#cassie getting wrapped up in another quest like

[cryptocism]

What would you want out of a hypothetical Cassie Sandsmark TV series? I’m imagining a Percy Jackson-ish thing with teen drama and ancient gods messing with modern stuff. That’s just me though.

honestly that'd be amazing i would love a cassie tv show... with not only the greek godliness of the percy jackson series but also the comedy of immortal godly beings interacting with the modern world. i could absolutely see cassie convincing an all-powerful being that the greatest artifact of humanity is an old coke can

also another fun thing that could be a fresh new take on the teen superhero genre is to start it off with cassie's secret identity already having been revealed (bc that was something from the comics i wanted to be explored more!!)

instead of the tropes of having to hide your secret identity from your classmates/friends/teachers etc, just have it be totally accepted as status quo for everyone around cassie and have the conflicts come from that. her teachers all "miss sandsmark i know you had to fight doctor poison over the weekend, i watched the news, but your classmates also have extracurricular responsibilities and they all managed to get their homework done."

cassie gets to deal with teen drama but with superpowers for spice! except superpowers dont make it easier to like, make friends, or talk to crushes, or get into college, or endear her to her jaded teachers/principal/employers etc.

also zeus wont stop showing up to her sports events and its embarrassing when he starts threatening to smite the referee

#asks #anonymous #cassie getting wrapped up in another quest like #''ok but can this be quick i have a history test in like five minutes'' #ive probably been watching too much mp100 but i love how they do the whole ''powers dont make you less awkward'' thing #and cassie is a total goofball who collects superhero merch and struggles with school who just so happens to be able to throw a car #powers dont automatically make you cool or special and idk i think that that kind of story would fit cassie super well #shes gotta find confidence in herself!! not in her powers

[scarlet--wiccan]

You can ignore this if you don’t have any thoughts but what your ideal new young avengers run look like? Who would be on the team, what would you even call it now that they’re all adults (except Cassie I guess?)

One of my favorite things about Young Avengers, which I think is often underplayed to the detriment of the characters, is that the team is routinely forced to operate outside of the law and against the wishes of their elders. In the core YA books, the kids are more often working in opposition to the Avengers rather than in cooperation. These are characters whose methods and motives are not usually aligned with those of the established superhero organizations, which is also reflected in many of their appearances beyond YA-- Strikeforce and Empyre are great examples, as are Cassie's adventures in Astonishing Ant-Man. This rebel element is often at odds with the fact that many of the characters admire the Avengers, or have close personal relationships with individual Avengers members. The dissonance becomes especially strong when Billy and Teddy, who have the most reason to distrust and resent them following Children's Crusade, are consistently characterized as Avengers fanboys.

That's not to say that I think the Young Avengers should, like, hate the old Avengers, but I do think that this tension is a key part of the series. The 2005 run was about a group of kids who stepped up, at a very young age, to do a job that wasn't getting done because the previous generation had failed, only to get shot down by the people who had failed them in the first place. It's about a group of kids grappling with complex and painful family histories, and, in many ways, they're foils to the Runaways, which is why I don't really like it when they play junior Avengers or emulate the traditional superhero team structure-- WCA was really fun, but I'm not going to pitch a second volume, you know? I much prefer them operating as an ad hoc group, mainly because they each come from different backgrounds, have different goals, and work in different fields. They're not people who work together because they're part of an organization, they're people who show up for each other because they're friends and they care about one another. That is, in my mind, a more effective approach to a team book with such disparate characters than what the typical Avengers title tries to do.

So, anyways, that's what I think makes Young Avengers special and it's why I think the book still has a place in the Marvel world. Pitching actual story ideas is hard now because Teddy and Billy are, apparently, living off-world and very busy being royalty. In my previous post, I outlined an older idea for a BillyTeddy ongoing series that could have easily functioned as a third volume of Young Avengers, but would require some editing to work in a post-Empyre world. The idea was for Billy and Teddy's apartment in New York to act as a base of operations for a revolving cast of their friends, who come and go over the course of various story arcs. The two of them are presumably living full-time in space now, but it's also been established that they're magically anchored to each other in a way that makes it easy for Billy to warp between New York and the throneship-- anywhere Teddy goes, Billy can instantly follow, and vice-versa, which means that the series could still use Earth as a main setting without pulling the royal couple out of their other storyline.

I'd love a Young Avengers/Runaways crossover set in space-- their previous crossovers mostly have to do with alien drama, after all, and I've been itching to get Xavin back on page. I'm very serious when I say that I want Xavin, Teddy and Noh to be best friends, and I think they'd be fun leads for a miniseries, or even the opening arc of a limited run that eventually folds in the other YA and Runaways characters. I'm imagining an extended version of the interstellar road trip from YA (2013). Maybe Teddy will recruit his two closest alien friends to go on a sensitive diplomatic mission where he can only bring a small party, but it turns out to be some kind of trap and they end up stranded somewhere and have to, like fight their way out of hostile territory and make their way back to the Alliance with no ship. Billy can reach Teddy, obviously, but he can't just warp the whole party home because the distance is too great or they're in an alternate dimension or something, so he rounds up a rescue party and Karolina insists on coming along because, I don't know, the Light Brigade is mixed up in this and she feels like it's her responsibility to help Xavin even though they haven't seen each other in years. Nico obviously comes along with her, and can help Billy with tracking spells.

I'd also like to see a YA book led by the series' most under-served characters-- Tommy, Eli, and Cassie. Building off of Cassie's capers in Ant-Man, I'd be very into a heist or espionage story about the three of them, probably joined by Kate because she'd add a lot of cohesion to the cast and is so well suited to this type of adventure. Maybe they're undercover, and they have to, like, fake-fight some of the other Young Avengers, but they all join forces once the misunderstanding is cleared up. I'm picturing a cold open where the whole first issue is made up of, like, security camera footage of three masked figures breaking into a high-tech vault at AIM or Roxxon, and they steal a bunch of weaponry and fight their way out through a bunch of goons, but then it's revealed that the whole thing was a distraction to cover up a fourth intruder who moves too fast for the cameras to track. At the end of the issue, it's revealed to the reader that the intruders are the Young Avengers, and the real prize was a computer holding the last backup of Jonas's AI. The rest of the first arc is about them trying to rebuild Jonas with help from Vee, but they have to keep it a secret from the Avengers because they're planning an even bigger heist against, like Kate's dad, and they need to keep the whole operation under wraps because he's got eyes and ears all over.

I'm not particularly eager for another fantasy story after CC and YA(2013), but I'd be into a cosmic-fantasy arc about America solving some sort of inter-dimensional crisis or chasing a villain across worlds with Tommy and Billy's help. I really want more development between America and Billy, but I also think that she'd be really funny friends with Tommy and I want to see more of him playing off of magic characters. Maybe Leah (the one from Earth-15513 that's living on Earth-616 now) receives a mysterious message from Loki and asks the Young Avengers to help her track them down. America and Billy volunteer and Tommy tags along. Along the way they end up discovering some sort of evil curse or spell and go on a quest through various dimensions in order to break it. In the end it turns out the whole thing was set up by Loki to manipulate them into defeating an evil alternate-universe Loki-- maybe the one from Leah's native dimension-- because Evil Loki had used an enchantment that made it impossible for 616-Loki to harm them, which includes allies who are knowingly fighting on Loki's behalf. Better yet, it's a proxy war, and Evil Loki has recruited pawns of their own-- including Sylvie and Lisa from the Young Masters! 616-Loki does come clean when the dust is settled and finally reconnects with the Young Avengers. Loki is glad that Leah found a way to escape her destiny, but they admit that they don't feel they've succeeded in breaking out of their own cycle, to which America and Billy are like "we've seen how far you've come, but you need to remember that people care about you and stop bailing on us when we actually want to talk it out with you," which Tommy backs up because, like, he's been that person. Friendship! Character arcs that don’t fizzle out when a book wraps in under twenty issue!

Anyways, if we got a third Young Avengers volume, I'd prefer a limited run with a cohesive story, but all of the ideas I just outlined would probably work better as smaller arcs in an ongoing series. I have a lot of ideas about tying up loose threads and continuing arcs that are already in motion, but I'm hesitant to plot out what the next big step in these characters' lives should be. I definitely think it's time to give Tommy and Cassie another shot at the spotlight, and I want Eli to come back with a new costume and codename.

At this phase, it's just really hard for me to land on any larger, deeper stories because I'm so unsure of what the next few years will look like for Billy and Teddy. There's also an America title that's been in production limbo since the pandemic started, and I feel like there's some kind of drama on the horizon between the Maximoffs and Krakoa which would theoretically impact the twins as well. I also anticipate editorial pushing for Kate in a Hawkeye book when the tv show comes out.

#young avengers #robintext #runaways

[littlemaatta]

Thief - Scott Lang x Reader

@ijustfellupthefrickinstairs requested “a smol reader x Scott Lang, and she always steals the avengers clothes but they all know she has a crush on Scott so when she does it to him they’re all”oooo” and Scott gets flustered so she keeps doing it and fluff? Maybe prompt 44?”

warnings: none

reader is described as: short, not mentioned much except at the end. I don’t think I used any skin or hair describers. please let me know if I did so I can fix it :)

a/n: if you follow me you know that it has been a hot second since I’ve written anything for Marvel (or anything at all for that matter), so sorry if it’s not my best work, but I think I’m pretty happy with how it turned out, just some sweet avengers fam & scott fluff :) 

44. “Is that my shirt?”

Around the Avengers compound you are well known for being a thief. There is at least one piece of clothing from every Avenger in your closet. 

The occasional groan and calling of your name could be heard whenever someone noticed an important piece of clothing was missing from their wardrobe. You would return the item reluctantly, and your friends always knew that something else would most likely go missing the next day.

You’re up before everyone else one particular morning, heading out to the kitchen to get yourself a cup of coffee wearing an oversized shirt with a pair of leggings and some socks.

You curl up on one of the couches, scrolling through your phone as you sip your coffee. Natasha is the first one to join you, she enters the room with her own mug and sends you a smile as she sits on the other couch. 

Steve follows shortly after, though he enters from the direction of the gym instead of from the living quarters. “Good morning.” he says as he walks behind the couch on his way to the kitchen.

“Morning,” you and Natasha respond, looking up from what you are doing to smile at him.

More of your teammates that are currently staying at the compound continue to file in, making themselves coffee and breakfast and greeting you as they walk past. 

Scott is one of the last ones to wake up, as he enters the kitchen you are washing off your coffee cup and about to head to your room to get changed for training with Nat. 

Scott greets you as he enters the kitchen and when you turn to smile at him he gets a smile of his own. But the smile fades as he narrows his eyes at your outfit. The shirt hanging loosely on your frame looks familiar to him and he tilts his head to the side as he opens his mouth to ask, “Is that my shirt?”

You glance down at the navy blue t-shirt and smile, “Yes.” 

Sam, who had been standing nearby overhears this part of your conversation and lets out a teasing “Oooooo,” - knowing, as most of the team do, that you have a crush on Scott.

The others in the living room hear Sam’s call and turn with raised brows, silently asking to be filled in on the situation, to which Sam happily obliges. 

“Y/N is wearing Scott’s shirt.” Sam says with a smirk.

Some of your friends chuckle while others, like Natasha, join Sam in his quest to embarrass both of you.

You just shake your head and laugh, trying to hide your embarrassment, but when you glance at Scott, his face is red and he’s looking down. 

“Scott?” you question after your friends turn back to what they were doing. 

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Hi.” he stumbles over his words and you laugh.

“You okay? Do you need the shirt back?”

“Huh? Uh, no, no. It’s.. fine. I.. uh. Yeah.” he stutters out a sentence again while you fight a smile.

“Okay then, see ya.” you smile as you turn around and leave the room.

“Uh huh.” he mumbles as he watches you leave the room.

__    

The next day, after a tough training session with Steve, you head to your room and take a shower, throwing on a big maroon hoodie afterwards.

A knock sounds on your door and you walk over to answer it, still drying your hair with a towel as you do. 

You swing the door open to find Scott standing in the hall.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Hey, I’m just returning this book that Cassie borrowed from you. She says thank you.”

“Oh great! Did she like it?” you say as you take the book from him. 

“Yeah she did,” he answers with a soft smile on his face as he watches you take the book over to your shelf and slide it back into place.

“You’ll have to bring her by again so she can pick out another one, I love talking books with her.”

“She loves it too.” he responds with a laugh, “She’s always asking when she can come see you.” 

You laugh, “Tell her she’s welcome any time.”

Scott nods in response, still smiling. 

“Oh, hey I actually have something for you too.” you suddenly say, moving to your dresser to pull something out. 

Scott furrows his brows as he steps further into your room, watching you rifle through the drawer. 

“Here!” you say as you pull something out and turn to face him. 

You approach him with a folded up shirt in your hands and the realization appears on his face as he recognizes the shirt you had been wearing the day before.

“Ah, my shirt.” he says with a smile as he takes it from your outstretched hands.

“Yeah, I washed it yesterday, figured I should get it back to you.” you say with a shrug.

“Thank you.” he chuckles.

“I’m sorry about Sam and the others, they only did that cause..” you stop yourself mid-sentence, cursing yourself silently for starting a sentence you don’t want to finish. 

Scott looks at you questioningly, obviously curious and wanting you to finish what you were saying. 

After another few curses at yourself in your head, you sigh. “You know I steal everyone’s clothes, right?”

Scott nods and you continue, “Well, I haven’t ever taken yours before because... well because I like you and I didn’t want to.. make things awkward? I guess. But when we started getting closer I thought it would be okay cause we’re friends now, so I just took the shirt and then you got weird when I was wearing it so.. I’m sorry, if you don’t want me taking any more of your stuff I totally understand.”

Scott blinks a few times, eyes wide as he stares at you. “You like me?” he finally stutters out. 

“Yeah..” you mumble softly, looking down at your feet.

“I.. Do you know why I got so weird yesterday? Because I loved that you were wearing my shirt. And then you were laughing and everyone else was laughing, I just figured it was like.. a joke? Like I was a joke because I like you and I thought you wouldn’t feel the same..”

You look up at him immediately as he confesses how he feels, “Scott, you’re not a joke. And neither is this, I really do like you, a lot.”

A wide smile appears on his face as he looks at you, you smile back and wrap your arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. He reciprocates the hug, resting his chin on top of your head.

His hands move over your back and he furrows his brows as he feels the sweatshirt you’re wearing.

He pulls back to look at you, “Is that my sweatshirt?”

You let out a small laugh and nod. 

Scott laughs too before pulling you close once more.

#scott lang #scott lang x reader #ant man #avengers imagine #marvel imagine #scott lang imagine

[elisaphoenix13]

Pile Of Cubs

Tony came up to the family floor from the lab a little after noon and had his attention on the tablet in his hand as he stepped off the elevator. Pepper had called and harassed him about his filling email inbox and also to remind him about the meeting he had in a couple of hours that he totally forgot about. Not that he would admit that out loud, but it didn't matter since that was the sole reason Pepper called him. That was why she was his CEO. She said she had tried calling Stephen first, but when he didn't answer, assumed he was dimension hopping and tried her chances at calling Tony directly. Except, Stephen most definitely was not dimension hopping, so that was another reason Tony went back upstairs instead of staying in the lab until the last possible minute.

He needed to make sure everything was okay.

Neither Friday nor Victor alerted him to any problems, so it had the billionaire scratching his head. At least for the first ten seconds after stepping onto their floor.

"Honey? Pepper said she tried to call you. It was just to remind me about a meeting I--"

Tony stops when he enters the living room. All his questions about the sorcerer's whereabouts answered when he looked down on the floor. All of the kids were piled together, and it took a little bit of head tilting to find out that, yes, Stephen was buried under all of them. He was laying on his stomach snoozing away with seven kids laying on top, against, or across him, all sleeping as well with the menu of a movie replaying on the tv. Their three kids, the three Barton kids, and Cassie were all sprawled out, some part of them touching Mama Bear...and even Tibbs was a part of the pile. He likely just saw the cub pile and wanted to join the cuddling and wedged himself into whatever free space he could find.

It happened to be the back of Stephen's neck.

"Fri...tell the Barton's and the dumbass version of me and Stephen where their kids are and to get them at their own risk." Tony mumbles quietly as he exits the living room and walks into the kitchen instead.

FRIDAY responds quietly so not to disturb the living room occupants. "Scott and Quill have been notified. Clint and Laura already know."

"They must have..." Tony looks back up from his tablet and finds the Barton couple sitting at the kitchen table with some lunch. "...raided my fridge. Did you try to get your kids?"

Clint shudders. "I tried to grab Nate and your wife opened his eyes...and they were completely green. So I backed off and he closed his eyes again. Mama Bear kind of scares me."

Laura smiles. "We decided to enjoy the quiet instead."

"Good call. It won't last. You got an extra one of those?" Tony motions toward their sandwiches with his free hand and Laura points behind him to the island behind him.

A large plate stacked full of different types of sandwiches sat on the counter with some plastic wrap draped loosely over it to keep it somewhat fresh. There was plenty to feed Tony, Stephen, six normal appetites, and then his mutant teenager's appetite. It must have been Laura. She was one of the few that knew just how much Peter could eat since she helped make dinner whenever she, Clint, and the kids visited the tower. She knew how to feed the two super soldiers and the resident god as well. She and the rest of the cooking members.

