#i would think i could get notifs with apple music but i can’t find that

[leftmysoulbythesideoftheroad]

i need to learn some way to actually keep up my favorite musicians. because i don’t use social media (just tumblr which doesn’t really count), and i found out a month ago that highly suspect put out an album last fucking year and i had no idea. i would have listened to that shit the second it was up if i had any way to know it existed.

[mianavs]

Gezellig

You were the warmth that only another person could give

Kenma x f!reader

a/n: kenma is definitely my comfort character~

wc: 1.8k

It started with an apple pie recipe.

Kenma was editing his latest play-through video for a new video game when the craving for his favorite food creeped up on him again. He considered going to the nearby bakery that sold decent mini apple pies but a glance at the clock on his computer put an end to that idea—it was midnight and the bakery had been closed for three hours.

Normally Kenma would have settled for the day old pastry on his kitchen table but the craving for apple pie had plagued him for a while now. The reason? His neighbor had baked one a couple days ago and Kenma couldn’t stop thinking about the delicious aroma that had seeped through the walls into his unit.

A hasty thought crossed Kenma’s mind and he got up from his gaming chair to wander into the kitchen. He scanned the counters until his eyes landed on the two large apples Kuroo dropped off along with other groceries Kenma let spoil more often than not. The presence of the main ingredient spurred his impulses and Kenma fell back onto his couch as he scrolled through YouTube for an easy apple pie recipe. His perceptive eyes were immediately drawn to the golden crust of the pie on your thumbnail and his fingers clicked on your video without a second thought.

In the end, Kenma never got to making the apple pie and instead binge-watched every video on your ASMR cooking channel until he passed out at five in the morning.

Kenma knew he was obsessed when he turned on the notification bell on your channel. He loved the simplicity of your videos. There wasn’t any cheesy background music or obnoxious text. Your videos were intimate and comforting with the natural sounds of your cooking or baking and the high-quality recordings. More often than not, Kenma found himself unwinding to your content after a stressful meeting with the board members or a difficult gaming session. In fact, the more he watched your videos the more he found himself closing his eyes and imagining himself in your kitchen listening to the sizzling of the sautéing vegetables or the whir of your mixer combining the ingredients of a cake. It wasn’t necessarily hard to do since the layout of your kitchen was very similar to his own.

He should have found it suspicious when his neighbor’s cooking seemed to predict the video you would upload next but Kenma wasn’t one to dwell on unnecessary things like that. So when his neighbor cooked a delicious smelling recipe, Kenma would crave it the next day and ordered it to eat while he watched your nimble hands cook a similar dish.

In the two years Kenma had lived in his unit, he’d never crossed paths with his foodie neighbor. Although considering his line of work, Kenma supposed it wasn’t too surprising. He spent most of his time in his office and only when out when necessary. So when his doorbell rang and it wasn’t Kuroo with groceries or takeout but a young woman with a sheepish look on her face, Kenma froze like a deer in headlights.

“Hi! Umm…I’m your neighbor,” she introduced herself and awkwardly held up a small bowl. “Do you have some salt I can borrow?”

“Uh…yeah, come in.” Kenma replied stepping aside to let her in. There was a softness about her demeaner that drew him in and it wasn’t until her eyes blinked at him in confusion that he realized he’d been staring.

“T-this way.”

As Kenma led his neighbor to the kitchen he wracked his brain for the location of the salt container Kuroo had bought for him to use despite never having cooked a meal in his life. It took a couple of tries flipping through cupboards before he found the large salt container and handed it to his neighbor.

“Thanks!” She accepted it and began pouring some into her bowl. “Y’know your kitchen is a lot like mine but way cleaner!”

“I don’t really use it,” Kenma admitted. “I find it kind of intimidating…cooking.”

“It is at first but it gets easier the more you do it.” She smiled as she handed the salt back to Kenma and he couldn’t help but admire the way her entire face seemed to smile. Her eyes crinkled into crescent moons while the apples of her cheeks framed her gummy smile endearingly.

“I guess that applies to a lot of things.”

“Yes, it really does! I’m a firm believer in practice makes perfect.”

With that she thanked Kenma profusely and apologized for the intrusion before slipping on her shoes and walking out the door. While it may have only been a few minutes, the impression she left on Kenma lasted much longer. He went outside more just so he could run into his nice neighbor who would always strike up a conversation with him about anything. And while he was normally not one for small talk, it never felt forced around her. She had a knack for making even the dullest subject a compelling topic and Kenma quickly looked forward to those moments outside their apartment complex, in front of the convenience store, or outside her unit.

But even those short conversations Kenma has with his neighbor reveal very little about her. So when Kenma gets a notification from your channel and opens YouTube, he drops his phone when your thumbnail picture isn’t food but rather his neighbor that he’d grown fond of. Kenma’s eyes dart to your shared wall as he comes to terms with the fact that his favorite content creator and his pretty neighbor are the same person. It takes a couple of minutes for the initial shock to pass and another twenty minutes for him to play the video in the comfort of his office and with his headset on.

You’re all smiles as you announce a giveaway to celebrate one-hundred thousand subscribers. You introduce each of the five prizes and explain each one in detail. They’re all cooking tools from one of your sponsors that Kenma recognizes from your previous videos. When you’re describing the rules to enter, the similarities between your apartment and his are glaringly obvious now and Kenma can only shake his head in disbelief. The video ends too quickly so he watches it another ten times almost convincing himself that it’s to understand the rules of the giveaway and consider each of the products despite knowing he’d never actually enter.

A week after your giveaway video, Kuroo comes over with food and drinks after a business trip. A meal and a couple of beers later, Kenma opens up to Kuroo about you and the fact that you’re not only his favorite YouTuber but his neighbor as well. The liquid courage spurs him on and Kenma talks about your gorgeous smile, soft-looking hair, and your laugh that goes from a giggle to a cackle within a matter of seconds. Always the observant friend, Kuroo notices the persistent smile on Kenma’s face as he goes on about you and urges his best friend to ask you out on a date. The thought of spending hours with you is enough to get his heart racing but his insecurities never fail to rear their ugly heads and Kenma dismisses the idea as quickly as it comes up.

Kenma drinks even more to drown his insecurities and fantasies of you while Kuroo drinks with him knowing it’s best to support him quietly like this. When the last drop of alcohol is consumed, the two friends are completely drunk and Kuroo crashes in the guest room while Kenma stumbles to his room and collapses on his bed as the world spins around him.

Your image comes to mind but it’s too hazy for Kenma’s liking so he pulls up your giveaway video and watches it for the hundredth time. You’re so happy about your channel’s milestone that Kenma can’t help but smile like a fool as you thank your subscribers profusely. It’s with lowered inhibitions that Kenma is able to scroll to the comment section and write out how much your channel means to him.

The sound of multiple notifications stirs Kenma awake to a terrible hangover. He rubs the sleep from his eyes and focuses on his blindingly bright screen to see what the fuss is about. There’s a message from his publicist asking if he’s okay but before Kenma can reply he gets a notification from your channel; however, it isn’t the typical one that lets him know you’ve uploaded a video. The notification is a heart reaction to a comment and Kenma’s heart is in his mouth as his shaky finger taps on your giveaway video.

He doesn’t have to scroll far to find his comment because it’s the first one with ten thousand likes and three hundred comments to boot. Completely mortified, Kenma reads through the comments that have a wide range of reactions. Some gush about how cute it is for Kodzuken to fanboy over your channel while others express their disappointment that their favorite gamer actually likes cooking ASMR. While they are unnerving, it isn’t the comments that worry Kenma but the little red heart you’d left on his comment.

While he doubts you knew who he was before, this comment and the crazy feedback will definitely pique your interest enough to look him up and find out who he really is. Scared of facing you, Kenma holes himself up in his apartment. To get you out of his mind, he buries himself in work and video game streams and turns off the notifications for your channel.

After a week of not hearing anything from you, Kenma thinks he’s in the clear until one evening he opens his door expecting his takeout only to find you.

You’re a sight for sore eyes and Kenma’s heart hammers in his chest as your eyes soften and you break into a smile. The aroma of cinnamon and apples wafts up to his nostrils and you raise your mitted hands to reveal the same pie that had drawn him to you in the first place.

“Your fans mentioned you like apple pie,” you explain with a chuckle. “And I still owe you for the salt.”

“My…fans?” Kenma asks, still stunned you’re talking to him despite the comment fiasco.

“Yeah, you see I needed a reason to visit my neighbor and ask him out. Luckily, he’s a famous streamer with lots of fans.” Your confidence almost hides flush on your cheeks that deepens the longer Kenma stares at you in shock.

“…Unless you don’t want to go out-“

“I do!” Kenma blurts out. “More than anything.”

Your entire face breaks into a smile. “Well then how about a pie date?”

With a stomach full of butterflies, Kenma lets you into his apartment for the second time only this time he knows what he feels for you and is comforted by the fact that you feel the same way.

[mochiiyaya]

Can We Fix This?

                   ⊱ . .⃗ ༉‧₊˚✧ . ˚ ⚘ ˏ`୭̥*ೃ ۪۫❁ཻུ۪۪✩‧₊✿ ⊰

As you were cleaning, ignoring the notifications you hear a ring from the door. “Ah sorry, we are closed, come tomorrow.” You said as you looked up to see a familiar but slightly different brunette. “Y/n.” He softly said. Your eyes widened. It felt like time stopped. “T-tooru? What are you doing here??” You said almost like a whisper. You rubbed your eyes to make sure your eyes weren't deceiving you. “It's me Y/n.” He says as he comes closer. “P-please don't c-come closer.” You said as you backed away. Your hands were shaking as you tighten your hold on the broom. It was dead silent and you can hear your unsteady breathing. You knew the reason he was here yet this came to you as a surprise.  

“Why are you here.” You said looking to the floor. “Y/n i wanna talk. I texted you saying I'll be coming. Please let's talk.” He said. “I didn't check my phone..” You softly said. “I'm glad you didn't then because you would have left. We both do know that. Y/n I'm not planning on staying forever in Japan, I'm going back to Argentina soon.” He said as you could feel his eyes on you. “Then why come back there no poi-” You were cut off, “You are the reason…” He said softly. Your eyes widened trying to hold back to tears. “Stop! Just stop it... Why?” You said.

“Y/n..” His soft voice makes your heartache. “Tooru just stop... Please just.. stop.” You say. “No Y/n hear me out, please. Just for now.” He said as he reached out for your hand. You pushed his hand away, letting go of the broom. “Why should I? When I pleaded for you to just listen you didn’t give it a second thought.” You said getting frustrated. 

“You are the reason why I'm back in Japan. You were always on my mind. I wanted to hold you, I wanted you by my side, I wanted to hear your voice, see a text for you. I couldn't handle it anymore. I just had to see you. Don't you understand Y/n.” He said as you heard his voice break. Tears falling from your face. “I want to say how much I hate you yet I just can't.. because I know I don't. I don't think I will ever hate you even after everything that has happened.” You said letting out a sigh. “Can we fix this? Can we fix us?” He said as he reached out for your hand holding it tightly.

“Maybe if you came sooner maybe we could have..” You said as you pulled your hands away. “D-do you have someone new?” He said as his voice break. You looked at him. Your eyes widened seeing the brunette face covered with tears. “Y-y/n p-please tell me you didn’t, p-please tell me that it's not true.. Tell me that I'm the o-only one, the only one you love.” He breaks down falling to the ground. Your heartaches to see him like this. Your sight blurred from the tears.

“Tell me that the years we spent together meant something to you, tell me that the memories we had never left your mind, tell me that you still want to marry me. Please just tell me please. I'm begging you.” He paused a moment trying to catch his breath. “Y/n please don't leave me alone. Don't leave my side... Don't give up on us. W-we can try this again right?” He said, looking straight into your eyes pleading to you. “Tooru..”

“Y/n, please... I-i know it's my fault yet all these years I couldn't let you go even how much I tried too, I couldn't even think of anyone besides you. I was stupid and young yet I knew you meant the world to me but I l-let you go.” 

“Get up please.” You said softly. He did what he was told to do. You wrapped your arms around him for an embrace. He did the same yet buried his face in the crook of your neck and held you tighter. 

“T-tooru” You took his silence as he was listening. “I um where do I start this.” Your mind running wild trying to find the right words. ”Um I don't regret the times we spent together. I was really happy. I miss the dates we had, the late-night calls or talks, our little adventures, cheering you on when you had a games, and of course you.” You heard him trying to hold back his cries. “I'm glad I met you even though how we ended things could have been better but we were both still young and trying to figure out who we were. I know that night, the things you and I said were not true, we were just shouting out random things out of anger. Maybe if I was a better girlfriend for you, you wouldn't have left me behind, maybe if I convinced you that I'll stay with you until the very end you wouldn't have given up on me… on us.” You said as you gripped his shirt he was wearing. 

He backed up to look you in the eyes. “Y/n you were enough. You gave me everything a person can-” “But i-”. He cut you off before you can say another word. “I promise you that. You made me feel like I was actually enough that my endless training was good enough for once. You stood by my side when I needed it the most. You were everything to me. I was so stupid..” He went back to the same position he was in.

“That day you left broke my heart in so many ways. You showed me how to love but you showed me how painful a heartbreak can be. When you left I questioned if you ever loved me, if I meant anything to you, if you ever needed me to stay with you, or if I was enough for you. It took me years to get over it. I wanted to know these answers from you yet not that long ago I have been feeling okay. To answer your question yes I meant someone. He now means the world to me, he made me feel like I was enough, that I'll be okay, and i wouldn't change that. I'm happy now, Tooru.” You felt his breathing change. You back away and hold his face. He grabbed your hand and held it tight. His eyes have gone puffy and his nose seems a bit red.

“Tooru I love you I truly do but I'm slowly moving on and you should too. Maybe things might have been different but this is how things ended up. Maybe in another time, we ended up together and we were happ-” 

“Don't say that in front of me because I really really wish that's how we ended up.” He said with a sad soft look. He placed a soft kiss on your forehead. That small kiss had so many emotions that weren't said.

 You both looked at each with love in your eyes yet you both knew there's no going back to how things were and after this, you both are going to move on with life. You knew he loved you and you loved him but your feelings for Kenma only grew with every moment you spent with him.

“Does he make you that happy?” He asked. “Very” “Then i-i guess that okay by me..” He said as he holds you tighter, ceasing your hair. “If you hadn’t met him would it have been me?”

“Tooru, I thought of marrying you”. “But look at you now liking someone else that’s not me.” You let out a small chuckle. “I'm not sure because what if we didn't settle our argument and never talked.” You let out a sigh.

“Right... You have no idea how much I wish we were together again at this moment.” He left a small hurt laugh. “If only if it was true.”

“Maybe it is, you never know. You believe in aliens so why not believe in another universe where we are happy and we fix this.” You backed away flicking his forehead. “Oww that wasn't necessary.” He rubbed his forehead. “And aliens are a different story.” He said as pouts. You let out a laugh

Hearing you laugh makes his heart race. Your laugh was music to his ears. How much he misses being the reason for you smiling, laughing, and overall your happiness. He knew he wasn't the one in your heart now and he has to learn how to be okay with that. He blames himself for letting you go. If only he could go back in time to change everything he would in a heartbeat. He felt like crying again. He’s willing to put his happiness aside if it means you’ll be happy. 

You looked at him with a soft loving face and smiled. You placed your hand on his cheek to wipe away the tears that were running down with your thumb. He pulled you in a tight hugged. “Y/n I love you will all my heart remember if he doesn't treat you right I won't hesitate to hurt him I won't back down if he breaks your heart. Okay?” He said. You let out a small laugh and hummed in response. 

How much he didn't want to face the truth that you're no longer his he had to accept it. “In another life time, we can fix this huh?” He thought to himself.

You both held each knowing this will be a goodbye and both of you are moving forward. 

Little did you know someone was watching your heartfelt moment.

                   ⊱ . .⃗ ༉‧₊˚✧ . ˚ ⚘ ˏ`୭̥*ೃ ۪۫❁ཻུ۪۪✩‧₊✿ ⊰

Sweeter Than Apple Pie | 16

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↳ ❝ Yn owner of a rising bakery cafe. One day a pudding head boy enter with his close friend looking for an apple pie. What will their future bring them when they keep meeting?❞

❥ a/n: i’m honestly not the proudest of this writing but i hope you all enjoyed it 🥺

✧ tag list ✨: @tepjameme @rosecarft-lollipop @mochahyuck @hnpriscilla @pasta-warlord @mikantsumiikii @usamizuki @notamazinglizzy @nekoma-hoe @satomiis @simp4tsukkii @achly @lilidrawz @juns-random-world @gabbaeae @cleopatera @mental-instability-xviii-ii @yammmers @alyssasteaparty @fleurnymph @newfriendjen @glyxiebear @handsoffmyfriends @lollawindsay @bbecc-a @officiallykuute @moonlightaangel @just-snog-already @goodnight-haley @sol-demure @johnnysactualgf @animewithmemes @michelepiekenma @icaruskenma @urmyshinsuke @mirikusashes @daninaninani @babyshoyo @lostmarimoismyhubby @jvhoons @kozumesupremacy @2sj2 @amillionfandoms-onlyoneme @shhhspect @destruhction @iloveyouasmuchaspoohloveshoney @rachelexe @madusas-girlfriend @sukiuqu @a-applepi @elianetsantana @elixabeth-exe

[teamhappyme]

my world is grey without you

pairing: nick amaro x reader

warnings: tissues. this is not happy.

word count: 1.7k

a/n: this is pure sadness. i am so sorry, it is all hurt and the smallest pin point of comfort. my first nick amaro fic, and it’s gonna be ~heartbreaking~ but this idea has been in my head for weeks. hope you enjoy some of the pain im serving. 

****

You think Mother Nature must be in tune to your emotions, when you wake up that early May morning. The clouds were grey, rain pouring from the sky, collecting in puddles on the cracked sidewalks of New York City. If you had to describe to someone how you were feeling today, you would just tell them to look outside. You felt as gloomy as it was in the city today. 

Normally, your walk to the coffee shop was bright and full of sunshine, especially during spring. The flowers were starting to bloom, the sun was staying out longer, and the weather finally started to reach past sixty degrees. Instead it was filled with droopy tulips and black umbrellas covering everyone’s faces. 

You got your usual order, and one black coffee to go, hailing a cab across town to your destination. You planned on walking yesterday; the half hour walk would help clear your head and calm your nerves. But today, it would only leave you wet and cold.

Once you pulled up to the brick apartment building, you paid the driver and quickly ran up the stoop and into the entrance. You buzzed apartment 3G, and after a few seconds, you were let in. You rode the elevator up to the third floor, your foot tapping against the linoleum floor the entire time. 

You stepped out and took a right down the hall, stopping at the fourth door on the left. After three knocks, the door swung open, and there stood the man of the hour.

