#ipod challenge

[icegirl2772]

My iPod Shuffle Challenge Response

@partiallypearl and @myloveforhergoeson Saw you guys do this, so I thought I'd (finally) do my own.

To the surprise of no one, my list is Jaelyn (James/Kaelyn - yeah, I gave them a ship name). I am cheating a bit, though, and using Spotify. Specifically, my playlist that's created from my Top Songs from 2023 (I'm more likely to get songs that won't make me go WTF). (Considering I don't have an iPod anymore.)

But down below are the rules for anyone who wants to do it:

IPod Shuffle Challenge Rules: Pick a character, pairing, or fandom you like. Turn on your music player and put it on random/shuffle. Write a ficlet related to each song that plays. You only have the time frame of the song to finish the drabble; you start when the song starts, and stop when it's over. No lingering afterwards! No editing! Do ten of these, and then post them.

Song One: The Thing About You by Chloe Agnew

The thing about Kaelyn was how happy she made James.

It was something he had noticed when they were kids. Even when they were five years old, he was always so excited to see her. He was excited to see all of his friends, but there was something different about Kaelyn (aside from the obvious of her being his only female friend). And it was something that only grew as they did.

Eventually, they weren't children anymore. They were teenagers. And James was able to name that thing about Kaelyn.

That thing was love.

It still took him a long time to say that thing. For so many reasons. But when he did and he walked into her arms, he decided he had come home.

--

Song Two: I Won't Let You Go by Switchfoot and Lauren Daigle

Kaelyn was one of the few who saw first hand just how much James struggled with his parents' divorce. She was one of the few he would let his guard down around. Drop the façade he had worked so hard to perfect.

Both of his parents were strong-willed. Career-driven. Never willing to back down. Many would say it was amazing his parents lasted as long as they had. But at least he could say his mother loved him in her own way. James' father seemed eager to replace his family with his quick remarriage. (He's waiting for the day his father announces his wife's pregnancy to really solidify that feeling.)

The night the divorce papers came through, James was on the phone to Kaelyn in tears. Because that was also the day his dad decided to tell him he was remarrying to a woman fifteen years younger than his mother. He was barely waiting for the ink to dry.

The next time Kaelyn saw James after that phone call, she held him. Comforted him through those fears that only she knew about. They were only 13. Too young to deal with this.

But old enough for Kaelyn to understand the gravity of the promise she was making to herself:

I won't let you go.

--

Song Three: Livin on a Prayer by Bon Jovi

When all the members of Big Time Rush got their open license, they all started taking turns taking their Big Time Rush Mobile out for a spin. Really relishing in the freedom that came with having an open license rather than a leaner's permit.

Admittedly - especially since they all embarked on romantic relationships - most of those drives involved dates.

And that was where James and Kaelyn were. They were driving through Los Angeles with the top down. Taking in the ocean breeze it afforded them. Sunglasses covering their twinkling eyes. Smiles as bright as the sun that shone down on them. Hair blowing in the wind. Kaelyn had her hands reaching up to the sky in jubilation every once in a while.

It was a beautiful piece of freedom.

But the best part of what they were doing was singing along to the radio. Between the two of them, the teens had a rather eclectic music taste. So, one of their favourite pastimes while driving was finding a radio station, turning the volume up and singing along at the top of their lungs. (Okay. Maybe exchanging a quick kiss when it was safe somewhat topped that.)

But right now, they were singing along to a classic that had to be sung at the top of their lungs.

Oh, we're halfway there! Oh! Livin' on a prayer!

--

Song Four: Gotta Be Somebody by Bucky Covington

When Big Time Rush did eventually go on hiatus (they never wanted to say parted ways - because they always knew they would come back together), it felt like the natural decision. Nobody told them it would happen.

They both just came to the natural conclusion that they wanted to take some time to pursue solo opportunities away from Big Time Rush.

It did not surprise anyone that James immediately went to work on a solo album. Kaelyn and Gustavo were right him every step of the way. Like they were with the other three when they said they wanted to release solo music.

James' solo album was a massive success. His songs were all over the radio. He was being nominated for all of these awards (even winning a few of them). It did not surprise him when Griffin immediately had him go on an international tour to really capitalize on this success.

And it was on this last night of the tour that Kaelyn - her belly rounded as she entered her fifth month of pregnancy - approached James with a big smile and a scrap of paper he had written as a child.

I'm gonna be somebody.

--

Song Five: Time of Our Life by Big Time Rush

Kaelyn laughed as she twirled the dance floor in her white dress. Her groom, her husband - it felt so natural to say - dancing alongside her in his tuxedo.

Their wedding day was beautiful. Gustavo officiated. Jennifer walked her down the aisle. Kelly was the wedding planner. The boys collectively shared the role of best men (because there was no way James was choosing between them - although, Kendall was the witness who signed the marriage license with them) while Katie served as maid of honour.

It all led to the reception. After the food and the speeches, the couple shared their first dance. And once that was over, the dance floor was open for everyone else, with James and Kaelyn opting to not have spotlight parent/child dances.

Unsurprisingly, Big Time Rush somehow made its way onto the DJ's playlist. It was something that amused everyone to no end. But nobody complained. In fact, it made the night even more perfect.

Especially as the chorus of a certain song played that highlighted a promise:

We're gonna party all night Have the time of our lives, girl

--

Song Six: Stay the Night - Zedd and Hayley Williams

It really was a bad idea. Starting out like this. They had to know.

But James and Kaelyn couldn't stop themselves. They didn't want to catch each other as they fell onto the bed. They didn't want to end the kiss that seemed endless. They didn't want to stop their hands from wandering. They didn't want to stop their bodies from acting on feeling and instinct.

And they didn't want to stop everything they did next.

That included laying there. Skin to skin. Arms wrapped around their flushed bodies. Saying everything and saying nothing.

"I probably shouldn't stay," James stated.

And deep down, Kaelyn knew he was right. He really shouldn't stay. It increased the risk of them getting caught. It complicated things.

But they had broken so many rules that it made her wonder if breaking one more would really matter.

"I know," Kaelyn sighed. "But I want you to stay."

And at the end of it, James wanted to stay too.

So he did. He stayed the night.

--

Song Seven: Rhythm of the Night by DeBarge

Mr. X was a peculiar character, but he was arguably one of the best choreographers in Hollywood. And someone who could put up with Big Time Rush's antics.

In fact, he knew how to use them in his favour and deliver great results.

But today was an off day. For all of them.

No matter how hard they all tried, the choreography did not want to sink in. Their muscles refused to commit it to memory. In fact, some would say their bodies would outright refuse to cooperate.

So, Mr. X suggested they call it a day. They were getting nowhere fast.

James may have been aching by the time he returned home after the rehearsal, but those aches seemed to be forgotten when he saw Kaelyn. She was cooking dinner, having finished her work with Gustavo early. She had the radio on in the kitchen and was dancing to whatever song came on.

Despite the aches in his body - despite the source of his frustration being dance - James found himself joining her.

He let loose. Laughing and smiling as he twirled her around the kitchen. Kissing her smile as his hands rested on her abdomen (he really couldn't wait for the twelve-week mark) before moving on to do his skincare regimen before dinner.

Sometimes, he needed to be carried away by the rhythm of the night.

--

Song Eight: How I Go by Yellowcard

It was their impending parenthood that made James and Kaelyn really reflect on their parents.

Mama Knight was the type of parent they aspired to be. She wasn't perfect, but she was the best they had.

Mrs. Diamond... she definitely loved her son. She didn't go about things the best way, but James had to admit. The love was there. And she wanted the best for him (even if she was misguided in what that best was).

Their dads weren't worth talking about, both men seem to be more interested in shirking their responsibilities in parenthood than stepping up.

The words did not need to be spoken between the couple. They both knew they were making the same promise to their unborn child. (For a brief moment, they regretted deciding to wait until the birth to find out what they're having.)

That would not be how they go. They would be as good as the best parent, and better than the bad.

--

Song Nine: We Are by Big Time Rush

When the teenagers graduated from the Palm Woods school, there were celebrations all round. Kaelyn and Logan had put in the hard yards to make sure that everyone got to pass and graduate with their friends.

And the graduation party was much better organised than the school dance they had put together at the last minute during their first year in Los Angeles. Gustavo went all out for his dogs.

Kaelyn stood amongst the sea of graduates - cap and gown and a proud smile - watching Big Time Rush perform the song that had been chosen by the cohort. Apparently, there was only one song that was perfect for graduating teenagers.

It was We Are.

And it worked perfectly for them.

--

Song Ten (the author breathes a sigh in relief at finally having made it here): Crash and Burn by Savage Garden

Kaelyn sniffled as she buried her face into the pillow. She and Neil were never meant to be. They were too different. Some would say their relationship was doomed from the start.

