#love that a single lyric from a song flooded my brain with.. once again.. another au

[undertheknightwing]

The struggle of not wanting to interact with the Titans fandom that much and having an idea for an angst/hurt + comfort horror-ish au fic about how Gar met the Titans

[lyricsofravensong]

The beat of a longing heart

• Jake x MC • hurt/comfort, fluff • ~ 1 675 words + a chat•

• request by Anon:  hey, i don't know how to start this ask but... well i got the news that my favorite drummer has passed away and i can't deal with it without thinking about jake comforting MC... i think this is weird and I must be mixing things up, but it's a comforting thought...you are my favorite writer on tumblr out of all the blogs and i am always happy to read your works so if you are accepting requests could you please write something about jake and mc? thank you😢❤️

• Your evening was supposed to be a sad song until the end, but then an unexpected melody appears from the rain.

A/N: Here it finally is! 🌠 Thank you for the request dear anon, I hope you're doing well. 💕 Sorry again for being so slow! 😖

I wasn't sure if you wished for a chat or a written story, so I combined them a little. :) I was really struggling with the editing but this is the best I can offer at the moment and I don't want to make you wait any longer. I hope so much I'm not letting you down and this story gives you the comfort you were missing. 💚

And thank you @dreamer-writer-fangirl for the encouragement! ❤

When you're happy, the beat of the music resonates with your cheerful heart; it dances and flutters in every corner of your body, making you feel powerful and alive.

When you're sad, the lyrics of the songs portray the pain your heart is aching with; they poke and stroke every inch of your bleeding soul, challenging and healing.

The song of your evening starts with a heavy sigh escaping from your lungs. Disappointment burns in your throat, but you swallow it down painfully. It's not Jake's fault that the theme of your day had been nothing but a repeating chorus of a sad song, and it seems like the evening is going to continue the manner. But you can't deny that the absence of his presence is one note more to the chord of your grief.

Rain sets the tune by hitting the roof with a sound that's reaching the rumbling measures of a thunderstorm. The ambience of it is making you even more anxious.

The beat comes in as a pulse of your longing heart, echoing in every cell of your body. Your mind is helplessly out of tune and can't keep up with the racing tempo.

You give up on tears as the rain makes a crescendo that covers the voice of your sobbing. Your thoughts are a swirling mess of unsettling beats, counting every person there is for you to miss. A wave of sorrow floods over your soul and the pouring rain invades your brain until your tears turn to raindrops. 

You cry for a long time and the static rhythm of the rain is like a stereo to your feelings.

At first, the careful knocking on the door gets lost in the mixed concert of percussion going on in your head. When it comes again stronger, you sit up slowly. You have no intention of answering it, a single glance at your tear-stained face in the mirror confirms that. You're sure that the intruder will give up quickly since who in their right mind would be outside in that weather. The doorbell rings once and is followed by the uplifting tone of your phone receiving a message. 

Your heartbeat drops tragically as you read the text Jake had sent.

Tension builds up as you hurry to the door without a second glance at the mirror. The beat of your heart drums in your ears when you yank the door open. And then - every sound goes silent. 

There's Jake, standing in the rain outside your door. His black hair is dripping wet as well as his hoodie of the same color. In contrast to them, he's holding a white plastic bag in his hand, phone in the other. Your eyes meet his and you stare at each other equally shocked. The shaken expression on Jake's face indicates that you look as awful as you felt a second ago. 

"I can't stop the rain, but… here I am. Ready to hold you," Jake says and a hint of embarrassment appears on his face. You follow his every move as he puts his phone in the pocket of his hoodie and then - trying to figure out what to do with his freed hand - runs his fingers through his wet hair. 

"I hope you're not bothered by me intruding like this," he mumbles awkwardly, making a shy glance towards you.

Words get caught in your throat and come out pitifully feeble, "Or course not, but… how?" Your voice breaks and you have to gasp for breath. "How? Why?"

There's a clear twitch on Jake's face by the tearful sound of your voice. For a minute he looks almost panicked as he struggles to find the next words.

"I was getting this when you texted me." He lifts the plastic bag so you can see the logo of a nearby Chinese restaurant. "Rain offers some cover so it's safer for me to be out. I was so insanely worried about you that my legs just carried me here."

Your mind is gradually catching up with the new tempo of this turn of events. Another wave of tears is blurring your eyes and you slap a hand over your mouth to cover the weird grin spreading on your face.

"And I'm glad they did," Jake continues, pulling the corner of his lips into a sympathetic smile. "I'd hate to think of you being alone like that."

You shake your head in disbelief at this unexpected change of key in the earlier flatness of your emotions. You let out a trembling breath. A new verse in the song of your evening starts when you sprint out in the rain and throw yourself into Jake's arms. You bury your face into his chest and let out the forceful sobs. Jake drops the bag on the ground and wraps his arms tightly around you. 

The drumming of the rain fades to the background as you stand in its shower, crying the whole record of your sorrows over Jake. He listens to it quietly and doesn’t let go even when you raise your hand to wipe your nose on your sleeve. Gradually your weeps quiet down along with the rain which is throwing the last separate drops on your already damped clothes. You rest your head on Jake’s shoulder and squeeze the back of his hoodie. 

“Have I ever told you why I like the rain?” his voice asks softly beside your ear. 

“No,” you sniffle. “I don’t believe you have.”

“I like it because it reminds me of you.”

“Why is that?” You raise your head to look at Jake’s face, forcing him to loosen his grip which he fixes by resting his hands behind your lower back. 

“It was pouring when I contacted you for the first time,” he smiles. “That was the day my life changed. For me, rain symbolizes the unpredictability of life. I feel like anything is possible on a rainy day.”

“That’s something you just proved to be true,” you laugh and brush a strand of hair aside from his forehead. Jake stares at your face with such intensity that you suddenly become very aware of your swollen eyes and runny nose. You blush and lower your head.

“I’m sorry about crying so much. I know I look hideous.”

Jake sets his hand gently on your cheek, making you look up at his face again as he examines yours even closer. 

“No, you’re still fascinating.” His whisper makes your heart sing with emotions you have never heard so vividly before. 

“My face is all swollen and full of tears…” you splutter in loss of words. 

Jake’s smile only widens and he wipes your cheeks tenderly with his fingers. “They’re just raindrops.”

You chuckle, “Then you can stop the rain after all.”

Tears of the sky are still dripping from the trees and corners of the roof all around you. They form an uneven rhythm of a harmony you’re now hearing differently; not as an echo of your pain, but more as a ballad for sadness.

But sadness is not the theme of your feelings anymore when you share the Chinese with Jake on the couch in your living room. No food has ever tasted so delicious as this slightly soaked and chill portion of noodles eaten straight from the container, taking turns of using the one pair of chopsticks Jake had with him.

The second verse of your evening is composed from comfort. After the food is finished and Jake’s drenched hoodie is drying on the back rest, you lean against his shoulder and slowly give lyrics for your sadness by telling him all about your previous distress. His t-shirt is wet too, but you forget it when his arm wraps around you, pulling you closer to his side. 

Jake's presence is a lot like music; without saying much he still makes you feel understood and healed. His comfort is mainly instrumental but filled with so many soothing nuances of warm touches and thoughtful nods. He is the melody your evening missed. He is the lyrics for your love and the stereo for your desire; resonating stronger than the drumming of the rain. He makes you believe that just like music, your feelings are also made to be shared with your loved ones. And as you let your head fall to his lap and turn on your back to meet the softness of his eyes, you realize that this one you love very much. 

Rain starts a new solo on the roof with full force as the song of this evening comes to the bridge. Jake bends down to you, his intention written clear on his face. Still he stops hesitantly right above your mouth, pausing the music just before the beat drops. But your heart is singing and you hit the play by reaching your hand behind his head and pulling him down to your lips. The kiss launches a full symphony inside you and every note makes you yearn for more. 

On a short rest between kisses you caress Jake’s cheek and say, “Now I hope it will never stop raining.”

“I thought you hated it,” Jake points out. 

“Not anymore,” you mumble while your attention is drawn to the way Jake’s mouth forms the words he speaks and how his lips are tuning into an amused smile. 

“What made you change your mind?” he asks. 

“No one in their right mind would go outside in that weather, so you have to wait here until the rain is over.” 

When you're in love, music understands your every feeling; the fluttering happiness, the aching yearning, and the healing comfort. All the lyrics tell the story of the two of you, of every smile and tear you’ve had. 

A perfect harmony is formed when two beats of two longning hearts meet each other in a beautiful duet. 

This song of your evening does not end yet, the music of your hearts continues beating in the calming dusk of a rainy day.

_____________________

It was actually raining every time I wrote this. 🤭☔

[anaiswriterr]

underneath the tree

Pairing: Bakugou x Reader

Rating: G

Song: underneath the tree by kelly clarkson

↷ SYNOPSIS: Spending Christmas at the Bakugou’s can get pretty hectic, especially in a time of cheer and joy - meanwhile your raging boyfriend is definitely the Grinch. But for just one moment as you help his mother string up the lights of the Christmas tree - he can’t help but smile at his little elf.

- mha december special part one -

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“We’re going!” You argued, yelling back from the kitchen. Ignoring the tantrum your boyfriend threw from the living room, Katsuki huffs, stomping his way into the kitchen trailing behind you. “No! Why the hell do we have the spend Christmas at my mothers!? You know I hate Christmas.” He exclaimed throwing his hands up in emphasis .

You ignoring his bickering pressing the on button of the blender, “Huh? Sorry, I can’t hear you!” The loud shrilling of a protein shake being made wedges between his hollering - smiling to yourself you press the speed button. “Huh? What? We’re going! I’m so glad you agree, babe!” You yell back, watching as his nostrils flare in anger.

His eyes are almost pleading you to cancel this trip, but his pride would never admit that his eyes were begging. What was so wrong with him simply wanting to just be alone with you? Cuddled up in a warm weighted blanket watching a couple movies. Nothing! But that didn’t stop you from arguing over the fact that the both of you should go over for at least a week, by invitation of his mother, it would be disrespectful to reschedule.

Considering it would be the second Christmas he’s cancel on, Katsuki has made it known in the six years of dating you - he hated Christmas. Not because of some tragic or traumatic past (he was spoiled) but instead he just thought stopping hero work to spend Christmas with family was selfish. “Crime doesn’t stop just because people are happy.” He’d argue. 

And for the past three years of moving in together you’ve fought with him over and over again to simply hang a wreath and decorate a tree, which he later obliged to after ten minuets of pleading with those big puppy dog eyes of yours that made his heart go goo goo.

You walk over to place a small peck on his cheek, cupping the side of his head lovingly. “For one week, please.”

His ruby red eyes pierce into your sparkling E/C ones, nuzzling himself into your palm - you always had that calming effect over him. Silently reassuring him of your promise to go on the vacation for one week. 

“One week?”

You nod in response, “One week.”

“Seven days?”

“Only, seven days.”

***

You suddenly remember why holidays at the Bakugou’s can get quite hectic at times. The constant back and forth bickering of son and mother are all that fill the kitchen as you take a sip of your tea on the living room couch, conversing with his father located directly in front of you.

The two of you stare with awkward smiles at one another, “So.. how are you and,” he flinches at the sound of a pan being thrown. “Katsuki doing? You two look very happy.” 

“Oh well, we’re doing amazing! Finally decided after the holidays were adopting a shelter dog-“

You flinch as well at the sound of plates clattering against one another, the sound of a loud smack and a “Stop hitting me, I’m not sixteen anymore-“ is followed right after. 

“You are still sixteen in my eyes!”

Hectic, least to say.

You laugh nervously, “Should we maybe go help them? You know, before someone grabs a knife?” Masaru laughs at your assumption, sipping back at his tea waving you off. Until, the kitchen went silent. Eyes wide, the both of set down your drinks as he stumbles on his words, “O-On second thought maybe we should check on them!”

“Great idea!”

***

Katsuki rolls his eyes at your amusement when the air you breathed back into the cold environment had turned into a cloud of smoke, “Look Katsuki, I’m a dragon!” You laugh, breathing harder into the air. Your gloved hand holding his squeezes in delight, you were truly a child at heart unwilling to let your boyfriends behavior towards this time of year ruin your fun. He kisses his teeth, “Dumbass, if you don’t stop jumping around every single time you breathe I’m walking back to the car.” He threatens, “And pull up your jacket zipper, it’s freezing!” 

“Don’t be such a kill joy, and besides you aren’t going anywhere till we find this damn tree.” You scold, ignoring his fingers over your torso pulling the jackets zipper up to your chin. 

You pull him into a maze of Christmas tree’s that stood tall over your heads, “Lets try and get an eight foot?” You ask, attempting to pull him in the process of tree shopping. The scent of pinewood and fresh pine cones fill your nose, memories of when you were just a tiny child running to wake your siblings flood your brain as you look at your towering boyfriend. “You could try to have fun, you know?” You plead, his hand tugs at your entwined fingers as he looks down at you. Huffing to himself, “I hate the smell.”

It takes every once of your well being not to pull his hair in frustration, “I know you do, Mr. Grinch.” You snicker, wandering between the aisles of Christmas trees. Your eye caught a a large, forest green tree, letting go of Katsuki’s hand you skip your way towards the tree and it’s towering height. “Katsuki! How about this one? It’s perfect!”

“Yeah, yeah, pick it. I’ll load it on the car.” The blond mumbles, rushing off to pay.

***

He’s sittings on the couch sipping a cup of coffee, watching you decorate the tree with a large grin as you string the lights, directing Mitsuki where they should go. Though he hated the holiday there was one thing he truly loved the most about this time of year. Simply watching you and your giddy grin as you decorate - it always made him smile, watching his little elf bounce around in merry joy blasting Christmas music and shouting the lyrics. 

“Katsuki, can you help me with this one. I can’t reach the top.”

Nodding his head and helping you get down from the small steps he presses his lips onto your forehead. 

‘Yeah, I’m gonna marry her.’

TAGLIST: @meep-meep​ @hikaru-mikazuki​ @jabkie​ @simpingovereveryanimeguy​ @theycallmemrsbarnes​ @bittersweetbooke​ @meri-soni-meri-tamanna​ @myheroesaretired​

[taleofharrison]

Perfect | Luke Hemmings

Summary: Based on Girl Crush by Little Big Town and Heather by Conan Grey

Warnings: no but challenge I reference some lyrics from the songs above here can you spot where?.

Requested: Yes by an anon.

Word Count: 1273 (I feel like I carried away a little)

A/N: I’m so proud of this one basically because I have a math exam this week and my brain said “hey you know it’ll be cool if we actually write this right now instead of studying” it was so worth it plus I still have tomorrow to catch up and on another note I’ll be super busy this Friday streaming confetti and watching the search cause I love Little Mix so surprise update today. Enjoy!

PART 2

MASTERLIST HERE

“Why do you guys think Luke got us here together for?” you asked, it was the elephant in the room neither you of the boys touched yet. “Since Luke doesn’t want to tell”

“Yeah, Luke why won’t you tell us?” Michael shrugged taking a drink from the beer in his hand

Luke had invited you to a get together since he had an important announcement to make. Though the Australian band had only met you roughly three years ago it was as though you had been with them since they moved to London that first time they left their home, it was an awesome chemistry between the five of you.

“You’ll know once it’s here” he said as the doorbell rang “and that must be her”

“Her? No…it can’t be”

“Guys this is Ashley” he said a the most beautiful girl you’ve ever seen by his side “my girlfriend”

“Well yes it can be…it’s happening”

“So, it is something serious after all” Ashton teased them making the girl hide her face in Luke’s chest making him chuckle.

A few months Luke had told you all he was seeing someone though he didn’t want you to meet her just yet because he wanted to know how serious this relationship was.

“Yeah it is” he smiled pulling her closer to him a giggle escaping her lips. You rolled your eyes.

“Annoying”

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you guys” she said escaping from Luke’s arms to give hug the guys “I know how important you are in Luke’s life”

“And you must be Y/N” she said once he saw you behind the other boys and pulled you into a hug “hope we can become close friends I know it’d mean the world Luke”

“Hope so too You gave your best fake smile you didn’t understand why you hated her so much you had just met. Was your crush on Luke that serious?

“Why are you so perfect?”

She tagged along you and the boys which annoyed the hell out of you why couldn’t she hang out with Luke on another times without you guy? This was time between friends though the boys seemed to love her and, how couldn’t they? She was sweet, smart a funny. You hated her because you didn’t find a good reason to hate her.

“Are you having fun today?” Luke asked you, you were at the Santa Monica Pier a day you had planned with your friends but now Ashley was part of the group.

“Yeah ‘m fine” you shrugged “why do you ask?”

“You just seem a quieter today” he said, “Is something bothering you?”

“Your girlfriend shouldn’t be here”

“No, at all” you brushed it off when Ashley and the boys came back with snacks.

A few weeks after that and you just found yourself getting more and more frustrated at the fact that there was nothing, no reason at all to hate on her which ended up in you acting like a bitch towards her.

Why weren’t you pretty like her? Pretty enough to Luke to notice you, why didn’t you have her smile? A smile that light up the whole room, why couldn’t you have her eyes? They were beautiful and you were sure they were like shining stars even in darkest nights. She had everything…she was everything.

After countless of sleepless nights you decided to go apologize to her, jealousy was getting the best of you and if you keep this attitude you might also lose Luke as well and you weren’t risking it you had to learn to respect his relationship though seeing him with another girl would the most painful thing you’d ever have to witness.

As you walked towards them you saw Ashley wearing Luke’s sweater while she laughed in his arms you could see nothing but adoration and happiness in his eyes and tears flooded with tears.

“It’s just a fucking sweater why am I crying? I’m so stupid”

It wasn’t just a sweater is the one sweater you wore when you stayed at his place watching movies, it was the one he gave you when you forgot your jacket at home and it was freezing outside the restaurant where you and the boys had dinner to celebrate your birthday, the one he would give to you when you fell asleep when you visited the studio to keep them company or just because you wanted to be with them it used to be for you and now it was hers.