A good thirty minutes passed in quiet as the three finish their lunch and Tony gets through a good chunk of his emails when Nate and Diana were the first to wake and join them. Laura got up and gave them each their preferred sandwich when they climbed onto a chair at the table and they eat sleepily, their lunch slowly giving them needed energy.

"Hey Little Miss." Tony leans over Diana and kisses the top of her head. "Have a nice nap with Mom?"

"Mmhmm..."

"Good. I gotta leave for a meeting soon so can you help keep your brothers out of trouble?"

Diana nods. "Cassie can help right?"

"Sure. She'll keep Underoos on his best behavior."

Clint chuckles. "Whipped."

"That's what I said but he denies it at every turn." Tony says as he turns off his tablet and places it on the counter.

A muffled low baritone voice reaches them in the kitchen and a few moments later, the rest of the kids shuffle in and grab some food, joining Nate and Diana at the table. Tibbs was next to trot in, and much to Tony's amusement, he hopped onto one of the bar stools at the island before hopping onto Tony's shoulders.

"Don't get comfortable furball."

"What are you doing up here? I thought you were down in the lab." Stephen says with a yawn as he steps over to Tony and grabs Tibbs off his shoulders.

"Was just telling the favorite child that I have a meeting soon." Tony says after kissing the sorcerer and handing him a sandwich. Peter and Harley stop midchew and glare up at the engineer who grins back. "How was the cub pile nap?"

"Rejuvenating." Stephen holds his sandwich away from Tibbs' questing paw. "When are you leaving?"

"Thought I might leave now. Give Pepper a heart attack for being early." Stephen snorts in response as Tony walks back to the elevator. "I love you demon children and princess. Be back in a few hours!"

"Rude." Peter and Harley mumble in unison and Diana waves.

"Bye Daddy! Guess what!"

"What?"

"I love you three thousand!"

Tony raises both eyebrows and looks at Stephen with a smirk.

"You hear that tesoro? Three thousand. Wow."

Stephen rolls his eyes. "How ever will I amount to that level?" He asks, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I think that puts you in the five hundred range--"

"Leave before I throw Tibbs at you." The sorcerer threatens.

Tony smiles and smooches at him with a wink before the elevator doors close and Stephen places Tibbs on the ground. The gray tabby meows at him and he sighs before tearing off a piece of his lunch meat and leaning over to offer it to the feline. Tibbs takes it with a loud purr and Stephen takes the empty seat next to Diana that Tony had occupied earlier.

The 'cub pile' that Tony and the other parents so fondly called it really was rejuvenating to Stephen. Especially magic wise. Having the kids around while he rested always helped lower his stress levels, but the pile? Instant calm. Stress levels lowered and his magic regulated itself...and really...it was the kids. In the past, the kids would have been the last thing to calm Stephen, but now they were a big part of it. All the kids loved him, he wasn't really sure how that happened with the other four kids but it did. Maybe it had to do with how he cared for them when they were sick or whenever Clint or Scott asked him to watch their kids.

To think this all started with Peter.

"...is Dia really the favorite?" Peter asks and Stephen shakes his head.

"He was just being Tony." Laura says for Stephen. "There's no such thing as a favorite child."

"That's not what Dad said." Lila says and Clint points at her.

"I told you that in confidence. Way to throw me under the bus."

Laura scoffs and smacks her husband's hand down, and the archer grins as he assures her and the kids that he was joking. After lunch, the Barton's went back down to their floor, and Cassie elected to stay with Stephen and the other three. Diana wanted to play with her, and FRIDAY said it was best that she stay upstairs anyway. Harley went back to the living room to watch another movie, Cassie and Diana went up to the little girl's room to play, and Peter stayed with Stephen in the kitchen. The teen lays his chin in his hand and pets Tibbs when the feline jumps onto the table, and Stephen cleans up the kitchen. When Peter stayed uncharacteristically quiet though, the sorcerer looked up from the plate he was washing and watches the teen stare out the window.

"Peter...Laura is right you know. There isn't-"

"Yeah. I know." He interrupts.

"Is something wrong?"

"...not really. I just..." Peter trails off and scratches behind Tibbs' ears. "Is it wrong to miss the days when it was just the three of us?"

Stephen dries the plate and puts it away. "No. You were used to being an only child, then suddenly you gained an older brother and then a sister almost at once. Not only that but then the snap happened. Diana was suddenly older in what seemed like ten seconds to us." Stephen joins Peter at the table by sitting in the seat opposite him. "A lot happened in a year for you."

"For all of us really." Peter says and Stephen had to agree.

Peter wasn't the only one who had to adjust. Harley lost and gained family, Dia was born...then the snap happened. Tony lost Stephen and the boys, raised Diana and Cassie by himself and that thought just led to Stephen's heartache. He didn't get to watch Diana grow up. Sure, he had the rest of her life, but he missed all her firsts. He barely had the memory of her first word and she had just started crawling. Now? She was walking, talking, full of sass, and already in kindergarten. At least he wasn't completely alone in the regards of missing out on five years of his child's life. Scott missed out with Cassie too.

Sometimes the few pictures and videos that FRIDAY took weren't enough. Those were the days that Stephen dropped everything to spend the day with his daughter. Things took time to flow after everyone returned. Diana had to adjust to actually having Stephen and the boys in her life.

"We all have bad days Peter. I'm sure Tibbs does too since he was snapped as well."

Peter snorts. "I don't think he really counts. He accepts pretty much anything."

"That's true." Stephen chuckles softly.

He would never mention the reality where Tony had died. How broken their family had been. How lost Stephen had been because Peter lost another parent, because Harley had been closest to Tony, and how Diana had been left with near strangers. The sorcerer tried so hard to keep it together for the kids, but the emotional pain was too much. They clung to Stephen, almost never leaving his side, until finally Steve and the others planned one last time heist. It was then that Stephen truly realized what Tony meant to them...to him.

"Are you sure Dad didn't mean it when he said Dia is the favorite?" Peter asks.

"I'm going to tell you a secret, but you can't tell your father I told you."

"Okay?"

"The whole time heist you heard about? It wouldn't have happened if Tony didn't want you and Harley back."

"And you."

Stephen smiles. "I was just a bonus."

"Please...it's a miracle he survived five years without you." Peter leans back in his seat when Tibbs jumps down into Stephen's lap.

"I believe we have Pepper and Rhodey to thank for that...as well as Cassie."

Peter nods in agreement and Stephen reaches over to run his fingers through the teen's somewhat tamed curls. Of course he knew Tony wanted Stephen back as well, but the boys were definitely what kicked his husband into doing something. He sacrificed himself to give his kids a better world, but they would never know that. Stephen and Scott were the only two who shared that secret. Tony had an idea, but he didn't remember the pain. It was better that way and the two that remembered didn't need to. They had their lives. Their distractions.

Their families. Whole ones.

"Hey Mom! I think I just found porn on tv!" Harley yells from the living room and Stephen instantly scrambles out of his seat, sending Tibbs to the floor. He races into the living room, prepared to snatch the remote to change the channel, but finds an approved movie playing instead. "Ha! I knew that would get your attention. Can we have pizza for dinner tonight?"

Stephen stares at Harley before narrowing his eyes. "Are you kidding me?!"

"I don't joke about pizza."

The sorcerer scoffs and grabs a nearby pillow to smother his oldest child with, only letting up when Harley shoves the pillow away. Stephen grabs the remote in retaliation, changes the channel to one of Diana's cartoons, and then walks away with the remote.

"NO! FRIDAY change it back!" Harley yells.

"Disregard that. Neither you or Victor are to change the channel until I say otherwise." Stephen says and both AI's respond with an affirmative as Peter laughs from the kitchen.

#ironstrange #supremefamily #stephen strange #tony stark #mama bear stephen strange #peter parker #harley keener #diana stark strange (oc) #clint barton #laura barton #lila barton #tibbs the cat

[marvel-lous-things]

Promises

AN: reposting because tungle.hell is a little bitch that messed up the read more link on this and doesn’t deserve rights.

Words: 

Relationships: Family fluff, Pepperony, mentions of Peter’s crush on Harley

Prompt: “Every month everyone has a get together at the pepperony cabin and they have dinner together. Happy grills cheeseburgers for the kids (Morgan, Clint’s boys, Peter, Lila, Cassie, Harley) and they play outside until it gets dark, the older kids giving the younger ones piggy back rides and everyone eating juice pops. Steve is inside, bantering with Bucky and Sam, like the old times. Pepper wishes Tony would be here to see it all.”

—-

It was tradition, at this point, for everyone to meet up in Pepper’s old cabin (she had since moved to New York) on the first Sunday of each month. 

It had begun with a miscommunication. Steve had texted Bruce that he’d be visiting Pepper to check on her and Morgan, on that fateful day a little over a year ago. Somehow, Bruce had interpreted that as “Gather the whole gang, we’re gonna collectively show up at Pepper’s cabin with 35 assorted presents.”

It was a little odd the first time round, what with Bruce apologizing profusely for goofing up, and the cabin being too small to hold everyone while also allowing them some personal space. But she’d decided she liked having them all around. Might as well do it again.

14 months and 14 barbecue meet ups later, everyone looked forward to driving out there for a nice evening of grilled food and banter. And the occasional explosion. To be fair, when you throw two brilliant, reckless, science-loving teenagers and an equally brilliant, reckless, science-loving little girl together, explosions can (and will) occur.

Which is why Happy was very loudly arguing with Harley over using his “new and improved” grill rather than the usual one from Happy’s garage, which was decidedly safer and less daunting to use. To top it off, the damn thing was shaped like a nuke.

Elsewhere, the younger kids were having their own argument, except theirs had a little less to do with barbecue grills.

“Morgan,” Pepper called out, noticing the commotion, “it’s Cooper’s turn now, sweetheart.”

 “But mom-”

“Give it to him.”

“Just a minute!”

“Morgan.”

The 6 year old turned around, gave her mom the most heart-achingly adorable pout, and begrudgingly handed her brand new nerf gun to the older boy (a very well received gift from May). They’d been going at it all evening, shooting empty soda cans off rocks, tree branches, and at one point, Peter’s head.

Steve smiled, watching Barton’s kid shoot a can off Harley’s bike from 10 meters away. And then immediately panicking after realizing the can was actually full. And probably belonged to Harley.

“Kid’s good with a gun, Clint,” Steve noted.

“Scared he won’t take after his dad?”

The glare he received from the arrow enthusiast was borderline terrifying.

“We’ve just got killer aim, Rogers, it ain’t about the weapon. Hand me a gun, stand across the lake, and I’ll show you.”

Pepper laughed, throwing Clint a grape flavored juice pop (his favorite kind). 

“Nobody’s murdering anybody in my house, alright?”

Just before Clint could catch his dessert, though, a web shot out from behind the couch and snatched the sugar infused stick of ice right out of mid air. The web then proceeded to disappear as quickly as it came.

“Well, actually, Pepper,” said a youthful voice, no doubt belonging to the pop thief, 

“the murder would happen outside the house, so technically-”

“Peter Benjamin Parker, you give that back right now or you’re grounded for a month.”

Peter winced. Busted.

“He can get himself another one, May!” He tried (in vain).

“There’s a whole freezer full of em right outside-”

“Peter.” 

May raised her eyebrow at him. Ah, there it was. The look of devastating disapproval. A look nobody could stand to receive, let alone Peter “I cried watching Big Hero 6″ Parker.

“Alright, alright.” He sighed, back flipping over the armrest; a completely extravagant and unnecessary move that was only carried out in case Harley was watching. Peter had been trying his absolute best to get Harley’s attention off late. He told May that it was because he wanted to prove that “he’s the alpha” (May thought her disaster of a son simply wanted to impress his crush. She was right).

20 lazy footsteps and an annoyed huff later, the juice pop was slid across the kitchen counter, right into Clint’s open hand. 

When it was, regrettably, immediately snatched away by Lila.

Clint blinked. “Can’t catch a damn break, can I?”

Laura laughed, planting a reassuring kiss on her husband’s cheek. She’d learned over the past year that Clint had turned to vigilante justice to deal with his feelings of anger and helplessness. She couldn’t have him hunting down members of the Ukrainian mafia over popsicles.

“Calm down, drama queen, I’m sure there’s more in the ice box-”

“WHO TOOK ALL THE DAMN GRAPE JUICE POPS?” Captain America yelled from outside. A sound that was immediately followed by a very ungraceful pterodactyl-like screech, and Clint putting his head in his hands.

“…or maybe not.” She winced.

That was the exact moment Bucky took to walk down the stairs. a sticky purple mess gracing his face. He stopped abruptly when he noticed everyone’s eyes were on him, and just this once, he was sure it wasn’t because they were admiring his beauty. 

His eyes darted around the room, making note of Clint’s deep resignation, Pepper’s terrible poker face, May’s grimace, and Steve nearly falling off his chair in sheer amusement.

He wasn’t fully sure how to proceed.

“Uh…”

He looked around the room again, hoping it would give him answers. 

It didn’t.

“…what’s up?”

Steve actually did fall over at this point, prompting Peter to scream something about senior citizen needing help, followed by Cassie dialing 911 on Morgan’s old toy telephone. Neither of which helped him make sense of what was going on. Although, he had to admit, it was a little funny.

Bucky’s question, however, was answered when Sam entered the kitchen with the force of a very disgruntled wildebeest. He looked around wildly, until his eyes fell on Bucky and his incredibly purple grin.

“You,” Sam glowered.

“Me,” Bucky replied sweetly, slowly wiping the purple dye off his mouth with his sleeve. Which, of course, only served to drive Sam further up the wall.

“YOU DON’T EVEN LIKE GRAPE!”

“True, true.” Bucky shrugged.

“I do love pissing you off, though.”

What followed after was Sam chasing Bucky out into the woods, brandishing his shield and yelling something about how “this shield ain’t only for defending, I’ll star spangle whoop your ass you dick, come back here.”

Clint followed a minute later, on a quest to avenge his stolen popsicle

(This was after they were pointedly told by Pepper to take their battle outside, they’d lost enough vases over the year to the kids’ antics as it were).

Steve eventually found the strength to get back on his chair, and throw an apple in Harley’s general direction. Which was warranted, because the kid kept yelling “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” in this ridiculous (and frankly, offensive) “old man voice” while Steve did, in fact, struggle to get up.

He briefly wondered how pleased Tony would be to see Captain Perfect struggling with real, human issues, like achy joints and a sore back. Almost as if she’d read his mind, Pepper voiced his thoughts. 

“Tony would’ve loved to see you dealing with elderly-man problems, you know.” She laughed. “The number of times he’d complain that ‘Steve goddamn Rogers’ doesn’t suffer from a single grey hair even at the age of 100, while he did even though he was only 50.” 

She made air quotes around the “only.”

“Took a lot of convincing for him to let it grow out, you know, instead of hiding it behind dye after dye,” she rolled her eyes, “he looked at me like I’d told him to give Morgan up for adoption.”

Steve laughed softly. “A herculean effort, I’m sure.”

“Oh, you don’t know the half of it.”

Pepper remembered that conversation clear as day, like it had happened just days ago. Partly because she’d never had to convince someone who was once labelled “Sexiest Man Alive” by Times magazine that he would still be attractive with grey hair, until that strange, strange day, and partly because the method of convincing she’d opted for was… unusual, a little unexpected. But not unwelcome, for sure 

(He’d told her as much the next morning, wearing a stupidly lopsided grin, but no shirt)

Washing the dye off her fingers had been a pain in the ass though. She couldn’t believe he’d actually agreed to letting her color his hair grey. Morgan had shrieked seeing her daddy with “weird hair” (her words), which was not good for the case Pepper was making. But she had eventually warmed up to the new look. She even told Tony he looked nice, of her own accord. After which Pepper had walked in on Tony hugging his daughter and her struggling to get out of the death grip he had on her.

Pepper was snapped out of her reverie when Steve spoke up again.

“Who’s to say he isn’t seeing it, though?” 

Pepper blinked. She wasn’t one to space out often, but when she did, she was disturbingly thorough. 

“Sorry?”

“Tony, watching us,” Steve took a deep breath, “laughing at me struggling with weak hipbones, watching over you, Morgan, Peter…” He looked down at his mug of coffee, that had long since gone empty

“You never know.”

Pepper couldn’t quite place the look on his face just then. Somewhere between sad and hopeful, she supposed.

“You never know,” she repeated under her breath, more to herself than to him.

Steve heard it anyway, and smiled softly at her, before turning to look at the picture Pepper had framed on the living room wall. A picture of her, Tony, and Morgan, taken at the beach. Morgan was on his shoulders, maybe 3, 4 years old then. His right arm was wrapped around Pepper’s shoulder, her left arm around his waist. All three wore contented smiles, Tony’s and Morgan’s achingly similar.

No Iron Man, no arc reactor, no intense, murderous stare, like the hundreds of pictures that had graced every magazine in existence, for a month after his death.

Just plain, good old Tony Stark. The part of him he kept hidden from the world, reserved only for the people he loved.

It was the only picture that did him justice, Steve thought.

“I wish he could see you now, Pepper,” he turned back to her, half his mouth upturned in a small smile, “see how well his two favorite girls are doing.”

Pepper chuckled, gently placing her hand on Steve’s. 

“Oh, he knows,” she nodded, twirling the ring that still adorned her finger.

