#the thing about covid is that it did not bring people together and it sure as shit did not restore anyone's faith in humanity

[elvenking42]

.

[laurelwinchester]

my grandmother finally seems to be recovering from covid but my grandfather is still in the hospital. he's on oxygen and he thinks it's 1994. i hate this.

[merrybloomwrites]

A Podcast Love Story

Summary: The story of Shayne & Y/N, as told through a series of podcasts

AN: This story was inspired by a request from someone that tumblr isn't letting me tag, so that's dumb lol

Also, I tried to follow the actual timeline of when these podcasts were posted but I did take some creative liberty, so some things might not match up with when the were really posted irl

Wordcount: 3.4K

CW: very light mention of smut, talk about pregnancy

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SmoshCast #75 – How Shayne and Courtney Feel About Being Shipped Together

Dating someone who’s in the public eye was not entirely unexpected. You live in Los Angeles after all. When you and Shayne started dating in 2019 you decided to keep it a secret for a while. Neither of you were ready to share your relationship with the Smosh viewers yet.

This became more difficult when you decided to quarantine together in 2020 during the pandemic. Two weeks after he returned from Australia, when you were sure that neither of you had Covid, you packed your necessities and headed to Shayne’s. It was nice being together, but it did get complicated when he needed to film videos.

Sometimes you would go for a walk while he was filming. Other times you would hide in the other room. He’d triple check all his footage before submitting it to make sure you, and any of your belongings, weren’t in frame.

One day, a few months in, he and Courtney are recording an episode of the SmoshCast. He sets up at the small dining table in the corner of the living room. You’re on the couch, meaning you can’t be seen on the camera, but you are in Shayne’s view. It might not have been the smartest decision since you’re now stuck there for the entire time they record, but you have a book and a snack, so you get cozy.

You can only hear Shayne’s side of the conversation, so you’re not fully paying attention. That is, until you hear Shayne say, “If we so much as say hi to each other, Shartney fans poop themselves.” The mention of this ship between him and his castmate has you more focused on the conversation. Not because you’re jealous, because that would be ridiculous, but because all of you find it quite funny how hard the two of them are shipped.

He can’t stop looking over to you for the entire ten-minute segment. It’s subtle, but there’s definitely a connection between the two of you. It’s obvious that he’s reassuring you that there’s nothing to worry about. You especially like when he says, “You can ship me with anything. Ship me with bananas.” And you nearly lose it when he says, “I am begging you, please, make a ship edit of me and Kathy Bates.”

They continue to talk and the conversation steers towards how fans make assumptions based on what they see in videos. Shayne brings up how people were concerned about him for a few weeks at the beginning of quarantine. He starts to explain, “I was very quiet in those early podcasts, but the reason was, one, I was not getting enough sleep. I kept staying up late,” here he looks at you before quickly saying, “playing video games.” You again struggle to keep quiet, knowing that was not the truth. Unless “playing video games” has now become code for “having intimate moments with my girlfriend”.

He continues to talk about how his setup for recording was less than ideal and finishes by saying, “I wasn’t sad at all, I was actually having great days.” Again, you share a quick look, showing that you agree with him about how wonderful it’s been since you started living together.

They wrap up the podcast a little while later and Shayne is officially done with work for the day.

“Playing video games, huh?” you say teasingly.

“Oh yea, totally a pro gamer now,” he replies.

“You think so?” you say with a laugh.

“I mean, I could always use more practice,” he answers as he lifts you from the couch, carrying you to the bedroom.

SmoshCast #85 – American Horror Story: Adulting

A few months later and things are looking better in the world. This means a return to the office for everyone. You’d landed a job at Smosh, working in post-production, so now you and Shayne work together. You were nervous about being around each other all the time, but luckily there’s still a fair amount of the day when you’re apart. Shayne is often filming or in meetings or busy writing, and you spend most of the time at your desk working on the next video.

But sometimes, you get a break to see him. Shayne, Damien, and Coutney are filming a new SmoshCast episode, and you sneak in to watch from the back. The theme is “Adulting”, and they somehow start by talking about how they interact with the younger generation. You can’t help but smile as Shayne talks about his niece, endeared by the relationship he has with her. He also mentions grandchildren, which makes your imagination run away thinking about your future together.

You stay for a little while and just watch your boyfriend. He’s not saying anything crazy, or doing anything special, but you love listening to him give advice. You also love how attentive he is to his friends, how closely he listens to everything they say. When you do go back to your desk you take a moment to think about how lucky you are that this man, with a solid head on his shoulders and more emotional maturity than you’ve ever seen before, is your other half.

Smosh Mouth #5 – Shayne and Y/N Share Their Love Story

“Welcome back to Smosh Mouth, I’m Shayne.”

“And I’m Amanda.”

“And today we have a very special guest. We have my lovely wife, Y/N Topp,” Shayne says, smiling at you as he finished the introduction.

“Hello everyone,” you say into the microphone.

It’s weird being in front of the camera. It’s only happened a few times in the years that you’ve been with Shayne. Even though you also work at Smosh, you’re always behind the scenes. You’ve only really been in videos that highlight the crew, so the focus has rarely been on you.

But today you’re finally sitting down to do a podcast for the channel. They’d just revived the podcast after a nearly three-year hiatus.

So much has happened in your personal life since then. At the time that SmoshCast was airing, your relationship with Shayne was fairly new, and you weren’t ready to share it yet. Within a year of that last episode going live, you two had gotten engaged. This led to you guys getting married, and as of 22 weeks ago, you being pregnant with your first child.

“Well, I for one am very excited to have you here today,” Amanda says. “I cannot wait to grill you on every last detail of your relationship.” You all laugh at that, knowing that while you’re sharing more personal information than you ever have before, no one is going to push you or Shayne too much.

“So,” Amanda continues. “Tell me, how did you meet?”

You look to Shayne, encouraging him to start the story.

“We met in 2019,” he begins. “Someone had recommended a book to me, so I was at the library to pick it up. While I was looking through the shelf Y/N came over and started looking through the section as well. We kind of started at opposite ends and moved to meet in the middle. Turns out we were both looking for the same book.”

“No you were not!” Amanda interjects.

“We really were,” you say to confirm. “We basically have the most cliché meet-cute story.”

“Ya, no kidding! So, what happened next?” she asks.

“Well, I had picked up the book first and noticed Y/N glance at it. So we started talking and I told her she should take the book first and I’d read it when she’s done.”

“And then he very smoothly said he could give me his number so I could tell him when I was returning the book,” you add.

“Look at you,” Amanda says. “Making the bold moves.”

“I had to give it a try,” Shayne says with a laugh.

“And it worked. I texted him a couple weeks later, the day before I returned the book.”

“I didn’t have her number,” Shayne says. “And I was kicking myself for not getting it because waiting to hear from her was pretty torturous I’m not gonna lie. So as soon as she texted about the book I asked her on a date.”

“Which actually shocked me at first. I really though he only was interested in the book.”

“Did you know who he was?” Amanda asks. “Like, had you watched Smosh or seen him on TV before you met?”

“I did know who he was. I had just started watching Smosh, so I recognized him but really didn’t know much about him.”

“Did you start watching old videos and try to get to know more about him after you met? Or after he asked you out?”

“I tried not to. I wanted to get to know him naturally, not through videos online. But there was a video posted after he asked me out but before our date called ‘Why We’re Bad at Dating’ and I couldn’t resist. And I truly think it helped us hit it off on that first date.”

“How so?” Amanda inquires.

Shayne takes that question, saying, “In the episode I talked about what I do on dates that kind of lead to there not being a second date. And Y/N/N called me out on that.”

You chime in, adding, “He said he puts on a ‘CW’ version of himself. I told him not to do that. And I admitted to being just as anxious about the date as he was so we should just forget the pressure and hang out and get to know each other.”

“Well, that’s adorable,” Amanda says. “So obviously you started dating and kept dating. When did you take the next step?”

Shayne takes this question and says, “I asked her to be my girlfriend a couple months later. And then we moved in together shortly after the start of the pandemic. Which was slightly challenging when it came to filming at home for Smosh since we wanted to keep the relationship a secret for a while.”

“Yea, how in the world did you make that work?”

“We were very, very careful,” you say. “I definitely hid in the bathroom more than once to stay out of frame.” At this you all laugh, and you add, “Totally worth it, though.”

“Ok, next juicy question. Shayne, how did you propose?”

“So, I hired a sky writer,” he says before laughing and continuing, “No, just kidding. We’d been dating for a year and a half, living together for almost a year at the time. We rented a cabin in Colorado for a few days and on the second day we went on a hike. Packed a picnic, did the whole thing. And I uh, I proposed at the top of the mountain.”

“You guys are literally a romcom,” Amanda quips.

“Would a romcom do a hike proposal? I feel like they’re always at fancy restaurant or the beach. Or like, yelling ‘Will you marry me?’ As the girl walks away down a street in the pouring rain,” you say.

“Oh, a hike proposal is very Lifetime or Hallmark.”

“Good point, it’s totally been in at least one of those movies.”

“Did you like that it was on a hike?” Amanda asks.

“Yea, Y/N/N, did you like it?” Shayne says, pretending to be truly concerned and worried about your answer.

“Hated it,” you say jokingly. “No, honestly, I loved it. Shayne and I always bonded over how much we love nature, so it was perfect for us. I can’t imagine it being any other way. I know a lot of girls want to make sure their nails are done so they get that perfect ring picture, which totally fine, not judging at all. But it definitely felt right that I literally had dirt under my nails and scrapes on my palms from slipping up the hill. Much more authentic that way.”

“And the wedding, anything you want to share about it?” Amanda asks.

“We actually got married in New Mexico,” you say. “It was the central spot for both our families. It was last April, so, beautiful weather during the day. And we lucked out that the temperature didn’t drop too much at night.”

“Very nice,” Amanda replies. “Shayne, anything to add?”

“We kept it pretty small, just family, and close friends. I feel like it was a very typical wedding, but it was ours, you know? So, it was special.” Shayne blushes and you know that your wedding day means more to him than he’s letting on. And that’s fine with you. It was a private event, and even though you’re sharing your relationship now, neither of you want to give away too much about your wedding.

“Aw, he’s getting red,” Amanda jokes. “Did you go on a honeymoon?”

“We did. We went to Hawaii. Neither of us had been before so we knew it would be special for us. We wanted to experience something new together,” you answer.

“Cute!” she replies. “Now, dedicated fans know you guys are together, know you’re married and all that. But there is some news you two have to share that no one knows, is that correct?”

“That’s right,” Shayne says. He looks at you, silently asking if you want to say it. But you can tell he’s bursting to tell everyone, so you give him a nod to continue.

“Y/N and I are having a baby,” he says.

“Hell yea you are! Smosh baby!” Amanda cheers. “Congratulations to you both! Y/N, how are you feeling?”

“Pretty good right now. I’m in the second trimester so my morning sickness is mostly gone, thank god. We’re very excited, got some classes we’re planning to take and we’re reading all the books so I’m sure we will still be extremely unprepared,” you say with a laugh.

“If there’s anyone I trust to figure it out and be great parents, it’s the two of you,” Amanda replies earnestly.

“Thank you, Amanda,” Shayne says.

The podcast continues with Amanda continuing to ask questions and you and Shayne sharing more stories about your time together.

You wrap up recording by mid-afternoon. You have an appointment with your doctor scheduled and since it’s so close to the end of the day, Shayne was also given time off to join you. Everything goes well and as he drives you both home you can’t help but be grateful that the two of you were brought together.

Smosh Reads Reddit Stories: Office Nightmares

It’s been a month and a half since recording your episode of SmoshMouth, and three weeks since it aired. The news that you and Shayne are expecting a baby spread faster than anything you’d experienced before. You’d both received messages of congratulations from more people than you had ever expected: from Smosh fans to Disney fans, and even Goldbergs fans. You never imagined the amount of support you’d receive.

You had the morning off for yet another checkup with your doctor. You get back to the office early, but technically you’re still scheduled to be off, so you opt to sit in as they record the next Reddit Story video/podcast. It’s one of your favorite series currently, and you love listening to Shayne read all the stories.

He begins the third story, reading the title, “Am I the asshole for telling my wife that I’m not taking off of work to be present at our daughters’ birth?”

They joke around for a bit, and then he dives into the story, reading how the man explains that he couldn’t take off work cause there’s a project and they need him there. The wife finds out that’s a lie, and it mad that he didn’t take time off. He says he wants to work more so they’d have more money after the birth, and that the baby wouldn’t even remember him being there. He finishes by saying he doesn’t know why it’s such a big deal to be there at the birth, and even blames the wife’s hormones for her being upset about it.

Shayne, along with Spencer and Tommy begin to share their thoughts on the story. You smile and nod as Shayne makes the point of, “He keeps saying the baby’s not gonna remember, but you’re fucking wife will!”

They even give reasons why they’d understand him not being there, with Tommy saying, “If they were really desperate for cash then I’d get it,” and Spencer saying he’d understand if he were terrified of being around childbirth.

