#(they were together for a show at 54 below last night)

[thegettingbyp2]

Aaron Tveit with the song Runaway with me (the one he has on his album) and I guess I'm in love by Clinton kane hehe

Run Away with Me

‘What’s this last song?’ You were looking at Aarons almost illegible scrawl on a scrap of paper that he was using to decide on his set list for his upcoming concert. He’d listed all of his chosen songs but the last song was just a series of stars.

‘That’s a surprise,’ he said, playfully yanking the paper out of your hands. ‘I guess it just means that you’ll have to come to the show to find out.’

You laughed lightly at his comment. You and Aaron had been dating for ten years and in the whole time you had been together, you hadn’t missed a single concert, opening night or closing night, so it was already a given that you weren’t going to be missing this one.

‘Even after all this time, you still manage to keep me on my toes, Tveit,’ you said, wrapping your arms around his waist and putting your chin on his chest to look up at him.

‘Well I’ve got to keep you on your toes so you stick around,’ he hummed happily, squeezing your body against his gently.

The same time the following week, you were sat front row at Aaron’s 54 Below concert and you could barely keep yourself together because of how proud you were of him; not only was he performing at one of the most intimate venues for Broadway, the concert was also being recorded to be released on CD. It was almost the end of the concert and you had been mentally checking all of the songs you remember from the list he showed you, still intrigued as to what the mystery song was going to be.

You watched as Aaron thanked his audience once again for coming to the gig before he started to introduce the next song.

‘So, I’ve got two more songs for you tonight but this next one could possibly be the most important song of my whole career. I’ve spent months planning the perfect song for this slot because I’m planning on only doing this once so I want to do it right. (Y/N),’ he said, turning his attention fully to you, ‘will you Run Away with Me?’

Tears began to prickle in your eyes as the soft introduction to the song you loved started playing and Aarons beautiful voice filled the space once again. The entirety of the song he kept his eyes glued to you, making his way down from the small stage until he was standing directly in front of you, the hand that wasn’t holding his microphone firmly grasping yours. You frowned at him in concern when you noticed that his hand was shaking slightly in yours and you shot him a reassuring smile and pressed a gentle kiss to the back of his hand which seemed to calm his nerves as he finished the song.

As soon as his final note died out, he immediately put the microphone down on the table, too absorbed in you to fully acknowledge the thunderous applause that was resonating around the whole room.

‘I love you,’ he said simply. You were barely able to hear him over the sound of the audience.

‘I love you too. That was beautiful,’ you replied, quickly wiping the few tears that had escaped from your cheeks with your free hand before beaming back up at him.

Instead of picking the microphone up and heading back to the stage like you had expected, Aaron knelt down in front of you until the two of you were face to face and he took a deep breath before speaking. While he spoke, he left the microphone on the table, giving you both as much privacy as he could manage whilst in a room filled with people.

‘For the past ten years, you’ve given me everything I’ve ever wanted and more. When I met you, I was entirely focused on my career and to be honest, every time I came home, I was expecting you to have left, pissed that I cancelled on yet another date just so I could work. Instead, you’ve relentlessly given me more love and support than I could ever deserve and it was then, when I realised that you actually wanted to stick by my side throughout anything that I knew I never want to lose you.’

You gasped as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, black box. Nestled inside was a beautiful silver ring with a dainty little diamond sitting in the centre of the band; it was quite possibly the most beautiful ring you had ever seen in your life.

‘(Y/N), will you marry me?’ he asked and you could see in his eyes that even though he’d just said that you’ve always stuck by him, there was still a bit of fear that you’d say no. Not being able to speak due to your throat closing up from the tears you knew were about to fall any minute, you nodded your head quickly and pulled him in to press a kiss on your lips. You tasted salt on your lips and put it down to the fact that you’d started crying but when you pulled back, you realised that Aaron had started crying as well. It was only then that the two of you noticed that the applause had started up again at your engagement. Aaron turned to the audience, thanking them before turning back to you and slipping the ring onto your finger and kissing you again before heading back to the stage where you sat and watched your fiancé finish his show.

#aaron tveit #aaron tveit x reader #aaron tveit imagine

[himikochan]

This didn’t post last night so let’s try it again!

So today I tried plotting out a pattern for the Bocksten Man's hood: there were a few changes I needed to make to the pattern for my own so I'm not aiming for 100% accuracy anyway.

I wanted to use a pretty piece of wool I had in my stash (weft width 60", warp width 38"). I'm being particular about warp/weft here because if I wanted a full proper copy, I'd need a piece with a selvedge edge about 54" and the selvedge edge is found along the warp. Additionally, while my head isn't especially big, I have a lot of hair and so I wanted to make the depth and neck opening larger.

This is my first time making a hood like this and I didn't want to make a mockup- mostly because I feel like I don't have enough spare wool to make a mockup out of it and a cotton mockup wouldn't drape correctly anyway so it would be a little... moot. I plan to hand sew the hood in a roughly period-accurate way.

ALSO my dudes I know there's a lot of controversy about the contrasting gusset? Gore? piece added to the front and I'm not going to do it nor will I be piecing my fabric together to reflect the loom length of the time.

OKAY CHANGE OF PLANS I started writing the stuff above before I really tackled this and also BAD NEWS I started chalking the pattern on the fabric and realized the diagram I was working off of was more.... vibes based than an actual rendering. I got the diagram off an academic website and it had some, but not all, the dimensions listed below so I started being a good mathlete and working out the ratios from the diagram but HEADS UP it's not accurate and starts to fuck up so-

so-

so-

I started working off a pattern in the "Medieval Tailor's Assistant" which looked too boxy to me- and then I panicked a bit because I've never made a hood before and I struggle with slip on garments (I don't want buttons for this particular one)

so I looked up a few online drafting guides (this one was simple and straight forward) and looked at this blog post (which shows their hood laid flat and then on the body) and then tried to harness the ghost of the Bocksten Man's tailor and I took some scrap fabric I had an made this little hood. It's missing the gore in front to smooth out the shoulders but I basically wanted to know 1. will my head fit through the neck hole and 2. will my head fit

so now I know more than when I started

I originally planned this as a hood that was fitted around my face but I'm not sure anymore, I need to sleep on it

I also did my laundry today, even making a special load for my linen cote, and I applied for a job!

It's a 3-ish month position, but the pay is comparable to my last job!

#himiko checks in #daily check in

[hereliesbeetlejuice]

RETURN OF THE LEGENDS THEMSELVES

#THEY’RE BACK Y’ALL 🥺 #(friendly grounding reminder this has nothing to do with beetlejuice we still don’t know who’s in the cast) #(they were together for a show at 54 below last night) #but god i’ve missed these tiktoks everybody say THANK YOU PRESLEY #my post #cast #alex brightman #presley ryan #beetlejuice #beetlejuice the musical #100*

[fantastic-bby]

One In A Million

Pairing: (F)Reader x Changbin ( ft housemates Felix and Jisung) 

Word count: 14.7k 

Genre: Fluff | Romance | Slow burn | Mermaid!Reader | Non-idol AU | College student!Changbin | Strangers to lovers 

Summary: In a world where magical creatures exist simultaneously with humans, Changbin, a marine biology student, knows that merfolk have been pushed to extinction by humans years before. However, while he’s at his regular smoking spot at the beach, he notices a figure watching him from the water...

Warnings: Cigarette use (Changbin) | Mentions of marijuana usage | Changbin almost drowns 

A/n: I may have gotten carried away ahaaaa... This is actually the longest fic I’ve ever written (it almost became longer) and I’m really happy with how it turned out so hopefully you guys enjoy it too owo 

Masterlist

Changbin thinks he’s gone mad. He stares at the water in so much disbelief that he’s sure he’s gone mad. Looking down at the cigarette in his hand, he’s thinking that Felix has definitely laced it with something. If he wasn’t high, then why did he just see a person disappear into the water from the beach he’s standing at?! 

“Fucking Felix,” he curses as he pulls his phone out of his pocket. 

Binnie: Did you put something in my cigarettes? [03:54]

Lixie the weedie: No??? Why would I touch your cigs? [03:55]

He lets out another curse as he shoves his phone back into his pocket. When Changbin sees the head poke out from underneath the ocean’s surface, he’s slightly more convinced that it’s an actual person and not some drug that’s messing with his head. He looks around the beach—it’s empty other than him. It’s normal for the beach to be empty around this time. Changbin’s only out there every night because he wants to smoke and his housemate—Jisung—refuses to let anyone smoke cigarettes in the house. Jisung’s a funny guy. He would gladly take Felix’s joints and edibles, but he refuses to be a victim of secondhand smoking because of Changbin.  

Changbin’s phone buzzes twice in his pocket and he pulls it out once again. 

Sungie: Come back inside D:< You’re gonna catch a cold if you’re out there any longer [04:00]

Binnie The cigs keep me warm [04:00] 

He awaits Jisung’s next response to see the message being read. The chat bubble pops up, bouncing a few times to signal that he’s typing back only for it to disappear. Changbin looks back out into the ocean only to realise that whoever was watching him is gone. He sighs, wondering what kind of a person would be in the water during winter with how the temperatures drop way below freezing. 

Sungie: I’m locking the door if you don’t come back in 5 minutes [04:03]

Binnie: Fuck you [04:03]

Sungie: Attached image (1)

Of course he sends a love meme back. Changbin rolls his eyes, a smile tugging at his lips. Jisung means well, he just shows his affection in a slightly more aggressive and dry manner than Changbin would. 

Binnie: I’ve accepted the love meme and I will be returning shortly <3 [04:05]

He gives the ocean one last look before turning around and heading towards the neighbourhood, putting his cigarette out in the process of walking. Changbin’s body shivers a few minutes into the 8 minute walk. Without the smoke warming his lungs and body, it’s just cold now. He knows he needs to stop and the constant excuses that he’s come up with to stay attached to those cancer sticks make Jisung want to punch him in the face. One of those excuses is being warm in the winter, which again, makes Jisung want to punch him. 

“I’m back,” Changbin announces as he steps into the small house and kicks his shoes off. Jisung pops his head out from the living room to look at him. 

“Lix and I are playing Super Smash Bros., do you wanna join?” 

“Uhh, I’ll pass,” he shakes his head as he steps into the living room to see Felix sitting on the couch. His Nintendo Switch is plugged into the TV, the baby pink controller in his hand while the other baby blue one is with Jisung. "Don't you have class in the morning?" 

"Our professor cancelled," he replies with a shrug as Jisung starts another round of the game. "I only have classes after lunch, so I'm not too worried about it." 

“Still,” Changbin chuckles. Unlike Changbin, Felix and Jisung somehow have more filled schedules than he does despite how they’re only first years and Changbin’s already in his third year. They’re always saying they have work they need to do when they’re doing pretty much anything else but their assignments.

“Why did you ask about your cigs?” Felix looks away from the screen for a split second to glance at Changbin.

The older man sucks a breath in through his teeth as he contemplates it. Felix and Jisung would definitely call him crazy, but they’ve lived with each other for the past four years, so it’s not like there’s any secrets between the three. “I thought I saw someone in the water for a moment, but then they disappeared.”

“In this temperature?” Jisung snorts. “You’d have to be crazy to take a dip in the ocean during winter.” Even though his attention is solely on the game, he takes a few glances towards his housemate when he realises that Changbin seems way more spaced out than usual. “You alright, hyung?” 

“Yeah,” Changbin nods quickly. “I just feel like that person may have not been… a human.” He doesn’t really know how the thought even came to him. It just popped out of nowhere when he swears that he saw a tailfin following after the person. 

“What?” Felix pauses the game and turns to look at him, earning a whine from Jisung. “What else could they have been?” Now Changbin really thinks he’s gone mad. He knows that if he actually spoke his thoughts, then Jisung and Felix would probably end up laughing at him. 

“I don’t know, man, I just feel like it could’ve been something else,” he shrugs, “like a mermaid or something.” 

“Merfolk went extinct years ago, hyung,” Jisung states, emphasizing on ‘years’, as he nudges Felix’s shoulder and unpauses the game. “Humans pushed the merfolk to extinction even before we were born. That includes sirens.” 

“Yeah, but you know how sometimes scientists declare a species extinct but it turns out they were just hiding somewhere else.” 

Felix and Jisung both pause the game once again before turning to look at their older housemate. “No way,” Felix shakes his head. 

“They’d have to have been really good at hiding or else the humans would’ve found them by now,” Jisung nods. 

“You think maybe the joint I gave you a few hours ago still has its effects on you?” he teases as he jabs Changbin’s bicep with his finger. In response, he yelps and swats at Felix’s hand until he leaves him alone. 

“I’m telling you, I know what I saw,” Changbin grumbles. “There was a fin following after them.” 

“It was probably another creature,” Jisung guesses as he turns back to the TV. “You know how water sprites can get too. Maybe it was one of them playing tricks on you.” 

“Water sprites don’t take the forms of other water creatures,” he states matter-of-factly. 

“Alright, Mr ‘I study magical creatures’,” he rolls his eyes. “Don’t think too much about it. It could’ve been something else.” 

“I don’t study magical creatures, I study the ocean’s ecosystem, asshole,” Changbin nags and reaches over Felix to punch Jisung’s arm. The younger man lets out an exaggerated howl of pain as he writhes around. 

“Felix, hyung is bullying me!” he whines. 

“Sounds like a you problem,” Felix snorts just as he manages to knock out Jisung’s character. “I win!” He shoots up from the couch with his arms up in the air, “I won because you’re too busy teasing Changbin hyung!” Jisung lets out an even louder whine. 

“That’s unfair! We have to play again! Let’s play another round!”

“It’s not unfair! I won!” Changbin crosses his arms over his chest, amused as he watches the younger men argue about whether or not they should play another game. They annoy him, sure, but Changbin’s harboured a soft spot for his housemates. As much as Felix makes him want to throw him out of the window and how Jisung makes him want to lock him in his own room, Changbin would do anything to keep them safe and happy. The feeling’s mutual across the three of them. 

Jisung, the designated demon of the house, once broke into Felix’s crazy ex-girlfriend's house and stole his hoodie back for him only to have objects thrown at him by her. Felix, the house mum, once almost lit a car on fire to try and save Jisung from being beat up by a gang of hooligans. Changbin, on the other hand, pays the most in rent and likes to use it against his two younger friends—he would prefer to call them his brothers. A happy family that the three of them decided to build together when they had started college. 

Changbin finds himself at the beach at the same time a few days later, cigarette held between his index and his middle finger. He’s come to terms that there’s no way it was a mermaid—he studies them, of course he would know what a mermaid looks like even in the dark. However, tonight, he finds himself sitting on one of the rockier areas of the coast, sitting cross-legged on the almost frozen  stone and looking out at the ocean as he smokes his problems away. 

He’s lucky that the three of them are able to afford a small house nearer to the ocean or else he would’ve been more stressed out. Being near the ocean as a student who studies marine ecosystems means that it’s easier for Changbin to do research without having to travel so far away to get to the water. 

As he looks out, he sees it again. Changbin almost falls off of the rocks and into the water when he sees what looks like a person sticking their head out of the water, eyes watching him intently. He sits upright, leaning closer to get a better look only to watch them dive back into the water. That’s when he sees it. 

A tailfin. 

“No fucking way," Changbin gasps as he crawls closer to the edge of the rocks. The waves move gently, the darkness and the movement obstructing any kind of view he would have into the water. His hand holds himself up as he slowly gets closer and closer towards the water when the head re-emerges, right in front of his face. Changbin loses his balance out of shock, his hand slipping against the rock and his body rolling off of the edge until he's enveloped in cold. 

Freezing cold.

He panics.

Changbin can't breathe. He feels the salt water gushing into his lungs and all he feels is pain. His throat burns, his eyes sting, his lungs hurt. Black spots start to fill his vision while his limbs frantically try to push himself up towards the water's surface, but it's too cold for his limbs to even move properly. He'll drown if he doesn't get out and if it isn't the water that kills him, then the hypothermia definitely will. The more he panics, the more frantic his arms become, but it’s not like Changbin’s actually able to control himself since the only thought in his mind is swim to the surface.

Arms wrap around Changbin's torso when he feels his body starting to give up but it's too dark for him to see as they pull him into a darker area. He's shoved out of the water and onto stone, his lungs painfully coughing out all the water out as he heaves to catch his breath. He looks around the area once he's more composed, only now noticing that he's in what looks like a cave. Changbin's eyes stop at a pair of eyes peeking out from right above the water's surface, staring at him. 

"Y-You…" Changbin trails when he realises how cold it is, his arms moving to wrap around himself in a feeble attempt to keep himself warm. The head further emerges, tilting curiously and watching him. Changbin manages to push out a gasp despite his shivers, her skin is patched with tinges of blue and green, scales crawling up the side of her face. Her pupils were shaped like slits, almost cat-like. "You're… a m-mermaid." Her head tilts curiously as she lowers into the water momentarily. She lifts herself out of the water further to take a closer look at Changbin. “Do you not understand me?” he questions. The mermaid blinks a few times, her pupils dilating when she sees the way Changbin hugs his soaked jacket tighter around himself. She slips underneath the water despite the human’s protests. “F-Fuck,” he curses as he realises how much shit he’s in. Not only does his throat hurt like hell now, but he knows that if he doesn’t get out of the cave or find a way to find warmth, he’ll freeze to death. 

A few moments pass before the mermaid pops back out with a plastic zip lock bag in her hands. She puts it onto the ground and pushes it towards him. Changbin looks between her and the plastic bag before taking it, ripping it open to see a perfectly dry winter coat. He turns back to look at the mermaid who’s returned to hiding half of her face underneath the water and only her eyes watching him. Changbin immediately changes out of his wet clothes and slips himself into the coat, closing his eyes as he lets out a sigh of relief when he feels his body slowly starting to warm up. When his eyes open, Changbin notices the mermaid still watching him, her webbed hands holding onto the edge of the cave to keep herself afloat. 

“I thought mermaids were supposed to speak human languages,” he thinks out loud. Once again, her head tilts curiously. “Since you guys were said to be extinct, then I don’t think it’s a surprise that you don’t understand me.” Changbin hugs himself tighter as he looks around the cave, the mermaid watching him and looking around as well. How is he supposed to get home? The only creature that knows where he is doesn’t even understand what he’s saying! 

“Mermaid,” he calls out, the creature immediately perking up at the sound of his voice. “Wait, do you understand me?” The way she simply stares at him makes Changbin realise that she just reacted because she heard him talk. He stuffs his hand into the wet pocket of his jeans, pulling out his phone. Changbin presses the home button and watches as the screen flickers before turning white and shutting down right after. He sits awkwardly as he thinks about what to do next. He lifts his head, making eye contact with the mermaid—who’s been watching him this whole time—and knows that she’s the only way he can get home. 

“I-I need to get home, mermaid.” Once again, she tilts her head as she tries to process what she’s saying. Changbin bits his lip as he looks around the cave, trying to figure out a way to get her to understand. “Home,” he says as he lifts up three rocks, building a really crappy fort. “I need to get back to where I live.” The mermaid watches his hands, her mind trying it’s best to figure out what he’s showing her. Changbin sighs when she shakes her head. He lifts his hands over his heads to try and signal a roof, “my house.” The mermaid blinks a few times before diving back underwater, leaving the human to dwell with his own thoughts and company while trying to figure out how to at least get back to shore. 

A few minutes pass and Changbin decides that he might as well explore the cave. He doesn’t even know if the mermaid will return anytime soon, so he stands up and looks around. There’s little light that shines into the cave and it’s only because of a few large cracks that scatter the cave walls, but it’s enough to help him barely navigate through the area. Rock formations jut out from the sides and Changbin’s careful to try not to bump into them, his biggest fear being accidentally stabbing himself with a rock formation if he’s careless. He follows the inside of the cave only to realise that he’s trapped. The only way out is to jump into the small body of water right in front of him. Changbin stares at the pool, panic starting to creep throughout him when he realises that this cave is most likely underwater when the tide rises. 

A glow emits from underneath the water’s surface and it makes Changbin’s face contort in confusion as he watches the way it moves around. It gets closer to the surface before the mermaid re-emerges, obviously watching him in confusion since he’s not in the same place as before, but a water sprite is sitting on her shoulder this time.

“The mermaid tells me that you’re stuck,” the sprite claims as he flies off of the mermaid’s shoulder and moves closer to look at Changbin. The dark blue sprite is small—very small. He’s probably only the size of Changbin’s finger, small blue wings holding him up in the air as he hovers around the human’s head. “How did you even end up here?” 

“I-I saw the mermaid, but I thought they were extinct and I fell in,” Changbin admits softly. The sprite turns around to look at the mermaid who watches from the water. He mutters something in a language that Changbin can’t understand and the mermaid responds in the same language. The sprite snaps back at her and she scowls as she lowers herself into the water.

“I can cast a spell on you that would keep you alive while we bring you back to the beach, but you can’t tell anyone about her,” the sprite sighs as he turns to face Changbin. “Mermaids went into hiding for a reason and I don’t want some clumsy human to be the reason that their numbers go down again. I’m Hyunjin by the way.” Hyunjin climbs up his hair and stands right on top of his head, “I’ll give you an air bubble so you’ll stay dry too.”

“Thanks…?” Changbin trails off as he watches a translucent bubble wrap around him, suddenly very aware of how quiet it is inside of the spell. “Woah,” he gasps when he hears his voice bouncing back to him. 

“Yeah, there’s a lot of echo in this bubble and you’ll still feel cold, but it’ll help you get home,” he mumbles. “Walk towards where (Y/n) is.” 

“(Y/n)?”

“The mermaid.” The tiny creature stays on Changbin’s head as he walks towards the pool. “She’s too nice to humans for her own good. I told her a billion times to not interact with them, but she still goes ahead and saves you.” Ouch. Changbin makes a mental note that Hyunjin’s a bit of a dick, but he knows that if he says anything now, the sprite might just leave him in the cave to die. 

Honestly, Changbin doesn’t really blame Hyunjin for not liking humans. His species has unfortunately had a very bad history with the other creatures that live in the same world as them. Where humans had dominated the entire world, forcing every other creature into a form of either submission or alliance, merfolk were only deemed extinct presumably due to the insane water pollution. The other creatures don’t exactly like the humans either. Even without any sort of magic, humans had still managed to force every species to live simultaneously despite destroying everything else. 

“(Y/n) has to push you back to the beach,” Hyunjin speaks up as Changbin slowly climbs into the water. “I’ll dry your clothes and get your phone working once we’re there, but only if you promise not to tell anyone about her.” The human notes how the bubble’s temperature slowly starts to drop. Changbin would probably succumb to the cold of the water if he wasn’t wearing the coat.

“So, the merfolk still exist?” Changbin questions once he’s completely submerged in the water. It’s a strange feeling to be floating so effortlessly despite being able to feel the force of the waves and the water moving around him. Once in the water, he has a slightly better view of the mermaid swimming closer to him. Unfortunately, he’s only barely able to make out the colour of her scales with how dark it is underwater. Her turquoise tail is long, lighter blue scales scattering her body and fading into a more human-like tone as they her torso. Her ‘hair’ is just as it’s described in theory in Changbin’s classes; it’s just an added fin that grows out and only appears like it’s hair. He wonders whether it’s as soft as scientists had described it to be. 

“Yes, they still exist,” Hyunjin nods before muttering something to (Y/n). The mermaid nods, moving closer to rest her hands against the bubble and starts to push it through the water. “Merfolk got so scared for their existence that they decided to ‘go extinct’ to protect themselves. Humans were pushing them beyond their limits as a living, feeling species.” 

“Well yeah, humans are greedy,” he sighs. “What about the other creatures?” 

“Dragons don’t really care since they can eat you guys in seconds. Most pegasi stay in their own dimension unless they’re needed here; that’s why you don’t see them as much anymore. Kobolds stay hidden in ships, werewolves stay in the mountains and vampires build their own mansions away from human civilisations. Most of the creatures that can travel to their own world try to stay away from your world for the sake of their own safety.”

“Have we really pushed you guys that far?” Changbin turns to his shoulder when he feels Hyunjin move off of his head. 

“Unfortunately, yes,” the sprite nods. “Soon, your world will be rid of magical creatures because they’ve run away and we’ll go to becoming nothing but myths for your future generations.” He turns around to mutter something to (Y/n) as they approach the beach. “Start walking. We can’t risk (Y/n) being seen. At least if they see me on your shoulder, they’ll think I’m the only one helping you.” Changbin does as Hyunjin says, starting to walk just as the bubble hits the inclining ground underneath the water and moving towards where the waves hit the beach. He turns around for a moment giving a wave towards the mermaid who returns it with a small smile on her face. 

“Thanks, Hyunjin,” Changbin says as he's back on the beach and the sprite hovers right in front of him. “I won’t tell anyone about this.” 

“You better,” he clicks his tongue in annoyance. “I knew it was a bad idea for her to linger in shallow waters.” Hyunjin does as he promises, using his magic to dry up Changbin’s clothes as well as getting his phone back to working order. “Be more careful next time. You humans are always so reckless when it comes to your life.” 

“I was just curious,” he shrugs in response, watching his phone start up. 

“Too curious for your own good.” Changbin ignores the comment. His eyes widen when he sees the messages spamming his phone from Jisung and Felix. 

“Shit,” he curses softly as he quickly replies to the both of them. 

“Head on home before your friends worry,” Hyunjin says when he hears the spammed sound of the notification. Changbin sticks his phone back into his pocket before looking back at the sprite. 

“Again, thank you. I’ll try not to fall into the water next time.” 

“In the chance that it ever happens again, just call out for me. I’ll be able to hear you,” he gives the human a smile and Changbin thinks that he may not be as cold as he would like to show. “But if you fall too many times, I might consider just leaving you there,” Hyunjin snickers right after. 