“I promised him we’d be fine.”

xxxxx

my adhd ass jumping from prompt to prompt: parkour

anyway, thanks for reading

#i hate this website #endgame spoilers #marvel #endgame #avengers endgame #tony stark #pepper potts #pepperony #steve rogers #peter parker #morgan stark #bucky barnes #sam wilson #marvel fanfcition #mcu #sam attempts writing

[camp-half-mess]

Hey look I did a thing!

Basically I wanted to write a scene where Cassiopeia was lashing out at Percy because why not? We all love good, angsty arguments on here, right?

Basically, for a bit of backstory, Cassiopeia is angry at Percy for the death of Michael, and though she tries to get over it, she hasn’t been able to yet.

I don’t think there are any trigger warnings for this, unless you don’t like yelling. Death is mentioned, but not explicitly seen.

Enjoy! - Mod Fizzy

--- (dont mind me adding a small cut to make it clearer to my dumb ass brain -A)---

“You alright?” Cassiopeia heard a voice ask. It woke her up from her sleep, sand in her hair and covering her entire body. Great, not again, she thought to herself. For one night I would love to not have to get the sand out of my clothes. She rolled over, the Sun shining in her eyes, causing her to squint. Thanks Apollo, she thought to herself. At least it was morning. She had slept through the night. In her book, that was a success.

              “Hm?” Cassiopeia asked groggily, sitting up and brushing the sand off of her CHB shirt. She un-squinted her eyes and looked down at the ground in front of her. She saw a pair of tennis shoes a foot in front of her. As she looked up, she saw jeans, a matching CHB shirt, and a pair of blue-green eyes partially covered by short, choppy black hair. “Percy?!” Her shock caused her to accidentally lie back down again in the sand. The teenager offered her his hand to help her up.

              “Here,” he said. “Let me help.”

              “No, I got it,” Cassiopeia assured, pushing herself up. She shook the sand out of her hair and brushed it off of her legs. “What are you doing here? Danae didn’t say you were coming,” she said, trying to sound polite.

              “Yeah, I didn’t really tell her. I was going to surprise her,” he said, pulling his hand back and rubbing his neck awkwardly.

              “Oh, that’s cool,” Cassiopeia said in a chipper voice that was a little too chipper. “I’m sure she’ll be excited to see you.”

              “Yeah,” he said again, still rubbing the back of his neck. “Hey, did you die your hair? It looks good.” Cassiopeia looked down at her bare feet.

              “Please don’t,” she said. “I don’t want to deal with forced compliments right now.”

              “It wasn’t forced- okay,” Percy relented. “So how are things lately with you? We haven’t talked in a while.”

              Cassiopeia shot him a strange look. “Things are fine.” She was leaving out a lot of not-so-fine things that had happened, but she really didn’t want to talk about that; especially not with him.

              “Really? I heard something about a quest-“

              “Things are fine!” Cassiopeia said again, a little louder. She pulled her hair out from behind her ear and let it fall over her face, continently covering her scar. Percy bit his lip, seemingly wanting to ask about the scar, but also seemingly knowing better.

              “O…kay,” he said. He paused for a second. “Why were you sleeping on the beach?”

              “Take a guess,” Cassiopeia said, not able to hide the hint of harshness in her voice. “You don’t just outgrow sleepwalking.”

              “Really? You sleepwalked all the way out here from your cabin? Impressive,” Percy said with a smile, obviously still trying to get the girl to smile back.

              “I didn’t start at the- you know what? I don’t want to talk about this,” Cassiopeia decided, and started to walk away before her emotions took control of her.

              “W-wait!” Percy called after her, and started to follow. “Cassi, are you-“

              “Don’t call me that,” Cassiopeia said, trying to walk faster. “That’s not my name.” Percy drew a sharp breath.

              “You used to let me call you that,” he said.

              “That was a long time ago,” Cassiopeia said. From the outside, that statement would just make it sound like Cassiopeia stopped using a nickname and preferred her full name. But both of them knew better than that.

              Percy took another sharp breath. “Alright, Cassiopeia, are you still mad at me?” Cassiopeia stopped suddenly in her tracks, causing Percy to halt rapidly, almost running into her.

              “What did you ask?” Cassiopeia said, starting to lose control. Keep it together, keep it together, she told herself.  

              Percy took a large step back, which was probably a good idea. “Are…are you still mad at me?” he asked, a little hurt. Cassiopeia took a deep breath. You’ve been trying to forgive him, now’s your chance, she told herself. She bit her lip.

              “No,” she said slowly, which was an obvious lie. Percy picked up on this and reached for her hand in a brotherly fashion.

              “Cassi, I’m sorry-“ he started, but Cassiopeia ripped her hand away from him as tears filled her eyes.

              “Stop it! Don’t apologize anymore, you’re not sorry!” she burst out. “You’re not sorry! Just admit that!”

              Percy honestly looked shocked. He hadn’t seen her have an outburst like this in years. Not since after the Titan War. “I am sorry,” he defended. “You-you can ask Orion! He can tell if I’m lying, right? I’m telling the truth.”

              “Shut up shut up,” Cassiopeia said, covering her ears. “Don’t bring Orion into this! I don’t care what he says! You’re not sorry! If you were sorry you wouldn’t have done it!”

              Now would have been a great time for Percy to leave. Leave Cassiopeia on the beach and let her pull herself together before things got worse. Unfortunately, Percy was more stubborn than she was. “Cassiopeia, I wish I didn’t do it. Really. It was a bad situation, there was only a couple of seconds and I had to make a decision-“

              “YOU?! YOU HAD TO MAKE A DECISION?!” Cassiopeia yelled, taking her hands off of her ears and clenching them into fists at her sides. “IT WASN’T YOUR DECISION TO MAKE! YOU WOULDN’T HAVE DONE IT IF ANNABETH WAS ON THAT BRIDGE! OR GROVER, OR ANYONE YOU ACTUALLY CARED ABOUT! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO MAKE THAT DECISION!”

              “Cassiopeia, it was Michael’s idea,” Percy said. Yes, Percy had told her this before, years ago. Of course, Cassiopeia didn’t believe him. Michael promised he’d come back. He wouldn’t have left her. And even if he did suggest it, Percy was the one who did it. He pulled the trigger. He sent the bridge down. First her mom drove off a bridge, and then Michael died from a collapsing one- at the hand of one of her former friends. It was too much. She couldn’t comprehend it.

              “LIAR!” Cassiopeia screeched. “YOU’RE LYING! YOU WILL DO ANYTHING TO MAKE YOURSELF FEEL GOOD, WON’T YOU! EVEN LIE TO EVERYONE! IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU!”

              It was impossible to describe Percy’s face at that moment. And not even Cassiopeia, in all of her pent-up anger and outrage, meant that. Tears were streaming down her face, dampening the sand at her feet. Percy stared at his former friend, hurt, and turned to walk away. Cassiopeia turned around as well and wrapped her arms around herself as she cried, falling to her knees. “And you don’t even care. You don’t even know how amazing he was. I bet you barely remember him,” she mumbled in despair.

              Percy stopped and took a deep breath, obviously fighting the urge to say something on that matter. “I’m going to go get Danae,” he mumbled to her. “Maybe she can help.” Cassiopeia didn’t respond, but listened to his footsteps as he walked away.

#fizzy #cassiopeia #fic #writing #idk what else to tag

[ambershadowed-moved]

⚰️ + Cassandra

Send “⚰️ + a character ” for a drabble where my muse found out that character has died.  //HHHHH oh boy ! This ought to be fun to write hsklskssksl. I had another character in mind but this is just about as good >:) verse/setting: post season 2 - varian was freed from prison before the princess and her friends returned from their quest. cassandra was killed by the moonstone when she grabbed it, not able to handle the power. [Under read more because it’s actually pretty dang long]

- - - For six months, Varian had been free. It had been a long process of getting him to calm down and listen to reason, but it had worked, to a degree. He still was upset, and angry. And it would be a long time before that stopped being the case.But he realized he’d gone too far. Way, way, way too far. Kidnapping and attempted murder was definitely not the answer to his problems. Honestly, after what he’d done, he was surprised he’d been set free at all, let alone so soon.But the king and queen had taken pity on him, and after awhile, had felt safe enough to free him from prison. He had almost immediately chosen to go back home, preferring to stay in a place that was already familiar to him.Of course, his home was a mess, unfortunately. Some of it was his own fault, but some of it was simply damage the rocks had done that had nothing to do with the battle he’d caused. He’d fixed up his lab as best he could, though, and now he was there more times than not. He wasn’t completely alone, though. He wasn’t sure whether the king had done it for Varian’s own safety, or as a precaution in case he tried to do anything nefarious again, but one of the royal guards had been assigned to keep an eye on him. While the guard wasn’t always watching him, he would pop into the lab from time to time to make sure everything was fine with Varian. Which was why when he heard the door open one day, while he was intently focused on something he was working on, he didn’t think much of it.“Everything’s still fine. I’m just busy.” He said, not looking up from his work. “So I’d really appreciate not being interrupted.” “Uh, Varian..?”The young alchemist froze in absolute shock as he recognized the voice that spoke to him as not the guard, but the princess Rapunzel. He looked up at her, eyes going wide. She had just.. come out of nowhere! Why had noone told him she was back? Then maybe he would’ve been a little bit more prepared for her to come talk to him. But right now he was decidedly not prepared whatsoever. Lost for words, the boy immediately went back to what he was doing before, temporarily ignoring her presence entirely while he tried to collect his thoughts. What was he even supposed to say to her? “Please, I know you’re still upset, but I need to talk to you.” “There’s nothing to talk about.” He mumbled, stubbornly refusing to look at the princess. He didn’t want to have that discussion, not right now. If the princess wanted to talk about the incident that had happened before she left, she could come to him later when he wasn’t busy.Right now he was busy. And by no means did he want to be interrupted just to have a conversation that would likely leave him so emotionally compromised that he couldn’t focus on anything anymore.“Varian- This isn’t even about that! Yeah, we need to talk about that too, but not right now. This is about Cassandra.” That caught the boy’s attention. Looking up at Rapunzel, his breath hitched as he noticed the expression on her face. He didn’t like where this was going, not at all. “Ye- Yeah? What about her? She- She’s okay, right?” She had to be fine. What could have possibly happened to her? If there was one thing he knew for sure about Cassie- Er, Cassandra- it was that she knew how to defend and take care of herself.But if she was fine, then why did Rapunzel look so upset?“Oh, Varian, I’m- I’m so sorry. Cass, she’s- She’s gone. There was a terrible accident, there was nothing we could do to stop it!” The princess was starting to cry herself as she told Varian what had happened, leaving no doubt in the boy’s mind that she was telling the truth.But oh, how he wished she was lying.“Cas- Cassie’s dead!?” He could barely wrap his mind around it. How- How had that even happened!? A sickening memory came to the boy’s head, of how during a fit of anger and grief, he’d almost killed her himself.Of all of the things he’d done during that time, that was the one he regretted the most. And now, knowing that she was dead, and that was the very last time they’d even seen eachother…It hurt more he could possibly explain. Turning away from Rapunzel, he desperately tried to stifle a sob as it all started to sink in. She was gone. She was gone and he’d never even had a chance to at least try and apologize to her. “Varian… I-”“Rapunzel, please leave.” He interrupted her before she could finish. “I don’t- I don’t want your condolences. I just- I just need you to leave, please.” He stared at the floor, his entire self shaking as he tried desperately to keep himself composed at least until the princess left.“I can’t just leave you alone here!”“I’ll be fine!” He snapped at her. “Just go, please!” “Okay, but I’m- I’m going to come back and check on you later, okay, Varian?” The princess stepped back towards the door, preparing to leave.He really didn’t want her to come back. At least not anytime soon. But he didn’t try to argue with her anymore. “Okay, fine, just.. please go.”And with that, Rapunzel left, leaving Varian to deal with his grief alone.

#beyond the corona walls (ooc) #a question for the real queen (asks: ooc) #runningracingdancingchasing #other adventures from corona (drabbles) #myself | don't know what to say. i am who i am (but is it enough?) (varian) #the princess | a light in the darkness (but was that light a fake?) (rapunzel) #m'lady | tried to impress you - don't know if it ever worked (cassandra)

[prxttylittle]

❝ we’re gonna have to keep ice on that. ❞, ❝ let me help with that. ❞, ❝ i’ll never let you go. ❞ for the thIRD time

❝ we’re gonna have to keep ice on that. ❞

{ v ;; the princess and the moon.   

 It had been a while since Prince needed patching up after a display of violence so the feeling of the antiseptic on his knuckles burned more than he remembered when Luna dabbed at the back of his hand with a cotton bud, causing him to gasp childishly. “That hurts!” He seethed but didn’t pull his hand away despite his instincts telling him that he should. He was appreciative of her helping him out, taking care of him. As a married couple, Prince  and Luna were a team– always. It was them against everyone else when it came down to it and that was how they worked. Hence why she was playing nurse and taking care of him instead of saying anything to him about getting physical though he’d been sure she’d be on his side from the get-go. Sitting on top of the counter, with Luna standing between his legs and tending to his hand, he wrapped both legs around her waist and pulled her closer to him. It made her move too suddenly and she wiped the bloody bud up his arm but he didn’t really care. He tried to kiss her but she only indulged him for a mere second before she reached across the countertop and picked up an ice-pack that he didn’t even know they had in the house. “We’re going to have to keep ice on that.” He watched her press the pack down on his hand, gasping again but this time from the cold. He didn’t know when he’d turned into such a baby, gasping and moaning at every touch to his sore hand compared to him as a teenager in which he could walk around with a full broken hand and barely feel it. How times have changed. “Nick’s such an asshole.” Prince exclaimed, as if it was Nick’s fault his hand was sore, as if maybe Nick’s face had pummelled Prince’s fist and not the other way around. That remark led to Luna questioning what happened. He was aware she’d been dying to stick her nose in and find out what led to Nick’s cheek shattering his knuckles. Prince didn’t plan on keeping it from her, he’d just been letting her tend to his wound before delving into the events of the weekend. 

Prince didn’t know if it was because he was now a boring married old man but he wasn’t too sure the way Nick was talking to that girl at the bar was appropriate for a guy in a relationship. He nudged Matt, urging him to weigh in. Just as Matt did look up, Nick’s hand dropped dangerously low on the girl’s waist. Prince frowned. It wasn’t really any of his business but on the other hand Cassie was his friend, and practically a sister to his wife. He aimed to stay out of it, returned to pretending to listen to Matt talking about his job instead. But Prince couldn’t help it but to glance over to Nick again noticing he was either whispering in that girls ear or nibbling on it, and now his hand was definitely too low. “What the fuck is he doing?” Prince seethed, interrupting Matt for a second time. He spotted Nick looking all around the bar, unable to locate Prince and Matt from across the room, before he was picking up the girl’s handbag and wrapping his jacket around her. He then led her out of the bar and it was no question to Matt or Prince what was happening. Like clockwork, their phones buzzed. ‘Sorry lads, drank too much, had to head off.’ A blatant lie which only furthered Prince’s theory. “Asshole.” Prince uttered before him and Matt got back to enjoying their night out.

It wasn’t until two days later when Prince was due to collect Luna at Nick and Cassie’s apartment when the girls got home from their weekend away did Prince confront Nick about what he saw at the club. “So. You were sick the other night?” Prince decided to play stupid, as if he hadn’t seen Nick. It seemed Nick was playing the same game, only he wasn’t playing stupid. The story was pretty convincing, Prince could admit. Nick looked like shit and he’d just been throwing beer cans in the bin which led Prince to believe his fling had been more than just a one night thing. “You’re pathetic, Nick. You’ve spent the last ten years pining after Cass just to cheat on her.” When Matt and Panda had first gotten together Prince had expected something like this to happen. Their relationship was such a shock to him that he expected no more from his best friend. When Nick and Cassie got together, Prince thought they’d wasted so much time not being together that something like this would never happen. It was possible his perception was a little off. “You’re not going to tell the girls.” It almost sounded like a warning from Nick which made Prince laugh. If Nick thought for one second that Prince wasn’t going to tell his own wife about this then he had another thing coming especially after the drama that Nick’s job caused between them when they first got engaged. “No, I’m not.” Nick’s surprised reaction was expected. “I’m going to tell Luna. You are going to tell Cass.” Always with the dramatics, Nick flew off the handle. He insisted he’d made a mistake, and telling Cassie wasn’t going to help anyone just hurt her. When Prince didn’t buy the sappy apology route, Nick turned to insults. He pointed out every mistake Prince made in his relationship (that Nick was aware of), every flaw between them. It was to Nick’s fortune that the girls walked in when they did, Cassie rushing to protect Nick from Prince’s flying fist. Her concern for her boyfriend was embarrassing and just pissed off Prince even further. He didn’t even bother to say anything further, just grabbed Luna’s suitcase and wrapped an arm over her shoulder to guide her out. All of which led to this very moment of Prince informing Luna of what he still wasn’t sure if Nick was going to Cassie or not. 

{ v ;; no reason. 