The boys then look over to you and Spencer says, “Y/N, you’re pregnant, how do you feel about this story?”

“Yea,” Tommy adds, “would you kill Shayne if he did this?”

“Oh, for sure!” you call out.

“C’mere,” Shayne says. “You’re probably the one most qualified to give an opinion here.”

You look to Kiana who’s directing the video and she gives you a nod, so you walk onto the set and stand behind Shayne, leaning down so your face is next to his and your voice will get picked up on his microphone.

“What are you’re thoughts on this?” Tommy asks.

“You guys definitely made a lot of great points. I mean, childbirth is terrifying, and I keep trying to ignore the fact that I do have to actually, you know, birth a human. But I know that Shayne will be there and is studying to be the best support person. I mean, he’s read enough books about it, I think he could deliver the baby himself if necessary,” you say with a laugh.

“I will add, if this was the father of my child, I’d wonder what he actually deems important. Because this is arguably one of the biggest days of everyone’s life. First of all, it should be important to him. It’s literally his child entering the world. It’s a privilege to be one of the first people that baby will ever meet. And then, what will be a big enough deal for him to take off work in the future? Baby’s not gonna remember her first birthday, is he gonna go to that? She has a dance recital at three years old, is he going to think that’s silly and not go?”

“Oh, I didn’t think of that, but it makes sense,” Spencer replies. “He definitely seems to have his priorities and being there for his family isn’t one.”

“I truly cannot imagine not being there when our kid is born,” Shayne says. “My worst fear would be if something kept me from being there.”

“Because you’re a good person,” Tommy says bluntly, and everyone laughs.

You head back off camera as they continue on.

After a few more stories Shayne begins another entry, titled, “And I the asshole for eating the last doughnut before my pregnant coworker could have one?” He looks at you once he reads it and laughs before saying, “Y/N’s face says, yes absolutely you are.”

He reads the story which explains that the young employee ate his allotted two doughnuts, and when the pregnant coworker didn’t show up after half an hour, he ate her two as well. She gets there shortly after and explains she had car trouble and is upset to see everyone had a treat but didn’t save her any. Later, the boss pulls aside the employee to tell him he’d been rude to his coworker.

After he finishes the post the boys discuss the etiquette of eating communal snacks in the office before Shayne says, “Also, if there is one thing I know, it’s that you never mess with a pregnant woman’s food unless you want to die.” You laugh so loudly at this that you know for sure the mics picked it up from across the room.

“Y/N, anything to add?” Spencer says.

You walk over again and state, “Listen, all I’m say is that I’m mad you guys are just talking about doughnuts when we don’t have any. Cause cravings are a bitch and now I am literally not going to stop thinking about doughnuts until I get one.”

After moving offscreen you realize you need to pee, again, so you leave the studio to head to the bathroom. Once you’re out of the room Shayne says, “Hey Kiana, can I have my phone a second?”

“Why do you need your phone?” Spencer asks.

“I gotta doordash some doughnuts.”

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AN: Thanks for reading! Let me know if you have any requests for Shayne stories!

Taglist: @american-girl001 @tatumrileyslover @queenofcaradelle @1nkm0nster

[gyll-yee-haw]

Heartbreakingly yours

🌻Husband!Jake x Wife!reader (Angst/Smut)

(Bonus: our good boy Leo Gyllenhaal!)🐕

🍂Prompt: You're heartbroken, your marriage is falling apart and Jake knows it's his fault. He has to do something before it's too late.

🌿Warnings: angst (with a happy ending), broken marriage, fights, mentions of anxiety and insecurity, oral sex (f), unprotected sex, bit of spanking...

Like 5.2k words 💀

---

Peace filled your mind and fresh air filled your lungs as soon as you left the city. Leo surely felt that too, as he had his head out of the car window, tongue out, euphoric with the way the wind hit his face. You smiled watching the German Shepherd through the mirror, so unaware he would have the time of his life this weekend. Jake kept his eyes on the road as he drove.

It was a two hours drive to the county side, where Jake rented a house for the weekend. He had been working non-stop since the pandemics.

Working on everything but your relationship.

They say the first year is the hardest. Well, for you it wasn't. You and Jake got married a few months before COVID spread, so you spent the first year of your marriage on a never ending honeymoon. Trapped inside a brand new house the two of you decorated in the coziest way, everything turned into sex. From making bread, laughing together to vaguely looking in each other's direction, it would somehow lead to sex.

It was a calm life. That's what you missed the most: tranquility. Peace. Silence. You didn't expect things to change.

Jake went back to work before people stopped wearing masks, and you saw your honeymoon start to crumble. And you didn't think it was a bad thing, at first... Jake loved his job and you were dying to see his new projects. You were happy that things were going back to normal and married life was about to start.

You were happy, but you weren't ready.

You weren't ready for the sleepless nights waiting for him to come back. Or the nights he wouldn't come back, cause he was on another continent. For the days you'd freak out because he didn't answer your calls or replied to your texts. For the fans thirsting over him on the new promos, hating on you. For his costars who just... looked better than you. For the fact that even when he was home, it wasn't the same anymore, because he was always either too tired or rambling about things that didn't include you anymore.

And he started to grow distant. Or maybe you did. You weren't sure who's fault it was, all you knew is that you forgot what his lips tasted like... or what it felt like to be safe and loved.

You and Jake had been planning this trip before things got too bad. Because both of you missed that nothingness you tasted for a moment.

You expected it to be canceled, but now you were on your way. Anxiety filled your guts just imagining being trapped with him for a whole weekend without being able to talk. Not because you didn't have anything to say, but you just felt like everything about you was so irrelevant and boring now. You didn't remember when was the last time you two sat on a sofa and laughed at the most absurd things you said to each other... the sense of humor you shared and the inside jokes... you were afraid to bring some of that up now and earn a weird look from him. You were afraid he didn't remember what it felt like before.

Very few words were said during the car ride. Still, the air on the country side brought you peace. For now, the grass and the sight of the mountains on the horizon cleared your mind.

---

The first thing Jake did after parking in front of the cutest little stone cottage was open the car door for Leo, watching him run like no tomorrow. He was a senior dog now, but he acted like a puppy everytime he saw a big field... running, jumping, barking until he ran out of breath. Then he would come inside, drink water for 5 uninterrupted minutes and pass out by Jake's feet.

You sat in the car for a few moments still, watching the dog with a smile on your face. No matter how hard this weekend would be for you, at least Leo deserved it.

"Wanna come inside?" Jake's voice startled you a bit. You only realized you dissociated for a while when you saw he had already picked up the bags from the trunk and stood beside you with the keys in his hand.

"Sure." You nodded. As soon as you got out of the car, you felt nervous. The car was safe, the two of you were distracted by the road... what about now?

You followed him to the entrance. You were in awe when he opened the door. The house was somehow even cuter inside. First thing you see as you walk in is a colorful living room. You could see plants hanging from all surfaces and a rusty book shelf. An old small tv was placed in front of a terracotta colored sofa, where a few wool blankets were placed, all handmade, decorated with different patterns. A few more steps would lead you to a small kitchen with wooden cabinets painted white, filled with baby blue accessories, including a baby blue fridge, that could only be described as vintage. The dining room separated the kitchen from the living room, containing a table for six, an old record player and a bunch of candles.

"It's very pretty." You commented, looking around.

"I know." He smiled, relieved that you liked it. "There are two bedrooms upstairs. And two bathrooms too. One has a bathtub and all."

"That's lovely." You stood there awkwardly, not knowing exactly what to do. "Do you need help taking the bags upstairs?"

"Hm... yeah, that would be nice, we should do that." He handed you the smallest bag. He didn't really need help. But what was he going to say? The truth is that he was just as lost as you.

You followed him into a cozy bedroom upstairs. The biggest one. It didn't have much inside. A small wardrobe and a queen sized bed covered in white sheets, decorated with lace. On each side of the bed, a small table with a lamp.

The light coming through the window made the place look ethereal, no matter how simple it was. You wondered what would be like to wake up on that place beside someone you love. The room would look pretty boring through the eyes of someone who didn't know what being in love felt like, but you knew it. You knew it because he was looking at you, and something in that room made the eyes you knew so well never seem bluer. Fear invaded your heart as you wondered if Jake felt that too. For months you worried about how you looked through his eyes, but never more than now. He knew what being in love felt like, you were sure of that. But did that light remind him of it? Did he love you still?

"Are you tired?" He asked.

"A little." You admitted. "I... I need to stretch my legs a bit, it was a long drive."

"Yeah." He agreed. "It's a bit further than I remembered."

Remembered? You were caught by surprise.

"Have you been here before?" You asked, trying to hide how your guts told you there was something wrong.

"Yeah." He furrowed his eyebrows. "I came to have a look before bringing you here."

You stood in silence for a while. He never mentioned it. You would remember it.

"Y/N, what's wrong?" He spoke when he realized you wouldn't.

"Nothing." You lied terribly. "You just didn't mention it."

"I thought I did." He shrugged.

You tried as hard as you could to hold it in you, but the question slipped out.

"Were you alone?"

"What are you suggesting?" He looked at you absolutely incredulous.

"Answering a question with another question is trying to escape it." You would never talk back to him like that if you weren't beyond pissed. You were exhausted.

You were ready for your marriage to die of natural causes. You were ready to hear that he didn't find you attractive anymore. That he got tired of you. That he didn't really enjoy being married. Anything. Anything but being fucking cheated on.

"No. I wasn't alone, in fact." He shook his head and let out a chuckle. "The real estate agent showed me around."

"Is it funny?" Your voice cracked a little and that made you even more angry. You. weren't. going. to. cry.

"Yeah, it's a bit funny, actually." He replied, now as angry as you. "I'm being accused of cheating because I tried to do something for you."

"For me?" You raised your voice. "To keep me entertained once a year so I will keep being your stupid little obedient wife? Oh sorry, I forgot to kneel at your feet and thank you for all these wonderful crumbs of attention I've been getting!"

His eyes were wide and his mouth shut. He had no idea what to say. He simply didn't know how he felt. There was anger. Anger because of your tone. There was guilt. Guilt because of your words. But what dominated him was the deepest sadness he had ever felt. He obviously knew your marriage was falling apart. But he was a coward and all he was doing to try and save it was act like nothing happened and bring you to this stupid trip.

And there were no word to describe what he felt when you walked out of that room and he wasn't brave enough to follow you.

His body felt heavy. He sat on the bed, head in hands, wondering if that was it. Wondering how could he fail so hard at the one thing that was more important to him.

---

Took him 40 agonizing minutes to get out of that room. But at some point, he realized that he just couldn't do that anymore. He wanted you back. He needed you back. Your laugh, your passion, your strength, your touch. He couldn't keep hoping everything would go back to how it was. He had to earn it. And it if was too late... he had to let you go. Seeing you suffer like that was destroying him.

He walked downstairs and saw you in the living room, sitting on the rug, back against the sofa. Leo was peaceful asleep with his head on your lap. Jake approached slowly, trying not to startle any of you. You felt his presence, but didn't do anything about it. Didn't look in his direction or wiped the tears from your face. He deserved to see them.

"Y/N..." He sighed, sitting beside you on the floor.

"I'm fine, doesn't matter." You said bitterly.

He knew he would have to choose his words carefully. You weren't open for him. He needed to pave his way in.

"He always does that." He said, pointing at Leo. "He can't stand to see you cry... he'll rush to you, protect you. Even with all this space to play he..."

"I know." You interrupted him.

"I should learn from him, shouldn't I?" He admitted sadly.

"But you have all this space to play." You shrugged. "Paris. Milan. LA. All on the same week."

"Y/N, I know I've been the worst. I know I've been making a thousand mistakes..." He closed his eyes, feeling guilt consume him. "But I swear I never even looked at another woman."

"It's a matter of time." Was all you could say. "All those gorgeous costars. Models everywhere. All dying for just one night... and that would be perfect, wouldn't it? A body a thousand times better than mine and no feelings attached. You can just leave them like you did to me, except that no one will whine about it. You won't have to waste your precious time doing something like this to keep them quiet."

"Don't say that..." Those were probably the worst words ever directed to him. "I don't want that. I don't want any of that. I want all the feelings I only ever felt with you. I want to come home to you."

"But you just don't." You shrugged. "You left one day and never came back to me. I am still here, waiting for you. But you never come back..."

"No, Y/N... I never left, I promise you..." He rested his hand on top of yours and it felt like the first time in weeks you had any kind of physical contact. "The man I truly am could never leave your side. But he's just... lost inside me somewhere. I... I buried him too deep while I was trying to be the actor, the professional, the face people wanted to see and I... I just couldn't find him anymore."

"I hope it was worth it." You gave him the saddest smile.

No, those were the worst words ever directed to him.

You gently moved Leo's head so you could stand up. The poor dog was too exhausted from running, so he just adjusted himself on the rug and went back to sleep. You turned your back to Jake.

Only this time he wasn't going to let you leave.

You felt strong hands gripping your arms from behind and let out a gasp as he pushed your body against his.

