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storiesforallfandoms · 3 years

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the best interview ever ~ pete davidson

word count: 1745

request?: yes!

“I’d love for you to write something about Pete Davidson flirting with a journalism student who’s interviewing him and her just being all shy and stuff, just fluff!”

description: in which he finds the shy journalism student interviewing him extremely adorable

pairing: pete davidson x female!reader

warnings: swearing

masterlist (one, two)

From the moment you walked in the room, Pete’s eyes were glued to you. You noticed him look you up and down when you walked in first and tried to hide your face so he wouldn’t see that you were blushing.

“Well hello,” he said. “Are you my interviewer?”

“I am! My name is (Y/N).”

“Nice to meet you (Y/N).”

You sat across from him, hoping it wasn’t as obvious that you were shaking as it felt. “It’s nice to meet you, too. I feel like I should warn you that this is my first solo interview, so I’m sorry if it’s super awkward.”

“Are you telling me that I’m popping your interviewing cherry?” Pete asked.

You chuckled and nodded. “I’m actually still a journalism student. I’ve shadowed some interviews, but this is my first actual interview.”

“That’s awesome!”

You smiled as Pete raised a hand to you. You high fived him and felt any stress or nervousness you had slowly start to melt away.

Pete’s chill demeanor felt so much different than any of the interviews you had shadowed. Although, it wasn’t hard to be more chill than CEOs and local politicians, which were the only people you had encountered so far. Pete was the first actual celebrity you had met, which made you extra nervous, but so far he was doing a good job at easing your nerves.

Since this was your first solo interview, you had done a lot of research on Pete and his new movie to make sure you didn’t embarrass yourself. You had two and a half pages in your notebook filled with questions to ask as well as little facts you felt like you should know. You hadn’t even done this much research for school projects, which was hot you knew you were serious about this.

Pete’s eyes glanced at your notebook as you opened it, a small smile crossing his face. “Damn, you’re already more prepared than most people who have interviewed me before.”

“Good,” you blurted before you could stop yourself. Pete gave you an amused look as you tried to stutter out a better response. “I-I Mean, personally, I hate watching interviews where the interviewer obviously hasn’t done their research, s-so I can’t imagine being interviewed by someone like-like that.”

“No, I respect it. I appreciate that.”

With that awkward encounter out of the way, you were able to actually start the interview.

It started off really well. You asked Pete about his new movie and any upcoming projects he had in the works. He told you about his work on SNL and his hope to film another stand up special soon. He was absolutely radiating happiness as he talked about his work, which made you extremely happy as well.

As the questions moved to be more personal, you came to learn more about Pete on a personal level. It went from feeling like an interviewer and their interviewee to feeling like two people who just met and who were getting to know one another.

You felt like you had gotten a hang of the interviewing thing, until Pete asked something that threw you off your groove. “So when do you ask me about my dating life?”

You had been looking down at your notebook when he asked, so your head snapped up so quickly that you almost made yourself dizzy, and your eyes were so wide that they were actually hurting a little. Pete laughed at the face you were making, and you could feel the embarrassment and nerves starting to come back.

“I-I...I wasn’t...” you stuttered, trying to figure out something to say. You never had any intentions of asking Pete about his dating life. It wasn’t relevant to the interview, so you weren’t going to bring it up.

“Damn, you’re really the best interviewer I’ve ever had,” Pete commented. “Most people go straight for the jugular on relationship questions. I’m still asked about an engagement that ended nearly two years ago. I respect that you had no intentions on bringing it up.”

You were so thrown off by the earlier question that even Pete’s reassurance that he was okay with you not asking wasn’t enough to get you back on track. You looked down at your notebook again, trying to remember what you had asked last but your mind felt empty. You were running out of time, you didn’t want to mess this up now.

Pete leaned forward and took your hands in his. You looked up at him and felt your breath catch in your throat upon realizing how close he was.

“Hey, I’m sorry I brought it up like that,” he said. “I really was just joking around. We were having fun and talking, I’m just used to that going south by being asked about my dating life because...well, you know who I was engaged to. I didn’t mean to startle you with the question.”

His voice was soft and it felt like you were seeing a completely different side of Pete, one you hadn’t even seen in movies or on SNL. Like it was a side of him he reserved for people closest to him, people that he cared about. You were shocked but also grateful that he felt like he could show you this side.

“I am single, by the way,” he added. “Just something I want you, personally, to know.”

He winked before he let go of your hands and sat back in his seat. Now you felt even more flustered, but for a different reason.

The rest of the interview went off without a hitch, and before you knew it, you were thanking Pete for his time and turning off your recording device. The crew came to take the microphone off the both of you.

“You’re my last interview of the day,” Pete said as the two of you stood from your seats. “I’m glad I got to end it on such a good note.”

You couldn’t help the smile that broke out across your face. “I’m glad I got to be such a positive ending.”

“Are you parked downstairs?” You nodded, a bit confused by his question. “Mind if I walk you down? I gotta wait for my ride back to the hotel anyways, might as well spend that time with someone.”

At a loss for words, you just nodded.

The two of you walked together to the elevator that would bring you down to the parking garage you had parked your car in. The crew was still busy taking down the equipment in the room, so just the two of you stepped into the elevator.

“You’re really good for someone who’s just a student,” Pete said as the doors closed. “You’re more professional than most interviewers I’ve had.”

“I don’t want to be like every other tabloid journalist that just wants the latest scoop,” you responded. “I know that gossip and drama sells, but I wanna be one of those journalists that gets to show the real side of celebrities, not just the bullshit you see in magazines or on websites.”

“You’re one of very few, (Y/N), I’ll give you that.”

You couldn’t help but smile as Pete said your name. It just felt right hearing it come from his lips. You wondered if you could make him say it again.

“I really am sorry for throwing you off with that relationship jab,” Pete continued. “I meant for it to be lighthearted, like a joke, but I realized after I said it that it did come out pretty harsh.”

“It wasn’t harsh,” you shrugged. “I was just a bit shocked. I hadn’t planned on asking you anything that would make you uncomfortable, so I hadn’t even entertained the idea of asking you relationship questions.”

“I appreciate that. I’m not a super private guy, but it gets hard to be in the public eye with a relationship when I’m just trying to move on and people bring up my past ones, or what they believe to be past ones.”

Before you could respond, the doors to the elevator opened. The two of you stepped out and walked through the nearly empty parking garage before arriving to your car. You paused and turned back to Pete. You didn’t want to go just yet. You had enjoyed getting to spend time with him, even if it were likely he just saw you as yet another interviewer and nothing more.

“Thanks for walking me to my car,” you said, lamely. You mentally kicked yourself for not saying something that actually warranted a response.

“No problem. Gotta make sure no one kidnaps you.”

You smiled at the joke. You toyed with the keys in your hand, trying to put off getting in the car as much as you could. Pete was hesitant to walk away as well, which gave you a little bit of hope as to where this was going.

“I meant what I said about being single, by the way,” Pete finally said. “Which is to say that I am...single.”

“I am, too,” you told him.

A smirk was tugging at the corner of his lips. “What should I do with that information then?”

“Well,” you started, “you’re single, I’m single. We just spent the day getting to know one another. Maybe we could extend that to a non-professional setting.”

The smile on Pete’s face was brighter than the sun. “That’s exactly what I was thinking, actually. How about tomorrow? We could go for a coffee, start small.”

“Sounds fantastic. Here.” You passed him your phone and watched him put his number into it.

It felt so much easier to get into your car then.

You watched Pete walk away through the rearview mirror, and once he was far enough away you did a dance in your seat to celebrate both a great interview and the date you had managed to score along the way.

You were just starting up your car when a text from an unknown number came into your phone.

“just making sure you gave me a real number ~ pete”

You smiled to yourself and sent a response. “nope, this is actually a chinese take out place that conveniently does text messages as well”

“well fuck, that’s the third time this has happened this week”

You giggled to yourself before putting your phone aside and driving back towards your home, feeling as though you were on cloud nine.

#pete davidson #pete davidson imagine #pete davidson x reader #imagine #one shot #request #fanfiction #fanfic #fandom

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wicked-mind · 3 years

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Remember Me: Chapter Five

Summary: Y/N and Bucky were the unlikely match when it came to love, but they were inseparable since they met. After a fight, Y/N left to be a trauma surgeon in the military and returns without her memories. How will Bucky remind Y/N how she is the fire in his bones? Word Count: 3.4k

Warnings: Swearing (I like swearing. Adds character and sounds pretty to me lol), car crash, oh and enter John Walker

Series Masterlist

All Writings Masterlist

Note: Okay, I know what you are all thinking. Oh no, not Walker! He isn’t a bad guy in this, just a friend so put the pitchforks away. And as always, support is appreciated whether it be a like, reblog, or comment (:

*gifs not mine

Previously

When Bucky finished cleaning the plate and beer from earlier as well as making sure all the doors were locked and lights off, he walks back to the bedroom to see the beautiful figure of Y/N asleep in his bed. He was grinning ear to ear, happy she was back where she belonged. He pulled off his shirt and changed into some dark grey sweats before slowly and quietly crawling into bed with her. He watched her sleep, taking in everything about her. He had missed watching her sleep, pondering what was going on in her brain while she slept. What dreams she was having and whether it was of him or not. He could lay there for hours and watch her sleep, brushing his fingertips along her cheek slowly. As much as Bucky wanted to stay awake and watch her, he eventually fell asleep as well with a small smile on his lips.

Chapter five - We looked at each other a little too long to be “just friends”

Y/N blinked awake as the sun hit her face from the window, her eyes immediately landing on Bucky asleep next to her. She studied his face, he seemed so relaxed and happy when he slept. She lifted her hand to gently brush across his face, watching him twitch a little at the touch before opening those gorgeous blue eyes to stare at her, “Hi..” She said softly towards him, feeling butterflies erupt in her chest at his gaze.

Bucky smiled, Y/N was back where she belonged- next to him. Even is she couldn’t remember much about their relationship, she was there staring at him like she always did in the mornings and Bucky had never been so happy to see those eyes staring across from him, “Mornin’ doll.” He whispers out to her, slowly reaching out and wrapping his arms around her, pulling her closer to him, “How’d you sleep?”

“Good… I slept really good.” Y/N responds, keeping her voice soft. She as enjoying everything about this moment. The way Bucky looked at her made her feel like she was his sun and she could see the love he felt for her practically dripping off of his features. It was melting her with every touch and every look he gave her, “What time is it?”

Bucky broke his gaze from Y/N’s face to roll over and check his phone on the bedside table, “Almost ten.” He said before rolling back to look at her, smiling instantly at the sight of her sleepy features.

Y/N’s eyes went wide and she jumped out of the bed, “Shit.. Shit shit shit.” She muttered, walking around the room, “I have an interview at the hospital at ten forty-five.” She paused in her spot, “And I forgot to tell Steve where I was last night. He’s probably freaking out.” She put her hands on her face, “Oh god.”

Bucky got up quickly, walking over and placing his hands on her shoulders, “Stop freaking out.” He said with a smile and small chuckle, “I got some pairs of your old scrubs, all washed and everything. Go ahead and shower, all your shampoos and soaps are still there as well as your toothbrush. I’ll give you a ride to the hospital and I’ll talk to Steve.” He told her, rubbing his hands comfortingly down her shoulders until he reached her hands. He brings one of her hands up to his lips, kissing her knuckles as he stared into her eyes, “Sound good?”

Y/N listened to him, entranced by the way he looked at her. A thankful smile creeped across her lips slowly, nodding at him, “Sounds like a good plan.” She said, a small blush appearing on her cheeks as he kissed her knuckles, “Thank you.” She told him.

Bucky proceeded to show Y/N where all her clothes were, passing her some dark navy scrubs. They were always her favorite color and also his. He watched her disappear into his bathroom behind the shut door, a smile glued to his lips. He couldn’t believe she was back in his house, in his bed, and now in his shower. But those thoughts cleared his mind as he dialed up Steve on his cell phone, listening to it ring once before Steve answered.

“Bucky, is she with you? Sam called and said she was at the bar last night and ran into Rumlow.”

“Yeah, she’s alright. She was a little tipsy from tequila and I took care of Rumlow…” Bucky paused as he heard Steve let out a soft chuckle about the tequila, “I showed her the box.” It was silent for a moment before Steve responded.

“And? Is she okay?”

Bucky smiled softly to himself, “She remembered the rose I gave her our first Valentine’s Day and how the neighbor yelled at me for stealing it from one of the rose bushes.” He chuckles a little, “She’s fine though. She stayed the night and I’m taking her to the hospital for her interview. And don’t worry Stevie, I’m taking it slow, being a perfect gentleman.”

Steve sighed a little, “I trust you with her, Buck. You know that I always have. Just don’t be taking up all her time, I missed her too.”

Bucky smiled, “I won’t. I’ll bring her back to your house after her interview.” He said, before exchanging goodbyes and hanging up. The sound of the shower turning off stopped him, he watched the door to the bathroom down the hallway, waiting for her to come out in those dark blue scrubs he loved so much. When she appeared through the bathroom door, his breath got caught in his lungs. There she was, all doctored up. Bucky loved this look of her, as professional as she looked she was also extremely sexy in the way the scrubs hugged her curves.

Y/N bit her lip as she pulled her wet hair back into a pony tail, noting the way Bucky was running his eyes up and down her body. It made her skin feel hot, tingly. She walked over to her backpack she had left, zipping it open and making sure her stethoscope and emergency medical supplies were in there, which they were. She never went anywhere without them just in case someone needed help. She picks it up and slings it over her shoulders before walking over to Bucky, biting her bottom lip again nervously, “Ready whenever you are.”

Bucky smiled at her, reaching out and placing his hands on her hips, pulling her closer to him and placing a soft kiss on Y/N’s lips, “You’ve always looked so damn good in scrubs.” He told her, his smile widening as he saw her blush again, “C’mon darlin’. I know you like to be early.”

Bucky dropped Y/N off at the hospital, telling her to give him a call after her interview was over and he would pick her up to take her home. He gave her a soft kiss before watching her go inside, speeding off on his motorcycle with a boyish grin across his features. Within an hour, Y/N called him, “Hey doll, how’d it go?”

Y/N walked out of the hospital and down the street, the phone pressed to her ear, “It.. Uhm.. It didn’t. The chief of surgery remembers me and how amazing of a surgeon I am but he didn’t feel comfortable putting someone with no memories as chief of trauma.” She said with a sigh. She couldn’t lie, the moment the words passed Chief Miller’s lips she felt defeated and hurt. The one thing she actually remembered was surgery and medicine and it felt like that was being taken away from her.

“Oh… I’m so sorry, darlin’. I’ll come pick you up. We can pick up some lunch and go back to your brother’s okay?”

Y/N kept her steady pace down the sidewalk, pursing her lips at his words, “I actually feel like walking home… processing stuff you know?” She looked up when she heard some tires squealing, watching a truck t-bone a parked car and hitting a pedestrian in the process.

“Y/N, what was that? Are you okay?! Y/N!”

Y/N blinked at the sudden wreck, Bucky’s voice pulling her back to reality, “Yeah, I’m fine. I gotta go.” She said before hanging up and running straight over to the man who had been walking across the street when the truck made a sharp left and struck him. She immediately got into the groove of assessing and treating traumas, directing a bystander to call for an ambulance.

Bucky panicked when Y/N hung up on him, immediately jumping on his bike and speeding towards the hospital. He parked his bike and ran into the ER, looking around for Y/N. When he heard his voice, he froze and turned.

Y/N was on top of a man on a gurney, her hand in the man’s chest as he was unloaded from the gurney. She didn’t even notice Bucky standing in the middle of the ER watching her, she was stuck in surgeon mode and covered in the man’s blood, “We got an MVC, two more ambulances behind us, driver and passenger. Triaged in the field. This patient was a pedestrian hit by the truck, I need to get this man to an operating room now!” She told the doctors who were pushing the gurney through the emergency room. Her eyes focused on Chief Miller, “Better give me those privileges, Chief. I got my finger plugging a hole in his right ventricle and if you don’t, he will bleed out before someone else can plug the hole.”

Chief Miller nodded, watching the other two from the car crash come in from ambulances before returning his sight on Y/N who was waiting for him to grant her privileges to operate, “I’ll do you one better, you’re the new Chief of Trauma. I’ll call ahead to OR 2, let them know you’re coming and get cardio to meet you there.”

Y/N smiled and nodded, relief flooding through her at his words. She did it, she had proven herself. As doctors pushed the gurney towards the operating room doors, her eyes fell on Bucky who had heard the whole thing and was giving her a smile and mouthing the words ‘great job’ to her. She smiled and nodded towards him before disappearing behind the doors to the operating room.

