink, cringing. He’d forgotten. Tilting her head, she gives him a quizzical look. 

“I forgot I was wearing this stupid mask.” 

Adrien is still wearing the cat mask from his first encounter with her, except the cheap thing is taped on one side where the string hole ripped. He suddenly feels horrifically underdressed. Undermasked, rather. 

She shrugs, “It’s cute.” 

He takes a sip of his drink. The normal burn of alcohol and lime is brightened by something new, something saccharine. 

The surprise must be evident on his face and she says, “I asked the bartender to put some agave in it, after that whiskey, thought you could use something sweet.” Adrien knows there’s something he should say, the floor open for a witty comeback, to continue the game of cat-and mouse they’ve been playing. But the gesture hits Adrien in his chest, taken aback by the thoughtfulness of it. 

“It’s delicious, Thank you.” 

There’s a hint of awkwardness in daring to creep in, and Adrien desperately wants to keep it at bay. But he also wants to lose himself in the expanse of her, how she feels so immense and finite all at once. Maybe it’s the alcohol, but he knows he’s engaging in emotions not meant for pretty nameless girls at bars. He searches his brain to say something cool, interesting, something to impress her, something safe-

“You look like a ladybug.” 

“What?”

Adrien’s gonna kill himself. 

“I mean- you- the red and black thing- you got going on.” He winces, “It reminds me of a ladybug.” 

She giggles at him, and Adrien can feel his face heating up. He wants the ground to swallow him whole. He can hear Nino laughing at him from his apartment a few blocks away. The black-haired woman takes pity on him. 

“Ladybugs are symbols of good luck, right?” Her tongue traces along the rim of her glass, Adrien can see the crystals of salt melting into her mouth. He nods. 

She a cheshire cat grin breaks out across her face. “Guess that means you’re gonna get lucky then, huh?” 

Adrien groans and hits his head against the wall. He’s dead, this woman has murdered him and she won’t even let him rest in peace. He shakes his head and stares at her, she just laughs and playfully pushes his shoulder. He feels like he’s locked in a room with a tesla coil, electricity thrumming through him at her touch. 

“Who even are you,” He wonders. 

Her eyes light up from underneath her mask and she counters, “A ladybug, apparently.”  

He laughs, “No, I’m serious. What’s your name, bug?” 

She puts her hand on the wall behind him, arm reaching across the side of his face, and he can smell the lingerings of her perfume, something with notes of berries and pear and musk. He can feel the puff of her breath on his cheek. 

“I don’t think that’s something you need to know, Kitty,” She purrs, and Adrien shivers. His brain can’t stop screaming she’s so fucking hot she’s so fucking hot she’s so fucking-

“You’re so fucking hot,” He gasps, and Adrien immediately closes his eyes at the embarrassment of not being able to keep his stream of conciousness at bay. He feels her step back, and when he opens his eyes hers are wide. He opens his mouth to say something, so apologize, but Ladybug, his brain supplies, (he must just be calling her that now) wipes the shock from her face and presses herself against him. His body gets shocked with a couple million volts at once. 

“Oh, Chaton, I am happy to hear you think so highly of me.” Her nose bumps against his. 

“Why don’t you take me home?” 

The reinforcements around Adrien’s brain crumble into dust, the alarm bells are winning, and it takes everything in him to not let his knees buckle. He can’t breathe, he can’t move, so he does what he does best. Make a fool of himself. 

“I can’t- my cat- is allergic to… women.” If Adrien had any control over his body he would take his phone out and find the directions to the nearest cliff. Ladybug takes a step back, confused amusement across her features. 

“Oh?” 

“His name is Plagg. I think it’s psychosomatic.” 

She bursts out laughing, something genuine and joyful, and Adrien just halfheartedly laughs beside her. Gasping for breath, she folds over onto her haunches and breaks out into even harder laughter. Her eyes twinkle. 

“How about my place then? I have a cat too, but Tikki’s allergy-free.” 

“Your cat’s name is Tikki?” 

She draws her eyebrows together, she’s leaning against the wall now. “Yes?” 

“That’s- that’s great,” He stumbles, and takes a long, long swig of his drink. 

“Thank you?” She questions, taking another step back. Her fierceness is slowly being replaced by confusion and Adrien feels like an absolute idiot.

“I’m sorry, I might have been reading this wrong, but do you- not want to sleep with me? 

Because it’s okay if you don’t-” She starts. 

Adrien shakes his head vehemently. “No- no no I definitely want to sleep with you! I just. Have to go to work tomorrow. Early,” He says. “I should actually get going.” 

He’s technically not lying, he does have work tomorrow, and he needs to leave the nuclear bomb sight he’s found himself in so he can go back to his apartment and slam his head against the wall repeatedly.  Ladybug looks at him, bewildered but she offers him a shy smile. 

“Well, then. Um. Good luck.” 

He puts his glass down on the nearest table and thanks her for the drink. And then he runs. 

Adrien spends the next hour in his apartment screaming into his pillow. 

Nino cries laughing the next day when Adrien tells him. 

“You told her- your cat-” He gasps, tears streaming down his face. “Is allergic to women-” 

Adrien groans and buries his head further in the couch. Maybe if he borrows deep enough the leather will eat him. 

“Speaking of the Devil-” Nino says, as Plagg make his presence known by rubbing up against his best friend’s leg. The musician scratches behind the cat’s ears. 

“I am so sorry to hear of your affliction, Plagg. I’ll have to find you some Claritin.” 

Adrien sticks his hand out from underneath his blanket and offers Nino a middle finger. 

His best friend just laughs harder hiccuping with the force of it.

“Nino, you don’t understand. She was like- imagine every single one of your wildest fantasies came to life and then cornered you in a bar and very much was willing to sleep with you.”

Nino stops laughing and stares at him. “I don’t see the problem here.” 

“Nino, my brain stopped working.”

“Evidently. Adrien.exe fully crashed. Spectacularly, might I add.” Adrien groans again and rubs his hands across his face. He’s a model goddamn it, surrounded by beautiful women on a daily basis, and for some reason he couldn’t talk to a girl at a bar. 

“I wish I’d gotten a video of it. Alya would’ve fucking cried.”

Adrien throws a pillow at him. “Don’t tell your girlfriend about what an idiot I am!”

“Don’t worry, my friend. I didn’t have to tell her. She knows,” Nino says, and Adrien just wants to create a self-sustaining village in this crevice of the couch so he never has to leave. He can’t stop thinking about her, her voice, her smell, the way she forced herself into his space. Adrien’s been attracted to girls before, but this feels dangerous. There’s a level of interest he’s not used to. It’s not just her physical appearance, it was the thoughtfulness and sweetness of adding nectar, how she laughed from her stomach. He read Romeo and Juliet in highschool, he knows how lust can disguise itself behind a black and red mask and call itself love, but Adrien’s on a dangerous precipice and he’s scared at how much he doesn't want to step back. 

“I think I might be in love with her, Nino” He sighs, voice betraying the weight of his predicament.

Nino pats his stomach. “Adrien, I say this with all the love in my heart, but you are the definition of a disaster bottom.” 

Adrien pushes his friend’s hand off of him. “Please know I hate you and you are no longer welcome in my apartment.” 

“Yeah well, you’re gonna hate me a lot more in a second.” Adrien pushes himself on his elbows and stares at him. 

“What did you do?” 

Nino licks his lips, and suddenly finds extreme interest in Plagg’s fur. “I may or may not have agreed that we do another gig at Clyde’s.” 

Adrien swings his feet around so that he is sitting on the couch. If he kicks Nino in the process it’s definitely an accident.  

“Nino, I can’t go back there,” He whines. He knows he whining- but he cannot show his face again in that bar. Nino is his best friend. Nino should understand this. 

All he does is roll his eyes at him. “Dude, you’re gonna be on stage- focus on your guitar and it’ll be fine. Afterwards we can just leave, no chit chat.” 

“Can’t you get another bassist? I’m sure there’s some poor university student that needs a couple bucks and a drink that would be happy to do it.” 

“Adrien, you’re my bassist. You know the music, you’re part of the band- please. Do it for your old pal Nino.” 

The blonde boy shoots him an unimpressed look. 

“Also if Ladybug is there, you can make up for your disastrous conversation skills with your sexy ass bass playing. You know what I always say- ‘Girls always want-’”

“Girls always want to fuck the bassist,” Adrien finishes. 

Nino nods assuredly, “Bingo, my friend.” The boy looks at Adrien, pathetically wrapped up his blanket burrito and sighs. 

“Also, if you’re in love with this girl, wouldn’t you want to see her again?,” Nino asks. 

Adrien scratches his beloved cat below the chin, and Plagg looks up at him and Adrien swears the stupid cat is laughing at him. 

Whenever Gabriel Agreste calls his son into his office, it's never good. It has been the place of many a tongue lashing, expression of disappointment, and overall Adrien prefers to avoid it at all costs. He knows he’s not the only one- he has seen many, many interns leave the room blubbering and teary-eyed. So when Natalie tells him his father requests his presence, Adrien resigns himself to his fate. However, it seems today he will be avoiding his father’s wrath, because when he walks in his father is conversing with a girl. She’s probably about his age, with dark hair, and large blue eyes. She’s dressed conservatively, but still fashion forward. Adrien is pretty sure he’s seen her in the occasional gaggle of interns. She looks nervous, and considering she’s in Gabriel Agreste’s office, Adrien can’t blame her. 

Finally, his father acknowledges his presence. “Adrien, I’d like to introduce you to Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I’ve recently hired her as a pattern maker, she will also be doing embroidery work and helping with fittings. I wanted to make her presence as a new member of the team known to you.” His father had made it a habit of introducing Adrien to the new hires as a way of showing him who he was allowed to converse with, as Gabriel had made a strict “No interns” rule after one too many of them tried to “inter’n” to his pants.

Adrien nods politely at her, “It is a pleasure to meet you Marinette, we are incredibly happy to have you as part of our team.” She offers him a tense, tight lipped smile. She looks uncomfortable and out of place in Gabriel’s modern, minimalist office space. The coldness of his father’s immaculate office walls seem to fight against the girl’s inner warmth. She looks the type to possibly have pictures of loved ones on the wall or something equally insane, and his father's office is not a place for anything other than weird ten thousand dollar avant garde art sculptures. A picture of his child? Unfathomable.

 Adrien is ecstatic for the girl’s resume, empathetic that she now has to deal with his father’s iron fist. But she’s young, one of the youngest hires they’ve ever had, and if Adrien had seen her in passing as an intern, she must’ve stepped up to the challenge. Anyone that can survive, even flourish under his father’s rule was strong. Definitely stronger than him. He wishes the best for her.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Mr. Agreste,” She offers and Adrien offers her a bit of warmth in the frigid space they’ve both been confined to. 

