#well more like she was one originally that got remixed

[titenoute]

I am now covid free with a functioning brain and the last Undertale update reminded me that I miss my lava mermaid OC. So I'm giving myself a treat.

[sysig]

Really digging out the old OCs now; Pan-na, Pilok, Azalea, squirrel boys Will and Damien, and Cupid and Venus <3 (Patreon)

[seeingivy]

espresso

actor!ryomen sukuna x f!reader

**part of my dream girl fic

previous part linked here

songs mentioned: love is embarassing by olivia rodrigo (based on this npr tiny desk) and espresso by sabrina carpenter (based on this performance)

--

--

[eren]: like how irritated are you on a scale of one to ten? 

[mikasa]: ONE THOUSAND 

[eren]: i wasn’t asking you… 

[stacy, publicist]: ET team is asking for a comment on bad blood. let me know if there’s anything you want to say 

[megumi]: yuuji called me cute? but then he took it back, but it kind of seemed like he was too shy to be saying it in the first place? idk….

[megumi]: honest to god, do you think he thinks i'm cute? 

[leah]: call the parents when you get a chance! same old same old :/ 

you silence the ringer on your phone, before turning to your right, where your producer, will, musters the peachiest smile he can produce. and you can tell from the nervousness in his demeanor that he’s a little too cowardly to ask the question on his mind, unlike eren. 

you can appreciate that about him. that there’s some type of scarcity he holds in every interaction he has with you – like he’s intentionally picking out everything he says to you, in an effort to be careful. 

“you know how these types of things go. do you think i’ll get the first spot?” you ask. 

will doesn’t respond immediately - which gives you your answer – as you slump against his plush green couch, while his daughter ellie tasks herself with tangling in between your legs. 

ellie is will’s two year toddler with beautiful long eyelashes and a tiny button nose. you had met her when she was barely six months old and an expressive little bundle of blankets, when you first signed on as one of his new artists at dancing lady. 

you were still debating it at the time, deciding to go the singer-songwriter route and picking dancing lady over real sun. and while you were heavily leading towards the former over the latter, due to the lack of former victoria’s secrets models wandering around, it was will’s normalness that sold you entirely. 

do you mind if my daughter is here sometimes? i just got divorced and well…sometimes it’s kind of hard to find childcare…or afford it. 

it reminded you of your own parents, dragging you and leah to the side room of the clinic or leaving you in the spare classrooms on weekdays when you were a kid. and though those days are long gone, the feeling still remains. 

sometimes it still feels like you’re chasing that – trying to hold everything you’ve acquired desperately close to you, just because you know it can slip out of your fingers the second you look away. more specifically, what it feels like to feels like to have nothing. 

you were more than happy to oblige will’s request – and well, ellie was adorable. 

it was an added bonus that there was a familiarity that will exuded – and it was wholly comforting in the littered sea of plastic that you always seemed to be floating in. 

“three exclusive versions will boost their sales considerably.” will states, his tone miserable. 

you sigh, before reaching for your phone and scrolling the notifications away. and while it’s in entirely bad taste – scrolling through twitter was one of the worst vices you had. reading the think pieces, the timelines of all of your bad blood (you thought the timeline was a little bit on the nose), and worst of all – the hate comments that seemed to litter your feed. 

“you could always do the same thing.” he offers. 

“absolutely not. i’m a no remix, no features, and no multiple versions artist. it feels a little tasteless doing something like that just for a number one spot. i don’t want my fans to drop fifteen dollars just to hear exclusive versions of my songs when they’ve already paid for the original.” you state. 

“and you don’t want thing one and thing two to know that you’ve gotten under their skin.” will adds. 

as much as you cared about getting the number one spot – because deep down, you really did – letting kim know that she had settled under your skin and caused an irritation, for a second time now, was far worse than occupying a lower spot. 

deep down, it was really about getting your flowers. that’s what it all meant to you – the awards, the charts, and the fans – nitpicking each parts of your songs, getting to watch your life on display and then get to revel in your thoughts about it. 

it was the one place that you got to control the narrative. because while no one is there at the after parties or the award shows, or even in the room with you or on the date, what you get to put out there is the closest to that. 

and the second it’s out there, it stops being yours. and starts being everyone elses. it’s freeing that way – packing it into a neat box and dropping it on people’s doorsteps. 

you give up. there were always more songs. 

“yeah. that too.” you respond. 

will gives you a nod, before swinging back in his chair to mix the backing tracks on his laptop, as you turn your attention to ellie and place your hands in her dark brown hair. the braid that you did earlier is entirely messed up now, no thanks to the fact that she spent the last hour of recording running around to her heart’s desire. 

you give her a smile, tapping on the tops of your thighs and gesturing for her to jump up, as you comb through the tangled knots with your fingers, before fixing her soft hair back into the little flower hair tie you had placed in her hair earlier. 

“i’d love to take a flamethrower to the next awards show. melt some plastic while i’m ahead.” will mumbles, which earns him a hearty laugh from you. 

“and i’d help you free willy.” 

you press a kiss to ellie’s hairline before tapping the top of her head to signal you were done. and she gives you a giggly smile back before she returns to her usual shenanigans, by climbing under the glass table and sticking her feet up on the metal. 

“you’re so gross. don’t call me that.” will groans. 

you give him a smile instead. 

“how was studio eleven anyways?” he asks. 

“good. i got to see megumi after a really long time and historia was great. oh, and this god awful idiot tried to hit on me.” 

you’d be lying if you said you had stopped thinking about ryomen sukuna after you met him two days ago. that there was something intriguing about him, that you couldn’t exactly put your finger on – that led to you thinking about him far too much. 

all in all, there was one thing that you prided yourself on and it was being resourceful. being knowledgeable, taking the time to learn more, and keeping yourself informed. it was what kickstarted your career, being able to watch people and learn the sleight of hands, and more importantly, apply them. 

it’s how you got picked out of the group by fame as old as time – the lynch family. because it was one thing to be a pretty face, to have talent, but being able to sniff out the star and pick the needle out of the haystack – it wasn’t something that could be taught. and it’s something that you learned, at age eleven, fast. 

the entire income of your household depended on it. and that tends to foster some type of ambition. 

and while you’re no longer associated with the lynch family, having now run as far from them as you can, the ability holds. and in moments like this, it even turned out to be useful – being so resourceful. 

megumi, very lovingly so, called it stalking. and well, sometimes that’s exactly what it was. and in the two days you had to spare, you had learned almost anything and everything you could have about ryomen sukuna. 

he owns a coffee shop in los angeles, called play coffee, that he’s been working at since he was sixteen. and he offered to become the main investor after they almost went down under. he also loves to joke about how they almost fired him for how shit he was at making matcha lattes. 

he’s had a long and complicated history but there’s some pull that he has that keeps him around. because dating your manager, getting caught with weed at fifteen, and an anticipatory slander campaign – it would be enough to ruin someone else. or at the very least, kick them down. 

but not him. 

his fans speculate that he has twelve tattoos, his most popular being of the tarot card, the hanging man (which you then subsequently googled). upright, meaning sacrifice, release, and martyrdom. and reversed meaning stalling, needless sacrifice, and fear of sacrifice. 

his most recent release – as patrick zweig in challengers, which you rushed to watch with embarrassing speed (and consequently, got fan edits for that you can’t help but watch – is suspected to get him shortlisted for a selling star award, which is just one stop away from him winning an institute award next. 

all and all, he was on the come up. with the hit movie and now the expected hit show, one thing was clear to you. 

that sukuna was the one to look out for. mainly because there was something electric about watching him on the screen. because the way he moves, speaks, and walks on the screen – there’s something so mesmerizing about it that you can’t help but tear yourself away. 

“did you entertain it?” will asks. 

“no. he started off by blatantly lying.” 

will scoffs. 

“was he cute at least?” 

you roll your eyes. 

that was the understatement of the century. 

“shut up, will.” 

and the acidic tone in your voice is enough to pique will’s attention, as he now swirls around in the chair, and gives you the most irritating and accusatory smile he can muster. 

“i said shut up.” you repeat. 

“i literally didn’t say a single word.” 

“but you thought it. i can tell.” you bite back. 

“you’re a child.” will responds. 

--

--

sukuna wastes no time in arriving to the performance at the npr offices. and it works out considerably well – with your giggling fans questioning his presence and asking for pictures, accompanied by a blind item that he sent in to one of the biggest twitter accounts himself. 

[sukuna]: so what did megumi say? 

[yuuji]: IDK HE LIKE KIND OF LOOKED AWAY WHEN I CALLED HIM CUTE BEFORE I STARTED BACKTRACKING 

[sukuna]: …

[sukuna]: about y/n dipshit 

[yuuji]: WORD WORD 

[yuuji]: she is single. not talking to anyone yet. he kind of made it seem like she’s not that upset about her breakup tho? if that makes sense 

[yuuji]: apparently, she almost never is? not in a heartless type of way though, just in a…i’m not gonna let a man get me down type of way 

[yuuji]: that sounded more corny when i typed it that way…

[yuuji]: he said she just knows her worth. that’s all. 

sukuna hopes he’s worth a shot. 

it’s an entire somersault in his stomach when he sees you walk out, a lilac purple guitar in your hands that you set down, before giving an excited smile to the fans cheering for you at his side, blowing spare kisses to the people in the front. 

it’s hard not to stare full on. though he supposes for his purposes, that’s the exact type of thing he should be doing. and the plethora of information that he learned in the free time he had in the past two days swims in his head. 

you like silver jewelry and not gold. the ring on your middle finger is one that a fan gifted you in lisbon and you got your cartilage pierced at a tattoo parlor after taking one of your last finals in college. 

you took a few classes here and there at new york university – poetry, screenwriting, and women in politics. you were born and raised in new york, having started your singing career at the ripe age of sixteen before you were scouted at twenty. 

“hi guys! i’m y/n – i’m so flattered that npr invited me here to sing a few songs for you. it’s so cool to be here with all of you guys and kind of show you some of the new stuff i’ve been working on and play some old ones while i’m ahead. but yeah –” 

sukuna watches as you pause, making eye contact with him for the first time before you pick up the guitar and swing the strap over your shoulder. 

sukuna pretends that it doesn’t make his heart swell up in hope, that his presence was enough to warrant a pause from you.

“well, right. this first song is a new one that i’ve been working on for quite some time. it’s one of my recent favorites, i wrote it around a month ago after i went to this stupid afterparty from one of the events that my studio was holding and it’s about some of the company i’ve kept. it’s called love is embarrassing.” you state. 

I told my friends you were the one After I'd known you, like, a month And then, you kissed some girl from high school And I stayed in bed for, like, a week When you said space was what you need Waited by my phone like a goddamn fool

sukuna quickly realizes that there’s something about singing that does it for you. because your entire demeanor changes. you relax your shoulders from the tense position they’re usually in, swing your hips to the beat of the song, and make very expressive facial expressions that in his two days of research he hasn’t seen otherwise.

And now, it don't mean a thing God, love's fuckin' embarrassing Just watch as I crucify myself For some weird second string Loser who's not worth mentioning My God, love's embarrassing as hell 

and in the twenty minutes that follow your half and hour performance, he’s able to convince the body guards that he knows you – after providing an autograph, of course – and then knocks on the door of your dressing room before walking straight in. 

sukuna can tell that it startles you at first, as he walks in to find your wide eyes, before you visibly relax at the sight of him. and he delights in the smile that spreads across your face as you lean back in the chair as he takes his rightful spot behind you, placing his hands on the sidebars of your chair and leaning forward. 

“princess bubblegum. you again. to what do i owe the pleasure?” you ask. 

“figured i’d stop by, marceline. i’m a huge fan.” 

you smile back at sukuna through the mirror, biting down on the side of your cheek, as you reach for your lipgloss and toy with the cap in your shaky fingers. 

“you weren’t even singing along.” you state. 

“two of those songs were new. and i’m learning.” sukuna clarifies. 

you grin. 

“you’re doing your homework.” 

“i’m somewhat of an overachiever.” 

you push out of your chair, turning around to rest against the back of the vanity as you reach for one of the purple candies on your desk and pop it into the side of your cheek. 

“i’m guessing you didn’t harass my team, my social media managers, and two of my friends for tickets for nothing. you want something.” you state. 

“perceptive. are you always like this, dove?” sukuna asks. 

“does that bother you? it’s something you’ll have to get used to.” you ask. 

“quite the contrary. i enjoy a challenge.” 

you hum, twisting the plastic in your fingers. 

“really. what do you want?” 

sukuna nods, before crossing the way and leaning against the edge of your vanity at your side. 

“i think that you and i could be really useful to each other. i know that your song is about to get blocked by kim and her bullshit and well…” 

“your show is about to get tanked by whatever it is she has coming next.” you finish. 

sukuna grins. 

“you know about my show? have you been stalking me?” 

you feel your cheeks burn.

“because of megumi, sweetheart. nothing more nothing less.” 

sukuna feels his chest pang slightly, from the embarrassment. because of course you know about the show from megumi. 

“right, well. seriously. kim and aimee aren’t the biggest fans of you. and well, it would really piss them off if you started dating me, even if it was just for looks. what they don’t know won’t hurt them.” 

you sigh, pushing off the edge of your chair, as you stand close to him. and you’re able to smell it again, the minty musk, as you give him a smile. 

“i appreciate the offer. but, i’m not interested in getting tangled up with them again.” 

“they started it already. you don’t want to bite back?” sukuna goads. 

