#it reminds me of our sonny

[jhoneybees]

hii! can i request 70s!elvis x reader where elvis fucks up and reader leaves him, but they make up at the end? thank you!!

Oh my gosh I'm so sorry for making you wait for SO long!! I love this idea and got @elvisalltheway101 to help me with this one!! A lot of the credits go to her!🫶

Sorry

Characters: early!70sElvis X Wife!reader

Warnings/triggers: argument, leaving someone, crying

_____________________________________________

It is known that Elvis’ career is slowly… going down the toilet, and as a loving wife, it upsets you as much it upsets him but you’ve only just found out about the news half an hour ago during a sit down with wine from Sonny when he was sloshed out of his mind which you thought was his drunk brain making it up until you turned to ask Elvis, seeing his eyes looking away with a hint of insecurity.

“Why didn’t you tell me, this is happening?” you ask as you toss the headband you were wearing onto the shared bed. Running a hand through your hair as you turn your back to watch Elvis plunge down onto the sunken couch, lazily reaching forward for the TV remote.

Elvis lets out a sigh “It’s not as bad as you think it is, Honey” his words coming out in a mutter.

You frown at his response, scoffing as you walk closer “Not as bad as I think?” stopping in your tracks behind the couch, crossing your arms as you give Elvis a stern look.

“Elvis, you know I’m willing to help..I want to help-”

“I-I don’t wanna worry your pretty little head”

He responds quietly with a small deceivingly enthusiastic smile. Some part of those words are true, he really does appreciate your unconditional help but he thinks that he can handle it himself, his eyebrows lift as he offers his hand for you to hold so you could sink onto the couch with him and cuddle, truthfully wanting to drop the subject, only for him to earn a quirk of an eyebrow from you.

You sigh quietly as you close your eyes for a moment “I’ve helped you with so many things during our 4 years of marriage, Elvis” hearing a muffled thump of his offering hand fall onto the decorative cushions and a small groan, you open your eyes to see him pinching the bridge of his nose.

His voice low, growing more firm “Let’s talk bout somethin’ else, alright?”

You scoff again “This is your career we’re talking about!” you lift your arms in the air, reminding him of what he has worked so hard for “You’ve worked so hard to get all these things you want, the house, the guns, the jewellery, the cars, the fans, you bought your Mama a pink cadillac when you were starting out for God Sake and you’re just letting all of it go down the dra-”

“Enough, Y/n” he warns, rubbing his face with his hands still keeping his eyes trained on the TV.

“It’s-”

“SHUT UP, I’M TRYING MY GODDAMN BEST AND I DON’T NEED YOUR F*CKIN’ HELP”

You flinch terribly and quickly take a few steps back, your frightened filled eyes seeing a sight of Elvis that you have never seen before and a sight that he swore on his own damn grave to not ever show you.

His chest heavily rises and falls as his finger points at you, his face softening as he closes his eyes while dropping his arm to his side. Looking down at the floor as he takes a deep breath “Honey-”

“I’ll pack my things and go then” your voice shaky and weak, breathing in as you turn on your heel. Closing your eyes as you feel his warm hand wrap around your wrist, holding it tightly.

“H-honey, I-I’m sorry, w-w-we can talk this out baby” the sudden frantic tone in his voice pulls at your heartstrings, you know he didn’t mean what he said but it’s best to just let him have his own space to think.

“Let me go…” you say weakly, pulling your wrist out of his grasp as you walk up towards the shared bed, grabbing a suitcase out from the closet in the bathroom to lift it onto the mattress. Brushing Elvis’ hands away from yours “Don’t touch me” tears stinging your eyes.

“Please baby, I-I appreciate your help so much, so much baby- please” his eyebrows furrowing as you throw clothes into the suitcase. Hearing the slightest whimper from his lips as his hands find their way around your waist “Sweetie-”

Pushing his hands away for the last time before buckling the suitcase up, gripping the handle tightly you walk to the door. Opening it with a bit of force, your blurry vision looking back at the dark figure of Elvis following after you “Y/n please…d-don’t go”

You inhale sharply, taking a step forward to place a kiss on his cheek. Your hand applies pressure to his chest as he tries to take the suitcase from your hand “Don’t go, w-we can talk about this” Looking from one eye to the other, you see that fear in his eyes.

“..Bye..Elvis” you whisper.

You know he’s frustrated and stressed and you really can’t comprehend how big the pressure Elvis must be feeling, yes you don’t have to know everything but you get worried.

Maybe you shouldn’t have pushed on the topic.

“Hey Y/n, should I wear red or pink lipstick?” You look over your shoulder, a soft smile on your face as you see your friend holding a lipstick in each hand, You’ve been staying at her house ever since the argument happened, after she asked you how things are going over the phone just expecting a pleasant conversation with you. She was devastated to hear the news and offered to pay for a plane ticket back to Memphis and host you at her house which you reluctantly accepted.

“I think pink would look better” you reply, closing the magazine you were reading and leaving it on the coffee table. Your friend hums “Hm, I thought so too..” lowering her hands as she walks back into the other room.

You sigh quietly, turning your head back down at the magazine you were skimming through. As you skip through a few pages, there’s a knock. A desperate one, it sounds. When your friend raises a brow and glances back at your seat on the couch, “expecting someone?” She asks. You share the same confusion and shake your head. “Oh maybe it’s the make-up set from Europe I told you about! It’s supposed to arrive this week.” She smiles widely while skipping to the front door.

you hear dead silence and feel disappointment in the air. Since being in another room, you don’t know who it is or what it is. “It’s definitely not the European make-up set.” She calls out, and you can just see the unacceptable frown on her face.

“w-who is it?” You say out softly but you already know in your gut who it might be. You hear a scoff and just know there was an eye roll with it, “it’s no one, especially someone not wanted.” she says out, her upper lip curled in attitude as she glares across the man at her doorstep.

Starting to get irritated from being in the unknown, you brush off the chips from your lap and walk among the creaky floorboards to where she is. Your eyes widen at the human being that’s presented.

Of course you expected Elvis, but not in this condition. Standing straight and tense, breathing heavily as he smacks his lips and looks around. He looks exhausted, absolutely exhausted. Gray circles forming from the worry and lonesome upon his tawny flesh that rests tiredly under his eyes. Oh his blue eyes, a gray cloud in those pupils, the pretty sky blue eyes that would mimic the bright, shining and welcoming sun. But now showing a perfect impression of a cloudy day with the sky’s cries of rain. He looks so out of it. Out of himself….all because you were gone for such little time?

His weary eyes then connect to yours and you gasp softly, able to feel the immense pressure on his shoulders from the fear that you were lost. The thought of losing the only person that mattered to him mostly.

“Oh Y/n!” Your name comes out his lips like a prayer of great thanks, and before you know it, you’re being completely engulfed in his arms.

“A-ah’ve been so worried. So goddamned worried about you, A-ah had been searching for you. A-asking every goddamn store in Memphis!” His soft arms squeeze around your shoulders tight, almost as if you’ll wash away from existence and beneath his eyes if he even lets go for air. His faint spicy, floral cologne surrounds and you inhale to your lungs as you flutter your eyes closed.

“I’m so sorry, baby. S-s-so sorry. Hell, I’d get a whopping if my mama caught me talk atcha like that. I’m so sorry y/n. I’ll plead with all my existence, a-all my life I’ll make it up to ya.” He whispers so desperately, and hugs you tighter to his chest.

Your eyebrows furrow and you slowly lift your arms to rub his back gently, letting out a breath you feel like you've been holding onto the entire week, your back sensing your friend has left the room, sick of the love fest but glad you have both made it up and no one’s gonna get hurt.

You smile gently and connect with his eyes once again with a soft smile, “it’s okay Presley,” you giggle softly and you can feel the radiating warmth of relief and love in his eyes.

He heaves out a breath with that shy crooked grin “You're the most important, Honey. I-I don't know what I was thinkin” his slightly shaky hands cupping the sides of your face.

Your smile softens as you do the same, wiping your thumbs near his eyes, seeing the gray skin under his eyes “Elvis…” his calloused hands careful to hold your wrists, he leans into your touch.

“Jesus… I thought I lost you”

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Mr. Egg, Mr. Pickle, and Mr. Hot Dog

Debut: BurgerTime

BurgerTime is one of those retro games and that's about it. It existed, and it's Retro!, and I feel like people don't really care about it aside from that. It never even got an awkward attempt at a scrimblo adventure reboot, like Frogger did! Poor BurgerTime.

Anyway, my first time playing BurgerTime was not by playing BurgerTime at all, but a SpongeBob Flash game clone of it. I have no personal connection to BurgerTime itself... but I know it has some enemies that are living foods! I always get a kick out of that! So I'm going to talk about some of the various design incarnations of them!

These original designs are exactly what you would expect from a 1982 arcade game. I feel like I've seen Pac-Man ghosts drawn EXACTLY like this. I like how Mr. Egg has the strangely realistic crispy bubbling detail around his edges. They're all fine.

...is what I felt before I noticed their elbows and knees! Ew! Bones! Wretched creatures!

Ohoho... now what have we here? The in-game sprites are delightful! The simplicity makes them very cute! Their feet are interesting, being just little floating lines, except for Mr. Egg's, because his legs are made of amorphous albumen! Mr. Egg is really the breakout star here. Look at his yolk! That's his EYE! This is so awesome! That's such a rare design choice to see, especially since egg creatures that are not of the "creature hatching from them" variety are pretty rare themselves.

Mr. Pickle is no slouch either! I appreciate him being specifically a pickle slice, often portrayed as nicely crinkle-cut. I just have to question why he is a villain! Pickles are one of Burger's best friends! This is like if Cheese was a villain! I think if anything Mr. Pickle should be a cute little sidekick on the side of burgers, and in his place can be, I don't know, Mr. Olive? Of course, pickles are much funnier than olives!

Mr. Hot Dog is not as interesting as the other two, but a simple sausage with eyes and feet is still cute. He is like the leader of the bunch, the main antagonist of our hero, Peter Pepper, who I do not really care about. I like that it's him! Burgers and hot dogs are like counterparts, but in no way equals. Hot dogs are easier to hold and eat, but burgers are just Better. And hot dogs have finally decided to give burgers a piece of their mind!

This flyer art is funny. I don't LIKE any of the designs showcased, but they're funny! Faces are moved around on the foods, noses are introduced to the series, and Mr. Egg is now a slice of a hard-boiled egg. You will also notice the elusive Mr. Lemon! Mr. Lemon is not real! I don't know why there is such an emphasis on lemon here. Finally, of course, you will notice the personified Cheese, as she noselessly beckons Peter to recline atop a beef patty. Ooh la la! Don't you wish you were invited to hang out with such a beautiful female cheese who is a girl woman?

Really, the designs of the core food fiends never diverged much from the classic cartoon-style versions they started out with, appearing like that in pretty much every sequel. Except...!

In BurgerTime World Tour, which was not a good game at all, these guys have been utterly rebooted! Now known as Frank Furter, Ruthless Dill, and Sonny! Are these their real names? Or just some similar guys?

The designs are rather basic, as to be expected from Foods With Faces, but it IS interesting seeing them generally made so much more monstrous. Something ESPECIALLY interesting is that Sonny the egg is the only one with limbs, reminding me of how Mr. Egg is the only one to have actual legs in the original sprites!

Ready for the SCARIEST redesign from World Tour?

This game's version of Peter Pepper is this horrible gentrifying millenial and I'm glad his game was prematurely delisted. I hope he got eaten by an egg and chewed by teeth made of yolk. I hate him!

[tropes-and-tales-archives]

Sonny Carisi: Second Chances, Part Four

WC: 6725

TW: Idiots in love; smut (PiV, protected); 18+ only.

AN: This is part of a mini-series. The rest can be found here.

You didn’t sleep with Sonny that night.  You definitely wanted to, but something made you slow down.  Maybe it was his admission that he didn’t feel like he deserved to be happy.  Maybe it was how he see-sawed between eagerness and hesitation.  He seemed to want to be with you, and he seemed to expect you to hurt him.  You wanted to make sure that when you finally slept together, he knew it was because you wanted him – not because he was some convenient rebound.

So instead of sleeping with him that night, you cuddled up against him on your couch and just talked.  And you got to the bottom of some of Sonny’s hesitation – he had a lengthy history of terrible first dates. 

Once he got started talking, it was hard to stop him.  There was a date in the eighth grade at an arcade where the girl he came with left with another boy.  There was a Yankee game in high school where the girl ghosted him after the fourth inning.  There was the date in college when Sonny, trying to act like a grown-up, took a girl to a jazz club.  The date was going well, he told you, until the woman let slip that she only was on a date with him to make her real boyfriend jealous.

“And then I screwed up our first date,” he said.  He sounded so sad that you couldn’t help but press a kiss to his mouth before you pulled away.

“You didn’t screw it up,” you admonished him.  “Besides, you ended up with a second date, so that doesn’t seem like a failure to me.”

He turned and gave you a look that reminded you of a dog in an animal shelter commercial, giant blue eyes and a pout.  “But will I get a third date?”

You laughed at him.  “Definitely.”

You sent him home shortly thereafter (with the leftover lasagna, after he tap-danced around asking for an extra piece to take home), and then you sat up for a while, thinking.  Sonny was so selfless and sweet, and he seemed to never have much nice done for him in return.  You decided to plan the third date that you promised him.

********

All you had told Sonny was to dress casually.  “Not date-casual,” you told him.  “I’m talking jeans, a t-shirt, sneakers.”  He started to protest, but you cut him off.  “If you aren’t dressed like a boy in middle school, I’m going to call your grandmother and tell her that you were seducing me with breakfast strudels instead of cannoli.”

On Friday night, Sonny found himself waiting in his apartment, dressed in the nicest jeans he had, the cleanest sneakers he had, and a plain t-shirt that he hoped made him look like an adult instead of like a boy.  He had to do his hair twice – his usual gel-and-style did not match his attire at all, so he rinsed out all the product and left it more natural.

There was a knock on his door promptly at seven, and he opened the door to you.  You were in jeans and canvas sneakers too, and a Backstreet Boys tour t-shirt.  Your face was bare of makeup (that he could see), and your hair was pulled up into a high ponytail.  You looked almost criminally young, especially when paired with the toothy grin you had plastered across your face.

“C’mon,” you said.  You grabbed his hand and tugged him into the hallway towards the stairs.  “Our ride is waiting.”

But instead of a taxi standing on the curb, there was a beat-to-hell minivan with a bemused looking older woman in the driver’s seat.  You climbed into the middle seat, though, so Sonny followed suit, even though he was completely baffled. 

You were silent for the ride, so Sonny held his tongue, and in short order you were dropped at a corner in the Lower East Side.  The driver leaned across the passenger’s seat to call out to you, “I’ll pick you up here at eleven,” before she drove off.

“Doll, I have no idea what’s going on,” Sonny said. 

You smiled and took his hand again.  You tugged him down the street towards some unknown destination.  “It’s a re-do,” you explained.  “Your first date with a girl in the eighth grade at the arcade.”

Sonny faltered in his steps, and you stopped beside him.  “What do you mean?” he asked.

You bit your lip and thought for a moment.  “Well, you brought me breakfast every day and let me believe it was Nick,” you explained.  “You were giving me happy memories.  I thought maybe I could do the same thing.  You had bad first dates, so I thought we could re-do them.  I wanted to give you a happy memory.”

Sonny felt an unexpected sting of tears in his eyes that he covered up by looking down the street.  He cleared his throat.  “So eighth grade…”

“Eighth grade,” you agreed.  You gestured down your front.  “Hence the Backstreet Boys.  And our driver was my neighbor.  She has a mini-van, and I paid her fifty bucks to drop us off and pick us up.”  You grinned at him.  “Because we are thirteen and don’t have driver’s licenses.”

The tears threatened again, and Sonny didn’t bother to hide them.  He thought back to his first date, and it felt both a million years ago and just yesterday.  He remembered being so excited to go out with a girl – Leah – and he remembered feeling so adult to plan out an evening together. 

He also remembered the humiliation when Leah left with another classmate, and the mortification when his mother picked him up later, alone. 

“Doll, this is too much,” he protested weakly, but you shook your head at him.

“It’s exactly what you deserve.”  You started walking, pulling on his hand, and he followed.  “Cheap pizza and video games,” you added with a laugh.

Dinner was cheap pizza at a little pizzeria.  You both used a ton of napkins to mop up the grease that pooled on the slices, and you skipped the special on a PBR pitcher and stuck with soft drinks (“because we’re underaged” you whispered to Sonny).  Getting into the spirit of it, Sonny ordered a Mountain Dew, remembering how he was fueled by it back in middle school.

After that, you walked him across the street to a retro arcade where you paid for two all-access passes that got you unlimited plays.  Sonny immediately made a beeline to Street Fighter II, and you watched him bemusedly until you found a console of Burger Time in the corner that you camped out at for a while.

Then the two of you played Gauntlet together, you shoving him lightly when he accidentally shot your with arrows.  The night flew by, and before he knew it, you were glancing at your watch and telling him that “your mom” would be on her way.  You both left the arcade and started walking towards the pickup point.