“Hey, Nick.” you gave him a small smile, lifting the black coffee you got for him on your way here. “I know it’s early, but I figured this may help you with any last minute packing.”

“I,” he started, running a hand through his hair, “what are you doing here?”

“What, you think you can just leave without a proper send off from your partner? Besides, I’ve owed you this coffee for three years. I had to pay up before you left.”

That got a smile out of him, as he reached for the coffee, and opened the door up a little wider. 

“Come on in,” the foyer of Nick Amaro’s apartment usually greeted you with an onslaught of pictures of Zara and Gil, accompanied by many drawings and art projects from the young girl. Now on his last morning here, the walls were stark white, void of anyone ever living here.

“I can’t believe you got this place packed up so fast. It took us a whole day just to get that giant brown couch into the apartment.” You said, as your eyes looked over what was once the living room. 

“Well, that’s what movers are for.” He followed in behind you, taking in the apartment he called home for the last two years. He moved in to the first place he could find, not wanting to spend another minute thinking about living without his baby girl. “I would offer you a seat, but my furniture is in a u-haul, probably crossing Kansas right about now.”

You smiled, as you crossed your ankles and sat criss cross applesauce on the hardwood floor. “That’s alright. I prefer the floor anyways, keeps me grounded.”

You were ready for the pointed stare you got from him, only making you laugh harder at your awful pun.

“Three years we’ve been partners, and you still have awful jokes I’ve never heard.”

“Hey, I gotta keep you on your toes, Amaro.” he sat down next to you, leaning back on his hands and crossing one foot over the other. You knew there wasn’t much time before he had to head to the airport; you purposely gave yourself a small window to minimize the hurt. “How long do I have you for until you head for the sunshine?”

He looked down at his watch, letting out a small sigh as he checked the time. “My cab will be here in about twenty minutes.”

“Alright. Then we have twenty minutes to make the best cop movie script out of our careers together.”

And for the next twenty minutes, you remembered almost every moment you spent with Detective Nick Amaro. From the first day you met, which had a rocky start, to the day he turned in his papers to be with his kids. There were stories of stakeouts that always included pizza and blaring rock music to keep you awake, monday morning bets on who would be in the precinct last, and endless amounts of coffee runs to keep the other person going. 

There was a lot of trust built between the two of you over the last three years. Nick had been through hell and back in the time you were partnered together, and there was no choice but to trust each other. At work, he needed somebody he could trust without any doubt, and you made it so easy for him. The kindness and empathy you treated him with from the beginning, even when he didn’t deserve it, made a difference in his life. There was no one else he’d trust with his life more than you.

After some time, you two were in sync with one another. You always knew what the other person needed, whether that was a coffee, space, or comfort, the two of you knew what to do. It made work that much easier, it made the bad days that much better, when you didn’t have to tell them how you were feeling; they just knew.

You had just finished the story about your first undercover op together, when his phone lit up.

“My ride is five minutes out.” he said, the trip down memory lane coming to an end. Your smile morphed from a shiny grin, into a small close mouthed line. It was time to say goodbye.

“I’ll walk you out,” you got out, barely above a whisper, as Nick stood up. He held his hand out to you, helping you onto your feet. 

You watched as he grabbed his backpack from his room, patting his pockets to double check he had his phone, wallet, and boarding pass. He took one last look around the place before walking out and closing the door behind him for the last time. 

The elevator ride down was quiet, you spent those thirty seconds regulating your breathing and swallowing the growing lump in the back of your throat. This wasn’t about you.

Once the doors opened to the lobby, you felt soft fingers inching their way into your palm, lighty holding you together. You looked over at Nick, slowly, but he was looking straight ahead. You saw the twitch in his jaw, and the bob of his adam’s apple, and you knew he was holding back his own tears.

Moving your hand the slightest bit, your fingers fell into place with his. You gave his hand a gentle squeeze, before following him out.

The rain had subsided considerably since you arrived, the downpour now more of a spring mist. You stood at the edge of the sidewalk with him for a few minutes, until he got the notification that the car was only five blocks away.

“Well, are you ready to turn into a Cali boy?” you asked, finally turning to see his face. 

“I’m ready for no more New York winters. I am gonna miss just about everything else, though.”

“But you’ll have Zara, and Gil, and that’s all that really matters.” you said with a smile, while gently letting go of his hand. “Besides, I’ll make sure to send you endless videos of me shoveling myself out of my apartment building, just to let you know you made the right decision.”

“Please, please keep that promise and send me those videos. There is nothing more amusing than you swearing at snow.” you rolled your eyes, and nudged his shoulder in annoyance. 

Instead of bouncing back off his body, you felt his arm snake around your waist. You leaned into his touch, letting your head rest on his shoulder. You felt the exhale of his breath before you heard it, along with the rapid beating of his heart.

“I’m gonna miss you, you know,” he started, as you focused on the way his fingers were moving up and down along your hip. “I wouldn’t have made it through everything without you.”

“I was your partner,” you said, the past tense already tasting like bile on your tongue. “I would’ve done anything for you. And I know you would’ve done anything for me.” You turned your head the slightest bit, just enough to see his face. “I’m gonna miss you too. More than I already do.”

He looked down at you, his brown eyes full of emotion and tears. His eyes flickered to your lips for the smallest moment, and you nodded, giving in to the moment, and the man you cared so much for.

His lips met yours in a chaste kiss, just long enough for you to remember what it felt like to hold Nick Amaro this close. 

He pulled away, gently resting his forehead against your own. You let the moment last as long as it could, before the inevitable beep left Nick’s phone. They were here.

You pulled away from him, your waist growing cold without his arm wrapped around you. There was a beep from a blue car a few cars up, and you let out a sigh.

“Your ride’s here, Cali boy.” you said with a smile, wiping away the stray tear that traced your cheek. “Don’t be a stranger, okay?”

“I won’t. Call me, whenever you need me, alright?” you nodded, trying to memorize the smile on his face. He found your hand one last time, giving it a comforting squeeze. 

“I will. Now, go, you’re gonna miss your flight if you hit any lunch traffic.” He looked up the street to the cab, before looking back at you.

He leaned down, pressing a soft kiss to your cheek, and then your lips one last time. 

“I’ll see you later, y/n/n.” he said, and you watched him walk down the streets of New York City for the last time. 

But you knew you would cross paths with Nick Amaro again one day.

****

tags: @hurricanejjareau @qvid-pro-qvo @crazyshannonigans

[n1sh1n0ya]

hii may i request the pretty setters reaction to their s/o, who is usually quiet, performing like a powerful/badass kpop type dance? thank uuuu

Pretty Setters x shy! s/o who dances? idk i'm bad at naming things

a/n: i don't know the first thing about kpop sorry if that shows in this lol

Kenma Kozume

You and him have a lot in common, and you bond over this quite a lot

Like,, you both have a lot off common interests, you like the things he likes and vice versa, you're both pretty quiet

You’re both pretty and quiet

But if one of you really likes something, they’ll try and get the other into it as well, you got him playing Animal Crossing, he introduced you to apple pie

You basically know that if you like something, he’s gonna like it too

So when he sees you dancing for the first time he's like oh hell no

I am NOT getting dragged into this absolutely not no no no

I feel like out of all of these guys he would be the least surprised to find out that you have another side to you, he has another side to him we just don’t see it in the anime he does I swear

Although he r e f u s e s to join in with you, he definitely enjoys watching from the sidelines ;)

And you only dance in front of him, no one else, he's the only one who knows about your more confident side

Even if he wasn’t as surprised as the other boys on this list, he was still pretty surprised

The bar wasn’t set very high

You wouldn’t see that he’s surprised though, and he wouldn’t tell you, he just smiles to himself, thinking about how proud he is of you

He’ll even look up from his game a little more often if you’re dancing in front of him

Akaashi Keiji

You and your friends often learn kpop dances and post short clips of it online

But you don’t tell anyone about it, you’d be absolutely mortified if anyone you knew found them

Spoilers: You’re about to be absolutely mortified

Out of everyone to see them, Bokuto, your bf’s best friend, and close friend of your own, finds your TikTok and sees ALL you guys’ videos

He totally spam likes ur acc smh

So as soon as you see his name in your notifications, the panic sets in

Ohmygodhesgonnashowakaashinononono

When Bokuto shows him, they’re both kinda in shock

Like, they both thought that they knew you pretty well, but they had NO IDEA that you could or would dance like that

You’re kinda dreading going to school with him the next day, because you know he’s gonna mention it

So when you see him, you brace yourself for him to say something about it, at least to ask you why you didn’t tell him, but he just?? Doesn’t??

You keep looking at him, you can’t tell if he’s not saying anything because he knows that you didn’t want anyone to know about it, or if he genuinely doesn’t know

He notices this, and by the end of the day, when you’re on the millionth glance his way to see if he’s showing any recognition to you, he has to say something

“If you’re worried about me judging you, I think it’s really cool that you can do that”

On the outside, he seems super calm but on the inside he's like

Where did you learn to dance like that? Did you teach yourself? No, there’s no way you taught yourself, so who taught you?

He’s so impressed like?? You have a WHOLE other side to you that he didn’t know about?? You’re so cool??

Sugawara Koushi

He would be your BIGGEST fan

✨ ultimate hypeman ✨

He just loves you so much and anything that makes you happy? Makes him happy too

When he saw you dance for the first time he was really surprised, because, of course you’re super shy, HOW did you change into such a badass like that??

But once he gets over the initial shock of it, he will ALWAYS be cheering you on

He doesn’t really get it, but he’ll be damned if he doesn’t appreciate it

If you’re struggling to learn a new routine and are about to give up?? He’s there to hype you tf up

If ppl take the piss and you’re feeling down about it?? He’s there to hype you tf up

Wish i didn’t have to make that point but ppl are mean >:(

he knows you’re the best, and he wants to make sure you know it as well

He won’t join in unless you b e g him, but he’s always happy to give a second opinion and constructive criticism

Once he kinda learns what’s going on, he might even start sending you videos and being like

“You would look so good if you learned this”

You fall in love with him all over again I swear, because he’s taking the time to learn about something you love 🥺🥺

It never fully stops surprising him how you can go from 0 to 100 and then straight back to 0 again within an hour

Like when you’re dancing you look?? So badass?? But when you’re not?? You’re super quiet??

He is l i v i n g for it I tell you that 💅

Tobio Kageyama

You come to him with the idea

He’s tried to teach you volleyball before, so why don’t you teach him something that you enjoy as well?

And then it’ll be a two in one of two of your favourite things; him and dancing

He’s not too keen on the idea at first, but you look so excited, how can he say no

This is the most passionate about something that he’s ever seen you be, he doesn’t wanna let it go to waste

And if you love it, he knows it’ll be great

So at first you gotta demonstrate, because not only is he clueless school-wise, he also has no idea about anything else

He probably doesn’t listen to music at all anyway, so you might have to even explain to him what kpop is lmao 🥴

He’s still a little confused, so you show demonstrate the dance that you wanted him to learn with you

I stg all his thoughts depart

If there was any to begin with that is (probably not)

He’s so a m a z e d

Because?? 1. You can dance like that 2. You look gorgeous when you dance like that 3. Who are you and what have you done with my quiet s/o????

He’s ABSOLUTELY not complaining tho

But,,, when you try to get him to learn,,, ✨no✨

You thought that maybe he would be good at it, because of how graceful he looks on the court, but, maybe you were wrong lmao

Mans has two left feet and NO rhythm and you’re about to give up and crash when he says

“Maybe this isn’t for me, but I’d really enjoy watching you do it again”

He loves how talented you are so much, especially because he’s tried it for himself and knows just how difficult it is

Tooru Oikawa

While he’s at volleyball practice after school, you and your friend meet in an empty classroom so that you can each wait for your bfs to finish their club activities

She’s dating Iwa bcos best friends dating another pair of best friends is the cutest thing to me idk

Because you two know that you’ll be alone, you’re not afraid to go all out practicing the you guys’ favourite dances

You could NEVER do this in front of anyone else, you’d get too embarrassed, but when it’s just you two, and you know that there’s no one around to see, you Go For It™

You two are working super hard on perfecting this one dance that’s been bothering you for weeks

Working so hard that you completely forget the time, and that your bfs will be waiting for y’all

How convenient lmao

So when Oikawa and Iwaizumi come out of the volleyball clubroom and can’t see you two around, they head on over to the classroom that they know you go to while they’re at practice

As they’re coming towards the classroom, they can hear music playing in there, and just poke their heads around the door

At first they’re both in shock, like seeing you, who’s usually so quiet and reserved, going all out on a dance like that??

You two are facing away from them and filming, with your phone propped up on the windowsill, so you don’t notice that they’re watching

Iwa’s pretty happy with staying there and just watching but Oikawa is totally like “ooooh I know this one!!”

So he comes and joins in behind you two

You two are so caught up in your dance that you don’t even see his image on the phone screen in front of you, until you finish dancing and turn around to see your boyfriend, still sweating from vball practice and looking at you in absolute wonder

You try to hide away from him because your boyfriend, who would never expect you to be performing kpop dances in front of a camera in an empty classroom just saw you doing just that and oh GOD that’s embarrassing

He’s like OH HELL NO you are NOT getting away from me now I know you can dance like that COME BACK

Kanji Koganegawa

I feel like he would like to date someone who’s a little more on the quiet side, because he’s super loud and energetic, and he needs someone to balance that out

AND HE’S A TOTAL KPOP STAN FITE ME ON THAT

Him and Oikawa are the biggest kpop stans in the Miyagi Prefecture 💅💅

So I think that he’s gonna be the one to approach you and be like hey we should try this lmao

Like, expecting you to say no, so when you say yes he’s so surprised

You both start learning it separately, so that you’ll be almost done learning it when you see each other

He’s super excited, but then he also knows that you’re quite shy and quiet, so he’s not really expecting you to go all out on this

Oh no he was wrong

When he sees you again for the first time after he suggested it, you both perform as far as you’ve learned to the other, to see how much you have to learn

He goes first, and just imagine him,,,just picture it in your mind 🥺🥺

He’s kinda bad, but a+ for effort

And then it’s your turn

He suddenly panics, because he thinks that it’s quite out of character for you, and he might of accidentally peer pressured you into it lmaoo

You brush him off, and when you start dancing… damn

He’s in shock

If you looked inside his brain right at that moment all you would see is just ????

When he gets over his initial surprise, he kinda realises like,,, that’s hot WHY have i never seen this before

You put him to shame and he knows it

When you’re done he just stares at you

You’re kinda nervous because??he’s not saying anything??

And then he kinda explodes

He’s all like

“WHY did you not tell me you could dance like that that seemed so unlike you??we could have been doing this for months??I didn’t know you could dance like that???what??

Kiss him to shut him up please thank you

[vipclifford]

Red is the Warmest Colour

event masterlist

soulmate au where you can’t see colours until you kiss your soulmate

Luke coated his nails in a dark grey colour, though the label claimed it to be ‘candy apple red’. Whatever that meant. He knew that red was the colour of blood and anger and love, that red was fiery and intense. He knew that red was the colour of lipsticks that stained his cheeks after his aunts kissed them when he was younger. He knew that red was the colour that made his face warm when embarrassed. He just didn’t know what it looked like.

Colours only appeared after kissing your soulmate. Not after a first look, not after a first touch, but after a first kiss. Some people went on their entire lives without ever finding them, instead settling for a dull existence with a mediocre partner, and the idea terrified Luke. He wanted nothing more than to see the blue of the sky and the sea; the greens and yellows of the leaves; the oranges and reds of a sunset. He wanted nothing more than to love and be loved like he truly deserved, to have someone made for him by his side as they explored the colours of the world. Luke felt like he was running out of time.

“We’ve got to pick up Amber in twenty minutes, so we better get going,” urged Michael as he rushed into the living room. Luke nodded, blowing on his freshly painted hand as he grabbed his phone with his dry one.

Luke remembers the day Michael found out he had met his soulmate. He remembers the excitement in his eyes as he kept looking at everything and anything, occasionally yelling ‘this is green, Luke, this is really green!’ or ‘why does everyone hate the colour orange? It's so nice!’ Luke was so happy for his friend, but he couldn’t help but wallow in envy that night as he tried hard to envision Michael’s detailed description of the colour red.

But you can’t imagine a colour you’ve never seen.

The party’s atmosphere was chill and cozy, not rowdy like the ones Michael usually brought him to. Ashton, the host, greeted him with a hug as he stepped through the door, and Luke loved how amiable he seemed. The only faces he recognised were those of Michael and Amber, and yet he felt like he belonged amongst these strangers.

“Nice nails,” commented a dark haired stranger who leaned on the railing a couple metres beside him, cigarette between his fingers. “What colour are they?”

“Red,” he told him proudly, a small smile stretching his lips. “At least that’s what the label says,” he shrugged, turning his attention back to the city lights.

The stranger hummed in response, seemingly pensive as he blew a cloud of smoke.

“Fiery and bold. I like it.”

Luke nodded as he gave him a quick glance, noticing that his nails weren’t plain either. “What colour are yours?”

“Blue.”

“Calm and serene. I like it,” Luke echoed his previous words, smiling when he heard his quiet chuckle. “I’m Luke.”

“I’m Calum. You want?” Calum offered, holding out the cigarette towards him. Luke declined with a shake to the head. “You don’t smoke?”

“I’ve, uh, I never found the appeal,” he shrugged somewhat nervously, something deep within his mind telling him that he should’ve just complied, that he should’ve tried to fit in.

“Good. Smoking is shit. By the way,” he said in a low voice, taking a few steps closer to him. Close enough that Luke could smell his cologne masked by the smell of tobacco. “Don’t look now, but the girl in the stripy top has been eyeing you for the past five minutes. Might be worth seeing whether you can finally admire your red nails by the end of the night,” Calum told him with a soft smile, giving a supportive squeeze to his shoulder.

He still couldn’t see red by the end of the night.

Luke laid in his bed, phone in hand as he scrolled mindlessly through instagram. But then he found his fingers tapping on Michael’s account, found his eyes searching for Ashton amidst his followers, found himself looking through Ashton’s followers as well until he landed on the account he pursued.

Calum Hood.

He felt his lips tug upwards as he scrolled through his feed. There were pictures of coffee cups and what he presumed was his dog; blurry pictures from nights out and shirtless pictures at the beach. He couldn’t help zooming into those. Although Luke hadn’t ever found the appeal of tattoos either, too indecisive to commit to a design for the rest of his days, he was intrigued by the patterns covering the skin of his arms and chest. Something about the way the ink clung to Calum’s bicep made him open his eyes.

“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath after unconsciously double tapping the screen, accustomed to liking every picture when scrolling through his feed. Hasty fingers were quick to unlike it before throwing his phone across the bed.

