#it's gonna sound cheesy in english but it like says 'the fact that he puts his heart into making bentos for them every day...they just have | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kaghoeyama · 3 years

Text

three of cups.

featuring: eren jaeger, armin arlert, afab reader.

word count: 5.5k

summary: you, eren and armin have been best friends for ages. there’s always been an underlying tension between the three of you, until that tension finally snaps.

content warning: smut, college au, post-timeskip characters, alcohol consumption (characters are tipsy but not inebriated), threesome, mlm, mutual pining, voyeurism, thigh riding, fingering (f receiving), slight edging, use of good boy/good girl, masturbation, cumplay

a/n: uhh so i was horny and this happened. pls be kind this is like my first fanfic ever (also english is not my first language so if you spot any mistakes feel free to let me know).

update: so apparently tumblr took out a whole ass paragraph after the “keep reading” and then repeated two different paragraphs twice?? i’ve seen people trying to fix this by adding asterisks so i’m doing the same. sorry about that lol.

18+ CONTENT - MINORS DO NOT INTERACT

So loud, you think.

You can almost feel the room vibrate with beat of the music, your steps naturally adapting to the rhythm as you make your way through a crowd of college students in various states of dishevelment. A smile comes to your lips. The whole place smells of alcohol and sweat and the floor is sticky, but you can’t bring yourself to be annoyed at the chaos; the year had been brutal for a lot of you and with finals finally behind you, no one was gonna miss the chance to loosen up and just have fun, yourself included. Which was exactly what brought you to make this little trip across the room, eyes fixed on your objective.

He’s leaning against the wall, his golden hair making it easier for you to spot him in the crowded room. His eyes are trained on his phone as he mindless scrolls down with his thumb, so you’re not too surprised when he doesn’t notice you straight away, even when you’re standing right in front of him.

You take a moment to take in his delicate features, his skin turned to porcelain by the bright light coming from his phone; the alcohol makes you bold enough to trail a hand up his arm and rest on his cheek, successfully shifting his attention to you. His face relaxes in a smile when he sees you, but his eyebrows are still raised in surprise at your sudden closeness; he opens his mouth to greet you but you’re quicker, “Armin, would you please let me kiss you?”, your gaze keeping him pinned against the wall.

“I- what?”

You relish in the way his breath catches in his throat, and you certainly don’t miss the flush that comes to his face or the way his eyes drop to your lips.

“It’s for a dare… please?” your answer comes so innocent to his ears and he tries not to think at how pretty your plea sounded, even prettier than he’d fantasized so many times now.

“I- I mean, yeah, sure” he stammers; you chuckle when close the distance between you, his pretty blue eyes still confused as you press your lips against his.

The kiss comes out of the blue for him, yet you don’t miss the way his hands instinctively grip your waist as he pulls you closer to him. You hum into the kiss, your body suddenly so warm as he moves his lips against yours; he’s so pliant, all you had to do was ask and now he’s all over you, his grip keeping you flush against his body. Your fingers slip between his golden locks and when you lightly tug at them his hold grows tighter, his lips parting with a low moan. You swear you hear him whimper as you slip your tongue past his lips, taking control of the kiss as you explore his mouth, warm and wet and oh his hands are gripping your ass now, and you moan into the kiss as you feel his erection poking at your hip.

“The dare said ‘kiss’ but if you two wanna get a room…” Sasha’s loud voice somehow reaches you from across the room and you pull back from the kiss, a string of spit connecting still connecting your mouths. He’s panting, mouth still parted, and you can’t help but stare at his pink lips, slightly puffed and still shiny from the kiss.

Without thinking you brush a thumb against his lower lip, “so pretty” you murmur.

Armin swallows around nothing, and when your eyes meet his pupils are all blown out, pleading, almost begging you to close the distance once again. Fuck he looks so flustered, heat pooling between your legs as you wonder how he’d look if you took his cock in your mouth, if you could make him so lost in pleasure that his smart little brain couldn’t form any coherent thoughts.

You feel his arm around your shoulders before you see him, his usual scent of soap and lemon shampoo now mixed with a hint of smoke. You rest your head against his shoulder, your body craving physical contact after the kiss you’d shared with the blond. “Hi ’ren” you murmur against his shirt, dazed eyes looking up at him and then shifting to Armin. Your kiss was enough to make his brain fuzzy but now, with Eren’s arm wrapped around him and his body so close, he felt completely overwhelmed.

Eren pressed a kiss over your hair and pulled you and Armin even closer. “You shouldn’t keep all the fun to yourselves, don’t you know that sharing is caring?” he whispered, loud enough for both of you to hear through the music.

You can’t believe that cheesy line sent a shiver through your body. You figure it’s because of Eren.

“Maybe we should make use of that tequila bottle in our dorm room, what do you say Armin?” he adds, the blond choking out a soft affirmation. You doubt your sober self would have done that, but you were tipsy enough not to care when you took both their hands, interlacing your fingers with their own, a teasing smile gracing your lips. “Then what are we waiting for?”

You feel strangely calm as you walk down the hallway. It’s definitely quieter than the party, and your attention is quickly drawn from one dorm room to another, where you catch glimpses of people smoking and drinking to the sound of at least ten different playlists.

Again, you smile. For the third year now you’re witnessing how your otherwise rigorous and law abiding campus turns into a huge frat party in the weekend after finals. You don’t know if it’s the warm weather or the fact most common spaces are surprisingly clean by monday that makes everyone look the other way, either way you’re thankful. You close your eyes for a moment as you walk, slightly overwhelmed by the music and the loud chatter and the drink you had at the party, your brain lost in a pleasant buzz.

A light squeeze to your hand brings you back to earth. Your head turns to your left, eyes slowly opening to meet a pair of blue ones.

“Are you okay?” Armin asks softly, the tiniest hint of concern slipping past his lips. You wait a beat before addressing his question, choosing to look at him instead. You note that his cheeks are almost as pink as his lips, and that his blue t-shirt makes his eyes sparkle; you ignore how your stomach flips when you realize he’d been holding your hand since you’d left the party.

“I’m great,” you say as you shift closer to him “I’m in a good mood actually.”

You catch Eren’s eyes leaving you as he turns his head forward and keeps walking in front of you. You let your gaze travel from his head – you loved that half bun he kept his hair in more than you should – to his broad shoulders, entranced by the way his black t-shirt stretches over his muscular back.

You must have missed the part where he stopped in front of the dorm room, because you end up bumping against that back.

“You’re completely out of it” Eren teases with a grin.

“No, I’m not” you retort, “as I said, I’m in a good mood.”

The look he gives you is playful. “You call it good mood, I call it being drunk.”

“I had literally just one drink, there’s no way anyone could get drunk from that.”

“Depends on how strong the drink is.”

“Will you shut up?”

You’re still bickering as you enter the room, Armin rolling his eyes at the two of you with a fond smile. Once Eren shuts the door though, you all fall quiet.

The only light came from the blue led Armin had put on his side of the room, casting a glow over your faces that was almost ethereal. There’s a weird tension, a nervous feeling gripping your stomach and making you tingle with anticipation. You’d been alone with them in that very room more times than you could count, cramming for tests, watching a movie or simply hanging out, but tonight something was different. You sit next to Armin on his bed, eyebrows knitting together as you quickly try to analyse that feeling.

The three of you had been friends for ages, since you all attended the same elementary school and lived down the same street. You had bonded with Armin first, his quiet and intelligent personality matching well with yours. You remember fondly the warm afternoons in his backyard, grass tickling your skin as he showed you his new ocean life books and you rambled about ancient Egypt, Greek myths or whatever you were fixating on at the moment.

Eren on the other hand – at first you couldn’t stand him. You only knew him as ‘Armin’s other friend’, but he was such a loud and hot headed kid, you’d always found his attitude too off-putting to even start a conversation, and you were pretty sure he didn’t like you either. After some pushing from Armin though, you’d actually tried to get to know each other; much to your surprise, you found out you had a lot of interests in common. Eventually, you’d even come to admire how passionate he got about the things he cared about, how strong his ideals were, and with time his impulsivity left room to a much more calculated approach.

After all these years, the three of you were still as thick as thieves; you’d become so comfortable around each other that people always assumed you were either dating one of them. You’d always brush it off with a laugh, but now you wonder if it’s normal for friends to behave like that around each other. It was the little things at first; lingering touches, wondering eyes, teasing comments. Then Eren’s hands all over you every time you wore a pretty dress, or Armin’s obvious erection that time you and Eren were messing around at the pool; even your friends had noticed how close you were – and never missed a chance to tease you about it.

This is stupid, you conclude. They’re your oldest and closest friends, you won’t allow your attraction to them – at least you’re admitting it’s there – to make things weird.

You move to get the tequila you know they keep hidden in the closet; maybe that will shake the awkwardness away. You take a long sip before handing the bottle to the blond, alcohol still burning in your throat as you lay on your back, head resting on his lap.

You feel him still beneath you; when you look at him, his flustered expression is clear despite the dim lit room – before you can catch yourself, you wonder if he’s still hard from before.

Eren looks at the both of you on Armin’s bed. You’ve closed your eyes and your head is lightly nodding along with some music coming from the hallway, the beat muffled by the closed door. He watches Armin, a fond smile dancing on his lips as he can almost hear the mental pep talk the blond gives himself before raising a hand to play with your hair. You hum at that, eyes slowly opening as you turn your head towards him.

“Eren, come closer” you say, stretching out an arm as if to reach him.

“And why would I do that” he answers with a playful smile on his lips.

You raise your eyebrow, smiling back to him. “If you insist on staying over there, I guess Armin and I are really gonna keep all the fun to ourselves, isn’t that right Armin.” You say lightly, rising from his lap to lay against his side, your body wrapping around his arm; his hand ends up between your closed thighs and somehow you manage not purr in his ear as you rest your head on his shoulder, both of you now facing Eren.

When Armin speaks, you don’t miss how his playful tone hides a hint of malice, eyes fixed on the brunette, “oh I’m sure he wouldn’t mind just watching if we were actually having fun.”

Eren laughs at that, his voice dropping lower.

“True” he admits calmly, as if the thought hadn’t brought him to several orgasms through the years, “but right now I think I’d rather join.”

And he does, sitting close to your other side.

You wish that type of exchange wasn’t as common as it was between the three of you. You also wish it didn’t send a wave of arousal trough your body every single time.

You watch him as he leans toward you to grab the bottle from Armin’s hand, taking a sip of the amber liquor. Your eyes follow a drop of alcohol at the corner of his mouth, unconsciously tightening your hold on the blond as Eren’s tongue comes out to bring the drop past his lips.

In that moment, Armin decides he’s had enough. He’s way too turned on to let all this teasing slide; if the three of you really are as attracted to each other as he thinks, this was the time he was gonna do something about it. So when he speaks, he does with a purpose.

“Is it weird that I’ve kissed both my best friends?” his question sounds so innocent, he even lets out a calculated chuckle to feign embarrassment.

Eren tilts his head toward him, throwing him a curious glance “You still remember that? Must have been one hell of a kiss huh” he smirks.

Armin knows he’s teasing, and that he clearly remembers too, but he can’t help the pink blush that colours his cheeks as his thoughts rush back to that night.

It happened first semester of junior year, after Sasha’s ‘small’ housewarming party had quickly turned into a full blown party. As the music got louder and more and more people filled the tiny flat, Jean, all tipsy and bright eyed, had gathered all of you in Sasha’s room to play spin the bottle – most of you had booed him, but you’d followed him anyway.

After watching you awkwardly peck Connie on the lips and Mikasa blush violently as Sasha took her face between her hands and gave her a loud smooch, it was his turn to play. He gave the bottle a spin and almost choked on his spit when it landed on Eren. He remembers everyone cheering as he tried to stop his face from flushing red, looking everywhere but at Eren; that’s how his eyes landed on you, quiet where your friends were loud, your eyes focused on him in a way that was almost daring.

He followed your gaze as it moved towards Eren, finally making eye contact with the boy. His attempts look composed failed miserably when Eren, a lazy smirk spreading on his lips, beckoned him with his hand to move closer.

“I- uh we don’t have to…” he choked out.

Eren’s smirk grew wider, “It’s just a game Armin, what are you scared of?”

Armin couldn’t tell if his tone was soft or mocking, either way he felt as he had something to prove now.

He stood on his knees and crawled on the floor as Eren mirrored him, ignoring the way his stomach flipped as they met in the middle of the circle, so close he could feel his breath over his lips.

“What’s taking so long?” Jean said from somewhere behind him, “it’s not like you haven’t done this before” he teased.

Armin wanted to turn back and state that no, they had not actually done that before – he’d probably sound way more disappointed than he should – but before he could even open his mouth he felt a hand on his cheek; his eyes flickered back to Eren’s green ones, only to find them trained on his lips as the brunette sealed the gap between them.

Eren’s lips felt so impossibly soft again his, he tasted like vodka and something sweet he couldn’t recognise and Armin couldn’t really thing about anything as he lost himself in the kiss. The hand on his cheek moved through his hair and Eren pulled slightly, just enough to make Armin gasp against his lips, taking the chance to slide his tongue against his lower lip and into his mouth. Armin broke the kiss at that, a whimper leaving his lips because he wanted, needed more, but the feelings building up inside him – and the arousal making his pants tighter – were sending him in a slight panic.

He barely registered his friends’ loud noises as he sat back on his spot, but he didn’t miss the way Eren winked at him and licked his lips, green eyes boring into his blue ones. Armin struggled to act like his normal self rather than some teenager who had just kissed his long time crush. He desperately tried to focus on something, anything but Eren and his stupid lips and stupid grin and stupidly pretty eyes right in front of him, and that’s how his eyes found you again.

You had watched the whole scene with an interest you hoped went unnoticed by your friends. You sure hoped Mikasa, sat right next to you, had missed the way your breath hitched in your throat as you watched the blond gasp under Eren’s grip, heat coursing through your body and pooling between your legs. When Armin’s blue eyes found you, flustered, with half lidded eyes and teeth sunk in your bottom lip, you’d lowered your head in shame.

Eren rests his head again the wall and closes his eyes, as to enhance the memory.

It had been over a year ago, yet he remembered Armin’s sweet lips against his, the small noises he unconsciously let out going straight to his groin.

He remembered your face, eyes glossy with desire as you watched them part, flustered almost as much as Armin, as if you’d been the one kissing him instead, and oh had he wanted to kiss you. Had it been just the three of you in that room, he would have grabbed your face and bruised those pretty lips, forcing Armin’s sweet taste in your mouth.

He’d long given up the guilt that came with fantasising about his closest friends, any uncomfortable feeling quickly replaced by pleasure every time he wrapped his hand around his cock. At first it was just one of you under him, on top of him; soon enough he’d started picturing both of you on your knees, eyes bright and pleading, pink tongue hanging out of your mouths as you wait for him to paint your pretty faces with his cum.

“So who’s the best kisser?” you ask, your warm breath against Armin’s ear making him shiver.

“I can’t- You both… I’m not gonna answer that.” Armin manages to sound flustered when he answers.

Eren looks at him. “I would” he states nonchalantly, “but I don’t have all the materials to make my choice.” His tone drops to a low murmur, green eyes slowly shifting to you.

Armin tries to hold back a smile, both of you reacting exactly as he anticipated.

Your heart is hammering in your chest, it’s beat so loud you’re sure both of the boys can hear it; when you speak, you desperately try to keep your voice steady.

“Then god forbid you make an uniformed decision.”

Eren is straight up grinning at this point; he grabs your wrists and tugs you closer, pulling you on his lap. You balance yourself on his shoulders as his hands graze your bare thighs up and down, your skirt bunching up to your hips and barely covering your panties.

When your eyes meet, you’re shocked at how softly he’s looking at you. “I’ve been waiting a while for this” he murmurs, his voice almost a whisper, and you swear you can feel him stroking your cheek before burying his hands your hair and drawing you closer. He’s so warm all pressed up against you, so sweet when his lips ghost against yours before finally kissing you.

You’re slow to respond at first, too lost in how right it feels to have him so close and all over you, but you’re quick to part your lips for him, his tongue sliding against yours; he tastes of alcohol and you get drunk on it, a small moan leaving your throat and getting lost in the kiss. You whimper as you feel him groping your ass and push you even closer. He’s kissing you like a man starved, devouring you, the intensity making you feel light headed. You break apart from the kiss with a sigh, head falling on his shoulder, barely registering what you’re doing as you lightly grind against his hardening cock.

Eren groans as he tugs your hair so that you can look at him, his dark pupils swallowing up almost any trace of green.

“So needy… how many times have you thought about this?” he asks, a teasing smile on his lips as his fingers play with the hem of your skirt.

You look away from him, cheeks heating up; you don’t want to admit how many times you’ve cummed on your fingers with their names on your lips, but you don’t think you have a choice.

His head dips lower to press an open mouth kiss to the column of your throat, “Answer baby, there’s no need to be shy; we’re all friends here.”

You suck in your breath, voice embarrassingly shaky “so- so many times, w- with both of you” you confess.

Armin groans at your words, a curse slipping past his lips. “We- we could have done this so long ago” he mumbles, eyes fixed on you as he palms himself through his jeans. You feel so hot under his gaze, so wanted, you never want his eyes to leave your body.

Eren steals your attention by sucking a purple mark at the base of your neck; you bite back a moan as he licks at the bruise, heat pooling in your panties. he clicks his tongue in disapproval.

“This won’t do” he says softly against the shell of your ear “how can Armin hear all your pretty noises if you hold them back?”

Before you can choke out an apology, his lips go back on your neck, finding that sweet spot below your ear that makes you whimper. You’re trembling as he sucks another bruise on your skin and this time you don’t hold back, soft moans leaving your lips as your hands grips his hair, tugging it loose and fawning all over his shoulders.

Eren pulls back, admiring his work as you try to steady your breath.

“Good girl” he murmurs, “let us hear you.”

You shudder at his words. You don’t think you’ve ever been so turned on in your life, and he’s barely put his mouth on you. You can feel wet slick gathering in your panties and you shift to straddle one of his thighs, grinding hard to relieve the tension as your head falls back, a loud moan leaving your lips.

Two strings of low curses reach your ears, and you barely register Armin slipping a hand under his pants as Eren pulls you down on him again, the knee you have trapped between his legs pressing against his hard cock.

“Fuck, baby you wanna cum like that? Riding my thigh?” he pants, slightly bouncing his leg up to meet your movements, successfully drawing another moan out of your lips.

He brings a hand your face, almost reverent as his thumb grazes your lower lip, just like you’d done with Armin barely an hour ago. Your tongue darts out and licks the tip of his thumb before wrapping your lips around it, sucking slightly as you nod, eager.

Eren parts his lips, eyes glued to your mouth. He can’t believe he finally has you – both of you – as he wants you, as he’s pictured so many times; he wonders if he’ll come undone in his pants like a teenager, as you add pressure on his throbbing cock with each grind of your hips. He slips his finger from your warm lips, rushing his hands under your skirt to take off your panties.

When you finally readjust yourself on his thick thigh, you almost sob at the feeling of your bare, sensitive cunt against the rough material of his pants. Before you can resume your movements, he lifts up the piece of fabric, dangling it in front of your face.

“Look at this” he murmurs, “completely soaked” his voice trailing off as an idea suddenly forms in his mind.

He turns to Armin, and fuck, he feels his cock twitch at the sight. The blond is laying against the headboard, legs spread apart; he has a hand wrapped tight at the base of his hard, leaking cock, his pretty face all scrunched up in pleasure.

Armin’s cheeks heat up when he notices Eren’s eyes on him, but it doesn’t stop him from slowly stroking his cock, trying to delay his orgasm as much as possible.

“’Min, you think you could use these?” Eren asks, dark eyes dropping between the blond’s legs. Armin’s eyes widen at the request, his brain shutting down for a moment as he looks at the drenched panties in his hand.

“What? I- I-…” he looks at you, dazed, half lidded eyes boring into his blue ones as you rub slowly on eren’s thigh. “Y- yes please” he chokes out, shame reddening the tip of his ears.

“So polite… what a good boy” Eren purrs, his deep voice making Armin twitch in his own hand.

He takes the panties, the beads of your arousal thick on the side your cunt was, and he wraps the fabric around his cock. You watch with wide eyes, struggling to believe that sweet innocent Armin would ever give you such a lewd sight; you’re itching to lean over and kiss, lick, bite every inch of his body, but Eren’s grip on your waist keeps you in place.

Armin moans loudly as your slick smears all over his shaft. He keeps rubbing at himself with your panties trapped between his hand and his cock and how the fuck is this already topping every sexual experience I’ve ever had he manages to think. His eyes trail up and down your body, Eren’s body, and he doesn’t even notice how much his strokes speed up, hips bucking desperately into his own hand.

“Slow down baby or you’ll miss all the fun” Eren’s voice is as soft as the hand he puts on his leg to appease him. “If you behave, y/n will let you cum on her, right?” he says, sneaking a hand between your legs and sliding two fingers between your dripping folds.

“Ah- ye- yes Armin, wherever you want” you squeak, arching your back as Eren slips his fingers inside you. You feel inebriated as he slowly starts pumping, his fingertips massaging your walls, so slowly you want to cry. You wail when his fingers curl over your sweet spot, a hand gripping your waist to stop you from fucking yourself against his hand.

“Please ‘Ren, oh god, please, faster” you sob, high pitched moans slipping past your lips before you even realise it.

Instead of listening to you, Eren pulls his fingers out and slides them up to your clit, collecting your slick; you whimper when he retracts his hand from your cunt, pressing down on his thigh once again to get more friction. When your clit brushes against a wrinkle in his pants your eyes roll inside your head, orgasm so close you can taste it, but apparently Eren has other plans.

“Not yet baby, hold it for a bit longer, will you?” he purrs close to your ear, his mouth peppering wet kisses on your neck.

“Please a-ah Eren I c-can’t-” your words come out as broken sobs but you’ve long stopped caring, your brain filled with nothing but pleasure.

When Eren looks at your face you look absolutely wrecked, sweat shining on your forehead and cheeks red from the strain, chest heaving as quick pants come out of your parted lips. “

Armin, come here.” He says, hungry eyes still locked on yours. The blond obeys and shuffles closer to the two of you, your panties forgotten on the bed.

“You’ve been so good I think you deserve a reward” he says, as he pushes the glistening fingers he’d just pulled out of your cunt straight into Armin’s pretty mouth.

The blond moans at your taste, both hands coming to grab Eren’s wrist and push his fingers further in his mouth, choking slightly when they hit the back of his throat. Eren watches him in a trance, mesmerised by his blown eyes and the drop of spit that dribbles from the corner of his mouth. He wants to fucking ruin him. But not yet.

He takes his hand from the blond’s grasp – the whimper that leaves his mouth almost makes him cum on the spot. Eren lifts you from his lap, ignoring your pout as he places you right beside Armin.

“Sit still for me” he says as he slowly palms his cock before unbuttoning his pants and sliding them down with his boxers. You hear Armin suck in his breath as Eren’s hard cock slaps against his stomach, your own eyes widening at the sight; in length he almost matches the blonde, but the girth is just… fuck. Even dwarfed by his huge hand it’s almost intimidating, a thick vein reaching his pink leaking tip.

Eren takes his time as he pumps himself, eyes fixed on both of you; he drinks in your pretty, desperate faces, hands clutching the bedsheets as you try not to squirm under his gaze.

“Where do you wanna cum ’Min?” Eren’s question snaps him off a stupor, eyes leaving his groin to settle on your face.

You’re surprised Armin can blush more than he already is as he stutters that he wants to cum on you tits. You smirk as you quickly take off your top and unhook your bra, lust clouding you senses as you lay on the bed, head towards Eren as you motion Armin to straddle your waist. His eyes flicker to Eren and you miss the brunette’s nod before Armin comes on top of you, knees straddling your thighs.

Armin can’t believe just how fucking pretty you look under him, naked except for that cute pleated skirt you’re somehow still wearing. His hand trails up your stomach to squeeze your tits, fingers playing with your nipples as he pumps himself faster.

You feel Eren’s hand cradle your face, “touch yourself” he says, and you do just that.

With your skirt bunched up at your waist and your fingers quickly circling your clit, Armin doesn’t stand a chance; he leans forward, a hand planted on the bed as he cums on your tits with loud moan and your name on his lips, warm liquid painting your heaving chest.

You watch the blond leaning back against the headboard, desperately trying to catch his breath; you lock eyes with him, toungue wetting your lips as you bring a hand up to play with the mess he made on you, getting high on the look of pure defeat on his face as you take your cum coated fingers back to your clit.

“Oh fuck” Eren can’t believe how wrecked his own voice sounds “who would have thought you two would be such dirty sluts” he pants, his hand sliding faster and faster against his cock.

You moan at his words “’Ren p-please can- can I-”

“Cum.” He orders, and you obey right away.

The sounds that leave your lips are nothing short of pornographic, your body shaking and twitching in pleasure, mouth agape and head thrown back as white lights explode behind your eyelids, any coherent thought wiped out of your brain. Eren chokes out a curse at the sight, soft, high pitched groans echoing in the room until he finally cums with a broken moan, the liquid coating his hand and making a mess on his clothes.

It takes a while before any of you even attempts to move; silence falls in the room once again, except for your labored pants mixed with the music still playing in the hallway.

Eren is the first to get up and head for the bathroom. By the time you’ve all taken a shower and settled back on Armin’s bed, no one has still said a word. You feel anxiety settle low in your stomach, its grip speeding up your heartbeats.

Did you ruin everything? Is this the end of your friendship?

“So who’s the best kisser?”

Armin’s voice comes out tired and rough, but it puts a halt to the doubts swirling in your mind.

The breathy chuckle leaving Eren’s mouth sends a wave of relief through your body; “I’m sorry ’Min but y/n is definitely winning this one.” You smile as you feel his hand ghosting over your spine.

