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#I can only go through the songs in my music library so long
ineffible-chaos · 2 years
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Lyrics that remind me of my favourite characters
Morpheus, Dream of the Endless:
"I had a dream about a burning house/you were stuck inside, I couldn't get you out/...Love isn't all that it seems, I did you wrong/I'll stay here with you until this dream is gone. (Burning House- Cam)
"When I think about it too much, I can't breath/ And I have this dream where I'm screaming underwater." (Funeral- Phoebe Bridgers)
"The edge is razor thin between being numb/and feeling everything/Good days only serve as relief again." (Complex- Katie Gregson-MacLeod)
Dean Winchester:
"And I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't/ 'Cause if I say that I miss you, I know that you won't/But I miss you in the mornings when I see the sun." (Something in the Orange- Zach Bryan)
"To you I'm just a man/To me, you're all that I have/Where the hell am I supposed to go?/I poisoned myself again/Something in the orange/Tells me you're never coming home." (Something in the Orange- Zach Bryan)
"You held the balance of the time/That only blindly I could read you/But I could read you/It's like you told me/Go forward slowly/It's not a race to the end." (You're Somebody Else- Flora Cash)
"I love this place/But its haunted/without you/My tired heart/is beating/so slow/Our hearts sing less that we wanted/we wanted/Our hearts sing cause we do not know." (Little House- Amanda Seyfried)
Marc Spector:
"Well, I came home/Like a stone/And I fell heavy into your arms."
"And I will wait, I will wait for you/So break my step/And relent/Well you forgave and I won't forget." (I Will Wait- Mumford and Sons)
"I remember one evening in the pouring rain/And my heart was an aching pain/Well, fare thee well, my honey, fare me well." (Fare Thee Well- Mumford and Sons)
Crowley (Good Omens):
"Got caught in love and stepped into sinking sand/You had ruin all of our plans/Packed your bags and you're leaving home/Got a one-way ticket and you're all set to go."
"I guess we drift apart in seperate ways/I don't have all that far to go/God knows I've learned to play the lonely man/I've never felt so low in all my life." (Love Me Like There's No Tomorrow- Freddie Mercury)
"Oh, you kissed me/Not to take me home/It was simple, it was sweetness/It was good to know." (We'll Never Have Sex- Leith Ross)
Percy Jackson:
"So long to all my friends/Everyone of them met tragic ends/ With every passing day/I'd be lying if I didn't say/That I missed them all tonight/And if they only knew what I would say if I/Could be with you tonight" (The Light Behind Your Eyes- MCR)
"Could this road get any longer?/I just want to go home/And maybe if I was a little stronger/He would face me, I dont know." (No Way Out- Divide Music)
"Sea and the rock below/Cocked to the undertow/Bones, blood, and teeth erode/With every crashing node/Wings wouldn't help you down." (Roslyn- Bon Iver and St. Vincent)
"A piece of that fractured mountain/I'll take whater comes with it/As long as its yours." (Piece of Your Heart- Mayday Parade)
"Just know you're not alone/Cause I'm gonna make this place your home/Settle down, it'll all be clear/Don't pay no mind to the demons, they fill you with fear." (Home- Philip Philips)
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rinhaler · 2 months
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As promised!!! Since I love your writing, I had this imagination spark while listening to Chase Atlantic's "HEAVEN AND BACK" song, oddly to say I associate Rin Itoshi in every CA songs. Basically could I request a steamy one-night stand of him meeting reader in a big crowded bar where Rin is likely a bass guitarist? Sounds cheesy of it but XD
GLAD U SAID BASS PLAYER MY BOYF PLAYS BASS 😭 sorry this took SO long to post but I hope u like it :3
warnings: 18+ MDNI, fem!reader, alcohol consumption, (kinda fast) enemies to lovers, fingering, love bites, pet names (baby, sweetheart, princess etc.), squirting.
words: 2.2k
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It’s been years since you’ve been to a gig. Especially one like this, in a dingy dive bar for a barely known local band. The guitarist is a friend of your cousin’s. And she just about begged you to go.
The place is pretty packed and the music definitely isn’t the worst you’ve heard. In fact, you found yourself swaying your hips and tapping your toes along to the beat. As the night went on and on, you were surprised to find that they were actually good. Good enough to be searching for their latest single when they promoted it at the end of their set.
“Play nice please,” your cousin begs. “I really like him, and I think tonight might be the night.”
“I knew he wasn’t just a fucking friend.” you laugh. She crosses her arms across her chest as embarrassment surges through her, but you still decide to tease her. “You really needed me to help you get some dick?”
“Shut up!” she blushes. “You always have guys falling at your feet so I thought it might rub off on me.” she pouts.
You clear your throat when you notice the guy in question heading your way. She turns around, instantly, smoothing her hair down and putting on the highest, girliest voice she can muster. He seems interested enough without her needing your help, but you decide to stay a few extra seconds for moral support. She giggles at every sentence and smiles giddily whenever he speaks.
“Tone it down, you’re good.” you whisper in her ear before slinking away to the bar.
You signal for a drink, thankful for the low-cut top you’re wearing as everyone else seems to be instantly ignored in favour of you. There’s a scoff beside you, one you choose to ignore until he watches you receive your pint of beer.
“Is there something on my face?” you ask.
“No.” he responds. “I’m jealous of your drink, princess.”
“Excuse me, can you get this guy a beer too?” you yell. The bartender nods with a smile and quickly acquiesces. “Will that put a smile on your pretty face?”
He smirks but shakes his head as he ignores you. He thanks the bartender as he receives his own drink, the frothy head attaching itself to his lip before he licks it away. He grunts a little as he feels a passerby knock into the big black case on his back. It’s only then that you notice it, and pieces begin to fall into place.
“Oh fuck. You were in the band.” you smile excitedly as you angle your body to face him. “I wasn’t gonna come tonight but I’m glad I did.” you giggle as you pull up your phone to show the bands single saved in your music library.
“Thanks.” he nods. “Why did you come?”
“Uh my cousin is trying to fuck the guitarist.”
“You’re Ada’s cousin?” he asks, expression changing to one of slight annoyance. He takes another swig of his beer before elaborating. “Zantetsu hasn’t shut up about her and she’s always crashing our practices. I hope they get it over with, it’s getting in the way.”
“Oh you’re a serious musician. Gotcha.” you roll your eyes. “You know you play the most boring instrument out of everyone, right?”
“Excuse me?”
“Drummers are the hottest, guitars are the most iconic, everyone’s drawn to the singer. And then there’s… you. No one can even hear you over all of that, you know.”
He scoffs once again. You can tell he wants to fight you on it and fill your head with facts about his instrument of choice. But it’s almost like he already knows you and how stubborn you are. He could tell you anything he wants, but you’ll die on the hill you’ve decided to climb just to piss him off more.
“They’d sound like shit if it wasn’t for me.” he mumbles before taking another drink. “The bass is the most important part, you’re clueless. It’s like you’ve never listened to music in your life.”
“Clueless?” you repeat. “Besides, you’ve got a pretty face. I’m sure if your attitude wasn’t so rotten and you were the lead singer you’d be drowning in pussy.”
“I do alright.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
You squint your eyes sceptically. There’s no doubt that he has the potential to pull a girl or two. And, admittedly, you’ve had one very hostile conversation with him. But you can tell from his sulky demeanour that any woman he has a chance with is likely scared off by his attitude.
He tries to ignore you for the remainder of his drink.
God, he tries.
But he’s overwhelmed by the desire to put you in your place.
“I—”
“There’s no way you’re getting girls.” you interrupt him immediately. “Like, no way. Maybe one or two, but you’re not doing better than the lead. He’s gorgeous and he’s the face of the band.”
His smile is wicked as he holds his near empty glass, swilling the golden liquid around the bottom before he puts it down on a coaster. “You really don’t get it, do you?” you’re a little taken aback as he bites his lip whilst looking at you from the corner of his eye.
His expression makes your heart beat a little faster. You find yourself shuffling in your seat as you see just how strikingly handsome he really is when he’s trying. And then it hits you, he’s trying. He’s showing you what he’s capable of and you’re falling for it. Even with the knowledge, it’s too late. All you can think about his that sharp jawline and striking stare.
“You know what they say about bass players.” he says quietly, but loud enough for you to hear. His barstool spins so he’s facing you. You take a sharp inhale as he slowly leans in towards you, the smell of beer on his pretty lips makes you heady and excited, waiting with bated breath for him to continue. “They’re good with their fingers.”
You can’t stifle a laugh as he pulls away, giggling like your cousin had been moments prior whilst flirting with the guitarist. It’s embarrassing, letting him see you reduced to this after trying to irritate him. You clear your throat and try to gain your composure.
“You’re disgusting.” you respond.
“Mmm, you want to find out though, so,” he shrugs, finishing the last dregs of his drink. “I’ll wait by the entrance for ten minutes, if you don’t come find me, I’ll leave without you.” he walks away without even looking at you.
You don’t get a chance to say a word before he seamlessly weaves through the crowd and out of sight. Without thinking, you’re already on your feet and checking the time.
Ten minutes.
You rush through the bar to find Ada, tapping on her shoulder to pull her attention away from Zantetsu. “I’m leaving. Seal the deal, please.” you wink. She nods, laughing as you kiss her cheek and rush towards the entrance.
If you didn’t know any better, you’d think you saw his face light up when he realised you were actually going to take him up on his offer. He plays it off, though, trying to appear cooler and more aloof as you approach him.
“It’s barely been two minutes.” he tells you.
“I’m not gonna let you hear the end of it if you’re all talk.” you smirk.
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The minute he gets you inside of his apartment, you can’t keep your hands off each other. Your lips are on his in an instant, your breath stolen as he lifts you from the ground and encourages you to wrap your legs around his waist while he carries you into the kitchen.
He helps you out of the vest top you’re wearing when he sits you down on the counter so you’re down to your jeans and bra. You tilt your head as he peppers your neck in a combination of soft and sloppy kisses.
Your heels fall off without effort as you instinctively open your legs, rolling your hip against his clothed abs.
“My roommate is out,” he tells you quietly, still kissing you all over. You moan softly as he starts leaving soft bite marks across your skin. “He’s such a clean freak, he’d lose it if he knew—”
“It’s okay,” you giggle, you cup his face and direct him to kiss you again. “Help me get my jeans off.”
He wastes no time unbuttoning them and yanking down the zipper. He keeps his eyes on yours as he helps you shimmy out of the wide-legged jeans, smiling at you as you both hear them crumple on the ground.
“Gonna show me what a stud you are?” you ask, spreading your legs to reveal your dark, lewd panties. There’s a glint of amusement in his eye, which soon turns into a toothy grin as he runs his finger along the damp slit. “Fuck,”
“You’re soaking for me already, good girl.” he tells you. He begins to rub your clit over the lace covering your flesh, and you’re immediately putty in his hands. Your legs quiver slightly, and you rush to close them, but he pries them apart before leaning in to kiss you. “Keep them open for me.” he demands before slipping his tongue between your lips.
“Haah.. haaaah~!” you whimper, his featherlight ministrations seeming like magic as he continues to tease your clit.
“Fuck,” he grunts, fingers curling around the waistband of your panties before he begins to tug. “Off. Get them off.” he demands, ordering you to wiggle on the counter until he manages to peel them from your cunt and slip them down your legs. He distracts you with a kiss as he shoves them into the back pocket of his jeans.
Your tongue lolls out of your mouth as he resumes circling your now bare clit. Your face is picturesque, he thinks, as your eyes become heavy and your pants are more uncontrollable.
“Are you faking this to piss me off?” he wonders. You shake your head slowly. “You’re so sensitive…”
“S-Shut up,” you bite your lip before giggling. “Haven’t gotten any in a while.”
“Well we can’t have that. Better make up for lost time.” he grins, fingers traversing from your throbbing clit to your entrance. His jaw hangs low, moaning in faux sympathy as he starts to stretch you immediately with two fingers. “You’re so tight baby, takin’ me so well.” he tells you.
He doesn’t wait for a response before his head sinks to nestle in the crook of your neck as he assaults your skin with a cacophony moans and sucks, decorating your flesh with his name in a purple and blue masterpiece.  
Your cunt squelches as he presses his fingers deeper and deeper into your gooey interior, eagerly searching for your sweet spot and hellbent on targeting it. He hears you squeak, body almost falling limp with a particularly delicious curling of his fingers. You feel his smug expression against your pulse point, but instead of mocking you, his canines gently graze against it.
“She’s so loud for me, baby. Your sloppy little pussy loves me.” he breathes. You throw your head back as he continues to delve deeper and deeper until you can no longer fight off the urge to scream his name.
“FUCK, Rin!” you cry. “There! R-Right there!”
“There, princess?” he asks, though it’s rhetorical. He already knows what you want and what he needs to do. You’re happy you goaded him. But he’s happier to know he’s proving you wrong. “You’re squeezing so tight… won’t be able to play with your pussy or my bass if you break my fingers.”
“Sto- stop. Goddddd Rin I’m gonna c-um. Gonna cum!” you warn him, as if he didn’t already know. You wrap your arms around his neck in a needy display that makes you sick, but you don’t care enough to stop. He doesn’t mind, either. Making out with you passionately, swapping spit as drool dribbles and pools from each of your mouths. His lips remain connected to yours by a single string of spit as you break away to moan through your high.
He swallows them, though. Transfixed by the feeling and pride that you’re offering your prettiest sounds for him to devour while your legs quiver violently on either side of his hand.
You throw your head back as your pussy begins to squirt and douse his fingers. He doesn’t even flinch, immediately using his free hand to swipe across your clit to extend your pleasure and further the mess spurting from the apex of your thighs.
“She really likes me, baby.” he smirks at you, an expression so smarmy you’d punch him if he hadn’t made you feel so good. “You came so fast for me.”
“You’re welcome.” you giggle, leaning forward to kiss him. “I got what I came for so I’m gonna leave now.” you tell him as you pretend to free yourself of his hold. He shakes his head, lower lip tugged by his teeth as he tries to supress a smile.
“Nuh-uh, sweetheart. Nowhere near through with you yet.”
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© 2024 rinhaler
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xxnghtclls · 2 months
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Flickering Lights
Chapter 1: Flickering Lights
Chapter (2)
True Form Sukuna x fem!reader
Warning: Graphic Depiction Of Violence!
Tags under the cut and will be updated over the course of writing!
Summary: On a sad friday night, you’re finishing your last email for your job, as suddenly The King of Curses appears through a rip of space in time in your office. A change of everyday life perhaps?
Notes:
Welcome to Flickering Lights!
I hope you will enjoy <3
The -play- cues or underlined texts are linked to the specific songs she’s listening to, however I didn’t time the songs with reading time, since everyone of us reads at a different pace. I hope you’ll have fun anyway. :)
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clack clack clack clack
The harsh sound of your fingers hitting against the keys on your keyboard is reaching your ears, as you’re finishing the last email for the day.
The day, which will end in about 10 minutes. 
It’s friday, 11:50 p.m. and you’re still in the office tower you work in. 
Alone. An odd occasion, since this situation is not unusual in your field of work. Harsh deadlines require overtime. 
Often.
Too often.
But today, your co-workers must have had something better to do. It’s friday after all.
And you wish you had the guts to do that, too.
Flickering lights from the illuminated advertisements from outside the streets are dancing in the corners of your eye. Your only company tonight.
And you blink. With a sigh, you look to the window to your right, having Tokyo looking right back at you.
Sometimes, you wish you would have the time to flee this place, your office, your life. To actually enjoy those lights, to experience something. To not give your life up for your job.
To feel not as lonely. Lonely in this city of millions.
A longing deep in your heart.
But-
I gotta pay my fucking bills, you think, as you sigh another time, before turning back to your computer. The light on your desk makes your eyes tired and before you finish your email, you go into your music library on your phone and put on your headphones. A ritual you almost do on every overtime night. It gives you energy. Almost a prayer to whoever listens. Someday something must happen. 
Right?
-play-
How can you see into my eyes like open doors? 
Leading you down into my core 
Where I've become so numb …
Your blood starts pumping and the hairs on your body stand up, as the song crawls through your veins. 
Without a soul, my spirit's sleeping somewhere cold
Until you find it there and lead it back home …
Your body starts moving on its own, you move your head and lips in sync to the song. It gives you energy to finish this last fucking email before the chorus hits. 
And you slam your middle finger on enter.
Send!
(Wake me up) wake me up inside (I can′t wake up), wake me up inside
(Save me) call my name and save me from the dark
Oh my god.
You feel it. The song hits your core so deep and you turn the volume even louder. Singing both parts at the same time in your head, you let yourself go.
(Wake me up) bid my blood to run (I can't wake up) before I come undone
(Save me) save me from the nothing I've become
Flickering lights hit the corners of your eyes, bass in your heart, as you lip sync quietly, but passionately, while you close all your remaining applications on your desktop. 
You would not want to risk someone, anyone, to actually hear you singing.
Suddenly the bass gets unusual heavy, but you love it. You feel the song even harder.
Adios Bitchatchos. See you on monday, you think to yourself, as you notice a glitch on your desktop. 
Another one. 
And another one. 
The light on your desk flickers as well. You frown in confusion, but brush it off as a “monday me” problem and shut down your computer. Standing up, still moving and lipsynching to the song, you lean forward to turn off the monitors, as the bass grows even heavier.
Weird. Those headphones only cost me like 5000 yen-
Wrrrrmmmm!
Suddenly the ground vibrates and your knees give in. You grab yourself onto the desk, as an energy pulls you down. Pulls you down to your knees and almost cuts the air off your lungs and nose. You gasp, as the ground starts to vibrate and jitter even harder. Bring Me To Life still pounds into your ears, so dramatically, as you feel your vision blurring and glitching, as the light on your desk finally says goodbye, leaving you in total darkness of the office space. Looking around you don’t see anyone, start to get scared.
What’s happening?? An earthquake?
The vibrations are sent through your whole body, your blood tingles in your veins, just in time for your favourite part of the song.
Frozen (frozen) inside without your touch, without your love
Darling, only (only) you are the life among the dead …
Just in this moment, the technology of your cheap ass headphones gives in and sends an incredibly loud beep to your ears, distorting the wonderful voice of Amy Lee.
Fuck!
You yell in pain and yank the headphones off your head, just before a loud grunge noise echoes through the room, makes it vibrate even more, makes you push your hands over your ears. All the other monitors are shutting on and off and on and off and glitching and blinking. 
Zschhhh!
Suddenly a blue glowing light crawls into the air in the split of a second, like a lightning strike and it starts to tear apart. A gap ripped into the air of the office space, just a few desks next to yours.
What the fuck?
You don’t believe your eyes, as a tall shadow starts to appear in the gap that just opened, before it steps forward, red eyes glowing through the dark, while the rap part starts to roar through the headphones in the background.
All this time, I can't believe I couldn't see
Kept in the dark, but you were there in front of me
I′ve been sleeping a thousand years, it seems
Got to open my eyes to everything
Without a thought, without a voice, without a soul
Don′t let me die here, there must be something more
Br-riing m-m-me t-tt-to l-lifeeee-…
And with this your headphones die, leaving you alone with… 
Who is this?