Luke’s heart was racing in his chest and he could feel himself begin to sweat and his fingers were tingling and he knew that if he could see colours he would be seeing red. A panicked and anxious red. He hated himself for always getting like this over minuscule situations, though he hated himself for a lot of things. But then his phone buzzed, snapping Luke out of his thoughts. A smile returned to his face upon reading the notification and he felt the world go back to a tranquil blue.

‘@calumhood followed you’

The second time he saw Calum was at some other friend of Michael’s pool party, eyes gazing over the buffet of finger food. The place was once again packed with strange faces and Luke was glad to have found his new acquaintance amidst the crowd. He looked different in the daylight. Maybe it was the way the sunlight bounced off of his grey skin, or the way droplets of water trickled down his chest, but Calum looked as though he was glowing. Almost ethereal.

“Stick to pizza, it’s always the safest option,” Luke commented as he approached the man, Calum’s eyebrows briefly shooting up in surprise when he realised it was him.

“If it isn’t my instagram stalker,” Calum teased with a cheeky grin, nodding at his suggestion. Luke turned his head away as soon as he felt the red heat rise to his cheeks, beyond embarrassed by the fact Calum remembered. “Any luck with stripy top?”

“The fates didn’t seem to be on my side that night,” he replied with a shake to the head, reaching for a fresh can of beer. “Maybe I should go for a girl with a plain top next time.”

“Cheer up, mate,” Calum said with a soft chuckle, placing a comforting pat to his back. Luke chose to ignore the way it lingered for a few seconds. “Soulmates aren’t everything.”

But they were everything to Luke.

He had been dreaming about finding his soulmate since he was six. He was playing weddings with his friends during lunchtime and after the ‘groom’ kissed his ‘bride’, the pair yelled out in horror. They kept telling the group that everything around them had changed, that everything looked brighter and beautiful yet so strange, but none of the kids could understand what they meant. He remembers telling his mum about it on the walk home from school, who enlightened him about the concept of soulmates with a smile. Luke spent the rest of the day asking about the colour of the sky and the trees and his shirt, just to receive answers he couldn’t comprehend. He still couldn’t.

Luke simply hummed in response as he opened the can, trying his best to be nonchalant despite strongly disagreeing with his comment.

“Lots of people lead wonderful lives without ever finding their soulmates, you know? They just say ‘fuck you’ to the universe and live a happy life without depending on a soulmate, I think it’s amazing.”

“I guess,” Luke agreed with a shrug. “But don’t you ever picture yourself being truly happy, discovering the colours of the world with a girl that’s perfect for you in every way?”

“Sure I do,” Calum replied casually, taking a bite of his pizza slice. “Not necessarily with a girl, though.”

The speed at which Luke snapped his head to look at him in surprise was almost embarrassing. Calum’s eyebrows rose in a coquettish manner, a knowing smile on his lips as he watched Luke process his confession.

“Then, uh,” Luke muttered, returning his focus to the beer in his hand, “then you should at least try to find him. No need to rebel against the universe just yet.”

It was Calum’s turn to hum in response as he ran his fingers through his wet curls, watching his friends call for him from the pool. “Catch you later,” he said, giving his shoulder a quick squeeze before walking away.

The third time he saw Calum was in his own apartment

Michael just loved having the chance to get drunk and party with his friends, and what better place to do it than from the comfort of his own home. Soon enough, Michael’s friends began to fill the space between the walls, bringing their loud voices along with beer and vodka.

Luke tried to join in. Luke tried to let loose and have fun but all he could focus on was Calum. The way the strobe lighting made him move in slow motion; the way his biceps pressed tightly against the material of his shirt; the way his hand rested on some guy’s arm. Their eyes met for a brief second before the guy placed a hand on Calum’s cheek, returning his attention back to the stranger.

Luke didn’t know why but that simple action made his heart ache. It made his throat constrict and his hands shake and Luke had to get away, he just had to pull himself away from the scene he was stuck in. He couldn’t handle the loud music or the flashing grey lights or Calum. He pushed people out of his way until he finally reached the terrace, breathing out a relieved sigh when the warm breeze brushed past his face.

No guy had ever made Luke feel as jealous as he felt now. Especially not a guy he had only spoken to twice. He felt so irrational and silly and dumb for feeling the way he did and he had to force himself to look at his bold red nails to ground himself. To remind himself of the confident man he should be.

His mother always told him such amazing things about the colour red. She told Luke red was strong like him; that red was loving like him; that red was courageous like him. He could never agree with her words, always having been too shy and insecure for that, but incorporating the concept of red into his life never failed to empower him.

So maybe he was jealous, but he was okay with that. Maybe he liked Calum, and he was okay with that too.

“There you are,” spoke a deep voice he had been longing to hear for days. “I was looking for you,” Calum told him as he rested his arms beside his, elbows touching.

“Guess you found me,” he murmured, all newly acquired confidence replaced by his usual timidity the second Calum appeared by his side.

“Why are you out here on your own? Isn’t this your party?” Luke shook his head.

“It’s Michael’s,” he clarified, “I just happen to live here too. And I’m out here because I needed a breather.”

“Too crowded?”

“Something like that.”

The atmosphere between them was somewhat awkward and uncertain, as though neither of them wanted to say the wrong thing. Luke just didn’t want to make a fool of himself. Calum pulled out a cigarette from the pack, placing it between his lips as he lit it.

“I thought about what you said the other day, you know? About trying to find my soulmate,” Luke turned with curious eyes to face him, humming to urge him to continue. Calum thought about him. “And, you’re right, I guess. Deep down, soulmates are everything to me,” Calum confessed before taking his first drag. Luke placed a comforting hand on his toned arm, softly caressing his skin. “But I fucking hate that they could be anywhere. They could be right in front of me and I would never find out because I don’t go round kissing strangers. The chances of finding them are so fucking low, you know?”

“Yeah, I know,” Luke murmured as he turned back to look at the city lights, letting go of his arm. “Do you believe in fate?”

“To an extent,” Calum shrugged, “I think that there are certain things that are set in stone, but how you get there is completely up to you.”

“Okay, then I think that you finding your soulmate is set in stone. You’ve just got to take the leap,” he told him. “What colour do you want to see?”

“I want nothing more than to see the peaceful blue of the sky or the powerful navy of the ocean. I love the idea of blue so fucking much that I’ll paint my nails that colour like a fool even though it just looks grey,” Calum chuckled humourlously, holding his hand out to Luke to let him see. “I don’t want to die in a world that’s still black and white.”

“You’re like me but with red,” Luke chuckled slightly in disbelief just to wince at his lack of sensitivity regarding Calum’s last sentence. “Uh, why are you telling me this?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged, “guess I’m just the right amount of drunk to ramble about my feelings. Don’t get used to it.”

Luke smiled softly at his words. Getting used to him, that sounded like a nice idea. “Well, drunk or not, I think that you will find your soulmate. In no time you’ll be looking up and seeing a blue sky, trust me.”

“You think?”

“I know.”

They were both silent as they looked each other in the eyes for a few seconds. All that could be heard were the cars driving past and the music blasting through the apartment. Luke noticed just how good he looked in the dark, and just how plump and appealing his lips were. He watched Calum lean in slowly, felt his body do the same, felt the tip of their noses brush against each other until–

“Luke!”

The pair are quick to pull away from each other upon hearing Michael’s voice, leaving a foot’s distance between their chests.

“What do you want?”

“Have you seen Amber?” Luke couldn’t help but frustratedly roll his eyes at his best friend who stumbled over towards him, annoyed that he had ruined the only highlight of his night.

“No. She’s probably with her friends or something, I don’t know.”

“Can you help me? I’ve been looking for her for ages and our apartment isn’t big enough for me to have taken this long. Please,” Michael begged, occasionally slurring his words.

Luke glanced over at Calum who gave him a nod, silently excusing himself from the scene. “Yeah, okay, whatever.”

Michael found her a few minutes later passed out in the bathroom. They really were soulmates.

Luke couldn’t stop thinking about their almost kiss. The way his dark eyes fluttered closed, the way his face emitted warmth, the way the soft skin of his nose brushed against his. The moment was so tender and vulnerable and perfect until his ill-timed friend decided to make a guest appearance. He should’ve expected that from Michael.

The sun shone brightly on the hot June’s day as Luke and Michael made their way into a pub, desperate for some refreshing beer. It wasn’t their usual bar, it was one in the city that Michael’s friends recommended and as usual Luke felt out of place. They sat down at a table of faces he somewhat recognised, filled himself a glass from the jug of beer and listened to their conversations, only joining in when his self esteem allowed him. He eventually got up to order the next pint, patiently waiting at the bar for the bartender to take his order.

“Fancy seeing you here,” grinned Calum as he pulled up beside him, Luke’s eyebrows lifting up in surprise when he saw him. “Come here often?”

“First time. Michael dragged me, as usual,” he replied with a soft smile.

Calum nodded, fingers rhythmically tapping on the counter. “Keep it that way, this place is shit. Wanna get out of here?”

“What?” Luke asked with a confused look in his eyes, anxiety bubbling in his chest at the spontaneity of his offer. He never just did things.

“Do you want to get out of here?” Calum enunciated louder, fingers running through his dark curls as he awaited a response from him.

“Okay,” he found himself saying and soon enough Luke was running down the streets with Calum, chest full of laughter. He didn’t know where he was and for once he didn’t even care, too engrossed in the conversation and fun he was having with his new friend.

They found a small patch of grass and Luke felt like laying in it, so that’s what he did. Calum didn’t join him, however, too busy studying whatever was behind that metal railing.

“There’s a pool there. I think it’s a primary school.”

“Okay?” Luke chuckled slightly, not knowing where Calum was going with this.

“Let’s jump in.”

“What?” he asked but was too late, for Calum was already climbing the fence. “Calum what the fuck.”

“Come on, live a little,” he grinned as he sat at the top, looking down at Luke. Luke stood up and slowly made his way over to the fence, thinking that at some point Calum would tell him that he was joking and come back down. But he didn’t. “Climb up, it’s easy.”

Luke placed his clammy hands onto the metal railing and strategically placed his foot somewhere where he could later hoist himself up. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I have no idea what I’m doing. I almost never do,” he murmured as he climbed the fence, meeting the man at the top.

“That’s what life’s all about,” Calum smiled before jumping off the other side, sprinting towards the pool.

Luke shook his head in disbelief as he watched him, a small smile on his lips, before slowly climbing down the fence. He ran behind him until he reached the swimming pool. The lights lining the edges of the pool made the water glow and seem that much more appealing. Much like Calum, who glowed with the light from the sunset as he took off his grey shirt.

“Are you gonna jump in like that?” Calum teased as he watched Luke make no move to remove his clothes. Luke rolled his eyes playfully as he kicked off his shoes, eventually stripping down to his underwear.

Calum pushed him into the water when Luke least expected it, too busy testing the temperature of the pool with his foot. He was splashed in the face as soon as he resurfaced by Calum jumping in too, emerging with a laugh.

“That wasn’t funny,” Luke complained in mock aggravation, splashing Calum with water. “I could’ve drowned.”

“Why, don’t know how to hold your breath underwater?” he taunted, mimicking his action.

“I’ll have you know I’m the best at holding my breath underwater.”

“Really?” Calum questioned with a raised brow, a look that Luke couldn’t quite decipher in his eyes. “That sounds like a challenge.”

“A challenge you won’t disprove,” Luke said somewhat boldly.

“Alright, on the count of three we go down,” Calum explained prior to counting down, the pair taking a deep breath just before submerging themselves underwater.

They watched each other as the water made their hair flail about, determination written on their faces. But then time seemed to stop as Calum pushed himself closer, his rough hand finding its place on Luke’s cheek. He instinctively closed his eyes and suddenly Calum’s lips were pressed against the corner of his mouth and Luke felt like a fool. He still felt like a fool as he pushed himself up to the surface, vexed as he watched Calum emerge a few seconds later.

“I won,” Calum grinned mischievously.

“You fucking cheated, I demand a rematch,” Luke insisted despite Calum denying his claim, so they counted back down from three and immersed themselves in the water.

Luke felt flustered under Calum’s gaze, which kept dropping down to his touch-starved lips. Anxiety bubbled in his chest as he kept watching Calum‘s eyes linger, too scared to mirror the action. His previous tactic had left Luke dumbfounded and confused. He thought that he was going to kiss him, that he wanted to kiss him. But now he didn’t know whether Calum craved his lips as much as Luke did or whether he was trying to distract him again. Luke didn’t want to look like a fool.

But then he looked down at his plump grey lips.

Luke felt his hands jitter as Calum’s demeanour became determined. Calum’s eyes never left his as he slowly inched closer, each second that passed making Luke’s heart beat faster and faster against his chest. He could feel his pulse in his ears as Calum’s nose softly grazed his own and Luke had finally had enough as he pressed his lips to Calum’s.

Luke didn’t know where this sudden surge of confidence had come from but he didn’t care as Calum kissed him eagerly, arms wrapping around Luke’s neck to pull him close. It felt as though he had been wanting this to happen for a long time. He placed his hands on Calum’s soft cheeks as they pushed themselves back up above the surface. They kissed and kissed and kissed until Luke felt his lips go numb, but he couldn’t bear to pull away from his intoxicating touch. Neither of them could. Neither of them wanted to.

“Don’t open your eyes yet,” Calum murmured against his lips once he reluctantly pulled away, smiling softly when Luke chased them to leave a quick kiss. “I’m not ready to be disappointed.”

Luke frowned at this, though he understood the meaning behind his words. “Okay,” he whispered, softly stroking his wet cheek. “How long have you wanted to do that?”

“Too long,” Calum chuckled quietly, leaning into his touch. “Probably since the first time I saw you.”

“That night at Ashton’s?”

“No, before that. I can’t remember whose party it was but you were there, happily dancing with Michael and Amber instead of looking awkward and gloomy in the corner like usual,” he teased, accepting the light slap to his shoulder. “You just looked so beautiful and carefree and I was like ‘fuck, he’s the one, I need to talk to him’. And then I didn’t,” Calum laughed.

“Shut up, that’s too cheesy to be true,” Luke complained although he couldn’t stop himself from pressing happy kisses to his lips.

“Believe what you want.”

“Do you want to look now?” Luke asked after a few seconds of silence. He could sense his reluctance, which was eventually overpowered by the acceptance of the fact that he had to open them eventually.

“Okay.”

Luke took a deep breath, anxiety bubbling in his chest in case the world was still grey. But that kiss felt right, his touch felt right, Calum felt too right for someone who wasn’t his soulmate. He had to be. He wanted him to be. He needed him to be.

His eyes opened to a bright sky filled with so many different colours he couldn’t even name. They were bright and warm and real and fuck, colours were beyond anything Luke had ever tried to imagine. His cheeks hurt from grinning as he kept looking around, looking at the green of the leaves and the blue of the pool. He looked down at his nails and he felt like crying. “That’s red,” he said excitedly, almost in disbelief. Red was so beautiful. Luke looked back at Calum just to find him already looking at him with a smile on his red lips.

“Your eyes are so blue,” Calum muttered in amazement as he pulled him in by the cheeks to kiss him tenderly. “I fucking love blue.”

“I fucking love red,” Luke chuckled with a shy smile, glancing up at the changing sky before joining their lips together again. He kissed him and kissed him and kissed him once more because although the colours were wonderful, Calum’s lips were more.

i’ve had so many technical issues but she’s finally posted! thank you @maluminspace and @h0tsos for doing this event, it was really fun and i enjoyed writing something that was somewhat out of my comfort zone because i’ve never written a slash fic. also a special thanks to @sexgodashton and @5-secondsofcolor for being the most helpful when i was stuck!!

taglist: @cashtonasfuck @maluminspace @castaway-cashton @loveroflrh @5sosnsfw @gigglyirwin @mysticalhood @punkrockpreferences @koalacal @calumsmermaid

message me or tap on the link in my masterlist to be added!!

[britishchick09]

sherlock s2 ep 3 livewatch

it’s time for the sherlock s2 finale! i’ve been keeping lockie alive for as long as possible, but I can’t stall any longer. let’s fall into the reichenbach!

here it is:

the last masterpiece ep! :D

it begins with rain! *beatles ‘rain’ plays*

john’s back with the therapist from study in pink! :o

does this take place after the fall and the rest of the ep is a flashback?

it’s been 18 months!

john called tv ‘telly’:)

OMG HE’S CHOKING UP NO POOR BBY :’(

he called sherlock ‘my best friend’ IN THE SADDEST VOICE IN THE WORLD :’(

john: “sherlock holmes... is dead.” or is he? ;)

BAM INTRO!

guy: “falls of the reichenbach...” you dodged a credit roll with that one! ;)

sherlock: “diamond cufflinks. all my cufflinks have buttons.” john: “he means ‘thank you’. ...just say it.” awww what a parent :)

sherlock isn’t one for thanks and publicity!

the iconic hat! :D

EVERYONE WANTS HIM TO PUT THE HAT ON

he reluctantly put the hat on:)

the transitions from a scene to a newspaper is so cool! :D

john’s tabloid nickname is BACHELOR OMGGGGGG

john: “what do they mean by that?” oh you know what that means buddy ;)

CONFIRMED BACHELOR OMGGG VICTORIAN GAYYYYY!!!!!!!!!! (or in his case bi)

john: “we need to be more careful-“ johnlockers: “NO!!!!!”

sherlock is criticizing the hat lol :D

john called it the ‘sherlock holmes hat’ eyyyyy!!!!! ;D

john’s voice has a hint of deep love it ;)

there’s so many people touring at the castle! :o

this sneaky guy has this on his phone and i’m guessing that’s what all apps in the uk look like lol

OMG HE HACKED INTO THE SYSTEM

is it moiarty?

lestrade said ‘bloody ‘ell!’ and it was so british of him :D

he’s dancing to the background music YEP IT’S MOI ALRIGHT

YEET

OMG MOIARTY YOU DRAMA QUEEN

also is this an abominable bride reference? :o

john’s text notif sound sounds apple WHY

he has a windows laptop and an apple phone how chaotic

the smiley face!!!! :o

ooh cool american song playing in the background! :o

john: “ready?” sherlock: “yes” *PRESS CHATTER* how would anyone be ready for that?

sherlock wants to be himself but john’s like ‘no smartass’ LET HIM BE A SMARTHOLE JOHN

it’s the bbc! :D

OMFG A FAN FOLLOWED SHERLOCK INTO THE RESTROOM WTF

i bet johnlockers have actually done this because they were craaazyyyy back then...