Bucky waited for her in the waiting room for about three hours, grinning to himself. Of course Y/N got the job, she was destined for it and he was unbelievably proud of her for proving that she was still the best trauma surgeon around. When he saw her come out of the operating room doors and into the waiting room, she was wearing clean red scrubs and her backpack over her shoulders. He immediately stood and hugged her, “Okay, first of all, next time tell me what happened instead of just saying you have to go because I was worried. And second…” He smiled down at her, brushing his fingers across her face, “I’m so proud of you.”

Y/N smiled at him, “I’m sorry, I just jumped into surgeon mode. I didn’t mean to worry you.” She told him, “And thank you. I did it.” She said with a small giggle of joy. She leaned up and kissed Bucky’s cheek, “Chief Miller said I can finish up the paperwork tomorrow. So… It’s almost dinner time now… how about dinner and a ride? I’m starving.”

Bucky wrapped an arm around her shoulder, “Anything for you, Chief of Trauma.” He said with a smile, walking her towards the exit of the hospital. He helped her to the parking lot and clicked the helmet secured on her head before helping her onto his bike. This ride home was different than others. Y/N didn’t hide her face in the back of Bucky’s leather jacket, instead she tilted her head back and let the wind hit her face and run through her hair. She closed her eyes, smiling and laughing a little at the high. Bucky was right when he told her it was like when she performed surgery. It was exhilarating sitting behind Bucky on his motorcycle. She felt free, everything fading away to this moment and she was stuck in it. It wasn’t until Bucky slowed down in front of a diner that she opened her eyes and looked at him, her mouth hanging open a little as she took deep breaths before she smiled at him.

Bucky slid off the bike, kicking the kick stand down, “I’ll be right back, love.” He told her, smiling as he pressed a kiss to her cheek. He disappeared inside and came back out with a bag of to-go boxes, passing them to Y/N, “Think you can manage holding onto those for the ride home?”

Y/N took the food and nodded towards him, “Yeah, I’ll manage.” She told him, securing the food in one arm with her fingers tightly around the straps of the plastic bag before wrapping her free arm around Bucky’s waist when got back in front of her on the motorcycle. The way home, she kept a firm grasp around Bucky’s waist with her arm that wasn’t holding the food, but a smile still was planted to her lips as the wind rushed against her face. Once they arrived back at Steve’s house, Y/N and Bucky walked in. Y/N immediately hugged her brother and apologized for not calling or coming home last night before telling him the good news that she got the job. It called for victory beers during dinner.

“This is nice, like old times.” Peggy said once they had finished eating, holding Steve’s hand on the table.

Bucky and Steve nodded in agreement with the statement while Y/N bit her lip. She didn’t remember these ‘old times’ they were agreeing about but if this is what they were like she’s glad it existed. She was sitting next to Bucky who had stretched out an arm over her shoulders, stroking her shoulder gently with his finger tips as he watched her carefully. This was genuine happiness painted across her features, she was happy to be home and safe with people she loved. Her train of thought was interrupted when she heard a truck in front of the house, her brow furrowing, “Are we expecting someone?” She asks, her eyes flickering between Steve and Peggy who shook their head.

Steve stood up to go look out the window with Y/N and Bucky behind him while Peggy started cleaning up the dishes. Y/N froze when she saw a tall, muscular blonde haired man get out of a large black truck, “Oh my god..” She said softly as a smile crept onto her lips. She pushed her brother out of the way from the front door, opening it and running down the porch steps and jumped into the man’s arms, “John! What are you doing here?” She asks when he put her back down.

Bucky watched Y/N get excited at the mystery man, feeling a tinge of jealousy at the smile that wasn’t towards him. That bit of jealousy went full blown when he saw Y/N in the man named ‘John’s’ arms, "Who the fuck is John?" He muttered over to Steve who shrugged before he stepped out with Steve, going to wrap his arm around Y/N’s waist as he gave the blonde man a look over, “Who’s this, doll?” He asks curiously, though his voice was stern and his lips were pressed into a grim line. His arm around Y/N’s waist pulled her closer against him in a protective fashion.

Y/N looked at Bucky then back to the man named John, “Steve, Bucky, this is John Walker. We were on deployment at the same time, he was one of the men in charge of protecting our base.” She said with a smile, “He was pretty much my best friend from what I remember.”

Bucky narrowed his eyes as he looked the man up and down again, muttering something under his breath like ‘well you did a good job protecting the base’ sarcastically but low enough nobody heard.

John smiled, placing his hands in the pockets of his jeans, “I heard you were back up and running around, had to come see for myself how you were. Heard you lost a lot of your memories but I’m glad you still remember me.” He said to her before turning his attention to Steve and Bucky, “Nice to meet you guys, heard a lot about both of you.”

That sentence drew more into Bucky’s curiosity. What did this blonde guy named John know about him? What had Y/N told him about the end of their relationship when she deployed? And why in the fuck did Y/N remember John Walker but not him? His jealousy was growing by the minute, wondering what John was to Y/N and vice versa. Bucky’s jealousy faded a little when he felt Y/N place a hand on his hand that rested around her waist, flashing a small smile down towards her before kissing her head.

Steve shook John’s hand and put on his best friendly smile, “Always nice to meet a friend of Y/N’s.” He said, “Appreciate you checking up on her.”

Y/N waited for her brother to stop talking before bringing the attention back to her, “If you came a little earlier I would’ve invited you in for dinner, John.” She said with a smile.

John looked at Y/N, a smile resting on his lips, “That’s alright. I just wanted to come and say hello and let you know if you need any help remembering things,” His eyes flickered to Bucky before returning to her, “I’m here for you. I should head back to the VA now though, got a meeting. I’ll see you later, Y/N.” He told her before smiling towards Steve and Bucky, “Nice to meet you two, I’m sure I’ll see you guys around.” He said before turning and getting back into his truck and driving away.

Bucky watched John drive away before he shifted himself to stand in front of Y/N, taking both her hands in his as Steve started to head back inside, “You didn’t tell me you remembered him?” He said, posing the comment as a question as he put a small smile on towards her.

Y/N shrugged, “Yeah, I didn’t remember until I saw him and it all came rushing back. This memory thing is so weird.” She sighs softly, “Some things come back in bits and pieces and other times it’s like being hit with a tidal wave of memories. He’s great though from what I remember, you’ll like him. We should all go get drinks sometime.”

“Oh, I don’t know, doll.” Bucky said, his smile growing as he leaned down to lay a gentle kiss on Y/N’s forehead, “I don’t know if I can manage to share your attention with anybody else.”

Y/N rolled her eyes a little bit at his comment, giggling softly, “C’mon, Bucky. It’s not like that, don’t get jealous. John’s just a friend and he may be able to fill in some gaps in my memory.” She reminded, knowing that he would know that was important to her.

Bucky sighs and nods reluctantly, “Alright, fine. We can get together for drinks one night.” He said with a smile down to her. He couldn’t say no to her, never could. Except before she left to serve as a trauma surgeon in the military. That was the one time he had tried to tell her no and that backfired pretty horribly, “I got a question for you, darlin.” He stated, “How did you figure out the girl I talked about was you?”

Y/N smiled, lifting her hands to rest on his cheeks as her thumbs brushed across his stubbled cheeks lightly, “Well, I am some sort of genius even without my memories." She teased, "You would always look at me when you talked about her like you were talking to her. You call me those cute pet-names quite a lot. And… well, we looked at each other a little too long to be ‘just friends’ like everybody kept telling me.” Y/N watched his facial features turn into a smile towards her, feeling him grip her waist between his large hands and pulling her closer, “I also just felt safe with you. Like the whole world melted away and it was just you and me and it was familiar feeling.” She finished before standing on her toes and planting a kiss to his lips.

_____________________________________________________________

Taglist: @vicmc624 @buckypops @shawnie--jo

If I missed anybody on the taglist or you would like to be added, send me a quick message, comment or ask. Thank you for the support (:

#bucky x you #bucky x reader #bucky x y/n #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x y/n #james barnes x you #james barnes x y/n #james barnes x reader #bucky barnes #bucky barnes fanfic #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes series

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autumnleaves1991-blog · 3 years

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Day 21: You, again- Max Phillips

Day 21: You, again - Max Phillips

Pairing: Max Phillips x Reader

Warning: Cursing 18 +

A/N: This story was requested by @phoenixhalliwell who is one of my favorite people I talk to on Tumblr. She writes some fantastic Triple Frontier stuff so check it out! Also, this is my first time writing for Max Phillips so I hope you enjoy!

November Writing Challenge Masterlist

Day 20: Hello - Poe Dameron

Monday

“Ugh!” you shout kicking towards the copier.

“You know if you break it you gotta buy it, sweetheart,” you jump half a foot in the air before turning around gasping at the smirking face of Max Phillips, your boss.

“FUCK! You scared the shit out of me! I didn’t even hear you come up behind me!”

“Oh, no are you ok pumpkin?” Oh how much you hated the pet names.

You roll your eyes before turning back to the infuriating machine, “I’m fine,” you grind your teeth doing your best to ignore him. It was only too much of a wish for him to leave you alone.

He leans against the copier and smirks at you, “So I was wondering about dinne-”

“Listen here Mr. Phillips, I am not interested in anything you are offering. So if you could kindly fuck off that would be great, thank you.”

He pouts, before crossing his arms over his chest, “you know I could fire you for talking to me like th-”

You cut him off again grabbing your finished copies and facing him, “But you won’t because then you would lose your best salesman and the company would plummet.” You walk away tightly holding your papers to your chest and returning to your desk. Leaving a gaping Max Phillips behind.

Tuesday

You bob your head along to the music playing from the small speaker at your desk. Fully concentrating on finishing the proposal for Friday when you feel the presence of someone standing behind you.

You slowly turn in your chair and see Max Phillips creeping over your shoulder at your computer.

“AHH!” you scream, “You fucking asshole why do you insist on sneaking up on me!”

He raises his hands in mock surrender, before lowering them. His signature smirk gracing his lips, “I’m not sneaking up on you sweet-cheeks, can I help it if you’re not observant of your surroundings?”

You scoff rolling away from him. He leans down closer and you can feel his breath against your neck. “I brought you something,” he says quietly. Placing a small white box on your desk.

You stop typing momentarily before you hesitantly reach for the box. Fully expecting something to jump out at you. You place the lid of the box aside and look puzzled at a new pair of purple earbuds. Yours had broken last week when stupid Evan wasn’t looking where he was going and crushed yours.

“Purple’s my favorite color...how did yo-” You look around but he’s gone. No trace of Max at all. You tentatively plug them into the small speaker still half expecting them to blow up and when they don’t you place them in your ears. These were a lot nicer than your last ones. Interesting.

Wednesday

Lunchtime. The one time a day you can escape the freezing office and get some peace. You had made it a habit over the past few months since Max’s arrival to eat in your car with the heat on so you can finally escape the chill.

You look in the fridge for your lunchbox but it’s gone. You take out every single bag from the fridge before replacing them. Some fucker took your lunch! You stalk like a cheetah throughout the cubicles before you land upon Tim. Who is greedily eating up your Philly cheesesteak leftovers from the night before as he watches cartoons on youtube.

“Are you fucking serious?!” you shout startling him, “You took my lunch! Why don’t you just eat your own!?”

“Oh shit, hmm I can explain...oh fuck… I was just so hungry and it was just there. Your not mad right?” he stutters.

You can feel your blood pressure rise and reach around him to grab your lunchbox, smacking him upside the head with it before storming out. When you reach your car you note the time and scream knowing you don’t have enough time to go get something. Your head hits the steering wheel and you scream again.

Suddenly a knock sounds from your passenger window and you jump. Looking up into the slightly concerned eyes of your boss. You put a hand to your chest before putting down the window on the right, “I swear to god I think you are trying to murder me by scaring me to death!”

“Unlock the door,” he tells you and at this point, you can’t think of a good reason not to.

You click the button and the door unlocks. Max gets in with a loud rustling sound, closing the door behind him. “For the record cupcake, if I wanted to murder you, you would know. No, I saw you in the fridge hunting for food and decided to be a nice boss for once and bring you lunch, you like empanadas right?”

You look at him like he’s grown an extra head before nodding, “Yes…? They’re my favorite food...how did yo-”

He hands you the container and tucks into the other one himself. Neither of you saying anything. When the clock strikes 11:25 you clean up the small mess you made and lock eyes with Max. His food sits half-eaten in the box and he’s just staring at you.

“You’re beautiful,” he whispers but it’s so low your not sure you heard him right.

“What?” you ask.

“I said you’re a mess, here,” he hands you a napkin and you wipe your face.

“Thank you...for everything,” you tell him smiling softly.

“Can’t have my best employee starve to death can I?” he takes the containers from your hands before getting out of the car. Leaving you alone with your thoughts. Curious.

Thursday

Thirsty Thursday with your old college buddies tonight you decide to dress up for work. Wearing a deep blood red halter dress that stops just above your knees, a black cardigan, and black kitten heels. You can’t help but admire your reflection in the metal walls of the elevator.

All-day you’d received compliments and it felt damn good but someone was surprisingly absent. The only trace of him you had seen all day was a still-warm guava and cheese empanada on your desk with a note.

You look ravishing, kitten.

You blush before tucking the note safely into your clutch. When the day finally ends you confidently stalk past his office and you’re disappointed to see it dark. Its occupant already long gone for the day. You shrug, oh well. At least today you didn’t get the shit scared out of you again.

At the club, your friends are well on their way to being drunk and you take two shots to try to catch up. “LET’S DANCE!” they cheer pulling you toward the lights of the dance-floor.

You bump, grind, and groove to the music and the liquor flows freely until you find yourself more relaxed than you had been all week. “SHOTS!” your friend shouts heading back over to the table but you’re lost in the rhythm of the music and shout back that you’re staying.

It only takes a moment before hands snake around your waist and pulls you flush with someone’s back. You gasp when you feel the freezing cold hands pull you tight, and someone’s breath in your ear. “Hi baby,” he whispers in your ear and you melt. Turning around in his arms.

“You, again. What have I told you about scaring me?” you scoff but don’t move away, taking a step closer.

He moves his hands up and pushes your hair behind your ears, his hands running down your neck and holding you. His thumbs lazily caressing your cheeks, “it’s not my fault your unobservant of your surroundings doll. But, also I like to keep you on your toes. Always waiting for me to show up. I know you missed me today. I saw you saunter that sweet body past my office before you left...you wanted me to see you.”

Your cheeks heat and you let out a small puff of air...ah fuck it.

Closing the distance between you and kissing him softly. You bring your hands up and mess up his perfect hair before he opens to you. He tastes like peppermint and a slight coppery tang and you feel consumed by him. Despite how cold he is you are burning alive. All your senses heightened and you lose yourself in him. The crowded club is gone until it’s only you and him.

When you finally break to breathe he pulls you close and traces his hands slowly over your curves. “I’ve been wanting to do that for months,” he whispers in your ear, “but every time I got close enough...you would scream and curse at me. Kind of ruined the mood…”

You laugh and hug him tightly before kissing him again, “Do you want to get out of here?”

“Oh fuck yes,” he pulls you towards the door, out of the club, and towards a new tomorrow.

Day 22: Distorted Sounds

Taglist: @josepedropascal

If you want to be added to my tag list let me know!

#November writing challenge #Day 21 #Pedro Pascal #max phillips #Bloodsucking Bastards #Max Phillips x reader

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msmarvelouswinchester · 4 years

Text

Shake It Off

Summary - Dean decided to teach the Reader how to drive.

Pairing - Dean x Reader, Sam x Reader (platonic)

Warning - Fluff, if you squint you can see angst and swearing

Word Count - 1.4k

Requested by @herfalsegod - Hello, hon! Can I request a fic for Dean x reader? She doesn't know how to drive, neither wants to learn-- she's more than glad with enjoying the ride. But after a difficult hunt that got Sam passed out and Dean too bruised to drive, he decides it's time to teach her. Cue reader almost hitting the car and Dean bein a drama queen™ and reader using the excuse of 'driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole' to put some Taylor Swift on

A/N - I am so sorry about posting this so later! I couldn't find the time to write at all until today. Anyways, I finally wrote it and I hope you like it. Also HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

“Hey boys, who wants to drive me over to the supermarket?” You looked at the brothers who were currently drowning under a pile of lore books.

“Drive yourself,” Dean said, digging down deep into his jeans pocket to retrieve his car keys before tossing it over to you.

“You know I can't drive,” you whined as you caught the keys before tossing them back to your boyfriend.

“You should learn to drive, Y/N,” Sam said, finally looking up from his laptop.

“Nope,” you said, popping the last syllable, “I have got two men in the household who are excellent drivers.”

“We are not your chauffeurs,” Dean deadpanned, making you roll your eyes. You walked up to your boyfriend and placed your left hand on his shoulder, gently massaging the knots on his shoulder. You leaned down to whisper in his ears, “Drive me to the supermarket and I'll owe you, big time. Maybe let you do all those things to me you have been wanting to do for days. How does that sound?”