“Did you have fun?” you asked him, and Sonny could only throw an arm around your waist and try to tug you to him for a kiss.  Which you dodged  in mock-horror.

“Whoa,” you said, taking a dancing step away from him.  “Were you that forward when you were thirteen, Sonny?”

He laughed at this.  “Seriously?”

You batted your eyes at him.  “I have a crush on Keanu Reeves, and I’m probably going to marry him when I’m older, but if you ask nice, I’ll let you kiss me.”

“Please may I kiss you?” Sonny said immediately, and you pretended to think about it before nodding. 

He stepped up to you and put his hands on your shoulders, then dipped his head and captured your mouth with his.  He could feel your lips curving into a smile against his mouth, so he pulled away. 

“What?” he asked, but you shook your head sadly.

“Sonny, I was thirteen once, and I kissed a thirteen year old boy once.  It did not go like that at all.”

Sonny pulled you back to him, dipped his head again, and as soon as his lips touched yours, he plunged his tongue straight into your mouth with zero finesse and skill.  You pulled away, laughing so hard that Sonny couldn’t help but chuckle too.

“You taste like Mountain Dew,” you said between peals of laughter.  “But that felt about right.”

Your neighbor picked you both up a minute later, and when the mini-van stopped at Sonny’s place, you stayed in the vehicle. 

“I’d come up with you,” you said apologetically.  “But I have an algebra test tomorrow.”

He could only wave goodbye as the automatic door slid shut, but when he went into his building, he took the steps to the second floor two at a time with a lightness in his steps.

-----

You planned the next date too, and Sonny found himself at Yankee Stadium on a Saturday afternoon as they faced off against the Orioles.  You looked like the girl next door again, in short jean shorts and those canvas sneakers.  Your t-shirt looked like a Yankees shirt, but when he looked closer, it just said “Local Sports Team” on it, making him smile.

You took the B train to the stadium and settled into a pair of nosebleed seats.  You shrugged at Sonny and explained that you didn’t have a lot of money to spend from your baby-sitting job, but you had enough for a few hot dogs and sodas. 

Sonny placed an arm over the back of your seat, and you obviously felt that was high-school appropriate because you didn’t fight him on it.  It was hot and humid, but a nice breeze came through often enough to keep it from being miserable.  And Sonny thought he’d go through any weather to spend time with you.

No woman had ever been so thoughtful with him, and it made him feel pleasantly pleased at the attention.  It made him feel seen.

At the start of the fourth inning though, you stood up and left your seat, promising to come back, but you were gone the entire inning, and Sonny remembered the original date.  Another humiliation, another moment where he felt like he wasn’t enough.  He started to wallow, but you reappeared just then.  You had a giant soft pretzel, almost as big as your head.

“Sorry I was gone so long.  The line was insane,” you said.  “Want to split this?”

After the game, you took the subway and then walked back to your place, and Sonny tried to think about what he would have done in high school.  Raised Catholic, he probably wouldn’t have had sex even if the option had been there – he was still too guilty and felt like a disapproving god was watching him from above.  Hell, he couldn’t even masturbate back then (or now, really), without feeling a flush of shame wash over him.

The two of you ended up on your couch, doing what his childhood priest would sternly call “heavy petting.”  You were stretched out underneath him, one of your legs hanging off the edge of the couch, while you made out feverishly.  Sonny’s hands roamed over your form, but he had to keep it over your clothes because you smacked him every time he tried to sneak his fingers under a hem.  You kept your own hands on his biceps or shoulders, letting them drift between the two locations on his sweat-dampened t-shirt.

He felt like a teenager again, and he rolled his hips against you in a languid motion to relieve some of the tension below the belt.  You seemed to enjoy it too, judging from the soft moans that you let slip every so often.  Sonny chuckled against you.  You pulled back a bit.

“What’s so funny?” you asked, and he laughed again.

“I just never thought that I’d be dry humping a girl at my age,” he replied.

You made a face.  “I hate that term,” you informed him.  “It sounds like something a dog would do to a couch cushion.  Call it ‘outercourse,’ please.”

“I never thought I’d be outercoursing a girl at my age,” he amended, and then he leaned back down to kiss you more, sliding his tongue into your mouth.

You shifted underneath him just a bit, and when Sonny felt that nearly unbearable tension again and resumed rolling his hips against you, you moaned louder.  You were perfectly placed under him, and if you were both naked, he’d be inside you – the thought alone made him feel dizzy.  He knew that you were holding off sleeping with him for some reason or another.  He didn’t press the issue, and you didn’t elaborate your reason to him.  He worried that you were still hung up on Nick, but if that were the case, why were you going to such effort for him?

But he realized with a start that you were starting to press back against his gentle thrusts, and even with the layers of clothing between you, he might be able to make you come just from the pressure and friction alone.  The thought made him even harder, which he didn’t think was possible, so he rolled his hips harder and plunged his tongue into your mouth in time with his thrusts.

You turned your head to the side, breaking the kiss.  “Sonny,” you whined, and he wasn’t sure if you were telling him to stop or to keep going.

“Is this okay?” he asked against your neck.  He pressed a kiss to the side of your neck, darting his tongue out to taste the salt of your sweat. 

“Sonny,” you repeated.  One of your hands drifted from his shoulder across to his back, fisting his damp t-shirt in your fist.  “Would you have done this in high school?” you asked as you panted underneath him.

“With you?  Absolutely,” he replied.  He moved against you again, drawing another moan from you.  “Though I definitely wouldn’t have understood a girl having an orgasm when I was sixteen.”

You huffed out a breathless sort of laugh.  “We should stop then,” you said with a groan.  “Keep it authentic.”

Sonny kissed your neck again, sucking against your soft skin.  “We should keep going instead,” he murmured against you.  “Authentic would have been you dumping me at the game.”  He pulled back and looked down at you.  Your face was flushed from a day in the sun and from desire, and your lips were swollen from kissing.  You looked gorgeous, and Sonny felt that too-familiar twist of love in his chest.

You surged up and kissed him gently on his cheek, then laid a hand over the side of his face too.  “I didn’t have an orgasm until college, Sonny,” you said with a smile.  “I didn’t even know what ‘orgasm’ meant in high school.”

“I did,” he replied with a grin, and you laughed underneath him.

“And I thought you were the good Catholic boy,” you teased.  You put your hands on his shoulders and pushed him gently off of you until you were both sitting side by side, Sonny surreptitiously trying to hide his obvious erection.

“Well, I felt guilty about it, doll.  Nothing more Catholic than that.”

Sonny only stayed long enough to calm down, and then he ordered a car and left, but not before setting a date for your next get-together.

-----

Now that Sonny was onto the game you were playing with your dates, he just went ahead and told you the name of the jazz club that he went to in college in a vain attempt to impress his date.  He picked you up at your apartment, and you looked like a vision in a dark blue wrap dress and heels.  Your hair was down, but there was a silk flower tucked behind one ear.

The jazz club was pretty much the same, just a bit more dingy than he remembered.  You each ordered old-timey cocktails and sat beside each other in a dim corner.  Sonny laid his arm around your shoulders, and you cuddled up against him and placed a soft hand on his thigh. 

The jazz was awful, or at least, Sonny didn’t understand it as a musical genre.  There was no discernable melody that he could follow, and it sounded like when Bella was young and started piano lessons and would just bang the keys at random.  You felt the same way because two drinks in, you leaned against him and whispered in his ear.

“Want to get out of here?”

“You sure, doll?” he asked. 

You nodded and winced as the flautist hit a particularly piercing high note.  “This music could qualify as torture under the Geneva Convention, I think.”

You both ended up at his place, making out in a way that felt familiar now.  When Sonny tried to progress to another plane, however, you still smacked his hands away lightly.  And when he whined, needy, against you mouth, you grinned at him. 

“It’s college, Sonny.  I didn’t have sex until after college.”

Sonny was incredulous.  “Seriously?”

You nodded.  “I was terrified of sex, honestly.  I always wanted to, but I’d get cold feet at the last minute because I envisioned getting pregnant or some exotic STD.”  You shook your head.  “Our college’s health clinic usually assumed that whatever was ailing you was an STD.  I remember having strep throat once and getting a pamphlet about gonorrhea.”

Sonny wanted to ask about your first time:  when and where and, most importantly, which man convinced you that he was a safe bet when other men hadn’t been.  He was already jealous of this unknown guy, and he worried that it had been Nick.  It couldn’t have been, though.  Or could it?

You didn’t sense his roiling emotions though, and instead you just curled up against him and nodded off after a while.  You’d both had a few long weeks at SVU with mandatory overtime due to being understaffed, and Sonny felt his own eyes growing heavy.

“Doll, do you want to stay the night?” he asked softly, and you stirred against him.  “We don’t have to do anything other than sleep.”

You sat up.  Your face was creased from being pressed against his shirt, and Sonny couldn’t resist reaching out to run his finger down it.

“Would that be okay?” you asked.  “Or would it be too tempting?”

He pulled you against him and kissed your temple, breathing in the smell of your shampoo.  “You’re too tempting just walking around the bullpen in your work outfits,” he murmured.  “But I’ll behave.”

********

You were in the bullpen early a few morning after your jazz club date.  Fin and Rollins were off duty, and Liv was at 1PP for some bureaucratic meeting.  Sonny arrived about ten minutes after you, and he placed a coffee and pastry on your desk in front of you with a wink.

Dating Nick, if you could have even called it that, had felt like work a lot of the time.  The guys you dated before him were much the same:  tons of effort to read and manage their moods, constantly waiting and then rushing depending on what they needed.  Waiting around for them to need you, rushing to get there when they did.  You realized sadly that you probably had never had a healthy relationship before.

Nothing about dating Sonny felt like a chore, not even planning those dates.  And if they had felt like work, it would have been worth it to see his face light up.  You wondered if Sonny had ever been in a healthy relationship before. 

You hoped against hope that maybe you could be that for each other.

You sipped your coffee and tried not to wolf down the cherry strudel that was still so warm that the icing had been absorbed into the flaky pastry.  After you were done (and after you licked your fingers on the sly), you made your way over to Sonny’s desk and sat on the edge.

“Detective Carisi,” you said formally.  “Any plans this weekend?”

He leaned back in his chair and grinned at you, the corners of his blue eyes crinkling.  “Maybe,” he said.  “I’m kinda seeing this girl.”

“Ah.”  You nodded knowingly.  “Sonny mentioned that you were dating someone.  How’s it going?”

He played along, but his eyes were soft.  “It’s going really well,” he admitted, his voice a bit lower.  “How’s it going with Sonny?”

“Also really well.”

“Look at the two of us, doing really well.”

You smiled at him for a moment, enjoying the playful conversation.  “I was thinking.  If you’re free on Friday, would you like to re-do our first date?  Meet you at the same place, bring me another flower…”

Sonny knitted his eyebrows together.  “Seriously?”

You nodded.  “You’ve said at least twice that you screwed up that date, and even if I don’t agree with your definition of ‘screw up,’ I’m happy to do a do-over.  You wear the same outfit, I’ll wear the same dress.”  You turned and looked around the bullpen to make sure it was still empty except for the two of you.  “But maybe I’ll wear something different underneath,” you murmured and raised what you hoped was a suggestive eyebrow. 

Sonny groaned and scrubbed his hands over his face.  “Doll, I can’t handle anymore cold showers,” he said.  “You can’t say stuff like that to me at work.”

You stood up straight and shook a finger at him in pretend remonstration, but you loved how flushed he got at the merest hint of dirty talk.  “Pull yourself together, detective.  And meet me on Friday, same time and same place.”

-----

True to your word, you wore the same fit-and-flare dress, dressing it down with the same white Keds.  And underneath, a set of lingerie that walked the slender line between sweet and sexy, in rosy pink.  You’d never admit it to Sonny because it would only embarrass him, but it matched the color he turned when he blushed.

True to his word, he turned up in the same clothes, and you each ordered the same dishes and recreated to the best of your memories your conversation.  After you ate, Sonny led you outside, placing the same gentle hand on the middle of your back to lead you out.  And he asked if you wanted gelato.

Since you were fixing mistakes in Sonny’s dating past, you placed your gelato order and waited.  When he started to order pistachio, you placed a silencing hand on his arm and tried to stop him.

“Pistachio?” you asked in a teasing lilt.  “Who orders that flavor other than old people?”

“I like it,” he replied only a little defensive. 

“Sonny, I love you, but pistachio?” you asked again.  “Seriously?  There’s so many better options…”  You gestured at the menu board with its myriad of choices.

He made a strange face at you, and you worried that your teasing had hit a sore spot, but he turned after a beat and ordered mango instead.  The two of you went to the same park and sat on the swings while you ate in companionable silence, and instead of asking about Nick, Sonny just ate his gelato thoughtfully and didn’t say a word.

When you were both finished, he gave you the same line about walking him home, and you threaded your arm through his and walked the few blocks to his place.  When you saw the bakery, you simply said that their pastries were amazing and thanked him again for bringing them to you nearly every morning.

And instead of asking him to drive you home, you asked him to take you to his home.  And he did.

Once you were inside his apartment, he suddenly seemed nervous, fidgeting with his keys before he sat them down on a small table in his entryway.  Then he ran his hands through his hair, over and over in a motion that looked nearly obsessive.

You reached out and took his hands in yours, stilling them.  “Hey,” you said softly.  “We don’t have to do anything.”

He gazed at you with his bright blue eyes before responding.  “Did you mean it?”

“Mean what?”

He coughed a bit and his ears turned pink, and you smirked a bit to see it.  “What you said at the gelato shop,” he clarified.  “Did you mean it?”

You furrowed your eyebrows.  “Well, pistachio was my grandpa’s favorite flavor…”

He cut you off with an impatient grumble in his throat.  “No, the other thing you said.”

You thought back, trying to remember what you’d said.  Then it hit you.  “I said I love you.”  You looked at him, saw the hope and the dread written plainly across his face in equal measure.  “Oh, Sonny…”

“It’s okay if you don’t mean it,” he rushed in.  “I mean…”

You rocked up onto your sneakered toes and kissed him, cutting off his words.  When you pulled away, you smiled up at him.  “I think I’ll just have to be prepared to kiss you every time I think you’re about to say something you’ll regret.”  Then the smile slipped off your face and you turned serious. 

You reached up with both hands and placed them on either side of his face so that he couldn’t turn away from you.  “Sonny, I do love you.  You’re a very easy person to love, though.”  He scoffed at you, so you kissed him again, relishing the feel of his soft lips against yours.

You could have listed out all the reasons you loved him.  You could have added more, but Sonny kissed you back, more urgently.  It was one of the most difficult things you’d ever done – delaying intimacy with Sonny – but you wanted to make sure he was absolutely certain that he wasn’t a rebound.  You broke the kiss to tell him as much.

“I want you to know that I want you for you,” you said seriously.  Your hands, still on his face, shifted to the back of his head until they were tangled in his hair.  “You are not just a convenient hook-up.”

“I know, doll,” he whispered back, but you still saw a shadow of doubt in his blue eyes, and you sighed.

“You don’t believe me,” you said as a statement of fact, and Sonny shook his head but you knew you were right.  “I’ll have to show you then.”

You took his hand and led him to the back of his apartment until you found his bedroom.  You pulled him into the room and shut the door behind him.  You took his hand, still clasped in yours, and raised it to your mouth.  You pressed a chaste kiss to the back of his hand, and then told him, “I love your hands, Sonny.  I love the way they feel when they’re touching me.”

He narrowed his eyes at you like he was trying to figure out if you were teasing him, so you continued.  You helped him remove his blazer.  You reached up with slightly shaking fingers and unbuttoned his checked shirt, then pushed it off of his shoulders too.  Then you untucked the hem of his undershirt, glancing up in permission and noting his slight nod.  He helped you pull it over his head, and it tousled his hair even more.

“I love your heart, Sonny.”  You pressed your palm over where his heart was thudding, strong and steady.  “I love how much care and concern you have for the victims you work with, and I love how kind and thoughtful you are.”

You looked up and saw him blushing deeply, but he looked oddly pleased at the praise.  You always guessed he had a praise-kink, and it looked like you were right.

You drew you hand over his chest, brushing against his nipples.  He drew a hitching breath as you did.  “I’m only so-so on your nipples,” you joked.  “Average, at best.”

He let out a surprised peal of laughter, and you giggled with him.  You pushed him gently towards his bed until he sat down.  You pulled off his shoes and socks and examined his feet.  “Feet are nice,” you told him with a grin.  “I could love these.”

“They’re pretty good on the dance floor,” he replied, and you crawled on top of him until you were straddling him.  His hands hesitated, then came to rest lightly on your hips.

“You going to take me dancing, Sonny?”  He nodded eagerly, and you shook your head.  “Make sure it’s to music with a beat.  No free-form jazz.”

He laughed again.  You sat up on him, holding yourself up a bit so that you were lightly settled over the bulge growing underneath you.  You reached down with a hand and ghosted it over his face, drifting from feature to feature.