THE FAN WANTS HIM TO SIGN HIS SHIRT WTFFFFF

sherlock knows she’s not a fan lol :D

wait is someone peeing in the background wtf

fan: “you and john watson, platonic, have you there as well!” mofftiss totally based this girl off of real johnlockers!!!!

can they please leave the bathroom I SWEAR SOMEONE IS PEEING BACK THERE IT’S SO AWKWARD

sherlock: “you... repel... me.” YAS!!! :D

HOLD UP what if this is mofftiss’ way of saying they don’t like johnlockers :o

now lockie’s in court bor-ing!

moiarty is a spider great metaphor sherlock! :D

judge: “how long-“ sherlock “not a good question.” lol :D

sherlock and moiarty knew each other for 5 minutes lol

who ate the wafer

SHUT UP WIG MAN LET SHERLOCK SHOW OFF

aaand he kicked them out

john: “you’re doing The Look again.” omg so married ♥

he finds The Face annoying lol MARRIEEEED

epic wallpaper! :D

OMG MOIARTY WAS CHEWING GUM DURING THE CRIME AND THE COURT THING DORK

and he looked at john... ;)

moiarty’s out and sherlock beeps john away,,,

he be making tea WITH HIS VIOLIN PLAYING YYYAAAASSSS!!!!!!!!!

omg there’s a shadow...

AN A CREAK

I KNEW IT WAS MOIARTY!!!!!!

sherlock lets him sit down wowza kind to a criminal! :o

moiarty: “every fairytale needs a good old-fashioned villain ;)” omg HE KNOWS HE’S A STORY CHARACTER AHHHH :o

moiarty to sherlock: “you need me.” no he needs john THANK YOU VERY MUCH

moiarty thinks sherlock’s boring SHUT UP FUNNY MEAN MAN >:(

moiarty: “that’s the problem... the final problem.” eyyyy roll s4 credits! :D

moiarty: “i didn’t tell you... but did you listeeeennnn?” lol sing-songy moiarty is funny :D

he’s doing the hand thing ♥

moiarty: “i own secrecy” who do you think you are bish brother

MOIARTY CALLED SHERLOCK ‘HONEY’ :o

WHY IS MOIARTY SAYING ‘DADDY’

THE FALL HE SAID THE FALLLLLLLL

sherlock: “i never liked riddles.” *maddie hatter rages in the distance*

he’s having a row with the machine again ;)

also that’s literally my dad with his card lol :D

ooh antiques roadshow! :D

john’s meeting mycroft why

OMG HE WAS TAKEN HOSTAGE

it’s just mycroft’s way of saying hello?

what happened in 1972

mycroft’s giving john an unrelated case... s1 finale flashback!

john’s loooong groan lol :D

sherlock is moiarty’s ‘only rival’... >:)

awww john fed some crumbs to birds :)

another unrelated case and lestrade is at the flat! :o

lestrade called lockie ‘a celebrity’ awww :)

SHERLOCK DON’T YELL AT THE CRYING LADY :(

oh he wanted her to ‘speak quickly’ ok

not ok but thaaat’s lockie!

it be moi...

sherlock SNIFF

sherlock: “brilliant, anderson?” anderson: “really?” sherlock: “brilliant impression of an idiot.” OHHHHH!!!!!!! :D

sherlock 2 NOW

john: “don’t do the smiling thing. kidnapped children..?” oh he always does the smiling thing! ;)

molly was going on a lunch date but sherlock said she’ll go with him and her little ‘what?’ is so cute! :D

sherlock’s like ‘look at all the fricks i give’ :D

aaand he left her!

sherlock: “the chemical footprints will lead us to moiarty!” all roads lead to rome, and all the footprints there lead to moiarty ;)

SHERLOCK CALLED MOLLY ‘JOHN’ OMG :D

b r i c k   d u s t

molly: “you’re like my dad. he’s dead- no, sorry-” lol :D

oh no molly’s telling a sad dad story :(

i can kind of see why people ship sherlock and molly they’re nice together :)

BUT JOHNLOCK IS BEST SHIP

although molly’s super awkward she’s so cute! :D

SHERLOCK GOT THE FAIRYTALE REFERENCE AFTER I DID YAS!!!!! :D

lestrade: “brick dust!” b r i c k  d u s t

he’s the google in 360 website! :D

they burst through the kidnapper’s door and it was like ‘someBODY once told me’! :D

omg mercury chocolate wrappers! :o

sherlock: “the more they ate, the faster they died... neat!” ...neat? :o

they found the kidnapped kids! :D

lestrade doesn’t want lockie to be himself awww :(

THE KIDNAPPED GIRL SCREAMED AT SHERLOCK NO :(

lestrade to sherlock: “i feel like screaming when you walk in!” ooh noice ;)

the jerk lady said sherlock was ‘unbelievable’ coolio she’s a bit nice! :D

MOIARTY HACKED THE TAXI TV OMG :o

also there are tvs in taxis OMG :o

lestrade called sherlock and john ‘csi baker street’ lol :D

moiarty’s connecting sherlock to sir bostalot hmm... ;)

hmmm....

sherlock: “what was that on the tv?” cabbie: “no charge...” *drives away* OHHHH

OMG SHERLOCK ALMOST GOT HIT BY A DAR

OMFG WAS HE ALMOST SHOT WTF WAS THAT

john to the rescue!!! :D

the guy was shot not lockie coolio

sherlock uses a mac WHYYY :(

sherlock: “dust is eloquent” mrs. hudson in a whisper: “what’s he on about???” lol :D

lockie vlogs! :D

sherlock: “this is a game, lestrade, one i’m not willing to play.” so the game is not on, then?

john: “i know you for real.” sherlock: “100%” awww :)

john: “no one could fake being suck an annoying dick all the time.” OHHHH!!!!! :D

guy: “yer a bloody idiot, lestrade!” and yer a bloody brit aren’t ya?

mrs. hudson said ‘ooh hoo’ just like oaken! :D

OMG fairytale!!!!

lestrade and the lady knocked on the door and mrs. hudson’s like ‘don’t barge in like that!’ :D

OMG THEY’RE ARRESTING LOCKIE

WHY IS THE LADY THINKING LOCKIE DID IT HE DIDN’T!!!!!

awww sherlock and john were arrested together so romantic just girly things ♥

OMG GUN SHOT????

they’re running omg!!!!!

sherlock: “take my hand!” FRICK YES

john: “people will definitely talk!” FRICK YAAAAS!!!!!!!

just two bfs running around in handcuffs ♥

they need to coordinate while getting up the stairs... easy enough for them! ;)

THEY JUMPED IN FRONT OF A VAN JUST CRIMEY THINGS ♥

i thought the van thing was part of the drunk ep in s3 but it’s cool that-

GUN SHOTS????

they let go! :o

OMG IT’S THE CREEPY FAN!!!!

moiarty: “they didn’t have any ground coffee so i just got-” *SUSPENSE CHORD* out of context that’s hilarious :D

moiarty’s richard!!! :o

wait he’s a hired actor the frick???

THE FRICK ARE THEY ACTING??????

just because it’s in print doesn’t mean it’s real...

ok technically moiarty’s an actor BUT THAT BE KNOCKING DOWN THE 4TH WALL

an actor playing a person playing an actor... wild actorception! :o

moiarty: “i’m the storyteller! it’s on dvd...” but is it on blu-ray? ;)

sherlock: “stop it STOP IT NOW!!!!” yoda seagulls...

fan: “i can read you and you... repel... me...” DON’T USE HIS LINE BOI

sherlock: “there’s only one way to complete his game...” is it on? ;)

OMG he’s admitting his feelings to molly AND HE NEEDS HER awwww!!!! :D

the sherlolly fans loved that i bet! :D

john to mycroft: “you and him go out for coffee? you and jim?” sarah z be like ‘YAS!’ :D

OMG WAIT DID MYCROFT WORK WITH MOIARTY????

mycroft tells john to tell moiarty ‘i’m sorry’ and john just gives this ‘please’ wheeze lol :D

julie albright bouncing her basketball against her bedroom wall in ‘meet julie’ (colorized)

oh CRAP

lockie’s fidgeting with the ball awwww :)

OMG MRS. HUDSON WAS SHOT THE FRICK????????

john: “she’s DYING.... you MACHINE!!!!!!” YEAH LOCKIE YOU BISH

john: “friends protect people!” true that!

THE FRICK WHY IS BEE GEEZ PLAYING

this is the music video lol :D

omg are moiarty and lockie gonna have a dance battle like in despicable me 3 lol :D

moiarty: “our final problem... stayin’ aliiiive!!!!!” HE SO PLANNED THAT

there’s about 28 minutes left will the battle take that long?

oh he turned the song off :/

aw man moiarty has to play with the ordinary people :/

MOIARTY SAID ‘atta boyyyy’ TO SHERLOCK WHYYYYYY

ooh sherlock’s doing binary code with his fingers! :D

moiarty: “first one to sherlock is a sissy” oh SHUT UP

moiarty: “there is no key DOOFUS!!!!” WOAH MAN CALM THE FRICK DOWN

“look at ALLLLL THE FRICKS I GIVE SHERLOCK!!!!”

moiarty: “nice you chose a tall building! great way to do it!” sherlock: “do- do- do what?” oh you know what lockie :(

moiarty: “i read it in the paper so it must be true!” no!!!!

john’s here for mrs. hudson!!!! :D

she seems fine tho?

moiarty: “for me? pleeeeeaaaseee?????” OMG THAT ‘PLEASE’ WAS SO HIGH LOLOLOL!!!!!!!

toss him sherlock TOSS HIM!!!!!

moiarty’s little ‘woah woah woah!’ tho :D

aww sherlock has only 3 friends :(

moiarty about sherlock kermiting: “you gotta admit that’s sexier” WUT

NOOOOOOOOO

sherlock’s breath is so shaky :(

he said ‘privacy’ like ‘pri-va-cee’ why

he’s gonna call john!!!!!

awww smile!!!! :D

he knows that this is fake right?

moiarty’s like ‘WHAT?? WHAT DID I MISS????” BOI CALM DOWWwwwwnnnn

sherlock to moiarty: “i am you. prepared to do anything.” save that line for john plz

sherlock is ‘on the side of the angels’ awww :)

moiarty said sherlock’s not ordinary RIGHT HE’S A SPECIAL SUNSHINE ANGEL

moiarty: “you’re meee!!!!!” NOT WHAT I MEANT

they’re holding hands and standing close NOOOOO

HOLY FRICK SHERLOCK JUS SHOT MOIARTY IN THE MOUTH THE FRICK THE FRACK???????

he’s not really dead right or is that just a theory

sherlock’s like ‘oh god what have i done’ SAME WHAT DID YOU DO

it sounds like the thx theme!

oh no

i know it’s not a legitimate kermiting sewerside but DON’T FREAKING DO IT

HE’S CALLING JOHN OH FRICK

HE WANTS JOHN TO SEE HIM FALL THE FRICKKKKK

sherlock: “look up, i’m on the rooftop.” ♫ up on the rooftop, click click click, HERE COMES SAD OL’ KERMIT CLAUS ♫

CRAP

sherlock: “i can’t come down so we’ll have to do it like this.” it was only a kiss :(

an apology????

‘IT’S ALL TRUE’ THE FRICK????

is this just for moiarty’s game?

sherlock sounds like he’s gonna cry NOOOOO :(((((

john: “shut up, shut up, shut up.” SAME WTF ARE YOU SAYING LOCKIE???

sherlock: “no one could be that clever. you could.” OMGGGGG

FIRST WINSTON & JULIA AND NOW SHERLOCK & JOHN WHYYYYY

sherlock sniffled omg :’(

he researched john to impress him OH MY HEART!!!!!

it’s not a trick sherlock is legit amazing!!!!!!!!

sherlock wants john to ‘keep his eyes fixed’ NOOOOOOOO

if sherlock knows this is fake he’s doing a pretty good job at it BUT WHY JUST TO PLEASE MOIARTY OR ESCAPE THE SPOTLIGHT OR WHAT

sherlock: “goodbye john.” NO

NO

NO

OH GOD THERE WAS A CRACK

if sherlock’s alive THEM HOW WAS THERE A CRACK

WAIT JOHN JUST FELL THE FRICK IS GOING ON????

john: “i’m a doctor, he’s my friend!” yes you are AND YES YOU FREAKING ARE

it’s fake he’s not really dead OH HOW I WISH I COULD TELL YOU THAT JOHNNY :(

OMG NO :’(

THE SAD VIOLIN I CAN’T

everything is slow NOOOOO

i can’t believe mofftiss made the fans wait 2 YEARS TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED NEXT i know there was ‘many happy returns’ in 2013 BUT HOW DID THE FANS SURVIVE THAT LONG WITH THAT ENDING????

it’s raining now perfect

gun????

therapist: “he didn’t say it. say it now.” john: “sorry, i can’t.” he said ‘i love you’ :(

awww john and mrs. hudson! :’(

omg she’s crying no!!!! :(

john to sherlock’s grave: “you were the best man and the most human i’ve ever known.” awww :’)

john: “one more miracle for me, sherlock. don’t. be. dead.” miricale granted my friend ;)

OMG WHAT HE WAS STANDING THERE THE WHOLE TIME WITH JOHN SUFFERING LIKE THAT THE FRICK?????

that’s the end of s2! that was a much better finale than s1 and it’s definitely the best ep of the series so far. there’s a lot of exciting turns AND WHAT EVEN IS THE ENDING??? you knocked it out of the park mofftiss! i can’t wait to see what s3 has in store besides mary, drunk times and the wedding!

and to quote the blog... ‘#sherlocklives #johnwatsonlives’ ♥

[confusedhalfofthetime]

Sorry, I ment 6 and 12 from the fluff section. Lol 😁

Here you go honey! Thank you so much for the request, I hope you like this.

Warning: just fluff really

It was another day in the TARDIS. A quite one, actually, compared to what you were used to.

The Master had woken you up pushing your door open noisily.

-Rise and shine! - he shouted.

He was in a good mood.

You groaned against the pillow and you heard him huff. -Come on, there's a great day ahead of us! -

-Mh mh- you muttered, your eyes still closed shut.

For a moment you heard nothing else. Then your blankets were pulled away from you and you cursed as the cold air layed over your body.

-I won't say it again- he warned and you sticked your tongue out at him. He smirked and walked out. You grabbed your phone to see the time and you were met by the picture of the Master. It had been your lockscreen for a while. You had taken that picture of him during one of your adventures. He was distracted, looking at some old book he found utterly fascinating. Of course he ended up stealing it. But the little smile tugging at his lips and his shining eyes were impossible not to capture. You smiled to yourself and got out of bed.

When you entered the console room, he was running around like an excited puppy.

You smiled softly at the sight.

-Finally! - he exclaimed when he saw you standing a few feet away.

-So, what do you have planned for us today? - you asked walking toward him. -Stealing artefacts during the French Revolution? Asassinating Alzarius' emperor? Oh wait, we did that last week-

The Master smiled smugly at you.

-I was thinking of something more...peaceful-

You frowned. -Alright, who are you and what did you do to the Master? -

He rolled his eyes. -I just thought you might enjoy a quiter day-

To be fair, you did like the sound of that. But that would have been too good to be true. He never brought you anywhere without a purpose. He always had an evil plan to act on.

-Really? - you asked suspiciously.

-Yes, really-

-You promise there's not gonna be weapons or guards chasing us or a dead body by the end of the day? -

The Master smiled. -You know I can't promise you that-

-Master-

-Alright alright- he placed a hand upon his chest. -I promise-

You looked at him with your arms crossed for a moment. Then you let yourself smile.

-Alright then, where are we going? - you asked bouncing excitedly next to him.

He smiled at you with soft eyes. You liked the way he looked at you. It made you feel special.

-You'll see- the Master winked and pushed a lever. The TARDIS shook and you held onto the counter. The Master laughed loudly, looking up at the ceiling.

You loved the sound of his laugh, you wished he did it more often.

After a few seconds the TARDIS steadied and the Master smiled at you. He ran toward the door and looked back at you.

-Y/N, welcome to Archetryx-

He opened the doors and you were met by the sound of festive music, a mixture of smells you couldn't recognize and the sight of hundred of stalls.

-Wow...- you breathed.

It was a market. An alien market. The people conversed animatedly, buying and selling objects and kind of food.

-So? What do you think? -

The Master placed his hands on your shoulders. You turned to face him, a big smile enlightened your features.

-It's amazing-

The Master grinned, satisfied.

-I knew you'd like it. Come on, there's a lot to see-

You followed him through the stands, squishing between the chattering crowd. For a moment you lost him, unable to find his purple coat anywhere in that chaos of colors. You looked around, starting to panick. In that moment, you felt someone grab your hand and you turned abruptly. The Master was a few inches away, a wide grin on his face.

-I almost lost you there-

-You won't get rid of me that easily- you smiled.

The Master squeazed your hand and led you toward a stall from which came a very nice smell. You could see food of every shape and fruit of colors you never even knew exist.

-Oh wow, this looks good! - you said. -What's that? - you asked pointing at a strange looking cucumber.

-That's a Riverfruit. Never liked the taste of that- he answered keeping his hands behind his back and leaning toward the food.

You pointed at another blue fruit. -And that? -

-That's called Branka. It's very sweet, makes an excellent juice-

You were always impressed by his incredible knowledge. Sometimes you wandered how long had he spent travelling, all by himself.

-Oh and that? - you asked grabbing a red, round shaped fruit.

-Oh be careful with that. It's poisonous-

You let it fall back on the stall and the Master laughed. -I was kidding. That's an apple-

You frowned at him. -Not funny-

-A bit funny-

-What does a common apple do here? -

-This is a maket. There's all sort of fruit from all around the universe! - he explained.

-Now, get yourself something to eat. I'll go check something out-

You nodded, focused on the choice at hand.

You spent a while walking around the market with your Branka juice and a slice of something called "Geletaa".

The Master had left you a few coins of a purple metal, enough to buy you breakfast and a funny looking stuffed animal. It looked like a mix between a giraffe and a dolfine.

You set down at a bench in a quite spot to finish your food, then suddenly, you saw the familiar silhouette of the Master running toward you. He looked messy but somewhat excited.

-Hey you, where have you been? -

The Master set next to you.

-Nowhere, I just had a commission to make-

You looked at his jacket. It was cut here and there. Your eyes hardened. He had promised you this wasn't gonna involve any of his usual plans.

-Right- you scoffed and you got up.

-What? - he asked, confused.

-Where did you get those? - you pointed at his jacket.

He followed your hand, looking down at it.

-I told you I had something to do-

He was unbelievable. You shook your head and walked away.

-Y/N- he called after you but you kept walking.

This was important for you. One nice day together, somewhere, anywhere in the universe just the two of you. Instead, he had brought you on this planet full of stuff to distract you while he went off doing god knows what, leaving you alone.

Sometimes when he talked to you or when he looked at you in a certain way, he made you think that maybe, just maybe, he felt the same way you did. But you should have known better. That proved you had only deceived yourself.

You got back to the TARDIS, walking fast toward your room.

-Y/N! - the Master grabbed your wrist and you turned around.

-One bloody day, it was all I asked- you said raising your voice.