“Okay, now you’re just being an ass,” he scoffs with a smile on his face. “I’ll be more careful next time, I promise.”

Changbin wakes to the sound of his alarm beeping from the other side of his room, something he does to force him to get out of bed. He lets out a whiney groan as he rolls over, willing himself to ignore it until the alarm snoozes. Jisung, however, refuses to allow that. 

The bedroom door swings open to a very disgruntled looking Jisung who marches over to Changbin’s bed and whacks him with a pillow, “It’s a fucking Sunday, turn the damn thing off.” 

“You’re already here—you do it,” he yawns. Jisung’s face twinges with annoyance as he whacks Changbin another time. “God—I. Ah!” Changbin yells, thrashing around his bed before sitting up to see the younger still staring at him. “I’ll turn it off! You can leave!” 

“I also wanted to let you know that Felix’s already up and making breakfast,” he mumbles, standing at the edge of his bed like a Sims character. 

“Give me twenty minutes,” he grumbles and lays back down. 

“If you’re not out by then, I’m eating your portion,” Jisung giggles mischievously as he scrambles out of his room. 

“Fuck you,” Changbin groans as he kicks the cushion by his foot and sends it flying in Jisung’s direction, only for it to hit the door just as he closes it. Changbin rolls over in his bed, too lazy to actually go ahead and turn the alarm off and instead opts for just letting it snooze on it’s own. He stays in bed for a little longer before dragging himself out and to his desk across the room where his phone is. He doesn’t remember setting an alarm for the weekends, so Changbin assumes that he must’ve accidentally turned on one of the weekend alarms without realising it. 

Making sure to turn the alarm off, Changbin sighs as he looks through his notifications to make sure he hasn’t received anything important overnight. Once certain that there’s nothing important, he moves to taking a shower and putting on the black hoodie he wears everyday along with his jeans before stepping out of his room and making his way towards the dining room where Felix and Jisung are. 

“You took twenty-one minutes,” Jisung giggles, “means I get your serving of waffles.” Just as he’s about to reach for the waffle-filled plate, Felix swats at his hand with the silicone spatula. 

“Those are for Changbin hyung, you dick,” he scolds, earning a whine and a pout from the hungry boy. 

“Thanks, Felix,” Changbin hums as he sits down and pulls the plate towards him. “Do you guys have anything important today?” 

“It’s Sunday,” Felix shakes his head, “I’ve finished all my assignments for this week, so I’m probably just going to head back to bed after breakfast.” 

“Same for me,” Jisung hums with a mouthful of food. “I have an assignment due Tuesday, but that’s for something future Sungie has to handle.” 

“I’ll do it for you,” he offers and sits himself down, digging into his own plate of waffles. 

Changbin scoffs at that, “stop doing Jisung’s assignments for him. He should be paying you.” 

“He does pay me,” Felix corrects him, “he gives me five dollars for every two hundred words that I write.”

“I really shouldn’t be condoning this behaviour,” he sighs before turning to Jisung. “Damn it, Ji, cut Felix some slack!” 

“I don’t ask him to do it, he offers and I just pay him afterwards,” Jisung shrugs as he takes another bite of his waffle. “Don’t worry about it, the university won’t know.” 

“You know, that’s not the point, but I doubt that I can stop you…” Changbin trails off. He feels like he should be at least a bit more strict with his friends, but he also knows that Jisung really couldn’t give two shits about his academics. He just happened to luck out when he met Felix; a weed dealer who doesn’t even have to try to write papers worth distinctions. Jisung’s less book smart than he is street smart. He spends his time making friends with not-so-nice people that actually offer more convenience to him than they do company. As much as they have very questionable morals, they’re loyal to Jisung only because he sells them Felix’s edibles at a good price. 

Changbin, on the other hand, is in between the two of them. He doesn’t have a 4.0 GPA like Felix does and even though he’s more extroverted than Jisung is, he prefers not to go around and make friends with dangerous people. Changbin’s just… Changbin. He’s turning twenty-four soon, he’s in his final year of university and he’s spent his entire academic life getting slightly higher than average grades and as extroverted as he is, Changbin prefers sticking to his small group of friends. He’s able to blend into groups and make friends easily, but Felix and Jisung are the only friends that he’s actually willingly kept around for more than two years. 

“Hyung, if you want me to do your assignments, I’ll do them,” Felix offers, “no charge.” 

“Uhh, I’ll pass,” Changbin shakes his head. “I’m pretty sure it’ll be suspicious because my grades would jump from merits to distinctions overnight.” 

“Ah, I can dumb them down for you, I don’t mind.” 

“Felix, you’re not doing my assignments.” 

“Felix writes great essays, though!” Jisung pipes up. 

“Ji, you should really be doing your own assignments, man,” Changbin sighs. 

“I do do my assignments,” he huffs, “I just need the extra help sometimes.” 

“I don’t mind either way—it’s better than watching you guys fail,” Felix shrugs. Changbin can’t stop the smile that makes its way on his face when he sees Jisung trying to steal some of Felix’s food. “No, dude, fuck off,” Felix grumbles as he swats his hand away. 

“I just want a little more,” Jisung gives him a toothy grin as he stabs his fork into the waffle. 

“Jisung! Fuck off! This is mine!” Felix slaps his hand away, but it doesn’t stop Jisung who continues to try and steal his food. Changbin breathes out a laugh as he watches them fight, wondering whether or not he needs to get involved before deciding that it’s too early in the morning for him to do anything. 

Changbin stands on the shoreline, cigarette between his fingers as he looks out at the ocean. Only this time, he’s looking for the mermaid. Maybe he’s foolish for thinking that she’d return after the whole incident and Hyunjin—most likely scolding her for letting a human see her—having to save him, but Changbin wants to know more about her species. Even if he can’t communicate with her, maybe he’d be able to get a better look at her tail… which is kinda creepy. Changbin’s being creepy. 

He groans when he realises how weird he seems, taking a huff from his cig and letting his chest fill with warmth, but he almost chokes when he sees the familiar figure watching him from the distance, head poking out of the water. It’s the mermaid! 

And Hyunjin

Changbin feels himself shrinking when he sees the water sprite flying towards him, stopping right in front of his face with his hands on his hips. “Back at the beach again?” Hyunjin raises an eyebrow. Changbin’s about to answer when the sprite starts sniffing the air, his gaze moving down to look at the cigarette in his hand. “Oh.” 

“What ‘oh’?” 

“Is that why (Y/n) says you’re here all the time?” he questions as he turns back up. 

“Uhhh, yeah,” Changbin nods. Hyunjin clicks his tongue repeatedly as he shakes his head. 

“That’s unhealthy.”

“Yeah I know,” he rolls his eyes. 

“It’s not good for the environment either,” Hyunjin adds as he moves to sit on his shoulder. “People just leave them lying around everywhere and sprites are usually the ones who clean them up because it’s gross.” 

“I actually throw them away properly, so the littering isn’t something you have to worry about,” Changbin mutters as he takes a drag. “I’ve been trying to stop for a while, cut me some slack.” 

Hyunjin gives him a look but decides against pressing him further about it and instead changes the subject, “(Y/n) wouldn’t stop bugging me about coming back to the beach. She said she wants to talk to you.” 

“What?” His head turns to look at the sprite who shrugs. 

“She’s never interacted with a human before—she’s curious.” Hyunjin keeps his eyes on (Y/n)’s figure in the distance. “You remember the rocky part of the coast you were on before you fell off? (Y/n) wants you to move there so that she can get closer to you.” Changbin’s surprised. He would’ve expected her to at least be scared instead of curious, but he obliges and makes his way towards the rocks, climbing onto the cold, damp stone and carefully making his way towards the edge. He sits right on the edge just as (Y/n)’s head pops out of the water. “Say hello.” 

“Uhm, hi,” Changbin waves at her. She smiles as she returns the wave, webbed hand raising out of the water shyly. 

“I’m gonna start saying this from her point-of-view,” the sprite tells Changbin as he turns to him before turning to (Y/n) and saying something to her. She nods immediately, speaking in her language. 

“I was so worried when you fell into the water. I heard that humans can’t handle this kind of cold like the other creatures can.” 

“Ah,” Changbin laughs awkwardly. “I was just trying to get a closer look at you since I thought that merfolk were extinct.” (Y/n) looks at Hyunjin as he speaks and she smiles, making the human feel less sheepish. 

“Then I’ll assume that I’m the first mermaid you’ve ever seen.” 

“That’s right,” he nods. “I’ve always been interested in merfolk and the ocean in general.” 

“Ahh, then maybe one day I can take you into the ocean when it’s not so cold and I can properly show you my tail!” Changbin blushes at that. (Y/n)’s smiling brightly at him with her hands clasped together. 

“I think she’s as interested in humans as you are with merfolk,” Hyunjin chuckles when he sees how excited she looks. “You should tell her about what it’s like to walk around with legs. She thinks that’s fascinating.” 

“Legs?” he turns to Hyunjin in confusion. How would Changbin be able to explain what legs are like? He’s never had to think about how his muscles function before. “I don’t know how else to explain that and I wouldn’t think that (Y/n) would be able to explain how swimming with a tail would feel like either.” 

“Wait…” the sprite trails off before realising how awkward that would be. “Yeah, never mind.”

“What’s that thing you put in your mouth every night?” Changbin turns away from Hyunjin to look at (Y/n) who’s looking at him with bright eyes holding wonder. 

“Oh, uhh, it’s a cigarette,” his hand moves to rub the back of his neck awkwardly. “I-I doubt that merfolk could actually really understand what it is, but it makes my stress lighter.”

“How can that tiny stick do that?” 

Changbin pauses before he lets out a deep sigh and shrugs, “it’s…”

“Magic,” Hyunjin blurts out. “I’ll just tell her it’s magic. She won’t understand what drugs are.”

“Do merfolk not have some form of drugs?” Changbin asks. 

“They do,” he nods, “but they think it’s magic. Don’t tell them that pufferfish are venomous—they’re going to tell you they’re magical and just make them high,” Hyunjin snickers. 

“I didn’t realise humans have magical abilities.” 

“Humans have… some,” he hums. 

“Keep in mind that you can use the ‘magic’ card any time you don’t know how to explain something to her,” Hyunjin whispers in his ear as though (Y/n) can understand him. 

“Well, some of it is magic and some of it we just find convenience from what the Earth offers us,” Changbin continues. (Y/n) lets out a hum, her figure lowering into the water to keep the gills on her neck under the waves before she comes back up slightly. 

“Hyunjin keeps telling me that humans are dangerous, but I don’t think you’re that dangerous.” The human turns to the sprite who looks at (Y/n) with narrowed eyes as he translates her words. 

“Well,” Changbin adjusts himself into a more comfortable position, his legs crossing underneath him, “it’s like humans saying sharks are dangerous. It’s a cautionary thing rather than a general thing. Humans just don’t care much for the Earth.” 

“Is that why there’s so much of your plastic in the ocean?” Changbin nods, a heavy sigh leaving past his lips. “Those bags have killed more of the creatures in my ocean than any human actually has.” 

“We know,” his lips purse into a straight line. “The only people that seem to care aren’t in actual positions of power to change that, so…” 

“That’s stupid,” (Y/n) huffs as she crosses her arms across her chest. Changbin’s eyes widen and he moves back in shock when he realises that he understood her. 

“I got tired of translating, so you guys get put under a spell that lets you both understand each other,” Hyunjin lets out a sigh as he moves to sit on the rocks beside Changbin, his arms holding him up as he smiles. 

“Y-Yeah, it is,” Changbin chuckles nervously. With Hyunjin resting by his side, Changbin feels more at ease with talking to (Y/n). He doesn’t feel so weird about it since the water sprite was literally translating what he was saying to the mermaid, making Changbin feel a bit more comfortable with the situation.

“Tell me more about humans.”

“What else is there to tell?” he tilts his head questioningly. 

“Could I touch your hand? I’ve never felt human skin before,” (Y/n)’s hand slowly nudges out of the water as she asks him and Changbin honestly feels like her sentence could’ve easily come out of a serial killer. 

“S-Sure,” he glances over at Hyunjin who shrugs in response. The human carefully moves to lay on his stomach as he holds his hand out towards the water where (Y/n) gently reaches out as well. The water isn’t too far away from the rock, making it easier for Changbin to actually allow the mermaid to hold onto his hand.

Immediately when her webbed hands touch his, she gasps, “your hands are so rough!” Her hands gently hold onto his individual fingers, pulling them away from each other and just examining it. Changbin’s lips purse together again as he just lets her do whatever she wants. “Oh, these must be fingernails,” (Y/n) mutters to herself as she lets her own fingers gently graze over his nails. Her hands are pretty much as soft as human’s skin, but Changbin would think that they feel way softer and more like what fish skin feels like without the scales. Even in the dark of night, he’s able to note where (Y/n)’s skin actually has scales and where they’re exposed. 

Only her shoulders are held above the water, her shoulders scattered with dark turquoise scales that crawl up the sides of her neck and face, barely covering the gills of her neck. Changbin also notes how the scales seem to lead down her back more than they do over her front… but he doesn’t want to look down any further because from what he remembers, merfolk don’t have anything covering their chests. 

“It’s so strange how your fingers don’t have fins connecting them,” (Y/n) speaks up after a moment. 

“We don’t live in the water, so we don’t need the fins to help us move around,” he explains. “Like our hair—it’s not a fin like yours is. Yours is supposed to help you move around in the water, but our hair is just… well it’s hair.” 

“Could I touch your hair?” she asks gently. Changbin’s cheeks redden as he—awkwardly—tries to lower his head off of the rocks without falling in. (Y/n) moves closer to the edge, one hand reaching up to hold onto the rocks before she takes a deep breath and pulls herself up so that she’s closer to his head. Changbin thanks the Lord that her chest is clothed with what looks like a top made out of marine plants. Her wet fingers gently hold onto his hair and her eyes widen further as she drops herself back into the water. “That feels so strange!” she exclaims. “Merfolk don’t actually have hair. They’re more like the fins on our fingers.” 

“Could I feel it?” Changbin asks. (Y/n) nods excitedly and pulls herself out of the water once again to briefly allow the human to touch her fins. His fingers run across the smooth fin, his lips parting in awe at the way it feels because it’s just as his textbooks say, if not softer. “That’s so cool,” he breathes out once she’s lowered herself back into the water. “Your skin feels smooth like fish skin.” 

“Well, yeah, we are technically fishes,” (Y/n) chuckles. “I would love to take you into the water to show you my tail, but I don’t think you’ll be able to see anything in the dark.” 

“I also can’t breathe underwater,” he reminds her. Her lips form an ‘o’ at the realisation and (Y/n) turns to Hyunjin with a smile on her face. 

“I’m not putting any more spells on Changbin,” the sprite shakes his head. “I’m tired, it’s almost 4 a.m., I’m not doing that.” Wait a minute, 4 a.m.?!

“Oh shit,” Changbin sits up and whips his phone out of pocket only to realise that Hyunjin’s right. “Shit, I have to get home before my friends start to worry.” He looks back to (Y/n) to see how her mood’s visibly dampened, a frown pulling on her lips. “I can’t spend too long away or else they get upset and I don’t want to worry them.” 

“Will you return tomorrow?” she questions.

He nods with a reassuring smile, “I promise I’ll be back here tomorrow at the same time.”

“Alright,” (Y/n)’s eyes light up and Changbin thinks it’s cute. “Goodnight, Changbin.”

“You too, (Y/n).” 

Changbin wakes the next morning and for the first time in a while, he’s awake before his alarm starts ringing. His eyes look around his bedroom as he wonders why he’s awake so early when he’s pretty sure he slept at 5 a.m after getting back from the beach. He sits up, feeling even weirder when he realises that he feels super refreshed. Changbin looks around his room as he throws his covers off of himself, standing up and making his way towards his desk to pick up his phone. 

7:26 a.m.

His alarm won’t ring until 9 and his classes are only in the afternoon., which makes Changbin wonder why he’s awake so early? Felix and Jisung are definitely still asleep—both of them barely ever have morning classes—and Changbin contemplates what to do since he doesn’t feel like he’ll be able to fall asleep again. 

The beach!

Changbin perks up. He can visit the beach. No one would be there so early in the morning! He doesn’t even bother to shower—he can always shower when he gets back before he heads to campus—so he just throws on one of his really thick jackets, grabs his pack of cigarettes and his phone before quietly stepping out of the house, making sure to leave Felix a text to let him know where he’s heading. 

His body stiffens when he feels the cold wind slap him in the face, regretting not grabbing his beanie before leaving, but Changbin doesn’t feel like heading back into the house because he doesn’t want to waste any time. By the time he reaches the beach, the Sun’s raised just a little bit more and the tide is still low. He climbs to the rocky coast he was at the night before, sitting on the edge and looking out at the ocean, hoping maybe Hyunjin or (Y/n) are lingering around anywhere.

Changbin feels himself perk up when he sees a familiar set of eyes peeking out from just above the water’s surface, (Y/n)’s head immediately lifting out of the water with a big smile on her face when she realises who it is. 

“You’re out here early,” she comments when she swims to the rocks. 

“Kinda surprised myself,” he chuckles. “I’m not awake this early and my alarm will only ring in a few hours.” 

“You left the beach only two hours ago,” (Y/n) claims. 

Changbin nods at that, “which makes this a bit more confusing on my end.” 

“It’s because I casted a spell on you,” Hyunjin’s voice speaks up as he emerges from the water. “I had a feeling you would have trouble sleeping, so I casted a sleep spell on your mind to get you refreshed in a few hours time.” 

“Oh,” he watches as the sprite moves to stand on his knee, “thank you, Hyunjin. I haven’t gotten proper sleep in so long.” 

“Don’t mention it,” he smiles as he takes a seat on Changbin’s knee. Hyunjin’s change in personality towards the human makes him wonder whether the sprite’s already starting to warm up to him.

“Changbin.” (Y/n)’s voice makes him turn back to look at the mermaid. “What do you do during the day?” 

“I’m a student, so I’m usually at college until the evening,” he hums, “after I get home, I just spend the rest of the day with my housemates until it’s past midnight and I come to the beach to clear my mind.” She lets out an ‘ooh’ while Changbin talks, intently listening to everything he has to tell. “I live with two of my friends. They’re also college students, so we like to get things done together.”

“Are they nice?” 

“They’re amazing,” he chuckles. “I love them. Jisung made a Spotify playlist for the three of us once and it’s all we listen to now. He’s a nice guy, but sometimes he gets a bit crazy and thrashes the house until Felix has the urge to lock him outside of the house. Felix likes to cook, so he makes us breakfast and dinner. He’s a good cook.”

“Your friends sound like good company,” Hyunjin muses. 

“Very much so,” Changbin nods feverishly. “They’re really important to me. Whenever I’m at the beach for too long at night, Jisung’s usually the one to text me and ask me to come home. If I don’t respond to him, then Felix will call me instead.” 

“So that night when you fell into the water, it was your friends that you mentioned?” (Y/n) asks. 

“Yeah, they scolded me when I got home because I just said that I lost track of time.” Changbin leans back on his arms, getting himself more comfortable. “I feel bad because I worry them a lot. They don’t usually say anything about it, but I can tell that they’d really wish I would be a bit more aware of what’s happening around me.” 

“Why so?” 

“The cigarettes are one thing,” he pulls the pack out of the pocket of his jacket and shows it to (Y/n), “Jisung wishes I would stop because he doesn’t want anything bad happening to me in the future. Felix hints at it sometimes, but he can’t say much about it because he smokes weed every once in a while.” 

“Weed?” (Y/n)’s head tilts curiously. 

“It gives the same effect as pufferfish magic,” Hyunjin explains and her lips part in understanding. 

“Yeah, but cigs are unhealthy,” Changbin continues. “I’ve tried stopping before, but every time I try, I end up crawling back to them.”

(Y/n) stays quiet for a moment before hey eyes flick to Hyunjin. “Hyunjin, could you cast a spell on me so that I can breathe above water?” The sprite whips his head towards her and his eyebrows furrow. 

“Why?” his eyes narrow. 

“Just do it.” Hyunjin hesitates before sighing, climbing off of Changbin’s lap to jump onto (Y/n)’s head. Changbin watches as he holds his hands out, palms facing outwards before a bright light flashes from his hands. 

“That should do the trick,” he mutters as he jumps off of her head to return to his previous spot on Changbin’s knee. (Y/n) blinks a few times before diving into the water only to jump out and grab onto the rocks, moving to sit beside Changbin where her tail hangs into the water. The human stares at her with wide eyes, only now aware of just how vibrant the colours of her scales are in the light of the day. 

To Changbin’s shock, (Y/n) grabs onto his pack of cigs out of his hands and pulls the top open, pulling one of them out. She looks at it for a moment before throwing it into the ocean along with the rest of the pack. 

“(Y/n)!” Hyunjin gasps. Changbin’s eyes almost bulge out of his skull as he watches the pack fly out until it splashes into the water. “What are you doing?! You’re littering!” The sprite squeals as he flies out to chase after the pack of cigarettes that’s now unusable. 

“I know,” she shrugs as she turns back to the human, “but if it helps you with stopping something that’s unhealthy, then so be it.” His jaw drops when he sees the way (Y/n)’s shoulders slump, her body relaxing as she looks out at the horizon. She turns to him and tilts her head questioningly. 

“Oh,” he snaps out of his trance, “it’s nothing. I just—you do realise I can buy another pack, right?” 

“If you buy another pack, I’ll throw that one out too,” she simply says. 

“You’re adding to the pollution, (Y/n),” Hyunjin huffs when he returns. “The sprites are going to be really mad at you if I’m not able to get rid of them before they find it.”

“Then just always stay at my side,” (Y/n) grins as she pets his head with her finger. Hyunjin whines as he shoves her hand away from him. Changbin watches at the way she interacts with him, his heart filling with a sense of joy at the way she continuously teases Hyunjin and how he seems like the more stable friend in their dynamic; it reminds him of his friends. “Changbin?” Her voice snaps him out of his thoughts. 

“Hm? Yeah?” he shakes his head for a moment. 

“You alright?”

“Y-Yeah,” Changbin nods, “I was just… thinking.” (Y/n) smiles. 

“What kind of thoughts move around in your human brain?” He puffs his cheeks with air as he turns away to look at the ocean, humming in thought as he wonders what else he should share with her. 

“I feel like I’ve spoken a lot about myself since we’ve met,” Changbin says after a moment and turns to look at (Y/n), “tell me more about you.” Her eyes widen in surprise, realising that he has been only talking about the human world. 

“I don’t know what to start with,” she hums as her back subconsciously straightens. 

“What’s it like living underwater? Do mermaids live in something similar to cities?”

(Y/n)’s lips jut out in a small pout as she thinks about it, something that Changbin notes as cute in his mind. “Kind of. Water sprites merfolk pretty much live together, so we use their magic to build structures. Merfolk don’t have the same machines that humans do, all we have is magic and using similar machines would actually hurt the ocean.”

“Do you live with other merfolk?” he questions. 

“I live in my own cave,” she shakes her head, “Hyunjin’s the only one that lives with me because I’ve known him since forever and my parents thought it would be safer if I actually lived with another creature.” Silence falls between them, Hyunjin starting to zone out because he’s starting to feel like a third-wheel. (Y/n) and Changbin sit by each other’s sides, looking out at the ocean and letting the sound of the water moving fill the space instead. “Would you like to come into the ocean one day?” she asks as she turns to look at Changbin. 

He turns to her and nods, “it’s too cold for me to go into the water. The winter cold is harsh to humans.” 

“Spring is in a few weeks. We can wait for then.”

“What are you doing for Spring break?” Felix asks as he plops himself onto the couch, head dropping onto Changbin’s lap. Jisung emerges from his room not long after, falling directly onto his unfortunate housemate who yells in response. “Ji, what the fuck?!” he groans. 

“Hmm, comfy,” Jisung giggles as he rubs his face onto Felix’s t-shirt. The blond sighs, knowing that he can’t push Jisung off and instead just accepts the fact that he is now a cushion. 

“Spring break?” Changbin questions, completely ignoring the fact that Jisung is crushing Felix. “I think I’m staying here. My parents have work so they’re gonna be flying out a lot. My sister’s still in Norway, so even if I move back home, I’ll be lonely.” 

“We can keep you company,” Jisung hums. “My parents are out of town, so I’ll only be going home in the last week of Spring.” 

“My family thinks it’ll be better if I wait since I’m already planning on heading back to Australia during Summer break,” Felix hums as well. 

“Then I guess it’s back to our trio shenanigans,” Changbin chuckles as he looks up at the TV. He feels slightly The screen’s hooked up to Felix’s Netflix and he put on whatever he was watching last which just so happened to be Bunny Girl Senpai. 

“Is that girl wearing a bunny costume?” Jisung questions as he sits upright to look at the screen properly.

“Yeah,” he nods. “Why? You a furry?” 

Jisung scoffs, “you’re the most likely to be a furry, Lix. You’re girlfriend’s a puppy hybrid.” 

“Doesn’t mean I’m a furry, Sung,” Felix shoots up, “that’s fucking mean and don’t ever say that in front of Ava.”

“Furry.” 

“You’re a dick,” he scoffs as he returns to laying his head on Changbin’s lap. 

“Jisung, you do remember that the guy you have a crush on now is a cat hybrid, right?” Changbin snorts. 

“Yeah!” Felix huffs. “Minho hyung’s a cat hybrid!”

“I don’t have a crush on Minho hyung, I have a crush on KC!” he whines before slapping his hand over his mouth. Felix and Changbin’s heads whip to him with wide eyes. 

“You do have a crush on KC!” he gasps. 

“Looks like we were right all along,” Changbin chuckles. Jisung pauses before letting out a sigh followed by a whine when he realises what he’s done. 