After that moment without noticing you started hanging out with Luke and as consequence Ashton, Calum and Michael were seeing less and less thing that didn’t go unnoticed by any of them, they were getting more worried and more worried about you each day.

“You have to be at this party” Michael told you over the phone “No buts no negative answer we’ve barely seen you”

You chuckled a little you’d be lying if you said you didn’t miss the Australian band “Alright I’ll be there”

The moment you got into Michael’s house you saw Ashton and Calum hanging out around Michael’s DJ spot, Luke was nowhere to be seen maybe he’d get there later and the first thing you did was run to hug Ashton and Calum.

“Look who’s here I thought you were dead” Ashton joked.

You rolled your eyes at his answer hitting his shoulder playfully “Is Luke here?”

“He’s walking towards us right now” Calum said making you turn to see him walking his arm around Ashley’s hips she looked stunning.

“Y/N long time no see” Luke smiled he hugged you however you didn’t hug him back.

“I-sorry I need to get a drink”

You escaped the situation making your way to the kitchen not noticing Luke was following you.

“Can you tell what’s wrong with you?” he demanded once you were in the kitchen alone “I haven’t seen you in weeks I miss you and I come here and you just avoid me again”

“I’m not-“

“Bulshit” he interrupted “I know you and I saw you before I got there you were completely fine around Ash, Cal and Mike now tell me”

“It’s her” you said giving him a dead stare.

“Ashley?” his eyes coming together pure confusion in his voice “what has she done to you? She’s an angel!”

“Exactly!” you snapped all the emotions you had bottled up coming to the surface “She’s perfect and I hate her because I can’t find anything to hate on her, not one single flaw”

“It’s frustrating to see the guy you’re in love with next to another person who’s a thousand times better than you, someone who’s effortlessly perfect” you finished your statement with a dry laugh “maybe I just hate her because she gets to kiss you and taste your lips, she gets to be the one between your sheets, she gets to wear your sweaters. It’s pure jealousy”

“Y/N-”

“The worst part is that I feel like I’m the shittiest person in the world” you interrupted again tears in the corner of your eyes “I should be happy because you’re my best friend and you are happy…the happiest I’ve ever seen you but I’m not because I’m in love with you…I’m so pathetic”

“Y/N I’m-“

“Leave it” you smiled giving him your empty red solo cup “I shouldn’t have come tell the boys I’ll call them tomorrow. Have fun tonight”

“Y/N, no come one wait. Don’t leave like this”

But this time you didn’t look back and from now on you would be the putting yourself first. This time your heart was going to heal.

[for-a-muse-of-fire]

and it’s easy done

the wench and the witcher

“and it’s easy done”

Fandom: The Witcher (2019)

Paring: Geralt of Rivia x Fem!POC Reader.

Summary: Geralt is gone hunting. Reader is frustrated. 

Warnings: NSFW/18+ - this is dirty, but to be fair, so is the song that prompted it. Masturbation, voyeurism, oral (f receiving), praise kink, sweet!dom Geralt/gratuitous use of the phrase “good girl”, welcome to the sin bin, fam. (And somehow, they still got all soft on me.)

A/N:  Title and lyrics after the cut from “Moment’s Silence (Common Tongue)” by Hozier. So, like. Hozier straight-up says this song is about oral sex. Full-stop. I didn’t believe it until I actually read the lyrics and went, “Oh damn, you right.” So, uh, here you go. There’s a part two coming - heh - because reciprocity is important. 

@coconutxraikage - @kingniazx - @onyour-right - @ly–canthrope - @kianya-loves - @c-s-stars - @gczanetti1 - @pantrashtic - @alwaysnatz​ - @agniavateira​

Like a heathen clung to the homily Let the reason come on the common tongue of your loving me

“Good girl.”

 Geralt’s voice is a growling rasp against your ribs. You feel it buzz through you, the vibration humming over your naked skin. His lips leave heat in their wake, licking tongues of fire that make you shudder and arch for him.

 He rumbles out a low chuckle, “That’s my good girl.”

 Teeth scrape over the tender skin of your thigh. You gasp. There’s a soft, sinister laugh before heat and wet presses over your throbbing center and you moan, chasing the pleasure that the Witcher is so generous to provide. You’re writhing, and crying, and you can feel the scorching knot in your belly twist itself tighter and tighter and tighter and –

And you snap awake, panting

Confused, and frustrated, and hot, dear gods, you stare at the dark ceiling above you, one hand pressed to your forehead. You can hear your own heartbeat thrumming behind your eardrums. Worst of all, you can feel it between your legs, so insistent that it hurts. With a ragged groan, you roll to your side, knees pressed tight together in a futile attempt to easy the wicked ache. The darkness behind your eyelids provides no comfort – your mind is hazy with flashes of Geralt’s lazy, seductive grin.

“Fuck,” you whine into your pillow.

It’s been almost two months. He didn’t tell you where he would be, and you didn’t ask, which is fine – it’s what works, it’s for the best you tell yourself. But it’s been the same brain-addling dream for three days straight and it’s starting to affect your fucking work. If your head isn’t off in the clouds, you find that you’re irritable – snappish and short. Your people aren’t idiots, either. The semi-significant glances you catch are enough; you know they can guess what’s eating you.

Or, well. Not eating you, to be direct.

You take in a slow breath, squirming against the prickling heat that refuses to be ignored before you swear at the ceiling. It’s a pity that the object of your torment isn’t present, but it’s not like you’ve never taken matters into your own hands before.

 Fuck it.

Shaking fingers pull at the cotton of your shift and ghost over your thighs. You hum – it’s enough to send gooseflesh skittering over your skin.  Your hands are smaller, more delicate than the strong, calloused ones you want but it’s something. As you find the syrupy, slick heat between your legs, you let yourself moan and roll onto your back once more. Your other hand creeps its way upward, skates up your ribs and over the smooth curve of your breast to find your nipple beaded and tender. You settle into the rhythm that you need, fingertips pressing at your clit, drawing wetness up from your soaking core to roll over the sensitive cluster of nerve endings.

Sweat sticks your curls to your forehead. You let your fingers dip, press in to where you ache – where you pulse. The shivering pleasure goes liquid, curls itself between your thighs and makes you arch from the mattress. Eyes shut tight, you conjure up the image of white hair, strong hands, and that devious fucking smile. The Witcher’s name is a breathy sigh over your lips.

“Now here’s a sight…”

A familiar rumbling voice throws you rudely out of your fantasy and headlong into horror – you curse with particular gusto as your eyes fly open. When you scramble up right, you find the object of that fantasy darkening your bedroom doorway and looking entirely too smug. Geralt watches you, and the pressure of his gaze feels like the warmth of a bonfire. You feel it trace over you from bed-wild hair to parted knees.

“Don’t stop on my account,” the Witcher rumbles. His voice is rough, a growl so low that it’s nearly subterranean. It makes your heart beat faster, sends a fresh shudder of heat through you.

He inhales, slow and deep, breathing out on a low hmm. You watch him step closer – as your eyes adjust to the dim, you’re able to see his face, meet honey-gold eyes that are nearly overtaken by the dark of his pupils. His battle-scarred hands pull at the buttons of his collar before pulling the fabric from his trousers. Your mouth goes bone-dry when he reveals the broad expanse of his chest. The shirt ends up on the floor somewhere.

“Take off your shift, sweetheart,” Geralt tells you.

For once, you don’t backtalk as you do what you’re told.  He chuckles darkly. “Lay back,” he says.

The mattress is wonderfully cool against your feverish skin. Your eyes stay locked on his face. Goosebumps prickle over your skin, makes you shiver as Geralt moves to light the single candle on your beside table. The amber-toned light throws shadows over his strong features and he is so fucking beautiful it makes your heart ache. His scars stand out, lines of pearl against his pale skin. With a slow, predatory grace, the Witcher settles himself on the edge of the bed at your feet before one strong hand grips your ankle; he pulls gently, until your leg drops off the side of the bed to leave you open and exposed to him.

Maybe you should be mortified, but you’ve never been more aroused in your life.  “Let me see, sweetheart,” he purrs. “Come on now.”

It’s hard to breathe. The air feels charged with electricity, thick and heavy – the moment before a lightning strike. Your fingers play slowly over your skin again as you pant softly, then moan when you pull at your nipple once more. Geralt traces his fingers up your leg, callouses rough, yet gentle as they drawl invisible sigils over the top of your calf, then along the inside of your knee. Once again, your hand finds its way to the aching slick between your legs. The first contact makes you suck in a low breath, almost shocked by the flood of wet that you’re greeted with; your eyes slip closed, but you don’t notice until you hear the Witcher purr down at you:

“Look at me.”

You groan as you pry your eyes open. Geralt’s gaze is has weight and heat, like a living thing – it’s enough to make your toes curl. “Good girl,” he breathes. “That’s my good girl.”

Gods. Those words send fire crackling through your bones - the heat scorches the air in your lungs as your voice catches on a whine. You writhe on the bed, gasp for breath, and somehow manage to keep your eyes locked on Geralt’s face. His soft mouth twists into a wicked smile.

“You missed me, didn’t you, sweet girl?” he asks you. His voice laps at your skin, warm like the ocean tide. “Missed me so much you had to try and make yourself come, is that it?”

“Yes,” you whimper. “I – fuck, Geralt – “

“Tell me what you were thinking about, sweetheart.”

He lowers his head. His lips are smooth and dry as he traces them up the quivering flesh of your thigh. You grit your teeth around a moan; the Witcher bites softly at your skin, lifts his eyes to meet your gaze. “Tell me,” he rumbles. “Tell me what makes you so fucking wet when I’m gone, hm? Be a good girl.”

“Geralt,” you whine. The fingers rolling over your clit press downwards, press into the desperate wet heat of your cunt until you cry out and start to babble. “I think about - about you, Geralt, I – I think about your – your hands, your fingers… fuck, I think about how you fuck me open with your tongue, about your cock – oh! Oh!”

The sharp bite of pain from his teeth on your hip sends you soaring. Stars collide behind your eyelids, rush through your veins with blinding heat; you press your hips into your own hand, chanting the Witcher’s name as you come. You’re left shaking, and as you find your breath, Geralt pulls your hand away from where it’s pressed to your sex.

When he presses his mouth there instead, you choke on a yell.

He devours you. Locks one arm over your hips to keep you still when you try to arch away as the pleasure edges toward pain. Your hand flies over your head, palm slapping against the solid wood of the headboard. The other finds the Witcher’s frost-colored hair, fingers gripping into a fist; you’re not sure if you want to shove him away or draw him closer, but you feel him snarl against your cunt, as if daring you to try the former. His tongue presses heavy and hot over your clit, lapping mercilessly while you strain against the pleasure.

The press of his fingers – one, then another, and then a third – into your pulsing heat drags a low gasp out of you. Geralt strokes the pads of his fingers into you in time to the rhythm of his tongue. Those clever fingers hook up, find the soft, sensitive spot deep inside you as he grazes his teeth lightly over your clit.

Everything goes white. You hear the high keen of your own voice as you come again, gushing over the Witcher’s tongue and fingers. His low moan hums against you, makes you shudder and sob.

“Good girl…”

His voice is sweet, soft, and filthy. Still gasping, you force your eyes open in time to watch Geralt wipe the shine of your slick from his chin. He makes his languid way up your body, chasing each shiver of your muscles with his lips until he’s settled over you, braced on his elbows. You arch up to kiss him, all desperate demanding, and taste yourself on his tongue as you swallow down his low, breathless groan. Despite their shaking, your fingers make quick work of his trousers with his help. There’s the sound of boots hitting the floor.

Geralt presses you onto your back, presses himself forward – you gasp, high and sharp as he blunt head of his cock splits you open. You feel him snarl against your mouth. He finds a slow, deep rhythm, one meant to be savored, and savor he does. The pair of you writhe together, coiled like adders in the glow of the candlelight.

“I missed you,” you gasp. “So much.”

Geralt snaps his hips forward, catching your moan on his tongue. “Missed you, too,” you hear him whisper. “I - gods - missed you, too.”  

The last orgasm startles you, a sharp jolt fizzing its way up your spine; you bow up and away from the mattress with a soft grunt when it happens and the Witcher gives a rasping chuckle against your shoulder that slides into a moan as he comes. He’s soft-focus in the candlelight when he lifts his head to look at you, and there’s a tenderness in his gaze that makes your breath catch short for a second. You bite your lip against a foolish smile.

“Hello,” you breathe.

The Witcher hmms at you. The smile on his face is lazy and satisfied; were he a cat, you’re certain he would be purring. “Hello,” he murmurs back.

[youarejesting]

BTS Seoul mates: Tender Couple.2

[MASTERLIST]

Pairing: Namjoon x Reader

Warning: implied sex

Summary: Every bump and bruise he apologized to where ever you were in the world. All pain was halved between you. Two halves of a whole. When either felt extreme emotions they could feel exactly what the other was feeling physically.  All pleasure was doubled.

You must have had the clumsiest soul mate in the world. You spent your life with at least one bruise on your body at all times, when it got really bad people started to worry about your home life and you would laugh and tell them your soulmate was just super clumsy. You were the opposite or your soulmate you were as graceful as a cat. You were smart had a vast amount of knowledge but it wasn’t sorted. Your thought process was unique, you could calculate numbers rather quickly in your head, recite every movie you had ever seen from start to finish, you were pretty talented. Your brain was good at receiving and storing everything it encounters.

But your down fall, you had no concept of time. and you struggle with object permanence. If you can’t see it, the thing in question disappears from your mind. You have flooded your house and burnt every single homemade pizza this way. New thoughts tend to get in the way of previous ones and you can get jumbled up. This tends to lead to you stuttering as the words run faster in your head and misfiring words. You get so frustrated with yourself. 

Namjoon had so much confidence in his brain, he enjoyed mental exercises and stimulation. But he lacked confidence physically, he would look at the other members and feel a little jealous. He wasn’t handsome like Jin or romantic like Jimin, he wasn’t very imaginative like Taehyung. His hopes were pinned on you, his soul mate. He had read every study and felt ninety nine percent sure that you would love him unconditionally as he did you. However there was always that irrational one percent fear that you would reject him, if you hadn’t already.

Who was he to you? Nothing but a burden, the constant pain and bruises he inflicted. Who is to say when you meet, you won’t take one look at him and his coordination that could be likened to a newborn giraffe on ice. He was a walking hazard. His first night camping in New Zealand was rather fun and that night he felt your wandering hands once more and he tried to join you as quietly as he could without rustling his sleeping bag. 

He woke feeling refreshed, the group was going to a spa. He was writing lyrics on the way with his imagination taking over as he lost himself to the memories of the past two nights. Remembering the sensations he felt, the way your fingers would brush against your skin the way you would bring yourself to the edge and hold it as long as you could. Last night however, you did something that made him groan quietly.

“You okay?” Jungkook asked quietly while he drove. He nodded making a casual noise. You had come so hard last night the first time without any physical stimulation you seemed to just lay there enjoying his company pleasure coursing through you. What were you thinking about? The second time followed quickly and he smiled happy you were feeling good but disappointed you finished without him.

Or so he thought, because he felt the pleasure build again and he shivered, trying to keep up, you were now edging the third. He had read somewhere that woman could have up to twenty orgasms in a row. So your third didn’t shock him. He came with you when you had your fourth and he was panting relaxing and yet he felt you chase another and another. When he got his second you were on your seventh. He knew when you met he could have a lot of fun with you.

The car pulled up and they went inside ready to the spa. The girls went to another section of the building and left to wash up and relax. Sitting in one of the many outdoor tubs in shorts and shirts the girls sat talking and playing games.

Namjoon and the boys were relaxing in their tub when he burned his hand and he frowned it was a good one alright and he frowned holding the injured hand to his chest trying to ease the pain. He felt a familiar sting on the side of your face and knew you had gently slapped your cheek to let him know you were mad. But he also felt kisses on his fingertips which made him forget about the pain and concentrate on not getting hard in front of his band mates.

“It’s been so long since we have been close like this” Taehyung said getting sentimental as the dried and dressed together. Namjoon listened to them all chatting about their plans for their next activity and wondering if any of the girls would want to join in.

“I don’t want to go what if Aster asks me to go?” Jimin whined.

“I want to go with my baby Beau on the swing together”

The Nevis High-wire platform was beautiful. Everyone seemed to be having a good time looking around and the brave ones signing up for a swing. Currently all the boys excluding Jimin and Yoongi were participating and all the girls except Rose. 

The pairs were, Namjoon and Taehyung, Jin and Hoseok, Melody and Aster and finally Jungkook and Aster. They each took turns, Hoseok and Jin were shaking in their skin. Melody and Aster the latter kissed Jimin dramatically and as she was being harnessed started a monologue as if she was dying. Jimin had almost collapsed in his fits of laughter. 

Namjoon went with Taehyung, taking in the view together singing their theme song. As they traveled back up to the platform. The golden maknae turned to his soulmate and suggested they go upside down and to their shock she agreed. She was like Jungkook never one to back down from a challenge. They both flipped upside down and were sent of making whoops and cheers as you fell from the platform.

They each relaxed and headed to their next camp to set up, half going shopping and buying food. The night was filled with jokes and laughed and a few stolen kisses under the stars. Namjoon, was already planning on doing some work tomorrow, he was trying to write lyrics but he couldn’t get you out of his head.

That night he lay in bed and felt your index finger tapping on his palm. He couldn’t figure it out but it repeated like a beat, he fell asleep to the repetition he was so amazed how you seemed to just know what he needed.

[cosmic-coyote7]

• My first posted jatp fic!! The idea came to me because I thought opening s2 with a flashback from one of the boys' pov would be interesting, so I picked Alex! This is his pov during the emotional third act in episode 9.

I hope y'all enjoy. ♡ •

~☆~♤~☆~♤~

This Family is Back

Not having control over your own body while being thrust before a crowd was the most terrifying experience Alex had ever endured. That was saying something because he vaguely remembered dying, but at least that had been quick.