“I love your eyes – how blue they are and how I can read your emotions in them.”  He closed his eyes as you drifted a finger over his lids, gentle as a night breeze.

“I love your cheeks and ears, and how flushed you get when you’re embarrassed or happy.”  He opened his eyes again as you touched his sharp cheekbones and then tugged on the lobe of one of his ears.

“I do not,” he said, defensive. 

“No?”  You leaned forward a bit, bringing your face closer to his so that you could stare into his eyes.  “So if I told you that I want you to fuck me senseless, nothing would happen?”

Three things happened:  you felt Sonny harden even further against you, and you heard him groan as his face turned bright red.  You dipped your head and kissed him gently, working your lips against him and enjoying the groans you were drawing from him.

You broke away.  “I love your mouth, by the way.  I love how it gets you in trouble and how it gets you out of trouble.”

“Do you prefer any particular way it gets me out of trouble?” he said, and his accent was notably thicker.  You ran a finger over his pink lower lip.

“I’d love for you to surprise me, Dominick,” and you noted how his blue eyes darkened at your use of his first name. 

You ran your hands through his hair, mussing it even further.  “I love your hair, too.  But more than that, I love what’s underneath it.  I love how smart you are, how funny.”

You ground yourself on him lightly the whole while, and he bucked his hips involuntarily against you.  “Anything else?” he asked, his voice husky.

“Hmm,” you pretended to think.  You hoisted yourself off of him, and you unbuckled his belt and unbuttoned his jeans.  He looked down at you through hooded lids, and you noted the hitched quality of his breathing.  He raised his hips up enough for you to pull off his jeans, leaving him in only his tented boxer briefs.

“You need to catch up, doll,” he said in a strangled voice, so you kicked off your Keds and pulled your dress over your head, revealing the lingerie you’d bought for Sonny.

It had its intended effect.  Sonny sat up and reached for you, placing his hands on your hips before sliding them around to cup your ass.  He pulled you closer to him and buried his face against your bare stomach.  You could feel his pillowy lips pressed to you, his hot breath…you drew your hand through the hair on the back of his head and tugged him away until his blue eyes were gazing up at you.

“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured, and coming from his mouth, it was the first time you believed it.  You let him pull you into his lap, straddling him again, and he moved his mouth to the mounds of your breasts, pushed up to obscene heights by the pink lace and wire of your bra.

You scratched his scalp and pulled his hair lightly as he kissed your breasts:  pressing gentle kisses along the exposed skin at the top, then kissing harder through the lace until he was sucking against first one nipple, then the other.  The wet lace and the pressure from his mouth made them grow hard, and he bit them lightly, pressing the edges of his teeth against them until you moaned at the faint sting of pain.  Then he soothed them with his mouth again until you moaned louder.

“Sonny,” you said.  “I had a whole thing worked out, and you’re distracting me…”  You bit off the last sentence with a groan as he reached up with one hand to pull the cup of your bra down.  He moved his head lightning fast, and his warm mouth was on you again.  His tongue worked against your nipple, and your hips ground against him.

“I thought you liked my mouth,” he mumbled, and the vibration from his words sent another shard of desire straight to your core. 

“I love your mouth,” you replied.  “There’s just other parts of you I still haven’t met yet.”  You rolled your hips against him so that he was crystal-clear on your meaning, and he responded by swiveling you around on the bed.  You scooted up until your head rested on a pillow, and he stretched himself alongside you.

He kissed your urgently, and his lips worked against your mouth until your lips were parted.  He slid his tongue into you, licking against your mouth, and you pressed your own tongue against him.  His hands roamed your body without clear meaning, cupping your breasts and thumbing your nipples before they stuttered their way down to your panties.  He cupped your mound there and groaned when he felt how wet you were through the fabric.

He rubbed you through the lace, his finger slipping along your slit.  “What’s this, doll?” he whispered.

“It’s all for you, Dominick,” you panted against him.  Hearing his name spurred him on, and he toyed with the hem of your panties before slipping a finger underneath to resume his stroking.

You’d waited so long for him, and you were afraid you weren’t going to last very long.  You could already feel an orgasm approaching.

“Please, Sonny,” you begged him.  You should hate how whiny you sounded, but you were beyond care at this point.  All you could focus on was Sonny – his swollen pink lips, his mussed hair, his fingers dipping into you and teasing you.

He obliged by pulling his hand away altogether, and he sat up and removed his boxer briefs.  He reached into his bedside table and found a condom.  You unhooked your bra and slid out of your panties while he tore open the foil and rolled the condom on himself, and you felt your mouth go dry when he turned back to you.

His blue eyes were dark with desire, and he crawled over you and lowered his weight onto you, pressing you into his mattress.  He leaned down and kissed you again, full of passion, his tongue plunging into your mouth as he swallowed your moans.  His cock was a heavy weight pressed against your hip, and you opened your legs to him.  He broke the kiss at this and gazed down at you.

“You sure, doll?  You sure you want to do this?”

You reached up and stroked his flushed face.  “I’m sure I want you, Sonny.  I love you.”

He groaned at this and reached down to line himself up with your entrance.  “Say it again,” he pleaded, so you told him, over and over as he slid himself into you slowly.  Once he was buried to the hilt, he shuddered, but then he kissed you firmly and replied, “I love you too.”

He set a languid pace, unhurried as he pulled out partway and paused before sliding back into your slippery depths.  He kissed you as he fucked you gently, and you whimpered at the sensation of being filled by him in both your core and your mouth.  He only broke away to catch his breath and pause in his thrusts, and you knew he was trying to make it last for both of you.

You were less patient.  You’d been running in a state of perpetual horniness from all of your dates with him, and the pleasant tension in your belly was almost unbearable.  You drew one leg up and wrapped it around his waist, changing the angle just a bit.  Sonny didn’t get the hint – or ignored it – and continued his unhurried thrusts.

“Sonny…” you whined against his mouth.  “Please.”

He huffed against you.  “I don’t want this to end,” he breathed. 

You laughed, a bit breathless.  “Sonny, when it ends, we can always go again.”

He pretended to think about it.  “Sold,” he said.  He picked up the pace a bit then, thrusting into you with more force.  You could feel him dragging along your entrance, delivering a delicious bit of friction to your swollen nub. 

“Just like that,” you exhaled into his ear.  “You feel so good, Dominick.”

He groaned at the praise and went a bit faster and harder, and you spurred him on with your words and your moans, and before you knew it, the tension in your belly snapped in an explosion of white stars behind your eyelids, and you raised off the bed to arch against him. 

“Fuck, Sonny,” you wailed, and his thrusts grew irregular and hard as he chased his own orgasm and fucked you through yours.  Your legs trembled underneath him, and you felt your core clenching him as waves of pleasure crashed through you.  He shouted your name and came too, shuddering against you before he collapsed on top of you.  He buried his head against your neck, and you felt his panting breath start to steady after a time. 

He raised his head to kiss you gently, then he gazed into your eyes.  “I love you,” he said solemnly, so you repeated it back to him just as serious.

Sonny pulled out then, and he disappeared for a moment to clean up and dispose of the condom.  When he returned, you had already turned down the bed and was tucked into his cool sheets.  He slid in beside you, and you laid your head on his chest and listened to his solid heart beating underneath you.

“You ready to go again?” you asked playfully, and he chuckled underneath you.

“It might take me a minute.  I’m not as young as I used to be.”

You propped yourself up on an arm and peered down at him.  “You mean to tell me that the man who drank Mountain Dew and played Rampage on one of our dates is an old man?”

“I didn’t say I was old,” he scoffed.  “I just said I wasn’t young.”

“Middle aged then.”

“No….”

“Due for a midlife crisis,” you cut off.

“No, I…”

“Gonna buy a pony car, find a secretary to seduce…”

He responded with a growl, flipping you onto your back and kissing you to silence you.  He worked his mouth against you until you were breathless, and you felt him hardening against your hip.  He broke away and you smirked up at him.

“That didn’t take long,” you noted.

“You have that effect on me,” he replied, but he smiled down at you with a strange expression on his face, and he pushed an errant strand of hair out of your face.  “You do know I love you though, right?  I’m not just in this for the, uh, physical stuff.”

“The sex?”  You smiled to see him blush; he would probably always be an altar boy at heart.  “I know that, Sonny.”  You reached down and stroked him, savoring the feel of him stiffening in your hand.  “And I love you too.”

You pushed him onto his back and then crawled on top of him until you were straddling him.  “Let me show you how much I love you.”  And you did, that night – and every night after.  Not always physically, but you always made sure you told him – and showed him – how much you loved him.  And he did the same for you.

[homerjacksons]

Top 5 fanfics you’ve read for any fandom

Argh I don’t even know how to begin to answer this so I’m basically going with the ones that first come to mind

1. Marry Our Fortunes - Ripper Street (Homer Jackson/Edmund Reid)

I am obsessed with this lmao this is my canon and I accept nothing else thanks.

2. Away Childish Things - Harry Potter (Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter)

I hate that JK Rowling being the worst person has made me feel so conflicted about reading and loving HP fanfic but fact remains this is an all time fave and I still think about it regularly.

3. Winterheart - Marvel Cinematic Universe (Loki/Tony Stark)

Obsessed is an understatement. I have a PDF of this saved on my phone and laptop. I stealth printed this out at work so my mum could read it. I fucking ADORE this fic. I DON’T EVEN SHIP IT BUT FUCK ME IT IS A COMPELLING STORY ugh

4. Every Dog Has Its Day - Law and Order SVU (Rafael Barba/Sonny Carisi)

The most wholesome fic. My ultimate feelgood fic. Which is a reminder I need to reread this now, it’s been a while.

5. Mode & Moment - Law and Order SVU (Rafael Barba/Sonny Carisi)

God this series. This beautiful, painful, unfinished series. Will it ever be finished? Unlikely. That doesn’t make it any less fucking incredible. It’s one of the most hauntingly beautiful things I’ve ever read.

[whatstruthgottodowithit]

Does He Love You?

Fandom: Elvis, Elvis Presley, Elvis 2022, RPF

Pairing: Elvis Presley x Female Reader, Elvis Presley x Ann-Margaret

Characters: Elvis Presley, Female Reader, Ann-Margaret, Jerry Schilling, Joe Esposito, Red West, Sonny West, Colonel Tom Parker

Word Count: 3225

Rating: Explicit

Summary: Does he love you, like he loves me?

Tags/Warnings: Request, Requested Fic, Vaginal Sex, Kissing, Arguing, Cheating, Infidelity, Drunk Arguments, Betrayal, Angst, Hurt, Affairs, Established Relationship, Reba Song

Notes: This kinda reminded me of a Reba song at the end. It was giving me Jolene vibes but Ann Margaret knew they weren’t meant to be im sure.

Elvis Tags: @caitlin1996 @literally-just-elvis-fics @notstefaniepresley

Request by @elvispresleyxoxo - yes that’s completely fine! I was wondering if you could do one where reader knows elvis is cheating with ann margaret and confront him in front of all of the memphis mafia maybe even ann margaret if your comfortable with that! she tells elvis that she loves him ,shares like smutty details about there sex life ( if ann margaret is there could reader be like does he do that to you to, but again if your uncomfortable with that you don’t have to write that) , just overall a messy argument in front of everyone. but in the end elvis lashes out and takes her into another room and makes love to her and everyone can hear them she comes back like embarrassed but yk forgives him , you can choose the ending around the ann margaret situation if your comfortable writing that part x

One would think that being in a relationship with Elvis Presley would be fun. And for the most part, it is but not always. Sometimes the glitz and the glamour of Hollywood isn't parties and shows, it's dreadfully boring meetings with studio executives that come disguised as evening dinner parties. Whilst Elvis allowed the Colonel to negotiate most of the deals he was required to be present, something that no doubt allowed the Colonel to do what he wanted whilst having the excuse that Elvis never protested even though he was ten people down the table. As long as Elvis showed up the Colonel was happy but to keep Elvis happy he needed distractions. Which was why he brought friends. Members of the Mafia or me, someone he could talk to whilst they hashed out details of contracts that didn't interest him. The upside of these meetings was that they were largely comped by the networks meaning they were almost exclusively held in fancy hotels or restaurants rather than the dreary offices of Paramount. That was why tonight we would be dining at Perino's.

As we walked into the room my eyes roved over the table that was already jam-packed full of people, as ever we were the last to arrive. The majority of it was made up of men in stiff suits, business types, and members of Elvis' entourage who always tried so desperately to fit in at these things but somehow always seemed to look like boys play acting as Hollywood bigwigs. And then my eyes landed on the end of the table. On the only other woman in the room. Ann-Margaret.

Whilst Elvis' schmoozed his way through the crowd of people that had jumped up to greet him my eyes remained locked on her. Her red-golden hair was pushed back from her face, her natural makeup accentuating her large eyes and full lips in the dim ambient lighting. She looked beautiful. She was chatting to a man I didn't know seemingly unbothered by our entrance, a fact that made my heart sink. After all, why would she? She knew Elvis well. Too well. The novelty of his presence had no doubt rubbed off for her.

A million thoughts circled in my mind. What was she doing here? Had Elvis invited her? Had the network? I didn't know which of those options was worse. Either way, it signalled that she wasn't going anywhere much to my sadness. They had just debuted their first film together, Viva Las Vegas, and it was a hit. Elvis had even seemed to enjoy himself on this production which I was ecstatic for. He seemed more lenient with the scripts, happier to sing the same old songs he'd been given and altogether more enthusiastic whenever he'd called home. It was only when I flew out to Vegas for the last few days of filming I saw why.

I couldn't blame him I supposed. After all she was a beautiful, charming and magnetic woman. The press liked her. The Mafia liked her. Elvis liked her. But I couldn't bring myself to. He'd been like this before of course. No matter what I did he couldn't seem to stay true yet none of the others ever bothered me...but she did. Because I could feel the way he felt about her. The others never bothered me because I knew he didn't love them but with her? The potential was there. Another two or three films, who knew what could happen?

Tears stung at my eyes but I forced them back, going through the motions of greeting people until I could finally drop down into my seat beside Elvis. Ann-Margaret was sitting on his other side. I didn't listen to either of them as they started to talk. Instead, I grabbed the bottle of wine that had been left on the table and poured myself a large glassful, immediately sipping it down as much as I could. Neither of them even noticed.

✵✵✵

I didn't want to talk. I didn't want to even be here. As everyone laughed and joked around me I sat in silence nursing whatever number glass of wine I was up to and watching Elvis and Ann-Margaret talk. It was like slow torture. Every laugh, every coy smile, every touch of the hand was like another rock being placed on my chest until I couldn't breathe. I had to get out of there. I stood up from the table, gripping onto it for balance as the alcohol in my system hit me full on making me woozy.

'You alright honey?' Elvis said, finally noticing me. His hand gently touched the back of mine but I pulled mine out from under his.

'Fine, I just need the restroom,' I said. Elvis looked at me curiously but I didn't stay there long enough for him to ask any questions. I wanted to cry. Or scream. Or throw up. I fled to the bathroom and locked myself in the stall, trying to calm myself down. I knew there was no point getting upset. I couldn’t make a scene and I couldn’t go home not without Elvis wondering what was wrong so I put on my most composed expression and returned to the table trying to ignore the tears that threatened to spill over at any moment. I hurried my way back to my seat, noticing how the waiters had started arriving at the table placing our orders down in front of us. As a bowl full of pasta dropped into place in front of me a young waiter appeared at Elvis' side.

'Steak?' the waiter asked.

'Here,' Elvis said, allowing him to place the plate down in front of him. My eyes scanned his plate though where I expected to see a block of charcoal in place of steak I found a normal-looking piece of meat looking back at me.

'You should send that back,' I blurted out. Elvis looked at me for a second, suddenly realising I was back in the room, and shook his head.

'It's fine,' Elvis said as he picked up his napkin and dropped it on his lap.

'It's rare,' I said.

'Like I said it's fine,' Elvis said.

'You hate your food rare,' I said, utterly perplexed. It was true. Any who knew him knew that unless it was absolutely cremated Elvis wouldn't eat it. Before now he'd sent food back in restaurants up to three times until it was completely obliterated.

'It's not a big deal,' Elvis gritted out looking up the table. My voice had been louder than intended thanks to the alcohol meaning I was no longer the only one looking at him. He was now the spectacle of the show with almost everyone peering down the table at what was going on. He didn't flounder though and instead he cut a neat piece of meat off the end and though he couldn't stop himself from grimacing as blood oozed out onto his plate he hoyed it into his mouth and choked it down all the same.

'How is it?' I asked after it was gone.

'Fine,' he said, taking a sip of his iced water.

'See!' Ann said placing a dainty hand on his bicep, 'I told you it wouldn't be that bad.'

'What?' I said, confused. She looked at me with a smile though Elvis kept his head down sheepishly.

'Last time we had dinner he ordered this thing, it looked more like a tire than a piece of meat, and I told him all that burnt stuff was bad for his health,' she said, 'too many carcinogens. It's much healthier to have your meat medium or rare.'