         An adult man, Jason was not. When Iola approached him with whatever piece of medical equipment he hadn’t even seen, he dodged her touch as quickly as he could, ducking under her arm and away from her. She stumbled slightly over his unexpected dash and he could tell she was getting tired of him. He shrugged. “Antiseptic hurts. If it gets infected, it gets infected. Just let me die.” What he wasn’t telling her was how he’d made his arm hurt even worse by swivelling around her as if he was Kim fucking Possible. It took at least thirty minutes but eventually Iola got around to cleaning up his scraped up knuckles. He obeyed as she commanded him to curl and uncurl his hand into a fist to see if he could. Technically, he could. It just hurt like no pain he’d ever felt before. He pouted. “Iola. It’ll be fine.” He urged. “I’ll get a job in a call centre or something if I can never paint again.” He winced when she tugged his hand toward herself. “We’re going to have to keep ice on that.” He hadn’t even seen her grab an ice-pack but before he knew it the cold sensation was pressing down on his knuckles. “Fuck, babe! That is so cold!” There was a chance his hand was broken and he knew Iola wanted him to get medical attention, and he probably would later on, but for now he couldn’t help but to be a big baby about it. “It’s a good thing you get jealous enough for the both of us” Jason began speaking, proving he really never thought about his words before letting them out. He was cradling his arm in his not-injured hand at this point. “I really don’t think it suits me.”

      When Jason saw some guy flirting with Iola up at the bar, he didn’t really think much of it. Jason experienced so many emotions on a daily basis that he was sure his body had run out of space for jealousy to fit in there. Iola was absolutely stunning, he wasn’t surprised that other guys found her attractive. Jason also knew Iola was too smart to be seduced by losers like that. It was Lip that put thoughts into his head. Every two seconds Lip was nudging Jason and asking why Jason wasn’t getting up to go over and ‘fight that loser flirting with your girlfriend.’ Jason tried to shut Lip up but eventually his words got to Jason which would have been fine until he spotted Iola waving at Jason to join her at the bar. He sighed and crossed the club to her. She asked him to help her carry the drinks back to their table and when the stranger made a snarky remark about Jason, –“You sure you can lift all those?”– usually Jason would shrug it off or honestly probably agree with the deprecation. This time, he had Lip’s voice in his head and three double-whiskeys in his system. “What did you just say?” Jason felt like he was floating out of his body and witnessing himself turn to rage because it was something he never did. Jason wasn’t an angry guy, most of the time he was pretty mellow but he was drunk and the sound of his friend telling him to fight for his girl was running around in his mind. The stranger, whom Jason was now realising was a good few inches taller and broader, retorted that he was just joking, Jason scoffed. “How about you go joke around somebody else’s girlfriend?” He glanced at Iola and back at the man. “She isn’t interested.” He turned to finally help Iola with the drinks, embarrassed about his outburst but ready to get back to having a good night with their friends. The stranger made another snarky remark and finally, and very out-of-character for him, Jason whipped around, arm reeled back with  his hand curled into a fist and as he hurled it toward the other male, he ducked and Jason’s hand smashed into the pillar behind him. His knuckles cracked on impact and the pain was enough to make Jason give up on jealous-quest and want to just go home. That was the first and last time Jason McLoughlin fights for his ladies honour. 

{ v ;; July 17th. 

    Zayn nodded in silence just as she pressed the ice-pack to his face. Ari could probably say she was going to cut his nose clean off and he would still follow her instructions just to keep on her good side. It gave him a slight glimmer of hope when she said ‘We’ about icing his face, rather than just advising him and heading out the door. He’d fallen out with so many people tonight but right now, Arianna Edwards was the most important. He didn’t expect her to take care of him when she appeared at his door only to stumble across him cradling his nose. She came to tell him she was leaving so it was a surprise when she hung around a bit longer to nurse him. Zayn took control of the cold plastic, tilting his head back only a small bit as he pressed the pack to his face. It felt a little dramatic considering he didn’t think at all that his nose was broken but he’d take Ari’s guidance just to keep her in the room for a bit longer. It was a little awkward to have her tend to his damaged face when it was his own fault and at her expense that this happened. Zayn didn’t expect Gabby to have such a mean right hook or for to defend Ari as fiercely as she had. At the time he was immediately instilled with regret because of his words and he didn’t even fight the slaps and single punch he got from it. He deserved each hit and even he knew that. Silence settled between them and it got too much for him. He sighed and removed the cold plastic from his face so he could look at her, just as she finished packing up the first-aid kid into the drawer. Zayn hadn’t even known Gyhab put first-aid kits in their rooms. Maybe just another sign that he was useless without Ari. “I’m sorry.” He could tell she didn’t want to talk about it again but he couldn’t let her leave without her knowing how badly he felt about everything that happened between them earlier in the night. “I shouldn’t have called you pathetic.” His throat closed in and curled around each of his words, forcing them out weakly and embarrassingly shaky. “You’re not. I didn’t mean it.” Zayn couldn’t explain why he said it if he didn’t mean it. It had just come out. It was for lack of understanding, and for lack of a better word. “I don’t think you’re pathetic, I just don’t understand any of this but that’s— I just— Fuck me, I’m just so sorry that I said it.” Zayn ran his hands through his hair, practically tearing the locks out of the follicles at this point. He slowly reached over to take her hand, being cautious with his actions. “I’m not going to stop you from going off wherever you’re going with Louis.” Zayn wouldn’t admit it but he was extremely pissed with his friend for being the one about to whisk Ari away from all the drama. He wasn’t sure whose idea it was, or why Louis but part of him thought if it wasn’t for that, him and Ari could just stay in the same place and work on their relationship. “I want you to stay here, with me but if that’s not what you want–” he paused, looking away from her for a moment. The possibilities raked through his thoughts. Her leaving and deciding being away from him for good was what she wanted and everything along those lines perturbed his mind.  He returned his gaze to her. “Then I won’t stop you. Just— please come back to me soon. I can’t do this without you.”

{ b ;; partners in crime.

        Prince didn’t expect Matt to show up and defend him from his dad. He didn’t even know that Matt was aware he was here. Moving in with the King’s had been an incredible relief. His dad hadn’t come looking for him and Pandora and it seemed everything, all the suffering and the pain and the hurt, was over. He woke up in his own room in the huge house of his best friend’s family every morning without fear. There was always food in the cabinets, and breakfast on the table before school and dinner in the evening. Matt and Prince got lifts to and from school, unlike when Prince used to have to walk despite it being dangerous and the weather not always being in his favour. The King’s just lived differently and after a while Prince was getting used to the different setting. He had even gotten over being afraid one day things would just fall apart and his dad would get him and Pandora back. He’d truly moved on from being afraid. However, the one thing he didn’t consider was the fact that though they were living with the King’s, they weren’t legally a part of the family. The King’s didn’t foster him or his sister, nor did they inform the school of the living situation. Prince’s information was on file that his dad and (despite her disappearing act) his mother were still his legal guardians. Pandora didn’t start school until after moving in with the King’s so she wasn’t stuck with the on-paper relation to Kadin Jameson. Prince didn’t anticipate any of this when he acted up in class with his friends. As he and Matt and a few other kids sat outside the principal’s office, Prince thought the King’s were going to be called on behalf of both him and his bestie. It was to his surprise when an all too familiar figure walked through the door, striking a fear he hadn’t known in three years into him. If Prince had never left, he knew his dad would never even answer a call from the school. Prince was smart enough to know that his dad only showed up to prove that he could. That was how Kadin Jameson got a hold of Prince, bringing him back to the childhood home that he didn’t think he’d be seeing ever again. Prince forgot just how strong his dad was, having attempted to retaliate not long after they reached the house– a retaliation which led to Prince getting brutally beat by his father, then leading to Matt stumbling across the situation and finally seeing just how bad things were before he moved in with the King’s.

“You shouldn’t have gone there.” Prince spoke, rummaging through the fridge to find an icepack now that they were finally home. He glanced over at Matt who obviously didn’t care what Prince said. “He could have seriously hurt you, or worse.” Prince pulled a bag of frozen peas out of the freezer. “But I appreciate it.” Handing the bag of peas to Matt, he eyed up his friend’s face. Prince was afraid he would get in trouble for putting Matt in danger whereas Matt seemed as cool as a cucumber, just like he always was. It sometimes irritated Prince, just slightly. Matt had this sense of knowing that everything was going to be okay. He’d grown up like that, with things just always being in a state of good. Prince wished he could look at the world like that but the layer of fear that always seemed to be just under the surface refused to go completely away. “Your face is swelling a bit. We’re going to have to keep ice on that to keep it down. And your cheek is going to scar right there–“ Prince tracer under the cut with his finger. “Can’t really do anything about it now but at least it’s stopped bleeding.” Prince frowned. It had been a while since his second nature of tending to wounds came out of him. It also felt slightly embarrassing that at only twelve years old he knew how to take care of any kind of wound. No matter how hard he tried he couldn’t shake the guilt over the fact that Matt had fallen into the wrath of Kadin. It wasn’t as if Matt was too badly shaken up, nor damaged, but Prince couldn’t help it. From before he was even five years old, he would step in and provoke his dad just to shift the rage from his mother to him and until he was eight he did the same exact thing with his sister. Prince just had this insinct to protect the people close to him, not caring if he suffered instead. It couldn’t be helped. He rolled his eyes when Matt started talking about how people might think he was tough with a scar on his face, anyway. Once again, he proved he just had a brighter outlook on life than Prince did. Prince sighed. “I’m going to go take a shower. I’m pretty sure my shirt’s got blood soaked into the back.” He wanted to be angry at Matt for showing up the way that he did but before he left to go be alone (and to avoid Matt’s parents coming home with Pandora and any of them seeing his bloody face) Prince wrapped both arms around his best friend, one hand patting his friend’s shoulder. When the gesture was returned, it hurt but not enough to make Prince pull away immediately. “Thanks, man. I’d be lost without you.” Were Prince’s last words to Matt before he finally retreated back upstairs to peel his uniform off and wash the reminder of the day’s events away.

{ v ;; katie and leo. 

       Though he was tending to her injury, Katie couldn’t help but beam up at Leo when he said they were going to have to keep ice on her hand, because she was so self-satisfied at the source of the pain. Katie had had her fair share of fights with other girls before and knocked out many the obnoxious, creepy guy in her radar but she felt more satisfied now than ever before. She never knew Eli having such amazing bone structure meant punching him in the jaw would shatter all feeling in her hand but here they were. "You can put ice wherever you want, Leo.” She was feeling playful regardless of the fact her hand was beginning to get it’s feeling back and the pain was ridiculous. She distracted him from nursing her hand back to full restoration by pulling him down to kiss her. They made out for a bit, only pulling away when she went to wrap her hand around his neck to grasp onto his hair but bending her knuckles made her gasp in pain and accidentally bite his lip. She chuckled innocently. “Sorry.” She pulled her arm back to herself and he was quick to reapply the hand towel which was filled with ice and wrapped tightly shut. Katie wasn’t the least-violent person in the world but it was mostly just petty cat-fights in the school hallway with girls that didn't like her. Every time she got called up to the principal’s office and her dad was called he always found a way to blame it on her hanging around with Leo Jameson, the ‘little troublemaker’ in her father’s words. She didn't fully understand that but at least each time the blame was never 100% focused on her. She was also known for defending herself and her friends whenever it came down to it. One time a guy in her P.E class snapped a picture of her stretching and her shirt hiked up a bit and she had shattered his phone and kicked him where the sun don’t shine. She got away with it, miraculously because she was sure if she got caught smashing another kids property that would be a final straw for her. Getting violent was no qualm to Katie Keller-Williams. However, getting violent with one of the closest people to her in her life was a bit unusual. She always brushed past Eli’s stupid comments and attempt to stir the pot between literally anybody. A lot of the time she honestly participated and he was likely more so the cause of any of the fights that Leo (who could not even be in the building at the time) got the blame for. Katie didn't care about Eli’s mischief except for when she was a victim of it. When he tried to rile Leo up about Katie and Jake, Katie didn’t even let the teasing turn on her before she finally did what she’d only dreamed of. “Eli is such a loser.” Her timing was off because Eli then entered the room, making a sarcastic comment about the fact that she was the one who got injured from there altercation. Despite her turn on him earlier in the evening, he was still Eli so she just retorted back with another sarcastic comment and things seem to go back to normal. Moments later her dad arrived to collect her, obviously a little worried to see Leo icing her fist and Katie could see from his expression and angrily quizzing the teens on what happened that he was ready to place all the blame on Leo. Katie smirked to herself, deciding to get the ultimate revenge on Eli, knowing how her dad was. She pouted innocently. “Eli tried to kiss me, and I broke my hand punching him in the face.” Her lie was directly quoting a movie but she already knew her dad was too stupid to pick up on it despite how many times he’d watched it with her. “He what?!” Paired with her dad’s fury aimed directly at Eli was satisfying enough for Katie.

❝ let me help with that. ❞

{ v ;; the princess and the moon. 

      Prince didn’t even hesitate to let Luna help. He stepped back and let her take over steaming his suit. It looked fine to him, he didn’t understand why Pandora had showed up with a fucking steamer over a week before the actual event– he didn’t even know where you could buy one of those. A week early, in Pandora’s words; “in case you mess it up.” Prince walked through the apartment to the kitchen where he grabbed a bottle of whatever alcohol was closest and two glasses before he returned to Luna. Prince had thought his suit looked fine earlier but as he re-entered the bedroom it somehow looked better. “How the fuck did you do that?” He didn’t even know how it looked better, what she had done to it to make it seem more pristine, but it did. He handed her a glass as she finished and led her to the bed. Admittedly he was a little stressed about having a wedding ceremony. The only thing he actually wanted to do was get married to and spend the rest of his life with Luna and he really didn’t have the biggest grasp on the whole kerfuffle of a big ceremony. He continued to go along with it, though, purely because it was what she wanted and as long as she was by his his side he didn’t actually mind it. They drank, and chatted about the wedding for a bit before Prince admitted his nerves about the performance of it all. “Matt is going to fuck something up, I know it. Nick and Cass are probably going to fight, and I really, really don’t know how to dance.” He finalised his rant with a pathetic chuckle, downing his drink in one. His last point was one of his largest stress points surrounding the big day. He knew Luna was quite good at dancing, whereas Prince only did it after one too many bottles of beer otherwise being as stiff as the tin-man in the Wizard of Oz. “Let me help with that.” She repeated her words from earlier before pulling him up onto the floor in the middle of their bedroom. It was weird to consider the man he was now compared to the boy he was when he first met Luna. He’d asked her to marry him, he saw himself spending the rest of his life with a woman that he loved. You couldn’t tell seventeen year old Prince that and have him believe it for a second, and it was certainly unimaginable of that same Prince to willingly get up and dance to a slow song in the middle of the night but he found himself, one hand on her waist, the other palm pressed flat against hers. Luna instructed Alexa to play their playlist and he followed her advice with each step and each movement she insisted he make. After a while it was no longer them practicing for their wedding but just a couple wrapped around each other, swaying carelessly and caring more about being close, and being together than anything else in the world. He peppered kisses along her exposed collarbone, her neck and along her jaw as somehow the shuffle turned on some Ariana Grande song which of course had Luna singing along. He pulled back, eyes searching hers. The smile on her face was horrendously infectious, making Prince laugh slightly. He stopped dancing and his bright smile faded to a grin. “Marry me.” He spoke. “Let’s get married.” Luna had actually joked a few times about them just getting hitched in secret and each time he’d have taken her up on it if he didn’t know the wedding ceremony was important to her dad but right now he was joking about it. She obviously didn’t pick up on what he was saying, insisting she was getting married to him. He shook his head, took both her hands in his and chuckled softly. “No, I mean marry me. Right now. Let’s go get married.” Good thing she helped steam his suit. 

{ v ;; no reason.

       Jason didn’t understand why putting a diaper on a baby was so difficult. The baby was smaller than his arm, the diapers even smaller again. He hadn’t expected it to be like wrestling with a rodent. He didn’t even know what he was doing that was messing it up. One moment he thought he would have control of the situation and when he crossed one side of the diaper to stick it shut, the other side would just follow and slide completely away from Freddie’s body. When the diaper took a mind of it’s own and fell to the floor Jason let out an exasperated sigh. He kept one hand on his son, as he did his best to keep Fred balanced on top of the changing table while also trying to pick up the free-willing nappy. The sound of Iola’s chuckle caused him to stand up straight, abandoning the stray nappy mission. He smiled coyly, embarrassed about how stupid he probably looked. “Let me help with that.” And she interjected, sliding between Jason and the changing table. He frowned. “You’re supposed to be sleeping.” He attempted. It was hard to believe they were losing so much sleep because of a kid that sleeps eighteen hours in a day but they were, and Jason had offered to take a shift while she get some shut-eye. Clearly that wasn’t working. He was distracted then when he realised she already had the diaper wrapped up and sealed and was re-dressing the baby. His eyes widened, he couldn’t believe that. “Y'know, babe, that is so unfair. They showed you how to do it at the hospital when I wasn’t even there. You’ve got the advantage.” When she was finished dressing him Jason reached over and picked Freddie up into his arms, cooing into his face like a mad-man. “How is he one week old but somehow so wriggly? I couldn’t get him to lay still at all.” He pressed his cheek to the top of Freddie’s head. It was still so beyond his understanding how a babies head was so soft. In fact, the whole concept of this tiny human in his arms was baffling to him. How were they the ones who created such an adorable, yet wriggly, soft-headed human? Jason couldn’t even make toast yet he could make a whole person? He didn’t get it. But then again, he also didn’t get diapers so who was he to judge the route the universe was taking him down? He sighed and leaned over Freddie to give Iola a kiss. “Thank you for helping, next time give me a tutorial. I should be able to let my girlfriend take a nap without being at risk of burning the whole place down.” Freddie made a small giggle-like noise but it was enough to send Iola and Jason into major heart-eyed parents and return to doting on their baby.

{ v ;; july 17th. 