“Yeah, figured.”

The blond curls up against you and you’re still smiling.

The bed is way too small for the three of you and the night breeze coming from the window does little to cool you down, but you’ve never been better, a warm feeling spreading from where your bodies connect with each other.

As slumber takes you, you hope they’re still gonna be there when you wake up.

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sugar-petals · 3 years

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:: random things about boyfriend yoongi

↳ ♡ NOTE I saw this format floating around the fandom and thought it was cool and sweet (just like our honey boy so here it goes) 😊 includes an sfw and nsfw bit, both can be read independently.

words. 3k

SFW

First off, Yoongi is laid-back and casually sexy the way we know him. But he also has spikes of energy where he actually gets a little clingy. Any opportunity he will use to hold hands or jump around like a madman with his gummy smile because he got excited about something that you never could predict would make him so happy. He truly is an epiphany.

He’s your most eager personal chef but funnily enough a little unsettled by onions so you end up helping him. Yoongi hates to be crying in the kitchen because of some evil little vegetable but hey, perfect time and place to spend half an hour huddled together cooking or baking. And Yoongi is secretly longing for a cheesy scene, he finds it romantic when you wipe the tears from his face.

His way of speaking to you is a mix of mumbly Korean, high-pitched pouty cat speak, and old-school English slang phrases that he learned somewhere on social media or award shows back in 2018. Most of the time he takes things seriously but is up for some joking anyway. He is sure to giggle every now and then which is really adorable of him. Yoongi is also the person who gets every nuance of your humor and reacts to it.

After being single, you really have to get used to someone waddling around the house. Like— oh, he’s there! And it’s none other than him! Since Yoongi isn’t noisy when he concentrates on his laptop, it really stands out when he morphs from his unmovable rock-like being to a slow rolling stone headed towards the kitchen from time to time. You have to blink every time. And how could you not look up, he’s walking by with his cutest oversized sweaters and striped fluffy socks.

He cannot hide things that normal people would try to keep secret — because of their own discomfort, but he is good at blocking out things that serve your comfort. I’ll explain what I mean. If you have been keeping up with Yoongi postponing the reveal of his surgery until it was successful, you know what I mean. In short, Yoongi is pretty much an automatic filter for things that disturb you. Knowing the right time and place to inform you is the key. As is disregarding things that don’t concern you as a couple, unnecessary drama and opinions. He’s really good at that without ever trying to sugar-coat the important things because he remains a frank and honest soul.

Yoongi has an easier time giving random presents for simple occasions rather than making a big deal out of traditional festivities. So, big celebrations are often kept simple — unless the rest of BTS is there advocating their ‘a little party never killed nobody’ motto — while Yoongi focuses on getting you something attentive or useful every other day pretty much. He’s still a frugal type, you know him. It’s more about inexpensive things that catch his eye because he heard you likes this or that type of snack or want this or that sofa cushion.

There’s always something new and surprising in the fridge and it’s hardly ever empty because Yoongs takes care of the groceries, really thinking it through. Just personal chef things. Being Yoongi’s partner must be the most destressing thing. He takes responsibility for the worldly things, the ironing clothes and the trash cans. He himself thinks that’s the easiest shit ever and is ready to put time into it (he sees the merit, it drives him) while thinking your side — the sheer act of being in love with him, being there for him — must be hard. Which it isn’t.

Yoongi thinks emotions and relationships are tough and complicated while daily life runs smoothly at the snap of a finger. You think maintenance is a drudgery while love is not the maze your boyfriend assumes it is. Deep down Yoongi thinks he’s unlovable and a bad person, that’s why he believes he doesn’t have the burden but you have. That your affection then blazes past the barriers in Yoongi’s esteem is something that he finds incredible. It catches him off guard there, you burst the bubbles of the flaws he falsely imagines he has.

You bet your ARMY bomb you’re watching cat videos together.

Guess who’s the first person to hear all of Yoongi’s upcoming hit tracks? Even Namjoon gets the first sample ten minutes later. You gotta be really advanced at keeping secrets and avoiding accidental leaks with your phone or something.

Yoongi hesitates with the analogy because it’s a little funny and you’re evidently not a steaming liquid made of beans, but he claims you really are like his daily americano. Makes his every morning better.

Now, in all seriousness. What means the most to him is that you take him how he is and are stable company. Yoongi is afraid of betrayal and stupid games so he has to be sure to have a safe bet going. I think that’s why he fancies marriage, it’s a sign of commitment and some degree of permanence to him. And yes, he is a bit jealous in nature since he’s easily invested in someone with a purity of feeling, almost in a naive way. Yoongi easily idolizes his partner and puts a lot of energy into a bond. He wants to protect that, take the risk, and he has watched for someone who radiates genuine trust and faith. He is sure to have found it in you without any illusions and he is right. Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty.

Playing the piano for dinner or date night is a must, he practices constantly to advance to a great standard. He secretly finds a lot of satisfaction in you cooing at his skills and melodies. Those ten bony fingers gliding over the keys with such a technicality and focus, and a passion that makes you hold your breath, it’s great to watch.

Did you see that one coming? He will compose and produce a designated mixtape only for you personally. Yes, with a little self-filmed, self-cut music video for the title track.

Now those things never see the light of day, they’re all for you. But what about your couple life once it touches the social realm? As one might expect, Yoongi is very ‘eyes turn narrow’ with people who bring disharmony to your dynamic and the relationship in general. In fact, he is grumpy and disappointed, and should someone give him a reason, distinctly brutal. If someone even attempts to test you or plays manipulative games, Yoongi is relentlessly turning them from the inside out with his words that never miss the mark. They’re efficient. As I said, he hates playing annoying games, he’ll do any shortcut and be Yoongi.

I guarantee you can lean back and will never the fazed by stupid people and time wasters again. No need to lose face. Yoongi does the dirty work and is the best possible defender to have on your side. He handles that. Invasive opinions and useless phrases he will shove right up some trashtalker’s ass and leave. Let’s squarely say he is unafraid to be a armchair critic of your and his haters and doesn’t want any of that nuisance to disturb what you have together. He cuts very quick and makes sure not to get tangled up in trouble.

Yoongi will also debunk a whole bunch of weirdos on weverse asking about your private love while he’s at it. Prepare for some very entertaining snide remarks. Oh my god, so many entitled people will be pissed off. Many will also celebrate him for stepping up. What’s actually important to Yoongi is that nobody taints what is like a treasure to him.

It won’t be hard to overlook that Yoongi is very proud of you as well. He looks confident and revering when he hangs out with the group and you’re somewhere close by, even just doing something trivial.

He’s also pretty touchy, sometimes publically to demonstrate something, but mostly in the relative calm and safety of a hotel room. When the lights are out, all barriers crash, the utter romantic takes over. His favorite types of kisses besides those onto his hands are when you kiss his lashes. And yep. Yoongs is such a cozy little spoon. A very curled up one with cute shooky pajamas on most likely.

Talk about clothes. Believe it or not, Yoongi’s fashion goes through a significant change due to the relationship. He knows that you are touchy and thinks about what kinds of flannels are the biggest cuddle magnet, after all. And oh wonder, he will also show some level of skin when he accidentally hears your praises for his arms and legs and collar bones and glowy skin while talking to a close friend of yours. So, look forward to that in summer (he still dislikes the winter cold and wraps himself into scarves twice his size, mind you) though it’s still for your eyes only, he covers up when going out. Truth be told, he enjoys when you casually touch his skin. Especially the arms. Which hold up the firmament to you, and your world, too, and guard it.

BTS will know about how excited he is about you because he often boasts about for how long you’ve been living together by now. We all know this is Yoongi’s favorite way of bragging and it further shows that loyalty, dedication and longevity is the spice to his every meal.

Yoongi is probably going to quit the bottle because you naturally make him feel at ease and upbeat. In fact, he simply forgets about his wine. I don’t have to convince you that Yoongi will be very immersed in any interaction with you whether that be watching movies or discussing his latest tracks.

Those discussions come with extra back massages for him because he spends a lot of hours in his chair. Especially around the neck, it’s no secret that this is in every cat’s top 3 favorite massaging areas. Yoongi is gonna make some really raspy, sleepy sounds and just melt in your hands. He’s gonna sleep like a baby afterwards every time. Sometimes, he says funny and cute things while he dozes. He looks very content.

Say goodbye to the 21st century adulting annoyances in your life because Yoongi has a grip on those without a word. Those six specific chores that always plague you take him only a dozen minutes and he is eager, the forms to fill out are already sent off, the list of people to e-mail is weeded through. The taxes are paid, the bank account is full, the meals are on the table, garnished to perfection. Roof over the head, and it’s a sturdy one, Yoongi bought a sound haven house to inhabit a lot of happiness for two.

He’s probably the only person who doesn’t see it as a loss of dignity if you want to hold on tight to him during a dentist visit as a grown ass mf. Why all of this? Yoongi cannot not strive to feel needed in his actions. He wouldn’t like himself if he couldn’t contribute something reliable and useful. That you find things worthy of your time is priority. You complement each other, what you think is a waste of energy makes him work and strive and vice versa. That way, in the end all things are taken care of.

Giving is more important than taking in Yoongi’s world. He thinks of everything because he considers it an offense to have you in a pile of duties, that is, if you don’t like ‘em. It’s his form of dedicating his efforts and showing respect. He doesn’t need much in return. The things he expects if at all don’t feel like a duty: Much like he doesn’t consider doing those acts of services for you likewise.

Work horse he is, he needs something on his daily to-do plan. Which includes making you feel unbothered by the occasions of an incoming strict world when it’s getting to you. You’re supposed to do what you feel like doing just like him and not slave away at fifty deeds. That you torture yourself with daily life hassle is the thing he dislikes seeing the most. He enjoys doing these things so he’s happy to get going.

What’s not a daily life hassle: Holly is a big fan of yours. Instant friendship. Just wanted you to know.

He always knows how to preoccupy himself and finds something to improve. Getting on your nerves, and that’s no surprise, is the last thing Yoongi will ever do. In fact, you sometimes have to search for his napping spot because he got lost somewhere in the house.

He either sleeps or works, his philosophy is simple. If you need him, he does appear seemingly out of nowhere. And, he spends as much time with you as you enjoy, not always prioritizing his producing unless it’s urgent or he’s on an inspiration streak. Which is great anyway, you can sit next to him listening. It’s the right balance of work and play.

Yoongi is not above blatantly showing off. Actually, he goes for an act of stunning pretty often. You know how cats parade around whatever they just caught. He wants to impress you with assets and accolades and appraisals, the boy can’t help it. That you only lightly nod at most of it with a little smile will confuse him but he will get the point later on. You wanna signal Yoongi that you anchor your love for him not in shifting numbers and chunky metal pieces.

That you don’t confuse his signs of outward worth and fame with the core of the guy you find the sweetest in the world is very important to him. He will take some time to see through that because he’s used to being loved through status and its symbols by people close and afar.

The way you throw yourself at him to give a big smooch in random situations — especially when he doesn’t feel great about himself— rather than only when he say gets a new car is sending him a message. Again, he has to grow into that. He will retreat at the beginning because he feels worthless of your affection on days where he doesn’t feel big and bold and successful. But since he sees you jumping on him because you need only his kind and squishy presence and see him as no different than usual because he’s always Yoongi underneath, your boyfriend will change his mind about it sooner or later. He learns that your presence makes him feel like a billion dollars yourself.

You don’t wallow in the regrets of other people missing the point of Yoongi and instead focus on always understanding him rather than enabling Yoongi into wrong directions. And there are many of those, his mental health can tell you a thing or two about it. He begins to get that you really know what you’re doing and are in it for the real him which makes him feel really loved far underneath all surfaces and images. You accept his fame and admire his work with music which is what he’s truly doing it for but also don’t forget that the most vulnerable Yoongi is the one that you’re there for and not a facade.

NSFW

I know you’re curious. That Yoongi’s sexual style is more than just interesting goes without saying. To give you an idea. Anything steamy with Yoongi means him taking his time. You know, for making it quality. Yoongi wants to grow into the right balance of activity and staying relaxed. He is good at keeping cool and bringing some focus to the madness. He wants to figure out how to be more casual instead of tense and overly preoccupied which he’ll be at the start of the relationship. But the fast learner he is, his nervousness fades way faster than you think.

Yoongi is extremely afraid that he can’t please you or starts to become awkward slash clueless so he darts to the opposite of the spectrum and overperforms, even plays a character. You have enough cool yourself to tell him what to do in the pace that works best. That he stays centered in his body is important for you to teach him. When he gets grounded and juggling his confidence is out of the equation, he fucks the best.

His favorite position besides giving oral — with you on your back — will be doggy style. Man, we gotta talk about that. Slow to upper moderate pace, nothing too all over the place. Yoongi moans very slowly, too, all drawn out. Get ready for a frequent session of some anal to unwind. You heard that right. First, Yoongi will get the two of you into the right rhythm with his hands at the sides of your waist, then, ride it out in slow mo with his right hand properly stimulating you from the front.

By habit, he will add some lube here and there but not use insanely dripping amounts so everything gets messy or he can’t touch you without sliding off anymore. Just enough to slide well. Yoongi is so good at this I swear, it’ll be your favorite thing to relax. He has the restraint and technique to pull it off rather than pulling out, huh. Yoongi is gonna stay inside you for ages. It feels like he’s massaging every spot for some extra time. It’s amazing to slack off your muscles, cool off, and get many a gentle but fulfilling orgasm.

He’s not gonna put you through the hassle of dealing with an anal creampie cleanup so he keeps it wrapped, and mostly focuses on your movements altogether while keeping his own climax smooth and more relieving rather than something that relentlessly knocks him out in one go. Yoongi is good at observing and doesn’t feel the need to chase a violent high which is why he is so great at sex. Fucking with Yoongi leaves a wholesome feeling and you never feel ashamed or guilty, or a sense of being dirty and ruined.

He enjoys having sex to make you feel really good and works his hands on you very respectfully. His goal is to have you wet and pulsing after a long while of getting you there, and putting you to a good night’s sleep. He’d feel terrible if he left you sore or disturbed. He is really passionate, especially with his kisses or when you ask him to slide into very deeply, but Yoongi being brash and controlling is an image out of sight.

Besides giving you the number one heavenly assfucks, Yoongi also likes to work his tongue as we know, and he’ll work it all over. Few body parts of yours have not made contact with that glorious mouth and I say that in the best of ways. You can instruct him to do whatever, Yoongi obliges with radiant joy. And here again, he takes minutes upon minutes. Kissing and kissing and licking and maybe even teasing once or twice to make you smile. You know, a little signature wink. Honoring your skin and every shape is not something that Yoongi has to talk about, he will physically show it and I swear it’ll finally get into your head with every little move, Yoongi has totally surrendered his tongue to your body and worships it.

#yoongi #yoongi hc #bts smut #yoongi smut #bts #yoongi x reader #boyfriend yoongi #yoongi scenario #yoongi imagine #bts x reader #boyfriend bts #bts bullet points #bangtan

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marshmallowprotection · 3 years

Text

Saeran’s Passport Package

I’ve been waiting since the 19th to get my hands on this baby and I’m glad that it got here today. It took me a little bit to sit down and go through everything cause I wanted to cry about it the entire time.

Spoilers Ahead, everyone. So, if you’re not interested in seeing what’s in the Passport set AFTER the events of Saeran’s After Ending, then do not click Read More, got it? I’ve made it clear to you. I will say that it’s worth the money if you’re debating buying it.

So, we can go over the contents in the box, first as an overview. You receive a letter stamped with a cute sticker as well as the passport itself which holds the notes that Saeran’s been taking and drawing since this all started. I just think that’s cute. My brain said don’t open that passport until we review the letter first so, why don’t we go over the letter first? The little details are really cute. There’s just so many stamps on this baby.

The little touches are what sell it. You’ve got this man putting his love all over it and there’s a CUTE NOTE of CATS. Sir, was that a touch to Saeyoung? I know you know that your brother is a dork. Homage to brother who is an idiot but too glaringly obvious. It got a chuckle out of me. I know this man, and it’s just getting to me.

The passport itself is also really cute. It has the art from the promo banner but instead of everyone hustling around together, there’s new poses and all of that jazz. Jaehee isn’t rushing around. Zen’s got a selfie stick, no surprise on that front. Jumin just chilling. Seven and Yoosung... doing what they do best and you know it. RUN, YOOSUNG, RUN.

Saeran and MC... being cute on the inside made me go, “Aw!” Ice cream. They can really just put ice cream and it’s going to make me cry, huh? Really? Is that how easy this is? Am I a joke to you, Cheritz? Is that what this is?

Now, if you want to talk about the contents in the letter, you get this sheet that is listed in three languages, surprised me, Korean, Spanish, and English, and it lets you tick off little things that you like to do. An itinerary sheet. I feel like this is purely Jumin crafting these. It asks about Cats. Literally. Cats. Wine? Yeah, this is on Jumin. You always come in flex, Jumin, but oh boy, I’m chuckling over here at these little touches.

You get 2 boarding passes. One with Saeran’s name and one with a blank to fill in your name. I thought that was cute. Tying in that with the CG of the passes in the game with this just makes it more real to me. I’m holding this in my hands and it just makes my immersion feel much more real than it did when I was holding my phone in my hand and playing this out.

I think merch like this just makes you feel more apart of the story then you do when you’re able to talk and chat, you know? If you really like feeling like you are involved with the game, this is how you do it. You wanna know how I know that Jumin is the one setting this up with Saeran? Flip over the fucking passport and you realize that Elizabeth is on the back.

I’m still laughing.

I’m trying to imagine this and now, like, I’m starting to see why Jaehee is so damn tired because Elizabeth really is on everything that he can get his hands on and she’s good too many files to sort through when it comes to whatever the photographers take of her. Jumin can’t take photos. He’s either got Jihyun to do this for him at some point, or he’s straight up hiring photographers for her cause he can’t do it.

I mean, we all know that Jumin will put Elizabeth everywhere but I just— It’s on the BOARDING PASSES? JUMIN!

There’s also a postcard within the letter that is once more, written in all three aforementioned languages. Saeran says that it feels like a dream when he is with you, like this is where he’s always meant to be. His promise of happiness is made truest when he’s with you. I teared up a little. I know that he means well when he does that but damn, does it take an arrow to the heart every single time he does it.

Saeran put a lot of thought into this in a very short amount of time. I know that he did this plan likely with the idea that he may not be able to go with us but he wanted us to be able to see the world for him. You know, how he implied that he wanted Saeyoung to see things for him? To live for him? Even if he was dead, he wanted Saeyoung and the player to be happy and free.

The blurred state on those... doesn’t have names. It doesn’t name Saeran in this photo.

The implication of his sacrifice with the boarding passes kind of hurts because this is a side note of the fact that Saeran Did Not Know If He Would Live To See This Through. He made it thinking maybe.. if things worked out, it would be an okay future, but this was... God. I just. I’m thinking about the weight of the AE and what that felt like. I almost glossed over the Boarding Pass because I was just so upset with him.

I’m the type to try to sacrifice myself for others, too. I have that in common with Saeyoung and Saeran.

I think that we’d argue over who should die for the others and while that’s macabre, it’s just the kind of people that we are. We love these people so much that we’re willing to die if they’re safe and sound. Knowing that, I understand what Saeran tried, and even what Saeyoung tries, but it’s hard cause I want to make sure they’re happy in comparison to myself.

This is where being selfless is a bad thing.

Does anyone know what a big deal it is for Saeran to have a passport? He’s never had an ID or paperwork in his entire life. If he did, he would’ve been killed, so would his brother. They’re both never had IDs. Unless you count the ones from the Agency and Mint Eye. They’ve got them in the Believer box with their names and faces, but that’s not official. That’s not paperwork that everyone else has. That’s just...

You know?

Seeing this tangible thing in my hands is a testament to Saeran Choi being alive and thriving. He’s not afraid of showing his face. He’s living. He’s a free man and nobody can kill him for existing. Does that not weigh on anyone here? It hit me and I wanted to cry. I might break down thinking about this later because I just take this too seriously. Look at him. Look at HIM. Okay? Did you look? Now, LOOK AGAIN.

Okay, I’m not going to share every single page inside of the passport but I will give you little snippets of the journey ahead and show you what he writes and draws. Yes, he’s drawing. I knew that he was talented because he is great at doodling and drawing, but he knows how to have such a cute style that I want to gush about and he probably has no clue about how cute it is because nobody’s ever told him!

Okay, so the trip is broken up over a few months and into segments. You know how I was surprised by the 3 languages? Yes, this passport is written in three languages and it stays that way. It implies that Saeran knows English and Spanish, or at the very least, he’s been studying them, I get that it’s kind of a neat tie in to make sure that all languages are included but I only English and I can only read Spanish, I suck at conversational Spanish, so I could only read the English and Spanish sections.

So, if anyone wants to throw in what the Korean segments say, please do. I have a rough idea, but it’d be nice to know. The first segment of the trip is spent traveling over Korea. You see the things that he packed in the bag!

I almost had a heart attack because I thought the vitamins were Caffeine Pills. I was about to beat my Husband and make him go to bed. Thin ice, Saeran. Thin ice, the Special Believer package implied you take more then ten and I want you to go the fuck to sleep at night.

He packed his hanbok! Look! You remember? From the title screen event? The blue shirt is the one that he matches with MC in. There’s so much I’m screaming about it.

It shows you things that you do. Like, biking, karaoke, gardens... is there a locket bridge in Korea? You know? If you put them together on a bridge, it’s said that your love lasts forever. I forget where that came from but I guess there must be one in South Korea, too. Oh, and food. Can you believe that he can eat whatever he wants now? I’m sobbing.

Please.

HE’S IN HANBOK. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.

Okay, here’s the thing. I only have one gripe with the Passport Package and I’m going to say this again at the end, but I really wish that they had included big photos for this because the Passport itself it rather small and I wish that I could have bigger photos of this. It’s my only complaint. Literally, it’s the only thing I have to say about the box that will affect my rating. Look, we’re doing cheesy couple stuff!

HE’S DOING THE HEART THING WITH HIS HANDS.

A KISS.

KISS.

GUSHING.

DYING. HELP. ME.

God, I wish I wasn’t broke. I would commission someone to do this for my MC.

The second and third portion of the trip are spent in the U.S.A. and Mexico, I was so surprised by that! New York and Hawaii specifically are what they name and I was. Well, those are really far apart, huh. I mean, those are very popular spots. I’m not surprised. I’m chuckling because he’s got matching outfits.

Saeran Choi, you really want the embarrassing couple look, don’t you? Well, if it’s for you, I’d do it. Did... Saeyoung or Jumin set us up, are we fucking loaded? There’s mad bank here.

Saeran and MC basically are living per Jumin and Saeyoung, to be honest, because Saeran’s never had a job and MC is... your MC literally agrees to go and test a game in the woods, how good can our lives be? I’m broke, boy. I ain’t got nothing. So, I like to think that those two are offering to let Saeran be as happy and free as he wants. No expense. Like, kindness. The RFA is too damn much, I’m gonna cry. I’m starting to understand why the RFA didn’t hear from us for months.

The final Check-In with the RFA is set 6 Months after the events that take place when we save Saeran. The events of this Passport cover 3 months. So, we go back to Korea after this adventure and met up with Saeyoung, because we know that we’re hanging out with him in the conclusion. So, if they haven’t really heard from us, that means that we’ve been traveling more with him.

I kind of like that.

We’re spending time with Saeran alone and time with the brothers together, and that’s sweet! I love that. I need to write more about it.

I’m trying not to laugh about this Mexico portion but it looks like he passed out from an ice tea... lemonade...? It’s surely not alcohol. Maybe too much sugar, I know that crash can hurt. I’ve been there. I just know that you’re not implying the man with alcohol trauma is gonna drink. Nope. Neither he nor Saeyoung ever will do that. I stand by that statement and I’ll die by that statement. Bite me my tongue if I’m wrong, but I stand by that.

Saeran is at least mindful of the sun. He’s also made notes that the perfect time for sunset is 18:34. Cute. He notes that it’s time for the Day of the Dead as well, so that’s fun!

IS THAT A FUCKING V CACTUS—

TWO V CACTUS—

There’s actually a portion in here where he asks you certain questions and you have the space to fill in it. I like that it’s interactive.

Do you have favorites sweets? Are there things about yourself that you hide? Did you make sure to ask Santa what you wanted? I’m wheezing. The food doodles are one thing, and the Christmas photo is one thing, but he really drew himself as a butterfly and the MC as a bug catcher.

“CATCH ME, MC.”

Help me.

I’m laughing so hard.

Saeran, you fucking goofball.

And, the last page of the passport is us assumedly returning home with all kinds of trinkets and gifts. Flower crown, snow globe, cactus, hats, listen, there’s a lot of details in this photos that I really wish I could have it blown up.

That’s really my only complaint about the Passport Package. I really want to have bigger photos that are shared. I wouldn’t have minded if it was the photo of the final CG in the game, or the Christmas photo, I really would have enjoyed getting that to have for myself.

You know? The passport itself is roughly like 5 x 7 or so, so while it’s not big, it’s still like. I would love to see the details blown up. It’s smaller then the diary, that I know for sure. I think it’s the only thing stopping from giving Cheritz a 10/10 on this item.

I’m going to have to give them a 9.8/10 simply because it feels like we are lacking one big photo.

I guess I’ll print my favorite CGs and decorate my room like that. But, all and all, I really enjoyed reading this and it made it feel like I was there and I was able to reflect on Saeran’s vacation with the player. Like, he was doing this as we were going using his little doodles... I’m in love with this fucking sap. I’d say that this is worth the money.

For sure.