"No, it wasn't fucking worth it." He grunted. His hands were shaking. "And I've learnt my fucking lesson. I'm going to dig as deep as I have to, but I'll bring him back to you, if you'll have him."

"Let me go." You tried to free yourself from his grip, but you couldn't. Maybe you didn't try that hard. Maybe you were just testing if he would put up a fight.

"I'm not letting you go. Ever." He didn't mean physically. The look in his eyes as his face was now dangerously close to yours indicated that.

"How can I trust you?" You begged internally for him not to kiss you, because if he did, you would believe every word he said.

"Because I've already started digging." He told you. "This house... when I decided to bring you here... I needed to be alone with you. Away from everything. Somewhere people don't expect anything from me."

"Right. Very nice, we spend a nice holiday fucking like rabbits once every six months..." You said sarcastically. "Then we go back to our life in New York, where it all goes to shit again. Then we come back here and it's wonderful... a never ending cycle. Seems like hell to me."

"No, baby..." His voice grew more desperate. "It's never gonna be like that again. Never. Nothing changes when we go to New York. This place is just... somewhere to run away to when it gets overwhelming."

"Jake." You kept your head high and spoke firmly. "I need you to be husband when things are hard and overwhelming, not only when everything is peaceful and quiet. I am not going to escape. I have to face a lot of shit every single day and every single day I choose to be by your side. You better do the same for me."

It was like slapping him on the face. But it made him love you more than ever. You were so brave.

"I just feel so undeserving of you all the damn time." He admitted, bringing one hand to your cheek. "Exactly because you have to face a lot of shit and it's my fault. I thought... I thought I was protecting you by pushing you away, then... then I thought I could protect you by taking you somewhere far away from all that but... but you're right. I fucked up terribly. I'm protecting you from everything but me, and I ended up hurting you the most."

"Jake..." Your heart was heavy. Maybe you were a bit hard on him... he was confused and filled with good intentions. But how could you solve anything without being rough when he built a brick wall between you?

"I will never be able to tell you how fucking sorry I am. How fucking stupid I feel." He admitted, tears filling his eyes. "I will understand if I'm not the man you need. Fuck, I know I'm not the man you deserve, but..."

"Jacob." You cut him, and he was ready for you to hurt him. "Kiss me."

He cursed under his breath. He was so divided... he didn't feel like he deserved to ever feel your lips again. But God, how he wanted to.

The moment his lips were on yours, you were filled with hope. It still felt the same. It still felt like home. And if you could bring home to this place miles away, you could take the peace that flooded the little cottage all the way back home.

But hope wasn't the only thing the kiss ignited in you. As it got deeper, Jake's hands wrapped around your body and squeezed you like you were going to disappear. Like this was all a dream and he would go mad if he woke up. The way his body felt against yours brought memories from those happy times, when the two of you were never not in contact. And you needed it back, even if only for a few hours.

Jake felt the exact same way, but he was scared to make a move and ruin everything. So he waited for you to give him a sign. And when you bit his bottom lip, letting out a moan as your hand gripped on his hair... he understood that as a sign.

The two of you were physically incapable of letting go of each other as you walked upstairs. You were desperated, yes, but this wasn't a matter for a quickie on the sofa or against a wall. Jake felt the absolute need to worship you and nothing less. Take his sweet time, even if he never got to cum that night.

He laid you on the bed and you looked at him a little less sure now. He knew that look. You were feeling insecure. A lot had changed since your honeymoon phase and that included your body. But not only that, you were distant for so long, what if something went wrong? What if the sex was terrible and you realize you lost the connection... would that be the end?

"Jake, maybe I..." You tried to find a good excuse to stop it.

"We don't have to, if you're not comfortable." He assured you. "I'll understand it."

"But..." The thought of not having him on that moment seemed more terrifying. You craved him badly, body and soul. "But I want you so bad..."

"I want you too." He felt his heart flutter and got really emotional again. "So badly. But I can stop at any moment if you need me to, okay?"

You nodded. You seemed a little more confident now, but he decided to take things very slow anyway, to make sure everything would be perfect. He knew your body better than his own and he would trust your little signs.

His kisses on your neck had you pressing your thighs together, and that was his sign to start undressing you.

He took his time. Every time a piece of clothing was discharged, he would run his fingers and spread kisses all over the newly exposed skin. He was going to apologize to every single inch of you.

"What did you say earlier about a body a thousand times better than yours? Like that's even possible..." He smirked. You hadn't changed your mind, but the look on his face made it very clear that he didn't agree with you. The look on his face made it very clear that you were a goddess in his eyes. That he was as in love with you now as he was when he saw you walk down the aisle.

He stopped just to look at you for a moment. He couldn't believe he was that lucky and he almost lost you.

"Hmm... Jake?" You moaned impatiently.

"Shhh... gonna take care of you, my sweet angel." His eyes shined from the tears he wasn't allowing to fall. "Gonna be the husband you deserve from now on, okay? Promise you..."

His hands ran down the sides of your body as he worshiped your breasts with his mouth, whispering "I promise you" over and over again.

He spread open mouth kisses all the way down your belly as he removed your panties.

"You're a fucking goddess, look at you..." The way he was adoring you didn't give your insecurities any time to speak.

He grabbed your thighs like his life depended on it. When he got his mouth on you, you remember just how much that man loved eating pussy. And by how eager he seemed, he probably remembered it at that moment as well. By the obscene noises he made. How long had it been? How long since you last felt his tongue enter you and explore your walls until your hips bucked messily against his face? How long since he last sucked your clit until your eyes rolled back like now... how long since you came that embarrassingly quick?

"Jake... please..." You tried to sit down and push his head away, painfully sensitive, but he wasn't moving.

He wasn't moving at all. He wasn't stimulating you anymore, he just kept his face pressed against your pussy as he hugged your thighs. God, he never wanted to leave that place.

"Jake, come here, baby, come here..." You called. His red eyes met your gaze. He was a mess. Tears mixed with your wetness on his face.

He was heartbreakingly yours at that moment.

He was more yours now than the moment you placed that golden ring on his finger... one he was so proud of, he didn't even want to play single characters in movies anymore, just so he didn't have to take it off.

You had to insist very much before he was brave enough to lose contact with you, even if it only lasted a few seconds until he was laying on top of you.

Your hands went to his face, half caressing him, half cleaning that mess. His eyes were so soft it hurt.

"Can I kiss you?" He murmured, barely able to make a sound.

"Right now and everyday, for the rest of our lives. Forever." You smiled at him.

He didn't waste a second, for he had already wasted too much time. His lips met yours and it was like the kiss could tell you how he felt better than his words could. He was so angry with himself. His hungry kiss, the way he desperately ate you out before, everything, every touch asked for your forgiveness, begged for all the things he craved, even though he felt deeply undeserving.

You hated it. That man, whose lips tasted like you, wasn't the man who abandoned you. That man was dead. Died of a heartbreak, right there on that bed. Now you needed your Jake back. And on that very same bed, you'd find him.

"Jake..." You moaned against his lips. "Need you to make sweet love to me, baby..."

He was obviously already rock hard from eating you out earlier, but hearing you say that absolutely broke him.

You watched him undress fully, he needed as much skin contact with you as possible, and you surely wouldn't complain about it. Jake's body has always been mindblowing, but his latest roles had demanded him to work out a lot... your eyes widened as you saw his defined abdomen. You kinda regretted having asked for sweet sex for a minute after seeing his physique, you felt like you needed him to ruin you. Nasty and loud. But the sweet look in his eyes showed you that was far from what he needed now, and you decided to wait. After all... there would be plenty of opportunities to have him however you wanted if he keeps his promise. And when you saw him remove his underwear, thick cock hitting his abdomen... his hands were very big, but didn't make his cock seem any less intimidating as he stroked himself. On that moment you were grateful for taking things slow.

He pushed the tip inside you, eyes on yours the entire time, to make sure you were okay. He saw you furrow your eyebrows and slowed down... then you let out a moan of pain, and he stopped.

"Baby?" His hand went to your cheek, caressing it lovingly.

"It's just been a while." You explained, but quickly added more words before he could get sad for not satisfying you for so long. "But I can take it... remember?"

"I remember." He chuckled. "I thought about it everytime I was away... all the things we did... hold on, baby, I'm almost all the way in..."

You nodded and took a deep breath.

He hit a spot so deep that got you arching your back before he even started moving.

"The things we did..." You smiled at him. "The things we're still going to do..."

"Yeah?" He smirked, giving you one experimental thrust, checking if you were adjusting to his size. "Tell me about them. What do you want me to do to you, honey?"

"Hmm..." You thought about it for a second. You didn't want to tell him what you were thinking minutes ago...

"Come on, pretty girl, don't get all shy now." He chuckled, keeping his hips moving very very slowly. "Tell me what's on your mind. I'll do whatever you want."

"Well... maybe... maybe some other time I... would like it rough." You admitted. It was ridiculous to be so shy at that point, when he was burried deep inside you. But you were coming from months of avoiding saying the wrong thing.

"Rough?" He repeated, his mouth going towards your neck, giving you small kisses, giving you shivers as he spoke close to your ear. "Too vague, baby, you can do better than that."

Oh? When did he go from begging for forgiveness to teasing? He was getting bold. Bold like your Jake was.

His dirty talk made you wetter and prepared for him to speed up his thrusts a bit.

"Fuck..." You wrapped your legs around him, keeping him close. "Want you to fuck me stupid from behind... don't wanna be able to walk... want..."

You got interrupted by a loud slap on your thigh. It didn't exactly hurt, but you weren't expecting it... you looked at him wide-eyed.

"Sorry, fuck..." He shut his eyes, hands gripping on the sheets on both side of your head until his knuckles went white. "You're driving me crazy, I don't want to lose control."

"Why?" You moaned as he started going a bit faster.

"Cause you asked me to make sweet love to you." He smiled. Something about his dimples when he smiled... "And I really really want to."

"Well, I..." You tried to argue, but he wasn't having it.

"Don't worry, sweetheart." He burried his face on the crook of your neck again, proceeding to go deeper inside you as he did. "We have all the time in the world. Hope you got enough sleep these last months... cause you won't get any tonight. Fuck, maybe not even tomorrow..."

"Jake..." You moaned. "It's still sweet love if you go a little faster..."

"Eager little brat." He shook his head. "Want another slap?"

"Yes..." You smirked.

"Yes?" He raised his eyebrows.

"You said whatever I want." You gave him a pleading look.

He meant it, he would do anything for you. Specially if it didn't envolve leaving that bed. So he gave your thigh another slap. You gasped, but looked at him with pure lust in your eyes.

And that did it for him. He had to go faster now. When he finally did, he got lost in pleasure, lost in you. Fuck, it had been a while and you felt so fucking good. The room was filled by moans and grunts and skin slapping. The pace was wild, but the looks you exchanged... the way his hands squeezed yours... that was sweet, sweet love making.

"Jake! Fuck..." You shut your eyes hard, feeling you were getting close again. "I'm gonna..."

"Y/N, look at me." He rested his forehead on yours, never stopping.

You tried your best to hold it. You opened your eyes and looked at him quite desperate. You thought it was one of those 'look at me while you cum' moments, but...

"I love you." He said. "I fucking love you... always have..."

"Jake..."

"Loved you every single day since I first saw you." His movements indicated he was close too. "Will love you til the day I die..."

"I... I love you too, Jakey, love you so much..." You replied, tears in your eyes both from hearing those words you hadn't heard in so long, and from trying to hold the orgasm that was dangerously close to burst.

"Fuck, baby, cum for me, I know you need it..." He smiled, heart melting at your words, he was dying to give you the best orgasm of your life, he didn't even care about his own, and God, he was close. "Let go for me, want you to cum so good, baby..."

The thing is that you would also do anything for him. You came. Hard. Loudly. Screaming his name. The freedom, the relief you felt... it was your second orgasm of the night, but it felt different with him inside you. It felt different because you barely came down from your high and you felt his cock throbbing painfully, until he spilled himself inside of you. So much you felt like it would leak out of you for days. And you weren't even sure if he enjoyed it fully, because he was so busy admiring you.

He pulled out way to soon for your liking. But he just didn't want to waste time... he needed to kiss all over your body.

"Hey!" You chuckled, feeling too overstimulated for that. "I know we're not sleeping tonight, but I could use a break..."

"Fine." He sighed, laying down beside you. "Listen, I'm really sorry, I..."

"It's fine. Let's move on, okay?" You got closer, resting your head on his strong chest. "I forgive you."

"Thank you... you're wonderful, did you know that?" He wrapped his arms around you.

"You're wonderful too." You assured him, running your fingers through his abdomen. "Taking your time to fix things. Admitting your mistakes. Bringing me here. Mindblowing sex. The dinner you're about to cook..."

"Oh, am I?" He left out a laugh.

"Whatever I want." You shrugged. "50 years from now I'll still be using your words against you."

The idea of you being an old couple teasing each other brought him the warmest feeling ever. He promised himself he would work hard for it.

"God, I hope you are." He kissed the top of your head. "I hope you are."