Dean stared at you with wide eyes for a minute, probably going over the pros and cons in his head before jumping out of the chair and asking, “All those….things?” He swallowed hard.

“All of those. Even the one which you said last night,” you winked.

“Guys, I'm right here,” Sam gagged, “you know Dean, this is the sole reason Y/N will never learn to drive because you will do anything for sex.”

“Don't point fingers at me. I love my girlfriend and I love sex and you are also easily uh-manipulated by her,” Dean huffed, making you gasp.

“She helps me with research!” The younger Winchester defended, “unlike you.”

“Boys, boys, boys. Stop fightin’. Will ya? I don't want to learn driving because I enjoy riding shotgun and it's not like I will ever need to drive to save my life,” you said and stood there with your hands on your hip.

“You're a hunter. You never know what curve ball life will throw at you,” Sam said and you rolled your eyes in ignorance but who knew that these exact words of Sam Winchester would ring in your ears when you all try to leave the abandoned warehouse four days later.

“Sam? S-Sammy?” Dean croaked, trying to wake his unconscious brother, who was lying in the backseat.

“De,” you urged, slipping into the seat beside the driver's seat, “we gotta move. We have to take him back to the bunker as quickly as possible.”

“Yeah, yeah I know,” he winced as he got inside the car and you noticed that his right shoulder had a deep scratch by the werewolf’s claw on it.

“That looks bad Dean,” you said, worry etched on your face.

“I'll live. I gotta get my brother back to the bunker,” he said, throwing a concerned look at his brother's direction, “and you can't drive.”

You knew that Dean didn't mean to direct his frustration at you but it still stung. Your stubbornness was now making you all suffer. You heard your boyfriend groan as he tried to shift the gear of Baby.

“You're gonna learn how to drive,” Dean said sharply as he drove out of the place, “Nuh-uh. No more excuses.”

“But-” you pouted.

“Don't give me that face, Y/N/N. You're not getting out of this,” he raised his brow challengingly at you, making you ultimately surrender to his demand.

And Dean was a man of his word. Two days later, he was dragging you out to the garage while you whined at him to let you go but he was too stubborn this time. Even Sam was of no help as he kept looking at the scene unfolding in front of him with an amused expression on his face.

“Come on sweetheart, I know you don't wanna learn driving but you know it better than anyone after the last hunt that it's necessary for you to know how to drive,” Dean said as you two reached the garage, him finally releasing your hands but he stood there blocking the gate in case you decided to take off.

“Ugh,” you groaned finally giving up, “fine. Teach me how to drive, Sensei.”

Dean snorted at your choice of word, “Yeah, smartass, get in the car now.”

“I am learning to drive. That doesn't mean you're off duty. You still have to drive me to all the places. This is just for emergency purposes!” You warned.

“Yeah I know,” he rolled his eyes, “now, are we ready to learn, Y/N/N?”

But things went south quickly. Not twenty minutes into the driving lesson, you almost managed to mess Baby's front.

“Y/N!” Dean yelled as you barely managed to avoid the trees as you made it out of the garage, “stop swerving! You will crash!”

“I don't know how to stop!” You yelled back as the car swerved for the hundredth time and Dean leaned in to take control of the steering wheel.

“The brakes! Push the brakes!” He yelled again, making you jump. You pushed the brake pedal, the impala abruptly coming to a stop in the middle of the road. The sudden force threw you and Dean forward and you barely managed to not hit your head in the steering wheel.

Your boyfriend jumped out of the car, mumbling a bunch of swear words under his breath which you pretty sure were directed at you. You scrambled out of the car as well and saw Dean inspecting Baby.

“Oh Baby! You okay? Are you hurt? Baby I'm so sorry,” he cooed at the black beauty.

“Dean?” You called out, making him look up to you, “uh-driving lesson?”

“It's done!”

“What? You can't be serious! So what if I almost crashed your car? I'm still learning! And you said it yourself, knowing how to drive is important for a hunter!”

“Don't use my words on me! I told that before you almost crashed Baby-”

“Yes, exactly! Almost. I almost crashed her but I didn't,” you said.

“Fine, go back inside the car. We'll finish the lesson,” he rolled his eyes. You went inside the car and Dean followed you after he murmured a soft apology to Baby.

“Don't touch the radio,” he said, swatting your hands away. You pouted and deliberately touched it, switching the radio on making Dean growl in frustration and his frustration only increased as the radio started playing a Taylor Swift song.

“But I keep cruising, can't stop, won't stop moving. It's like I got this music in my mind. Saying, "It's gonna be alright,” you sang along loudly.

“Stop,” Dean groaned.

“Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake. I shake it off, I shake it off,” you ignored Dean and kept on singing. He tried to change the station but this time you swatted his hands away, saying, “Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole.”

“Son of a bitch! You're never driving again!” He said, burying his head into his hands. You started the engine, still grooving to the music making Dean look up at you. You finally made it back to the bunker in one piece, as your boyfriend successfully taught you the nitty-gritties of driving.

“How was the drive?” Sam asked as you both came down the stairs.

“Eventful,” you replied.

“She almost crashed Baby!” Dean exclaimed, making Sam laugh out loud.

Rolling your eyes at his words, you said, “Dude, be like Taylor. Shake it off!”

Feedback is highly appreciated!

#supernatural #dean x reader #jensen ackles #dean winchester #jared padalecki #sam winchester #spn #supernatural fanfic #dean winchester fic #dean winchester x y/n #dean winchester one shot #dean winchester x you #dean winchester x reader #deanxreader #dean fanfic #dean winchester fanfic #dean fanfiction

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redthreadoffate · 4 years

Text

gee, thanks, karen [peter parker]

a repost, originally posted in my former writing blog

relationship: peter parker x stark!reader

warnings: swearing, none; mistakes here or there

request (anon): hello!! how about hoco stark!reader x peter where he goes to her lab and asks for her help to fix the suit bc karen isn’t working well lately and while they low key flirt and fix the suit, she puts on the mask to check everything and karen starts telling her how much peter likes her, and she dies inside bc she likes him too and they kiss? maybe ending with irondad or bucky interrupting and they are like :o

notes: i was going to use the other character in the end but i realized continuity wouldn’t make sense but then i was like fuck that, but I finished it already anyways…second out of the two peter parker x reader fics, it’ll be awhile before i agree to make them again

summary: karen’s broken and peter asks y/n stark for help

You were quietly working in your lab, humming every now and then to a tune that would pop into your head every so and so.

You thanked your father for giving you your own lab in the Avengers compound. There were cameras everywhere on your floor and you knew that he would be watching your every move when he could. Sometimes, you would wave at one camera when you knew he was in the control room. It would never fail to make you giggle, and Tony would always comment that you are such a silly little girl for laughing at your own antics.

Sometimes, some of the team members would come over and ask for your help if Tony was busy. Or they were too lazy to think of solutions on their own. But hey, who’s complaining about helping them?

They would need help with their gadgets, sometimes for work or fighting, most of the time for their everyday use, like their cellphones and laptops, tablets and watches. You don’t mind. In fact, you enjoy it. It makes you feel useful in this compound filled with superheroes.

Your favorite to help out was Peter Parker. He was also a genius with technology, but sometimes he needed a hand with his suit and weapons. You loved helping him out with his webshooters since there were so many possibilities for it. You were even the one who helped your father create his current suit with the Karen interface.

And although Peter turned down the calling of being an Avenger, he would still come over from time to time, and you noticed it’s mostly just to talk to you.

That thought made you smile. You stuck out your tongue and giggled a little in giddiness.

You continued to type in some data in the paper you were writing on. As much as you loved the technology of your father, you still loved the old fashioned pen and paper. It was easier to overlay if needed. You wanted to see all the possible choices before you typed it in the database.

But you thought of Peter again and that tickled your body. “Oh, come on. He isn’t over Liz Allan yet, you silly. He’s still hungover, he can’t be into me that quick. Can he?” But you shake your head.

You’re pretty good at telling if someone liked someone, except of course, when it came to you. But you pretend you do anyway. You have yet to be proven wrong. You smile and nod your head slowly, twirling the pen in your hand with your fingers. “Looks like you’ve got your groove on, y/n Stark.”

“What was that?”

You turned around, surprised to see your father standing behind you. A device in hand and a hologram sticking out. “Hi, Dad.”

“You’ve got your what on, y/n?”

You giggled nervously. “Nothing. It’s nothing, Dad. I was just talking to myself.”

“No, I wanna hear what you said. You’ve got your what on, y/n Stark?”

You sighed in defeat. “My groove,” you said softly.

“I can’t hear you.”

“My groove,” you repeated louder.

“Your groove, huh?” Tony nodded his head. “Well, you know what you should have, y/n? Your homework.”

“Dad,” you whined. “I’ll do that later. I’m in the middle of a discovery here.”

“Oh really? What is it? The end of homework.”

You raised your pen in the air. “That will be my project!”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Okay, whatever. Just hurry so you can finish your homework. It’s a school day tomorrow, y/n. Remember that.”

You smiled sweetly. “Yes, Daddy.”

Tony left the room, leaving you alone.

You turned back to your paper and grit your teeth. So you lied about making a discovery. You were simply testing out some different designs for a suit you wanted to wear. It was very similar to the technology of your father’s but it had no name yet, you didn’t know what to call it, not even a working name.

You sit on the stool and tap the pen on the paper. “If I do this…then this happens, which, of course, I can’t let that happen. So I have to do this…but I have yet to figure out how this one works for it to be able to do that.” You sighed in frustration. “Okay, but if this does happen, which leads to this, then perhaps, just perhaps, it will reach my goal.”

You spin the chair around a few times until you get dizzy. “But we can’t say anything precise with just ‘perhaps’ can we? Oh, y/n, you gotta try a bit harder if you wanna reach the Tony Stark level.”

Finally, after about an hour, you decided that you’ve had enough. You shut down your lab and head to your room to do some homework. “See you tomorrow,” you said with a yawn. “To new discoveries!” You raise your balled fist in the air.

You’re in the middle of a math problem when someone knocks on your door. You groan, you like math and you were getting the answer to this certain number.

“Come in!” you called out, not bothering to look at the door. It was probably just your dad and you wanted him to see you concentrating.

“Hey, y/n.”

You looked up at the young voice. It was Peter Parker and he was holding his Spider-man mask in his hand. “Oh, Peter. I wasn’t expecting you.”

“When am I ever expected?” he snickered.

You smiled and laughed a little. “True.”

“Am I disturbing you?” he asked. He gestured toward your table and smiled. “You look like you’re doing some homework.”

“It’s no problem,” you said with a shrug. “It’s just math.”

“Which you absolutely love,” he responded with a cheery tone. He knew that was something you two had in common. “You hate it when you’re being interrupted when you do your math problems.”

You squint one eye. “That is true, too.” You looked at him for awhile before he raised his eyebrows. “Will you just let me finish this one math problem. I’m almost done, I swear. I just need a few digits to write. Sit.”

He laughed and nodded as he sat on the other chair. “There’s no need to explain, y/n. I’m the intruder and I interrupted you during your favorite subject. Go on, go on. Take as much time as you need.”

You smiled and half-jokingly said, “You say that and I’ll finish the whole homework.” Then you continued answering the number. After you’ve secretly finished answering one more number, you turned back to him and grinned. “Done! Now what did you want to talk about?”

“There’s something wrong with Karen,” he replied, holding up his mask.

“Oh no!” You exclaim, standing up and grabbing his mask. “Not Karen! What did you do, Peter Parker?”

He laughed nervously. “I may have fallen flat on my face.”

You looked at him immediately. Now that he mentioned it, his nose was a bit broken and he had a cut on his lip and some scratches along his face. “Are you okay?” you ask, although you know that it’s too late to ask that now. “Have you gone to the clinic?”

“I can’t go to my school’s infirmary or the hospital and mobile clinics,” he chuckled, “without being asked what had happened.”

“Why don’t you go to the one downstairs?”

He shrugged. “Can we fix Karen first?”

You sighed. “Okay, sure. Come on.”

The two of you left your room and walked over to your lab.

You tinker with the technology your father put in but you also recognize some of the pieces you’ve planted in the interface.

Peter did everything he could to help, in fact, there were moments wherein his mind thought of the better solutions. You weren’t undermining his brains, no, of course not, but you were also thinking of your own pride, you did put some of the tidbits that was the reason as to why Karen had come to life.

“You’re really good at this,” Peter said.

“Only because I want to impress you,” you replied. “You’re not so bad yourself, Mr. Parker.”

“Only because a pretty girl is with me.”

You look at him with a smirk playing in your lips. “So how’s Liz Allan holding up?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I think she hates me.”

“I would hate you, too. You know, if you told me you needed a rain check for our homecoming date when we’re in the homecoming dance.”

“Aw come on, I’d never do that to you, y/n. I like you.”

You laughed. “And I like you, too.” You shake your head. “Go to the clinic, Mr. Parker. We’re almost done with Karen.”

He sighed and patted his mask. “See you, girl.”

You snickered.

After a few minutes, you think Karen is doing okay. So you do the thing everyone would do to test it out, you wear the mask.

“Hello, y/n.”

“Oh, hello, Karen. I didn’t know you still remembered me.”

“I will always remember you, y/n. Peter thinks very highly of you.”

“He does?” you gasped.

“Yes. He would constantly talk about you, asking me if you’re okay. I would watch him talking to himself in the mirror, practicing how to ask you out. He likes you very much, y/n. And based on your facial reaction and heatwave, I can tell you like him, too.”

“Y/n!”

You unmasked yourself and see Peter with a red face. “I can explain,” you both said at the same time. “I like you!” Again, in unison.

Peter rushed towards you to give you a kiss. “I know Karen said I’ve been practicing,” he said against your lips, “please don’t watch those. Those are really embarrassing.”

“Your nose is still broken,” is all you can say, murmuring.

“I’ll go later,” he said.

You giggle. “There are cameras, we’ll get cau–”

“What is going on here?” Tony’s voice boomed.

“Oops,” you both say, a goofy smile on your faces.

#peter parker x reader #peter parker x you #peter parker x y/n #peter parker imagine #peter parker imagines #peter parker fanfiction #tom holland x reader #tom holland x you #tom holland x y/n #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland imagine #tom holland imagines #misc: cherish writes

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a-spectacle-in-the-morning · 4 years

Text

“Off the Playground” -- Sonny Carisi

Notes: Part 2 for this as promised, though I think it works as a standalone as well.

Summary: Sonny comes over to help you unpack. He notices something he gave you when you were younger that he didn’t think you’d have kept.

“You’ve got to be kiddin’ me,” Sonny sighs as he takes in the state of your apartment.

“Hey, I told you you didn’t have to help if you didn’t want to.”

“Yeah, sure. You know I don’t have a choice with those puppy dog eyes.”

You give Sonny a wink as you shut the front door behind you. You’re making your way further into the kitchen and living room area when you hear him exaggeratedly clear his throat.

“Forgettin’ somethin’?” he asks, facing you but pointing his thumb back at the chain lock left dangling on your door.

Begrudgingly, you head back to the entryway. “You know I actually did live in this borough for eighteen whole years, right?” Sonny hasn’t moved from his spot by the door so you’re forced to push him a bit to get full access to the lock.

“You’re not actin’ like it.”

“Well,” you slide the bolt into place, “excuse me for being distracted by the big, strong man that I thought would protect me if a burglar got in.”

“I would,” Sonny leans into you, “but I’d prefer not to on my day off.”

You roll your eyes, but you’re grinning as you once again make your way into the living room. As Sonny follows you he notices an odd organization to your collection of moving boxes. A majority of them are scattered around the space and tucked in corners. One large one is acting as a sort of coffee table in front of your loveseat. What caught his interest, though, is the pile set semi-neatly against the wall to his left.

As if picking up on what he’d just noticed you point to the pile of boxes and say, “You can start over there. I tried to get all the boxes with my bookshelf together, but it’s in about five thousand pieces so some parts might be missing. There’s a toolbox by the window.”

“I’m gonna need tools?”

You grab the toolbox and set it at his feet. As you straighten back up you get close enough to kiss him, but instead you whisper, “The Allen wrench’ll be near the bottom.” Then you leave his space to sit in front of your own pile.

After half an hour of sifting through boxes you’d un-helpfully labeled just ‘junk’ you stand to stretch out your legs. The sound of fabric being wiped across something then hitting the ground catches your attention. You dare a glance over your shoulder and see that Sonny has removed the unbuttoned flannel he’d arrived in. Just the sight of him in a white t-shirt and jeans has your stomach twisting. The bookshelf is nearly finished with just one box still unopened.

“You, um.” So, all it takes is a sweaty Sonny in a tight shirt for you to drop the flirtatious act? “You hot?”