“i’m not the type.” you respond. 

sukuna pauses. 

“from what i’ve seen, i don’t necessarily think that's true.” 

“have you got me all figured out, sukuna?” you ask. 

he loves the way his mouth rolls off your tongue and the accusatory tone in your voice when you say it. you’re trying to get him to take the bait, like the two of you are playing a game. 

and he leans closer, smiling down at you as he wraps he cups your cheek with his left hand, before pinching at your cheek. 

“i’m almost positive that i do.” he responds. 

and he’s quick with it, reaching forward and tucking the stray strands of your hair behind your ear, before basically teleporting to the door. 

“either way, you know where to find me if you change your mind.” he states, before slamming the door shut behind him. 

--

--

“okay, so like why haven’t you just…asked him out yet?” you ask. 

you watch as megumi spits the majority of the shot he just downed back into the glass, before slamming it down and leaning forward on the table. 

“are you insane?” 

“i think you might be. i mean, he’s literally flirting with you in these texts.” you respond. 

you scroll through the chat again – noting the cute 0.5 picture of yuuji as the profile picture – earning you a glare from megumi before he snatches the phone back. you give him a pointed look, before shrugging and lifting your own glass to your lips. 

“i just…get really nervous.” he stutters. 

“well, i can give you a few pointers. first things first, when he tries to kiss you, don’t dodge him. and when you do actually muster up the courage, don’t bite him by accident.” 

meugmi shoots you a glare and you can’t help but smirk at him. 

there’s nothing as special as a first boyfriend. the novelty of it all – holding hands in between classes, texting the night before to plan a hug at dismissal, and in your case, having things tumble down when he starts sobbing after you kiss for the first time. 

“hey. are…are you crying?” 

you were positive that you did it right. the seven videos that you had watched the night prior and the excessive consulting from leah was exactly what you put into practice. closing your eyes, leaning forward, and pressing your lips against his. but you’re not sure what exactly happened, because two seconds later there was bright red blood coming out of your lips and an incessant amount of apologies coming out of megumi’s mouth. 

but after you had reassured him that it was perfectly fine and that it was an accident, there was something still lingering in the air. because in the few seconds that followed when you tried to initiate it again, megumi dodged it all together and nearly flopped on to the pavement as he put his head in his hands. 

there was something awkward about the entire thing. that weird pit in your stomach, the way your skin seemed to course in embarrassment at the fact that he didn’t really seem to enjoy it, and the metallic taste still lingering on your slightly swollen lip. 

“are you okay, megumi?” you ask. 

“yeah. yeah, i’m sorry. we can do it again.” 

you frown. 

“we don’t have to.” 

“do you want to?” he asks. 

you take him in fully – eyes wide and skin pale – as you reach forward, placing one of his hands on your shoulder. 

“well, not if you’re going to look at me all weird after. you’re kind of freaking me out, megs.” 

he sighs, before nervously rubbing his fingertips against his palms, as he gives you a shaky nod. it’s only then that you note that the scabs on his knuckles have barely peeled, an indication that he’s been picking at them. and really, an insinuation that something is bothering him. 

“i won’t stop being your friend if we don’t date anymore.” you clarify. 

megumi gives you a halfhearted smile. 

“well, that’s just because you don’t have other friends.” he mumbles. 

you snort, before shoving him in the side. 

“asshole.” 

“bitch.” 

and you’re not sure what it is, maybe the fact that the joke has broken the ice a little bit, but he leans forward, his hands shaking as he peers his steely blue eyes into yours. 

“y/n. can i please tell you a secret?” he whispers. 

“okay.” 

he pauses. 

“i don’t like you.” 

you pinch your llps in a line. 

“charming.” 

he shakes his head, almost like he’s frustrated. 

“i mean. i don’t think i could like you.” 

“wow. keep it coming, fushiguro.” 

he glares in response. 

“you know, you could try letting me finish.” megumi deadpans. 

“the opportunity was just too good. but really, do finish.” 

megumi bites at the sides of his lips, before taking a deep breath. 

“you’re like my best friend. i think you’re really funny, really cool, and sometimes you’re the only person i want to be around, even if we’re kind of just sitting around quietly. and you’re pretty so i figured that…that if i tried to date you, it would work.” 

“huh?” 

“like, you’re the best girl to do it. there’s no one like you. but…but if i kiss you and i feel nothing…maybe that means it’s not about personality or liking people….and more about the fact that…that you’re a girl and not a boy…and i guess i can’t get over that.” 

you pause. 

“why would i need to be a boy?” you whisper. 

and in the five seconds it takes to mutter those eight words, you clock the reason all together. 

it’s because megumi is gay. 

“i was like fourteen.” megumi deadpans. 

“and that’s no reason to forget the lessons you learned. no biting, no dodging, just –” 

megumi shakes his hand in the air, his face curled up in disgust, as he pushes another one of the shots towards you. 

“this is disgusting. let’s talk about something else.” 

while megumi pretends to be a larger than life hater of your resourcefulness, he’s truly the only person who can match your energy sometimes. which in this case, includes pressing your ear against one of the private rooms in the club, trying to catch the end of the conversation. 

“i can barely hear shit. the music is way too loud.” 

“yeah. this is making it sound all muffled.” megumi responds. 

you look to your left to find him crouched on the floor, the diaphragm of a stethoscope pressed against the wall as he leans forward to listen. 

“are you fucking insane? where did you even get that?” 

“lost and found.” 

“who the fuck brings a stethoscope to the club?” 

“it’s the first week of october, dumbass. some girl probably dressed up as a sexy nurse and left it on the floor.” 

“give me that.” you hiss.

“fuck no, get your own.” 

“they’re my ex-friends. and currently trying to stop me from charting. hand it over.” 

megumi gives you a glare, as you place the pieces in your ear, and the two of you lean forward against the wall again. and while it does little to help except piercing your ears. though all you hear is the shuffling of chairs, as you give megumi a wide-eyed look, to stand up and yank the earpieces out. 

and really, it is horrible timing because as the two of you stand up – with you linking your arms in with megumi’s to hide the stethoscope behind his back – as you shoot aimee and kim a peachy smile. and it’s a sickly sweet smile that aimee and kim give you, accompanied with a look up and down the length of your figure. 

“hi peach.” aimee states. 

you can feel your skin burn at the same old shitty nickname. 

“we were just talking about you.” kim starts. 

“likely thing for the two of you to be doing.” megumi mutters. 

kim shoots megumi an irritated glare, before reaching forward, and placing one of her hands on your shoulder. 

“i had a question for you. are you dating kuna?” kim asks. 

you pinch your nose in disgust. 

“what's it to you?” 

kim smiles. 

“we dated for a long time. just wanted to make sure he’s in good hands.” she clarifies. 

“it was barely three months.” you state. 

like always, kim sours quickly. 

“and it’ll be even shorter when it comes to you.” kim states. 

you roll your eyes. but before you can respond, she leans forward, pressing her fingers against your ear to fix your hair, before batting her eyelashes at you. 

“i don’t want you to get hurt again. and well, you better quit while you’re ahead, peach. guys like that won’t stick around for girls like you. you can’t exactly give him what he wants.” 

on the almost quiet drive home, with weary looks from megumi, you make seven calls, canceling your plans for tomorrow and making your plan while you’re ahead.

--

“you’re so skilled with balls.” 

sukuna rolls his eyes, only to turn to his left and find what might be his most agitating (and his secret personal favorite) co-star, satoru gojo. 

“you should invest in a tape recorder. listen to the tape back at the end of the day and do some reflection.” sukuna states, before lifting the ball into the air and watching it swish into the net. 

in their last few days of press, the marketing team for the show decided that the group of them were going to be participating in a charity all-stars basketball game. it was one of the most anticipated events of the year, with celebrities being on both teams, and special surprise performances for the halftime show. 

the combined sales of the tickets, signed jerseys, and meet and greets raised tens of thousands of dollars, and all in all, it was one of the better events that sukuna found himself being forced to attend. that and the fact that athletics were something that sukuna was skilled at – something reinforced by the fact that his team was almost ten up at the halftime mark. 

sukuna takes his seat on the courtside bench, satoru handing him a gatorade as the two of them lean forward on their knees. it’s kind of intentional – the two of them sitting together, posing the way they were – only because it made for really good press. 

he catches sight of kim and aimee on the other side of the court, posing for the camera by pressing a kiss to each other’s cheeks, before leaning back in their chair, entirely bored. 

“ladies and gentleman, please welcome our special half-time show guest, y/n l/n.” 

sukuna nearly jolts up in his chair as the lights flash in the center of the court – to the sight of you wearing a light pink crew neck and a white tennis skirt – with a light pink ribbon tangled into your hair. 

“was she always on the setlist?” 

“don’t think so.” satoru mumbles back. 

Now he's thinkin' 'bout me every night, oh Is it that sweet? I guess so Say you can't sleep, baby, I know That's that me, espresso Move it up, down, left, right, oh Switch it up like Nintendo Say you can't sleep, baby, I know That's that me, espresso 

sukuna supposes that it should be a bad sign that this is the second time in a few days that he finds himself being mesmerized by your presence. and that this time, satoru’s noticed. 

“dude. you’re like drooling.” he whispers. 

“shut the fuck up.” 

Too bad your ex don't do it for ya Walked in and dream came trued it for ya Soft skin and I perfumed it for ya I know I Mountain Dew it for ya That morning coffee, brewed it for ya One touch and I brand newed it for ya 

sukuna watches as you shoot him a wink, before throwing the sparkly microphone in your hand to one of your backup dancers, and turning around. 

and really, it’s one of the most overwhelming feelings he’s had – that wholehearted and blissful exhilaration that pounds in his chest – as he watches you pull your crewneck over your head, only to be wearing his jersey underneath. (that and the fact that the resounding cheers that erupt after the fact are music to his fucking ears). 

I'm working late 'cause I'm a singer Oh, he looks so cute wrapped around my finger My twisted humor, make him laugh so often My honey bee, come and get this pollen

Too bad your ex don't do it for ya Walked in and dream came trued it for ya Soft skin and I perfumed it for ya I know I Mountain Dew it for ya That morning coffee, brewed it for ya One touch and I brand newed it for ya

he can feel his heart drop in his chest as you spare a wink, before returning to your choreography. 

“so that’s why you’re fucking drooling.” satoru states, giving him a hearty smile as he wraps one of his arms around his shoulder. 

sukuna can’t even muster an irritated look to give back to satoru. 

“who fucking wouldn’t?” sukuna mutters. 

“that’s real cute, dude. the espresso thing.” 

“what espresso thing?” sukuna asks. 

“you know. because you own the coffee shop and shit? isn’t that what she means?” satoru asks. 

of course that’s what you meant. and it’s in that split second that every hunch that sukuna has – that you’re every bit of what he expected, that you were just like him, that you were the exact type he knew you were – as he stands up, crossing his hands over his chest as he gives you a smile. 

and he can feel his heart pounding as you pull the ear pieces out to hang around your shoulders before walking over to him, your hands behind your back as you give him a sweet smile. only to turn immediately to his left and look at satoru. 

“hi.” 

he watches as satoru spits the gatorade back into the bottle, before standing up and running his hands through his hair. it slightly irritates him, the slight change in satoru’s demeanor. 

“hi?” 

you extend your hand out.

“i’m y/n.” 

and sukuna’s irritation gets even worse as satoru lifts your knuckles to his lips and presses a kiss against your hand. 

“satoru.” he responds. 

you give him a smile. 

“that’s cute.” 

you try not to relish in the way that sukuna clicks his tongue in his cheek,  trying his best to hide his frustration, as you look up at satoru. 

“to be honest, i kind of came here with an ulterior motive.” 

“my favorite kind of motive.” satoru responds. 

you walk over to satoru’s side, linking your hand in with his, as you point to the other side of the court. 

“you see that empty black seat right there?” 

“next to aimee lynch?” 

“that’s my seat.” 

satoru looks down at you, as he leans forward.

“we can’t have you sitting there.” he whispers. 

“only if you insist.” you respond. 

satoru puts his bottle down and you watch as he retreats to the other side to retrieve the chair, as you turn over to sukuna.  

“hi lavagirl.” you state. 

sukuna grins in response. 

“her hair is a little more neon than mine, but it’s always a pleasure, sharkboy.” sukuna responds. 

you give him a smile, noting the flashing cameras at your side, as you bring your hands forward, holding the sharpie up in between the two of you. 

“what’s this?” sukuna asks. 

“i got one of the last jersey’s. it wasn’t signed.” you ask. 

sukuna feigns shock. 

“you poor baby. we can’t have that, now can we?” 

you shake your head as sukuna smiles, taking the pen from your fingers, before signaling for you to turn around with his pointer finger.

and it makes you shiver as he bends down, taking the time to move the hair to the side of your shoulder before scribbling on your back. and that burning warmth that pools in your stomach gets even worse as his breath tickles your neck, before he leans over and presses a kiss to the nape of your neck. 

“one thing.” he whispers. 

you swallow hard, the whisper in his voice sending a shiver down your spine. 

“what’s that?” 

you watch as satoru walks up, placing the chair right next to his, as you and sukuna shoot him a smile. 

“try to rile me up and it’ll be more than that next time.”