“Be glad that I don’t go share the same classes as you and KC or else I’d tease you all the time,” Felix snickers. Jisung scowls at that as he stands up, muttering curses under his breath as he heads back into his bedroom. 

The two giggle as they watch him. “What about you, Changbin hyung?” Felix turns to look at him. “Do you have anyone that has your eye?” 

“We’re not tweens, Lix,” he snorts. 

“Doesn’t mean that we can’t talk about relationships,” he claims. 

Changbin sighs, “no, I do not have anyone on my mind.” (Y/n). His brain momentarily halts when he remembers the mermaid. “No one on campus has really caught my attention,” he hums. Felix side-eyes him as he turns to look at the TV, the feeling that Changbin’s lying lingering in his gut. He’s known his housemate long enough to tell when he’s lying and Felix can already see it from the way he blinks exactly three times after speaking. Talk about being observant. 

“If you get a partner, you’d tell us, right?” 

“Of course,” Changbin nods as he pats Felix’s head. Hyunjin watches from the ceiling, cloaked with an invisibility spell as he watches the way Changbin interacts with his friends. He knows he shouldn’t be there, it’s definitely already breached the line of being protective over his best friend and now it’s pretty much just stalking, but Hyunjin’s paranoia got the best of him. 

“Ji, if you don’t come back out, then I won’t share my popcorn with you!” Felix yells, shortly hearing the sound of Jisung’s bedroom door opening followed by his footsteps scrambling into the living room.

“Ah, don’t do that to Jisung,” Changbin laughs, “share your popcorn with him, Lix.” 

“This is a piece of dead coral that I picked up on the way here.” (Y/n) places the greyed invertebrate into Changbin’s hands. The human looks at it in awe, amazed at the structure of it. Ever since (Y/n)’s started becoming more confident with talking to the human, Hyunjin’s been using his magic to help Changbin safely reach a cave that’s more secluded to keep any other human eyes away from the mermaid. 

“This could help a lot with a research paper I’m writing about coral reefs,” the human hums as he examines it. 

“I don’t think there’s anything else I could show you outside of the water,” she confesses softly by his side. Hyunjin’s magic also helped with letting (Y/n) breathe out of water, meaning that she’s able to actually sit on the rocks with Changbin now. Hyunjin had casted the same spell he did many times before to allow them to understand each other before disappearing because he always feels like a third-wheel around the two. The water sprite can already see that they both fancy each other, but he prefers not to say anything. 

“If it hurts to bring it out,” Changbin turns to look at her and smiles, “please don’t. I don’t want anything dying because you wanted to show it to me.” 

(Y/n) stares at him for a moment before nodding, a small smile pulling at her lips. “Maybe when it’s warmer, I could bring you into the water and show you what lies on the ocean floor. From what my parents have told me, there’s a lot of things that humans still haven’t discovered.”

“I think we’ve only actually managed to uncover about a small chunk of it—most of that with the help of water sprites and merfolk,” he nods, slipping the coral into the pocket of his coat. “But I don’t think we’ve been able to actually discover much when your species started hiding away from us.” 

“I fear that if humans re-discover our existence would only bring more harm to my people,” (Y/n) sighs. “I want to interact with your people more, but they scare me.” 

“I personally think it’s better if you stay away from us,” Changbin chuckles. “They won’t treat your kind nicely. It’s as Hyunjin says; magical creatures are running away from humans because they fear for their own safety.” The mermaid stays quiet, realising that she’s put herself at a very vulnerable situation by interacting with the human regularly. Had she been more careless, she could’ve been caught by someone who had malicious intent. “My friends still don’t know you exist, by the way,” he turns to look at her, “they think I just come to the beach to smoke.” 

“But you’ve stopped, haven’t you?” (Y/n)’s head tilts slightly. 

Changbin lets out an awkward laugh, “yeaaah, they don’t know that either.” 

“What would they do if they found out about me?” He pauses at her question. He knows that Felix and Jisung wouldn’t do anything to (Y/n) intentionally, but he also knows that they might want to see her, which would end up scaring her instead. 

“I’m worried that they might scare you,” he confesses with a chuckle. “Felix and Jisung are very… excited people. I feel like they might say something that could scare you.” 

“Are they anything like you?” she further asks. 

“Hmm,” Changbin hums, thinking about it for a moment, “they’re louder than I am—which is funny because Jisung’s an introvert—but they’re nice people. I’m just worried they might make you uncomfortable.” (Y/n) hums at that as she turns away from him to look out of the cave. 

“Would I ever be able to meet them? They sound important to you,” she says softly. 

“Maybe one day,” he shrugs, turning to follow her gaze. Their meetings are still mostly at night, meaning that Changbin gets more views of the ocean in the night than he does in the day. He thinks the ocean is gorgeous every night, but tonight is particularly serene to him. The waves are calmer than they usually are and the full moon is glowing brightly in the sky, sending a beautiful reflection off of the water. When he turns back to (Y/n), she’s staring at him, her pupils dilated, meaning she’s calm; something that Changbin’s managed to learn over the time that he's known her. Her pupils change like a cat’s does, showing her mood. He feels his stomach flutter at her gaze. 

“Sometimes I wonder what it’s like to live as a human,” (Y/n) starts, “but I also know that it would be foolish of me to give up my home in the ocean to live as a species that even has sirens wary of.” Ah right. Changbin realises that if merfolk still exist, then it’s likely that sirens still do as well since they were declared extinct not long after merfolk were. “Even though I know that, I still wonder how different it must be on land.”

“Humans are dangerous creatures, (Y/n),” Changbin mutters. “A lot of us wouldn’t hesitate to put our greed first. They would hurt you.”

She lets out a bitter laugh at that, “I know, but as Hyunjin says, my curiosity tends to get the best of me.” He turns to look at her to see the way she’s staring down at her hands. “I understand why we hide. I understand why the merfolk around me are so wary of the fact that I linger in shallow water, but I just wanted to see what humans are like. The only one I’ve ever encountered is you.” (Y/n) looks away from her hands and turns to Changbin, “but you’re not anything like I’ve heard humans are.” Changbin can feel his entire face getting hot and his ears heating up as well, the butterflies in his stomach once again erupting like they did before. “I think I’m lucky that you’re the person I encountered rather than someone else. Hyunjin says that too.” 

“Really? I feel like Hyunjin doesn’t like me, though.”

“Ah, he’s just like that,” she laughs. “Hyunjin acts all cold on the outside, but he’s really just a softy on the inside. He really likes you, but he’ll kill me if he ever finds out that I’m saying this to you. The only reason why he acts so cautious around you is because he’s worried that he may have read you wrong.” 

“He really cares about you, huh?” Changbin hums. 

(Y/n) nods, “sometimes I like to do dumb things because his reactions are always really funny.” She looks down at her hands once again before sliding herself into the water. “My skin is starting to dry out, I’m sorry,” she mutters before dipping her entire head underneath and popping back out. 

“Does anything happen if your skin dries out?” 

“It starts to hurt after a while,” she shakes her head, “but if I didn’t have Hyunjin’s spell on me, then I’d suffocate on land faster.” (Y/n) rests her arms on the edge of the cave entrance, keeping herself afloat as her chin moves to rest on the back of her hands. She watches Changbin whose eyes are glued to the night sky. She wonders why she feels so much adoration towards him. He turns away from the sky to look at (Y/n), this time holding her gaze as he tilts his head. 

“Something on your mind?” he questions. She stares at him a moment longer before climbing out of the water and returning to her spot beside him. 

“Nothing much,” (Y/n) hums. She stretches her back, letting out a small yawn before resting her head on Changbin’s shoulder, the human tensing when he feels her. “I’m just thinking about some things.” He prefers not to question her sudden skinship because honestly? Changbin doesn’t want her to move. He kinda likes it. He ignores the fact that her wet skin is making his shoulder wet instead, letting his hand move behind her. 

When (Y/n) wakes up, Hyunjin’s floating right in front of her face. “You’re finally up,” the sprite comments as he moves away. 

“Huh?” The mermaid sits up and looks around in her bedroom. When did she get home? “What happened?”

“Changbin said you fell asleep while you were talking in the cave, so he called me and I brought you back home.” He floats away from her and towards her door, “you should really be more careful, (Y/n). Changbin won’t be the one who will hurt you—that I‘m sure of—but I fear that another human may find you and be the one who hurts you.” (Y/n) silently watches as he leaves, a sudden sense of fear running through her. Changbin definitely wouldn’t hurt her, but the chances of someone else finding her while she’s waiting for him just might be the reason she would get caught. 

(Y/n) sighs softly as she climbs off of the bed of algae, her tail pushing her towards the door where she pauses for a moment. How dangerous would it be if she were to grow feelings for Changbin? Her hand grips onto the doorknob as she thinks about it. What would happen if someone else found out that Changbin’s been hiding her from the world? Would he end up being reprimanded? (Y/n) sighs before opening her door, pushing the thought out of her head and heading into the living room where Hyunjin is hovering around, flying from wall to wall as he cleans up. 

The sprite turns around at the sound of her door, “Changbin asked if it was possible for him to bring his friends to the beach.”

“Oh.” Hyunjin stares at her for a moment longer before sighing, placing the gemstones in his hands onto the shelf before moving towards her. 

“Are you sure you want to meet more humans?” he asks. Hyunjin feels like he trusts Changbin enough to bring only good people to meet (Y/n), but he still worries about how she feels. “You tend to rush into things, I just wanna make sure.” 

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that,” she confesses. “Is it bad that I do? I know it’s dangerous, but I want to know more about Changbin.” Hyunjin eyes her for a moment before letting out another sigh. 

“You’re known him for barely three months and you already like him,” he mutters. (Y/n) face flushes pink as she looks at him. His arms cross over his chest, “if you really want to, then I’ll allow it, but the moment something seems off then I’m hiding you immediately.” She perks up, head nodding excitedly. “Maybe it would be good if people he trusted knew who he was meeting. That way there would be reassurance coming from above water as well,” Hyunjin thinks out loud as he turns around. “I’m also worried that they may scare you off.” 

“Changbin mentioned that too,” she claims. 

“If you’re absolutely sure, then I’ll fly out to Changbin’s place now and let him know,” he says. 

(Y/n)’s face contorts in confusion, “why do you know where he lives?” 

“Uhh,” Hyunjin freezes because now he has to tell her that he’s followed Changbin home before. “Well…” 

“Hyunjin…” her eyes narrow. 

“I may or may not have followed him home once because I wanted to see whether or not we could trust him,” he admits with an awkward chuckle. 

“Hyunjin,” (Y/n) groans. 

“He didn’t know I was there!” Hyunjin defends. “None of his housemates knew I was there! I just wanted to see what he was actually like.” 

“And what did you learn from that?” Her arms cross over her chest as she awaits his answer. 

“He’s… a good guy.” (Y/n)’s arms loosen and her face softens. “His friends seem like good people. I like Jisung particularly; he’s funny. I think you would appreciate Felix’s parent-like behaviour with Changbin. I don’t think I could find anything nasty on him that could hint to him probably wanting to expose your existence to the humans. He’s good. If you have feelings for him, then I’ll do my best to help hide the both of you to give you time together.” Her arms fall to her side at her lips part. “I’m only doing this because I trust him.” Hyunjin moves until he’s directly in front of (Y/n)’s face, “but you have to promise me that you’ll still be careful.” 

“Of course,” she breathes out with a nod. She raises her hand, allowing the sprite to hold onto her finger. Hyunjin’s always been really tiny due to just his species being generally small, but (Y/n)’s always found it adorable. They’ve known each other since (Y/n) was born. Hyunjin’s lifespan as a water sprite is long, but he was only born a few years before the mermaid was. Since their parents were friends, (Y/n) and Hyunjin spent pretty much their entire childhood together and they’ve gone past the need to tell each other that they see each other as family. 

“I’ll head on over to Changbin’s place, then,” Hyunjin smiles as he lets go of her finger. 

“You might freak him out if he realises the fact that you know where he lives,” (Y/n) snorts. 

“Ah, he’s a smart guy. He’ll put the pieces together,” he chuckles, shaking his head before bidding the mermaid goodbye and leaving her home. (Y/n)’s cave wasn’t too far from other merfolk, but it was far enough that it was closer to the surface. There are only two other merfolk that live a few miles away from her cave, but merfolk spend most of their time with creatures they are familiar with and seldom mix around with other merfolk they don’t know. The distance from the shore to the cave is far from humans, making it quite a long course through the water before Hyunjin’s able to reach the familiar beach of Changbin’s town. He pops out of the water, his wings unfurling before carrying him straight to the human’s house. 

Hyunjin doesn’t really bother to knock and instead flies into the open window of Changbin’s bedroom only to find him laying in bed, snores leaving his mouth with his blanket pulled all the way up to his chin. The sprite purses his lips into a straight line as he pulls the window close. It’s no wonder Changbin’s all bundled up; his window must’ve been open the entire night. The sprite hovers right above his face, contemplating waking him up, but he’s not exactly given a choice because the bedroom door swings open without any warning. 

“Hyuuuung!” Jisung whines loudly, causing Changbin to jerk awake in his bed. 

“Don’t you go spreading your false information!” Felix barks as he barges into the room beside his housemate. 

Changbin sits up and stares at them, eyes tired and face contorted in displeasure, “what?!” 

“Hyung, Felix pushed your dry coral off of the coffee table,” he tells him. The eldest’s eyes snap open and he’s scrambling out of his bed and pushing past the two younger males. 

“I didn’t push it off, it was an accident!” Felix groans, watching nervously as Changbin silently moves over to pick up the dried coral sitting on the ground. The impact managed to chip off the top of the oddly shaped rectangle, breaking the corner off while pieces of it scattered the carpet. Hyunjin watches from the ceiling, curious to see how the human would react, but Changbin’s quiet as he picks up the pieces. 

“Don’t worry about it,” he mutters as he stands, the coral pieces sitting in his palm. “I should’ve brought this into my room instead since I wanted to use this for a report.” Changbin turns around and gives his housemates a small smile to reassure them. Felix and Jisung shrink slightly, guilt washing over both of their faces. 

“I’m sorry, hyung, I didn’t mean to. I-I was just cleaning and it—” Felix reaches out to him as he walks back into his room but Changbin stops the younger man from coming in. 

“Lix, it’s fine,” he cuts him off. “It’s just coral. I can always, uhh, get more of it from the beach. It’s okay.” Changbin closes the door, leaving the other two standing outside of the room feeling lost. It’s rare for him to just numbly push it aside, which only makes Felix feel even worse because he has a feeling that someone gave him the coral. In his room, Changbin places the broken coral pieces onto his desk and stares at it. If he told (Y/n) that it’s broken, he wouldn’t want to actually tell her because he doesn’t want to make her feel bad, but Changbin doesn’t want to ask for another one. He scratches the back of his neck and sighs, “fuck.” It’s his mistake for leaving the coral in the living room when he had made a mental note to take care of it, but what could Changbin do now? 

“Is this a bad time?” Hyunjin finally speaks up. Changbin’s head perks up and he whips his head around to see the water sprite standing on his bed. 

“I knew you stalked me,” he gasps in mock surprise. Hyunjin laughs at that as he flies over to the desk to look at the coral. “I didn’t mean to leave it out in the open,” Changbin sighs. 

“You could always ask her for more, I don’t think she minds,” he claims. 

“I don’t want to make her feel bad if I tell her that this one broke,” Changbin mumbles, his fingers poking at the pieces. 

“Changbin,” Hyunjin turns around to look at the human, his hands moving to his hips, “(Y/n) won’t mind. She likes when you ask for ocean stuff.” 

“Does she?” 

He nods and flies up in front of Changbin’s face, “she really likes talking to you about the ocean.” Hyunjin only lowers back onto the desk once Changbin looks more reassured. “Speaking of (Y/n), she wants to meet your friends.” 

“What?” his eyes widened. 

“She said that she wants to meet Felix and Jisung,” Hyunjin continues, “she wants to know more about you and your life because she likes you.” 

"She—huh?" Changbin shakes his head a bit before staring at Hyunjin. 

"Do you want to introduce your friends to your mermaid girlfriend or not?" His arms cross over his chest. 

“(Y/n)’s not my girlfriend,” he’s blushing furiously as he denies it but Hyunjin raises an eyebrow. 

“Mhm, and that night where you let her fall asleep on your shoulder even though her skin was wet and your shoulder was freezing after that says otherwise,” he teases. 

“She’s not my girlfri—” Changbin’s cut off when his bedroom door swings open and Felix and Jisung are staring at him, eyes flicking to look at Hyunjin who’s looking like a deer caught in headlights. 

“I-Is that a sprite?” Jisung asks. Changbin nods. 

“Okay, cool, we were just wondering who you were talking to,” Felix laughs awkwardly as he pulls on Jisung’s collar and pulls him away from the door. 

“No, stay,” Hyunjin beckons them over. The two of humans exchange a look with Changbin before stepping into the room. “How good are you at keeping a secret?”

“Pretty good,” Felix shrugs. 

“Why?” Jisung tilts his head. 

Hyunjin turns to Changbin, “do you trust them enough to meet her?” 

“Well, if (Y/n) wants to meet them, then I can bring them to the beach,” he nods. 

“Who’s (Y/n)?” Jisung asks. 

“Are you a hundred percent sure we can trust them?” The water sprite ignores Jisung’s question, more concerned about just how much Changbin would trust them to meet a mermaid. 

“Felix has kept a secret I told him four years ago and Jisung forgets them a few seconds after—I think they’ll be fine,” he reassures Hyunjin. The sprite turns back to the obviously confused humans before relaxing his shoulders. 

“Bring them with you when you come by later. I think she'd be pretty happy if she could meet your friends.” He moves to the window, flicking his wrist upwards and the window frame lifting on its own before Hyunjin flies out. The three humans stare at the open window, completely ignoring the cold wind that’s blowing into Changbin’s bedroom because Jisung and Felix are too busy trying to figure out what the hell a water sprite was doing in their hyung’s bedroom. 

“So…” Jisung trails off as he shifts his weight from one foot to another. “Care to explain who your friend is?” 

“Which one?” Changbin turns to look at the two. 

“The sprite and whoever (Y/n) is,” he clarifies. 

“I met the water sprite through (Y/n),” he says simply, “I’ll bring you to see (Y/n) later, but you have to promise that you won’t tell anyone about her.” 

“I’m not gonna question why you’re so secretive about your obviously secret girlfriend, but okay,” Felix chuckles. “I knew that you had someone on your mind.” 

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Changbin grumbles, “we’re just friends.”

“Then why did the water sprite say she was your girlfriend?” Jisung teases. 

“Because…” he trails off as he tries to find an excuse. There’s really nothing for him to say that could deny that he may or may not be in an unofficial relationship with the mermaid other than the fact that Changbin and (Y/n) have only known each other for less than three months and may or may not be into each other. “Look, if I bring you to the beach to meet her, she’ll explain it too, okay? Just bare with me until then.” 

“Fine.” 

“You’re fucking joking,” Jisung breathes in awe. Both him and Felix are staring at the mermaid with eyes that are close to falling out of their skull and jaws all the way to the ground. 

“T-This isn’t possible,” Felix mutters, eyes trained on (Y/n)’s turquoise tail. She sits on the edge of the cave, hiding behind Changbin’s legs as his friends gawk at her. Hyunjin watches from Changbin’s shoulders, arms crossed over his chest and a smirk on his face at the way the humans are in so much disbelief that Felix smacks his own head to make sure he’s not dreaming. “She’s a mermaid,” he looks up at Changbin. 

“You’re girlfriend’s a mermaid,” Jisung states. 

Changbin blushes and shakes his head, “we’re not dating.” (Y/n) stays behind his legs, hiding her blush by sliding back into the water and only peeking her eyes out of the water. “Now you’ve gone and made her scared!”

“No!” she squeaks, shooting up to tug on his jeans, “they didn’t scare me.” Changbin turns around, eyes softening when he sees the way (Y/n)’s reassures him with her eyes. 

“Oh, we didn’t scare her. She’s blushing,” Jisung teases. Even in the dark of night, he’s still able to see the red tinge on her cheeks which only deepen at his statement. (Y/n) lets go of Changbin’s pants and lowers into the water. 

“Are you okay?” he questions softly. She looks up, nodding silently when her gaze meets his. “Are you sure they’re not scaring you?” (Y/n) shakes her head. Changbin relaxes a bit as he turns back to face his friends, “this is (Y/n). I met her a few months ago because she saved me.” 

“Saved you how?” Felix’s eyes narrow. 

“Your friend over here fell into the water while trying to get a closer look at (Y/n),” Hyunjin giggles as he jumps off of Changbin’s shoulder and floats towards Jisung’s shoulder. “(Y/n) had to drag him towards a cave because she didn’t want him to freeze and drown.” Jisung and Felix feel a click in their heads at the words ‘drown’ and ‘freeze’, both of them slowly turning to look at their friend.

“You almost drowned?!” Jisung exclaims. 

“Why didn’t you mention this?!” Felix yells. 

“Because I would’ve had to explain how my clothes dried and how I even survived,” Changbin shrugs. Felix scoffs, eyes rolling as he tries to process the new information. 

“So, you just casually almost die and decide not to tell us?!” Jisung’s jaw drops. 

“I didn’t want to tell you about (Y/n) because she’s supposed to be extinct!” he throws his arms up into the air. (Y/n) watches from the water, stifling her laughter at how Jisung and Felix continue to fire at Changbin for not telling them of his death, Hyunjin making eye contact with her and chuckling as well. She reaches up and tugs on Changbin’s pants once more, making him turn around immediately at the feeling. “Yeah?” 

“I wanna say hi.” She blinks innocently a few times while Jisung and Felix watch, their arms crossing over their chests and their eyebrows raising. 

“Oh, sure,” Changbin crouches down and holds onto her hand to help her sit on the edge of the stone where she shyly waves towards the two humans. 

“Wow,” Jisung chuckles. “You’re whipped.” Felix snickers from beside him, pursing his lips together to make it less obvious that he’s laughing as well. 

“No I’m not,” he snorts. (Y/n) looks up at him and pulls on his hand, silently asking him to sit down with her, which Changbin immediately obliges without even questioning it. 

“Sure,” Felix laughs. 

“Changbin talks about you guys a lot,” (Y/n) claims.

“I hope you mean in a good light.” 

“Very,” she chuckles, “the only reason I wanted to meet you guys myself is because you sound really important from what Changbin has told me.”

“Important?” Jisung smirks. 

“I meant that you sound like really good friends.” (Y/n)’s words make Changbin loosen up slightly. She’s trying not to embarrass him in front of his friends, so she chooses her words carefully to at least try to lessen the teasing he might receive once they head home. “I think he loves you guys more than he’d admit,” she whispers, giggling when she earns a glare from Changbin. Jisung and Felix turn to him, choosing not to tease him because they’re actually warmed by (Y/n). 

“We love you too, hyung,” Felix smiles, Jisung nodding ecstatically beside him. “I’m going to assume that (Y/n) is the event where a species pretended to go extinct and still haven’t been re-discovered.”

“Precisely,” she nods. 

“What are the chances that a stranger could find her?” Jisung questions. 

“That’s something that I’d rather not find out,” Hyunjin sighs, moving from Jisung’s shoulder to (Y/n) instead. “The only reason why I allowed Changbin to introduce you two to (Y/n) is because I trust him. So, I’m going to take a leap and trust you.” 

“We won’t tell anyone about her,” Felix reassures him. “We’re just here because we wanna see who Changbin hyung’s girlfriend is.”  

“For the last time, (Y/n)’s not my girlfriend,” Changbin groans. “We’re just friends!” (Y/n)’s expression drops and the only person that happens to miss it is Changbin because he’s too busy glaring at his friends. Jisung clears his throat and gestures to the mermaid when his friend gives him a questioning look.  Changbin turns around and panic starts to fill him when he sees the way her mood’s dampened. “W-What’s wrong?” 

“Would it be so bad if we were dating?” she mutters out, a frown pulling on her lips. 

“O-Of course not!” he stammers, his eyes squeezing shut as he tries to explain it to her. “I just don’t want them thinking we’re dating if we’re not, you know? It might make you feel awkward or uncomfortable,” Changbin mutters as he rubs the back of his neck. 

“I don’t think it’s awkward,” (Y/n) admits, her cheeks tinged red. The human’s eyes widen as well, blush creeping over his entire face. 

“I—uhm.” Changbin struggles to actually word anything out while his best friends laugh at him and Hyunjin watches with a shit-eating grin on his face. He scooches closer to (Y/n) and moves his lips right to her ear, “let’s talk about this later, yeah?” She moves away from his face and nods. When (Y/n) turns back to Changbin’s friends, they’ve made themselves comfortable on the rocks, ready to learn more about the mermaid. 

The night is spent with casual talking, the five of them getting to know each other more. Changbin learns more about Hyunjin that single night than he has in the past few months that he’s known the water sprite. Jisung also seems to make it a mission to embarrass Changbin as much as he can in front of (Y/n) to the point where Changbin’s almost holding him by the collar and hanging him over the ocean. Felix on the other hand, watches in amusement. He doesn’t say that much other than piping in every once in a while because he’s genuinely interested in learning more about the magical creatures. 

“I’ll catch up with you guys in a bit,” Changbin tells the two humans when it’s already 3 a.m.. 

“We’ll be waiting at the beach,” Jisung nods, waving at Hyunjin and (Y/n) before he walks off with Felix. Hyunjin looks at Changbin before turning to (Y/n)—who’s moved into the water because her skin was drying out—and realising that they want time alone. 