But that didn't ease the pain of dealing with her first heartbreak any easier.

"Bunny?"

Kaelyn lifted her tear-stained face from the pillow when she heard the nickname she loved so much. The nickname only one person used on her.

She saw James standing there.

She chose to ignore the scraped knuckles and the bruises on his body. She chose to ignore what she knew James had done to Neil. She did not want to deal with that right now.

She just needed her best friend. She needed to crash and burn.

And James sensed that. He laid down on the bed next to her (above the covers, for the sake of everyone's sanity) and opened his arms to Kaelyn. She immediately nestled herself into his chest, her tears staining the fabric.

He promised her several things. She deserved better than Neil (anybody who tried to force a woman into doing anything she didn't want to made James' blood boil). She would find better (he didn't say that better was right there waiting for her).

Instead, he stayed true to a silent promise he had made to her.

If she crashed and burned, she would never be alone.

[partiallypearl]

ipod shuffle challenge

wanted to write, but couldn't figure out how to start anything, so i figured i'd bring back the ipod shuffle challenge and see what i could write for btr characters! if anyone else wants to try their hand at it, the rules will be below, and my drabbles will be under the keep reading!

IPod Shuffle Challenge Rules: Pick a character, pairing, or fandom you like. Turn on your music player and put it on random/shuffle. Write a ficlet related to each song that plays. You only have the time frame of the song to finish the drabble; you start when the song starts, and stop when it's over. No lingering afterwards! No editing! Do ten of these, and then post them.

What do ya miss? - Matt Storm

The box in the back of his closet holds everything Kendall’s too scared to look at. All the things Jo gave to him. The light blue beanie. Tickets from when they went to watch Varsity Vampire 3 together. The friendship bracelet she made for him while Big Time Rush went on their first tour. 

It’s a sad graveyard of sorts of his ex girlfriend. He hates it. It’s like no matter what he can’t escape her. 

And the sadder part? He doesn’t really want to. 

&

Scatterbrain - Emei

Logan’s never been very scatterbrained. He’s always had his head screwed on pretty well. But Camille makes his head go all fuzzy, and his heart feel like it's going to pound out of his damn head. 

She smells like vanilla cake, and her lipgloss sticks to his cheeks and lips no matter how much he wipes it off. She’s everywhere. He sees her in the Palm Woods, and around LA, and when they’re on, it’s great, but when they’re off, it sucks. 

She’s not vindictive of it either. Though she definitely could be. 

&

get a grip! - caroline dare

“I thought it was common sense to not break your promises?” Lucy asks, and Kendall gives her that stupid sheepish smile that makes her always forgive him. 

She had told herself, when she first got to LA, that she wasn't going to pull the same shit she did in Georgia. She wasn’t going to let a boy get her hopes up again. She wasn’t going to allow another boy to make her think she was his whole world, when in reality she wasn’t. 

But here she is. Watching as Kendall flounders for an excuse, knowing damn well that she knows the truth. That Jo is back, and that even if he won’t admit it, he’s already made his choice. Truthfully, Lucy never stood a fucking chance.

“Get a grip on it.” She tells him. He looks at her, green eyes flaring up. “Like you really want it Knight. Because I’m not waiting around to be disappointed again.” 

&

you don’t know me - allison iraheta 

Lucy’s album goes viral as soon as it’s released. Kendall does his best to avoid it. You Dumped Me For Her is scathing, and he’s well aware how badly he fucked up. Besides, he’s happy with Jo. He doesn't need to keep up with what his sort of ex is doing. Right? 

Nonetheless, he’s pretty damn good at avoiding Lucy’s music until she releases her second single, You Don’t Know Me. The song is pretty similar to You Dumped Me, but the lyrics haunt him even more. 

“You don’t wanna know what’s real,” the song says, and Kendall remembers the Asian rockstar telling him that at one point. They’d been hanging out in Lucy’s apartment alone, and he had asked her why she never talked about her past. 

“Boys like you typically run away from girls like me.” She had told him, sipping on the wine coolers she’d snuck in. Kendall had disagreed with her, and he had protested. “No. I wanna know everything about you.” He had said after a long sip of his beer. Lucy had shaken her head. 

“You don’t wanna know what’s real Kendall. It would scare you away. Trust me.” He had wanted to protest, but he decided not to. 

Now, nearly 6 months later, he thinks she may have been right. He didn’t know her. And now, he wasn’t exactly sure if he wanted to.

[myloveforhergoeson]

hello. in usual ash fashion i want to write but i don't want it to be any of my current works. so i'm taking a crack at @partiallypearl 's ipod shuffle challenge! though im cheating by using spotify, i'm just going to put on my liked songs playlist and see what comes up :) continue reading if interested <3

hayloft - mother mother

pairing: rames

james knew sneaking into roxy's bedroom was a bad idea. her father had been clear about that from the moment they'd started dating.

but he didn't care. it's not like declan would actually do anything to him, considering how that would affect the daughter he'd give the entire world to.

james would give her the world too - declan just couldn't tell that from the incriminating position he'd found the two teenage lovers in under her bright red duvet.

good thing james had left the window open, considering he'd scrambled out of it as quickly as he could.

roxy was screaming, so was declan, as the man crammed himself through the doorframe and began to take off after james. he chased him all the way down the block and into the forested trail, yelling some of the scariest threats the teenager had ever heard.

-

i never told you what i do for a living - my chemical romance

pairing: rames (rockstar roxy au)

"what brings you around here?" he asked, gazing out at the palm woods pool as he finally managed to catch the girl's attention. "i thought you already had a place with your dad."

"i do," she said, buffing her nails on her shirt. "he's hard to live with, rockstar lifestyle and all. figured it was time i flew the coop and got a place of my own."

"and you can... afford that? aren't you my age?"

"you know how well performing pays the bills."

that caught james' attention. "what...?"

"oh, come on," roxy laughed, a hand reaching out to brush his arm. it reminded him of their little encounter of the rocque records conference room. "i never told you what i do for a living?"

the boy shook his head, confused.

"i'm a performer, just like you," the girl shared. "time to forge a rockstar lifestyle befitting me, not him."

-

older - five seconds of summer

pairing: kaisy-ish. if you squint. more like mae walker x jasper walker lol

daisy didn't think there was anything better than watching her grandparents together. they had a bond that endured all; happiness and heartbreak and everything in between.

the two of them had been through so much together, it was almost hard for her to fathom.

the two of them sat in the study, next to each other on the worn out couch they'd had in there forever and ever. her grandpa had a world war 2 book cracked open for the two of them to read. while he was focused on the pages, his hand cradled hers.

he knew that she was starting to fall asleep on his shoulder, but kept as normal anyway.

daisy wanted something like that. something real. natural. as easy as breathing.

she didn't want to get older without a love like that, she decided, pouring over the sketchbook in her lap. just as she decided what to begin to draw - the scene in front of her - the chime on her laptop went off to alert her of a new message.

-

driving through a dream - andrew mcmahon in the wilderness

pairing: rames

one of these days, roxy was going to force james to get his driver's license. it always stressed her out so bad when he drove without one, but tonight they'd had no choice as they headed back into la from santa monica.

the songwriter was literally falling asleep on her feet after their jam packed day of fun, hardly able to keep her eyes open long enough to focus on anything in particular.

the radio was on, a tape of her favorite songs blasting through the stereo of the old pontiac gto, and the music mixed with the sound of the rustling wind as she laid her head on james' shoulder as they soared down the highway.

he always looked so cool, even with the wind whipping his hair wildly. he knew it too; she didn't need to peek at him to know the smirk growing across his face as she cuddled closer into him as the fall air chilled her skin.

"try to get some sleep," he told her, barely audible over all the other highway noises. "i'll wake you at home."

-

miss you - louis tomlinson

pairing: olive & roxy (college au)

"everything is great," olive assured her best friend, cradling the half-drank mug of beer in her palms. "everything is fucking great."

roxy knew this was the furthest thing from the truth, however. olive always got like this when her on-off relationship with the boy from her psych 101 class was going downhill.

"it will be," the other girl promised. "after one more pint... or five..."

olive snorted, looking out at the others hanging out around the sleazy bar 20 minutes away from their dorm. without saying anything, she got up and ordered four shots from the bartender.

not too long later, she and roxy were the only ones on the makeshift dance floor, singing along to the justin bieber tune roxy had begged the dj to play for them.

-

INFATUATION - i don't know how but they found me

pairing: kaisy

if kendall didn't have his phone on him, it made him anxious.

what if daisy-mae sent him a message and he wasn't able to reply to it?

would she think he had better things to do than talk to her?

he didn't think he ever would for the rest of his life.

besides, she said she didn't have a good way of reliably communicating with him until the laptop she'd ordered arrived. the laptop she'd bought just to talk to him.

how crazy was that? was it crazy to be crazy about her crazy decisions?

talking to her was his only repeive from the mess of his current state. no need to worry about hockey, or his knee, or anything else.

his friends said it was infatuation... katie had called it obsession... and kendall had no idea which term he preferred.