--

--

taglist: @porridgesblog @k0z3me @sugu-love @yihona-san06  @bsenpai @sweetenertea @skzismyhome @mykyoon @violetmatcha @rebeccawinters @luna0713hunter @shotenvinsoot @itzmeme @gojoswifeyyys-world @cutiejg @chilichopsticks @timmytimmytuckyy @dreamxiing @mamamamamarga @skunabby @meisque @hoseokslefteyebrow @thepurpleempath @shrimphutao4ever @monic19 @najaemism @haitanibros0007 @catobsessedlady @luvs4kim @ri-sa20 @thejujvtsupost @invisible-mori @satoruslipbalm @kyo-kyo1 @telepathicheartss @huhsthccvjh @sxnkuna @w31rdg1rl @lilalia3945 @multiplefandomthings @shotovhs @voids-universe @timetobegone @deeeeexx @livelovelaughisagiyochi @pelicanpizza @cowgirlikets @jeon-blue @phantomasmaniac @yoontaedotin @cowgirlikets @estrella-novella

[thebluemallet]

Pairing Every Bridgerton Couple with a Taylor Swift Song

Netflix finally made the official announcement! We're getting the third season of Bridgerton... but not until Spring 2024. A lot of projects got delayed due to the strikes, so I'm not that surprised. And since I'm bored and it's been a while since we've had any Bridgerton content, here is every major Bridgerton couple paired with a Taylor Swift song.

can't wait for all the comments telling me why all the songs i picked were wrong.

Kate and Anthony- Lavender Haze

I honestly don't have a good reason for choosing this specific song for them beyond "vibes" and "purple was a big color for them in their season." Other songs that could fit them seemed a little too melancholy compared to their happy ending at the end of season 2, so I'm sticking with Lavender Haze.

Benedict and Sophie- Enchanted (Taylor's Version)

The obvious choice for them would be Enchanted since their love story is basically a Cinderella story and the song has some major Cinderella vibes. There are two runner-ups since book!Benedict is a bit of a fuckboy: White Horse (Taylor's Version) and All Too Well (10 Minute Version). Since show!Benedict is more charming and less of a fuckboy compared to the book, the other choices should become irrelevant in his season. (God, I hope they're irrelevant in his season).

Colin and Penelope- Love Story (Taylor's Version)

This one's easy: Love Story. They've known each other since they were young. They're both writers of stories. Penelope has built up this idealistic version of Colin for years now and this song definitely sounds like it was written by someone younger with a more idealistic look on love and romance. The runner-up for these two is You Belong With Me (Taylor's Version).

Daphne and Simon- Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)

Is it cheating to pick the one that was used in the show? No? Then Daphne and Simon are Wildest Dreams. A good runner-up for them would be Say Don't Go (Taylor's Version). Specifically in the show when Simon tries to distance himself from Daphne in episode 3.

Eloise and Phillip- Lover (First Dance Remix)

I wasn't expecting to have as much trouble as I did trying to pick out a song for these two. I finally landed on Lover (First Dance Remix). In the books, Eloise puts off getting married for a while because she wants a love story as romantic as Benedict's. And this remix of Lover has some added strings that made me think of the string covers in the show and they added a more wistful feel to the song that you don't get with the original.

Bonus Couple- Francesca and John- Timeless (Taylor's Version)(From the Vault)

She's the only Bridgerton sibling to be married twice and yet I feel like John is easily forgotten. But not on this list!

John and Francesca's love story is cut tragically short, leaving Francesca a young widow. And she mourns him for years before she decides to try to find a husband again. She probably spent those years thinking over what could have been had John lived. So the nostalgia of Timeless (TV) (FTV) seems fitting for the two of them.

Francesca and Michael - This Love (Taylor's Version)

The line "Currents swept you out again" immediately had me thinking of Michael sailing away from England for years right after John's death and how that affected Francesca. Then he finally returns just when Francesca has decided she's ready to get married again. "This love came back to me."

Gregory and Lucy- Speak Now (Taylor's Version)

I don't think it gets any more Gregory/Lucy than making a scene at a wedding. Your honor, I rest my case.

Hyacinth and Gareth- Paper Rings

Paper Rings for the simple fact that Gareth, when he first meets Hyacinth, has nothing to offer in terms of wealth and riches. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but she's the only Bridgerton sibling/in-law that got an actual proposal in the books, right? The rest of them just kind of got compromised into marriage. So she gets this song.

(I almost picked this song for Colin and Penelope while Hyacinth and Gareth nearly got Love Story.)

[waywardsunlight]

Post Hoot 4/28/2023

Cissy, Dana, Rebecca, Sarah, Avi, and Zelda Black

Reactions to the finale? 

Sarah cried really hard when she saw the Quincera (“a whole chapter in my life is over” line). Avi was excited to play a villain, Sarah said they were scary. Avi liked to play with character. Dana loved seeing Avi’s evil Raine, said it was intense. They said they wanted to see more evil Raine, but Dana wanted to avoid it. Rebecca’s birthday was the week the finale came out, talked about their appearance in the episode. Cissy started crying, said it was neat.

Continue reading below:

Cissy had been travelling, and got back right on time to see the finale, she was super tired. Cissy was crying, her kids were asking her if she was crying. Avi cried too. Sarah said she was choked up but she was more excited. Avi felt like it was surreal. Cissy said “no sequel” “we can hope” “It would be fun to do more but it would require Disney to agree” Dana. Sometimes Dana gets so pissed off about the cancelling. Rebecca said the finale aired and they were back to being angry. Wished they had gotten more episodes. Sarah was angry, upset and sad about the cancellation but she loved the finale. “It couldn’t have been more impressive”.“There’s always gonna be a thousand things we want to improve but it came out well” Dana

Dana loved the fight scene between Luz, Eda, and King v Belos. 

Music? How does it work? Brad has been on since season 2, he already knew the style of the show, so for every animatic, you put in temp music, and you send the composer the stuff and the spot notes, follow the concept of the temp music but add a horror genre spin on it. Brad’s first take on the episode was great. TJ did a remix for the epilogue, Dana cried hearing the remix for the epilogue. 

They brought back every single actor for the bye. Everyone’s last line is bye!!! Hooty originally had a line where he kept saying goodbye. Hooty coming out of Papa Titan’s eye? “I won’t say much, in hopes I get to do more in the future (slim chance), this youtube reviewer- The3rdBill got it right in an offhand comment”

“How did the writing change for season 2/season 3?” Dana had an ending she wanted, wasn’t able to do it bc too much set up. All of season 2A was written without the knowledge of the cancellation, Follies was the first episode fully written with the knowledge it was cancelled. Dana wanted to do more with galdorstones, coven heads, Bat Queen, it’s easy to see what we had to prioritize. It was a hard situation in the writer’s room. We did our best and we’re happy people still connected to it.”

“Keep being loud about how much you love the show”

“Support the Etsy artists!” Had a pin by SophieScrubs

“It’s not like we had whole episodes written that were trashed, they were one sentence ideas”- they were in Dana’s head “I’m just happy with what came out” 

“We kinda got to go out, 45 minute specials, it was fun to work with”

Cissy “There’s no way you can’t be a fan”, Cissy was wearing a King beanie and got recognized as a fan in Ireland!

Sarah met people who liked her shirt and the show lol (didn’t say if they knew who she was) Rebecca wore a king sweatshirt in DisneyLand, saw somebody else with a king sweatshirt and they side-eyed her lol “Anyone who ignores Rebecca can catch these claws”

Owlberts in the title of the show, Stringbean is there too, the L and S, when they made the pilot, they had a different logo, it wasn’t made intentionally but they saw it and they liked it.

Luz had a connection with snakes, having her reclaim snakes.

Sarah was a snake believer!!!

A lot of ppl had ideas in the writers room, Dana loves bad puns and loved snakeshifter (the guy who has Barkus named after him), Beastkeeping bc Dana loves animals, Oracle bc she could see the future of the show.

“Avi needs wrangling” Sarah, they joked around.

Raine’s Palisman: The Palisman was disguised as the violin, Raine smashes their violin- it was the staff part of the Palisman that was smashed.

Did they Clawthorne family ever discover they were descendants of Evelyn and Caleb? Eda and Hunter don’t know, the rest I won’t say.

Who had the old house? Who did that belong to? 

Sarah has a Stringbean! 

“The artistry of the fandom is inspiring” Cissy

Somebody’s making Cissy a Lilith one.

Caleb, Evelyn, Flapjack? “Save it for the spinoff” Dana: “One detail I like to think of, is when we were writing TTT, Flapjack is not Evelyn, to Belos he saw Flapjack as the culmination of the corruption in his brother “if it weren’t for you”, you can see a hint at it in the halloween decorations, Evelyn’s hand had Flapjack. First magic Caleb was introduced to, Evelyn was hiding her ears and pretending to be human, follow this bird into this portal? “Dog owners passing eachother and becoming friends and bonding over dogs”. I like to think that Evelyn and Caleb was sweet- platonic curiosity to romantic, it was good for a bit.

“Who did the shack belong to?” We never got to explore this, it was originally the home of Caleb and Philip, Eda comes out there for the first time when coming out of the portal door. Eda fixed it!!! Everything doesn’t matter, google death of the author, I am just a fan now bc the show is finished. If you prefer your version, it’s valid rn.

Eda becomes the owl beast before getting Owlbert. There was going to be an episode where they showed her reclaiming the image of the owl and learning to carve palisman with Dell.

When Luz and Hunter went down to the basement originally, there were graves down there for Philip and Caleb, based off old buildings in connecticut (no story purpose)

Belos concepts when he was taking over animals, didn’t end up in the show, Belos animal designs, alluded to but not shown

Eye on the portal is Papa Titan? Yes. 

Hunter is bisexual, Willow is pansexual.

Amity and Lilith rekindled mentor relationship, Lilith has a lot of history, Amity likes history + reading. They liked the blueprints for the library.

Cissy hadn’t seen anything she didn’t speak lines for, Cissy just got her lines/scenes.

Apparently they’re not supposed to bring the scripts home, before the pandemic they got full scripts

“Excuse me I’m talking” Avi (joking), Avi and Sarah are high energy

Avi didn’t have time to read the script, Sarah was confused when Luz died

Sarah got the script when Flapjack died, she said “no! Take me!” and they said “you’re going too”

Avi had trouble with the “you’re fluffy” line

Rebecca sent animatics to help the actors, it was easier for them to see the animatics

“It’s always up to the showrunner to show as much as they can” we go pitches in house with our own voices, Dana did Terra in For the Future animatic.Dana hates hearing her own voice, she talks really fast in her reads. When you pitch, you also do the sound effects. When they did the pitch for the finale (hour and a half), the line that got Rebecca choked up when Dana did Luz’s “Eda, King, thank you” “we got you kiddo”

There’s a recording of all of season two b  and season three of Dana pitching doing the lines.

If the show had not been cut short, would Amity and Hunter have had more time? Everyone would’ve gotten more of a chance to talk to each other- yes. Hunter would’ve talked to more characters like Vee and human realm kids, Camila. Literally everyone would’ve had more time. Dana loves the sibling relationship.

Luz and Raine barely interact, they’re bickering jokingly. “I’m sorry you didn’t get to hang out” Dana, “we can’t get the hexsquad to hang out”

Where did Luz attend school after WAD? She went to human realm high school, she had renewed motivation, even if high school was difficult, she had a goal, having a safe space for her and a family outside of the human realm made high school more bearable (that was the cause for Dana, having that escape was good).

Gus’s hair!! :D Emmy designed him. Dana designed Emira, Skara, Eber for the finale. Dana had two others but she forgot. 

King’s dad’s name is unpronounable. 

Does the Collector visit often? Has their relationship with their siblings improve? (STRONG LAUGHS) Dana can’t say much about the Archivsts, the Collector didn’t have a flashforward design bc they didn’t grow up that much, got a little taller but not really. Immortal space child. Dana was inspired by creepy dolls, and a nightmare. JBO had a google folder with cool references of creepy dolls, liminal nightmare scapes, stars. We know who is the Collector is gonna be but what’s their vibe. That was one of the most fun parts after the shortening. The Collector was always a part of it, not solidified, but yeah they were a part of it. The Collector has stayed connected, visits. Dana loves fan comics about King and the Collector. 

Won’t answer questions about the archvists. 

Hooty doesn’t have to be vacated from the owl house if he doesn’t want to, the door has a star motif on it, when the door isn’t active, Hooty can be there, but the portal door can fold up but Hooty is buddy. 

Who are the current residents of the Owl House? Raine and Eda’s business is their business, not all love stories end in marriage, that doesn’t diminism any kind of love? They live together in the owl house. Raine moved in.

Zach Markus invented Matt so he gets to answer Matt questions.

Vee and Masha dating? It’s hard to say, bc we didn’t include Masha in the finale, Vee has a crush on them. Yeah! Maybe.

Sarah’s husband is texting saying hi lol.

Odalia? Divorced. The kids happily live away from her. They see her when they have the energy to, they recognize she’s toxic and they don’t have to put up with her if she’s being awful. May have been explored if more episodes. Rachael MacFarlane (VA) is great. She’s not British, she’s just pretentious.

King’s Tower? Dana’s thinking… “dumb answer. The plans we had, it had something to do with… it was related to someone who you all know who may have amnesia

There was gonna be a moment for other characters to get eye glow (strong emotions)

What’s the mouse that looked like alador? In the boards, Dawn animated the scene, he has a pose where he looked like a t-rex, Dana saw it and thought he looked like Remy from Rattatoue, when they got to the scene with the lab, he remembered that convo and drew in the rat and Dana laughed so hard “keep it, don’t change it” “It’s his palisman”

“A show should be enjoyed as is, knowing how it’s made is also cool” “when the show got darker- we got to do the fun stuff we got to do, if we all tried to force ourselves to write a happy go-lucky show they’d be unhappy, we’re gonna put our feelings into this” It was a dark writers room for a bit.