He gives you a look, one eyebrow raised at your sudden lack of words. Your eyes involuntarily flicker to his chest a couple times. He notices, of course. With a little lop-sided grin he just replies, “I hot.”

There’s something caught in your throat so you just nod your head and shuffle over to the window. It’s already open, but you pound on the side jambs and make enough space to heft the nearest box fan into the opening.

“Wait is this…” Sonny trails off and you turn around to see what’s up.

The second you recognize what’s in his hand you rush over and try to snatch it. But Sonny pulls his arms up and away, just out of your reach.

“Sonny I swear to God-”

“Ay! Don’t make me tell your ma that you took the Lord’s name in vain.” Sonny tries to sound serious, but his massive grin exposes the fun he’s having.

Jerk.

You step back and slump your shoulders. “Go ahead and ask.”

“Is this the troll doll that I won for you?”

You can’t help the deep sigh of embarrassment that escapes you. “Yes.”

On a similarly hot day in the late nineties your family and the Carisis had driven forty-five minutes out of town to go to a fair. It started out as one of the worst days of your life. The sun was unrelenting, you kept getting static shocks from the rides, and everyone kept asking Sonny about college. It was the summer before he left. He was abandoning you and everyone was so happy and the air smelled like cotton candy and sweat. It was torture.

You spent half the day wandering by yourself as far from Sonny as you could get. Every once in a while you would stop to waste some money on something. You were stuck at a duck hunt-esque game when you realized someone was watching your shots.

“You’ve gotta aim a bit ahead of the target or you’re not gonna get it in time.”

Sonny’s words bang around in your head as you miss your last shot. “You messed me up.”

You turn to face Sonny, squinting in the sun. He’s all long legs and bright blond hair.

“Oh sorry. Didn’t realize my good advice would ruin your incredible score of two.”

“If you think you’re such a good shot, prove it,” you challenged.

He does. For a lanky kid Sonny had great aim. He beat your score in a couple seconds and did well enough, much to your chagrin, to earn a prize. As you kept your gaze directed at the bumper cars you noticed Sonny holding something out for you.

“I don’t want your pity prize, Sonny.”

“It reminded me of you.”

You hadn’t actually looked to see what he was offering until that moment. His sweet tone had you imagining a teddy bear or some other stuffed object, but when you saw what it actually was you had to stop yourself from punching him.

“Seriously? A troll doll? Nice, Sonny. Thanks,” you snapped. But before you had stomped off you had aggressively snatched the toy from his hands. You were pissed, but it was like a going away present from Sonny and you had cherished it dearly after he left.

“You know I’m terrible with throwing things out.”

He nods but gets quiet. The troll doll is still in his right hand and it's making you nervous.

“You know that whole summer I kept tryin’ to work up the nerve to tell you how I felt. This day, when I gave you this,” he shakes the doll a little, “I was holdin’ my breath the whole afternoon. You wore this little olive green sundress that made you look warm and bright. Made me lose my damn mind watchin’ you walkin’ around in it. But you were also wearin’ black sneakers with sharpie all over ‘em and your knees were scuffed up. Like you’d just skipped off the playground or somethin’. You looked so young I felt wrong for just thinkin’ of you that way.”

The revelation is bittersweet. You love knowing that he had also liked you long ago, but it tears you up to think of how complicated you had made things for him.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Sonny sets the troll doll down on a completed level of your bookshelf. “For bein’ born a couple years too late?”

You shake your head and step forward to lessen the distance between you and him. Your eyes stay focused on his hands and arms, unable to make eye contact. Without thinking you reach out and rest your fingertips on one of his elbows. “But it’s not too late for us now, right? This isn’t too weird after knowing each other so long?”

Sonny very lightly grabs your chin and directs your gaze back up to his face. “I think we’ve finally got it right.”

The sunlight sets half of him aglow and you feel like your heart has stopped beating. He reaches across his body to grab your hand still idling by his elbow and gently places your palm on his chest. Oh, there it is, you think. That pounding heartbeat beneath your touch gets your own drumming again.

You lift up onto your tiptoes and brush a kiss on Sonny’s lips. He smiles against you at first, but then presses your hand more securely against his chest and kisses you fully. Everything gets heated quickly: the sun on your shoulders, the feeling of only cotton separating your hand from his skin, the way his mouth opens to deepen the kiss. By the time you’ve stopped a new, thin layer of sweat sits on your bodies.

Sonny breaks the silence first. “Maybe I can finish helpin’ you unpack another day?”

You bite your bottom lip and nod, pulling him back towards the couch a few feet away. As you step backwards Sonny stumbles over something. His brow creases and he reaches down to pick up whatever tripped him.

“Yoga to Relax the Mind and Body? Why on Earth is this unpacked, but not your toaster?”

You grin and snatch the DVD from his hands, tossing it back to the floor. “Don’t ask.”

You guys I apologize if this was more of a mess than usual. I have an unholy amount of papers to write for finals and I am overwhelmed. I’m hoping to get my groove back in a couple weeks when the semester is over.

#sonny carisi x reader #sonny carisi fanfiction #sonny carisi imagine #sonny carisi fanfic #sonny carisi #law and order: svu #Law and Order: Special Victims Unit #law and order: svu imagine #law and order: special victims unit imagine #law and order: svu fanfic

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cherries-n-rocknroll · 4 years

Note

I’m so tired but I already can’t sleep in general but now I don’t wanna have more nightmares because they make me paranoid at night skdndjnddkdk help I’m so tired 😭

I wanna help 🥺 but hhhhhhhh I dunno man. I’ll try. I think you might need to sort out your mind or something, maybe journal? Just throw it all out. Or is there maybe something else in your life that’s secretly causing you a lot of stress which is manifesting itself in very unpleasant and stressful dreams???

Try to relax because being scared that you’ll get them will probably only make it worse. Maybe watch your favourite movie, look at cute animal videos, make some art (doesn’t even have to look good) Or maybe even try to just lay on the couch or your bed and do absolutely noting, no phone, no book just let your mind wander and rest. Seriously you might think being on your phone is relaxing but it’s actually still torture for your brain because you’re still getting all this info thrown at you even if you don’t really realise it.

Maybe you could also try and search for these asmr sleep videos and listen to that till you fall asleep. Or perhaps relaxing bedtime stories that are kinda dreamy and fantasy-ish. If you search trough the podcasts on sportily there are lots.

I dunno it this will help. I’m just vomiting out things that come to mind.

I swear I dunno what’s happening to me the last few weeks but I’m lowkey grooving and turning into some spiritual hippie chick and I don’t even mind it 😳 I even started trying out the law of attraction and like I wanted this very specific drawer thing (idk English okay, I wanna use it for clothes) And I was writing down that I needed it to be under €50. And guess what I found the other day, one that was exactly what I was searching for and for fucking free! I only gotta get a message back now if I can come get it :( I want it ok. It’s the perfect size. Actually now I’m searching if I wrote it down and I can’t find it. I swear I wrote it down wtf.

Anyways, try to chill bro 🥺💕

Also idk maybe try affirmations. Like write over and over again, “I am gonna sleep well tonight. I will only get pleasant dreams” Actually no, the universe doesn’t understand no and doesn't understand past or future only now so. “I slept well. I head pleasant dreams. I am well rested.” And try to really feel and believe it.

👁👄👁 I swear I am not going insane. My mind is just doing things. If my younger self read this she’d laugh very very VERY hard and be like yeaaaaahhhh dude fuck off with your bullshit that ain’t gonna work. But hey it’s worth trying 🤷‍♀️

This turned out so long I’m sorry. I’m just trying to dig in my mind for things that might help you. byeee 💕

#ask #benders diamond earring #also go to yt and search for simonesquared #she’s hilarious #i feel like it fits your vibe

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brianprobablywill · 5 years

Text

A Good Day (Ben Hardy x Reader)

this is my submission for the big tropey writing challenge hosted by @supersonicfreddie ! i’d love some feedback for this!

2.7k words of fluffy post-borhap ben x reader with a nice helping of joey :)

also, i have absolutely no idea how to make tea, so forgive me for any discrepancies about tea that i might have written about lol

Joe was a good friend. Scratch that, Joe Mazzello was an amazing friend. The best friend you could ask for. He knew it. But sometimes, he truly wished he could just lock his two brickheads of best friends in a room and have them make out till they realized they were stupidly in love with each other.

He had to face the heat from both sides. Ben would go on and on and on about how beautiful Y/N’s hair looked, how lovely she looked in that skirt, how she was so kind and sweet and fucking amazing.

And so would Y/N. Ben’s blond hair, his beautiful lips, his smooth voice, and his stupid abs.

Truly, Joe Mazzello was a trooper. He had kept at it for two years. How he did it is a mystery to all.

But here he was, sprawled out on Y/N’s bed as she made herself presentable for Ben’s arrival.

“He’s not coming over for the first time, Y/N.” Joe scoffed, his feet resting on the wall. He picked at his cuticles, listening to everything Y/N was saying. “He’s been over a million times.”

“Shut up,” Y/N mumbled half-heartedly as she came over and sat down on the bed right next to where Joe’s head was. “Don’t do that,” she tutted, swatting as Joe pulled on his cuticle. Joe rolled over on his side, propping himself up on his elbow. “All ready?”

“Yes.” Y/N smiled, flashing Joe her brightest smile.

Joe rolled his eyes playfully, sticking his tongue out as he sat all the way up. “You look beautiful all the time, and Ben sees it too. You don’t have to doll yourself up for him.”

Y/N leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand. “What if I say I’m dolling up for myself?” She wiggled her eyebrows at Joe.

Joe mirrored her actions, leaning forward himself as he commanded, “Then I’d say that lipstick isn’t dark enough, egghead.” He laughed along with Y/N, standing up as she did.

“Should I make some tea for him?” Y/N asked, only half waiting for an answer as she walked into the kitchen with Joe in tow.

“Do you even know how to make tea? Aren’t you a coffee snob?” Joe watched as Y/N filled up a mug with water and put it in the microwave. Joe chortled, “Ben is going to be downright scandalized when he sees this.”

Y/N stopped short of pressing the button, “Sees what?”

“Making tea in the microwave? You should be put behind bars!” Joe said, his British accent on point, all thanks to John Deacon. He propped himself up on the kitchen counter after busying himself with a jumbo pack of animal crackers. “I love you for keeping these for me, by the way.”

Y/N made her way over to Joe, pulling out an elephant from the jar. “Tell me how to make tea, Joe!”

“Do you have a kettle?”

“No.”

“Well, then Ben is going to have to make do with coffee.”

“I have an electric kettle.”

“Nope. Nothing but coffee’s bitter kiss for Benneth today.”

Y/N groaned, unhappy with Joe’s response. Ben still had half an hour to show up, so she pushed herself up on the counter herself, reaching in for another animal cracker just to get swatted by Joe. “Hey, I pay for these.” She argued.

“You should have thought of that before, birdie,” Joe booped her on the nose, before following the sound of the doorbell.

Y/N hung back. It was probably just a package she was expecting. But when Joe hollered for her, she got off the counter rather unceremoniously, sliding on her socks to the door.

Joe turned around, wiggling his eyebrows at Y/N as he pointed to the person at the door. “Look who it is, Y/N!”

None other than the Jones’s Ben stood in front of her — well, technically behind Joe — waving shyly.

“Hi, Y/N,” Ben greeted, letting himself in.

Joe began talking as he shut the door behind him, walking into the living room with his two best friends. “Y’know, Ben? Y/N can’t make tea.” He raised one eyebrow as Y/N scowled at him, continuing, “She was going to make it in the microwave!”

Ben opened his mouth, his eyebrows shooting up towards his hairline, before he sighed, relaxing again. “No problem, Y/N. I’ll buy you a kettle and show you how to do it,” he smiled.

Y/N could feel a blush creep up her cheeks. She needed a moment to cool off before she could behave normally in front of this handsome man. She excused herself to the kitchen, pretending she had something to take care of.

The moment Y/N had escaped to the kitchen, Ben spun on his heel, looking at Joe alarmingly. Joe was looking at Ben with narrowed eyes in return. “What?” Ben asked.

“Remember your reaction when I had tried to make you tea in the microwave? I can’t believe this.” Joe said, only partly joking as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“Ugh, shut up.” Ben snapped, sitting down on the couch next to Joe. “Did I take it too far? Am I making it too obvious that I like like her?”

Joe couldn’t help but laugh. “Like like? I swear, you’re like fifth graders.” He shook his head.

“Graders? As in plural?”

“Yeah, you and Y/N,” Joe informed like it was the most obvious thing.

“Stop teasing me!” Ben hissed, “Just tell me if I’m making it too obvious.”

“If you ask me, you’re not making it obvious enough, Benno. Y/N can you get the animal crackers on the way out?” Joe called, taking a tone of extreme nonchalance with Ben’s concern.

Ben sighed, sinking into the couch. “I just don’t want to annoy her too much.”

Joe laughed at that. He genuinely thought what Ben had said was hilarious. “Trust me, that is the last thing that she’s going to think of you.”

Y/N walked out of the kitchen just then, flinging the jar of animal crackers in Joe’s direction, shooting him a thumbs up as he caught it perfectly. She smiled at Ben, who straightened himself up at her sight, turning around again and walking into the kitchen. She fanned herself as she got over her embarrassment before getting the three mugs of coffee in her hands, precariously balanced as she tried to carry them out.

In the living room, Ben had his hands buried in his hair, his eyes narrowed. “You’re taking it too far, Ben.” He scolded himself. As he saw Y/N walking out with three mugs in her hands, he rushed up at once to help her out. He could hear himself in his head to stop being such a fucking sweetheart to her lest she finds out, but he physically couldn’t stop himself. He took two mugs from his hands, passing one over to Joe.

Y/N sat down on the floor, resting her back on the wall opposite the couch.

She could only watch as Ben stood in the middle of the room awkwardly, looking between Joe and Y/N for a good half a minute, before he decided to settle down next to Y/N.

Joe couldn't find it all more amusing if he tried. It was especially amusing today because generally it never went farther from quick smiles and batting eyelashes. But today Ben was actually doing something, no matter how tiny. His shit-eating grin only got bigger as Ben justified his reason for sitting down next to Y/N.

“Just so we can see you better, Joey,” He explained, trying to be solemn.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s a must,” Joe responded, trying to bite down on his smile as he played along. “How will the world turn if you both don’t look at me?”

Y/N actually laughed at that, giggling while Ben looked at Joe jadedly. Ben turned to look at Y/N, smiling when he saw her giggling.

“It’s funny!” Y/N said.

“Yeah, it is,” Ben smiled, “It’s funny.” He was looking at Y/N endearingly.

This only peeved Joe even more. He was so stumped that neither of these idiots could see how much they liked each other. He found it extremely puzzling. That after two years of stupid pining — pining that was quite obvious, by the way — they still couldn’t figure it out. It was going to drive him to the nuthouse if he didn’t do anything about it soon.

He decided he would try to give it a shot today. “Y/N?” He set his coffee mug down on the floor near his feet before standing up. “Could I speak to you for a minute? In private?” Joe pulled Y/N into her bedroom, shutting the door behind them.

“Yeah?” Y/N asked. She looked worried, “Did I do something?”

“Oh my god,” Joe mumbled, rubbing his fingers at his temple. “A few things. One, I need you and Ben to stop thinking you’ve done something wrong all the time - or if you’ve taken it too far - or if you’re annoying each other - or if it’s too fucking obvious to each other.” Joe groaned, trying not to let his temper rise. He loved his best friends a lot. And he only wanted the best for them. But sometimes it got a little annoying to keep up with them all the time.

Y/N’s eyes widened, taking in all that Joe was saying.

“Two, I gotta go,” Joe said quietly. He didn’t want to leave — he’d just wanted a quiet evening with his best girl — but he was sure it would do some good to her and Ben.

“What? No, don’t go, Joe!” Y/N put her hands on Joe’s arms, a distressed look on her face. “I thought we were going to spend some time together.”

“We’ll spend some time together tomorrow.” Joe smiled, “It’s Sunday, isn’t it?”

“Well, what are you gonna do, then?”

“I’m gonna pay some bills. Gonna get some work done,” he pulled the door open, holding his arm out for Y/N to walk out first. As she did, he pulled her into a hug, pressing a kiss to her head.

“We were gonna watch The Emperor’s New Groove,” Y/N mumbled.

“You can still do that with Ben,” Joe said.

“I want you there.”

“Well, then watch something else. And make use of your alone time, please,” Joe winked, grinning wide, although he felt just a little sad on the inside. The Emperor would just have to wait until tomorrow.

“Benyamo, I am going.” Joe shot Ben a salute.

“Going where?” Ben asked, getting up and walking over to Joe and Y/N.

“Going home. Got some stuff to take care of. Nothing to worry about.” Joe assured. “How much longer are you in New York?”