Tap. 
Tap. Tap.
Feet step into your office and you slide beneath your desk. The vibrations grow harder, the energy heavier, as the gap seems to close back up, almost pulling you completely to the ground.
Whoom!
And suddenly-
it’s all silent.
Quiet.
Calm.
You don’t know what to do. 
Hide? Say something? 
Still on the ground, you let your hands leave your ears and watch below the desks. Two massive feet, covered in tabi socks and wearing ancient looking sandals, quietly walk into your direction. 
Flickering lights dance upon the ground and onto the moving clothes. Your heart is racing and you put your hand upon your mouth to be as silent as possible, as the person walks closer and closer. Another step and they will pass your desk, will see you sitting there like a little baby, not knowing what the fuck just happened. 
And finally he walks into your vision, not even offering you a glance. A tall man, a black cloak around his shoulders, covering his upper arms and parts of his chest. A white hakama sitting on his waist. Pink hair, four red eyes, simple tattooed lines on his face and wrists and chest. A mask is covering the right side of his face. 
Why does he look like a villain? 
Your eyes widen at the man in front of you.
He’s built like a tank.
With a smug smirk, he steps in front of the window facade, looking down onto the streets of Tokyo. 
“Keh Keh Keh.” he giggles.
Such a devious voice.
You watch him suspiciously, watch how the lights illuminate his face, unsure if he’s seen you yet or knows that you’re here.
His eyes roam around the streets and his expression grows excited. So excited.
“What a view.” he quietly smiles, before he taps against the window with his nail.
Tap. Tap.
The glass sounds firm.
He looks up, musters the framing and cocks his eyebrow and pouts his lips. 
You frown at him. Confused, because he looks like he’s never seen a proper window before. 
“It’s shatterproof glass.” you suddenly say quietly, still curled up beneath your desk. He freezes, as his left ear twitches, before his eyes and finally his head slowly move and turn to look at you and your eyes meet.
Silence.
Shit.
He glares at you, looking like an evil villain indeed. His red eyes glow in the dark and pierce right at you, as you feel his demon-like energy reach you, looking right at your soul, so deep and intimidating, as if your eyes are truly only a window to your mind. 
And you’re about to pee your pants.
“You uhm.” you point your trembling finger at the glass. “You can’t fall through it… b-because it’s. You know… shatterproof.” you stumble quietly, before you crawl out from beneath your desk and grab your jacket, phone and dead headphones. “It… doesn’t sh-shatter.” 
He stays silent, so silent, as suddenly a second pair of arms reveal themselves from under his cloak and cross in front of his torso.
And you can’t help but to stare in shock and confusion at his arms, tattooed chest and his flexing muscles, as you’re being hit by his degrading energy at the very same time. You are so overwhelmed by anything and everything, that you can’t help but to think that-
It’s almost as if-
He rolls his eyes and turns his face back to the window. The silence crushes you and the look on his face is still so intimidating, as he suddenly flicks the finger, that previously tapped against the glass.
BrrshhZschinnggg! 
The glass of a window shatters into a thousand pieces and with an incredible force, like an invisible blade, the energy cuts through everything in it’s way, leaving a track of loud destruction and cuts a furrow into the floor, your computer and the wall a few yards behind you. 
Bamm!
So close to you, that you even think you lost some hair. You feel the impact shatter in your bones.
“Is that so?” he grumbles in a deep, unimpressed voice, with his left bottom eye watching you. Your heart almost stops- waiting for the alarm to go off…
but it doesn’t. 
Yup, out we go.
Before he can do anything more your body moves on its own. 
A breeze from outside and the sounds of the street are blowing in through the broken window. You twitch a forced smile at him, before you tipple your way between the desks and out of the office space.
With a racing heart you run to the staircase, as the lights in the dark hallway flicker above your head, fighting to get back on. But they don’t. They die down again, leaving you in utter darkness. With a hitching breath, you pull out your phone and turn on the flashlight, as you tipple your way to take the stairs. Not just because the elevator is probably down as well, but to calm down. No elevator ride could soothe the adrenaline in your body right now. 
Tap.Tap.Tap.Tap.Tap.Tap.Tap.Tap
Down the stairs, five stories, until you arrive at the entry hall, seeing the security guard at the reception table in the dark. Cursing under his breath, his face is illuminated by a flashlight on his desk, while he’s being busy to tap onto his monitors and to smash on the keyboard to get the cameras back on screen.
That creature must’ve caused a total blackout. 
The security guard doesn’t mind or even notice you walking by, so you take the chance to quickly walk to the front door with no air in your lungs and sweat in your armpits. You catch a look onto the still busy streets. 
Did someone from outside notice?
People are walking, no one is looking. 
Sigh. 
Thank god.
You carefully slip through the front door and see a few broken glass pieces onto your left. Quickly, you cross the street, melting into the groups of people, vanishing behind many faces, looking down to your feet and hoping nobody from outside caught you leaving the building. To calm your panic, you first buy yourself a coke on the next vending machine. 
Psssshh.
Sip. Sip. Sip.
Sigh.
Better.
You inhale, before you slowly turn around, looking up to your office on the fifth floor, where you were a few minutes ago, curious what the fuck just happened there. 
Flickering lights and advertisements mirror themselves on the remaining not-so-shatterproof glass, leaving a black hole on the one that indeed shattered. You can’t see him. 
He might be gone. 
But… it wasn’t a dream, was it? 
You put on your headphones and try to connect them back to your phone.
Maybe the building got struck by a lightning, while I was knee deep into feeling Amy Lee’s voice.
No. Nothing.
Dead.
Shit, you think to yourself as another rush of adrenaline flows through your veins. 
That was exciting… 
You bite your lip.
Maybe my prayers were heard.
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olomaya · 7 months
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Shhh!! It's a Library (mod)
27 Sept Update: Found a better shushing sound so I replaced with that. Also added ITUNs for the non computer interactions. Thanks to @cs2te for the Brazilian Portuguese translation! Redownload (if you want these updates) at the link below.
(Note: This mod uses the Ticket Machine animations for the kiosk. If you don't have it, you can download it here. Honestly, it's not that important and without it, your Sim will just stand in front of the machine for a second, that's it)
I'm officially in my Streets era. I'm building out all the community lots in my town so you're going to be seeing a lot of community/town related stuff from me for the next few months. My Sims are trying to be outside!
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First up! This is a small library mod that allows you to search for books at the library using this gorgeous kiosk object from @aroundthesims. If the book is in the library, it tells you where they are by panning the camera to the bookshelf that has the book and putting a blue outline around it for 10 Sim minutes. Pretty simple. 
Features:
Browse Catalog… pulls up all books in the library
Search by… Category | Title | Author - pulls up any book that matches your search entry
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Request a Book to Order -  allows you to add more books to the library. 
You can only order the types of books that are allowed in community libraries so no books that are destroyed after you finish reading them (e.g. recipes, song compositions) and no academic textbooks.
You can order written books, including articles, as well as books from other worlds (e.g. Shang Simla, etc) though for the latter, there is a §35 “overseas shipping cost” added to order these books. 
Once you order a book, the mod will check whether the library has enough money to purchase it and then place the order. 
Ordered books are added to the library at 8am the next day and you’ll receive a notification that the books have been added.
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Library Funding
In order to pay for the books ordered, library kiosks have a budget. Every kiosk, upon creation, comes with a §250 budget.
The library budget is the total amount of funds in all kiosks on the lot. Costs are deducted from individual kiosks even if that specific kiosk doesn't have enough money for the book so long as the library budget has enough money.
Support your Local Library
Sims can donate books (up to 3 books at a time) to the library using the book donation bin. The bin must be placed on the library lot (either outside or inside) and you need to have books in your inventory. Your Sim will get 500 Lifetime Happiness points for every book donated. (this is related to another mod that I’m working on. More on that at a later date!)
There is also a computer interaction that lets you donate money to the library. Sims that donate §2500 or more will get a 4-hour charitable moodlet. Donations are added to the library budget.
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Finally, Bookworms and Proper Sims can shush other Sims at the library. Once shushed, all Sims in the same room doing social interactions or playing music instruments will stop. (You'll find, like in real life, people quickly go back to doing what they're doing so it's kind of useless but it was a low lift so I kept it in). If someone can think of a good "shushing" sound from the game, let me know!
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Credits/Thanks: Both credit and huge thanks go to @aroundthesims for creating this beautiful library set and the kiosk which I used as the main object. I did recategorize it to Misc Electronics instead of Sculptures. If you already have it in your game, you may need to remove it or you can just change the script to “Sims3.Gameplay.Objects.olomaya.LibraryStuff.Kiosk”.  The donation bin is from Sketchfab created by TheLatestShit (that’s their name, thank you TLS!) and can be found in Misc Storage.
Read through everything below the cut before downloading please! Important instructions below!
Important things to note:
The kiosk must be placed on a counter. If it’s not, your sim will reset because they can only interact with it if it’s on a counter. If you are having issues with resetting, place it on an EA-made counter to confirm it’s not this issue first before you reach out for support. You can use OSMP counters provided they are cloned from a counter and place the kiosk on there and put it wherever you want (like I’ve done in my photo. the kiosk is actually on an OSMP counter, not the white table).
Pulling up the entire library catalog, depending on how many books you have on the lot, can take a few (or several) seconds. Or maybe it won’t, I play on a brick laptop so it does for me
Keyword searches are case sensitive so “raymundo” yields no results, but “Raymundo” will bring up the 85 copies of that 🤬 book that your library probably has
The search will only check books that are in bookshelves, it will ignore library books that have been taken out of the bookshelf and are being read or lying around.
Book requests and financial donations can only be made at public libraries and not privately-owned libraries. So if a Sim in your town owns the lot, these options won’t come up (it should be the owners’ responsibility to buy books). You can still donate books though.
You can have multiple kiosks on the lot. If you delete a kiosk, its funds (if it has any) will be transferred to any of the other kiosks on the lot so you don’t lose the money. 
There is a debug interaction on the kiosk that allows you to check the library budget.
You can order one book at a time but there’s no limit to how many you can do in a day but once the books are delivered the next morning, the mod will check whether the library has enough money and will only order the books there is money for
Download HERE | alt: HERE
@simstifulccfinds @kpccfinds @katsujiiccfinds @pis3update @wanderingsimsfinds
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polarisjisung · 6 months
Text
cherry flavoured
07—WORD ON THE STREET
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SYNOPSIS | y/n, the campuses notorious heartbreaker, had never been one to settle down, running from the word commitment since the concept had first been introduced to her, but one smile and a little cherry coke seems to do just the trick when she runs into captain of the dance team, park jisung
PAIRING | dancer!jisung x fem!reader
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you're on your way to the library to grab a seat while you wait for jisung when you walk past the dance studio, your favourite song blaring from the speakers, a tall figure moving to the beat with a large zip up black hoodie thrown over his body— you haven't seen much of him but you'd recognise him anywhere, jisung repeating the same series of moves over and over again, each time with increased fluidity
he's in a trance, too focused on critiquing himself to notice your presence on the other side of the glass door, which is why he doesn't seem to hear the loud knock you give before entering
his moves seem to falter when he notices your cherry red hair in the mirror and the male finds himself biting at his cheeks to suppress the smile threatening to spread across his lips
"I hope you don't mind me coming here, I tried to knock but I don't think you heard me" you offer him a smile, still not realising just how difficult you'd find it to talk to him in person, beautiful brown eyes staring down at you, without any alcohol in your system
"not at all, I was just finishing up anyways" his voice reverberates through the studio, you swear you can feel it in your bones, but you can tell jisung was still working on his routine
"go ahead and do your thing, I think it'd actually help me get an idea of my drawing style if I saw you dance, if you don't mind that is"
you stop yourself from rambling some sort of artistic jargon his way, looking up at him as you take a few steps closer with those eager eyes again, the ones jisung can't seem to say no to
"it's okay if you're not comfortable, I can go until you're done" you mistake his silence as discomfort but the blue haired dancer is quick to stop you
"no, I'm just not used to it is all"
"don't you preform though" you ask, a genuine tone creeping through your voice and jisung can't help but notice the way you show so much interest in what he has to say
"sorta, when I'm practising it's not really the same, it's part of the process instead of the final product" you nod understandingly, "I've never had anyone see that before"
"I'd love to see it, if you'd let me" you take a seat, watching as he loses himself in the music again, body swaying in ways you didn't even know were possible, his cheeks puffing every time he made a mistake, some you didn't even take notice of and all you could see was sheer passion radiating through his every movement
your hands seen to start to itch, and you can't help yourself from reaching for your sketchbook, soft strokes of your pencil laid onto the paper as your eyes flicker between jisung and the white of the page.
it doesn't take long for a rough sketch to form, small details creeping their way into the paper as you watch him move, concentrated on doing his best
it's when he spins that you can't keep your awe contained, a soft gasp escaping your lips as he twirls so effortlessly, you find yourself flipping the page, taking on a more challenging sketch of what you just saw, eyes glued to the page with the image of his grace clear in your mind
this time it's you who doesn't realise the pair of eyes on you, jisung's movements halted as he watches you rush to swipe different toned pencils across the page, afraid that the mental image would be cleared from your brain before you could get it down
its only when he takes a seat beside you, sipping on an open bottle of water with his messy hair falling over his eyes that you realise he'd stopped dancing
"you're good, like really good" you say, hoping your words don't betray you like they usually did when talking to him, coming out in a completely different order than you'd hope, a problem you'd never known until you ran into jisung
"as in you're crazy good, professional level good" you specify again and jisung let's his head drop, a small smile coming over his features, muttering out a small thank you
his eyes seem to land on the book in your lap next, widening at the precision of the two sketches you'd perfected in a matter of minutes
he wants to say something, anything to let you know just how talented he thinks you are, but he can't find the words to express what he thinks, the now decreased proximity between the two of you causing him to freeze entirely
after that, you only work on a few more sketches, from pre recorded dance practises that jisung had loaded up on his laptop, pointing out signature moves he wanted to incorporate into his project, but each time he did you found yourself lighting up at the passionate glint in his eye
"when did you start dancing"
jisung doesn't expect the question, halfway through one of the dance practise videos, pressing the pause button on his laptop
"1st grade I think" if he's honest jisung doesn't remember a time where he wasn't a dancer, it had been that long, "my teacher suggested it as a way to break out of my shell and it just became my thing"
you nod, it was something anyone with any sort of passion could resonate with, the same way you did with basketball— the start of finding your passions was special, you always thought it was the best way to get to know someone
"what about you, when did you start playing basketball?"
"I think I was about 5, I had this silly little crush on one of my brothers friends, he was on the school basketball team and so I practically begged my parents to let me join a basketball club," you smile fondly at the memory, bringing your knees forwards into your chest as you shuffle to face jisung, "I guess it grew from there"
jisung nods, tired eyes staring blankly your way, making the best attempt to actually process your words, although not too successfully
"I'm starving, lets grab dinner?" you rise to your feet, and jisung follows, the buzzing of the ac fading as you exit the dance studio
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prev | masterlist | next
NOTES: ignoring the fact that the message on jisungs twitter is in fact a yn pov 💀 + I wanna post a Halloween chapter but that's not gonna be until a little later into the week so...
TAGLIST (open): @jenobubbles @justalildumpling @jising-jisang-jisung @nanawrlds @222brainrot @chichiuu @dinonuguaegi @ishireads @yyy90210 @hibernatinghamster @stqrrian @makiswrld @everywonuu @marizhua @luumiinaa @asteriaskingdom @jeongintwt @90s-belladonna @000rpheus @jammingjaem @yayloona @neozon3nha
(bold cannot be tagged)
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guava-enjoyer · 6 months
Text
Inazuma School AU Headcanons!
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Featuring: Itto and Ayato (separately)
Summary: What are Inazuman characters like in school...as your lover!
Genre: fluff, crack
Warnings: implied fem!reader, inconsistent captalization, probably ooc because I haven't played in so long 😭, bad music taste
A/N: HELP this is my first time actually writing (finishing) a fanfic!!! If you happen to be reading this for whatever reason, just know that I take requests! I write for genshin and bsd right now. no smut!!! only fluff!!!
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Arataki Itto
where do i even start 😭
all the teachers HATE him because he never shuts up 💀
we all know that he is just naturally a menace (he's actually sweet i swear)
Itto is definitely playing a sport because he's so competitive. he's SUPER tall, so I'd say he's great at basketball. idk let your imagination run wild 😍
he'd blow a kiss to you every time he scores. its embarrassing, but you love him so it's okay.
i have two words: touchy-feely
he LOVES having an arm over your shoulder.
gives you questionable pet names
"hi my little sugar munchkin pookie bear 😘"
...ANYWAYS, he would definitely beetle fight you and gets salty after you obliterate him
"IMPOSSIBLE" *table flip*
okay enough silly i need to focus
he would listen to chill rock music. he'll give you an earbud and just chill with you, especially after his basketball practice or games
he would be failing all of his classes if it wasn't for you forcing him to study. he also needs decent grades to stay on the sports team so
"so, if you just subtract x here- are you even listening?????"
"huh?" *smack* "OW"
0/10 worst student
if you hang out with the Arataki Gang, even better! when you all eat lunch together, it can be chill
OR it can be pure chaos
"GIVE ME BACK MY POTATO CHIPS"
"NUH-UH"
y'all would definitely make fun of people. i can just imagine Itto ranting about how "Kujou KFC Sara" was being a bastard
"that stupid chicken thinks she's stronger than me!" (she is)
ok so far i've portrayed him as a menace but deep down he's a kind lil' muffin
he always makes sure you're not upset with his jokes, he would even offer you some of his lunch if you look sad!
he would go to energetic atmospheres for dates. to be honest, any atmosphere is energetic the moment he walks in.
ok but he would absolutely LOVE going to theme parks with you. he'd go on roller coasters with you and scream through the whole thing
if you don't like roller coasters, that's okay! he's still drag you around to do literally everything else in the theme park.
overall 7/10 chaotic but loveable
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Kamisato Ayato
(i have no idea what song suits him 😭)
he's like the rich and talented kid
he shows up to school in this really fancy car with a chauffeur and shit
straight A student, gifted, yk the whole package
Let's assume that he is the President of student government or council or whatever because... its Ayato what do you expect
teachers absolutely ADORE him
he'd definitely tutor you if you needed it but don't expect him to be a ray of sunshine
he loves you, but that only makes him even more insufferable 🥰
but like actually, he'd be so sweet. he's the kind of guy to bask in the little things.
i bet his love language is quality time. just being around you makes him melt internally
expect quiet dates. studying, libraries, cafes, etc. he LOVES THEM
he probably isn't big on PDA but still loves holding your hand. when you're alone, he loves having an arm around you. he just finds so much comfort in you <33
He also shows his love through nonstop teasing. It's a blessing and a curse.