Sarah likes the darker elements, mentioned the masks (maybe TTT?), not totally removed from reality

“It clearly struck a chord, we lived through a global quarantine, we’re feeling the fallout of it”

“What was extremely hopeful for the crew was that the characters would have a happy ending, Luz gets to study magic, the characters stay together and form a community” 

They got questions they couldn’t answer like about the quince 

They don’t know if this is the last post hoot

They opened presents but they didn’t get one for Avi bc they didn’t know they’d be there until 2 days before. Rebecca got them funko pops of Lilith and Luz. Rebecca said thank you.

“Hey disney, if you’re watching, this could be you”

Elizabeth (Camila VA) called her mom to translate stuff into spanish. 

Said byeeee!

[ackee]

can you recommend some fun youtubers to watch. bonus points if they are black.

ALL BLACK YOUTUBERS YOU SAY

the youtubers i watch the absolute most are kevonstage + angel on here's the thing. its technically a podcast, they talk about current events every wednesday and they're both comedians with untreated adhd. this show is where the original 'one margarita' lyrics came from, then it was remixed and blew up on tiktok ☝🏽

doreimani, a magical girl youtuber! she usually reviews magi girl content and other magi girl adjacent stuff! she recently made over her room and im inspired 🫶🏽

grimmelle, they make extremely sporadic and random video essays on things they like. the first video i watched of theirs was about flapjack LOL but they seem to like horror a lot!

MY FRIEND BUNZONE!! he's just starting but his vid quality.. fun and good... (follow for his ocs also...)

I'M LIKE... ALMOST CERTAIN CJ THE X IS MIXED BLACK... BUT IF HE'S NOT IMAGINE I AINT PUT HIM HERE. anyway their vids are so.. chaotic and insightful. Quotable. Iconic. watching this vid specifically years ago got me so inspired i thumbnailed 15 comic pages. perfectionism literally defeated. im overdue for a rewatch.

ANOTHER FRIEND, NICO'S BIG HEAD <3 she does a lot of vlogs and in the vlogs she paints traditionally, sews, makes clay figures, etc. i love watching them, they,re inspiring And relaxing <3

[wingsonghalo]

A Practice, For Now ((HanaKou version))

SO back in October of 2022, I goofily remixed my first HanaNene fic, A Practice, For Now (also available on Ao3), to feature Hanako asking Kou to help him practice kissing. It's still HanaNene-coded (and MitsuKou-coded), but instead of Nene asking Hanako for practice because she wants her first kiss before she dies, Hanako is asking Kou for practice because he wants to already know how if he ever ends up kissing Nene. So they stumble through some first kisses. They are so silly and I love them. While I initially just wrote this for my HanaNene server for a bit of fun, even keeping the structure of the opening lines of the original fic and the 8-page length (it's literally just 469 words less than the original lmao), it's been SO long since I posted any of my JSHK writing, and there is not enough HanaKou in the world, so!! I hope you enjoy this silliness!! (Also, obviously this would be before any canon kisses, haha) ================================================

It wasn't the proper setting, the air dusty and still in the abandoned classroom, the dying sunlight streaming in through the window in dust-mote-laden rays, and his nose twitching from the chalk dust as he cleaned the board. It wasn't the right time either, 4PM on a Friday. It most certainly wasn't the right person.

But Hanako, who was loitering around here for reasons Kou couldn't explain, brought up a very unexpected topic nevertheless.

"Hey, kid?" he finally spoke up, hovering helpfully in the background as Kou launched into another coughing fit from clapping the chalkboard erasers together.

"Hm?" Kou responded once he was able to speak again, tossing a glimpse at him over his shoulder. Being a ghost, his lungs already drew in no air and thus he did not have to choke on this chalk dust, the lucky bastard.

"We should kiss."

Kou dropped both erasers and began another spectacular coughing fit, no chalk dust required this time, as he whirled on him. "WHAT?!" He'd turned around so fast he almost fell over, and struggled to steady himself by flinging his hands back to brace on the chalk tray.

The Toilet Troll just looked mildly concerned at Kou's sudden inability to stand or breathe air, raising his eyebrows a little. "Be a little louder, why don't you; I think there are people in the next prefecture over who didn't hear you."

"What the HELL kind of thing is that to say?!" Kou demanded, his knees wobbling.

His ghost friend frowned. "I thought it was a rather clever joke. You were so loud that I was implying that people—"

"NOT THAT," Kou interrupted, flinging a hand out to stop him. "The… what you said before that!" Had he misheard or something?!

"Oh," said Hanako mildly, "when I said we should kiss?"

"What is HAPPENING?!" Kou clutched his head desperately. "Is this some kind of bizarre nightmare?!"

"How rude." Hanako's disapproving frown was even more pronounced now. "It was an earnest suggestion."

No matter how many times Kou blinked his wide eyes at his friend, nothing changed, so he dropped his arms and rested his weight against the chalk tray behind him. The pain of it jabbing into his back kept him grounded. "Okay, seriously, what the hell, Hanako? You know perfectly well that that sounds like an insane suggestion, so unless this is just a really bad joke, you must have a pretty good reason." Kou's best guess was that Hanako was going to somehow trick him into agreeing and then laugh at him.

Hanako didn't look like he was in the mood for laughing, however. He heaved a huge sigh, and sat heavily on one of the desks closest to Kou near the front of the classroom with a fwump. Usually he didn't make much noise when he sat on things, so he must have been either really tired, or really dedicated to being theatrical (it was most often the latter). "Look… my life ended before I got to experience a lot of things. Things I thought I never would experience now that I’m dead. But…" He bit his lip. Kou was pretty sure he wasn't just being theatrical now. "It kind of seems like one thing that I thought was out of reach… might not be?"

"You're going to have to be more specific," Kou pressed him.

The ghost tapped his fingertips together. "There's… someone that I like. And I was thinking I'd like to maybe tell them how I feel.” The fingertip-tapping got faster. “And possibly practice a way of expressing those feelings."

"And… who might you be talking about?" Kou had a pretty good idea, but he wanted to be sure.

The gold eyes he lifted to meet Kou's were pleading, desperate. "Do I really have to say it? You feel the same way about her, don't you?"

Her. As he suspected, this had something to do with Hanako's feelings for Yashiro-senpai. Kou didn't respond, except to clench his fists by his sides. "So… what, you want some experience before you tell her your feelings? With me?"

"With my friend," Hanako emphasized softly, and looked down. "My only other friend. I don't have a lot of allies, you know."

Goddammit. How was he supposed to refuse that outright? "And why should I help you? Doesn't that give you an unfair advantage?" he pointed out, crossing his arms. He tried to keep his voice wary, but to his own ears he already sounded resigned.

"Well, you'd gain experience too, hopefully. Don't tell me you're rolling in romantic expertise?"

Kou grimaced, mouth pulling to one side as he tapped a fingertip on his arm. "I have zero experience, a fact I'm sure you're aware of, or you wouldn't have asked me."

He smiled, equal parts devious and sheepish. "Guilty as charged."

The sigh Kou let out lasted a good five seconds. "You're not joking, are you." It wasn't really a question, but Hanako shook his head anyway. "This is ridiculous. You know that, right?" Hanako nodded, his eyes not moving from him as Kou took a few steps towards him. "I mean, I'm a guy. It's not going to be like kissing her. Aren't you freaked out by it?" Another shake of the head. Kou gulped as Hanako stood up again, ghostly feet touching the floor.

He was shorter than Kou. Kou had known that, but it was especially evident now that they were standing facing each other. "Does it freak you out?" he asked.

"Only because it's you," Kou quipped.

"But… you're okay with it?" His goldenrod eyes wavered a bit.

Kou shrugged. "Only because it's you," he repeated, and bent down. Hanako's eyes fluttered shut just in time for their lips to meet.

It was so cold that it surprised him, and maybe that was why it only lasted a split second. But that had hardly been enough to qualify as experience, so when Hanako pressed back up against his mouth, Kou didn't back away. They stood there like that for a few seconds, neither moving a muscle. Kou could hear his pulse pounding in his ears.

When Hanako pulled away, he glanced unsurely up at the other boy. "Well… what did you think?"

"I'll be honest, dude," said Kou: "It kind of sucked."

Hanako flinched. "Well, you said it yourself: it's not the same as it would be with a girl!" Still, his shoulders slumped. "It was bad, huh…"

It was almost endearing, how seriously he was taking this. But Kou pushed back the slightly sappy feelings of fondness swirling inside him at watching Hanako fidget, his cheeks still dusted pink. "I think it's because we were just kind of standing there," he said with a slight smile. "You're supposed to sort of… tilt your head or whatever, I think. So it doesn't feel as stiff."

"Well look who's suddenly an expert," Hanako huffed, but he looked intrigued at this new information. "If you know what you're supposed to do, why didn't you do it?"

"Pardon me for trying to get over the feeling of smooching a popsicle!" Kou fired back.

Hanako's cheeks went a shade darker. "I can't help that any more than you can help feeling like a furnace!"

"A furnace?" Kou repeated.

"Yeah, a furnace!" Hanako crossed his arms, and the pouting look on his face was what some might describe as cute. "You're so hot that I thought I was going to evaporate into mist!"

They stared at each other for a few seconds.

"I'm hot, huh," Kou said, trying not to burst into laughter.

"I didn't mean it like that and you know it," Hanako grumbled, his whole face red.

Kou was usually the butt of Hanako's jokes, so it was quite gratifying being the one to make Hanako feel like a fool for once. "No, I know what you meant," he said, pretending to puff out his chest and combing his fingers back through his hair in his best male model impression. "I'm a total stud." He was, at least, related to someone people frequently labeled as such.

"I'm going to rip that stupid earring off you," the ghost spat, but there was no real threat behind the words.

"Don't hate me for being beautiful," Kou sighed melodramatically. It was the kind of thing Mitsuba might have said, he thought with a fair bit of amusement.

"It's time to shut up now," said Hanako, yanking Kou down by his tie to kiss him again.

Hanako was, at the very least, a quick learner, because this time he tilted his head as instructed, their lips molding together easily. Kou responded as well as he could, moving his mouth in counterpoint. The other boy's lips were soft, and the temperature difference was not exactly unpleasant once he got used to it. Before he even realized it, he found himself swept away in the sensation, allowing himself to be guided by feeling alone. But eventually he needed to breathe, and so he put his hands on Hanako's shoulders to push him back.

The ghost must have misunderstood the intention, however, because he took the increased contact as encouragement, pressing against him more insistently and forcing Kou to take a surprised breath in through his nose instead. Hanako was kissing him like he had something to prove now, having let go of his tie to grasp his shirt with both fists as if to prevent Kou's escape.

Kou wasn't trying to escape, though. His grip on Hanako's shoulders, which had started as an attempt to push him away, now drew him a little closer. His lips responded to Hanako's every move, trying to slow him down where he was too forceful and coax a reaction whenever he stilled. Where had all this sudden effort come from? Kou's knees felt a bit weak, which was stupid because he was kissing Hanako, and it wasn't like there should be any actual feelings involved here, and oh my god he was kissing Hanako; what was this situation and why was his head swimming and why did it feel like sparklers in his gut when Hanako accidentally caught a tooth on his lower lip and pulled away to huskily whisper a "sorry" before kissing him again?

Kou muffled a sound into Hanako's mouth and kissed back like he meant it, because he wasn't just going to let this pervy ghost make him feel like some swooning chick—not that he was swooning or anything. Yes, he only nibbled Hanako's lip back out of spite, to show that Hanako couldn't get the better of him. It had nothing to do with wanting to delight over the startled murmur the other boy made, nor with savoring the way he felt Hanako's cold hands tremble as they clutched his shirt.

This was just Kou's first experience with kissing someone, that was all. That was why every place Hanako touched felt simultaneously freezing and burning hot, that was why his knees felt ready to give out, that was why he shuddered and gripped tighter when Hanako pulled Kou's lower lip between his, like he was reluctant to part from him.

When they drew back this time, both of their faces were red, and they gasped for air, staring at each other almost challengingly. The rosy tint of Hanako's cheeks was almost—okay, no, it was completely adorable.

Shit, Kou thought to himself as his heart lurched in his chest, did he maybe have sort of a tiny thing for Hanako?

Whatever; not important right now.

"Does it always… feel like that?" Hanako finally broke the silence. His voice sounded a bit roughened in a way that made the hairs on the back of Kou's neck stand up.

"Like what?" Kou prompted, brain still a bit sluggish and yet swirling with questions.

"Like, you know…" Number Seven of the School Wonders lowered his head, looking like a shy young boy rather than an impressive leader of apparitions as his large eyes flicked up towards Kou’s. "…Good?"

Some part of Kou preened at the praise, implicit though it was. "We've already established that I have zero experience, so I couldn't tell you."

"Ah," Hanako replied with a nod, "that's true."

"But…" The hesitance had crept into Kou's voice too now as he stuck his hands in his pockets. "I didn't… hate it."

Hanako's face lit up, and Kou's heart skipped a beat. Oh no. Kou hadn't been aware of how bad his soft spot was for this little jerk. "So it wasn't as bad that time?"