This extended music number was agony. Even though the crowd before them was happily watching, dancing along, and enjoying the nightlife of the Hollywood Ghost Club, he was feeling quite the opposite.

His hands were moving and controlling his drum sticks as he struck the drums and tapped the symbols, but it was not because he wanted to. He was planted to his stool, unable to do more than watch in horror as the band around him danced and played their instruments with smiles glued to their glossed lips.

What was worse was seeing the faces of his bandmates.

Reggie looked terrified as his body jerkily danced across the stage, his fingers moving automatically on his bass guitar, but he was nothing more than a puppet on strings. He had zero control of his own body.

Luke was clearly fighting the hold of the puppeteer. His feet dragged even as his hands shredded cords on his electric guitar. His face was the picture of furious with his turned down brows and slightly bared teeth. He was fighting hard to break free, but was unable to.

They were all strong spirits in their own way, but the one who commanded them was stronger.

Alex strained against the invisible bonds that kept him planted behind the drum set and playing so mechanically, but it was hopeless. Caleb had his hooks dug into them, and the jolts had weakened them to the point they couldn't fight back.

Reggie had frustrated tears in his eyes as he too struggled to throw off Caleb's spell, while Luke looked ready to punch the magician square in the face.

Alex felt like that if he wasn't a ghost, he would be sweating from the effort of trying to regain control.

When the song ended, the playing stopped but they were all trapped on stage. The crowd applauded, blissfully unaware of the torment the band was enduring for the sake of entertaining them and keeping Caleb wealthy. The whole situation was enough to send Alex's brain into a panicked spiral.

Reggie had stopped playing and was looking around at his two friends, his legs locked in place but his arms trembling. Luke was in a similar state, but while Reggie still looked shocked and scared, Luke just looked angry.

Their second chance at performing at the Orpheum and their path to potentially crossing over had been blocked by a conniving and wealthy ghost. The man in question stood front and center stage as he bowed and took in the storm of applause for him and his new band.

People were cheering their names, including some lifers they had all spoken to the first night at the Hollywood Ghost Club. They waved cheerfully at them as they clapped.

Applause shouldn't feel this terrifying.

Alex's eyes swept the crowd, searching for not a lifer but a ghost who he wanted to make sure was okay. Willie had sacrificed so much just to get Julie and the Phantoms on stage at the Orpheum, and now he was nowhere to be seen.

Had Caleb done something to him? Maybe the evil magician had discovered that Willie had gone behind his back and was now punishing him. Caleb was the type to throw pain at others if he didn't get his way.

More panic made Alex tremble. He and his friends were in the grip of a crazy performer, and a guy he had started to harbor feelings for was missing.

It seemed so hopeless.

Then, just as a new song was starting up, Alex felt a weird tugging sensation in his chest, like an invisible hand were pulling on his shirt. His skin warmed, and he felt as if a crack had formed in the controlling spell.

"They were my friends... my band... my family."

The words were true. Alex knew that. Even if he had difficulty figuring out whose voice it was at first, the words themselves made sense to him.

They drew him in, stronger than Caleb's hold and like a light at the end of this tunnel of torment.

Alex held onto those words because he now knew who had uttered them.

Julie. Julie was talking about him, Luke, and Reggie. They were more than dead bandmates to her. They were her family.

Alex gripped onto that thought like a lifeline. The warmth from her words made it easier to push back against Caleb's hold. The more he thought about Julie, the easier it was for him to force himself to stop playing.

He thought of their rehearsals; of goofing around with Julie and the other two when they took breaks; of writing songs together and figuring out what melodies worked; and of just being around their lead singer. She was like sunshine: radiating her warmth and brightness wherever she went. She was brave, smart, compassionate, and she loved them. She loved them like family.

No sooner had Alex let this thought take a hold of him did he hear Julie's voice again, this time singing. She was belting out lyrics for a song they had all written together.

Whatever happens

Even if I'm the last standing

Ima stand tall

Ima stand tall

Whatever happens

Even when everything's down

Ima stand tall

Ima stand tall

Alex followed her voice in his head and focused on poofing. He needed to get to Julie. That's all he could focus on was finding her. They had a show to do - the most important show of their lives.

Ima stand tall!

Suddenly, Alex was rushing away from Caleb, the controlled band, and the cheering audience was replaced by a smaller one.

He could move his hands freely again! He began banging on his drums and smiling brightly as he caught sight of Julie. Her eyes were bright with tears as she smiled at him, just a few feet away at her keyboard.

Alex beamed at her, no longer feeling the strangling hold that Caleb had on him. He was free!

The icy bonds melted away as he played alongside Julie who was singing more confidently now.

Then Reggie appeared, playing his bass with more fluid and natural movements as he grinned at a very relieved Julie. They had made it!

Well, most of them...

Luke was struggling. He was striking out and was using all of his energy to stay here with them and leave that trap of a ghost club behind.

He flickered in and out like a bad signal, his angry expression replaced by true panic. Alex couldn't do more than watch and hope against hope that Luke pulled through.

All the while, Julie sang, coaxing Luke to her and the rest of the band with her powerful voice. And it was if she herself gave him strength because just a moment later, Luke appeared fully and began to sing along with Julie, his toothy grin in place.

Julie hurried over to him, a look of intense relief on her face as they played together once again.

As they performed, Alex could no longer feel the effects of Caleb's jolts. He felt stronger and now had control over his own movements.

Reggie jumped around with his usual energy, while Luke only had eyes for Julie as they sang a song they all wrote together as a band.

Everything was just as it always was until Reggie and Julie strutted down the stage side by side. Reggie smiled at the crowd with his characteristic energy and dorkiness while Julie's voice intermingled with Luke's in the vocals.

Then Julie leaned back with her mic, and Reggie did the same with his guitar. Instead of Julie leaning through Reggie and showing they were masquerading as holograms, Julie's shoulders appeared to touch Reggie's.

Alex stared at this, but they pulled away before he could be sure he saw what he thought he did. Maybe he was a little delirious from the jolts.

Then Luke stepped back from his mic, and it was time for Alex's solo. He had been a little nervous about doing a solo again - not having done once since "Now or Never" back in 1995, but he knew he could do it. His bandmates, his family, were here backing him up and giving him all the support he could handle. Their presence gave him the courage to belt out his solo:

Whatever happens

Even if I'm the last standing

Ima stand tall

Ima stand tall

He grinned as Luke and Julie looked back at him with bright smiles, all traces of their exhaustion and tears gone.

Reggie took up his solo, then Alex joined him, and they jumped into the chorus along with Julie and Luke.

They were all using different instruments and moving in their own ways, but performing the song made them feel like a single entity moving in tandem.

Then the song was ending, and all four of them were walking to the end of the stage to take their bows.

Alex gripped Luke's hand, a feeling of relief flooding through him mixed with sadness. Yes, they had fulfilled their dream of performing at the Orpheum, but this meant they would cross over and leave Julie behind.

She would go far, Alex knew that. Her star shone too brightly for her not to. He and the other boys didn't know what their next step in their journey would be, but if they left Julie with a new sense of courage and reassurance in her abilities, then it was all worth coming back for.

Alex swallowed and braced himself. Any moment now, he, Luke and Reggie would poof away and crossover. Where they would end up, he didn't know. He hoped somewhere happy and together. They'd been through too much now to be separated.

Their instruments had stopped, so they poofed out, ready to embrace the feeling of maybe floating up into the air and finally crossing over to a peaceful plane where they could play music together. Being with his best friends and enjoying their time together sounded like paradise. He couldn't wait to watch TV with Reggie; write more songs with Luke; jam out for other spirits if they met more like them…

But his dream was shattered as he felt another jolt tear through his chest.

Alex cried out and collapsed onto a cold hard surface that ended up being the alley behind the Orpheum where they had taken their last walk 25 years ago.

Luke grunted as he landed beside him. A second later, he gasped when Reggie appeared and cracked heads with him.

That had to hurt.

"What the-!" Luke sat up slowly and looked around, panting and shaking. "Why are we here!?"

"Why didn't we cross over?" Reggie asked weakly as he sat up, too, and rubbed his chest where the jolts were zapping them. The drained look to their skin had returned, making them all look like they had the flu.

"I don't know," Alex answered, fighting to get to his feet. "Shouldn't we have after playing the Orpheum?"

"Unless that wasn't it," Luke growled bitterly. His voice was hoarse like he was struggling not to break down. Alex didn't blame him. He himself was only ever really calm when others around him panicked.

"Then what were we supposed to do!?" Reggie demanded, his voice cracking. "After all that we went through and worked to get here-"

Another jolt went through them, effectively cutting off Reggie's sentence.

Alex gripped his stomach and panted. "We guessed wrong."

"Can we not stay here?" Luke said as he helped Reggie stand. They leaned on one another for support as if they wouldn't be able to stay upright without the other. "I don't wanna zap out in this cold alley."

"I wanna go back to Julie's," Reggie said before Alex could come up with a different idea. "I'd feel better if the garage was the last place I was in…"

Alex frowned. "Julie might go there when she gets home."

"Nah. She looked pretty drained. She'll go right to bed," Luke said confidently.

He didn't think so, but Alex didn't have the energy to argue the point. He was so exhausted and ready to go to sleep.

Reggie nodded and held out his hand to Alex. He took it, and they poofed together to the Molinas' garage.

It was pitch black, but the boys didn't get a chance to flick on a light because another jolt sent them all to their knees then flat on their backs.

"That was the worst one yet," Reggie panted from somewhere to Alex's left.

Luke groaned and shifted closer. Alex felt his shoulder brush his head, and he knew he was looking for physical contact. "We had a good run, didn't we, boys?"

Leave it to Luke to be so optimistic. Reggie normally was more on that wavelength, but pain was making him less enthusiastic.

"Yeah…" Reggie murmured. "We rocked the socks off the Orpheum."

"You could've worded that differently, but yeah… we brought the house down. I hope that performance helps Julie's career." Alex sighed and rested his head against something he thought was Reggie's leg.

Luke sighed then swallowed audibly. "She's gonna be a legend in a way we never got to be… I'm so proud of her."

"Me, too," Alex murmured at about the time Reggie said the same thing.

Another jolt made Alex arch his back and yelp. Reggie was right. The jolts were getting more painful.

There was a moment of silence as the three of them struggled to catch their breath (metaphorically speaking).

Then Reggie whispered, "I'm gonna miss them… Julie, Flynn, Carlos, and Ray… I know most of them never saw us, but…" His breathing got heavier like he was choking back tears. "They're family, too."

"Yeah, they are, Reg." Luke sounded close to crying, too, but Alex saw in a small patch of moonlight Luke reached out to put his hand over Reggie's wrist and grip it. "I'll miss them, too."

Alex scooted over just enough to touch the other two on the hand as well. Their grip on each other was weak, but it was more assuring to touch like this. He didn't feel so alone.

"D-Do you think once we disappear, Julie will forget us?" Reggie choked.

Where in the world did he get an idea like that? Alex wanted to snap both from the ridiculous thought and from just being in pain, but he forced a calmer tone when he murmured, "Of course not. Julie loves us. We're her family. She said so herself."

"I thought I heard her," Luke said, sounding pleased. "At the Ghost Club on stage. I heard her calling us her family. It's what gave me the strength to fight off Caleb."

Reggie coughed then blurted, "I heard her, too! I thought I was losing my mind." He shivered. "I think her voice saved us from playing at that club for all eternity."

Alex couldn't believe it. Their bond with Julie went deeper than he could've imagined. All three of them had heard her and found the strength to break free and appear at her side. Where they belonged until now.

"Super Julie," Luke murmured randomly. He chuckled weakly, and this was enough to get the other two snickering a little.

Until another jolt promptly shut them up.

"I wish we could've told her goodbye," Luke said once he could talk again.

"Same," Reggie agreed. "But… at least she can think we've crossed over and not worry."

"Yeah, about that," Alex said as he turned his head. He saw lights move over the garage windows like search beams. "They're home now. If she comes in here, keep your mouths shut."

Luke held onto their hands as yet another jolt shot through them. "I don't want her to see us like this."

They fell silent as they faintly heard Julie and her family singing "Stand Tall" as they made their way up to the house. For a moment, Alex was convinced they would pass by the garage and go inside. They could just vanish and not have to worry about hurting Julie further.

But then he heard footsteps approaching, and he knew he could put money on who it was.

Luke swore softly and twitched behind him.

"Be quiet!" Alex warned quietly as they heard the lock click and the doors pull open.

Alex could just make out Julie walking into the garage. Her small form was framed by the moonlight coming in through the windows, making her look a little otherworldly.

He felt Luke tense under his fingers, able to determine it was him because of his bulkier rings.

Alex shut his eyes and hoped she wouldn't turn on the lights. Julie would be so heartbroken and traumatized if she had to watch them expire like this on her garage floor.

Then she spoke, and he felt the chill inside of him warm the smallest amount.

"I know I already said this but, uh… thank you, guys."

He fought the tears threatening his eyes. Julie had brought them back to life as much as they had for her. They had helped each other grow, get over fears, grieve their loses, and chased after their dreams. Even though three-fourths of their band was not alive, they had made it work. They were a family…

Then Reggie opened his big mouth.

"You're welcome," he blurted in that tactful and thought-out way of his.

Alex sighed loudly in exasperation as Luke hissed, "Dude!"

Julie moved back and flicked the lights on.

The boys grimaced from the light, but the burn in their eyes was nothing compared to the jolts they had been experiencing all day.

"What are you guys doing here? I thought-"

The boys gasped as a shock wave scorched their chests.

Reggie started to cough, and Luke's chest heaved as if he had just run dozens of miles. Alex felt light-headed and sick. If he had had a stomach, he would be puking all over the place.

Julie was voicing her belief that they had crossed over, and Alex replied with what he had suspected when they poofed into the alley first.

"I guess playing the Orpheum wasn't our unfinished business," he said as he struggled to sit upright.

This was all a mess, and now Julie knew they weren't safe and crossed over like they had all hoped would happen once they took their final bows. Alex had wanted to save her the pain of seeing them die a second time, but now here she was with tears sparkling in her eyes and looking on the verge of breaking down.

"Point: Caleb," Reggie said bitterly. The magician had warned them that playing at the venue they just missed out on when they were alive wouldn't necessarily be their unfinished business. 

None of them wanted to believe them because a) they were desperate and b) they hadn't been able to come up with any other options. 

Luke sat up, and Alex saw clearly that his eyes were red from crying. "We wanted you to think we crossed over, so we pretended to," he said in a thick voice with his focus on Julie. And again, save her from having to see them like this: weak and on the verge of disappearing for good.

"We just… we had nowhere else to go," Luke added, shaking his head slightly.

This is our home, too. 

The words weren't said, but Alex saw it in everyone else's expressions. If they were going to go down, they wanted it to be somewhere they felt safe. He was annoyed Reggie had given them away, but having their lives end here in the place where they made music together was a comforting thought as opposed to going out in that dank alley… or really anywhere else.

When Reggie said something about believing Julie wouldn't come down here and go straight up to her room, Alex sighed again with his irritation flaring.

"Well, I knew she would come out here but nobody ever listen to me-"

Their chests sparked bright blue as the third jolt in less than five minutes hit them.

Soft groans escaped them as they struggled to stay on their feet.

"You have to save yourselves right now!" Julie said through her tears. She began begging them to leave and join Caleb so that they didn't have to just be erased from existence, but Reggie shook his head.

"We aren't going back there," he choked.

Being Caleb's puppet for all eternity sounded like hell on earth. 

"No music is worth making, Julie, if we aren't making it with you." Luke's voice shook with suppressed sobs.

Alex's heart ached more than those jolts could ever hurt because they were all in pain and scared. Julie didn't want them to go anymore than they wanted to leave, especially not like this.

Julie stood on her toes and threw her arms around Luke. Alex froze because now he was sure that Julie had touched Reggie on stage when they were out on the platform. Still… there was something very sweet about their embrace.

"I love you guys," Julie whispered.

Then Luke started to glow. It was if Julie's touch had lit up a beacon inside of him. As they watched, the pale tinge to Luke's skin vanished, and his swollen eyes softened as he smiled down at Julie.

They murmured to each other, and for a moment, Alex felt like he and Reggie had turned into third wheels.

Then Luke turned to them, holding Julie's hands, and said, "I feel stronger."

Julie called Alex and Reggie over, and the pair of them stumbled over to Julie's side. They walked into a group hug, Julie's arm around his waist and Luke's just about hers.

As they touched, Alex felt as if he had taken a sip of hot tea that trickled through his body and warmed his insides. The chills and aches from the jolts draining his energy vanished, and he felt even stronger than he had before. 

They slowly pulled back from the hug but kept their arms around one another.

"I don't feel as weak anymore," Reggie murmured as a few tears trailed down his flushed cheeks. 

Alex agreed fervently before his anxiety kicked in and he added, "Not that I was ever weak."

Then the purple stamps that Caleb had given them just days ago appeared on their skin before peeling off like an old sticker and vanishing into thin air.

Alex felt a sigh of relief escape him as if his chest as if a heavy weight had been lifted from it.

"I think the band's back," Luke said with a shaky grin. 

Alex asked if they could try hugging again, and the others chuckled before moving in for another group embrace.

There was a warmth coming off of Julie that they were all taking in and finding strength from. She was their light in life, the spark that had brought them back to do what they loved most in life (and now in death) - play music.

Laughing, they jumped in a circle as Julie cried happily, "We played the Orpheum!"

As they all leaned into each other, exchanging smiles and basking in the fact all four of them could touch now, Alex agreed with Luke's words: the band was back. 

Their little family was back.

[jonsateaparty]

Let’s Analyse The Heck Outta This Playlist

I have listened to every single song in the Game of Thrones: The End Is Here playlist and hooo boy do I have shit to say.