'Yeah, I think I've heard that before,' Joe said from the side of me.

'The question is what isn't bad for you these days,' Sonny chimed in, 'though good on you for makin' EP change his mind about the bits of rubber he calls meat.'

'Yeah that's a feat in itself,' Joe said. Their conversation continued but I couldn't join in. My blood was boiling, the alcohol well and truly taking hold as I watched him. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. After years of moaning at him to eat someone that resembled an edible meal and him refusing he’d elected to make a change after one meal with her. It was like a punch to the gut. My jealousy took a hold consuming every fibre of my being. Elvis wasn't paying much attention and was instead scarfing down his pink steak punctuating it with sips of water to no doubt dilute the taste. My focus didn't land on him however, it landed across the table. I wanted to make her feel as bad as I did. To ruin her night like she had ruined mine. I could feel my words coming on fast and there was no way to stop them.

'Oh, I don't know. I wouldn’t say it’s that hard to change his mind,' I said taking a sip of wine as I rested back in my chair. I could feel several pairs of eyes land on me, including Elvis and Ann's.

'Remind me of that when I'm trying to pry him out of bed to go to the lot,' Joe chuckled.

'You just need to know how to handle him,' I said, 'ain’t that right sweetie?'

'You think you can handle me?' Elvis said quirking an eyebrow. He was playing along in front of the boys but I could see him hesitate, not knowing where I was going with it.

'Of course, though it seems like I'm not the only one. Right, Ann?' I asked with a fake smile. Ann glanced at Elvis and then back at me.

'Oh I wouldn't say I can handle him like you,' she said an embarrassed blush on her pretty face.

'But he listens to you,’ I said, ‘I mean you got him to eat something other than black steak. That’s some feat.’

‘Like I said it’s nothing,’ she said shifting awkwardly in her seat. I didn’t care though. I could feel more and more people staring curiously at me, wondering what the hell I was going on about, Elvis too but I didn’t pay them any attention.

‘How did you do it?’ I said.

‘What?’ she asked glancing at Elvis for help.

‘It’s a simple question,’ I said leaning forward and running my finger around the rim of my wine glass, ‘I mean I know how I’d do it. You know one time Elvis took me shopping and I found this beautiful Chanel number, you remember that right honey? The one with all the buttons? Anyway, he’s moaning about it telling me it looks like something a sailor would wear but me? I love it, so you know I did?’

‘What?’ Ann said quietly unable to ignore me as I watched her intently my gaze never wandering from her green eyes.

‘I got down on my knees and blew him right there in the dressing room,’ I said.

‘Y/N!’ Elvis snapped.

‘Soon got him to change his mind-’

‘That’s enough,’ Elvis said.

‘You know he can’t even see anything naval without sporting wood,’ I giggled.

‘Stop it,’ Elvis said standing up and yanking me out of my seat by my bicep. Though his grip was tight on my arm it was a good job he was holding me as I was unsteady enough that I would’ve toppled over if it hadn’t been for him.

‘What? We’re just swapping girly stories, right Annie? I bet she could tell me just how she gets you to do stuff don’t you think? I bet it’s not all that dissimilar, huh baby?’ I sneered.

‘You’re drunk,’ he said.

‘And you’re screwing your co-star,’ I said. Joe pushed my other side keeping me on balance as I yanked my arm out of Elvis’ grasp. Ann’s face paled before going deep crimson as she dropped her gaze to her lap. Elvis said nothing his face thunderous as everyone watched the pair of us just looking at each other.

‘Can’t even deny it can you?’ I said looking at him. I shook my head, grabbed the bottle of wine off the table and walked off out into the foyer. I didn’t know where I was going. The car wouldn’t be waiting and I didn’t feel like heading outside. I didn’t need to worry though as I felt a hand grasp my elbow, pushing me towards a door until I was roughly thrust through it into a storeroom of sorts. I fell inside, looking up to find Elvis standing by the door blocking my only exit.

‘What the hell do you think you’re playing at?!’ he snapped.

‘Me?! You’re fucking someone else and you’re angry at me!?’ I baulked.

‘It’s not like that,’ he said.

‘Yeah sure,’ I snorted.

‘Nothing’s going on,’ he said.

‘Nothing’s going on now? Or nothing’s ever happened,’ I said coming towards him. His jaw was tight as he looked down at me but my expression never changed. I was challenging him to tell me I was wrong.

‘It’s over,’ he said making me pull back shaking my head, ‘it has been for a while.’

‘Since I came to town and spoiled your fun?’ I said taking a swig from my bottle before setting it down on a shelf.

‘Since I remembered how much I love you,’ he said making me roll my eyes, ‘what you don’t believe me?’

‘Until I’m not around right,’ I said.

‘It’s not like that,’ he said coming towards me. I folded my arms across my chest to stop him from touching me, ‘you don’t think I know how pathetic I am? That I don’t know I’m weak? I know I’m not worth the ground you walk on and yet you still keep me around. I know I don’t deserve you Y/N…but I love you and I’m sorry.’

‘You always are,’ I said an errant tear trickling down my cheek. He moved to wrap his arms around me but I stayed still, letting his strong hold engulf me.

‘Do you love her?’ I said in almost a whisper. He was so close to me that I could feel the warmth of his breath on my face, the heat of his body matching that of my own.

‘Not as much as I love you,’ he said pressing his forehead to mine before he placed a kiss on my cheek. His lips kissed my tears away until finally, they landed on my lips. He kissed me, waiting for my permission to take it further. I tried to stop. I knew I should. But I loved him. I always would, so I moved my lips against his. He took this as a positive sign and deepened the kiss pushing me backwards until my back hit the wall. I didn’t do much of the work. His lips were everywhere all at once, touching every piece of skin they could find and leaving fire in their wake. His kisses were interspersed by murmurs of adoration as if his words could wipe away his actions for good.

‘I love you,’ he said as his hand slipped under my dress, teasing through my folds before he moved my panties to the side and slipped inside me, hoisting me up until my legs were wrapped around his waist. The wall was uncomfortable against my back but I couldn’t focus on that as Elvis’ fingers made their way to my sensitive bud, stroking it in time with his movements in and out of me. His name was all I could manage to whimper against his neck as the feeling of ecstasy started mounting in my core.

‘Baby,’ he grunted as his hips started faltering in rhythm.

‘Oh god,’ I said trembling around him with a whimper. He moved his hips in haphazard snaps against me until he groaned loudly, his breath hot and wet against my neck as he buried his face against my skin. After a moment he came round, pressing his forehead against mine. I could feel him softening inside me yet neither of us moved, my fingers tracing small circles on the nape of his neck as our breaths intermingled.

‘I love you,’ he said after a moment.

‘Enough to stop seeing her?’ I said.

‘Like I said. It’s over,’ he said pulling away from me so he could gently place me on my feet. His hand was tender against my cheek, his thumb stroking against my skin gently. I watched his face for a moment as if I would be able to tell the future from his expression alone. I knew it was pointless. I knew that whatever was going to happen in the future would happen regardless. But I loved him. With everything I had.  So, I pulled away and nodded ever so slightly. He kissed the top of my head and then led me out of the storage cupboard. There weren’t many people in the foyer but those that were there were sure to know what had just transpired. Joe, Sonny, Red and Jerry congregated by the door of the dining room probably unsure of what they were supposed to be doing in Elvis' absence. That or they were forming a human barrier in case I wanted to head back inside for round two.

‘Give me a minute,’ he said squeezing my hand before he dropped it and headed over to the boys where they began talking in hushed whispers. I could feel the eyes of the waitstaff watching me as I stood in the foyer and so I quickly ducked into the restroom to freshen up. I looked a little messy. My tears had given me black smudges under my eyes and my lipstick was smudged from Elvis kissing me. I grabbed a paper towel and started to retouch the damage but I slowed my actions down as I noticed the toilet door opening.

Ann stepped out.

‘Oh,’ she said, ‘um sorry I didn't know-’

‘It’s fine,’ I said straightening up and tossing the paper towel in the trash.

‘Y/N,’ she said coming towards me offering to put a tender hand on my shoulder but I moved out of her way.

‘Don’t,’ I said. We stood there watching each other for a moment. I didn’t know what I was feeling. Anger. Sadness. Who knew? Whatever it was it felt awful and it was made even worse by the fact she looked genuinely remorseful.

‘I really am sorry,’ she said.

‘Just,’ I said my words disappearing. I didn’t know what to say. After all, how could I blame her? The charm, looks and appeal she had been lured in by was the one that kept me hooked. I couldn’t resist it any more than she could. How could I blame her for giving in to temptation?

‘I can’t lose him,’ I said. My hand was on the door handle now, my gaze locked on it as I refused to look up at her.

‘You were never going to,’ she said capturing my attention, ‘I’m not what he wants.’

‘Yeah, who’d want a gorgeous movie star, right?’ I said.

‘It's what he wants for a night. You get his mornings. His afternoons. You’re the one he calls when he’s had a bad day,’ she said, her eyes were sad though she was wearing a sympathetic smile, ‘you’re the one who’ll get his last name.’

‘I hope you’re right,’ I said and with that, I slipped out of the bathroom. Elvis looked around as I came out. He was standing with Jerry, waiting for me by the main entrance, the others sent to handle whatever needed fixing on my behalf.

‘Everything okay honey?’ he murmured as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and led me outside.

‘Fine,’ I said with a small sigh, ‘just fine.’

[beastszai]

warnings : mentions of ab*se・BSD BEAST/BSD spoilers (???)

✧ dont know if this counts as anything but: odasaku wasnt dazais father figure—and as much as i hate to say this: mori was.

the toxicity of dazai? his never ending list of red flags??? the root of it all is mori, because he ‘raised’ dazai; not odasaku. mori took dazai under his wing and influenced him—shaped him into who he is.

all in hopes of dazai becoming a spectacular, one of a kind mafia member, if not the next boss; mori himself speculated that he wouldnt be shocked if dazai were to assassinate him and take his place as the next port mafia boss back in dark era.

…(at age 23 to be precise—dazai is 22 in the canon and current timeline—dazai rejoins pm agenda WILL become reality)

even in 15, when dazai asked mori “who do i remind you of?” (correct me if i quoted it wrong my memory is shittier than a gold fish with dementia)

mori responds with “myself”.

odasaku couldve been the healthy father figure, but that doesnt mean that he actually was. (even though that i desperately wanted him to be…)

so, if dazai was found by odasaku and not mori, then yeah, our sonny boy wouldnt have turned out to be so fucked up. but unfortunately, that isnt the case…

though shoutout to beast for feeding into my delusions! because if there are multiple universes with multiple different outcomes, that means that at least in one of them, odasaku found dazai before mori did!!!

no worries guys!!! dazai is taken good care of in at least one universe out there!!! (head in hands, shinji sitting pose…)

and to end this debate with a lil something, mori and dazais dynamic reminds me of the saying:

“The abused becomes the abuser”.

[amywarrel]

Sonny Boy and The Lost Youth - an anime analysis by Amy Warrel

This analysis is enormous. You have been warned.

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The world is confusing. No one knows how to properly navigate it. You’ll get a grasp on it eventually and there might be people to help you out, but one day you might also drift apart. That’s a very sad notion, but it also one that reminds us of one thing: what we lived has value, those memories of old are meaningful and our connections to other people will continue to shape us long after those relations are over. Sonny Boy is not subtle in its commentary about getting lost in the world and society. The characters are all transported to a world in which their school is the whole extent of said world. Everything beyond it is pitch black; you can reach for it, but you don’t know what you’ll be getting yourself into. Inside, teenagers try to make it into a functional society, but are obviously all lacking in resources and life experience to do so. Some people are more talented or stronger than others, and that is enough for social bubbles to emerge. I’m sure most of us can relate to the notion that we are getting left behind, that other people are finding their careers, finding what they are good at, have a decent idea of what their life will be like once they step out of school or even already have a future guaranteed, but we — or I — always feel like the outcast.

As someone who spent their whole teen days knowing the only path I could pursue in life was the path of art — which ultimately led me to turn to literature —, I can highly relate to coming of age stories and the anxiety of stepping into adulthood. I can barely manage adulthood even after having been an adult for supposedly four years and “getting ready” — you eventually learn that school is not as good of a leeway into working life as you were led to expect — for it for many more years, so I can see a lot of myself in these character’s emotions, struggles and decisions.

Nagara is the closest thing to a stand-in for the audience in this show, but has enough of a personality that he does not come out as simply self-insert material. Being an introvert does not mean you don’t have a personality, it just means yours doesn’t come out as much, especially in such a confusing age and place where opening yourself up to others is hard when you don’t know how they will react and harder still when you might not even understand why you feel the way you feel. Nagara’s character is used to talk about others' expectations in a very direct way in a couple of episodes, as well as the importance of social connections, while the “speaking up for yourself'' part is also shared mainly with Mizuho.

I am surprised to see Mizuho not being revealed as a transgender character later in the series, since she is reading Stop!! Hibari-kun! In her first appearance, a 1981 manga about a transgender girl going through school who also turns out to be the daughter of a yakuza. Mizuho is by far the easiest character for me to relate to because of this, because of her relation to cats — I have more than twenty of them, it has gotten out of control, someone please help —, because I would have loved to look similar to her through my teenage days — having come out as a transgender girl myself after over a decade of suffering with gender dysphoria — and because she is just very entertaining to watch on screen. I also love her voice; Yuuki Aoi sounds like she is very close to the microphone when speaking just like how all the other characters are doing, which couples with the anime’s more simplistic art style dedicated to giving each character more distinct facial features instead of just telling everyone apart from their hair color, these being techniques that invite a lot more intimacy from the audience and drags them closer to the characters and, by extension, the themes. Having said that, something about Yuuki Aoi’s voice just entices me. I believe she communicates Mizuho’s melancholic and occasionally smug personality with impressive effectiveness.

Of course, the character’s don’t stand in school for long. The first episode’s arc is a very self-contained one about rules, authority and the dangers of it, in which losing said authority leads a kid to hit another one with a baseball bat in the head. Power is a dangerous thing, it messes with our morals, it makes us scared of risking it and can be used both for good and for evil, even by the same person. Give someone too much power and it’s a matter of time and circumstance until you get yourself a war.

I believe the first episode was presented this way with airing conditions in mind. Sonny Boy overall lands itself incredibly well on the style of episodic storytelling with a narrative and thematic throughline to glue it all together, honestly one of the best I have seen yet in that department. Making a first episode that presents the audience with a simple premise in a restricted environment is a great way to ease the viewer into the story.

That structure gets quickly expanded upon as Nozomi takes a leap of faith towards the unknown world, and all the students now find themselves on a new island and with the information that there are many “This Worlds”. All weird places that no one understands exactly, all connected in some fashion that they are still to uncover, and all of it can be conquered by the kids’ specific powers — talents, as they are thematically shown to be — and give them different rewards that they then have to learn how to use. It is not hard to see what that means: its plot significance is one of adding flavor and mystery to the world to better mark the student’s progress as they peel off the mechanics of these worlds little by little, but its thematic significance is one of putting your talents and skills to use and being rewarded for your work.

However, that is just the first episode and there are eleven more to go. Yes, I’ll be going through this commenting “briefly” about what stood out to me in every episode, which I never do, but this anime is an exception and it deserves it. Full on spoilers from now on, you have been warned.

Each episode deals with a couple of different themes but there are always one or two clearly main ones. The series is more interested in discussing these themes in its surreal world than properly grounding every facet of the worldbuilding, which is totally unnecessary once you are shining so many lights on the relevance of the themes above everything else. Yes, the anime has a lot of small little mechanics the characters need to understand about each world, but these mechanisms are generally intrinsically tied to the theme of each world, so don’t expect the type of worldbuilding we are used to seeing. It is not important that we know everything about the island, how far apart things are and where everything is being built, it is more important that we understand how the characters react to their environment and how they communicate — or attempt to — through said world.

Episode two, for instance, leads to the canonical creation of cryptocurrency by everyone’s dearest Rajdhani, but really the important aspect of it is commenting on how a society gets formed à la Lord of the Flies. There are other elements to this episode, such as Mizuho having to speak for herself as I commented earlier, the fact that value is attached to things by our own decisions and how this value can be altered through the means in which these things are obtained, but episode two is still primarily about introducing Mizuho’s character and her struggles with being a kid who wants to be more than just a kid.

I particularly love the fact that at no point does the plot judge Mizuho for having a crush on her teacher. That sort of stuff happens. She can’t be blamed for developing feelings for a figure she sees as a guiding light in a twisted world. We are very clearly led to understand that she decided to wear a ring not because she was in an actual relationship with him, but because she saw that as a stating of her own maturity. Other characters later bring attention more than once to Mizuho’s emotional dependency, it used to be put at least partially on her teacher, but because of the blackmailing she suffered and the circumstances of being stranded, that then turned exclusively to her cats. And I ask again: can she be blamed for it? No, she can’t, and I appreciate the writing for being self-aware enough to understand that and respect her character instead of turning this into what could have been a generic villainization of teen sexuality. Please note that I am only talking about her emotional dependency and her having a crush on her teacher, I am not saying that actually being involved in a romantical and or sexual relationship with a teacher is ethical, especially considering that Mizuho is sixteen years old.