Kou stifled an uncomfortable laugh. That was putting things mildly. "Nah, it was, um…" He cleared his throat, and ran a hand through his messy blonde hair. "Definitely not as bad."

The other boy grinned a mile wide. "Aww, I love you too, kiddo," the menace teased with a wink.

"I take it back," Kou decided. "I hated it, and I hate you."

"I know you don't mean it, but hearing you say it kind of hurts anyway." Hanako was pouting again. "If I tried kissing you again, would you hate me less, or more?”

"You're really pushing it," Kou groused as he rolled his eyes. "Don't you think you've gotten enough practice?"

The other boy didn't look confident, pressing his fingertips together and glancing up at Kou hesitantly. "I don't know… do you think she'd punch me if I kissed her at this, er, skill level?"

"I don't think she'd punch you," Kou said, crossing his arms thoughtfully, "but if you made her cry, I would definitely punch you."

Hanako's expression clouded over, his eyes darkening and his brows drawing together. "It's selfish to feel this way, I know. I mean, you're actually alive. She'll remember you when she leaves this place. You…" He hung his head. "…actually have a chance with her."

Kou smiled, a little bittersweetly. "There was a time that I would have loved to date Senpai. She's really cute, and totally my type." He scooped up Raiteijou, which had been leaning against the wall in the corner, wrapped up and disguised as an umbrella, before facing Hanako again. He felt more secure with the staff in his hands. "But the more I spent time around you guys," he continued, "the more I realized that I have more fun as her friend." Plus there was the fact that his senpai was completely obviously head-over-heels in love with the ghost in front of him, but he wasn’t going to give Hanako the satisfaction of admitting that.

Hanako's eyebrows shot up. "Did you just friendzone Yashiro?"

He brought one shoulder up to his ear in a half-shrug. "I guess?"

"So… you don't have feelings for her?" He sounded incredulous, like he couldn't believe anyone wouldn't love Yashiro Nene.

"Not romantic ones anymore," he clarified. He'd still do just about anything for her as a friend, after all.

Hanako narrowed his eyes. "Why'd you agree to help your former rival, then? Just out of the goodness of your heart?"

He hesitated, his free hand clenching into a fist in his pocket. Pink hair and a smile brighter than the midday sun flashed through his mind like snapshots. "I still might have wanted some practice," he mumbled.

Hanako waggled his eyebrows at him, leaning right into his space. "Don't tell me I'm more your type now?~"

Kou whacked the Porcelain-Throne Poltergeist lightly on the head with Raiteijou. "Go back to your bathroom if you want to talk shit," he grumbled, but his cheeks felt warm.

"It's a good thing I didn't fall for you, since you'd apparently be an abusive boyfriend," Hanako whined, rubbing the spot Kou's wrapped staff had hit. Kou was positive it hadn't actually hurt him. He was just being dramatic.

"I'd never hit anyone I was dating," Kou said with dignity. "You're a special case."

"You think I'm special~" Hanako sang, floating around him obnoxiously. "You liked smooching me~"

Irritation prickled Kou's spine. He wanted to smack him again, but instead he took a deep, grounding breath. He could be mature here. "Like I said, it wasn't bad," he got out through gritted teeth. "Thank you for the experience." He gave a stiff bow before turning on his heel. "If you're done being a pain in the ass, I'll be on my way." He hadn't entirely finished cleaning the classroom, but if Hanako kept being so annoying, Kou couldn't guarantee he'd be able to resist shutting him up (whether with Raiteijou or his own mouth, he was still debating).

"Wait!" Hanako's hand closed around the fabric at his back, and Kou stopped in his tracks. "I, um… I didn't get to say thank you." Curiously, Kou turned around to face him again, raising an eyebrow to prompt him.

The vulnerability in Hanako's face couldn't be anything but genuine, his brows drawn up as he let go of Kou. "I really couldn't have asked anyone else for help about this." He pulled his cap off his head, fidgeting with it as he held it down by his waist. "It… means a lot to me that you didn't just laugh in my face."

Kou wanted to make a joke, like Hanako would have at any other time. Say yeah, well, it was a close thing or can I still laugh now? But looking at this kid—this kid who had died before his first kiss, died before he'd even gotten to Kou's age, this kid who was short and scrawny and suspicious and had a propensity for dirty jokes but had also saved Kou more times than he could count, who had called Kou his only other friend—he couldn't bring himself to make light of things.

"You're really important to Senpai, Hanako," he said, tone heavy with sincerity, and then grabbed Hanako's hat out of his hands. He shoved it back onto the other boy's head and pulled it low over his eyes, ignoring Hanako's squawk of alarm and laying one more kiss on the hat's brim. "…But you're important to me, too. Don't forget that."

Hanako's hands sprang up to push his cap back into its rightful place, and Kou was satisfied to see that his whole face was glowing red. He looked absolutely stunned, his mouth hanging open and his hair in disarray as he fumbled for words. "I, what's—what's with that, all of a sudden?" he finally sputtered. "Getting all sentimental on me like that…!"

"You started it," Kou retaliated, sticking out his tongue.

Wow, Hanako actually looked more flustered than Kou had been banking on. Either Hanako had some slight feelings buried there too that were going to remain unaddressed, or Kou was way cooler than anyone ever admitted.

(Or Hanako was just easy to fluster. It was probably that, but Kou's ego wanted it to be more than that.)

"You're not going to tell anyone about this, are you?" Hanako said next, still straightening his hat and looking out of sorts as he cleared his throat.

"Psh. Like I'd want to tell anyone about kissing you," Kou threw over his shoulder, since he was getting ready to leave.

"You say that, but I know you're just dying to gush about my considerable talent." Ah, he'd recovered his swagger that quickly, huh?

"I'm not dying for anything, pal," he shot back with a lopsided grin, shrugging on his uniform jacket, which he’d flung over a desk chair.

They shared a look, and Kou felt certain that there was understanding between them when Hanako grinned back.

"See you tomorrow, Kou."

It was perhaps the first time Hanako had actually said his name, and the sound of it was like a flicker of candle flame in his chest, making his smile widen even further.

There was a lot of stuff for Kou to figure out. Maybe he had a bit of experience now, but still not much confidence to make any moves to resolve his entanglement with a certain other supernatural. Maybe he'd never get any kind of satisfying happy ending even if he did gain some confidence. Maybe he'd essentially given away his first kisses to someone he had no intention of pursuing (tiny embers of something burning in his chest notwithstanding). Maybe he didn't have much of an idea of where to go from here.

But that was okay.

"Good night, Hanako," he replied, pushing open the door to the classroom.

For now, this was fine.

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

Thanks for letting me revisit this old thing!! If y'all like it, I'll put it up on Ao3 as well, LOL. 💖

[moody4world]

La diabla bien vestida

urban’s bemusing encounter with a femme fatale

“Urban…Urban….URBAN wake up!”

Urban felt a couple light taps on his cheek causing him to stir out of his slumber.

“What?? What is it?”

“Dude i’ve been texting and calling you since i boarded my flight last night what the hell happened to you?”

“I went to the club….” Remembering last night’s encounter Urban suddenly turned to check the other side of the bed to check if she was still there. Tapping the bed frantically and raising the sheets to check under them, confusing and concerning Jack even more.

“Uh…are you okay?”

“Did she leave when you got here?” Jack sith his usual confused face stared back blankly at him.“Urban who the hell are you talking about???”

“The fine ass girl, she had a pink dress on? I knew I had the house to myself so we came back here and you know.”

“Well the house looks just like how I left it and there’s no signs of anyone but you being in here so you were either high as shit or drunk OR crossfaded.”

“No, Jack I swear she was here.”

6 hours ago

A remixed version of Location by Dave was blasting through the speakers at the club while Urban was at a booth with other people he knew. Some are close friends, some are simply acquaintances. Bottles and shots were going around with no remorse but he knew he didn’t have Jack as his designated driver tonight so he was gonna stick to the one cup he poured and a little bit of weed. Urban was in a conversation with a friend before excusing himself to go to the bathroom. On his way there he accidentally bumps into someone else due to all the careless, dancing bodies around him. “I’m so sorry.” Looking up at you Urban was speechless. Your eyes were captivating to him and he didn’t know what it was. Maybe the make up? Maybe just your beautiful eye shape. Was it the darkness yet the shininess of your eyes? He couldn’t tell but what he could tell was that he wanted to get to know you. “Are you gonna say anything else?” You asked.

“You have beautiful eyes”

“Me? Have you seen your own?!” “You have pretty lips too.” “Wow you’re straightforward aren’t you?”

“Why waste time? I’m Urban.” He had to lean down to speak directly in your ear since the music was getting too loud. He offered you his hand as he introduced himself. You gave him your hand and introduced yourself to the handsome man as well. “I like your name Urban, i’m y/n.” At this point Urban completely forgot that his original plan was to go to the bathroom. The moment he saw you, that plan was out the window and the new one was in motion. Spend the night with you, consensually of course. The two of you danced for what felt like hours, getting more and more handsy as the minutes passed. “So y/n do you have plans after this?” It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know that Urban was very interested in you and you were interested too. You thought it’d be fun to make him work for a little bit. “That’s all up to you.” You whisper in his ear before letting go of his waist to walk towards the exit. Urban was caught off guard by how suddenly you started walking away. He tried to follow you but every time he got a glance of where you were in the crowd, he’d lose you again seconds later. He could see you looking back at him ever so often with a devious smirk on your pretty face which let him know that you just wanted him to play your games.

Urban finally got out the door to find you standing with that same mischievous smirk and your arms crossed. He felt a femme fatale energy from you but he was already mesmerized and didn’t want to come out of whatever trance he was in.

Urban brought you home knowing that the two of you could go as crazy as you'd like since the house was empty. Before you both could even get into the house, his shirt was halfway off and his pants were unbuttoned. Urban has had a remarkable amount of one night stands or casual hook ups but he can’t remember the last time he felt so much lust for someone, let alone a girl he just met. The way you were making his body feel was completely new and otherworldly to him. By the third round he was begging you to let him cum again after edging him even longer than you did during the first two rounds. Urban felt himself releasing and the next thing he knew, he was getting slapped awake by Jack and no signs of you ever being there with him.

Not a single trace. Nothing in the house was misplaced, the vase you two bumped into while aggressively making out on your way to his bedroom? Perfectly intact and where it should be. The glass of water you had at the kitchen counter before your second round? Not even there. Not a single note of your socials or phone number anywhere. Was it all a dream?

[chocomd]

ATLA Live Action Final Thoughts

So I'll start by saying that I went into this show with zero expectations (including the expectation for it to be any good at all) and focused more on questions like: How is the acting? Does the writing make sense? Is the story decent? Do we have emotional scenes?

I didn't care about sticking to the og ATLA's ships, lore, or any of the details really. Even changes to the characters were fine with me. But the most important question of all is: Does it work?

The answer:

No.

There are lots of well thought out NATLA critical reviews out there, so I'll try to keep this short. NATLA tweaked a lot of things, tried take elements of the og and make them subversive, changed the themes, completely nerfed Katara, watered down almost everyone else...and I could go on and on. But essentially, NATLA was a "remix" that stayed too close to the original in that the changes they made felt like empty imitations and clumsy efforts to improve on the og. They really should have created a completely different story while keeping maybe a handful of elements of the og. And even if they changed core traits of the characters, that would be fine. It just has to work...and it didn't.

So some main points:

The acting was terrible to ok for the most part. Overall stiff and stilted with almost nonexistent chemistry. Sokka, Jet, Ozai, and June (😍) were the standout actors. Katara had one facial expression and one tone of voice 95% of the time.

Ships I actually enjoyed: Sukka, turnip Jetara, sokka x hahn (hakka? sahn?) and ZUKAANG

The writing often contradicted itself and there was very little emotional resonance or depth. So many lines and moments felt unearned, or simply didn't make sense.

Telling. SO MUCH TELLING. The constant exposition killed so much in this show. I groaned almost every time an actor opened their mouth.

Katara. Why was she in this story again?

The only time the show felt fresh and interesting was the spirit world segment with visions and flashbacks in episode 5...the one time they took ideas from og ATLA and truly remixed them and it was actually decent to good.

The Blue Spirit episode (ep 6) was amazing (relatively speaking lol), and I think it's because Bryke co-wrote this episode AND it was pretty faithful to the og AND the Pohuai Stronghold fight was incredible AND the Zukaang was even more deliciously Zukaang.

The overall plot did not feel cohesive and felt like a disjointed imitation of og ATLA.

Even if I wasn't familiar with the og, I would not have enjoyed this show because it's not good or interesting TV. One person I was watching with (who didn't see the og) left the room because "this is so bad" and "the acting is really stilted."

In the end, I'm not surprised by any of this. Animated stories usually suffer when they're translated into live action, because animation typically has much more emotional and dramatic range. And while og ATLA isn't perfect, it very nearly is because even its imperfections still manage to work in the bigger scheme of the story. Adaptations of og ATLA are pretty much doomed to fail, unless they completely rewrite the ATLA story (and I do mean completely).

Do I regret watching NATLA? That's a hard question to answer. There's no way I was watching this on my own, so I got to enjoy the unhinged company of my friends. If nothing else, watching NATLA made me want more og ATLA and sucked me back into ATLA fandom again.

[children-of-subcon]

So, it's been uh,,,,*checks watch* two months,! Sorry about that, I've been really busy -w-;; But anyways!!