“I’ll give you guys some space,” he mutters before diving into the water, leaving the two alone. Once alone, (Y/n) pulls herself up to sit on the rocks, tail dangling in the water as she looks out at the horizon with Changbin sitting cross-legged beside her. 

“What do you think of my friends?” he questions. 

(Y/n) hums, a smile tugging on her lips as she turns away from the ocean to Changbin, “I like them. They seem like a lot of fun.” 

“They really are,“ he chuckles. Silence falls between them and whatever elephant was already in the room seems to have doubled in size because now, the two of them are painfully aware of their relationship. “(Y/n),” Changbin breaks the silence, turning to face her. 

“Yeah?” She's already looking at him and it makes Changbin’s face heat up. The moonlight reflects off of her face, the blue and green scales of her face reflecting the light like diamonds that cover her skin. (Y/n)’s gorgeous. Changbin isn’t sure whether her beauty is amplified because of the sudden serenity of the night or whether he’s just never actually taken the time to admire her, but she’s entrancing. His eyes flick to her lips, soft and glossy before they flicker back up to her eyes where she’s watching every feature on his face to try and predict his next move. 

“C-Could I kiss you?” The words come out before Changbin’s able to stop himself and he mentally slaps himself because that is not at all what he wanted to say. (Y/n) nods anyway, letting him move closer until his warm lips gently press against her cold ones. The kiss is slow and gentle, both of them testing the waters before pulling away. When Changbin’s eyes open to meet (Y/n)’s his stomach erupts with butterflies. How lucky was he to encounter a mermaid when they had hidden away from humans, faking their extinction to keep themselves safe. He realises then that (Y/n)’s, “one in a million,” he subconsciously says out loud. As rushed as it sounds, Changbin's pretty sure he’s managed to fall in love with her in the short amount of time they’ve known each other. 

“Huh?” (Y/n)’s eyes flash with confusion. 

“You’re one in a million,” Changbin says, his hand moving up to gently cup the side of her face before he leans in once again.

#kwritersworldnet #kpopccc #stray kids #stray kids imagines #stray kids oneshots #stray kids fluff #stray kids romance #stray kids mermaid au #stray kids non-idol au #stray kids x reader #seo changbin #seo changbin imagines #seo changbin oneshots #seo changbin fluff #seo changbin romance #seo changbin mermaid au #seo changbin non-idol au #changbin #changbin imagines #changbin oneshots #changbin fluff #changbin romance #changbin mermaid au #changbin non-idol au #changbin x reader #skz #skz imagines #skz oneshots #skz fluff #skz romance

[musical-shit-show]

Musical-Shit Show Prompt List!

I decided to finally get around to making a prompt list for any requests/general inspiration for other writers!

Please feel free to use this prompt list if you want to request something or for your own writing purposes! It’s just a compilation of prompts I’ve seen over the years mixed with some of my own prompt ideas. It also most likely won’t be the only prompt list I make, so be on the lookout for others in the future. And check out my About Me post to get a better idea of what I’m currently writing for and submit to my ask box here! 

Check them out below the cut and send a request or feel free to add them to your own list! ♡

100 Writing Prompts for Requests & Inspiration!

fluff/romance:

1. “i’ll feel much better if you let me walk you home.”

2. “apparently all our friends have a bet going that we end up together.”

3. “i fucking love you.” “hang up, and tell me this when you’re sober.”

4. “i really want to kiss you right now” “do it then”

5. “are you flirting with me?” “you finally noticed?”

6. “i’ve been falling in love with you since the first day we met.”

7. “god, you are so fucking cute.”

8. “you always look beautiful.”

9. “i never thought I’d fancy you…and yet here we are.”

10. “you’re my favorite know-it-all.” 

11. “oh my god, i love you.” 

12. “trust me. i’m not going anywhere.”

13. “you’ve got something on your lip, here let me.”

14. “when i’m not with you, it’s almost like...i can’t breathe.”

15. “i envy anyone who has the privilege of being loved by you.”

angst/sadness:

16. “the worst thing is, that even after everything, i’m still in love with you.”

17. “i find broken things interesting. maybe that’s why i like you so much.”

18. “i know you love me. but it’s not the way i want to be loved.”

19. “if i asked you to stay, would you?” 

20. “i don’t know who you are anymore.”

21. “of course i still love you. but i hate myself for it.”

22. “you don’t have to try and make me feel better. trust me, it won’t work.”

23. “i can’t remember what it’s like to be truly wanted.”

24. “every time you look at me i feel invisible.”

25. “loneliness is a slow and cruel poison.”

26. “why can’t you let me in? what are you so afraid of?”

27.  “can’t you stop running for one second?”

28. “i’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression.”

29. “you’ve already hurt me enough.”

30. “you’re not the only person who’s hurting.”

anger/hurt:

31. “would you just shut up and listen to me for once?!”

32. “i swear, if you say another word, i’ll leave.”

33. “you lied to me!”

34. “don’t touch me!”

35. “stop! just...stop.”

36. “never thought you’d be the one to stab me in the back.”

37. “you weren’t there…why weren’t you there?”

38. “stop being a fucking dick.”

39. “i’m only important when you need something from me.”

40. “i hope it was fucking worth it.”

~spicy~:

41. “i may or may not have left some...marks.”

42. "fuck you.” “if you insist.”

43. “don’t look at me like that.”

44. “we are in public, you know.”

45. “if you cant sleep…then how about we have sex?”

46. “am i making you...blush?”

47. “you’re so fucking hot when you’re mad.”

48. “we’re not just friends and you fucking know it.”

49. “you have no idea how much i want you.”

50. “you’re more than a one night stand.”

51. “don’t test me, doll.”

52. “you can’t go out looking like that.”

53. “why don’t you make me?”

54. “just shut up and kiss me already.”

55. “your place or mine?”

sassy:

56. “bite me.”

57. “try and flirt with me again and i’ll make you regret it.”

58. “take a picture, it’ll last longer.”

59. “you’re a real asshole, huh?”

60. “oh my god, you are jealous.”

61. “are you always this much of a dumbass?”

62. “i honestly didn’t know you were capable of showing emotion.”

63. “i don’t recall asking your opinion on this matter.”

64. “who i do or do not date is none of your fucking business.”

65. “i’d like to see you try.”

66. “oh yeah, i’m a fucking ray of sunshine.”

67. “did you really think i’d fall for that?”

68. “i think i might genuinely hate you.”

69. “you know what? forget it.”

70. “from the bottom of my heart...suck a dick.”

funny/miscellaneous:

71. “what exactly is your motivation?” “pure, unadulterated spite.”

72. “sorry, is that supposed to impress me?”

73. “so, it’s a date?” “definitely not a date.”

74. “did you get any sleep last night?”

75. “please get me away from him. he hasn’t left me alone all night and i am this close to committing a murder.”

76. “i love you, but stop talking.”

77. “take my bed tonight. i can sleep on the couch.”

78.”i’d rather stick pins in my eyes.”

79. “yeah, yeah. you’re cute. just don’t let it go to your head.”

80. “what is wrong with you?” “it’s the trauma.”

81. “you’re the only one that gets to call me that, you know.”

82. “you called me an idiot.” “i was trying to flirt!”

83. “that’s such a you thing to do.”

84. “don’t pretend like you actually care.”

85. “you look sad. who do i have to kill?”

five word prompts:

86. “you are such a buzzkill.”

87. “was she really worth it?”

88. “tell me who did this.”

89. “do it. i dare you.”

90. “kick his ass for me.”

91. “okay, it was me...so?”

92. “i don’t need you anymore.”

93. “oh my god, be quiet.”

94. “then what do you suggest?”

95. “just don’t fuck it up.”

96. “how could i ever forget?”

97. “have you lost your mind?”

98. “hey asshole, leave me alone.”

99. “wanna get out of here?”