My only gripe aside. That’s a personal problem, not really a content problem. I love this bastard.

Look at him, he’s GOT A PLUSHIE. I have so many things that I want to write about now thanks to this. Saeran, darling, sweetie, my love, I am dying. Either way, I’m glad this arrived when it did. I needed this. I justified getting this for myself because I don’t expect to get anything for my birthday in early February but I’m happy I have him.

It’s been five years since I found this game in August 2016. I’m happy that it’s been here with me.

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tundrainafrica · 3 years

Note

that moment when you realize levi's last memory of hanji was her laughing - her last laugh. oh and levi would never have a body to bury. Also, I was wondering if you have done an analysis of the solute that levi did - you know keeping his hand over her heart. I personally headcannon that levi meant hanji to give her heart to him, to be his and that's why he kept his fist over her heart. (sorry if it sounds cheesy lmao)

OKAY SO WE’RE ON THE TOPIC OF CH. 132 AGAIN. So imma assume you guys really wanna hurt yourselves more so allow me to drop this really amazing animation of 132 which really captures Hange and Levi’s facial expressions well along with a lot of symbolisms about Hange so please, even if you’re not gonna read the whole meta I have down under. Please watch it. You won’t regret it. It’s beautiful. Here’s the link (The lyrics are good too, so I’d recommend you check the English translation out, the second verse all the way to the chorus, it really fits.)

that moment when you realize levi's last memory of hanji was her laughing - her last laugh. oh and levi would never have a body to bury.

How are you so sure that Hange’s last memory was her smiling and laughing?

I actually like to entertain the possibility that Hange and Levi made an extremely conscious effort to avoid looking at each other, especially in the eyes. Why is that?

Maybe, the scene in 126 was that much of a profound scene relationship wise that they couldn’t look at each other after that? But I can’t help but think the Levi and Hange’s dynamics were particularly distant in 132? Especially if you compare it to just a few chapters ago where Hange couldn’t even leave him right? Like she was always next to him on his sleeping bag.

That’s why I really hc-ed that maybe when she was changing his bandages, particularly removing the ones covering his mouth, they had a conversation. And I wrote out my take on it in this fic.

There are just way too many panels about them talking about so many deep things and in all of them they’re looking away from each other.

You can say, towards the last panels, of course he’s not looking at her, he knows she’s going to sacrifice herself, why put her to the pain?

And even the dedicate your heart scene right? He wasn’t looking at her.

So the point is, do you really think his last memory of her was her smile?

And was it really her laugh? Personally, when I see people smile, I don’t look at their mouths, I look at their eyes. I’m an eyes person. I think eyes talk more than someone’s mouth.

And Hange wasn’t smiling at all, look at those eyes.

And do we really count a ��haha’ as a laugh :’). Do you think Levi... who has seen Hange laugh so many times before, and had seen that same wonder in her eyes before and how she constantly smiles with both her eyes and her mouth, do you think Levi would have counted that as a laugh?

Anyway, I like to headcanon the last clear vivid memory Levi had of her was when she was changing his bandages back in the ship. They were avoiding each othe rtoo much, Levi was really avoiding looking at her this whole chapter and I really suspect there was a deleted scene, a conversation in the ship which changed their whole dynamic in that chapter before Hange chose to sacrifice herself.

Anyway, moving on to the next question:

Also, I was wondering if you have done an analysis of the salute that levi did - you know keeping his hand over her heart. I personally headcannon that levi meant hanji to give her heart to him, to be his and that's why he kept his fist over her heart. (sorry if it sounds cheesy lmao)

Omg, that is such a cute headcanon I didn’t think about. Thank you for sharing that <3 I’ll add that to my own personal list of headcanons that I’ll be sharing below.

Before I move on to sharing it, I just have to say:

I love the original Japanese translation.

For most western languages, you have to mention the “your” in Dedicate your heart because it just doesn’t flow well to say “dedicate heart” nor would it be consistent with Erwin’s iconic statement being constantly translated to “Dedicate your heart” suddenly being translated to “Dedicate heart” which is wrong grammar anyway.

With 心臓を捧げよう, we only know there is an unspecified number of hearts which are to be dedicated.

So Levi’s message could be translated to either “Dedicate your heart.” or even “Let’s dedicate our hearts”

So as a Levihan shipper I could headcanon this in so many ways.

1. I’ll drop the vanilla one first. “Dedicate your heart” okay Hange while sacrificing yourself, make sure to dedicate your heart okay, fight to your heart’s content, which is the most conventional interpretation.

2. The next one is: Let’s dedicate our hearts. This could mean that he feels the war is reaching it’s climax and if she’s ready to die, Levi is willing to join her soon and he will dedicate his heart the same way. Since Japanese tenses in relation to time aren’t specified and future tense doesn’t exist in Japanese, it makes it vague enough to even foreshadow Levi’s own intentions to really dedicate his heart like his own comrades did. And the fact that Levi said see you later Hange? That only supports this headcanon.

3. Another head canon I have is Levi figuratively left his heart with her with that salute and in that moment, maybe he was talking to himself when he decided to dedicate his heart to her. With that dedication and with Hange’s impending sacrifice, Levi showed his readiness to lose his heart and have it die with her.

4. This is actually an analysis I read a while back from a Japanese website I’ll leave the link below and it’s definitely one of my favorites for this scene.

So to summarize the analysis, the Japanese fans see it as a symbolism of unity for Hange and Levi.

Remember Hange was betrayed by the Jaegerists a few chapters back probably less than a few days ago manga time. Hange is one of the few people who have this idea that what Eren is doing is wrong, the violence, the rumbling. And with Zeke, Flock and Yelena all explicitly disagreeing with her, she was living with this idea that she was doing things wrong especially since only recently a majority of the survey corps actually betrayed her. Yet Hange still continued to hold on to her idea that their ideas are all wrong, there must be a more peaceful way to end all this. Also, remember even do Hange had such an idealistic way on how she wanted it to end, no one explicitly agreed with her.

Thus, she was lonely. And with that ‘dedicate your heart’ scene, Levi recognizes that loneliness and by saying “let’s dedicate our hearts” he’s telling her he is dedicating his heart to that same cause she is fighting for. And even if no one agrees with it, he agrees with her cause.

He’s empathizing with it, he’s affirming it and he’s telling her what she’s fighting for isn’t wrong and he wants to clear her of any doubts in her final moments so she can fight till her hearts content.

And I think that’s beautiful. I got the analysis here.

The “dedicate your heart” could mean one of all the things above but it can also mean all the things above at once. I like to hurt myself by thinking, Hange and Levi talk more with gestures than words and maybe Levi meant to say everything up there.

And maybe with this face Hange gave we can see...

She might have gotten all five messages before she sacrificed herself.

Anyway, thanks for reading!

#levihan #levi ackerman #hange zoe #levi x hange #levi x hanji #meta #snk 132

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the-evil-authoress · 3 years

Text

GX Month Day 29: “Frontline Base”

Even heroes need some downtime. Show us what the schoolyard crew gets up to when they’re not saving the world or studying for finals. Sleepovers perhaps?

BROT4 GOOOO!

Seven pages of pure, nonsensical fluff.

Jesse jerks as the door bangs open and Christina leans in, breathless and giddy. “Jay, movie night at Lexi’s!��

“Sweetness!” Jaden scrambles to his feet, all but abandoning the cards spread out between them as he sweeps his deck back into its box.

Hold up. “What?” Jesse glances between his new friends in confusion.

“We watch movies in Alexis’ room,” Jaden says like this is a perfectly natural occurrence.

“Yeah, no, I got that.” Jesse frowns, trying to think back to the rules and regulations sheet he’d been handed at orientation. “I thought guys weren’t allowed at the Girls’ Dorm?”

Jaden makes finger quotes and winks. “You coming?” he asks, already halfway out the door. Christina shouts at him to hurry up from the distance.

Oh, okay. So this is a thing. “Sure.” Collecting his own cards, Jesse slots them all neatly into his deck box. He isn’t about to turn down an open invitation, arbitrary rules be damned. Christina hangs out down here enough.

The smile Jaden gives him looks like a miniature sun. Then he charges down the stairs after Christina. Jesse hurries to catch up.

The Slifer Dorm and Obelisk Girls’ Dorm are the farthest from each other, so it’s a fair bit of a walk. Jesse tries to pay attention to the route to remember it later and fails, because it’s either that or lose track of what his new friends are saying. As it is, the pair use terms that Jesse isn’t familiar with yet. Christina’s quick enough to translate or explain as best she can; Jaden’s English is a lost cause.

The building finally comes into sight. Jaden immediately veers off to the side as they approach and makes a choked noise as Christina grabs him by the collar. “It’s a different room!” she hisses and proceeds to lead them around the back of the building.

“Right…”

They enter through a tiny door that Jesse would bet money students aren’t even supposed to know exists and weave their way through the hallways up to the second floor. The layout is definitely different than the Obelisk Boys’ Dorm from what little time he’s spent there. Still stupidly posh. Jaden charges headfirst into the room as soon as Christina points to it.

“Yo, Lexi! First movie night of the year!” He flops face first into the mattress. “Man have I missed these beds.”

“Nice to see you too.” Alexis huffs with a grin, glancing up from the adjacent desk as Jesse shuts the door behind himself. She visibly startles at the sight of him, and Jesse freezes as he considers for the first time that he might have received the invite from the wrong person.

Well, shit. This just got awkward.

“Oh, right, uh-” Sitting up, Jaden glances between Alexis and Jesse before giving Alexis a big, cheesy grin that looks nothing short of terrified. “-plus one? If you don’t mind.”

Surprisingly, Alexis relaxes with no more than a breath. “It’s fine. Just send me a heads up next time.”

“Heads up!” Jaden chirps with another smile made of sunlight. No idea what that means, but Christina starts giggling and Alexis shakes her head like an exasperated parent. She doesn’t seem mad though, so Jesse figures it’s safe to join Christina by the couch instead of letting his Beasts guide him back to his own room for the night.

“You’ve got a single room this year,” Jaden says, glancing around the space. It looks a lot like the one Jesse was given - really big and really empty with far too much space for a single person.

“Yeah. I got one too, not that I’ll be using it.” Christina shrugs as Jaden hops off the bed and belines toward the window.

“You’ll probably end up crashing here when you’re not at the Slifer Dorm,” Alexis agrees, clicking out of the program she had open on her computer before standing.

Christina beams. “You know me so well.”

“You have a balcony!”

“Which is why-” Alexis holds out a key between her and Christina, seemingly ignoring the Slifer leaning out her window. “-I got an extra.”

Squealing, Christina snatches the key and hugs the other girl. “They can’t keep besties apart!”

“Hey!”

“Oh, hush.” Christina waves a hand at Jaden’s offended expression. “You’re my boy bestie. Lexi’s my girl bestie.”

For a moment, Jaden pouts and Jesse wonders if he just stumbled into some friendship drama, but then the Slifer shrugs and returns to studying something outside below the balcony. “Fair enough.”

Should Jesse really be here? He took up the offer - that wasn’t even from the person who’s room this is - on a whim. He’s barely known these people two weeks when they’ve all known each other at least two years.

“Jaden, get back in here.” Alexis twists to chide the Slifer still standing transfixed on her balcony.

Jaden doesn’t budge. “As soon as I figure out the best route!”

“Route?” Curiosity overriding the sense of displacement, Jesse joins Jaden on the balcony.

“Yeah, up and down.” Jaden leans over the balcony railing, face scrunched up in concentration. “Climbing’s easier than sneaking through the hallways every time.” He says that like he does this often. So this is definitely a thing. Jaden and Christina struck Jesse as the rebellious type; Alexis not so much. But hey. Jesse likes being wrong; means he gets to learn new things.

Poking his own head over the railing, Jesse looks down the side of the building, already spotting places to grab hold or balance a foot. “There’s a few…” he mumbles, sliding back into his mother tongue. Getting to them from the balcony is the tricky part. Glancing up at the treeline, he spots an overhanging branch just close enough to grab hold and reaches up to give it a tug. It holds firm so he shifts his weight, braces, and swings himself up with a practiced ease. Jaden gapes like a fish and Jesse smirks.

“Get down!” Alexis hisses, sharp tone chasing away most of his pride. “It’s still daylight!”

Right. And he and Jaden aren’t supposed to be here. Jesse doesn’t fancy getting himself kicked out this soon. He can understand the intention behind not allowing boys in the Girls’ Dorm but the fact there’s been no indication of a similar rule for girls at the Boys’ Dorm does imply a few things. Jaden still looks starstruck when Jesse lands next to him. “Dude, teach me?”

“Sure. Later?”

“Sweetness!” Jaden bounces back into the room with an enthusiasm that, for once, looks entirely genuine and Jesse finds himself smiling too. “So what are we doing first?” Jaden looks to the girls for input.

“Well, since you’re here-” Alexis turns a confident grin in Jesse’s direction, and Jesse has to stop himself from shying away from the sudden attention. Alexis’ eyes are as sharp as her smile “I wanted to get a better look at that deck.”

Oh, okay, this is familiar. Running thumb over his deck box, Jesse feels his Beasts vibrate with anticipation. He grins. “Sure. Duel?”

“Game on.”

They spread out the cards between them on the coffee table, sitting on those pillow things the Japanese substitute for chairs. Christina bounces between rooting for Alexis and rooting for Jesse play by play.

“Who’s side are you on?” Jaden asks, chin propped on Jesse’s shoulder where it’s been pretty much the entire match.

“Both!” Christina chirps from her seat next to Alexis.

“That’s not how it works!”

Sure it is; Jesse tries to hide his laugh behind his cards. Although he’s flattered that Jaden’s apparently willing to take his side, who really wants to pick sides between friends?

Christina hums, leaning back with a suspiciously smug expression. “Should I tell you that next time Sy and Hassleberry start fighting over your attention?”

Jesse feels Jaden cringe as he pulls away. “They don’t duel over me! That’s different.”

“They did once.”

“What?! When?!”

“You were in space chilling with a dolphin man.”

“What?” Jesse jerks, misplaying his next card as he gapes at the redhead.

Christina only breaks into giggles as Jaden angrily pouts. “You’re never gonna let me live that down, are you?”

“Nope!”

“Space??” Jesse repeats in an effort to distract himself from the horrible position he just put himself in on the board as he passes the turn to Alexis. He had to have misunderstood that.

“Neo Space,” Jaden says in English which does absolutely nothing to curb Jesse’s confusion. “Not actual space. It was like…” He trails off with a frown.

“A separate plane of reality,” Hummingbird says from where he’s been perched over the game board with vested interest. “Another dimension.”

“Yeah, that.”

“Yeah what?” Alexis asks without even looking up from her cards, and Jesse automatically braces for the backlash.

“Uh, a separate plane of reality,” Jaden repeats. “Or dimension, I guess?”

“So like the Dominion,” Christina muses.

“Makes sense.” Taking out his defense, Alexis sets a card and passes the turn to Jesse.

Oh, right. Even Jaden’s friends who can’t see them too just kinda accept that he can see spirits. Feels weird to talk about it so casually, but Alexis doesn’t look bothered at all. “So what’s this Dominion place?” he asks as he draws his next card. Ah, sweet! He needed this!

“You don’t know?” The confusion in Christina’s voice pulls Jesse’s attention away from his cards again.

“No?” But now he feels like he should.

“It’s where they come from.” Christina gestures to the cards on the table. “The Dominion of the Beasts. Well, most of them.” She glances at the Neospacian perched on the arm of the couch.

Jesse should probably be less surprised that duel spirits are from an entirely different plane of existence. “And ya couldn’t have mentioned that?” he turns to grumble at the tortoise by his side.

Emerald blinks slowly and sounds far too honest as he answers, “It wasn’t relevant?”

And Jesse thought Athena had been cryptic. Actually, why hadn’t she or the other fairies ever told him about this Dominion place?

“To be fair, I don’t hear a lot of other duel spirits talk about the Dominion.” Jaden plops his chin back on Jesse’s shoulder and squints at the cards in his hand. “Oo, that one!” his hand snakes around the other side of Jesse’s head to tap a spell in his hand. “I only know about it cuz of you and Dark Magician Girl.”

“And we’ve been there,” Alexis says, and Jesse’s head snaps up again.

“Oh, yeah, that,” Jaden agrees far too casually.

This is probably the part where Jesse should just stop asking questions.

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Christina groans flopping backwards onto the floor. “Or I’ll have to go track down Pharaoh to kick Banner’s ghost.”

“Banner’s what?” Alexis and Jaden ask at nearly the same time and Jesse is glad to finally not be the only one in the room with no idea what’s going on.

“I…” Christina hesitates, staring at the ceiling. “I don’t actually want to explain that one.”

“You can see ghosts?” Alexis stares at the other girl with no small amount of shock.

“Yup.”

“What does Pharaoh have to do with it??” Jaden almost looks afraid of the answer, and frankly, Jesse doesn’t blame him. Does this Banner guy possess the dorm cat? He’s seen that cat hang out in the rafters of Jaden’s room. And now there might be a dead guy watching them.

“You don’t want me to answer that.” Christina pulls herself back up to sit properly on her floor pillow with a sigh. Jaden squints her a while longer before turning his attention back to the nearly forgotten duel.

“Okay, but seriously, if you combo these cards-”

“No backseat duelin’!” Jesse tries to shake the other boy off as he taps the cards in Jesse’s hands again.

“I’m trying to help!” Jaden whines petulantly.

“Well yur not!” Jesse would rather fight his own battles, thank you very much, at least when it comes to a fair match like this between friends. Also Jesse can’t always follow Jaden’s scattered brained logic for card combos and still doesn’t understand how the guy won his last daily match.

"Ungrateful!" Jaden huffs, sitting back with his arms crossed and cheeks puffed out like a child. Jesse has to stop himself from reprimanding Jaden for it.

Alexis creams him. But Jesse spent half the duel distracted, so he’s not surprised. Just means they’ll have to have a rematch sometime to find out each other’s true strength. Jesse looks forward to it. By the look in Alexis’ eyes, she feels the same.

They end up smooshed together on Alexis’ bed watching movies on the obscenely large TV. Jesse stares at the screen like he’s never experienced an in-home theater and Christina has to admit the awestruck expression of complete immersion looks cute. Near the end of the movie he starts to fidget, pulling restlessly at his hoodie. Jaden didn’t even bring his jacket, so he’s just in his black t-shirt and the school issued track pants. Christina’s wearing her usual tank top and shorts, and Alexis changed into her pajamas before setting up the movie. Jesse’s the only one wearing long sleeves.

“Hey, å, do any of y’all care if I take this off?” Jesse asks as the credits roll, pulling at the white fabric.

“Was wondering why you were still wearing it,” Jaden mumbles.

“It’s...it’s my shirt,” Jesse says after a moment’s hesitation.

“Dude.” Jaden giggles against his shoulder.

He’s not wearing anything under it? Alexis sends Christina a glance and she shrugs. She sleeps at the Slifer Dorm most of the time anyway. Shirtless guys don’t bother her.

“No, that’s fine,” Alexis says.

“Cool.” Jaden sits up as Jesse pulls his hoodie up and Christina does a double take at those abs. What? She wouldn’t call it ‘chiseled’ by any means but, even in the dim light, distinctly defined muscles shift and ripple as the hoodie goes up over Jesse’s head. Hi there, pretty biceps.

“You work out?” she hears herself squeak and quickly clears her throat.

“Freerunning, mostly.”

Free what? Christina’s brain stumbles over the unfamiliar phrase. She recognizes both words but she’s never heard them mashed together like that, and just running does not give you biceps like that.

“That counts,” Alexis says. Glad one of them knows what he’s talking about. “Atticus tried it in middle school. He broke his arm and sprained his ankle.”

Jesse winces. “Yeah, it’s challenging. I’ve taken my share of tumbles.”

Okay they’re obviously not talking about just running. So what does the ‘free’ part mean? “Someone gonna explain?” Christina asks, glances between her friends. Jaden looks as confused as she does at least.

“Å…it’s like…” Jesse trails off as mumbling a few words in a language Christina doesn’t recognize. “Jumping off walls?” he tries.

The image that conjures is decidedly not the one Jesse is trying to convey. He makes a frustrated sound as Alexis reaches over Christina for her PDA. “I’ll look up a video. It’s hard to explain even without a language barrier.”

“Thanks,” Jesse mumbles, slumping into the pillows as Jaden leans on Alexis’ shoulder to peer at the screen. The video paints a much clearer picture of people running through back alleys and vaulting over walls and scaling buildings with their bare hands. It’s like the shit she and Jaden used to do in his backyard but cranked up to eleven.

“Teach me,” Jaden repeats, breathless with awe.

“Sure? It’s not something you learn overnight,” Jesse warns.

“Don’t care,” Jaden declares and flops back against the other boy’s shoulder. “You’re warm…” he sighs, immediately twisting to drape himself across Jesse.

“Å, yeah?”

Christina smirks. “Jay’s a heat leach.”

Jaden grumbles as Alexis reaches past him to place a hand on Jesse’s shoulder. “Okay, human heater goes in the middle.”

“Hva?” Jesse reacts with that word again that Christina can vaguely guess means something similar to ‘what’ in terms of expressing shock and confusion.

“Human heater goes in the middle,” she agrees and Jaden whines.

“But I wanna be middle!”

“Then you and Jesse can share the middle,” Alexis says, prompting Christina off the bed with her to make room for the shift. “Now come on, scoot.”

Whining the entire way, Jaden wiggles across the bed, dragging a still very much confused Jesse with him. A quick game of roshambo later, Alexis glares at her traitorous fist while Christina crawls in on Jesse’s other side. Ohhh, he is warm…

They debate over their next movie before finally throwing another one on. Christina doesn’t remember the end of it.

Jesse wakes with his face in a pillow, sandwiched between warm bodies and Jaden on top of his back.

He could get used to this.

#gxmonth2021 #jesse anderson #johan andersen #jaden yuki #yuki judai #alexis rhodes #tenjoin asuka #ygo gx #yugioh gx #yu gi oh gx #long post

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debbiechanclub · 3 years

Text

Best Two Out of Three, Part 26

This is it: the last chapter of BTOOT 😭

I wrote a long, sappy post about what this means to me *months* ago when I thought we would finish much sooner than we did (whoops), so I won’t get into all that again. However, I will say that this is a huge accomplishment for me because I have never finished a multi-part fic until now. But I didn’t do it on my own. I absolutely could not have completed this in the time that I did without @hotyeehawman, and BTOOT absolutely would not be the fic that it is without her. So thank you so much, Lauren. We wrote a whole ass 123,419-word, 228-page mf’in fanfiction novel in less than a year 😳

And, at the risk of sounding cheesy AF, we couldn’t have done it without you all, either. The response to this little wrasslin’ fic consistently blows us away. SO THANK YOU. It means more than words can say. So once you finish reading this last chapter, please come scream at me in your tags, in the comments, in my asks, in my DMs. Because I cannot wait to hear your thoughts.

Alright, enough of that 🤧 I’ll let you get to reading 😉

Best Two Out of Three

Part: 26/26

Pairing: Kenny Omega x OFC, Matt Jackson x OFC x Cash Wheeler, Adam Page x himself

Word count: 7.8k

Warnings: Language; MAJOR angst

Catch up on previous parts here.

Tag squad: @freshlysqueezedmox @comeasyoudar @heelchampbucks @bec0m @betsy-bradock @linziland13 @gabbynorth98 @exe-darbyallin-exe @librathepheonix13 @irish-newzealand-idian-dutch @kingswitchblade

Callie pulled her phone out of her purse to check the time again. 8:57 a.m. She put it back and glanced anxiously around the hotel lobby. She and Cash had agreed to meet there at nine to head to Orlando, and with each passing minute she worried that it would be Matt who stepped out of the elevator instead.

Their conversation had played on a nonstop loop in her head all night. This all happened way too fast. Yeah, I guess it did. Over and over again. Except, in her head, it didn’t end the way it had last night. Instead of Matt walking off she called out to him to wait. She told him that the reason she’d been avoiding him was because she felt guilty about how much she enjoyed being with him. Her brain told her it was wrong, but her heart told her otherwise, and because she didn’t know how to reconcile the two it was easier to just avoid the issue all together.

And that’s exactly what she was doing now: avoiding the issue by going to Orlando with Cash. And she wasn’t just going for the day—she was staying the night at his place.

It had been Cash’s suggestion that she spend the night. It’ll save me a round trip, he’d said via text. It made sense; they both had to be back in Jacksonville for Dynamite tomorrow, so there was no point in making Cash drive four extra hours tonight. So, Callie had agreed.

But, deep down, she knew she’d mostly agreed because it helped her avoid Matt that much more.

She pulled out her phone again, but rather than check the time she opened the camera and flipped it to face toward her. Her double black eyes had worsened from last night, turning an ugly bluish color, but thankfully some full-coverage concealer had made them barely noticeable. Even so, she pushed her oversized sunglasses onto her face. The last thing she needed was people thinking she was a battered woman.

The elevator dinged, and Callie’s chest constricted as the doors slid open. Mercifully, it was Cash.

“You ready?” he asked as he moved toward her. “Sorry I’m a little late.”

She nodded and jumped up from her seat. “Mhm,” she said as she grabbed her suitcase. She couldn’t leave the hotel fast enough.

* * * * * * * * * *

The drive to Orlando was mostly quiet. Cash had asked her if there was anything in particular she wanted to do or see, but she’d just told him she was up for whatever. She knew absolutely nothing about Orlando outside of the fact that Disney World and Universal Studios were there and the little bit she’d seen when she’d stayed with Britt. But Cash didn’t seem bothered by her apparent lack of enthusiasm; he’d just grinned and said, “I got you.” It made Callie’s stomach flutter.