-

lost my cool - stand atlantic

pairing: roxy & mag

waiting was all roxy did. for the right time to share the song. for mag to indicate he liked her as much as she liked him. for any sign brand new day had a gig. for an excuse to hang out around the boy she might have been falling in love with.

what a fat lot of good that did her, considering she was running down the halls of her high school, face in her hands trying to hide the tears streaming down her face.

normally, she prided herself in being able to control her emotions well, but after mag had laughed in her face at the thought of them being together... anyone in her position would do the same.

she'd always thought it was so cliche when that happened in the movies or tv shows she watched, but now, living it in her own reality, she felt far more sympathetic to the plight of protagonists like kat stratford. maybe she should take a page out of her book and tell mag to eat shit, but the thought of ever seeing him again made her begin to cry even harder.

-

yellow - coldplay

pairing: kaisy

kendall wished being able to play the guitar turned him into songwriter he wanted to be. it wasn't enough that daisy liked the music he played, he wanted her to like the music he made.

he'd tried everything, scratching out all his thoughts onto the pages of his school notebook before tearing them out and crumpling them into a ball to trash in the corner of his room.

just as he went to write again, the chime on his computer went off. daisy was online.

look at the stars she sent aren't they exceptionally beautiful tonight?

he didn't think twice before he opened the blinds to his room, looking up at the same night sky as her, despite being thousands of miles apart. the streetlights outside his house doused his vision in a pale yellow.

and the lyric he managed to come up with then was just as stupid as the rest of them, but he wrote it out any way.

look at the stars. look how they shine for you.

the corner of his mouth perked up. that was a pretty good start, even if he could never put into words how much daisy meant to him.

-

one less lonely girl by justin bieber

pairing: roxy & logan (wag au), lolive if you squint

"you're not understanding me, hockey head!" roxy practically yelled at logan, taking his shoulders in his hands and shaking violently. "it's non-negotiable. you're singing this to her at the reception or else."

"we're not even engaged!" logan cried right back. not that he hadn't thought about it before...

"i don't care!" his friend continued to shake him. "there's no way i'm giving her to you unless you tell me right now - swear to me - you're going to do it!"

"she's not yours to give away," logan pointed out, starting to get a headache.

"do i need to get wren on the phone? because she'll be on my side!"

that threat did hold quite a lot of weight; when it came to olive's best interests, roxy and wren did tend to see eye to eye.

"...fine," the hocky player conceded, cheeks growing a firey red. "and not just because you're threatening me..."

-

when you need a man - the driver era

pairing: pre-relationship rames, dak x roxy

it was infuriating to see dak anywhere in the vicinity of roxy. james didn't understand how she couldn't see how miserable he'd made her over the last few weeks. standing her up at the party, getting all up in her shit for hanging out with other guys, a whole list of things he could think of off the top of his head.

but it didn't matter, at least not to him, because he'd be there for her regardless. that was what a good friend did, even if he desperately wanted to be more.

when she needed a man, she'd call on him, and he'd be ready to swoop in and take care of her. show her what a real relationship looked like. turn her entire world upside down.

--

hi! if you made it this far, you deserve a medal. these are so embarrassing. now you know why it takes me so long to get my chapters out LOLLL. writing with brevity is literally my worst nightmare!!!!!! but anyway i hope you enjoyed <3 ty for reading ily

[halamshirals]

was just talking about how much i missed my ipod classic and jonathan fucking FOUND ONE. FOR FREE. charging rn to see if it works and if it does im about to be soooo annoying

[rapplesart]

Dc x Dp prompt - Danny vs. The weird dude that let's him pickpocket everything of his.

Danny is homeless in metropolis ( because let's change it up from batman alright). The kryptonian population of the city actually served as a decent cover up for any glowing green weirdness. It was easy to just blame it on the big bad of the day.

However, compared to crime ridden Gotham next door it is way harder to find good paying work as a undocumented teen with a questionable background and set of skills. So yes, Danny is homeless.

Of course he is not the only homeless person in the city. Homeless people are everywhere and somehow he ends up getting involved in a gang of pickpocketing kids. The deal is simple : you can join their shelter, a decent uninhabited house that the city forgot to turn the water off from, in exchange for a percentage of your weekly steals. Additionally you also have to pay a General protection fee.

It's realistically a bad deal of course but compared to the unprotected streets of metropolis, a city where laser beams and alien invasions are part of the daily hazards, it's the best you're gonna get.

On Danny's first two weeks of stealing he's being trained by a few of the older ones. They show him how to spit easy targets, how to distinguish between tourists and locals and how to run if you get caught.

Danny gets the hang of it quickly with a little bit of ghostly touch.

On his first day alone he spots someone who seems to be the perfect target. An Office worker with neat clothes so he obviously has a stable form of income, therefore a better chance for good loot. The guy also looked nerdy with his thick glasses, bad eyesight also being an advantage when tricking someone off their money. The guys steps seem clumsy his back is drawn to itself in a way that made him look clumsy in his own body rather than protective if his things.

All in all the guy screamed target. So Danny makes quick work of bumping into him, snatching his wallet and taking out the cash. The 70$ he finds are am excellent treat that would guarantee food and shelter for the week if he was careful. However, part of him still felt bad, the guy didn't do anything wrong after all.

In the end Danny only takes 50 and returns the wallet pretending to find it on the street. He really didn't think about the interaction afterwards, instead choosing to focus on some rich looking tourists next.

Except two weeks later Danny was struggling to meet his quota. It was raining heavily and he couldn't afford a week on the street. No tourists came out in such weather and it was hard to find a good target. Until he spots the man again. This time bumping into him from behind.

In all honesty it was sloppy work. He was tired, wet and hungry. Danny could see the moment the guy clocked him as a thief, the slight tense of muscles when the man was ready to strike for the stealing kid. Danny knew he couldn't outrun this so he was prepared for what's to come. Except the guy relaxed and deliberately moved in a way that made the wallet MORE accessible. It was strange.

Once again he only took a portion before returning the rest. But this time he couldn't stop thinking about the encounter.

The next time he saw the guy he deliberately chose him and once again the man conveniently moved to make his valuables accessible for pickpoters.

Danny took it as a challenge. Stealing a wallet from the man became stealing the watch, phone, ipod, coffee, belt, shoe. Each time the items became more and more ridiculous but teh man just kept letting Danny steal his things.

It mad the halfa wonder how far he could take it.....

[polyjackets]

Rest in peace Jackie Taylor you would've loved…..

Spice Girls (1996-2001) (justttttt missed it)

Barbie Girl by Aqua (1997)

Britney Spears (1999 onwards)

Legally Blonde (2001)

iPods (2001)

Nicole Kidman divorcing Tom Cruise photo (2001)

Beyonce's solo career (2003 onwards)

Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton & Britney Spears photo (2006) ("Paris is a cunt!"/"I didn't say that! Paris is my friend!")

Britney Spears divorcing Kevin Federline (2007)

Keeping Up with the Kardashions (2007 onwards)

Tiger Woods outed as serial cheater (2010)

Instagram (2010 onwards)

Katy Perry teenage dream era (2010-2012)

Kim Kardashian's 75 day marriage (2011)

Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepson (2012)

Ice bucket challenge (2014)

White or gold dress (2015)

Lemonade by Beyonce (2016)

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie divorce (2016)

TikTok (2017 onwards)

Fenty Beauty by Rihanna (2017 onwards)

Barbie (2023)

#ihatemyboyfriend trend / the ick

[aerichives]

unspoken notes

aeri uchinaga x reader

synopsis. y/n never expected a simple accident to change everything. when aeri spills coffee on herself, y/n lends her an oversized sweater without a second thought. but when aeri finds y/n’s ipod in the pocket and a playlist with her name on it, curiosity turns into a realization she can’t ignore.

genre. mutual pining, slow burn, fluff

words. 756

part 1 part 2

y/n and aeri are college blockmates, and their relationship has always been comfortable. one day, while studying in the common area, disaster strikes. aeri knocks her coffee over, spilling it all over her shirt. instinctively, y/n offers her oversized sweater to aeri, her voice tinged with concern as she insists, "you can borrow it until it dries."

aeri hesitates, caught off guard by how much the gesture means, but she eventually slips into the warm sweater. the situation feels a bit awkward, but at the same time, there’s something comforting about being close in a way they never had before.