        Zayn wasn’t sure anyone heard him come through the front door until he was walking past Leilani’s room and the conversation between his wife and daughter wasn’t even perturbed a little so he knew they hadn’t heard him. “I’m so bad at eyeliner.” Leilani whined. “Let m help with that.” And Zayn assumed the following silence was Ari tending to their daughters make-up. He was going to leave them in peace until he heard the words that came out of Leilani’s mouth next. “Mum, how did you know dad was the one?” It felt someway wrong for him to remain hovering at the door, prying on Ari’s answer to that question but they were married and she told him how much she loved him so often that he was sure she wouldn’t mind. His smile was illuminating as he pressed his ear to the already slightly-ajar bedroom door. Ari had no problem detailing the matter of her love for Zayn to their teenager. It was nice to hear after so many years of marriage, and so many years of struggling to get there, Ari still felt so strongly for him. Eventually he pushed open the door, feeling the silent intrusion was getting to be too much. “How are my girls?” He beamed, pretending like he’d only just gotten home. He crossed the room to press a kiss to Ari’s lips. He glanced down at Leilani and gasped dramatically, carrying on his dramatic act as he told her she looked gorgeous-- focusing on her eyeliner which of course he wouldn't have even noticed if he hadn’t overheard the conversation. Leilani’s energy matched his and she seemed to still be on the topic of her parents relationship, questioning Zayn on how he knew he loved Ari. His smile softened and he looked to Arianna, scrunching his face up sarcastically at her before he looked back to Leilani. “Well,” he glanced at Ari fondly again. “When we were young, we were on this reality show. I had to leave it because of work commitments and personal stuff. I told your mum I was leaving and she was more upset than I expected.” His eyes were now fully trained on his wife and he stopped talking to think about the day he left gyhab She had gotten mad with him, and then sad, and then offered to go with him wherever he went. He smiled and reached over to brush under her chin with his hand. “We were just friends at the time so I didn’t know it would mean so much for her to not have me there. She spent my entire last day with me and although I could tell she wanted to, she didn’t beg me to stay. She understood that I had to leave, for me. It was so hard to say goodbye that day, and I think if I stayed we might have gotten together sooner.” Zayn had never actually told Ari all of this, and it was weird telling it about her despite how his eyes were on her with every single word. He let out a nervous chuckle and looked back to their daughter, reminding himself she’d asked a question. “It was that time when I was away that I knew I wanted to always have her in my life, and returning to her only proved how strongly I felt.” He pressed a kiss to Ari’s forehead and both of them laughed when Leilani commented on how ‘soppy’ they were. He didn’t care. All he cared about was that through all of that he somehow did end up with Ari by his side, and a rake of wonderful kids and a zoo of animals. Of course he was going to be soppy, he’d earned it.

{ v ;; katie and leo.

         “Katie!” she rolled her eyes at the sound of her sister’s screeching voice from downstairs. “Someone’s at the door for you!” She ignored her, knowing Bella would either send whoever it was up or away. Part of her already knew it was Leo, whom Bella had a liking towards, so she wasn’t surprised when her best friend walked into her bedroom. She was in her closet when he came in, trying to reach a box on one of her top shelves. She had told her dad time and time again not to put stuff up there– she simply couldn’t reach. Leo appeared beside her, reaching for the shelf with ease. “Let me help with that.” He took down the shoes and she felt even worse that she needed his help. “How nice of you. Are you just being nice today or are you waiting for the wrong time to be a dickhead again?” She brushed past him to go sit on her bed. She was focused on tying her laces when he finally joined her. He was yet to speak again which was to his own detriment really because she just took that as her opportunity to keep going. “Or is it, nice to me when we’re alone in my bedroom and an asshole in front of your cousins? Just let me know because I really can’t keep up.” Katie couldn’t put into words how upset she was with Leo’s outburst at his house. She also was starting to wonder why she even hung around Eli anymore. All he did, time and time again, was cause trouble for her and Leo. Sure, she participated when the mischief wasn’t aimed at her but when it was, she couldn’t stand it. He made things difficult for a pair of people that were more than capable of making things difficult for themselves without any help. On her bedside table, there was a photo of her mum that she had snuck from the pile Leo had shown them. There had been plenty of photos of both her parents but she liked to remember her mum as just that, just her, not as someone’s wife or girlfriend, especially now she knew what she did. He started to apologise and she looked away from the polaroid, and got off the bed. “Whatever, Leo. I don’t need you to be sorry. I’m sick of you being a dick to me and thinking an apology is reason enough to get away with it.” She was in front of her mirror now, spinning and sticking out her legs in front of her, trying to decide if she liked the shoes with the outfit or not. She could see him looking at her in the reflection and it was too distracting for her to focus on something so minuscule like her outfit. She turned back to him. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about your parents but I didn’t think you’d want to know. I certainly didn’t want to know about mine but you didn’t give me a choice in the matter.” She didn’t want to get emotional but when it came to her mother it was almost impossible not to. She was more than aware that her dad was a bit of a loser and undeserving of her mother but at the same time that was still her dad, she loved him more than anything. He didn’t have to be perfect, he was a good dad and that was all that mattered to her. She couldn’t stand the thought of knowing he hurt her mother though. She only had a few memories of her mum but to her recollection she was the kindest and sweetest person in the world. Her dad had told her a little bit about how Cass had grown up, how her family resented her because she was a result of her mother’s infidelity, how she’d struggled with her self-confidence, how she spent her teen years miserable because of all of it. She couldn’t comprehend how her dad could know all that and still cheat on her. She didn’t want to get emotional but it couldn’t be helped. “You’re such a dickhead.” She wiped roughly and quickly at her eyes before he could even notice though it was probably the tremble in her tone that would give her away. “You have both your parents and they’re like this fairytale couple, and I was letting you think they were perfect because I can only wish to have that. So fucking what if your dad left? He came back, didn’t he? They got married and had you and Sage, didn’t they?” Any sign of tearing up earlier was beginning to get washed away by the pure rage she was beginning to feel. It wasn’t so much fury with what he’d said, but a crippling jealousy of his perfect home-life. Interrupting her rant, a car horn outside caused her to jump slightly. She cursed silently and looked out the window to see Jake waiting patiently in his car. She sighed and turned to Leo. “I have to go.” She sighed and grabbed her gym bag and jacket and made an exit so quick that Leo wouldn’t be able to get a word in. Adding to her mood on the way out was Aria’s “was there a boy in your room? Your dad is going to kill you.” Katie didn’t know who her dad cheated on her mum with but she knew he dated Aria when they were young. She wondered if Aria was the mystery girl and it only fuelled her to tell Aria to “shut the fuck up” before she was finally hopping into the front seat of Jakes car. Only two seconds later Leo walked out of the house causing Maia to lean forward from the back seat. “Who is that? Is he single? He’s fit as fuck.” Katie wanted to glare at the blonde but as Jake started the car, she just shrugged. “My dads friends son.”

❝ i’ll never let you go. ❞

{ v ;; the princess and the moon.

         Prince rolled his eyes when Cassie was the one to answer the door. He really wasn’t in the mood to see anyone but his girlfriend right now so he just ignored the irritation on the brunette’s face and made his way to Luna’s room. She was at her desk as he walked in so he made a small noise to alert her of his presence. The way she smiled at him was illuminating. He wanted to snap a picture so he could look at that smile forever. He didn’t give her much of the same energy she was radiating. He sighed and put his face in his hands which obviously only warranted concern from the Spaniard. He glanced over to her. “I had deja vu today.” He spoke, almost matter-of-factly, it having no relevance to his story to come. He told her what he thought deja vu meant, knowing the only reason she wasn’t shutting him up was simply because she just wanted to know what his point was. “Like, when I was five years old and I came home from school looking for my mum and she’d gone away.” He frowned. “Deja vu being feeling that all over again, coming home to no Elizabeth, again. Not knowing what I’ve done to get such a shit mum, again.” Prince chuckled despite his lack of amusement. “Looks like I’ve gotten smarter since I was a kid, though. Today, it only took me two minutes to figure out what the empty room meant.” He could feel the weight on his chest as he spoke the words. From the day Elizabeth had showed up at his front door, Prince didn’t even think his hopes were up too high. He didn’t have any expectations, and he never said nor acted like he wanted her to stick around. Prince didn’t let on that he wanted her to stay because deep down he wanted her to want to stay. If she was going to stay and finally act like his family, he wanted it to be her choice. He wasn’t too shocked when the choice she actually made was quite the opposite but Prince couldn’t pretend any longer like it didn’t hurt, like the repetition from his childhood didn’t sting. He felt the dip on the bed beside him. He was aware that Luna didn’t like nor did she trust his mother from the second he’d revealed he’d been helping her as of late but he knew she wasn’t going to make him feel guilty for it. What he didn’t know was how vulnerable he was going to feel, how ready to talk about this he was. He’d told Luna countless stories about his childhood before, from school days with Matt, to bad memories featuring his dad and all the time he had to be more of a parent to his sister than a brother. His stories never included his mum. He never talked about how he felt when she left, how he found out, how he coped. The only mention of her ever was one time, telling Luna she left and he never brought it up again. Now was different. He found himself opening up, talking to her about the day he came home from school and his dad told him his mum was gone and how he didn’t understand it. He told her about the first few weeks living in Matt’s house, how he kept thinking Elizabeth would hear they weren’t with their dad anymore and maybe she would come and get them. He opened up, telling her that he looked for her for nearly two years from when he was aged fourteen. Prince told Luna everything and at the end he sighed and shook his head. “I should have known better, but I didn’t. It was inevitable for her to leave again. Why would she stay?” He paused and looked away from Luna. “Why would anyone?” That was when Luna finally took her turn to speak, forcing Prince to look back at her, despite his resistance. His eyes searched her face and his cheeks flushed, slightly embarrassed about his self-deprecating comment. “I’ll never let you go.” She insisted and he remained silent. “You don’t need her, okay? She doesn’t deserve to see the wonderful person you turned out to be, and she sure as hell doesn’t deserve to get you riled up like this.” Prince didn’t understand it when she called him a ‘wonderful person’ but he believed it was  what she thought and he wasn’t going to argue it. Maybe she had a point. His mother wasn’t worth this grief and upset. Tired of feeling so pathetic, Prince kissed Luna. He wasn’t used to talking as much as he did today and kissing was his way of getting out of it. He finally pulled away to tuck his face into the crook of her neck and murmur the words “I love you.”

{ v ;; no reason. 

        Jason didn’t understand the emotion on his mother’s face as she told him how much she loved him. She'd been acting weird lately, getting up in the middle of the night to do laundry in the sink with a washboard despite them having a washing machine and dryer, and constantly talking about ‘the sisters’ and having to behave or ‘the sisters’ would punish them. She would check the clock insisting she didn't know why she was allowed around the kids for more than an hour and why no one was supervising. Jason knew she was behaving strangely but she’d always been a little strange. What was so different this time? He soon found out when his dad pulled Jason from the tearful embrace he shared with his mother. Two men entered the house along with a woman dressed as a nurse. His dad explained to him that his mother was ‘going away for a while’ but Jason knew what that meant. Tears streamed down his face as his father held a tight grasp around him, pulling him back despite all of his screaming and shouting. “No! You can’t take her away!” Soon his fighting just turned into him openly sobbing in his dad’s arms, even as he told him to ‘stop fucking crying’ every two minutes. He punched his dad’s chest, again and again but it was to no avail. His dad was stronger than him and the punches did nothing to encourage him to release Jason. Eventually, he let go, when the car was finally out of the drive. Neighbours emerged from their houses to get a look at the shrieking teen boy but Jason didn’t care. 

Jason woke with a start, sweat soaking his back. He panted heavily, trying to catch his breath. His face felt wet and he wasn’t sure if it was because he was sweating that much or the tears from his dream were real. A hand on his arm shocked him and he jumped away from the touch slightly before his gaze landed on Iola and the sight of her was enough to bring him back to reality, confirming he wasn’t back in Scotland at fourteen years old. She asked what was going on but he had his hand on his chest, still trying to catch his breath, unable to answer her. He managed to gasp out that he needed water and she was barely to the kitchen back in thirty seconds. He was sitting at the edge of the bed now, his feet touching the cold wood floor which was kind of soothing in bringing him back down to reality. Iola slipped down beside him, handing him   the water and rubbing his back. A few deep breaths later, the glass empty, Jason finally detailed his dream/memory to his wife, clutching her hand with every word. “Sorry for waking you.” Jason had never actually had this happen to him before. He didn’t really suffer from nightmares, if anything he was constantly having strange dreams which he always relayed to Iola in the morning like the time he dreamed he was appointed mayor of the moon and another time he had a very, very vivid dream that he took Zayn’s place in One Direction and became the most popular member. That had been his favourite. This time was different. The nightmare was based on memory, something that actually happened and it was scary. He couldn’t get back to sleep afterwards so him and Iola curled back into bed together and she stayed up with him talking. She was good at taking his mind off of it but eventually he couldn’t not think about why the nightmare happened. He was busy playing with her hand, her fingers twirling around his until he moved his hand again to get her to follow, then intertwining their fingers and shifting his hand yet again, both giggling softly at the small yet stupid movements, when he got a sudden wave of anxiety. He sighed and dropped his hand into his lap. He started talking about the memory, rather than the dream, telling her that despite his mum’s weird behaviour up until that moment he hadn’t expected his father to send her away. Even now in his thirties he couldn’t understand it. He considered not saying the next thing but he wanted to be open with her. “That day is why I was so afraid of getting married and starting a family with you. I just don’t understand how he could look at the woman he loved and decide to send her away. He just let her go, like she was this burden. And he always compared me to her so I guess I just thought...” He let the sentence die in his throat. Even now, he got embarrassed telling her how unworthy he always felt of her love, after all this time. But she always knew how to handle him. She cradled his face in her hands and her eyes searched his until he finally looked at her. She kissed him and he didn’t hesitate to respond. “I will never let you go.” His eyes fluttered open as she pulled away to speak. His chest felt heavy, but in a good way. In a ‘my heart is beating dangerously fast because I love this girl so much’ kind of way. He smiled and kissed her again, pushing his appreciation into his actions as his hands glided up her back.

{ v ;; July 17th. 

       Sometimes, Zayn woke up and he forgot what they were going through. Sometimes, he rolled over to see his fiancee, fast asleep, and would smile because of how peaceful she looked. There were moments, of sleepiness and exhaustion, where the bad stuff wasn’t the first thing he remembered. Then, there were times that it was all he could think of. He had restless nights when his horrible thoughts wouldn’t let him fall asleep and he had nights where he woke with a start, dreaming of things that were their reality. This time, he woke up slowly, a half-groan, half-sigh falling from his lips. He stirred slightly, feeling a weight on his chest. Blinking one eye open, he glanced at the abundance of hair sprawled across his body, Ari’s arm wrapped over his torso. He smiled. She didn’t look all that comfortable but she still somehow managed to sleep soundly. He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead and did his best not to wake her as he lifted her slightly so he could crawl out of the bed. He wasn’t sure what time it was but it was still dark out. As he got out of the bed, so too did Hatchi, while the other animals who hadn’t been sleeping with the couple all gathered around Zayn’s feet on the floor of the bedroom. A little zoo. He stretched his arms over his head and made his way downstairs to the kitchen, momentarily wondering if the sound of all of the dogs paws and claws scratching against the floorboards would wake Ari. It felt noisy as hell to him, anyway. He wasn’t really sure why he had gotten out of bed, just to stretch his legs he supposed. He walked into the kitchen but he wasn’t hungry, and it was too late/early for coffee. He decided to just have a cigarette and let the dogs out for five minutes. Alone, it was difficult not to think about everything. There hadn’t been a day where he didn’t get flashbacks to the day in the hospital. Watching the doctors face fall as Zayn asked why he couldn’t hold his son, watching Ari try not to cry but failing, just the same as him. He cried then, but he hasn’t cried since. Coming home from the hospital was just pure emptiness; there should have been three of them. There wasn’t. Zayn was freed from his thoughts when the animals started scratching on the door to be let back in. Zayn sighed and stomped his cigarette out in the ashtray before returning to bed. Ari had seemingly changed position, without Zayn to hold onto, now rolled over to her own side of the bed, lying flat. His lips tugged upwards, seeing how serene she seemed. He watched as Hatchi jumped back up onto the bed, settling at Ari’s feet. Zayn lifted the covers and tried to be silent as he lay back down. Out of nowhere, her hand reached across the bed, moving all around as though she was searching, and failing, to find him until both of his hands reached over and took hers, slowing her actions down. “Hey, hey, I’m here, babe.” He whispered, despite how she was still asleep through her search for his presence in the bed. He kissed her hand, still crowded in both of his. “I’m here.” He repeated. It was unwarranted, when his eyes starting filling up with tears, the anxiety flooding his chest. He rolled over on the bed, releasing her hand so he could fold up against her body. He repeated saying that he was there, his words mangling with his tears until he was no longer saying anything and just silently crying. He heard his name, his sudden outburst a probable cause for her waking up. He felt her hands in his hair and he shifted so his face was tucked into the crook of her neck. “I’m sorry.” He sobbed, repeating the words even unsure of what he was apologising for. They’d been threading on egg shells the last year. They’d grown so distant that half the time Zayn wasn’t even sure their relationship was salvageable. The idea of a wedding didn’t seem realistic anymore. It was all on him. He started ignoring her, started looking for something that could heal him that wasn’t her. All of their conversations ended with him walking away, or her going to bed. Nothing was right and it hadn’t been for a while which was why this breakdown was so unusual. Zayn pretended like they hadn’t gone through what they did. Being away from her was his way of pretending. He didn’t want to pretend anymore and he didn’t want to shove their relationship under the rug. For some reason, now, in the dead of night, he was completely falling apart because of all of this. So much so he’d woken her up but he appreciated her just accepting his breakdown, holding him as he sobbed. He didn’t speak anymore, just crying in the arms of his fiancee. From his throat came a sob, so raw that he was sure he could feel tears on Ari’s cheeks now too. It was a while before he came back around to reality, wiping his gross, snotty nose on his sleeve and dabbing at his eyes. He wasn’t embarrassed as Ari cradled him through it, but he knew he had to talk about it. He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I don’t—“ It was so unusual. He had barely spoken to her like a normal human being in a relationship the last few months yet he seemed to break that silence by weeping in her arms. It was like nothing he’d ever experienced, the pain in his chest, the tightening around his vocal cords. Zayn had had panic attacks in the past but this didn’t feel like that, he felt like he was going to die in the minutes he spent crying in her arms. It was difficult to now try get a grasp on his breathing, having to physically open his mouth catching every bit of air he could. “I don’t want to lose you, I don’t want to lose this.” He said, out of nowhere for both of them. Every time in the last year he thought about their relationship, a part of him just expected it was going to end someday soon but he never thought further. He never considered going home to try and save it. He just accepted it, but now it seemed to be his priority. He shook his head again. “I don’t deserve any more chances, I don’t deserve to still be waking up next to you but I am and I--” Out of nowhere he felt weighed down by feelings of anxiety yet again and he found himself struggling to breathe, unable to finish his sentence. Ari knew what to do, she always did. She helped him breathe through it, in and out, in and out and eventually she calmed him down. He felt her lips graze his hairline. “I will never let you go.” And it only reassured him because he could feel in her tone that she meant it.