"oh, aren't you cute today~"
right after you tripped and spilled coffee (or whatever else) all over yourself 😐
at least he gets you out of trouble 🤷‍♀️
he would also buy you expensive stuff. he's rich, remember?
like randomly he'll just walk up to you with designer jewelry or something
"...how much did this cost?"
"don't worry about it 😇"
and don't even try turning it down. he will find a way.
aside from all that, he definitely eats lunch in the library with you and/or Thoma and Ayaka
he'll force you to try his terrible food combinations 😭
"c'mon, just one bite. please?"
"...are you trying to poison me?"
he's not much of a sport person. with his upbringing, he might play an instrument. pianist Ayato anyone?? 😍
you'd just find him in the music room playing Chopin (I think he'd love Nocturne in E flat, its SO ROMANTIC. go listen to it, trust me)
compliment his music skills, it'll put him in a good mood for the day.
I give him an 8.5/10. A gentlemanly smartass.
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thanks for reading!! feedback is welcome!
have a good day :D
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gretavangroupie · 11 months
Text
Vigilance (Chapter 13)
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Word count: 12.1k
Pairings: Sam x OC, Jake x Reader
Warnings: 18+ as always, drinking, smoking, language, fluff, angst, smut.
This story is a collaboration with my best pal @gretavanmoon.
A/N: This chapter has to be broken into two parts thanks to Tumblr's character limits. I know this is a long one, but I hope you can stick with it until the end and then read part two! I promise this will be the only one that is this long. We will go back to our regular sized chapters next week. Enjoy!
READ CHAPTER 12 FIRST!
AUSTIN CITY LIMITS
JAKE POV
The time had come to return to the office space to regroup after most of Strange Horizons had wrapped up, and you were excited to discuss your new ideas with management. Many inebriated nights with your brothers had formulated a deep and diverse plan for the inevitable next leg of tour, and your ideas just kept building and building. 
The pandemic had placed a huge damper on your initial tour schedule, release dates and shows being pushed back dramatically. Not to mention having to deal with all of the new rules that were placed last year for venues…though it had been over a year since the world shut down, the effects were still massively trickling down. 
As you entered the office together, you thought back to over a year ago...the four of you had locked yourselves in a secluded cabin in the Smoky Mountains for a portion of time that you scarcely remember, only leaving to get supplies and food. It was there that you crafted a list of songs, some brand new and some dusted off from the depths of your library. 
The isolation that you felt being tucked away in the mountains was the perfect setting for the way you all wanted the album to be…loud, dynamic, mysterious, orgasmic and borderline perfect. Not a note out of place. You’d talked about making an album like this for as long as you’d been a band, and you’d decided it was time to make it happen. What better time to create it than in the midst of a worldwide shutdown? 
“Let’s make it sound like a film soundtrack, without the film…” Sam had said, setting the premise for exactly how he envisioned it. 
“Ha, a man after my own heart.” Josh had responded. “Are you saying you want to make the soundtrack to my first film before I even know what it’s about?”
Late nights had turned to early mornings of writing riffs, and introducing lyrics that spoke about the current state of the world and the more difficult subjects. Josh was truly in his element when it came to storytelling through his lyrics; you were absolutely blown away by his ability to talk about the here and now while making it sound like you were reading from a 500 year old novel. More often than not, partaking turned into conversations with the ghosts you were certain inhabited the old cabin’s walls, thrusting you into sleepless nights spent laying down haunting samples on Sam’s piano. 
Sam’s sonic concentration and being able to hear the music before you had even laid it down was perfectly tuned in…Daniel’s ability to think outside of the box when it came to bringing everything together as a whole...you found yourselves in a true state of enlightenment, visually and instrumentally, and you prayed that the outcome of your hard work was to be accepted well. 
Strange Horizons had been the trial run, and now it was time for your bigger idea to come to life. 
“We want to call it Dreams in Gold. A lyric from the magnum opus of the album, the crowning achievement of our careers so far. The premise of this album is a concoction of stories being told, dreams, if you will. We’ve got ideas all the way down to stage setting and album art. Every element is going to be intentional, and is going to tie into one another. It’s going to be all about details. The whole thing is going to be a journey, just like the storyline of the album itself. We want to include commissioned artists that we find organically, as well, to help with our visuals.”
“To begin with, we want to entice people to get back outside, hit the road and come and join us at shows. We’ve all been cooped up for too long and we want to show the fans that we’re still here. So, yes, we’re ready for another lengthy tour.” Josh began the meeting by condensing the details into a concise introduction to the panel of your management team. 
After a few hours of debating and compromise, the initial plans were set, and management was ecstatic about your new ideas. Things were truly looking great. 
You had one more small run of shows planned, a two-weekend span at Austin City Limits festival in Texas, then you were off to Los Angeles. Until then, it was time to relax, recharge, and enjoy every second alone with your girl.
HER POV
OCTOBER 2021
As you waited for the front desk attendant to finish with the person in front of you, your eyes flicked to the TV screen behind the desk, ‘Welcome to Austin’ it read in bright blue letters.
It was late, nearly 11:00pm when you finally arrived in Texas, flights delayed for nearly 2 hours due to weather. The van was late to pick you up at the airport and overall everyone was in a foul mood, yourself included.
“Next! Hi, how can I help you?” he asked.
“Hi, I just need to check in. Should be six rooms, under this name.” you say sliding the man your ID.
He clicks around on his computer for a few minutes, brow furrowing as he looks to you, “I see five rooms under this name. Looks like one was canceled about two weeks ago, and one was upgraded.”
“I’m sorry? Which room was canceled?” you ask.
“Looks like a Queen Non-Smoking…oh, actually the name on the room is yours.” he says, nervously.
“Mhmm, and the upgraded room?” you ask.
“Jacob Kiszka? Upgraded to a King Suite.” he answers. 
“Okay, and can you tell me who authorized the change?” you ask.
“Looks like it was Mr. Kiszka, ma’am.” he answers.
“Right... Okay. Well, that’s fine. Thank you.” you say, accepting your ID back from him.
“Here are your room keys, two in each pocket. The elevators are just to your left, vending and ice on each floor. If there’s anything I can do for you, just call the front desk.” he smiles.
“Thank you.” you say, grabbing the keys and turning back to head towards your group.
“Alright guys, let's end this miserable day. Sam…” you hand him his key. 
“Daniel…Josh… Summer…” you say in succession, handing them each their key cards.
“Jacob.” you say handing him his. 
“We have to be down here, in this spot ready to leave at 11:00am. The festival is being very stringent on timing, if we are late we don’t get any kind of sound check. Maybe a line check at best.” you say, as everyone begins rolling their luggage towards the elevators.
“Yes mother.” Josh replies with a smile.
As you all load into the elevator, everyone checks their floors, and presses their respective buttons, as it begins to rise. One by one they exit the elevator, first Summer, then Daniel, followed by Elle and Sam, leaving you, Jake and Josh in the tiny enclosed space.
Josh looks at the two of you, a knowing but contemplative look on his face as the elevator reaches his floor and the doors spring open. He steps out of the elevator, pausing to turn to the two of you. You can see the words on the tip of his tongue, but he bites them back and smiles as the doors close again.
You don't look at Jake until the doors fling open two floors above. You step out, and make your way to your room, pulling your suitcase next to you as you walk. As you stand at the door you stare at the wall, not making eye contact with him as he steps up to meet you.
“Baby…” he whines. “Don’t be mad…”
You turn to face him. “I would like to go to bed.” you hiss.
With a huff he taps the key card to the door, letting it unlock as you push it open. 
He rolls both of your suitcases inside, shutting the door and locking it behind him.
You slip your shoes off and walk across the room, pulling the curtains shut as you start to undress. “You can't just…do that! What if…someone found out! I would have no way to explain this!” you say, raising your voice.
“It’s fine baby. No one is going to know.” he says, trying to ease your tension.
“Josh knows! He totally knows. He basically just told us he knows and he didn’t even say anything!” you say, pulling your pajamas from your suitcase.
You pull on your pajama shorts, and slide your arms through the top as you start to button the buttons. 
“Listen…” he says, making his way over to you. “If our secret is safe with anyone, it’s him. People will eventually find out love, and personally I’m ready to shout it from the rooftops.” he says, his fingers taking over buttoning up your top. As he fastens the last button he rests his hand on the back of your neck, “I have slept next to you almost every night for weeks now. I’m not giving that up. No chance.” he smiles, pressing a kiss to your forehead.
You sigh, leaning into his chest as you wrap your arms around him. His bare skin on your cheek is warm, and calming. His very presence centering you and bringing you back down to earth.  “I’m not mad. I’m just…afraid of getting caught by the wrong person, you know?” you say.
“I know. I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen. I promise.” he says, squeezing you one last time before letting you go. 
He walks over to his suitcase and grabs his phone charger, plugging it into the wall as he strips off his pants. You knew you would never grow tired of seeing him like that. 
You slipped into the overly fluffy bed, and made your way to the middle, fluffing the pillows behind you.
“Oh you think you’re sleeping in the middle, huh?” he asks playfully, turning off the lamp.
He pulls the blankets back, sliding in next to you as he circles his arms around your waist. He lays his head on your chest, listening to the sound of your beating heart as he hums a tune..‘she’s a woman in a dream…’ 
“Thanks for not getting mad. I know it’s stupid and careless, but I… sleep better next to you.” he says softly into your chest.
“Mmhmmm… that’s the only reason right?” you ask.
“The list is endless of reasons that I need you.” he says, pressing a kiss to your lips and quickly pulling away to turn over to his back. 
You whine at the loss of his warmth, and you feel the bed shake with his chuckle, “Come on…” he says, opening his arms to you. You scoot further onto his side of the bed, and place yourself into his arms. 
He nuzzles his head into the top of yours, taking a deep breath. “Okay, my boss said I can’t be late tomorrow or I'll get in trouble, so I have to go to bed.” he says.
You giggle into his neck, as you twist your fingers with his. ‘Love you…”
“I love you too.” he says, and not too shortly after you both fall into a well deserved sleep.
JAKE POV
“I’ll go down first, then you come down in like ten minutes?” she said, a serious look on her face as she flicked through her iPad.
“You got it. Hey…” you said, pulling her by her waist.
She drops the iPad to her side as her eyes meet yours. 
“You’re killing it. Best coordinator we’ve ever had. So proud of you.” you say, really meaning every word. 
You could see her eyes beginning to grow misty at your words, so with a quick kiss, and a promise of later, you shooed her out the hotel room door to begin your ten minute wait.
Shockingly, everyone arrived downstairs on time and the van was parked and waiting for you at the entrance. Today was already going ten times better than yesterday, and you could tell Y/N was feeling less stressed because of it. 
As you all loaded into the van, you sat in the back with Josh, and scrolled through news on your phone.
Josh
11:07am: Anything you’d like to share?
You
11:08am: No thanks. I’m done sharing with my siblings.
Josh
11:09am: So…
You
11:10am: Later
The van arrived at the back gates, and you all made your way to the artist check in table, securing your wristbands and being shown to the area where your things were being loaded in. Your crew had been here since early this morning, getting the stage pieces loaded in and the gig boxes situated where they needed to be. Slated to go on at 6:30, you got there with enough time for a quick sound check, before spending the rest of the day exploring, and getting ready in your trailer for the day.
It was hot in Texas, significantly hotter than Nashville, and the sun beating down on you had you sweating even from just standing outside. You and Daniel drew the short straws on the artist interview, so as you stood and waited for your time slot, you turned to Daniel, “What’s up with you man? What’s going on? Where is Heidi?”
He clapped his hand against your shoulder blade and sighed, “She is…busy. At least that’s what she keeps telling me.”
You smiled as you shook your head, “Ahh…sorry to hear that dude.”
“Nah, you know what? It’s fine actually. Feels like things have kind of run its course, ya know? I’m starting to figure out who I am without her. Feels good.” he says, as you both take a step forward.
“Just want to see you happy brother, whatever that means for you.” you reply.
“Could say the same to you. Been a rough couple of weeks.” he says, trailing off.
“It has. But things are looking up.” you say, pushing up your sunglasses on your nose.
“Are they?” he asks.
You nod slowly, as the interviewer welcomed you to her table, relieving you from having that conversation just yet. 
A few hours and a few drinks later, you are feeling loose and free and happy preshow, for the first time since this tour started. Your skin felt stiff from the salt in your sweat and you wished you could just jump into the shower to rinse off. 
Making your way to the trailer, you stepped inside, but in the bathroom found no shower. Great.
Sam entered a few minutes later, and he was just as sweaty as you were. “This fucking sun is nuts.” you said, leaning against the couch.
“I know, I need a damn shower.” he said.
“Isn’t one. Already looked.” you replied.
“My hair is fucked. Maybe I can just wet it.” you said, staring off into space.
Sam grabbed two water jugs from under the table and held them up with a suspicious smile. “Like the old days?” 
It really had been a while since you did this, taking turns pouring water jugs for each other, not able to shower daily as you toured across the US in that tiny little van. Times had changed, but you knew you weren’t above it, and you never would be. You knew your roots.
Stepping outside you grabbed a lawn chair and took your shirt off, “Me first, then you?” you ask.
“Let’s do it.” he replied.
You sat down in the chair and threw your hair over the back, letting Sam pour the water over your head until it was completely saturated down to your roots. The water ran over your face and you wiped at your hairline, hoping most of the sweat would wash away. He continued pouring until the jug was empty and you felt your hair was clean enough. He ran his fingers through your hair, one last time as you heard footsteps approaching.
“What are you two doing?” Y/N’s voice filled with laughter as she watched on. 
“We are playing beauty salon! I have an opening at 5:00, if you’d like to book!” Sam answered enthusiastically.
She laughed and shook her head as she walked off, and you felt your chest grow warm, but this time it wasnt from the heat.
A few hours later, dressed in one of your favorite suits, you looked yourself over in the mirror feeling extremely confident about tonight's show. You knew you weren’t going to hold back. You were going to lay it all out there wordlessly confessing that the stars aligned in your favor after all these years. This one was for her. 
As you and your brothers took your shots and said your words of encouragement, you watched as Y/N checked over each of your outfits as you exited the trailer, saving yourself for last. 
As the door slammed shut behind Sam, you made your way over to her, iPad clutched to her chest as she smiled at you.
“I thought the green suit was my favorite… but now I don't know. You look…” she trailed off.
“Really? I wasn’t too sure about all the sparkly stuff at first, but it’s kind of growing on me.” you smile. 
“Jake…really. With your complexion, and your hair… you look so good. I have half a mind to make you change into something else.” she giggled.
Your favorite giggle.
“Anyways, you look perfect. Get out there, make me proud.” she smiled, and you laughed, knowing you were going to do just that. 
As you twisted the knob on the door, you stopped to look at her. “It’s all for you.” 
Her cheeks grew pink as she pressed a kiss to your cheek, and ushered you out the door. It really was all for her. It always has been.
As you made your way up the steps, your tech handed you your guitar and you took the stage, the crowd roaring violently in front of you. Your body felt like it was on fire as you played the opening notes, the deafening noise of the screams from thousands of people just fueling the flame. You finally had everything. You finally felt true happiness, and the best part was that tonight, when it was all over, and the room was quiet you got to share it with her.
The fire you had raging in your bones for this entire show continued to engulf you...you weren’t sure if it was the setting, the heat, or the fact that you finally had your girl back, but damn it felt good to be playing to a crowd again. 
You were two songs away from ‘Highway Tune’, and the sun was beginning to set. You took the tiniest of breaks, allowing yourself to look out over the crowd as darkness began to set in. The sweating, exhausted, blissed-out fans were having the time of their lives, and you were truly mirroring them tonight. You were giving it everything you had. You smiled as you made eye contact with a few of them, watching as they fell apart on their friends after you did so. Always so funny to see them react that way just because you looked at them.
Even with watching all these people, Y/N was filling your mind. All your thoughts, connected back to her. She was the one who was keeping this fire burning so bright. She gave you a reason. 
You glanced at Josh, then back out to the crowd again. As he spoke, something caught your eye…something, someone...very familiar in the audience. The crowd was an ocean of moving bodies, hindering your vision as you tried to zero in. You caught quick glimpses every few seconds, trying not to crane your neck or be caught staring. Was that…?
The cue came through to begin ‘The Weight of Dreams’, and your muscle memory kicked into high gear as you played, and scanned the crowd again. Red hat, white shirt. Your heart sank into your stomach. You were sure. 
You continued to play as you looked at Josh, making the eye contact only he, Sam, and Danny could recognize. You proceeded with the song as normal, trying to stay present with the crowd and your guitar. 
There he was again, in plain view. 
Fucking. Hell. 
The song went on, and you decided to forget for just a second. You trailed into your solo…7 minutes of most jarring guitar succession you’d ever written. The fire was still burning. 
You pranced around the stage wildly, getting closer and grabbing a few different angles. It also gave you a chance to hop onto the audience speakers for an even closer look. 
Positive. 
You wrapped it up, jumping back onto the stage, and rushing to the band mic. You looked to Sam intently, grabbing his attention as quickly as you could. You pressed your lips to the mic, and spoke as clearly as you could. 
“Hey, listen to me….11 o'clock, about ten rows back. Red hat, white shirt. Please tell me I’m wrong.” You held eye contact with Sam, and he nodded in understanding. 
Danny glanced at you, and mouthed “I can’t see that far.” You shrugged him off, motioning that you would explain later. 
Josh had been speaking to the crowd, and you were unsure whether or not he had paid attention to what you said. 
You began ‘Highway Tune’, and were determined to finish the show with a bang. About halfway through, you looked to Sam, who had a panicked look on his face. Shit, you must be right. You raised your eyebrows to him for confirmation, which he returned with a horrified nod. 
You wrapped up the show without a hitch, proud of the way you all had played. You took off in a sprint, looking for Y/N. You needed to see her face, but she was nowhere to be found. 
The rest of the guys ran up beside you, panting and out of breath, sticky with the sweat in the Texas heat. 
“What the hell was that about? Who did you see?” Danny asked, worry in his voice. 
You looked to Sam, your face down and fallen with dread. 
“It was Andy.”
Panic, dread, fear, the overwhelming need to find Y/N…all of it taking up your mind at once. You all pulled off your in-ears and disposed of your instruments with the techs as quickly as you could.  You were pacing around backstage, not bothering to talk to anyone or give anyone the time of day. You just needed to find her. Make sure she was safe. You looked behind you, all three of your brothers following you doing the same exact thing. My boys. 
“Hey, there she is!” Sam yelled from behind you, pointing over behind a trailer in the lot. The four of you rushed up to her, almost crashing into one another as you came to a stop. You inspected her, almost completely forgetting you couldn’t take her into a full embrace. 
“Hey! God, what the hell is wrong with you guys?” She asked, stunned by your sudden presence. 
“We uh, just couldn’t find you. We were wondering if you….wanted to go catch St. Vincent  with us...we need to leave now if you do.” You spat, thinking on your toes. 
She looked at you sideways. “You guys just stepped off stage...don’t you need to like…Go pee or something? Change clothes? Sit down?” 
You glanced back at the guys, just as sweaty as you, all still dressed in your stage clothes. 