The Master looked at you in silence. Then he slid his hand in the pocket inside his jacket.

-I was gonna wait till tonight. The sky of Archetryx is stunning after the dawn-

You looked at him in confusion.

-But since you can't seem to be able to wait...-

He took out of his pocket a bracelet. It was shining like it was made of diamonds and it had a little emerald at the center.

-It's made of star dust and crystal. It's from the queen's colletion-

Your eyes snapped up to meet his.

-You stole it? For me? -

He put his hands in his pockets, looking almost shy. -Yeah well, consider it a thank you for...sticking around-

You kept it in your hands, staring at it with your eyes wide open in shock.

That's where he had been, to steal a jewel from the queen of the planet herself. Just for you.

-It's...it's stunning-

The Master smiled, reassured to see you appreciated his present. You looked at him and the look of utter adoration he gave you made your stomach flip.

-Thank you, Master- you whispered.

He took the bracelet from your hands and put it on your wrist.

-It's nothing. It looks better on you than it does on her, anyway-

You chuckled.

The tension between you was palpable, he was so close you could feel his hot breath on your face. As you were about to lean in, your phone vibrated. You gasped in surprised and took it out of your pocket quickly, feeling your cheeks warm up.

-Bloody twitter...- you whispered looking at the useless notification.

-...am I your lockscreen? -

Your heart sped up. Shit.

-You weren't suppose to see that-

The Master studied your expression for a while before starting to laugh.

You rolled your eyes.

-Alright are you gonna stand there and laugh at me or are you gonna kiss me? -

At that, the Master stopped laughing. He looked at you with a faint smile on his lips.

You sighed, looked at his lips briefely.

-Please, just kiss me already- you repeated.

The Master didn't waste a second. In no time, his lips were on yours, soft and full and perfect.

You placed your hand on his chest and felt his hearts beating fast.

When you parted, you were out of breath. He smiled at you as he caressed you cheek.

-That is a rather nice picture-

You rolled your eyes and he started laughing again before you shut him up with another kiss.

It was another day in the TARDIS, but it was way more special than the others.

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

Best Mistake of Your Life

Characters: Matthew Gray Gubler x Reader, Gwen (OFC)

Word Count: 1,392

Warnings: fluff

Summary: You accidentally send a snap to a stranger that may or may not be famous...

Author’s Note: If you have any requests, please send them in! this is unbeta’d and every mistake is all on me.

This is the December 16th fic for my 25 days of RPF Christmas with the prompt: I sent a selfie of myself in the tub to the wrong number and you responded back with another selfie. Holy shit you’re really attractive au

Feedback the glue that holds my writing together

Tags at the bottom

“Yeah, I’m finally in the bathtub. I’ve been looking forward to this night all week. Work has gotten me so stressed lately,” you rant to your best friend Gwen.

“You deserve it. I wish I were you right now. I can’t tell you how bored I am over at Steven’s place. Like, I love his family to pieces, but I’m ovulating right now. If we have any chance for a baby, it’s right now.”

“I suggest you drag his ass out of the house and take him home. You’ve been trying for so long.”

“Honey! We’re starting the game now!” you hear Steven faintly say on the other line.

“Got to go. He’s making everyone play flag football. Like I really want to be out there right now.

“Fake an injury. If anything, come to my house. I can’t help you make a baby, but I can help you relax.”

“Tempting. I’ll consider. Bye,” she says and hangs up.

The bubbles around you finally settle all around you. You put too much soap into the bath, so there are a lot more bubbles than there needs to be. If you were with your baby niece, you would be making beards out of the excess bubbles. Just thinking about her brings a smile to your face. The bathroom lights are off, leaving the five lit candles around the tub to be your only source of light. Soft music flows from the Bluetooth speaker on the counter. It’s really hard to get good ones since there are so many knock offs, but you found one at the apple store for a really great price. It was too good to pass up.

You felt bad for Gwen since she and Steven have been trying to have a baby for a long time. Every time they think they landed one, she gets her period a few weeks later and the disappointment settles in. She wants to take every chance she gets, so you understand why she’s a little upset he’d rather be playing flag football.

Luckily for you, you don’t have this problem. You’ve been single by choice for a few years now since you wanted to focus on you for a change. Ever since sophomore year of high school, you’ve bounced from relationship to relationship, with the longest lasting two years. You haven’t given yourself a chance to know what it’s like living completely single with no one to worry about. You got your own place, cook your own food, do your own laundry, pay your own bills, and work hard for the money you earn. It’s nice not having anyone to answer to, especially when most of your boyfriends were needier than you.

Which brings you right back to Gwen and Steven. She really needs a night away from him and his family, and you have just the thing to tempt her with. With your phone in your left hand, you sit up and position the bubbles to cover half of your breasts. Your hair is in a messy bun, and you make sure to position yourself for maximum sexiness. You open up Snapchat and type her name into the search bar since you just got a new account and haven’t remembered to get everyone’s name.

Your old one got hacked and stalked, so you deleted it and made a new one. This account is only for friends and family, but you know Gwen’s name by heart. After putting in her name, you took a sexy picture of yourself. Once you liked how it looked, you sink back down into the water and type, “you don’t know what you’re missing ;)” and send it off.

She’s going to open it and see it and feel obligated to join you. Your bath is big enough for two people, and it’s not like you two haven’t seen each other naked before. This gets the awkwardness out of the way and leaves room for awesomeness. Almost immediately, your phone chimes, and you look to see a snapchat notification from her. You open it, and your eyes pop out of your head in shock.

In your relaxed state, you must have typed her name wrong because what you just opened is not her or Steven or his family… it’s a very attractive man with whiskey brown eyes, curly brown hair, and a jawline that just won’t quit. You have no clue who this man is, and you feel yourself heating up from embarrassment. You read what he wrote on his picture, and suddenly, you’re heating up from something different now.

i’d like to know because damn, i wasn’t expecting that.

What do you say to that? Do you just ignore him and message Gwen like nothing happened? Do you message him back and see where this thing goes? Gwen’s voice is hanging in the back of your mind just screaming, “Go for it! He’s so handsome and you’re single!”. You’ve been single for so long, that maybe it’s time to jump back into relationships now. No, no, wait a second. You don’t have to date the man. Just see where this leads to, and if it’s either of your beds, then so be it. Just be casual about it. Your inner voice calms you down, and you open up the chat section with his name and just start typing.

I didn't mean for that to go to you. It was meant for my friend, but… do you like what you see? ;)

i wouldn’t have said what i said if i didn’t. it’s a shame those bubbles are covering you though.

Well, aren’t you bold?

i’m sorry, is this not okay? I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable. i don’t normally do things like this, but you’re very beautiful.

No, keep going, I like it. You know, this bathtub is big enough for two people, and I sure am lonely.

darling, i wish i can be there. i’m across the country from you right now, but i like your energy. save it, and in two weeks, i’ll be back home.

How do you know where I live?

your location is on.

I knew that.

i’m sure you did. i’m matthew, and bathtub or not, i would really like to get to know you.

Well, then, in two weeks, you can. My location will be on, you’ll know where I am.

do i get to put a name to the face i saw?

Y/N.

well, y/n, i’ll see you in two weeks then.

Yes, you will.

You don’t normally do things like this, but you can’t get his face out of your mind. He would know if you screenshotted his snap, and you didn’t want to creep him out like that, so you just left it alone. It’s okay because his face has been imprinted on your brain until you get to see the real thing. He could be someone else for all you know and just used someone else’s picture, but you pray to God that’s not the case. You’ll take safety precautions to make sure he is who he says he is, and if he is, then you’re going to have a hard time keeping your hands off him.

He looks familiar though, and you rack your brain to try and remember where you’ve seen him. You would remember meeting him somewhere else, so it must have been a movie or a film. Is he an actor? You pull up Google and type in his name along with a description of what he looks like. It’s a long shot, but you go to images with the hope that he’s on there.

It’s endless scrolling, and it’s mostly just models and famous celebrities that cover your phone’s screen until you get to what you’re looking for. Holy shit, you found him. Holy shit, he’s on Dollface, 68 Kill, and Suburban Gothic. Holy shit this is Matthew Gray Gubler! You just fucking messaged Matthew Gray Gubler.

The loudest possible scream escaped your mouth, and you kicked at the water excitedly. It splashed over the edge, but you didn’t care because you talked to Matthew Gray Gubler. You’re getting out your excitement now so when you meet him, you’re cool and collected. You can’t wait to tell Gwen this since she’s a big Criminal Minds fanatic.

Best. Mistake. Of. Your. Life.

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[lisinfleur]

Jag Känner En Bot

The request:

Author’s Notes | I made an OC for this because of the name confusion idea and I used this music – Boten Anna (Basshunter, 2008) - as inspiration! I hope you guys like this! Thanks for the sweet request! Universe | Vikings Pairing | Ivar x OC Info | Modern Age AU, requested by anon for 5CW7 Words | 2687 ⁑ Warnings: Some cursing.

His friend was late.

Great.

He was sitting on that table, waiting for around half of an hour more than what they had settled when his phone finally vibrated with something from "G4m1ng" - a follower from his blog that became super active, enough to start exchanging messages with himself and become a friend.

His name was Dylan and they were chatting for a while now. The guy was a top supporter of Ivar's work with the blog, even suggesting he should start streaming his games for more views and maybe a career. And that was the secondary reason for that meeting, to be honest. Ivar wanted to know someone who had been giving him different tips for his favorite games, making his nights incredible fun and also, maybe start something new like a bigger and more audacious project having this supporter by his side.

His intention was to invite the guy to work with him and maybe edit his videos for a new Youtube channel, or maybe something on Twitch. He didn't know what was the best investment or platform and his hope was that talking to Dylan would help him to figure this out.

He had thought about this idea for a while and set up the meeting was something they had talked to each other for almost a whole week. They settled that place because it served the best fries of the city - something them both had in common as well.

Dylan knew about his disease and wasn't a problem. In fact, they sometimes spent days texting to each other because Ivar was having a painful day of bluest eyes and had to be in bed for a longer time.  

The guy was an amazing friend - so Ivar was starting to feel worried something had happened because it never passed through his mind Dylan could, somehow, intentionally miss that meeting.

When the phone vibrated, Ivar unblocked the screen quickly opening the notification to see a strange question from his friend...

"Where are you, bro? Gave up on meeting me?"

Ivar frowned. There wasn't a sister location for that restaurant brand: it was the only one in town so it was impossible Dylan had gone to somewhere else.

His fingers started typing a fast answer, trying to figure out what was going on by softly teasing his friend to come.

"I'm at table 20. Did you found a way to get lost here, dude? C'mon... There is a pretty young lady alone two tables from me on the 18. If you take too long, I might want to sit with her and share our fries."

An emoji of a laughing face, despite the concern. Maybe Dylan was only not recognizing him or finding the table. Ivar lifted his face to look for his friend, but what was his surprise when the girl on table 18 took her wide eyes from the screen and looked straight at him, getting up from her table and coming closer to speak directly at him.

"Ivar? I mean... 'I.Boneless'?" she asked, utterly surprised.

Well, this was something he wasn't expecting.

Ivar was sure that he hadn't published his face online too many times and his avatar was the picture of a Viking prince from a series he liked to watch some years ago so. It was pretty unlikely that girl could be some kind of follower that was recognizing him.

"Yeah, I'm... I use this nick but... how do you know it's me?" he asked and she giggled before really falling on a long laugh, causing Ivar to be even more confused.

"Oh, my god! I can't believe this is happening. Fuck!" she cursed, laughing even more.

Damn... Ivar couldn't see Dylan anywhere. And that situation was starting to be embarrassing. Why the fuck she was laughing that much?

"Pretty young lady?" She said, causing Ivar to freeze. "Bro... The last thing I ever thought about myself was pretty... Now about you? Jez, Ivar, you're hot!" she joked.

Just like...

"Dylan??"

The girl exploded in laughs again.

"Dude, you should see your face!" she smiled. "Yeah, bro. I'm Dylan... Dylan Elyah Summers, and it's very nice to meet you, Ivar," the girl said, extending her hand for him to shake.

"I thought you... I..." he said, speechless, shaking her hand as she giggled again, sitting in front of him at the table.

"I know. You thought I was a guy, right?"

Dylan smiled at Ivar's affirmative nod, giggling as he scratched his nape.

"It happens a lot of times. My parents gave me a unisex name, so lots of times people think I'm a boy," she smiled.

"Yeah, that's pretty confusing," Ivar said, and the smile on Dylan's face diminished a little.

"It's not a problem for you, is it?" she asked.

Ivar could notice a certain bitterness in her voice. As a person with lots of bitter moments in his life, he knew what was that bitter taste on her tone and it wasn't hard for him to figure out her reasons: he could bet a dozen idiots had already rejected her as soon as they discovered she was a gamer girl and not the dude they were expecting to see. Other dozen had probably just started hitting on her like a bunch of horny dogs... He knew his gender: Men could be pretty toxic in his community. Instead, Ivar decided to act differently.

"Of course, it is! How dare you not to tell me you were a girl?" he started, causing her to cringe and sigh, sure she would lose another friend before he smiled at her once again. "I would be waiting for the 30 minutes of lateness, dude. Ya know, makeup, hair stuff..." he joked, receiving a small and friendly punch on his shoulder and noticing she blushed a little.

"Asshole."

They spoke for hours, sharing three whole portions of fries with cheese and bacon before they had structured together the whole plan for the new idea. Dylan was super excited about the project, but Ivar had to admit he couldn't stop thinking about how incredible it was to find such a pretty girl that was so similar to him, liked the same things, was so intelligent and charming as Dylan was...

At the end of that amazing day, Ivar and Dylan shared the Ubber that stopped first in his house, closer to the restaurant.

"I see you at the weekend!" he said, confirming the new meeting they had settled for the next weekend to start the channel's physical preparatives at his house.

"My ass! Go log on the game, bro! I see you online in the next thirty minutes! Bye, Ivar!"

"Bye!" Ivar waved back before she closed the door of the car that left taking her towards her home.

"Dylan's sister?" Hvitserk asked, stopping by his side while biting an apple after almost scaring Ivar's soul outta his body.

"No. That's Dylan. Fuck, Hvitserk! You fucking scared me!" Ivar complained before noticing Hvitserk had literally choked with the piece of that damn apple, hitting his brother's back, causing Hvitserk to spit the piece of apple and start coughing at the same moment. "Eat slow!"

"That's... That's fucking... Dylan??" Hvitserk tried, still recovering from the choking surprise. "What the fuck, Ivar!? You went out with that hottie and is standing here as if it was nothing? Brother! She's gorgeous!"

"Stop it, Hvitserk," Ivar warned while walking inside. "Yeah, she's beautiful, she's a girl, but it doesn't change anything. She's still the same Dylan we use to play together. Don't ruin the experience by starting to hit on her ok? For fuck's sake, keep your dick out of your mind!"

But Hvitserk giggled, looking at him with malice.

"Don't worry, brother. I won't hit on my brother's girlfriend..."

It was Ivar's time to almost choke with his own saliva.

"What?"

Hvitserk giggled again.

"C'mon, Ivar! You speak about this friend all the time, she likes the same things you like, she loves the games you love, you guys talk for hours! I can't believe you discovered Dylan is a girl and didn't ask her to marry you on spot! The two of you are perfect for one another!"

"Nah. No, no. You can stop it right now," Ivar warned. "Don't put your fingers into it!"

Hvitserk's smile became even more malicious.

"You want her, don't you?"

Ivar frowned and before he could answer, Hvitserk smiled bigger.

"I knew it!"

"Stay out of it, Hvitserk!"

This time, it was a harder warning.

"I really like her. She's really special and what we have is really important to me. Don't ruin everything for me or I'll swear I'll never speak to you once again!"

Hvitserk lifted his hands up, trying to tranquilize Ivar.

"Relax, brother... I won't mess up with your girl ok?"

"She's not my girl!" Ivar insisted.

"With Dylan! Dylan! Better now?" Hvitserk answered, still keeping that smile on his face.

Ivar was sure that promise wouldn't be fulfilled. However, he couldn't just get rid of all his brothers so he sighed. At least, Dylan was a nice girl and he was sure she would understand.

And he could always punch Hvitserk's nose if he was going too far so, problem solved, right?

The next few days were kinda strange.

Ivar wasn't being different, nor Dylan. But Hvitserk made the enormous favor to open his big mouth for more than eat the whole kitchen and now everyone knew Dylan was a girl.

Somehow, all the brothers found a way to get closer to her. Even Sigurd, who wasn't making any effort in her direction, ended up speaking to her for a long time about good soundtracks for the new channel, even spending a whole evening in a chat with her, explaining and teaching her about the new synthesizer and what she could make using it.

But the one who was bothering him Ivar the most was Hvitserk himself, all the time trying to be into their chat rooms, always catching Dylan's attention to himself... Ivar remember he told Hvitserk to not to hit on her just because she was a girl, but it was the same to tell a door to not to open! The bastard even invented he wanted to open his own blog just to get her attention on teaching him things so he could have a different style and not be so similar to Ivar's blog!

He really couldn't figure out why was Hvitserk doing this, but surely it was hitting on his balls! And Ivar decided that weekend would be the day for him to put a period on that sentence.

Dylan was his friend for a long time, he liked her, they had everything in common and if someone in that house would be with her, this someone would be him!

When Dylan arrived for their meeting, Hvitserk went all smiles to open the door, receiving her, and even spending a long time of conversation with the girl before Ivar could actually figure out she was already in his home.

"Oh, hi Ivar!" She said, smiling bigger at him than she was smiling at Hvitserk,

But noticing Ivar was kinda serious, Dylan closed her smile.

"We need to talk," he said, getting the girl kinda anxious.

"Is there something wrong, Ivar?" Hvitserk asked.

A malicious smile on his face. Surely the bastard was planning something. Ivar just kept his icy eyes into his brother's greens.

"I'll talk to you later. This is something between me and Dylan."

Hvitserk shrugged as Dylan started following Ivar to his room.

"Did I do something wrong?" She asked, really anxious now.

"No," Ivar answered, walking through the hall.

"Did something happened?" she asked again.

"No," Ivar answered, monosyllabic one more time, opening the door and entering his room into what Dylan stormed up, annoyed.

"Then tell me what the fuck is going on at once, Ivar!"

"I like you. More than just a friend. And I want you to be my girl."

The sentence sounded like a slap in Dylan's face that became instantly red like a tomato while Ivar was closing his door before looking at her once again.

"W...What did you just say?"

"I said..." he looked straight into her eyes, to warrant she would be able to see his true feelings through them. "I said I like you and I want you to be my girl."

"Ivar..." Dylan hesitated, looking at him. "Are you sure? I mean... You're... I am... I..." she stumbled on the words causing Ivar to smile.

She was sweet when speechless like that.