They dropped off their bags at his place and she met his English bulldog, Pawla, before they set off for their first stop of the day. Cash seemed excited as he steered his truck into a parking lot in front of a large complex. Callie, however, was more than just a little confused when she saw what it was.

“Go-karts?”

She hadn’t meant to sound so disappointed, but Cash just let out a laugh. “What? You don’t like go-karts?”

She didn’t answer, looking skeptically out the window at the building. For whatever reason, it made her think of Alex. Go-karts seemed more her speed. She frowned. I wonder if he took her here, too.

“Come on, it’ll be fun,” Cash said. “I think you could use the adrenaline boost.”

“I can think of better ways to get an adrenaline boost.”

As soon as she said it, Callie wished she could take it back. It had just slipped out, implication and all. She looked hesitantly at Cash. He was smirking.

“I’m sure you can,” he returned. Callie felt her cheeks burn hot behind her sunglasses.

“Come on,” he repeated as he unbuckled his seat belt. “I’ll let you pick where we go to lunch afterward.”

He got out of the truck, and Callie drew in a deep, calming breath through her nose as she did the same.

Maybe avoiding Matt wasn’t the only reason she’d decided to stay overnight in Orlando.

* * * * * * * * * *

Alex still hadn’t gotten over what had happened at the Labor Day party. In a word, she felt awful. She wanted to text Callie and apologize again, but between nearly breaking her nose and all but telling her to stay away from Matt, she doubted she wanted to hear from her. So, in hopes of boosting her mood, she’d decided to sit out by Kenny’s pool and soak up the last vestiges of summer while she still could.

But, so far, it hadn’t worked.

Her phone chirped next to her on the lounger, and she picked it up and unlocked the screen. She had a text from Trent.

Hey loser. You have plans today?

She rolled her eyes, but a smile tugged at her lips as she typed back. Not really. Why?

She hit “send,” but instead of setting the phone back down she opened up Instagram. She clicked on Jay White’s story and let it autoplay through a couple more people before it unexpectedly came to Cash’s story. It was a Boomerang video of an indoor go-kart track. Alex recognized it; he’d taken her there one of the first weekends she’d stayed with him in Orlando.

A banner appeared at the top of her screen with Trent’s reply. Because Sam is in town if you want to come hang out.

That caught her off-guard. Sam, the boys’ friend who she’d first met five years ago. Alex had had no idea she was going to be in Jacksonville. Had one of them told her and it’d slipped her mind? But she didn’t think too much of it as she opened the text and sent her response.

Idk. After yesterday I kind of just feel like being a hermit today.

She went back to Instagram and refreshed the page—and her eyes widened at the first picture that popped up.

Callie, a bright smile on her face as she posed in a helmet at the very same indoor go-kart track from Cash’s story.

“Are you shitting me?”

“There you are.”

Alex nearly dropped her phone on her face at the sound of Kenny’s voice. He gave her an amused look. “You alright?”

“Yeah…” she started. But she thought better of it and huffed, “No.”

Kenny cocked his head in concern as he sat down on the edge of the lounger next to her. “What’s wrong?”

Alex let out a sound that was half sigh, half groan. The last thing she wanted to do was to complain to Kenny about Callie and Cash, of all people. But if she couldn’t talk to him about it, who could she? “I’m just frustrated with the whole Callie situation,” she breathed.

She glanced at him from underneath the bill of her baseball cap. He frowned sympathetically at her. “I know, baby. But you didn’t hit her on purpose. If she doesn’t believe that it’s her problem.”

“It’s not just that,” she interjected. “According to Instagram she’s in Orlando with Cash right now.”

His brow furrowed in confusion when she said that. Alex knew exactly what he was thinking. “I don’t give two shits about Cash,” she assured him. “He can do whatever and whoever he wants. Honestly, I expect bullshit like this from him. But I don’t get where Callie’s head is at. Where the hell does she get off blaming me for ruining her relationship with Adam while she’s off driving fucking go-karts with the guy who stabbed him in the back? It hasn’t even been two weeks since she left him!”

“Because it’s what Callie does,” Kenny blithely returned. “She thinks she’s blameless in everything and doesn’t take accountability for anything. This isn’t the first time she’s shown you that’s exactly the kind of person she is.”

“But we were friends, Kenny! Somehow, we got over all the bullshit and became friends, and then fucking Adam…”

She trailed off, her voice growing thick with emotion, and looked to the ceiling. She didn’t want to get upset. But it was hard not to. She felt betrayed. That was the only word for it.

“Hey.” Kenny put a hand on her bare leg, drawing her eyes back to his. “Do you want my honest advice?”

She nodded.

“Stop wasting your energy on Callie and Adam. They’re not worth it, Alex. You’ve given them so much of your time and effort and what have you gotten in return?”

A tear rolled out of the corner of her eye and she quickly wiped it away. She didn’t need to answer him. They both knew the answer. “I know,” she softly agreed. “You’re probably right.”

A corner of his mouth quirked up. “Of course I am.” He leaned over and kissed the side of her head. “I was thinking about ordering sushi for dinner tonight. That always makes you feel better.”

She perked up a bit at that. “Can we get sake, too?”

He nodded. “Yes, I’ll get you sake, too.”

She smiled. “Okay.”

He gave her leg an affectionate squeeze and stood. “Well, I’m gonna go get a workout in. Wanna join me?”

Alex couldn’t help herself. “Is that a euphemism?”

He grinned. “No, despite how much I want to take that bikini off you right now.”

She just playfully rolled her eyes in response.

“Come on,” he said, holding out his hand. “Endorphins will make you feel better, too.”

Alex emitted a dramatic groan as she put her hand in his and let him pull her to her feet. “Not if you try to kill me like you did last time,” she argued.

“But I always take good care of you afterward,” he said. “That was a euphemism, by the way.”

She returned his smirk. “Yeah, I got it.”

* * * * * * * * * *

To Cash’s credit, the go-karts had been fun—but Callie was more than happy to take the lead on the rest of the day. She’d picked out a restaurant on International Drive for lunch (Cash had groaned and said that was where all the tourists went, to which she’d cheekily replied that she was a tourist), and afterward he’d convinced her to ride the Ferris wheel at ICON Park, where he’d pointed out some of the different areas of the city to her (Callie, who was afraid of heights, had kept a death grip on his arm the entire time). Then, at Callie’s request, they’d driven around some of the neighborhoods so that she could get a better feel for them (“Obviously, I recommend my neighborhood,” Cash had said). Overall, it had turned out to be a good day after all, and Orlando was looking more and more like the place Callie wanted to move.

But, the more time she spent with him, the more she started to wonder how much of that feeling was due to Cash.

“What’re you craving?” he asked as they sat on the couch in his living room.

“You pick,” she returned. Pawla lounged between them, and she reached down to scratch her behind the ears. “I’m honestly still stuffed from lunch.”

“Chinese it is,” he decided, and he pulled out his phone to order. Callie did the same, but to open up Instagram—and she found that Alex was the first person in her stories queue. She stared at the little circle of her profile picture, hesitant. But she was too nosy not to look, so she angled her phone screen away from Cash and clicked.

There were only two pictures in her story. The first showed her in sweat-drenched workout gear lying face-down on a gym room floor with the caption, “@/kennyomegamanx tried to kill me again.” The second was of her smiling in satisfaction in front of a takeout container of sushi. “He made up for it,” the caption read.

“I guess Alex and Kenny aren’t hiding their relationship anymore.”

She froze and glanced at Cash out of the corner of her eye. That was the second time that day she’s put her foot in her mouth. “I’m sorry,” she apologized. “They’re probably the last two people you want to hear about.”

But Cash shook his head. “I don’t care. They can have each other.”

Callie frowned. She wasn’t sure how to respond to that, but he spoke up again before she could.

“Do you prefer beef and broccoli or chicken?”

She thought for a second. “Beef.”

A few more clicks and he finished putting in the order. “It says it’ll be here in thirty-five minutes,” he said as he stood from the couch. “You want a drink? I have a bottle of The Rock’s tequila, it’s really good.”

Callie’s nose scrunched up. “Do you have vodka?”

“Yeah. You want it on the rocks or mixed?”

“Mixed please.”

He nodded and disappeared into the kitchen. Callie occupied herself with petting Pawla until he returned with their drinks a few minutes later. “Here you go; vanilla vodka and Coke Zero.”

“Oo, that sounds good,” she said as he handed her the cocktail. She took a sip. He’d made it just right, not too much vodka, not too little.

“So, what’d you think of Orlando?” he asked as he sat back down. “Did I convince you to become my neighbor?”

His choice of words made her stomach flutter again. “I think so. There’s more to do here than in Jacksonville, and a two-hour drive to work is a lot better than a cross-country flight.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I like it. Dax is planning on moving back to Asheville, but I think I’m gonna stay here. It’s grown on me. Plus, I like Disney and Universal Studios too much.”

“Yeah, I definitely want to check those out,” she returned.

“We should plan a weekend,” he smirked. Callie took a sip of her drink to hide her blush.

They fell into silence, and they both turned their attention to the random show Cash had put on the television. But there was something hanging in the air; Callie could feel it. She was about to speak up when Cash beat her to it.

“So, we’ve avoided the topic all day, but I kind of feel like I have to ask now.”

There was no need for him to clarify what he meant. “Matt?” she guessed.

He nodded. She shifted in her seat. “What about him?”

“Well… are you two not together?”

He sounded almost hopeful. She hesitated to respond.

“That was the rumor backstage,” he added.

She rolled her eyes. “Of course it was. But I guess, yeah, at one point it was moving in that direction. But… I actually told him last night that I think we rushed into things.”

“Oh,” Cash said. It was obvious that he expected her to continue, but her confusion over Matt was the last thing Callie wanted to get into right now. So, she deflected.

“There’s something I need to ask you, too.”

Cash arched his eyebrows as he raised his glass to his lips. “That doesn’t sound good,” he joked.

But Callie wasn’t joking. “Why’d you do what you did to Adam?”

He paused to cock his head at her. “What do you mean?”

She shot him a flat look as he took a sip of his drink. “I mean when you stabbed him in the back, Cash.”

Cash made a noise as he swallowed down the tequila. “Damn, not pulling any punches, huh?”

“You didn’t with Adam.”

He looked back at her in surprise. She didn’t waiver. He breathed out again.

“Alright, look,” he started. “I don’t have anything against Adam. I’ve known him a long time. But he and Kenny had what we wanted, and we did what we had to do to get it.”

She rolled her eyes again. That was such a canned response.

“What?”

“You did not have to do what you did,” she returned. “You didn’t have to manipulate him the way you did.”

His eyebrows arched. “Manipulate him? Callie, all we did was point out that Kenny and the Bucks don’t give two shits about him. He did the rest himself.”

“What?”

“I swear.”

“So you didn’t tell him to sabotage Matt and Nick in the gauntlet match?”

“No! He did that because he was upset about you and Matt!”

Callie’s brow puckered in confusion. “What?”

“Yeah,” he confirmed. “He told us at the hotel bar that night that he found out right before the gauntlet match that you were staying with Matt in California, so he retaliated by sabotaging their title shot. Dax and I didn’t have anything to do with that, I promise you.”

The room grew silent as his words sunk in, stunning her. That was exactly what Alex had surmised when Matt had confronted her immediately after the gauntlet match. But Callie hadn’t wanted to believe it, and after FTR had turned on Adam she’d assumed that they’d been the ones to put the idea in his head.

But if Cash was telling her that they hadn’t, then it meant she really was to blame.

“Hey,” Cash softly beckoned. She looked back up at him. His eyes were earnest. “It’s not your fault. I didn’t mean to make it sound like it was. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Callie stared down into her drink, tapping her fingernails on the glass. She appreciated the sentiment, but she didn’t agree. Not really. “Well, technically I walked out him, so…”

She trailed off and took a long drink. She felt like such a bitch. I shouldn’t be here.

“And?” Cash returned, drawing her out of her thoughts. “I’m sure you had good reason to.”

Callie didn’t answer right away, nearly draining her drink. Once she’d had enough, she looked down at Pawla and scratched her head again. “Let’s not talk about it anymore,” she said.

“Done,” he said, and she sent him a tight, grateful smile. “So what do you wanna do? Watch a movie?”

She nodded. “Yeah, that sounds good. I just have one request.”

“What’s that?” he asked.

“Anything but Mean Girls.”

* * * * * * * * * *

When Matt arrived at Daily’s Place on Wednesday, he had half a mind to go to Tony and tell him to cancel the mixed tag match. He had no desire to wrestle a match with Callie anymore. To be frank, he didn’t want much of anything to do with her at the moment.

He knew she’d been in Orlando with Cash yesterday. He’d seen her Instagram photo at the go-kart track and hadn’t thought much of it. But not long after, Kenny had texted him.

Hey, did you know Callie is in Orlando with Cash right now?

It had caught him completely off-guard. No? he’d responded. Who told you that?

He’d been more on-edge than he cared to admit while he’d awaited Kenny’s reply. Alex. I guess they posted photos from the same place on Instagram or something.

A quick search for Cash’s Instagram profile—Matt didn’t follow that asshole—had confirmed the claim to be true. It wasn’t a photo, but a Boomerang video on his story that gave it away. It was unmistakably the same indoor go-kart track from Callie’s picture.

I just thought you should know, Kenny had followed up. Matt hadn’t responded. He’d tried to put it out of his mind ever since, but he couldn’t. He kept going back to what Callie had said to him the last time he’d seen her.

This all happened way too fast.

He didn’t disagree; they had moved fast. But what confused him was that Callie had been the one to set the pace, not him. He’d thought she’d wanted everything that had happened between them.

But the way she was acting now made him feel like nothing more than a regret.

“Matt.”

“Hm.” He looked up from his phone at Brandon. He, Nick, and Kenny all stared expectantly at him from across the EVP room.

“Do you want me to film the mixed tag match for BTE?” Brandon asked. His tone that conveyed he was repeating himself. Matt obviously hadn’t heard him the first time.

“Oh, no. Sorry,” he replied, and he looked back down at his phone. He saw the three of them exchange a wary glance out of his peripheral vision. Thankfully, they just left it alone.

“Alright, I’m starving,” Nick announced as he stood from his seat. “You guys coming?”

“Yeah,” Brandon agreed.

“No,” Kenny wearily returned. “I got that interview with JR.”

There was a pause. And then, “Matt?”

He looked up again, this time at his brother. He shook his head. “No. I’m not hungry.”

Nick let out a breath. “Alright,” he said, and he and Brandon went out the door, leaving Matt and Kenny alone. The silence in the room was deafening. But it didn’t last long.

“Have you talked to Callie at all?” Kenny asked. “About the match,” he quickly clarified.

Matt shook his head again. “No. I haven’t talked to her period. Not since Monday.”

There was another beat of uncomfortable silence. Again, Kenny was the one to break it. “Look, about yesterday. I wasn’t trying to—”

“Don’t,” Matt abruptly cut him off. He knew exactly what he was going to say, and he didn’t want to hear it. “I’m glad you told me. Let’s just leave it at that.”

He raised his palms in surrender. “Fine,” he said, and Matt hoped that really was the end of it.

But then Kenny added, “But I think you owe Alex an apology.”

“What?” Matt cut his eyes at him in disbelief. “For what?”

“Oh, come on, you know exactly for what. For the whole reason the mixed tag match is happening in the first place.”

That confused him even more. “The mixed tag match is happening because Trent can’t mind his fucking business.”

Kenny rolled his eyes. “Oh, okay,” he sarcastically returned.

“What?”

“You called Alex a slut, Matt!” Kenny burst. “That’s what led to the mixed tag match! You accused her of putting Hangman up to sabotaging your title shot and you called her a slut for being involved with both me and Cash. But where was Callie yesterday? In Orlando with Cash, even though she’s apparently with you. So yeah, I think you owe Alex an apology.”

Matt sat back, physically stung by Kenny’s words. They hurt because there was more than just a grain of truth in them. But, at the moment, he was too stubborn to hear it. “Oh, so Callie’s the slut now? Is that what you’re saying?”

Kenny expelled an exasperated breath. “No, that’s not what I’m saying.”

“It sure fucking sounds like it is.”

“I’m saying she’s making you look like a fucking idiot.”

They were thrown into silence again, their arguing replaced with quiet, palpable hostility as they sat opposed on either end of the room. Matt’s eyes turned dark. He didn’t need this. Not now. Not from his best friend.

“Fuck you, Kenny,” he spat. He stood and stalked toward the door, and as he gripped the handle he turned back, a cutting remark on the tip of his tongue. But in a moment of clarity, he decided it was better left unsaid. The shoe was on the other foot now. So he just went out the door, suddenly glad that he did have a match. He needed to hit something.

* * * * * * * * * *

“Are you guys going out for Jim’s match?”

Alex glanced across the locker room at Trent, looking for him to answer Chuck’s question. He met her gaze before responding.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “We’ll probably stay back here and focus on our match.”

Chuck nodded. “Yeah. I wish it wasn’t mixed tag rules. I’d like to see Alex hand Matt his ass.”

“Oh, she doesn’t even need to touch him to do that,” Trent returned. “Didn’t he train Callie?”

Alex knew he was asking her, but she didn’t look up as she rummaged through her suitcase. “I think so.”

Trent smirked. “So then kicking Callie’s ass will be kicking Matt’s by proxy,” he said. Chuck blinked at him.

“Wow, you actually used that correctly.”

He sucked his teeth. “Fuck off. I know big words.”

“‘Proxy’ is a five-letter word.”

“You know what I meant.”

“Spell it.”

“Are you serious?”

Alex smirked to herself and let them continue to argue while she grabbed the top to her gear and a pair of joggers and went into the bathroom to change. Truth be told, she didn’t want to talk or even think about the match against Callie and Matt. It was a complete one-eighty from a week ago—she’d been aching to kick Matt’s ass then. But now, she just wished the entire situation would go away.

She finished changing and returned to the main area of the locker room. Chuck was still challenging Trent to spell different words. “I’m going to hair and makeup,” she announced over them.

“What gear are you wearing?” Trent asked.

She turned to face him as she pulled on her zip-up hoodie. Her top was a sparkly dark silver-purple with black trim. “This gear. Why?”

“Because we should try to match. I knew I should have brought the gear from Fyter Fest…” he trailed off as he dug through his things and pulled out his dark gray tights with the blue and pink designs. “Do these work?”

Alex gave him a soft smile. “Yeah, those work. I’ll ask Stella to do a blue and pink eye look,” she said, and she went out the door.

Unfortunately, she didn’t get ten steps before she ran into Adam.

He slowed to a stop when he saw her. “Hey.”

“Hey,” she returned, and her brow puckered with concern as she looked him over. He had his ubiquitous glass of whiskey in hand, but he at least looked better than he had when she’d seen him at the hotel on Sunday. “Going somewhere?”

He looked confused at that. “No… why?”

She awkwardly fidgeted with the sleeve of her hoodie. “Well, you just look dressed for TV and I didn’t see you on the card tonight. I wasn’t even sure you were here.”

Adam hadn’t said a single word to her since she’d texted him to ask if he was going to the Labor Day party. But she hadn’t said a single word to him since then, either. Because the more she’d thought about it, the more she’d realized how right Kenny was. It was exhausting putting so much effort into a friendship where she wasn’t getting the same effort in return.

“Oh,” Adam regretfully said as he looked down at his pale blue button-up. “Yeah, I just had an interview with Schiavone.”

“Oh,” Alex repeated. “About—”

“Where I go from here,” he interjected. “I said I was still open to tagging with Kenny if he was.”

He laughed wryly to himself and took a sip of his drink. Alex frowned and looked away. Kenny was not open to tagging with him again; she knew that for a fact. But judging by the look on Adam’s face, deep down he knew that, too.

“Where are you headed?”

She looked back up at him. “Oh, hair and makeup. For the match tonight.”

Realization dawned in his eyes. And then, sadness and hurt. “Oh, right. You have the mixed tag against Matt and Callie.”

“Yeah.” Alex fidgeted and glanced away again. She couldn’t bear the look on his face. But then she wondered: did he know that Callie had been in Orlando with Cash yesterday? Should she tell him?

No, she quickly decided. It’s not your place or responsibility.

“Well, I should get over there,” she said, gesturing in the direction of hair and makeup.

“Oh, yeah,” he nodded as she started walking. “Good luck tonight.”

“Thanks,” she said, and she turned and hurried off as quickly as she could.

* * * * * * * * * *

In the years since she’d started wrestling, Callie had never felt as much of an outcast as she did now. As soon as she’d arrived at the arena with Cash, she’d realized she had nowhere to go. The EVP room was out of the question, and she didn’t want to go back to sharing a dressing room with Britt—she was the one who’d blabbed her business all over Daily’s Place to begin with. Cash had offered for her to share with him and Dax, but she’d turned him down; she could only imagine the rumors that would start if people noticed her sharing a locker room with FTR. No, she needed to keep a low-profile, and so she’d found an empty room away from everyone else. Now, she sat in one of the lounges watching the show as she awaited her match, alone.

Orange Cassidy had just beaten Angelico with the Orange Punch. Callie had expected Best Friends and Alex to be at ringside for the match, but they weren’t. She looked away from the TV and down at her phone as Bryce Remsburg raised Orange’s arm in victory, but a commotion a moment later redrew her attention. Santana and Ortiz had attacked Orange from behind. The assault didn’t last long, however, as Chuck and Trent ran out and chased them off like a pair of guard dogs. Callie couldn’t help but roll her eyes as Trent angrily paced the ring, shirtless in his skinny jeans. She sincerely hoped Matt would get a quick pin on him in their match.

Chuck grabbed a mike to speak, but Callie’s phone buzzed in her hands and she looked down at the screen. It was a text from Cash.

Are you free? I need a favor.

Her pulse picked up a bit as she unlocked her phone to respond. Yeah… what’s up? she typed back and hit “send.” She watched as the typing bubble appeared and, soon after, his answer.

Don’t laugh. I can’t decide on a shirt.

Despite his request, Callie couldn’t help but let out a little laugh. But she couldn’t blame him too much; FTR was having an in-ring celebration in honor of their championship victory at All Out that night. He probably wanted to look his best.

Usual room? she asked as she stood to leave.

Usual room, he replied, and she headed off in the direction of FTR’s dressing room.

The door was slightly open when she arrived, and she knocked to announce herself before she let herself in. Cash stood alone in the middle of the room in a pair of dark navy slacks and socks, shirtless. Callie’s mouth went suddenly dry as he looked over at her.

“Okay, I can’t decide between these two.” He motioned to a pair of dress shirts hung up in the cubby behind him—one white with tiny blue dots, the other with a subtle blue and white checkered pattern. She walked over and pulled them both out of the cubby so that she could hold them up next to him. He smirked at her as she studied them. She did her best to ignore it.

“This one,” she decided, handing him the checkered shirt. But she frowned as she returned the white shirt to its place. “Are those the only dress shoes you have?” she asked, nodding at the pair of black square-toed loafers on the floor.

“Yeah…” Cash slowly returned. “Why? Is something wrong with them?”

It took every fiber of Callie’s being not to blurt out with, “Yes, they’re hideous.” Instead, she said, “Just brown would look better with navy, is all.”

“Oh,” he realized. “I guess I should have asked your advice before we left this morning.”

She smirked. “Is that all you needed?”

“Yeah, thanks,” he answered as he pulled on the shirt. Callie watched as he fastened the buttons, and she realized she was staring. She fidgeted and looked awkwardly away, but Cash didn’t seem to notice. “Are you ready for your match?”

She drew in a deep breath. “Physically, yes. Mentally… not at all.”

He snorted. “Make Matt do all the work. He’s the one who dragged you into this.”

Callie anxiously bit her lip. He wasn’t wrong; of the four of them in the mixed tag, she was the only one who hadn’t been present when the match was made. But even so, she couldn’t do that to Matt. “No, I don’t want to do that. And besides, Matt didn’t ask for the match, either—Trent did. All because he didn’t like Matt mouthing off about Alex.”

Cash rolled his eyes as he tucked his shirt into his pants. “That doesn’t surprise me. I think he has a thing for her.”

She scoffed. “You think he does? Please, it’s obvious he does,” she said. And then she muttered, “It seems like everyone has a thing for her.”

“Not me,” Cash abruptly announced. “I’ve moved on.”

Callie looked up at him, but he turned away to grab his suit jacket. She wondered if he had more to say—it felt like he had more to say—but before she could ask the door to the locker room opened and Dax walked in. He halted when he saw her.

“Oh, hey, Callie. I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

He glanced between her and Cash. They both quickly shook their heads. “No, I just asked her to come help me pick out a shirt,” Cash said.

“Ah,” Dax nodded. Callie didn’t miss the little smirk on his face. It was her cue to go.

“Well, I’ll go so you can get dressed,” she said to Dax as she started to leave.

“Good luck if I don’t see you before your match,” Cash returned, and she gave him a tight smile and went out the door.

* * * * * * * * * *

Alex’s hands were clammy as she stood at Gorilla with Trent. The mixed tag match was next. Unfortunately, it was right after FTR’s joke of a tag team championship celebration. She did her best to tune out Dax’s egotistical blathering as she rolled her neck and loosened up. She needed to focus. A match was a match, and even though she wasn’t looking forward to this one, she still wanted to do her best.

“You ready for this?” Trent asked.

She looked up at him and nodded. “Yeah. Are you?” she meaningfully returned. She still couldn’t believe that he and Chuck had challenged Santana and Ortiz to a parking lot brawl next week. On top of worrying that they’d murder each other, she was concerned that Trent’s focus was no longer on their match.

“Yes,” he assured her. “Don’t worry about me.”

Alex smirked. “Man, have I got bad news for you next week.”

He gave her a crooked smile; but then his eye was drawn to a spot just past her shoulder. She turned to look. Matt and Callie had arrived.

Trent scoffed. “They don’t match at all. Losers.”