“Yeah, yeah, we'll change really quick. But, meet us back here in 10?” Sam said. 
Her face grimaced up in confusion. “Uh, I have to close up with the crew…” she glanced at her phone checking the time. “I’ve got a lot to do still...before I can–”
“Don’t worry about it. Get what you need to do done, and meet us back here ASAP. We’ll wait for you to walk over.” Josh said, throwing you a knowing glance. 
“Alright, yeah okay...I’ll text Elle and meet you back here...” her face was wrought with confusion at your display. She walked away, radioing to someone about something. 
You took back off as a group, walking quickly and scanning the grounds. Your head felt hot and your eyes felt glassy. You finally made it to the trailer, and you were all quiet until you shut the door, the A/C feeling like it could knock you down. 
You immediately sat on the couch, putting your head in your hands. “What the fuck is he doing in Texas?!” You yelled, standing back up and beginning to undress. Sam had gone over to the mini fridge, and he pulled out a seltzer for everyone, popping the top on yours and handing it to you. You practically chugged its contents, not realizing how thirsty you were. 
“Man, chill out. Maybe he moved here. Just going to the festival…” Danny offered, trying to give the benefit of the doubt. 
“Yeah maybe. But remember how fucking insane he was…he was the last person I expected to see when I looked out there. Just really…strange...right?” You asked. 
The rest of them nodded in agreement. “Yeah, really fuckin’ strange.” Josh said, pulling off his clothing and hanging it on a hanger. “But, don’t stress out too bad. We’re all here, there’s thousands of people around…it’ll be okay. Just an anomaly.” 
You could always count on Josh to bring you back down to reality. He was right, it was probably just a huge coincidence. A wild one, but a coincidence nonetheless. But, Andy knew who you were, who the band was…why did he come to watch? And stand fairly close to the front near you, at that? 
You shook the thoughts from your head, trying to stay positive. Everyone continued to get changed and started downing drinks, pregaming for the rest of the shows tonight. 
“Hey, I don’t think we should tell Y/N he’s here. It would probably ruin her night, don’t you think Sam?” You shot Sam a look that screamed ‘please agree with me’.
“Yeah, I agree. We’ll never see him again, so. Let’s just let her have a good time.” Sam played along. 
“Jake, what the actual fuck were you on tonight? I’ve never seen you solo like that before…that was nuts, dude...I thought you’d never cue me to stop.” Danny said, plopping down on the couch. 
“Yeah no shit!” Sam said. “My feet were getting sore.”
You grinned, knowing all too well why you were playing better, but not able to speak on it quite yet. 
“Ahh, I dunno. Must be something in the air...” you offered. 
Josh approached you slowly and talking quietly, wearing his knowing face. “Hey, are you and Y/N okay? I know things were still really rocky last time we talked…” he had sarcasm dripping from his voice. 
“Uh, yeah actually. We’re okay. We talked a little bit without ripping each other’s head off, so…” you couldn’t say anything more right now, though you never kept any secrets at all from Josh, this one needed to be kept as long as possible. And you’d be lying if you said you weren’t kind of enjoying the idea of sneaking around. 
He looked at you again, squinting his eyes. 
“What?” You asked. 
“Hmmmm...nothing. But you’re a fuckin’ idiot if you think I don’t know when you’re lying. We do share the same brain cells, you know.” He said, walking back over to join Danny on the couch. 
You slipped on a more comfortable pair of shoes, and placed a flat-brimmed hat on your head. “Alright, let’s get going. We don’t want to miss the shows. I wonder if Duran Duran can still...Duran?” you said in a faux british accent.
Sam shoved your shoulder as you passed by him. “Ha ha, that was such a good one Jake.”
“I’m full of them. I’ll be here all night.” You flicked the brim of your hat, and tossed back the rest of your drink, crushing your can as you exited the door. A sharp pain flew up your arm when you dropped the can in the trash, an all too familiar feeling that hadn’t hurt this bad in years. 
——
Y/N had magically finished up what she needed to do in that short amount of time, and managed to find Elle, too. You all met at the corner of the lot, and walked over to backstage of the next show. The sun had set now, and you were finally starting to relax a little bit after seeing Andy earlier. He gave you an eerie feeling, almost one that creeped you out, for some reason. You felt confident that Danny and Josh were right, and he was just here for the festival. 
Y/N had changed into a short little green dress, that was low cut in the front and flowy, and sat right at her mid-thigh. You knew she had chosen that exact dress to tease you, and she watched as your sunglass-covered eyes traveled up and down her body, undressing her with each glance. You slowly shook your head back and forth, letting her know that she was indeed making you suffer. 
You all stayed side stage for the majority of the next two shows, and the night was going well. You kept your distance from Y/N, and watched from afar as she danced and drank with Elle. Occasionally, your glances would meet up, and you had to force yourself to tear your eyes away from her. 
You were feeling fairly tipsy, conversing with other musicians and people in the industry. Suddenly the delicious and familiar aroma of marijuana slid past your nose, and you followed it to its source. Josh and Sam, of course. You excused yourself from the conversation you were having, and went and joined them. 
The whole group shared what must have been three or four joints, as the last artist played into their late-night set. The haze in the air was heavy, and you felt the fuzz climb into your face and extremities. Ahh, there it is. 
Things began to move in slow motion under your hooded eyelids, the music sounding louder and better..everyone started to dance and move their bodies with the beat. Your eyes drifted to Y/N, you could tell she was feeling it too. 
“I gotta hit the head, you wanna go?” Sam shouted over the music in your ear. You nodded, noticing your full bladder. He took Elle’s hand and pulled her behind him as you followed them off the stage. 
“My god, I’m really fuckin high…” Elle giggled at herself as you made your way across the lot to the restrooms.
“Yeah same, I scored some good shit down here.” Sam laughed. “We’ll wait for you out here, babe.” He said as you separated. 
You and Sam stood next to each other, relieving yourselves in the urinals. 
“So, when did you and Y/N finally fuck?!” He asked, loudly as ever. 
“SAM! Goddamn, could you talk any louder? What is wrong with you? What are you talking about?” You spat at him from across the divider. 
“Duuuude, don’t play dumb.” You could recognize his stoned voice from a mile away. “Come on. Unfortunately, I know her body just as well as you do, now. Maybe even better…? I know what she acts like when she’s been…satisfied.” Your mouth hung open at his words. He did nothing but stare at you, raising his eyebrows up and down. 
You buttoned up your jeans, and walked over to the sink to wash your hands quickly, avoiding his question. You busted out the door, with him following close behind. You stood by the restroom entrance, waiting for Elle. 
“Jaaaake, don’t avoid my question. I’m not stupid, I can read her body language. And yours too, if we’re being honest. You guys are gravitating towards each other again.” His words had begun to slur slightly. “How long ago?”
You crossed your arms across your chest. “Chicago.” 
He bounced away, clapping his hands loudly. “Ha! I knew it!!” 
“Sam you can’t tell a fucking soul, do you hear me?” You got into his face, trying your best to threaten him like you did when you were kids. 
He held his hands up in submission. “I promise.” You turned away. 
Suddenly he was next to you again. “I will say though, she’s become a bit of a freak in the sheets, if ya know what I mean. You better start building up that stamina…” he said quietly. “You’re welcome.”
You couldn’t help but burst into laughter. It wasn’t funny, it shouldn’t be funny, but it was. The whole situation, sharing this conversation with your little brother. All of it was so fucked up. 
He started to laugh with you. You grabbed his shoulder, speaking through shared belly laughs. “So I’ve noticed, Sam. Appreciate that.” You shook your head at the awkward but hilarious conversation. 
Elle emerged from the bathroom finding the two of you in stitches. “What are you two laughing about?” She said as you started the walk back to the stage. 
“Oh nothing, just that him and Y/N finally slept together.” Sam said. 
“Sam, I swear to god.” You said. 
“OH MY GOD! You finally boinked?!” Elle said, a bit too loudly for your liking. “It’s about fucking time, Jake. What took you so long?!”    
“Jesus Christ…” you said under your breath. “Elle, love, you promise me right now you will not tell a soul, okay? Her job is really…on the line.” 
“I got it, Jake. She’s my best friend. I promise.” She zipped her lips and threw away the key, and you actually trusted that she would stay quiet. 
You made your way back to the stage, suddenly feeling uneasy. You glanced around at the crowd, just waiting to see a red hat bobbing its way around. You found Y/N, still dancing and having a good time as the band wrapped up its last song. 
“You guys want to come back to my room for one more smoke?” You asked the group, suddenly feeling the need to leave. Everyone nodded in agreement, as you started back down the steps. 
“You guys go ahead, I’m gonna go take some stage shots. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Summer said, waving your group off.
The hotel was only a few minutes drive from the venue, and Sam had insisted the driver stop at the nearest gas station so he could buy beer. You could tell everyone was still feeling exceptionally high, but it was a nice feeling. You felt a little more at ease the further away you got from the venue. 
Everyone gathered back in your room at the hotel, changed into comfortable clothes and toting cases of beer. You could afford to get cross faded tonight. Josh brought his speaker and asked Elle to hook up to the Bluetooth. Some Cajun-sounding flute music began to come through it, some gritty messy metallic sounds you thought sounded familiar. 
“Elle, what is this?” You asked her as you sat down to roll a few more joints. 
“Ry Cooder, he’s amazing.” She answered, pulling her lips from a bottle of Corona. 
“My god, yeah, did he play with Taj Mahal?” You asked. 
She shook her head. “Yep. I think they’re actually releasing an album together next year. So you’ve seen Southern Comfort, right?”
You grinned and nodded. “Yep. That must be why I know this.”
You could definitely see why Sam was attracted to her now. 
Y/N joined her on the bed, popping the top off her own beer. Your eyes met hers for just a second, but long enough to linger. She’d changed into a thin and silky dress, with a flannel on top. Oh my god.Your flannel. The one you gave her at the lake, the one she borrowed every time she came over when you were younger. She actually kept it. Your face must have fallen at the sight, because she gave you the slightest wink while she sipped her beer. 
Your hands suddenly became weak, the tiny ground pieces of weed falling from the sides of your half-rolled joint. 
“Jake, what’s taking so long over there?” Josh asked. 
“I’m rusty, you come fucking do it.” You answered. 
You opened the double-door window of the room and turned on the vent of the bathroom so the smoke could escape, and you rolled a towel and tucked it under the door. It felt like high school again. It was still warm outside, and the breeze came in through the curtains, bringing with it a peaceful and relaxed feeling. Everyone was feeling themselves, passing several joints and listening to Josh tell elaborate stories. 
Your bed was king sized and the room was larger than a standard room, so you found yourself feeling thankful you’d upgraded to a room large enough to accommodate everyone comfortably, completely by accident.
Everyone eventually gathered in a tight circle, seated on the bed. Y/N found her way over to you, sitting directly beside you. Shit, she was feeling it. And Danny and Josh didn’t completely know yet. At least, you thought they didn’t. Her hair brushed your shoulder, sending the smell of her directly to your nose. It was intoxicating having her that close, in that sexy dress, in your flannel…unable to touch her.
Danny had brought a deck of cards and a game of poker ensued. “We don’t have any chips, what could we use?” Elle asked. 
“Ooooh we could use the hotel shampoo bottles and bars of soap and these quarters in my pocket.” Josh answered, laughing at himself through a goofy stoned giggle. 
“Did someone say chips? I’m hungry…” Sam asked no one in particular. 
An hour or so passed of talking, laughing, drinking, and smoking. Your head was absolutely spinning at this point, and Y/N’s hand just happened to keep landing on your knee. She was letting loose. Sam glanced up at you from under his hooded lashes, looking at her hand, then back to you, his eyebrows raising again. You felt a flush find your face as you realized just how high you actually were. 
The room was full of smoke, a haze falling onto everything as everyone basked in their intoxication, and all you could feel anymore was a draw to her. She was like a hot magnet that you were being pulled to, unable to think about anything else other than having your way with her. 
“Jake, that flannel looks very familiar...” Josh said, motioning to Y/N. You sighed. You couldn’t handle it any longer. You were over hiding her. You were in love with her, and your best friends deserved to know it. If anyone in the world could keep your secret, it was the people in the room with you right now. 
“Well Josh, that’s because it’s mine. I gave it to her when we started dating when we were younger and I just…never asked for it back. I let her keep it.” You leaned back on your arms, feeling a sudden surge of confidence. He smiled at you, almost as if he was proud. 
“Y/N, why didn’t you ever give it back to him?” Josh pressed. 
The group went silent. She looked at Josh, somewhat surprised, but catching his drift. Then she brought her eyes to meet yours, deep and glassy and full of love. She placed her hand on your knee, lightly brushing her fingernails over it. 
“Well Josh, because I love it too much. It makes me feel good. I want to keep it forever, keep it safe and loved...” she answered him, never removing her eyes from yours. 
“And Jake, will you ever ask for it back?” Josh went on. 
You kept your eyes locked on hers, and grabbed her hand, intertwining your fingers with hers. 
“No, Josh. It’s hers now. She can keep it for the rest of our lives.” You answered, your voice low and steady. Her face bloomed into a smile that went from ear to ear. 
Josh chuckled as the group finally stirred. “Ha, well I guess it’s fucking settled then, isn’t it?” He said, reaching over and patting you between your shoulders, firmly holding your neck and shaking you side to side. 
“Well hell yeah!” Danny exclaimed, coming across the circle and bringing the two of you in between both of his arms, hugging you tightly. The next thing you knew you had all fallen into a giant pile, laughing and hugging and falling off the bed in fits of giggles. 
The relief that fell over you was immense…these were your best friends. The people you trusted the most in the world. The ones who would go to bat for you, and for Y/N, no matter what the circumstances. 
In the cloudy air of the room, you felt your inhibitions begin to fall away. You found her in the pile of laughing bodies, and met her eyes, knowing that in that moment, you didn’t care who in the world knew it. You grabbed her face, and pulled her into a long and loving kiss, eliciting cheers from the rest of the group. 
Her cheeks went flush when you pulled away, but she grabbed you back, pulling you in for one more. Sweet and passionate, but with something else hidden behind it. You knew that look from long ago, she didn’t want to wait much longer. 
Everyone began to sit back up and find their seats on the bed again. Keeping direct eye contact with her, and bringing your face close to hers, lips almost touching, you spoke. “Hey, it’s been fun, but do you think you guys could get the fuck out of here?” Your eyes were unabashedly flicking from her eyes to her lips, plush and pink and waiting for you. 
They all laughed in unison, and your ears went deaf to everything surrounding you. All you could see, all you could hear and feel, was her. Suddenly, you found yourselves alone, sitting on the bed, starving for one another. 
Like clockwork, she quickly crawled over and pushed her lips into yours, her hands furiously wrapping in your hair, pulling it and tangling it between her fingers. She stood up on her knees, and you brought your hands underneath her dress to cup her ass. Her tongue was immediately in your mouth, searching deeply for parts yet unexplored. You felt a deep hunger in your gut for her, something that felt like starvation that could never be satiated. 
You growled into her mouth as she bit your tongue, pulling it from your mouth and into hers. The wind picked up outside and blew across you, lifting her dress a little, revealing more of her body to your naked eye. 
She yanked on your hair at the back of your neck, pulling your head backwards to look her in the eyes. You scanned her eyes from left to right, reading a story that was only half-written. She smiled a devious smile, and connected your lips again. You squeezed her ass cheeks hard, pulling them apart and pulling her body into you. You separated yourself from her lips, and began kissing her throat, her neck, her collarbones, and in between her breasts. God, they were so beautiful. 
You picked her up by the waist, forcefully lying her down on the bed. You began to pull up on her dress, successfully removing it over her head.
“You thought you could wear this dress, and MY clothing, in front of everyone, and expect me to not want to fuck you right here? Torture isn’t nice, love.” you said, pulling her arms above her head and pinning them there, diving into her neck again. 
“No Jacob, torture isn’t for the meek.” She responded, making your eyes roll back in your head. Oh, so it’s gonna be this kind of game. Let’s see what Sammy was talking about…
The both of you were blazed out of your minds, your eyes heavy and red, not to mention the drinking you’d both been doing all night. You decided to let it work to your advantage, though, watching her as all your inhibitions went straight down the drain. Nothing felt off the table. 
You buried yourself in her hair, letting your tongue graze over her ear as you held her arms steady above her.  You had one knee beside her, and one knee between her legs, hovering above her as she dug her fingertips into your sides. “Jake…” she spoke. 
“Hmmm?” You breathed into her ear. 
“You have entirely too much clothing on.” she said. 
You pulled back, realizing she was correct. She was down to her lace bra and panty set, while you still had everything but your shoes on. You sat up and began to unbutton your shirt, keeping your eyes glued to hers. She reached up and grabbed your hands, stopping their movements. 
“Hang on a sec, let’s make this interesting.” she said. Her eyes were heavy and solid, thick with intoxication from the weed, and from you. With that, she unbuttoned the rest of your shirt, but left it hanging over your shoulders. Then she reached down to your belt, unbuckling it and undoing the zipper. 
“Let me help–” you said, reaching to pull your dark jeans off. 
“No, leave them on. Come to the edge of the bed.” She commanded, signaling with her finger for you to follow her as she rolled off the end and into the floor. 
She perched sitting on her knees, and you did what she told you, sitting with your feet on the floor right in front of her. She lurched forward, bringing her face between your legs. She rested her hands on your knees, pulling them apart a little bit to gain more access. She brought her mouth to your hardened length, dragging her tongue across the tip that was still covered by your boxers. 
The indirect contact and the warmth of her mouth felt like heaven. She began nipping at it with her teeth, causing you to inhale quickly. You brought your hands to her head, envisioning the last time she’d done this, not long ago on the floor of your study. 
She cupped her lips overtop of your head, blowing warm air into the fabric. Your brain was buzzing with intensity, but you needed more. You needed to feel her. Almost as if she heard your thoughts, she reached her fingertips into the hole of your boxers, and freeing you through them instead of pulling them down. That’s different. 
Suddenly her mouth was completely taking you into her throat to the hilt, your tip hitting the back of her throat as she immediately swallowed around you. 
“Motherfuck, Y/N…”  you hissed through your teeth. She’d taken you completely by surprise. She began bobbing her head, taking you as deeply as you could go, running her flattened tongue across all your sweet spots. She was starting to remember them. Her hands that were rested on your knees climbed up to squeeze your thighs, massaging them with her fingers. You tilted your head back in pleasure, letting your eyes fall closed. 
“Hmm-mm...” she hummed ‘no’ around you, causing you to peer back down to her. She took her pointer and middle fingers making the ‘two’ signal, pointing to first your eyes, then hers. Eyes on her. She wanted you to watch her. 
Good god. 
You kept your silent word, watching her every move intently as she glided her mouth around your now soaked dick, popping her lips around it every so often, and squeezing your base with her hand. You felt yourself beginning to unravel, watching her mouth on you was like seeing something you weren’t supposed to see…so sinful…but so enticing…
“Shit baby...your mouth…is fucking heavenly...”  