“Please, call me Adrien. Mr. Agreste is my father.” 

His father huffs, “Adrien, please, that is hardly professional-” 

Marientte Dupain-Cheng smiles. “It’s nice to meet you Adrien.”

His father raises his eyebrow at the woman’s words, but he says nothing. Adrien smiles back. 

He just might like this Marienette girl.

[fearfearer]

i have caught up with the magnus archives.

when i started listening, i started a text file to note down any thoughts/confusion/analysis/jokes i had as i listened. i isolated a few bits of it into standalone text posts that i already posted, but here is the whole thing, my long-form liveblog

thoughts on the magnus archive as i listen

jonny sims gives an impassioned performance of someone's statement-- a diegetic impassioned performance, as we witness it being interrupted and resuming-- and follows it up with his own judgement of merciless doubt. classic. why the impassioned performance? he's just a nerd. i dearly hope this is the fandom consensus

every episode ends at the perfect volume to which i have adjusted it, and then i start the next episode and it blares in my ears. i think the volume of the intro must be like 1.75x the volume of the rest

*makes a serious effort to listen to and remember the name and date at the beginning of the statement recording* *forgets completely within 2 minutes*

i saw a fanart of gerard keay and learned [1] that he must be a good guy after all, since they drew him lookin cute, and [2] that his name is not, in fact, jared key. what, am i supposed to be looking at the transcripts? understanding names properly? in my defense, jonny sims clearly articulates "Jared" when he says it. maybe i'm not as good at decoding british accents as i thought. [footnote added in later: ok good i'm not the only one who hears "Jared" and thinks "Jared" instead of "Gerard"]

when gerard keay was described as having numerous eye tattoos on his joints, obviously my first thought was, "including the ankle? so he's count olaf?" because that's definitely a way count olaf would disguise his eye tattoo: by tattooing eyes everywhere else too and becoming The Eye Tattoo Guy. anyway this is part of why i was not at first inclined to think favorably of gerard keay

"The first thing about this statement that makes me dubious is that it comes from a fellow academic." if you know shit fuck you

it has come to my attention that there are ships. makes sense... after all, everyone in every fandom is horny af*. i'm not in deep enough to ship yet but naturally i'm keeping an eye on it

*horny af for depictions of intimacy, sexual or otherwise, but mostly sexual

definitely feel like i need to be writing down every name i hear because they're never not cropping back up but for now i'll just let it all wash over me

so sasha has been replaced with not-sasha, huh? pretty sure. though i'm not good at distinguishing voices. but that sounded pretty different, and my listening comprehension wrt that table isn't that bad. <<as time passes i doubt myself more and more on this point but not enough to go back and listen again

"You believe me?" "Yes, I think I do." (smashes button labeled "CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT" and a loud buzzer sounds)

IT'S MICHAEL!!! i hope michael is a long-term good guy... he's not seeming like a good guy right now... he says he's mostly neutral. vaguely recall seeing a tumblr post about michael in the recent past but that didn't give me any hints and i don't remember it well anyway. michael's voice is good though. good laugh

i'm not good at visualizing characters based on descriptions, let alone based merely on their voices, so the only image i have in my head of jonathan is a furrowed brow

i'm on episode 49 and i don't like jonathan's distrust of his colleagues... i don't understand why his immediate suspicion was that gertrude's murder was an inside job. hasn't he just learned firsthand that the institute is not impenetrable? it's not inconceivable that someone could enter and shoot her and leave. especially when it took place in underground tunnels connected to unknown locations.

there's a good Old Lady Voice Combo on episode 62

so agnes montague was heavily cursed... that's my conclusion after episode 67

elias seems to tell jonathan to "get some sleep" a lot. though it IS generally good advice

episode 70, 9 minutes, 41 seconds: jonny sims's cell phone goes off in the background

small brain: ghost ship medium brain: ghost train galaxy brain: dirt train

i wanted to see if there was fanart of michael so i looked it up... i might as well have googled "blonde slenderman"

sweeney todd mentions tally: II

for some reason, hearing michael described this time as "a tall man with curly blonde hair and an unnerving laugh" puts an image in my head without my consent, and that image is chris fleming. now, he's not quite blonde, is he? but that doesn't change my casting decision, which is now set in stone. hope he does a good british accent

"YES i know what a meme is."

why is melanie the first/only one to notice that sasha is now not-sasha? is it because she is experienced in firsthand paranormal encounters (whereas the archivists are experienced in decidedly SECONDhand paranormal encounters, save for the worm debacle)? oh, my question was answered handily in the next episode. ok.

the replacer definitely limits its glamour to everyone except one person just so that it can be amused by the distress and confusion of the one person who can see the truth. that must also be the reason it chooses a completely different appearance. it surely COULD replace a person with their exact likeness; it just uses another face for fun, and to be satisfied that it can get away with it.

this table has appeared in like 10 episodes... Guess It's Crucial

jonny sims yelling while swinging an axe. jonny sims goes through michael's door (eyes emoji)

the idea of the replacer killing jonathan and not even replacing him brings to mind "AT LEAST RIDE IT YOU ASSHOLE"

wasn't expecting to hear from leitner at this point... he's dropping tons of lore here. too much lore. so much is happening. i have to say i kinda like it better when the stakes are not quite so high as this.

so at the end of season 2, tim and martin believe that jonny sims killed this guy, who they probably don't know is leitner... and we the audience believe that elias, now almost certainly a double murderer, has very quietly stabbed leitner to death. do i the audience believe it? i'll keep an open mind for now. things are not always as they seem. except when sasha was replaced with not-sasha, which was exactly as it seemed. [footnote added in later: looks like elias being a double murderer was exactly as it seemed.]

so jonathan sims is the name of the actual guy voicing jonathan sims. it's a cecil situation. so are they someday going to go back and retcon every episode to change his name, like with palmer/baldwin? or does jonathan sims just not mind being a character as well? as long as it doesn't devolve into RPS i guess it's fine. if there's fanart of jonmartin i hope it doesn't depict them as their actors bc that's too close for comfort to RPS

there's been a truly hellish c*ndy cr*sh ad that has played like 40 times between episodes and i'm pretty well convinced to never ever play that curséd game

elias has some serious blackmail for daisy, huh? that's heavy, having police characters in fiction who do extrajudicial killings. life imitates art imitates life

"i'm not on drugs or anything. ...what? i could be on drugs!"

he said "ample opportunity" but like "amplopportunity" with emphasis on the "plop"

it was obviously elias who delivered the statement to jonathan in hiding, because he knew he would record it despite not being at work... bc he's a nerd

so if gerard keay has eye tattoos, does that mean he also serves the uhh the observing or whatever? [verdict arrived at later: no he just has those because he's cool. or because his mom tattooed him. ok almost certainly the latter.]

"what do i feed it?" obviously you feed it filled up cassette tapes, jon... nothing has ever been more obvious

it's okay that jon very stupidly burned his hand to a crisp. you don't need even one hand to turn on a cassette recorder. you can do that with your nose

so if these people who are wax figures serve the desolation, and not-sasha was spending time at the wax museum, does that mean there is a connection between the replacer and desolation? i think that would make sense, since both seem to enjoy making people feel bad feelings. also i'm starting to think that agnes was not actually cursed, but that would mean she burned that guy on purpose after being nice to him... was she just really selfish in that way? using him to experience Dating and mutilating him when he crossed the line, so she punished him as a cruel goodbye? or just building up his hopes so they will be even more fun to burn down when the time comes?

"perhaps doing a bit of mindless filing will help distract you." honestly that is something i would like to do in real life... i do enjoy a good mindless task. though doing mostly mindless tasks 40 hours a week is not a fun time for me lately. but it would be better if i didn't have to listen to bad radio at the same time

what?! the friendly midnight acrobat described in episode 90 sounds totally non-threatening and i hope there's fanart of it. was that gym just jared the bone turner helping people live their twisted athletic fetishes?! [footnote added in later: YES! god i hope people draw these turn-boned creatures optimized for their gymnastic of choice. show me a person who remade their body specifically for the balance beam]

so the power endowed in the archivist by the viewening is that when you sit them down across from someone they want to interview, that someone will invariably spill SOME beans and think it was their idea. maybe? [footnote added in later: yes.]

ok so Michael "The Distortion" Michael, of fractals and golden ringlets, has specifically tormented this other michael, lichtenberg michael?

jon is clearly moved to ask questions by an external force because he's a sensible guy who would not try to ask questions when daisy is holding a gun on him

i think basira has precisely the same accent as estelle... or maybe just a similarly staccato way of speaking (or of line-reading)

[episode 93] elias: (holding jon's face between two pieces of bread) what are you? jon: (sigh) the archivist...

well, they did something i didn't expect them to do with this show: create a compelling in-universe reason for jon to read statements aloud. because obviously until now there was none.

jon did the cockney accents. (insert emoji for indescribable feeling)

here's the purpose of the pit: if we all climb in the muddy pit together at night, the earthquake will only jiggle us gently and no one will be inside collapsing buildings to be crushed. it's only logical

ok i was gonna say this before but why is jon still at georgie's house??? he's not on the run for murder anymore, right? he has an apartment with all his stuff in it, right? [footnote added in later: i still don't understand why it was like this.]

i will confess that usually once the credits start to roll i zip to the next episode, but this time i zoned out a bit and it's really funny that jonny sims reads out "Rate and Review Us Online" in his archivist voice

a third michael. this one is probably already dead though. unless distortion michael takes over this guy's body or something. oh, jon came in at the end of the episode to say precisely this.

was episode 100 mostly improvised? if so, that would be appropriate. but i wouldn't put it past them to write every stuttering bit of those four statements

MARTIN...................................................................................................................................................... (typed this as martin gave some of his own money to the lady who expected payment for a statement)

i'm skipping 100.1 through 100.5 for now... just for now.

ok so michael is michael but not lightning mike michael, and two of these michaels are dead, but one is something that has never been alive nor dead. got it

everyone's morality is much more gray than i at first anticipated. the only people who seem to be solidly and earnestly on the side of good, as much as possible, are jonathan and martin and basira and georgie and maybe tim?

so michael just died and was overtaken by pseudo-helen? neo-helen? ok. that's kinda too bad, as i enjoyed michael's terrible laugh and unpredictability. but the feeling of michael being revealed as having been michael shelley feels somewhat similarly disappointing (but a bit less staggeringly groan-inducing) to when the mysterious koro-sensei in assassination classroom was revealed to have been a twink in his past. because of course he was. (that's when i stopped reading that manga. too precipitously dumb to sustain my suspension of disbelief.) it's like, ok, you had an interestingly mysterious character going on, but having solved the mystery, what interestingness is left? not much. fortunately this was resolved by promptly ending the existence of this michael and instead introducing new and improved helen

ooh martin has the asky ability too huh? nice [footnote added in later: he only used it this one time, and i'm wondering if they did that and then forgot and decided that jon is actually the only one with asky ability.] [[another footnote added in much later: How did i manage to mistake jon’s voice for martin’s voice? How?]]

the way martin said "kumo ga tabeteiru" in episode 110... alexander j newall does not watch anime

"I'm a book." ~Gerard Keay, 2017

it was a few episodes ago now but i noticed that when jon clearly articulated "Jared" referring to gerard, elias was like "Jared? you mean Gerard Keay?" (pronouncing it like "Gerard.") there is definitely a disagreement between these two (actors) about how to pronounce that name

the eye, the spiral, the end, the stranger, the lonely, the desolation, the slaughter, the vast, the buried, the dark, the corruption, the web, the flesh, the hunt.