Normally, Alex would have laughed. But it was obvious even in the dim lighting of Gorilla that Matt and Callie’s gear wasn’t the only thing off about them. Callie in particular seemed unsure of herself. Her eyes met Alex’s. She turned away without a second glance.

Back in the ring, the “celebration” came to a screeching halt when Jurassic Express dumped a cooler full of beer cans over Cash, Dax, and Tully’s heads. Thankfully, they returned backstage a different way than through the entrance tunnels.

Alex drew in a breath and shook out her arms and legs as the show went to commercial. But it seemed like no time had passed at all when she heard the distinctive beat of the Best Friends theme song sound throughout the arena.

“Let’s do this,” Trent said as he held out his fist to her. She bumped it confidently with her own, and they walked into the tunnel together.

* * * * * * * * * *

A boulder settled in the pit of Callie’s stomach as she watched Alex and Trent disappear down the entrance tunnel. She didn’t know why she’d expected Alex to be just as nervous as her. On the contrary, she’d looked laser-focused; her and Trent both had. It was glaringly obvious that they were ten times more prepared for this match than she and Matt were. The two of them hadn’t even walked to Gorilla together—they’d just happened to get there at the same time.

“I’ll start the match,” Matt said. “I’ll try to keep your ring time to a minimum.”

Callie looked at him in hurt and confusion. “Why would you say that?”

“Because it’s obvious you don’t want to do this,” he breathed. “So I’ll just make quick work of Trent and get it over with, alright?”

“SUPERKICK PARTAYYYYYY!”

The opening of the Young Bucks theme interrupted before Callie could say anything. Matt didn’t so much as glance at her before he walked into the tunnel, and she had no choice but to follow him out.

The crowd offered a mixture of boos and cheers as they walked out onto the stage, but Callie couldn’t hear them over the music. She stood awkwardly next to Matt and waited for him to do his signature pose, but he never did. He just glared into the ring at Trent, who glared right back.

BOOM!

The cannons on the side of the stage shot fake $100 bills high into the air, making Callie flinch. She looked back into the ring as the paper money floated down around them. Alex rolled her eyes in annoyance and turned to say something to Trent.

She stood stiffly at the top of the stage until Matt moved, and they made their way down the entrance ramp. Trent started jaw-jacking, but Callie tuned him out as she took her place on the ring apron. Matt, however, took the bait; Aubrey had to push him back as they yelled at each other. Eventually, Trent scoffed and turned back to Alex.

“You wanna start?” Callie heard him ask.

But Alex didn’t even get the chance to open her mouth before Matt yelled, “No, we’re starting the match!”

Alex and Trent exchanged a look, but she stepped through the ropes and out onto the apron next to the turnbuckle. Matt removed his leather jacket and tossed it to the floor. Aubrey called for the bell, and the match started.

* * * * * * * * * *

Alex didn’t know if Matt was ignoring Callie, if Trent just wanted to beat the shit out of Matt, or if it was some combination of both. But whatever the case, the match had been going on for nearly ten minutes now, and neither of them had even tried to tag in her or Callie. It was aggravating, but at least it worked in her team’s favor. The match had effectively become a singles contest, and Trent had far more experience wrestling on his own than Matt did. That, and his cardio was better. If it continued like this, it would only be a matter of time before they won.

Matt tried to whip Trent toward the ropes, but he reversed it and pulled him into a side headlock. He pivoted toward a corner and charged, running up the turnbuckle to hit a float-over DDT. He went for the pin—but Matt kicked out at two. Afterward, both men remained still on the mat, taking what chance they could to catch their breath. Alex eagerly stepped up onto the bottom rope and banged on the turnbuckle. She wanted in.

“Trent! Tag me in!”

She leaned into the ring, reaching as far as she could, and he looked over at her. But just as he pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, Matt hit him with a clubbing blow to the back. He grabbed him by the hair and jerked him into a chinlock. It wasn’t a move that Matt typically did. Alex knew it meant he was getting tired.

The crowd started clapping in rhythm for Trent, and Alex stomped her boot on the ring apron in time. Trent wrenched at Matt’s fingers, prying them away from his face. In response, Matt pulled him to his feet and swiftly maneuvered to hit a float-over DDT of his own. Alex bit down on her jaw as she watched him hook his leg. Trent got his shoulder up at two.

Alex stepped back up onto the ropes. She was tired of this. “Why don’t you tag in your partner, huh, Matt?” she taunted. “Worried she can’t beat me?”

Matt glared daggers at her as he climbed to his feet. “I don’t want to subject everyone to having to watch you wrestle,” he spat.

But Alex’s wit was just as quick. “Oh really? You look awfully lost without your little brother out here doing all the work.”

That needled him. She knew it would. But what she didn’t expect was his response.

“Please, you wouldn’t even have a contract if you weren’t on your knees for Kenny every night.”

For a second, Alex was stunned into silence. But then a white-hot rage bubbled up inside her. She ducked through the ropes and charged toward him.

“What’d you say to me?”

“You heard me.”

“Why don’t you say it again.”

“Get out of the ring, Alex!” Aubrey ordered.

“Matt!”

At Callie’s warning cry, Matt instinctively whirled around and dodged—and what happened next seemed to unfold in slow motion.

Trent flew toward Alex like a bullet. He crashed into her and knocked the wind from her lungs, sending her violently back into the turnbuckle. She felt a pop in her right shoulder, and then nothing but searing hot pain.

* * * * * * * * * *

When Trent realized what he’d done, he felt sick.

He hadn’t known Alex was in the ring. That DDT had left him dazed, and he’d been oblivious to his surroundings until he’d spotted Matt with his back turned to him. So he went for a spear. But Matt dodged at the last second. Trent had absolutely no chance to stop himself or correct course, and he rammed full speed into Alex.

He watched in stunned horror as she writhed against the turnbuckle. She clenched her right arm, her face screwed up in pain. She was hurt. He’d hurt her.

“Alex—”

Smack!

He was abruptly cut off by a superkick to the jaw. He crumpled to the mat. Matt dragged him by the ankle further into the ring and pinned him. The count sounded distant and faint.

One.

Two.

Three.

The bell rung. Trent felt Matt throw down his leg as the music started, ringing in his ears. He stared up into the lights, unblinking, while Matt’s arm was raised in victory. He’d hurt her. He’d hurt her and then lost the match.

“Alex,” he said again as he rolled over onto his hands and knees. She was still huddled against the turnbuckle, clutching her arm as Aubrey checked on her. He felt sick all over again.

“Alex.” He crawled over to her and put a hand on her knee. She looked up at him. Unshed tears shined in her eyes. It broke him. “I’m sorry.”

She shook her head. “It was an accident—”

“Alex!”

Suddenly, Kenny was in the ring. He practically pushed Trent out of the way as he knelt in front of Alex. “What’s wrong?” he asked her.

“I think it’s dislocated,” she winced.

Trent looked at her right shoulder. It hung visibly lower than her left. His heart dropped into his stomach.

“Let’s get you to Doc,” he said as he tried to move toward her again.

But Kenny blocked him. “I got it,” he bit. Trent didn’t have it in him to argue.

He watched as Kenny helped her to her feet and ushered her to the ropes; he held them open for her so she could gingerly duck through. As she stepped to the other side, Alex looked back. For a brief second their eyes met. But then Kenny put his arm around her, and she turned away and disappeared into the back.

* * * * * * * * * *

Callie couldn’t stay out there a second longer. She was horrified by what she’d witnessed. The way Matt had taken advantage of Trent’s awful mistake, how he hadn’t hesitated to kick him in the jaw—there’d been a viciousness in his eyes that she’d never seen before. And she didn’t want any part of it.

She stormed off before Aubrey could even raise his arm in victory, marching quickly up the ramp. Kenny nearly bowled her over on his way down to the ring, and she turned to watch as he ran to Alex’s aid. But then she saw Matt coming after her, and she turned back around and hurried through the entrance tunnel.

“Callie!”

She didn’t stop or even glance his way. She just kept walking.

“Callie! What the fuck?”

That got her stop and face him. “Me what the fuck? You what the fuck, Matt? What the fuck was that out there?”

If looks could kill, she was certain she would have been dead on the spot. “Are you serious?” he spat. “I won the match and you just ran off!”

Her eyes darkened. “Well, I didn’t want to be a part of it anyway, right?”

Matt bit down on his jaw. There was nothing he could say to that. She gave him one last glare and turned her back on him again, praying that was the end of it. She just wanted to leave. Alone.

“I want your shit out of my house by the weekend.”

Callie halted. His words were like a knife in the back. They hurt. And suddenly, she wanted him to hurt, too.

She turned around again, her head held high. “That’s fine, because I don’t want to move back to California anymore.”

She held his gaze in defiance. But Matt just laughed, cruel and low. “Let me guess, Orlando with Cash?”

She faltered. He knew about yesterday. But she steeled herself again. “No. I want to move to Orlando for me.”

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Okay.”

“That’s the truth!”

“Was all this just a rebound to you?”

If his previous words had been a knife to the back, those were a blow to the gut. Tears sprung to the back of Callie’s eyes. Her voice came out strained. Apologetic. “No. I care about you, Matt. So much that it scares me.”

He laughed again and looked away. “Coulda fooled me.”

She took a step toward him. “Matt—”

“Have fun in Orlando,” he cut her off, and that time it was him who stormed off and left her behind. Alone.

#aew fanfiction #kenny omega fanfiction #cash wheeler fanfiction #matt jackson fanfiction #trent beretta fanfiction #the elite fanfiction #young bucks fanfiction #best friends fanfiction #adam page fanfiction #hangman page fanfiction #hangman adam page fanfiction #ftr fanfiction

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mitsuhidethesnek · 3 years

Text

Time to liveblog Ikepri!

There will be complaining so I won’t tag the characters when I’m complaining lol. Also, this will reflect my blatant bias for scary boys plus Leon. I’m not into softies or tsuns. This is just me airing out MY opinions, so please feel free to disagree and have your own thoughts. I knew I should have started this liveblog earlier. I’m already 4 chapters into Chev’s route. Character first impressions under the cut. Just prologue content.

Prologue thoughts - I like that she owns a bookstore. IkeVamp also had an MC after my own heart, travel journalist. - Yves and Chevalier both lay it on so thick with the insults. Everyone is unworthy to Yves, but it’s his overcompensation from the start. For Chevalier, everyone is just literally inferior because apparently he’s worked so hard to be so ruthlessly superior.

- Eight princes have gathered, one of them will be chosen to be king. Except only our three starter pokemon want to be king, and more than half of them have asked you to be less formal with them lol.

- pfft. Everyone calling Sariel out for kidnapping me. Sariel is like “how dare you accuse me? MC is here of her own free will, right, MC?” and only LEON actually asks my opinion. But he also tries to persuade me by pointing out the icing on top of the ordeal lol.

- I like that Sariel was impressed with me the moment I slapped a drunk. A man who appreciates violence “for a good cause.” I mean, a solid reason to choose me.

- Okay, it is furthermore not about eight different princes vying for power. It’s really just two factions. Team Chevalier and Team Leon. plus Yves kind of

- Prologue Chapter 8 is where Leon starts being nice to you wants to know your thoughts. uwu

- This MC asks questions multiple times. She asked “why her?” for Belle multiple times. It’s extra self-deprecating, which I’m not into, but I guess it’s humble. She doesn’t understand that just being a commoner is enough. It could be anyone. And it just one unlucky standout moment she was chosen for. Leon gives a good reason though. We need someone common who understands what it’s like to be human, because all the royals are a bunch of beasts.

- I love that Belle is a title. Such a good trope. Like how Alice is a title in Ikerev

- I wonder if our translation enthusiasts are complaining. Probably. >> The English localization seems really on the nose with some lines. ><

Individual character thoughts

Rio

- I was expecting puppy immaculate sub. I wasn’t expecting literally obsessed with you. But the fact that he makes Sariel nervous and is too much for Sariel is HILARIOUS. Terrifying levels of enthusiasm. I approve.

- Unfortunately Rio is exactly the type of man I have often had to discourage. It is never just harmless flirting! >< Girl, he gonna keep trying even once you’re married.

Sariel

- Sariel has some sexy lines, but it is 100% creepy since we don’t know each other. - I figured he was my type. Sadistic. Devil-type. The way they do it is he says some pretty unnatural things that imply violence and madness. Disciplinarian. He’s extra and kind of unbelievable and way too handsy in a way that makes him come off shady, but I’m here for the sadistic disciplinarian ride.

-I was looking forward to the contrast between Sariel and Rio, someone who makes you serve and someone else who loves to serve, so I’m here for that contrast. Yves

- No, I don’t appreciate you insulting me every second. He seems like a dainty tsun, so not really my type off the bat.

- However, something tells me his story might be surprisingly moving and relatable? Kind of like Ikevamp Mozart or Ikerev Jonah. Very prim condescending characters who reveal relatable insecurities and standards. Characters that reveal more in their routes than as NPCs.

Luke

- I’m not into big kind guys, but he’s honestly a breath of fresh air. I like that he’s not an active flirt, but what he says is just extra friendly so it comes off flirty. He’s the tallest and is compared to a bear. He doesn’t want to be king. So he seems like someone who will just be nice. I like that he’s super not into the drama and tries to get away from it and discourages it.

Jin

- He’s not my type either. He’s the eldest brother, so he has this knowing air about him all the time like nothing surprises him. But he’s just an observer and commenter so far, doesn’t really interfere. He’s more cool like IkeRev Ray, not an uptight brother-mom figure.

Licht

- Not my type either. Reminds me of IkeRev Harr and Luke. Just really quiet at first so it’s hard to say. He might be the most normal though of all the brothers. Similar to Luke, where he wants to stay out of the drama, but much more taciturn and grumpy about it.

Nokto

- He’s my type. Constantly trying to get in your pants. But he’s coming off kind of cheesy and just nonstop horny to me. Idk, I like seductive enticing dialogue, and I lose interest when it goes past coaxing to full on pushing.

Clavis

- I was REALLY hype for Clavis. Constantly amused character. Turns out, he’s not just this puppeteer in the background. He’s a full on meddler, which I’m still into. He likes starting chaos for its own sake.

- I wonder if he’s different in other routes, but so far having started Chev’s route, I don’t like that he’s mostly here to cause chaos in all matters relating to Chev, instead of being about causing mischief in general. And I don’t like that he’s more of a prankster. I was hoping for sophisticated knowing trickster.

Chevalier

- He lays his superiority complex on SUPER thick. The payoff is supposed to be good when he goes from being utterly unimpressed with you to being obsessed with you. But it’s super disheartening to have characters that make me feel like an idiot. And it’s just how he treats everyone, not just me, but he lays it on thickest at me.

- I literally only like this dude because he’s got that regal IkeSen Kenshin gaze and black fur-lined cape. My brain goes stupid for the regal fur boa, and I like that it’s black against his white color scheme because it suggests that he is the sinister brutal white of winter. So I’m here for all those metaphors.

- But he’s really extreme in how his character revolves around basically two thoughts: Love is worthless. Everyone has a use, and I don’t care about anything but the use of things.

Leon

- saved Leon for last because he’s too easily my favorite!! I’m glad I started Chev’s route because there’s no way I would have touched anyone else if I had started with Leon.

- He’s the best parts of Ikesen Masamune and Nobunaga and Ikevamp Napoleon and Leo!

- I’m a sucker for the one character who actually cares about what I think and values it even when I underrate my own opinion. ;~;

- He’s the domestic faction in contrast to Chev the foreign faction. so already Chev is about conquest, and Leon is about doing a good job as King taking care of the people. Leon radiates power and can apply it at will, but mostly he asks first, and it’s so nice. Best of both worlds! Power and compassion!

- In a lot of his dialogue, the way he appeals to you is: “You don’t have to if you don’t want to. You don’t have to do anything that you’re not ready for. But if you do, it will be fun and life-changing. What do you say? Will you put your trust in me?” He never makes me feel bad for choosing what makes me feel safe or better. And he makes the danger option sound good because he acknowledges the danger and shifts your focus to the benefits, and you know you’ll be protected if you stay by him.

In summary...

I’m here for Leon.

I’m hopeful that Chevalier, Nokto, Sariel and Rio will scratch my itch for their tropes.

Luke and Yves surprised me. I’m open.

Lost interest in Clavis.

No interest in Jin and Licht so far.

#ikepri #just a ramble

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flamingo-writes · 4 years

Text

A Little Crazy — Tendo Satori x Reader [drabble]

Since I am posting this from the app, I cant keep the usual format my posts have, but fuck it. This is a drabble after all and I wrote it in like a single hour

A/N: so, I'm really projecting myself here. This drabble was inspired by the few fanart and official art in which Satori has a hoodie with something written in katakana. In the official art, I can't fully read the entire thing, but I am pretty much conviced its メキシコ (as the only thing I can read is the キシコ part) which translates as Mexico. And those who know me/have chatter with me can tell you I am Mexican so 🤣 the fact that Satori has a Mexico hoodie made me live him more than I already did.

Summary: Pursuing a career in professional volleyball had led you with a proposal to join a team in a foreign world. However, its not easy to give up on your life as you know it. Specially after spending your highschool years next to your boyfriend, who you loved dearly, but hadn't addressed the elephant in the room just yet.

Word count: 1.1K words

Posted: 07.06.2020

Warnings: a little bit of angst, but with a fluffy ending.

"So...professional volleyball, huh?" Tendo's voice broke the silence, as the anxiety twisted your gut as he addressed the elephant in the room.

Earlier that day, after receiving the news, you ran to tell your friends, as well as your boyfriend Tendo. Wakatoshi congratulated you, blessing you with one of those rare smiles that felt like finding a four leafed clover. At the time, Satori got excited and hugged you and jumped like an excited dog yelling along with you.

However, you knew there was something more to address with Satori. You'd been dating for most of your high school years. After meeting in your first year, the instant chemistry and both your impulsive natures led you to start dating three months after meeting each other.

"I'm a bit scared you know?" You giggled awkwardly. "Flying across the Pacific Ocean, moving into a country I barely know a thing about. I don't even know Spanish, and my English is the worst, I don't know how I'm going to survive" you admitted, only adding to your own fear.

"I've been there once, it's nice" Satori said leaning against the balcony from the viewpoint as the night city glowed in neon lights.

"I can tell. You always wear your Mexico's hoodie underneath the uniform's blazer" you giggled.

"So, this is it?" He said bluntly as your heart shrunk painfully. "Y'know, it's been the best two years and a half of my life"

"Tendo…" You whispered as tears began filling your eyes.

"Thank you for not treating me like a weirdo. And thank you for putting up with my fangirling about Shonen Jump, and even for giving in to my endless nagging about you reading One Piece and Kimetsu…"

"Stop that" Your voice broke "You make me feel like I'm dying or something" you chuckled bitterly, as tears began falling down your cheeks.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I really pulled a Wakatoshi there, didn't I?" He looked at you, noticing the tears as you silently wiped them away with your sleeve.

"Yeah, you did"

"[Name]?" He said in a gentle voice.

"Yes?"

"I love you" hearing him broke your heart instantly, as you sobbed silently and looked up at him "Don't forget that when you move to Mexico, okay?"

"I love you too, Tori-kun" you sobbed, hugging him and burying your face in his chest as you kept crying quietly. "You're my favorite part of my whole high school experience"

"Am I? More than volleyball?" His voice became more playful than earlier.

"From the moment I started high school at Shiratorizawa, I was already aiming for professional volleyball. You were a pleasant surprise, I never thought I'd meet someone like you here" Looking up, you met his eyes, reflecting a tender stare that only shone through his eyes when you were alone.

"Someone like me?"

"A yokai boy, an actual satori, you know? A playful spirit with mind reading skills that likes to creep people out, but doesn't harm them"

Satori chuckled amused by how you described him.

"That's how you see me?" He smirked trying to hide the pain he was feeling at the time.

"I see a weirdo, and a nerd, a smartass. I also see someone who's kind, and gentle, and funny. I see you and my heart still goes all crazy everytime I see you"

"Baby, if you keep going I'm gonna puke from how cheesy you sound" He giggled leaning down and stealing a kiss from you. "I'm always thinking what I'd do without you, I never thought it'd come the day I'd have to answer that question…"

As much as he was happy to see you achieve your dream, he still felt bitter about the idea of letting you go. He even fantasized about convincing you to stay, but he would never be able to do that in real life. Even when he didn't like volleyball enough to pursue a career, he knew you did. And he was not going to ruin your chance of actually going to join a professional team.

"Don't" Your voice broke him apart from the sour series of thoughts that were making him feel more and more miserable as your time together seemed to be running out.

"You said something, baby?" He said looking at you, as now it was.him who was trying to keep the tears from falling down his cheeks.

"Don't" You repeated.

"What?"

"Come to Mexico with me" Your question left him speechless. Not just that, but his mind simply turned off.

"What?" He muttered barely making a sound.

"I'm serious" You said.

"I know you are, baby!" Satori chuckled. "I-I...whoa, for the first time I don't know what to say…" A few tears escaped from the corner of his eyes as he tried to stay composed "Congratulations, you left the mind reading yokai completely blank" He joked.

"You can go to college there, I don't know if you can buy Jump there, but worst case scenario, you can ask Goshiki to send you the weekly jumps…" you shrugged before locking eyes with him "Why are you giving me that look?"

"I-I…I don't...know…" Satori's voice broke slightly as he tried to mask it with an awkward chuckle. "Not to get all sentimental and psychological but…"

He stopped as he took a deep breath, thinking how he was actually very close to breaking down. Overwhelming thoughts running in all directions in his head.

"It's hard for me to believe sometimes how much you love me. I-I mean...Yeah, growing up I was the weirdo no one wanted to befriend. And here you are, wanting to export me across the sea…" He chuckled at his own joke, trying to cope with everything he was feeling.

"Export" you giggled "what are you? A package?"

"One of the finest quality" He answered as more tears fell down his eyes and he looked away, wiping them with his fingers.

"I love you, Satori, I really do" You whispered "I-I mean, if you don't want to go to Mexico, I get it. It's not...easy…" Upon your realization of what you'd asked him, you suddenly felt embarrassed "One thing is moving from one city to another, and that's already hard...moving countries must be…"

"I do" He interrupted you with a soft voice.

"What?"

"Whoa, that sounded as if I was answering a marriage proposal" Satori laughed. "Which isn't so different from asking your boyfriend to move in to Mexico with you, if you ask me—"

"Wait, you mean that?" You cut him off.

"Is it a crazy idea? Yes, yes it is. But we're both a little bit crazy for agreeing into dating each other, aren't we?" He shrugged.

"Tori-kun!" you giggled, hugging him once more, as he brushed your hair, kissing your forehead.

#fun fact: vb is actually one of the most ignored sports in mexico :(#here people only.care about soccer 😭💔#i wish I had more friends who liked vb as much as i do sjdjsjdjsjf #anywhoo #satori tendō #miracle boy satori #satori x reader #i love satori #satori tendou #satori tendo x reader #tendo x reader #tendo satori #tendou x reader #tendou fluff #haikyuu!! imagines #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu x reader

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cabaretcal · 4 years

Text

it would mean a latte / a.i.

An AU where Ashton works at the campus coffee shop, and you, someone who never even drinks coffee, find yourself wanting to come back to see him...

A/N: Hello babes! I haven’t wrote in a while, but I’m back with this very soft cute AU. This is a part of the 9to5!sos series i started a while back!

Warnings: None, just a lot of fluff, very cheesy

pairing: Ashton Irwin x reader

Word count: 2.7k

“Kate, I don’t even like coffee. Why would I want to study in a coffee shop?” You follow closely behind your friend, Katie, on the way to the local coffee shop to study for finals. You complained the whole walk to this “super hip coffee shop” that Kate wanted to go to so badly. “I don’t even like coffee, so why would i study here?

“You can get tea or something, (y/n). Stop complaining!”

You groan at her remark. You usually would just study at the library, but Kate cannot handle having to be quiet in any scenario. That being said, you agree to go to the coffee shop instead. You both walked inside and it was just as you expect: Too loud to study.

You both walked up to the counter, and you had to study the menu for what seemed like forever. What can you get when you hate everything about coffee? The only option is tea. And there’s so many kinds you’ve never even heard of. Chai, english breakfast, London fog, green, mint green, very berry, and more. The amount of teas made you want to pull your hair out. You usually just ordered a sweet tea from mcdonalds. These were all so odd.

A cheerful, yet calm, male voice filled your ears, “Welcome to Good Coffee! What are we gonna make for you two today?”

You look up at him, and to say you were suddenly interested was an understatement. He had somewhat curly, sandy brown hair. His eyes were a hazel color, and he had a smile that could make someone's day go from a 0 to a 10.

“I’ll just have a latte without any flavors. She doesn’t like coffee so I don’t know about her.”

The cashier furrows his eyebrows and looks at you with a look of shock, “You don’t like coffee at all? Not even the frappucino shit?”

You blush, stumbling over your words, “I guess I just haven’t had a good kind of coffee before is all. I don’t really know…”

He hums, thinking for a moment, “I’ll surprise you then. If you don’t like it I’ll make you something else. How does that sound?”

You nod shyly, finding it hard to make eye contact.

He chuckles, taking Kate’s card from her and swiping it.He looks at you, smiling, “I’m Ashton by the way, just so you know.”

You feel heat rise to your cheeks and you quickly walk away to find a table. You set your backpack down by your chair and open your laptop, attempting to hide your face with it. Katie comes to the table holding the two drinks, setting yours beside you while laughing to herself.