later that day, aeri returns to her dorm after a long class. as she unbuttons the sweater, she slips her hand into the pockets and feels something unexpected. her fingers brush against a small, hard object, y/n’s ipod. aeri blinks in surprise, holding it up in the dim light. she can’t help but chuckle at the sight of it. an ipod? seriously? it feels like a piece of the past in her hands, but there’s something endearing about it. she quickly pockets it, deciding she’ll return it to y/n, but curiosity tugs at her.

she sits on her bed and starts fiddling with it, tapping at the screen to scroll through y/n’s playlist. she’s not sure what she was expecting to find, but she’s amused by the idea of y/n still using this old thing. it’s just so… y/n.

as she flips through the playlists, one name catches her eye. “aeri <3” her heart skips a beat. a playlist? with her name on it?

aeri hesitates, wondering if she’s crossing a line by snooping like this, but the curiosity is too strong. she presses play, and a soft, familiar song fills her room. she leans back against the wall, a little smile tugging at the corners of her lips as she listens. it’s obvious now, y/n likes her, right? it should be.

aeri had always suspected there was something between them, something unspoken that lingered in the air every time they were together. but she hadn’t been brave enough to ask, always second-guessing herself. the connection they shared was undeniable, yet delicate, like a thread holding them together without ever pulling too tight. their interactions were always lighthearted, playful, filled with little moments that seemed harmless, yet felt loaded with something more.

aeri often found herself teasing y/n, always looking for ways to get under her skin, not out of malice, but because she loved the way y/n’s cheeks would flush pink whenever she was caught off guard. it was a game, a silent challenge. aeri would wink at her from across the room, or drop a sly comment, enjoying the way y/n would immediately look away, her eyes flitting nervously as she fumbled for words. there was something magnetic about how easy it was to make y/n flustered, like she was an open book that aeri had just begun to learn how to read.

then there were the quieter moments, moments that didn’t need words. like when their fingers brushed while handing over notes in class, a soft, fleeting touch that felt like an electric shock. aeri would catch herself holding her breath for a second, wondering if y/n felt it too, but never daring to acknowledge it out loud. or the time they shared a private joke, laughing so freely, so easily, that for a moment it felt like the world faded away and it was just the two of them, sharing something that no one else could touch.

aeri had always treasured those moments, even if she didn’t know what to make of them. she’d tried to ignore the feeling that bloomed in her chest, pushing it aside, telling herself it was just her imagination running wild. she was careful, not wanting to push too hard or risk making things awkward. was y/n feeling the same way? or was she just being friendly? aeri wasn’t sure. the uncertainty kept her at a distance, even as her heart quietly hoped for something more.

but now, with this playlist, everything felt different. it was like a puzzle piece clicking into place, the missing link she hadn’t known she was looking for.

aeri runs a hand through her hair, leaning back against the bed, a little smirk playing on her lips. this is a game-changer, and she’s more than ready to see how it all unfolds.

[ladyhallen]

Raise a finger if you:

1. Had to manually type out the disclaimer on not owning the story of every chapter of every story

2. Understand what Ipod Shuffle Songfic challenge is

3. Had imagined out arguments/conversations with your OC/characters in the author notes

4. Have written about the Greenette or Bluenette or Pinkette.

5. Have written about Orbs. Cerulean orbs.

6. Had to use the citrus rating system

7. Had an author note in the middle of the story because you had to clarify something

8. Have used sites other than Wattpad or AO3 to start

9. Had to print out fics to read at home/school

10. Had to hand write fics in notebooks to type out later.

If You have Six fingers raised up and higher, congrats, You are an Old Fanfic writer. You've seen the wars.

[imtoodizzy]

South Park Mega Millionaire - it was an old mobile back from 2009. i’ll make a little post about some stuff because i think the flashy visuals are interesting and its not all too talked about!

(screenshot creds/gameplay video!)

the premise of this game was the boys join a japanese game show which takes “young, greedy contestants,” shoves them onto roller skates and make them preform life threatening tasks for the chance to win ¥100,000…not realizing it’s low amount in USD. they face a bunch of challenges to win.

you could play as each of the main boys. you had to tilt your device to move them around on their skates while avoiding things such as vats of oil, sumo wrestlers, and the bunny man. you could unlock trophies from losing, though. occasionally, you’d also spin the wheel of misfortune which would give you a disadvantage while playing. also, there was a soundboard just for fun where you could listen to some quotes from each character as well as the ability to control music from your playlist on the iPod touch!

(screenshot from the official site!)

i don’t really have much to say on it. it’s just something i think about sometimes, and if you didn’t already know, it might be a fun fact.

[partiallypearl]

does it bite at your edges? (do you lie awake restless?)

IPod Shuffle Challenge Rules: Pick a character, pairing, or fandom you like. Turn on your music player and put it on random/shuffle. Write a ficlet related to each song that plays. You only have the time frame of the song to finish the drabble; you start when the song starts, and stop when it's over. No lingering afterwards! No editing! Do ten of these, and then post them.

SONG: She Calls Me Back - Noah Kahan ft Kacey Musgraves

Circe’s island is a distant memory by the time Reyna makes her way to Camp Jupiter. She does her best to not think of the island, of Circe’s gentle hands caressing her face and promising that things will be okay, of Hylla’s proud expression every time she did something right. 

Of the sound of squeaks coming from the guinea pig cages, the way she had considered the island her home before the pirates took over and took even that from her. 

She does her best to ignore her memories and move on. At least until Annabeth Chase brings it up. 

“You were there right? On Circe’s?” The black girl looks at her, brows furrowed. Her braids are pulled back into a tight ponytail that cascades on her shoulders.

“Why do you ask?” Reyna says, biting down on her lip and looking away as quickly as she can. They are sitting in Reyna’s villa, looking over battle plans that have now long been forgotten. 

“I remember you. Or at least a girl who looked like you. She asked me if things would be okay right before everything went to shit. I never got to answer her.” 

And it’s true. Reyna remembers finding Annabeth, with her goddess braids, and the gorgeous white tunic she had adorned and cornering her, demanding answers. 

“Well, clearly I’ve been answered.” Reyna says, her tone too clipped, her eyes focusing on the papers spread around her. She can feel Annabeth’s gaze burning a hole in the side of her head. 

“I survived.” She says, looking at Annabeth. The black girl nods. “That’s more than some people get.” 

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Cloudburst

Enshittification isn’t inevitable: under different conditions and constraints, the old, good internet could have given way to a new, good internet. Enshittification is the result of specific policy choices: encouraging monopolies; enabling high-speed, digital shell games; and blocking interoperability.

First we allowed companies to buy up their competitors. Google is the shining example here: having made one good product (search), they then fielded an essentially unbroken string of in-house flops, but it didn’t matter, because they were able to buy their way to glory: video, mobile, ad-tech, server management, docs, navigation…They’re not Willy Wonka’s idea factory, they’re Rich Uncle Pennybags, making up for their lack of invention by buying out everyone else:

https://locusmag.com/2022/03/cory-doctorow-vertically-challenged/

But this acquisition-fueled growth isn’t unique to tech. Every administration since Reagan (but not Biden! more on this later) has chipped away at antitrust enforcement, so that every sector has undergone an orgy of mergers, from athletic shoes to sea freight, eyeglasses to pro wrestling:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/cea/written-materials/2021/07/09/the-importance-of-competition-for-the-american-economy/

But tech is different, because digital is flexible in a way that analog can never be. Tech companies can “twiddle” the back-ends of their clouds to change the rules of the business from moment to moment, in a high-speed shell-game that can make it impossible to know what kind of deal you’re getting:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/27/knob-jockeys/#bros-be-twiddlin

To make things worse, users are banned from twiddling. The thicket of rules we call IP ensure that twiddling is only done against users, never for them. Reverse-engineering, scraping, bots — these can all be blocked with legal threats and suits and even criminal sanctions, even if they’re being done for legitimate purposes:

https://locusmag.com/2020/09/cory-doctorow-ip/

Enhittification isn’t inevitable but if we let companies buy all their competitors, if we let them twiddle us with every hour that God sends, if we make it illegal to twiddle back in self-defense, we will get twiddled to death. When a company can operate without the discipline of competition, nor of privacy law, nor of labor law, nor of fair trading law, with the US government standing by to punish any rival who alters the logic of their service, then enshittification is the utterly foreseeable outcome.

To understand how our technology gets distorted by these policy choices, consider “The Cloud.” Once, “the cloud” was just a white-board glyph, a way to show that some part of a software’s logic would touch some commodified, fungible, interchangeable appendage of the internet. Today, “The Cloud” is a flashing warning sign, the harbinger of enshittification.