Q: why would anyone want one of these rituals to succeed? A: it's their fetish. it's their sexual fetish

ok time to make up names for each possible apocalypse. these are the real and true names according to me, who knows such things: the eye - the viewening the spiral - down the drain the end - the really end end the stranger - oh wait we know this one. it's the unknowing. the lonely - the alonening the desolation - Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Lightless Flame the slaughter - world war all the vast - the expansion the buried - the grand lahar (or the Smothering) the dark - the extinguishment the corruption - the Great Rot the web - the spidening the flesh - the smorgasbord (or the Eatening) the hunt - come and get it

gerry said there was no dark god of indigestion, but i can tell you from personal experience that there is. though it's true that there is also fear involved, so maybe no separate pantheon is necessary

i sense that there is a battle between people who say it like "gotta get myself oriented" and "i feel disoriented" (as feels correct/natural to me) and people who say "gotta get myself orienTATed" and "i feel disorienTATed," and this podcast falls SQUARELY on the latter team. they've said it like 20 times

idk why he has to be such a dick to helen. jeez

the guy who coded his mind into a computer, which of the 14 was that? the corruption? the stranger? gotta be the corruption, but that doesn't fit perfectly with its rot/bugs aesthetic...

speed -> speeding -> sped. heed -> heeding -> hed. thus i decree

in my dream i listened to a whole episode of this show, narrated by gertrude, and i was like "whoa this is cool" and i went to write it down but i was still in the dream and writing doesn't work in dreams :( also any successful writing in dreams doesn't transfer to real life paper :( the only snippet i remember: “...in his white mouth, which had known only bread...”

"I, uh..." Jonathan Sims, a thousand times, 20XX

martin's job is PLAINLY to distract elias and elias barges in like "martin. i see you're trying to distract me." and martin's like "maybe i am!"

o, jonny took a breath. that's good

he wasn't hooked up to an EKG or anything? you spend long enough with no heartbeat that they're just like "i guess we can turn this off"

this episode about philosophical zombies sounds a lot like that NPC meme from a year or two ago... and it makes me kind of uncomfortable, the way this person inspects others to determine whether they are True Minds or Impostors based on their emotional expressions, their eyes... because i don't always do the correct or appropriate expressions, and would someone judge me as being a non-person who is trying and failing to imitate human emotions?

i generally don't enjoy ships that have more-or-less explicit canon support, but i can't say jon/martin isn't good

melanie blaming jon isn't right... no one had a better plan to stop the unknowing, did they? (they didn't!) didn't all of them agree on the plan and understand that they might die? (they did!) she's just imposing survivor's guilt upon him because he survived for supernatural reasons. but it's not like he eagerly embraced his new supernaturalness, or even asked for it outright! i think she's being unreasonable. i didn't like her insistence on trying to kill elias either, even though elias is a huge dick. what's with her?

wait, peter lukas is the lonely? (meme where calculations and equations whiz past me)

jonathan baa'd

oh, see. the bullet is making melanie act without reason. i get it now. can't say i think they had the best approach to getting the bullet out, but all's well that ends well (???)

martin is being prohibited from talking to jon >:I martin is on a first-name basis with peter lukas >:I...

martin grumbles, "i don't like being manipulated..." while obviously and continuously allowing himself to be manipulated

jon is afraid of and uncomfortable with what he's becoming, at least to a degree, right? but he seems to be going about his duties (i.e. feeding the eye) with vigor and without reluctance. is he really that motivated by his own desire to know and understand? who is he doing this for? is the eye's influence on him so strong that "doing what the eye wants" seems to manifest as what HE wants to do?

"He'd place it over the one he wore already, and he would larf and larf and larf" (from breacon’s statement... just heard it like this for some reason)

deep water could be the domain of both the buried and the vast, because you could lose yourself in the vast ocean, but experience the physical effects of being buried under thousands of feet of water...

so tom han was an avatar of the flesh but he ultimately died after being tortured by the spiral... right?

"we're not people, though, are we? not anymore." close enough, i'd say.

jonathan has deployed THREE "I, uh..."s in episode 131 alone and i want to smack him in real life. FOUR NOW. JON. JONATHAN SIMS THE REAL ACTOR. LISTEN... quit falling back on your "I, uh..."s. and if they're written into the script i'll punch whoever did that too. total of five in a single episode. never utter "I, uh..." again

i hope whoever's throat is okay after doing bone turner voice for a whole statement.

jonny sure needs saving quite often, doesn't he.

peter lukas being a slightly chipper advocate for becoming a follower of the lonely is very strange

neil lagorio and his whole cinematographic history is made up but they namedropped kevin costner, who is real

VERY, VERY GOOD laugh at 23:44 of episode 136

melanie getting her session recorded... i was doing audio transcription for a while and you'd definitely come across bits of therapy-type sessions that very much seemed like they should have been confidential.

i wonder if the eye ultimately turned its back on gertrude and allowed her to be killed. if jon could survive a collapsing building, could gertrude not have survived a couple of bullets? wouldn't the difference be the protection of the eye? [footnote added in later: of course now i see who turned their back on whom.]

i'm somewhat heartened to learn that agnes montague was, in fact, a heavily cursed individual, though she seemed to have embraced it to a degree... and she wasn't made of wax.

i like that jon now includes helen in his office politics briefing

basira's like "Edmund Halley" and jon's like "Halley's comet?" (like “Hale-ey”) and two minutes later jon's like "Edmund Hally" (not "Hale-y")

"What's this?" "OH... That's, uh... that's... my rib..." "Right." (tiny clunk of rib being set down)

so giving a statement puts a curse on you... or is it "having a statement extracted / being compelled" that puts a curse on you? and the resulting curse, the fear it reawakens, is that good for the eye, or is that good for the powers that initially caused the fear?

well, i heard a homestuck reference in one of the patreon names at the beginning of an episode, and who is surprised? of course, i'm not one to talk

episode 144- the english think their summer is bad... as a professional "hot weather is bad" person, i feel doubtful, because if the sky is grey, it is not as hot as it Could Be, and therefore one should quit one's bitching

first statement about the extinction... interesting. but hearing martin be a jerk to daisy makes me sad :(

the powers never tell avatars exactly what they need to be doing, but that's just concerning the means. the ends are always clear: the power gets fed. and all of the powers feed on fear. also jonny is horny for statements. i hope, but also doubt, that his harmful behavior is at least partially the spider's doing. oh, i see now that it's not. yeah.

jon wants to eat fresh and delicious statements produced just for him, instead of reconstituting the dusty old statements already in the archive

episode 148 - samson stiller gets a crush. but in all seriousness, is he becoming an avatar of the eye but like, not institute-related? is that a thing? i guess that would make sense, but still seems weird

episode 149 - considering ring -> rang -> rung, we seem to have stumbled upon spin -> span -> spun, and the compasses gently span around (9:40)

does martin have loneliness powers now? it's sad that he is getting lonely... as a lonely person, i know.

the lady on TV in episode 150 was just speaking simlish.

i really want jon to overcome his urge to forcefully take statements because i want to be able to root for him still

british podcasts really have a leg up over american podcasts, at least among american audiences, purely based on their interesting and varied accents

i can't say the gravedigger's envy doesn't make me myself feel like going to sleep in the cold dirt forever. but bad depression lately is also a factor, so

jonathan having to settle for reading already archived statements instead of harvesting fresh ones is exactly like a vampire (not the kind detailed in this series) who has to choose between hunting people to suck their blood or drinking bags of donated blood from a (near-endless) stockpile. there's an ethical choice with a clear right answer, but the urge is also understandable

jon following up gertrude's tape with just "fuck" was really good. now he's like "ok martin. let's run away together"

spent all day at work thinking about how i can't fuckin believe the first thing jon did when he heard how to escape the institute was to go tell martin like "there will be a great cost, but... we can elope now"

also if tim was still around jon would tell him the way out and he would do it right then and there, i'm 100% sure. like before jon was finished explaining tim would be like "the eyes? (grabs scissors) got it. (does the deed)"

earlier today i was just thinking that we would almost certainly hear gertrude's death on tape, especially given that we now understand tape recorders are wont to turn on autonomously whenever something important is happening. anyway then i came home and heard gertrude's death on tape

peter, as an avatar of the lonely, is easy to play like a cheap whistle because as someone who clearly hates spending time around other people, he is not keen to the symptoms of being played.

elias is like "you'll have to go into the lonely to get him" and jon's probably thinking "but then at least we'll be in the lonely... ~*~*~together~*~*~"

i think martin's whole thing for most of the series has been that he sounds a little doofy, for lack of a better word, and people constantly underestimate his intelligence. and now he has played peter lukas like a cheap whistle and forced me to realize that by taking for granted that he was being successfully manipulated by peter lukas, i too was underestimating martin... and his pure love for jon <:3c no but seriously i even remember explicitly making a mental note to remember that martin is smartin but it fell by the wayside as my emotions (of sadness that jon and martin seemed to be growing further apart) took precedent

i work a non-verbal job just doing mundane tasks and that gives me all the time in the world to think about things like "if they were to have jon and martin reunite in a tearful embrace, how would you convey the physical contact in an audio format? like, whap? soft thud?"

jon enters the lonely and voiceover peter comes in to try and factcheck the ship

i guess it makes sense that peter would try to do the ritual for the lonely all by himself

did he kill peter by asking him to death? or did peter just self-destruct rather than be forced to answer?

the way jon snapped martin out of the loneliness just by making him look at his face... that's powerful. as a lonely person, i know that the most cry-making thing you can realize when you feel alone is that another person is, in fact, there with you

martin went for a walk and now it's thunderstorming. i wonder if he came back as soon as it started raining and now he's standing nearby invisibly as jon reads the intimidating magnus statement. ...I GUESS NOT

i plan to read through the transcripts of all the episodes (as it’s faster than re-listening, though i might selectively re-listen) so that i may better understand some things and answer some questions in this post that i didn’t ultimately resolve. i can’t say i was paying 101% attention all the way through. also april is very far away

[atruththatyoudeny]

Monthly Reads | May 2019

Happy 28th! If you want to promote your fic or your artwork head on over to @kingsofeverything and send Lauren a message! She’s doing self recs - fics and art - today. Thank you to all of you amazing authors who brighten my world with your words ♥ Here are all the fics I read and loved this month:

Let Our Hearts Collide || crinkle-eyed-boo (KimmieRocks) || While You Were Sleeping AU - 90s - mistaken identity - fake/pretend relationship - coma - amnesia - pining - grief - 76k When Harry, a lonely transit worker, saves the life of the handsome commuter he's been secretly pining for, an innocent mistake results in Liam Payne's family believing that Harry is engaged to their son. In the Paynes, Harry finds the big family he's always longed for...and a love he never saw coming.