"You just have to say yes or no, Dylan. It won't change the way I see you. I just want to be real for you. I like you for real, I hardly doubt I'll ever find a girl who sees the world and thinks about it the same way I do... Like you do... You make me happy; you make me forget the disease, the pain; you paint my world in a way I can look at it without seeing it grey. And I want this... I want you by my side."

"Jez..." She spat.

And it was the time for Ivar to think she would break his heart probably saying he wasn't his brother...

He wasn't like Hvitserk, for sure.

But Dylan just smiled.

"You're pretty, sweet, and really know how to speak to a woman. I deserve an achievement for this," she said, lifting her hand to touch Ivar's face with a sweet smile on her lips "Something like 'World's best guy's girlfriend' or something like that..."

Her smile became bigger and Ivar smiled back, coming closer.

"I agree. We should receive some new achievements like 'Ivar's girl' for you, 'Dylan's boy' for me," he said causing her to giggle. "However, I think there is one more thing missing for us to reach these goals."

"Oh, you think? And what it is?" she asked with a smile.

Before Ivar leaned his face, softly mashing his lips against hers; what Dylan received with tenderness, wrapping her arms around Ivar's neck.

They ended up not working at the project, spending the whole time she spent in his house together, exchanging caresses and enjoying each other.

By the night, when she had to go home, Ivar suggested Dylan come back tomorrow for a new visit.

"Then we could try to start working on the channel this time," he joked and she smiled.

"If I can stop trying to find the stars in the sky of your mouth, we can maybe work, for a difference," she answered with a giggle and Ivar smiled, caressing her face before they exchanged a new kiss of goodbye.

"See you tomorrow, Dy."

"Wait, are you two together?" Hvitserk's voice echoed and Ivar turned from the door towards his brother.

"Yes. Dylan is my girlfriend now and I would like you to..." Ivar started, about to tell Hvitserk to stop hitting on his girl when Hvitserk giggled, patting his back and interrupting him.

"Fucking finally! I thought I would have to really try to kiss her to have you motivated, little bro. Congrats!"

Dylan started laughing almost immediately. Ivar, on the other hand, frowned looking at Hvitserk.

"What?" Hvitserk said, smiling. "You are perfect to each other, bro! I just knew you wouldn't go forward so I made you think I was interested just to give you a little push forward. You're welcome!"

"Fuck you, Hvitserk!" Ivar answered punching Hvitserk's shoulder and watching as his brother left, laughing.

"He's smart... I think I owe him some fries for infuriating you," Dylan said and Ivar smiled at her.

"He doesn't worth a dime. Don't get yourself misled, love."

Dylan instantly smiled tenderly.

"Oh... That's so cute."

"What?" Ivar asked, surprised.

"You called me 'love'," She smiled. "I really can get used to this."

Ivar came closer embracing her with his free hand and smiling.

"Well, get used to being spoiled all the time, love. I'll call you like this for a long... Long time...”

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Want to be tagged? Ask me!

[phonaesthemes]

a list of asks

@padawanyugi tagged me in this, but Tumblr decided to eat any notification that I got tagged, so I’m glad I saw it on my dash because I like filling these things out. Thanks for tagging me! I may have typed A Lot.

Favorites: What types of books do you enjoy? Tell about what you’ve read recently (Or maybe about a book you hated recently!)I like spec-fic and sci-fi, although less “hard” science fiction, and I also enjoy fantasy. I read a lot of YA even though I’m in my 30s just because it seems easy to find a story I want to read and I’m not usually in the mood for dense prose.

I’ve been rereading the Wheel of Time series since it’s getting an Amazon TV show; it was my first non-LOTR fantasy series and I love it to death, warts and all, although I love joking about the weak points with other people who’ve read it. I think the last other thing I read was A Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, which was a queer YA historical fiction, and it was a lot of fun. I wish I’d had access to all these queer stories when I was an actual teenager, but better late than never.

What types of music do you like to listen to? Share five songs from your music library. I really do like a bit of everything, although I gravitate towards certain genres more often depending on the season or time of day, so I’m going to cheat and pick 5 per season. Summer for me is lots of peppy pop (pride playlists!), punk and rock and punk-adjacent stuff, just upbeat stuff in general. -Weekender, by The Royal They -Break My Heart, by Dua Lipa -Toutes les femmes savent danser, by Loud -Ruby Soho, by Rancid -Womanarchist, by Bad Cop, Bad Cop

In the fall, my inner goth kid craves darkwave, goth rock, dramatic folk, roots rock, and also anything that reminds me of Halloween. -Iuka, by the Secret Sisters -Bela Lugosi’s Dead, by Bauhaus -How’s It Gonna End, by Tom Waits -Under the Milky Way, by The Church -I Put a Spell on You, by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins I could go on about the Christmas music I like at length (Boney M’s Christmas album slaps, ngl) but I’ll just skip that and say that I listen to more classical and piano pieces in the winter. I’m terrible at remembering names, so artists only: -Ludovico Einaudi -Chopin -Debussy -Saint-Saëns -Dvořák And in spring I’m usually just depressed af and listen to whatever. -FML, by K.Flay -Weird Part of the Night, by Louis Cole -Juodaan Viinaa, by Korpiklaani -P.O.H.U.I., by Carla’s Dreams -Marryuna, by Baker Boy

Do you have a show or movie that you can just put on anytime and it’s your comfort? Definitely Star Trek. I’ve rewatched the various iterations (except TOS) so many times. Also Mean Girls and Bring It On, idk why.

Do you have a favorite dessert? Tiramisu or creme brulée! Or macarons. I don’t eat dessert really unless I’m at a restaurant.

Do you have a favorite cold drink? Sparkling water, hands down.

Do you have a favorite game? The hours I have put into the SIms in my lifetime is probably shameful, although I haven’t played in a while. Don’t Starve is another contender for hours played, but I am also really fond everything by Amanita Design

Do you have a favorite part of your self care/beauty/health routine? I haven’t been doing it much lately since I’ve been dealing with some uncertain health issues with my joints (actually have a rheumatologist appointment later today), but savasana after a long yoga workout is borderline ecstasy.

Do you have a favorite type of take-out food? Indian for sure.

What’s your favorite type of exercise/physical activity? I have a love-hate relationship with running. I don’t actually love it but I love how I feel after. I really enjoy yoga. I love playing in the water at the beach, bodyboarding and swimming.

Pick between: (you choose the context)

Cook or bake? (I love cooking A Lot)

Space or ocean? (Hard to pick, but I grew up by the ocean and it’s 100% my happy place)

Chocolate or vanilla?

City or suburb or rural? (I grew up in an isolated rural village and I miss the quiet and the slower pace of life, but I do not miss the lack of amenities and opportunities, or the smalltown gossip. I also don’t drive bc of epilepsy, so I’m fucked as far as transport in rural settings.)

Past or future?

Shower in the morning or evening?

Mac/Apple or PC/Android? (Linux in general!)

Sing or dance?  (I don’t have an amazing voice but I can carry a tune without it being painful, and I love singing along with songs.)

Get up early or sleep in? (I actually love sleeping in but with two kids, early morning is my only time to myself, so I wake up before 6 most days AGGH.)

Shoes, socks, or bare feet? (Hate socks. I’m barefoot at home all year round.)

Marker, crayon, or pencil? Pen!

Tea, coffee, or hot chocolate? (Coffee in the morning, tea later on.)

Random questions:

Have you ever had any pets? (Had dogs and a cat as a kid, and as an adult I’ve had betta fish and cats, and I have a cat currently.)

What is your academic background/job field? I did my undergrad in linguistics, and I am currently a stay-at-home dad lol. I do freelance editing and transcription on the side. I don’t think I’ll ever work in my field bc I really don’t have the energy to go to grad school.

What’s something random that you’re into (even if you aren’t good at it)? I signed up for a Cape Breton step dancing class in university and I loved it.

Are you good at putting away your clean laundry right away? It depends on the day, but generally yes. Mine and everyone else’s. When I lived alone? Absolutely not.

What’s one of your pet peeves? Someone trying to have a conversation with me when they have the radio or TV on. I can’t follow what you’re saying if someone else is speaking! I hate having that stuff on as background noise in general.

What’s something you’re pretty good at? I’m a great cook.

What’s the most recent nice thing you bought for yourself? A new conditioner ig? lol

Can you sew? I can mend a small tear or sew on a button, but it’s been years since I did more than that.

What’s a chore you hate (or a chore you enjoy)? I hate vacuuming so much. So much. Maybe if I had a better vaccuum cleaner I wouldn’t mind it, but I just feel like I’m fighting with the stupid thing, getting caught up on its own cords, caught on furniture, can’t quiiiite reach a spot... HATE IT. I like shoveling snow sometimes, though.

Tell us a fun fact about yourself. I am 20 years older than my youngest sibling, and five minutes younger than my “oldest” sibling.

Never have I ever... Gone fishing, even though I’m from a fishing community.

What extracurriculars did/do you do in school? In high school, I played trumpet in band until the band got dissolved from lack of funding. I played soccer one year, was in a play another year. We had an art club for like a semester that I was in. In university the first time round, I did step dancing and intramural hide and seek  Second time around, I was in the linguistics club to help with assignments. (We were very much encouraged to work in pairs or groups for a lot of different classes. The only thing was that you did need to list your group members on the assignment so the prof knew who you worked with. My first morphology class in particular, we had a whole homework club where a huge portion of the class got together to work through assignments and help each other understand, and the prof would quite often show up. </tangent>

Deeper questions:

How’s your quarantine/last few months been? The cabin fever was really bad before the weather warmed up. I struggle with seasonal depression every spring, and it’s gotten much worse since we moved to Edmonton because of how long the winters are. (Snow from September to May/June? Fucccck.) It’s frankly horrifying to look at what’s going on in the US, but even though we have far fewer cases here, I’m really anxious that we’ll see another wave soon. Otherwise, I think I’ve adjusted. Home-schooling, hand-sanitizing, social distancing, masks...All feels kind of normal now, which should maybe concern me.

What do you think of human nature/society/etc.? I am like the least philosophical person you will meet so I don’t think I really have many thoughts.

What’s something you are insecure about? Writing my L2 if a native speaker is gonna read it.

What do you think is the meaning of life/reason that humans exist in the universe? I don’t think there is one, and that doesn’t bother me.

Do you think you’re better (whatever that means to you) than you used to be? Definitely. My adolescence and early adulthood was rough. I was dealing with a lot of trauma, untreated bipolar disorder, and I self-harmed for a very long time. I could not imagine making it to 30, let alone being stable and happy. I actively avoided thinking about the future because it made me spiral. But I was lucky enough to get help, consistent help from a doctor I clicked with, and it made a world of difference. I think younger me would be disappointed at how mundane my life is, but I’m thrilled to be boring because boring means no life-upending mood episodes. I have a happy partnership and two delightful kids and I couldn’t ask for more.

What are your thoughts on religion? I’m not religious and my own experience being raised in the Catholic church was frankly traumatic, but I know that it’s a source of comfort and community for many others and I think that’s awesome for them.

Do you think that there are aliens out there? I think so, although I think that we may not even know what other kinds of life to look for and may not recognize it even if we find it.

What’s something that’s been on your mind recently? We’re moving cross-country in less than a month (driving, no less, nearly 5000 km) and I still have so much to do to get ready aosjdoajdoasijdoaijsd

[bbyboybrock--archived]

Serendipity (C.B) | Chapter 17

Summary: Serendipity: (n) the chance occurrence of events in a beneficial way

Popular youtuber Isabella Hart, known as Bella to her audience, bends over backwards to separate her youtube life from her private life. Known for her overall clean content and her bubbly attitude, Isabella has a wild side to her that only those inside the youtube community know about. When Bella meets Colby during one of the trap house parties she finally meets someone she can be her genuine self with. When trouble arises after their meeting, will Bella be able to hand the pressure or will she destroy her relationship with Colby as well as herself in the process. [This starts in 2018]

Written: 2019

Word Count: 2,396

Warnings: swearing

Serendipity Masterlist

We all sit around the tv joking around and hanging out. The whole house is in the living room trying to plan the last trap house party. Devyn, Kat, and Tori are all busy doing other stuff so I'm the only girl in the room. Brennen is also here because he is apparently the best party planner they know. I made sure to sandwich myself in between Colby and Jake so Brennen couldn't sit next to me. The only reason why I'm here is because Colby and I have to go over to the new apartment building later to sign a few more papers and then Colby promised to go furniture shopping with me.

They've been planning for over 30 minutes. The only thing they can agree on is this has to be the best party they've ever thrown. They're arguing if the party should be BYOB or open bar. The same argument that they have every time they plan a party,

"Listen, Elton's 1 million subscribers party was 'bring your own booze' and it was still a great hit," Aaron argues. We managed to get him to stop screaming long enough to help us.

"Yeah, but we can get more people to come if we offer drinks ourselves." Jake fired back.

"Okay but you guys are going to be hemorrhaging money on drinks alone if you think what you're going to buy is going to be enough for the number of people you want," I say before taking a sip of my water.

"Why don't you chip in?" Corey asked.

"I don't live here dipshit and this is your guys' big party. I'm only here because you clearly need a woman's logic. Devyn is lucky she doesn't have to sit through this." I joke back.

"What about the Christmas party you threw?"

"You guys said I could borrow the house. Plus it was a small party where I paid for everything. All the alcohol that we got was enough for everyone that I invited. You basically want to invite all of LA to your here. I don't even know how you're going to accommodate everyone on your guest list."

This started to spark a conversation on what they're going to do for entertainment. I laugh as they all argue about getting a DJ or just creating a playlist on Spotify. I only stop paying attention when Colby places his hand on my lap. He whispers that he has to go take a call from his mom. He kisses me on the cheek before leaving me with the rest of the idiots.

"Okay, I need a break from all this testosterone. I'm going to raid everybody's snacks!" I say getting up and walking into the kitchen. I hear a lot of protests as I leave but none of them actually stop me from eating their food. They know I'll either replace it or get them real food later.

I take one of Sam's Dr. Peppers from Colby's birthday prank months ago. His supply is finally getting low and he has been begging for people to take some. I place the can and start going through everyone's cubbies. I could just make something from the fridge but you only make the mistake of opening that once before you fear it. The girls and I spent one weekend cleaning it and making it smell nice but the smell had returned by the next morning.

I finally find some chips in Corey's stash and cookies in Jakes. I set all my things on the counter. As I pull out my phone and begin to Venmo Corey and Jake I feel someone press up against me. I can tell right away it's not Colby.

"Brennen, what did I say about personal space?" I say after turning around and shoving him off me.

"You didn't care about me being in your personal space when we were 'hanging out.' Maybe we should hang out some more." Brennen steps closer and forces me to step back. I set my phone on the counter in case I need to use both of my hands to push him away.

"I've told you countless times, that relationship between us is over. It ended when I found out that you were dating Kira and it has been that way since before I got with Colby."

"Colby won't mind. He's seen how you were before. You think that you suddenly can change?"

"Leave me alone." I shove past him and start walking to the living room.

"I went through all that trouble to leak that shit and I'm still going to get nothing? That's bullshit." He whispered under his breath.

"Excuse me? You're the one who did that?" I ball my fist in anger.

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. Who's going to believe you."

"You... asshole!" I began pushing Brennen backward until he was pressed against the counter.

When I couldn't push him further I began punching and kicking him. I couldn't hit him hard enough to actually hurt him, I don't have it in me. But all the pain and anger that I never really what to do with is finally coming out. I can feel tears coming out of my face. I can hear Brennen screaming for help and the sound of footsteps. I feel arms wrap around my waist and pull me away from Brennen. I try to pull away. I don't care how the situation looks like the everyone else, Brennen deserves it.

"Colby, calm your bitch down!" Brennen yells after I get pulled off him. A various of 'whoas' are heard from everyone. Colby makes his way to the front and stands between us.

"Watch your mouth, Brennen. Now, what's going on?" Colby asks looking between us.

"Do you want to tell them Brennen or should I?" I calmed down a little bit. I'm only fighting whoever is holding me because I hate the feeling of being restrained.

"I-I don't know man. We were just talking and she started attacking me. Maybe she's on her period or something." He avoids eye contact with me.

"Really Brennen? You don't want to tell them anything else? You don't want to tell them about how you constantly hit me up asking to hookup? Or how you always get really handsy with me, even when Colby is around? What about the fact that I was hitting you because you're the one who leaked those pictures and videos of me?" I watch as fear shows visibly on his face.

"You did what?"

"Yo, wait a minute, let me explain. I didn't think that it would be that big of a deal."

"Do you have any idea what you put your best friend through? What you almost put your friends through? You caused me to almost lose my job entirely. You got me kicked out of my family. I can't believe you cared more about the slightest possibility of getting your dick wet was more important than the feelings and lives of anyone but yourself. I tried to kill myself, Brennen. If Colby hadn't come when he did— If Colby had been late or waited—" I hadn't realized that I started crying again.

"Yo, Jake, let her go." I hear Corey whisper behind me. Jake slowly releases me and I walk in between Colby and Brennen and looked him in the eyes.

"Did you honestly think that when you leaked those pictures and videos that Colby would break up with me and I would just go back to sleeping with you?"

"At the time I did but—" I cut Brennen off by slapping him hard across his face. It was so loud that there was a slight echo.

"Go to hell Brennen," I say before walking out of the kitchen. Aaron and Sam moved out of my way without me having to tell them.

I walk straight through the front door and out of the front gate and begin walking. A walk will cool me down. I'm madder than anything. I keep walking straight in a direction that I don't know that well. How could Brennen do something like this to someone who he considered his best friend? How could he hurt Colby like that? I probably shouldn't have left Colby alone with him. Hell, I probably shouldn't have left any of the guys alone with him. Who knows what they'll do, especially since they heard the news that I almost died for the first time today. I should go back but I honestly don't want the chance to see Brennen again.

****

I've been walking for at least 30 minutes and I have no idea where I am. I was walking around and making turns without even thinking for at least 15 minutes. I realized about 5 minutes ago that I didn't have my phone or wallet so I'm kind of screwed. I'm reminded that I have my apple watch when I get a notification from Colby asking where I was. I managed to share my location with him and sit on the curb and wait for him. I've definitely calmed down. I've had time to process everything. I've never been so mad in my life nor have I hit anyone.

A few minutes I watch as Colby parks his car and walk out and engulf me in a hug. We walk back to the car and I see that Colby grabbed my backpack and filled it with the snacks I grabbed earlier, phone, jacket, wallet, and my camera equipment. He lowered his music.

"Why didn't you tell me about everything with you and Brennen?" Colby asks quietly. I can tell he's not sure if I'm going to answer or if I even want to talk now.