You grabbed her hair in your hand, remembering what she had said last time. ‘I want it…’ 
She nodded her head, again giving you the go-ahead to control her movements. You felt the knot in your stomach begin to tighten, feeling yourself near release. You tightened your grip on her locks, using a little extra force now as you pushed into her mouth, in and out with a bit more speed. 
“Baby, I’m close…you’re almost…” the knot in your stomach began to unfurl, as the buildup approached. Just then, she removed herself completely, standing up and towering over you. She wiped her mouth clean with the back of her hand as you felt lost without the contact, so close to your release. 
“Ok, you can take your shirt off now.” She said, a devilish smile crossing her face. 
You were basically panting with desire. “Wha–what?”
“You didn’t cum. Good job. You can take your shirt off now.” She said, not giving you much explanation, but feeding you enough information that you could see where this might be going. 
You looked at her sideways, and slowly removed your shirt, tossing it into the floor. You leaned back on your elbows, eyeing her half-naked body standing before you. What next? You felt like you could jump out of your skin with excitement, the fog still heavy in your head. 
“Up the bed…” she commanded again, motioning to the headboard. You did as she asked, your lower half still clothed with your dick still poking through the open hole of your boxers. She crawled on top of you, snaking her way up to meet your mouth with hers, laying wet and searing hot kisses to your lips. 
She pulled away, turning herself around backwards and straddling you, her hands steadying herself on your thighs. She turned her head around to make eye contact with you, your eyes open wide with surprise. 
She slowly shook her hips from side to side. 
“Pull them to the side.” She said, demand thick in her voice. Yes ma’am. 
You exhaled loudly, feeling a rush of blood to your face, and then straight to your already overly excited member. You did as she asked once more, hooking your finger in her lace thong, pulling it to the side. She arched her back so that her opening was pointed toward your face, and you felt your head plummet to her, your tongue immediately between her folds. Her mouth was on you again, as quickly as your tongue had found her. 69? Seriously, where did this woman come from?
You went to town, feeling like you were starving to touch her in any way you possibly could. You let your tongue do the talking, sliding it’s way up and down her slit, burying your face in her pussy. She tasted fucking phenomenal. You brought your hands to grasp the front of her thighs, trying to pull her toward you.
You felt her mouth bobbing at a sickening pace, not too fast, and not too slow. Her tongue was like silk, and it kept the saliva pooling inside her mouth while she flicked your tip, causing you to buck your hips into her. 
“You can grind into my mouth, baby.” She purred, running her closed fist up and down you while she spoke. You took that as an invitation to slowly rock your hips up and down, slowly making circles and fucking into her face. 
“So can you.” You responded. You felt her hips begin to gyrate slowly, positioning her sweet spot exactly where she needed it. You found her clit, and tightened your tongue muscle so that it pointed directly onto it. You quickly bobbed it in and out of your mouth before you pulled it all the way in, and began flicking it with your tongue again. 
“Fuckkkk yes Jake. Oh my god…” her whimpers spurred you on, and apparently her too, as she then took you extremely deep again, tightening all of her mouth and throat around you. You felt yourself nearing release again. Her fist was working you, bringing you closer and closer to the white hot heat. 
She pulled off again, turning herself around to face you. You let your head fall back against the pillows, a sheen of sweat beginning to cover your face. 
“Damnit baby, you are killing me.” You laughed into the room, bringing your hands through your hair. “What’s with the punishment?”
“Not punishment, baby. Are you enjoying yourself?” She asked, slithering her way back up between your legs. 
You shook your head maybe a little too fast. 
“Yeah, yes. I’m enjoying myself.” You answered. 
“Okay then, it’s not punishment. You can take your pants off.” She said, a smirk forming on her face before she gave you a sweet peck on your still soaked lips. 
“Errrhhhh…finally.” You said, clipping your thumbs in your bottoms, pulling them both off in one swipe. You bounced back on the bed, bringing your arms around her and pulling her down into you. You allowed yourselves a few minutes to indulge in one another, kissing into each other furiously, finally feeling your naked body brushing and pressing up against hers. You suddenly felt like you were leaving her untouched, so you gripped her hips, pulling yourself down the bed underneath her. You hooked your fingers in her thong and pulled it down, signaling for her to bring her legs together so you could pull it down over her knees. She obliged, surprisingly. 
“My turn, love. Climb up. All fours.” You tapped the backs of her thighs, making her inch her way up the bed. She listened, positioning herself overtop of your ready and waiting mouth. You opened wide, smiling as you stuck your tongue out. She was looking down at you between her legs, and she let out the sweetest giggle. You gripped around her folded legs as she lowered herself down. 
“Mmmm...” you growled. “You think you can ride my face, baby?” 
She didn’t even have to answer, she’d already made contact with your mouth. She instantly started grinding and bouncing, her wetness covering your entire face. But god, you didn’t care. You wanted to drown in her. Taste her forever. It was something you’d never forgotten. And now it was something you were sure you couldn’t live without. 
You looked up at her body, reveling and rolling her hips in circles as your tongue danced inside her. She felt so warm, so delicious. You brought your hand to her mound, finding her clit with your thumb. You began swirling it, massaging it while you kept working inside her with your tongue. You were suffocating, fighting for air, but you couldn’t care less. You could do this all night. 
Her sounds were like music to your ears, filling up your mind with the dirtiest thoughts. You fought to bring her there, you wanted her to spill herself around you and into your mouth, but instead you decided to play her game.  
You reached up and unclasped her bra with one swift motion, pulling it down her arms and tossing it away. You lifted her off of you. 
“Get my flannel.” You said, pointing to where it lay on the floor. She glanced over to it, then back to you, obviously pissed you stopped the ride of her life. 
She reached over the side of the bed and picked it up, offering it to you. 
You removed yourself from underneath her, “Turn around.” She gave you another side eye, but did what she was told. 
You took the sleeves of your flannel, straightened them out, and gently pulled both of her hands behind her. You tied the sleeves of the flannel around her crossed wrists, leaving them a little bit of wiggle room. She peeked over her shoulder, making the most seductive eyes at you. You brought your mouth close to her ear, and grazed her cheek with your hand. “This ok, love?”
“You can tie it tighter, if you want.” she said. 
Fuck, that’s exactly what Sam was talking about. 
You laughed a low howl, pulling the sleeves a bit tighter, causing her back to arch. You noticed her body reacting, so you gripped the back of her hair, pushing her face down into the bed. You pressed your length up against her ass, and brought your face close to hers again. 
“You thought you could tease me all night, edge me…well, time’s up. I’m going to fuck you until you can’t see straight.” You weren’t sure where these words were coming from, it wasn’t your normal bedroom talk. But she seemed to be enjoying it a bit too much. 
“Just fucking do it, Jacob. Don’t make me wait any longer.” 
You felt your face get hot...you’d seen her a thousand different ways before, but never quite like this. This vulnerability mixed in with her confidence was making your high come back full force. Your mouth had gone dry now from the after effects of the weed, your vision feeling delayed and stippled. Your ears felt like they had cotton in them, and the dopamine was swirling through your body. You could tell she was still faded too; her movements weren’t quick and calculated, but instead slow and sultry. And you were fucking loving it. 
You noticed that the double door windows were still open, so you stood up to close them and the curtain. 
“Leave them open. I don’t mind.” She said, surprising you. 
“But someone might be able to see-“
“Let them watch.”
Holy. Fucking….
You dropped the act for long enough to truly press her. 
“Wait seriously Y/N?” You asked. “You don’t care?”
All she did was shake her head. “No. I really don’t care. Now please come back.”
You shrugged it off, leaving the doors standing wide open, the act you were about to perform on full display for anyone who might happen to see. 
You returned back to her, getting back in the headspace you needed to. Her hands were still tied behind her back, most of her face covered up by her hair. 
The wind was blowing around again, sending chills all over your body. It was cooling off outside. You took yourself in your palm, stroking a few times before making contact with her. You ran your tip up and down her slit, collecting all the wetness that you could. You grabbed onto the flannel, pulling it back toward you a little bit, eliciting a tiny moan to fall from her lips. 
“Tell me how bad you want me.” You spoke, leaning down toward her. You eased the very tip into her, not giving her too much too fast. 
“I want you so bad, Jake. I want all of you, need all of you. Please.” She murmured. 
You clicked your tongue. “Hm. I can’t really hear you, love. I said tell me how badly you want me...” you pulled back again on her wrists, still teasing at her entrance. 
“Damn it, baby. I said I need you to fuck me, please! I want to feel all of you inside me, don’t hold anything back...” she raised her voice just slightly. 
With that, you felt your cock twitch, and you released her wrists, and grabbed a fistful of her hair, pulling it as you finally entered her, pushing all the way in until you couldn’t go any further. 
Pure. Fucking. Bliss. 
She cried out with pleasure as you began to pull back out, watching yourself leave her, practically dripping. 
Expletives left both of your lips at the sensation, you felt like you completely forgot how to speak. Nothing in this world, not a single thing you love could ever compare to how you feel for her, how she feels around you.
You began to work at a steady pace, pulling in and out of her, basking in the feeling of finally having her again. And how amazing she felt like this. You grabbed her hips, and she stepped her knees apart a bit, allowing her back to arch more for you. Her torso was at an almost 90° angle; you wished you could see this from a side view. 
“Did he fuck you like this? Huh? Tell me, did he fuck you this good?” You asked, wanting to ignite something in her that in all reality, you didn’t care about one way or the other. 
“Mmmm sometimes… yeah he did...” she cooed.
“Hmmm, well. I’m going to fuck every single memory of his body off of you, whether you like it or not.”
“Let’s see it, Jake. Prove it. Prove to me you’re better...” 
Her face was buried in the sheets, her expression fucked out and contorted as you pounded into her hard. You slowed your pace, making her cry out again. If you weren’t mistaken, you were sure she had tears in her eyes. The good kind. 
“You’re so fuckin’ beautiful, Y/N. Tell me you’re never gonna leave me. You’ll never go anywhere ever again…” you were panting, trying to keep up with yourself as your body wanted to fly harder and faster into her. 
“I’ll never leave you, Jake. I promise. I love you so fuckin’ much…please don’t stop…” she whimpered.
You continued your assault on her, not letting up except to snake your hand around her front, finding her sweet spot again with your fingers. It made her cry out, you could tell she was getting close. 
You grabbed the knot of the flannel, untying it quickly, letting her hands fall back to her sides. She lifted herself up and looked back at you as you pulled out, also dissatisfied with the loss of contact. 
“What the fuckkkk Jake...” She half laughed. 
“Go get in the shower. Make it hot.” You demanded, walking over to the mini fridge and pulling out a few little bottles of tequila. The feeling of being intoxicated while fucking her was a high you wanted to keep chasing...neither of you had any guard up, and no holds were being barred. Would it be a rare occasion? Maybe. But you were determined to finish it with a bang. 
A wild smile came to her face, her hair was an absolute mess, her lips were swollen and her cheeks were pink. Beautiful, always so beautiful. And the way she looked at you? Made your stomach fall directly through the floor. Like you were the only human left on earth, and she wanted to own every single bit of you. 
She scampered off to the bathroom, and you heard the water turn on full blast. You reached for the two plastic cups wrapped up in the ice bucket, pouring the tequila into them. You grabbed a tiny can of soda water, adding just enough to add bubbles to the shots. You stuck your pointer finger into them, giving them a tiny stir. You brought your finger inside your mouth and sucked away the excess, following her into the bathroom. 
HER POV 
The bathroom mirror and glass walls were already steaming up within the 30 or so seconds you’d been in the shower. You turned on just a bit of cold water to offset, and stepped under the water. You let it flow over you, closing your eyes as it cascaded down over your face and hair. You stood, waiting for what felt like ages, waiting to feel him again. Where the hell was he? You were still dripping with desire, and you didn’t want it to rinse off…
You heard the door open, and watched through the fogged glass as he entered the room carrying two cups. You opened the glass door for him, steam rolling out as you did so. He smiled, handing you the cup. “Didn’t want to go get ice. Didn’t think you’d care...” he spoke, his voice still sleepy and laced with his high. 
“You know I don’t mind, baby. Thank you.” You smiled and took the cup. He held his cup up to yours, clinking them together, before you both shot back the liquid. “We’re gonna be so hungover tomorrow…” you laughed. 
He laughed in agreement, and walked over and stood under the oversized shower head, letting the hot beads soak his hair and body. Why was everything he did so fucking attractive? 
Once he was sufficiently rinsed, he brought his hands back over to you, bringing your back to the wall. “Mmm, where were we?” His mouth found yours in an instant, picking up right where you’d left off. Except this time, your hands were free to touch him, grab him, squeeze him and stroke him, all the things that made him feel good. You wanted to make him feel good. 
The hot shower poured over you, making each touch of his hands feel like electricity. His hand found itself between your legs again, his fingers knowing exactly where to go. Knowing your body so well…
“Ahhh, still wet for me, are you baby? You ready for me to fuck you again?” He growled into your neck. “It sure feels like it...”
You could do nothing but nod as he slipped two fingers into you, pumping them slowly. 
“Ahhh, shit baby...” you breathed, biting into his shoulder. “I need you so bad...”
He hummed low, working his fingers in and out and shaking them lightly as he entered, giving you a whole new rush of pleasure. 
You suddenly got an unwelcome flashback of just a few short weeks ago, you and Sam in another shower in another hotel, tangled up with your leg hitched over his hip and your tongue in his mouth. 
You bent in half as he teased you with his dick…smacking you across the ass when you didn’t listen…
You shook the thought from your head, hoping that that wouldn’t become a normal occurrence. They did feel…very similar. 
Thankfully Jake was able to pull you back to reality, his eyes looking deeply into yours, beckoning you back to him with his unwavering and unfaltering passion for you. 
He sat down on the small bench in the shower, and patted his lap. “Come here.” 
You waltzed over, wiping the water from your eyes, and placing your knees on either side of him. You wrapped your arms around his neck and positioned yourself above him, sliding yourself down onto him. 
The ride was hot, steamy, sweaty and cloudy. You were still incredibly stoned, your vision still blurry, your movements delayed. The tequila hit you both at the same time…your eyes struggled to stay open to even look at each other…you rode him slowly, feeling every single centimeter of him as you pulled yourself up and down, tightening your muscles as you went.  
He massaged your ass, kissed your shoulders, held your hair as your hips bucked and rolled. You were certain you’d never ever felt this much ecstasy before in your life, whether it be from the smoke or the drink, you didn’t know. You didn’t care. It was mostly him…he was intoxicating all on his own…breathing your name over and over through the water dripping from his lips, his brow turning down into a frown as he looked down and watched himself enter and leave you...your tits bouncing as you fucked him slowly, intently, with as much love as you could muster…
…you felt it growing again, deep inside you, a blazing fire that you’d been chasing after all night. You began to whine a bit, rolling your head on your shoulders in circles as you concentrated on fulfilling your goal. 
“Huh-uh baby, eyes on me, remember?” He said, the steam rolling in front of his face. You were sure you were going to combust at any moment, and the eye contact only made it worse. 
“I’m right there too…just keep riding me...just like that baby…god, fuck you feel so amazing…”
His face contorted into the most beautiful look of pleasure as he lost eye contact, burying his face in the crook of your neck as he cried out. His body convulsing, his arms shaking, his hands grasping and pulling your hair as he came into you, hot and slow, your name spilling from his lips until he had exhausted all the breath in his lungs…
…you weren’t far behind...your release came in the same way, a buildup of intensity, starting low and quiet and exploding into a million tiny white lights passing behind your eyes as your muscles contracted around him…you held on to him for dear life…gripping his shoulders and hair until you both found yourselves panting, coming down from the most tantric and beautiful scene your young bodies had yet to endure. 
He was it. He was everything. Perfection in a person. Nothing else, no one else would ever compare. You knew in your heart that you’d fight for him for the rest of your life, no matter what the consequences might be. 
SAM POV
Your eyes felt bone dry as you tried to pry them open, the cold air blowing from the air conditioner drying them out even further. You were warm under the sheets, not wanting to move just yet, as you noticed Elle sprawled across you. Her curls were splayed around her head in a perfect halo, and you couldn't help but stare. 
Blinking a few times, the dryness started to fade away, giving way to the massive hangover you were sporting. You rolled to your side and grabbed your phone, flipping through your notifications and swiping them away. Your mouth was dry and all you could think about was how perfect a scalding hot coffee would feel slipping over your tongue. 
Dragging yourself from the warmth of the sheets, you stood up, and pulled your messy hair into a bun at the back of your neck. You quietly walked over to your suitcase and pulled out a pair of shorts and a shirt, pulling them on as you looked for your wallet.
Finding it in your pants from last night, you slid it into your fanny pack, and slipped on your birkenstocks. You set your phone to vibrate and dropped it into your pocket as you grabbed the room key and slipped out the door. 
You took the elevator down a few floors to the lobby, milling around watching as festival goers checked out to return home. You made your way to the little cafe, and ordered two coffees, one black and one with room. You paid for the two cups and made your way over to the small table that held the cream and sugar, pouring in just the right amount of both, just how you knew she liked it. You smiled to yourself as you did it, thinking back on the days you spent wishing you could do just this.
As you stirred the coffee, it turned a caramel color and you knew you got it right. You placed lids on the two steaming cups and started back towards the elevators. Walking past the front desk you smiled and said hello to a few people who recognized you, none of them wanting to take up too much of your time. But as you stepped closer to the elevator, the doors opened, and people filed out. 
Someone caught your eye, however, sporting the same red baseball hat as the day prior. You turned to look at him, to really make sure it was him, and as his eyes met yours you knew you had your confirmation. You would know that face anywhere.
Mother fucker.
He quickly walked away from you as you stepped into the elevator, watching as he made his way into the lobby and disappearing out of sight. Your heart was racing at his proximity to Y/N. Why was he here? Did he know she was here?
Your hands were shaking as you stepped out on your floor, feeling like you had to watch over your shoulder as you walked to your room. Stacking the coffees you tapped your key card to the door, and entered the room quietly. Elle was thankfully still sleeping, so you placed the coffees on the desk, and kicked your shoes to the side of the bed. You grabbed your phone and sat on the couch, trying to figure out what to do. With shaky hands you opened your texts, found the brothers group chat and began to type.
You
9:08am: 911
9:09am: He’s in the hotel. 