Can't Help Falling || Anonymous || open ending - 15k The one where Harry's a workaholic, until best mates Liam and Niall drag him away for a holiday to Ibiza.

24K Magic || Justalittlelouislove || famous/not famous - drug use - 32k A fic based on 24k Magic by Bruno Mars, in which Harry's a mess and famous, Louis is a mess and not, Liam and Zayn are probably hiding something, and Niall is a horrible flatmate.

For You I'd Bleed Myself Dry || amomentoflove || vampires - past abuse - slow burn - angst - depression - anxiety - 50k Harry is cold. His bones ache. Every movement draws a whimper from his cracked lips. The stone underneath him is practically like ice. He’s numb, but can clearly feel the sharp pains on his neck every timeHe visits him. Below the icy cold, the achy bones, and the pain on his neck, Harry Styles is pissed. There’s a fire burning in his mind and the anger for the man who keeps him imprisoned is the fuel. He despises him, the man who feeds from him and is a daily reminder that Harry’s suffering won’t end. The man who keeps Harry so weak that he can barely move most days. Harry’s waiting for the day when his owner will go too far and finally kill him. Death must be better than this cold hell he is in. It won’t happen, though. He has a way of keeping Harry’s heart beating. So for now, all Harry can do is wait for death to come. He’s been waiting for years.

Consequences || allwaswell16 || amnesia - exes to lovers - getting back together - injury recovery - angst - 74k Two years ago Harry let his powerful family come between him and the love of his life, something he deeply regrets. Louis has tried to move on from their devastating break up. Sometimes, he even thinks he has. It only takes one moment to freeze them back in time.

The Fire and the Fate || dimpled_halo || A Star Is Born AU - depression - alcohol abuse/alcoholism - addiction - drug abuse - famous/not famous - angst - hurt/comfort - break up - post-break up - getting back together - 56k An A Star is born au with a happy ending. Harry is a troubled musician about to reach the end of his rope when he finds Louis singing in a club one night. He’s instantly mesmerised by the man with blue eyes and breathtaking voice.

And That's The Tea || 2tiedships2 || a/b/o - soulmates - strangers to lovers - friends to lovers - 27k The one where Louis loses his soulmate before even getting the chance to meet them, and he is in no way prepared for the kind of distraction his new friend Harry proves to be.

I Must Confess (I Still Believe) || objectlesson || High School - Catholic School - Girl Direction - coming of age - self-discovery - self-doubt - self-acceptance - angst - pining - slow burn - internalized homophobia - 44k Harry is the new girl at an all girl Catholic Girl's School, and Louis is the unattainable, dashing senior who changes her forever.

Like A Siren In The Night || whoknows || a/b/o - light dom/sub - 24k “There is an infestation in my home,” Louis hisses, righting himself quickly and pushing his way past Harry, heading directly for the kitchen. He’s rather haphazardly dressed himself, a coat thrown on over a loose flannel shirt and black pants, slippers on his feet. Harry resists the urge to sigh, closing the door and trailing behind him slowly. “What kind of infestation?” For all he knows, Louis is going to claim that there’s a ghost infestation. Harry has no idea what the end game is here – all he knows is that Louis has found at least three complaints a week to bring up since he’s been living on Harry’s property, and he’s been living here for six months. It’s way too many fucking complaints, is what Harry is saying. Especially when most of them are ridiculous to start with.

Let Me (Be Your Girl) || dimpled_halo || Girl Direction - cheating - pwp - 6k Louis hires Harry to help her find out things about her husband. What she doesn't expect is to discover some things about herself in the process.

Come together || bottomlinsons || college/university - One Night Stands - miscommunication - angst - pining - 11k Harry and Louis slept together three weeks ago, and haven't talked. Their coming group project is gonna change that.

Tonight's not over (come over and stay) || louistomlinsons || famous/not famous - fluff - 17k Harry is a famous singer and louis is a student who just wants to write his novel

Born Ready For You || taggiecb || Sequel to That's What I'm Here For - children - adoption - family drama - 2k Harry and Louis' life gets turned upside down once again with an unexpected visitor.

Getting high in mine || bottomlinsons || meet-cute - drug use - 4k Getting home from a festival is miserable by any method, but a three-hour train ride is truly the bottom of the barrel. This time, though, with the help of the cute guy sitting on the floor, it might not be so bad.

The Daddiest Place on Earth || lovelarry10 || Social Media - Disney World & Disneyland - strangers to lovers - 23k Louis. Harry. Instagram. A whole lot of confusion and a whole lot of laughs...

I Won't Give Up So Come And Get Me || runaway_train || strangers to lovers - Blind Date - 15k The one where Louis meets Harry and it all just seems too good to be true...

Picking Up The Pieces || Halos_Boat || strangers to friends to lovers - angst - slow burn - emotional hurt/comfort - 72k Harry just signed his second set of divorce papers. He felt like his life was over, like he had nothing left. Then he meets Louis.

Ready, baby? || jaerie || pain kink - rope bondage - earrings - 1k Harry gets an earring. Louis is the one to do it. Or a pain kink drabble.

Impress Me || lightswoodmagic (sarah_writes) || Chefs - homelessness - fluff - 5k Harry's a new chef who can't cook to save himself, but when he meets Louis, he learns more than he thought possible

Drunk in Love (last thing I remember) || MrsStylinson || fluff - pining - banter - 22k The one where Louis wakes up, naked, in a stranger's bed and has no idea how he got there. Maybe it's foul play. Maybe it's just the kindness of a handsome stranger amused by his drunken antics.

Take The Bitter With The Sweet || rainbowslovehl (Larrymateforlife) || Coffe Shops - fluff - pining - 7k Liam recruits Louis to spy on the 'rival cafe', which Louis is less than enthusiastic about but it does lead him Harry, the pretty barista who works there.

Harry Poppins || jacaranda_bloom || strangers to lovers - kid fic - hurt/comfort - past character death - fluff - 32k When Louis’ best friends pass away he finds himself with an instant family. Maddie and Thomas are wonderful children but take an immediate dislike to every nanny that sets foot inside their house. After nanny number six is summarily dismissed Louis is at his wit’s end, that is until an unusual man arrives on their doorstep. Harry Styles is like nothing any of them have ever encountered before, and perhaps, exactly what they’ve been looking for all along.

You Bring Me Home || reminiscingintherain || Saving Mr Banks AU - fluff - 22k The one where Louis wants to turn Harry's book into a film, and Harry's very picky about what happens.

Big, Bright World || || pining - jealousy - slow burn - cheating - miscommunication - 35k It really was just a little crush in the beginning, nothing to be worried about. Louis had never really liked anyone he'd worked with in the past, but he was sure he could control himself. Little did he know that over time his 'little crush' would develop into a blazing inferno of Hell-fire proportions. Every day, Louis' feelings became more intense, more immediate, each little smile and gesture and silly flirtation mounting up into something palpable, with a life of its own. Louis felt it every moment they were together. The only problem? Harry was engaged to someone else and had been from the moment Louis started working at Visionary.

Barren Souls || Snowy38 || Dystopian - mpreg - angst - emotional hurt/comfort - 37k It's 2907 and things are different. Organic men and women are no longer fertile and only genetically modified humans are permitted to procreate. The sexes have equalled, men are able to give birth in these dire times and roles have been created to both sire children ('Stud') and carry them ('Provider'). Public displays of affection are a criminal offence and the procreators cannot get emotionally attached without severe consequences. Harry has hit 19, the legal age to bear children. He's looking forward to producing babies for his host family and he's just had his placement confirmed. All that's left now is to meet the Stud who'll impregnate him. It might tug at his heartstrings thinking about the beautiful babies he'll be carrying who he'll have to let go but he's trained for this. He's spent his whole life preparing. Being a Provider is a special job and Harry's one of the chosen.

In a sky full of stars, be my Northern lights || Anonymous || strangers to lovers - fluff - travel - 13k It's one of those nights there's nothing on the telly that Louis absently scrolls through Tinder. After swiping left on a bunch of profiles he comes face to face with a picture that stops him in his tracks. The picture is..almost sweet. It’s a boy with brown curly hair, wearing a very low cut yellow blouse, paired with a black jacket. He’s got a smile on his face and his tongue sticking out, but it’s not in any way lewd or suggestive. He just looks like he’s having a good time, and something about the innocence of it has him swiping right rather than left. He’s barely checked the other pictures on the boy's profile before Tinder confirms that he’s got a match. The shots are so different from the pictures Louis is used to on Tinder - half naked boys who are smoldering at the camera - that he can’t help but smile. It quickly turns into a frown when he opens up the message he’s just received. Harry: Hello! Harry: Thank you for swiping right Harry: I have a proposition for you

[zweiginator]

Unknown Pleasures- Brian x Reader

Summary: Buying a vintage guitar on a whim was a seemingly bad idea, until you find Brian, who agrees to teach you a thing or two about playing. 

Word Count: 5,074 (my god i apologize)

Warning: ABSOLUTELY FILTHY: unprotected sex, fingering, oral sex (male receiving) 

You had never been very musically inclined--you’d always been a listener, resting your head against the car window as a deep, mellow bass coursed through your body, your father playing oldies on the tinny car radio. Letting the cutting sound of the cymbals, the ferocious beat of a drum solo almost sync with your heartbeat as you listened in your room, alone. But the guitar had an unprecedented intrigue that left you in your flat, short of a few hundred dollars and staring at a semi-pristine, vintage guitar. You didn’t regret the purchase entirely, but you had definitely bought it on a whim.