Looking at all the songs, I found that I could seperate them into different categories. The categories were songs which fit certain characters or houses, or songs which fit the white walkers or war in general. There were also quite a few love songs, some of which could be easily interpreted as jonsa. Below the cut I’ve put together all the songs in their categories with some lyrics for each song and any notes I made while listening. 

HOWEVER since that shit is loong, I’m gonna add a preemptive TL;DR for some categories of interest before the cut.

JONSA

Overall, there were six songs that I could recognize as jonsa. The themes of these songs were that of a passionate and loving romance, with the occasional tinge of forbidden love and having to wait for their lover. These songs were also very, very blatant in their connection to jonsa. With most of them, jonsa was honest to goodness the only GoT interpretation for this love song. I really was shocked listening to how blatantly jonsa this playlist is guys.

J0NERYS

There were three songs in the playlist which I could call j0nerys songs. One of these songs I could argue belongs elsewhere and only there was one jonsa song that was ambiguous enough that it could be attributed to j0nerys. My absolute favourite song of these three is the song Little Monster by Royal Blood. In this song, a man who refers to himself as a wolf is the lover of someone who he calls Little Monster and betrays her. Yeah. They really went there.

D4NY/TARGARYEN

Three songs that are definitely about her, but I suspect a few of the “general” war songs are about her as well. Why, you say? Because Dark D4ny LIVES in this playlist man. These songs, which are mainly about fire and “black wings” (Drogon, anyone), talk about someone mad with powerlust, a “bitch” coming to take you to hell, and being haunted by demons in the fire. DARK D4NY IS COMING AND MY BODY IS READY FOR HR GLORY

STARK

In contrast to songs about fire being full of madness, the four “wolf” Stark songs that we get are about being free and victorious. One song in particular talks about the “Wolves of Winter” getting the better of someone who has “fits of paranoia”, someone who sees themselves as an exception but without people supporting them, they’re going to lose. Like. Holy shit.

TARGBOWL

Now, most of the other songs are either about the Greyjoys/Lannisters, generic war songs, power or dead things. However there is ONE war song that I think heavily implies targbowl. This song is called Go to War by Nothing More and seems to be about two groups of people who were once on the same side going to war.

That’s it of particular interest, however if you want to see a list of all songs and all categories, plus some lyrics and notes, check out under the cut!

Potential Jonsa Songs

Girl from the North Country – Bob Dylan - If you go when the snowflakes storm/When the rivers freeze and summer ends/Please see if she's wearing a coat so warm/To keep her from the howlin' winds Note: This song is either about Arya or Sansa. I honestly cannot see this song being about Arya, this is about a traditionally feminine girl with long hair. I say this is jonsa because I literally cannot think of any other thing this could be about.

Howlin’ for You – The Black Keys - I must admit/I can't explain/Any of these thoughts/Racing through my brain Note: Can’t explain their reasons (maybe because they shouldn’t be having them), wolf references, bird references? Very jonsa. Also could be general stark or gendrya.

Sister – Prince - My sister never made love to anyone else but me/She's the reason for my, uh, sexuality Note: OMG this SONG. Although this could also be about Jaime/Cercei… but considering that’s over, I’m going with jonerys. Especially since there’s a song about wolves right after…

Devil’s Spoke – Laura Marling -I might be a part of this/Ripple on water from a lonesome drip/A fallen tree that witness me/I'm alone, him and me Note: Honestly the only concrete reason I put this here is because I ship jonsa. It could be any ship. Also the first verse makes me thing of the Winterfell Godswood.

Winterlong – Niel Young - I waited for you Winter long/You seem to be where I belong

Furr – Blitzen Trapper - I brushed the leaves off of my snout/And then I heard my mother shouting through the trees/You should have seen that girl go shaky at the knees/So I took her by the arm

Potential J0nerys Songs

Mama Kin – Aerosmith - Well you've always got your tail on the wag/Shootin' fire from your mouth just like a dragon Note: Those line, plus the whole “Mama” thing makes me think this is jonerys. It could also be jon? I guess?

Little Monster – Royal Blood - I'm your wolf, I'm your man/I say run little monster/Before you know who I am Note: A song about a “wolf” in a relationship with a “little monster” who plans to betray them? HMMMMMMMMMMM.

Be My Fire – The Blue Stones - Baby, be my conjurer/And I'll hold you dear/Baby, be the visions in the night/And wait till morning light for you/To disappear

Dany/Targ Songs:

Sleep Now In the Fire – Rage Against The Machine - The world is my expense/The cost of my desire/Jesus blessed me with its future/And I protect it with fire.

Her Black Wings – Danzig - Demoness calls/The bitch is come/For those who wait/Cross the breach in hell Notes: I’m guessing another Targ song, what with the “black wings”.

Fire – Barns Courtney - Ghosts and devils come a-calling/Calling my name oh, lost in the fire

Stark Songs

Wolf Like Me – TV On The Radio - Got a curse I cannot lift/Shines when the sunset shifts/When the moon is round and full/Gotta bust that box, gotta gut that fish

Wolves of Winter – Biffy Clyro - We are the wolves of winter/We live in a kingdom of blood Note: Holy fuck the implications of Dark!Dany in this song!!! 

Dire Wolf – Grateful Dead - In the timbers to Fennario, the wolves are running round/The winter was so hard and cold, froze ten feet 'neath the ground.

Killer Wolf – Danzig - I'm the wolf/I'm the one you want/I'm the killer wolf

Potential Targbowl Songs

Go to War – Nothing More - I don't know what you had in mind/But here we stand on opposing sides/Let's go to war Note: Holy FUCK, this song seems to really foreshadow targbowl. It’s not a generic war song like some of the others, and it’s not about dead/evil/cold wars. This song seems to be about people who were on the same side then turned against each other.

White Walkers/war for the living songs

Immigrant Song – Led Zeppelin - How soft your fields so green/Can whisper tales of gore/Of how we calmed the tides of war/We are your overlords

The End – The Doors - Of our elaborate plans, the end/Of everything that stands, the end/No safety or surprise, the end/I’ll never look into your eyes again

Cold Cold Cold – Cage The Elephant - Doctor look into my eyes/I've been breathing air but there's no sign of life/Doctor the problem's in my chest/My heart feels cold as ice but it's anybody's guess

Burn the Fleet - Thrice - In this dark night we stand or fall/We are kings now, or nothing at all/Check your armor; Light up your torch

Dead Skin Mask – Slayer - Graze the skin with my finger tips/The brush of dead cold flesh pacifies the means

General songs

Seven Nation Army – The White Stripes - Don't want to hear about it/Every single one's got a story to tell/Everyone knows about it/From the Queen of England to the hounds of hell

War – Grandson - War up north/And war down south/Everywhere is war

Let Me Live / Let Me Die – Des Rocs - Tears don't stop the fire/It's killing time/Back from the dead/See your eyes, got nothing left/Kiss me, I am the colder Note: This is a song of ice and fire. This. Is A. Song. Of. Ice. And. Fire.

POWER – Kanye West - Life is a trip, so sometimes we gonna stumble/You gotta go through pain in order to become you Note: I’d call this a general song but this came right after a song about wolves so make of that what you will 😉

Let’s Have A War – Fear - Let's have a war/So you can go and die!

Powa – Tune-Yards - Rebel, rebel, no/Lightening dances in my head

No One Knows – Queens of the Stone Age - We get some rules to follow/That and this/These and those/No one knows

The Time Is Now – Atreyu - Flying high above the world/It's a new life, it's a new mind/And I will never fall Note: A Time for Wolves anyone? Especially since this comes right after a wolf song…

Rise Above – Black Flag - Jealous cowards try to control/Rise above, we're gonna rise above

Alternative Ulster – Stiff Little Fingers - There's nothin' for us in Belfast/The Pound's old, and that's a pity/OK, so there's the Trident in Bangor Note: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The Sickbed of Cuchulainn – The Pogues - And you heard the rattling death trains as you lay there all alone/Frank Ryan bought you whiskey in a brothel in Madrid/And you decked some fucking blackshirt who was cursing all the Yids

Power – AJ Ghent [j-ent] - You wanna take me down/But I won’t bend

Toxicity – System of a Down - You, what do you own the world?/How do you own disorder, disorder

Here’s Your Future – The Thermals - God reached his hand down from the sky/He flooded the land then he set it on fire

Love is Blindess – U2 - A little death/Without mourning/No call/And no warning

Greyjoy Songs

Flugufrelsarinn – Sigur Rós - Ég næ ekki andanum og þyngist við hverja öldu/Mér vantar kraftaverk/Því ég er að drukkna – syndir (I can not breathe and I am heavier with every wave/I need a miracle/Because I am drowning- sins) Note: Lots of talk about the ocean/rivers/boats along with despairing over your sins and struggling to be better and repent. If that isn’t a fucking Theon song I don’t know what is.

Bottom Of The Deep Blue Sea – MISSIO - The sweet surrender of silence forces me to live alone/Locked and loaded, where the hell is peace of mind?/I wait on you inside the bottom of the deep blue sea

Wave of Mutilation – Pixies - You'll think I'm dead, but I sail away/On a wave of mutilation

Jon Songs

Born for Greatness – Papa Roach - No we’re not nameless, we’re not faceless/We were born for greatness Note: This could be generic, but this gives me heavy Jon vibes

EDIT: @ward--runa pointed out to me that this song suited Jon better.

Mother – The Amazons - Friends wanna kill me/But I give them all my loving anyway/If God won't forgive me/I'm not the only one to make amends

Lannister Songs

Listen to the Lion – Van Morrison - All my love come tumblin' down/Oh, listen listen/To the lion

Hot Blood – Kaleo - You wanna prove you're the better man/You wanna reach for the things that nobody can/Oh all you need is to break away, yeah/Just keep telling yourself there's no shame Note: This was either Jaime or Jon for me, but I settled on Jaime. Partly because this came after a string of what I think to be Cersei songs. Also The idea of being a better man, “love is gonna get ya”, “turn your back, you’re a broken man”, “shake your hand”.

Gold Lion – Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Gold lion's gonna tell me where the light is

Cersei Songs

Queen – Perfume Genius - Don't you know your queen/Gleaming/Wrapped in golden leaf/Don't you know me Note: This gives me Cercei vibes but I honestly don’t know…

Cruel – St. Vincent - So they took you, and they left you/How could they be casually cruel? Note: ??? Maybe another Cercei one?

Crown of the Ground – Sleigh Bells - Set, set that crown on the ground and-ah

[maya-tl]

Slice of Life

Author's Note: This fic is inspired by @altruistic-skittles and their Slice of Life Sanders Sides AU, which can be found here. All worldbuilding credit goes to them, I only stitched the ideas together in writing.

Author's Note #2: Due to Tumblr restrictions, the story was split into three chapters. Next chapter will be posted on Sunday.

Honorary mentions: Keep your eyes peeled for @themicrosoftnerd and @crofters-jam , who make an appearance in this chapter!

Shoutout to Toby, who is part of the AU but sadly doesn't get a mention in the story.

This work will also be posted to Ao3 in the near future.

Link to my Ao3 profile will be at the end! Tag list will be in the replies! Enjoy!

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3

***

"Virgil~"

It's barely above a whisper, but he groans anyway and sinks into the pillow like dead weight. He swears he hears someone giggle just above him and he feels warmth through his chest.

"Virgil, honey," he feels a hand on his shoulder that gives it more of a gentle nudge than a shake, "get up. You'll miss breakfast."

The prospect of waking up just makes him settle down even deeper under the comfy blankets.

Truth be told his brain had probably kicked into gear a good while ago, but once the dreaded feeling of expectation that his alarm would be blaring into his ears any minute had passed without coming to fruition, he hadn't questioned any of it and simply gone back to sleep.

He doesn't know if he's actually gotten any rest since, but the fact that his mind is a foggy blank space probably alludes to a yes.

The mattress dips beside him and the hand on his shoulder resumes its shaking—definitely a shake this time.

"Viiirgiiil~" they say, stretching the word like it's a song lyric, and he can hear the smile in their voice even through his sleep clouded mind. "Wakey wakey, sleepyhead~"

He groans again—though it comes out more like a whine—and tries to wiggle out of the hand's reach. There's another giggle, and this time he grudgingly opens his eyes just enough to muster a glare, but even that's half-hearted and reduced useless when the offending figure leans down and plants a kiss on the tip of his nose.

He laughs softly, reaches up to rub at his eyes, and the steady warmth in his chest flares when the source of said warmth laughs back, beautiful and genuine and music to his ears even after nearly two decades of hearing it every day.

"Five more minutes?" he tries, raspy with morning voice, but even as he's saying it he's already sitting up and stretching his stiff muscles.

His answer is a peck on the cheek this time, and he can see Patton's entire face break into a smile out the corner of his eye when he leans into the touch.

That reminds him, their anniversary's coming up. He makes a mental note to get something ready in advance, even if that won't be for a few months now.

"What time is it...?" he mumbles and reaches for his phone, effectively draping himself across the bed.

"Kids are already up and about." Patton offers as he rises from the bed and goes to open the curtains.

"Wow, I outlasted Roman's beauty sleep? That's a first." he squints through the sudden flood of light and gapes at his phone screen until he's sure his eyes might roll out of their sockets. "Breakfast?? Pat, it's nearly noon."

Patton gives him a sheepish look, though his smile doesn't falter. "Brunch then? We've all had breakfast except for you and Ro—Lolo and I already had pancakes. Roman thought I batter go wake you before you turned into Sleeping Beauty—"

He snorts, both at the pun and the implication; sounds like his eldest alright.

"—and he wanted to make his own breakfast. I'll go get some leftovers ready for you, yeah?"

"If there are any leftovers..." he mumbles under his breath, before it's silenced by another kiss.

"You know Roman is too worried about his physique for that and Logan doesn't approve of pancakes in the morning. I barely got him to eat his share." Patton smiles, and it's crooked and beautiful and the sunlight beaming through the windows brings out his freckles and Virgil gets this inexplicable urge to kiss every single one of them. "Take your time getting ready, you haven't been sleeping much for the past week and I don't want you falling asleep at the table again."

He chuckles, standing up and stretching some more; he can hear the birds chirping downstairs when Patton opens the door on his way out.

Someone that sounds suspiciously like his son is talking more loudly than is necessary on the phone and he swears it's a habit he only picked up after they moved; he must've stayed up late and gotten friendly with that Remy kid at some point, because Virgil knows his 'beauty sleep' is more of an excuse to sleep in rather than an actual concern with beauty.

On second thought, knowing Roman, it's probably both.

"Oh! I almost forgot," he hears his husband, who sounds like he's halfway down the stairs, "Thomas told me yesterday that his car broke down!"

Again? He should probably ask Emile for some lucky crystals or whatever he's into these days, their soft-hearted neighbour could sure use it. That man has such a knack for trouble that sometimes Virgil finds himself wondering how he hasn't burned down his house yet.

Would be a shame too, apparently it's been in the family for generations.

"Do you mind if I drive them to the theatre today? Ro agreed to extra practice hours and his whole group of friends wants to come see how the big play's coming along!!"

Of course he did, and of course they do.

"Nah, I'll do it." he says, even though that's the last thing he wants to do today. Not that his other options are much more exciting; he mostly just feels like sleeping the whole day through. "I've got a shift in about three hours anyway, might as well waste a bit of gas."

"You're working? I thought you had weekends free??"

He pulls out some sweats and a simple black T and heads to the bathroom to turn on the shower. His work clothes are already laid out for once, look at him being productive.

"It's just a small shift, Pat, I took it up so I could have less overtime, it's a compromise."

He can hear the underlying tone beneath the innocent question, the silent implication that if his boss is screwing him over Patton can and will physically fight them, because for all his fun loving self he's also dreadfully overprotective.

He knows Patton's not convinced, but he's also learned that Patton still puts a lot more trust in him than he ever expects to receive, and just like that Virgil suddenly feels an overwhelming sense of belonging.

He loves this kind, beautiful, incredible, perfect man that he shares his life with so much he vaguely wonders if he's legally, ethically and morally allowed to marry him again.

Patton laughs again, and so does Virgil when he realizes he's spoken out loud.

How did he ever get so lucky?

***

Patton walks in on the sight of his eldest son pacing a hole into the kitchen floor, a piece of toast in one hand and a bunch of disorderly papers in the other, with his phone squished between his shoulder and his ear.

"Right?! I would make for a brilliant prince!!" he tries to get out between a mouthful of toast and jam, flailing the papers around like they were the ones who didn't give him the part. "Thomas is totally underestimating my incredible acting skills, the audition I gave was practically flawless!!"

"Or perhaps your ego has finally rendered all your other brain functions useless and you are living under the misguided assumption that you are better than anyone at everything you do."

"Nobody asked you to speak, Microsoft Nerd!"

Logan doesn't even lift his eyes from the book he's reading. As a matter of fact he flips the page over, looking utterly and purposefully disinterested in the tantrum of his older brother, who is currently at risk of choking on his food if the fact that his entire face looks like it's gotten sunburn is any indication.

"No, but you are yelling rather loudly and I am trying to enioy a quiet morning lecture." he adds, manoeuvring his cup from its place on the table to take a sip of tea without breaking the narrative he's currently engrossed in. "Not that anyone ever gets any peace and quiet in this household when you're home."

"I beg your pardon?!"

"Play nice, kiddos." Patton chides as he walks in, opening the fridge to take out a rather large stack of pancakes and some orange juice. "And Roman, quit talking with your mouth full."

Roman quietly mutters something like 'gimme a sec Val' before dropping the papers—which Patton assumes are pages of his current script if the neon highlighter marks he catches a glimpse of are anything to go by—into a messy pile on the counter, a tactful distance from the sink.

He even makes a show of swallowing to prove that he's not in any life threatening situation before propping the phone right back to his ear.

"Sorry, my dumb brother interrupted me—"

"I'm not the one actively trying to fail math after the semester's hardly begun." there's suddenly a definite edge to Logan's tone and he's giving his brother a stare so cold it's a wonder his head doesn't turn into a block of ice.