“Another two weeks,” Ben mumbled.

“Well, then I shall see you soon, my friend,” Joe said with finality, pulling him into a side-hug before he left.

Y/N spun to find a red-faced Ben.

Ben chuckled lightly, running a hand through his hair. “It’s just you and me, now.”

“Yup,” Y/N said softly, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Wanna watch a movie?”

“Sounds good.”

As Y/N brought out a couple of blankets and some freshly popped popcorn, Ben selected a movie. The pair sunk into the leather of the couch as the beginning of Jurassic Park played. Joe never allowed Y/N to watch movies he’d been in whenever he was around, so she’d barely seen any. Sue her for having never watched Jurassic Park.

“Aw, look at tiny Joey!” She cooed, holding a hand to her chest. Ben crunched on some popcorn as he laughed along, albeit as if he was holding back.

“Y/N, can I ask you something?” He asked, his voice strained.

“Sure,” Y/N helped, turning her body only slightly in Ben’s direction.

“Are you… never mind.” Ben mumbled, shaking his head as Y/N tried to coax him into telling. “Fine. Are you and Joe… a thing? Are you guys a thing?”

Y/N laughed, “Am I dating Joe?” She asked, her ears warming up. Her heartbeat quickened a little at Ben’s question. “No! Gosh, no.”

“No?” Ben repeated softly.

“Nope,” Y/N smiled. “I’ve known Joe since we were in diapers. He’s like my brother. I don’t have any siblings of my own, so Joe acts like one.” She shrugged, reminiscing about first meeting Joe for a quiet moment.

As if having stolen her thoughts, Ben asked Y/N, “How did you meet?”

“We lived next door. Our mothers would arrange playdates for us.” Y/N smiled, turning her attention back to the movie. She needed to see Baby Mazzello in his full potential. It was a cold night, so she rubbed her hands together to generate some heat.

She had a feeling Ben had his eyes trained on her. She couldn’t shake the feeling, so she turned to look at him herself, chuckling, “It’s cold, isn’t it?”

Ben nodded, pursing his lips together. He opened his mouth, closing it before opening it again. He unfurled his arm, inviting Y/N to shift closer. “Would you mind?” He asked, biting down on his bottom lip.

Y/N felt the loud thudding of her heart. Despite herself, she shook her head, “Not at all.” She scooted closer, letting Ben’s arm wrap around her shoulders. He rubbed his hand up and down, looking down at Y/N with a smile, getting a smile in return.

Y/N decided to test the waters even further. She leaned into Ben’s arm, letting her body relax. “Tell me if it’s too much.”

“Never.” Ben said, turning his attention back to the movie.

Y/N was starting to get extremely comfortable, wrapped in a blanket and Ben’s warm embrace. She leaned her head on Ben’s shoulder, closing her eyes.

“You’re not going to watch?” Ben asked in a laugh.

“I’m getting sleepy.” She answered.

“Should I pause it then? So you can continue later?”

“You can watch it, if you’d like.” Y/N assured Ben. “Don’t stop on my account.”

“No,” Ben laughed, “I’ve seen it before. I don’t mind just sitting here. Unless you want me to leave.” He added the last sentence as an afterthought.

Y/N laughed. “Do you want to go back to your cold hotel bed, Ben?” She looked up at him through hooded eyes, the beat of her heart loud in her ears. She felt a warm coiling in her stomach. Her toes felt funny. A nice funny.

“You’re very close to my face,” Ben whispered, disregarding Y/N’s earlier question.

Y/N nodded, whispering back, “Yeah.” She licked her lips, “I like you, Ben.” She fluttered her eyelashes close.

Ben’s eyes went wide. “Really?”

Y/N nodded. “You don’t have to say anything.” Even through all the sleepiness, she hated this sudden surge of confidence her body had decided to send her. She still felt like getting up, locking herself in her room and screaming into her pillow till she couldn’t. But for some stupid reason, to her, it looked like her chances were not all that bad right now. So she stayed put.

“No,” Ben countered, bringing his hand to Y/N’s chin. “I like you too,” he whispered, closing his own eyes. He pressed a kiss to her nose; the gentlest of kisses. It was almost only a brush of his lips. He brought his lips on her then, simply pecking once again.

Y/N didn’t take it any further either. She simply lost herself in the feeling of Ben’s warmth, his lips, his touch. She felt her crush reciprocated, and it felt fucking amazing.

She settled back down, pressing play on the movie, leaning her body on Ben’s. She could feel Ben’s body shake — one quick look told her it was from happiness. Ben pressed one final kiss to the top of her head, mumbling, “Today’s a good day.”

And Y/N agreed. A good day was what it was.

forever tags: @lv7867 @multifangirl17 i’m also tagging @supersonicfreddie once again for good measure lol

my tag lists are open and so are my requests! feel free to shoot me a message, i’d love to make friends! :)

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nomadmilk · 5 years

Text

Why the God Isn’t Bored on Midgard - Loki x F!Reader Drabble – 2

Summary: With Ragnarok decimating Asgard, Thor and Loki and their people return to Earth searching for refuge. Everyone else has seemed to settle, except for Loki - the God of Mischief and Chaos - who isn’t willing to live the domesticated Midgard life, and getting utterly bored out of his mind... Until he discovered you.

Word Count: 1.6K (Is this a drabble anymore?)

Warnings: Rated M/18+ Almost nudity, and sexually suggestive themes. uh... Uh... Swearing.

Author’s Note: I have been racking on a next chapter for this as the response to the first piece was better than I expected [And I am super grateful for all the love it got ^o^ <3]. But I ended up writing things that felt too rushed, and/or something I wasn’t happy with, and got caught in some ruts. So, I LITERALLY started and finished this in a day, and now I’m uploading it after AGES of deliberating about it. I honestly want this series to be something I can have fun with, so I’m really sorry if uploading parts take a long time. Hope you enjoy!! ^-^

Links to other parts of the series: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 (First Half) Part 8.5 (Second Half) Part 9

Since Loki’s move in, he hardly saw you in the apartment.

Whilst you had agreed to cohabitate with him, you weren’t exactly too happy with it; when he had his breakfast, you barely had anything but a hot drink before leaving. When it came to night time, Loki would find himself waking up to the sound of the door opening and you returning from an entire day of not being around.

When he realized this was a regular occurring pattern, Loki was curious as to what you got up to. However, when he recognized that he was feeling this way towards you, he ceased it; what ever you did was your business, and if living with you was like this, he was going to just let you be. It wasn’t like he wanted your company, anyway.

But he was definitely bored.

His days had been limited to libraries and coffee, but the God of Mischief can only do so much with books and hot beverages. As he finished and picked up new books, he was starting to get almost despondent towards Midgardian Literature, and even got Thor to see if S.H.E.I.L.D hid any Asgardian novels in their vaults.

Loki was tempted to break in himself but thought it wise to not tamper with his ‘bad-guy-turned-good’ image. But it nevertheless sparked his need for trouble; he almost got an inkling of that over a latte that had a love heart drawn on top of it. All it took was a gesture of his fingers to turn that heart into something else, and maybe that would sate him a little. Or maybe he should cast an illusion that something was inside, and Loki could sit and watch this person unfold into this crazy person paranoid that Fenrir was inside his coffee cup…

It seemed like Fury could sense his mind of chaos from where he stood and, with you out of the apartment again, visited Loki as soon as possible.“How about getting a job?”

Loki sat on the opposite side of the table, eyeing the agent. “A job?”

“You wanna’ stay on Earth, you gotta’ earn your keep.”

The chaotic god smirked. “I don’t work.”

“We can find something that could utilize your talents.”

“If that were the case, I would be at the Avengers headquarters on my first mission already.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Then you’d know I’d be an excellent spy working for S.H.E.I.L.D.”

“Something tells me you don’t take orders well.”

The Prince smirk grew wider; he would surely be a valuable asset regardless.

Fury sifted through his jacket pockets to slide him a business card. “You have an interview tomorrow at 12 at this place.”

Loki scoffed, not touching the card and barely glancing at what it was. “And if I refuse?”

“I hear Brunnhilde needs a cleaner.”

With that, and knowing Brunnhilde’s habits, Loki took the card.

Meanwhile with you, the past few months has been shaping up to becoming the start of the worst year of your life. You had moved away from your hometown to be with your long-term boyfriend, only to be dumped a couple of weeks or so in cohabiting. You luckily had the apartment, and your ex had moved out after finding a new home.

However, things didn’t fare any better.

You had been bouncing from job to job until you finally found one you were able to cope in. Your colleagues were jerks, and the pay was abysmal, but you managed to do the desk work, and it gave you enough money to get by. Then you had to be let go because of company budget cuts.

And then now you had to deal with your new living situation. You avoided him as much as possible; never making eye contact, no small talk, and you usually left the premise before he took a step out of his bedroom. You admit it was a bit of a hassle, but you weren’t just going to make friends with someone that just wanted to push themselves into your life. So, you kept yourself occupied with job interviews, drinks with friends, and, eventually, dating.

It’s been a while since you’ve met new people, but it wasn’t too difficult to get into the groove of socializing and seeing new faces. The dates have been over lunch, or dinner, or coffee. Sometimes dates weren’t over a table but to a movie, bowling, and one time you were taken to a racing track. All of the people you met were luckily super fun and sweet.

You had a good time, but there was no spark. You didn’t even know if you were looking for anyone right now; you were just happy having fun little dates here and there.

On one date, it had ended short; the guy had an emergency, and you weren’t too bothered whether the situation was genuine, or if it was a scapegoat cause the date was going stale for him. So, you headed home; you had another lined up for the evening over dinner with a hot doctor.

You arrive at the apartment, unlock the door and push it open.

“Oh. My. God.”

Your brown sofa was replaced with one of those angular, L-shaped couches. The photos of you, and your family were taken down. Your book shelf was replaced with a new glass shelving with books of a language you couldn’t even understand. He took out your T.V, and your kitchen, with all of its doilies and its gas stove and the patterned kitchen towel matching your oven mitts, was replaced with white and black marble counters and an electric oven.

Stunned in silence, you hear a faint sound of water running in the direction of the bathroom. He must have renovated that too… When did he have time to do all of this? Did that ass of a landlord approve all of this? If he didn’t, and the case was that your roommate went ahead with it anyway, you would have to commend him for standing his ground.

You walk over to the kitchen; the monochrome tone continuing to confuse and awe you at the same time. You weren’t sure whether you were mad or in fascination of everything. You turn around, noticing the sound of the shower coming from one door where a slight steam was emitting from the gaps. You approached the other door beside it, turning the knob to reveal a hallway with two more doors and, what looked like, a small library at the end of the hall.

There was no way he could have done any of this all in one day. And you weren’t even out that long.

The bathroom door swings open, scaring you a little towards the sight of Loki.“H-“

Your jaw drops and shuts.

Loki was naked, and the only thing keeping him decent was towel wrapped around his waist.

Your face reddens, and your eyes hastily evade eye contact from him. “A-are you done?”

His furrowed eyes bore into your skin. “Good afternoon.”

You tut, finally having the courage to look at him. Focusing on his eyes was proving to be challenging. “Are you done? With-“ – you were trying to find the words. – “With the shower?”

He was obviously done, but he hadn’t dried himself properly; he stands there, black hair straggled in water and in need of a brush. His forearms seemed firm and toned, his abdomen muscled and sculpt. His shoulders were broad and, although he did look lithe and lean when you last saw him, evidence proved otherwise.

You didn’t dare to look any further down his stature.

“Yes, I’m all finished.” He coughed, sauntering slowly towards you.

“Ah!” You jolt a step backwards and wave a cautionary hand at him. You feel your face redden some more. “Uh, great. I’m gonna’- uh – where’s my room?”

“Down the hallway.” He replies, squinting at your hand in front of him. “The door on the right.”

Mumbling a word of gratitude, you follow his directions, missing the handle of the door before quickly grasping it again and pushing yourself into the room. You slam the door behind you, and your back immediately hits its cool surface. You slide down, your knees huddle to your chest in humiliation and slight panic.

What the hell happened? It wasn’t like you hadn’t seen naked men before; you’ve had your fair share of athletic bods, slim bods, dad bods… But nothing ever made you speechless. Maybe you weren’t expecting his body to be that attractive…

You close your eyes, and see his face, then his body, then his gorgeous blue-green eyes…

“Fuck.” Your face buries into your palms as you noticed these, almost juvenile, emotions. Your heart could not stop beating so loudly, and a knot was forming from a place that ached to be touched. You desist the feeling by squeezing your thighs close together.

You rub your face, pretending your hands were wiping the embarrassment off your visage, and glance around your room. With all the changes he had done to the apartment, your room remained unchanged, completely untouched except for the positioning of the room in the apartment.

For some reason, your undisturbed room gives you a sense of ease, and you steady yourself up to your feet to grab a towel. You needed to get ready for your evening dinner and, if you were going to some urges, you were hoping that your date was going to allow you to act upon it.

Loki was left in the hallway, smiling to himself. It’s been a while since he’s seen someone feel so uneasy with his presence. It felt strangely familiar, but exciting that he couldn’t help but glance towards the direction you disappeared, hoping to see your flustered face all over again.

If he knew it was this easy to mess with you, he wouldn’t have taken Nick Fury’s job offer. And, since the interviewers hired him on the spot, all his spare time was going to have to be dedicated towards it.

But he wasn’t too worried; he was sure he could find the time for you.

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nigelgodrichproducer · 4 years

Text

Nigel Interview w/ The Grammys

SOURCE: https://www.grammy.com/grammys/news/producer-nigel-godrich-quite-absurd-six-year-road-ultra%C3%ADstas-new-lp-sister

Nigel Godrich likes to make music that sounds like you can see it. “Everything is very visual to me," he says in a recent interview with the Recording Academy.

..."I don't set out to [leave a fingerprint], but I also have my own agenda on what I want from something," he says. "I regard all projects as collaborations really. I'm not trying to get what somebody else wants at all."

As Godrich notes, with both fascination and mild shame, the record took over six years to gestate—nearly the equivalent of the Beatles' entire studio career. And that's partly due to the project's piecemeal construction. After touring behind their self-titled 2012 debut, the producer regrouped with singer Laura Bettinson and drummer Joey Waronker for sporadic jam sessions he patiently whittled down into finished tunes. Each musician was busy in their respective careers: Bettinson as a solo artist, Waronker as a session player, Godrich's stage and studio work with Radiohead's Thom Yorke. But every so often, the producer would dig into the recordings and sculpt them like Play-Doh—building tracks from surgically extracted drum beats or looped basslines.

Bettinson and Waronker carried on with their lives with no expectation of when an album might emerge. But Godrich’s jigsaw slowly fell into place around 2018. "All the things that have happened in the process of making this record," he says, "it's quite absurd really."

The producer spoke with the Recording Academy about more on the six-year journey to Sister, the exhilaration of transforming jams into actual songs, his evolution as an instrumentalist and Radiohead's upcoming 20th-anniversary package of Kid A.

You sculpted much of this material through improvisations, a technique you've used in the past, like with Atoms For Peace's 2013 LP. Can you walk me through that process? Did everyone bring in grooves that you jammed on, or did you walk into the room with a completely blank canvas?

You're right in that it's a technique that's quite recurring in a lot of stuff I've done, with Thom [Yorke] too and even Radiohead or whatever. That was the foundation of The King Of Limbs, all that kinda weird [stuff]. It's like a home studio mentality, where you create loads of stuff, go back to it later and find a piece that works. It's something I'm used to doing and it's the easiest way of making tracks, really, because you can create a lot of stuff and you don't have to think too hard in order to make a big noise.

Ultraista only toured once, around 2012. Did some of the ideas originate around then?

We found, doing more and more shows, there were little gaps between songs and extended bits of songs that we kept playing. The way we had our equipment set up, we could just make music in the air. We just went into my little basement studio in L.A. and just played for nothing, with no ideas. No sort of basis for anything. It's easy for me to build a loop and a keyboard sound and Laura to build a vocal loop and Joey to play along—to create these little soundscape things that are used as building blocks. But they did sort of sit around for quite a while.

They also didn't function exactly how they were designed. There are a few things like that. I might hear one element and think it's good, but it didn't work that way, so [we'd] replay it or create it in a sequence and start again. But as a kind of seeding workshop, it's a great way of working. It's sort of leisurely, the way we've made this record. We had the luxury of taking some distance and looking at some things we made and going away and writing lyrics over things. It happened a lot of different ways, but the core of the intention was to do exactly what you said.

The challenge, though, is to take those little sequences and turn them into songs.