“Stop laughing, Kate! After Ben and I parted ways for college I don’t know how to talk to guys…” You pick up your cup and see something written in sharpie on the sticker label, so you look closer for a better look.

if you have any questions, here’s my number ;)

You were shocked to say the least. That barista was quite attractive, but you made a terrible first impression, so you were confused as to why he gave you his number. You glanced up at the counter, scanning around for him. You caught sight of him steaming some milk at the espresso machine, and he glanced up and locked eyes with you. He smiled, mouthed ‘call me’, and turned back around to work on the drink.

Looks like Good Coffee is gonna be your new study spot.

You paced around your dorm once again for the 4th day in a row. You put his number in your phone and you had a message drafted out: a simple “hey”. But sending it was the real challenge. He was very nice, and extremely good looking, so you were intimidated. What if it turns out he just wants to hookup? Or what if he was only being nice because that’s his job? What if in reality, he’s an asshole? There were many risks involved, and you were not much of a risk taker. You didn’t go back to Good Coffee with Kate because you were nervous. She has been back everyday since, but it just made you nervous. Your phone dinged with a snapchat video from her. You opened it to see a video of Ashton she sneakily took from the table. He was wearing a collared striped shirt and he was laughing with a coworker. She captioned it, “Text your man before I go tell him you want to hang out myself >:(“.

You sighed, wanting to reply to him badly. But god, it was just really scary. Ever since you broke up with your past boyfriend from high school, you didn’t have good relationship luck. You went on a few tinder dates, but most of them wanted hookups. You will admit, some of the hookups were really good, but they just weren’t the relationship type.

Your phone dinged again with a text from Kate, saying “He just finished his shift if you want to come study”. You did have a biology exam in a few days, so studying would be highly beneficial. Defeated, you picked up your backpack, shoved your laptop in it, and walked the short walk to the coffee shop. Once you walked in, you sat across from Kate.

“He asked about you when I ordered. He really wants you to text back-”

“Kate, he wont like me. I’m too awkward and scared. There’s no use.”

The bell for when someone comes in the door chimed, and the voice was familiar, but you weren’t sure why.

“Forgot my jacket, as per usual.”

“Ashton, you’re always at work even when your shift ends!”

It was the barista guy. You hid behind your laptop screen, praying he wouldn’t see you. But unfortunately, he saw you. You sat up straight and looked at him, face red from embarrassment as he approached the table.

“I thought you weren’t coming back, miss ‘i don’t like coffee’.”

“Oh, um, you know college… really busy…” You fumbled for your pen, trying to occupy yourself.

“Don’t let her fool you. She’s just shy.”

Ashton chuckled, closing your laptop, “Well, well, well… now you don’t have to worry about texting me.”

You were slightly hurt. Did he just call you out for not texting him? Was he mad at you?

“How about you stop studying for the day and come get lunch with me? I can pay.”

You were shocked, and couldn’t find the words to say. The way his hair fell in his face was mesmerizing, and you found yourself staring at his hands, your mind wandering.

Kate took the pleasure of answering for you, “(y/n) would love to! I can take her bag back to our dorm. Take all the time you want with her.” She winked at you and your face just got redder.

You stood up, following him out the door nervously and went to find somewhere for lunch.

—

Ashton was quite an interesting guy. He was from Australia and was majoring in music education. He was extremely polite, holding open doors and keeping eye contact during conversation.

You guys both were walking from the restaurant back to your dorm, “So what about you? Tell me about you now. My life story is boring.”

You hummed, thinking of what to tell him, “Well I moved here to Portland from St Louis. I’m majoring in criminology, and a fun fact about me is that I play piano. I'm not very interesting.”

He shook his head, “I think you’re pretty interesting, babe.”

You blush at the nickname, looking down at your shoes, “Most guys here just want to hook up… they never ask about me.”

“Well, I’m not most guys then.” he laced his fingers with yours, walking the rest of the way to your dorm holding you close to him.

—

“Well, here we are…” You stopped in front of your building, letting go of his hand.

“Wanna meet for breakfast in the morning at one of the dining halls? I don’t work tomorrow… or have classes… because it’s Saturday.”

“Yeah, of course! Um… wanna just meet right here at 9?”

“Yeah that’d be great! Well… have a good night…” He started to walk away, but turned back around.

You looked at him, slightly confused. What did he want to say?”

He gently put his hands on your waist, kissing you softly and pulling away, smirking, “See you tomorrow morning, gorgeous.”

You watched him walk away, stunned. You smile to yourself, swiping your student ID and going inside.

—

“Good morning, sunshine.” Ashton greeted you when you walked out of your dorm building, holding out his hand for you to take.

“Good morning, barista boy.” He laughs at your remark as you take his hand and starts walking to the dining hall. On the way to the dining hall, you pass by the coffee shop. He takes a detour, walking inside.

“I need my caffeine fix, what about you?” He looks at you expectantly, waiting for an answer.

“Ash, I’m not much of a coffee drinker. I don’t know what i’d even get.”

He thinks for a moment, “How about I make you a drink that reminds me of you, hm? I can make tea or coffee, your choice. Or an Italian soda. But I’m choosing the flavors.”

You think for a moment. He seemed so enthusiastic, so you couldn’t say no, “Make me a tea of some kind I suppose.”

He grinned excitedly, going behind the counter, greeting his coworkers in the process. Watching him make drinks was always so mesmerizing. He was so fast and made intricate latte art. He made his and your drink, saying goodbye to his coworkers and leading you out, handing you your drink.

“What is it?” You took a sip, and it was the most delightful tea you had ever had. This beat McDonalds any day.

“So it’s a tropical green tea over ice, with 2 ounces of lemonade because you’re sweet like lemonade, and one ounce of pineapple because that’s my favorite fruit, and you’re my favorite gal, so it fits!” He giggled at his own comment, causing you to giggle as well.

“It’s amazing, Ash. Thank you for making me appreciate tea that isn’t from McDonalds.”

He smiled at your comment, walking the rest of the way to the dining hall. He held open the door for you and walked in behind you. You both swiped your dining hall cards and went to pick something to eat. You chose a waffle and some fruit, whereas Ashton went with a more savory option of scrambled eggs. You both sat across from one another at an open table and talked about everything and nothing all at once. He told you about his family in Australia and you told him about your family in St Louis. He talked about his passion for music, and how his family would only let him major in music if it was music education or music production, so he decided he would teach music to kids and give them a love for music, which you thought was just amazing.

“Wanna come to my dorm? My roommate is at work right now, so we can just hang out and like, listen to music or something.”

“Yeah, definitely!” You both put your plates in the bucket to be washed and left to his dorm.

“Well, here’s my dorm. Not very great interior design, but it’s home!” You looked around at his side of the dorm. There was a keyboard, a futon, a nintendo switch on the bed, and an espresso machine on his desk. Even outside of work all he does is make coffee. He picked up his switch and put it on the charging dock, plopping down on the bed and sighing.

“Tired of me already?” You grin, sitting cross legged on the bed facing him.

“Oh, I could never get tired of you, darling.” He pulled you into him and wrapped his arms around you, yawning softly, “God, I’m exhausted.”

You close your eyes, sighing into his neck, “Take a nap then.’

“No! I wanna hang out with you. I’ll just take a shot of espresso.” He got up and went over to his desk, putting some espresso into the portafilter and putting it in the machine. At first, you thought he was being dramatic and was just making a latte or americano of some sort. But he proved you wrong. He put the shot glasses underneath the portafilter and once he finished pulling the espresso shots, downed them immediately.

“Ashton! You’re crazy…” “Crazy for you, and espresso. That is absolutely amazing. I feel so awake.”

“How about you make me another drink, hm? Coffee this time.” You gave him puppy dog eyes, practically begging him.

He shook his head at your resilience, pulling another two espresso shots to make you a drink, “Do you want hot or iced, babe?”

“Hot please, Mr Barista.”

He chuckled, getting in his mini fridge and pulling out a small thing of milk and pouring it in the metal pitcher. He put the steam wand in and started steaming the milk, making it the consistency for a latte. You stared, mesmerized at his abilities. He grabbed one of the two mugs from the desk and poured in the espresso shots, then poured the milk in a circular motion first and then poured it closer to the top of the cup and wiggled it slightly, making a delicate design on the top. It was way too perfect to drink to say the least.

“I have a medium latte for a pretty lady in my dorm? Is she around?” He grinned at you, handing it to you carefully to avoid burning you.

“Thank you, Ash, but you made it too perfect to drink!” You giggled, admiring his latte art.

“Not as perfect as you! That was very cheesy, but I stand by the statement, darling.”

“You might have just made lattes my new favorite thing, and i used to not even like coffee.”

“I’ll make you lattes until all of the espresso in the world runs out.”

You found yourself at Good Coffee almost everyday. You’d always have Ashton make you a surprise drink, and every time you walked in his eyes would light up. He'd finish the current drink he was making as fast as possible so he could talk to you. On the third week of your Good Coffee addiction, you once again ordered a surprise drink.

“Surprise again for you, darling?”

“You know it, Mr Barista.” You smiled at him, but you were growing worried he wasn’t as into you as you thought. You had been talking for about a month and he hasn’t made any moves or anything. Did you get your hopes up too soon? You tended to do that a lot.

“It’s on me today.”

You took the five dollar bill you were gonna pay with and put it in the tip jar, smiling at him warmly. But you were still extremely paranoid. You went down to the pick-up counter and waited for your drink, thoughts invading your mind.

“Vanilla latte for (y/n)!”

You picked up the to go style cup and went to sit down, and you noticed some writing in sharpie on the side of the cup. Ashton didn’t usually leave notes, so what was it?

It would mean a latte to me if we could make it official :)

You smiled the biggest smile, looking at him to find him smiling at you, expectantly waiting for an answer.You nod, and he runs from behind the counter and kisses you on the cheek, “Come to my dorm after my shift for more coffee, yeah?” He winks, going back behind the counter. Who would’ve thought you would fall for the campus barista?

____

Taglist: @ukulelecal @blahehblah

#ashton irwin #5sos ashton #ashton 5sos #ashton irwin imagine #ashton irwin fic #ashton irwin fanfic #ashton irwin one shot #ashton irwin blurb #5 seconds of summer #5 seconds of summer imagine #5 seconds of summer fic #5 seconds of summer blurb #5 second of summer imagines #5sos fic #5sos blurb #5sos one shot #9to5!sos #ashton irwin x reader #ashton irwin x oc

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fanxyblog · 4 years

Text

MY LIPS ARE LIKE SKITTLES ~ pH-1

Request: could i request a pH-1 scenario that y/n try to tease him by talking way aeygo, cheesy words and he really hate it. make it cute, fluff pls. btw, love your blog 🥰🥰🥰

Requests are still open :))

A/N: Thank you so much for requesting and for loving my blog it means a lot to me 🧡 I hope you gonna like it @baomappp

Warnings: Cursing ( There is like one word)

Word Count: 860

ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE, I'M SORRY FOR THE MISTAKES

For the past week Junwon was teasing you in every single chance he got. You wanted to drink some coffee, what a shame he have hidden your favourite cup and you weren't able to found it, but of course it didn't end there. He did everything he could to tease you to the point you wanted to kill him with your bare hands.

It was time for revenge.

There wasn't a thing in this world that Junwon hated more than chessy pick up lines and sweet talking.

That was a weapon you were going to use against him.

Junwon was currently in Groovyroom guys studio with Hwimin and Minsik working on some new track they wanted to realase.

That gave you time to prepare yourself mentally for what was going to come. You weren't a fan of acting cute in fact that made you cringe most of the time you tried to do so.

You and Junwon weren't a couple that was into that all "oppa" thing. To be honest you weren't that clingy type of couple either and that's what you liked the most about yours and Junwon's realatioship. You guys weren't just lovers, you were friends. If there was anyone in this world you could tell anything to, that was Junwon and you could say that without any doubt.

But that didn't change the fact he needed to pay for last week, when you were the one suffering

You were standing in your kitchen, cooking some kimchi. You got distracted from doing so when you heard a sound of front door opening. It was your time.

You heard Junwon's steps as he was heading in your direction and seconds later you felt his arms wrapping around you as he left a kiss to your temple and immediately went to sit on the chair by the table.

"What are you cooking?" He asked you while he played with his phone.

That was the moment.

"Ahhh... just some Samgye-tang, Pumpkin" the look he had on his face when you turned to him was precious. You tried so hard not to laugh at his reaction to a simple nickname.

"What did you just call me?" he was taken aback by your words

" Is something wrong sweetie pie?"

" Forget it" he looked at you suspiciously, but he didn't say or do anything else.

The rest of your day went you by spending it with Junwon and irritaiting him with your sweet talks and cute actions. You were practiclly glued to him, you were hugging and kissing him out of nowhere and nicknames you were calling him were getting worst and worst.

He was on the edge of losing control over himself, you could see it, and as much as you enjoyed seeing him having a taste of his own medicine, this situation has started to bother you too.

Both of you were sitting on a couch in your living room, watching some random program on TV.

You suddenly felt the need to eat some Skittles.

"I'm going to get some snacks from kitchen, do you want something Baby Boo?

"No thanks, Y/N" He looked at you with a forced smile on his face.

Two minutes later you were back with pack of Skittles in your hand, but this time you decided to lay down on your boyfriend's legs instead of sitting next to him and it wouldn't be anything weird if you weren't completly crushing him.

"For fuck sake Y/N, what's your deal today!!!" Junwon has finally snapped and that means only one thing. Success.

"What do you mean Bubs?" You played innocent.

"You know exactly what I mean, you've been acting weird since I came home, you are never this clingy and you never call me stupid nicknames."

You let out a long sigh, which made Junwon's eyebrows to knit together,a small wrinkle appearing on his forehead.

" It's not nice being teased right?" You asked with your arms crossed under your chest.

The look on Junwon's face changed instantly.

" Ahhh... I didn't know you were going to be that upset over that." He came closer to you and holded your hands in his. After all this time of you guys being together he still got amazed by the fact how much smaller your hands were compared to his.

" I am not mad or upset Junwon, I just wanted you to have a taste of your own medicine. "

"Okay I've lerned my lesson I'm not gonna tease you anymore." He smiled at you.

" That's Good" you said coming closer to him and sitting on his laps.

"What is it now?" Junwon looked up at you and crossed his arms around your waist.

You looked down at him and put your face closer to his.

"My lips are like Skittles, wanna have a taste?" a mischevious grin appered on your face.

"Sure, Pumpkin." He kissed your lips and you both laughed into the kiss.

Chessy things definnetly weren't yours and Junwon's things.

#khiphop imagine #ph1 #ph1 scenario #ph1 imagine #ph1boyyy #ph1 oneshot #h1ghermusic scenario #h1gher music imagines #h1ghrgang #h1gher music #khh #khipkhop #khiphop scenarios #khiphop oneshot #khiphopimagine #fluff #khh imagines #khh scenarios

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angryinternetduck · 4 years

Text

Golden

about 5k on Switzerland, I love yous, foamy French coffee, and a monkey named Craige. The shows are spectacular, Olivia is golden, and everything is lovely... Featuring Harry Styles and an OFC. No warnings except a bit of bad language and lots of cheesiness hehe. Enjoy!

*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*

Harry Styles woke up with a smile on his face.

Which was rare, really, when he was on tour, because most mornings, he was either slightly hung over, absolutely exhausted, or a tragic combination of the two. This meant that a smile was anything but common except in the rare instance of the wry, miserable one that curved his lips when he glanced over at the side table to see a very empty wooden surface with a very visible lack of water.

But today, this was not the case. Instead, Harry was waking up before ten o’clock to the faint glow of the sun through the curtains with his girlfriend in his arms and the glorious feeling of a clear, pain free head.

He gave Olivia a gentle kiss, to which she groaned and burrowed into the pillows. “It’s four o’clock in the fucking morning, Styles,” she murmured drowsily, and Harry grinned. “Sun’s up, love. It’s at least nine…”

“Nine, four, ungodly hours of the morning, synonyms, sleep.”

“Think I’m gonna go for a jog,” Harry told her, almost just for her reaction. He didn’t get one until he stood up and she mumbled, “I’m dating a fucking psychopath.” Harry laughed and got dressed, already planning out his route and where he could go to get croissants on the way back.

“Bye, Liv,” he called on his way out.

“Bye, psycho,” she grumbled in reply.

*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*

Olivia loved the croissants Harry got and gushed about them until hours later when the show opened and she got lost in the music. It was always amusing to watch Olivia when she was on stage, Harry thought, because she almost seemed to glow.

Maybe it was the stage lights, maybe it was her impeccable outfits, or maybe it was just that angelic glow of hers, but she really did seem to have a different aura when performing. Her yellow guitar certainly didn’t hurt, and neither did her now signature yellow nail polish, and Harry had had to start conscious efforts to keep concentrated on his lyrics and not miss his cues ever since she’d joined the band.

She just seemed to sparkle, and he couldn’t help but grin back when their eyes would meet and she’d stick her tongue out at him or make a face. Harry found himself showing off just for her, glancing back after Kiwi or a particularly successful water spew to gauge her reaction and see her smile.

In some strange way, she was taking some control over him. But not in a bad way - sort of a gentle pressure that just made him and his performances better. She pushed him to be a better artist, to go that extra mile, to put all of his heart into his music because he knew that she was doing the same just behind him.

The shows were spectacular, Olivia was golden, and everything was lovely.

*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*

The first show out of the US was in Canada, in Toronto. Harry watched Olivia with fond admiration, encouraging her attempt at learning French despite the fact that almost everyone there spoke English fluently.

She’d wanted to go everywhere and see everything at the first few places, but the exhilaration of being in a different state had worn off after a few more cities and plenty more nights of being absolutely exhausted after shows.

Toronto had been a little different, and Harry went along with her into town and went into little restaurants and shops, amused at her excitement. He had, of course, been to most every big city in the world several times over through four world wide tours, but it was fun to relive his original thrill at visiting fifty different cities within a year.

And then, of course, there was Paris.

*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*

There were certain places, Harry would have to admit, that still retained some of their initial glamour and charm even after several visits and being associated with some not exactly cheery memories. Paris was one of those cities.

There was something about its little cafes, the glittering Eiffel Tower in the distance, the cuisine, the beauty of French, and really just the city’s entire vibe that was delightfully captivating. Harry had always, at least to some extent, enjoyed his time in Paris, but being there with Olivia just made it seem like heaven on earth.

“So,” Harry said, stirring his little espresso spoon around in his coffee. “Is it everything you expected?” Olivia, sitting across from him at the little metal table outside a cafe, lowered the bowl the size of her head she was sipping coffee from to reveal a mustache of foam over her lip.

Harry grinned, reaching over and dabbing a bit off with his pinky. “More foam than coffee, hm?” She giggled, running her tongue over her lip to lick it off, but shook her head. “Foam’s the best part.”

Smiling despite himself, Harry rolled his eyes as he took a sip of his own (significantly less foamy) coffee. “‘s the only reason you drink it, isn’t it?” he asked, and she shrugged. “Maybe,” she replied.

“Ridiculous,” Harry murmured, unable to keep the smile off his face. “Right, well, what’s the verdict, then - is Paris a horrific disappointment?” Olivia breathed a happy sigh, glancing around them at the towering buildings and softly chattering French customers of the cafe. “No,” she said conclusively. “No, not at all.” She met his gaze again, just a bit of a smile tugging at her lips, and took another sip of coffee.

Harry raised an eyebrow. “Care to elaborate?”

She shrugged, this time preemptively licking the foam off her lip, and let her eyes wander around them again. “I dunno,” she hummed. “It’s just… it’s so much… It’s so much more petite than I expected.”

Harry must have looked confused, because she laughed and shook her head. “No, no, I mean… I kind of expected a… a bustling tourist trap, you know? But it’s… not.” She shrugged again, stirring her coffee. She looked up at him, smiling adorably, and nudged his foot under the table. “My company’s certainly better than I ever could have expected.”

“I am, aren’t I?” Harry replied cheekily, and she kicked him in the shin. “You’re supposed to say thank you after a compliment, Styles,” she told him, and Harry winked at her, and she flipped him off.

Her gaze went behind him, and Harry turned around to see two girls with phones clutched in their hands blushing furiously and staring at him. “Hullo,” he said, and they giggled, whispering something between them in rapid fire French before stepping slightly closer.

“Erm - bonjour?” Harry tried, and they grinned, handing him the phone and saying something in French. He caught nous t'aimons, a few s'il vous plaîts, and something that sounded like photograph, so he took a picture and said a few je t'aime aussis and mercis back before they walked away.

“Adorable,” Olivia sighed, a dramatically wistful expression on her face as she sipped her coffee. “They’ll be asking for your picture soon,” Harry told her, and she rolled her eyes. “Oh, please.” There was a beat of silence, and then she looked down at the mug as she stirred it. “Think there’ll be pictures online?” she asked.

Harry bit his lip. They hadn’t exactly talked about going officially public. “Probably already are,” he told her honestly, and she looked at her coffee for a split second more before ginning up at him and announcing, “I wanna try a macaroon. Know of any good places, Mr. I’ve Been to Paris More Times Than You Can Count?” as she stood up.

Harry rolled his eyes, shaking his head but sliding cash under the plate before letting her lead him back onto the street. “I never said I’ve been to Paris more times than you can count,” he told her, but she only gave him a nod and an expression that dripped with mock sarcasm.

“Sure, Styles,” she said.

“I didn’t!”

“It’s okay,” Olivia laughed. “You’re too cool for your small town Arizonian girlfriend.”

Harry grinned and kissed her on the cheek. “Got that right.”

Olivia scoffed, smacking him on the chest. “Hey!”

“Oh, hush,” Harry told her, sliding his fingers around hers and letting their hands swing between them as they walked. Olivia grinned, wiggling her eyebrows at him. “Guess you’ll have to buy me some macaroons to make up for that, huh?”

“I guess so,” Harry laughed.

*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*

“It’s beautiful,” Olivia said as they stepped onto the platform of the Eiffel Tower.

“I know,” Harry murmured.

They walked up to the railing, looking out over the city. From his trips in the past, Harry had managed to time it perfectly so that they landed at the top of the tower right at sunset, and it really was quite the sight.

The sun was a deep orange color, with wisps of clouds pulling hues of gold and cotton candy pink from its rays. The water sparkled beneath them, lights from the city glittering like something out of a story book. Stars were beginning to twinkle into the sky, dotting the darkening atmosphere with pockets of stars and puffs of clouds.

“H?” Olivia said softly.

Harry glanced at her, not one bit sorry to miss the breathtaking sight in front of him in exchange for Oliva’s glow. She looked beautiful, haloed by the sunset and looking positively radiant in the soft light of the sun and stars. She gave him a little smile as their eyes met, and it warmed Harry’s heart more than the sun ever could.

“Thanks for doing this,” Olivia said.

Harry gave her a smile, nudging her gently. “‘f course.”

“Tour’s been amazing,” she told him. She breathed a laugh, shaking her head and looking out at the sun again. “God, I could do this forever,” she said, almost just to herself. “Me, too,” Harry replied honestly.

There was a beat of silence, and then -

“I love you, Olivia,” Harry whispered.

She went still, and Harry felt a pang of horrifying regret.

He remembered what she’d told him about her ex all in a rush; that they’d been engaged, that he’d broken her heart, that she was still terrified of getting her heartbroken, that she’d been hesitant to even date him, that she was still scared and he’d just told her he loved her.

She didn’t look him in the eye. “Maybe we should go back to the hotel,” she said. “We should probably get some sleep before tomorrow.” She turned around and walked back towards the elevator. “Rehearsals all day tomorrow, right?”

Harry blinked, fear almost freezing him in place before he warily stepped next to her and replied, “Yeah.” But seeing as his heart was stuck in his throat, his voice was almost inaudible. Olivia nodded, still not meeting his gaze. “Yeah,” she said.

*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*

The elevator ride was more than awkward. She wouldn’t look at him, just stared at the numbers as they went down, down, down, mirroring Harry’s heart as the minutes ticked by and she didn’t say anything.

She walked him back to the hotel, and said something about taking a walk, and then disappeared. Harry tossed and turned in bed, his heart picking up speed every time he heard footsteps outside the door.

He didn’t sleep at all.

He chugged coffee the next morning as he waited for her, trying as hard as he could to hold all his panic in, but it was getting harder and harder to hold it as the sun rose and began to set and she still wasn’t back.

She didn’t show up for rehearsals.

Harry sang through as much of the set as he could without his lead guitarist, trying as hard as he could to focus on what he was doing without her. His brain was stuck in a constant loop of where is she, why would I do that, did I go to fast, where is she, why would I -

He missed his cue again.

They started Kiwi over.

Harry was telling himself to keep it together, but it felt absolutely impossible. He was absolutely out of his head with anxiety; not just about whether or not he’d gone too fast, but whether or not she’d come back before the show. He was hoping, praying she would, but he just didn’t know.

He knew that she was scared. He knew she was terrified, because her heart had gotten broken and could break again if Harry messed up. He just couldn’t help being so open - it was just in his nature to tell her how he felt.

Or maybe he just should have kept his bloody mouth shut.

He fucked up the lyrics again, and Sara suggested they move on.

Harry nodded and shook out his shoulders, telling himself not to think about it. And it worked, somewhat, so he managed to get through the rest of rehearsals without messing anything up too badly.

The feeling of hopelessness kicked in about two minutes before show time, when Harry was brushing his teeth for the third time in ten minutes just for something to take his mind off Olivia. The rest of the band was on stage, and the opening music was playing, and Harry had to force a smile to his face before running onto the still darkened stage.

*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*

Harry heard guitar.

Her guitar.

His heart stopped, and he glanced behind him.

She was there, and she was smiling at him, and everything was okay.

The lights flashed, the beat dropped, Harry felt adrenaline rush through him.

He felt the music take a hold of him, felt everything melt away as Olivia’s glow surged through her guitar and into the awaiting air. He sang out the lyrics, pouring his heart into them, and had the sudden realization that he could bask in her glow for the rest of his life.