As you've probably noticed, this ref is wayyy different from my usual style! To be honest, I,,,really started hating that style and it made working on refs stop being fun jsdkljsd... Plus I got really inspired by a certain youtuber so!! Ref formats are getting a revamp!!!!! It's possible that it may change more in the future since this was very experimental,, but the good news is it worked and I had a TON more fun making this :DD

As usual, story will be under the cut!

Taking the role of goofy mafia is the Lost Florist, also known simply as Chrys! She's the oldest member of Princess's runaway coup, at 19 years old, and also its only authority figure. She's been trying to reign things in and convince the Lost Kids to stop the whole thing, with...negligible success. Let's just hope SOMEONE figures out how to get things under control before she turns 20,,,and the coup kicks out the last thing keeping the island from burning to the ground.

As the only one really equipped to deal with the chaos (or at least, she's trying), Chrys is CONSTANTLY sleep deprived. She hasn't gotten a good night's sleep in months! And on one particular night, when it begins to lightly snow all over Ever Isle, leading every single child to attempt to shovel the stuff into their mouths...let's just say she's more tired than ever.

For USAU's Ch.1 Act 3: He Came From Underground, instead of raining, it snows! As seen above, Prince has a snow coat outfit exclusive to the next two acts (although it can later be earned). Falling into a snow pile will cause him to get covered in snow (loser), and anyone he encounters will ignore him unless attacked. If he passes through a bush while covered in snow, Prince will then get DOUBLE covered in leaves. Blegh. He's gonna need a shower after this...

Lost Florist, being so tired she's probably starting to see spiders, mistakes the leaf-covered alien for a "Leafy Plant Monster", screaming something about how she "knew the plants would come to take revenge on her". Prince rather confusedly chases after her, just trying to politely ask for his Time Piece back. Chrys ends up passing out, allowing her to get some much-needed sleep and Prince to retrieve his Time Piece.

She also appears in a much more well rested and less paranoid form in Act 6: Growing Over Ever Isle. Basically, Princess turned on all of the acid faucets around the island, causing the plant life to mutate and overgrow! I'll probably go into more detail later, but Chrys talks to Prince at the start of the act and also thanks him with a Time Piece at the end...along with someone else.

I imagine act 3's song is something like Scootin Through Subcon Forest or Subcon Caves but faster and more She Came From Outer Space-y JSDKLFJ And then act 6 would be a remix of Subcon Village probably? I'm not really sure what kind of music fits evil plants, though...

Some final tidbits about Chrys!

She was childhood friends with Princess, but has kind of been really mad at her ever since she started a coup and even more after she LEFT HER TO PICK UP THE PIECES. -_-

She owns the flowershop in the Town plaza fountain area! It was originally called Bloomin' Boutique, but,,,the Lost Kids spray painted over it to say "Bloomin' Idiots" instead :(

Homegirl is so sleep deprived she put normal gloves over her gardening ones 💀 GO TO BED

Alright, that's about it! These always end up longer than I think they'll be -w-;; BUT I realized whose ref is next and I'm reaaaally excited hehehe :) Anywho, thanks for reading!

[mandatory-blog-stop-asking]

Moriarty (TNG) as good AI Art

I got to Star Trek The Next Generation season 2's Elementary, Dear Data in my rewatch and I couldn't help but notice how the holodeck actually nicely represents the current state of AI art in its process to create Moriarty.

At first, Data and Geordi ask for a "Sherlock Holmes mystery", so the holodeck simply provides one, verbatim -- Data has obviously already read it, and so he immediately solves it. Geordi is furious and leaves immediately, because Geordi doesn't have great characterization in the show proper, and lives in our heads as a better character.

But the point Georgi tries to make eventually is that this isn't a "real" mystery if Data already knows it, and it goes kind of unspoken that the Holodeck didn't create anything new, it just regurgitated what it has without any remixing or any real reason to go through it again.

Then Pulaski gets involved and tries to prove Data can't really do anything novel -- they ask the Holodeck for an original mystery "in the Holmesian style", and what does it do? It just copies and pastes different portions of Sherlock Holmes novels into the same document, and makes it a "new mystery", while still clearly being just a hackjob made in a hurry with no sense of aesthetics or direction.

While it might have been enough for Geordi or Pulaski, Data is a machine that can recognize patterns much better, and he immediately understands that this is just a combination of patterns he already knows, and once again he immediately solves it because he knows the original mysteries. But this time, Pulaski points out: this is a fraud! This is not what a real story is like! Holmes would never do this, he would actually think about the novel stimuli reaching his brain!

And I think it's really interesting how Data, a fellow machine, cannot immediately tell what Pulaski is saying. Because for Data, aesthetic don't actually make that much sense, at least not in season 2. He can't tell a good story from a bad one made out of different pages of different stories, because for him, it's all about patterns. Just like the Holodeck, Data does think this is good enough, and confronts her about it. I mean, what else is the Holodeck supposed to do other than recombine what already exists?

It's not until Geordi stops asking the computer to make a story and instead asks for the computer to make a character that the plot actually moves forward, because at that point they're dealing with emerging narratives that arise from the fact that Moriarty is now a hyper-intelligent AI that is free to do its own plans, regardless of what Sherlock Holmes story he's from. While Moriarty may be a repetitive character, his new reactions are not, and that's good enough that it becomes a massive problem that threatens the safety of the ship.

Before, when it was being asked to make derivative art, the Holodeck performed exactly to task -- but the result only really worked on people who either 1) did not understand art at a deeper level than the superficial, and 2) did not know the original art that well. The art that it spat out was valid, it was working, it was logically sound and fit together more or less well enough.

Pulaski, however, immediately understood that this result was inferior to the sum of its parts. She respects the character of Sherlock Holmes; she goes on a little explanation about the character's relationship to the human soul and how that's the actual point of the books, as opposed to just the simple puzzle boxes that Data (and, to some extent, the Holodeck) seems to believe they are.

And I just think that's just a poignant take that easily translates to the current state of art and artificial intelligence -- there is actually no value in derivative AI art that simply copies and pastes parts of other pieces of art into one straight line, regardless if it's an image or a story or anything like that. Yes, you can get some praise from people who either don't care or aren't familiar with the originals, but people who are actually into the art form -- the ones who have proven they are invested and are ostensibly the ones you're trying to catch as a steady audience -- will recognize and be bored by the result. There's no rhyme or reason to how a machine adapts a story into another, there's no aesthetic sense that makes it interesting to the human psyche. It's just a fast food version of art that doesn't really do anything for you, and you'll forget it in five minutes. Pulaski is not offended by the attempt, she's positively amused that an AI tried its hardest to make a Sherlock Holmes story, one of the most by-the-books and predictable mystery formats known to British literature, and the best it could do was just copy what's already there.

But when it's just a collection of ideas and vague directions that then go forward on their own, that's different. Moriarty is not an AI creation of the Holodeck -- he was given a push and then allowed to go wherever he wanted. He was not even a proper villain by the end of it; the combination of things Moriarty was resulted in a curious, driven, machiavelic yet ultimately sympathetic man, who just wanted to continue living and creating his own, original story, not based on anyone else's. The Holodeck's greatest achievement wasn't making an original story, it was making someone capable of doing that on their own, without having to refer to anything else.

There are entire Youtube channels right now that make a lot of bank by using these emerging language models to help them tell a story -- DougDoug has dozens of videos of him and his chat going on wild adventures aided by text AI that doesn't actually write a story for them, but instead simply provides direction for them to make their own decisions and their own stories. It's a genuine way to improvise and give the onus of planning to something else, especially when the story isn't the point, but the experience is -- just like the Holodeck!

I'm not saying AI art is eventually going to reach that point by itself, but I do think there's something to be said about just hitting random on a trope generator that gives you, the author, different ideas so you can write a story yourself; or even just rolling the die to see what happens to your characters as opposed to painstakingly arranging your story like a hand-made garden.

Star Trek constantly showcases characters like Data, Moriarty, The Doctor or Zora as more than the sum of their parts, and it's always because they are able to be more than simple reorganization of previously experienced stimuli. They are able to make choices that don't have to happen, but that they want to happen.

Don't get me wrong -- AI Art, as an institution, is corrosive acid and will kill entire industries. But the fact we skipped straight into the hellish capitalist version of that means we never got to fucking play with it. We never got to just use it as a stepping stone or something to unclog the sink when you have writer's block. Instead of going in random adventures with a Moriarty who can actually react and develop something akin to a character, we're getting a thousand offers to buy books that are just combinations of different novels on Amazon, with no way to really filter them out other than our own eyes.

I just wanted to hang out with Moriarty.

[disco-elysium-via-polls]

🎵Disco Elysium, Pt 1

Yellow moss on these stones... they're probably stolen from someone's garden.

ACELE - "Hello again." The girl looks up at you for a moment before turning back to her work.

4. "What are you doing out here in the cold?"

...

2. (Give her your hat.) "Here. You need this more than I do."

ACELE - "Thanks." She puts it on. It's a bit large for her.

Item lost: Amphibian Sports Visor

+5 XP

That had little benefit except giving us a bonus on a check we've already passed, but it made me feel better. And since we bought that hat from Siileng, we could always just go get another one.

🎵 Protorave

EGG HEAD - The large-headed youth has closed his eyes, lost in the music. Sensing you, he opens them...

"Good morning, comrade! Yeaaaaaah!"

"I found this reel of tape, maybe you can use it to hard-up Eyck's jam." (Give him the fixed hawthrone tree tape.)

EGG HEAD - "Yeagh, re-mix time!" His voice booms through the church as he takes the tape and attaches it to the empty reel slot. "Tape goes here -- into deck B." He clicks a switch, the tape starts spinning...

A hand on his ear, he listens to the audio through his headphones, and shouts…

"Wow..." His face lights up with delight. "Did you get this from Arno himself?"

EMPATHY [Easy: Success] - A great excitement is bubbling to the surface within him. This is *big*.

"What do you mean?"

"Uh, no, actually I found it tangled up in a hawthorn tree..."

EGG HEAD - "Listen, I'm just going to show it to you... Ready?"

"Ready."

EGG HEAD - "Whooh, hear that?!" He wipes his brow. "The sines match perfectly!"

"Now if only we had the beat for the *full assault*. It would be unbelievably hyper!"

ANDRE - "Intriguing. The way I see it... van Eyck based his remix on some famous original piece. Like, a folk song? Something local. Seems you found an initial part with the main melody."

NOID - "I think it's just happenstance. Chaos in action. Contingencies of our limited existence. That and Egg Head's fantastic talent." He nods to his friend behind the turntables.

INTERFACING [Medium: Success] - Noid's right, Egg Head's technical talent is the key.

LOGIC [Medium: Success] - No, this is definitely part of the same song. Something cut from it. It fits too well.

INLAND EMPIRE [Easy: Success] - Something *mysterious* is going on here...

"Maybe Arno van Eyck lives around here and just threw a part of his song away, because he thought it was shit?"

"Andre's got it. Sounds like a local song re-mixed."

"I agree with Noid, it's just luck -- *and* Egg Head's incredible mixing skills."

EGG HEAD - "Be how it may -- if it fits, it fits!" He pumps his fist in the air. "Bring up the volume!"

Thought gained: Arno van Eyck

ANDRE - "What about the bass? Do you have any ideas for that?" Andre looks back at you.

NOID - "Yeah, I remember -- you said it needs more bass!"

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT [Medium: Success] - You can't just leave it without a bass track!

"Honestly, nothing springs to my mind right now. But I'll see if I can come up with a solution down the lane." (Proceed with task.)

"I think it's good enough the way it is. Adding that melody has already been a *massive* improvement. It's pretty hard core now." (Finish task.)

EGG HEAD - "You're *THE WARRIOR*! THE WARRIOR OF DANCE MUSIC!"

ANDRE - "Don't be too hard on yourself if you don't figure it out. I think the jam's already pretty ultra."

EGG HEAD - "But it could be hyper, HYPER HARD CORE!"

5. "Alright. Goodbye, Egg Head." [Leave.]

ARNO VAN EYCK

Temporary research bonus: +1 Interfacing Research time: 0h 50m

The question won’t leave you – why did the melody line from a broken and discarded tape fit perfectly into a song played by some speedfreaks in a frozen tent? Can it be a coincidence? Maybe it’s the hand of the Man-Machine himself, in his attempt to craft a perfect song. Maybe Egg Head is actually Arno van Eyck in disguise!? Eyck? Egg? Hmm...

CHURCH DOORS - Heavy wooden doors more than twice your height stand shut in front of you. The rectangular, sea-worn ornamentation appears in stark contrast to the padlock carelessly drilled into the wood.

Open the padlock with the key.

CHURCH DOORS - The lock turns easily. You hear a click as the shackle pops open.

SHIVERS [Challenging: Success] - Feels like electricity and a very small piece of nothingness.

KIM KITSURAGI - "Let's go." The lieutenant nods at you.

+1 Reputation

Pull on the doors...

CHURCH DOORS - A great whoosh of air rushes into the dark innards of the church, as though rushing to fill a great vacuum...

... in the heart of the city.

[study-with-aura]

Friday, February 23, 2024

I am posting this on Saturday because H's mom needed to drop her off early since something came up on her end, so I never got the chance to post my Friday update. We had fun though. I still had my piano practice to do, so while I practiced, she worked on a few things that she needed to finish. On the other hand, she did say that my playing was beautiful, and I was elated to hear.