---💚---

[yoonmoonn]

Hiya Leo! Can I request a angst/fluffy au for Jungkook x male reader with situation prompt 2. "He walks behind you when you're in online class" where after Jungkook walks past reader(they're in a secret relationship), readers classmates try to befriend him just so they can meet Jungkook. After class reader feels sad that they only want to be friends just because of Jungkook and Jungkook comforts reader and they cuddle in bed.? Have a good morning, day, night <33

online saddness | jjk

pairing: jungkook x male!reader

genre: fluff, angst

warnings: none

word count: 920

a/n: i'm so sorry this took so long but school has been beating my ass 😭 in the weekend i'm probably post something so 👀

you hated online classes. the interrupted sound and the pixelated images, having to wake up earlier than usual for some classes and all the connection problems. the only thing that was keeping you sane through all of this was your boyfriend - jungkook.

when covid hit, you both decided to quarantine yourself together at his house, wanting to spend all the free time together. you yawn for the nth time before looking at yourself in the corner of your boyfriends monitor. a figure walking behind you catches your eye and you quickly turn around to see your boyfriend looking shocked at you, a worried and regretful look on his face.

he quickly gazes at the monitor, making sure you were muted before his wide eyes look back into yours "shit. i'm so sorry my love, i didn't realise your camera was on" he whispers. your gaze softens at the sight of his worried face "it's okay koo, don't worry" you whisper back. you turn to your lecture again to see some of your classmates' eyes wide, shock evident on their faces "shit" you silently curse. you forgot that some of them were ARMYs.

you look at jungkook, who was in the kitchen, before looking back at your notes. as the teacher announces the homework, signalling the end of the class, you hear your phone buzz. "let's hang out in the meet after the teacher leaves" one of your classmates' texts in the class group chat. you notice some classmates sending in thumbs-ups, so you do too "i should socialise with other people rather than only koo and bam" you chuckle.

like he was reading your mind, the doberman walks over and plops down by your feet, his head resting on the fluffy blanket that laid in your lap - one that your boyfriend made sure you weren't missing, muttering something about the coldness in his house and you wearing shorts. you pet bam's head as you watch your teacher leave the meeting after bidding everyone goodbye.

turning back to jungkook, you watch him for a few as he makes lunch for the both of you "hey koo, i'm gonna stay with my classmates for a few more minutes, just tell me when lunch is ready, okay? " you smile when he nods, his cute pout making you giggle.

you put your headphones back on and turn on your mic, saying a quick greeting before one of the girls in your class interrupts you, a fake smile on her face "hey y/n! how are you? "she asks, but before you can answer she interrupted you again "why did you never tell us that you knew jungkookie oppa? is he as hot as everyone says?" she giggles and some of the others join her "you know, when all this online thing finishes we should all go out sometime, you should bring him too." someone else exclaims before the rest of your classmates join in to agree.

you feel tears well up in your eyes. how come they never even really talked to you until now? before anyone can say anything else you exit the call, trying to stop the tears from flowing down your cheeks. you close the computer and hurry to the bedroom, trying to suppress a cry. closing the door, you sit down on the bed and finally let the tears fall.

you couldn't understand why you were feeling like this. shouldn't you be happy that they want to hang out with you? shouldn't you be happy that jungkook gets recognised? your thoughts get interrupted by a knock on the door and jungkook pocking his head with a frown evident on his face. "baby? what happened ?" he rushes to you when he sees the tears on your face.

kneeling down in front of you, he cradles your face in his hands and wipes the tears off your red cheeks. you shake your head, embarrassed to tell him you're crying over something so stupid. seeing the frown on his face you sigh, looking down at your lap "some of my classmates who never even talked to me before suddenly wanted to hang out after they saw you.

i don't know, it just made me feel bad. i'm sorry, i know it's childish-" he cuts you off before you could even finish, lifting your head so you could look him in the eyes again "first of all, it's not childish, and second, don't you dare apologise. it's not your fault. just ignore them okay?" he whispers as he gets up and pulls you in bed with him, throwing your favourite fluffy blanket on your bodies.

his warm hands wipe the new tears from your face before he presses a sweet kiss on the tip of your nose. "they don't deserve your tears" he smiles, wrapping his arms around you to protect you from the chilly air in his house. he pulls the blanket further on your shoulder and starts tracing thoughtless patterns on your waist.

his free hand pushes your head further into the crook of his neck before playing with your hair. your bodies were like puzzle pieces, fitted perfectly together under the fluffy blanket.

he presses short and sweet kisses all over your face, before pressing a final one on your lips "i love you" he whispers. you smile softly and nuzzle further in his chest "i love you too bunny" you mutter before the both of you fall into a slumber, lunch long forgotten on the kitchen counter.

[kairithemang0]

Disney is such an interesting company, the way it's evolved over time to what it is now. Apart of me is disappointed, another part of me feels as though the current drought of good Disney content was inevitable.

I think about right after Walt died, how the company struggled then. However, even then I think their movies were still good, Robin Hood, the Aristocats, Great Mouse Detective, they're still good movies.

That's the era my parents grew up in, sure looking back on it now you can see the flaws in some of the movies, how the animation wasn't as polished as it was before Walt's passing, but then I compare it to the movies now.

The 2020s haven't been a good decade for Disney, Raya, Strange World, Wish, they all flopped. Encanto only made waves on Disney+, which is a good thing but that's one movie out of 5 that have come out of Disney in the past 4 years

Then you have to look at the remakes, how much money they're getting from those. However, their recent ones are flopping. The public knows what they're doing now, just remaking their old movies isn't going to keep bringing in money. The Lion King, Aladdin, they made over 1 billion dollars, The Little Mermaid? Under 600 million. That's still a lot of money, but Disney is also putting in so much money into these movies just for them to fail. People are sick of the remakes, they're sick of the sequels, but their original products aren't causing any excitement.

I don't know if Disney is still dealing with lost time and profits from Covid, but it's sad to see other studios doing so well only for Disney, who reigned supreme last decade with Moana and Frozen and Wreck it Ralph, to fall behind again

Disney seems to do this a lot, actually. The 80s were bad, the 2000s weren't great, the 2020s are bad again. Maybe the 30s will bring us something good, if Disney gets their act together and figures out what people want again.

People ask for 2d, for that old disney feel to come back. An obviously evil villain. Villains don't need a tragic backstory, they don't need anything, but this twisted foulness, a catchy song, and to be memorably evil.

Scar, Ursula, Lady Tremaine. You look at them and you go "oh yeah, they're evil". Which not to say Disney can't do twist villains, but it fails more often than it succeeds. Turbo was a great twist villain, his motivation was there and he was fun. But Hans? And Yokai? It felt random, out of place, like they were lacking the motivation to be good villains.

Scar wants power, so does Ursula, and Tremaine more of enjoys torturing her adopted daughter. These three are so iconic because they're so unashamedly evil and cruel, they're these powerful figures that spark fear into people who get what they deserve in the end.

But Magnifico? He's so painfully boring, he's so underdeveloped. It's sad, disheartening the way he could've been so interesting and yet fell flat in such a pitiful way.

I sometimes think about once upon a studio, this gorgeous mix of all pieces of disney animated history, every movie in there. No pixar or marvel or star wars, just everyone who started this, who made disney disney. It's such a lovely short, and it just radiates this pure disney energy, vibrant and colorful and magical. That's what disney is missing now, maybe that's me growing up, maybe it's just not for me anymore.

but honestly, i don't think this generation is going to have that nostalgia for disney the way me or my parents did, it's lost that because it feels so manufactured, this charm that only disney could do gone.

a weird way to say this is the new intro that plays at the start of their movies, it just feels so manufactured, like all it wanted to do was slide references into it to remind you of better movies. that 2000s/2010s CGI intro? that's my shit. the basic 2d intro? it's a classic, it's memorable, but this new one just doesn't have that affect

this is one man's opinion on something he once loved, but i'd love to hear other thoughts on what disney has become

[grigori77]

Critical Role, Campaign 3 Episode 104

Fucking hell ... right away, then ... AmongUs has happened ... I mean I know Ahsley's gonna be one of the vices in the new show, but still ... aha ... so THAT'S what this is about ... yes, that's right ... that's not Travis ... Matt: "What is happening?" Wow ... that's a lot of impostors ... having trouble there, Liam? Oh, it's not Liam ... looks like Tal was the only real one here ... and Marisha was in on this? Hmmmm ... yeah, Matt is not amused ...

Aha, so they're all back now ... that's more like it ... and that's a NICE HAT, Robbie ...

The Healing Party? Cute ... Marisha: "What's Jester doing on there?" Ooooooooh ... do you need some ICE FOR THAT BURN, miss?

Yeah! That's right! Delilah is now OUT OF THE PICTURE!!! Yeah ... sweet! I can't wait to see how VM might react to that news ...

Oh yeah! Grog! And Pike! So cool ...

Yes ... awkward ... yeah ... hmmmm ...

Oh, here we go ... it's the general standard chaotic disorder when you bring these many disparate authorities together to try and make them PARTICIPATE for the common good ...

History check? Already? Hmmm ... Galtheid of the Ember Vigil? Right ... sounds fancy ...

Ah, bureaucracy ... even in the middle of a war is can always be relied upon to gum up the works ...

Wow ... way to drop a bombshell on the gathering there, Ashton ... O.O

Yes! Go off, Keyleth. Get these asshats into some semblance of order ... oh nice ... oooooh, that's so cool ... water magic Return of the Jedi strategy projection ... nice ...

A fortress? Seriously? That's just CHARMING ...

J'Mon Sa'Ord? Sweet!

Hey! Those people are just as cool and normal as the regular folk of Exandria! Cut 'em some slack!

Oh, here we go ... yeah, nice way to big up the Hells ...

Celestials? Really? Interesting ...

Yeah, the Blue Dream. Greenland's kind of another thing ... XD

Ah ... yeah ... here we go ... dropping the BIG bombshell ... the truth about what this is all about ... this won't go down well at all, I'm sure ...

The Holy Curator of the Lawbearer ...

Ashton! Wow ... dial it down a notch, maybe? Sugarcoat the truth a little, at least ...

Braius? Wow ... oh, shit, Persuasion check? Hmmm ... THIRTY?!!! Fuck, man ...

Evoroa! Hey! So nice to see you, little cutie! :3

Fearne's little "WHOOOO!!!" for Evoroa to perk up her spirits is adorable ... XD

Wow ... yeah, she is SOOOOO nervous ... I wanna give her a big hug SO BADLY ...

Laudna sneaks her some water ... Awwwww ... :3 Imogen (in her head): "You did so great, sweetie."

The Cerberus Assembly? BOOOOO!!! Laura: "INSIGHT CHECK!!!" No shit ...

Oh yeah, this guy is a DEUCHE ...

So ... that went well ... kind of ... in a way ... very loosely ...

REUNION!!! Yay!

Awwww ... Kima, we love you! :3

Ah, Vasselheim. So well protected it could almost be called PARANOID ...

Oh yeah ... Vecna ... oh! Hey there, Grog! XD He did that? One on one? Nice ... yeah ... I believe him, totally ...

Wow ... is Fearne actually gonna try and STEAL Grog's Titanstone Gauntlets right now? Oh, I see ... wow ... that's kinda fascinating ...

GROGORY Strongjaw? LOL

PIKE!!! HEY!!! I wanna hug her too ... :3

Vex? Cool ...

Not selling a lot of croissants after the Solstice ... oh yeah ... cute, like Corona tanking during COVID ... Liam: "We don't want your moon bread! Only FREEDOM bread!" XD

Oh wow ... I think Grog and Braius might be friends before too long ... XD

Awwww ... yeah, that's right, Vex doesn't know about FCG's sacrifice ...

That's a good point ... the wind's about to change and they need to get THAT SHIT in order before they start making some moves ... Watch out for the God Squad, definitely ...

And now Chetney's flirting with Vex again ... XD Vex: "Oh darling, even if I WAS single you couldn't afford ,e."

Yeah ... the revelation of Delilah's now permanent imprisonment in Laudna's chest ... this is gonna be SO GOOD ... oh yeah, Vex is LOVING this ... and now she's getting medieval devising PUNISHMENTS for the evil bitch ...

Laudna's looking inwards ... oh boy ... wow, she looks like SHIT ... oh, this is SO GREAT ... empty threats ... Laudna: "Unseasoned beans it is." LOL

Honestly, I think it might have more to do with THE PLACE ITSELF for Keyleth being uncomfortable right now ... given what (or more precisely WHO) she lost here ...

Evoroa's first snow? Awwwwww ... :3

The Birthheart? Wow ... this is beautiful ... and yeah, makes sense Keyleth WOULD like this place ...

Heavy theological talk ... yeah ...

And then how does all this translate to their most pressing needs and the plans they make as a result? Hmmmm ...

Keyleth saying she's been to the Hells ... oh yeah, that DEFINITELY got Braius' attention ... XD

Ashton suggests they go talk to the gods face-to-face ... wow ... THAT'S a ballsy idea ...would that even work?

Yup ... Keyleth and Vax and the Matron of Ravens ... yeah ...

Honestly? Half-cocked is very much how they do things a lot of the time, actually ...