One of the great things that fantastical elements in a story allows is the literalization of metaphors. Episode three does this by using a rule that makes recluse people totally isolated within a pocket dimension of endless black curtains, all connected to each other through gaps in these curtains, meaning there is a way for them to communicate with each other. In this dimension they are all doing what they want to be doing: one guy is livestreaming Pacman, there is one buff dude that only wants to work out and a girl that is sewing multiple stuffed toys… you get the idea.

Society isolates people and that should be a given in any system created by humans. There is simply too much idiosyncrasies in our relations and personalities and it would be goddam boring if everyone was the same. Of course it can get to a point where it is detrimental to the isolated person, but that begins as a way to cope with our inability to communicate with people we feel we should be able to communicate with — because everyone else does, apparently — and our interests and passions not being well-seen or simply really hard to turn into a living. Who wouldn’t like to live in a world in which subsistence is a given and we can do whatever we want and repeat our hobbies for as long as we can stand them because we enjoy it?

Some aspects of Sonny Boy’s multiple worlds can maybe be related to the concept of a noosphere: a state of evolution defined by our consciousness, mental activities and interactions with other people, it is both above and ahead of the geosphere and the biosphere and envisions a world in which Earth is essentially a super-organism and there is a layer of consciousness and information enveloping it all. I am not claiming to be an expert on the matter and maybe the creators weren’t even trying to pursue this idea in particular — seen in the fact that they like mentioning Robinson Crusoe, so you could expect then to mention the noosphere —, but the many This Worlds in the story are described as playing with consciousness and the mind. Also, in a noosphere humans would be united enough to be able to deal with global problems and Earth can self-regulate itself, which these Worlds do by their own set of rules. I’m sorry if anyone has studied this and if I said something wrong about it.

Going back to episode three, it keeps pulling the thread of commenting about isolation with things such as no one noticing these people’s disappearance except those in direct interaction with then and these people might not even go looking for the missing ones, which is certainly how most people I know describe the feeling of being depressed and the notion that no one understands them. It also has some very direct commentary about our capitalist society through reflecting on the fact that the blue flames of the island take everything away from you that you haven’t paid for and with Mizuho complaining about people wanting to be friends with her power — what she can do —, instead of with herself — who she is. It is not a particularly complex exploration of the individual's relation with capitalism and their worth in it, but at least it is something.

This episode also turns Nagara and Mizuho into a duo, which is something we are going to see a lot more of through the remaining episodes. You get the drill: they fail to communicate, fight, then manage to properly communicate — which goes hand in hand with the episode’s theme of isolation caused by an inability to communicate — and solve the issue together, yadda yadda, we have seen that before. It is executed competently and makes sense within the story, but Sonny Boy is not a non-stop flow of impressive big ideas and unexpected twists and turns leading to their incredible solution, it is that just most of the time.

Episode four then comments more directly about how talent can distance people. That is a recurring theme through the whole show, but in this episode we see a story about an ape who wanted to play baseball, but could not because of the physical liability of only having one arm, but that did not stop him from loving the sport and ending up as an arbiter, however he was seen as the common person, relegated to a background position while other, more talented and successful people shine in the spotlights, leading him to be killed by an enraged crowd for standing up to his sense of justice. Before that all the apes were indistinguishable, having to stand out on the basis of their prowess, while some people are like the blue ape, clearly different and talented enough to steal everyone’s attention and moments to shine, which leads him to forget his origin as the target of prejudice and causing harm to another victim when the goal of being perfect becomes more important than enjoying the moment and the success he already has. Ace then goes on to say that the arbiter’s death was fair because there are common people who drown other’s talents — referring to his talent and Nagara causing him to lose an important game back when they played baseball —, but of course he is totally wrong in this. Loving something and having a competitive mindset about it can blind people sometimes and Ace does not realize this, while Nozomi, being by far the most conscious of her surroundings and constantly having insights about the other kids' psychology everytime the “camera” zooms in on her eyes, is the first one to call attention to the fact that the impressive ape in the whole story is the arbiter, for standing up for himself against everyone knowing that he would be seen as the enemy.

I know most of what I just said is spelled out in the episode, but since I am committed to reviewing the whole show I have to mention these details, because Sonny Boy constantly builds upon the themes of the last episode in the next one instead of just going for unrelated yet interesting themes or repeating the same ones like I feel other shows I don’t resonate with very strongly often do.

Nagara is also shown to not have enough control of his own power to determine where he wants to go. We find out that he can only travel to other This Worlds and not back to their original one. I believe Nagara to be the carrier of this power because he is just enough of a blank-slate to fit virtually anywhere while also not feeling like he belongs in any of them, having no clear goal in life and thus not wanting to go to any place in particular, drifting through whatever comes his way. Sure, he can bring other people with him, but it’s not as if he is going to any one place.

We end this episode with the introduction of Aki-sensei, someone the kids recognize as being one of their teachers back in the real world. Aki-sensei immediately tells them that the fun and games have ended and that there is no way to go back to their original world. While a lot of what she says is put to the test later on, Aki turns out to be a figure of authority manipulating these kids and creating even more distinction between the groups, managing to bring every single person that would be willing to trust a figure who is supposed to know what she is doing while the other groups are made of the students that want to find that out for themselves. Her primary target for manipulation is Asakaze and everything that was needed for him to trust her was hearing that he was special, that he deserves special attention and that he has a special future. Again, this is dealing with the psychology of people receiving power and status, in this case especially by someone who he sees as having a better grasp on reality and thus making her words all the more meaningful.

As soon as the sides are clearly divided conflicts start emerging faster and it doesn’t take long until we see three separate groups being formed. That is expected to happen whenever there is a society, especially when it starts to grow and people gravitate towards others similar to them and in whom they believe in. Aki-sensei is not right in her manipulations by any stretch, but her presence merely accelerates an ongoing process. The meaning of Aki-sensei in the story changes a bit once when we find out she is actually not Aki-sensei but another student playing as her, changing what was a figure of authority manipulating kids in vulnerable positions to being one of those kids, just as lost or even more lost than the others, pretending to be a figure of authority who understand the world better than they do and presenting it as necessity of maintaining the status quo while framing the other kids as potentially dangerous precisely because they are trying to lay change upon the world. Knowing all of this, it is no surprise what their actions later escalate into.

One of the most interesting ideas the anime introduces is in episode six, where they find a world that is a giant cinema filled to the brim with records from Nagara’s perspective. It fits his character considering Nagara is used to spending his days as simply an observer that takes no action and the way the mechanics are played with are interesting. What if we edit the records? What if we play it backwards? It doesn’t really matter how much this amounts to, the questions are interesting enough by themselves. Not all changes made to the films actually happen, even if Nagara is present, this probably means that not everything done to the films will actually change his perception of reality. If it is something that he can’t imagine happening or doesn’t have enough suspension of disbelief to accept, then it likely doesn’t affect the real world.

Yamabiko is a particularly interesting addition to the cast: a once student turned dog who has lived for five thousand years and finally gives us some answers, claiming that the reason the drifting happens is because their principal is God, explaining that only the school and students can get adrift and that it only happens with people from the same school they went to, no matter the time in which that happened. Though there is not much that can be said about Yamabiko and the themes revolving around his character before the episode dedicated to expanding on his background, he is still a fun and mysterious character that shares good synergy with Mizuho. He does, however, say that the kids from the current drifting still have time to go back. Our experiences through a structure like school and our teenage days shape us and once we step outside of it, we aren’t the same as when we first stepped in. Since the perception of reality is an important concept in this episode, then this means that if we changed, then the world itself changed, because our reality is simply how we see it. Nozomi, for instance, keeps talking about her compass and the light she believes will guide them home, but we don’t have to actually see that light to believe her. Yamabiko on the other hand simply can’t go back, because he has lost too much and been around for too long, to the point where he doesn’t even fit the actual real world he was used to.

My favorite part of episode six is when Nozomi is talking about how she doesn’t want to walk down the safe paths people have told her about just to think “Ah, good going.” That’s not what life is for her. Nozomi is a very brave and insightful person and she wants to do what she wants to do, she is a free spirit that can appreciate the present more than all the other kids. She can get anxious and scared, but that is precisely why she does it. Nozomi wants to feel, wants to live and wants to take risks. Honestly I would like to be a little bit more like her, but I’m simply not brave enough.

Hoshi’s White Knight Syndrome is also brought to the forefront in this episode. He knew the school was going to go adrift and that is why he went to school that day, because he wanted to help these people, but this is not presented as simply altruism. Hoshi had always been drawn as creepy and scheming if not necessarily evil, but as we also find out, this desire of him to help others does not exist because he actually wants to help them, but because he has a god complex and wants to be a savior. Meaning, he’s going about it the wrong way.

Episode seven is my least favorite of the bunch simply because it was the first to come out as too heavy-handed to me. You see, a lot in fiction boils down to promises and payoffs. The ending of episode six and the entirety of episode seven gave me the impression that the series was going into another direction, having the newly discovered plot about castaways that have been adrift for longer wanting to punish Nagara for ruining their lives take a more prominent place in the story. Don’t take me wrong, I’d much rather this current story that the anime has, but it did gave me the feeling that that was the promise being made for the long run, that this was the direction it was taking and by the ending of episode seven I was expecting it to turn into something similar to “us against the government”, so finding out that was not the case was both a relief and a confusing moment. Even after watching the episode again to try and judge it in a different light already knowing how the story ends, my view on this hasn’t changed.

This doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate anything that episode seven does, of course. Sonny Boy frequently calls attention to Nagara’s personality and the need to speak up for himself, but it is never offensive about it. Koumaru reaches the conclusion that Nagara can’t be blamed for drifting them and Yamabiko notes that God gave him that power with the intention of it being used for the drifting, which also means he can’t be blamed for being who he is since that power is so rooted in his personality. He can get more out of life by forming connections with people, but we don’t need to scorn him for that until he learns his lesson.

The world turned upside down is still a neat idea even if I don’t think it is used to as satisfying a conclusion as most of the other episodes do. It explores the idea of a stagnant society that makes its workers believe that they are changing it, no matter whether they believe it or even know what exactly they are supposedly doing, giving them a blind hope to help cope with their trapped situation. Since Sonny Boy constantly pulls threads from previous episodes it is pretty easy to relate this to Nozomi’s phrase of not wanting to walk down the safe path in life.

All it takes for Nagara to flip the world upside down is to take a step away from the safe spot. I get the message, but I feel like it is slightly too simplistic. Sometimes this anime does not deliver in the themes department as well as I would have liked, but thankfully the strength of the main characters is enough for me to see that as just a minor nuisance.

Episode eight, on the other hand, is among the amazing ones and it does a lot more for the characters and tone than any episode honestly even needs to in order to be satisfying. We jump from present to past as Yamabiko tells his sad story. In the present they are traveling along with Nagara, Mizuho and her cats, but the framing always keeps us close to the characters instead of zooming out to show the scenery, which is great to shorten the distance between audience and characters, hyperfocusing this episode in the people we are seeing and leaving the exploration of the world to the side for at least one episode. The muddier color design and music also helps a lot in keeping this episode tone-perfect all the way through.

The reason why I find this episode to be genius is because of how Yamabiko’s story recontextualizes the characters of Nagara and Mizuho. Yamabiko was a shut-in who simply crawled his way through life just like Nagara, but to a much more intense degree that leads him to completely isolate himself, instead of trying but not managing to speak up like how we see Nagara often doing, leading to a point where Yamabiko reacts violently to try and scare people away. He also brings attention to Mizuho’s emotional dependency by increasing that to the point where he turns into a dog to follow the lead of someone he trusts more than even himself, and it is these two things combined that eventually leads to the ruin of the people around him and himself.

Episode eight is primarily about ignoring your problems until it is too late. Yamabiko’s power gives him the ability of manifesting his mental state, this being the reason why he turned into a dog, but also being the reason why the epidemy hits Kodama and her friends. I don’t think it would be right to call these kids the new family Yamabiko has found, because his interactions happen almost exclusively with Kodama, being the pure guiding light — probably even motherly figure, since her power is called “M”, I know that might mean "Manipulate" or something, but we also know that Nagara has an issue with his mother who is herself a shut-in that doesn’t leave the house — so that he needs to go through life without thinking, leaving all his worries and objectives for someone else to decide. Thus, he is walking the “safe path” mentioned before.

The anime is clearly self-conscious about all of this, since not only do the personalities of these three characters relate in such a direct way, but also because we see Nagara saying he relates to it, while Mizuho starts the episode more playful and smuggy like we know her to be, but then gets quieter with every interlude to Yamabiko’s story. I have praised the anime for respecting its characters until now, but it is an even greater thing that it is willing to bring attention to how dangerous their paths can be. I agree with the message of following your own path and being yourself, but I am also not naive enough to pretend that all is well when it isn’t and, even taking in the fact that we all want to live our successful lives doing what we love, the world is not fair or simple enough to simply allow that to happen without any sort of friction. There are aspects of us that have to be fought against just like there are aspects of the world around us that we should fight against.

Since I mentioned music and tone, I want to take a short while to talk about the production of Sonny Boy. The reason why this anime feels like so much of a breath of fresh air is because it is almost 100% pure 2D animation, with as little post-processing and CGI as is possible. I’m not saying there isn’t great animation out there, but it honestly boggles my mind when I see so many people sharing sakuga moments from anime like Fate or Demon Slayer where half the screen is drowning beneath post-processing, artificial light from above to make every frame feel epic and world-defining and tons of CGI even if it is great CGI. I don’t want to sound like an elitist, I can enjoy those things for what they are, I’m not saying that CGI and post-processing have no place in the industry nor am I saying that the shows mentioned here are poorly produced, but every now and then I want to watch something different instead of having the feeling that every anime that ever comes out is trying to do the same thing to various different levels of success. I am eternally grateful to the team behind Sonny Boy for deciding to go with this style of production because it fits the tone of the series so much better then if it was trying to be flashy in its presentation.

Something else that I really like about the production is how the music is kept quiet. There are exceptions — especially in the last few episodes — for example in the more montage-like scenes, but generally the tracks are kept distant, while the character’s voices are kept closer, rarely having distractful lyrics, leaving the presentation and dialogue to pull most of the weight. What this also does is it keeps it from ever getting repetitive. Sometimes anime — especially more action-centered anime — will play the same tracks over and over again to the point where they run the risk of not being iconic and memorable, but also redundant and annoying. I’m not going to pretend I’m an expert in the matter, but Shouji Hata, the sound director for Sonny Boy, worked on a ton of really popular stuff, some that I even distinctly remember liking the soundtrack — such as Vinland Saga and Log Horizon —, so, if I can interpret the production this way, I also believe that a professional who has probably been working in the industry for longer than I have lived can do all of this intentionally.

Now proceeding to episode nine, this is one I’m not so hot on either. The highlights are everything related to the cats, of course. I did not expect them to start turning into actual characters — even if very simple ones — and it adds an extra layer of charm and comedy to their interactions.

I definitely enjoyed it more the second time through, knowing where the series ends and paying more attention to Asakaze’s and Nozomi’s interactions, but the overall plot and complexity of the themes just doesn’t hold up in my mind.

Aki-not-sensei wants the power of the twins, but only one of them. Since they are both the same person, this means that she only needs a part of the person being manipulated, everything else can just be thrown away and does not add up to your value — this is interesting to think about if you remember that Aki keeps pretending like she is saving the world and reducing the values of individuals she doesn’t need and overestimating others to do her deeds.

The twins are fighting over the fact that one of them has a single strand of hair more than the other. Clearly the point of this is that people overestimate the worth of some things only to pretend like they are better than others — and if these are the same people, then it can be seen as him not being able to deal with the fact he is not perfect by externalizing it into an enemy. Their power to reverse everything makes them forget the whole fight and they end up fighting eternally because you can’t simply go back, your experiences change you and nothing is accomplished by trying to go back to square one as if nothing had happened, he has to accept his own flaws and not try to reset everything to zero, but do things differently with the knowledge and experiences he gained on the way. Aki of course gets to him before he can realize any of this and the result is that by killing a part of himself, he kills the whole.

Maybe I would enjoy this episode more if it had been done with a character we already knew. Sonny Boy focuses its characterization in the four main faces of the show while leaving other characters very superficial and using them almost exclusively to explore themes. While I don’t think you can criticize the fact that the secondary characters aren’t that fleshed out since this anime is trying to do twenty times more things than most anime are, I still felt like bringing a wholly new character for this episode ultimately hurt the effectiveness of the message more than it did any other episode.

There are two characters in this show who try to mimic God: Asakaze and Hoshi. In episode 10, we see Asakaze being tricked yet again by Aki, who takes him to see the principal — God — who asks him to kill War, the character we met in Yamabiko’s flashback. Kossetsu — who we find out has the ability to read other people’s thoughts — convinces Nozomi to come along. Kossetsu loves Asakaze, but he loves Nozomi, so she wants Nozomi to help change him to a state where he might end up at her feet. Obviously, only tragedy could come from this.