Patton knows that tone; if there's anything his little Lolo is insecure about it's his intelligence, no matter how many times he or Virgil assure him that he's not only the smartest one in the family but also one of the smartest in his school. A work friend of Virgil's they invited over once even called him a prodigy, and that must mean something coming from a therapist.

Unfortunately, Roman's impulse of speaking with absolutely no filter is just as immovable, which means their children have raised the term of sibling rivalry to a whole new level.

Patton decides to stop the argument before it's begun.

"Boys." they clamp their mouths shut immediately, as he knew they would, but he places his hands on his hips just for a little more authority. "What did I just say?"

'Play nice?' Roman more asks than answers at the same time that Logan lets out a tight 'Play nice.'

"Now, what's the right thing to do?"

They sigh in tandem and speak together. "Sorry dad." When he gives them a pointed look they share a glance and give in, both their shoulders dropping the tension simultaneously.

"I'm sorry I called you dumb, I didn't actually mean it..." there's genuine emotion in most of his eldest's apologies, because most of the time he really does blurt out his first thought without considering it and realizes it when his head's in the clear.

"I didn't mean to undermine your creative skills or make you feel inadequate in any way." his youngest is not the most in touch with emotions, but he is smart enough to know when an apology is in order and to differ between a sincere and insincere one.

He gives them a nod of approval and goes back to putting together a late breakfast, plopping the pancakes into the microwave and reaching into a cupboard for a clean glass. Logan likewise resumes his reading as if nothing had happened; Roman is the only one who settles down, picking up his conversation at a more acceptable volume.

As the pancakes are heating up he opens another cupboard door and frowns.

"Have any of you seen the honey?"

"Mhm?" Roman glances over as he chews around another mouthful of toast with too much jam on it. "Oh, it's over there."

Patton turns to the area he'd vaguely gestured to and spots the bee shaped bottle peeking out from behind a very familiar jar of jelly, both items that have long become staples in the kitchen due to Logan's surprising demands. The cap of the jar is undone, and as he swiftly puts it back on his dad reflexes kick in before he can think better of it.

"Who left the jar open?"

The microwave decides to beep at the same moment that Roman abruptly freezes, sticky fingers in his mouth, and he immediately turns to his brother. Logan puts it together in a matter of nanoseconds and practically leaps out of his seat, book tumbling off his lap.

"Is that my Crofter's?!?"

Seeing that not even his acting skills can provide an escape, Roman spreads his arms in a shrug. "Uh, do you own the company?"

It's difficult to get Logan truly riled up, but Roman does have a habit of biting off more than he can chew. Literally this time.

"You know it's family owned—that's not the point, Roman, it's my food!!"

"Oh come on, you have like fifty jars, you can share."

"You didn't even ask me if I'm willing to share!!"

"I was hungry!!!"

"Dad!!!"

Patton manages to suppress a sigh, but only just. He shoves his glasses up and pinches the bridge of his nose for the briefest moments.

Honestly, he loves his children unconditionally, but sometimes, on occasion—and he would never in a million years ever admit this to anyone except maybe Virgil—sometimes he loves them a lot more when they're in separate rooms.

On separate floors.

With their doors closed.

***

My Ao3 profile.

[bangin-bts-blog]

Jealous.

Anonymous Request: bts' reaction to seeing their idol ex performing a sad song that's about them? Author’s Note: This is the song that I will be referencing throughout the post. Warning: This is hella long, I’m sorry! I linked the lyrics with a specific memory.

Brief Synopsis:

It had been months, since your final separation. The reasons being too many, and half forgotten. No one knew about the relationship, apart from staff working at both companies, family and friends. You were one of the secret acts that would be performing. Once the song concluded, the audience was moved to tears, even your ex. It was only then, when you were backstage did your tears begin to fall too.

Kim Namjoon/ RM

The ending of your relationship with Namjoon was more of a violent one. You both were screaming at the top of your lungs, saying nasty profanities in disgust. Things being thrown, crashing and breaking. But Namjoon never laid a single hand on you. Tonight, hearing you perform this song, it was obviously about him. He knew how to play the cameras well. When they weren’t on him, he wouldn’t know how to feel, so he kept a straight face. But when they were on him, he looked like he was enjoying the performance.

“I'm jealous of the rain. That falls upon your skin, It's closer than my hands have been. I'm jealous of the rain.”

He remembered one night in particular, when he spent hours building a fort on the roof of their building. It was a simple tradition you both had started. Whatever books you didn’t read, whatever books he didn’t read, you both would swap them. Reading genres he or you didn’t read usually. Then, it began to pour with rain. All you both could to is laugh, as you both hurriedly attempted to bring everything back inside.

Kim Seokjin/ Jin

The moment they announced the secret act, he froze. He couldn’t help but stare at you as the lights turned on. And there you were. Dressed in black, accompanied by a single microphone and two dancers in the back. Once you began singing, he needed to leave. He tried to come up with a reason, because he couldn’t bear the thought of you seeing up on stage, as beautiful as ever, singing such a sad song. He made his way through backstage, looking for the furthest bathroom, then stalling inside the stall even further. 

“I'm jealous of the wind. That ripples through your clothes, It's closer than your shadow. Oh, I'm jealous of the wind.”

Jin’s mind erupted in the memories you both now share, a figment of the past. He recalled the time when you both went to the beach. The news reports said it would be a lovely day. Clear skies, warm weather, no sign of wind or rain. But sometimes, weather reports can change. As Jin desperately tried to embed the umbrella in the sand, he was proving useless against the elements. You began to laugh at the sight of Jin cursing at the inanimate object, how it wasn’t obeying what he wanted it to do.

Kim Taehyung/ V

Taehyung was shocked to see that you were one of the secret acts.He kept a straight face on during the entire performance. He desperately tried to avert his eyes, but just like the first day he ever laid eyes on you he was completely enamoured, and his eyes would always find their way back to you. The boys kept giving him worried glances. On camera, it played off well, because it looked like he was captivated by your singing, and he was. The song opened up a flood gate of memories that surfaced to the front of his brain.

“But I always thought you'd come back, tell me all you found was Heartbreak and misery. It's hard for me to say, I'm jealous of the way You're happy without me.”

A recent article was published, stating that you were now dating someone. It was plastered in every Fan Cafe, website, magazine, newspaper and even reached national news. Taehyung couldn’t run away from them. He had to just suck it up and move on. He wished more than anything it wouldn’t be true. But little did he know it was merely a PR stunt, so both companies could profit from this.

 Park Jimin

Jimin said that he’d ‘be your number one fan till the day he died.’ He stayed true to his word. Seeing you appear on the stage actually made him happy. He missed you, more than words could say. He hung onto every word of the song, and he thought how fitting it was. He remembered anything and everything of the relationship. He was actually the first one to stand up and give you a standing ovation. But truth be told, his heart was hurting.

“'Cause I wished you the best of All this world could give.”

Unlike Namjoon, Jimin would have a proper conversation with you. He wouldn’t curse at you. Throw objects at you. You both had a civil conversation like two people. Before you left, he told you that he wants nothing but happiness and success in your future. You both left with heavy hearts that soon turned into regret.

Min Yoongi/ Suga

Even just seeing you, was enough to set this man off. But hearing you sing? It would be an endless waterfall. He missed you, so much to the point his heart would ache and long for you. He had been dealing with your break up the worst. He would lock himself in his studio and produce song after song after song after song. That was his coping mechanism. But if somebody asked him, ‘If you were to see Y/N again, how would you reaction?’ He wouldn’t have known how to react. Later, he would be asked about his teary look during your performance, and he’d dismiss it with a shrug by saying, ‘It was just a very emotional song, and I got carried away.’ He cried because he loves you, more than life itself.

“I'm jealous of the nights. That I don't spend with you. I'm wondering who you lay next to, Oh, I'm jealous of the nights.”

No matter where he was in the world. No matter what the time was, Yoongi always made it his top priority to call you before you go to sleep. He would actually call you a few hours prior, so he could spend more time just listening to your voice. He wouldn’t leave, only if you were really tired. He’d stay on the phone even if you barely had anything to talk about regarding your day. He’d ask you to tell him a story, or about a memory, or about the past. And on the nights he was not there, you would cuddle with the stuffed bear he won for you on your second date, and he too would do the same.

Jeon Jungkook

Sharing the same qualities as Jimin and Yoongi, he was more than happy to see you again. But hearing your voice, listening to the lyrics, he shed a few tears. He would be your number one fan till the day he died. He always spoke so highly of you, commenting on the fact that your voice was the only one that could move him to tears. And this is exactly what you did. Your performance was captivating, and as if he was under a spell, he couldn’t take his off of you, not even for a second.

“As I sink in the sand, Watch you slip through my hands. Oh, as I die here another day, yeah 'Cause all I do is cry behind this smile.”

The last couple of months were hard. You being a new idol, your group was in high demand. Performing here, promoting there, being on variety shows, talk shows, dramas, you name it you had to be there. This caused for the both of you to drift apart from one another. Now that everything had died down, and it wasn’t chaotic like before, Jungkook resists the urge daily to text you, and ask to try it again.

Jung Hoseok/ J-Hope

Hoseok received a pleasant surprise when you appeared on that stage. His heart swelled with love at the sight of you. He always loved the sound on your voice, and he would always ask you to sing him a song, to help him fall asleep. And would you look at that, it always worked. This performance made him realise how much he truly misses you, and how much he wants you back. Later, during an interview, he was asked about his thoughts on your performance. Instead, he talked about you. He talked about how amazing you were, how he couldn’t believe the whole room was brought to tears. He joked by calling it magic. But he then commented how he’s happy for you, and wants nothing but good things for you, with a pained expression.

“I'm jealous of the love. Love that was in here. Gone for someone else to share, Oh, I'm jealous of the love.”

Truth be told, loving Hoseok was the best thing you had ever done in your existence. There was nobody like him, truly one of a kind. The love was something like neither of you had ever experienced. But due to the fact you both are idols, spending quality time together was tricky and limited. The constant threat of schedules played a big role in the separation. Now, your company decided to pull a PR stunt and pair you up with someone else from a different company. In order to pull off a stellar performance to the public, you’d pretend it was Hoseok.

masterlist

[chalantness]

Let It Snow - day nineteen

(for my “season of shipping” giveaway)

Rating: NC-17 Word Count: ~1,700 Characters: Steve/Natasha Prompt: “Kiss Me Slowly” by Parachute

For: @petronellarose

A/N:  Happy birthday, darling!!

So, when I first listened to the song, my brain latched onto the lyrics about the skyline and city lights and it… just stuck? I’m not even sure if that was the point of the song but. That was what I got, and then of course from there, I thought of smut.

Read on: [ ao3 ]

They don’t have long.

They don’t really have tonight, either, but they’ll make it work. They always do. The last few months have been stolen moments like this, strung together, in different hotel rooms and different cities and different counties. It’s fairly similar to the way they’d existed together in the days of SHIELD, ironically enough. Maybe that’s why it works for them.

He bumps into her on a busy downtown street in Chicago, slips his keycard into her pocket when he pats her coat in brief gesture of apology, and she tips her head to the sidewalk to hide her smirk.

His hotel room is on one of the very top floors of a high-rise that’s practically all glass and steel. Classy and sleek, and completely unlike the border motel they rendezvoused at three weeks ago. She wonders how intentional that had been. She couldn’t care less about the luxuries of where they stay, and it’s not like Steve does. But she knows he wants to be able to spoil her every now and then. Which is why she hadn’t been all that surprised when a small package wrapped in silver had showed up on the bed of her motel room in San Diego. He’d wrapped up a pretty, little black cocktail dress and pearls to match in tissue paper, with a note scrawled on the back of a Starbucks napkin: A little something pretty for our next night.

One week later, she slips into that same dress in a skinny bathroom stall at the café across from his hotel, dumps her bag in an alley (he’ll have another ready for her; he always does) and grips the keycard a little too tightly as she waltzes through the front door and smiles at the man behind the concierge desk.

Her stomach actually flips as the elevator takes her up, and she knows it’s not because she’s nervous. It’s because she’s fucking impatient.

She slides the keycard through the mechanism, pushes the door open, and she swears her heart sort of stops for a moment.

Steve.

Steve.

She wonders if she’s imagining the way her blood is thrumming, pulsing, making her skin tingle and buzz, at the mere sight of him. He’s got his back to her, but his head is turned ever so slightly, so she can see his profile, and the little shit is smirking. He knows it’s her. Of course he does. He’s waiting for her to shut the door, but she doesn’t just yet. Not when she’s got this moment to herself to admire the way he looks in a suit from behind – the way the shirt stretches over his muscles, the way his fitted vest makes his shoulders look broader, if possible. He’s got one hand tucked into his pocket, the other lightly gripping as tumbler of scotch, and she licks her lips, wanting to drink every last drop of it from his lips, his tongue.

He chuckles – soft and breathy and so full of amusement, so incredibly Steve – and her hands actually fumble to shut the door. If he notices (he does), he doesn’t let it on.

And finally, he turns to face her. She half-expected his eyes to trace right down her dress, taking in the way it grazes the tops of her thighs, the way the neckline dips to bare the valley of her breasts, the way it cinches at her every curve. But his eyes stay on hers, bright and sparkling. Relieved.

“Fucking finally,” he breathes out, almost missing the glass coffee table in his haste to set his tumbler down and cross the room to her. She’s just barely gotten out a laugh when his hand slides into her hair, tangling in it, fisting it as he tugs her forward and crashes his lips onto hers. She very nearly whimpers, a burst of warmth unfurling in her chest and flooding through her veins, the way it always does when he touches her. Every first kiss after weeks of being apart feels as if it’s being seared into her skin, into her mind, into her fucking soul.

It makes everything feel hazy and dizzy, in the best way possible. It makes her feel as if everything’s clicked into place, if only for a moment.

He jostles them around, kissing her harder, deeper, as he maneuvers them further into the room. Her heart is hammering in her chest, her lungs starting to burn for air, and she’s so distracted that she doesn’t even notice where he’s leading them until he’s pressed her back against something solid and cold.

The window.

She doesn’t even have to open her eyes to know. Because she knows that she can hear the muffled, muted sounds of traffic and chaos below, but also because she knows Steve.

He probably picked this building – with its floor-to-ceiling glass walls, wrapping around almost every corner of the hotel – for exactly this. He probably picked a floor toward the top knowing that, while maybe not so easily seen, anyone in an nearby high-rise could very well look their way and see everything. See them.

And he probably loved it. Maybe almost as much as she does. She’s always loved that little thrill that came with the job. The little chance of getting caught.

But it’s far better like this.

“Nat,” he groans into her mouth, then yanks his lips away so abruptly that she mewls out in protest. His eyes are dark and stormy and hungry when she gazes into them, and he slides his hands down from her hair, grazing over her breasts, the dip of her waist, the curve if her hips. Then he grips her gently, giving her a dimpled, boyish grin. “Ma’am.”

He heart fucking flutters. “Hi,” she breathes out. To his credit, he doesn’t tease her, even if his eyes are twinkling in amusement.

Then one of his hands slips between her legs, cupping her bared, slick sex, and she tosses her head back against the glass. He parts her, slides his middle finger up her folds, flicking at her little bundle of nerves, and she jerks against the glass. She can’t quite tell if she’s this worked up because it’s been a month, or because he’s doing this against a window. Or both.

(She doesn’t quite care, either way.)

He pulls his hand away, spins her around and steps forward, crowding her even closer to the glass, so that she’s practically pressed up against it. He doesn’t tell her to plant her palms against the glass, but he drops a kiss to her shoulder, anyway, as if thanking her. She tips her forehead forward, staring down at the street below, but not really seeing anything at all as his hand slips between her legs again, fingers dipping through her wetness. He groans, hot and breathy, right into her ear. “You’re dripping, Nat,” he tells her, wiping off some of her arousal against the inside of her thigh, then sliding back, massaging his fingers over her folds. Her hips push back against him, and she can feel just how hard he is through his slacks.

“Fuck me,” she demands – pleads – and, like the ass he is, he hums in argument.

“No, darling,” he says, sinking two fingers into her and curling, making her let out a sharp, soft cry. He knows her body like the back of his hand. Knows that tight circles right over her clit will make her come in minutes, that broad strokes over her folds will leave her gasping for air, and that sinking in deep and curling just right will have her crying out his name. He knows that she’ll bite down hard on her lip when she’s close, like she’s trying to hold off her orgasm. Knows that she’s sensitive enough just after her orgasm that it’ll take practically nothing at all to wring another from her right after. And she knows that he enjoys drawing out her every sigh, every whimper and cry. “I think I want to enjoy you first,” he tells her.

He slides his fingers up and starts circling her clit, slow and broad at first, drawing each stroke out enough to make her shake.

And then he circles tighter, and faster, driving her right to the edge – then dipping his fingers away and teasing at her entrance, making her bod shudder.

“What I love most about you against this window, Nat,” he starts, tracing the tip of her nose over her temple, “isn’t just that no one down there knows you’re pressed up against it and dripping wet. It isn’t that anyone can just look over and see you fucking yourself on my hand.”

He slows his fingers, right on that dizzying edge again, and she actually whimpers as his hand slides slowly through her folds, massaging gently, almost leisurely. The little shit.

“No, what I love most about you against this window is that, despite someone being able to look over, not one of them gives a damn.” He dips his head to the curve of her neck, sucks a little bite into her pulse. She hooks a hand over the back of his neck, needing him closer, needing him to anchor her before she falls into oblivion. “Up here, we’re not fugitives. We’re not fallen heroes or vigilantes. Not a single person cares about who we were, who we are.” He starts circling her clit again, once, twice, three times, and – oh, oh. “It’s just you and me.”

He kisses her cheek – soft and sweet, almost chaste – and that’s what sets her off.

She cries out as her orgasm bursts over her, and she feels a little bit like she’s falling apart, but also not at all. Not with Steve right behind her, holding onto her, pressing kisses into the column of her neck and the dip of her shoulder.