The Vox Machina Big Action Climax! Yeah ...

It does all sound VERY COMPLICATED when Keyleth tries to describe it ... oh wow, this is getting somewhat meta now ...

No. Really, DO NOT mention that name here and now ...

The masive tree ... oh yeah, that's it ... the Birthheart itself ... beautiful ...

The dawn of Exandria ... when the gods were YOUNG ... O.O

Orym! You gonna answer that or what?

Liam: "I will touch the tip." Oh boy ... XD

Careful, gentle ... okay, then ... whoa ... and now he's being ABSORBED BY THE MASSIVE GOD TREE ... O.O

Fuck, he's GONE!!! And THIS is where Mercer decides to take a break! AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

Wow ... he is IN THE REALM OF THE WILDMOTHER. Like LITERALLY on some weird godly plane ... fuck ...

I'm sorry he is now A TINY MAN OF ROOTS AND LEAVES?!!! Fucking hell that is some trippy shit ...

This is suddenly all very Princess Mononoke ...

Oh hello ... is this her? The goddess herself? Fascinating ...

And here's Asha ... yeah, that makes me smile ... in a dark way ... but I just love my wild predatory lady more, even now ...

He's literally ROOTING HIMSELF intothe ground a little with each step ... it really IS a little like Princess Mononoke ...

So, is Orym, like ... PLEDGING HIMSELF to the Wildmother right now? Is that what this is?

Visions? Oh great ... just what we need ...

And here they ALL ARE now ... okay ... a fallen star? Hmmm ... two gone? What? They're AFRAID ... yeah ...

Wait ... THAT was the imprisonment of Predathos? O.O

A Wisdom save? Shit ... 13? Crap ... and the reroll is WORSE ... OH FUCK!!! Is Orym about to DIE?!!! Nooooooo ...

He's screaming ... of shit ... and the Wildmother's coming to his rescue? Wow ... oh yes, she is SO KIND ...

The Wildmother: "Protect us, for we protect you, and together we protect THIS." Whoa ... O.O

Will? Oh my gods ... oh fuck ... shit, I am not ready for this right now ... damn you both I didn't want to cry right now ...

"Don't live your live in the shadow of mine." FUCK!!!

He's back ... okay ... OF COURSE Fearne is the one to catch him ...

So basically Predathos is like King Ghidorah, then?

Oh yeah ... grab that wood, Chetney! The wee man is SO EXCITED to get his hands on some SERIOUSLY fancy holy wood ... hell yeah ... two pieces, in the Bag ... nice ...

FUCK!!! Seedling has gotten LONGER!!! And it's fancier, too! It's been EXALTED!!! Fuck! It's a VESTIGE!!! A "Relic of the Red Solstice"! SWEET!!! And he gets a card too and everything!

Chetney, you are a massive idiot ... XD

They can stay INSIDE THE TREE?!!! You're clowning me. I sense clowns ...

Oh yeah, Evoroa is just having the most FASCINATING experience here ... I love it ... :3

This place is literally a piece of LIVING ARCHITECTURE ... this place would be like a dream come true ...

Sleep would be VERY SMART ...

Yes. Alcohol. That's the ticket too ...

Chetney's carving MASTERPIECES right now with a 21 Dex check ...

Wait ... attacking from the Ruidian side as opposed to the Exandrian? That's a smart way to go ... take the back door they found in the cave ... hmmmm ...

Good point ... so locking Ruidus in place is slowly BREAKING EXANDRIA ... great ... so whatever they do they HAVE TO destroy the Bridge ...

Ashton: "I've known plenty of artists. They're all fucked up." Braius: "Ahem. I'm pretty normal." Imogen: "Your cup would disagree."

The eternal question, where do you go when you die?

A "double feint"? Orym, I am NOT CONVINCED ...

Bedtime or a quick Scry first?

Braius (to Chetney): "If you would like me to burn you with acid I could." Oh boy ...

Zone of Truth? Really? Hmmmmm ...

Okay, now this is getting saucy ...

Charisma Save or choose to fail ... and half of them CHOOSE to ... okay then ... this'll be interesting ...

Ah ... evasion ... that's one way to go, Braius ...

The bottle lands on IMOGEN ... hmmmmmm ... so she has to kiss Braius? Interesting ... Laura: "You're human faced, right?" Sam: "Yes, but I'm getting a little excited now."

Ashley's spinning ... ooooooh ... it's Chetney? Oh boy. She makes it ALL KINDS of sexy while she does it AND also tries to steal the fancy wood while she's at it ... oh yeah, he is DEFINITELY at a disadvantage ... yeah ... she EASILY beats him ... XD

Dorian's going to ask Laudna a REALLY IMPORTANT question ... hmmmm ... oh shit, that is a SERIOUS question ... I mean Imogen means more to her than ANYTHING ELSE ... and it's a VERY complicated answer ... hmmmm ...

He decides to spin the bottle instead ... and it lands on Chetney? Wow ... this'll be interesting ... that was a UNIQUE moment ...

Dorian: "I thought this was supposed to be fun and games." Laudna: "No-one ever said THIS game was supposed to be fun." Oof ...

IS HE running from his brother's death?

To Cyrus ... YES. Cheers to that indeed ...

Laudna spins the botle ... and it lands on ORYM?!!! Weird ... roll Performance, then ... they both roll REALLY BADLY ... much as I would expect ... it's just AWKWARD ... yeah ...

Ashton empties his botle, follows Fearn and points it at her ... oh, okay ... this is DEFINITELY going to be interesting ...

Oh yeah, he just GOES FOR IT ... they're BOTH going at it ... and he's picking her pockets at the same time ... and he wins ... something random? Okay ... a little spoon? Cute ... Who's "T.J."?

Now they're just MAKING OUT with no repurcussions ... and this is EXACTLY what we've been waiting on for SOOOOO FUCKING LONG ... FINALLY ...

BEDTIME ...

SAMUEL ... how could you? We're so scandalized ...

Fearne gives the wood back to Chetney while he sleeps? Awwwwww ...

Morning comes ... Chetney's still alive ...

Okay ... making their way to the Trialforge, then ...

So they were just getting started, that's good. Not really late then ...

The glass? Oh yeah ... that stuff is COOL ...

The Hallowed Cage ... hmmm ...

The Sunder KIng, Ozo Kruth ... and the Weave Mind ... yeah ...

The Globe! Yeah!

Chetney, you dumbass ... XD

Whoa ... Fearne gets SERIOUS ... you really are FEARLESS, girl ... I swear I love it ...

Yeah, the portal ... or "The Backdoor" as Chet calls it ...

"A few old legends"? Oh boy ... who else is Keyleth gonna call on? How geekgasmic is this gonna get?

Groon is so awesome ... the man is a VIBE ...

Big risk, big reward ... yeah ...

The Luxon, yeah ... of course the Bright Queen doesn't have the slightest clue what (or who) is sat a few feet away from her ... that's kind of fascinating ...

Ashton burns a Rage ... oh my ... oh yeah, that is DEFINITELY the response I expected ...

So they're committed then ... now we just have to see if everybody else goes for it too ...

Making a date to talk to a god ... hmmmm ...

Wait ... what? What the hell is THIS?!!! Imogen's back in the dream? But it's DIFFERENT ... it's her mother! Okay ... is this a good thing or REALLY BAD?!!!

THAT'S where he's gonna end it? Fuck! That's like some cliffhanger shit right there ...

[hsfan94]

AN: I’m cleaning out my drafts and this was just a little baby idea I had that I couldn’t make work past a tiny blurb

Jealousy

Y/n didn’t get jealous easily. She knew Harry only had eyes for her. And that said a lot because he has a lot of attractive fans that he could easily have if he wanted them. But it was her for him.

Y/n was so proud of her boy getting not just one but two great roles back to back. She was so excited to get to see him on the big screen again. However, when she realized both roles came with intimacy scenes she started to feel a bit uncomfortable. It wasn’t like she hadn’t seen Harry do those things but she wasn’t sure how she felt about watching him do them to other people. She hadn’t been on set of either film due to Covid and she wasn’t available to go to the premieres with him. She had posted about both and encouraged others to go watch but couldn’t bring herself to go.

By the time ‘My Policeman’ was streaming, she hadn’t even seen ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ yet and Harry was starting to get suspicious.

“My love, what did you think of the films? You haven’t said anything.”

She couldn’t lie to him.

“I haven’t seen them.” She wouldn’t look at him. Her head was hanging low.

“What?” He sounded so hurt and it made her hate herself.

“I’m sorry, baby. I’m so proud of you, always, but I’m nervous about watching them.”

“Why’s that?”

“Don’t want to see you with other people.” It was so quiet. Almost like a whisper.

“Oh.” He didn’t expect that. He knew she was excited about the movies so not having heard any feed back he was worried she thought they were bad. He had to say this knowledge wasn’t any better.

“I’m sorry, H. I wanna watch them. I do. I just. I’m scared is all.”

“No I get it. Do you want to watch them together?”

She smiled at him and nodded.

They watched both of them, back to back, that night.

[rhysdarbinizedarby]

Relax, I’m From The Future

A conversation with writer-director Luke Higgingson

Relax, I’m From The Future was a surprise fav of mine at last year’s Fantasia Fest, and it’s finally getting a theatrical release! The movie is a punk rock sci-fi comedy with a lot of wit and even more heart starring Rhys Darby (Flight of the Conchords, Our Flag Means Death) and Gabrielle Graham (Possessor, Twenties) as an unlikely duo trying, sort of, not really, to save the world. I got a chance to speak with writer-director Luke Higginson a few weeks ago about all the work that went into his debut feature. Read our (lightly edited for clarity) conversation below!

Tell me, how do you describe this movie to other people?

It’s very much my attempt to work through my anxieties about the future and the state of the world in a way that might bring me some comfort without eliminating the very real cynicism I have about it. [My short film in 2013] started as a simple joke idea — the idea of an unprepared timetraveler — and then when people sort of liked that film more than I expected, I thought about how I would make that meaningful enough to expand it. And as I noodled on that, Trump got elected, and Covid happened, a lot of terrible things happened… It really became a source of therapy for me to write this ridiculous film and pump my anxieties into it. That’s really where I found what the film was about.

There is an incredible dynamic between Rhys and Gabrielle — how did you work your story with them?

Gabriel Graham was the first person that I knew I wanted to cast [as Holly]. I saw Brandon Cronenberg’s Possessor, and she had such presence, but I didn’t know if she was funny, so I watched Twenties… it was clear she had comic chops.

For Casper [Rhys Darby’s character], you have to be on board with following him even when he does some questionable things. And also, he’s on screen for so much of the movie that it had to be someone with real energy, especially in a script that’s mostly people talking to each other. There weren’t a lot of people that I felt fit that. Then when his name was floated, it was immediately like omg holy shit that would be amazing! My producers at Wango films are phenomenally gifted at getting scripts in hands. I spent a couple of days building up a dossier of arguments for why he should do the film. And when we got on the call and he was just like “Hey, so I just wanted to meet ya and make sure you were ok with me doing this movie”, I was blown away. He had this tiny little window where we could get him for 15 shooting days and he agreed to come up [to Hamilton, Ontario] and do it. I’m still pinching myself about that, it was amazing.

In terms of working with them, because of that window of time, there was no time for rehearsal. There was barely time for Rhys to learn his lines. I got one hour of Rhys and Gabby in a room together before the first day of shooting… Something clicked, it was like Oh it’s Casper and Holly, they’re hanging out!

The scene in the playground — where the two of them are sharing a bottle of booze and talking — was incredibly cold, absurdly cold. And they were both very underdressed for that weather. They were both improving and bouncing off of each other. That was the scene where I felt like ah there’s something special between these two in particular. It was cool, it was really special, both of them are just amazing.

Wait, the shooting schedule was only 15 days?

We had Rhys for 15 days, and we shot for 18 days, but Rhys is in almost all of the movie.

How did the music in the movie play into writing your story and how did you manage to clear all those songs?

I knew a ton of people in the Toronto indie-rock punk scene and I always knew that if I ever got to make a movie, I knew all these great songs that no one knows. I listened to a lot of that stuff writing the film — Holly being part of the punk scene was very important to the character. I gave [Gabrielle] a playlist of a bunch of 70s CBGB stuff, she watched a documentary on Poly Styrene. That really embodied the vibe of the music. I wanted it to be all Toronto music on the soundtrack, it’s basically a split between songs from bands that I played with or went to see back in the day and bands that are still operating right now. The big coup was getting Pup involved, which was really exciting. They didn’t have to say yes at all, but they really were big fans of Rhys and [because of Covid] I think they were a little itchy to get on stage in front of a bunch of people. We got to use a few of their songs, as well as Metz and Bad Waitress and a couple of other great bands.

In terms of the licensing side what I didn’t expect as a problem was that many of those bands no longer exist and never had any kind of official existence in terms of paper work or legality, so I perhaps foolishly did not see that coming as a problem. Anagram, Sailboats Are White, Lunchmeat — all great bands that I love, but [licensing their songs] was a trickier thing than I thought it was gonna be.