When your image-editing tools live on your computer, your files are yours. But once Adobe moves your software to The Cloud, your critical, labor-intensive, unrecreatable images are purely contingent. At at time, without notice, Adobe can twiddle the back end and literally steal the colors out of your own files:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/28/fade-to-black/#trust-the-process

The finance sector loves The Cloud. Add “The Cloud” to a product and profits (money you get for selling something) can turn into rents (money you get for owning something). Profits can be eroded by competition, but rents are evergreen:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/24/rent-to-pwn/#kitt-is-a-demon

No wonder The Cloud has seeped into every corner of our lives. Remember your first iPod? Adding music to it was trivial: double click any music file to import it into iTunes, then plug in your iPod and presto, synched! Today, even sophisticated technology users struggle to “side load” files onto their mobile devices. Instead, the mobile duopoly — Apple and Google, who bought their way to mobile glory and have converged on the same rent-seeking business practices, down to the percentages they charge — want you to get your files from The Cloud, via their apps. This isn’t for technological reasons, it’s a business imperative: 30% of every transaction that involves an app gets creamed off by either Apple or Google in pure rents:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doctorow/red-team-blues-another-audiobook-that-amazon-wont-sell/posts/3788112

And yet, The Cloud is undeniably useful. Having your files synch across multiple devices, including your collaborators’ devices, with built-in tools for resolving conflicting changes, is amazing. Indeed, this feat is the holy grail of networked tools, because it’s how programmers write all the software we use, including software in The Cloud.

If you want to know how good a tool can be, just look at the tools that toolsmiths use. With “source control” — the software programmers use to collaboratively write software — we get a very different vision of how The Cloud could operate. Indeed, modern source control doesn’t use The Cloud at all. Programmers’ workflow doesn’t break if they can’t access the internet, and if the company that provides their source control servers goes away, it’s simplicity itself to move onto another server provider.

This isn’t The Cloud, it’s just “the cloud” — that whiteboard glyph from the days of the old, good internet — freely interchangeable, eminently fungible, disposable and replaceable. For a tool like git, Github is just one possible synchronization point among many, all of which have a workflow whereby programmers’ computers automatically make local copies of all relevant data and periodically lob it back up to one or more servers, resolving conflicting edits through a process that is also largely automated.

There’s a name for this model: it’s called “Local First” computing, which is computing that starts from the presumption that the user and their device is the most important element of the system. Networked servers are dumb pipes and dumb storage, a nice-to-have that fails gracefully when it’s not available.

The data structures of source-code are among the most complicated formats we have; if we can do this for code, we can do it for spreadsheets, word-processing files, slide-decks, even edit-decision-lists for video and audio projects. If local-first computing can work for programmers writing code, it can work for the programs those programmers write.

Local-first computing is experiencing a renaissance. Writing for Wired, Gregory Barber traces the history of the movement, starting with the French computer scientist Marc Shapiro, who helped develop the theory of “Conflict-Free Replicated Data” — a way to synchronize data after multiple people edit it — two decades ago:

https://www.wired.com/story/the-cloud-is-a-prison-can-the-local-first-software-movement-set-us-free/

Shapiro and his co-author Nuno Preguiça envisioned CFRD as the building block of a new generation of P2P collaboration tools that weren’t exactly serverless, but which also didn’t rely on servers as the lynchpin of their operation. They published a technical paper that, while exiting, was largely drowned out by the release of GoogleDocs (based on technology built by a company that Google bought, not something Google made in-house).

Shapiro and Preguiça’s work got fresh interest with the 2019 publication of “Local-First Software: You Own Your Data, in spite of the Cloud,” a viral whitepaper-cum-manifesto from a quartet of computer scientists associated with Cambridge University and Ink and Switch, a self-described “industrial research lab”:

https://www.inkandswitch.com/local-first/static/local-first.pdf

The paper describes how its authors — Martin Kleppmann, Adam Wiggins, Peter van Hardenberg and Mark McGranaghan — prototyped and tested a bunch of simple local-first collaboration tools built on CFRD algorithms, with the goal of “network optional…seamless collaboration.” The results are impressive, if nascent. Conflicting edits were simpler to resolve than the authors anticipated, and users found URLs to be a good, intuitive way of sharing documents. The biggest hurdles are relatively minor, like managing large amounts of change-data associated with shared files.

Just as importantly, the paper makes the case for why you’d want to switch to local-first computing. The Cloud is not reliable. Companies like Evernote don’t last forever — they can disappear in an eyeblink, and take your data with them:

https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/9/23789012/evernote-layoff-us-staff-bending-spoons-note-taking-app

Google isn’t likely to disappear any time soon, but Google is a graduate of the Darth Vader MBA program (“I have altered the deal, pray I don’t alter it any further”) and notorious for shuttering its products, even beloved ones like Google Reader:

https://www.theverge.com/23778253/google-reader-death-2013-rss-social

And while the authors don’t mention it, Google is also prone to simply kicking people off all its services, costing them their phone numbers, email addresses, photos, document archives and more:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/08/22/allopathic-risk/#snitches-get-stitches

There is enormous enthusiasm among developers for local-first application design, which is only natural. After all, companies that use The Cloud go to great lengths to make it just “the cloud,” using containerization to simplify hopping from one cloud provider to another in a bid to stave off lock-in from their cloud providers and the enshittification that inevitably follows.

The nimbleness of containerization acts as a disciplining force on cloud providers when they deal with their business customers: disciplined by the threat of losing money, cloud companies are incentivized to treat those customers better. The companies we deal with as end-users know exactly how bad it gets when a tech company can impose high switching costs on you and then turn the screws until things are almost-but-not-quite so bad that you bolt for the doors. They devote fantastic effort to making sure that never happens to them — and that they can always do that to you.

Interoperability — the ability to leave one service for another — is technology’s secret weapon, the thing that ensures that users can turn The Cloud into “the cloud,” a humble whiteboard glyph that you can erase and redraw whenever it suits you. It’s the greatest hedge we have against enshittification, so small wonder that Big Tech has spent decades using interop to clobber their competitors, and lobbying to make it illegal to use interop against them:

https://locusmag.com/2019/01/cory-doctorow-disruption-for-thee-but-not-for-me/

Getting interop back is a hard slog, but it’s also our best shot at creating a new, good internet that lives up the promise of the old, good internet. In my next book, The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation (Verso Books, Sept 5), I set out a program fro disenshittifying the internet:

https://www.versobooks.com/products/3035-the-internet-con

The book is up for pre-order on Kickstarter now, along with an independent, DRM-free audiobooks (DRM-free media is the content-layer equivalent of containerized services — you can move them into or out of any app you want):

http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org

Meanwhile, Lina Khan, the FTC and the DoJ Antitrust Division are taking steps to halt the economic side of enshittification, publishing new merger guidelines that will ban the kind of anticompetitive merger that let Big Tech buy its way to glory:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/07/biden-administration-corporate-merger-antitrust-guidelines/674779/

The internet doesn’t have to be enshittified, and it’s not too late to disenshittify it. Indeed — the same forces that enshittified the internet — monopoly mergers, a privacy and labor free-for-all, prohibitions on user-side twiddling — have enshittified everything from cars to powered wheelchairs. Not only should we fight enshittification — we must.

Back my anti-enshittification Kickstarter here!

If you’d like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here’s a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad- free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/03/there-is-no-cloud/#only-other-peoples-computers

Image: Drahtlos (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Motherboard_Intel_386.jpg

CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en

—

cdsessums (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Monsoon_Season_Flagstaff_AZ_clouds_storm.jpg

CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en

[sleepyhutcherson]

while we were getting high

“how many special people change? how many lives are living strange? where were you while we were getting high?” — ‘champagne supernova’ by oasis.

pairing: clapton davis x gn!reader

word count: 1.1k words

summary: where clapton and you get high almost every weekend except this time some words are exchanged.

tags: fluff, smoking, underage smoking, marijuana use (not mentioned though), honestly the smoking part isn’t really in detail but they’re high, best friends to lovers, oasis being praised and blur hate (i do not condone!), use of y/n, feelings being confessed sort of?

author’s note: i should be working on requests but i really had to urge to write for clapton since there is barely any content for him. why am i writing a fic about smoking when i have asthma. there’s brief discussion/debate about which of two bands are better (the bands being oasis and blur) but is that worth tw? like i feel like some people (by what ive seen) can take that stuff really seriously but i really don’t mean any hate towards oasis nor especially blur, i simply think that clapton would definitely be the type of guy to get into a debate over bands, or which band is better in this case, but don’t take anything seriously!

Your focus is not on Clapton’s rambling, instead you’re drawn to the familiar glow in the dark stars that stick to his ceiling within the many band posters he stuck up there. You’ve counted these stars several times before as this wasn’t your first time getting high in his bedroom.

You groan when you hear the same song start again from Clapton’s Ipod. He was the type of person that would obsess over a song and play it nonstop until he grew tired of it. His latest victim: ‘Champagne Supernova’ by Oasis. You don’t know how he hasn’t grown tired of listening to it on repeat, I mean, you have already! “Do we really have to listen to it again?” You whine, shifting around uncomfortably in his twin sized bed. The two of you were pressed up against each other, it was incredibly uncomfortable and yet you both always ended up in his bed for some reason.