You were walking through London alone--it was the first warm day of the new year and you longed to stroll through the city without an umbrella or a huge coat or soaked socks. Your feet tapped against the pavement as people pushed through you--eager to get to the train. Strangers in black coats whizzed past you, shoving against your shoulder, stepping on your shoelaces, glaring at you as you did the same to them. It was busy and stressful and you wanted to get away--so you sped to the first store you could find, jaywalking through morning traffic into a music store which was adorned with a crooked neon sign, flickering red against the clean storefront window. Vintage drum sets lined the back wall, drumsticks decorously hung on the walls. The lighting was harsh and the store smelled musty, but you felt welcome, calm. Your fingers absentmindedly strummed thick nylon strings of bass guitars leaned in a corner--and then you saw a guitar, alone in a display case, golden yellow, barely used.

“It’s a 1950 Fender, shipped in from California--she’s something, isn’t she?” A stout man said from behind you, wearing grey trousers and a formal-looking shirt. He looked out of place--but then, so did you.

“I love the color,” You admired, looking at the rustic metal, oxidized slightly, near the frets.

“Fender began in the late 40s, so this is a pretty early model. This specific sort is hard to come by in Europe, or really anywhere else. Sales of them surged at the birth of rock n’ roll in the 50s.” The man fished in his pocket, pulling out a keyring. He fiddled with a small brass key, unlocking the tall display case.

“Oh, I can’t play guitar, I was just admiring.” You blushed slightly, scratching the backs of your hands with your chipped nails.

“You could always learn. Just hold it. You’ll be surprised how natural it feels.” He smiled, picking up the guitar delicately, holding the neck with one hand, the curved yellow body with the other. He placed it in your arms, and he was right. It felt innate, warm even. The body was smooth, almost silky against your fingers, the strings rough and ridged.

“I’ll take it.”

And you bought it, without thinking about the fact you had never touched a guitar in your life. So you stared at it, sitting on the kitchen counter, still in its case--it’s makeshift cradle. You sighed, and took a bite of your toast, tying your hair back as you stood up to play with your new instrument. You lifted the buckles of the leather case--which the salesman gave to you for free, insisting you give a proper home to such a vintage beauty. You lifted the guitar, putting the strap over your body, already confused. You didn’t even know how to hold it properly. You felt awkward, helpless and stupid, unable to finger the frets correctly. You knew nothing about music notes, composition, the technical skills it took to actually play guitar.

“Y/N, what the hell is that?” Your flatmate, Janie set her purse down, it’s silver buckle clicking against the counter, where your new-old Fender once sat.

“It’s a guitar.” You mumbled, frustrated by how off-kilter the instrument sounded. It was flat--or sharp--you had no clue.

“I know, but you can’t play guitar. You’ve never shown interest in playing the guitar. How much was that?” She sat down across from you, eyebrows furrowed as she fixed her bangs, shaking her head slightly.

“I’ve always loved guitar, and I don’t want to talk about the price.” You glared up at her, your fingers splayed against the neck of it, definitely and completely wrong.

“Okay, forget I asked.” Janie rolled her eyes. “Well, speaking of music, Jonathan is taking photos of a band tonight at their concert. They’re up and coming I guess, so you can learn a few things from them maybe?” She nudged you, getting up to change her outfit.

You set the Fender down in its case, following her to her room. It was unorganized--accessories trailed around her desk, earrings mismatched, necklaces tangled. Scarves hung from a hook by her door, clothing was everywhere. She sat on her bed, pulling her boots off, sighing.

“When is it?” You asked, desperate to actually use your guitar; you felt guilty for buying it. Maybe you could learn a thing or two if you were close enough to the stage--and Jonathan, Janie’s younger brother--always had front row seats to take his pictures.

“Uh, I think at 8, maybe half past.” She put in hoop earrings and they jingled against her neck. “I heard the band is really good, actually.”

At eight sharp, you and Janie met Jonathan at the venue, a small theatre in west London which looked better equipped for a play than a rock concert. Velvet seats were lined before the stage, cramped together and deep red. You guys were the first in the small theatre, save for the band and stage crew. You could hear the resonating of the bass vibrating in the stuffy air as Jonathan focused on his camera, brows knitted together as he dragged on a hand rolled cigarette, tiny billows of smoke fanning throughout the immense room.

“I don’t like you smoking those, Jon.” Janie snatched the cigarette from his mouth, salt and pepper colored ash sprinkling the floor as she did.

“Oi! What the fuck, Jane? I’m an adult, let me live. I didn’t have to invite you to this. Rolling Stone said they’re the new Led Zeppelin, this is pretty elite shit.” Jonny grabbed his cigarette back, cupping a hand around the burning end of it, using his other hand to relight it as his camera hung, angled around his long neck.

A blond peeked his head out from behind the velvet curtain, the thick rope tassel swaying as did his hair. “Jonny boy, do you have another smoke?” He flashed a cute smile, holding a hand out, a white sweatband tight against his forearm. Jonathan playfully rolled his eyes, flipping open a rusted metal box to fetch him one.

“Good luck with the high notes with tar in your lungs, Rog.” Jonathan pat his back, giving him a light. Roger winked at you and Janie before disappearing behind the curtain.

“Is that the singer?” Janie yelled, scooting closer to her brother’s ears, as people began to file in as the clock was soon to strike 8:30.

“No, Roger is the drummer. He helps with the really high notes, his range is insane.” Jonny nodded his head before flicking the butt of his cigarette out of his fingers, putting it out with his leather shoes.

The music began to permeate the theatre, the thick bass rhythmic and warm, the guitar screeching, delayed, effortless. They were about to begin. Soon Jonathan was pulling you guys forward so you were flush against the stage, your necks craned up as he snapped pictures of their figures, emerging onto the stage like ghosts, nearly invisible.

“The singer is Freddie. Mercury. He’s very different, but in a good way. And he has quite the stage presence.” Jonathan explained, wiping his lens with his shirt quickly. “Roger, like I said, is the drummer. Cocky, very funny, kind of a slut.” He nodded towards the drum kit, where the blond was warming up, flipping splintered drumsticks between his fingers. “The bassist is John. Everyone calls him Deacon or Deaky. He’s shyer, but very friendly, super talented, he never misses a beat. You just have to wait for him to open up to you.” Then he nodded his head to the tallest of them all, with poofy, almost black curly hair, mouth parted as he strummed at a guitar which looked antithetical to your own. It was a red oakey color, classy and unique. “That’s Brian, the guitarist. Rumor has it he and his dad made that guitar from a fireplace and old motorcycle parts. Read in in Rolling Stone. He’s mad talented, acts like playing hard rock on the guitar is the easiest thing ever.”

Janie nudged you as you watched the band intently, their warm-up messy but somehow cohesive, communicative. “Maybe you can learn a bit from him, yeah?”

You did learn something--that you would never, ever learn to play guitar even one-eighth as good as him. His playing was relaxed, no matter how technically difficult. His fingers were assured, his face contorted in concentration, plump lips parted as he moved about the stage. Your neck hurt, perpetually craned upwards as you followed his legs around the stage, which seemed to take up more than three quarters of his massive stature.

As the concert ended, Roger cocked his head, drumsticks between his teeth as he deconstructed his kit, motioning for you guys to head backstage. Jonny raised his eyebrows, giving the drummer a thumbs up before leading you and Janie up onto the stage. It was hot and foggy and hard to see, but a beacon of light was being emitted from behind the side-curtains, so you followed it.

Jonathan and Janie beat you to the band, and he was already enthusing about the show, gesturing towards his camera, still hung around his neck. “The photos are incredible. I can’t wait for you to see them, I just have a feeling about them; it’s not often bands have such good chemistry, and I think it shows in the pictures.” He nodded, and Freddie kissed his cheek.

“I can’t wait! We don’t have many photos together.” He took a sip of champagne, clicking his class with Deaky’s who was dripping from sweat, ridding himself of his stage costume, in favor of a quite plain t-shirt.

Brian was silent next to you all, an abiding smile glowing upon his rosy face. His hand tapped nervously against his guitar, white nails scratching gently over the polished, wooden surface. You made eye-contact and strode closer to him, your hair blowing by the fan which was cooling the band down.

“You’re really talented,” You said, trying to raise your voice enough so he could hear. He blushed and pointed to his ears, shaking his head as a cue for you to speak up.

“Sorry, it’s really noisy, can’t hear too well after a concert.” Brian said, straight into your ear. He led you to a back room, with backup drumsticks, guitars, and broken microphones. His hand hovered over your lower back. “What were you saying?” He cocked an eyebrow at you.

“I was just saying you’re talented.”

“Oh, thank you. I’m glad you think so.” Brian sat down on a small couch, and scooted over for you to sit down next to him. He looked uncomfortable, nervous.

“I actually bought a guitar this morning--on a whim.” You sat down, the side of your legs were touching, the velvet of his pants soft against your bare legs. “I don’t know the first thing about playing music, so I’m not sure why I bought it.”

“What kind of guitar? Do you know?” Brian leaned into the conversation, fluttering his eyelashes as he listened intently for your answer.

“I guess a Fender. 1950. It’s yellow, and I guess I couldn’t resist.” You smiled, looking at your hands which rested on your knees. His hand brushed against your knee as he gestured with his hands.

“1950? I’d love to see that, or play it! I’ve always wanted to experiment with one.” He composed himself, annoyed that he had gotten overly excited, like he always did.

“Actually, I’d love for you to give me lessons, maybe? Don’t worry about it if you’re busy. But I don’t even know the first thing about guitars.”

Brian nodded, his curls bouncing against his forehead, brushing against his cheeks. He thumbed the charm on his silver necklace, a small, abstract shape which hung from his sweaty, lengthy neck. “I’d love to. It probably needs tuned. I can help you to get situated with it tonight, if you want.”

You hesitated, taking in Brian’s face. His eyes were drooping, he was blinking slowly, yawning into his arm, covered by long bell sleeves.

“Are you sure? You seem tired.”

“I’m fine, don’t worry about me. I never get sleep anyway.” He flashed you a smile, getting up and grabbing his guitar case which sat up against an exposed brick wall. He tucked his coat under his arm and led you out of the small room, back where the rest of the band was.