What are some of the challenges or joys that you encountered in the editing room, putting this thing together?

The editing process was long, longer than I expected. My baby was 6 months old when we started shooting, which was a real challenge for me and my wife. I literally edited the film with my baby next to me, so it took a while. But really, it was about matching the film to Rhys’s rhythm. When we [cast] Rhys, who’s one of the best improvisers comedically in the world, I knew that [for the edit] I was gonna want both sides of the conversations he has with Gabby. So any time that Rhys is talking to another person, there’s two cameras going at the same time and that really allowed us to use the little moments of inspiration and improvisation. If Rhys gives you a piece of gold, you know that you have it covered. That was big, I think both in the shooting and in the editing.

Time travel can be a tricky narrative device! How did you build the rules of this universe?

I knew right off the bat that I was neither capable nor interested in doing something scientifically “accurate”, but you also don’t want the audience to feel like you don’t give a shit. It has to feel like there’s an internal consistency. So my guiding principle was that rules of time travel are going to be what serves the humour and the story, and then once I have those things, to make sure it’s internally consistent. It actively subverts what I felt was the most common tropes — like in Terminator, you have to be naked to travel through time, in my movie you have to have no skin showing of any kind. In most time travel movies you can go back and forth, in mine you can only go back. When drafting it out, I went with the ideas that I found funny, then once I had the beats, I worked very hard to make sure it was internally consistent within that.

What was screening your film at Fantasia like?

It was incredible, I can’t say enough good things about Fantasia. I wanna shout out programmer Carolyn Mauricette, who saw a very rough cut of the film without any of the sound mix or special effects. She saw it, she got it, she connected to it. It just meant so much, that phase of the editing process, you’re very emotionally fragile, you have no idea if you’ve made something that works or not, and that was such a vote of confidence.

What are you hoping people take away from this?

I am genuinely very excited for people to see Rhys do this. I feel like he uses some muscles that you don’t get to see him use normally, he’s such a star. And I think Gabriel Graham is incredibly slept on, like she’s a successful actor but I think way more people should know her. I’m gonna sit in on a bunch of screenings — I never need to watch the movie again, but I do love watching the audience watch it, and there are some moments in the back third of the movie that I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing an audience react to.

I didn’t even ask you about Julian Richings!

He’s incredible! I got him [cast as Percy] by recording a video begging him to be in the movie because he’s a legend! I first saw him in Hard Core Logo when I was a teenager, he’s so captivating. So ya, I recorded a shameless message and sent it to him, and luckily he is the sweetest man in the world, just the easiest person in the world to work with — I can’t say enough nice things about him.

I think this movie has a lot for a lot of different crowds of people — you got the gays, you got the nerds, you got the horror fans -

Those are all my people! Those are my favourite type of people!

I’m excited for people to see it!

Me too!

Source: Bad Critic

[bangtanintotheroom]

Goodbye 2023!

Well well well, it's the end of another year and miraculously, I'm still here on Tumblr writing my silly little smut fics. To think it's been two years since I started this on a whim and have experienced so much on this blog, it's crazy. But this year felt so different compared to the previous one, for multiple reasons that I'll talk about underneath.

To start off on a major personal note, my year didn't start off the best.

I lost my grandmother last December after she struggled with health issues since the pandemic (non-COVID related). She was my last grandparent and although I didn't agree with a lot of her views, she loved me and I loved her. The holidays were rough to get through, to say the least.

Then my great uncle (her brother) passed in February while my family and I were on vacation. We visited and stayed with him last summer, which was the longest I had ever been around him in my life. It was a sudden decline in his health and to have it so soon after his sister was shocking.

Only the people in my personal life know about this as I didn't want to bring this up on here. I make sure to keep certain things separate from my life as a writer, but now I feel comfortable enough to tell you all just what's been going on. I'm doing better now, thankfully. We visited the cemetery recently where my grandmother and grandfather are now laid to rest together with their newly-acquired headstone. It was bittersweet, but it felt good to finally see a marker there after all this time. 💕

Now onto the good notes, which there were plenty of!

This is the first time I have ever went to Trinidad TWICE in one year! We went in February and in May, both for different reasons, but it was a relaxing and fun time. Something about the islands is refreshing, especially when you live in a cooler climate.

And then came April...MUTHAFUCKIN AGUST D TOUR 🗣️🗣️🗣️

This was officially my first K-pop concert and boy, was it an experience. Despite the rain and Prudential staff being shitbags, I had an amazing time and I look back at my videos and pictures with fond memories. Shoutout to @minttangerines @kithtaehyung and @here2bbtstrash for meeting up and listening to me scream drunkenly about nuggets at 2 AM!

I also had some nice weekend and day trips with my irl friends, filled with chaos and conversations that would probably get us committed lmao

I went to Texas for the first time, too! My brother moved down there last year and I already made plans from the jump to go visit him. It's a whole different world down there, but I'm already planning to go back in 2024 (with a checklist of what we have to do)!

Let's see...I did my usual cons and got somewhat back into cosplay, too. My friends and I are planning to return to the last one we visited before the pandemic started, so we're very excited!

Those were the main things in my personal life that occurred, other than work (which is still ass) and the usual daily things.

Now onto my year in writing.

2023 paled in comparison to 2022. My output lessened considerably, due to multiple personal events, exhaustion and stress from work and mental health.

I was writing most of the time, but I was rarely finishing anything to post. My WIPs kept nagging at me on Notion and it got to the point where I recently cleaned up shop. I cancelled some of them, but kept them in a page where I could reuse the concept and scenes for something else. This gave me peace of mind.

But I also have to do some cleaning up for fics that have already been posted.

I know I said I would stretch some of them out, but I am at the point where I have zero desire to still do that. Plus I am getting into new groups and find myself wanting to write for them instead. I will make a separate post on my intentions for my current fics, just so there's no confusion on anyone's end whether it will be continued or not.

It's also been extremely jarring how many people have just...left.

When I compare the end of 2022 to the end of 2023, it's like a ghost town. A majority of the servers I was in have shut down or been abandoned. Many fellow writers have disappeared, deactivated or gone on hiatus (for reasons that are valid and I wish them all the best). And the atmosphere has shifted, but not in a positive direction.

Interactions have lessened, anons are being ruder than ever, people are plagiarizing left and right. It's a mess.

I've had a couple of moments where I debated on stepping away, but I can't right now. Writing gives me an unexpected joy and it's always a treasure to see my mutuals posting their own works that they've put their blood, sweat and tears into. I'm not quite ready to leave that yet.

Although, I do have to take a slight step back, just to focus on personal things. I'm practicing art again to see if I can start selling once I'm comfortable enough to. If things ever get overbearing and I can't juggle the two, I will let you all know as soon as possible. But for now, expect at least one more year of AJ aka bangtanintotheroom!

Wow, this was long 😬 but I've been sitting on these thoughts for months and I had to get it out somehow.

I'll finish this off by saying thank you to everyone who follows me or reads my fics or plans to start reading them. Thank you to my mutuals who are supportive and encourage my crazy ideas. Thank you to everyone.

Happy New Year! 🥳

[yellowstarwater]

Okay so this is going to be my overall thoughts on Clone High season 2!

A lot of people have and will continue to complain about how it’s not as good or as funny as season one and that’s both fair and unfair. As a fanfic writer I know how hard it can be to continue writing a story after not working on it for a long time especially after working on new projects. And the same can be said for the show runners here, a lot has changed since they first produced season one. This was something that if it wasn’t for COVID it might have never been revived, so I can forgive them for it not feeling exactly the same as before after all it was twenty years ago. Jokes that worked then wouldn’t work now, I get and respect that. With that being said it could have been better.

For one besides Abe in the first episode no one seems to struggle with adjusting to 2023! That kinda of doesn’t make sense, I get not wanting to bring it up all the time but side jokes and cutaways could have worked. I also found it weird that we barely see any foster parents this season, you’re telling me that the Clones from 2003 parents weren’t freaking out when they suddenly came home after being gone for twenty years! I mean it’s not like the foster parents were important to the story but they could have shown some kind of reaction to them just showing up again?!

Like wouldn’t it have been funny if the foster parents were like super protective of their kids when they came back to the point of putting tracking devices on their phones or something?! I don’t know maybe not that but something! Also is John Stamos alive or dead after what happened? It’s also never addressed!

I do like the inclusion of all the new characters though, they do really add some new elements to the show and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. But again I expected this going into this season. Another thing that has changed is that besides Harriet no one seems to be trying to live up to or are pressured by expectations of their Clone parents. This was a running theme in season one for all the characters and yet this theme is just given to one person now? Sometimes the other clones might mention something but it’s very rare.

Now to get into the relationship that took up most of the season Joanfk, as a huge fan of the ship I was both excited and dreading to see how this relationship would develop. And that’s mostly because of the new intro, I personally don’t think the creators were ever going to make them a couple in 2003, they clearly seem to favor Abe/Joan which makes sense because during that time period the Friends to Lovers trope ruled most shows. I feel like Joanfk was done because they knew that a lot of the new fans wanted to see it, after all Joanfk shippers are one of the main reasons this show was not only revived but people kept talking about it until season two came out. I’m not gonna say that it’s not possible that they could get back together because Clone High is satire a parody of all the teen drama shows and movies it’s very possible that they could get back together again at some point. And honestly I hate the reason they gave for breaking them up being that JFK wasn’t smart enough both intellectually and emotionally for Joan to stay with him when throughout this season alone we can see that this isn’t even really true. I appreciate that they did this and even gave them a semi respectable breakup but (and I could be wrong) BUT clearly they’re not that into Joanfk. And yet still the biggest obstacle to Joanfk starts and ends with Joan not being sure how she feels about Abe (or even JFK sometimes) and not doing anything to resolve it.

Abe and Joan if the show had continued it’s run in 2003 this couple would have probably been end game, it’s the classic Friends to Lovers trope that the 90’s and early 2000’s loved. After all the show Friends basically coasted on this one trope as well as Saved by the Bell etc…Personally I think the Friends to Lovers trope can work if it’s done well Kim Possible is an example that I can think of that does this well and though some might not like Kim and Ron being endgame I think its actually done well and believable. And then there’s the times when I don’t think it’s done well (again this is just my opinion!) like with Danny Phantom. Don’t get me wrong Danny and Sam started off as cute and I did root for them…in season one after that the writers basically just dragged this trope out till the very end. And it didn’t help that (in my opinion) Valerie and Danny’s relationship was a lot more interesting. I mentioned this because Abe and Joan’s possible relationship seems to be something the writers want to drag out and this is bad because you could very easily lose your audience because of that. I get that dragging it out is part of the humor and satire but in a time where a lot of shows can easily be canceled (especially with the writers strike still going on) it’s not the best way to go. I will never like Abe and Joan being together as much as Joanfk (I really do think it’s the better relationship between the two of them despite what was said in episode seven) but I can at least get used to it and be happy for them if it’s not dragged out. Or they can make the three of them polyamorous I’m fine with that too!

The other couples are fine for the most part Confucius and Harriet will have their issues I can already see it but I am willing to give it a chance. Again the last episode (spoilers if you haven’t seen it) it makes sense that Harriet acted the way she did because again of all of the clones right now she seems to be the only one who feels any pressure about living up to her clone mother. And Confucius well he has rich foster parents even if he doesn’t qualify to get into a college he’ll be admitted it makes sense that he’s not worried about it or thinking about it.

Frida and Cleo are perfect, I only wish there had been more hints of them throughout the season but in like two episodes the pace and execution of this relationship was done perfectly and believable. It’s one of the few couples that’s just cute and has nothing else messing with it. Was it fair that Frida let go of Joan to save Cleo, not really but it made sense that she would save her girlfriend, over her girl friend.

Okay now to talk about the characters one on one.

JFK continues to improve and grow despite this being a satire teen drama show, he makes male friends, is in a committed relationship with one person where he Doesn’t cheat or even thinks about anyone else all the time. (Only one episode sorta counts) It’s hard but he accepts Joan’s decision to break things off with him even though he really does love her to the point of wanting what is best for her even if it’s not him. He even becomes friends with Abe and encourages him to pursue someone he still very clearly loves. I wouldn’t be surprised if we find out he was faking it in episode seven just to give Joan an excuse to leave because he was afraid he wasn’t enough to make her happy.

Cleo didn’t get enough screen time for someone who is a main character, and besides her relationship with Frida and squashing her beef with Joan. And the fact that most of the beef was between them fighting over Abe is strangely never brought up. She’s not given much to do throughout this season besides being Homecoming Queen. An episode where she has to navigate the world of social media like Instagram would have been interesting to see. Maybe in season three?

Frida is one of the new main characters and I think she fits well with the show so far. Again love her relationship with Cleo, but besides that I think she’ll be like voice of reason character going forward. Not much to say besides that because well this is her first season on the show!

Harriet another new main character and again seems to be the one dealing with the pressures of being a clone the most. Wanting to be great because her Clone mother was Harriet Tubman makes a lot of sense and I think it touches on a lot of people’s fears of not doing anything important with their lives. I looked forward to seeing how she grows.