It's very easy to make cyclical things, but then you have to somehow hang music on them, which means going away and thinking about changes and chords. That exercise is done in a different kind of setting, and that's the bit that takes ages: forming them into coherent songs that are gonna hold your attention—which we never tried to do before. That was the big difference between the two records. The first one was supposed to be cyclical; It was intentionally dumbed-down in that way. Just to do something else, we thought it would be nice to make more conventional song structures.

Unlike most of the projects you've worked on, you weren't working with a deadline or any real sense of expectation. At what point do you put that internal deadline on yourself? Did you at some point say, "OK, we have 75 percent of an album at this point, so let's finish off this thing"?

It's a very, very good question. You're hitting on a very good point, which is that you can only sit around in the bath, picking out the fluff from your navel, for so long. And then you're like, "Uh, if we're gonna do this, I guess we've gotta get on and do it." That moment was relatively recent, probably a year and a half ago. It's like, "OK, let's finish this. It's really unfair for everybody to keep saying, 'Oh yeah, this track we did is really good. Let's nail it down and get it all done. Let's get this music out.'" We're very lucky to be able to sit around not finishing things. That's a privilege to sit around on music that's not finished. That did happen. It was like, "OK, if I've this time. I'm going to focus on all these strings and little bits and bobs I've got. I'm in the same country as Laura." We got the songs down, and then we got Joey back and did some more work with him. That's it. That's how we did it. It was a lot of navel-staring for like six years. [Laughs.] Not due to a lack of activity. Jesus Christ, it was such a busy time for all of us and we were doing lots of other things. It was a pleasure to go back and finish this stuff. And now that we've got it, it's really fun to talk to you about it and go promote it and play some songs and play some shows. It's a happy place.

You were in a unique position as a producer. You're the gatekeeper to this music in a way. How did the other two handle that? Were they checking in every so often, like, "Hey Nigel, what's the status of these songs? Any progress?"

No, not at all. We'd see each other socially anyway, so we're all in each other's lives. In all honesty, it was more like me trying to sell a second-hand car: "Guys, you know what, this song is actually good. I swear!" It's that up until a point, and then it's like, "Let's do this." We're quite content people. [Some artists are] signed to a major label where you have high-powered people pushing you to finish your album to a deadline, but nowadays there are musicians who can make music at home or in their own studios and make a living if they can manage that. There is no imperative; it's your own pace. It's a strange phenomenon that's not really existed before. In the '60s, people didn't sit around with songs they've written for five years, did they? They had entire careers. In fact, the Beatles had their entire career in the space it's taken us to produce another record. That's not a very good commendation, is it?

It's easy to forget how much artistic ground the Beatles covered in such a short span.

That's a marker I use: I measure things against the Beatles' entire career. It's only six or seven years, really, of the recordings.

Since the last album, you've performed live with Atoms For Peace and alongside Thom Yorke in Tomorrow's Modern Boxes. I assume that's changed you as a musician—you have to be a bit more practiced up on your instruments and that could also give you a different view of yourself as a musician.

I was a player when I was a teenager and then I didn't really pick up a guitar for a long time. But I remember thinking and feeling, after all that time in the studio working with other musicians, that I was a better musician when I picked up the guitar again. I was a better player. It was quite odd. I don't know why. I'd just watched and been around so many great people, great players. On the first Ultraista tour, it was a new thing to be on stage and play this stuff. Since then, you're right, playing with Atoms and even stuff with Thom now—I'm a different person than I was 10 years ago, but I'm more certainly more confident as a performer in front of people. I think I probably was a better player when I was 17, to be honest because I was playing all the time. But mentally, I'm certainly more confident now. We change over time. I think we're able to learn skills later in life too—I think I can do things I couldn't do 10 years ago. You think about things differently. So much about performance is about feeling and feel. I don't know—I feel like I focus on that more now.

I'd like to dig into the creative process behind Sister. "Tin King" is built around a hypnotic bass that runs through most of it. Did you just pluck out that riff from your pile of jams and start building from there?

The very basics of that were from the original jam for the first album but very, very skeletal. The only thing that actually survived is the bassline. And the idea was to write a song that's one-note. It's an exercise, a word game; three people contributing different lyrics and then choosing the note and taking it from there. I picked it up and said, "OK, something has to happen. There has to be a B section." So you write a refrain and it somehow solidifies some meaning in what's going on. The abstract imagery—it's all just words. It's something about an internal dialogue: "Am I in the right hands? Am I in the right hands?" It's funny how one injects one's own premise into a pile of things and it sorts them all into rows. The other thing was to make some sort of arrangement so the second half of the song could just blossom. So, I wrote the chords and extrapolated them from the middle onwards and then it reaches a sort of climax through Laura's performance at the end. Suddenly you have this arc and it makes sense. It's a track.

I love that concept of building a vocal around one note. Laura's performance, like the bass, has a kind of trance-like effect.

It's actually a really, really well-used and overused technique in songwriting. It's better to change the chords than the melody sometimes. It's funny how that works and it's funny how compelling it is. You wouldn't think that one note would hold your focus, but it depends on what's going on around it.

There are some lovely strings at different points in the album and the most definitive example is the surging, repetitive part on "Anybody."

That is from one of the jams in my basement. Joey and Laura making the vocal loop "I could be your anybody; I could be your nobody," that's the jam that went with the drums. The bassline is part of that jam too. That thing kind of existed and was arranged and knocked around and it had this amazing instrumental section from the middle part where it goes off into a sort of dreamscape. That's essentially the shape of the jam. When you do something and you're like, "Something really cool happened there," you fight to preserve the moment by building the song around it. Then Laura came up with the lyrics and the strings were the very last thing to go on because it felt very skeletal.

How did you end up recording those?

Actually, it's a good story: My friend Xavier Veilhan, a French artist who was representing France in the Venice Biennale, built an installation that was a recording studio. And I helped by basically giving him all the equipment. I sort of set up my studio as part of his exhibit. So there was this studio in Venice for like six months and they had artists coming through like every few days—from very esoteric electronic people to more well-known people. As a part of the deal, I had a few days to record some things. We decided to record our strings at the Venice Biennale in front of people walking in and out.

People would come in halfway through, watch, look confused and walk out. We somehow managed to do it without interfering with the recordings. [Laughs.] It's an overlooked story. It's pretty cool. It was just an opportunity to record the strings on our own. With the string line on [“Anybody"], I wanted something driving to push it along, some kind of Steve Reich-ian, Phillip Glass-type repetition. It's played. It sounds impossible to play, but it's played. It's just mathematical. But it's not a synthetic thing. It's ten people playing that part.

Yeah, it sounds like it could be a looped sample or something because it's so precise.

It's a weird story. It just goes to show—you reminded me, like, "Oh yeah, another thing: We recorded that at the Venice Biennale."

Blurring the line between organic and synthetic is a signature of your work. One of my favorite moments on the album is Joey's drum part on "Bumblebees," where the groove sort of flips over on itself. It's disorienting but also super funky.

The reason [for that] is because he's actually playing to something else. The track is constructed around him and, basically, it's backwards. Sometimes it's a really good place to start—move the downbeat of the drums by a beat or a 16th early. What happens is that, rhythmically, things shake up and interesting things happen. You're quite right—it is backwards. But it's supposed to unseat you. There's nothing more boring than something very straight rhythmically. It's supposed to keep your brain moving and it sort of does. He plays beautifully and that's what's really lovely. In that instance, he might be reacting to something else going on that you can't hear. It's a good trick really.

That makes a lot of sense, actually.

It'll ruin it for you now! You've gotta forget I've told you. [Laughs.] [With Waronker], it's raw material to work with. One is spoiled really. That's one of those instances where it's like, "Move this here, move that there." Musically the basis of ["Anybody"] was from a jam, but it was lifted out.

This is a big time for the Radiohead family: Thom Yorke released his third solo album last year; you have the Ultraista album coming out, and guitarist Ed O'Brien is releasing his first LP really soon. Radiohead fans have been waiting a long time for this Ed album—he's such a sonic innovator, but when you're in a band with a writer as strong as Thom, there isn't really a window for your writing. Have you encouraged him much over the years or had many conversations with him about his songs?

Yeah, for sure. He'd done demos and we'd listen to them and talked about them and stuff. You're absolutely right: It's quite an intense, crowded field with Radiohead, with so many heavyweight things going on. You have to understand that these people have been together since they were in school. Everybody needs to flex their muscles and have an outlet and that's part of your self-definition. I think he's followed it, which is great. Good for everyone. He [has a tour scheduled], which is great for him to stand up and be a frontman. I think he's really looking forward to doing that.

Thom Yorke has talked a lot about prepping a 20th-anniversary package of Radiohead's Kid A, and the guys have been digging through the archives for that project. Have you been involved at this point?

I can't speak for them, but we're all sort of working on possibilities. There's all this archive stuff and the Public Library just opened and that's a big platform for all those kind of things. Beyond that, there's always plans afoot, but I'm afraid that'll be all I can say about it really.

Let's end on a random note. You have a cameo as a Stormtrooper in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. How did that opportunity arise?

I know [director J.J. Abrams] through a very good friend of mine, Edgar Wright. I've spent a lot of time with J.J. and he's a music fan and also a very kind, generous person who allowed me to live out a childhood dream.

#nigel godrich #ultraista

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riseandshinelittleblossom · 5 years

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Go Mets!

A/N: This is my submission for the wonderful @mf-despair-queen‘s 2019 Dylan O’Brien Baseball Week. This is my first ever Dylan fic, as well as my first ever reader insert (ish) fic, so keep that in mind hahahaha I hope you enjoy it!

Also! DISCLAIMER: I write this purely for fun, I don’t get paid or anything like that, I’m just borrowing our favorite Mets fan for a bit of good natured fun...

Warnings: light swearing, because it wouldnt be a riseandshinelittleblossom fic without it. :D

Shout out to my wonderful friend @ao719 for indulging me and pre-reading this for me..girl your rock!

Tags: @leelee10898 @fullbeaumonty @kennaxval @superapplepie @mrs-mitch-rapp93 @stiles-o-dylan24 @ownworldresident @mrscutiefandobhaz

Dylan held out his arm, staggering backwards a bit as he caught the baseball in his well-worn mitt.

“Hey, nice one Maggie!” He chuckled.

The six year old across the yard beamed at him and he couldn't help but feel his heart melt seeing her snaggletooth grin.

He was so proud of how much she had progressed since he first started bringing her out back to play catch two years ago.

His friends had all warned him to steer clear of getting into a relationship with you because dating a single mother also meant “you have to play Dad,” but that had never worried him in the least. Maggie was a good kid, really smart, and she shared Dylan's passion for baseball and the Mets. These days he couldn't imagine a better way to spend his time off between filming than to be in the backyard helping her practice for her little league games.

She flipped her long, chocolate- colored plait over her shoulder and resumed her batting stance.

“Okay, Dyl. Let's have another one. And don't go easy on me this time.” She sassed.

“Go easy on you? I would never..” he feigned innocence, grasping the ball firmly and grinding into the mitt a few times.

Maggie rolled her eyes, the bat falling to her side.

“I'm serious, O'Brien. You think the girls on the Grizzlies are gonna go easy on me this weekend? Not a chance! They're out for blood after we wiped the floor with them last season.”

“Out for blood, huh? Okay, well pick up the bat and I promise I won't hold back then, Princess.”

She resumed her stance and Dylan shook his head.

“Here,” he began crossing the yard in a few strides to stand behind her. He widened her grip on the bat and helped her crouch a bit lower. “Gotta widen that stance, baby girl. Otherwise the first speed ball's gonna knock you right off of home plate.”

He returned to the makeshift pitcher's mound that he and Maggie had made with a pile of her kinetic sand. It was a project that you had been none too happy about.

He stomped his feet a few times before releasing a steady pitch.

With a loud crack, the young girl sent the ball sailing away from her. Dylan hit a backwards run in an attempt to catch it, but it soared over the fence anyway.

You watched from the open kitchen window as your boyfriend raced across the yard and hefted the small girl onto his shoulder.

“And the Mag-ster rounds first! She's off to second! Oh my God, she's flying past third! Aaaand she makes it all the way home!” He shouted as he ran a circle in the yard and Maggie cheered, her small fists pumping into the air as Dylan mimicked the sound of a crowd roaring. He placed the child on the ground and you couldn't help but chuckle.

You and Dylan had been going steady for two years now, but it always made you smile to watch him with Maggie. He was the best daddy to her that he never had to be and it made you love him even more.

You thought back to the day that he first entered you and Maggie's lives as you finished washing up the mountain of dishes in the sink.

***********”**

You adjusted the settings outside of the batting booth before crouching in front of your preschooler.

“You sure you want to do the batting cages? We could go for another round of skee ball instead.” You suggested as the little girl before you adjusted her baseball helmet and shook her head. The child-sized aluminum bat in her hand still looked humongous and you bit your lip, wondering why you'd agreed to let her go in there and let a machine lob baseballs at her.

“I wanna baseball! I'm tired of just tee ball! It's time to break into the big girl game, because one day I'm gonna play for the New York Mets.” She told you matter-of-factly as she stepped into the cage.

You blamed the babysitter. She was a sweet woman that kept Maggie for next to nothing and she had two boys of her own that were only a little older for your daughter to play with.

The sitter's oldest son, Jacob, was nine and he played little league, which meant he and his brother often tried to get Maggie to play catch with them outside. Jacob was Maggie's hero and a die-hard New York Mets fan. All the time she spent with Jacob had ignited a fire within your near five year old. It had started with endless tee ball games in the local junior league and now...batting cages at the family fun arena.

You wrung your hands nervously as the first pitch shot out. You'd set the machine on the lowest setting but it still felt like the ball was the Roadrunner, jetting away from Wile E. Coyote as it hurdled towards your small child. Certainly anyone watching must have thought you were insane to let her in there.

Maggie held her own, swinging confidently even though the ball barely glanced the end of her bat. The metallic ting caused her to giggle wildly.

“I hit it!” She shouted.

“Hey, good job!” a male voice came from behind.

You whipped your head to see a tall slender man wearing khaki pants and, coincidentally, a Mets jersey. Your eyes scanned over him, your bottom lip tucking itself involuntarily between your teeth.

He twisted his baseball cap, leaving the bill sticking out behind him and tucked his folded sunglasses into his shirt. He gave you a polite smile and nod, the fluorescent lights overhead catching his honey colored eyes just enough to make them sparkle.

Your heart all but stopped as you smiled back and quickly averted your gaze, embarrassed that he'd no doubt noticed you checking him out.

“Thank you. She lives for this stuff.” You said shyly.

TING

“I hit it again!” Maggie squealed in delight, turning to face you. “Who's he?”

She scrunched her face up as she stepped out of the cage.

“Oh I was just waiting my turn is all. I'm going to use the cage when you're finished. Nice form in there,though. If you'd like, maybe I could give you some pointers.” The man said.

“You would?!” She squawked.

You were taken aback by the way he peered directly into Maggie's eyes when he talked to her. Not many people were so attentive when they spoke, especially to children. It made your knees feel weak as he trained his eyes on you in the same fashion.

“I'm Dylan.” He offered, extending a hand.

************

Your attention was pulled back to the present as you heard Maggie's sassy, near whiny voice through the window.

“I am NOT a baby anymore, Dylan. I'm getting bigger everyday, you know.” She scoffed.

He nodded. “Unfortunately.”

You stepped onto your tiptoes to get a better view of the two loves of your life, straining to hear their conversation. They were seated on the patio now, Dylan helping Maggie oil her own glove as well as his own.

“Mommy says that if I want to keep playing I have to take good care of my equipment. She said only responsible players get into the big leagues, so I have been trying to oil my mitt like you showed me, but sometimes it's hard.” The girl huffed as her mentor lifted his large hands-the ones that plagued your every day dream- and placed them over hers, patiently guiding her movements.

“You want to make sure you get into every groove, Princess. Every crevice. See? You've got it. I'm so glad to hear you've been listening to Mom while I've out of town, though.”

You let out a sigh, a warm feeling spreading from your chest throughout your body, a small chuckle escaping you. How did you ever get lucky enough to find him?

“Dylan, can I ask you a question?” Maggie piped up.

“Anything, squirt. What's on your mind?”

“Why were you and Mommy yelling at each other last night?”

Dylan's eyes went wide as he turned his gaze to his own mitt.

“Wha..wuddaya mean? We weren't-”

“Come on, O'Brien. I'm not deaf. You were saying, ‘Oh, Y/N,’ and Mommy kept screaming 'Dylan, oh my God’. Were you guys fighting?”

You tried to stifle a laugh, your hand flying over you lips as you remembered the absolutely mind blowing events from the night before. The ones your daughter had apparently overheard. You could barely see your boyfriend's cheeks turning bright red right about now and you would have paid good damned money to get a view of that up close.

“Uh, no. We weren't...we weren't fighting, Princess.” Dylan tried to be vague and he cleared his throat. You knew he was silently hoping that his answer had been enough to end the conversation, but you also knew Maggie better than that.