“Um, I’m going to help Y/N with her new guitar. Don’t wait up on us.” Brian took a quick sip of water from a glass sitting atop a broken amp, squeezing Deaky’s shoulders. The boys raised their eyebrows in unison, then collectively said their goodbyes.

Brian’s hand was on the small of your back, leading you out of the theater, into the cool spring air. It felt fresh, the smell of rain was raw and wet in your noses, the sky impossibly clear, illuminated by the occasional star, and downturned street lights lining the pavement.

“How did you know my name, Brian?” You looked up at his face which was watching the sky, his jawline prominent, his nose sharp like his cheekbones. But his eyes were soft and nice, his eyebrows gave him a friendly, approachable--very handsome look.

“I heard Jonathan. My hearing’s not so bad before the concerts.” He looked away from the sky to grin at you, his canines protruding slightly from his light pink lips, slightly chapped.

“And how did you know my name?” Brian teased, lightly pushing you to the side; you stumbled a bit, giggling.

“You’re a rockstar, aren’t you? Up and coming? Why wouldn’t I?”

He blushed, looking down at his shoes--scuffed white clogs, which were loud against the street. You walked up the stairs to your flat, fresh dandelions peeking through the cracks. Brian picked one, putting it in his unruly hair, smiling at you wordlessly. You were flustered being near him, your hands a bit shaky as you unlocked the door, letting him in. He hung his coat on the rack, taking yours to hang next to his, waiting until the wobbly piece of furniture was stable before strolling into the living room. He gasped as he saw the guitar case, setting his own down on the couch.

“May I?” His fingers hovered over the buckles of the case, looking at you, his mouth slightly agape.

“You know more than I do.” You nodded, eager.

He opened the case, flipping the buckles up with his thumbs before opening the top. “Damn, that’s nice.” He commented, looking towards you again, a silent ask for permission to get the instrument out. You nodded, scooting closer to him as he picked up the guitar carefully, just like the man who sold it to you. His fingers were wrapped around the neck of it, and he pulled a coin out of his front pocket, lifting his hips for leverage as he held onto your guitar tightly. He looked at you again, a barely audible, breathy laugh emitting from his parted lips as he strummed the chords to Keep Yourself Alive. He played for only a few seconds before he cringed and turned the tuning pegs slightly, playing after every small adjustment to listen to the sound.

“It’s very out of tune, but I can fix that.” He smiled at you reassuringly, holding his ear to the guitar to listen closely to the sounds. He turned each peg very slightly and with care.

“Perfect” He whispered, before getting back to his playing. He made it look so easy, his fingers gripping a rusted coin, strumming quickly, with painful precision. You looked at his face which was sinfully beautiful, eyes hooded, eyelashes fluttering against his cheekbones as his hair shifted like his fingers--quickly and gracefully.

“Do you want me to show you something easy? We can go slow,” He looked into your eyes, his hazel irises sparkling. The dandelion was still in his hair, placed haphazardly, almost falling out.

“That would be great, Brian.” You watched him as he took the guitar from off of his lithe body, handing it to you as if it were your child. You held onto it as he did, looking at him through your eyelashes for approval. He gently nodded and you held onto it tightly. He handed you his coin.

“It’s lucky, I like to think.” His breath fanned over your neck, warming the skin, and you felt blood rush to your face, streaming through your ears, hot. You took the coin, your fingertips brushing his, and he brushed your hair behind your shoulder, peeking over it to see what you were doing.

“Relax, try not to hold it so tightly. You can be looser.” He looked at you from over your shoulder as he sat behind you, his socks mismatched, his hair messy, lips parted in a small, pretty smile.

“Put your fingers on the fret to the left, and a little above” He pointed to where he wanted you to have your fingers, and he lightly moved them, making your whole body tingle, like warm Christmas lights lit up throughout your limbs, your neck, everywhere. You strummed with the coin, and the sound was deep, echoic, vibrating throughout the small flat.

Then the door slammed, and the sound of Janie and the rest of the band bickering overwhelmed the robust sounds; cut the tension.

“Did we interrupt something?” Roger quirked an eyebrow, slipping his shoes off as he hung his coat overtop of Brian’s.

“I was just helping Y/N with her guitar,” He scratched his neck, looking guilty. “Hey! Don’t put your soaked coat on top of my perfectly dry one!”

Roger mocked him and moved it to a different hook, rolling his eyes before sitting down between you and Brian. As soon as the door had opened, Brian moved away from you like a reflex, like he had something to hide.

“Nice guitar, Y/N!” Deaky sat on Brian’s leg, admiring the yellow coat as Roger strummed it mindlessly. You thanked him, biting the parched skin from your lips, pushing your hair behind your ears.

Brian grabbed Deaky’s shoulders and got up from underneath him, sitting with you on the other end of the couch. “Here’s my number,” he grabbed a pen from the kitchen and grabbed a small, torn slip of paper, writing it down on the hard, bony surface of his knee. Your knees were against his; they were velvety and tepid.

And then they left, giving you and Janie small waves, their rings sparkling in the ambient light of the foyer of the flat. Brian gave you a toothy smile, slightly lopsided and thoroughly adorable.

__

You called Brian the next day--midday. Your fingers twirled the coiled phone cord which reminded you of his curly locks which you found yourself thinking about more than once.

“Hello?” Brian’s voice was groggy, and you heard him yawn and groan a little. Tiredness was seeped into his every word.

“Oh! I’m sorry to wake you up, Brian. I’ll leave you alone.” You apologized.

“No! No, It’s fine. I should be awake anyway. My sleep schedule is just off. I’m glad it was you who woke me up instead of Roger though.” Brian laughed softly, running a hand through his hair as he leaned against the wall, as you were.

“I’d love to learn more, if you’re up to it. Janie is out, so we don’t have to worry about bugging her.”

Those words made Brian’s stomach flip and his tongue feel much heavier in his mouth; he felt the words becoming choked, stuck in his throat, still dry from just waking up.

“I’ll come over as soon as I’m decent.” He replied, only able to utter a few words at a time. You muttered a small ‘okay’ and hung up, quickly fixing your hair and changing into a skirt and a nicer, tighter shirt. You didn’t know why you did; it was just a guitar lesson.

Twenty five minutes after your call with Brian ended, he was at your door, wearing an oversized winter coat, a hood pulled over his head. His skin was wet from the steady afternoon rain, and he apologetically handed you a purple umbrella as he hung his heavy coat up. You shook the umbrella dry and your eyes widened as you saw what he was wearing. His forearms were tanned, contrasting from a light denim shirt which was rolled up, halfway buttoned. His chest and collarbones were angular, sharp bones protruding from barely freckled skin. He was wearing slightly flared trousers and his clogs--which were already taken off and by the door.

He pointed an agile finger to the couch you sat on the day before with him, and you got him a glass of water, watching him chug it down as you bent down to pick your guitar from it’s temporary home on the floor, against the kitchen counter in it’s tattered case. He gulped as you bent down, looking away, feigning interest on an arbitrary book in your bookcase--something about painting. You sat down next to him, perched at the edge of the couch, a few inches away from him. His legs were spread as he leaned back against the cushions, watching you intently as you strummed the chords he taught you. Your tongue poked out slightly.

“I think it would be easier if you sat between my legs. So I can show you more easily.” He clarified, his hands ghosting over your hips. You nodded and he pulled you back into him, easily. Your breath hitched as his fingers ghosted over yours. You could hear the blood pulsing through your extremities, flooding to your heart and away from your brain. He pressed his nimble fingers over yours, pulling them over the frets, making your other fingers strum gently, fingering the tough strings slowly, with expert precision. His fingers left yours to pull your hair behind your shoulder, and the soft ends of his own hair stroked your shoulder, moving across your exposed collarbone. His forefinger and thumb titled your chin, turning your face towards his. And you looked at his mouth, peach lips wet, his chin was peppered with day-old stubble. He leaned in, still holding your chin as his tongue entered your mouth, warm and gentle, massaging yours with a confident, tender control. He pulled the guitar strap over your shoulder, and then your head, gently setting the instrument in its case, which sat open on the floor by the couch. You leaned back into him, your back flush against his hot chest, his heart beating against your shoulder blade as he kissed you passionately, his teeth lightly clicking against yours as he deepened it even more. Your hand squeezed his narrow thigh, just above his knee. His hand left your chin and you leaned your head back as he kissed the junction of your neck and your shoulder, nipping softly at your collarbone. His hand massaged your thigh, just under your denim skirt. You whimpered slightly as his hand inched upwards, clean nails scratching gently against the inside of your soft thighs. He stopped kissing you and looked up at you with innocent eyes, dilated and fluttering with anticipation and lust. You kissed his neck, a silent command for him to continue. He unzipped your skirt, rubbing his hands over your hips as he pulled it down your legs which were moderately shaking, ready. He looped his fingers in your panties and pulled them down too, tossing them by the guitar case; they caught on the end of the neck. He kissed you again, moaning into your mouth as his thumb massaged your thigh more. He brought his fingers to your mouth, parting your lips. His incredibly long fingers entered your warm, wet mouth pressing down on your tongue. You closed your mouth around them, sucking his digits. He whimpered and your eyes fluttered closed.

“Look at me, angel.”

You opened them again, tilting your head back to make eye contact with him. His brows were furrowed, he was watching you intently. You could feel him harden against your bare lower back. He tapped your chin, signaling for you to open your mouth and you did. His fingers left from between your lips, a string of saliva connecting his beautiful fingers with your bitten, kissed mouth. He rubbed at your entrance and your hips bucked up, he held them down with his other arm, veins protruding, pulsing under his tanned skin, dark against the light denim shirt he was wearing. You held his wrist as he fingered you, pumping two long digits into your heat, slowly, deliberately. Your other hand held on to his necklace, gently tugging the delicate silver chain between your fingers.

“Brian,” Your grip tightened on his wrist, you could feel his pulse racing against your fingers, and still against your shoulder, where his chest was.

He pumped faster, curling his fingers, tickling a spot inside of you that made you scream, pulling on his necklace harder. Your knuckles were white as you moaned.

“Do you want another one?” Brian whispered against your neck, before kissing your neck gently.

You nodded, unable to form words, you were too aroused, too close.

“Use your words.” He commanded, tilting your head back again.

“Yes, Brian. Please, one more.” You pleaded with him, scratching your nails down his forearm. He was rock hard behind you, leaking onto his trousers which were becoming increasingly tight. He pulled his fingers out and you groaned in protest, feeling empty, disappointed. He sucked his own fingers and you turned around so you were face to face. Beads of sweat were dripping from his temple, he was panting. You looked down at his crotch. The outline of his cock was staggeringly obvious, thick, and long.