She wants to kiss him. She really, really wants to kiss him, so she reaches back, tugs at his collar to bring him close, and she whimpers as his lips slant over hers. He hums against her mouth, absently stroking over her slick sex, making a shudder ripple through her, her body still humming. She knows they’re not done. Far from it, actually.

But, she wants to savor the feel of his arms around her a moment longer. She wants to savor in how fucking perfect it feels to be two people, alone in their hotel room.

It’s just him and her, and everything in their world is in its place.

[lesbiansana]

hey uh. here’s this unfinished twice college au i’m working on

“You’re no fun, unnie!” Dahyun says, far more loudly than necessary for the small room. “No fun!”

“How am I ‘no fun’ when I let you guys get drunk in my room off of my alcohol?” Jeongyeon asks exasperatedly.

“No fun! No fun!” Dahyun and Tzuyu chant together, and Sana and Momo soon join in. Traitors.

“Fine,” she groans. “Never have I ever… I dunno, sucked a dick.”

Sana, Momo, Mina, and Jihyo all put down fingers.

“This game’s not fair,” Momo whines. “I have to put down fingers for the guy stuff and the girl stuff! I only have two fingers left!”

“I don’t know, Momo,” Nayeon says from where she’s sipping wine on Jeongyeon’s bed. “I think two fingers sounds like just the right amount.”

The room fills with laughter and cheers, except for Momo, who fixes Nayeon with her most sultry smile.

“Now you’re the one who’s no fun,” she says. “I think three fingers would be better.”

Jeongyeon groans and buries her face in her hands. She hears Dahyun erupt into hysterical giggles next to her, then feels her collapse against her shoulder. Someone (Chaeyoung, she thinks) screams “Ewwwwwww!”

“Stop flirting, you two!” Jihyo says. “It’s Chaeyoung’s turn.”

Nayeon and Momo burst into simultaneous protests of “We weren’t flirting!” Dahyun’s still laughing against Jeongyeon’s shoulder, and she rolls her eyes fondly.

“I mean, as long as we’re on the subject,” Chaeyoung says, “never have I ever had sex with a girl.”

Jeongyeon puts down a finger. Unsurprisingly, everyone else except Tzuyu and Sana does the same.

“Awww,” Nayeon coos. “The two babies and the token straight!”

Chaeyoung and Tzuyu start loudly complaining about being called babies, but Jeongyeon’s too distracted by Sana’s sudden pretty flush to bother listening. Her cheeks get pink so easily when she’s been drinking or when she’s embarrassed, and with the combination of the two, her face is practically glowing. It’s fucking adorable, and Jeongyeon maybe hates herself a little. Straight girl crushes are the worst.

Sana looks up and catches her gaze for a second, and Jeongyeon’s stomach flips. She grabs her drink and takes a long gulp in a hopeless attempt to play it cool.

“Tzuyu’s turn!” Jihyo yells. They all turn to Tzuyu, who’s unnervingly put together despite the fact that she’s on her fifth drink. Jeongyeon’s only had three, and she’s feeling pretty woozy. She’d feel embarrassed about a freshman outdrinking her, but Tzuyu’s abilities in all things seem to exceed those of mere mortals.

“Okay,” Tzuyu says calmly. “Never have I ever masturbated while thinking about someone in this room.”

Chaeyoung screams again, Dahyun collapses into another fit of giggles, and Jihyo yells something about “who corrupted the maknae?!” Jeongyeon, meanwhile, prays ardently for the floor to open up and suck her into the depths of hell where she belongs. Her mind floods with shameful memories of Tuesday night, when she’d rubbed her clit hard and fast while thinking about Sana’s mouth, Sana’s slender waist, Sana’s gorgeous long legs, Sana, Sana, Sana…

Without even realizing it, she looks at Sana across the circle, and Sana--oh God--Sana is staring back, her cheeks even pinker than before. Sana holds Jeongyeon’s gaze and slowly, deliberately, lowers a finger.

...fuck.

“No fair!” Momo’s yelling, and it feels like it’s coming from miles away. “I’m always out first! This game is so biphobic.”

“Jihyo and I are bi too, and we’re never out first,” Mina says reasonably.

Momo glares at her while everyone else cackles. “Our friendship is over.”

“Shut up and drink, bitch!” Nayeon yells, and Momo flips her off before chugging the rest of her beer.

“Hold on,” Dahyun says suddenly, “didn’t Nayeon-unnie put down a finger too?”

Nayeon turns bright red, and once again, cheers and catcalls fill the room. Thankfully, everyone seems too caught up in Nayeon and Momo’s shame to have noticed Sana putting down a finger and Jeongyeon’s brain spilling out of her ears.

She chances another look at Sana. Sana’s not looking at Jeongyeon anymore, laughing along with everyone else at Nayeon and Momo, but the flush has crept down her neck, almost down to where her flowy top reveals the tiniest bit of cleavage and nope, nope, bad idea. Very bad idea.

Sana’s straight, Jeongyeon tells herself sternly. She was probably just experimenting one night to see if she liked the idea of girls. In fact, it was probably a complete coincidence that she was looking at Jeongyeon, and Jeongyeon’s poor gay mind was just playing tricks on her, making her see what she wanted to see. Sana’s straight, everyone knows she is… right?

Then again, Jeongyeon’s (terrible traitorous gay) mind suggests, just because Sana’s never had sex with a girl doesn’t mean she’s straight. Sana had been with the same boyfriend for all of their freshman year and most of their sophomore year, so if she was bi, she wouldn’t have had a chance to hook up with girls. Sana and Mark broke up at the end of last year, though, so now that Sana’s single, maybe…

No. Jeongyeon’s had enough painful straight girl crushes, hooked up with enough straight girls who wanted to “experiment” only to be tossed out the next morning. She won’t let herself get her hopes up. Not again.

Someone’s blasting music now, and Jeongyeon gets up to refill her drink. She’s already tipsy, but she needs to be drunk.

One and a half drinks later, Jeongyeon’s dancing with Dahyun to a SNSD song, screaming the lyrics at the top of her lungs and (almost) drunk and happy enough to forget about Sana. Then Momo, Hirai fucking Momo, picks up an empty bottle of wine and screams, “Let’s play spin the bottle!”

Jeongyeon somehow finds herself in the circle with everyone else, she doesn’t quite remember how. At least Dahyun, bless her heart, had shoved a bottle of hard cider into her hand at some point. Jeongyeon sips on it while she watches Dahyun kiss Chaeyoung, Mina kiss Nayeon and Jihyo kiss Tzuyu (on the cheek, because she’s Jihyo’s baby). Predictably, and probably by some cheating on her part, Momo’s spin lands on Nayeon. She promptly climbs into Nayeon’s lap and starts making out with her. With tongue. Jeongyeon chugs the rest of her cider.

Since Nayeon and Momo seem to have forgotten about the game entirely, they decide to just move onto the next person, who’s--

Oh God.

Sana.

The bottle hasn’t landed on Jeongyeon so far, and she prays fervently to fate and whatever gods may or may not exist that her luck will continue.

Of course, fate tells her to go fuck herself, and the bottle comes to a stop pointing straight at Jeongyeon.

People are cheering and whooping around her, but Jeongyeon’s world narrows down to the hole in the bottom of her stomach and Sana, staring at her yet again from across the circle, an unreadable look on her face.

Then, Sana starts crawling towards her on all fours, and Jeongyeon stops breathing. The world goes quiet around her as Sana comes to a stop, kneeling in front of her. Her eyes are nervous but determined. She licks her lips and leans in, close enough for Jeongyeon to feel her breath on her face--

Jeongyeon stands abruptly, almost knocking Sana over in the process. “Okay, everybody out!” she yells. “It’s late and we’re all drunk! Time for bed.”

Of course, everyone begins whining and grumbling (apart from Nayeon and Momo, who have somehow made it to Jeongyeon’s bed), but with Jihyo’s help she manages to herd everyone else out of her room. “No fun, no fun!” Dahyun and Tzuyu yell on their way out.

Jeongyeon turns to the rather urgent problem of Nayeon and Momo. Momo’s stradling Nayeon on her bed (her bed, for fuck’s sake), moaning like a fucking porn star while Nayeon bites her neck. “Hey! Lovebirds!” she shouts, and they finally look up. “I love you both and I’m glad you finally sorted your shit out, but if you fuck on my bed I will actually kill you.”

They get up, and Nayeon looks at least a little embarrassed with herself. Jihyo pushes them out the door, saying, “I’ll make sure they find a room. Hopefully one of theirs.”

When they’re finally gone, Jeongyeon takes a deep breath and surveys her mess of a room. She starts picking up empty cups and bottles, only to freeze when she hears a quiet cough from behind her. She turns to see Sana standing in doorway, because obviously the universe wants Jeongyeon dead.

“Uh, hey,” Jeongyeon squeaks. “Did you forget something?”

Sana smiles, soft and far too sweet given everything that’s happened tonight. “No. I thought you might want some help cleaning up.”

“...oh.” Jeongyeon says. “Yeah, that’s, uh… that’d be nice. Thanks.”

Sana smiles again, and reenters the room. They work in silence for a few minutes, dumping cups into the trash and bottles into the recycling, mopping up a few small spills with paper towels. Jeongyeon’s wiping the last traces of beer off her desk when she hears the door click shut.

“Jeongyeon,” Sana murmurs, and against her own better judgment, Jeongyeon turns around. Sana’s leaning against her door, her eyes dark, her top slipping a little bit off her shoulder. “Did you not want to kiss me in front of all those people? Or did you not want to kiss me at all?”

For what feels like the hundredth time tonight, Jeongyeon’s stomach flips and her mind goes blank. “I-I mean,” she stammers, “I don’t…”

Sana walks across the room, until she’s only a few steps away from Jeongyeon. “Because sometimes, it looks like you really wanna kiss me.”

The room’s too hot. Jeongyeon feels sweat dripping down her neck, swears she can feel the heat radiating off of Sana’s body as she steps closer. Jeongyeon’s eyes flit down to Sana’s mouth before she can stop herself, and those perfect pretty lips curve up into a knowing smirk.

“Actually,” Sana says, the word ghosting across Jeongyeon’s cheek, “It looks like you really wanna kiss me right now.”

Sana’s pink little tongue darts out to wet her lips, then she fucking bites her lip, and something in Jeongyeon snaps.

Jeongyeon slides one hand into Sana’s hair and crashes their lips together, harder than she’d intended. It’s awful and messy, teeth clanking and spit everywhere, but Sana still gasps into her mouth. Jeongyeon tries again, slotting their lips together more carefully this time, and it’s better, so much better. Sana’s lips are soft and full and taste like that mango chapstick she always uses, and Jeongyeon can already see herself getting addicted to this. Then Sana’s tongue tentatively pokes at Jeongyeon’s mouth, and she is gone.

Before she can really think it through, Jeongyeon pushes Sana back until she hits the nearest wall, cradling her head in her hand to cushion it. She kisses her hungrily, exploring her mouth with her tongue and eating up every sweet noise Sana makes. She nips experimentally at Sana’s bottom lip, and Sana lets out a high pitched whine. Encouraged, Jeongyeon goes lower, nipping at Sana’s jaw and neck before settling at the junction of her neck and shoulder and biting down hard.

“Fuck,” Sana gasps, and Jeongyeon groans in response. She pulls the skin into her mouth and sucks, and Sana whines again, even higher and more desperate. Jeongyeon pulls back, and something possessive and primal curls in her stomach when she sees the purple mark that’s already forming. She kisses her way back up Sana’s neck, then stops to suck at the spot right below her ear.

“God, I want you so bad,” Sana whispers, and Jeongyeon’s head spins--

Fuck.

Jeongyeon’s head spins, and not just because she’s turned on. She’s drunk, and Sana’s drunk, and this… this is a terrible idea. She pulls back, breathing heavily. Sana whines in disappointment.

“We can’t do this,” Jeongyeon pants. “We… we’re drunk.”

“M’not that drunk,” Sana protests, and she leans in to nuzzle against Jeongyeon’s jaw, darting her tongue out to taste her skin.

“Y-you’ve never--fuck!” Jeongyeon chokes when Sana bites at her neck. “You’ve never done this before, we shouldn’t--”

“Don’t care. I’ve thought about it so much Jeongyeon, please!”

And Jeongyeon wants to, God, she really wants to. But they’re way too drunk, and Sana’s first time with a girl shouldn’t be…

Old memories swirl up in Jeongyeon’s chest, choking her.

“Please, Sana,” she gasps, “please, go to bed, we can talk about it in the morning, just--”

“But I want you now,” Sana whines, and then her hands are on Jeongyeon’s shirt, trying to undo the buttons. Without thinking, Jeongyeon grabs her wrists and pins them against the wall above her head.

“Stop it,” she growls, and Sana’s eyes roll shut, her body arching against the wall, her mouth falling open on a moan, and fuck, fuck, fuck…

“Oh my God,” Jeongyeon pants. “You are making this really hard.”

Sana whimpers, and Jeongyeon takes a few seconds to collect herself before releasing Sana’s wrists. To her relief, she keeps her hands to herself this time.

“Go to sleep, Sana,” Jeongyeon says finally. “Drink some water, and… we’ll talk in the morning. I promise.”

Sana’s eyes are a little hazy, but after a moment she nods. Jeongyeon grabs her hand and pulls her over to the door. She opens it for her, and can’t resist leaning in to brush her lips against Sana’s one more time.

“Goodnight,” she murmurs against her lips.

“G-goodnight,” Sana says. With one last look at Jeongyeon, she leaves, and Jeongyeon shuts the door behind her.

...holy shit.

So much has happened tonight, and Jeongyeon has so much to think about, but right now she’s drunk and exhausted and just wants to sleep. She grabs her toiletry kit and makes her way to the bathroom. After brushing her teeth and washing her face as quickly as she can manage in her drunken state, she grabs a paper cup and forces herself to drink two cups of water.

She returns to her room, flops down onto her bed and turns off the lamp. Before she can drift off, she grabs her phone to set an alarm. (She’s slept through Sunday brunch way too many times.)

When she turns on her phone, she sees that she has three unread messages from Sana. With some trepidation, she opens them.

just so u know

im totally gettng off tonight thinking about u

(again)

Jeongyeon puts down her phone, buries her face in her pillow and screams.

[jakejamesjournalism]

a list: the best posse cuts in hip-hip over the last 10 years.

Highlighting some of the best group efforts in rap.  To qualify, the song must have been released after July of 2009 and feature at least 4 people.  There are some incredible tracks with 3 rappers that had to be omitted...

10. Slippery- Migos ft Gucci Mane

It felt right that the list of best posse cuts started with raps premier posse. Migos, the most charismatic and star powered rap group this half of the decade shows why on Slippery, with the help of a rejuvenated Gucci Mane.  Like all their best tracks, Quavo immediately sets the tone with his great ear for melody and unpredictable cadence.  Offset seamlessly takes it from there making hilarious brags about his girl looking like a wildebeest before going into triple time about the usual suspects: Patek Phillipe, models, full throttles, and Gucci’d up collars.  Takeoff ends the song sounding possessed after Gucci gives one of the most patient and introspective verses of his life.  When it comes to posse cut trap rap, Slippery has all you’ve ever wanted in abundance.

9. All the Way Up (Remix)- Fat Joe, Jay Z, Remy Ma, French Montana & Infared

I’d venture to say this song got more mainstream airplay than any other track on this list.  Released late May of 2016, this siren glaring club ready banger was synonymous with the summer of 2016.  The song has more than most summer hits that come and go. Show-stopping verses from both Jay Z and Remy Ma make this remix a truly memorable affair.  Jay Z understood the moment, realizing the magnitude of publicly addressing Lemonade on record for the first time.  He brilliantly deflects the scathing aspects of the record and brushes it off as just another example of him getting money.  His homage to Prince is among the most emotionally resonant rap bars he’s conjured up in years…all the more so since Jay actually owns the Prince catalog.  I would love to see Jay relegate himself to an Andre 3000 type of role going forward, especially after he cemented his legacy with the late career gem 4:44.  The second half of the song belongs to Remy Ma, who makes you feel every syllable in a verse so raw and emphatic you can’t help but feel all the rage spending “7 winters and 6 summers” on vacation can build up.  South Bronx legend Fat Joe’s verse gives you a laugh and French relegated to the bridge is the perfect amount of him on this radio posse cut that offers far more than most in its class.

8. Big Beast- Killer Mike, Bun B, T.I & Trouble

There isn’t a track #1 on any hip-hop record in recent memory that just set the tone for what’s to come quite like ‘Big Beast.’  “Hardcore G-Shit! Homie I don’t play around!”  A call to arms that is just the beginning.  Listening at the time primarily out of my love for Definitive Jux.  The track, produced entirely by El-P drew me in, especially the tempo flip after Trouble’s futuristic bridge. Futuristic or not, the song is a vivid portrait of street life in Atlanta.  Full of Bun B’s wise man advice “Don’t leave till your ass get grown” and T.I’s full-bodied imagery, “A record full of felonies, searching for a better me/ But choppers go off in my hood like Iraq, Cuba, Tel Aviv.”   For five minutes you inhabit that ATL street corner.  

Killer Mike makes it clear, in order to make it in the streets of Atlanta; one must be a Big Beast.  The socially conscious rap anthem served as an unforgettable reintroduction into Killer Mike, someone I’ll admit, I always associated with as an inferior extension of Outkast and the Goodie Mob. Here Michael Render demands to be heard.  A singular vision with the power to resonate in an underground rap scene that happened to be dying for his perspective.  With Big Beast, the El-P and Killer Mike creative flood gates officially opened. Lucky for us.