A dumb smile curls up on his lips that you manage to catch briefly before returning your gaze back at his stupid ceiling. You don’t know why your heart quickens but you blame it on the amount of weed you smoked. I mean, it was probably that. “Yes, come on, Y/N, this is music! Real music.”

“‘Real music’?” You question, only to piss him off. A part of you liked seeing him angry, honestly. And you knew just how to push his buttons.

“Yeah. Unless you can name a better band.” Clapton challenges with an arrogant voice.

You could name so many other bands that have had a better discography than Oasis but you choose to name the band that you knew would rile him up. With a grin on your lips now you answer with what he would consider the worst band to name in this scenario.

“Blur.”

The words strike Clapton. Maybe he was being dramatic but honestly he found your choice offensive. He props himself on his elbows, no longer laying down completely. His face is scrunched up with slight disgust and confusion, an expression that resembles a child who’s just had a taste of a lime. “Blur?” He says with disgust in the word.

“Yeah,” you reply with a calm attitude. “They’re pretty good.” You continue to look up at the ceiling but Christ would you love to see the look on his face. “Better than Oasis.” You add for good measure.

You don’t know what reaction you expected from him, or well you did. You figured he would go on a long rant you wouldn’t be able to escape about how Oasis was in fact better than Blur. You did not, however, expect him to get on top of you, it’s so swift and sudden that you don’t even know how to respond. He pins your hands on either side of your head, your eyes now meeting his dark, mischievous eyes. Was he…grinning?!

Now you’re confused.

“Oh, come on, Y/N,” he teases, his body pressed up against yours. This is…not good. It feels good, sure, but Clapton was on top of you. Clapton, your best friend who you’ve known since grade seven. “We both know you’re just saying that to get a reaction from me.”

His hands grip onto your wrist, holding you in place. It doesn’t hurt, or maybe you just liked how he held you down. “Am I?” You play along, acting dumb.

His grin only deepens, his eyes frantically flickering from your eyes to your lips, your own eyes glued to his pretty pink lips. Fuck this wasn’t good. “You are,” his voice is deep now, a tease in his tone.

Before you know it, he’s inching closer to you. His fucking grin mocking you. “Clapton, we—“ shouldn’t, you think about saying but fuck, fuck, fuck his lips were grazing the skin of your neck now, his warm breath tickling you a bit. And that stupid song was still playing!

His thumb softly traces circles around one of your wrist. A part of you wishes your hands weren’t restrained down so you could tangle one in his hair. “We what?” He asks, his breath hitting your delicate skin.

“We—“ you can’t even finish. He doesn’t let you, his lips gently pressing a soft kiss against your neck, one that makes you tense up. Such an innocent kiss and yet that locked you. He continues to pepper gentle kisses on your neck, it’s so pure and sweet, especially when you feel his smile in each kiss.

“I’ve wanted this for so long now,” he admits before continuing to kiss your neck, his thumb continuing to trace around your wrists.

“You have?” You ask. A part of you thinks about telling him that you’ve secretly wanted this too for a bit now.

He stops to look at you now, his cocky grin replaced by a gentle smile. He nods with such a soft expression on his face. “Mm-hmm. I thought about what it would be like to kiss you every day, even while we were getting high.”

A crimson colour tints your cheeks. Clapton smiles more at that. God, you look so lovely now: flustered and underneath him, his hands wrapped around your wrists, your eyes boring into his. He would gladly count every eyelash, memorise every colour that paints your eyes.

“You’re high.” You giggle trying to play it off, though you don’t try to move away. Not that you could due to how he was holding you down.

“Yeah, you are too,” he says with a soft chuckle. His eyes don’t leave yours, he desperately wants to hold your gaze for as long as he can, honestly. “But even when I’m not high I still adore you.”

Fuck.

Your eyes widen a little, your mouth slightly hanging open due to his words. Clapton grins at that and before you can say anything else, he leans down to kiss you. Your lips move with his, not resisting his lips. You honestly don’t think you’d be capable of resisting him after all of this.

One of his hands laces with yours, the other still pinning you against the mattress. He continues to kiss you and he really doesn’t want to stop. He’s desperately craved this for so long now. He smiles in the kiss then, realising he has the privilege of kissing you.

His smile felt so great against your lips.

After some time you both pull away, a huge dumb smile on Clapton’s face that makes you smile at how adorable he looks. He plops down, laying his head against your chest, wanting to be near you for longer. You don’t even have to kiss, you really don’t have to do anything but be close to him. That’s really all he wants. All he’s ever wanted from you.

taglist: @cancelledkaley @stanheights-boyfriend @ploty-twist @jhutch-bf @laurrrelise @joshfutturman @gryffindorsblog @sofiehutch @obsessivemuso-withnofriends @helen-on-earth @fallingboba @cassiecasluciluce @maticka @jhutchissupercool ♡︎

[gelarshiesprofruitboarder]

ITS ALIVE

[skyl1nes-and-turnst1les]

2000s/2010s things I love and miss

(A follow up to my things emo kids say post)

- bottle flip challenge

- ipods

- mustaches being so funny for literally no reason

- nyan cat

- the duck song

- ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS

- saying yolo and yeet

- kesha!!!!

- galaxy eVERYTHING

- the harlem shake

- fidget spinners

- myspace

- bronies

- for some reason everyone loved teal

- the cool “s”

- invader zim

- mannequin challenge

- silly bandz (personal favorite)

- VINE

- the freaking gummy bear song

- 1D

- year glasses on new years eve

- shutter glasses

[bebe-writes-stuff]

"I hate my life, but I'll never admit it. I guess shame plays a role, but mostly I keep quiet for their sake. Life's unfair; I accepted that a long time ago. But I can't keep blaming everything on that unfairness; it's just part of my life now."

It was a daily routine she had forced herself to accept and get used to. Every morning, she woke up early to make breakfast for her two younger siblings. She would get them up, dressed, and ready for school, then walk them there. After returning home, she cooked a simple breakfast for herself, the last meal before facing her own day. She prepared for her own challenges, getting dressed and ready for school, and finally locked up their small, one-bedroom apartment before leaving.

"Hey, Y/N-chan!" Her friend, who walked the same path to school every day, called out. This caused her to stop, turn, and greet her with a forced smile.

Despite being Hina's upperclassman and older by two years, she found herself running into Hina quite often.

"Hey, Hina," she quietly said with a nod, noticing the concern that quickly clouded Hina's face.

"Did you get enough sleep last night, Y/N? You look tired. I have some water here. Drink up." Hina handed her a water bottle, which she raised her hand to refuse.

"It's alright, I'm fine. I was just working extra late yesterday. I'll manage," she politely declined, not used to accepting anything from anyone, even something as simple as a bottle of water.

"Wow, you're working really hard, Y/N. I've always admired that about you. You're so cool!" Hina chirped.

"Yeah, I guess I do," she muttered, before hearing a distant yell.

"Hinata!"

They both stopped in their tracks and turned to see a breathless boy, probably having run to catch up with them. He had messy yellow-blonde hair and a disheveled school uniform. Y/N took it as her chance to continue her walk to school alone.

"I'll let you be with your boyfriend now. It was good talking to you, though," she quickly said before walking a little faster, leaving them behind.

She let out a sigh of relief as she arrived early to class, immediately taking out her math textbook to review the day's lesson. This was her routine before class started and before any of her classmates arrived. Since she didn't have time to study after school because of her job, she used every morning to teach herself the material and complete her homework.

"Wow, already getting to work, L/N. You really are a hard worker. That's a good trait to have, especially rare to see in someone so young," her teacher remarked, accustomed to seeing her as the first one in class as always.

Day after day seemed to pass quickly. The school day was almost over, and there was little she looked forward to—except for seeing her siblings, of course. That was the highlight of her day. She would walk from her school to pick them up, make sure they got home safely, then head to her job and finish the day as usual.

"Well, that's the bell. You guys have a great rest of your day." The teacher finally said as the school bell rang signaling it was time to go. 

She was always the first to pack her things and head out before the hallways got crowded. She quickly sprinted, heading for her younger brother's school first. Being a third-year student herself, he was still a first-year being 14, and her youngest sister, who was in elementary school. 

The sky was overcast as she arrived at her brother's school gates, a slight chill in the air hinting at the approaching evening. She waited... and waited... until impatience began to gnaw at her. She called out to one of the kids leaving.

"Hey, um, do you know where Kenji is?" she asked, sounding a bit awkward.

The kid looked up from his iPod. "Huh, Kenji? Oh, I saw him earlier. Some upperclassmen dragged him off somewhere. I'm not really sure though. Who are you?"