You sat on your feet in front of him on the couch, the rough rug scratching at your knees. You unbuttoned his trousers and pulled them down his thin legs, until they pooled at his feet. He was going commando; his dick slapped against his toned stomach which was visible, as he had unbuttoned his shirt during the process of you undressing him. You smirked at him and he shrugged his shoulders.

“They’re tight pants,”

You leaned forward on your knees and looked up at him as you spit on his tip, before you swirled your tongue around the head, sucking on it gently. He pulled on your hair and whined.

“Oh--my god,” He stuttered, his hips doing the same.

You stroked him as you took him into your mouth, as deep as you could take him, his length pulsing at the back of your throat. He guided your head, pulling your hair into a messy, makeshift ponytail. It was sloppy and your eyes were watering from the pressure in your throat, but you moaned around him, before licking a stripe on his shaft and focusing your attention on the head again, rubbing your thumb against a sensitive strip of skin on the underside of him. His eyes were heavy, his eyelashes fluttering as he whimpered quietly.

“I’m gonna cum, baby,” He announced, and you halted your movements, payback for him doing the same to you. You took him out of your mouth with a pop and he rolled his eyes, leaning forward before pulling you up on the couch, sitting you on this lap. Your hands rested on his chest, fidgeting with his necklace as he kissed down your neck and pulled your shirt over your head. He took your bra off with one hand, laying you down on the couch. He rubbed down your chest, licking at your nipple as he tweaked the other one, your back arching at his touch. His curls tickled your sternum, and you moaned as he rubbed himself against your entrance, teasing you.

“I don’t have a condom.” He realized, looking up at you with widened eyes.

“I don’t care.” You threaded your fingers through his hair and pulled him up, kissing him deeply, pulling his locks. He was putty in your hands as you massaged his scalp, whining as he thrust into you, his forearms resting by your head as he stared into your eyes, his mouth open, jagged, uneven breaths leaving his bruised lips. He was so deep, and you scratched down his back, whimpering as he thrust into you forcefully, moaning into his mouth.

His hips stuttered as you clenched around him, pulling at his hair swiftly.

“Fuck,” He cried, slowing down his thrusts to savor his approaching orgasm. “You’re so tight,”

You grabbed his face and wrapped your legs around his waist, locking your ankles, encouraging him to thrust faster. He did, and all you could hear was panting, strangled moans and his skin slapping against yours. You felt him pulsing inside of you and he groaned from deep within his throat, still scratchy from just waking up. He was about to pull out, but you pushed your heels into his back and shook your head, permission for him to do exactly what he wanted. He came immediately, and you felt full as his seed oozed down your leg, thick and hot. He collapsed on top of you, panting, and you stroked his hair. He was still inside of you for a few minutes, catching his breath. When he pulled out, more of his cum leaked out of you, and it covered him, sticky and semi-dried. His chest was blotchy and fiery hot.

He grabbed a kitchen cloth and soaked it with warm water, cleaning himself off before he wiped you down, you flinching from overstimulation. You both were in bliss, until you saw a massive wet spot on the couch that would be impossible to remove.

____

Taglist: @silencedleviathan @alexfayer @ledger-kaos @ma-ntequilla @discodeakky @richiethotzierz @thisloveisreal1 @heartsarecompatible @thelondondreamer5 @brian-may-brian-may @okqueenie @gailymlee @trickster-blr @bubblypenguin123 @queensdarlingg @soloosunflower @dvndermifflinassociate @fredthelegend @miez-lakatz @arrowswithwifi @mouse507 @mespetitestortues @yourstateofdreaming (sorry if i missed someone! message me if you want to be added)

[itsjustaphase-mom]

Queer Eye: Umbrella Academy Edition

so the phrase “Luther on Queer Eye” came to me and I freaked out and uh yeah this happened... i basically wrote up how the Fab Five would help the Hargreeves siblings (its under the cut cuz it’s l o n g) (also Karamo signs them all up for therapy i didnt write that for each one because they all need it so bad) (oh also warning i dont know shit about anything these men are experts in so constructive criticism is appreciated thx xo)

Luther

Tan- surprisingly, Luther doesn’t seem to have any issue finding well fitted clothes, so Tan would probably just work on style- add some colour and prints, teach him how to make his torso look a bit smaller with the cut of his clothes and stuff like that

Antoni- big man need big food...find recipes that satisfy the monkey body??

Jonathan- Help that man deal with his monkey body!! shaving is an option buddy

Karamo- help him get over his leader complex and ALSO i was thinking about the fact that he doesnt realize how bad his siblings (namely klaus and vanya) were abused?? and that’s why he’s always brushing them off like that because he thinks his experience matches theirs even though he had superstrength and was their dad’s favourite...he just never stopped to consider that  they had it so much worse so fill him in karamo plz

Bobby-He needs space, he’s a big man. Bobby’d be able to hook him up with stuff that was big enough to help him feel normal sized again (and also they’d hopefully help him find an apartment because he doesn’t need to live in that house)

Diego

Tan-he needs some colour in his life... also imagine Tan finding outfits that can hide his knives better that just sounds hilarious

Antoni-please antoni this man ate a raw egg....help him

Jonathan- He has some scars on his face but they make him look cool (and I think he feels that way too) so Jonny could give him tips to cover em but i dont really think he’d want em...he’d probably just tell him to moisturize

Karamo-help him grieve Patch, he barely got a chance to with all the apocalypse nonsense

Bobby- he’d make Diego’s place look cool and edgy but also be hella functional it would look so cool

Allison

Tan-she’s absolutely gorgeous and all of her outfits are stunning and honestly he has his work cut out for him with the next one so it’s his day off

Antoni- he’d teach her how to make some real good stuff that she can teach Claire how to make!! it’d be so cute!!! Maybe Claire would join em!!!! guys!!!!!!

Jonathan-give her the haircut that Emmy has please for the sake of the gays i am begging you

Karamo-he’d help her get her daughter back (i know that’s out of his paygrade but shhh) and teach her parenting techniques to use instead of her powers

Bobby- he’d make her a chic, childproof home and it’d be the best

Klaus

Tan-fashion is a spectrum that ranges from Klaus to that guy in season one (?) that said his style icon was Frasier... Tan would be simultaniously LIVING for Klaus’ outfits from a proud gay dad perspective and appalled by the things he wore...he’d find a balance that was very gay but more befitting a 30 year old man (would Klaus actually wear it? probably not. he’d diy that shit and the look on tan’s face would be priceless oh my gosh im crying at the concept yknow the end when they all sit down and watch their routine? Klaus would go through his closet and look directly into the camera, holding up the “new and improved” clothes while tan just loses his mind)

Antoni- teach him how to make easy, good food. He needs some quick, simple, healthy recipes for when he’s not feeling it okay wait now im thinking about klaus getting addicted to cooking as a way to occupy himself when he gets too close to relapsing and guys guys guys we have a CONCEPT here oh boy i might have to do smth with that

Jonathan- honestly he’s pretty good? Probably a haircut and also GIVE HIM ROB’S NATURAL CURLY HAIR

Karamo-help him get sober. and help him learn that he can be more vulnerable, he doesnt have to laugh off everything. He doesnt have to hide everything. he needs to get help sometimes. also get him to do yoga because i feel like he’d love that for some reason??? idk the idea just popped into my head and i think he’d be a big fan

Bobby-give him a place that’s functional and neat, but with his sense of style. Quirky and artsy. Very easy to clean and keep organised, because his stuff is in such a state of disarray.

Five

Tan-just like.... go buy clothes that aren’t your old school uniform? Something that is befitting of a 58 year old man but doesn’t look too off on a 13 year old’s body... I feel like Tan and Five would be bros

Antoni-teach him that he cant survive off coffee...also teach him how to make his own damn coffee instead of whining about it all the time

Jonathan- Teach him how to shave and just generally take care of himself properly because he didnt have anyone to do that the first time around im not crying youre crying

Karamo- Make him less of a dick. It’s okay to hurt, and it’s okay to be confident but you dont gotta be an asshole about it. also maybe discuss delores.

Bobby-he needs a study with lots of space to write lmao ooh imagine the style is inspired by all his favourite time periods, whatever those may be that would be so cool plenty of antiques in that place

Ben - ok i know no-one but karamo could really do anything cuz he’s a ghost but pretend they could

Tan- he needs that colour boy he’s too emo (for Tan, i fully support emo rights)

Antoni- uhhhh he hasnt eaten in like 10 years feed him smth good

Jonathan- He’s perfect so nothing to change tbh

Karamo- honestly Ben is the most well-adjusted??? and he’s dead?? idk what karamo would really do besides getting him therapy

Bobby- He needs a place for himself!! There’s theories that he doesnt exist without Klaus which tbh I kinda believe so even then Bobby could incorporate a little space for him in Klaus’ place... get him some bookshelves!!

Vanya

Tan-absolutely nothing, her style is impeccable... ok fine tan would maybe make it more gay and fit better, accentuating what she wants instead of hiding everything under the baggiest shirts she can find

Antoni- comfort food that’s healthy (what? do i hear vanya and klaus bonding over using cooking to cope???)

Jonathan-GAY HAIRCUT UNDERCUT OR SMTH (but also her hair is adorable so i kinda dont want him to cut it......)

Karamo-help her realize she’s gay, just look at her karamo... but also work on her self esteem because shit dawg that could use some work

Bobby-fix up her apartment!! make it sleek and cool with hints of violins everywhere and also make it brighter because that colour scheme cannot be helping her depression

uh so yeah this was just me ranting for no reason lemme know what you think lmao

[haloud]

take a chance and don’t ever look back -- chapter 3

ao3

Ten miles west of Lubbock, Michael takes the exit and turns around. His good hand white-knuckles the wheel; his bad hand burns on the sun-baked sill of the window. He merges on the eastbound and wonders what the fuck he’s doing. It’ll still be light out when he makes it back to the city. What he’s doing is dumb enough without the extra time for feeling foolish while he waits around for the bars to open.

Thing is, Michael wants to feel again.

Through death and loss and loneliness, his whole world’s just been…white noise. An overstressed processor whine. Nothing fixes it; nothing makes it stop. He’s tried booze, he’s tried acetone, he’s tried turning his trailer into a tourist trap for bored housewives.

None of it worked. Not one bit. So god, maybe it is men. It’s not that Michael’s never looked at a man since Alex, it’s just that when rough hands grab him by the waist, when stubble rasps against his skin, looking at the guy feels like curdled milk and closing his eyes is the kind of temptation that can stop a man’s heart. He’s never gone far enough with any man to start crying out Alex’s name.