Asakaze was so obsessed with the concept of a great mission reserved to him that he allowed himself to be manipulated by Aki and ended up losing sight of everything that doesn’t relate to pursuing Nozomi. He confessed to her, but got rejected because she couldn’t respect him. Asakaze then says that he was probably obsessed over her because he felt like he could never be as strong as her. At this point he realizes he should let her go, and, after conquering the world “War”, he actually manages to create death when Nozomi falls off the cliff and into the nothingness at the bottom of war, not managing to save her because as it turns out, his power is spontaneously activated. He did not want Nozomi anymore, therefore he couldn't use his powers on her. Asakaze’s power was born out of his need to keep everything and everyone at his reach. God definitely knew this and tricked him along with Aki.

The War we saw in Yamabiko’s past was still walking around, but the one we meet here is completely empty, falling to the bottom of a deep gorge yet never actually reaching it even though there is one; stagnant. Only Asakaze can bring him to the ground and his reward for that is a weapon.

War is a manifestation, a world himself, and conquering him grants you with the power to kill. There is a chance he was even tricked by God as well, since he was killing people before Asakaze, but God of course never bothered with telling him that death is a phenomenon that can happen there under specific circumstances. Since we find out that the drift was caused by the combination of Nagara, the cats and Mizuho all using their power unwillingly; Nagara creating worlds, the cats copying the kids and Mizuho putting them all in stasis because she doesn’t want to see anyone die, then conquering the world “War” gave them a power that could go against Mizuho’s power.

I like the way the world “War” is presented, as a hard to climb mountainous area that is then abruptly interrupted at the top by “a gorge that goes down forever, but the bottom is crimson.” The fall is the only thing you can expect after warring and whatever lies at the bottom of it is not going to be good. It stretches forever and is a wound delivered in the world itself. It might take time, but it will take its toll.

There might be more to be said about the imagery of War in this episode, but honestly this is all I’ve got.

Episodes eleven and twelve are a two parter to end this amazing ride. As you can expect to happen after Nozomi’s tragic end, the next episode is dedicated to mourning her loss and dealing with themes of grief and death. It is both heartbreaking and heartwarming. I had a slightly hard time breathing through the entire montage opening of Mizuho and Nagara honoring their friend and seeing how far their friendship has come. It hurt seeing both of them cry, it hurt seeing two people seeing their friends crying at their side at different moments of the episode without knowing what to do about it. And, above all, it hurt seeing Mizuho say goodbye to her cats.

Years of trauma and emotional suppression rendered me completely incapable of crying out of emotion, so every story that gets me even close to it surprises me. Last time I “cried” was recently and there was but a single tear, I can’t even remember how many years it was since the last time that I actually cried my heart out, with sobbing and sniffing and stuff. Fiction is what helps me deal with this, and I’m goddamn grateful to Sonny Boy for being on the list of stories that got me close to crying.

As my favorite author — Steven Erikson — once said, “Grief is not something you overcome, but something you get used to carrying the weight of.” I might be paraphrasing that, but you get the idea. We might not see Mizuho and Nagara for long enough after Nozomi’s death to see the full repercussions of this, but we know they are going to carry the weight of everything they lived in these two years adrift for the rest of their lives.

After ten episodes commenting about how things are hard to change, we finally begin seeing some clearer changes in these last few episodes. It began with Nozomi’s death, but we also see how Yamabiko has now completely turned into a dog and doesn’t speak anymore. We see how Rajdhani’s gaze has changed and he reflects on the fact he is growing more apathetic with time. He tells us the story of a man who could not accept reality and would create images of his home and his girlfriend that were not accurate at all, trapping himself in the made-up ideal world of his mind, which relates to the relationship between Asakaze and Nozomi.

Rajdhani also tells us the story of a student obsessed with the idea of creating “death”. Perhaps this can also be interpreted as a character trying to mimic God, since he is trying to create something that was previously impossible . First time through I was sure this was Hoshi, but it is very clearly War, my bad on that. We get the information that he conducted experiments in death and suicide and can assume that he got his badges from that. He created death by rendering his identity completely void, having no desires, no reactions, no emotions and no opinions. He created death by going against everything that defines a person, becoming a mere shape.

As Rajdhani puts it, “Life is an endless exercise in vain effort. But it’s precisely because it’s meaningless that I think the brilliance of this moment in life is so precious. Because that one moment belongs to that person alone.” Ultimately, the message of Sonny Boy is wholly positive. It is realistic enough to recognize the worst parts of life and it does not pretend everything will go right simply because we want it to, but it also finds it important to remind us that, once again, everything we have lived up until that moment is what has shaped us and thus has value. We don’t have to change the world, we just have to find a place to belong in it. Nozomi’s will still lives on, her compass still points to the light, unwavering in its determination, and her mark in the world and in her friends will long outlive herself.

And in episode twelve, we get the confirmation that Nozomi had always been right. The light had been there all along, she was the only one who could see it because she was the only one who's outlook on life matched what the story is trying to convey. It takes an astronomical effort to even get there because that is how much time they lost and enduring how much the world is going to strike you down is no easy thing. They only manage to do so with the combined efforts of Nagara, Mizuho, her cats, Rajdhani and Asakaze — handing them another compass, presumably the original one. But, even after getting to the light, there is this one beautiful scene where they are only able to capture the light by the efforts of Mizuho’s and Nagara’s hands. I always found it interesting that “light” was used for the analogy of the path in life. I mean, try to grasp a light like how Nozomi was doing. She could only reach it, but could never quite hold it, at least not alone. It is light, after all, and it will slip right between your fingers.

The last episode gave me a twist in the stomach when it felt like Nagara and Mizuho weren’t going to talk, but thankfully it was just them having a hard time talking about it. We get to see glimpses of what their life is going to be from now on: Nagara getting a shitty job — yo that’s relatable, kind of —, Mizuho’s grandmother having passed away, Nozomi and Asakaze ending up in a relationship in a world in which they can respect each other. Well, now that I think about it, I don’t think anything that they do in this last episode proves that they are dating, but they are clearly in better terms than their copies that went adrift. If the copies are still adrift and those are the parts of them as people that conflicted with each other, then this original version is the one where things went better for them.

In the past, Nagara ignored the dying bird. Now he cares about the birds that have lost their mother — you could say they are stranded just like the kids were —, but Nozomi had already thought about that and took the only surviving one with her, deciding to taking care of it until it is able to fly by itself, instead of trapping the bird and not allowing it go where it needs to go in life. This interaction shows us that Nozomi is still one step ahead, still striding forward in life and doing what she believes is right. She might not be exactly the same Nozomi we know, but her essence is still the same. Yet again, I wish I could be a little bit more like her.

I am also pleased to see Nagara and Mizuho not turning into a couple. This would have come off as weird and even thematically inconsistent I would say. Since Nagara and Nozomi never ended as a couple, then him ending up with Mizuho would send the message that she was the second option, or maybe that he was looking for the wrong person in Nozomi. The point is, either of these options would have diminished the characters. If they ended up as a couple, then a short arc where they learn to respect each other and brings attention to the morality of Nagara being suddenly romantically attracted to her after finding out Nozomi is with Asakaze would have been completely necessary not to break their dynamic. Either way, I’m much more satisfied with their current friendship than I would have been if any of these characters ended up feeling like a trophy.

I don’t think there’s much more to be said, at least not now. Sonny Boy is about and trying to say a lot of stuff, much more than most anime I watch are, and it accomplishes that in a shorter runtime than most do as well. I barely mind the fact that secondary characters are abandoned or that not every episode is tone-perfect. I didn’t expect it to be and neither does it have to. While I can obviously appreciate several different kinds of stories, my tastes are always changing and I am slowly becoming aware of some elements shared between most if not all of the stories that are connecting with me on a personal level in the past few years. While I would not dare to reduce this anime to a single theme after having said all of this, I just wanted to share one more idea: this story is about the loss of innocence, but it does not end there with a negative outlook on life, it takes the extra step of being about hope for the future and acceptance of our past; acceptance, not surrender.

I’m pretty sure I have told someone that I wish I had watched this anime when I was eighteen or something, thinking that it would have been fundamental in forming my outlook on life — pretty sure it would have lead me to take on the nickname of Sonny Girl as well once I accepted my dysphoria, wait… I actually like how that sounds… — but I take that back. Stupid-ass eighteen years-old me would not have been able to appreciate it the way my current jaded one can. And that is fine, at least that is what Nozomi would try to teach me.

I ended up having a lot more to say than expected while also feeling like there was a lot more to be explored.

Of course, I can't score this anything else besides a 10/10.

Oh, and sorry for the heavy usage of em-dashes — I love these things.

[electricdissonance]

404 decides to send another message after debating if he should.

404: Hey, Kin, we're here for you. I kinda think he's just trying to fuel the fire, I'm unsure.. Maybe if we had a hacker of some kind here, they could try and fix you..

422 takes the keyboard now, rushing a message out as they hear a door from outside their computer.

422: I wish 404 and I could help, but our tech skills are.. very outdated, to say the least..

"I'm afraid that the only one that can repair me is Sonny..."

"I don't know why he left, but it might've been an accident. Maybe he got too busy, or... or something else came up? If so, then if we could just find him, remind him that I exist, then maybe he'll keep working on me? Fix me up?"

[chilly-me-softly]

Hey, can I request something where y/n and Sonny have an age gap from maybe 6-9 years? Something about that’s the relationship is not always easy but worth it?

I hope your comfortable with it 🙈

"Something's wrong, I can tell. So talk to me" Sonny practically corners you and you can't help but sigh, sitting across from him at the table in a vain attempt to have lunch together.

"It's-" you huff, continuing to play with the food on your plate. He has practice in the afternoon and you really didn't want to ruin that moment of yours with your thoughts.

"(y/n), please. I just want to help you"

"It's just that- it's stupid okay? I know it is"

"Look, it doesn't matter how stupid it might be. You'll keep thinking about it if you don't deal with it, I've learned that over time"

You sigh then putting down your fork and taking your time taking a sip of water. He waits patiently, his eyes almost piercing you at how deeply he is looking at you.

"That lady we met today, the one who thought I was your assistant"

"Yes, what about her?"

You make a frustrated noise at having to admit it out loud, lightly scratching your forehead, "I can't get it out of my head that we may not look like a couple in other people's eyes"

"She was old, I'm not even sure she recognised me" he replies in a vain attempt to make you smile, but only gets an eye roll.

"Anyway, it got me thinking"

"About what?"

"About a lot of things. About how you see life differently to me because you've already experienced so much, about how you already have this amazing job while I have this backup plan and still my head in books. To how we're on two different paths in our lives"

Sonny gets up from his seat and for a moment you think he might leave, but his face is far from upset as he walks around the table and comes next to you. He signals for you to get up and then takes your seat.

"Come here" he signals for you to sit on his lap as you look at him with a raised eyebrow and when you do, he wraps his arms around your waist to hold you to him.

"You know we could very well be on different paths in our lives even being the same age"

"Yeah I know, I know. It's just- I just had to get that thought out I guess. You were right"

"Why does that bother you so much?"

"It doesn't. It's just that I'm twenty-four, you're almost thirty. And maybe... I don't know sometimes I think you might even want more out of your life"

"Well I could make the same argument about you, you might want more too" but you're already shaking your head. Even though this age thing held you back at the beginning of your relationship and occasionally comes overbearingly back, being without him now would be even more difficult.

"I wouldn't do that. You're so important"

"Don't doubt me either. And if something happens, whatever it is, we'll talk about it together"

"I know - you rest your forehead gently against his temple - sorry if I get worked up sometimes"

"You are so much more than what you think and if on these occasions I have to remind you of that, it's no problem"

[xaerais]

gun doesn’t know how to write lore or decent backgrounds for their characters. stop making the character the problem when it’s clearly the writers.

leland would never cheat on ana, or even think about doing that to her, especially when he agreed to travel across the state and help her find her sister AND is fully willing to protect her and the rest of the group. julie would never backstab ana. sonny is NOT collateral damage, he deserves way more than that, and connie is definitely no conservative/karen-esque type of character (she’s too peace & love coded for that crap).

i know a lot of people are mad about julie being the “final girl,” but let me remind ya’ll that there is NO final anybody. they all canonically die.

even if there was a final girl, we all know it’d be danny. i mean, his death was never mentioned, so it’s safe to assume, right?

point being, game devs can be GREAT at making a fun game based off of something, but TERRIBLE at writing or creating lore for their own original characters involved. if ya’ll wanna ship juland, so be it. it doesn’t have to be inspired or created from leland cheating on ana or julie backstabbing ana to be with him. it could be something entirely different, like, i dunno, using our imaginations and creating a scenario in which they were together in the first place. for those that prefer ana & leland because it’s canon and cute, go for it! i’m right there with you. i like it too.

or if we really wanna jump the gun here (pun intended), ship them with the killers atp. no one cares! or at least no one should because again, the devs suck at writing for their characters so sometimes the fandom has to be the one to do it for them.

fnaf managed to do it.

[avenirdelight]

Making An Effort (Fix This)

Son Heungmin

She flies to London to surprise Sonny. They haven't been talking after an argument that they had, where he says that she doesn't make any efforts for their long-distance relationship. [Requested]

The busy streets of London looked merry like always. People were out in the evening and the city lights were beautiful. On a normal occasion, looking at this view through the car window would usually make her feel calm and warm. But it wasn’t the case tonight, knowing that with every passing second, she was getting closer to reuniting with Sonny.

This was an impulsive decision. Very impulsive of her. But when it comes to love, sometimes you need to do things that your normal-self would call crazy. Especially when you know that you could only pull back your relationship from the brink of its ending only if you do something.

She had taken a leave from work and had booked the earliest flight she could find to London. She had travelled far and flown hundreds of miles—she’d only had restless sleep on the plane—but she was still very determined to go straight to Spurs’ stadium. She wanted to see Sonny play. She was making an effort.

They were on halftime break when she arrived. Emily, Ben’s wife, welcomed her in the family lounge with a big hug. The first thing she said to Emily was expressions of gratitude for willing to help her tonight.

“You sure you don’t want to go back to our place before dinner? We can go now and still make it in time,” Emily asked her, looking worried because she actually did look like a total mess right now. She had tried to freshen up earlier but not even her best concealer could hide those tired eyes.

“No, I’m okay. I want to see him play,” she answered. “I probably should make sure that our reservation at the restaurant is really secured.”

“Okay. Do you want some tea? Let me make you a cup of tea, yeah?”

She smiled and nodded. “That would be lovely, Emily, thank you.” She felt Emily giving her shoulder a light squeeze as she left, leaving her to make a call and run over her plan for the surprise dinner tonight.

—

She and Sonny had had an argument before the world cup. But somehow they’d just put it aside because he needed to be focused for the big tournament. They had been barely talking since. Even after the tournament had ended, she hadn’t heard anything from him at all and she had been hesitant to reach out.

“If you still want this relationship, then you must understand that I can’t be the only one making efforts.”

She remembered his words from the argument. The long distance between them was always the biggest issue. Not long after their first anniversary, she’d accepted a job abroad so for the past year they’d been living in different countries, different time-zones.

At first it was fine. But after some miscommunications, unhonesty, and lack of communication that they’d never really resolve and sometimes not even acknowledge, it became not fine. The problems had all mounted up and both of them had ended up hurting each other.

But she had had more than enough time for herself to think—to figure out where and why the downfall happened, to understand herself, and try to put herself in Sonny's shoes. She had realised that he wasn’t wrong when he said she wasn’t really making an effort. She had found the courage to admit that she hadn’t been the best partner for him.

She still loved him. And this relationship was worth fighting for. Those were the conclusions she’d gotten from her sleepless nights where she pondered about everything. With the hope that he felt the same way, she went the extra mile to fly out to where he was and try to save their relationship, reminding her that she’d used to do these extra miles to win his heart, when things had been so much simpler between them.

A couple of days ago, she’d reached out to Emily and Ben to ask for a favour. To invite Sonny to eat out and she would surprise him there. The couple, being the kind people and good friends that they were—saying that they believed that every relationship would have rough bumps and that she and Sonny deserved a chance to fix everything up—agreed to help.

She arrived at the restaurant before Sonny and the couple. She waited in the private VIP room that she’d booked. She kept shifting uncomfortably in her chair and checking her watch once every two or three minutes. She was only going to meet her own boyfriend, yet she felt ridiculously uneasy and nervous. Mostly because she knew this could either go very right or very wrong.

After what felt like forever, her phone suddenly buzzed on the table, making her heart jump. It was a message from Emily.

We’re here

She quickly stood up and went over to the mirror, making sure she looked decent. She’d had time to change into a better pair of clothes and put on more makeup; she wanted to look pretty for Sonny. It reminded her of the old days, where she would do anything to look at least presentable, because she knew that Sonny was always in public’s eyes and she wanted to look like a good pair for him.