"You have to understand that this was after I told my mom what was happening with my dad. I didn't want to put in another position where I wasn't believed. I also didn't want to look like one of those girlfriends who makes her boyfriend not hang out with certain friends because she didn't like them. I thought I could just hang around him because you guys were close and he would leave me alone. I need you to know that I never cheated on you."

"I know you wouldn't. I'm just sorry that I didn't realize that any of this was happening. Just tell me when you feel uncomfortable with someone if that ever happens again."

"I will. I'm working on it. What happened after I left?" I prop my feel up on the dashboard and start eating my snacks.

"Well, Corey and I nearly beat the shit out of Brennen. He tried playing the victim. We gave you a few minute head start before we kicked him out in case you ran into him. We told Brennen to lose our numbers and unfollowed him on everything. After that, I had to explain to everyone what happened a few months ago. Sam already knew so he helped me out a bit. I knew you needed to be alone for a bit to calm down."

"Thanks. And sorry for reacting like that. I was just so angry. I'm sorry about ruining Brobly."

"Hey, don't ever apologize for feeling your feelings. We've talked about this. Anyway, I don't care too much about Brobly. I always felt that Brennen was using me for views but I never really had evidence."

"I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing! Life's too short to be apologizing for every little thing. Let's go do the shit we need to do and then spend the rest of the day at the mall or something." Colby said before turning up the music and grabbing my hand as he drives.

****

"Baby, my wallet hurts," I complain during the drive back to my apartment. As promised, after we filmed at Ikea, Colby took me to the mall where I did some retail therapy. After getting rid of more than half my clothes I had to restock. We walked around the mall for a bit and bought some things, but the real problem was when we got to Target.

"I told you going to Target was a bad idea. You have absolutely no impulse control when we go there."

"To be fair, not everything I bought was for me. There was a sale on Jake's favorite candy in bulk so I got him that. And then I remember Sam saying that he need tape for his boxes and I figured nobody would have tape so I got enough for all of us. And then this morning I finished one of Corey's snacks so I had to replace it. Devyn's needed another makeup bag and they were having a buy one get one sale so I got one for Kat because I don't need one. And then I know that Aaron and Tori wanted to see this movie but were having trouble finding it but I saw it was on sale. And well, I may or may have not broken your headphones so I got you a replacement." I organize the bags that I have in my lap as I talk about everything.

"Izzy, we talked about this." Colby strokes my hair but doesn't take his eyes off the road.

"I know, I know. My hearts too big, I can't function without doing something nice. Besides, I feel bad about how I reacted in front of them early when the whole Brennen situation and at the shocking revelation I made." I still want to kick Brennen's ass. I probably would have if I wasn't stopped.

"I can't tell if you're trying to bribe our friends or distract them by buying them stuff. You know, they're going to want to talk about it? Well, maybe only Sam will. Jake will avoid talking about it but be weird around you for a bit. Aaron and Corey won't bring it up but watch over you like a hawk."

"Which is why I'm bribing AND distracting them. Plus, I'm having you drop me off and you give them the things I bought them so I can avoid even more awkwardness. Get with the program babe."

"I figured that's what your plan was when you asked me to take you to your apartment when we left the mall. Anyway, let me get some food in you before you get hangry."

[thecoleopterawithana]

Just wanted to say I love your blog! I am like you, only fairly recently got into this fandom and am so intrigued by the Lennon/McCartney partnership. I think I’ve read about anything that could have possibly attributed to the ending of their partnership. But, just today I read that Paul had secretly been buying shares of Northern Songs in 1969 which (understandably) angered John when he found out. It puts the “nobody hurt john like paul” in a different light.. do you know what happened?

Hey there! Welcome to the fascinating story that is Lennon/McCartney! It truly is a very intriguing relationship, and I’m happy if my blog has aided your explorations in any way! 

I want to thank you a lot for your question. In truth, I’ve been focusing more on the emotional dynamics, but ignoring the business conflicts becomes somewhat faulty if they made it personal. So I’m grateful that you made me dig into this side of it, so that I can get a more complete picture. 

Now, like I said, I’m very new to this facet of the story and my knowledge in business is extremely lacking, but I’ll do my best to give a somewhat informed opinion. 

First, let’s go over what is Northern Songs and how it came about, so that we can better understand how they get to the point of losing it in 1969.

In 1962, Brian Epstein was advised by George Martin to look for a good publisher, as the latter felt EMI’s publishing company had done little to promote “Love Me Do”. One of the suggested names was Dick James, as he was trustworthy, England-based, and “very hungry”, meaning he would work very hard to promote the songs. He indeed won Epstein over by getting the Beatle’s latest single, “Please Please Me”, a spot on a very prestigious TV show at the time.

On February 1963, James makes the suggestion to create a separate company for Lennon/McCartney compositions. Thus, Northern Songs Ltd. is born. And even though John and Paul thought they were getting their own company, they ended up with a 20% share each, Brian with 10% and Dick James and his partner, Charles Silver, with 50%. James was to be the manager for the next 10 years (earning 10% of the gross receipts), while Lennon and McCartney agree to give the company full copyright of the compositions published in the following 3 year period.

John and Paul would later feel as if they’d been ripped off, that the rates were unfair. In truth, at the time, it was perfectly unusual for songwriters to be so involved with the publishing of their songs, happy just to give them over for 50% returns. But for John and Paul, the attitude was completely different. Their songs were their babies, not something to be bought, sold and exploited. In their innocence, they didn’t even realize that songs could be owned!   

In May 1964, John and Paul form a private limited company to which their share of the resulting royalties can go, Lenmac Enterprises. John and Paul own 40% each, Brian the remaining 20%.    

In February 1965, a lot of things happen that would prove determinant in the future course of the Lennon/McCartney song publishing business. 

First, despite the first agreement not expiring for another year, Northern Songs is given full copyright of every Lennon/McCartney composition, created together or apart, for the next 8 years (February 1973), with the two composers having to provide a minimum of 6 songs/year. Also, the resulting royalties (50% as of 1965 and increasing to 55% for songs written after 1969) would be sent to a new company, Maclen Music, owned in 40% each by John and Paul, with the remaining 20% belonging to NEMS (Brian Epstein’s company, of which he owned 50%, his brother 40%, and each of the Beatles 2.5%).

A week later, Northern Songs is made public, to reduce the income tax burden. James is appointed managing director, with his partner functioning as chairman, an together they held 1,875,000 (37.5%) of the shares. John and Paul each retained 750,000 shares (15% each), and George and Ringo 40,000 (0.8 %) each.

On April 1966, a fatally flawed decision is made. Maybe hoping to free up some money, John and Paul sell Lenmac Enterprises to Northern Songs for £365,000, effectively relinquishing their rights to the direct royalties from their first 56 compositions. This includes every song from 1963 to 1965, those associated with peak Beatlemania. 

Around this time, Dick James starts to get proposals from his old friend Lew Grade, from Associated Television, who is keen on buying the Beatles song catalogue. But for now, Northern Songs is doing too well for him to consider selling it. 

It was only after Brian Epstein’s death, in August 1967, that the Beatles were forced to manage their own business. It was during these explorations of their contracts that John and Paul first realized what exactly they were getting from all their songs. They were not happy.

They wanted to renegotiate their deal with James, and in the summer of 1968, they saw the perfect opportunity to force his hand. Inviting him to an Apple Records meeting, they made their proposal for increased royalties, while filming the encounter. 

‘It was in those days when we taped and filmed everything and we thought: that might be the thing to do, let’s get Dick to come round. And we happened to have a film crew there; we thought we might just force him into doing something. On camera, he can’t really say no.’

Paul recalls their approach to Dick James and the slightly reluctant response.

‘Hey, Dick, I hope you don’t mind this being filmed…’ Paul said.

‘Well, all right then,’ Dick replied.

Paul: ‘Look, we’d really like to ask for a little bit more [percentage royalty from their songs’ income]. We’ve been more successful now than any songwriters have been for any publisher. And we’re on a not awfully good deal, as you and we know. It’s not bad… but couldn’t you see your way to giving us a raise? That’s really all we’re doing, asking for a raise.’

Paul says now: ‘We have been asking for a raise ever since to whoever has been in charge [of Northern Songs]. And now, of course, I am a long-serving, thirty-year employee, when even the lowliest of people get raises. But Dick said: “No, I can’t alter it. I’m in this with Charles Silver. It would be absolutely impossible for me to change the terms of the contract.”

‘We said: “Why?”

‘I now know, running a business, you can change it at a stroke of a pen. You can say: I hereby revoke that contract. I’d like to give these wonderful people a bit more. They should have 5 per cent more each. It would’t have been difficult; Dick took on a lot of stress which he possibly didn’t need. You can only have so many meals a day.’

‘That was what we were trying to say: “Look, you’ve done great. From being the guy who sang ‘Robin Hood’ to becoming the publisher of the Beatles.”’ Paul and John pointed out that Dick had accrued a great reputation and consequently plenty of extra business because he had the prestige that came from being the Beatles’ music publisher.

‘John started to use an analogy of an acorn and an oak tree, and it was very good, a smart thing. He almost got Dick over a barrel on this one. He said: “Look, Dick, it was an acorn and it’s grown into an oak tree and it’s even taken over the whole bloody garden now.”’ Dick responded to the effect that he owned the original acorn and he now owned the oak tree and there was ‘nothing to be done’.

— Paul McCartney, c/o Ray Coleman, McCartney: Yesterday and Today. (1996)

This confrontation significantly soured the relationships between James and the two Beatles, who he now saw as stubbornly arrogant ‘in-grates’.

Of course, trouble was brewing within the Beatles themselves. The previously united-front of Lennon/McCartney was fracturing. Paul had met Linda, John had gone out with Yoko in conceptual art demonstrations which were ridiculed by the general public, and they hardly knew how to take care of their newborn Apple. Paul’s efforts to cut back expenses were thwarted by the other Beatles, and by January 1969, John was telling Ray Coleman that Apple was ‘losing £50,000 every week and if it carries on like this we’ll be broke in six months’.

The report went around the world and the music industry smelled blood. One of such sharks was Allen Klein. But that is another story.

Alarmed by the tensions between the partnership of Lennon and McCartney and wounded by their behaviour the previous year, Dick James is looking to jump ship. And so, in March 1969, seizing the fact that John and Paul were away on their respective honeymoons, without further notification, James sells his shares of Northern Songs to Lew Grade. With James’ and Silver’s shares, plus those acquired during the public purchase, ATV now owned 35% of the company, with plans to buy the remaining 15.1% necessary for its control. 

John and Paul first find out what happened when questioned by journalists looking for a reaction. While Paul could not be reached, John confidently answers for both of them that “I’ll be sticking to my shares and I could make a pretty good guess that Paul won’t sell, either.” Indeed, Paul later confirms that “You can safely assume that my shares are not for sale to ATV.”

But the betrayal was huge. Even old friends or music industry people that respected Dick James, such as George Martin and Roger Greenway (a prominent figure in the world of music publishing who was also signed as a songwriter to Dick James Music), where enraged by the dirty move. But none were more hurt than John and Paul.

[Dick] James, in fact, was quoted as saying that at the time ATV took over Northern Songs “the wolves stopped baying”. He firmly believed that it would have been wrong to sell Northern Songs to either Lennon or McCartney individually but, even so, he admitted that when he met the two songwriters at McCartney’s St John’s Wood home: “Paul was annoyed* but John was inconsolable, he was hurt and I was very sorry.”

However before Dick James met up with Northern Songs’ two main creative sources, he had to face the wrath of the other Beatle who was signed to the company. Harrison apparently visited their song publisher in his central London office to make clear his own feelings about the proposed sale and when James, explaining that it was important he moved his shares quickly before the price fell, said it was a very serious matter, Harrison reportedly screamed back at him: “It’s fucking serious to John and Paul is what it is!”

According to NEMS director Peter Brown, the songs in Northern Songs represented something very special to the two main composers. “To John and Paul, Northern Songs wasn’t just a collection of compositions, it was like a child, creative flesh and blood and selling it to their business antagonist Sir Lew Grade was like putting that child into an orphanage.”

— Brian Southall, Northern Songs: The True Story of The Beatles’ Song Publishing Empire. (2006)

*Of course, it is only James’ reading that classifies Paul as merely ‘annoyed’ by the happenings. From what little I can glean from Paul McCartney, it strikes me as more likely that he was hiding how wounded he was while trying to keep a cold grip on things. He wouldn’t still be fighting for his and John’s songs to this day if he didn’t care. And considering Paul’s net worth, it isn’t just about money either.

The Beatles gathered arms and consulted with their lawyers and accountants to see if it was still possible to wrestle for control. It became clear that the Beatles still controlled only 30% of Northern Songs among them. 

It was also while looking at these figures that John realized Paul had 751,000 shares (worth around £1.4m), while John had 644,000 (£1.25m) plus another 50,000 as a trustee. 

This caused conflict between them. John suggested that he and Paul had made a verbal pact to keep their ownership of the company on an equal footing. Paul later explained that he was investing in both himself and John and that, in his memory, he had told John about it and they had often agreed that investing in their own work was a good principle.

— Paul McCartney, c/o Ray Coleman, McCartney: Yesterday and Today. (1996)

We’ve finally reached the point of your question. 

First, just by looking at it, it seems to me as if it was not really Paul buying more shares as it had been John selling his, as they initially had 750,000 each. This means that the difference was created by Paul buying 1,000 more shares (0.02% of the company), while John sold more than 100,000 so that he could set up a trust fund for Julian at the time of his divorce with Cynthia. 

Now, do I believe that John didn’t understand this and would take it as a personal betrayal that there was an unbalance in the financial holdings of their partnership? Yes. Especially at a time when the toxic combination of drugs, people whispering in his ear, and personal insecurities were making him extremely paranoid of anything and everything that Paul did.  

Do I believe that Paul was trying to take advantage of him and secretly get ahead? No. I do think he genuinely believed he was looking out for both of them under John’s consent. And how ahead could he get with 0.02%?

This all seems just like another instance of miscommunication between them, quite similar to what happened with “The Family Way”, in which Paul asks for a go-ahead, with John answering “Yes” while internally expecting Paul to read his mind and see “No”, and then getting hurt when Paul goes ahead and does it (like they’d agreed). I can even see a business-conscious Paul trying to discuss the subject with an easily-bored John, who just agrees out of disinterest, without really knowing (or caring to know) what that entails.

But getting back to your question, I don’t know that it puts the “nobody hurt John like Paul” in a totally different light. I mean, this sure added to the pile of resentment and distrust, but I don’t see this episode as the Big Hurtful One. In my head, I reserve that spot for Paul’s announcement that the Beatles were over and that there would be no Lennon/McCartney songwriting partnership in the future. 

Because, until that point, all of John’s antics were at their core a cry for Paul’s attention, trying to force his hand into acting by threatening the thing Paul held most dear: the Band. So after getting hopeful following Paul’s negative reaction to his divorce announcement in September 1969, where he urged John not to make any permanent statements and left the room crying, he was devastatingly hurt when Paul finally broke it off in April 1970.

Of course John, in his usual manner, forgets that in the early months of 1970, he, together with Klein and George, had stepped over Paul twice. Not only had Lennon given the Let It Be recordings to Phil Specter, who had smothered them (especially Paul’s songs) in over-production (with Paul requesting changes and Klein claiming it was too late), but they also tried to force back the original release of Paul’s solo debut album, McCartney, from April to June, to make room for Let It Be, sending Ringo as the messager. And even if they relented at Ringo’s urging (after he was tossed from McCartney’s house, and saw the true extent of his hurt and anger), it proved to be the last straw for Paul. 

But it was the fact that Paul left him that hurt John like nothing had done before. He even tells us that that’s the one thing he will never forgive him. 

And it’s not merely a matter of pride or jealousy, it’s not that it was Paul who made it public when it was his band. It’s not that Paul left him, it’s that Paul left him. He made true the biggest fear John had: being abandoned and rejected.

That’s what I see as John’s biggest wound, what he sees as the biggest betrayal. Nothing that happened with the business could surpass that. Sure, like I said, it added wood to John’s raging fire of paranoia and resentment. But he would have understood and ultimately forgiven that too if Paul had connected with him in the way he needed.

But just to finish the story of Northern Songs, by September 1969 ATV had managed to buy the remaining shares so that it controlled 51% of the company.  Defeated, both John and Paul sold their shares, effectively relinquishing the rights to around 250 Lennon/McCartney songs, their own music.

-

Sources:

Ray Coleman, McCartney: Yesterday and Today (1996).

Brian Southall, Northern Songs: The True Story of The Beatles’ Song Publishing Empire (2006).

The Beatles | The Beatles Companies | Northern Songs. Accessed on: http://www.rockmine.com/Beatles/BeatleCo.html (14/03/19).

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Catherynne Valente schools her racist neighbors about the asylum seekers in their midst

[Author Catherynne Valente (previously) posted this outstanding rant to her Facebook page; I asked her permission to repost it here so it would have somewhere to live outside of the zuckerverse and she graciously gave her permission -Cory]

I live in Portland, Maine. We have recently had an influx of African asylum seekers and the city has been scrambling to find shelter and support for them.

Cue NextDoor, that wretched hive of scum and villainy. Every day someone would post some new hateful jingoistic nonsense about how horrible these people are and that they need to get out of 'Merica and leave it to the 'Mericans.

I try not to get involved on NextDoor because I live in a small community and I have to see these people at the ferry dock. But I got mad. And I got involved. And it got long.

So I decided to share it with you. Please feel free to share it with others who might need to hear it.

You know, I was going to let this thread go by without saying anything. It's not worth it, I said to myself. These people aren't going to listen. But y'all can't stop being hateful and I'm tired of getting notifications that someone else is being and absolute bell-end about their fellow man on NextDoor.

So buckle up.

First of all, "they" aren't illegal. They are asylum seekers. It is legal in every nation on the planet to seek asylum, and they are abiding by the law. Just like our friend with his grandfather's naturalization certificate at the top of the thread (which is from 1928, by the bloody way, predating the Hart-Cellar Act of 1965 which completely overhauled the process to enter this country, specifically to make it harder for minorities because human beings will keep a rock as a pet but cannot think of other human beings as brothers unless they look *exactly* like them. And even then). THEY NEED HELP BECAUSE THEY ARE FOLLOWING THE LAW. The law forbids them to work for 6 months after entry. If they were illegal, they would just start working one of the many menial jobs that have no problem hiring underpaid immigrant labor.

Second, these people are not hurting you. In any way. I would be shocked if anyone yelling about those terrible no good very bad fellow human beings had ever met even one of them. Many of them are educated and skilled. Many of them are Francophones, making Maine a wonderful place for them to reestablish themselves, as there are still pockets of French speakers in this state. Every single study shows that immigrants and asylum seekers are a net benefit to the economy, that they get off of social services much faster than homegrown welfare recipients, that they become entrepreneurs and hard workers. And yet you hate them before they even arrive.