H also plays, but she goes back and forth between enjoying it and doing it because she wants to be done with it and her mom wants her to at least complete Level 10 and then if she wants to stop, she at least knows how to play extremely well in case she ever wants to come back to it in the future. I told H a while back when that was decided that I agreed with her Mom. It was good to at least have the knowledge as she didn't know what she would want in her future, so she plays often when she's in the mood and not often enough when she has no motivation. It works for her, so who am I to say anything?

I plan on doing ARCT and then I'll feel like I've mastered to where I want to be. I'm a completionist, and I actually do enjoy playing. It's why I'm trying to find more time. I want to finish by the time I finish my HS studies, but I also heard that I need ample time for the ARCT since it's a whole other level. If I pass my Level 9 exams, then I can start Level 10 and plan on completing that by the end 10th grade and then I would have two years to prepare for the ARCT exam. That's my plan anyway. My parents don't really care what I do as long I continue to enjoy playing. It's merely hard to find the time to practice! I can only do it by cutting short my supplemental study time, which I have done, but I don't really need a full 2-3 hours for that since I cut my reading down to only one extra book at a time instead of a supplemental book and a fun book along with assigned readings.

Am I doing too much? Sometimes I feel like I'm not doing enough at all.

It's time to practice again. I'll try to update about today (Saturday) a bit later.

Tasks Completed:

Geometry - Reviewed solving systems of equations graphically + reviewed equations of parallel and perpendicular lines + learned to find the distance between a point and a line + learned to find the shortest distance between two parallel lines + practice + honors work

Lit and Comp II - Reviewed Unit 16-18 vocabulary + read second part of chapter 26 of Emma by Jane Austen + read about understanding poetry + read about how to analyze poetry + read poems and marked figurative language identified + wrote a short poem using figurative language describing a scene from a photograph

Spanish 2 - Copied new vocabulary

Bible I - Read Joshua 17-18

World History - Watched lecture videos on what and why on the origins of WWI + started writing an essay describing how Balkan nationalism, entangling alliances, and militarism led to WWI (due Monday)

Biology with Lab - Finished my human impact presentation + presented to dad

PE/Health I - Read an article about resources for teen depression and stress

Foundations - Read the definition of resourcefulness + completed one minute creativity exercise + identified fallacies in stories and arguments

Piano - Practiced for two hours in one hour split sessions

Khan Academy - Completed World History Unit 6: Lesson 1 (parts 6-7) + completed High School Geometry Unit 6: Lesson 4 (parts 1-3) + Unit 6: Lesson 5 (some was assigned)

CLEP - None today

Duolingo - Studied for 15 minutes (Spanish, French, Chinese) + completed daily quests

Reading - Read pages 220-259 of My Dear Henry: A Jekyll & Hyde Remix by Kalynn Bayron and finished the book

Chores - Dusted my bedroom, my bathroom, and the study + laundered my bedding

Activities of the Day:

Personal Bible Study (Matthew 28)

Ballet

Pointe

Journal/Mindfulness

-

What I’m Grateful for Today:

I am grateful to have my friends over again tonight for a sleepover to get ready for our second to last cookie booth tomorrow.

Quote of the Day:

Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: The potential for greatness lives within each of us.

-Wilma Rudolph

🎧Symphony Op. 11 No. 1 in D major (Overture; 'L'amant anonyme') 1. Allegro - Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges

[whiskeyswriting]

Levels and Jealous

😍pairing: Javy "Coyote" Machado x Reader

👩🏻‍🤝‍👨🏼pairing: Platonic!Jake “Hangman” Seresin x Reader

💭summary: Who would have thought that your favorite rival would lead you to the love of your life?

🎶 Song Inspiration 1: Levels by Nick Jonas

🎶 Song Inspiration 2: Jealous (Remix) by Nick Jonas

Playlist: Spotify | Apple

⚠️warning: mentions of alcohol and suggestive speech.

📝A/N1: This is a work of fiction. Please do not copy or post anywhere else. Feel free to like and reblog but do give credit. Any constructive criticism is appreciated. I do not own any of the photos included in this post. Photos used have been from Pinterest or Tumblr or Instagram. I also don’t own any of the characters mentioned.

📝A/N2: Jake’s unofficial callsign for reader is Cupcake.

Who would have told you that your elementary school rival would actually turn out to be your favorite person in the world? Jake would. Actually that is how your rivalry and friendship started. It was first grade and you had to switch classes since your teacher left on maternity leave.

You shyly made your way to the empty seat next to a small blonde boy. He smiles widely at you and told you “We’re gonna be best friends… But I’m a better speller than you. So we’ll be spelling bee rivals. Don’t forget it!”

Your tiny face looked at him in confusion. “And who are you?”

“I’m Jakey.”

The memory made you smile and then laugh when you saw the perfectly imperfect poster Jake made for picking you up at the airport.

You ran the rest of the way to reach him. “Jake! You still can’t spell cupcake? So much for spelling bee master!”

“Listen Cupcake…” he pretends to growl and hugs you tightly. “You look good!”

“I am. I am very good Seresin.”

“Wow. She sounds exactly like you Jake…” the caramel skinned man besides Jake.

“Who do you think I learned it from?” Jake gives your waist another squeeze. “She’s the best person ever. But it goes to her head. Coyote.. this is Cupcake. Cupcake, this is Coyote. One of the other pilots from the academy.”

You extend your hand to shake his. “A pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard about you.”

He places his hand on your to shake and it’s as if you had never known what warmth and colors were. A pleasant warmth takes over and you notice the uniform he’s wearing. Khaki was now your new favorite color.

You hadn’t noticed that Jake, who was now clearing his throat for attention, was also in his uniform. “Shall we go?”

“Mhmm. Yeah,” you nod.

“Good. I got us reservations at the new French restaurant,” Jake says as he and Javy place your bags onto the bed of the truck.

As you all talked over dinner, Javy discovered there were levels to your friendship with Jake, as well as with your personality.

It’s not that he considered you fake. No. He prided himself in knowing how to read people. That’s why he was able to discover how much more you relaxed and truly showed yourself the more comfortable you were with someone.

Did he want to get to know every inch of your body? Of course. He was not blind and he could appreciate your beauty. But you were the first person that made him want to climb all those levels so he could know you in every facets. It kept taking him by surprise how much this feeling had taken over him after having just met you hours earlier.

“Did you know that this little hell raiser is the one that originally gave me my callsign?” Jake tells Javy as he slings his arm around your shoulder and pulls you in close.

“It was the best insult I could come up with as an 8 year old!” You exclaim laughing. “You sucked at playing hangman.”

Something in Javy’s chest clenches at hearing your laugh. He takes in your smile and how your eyes crinkle at Jake making you laugh.

Everything was always easy for Jake. He always got the best scores on any test. He always was the most popular. And he always got the girls.

Javy knew he didn’t have a right to feel this jealousy over someone he just met, but there was something about you that he just needed to make you his.

“So how long have you two been hooking up?” He asks, more bluntly than he anticipated.

You and Jake look at each other and start laughing. “Never!”

“Nope! She’s the only one that I would never try to get with because she scares me!” Jake says laughing. “No but seriously. She’s truly been the only girl that actually has been a friend and helped me so much.” He leans over and kisses your temple. “Sorry Javy but she’s my original best friend… and rival!”

“Jake is still the worst to play hangman with, but yeah he’s been the only guy I’ve met that has never tried to cross the line of friendship with me. I respect him for that. And now he’s graduating from the Naval Academy!”

“All because you two,” he points between you and Javy. “You two kept me in line.”

You turn to smile at the other aviator. “He gets easily distracted talking about himself right?”

This causes Javy to crack up. He brings his hand to his chest as he still laughs. “Oh! That’s it. You’re my friend now,” he says and subconsciously places his hand on your thigh. Javy’s protective and jealous side were obvious to Jake. He would glower at any of the patrons of the restaurant that would leer at you. He would make sure they knew he had claimed you, so to speak. He would lean closer to you and keep an arm wrapped around the back of your seat.

You’re so distracted by staring at Javy and enjoying his laugh that you don’t notice his hand on your thigh.

Unlike you, Jake notices and smirks to himself. “Let me get refills for everyone,” he says dismissing himself to give you two time to talk.

For as much as you loved Jake, tonight was the first time you ever wished for him to leave you hanging for a few hours.

Ever since meeting his friend Coyote, you’ve just wanted to be near and with this man. ‘He looks like he smells of cinnamon and whiskey and warm summer mornings,’ you tell yourself.

You try to control the scowl on your face when you see a group of college girls approach Javy while he was at the bar. You sigh as he smiles charmingly at them and feel a bit of jealousy.

That word makes you stop in your train of thought. ‘Jealous? You just met him and have no claim on him!’

You’ll admit you felt a bit jealous at the confidence the college girls had to just approach any man that you wanted. You were about to look away when you noticed that Javy shook his head no when they tried to get his number.

Once he came back with the drinks, you feel his arm go around the back of your seat and you feel yourself relaxed into his side.

It’s not soon after that you are all making your way back to the truck to head home. Jake keeps his eyes on you but stays back pretending he left his wallet. He tosses his keys to Javy. “Just get the truck ready. I’ll be right there.”

Javy nods and uses this alone moment with you to wrap his arm around your waist and pull you close to him. He leans down and whispers in your ear “How about we show Jake what it’s like to leave him hanging and we go have our own friendship?” He nips at your earlobe before he starts walking again.

That warmth that you felt when you met him increased hundredfold. “Make me howl and I’ll understand why you’re called Coyote.”

🏷 List: @callsignscupcake @cycbaby @callsign-dragonbaron @luckyladycreator2

[sins-and-wins-with-vix]

Everything Right/Wrong with “Rebooted” E1: The Surge

Sooo it’s been awhile but we’re back! Disclaimers: Show owned by LEGO. This is not a professional review/critique - it’s mainly intended for comedy!

Make sure to reblog, comment, and like! And tell me your thoughts!

- This season is titled “Rebooted,” get it? Cuz the show got rebooted for this season after it was supposed to end? And also the season itself deals with technology? And also if you’re anything like me this season makes you wanna reboot yourself so you can forget chunks of it ever happeneD- ❌

- Not my favorite intro or remix, but I still gotta admit it’s pretty cool, even if I do miss the family photo-like style of the OG ✅

- In the original intro it was just Cole, but now it seems that everyone except for Lloyd has lost their smiling privileges ❌ (the pic below shows everyone with their masks up but it’s taken from a later ep)

- The longer you look at this image, the more awkward the poses get… Seriously, look at all of them for a good while and try to explain what they’re doing ❌

- I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… this show knows music! 2 seconds into the actual episode and this score is already giving me goosebumps ✅

- ^ There’s a lot to say about this photo so I’m just gonna break it down here:

- Jay rocking the pose ✅

- Zane tried ✅

- Kai leaning on Jay… and maybe struggling to balance while doing so? ✅

- Cole is giving Dareth a piggy-back ride and I think we all wish we were Dareth right now ✅

- And Lloyd is very confused as to where the camera is apparently ✅

- “Ninjago City soon became… New Ninjago City.” Creative. ❌

- Also it’s never actually referred to as “New Ninjago City” much after this season, or even in it tbh ❌

- “And it became the center for great technological advancements.” Most of which will exit and re-enter the plot at any given time that’s most convenient for the writers because who needs continuity? ❌

- At first I was gonna ask who tf sings in the shower like this (Kai was just making random, loud noises - no actual words, and it didn’t seem like humming) but while typing I realized that this actually seems more akin to vocal stimming so… neurodivergent Kai canon? ✅

- “Brad got an ultra remote from New Ninjago City and it’s controlling Mr. Zane!” HOW? ❌

- “Mr. Cole is the worst!” Child echoes most of the fandom this early in the show’s run ❌

- Kai’s pudding cup was sitting in his bag with no lid or covering whatsoever ❌

- Wait, the ninja don’t have powers anymore because they don’t have the blades, so how did Zane freeze Jay’s pudding cup? I get that he’s a nindroid, but he doesn’t use ice powers for anything else until later this season when they officially get their powers back ❌

- “Why is it that whenever I teach, I get the feeling that none of the boys are listening?” Oh, I know the answer to this one!⬇️

- “I saved you some pudding.” “What did we talk about?” “Oh, right, boundaries.” You probably have some questions right now, like, “did Jay and Nya break up?” And “Why did they break up?” And most importantly, “are we ever gonna get answers to these questions?” And the answer to that is: No. live and die in wonder ❌

- They get clearance for a field trip that they have to take the day of? You could argue that Borg was in a rush to get the techno blades to the ninja and wanted to take this opportunity while he still could, and Wu really wanted to do this field trip so Nya jumped at it as well, and to that I say… that’s actually a pretty good argument. Well done.

- “If you ask me, people should concern themselves with the lessons of the past - not waste their time on disposable fads of tomorrow…” Of all characters, why would Kai have this sentiment? Especially since they already established Cole as the “lame” one. I guess I wouldn’t say it’s entirely ooc, but it still makes it abundantly clear that they had no idea what they wanted to do with Kai this season ❌

- Wu instructs Nya to “get a move on,” which she does, and immediately drives down a steep mountain, while Wu stands, unsupported, in the front of the bus ❌

- But ya know what? Nya saw her chance to attempt murder and went with it, and I can respect that ✅

- “Wow… you leave town a short while and-“ everything becomes tinted in blue?

- This bit where everything tech-related doesn’t wanna work for Kai is even funnier when you consider that it’s technically all sentient and controlled by the Overlord ✅

- “Your hardware is outdated and your processor is slow and incompatible with ours.” Line is not followed by air horns ❌

- “Even now, he is working on a digiverse…” foreshadowing ✅

- “They have a perfect match console!” Why do I feel a part of my soul dying?