She sat back down just in time before the door opened. Emily and Ben entered the room. She put on a smile on her face, eyes searching for the figure she was dying to see, who entered the room last.

“Surprise!” She said when Sonny finally saw her.

He stopped in his tracks, mouth agape as he realised that he wasn’t hallucinating. She was, in fact, there. Ben was making some comments, but she couldn’t hear any of them because her heart was pounding in her ears. She just stared at her boyfriend that she hadn’t seen for months.

Sonny didn’t take his eyes off her as he approached her. His face was blank, she couldn’t really tell whether he was glad to see her or not. But when she stood up, he wasted no time in pulling her into a hug.

She let out the biggest sigh of relief when he wrapped his arms around her. His hug still felt so warm, so welcoming. And truly, there was no better feeling than being embraced by the person you long for the most.

—

The four of them sat down together for a while, catching up a bit about their lives. But then the couple decided to leave despite her insisting that they should stay. They said that she and Sonny should have the time and the room all for themselves, making up for the lost times.

“What’s… What’s all this?” Sonny asked a moment after Ben and Emily left them.

“It’s just me making an effort,” she answered. “I missed you and I really wanted to see you, so… Here I am. Are you mad?”

“No, it’s just a little bit confusing. Why– Why didn’t you just call me? Tell me that you’re coming here? Thank you for the surprise, it’s nice, but– I’m just confused…”

“I’m sorry,” she said with a timid voice. “I was just scared to see you. Our last fight was… Bad. I was worried if you were still mad at me. I didn’t even know if you wanted to see me...”

“You could just call me and ask.”

She shrugged. “I was scared to even ask.”

“I’m your boyfriend…” Sonny shook his head and ran his hand through his hair frustratingly. “I feel disappointed in myself now. I couldn’t make my own girlfriend comfortable enough to talk to me... It shouldn’t be that way, innit?”

She slightly shook her head as she dropped her gaze. “But it’s on me too. I shouldn’t be scared but I do, because… I was afraid that I’d ruin our relationship even more.”

She heard Sonny letting out a heavy sigh. The next thing he did was reach out for her hand—he held it and gave it light strokes with his thumb. She just stared at their linked hands. The corners of her lips perked up ever so slightly without her even realising, as she felt a bit of relief washing down on her.

“It’s my fault too… I’m sorry for every hurtful word that I said to you,” Sonny started. “Babe, look at me.” She raised her head up and met his gaze. Her heart clenched when she noticed the regret written all over his face. “I’m sorry for saying you don’t care about us anymore, that you don’t make any efforts for us. I was selfish. I asked you for attention and I blamed you because you didn’t give me the attention that I wanted. But I didn't try to understand that you’re struggling too.”

She nodded. “It’s understandable. When we weren’t speaking, I had enough time to reflect on everything,” she said, shifting her gaze between his eyes and their linked hands. “I got to live my dream, I got to be independent like I’ve always wanted, but I got too comfortable. I detached myself from you… And I’ve realised that it’s not right. It’s not what I want.”

“It’s okay…”

“It’s not okay, babe, I– I lied and hid things from you. I tried to make things easier for us, maybe mostly for me. I got tired and felt like it’s okay for you not to know some things. It was wrong. I’m sorry.”

Sonny let go of her hand and her heart dropped for a second. She watched on as he got up from his chair and walked around the table. When she realised what he was going to do, she got up too and a second later, she was wrapped around his arms.

She couldn’t hold back her sudden tears, they rolled down her cheeks, and eventually fell onto his shirt dampening it. It seemed like Sonny realised that she was crying because he started stroking her back and her head, also planting small kisses on the side of her head. He let her cry and she honestly appreciated it. All this time she’d been crying alone, it felt nice to be able to cry whilst being embraced by him again—just like how it used to be—and she could just finally let everything out.

After a while, Sonny loosened his arms and he searched for her face. He held her face and erased her tears with his fingers before he leaned down to place a gentle kiss on her forehead.

“Thank you for coming here, yeah? I really appreciate your effort. I love you, baby,” Sonny said with all sincerity. She couldn’t help to let out a sob, more tears fell from her eyes. “I’m sorry that our relationship became a mess but I know that I love you. Now let’s fix this. Me and you.”

“Together?”

“Yes. Together. I promise I will always be there for you this time.”

She softly nodded. “I love you too,” she whispered.

Sonny smiled as they gazed into each other’s eyes. She slowly felt like her chest was getting less and less heavy. They definitely still have so many things to talk about and obviously look for the solutions to fix their mess, but for now, she just wanted to be held by him and stare deep into his beautiful eyes.

They just needed to stay like that, reminding themselves why they loved each other, why this relationship was worth fighting for. This was just another hardship that they could overcome, because they believed that their love was stronger than they knew.

—

finally a sonny angst!! i revamped this fic THRICE, took longer than it should (i feel so bad😭). i made it too complicated, so i got very stressed out, but i think this is the best that i could come up with. i hope you liked it!

[son heungmin tag list: @smileytaa @delicateearthquakellama @luvelyxp @chicken-fifi @alotofrandomfangirling @natsuzoku @muglermami @landosmilkjug @koufaxx @charlesxavierenthusiast]

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My Masterlist🤍

[hoe4almondmilk]

Little Things

Sonny Carisi x Fem!Reader

a/n: I’m like really sad and in my feelings so y’all know I gotta write my feelings out.

Warnings: just slight angst, relationship problems and some light arguing.

Sonny let out a deep huff as he watched you pack your suitcase. “Please, don’t do this, (y/n). I’m sorry! How many times do I have to apologize?” He pleaded. 

“When you actually start to mean it, Sonny.” You sniffled and continued to hustle around your shared bedroom. Finding things to pack up in your medium sized suitcase. 

You were honestly just packing up for a few days and staying with your sister in Staten Island but still you knew it was gonna be tough for both of you. You really didn’t want to be doing this but you needed a break. Both of you did.

“Please, (y/n) … I’m sure our reservations are still good. I’m sorry...” Sonny continued to beg.

“They’re not. It took me months to even get those.” You said coldly, trying to hold back emotions. 

You wanted to forgive him but how could you? This was your anniversary dinner that you and him had been planning for the past seven months. But, like the workaholic Sonny is, he completely forgot and picked up an extra shift. You knew if you had said no to him picking up the shift and reminding him, he would’ve gone. Key word: reminding him. You were constantly reminding him. Reminding him about dates and even small things like picking something up. You tried to forget those but your anniversary dinner? That was almost unforgivable. You shouldn’t have had to remind him about your anniversary. It was his marriage too. 

Sonny began to plead again, “I’m sorr- “

“Shut up!” You snapped. 

Sonny paused. His mouth slightly agape. He never heard you snap at him like that. He was in absolute shock. 

“If you were sorry, you would’ve remembered Sonny. If you cared enough, you would’ve put a reminder on your phone. You put reminders for everything else in your life, work, friends, I mean for God’s sake you had a reminder for Amanda’s birthday!” You cried. “It’s almost like you’re married to her sometimes...” 

“You know that’s not true...” Sonny replied. 

“What else am I supposed to think? It’s the little things, Sonny! This is starting to feel like the loneliest marriage.” You said as you zipped up your suitcase.

“Where are you going?” Sonny asked, tears forming at the corners of his eyes as he followed you to the door of your apartment.

“I’m going to my sister’s back in Staten Island. I really need a few days. I’ll be back Sunday.” You looked at him as you opened the door. 

“Please, just text me when you get there so I know you made it there safely. Please…” He said as he stared at you with those beautiful baby blue eyes of his. 

“Okay.” You sighed. “One thing though…” you paused as you grabbed Sonny’s hand and opened up his palm. He looked at you confused. You put it in his palm and closed it back up.

Sonny opened it and saw your wedding ring. Worry immediately colored his face. 

“You keep that while you really think about how much this marriage really means to you.” You said before you kissed his cheek and said goodbye. 

Sonny’s heart dropped to his stomach when the door closed. Truthfully, he wanted to open the door and chase you, beg you, anything to get you to come back but he knew it was far too late for that. He knew you needed this, he felt horrible thinking about how upset he made you. He closed his eyes and rested his forehead on the closed door momentarily. How could you guys come back from this? 

Sonny walked over to the couch and laid down face first. He hoped maybe if he closed his eyes he could wake up back to this morning and really change things. He slowly lifted his head when he felt his phone vibrate.

“Want to join us at Forlini’s??? :)”  Amanda said in a text message along with a selfie of her and the squad. 

Sonny contemplated, wondering if he should stay home and wallow in self pity or go try to take his mind off of this shitty evening. He could use a few shots. Also maybe he could get some womanly advice from Amanda and Olivia. Sonny stood up grabbed his coat, house keys and took off.

“There he is.” Amanda said as Sonny walked over to the bar and sat down.

“Hey, guys.” Sonny muttered greeting Fin, Amanda and Olivia. 

 “God, you look rough!” Amanda noticed how disheveled Sonny’s hair was and how bloodshot his eyes were.

Sonny could feel the tears welling up again. “(y/n) left me...” as he put his hand over his face wiping his tears.

Sonny could quickly see how fast everyone’s expressions changed. 

“What??” Amanda asked in complete shock., “Oh my god, what happened?” 

“Bartender, get this man some whiskey!” Fin shouted to the bartender. 

“What happened, Carisi? Last time I heard, you and (y/n) were doing good?” Olivia asked.

“Yeah, I thought so too…” Sonny said before he downed the shot of whiskey. “Well, we’ve all been busy with this huge case, and I completely forgot about our anniversary. She had gotten us reservations at this really nice French restaurant she’s been dying to try...”

“Your anniversary? Sonny, how the hell did you forget that?” Amanda griped. 

“Can’t say I blame her.” Olivia agreed as she took a sip of her wine.

“Okay, I know.” Sonny said frustrated, taking another shot. “I fucked up really bad this time.” He groaned. 

“Where is she?” Amanda asked.

“She left the apartment and said she was going to her sister’s house over in Staten Island.” Sonny sighed, trying desperately to swallow back the tears. “I’m scared she won’t come back.”

“How many shoes did she take with her?” Fin asked.

Sonny raised his brow in confusion. “The only shoes I saw were the ones on her feet.”

“She’ll come back.” Fin chuckled. “You should be worried when she comes back and takes all the shoes.” 

Well, that did give Sonny some peace of mind. You were a shoe fiend. You usually pack at least 4 pairs just on small trips.

Sonny knew he fucked up. He couldn’t even picture losing you. You were his everything. You were there since he went from detective to graduating law school and to where he is now, an assistant district attorney. You were there for him every step of the way. He had to fix this. He needed to make it right.

Amanda and Olivia looked at each other and smiled. Somehow telepathically communicating that they had the same idea.

“Look, we’re all gonna help you win her back cause frankly, none of us want to find you crawled up in a ball inside one of the filing rooms on Monday.” Amanda chuckled to Sonny. 

“And you know I don’t like comforting people.” Fin said, rolling his eyes as he took a sip of his drink.

“Oh, we both know that’s not true!” Olivia retorted.

“Hey, we don’t need to go spilling all of my secrets!” Fin grinned.

“Okay, so here’s the plan...” Amanda began. Explaining the perfect idea, she had to the squad.

Sonny couldn’t help but smile. He felt that warm fuzzy feeling in his chest. He really loved his squad.

….

It was finally Sunday morning. You walked up to your shared apartment with your husband and unlocked it with your keys. It was about 8 am and you expected Sonny to be asleep still or just waking up. 

“Sonny?” You called out. “I’m home.” Your eyebrow raised in confusion when you didn’t get a reply back. “Okay, then.” You mumbled quietly as you placed your bags on the couch.

‘At least he kept the place clean.’ You thought to yourself as you walked across the apartment to the bedroom. You opened the door and much to your surprise your husband wasn’t there, and the bed was made perfectly… Except for the tiny card paired with a white rose sitting on the bed. 

Dear, (y/n) 

I did a lot of thinking this weekend in your absence. It has been the loneliest. I want you to play a scavenger hunt. There are three more roses I want you to collect with hints. At the end we will be reunited. You ready?

First clue is: The place we laid eyes on each other. 

 ‘Well at least the first clue was easy.’ You smiled as you turned around to get ready for what lies ahead of you for today. 

You thanked the driver as you exited the taxi. You were outside of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. The place you and Sonny had first met. You were working as Barba’s assistant at the time. You remember that day very clearly. As cheesy as it sounds it really was like love at first sight.  

“(Y/n)!” You heard a familiar voice shout. You turned around and saw Fin. 

“Fin?” You chuckled as you walked over to him.

“It took you long enough. This is the next clue.” Fin smiled as he handed you an identical paper card and another white rose. 

“Are you all involved in this?” You questioned fin.

“Read the damn card. I’m not spoiling anything!” Fin answered.

Woohoo! You got the first clue!

Okay, where did we have our first date?

“He’s lucky I got cab money!” You laughed as you said goodbye to Fin headed onto your next destination. Central Park. You were in deep thought the entire taxi drive to Central Park. You guys almost walked around and hung out at the park that whole date. Where exactly was he thinking?

When you arrived at your destination you strolled around trying to repeat the steps you took that date. You were probably walking around Central Park for about thirty minutes now. Where did he mean? 

It was when you walked by a younger couple exchanging a chaste kiss when the lightbulb lit up. The place you two had your first kiss! That was one of the many things that was special about Sonny. He was the first guy you ever kissed on a first date. You had a rule about kissing on the first date and he was the exception. There was just something special that first date that you hadn’t felt before. 

You snapped out of your thoughts when you made it to the location. The Bow Bridge. There was just something so romantic about this bridge whether it be the beautiful trees, the lake or just the whole vibe of the spot in general. 

“Olivia? Noah?” You called out when you saw Liv and her son Noah looking out over the bridge together. 

“Finally, you made it! We’ve been waiting forever.” Noah said as he jumped in excitement.

“Is that so?” You smiled at the excited little boy. “Liv, does he really have all of you involved in this?” You questioned.

“All I can tell you is that you found the other clue.” Olivia smiled as she handed you another card and white rose. 

You shook your head with a tiny grin as you opened up the card. 

My Love,

You are so close to finding me!

Next clue is where did we confess our love?

“Oh, no way!” You sighed to Olivia already knowing exactly where this was.

“You’re almost done.” She smiled to you.

“Go find him!!! Gooooo!!” Noah shouted as you turned to leave.

“I will!” You said walking away.

This was an easy one. How could you forget? You decided to walk this time to the next spot.  New York City was so beautiful. You couldn’t have imagined having the life you have now seven years ago. Your job, your friends, and importantly, Sonny. Maybe you were too hard on him. Sonny is an amazing guy. He was your first healthy relationship. He’s the first person who ever showed true unconditional pure love. 

It was when you saw the familiar blonde ahead of you when you made it to your next clue. The front of your old apartment complex. The place you lived up until you and Sonny were engaged. 

“Amanda?” You called out. 

“(y/n)!” Amanda said as she brought you into a deep hug. “It’s been a while.” She said, smiling at you.

You felt bad for being jealous of Amanda at times. She was always good to you. 

“Manda, it’s good to see you.” You hugged her back. “Are you the last clue before I see my darling husband?” You chuckled. 

“Almost.” Amanda said as she pulled out the paper card and white rose.

“You know I’m getting tired of running around this city with all these roses!” You said as you opened the card to read.

You did it!!!

Now, one last spot.

You mentioned this on one of our first dates.

One activity in New York, You dreamed of doing when you were a little girl.

‘He’s so sweet...’ You thought as you stared at the card, you could feel your eyes water up. 

“He really loves you, (y/n).” Amanda smiled at you as she looked at the emotion in your face.

“I know...” You said softly as you held the roses closer to your chest. 

“Then go to him.” Amanda said as he gave you one last hug. “Go!” She motioned. 

“Thank you, Amanda.” You said turning around. Jogging down the busy sidewalk. You knew this wasn’t far. 

When you were a little girl, you dreamed of going on a carriage ride around Manhattan. Cheesy, yes. But you were a little girl living in a tiny town. They didn’t have anything like that in your hometown. It was something fantasized about riding around with your Prince Charming. You could feel the tears running down your cheeks.

You started to slow your pace as you saw him. It was a busy street, but you couldn’t miss him. He was so beautiful. Standing there, almost glowing from the bright lights in his favorite suit with an enormous bouquet of white roses and next to him was a horse carriage.

“Sonny!” You shouted! Not caring who was annoyed by your shouting.

“(y/n)!” He shouted back, smiling from ear to ear.

You ran into his arms; you hugged him as tight as you could.

“You found me! I knew you would.” Sonny hugged you back gently, you could tell he was trying to harm the bouquet in his arms.

“I’m sorry Sonny.” You said crying into his chest.

“What? My love, don’t apologize. Never apologize. You woke me up.”

“Huh?” You looked up at your husband confused.

Sonny held his hand to your face, wiping your tears with his thumb. “You made me realize how lucky I was to have you. You supported me when I was a detective, I couldn’t have gotten through law school without you. You have given me a reason to wake up every single morning. You are my beautiful wife, and I couldn’t have been blessed with anyone better.” 