100. “so...can we go eat?”

~~~~~

please like/reblog & feel free to use these or send in a request! ♡

#prompt #prompts #prompt list #angst #fluff #angst prompt #fluff prompt #anger #anger prompts #spicy #writing #writing prompts #fanfiction prompt #fanfiction prompts #funny #funny prompts #100 prompts #requests #request #sassy #sassy prompts #sassy prompt #angst prompts #fluff prompts #smut #smut prompts #smut prompt #suggestive #18+ #misc

[natromanxoff]

Queen live at Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London, UK - June 6, 1977 (Part-1)

The last two nights of the tour were very special. Queen used an expensive lighting rig called "Crown" for the very first time. Both shows were also officially recorded on video and the first show was also released on many bootlegs in almost excellent quality. Both gigs included a superb rock'n'roll medley (this medley is also the only bootleg recording from the second night).

(x)

Queen capped off the A Day At The Races tour with two shows at London's Earls Court Arena. According to the tour programme there was only supposed to be one night at Earls Court, on June 5. The itinerary was amended due to ticket demand. The proceeds from this show went to the HRH Queen's Silver Jubilee Appeal.

The band dropped £50,000 on a new lighting rig for these shows, which was a giant crown - 25 feet tall by 54 feet wide, weighing two tons. Queen were pioneers of many rock concert spectacles, including this very first mobile lighting rig.

The music of Chopin (Freddie's choice) plays as the audience enter the venue. At this point, one can barely see the stage, as the crown is only a few feet above it, with black drapes below it - thus hiding everything on stage, and causing some audience members to wonder where the band will be playing! Procession is heard (revived only for the Earls Court shows, and never to be used again), and then the A Day At The Races overture rings through the speakers. Part way through, the crown slowly begins to rise, and out comes the dry ice (the first picture above was taken during this moment). Queen then burst onto the stage to perform Tie Your Mother Down, and the show goes on as usual.

According to Freddie, perfume came naturally "from London" tonight during Killer Queen. He changed the lyric at many shows in the past month, and he would again do this in Tokyo in 1979.

Playing to the hometown crowd seems to presents a slight tension in the air for the band. Still, there are many incredible moments throughout. Brian's Brighton Rock guitar solo is epic (even incorporating bits of Frère Jacques and Three Blind Mice), and he really shines with his delay technique at the end of Doing All Right. Freddie's voice is in pretty good shape tonight, but he has problems hitting a few of the higher notes, unlike the Bristol and Glasgow shows in previous weeks. Still, he puts in great performances of Doing All Right, White Man, and In The Lap Of The Gods...Revisited. To lighten things up, Roger often screams things in the background between songs, not to mention his duck quack before '39, heard at this point in the set at many shows during this period.

During this time period, Freddie wasn't heard singing "I see a little silhouetto of a man" on the tape of Bohemian Rhapsody's opera section. In 1975 and '76, Freddie sang this line live, so it was muted on the tape. The band continued to use this version of the tape through November 1978, with the exception of the Earls Court shows because the promo video for the song was shown on the big screens during the opera section.

Tonight the band cover Elton John's "Saturday Night's All Right For Fighting" during the Jailhouse Rock medley. Sporting his dazzling silver lurex outfit, Freddie emerged from a trap door for the second encore, but the videos from both nights unfortunately don't focus on him at that moment. The whole band (especially Roger) are a joy to watch during the medley. At the end of the show, the lights continue to sparkle as the crown descends to its original position.

Since Queen used the two video screens on either side of the stage at Earls Court (as confirmed by a review of the second night) like Led Zeppelin did in 1975, the shows exist on film. This most likely indicates that the shows weren't filmed with the intention of releasing them. Footage from both nights has popped up in various documentaries.

Shortly after the shows, the band must have listened to the recordings and realized how awful John Deacon's voice sounded in the harmonies of Somebody To Love. His microphone would never be turned up again (except for in Buenos Aires '81, but for an entirely different reason).

In November 2009 the band posted some concert videos from the 70s on their website in conjunction with the release of their "Absolute Greatest" compilation, including You Take My Breath Away from this show. An amp blows up during the song, but it has been muted for this release, although Freddie is still seen somewhat startled by it. The song was also made available on iTunes in conjunction with the re-releases of the first five Queen albums in 2011.

Some footage from this concert was shown at the "Stormtroopers in Stilettoes" Queen exhibition in London in early 2011. While the picture quality was the same as in the old documentaries, the sound was a new stereo mix from the master tapes. Footage from the show was seen in a 2015 BBC documentary called "From Rags To Rhapsody," using this same stereo mix. Freddie's voice crack on "school boy" in Death On Two Legs was patched up presumably with the second night's audio. Part of '39 was also shown, but the audio is a hybrid of the two nights (instrumentally it's the first night, but the lead and backing vocals are from the second night, with the exception of Freddie's "all together" connecting the final two choruses). However, the issue remains that Freddie's piano vocal mic track is apparently blank on the multi-track master tapes for both nights at Earls Court.

Finally, the rock section of Bohemian Rhapsody from this show was used in the 2018 "Bohemian Rhapsody" film (it's almost certainly a hybrid of the two nights at Earls Court). There have been a few slight fixes and overdubs on this material in the various releases and documentaries - see Chinwonder's video analysis for details.

The pre-show pictures were taken in front of the newly-built crown lighting rig (Queen's crew are seen in the last two). The last pic was taken by Watal Asanuma.

Part-2

#queen #queen band #roger taylor #freddie mercury #brian may #john deacon #queen concerts

[thetechguru]

Title: Miranda Cosgrove reveals iCarly premiere date, talks set photos and characters 10 years later.

Date: May 14, 2021

Source: entertainment weekly.

Miranda Cosgrove received the best birthday gift on Friday — the news that the iCarly revival series will premiere June 17 on Paramount+.

The actress' iCarly castmates Jerry Trainor, Nathan Kress, Laci Mosley, and Jaidyn Triplett were on set to celebrate Cosgrove turning 28 with a cake, which then revealed the announcement.

Along with this news, Cosgrove chatted with EW about what viewers can expect from the upcoming series, and gave us details about some exclusive set reveal photos. And make sure to check out the video of Cosgrove and Trainor giving a tour of the set, which should look very familiar to fans of the original series.

Miranda Cosgrove reveals iCarly premiere date, talks set photos and characters 10 years later

EW has exclusive set photos and an interview with star Miranda Cosgrove, plus a video of Cosgrove and Jerry Trainor giving a tour of the iCarly set.

By Rachel Yang

Link reference:

Save

FB

Tweet

More

00:0000:54

Share: iCarly_PremiereAnnouncement

×

Direct Link

You might like×

Miranda Rae Mayo talks possible 'Chicago Fire' exit

'The Bachelorette' first look

36. Sister, Sister_1

Hope and Landon discuss how to destroy the prison world in 'Legacies' sneak peek

Alone season 8 trailer

What to Watch: Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist & Hacks

Lucas Black Was Quoting Tyrese in 'The Fast Saga' As a Fan Before He Got Cast

Jane Levy Applies Her ‘Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist’ Powers to Some Past Projects

‘WandaVision’ Cast & Creators Reveal Their Favorite Moments On Set

‘WandaVision’ Cast Talks About the Challenges Of Bringing MCU to the Small Screen

Lucas Black Remembers Being 'Excited' To Shoot Ending 'Tokyo Drift' Cameo With Vin Diesel

The Jean Smartaissance Continues Apace With Her Turn in ‘Hacks’

Appearing in ‘Frozen II’ Was a Dream Come True for Martha Plimpton

Martha Plimpton Teases What Fans Can Expect from Her ‘Genera+ion’ Character in the Second Half of the Season

Martha Plimpton Says ‘Raising Hope’ Was a Life Saver

Martha Plimpton Loves Everything About the Theatrical Experience

Martha Plimpton Looks Back at Her Iconic Calvin Klein Ads

Lucas Black Recalls Using His 'Tokyo Drift' Skills on 'NCIS' Years After The Movie

Kathryn Hahn Reflects On Portraying Agatha in 'WandaVision'

Martha Plimpton Gushes Over Her ‘The Good Wife’ Character and Co-stars

Martha Plimpton Wasn’t Sure ‘The Goonies’ Would Be a Hit

Martha Plimpton Explains Her Personal Connection to ‘I Shot Andy Warhol’

Best Book Adaptations of All Time

Ellen DeGeneres Show to End with Upcoming Season 19: It's 'Not a Challenge Anymore,' She Says

The Awardist: 'WandaVision'

RidersOfJustice_Clip 3_May 21

Jennifer Lopez 'Had a Great Time' with Ben Affleck in Montana: 'She Is Happy with Him'

Andre O'Shea unveils new Chadwick Boseman NFT art after Oscars controversy

On Set for Season 2 of 'Batwoman,' Episode 13

‘Girls5Eva’ Cast and Creators Reveal How Song Snippets Turns Into a Full Album

Tina Fey and The ‘Girls5Eva’ Recalls Hilarious Way the Dolly Parton Bit Came Together

Elliot Page tells Oprah Winfrey about breaking down while promoting 'Inception'

Watch serial killer Samuel Little in a clip from the Starz docuseries "Confronting a Serial Killer"

Entertainment Weekly Writers Anticipate the Legacy of ‘Pose’ As Its Bittersweet Conclusion Nears

Devon Aoki Helped Ludacris Live Out a Childhood Dream During '2 Fast 2 Furious'

Ludacris Loves Getting to 'Go Crazy' and Improv with Tyrese in 'The Fast Saga'

Ludacris Auditioned For '2 Fast 2 Furious' Right Before Going on Stage

Hilarious ‘Girls5eva’ Splices Tina Fey DNA with Y2K Nostalgia

Around the Table with ‘Girls5eva’

Ludacris Recalls Bonding with Paul Walker on '2 Fast 2 Furious'

What to Watch: Pose, Girls5eva, and Jupiter’s Legacy

Watch Coach Bombay reunite with Fulton Reed in 'The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers' sneak peek

'Little Birds' trailer

Exclusive clip: Tiffany Haddish on The Price Is Right at Night

EW Cheat Sheet: 'Star Wars' Prequel Trilogy

Broadway Set to Officially Reopen in September

Joseph Raymond Lucero & Frankie Loyal Spill Details On Mayans M.C. Season 3

'Cruel Summer' exclusive sneak peek: Kate confronts Jeanette

Chad_105_04_041321

Miranda Cosgrove received the best birthday gift on Friday — the news that the iCarly revival series will premiere June 17 on Paramount+.

The actress' iCarly castmates Jerry Trainor, Nathan Kress, Laci Mosley, and Jaidyn Triplett were on set to celebrate Cosgrove turning 28 with a cake, which then revealed the announcement.

Along with this news, Cosgrove chatted with EW about what viewers can expect from the upcoming series, and gave us details about some exclusive set reveal photos. And make sure to check out the video of Cosgrove and Trainor giving a tour of the set, which should look very familiar to fans of the original series.

The 13-episode season will pick up nearly 10 years after the Nickelodeon series, which ran from 2007 to 2012. The core cast are all reprising their roles, with Cosgrove once again embodying Carly, while Trainor and Kress are returning as Carly's brother Spencer and her friend Freddie Benson, respectively.

And because it's been a while since we've seen the cast, "Carly has gone through a lot over the last 10 years — all the characters have," Cosgrove tells EW.

https://www.refinery29.com/images/10475174.jpg?format=pjpg&auto=webp&resize-filter=lanczos2&quality=50&sharpen=a3%2Cr3%2Ct0&optimize=low&width=960

Another icarly reboot update:

Miranda Cosgrove received the best birthday gift on Friday — the news that the iCarly revival series will premiere June 17 on Paramount+.

The actress' iCarly castmates Jerry Trainor, Nathan Kress, Laci Mosley, and Jaidyn Triplett were on set to celebrate Cosgrove turning 28 with a cake, which then revealed the announcement.

Along with this news, Cosgrove chatted with EW about what viewers can expect from the upcoming series, and gave us details about some exclusive set reveal photos. And make sure to check out the video of Cosgrove and Trainor giving a tour of the set, which should look very familiar to fans of the original series.

The 13-episode season will pick up nearly 10 years after the Nickelodeon series, which ran from 2007 to 2012. The core cast are all reprising their roles, with Cosgrove once again embodying Carly, while Trainor and Kress are returning as Carly's brother Spencer and her friend Freddie Benson, respectively.

And because it's been a while since we've seen the cast, "Carly has gone through a lot over the last 10 years — all the characters have," Cosgrove tells EW.

Miranda Cosgrove reveals iCarly premiere date, talks set photos and characters 10 years later

EW has exclusive set photos and an interview with star Miranda Cosgrove, plus a video of Cosgrove and Jerry Trainor giving a tour of the iCarly set.

By Rachel Yang

Source: yahoo

With the Freddie character, he's gone through a couple divorces," the actress reveals. "Spencer has become very wealthy, so there's a lot of different dynamics and different things going on."

As for Carly, she went to college and is pretty successful, Cosgrove continues, but she's "kinda in between" where Freddie and Spencer are at.

Spencer, who's "the most successful of all" the characters, still resides in the original loft he and Carly lived in, though he's remodeled it a bit. Cosgrove says she and Trainor worked with the set designer to keep some of the flair from the old series in the new set.

For instance, you can see below the bottle bot, a sculpture Spencer made that was a fixture on iCarly. Though they couldn't track down the original, the team asked the artist who made it to build one as identical as possible to be in Spencer's living room. Similarly, the designers had the same couch from the original reupholstered and updated.

"They tried to do a lot of cute, little things for the fans from the original that stayed the same," Cosgrove says.

Nickelodeon

nickelodeon

You can also see that the loft's upstairs, which Carly used as a studio to film "iCarly," has been updated but looks pretty similar to the original.

nickelodeon

nickelodeon

The new show will catch up with Carly, who's now in her 20s and hasn't kept up with her "iCarly" web show that she hosted with her friends Freddie and Sam (Jennette McCurdy) as teens.

"She hasn't done 'iCarly' in a long time, and she decides to start it up again in the pilot," Cosgrove says. "So we're exploring what her new show is. And even though it's 'iCarly,' it's not the same as it was before. So we've been exploring a lot of different things with that, just like what a 26-year-old would really be doing if they had a YouTube channel nowadays."

Cosgrove, who's also an executive producer on the show, says she's excited to see how Carly will navigate YouTube and Instagram given how much the internet has grown since iCarly went off the air.

Not revealed yet is Carly's apartment, which is also at Bushwell Plaza, the same building in Seattle that Spencer's apartment is in. In the upcoming project, she lives with her roommate and best friend Harper (Mosley). And it wouldn't be iCarly without Freddie nearby, though this time around it may not be great news for the character.

"He's gone through a divorce and he's moved back in with his mother," Cosgrove says. "So Mary [Scheer], who played his mom on the show is back and we all are living in the same apartment building together."

Another new addition to the show is Triplett, who plays Millicent, Freddie's snarky and social media-savvy stepdaughter whom he adopted.

"It's funny because it's a lot of the old because we do have like the little studio we used to film in and we have Spencer's apartment, but then we have a lot of new sets and new characters, so it's like half and half," Cosgrove notes.

The revival will explain everyone's backstory in the pilot, and she says it was exciting to think about what all the characters would have been doing over the last decade. Cosgrove doesn't answer whether the show will address Sam's absence on the show, but she does promise the return of some fan-favorite recurring characters. Nevel Papperman (Reed Alexander), Carly's pretentious nemesis is slated to return, and they recently did an episode featuring Nora Dershlit (Danielle Morrow), the stalker "iCarly" fan who appeared in the original.

Currently halfway through filming, Cosgrove says she doesn't know how the last four or five episodes will play out yet. She has her own curiosities she wants the show to address, like what happened with Spencer and Carly's mom. And she says Trainor is dying for Spencer's unseen friend Socko to finally appear.

What Cosgrove is clear on, however, is what kind of show she wants iCarly to be, especially since it took the team "a really long time to figure out."

"We really tried to make this show, along with the showrunner Ali [Schouten], as much for the fans of the original as possible, because it's not really a kid show anymore," Cosgrove says. "It's mainly made for the people who watched when they were little, they're now more in their 20s."

"We're getting to explore different things with [what] the characters go through that we would never have been able to do before, that's a lot more like stuff that's happened in our real lives and things that people in their 20s and 30s go through," she adds. "It's just been a fun reunion getting to see everybody, and I'm really excited for people to see it."

Last thoughts 😑:

I have mixed feelings about this so I skip it no thanks. I hope it last for one season. Good luck to others who are going to watch this.

[365days365movies]

March 2, 2021: The Last Unicorn (1982) (Part 1)

I, uh...I wanna talk about zoology.

It’s my profession of choice, although if I’m going to be specific, it’s ecology and ornithology, based on my Masters. But while my expertise is in birds, that doesn’t mean I have any particular preference. So, let’s talk mammals. Specifically, I’d like to talk about horses.

Horses are odd-toed ungulates (Order Perissodactyla) belonging to the family Equidae, with only one living genus (Equus), which includes donkeys, zebras, and a FUCK-ton of fossil progenitors. Not gonna go into horse evolution here, since it’s a vast topic on its own, but the group dates to about 54 million years ago, during the Eocene period.

There are specific features that define modern horses as horses, including a single hoofed toe for walking on, a body built for running with high stamina, and a large cecum in the intestines for breaking down fibrous and herbaceous material. It’s a group native to North America, Africa, and Asia, with the modern descended horse descended from a somewhat unknown ancestor in Central Asia.

They’re grazers rather than browsers, which many similar sized herbivores are. And, of course, they have a close relationship to humans throughout prehistory. Their main systems of defense against predators are the afore-mentioned running capabilities, a VICIOUS kick (especially horses like zebras), and a high-range of monocular vision due to the position of their HUGE eyes.

In terms of sexual selection, it’s essentially based on physical competition between the males in a population, which are usually formed into reproductive harems. That’s one male with multiple females that live within an established range. The females have their own dominance schemes, while groups of males exist in bachelor herds before establishing a harem of their own.

And those two paragraphs help explain why horses don’t grow horns.

Animals like this bighorn sheep, as well as antelopes with impala and gerenuk, perform intrasexual selection using their horns, the size of which determine the fitness of an individual male, with the fights settling any potential ties for watching females. And that’s the main reason why herbivorous mammals grow horns, and horses have come up with different social structures to compensate. But OK, couldn’t they just horns anyway? 

Remember the stomach I mentioned earlier? Here’s the thing; hindgut digestion, which is what horses do...not the most nutritionally efficient form of digestion. In order to maintain their running lifestyles, they invest all obtained energy and nutrients into building muscle and other important functions. Fact of the matter is, they just can’t devote enough energy and nutrients to the physiologically expensive act of owning a horn. They do have a close relative that does that, though. However, they’ve sacrificed their speed, intelligence, and even their eyesight for their horns, as well as beefing up their physical defense with thicker skin.

YUP! So why talk about this? I mean...you know why.

OK, so that had basically nothing to do with this movie, but a post like this has been building since I mentioned the gerenuk a little bit ago. Sorry, had to get it out. Anyway, yeah, unicorns are impossible, but they’re still a hallowed mythical creature. National animal of Scotland, one of the most prominent symbols of medieval mythology, a magic-using ethnic class in a mythical kingdom composed of a horse-based majority that also includes normal horses and pegasi...

You know, unicorns. So, I’m definitely interested in what would happen to make a unicorn, well...the last one. My bets are on something man-made, like deforestation or another for of habitat depletion. Could be poaching for the horn. After all, that’s what’s been driving rhinoceros species to near-extinction (or actual extinction in the case of the western black and northern white rhinos. RIP Sudan, you goddamn king).

But let’s find out rather than speculate! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap (1/2)

During medieval times, in a mystical wood called the Unicorn’s Forest, a hunter shows unease to his companion. In the forest, there are no seasons, and the beasts are protected from hunters, as long as there is one unicorn left if the forest. That last unicorn is...the Unicorn (Mia Farrow), who learns from the hunters that she must be the last of her kind.

The opening credits, which are a gorgeous animated medieval tapesty, are backed by the song “The Last Unicorn”, by America (damn, nice pull). Gives the whole thing a Renn Faire feel. Never been to a Renn Faire, but I’d love to go to one, honestly.

Anyway, the Unicorn is in doubt that there are no more of her kind in the world, as they live forever, and she would know if there are none left...right? However, they can also be killed and trapped, so...I mean, they might be dead, Unicorn. As she’s thinking on this, the most Rankin-Bass butterfly ever shows up singing a ballad of love. This is...the Butterfly (Robert Klein), a bard-erfly (see whay I did there) who won’t stop singing, despite the Unicorn’s pleas to tell her of other unicorns.

Butterflies, apparently, repeat to anything they hear around them Which involves like, a lot of non-medieval songs. There’s one about the A-train, apparently, which makes...just NO fucking sense. As the Unicorn also shows frustration at this anachronistic little bugger, he breaks his songs to tell her than the Unicorns have all been chased off by “the Red Bull.”

...I’m going to hold it off as long as I can, but the joke WILL come. It WILL come.

She wonders if she can truly leave the forest, then actually does so in order to find the other unicorns. She happens upon a farmer, who attempts to tame her, as he only sees her as a horse. Apparently, men can no longer see unicorns as they are, and usually only see them as white horses. So, there may be unicorns in the world after all!

Not sure why she doesn’t go back to her forest after realizing this, but...OK. She continues on, backed once again by a song performed by America, called “Man’s Road”. Real talk, I’m digging the music in here, which is my inner folk rock fan talking.

While she finds nothing on her journey, she’s instead found by Mother Fortuna (Angela Langsbury), a witch who runs a carnival that needs a new exhibition. With her comes Ruhk (Brother Theodore) and magician Schmendrick (Alan Arkin), the latter of whom actually can see the Unicorn as a Unicorn.

At the carnival, Schmendrick introduces hiself to the Unicorn, wanting to get her out of there. Meanwhile, an audience is fooled by Mother Fortuna’s illusory magic to see a manticore, satyr, and the Midgard Serpent, when in reality they are an elderly lion, ape with a twisted foot, and really sad snake. However, the Harpy that she has IS real, and a major threat to Fortuna were she to escape.

That night, Fortuna speaks to the Unicorn of the Red Bull, owned by a King Haggard. The Unicorn asks Fortuna to free both her and the Harpy, two signs of the same magical coin. Also...is this a kids’ movie? Kinda thought it was until I noticed that the Harpy has, well...pendulous breasts. Literally the best way I can describe them. Also, three of them, so...there’s that.

After she leaves, Schmendrick arrives to free the Unicorn with his magic...and he’s shit at it. Like, REALLY shit. But thankfully, he’s a decent pickpocket, and stole the cage keys from Ruhk. He lets the Unicorn free, and she in turn releases the other animal prisoners, Harpy included. Which is NOT great for Fortuna, who’s IMMEDIATELY killed.

The two leave together, and head on the Unicorn’s journey to find her own kind. She cannot grant Schmendrick his wish to become a true magician, but he still gives her information about this world, and King Haggard, who seems like bad news.

On the road, the two encounter a gang of thieves of the road, who work for Captain Cully (Keenan Wynn), a short and portly leader of bandits. His mistress is a woman named Molly Grue (Tammy Grimes), who’s endlessly frustrated by Cully’s regular failures. They befriend Schmendrick, who impresses them with illusions of Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Although, it’s not his illusions, but those of the Unicorn, trying to help.

Doesn’t help that much, though, as the Robin Hood-hating Captain Cully ties him up to a tree after all of his men and Molly leave. A frustrated Schmendrick mutters a spell by mistake, and brings the tree to life.

And then my girlfriend fuckin’ broke. Here she is, below:

Ravishing. Yeah, she’s watching this too, and when the tree came up, her words were, and I quote:

...a smooth-talking horse, a three-tittied harpy, and a BOOBED TREE!

Boobed tree is an expression I will find a way to use in my life. Also, this is ABSOLUTELY not a kid’s movie, and that is one busty-ass tree. This tree, called...The Tree (Nellie Bellflower) is in love with Schmendrick, and is enraged by the appearance of the Unicorn. However, the Unicorn undoes Schmendrick’s magic, and puts the t-horny tree back to sleep.

The two encounter Molly Grue, who’s astonished to see a Unicorn. She cries, as she was been waiting to see one since she was a young maiden, but now she isn’t one anymore. Interesting implications there, but moving on. Molly wishes to join them, and while Schmendrick isn’t super down for that, she wins the Unicorn’s trust when she points out that they’ve been going in the wrong direction. Whoops.

OK, with that, let’s break for Part 2! See you there!

#the last unicorn #peter beagle #arthur rankin jr. #jules bass #rankin bass #rankin-bass #alan arkin #jeff bridges #mia farrow #tammy grimes #robert klein #angela langsbury #christopher lee #keenan wynn #paul frees #rene auberjonois #the unicorn #user365 #365 movie challenge #365 movies 365 days #365 Days 365 Movies #365 movies a year #mygifs #my gifs

[ofmythsandmadness]

prompts & requests.

SO...I never meant to delay this for so long, I’m so sorry for this, but I’m excited to rejuvenate this page -- I’m quite bad with tumblr, but I just hit 350 followers and I figured I’d put in a second dime for trying to make this little account work. People seem to like my little writings (which surprises me tbh, but I appreciate the love) and I’ve gotten a lot of questions about requests, so here’s the masterpost of all that for here!

PLEASE NOTE: I don’t use Tumblr too regularly, I’m trying to be more active but because of life & stuff, I’m not always active to write. Plus, just because you request something, doesn’t mean I will automatically be able to give that! It takes time, inspiration, and often the ability to form a sentence, which weirdly I struggle with. Way too often.

ALSO! please feel free to check out the kofi link in my bio (can’t link it here bc tumblr doesn’t like links and this won’t show up at all) and buy me a coffee if you feel like it! please don’t if you can’t and i’m not trying to force, guilt or forcibly nudge anyone to do it, it’s just if you can and want to support me, that’d be real sweet. :)

WHO I WRITE FOR...most people look at this acc for tua writings, which i’ve got an abundance of! I’m quite fine with any requests of any characters, except for five (unless like it’s some aged up version of him; I don’t feel comfy writing about him and I just don’t care to). I also will write for a lot of other fandoms if you ask for them: those including marvel, stranger things (those of age, i’m not writing stories about minors), harry potter and a couple others. Just ask me, I’ll let you know if I write for the fandom & we can move from there, darling. :)

HOW TO REQUEST...I prefer not too many details in a request, just so I still feel inspired to write the piece. So, if you’re asking based on a prompt below, tell me the number(s), the character you’re looking for, and any details you feel necessary to add! Remember, nothing too specific, like don’t give me the entire plot but things like genre, atmosphere, details on the reader are okay. I usually write either genderless or female reader (I try to stick with the former to be accommodating) but you can ask for a specifically gender-neutral or female/male reader too. This also applies to fics you want garnered to a specific section of the LGBTQIA+ community (for example, if you wanted a lesbian reader with Vanya Hargreeves). I try not to add any details to appearance to the story so that everyone can enjoy the fic, but again you can ask for any specific and I will try my best to accomodate for you lovelies.

REQUEST EXAMPLE - “Can you write something with prompt number 3 and 17? Preferably with a gender-neutral reader, and with Allison Hargreeves? I’d like it to be a happy fic, please, and for the reader to not have any powers. Also, they’re a cat person! Thanks!”

Obviously, I know most people know what’s up and are respectful. But just in case you wanted an example, there you go. :)

PROMPTS LIST

(these were made by me and to my knowledge, they’re not used elsewhere, only some were taken off my last requests list. also, feel free to mix + match and ask for as many as you want)

Quote Based Prompts:

1. ‘I think I’m falling for you,’ clumsy character. 2. ‘C’mon, this is definitely safe!’ 3. ‘Do you believe in ghosts?’ + ‘Why, is there something you want to tell me?’ 4. ‘Shut up about your black coffee aesthetic and try my (insert here) drink.’ 5. ‘I’m only asking for a hug because I forgot my coat and you’re like a human furnace...don’t get any ideas.’ 6. ‘Just five more minutes.’ 7. ‘And you’re sure this isn’t illegal?’ 8. ‘Wanna go get married?’ 9. ‘I love you” “don’t lie to me’ 10. ‘I hate you’ + ‘no, you don’t.’ 11. ‘let’s dance to taylor swift and forget about reality for a moment, please.’ 12. ‘why don’t you trust me?’ 13. ‘promise me, we’ll make it out of this alive.’ 14. ‘we can’t just pushing each other away and expecting things are going to change.’ 15. ‘why are you helping me?’ 16. ‘tell me a secret.’ 17. ‘you can’t friend-zone me, we’re married!’ 18. ‘is this the end?’ 19. ‘I let you win.’ 20. ‘go away’ + ‘no, not until I know you’re okay’ 21. ‘we were supposed to be forever.’ 22. ‘nothing’s fair in love and war.’ 23. ‘I want to be here for the good and the bad.’ 24. ‘So...what happened this time?’ 25. ‘I just really wanted to see you.’ 26. ‘Uh, that’s the whole point?!’ 27. ‘You cut your hair?’ + ‘I just needed a change.’ 28. ‘I can’t lose you too, dammit!’ 29. ‘Don’t lie, you’re a hopeless romantic at heart.’ 30. ‘Can we keep it?!’ 31. ‘Why can’t this happen like it does in the movies?!’ 32. ‘Can you come with me? It’s just to get gum, but I don’t want to be alone.’ 33. ‘I made muffins!’ + ‘You can bake?!’ 34. ‘I can’t sleep.’ + ‘We can share.’ 35. ‘It used to be so simple...’ 36. ‘STOP SINGING THAT SONG OR-’ + ‘-or what?’ 37. ‘I just wanted to tell you...you look really nice tonight.’ 38. ‘Ooh, show me, show me!’ 39. ‘I really wish I could paint, because you’re the perfect muse right now.’ 40. ‘Where’d you learn how to do that?’ 41. ‘Hey, it’s okay...you’re safe now.’ 42. ‘Am I in heaven?’ + ‘Aw, you think I’m your idea of heaven?’ 43. ‘I’m not crying!’ + ‘Oh, so it’s normal for your eyes to leak like that?’ 44. ‘Why wouldn’t you tell me that sooner?!’ 45. ‘What do you think of kids?’ 46. ‘Do you think I’m a good person?’ 47. ‘Don’t look down.’ + ‘You’re only telling me that now?!’ 48. ‘It’s okay...it’s going to be okay...’ 49. ‘I didn’t think it would hurt so much to do this.’ 50. ‘Nerd.’ + ‘Loser.’ 51. ‘Wait, you actually came?’ 52. ‘You didn’t notice the one bed before?!’ + ‘It didn’t say on the website!’ 53. ‘I’m in the hospital, but don’t worry--’ + ‘Don’t worry?!’ 54. ‘Yeah, I was jealous. So what?’ 55. ‘Did you know you talk when you sleep?’ 56. ‘Of course I kept it. Why wouldn’t I?’ 57. ‘I can’t get you out of my head...’ 58. ‘I made you it because I love you, duh.’ 59. ‘I trust you.’ 60. ‘How am I supposed to trust you?!’ 61. ‘You have to start getting better excuses.’ 62. ‘I think they like you!’ 63. ‘I swear if you sing baby it’s cold outside ONE MORE TIME--’ 64. ‘You’re telling me you don’t know all the words to Promiscuous? Who are you?!’ 65. ‘I only went along with it for your sake, you know I hate (insert here).’ 66. ‘Hold my hand but only so we don’t get lost. I don’t need you getting any ideas about us.’ 67. ‘Loosen up, jackass, and give in to evil a little more!’ 68. ‘You didn’t respond to any of my texts, so I assumed you were either dying or crying. I brought answers to both situations.’ 69. ‘That’s it. I’m officially convinced that you’re actually three years old.’