7. Really Doe- Danny Brown ft. Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul & Earl Sweatshirt

Like all great posse tracks, the best verse shouldn’t be easy to agree on.  The down played modest hook provided by Kendrick Lamar does a good job bridging what’s most important on the track. The verses.  Every verse could be considered the best.  A hilarious manic Danny Brown who is “rolling up with them vegetables.”  Ab-Soul’s sixteen bars playfully bend his patent hardcore bars with socioeconomic realities, a verse that exemplifies all that’s ever made him a compelling emcee.  Kendrick does his thing as per usual and Earl Sweatshirt doesn’t.  In my favorite verse of the song, Earl ditches his cryptic and triple entendre tendencies for a more straight forward take a bat to your head approach.  Aggressively honest and devoid of his usual wordplay techniques, Earl ponders “I’m at your house like, ‘Why you got your couch on my Chucks?’ Motherfucker.” The comic relief is there.  Really Doe is lyrical labyrinth designated for the purist of rap fans.  Four world class emcees each with a different flow, each on top of their game. Enjoy.

6. Move that Dope- Future ft. Pusha T, Pharrell Williams & Casino

Future’s creative 360 from emo auto-tuned heart throb to drugged up nihilist was complete here.  His split from Ciara turned his heart cold and drove him into various chemical comfort zones.  Chemical zones that acted as his muse, similar to Pusha T, who finds himself right at home on a track like this.  He delivers some of the most expressive drug rap bars of the song, totally in tune with the general concept.  Someone who is a stranger to the general concept of “moving dope” is Pharrell.  Such songs aren’t usually up his alley, but Pharrell rapping on anything is usually a gift, and here is no exception.  His personal alienation from dope moving proves to be totally irrelevant as he spends time in the cosmos “frequency: high, like a spaceship” and bringing to life his personal idiosyncrasies “The Gandalf hat and the weird ass clothes, that’s Commes des Garcon and the Buffalo.”  Over menacing production from Mike-Will-Made-It, Future rings in his new sound and mantra with a group of A-list friends, one familiar with moving dope, the other familiar with constant reinvention.  Here, Future handles the scales beautifully.

5. Zip That Chop That- Black Hippy

Revisiting ‘Zip that Chop That’ makes me once again yearn for the Black Hippy album that was always promised but never came.  This overlooked early career gem was released in 2010, and provided a young white kid with his very first Kendrick Lamar exposure. Before Section.80 and Setbacks, ‘Zip That Chop That’ was all I knew. What’s amazing about Black Hippy is how easily they fall into their respected roles.  Jay Rock comes on strong as the deep voice of reason, having the rest of the crews back no matter what Compton issue may erupt. Ab-Soul acts as the groups source of comic relief, while Schoolboy Q acts as the vice, the devil on the other shoulder.  And then there’s a young Kendrick… his commentary on the plight of black Compton youth not yet legendary.  Excelling in the tracks latter third, it takes three listens to realize Kendrick is the best rapper on the song.  It’s no surprise success has came to the rap collective individually, but Zip That reminds us all some of their best material comes from them working together.

4. Oldie- Odd Future

The most influential group to any millennial ‘Left Brain’ hip hop listeners.  After Bastard I wrote off Tyler as a creative but drama seeking iconoclast, I didn’t give much else released by the collective an ear.  It wasn’t until Frank Ocean started to release music did I think to revisit odd future’s discography in a different light.  Oldie is a song that makes me glad I revisited.  Who is rapping is ultimately irrelevant, the chemistry between the worst rappers of the group and those who could be considered geniuses is uncanny.  It creates a universal feeling of friendship and community that transcends skill level.  This was taking putting your friends on to a whole new level. The talent lies in Tyler, Frank, and Earl, but for a long time the other members of the collective had roles inside the collective that held immense value to those who actually had talent.  Tyler, Frank and Earl fed off the group, all of its flaws, for better or worse.  Seeing how unwavering and passionate their belief is in their own vision, it’s clear that Odd Future was a talent incubator that ended up cultivating three of the most influential artists of the modern-day era.

3. Mercy- Kanye West, Pusha T, Big Sean & 2 Chainz

Turning the posse cut into high performance art was something Kanye spent a lot of the decade mastering.  Quite frankly, from the G.O.O.D Friday roll-outs to the standout tracks on Cruel Summer to Ultralight Beam, this entire list could’ve been comprised of Kanye orchestrated posse cuts.  Excluding Ultralight Beam, which I didn’t find qualifying enough to be featured on this list, Mercy is the most meticulously curated posse cut Kanye released.  The lead single on a project Kanye wanted to use to emphasize the depth of his label, Mercy does exactly that.  He put Pusha T and Big Sean in a position to spend the summer all over the radio, threw down a solid verse himself after an understated beat switch, all leading to the breakout performance of 2 Chainz, who’s rap career took off to stratospheric heights after his show stopping verse on Mercy. Kanye succeeded in putting all his boys on without compromising the artistry in the slightest bit. Most posse cuts will sacrifice a bit of innovation in order to focus more on the lyrics.  An old school approach to keeping posse cuts and the spirit of rap as competition alive. Once again, Kanye refuses to play by those rules. Mercy is high performance art, lyrical rap, pitch-black club banger, and total team flex all in one.

2. 1 Train- Asap Rocky ft Kendrick Lamar, Joey Bada$$, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Action Bronson & Big K.R.I.T

The sound of ‘1 Train’ actually sounds like a train ride.  The production for this timeless epic rap track fits the narrative perfectly.  The track provides a transient urban feeling mixed with unpredictable DJ premier like scratches and gritty lo-fi drums.  It’s a beautiful canvas for hook-less rap music. It never tires, and neither do the emcees.  Every rapper featured on this track has something relevant to say from Danny Brown’s hilarious “Weed a different color like a hood rat bra and panties” observation or Action Bronson “selling Susan Sarandon.” Asap’s impressive “Bag made of Goyard, cheffin’ like I’m Boyar-Dee, probably selling D in your local courtyard” line is an emphatic change of cadence.  Big K.R.I.T declares himself a true artist on the songs final line and after delivering what could arguably be the tracks strongest verse, a true artist sounds like an understatement.   Everyone rapping punches above their weight.  The ULTIMATE posse cut.

1. Forever- Drake ft Kanye West, Lil Wayne & Eminem

Released ten years ago in August, Forever did a great job living up to its namesake.  From the Lebron starring music video to Drakes hook, Forever basically predicted the future.  Three weeks later on another platinum record Lil Wayne raps “We gon’ be alright if we put Drake on every hook.”  That era of hip hop officially started on this track.  Finding himself on a track with three legends who all decided to bring above average verses, Drake holds his own by coming up with the first of a million ubiquitous hooks.  His combination of rap skill, hook making and singing proved to be a tool set big enough to hang with the greats, even when they themselves brought their A-games.  It also opened the door to the possibility that Drake himself could be a great one day. Personally, I think it still remains to be seen, but the hooks are still catchy, and the numbers don’t lie.

[jakejames09]

Raps Best Posse Cuts of the last 10 Years.

Highlighting some of the best group efforts in rap.  To qualify, the song must have been released after July of 2009 and feature at least 4 people.  There are some incredible tracks with 3 rappers that had to be omitted..

10. Slippery- Migos ft Gucci Mane

It felt right that the list of best posse cuts started with raps premier posse. Migos, the most charismatic and star powered rap group this half of the decade shows why on Slippery, with the help of a rejuvenated Gucci Mane.  Like all their best tracks, Quavo immediately sets the tone with his great ear for melody and unpredictable cadence.  Offset seamlessly takes it from there making hilarious brags about his girl looking like a wildebeest before going into triple time about the usual suspects: Patek Phillipe, models, full throttles, and Gucci’d up collars.  Takeoff ends the song sounding possessed after Gucci gives one of the most patient and introspective verses of his life.  When it comes to posse cut trap rap, Slippery has all you’ve ever wanted in abundance.

9. All the Way Up (Remix)- Fat Joe, Jay Z, Remy Ma, French Montana & Infared

I’d venture to say this song got more mainstream airplay than any other track on this list.  Released late May of 2016, this siren glaring club ready banger was synonymous with the summer of 2016.  The song has more than most summer hits that come and go. Show-stopping verses from both Jay Z and Remy Ma make this remix a truly memorable affair.  Jay Z understood the moment, realizing the magnitude of publicly addressing Lemonade on record for the first time.  He brilliantly deflects the scathing aspects of the record and brushes it off as just another example of him getting money.  His homage to Prince is among the most emotionally resonant rap bars he’s conjured up in years…all the more so since Jay actually owns the Prince catalog.  I would love to see Jay relegate himself to an Andre 3000 type of role going forward, especially after he cemented his legacy with the late career gem 4:44.  The second half of the song belongs to Remy Ma, who makes you feel every syllable in a verse so raw and emphatic you can’t help but feel all the rage spending “7 winters and 6 summers” on vacation can build up.  South Bronx legend Fat Joe’s verse gives you a laugh and French relegated to the bridge is the perfect amount of him on this radio posse cut that offers far more than most in its class.

8. Big Beast- Killer Mike, Bun B, T.I & Trouble

There isn’t a track #1 on any hip-hop record in recent memory that just set the tone for what’s to come quite like ‘Big Beast.’  “Hardcore G-Shit! Homie I don’t play around!”  A call to arms that is just the beginning.  Listening at the time primarily out of my love for Definitive Jux.  The track, produced entirely by El-P drew me in, especially the tempo flip after Trouble’s futuristic bridge. Futuristic or not, the song is a vivid portrait of street life in Atlanta.  Full of Bun B’s wise man advice “Don’t leave till your ass get grown” and T.I’s full-bodied imagery, “A record full of felonies, searching for a better me/ But choppers go off in my hood like Iraq, Cuba, Tel Aviv.”  For five minutes you inhabit that ATL street corner. 

Killer Mike makes it clear, in order to make it in the streets of Atlanta; one must be a Big Beast.  The socially conscious rap anthem served as an unforgettable reintroduction into Killer Mike, someone I’ll admit, I always associated with as an inferior extension of Outkast and the Goodie Mob.  Here Michael Render demands to be heard.  A singular vision with the power to resonate in an underground rap scene that happened to be dying for his perspective.  With Big Beast, the El-P and Killer Mike creative flood gates officially opened. Lucky for us.

7. Really Doe- Danny Brown ft. Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul & Earl Sweatshirt

Like all great posse tracks, the best verse shouldn’t be easy to agree on.  The down played modest hook provided by Kendrick Lamar does a good job bridging what’s most important on the track. The verses.  Every verse could be considered the best.  A hilarious manic Danny Brown who is “rolling up with them vegetables.”  Ab-Soul’s sixteen bars playfully bend his patent hardcore bars with socioeconomic realities, a verse that exemplifies all that’s ever made him a compelling emcee.  Kendrick does his thing as per usual and Earl Sweatshirt doesn’t.  In my favorite verse of the song, Earl ditches his cryptic and triple entendre tendencies for a more straight forward take a bat to your head approach.  Aggressively honest and devoid of his usual wordplay techniques, Earl ponders “I’m at your house like, ‘Why you got your couch on my Chucks?’ Motherfucker.” The comic relief is there.  Really Doe is lyrical labyrinth designated for the purist of rap fans.  Four world class emcees each with a different flow, each on top of their game. Enjoy. 

6. Move that Dope- Future ft. Pusha T, Pharrell Williams & Casino

Future’s creative 360 from emo auto-tuned heart throb to drugged up nihilist was complete here.  His split from Ciara turned his heart cold and drove him into various chemical comfort zones.  Chemical zones that acted as his muse, similar to Pusha T, who finds himself right at home on a track like this.  He delivers some of the most expressive drug rap bars of the song, totally in tune with the general concept.  Someone who is a stranger to the general concept of “moving dope” is Pharrell.  Such songs aren’t usually up his alley, but Pharrell rapping on anything is usually a gift, and here is no exception.  His personal alienation from dope moving proves to be totally irrelevant as he spends time in the cosmos “frequency: high, like a spaceship” and bringing to life his personal idiosyncrasies “The Gandalf hat and the weird ass clothes, that’s Commes des Garcon and the Buffalo.”  Over menacing production from Mike-Will-Made-It, Future rings in his new sound and mantra with a group of A-list friends, one familiar with moving dope, the other familiar with constant reinvention.  Here, Future handles the scales beautifully. 

5. Zip That Chop That- Black Hippy

Revisiting ‘Zip that Chop That’ makes me once again yearn for the Black Hippy album that was always promised but never came.  This overlooked early career gem was released in 2010, and provided a young white kid with his very first Kendrick Lamar exposure.  Before Section.80 and Setbacks, ‘Zip That Chop That’ was all I knew.  What’s amazing about Black Hippy is how easily they fall into their respected roles.  Jay Rock comes on strong as the deep voice of reason, having the rest of the crews back no matter what Compton issue may erupt.  Ab-Soul acts as the groups source of comic relief, while Schoolboy Q acts as the vice, the devil on the other shoulder.  And then there’s a young Kendrick... his commentary on the plight of black Compton youth not yet legendary.  Excelling in the tracks latter third, it takes three listens to realize Kendrick is the best rapper on the song.  It’s no surprise success has came to the rap collective individually, but Zip That reminds us all some of their best material comes from them working together.

4. Oldie- Odd Future

The most influential group to any millennial ‘Left Brain’ hip hop listeners.  After Bastard I wrote off Tyler as a creative but drama seeking iconoclast, I didn’t give much else released by the collective an ear.  It wasn’t until Frank Ocean started to release music did I think to revisit odd future’s discography in a different light.  Oldie is a song that makes me glad I revisited.  Who is rapping is ultimately irrelevant, the chemistry between the worst rappers of the group and those who could be considered geniuses is uncanny.  It creates a universal feeling of friendship and community that transcends skill level.  This was taking putting your friends on to a whole new level. The talent lies in Tyler, Frank, and Earl, but for a long time the other members of the collective had roles inside the collective that held immense value to those who actually had talent.  Tyler, Frank and Earl fed off the group, all of its flaws, for better or worse.  Seeing how unwavering and passionate their belief is in their own vision, it’s clear that Odd Future was a talent incubator that ended up cultivating three of the most influential artists of the modern-day era.

3. Mercy- Kanye West, Pusha T, Big Sean & 2 Chainz

Turning the posse cut into high performance art was something Kanye spent a lot of the decade mastering.  Quite frankly, from the G.O.O.D Friday roll-outs to the standout tracks on Cruel Summer to Ultralight Beam, this entire list could’ve been comprised of Kanye orchestrated posse cuts.  Excluding Ultralight Beam, which I didn’t find qualifying enough to be featured on this list, Mercy is the most meticulously curated posse cut Kanye released.  The lead single on a project Kanye wanted to use to emphasize the depth of his label, Mercy does exactly that.  He put Pusha T and Big Sean in a position to spend the summer all over the radio, threw down a solid verse himself after an understated beat switch, all leading to the breakout performance of 2 Chainz, who’s rap career took off to stratospheric heights after his show stopping verse on Mercy. Kanye succeeded in putting all his boys on without compromising the artistry in the slightest bit. Most posse cuts will sacrifice a bit of innovation in order to focus more on the lyrics.  An old school approach to keeping posse cuts and the spirit of rap as competition alive. Once again, Kanye refuses to play by those rules. Mercy is high performance art, lyrical rap, pitch-black club banger, and total team flex all in one.

2. 1 Train- Asap Rocky ft Kendrick Lamar, Joey Bada$$, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Action Bronson & Big K.R.I.T

The sound of ‘1 Train’ actually sounds like a train ride.  The production for this timeless epic rap track fits the narrative perfectly.  The track provides a transient urban feeling mixed with unpredictable DJ premier like scratches and gritty lo-fi drums.  It’s a beautiful canvas for hook-less rap music. It never tires, and neither do the emcees.  Every rapper featured on this track has something relevant to say from Danny Brown’s hilarious “Weed a different color like a hood rat bra and panties” observation or Action Bronson “selling Susan Sarandon.” Asap’s impressive “Bag made of Goyard, cheffin’ like I’m Boyar-Dee, probably selling D in your local courtyard” line is an emphatic change of cadence.  Big K.R.I.T declares himself a true artist on the songs final line and after delivering what could arguably be the tracks strongest verse, a true artist sounds like an understatement.  Everyone rapping punches above their weight.  The ULTIMATE posse cut.

1. Forever- Drake ft Kanye West, Lil Wayne & Eminem

Released ten years ago in August, Forever did a great job living up to its namesake.  From the Lebron starring music video to Drakes hook, Forever basically predicted the future.  Three weeks later on another platinum record Lil Wayne raps “We gon’ be alright if we put Drake on every hook.”  That era of hip hop officially started on this track.  Finding himself on a track with three legends who all decided to bring above average verses, Drake holds his own by coming up with the first of a million ubiquitous hooks.  His combination of rap skill, hook making and singing proved to be a tool set big enough to hang with the greats, even when they themselves brought their A-games.  It also opened the door to the possibility that Drake himself could be a great one day. Personally, I think it still remains to be seen, but the hooks are still catchy, and the numbers don’t lie. 

[anythingstephenking]

Drive My Car

After months without turning a single page, I am crusin’! Man I am really on a roll! If you haven’t guessed yet, I am making car puns, as we dive (drive?) into Christine, the killer car story King promised his publishers would come after Different Seasons.

(Side note: while reading I make notes on my phone of pages to reference back to, cause only a real monster dog-ears pages. My notes on Christine read “crusin’…. on a roll… think of other car puns.” I didn’t.)

Although Wikipedia claims this book was published in ’82, it was actually released in ’83. Really letting me down Wikipedia. But happily I move into the next year of King books, and one step closer to catching them all like they were a buncha Pokemon.

This cover art is the tits. Also, the author’s photo on the back! Lastly, the inner cover with SK initialed in red and gold, like Gryffindor for serial killers.

This book has no preface or afterword, which is where I usually learn all my fun facts, so I did a bit more digging (nay, googling) for the backstory on this guy.

Well I couldn’t turn out much of interest. Sorry to disappoint. The story must have just appeared in King’s brain one day. I did love that the book was dedicated to George Romero. I have enjoyed learning all about King’s friendships, and imagine they all get together once a month in some kind of bizarro-minds-club, play cribbage and gripe about how everyone thinks they’re weirdos.