“Sonny...” you sniffled.

“I got you white roses because I know they’re your favorites, and I got you three for every amazing year we’ve spent together and these...” Sonny said, handing you the large bouquet. “For many more years we will spend together.” Sonny planted a deep but sweet kiss onto your lips, holding your face in his hands. 

“I love you so much.” You smiled at him.

“I love you twice as much.” He smiled back. “Now, I won’t take all of the credit. The squad did help.” Sonny chuckled.

“You still made it all happen, my love.” You said.

“Oh, we can’t forget this!” Sonny said as he pulled your ring out of his pocket and placed it on your finger.

“Did you clean it? It looks so shiny.” You asked admiring your gorgeous ring.

“I did. I remember you were talking about getting it cleaned.” Sonny smiled and kissed your hand. “Still not as beautiful as you.”

You laid a soft kiss on his cheek. “Now, let’s get on this carriage!!” You jumped in excitement.

Sonny couldn’t help but stare at how beautiful you were when you were happy. He watched as you began to climb into the carriage. He was so damn lucky. 

[https-sonshine]

Hii could you please write an imagine about a first date with Sonny? Like he's super nervous cause he really cares about you and wants to impress you and you think it's super cute but everything ends up going okay and you have lots of fun together 🥰

authors note: heyy, tysmm for your request. i also wanted to thank you for the support you've shown to my blog <3 i cant lie I'm not sure how I feel about this one but ik I'm overcritical of my own work but I really hope you enjoy this one.

word count: approx 1.4k words

warnings: none, pure fluff

_____________________________________

You may have been reserved around him, but your natural sense of humour and willingness to let loose won his heart over every time. When you smiled at him, he felt butterflies fluttering around his stomach. He hadn't known if you felt the same way about him until he finally asked you out, and you said yes. He remembered every detail of that day all too vividly.

"We should probably go out sometime or something".

"As in a date?" you raised your brows.

His shoulders shrugged, but the flush on his cheeks said everything. 

"Okay, why not" you replied, causing the boy to smile shyly

Now he was busy trying to decide where he would take you. He wanted it to be special and intimate. He wanted it just to be the two of you where you could enjoy each other's company. The location needed to be one where he wouldn't be easily spotted. Because he didn't want his fans or the media to have a field day, he was racking his brain for ideas when one suddenly hit him. 

Eventually, the day arrived, and Sonny picked you up, being careful to keep you relaxed and comfortable the entire time. He helped you into the car, where you saw a bouquet of roses waiting for you on the passenger seat. You quickly thank him, earning a sheepish smile in return. At the start of the drive, you don't talk much. You're adjusting to the new atmosphere of being in each other's presence with friendship far from your minds. 

"So, do you like your job at Spurs?" he breaks the silence.

"Yeah, it's nice, i’m grateful for the experience," you reply, and he smiles again. You see that he is nervously fumbling with his fingers. The urge to take his hand in yours is strong, but you hold back, not wanting to seem too forward. Unable to resist the urge, you reach over and take Son's hand, and he looks at both of our hands and smiles.

Once you both loosen up, the conversation starts flowing; about music, places you want to visit, places you've been, pets, mutual friends, and your loved ones.

Finally, arriving at your destination. You both started walking, but confusion masked your features as you didn't know what Sonny had planned. He then looks up at you and says, "It's a surprise!" and starts walking faster, full of excitement. After a while of walking, you could hear the grass crinkle beneath your feet. You wondered if Sonny planned a picnic or a night out under the stars. As you looked up into the sky, you saw a bright, colourful object slowly floating in the distance. It was a hot air balloon. You felt your heart beat faster as you watched it gracefully move across the sky. The sun's rays shone down on the balloon, making it glow; you were mesmerised by sight.

"Son, this is… I don't even know what to say."

"I went a little bit overboard. Isn't I wasn't sure what type of date you would enjoy. Is it too much?" He rubs the back of his neck nervously and turns away from you. You place a kiss on his cheek and shake your head at him.

"I like it. It's different. It's perfect."

His face lit up, holding more excitement than I had expected. 

With a big grin, he said, "Let's make it happen!" His energy was contagious, and I couldn't help but feel excited about what was to come. 

"Watch your step, y/n," Son warned as He guided your hand onto a rail. The fabric reminded me of woven straw. You felt the ground suddenly shift beneath your feet. You stumbled backwards slightly, but Son helped you regain your balance. He wrapped his arms around your waist.

Even after you regained your balance, Son continued to hold you. As you peered over his shoulder, it dawned on you that you were floating through the air in a hot air balloon. Your brown eyes widened and were filled with awe. You broke away from Son's arms and ran to the edge of the basket to admire the view. His expression relaxed as a smile spread across your face. You leaned out of the basket slightly to see the landscape below. Still not believing that he had booked the balloon ride.

In between sips of wine and delicious food, you talk about anything and everything that comes to mind. You spend most of the night laughing and telling stories to one another. You can't get enough of his smile, and you feel like you would do or say anything to keep that smile on his face.

You stand to take another look at the scenery but instead stumble onto his lap.

You look into his eyes, and for a second, you forget about the world around you. You were suddenly very aware of your surroundings, especially how your back was pressed up against the body behind you. His hands gripped your arms, and you noticed the little beauty mark on his right eye as you looked up before slowly sliding out of his grasp.

"Maybe we shouldn't move too much ?" You suggested as you walked over to collect a glass of wine, handing it back to him sheepishly. You saw the smile on his face and watched as his nose scrunched and he started to laugh. You could feel your ears and cheeks flush with embarrassment. Still, you couldn't help but think his laugh was incredibly attractive, and the more you thought about it, the more you could feel yourself becoming drawn to him. Light laughter filled the balloon, and you couldn't help but join in, the two of you standing there, smiling and giggling like a pair of schoolchildren.

"You know your laugh is probably the most precious thing I have ever heard ?" He blushes and looks away from you.

You were relieved that you agreed to go out with Sonny. His proposal is still fresh in your mind.

 You saw his normally soft features contort into expressions of what could only be described as nerves. Heung Min, Son.

 A man who shines brighter than the sun. A man with a smile that could light up a room and make anyone feel instantly at ease. Yet, concern had replaced his usual expression on this day.

"We should probably go out sometime or something." His eyes barely held onto yours, his anxious state causing him to look down at his feet. 

"As in a date?"

He shrugged it off, but the flush in his cheeks said it all.

You were deep in thought when he interrupted to confess., "I've liked you for a while — kind of struggling to believe that you actually said yes." He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand and smiled nervously at her.

"Did you really think I wouldn't? You smiled, and the flush on his cheeks deepened.

His eyes widened as he admitted, "I was terrified." To be honest, I'm surprised I was able to ask you out at all." 

"I'm glad you did. His face broke out in a relieved smile, and he looked away, embarrassed by his own admission. 

"Look at that view. It's beautiful," you said, leaning over the hot air balloon.

The sun is slowly setting, painting the sky in a spectrum of pastel colours. As the balloon rises higher and higher, a gentle breeze teases the colourful fabric of the balloon. In the basket below, you can feel the warmth of the hot air as it pushes the balloon higher and higher. The air is filled with the smell of burning fuel and the sound of the balloon's burner filling the balloon with hot air. You can feel the excitement of being so high above the ground, with nothing but the wide open sky above. As you reach the highest point of the journey, you can look down to see the ground below, the houses, the trees, and the roads, all looking small from such a great height. The feeling of freedom is overwhelming, and you can't help but smile as you savour this moment. He followed your gaze, allowing himself to enjoy the beautiful scenery for a moment.

He wishes he could capture this moment forever. The free smile on your face as you take in the view. The way the wind played through your dark hair, and Son couldn't help but feel envious of a simple breeze. Sonny moved to stand behind you. He straightened your hair and tucked the stray pieces behind your ear.

"So beautiful," Sonny thought, watching the strands of your hair lightly fall back into place. 

[ar3s-r4t-qu33n]

Some observations about our new victims (I unfortunately don't have many of these)

• Appear FROM A DISTANCE to all be be female, which would make sense since this appears to be a Sorority House and Johnny's got a thing for messing with girls, as Cook so eloquently put it.

• Blondie at the front door reminds me of a TCM OC I've seen on Instagram named Bree O'Malley by @/oabeelha and she has also posted some interesting things on her story the day of the teaser, but obviously that could be in reference to her personal plans for Bree in her own headcanon, not anything affiliated with the game, just something I've noticed. It would be super cool even if she isn't actually Bree for her to be inspired visually by her because there's been a big movement to get Bree in the game, but who knows, only time will tell on that one

• The girl beside her - is that June, Sonny's girlfriend? I mean, let's be honest, ANY of them could be June, June doesn't have to be black because Sonny is black. But also we're finally getting a black woman in this game!! I've been saying it for a while now, I know it's the 70s but I literally do not care, representation matters and it's not like the Family care about blood relation!! If they declare you family, you are family, I really hope we see some new folks of more diverse backgrounds on the family's side in the future, but I THINK two of the women in this trailer are black and that would be super cool!! Also, we don't have any Asian characters (yet, obviously we're still waiting on details about our new cast) in the game yet and that's also important. I'm obviously white (she says, faceless profile) so I'm not gonna harp on this too much, but it IS important and I hope for more in the future, especially in the main gameplay!!

• At least two cheerleaders!! That's exciting, their lil dance looks awesome and I hope if we get like, an opening cut scene or bigger trailer, we get to see a lil more of that because it is NOT gonna be in the gameplay

• Unless we're getting emotes like F13?? 👀

• Girlie in the top right window- is she wearing a towel, or a strappy dress? I've seen a LOT of folks thinking she's in a towel, and she could well be. But the more I've looked at this teaser (and BOY have I LOOKED), I THINK I can see some straps on her shoulders..? If not... I really hope we're not getting a Sam from Until Dawn moment with her, that would kinda suck imo

• She seems to be in a heated discussion with the other girl. An argument, it looks like? I really wanna know everyone's relationships with each other. The Cheerleaders and pair walking in both seem very close with their second, but these two? Doesn't seem like it from the 23 seconds of footage we've got-

• I highly doubt these are just random NPCs to fill the gaps and that the only two out front are playable. Gun have never made NPCs for this game, why would they waste resources when they could show off all six new characters in a very fun way by hiding four of them in the windows? That makes way more sense to me than "these are NPCs and they don't serve a purpose and aren't coming back", ESPECIALLY since they've made unique animations for all four of them. They've reused animations a million times for trailers, like Danny using Johnny's slow walk and Virginia using Sissy's in each of their trailers. Why would they go to all that trouble to make the dancing and arguing animations if the characters doing them don't mean anything??

• Also, more of a personal thing, the POTENTIAL FOR OCs that this teaser gives us?? I've already got one I made specifically for this, I'm so excited by Rush Week, I cannot WAIT to see more oh my GODDDDD

• @/SumxBonez on X/Twitter has made a list of their observations and that goes into more about Texas/the Sorority (which is all stuff I don't know about yet) so go check their thread!! They also do some really amazing artwork on Instagram and have two very cool OCs of their own so please read what they have to say, I won't parrot it here because they are their points but it's all really intriguing stuff!!

Lemme know what y'all think/have noticed too!!

[plaidbooks]

Warm It Up

A/N: Holy fuck, she remembers how to write!

Tags: some consensual touching

Words: idk I wrote it here--short

Taglist: @witches-unruly-heart  @beccabarba  @thatesqcrush @itsjustmyfantasyroom @permanentlydizzy @ben-c-group-therapy  @infiniteoddball @glowingmess @whimsicallymad @lv7867 @storiesofsvu @cycat4077 @alwaysachorusgirl  @glimmerglittergirl @joanofarkansass @caracalwithchips @beardsanddetectives  @reading—mermaid  @averyhotchner  @mrsrafaelbarba @detective-giggles @crowleysqueenofhell @dreamlover31

Looking at your new dress, you knew you weren’t going to wear a bra with it. Thankfully, you had also bought nipple coverings with it; something you’ve never used before.

You opened the package and read the little instruction sheet inside. After wiping down the area around your nipples, you peeled off the protective plastic. What the instructions didn’t mention, however, was how cold the sticky material was to your skin.

You let out a hiss as you pressed the covers over your nipples; the cold was so much that it was almost painful.

“You okay, doll?” Sonny asked, sticking his head out of the bathroom. He was lucky enough to wear nice suits to work, so he didn’t need to change much for a dinner date. As such, he was basically ready while you were still getting dressed.

“Ah--the nipple covers are cold,” you complained, goosebumps blooming on your arms.

Sonny stepped out of the bathroom, coming up behind you. He wrapped his arms around your body, his palms cupping the nipple covers, holding your chest in his hands.

“There--let me warm them up for ya,” he murmured directly into your ear. Then he gave you a kiss underneath your earlobe.

That was Sonny--your Sonny--always trying to help without realizing just how sexy he was. A small whimper escaped your throat as you leaned back against his clothed chest.

“That,” he huffed, “was the prettiest sound I’ve ever heard.”

His lips trailed down your neck to your shoulder, his fingers starting to squeeze your tits. You moaned this time, head falling back against him.

“W--we’re going to be late to our res--reservations,” you reminded him.

Sonny chuckled, nipping your shoulder, before pulling fully away from you. “Fine, I’ll take ya to dinner--then I’ll have ya for dessert.”

[use-your-imagination98]

GH Couples Inspired By Taylor Swift Songs

Had this in my drafts for FOREVER. thought it was a good time to post it haha. 

Alan and Monica: The Last Great American Dynasty

And they said

"There goes the last great American dynasty"

"Who knows if she never showed up, what could've been"

Luke and Laura: My Tears Ricochet

Even on my worst day, did I deserve, babe

All the hell you gave me?

'Cause I loved you, I swear I loved you

'Til my dying day

Luke and Tracy: Better Man

I know

I’m probably better off all alone

Than needing a man who could

Change his mind at any given minute

Laura and Scotty: New Year’s Day

Please don't ever become a stranger

Whose laugh I could recognize anywhere

Laura and Kevin: Lover

My heart's been borrowed and yours has been blue

All's well that ends well to end up with you

Kevin and Lucy: Delicate

This ain't for the best

My reputation's never been worse, so

You must like me for me

Frisco and Felicia: Closure

Yes, I'm doing better

I know that it's over, I don't need your

Closure

Mac and Felicia: Ours

And life makes love look hard

The stakes are high, the water's rough

But this love is ours

Robert and Anna:  It's Nice to Have a Friend

Call my bluff, call you "babe"

Have my back, yeah, everyday

Anna and Valentin: Sparks Fly

My mind forgets to remind me, your a bad idea

You touch me once and it's really something

You find I'm even better than you, imagined I would be

Sonny and Brenda: The 1

But we were something, don't you think so?

Roaring 20s, tossing pennies in the pool

And if my wishes came true

It would've been you

Sonny and Carly: Haunted

​​You and I walk a fragile line

I have known it all this time

Sonny and Alexis: Blank Space

So hey, let's be friends

I'm dying to see how this one ends

Stone and Robin: Sad Beautiful Tragic

We had a beautiful magic love there

What a sad beautiful tragic love affair

Robin and Patrick: This Love

This love is good

This love is bad

This love is alive back from the dead

Lucky and Elizabeth: Tolerate It

While you were out building other worlds, where was I?

Where's that man who'd throw blankets over my barbed wire?

I made you my temple, my mural, my sky

Now I'm begging for footnotes in the story of your life

Nikolas and Emily: Happiness

There'll be happiness after you

But there was happiness because of you

Nikolas and Elizabeth: Dress

Our secret moments in your crowded room

They've got no idea about me and you

Ned and Alexis: Stay Stay Stay

You took the time to memorize me

My fears, my hopes and dreams

I just like hanging out with you

All the time

Alexis and Julian: Death By A Thousand Cuts

I get drunk but it's not enough

'Cause you're not my baby

I look through the windows of this love

Even though we boarded them up

LuLu and Dante: Wildest Dreams

Someday when you leave me

I bet these memories

Follow you around

Sam and Jason: It’s Time To Go

15 years, 15 million tears

Begging 'til my knees bled

I gave it my all, he gave me nothing at all

Then wondered why I left

Sam and Dante: Cardigan

And when I felt like I was an old cardigan

Under someone's bed

You put me on and said I was your favorite

Chase and Brook Lynn: Mastermind

Once upon a time, the planets and the fates

And all the stars aligned

You and I ended up in the same room

At the same time

Spencer and Trina: Invisible String

And isn't it just so pretty to think

All along there was some

Invisible string

Tying you to me?

Cameron and Jossyln: Karma

Addicted to betrayal, but you're relevant

You're terrified to look down

'Cause if you dare, you'll see the glare

Of everyone you burned just to get there

Elizabeth and Franco: Red

Remembering him comes in flashbacks and echoes

Tell myself it's time now, gotta let go

Maxie and Nathan: Enchanted

My thoughts will echo your name, until I see you again

These are the words I held back, as I was leaving too soon