“Oh. Well then what were you doing?”

Dylan turned to wipe off his hands, holding the towel out for Maggie to do the same.

“We were...we were talking in our sleep.”

“I heard banging, Dyl.”

The dark haired man gulped audibly, one hand rubbing over the days old stubble of his chin.

“Uh...that? Oh we were… okay listen. You know I love your Mommy, right Princess?”

Maggie nodded, “Yep! And she loves you.”

“That's right. So we love each other. Sometimes, uh...when a boy loves a girl...ya know...they...dance...together?”

You cackled softly listening to Dylan not even buying his own bullshit.

“Oh. But I can dance without banging, see?”

Maggie hopped from her seat and swept into a graceful ballerina twirl, her hands above her head.

“Well that's because you're a beautiful baseball-playing ballerina, and as such you're very graceful. Mommy and I...well, we're sort of clumsy.”

The child laughed. “So you mean you guys fall down a lot?”

“Exactly.”

“So that's why you were yelling right? You just kept knocking each other down?” the six year old cocked a skeptical eyebrow and Dylan nodded.

“You're gonna have to do better than that, Dyllie. I'm not buying it.”

Your boyfriend let out an exasperated sigh. “Okay how's this? We were dancing together because we love each other and we're clumsy so we kept falling down, but then he had...um bruises..?” He stopped short, clearly at a loss.

“The truth, please. I was born at night but not last night, ya know?” Maggie sassed with an eye roll.

“Okay the truth is... The truth is that I love your Mom and she loves me and sometimes when you love someone so much you just...you want to show them. There are things that you will learn about when you're older that help grown ups show each other how much they love their boyfriend or their girlfriend. And so..that's what we were doing. But those things are for grown ups only. I mean...grown ups that love each other and want to get married someday...not just any old boyfriend and girlfriend…”

Your heart stopped at the thought. You and Dylan had been together for a long time, but somehow you'd never talked about marriage before.

Maggie stared at him, one eyebrow cocked, her face scrunched in thought.

“Do you..? You understand anything I just said?” He asked nervously.

“Uuuuhhhh…..go Mets?” Maggie replied still obviously confused.

Dylan laughed loudly as he ruffled her hair. “That's my girl!”

“I don't even wanna know anymore,” she shook her head. “As long as you promise you and Mommy aren't breaking up.”

Dylan wrapped his arms around her shoulders pulling her into a tight hug.

“No way, Princess. You two aren't going to get rid of me that easily.”

“Hey, Mommy!” Maggie beamed as you appeared in the sliding glass doorway.

“Hey, kiddo. Why don't you take your gear upstairs for me? Dylan and I need to talk.”

She complied with your request, gathering her belongings and tossing them into her athletic bag before hefting it inside.

You grinned widely at Dylan as your daughter disappeared up the stairs. He exhaled audibly, silently mouthing “thank you,” as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck.

He ambled across the patio, wrapping his long arms around your waist, pulling you impossibly close.

“I know you were listening, you evil woman. Way to leave me hanging.” Dylan muttered, his lips brushing yours as he spoke. His whiskey eyes were locked on yours, making your knees suddenly feel weak.

“I dunno, you seemed to be handling things pretty well on your own.” You smugly replied.

“Yeah? You think so? I'd love to show you a few other things I can handle pretty well.” he pressed his lips to yours and you giggled into the caress.

“You mean like...Go Mets?”

He scoffed, giving you his near award-winning, lopsided smile.

“You're damn right, go Mets.”

#dylan o'brien #dylan obrien fan fic #dylan obrien one shot #go mets #dylan baseball week #baseball week 2019 #yeet

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radramblog · 5 years

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Hard-Fi - Stars of CCTV (2005)

Here’s a solid one to start on: not well-known enough to be beloved (at which point I’d be worried about stepping on toes), nor so obscure that no-one knows who the heck I’m talking about.

For those not in the know, Hard-Fi are an English rock band formed in the early 00s, that have unfortunately been on hiatus since 2014. Unfortunately, I was a bit too young for the noughties rock revival (I would have been 6 when this album dropped) so I can’t really comment on how popular or well-received the band was compared to similar, more long-lasting acts such as Franz Ferdinand or the Arctic Monkeys. Around when I first heard this album was when I was going through a bit of a phase with those two bands (and I still love them both, and have their full discographies), and I sort of got this idea in my head of their three debut albums forming this sort of trifecta. You’ve got Franz Ferdinand’s self-titled as this posh, high-class, swaggering album, Stars of CCTV as the working class counterpart, downtrodden and desperate but more worldly and mature, and Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I Am Not between the two with all this youthful energy, as well as pretty handily representing the middle class in this little structure. Worth noting it’s been a while since I’ve listened to that one, so I’m likely to be completely wrong about it.

Regardless, desperate is where we start with Stars of CCTV and it’s opening track, Cash Machine. The very first seconds of the track do an excellent job of introducing the mood of the song, and album as a whole, with this incredibly lonely harmonica bit, the introduction of this smooth little bassline, and a sudden shift into the first verse with it’s hard-hitting drumbeats and sparse, scratchy guitar. The lyrics kick in, as we begin this story of living paycheck to paycheck and not having enough money to get home after a night out. Between that and some of the soaring strings in the back of the chorus the song sounds just like a tragedy in motion. This continues into the second verse, with the singer’s desperate attempts to find a way home, and lamenting the world and situation he’s in, finally cultivating in the final verse- his girlfriend makes a positive pregnancy test, and he can’t afford the baby, so he has to skip out on her. There’s this real sense of loss in the song, with this character who’s sure he’s done nothing particularly wrong in life but is suffering regardless- he’s tormented by his poverty, made manifest in the form of this ATM. Cash Machine is probably my second favourite track on this album, if I’m honest- despite being well-off enough that I will probably never have to relate to it (privilege checked, nice) it’s still incredibly cohesive and just…sad. Hopeless even.

The album fortunately doesn’t stay this low forever, as we follow up with…Middle Eastern Holiday? Aw shit. The song opens and sticks with this faster, more light-hearted drum line (featuring a small amount of cowbell), and it’s not exactly a positive song but it’s certainly no Cash Machine. It’s talking about a heavy topic, but almost with a mocking tone, condemning the idea of late teenagers signing up for the military without thinking it through. It’s a much more traditional song, and thereby much more forgettable, but still a very solid indie rock track.

We then get into Tied Up Too Tight, and I honestly couldn’t tell you what this one is about. Definitely a lot less dark/political than the last few. The build-up to the first chorus gets longer every time I hear the song, I swear to god. I almost feel like this build-up is kind of too long for the payoff it gets. I was a lot higher on the song when I first heard it, but I just kind of get weary of it the more I do. The verses are pretty repetitive, with this 11 or so second loop of instrumental over and over with the lyrics being the only real change until the prechorus, which takes a full minute to kick in. And it’s not like that loop isn’t interesting, there’s actually a lot going on in it, but it just starts to grind on me. And as I said, the chorus doesn’t pay the build off enough to be satisfying, nor does it deliberately fall so flat as to undercut it and release the tension that way. (a tactic which pays off in songs such as Radiohead’s Weird Fishes)

Gotta Reason is the first track on this album I almost completely forgot about if I’m honest. You mean there’s another track on here before Hard to Beat? Damnit. I don’t have any super strong opinions about it, but between it and Hard to Beat we’re firmly entering the “fun” part of this album. I also completely forgot about the fake out ending, which seems completely pointless if you ask me.

Oh hell yeah, Hard to Beat. Hard to Beat was the first Hard-Fi song I heard, thanks to Spotify recommendations, and the only one I’ve heard in public. It’s cleanly their biggest song, and for good reason, because this song is a fucking jam. Lyrically, it’s nothing special, being a fairly straightforward club love song, but it’s just got this really solid vocal performance, especially with the phenomenal prechorus and chorus, as well as this really fun, if basic, guitar line that’s all brought together by this fuzzy bass that I honestly adore. It’s all just great to sing and groove along to, and I can’t even write all of this without being completely lost in it. Seriously, go listen to this song, holy shit. One of the best rock songs that decade. It’s a song with a prophetic title, however, as the remainder of the album is left with an especially tough act to follow.

We enter a 4-song long period here of tracks that didn’t leave enough of an impact on me such that I basically didn’t know any of them until I relistened to write this post. Unnecessary Trouble is another decent rock song, following in the vein of Gotta Reason, but with added “Whoa-oh-ohs” for some spice. Move on Now is a bit of a turn, as it’s a singer + piano song rather than being a rock song. While being incredibly melancholy (as the genre tends to), it still isn’t anything special- the vocal performance is passable, and the piano line is pretty generic. I do like the little bit of bridge that comes in with a little bit of trumpet and a drum machine, and how quiet the vocals get at the very end.

Better Do Better lands as a better Tied Up Too Tight, with this low, relatively quiet build that makes sure not to overstay its welcome before bursting out into the chorus with the vocals SUDDENLY SHOUTING and then chilling out again but now the rest of the song is amped up. It does have a bit of spice for itself with the bridge, which is a little funkier than anything else on the album. The ninth track, Feltham is Singing Out, is basically fine, though the mix isn’t great as far as I can tell- the vocals in the verses are a little muddied in the guitar line. It is a touch harder a song than anything else on the album- the chorus instrumental reminds me vaguely of The Cranberries’ Zombie, but a good bit higher pitched and sped up. Actually, it’s nothing like Zombie, but it has a similar guitar tone if you know what I mean?

At this point I’m basically living for Living for The Weekend. I just love the intro, with this slowly rising synth and this sudden, stuttered percussion that sadly doesn’t continue into the rest of the track. The feel of the song well conveys that feeling of finally being able to take a load off and party after a long week of work, with a vocal performance that sounds vaguely weary, but still relieved and excited. I also love that the track ends on a fade-out with the lyrics “You and I, going out tonight” repeated, as it sort of suggests in some way that that story continues, though hopefully not directly into the last song.

Stars of CCTV’s self-titled finale is another odd one out, being entirely acoustic, and we’re well and truly back to melancholy here. Stars of CCTV referring to the celebrity of the criminal, with the fame and recognition that comes from a wanted poster or your face on the news. The sense of desperation lingers again in this song, like the infamy is what this person lives for, but they almost hate themselves for it. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but hey this is an opinion blog, right. Anyway, the music. Outside of the surprisingly varied vocals the song has not a massive amount to offer, though I really like the playful piano in the bridge, as well as the little claps bringing it all together. It is honestly one of the better songs on the album, and nicely bookends the album with Cash Machine.

Overall Stars of CCTV is a solid album, despite its fair number of forgettable tracks. The lows aren’t especially low, and the highs range from great to fantastic. If you’ve gotten this far without listening to it then I’d recommend fetching your streaming service of choice and giving it 45 minutes of your time.

Now that we’re done here, please please please hit me up if you have feedback or just want to ask something, either here or on twitter @Raderph. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next time.

#hard-fi #starsofcctv #music #review?#rock

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evenstevensranked · 6 years

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#1: Season 3, Episode 5 - “Band on the Roof”

ANNNND... “BAND ON THE ROOF” TAKES THE CAKE!

I cannot believe I’m publishing the #1 ranking. Next month will mark two whole years since I created this blog and now, after countless hours spent on 64 reviews, we’re finally here! Never thought I’d see the day. I never anticipated that I’d be this emotional about it either. I’ll save the mushiness and some final thoughts for the end of the post.

When The Twitty-Stevens Connection gets back together, Tom shoots a documentary -- excuse me, “rockumentary” -- detailing the highs and lows of the band’s reunion! What we get is a rollercoaster of an episode featuring (almost) all of our favorite characters, the most legendary quote in the entire series, a mockumentary approach to filming that was ahead of its time, a heartwarming plot for our two main siblings, and one hell of a catchy song to boot.

For the last time...

Let’s get into it!

I know I throw the word "Iconic" around loosely sometimes but this is genuinely an iconic episode for the series. I feel like everyone remembers this episode. Even if you didn't watch the show too often, you still remember this episode. This one kinda makes me wish that Even Stevens was one of the first popular American comedy sitcoms to pioneer the mockumentary style gimmick for the entire series. (i.e. The Office, Modern Family, Parks & Rec) Because it works here. Really well. I’ve mentioned a few times before that The Office is my other all-time favorite comedy show, so I absolutely ADORE those strong vibes here.

According to Wikipedia and their list of “Mockumentaries” (which includes this episode!) -- as far as the genre in television goes, it seemed to become a big thing in the UK first and then spread to places like Australia and Canada. The United States mockumentary television format boom started in the early-mid 2000s, specifically at or around 2003 with Arrested Development and then in 2005 with the humble beginnings of The Office. "Band on the Roof” premiered in 2002. Hmmm. Very interesting! Not sayin’ Even Stevens was ahead of its time once again but that’s exactly what I’m saying. It’s almost like this show trial-runs ideas before they take off. First with “Influenza” and then this. Even though this episode was definitely more of a spoof of VH1′s “Behind The Music,” it still totally falls into that mockumentary TV category.

It opens with the introduction to the documentary, narrated by Tom in a super unnaturally deep voice with a little reverb slapped on there for dramatic effect: “First, there was The Alan Twitty Project... Then, there was The Louis Stevens Experience... The coming together of these two musical forces begat the supergroup The Twitty-Stevens Connection! ...But the band broke up temporarily when bassist Artie Ryan’s mom made him take pottery lessons.”

Tragic.

Tom introduces himself as “Thomas Gribalski: Rockumentary Filmmaker.” Wow, he’s wasting no time loading up his IMDb page. You document one Junior High band and it’s all uphill from there. He goes on to explain that when The Twitty-Stevens Connection got back together, Louis Stevens asked him to capture those “little moments” for them to look back on once the band becomes “rich and famous.” But, of course, no road to stardom is without its bumps.

I wanna know how Tom, a 14-year-old, got this swanky studio to record in...

It cuts to band rehearsal in the Stevens basement where they’re jamming to “Crazy” from the Battle of the Bands episode!! Everything’s fine until the band randomly stops playing in the middle of the song and Louis goes off on a never-ending drum solo that he refers to as “a groove.” It always bothered me how the music just… stops. Why did everyone but Louis decide to stop playing for seemingly no reason?! Whoever was in charge of audio here couldn’t be bothered to make it sound more organic lol. It’s really weird and abrupt. Sorry for the nitpicking there.

I love how Tom got that shot of a messy hamper in the foreground. It really amps up the grittiness.

It’s pretty great how Louis subtly changed roles from the band’s manager to the band’s drummer. For once, this was an arc in Season 3 that actually aired in the correct order. In Episode 2, Louis became interested in playing the drums and was gifted a drumset. In Episode 4 he started taking lessons, and here in Episode 5, he’s officially the drummer of the band. Shia is playing for real here as well! So that’s very cool.

While Louis is drumming his lil heart out during his self-indulgent extended solo, it cuts to shots of everyone killing time and I love it.

Tom, lol.

Ren eventually rips the drumsticks out of Louis’ hands and the two start arguing. Tawny reminds them that they promised to get along if the band got back together. Just then, we hear that shrill, annoying and unmistakeable voice chime in: “Can I say something?” The camera searches around until it lands on Beans just chilling there like he owns the place. Oh my god.

Louis: “Where is he? BEANS! HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE?!?!” -- Why is that mockumentary style sooo funny though?! The shaky camera looking around and zooming in is what makes this.

I seriously wish every episode was filmed this way. But honestly, just getting this liiiittle glimpse into what a mockumentary version of Even Stevens might’ve been like is enough to make me feel #blessed. If a reboot ever happened, I’d definitely looove to see it reborn à la Modern Family for at least an arc or one special season. I know the gimmick is a little outplayed at this point but I mean, the Stevens are an eccentric enough family for a documentary crew to follow! Am I wrong?! All of the flagship American mock-doc shows have already ended or are ending soon. The door’s open for a new one. Just sayin’.

It cuts to Louis ranting about Beans in the first interview portion or “talking head” of the documentary. This is the greatest thing. Holy crap. He says: “Beans is like that policeman in Terminator 2, you know who I’m talking about? I swear, he goes liquid! He can fit through cracks in windows... under doors... through little keyholes!!” And right on cue, Beans appears outta thin air -- “I’m hungry. Let’s get a sandwich!” Again, the camera work makes this 10x funnier and Shia’s face is just too good:

Note: “Terminator 2″ is yet another completely solid reference to make!

Something I’d like to point out before I forget: While reviewing the series, I couldn't help but notice that the show could be even funnier if there was no background music all the time. (I tested that theory with this edit and was proven correct, tbh.) If you pay attention.. you'll notice that there's some sort of background music during almost every scene. Sometimes it works if it's heightening a moment or adding some flavor comedically. But during scenes where there’s just dialogue, I feel like it would be much better with silence -- because 1. It's more raw/realistic, and 2. the performances/writing is already so strong, it doesn't need extra sound clogging the material. And that's one of the reasons why this episode is so great! It's dead silent the entire time except for the Twitty-Stevens songs of course and some transitional music for the documentary. I love it.