Confucius another new main character who is just trying to gain the attention of his foster parents. It’s very clear that attention is what he wants out of anything. You can see it whenever they show him on FlipFlop, and again the fact that he’s not worried about college makes sense whether he doesn’t want to go or knows that his parents will pay for him eventually. I look forward to seeing how he develops.

Topher the last new main character, there is a lot that someone can say about him, I’m pretty sure he’s now the favorite character whether it’s because you love or hate him. Honestly I like that they have a character that’s awful, do I think he’s closeted…maybe but I do believe that one of the reasons he was “white leveraging” Abe is to keep Abe’s attention to himself. I don’t think he had any friends before Abe was thawed out and he probably wouldn’t be able to hang around the group if it wasn’t for him. So it makes sense that he would “white leverage” him from telling Joan how he felt because then Topher would no longer have an audience because Abe would likely spend all his time with Joan.

Abe learns a bit throughout the season but I don’t think he grows much until nearly the end. He spends most of season pinning over Joan and…that’s it he doesn’t become friends with JFK until the last episode and as far a we know the reason why he even realized that he loved Joan was because Cleo had made her look hot in season one. It’s never addressed why he suddenly loves her, and yeah that’s it. Sure he’s “punished for his behavior” in the first episode and it almost makes it seem that Joan and Abe won’t be friends this season but that is quickly forgotten by the end of the episode. Again I do think the Joan/Abe relationship will happen or at least be addressed between them but it’s likely that it will be dragged for a while. I will admit that the moments where they’re together just being friends is nice though.

Joan changes the most throughout this season whether you liked the changes or not. It starts with her dating JFK which while I enjoyed seeing, it was never addressed on why she accepted his offer in the first place. Sure they slept together at prom but there wasn’t enough done to explain within the show why she agreed to date him. (Honestly it’s like the show runners were like, the Joanfk fanfic writers did that for us we don’t have to explain ourselves!) Then she becomes friends with Frida and Harriet which I thought was nicely done, then she and Cleo come to an understanding! But her feelings for Abe linger throughout the season and something that I noticed after episode ten is that Joan is codependent, if she believes that she doesn’t have a boyfriend or friends to support her then she turns into a monster. Season three will either address what she did in the first episode or throughout the season either way she’ll be punished for it. Even if she did realize at the last minute that what she was doing was wrong.

The rest of the cast was fine Mr. B’s backstory was compelling, I don’t know why the writers felt that Scudworth needed a love interest but…it happened? Candide is interesting enough we’ll see how it goes. Sorry not saying more but this is pretty long already.

[fireheartedpup]

Weird to have a supportive family that triggers the fuck out of you. Dad asked me to get dinner, which he paid for, and we ate together. He gave me meat from the freezer.

I tried to help with the puppies, and he didn't like me messing with their routine, and I'm nervous about them resource guarding, and they still have puppy pads in the house because for some reason the rescue they're working with recommends this???

I don't remember the rescue's name, but one of the first things you learn in house training is that if you use pads AND try to get them to pee outside, it can confuse them. You keep them in a room with you, tether them to you, or keep them in a crate until they're potty trained.

They are not doing this.

Little Bit is still scared of the puppies, and it's not funny anymore. I really only thought it was funny the first time because I was able to control the situation and I was trying to keep her safe.

Mom thinks it's fine and that she should get used to them, and tried to bring her up close to the puppies more than once. This is NOT how you're supposed to do it.

They got upset that I put the puppies back in their pen so we could leave in peace. It's the perfect place for them to get used to each other, since they can see each other but can't get to each other, but God forbid I don't follow the schedule exactly.

My dog was shaking when we came in. I was holding her, and the puppies were at my feet. I don't think bringing her over there is worth the stress.

Dad didn't want puppies, mom did, and she's the one who agreed to foster. Mom is also flying a lot, so dad is left to take care of the puppies on his own for long periods of time.

Before all of this, mom invited me to an event so I could meet her friends' adult kids. I know that no one there is going to be masking, or even give a shit about covid.

Called grammy. She's sympathetic about my dog's health issues. She said she'd help. She also said that she doesn't believe in covid.

Dad sent me a promotional email for a job fair. It's in person and I'm sure it's another crowd that doesn't give a shit about masking. I don't even know if I'd be interested in any of the companies there. Maybe some of the remote roles.

I was going to talk about the budget and what's realistic, but dad was tired and sad so I just told him I'd made a little money this week. Someone tipped me $20. It's the most hope I've had in a while. It's also a drop in the bucket. It's a huge deal to me, but I'm going to have to do this about a thousand times over if I want to survive on my own.

I avoided mentioning what it was because I do not want my parents anywhere near my current writing in any way, shape, or form, so I have no idea what he thinks I might be doing. "I get paid per view and people can tip me." What does that sound like? I'm not gonna clarify.

When I see my family I usually stay up even later than usual because I can't deal with it, but I have a vet appointment tomorrow. I can't fuck around this time unless I cancel before 9am, and I don't think I should cancel. I'm stressed about the money.

Dad's stressed about money too. The roof is going to cost about 10k to fix.

I should ask for help finding a therapist. I don't know how to make myself do things. I don't know how to stop feeling sad.

[x--daughters-of-darkness--x]

IN THIS MOMENT PICK FAVE MUSIC, MOVIE, LIVE SHOW AND MORE OF 2023

Maria Brink and Chris Howorth look back on a great year

In This Moment are cover stars of Revolver's Winter 2023 Issue, which you can order, along with an exclusive, limited-edition In This Moment shirt, at our shop.

"2023 was a big year," Chris Howorth says proudly. He's not exaggerating.

This year, his band In This Moment dropped one of the best albums of 2023, GODMODE, toured arenas, had a song featured in John Wick: Chapter 4 and made some big plans for 2024.

Before 2023 comes to a close, we caught up with Howorth and In This Moment frontwoman Maria Brink about the last 12 months of music, movies, live shows and more.

WHAT WOULD YOU CONSIDER IN THIS MOMENT'S BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT OF 2023? CHRIS HOWORTH I think our biggest, proudest achievement is this new album GODMODE. And I would say that's kind of cliché because anybody who has a new album coming out is gonna say that.

But we went through the whole COVID pandemic with no new music coming out and weren't sure what was gonna be happening — like everybody else. We had all that on our shoulders, we've all been going through our own things, and releasing this album and how smoothly it all came together and how it all felt doing it...

We were saying "flow like a river" and quit worrying about every little thing over and over and just try to enjoy the process and just do it. And I think that's how it all came about. So that definitely, 100 percent, for me would be the crowning achievement of 2023.

MARIA BRINK I also agree, GODMODE coming together and the way that that happened. But I gotta show some love to [us being in] a John Wick movie this year. That was massive.

And then for us, we just headlined ... I'm originally from Albany, New York, and I started out at little, tiny theaters that hold 40 or 50 people there. Little mini clubs. And I just got to headline there on my last tour with an arena and pyro and it was just such a full-circle for me. My heart was full of love.

HOWORTH The tour was a big thing, too, for me. I was thinking while we were in it, "I can't believe this." This is the biggest we've ever been, this is what you think about when you're a little kid wanting to do it and we're here doing it. It's just crazy.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE NEW BANDS YOU DISCOVERED THIS YEAR? HOWORTH For me, there's a band I found on Pandora. Because I sit and play video games a lot when I'm not doing music, and I smoke and listen to new metal stations and try to find new good bands that I like. I've never grown out of that. And I found this band called In Retrospect that are from England. And they're really cool and heavy, and hopefully they do really well. They're brand new.

And then there's this band Slaughter to Prevail that's blowing up, everybody's loving them right now.

And there's another band called Sylosis, and they've been around for a long time. They've always been cool, they've always had cool music. But their new album is super awesome and I think that this might be a big shift for them as well.

BRINK I think the newest thing I've been listening to that I'm loving is the new ††† (Crosses). I also love HEALTH, I've gotten into them a lot. Immortal Girlfriend is another one that I'm really loving. And Cannons.

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE BAND YOU SAW LIVE THIS YEAR? BRINK I think I'm gonna say the same as Chris but I'm waiting for him to say it.

HOWORTH No, I'm gonna say something completely off the wall. Because I didn't watch a lot of bands this year even though we toured a lot. I'm gonna say Suicide Silence. They have a new album that came out, they're crushing it.

I saw them at the festival in Wisconsin and they crushed during the day so I'm gonna give it up to them.

BRINK Because it was nostalgic to me from when I was younger and all that, I'll say Pantera. They reunited, we did some festivals with them, and I went out and watched. And there was just that feeling of bringing you back watching it that makes me feel so nostalgic inside.

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE OF 2023? BRINK I'm gonna pick John Wick! [Laughs] There's a new horror movie that just came out, it's epic. It's called Talk to Me. Actually, it's really scary.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST EXCITED FOR IN 2024? HOWORTH GODMODE is out and 2024 is pretty much the GODMODE touring year. So I'm excited for whatever we do in 2024, and just another year, man.

Having an album out and everything, it should be exciting and cool. We've got some cool plans lined up for touring and seeing everybody.

BRINK I'm exciting for all the things we're trying to manifest. Everything around GODMODE, basically. New soundtracks, new movies. We want to get in the video game world.

HOWORTH I'm excited for Dune 2.

[my-castles-crumbling]

hi! i’m really conflicted about some stuff happening with my dad rn and i know that you help a lot of people and give them advice so i figured id ask an unbiased opinion. (also sorry if it doesn’t make a lot of sense or is super long this is like a 3 or 4 year long story that has grown into this i’m trying to summerize as best i can)

so i never had a really good relationship with my father even as a little kid (i’m in middle school now) and in and he always had a better relationship with my two sisters esp my older sister. my parents got divorced at the beginning of covid and that didn’t help our relationship at all bc the way my dad acted after it. (also just for context we spent the week at my moms and did every other weekend with my dad) my parents told me and my sisters that they were getting divorced in september (which we were told months or even a year later that had been in the works since the spring) and my dad had a new girlfriend by march. which i questioned a little at the time but i had the mindset “as long as my dads happy”. and them dating wasn’t that bad it was just really weird. bc my dads girlfriend has kids and ones my age the others my younger sisters and the others a year older than my older sister. so when we would go to their house we were expected to spend time with them while my dad and his girlfriend spent time together. which was fine for the first few year or so till it felt like we spent every waking hour at my dads house with them. after we told our dad that we didn’t want to spend as much time with them about six months later he told us that he “asked his girlfriend and her kids if they want to move in with him and how would you girls feel about that” which was an immediate problem bc his girlfriend started acting different with us at that point and she stopped talking to us (not completely ignoring us but just stopped having conversations with us and just kinda changed) and we told our dad about it and he just said something along the lines of oh i’m sure that’s not what she meant to do. me and all my sisters said something along the lines of we aren’t comfortable with that and we don’t really know them that well and all stuff along that line. when we went to bed that night i distinctly remember my little sister saying something along the lines of please don’t we aren’t comfortable with them moving in and my dad basically said “they’ve had it worse” and i’m not saying they don’t have a hard life bc their parents are also divorced and they don’t talk to their  dad but that was my dads answer for a lot of things in the future and that stuck out to me. by the time they moved in to my dads house my dads girlfriend didn’t talk to us at all. she would completely ignore us if we made conversation with her or asked her about like anything. i still went to my dads weekend even tho when they moved in it felt like my dad started caring less and less about us with just the little things he would do. about halfway through the summer (for context they moved in at the beginning of the summer) i stopped going to my dads house bc it was a toxic environment and i knew my mom supported me and wanted what was best for me and it felt like my dad didn’t bc while i know he did he never stood up for me or made decisions that made it a better environment for me and my sisters to be in. my sisters still went but every time they would come back from his weekends they would bring back stories of what happened. the absolute final straw was when they came to family camp weekend (for context my extended family goes to our camp the same weekend every fall) and it’s not the fact that they were there bc at that point they had been to many vacations with my cousins and my dad and us but what they did while they were there. they were rude to is all weekend and my dad turned a blind eye and wouldn’t stick up for his kids. after that i went out of contact with my dad except for when he would text me. now it’s come to a point when he went text me for a month straight then randomly will txt me out of the blue like nothings happened. am i being really unreasonable for wanting to block him or am i not overreacting. bc most days i feel like it’s a valid decision but some days i think i’m blowing things out of proportion and convince myself it wasn’t really that bad you’re just dramatic. 

Hi hon!

I think that this is unfortunately a really common thing with divorced parents. Kids feel ignored or replaced, and their feelings aren’t often taken into account. Adults feel entitled to make their own decisions without thinking about their children. It’s frustrating and hurtful, and parents don’t often realize what they’ve done until later in life.

I think that taking space from someone who hurt you isn’t unreasonable. I’ve had to do the same thing with my mom. As long as you’ve tried to express to your dad how you’re feeling, then you’ve done all you can do, and putting yourself in that situation isn’t what’s best for you. You don’t owe him a relationship if he’s hurting you.

I do have to say though- I am biased. As I said, I’ve had to do that with my mom.