Maybe that’s gonna change tonight. If Alex Manes wanted an army wife, he should’ve got down on one knee. It’s been four years. He’s done saving himself for his brave soldier boy, ‘specially when it’s not like Alex ever even asked him to.

(He’d have said yes, in a heartbeat, and then where would they be?)

The ranch doesn’t send him out this far very often, so if Michael doesn’t take this opportunity then it could be months before he gets another. Even so, he almost doesn’t go. What if this is the answer, and Michael just needs to fuck men for a while? Almost better not to know, for all the good it’ll do him. Lord knows you can’t get cock in Roswell without it becoming a federal fucking issue.

But god he wants to feel again.

So he gets a cheap burger and puts his feet up on the dash, and after the sun goes down he pulls into the parking lot of the kind of bar they don’t have in Roswell. Inside, haze clings to every surface, wraps and flows to let the patrons pass. The rumble of voices blends with the bassy music into something that tastes a little like drinking whiskey and a lot like kissing after. A crowd mills around the bar, calling out for drinks, leaning on each other; a larger crowd mills around the floor, dancing, grinding, talking real close. Men and men. Women and women. It’s like every bar he’s ever been to. It’s like the snap of a bungee rope that pulls him out of freefall back to safety. Michael takes a deep, steadying breath, flexes his ruined hand, and struts inside like he belongs.

He doesn’t even make it all the way to the bar before a man in a white hat is tipping the brim at him and drawling, “Buy you a drink?”

Michael drags his gaze from the man’s feet up to his face. Tall and broad, with a wide chest and thick shoulders, this is a man who could lift Michael one-handed, hold him down, toss him around. Michael licks his lips and feels…

Nothing.

Well, not nothing. His hindbrain perks up the same way it does when he winks a woman over the hood of her car and she slides a little closer. So at least that’s one thing answered. This is for him. This is him. He could give this man a smile and a little of his time; he could slide into this man’s truck and go on his back and get a taste of forgetting old-fashioned style.

He just doesn’t really want to, and goddamnit that’s the problem.

Still, there’s something new and delicious about being looked at by a man in a crowded room, so Michael won’t brush him off. He tilts his chin towards the bar and says, “Thanks for the invite, but I’ve got this round. Maybe I’ll see you around some other time?”

The big guy shrugs good-naturedly and ambles back to a table, where his buddies laugh and tease him for striking out. A pang of envy flashes through Michael and he breathes it out like all other useless regrets.

Drinking. Drinking is a good idea. This is an unfamiliar environment; a stressor. If he loosens up and finds his rhythm, maybe he’ll get more into it. He shoulders past a gaggle of bystanders to plant his elbows on the bartop and orders a beer at random.

As she pops the cap, the bartender, a grizzled-looking woman with thick, graying hair in a messy bun and laugh lines around her eyes, glances at him sideways and asks, “First time?”

Michael blinks, reflexively clenches his hands. He flicks through reactions in his mind—defensive, suave, running out the door and never looking back…finally he clears his throat and manages, “Small town. This’s my last night out here, so I figured…”

The bartender nods and just says wrenchingly simple:

“Welcome.”

And moves on to another customer.

Michael needs to sit down.

He collapses into a newly-vacated stool and wraps both palms around the cold glass of the bottle. This place is crowded and loud in a way the Wild Pony never is. It pulses; it’s alive. Michael’s eyes flutter shut; he searches for his heartbeat inside the rhythm.

He’s jostled out of his thoughts by a bony elbow catching him in the shoulder as some kid—well, probably close to Michael’s age, but he looks young, looks fresh, in a way Michael doesn’t know he’s ever looked—reaches past him to grab a pair of cocktails. Drinks in hand, he floats over to the nearest table, where a single dark-haired man nurses a single drink and sits with his back to the bar.

“Hey, soldier, wanna have some fun?” The kid asks, draping himself over the table’s other chair.

“Sorry,” a wry voice shouts over the pounding bass, “You’re cute, but curly hair doesn’t really do it for me.”

Michael snorts against the lip of his beer. Nerve of some people. Still, there’s something to that voice, a little hint of swagger that makes Michael sit up and take notice, makes him think maybe, makes him think finally, makes him think wanna go for a ride? The bold little twink that just got snubbed sticks his nose up in the air and stalks away through the haze. It doesn’t take him long to find someone else who’ll take the spare drink off his hands and lead him grinning to the dance floor. Michael gestures at the bartender for another beer, and once it’s slid his way he rolls his shoulders to loosen up, rolls his neck to hear it pop, and rolls his hips off the bar to make people look his way. The guy at the table, of course, doesn’t get the benefit of Michael’s performance, but it’s still an unexpected rush to be seen, now that he’s got a challenge to meet.

Soldier, the kid had said, and this guy may be out of uniform, but Michael can see it. His firm posture; his close-cropped hair. The measured way he curls his hand around his glass, takes a sip, and puts it back in the exact same place. A ready smirk teases Michael’s lips as he makes his way over.

“Soldier, huh?” He says aloud, putting the beer on the table with a thunk. “That a line you get often or the real thing? You gonna show me some discipline?” A flush revs the engine in his veins. He doesn’t know if he’s gunning for a fight or for a fuck, but he’ll take either one so long as this feeling doesn’t slip through his fingers.

Until the screech of chair legs on the wood floor drowns out all other sound. Everything but the ringing in his ears.

Because Alex Manes is looking back at him.

Shattering glass would hurt people. Chairs flying in every direction too. React too strongly and you’ll bust something important, maybe start a fire. Hold it together. This building has three exits and a fire door as well as a storage room with a lock behind the bar and probably cellar access.  You have a clear line of sight to the bathrooms if you need a place to hide or panic. You are not trapped. No one here wants to hurt you. Your truck has enough gas to make it back to Roswell without stopping. There is no need to panic.

Count back from ten. A safe release: let the cars outside rock a little on their suspensions. Nine. Stretch the fingers on your left hand. Eight. Breathe in. Seven. Alex looks scared. Six. Do something about it. Five. Breathe out. Four. Put down your other beer so you have both hands free. Three. Say something. Two. No, not yet. One.

Alex.

He’s walking away.

He’d be running if he wasn’t controlling himself so tightly. Instead he takes it at a march, stiff-jointed and robotic. Michael scrambles after him, half-dreaming, ears ringing out a plaintive whine that he stuffs behind his teeth. He chases Alex in slow motion through the crowd and the swirling air, towards the secluded back of the bar and the back door hidden in a little alcove.

“Alex!” He cries, and the man jerks like Michael threw a fist instead. Unable to stop himself, Michael grabs his shoulder with his broken hand, and wheels him around so he can drink in the sight of that face.

It’s him. Undeniably, irrefutably. Michael didn’t recognize his voice over the noise, over the sound of him grown into its depth and timbre. But it’s him, and Michael reaches out his hands like maybe, maybe, he won’t be turned away.

“Guerin,” Alex groans, and Michael bobs his head pathetically, like yes, like please, like help me, like hello.

They collide.

Face pale and set like he’s hunting a ghost, Alex cups Michael’s face and turns them so Michael’s the one with his back to the wall. He marches them forward, and Michael lopes back in step. The rest of the world fades out to a dull throb, an unimportant ache. Michael snatches at Alex’s clothes to drag him in. They’re not moving fast enough. Michael used to think they had time, but now he knows it was never true, and his has never been the hand on the hourglass.

“Aaanh!”

The sound rips itself out of Michael’s chest as he throws himself against the wall, twisting his hand in the bottom of Alex’s clinging red shirt. Their mouths slam together, all momentum. Michael opens his mouth to take Alex’s tongue with a loud moan. Alex hisses in response; his forearms thud against the wall on either side of Michael’s head a millisecond later, bracing himself instead of crushing Michael the way Michael wishes he would. He wants the bruises, wants the bloody lip, wants a clawing, scratching sting he can rub against in the morning.

If he can’t have a dance, he can have this much.

Goading, he shoves his hands under Alex’s clothes and drags his dull nails in the spaces between Alex’s ribs. He’s heavy with muscle now, but he’s still soft to touch like the boy Michael loved in a pale blue suit. Alex tears his mouth away to pant against Michael’s jaw. His fists clench and Michael’s hips twitch at the creak of bone and tendon and power at the edge of his hearing.

“Touch me,” he says, “Alex, touch me,” because what does he have to lose, “Alex, it’s me, it’s you, touch me.”

“I can’t,” Alex gasps, breathy and cracked and tasting like salt, “Oh no, oh God, it’s you, oh—”

“You can. You can.” Michael cups the back of his neck so they can kiss again, sloppy and hot. Alex smells like leather, like metal, like secondhand smoke. Michael’s spent three days in his truck, so he knows what he smells like too—rose petals and gasoline and wax. That’s what Alex is breathing in with every drag of his lungs. Him.

“What are you doing here,” Alex pleads, “Why are you here, I can’t, I can’t—”

“What are you doing here?”

And Alex laughs, rude and wet, a sound from the bottom of his stomach. “Why are we doing this, Guerin? Why’d you even walk my way? Nothing’s changed!”

“Nothing’s changed,” Michael agrees, pressing their foreheads together. He wants to beg Alex to let it be true. But he doesn’t. Used to be there was no need for dignity, here, but maybe some things have changed after all. Michael kisses Alex above each unlined eye, on the bridge of his nose, holds him close to brush his lips on either ear. Still and tense like he’s bracing against a storm, Alex makes little choking noises at every touch of his mouth, and a low cry escapes when Michael pulls back to press kisses to his fingertips.

Nothing’s changed. Alex can shove and cut and hide away whatever he needs to keep himself safe, but Michael can still read the ink beneath his skin. This is it, the answer, the solace he’s been seeking. It didn’t die, Michael didn’t kill it and burn it to ash while the silent stars looked on. Alex just took it with him when he left.

It’s okay to be without it, now, if Alex needs it more.

“Nothing’s changed,” Michael says in a raspy whisper, as he rearranges and recategorizes and everything does.

Instead of replying, Alex bares his teeth and fastens them to the meat of Michael’s shoulder, exposed by the stretched-out collar of his shirt, sending a slick shiver from his scalp to his toes. It’s nothing at all like understanding, but it fills a need enough right now. All his animal instincts roll his head to the side to expose the softest parts of him.

“Guerin,” Alex half-whispers, half-sobs. Michael runs his fingers across Alex’s scalp. He nods. He knows.

Being with Alex has always been music enough to dance to, but tucked away in this corner away from the world, they don’t. They don’t shuffle. They don’t sway.

The world moves on in beat and time, and they don’t move at all.