#1. i will continue to steal ur meme layout sorry ABOUT it #2. my last july 17th meme was written for another prompt FOREVER ago im so lazy throwing this prompt into the end #3. prince :(((( #also I switched the matt pov bc it suited ok gdbye #and honestly ashton WHO i don't know him #me giving z and Ari a backstory that doesn't add up to their relationship??? why not! #{ v ;; the princess and the moon. #{ v ;; no reason. #{ v ;; phases. #{ ;; july 17th. #{ b ;; partners in crime. #beencaughts #memed

[easyfoodnetwork]

The Ultimate Guide to Fruity, Milky, and Other Exciting Specialty Drinks

What to get in the drinks aisle of an international grocery store? Consider these.

I’ve always found joy in the little things in life — the smell of a new book, blank stationery, and a small soft drink carton waiting for me in the fridge. I never outgrew these joys, and I invested in my soft drink passion especially. I know, I know, there is a common trope about millennials who infantilize themselves because society won’t let them buy houses and save money, and I agree! But the quest for gourmet soda is particularly exciting. The reward? A salve at the end of the day.

As my journey in life takes me to more and more international grocery stores, I’ve ventured farther into the beverage aisles, and when the cool air of the fridge hits my face, I edge closer to the fluorescent light and reach toward the cold carton, bottle, or can of a new or familiar joy. Sure, you can always get something alcoholic, but for those of us who don’t want to exacerbate our GERD (hello, 30s), are addicted to sugar, or don’t want to spend more than $5, there is the wonderful world of speciality soft drinks. First, some general tips:

1) Find an international grocery store or immigrant-owned bodega

Chances are you won’t find specialty sodas and juices at Target or Walmart unless they’re manufactured by an American brand. Look up Japanese, Korean, South Asian, Middle Eastern, Mexican, and Chinese grocery stores (or any other kind!) in your area. While you’re there, pick up some pantry staples and make sure you’re respectful of the other shoppers. If you live by an immigrant-owned bodega, take a closer look at their shelves.

2) Don’t be a coward

Just because you can’t read the language on the packaging of a drink, and just because you’ve never had it before, doesn’t mean it’s a mystery of the vast unknown. Be brave! You could end up discovering your holy grail drink! And if you hate it, that’s also okay. It’s not going to cost you much to find out. If you’re really curious, though, there’s sometimes an import sticker that states what it is in English.

3) Look for the beverages in the fridge and on the shelves

There are instances when those working the stores haven’t had the time to fill up the fridge. Be mindful of stacked cartons or bottles around the store, where potential new favorites could be hiding out. Other kinds of drinks will be placed not in the fridges but on dry shelves in the interior of the store.

4) Once you find a favorite, take a picture of the packaging

Be sure to take a picture of something you really liked for future visits and file it into a folder on your phone — it’ll help you repurchase your favorites and also prevent any mix-ups between similarly shaped or designed bottles.

The ones to know:

Here are very few of my personal favorites, split into the categories of “fruity” and “milky.” Fruity drinks are evergreen, but especially appropriate for the times when you want the feeling of summer. Milky drinks are a little more substantial, better suited for the days when you’re craving something closer to a dessert.

Fruity

Suntory honey lemon

My holy grail of fruity drinks. I have only had the luck of having this once in my life, and I have been searching for it ever since. Achieving the perfect balance of sweet and sour, it feels familiar (because it’s honey and lemon) but also completely new because it doesn’t remind you of that familiar cold/flu combo. Like all excellent soft drinks, it has a sophistication from the first to the last sip.

Taisun winter melon drink

Winter melon (aka white gourd) is popular in Taiwan and has got to be the best double agent of all time. In its raw form, it tastes pretty neutral, which makes it well-suited as a savory vegetable dish. Once you add sugar to its juices, though, it transforms, giving off burnt caramel notes that makes it the most dessert-like fruit drink maybe ever. It’s in my top five of all time. I have consumed plenty of Taisun cans, and I hereby encourage everyone to try my regular boba order (winter melon tea with salty foam) if it’s your first time.

Suntory Gokuri grapefruit

Again with another heavyweight, Suntory offers us Gokuri. As well as having the sexiest packaging (aluminum tinned bottles, generous girth, amazing colors and design), it also is the best citrus soda. Its grapefruit and cassis an orange flavors are clear winners, and the peach flavor is also good (though I usually prefer a non-carbonated peach).

Rubicon

Sing it with me now: lychee, mango, guava, passionfruit. If my childhood were a table, these four would be its legs. Though these drinks are common in the U.K., they’re a little harder to come by in NYC, where I’m located now. Somewhere in between juice and lassi, Rubicon’s drinks are sweet, thick in consistency, and truly a delight to all those who have an affinity for — yes — lychee, mango, guava, and passionfruit. Get them anywhere you can, most likely at a South Asian grocery store, and for the love of god, don’t buy the sparkling versions.

San Pellegrino prickly pear and orange

The blood orange flavor of these foil-wrapped cans gets a lot of airtime with soft drink enthusiasts, but o-ho! Let me tell you about the rare and best flavor of San Pellegrino. Prickly pear, also known as nopal, is a cactus that can be used in savory cooking but also eaten as a fruit. This flavor sets itself apart from other San Pellegrino varieties in that it doesn’t taste as artificial, which is hard to achieve with carbonated sodas.

Bruce Cost jasmine green tea ginger ale

I never really understood the love for ginger ale until I tried Bruce Cost’s. With other ginger ales, the ginger is too strong, or the sugar too sweet to counteract the ginger, but the beauty of Bruce Cost’s ginger ale is that it’s infused with flavors that you wouldn’t think would work — and yet they do. Jasmine green tea is amazing all by itself, but with the ginger ale flavor, it’s a perfect union.

Ikea elderflower drink/Belvoir elderflower presse or cordial

Elderflower is popular around northwestern and central Europe, and has a distinctly elegant taste that is a heavy-hitter by itself and with cocktails. If your store has a specialty shelf dedicated to the friends across the pond, you may have some luck in finding Belvoir, an elderflower cordial popular with us Brits. If not, perhaps you can scoop a carton or bottle of “Dryk Flader” next time you’re at Ikea trying to satisfy your meatball craving.

Suanmeitang (Chinese sour plum juice)

If, like me, your only experience of plum juice is to fix some… uh… bowel issues, then I understand the hesitation with trying suanmeitang. But this is an all-around winner: a sweet, sour, and very slightly salty plum juice, in an adorable bottle, that, yes, helps with digestion — because bowel movement is important! Grow up! You can likely find suanmeitang at most Chinese grocery stores.

Milky

Vitasoy black sesame

If you’ve ever been to HMart or an East Asian supermarket, you might have seen these cartons in a variety of colors to denote different flavors. But nothing reigns more supreme than the black sesame flavor: A milky backdrop complements the nuttiness of the black sesame and makes for a great drinkable dessert.

Marusan Hojicha milk tea

Milk tea is tea leaves steeped in milk in various combinations. You have oolong, darjeeling, and other forms (which I encourage you to try if you haven’t), but hojicha is my personal favorite. Hojicha is the more elegant sister of matcha: Whereas matcha leans more fresh and grassy, hojicha is the roasted version, and provides a deeper and earthier flavor. I recommend finding hojicha leaves and having them for hot tea (or finding sachets for a hojicha instant latte), but if you want a soothing cold version, hojicha milk tea in the carton is unbeatable. Marusan’s uses soy milk, which helps with any lactose intolerance.

Yakult probiotic drink

A legend, an icon. Nothing can replace the tangy sweetness of this watery liquid. She mainstreamed and we still love her. Does she actually help with good gut bacteria? Do we care either way?

T.Grand Assam milk tea

Assam tea is produced in Assam, India, and it’s a pretty singular black tea flavor. It tastes a little bit like fragrant burnt sugar or earthy caramel. Adding milk nestles that flavor into your palate and imparts an astounding flavor somewhere between creamy and fruity, floral and nutty. It has crisp notes, much like oolong, but the taste itself is rounded out. I prefer T.Grand’s version, partly because of its “My Way My Life My Milk Tea” caption on the cartons (damn straight!), but UCC has Assam milk tea too.

Bikkle yogurt drink

For those who need a little more of Yakult, and the tiny bottles simply don’t hit, we have Bikkle’s yogurt drink. Much like Calpis, it’s a yogurt drink that tastes less like lactose and more like a kind of sugar that does something to the pleasure center of the brain. It has a better taste and consistency than Calpis, and does not give me a tummy ache, so it’s a win all-around.

• Get Yourself a Specialty Soda, as a Treat [E]

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/3fh1oJh https://ift.tt/2XfgsB8

What to get in the drinks aisle of an international grocery store? Consider these.

I’ve always found joy in the little things in life — the smell of a new book, blank stationery, and a small soft drink carton waiting for me in the fridge. I never outgrew these joys, and I invested in my soft drink passion especially. I know, I know, there is a common trope about millennials who infantilize themselves because society won’t let them buy houses and save money, and I agree! But the quest for gourmet soda is particularly exciting. The reward? A salve at the end of the day.

As my journey in life takes me to more and more international grocery stores, I’ve ventured farther into the beverage aisles, and when the cool air of the fridge hits my face, I edge closer to the fluorescent light and reach toward the cold carton, bottle, or can of a new or familiar joy. Sure, you can always get something alcoholic, but for those of us who don’t want to exacerbate our GERD (hello, 30s), are addicted to sugar, or don’t want to spend more than $5, there is the wonderful world of speciality soft drinks. First, some general tips:

1) Find an international grocery store or immigrant-owned bodega

Chances are you won’t find specialty sodas and juices at Target or Walmart unless they’re manufactured by an American brand. Look up Japanese, Korean, South Asian, Middle Eastern, Mexican, and Chinese grocery stores (or any other kind!) in your area. While you’re there, pick up some pantry staples and make sure you’re respectful of the other shoppers. If you live by an immigrant-owned bodega, take a closer look at their shelves.

2) Don’t be a coward

Just because you can’t read the language on the packaging of a drink, and just because you’ve never had it before, doesn’t mean it’s a mystery of the vast unknown. Be brave! You could end up discovering your holy grail drink! And if you hate it, that’s also okay. It’s not going to cost you much to find out. If you’re really curious, though, there’s sometimes an import sticker that states what it is in English.

3) Look for the beverages in the fridge and on the shelves

There are instances when those working the stores haven’t had the time to fill up the fridge. Be mindful of stacked cartons or bottles around the store, where potential new favorites could be hiding out. Other kinds of drinks will be placed not in the fridges but on dry shelves in the interior of the store.

4) Once you find a favorite, take a picture of the packaging

Be sure to take a picture of something you really liked for future visits and file it into a folder on your phone — it’ll help you repurchase your favorites and also prevent any mix-ups between similarly shaped or designed bottles.

The ones to know:

Here are very few of my personal favorites, split into the categories of “fruity” and “milky.” Fruity drinks are evergreen, but especially appropriate for the times when you want the feeling of summer. Milky drinks are a little more substantial, better suited for the days when you’re craving something closer to a dessert.

Fruity

Suntory honey lemon

My holy grail of fruity drinks. I have only had the luck of having this once in my life, and I have been searching for it ever since. Achieving the perfect balance of sweet and sour, it feels familiar (because it’s honey and lemon) but also completely new because it doesn’t remind you of that familiar cold/flu combo. Like all excellent soft drinks, it has a sophistication from the first to the last sip.

Taisun winter melon drink

Winter melon (aka white gourd) is popular in Taiwan and has got to be the best double agent of all time. In its raw form, it tastes pretty neutral, which makes it well-suited as a savory vegetable dish. Once you add sugar to its juices, though, it transforms, giving off burnt caramel notes that makes it the most dessert-like fruit drink maybe ever. It’s in my top five of all time. I have consumed plenty of Taisun cans, and I hereby encourage everyone to try my regular boba order (winter melon tea with salty foam) if it’s your first time.

Suntory Gokuri grapefruit

Again with another heavyweight, Suntory offers us Gokuri. As well as having the sexiest packaging (aluminum tinned bottles, generous girth, amazing colors and design), it also is the best citrus soda. Its grapefruit and cassis an orange flavors are clear winners, and the peach flavor is also good (though I usually prefer a non-carbonated peach).

Rubicon

Sing it with me now: lychee, mango, guava, passionfruit. If my childhood were a table, these four would be its legs. Though these drinks are common in the U.K., they’re a little harder to come by in NYC, where I’m located now. Somewhere in between juice and lassi, Rubicon’s drinks are sweet, thick in consistency, and truly a delight to all those who have an affinity for — yes — lychee, mango, guava, and passionfruit. Get them anywhere you can, most likely at a South Asian grocery store, and for the love of god, don’t buy the sparkling versions.

San Pellegrino prickly pear and orange

The blood orange flavor of these foil-wrapped cans gets a lot of airtime with soft drink enthusiasts, but o-ho! Let me tell you about the rare and best flavor of San Pellegrino. Prickly pear, also known as nopal, is a cactus that can be used in savory cooking but also eaten as a fruit. This flavor sets itself apart from other San Pellegrino varieties in that it doesn’t taste as artificial, which is hard to achieve with carbonated sodas.

Bruce Cost jasmine green tea ginger ale

I never really understood the love for ginger ale until I tried Bruce Cost’s. With other ginger ales, the ginger is too strong, or the sugar too sweet to counteract the ginger, but the beauty of Bruce Cost’s ginger ale is that it’s infused with flavors that you wouldn’t think would work — and yet they do. Jasmine green tea is amazing all by itself, but with the ginger ale flavor, it’s a perfect union.

Ikea elderflower drink/Belvoir elderflower presse or cordial

Elderflower is popular around northwestern and central Europe, and has a distinctly elegant taste that is a heavy-hitter by itself and with cocktails. If your store has a specialty shelf dedicated to the friends across the pond, you may have some luck in finding Belvoir, an elderflower cordial popular with us Brits. If not, perhaps you can scoop a carton or bottle of “Dryk Flader” next time you’re at Ikea trying to satisfy your meatball craving.

Suanmeitang (Chinese sour plum juice)

If, like me, your only experience of plum juice is to fix some… uh… bowel issues, then I understand the hesitation with trying suanmeitang. But this is an all-around winner: a sweet, sour, and very slightly salty plum juice, in an adorable bottle, that, yes, helps with digestion — because bowel movement is important! Grow up! You can likely find suanmeitang at most Chinese grocery stores.

Milky

Vitasoy black sesame

If you’ve ever been to HMart or an East Asian supermarket, you might have seen these cartons in a variety of colors to denote different flavors. But nothing reigns more supreme than the black sesame flavor: A milky backdrop complements the nuttiness of the black sesame and makes for a great drinkable dessert.

Marusan Hojicha milk tea

Milk tea is tea leaves steeped in milk in various combinations. You have oolong, darjeeling, and other forms (which I encourage you to try if you haven’t), but hojicha is my personal favorite. Hojicha is the more elegant sister of matcha: Whereas matcha leans more fresh and grassy, hojicha is the roasted version, and provides a deeper and earthier flavor. I recommend finding hojicha leaves and having them for hot tea (or finding sachets for a hojicha instant latte), but if you want a soothing cold version, hojicha milk tea in the carton is unbeatable. Marusan’s uses soy milk, which helps with any lactose intolerance.

Yakult probiotic drink

A legend, an icon. Nothing can replace the tangy sweetness of this watery liquid. She mainstreamed and we still love her. Does she actually help with good gut bacteria? Do we care either way?