Situation Based Prompts: 1. Person A refuses to dress for the cold and gets sick; Person B is stuck taking care of them afterwards. 2. Person A finds a stray and wants to take it home, but Person B isn’t so interested. 3. Coffee Shop AU; Person A shows up every Saturday to work, and Person B becomes infatuated with the mysterious person. 4. Person A wants to watch a scary movie. Person B accepts, too chicken to admit they’re terrified of horror movies. 5. Person A falls asleep, and Person B plays with their hair. 6. Person A and B wake up hungover and realise that they got married last night. 7. ‘Oh...you love them’, where Person A realises that their real feelings for Person B. 8. Person A is a Christmas enthusiast, but Person B hates the holiday season. 9. (School Based Prompt); Person A doesn’t know how to talk to Person B, and decides to pretend to need help in a subject they definitely don’t need help with. 10. Person A decides to confess their feelings to Person B through a series of anonymous gifts...only they aren’t who B suspects behind it all... 11. Person A and B have a Catwoman/Batman type relationship, dancing around one another and ignoring their obvious feelings. 12. Younger!Person A and B shared their first kiss with each other -- not because of feelings, JUST to get it over with. It never meant anything, right? 13. There’s only a little bit of time left for Person A...will they make it to B, in time? 14. (Flower Shop AU) Person A comes in every day to purchase the same single flower every time, and Person B has no clue why. 15. (Villain/Hero AU) Person A goes home to find B in their bed, bleeding and fast asleep. 16. Person A has a fear of driving. Person B finally asks why. 17. (School Based AU) Person A and B get paired together to complete a project worth a lot of their grade. The only problem? They hate each other. 18. (Coffee Shop AU) Person A comes in every day with a different name and sunglasses on, ordering the same thing every time. And Person B is obsessed. 19. Person A has a hard day at work. Person B doesn’t know what they should do to help. 20. Person A finally finds out about Person B’s big secret -- only, it doesn’t come from Person B. 21. Person A is the most oblivious person in the world. Person B is slowly losing their mind over it. 22. Everyone thinks that Person A and C are meant to be together, and it’s only A and B who really, really don’t see it. 23. And they were roommates (oh my god, they were roommates...) 24. Person A’s roommate’s boyfriend is over again, and they escape to Person B’s for peace of mind. 25. Person A finds a random bag and is determined to return it to the owner -- only, all the clues she has for who the person really is, is in the contents of the bag. 26. (Party Based Prompt) Person A and B really, really didn’t want to go to the party. But maybe meeting one another makes it worth it. 27. Person A and B go laser-tagging for some stress relief. 28. There’s a Halloween party and neither A or B knows who the other is going as. But the (insert costume) standing in the corner is looking rather suspicious... 29. (Apocalypse AU) Person A and B have been struggling for months alone, and finally reach something that gives them hope.  30. Person A and B both head to the roof for some escape. They definitely didn’t expect to see someone in their special place... 31. Person A works really late shifts downtown; Person B always makes sure they’re there to give them a ride, no matter how inconvenient it is. 32. Person A forgets about changing their emergency contact, and this backfires when they end up in the hospital... 33. (Soulmate AU) In a world where people don’t age past 21 until they meet their soulmate, Person A is surprised to learn that the partner they’ve been with for four years hasn’t aged a day -- but they have. 34. (Airport AU) Everything shuts down in a last-minute snowstorm, leaving two strangers stranded. 35. (School AU) Everyone ships Teacher A and B together, and scheme to finally set them up. 36. Person A and B ride the train together every day. 37. (Doctor AU) Person A has to take Person C to the doctors. Much to both surprise, Person A falls quickly for the Doctor who comes in (Person B) -- and Person C takes it upon themselves to let B know. 38. (Neighbours AU) Person A is tired of hearing Person B being so loud so late at night -- especially when they have to get up super early. They finally decide to confront them on it. 39. (Soulmate AU) Everyone has the same cuts, bruises and scars as their soulmate, which really freaks out Person A, who becomes determined to find their soulmate to make them stop getting hurt. 40. Person A and B are hiding their relationship from everyone. They’re not very good at it. 41. Person A finally trusts Person B to meet their (insert here); the last step in their relationship. 42. Person A sends their text to the LAST person they wanted to send it to: Person B. 43. (Delivery Person AU) Person A somehow always manages to be the one to sign for the office packages...does Person B have anything to do with it? (Also, why does A keep buying so much stuff?!) 44. (Arranged Marriage) Person A is being forced into a marriage to Person C neither they or Person B wants. But B might just have a plan out... 45. (Bodyguard AU) Person A always knew that Person C was rich, but never rich enough to need a legit bodyguard. But when C’s father’s company is threatened, they call in the big dogs -- and they’re cute, too. Aka...A makes a point to catch the attention of Person B at any time possible, much to their upset. 46. (University AU) Person A needs a model. Person B needs a way to occupy their afternoon. Thus, a deal is struck. 47. Person A is a private detective hired to work the case on a mysterious murder (that strangely, Person C doesn’t want getting out). Person B is C’s lead suspect, but A can’t help but feel like they’re not the real culprit... 48. Person A drags Person B along onto a roadtrip across the country to go visit their oddball grandparents. But things go south quickly. 49. Person A gets robbed, and has no one to call when they can’t shake the nightmares but Person B. 50. Person A can manipulate time, but only by an hour. Person B doesn’t know this, but gets suspicious when they see A do something very, very weird... (you can supply more details for this one) 51. (Neighbours AU) Person A and B have the thinnest walls ever, which would suck, but they both oddly have the exact same taste in music. It’s nice; if only they got to meet. 52. (Store AU) Person A and B get locked into their work’s freezer for the night. 53. (Coffee Shop AU) Person B has never met Person A; they always miss them by only a minute. They do, however, manage to sit at the exact same table every day and pick up the piece of art they leave for the next customer. 54. Person A has loved Person B their entire life. Too bad they’ll never get to tell them. 55. (Diner AU) Person A meets Person B at three in the morning when they stumble in soaked. They’re surprised, when they show up again...and again...at the exact same time. 56. (5+1) Five times Person A told Person B they loved them, and the one time Person B finally said it back. 57. (5+1) The five times Person A surprises Person B, and the one time Person B surprises A. 58. (5+1) The five times Person A broke Person B’s heart, and the one time they didn’t.  59. (5+1) The five times Person A saved Person B...and the one time Person B couldn’t save A. 60. (5+1) The five times A and B almost meet, and the first time they finally do. 61. (5+1) The five times Person A lies to Person B, and the one time they finally tell the truth. 62. Person B is like, super allergic to dogs. But Person A doesn’t need to know that. 63. Person A has no clue how to tell Person B how they feel. So, they make a playlist. 64. Person A and B accidentally switch luggage at the airport.

Happy requesting, darlings.

#diego hargreeves x reader #luther hargreeves x reader #allison hargreeves x reader #ben hargreeves x reader #klaus hargreeves x reader #vanya hargreeves x reader #lila pitts x reader #mine #requests #peter parker x reader #michelle jones x reader #ned leeds x reader #harry potter x reader #hp x reader

[missfisherchallenges]

MFMM Break Down the Door Challenge

The prompts are in, and we were very excited by the response – 60 prompts in total, ranging from quotes, to song lyrics to specific situations.All the prompts on the general theme of “closeness” are below. Submit any fanwork you like - fics, fanart, poems, vids, etc. - to this collection by Tuesday, May 12th.

Let’s get together, fandom! Make some art, share some love, break down the door.

Prompts:

1. “Don't touch!"

2. Drunken confession

3. Friends to lovers

4. Shared whisky over draughts

5. "Steady me anytime, Inspector."

6. Bert finally accepts Jack.

7. Kissing in the rain

8. “Do you trust me?”

9. Fatima, the camel, runs away.

10. Secret relationship or fake dating

11. “I can’t believe you remembered.”

12. Jack quotes Shakespeare to Phryne.

13. Dot and Hugh become a family.

14. Jack and Mac become drinking buddies.

15. "Like two peas in a pod”

16. Someone shares a deeply personal secret.

17. Two characters literally run into each other.

18. Mac invents a new kind of glue.

19. Phryne finds out that Jack's an insomniac.

20. One character has nightmares and another comforts them.

21. Innocent bystanders get caught up in Phrack’s “closeness.”

22. Mr Butler as a father figure to Dot.

23. An exploration fic of the Hugh/Jack relationship.

24. Mac helps Phryne through a difficult medical procedure.

25. Mac takes care of Jane for a day.

26. Wrapping arms around someone when they make breakfast

27. Jack and Rosie's wedding (Optional: Jack in a kilt)

28. "The water is wide, and I can't cross over."

29. Rosie gets remarried and invites Jack to the wedding.

30. Mr Butler insists on feeding Jack while Phryne's away.

31. Jack and Phryne read D.H.Lawrence in the bathtub.

32. Phryne and Jane have a heart to heart about boys.

33. A story about Jack, Uncle Ted, and the coin collection.

34. Mr Butler's perspective on the Inspector showing up at Wardlow

35. Jack or Phryne sleepwalks into the other’s bedroom at night.

36. One character taking care of another when s/he’s sick or injured

37. Jack loses his sibling and Phryne is there to help him.

38. Phryne and Jack become godparents to Dot and Hugh's first child.

39. Jack and Hugh enlist in WWII. Dot handles it by knitting.

40. One of the gang has a bad day and another notices.

41. Painting or redecorating the house ending in a fight and/or giggles

42. Jack teases out a secret from Phryne, one that he would never have guessed.

43. Phrack are investigating a murder out of town and are stranded there together unexpectedly.

44. Jack comes home, only to find a certain lady detective there, drinking his whiskey.

45. Phryne and Jack are stuck somewhere, but with a closed door or a wall between them.

46. Phrack are being chased, one pulls the other into an alley - and then realizes how close they are.

47. An epistolary fic where the characters are moving closer together, or further apart, physically as the letters continue.

48. Phryne makes Jack wear that Antony costume - how, and how much does she have to cajole or promise?

49. Phryne or Jack (equal opportunity) playing with the other’s hair, as their head is in the other’s lap.

50. Jack or Phryne is investigating somewhere and can tell that the other was recently there by a telltale scent.

51. A member of the MFMM family opens the door to find the last person on earth they’d expect to see.

52. Phryne and/or the Wardlow crew play a trick that somehow ends with Phryne and Jack handcuffed together, not a hairpin in sight.

53. AU from “Murder à la Mode” where Phryne and Jack are sitting very close in the cupboard and this time Genevieve DOESN'T turn up.

54. Phryne and Jack are handcuffed together and have to escape from ___. Maybe they were fighting over something recently and are not on speaking terms?

55. “Now that you're standing here I just realized... there's a bit of green in the blue of your eyes. How nice to find a flaw.”

56. The song "So Close" from Enchanted

.“Almost believing This one's not pretend And now you're beside me And look how far we've come So far we are, so close"

57. It's winter and Phryne and Jack find themselves investigating a murder in the mountains. They're skiing, the weather gets worse, and they have to find shelter in a remote cabin. There is no way to light a fire and their only chance of surviving is to warm each other through body heat.

58. Phryne searches a secret lab with dangerous substances and there is an accident. She gets sick, likely contagious, and is put under quarantine. Mac works to find an antidote while Jack can only watch her through a window in her hospital room. One day there is an emergency and Jack must decide whether to enter the room to help Phryne or stay outside the room as ordered.

59. Soulmate AU 1: Everyone has an item that glows when their person is near.

60. Soulmate AU 2: Every person has an item, very dear to them, that glows when your soulmate is close to you. Phryne's item is her sister’s ribbon, but because there are so many painful memories connected with it, she locks it away and only takes it out for special occasions. She’s never seen it glow. When she works with Jack she sometimes catches herself looking for his item, but fails to find anything that glows. The day they arrest Sanderson and Fletcher, Phryne finally discovers it. Watching Jack console Rosie, she sees it: Jack's Collected Shakespeare. Thinking Jack and Rosie are actually meant for each other, Phryne leaves the station with a broken heart. Little does she know her little sister's ribbon is glowing brightly every time Phryne is anywhere close to Jack.

#MFMM Fandom Challenge #MFMM Break Down The Door Challenge #miss fisher's murder mysteries #mfmm fanfic #mfmm fanart

[arcticdementor]

Part III of my series about the changing face of L.A. Click for Parts I and II.

I ended Part II with a look at how L.A. County’s Hispanics are habitual nonvoters. Let’s pick up seamlessly from there, in Compton. Compton used to be so black (over 85%) that at my high school we had a litany of “Compton so black” jokes.

…

Today, the birthplace of “gangsta rap” be not black at all. At last count (prior to the 2020 census), it was 68% Hispanic and 27% black, and I’d bet my house that the new figures will show that the Hispanic number has risen beyond 70% and the black has dropped below 25%.

Compton so Mexican its city hall’s a Home Depot parking lot.

Now dig this: In a city that’s roughly one-quarter black and almost three-quarters Mexican, of the eight elected officials (mayor, city attorney, city clerk, treasurer, and four councilpeople), only one is Hispanic. All the rest are black. And it gets better. That one Hispanic councilman won his election by just one vote, and our Soros-backed DA is prosecuting the guy for fabricating the one vote that put him over the top. Turns out the bean only ran because a black guy who’d lost his primary made a deal with him to run in his stead in exchange for giving the failed black candidate a lucrative city commissioner position if he won, and together they faked the winning vote.

Can you wrap your brain around that? The city is 70% Hispanic, and the only Hispanic council member, who only ran because a black dude made him, won by just one vote, and that vote had to be faked.

Get my point now about Hispanics not voting?

I mean, imagine a city that’s 70% black, but only one out of eight city officials is black. And then the county DA tries to nullify the vote that got that one black elected. There’d be riots! Neighborhoods would be burned to ash. Don Lemon would be screaming about “equity,” and the Biden Justice Department would be investigating the DA.

But Mexicans don’t care. They’re fine with letting the black minority pretend to be da Emperor Jones. That’s how little participatory democracy matters to them. And Dems have no desire to “enfranchise” Compton Mexicans because blacks are their most reliable and manipulatable minions. Never trade a slave for an independent contractor. Plus, as I discussed last week, when Mexicans do vote, it’s all over the map. As Newsweek contributor Richard Hanania pointed out regarding polls that show California Hispanics divided 50/50 on the Newsom recall (blacks are 65/35 against it), “I feel like it’s fun living in a state with many Mexicans because you get a wildcard aspect to politics. Keeps things exciting.”

…

So what we know is that Mexi voting ambivalence is resilient. Would it be equally resilient to rightist coercion? Who knows; no rightists out here are testing the waters. The Hispanic rejection of affirmative action was due in large part to a general dislike of blacks. And in February when the black- and Jew-run L.A. school board defunded all campus police and redirected the $25 million LAUSD security budget to a program to fund the education of only black students, the discontent among L.A. Hispanics was palpable. Blacks make up barely 8% of LAUSD students (Hispanics comprise over 70%). Hispanic Twitter exploded with fury over the “black-only” payday coming at the expense of campus security, and the L.A. Times was forced to admit that Hispanic support for campus cops was massive, especially compared with support from non-Hispanic whites (a whopping 67% to 54%).

So did our local “Republicans” try to make hay out of that? Of course not, because to do so would risk offending blacks, and the GOP establishment has sworn a blood oath that it shall never allow itself any forward motion that might jeopardize its (zero) chance of “winning the black vote.”

There could literally be one black man left in L.A., and the GOP would sacrifice everything for his favor.

…

So, our Mexicans are untested, and our rapidly decreasing blacks, our gradually increasing Asians, and our moneyed and influential secular Jews are a lost cause. What about our non-Jewish non-Hispanic whites?

Ay yi yi, they’re the woist of all. The leftist ones represent the bottom of the barrel of self-hating “please genocide me before I enslave again,” “I hope my son goes tranny so that my foul DNA might dead-end with my progeny’s amputated penis” wastes of space. The mostly non-Jewish white upscale deep-blue city of Manhattan Beach, for example, is filled with self-flagellating WASPs who spend their time trying to make their safe city less safe by “giving land back” to blacks who were supposedly racisted out of town in the 1920s.

And now Manhattan Beach is regularly visited by black criminals, from serial rapists to boardwalk thieves to a home-invasion attempted murder just a week ago. I’m sure the guilt-ridden Robin DiAngelos of Manhattan Beach excuse these crimes as justified reparations owed to noble negroes.

…

Worse still, our “rightist” whites—those who choose to be activists—are just plain batshit crazy. Our MAGAs are violent, self-destructive, foolish, and dim-witted (I’ve covered this before, and I’ll be revisiting it next week in a column that’ll post on the eve of the gubernatorial recall).

…

In largely red Beverly Hills (and surrounding Westside areas), the Persian, Israeli, and Orthodox Jews, who are not suicidal, are holding the line against the violent crime and property crime that still disproportionately come from blacks (ironically, as the county’s black community shrinks, the thugs are forced to venture beyond their comfort zone in search of victims, rather like how bears become more bold as their natural habitat shrinks). But what of the areas that are largely Hispanic? Well, our Hispanics (as the Times pointed out) have a more positive view of police than our whites. That’s something often overlooked by those who claim to study criminality in racial or ethnic groups. It’s never just about criminality; it’s also about acceptance of policing. Whites who dismantle the criminal justice apparatus are as much to blame for rampant criminality as low-IQ thugs. Portland is an example of how poisonous such whites can be; violent crime in that city isn’t the result of a huge population of blacks but a huge population of self-hating anti-cop whites.

…

Our Hispanics occupy a middle ground: between black and white on the criminality scale (not as high as the former, not as low as the latter), but better than both groups on acceptance of policing. Half of L.A.’s cops and sheriff’s deputies are Hispanic, and our sheriff, Alex Villanueva—an unapologetic kick-ass crime fighter—survived the George Floyd purge last summer because his fellow Hispanics backed him against the blacks and whites who sought his ouster.

A county can weather criminality if it allows rigorous enforcement. L.A. had a lower murder rate than it does today back when there were more blacks but also more enforcement. Now that blacks, leftist whites, and secular Jews have decided that enforcement equals genocide, the last hope for the county lies with the Westside Persian/Israeli/Orthodox Jews and the Eastside beans.

There’s a logic to this, as those groups mingle more than you might think. Be it as nannies, gardeners, construction workers, warehouse personnel, or restaurant staff, the Westside is where many Mexicans go to work every day.

As one of those Westside Jews (though an outlier, as I’m “red” without being Persian, Israeli, or Orthodox), I would absolutely throw in with the beans as opposed to the leftist whites or the MAGA whites. Both groups, like blacks, have become suicidal. And suicidal people are dangerous.

Yes, Mexis have gangs, and you don’t want to walk down certain Eastside streets at night. Big shit; no one has reason to except those who live there. In the 1970s those areas were worse when they were black.

But Mexicans do the scut work around here, they don’t riot when one of their own is arrested (indeed they arrest their own), and they aren’t dangerously self-destructive.

I’ll take it.

Not that I have a choice; it’s the way it’s gonna be, demographically, whether I like it or not.

But it’s not the worst-case scenario, or even the second-to-worst. And these days that’s good enough.

#david cole #taki's magazine #los angeles #compton

[fantastic-bby]

One In A Million (Teaser)

Teaser details

Pairing: (F)Reader x Changbin (ft housemates Felix and Jisung) 

Teaser word count: 1.9k 

Genre: Fluff | Romance | Mermaid!Reader | College student!Changbin | 3rd POV

Warnings: Cigarette use (Changbin) | Mentions of marijuana usage | Changbin almost drowns 

Publish date of full fic: 5th April

Overall word count: 14.7k 

Full fic genre: Fluff | Romance  | Slow Burn | Strangers to Lovers | Mermaid!Reader | College student!Changbin | 3rd POV

Summary: In a world where magical creatures exist simultaneously with humans, Changbin, a marine biology student, knows that merfolk have been pushed to extinction by humans years before. However, while he’s at his regular smoking spot at the beach, he notices a figure watching him from the water…

Masterlist

Changbin thinks he’s gone mad. He stares at the water in so much disbelief that he’s sure he’s gone mad. Looking down at the cigarette in his hand, he’s thinking that Felix has definitely laced it with something. If he wasn’t high, then why did he just see a person disappear into the water from the beach he’s standing at?!

“Fucking Felix,” he curses as he pulls his phone out of his pocket.

Binnie: Did you put something in my cigarettes? [03:54]

Lixie the weedie: No??? Why would I touch your cigs? [03:55]

He lets out another curse as he shoves his phone back into his pocket. When Changbin sees the head poke out from underneath the ocean’s surface, he’s slightly more convinced that it’s an actual person and not some drug that’s messing with his head. He looks around the beach—it’s empty other than him. It’s normal for the beach to be empty around this time. Changbin’s only out there every night because he wants to smoke and his housemate—Jisung—refuses to let anyone smoke cigarettes in the house. Jisung’s a funny guy. He would gladly take Felix’s joints and edibles, but he refuses to be a victim of secondhand smoking because of Changbin.  

Changbin’s phone buzzes twice in his pocket and he pulls it out once again.

Sungie: Come back inside D:< You’re gonna catch a cold if you’re out there any longer [04:00]

Binnie: The cigs keep me warm [04:00]

He awaits Jisung’s next response to see the message being read. The chat bubble pops up, bouncing a few times to signal that he’s typing back only for it to disappear. Changbin looks back out into the ocean only to realise that whoever was watching him is gone. He sighs, wondering what kind of a person would be in the water during winter with how the temperatures drop way below freezing.

Sungie: I’m locking the door if you don’t come back in 5 minutes [04:03]

Binnie: Fuck you [04:03]

Sungie: Attached image (1)

Of course he sends a love meme back. Changbin rolls his eyes, a smile tugging at his lips. Jisung means well, he just shows his affection in a slightly more aggressive and dry manner than Changbin would.

Binnie: I’ve accepted the love meme and I will be returning shortly <3 [04:05]

He gives the ocean one last look before turning around and heading towards the neighbourhood, putting his cigarette out in the process of walking. Changbin’s body shivers a few minutes into the 8 minute walk. Without the smoke warming his lungs and body, it’s just cold now. He knows he needs to stop and the constant excuses that he’s come up with to stay attached to those cancer sticks make Jisung want to punch him in the face. One of those excuses is being warm in the winter, which again, makes Jisung want to punch him.

“I’m back,” Changbin announces as he steps into the small house and kicks his shoes off. Jisung pops his head out from the living room to look at him.

“Lix and I are playing Super Smash Bros., do you wanna join?”

“Uhh, I’ll pass,” he shakes his head as he steps into the living room to see Felix sitting on the couch. His Nintendo Switch is plugged into the TV, the baby pink controller in his hand while the other baby blue one is with Jisung. "Don't you have class in the morning?"

"Our professor cancelled," he replies with a shrug as Jisung starts another round of the game. "I only have classes after lunch, so I'm not too worried about it."

“Still,” Changbin chuckles. Unlike Changbin, Felix and Jisung somehow have more filled schedules than he does despite how they’re only entering their second year and Changbin’s already graduating soon. They’re always saying they have work they need to do when they’re doing pretty much anything else but their assignments.

“Why did you ask about your cigs?” Felix looks away from the screen for a split second to glance at Changbin.

The older man sucks a breath in through his teeth as he contemplates it. Felix and Jisung would definitely call him crazy, but they’ve lived with each other for the past four years, so it’s not like there’s any secrets between the three. “I thought I saw someone in the water for a moment, but then they disappeared.”

“In this temperature?” Jisung snorts. “You’d have to be crazy to take a dip in the ocean during winter.” Even though his attention is solely on the game, he takes a few glances towards his housemate when he realises that Changbin seems way more spaced out than usual. “You alright, hyung?”

“Yeah,” Changbin nods quickly. “I just feel like that person may have not been… a human.” He doesn’t really know how the thought even came to him. It just popped out of nowhere when he swears that he saw a tailfin following after the person.

“What?” Felix pauses the game and turns to look at him, earning a whine from Jisung. “What else could they have been?” Now Changbin really thinks he’s gone mad. He knows that if he actually spoke his thoughts, then Jisung and Felix would probably end up laughing at him.

“I don’t know, man, I just feel like it could’ve been something else,” he shrugs, “like a mermaid or something.”

“Merfolk went extinct years ago, hyung,” Jisung states, emphasizing on ‘years’, as he nudges Felix’s shoulder and unpauses the game. “Humans pushed the merfolk to extinction even before we were born. That includes sirens.”

“Yeah, but you know how sometimes scientists declare a species extinct but it turns out they were just hiding somewhere else.”

Felix and Jisung both pause the game once again before turning to look at their older housemate. “No way,” Felix shakes his head.

“They’d have to have been really good at hiding or else the humans would’ve found them by now,” Jisung nods.

“You think maybe the joint I gave you a few hours ago still has its effects on you?” he teases as he jabs Changbin’s bicep with his finger. In response, he yelps and swats at Felix’s hand until he leaves him alone.

“I’m telling you, I know what I saw,” Changbin grumbles. “There was a fin following after them.”

“It was probably another creature,” Jisung guesses as he turns back to the TV. “You know how water sprites can get too. Maybe it was one of them playing tricks on you.”

“Water sprites don’t take the forms of other water creatures,” he states matter-of-factly.

“Alright, Mr ‘I study magical creatures’,” he rolls his eyes. “Don’t think too much about it. It could’ve been something else.”

“I don’t study magical creatures, I study the ocean’s ecosystem, asshole,” Changbin nags and reaches over Felix to punch Jisung’s arm. The younger man lets out an exaggerated howl of pain as he writhes around.

“Felix, hyung is bullying me!” he whines.

“Sounds like a you problem,” Felix snorts just as he manages to knock out Jisung’s character. “I win!” He shoots up from the couch with his arms up in the air, “I won because you’re too busy teasing Changbin hyung!” Jisung lets out an even louder whine.

“That’s unfair! We have to play again! Let’s play another round!”

“It’s not unfair! I won!” Changbin crosses his arms over his chest, amused as he watches the younger men argue about whether or not they should play another game. They annoy him, sure, but Changbin’s harboured a soft spot for his housemates. As much as Felix makes him want to throw him out of the window and how Jisung makes him want to lock him in his own room, Changbin would do anything to keep them safe and happy. The feeling’s mutual across the three of them.

Jisung, the designated demon of the house, once broke into Felix’s crazy ex-girlfriend's house and stole his hoodie back for him only to have objects thrown at him by her. Felix, the house mum, once almost lit a car on fire to try and save Jisung from being beat up by a gang of hooligans. Changbin, on the other hand, pays the most in rent and likes to use it against his two younger friends—he would prefer to call them his brothers. A happy family that the three of them decided to build together when they had started college.

Changbin finds himself at the beach at the same time a few days later, cigarette held between his index and his middle finger. He’s come to terms that there’s no way it was a mermaid—he studies them, of course he would know what a mermaid looks like even in the dark. However, tonight, he finds himself sitting on one of the rockier areas of the coast, sitting cross-legged on the almost frozen  stone and looking out at the ocean as he smokes his problems away.

He’s lucky that the three of them are able to afford a small house nearer to the ocean or else he would’ve been more stressed out. Being near the ocean as a student who studies marine ecosystems means that it’s easier for Changbin to do research without having to travel so far away to get to the water.

As he looks out, he sees it again. Changbin almost falls off of the rocks and into the water when he sees what looks like a person sticking their head out of the water, eyes watching him intently. He sits upright, leaning closer to get a better look only to watch them dive back into the water. That’s when he sees it.

A tailfin.

“No fucking way," Changbin gasps as he crawls closer to the edge of the rocks. The waves move gently, the darkness and the movement obstructing any kind of view he would have into the water. His hand holds himself up as he slowly gets closer and closer towards the water when the head re-emerges, right in front of his face. Changbin loses his balance out of shock, his hand slipping against the rock and his body rolling off of the edge until he's enveloped in cold.

Freezing cold.

He panics.

Changbin can't breathe. He feels the salt water gushing into his lungs and all he feels is pain. His throat burns, his eyes sting, his lungs hurt. Black spots start to fill his vision while his limbs frantically try to push himself up towards the water's surface, but it's too cold for his limbs to even move properly. He'll drown if he doesn't get out and if it isn't the water that kills him, then the hypothermia definitely will. The more he panics, the more frantic his arms become, but it’s not like Changbin’s actually able to control himself since the only thought in his mind is swim to the surface.

Arms wrap around Changbin's torso when he feels his body starting to give up but it's too dark for him to see as they pull him into a darker area. He's shoved out of the water and onto stone, his lungs painfully coughing out all the water out as he heaves to catch his breath. He looks around the area once he's more composed, only now noticing that he's in what looks like a cave. Changbin's eyes stop at a pair of eyes peeking out from right above the water's surface, staring at him.

"Y-You…" Changbin trails when he realises how cold it is, his arms moving to wrap around himself in a feeble attempt to keep himself warm. The head further emerges, tilting curiously and watching him. Changbin manages to push out a gasp despite his shivers, her skin is patched with tinges of blue and green, scales crawling up the side of her face. Her pupils were shaped like slits, almost cat-like. "You're… a m-mermaid."

#kwritersworldnet #kpopccc #stray kids #stray kids imagines #stray kids oneshots #stray kids fluff #stray kids romance #stray kids slow burn #stray kids x reader #skz #skz imagines #skz oneshots #skz fluff #skz romance #skz slow burn #skz x reader #seo changbin #seo changbin imagines #seo changbin oneshots #seo changbin fluff #seo changbin romance #seo changbin slow burn #seo changbin x reader #changbin #changbin imagines #changbin oneshots #changbin fluff #changbin romance #changbin slow burn #changbin x reader

[emmejo26]

Short Story

Hi all! Below is a short story I’ve had playing through my head for a while now, inspired by some of the books/movies/Webtoons I’ve been into lately. Now I am in NO way a writer so I’m sure there is A LOT of room for improvement. But I just felt like I just had to get it all down before the imagery left my head. That being said, I would love your feedback and constructive criticism (just go easy on me, I’m new to putting myself out here like this). Thanks! 

....