So, yeah. Turns out Beans is a bassist?! He walks over to Artie and tells him “you’re horrible. Read my lips -- take a lesson!” Artie quits on the spot and leaves in a fit of rage (”I don't have to take this! I’M ARTIE RYAN!”). Beans backs up his insult by showing off his sick bass skillz to the gang, immediately earning himself a place in the band as Artie’s replacement. I love how Beans isn’t even touching the neck of the bass at all at one point. Seems legit.

It cuts to an interview with Artie and it’s so good: “I was thinking about quitting the band anyway. I didn’t like the direction it was going... NOWHERE. Since then, I’ve started my own band. Artie Ryan and the Funky Kats. I had some promotional materials made up!! Tom, you want a free one?!”

Tom (off-screen): “N.. no, thanks.”

Also... A frisbee?! LOL. I had to write out that whole Artie quote because it’s the last we hear from him in this episode and Artie is the best.

Next, it cuts to an interview with Twitty who claims that there was a whole new energy after Beans joined the band. It’s hilarious because Beans is this tiny, annoying 8-year-old, yet Twitty’s talking about him as if he’s some amazingly respected bassist who helped take them to the next level. He goes on to say that the ~revitalized spirit~ Beans brought to the table motivated everyone to work on new material... Including Louis & Ren, who teamed up to write a song together!! Ahh! It shows us the two of them writing out the skeleton of “Another Perfect Day.” I always laughed at how they’re not just writing lyrics like most middle schoolers would do... Nah. They’ve whipped out the staff paper and suddenly know music theory like it’s nothing. They’re literally transcribing their ideas by ear. I’m a Berklee grad and I still struggle like hell with theory.

Donnie happens to walk by and notices that his brother and sister are getting along for the first time, like, ever... and calls for Steve and Eileen to come quick and bear witness to it themselves!!

This show throws in some great little lines here and there that are easy to miss sometimes. When Steve and Eileen come running, Steve shouts “Donnie! Hang in there! You still have 5 minutes left on that hot oil treatment!!” thinking Donnie desperately needed help with his hair. HAHA! I never paid attention to that until recently. We get interviews with Donnie as well as Steve and Eileen here.

Donnie: “It was just... the sweetest thing. I wanted to hug them!! But I didn’t wanna ruin my hair. Wait!!! That sounded stupid. Don’t use that, ok?”

Gotta love the trophies as a backdrop lol.

Eileen: “It was amazing! It was as if the music brought them closer together.”

Steve: “Those were the happiest days of our lives. It was bliss! Sheer bliss!”

Hey! This is real stuff, though. Never underestimate the power of music!!

One of the funniest things about this episode is that Tom prefaced the documentary by saying the reunion happened a mere TWO WEEKS AGO! These interviews are so extra, as if they’re recalling something that happened years ago when it literally just happened and is fresh in their memories. It’s great.

We get a voiceover from Tom elaborating on Steve and Eileen’s sentiments, telling us that Louis and Ren had “reached a new level in their relationship” over corny footage of them casually playing freaking cat’s cradle like a couple’a besties! hahaha.

At their next rehearsal, the band starts working on “Another Perfect Day.” Once they have it down pretty well, Louis decides that they have a hit on their hands and need to do something big to get the word out. He comes up with the idea to hold a free concert on the school roof. Twitty interjects “Ya know, that’s not a bad idea because The Beatles did a free concert on the roof once!” Tawny adds: “So did U2!” and Louis finishes: “And now... The Twitty-Stevens Connection.” -- As if they’re anywhere near the level of either of those bands and should easily be mentioned in the same breath. That always cracked me up. (Speaking of The Beatles, the title of this episode is supposed to be a play on the Paul McCartney song “Band On The Run.” Or at least, that’s what I’ve always assumed.) Also, take a look at their single art. Amazing.

Things start to go sour now. Everyone’s on board for the rooftop concert except for Ren. That’s a shocker! She’s totally against the idea. She agrees that free publicity is great as long as you’re not violating any rules. She even double checks with Wexler who confirms that students on the roof is “strictly forbidden.”

At lunch the next day, Louis is super excited about the concert and giving Twitty and Tawny a rundown of his plans to set everything up. He says they should “get there early. Really early. Like... before school starts early” so they can get all the equipment and set it up on the roof. Another little exchange that’s easy to miss here is between Twitty and Tawny. Twitty says: “Sweet. What if we wore camouflage?” And Tawny sarcastically bites back: “That is a brilliant idea. What if we dressed up as giant metal vents to blend in with the roof decor!” HAHAHA. I’m just imagining that in my head right now and all I can picture is them looking like Eric Matthews dressed as a couch. Oh, yeah. They’ll blend in, no problem.

When Ren starts approaching their lunch table, Louis invites her over yelling “Hey, sis!!” Awww. Since we all know that Ren is practically Vice Principal, he asks her for help and advice on how to get up to the roof and such. But then it does a hard cut to Tom:

This needed to be gif’d.

Ren starts blabbing about how they’re forbidden to step foot on the roof and that she got a permit to perform in a public park instead, but Louis cuts her off before she can ramble any further: “Ren. You’re chickening out.” Ren protests and insists that she’s not a chicken and is just being smart about the situation, but Louis ain’t having it and explodes: “JIMINY H. CRICKETS THE THIRD JR., REN!!! We’re not robbing a bank or anything!! We’re singing on the roof!!!"-- I love this so much. He tells her to take a risk for once in her life. But, Ren being Ren, decides that she doesn’t want to get in trouble and essentially quits the band. As Ren storms away from them, Louis stands his ground and shouts at the top of his lungs:

Possibly the single most-quoted quote of the entire series. Actually iconic. I have this quote on my Facebook, it's my © footer quote on this very website, people have used this quote in their high school yearbooks. Yeah. It’s a big deal. Plus, it’s a pretty great quote to live by if you think about it tbh.

Ren leaving the band was only the beginning of their downfall. I love this photo the ‘documentary’ uses to illustrate the in-fighting lol.

There’s super melodramatic music with an ~emotional~ guitar lick playing here. It always gets stuck in my head. I’m humming it right now. As hilarious as the music is, it actually does make me feel a little upset...

And just like the ending of an America’s Next Top Model episode, Ren disappears from this photo of the band:

At home that evening, an instrumental knock-off of “Kiss Me” starts playing in the background of the doc while Ren contemplates the meaning of life. Tom does a voiceover saying that Ren’s decision to leave the band would lead her down a path to “self-discovery.”

She ends up having a heart-to-heart with Eileen about why she’s so reluctant to take risks. We get a glimpse into Ren’s childhood with “home video” showing her being a total caution freak at her 8th birthday party. She ate a single potato chip so she waits an extra 20 minutes before going into the kiddie pool with her friends. I’d like to point out that Young Ren is played by Alexa Nikolas, who would later go on to be a regular on Nickelodeon's Zoey 101.

Eileen assures Ren that she’ll find something worth taking a risk for someday and go for it!

CUT TO THE DAY OF THE CONCERT! Ren’s decision to leave the band causes everyone else to rethink the rooftop performance as well. Twitty decides to back out because he has one too many detentions already and can’t afford another. His initial poor attempt at an excuse plays out in the most hilarious way possible. (”TWITTY, I WROTE THAT NOTE FOR YOU LAST WEEK!”) Tawny just agrees with Ren. She decides it’s not a good idea and peaces out. And lastly, Beans calls at the eleventh hour and says he can’t make it because he has a hamster cage stuck on his head -- which amazingly, is not a lie. In the end, Louis is the last one standing. Or as Tom says, “A man without a band.”

At lunch, the sound of someone drumming starts to fill the air, leaving everyone confused for a minute. It’s Louis, of course. He’s up there drumming away and singing his background vocals alone and fully intends to perform the whole song that way. His determination to continue with the concert as the lone remaining member of the band is so admirable and badass honestly. It really shows how bold he can be and how he’ll always try to see his ideas through. Not only does this highlight Louis’ fearlessness, it also leads to an amazing moment for Ren as a character. As everyone runs to get a view of Louis, Ren starts remembering what Eileen told her. She slowly realizes that this could be her chance to seize the moment.

One by one -- Twitty, Tawny, and Beans join Louis up on the roof! They pick up their instruments and jump right in, each one building and building on the song. All leading up to Ren being the last one to finally run up there as the final piece of the puzzle! It’s a cheesy and predictable climax, but it’s still amazing. Seeing Ren take a chance like that always makes me emotional, not gonna lie. You can FEEL the happiness radiating off of everyone here. It makes me beam every time.

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This gives me legitimate goosebumps. God. Watch this and tell me it isn’t freaking epic and CLASSIC. The final interviews paired with that tasteful background music always tugs at my heartstrings, too.

The gang ends up facing the consequences of their stunt and are punished by Wexler putting them on trash pickup duty. ^ That ending (seen in the video) is probably my favorite Louis/Ren bit ever. Seeing them both secretly admit to the camera that they had a great time together just warms my heart. I love how they say the same exact thing at one point too: “Don’t tell her/him I said that” lol. It’s so simple but so effective and really sums up their relationship. Two siblings who are always at odds, but at the end of the day, they’re family and have that unconditional sib love whether they want to admit it or not. I love the little slideshow of photos from the rooftop gig to wrap everything up.

...and the very last frame of the episode is this picture of THE GREATEST DISNEY CHANNEL SIBLINGS OF ALL TIME and it’s so precious. This photo is so genuine. You can tell it captured more of Shia and Christy than Louis and Ren. It's just so nice:

I would have this framed and hanging in my house somewhere if I were them. Wow! Also... What could possibly be a better final shot for the episode that’s concluding my specific project?! Tell me. I’ll wait.

And that’s it.

This is one of those ~special fun plot~ episodes, but it’s not super wacky or zany. Like most of the schemes Louis pulls, they somehow manage to make it seem like a couple of middle schoolers could successfully put on a school rooftop performance like this irl. There’s super solid humor, great dialogue, some incredible character moments and plenty of heart to top it all off! It ends on such a satisfying and happy high note. And even though I prefer Comedian Louis over Musician Louis, this episode is just too damn fun for me to care. It sort of benefits from the “Influenza” effect. If you add a song to an episode, odds are it’ll automatically make it that much more memorable. The only difference between this episode and “Influenza” is that it has a lot more going for it story-wise.

This episode has everything for me. The way it's filmed is unique to every other episode in the series. The humor is extra dry and a little different for the show here, but still feels very distinctly Even Stevens and stays true to what we love about the show. This episode includes practically every major character, too! Let’s round up everyone who makes an appearance here: Louis, Ren, Twitty, Tawny, Tom, Beans, Steve, Eileen, Donnie, Coach Tugnut, Principal Wexler, and even Artie Ryan! My only complaint is that Larry and Ruby should’ve made appearances. Like, just a little scene of Larry taunting Ren about not having the guts to go up on the roof or something would’ve been cool.

Just adding some extra photos from the episode to break up this sea of text.

This is the only episode other than the finale that actually manages to make me shed a tear. But the tear this episode squeezes outta me has more meaning behind it imo. In the finale, I’m pretty much solely crying over the resolution to the Louis/Tawny saga and the fact that it’s the last episode of the series. Here, I’m crying over the pure relationship between brother and sister (the root of the show) as well as the gang’s friendship. No other episode gets me in my feelings like that across the board. It honestly feels like a finale in its own right and I can’t think of a better one to wrap up this countdown with.

Is this the best episode of Even Stevens? You tell me. Is it one of the most memorable, iconic, hilarious, unique, and feel-good episodes of Even Stevens? Absolutely. Is there even a way to determine what episode is "objectively" or scientifically proven to be the best? lol who knows! If there's anything this whole project has taught me, it's that perhaps this show is just so good, there simply is no "best" episode. In which case, this whole blog has been a complete waste of time.

SIDE NOTE: It was brought to my attention that this episode shares similarities to a Saved By The Bell episode titled “Rockumentary.” While the overall outline is pretty dead on (the rise, fall, and rise again of a garage band) the actual episodes themselves are extremely different. Annnnd Even Stevens did it better. No surprises there. So, WHO CARES?!

Aside from this being my personal favorite episode of the series and meeting my ranking requirements, I have a few little bonus stats to back up my decision to deem "Band on the Roof" worthy of the top spot:

It's the highest rated episode of the entire series on TV.com, boasting a 9.6, which I wasn’t aware of until a few days ago and was honestly surprised.

Back in 2003, while the show was still popular/on-air, some fans held a march madness style poll for the Best Episode of All Time and "Band on the Roof" was the winner.

This episode has popped up on various nostalgia articles as one of the greatest in the series. One of my favorites is by a published author and screenwriter in the biz who also ranked it #1 on her Top 7 favorite episodes of Even Stevens list. [article]

In the comments of this episode on YouTube, (which I probably should’ve saved before Disney recently deleted the video... ugh) the general viewer consensus was that it's a widely beloved episode and one of the greatest/solidly written/most memorable. Easily Top 3 or Top 5 in the opinion of others.

I've gotten quite a few comments across the socials for the blog from readers asking about where this episode will be ranked and/or simply randomly stating that ‘Band on the Roof’ is the greatest and iconic.

Basically, there is massive love for this episode. No matter what, there’s a good chance you'll consistently see this one mentioned as one of the best or at least in someone's personal favorites -- Myself included. Obviously, me being a musician and loving the mockumentary style/drier humor here has contributed tremendously to my favoritism -- but the general fan love and praise, mixed with the actual solid content of the episode, makes me feel like ranking it #1 is justified. As objective as I tried to be throughout this process -- I created Even Stevens Ranked to get some personal thoughts and opinions out of my system. Well, that, and to do my best to highlight how fantastic this show is. Please remember, at the end of the day, this is my list. So. :)

Now that I’ve finished the project, I’m honestly quite satisfied with the outcome here. Not only am I so unbelievably proud that I actually saw this thing through to the very end -- I feel like my Top 10, in particular, (or the Top 25 on a larger scale) is the most solid crop of episodes I could’ve ever come up with. I think they all include nice and important moments for all of the characters, some of the strongest humor, and capture the spirit of the show the best. They’re objectively pretty darn good ones to subject a newbie to if ya ask me!

This project was extremely difficult. It was time-consuming and stressful, but it was also such a blast and only solidified Even Stevens as my favorite show of all time in my heart even more than it already was. When I started, I always knew that “Band on the Roof” would be #1, “In Ren We Trust” would be dead last, and “Influenza” would be #15, but other than that I made countless changes to the list as I went on. The closer I got to the end, I was worried that I’d look back and hate my list, but I’m so relieved to feel very confident in my final decisions and reasons for those decisions. If there’s anything I’d change, it’d probably be to rank “Stevens Manor” sliiiightly higher. But still, I don’t even wanna say that because I have no real problem with placing it at #17. It’s not a bad slot. As I’ve said many times, anything in the Top 25 is pretty much top notch to me.

So... What else is there to say? Here we are. 65 episodes down. 0 to go. The entire series ranked and reviewed. Mission accomplished. From the moment I posted my very first review, I always hoped I’d make it to this point but for whatever reason, I never thought I actually would. I talked about this a little bit when I hit my one-year milestone. Milestones like that are what kept me going, though. Even the littlest ones. I’ll seriously never forget when I completed 5 reviews and hit #59! It felt like the greatest accomplishment ever. And so on and so forth...

For years, I felt like I was some weird, lone fan of this show. I thought that maybe 5, 10 people tops, would care enough to read this blog. I am shocked at the decent following Even Stevens Ranked has garnered over the last two years across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and right here on Tumblr. My strange urge to rank and review every episode of this fantastic show has somehow turned into a ~community~ that is 1k+ strong if you combine all four social accounts. That is staggering. Meeting other fans of the show through this blog has been so, so awesome and I plan on keeping Even Stevens Ranked alive because of that. I can’t just leave it behind. I have some cool ideas moving forward, including a pending podcast. :D

I can’t thank you enough if you’ve actually bothered to read even just one of my reviews and found it the least bit interesting. We went on this weird little journey together. So thank you! Truly.

I’ve completed what I initially set out to do, but you can definitely expect a bonus video review for a change of The Even Stevens Movie sometime in the near future. I mean, how could I do a project like this and NOT discuss the big finale film?!

Just a reminder that there’s a Twitty-Stevens Connection design up on Redbubble! Available in black text and white text.

Thank you sooo much for reading. You know the drill! Please, journey into the Disqus comment section below if you’re so inclined. I’d love to hear any of YOUR thoughts now that this crazy project is complete. Ahh.

- Brittany

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