Panic gripped her heart. She left the kid confused and quickly started searching for her brother. She knew all too well that when upperclassmen dragged a younger kid away, it usually ended badly. She had to find him before it was too late, before he got hurt.

"Dammit, dammit, GODDAMMIT," she muttered, her mind racing as she began running around the nearby parks and alleys by the school. "They couldn't have gotten that far."

The wind picked up, rustling the leaves around her and adding to her sense of urgency. Every shadow seemed threatening as she scanned the area, desperately hoping to catch a glimpse of Kenji before anything terrible happened.

As she rounded a corner, she heard the unmistakable sounds of kids bullying someone. Her heart pounded as she hurried closer, the voices becoming clearer. She realized with a sinking feeling that it was her brother, Kenji, who was getting beat up.

"You think you're tough, huh? Hand over the money!" one of the bullies demanded.

Kenji's voice was shaky. "I don't have any more. Please, just leave me alone."

Fury surged through her as she got closer and saw the scene: three upperclassmen surrounding Kenji, forcing him to buy them drinks and physically beating on him. She recognized her own hard-earned money being stolen from her brother.

"Hey! Get away from him, fucking dickheads!" she yelled, her voice filled with malice.

The bullies turned, startled. Their matching jackets bore the emblem of the "Tokyo Manji Gang." They seemed taken aback by her fierce glare and the anger radiating from her.

One of the bullies sneered, "And who are you?"

"I'm his sister. Now get lost before I bust all of your asses right now," she threatened, her voice dripping with venom.

The bullies hesitated, clearly intimidated by her presence.

"Let's go," one of them muttered, and they began to back off.

As they retreated, one of them tossed a parting comment over his shoulder, "We'll catch you later. Your sister can't protect you forever, punk!"

She ignored the taunt and rushed to Kenji's side, kneeling down to check if he was okay.

"Kenji, are you hurt?" she asked, her voice softening with concern.

"I'm fine," he mumbled, though he looked shaken. "Thanks, sis."

She hugged him tightly, feeling a mix of relief and anger. "Let's get you home. Don't worry, okay? I'll figure something out and patch you up."

As they walked home together, she kept a watchful eye on their surroundings, determined to protect her brother and make sure those gangsters wouldn't bother him again.

With Kenji in tow, Y/N hurried to their youngest sister's elementary school. When they arrived, little Reina was waiting outside, her eyes lighting up when she saw her siblings.

"Hi, Y/N! Hi, Kenji!" Reina chirped, running up to them.

"Hey, Reina," Y/N said with a smile, taking her hand. "Let’s get home."

Once they were home, Y/N set Reina up with a cartoon show on her computer to keep her occupied. Then, she turned her attention to Kenji, gently cleaning and bandaging his cuts and bruises.

"Kenji, what happened today?" she asked softly, trying to keep her voice calm.

Kenji hesitated, looking down. "I've become a slave to the Tokyo Manji Gang. They force me to spend money on them and made me join a fight club. They bet on me and I get beat up so they can win money."

Y/N felt fury boiling inside her, but she kept her expression calm. "How long has this been going on?" she asked, her voice tight.

Kenji shrugged, his eyes welling up with tears. "A few months. I didn’t want to tell you because I knew you'd worry."

Y/N clenched her fists, trying to suppress her anger. "You should have told me sooner. We’ll figure this out together. Don't worry about anything anymore, okay? I'll take care of it," she reassured him, trying to sound confident. "Now, let’s eat."

She prepared a meal for both her siblings, setting the table and making sure they had everything they needed. As they ate, she kept an eye on Kenji, noting the bruises and the tired look in his eyes. She felt a surge of protectiveness and determination.

After dinner, Y/N headed to work at a nearby café. The café was bustling with customers when two young guys, about her age, walked in. She overheard their conversation and caught their names—Mikey and Draken.

"Mikey, you think we'll see any action tonight?" Draken asked, leaning against the counter.

"Who knows," Mikey replied, glancing around the café. His eyes landed on Y/N, and he nudged Draken. "Hey, check her out. She's pretty cute."

Y/N, focused on her work, didn’t notice their attention. She served them with a polite smile, not engaging in conversation.

After her long shift, Y/N changed into her simple regular clothes: Just a regular white top with jeans and a pair of flats, not that she had much clothes to begin with. On her way home, she noticed a few guys wearing the same uniform as the gangsters from earlier. Remembering her promise to protect Kenji, she decided to follow them.

They led her to a shrine, where hundreds of gang members were gathered. She sneaked around, looking for the guys who had beaten up her brother. Just as she thought she spotted them, she failed to notice a member who had detected the ruckus in the bushes. He approached her from behind and caught her.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" he sneered, gripping her arm tightly.

Y/N’s heart raced, but she met his gaze with defiance. "Let go of me," she demanded, her voice steady.

The guy smirked, tightening his grip. "You think you can just sneak around here without getting caught? Who are you?"

"None of your business," Y/N shot back, trying to yank her arm free.

He leaned closer, his breath hot against her face. "You’ve got guts, but that won't help you here."

Before he could say more, another voice called out, "Hey, what's going on over there?"

Before Y/N could react, the gang member dragged her roughly through the throng of Tokyo Manji Gang members, pushing her all the way to the front. The leader, none other than Mikey—the guy from the café—stood there, a look of confusion on his face. Beside him was another familiar figure: Takemichi, Hina's boyfriend. Y/N's heart sank, recognizing him as someone she never expected to see in a gang.

Eyes narrowing as he took in Y/N, Mikey said, "What brings you here?"

Y/N glanced around, noticing the expectant stares from the gang members. Among them was a strong-looking girl with short hair, her cute appearance at odds with the tough crowd. Y/N took a deep breath, steeling herself.

"I’m here because of my brother," she began, her voice steady despite the nervous flutter in her stomach. "Some of your members have been using the gang's name to extort money and torment innocent people. My brother, Kenji, is one of their victims. They forced him to join a fight club where he gets beat up for their bets."

Mikey's eyes widened slightly, a mixture of shock and curiosity on his face. "Is that so?"

Y/N continued, "I won't let it slide. I'll stand against all of you if I have to, to protect my brother."

Mikey raised an eyebrow, impressed by her determination. "Call them out," he ordered.

Y/N pointed to the three boys who had bullied her brother. They reluctantly stepped forward, smirking confidently.

"Is this true?" Mikey asked, his tone dangerously calm.

One of the bullies sneered, "Yeah, it's true. That little pussy deserves everything he gets. He's weak and a loser. If anything, he deserves to die."

Another bully added, "Mikey, you'll side with us any day over some random bitch who interrupted our meeting."

Y/N's blood boiled. She stepped forward, fists clenched. "You think you're so tough? Let's see how you handle someone who fights back."

Without warning, she launched herself at the nearest bully, landing a solid punch to his jaw. She moved with precision and fury, taking down the three boys with a series of well-placed strikes. The fight was swift and brutal, and by the end, the bullies lay on the ground, groaning in pain.

Mikey watched, a mixture of amusement and admiration in his eyes. Some of the other gang members cheered Y/N on, clearly impressed by her courage and skill.

Breathing heavily, Y/N stood over the fallen bullies. "I'm done here. I don't need anything else from you," she declared, turning to leave.

As she walked away, Mikey called out, "Bye, Y/N. I'll see you later."

Y/N paused, glancing back at him with a puzzled expression. Why would she ever see him again? But she didn't have time to ponder. She needed to get home and take care of her brother.

The night was cool, with a light breeze rustling the trees around the Musashi Shrine. The moon hung low in the sky, casting a silver glow over the scene. As Y/N made her way home, she couldn't shake the feeling that her encounter with the Tokyo Manji Gang was far from over.

Back at their small apartment, she found Kenji and Reina waiting for her. Kenji looked up, concern etched on his face. "Are you okay, sis?"

"I'm fine," she assured him, giving him a reassuring smile. "Everything's going to be okay."

She knew she had made an impression on Mikey and the gang, but what that meant for the future remains uncertain. For now, she focused on protecting what's left of her family.

--

should I continue this? part 2? also yall I'm backkk, school is over finallyyy

[copperboom82]

Pairing: Dean Winchester/OFC (Katrina)

Word Count: 1,911

Title Credit: Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles

Summary: Dean and Katrina take a moment to enjoy the day together

Set early season 8 of SPN, and part of the Long Winding Roads collection (masterlist here), but can be read on its own.

Rating: T

A/N: This was written for the monthly challenge hosted in the Fanfic Writers of the SPN Fandom discord server (join here!), using the prompt "I missed feeling the sun on my skin." and for @alphabetquest prompt Quality Time.

Thank you @justwhisperingfantasies for being my beta and for all your support! ❤️

Warnings: This is pretty much just fluff. Um. Established relationship. Some language. If I missed anything please let me know.