As a member of the Costa’s clan, life for Will had been fairly simple. He was known as The Devil to all that feared him, a lethal predator with no remorse or feeling. Until he met a girl, that is. Tessa turned his whole world upside down and now he couldn’t dream of letting her go. But to be involved with any clan is to have a target on your back. A rival clan, the Volkov’s, sought to exploit this new weakness in Will and kidnapped Tessa. Below is the story of how The Devil got his angel back. 

Hour 1

“She’s gone”.

And with those two little words, my world began to fracture.

Immediately a million what-if scenarios started running through my head.

What if they don’t want to make a deal? What if there is information that we don’t have? What if it’s not who we thought it was?

What if they hurt her?

No. I can’t start thinking like that. It would unravel me. And I needed to be whole, focused. Lethal.

I would find the monsters that took her from me, and I would make them all regret ever touching her.

I would make them all pay. Every last one of them.

“Boss…”, Ryan’s tentative voice breaks me from my murderous thoughts. “What’s our plan?”.

“It’s time to have a chat with our little friend, Nicolai.”

And with that, we head straight to the car.

I’m going to find you, angel. Hold on.

 Hour 48

We’ve had quite the productive chat with Nicolai. Took him a little while to loosen up, but eventually we couldn’t get him to shut up. Normally our methods aren’t so barbaric, but we just don’t have time for our typical finesse. She was out there somewhere, all alone, with only her twisted captors for company.

I’m coming, angel. Hold on just a little bit longer.

 Hour 52

With every last detail triple checked and confirmed by the clan’s database, we finally had a location.

Our plan was simple: send in a small team and get Tessa out. All that mattered was getting my angel out of the hell I’d inadvertently placed her in.

I can’t believe I was so stupid as to put her in danger in the first place. I know better. Being with me is like having a target on your back. I know better and yet here we are. From the moment I met her, I knew I wanted to know more of her. For the first time in years, I felt happy, hopeful. And it was all thanks to her. She made me feel.

One way or another, I will get her out.

Hour 53

Our team was truly small: Ryan, Peter and me. They are only two people I trust with my life. We’d been through it all together. These were the only men I’d trust to do what needed to be done: get her out, no matter what.

The organization that had taken Tessa has been keeping her right under our noses. We knew Volkov Industries was involved but we never thought they’d use one of their own office buildings for their perverse sale of flesh.

The three of us crept silently through the now empty hallways. Having to wait until normal business hours ended had been pure torture. We were so close now. I’m coming for you, Tess.

Methodically, we checked each room we came upon. Our little friend Nicolai had given us the building, but he hadn’t had the slightest idea where she was being kept inside. The minutes seemed to tick by, more quickly than I would have liked. I couldn’t let her sit here, trapped, for one hour more.

A singular thought keeps racing through my mind: what if they hurt her?

It’s that thought followed by the sweet promise of death to those that took her, that propels my feet forward. I would make this right.

For her, I would do anything.

It’s been about 30 minutes since we entered the building, and I’m starting to question our information. Sure, Volkov Industries is a huge complex, but to have been here this long and to have come this far without running into a single sentry is highly suspect.

If Nicolai lied to us about this, I’m going to choke out what little life he has left.

I’m about to signal the boys to stop and regroup when I hear the soft thud of footsteps heading our way. We duck into an empty room and wait for the group to pass. Looks like we found some of our missing sentries.

As they pass, I overhear their small talk:

“Last I heard, he was getting impatient. I think he thought the Costa’s would come for her sooner.”

“I heard that he’s getting so impatient, he might have some fun with her before he sells her tonight! She is quite a looker.”

“Oh! That would really send The Devil over the edge! I wish I could see the look on his face when he finds out!”

The rage that has been quietly simmering inside me for the last two days has now reached its boiling point.

I look to my team and can see the comprehension in their eyes: this group will be the first to die tonight.

A preternatural calmness schools my features into a mask of arrogance as I casually lean on the door frame.

“Looks like I’m about to make your wish come true, boys”, I smile sardonically.

The look of pure terror in their eyes fuels my rage and my body instinctively begins the dance of death, my men following close behind.

We make quick work of the group, each of us moving with precision in this perfectly choreographed dance. One by one, bodies dropped until only one man remained. I regain my composure and stalk over to the lone survivor.

As expected, he cowers in the corner and begins begging for his life. This was the arrogant fuck who had made the comment about wanting to see The Devil go over the edge. Fucking idiot.

We quickly got the man to shut his mouth with the false promise we’d let him live so long as he told us what we needed to know. Again, fucking idiot. The Devil shows no mercy.

Faster than I would have expected, the sentry gave us the location within the building where Tessa was being kept. Being a better man than I am, Peter swiftly puts a bullet in the man’s head. He’s definitely the better man; The Devil would have made him suffer. One look from Ryan reminds me we that don’t have time and I immediately jump into action.

I’m coming, angel. I’m almost there.

 Hour 54

After what feels like an eternity of stair climbing, we begin to hear the sounds of life we’ve so desperately been searching for. By the number of voices we can hear behind the door, there is certainly a large group gathered here. All expecting a show, I’m sure.

If it’s a show they want, it’s a show I’ll give them. It just won’t be the one they were expecting.

Ryan, Peter and I quickly and quietly decide on our next move. We still don’t know exactly where in the room Tessa is being held. Anything we do now could potentially jeopardize her life even more and I refuse to act rashly. Even though every bone in my body is screaming to give The Devil control.

This is it. The time for vengeance has come. They will soon remember how I received my name.

**Power is cut. The building plunges into darkness. A quiet hush fills the room. Three devils enter. And so again begins the dance of death.**

**Gunshots start. Panicked screams now fill the space. Disgusting men with fat wallets try to flee as their bodyguards fall to the ground. The power begins to flicker to life while one devil breaks from the group, unnoticed. Find Tessa. That’s all that matters.**

I am vaguely conscious of Peter slinking off to the connecting room. Good. Find her. Keep her safe. I’ll keep doing what I do best: death.

I drown out their screams and keep moving forward: aim, shoot, aim shoot, reload. A never-ending cycle, sure to continue as long as The Devil lives.

With the lights now back up and running, I can fully see all that we’ve done. There were more people here than we anticipated. Most of the suits have managed to get out by now but we were able to take out a few. I don’t see the bastard that orchestrated this sick sale, though. He must have gotten out. Or maybe he wasn’t here at all, just a master puppeteer controlling his many puppets.

But we’ll find him. The Devil always finds them in the end. 

I don’t linger long on that thought, I just keep shooting, almost as if in a trance.

Until I hear her, the voice of my angel.

 Hour 55

“Will.”

I’ve just dropped yet another body when my eyes lock with hers from across the room. I can’t bring myself to look away, even to assess if she’s been hurt. To my surprise, I see no fear or disgust in her eyes. Just…relief? Concern?  

She let’s go of Peter’s hand and begins the slow walk through the room. Our eyes remained locked.

I watch in awe as this angel steps gingerly around the fallen bodies and pooling blood, as if she were merely walking around rain puddles.

Peter and Ryan have started the process of weeding out those still alive and ending their misery.

After what feels like an eternity, Tessa finally stands in front of me. Now that I can see her clearly, I find no trace of repulsion in her features. Surely this angel must hate me for all the death I’ve dealt, for the monster inside me…

She gently extends one of her delicate hands, keeping her eyes on mine, and softly whispers, “Let’s go home.”

Home.

I nod slightly, still in awe of this beautiful angel, and take her outstretched hand as I lead her from the mausoleum Ryan, Peter and I have created here tonight.

A brief nod at my team tells them it’s time to leave. We will deal with the repercussions of this night tomorrow, and we’ll come up with a plan to take down this whole organization.

Until then, I will tuck my angel safely in my arms and chase away any nightmares that may plague her sleep. I will keep her safe, for as long as she’ll let me.

My angel, my Tessa.

#shortstory mobsterAU devil angel lovestory

[istheresomebodywhocanimagine]

New York Minute PT. 1

anonymous said: I saw you say your requests are open (but your bio doesn’t say they are so I totally understand if I misunderstood and I apologize). I was wondering if you could do a ben hardy imagine where the reader and he aren’t together but he gets jealous about one of the other boys (and realizes his feelings) and the rest is up to you ;) thank you! and anonymous said: Ooh could you do an age gap thing with either roger or ben of like roger being in the early 1980s and reader/oc being in their early 20s and Ben being the age he is now with someone in their early 20s??  

(a/n: this will be a multi-part series!!!! i just had too many ideas for these requests and had to go crazy - sorry i’ve been so inactive lately yall i promise i’ll try to post more now that the summer is winding down. i should have part two out in the next week or so??? anyways this one’s a thickie tbh (like.... almost 10k) so buckle up!!!)

"Ben's moving here? He that blond bitch in all your posts?"  You were draped across Joe's couch, feet resting on his left thigh as you popped another berry into your mouth, humming happily as you chewed. Joe's eyes were slightly glazed over, still focused on the TV that was playing some baseball game as you studied his face, watching the way his tongue darted out to wet his lower lip before he afforded you a quick glance. "Yeah. Real 'lad' type, Gwilym's words. Kid's a textbook definition of a ladies man when he wants to be."   "Kid? How old is he?" you asked curiously, quirking an eyebrow at your rather indisposed neighbor. His fingers tapped at the armrest to his right, and you scowled a bit at his apparent disinterest in your questions. He was always a baseball guy, but you couldn't believe how distracted he could become by a single game. You were less than a couple feet away, and it was like you were speaking into the void. "I thought he was like 30."

"28," Joe corrected, still not taking his eyes off of the TV.  You huffed at that. 28 was still a good half a decade older than you, and here Joe was calling him a kid. "If he's a kid, then I'm baby." "What? What does that.... why do you always say that?" he asked, finally looking at you with a questioning look that seemed more pained than anything else. "I'm baby? What does that mean?" "It means.... I don't know how to explain it, Joey, I'm baby!" you exclaimed, throwing up your arms in defeat before letting them fall back down limply. "Anyways, you said he's a ladies man? Is he gonna put the moves on me?" Joe snorted at that, returning his gaze to the TV as you sat the plate back on the coffee table, waiting patiently for his answer. "Maybe. Like I said, he's a ladies man when he wants to be." "Wants to be? What's that supposed to mean?" you asked, suddenly wanting to clarify the discrepancy. Sitting up a bit, you pulled your feet off his lap and instead hugged your knees to your chest, staring across the couch at Joe, who was slightly slack-jawed and way too interested in the current play to answer. Clearing your throat, you spoke louder, commanding his attention. "Joe!" "Huh?" he asked, turning his head slowly over to you and following with his eyes a few moments later. Slowly, recognition registered on his face and he pulled his jaw closed, swallowing hard before he answered. "I mean he's a smooth talker, but he also gets all messy when he fumbles." "You get messy when you fumble during flirting," you pointed out, and Joe furrowed his eyebrows before sneering a bit, mocking your words under his breath. "You do! Remember that blonde at Feinstein's-" "Yes! I remember the blonde at 54 Below, okay? Let it go," he rushed out all in one go, his face a bit red as he closed his eyes and tried to push his memory of the wine-soaked night to the back of his mind. "And for the record, she did end up coming back to my apartment later." "I'm just saying." Holding your hands up in surrender for a moment, you made a show of letting it go before hugging your legs again, hiding your amused smile behind your knee. Joe's glare was almost burning, his narrowed eyes only making your smile harder to hide. It had been over two years since you moved in next to this dumbass, and you still hadn't learned a single thing about controlling your facial expressions from a well-seasoned actor like him. Finally, Joe sighed and shook his head, deciding to pick his battles wisely. "Anyways, he'll be here next week. Are you free Thursday? We're going out with Chace." "Chace?" you repeated, humming nervously before shaking your head. "No go. Chace still probably thinks I'm a moron from the time I thought he was you on the balcony so I came out and did jumper cables on his side and found out - surprise, surprise - it was not you." "That was like, two years ago. How do you still even remember that?" he laughed, turning his attention back to the screen. "I can't even remember what I ate for breakfast yesterday. Chace probably forgot all about it." "It was mortifying, Joe! Imagine some random chick just walking out on your friend's balcony and jabbing your sides with the force of a great typhoon." Pursing his lips, he considered it for a moment before grimacing. "Yeah, no, that's pretty fucking weird." It fell silent, Joe focusing on the game while you watched him once again, back to square one. Finally, you spoke to cut off the silence, wanting to make one last comment before you let him get too invested. "Ben's kinda cute. Is he single?" "Dunno," Joe answered noncommittally, making you frown as you stretched your legs out again, intentionally kicking his thigh lightly. "Ow!" Scowling at you, he reached out to smack your foot away before he crossed his arms, snuggling more into his armrest and fighting back a laugh. "I think he is. Know he has that bee dating app. Buzz....le. Bumblebee?" "Bumble," you snickered, nudging his leg again teasingly and making him fake scowl a bit more before he laughed once at himself, shielding his face from your gaze with one hand. "Stop, I know I'm a terrible millennial! I've got to start keeping up with this shit." "As a fellow millennial - you right."

---

"First night out as an American citizen! How was it, bud?" "Dual citizen, thank you! You'd think as a dual citizen, you'd know what the hell to say," Ben corrected, his cheeks a deep red from the liquor coursing through his veins and muddling his thoughts. Closing his eyes for a moment, he leaned against the wall next to Joe's door as Joe fished through his pockets, grabbing the key chain with the worn-down Yankees mini-bat and picking out the key that read 'APT' on some painter's tape. You'd dubbed it so once Joe had forgotten which key it was for the fortieth time when you came over to help him patch a hole left in the wall by the previous renter. Ben just assumed the label was Joe's handiwork. It looked dorky enough. Sliding the key into the lock, he easily turned it and swung open the door a little too drunkenly, leading his equally-as-drunk friend into the living room. "You're American when you're here, okay? I'm requiring it by law, starting.... now!" Ben laughed, trudging his way into the apartment before heading down the hallway towards the bathroom and rubbing the side of his face, the skin hot to the touch. "M'not sure it works like that, but whatever. I gotta take a leak." Before Joe could yell out a half-assed reply after him, Ben had already disappeared into the room down the hall and to the left, only re-emerging minutes later and wiping his still-damp hands on his jeans while sending Joe a look that said everything about the glaringly empty towel ring, even without even saying a word. "Sorry! Laundry day, dude... I gotta piss." "I'm gonna have a smoke, then," Ben mumbled as Joe passed him in the hallway, transferring a slightly bent cigarette from the crumpled package in his pocket to his mouth as he made his way to the sliding doors that led out to Joe's balcony. The lock refused to budge at first, but it slowly slid out of place with a bit of extra effort from Ben and clicked up into an unlocked position before he moved to tug the door open. The door slid open a lot easier than the lock did, smoothly gliding over and letting in the pleasant, if a bit warm midnight breeze on the late spring day. It smelled vaguely of rain, and Ben wondered if it was going to storm later, a sardonic chuckle leaving his lips as he eyed the dark clouds hovering over the harbor. The moon peeked just under the bottom of one, teasing the city with a light that wouldn't last long. "Get a place in America to escape the rain and end up in a thunderstorm. Alright," he remarked to himself, flicking the lighter a few times before raising it to the cigarette end and lighting it. He inhaled slowly as he did so, feeling the familiar light burn of the tar smoke filling his lungs - it didn't taste as well as it once did, but it filled a space for the time being, and distracted him enough. In fact, it distracted him so well that he went on smoking for a good minute or so before he realized that there was another human being on the extended balcony with him. Their arm was dangling over the edge of the reclining lawn chair, which was conveniently placed next to a crate that featured a phone on a wireless charger and a half-drank bottle of Apothic Crush in a cheap wine chiller. Just a single bottle, sans a glass, a red that looked as though it tasted of relatively inexpensive inebriation and drunk texts to your best friend about how you were crying over Keanu Reeves. It was you, though he obviously wouldn't know that. Ben's usually warm green eyes widened in fear as he spotted your unfamiliar figure lazily draped over the fully reclined chair, your mouth hanging open slightly as you dozed away peacefully just out of reach of the rays of moonlight. You were wearing a familiar shirt, though - one for a baseball team Ben only faintly recognized because Joe had mentioned his brother being on that team. A faded 'Mazzello' was printed on the back, the end part visible to Ben as he peered curiously over at you, trying to figure out what in the hell his plan of attack was here. He had a predicament. There was a half finished cigarette in his hand, one that couldn't go back inside with him but also one that he didn't particularly want to drop from several stories up with this many people passing by below. And he sure as hell didn't want to waste the cigarette, so stomping it out was a no-go. But there was a literal stranger on Joe's balcony, drinking what was probably his wine and wearing his shirt, and in his inebriated panic over your presence, Ben conveniently skimmed over the full view he had of the door that led into your apartment. It was a shared balcony, a nice fact that Joe could have shared with his friend before he got 5 frantic texts and a picture of sleeping you in rapid succession. Benjamin: HOLY FUCJ Benjamin: Joe, getout here right now!!! Theres a literal stranger on your balcony! Benjamin: JOE Benjamin: [picture] Benjamin: WHY IN THE BBLOODY HELL IS THERE A STRANGE WOMAN It was less than 30 seconds before Joe came stumbling out, Ben staring at him helplessly as he held the cigarette just over the railing, nodding to your side. Peeking his head around the doorway, Joe managed to keep an even expression on his face as he cleared his throat, stepping out onto the balcony between you and Ben. "Hey!" You stirred a bit at Joe's aggressive tone, your lips smacking together as you ran your tongue over them and peeked open an eye just barely, indicating you were listening. "This is like the fifth time this week, lady, stop getting drunk on my porch and using my reclining chair!" "My reclining chair," you corrected, groggily raising to a sitting position and running a hand over your hair to smooth it down before looking down at the wooden crate and smiling sleepily upon remembering the wine. "Oh yeah. Mmmmm. Forgot about that." "Pfffft. Drunks, am I right?" Joe scoffed, throwing a thumb over his shoulder at you when he turned to face Ben. His hand came to rest on his hip that jutted out with a bit of sass as Ben stared at him in complete confusion, utterly baffled at how calm and collected he was despite the apparent situation.  "Who are you calling a drunk, you drunk?" you giggled quietly, letting your head fall back against the chair as you eyed the back of Joe's head with an unreadable look. Joe rolled his eyes like it was obvious, not even turning to face you as he made an exaggerated annoyed expression at Ben, then proceeded to ignore your question. "I get these all the time, dude, crazy bums just taking up my space out here." "Why do you keep acting like I'm a homeless person bumming on your shit- No, nevermind, fuck you. I'm ignoring you now," you retorted, yawning as you reached for the wine bottle and pointing to the ground between you and Joe with your free hand as you narrowed your eyes. Ben's eyes followed your direction to a line of duct tape on the concrete below, clearly meant to demarcate something, though he wasn't sure what. It was crudely placed, but seemed to have an enormous effect on Joe when he looked over his shoulder and groaned, letting his head roll back for a second before he gave the wall opposite you a withering look. "Are we seriously still fucking doing this?" Joe remarked scornfully while he turned, his hands going into his pockets, and he slumped over a bit in stature as a pout etched itself into his features. "I said I was sorry. I was asleep! Also, is that my shirt? You said you'd bring that back weeks ago." You remained silent, staring up at Joe through your lashes in an unmoved manner before taking a drink of the wine. As you returned the bottle to the chiller, your attention switched over to Ben, who was still standing there in absolutely dumbfounded astonishment. A wondrous smile made its way to your lips, and Ben felt a light blush creeping onto his already-red cheeks as he dropped the cigarette to the concrete balcony floor, stomping it out gently and trying not to shrivel underneath your delightfully bleary, sleepy gaze. It was odd, being so affected by you. Ben usually had a relatively charming, laidback personality, and he was easy to get along with, but something about you sent him into a panic as he kept eye contact for a painful second or two, the sparkle in your hazy eyes enchanting to him. Maybe it was the liquor. Yeah, definitely had to be the liquor, he decided. There was no way that this dizziness was anything but top shelf gin having a row in his digestive system. His eyes dropped to the ground, seeming hyperfocused on his own actions, but it was blatantly obvious he was avoiding eye contact now. Noting the blush, your smile grew even wider as you sat up a bit, suddenly interested in the flustered man across from you. He looked quite familiar, and you were amused that he was so unsettled and shy right now - he didn't seem to be like the type who couldn't talk in front of girls. He must have just been caught off-guard today. "You're Ben, from the Queen thingie! Ah, I'm so glad I finally get to meet you, y'all are so cute on Instagram." Climbing up from your chair, you swayed a bit at the sudden rush of blood to your extremities, reaching out to steady yourself on Joe and grinning sheepishly. Then your gaze shifted once again to your neighbor, your eyebrow cocking slightly in challenge, and Ben let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding as you mumbled, "Never puts me on his Instagram like that. You'd think after two years-" "I've told you a million times, I can't let you steal the spotlight from me!" Joe teased back, crossing the duct tape line and dropping into the chair that sat just over the boundary of it, next to your reclining chair, his hand easily snatching the wine from the chiller before he took a long swig. "And besides," he added, his arm coming up to swipe a bit of excess wine that had dribbled out of the corner of his mouth. It looked like watery bloody slipping down his chin, and he quickly wiped it away before reaching over the wipe it on your leg, much to your chagrin. But he retracted his arm before you could reach out and swat at him, instead leaving you with a mildly grumpy expression while he grinned impishly. "Ben wouldn't like sharing his primetime spot." "Ben can share. I'm low maintenance anyways, I only need, like... one feature a month. I'll even settle for just a story shout-out." "Low maintenance? Says the one who has to have Sugar In The Raw or she won't drink her coffee!" "Says the one who now steals my Sugar In The Raw because he knows it tastes better! Fuckin' leech." This dynamic was weird, Ben had decided. No explanation left him hopelessly in the dark as he watched Joe hand off the wine casually to you when you reached out for it, a wordless exchange that didn't even need to really be prompted in order to happen. It made Ben wonder if he'd somehow been ignorant of Joe having a girlfriend until just now. A very attractive girlfriend, at that, despite the mussy, sleep-wrinkled state of you and your clothes. A mouthy girlfriend that was easily out-sassing Joe - a girlfriend that slept on his balcony? This wasn't adding up. "You look confused," you hiccuped, narrowing your eyes a bit as you scrutinized the charmingly quiet blond that stood about five feet from you, still awkwardly stanced up near the railing on Joe's side. A deft observation, too, because Ben's facial expression read like a book, highlighting all of the absolutely baffling thoughts he was having. Suddenly, it clicked. "Joe, you dumbass, did you not tell him we share a balcony?" "It may have.... slipped the mind," Joe admitted, smiling sheepishly as he shrugged and tapped on the armrests of the chair he was in. "Ben, this is my neighbor. She's annoying as hell, trust me. Still holds a grudge from when I napped on her chair at least two years ago and pretended to be asleep when she came out here and yelled so I wouldn't have to move." "And he thinks I'm the bad neighbor," you giggled, rolling your eyes before stepping forward to reach out your hand and offer your name, swaying a bit from the effort. Looking at the three of you from an outsider's position, it was getting hard to tell who was the most sloshed. "It's nice to finally meet you, I've only seen his dumb videos that he sent back from England and posted on Instagram every once in a while." "Oh my god, I'm proper fucked, you both had me there for a second," Ben admitted in relief, laughing a bit as his panic ebbed away into amusement at the mild freak-out moment he'd just had. Taking your hand, he flashed an embarrassed smile and shook your hand gently, letting it go after a moment and immediately flexing his fingers a bit, noting how cold your hand had been from the wine. It was an odd sensation, one that sent a tingle down his spine upon contact, but he did his best to ignore it and put on his best smile before continuing. "It's nice to meet you too. Just glad I didn't call 999 on you." Your nose wrinkled at the discrepancy as you sat back down in your reclining chair, Joe immediately catching it and raising a finger to correct his friend. "It's 911 over here, buddy. Don't worry, you'll get used to it." "Oh yeah! Joe said you're moving over here, welcome to the States!" Laughing lightly, Ben rubbed the back of his neck slowly, then nodded in acknowledgement of your words. "Have you settled in yet, or are you still unpacking?" "Still unpacking," Ben grimaced, making you pout a bit in sympathy as you clutched the shirt that rested directly over your heart, signaling you understood his pain even in your drunken state. "But I should be done getting all my stuff unboxed by tomorrow evening - Joe said he'd be coming over to help?" He tried to speak it as a statement, but the end came out as more of a question as he side-eyed Joe, who nodded in confirmation and pointed a finger gun at him, indicating he'd be there. "Now that you're here, does that mean I'll finally see someone in Joe's apartment besides him?" you joked, Ben chuckling at how well you managed to casually roast Joe with every other word out of your mouth. Maybe the dynamic wasn't so weird after all, he figured. Maybe it was fun. "You telling me that this guy over here doesn't even bring home girls from the bar?" Ben asked curiously, nodding to Joe. He finally took the opportunity to drag a chair from the far end of the balcony over to join the two of you, accepting the wine gratefully when you held it out for him. Joe let out a humorless laugh as you burst into a fit of gleeful giggles, reaching over to smack Joe on the thigh several times in amusement. A small smile played at the corner of Joe's lips, and he glanced at you before shaking his head, his eyelids fluttering closed a bit, heavy from the alcohol. "I tried that once! I'd never seen a woman throw a full wine glass at me until that day! Genius here," he paused, pointing to you with his thumb and ignoring the ensuing peal of laughter that had you doubled over, "popped over in some underwear and a t-shirt to ask where I kept the eggs! She was making cookies! Can you believe that?" Ben shifted his gaze over to you for confirmation and found you to still be doubled over in silent laughter, shoulders shaking with the effort of holding it in. A wide grin spread across Ben's face, and he looked back to find Joe trying to look annoyed, but failing miserably and bursting into laughter with you. "What was her name again?" you asked between peals of laughter, wiping at your watery eyes as Joe tried to stifle his laughter, resting his head on his hand and sighing. "It was Tori, I think," he replied, shaking his head and smiling a bit. "Art history major. You fucked that one up for me majorly." "Well, you got me back the next week anyways," you finally got out when your laughter had subsided, a grin still quirking at the corner of your lips as you looked at Ben and continued. "Knew I had a Tinder date one night and literally waited in my living room in boxers for hours until we got back!" "Joe, that's almost cruel," Ben scolded jokingly, reaching over and giving Joe a gentle punch on the arm before handing the wine back to you. "You're telling me," you mused, a sly smile gracing your lips as you looked from Joe to Ben, your gaze lingering a bit on the blonde. Ben met the stare evenly, his face a lot more level than he felt as you rose from your chair, brushing a hand down your torso to smooth out the frumpy shirt before walking over to the railing and leaning forward against it. Your stomach pressed into the cool metal through the thin Mazzello shirt that denied you any curves, giving you a boxy frame only marginally saved by the corner of the shirt that had got caught in the waistband of your shorts. "Well, feel like I've overstayed my welcome, so I'll probably head in for the night," you stated, looking out to the moon that was slowly disappearing over the harbor before you turned to face the two of them, giving them a sleepy smile. "No, stay out here with us," Joe complained, patting the reclining chair, but you were already making your way past the chair, taking another drink of the wine. "I want you to bond with Ben, he'll be over here a lot now that he's in NYC." "I will? Jake Gyllenhaal lives here too, is he over here all the time because of that?" Ben teased, looking up at you with a dopey grin when you let out a single laugh. Stopping just behind the chair, you raised an impressed eyebrow at him while Joe studied the two of you with a mildly annoyed glare. He didn't appreciate being teamed up on, but he had to appreciate the two of you getting along on your first meeting. You, however, were completely ignorant to your neighbor's pointed looks as you kept eye contact with Ben, noting that he had gorgeous green eyes. "I like this guy. Bring him around again when I'm not sloshed, yeah?" Joe nodded at that, and you began to walk towards your door, yawning. "I've got a hot date tonight, so don't wait up for me, Joey." "God, I told you not to call me that," Joe groaned, but a boyish grin remained on his face as he watched you saunter back over to your door, wine in hand. "And who's the guy? Shouldn't have told me, now I might have to come crash your party." "His name is Mattress, Matt for short. We sleep with each other a lot... Nice meeting you, Ben." Swirling the bottle around a few times, you wiggled your eyebrows at the two men before retreating to the sound of Joe's exaggerated groaning and Ben's hapless attempts at reciprocation of your pleasantries, your door sliding shut just before you drew the curtains.  That left the duo alone on the balcony, the faint smell of smoke still lingering in the space around them as Joe sighed a bit, grinning and shaking his head. Ben, on the other hand, was still reeling from the whiplash that the last few moments had given him, and it must have clearly registered on his face, because Joe laughed a bit as he stood, brushing off his pants. "Sorry I didn't warn you beforehand. Didn't think she'd be out here getting wine drunk. That's Y/N for you, though." A shrug coupled with his last observation made Ben chuckle, cocking his head slightly and curiously gazing over at your door before shaking his head. Following in a similar fashion to Joe, Ben rose to stand again, instinctively reaching for a comfort cigarette and placing it between his lips before offering a weak smile in return, fishing for the lighter while he spoke. "Wasted my first one." Inhaling slowly, the end of the cigarette finally lit and Ben held the smoke in for a moment before leaning over the railing, looking around as he exhaled. When he'd taken in a proper amount of the dwindling NYC night, he finally returned his attention to Joe, the cigarette resting delicately between two fingers as his hands came to rest on the railing he leaned back against. "Y/N, you said, yeah? Seems alright... you been neighbors for long?" "A couple years now, actually. Met her about the same way you just did! She's cool, though," Joe confirmed, coming over to look over the balcony right next to Ben, one foot on either side of the duct tape line that divided the floor. It was scuffed, like it'd been there a while, and that made the stories slowly check out in Ben's brain while he looked over to Joe, a sly smile slowly creeping onto his face.  "She's kinda fit, yeah?" Joe hung his head and let his eyes close for a moment, laughing at Ben's apt remark before nodding a bit. "But definitely seems a bit mean. Got a bite to her all the time?" "She's got her weak moments like everyone else! But yeah, she's definitely quick with the comebacks. I think I'm better for it, honestly, keeps me in check. Always brushing up on my wit, you know? Kids these days always keeping me on my toes." Reaching up to tap on his temple, he only had a moment to grimace before his phone was ringing, prompting him to pull it out of his pocket and answer it as Ben watched. "Hey, Seb... No, I didn't grab your wallet from the bar. Did you leave it there?" As Ben watched his friend retreat back into his own sliding door, his thick blond eyebrows furrowed in mild confusion. Kids these days? She couldn't be a day under 25, as clever as she was. Wait, that didn't even make sense. Cleverness is not an indicator- "Hey!" Ben jumped at the sound of your voice, whirling around to meet your accusatory stare as he looked on helplessly. You looked mad, and he couldn't even begin to think why. The cigarette, maybe, but you hadn't even flinched about it earlier. Was he too quiet? "Do you want the rest of this wine?" you asked, grinning once you'd let him suffer enough, and Ben let out a sigh of relief as he leaned forward on the railing again, pressing a hand to his forehead. "Christ, you scared me again!" Taking a deep breath, he laughed once before shaking his head, taking another drag and turning to face you. "No thank you, though. If I drink any more tonight, my old man body will punish me tomorrow." "Old man body?" you repeated, quirking an eyebrow in disbelief as you looked him up and down for a moment. "Uh huh... Good night, then." You shut the door before he could get the chance to reply, so he just gave a half-hearted wave before he widened his eyes, trying to restore his heart to a regular beating pace. "Jesus Christ on a cross," he mumbled, rubbing his hand over his face for a moment and messing up his eyebrows even more before he took another drag as he stared out at the last hint of the moon just before the clouds completely covered it up, plunging the city into a new darkness.