T.Grand Assam milk tea

Assam tea is produced in Assam, India, and it’s a pretty singular black tea flavor. It tastes a little bit like fragrant burnt sugar or earthy caramel. Adding milk nestles that flavor into your palate and imparts an astounding flavor somewhere between creamy and fruity, floral and nutty. It has crisp notes, much like oolong, but the taste itself is rounded out. I prefer T.Grand’s version, partly because of its “My Way My Life My Milk Tea” caption on the cartons (damn straight!), but UCC has Assam milk tea too.

Bikkle yogurt drink

For those who need a little more of Yakult, and the tiny bottles simply don’t hit, we have Bikkle’s yogurt drink. Much like Calpis, it’s a yogurt drink that tastes less like lactose and more like a kind of sugar that does something to the pleasure center of the brain. It has a better taste and consistency than Calpis, and does not give me a tummy ache, so it’s a win all-around.

• Get Yourself a Specialty Soda, as a Treat [E]

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[pen-masta]

Crystallizing Cyclone Part 1

Castel and Joy venture out into the mountains for a few days stay in a cabin, when mother nature turns against them.

“Come on slow poke!” She laughs racing up the trail as fast as the snow will let her.

He smiles and jumps over the fallen log.

“I’m coming,” he chuckles zooming up to her.

She smiles brightly at him.

“What does the GPS say?” She asks taking her thermos out and sipping the water from inside.

He looks down at the little rectangle in his mittened hand. The screen shines bright showing a little blue triangle moving along on the virtual trail. It blinks reading that their destination was another four miles up the mountain.

“Four more miles Jo-jo,” he huffs a white cloud feathering out into the air around his mouth.

“Well we’re closer now than we were before,” she grins positively. “You wanna take a break or keep going?”

He mulls over her offer glancing at his watch. They started hiking at about eight it’s now about two o’clock and they’ve traveled five of the nine miles of their whole trip. They’re traveling roughly about a mile an hour which is pretty good. They haven’t stopped for an official break yet, they’ve just been drinking their water and eating granola bars as they walked. If they keep going at this rate they will arrive at the cabin around six o’clock. He supposes if they stop for a few minutes it won’t put they behind schedule too much.

“Sure we can take a break,” he smiles at her.

She grins and skips over to a dead log and brushes some of the snow off. They sit for a minute resting their packs on the ground. Castel calculates their position on his mobile map while Joy takes out her camera. He watches in his peripheral vision as she fiddles with the settings before snapping a picture of the landscape. They’ve been wanting to make this trip for a few years now, but they’ve never really had the time until now. 

Of course being the owner of his own company he could easily take some time off, but Joy did not have that luxury. With plays running all the time she never got too much of break seeing that she was the only make-up artist the owner of the theater had. But Joy had recently been laid off...the last play did not hit the high dollars in the box office causing some backlash on the small theater group. That had been a few weeks ago and Joy’s quest for a new way to pay the bills has been fruitless...and kind of stressful. No better time to escape society with your best friend! He had proposed the idea to her last week and was happy he did; her eyes lit up and agreed it was a brilliant plan.

He watches her snap several pictures of the scenery, the few signs of life that poke out of the frozen powdery water that covers the ground, and the little bit of wildlife that runs and flies around them. He scrolls over the directions on his phone before pulling his compass out of his pocket to make sure they are still heading in the right direction.

“This is nice,” her voice suddenly breaks through the calm silence.

He blinks and looks up at her. She’s smiling at him, her face bright and full of color. He smiles back, happy to see her returning to her old self again. The past few weeks were full of anxiety as she went to job interview after job interview, trying to figure out how she was going to pay her rent, trying to ration the food she had left in her apartment not wanting to dip into her savings to go shopping. She was positive at first, but after the fourth job rejection she started to grow worried. He offered to gift her whatever money she needed, but she refused to take it. “I don’t need a hand out especially not from my best friend,” she had said. “I’m a grown woman Cassie I can handle this myself.”

He knew she could take care of herself he had no doubt, but everyone needs some help every now and then. So if she wouldn’t take his money directly he’d find other ways to help her. So he started to invite her over for meals more often--blaming it on him not wanting to be alone in the big house. He’d put a few extra bills in her wallet while she was in the bathroom, not so many she’d notice the growing amount but enough to help. He sectioned a part of his house off for her, telling her she could use it for anything she wanted--a new art studio, a place to sleep, storage space, whatever she pleased. He’s glad she’s moved some of her stuff into the wing, because at the rate this is going he’s afraid she may lose her apartment.

But he doesn’t want to think about that, this whole trip was to escape their reality for a little while. They’ll deal with their problems when they get back and it’ll work out. Maybe she’ll let him pay off her rent, maybe she’ll take his money, or maybe she’ll just move into his house--he’s hoping for the latter just because it’ll ease his mind and he’ll know she’s safe.

He smiles and takes two more protein bars out of his bag.

“Yes it is very nice,” he nods and holds a bar out to her.

She nods and takes one from him. He tears the other open with his teeth and takes a bite out of the bar as his eyes dart between the virtual map and his compass. He looks at his watch and swallows the wad in his mouth even though it’s only half chewed.

“We should get going,” he says in hast.

“Why?” She asks sipping her water.

“The radar says there’s a bad storm coming,” he says tossing his pack over his shoulder. “We need to get to the cabin before it hits.”

She looks up at the blue sky with the sun shining bright high above their heads. She looks back at him and smirks cocking her eyebrow.

“A storm Cassie? Really?”

“Yes Joy,” he nods and stuffs his compass back into his pocket. “I know it sounds ridiculous with the great weather we’re having at the moment. But if it does take a turn for the worst I don’t want us to be out here in the middle of nowhere.”

She sighs and stands up, “Alright Casanova.”

She puts her camera away and pulls her pack back on. They start hiking again with Castel out in front and Joy close behind him. When they’re about another two miles from the cabin the wind starts to pick up sending the snow on the ground whipping up into their faces. Joy pulls her scarf up onto her face while Castel pulls his goggles down over his eyes. The temperature drops dramatically causing the two to shiver and suddenly they find themselves without the sun.

The sky turns dark and gray and soon snow is falling down on them. Castel glances back at Joy with a smirk as if to say “told you so”. She rolls her eyes and waves her hand dismissively. He smiles and looks back at his phone to see the signal has dropped and the map has disappeared; his phone searching for a signal to grab onto.

Castel stops in his track feeling his heart drop into his stomach. Joy runs into the back of him with an undignified ‘oof’ sound.

“What gives Casper?” She calls over the wind.

“The map is gone,” he calls back taking out his compass.

“Can we make it with out it?”

“I think so,” he nods and points out in front of him. “If we keep heading this way we should hit the cabin soon.”

“Alrighty then lead on Mountain Man,” she says and he can hear the smile in her voice.

He grins, “Alright hang on a second.”

Dropping his pack he digs through his things before pulling out a bright orange strap--something he’s thankful he purchased. He wraps one end around his middle clipping it together before handing the other end to Joy. She does the same as he pulls his pack over his shoulder again.

“The storm is picking up I don’t want us to get separated,” he explains over the wind and she nods.

They hike on and the snow thickens, it’s getting harder and harder to see where they’re going. Castel squints his eyes down at his compass before looking back up in front of him. Joy keeps her head down eyes focused on the orange strap in front of her--she’s thankful that her dork is always thinking ahead, she can’t see him anymore and without this strap between them she’d be lost.

“Just a little further!” He calls back to her but the wind is whipping so loud in his ears he doubts she’s heard him.

Just a few more steps and--

Joy is pulled forward and she yelps trying to regain her balance. The strap snaps out in front of her extremely taunt. Oh no!

She grips the strap and pulls herself along calling out through the snow for him. Suddenly her boots feel wet, more so than they already were. She looks down to see she’s standing ankle deep in a semi-frozen river. The wind causes the water to rush over her boots which in return makes her shiver. She scans the water following the orange strap. She spots his pack floating ahead of her in the knee deep water and she pulls herself over to him.

“Cassie!” She yells and pulls the pack closer to her. 

She pulls his limp body up out of the water seeing he’s unconscious. A small trail of blood drips down his neck from under his lumberjack hat. Her heart pounds as she pulls him across the river and out onto the riverside as fast as she can. Shivering she looks around them trying to find some kind of shelter from the storm. Up near the hill top she sees something that looks brown that is not tree-like at all--it looks like a rooftop. She’ll take the chance!

Slinging his arm over her shoulder she drags him up over the hill. At the bottom is the cabin and she’s never been more thankful to see a cabin in her life. Kicking open the door she hauls herself and Castel into the dark, cold building. It’s a small little one room cabin, with a small livingroom--if you can call a little 12″ tv and a lamp a livingroom--a bathroom, wood stove, and a small kitchenette. Off to the right side is a big king size bed which she drops Castel onto.

She strips his shivering body down to his boxers and covers him with all of the blankets on the bed, before scouring the room for more coverings. She finds a small closet stuffed with extra pillows and blankets. She takes all of the blankets and drops them onto Castel as she digs through her pack to find a first-aid kit. Her fingers tremble from the frigid temperatures as she fumbles with the little stow-and-go kit. As careful as she can she cleans and dressed the wound on the back of his head. He must have slipped in the river and knocked his head on a rock...a big rock judging from the slice and welt on the base of his skull.

Shivering she heads over to the wood stove finding a small stack of firewood next to the black stove. Only after she’s got a small fire going does she sigh and relax slightly. Not able to take the cold anymore she strips down to her undergarments as well and hangs both of their soaking wet clothes around the cabin. Exhaustion grips her body and she goes over to the bed; Castel is still shivering in his unconscious state. Shuddering she slides into the spot next to him on the bed, under the hundreds of blankets she has piled on him and curls up into his side. She runs her hands up and down his arms trying to create some friction to warm his frozen body. Once she feels his skin heating up she lies close to his side, wrapping her arms around him. The warmth between them starts to build and becomes comforting to her enough for her to drift to sleep.

[ourloveisforthelovely]

Things Forbidden 5

A/n: no warnings for this chapter 

Link to Previous chapter

Words: 2,003

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The first few months of living away from the rest of her family went smoothly for Luna. She and Gabriel didn’t stay in the same place long. It wasn’t until Michael/Raphael started going crazy did things start to get interesting again.

Now here Luna stood in front of an ancient looking brick townhouse. She wasn’t entirely excited about seeing her family again. Luna knew that the main reason they were here to begin with was because Gabriel was worried Raphael would be after her. Lucifer was away dealing with his own bull shit.

“Well here we are.”

Gabriel said casually. He was trying not to make a big fuss out of everything. The more he acted like he hated TFW the more Luna would be moody. He reached out wrapping his hand around hers. Luna frowned.

“Here we go right back to being told how live our lives.”

Gabriel looked down at her with a frown.

“No, they aren’t. I’m not putting up with it. If they can be miserable to live with so can we. I can be a straight up insufferable asshole and you know I can.

Luna nodded with a smirk.

“This house sure looks like that house in the fifth Harry Potter movie huh?”

Gabriel smirked before chuckling.

“You sure summed that up cupcake. Wonder if we get a house elf?”

Luna smiled. She knew Gabriel was trying to make her feel better. He was trying with everything he had. The archangel even offered to get her a kitten that morning if it made her feel better. She knew that was partially to make Dean angry later but she didn’t care.

It was in these moments that Luna didn’t doubt his devotion to her. If Gabriel didn’t care about her he would be willing to go deal with team free will.

“Gabriel thanks for doing this.”

“What?”

He asked softly. Luna sighed. He knew what!

“For coming here to deal with my charming family.”

Gabriel chuckled.

“Well sugar you deal with my charming family so it’s kind of an even trade off.”

The two stood a few moments longer quietly. Without speaking the actual words both we thinking about how enjoyable the past few months had been. There was no worrying over angels or monsters. There was no drama. Both Gabriel and Luna were able to put what they actually were on a closet and appear just like any other human.

“Might as well get this over with.”

If things had been up to Cas he would have worked something out between Gabriel, Luna, Zoe, and Dean to make their lives more manageable. When he discovered it Luna and Gabriel left it was Cas that had to pick up the pieces for Zoe and Dean. They were beyond devastated! It was Cas that wanted to tell them that they brought this on themselves but he couldn’t. He couldn’t do that to the two people he loved beyond the waking world.

Cas quickly let his mind go back to the day that was one of the worst for him…

It had already been discovered that Luna and Gabriel had bolted. Cas had pretty much avoided Dean and Zoe for the better part of the day. Dean had been drinking most of it and was trying to be talked down by Sam, who was getting no where with his older brother. Zoe meanwhile, had been in tears…which was odd for her. Cas tried to think of all the times that he had seen her cry and he could count them on one hand. At first, Cas wanted nothing more than to go after Zoe and make sure she was okay but after a few moments he knew it was a good idea to leave her alone for a while. Finally after an hour he couldn’t handle it and went to find his lover. Zoe sat on the floor of their bedroom with a box between her legs. She sniffed as she looked up at Cas.

“Has she came back?”

Cas shook his head.

“No, I’m sorry.”

Zoe shrugged.

“It was bound to happen. I just didn’t think that it would be with Gabriel. Of all fucking people….GABRIEL!”

Cas sighed sitting down focusing his attention on the box.

“So what are you looking at?”

Zoe looked down with a wistful smile.

“Luna’s baby things.”

Zoe slowly produced a pair of little baby tennis shoes with a sad smile.

“Remember these?”

Cas nodded. Of course he remembered the shoes! He and Dean had spent hours trying different shoes on Luna when she was year old. The toddler was over a year old and couldn’t walk. Cas partially blamed this on himself and Dean. Every time the child held up her hands they were picking her up so what initiative did she have to start walking.

“Of course….Dean didn’t want to buy them because they had unicorns on them.”

Zoe nodded with a motherly smile.

“Seems like since I put these things on her  she was always trying to get away from me. First it was everywhere Dean was going now it is to Gabriel. Cas did I let Rose down?”

Cas sighed taking the shoes from Zoe and pulling her onto his lap.

“No, you didn’t. Zoe, she was going to grow up. You have to realize that. You did nothing wrong. She will come back…”

Cas was pulled out of his thoughts when Luna threw her arms around his shoulders pulling him into a hug.

“Luna, it is so good to see you.”

Cas managed to get out as he looked her over wanting to make sure she was 100% the way that she should have be. He was thankful to see that she was as flawless as ever. There was no one silvery blond strand of hair out of place. The only thing that was different about Luna was instead of blue eyes they were now violet like her mothers. Cas knew at that moment Luna was living as an angel now and embraced all of her powers.  

“Its good to see you too Cas!”

Cas reached forward cupping her cheek.

“Please come in.”

Cas said making way for Luna and Gabriel come in before quickly shutting the door.

“So Cassie tell me are you all trying to rip off Harry Potter with this place?”

Gabriel asked with a smirk. Cas sighed ignoring his brother’s arrogant smile.

“Dean and Zoe feel this is a good safe house. It seems Raphael won’t look here.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes.

“Give him time. He just hasn’t shown up yet. He’s probably too busy looking at himself or torturing poor defenseless angels that doesn’t support his cause.”

Cas looked down at that comment. He knew Gabriel was right. Raphael was just too busy doing other things to really be looking for them now. It wouldn’t be long however until he did show up.

“Yeah, anyway…”

Cas said hoping to change the subject away from the archangel that no one really wanted to deal with at the moment. Deep down Cas always thought it would have been Lucifer that this quest would be over not Raphael. There was also the fact that Gabriel had abandoned them all of Luci in the past and Cas wanted to know what all of that was about. The expression on Gabriel’s face told Cas that would be another time.

“Well lets get out of this hall.”

Cas said motioning to a sitting room to the left. Luna stepped in freezing when she saw Zoe sitting on the couch with a book on her lap. Her eyes fluttered up and she looked like she had eaten a sour lemon the moment she saw Gabriel and Luna.

“Castiel, what is this?”

She asked coldly before looking at her lover. Gabriel rolled his eyes.

“Still as cheerful as ever.”

Zoe narrowed her eyes on the archangel.

“Shut up, Lucifer lover.”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow.

“Ah still butt hurt over my brother I see. Sorry Zoe I am not here to argue with you on my brother. I’m busy figuring out why you want to live here.”

Gabriel focused his attention back on Luna who was looking coldly at the floor while Cas made his way to Zoe. He knew Luna didn’t need all of the drama and it wasn’t fair to her anyway.

Zoe meanwhile, looked at her niece careful wary eyes. Luna appeared to be just fine. She looked as though Gabriel had been taking care of her. Zoe froze seeing Rosalie in Luna’s eyes. So Gabriel had been showing her how to use her powers. Zoe wouldn’t admit it but that was one of the few things she was thankful that Gabriel had been doing.

Neither Luna nor Zoe moved to say a word to each other. Both women seemed to be looking in other directions. Gabriel and Cas looked to each other before physically moving Luna and Zoe closer to each other. Again neither party moved to say a word to the other.

Gabriel sighed.

“So who is going to go first?”

Zoe looked up.

“No one. I don’t know why you are here archangel. You should have known we wouldn’t be pleased to see you. I am not trusting your kitten looking ass again.”

Gabriel smirked.

“I’m not asking you too princess.”

Cas sighed, looking to his brother.

“I told you it wouldn’t work again.”

Luna meanwhile, had enough already. It had been less than 10 minutes and she could already see that this was a waste of time. She would never gain her family back. Worst off this was just against Zoe. They hadn’t even began to tackle the mountain known as Dean Winchester yet. That was gong to be a disaster in itself.