Posted without comment.

Each of the 51 chapters starts with a song lyric about cars. If you’ve ever listened to Car Talk, you know the list of songs about cars is long. I recognized the Bruce Springsteen ones. It was a throwaway device IMO, and just made me feel bad for the intern that had to work to get the rights to use 51 different song lyrics. King actually calls this out in a brief Author’s Note on the copyright page of my “Book Club” edition copy, thanking specific folks for helping him get the rights. OK, I guess I forgive you Stephen. Kisses.

On the surface, Christine is a story that is part killer car, part demon possession and part star-crossed lovers. I know, right? 

Christine tells the story of Arnie Cunningham and his car Christine. Annie is your run-of-the-mill nerd. He’s got bad skin and has never done anything his parents wouldn’t approve of. His best bud Dennis is decidedly a cooler cat - he plays football so that means he’s automatically elevated to a higher class.

One day Arnie sees Christine, sitting broken on the lawn of an equally broken house and decides he has to have her. Men (eyeroll). He buys her from the owner, Roland LeBay and off he goes to a local garage to fix her up.

Dennis is almost immediately unnerved by Christine. Rightfully so, since the car goes on to kill a bunch of people.

Then along comes Leigh Cabot, the new girl in school. All the guys have the hots for her, but she’s only got eyes for Arnie. For once, the pretty girl picks the nerd, and it doesn’t really go all that well for her. Pick the quarterback the next time honey.

So Arnie and Leigh are an item, and Leigh also hates Christine. No one can quite put their fingers on it, but a rotten smell runs through her interior and the radio seems stuck on the 50’s rock station. Dennis and Leigh are plagued by nightmares of Christine coming to life.

And suddenly the engine began to rev and fall off, rev and fall off; its a hungry sound, frightening, and each time the engine revs Christine seems to lunge forward a bit, like a mean dog on a weak leash… and I want to move… but my feet seem nailed to the cracked pavement of the driveway.

King takes his time to build the story up, as he so often does. Christine doesn’t claim her first victim until halfway through. Until then you’re stuck with this looming sense of dread, knowing terrible things are coming. Every time Christine’s headlights turned on by themselves I muttered “oh... no “ to myself.

It’s not enough that Christine comes to life and runs people over (even manages this feat on a guy who is inside his house), but Arnie begins to take on characteristics of the previous owner, Roland LeBay. Since Roland was a real grade-a asshole, this doesn’t sit well with his friend, girlfriend or family. He becomes more and more like LeBay, until there’s no nerd left. Watching Arnie fall apart is heartbreaking.

But past the surface, Christine is a story of the pains of growing up, which isn’t really a new theme for King, who came of age himself in the 50s. And so often with King’s stories of teenage agony, and even when the story takes place in 1978, the 50s are lurking.

Before Arnie’s demise, he makes off-handed comments about how his parents know that having kids remind them that they’re going to die. Pretty grim stuff.

And Dennis has this revelation while out in Christine for the first time:

I was surprised by a choking panic that climbed up in my throat like dry fire. It was the first time a feeling like that came over me that year - but not the last. Yet it’s hard for me to explain, or even define. It had something to do with realizing that it was August 11, 1978, that I was going to be a senior in high school next month, and that when school started again it meant the end of a long, quiet phase of my life. I was getting ready to be a grown-up, and I saw that somehow - saw it for sure, for the first time in that lovely but somehow ancient spill of golden light flooding the alleyway between a bowling alley and a roast beef joint. And I think I understood then that what really scares people about growing up is that you stop trying on the life-mask and start trying on another one. If being a kid is about learning how to live, then being a grown-up is about learning how to die.

And these kids learn their lesson.

In some ways, Christine felt like a stronger coming of age tale than The Body. I was really rooting for these kids.

7/10

First line: This is the story of a lover’s triangle, I suppose you’d say - Arnie Cunningham, Leigh Cabot, and, of course, Christine.

Last line: His unending fury.

Added Bonus: King said in an interview about Christine getting killed and perhaps coming back to life (35 year old spoiler, sorry!): "All I can think of would be if the parts are recycled, you'd end up with this sort of homicidal Cuisinart, or something like that!” 

Hardy Har Har! I might not be scared of cars but I am now scared of my food processor.

Adaptations:

Christine The Movie was the quickest turn-around from page to screen of any King movie, which began filming just as the book was released. The producer was a friend of King’s, and signed on before the book was published. He had his pick between Christine and Cujo, and chose Christine because Cujo seemed “too silly.” For real bro? I mean, they’re both great stories but I would tend to think of a rabid dog as a more serious threat than a sentient car that love Buddy Holly songs and blood.

1983 was a busy year for King movies. I’ve lost track since I am reading the books chronologically but not watching the movies that way. I’ve already watched some spectacularly bad King movies, but at this point in 1983, the movie-going public had only seen Carrie, Salem’s Lot and The Shining. Given the popularity of 2/3 of these movies, I bet everyone in Hollywood wanted their hands on the rights to a King story.

In 1983 Cujo, The Dead Zone and Christine all hit the big screens in August, October and December, respectively. I don’t know for sure but if I had to guess, that was too much King.

So, if you expect a whole lot of a John Carpenter movie about a killer car, well then, that’s your own fault. This movie was a lot of fun. As with so many King movies, his storytelling and character building just doesn’t translate to the big screen. The screenwriters seemed to not even care to try, boiling the main characters down to stereotypes. Arnie rocks giant glasses with tape across the arch; Dennis wears his letterman jacket; Leigh’s got great legs. Christine rolls around killing people that cross Arnie. There’s little mention of LeBay or his backstory in creating (or at least encouraging) Christine.

Instead, there’s the film’s opening sequence to explain Christine’s origin, which I just adored. Christine’s rolling along the production line in Detroit, the sole red car in a sea of white. A line worker attempts to open her hood, and it promptly clasps down on his hand. All while George Thorogood’s Bad To The Bone plays. Just on the nose, great start.

Unlike the novel with its clear themes of friendship, first love and looming adulthood, this movie is about one thing and one thing only - a killer car. Which is really ok. John Carpenter does his best and there’s some suspenseful moments with Halloween-esque sound effects. Whenever someone is pissing Christine off she locks her doors and Little Richard starts singing from her stereo "Keep a knockin' but you can't come in.” Christine catches on fire and still manages to run someone down, setting him on fire in the process. I’m not much a fan of big action sequences, but knowing they used almost 30 cars to make this and everything was filmed sans CGI made me appreciate it more.

Before I go, quick notes on the cast. Kevin Bacon was set to play Dennis, but chose to do Footloose instead. Good call, past Kevin Bacon. So they cast this guy, who is basically a poor man Kevin Bacon.

Leigh is played by Alexandra Paul, who would go on to rock a rad red swimsuit on Baywatch. Kelly Preston has a small role, and would go on to play the role of a lifetime as John Travolta’s wife. Rounding out the supporting cast was Robert Proskey (who I remember as Mr. Lundy in Mrs. Doubtfire), and Harry Dean Stanton who has basically been in everything.

Next up is Pet Semetery, which is (Chris Trager voice) literally my favorite King. My goal is to get through It before the new movie comes out in September, which means I have six books to get through in 3 months. So (spooky voice) I’ll be right back!

[noahpoligy]

An entire “album”, written on 9/13/2019

So I got super inspired in the bathroom to “write an album” whatever that means. So, I sat down, and forced to write a ton of lyrics all in one sitting. The most I’ve ever written has been 2-3 songs at once, and well, here’s 10. I started grasping at straws towards the ends, whatever was coming to mind honestly. I was listening to “Rape Me” by Nirvana in the shower and I thought to myself “Why not change that to “Hate me”, because I personally feel like I have a fair share of haters, but none of them hate me as much as I hate certain aspects about myself, ya know? Anywho, I might fuck around and see if I can find demo versions of songs w/o lyrics or whatever and see if I can produce any of these into actual listenable songs. We’ll see. Sadly, my motivation goes away with as I sleep. It took me 3 hours to write all of this, and honestly I think I should mention that it’s a bit funny comparing the second thing I wrote to the last. 

So I guess this is a “light” concept album. I think the one present theme that all these share is self perception and belief in one’s emotions and beliefs. I’m pretty tired as I right this, I can’t think of the word for that, if there is one. I’ll probably rewrite aspects of tracks 1, 4, 6, and 7. 1 looks too much like Rape Me, 4 needs “more”, I’d honestly like a rap section in there, 6 I’m just unhappy with some of the lines, it comes off as corny to me. 7 needs a chorus and the ending I just randomly threw in, so that needs to be fixed too. 

Track 1: Hate Me

I hate me

You hate me, and my friends

hate me 

I’m not the only one

I’m not the only one

I hate me

I’ll say it again and again

You’re a waste to me

You hate me and my friends

I’m not the only one

I’m not the only one

Every time I do anything it’s for the worst

A kiss would tag you as a whore

I appreciate your concern

I’d like you to die so you can burn

I hate me

You hate me my friend

Hate me

Hate me and my friends

I’m not the only one

I’m not the only one

I hate me

I hate me

I hate me

hate me 

hate me

hate me

hate me

It sates me

========================================================

Track 2: Something More

She waits at windows

She daydreams all day 

And sleeps away her frowns, for now

She just waits around wishing she

Could meet that single another

At night in a parking lot wearing that new dress she bought

Only for her to go back home, she’s let down easy

She goes out to buy a drink

I noticed the one Friday she didn’t, she was locked up high

There’s something about her innocence

That makes her chafe for love

And she’s down to explain what she’s looking for

She says she wants me and will help me become someone more

Dead leaves, the sky desolate of summer

I’m underage so I’ll stand outside while you get the drinks

Tomorrow you can smoke me out, and we can hang around the cemetery

Do we need each other?

We’re two discount lives without any numbers in our bank accounts

Do you think that if I wait around that maybe she

Might go back to her room and say it was all a lie?

She’ll tell her parents that she doesn’t know my name and I’ll sigh

Get out of my head demon, you’re dismissed

I will change for love

And she explained how long she’s waited for

Something more

Come, Goodbye, I might just see you another night, and if you don’t I understand if you can’t find that definite reason why you should stay. I’ll watch you walk away

She says that she will change for love

And she explains how long she’s waited for something more

And as these days go by, it ends that track of how long we’ve waited for

In love there’s more

In love there’s something more. 

============================================================

Track 3: Self-Faith

Wrap me up in my true skin

Drag me in front of my mother’s eyes

My innocence is tragic

My innocence is damned

And in a sense I’m gifted because of it all

I can breathe underwater

I can fly high in the sky

I can burrow deep inside my chest

and stab another with my teeth

and I live underground

If you spend your love around me

You’ll know fantasies beyond your wildest dreams

And before you know it, your love is gone

Cause there’s nothing as awkward as what I see

And in your fear, you’ll disappear. 

You saw my dreams, you saw death.

I believe in no one

I believe in another way

But my beliefs are not noticed

My beliefs are all held of faith

Faith in me, and that’s why I must escape

And in this ring our wedding will be true

And with this wring I will separate us in two

And with this ring you’ll see what’s in my head

And inside you’ll find the truth

Now let me tell you, if you spend your love around

We’ll enact our fantasies so they’re no longer dreams

You’ll find that your love is hard

And that it’s exactly what it seems

And no one will disappear 

Even during the darkest hour

To the revelations 

To the fresh baked victims 

To the weak that have succumbed 

They hate me

So speak your peace

While the drum drowns you out

You’re not wasting

A single breath at all

Because strength is your weakness

Your weakness is your hate 

And it’s something you just can’t explain

You’re sniffing on some roses

They’re so beautiful 

You’re getting so lost inside their smell

The others have come, to make you dumb

The others have come, to make you dumb

The others have come, to make you dumb

The others have come, to make you dumb

The others have come, to hold you down

The others have come, to hold, you, down

========================================================

Track 4: Run Away

Monkey see monkey do, run away

Fuck around and follow you, run away

I don’t like you, I’ll keep it in, run away

Another fool with pencilled skin, run away

There he is, take him out, run away

He never laughs he never smiles, run away

He can’t run he’s a cripple, run away

Let’s beat his ass, it’s good fun, run away

Run away Run Away

Run Away

Monkey see monkey do, run away

Fuck around and follow you, run away

Cut him up but keep it in, run away

Another fool with poisoned skin, run away

Run Away Runaway

Run Away

Run Away Runaway

Run Away

Away, Runaway

Run Away

Run Away

Run Away

Don’t Stay

Run Away

Don’t Stay

Get Away

Rat-a-tat-tat. 

========================================================

Track 5: Who the Fuck Are You? 

You say I’m gonna fall

Well I can’t wait to let you down

You say I’m gonna fail

We all know you’re a fucking joke 

Get out. 

You’ve lost equality.

Get out. 

You’re below a fail. 

Can anyone anywhere believe that you’re true? 

Does anyone anywhere wanna be you? 

You say I’m a faggot

Well at least I’m not a bigot, kid

You say I’m lucky 

It takes knowledge to play the cards

Get out. 

You’re a waste of sperm. 

Anyone anywhere can beat you 

Does anyone anywhere actually wanna face you?

Who’d wanna bother with you?

I guess I’d like to, bring it fucker. 

Lousy, you’re knocked out sky high

You’re flat out dead in the head

Does anyone wanna support you?

Does anyone anywhere actually believe in you? 

Does anyone anywhere wanna be you? 

Do you wanna be you? 

=========================================================

Track 6: Family Crest

I bathe in silence

I want you to notice

I’ve got a god complex 

I already know I’m gonna pass the test

I’m on fire

I’d hold on their hearts from the inside

And squirm myself inside and take control

I want everything they have and I want it now 

I’ll find a way 

Today I can waste away

I once flew away

Far away, from all of this, and I nearly died

Miserable dust and homeless mutts 

Hating my face and wanting to wither away without a trace

I didn’t hate anything else but my own and me. 

I’m gonna bleed

To make me believe

That my hearts still there

But is it really? I need a fucking shovel

I’ll clean off the dust, our faces will meet

I disconnected by cutting the string

Anytime that you’d try to talk to me

I bathe in silence

I want you to notice

I’ve got a god complex 

I already know I’m gonna pass the test

I’m on fire

I’ll hold onto their brains from the inside

I’ve got their heads believing in me 

It’s not enough I want fucking more 

I wanna bleed

To make them believe

Someone hurt me

So then maybe I’ll feel something

===========================================================

Track 7: Horribly Ever After

Let out the stampeding horses

Suffer in your suburban houses

Withdraw from the taste of the devil and God’s affair falling from the sky

Scream all you want you’re in a silent movie

Kiss up each other while your lives go tick tock

Beached by the groupies that are sick of your stuck-up hinds

Vacant is your deposition

Dead is your fleet of propogandic sources 

Your sister is actually your aunt your father had an incestual affair

You scoffed away the very true sources

You chose to go to war against another’s imaginary friend 

Blood is the key to eternal life and that’s why Earth wants more death

It’s about time

It’s about, concluding you

Black skies bring fears

Unleash armageddon, tute yourself and say one final prayer

it’ll be one last moment before you’re off where you belong my dear

Lust for a reality that is like the movies

A life where you survive the locusts

It all goes away when a angels voice says you’re damned for eternity for being a stupid sheep, you need to be fucking sheered. 

It’s about time. Maybe now you can see

Too bad you suck

Too bad you’re dumb

You looked directly at the sun and now you can’t see

This is the final message

Soon you’ll be stabbed by the ancient armies

Death by thousands of roses

It’ll take years but that’s what you deserve

You’ll be raped by the soldiers

They’ll embroider their band on your skull

You’ll probably enjoy it, it’s like your inverted cross tattoo 

I guess you got what you desired, your spot in hell. 

Black skies bring blood

Black skies bring flood

Black skies bring you 

Black lies bring truth

==========================================================

Track 8: Hysteria 

I woke up to a message of love 

Though I don’t think we’ve ever spoke on the phone

I’m obsessed with the poison of us

I wonder why I can’t seem to find one to trust

Is there even a soul living inside of ya? 

Oh yeah oh no, there’s nothing in that stereo baby

I’d try to bridge on over and see what’s up but it’d crack under your pressure

You need a miracle 

And I’m no miracle 

You’re honestly hysterical

What the fuck is going on inside of ya? 

I’m unimpressed with my presence at best

I get depressed from the needles of sunlight that bleed through the blinds

I make shit up so I think I’m the best

Honestly though, there’s no one I can trust

There’s no one living inside this universe 

You can call me No Paranoia Noah baby

I’m the last motherfucker that’s not hysterical 

I’m not one to crack under any amount of pressure

If you’re looking for a miracle it’s me

Now now, come on, get your broken soul out of bed baby 

What’s so funny? I’m at least trying and you’re staying a degenerate 

You’re lying in your bed about a broken phoney bone 

Come on I see a spark of something in ya

Skip the jokes, escape living in hysteria

=======================================================

Track 9: It Will Become

The doorbell has rung, it’s coming true

The silence and the dread, it ends here

You’ve waited and now it’s time

Come into the utopia of....

The future of earth will become

There is a past yes, it’s clear. 

You better take this face and choose your race and face the race for the constant search for anything

You’ve waited and now it’s time

Come into the the utopia of....

The future of your life will become

=========================================================

Track 10: Falling Apart 

I’ve got no legs

Fuck the shadows are in me too

These thoughts they won’t leave my head

Wait.... Why are my legs on the other side of the room

I was your everything

You were the one last thing I’d ever think of doing anything wrong to

Yet you’re right next to me with blood and blades all around you

I was yours and you were my one true love

And now arms are stuffed with lace

And my you’re chewing on one of my eyes

My tongue is stapled to my nose 

And my legs, oh god, you’re eating my toes

I was yours and I guess now I’m yours

Why did you cut me into this

We were best friends

And now I’m just meat

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

Oh, hey, good morning! 

=========================================================