*******************

The concept of relaxing was not one Katrina Black had ever been truly familiar with.

Constantly moving and keeping busy had been her way of life as long as she could remember. She’d started picking up odd jobs from neighbors before she’d hit double digits, picked up her first part time job before it was really legal, worked her way through college, and she’d been balancing some combination of work, school, caretaking, and hunting since she was at least eighteen. It wasn’t that it didn’t burn her out, because it did, but it was just always how she’d coped. It was all she knew, and it had gotten her this far, so Katrina wasn’t about to poke too hard at it.

Still, when her first day off in at least a week rolled around, and it happened to coincide with what was quite possibly the last sunny day they’d have until Spring, even she found herself craving a break.

That was how she found herself stretched out on the hammock in her backyard, sunglasses obscuring a large portion of her face, a glass of spiked iced tea sweating on a table that was close enough to reach if she really wanted to, and a worn paperback by her head that she’d tossed aside about ten minutes prior in favor of her iPod. Her eyes were closed while she soaked in the rays, but she still sensed the shift when a shadow came to hover over her. As the light dimmed, she stirred from her half-asleep state, blinking while she pushed the sunglasses up the bridge of her nose and pulled out one of her earbuds.

“The hell are you doing?” Dean asked when he saw he had her attention, and Katrina quirked an eyebrow at her boyfriend.

“You wanna try that again?”

Dean rolled his eyes, but Katrina could see the smile tugging at the corner of his lips and there was no mistaking the fondness in his gaze when he looked back at her.

“C‘mon, it’s the middle of the day, and we got shit to do. Kevin ain’t gonna find himself, and we still got a demon tablet to track down, and Crowley. Plus there’s a -“

“If you don’t shut up about demons and quit blocking my sunlight, I don’t care how much I love you Dean Winchester, I will kick you in the balls.”

Dean looked torn between exasperation and amusement at the threat and shook his head. “Kat -“

“I’m serious. It’s called a day off, and you should try it sometime.”

For a moment she was nervous she may have said the wrong thing, knowing that Dean was still bitter about Sam’s year off. But then his previous amusement seemed to win out and the smirk that had threatened to make an appearance finally spread across his face.

“Serious my ass,” he scoffed. “Kicking me in the balls is about the emptiest threat you could’ve come up with.”

“You wanna bet?” she challenged, shifting where she was lying to turn more fully towards him. Dean moved in closer, his green eyes dancing with a mixture of laughter and heat that she could’ve drowned in.

“Careful, sweetheart,” he teased, leaning down just far enough to catch her lips in a kiss. “Don’t wanna do anything you’ll regret. What was it you were saying this morning? Something about -“

An almost growl vibrated in her throat before she stretched up and cut him off with another kiss. She could still hear his laughter, feel it rumbling through his chest, even as he reciprocated enthusiastically. When they broke apart only a couple of seconds later they were both still smiling, perhaps a little breathless, and there was a softness around Dean’s eyes Katrina was still getting used to seeing.

“My point still stands,” she mumbled against his lips just before settling back fully into the hammock. Her hand, however, trailed along his arm as she shifted down, finally twining their fingers together when she reached the end, still instinctively seeking that closeness even as she allowed the distance between them.

“Yeah, well so does mine,” he countered, his thumb rubbing circles into her skin. Katrina suspected he didn’t even realize he was doing it. “It’s been a few days, maybe we’ll find something if we look into the credit cards again.”

Katrina frowned up at him and tugged at his hand. “My thing’s more fun. C’mon. Kevin’s still gonna need finding tomorrow, Crowley will still need killing, and whatever other bullshit you were gonna tell me about will keep too. Take a break with me. How many more nice days are we gonna get like this?”

It took a little more cajoling, a little more of the playful back and forth banter they’d perfected through their years of friendship, but Dean ultimately relented, climbing up next to her and holding a little tighter when the hammock swayed from the movement. Katrina wasted no time curling into his side and offering up the loose hanging earbud she had yet to replace in her own ear.

It was still new, this thing between them, and Katrina constantly found herself marveling at the fact that it was real, that it wasn’t too good to be true. Being tangled up in each other managed to be electrifying and steadying all at the same time, the excitement of being with Dean like this still being new enough to make her head spin while the comfort and safety his presence had provided her for a long time already was just as grounding as it’d always been before.

They traded slow, deep, lazy kisses, taking their time to explore even though they’d done little else with their free time lately. Katrina carded her fingers through his short hair and he splayed a hand across her back, holding her to him while his other skimmed her side as if he were trying to memorize every dip and curve. Each roll of his tongue against hers sent currents down her spine and left her aching for more.

Eventually they settled in, content to just be in the moment with each other. Dean’s arms were wrapped around her while she nestled against his chest, her head tucking in under his chin and one of her arms securing itself across his waist. The Henley he wore was soft against her skin and smelled like him, and between the heat of his body and the sun beating down on them, Katrina felt herself pleasantly warm, like she were cocooned in an invisible blanket. His one hand played with her hair, and the feeling of his fingers running along her scalp was soothing, lulling her deeper and deeper into a state of relaxation she rarely reached.

The only sounds around them were a few birds chirping in the nearby trees, and noises from the road that were extremely muffled thanks to the distance. Katrina found herself on the edge of sleep when Dean’s low voice penetrated her thoughts, quiet but almost loud because of the way she was pressed against him. She could feel him speak as much as she could hear him.

“I missed this.”

“What?” she laughed lightly, “making out in my backyard? Pretty sure we didn’t use to do this.”

“No, smartass,” he scoffed. “Just being with you. And the sun. I missed feeling the sun on my skin. There, uh… there wasn’t any in Purgatory. Not really… not like this, anyway.”

The admission was somewhat sobering, and Katrina frowned, her fingers unconsciously twisting tighter in his shirt at the reminder of their time apart… of the months she’d worried she may never see him again. Dean didn’t talk much about Purgatory, but she’d done what she could to be there for him when he was willing to. Mostly that happened in the middle of the night, when he woke up from a nightmare, or in the quiet moments like this when it was just the two of them, or sometimes if he’d had a little too much to drink - though with Dean’s tolerance, those occasions were exceedingly rare.

She waited, giving him the space to keep talking if he wanted, but when he seemed content to leave it where he had she turned her head - just enough to press a gentle kiss against his chest before pulling him to her tighter. His own fingers hadn’t stopped their movements, still soothing her in a way few other things could, and Katrina felt him drop his own kiss to the top of her head.

“And you wanted to spend the afternoon hunting demons,” she teased. Dean let out a bark of laughter that carried through the yard, squeezing her as he did before planting another kiss - this one less tender but still carried all the same warmth and affection.

“Yeah, you got me there,” he admitted. “I guess your way wasn’t so bad after all.”

Katrina smiled, her eyes fluttering shut while her breathing leveled out to match his. The sound of his heart beating beneath his ribs was an extra reminder that he was safe, that he was there with her… it was a sound she’d come to appreciate more than she ever thought she would.

“Don’t know why you ever bother arguing with me,” she quipped. “Should really know by now that I’m always right.”

“Oh god,” he complained dramatically. “What the hell have I gotten myself into with you? Is this how it’s always gonna be?”

“Better get used to it,” Katrina smirked, though she doubted he could see, given how they were positioned. “You’re stuck with me now.”

And despite the teasing he’d just done, Dean tightened his arms around her and buried his face in her hair. He held her that way for a moment, only moving just enough to make himself audible when he spoke again. “Guess that makes me the luckiest son of a bitch in the world. I love you, Kat. Always. That’s never gonna change.”

Coming from anyone else, those were words Katrina probably wouldn’t have trusted. With Dean, though, she knew they were real. Yeah, this thing between them was new, but it was built off of something deep, and real, and lasting. The feelings there weren’t fast or fleeting, and she was still terrified of what complications that would bring them considering the lives they led… but she didn’t doubt them.

So Katrina smiled, even though he couldn’t see her, and pressed another kiss to his chest because it was the only place she could reach without disturbing him, and she wasn’t ready for the embrace to end.

After all, being in Dean Winchester’s arms had been her favorite place to be far longer than they’d had any sort of claim on each other.

“I love you too,” she murmured.

They stayed like that a while longer, wrapped up in each other and savoring the last nice day of the season. Dean had been right that they had things to take care of - Kevin, Crowley, closing the gates of hell, and all their normal crap too - but for at least the afternoon, it could wait.

Katrina wasn’t great at relaxing, and she knew neither was Dean. But being around each other made it almost easy. And as the hours ticked by and the sun slowly began to set over the horizon, Katrina couldn’t bring herself to regret a moment of it.

***********************

Tag List (let me know if you'd like to be added): @mrsjenniferwinchesterhester @0ccvltism