“Come on Gabriel. This was a mistake coming here. Let’s just go deal with your teenage mutant turtle wanna be brother ourselves. We can get Luci and we will be fine. This is just going to be a ridiculous teenage drama fest.”

Gabriel looked just fine with what Luna said but Cas shot up.

“No! Luna stay! You need to be with your family too. Even with Lucifer, neither of you know how many minions Raphael has now. We need our numbers. Let’s just go get some rest and just calm down….all of us.”

If it was anyone but Cas, Luna would have turned and walked out but for Cas it was another story. Luna turned to go back to her place by Gabriel.

“Fine.”

Gabriel replied.

“So which room in this haunted house is ours?”

Gabriel asked with a smirk. Cas rolled his eyes motioning to the stairs.

“Second bedroom on the left.”

Gabriel smirked down at Luna before motioning to the stairs.

“Come on sugar. We should go look for Harry Potter before Voldemort gets here.”

Luna turned following Gabriel from the room without another word. This was clearly not the reunion that she wanted with Zoe. Putting their poor communication and past bad feeling aside, Luna did want to make up with her aunt. She didn’t want to keep this hard to get act up but Zoe would have to meet her in some matter. It couldn’t just be Luna trying to fix everything. Luna could only hope over the following days that their relationship would somehow get better but at the moment she had nothing but doubts….

__________

@greenappleeyes

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@tas898

[instantdeerlover]

The Ultimate Guide to Fruity, Milky, and Other Exciting Specialty Drinks added to Google Docs

The Ultimate Guide to Fruity, Milky, and Other Exciting Specialty Drinks

Unsure what to get in the drinks aisle of an international grocery store? Consider these.

I’ve always found joy in the little things in life — the smell of a new book, blank stationery, and a small soft drink carton waiting for me in the fridge. I never outgrew these joys, and I invested in my soft drink passion especially. I know, I know, there is a common trope about millennials who infantilize themselves because society won’t let them buy houses and save money, and I agree! But the quest for gourmet soda is particularly exciting. The reward? A salve at the end of the day.

As my journey in life takes me to more and more international grocery stores, I’ve ventured farther into the beverage aisles, and when the cool air of the fridge hits my face, I edge closer to the fluorescent light and reach toward the cold carton, bottle, or can of a new or familiar joy. Sure, you can always get something alcoholic, but for those of us who don’t want to exacerbate our GERD (hello, 30s), are addicted to sugar, or don’t want to spend more than $5, there is the wonderful world of speciality soft drinks. First, some general tips:

 1) Find an international grocery store or immigrant-owned bodega

Chances are you won’t find specialty sodas and juices at Target or Walmart unless they’re manufactured by an American brand. Look up Japanese, Korean, South Asian, Middle Eastern, Mexican, and Chinese grocery stores (or any other kind!) in your area. While you’re there, pick up some pantry staples and make sure you’re respectful of the other shoppers. If you live by an immigrant-owned bodega, take a closer look at their shelves.

2) Don’t be a coward

Just because you can’t read the language on the packaging of a drink, and just because you’ve never had it before, doesn’t mean it’s a mystery of the vast unknown. Be brave! You could end up discovering your holy grail drink! And if you hate it, that’s also okay. It’s not going to cost you much to find out. If you’re really curious, though, there’s sometimes an import sticker that states what it is in English.

3) Look for the beverages in the fridge and on the shelves

There are instances when those working the stores haven’t had the time to fill up the fridge. Be mindful of stacked cartons or bottles around the store, where potential new favorites could be hiding out. Other kinds of drinks will be placed not in the fridges but on dry shelves in the interior of the store.

4) Once you find a favorite, take a picture of the packaging

Be sure to take a picture of something you really liked for future visits and file it into a folder on your phone — it’ll help you repurchase your favorites and also prevent any mix-ups between similarly shaped or designed bottles.

The ones to know:

Here are very few of my personal favorites, split into the categories of “fruity” and “milky.” Fruity drinks are evergreen, but especially appropriate for the times when you want the feeling of summer. Milky drinks are a little more substantial, better suited for the days when you’re craving something closer to a dessert.

Fruity

Suntory honey lemon

My holy grail of fruity drinks. I have only had the luck of having this once in my life, and I have been searching for it ever since. Achieving the perfect balance of sweet and sour, it feels familiar (because it’s honey and lemon) but also completely new because it doesn’t remind you of that familiar cold/flu combo. Like all excellent soft drinks, it has a sophistication from the first to the last sip.

Taisun winter melon drink

Winter melon (aka white gourd) is popular in Taiwan and has got to be the best double agent of all time. In its raw form, it tastes pretty neutral, which makes it well-suited as a savory vegetable dish. Once you add sugar to its juices, though, it transforms, giving off burnt caramel notes that makes it the most dessert-like fruit drink maybe ever. It’s in my top five of all time. I have consumed plenty of Taisun cans, and I hereby encourage everyone to try my regular boba order (winter melon tea with salty foam) if it’s your first time.

Suntory Gokuri grapefruit

Again with another heavyweight, Suntory offers us Gokuri. As well as having the sexiest packaging (aluminum tinned bottles, generous girth, amazing colors and design), it also is the best citrus soda. Its grapefruit and cassis an orange flavors are clear winners, and the peach flavor is also good (though I usually prefer a non-carbonated peach).

Rubicon

Sing it with me now: lychee, mango, guava, passionfruit. If my childhood were a table, these four would be its legs. Though these drinks are common in the U.K., they’re a little harder to come by in NYC, where I’m located now. Somewhere in between juice and lassi, Rubicon’s drinks are sweet, thick in consistency, and truly a delight to all those who have an affinity for — yes — lychee, mango, guava, and passionfruit. Get them anywhere you can, most likely at a South Asian grocery store, and for the love of god, don’t buy the sparkling versions.

San Pellegrino prickly pear and orange

The blood orange flavor of these foil-wrapped cans gets a lot of airtime with soft drink enthusiasts, but o-ho! Let me tell you about the rare and best flavor of San Pellegrino. Prickly pear, also known as nopal, is a cactus that can be used in savory cooking but also eaten as a fruit. This flavor sets itself apart from other San Pellegrino varieties in that it doesn’t taste as artificial, which is hard to achieve with carbonated sodas.

Bruce Cost jasmine green tea ginger ale

I never really understood the love for ginger ale until I tried Bruce Cost’s. With other ginger ales, the ginger is too strong, or the sugar too sweet to counteract the ginger, but the beauty of Bruce Cost’s ginger ale is that it’s infused with flavors that you wouldn’t think would work — and yet they do. Jasmine green tea is amazing all by itself, but with the ginger ale flavor, it’s a perfect union.

Ikea elderflower drink/Belvoir elderflower presse or cordial

Elderflower is popular around northwestern and central Europe, and has a distinctly elegant taste that is a heavy-hitter by itself and with cocktails. If your store has a specialty shelf dedicated to the friends across the pond, you may have some luck in finding Belvoir, an elderflower cordial popular with us Brits. If not, perhaps you can scoop a carton or bottle of “Dryk Flader” next time you’re at Ikea trying to satisfy your meatball craving.

Suanmeitang (Chinese sour plum juice)

If, like me, your only experience of plum juice is to fix some… uh… bowel issues, then I understand the hesitation with trying suanmeitang. But this is an all-around winner: a sweet, sour, and very slightly salty plum juice, in an adorable bottle, that, yes, helps with digestion — because bowel movement is important! Grow up! You can likely find suanmeitang at most Chinese grocery stores.

Milky

Vitasoy black sesame

If you’ve ever been to HMart or an East Asian supermarket, you might have seen these cartons in a variety of colors to denote different flavors. But nothing reigns more supreme than the black sesame flavor: A milky backdrop complements the nuttiness of the black sesame and makes for a great drinkable dessert.

Marusan Hojicha milk tea

Milk tea is tea leaves steeped in milk in various combinations. You have oolong, darjeeling, and other forms (which I encourage you to try if you haven’t), but hojicha is my personal favorite. Hojicha is the more elegant sister of matcha: Whereas matcha leans more fresh and grassy, hojicha is the roasted version, and provides a deeper and earthier flavor. I recommend finding hojicha leaves and having them for hot tea (or finding sachets for a hojicha instant latte), but if you want a soothing cold version, hojicha milk tea in the carton is unbeatable. Marusan’s uses soy milk, which helps with any lactose intolerance.

Yakult probiotic drink

A legend, an icon. Nothing can replace the tangy sweetness of this watery liquid. She mainstreamed and we still love her. Does she actually help with good gut bacteria? Do we care either way?

 T.Grand Assam milk tea

Assam tea is produced in Assam, India, and it’s a pretty singular black tea flavor. It tastes a little bit like fragrant burnt sugar or earthy caramel. Adding milk nestles that flavor into your palate and imparts an astounding flavor somewhere between creamy and fruity, floral and nutty. It has crisp notes, much like oolong, but the taste itself is rounded out. I prefer T.Grand’s version, partly because of its “My Way My Life My Milk Tea” caption on the cartons (damn straight!), but UCC has Assam milk tea too.

Bikkle yogurt drink

For those who need a little more of Yakult, and the tiny bottles simply don’t hit, we have Bikkle’s yogurt drink. Much like Calpis, it’s a yogurt drink that tastes less like lactose and more like a kind of sugar that does something to the pleasure center of the brain. It has a better taste and consistency than Calpis, and does not give me a tummy ache, so it’s a win all-around.

• Get Yourself a Specialty Soda, as a Treat [E]

via Eater - All https://www.eater.com/21347271/best-specialty-drinks-sodas-international-suntory-honey-lemon-yakult

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[easyfoodnetwork]

What to get in the drinks aisle of an international grocery store? Consider these. I’ve always found joy in the little things in life — the smell of a new book, blank stationery, and a small soft drink carton waiting for me in the fridge. I never outgrew these joys, and I invested in my soft drink passion especially. I know, I know, there is a common trope about millennials who infantilize themselves because society won’t let them buy houses and save money, and I agree! But the quest for gourmet soda is particularly exciting. The reward? A salve at the end of the day. As my journey in life takes me to more and more international grocery stores, I’ve ventured farther into the beverage aisles, and when the cool air of the fridge hits my face, I edge closer to the fluorescent light and reach toward the cold carton, bottle, or can of a new or familiar joy. Sure, you can always get something alcoholic, but for those of us who don’t want to exacerbate our GERD (hello, 30s), are addicted to sugar, or don’t want to spend more than $5, there is the wonderful world of speciality soft drinks. First, some general tips: 1) Find an international grocery store or immigrant-owned bodega Chances are you won’t find specialty sodas and juices at Target or Walmart unless they’re manufactured by an American brand. Look up Japanese, Korean, South Asian, Middle Eastern, Mexican, and Chinese grocery stores (or any other kind!) in your area. While you’re there, pick up some pantry staples and make sure you’re respectful of the other shoppers. If you live by an immigrant-owned bodega, take a closer look at their shelves. 2) Don’t be a coward Just because you can’t read the language on the packaging of a drink, and just because you’ve never had it before, doesn’t mean it’s a mystery of the vast unknown. Be brave! You could end up discovering your holy grail drink! And if you hate it, that’s also okay. It’s not going to cost you much to find out. If you’re really curious, though, there’s sometimes an import sticker that states what it is in English. 3) Look for the beverages in the fridge and on the shelves There are instances when those working the stores haven’t had the time to fill up the fridge. Be mindful of stacked cartons or bottles around the store, where potential new favorites could be hiding out. Other kinds of drinks will be placed not in the fridges but on dry shelves in the interior of the store. 4) Once you find a favorite, take a picture of the packaging Be sure to take a picture of something you really liked for future visits and file it into a folder on your phone — it’ll help you repurchase your favorites and also prevent any mix-ups between similarly shaped or designed bottles. The ones to know: Here are very few of my personal favorites, split into the categories of “fruity” and “milky.” Fruity drinks are evergreen, but especially appropriate for the times when you want the feeling of summer. Milky drinks are a little more substantial, better suited for the days when you’re craving something closer to a dessert. Fruity Suntory honey lemon My holy grail of fruity drinks. I have only had the luck of having this once in my life, and I have been searching for it ever since. Achieving the perfect balance of sweet and sour, it feels familiar (because it’s honey and lemon) but also completely new because it doesn’t remind you of that familiar cold/flu combo. Like all excellent soft drinks, it has a sophistication from the first to the last sip. Taisun winter melon drink Winter melon (aka white gourd) is popular in Taiwan and has got to be the best double agent of all time. In its raw form, it tastes pretty neutral, which makes it well-suited as a savory vegetable dish. Once you add sugar to its juices, though, it transforms, giving off burnt caramel notes that makes it the most dessert-like fruit drink maybe ever. It’s in my top five of all time. I have consumed plenty of Taisun cans, and I hereby encourage everyone to try my regular boba order (winter melon tea with salty foam) if it’s your first time. Suntory Gokuri grapefruit Again with another heavyweight, Suntory offers us Gokuri. As well as having the sexiest packaging (aluminum tinned bottles, generous girth, amazing colors and design), it also is the best citrus soda. Its grapefruit and cassis an orange flavors are clear winners, and the peach flavor is also good (though I usually prefer a non-carbonated peach). Rubicon Sing it with me now: lychee, mango, guava, passionfruit. If my childhood were a table, these four would be its legs. Though these drinks are common in the U.K., they’re a little harder to come by in NYC, where I’m located now. Somewhere in between juice and lassi, Rubicon’s drinks are sweet, thick in consistency, and truly a delight to all those who have an affinity for — yes — lychee, mango, guava, and passionfruit. Get them anywhere you can, most likely at a South Asian grocery store, and for the love of god, don’t buy the sparkling versions. San Pellegrino prickly pear and orange The blood orange flavor of these foil-wrapped cans gets a lot of airtime with soft drink enthusiasts, but o-ho! Let me tell you about the rare and best flavor of San Pellegrino. Prickly pear, also known as nopal, is a cactus that can be used in savory cooking but also eaten as a fruit. This flavor sets itself apart from other San Pellegrino varieties in that it doesn’t taste as artificial, which is hard to achieve with carbonated sodas. Bruce Cost jasmine green tea ginger ale I never really understood the love for ginger ale until I tried Bruce Cost’s. With other ginger ales, the ginger is too strong, or the sugar too sweet to counteract the ginger, but the beauty of Bruce Cost’s ginger ale is that it’s infused with flavors that you wouldn’t think would work — and yet they do. Jasmine green tea is amazing all by itself, but with the ginger ale flavor, it’s a perfect union. Ikea elderflower drink/Belvoir elderflower presse or cordial Elderflower is popular around northwestern and central Europe, and has a distinctly elegant taste that is a heavy-hitter by itself and with cocktails. If your store has a specialty shelf dedicated to the friends across the pond, you may have some luck in finding Belvoir, an elderflower cordial popular with us Brits. If not, perhaps you can scoop a carton or bottle of “Dryk Flader” next time you’re at Ikea trying to satisfy your meatball craving. Suanmeitang (Chinese sour plum juice) If, like me, your only experience of plum juice is to fix some… uh… bowel issues, then I understand the hesitation with trying suanmeitang. But this is an all-around winner: a sweet, sour, and very slightly salty plum juice, in an adorable bottle, that, yes, helps with digestion — because bowel movement is important! Grow up! You can likely find suanmeitang at most Chinese grocery stores. Milky Vitasoy black sesame If you’ve ever been to HMart or an East Asian supermarket, you might have seen these cartons in a variety of colors to denote different flavors. But nothing reigns more supreme than the black sesame flavor: A milky backdrop complements the nuttiness of the black sesame and makes for a great drinkable dessert. Marusan Hojicha milk tea Milk tea is tea leaves steeped in milk in various combinations. You have oolong, darjeeling, and other forms (which I encourage you to try if you haven’t), but hojicha is my personal favorite. Hojicha is the more elegant sister of matcha: Whereas matcha leans more fresh and grassy, hojicha is the roasted version, and provides a deeper and earthier flavor. I recommend finding hojicha leaves and having them for hot tea (or finding sachets for a hojicha instant latte), but if you want a soothing cold version, hojicha milk tea in the carton is unbeatable. Marusan’s uses soy milk, which helps with any lactose intolerance. Yakult probiotic drink A legend, an icon. Nothing can replace the tangy sweetness of this watery liquid. She mainstreamed and we still love her. Does she actually help with good gut bacteria? Do we care either way? T.Grand Assam milk tea Assam tea is produced in Assam, India, and it’s a pretty singular black tea flavor. It tastes a little bit like fragrant burnt sugar or earthy caramel. Adding milk nestles that flavor into your palate and imparts an astounding flavor somewhere between creamy and fruity, floral and nutty. It has crisp notes, much like oolong, but the taste itself is rounded out. I prefer T.Grand’s version, partly because of its “My Way My Life My Milk Tea” caption on the cartons (damn straight!), but UCC has Assam milk tea too. Bikkle yogurt drink For those who need a little more of Yakult, and the tiny bottles simply don’t hit, we have Bikkle’s yogurt drink. Much like Calpis, it’s a yogurt drink that tastes less like lactose and more like a kind of sugar that does something to the pleasure center of the brain. It has a better taste and consistency than Calpis, and does not give me a tummy ache, so it’s a win all-around. • Get Yourself a Specialty Soda, as a Treat [E] from Eater - All https://ift.tt/3fh1oJh

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