*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*

They didn’t talk about it.

She didn’t even mention it, and neither did he, but Harry decided that he didn’t mind because nothing had changed. Everything was the way it was, like nothing had ever happened in the first place.

That’s what Harry told himself, at least.

But really, he wasn’t brave enough to talk about it. He wasn’t brave to admit that he still felt the same way, that he still loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He didn’t have the courage to tell her just how much he missed her, how much it broke him to be without her even just for a few hours.

He was scared how she’d react if she knew how much he depended on her. Being without her was pain, but loving her was the antidote. And really, he’d do anything to keep her, to keep her love, to keep the pain away and the antidote coming.

*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*

Harry peppered kisses down Olivia’s neck, waiting until she giggled and tilted her head to kiss him back before stealing the remote from out of her hands and sliding to the other end of the couch with a victorious shout.

“Harry Edward Styles!” Olivia exclaimed, practically jumping on top of him to try and get it back. Harry just grinned, shaking his head at her as he raised the remote above his head and clicked The Notebook.

It was the second month of the three month break between the one city Asia leg and the European leg of tour, and as they waited for takeaway they were, as usual, arguing over which movie to watch over dinner.

“Haarrryyyy,” Olivia groaned. “We just watched this last week!”

“Exactly!” Harry replied with a grin. “Last week! Been ages, love. I need my weekly dose of Ryan Gosling.” Olivia pouted, reaching for the remote, but Harry kept it out of reach. “Well, I need my weekly dose of Hugh Grant!”

“Oh, please,” Harry replied. “Tall, British, curly-haired, gorgeous - you’ve got me right here!” Olivia sighed wistfully, shaking her head. “Sorry, Styles, but you just can’t compete with those blue eyes.”

Harry scoffed, picking up a M&M from the bowl in front of them and throwing it at her. “Right, well, that’s just rude.” Olivia bit back a grin and sat on his lap. She kissed him, and then said, “You know, usually, I’d say I like you ‘cause you’re cute and nice, but if you’re not going to let us watch an actual classic…”

Harry rolled his eyes and shook his head, kissing her on the nose before replying, “Ask anyone, Liv, Notting Hill’s great, but it’s no The Notebook.” Olivia pursed her lips. “You’re mean,” she said.

“Wow, quite the zinger,” Harry laughed.

“Pleeease?” Olivia dragged, giving him puppy dog eyes from under her lashes. “Pretty, pretty please with a cherry on top?” Harry huffed a sigh, glancing at the two bowls on the table, and then began, “How about -”

“Yes!” Olivia exclaimed, snatching the remote from his hands.

“No, no, no,” Harry said with a grin, taking the remote back. “No, you didn’t let me finish.” He took an M&M from one bowl and a Skittle from the other, putting one in each hand, and then put his hands behind his back and switched them around a few times.

Olivia just raised an eyebrow.

“Right, so you’re going to pick a hand,” Harry said, pulling his hands from behind his back with his fists closed, “and if it’s a Skittle, we watch the lad you’re cheating on me with. If not, I get to pick the movie.”

Olivia grinned. “Bold of you to assume you’re not the one I’m cheating on him with.”

Harry scoffed, standing up from the couch. “Right then, have fun with -”

“No!” Olivia yelped, pulling him back down. She laughed, shaking her head and trying to school her expression into a more serious one. “No, no, I’m sorry - what am I doing?” Harry rolled his eyes, smiling despite himself, and held out his hands again.

“Pick one.”

Olivia grimaced, looking at his closed fists warily. “The chocolate’s gonna be all melted…”

“Wouldn’t have been if you’d just chosen as soon as I asked.”

“Alright, alright,” Olivia laughed, tapping on his right fist.

He opened it, hoping for an M&M, but…

Alas.

“A-ha!” Olivia exclaimed, popping the Skittle into her mouth happily. “Get ready to swoon over Mr. Hugh Grant!” Harry muttered something about crooked teeth, but Olivia just shushed him as she clicked out of The Notebook and onto Notting Hill, curling up next to him as the movie began. Smiling, Harry kissed her forehead, and suddenly he wasn’t too upset about missing out on his favorite movie.

*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*

Harry was head over heels for Olivia.

He really was.

He adored her enthusiasm, her love for new places, everything about her. More than anything, he was excited to finally be in Switzerland with her. She’d been looking forward to it since the beginning of tour, and he couldn’t wait to explore every inch of the country with her.

But not at half past midnight after a particularly long flight and brand new jet lag.

They’d just gotten off break, which meant Harry was still in that primary stage of not quite being used to the constantly fluctuating time zones. He was barely conscious, the warm, soft sheets of the bed in his awaiting hotel room seeming like heaven, his brain muddled with stale airplane air…

“It’s an hour, Harry,” Olivia was telling him in the car to the hotel.

“It’s one am, Liv.”

“It’s midnight,” Olivia sighed. “You think it’s midnight.”

“Please just wait a few hours,” Harry groaned, putting his head in his hands.

Olivia huffed, glancing around the car, and finally landed on the packet of Skittles she’d bought at the airport. “Okay, okay,” she said, sliding the remainder of the candies into her palm. There were only a few left, so she kept an orange one and a yellow one and put the rest back into the bag.

“Okay,” she repeated, putting a Skittle in each palm before putting her hands behind her back and switching them around a few times. Then she put her closed fists in front of her and said, “Pick one. Orange, right to the hotel. Yellow, right to the river.”

Harry sighed, tapping her left fist.

“Rigged,” Olivia said immediately at the sight of the orange Skittle, and that got a smile out of Harry, who grinned and shook his head. “We’ll go first thing tomorrow,” he told her, and Olivia groaned, eating both the Skittles and laying back against the door. “I’m gonna be bored to death in the hotel,” she grumbled.

Harry glared at her. “There’s this little thing called sleep, Liv.”

“Old man.”

“We’re the same age!” Harry exclaimed, and Olivia scoffed, shaking her head. “Yeah, well, you’re acting like a grandpa.” Harry managed to grin and replied, “I happen to know quite a few grandpas, so I will, in fact, take that as a compliment.”

“You’re impossible,” Olivia whined.

“And you need to sleep.”

“It’s not productive,” Olivia mumbled, smiling just a bit.

“‘s necessary, though,” Harry said.

Olivia grinned and kissed him. “Necessary is subjective.”

“Wake me up at six,” Harry told her, kissing her again before situating himself against the window to try and get some sleep. “Fine, old man,” Olivia sighed, pulling out a notebook and pencil. “Better wake up when I tell you to.”

“I will,” Harry said, not meaning it one bit.

*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*

Harry woke up to the scent of coffee and citrusy perfume.

“Rise and shine, superstar!” Olivia sang, and Harry groaned, burrowing into the pillow.

Olivia sighed, bouncing onto the bed next to him and laying horizontally against his chest. “It’s seven,” she told him, “‘cause I’m nice. And I made coffee. I saw this really cute chocolate place on the drive over when you were sleeping, and they sell coffee, too, so we can get even more caffeine in our systems!”

“I can get more caffeine in my system,” Harry mumbled. “You sound like you’re high on crack.” Olivia giggled. “I’ll take that as a compliment.” She sat up and shook his shoulder. “Please?” she asked. “Pretty, pretty please?”

“Where’s the coffee?” Harry sighed.

“Wunderbar! Danke, liebling!” Olivia exclaimed, kissing him on the cheek.

*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*

Harry sipped his second (third?) cup of coffee as they walked through the streets, still half asleep. Much to Olivia’s disappointment, nothing was really open besides a few cafes where they’d gotten a few pastries and their coffee.

So Olivia led Harry into the old town, or, as Olivia told him, the Altstadt. Harry walked behind her as she flitted from one plaque to the other, occasionally coming back to him to explain something she found particularly interesting.

“Did you know that Erasmus walked these streets?” she asked enthusiastically, and Harry raised an eyebrow. “I have no idea who that is, love.” She giggled, shaking her head, and told him, “Me neither.”

Harry rolled his eyes with a smile, following her around a corner and then nearly bumping into her. She’d stopped dead in her tracks, and Harry followed her gaze to a small fountain.

On top of the fountain, where Olivia was staring with her jaw dropped, was a monkey. It seemed to be made of bronze, looking particularly mischievous with a hat and what looked to be a bunch of grapes.

“I love him,” Olivia whispered.

“Jesus Christ,” Harry muttered, grinning despite himself.

He followed her to the edge of the fountain, where she went dramatically still, and Harry stood behind her and slid his arms around her waist. “Should get one of these for your backyard,” he said after a second of silence, and she burst out giggling.

“Can you imagine?” she laughed. “A giant bronze monkey in the middle of Arizona?”

Harry shrugged, kissing her cheek, and then grabbed her hand and spun her around in a twirl. “This is wonderful,” he told her, “but we should probably get back.” Olivia pouted, but didn’t argue, instead sighing and staring ruefully over her shoulder as they walked away.

“Craige,” she said.

“What?”

She grinned. “His name is Craige, and he’s the love of my life.”

“I’m jealous,” Harry laughed.

“Oh, don’t be,” she replied. “You just can’t compete with a dashing monkey like Craige.”

“Nobody can.”

She giggled and took his hand, swinging it as they walked. “Now you’re getting it!”

*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*

“You got to pick the movie last night, I should get to pick the music today,” Olivia argued in the car back to the hotel. Harry scoffed, shaking his head. “Erm - no, that’s not how that works. We both like Fleetwood, but your old hippie stuff isn’t -”

“Old hippie stuff!” Olivia shrieked. “Just for that you should let me pick the music!”

“Okay, okay,” Harry laughed, balancing the steering wheel with his knee as they came to a red light. He reached into the cup holders in front of them, where the remainders of their snack were sitting.

“A M&M,” he said as he put a Skittle in one hand and an M&M in the other, “and we’ll listen to Fleetwood. Skittle, and you can pick.” Olivia groaned. “Not this again.” Harry grinned, keeping an eye on the red light as he put his hands under the wheel and switched them around a few times. “C’mon, Liv,” he said, bringing his hands back up, “it’ll melt. Chop chop.”

Olivia sighed, tapping his left fist.

Harry grinned as Olivia whined nonsense, popping the M&M into his mouth and driving on when the light changed. “You don’t even mind Fleetwood Mac,” he told her as she chewed through the Skittle and flicked through to Rumours. “Yeah,” she murmured, “but it’s overplayed…”

“Oh, please,” Harry scoffed.

“Really, though, I hear it so much it’s lost its charm,” Olivia insisted, but she was giving a pretty passionate air drum impression, so her point was lost. Harry grinned, glancing at her before looking back at the road. “Should’ve gone into drumming. Would’ve given Sarah some competition.”

“Bet your ass I would have,” Olivia told him, and they both shouted the chorus as it played. Olivia collapsed in a fit of giggles as she completely messed up the lyrics and told him, “Wouldn’t have happened if you’d let me pick.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “You know the words, Liv. You’re awful at pretending, love.”

“No, I don’t!” Olivia exclaimed. “Swear to God, Styles - your choice in music just sucks. Our karaoke would have been so much better if you’d just let me pick.” Harry grinned, shaking his head. “That logic makes zero sense.”

“Logic is logic,” Olivia said with a shrug.

“‘s not logic,” Harry replied, “it’s nonsense. My bad.”

“You’re right. Your bad. Should let me pick the next song to make up for it.”

Harry shook his head, turning up the music as Second Hand News came on. “Very clever, Liv, but not today.” Olivia sighed, mumbling along with the song reluctantly as Harry screamed his lungs out.

She was grinning by the end of the song, peering out the window as the scenery flashed by and the music blasted. Harry smiled, and held her hand, and she laughed and called him a sap but kept their hands intertwined until they got back to the hotel.

*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*

St. Jakobshalle was a success. Nerves had set in about playing Anna and Medicine for the first time, but both seemed to go over well with the fans. The crowd was spectacular, Olivia was golden, the show was fantastic.

He was on more of a high than ever after the curtain dropped, and drinks with the band and crew were in proper order, so Harry went out and had a ball. He danced and laughed and had the time of his life, thankfully without getting too pissed.

It was a little after one am when the car came around to pick them up, and Harry was about to get into the car with the others when Olivia tapped him on the shoulder. “Hey,” she said, “can we talk?” Harry nodded, telling the others he’d meet them at the hotel before following Olivia out the back and into the labyrinth of streets.

She grinned at him after a second, nudging his shoulder with hers. “Brilliant show, huh?”

“Brilliant,” Harry agreed, stealing a kiss. She giggled, grabbing his hand and swinging it between them as they walked. There was another beat of silence, and Harry cleared his throat. “This is… very pleasant, Liv, but, erm - anything in particular you wanted to talk about?”

“So glad you asked,” she said, just as they turned a corner, and Harry’s breath caught as he took in the scene in front of him. They’d come onto a little cobblestone street bordering the river - the Rhine, Harry was fairly certain - where a little stone bridge crossed the crystal blue water. There were small lanterns dotting strings between trees, and the moon was bright in the sky, surrounded by stars blinking at him cheerfully.

“Wow,” Harry murmured.

They walked up to the bridge, stopping just in the middle to look over the water to the horizon in the distance. Huge, castle-like houses dotted the hillsides, and there was a brightly lit Ferris wheel just visible behind a tower. Lights sparkled from inside houses and from the amusement park under the Ferris wheel, glittering like the stars peppering the inky night sky above them.

“It’s beautiful,” Harry said quietly.

“Yeah,” Olivia whispered.

“We’ll buy that house,” Harry told Olivia, pointing to a house on the water, “and come every summer.” The house was surrounded by a low stone wall and tufts of bright green trees, and painted a blue color that was bright even in the darkness. Dozens of windows were lit bright yellow, and smoke curled from its chimneys.

“We could fit both our families combined in that thing,” Olivia said, laughing a bit.

“We should. Or the band. Fancy a writing retreat here for three months?”

Olivia giggled, nudging his shoulder. “Reckon I do fancy a writing retreat,” she said, mocking his accent, and Harry rolled his eyes, shaking his head. “Christ,” he murmured with a grin. There was a beat of silence, and then Olivia cleared her throat.

“Hey, Harry?” she said softly.

“Hm?”

She smiled, stepping up on her tiptoes, and with her lips just centimetres from his, she whispered, “I love you, too.” She leaned forward, just a bit, and kissed him. And even though the sky was dark and the sun was nowhere to be seen, at that moment, everything was golden.

*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*

la fin 💜

hope you enjoyed!!!! if you wanna be a gem, tell me:

1. where you’d live if you could live anywhere in the whole wide world 2. your favorite animal 3. how you take your coffee or!!!! tell me anything!!! feedback is always much appreciated :)

if you want to read more about Olivia and Harry, click here!

and if you like what you see, you can find my masterlist here!

#harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fic #harry styles #harry styles x ofc #harry stylesxofc #harry styles one shot #harry styles oneshot #harry styles story #harry styles au #uhhhh #hugh grant #??#notting hill #lol idek anymore #m&ms #fl:a #golden #fics

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happymetalgirl · 3 years

Text

The 15 Worst Metal Albums of 2020

This list might have been shorter if not for my running into a few awful albums at the end of the year that I had been avoiding wisely up until that point. My morbid curiosity got the best of me, and what’s done is done. I’m paying the price for it by going back over the worst albums I heard all year. Let’s get this over with.

15. Ghøstkid - Ghøstkid

This was the debut solo album from the former singer of Eskimo Callboy, who had a pretty decent backing of hype heading into this release under the Ghøstkid moniker, but with the namesake frontman putting in no more than the standard performance on a bunch of poorly assembled tracks in an unappealing and dated poppy metalcore style, ultimately the eponymous album wound up disappointing me pretty substantially.

14. Powerman 5000 - The Noble Rot

Powerman 5000 are just such a low-rate band that even one of their more okay albums makes it here. While not as astoundingly, mind-numbingly basic as their worst material, The Noble Rot is still some of the most unevolved, underwritten, and forgettable electro rock and industrial metal I’ve heard from a big name artist. This is some eighth grade level songwriting here, and that’s a fuckin’ feat for a band that’s been around longer than any eighth grader has.

13. Corey Taylor - CMFT

There was a lot of hype around Corey Taylor finally coming out with a solo project, and it was pretty damn disappointing to hear a bunch of uninteresting classic rock too tacky for Stone Sour. CMFT focuses on the fun side that has made its creator such an enigmatic figurehead in the metal press, but its one-note approach does little more than highlight Corey Taylor’s songwriting deficiencies. I really could have seen this album turning out better too, with just some more time and care put into it, if a fun time of an album is what Taylor was going for. Unfortunately Taylor tried to make a party album and a grand ceremonial tribute to his greatness at the same time, and ego-petting and partying don’t really go hand in hand.

12. Evildead - United States of Anarchy

It has some good bones underneath it, but Evildead’s long overdue (if anyone was asking for it) third album wears out its welcome so quickly with some of the most adolescent thrash I’ve heard in a while. The band gets some good rhythms going and the vocals aren’t terrible either, fitting the older thrash style pretty well. But the band’s predictable formula tires out very quickly, and the political commentary of the lyrics is too cheesy and cringeworthy to ignore. It seems every year we get a handful of these kinds of albums that try to get into the simmering thrash revival with some ultra retro approach, and a good portion of those albums are from long-defunct bands who figure their primitive old-school approach might be a selling point despite their sounds often being even more juvenile against the backdrop of today’s metal landscape. So it’s not a huge surprise or anything to hear an album as ham-fisted and corny as United States of Anarchy; this year it just happened to be Evildead.

11. Five Finger Death Punch - F8

They may not always place highest in this list, but they always manage to make it here, and this was actually an improvement on the last album, not that that’s saying all that much. In fact, I’d say this is the only time in the band’s history that they actually shifted their trajectory upwards. But while the band’s ugly continual creative decay has been a hard thing to watch and made them the five finger punching bag of the metal world, there seems to be a large enough swath of mouthbreathing chuds who love their incoherent derivative shit and flock to their shows enough to put them in lucrative headlining slots and on top of the metal world. Goddamn that sure sounds a lot like someone else we all know doesn’t it. I’ve criticized them plenty in the past, and while indeed an improvement, F8 only mildly remedies the numerous problems with Five Finger Death Punch. Still septic to the system are the predictably formulaic and tiresome songwriting, the stale production, the corny butt rock choruses, the shitty bootlicking worldview that bleeds into Ivan Moody’s douchey and faux-deep lyrics, the contrived ballads and country-dabbling. Even with an improvement in the flow of the track listing and a few more bangers that somewhat hearken back to their first album, F8 is still an over-thought and overly calculated batch of Sirius XM fodder that’s trying to please everyone in some superficial way. I’ll grant that it seems as though the band realized they had been giving the more metal-immersed side of their fanbase that has been with them the longest smaller and smaller crumbs with each new album. I’m not gonna hold my breath for this being anything more than placating for the time being; I’m sure the next album will find the band back on whatever bullshit they feel (or their execs feel) they need to be on to pull enough streams from inattentive radio metal bros. I always end with the disclaimer that I still steadfastly stand by the band’s first two albums, and even American Capitalist to a degree, and that I totally acknowledge the immense potential for greatness this band could seemingly at any time decide to fulfill. Ivan Moody is a talented vocalist with a lot of star power and they really could have been the second coming of Pantera or singlehandedly ignited a new wave of American groove metal and metalcore or carried it on their own. But instead the band have followed the money on the path of least resistance to fast-track their way to the top of festival tickets, which I’m sure affords them quite enough luxury and comfort in life, more than most bands these days get, but it doesn’t exempt them from criticism, and unfortunately I think their legacy will show that they were a lowest common denominator kind of band at the end of the day when they could have been, again, like a second Pantera or something.

10. Anvil - Legal at Last

Another year, another album of Anvil unable to evolve past their prototypic thrash of their forty-year-old origins. Though as tacky as ever, Anvil actually also managed to make a mild improvement on their last album on the musical front at least. The songs are a little more energetic and easier to get through, if not for the lyricism though. Anvil lyrics are never anything beyond a fourth-grader’s poetry assignment for their English class, but some of the Facebook boomer lyrics here are fucking cringy dude. A quick look at the track listing will let you know exactly where you’re gonna find the juiciest cringe, but honestly, even as far as cringe goes it’s nothing comedically special and cringe culture in general is played out anyway. So do yourself a favor and just ignore Anvil the way they deserve to be ignored.

9. Halestorm - Reimagined

It feels a little harsh to place an EP here, especially for a band whose album back in 2018 was one of the best things I have heard to come out of hard rock in a long time. But these stripped back covers and revisions of songs from the band’s catalog just suck all the oomph out of them, perhaps making the case by contrast for the importance of the role the rest of the band behind the indeed charismatic powerhouse frontwoman Lzzy Hale play in making their sound what it is. It’s unlikely this points to any kind of new direction for them, so I’m not particularly worried about them running into this problem again. Plus, I don’t think Halestorm and Lzzy Hale are like fundamentally incompatible with more ballad-y rock music, this forced balladization of older songs just did not work, and it makes perfect sense as to why.

8. Gama Bomb - Sea Savage

The fact that this album is only number 8 on this list is just depressing for its reminder of just how much shittier it got this year. The fact that there are seven albums from this yet worse than Sea Savage, goddamn. With one exception, this was maybe the stupidest album I heard all year, at least in the thrash department it was. God this thing is a sugar high mess. I feel like a toddler on an entire bag of Halloween candy or an elementary schooler on a 2-liter of Mountain Dew sat at a computer to program a thrash album would’ve probably come up with something like this. The erratic operatic highs and dumbass lyrics, it all just embodies everything that ever made thrash look bad. It’s like that drunk guy at a party who’s hyper as shit and doing a bunch of crazy stunts for attention because he thinks it’ll make the people there like him more, but really he’s just embarrassing himself. Yeah, definitely the worst thrash metal album I heard all year, and one I wish I could unhear.

7. Amaranthe - Manifest

One of the albums I was avoiding but reviewed late out of my own weird sense of obligation that I wasn’t surprised to find only validated my reasons for avoiding it in the first place. The weird combo of dancy pop music and power metal isn’t as crazy of an idea as it might seem at first thought. In fact, that’s basically in part what Babymetal are doing, and actually getting better and better at. But Amaranthe get the worst of both worlds with Manifest, unsavory pop melodies and utterly generic symphonic metal to make for something I’m not at all surprised I was so repulsed by.

6. Trapt - Shadow Work

Yep, I listened to it. God, no wonder this band is flailing in irrelevance with aggressive MAGA nonsense being their only audible desperate plea for attention. The album, thank fuck, isn’t steeped in the same bitch boy tantrum that the band’s singer has engaged in all year to the point of getting his band’s Facebook page banned for hate speech, and the music isn’t like offensively poorly made or anything like that either. There’s clearly a conscious meeting of the baseline requirements for the type of music they make, but holy fuck it’s so damn flavorless and predictable. It’d be one thing if this was the trendy thing to be doing, but this diet hard rock for people who think Three Days Grace is too wild has been out of fashion for over a decade. And Trapt are just recycling the same dumb formula that overstayed it’s welcome in the early 2000’s. Yeah, I’m not surprised at all, but god, it’s the kind of thing that has to be apparent to the band themselves too unless they’re lacking of any and all self-awareness. Trapt have thrown themselves to the forefront of the online metal world’s discourse by being an annoying, toxic, and childish presence all year; the silver lining being the unity among metalheads in roasting their laughable posturing about their Pandora numbers and the juicy memes about their one hit “Headstrong” that rile the snowflake singer up without fail. And this shit album is just another reason to laugh at them and more fuel to roast their crybaby Trumper frontman with. Go back into your hole, Trapt. 3/10

5. Unleash the Archers - Abyss

I talked about it in my review, but there really is only one simple thing that sinks this album so low. And that is just how incredibly low-effort and lifeless it is with a genre that’s supposed to be so life-affirming. Power metal isn’t the most highly revered genre in metal, but that’s just for its cheesiness. I love it; when it’s at its best, it’s some of the most inspiring metal music out there and I genuinely wish there was a bigger demand across the board for it. But Unleash the Archers just sound so flat and unenthusiastic in this album, and, sorry, in power metal, unabashed enthusiasm is just nonnegotiable. The guitar parts are phoned in and lacking in imagination, and the vocals especially are so narrow-range, it’s all so antithetical to the ethos of power metal and it doesn’t make a strong case for itself. I’ll leave it there; this album is lazy and lifeless so I feel no need to waste any of my time and work on it.

4. Burzum - Thûlean Mysteries

Ol’ Varg must’ve needed a new wizard hat or camouflage pants or whatever goofy shit he’s been doing since retiring the Burzum name to focus on his racism and LARPing because I thought Burzum was supposed to be finished. I thought you were done with Burzum, Varg. Apparently not too done to not dump an hour and a half of embarrassingly half-baked ambient dungeon synth song fragments that sound, so many of them, quite obviously unfinished. Varg Vikernes has been a washed-up shell of the musical god the various weirdos who idolize him make him out to be for a long time now, and it has shown in the gradually degrading work he had put out after his release from prison. Yet after clearly not caring about creating music in any meaningful way for a long time, Varg drops this heap of shit in his fans’ laps. I suppose they deserve it, but I’m sure some of them are delusional enough to lap it up with a smile on their face while still believing their white nationalist idol to be a musical genius. Again, it’s entirely dull ambient music, not metal at all, but it deserves to be shit upon for its astounding laziness and purposelessness.