- “What’s perfect match?” Seriously, why do I have this gut feeling that something very very bad is about to happen… like I’m about to witness a moment that will forever go down as this show’s worst writing decision ever?

- “It finds your perfect partner with flawless results!” Wait…

- “Hello, Nya…” No…

- “You are an independent, self-confident young woman who refuses to be in a boy’s club…” please… please don’t do this

- ^ OH GOD F*CKING D*MMIT ❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌

- “I would’ve guessed ninja to sneak in the window… not take the elevator.” Apparently, Borg wanted the ninja to rob him ❌

- There’s no way Jay was this big a fan of Borg but didn’t know he had prosthetic legs ❌

- Most people have heard by now that the inclusion of Borg being disabled wasn’t really done for the sake of representing disabled people so much as it was for the convenience of the situation, but you’d think at least one of the writers would’ve said, “hey, maybe this statue we’re making of a character who can’t use their legs SHOULDN’T be STANDING normally on those two legs?” Could it really have been that hard to work the wheelchair into that statue design? Really? ❌

- “First you call us pedestrians and now we’re assailants?!” Jay finds these both equally insulting, which is not only hilarious, but also in-character since Crystalized showed us the only thing that offends the ninja more than being considered evil is being considered average ✅

- “Let the elevator have the techno-blades Kai! I think its made its point!” Jay has the backbone of a noodle, which we knew but still

- “Looks like we just quit our day jobs!” Don’t think I didn’t just see Cole’s mouth move with Kai’s voice ❌

- “Why don’t boys ever listen to me???” D*mmit, Nya do I need to bring the misogyny gif back out?

- “It’s not sharp. Why even call it a blade!?” Good question ❌

- Also, did you really need to test it out to see it wasn’t sharp? Couldn’t you have just, ya know, looked? ❌

- *glass cracks* “Oh snap.” ✅

- Why would breaking the window cause them all to immediately fly out of it? Before someone who actually understands physics comes into my comment section and explains how this works, I’m gonna cut you off and say I refuse to believe there’s an explanation that wouldn’t violate at least one health and safety protocol. OSHA: my scapegoat so I don’t have to learn how science works! ❌

- “You tried to give them the only thing that could defeat me and thought I wouldn’t notice?!” You DIDN’T notice - not until the ninja broke the statue - and tbh, you really should’ve. I get Overlord had to be cautious so as not to reveal himself too early on, but he literally watched Borg invite the ninja to his office, tell them it’s better if Lloyd wasn’t there, then send them off with a massive statue as a parting gift. Hell, Overlord has constant eyes on Borg, right? Did he not see him making new suits and shoving them, along with the blades, into the statue? ❌

- “A PROMISE ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH!” Admittedly, I have problems with Overlord this season, but I will NEVER insult his voice acting ✅

- I really can’t tell if Borg is screaming or laughing in this scene, which is probably the only reason it made it past the censors ❌

- “Cole, throw me!” “Excuse me?!?” “Throw me!” ✅

- I know it’s just the first episode, but I’m curious as to what they’re gonna do for new toys sets this wave- “The techno blade must’ve hacked the hover-copter’s system! Zane controls it!” Oh, there they are

- “*lying* I always said Mr. Cole was my favorite!” Accurate representation of middle schoolers… I’m counting that as a sin ❌

- “Anyone else feeling all tingly inside?” No!… maybe… ✅

- “I have given you new outfits to help block the facial recognition software.” They never actually do this. ❌

- “Robots vs. ninja? Dare I ask?” Someone mentioned awhile ago that Lloyd enters like a guest star on a sitcom and honestly they’re right ✅

- Also family hug! ✅

- “With a 4.2% chance of success, I’d say hope is slim.” “That’s why it’s called hope, Zane!” I actually have a lot to say about Zane’s arc this season, but for now I’m just gonna win this as foreshadowing and move on ✅

- “We will, but only when you’re safe!” “He wants these weapons, and for some reason, he also wants you. Remember, this was sensei’s plan. They can’t break him!” “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has yet to come. We need to worry about today!” “You said it, Zane!” “We will come back to New Ninjago City, and when we do, we’ll be ready!” I get Jay isn’t really depicted as the wise one, but was it really fair of the writers to take four inspirational, end-of-episode lines and only split them among 3 of 4 characters? Come on, give him a little credit! ❌

- ^ No. assembly line system. Could ever. F*cking. Function like this. ❌

Sentence: Ninjago Reboot….. (1/4)

[vvivacious101]

Rewatching RWRB ALREADY?!

I rewatched the film. And, I can say this for a fact that I liked it a whole lot more the second time around and I already liked it the first time around but watching it for the second time made me appreciate it a whole lot more!

This has never happened in my life, I have never rewatched a movie in a single day! So, RWRB is making my personal history as well.

I remember the director mentioning the fact that Nick or Taylor are in every scene of this movie and they really are! They really carried this film.

Under the cut are all my thoughts that I had while rewatching this movie for the second time. There are spoilers galore. So, you have been warned!

Also, if you make a drinking game out of every time I use the word 'good' you will be dead by the time you reach the end!

With all that out of the way, let's get into it!

"When the revolution happens it will be because of this wedding." Henry's first line in the movie is so underrated!

Cake-gate is AMAZING! I love the fact that Henry pushes Alex down while getting up! Poor guy deserves a little revenge. I had never heard the song ‘Bad Reputation’ before but I'm in love with it!!

Everyone who said Zahra is the BEST thing in this movie is right. I can't get over her railing Alex with a pillow.

“What if I set myself on fire?” Alex is the king of comebacks! “We'd ship the ashes to Heathrow.” But no one is getting one over Zahra.

Taylor as Alex is so good! I can't get over how perfect he is!! Also, I love how Henry is just upstaging Alex in the damage control portion of this movie. Like, Henry's revenge arc is not over yet!!

I feel bad for Alex, every time he tries to one-up someone he just ends up backing himself into the corner.

Okay, the CLOSET SCENE AKA ONE OF THE ONLY SCENES THAT I REMEMBER FROM THE BOOK IS EPIC!!!

The beginning of it with them flailing around is peak physical comedy and then Henry just casually admits to smelling Alex... it's too much and it's only starting.

I just love how Taylor fidgets in this scene, he is like trying to find space for himself so badly but when he turns to confront Henry that moment is so good!

“I need to get out of here.” Ugh, I feel for Henry.

Okay the threat neutralized bit is comedy gold. I hope it becomes a viral meme!

We need to talk about Oscar. There is something very weird about Alex's parents. I feel like the writers of the film were very conflicted about their relationship and instead of having them be together or be divorced, they just left them in limbo. We never see Ellen and Oscar interact in the film. In the one scene, they do appear together, Alex is in the middle and it feels weirdly symbolic like he is literally the thing keeping them together.

We need to talk about this coffee shop scene. We all hate Miguel. But seeing Taylor as Alex in this scene is everything. He comes across as so charismatic and gorgeous. Just look at him!

We have got to talk about how many strong female role models Alex has in his life – his mom, Amy, Zahra even, Nora.

Zahra literally puts on a lot of hats in Alex’s life. She is like his big sister, substitute mom and friend and she does all this while looking supremely put out with Alex. This one’s a multitasker.

This is what I actually want to do in parties!

Henry is so awkward, I love how squeaky he sounds when he first meets Alex at the New Year Eve's party, poor boy is so awkward. And, then when he gets left alone he just completely shuts down. Henry, I love you!

I love how Alex just pulls Henry onto the dance floor.

Henry isn’t even dancing he is just getting progressively more drunk and flustered.

Henry looks so devastated in this scene. I literally feel for him. But, I can’t get over the fact that the song playing in the background is 'Magic' originally sung by Selena Gomez for Wizards of Waverly Place the movie. I loved hearing it here even though they are using a remix in this instance.

Their first kiss is so GOOD! I have seen it umpteenth number of times thanks to the trailer but it hits me in the feels every time. Also, I love how panicked Henry is and how shocked Alex is after the kiss.

“More like the first 50 rows of a Gaga concert kinda gay” is absolutely sending me. Also, accurate AF.

Not Alex being completely distracted by the sight of Henry!

Amy and Alex's moments are so GOOD! I really love the casting for Amy!!

IMHO all of Amy and Alex’s scenes should become viral memes, they are all so good!!

This entire RED ROOM sequence is so epic with Alex trying to decide how he should be standing when Henry comes in, to the ending when Amy barges in and Henry starts looking at the books so intently and whatever the hell Alex is trying to do. Oh god!

Like Stonehenge!!! (IYKYK)

Poor maypoles. I really love this scene. There is a reason we got a teaser for it, their chemistry in this one is off the charts!!!

This kiss is my absolute favourite no wait isn't the bicep kiss my favourite but this one is up there. It's so good. The way he pushes Alex and kisses his smile and then stares at him. Ugh so so so good! This teaser might have come close to the trailer in how many times I watched it and you may remember that the trailer came way earlier.

Oh god, Henry is so goddamn happy and SMUG as he says, "Yeah, agreed". He literally goes through every emotion under the Sun in this movie.

Wait a minute! WAIT A MINUTE! I didn't realise this the first time around but as Henry stands in the doorway he seems to be taking a mental picture of Alex and HOTDAMN. Fodder for the spank bank apparently.

The cafe scene is so good. The banter, the eye contact, the flirting, the blushing!!!

"And I thought Alexander Gabriel Claremont-Diaz was a mouthful." "He is."

Oh God! So good!!

"Only momentarily", that scene is so angsty. When Henry flinches it is its own goddamn scene!

I really like the "I'm so not playing this cool right now" moment. His apprehension is so delicious. I'm sorry Alex but it is and when he just puts his head down on Henry's shoulder in defeat. So good!

Let's talk about the sex scene! It is better than I remembered. I really like the kiss they share after Henry tells him that most people are wrong about him. And the thing with the hands. Listen I read a post about it being an old Hollywood thing but man if this is an old Hollywood trick it was masterfully employed. I just loved their hands and how Alex's hand is going down to meet his (imitating penetration) and then how Henry's hand opens up (imitating release) followed by the withdrawal of Alex's hand. This is genius why did people stop doing this! Also, Nick's expressions in the penetration scene are so goddamn... WOW. I don't know how to describe them but holy shit that is some explicit stuff. But what I think I love the most regarding this scene is how intimate it feels like the camera almost feels like an intrusion on a very very private moment because the scene itself seems to depict an intimacy between these two characters that is beyond just sex.

Also, RIGID. IYKYK!

I have got to give it to Taylor he really held his own in this scene with Uma Thurman. Like WOW!

Okay, wait there is another scene with Alex and his parents which I completely blanked out but it still leaves me with the same sentiment regarding the state of his parent's marriage.

Say it with me! Happy Henry is my serotonin!

Zahra really lays into Alex and Henry. "Little Lord Fuckleroy!" WTH! Henry's expression at the end of it all is so good!

This scene between Alex and Ellen is so heartwarming. I think it might be their best scene together. I love how there is this implication that things aren't right as Ellen picks up the phone but then it's undercut by the fact that she is only ordering pizza. I love how Alex's uncertainty over his mother reacting negatively is undercut by her acceptance.

The moment on the lake is probably my favourite part of this movie because it highlights the fundamental difference in Alex and Henry's positions.

Henry's situation isn't time-dependent or a for-now problem it is a forever thing and Nick's expressions in this scene are heartbreaking. But, despite where it ends up going I really love their interactions as the scene starts. Alex and Henry are so happy and touchy-feely. I just love the intimacy of this moment even though it leads to heartbreak.

Also, Henry jumping into the lake to escape a love confession is a whole-ass mood.

So someone pointed out that the transition from Henry's bedroom to the V&A is a bit iffy and it is. It totally is. I also don't know if I get what point Henry is trying to make with the whole trading one prison for another thing but the ending still makes the whole rift come together. I really want to know how this is handled in the book because I need clarification on the minutiae of this scene and how it came to be.

We have seen Henry and Alex in the same bed atleast three times now and this third time is the best. I love how Alex is holding Henry's wrist and how Henry smiles his little smile.

Henry is really conflicted at this tarmac, isn't he? And, things are just going to get worse.

I really like Alex's speech and how it's intercut with scenes of Henry literally trying to make himself smaller followed by scenes between Alex and Heney that we haven't seen so far. I especially like the last scene in the woods. Did I mention happy Henry is my serotonin?!

I really love Zahra's expressions in this scene. Zahra and Alex have some of the best scenes. These two really play very well off of one another.

The scene when Alex calls Henry baby. I remember reading someone say that they wanted this thing to be a whole ass thing and it was. It was a thing. I love how they utilised this endearment to further this moment.

This piano scene is so beautiful. These two really love each other.

I really like how Alex picks up Henry's nervous habit of fiddling with his ring.

So, we are here on election night and I just love the scene in the hallway with Alex and Henry and that hug. It's so damn cute and wholesome.

I really like the ending of the movie. It's kind of a nice allusion to Henry and Alex having a home together.

I really also love the end credits with the actors' names because in the end you have Nick and Taylor and you can see them playing with their pinkies. This scene is actually in the movie it's only that when it appears in the movie you are distracted by everything happening with the King. But, it is positively the cutest thing ever.

Also, the end credit scene. "Do you think anyone noticed?" You betcha Alex we did!!