And if you want to talk to me about how some of them are Muslim, and might bring their naughty repressive Muslim African culture into wonderful, flawless liberal America, let me tell you about Alabama. And Georgia. And Ohio. And North Carolina. And the Supreme Court. The people who are right now actively seeking to curtail my rights to my own body, to prevent me from voting for my own equal representation, to empower the companies that may employ me over myself, are as American as the flag, fireworks, and goddamned apple pie. These are individual people with no institutional power, and you have no idea what they think or believe about anything because you don't know them. The people with institutional power are hurting us all. Right now. And I don't see any angry threads on Next Door about it.

OMG BUT MY TAXES.

I. Pay. Taxes. Too. And my taxes go to support an aging Maine population, to give them healthcare, food stamps, housing subsidies, social security, and myriad other avenues of support. Support that will almost certainly not be available to me when I am old, because the very generation receiving my tax dollars has repeatedly voted for the downsizing and existential dissolution of the programs they enjoy. Yet I still pay. I pay for you. Knowing I will get nothing in return.

But you know what really pisses me off about where my tax dollars go? It isn't that they support an aging conservative population with the free time to post endless hateful multi-exclamation point capslocked screeds on the Internet. And it goddamn well isn't that 86-150 families (god, how few human beings it takes to turn on the histrionics) who have been through the most heinous and unimaginable cruelty, violence, and persecution might settle here in this state where all the young people actually born here are fleeing at rates that would snap your neck.

My tax dollars and your tax dollars and all of our tax dollars are going to build a megayacht dock in Portland so that more uber-rich assholes have a place to park their massive pleasure boats, boats that cost more than those 86-150 families could ever need.

My tax dollars and your tax dollars and all of our tax dollars are going to subsidize developers who smell fresh meat in our city so they can build more luxury condos none of us can afford (and again, the sale price of three or four of them on the West End would cover everything these families need), condos that will sit empty for all but two weeks a year so that a few families can look at the water and stuff themselves with lobster butter while complaining about live music to the point that our festivals get cancelled so they can go to bed earlier, murmuring as they drift off to a dreamland none of us can make a down payment on that Portland used to be so much better in the old days.

My tax dollars and your tax dollars and all of our tax dollars have, for eight years, gone toward blocking bills the people voted for from becoming law, fighting in the courts not to give Mainers medicare or raise our minimum wage or let us smoke in peace or have a little more choice in voting. Our money has gone to subsidizing red states that hate New England like fire. Our money has gone to making sure the megayacht-parking lobster butter bathers pay less in taxes than a barista on Munjoy Hill. And NONE of you are complaining about that.

Nor do I see any single thread looking to help the homeless vets and addicts you're all suddenly so conveniently concerned about, no matter how bad the winter gets. Pro tip: do not use veterans as strawmen when you argue that the poor deserve nothing and America is somehow full. A massive percentage of vets are immigrants themselves, and they are out there protecting your right to be a total dick on the internet.

Somehow, for some strange reason, the only time people seem to take to their keyboards to complain about where their taxes are going is when they might just end up helping someone less fortunate. When they help people more fortunate? Crickets.

This state is aging. We need a new tax base or all those senior citizens will suffer, because their services will be cut without people my age to pay for them. Young people are not moving here. They're just vacationing here. If you feel like freezing to death some idle winter without social services still yelling Don't Tread On Me, be my guest. I would prefer to live in a lively multicultural city full of art, music, food, theater, and more services being used by people who need them to survive than those who just want to pay a little less taxes and have a convenient place to park their yachts.

The hate in this thread is repulsive. You should all be ashamed of yourselves. I would imagine some of you consider yourselves Christian, even while you spit on those Christ commanded you to shelter and treat even as you would him. Nice work. There is not one of you who has not taken help from another human being at some point in your lives, even if it's only in the form of using the roads and electricity and infrastructure we all pay for collectively to make yourselves a success. Filling these people's bellies costs us so much less than filling the insatiable gullets of the vulture capitalists that have made quite the little feast of our city in the last decade. It's utterly pathetic that we must pay for the rich to harm us, but that rouses no protest, but this, THIS, these poor, desperate, hopeful people who have walked across a continent to get here, raises your rage to the breaking point.

You want to save a dollar by starving a poor man while handing over twenty to a rich one with a smile and a song.

That you would deny someone who has escaped hell on earth a blanket, a tv dinner, and a scrap of gym floor to sleep on doesn't make you a patriot. It makes you a bad person.

I said good day, sir.

Catherynne M. Valente

is a novelist; her latest book is

Mass Effect: Annihilation

.

https://boingboing.net/2019/06/18/nextdoor-is-terrible.html

[backoftheroomandnotbelonging]

73 questions.

I was tagged by @enchantedamusedslightlyconfused

I tag @iamdorka  @xwonderlandxinxhellx @mrs-machinegun-norris (you’re my top three recommended tags)

On a scale of 1-10, how excited are you about life right now?

Like, a 5? I’m at a point in my life that I can go in any direction so I have a lot of freedom and choice. But, I have no idea where I want to be going so I’m in limbo and that makes me anxious...

Describe yourself in a hashtag?

#backoftheroomandnotbelonging

I use it to tag any content I’m posting and Tumblr is typically where I’m the most honest.

If you could do a love scene with anyone, who would it be?

Oooo I don’t know

Colson? Yungblud, maybe Mod Sun as well...

Definitely Colson though - that man is a dream 👀

If your life was a musical, what would the marquee say?

I genuinely don’t have the foggiest...

What’s one thing people don’t know about you?

I’ve done pole fitness since I was 14.

What’s your wake up ritual?

Wake up, check the number of notifications I have on my phone, have a wash, get dressed, makeup, breakfast.

What’s your go to bed ritual?

PJs, have a wash, music, lights out, music, fanfiction, daydream, pass out.

What’s your favourite time of day?

Anytime between 2:00 and 4:30 in the morning. It’s when my house is guaranteed to be asleep so I’m finally able to just stop and be me.

Your go to for having a good laugh?

I don’t actually remember the last time I had a good laugh...

KellyVision makes me chuckle though.

Dream country to visit?

America. It’s kinda cliche but oh well. Definitely hitting up Cleveland for EST Fest and maybe NYC. Probably would wanna go to an amusement park as well - I just have this idea that they’re very different to British ones.

And NZ! My cousins are there and together? We’re hurricanes.

What’s the biggest surprise you’ve had?

This is one of those questions that I suddenly can’t think of an answer for.

Maybe @xwonderlandxinxhellx​?

I don’t even remember how we started talking but I never thought (I dreamed but never thought) that I would actually make a friend on Tumblr.

So, thank you 🖤

Heels or flats/sneakers?

CONVERSE! I will die in my Chucks.

That being said, ya girl loves feeling herself in heels. I can’t do normal heels so I have these block heel brogues that I adore.

Vintage or new?

I adore the vintage style but sizing often isn’t on my size.

Also love some dark punk grunge clothing.

Who do you want to write your obituary?

I don’t want an obituary.

When I die I want that to be it. No funeral, no nothing.

Style icon?

Colson, Dom?

I’m very into aesthetics that I could never really pull off.

What are three things you can’t live without?

My glasses

My headphones

The Bloom album (quite literally in this case)

What’s one ingredient you put in everything?

Mixed herbs or sweetcorn.

Love Worcestershire Sauce as well.

What 3 people living or dead would you like to make dinner for?

Colson Baker (needs a heartwarming homecooked meal)

And there are probably others but none that really spring to mind.

My mum, to thank her?

What’s your biggest fear in life?

Fear of isolation

I’m not scared of being abandoned (if you do that to me then you’re doing me a favour)

But I am scared of closing myself off to people that could be there for me and letting things get bad and consume me again.

Window or aisle seat?

Aisle seat!

I like looking at what’s going on about me.

And it’s odd but I also don’t hate the inconvenience of getting up to let people pass.

What’s your current TV obsession?

Roadies.

And nothing else will ever match it. It’s a crime it was cancelled before a second season.

Favourite app?

Tumblr, followed closely by Pinterest.

I think it’s because they’re spaces that are specifically for your interests, dreams, all that mess in your head and I vibe with that.

Secret talent?

I’m not very talented, not gonna lie.

I can rap all of Breaking News which I feel is impressive?

Most adventurous thing you’ve done in your life?

I’ve not had many opportunities to be adventurous.

Skipping school always gave me such anxiety so my body definitely thought I was jumping off a cliff or something.

How would you define yourself in three words?

Witty, fangirl, brave?

Favourite piece of clothing you own?

I have a green and grey checkered suit jacket that I adore.

My Adder Technology jumper is my favourite oversized item.

Black ripped jeans.

Must have clothing item everyone should have?

Brown leather belt. I don’t know why but I’ll never go back.

Superpower you would want?

Power of time? Just to like slow it down. I feel like I don’t have enough time to do anything so to slow it down and get shit done would be great. Or just to give myself a minute to breathe. We don’t get enough ‘time out’s in life.

What’s inspiring you in life right now?

Colson has always been inspiring to me.

He came into my life when I was 15 and literally saved it. He’s always going to mean that to me.

Best piece of advice you’ve received?

Mod Sun: I’ve always been a little bit reluctant to say I’m gonna be the best at something because I didn’t wanna disrespect other people, like ‘Imma be the best at something, you can’t have it’. So I’d never really be like that. But if you don’t say you’re gonna be the best at what you’re doing, your insides, that power that you have, doesn’t know what the fuck to do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JUdgoHnL4Q&list=LLF69NADeUPVjZWSlZpeiGWg&index=3&t=0s

Best advice you’d give your teenage self?

Just live, please. We were so close to not living and yet here we are. Please, please, just throw the rule book in the flames. Go to school hungover, pull allnighters to just feel music, smoke, don’t do your homework.

Promise me to be unapologetically yourself.

A book that everyone should read?

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote - just stick with it...it’s an interesting story and raises some questions about life.

The Selection Series by Keira Cass - my favourite YA series.

Harry Potter by JK Rowling - pretty self explanatory? 

What would you like to be remembered for?

I don’t wanna be remembered.

I’m gone, just move on. Find a new energy to bring into your life.

How do you define beauty?

    (That is a purposeful blank space.)

What do you love most about your body?

That it’s never given up on me.

Best way to take a rest/decompress?

Music as loud as possible so you can just lose yourself.

Favourite place to view art?

Oh this has me stumped.

I like art that is significant but isn’t technically legally displayed.

If your life were a song, what would the title be?

It would 100% be a word or phrase that wouldn’t turn up in the lyrics at all.

But you listen to it and the title seems like the perfect title, nothing else could represent this song.

If you could master one instrument, what would it be?

Guitar, bass? No, drums. Vocals...

I just want some musical talent!

If you had a tattoo, where would it be?

Oooo, get ready.

Bee, on my collarbone.

Lace Up, on my wrist.

Tree, on my sternum.

Stars/an astronaut/a solar system, somewhere undecided.

Dolphins or koalas?

Don’t really have a preference...

But the dolphins in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy were great so...

What’s your spirit animal?

I think maybe a seal?

Best gift you’ve ever received?

My headphones.

I have tiny ears so have always struggled to find earbuds that are comfortable for a long period of time.

I found some!

And then they were discontinued so it’s really difficult to buy them.

I was surprised with 3 pairs once and I practically cried.

Best gift you’ve ever given?

Ummm, I’m not very artsy creative but I once made my mum a birthday card using a teabag, I think she liked it?

I was a teenager so it was really rare that I ever did something artistic so I think she especially appreciated the effort and discomfort I felt.

What’s your favourite board game?

Chess.

Game of Life.

Cards against humanity.

What’s your favourite colour?

Grey.

Least favourite colour?

I used to have this severe hate for pink because it was forced on me as a child (I shared a room with my little sister and she loved pink so pink was what she got.)

I’ve grown out of it: pink is punk as fuck.

Diamonds or pearls?

I don’t really have a preference.

I much prefer simple things.

If we’re talking jewellery then I like plain silver.

Drugstore makeup or designer?

Ummm...I’m not sure how to differentiate.

I try and use Natural Collection for the base of my makeup but my eyeliner and eyebrows are Rimmel London and NYX.

Blow-dry or air-dry?

Air-dry

These curls only work one way and that’s their way.

Pilates or yoga?

Both.

Depends on what I need in the moment.

Coffee or tea?

Neither!

I’m not allowed so it’s hot chocolate all the wayyyy.

What’s the weirdest word in the English language?

The weirdest words are the ones that you learnt reading so pronounce one way when actually it’s said entirely differently.

Me, in Year 10, with the word ‘epitome’.

Dark chocolate or milk chocolate?

Depends on my mood really...

Cadbury released this bar that mixed the two together and that seems kinda perfect.

Stairs or elevator?

Either

I like racing people in the lifts to see if I can get up the stairs quicker. Such a child, I know.

Summer or winter?

Winter, for sure.

Natural ginger so the summer is the worst thing I’ve ever experienced.

You are stuck on an island, you can pick one food to eat forever without getting tired of it, what would you eat?

Mash.

A desert you don’t like?

Apple pie (or any fruit pie)

And custard.

A skill you’re working on mastering?

Skateboarding.

No time like quarantine, eh?

Best thing to happen to you today?

Woke up naturally alert so felt ready to tackle the day productively for the first time since lockdown began.

Best compliment you’ve ever received?

That my writing has helped someone.

Someone told me that A Night of Many Firsts perfectly represented what they were feeling and helped them feel strong enough to get help.

Favourite smell?

My deodorant, baking, the local library.

Hugs or kisses?

Hugs. Simple as.

If you made a documentary, what would it be about?

Intense case study of teenage mental illness into adulthood.

Last piece of content you consumed that made you cry?

Pretty Toxic Revolver - Machine Gun Kelly

Probably every episode of Torchwood ever

Lipstick or lip gloss?

Lipstick

Sweet or savoury?

Savoury. Vegan corn chowder, garlic bread, potatoes.

Girl crush?

I don’t really have any?

I mean, I’m bi but no one really comes to mind.

How you know you’re in love?

I’ve never been in love but I hope it would be seeing them and feeling peace.

Knowing that they get every part of you, good and bad, and still choose to stay. And vice versa.

Song you can listen to on repeat?

Pretty much anything MGK

Currently feeling the Lace Up album.

If you could switch lives with someone for a day who would it be?

I wouldn’t want to be someone else.

I’d much rather be able to jump forward and experience a day in my future...for reassurance.

What are you most excited about at this time in your life?

Travelling.

I’m leaving and hopefully never coming back to this place, this mindset, again.

[obsidiancorner]

ObiYuki Bingo '19

YouTuber

Word count: 946

Obi sits quietly on the windowsill beside the small desk in his living room, thumbing idly through his emails on his phone. The world seems peaceful here. It's smothering. 

It's pleasant enough when he has music or his TV on, something to keep an ambient sound in his apartment. But the stillness of the day feels foreign and he can't help feeling on-edge. He misses the noises of the city: cars honking, people yelling, and the whir of power tools and roar of heavy machinery from constant construction. 

It is also cold here in Lyrias. Even with summer on the horizon, there is still a light dusting of snow on the ground and a bite to the air. 

He should be unpacking but why spend the energy his body will need to just keep him functioning. He's used to warm weather, not this constant winter wonderland climate. He made sure to do his research on the effects of drastic temperature change on a human body. 

With a heavy sigh, he turns his phone 's screen off and absently taps the side of his phone case for a minute. He needed to move. The lack of ambient noise is grating and the falls week as though they are closing in. 

It takes only a fraction of a moment to decide where to go when he looks out the window his head rests against. 

He grabs his jacket from the back of the wooden desk chair sitting beside him and strolls out onto the rather impressive balcony for a place with decently priced rent and utilities. He hadn't actually seen the apartment before moving in so seeing so much outdoor space had been impressive. 

A cardinal sings in a tree below and he can hear the wind as it rustles the leaves. It's hard to find that in the city. Even visiting a park, you were more likely to hear construction or infrastructure work rather than wind as it dances through the leaves. 

He breathes in deep, fresh air filling his lungs. Yet another thing you can't find in the city. There is always some form of refuse, carbon, or other pollutant lingering in city air. 

Looking to the right, he sees the balcony beside him is covered in seemingly well-kept winter foliage. He's no expert on plant care, but everything is immaculate. 

Baby pines sit in large pots on either side of the door. Cyclamen and heather add splashes of color in hanging baskets and boxes attached to the railing. A vibrant dogwood sits on the far corner. 

Before he can continue taking stock of all the differences he will need to get acclimated to, his phone chimes with a YouTube notification. 

BackyardHerbalist posted a new video. Thank the stars above for small miracles. He needed something familiar and her regular updates were just that. 

He has little interest in the cultivation of the plants she talks about but listening to all the ways they can be used in medicine is fascinating. The biggest draw for him, though, is the woman herself.

She's adorable. She's all vivid red hair, wide green eyes, charisma, and blinding intelligence. 

When she first started on YouTube a couple years ago, she looked unsure of herself as she stepped out on her new platform. But now? Now, she was confident and interactive with her viewers in the comments section- even answering questions from fans on video every now and then.

He taps the notification to pull up the video and the requisite pre-video ads play through. He never skips them because he knows those advertisements are how YouTubers get paid.  

"Hello, everyone." Her smile as she talks is contagious and Obi can't help but smile as well. 

She's not in her apartment today. Usually, she records in the once-living-room-now-greenhouse of her apartment. Today she looks like she could be in the Yuri's Islands.

"I'm here in the university's hothouse today with a hibiscus plant," she says, lifting the heavy potted plant with ease. It obscures the bottom half of her face and she closes her eyes to smell a flower. 

She looks bashful when she lowers the plant again, a pale pink a few shades lighter than the flowers of the plant dusts her cheeks. "Sorry, they're a favorite of mine. They smell so lovely." 

The door to the balcony covered in all the flora slides open and he turns his screen off reflexively as he looks over. The back of a head greets him, covered in a layer of apple red hair. She is humming to herself as she attends to one of her pines.

He chuckles at the irony. Of course he would move somewhere where his neighbor shares the hair color and penchant for plants as his YouTube crush. 

The sound of his laughter startles her and she spins around. Green eyes, bright like a summer day, focus on him and his breath catches, choking him on an inhale. The cough that follows sounds awkward at best.

"Oh! I'm sorry," she says approaching their shared railing. "I didn't know anyone was out here. You must be the new neighbor. I'm Shirayuki." 

Gods, her smile. It's so much better in person. He can't decide if his luck is amazing or horrendous. 

He realizes belatedly she has her hand extended. Right… Words. Words would be good right now. She had introduced herself. 

"O-Obi," he stutters, internally rolling his eyes at himself. He used to be better at this. 

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Obi! Welcome to the neighborhood!" Her smile is genuine and his heart skips a beat or two too many. 

Oh, man, he thinks. I am in trouble.