I’m naming you dad anon if you want to write again.

[after-nine-at-the-oasis]

Hey guys! Time for HSMTMTS Appreciation Week Day Three: Favorite Quote/Scene/Original Song/Performance! I honestly don't think I would be able to pick for both of those, but I'll at least talk about one of my favorite quotes (if I try to talk about anything else this will most definitely be late, because it's midnight in 8 minutes, so we'll see - or maybe I'll make another post sometime lol. Coming back here with an edit from later in the post: yeah it's past midnight lol. Ignore that - I'm sure for other people it won't be xD).

And that quote is: "And now we're all here, maybe for the last time together. For some of us this has become. . ." "Family."

LISTEN OKAY!!!

XD Yeah, maybe a stereotypical quote, but it's always the first one I think of when I think of HSMTMTS quotes. It's just so relatable to almost any theatre kid, and I totally feel it. Especially given that this is in 1x06. At the end of the year before last, my amazing theatre teacher left. And last year, our musical was cancelled, shortly before we lost one of our members. I know that fear. During my rewatch, it hit me how much I did, when EJ said "I'm sorry no one will get to see you play Gabriella" (something like that). And that specifically relates to ANOTHER experience lol. My first real musical was High School Musical. I was cast as Sharpay, and I was so excited. COVID killed it, and after months of waiting and trying, we performed it on Zoom.

So I just feel this scene so much. They all have no clue what's going to happen, they're angry, they're upset, they don't want to lose this. And they're just barely starting to come together as a cast. But they know. They know that they're family. And it's right after this quote that they decide to do something about it.

And it brings me back to how much I love the Wildcats (guess I'm going to talk about that every post this week lol). They truly are a family, and seeing it from in Season 1 is just so special. And even though they keep going from here, and keep growing, this quote is the moment we know. The moment THEY know. That they're a family, and they're not going to give up on each other. Despite how different they all are, and despite their different opinions and emotions in that moment or all the time, they're not going to leave or give up. And I just love that, so, so much :').

I don't know if I managed to find all the words I wanted to there, but yeah lol :'). Now, since it's past midnight anyway, I will actually talk about the other options for today a bit lol.

Again, I could never truly pick a favorite of any of these lol, these are just examples of some of my favorites.

Favorite Performance: Stick to the Status Quo. Is this because of Seb? Maybe, who knows. But seriously xD, it's so good. The dancing, to AAHHH GINA'S BACK!!! AND SHE'S AMAZING!! To SEB MATTHEW-SMITH SLAYING THE HOUSE DOWN!!! It's just so good xD. And it's at the point during the show where they're all still having a good time, not switching roles and losing their minds yet lol. The amount of times me and my sister would be watching YouTube and see if in the search history and just. Look at each other. And immediately watch it again xD. It's just so epic.

And, this could be a point for or against it, it does make me feel some feelings (besides love for my babeys). Related to previously discussed crazy theatre happenings lol. It's kind of a bittersweet thing for me, just feeling a tiny bit off "I never got that". But it's worth it lol.

Favorite Scene: Honestly I genuinely don't know what to put for this lol. I want to put SOMETHING specific, even though this is probably harder to pick anything close to a favorite than any other category, but still lol. Okay, I thought of one lol. Yes, it includes a seblos moment, but shush, I can do what I want lol. Anyway! Carlos welcoming Ashlyn to the queer community :'). That entire scene lol, with EJ coming up after that and supporting Carlos, and then SEB!!! MY SEBLOS REUNION!! AND A KISS!!!! It's just such a good scene, I love it so much :'D. Like, seeing Carlos welcome Ashlyn and give her the pin :') - especially considering it like 100% definitely for sure confirmed it <33. And then seeing a bit of Carlos's insecurities, but EJ reminds us of that Wildcat love in saying that he doesn't have to do anything he doesn't want to do :'). And then Seb, showing up and being the cutest ever, and Ashlyn looking so happy that he's there, and Carlos seeing him, and just aAH!! I love them all so much <33 😭❤️❤️❤️🥰. I love all of those mini-scenes in one scene so much :') :'DD.

Favorite Original Song: Oh my gosh, I love them all xd. Okay, here are a few of my favorites (but it's a lot of them lol): In a Heartbeat, Born to Be Brave, Second Chance, and You Ain't Seen Nothin'. But honestly those are just some of the ones that get stuck in my head a lot or I listen to a lot lol.

In a Heartbeat: the perfect Seblos song. Also Ricky just. Being there. Always makes me die xDD. But seriously, it's SO CUTE, and it's a BOP (and Frankie's voice is amazing)! But seriously it's perfect for Seblos, like I said, and it's just so sweet :'). I have literal records (like in documents where I talk about it lol) of me freaking out over In a Heartbeat lol. It's perfect <33. Also, don't even talk to me about the homecoming suits sequence ❤️❤️.

Born to Be Brave: The icon of the series. I mean, clearly, since (SPOILERS) the last episode is named after it. Honestly if there's not a reprise of it I may riot /hj. But seriously, it's such a cute and empowering moment between Nini and Kourt, and of COURSE it's also empowering on Carlos's side :'D. And as someone who loves just dancing crazy however I want with my friends at dances? Yeah :'). Love <33. Anyway, it represents such big moments in multiple character arcs, and I just love it so much :')). Plus, again, it's a BOP!! And the ACOUSTIC VERSION!!! Don't even get the started on that :D.

Second Chance: THIS SONGGG!!! It makes me feel so many feelings 😭😭❤️. It's such a great summary of all four of their character arcs, and the VISUALS!!! They just kill me so much. Everyone back in their episode one outfits 😭😭💔❤️. And it back to the core four, especially knowing Nini's pretty much done :'(( ❤️. Honestly, I really want a song similar to Second Chance for everyone at the end of Season 4. I know we probably won't get it, but just- flashbacks to everyone's first outfits (honestly I'd take/love flashbacks in general 👀 but the point here is like Second Chance lol), everyone getting a part. And oh my gosh, if they all had individual lines? Like the little phrases the core four have in Second Chance? I don't know how that would even work (four overlapping in Second Chance works but everyone would be a LOT lol o.o xd), but it would be so cool. Anyway, Second Chance makes me so sad and nostalgic but it is SO GOOD!! It hurts but it hits xD. I just love it so much <33.

You Ain't Seen Nothin': This one, like I just said, just hits xDD. It's a BOP!!! And the video call format of it is really cool :D. But honestly, everyone gets their own part (as I saw pointed out in the comment section of it once lol, it fits everyone's voices, like Belle), and it's so upbeat and GOOD and just AGH!! I love it so much. It also accidentally makes me feel a bit of Feels™ (we're not worrying about that phrasing right now), because happy/"yeah let's make them most of this"/"we do amazing things and we will do amazing things" songs do that to me sometimes lol, but still. It gets stuck in my head SO MUCH!! Like the other songs I feel like are more appreciated/iconic than this one, but it just STUCK to me. I don't know why, but I don't care xDD. I love it <33. Also, it brings together everyone from the episode really well, just like the calls did throughout, but with music :D. And again, it's just so uplifting :). And also again, I love it <3 ❤️🥰🥰.

Also, special shout-out to the beginning of Here I Come for getting STUCK in my brain!! It's just. OUAGH!! Not that I don't love the entire song, but there's something about that beginning 👀. And also, again, the Wildcats loving each other gives me feelings xdd <33.

Anyway!! So those are some of my favorites of all those lol. This got pretty long, but I should expect that by now lol. I do hope y'all enjoyed seeing me freak out over a bunch of HSMTMTS scenes (and such) for 10 paragraphs though lol :). It's pretty much how I roll xD.

But yeah! I am so excited for Season 4 :DD. Just two days, people!!!

[burgers-and-french-fries]

Hi! Can I ask for an imagine with Taron Egerton where he and the reader meet at an event through a mitual friend and immediately hit it off?

Hi lovely!

I'm sorry that this took me so long to post but I want to thank you for your amazing patience with me. I hope that this imagine was worth the wait. I also want to say that this imagine has not been edited so if you see any mistakes, please forgive me.

Enjoy!

===

For being in the public eye so much, you’d think that y/n loved the limelight and the thrill of having people constantly chant her name and demand her attention but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Y/n hated that it was part of the job as she was usually shy, quiet and reserved but since she was the one that chose her profession, she knew that she just had to smile and breathe through it.

Much like y/n, Taron Egerton liked his privacy to an extent and when he was at home in Aberystwyth or in London, he tried to not stick out like a sore thumb and draw attention to himself, though there was always a vain part of him that loved basking in the attention of people, more specifically the women that would swoon over him; hell they’d slip him their number and flirt with him. It made him feel good in a way.

This though wasn’t always the case and Taron had his share of making himself look like an ass by throwing himself at the women he fancied. Most of the time he was drunk and desperate when he did this but there was only one time he threw himself at the opposite sex while sober. That’s how Taron and Emily began but eventually their relationship fizzled, leaving Taron craving the touch of a woman. This time though, he vowed to meet someone the right way. Sure he allowed himself to flirt with them but never to the extent that he used to and the biggest vow he made was that as soon as they told him no, he would listen and not over beg for them to change their minds. No, he was more mature now and knew what he was looking for in his future.

It was the same for y/n. She knew what she wanted and because of that, she wasn’t afraid of telling men no when she felt no connection between them or if he was being too strong in his flirtations etc. After all, she knew that when she did meet the right one, they would click instantaneously and they wouldn’t want to leave each other's side.

So as y/n stood outside enjoying the sparkle and shine of the stars in the night sky, drinking her beer, she wondered why she was even at this party. Sure she enjoyed getting together with Felicity but big events like this that involved a slew of people both famous and non famous, it wasn’t her thing and she’d rather the ground swallowed her whole.

“Do you mind if I join you?” A voice asked, pulling the woman from her thoughts. Immediately she moved over to make more room and smiled at the person.

“I don’t mind at all.” She told them.

“Thanks.” They replied, sitting down and taking a drink of their drink.

“So, what brings you here?” Y/n asked, feeling a little awkward now that she had company but at the same time, she didn’t want to come across as rude or unfriendly.

“Felicity begged me to this event because in her words, I’m sulking way too much.” The person said.

“How do you know Felicity?” Y/n asked, surprised that this person seemed to personally know her friend.

“We went to drama school together. What about you, how do you know Felicity and why are you here?” The person asked, looking at y/n.

“Me, my cousin and Felicity grew up together and the same as you, sulking way too much apparently.” Y/n explained and the person nodded.

“Why are you sulking? You don’t seem like the sulking type.” The person asked. Y/n shrugged.

“I wasn’t aware that I was sulking until Felicity pointed it out. I’m usually quiet so I don’t know why she thought I was miserable.” Y/n answered truthfully.

“I see.” The person replied.

“What about you, why are you sulking?” Y/n questioned with a hint of humor in her tone.

“I broke up with my ex at the start of covid and I’ve been single ever since. Guess Felicity was sick and tired of seeing me with no one, not even a quick fling.” The person answered.

“Wow, not even a one  night stand?” She asked, somewhat shocked.

“Nope. I mean maybe at one time I would have done something like that but now, I know what I’m looking for and I suppose I haven’t found it yet.” They said and y/n nodded before taking a drink of beer.

“Well good for you. I think it takes a strong person to admit that. Especially in this day and age.” She said.

“Thanks. I’m Taron by the way.” Taron said, looking at y/n who smiled warmly at him.

“Y/n.” Y/n replied, feeling her cheeks heat up.

“I’m not really wanting to stay at this party. Do you wanna get out of here and maybe get some food?” Taron asked, hopeful. Y/n raised her brows.

“There is food here though.” She said with a hint of cheek in her tone.

“There is, but nothing that I wanna eat. It’s too fancy for my liking.” Taron replied.

“Well when you put it like that, I guess I could eat normal food. What did you have in mind?” Y/n asked, feeling a comforting feeling envelope her body.

“How about pizza.” Taron suggested.

“Ooo I don’t know. Are you a pineapple on pizza person or are you someone that thinks it doesn’t belong?” Y/n said. She was one that loved pineapple on pizza and for her, it was important that whoever she ended up with would agree with her on pizza toppings as it was her favorite kind of junk food.

“I feel like this is a deal breaker.” Taron told her.

“A deal breaker for what though? We haven’t started anything that would cause whatever deal to break.” Y/n replied and Taron had to give it to her, she was good. He hadn’t thought of that and if he was honest, he liked this about her.

“You have me there but for the record, pineapple totally belongs on pizza and olives too.” He said.

“Oooo olives? That’s a bit of a stretch for me.” Y/n said with a straight face.

“Really?” Taron asked, surprised.

“I’m kidding, pineapple and olives are alway my two must-haves on pizza.” She revealed and Taron breathed a sigh of relief.

“Shall we go then?” Taron asked as he stood up, offering his hand to y/n.

“Let’s do this.” She replied.

The pair of them going back inside, bidding their goodbyes to Felicity and heading out for pizza and maybe more…..who really knew where this would lead, hopefully for the rest of Taron and y/n’s lives.

===

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