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Taglist:
@gretavansara@jordie-gvf-admin@starshine-wagner @eyelinerjake@gretavanfvckface@gretavanmoon@misshunnybeebee@fretaganvleet@gvfpal@joshkiszkas@ascendingtostardust@raviolilegs@sammysprincess@gvfpal@objectsinspvce@lallisonl@gvfpal@raviolilegs@jaketlover@ascendingtostardust @indigostreakmorgan@jakemarrymeibeg@fakeplastiqtree@radmads-gvf @fwzco @katelynn-gvf @writingcold @jakesgrapejuice @jakekiszkasbabymama @emsfallingsky @gretavanbear @ejoygvf @beebloopbleep @mackalah @weneedsomehealing123 @reesetrippingthelight @lightmylove-gvf @wetkleenex-gvf@fulltimecynical @little-bit-of-monica@ageofbajabule @ageofsinners@indigostreakslut @profitofthedune @katelynn-gvf @ohgodthefeeling-gvf @joshskittytickler21 @mp0801@starcatcherry @samsbirks
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Text
Acquired Taste
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Pairing: Jack Kline X Reader (she/her)
Requested by: @cherryyyangel
Word Count: 1,710
Summary: Jack discovers his love for music and Y/N discovers that having a cuddly crush sucks. (Or maybe that it doesn't at all)
A/N: remember how I asked for Jack prompts? Like a million years ago? Yeah, this is one of them, sorry that it took me so fucking long - but hey, I'm back! (We're ignoring that this fic is just three moments in a trenchcoat, okay?)
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"What are you doing there?" Jack leaned down and peered over her shoulder in an attempt to get a better look at her phone.
Y/N looked up, startled by his voice cutting through the music blaring through her earphones. And his presence behind her. She could have sworn that she had been alone in the library a few moments ago. "Hm?"
"On your phone," he clarified and pointed at the list of songs she was contemplating, "what's that?"
"Oh that." Y/N stopped. Stared down at the device. Was he asking how Spotify worked or about the concept of music? "I'm making a playlist. For the next road trip."
"But Dean's choosing the music?"
Jack's forehead crinkled up cutely and Y/N had to physically stop herself from reaching up and smoothing it over. Instead she snorted once. "Yeah and it's always the same fucking three albums. No offence to AC/DC but there's only so much I can hear of back in black before I start to bite things."
"That's true." Jack nodded and pulled out a chair for himself.
Y/N swallowed the giddy feeling she got when their knees touched. Angels. No concept of personal space. That had to be it.
"And Dean's okay with your playing your own music in the car?" Jack's voice pulled Y/N from her daydreams. The second time today.
She snorted again.
"One, I don't particularly care if Dean is 'okay' with my choice of music," Y/N made air quotation with her fingers that made Jack laugh, "and two, I'm using earphones. Saves me quite a lot of headaches usually."
"That's very smart."
A moment of somber musing followed where Y/N alternated between watching Jack's face and pretending that she wasn't.
Then, Jack perked up again. "Can we share?"
"What?" Her weird staring obsession?
"The earbuds," he clarified, "I wanna know what kinda music you like."
Oh. Yeah, that made much more sense. Y/N scrambled for them, hoping that her cringing wasn't showing too hard on her face. "Sure, here."
"Thank you," Jack smiled politely and plucked the tiny bud from her fingers as if he was totally unaware of what their brushing fingers did to Y/N.
Which was mostly due to the fact that he probably was totally unaware of what their brushing fingers did to Y/N. Jesus Christ, she had to get a grip.
Then, Jack tapped her forearm excitedly and pointed to her phone. "I like that song!"
Oh, he was going to be the death of her. Why did he have to have good taste on top of everything else?
"Me too," Y/N smiled weakly when the familiar tunes of her favourite song filled her ear. At least Jack was too absorbed in his own mind to notice that her voice wasn't as cheerful as it should have been.
Having a crush sucked.
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Twenty minutes into the drive, Y/N felt something poke her shoulder. Grudgingly, she pulled one earbud free and looked at Jack.
Who was smiling at her hopefully. "Can we share the music again?"
It took her a moment to remember what Jack was referring to - she had been halfway asleep already when they had entered the car. "Uh, sure."
Y/N handed her left earbud over and stifled a grin. It was just music. Nothing to get excited about.
She skipped through her playlist, rearranging and deleting a few songs that felt too off to listen to with Jack together. Too intimate, too much like baring her soul already. Not that she would say that out loud.
"Can we keep listening to the last one?" Jack asked softly when Y/N changed her mind just short of the chorus.
"Oh, sure." And really, she had to expand her vocabulary sooner or later.
It didn't help that Sam was watching them, an amused sparkle in his eyes at her fumbling. So Y/N glared at him through the rearview mirror to which he merely raised an eyebrow.
Jack - unaware of the silent argument - nodded once and scooted a little closer so that the chord of the earphones was hanging loosely between them. "Thank you. I really like your music taste."
"Thanks," she said softly, afraid that if she spoke any louder she might be squealing. Good job at playing it cool, Y/N.
It didn't get any better when Jack's head dropped on her shoulder another twenty minutes later or when he snuggled into her side like he belonged there.
She pointedly ignored Sam and Dean's glances while she tentatively relaxed against the boy next to her and drifted off.
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Slowly, a habit formed from there on.
At first, the sharing-music-thing was strictly related to the long hours on the road when neither of them could stand Dean's tapes anymore.
But soon Jack got his own phone and set up his own Spotify account. He was almost constantly listening to music then, together with Y/N or on his own.
They had multiple shared playlists to which they listened to almost every waking hour. It drove Dean up the walls for some reason.
Not that Y/N cared particularly about what Dean thought about her music consumption or who she shared it with. She had to admit that it was pretty funny though to see him fume whenever he spotted the two of them connected by the chord of the earphones snuggled up on one of their beds. Which was all of the time.
"Hey Y/N," Jack was leaning against her doorframe - he was hovering uncharacteristically.
"Hi Jack." Y/N smiled and didn't even try to fight the warm feeling bubbling up. "Did you turn into a vampire or why are you waiting to be invited inside?"
Jack frowned at her (admittedly awkward) joke. "I never quite got that piece of lore. What sense would it make that a vampire couldn't get inside without explicit permission?"
"Dunno, makes you feel like you're somewhat in control?" She guessed half heartedly.
"I don't get it."
Y/N chuckled. "Yeah me neither. Did you want something Mr vampire?"
"Oh uh-" it actually looked like Jack was blushing, "-I uh wanted to show you a playlist I made."
Her heart was doing somersaults already. This is not a rom com Y/N scolded herself before her hopes could get the better of her. So she planted a friendly smile on her face and patted the empty spot next to her.
"C'mon then. Show me."
Jack smiled back somewhat nervously and sat down a little closer than she had anticipated. But again, no protest from Y/N. He nearly dropped his phone when he unlocked it though he managed to reduce the shaking to a minimum when he handed the earphones over.
Y/N was positively melting.
It got better though.
The first song in the playlist was a familiar tune - it was the one she had played for him when they had started this.
She was bobbing her head to the beat by the time it moved to the second song - a much slower one. More romantic, maybe a little cheesy but she liked it.
And Jack seemed to do so too. He was watching her intently so Y/N spoke up. "It's really good! I like the playlist."
"Thank you." Jack was still studying her, a glimmer in his eyes that she couldn't pin point.
A wave of sadness crashed into Y/N unexpectedly. Surely, Jack didn't know about the implications of making a playlist full of romantic songs for someone. Probably just had discovered them by accident and wanted to show her.
Deflated by her own mind, Y/N dropped back against the pillows, fighting to keep the smile on her face.
But something must have slipped.
Jack's expression fell. "You don't like it, do you?"
"Of course I do," she assured hurriedly, "I really like all those songs."
Somehow, that seemed to make it worse.
Jack pulled his legs up to his chest, eyes trained on his phone. "But that's not what I meant."
Colour her confused.
When he made no move to elaborate, Y/N reached forward and placed a tentative hand on his knee. "What did you mean then?"
"You don't like what I was saying with the playlist, right?"
And God, Y/N would give her left arm to wipe that expression off his face. But Jack wasn't making sense right now so she had to keep asking.
Surely he couldn't mean what she was hoping he did, right?
"Can you say it directly for me then? Maybe I like that better," Y/N tried again.
Jack just looked at her miserably. "I was trying to say that I really like you. But you don't like me back."
Dumbfounded, Y/N stared at him but Jack was already barreling on with a smile that looked closer to tears than anything else. "And that's okay! I just - I just need a moment."
And then he got up to leave.
He made it to the door before Y/N had processed what Jack just said.
Faster than she thought it possible, she had jumped up and blocked his way. It was definitely possible that she was feeling a little dizzy from the motion though.
"What do you mean I don't like you back?"
"You don't," He said but his voice was wavering, "or do you?"
"Wasn't that painfully obvious?" Y/N asked, a helpless laugh stuck in her throat, "Jesus, I've been pining for you since you dyed Dean's apron pink with me and you never noticed?"
"I didn't," Jack was looking down at her so earnestly, so full of painful vulnerability that Y/N just had to reach up and cup his cheek.
Briefly, time froze. Did she really do that? Jack's eyes were wide as saucers, maybe not as surprised by the touch itself but the intention behind it. Not that Y/N could blame him.
She was pretty sure that the last time she had had this kind of courage scraped together she had just killed her first monster.
"Can I kiss you now?" Y/N was whispering. It felt wrong to break the silence but she had to. Or else the tension might kill her.
Jack turned his cheek deeper into her touch. Reached around her waist gingerly. Tilted his chin just a fraction and let a radiant smile overcome his face. "Please."
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General Taglist: @immrbrightsideee, @fandomfoodiedancer, @lovesfandoms, @nyotamalfoy, @stixnstripesworld , @foxyjwls007 , @amythedoctor , @alexxavicry
Jack Taglist: @sweater-weather-spn , @xoxokiaraaxoxo @theslawstee (no blog found, sorry)
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eternalsams · 1 year
Text
The Song of Achilles ⇴ J.Seresin
pairing: jake seresin x fem!reader
summary: you meet a beautiful stranger at the library and give him some book recommendations.
warnings: none.
words count: 928
a/n: english isn't my first language, please take that into consideration
masterlist
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Clutching at the handle of your purse, you walk directly to the aisle you preferred. The music is blasting in your headphones and you’re mumbling the lyrics. You can see a man standing where you usually stand in front of the books, he’s flipping through a book but you don’t want to disturb him so you just ignore him. You grab some book from the shelf next to him to occupy your mind but you cannot help yourself and stare at the stranger. He’s rather tall, he’s got dirty blond hair and a single lock falls in his face. He tried multiple times to tuck it behind his ear or on top of his head with the rest of his hair, but the same lock always falls back. You can’t see his eyes but recognize the look on his face, he seems focused on what he’s reading and a smile forms on your lips. Your eyes fall on his lips, his thin but appealing lips that mouth the words he’s reading. You quickly take a look at what he’s wearing and slightly smile to yourself at the sight of cowboy boots. A country boy? Here in California? You go back to your book but the simple presence of this beautiful man next to you tears you from it.
You’re wondering how he still hasn’t noticed the way you’re staring at him. Can’t he feel your eyes on him? You catch a glimpse of what he’s reading when he turns the pages and your interest for this beautiful stranger only increases. “You should read Stephen Fry’s Mythos.” Your words seem to startle him and he turns to you. “Excuse me?” You’re not sure if he’s annoyed or if he’s genuine but you don’t really find the time to wonder because you finally know what color his eyes are. It was like they were made of emerald but you could see a single blue line circling his irises. You almost lose your words but quickly regroup your thoughts. “If you’re interested in Greek mythology, you should read Stephen Fry’s book. It’s really good.” You nod your head as if to convince him to do so and he rapidly looks down at the book he’s holding. “What about this one?” He hands you the book and you take a look at the cover. “It’s a good one too, I’ve read it. Do you know anything about mythology?” You look up at him and see that he took a few steps in your direction.
“Not really, I’m just trying to find a book to pass the time. Thought Greek mythology could be a great distraction.” He slightly shrugged as he put his hands in his pockets. “You’re kidding?” You raise your eyebrows and you can see in his eyes he realizes he’s made a mistake of some kind. “You don’t read a book to distract yourself. You have to give your entire attention to what you’re reading. You have to be genuinely interested.” Even if you pronounce those words with the most serious tone, you cannot suppress the smile on your lips. That’s probably the reason the man before you doesn’t liquefy and only gulps. “I know, I know that. I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant. I mean that I need something new to read and I don’t really know what I like in literature. I remember reading the Percy Jackson series when I was in high school and loving it. “Percy Jackson, huh?” You ask with a smirk before passing next to him to reach a book on the shelf. You grab it and give it to him. “Here, start with this one. It’s quite easy to understand the whole perverted history of Greek mythology.”
“Perverted? I don’t remember that in Percy Jackson.” He frowns and you can’t help but laugh. The blond only chuckles but what you don’t know is that at this exact moment, he’s wondering whether you’d prefer light green or cream colored paint in your future shared living-room. You pinch the bridge of your nose and nod at the book in his hands. “I’m pretty sure you’re gonna like it. And it’s long enough to distract you for a long time.” You smile at him and he chuckles as he looks down. “Okay, I deserved that.” He absently caresses the front cover before he looks back at you. “I’m Jake.” He holds out his hand for you to shake and you introduce yourself, making him smile. “It’s nice to meet you, Jake.” You put back the book you had in your hands and start to walk away. “Wait!” You stop in your tracks and turn around to see Jake coming to you. “Can I have your number?” You probably look more surprised than you think because Jake chuckles and nervously rubs his neck. “You know, just so I can tell you if I like the book. And you could give me other recommendations too.” You close your mouth you didn’t know was open and slightly smile. “Yeah, of course. Sure. Give me your phone.” You enter your number in his contacts and put your name with a white heart and give him back with a smile. “There you go, text me when you start reading the book.” You give him one last smile and leave the library without looking back. You knew that if you looked back, you’d blush like crazy and would be embarrassed. Jake just watches you leave and looks down at his phone, grinning at the sight of your name with the emoji.
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meimi-haneoka · 1 year
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Clear Card Trivia 1 ~ Literary and musical references/mentions in Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card
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Hello everyone! The end of the Clear Card manga is very near, so I thought it was about time to start writing the long list of posts I'm going to release in the upcoming months, since it's almost time to wrap everything up and it would be nice to look back and not only analyze the plot but also trivia and themes/topics discussed (openly or not) in these almost 7 years of serialization of Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Arc.
Today we talk about the several literary and musical references spread across the different CCS Clear Card media. The references are quite a lot and I find it so very fitting for a story that features books so much, both under a positive and negative light. Books have a life-saving role, being the only thing young Akiho could cling to, to survive mentally till the arrival of Kaito in her life and the subsequent removal from her abusive family, but for a twist of fate, a spell under the guise of a book is also what was about to destroy her soul forever when said book got filled up with magic. The very first time Akiho's inner book gets set off is precisely in Fujitaka's library. Moreover, a fictional world existing into a forbidden book called Alice in Clockland is also where Kaito sends everyone in the climax of the story. In that fictional world, it is said that books record the memories and feelings of people. And after recording them, that same book can rewrite them. Books are literally an essential element of the plot of Clear Card Arc.
In my list I will take in consideration both the anime and the manga, with a special section for the now-defunct Happiness Memories mobile game! The references are ordered basing on their impact or importance within the plot, and include all the info we have till chapter 72. I might update this post if we get more literary references in the very last chapters of the arc. I will probably not be able to talk in depth about all the possible double meanings and connections of these stories to the real Clear Card plot, as I haven't read most of these books or I'm still in the process of reading them, but I have looked at summaries on Wikipedia, so hopefully I'll be able to feature at least a part of the interesting connections. Anyone who knows these stories or songs in depth is welcome to give more insight!
Soooo, ready to dive in?
1) Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There / Lewis Carrol
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Of course the first reference featured in this list couldn't be other than this one! The whole Clear Card arc is heavily based on the Alice In Wonderland narrative, but particularly in the sequel "Through the Looking-Glass". The very first mentions of "Alice-related" stuff is as early as chapter 12, when Sakura and Tomoyo visit Akiho's home and they check out her huge library: here Akiho shows them her book "Alice in Clockland" for the first time. Tomoyo spots the resemblance with the title of the best-known novel, but Akiho says that the book she's holding wasn't written by the author of Alice in Wonderland, and although the language it's written in is composed by runes, she was taught how to read it. Later on we discover that the more she progresses reading this book, the more it gets connected to recurring dreams she's having, with an "Alice" as the main character who experiences all sorts of adventures (unbeknownst to her, she's dreaming about Sakura's adventures with the Clear Cards). Akiho sometimes shares these dreams with Kaito and he always listens attentively, commenting that it'd be good if Alice acquired "more and more skills". We also see Rika (through Sakura) giving away to Akiho one of her Alice picture books, and the girl is definitely thrilled and moved by the kind gesture of who is basically a stranger to her.
Moreover, in chapter 38 & 39, Kaito shrinks Sakura in order to prompt her to create a Card, and sends her down a hole carved in a tree, calling her "Alice". Sakura also created the Shade card supposedly basing it on the Jabberwock featured in Through The Looking Glass. The whole situation prompts Kaito to remember about his first face-to-face meeting with Akiho, which he says happened in a garden fit for Alice in Wonderland. The whole scenery Sakura witnesses in the strange world she's sent to is very reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland/Through the looking Glass, with her being so little and the talking flowers. Of course, the biggest reference to Through the Looking Glass is the whole Alice in Clockland play, in its first version based on Akiho's beloved book with the same title (Naoko initially called the play "The Two Alice", but then decided to change it at last minute, in a twist of fate). Both "before" and "after" the rewriting of memories operated by Momo's book, we not only have an Alice in this story, but also a Cat (which will have a key role) and a Red Queen. Another notable similarity is how Alice, in Through the Looking Glass, crosses "the wood where things have no names", forgetting her own name for a short time while crossing that forest in the company of a fawn. In Alice in Clockland, the Red Queen completely forgot her name once she entered Clockland, in both versions of the play, before and after the rewriting. Akiho/Red Queen regains her memories by lifting the dark veil covering her face, while Sakura/Red Queen regains her memories thanks to Alice telling her the truth about what happened.
Furthermore, the fact that later in the climax Sakura and Akiho are turned into twins by the forbidden magic activated by Kaito might be considered a reference to the famous twins Tweedledum and Tweedledee (although, that's also commonly known as one of CLAMP's obsessions 😂). One more reference is represented by the White Queen in Through the Looking Glass, who can remember events that will happen in the future, and while Sakura can do that herself to a certain degree, certainly this character is better represented by Lilie, Akiho's mother, who could see so much of the future ahead and tried to reach Sakura in her dreams to inform her of an important truth. It is also to be noted that the White Queen's daughter in Through the Looking Glass is named.....Lily.
2) Ten Nights of Dreams (夢十夜) / Natsume Sōseki
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"Ten Nights of Dreams" is a collection of short pieces by Japanese novelist Natsume Soseki, where he narrates 10 mysterious dreams set in various time periods, including his own. The book gets featured for the first time in chapter 10 / volume 3 of the manga, and episode n. 6 of the anime. In this scene, Sakura and Akiho are each reading a portion from the 7th dream, the one where the dreamer finds himself on a ship, among strangers, not knowing where the ship is headed to or when he'll see land again. The tone of this dream, like the rest of them, is pretty dark, as the dreamer is extremely discouraged and decides to throw himself into the sea, regretting it when it's already too late. This book gets directly mentioned again in chapter 58 of the manga, when Naoko reflects on the fact that even the tenth night told in the collection is a dream, because there's no point where the storyteller wakes up. This leads her to think how scary it would be to have a dream you can't wake up from, and this will become for her one of the sources of inspiration for the scenario of the school play. When the teacher talked about this book to her students back in chapter 10, she stated "this collection features plenty of mysterious stories, but depending on the person, they could also be considered 'scary' ". I feel like this is exactly how Clear Card Arc could be described too, especially from the POV of the Japanese readers, that I've witnessed these past couple of years on social media. I wonder if this wasn't a way for CLAMP to tip the readers off regarding the thematics and tone that Clear Card would take halfway through. Moreover, the teacher mentions "foretelling dreams" in relation to this book, and that prompts Sakura to consider if the dream she's constantly seeing with the Mysterious Cloaked Figure could be a foretelling dream too.