---

It was a bitch moving to a new country. The DMV, the bank, the moving companies - everything was a living nightmare, and Joe was the only thing getting Ben through it, on call at all times to help him with anything he needed to know. So when Ben texted him that he was frustrated about his internet connectivity ("It's fucking rubbish, seriously"), Joe offered a simple solution - come over and use his until the problem was resolved. And that's what he did after the gym, taking an Uber over to the now-familiar building and making his way to Joe's floor, which is how he walked in on Joe in the middle of an.... argument? Spat? Friendly fight? He wasn't sure how to place it as he entered his friend's apartment to the sound of you switching between laughing and shrieking while Joe made unintelligible noises of frustration. All Ben knew was that this was something beyond teasing - Joe honestly looked like he could drop at any moment, worn out from trying to keep up with whatever you were doing. Though you were keeping it playful, he was definitely at his wit's end. "You have to do the whole thing!" Joe cried out in frustration, dancing along with the figures on the screen and sending quick glares in your direction between moves. His hips were swaying along with the music, limbs flailing accordingly but sometimes not really even resembling anything close to what was on the screen. The scores popping up on his corner of the TV seemed okay by itself, but in comparison to yours, it was meager at best. "Absolutely not, dummy. That's so much energy conserved to do this." You continued shaking your Wii remote around in the appropriate moves, just the remote, and used the other hand to pick up your drink, taking a long sip from the straw and trying not to laugh as Joe made yet another noise of frustration. "Joe, come on.... who's winning here? I think I'm right." You were both playing Just Dance, one of the earlier versions, and a stark difference between the two of you had been quickly found out - while Joe, ever the dancer, did every single move with every part of his body, you were the type to swing only the remote hand around in time with your moves. Joe was beginning to get very annoyed at this tactic, so much so that he paused the game and crossed his arms, turning to scowl at you for a moment before he saw Ben's head peeking around the wall just past your shoulder. "Oh, hey bud!" Joe greeted, giving him a dopey grin before pulling off the Wii remote strap and purposely shouldering past you to greet Ben with a one armed hug. Ben reciprocated, meeting your gaze over Joe's shoulder and nodding in acknowledgement as you turned to face them, a hand on your hip and a cocky smile on your face. This was a much different you from when he'd seen you a few weeks ago, sleepy, slow, and somewhat inebriated. Now you were bright-eyed, alert, and seriously giving Joe a run for his money. "Sorry, she came over with her Wii and knew I couldn't resist a friendly game of Just Dance." "Friendly?" Ben laughed, looking between the two of you as he pulled out of the hug, setting his laptop on the counter. "Seems like you weren't having a good time." Glancing to the screen, he raised an eyebrow at the scores. "She's killing you, mate." "Well, she's a cheater, so." Shrugging, Joe went to grab his WiFi router so he could give Ben the password, Ben taking a seat at the stools  placed under the counter and turning a bit so he could see both of you. "Joe's just mad because I've been roasting him nonstop for the past hour," you informed Ben, pulling your Wii remote off your wrist and setting it on the couch as you lifted your gaze to meet his. You were reminded that they were green, paired with slightly damp, curly blonde hair that fell a bit over his forehead and blonde lashes that were extra visible at this angle. It was a fascinating combo, bright eyes framed by equally as bright lashes, and you couldn't help but smile a bit in wonder as you straightened up again. Was he made in a factory? He seemed too perfect to be real. Ben was intrigued by the look you gave him, so unreadable but so persistent that he almost asked if he had something in his teeth. But Joe ruined the moment, cutting in with his own biting words that severed the eye contact and directed attention back to him. "I hate it when you say roasted. That's my least favorite part of your vocabulary." Breaking out of your trance, you shook your head before giggling at the mild venom behind his words, unfazed by the grumpy pout he currently had on his face. Rolling your eyes playfully, you gave him the middle finger while you made your way past Ben into the kitchen, grabbing a bag of popcorn from the cabinet and tearing the plastic off as Joe helped Ben log in to his laptop. While your bag of popcorn popped, you quietly observed the two men, hunched over Ben's computer together and figuring out which network was his out of the hundreds that had similar names.   Joe was focused, his thin, darker eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he watched Ben scroll through the list on his screen. There was a clear stubble on his chin, a five-o'clock shadow that refused to be hidden as it shaded the area along his jaw and just above his lips, which were pressed together into a thin line when he wasn't murmuring network names to himself. He was cute, a goofy camp counselor kind of cute that was more endearing than anything, and you smiled a bit at the thought of Joe as a camp counselor - that would be too good. In contrast, Ben's lips fell slightly parted, his tongue trapped between his teeth as he directed all of his attention to the list as well. Assessing him sober this time, you realized he was actually quite good-looking, far beyond what you'd seen on that dark balcony through drunk goggles. Like, seriously good looking. This was another level of attraction, way past what you'd felt the first time Joe had showed up with Seb Stan and Chace Crawford. You crossed your arms over your chest, an insecure habit, as Ben's curious green eyes darted up and down the screen, searching for the name Joe had provided. When he finally located it, his plump, slightly chapped lips pursed into a round O shape, and Joe pointed to the name excitedly, his finger tapping the screen. Ben groaned and smacked his hand away meekly, jokingly complaining about a smudge on the the display while Joe laughed and wiped his hand off on the front of his shorts. "Sorry, we've been eating popcorn in between Y/N cheating," Joe explained, making you roll your eyes and suppress a grin as you turned to retrieve the bag of popcorn. Opening the steaming bag, you poured it into the bowl next to the microwave, then turned to sit it on the counter between the three of you as you spoke. "Again - still just salty that he's getting roasted." "Roasted? Is that really a popular slang word here?" Ben asked curiously, his eyes flicking up to meet yours for a moment as you hummed and turned to grab a packet of ranch seasoning. His eyebrows furrowed a bit when you flicked the packet back and forth, moving the seasoning to the bottom before you ripped open the corner, and you started to pour it over the popcorn as he watched, dumbfounded. "What kind of monstrosity is that?" "Ranch popcorn," you replied simply, emptying half of the packet before folding it over and pinching the corner, providing Ben with a sugar sweet smile as you did so. "Don't knock it 'til you try it, bloody ol' chap." Your smile disarmed him quite a bit - it was a smile that could disarm anyone, really, and he could tell by the way that Joe smiled with you that it had a similar effect on him. But your attempt at imitating his accent didn't go unnoticed, and Ben cringed a bit as he laughed, shaking his head. "Horrible. Truly horrible. And you didn't answer my question." "In Y/N's world, roasted is the only word," Joe answered for you, reaching to shake up the bowl a bit before he snatched a piece of popcorn off of the top, tossing it into his mouth and making a happy noise as he chewed. For a moment, he paused, then swallowed and added, "Actually, that and dummy." "Makes sense." Ben watched you as he replied, grinning a bit when you just smiled impishly and tossed the packet onto the counter, shrugging a bit before leaning forward to rest your elbows on the counter. Propping your chin on your hands, you cocked your head to the side a bit and fought back a bigger smile as Ben almost mirrored you, his head tilting just slightly to the side out of curiosity. "So, Mr. British Man-" "Ben," Joe interjected, sending you a pointed look and a raised eyebrow that only made you roll your eyes before continuing. "He's American now." "Dual citizen, but I'll look past it for now," Ben corrected, Joe scoffing quietly in response. "Okay, Ben. How has it been so far in America? You liking it?" Joe picked up his slip of paper from the counter, returning it to the router as Ben leaned his head on one hand, looking down to his computer screen and grimacing a bit at the thought of all the hell he'd had to go through in the past few weeks. But you were still practically a stranger, and even if he did want to get to know you better, he figured it was far too early for him to unload all of his problems on you. "Yeah, yeah, it's been alright," he yielded, scratching at his temple with his index finger before sitting up straight again and crossing his arms on the counter in front of him, the fabric of his sleeves straining a bit against the movement. "Unpacking was hell, but the rest was okay, I guess." "Oh, stop bullshitting me!" you laughed, pushing yourself up off the counter so you could go retrieve a beer from the fridge for him, the action in itself revealing your familiarity with Joe's apartment to Ben. Without looking, you grabbed the bottle opener magnet off of the freezer and popped the top off the beer, bringing it over to the handsome blond. "The DMV fucking sucked, didn't it?" "God, it was so terrible," Ben groaned unhappily, relieved that you'd practically read his mind as his shoulders slumped a bit, hand automatically reaching out to receive the beer. "Thank you. But seriously, between that and the bank, I swear I'm going to lose my fucking marbles! I had to go back to the DMV three times before they could finally see me, 'cause the wait was so long and I had other things to do!" "You gotta set aside, like, a whole afternoon for the DMV," you laughed, leaning on the counter again and watching quietly as he went to take a drink, his hand easily dwarfing the bottle. "Screw that, you need a whole day off for the DMV," Joe interjected, climbing onto the stool next to Ben and popping another piece of popcorn into his mouth. "I swear to God my license expiration dates have always haunted me." "Happens when you're pushing 80, dusty bones," you teased, propping your head up on one hand and imitating Joe's bitter, sarcastic laugh when he flipped you off.  "I'd rather be old and scared of license renewal than 22 and a cheater at Just Dance Wii." Twenty-two. So that's what Joe was talking about when he called you a kid. By no means was 22 a kid, but in relation to Joe, that was quite a jump. And yet, you carried yourself like you were at least 30, the confidence in your posture and sureness of your words masking the childishly playful glint in your eyes as you watched Joe, pressing your lips together to fight back a smile. Joe was returning the favor with a playful glare. "Speaking of Just Dance, are you gonna catch these L's again or what?" you challenged, Joe huffing before climbing off the stool again and heading for his discarded remote while you wiggled your eyebrows at Ben, then made your way back to the living room too. Sitting still for a moment, Ben blinked a few times in amazement at the whiplash you'd managed to give him yet again. You were full of surprises, someone that could talk sweet one moment and flame you to high heaven in the next, and honestly, he'd never wanted to be a person's friend so badly in his life. Turning on the stool, he watched as you both restarted the song, Joe immediately complaining when you set right back into your one-armed efforts. "Play the game like a normal person!" he whined, making you laugh and falter a bit in your dance moves as you leaned against him, your head on his shoulder while you squeezed his arm and made him cry out in even more frustration. "That's sabotage! Stop!" Straightening back up again, you fought a round of giggles as you tried to catch up, Joe frowning when you easily got back into the groove. Huffing softly, he reached over and clamped a hand over your eyes, making you cry hypocrisy as you struggled to pull his hand away, laughing in delight as Ben turned back to face his computer again, a contagious smile adorning his lips.  That smile stayed well on into the night, fueled by jokes, laughter, and friendly banter between the three of you that kept Ben there even after he'd gotten his emails sorted through. And somehow, you'd ended up on the balcony, Joe snoozing away in your reclining chair while you shared a smoke session with Ben, chatting about everything under the moon. You didn't smoke yourself, so you definitely didn't actually partake, but Ben didn't mind sharing space with someone who was picking his brain as well as you were. It was odd, bonding with Ben. He'd seemed like such a foreign concept when Joe had started all of this BoRhap business, something you weren't quite attached to - though you did enjoy the movie. But Ben had been nothing more but a character to you, some hot guy who frequented Joe's Instagram pictures and had comebacks/comments to rival your own. Now, he was here and real. You didn't know what to think of him yet - it was hard appraising a person in real life when you'd become so accustomed to the idea of him, the picture that Joe painted of him. To you, Ben was a pretty boy, a fitness-obsessed lad who was a bit of a flirt and couldn't resist a good bromance. Sure, Joe had said he had some shy moments, but really, he'd pegged him as quite a player, and that alarmed you when you found out he'd be around more - you didn't exactly have the best track record with men and a player would most certainly not be the worst blemish so far, so his frequent drop-ins could spell trouble. However, you hadn't seen any red flags about the man so far. Ben was quite a normal person, and you were starting to enjoy his company and conversation just as much as you enjoyed Joe's goofy, 'average Joe' personality. That didn’t mean you weren’t keen on keeping your guard up, though. "That's what I don't get!" Ben scratched his eyebrow a bit before taking another drag of the cigarette, shaking his head and exhaling the smoke to his left so it wouldn't go into your face. "You're saying guilty pleasures don't exist, but I have to hide my Spotify session every time I listen to the Spice Girls so I won't get absolutely walloped by all of my friends for my activity." Giggling at the thought of Ben jamming out to Spice Girls, you wrapped your fingers around the railing and leaned back once more to stretch as you shook your head in response. "I'm not saying they don't exist, but I'm saying they shouldn't exist!" you corrected, groaning a bit when Ben only gave you a more confused look. "Oh my god, I don't know how to make it any clearer here! Guilty pleasures shouldn't exist. If it's a pleasure, why does it have to be guilty, you know?" "I'm.... trying to follow," he admitted with a laugh, glancing back at Joe for a moment before meeting your gaze again and squinting a bit. "So, are you saying that because it's a pleasure, you shouldn't be guilty about it?" You made an excited noise and tapped the railing, then grinned at him and gently poked his arm to accentuate your next words. "Exactly. If I like drinking milk straight from the carton, why should I be ashamed?" "Because that's like, kind of disgusting," he replied, laughing a bit at your excitement and wrinkling his nose a bit. "D'you really drink milk straight from the jug?" Giving him a pointed look, you pressed your lips into a thin line before leaning forward on the rail with crossed arms. "See, that's why guilty pleasures still exist. You can't judge other people for things that make 'em happy, you know?" "Christ, sorry," he grimaced, and you could barely fight back the grin that played at your lips as you watched his expression morph into one of regret. "That was a shitty thing of me to say, of course it's fine if you like drinking milk from the jug. Jesus, I'm such a dickhead sometimes, I really don't think about what I say before it comes out of my mouth..." Scooting over a step or two as he rambled, you gently elbowed his side to get his attention, smiling benevolently when he turned to meet your gaze and his words faltered. "Chill, it's alright. Nobody's perfect." A pregnant pause followed soon after as Ben smiled just a bit, mainly just to make it seem like he wasn't still beating himself up over seeming like a cunt to you, but you weren't thinking about that anymore. Your mind was already moving on, eyes roving over his facial features slowly as you took them in. He was attractive, no doubt, and you had the faintest idea that there was some very real traction to the ladies man persona that Joe had talked about so much. It was wishful thinking to even consider that Ben wasn't at least half-aware of how potent his looks were. It was also wishful thinking to let any attraction you had to him get away from you and convince you that one date really wouldn't be that bad. You desperately needed Joe right about now so you could hear a discouraging story about Ben's conquests during filming, just to knock your self-confidence out and keep you from doing anything rash. It was really quiet now. Ben squinted a bit as he did the same to you, his gaze wandering quite a bit, but not lewdly. There was an innocent gleam in his eye, one that you couldn't quite understand - was he looking at you as Joe's neighbor, or a kid, or the hot girl next door? What was his approach here? You truly couldn't tell whether he was objectifying you, but the idea that he was sent a shiver through your spine as you tore your gaze away from his, unable to handle the heavy air between you and the stocky blond next to you.  A loud snore from Joe seemed to puncture the moment just seconds after you looked away, the both of you jolting a bit as the tension deflated, and you shared a laugh at how quickly Joe had managed to pass out on the balcony despite your incessant chatting. "Sleeps like a log, eh?" Ben commented, pushing himself back from the railing before snuffing out the cigarette he'd been neglecting in the mug that was serving as an ashtray.  "Always," you deadpanned, but a smile played at your lips as you walked around to stand on the other side of Joe, crouching down until you were eye level with the heavy sleeper. Ben could see every quirk of your lips, every subtle expression in your face as you reached out to shake Joe's shoulder gently, murmuring to him as you did so. "Hey, Sleeping Beauty. You in there?" Joe stirred, though not much, and a soft grumble from him prompted a sympathetic look in your eyes that did not go unnoticed by Ben, who now stiffened up at the interaction. Whiplash, once again, as he tried to reckon with the gentle side of you that wasn't privy only to him like he'd blindly and so dumbly assumed. That warm, somewhat sentimental look in your eyes was achingly familiar to Ben, seeing as he'd only witnessed it mere hours ago when you were nothing more than friendly strangers, your gaze following his while you listened to him groan about the DMV. So why was he so covetous? You'd barely just got to know each other, only having a few hours of talking time tonight where you'd picked up small details about each other, so the fact that your fondness of Joe irritated him was baffling. But it couldn't be jealousy, could it? Not this early. No, for sure not. By the time he'd snapped out of his stupor, you'd already managed to get Joe to his feet, giving him a warm hug before patting his back and sending him back to his apartment. That left you alone with Ben, and the heavy air settled once again as you gave him a somewhat shy smile, sighing before stepping around the chair and pulling him into a hug as well. Reciprocating, he wrapped his arms around you briefly, the warmth of his body surprising as it transferred between the layers of clothes between you and assaulted your skin. While you'd been almost cold out here on the balcony, he seemed like he was burning alive. And his face matched as he pulled away, a rosy coloring to his cheeks making you wonder whether it was you, or just rosacea and you were a dumb bitch. Taking a shaky breath, you decided to pocket the assessment for later. "Thanks for entertaining my bullshit all night." Ben laughed at your words, shoving his hands in his pockets and shaking his head as you moved your hand to the back of your shorts, subconsciously fiddling with the tag that was sticking out. "I'm really sorry if I said anything wrong. I didn't mean to be an arsehole," he admitted, bowing his head a bit before shooting a sheepish look at you that was paired with a boyish smile. "It was nice talking to you, though. Sleepy Joe doesn't make great conversation. And I like getting to know you, you're.... interesting." He said the last word as his lips quirked upwards even more, his eyes crinkling a bit at the vague compliment that made you furrow your eyebrows playfully and give him a questioning look. "Wow, Joe wasn't wrong when he said you were a charmer," you noted. While Ben shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets with the same undying smirk still on his face, you took the opportunity to return to your side of the balcony, your hand going to pull your sliding door open as you peeked over your shoulder. There was a sly smile on your lips as you did so, one that said everything and nothing at all in one go as you spoke. "Goodnight, Ben. See you later." You would see him later. Never had you considered how true that statement could be as you came across his profile on Bumble while you were burrito-ed in your comforter, curled in the fetal position as your nightly playlist was on in the background to lull you to sleep. Hozier crooned to you while a sweaty, cutoff-clad Ben stared you down from the confines your phone screen. You hadn't actually expected to run into him on the app, despite having that nagging memory of Joe mentioning that Ben was on here.  It made you drop your phone at first, a knee-jerk reaction paired with a shocked expression that lasted for a few seconds before you scrambled to pick up your phone, staring at the picture of him at the gym again. It was a stereotypical fuckboy picture in the big mirror at the gym, but you got a good giggle out of the short bio that didn't even remotely hint at him being an actor - how humble, and how juxtaposed with his red carpet flexes in the subsequent photos. Suddenly, you realized that you had to swipe left or right. Your heart seized up for a moment, and all rational thought was thrown out the window as you went into a panic. If you swiped right, what if you matched? But if you didn't and then he swiped right on you, then he would know when you didn't match and that would make things really awkward. "Mmmmfuck no. Nope." You closed the app, too overwhelmed by all of the situations that choosing could cause, and you fell into an uneasy sleep as Ben sat dormant in your Bumble cache, waiting for an answer. Little did you know, seeing your profile had induced the same panic for him. But he'd done something that you couldn't. He chose.

---

taglist - @crosmopolitan @just-ladyme @rogerfxckingtaylor @fourmisfitz @shae-is-not-ok @moreinfinite @fruityfreddie @poachedhazontoast @strawberryfields-forever @imladrs @psychoticobsession @killer-queen-xo @rebelrebelyourefaceisamess @destiel-stucky4ever-loki-queen @brownhardyho @stardvstial @iminlovewith-rogers-car @benyeehawdy @mercurys-bike @mazzelloplots @beaaatle @sunshine112 @wonderless-screwup @rogers-sweatbands @whowaits4everanyway @sunflower-borhap-boys @bitemerog @jennyggggrrr @bensrhapsody @xiaoqueencava @discodeacygotmorerhythm @reedusteinrambles @extrovertedwallflowerboy @the-next-one message me/reply to this to be added to the permanent taglist! REQUESTS CLOSED

#ben hardy #ben hardy imagine #ben hardy x reader #borhap #borhap imagine #borhap x reader #joe mazzello #joe mazzello imagine

[platypusbunnyfromthetardis]

Honestly, I would have been on board with the idea of the Master and the Doctor being siblings, if it weren’t for two reasons which I’ll develop a bit below. 

Lemme just ramble a bit, first : I could totally see how the “we grew up together as close friends but went our own separate ways because of our different moralities and though we keep hurting each other every time we meet and it would kill me to admit that I don’t actually hate you I can’t help but still loving you deep down” thing could apply to siblings. Because that’s basically my relationship with my brother. Hell, when I first saw that Classic Who episode where the Master almost succesfully kills the Doctor but then immediately after regrets it and goes to make sure the Doctor’s alive, my first thought was “ooh, so they’re brothers”. But a) I was 14 and had no idea what gay subtext was and b) that was before I saw the end of series 3, which is one of the two reasons why having the Doctor and the Master being siblings is far from a good idea : 

1- 10 showing disdain at Martha saying she thought he and the Master were brothers, and telling her she watches too much tv. Like, it is explicitly stated in the show itself that they are not siblings. 

and the second reason is : 

2- MISSY’S ENTIRE CHARACTER, MAYBE ???? Like seriously her musical theme is a freaking love song !! Not even kidding ! the lyrics are : “sing the days of love, softly lay me down, tenderly the night will come in your sweet embrace”. That’s way too romantic to be interpreted as platonic, “sibling love”). She did call the Doctor her boyfriend in her very first episode and snogged him as soon as she saw him again, and he kissed her on the lips at the end of series 8. You don’t do that to your siblings (I hope). 

Jokes aside, I know the show’s whole team has changed since these things but still it’s barely a couple of seasons away from the current one, and you can’t have such a shift in character development in less than three years for a show that has lasted for more than half a century. I’m not mad at Moffat for making a whole deal about the Doctor’s name when you’ve got characters walking around calling him “Theet” and “Theta Sigma” in Classic Who because it was a long, long, time ago (not talking about the EU here). I wouldn’t care if Chibnall went against stuff that had been said something like 54 or 48 years ago. But this is just too recent in the show’s history to retcon it, and in my humble opinion it’s not what’s gonna happen.

...I hope.

#doctor who series 12 #doctor who series 3 #doctor who series 8 #doctor who series 10 #dw theory #doctor/master #thoschei #tensimm #twissy #long post #anyways #doctor who spoilers

[pendragyn]

Thanks Freddie!

Or: Inspiration From The Great Beyond

AKA: When Queen songs pop up on my very not Queen station on Pandora.

So in the long ago and far off land of 2019, I read this book, you probably haven’t heard of it, called “Good Omens” by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, that was made into a 6 part miniseries. And it took over my life. I was reading fic and meta and all that when Joy ( @thebibliosphere​ ) posted something (at this point I don’t remember what) that sparked an idea: What if the Discworld Witches lived in the GO universe? I don’t imagine she’ll see this, but thanks Joy!

That was in maybe the beginning of June-ish ‘19? And I stewed on it for a while and finally started writing my very first fanfic at the end of June (the 23rd to be precise because I started tracking my progress). I called it “Ineffable Bastards”. It was going to be short. It was going to be light and fluffy. I wasn’t planning on posting it anywhere... Do you hear that? Faintly, in the distance? Yeah, sounds a bit like maniacal laughter, doesn’t it...

[image id: screenshot of the properties of the “Ineffable Bastards” Libre Office document showing the creation date at 06/23/2019, 13:57:20 and the last modified date as 06/23/2020, 08:50:34. Total editing time is 1410 hours, 40 minutes 54 seconds (that’s 58 days) and revisions is numbered at 18420. /end id]

So, having already failed utterly at short and angst free, I started a pre-fic fic for worldbuilding called “In The Garden” that also wasn’t going to be posted anywhere. (It’s going to have it’s one year anniversary on AO3 on July 22.)

ANYWAY, while writing I like to listen to music and the genre? I guess? I settled on was the P!atd and Fall Out Boy and 21P type music, AKA White Boys Yelling Politely. The stuff Pandora sorts into that genre sounds zero% like Queen IMO.

So, imagine my surprise when I’m writing on July 19, 2019 and a Queen song pops up. Not once, but twice. And I was like, weird but awesome, thanks Freddie! Then it happened again on the 22nd. And it kept happening. And I find this random happy little accident really inspiring.

I’m not looking for explanations why it’s happening. Honestly, while I’m sure it has perfectly mundane reasons, I prefer to see the magic of the situation. And no, I didn’t favorite any of the songs to make them more likely to pop up, you can see in the screenshots that they aren’t marked with a star like favorites are.

On the days when the “whybothers” are at their worst, having a Queen song pop up sometimes helps me get out of the funk. Last night was an extremely bad night. And I had 5 Queen songs pop up - I’ve never had 5 before. On the other hand, I hadn’t realized it was the one year anniversary of the first time a Queen song popped up.

[image ID: a screenshot and a gif. The still image is of an open file browser with a bunch of the screenshots in question, with the Pandora app open beside it, showing that Another One Bites The Dust by Queen is going to play. The gif is showing the file browser being scrolled to show that there are a lot of screenshots accumulated over the past year, all named “inspiration from the great beyond Queen” with a date at the end. /end id]

So here’s some Stats for other nerds:

it’s happened over 180 times in the past year, including one today while writing this post. I got screens of most but a couple were on my phone.

Killer Queen is top song at 60 plays

Don’t Stop Me Now is technically top song, if I add the 3 versions together at 91

DSMN = 21

DSMN (with long lost guitars) = 24

DSMN (...revisted) = 46

We Will Rock You trails in at 3rd with 15 plays

I Want To Break Free played 2 times

Hammer To Fall played 2 times

Seven Seas Of Rhye played 2 times

Keep Yourself Alive played twice, the first time June 1, 2020 which felt like A Statement

Single Plays:

I Was Born To Love You

The Millionaire Waltz

Flash

Love Of My Life (7/19/20)

Radio Ga Ga (7/19/20)

Another One Bites The Dust (7/20/20)

Here’s a couple of the screenshots. First time with Don’t Stop Me Now (...revisited) and We Will Rock You, the IB document open in the background:

The other songs in the screenshot below amused me with their serendipitous names. “The Crown” “The Fall” “Walk On Water”

If anyone is really curious, I can share a link to the screenshots uploaded to postimg.

I hope it continues, and that I’m able to keep writing in spite of everything. It’s a little bit of magic in my life and I’m very grateful for it. I like to imagine Terry and Freddie petting cats and sipping banana daiquiris in a very curious library somewhere. Or perhaps it’s an odd old book store with an even odder owner.

Thanks Freddie. Thanks Terry.

#Ineffable Bastards #Queen #gnu Freddie Mercury #GNU Terry Pratchett #inspiration from the great beyond #long post #Good Omens #Good Omens fanfic #writing #finding magic #Discworld #very long post #Neil Gaiman #happy 1-year anniversary #images and words