3) Momo / Michael Ende
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"Momo" is a fantasy novel written by German writer Michael Ende (the same of The Neverending Story), and it gets featured in chapter 39 of Clear Card, while Kaito is having a flashback of his first face-to-face meeting with Akiho. At the moment of Kaito's arrival in the rose garden, Akiho was reading a book, and when she's asked about its content by Kaito himself, the girl tells him of a story that is unequivocally that of "Momo": a little girl battles some so-called "time thieves". Akiho seems to love that story, as she has read it many times.
Although it might seem just an easter egg at the level of the Cthulhu books that I will mention later, the presence of the "Momo" novel here is completely different and very significant to the main story of Clear Card. First of all, its complete German title translates in English to "Momo, or the strange story of the time-thieves and the child who brought the stolen time back to the people". As we all know, this sequel of the Cardcaptor Sakura series deals heavily with the theme of time, and Kaito is strictly related to that theme, as he's the major "player" of that element, using magic to stop it or especially to rewind it. In "Momo", the "time-thieves" (also called Men in Grey) are some kind of paranormal parasites with the goal of stealing the time of humans. They appear to people offering to save their time in some so-called "Timesaving Banks", urging them to spare time by dropping any activity that supposedly "wastes time" like relaxing, playing, enjoying things, with the goal of having that time returned back with interests later. But that time saved in the bank is actually stolen and consumed by the Men in Grey for their own survival. Human feelings such as love are a hindrance for them, and they avoid at all costs to form any bond with anyone. Momo is a mysterious little girl, beloved by everyone in her town as she seems to be able to solve anyone's problems or afflictions just by listening and talking to them. She will eventually take on the task of defeating the Men in Grey. Ende's novel is a critique to consumerism in the modern society and how hectic our lives have become, where time is everything and we often never use it for what really matters the most: making us happy. Momo was published in 1973 but its thematics are super relevant even today.
Aside from the easy connection of the topic of time to what Kaito does (although in a more benign way, in our case), "Momo" is also how Akiho chose to name her beloved bunny plushie, who, unbeknownst to her, is actually the magical Guardian of the Book of Time. We don't know when exactly that naming happened, as of chapter 72, but the fact that one of the most treasured and beloved existences in Akiho's life was named "Momo" - the same as the title of the book Akiho was reading when she met Kaito for the first time - suggests hitsuzen is strongly at work here. Akiho might have named Momo after she met Kaito, and to show how important that meeting was to her, she chose to name her after an element that was strictly connected to that meeting. And if she named her so before meeting Kaito, then it shows just how fateful their meeting was. She named one important existence after a beloved book, and precisely when she was reading that same book, she had her first meeting with another important person in her life. The one she will love the most.
It is also to be noted that in "Momo", the time is consumed by the Men in Grey in the form of smoking cigars made out of dried hour-lilies' petals, which are pink flowers representing time itself. Again, a feature of lily flowers, which connects us once more to Lilie.
Depending on how Clear Card will end, and whether Sakura will be able to regain all the memories and the time lost with them, beating the Forbidden Magic activated by Kaito, we might even draw another reference - how Ende's Momo is able to give the stolen time back to the people of her town.
4) "Tsuki ga kirei desu ne" (月が綺麗ですね) / Natsume Sōseki + "Kaze no nai yoru ga boku wo semetogameru" (風のない夜が僕を責めとがめる) / SPARKS GO GO
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In chapter 48 of the manga, Akiho, unable to sleep after waking up from an unsettling dream, heads to the garden of her home in the middle of the night. And there surprisingly she finds Kaito, also awake and staring intently at the full moon. In a magical and emotional scene, illuminated by the full moon and prompted by feelings of worry for Kaito's pale complexion - too pale for his own good, Akiho tells him "Can we talk a little bit longer? Because...the moon is really beautiful".
At first, these can seem totally normal words of admiration for the full moon illuminating the two. But actually in this scene, Akiho has just covertly confessed to Kaito that she loves him. Many of you probably already know, but in Japan there's a little story that takes us back again to the famous novelist Natsume Soseki who seems to influence Clear Card so much (he'll get another mention later in this post). There's no actual written evidence of this, so Japanese people tend to consider this as some folklore tale, but when Soseki worked as an English teacher, he allegedly corrected one of his students who translated too literally the English phrase "I love you" in Japanese. He supposedly said "that's too direct, Japanese people don't express such phrase so directly. You should use 月が綺麗ですね (tsuki ga kirei desu ne, 'The moon is beautiful, right?') instead". And that's how the myth of expressing "I love you" in Japanese with "the moon is beautiful, right?" was born. It is very poetic, romantic and subtle so there's no doubt its popularity is really high and used in all kinds of media even today. And, I have to say, it fits romantic, shy and bookworm Akiho to a T. But how can we be sure that Akiho was really-really meaning that? It's because of the quotation marks on the original Japanese script. Akiho was deliberately quoting a source. And her face right afterwards, eyes cast down and red as a tomato, is the final proof of her intention. We still don't know, 24 chapters later, if Kaito's surprised face meant he understood what she was secretly meaning, or not.
However, I have a second source for this particular line from Akiho. One day I was searching on the internet, wanting to know more about this popular phrase, exactly as she worded it (it's slightly different from the classic one) and I stumbled upon the song "Kaze ga nai yoru ga boku wo seme togameru" (The windless night is reproving me) by Sparks Go Go. It's a love song from 1993, and the very first verse features the very same line Akiho said, worded exactly as she did. When I started to translate the lyrics, I was shocked. The lyrics actually fit perfectly the scene in the garden under the moonlight and what was going on between Kaito and Akiho in that moment, so much that it really makes me wonder if Ohkawa wasn't trying to make a double reference here:
Since the moon is beautiful I'll invite you for a stroll outside Tonight it's a bit chilly So wear one more layer of clothing I'm stammering And for some reason I suddenly realize All the feelings I've kept inside till now The windless night is reproving me Even though you're telling me A funny thing that happened to you today Tonight it's a bit different than usual My heart is twinkling Our footsteps echo softly As if I'm about to realize something All the feelings I've kept inside till now The windless night is reproving me The windless night is gently inviting me
As you can see, it's almost a precise description of that scene, with the mention of the stroll at night under the moonlight, the talk and the hidden feelings that are being conveyed in that moment.
I'll conclude this paragraph with something that I usually always mention when I tell people about the "moon is beautiful" 's hidden meaning in relation to Clear Card's storyline, because I think it's highly related. There are several ways to respond "I love you too" to a love confession made in that fashion. And one of the most popular ones that gets associated so much to this phrase (despite not coming from the same author but actually another one, Japanese novelist Shimei Futabatei who lived in the same period of Soseki) is 死んでもいいわ (shinde mo ii wa), which literally translates in English to "I can die happy" or "I can die for you" (you already know where I'm going with this one, right?). Apparently, Futabatei decided to translate in Japanese as shinde mo ii wa the Russian word Ваша present in a passage of the book "Asya" by Ivan S. Turgenev. The word Ваша actually literally translates in English as "yours", and the scene showed a woman deeply committing to her love, but since this is the same period as Soseki, the Japanese novelist used an indirect way to express it. I've read that the choice of shinde mo ii wa is tightly connected to the context of the original story, where a woman of low social status (an illegitimate daughter of a Russian landowner) and a man of higher class fell in love, but kept it hidden for most of the story. Back in those times, such relationship was frowned upon by society and so, indulging in that love could also be seen as the death of someone's life in society. In that sense, that "I would die for you" expresses the spirit of abnegation and complete dedication that such profound love inspires. Now, back to Clear Card, consider who's literally sacrificing himself for Akiho, and draw your conclusions.......
5) Liber Ivonis, Celaeno Fragments / H. P. Lovecraft & August Derleth
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When Akiho visits Sakura's home in ch. 26 in order to learn how to cook from her, Sakura also brings her to visit her father's small library. In a very excited way, Akiho recognizes some books of her interest and she asks Sakura if she can take them. Those books are, in order of appearance, "Liber Ivonis" and "Celaeno Fragments" (there's a small typo on the book's title, due to the ambivalence of R/L in Japanese) which are two books featured in the Cthulhu Mythos created by US writer H. P. Lovecraft. Both books seems to be grimoires about occult topics and dark magic spells. It is very likely that the two books are merely easter eggs (they had no influence whatsoever on the plot) or a covertly way from CLAMP to let us know that Akiho was acquainted with magical books.
6) Buying Mittens (手袋を買いに) / Nankichi Niimi
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"Buying Mittens" from Japanese author Nankichi Niimi is the book Sakura and Akiho are asked to read to the children of the hospital in episode 19 of the Clear Card anime. The story features a baby fox going on a journey to a nearby village to buy mittens to warm its cold paws in the rigid snowy winter. The story revolves around the themes of trust in other human beings. Although the mother fox advised her little one to be careful of human beings, because if they found out it was a fox, something terrible would've happened, the little fox actually finds out humans are not all the same, and the human being selling the mittens wasn't actually harmful at all.
See, when this episode was released in May 2018, I remember it got a lot of criticism for being a "wasted episode" and not bringing the plot forward at all. But I had already understood back then that this was actually a very symbolic episode for one of the major thematics of Clear Card, which would've shown its full importance only later on the story: how much we can trust other people, especially when we don't know them and they are having seemingly hostile behaviors. I knew the anime staff chose to feature this book for a precise reason. With hindsight, from the manga storyline POV, this is absolutely connecting to how Sakura had her trust tested multiple times in the entire arc, not only towards Kaito who had the most ambiguous behaviors, but also her loved ones, starting from Syaoran himself - who stole her cards in the very beginning and even lied to her, hiding an important truth for her sake; but also Yukito, for a moment, when he activated the Moon barrier all of a sudden, scaring even Kero and Suppi; or how inevitably Sakura's trust in Akiho was also put under pressure once she found out that Kaito was a magician and so inevitably she had to question the reliability of a person very close to him. Trust, trust in your beloved people and even more deciding to trust someone you don't know well is of utmost importance in this arc. If Kaito the magician is, in Buying Mittens, the human known for hurting and hunting and killing foxes, Sakura is the little fox who has to make the important decision of whether she can trust him or not, especially when she's in a moment of vulnerability (in the story the little fox shows the fox paw instead of the human hand to the hatter, who recognizes it as a fox but actually doesn't hurt it at all).
When Sakura found out about Kaito being a magician, she made a careful and delicate decision: she decided to trust Akiho and indirectly to trust Kaito too, avoiding to jump to conclusions and to ruin Akiho and Kaito's relationship by questioning her friend about Kaito's nature. And despite acting in shady ways for the entire arc, and sometimes being just misunderstood - leading everyone to believe he intended to hurt Sakura, in the end we found out that none of that has ever been Kaito's intention from the very beginning.
As repeatedly told by Nanase Ohkawa of CLAMP in Twitter Spaces, Sakura trusts her loved ones, and that actually represents her strength to believe that she will always be ok and everything will eventually be alright.
At the end of the Buying Mittens story, on its way back to his mother, the little fox hears a human mother singing a lullaby to her baby, and the fox draws a parallel to its own mother. Thanks to that, while being cuddled by the mother fox later, the baby fox says "maybe humans are good, after all". Motherhood and mother's love is definitely another thematic common to Clear Card and Buying Mittens, but also finding something that wholesome in common between the two species (humans and foxes) is the key to trust that there can be something good to be found even in "the other" that seems so scary and oppositive in the beginning. I'm certain that will also be a huge theme that will lead Sakura to help Akiho and Kaito in the very end of this climax.
7) Night on The Galactic Railroad / Kenji Miyazawa
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"Night on The Galactic Railroad" is the title of the book Yukito is reading to the children of the hospital in episode 19 of the Clear Card anime.
8) "Oborozukiyo" (朧月夜)
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"Oborozukiyo" is a Japanese folk song that gets featured in chapter 9 of the manga and episode 6 of the anime. Tomoyo and Akiho sing together this song in 2 different occasions between manga and anime: in the manga they sing it at the hanami in front of group of school friends, while in the anime it is a song that Tomoyo suggests to Akiho to sing together, and at the end of the performance she offers Akiho to join the choir later. The song is also featured in the Clear Card soundtrack album.
9) Special references appearing in the mobile game Happiness Memories:
Botchan / Natsume Sōseki
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Natsume Soseki gets mentioned again in the Happiness Memories game when Akiho, in one of the photostories (the one focused on the study of English, with Syaoran reiterating his love to Sakura in English without her knowing what he meant ❤️) tells Sakura she's looking for the English version of some books, namely Night On The Galactic Railroad by Kenji Miyazawa (already mentioned above) and Botchan by Natsume Soseki. Apparently, Kaito suggested her to find those books and read them in English, since she's still having some difficulties with Japanese language. Akiho doesn't initially remember the titles of those books, so Syaoran intervenes and tries to help.
The Wandering Lake / Sven Hedin
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"The Wandering Lake" is a book written by swedish geographer Sven Hedin. This one gets seemingly mentioned during one of the photostories set during the old anime arcs, where Syaoran gets invited to the Kinomoto home and bakes a cake with Fujitaka and Sakura (I don't really know much of the details because I never got this card 💦) While they wait for it to bake, Fujitaka and Syaoran talk about their favorite subject, archeology! And Fujitaka apparently makes references to this book (he supposedly mentions the lake name, Lop Nur) while explaining his love for archeology.
And I believe that's all for this first installment of "Clear Card Trivia"!! I hope you enjoyed it and maybe that it surprised you too, for some reference that you didn't catch before today! My love for this story is infinite, for all the reading "layers" it provides us with, and one of those is composed by all the literary references featured in it, since books are really so important in this arc. Knowing all these little quotes and references makes me appreciate CLAMP's efforts to build this arc as something deeper and more meaningful.
As I said in the beginning, I intend to update this post in case something else comes up in the handful of chapters that are left! See you next time, what will I feature? I have looooots I want to talk about!!
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monstroso · 6 months
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literally what makes the aristocats bad. its got nice songs. it has silly characters. it’s got really pretty backgrounds and the old hand-drawn disney animation. it’s inspired by a true story. what’s there to dislike.
(*cough* aside from the racism that permeates most if not all of the old Disney movies but since that’s present in so many of them no special case should to be made against the aristocats for it to be a worse movie because of that shared trait *cough*)
also I hope this didn’t come across as like. confrontational or anything bc it’s not supposed to be. legitimately want to hear your thoughts 👍
No, I love this! I appreciate being asked my thoughts, especially since the good people in the tags have told me loud and clear that I am in the minority on this one.
I will say, I did not expect the poll to have quite the legs it's got on it now. My polls usually only get about 60 votes. If I'd known 4,700 strangers and counting would have an opinion on this, I might have worded it differently. The real reason I didn't include The Aristocats is because I knew it would run away with the thing. Most people consider it a classic, regardless of what my opinions on it actually are. I thought throwing in a cheeky little line about it would be a fun gag for my followers who know I'm a true hater at heart.
Before I even got this ask - and because the overwhelming majority of the tags on the poll are telling me I have no taste - I actually did start rewatching it! Hundreds of strangers on the internet have never been wrong before, right? Part of the problem is I have next to no nostalgia for it. We didn't own the VHS when I was a child, so the only times I ever saw it were when I'd go to a friend's house or borrow it from the library. Maybe my judgement was clouded by not having seen it in a very long time.
First things first: The good stuff. There are parts of this film that rank alongside the best of the Disney classics, and I would be remiss in not mentioning them.
The music, for one, is pretty good. You'd have to be some kind of real Scrooge not to enjoy "Ev'rybody Wants to Be a Cat" of course, but on a rewatch I did find myself grinning through "Thomas O'Malley Cat" as well. This is an easy point in the film's favor though, as I'm an absolute sucker for both big band and jazz. This is great use of your Scatman Crothers and Phil Harris, top points awarded for these two numbers in particular.
The animation is also pretty good. Especially on Edgar and Thomas O'Malley. Your mileage may vary on the Xerox style, but the animation itself is relatively unimpeachable. This was still during the era of the Nine Old Men, so there's all kind of impressive work being done with the big sweeping things like character movement and expression as well as in the more subtle animations like expressions and mouth movement.
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The cats are doing all the cat stuff you'd expect like licking their paws and poof'ing their tails, but there's less expected movements here too, like arching their backs when walking alongside things or rolling in the dirt to dry off from the river. This is good character work, but it's also pretty standard for guys like Milt Kahl and Eric Larson. If you're at all interested in animation, I highly encourage you to read more about the Nine Old Men and their history with the studio.
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(A big thanks to the tumblr gif artists for gif'ing the parts of this movie that look good so I can spice this post up with some relevant visuals!)
Now, the bad. Like many movies from this era, The Aristocats has something of a pacing problem. While it is necessary to do the work of setting up the conflict in the beginning, you might be surprised to learn that it takes 25 minutes for Thomas O'Malley to show up, which is when the story actually starts.
A huge part of the problem is that this movie suffers from a sort of directionless vignetticism that seems to have been driven only by the idea that it would be cute to see the animals do X, Y, and Z. "Oh wouldn't it be sweet to see the kitten paint?" "Wouldn't it be so adorable if the cat played the piano?" "Ohh, what if the mouse ate a cracker dipped in milk, wouldn't that be darling?" I have a very high tolerance for schmaltz, but The Aristocats is where even I must draw the line.
When the movie isn't being tooth-rottingly sweet, it's frequently boring, and when it's not being either of those things it's showing you another chase scene with the dogs and the butler. It's erratic, tiring, and strains the limits of the modern attention span even at the movie's incredibly sparse runtime. It's a 79 minute film and you feel all 79 of those minutes.
Tonally, much of the movie smacks of the kind of rose-tinted sentimentalism Disney was known (and even criticized at the time) for, but without the guiding hand of the man himself, nearly 5 years gone by this point. The studio was floundering in the wake of Walt's death, and The Aristocats is quite close to the nadir of this particular creative valley - though the distinction arguably goes to Robin Hood, I'm much softer on that film for a number of reasons.
The Aristocats reminds me a lot of Lady & the Tramp, in that it's the same story (down to the aforementioned racist caricatures of Siamese cats), but with cats instead of dogs and with a much less focused sense of purpose, tone, and creative direction. If you like The Aristocats for the music and the beautiful scenery, but you haven't seen Lady & the Tramp, give that one a try instead. The animation is better, the music is about on-par, and it doesn't have as many stupid chase scenes. Or just watch 101 Dalmatians, which outstrips both films on sheer charm alone.
I think I had more I wanted to say, but it was mostly rambling that got away from the point. On rewatch, I don't think this movie is as bad as I remember it being, but I stand by my decision not to include it in the poll.
tl;dr - The Aristocats isn't the worst. If you grew up watching it I totally understand having a soft spot for the music and the atmosphere. In a vacuum, I can't say I think it holds up but ultimately I'm not going to judge anyone for enjoying it. Thanks for the ask!
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jujutsukatsuki · 1 year
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1,001 and Armin
-…⁠ᘛ⁠⁐̤⁠ᕐ⁠ᐷ
I can’t believe I just shuffled my music 1001 times 💀
But, song is
Still into you by Paramore <3
-
His smile was intoxicating, the way his hair fell into his eyes only to be brushed away by your fingers. Your stomach churned with the feeling you had as Armin kissed your temple. The butterflies fluttered in your stomach as you giggle and cuddled more into his body.
Six years, that’s how long you and Armin had been together. Since you both were 15 and in tenth grade. Now you both were twenty one, living together in a studio apartment, going to college and living your lives together.
After all this time, you still loved him and he loved you.
Not everything was sunshine and rainbows, sometimes things got bad. Everyone fights.
“You’re always in the library studying! You haven’t been home before midnight for the last two weeks ‘Min!” You raise your voice a little, tears are flowing down your cheeks as you stare at your boyfriend who is taking his jacket and book bag off. He hasn’t said a word yet, his face is neutral.
“Are you gonna answer me?” You let out a defeated whimper as he walks over and pulls you into a tight hug, he takes a deep inhale of your shampoo before he talks
“I’m sorry Mon Chérie. I’ll try and be home much earlier, or what if you come with me? Study together like we use to?” He stroked your hair gently as he holds you. A warm feeling spreads through your body as you melt into his embrace.
You recall the night you met Armin’s family. You two had been dating for six months. Armin had just gotten his license so he was driving you all over because you accidentally failed the driving test.
“I just gotta run into my house and grab my wallet, then we’ll go.” He smiled as he pulled into the driveway, you chew on your bottom lip before you speak up.
“Can I… can I come in? Meet your family?”
His eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas. His family loved you, they thought you and him were perfect together. On the way home, you grabbed his hand and told him you loved him. It may have only been six months but god, he was everything to teenage you. You watched as Armin let go of a breath he didn’t know he was holding.
“You don’t know how happy I am to hear you say that.” He smiled before telling you that he loved you too. You turned up the radio and sang along together.
Not a lot of things in life made sense. But Armin and you? It made perfect sense. You were made for each other.
Not a day went by that you weren’t still into him.
I have 2,143 songs! Send me a number and I’ll shuffle that many times and write a fic on whoever you want!
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callixton · 6 months
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Ooooh how about 🎭💔🧸🎶 for barba and/or bobby??? Noone gets these guys the way you do.
omg that's such a compliment <3 i will do both of them
barba
🎭(a headcanon about what they lie about) - honestly i would not put it past him to preserve his private life by just making shit up. as he got to know the squad better, it stopped mattering so much, but it's become a bit of a game that only he knows about. it's also usually so innocuous that no one would even bother to check - someone asks him what he's doing this weekend? he's going to that string trio performing at the lincoln center. (he has actually set aside time to read the latest pulp thriller he got from the library while eating too much take out and he is not going to be disturbed.)
💔(an angsty headcanon) - rafael deals with depression and self-hatred frequently, but it rarely/never comes in the form of suicidal ideation, so he dismisses how serious it is. it's why he throws himself into work so wholly; at least if he's helping people, he can justify his existence. it also means he's too busy to have time to think about all of the problems he's ignoring.
🧸(a headcanon about their childhood) - oh there's so much i could say. well i don't think it was Good. but for a shotgun-blast-let's-see-what-we-hit of childhood hcs..... he spent every sunday with his grandmother, and almost all of his happiest memories are around her kitchen table. this is alluded to in october surprise but this kid got in FIGHTS oh my god he could not keep his mouth shut. thank god for eddie or he would have had his shit kicked in so fast. sorry to make this sad too but he dealt with the same problem at home with his dad, and eddie wasn't there to protect him. he read voraciously but almost exclusively in private; he wanted people to know he was smart, but he didn't want to get made fun of. he tried exactly one basketball summer camp before realizing he was too short and scrawny to compete.
🎶(a headcanon about music) - not to let actor bleed influence this too much, but i do think barba probably takes after raúl when it comes to music taste; i think "the music he loves best is the Cuban songs he learned from his grandmother." that said, other artists that i associate with him: frank ocean, bruce springsteen & 80s ballads
bobby
🎭- unfortunately bobby is lying to himself at basically all times as a baseline and therefore incidentally to the people around him. but for something more specific, i think he lies about how quickly he gets drunk. he doesn't like actually giving up control over himself and what he says, but he does like the social justification of being able to relax and open up, so he meets it somewhere in the middle and lets everyone else think he's gone before he actually is. it's pretty rare that his friends see through this, which both suits him fine and makes him lonelier.
💔- oh baby. well. tbh it's kind of hard for me to find a headcanon bc so much of what i consider heartbreaking about his character is very much text. However. i do like to play with the idea of his first encounter with a guy in college going so poorly that it contributes to him shoving his sexuality deep down and the subsequent repression we see in show. which is so sad for him bc he wouldn't have done it if he wasn't questioning right like. it might not have been an answer he liked but even that would have been an answer. and then he is just so completely in his head (and he's not even Into the other guy he just offered) that the whole thing goes terribly and he feels so broken bc if he's not gay then what is Wrong with him that he feels like this. (he does discover, some ten-odd years later, that he doesn't mind sleeping with men as much as he thought, but he's spent such a long time of convincing himself that it's not for him that it takes a Lot of pressure to break through that worldview)
🧸- did not have many friends :( on the one hand he really didn't mind that much bc he was absolutely the sort of kid who enjoyed playing on his own, but on the other hand that isolation of not feeling like there's anyone who understands him set in early. he was set up on lots of playdates by his parents where neither kid wanted to be there. he was an observer and a listener though. sooo much of the personality he presents over the years is drawn from copying the behaviors of people he likes.
🎶- this is such a good question bc his character playlist is So fully music i think about him to, not like. songs i think he would listen to. i don't actually think he seeks out music that often? i think he likes the noise of the city and whatever's playing on the radio; it makes him feel more connected to everything in an indirect way. if i had to choose a band i'm weirdly getting they might be giants. that said if he ever really listened to conan gray or mitski it would be so over for him.
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Text
Young Tintin Headcanons Because I Can and I'm a Sentimental Person
Also, Tintin's mother is blind. That's my own headcanon
Tintin learnt Braille through his mother reading him Braille books while he sat on her lap. She also taught him to write formally using Braille and it's because of her that he became such a good journalist.
He loved to make paper planes and kites out of everything: newspapers, discarded letters, anything he could get his hands on. He loved to study the way birds' wings curve to catch the air and spent hours reading about how planes fly.
Every day, after school, Tintin and his mother would go to the market, buy some fruit (strawberries, oranges, apples, whatever was available) and would eat them in the park. Even when it was raining, they would eat then splash in the puddles.
Tintin's mother was kind off eccentric, but in the appreciate-the-little-things eccentric. When it stormed, she would open the windows until rain began to puddle on the floor. She would also lie in the floor a lot, either on the grass or on the carpet becay se she liked the feel of the ground below her. Tintin learnt to do the same, noticing the minutia of life that was truly special that so often gets overlooked. He loves the clouds especially.
Tintin used to ask a lot of questions (and then follow up with "why?" 5 times.) His mother never grew bored of it and always answered to the best of her ability. When she didn't know something, they would go to the library and Tintin would read aloud to her what he found.
One of Tintin's friends went to America and bought back "The Wizard of Oz" soundtrack on a record for him. His favourite song was "Over the Rainbow", but it wasn't until after the war that generalised just how sad the song was.
Tintin's hair started off a really warm, golden blond that had a couple of copper streaks when the light hit it. As he got older, his hair got darker until it grew into a solid ginger hue.
Museums. Enough said. Entire days spent wandering around, exploring the artifacts and paintings. Art museums, Natura history, modern history, science, anything. If it was a museum, Tintin had been at least once.
Tintin grew to really appreciate music. He had piano lessons, but stopped due to money and a certain war and never picked it back up again, but he loved listening to music on the radio or gramaphone, either dancing or lying on the floor staring at the ceiling. He especially loved Debussy and other impressionist musicians.
One of the reasons Tintin is such a phenomenal writer is because he became accustomed to describing the world around him and the little things happening to his mother. Describing without relying of visual explanations was difficult, but he managed to convey that sunshine was like fresh bread.
He read many classics, such as Tolkien, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Beatrix Potter, A A Milne, Mary Poppins, A Little Prince, etc. He was a very well-educated boy, despite hating school because everyone there were bullies and also he got bored very quickly writing simple sentences over and over again.
His baby teeth were crooked: his front two teeth were larger that the rest and overlapped with the other teeth. His adult teeth do the same, but much more subtly. You only notice if you stare hard enough.
Freckles. So many. That is all. Freckles.
He loved to dance. Just waving his arms about, twirling around in the living room, moving his body in any way he could to music or even just because.
He was in the Belgian resistance (Dutch-Paris network, 20th convoy and le faux soir) but if I say any more this will become too long and you will all hate me
Remember how Haddock asked Tintin if he could fly the plane and Tintin replied with "I interviewed a pilot once?" It was more of an interrogation between a British RAF pilot who had been shot down and a determined 11 year old Belgian boy in a dark basement somewhere on Rue Franklin as the pilot waited for his escape to Switzerland. Tintin had a book on planes and pestered the pilot to teach him how to fly planes until they had regular meetups in a broken garble of French and English.
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bebepac · 1 year
Text
Six Sentence Sunday 11.27.22
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Dispite this Gif, no I’m not ready for Christmas at all.  But I do have some Christmas Fics in the works.  
Here’s what I’ve posted in the last week or so in case you missed it:  
The Cordonian Arrangement:  Dreams Broken Heart
Here’s what I’ve been writing on, nothing is finished yet of course, but you know.  That’s how I roll, we’ll get to them eventually.  Thank you for being part of my writing journey. 
Original Post:  11/27/22 at 4:02PM  EST.
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Mood Music Monday Submission Song Inspiration:  Silent Night by the Temptations Holiday Vibes  The Book:  TRR (no royals)  Series: School Dayz Pairings: Liam x Riley Status:  Still in the writing process 
“Thanks for driving me to the mall today, and driving me around when Jaiden can’t.”
“It’s no problem, and I like driving you around, makes me feel manly.”  
Liam’s face turned bright pink.  
“I…..said that out loud didn’t I?”
“You did but it’s okay. I like that you’re adorkably honest with me.”
Riley’s face turned serious.
“You know sliding on the ice during the storm really scared me Liam.”
“I know it did, but I’m glad you and Taylor were okay.  When I saw your Jeep…. My heart broke Riley. I was so worried you were hurt.”
Liam took her hand and held it.  
“Dad said you could stay for dinner if you want.”  
“He’s warming up to me don’t you think?”
“I mean as much as my dad can warm  up to people.”
“Whoa…. Looks like he’s been busy.”  
When they left the Brooks household that morning there was no Christmas decor up. Coming back that evening.  Liam was flabbergasted.
He helped  Riley bring her shopping bags inside the house.  
“Whoa…. It looks like Santa threw up in here.”  
“No Liam, tell me how you feel about the decorations.”
Taylor burst out laughing from the couch as Mr. Brooks stepped out into the foyer holding a string of Christmas lights.
“Damn Liam. Can you not step in it once?”
“Jai! Language!”
“I’m just not used to a lot of Christmas decorations. My family doesn’t really do holidays like this.  I think it’s really nice.”  
“Jason and I grew up in the foster care system, and holidays were hard when you were living in foster homes at the holidays.  We both vowed if we ever had families, we would celebrate.  It’s very important to us.  So we go all out.”  
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t meaning to make fun of the decorations.”  
“Go help Riley put her presents away in her room, and you can come back and help us decorate.”  
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The Vampires Live On Part 3 The Book:  TRR   Series: N/A  The Vampires Live On Part 1 / The Vampires Live On Part 2 Pairing: Liam x Riley Status:  Still in the writing process
“I can’t believe we finally made it here.”  
“I know, it’s been a very long time.  Longer than I intended Riley, but I made good on my promise.”
The two of them were driving into Lumberton city limits.  
“Where would you like to go first?”  
“The library.  I want to see what articles I can find  from around what happened.”
“I figured, good thing I decided to call ahead.”  
“How did you know?”  
“Because I know you Love."
“Yeah it only took you a few years to get to know me.”  
Liam winked.  “Only a few.”  
When she stepped out of the car,  Riley took a deep breath.
“How does this town still smell the same after all these years?”  
“What does it smell like to you Riley?”
“Like home.”  
Liam held her hand as they walked up to the library counter.
“We’re here to speak with Mrs. Banks.”
“And whom might I let her know is here?”
“Liam Rys, and Riley Brooks.  I spoke to her over the phone a few days ago. She’s expecting us.”
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Shattered Heart The Book:  TRR The Series: The Cordonian Arrangement Pairings: Riley x Nico / (Riley x M!OC) / Liam x Riley Status:  Still in the writing process
"Thank you for coming, King Liam."
"Please just call me Liam."
"Liam, thank you. Nico said you would be the only one that would be able to get through to her right now."
"My heart breaks for her. She is in so much pain, as with your whole family. Nico was a good man."
"He was a wonderful son, brother, husband and father. He will be greatly missed by all that knew him."
Liam hugged Mother Karahalios.
"You're such a good boy too. Your mother would have been proud of you. My Athena is on her way to bring Angelo to you. He will need you now, more than ever."
"He barely knows me, and Riley is in no condition to care for him right now."
"You'll be fine. But this is the start of you beginning to truly bond with your son. You will be his primary caregiver for now."
A few minutes later Athena walked through the door holding a sleeping Angelo in her arms.
“Where’s Riley?”  
“She’s sleeping.”  
“Are you sure we should leave Angelo, Mama? Riley can barely care for herself right now. She needs some time. I can keep Angelo with me. He can play with his cousins.”  
“Liam’s here,  Angelo will be fine.  Give him to Liam.”  
“He looks shell shocked.”  Athena said in Greek.  “Are you sure we should leave Angelo here with this man?”
"That 'man' as you called him is Angelo's biological father. No harm will come to Angelo in his care."
Athena had  thought she was hiding her apprehensions of Liam behind the Greek language with her conversation to Mother Karahalios. Liam kept his face unemotional, but  was relieved Mother Karahalios had defended him. Liam decided to show  Athena that Greek was one of the many languages he was also fluent in.  
“Angelo is safe with me. My son is safe with me.”  
“If that was the case, my brother wouldn’t have to have taken care of your child for you.”
“Athena now is not the time to do this.”
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The Last Part  The Book:  TRH and Beyond The Series: The Rotten Apple 🍎 Pairings:  Elle x Nico (Elle x M!OC)  Status:  Still in the writing process
Ana was still unusually quiet at dinner, and Nico being so perceptive and intune with Ana, noticed immediately.
"What's wrong Honeybee?"  He playfully nudged her and smiled.
She looked at Elle for a moment, then turned to him  shaking her head shrugging her shoulders.  Nico’s smile immediately faded, his facial muscles tensing slightly, an overwrought look taking over his face.
"Ana? What's wrong?" Nico was concerned.
“Nothing.”  Ana whispered, still failing to make eye contact with him while picking at the food on her plate. Ana did not have an appetite.
"Don't lie to me. You look at me when I talk to you, young lady."
She looked up from her plate.
"Tell me the truth Ana."
Ana's eyes filled with tears.
"Mommy's sick again."
Surprised flashed in his eyes as he dropped his fork, hitting his plate with a loud clatter.
"Elle?"
"I'm fine. I have been going to my therapy check ins. I haven't….seen him, Nico, I promise. I wouldn't hide that from you. Do you not believe me?"
Nico looked from Ana to Elle.
"What did you see Mommy do Ana?"
Elle gasped.
"Nothing! It can't be what you’re thinking! I didn't do anything Nico. I didn't."
Nico completely ignored her focusing on Ana.
"What did you see, Honeybee?"
“Nico…”  Elle’s voice was low, pleading and timid. “I didn’t do anything…”
Ana looked at Elle.
“Don’t look at her.  You look at me and tell me the truth.” Nico raised his voice. “NOW! Eliana. I mean it.”
"Nico…"
Immediately Ana’s eyes shifted to Nico’s.
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gohandinhand · 7 months
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1, 7, 25
1. chipotle order? ugh okay not to spoil 26 but despite growing up on mexican food i have no spice tolerance, so i have a pretty basic order. either burrito or burrito bowl with extra black beans, brown rice, corn salsa, cheese, double lettuce, and guac.
7. what animal do you look forward to seeing when you visit an aquarium? finally my favorite question 🥰 i'm always thrilled to see cephalopods, especially octopus! any mammals they have tend to be quite interesting. but the biggest thing is anything special that aquarium has. i went to the scripps aquarium on my work trip a couple of months ago i lost my everloving mind about the little penguins - there are only 5 other aquariums in the country that have them and i've been following the new zealand national aquarium online for years because of their little penguin exhibit. thankfully by this point i'd long since ditched all my coworkers so when i finally tore myself away from the penguins after 40 minutes i immediately walked into the seadragon feeding and sat there entranced for another 25 minutes. unforch, seadragons live in low light conditions lmao
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i also got to see a cookie cutter shark specimen which i was so surprised and excited abt and i did stick my hand in the cleaner shrimp touch tank because they get to opt into interacting so it was rly fun! i was also thrilled to see mola mola at the monterey bay aquarium, and the shark tunnel at the toronto ripley's aquarium had me truly & completely losing my shit with excitement, i insisted on going through multiple times. anyway sorry that turned into a recitation of cool shit i've seen, i genuinely am excited to see everything at the aquarium and i love to spend hours in there reading the placard on every single display, i'm very lucky that i get to visit so many aquariums when work is flying me around! i love them and i'm going to visit an aquarium on my birthday again this year! however i am surprisingly reserved about touch pools? i'm happy to look but idk... i know they swap the creatures out regularly so none of them get too stressed but it still doesn't feel right to me to go poke the urchin when i get plenty from looking at it. cause can't you stare at this shit for eons?
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25. would you say you have good taste in music? idk about good but it's. hmmmm it's sure something. no one can figure out what it is. a couple of friends can now pretty consistently guess whether i'll like a particular song but god knows what the unifying thread is. my sister was visiting recently and i drove us around for a day trip and asked her to describe my music taste and she said 'irish folk' which is funny because i don't actually have a single irish folk song in my library? anyway angie labeled a lot of my music 'snoozers' so a lot of people probably think it's bad yeah
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