3. Asking Alexandria - Like a House on Fire

Doubling down on exactly the unflattering crossover of pop music with their significantly sanitized butt rock in their apparent quest for arena glory that started with their self-titled album back in 2017, Asking Alexandria’s bid for the big spotlight that Imagine Dragons occupies didn’t get any stronger this year with Like a House on Fire. After three or four years of aiming for this style, the band still aren’t even all that competent with the basics of fucking pop rock, which is pretty downright laughable. Honestly, for an album so high up here on my shit list, my feelings on it are more or less just that of unsurprised disappointment; as soon as I got a feel for what the band were doing with the album, I knew it was going to be a mess of predictable results. And lo and behold. This was just such a wholly inexcusably floppy paper towel of an album, and one more Asking Alexandria release I know I won’t be returning to ever again.

2. Hollywood Undead - New Empire, Vol. 2

Coming on at the last minute to get on the scoreboard, reliably, is Hollywood Undead. When I reviewed both volumes of this project earlier, I referred to them as “corporate Linkin Park”, and I stand by that 100%. This album especially showcases nothing but what an incoherent, vapid, clout-chasing act they are, with such a corny, focus-grouped sound that sounds like it was made in a lab by a bunch of out-of-touch boomers. God, they could’ve been safe too if they had left it with the more tolerable first volume back in January, but this follow-up sequel from just this month was exactly why I had avoided listening to the first installment in the first place. And I should’ve never played this second one either. The album opener, “Medicate”, is probably the worst song I sat through in my own volition this year, and the rest of the album doesn’t get much better. It’s nothing new for Hollywood Undead after I gave their 2017 album my award for least favorite album of that year: more unfitting interplay between machismo posturing Eminem-cosplay and the sappiest, wimpiest radio rock and pop choruses; more cringy tough-guy struggle bars; more forgettable-at-best instrumentals. Congrats again, Hollywood Undead, you made one of the worst albums of the year once again.

But even worse than Hollywood Undead is an album that I feel like is already so legendarily bad, that there is no other album that could’ve been sat here. It had to be this one.

1. Six Feet Under - Nightmares of the Decomposed

Shitty metal bands everywhere can breathe a sigh of relief any year Six Feet Under decide to put out new music because any album they release is just about bound to end up as everyone’s #1 worst album of the year, and boy is that guarantee becoming more and more airtight with each successive release. It’s truly astounding too how Six Feet Under manages to outdo themselves every time. I don’t even want to think about what could possibly come after Nightmares of the Decomposed; we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. But for now, holy fermented shit, this thing is not just bad, it’s like the holy grail of terrible TERRIBLE albums and I don’t want to know what kind of apocalyptically despicable album Chris Barnes and company could possibly conjure to outdo this one. And make no mistake, it’s still Chris Barnes dragging this band down. I gave this album a 1/10 instead of a 0/10 because there was at least a sliver of salvageable instrumentation on it, as thin of a sliver as it was, a few halfway decent musical ideas of you squinted hard enough. The instrumentalists are checked out and clearly just participating for the paycheck, but I can’t even imagine what kind of professional instrumental performance could possibly overshadow the embarrassment that Chris Barnes put to tape in the studio here. Maybe that says it, because it honestly sounds utterly unprofessional. It’s baffling how this got through management and sound engineering to be released to the public because I don’t think I’ve ever even heard any amateur high school band’s vocalist sound this bad. Vocal ingenuity is generally something to be applauded in the metal world, and pioneers like Randy Blythe, Dani Filth, and Travis Ryan deserve all the praise they get for their innovation with dirty metal vocals, yet what Chris Barnes has “invented” here on Nightmares of the Decomposed to compensate for his continually-deteriorating vocals is just sad. The man simply cannot perform highs anymore, clearly, and the alternative is this fucking comical, cartoonish squealing that sounds more like a bratty toddler gargling their own snot than it does anything fitting for a death metal record, even a death metal record at stupid and cheesy as Nightmares of the Decomposed. Chris Barnes should be thankful that metal is not a sport and that there’s not nearly as much of an abundance of performance statistics to point to and analyze to see what kind of records are broken in a legendarily awful performance. I feel like if there were any kind of performance stats to pull up, this album would have to break some kinds of records. Like this is worse than that 7-1 Germany-Brazil World Cup game, this would be like if the Brazilian team all got unholy levels of blazed and repeatedly scored on themselves because they kept going the wrong way and kicking the ball into their own net, and then pissing their fucking shorts. Even in 7-1 defeat, Brazil had more dignity than Chris Barnes here. Six Feet Under and their label have to know they are a laughing stock and that people will listen to them at this point for the sheer entertainment value of how mind-blowingly awful they sound. It’s not an illegitimate marketing tactic, and it’s the only explanation I can come up with for how this passed inspection. If that’s their mission, to be a spectacle and instill cringe in death metal fans in a regular ritual of comically stupid performances across every successive album, they’re sure doing it, and I guess this baffling headache-trophy is their well-earned prize. Congratulations Six Feet Under, you did it again! Worst metal album of the year.

#metal #heavy metal #worst albums of 2020 #hard rock #thrash metal #groove metal #alternative metal #butt rock #acoustic rock #power metal #dungeon synth #ambient #ambient music #metalcore #arena rock #pop rock #alternative rock #death metal

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stellar-alley · 4 years

Text

Everfalls

•Chapter 15•

This is based off of the artwork by oceanteeeth on Instagram! Also shout out to my Beta super.rose.cosplays!

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

(Summary: Richie and Eddie go back to school. Stan interrogates Eddie and Bill tries to put the pieces of the mystery together. )

Tuesday morning came and Richie found himself passing his rooms as he contemplated his latest delema.

“What the fuck am I gonna wear!” He shouted as he pulled on his curls. He groaned when he let go.

A quiet knock brought his gaze towards his door where his mother stood, “Everything alright honey?” She asked with kind yet tired eyes, it was still early after all.

Richie hummed a quick fine from where he stood in front of his closet. He spent another solide 10 minutes staring at the contents before he finally decided on an outfit for the day. In the end he picked out his favourite t-shirt, which was a big light blue hoodie that had ‘Virginity Rocks’ written in big writing, a matching light blue beanie. Accompanied by one of his nicer pairs of black jeans which he cuffed at the bottom to match the warmer weather outside, and a pair of black high top converses.

He hummed, “Nice, nice, nice” Richie snapped his fingers anxiously as he gave himself a once over in the mirror.

When he drove to school that day, Richie actually turned the radio on and allowed himself to listen to the top hits, which he normally hated, he’d rather hook his phone up via aux cord and play his own tunes. But today… something about all of the cheesy love songs actually brightened his mood. Hell, he even sang along to a couple of them.

He walked up the main path that day and smiled at the sight of his boyfriend who leaned up against the same tree he had been a week or so ago. “Hey gorgeous” Richie wrapped his arms around Eddie’s waist from the back.

Eddie squicked, spooked slightly, but then his squak turned to laughter. “Richie! Let go!” Eddie laughed as he playfully thrashed in Richie’s arms.

Instead Richie gracefully twirled him around so they stood face to face. The wolf kissed the rabbit’s forehead which got him a blush of the cheeks from the shorter boy.

“Hey…” Eddie said sheepishly as he looked up into Richie’s big brown eyes, always filled with excitement, now they were filled with something new, love. It warmed his heart.

“Hey shortstack” Rich carefully raised his hand up and pushed a loose piece of hair behind Eddie’s ear.

Eddie rolled his eyes, using it as a way to glance away without seeming off, “Don’t call me that” he complained, but his voice held to annoyance. Before Richie could argue, Eddie laced their fingers together and looked towards the school, “Come on, dipshit. We’re gonna be late”.

Bill didn’t show up that day, not during the first period, or lunch, or last. Though Eddie only shared one class with him, fourth period history, that didn’t stop his foot from tapping underneath his desk the entire day.

Home room with Alley was fairly chill, she was normal, which Eddie needed every now and then. She talked about the journalist things, TV shows and fan fictions, online friends and cosplay. It put The Anector’s mind at ease just listening to her ramble on about the latest gossip.

Second Period was math, which he found out after the second day of school he shared with Stan. Even after everything that happened at Bill’s, Eddie trusted Stan. He knew that Stan and Richie had been friends for a long time before all of this started and that they had a tight bond, so he could get used to how close the two were.

Eddie took his normal seat in the third last row, second to the window. It was Stan who decided to take up the seat beside him. Neither of them said anything while Stan got settlers into his seat. Once Stan had his notebook all sorted out and his pens in place he slowly, sarcastically almost, turned towards Eddie with a blank expression.

“Am I going to need to start pulling teeth before you tell me what happened?” Stan’s voice was a mix of worry and concern, also a little amusement as he enjoyed watching Eddie’s face fill with fear at his tone.

Eddie’s face fell, “Uh- No? I just didn’t know if you wanted to know or-“.

“Well I do” Stan cut in like a teenage girl desperate for the latest tea.

“Okay okay, sheesh” Eddie was stalling, not really wanting to retell the story as he barely even liked to think about what had happened. So he just stated the facts, “Bill thinks I killed his dad” He only realized how bad that sounded once it was already out.

“What?” Stan hissed, eyes wide with shock. When Eddie didn’t respond he simply asked, “Well, did you?”.

“Sort of” Eddie made a face. Okay that was as close to getting over practically killing someone as he was gonna get. Eddie tried to not meet Stan’s intense stare, focusing on the compass around his neck, he fiddled with the latch, clicking it open and closed like a pen.

“Sort of?” Stan whisper yelled.

Eddie rolled his eyes with a sigh then proceeded to quickly explain what had happened in The All Lands and what happened at Bill’s.

“What happened after I left?” Eddie asked in anticipation, he worried that the rest of the Losers had suspected something was up by their outburst of weirdness that night.

“Uhhh” Stan hummed, thinking over what he was gonna say next, “I gave Bill a tongue lashing for everything he did to you. He seemed pretty rattled, like a deer in the headlights. But afterwards we went back in, watched Toy Story 2. Bill was first asleep. Then Bev and I raided his fridge. I finished his chocolate milk as revenge, and spite” Stan lightly smirked at his actions. “But yeah if the Losers ask, you had an asthma attack” The light haired boy stared as Eddie nodded in understanding.

“Oh” Stan remembered something and pulled it out of his pencil case, “Here” He handed the phone to Eddie.

Eddie moved the phone from hand to hand, a ghost smile played over his lips as he clicked it open and saw Richie’s ridiculous selfie for a wallpaper. “Thanks” Eddie sent a smile to Stan who in return gave him a slightly smaller smile and a head nod.

Lunch was fairly normal. Eddie had met up with Richie at his locker and they walked to the cafeteria together from there. Mike was already there, he saved their normal table for them, he waved when they entered the room.

“How are you guys doing?” He shot them his cannon ‘Mike Hanlon Best Friend of the Year’ smile.

Even though he didn’t ask directly, The Ancestors both got the vibe that he was hinting at the recent occurrences at Bill’s.

“We’re… okay” Richie shared a reassuring glance with Eddie who placed his hand over his knee under the table.

Eddie nodded, “My asthma was acting up, Richie opted to take me home. But I’m all good now”.

Suddenly a pair of arms were wrapped around Eddie, and they weren’t Richie’s, so the rabbit was thoroughly confused.

“I’m so glad you’re okay” The female voice sighed from above him.

Eddie’s shoulders sagged in relief, “Hey Bev” He tilted his head back to smile up at her.

“What the hell happened to you?” She asked as she settled in beside him.

Eddie swallowed the bite sandwich he’d been chewing, “Asthma attack” he informed her with a slow nod and took another bite of his sandwich.

“Shit Eds are you alright? She asked with concern.

Eddie nearly choked on his sandwich, no one has ever called him that, aside from Richie, and he kinda preferred it that way.

“Woah, hold up there Marsh, this is my Eds” Richie playfully nudged her shoulder.

Even though Richie’s voice hinted that he was joking, Eddie had a feeling he meant it. He sneezed Richie’s knee under the table and their smiles brightened a little.

“Does anyone know where Bill is today?” Ben asked from the other side of Bev.

The Losers shared a look of worry, no one answered, no one knew.

“I’m sure he’s just sick, or maybe he’s watching Georgie because he’s sick” Stan supplied a sufficient idea.

English class rolled around and Eddie’s mind was filled with thoughts and worries about Bill. He hadn't even noticed the way his foot had continued to tap rapidly against the tile floor, until Richie placed a hand on his knee, stopping the tap.

“You okay?” Richie had leaned over from his desk beside Eddie.

“Fine, just worried about Bill” Eddie sighed and glanced over at Richie.

After that Mr. Brock began the lesson and he explained the trip on Friday a little bit more. Richie’s palms began to sweat just at the thought of the upcoming full moon. He stole a quick glance at Eddie who was subconsciously twirling a peice of hair between his fingers. The wolf still couldn’t believe that his little bunny liked him back.

It was Tuesday, which meant it was Stan and Richie’s day to go feast on junk food from the corner store. Which actually worked out pretty well as Bill was Stan’s usual ride, but Bill kinda went awol, so he got a ride home anyways.

This was the one time they got to just fool around and be teens.

Richie found Stan where he stood in the chips ile as he contemplated what flavour to buy. The dark haired teen held out a bag of M&M’s and a bottle of Dr Pepper and a coke. “Yo Staniel, what if I ate mentos and drank coke afterwards? Would I throw up? Internally combust? Or shit my pants?” Richie stared off into the distance as if he was contemplating the meaning of life.

“Oh Richard…” Stan sighed, “The acids in your stomach are strong enough to-”.

“Whatever I’m testing it anyways” Richie declared.

Suddenly Stan let out a mega sneeze, it might have been sudden but he jumped into action and sneezed into his elbow.

“You good Stanita?” Richie questioned with concern.

Stan shook his head, lately the sneezes have been taking out more and more energy from him. He pulled a kleenex from his pocket and wiped his nose. “First, don’t call me that. Second, I’m fine, just a cold” He confirmed.

Richie shrugged, Stan had a history of ignoring his colds until they passed, so Richie left Stan to go find more snacks to rot his teeth.

Stan Rolled his eyes which then fell on the aisle of freezers that stood behind him. He saw the various types of milks that were kept safe in their little frozen prisons. Stan’s gaze fell upon the jugs of chocolate milk which caused his lips to form a small smile.

Bill…

Bill Denbrough hadn't left his place at his desk in an hour. He sat facing his board, the pictures and articles had blurred together from looking at them for so long. He spent the morning changing things, adding new pictures (one was an updated photo of Eddie that had bunny ears drawn on his head and a photo of Richie with a question mark over his face). Now, things seemed even more confusing than they had previously.

He knew Eddie had something to do with his father's death. Bill just didn’t know how, yet. He also couldn't ignore the fact that his dad didn’t actually have any physical damage, it did look like a heart attack, but Bill knew it wasn't.

Lying to his mother had become some sort of second nature to Bill, so lying about being sick to skip out on school that day wasn't a chore. Lying to anyone wasn't hard anymore…. Deep down Bill knew that it wasn't good, but he had to do what was necessary.

Bill cut a new piece of yarn and attached one end to the picture of Eddie and the other end to the picture of Richie. From there he looked at his calendar that was placed just above his desk, right before his main investigation board began. He noticed that that Friday had ‘School Trip’ and he was reminded of the Writer’s Craft field trip he had with his class, as well as Richie and Eddie’s english class. Bill smirked and circled the date with a red sharpie.

“No better time”.

Word Count: 2044

I know this chapter was shorter than the last one- chapter 14 was a mega chapter so it was a lot longer than normal. But nontheless I hope y'all enjoyed, shit is about to go down so get excited! We're nearing endgame terriotry so- be ready.

And don’t forget to check me out on Instagram @ stellar.alley if you want to see more of my real life and some behind the scenes content! Also check out my a03 account for more stories @ stellar_alley. Don't forget to like,comment and share to show your support!

That's all from me guys see y'all next week with chapter 16

So Long and Goodnight.

[Taglist]

@richietoaster @s-onora @that-weird-girl-blog @beproudtozier @ghostnebula @bellarosewrites @s-s-georgie @lermanslogan @iamcupcakefrosting @madidraw @gazebobullshit @thoughtfullyyoungduck @aangzukos @ambitiousskychild @reddieonwheels @breadheadscorpius

Let me know if you wanna be added to the tag list!

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kahliethefangirl · 4 years

Text

Missed you on my lips - Harringrove

Titel: Missed you on my lips.

Summary: Some heated cheesy thing In which Steve returns home from work just to find a sleeping Billy in his bed.

Pairing: Harringrove. Rating: M Warnings: Language, heated kissing and cuddling and that kinda stuufff *wink*

Note: I dunno. I'm down with a hideous cold and bored to death. Guess this is what happens. English is my second language you guys and I'm a dropout lol so, be kiiind! Popping my Harringrove cherry with this one so; sorry if this sucked harder than Steve sucks Billy's... errrr..

______

Steve is unsure if he is tired or bored, or maybe a little of both. The shift at Scoops Ahoy had been uneventful and even though he hated when people dropped by in enormous waves and a half of them were little shits that could never decide what flavor was to be had; it was probably even worse when almost no one came. Maybe it doesn’t happen that often, but today was such a day. He drags his legs behind him as he enters the hallway and is greeted by the scent of home-cooked food from the kitchen. "Steve, is that you?" His mother calls from the kitchen and with the white hat in one hand he pops his head through the kitchen door to see her standing at the stove at full speed combining chopping vegetables and stirring pots. "Yeah." Steve smiles softly, as his mother looks at her son over her shoulder. But a worried expression soon comes over her. "You look tired." She says motherly and he sighs. Steve just wants to escape to his room and lie dead on his bed before being forced down to dinner. He feels bitter and not in the mood at all.

"Lame day." He shrugs and an understanding smile sweeps over his mother's lips before focusing on the food again. Steve sees this as a sign that he can make a bee line for his room, but he doesn't have time to come very far before his mother talks again.

"Oh, Steve!" Steve stops where he aims for the stairs and closes his eyes for a second. The more he stays away from the rest he wanted so badly since like four hours back or something, the more desperate he becomes. Maybe he should skip the dinner? He could heat some later.

"What?" He struggles to keep the tone as calm as possible.

"Your eh, friend, came by before." She leaves the stove and comes out the kitchen door where her hands are hidden in a striped tea towel. Steve frowns and turns to look at her.

"My friend?" He frowns and his lethargic brain needs a second or two before it connects.

"That Hargrove kid." She taste the name a little before nodding, sure it was the boy's last name. "He didn't want to leave although I said you were at work—" She nods to the direction Steve was going. "-I let him wait for your in your room." She explains while Steve feels heat rising from his clavicle over his jaws and climbs right up to his brown hairline. That Hargrove kid, huh? Steve mentally curses his boyfriend for having infiltrated his home. How the hell would he explain Billy to his parents if they began to understand who his 'friend' actually was to him!? "O-okay." Steve looks around nervously. Billy will never feel the end of this! They have set up rules for this shit. But ofcourse; Billy fucking Hargrove sees it as his damned duty and obligation to break every one of them.

"I'll go check on him." Steve points behind him and cocks a brow, as if to get his mother's approval and the woman in front of him just nods back. With urgency in his steps he turns and rushes to his room with his mother's curious gaze burning in his neck as he climbs the stair.

"How much of an idiot are you, Hargrove?" Steve wheezes under breath where he grabs the dorrknob of his door and tears it open, ready to tell Billy both one and another thing. But he stops as soon as he crashes over the threshold. The room is poorly lit where he never opened the blinds this morning and a faint scent of his own life and a second, which always causes his pulse to rise slightly, meets him where he stands frozen in his room. A sneaky streak of sun makes its way in from behind the blinds and falls on his unmade and messy bed. In the middle of the bed with his beddings all over it, is his equally messy boyfriend, with his head down at the foot end. Suddenly not in the same need to bark at the blond young man, Steve silently closes the door behind him. Both subconsciously and consciously, he locks it. The blonde curls are a mess around Billy's sleeping head and although he is mostly on his back with one arm under his head, his hips and legs are slightly twisted to the side; one of the muscular legs dangling over the edge of Steve's bed. A timid, yet embarrassingly tender smile, creeps across Steve's lips as he sneaks forward; unwilling to disturb Billy in the sleep Steve himself had longed for since he checked in at work. He bites down his bottom lip where he slowly and silently like a cat, sneaks onto the bed, holding the burduse and complicated guy. Billy's eyebrows twitch a little when the bed shifts under Steve’s weight and he stops with his breath in his throat. When he realizes that the coast is clear, he sits on his knees behind Billy's head and stares down at him. His eyelashes rest heavily against the sun-kissed cheeks and his arched lips are slightly parted to give free passage to heavy, rhythmic breaths. In his sleep, Billy looks calm, young and at peace. There are no signs of his ravaged personality and Billy seems almost completely untouched by all the crap that landed on him over the years. Suddenly Steve feels a stab in his chest. It's a familiar pain; one that shows up as soon as it strikes him how badly treated the young man has been, in more ways than one. Steve is not so quick about defending his boyfriend's sometimes crappy behavior, but he is also not late in understanding why the need to assert himself has come to him that way. "Billy?" He whispers, as if he's really unsure whether he really wants to wake him. Something Steve wouldn't say out loud, but that is no less true, is that he finds Billy at his most beautiful where he defenseless with his gard down, is sleeping deeply and quietly. The peacefulness about him that never otherwise appears, feels almost sacred. Steve leans forward so his own face hovers over Billy's and gently he strokes a few lost curls from his cheekbone. His skin is soft and warm against Steve's fingertips. "B." He coos, where he let the entirety of his palm meet Billy's cheek and his thumb gently sweeps over the soft shape of one of his eyebrows. Billy turns a little in his sleep. His lips grimace where he is disturbed and a not so charming grunt is heard. Steve has to bite his lip so as not to start laughing. Then those icy blue eyes open. First, they are sleep-deprived and lost, as if he doesn't quite understand where the hell he's at. But then they find Steve's brown ones, where they glitter cheerfully towards him and Billy's sultry looks lighten a bit; even if so just a little. "I was asleep, asshat." Billy points out with a hoarse voice and Steve awards him with a snorting laugh. "So I noticed." Steve smiles wide, no longer sad that he disturbed and awakened the young man resting beneath him. Billy tilts his head back a little to find out Steve's position before relaxing and looking at him again. Steve wants to think that just like in his sleep, there is a shadow of calm in Billy's face as he looks at him. Or maybe that is just whisfull thinking. "By the way; what the hell did we say about you coming here without talking to me first?" Steve squeezes his lips together and tries to sound harsh. He cannot deny that throughout his chest there is the tickling and swelling joy about finding Billy like this; but fact remains. "Jesus, Harrington." Billy smiles amused so that his white teeth are showing and the blue eyes are hidden behind his tired eyelids. "Don't piss your pants, okay?" He murmurs softly but with a husky undertone; a combination that causes a triggering little shiver to shoot along Steve's spine. Pleased with himself, Billy looks up at him with a wry smile. "I charmed her enough so that she wouldn't analyze it too much." He grins wickedly and a loud groan escape Steve. "My God! You're absolutely sick. That's my mother." Steve's lips are pulled down into a disgusted grimace and Billy laughs hushed before his hand reaches out for Steve. His fingers curl around his neck and a light pressure causes Steve to close in on Billy. "A means to an end, Pretty Boy." Billy mumbles so that his warm breath sweeps across Steve's face. Steve swallows hard and hell; this dude makes it hard to be upset with him for more than a couple minutes at the time. "One beautiful and sunny day, I will be knee-deep in shit because of you." Steve mutters where Billy leans his head back so that his soft lips can plant a light kiss on Steve's chin. "You gonna love it." Billy assures him, very sure of himself, where the kisses roam along Steve's cheek and his eyelids flutter before closing completely. A heavy breath escapes from Steve's mouth where he turns his head in Billy's hardening grip before his own lips finds the ones belonging to the blonde one. Soft and gentle at first, his lips glide over Billy's. Steve's heart catches up with the event and slowly but surely the life sustaining beats become heavier and faster.

"But seriously." Steve mutters into the kiss and his hands sweeps over Billy's shoulders; the white t-shirt warm like his skin; but not as sensual to the touch. "You can't just roll in here like nothing when someone is home." He grunts in an attempt to put weight on the broken rule. Billy groans annoyed before his teeth softly bites down on Steve's bottom lip and Steve whines hushed at the stinging pain as much as the pleasent sparks igniting under his skin. "Missed you on my lips, baby. What to do?" Billy grins into the kiss and just like that Steve gives in. How the hell is he supposed to argue with Billy when he's doing this? Impossible, simply. Steve puts more force into the kiss and his long fingers fists the fabric over Billy's chest. There is something hot about having Billy like this, on his back below him. Usually it's the other way around. The thought causes Steve's cheeks to heat and Billy seems to notice the increasing pulse under Steve's skin. Billy's tongue is warm and smooth where it sneaks out and teases Steve's upper lip; trying to trick it into part a little more. Saliva is mixing and Steve's breathing becomes more rapid and heavier. That his mother is downstairs is like a shout from far away; audible but easy to ignore for a second. Just one, more, second...

"Take that shit shirt off, will you? You look like an idiot in that uniform." Billy moans where his hand now has a tight grip on Steve's neck and Steve's head feels like a batshit crazy carneval ride. His stomach is in turmoil as well; a burning ball of pleasure growing there, spreading a feverish heat throughout his body. "Mom's here." Steve points out and realizes just how much of a bummer that is. Damn. "And?" Billy laughs mischievously as he rolls over to his stomach and gets up on all fours. Steve looks at him dazed as he crawls closer. The blonde hair is messy and his intense blue eyes are like nails that force Steve to sit still on his knees in his bed. "And she would freak out if she found me half naked in the room with you here." Steve points out a little bitterly. Billy sits down on his knees in front of him and one of his hands combs through Steve's soft hair. The sensation of Billy's fingers dragging against his scalp is heavenly and Steve sighs in bliss. "Yeah, without a shirt would be gay." Billy hums sarcastically before diving down to Steve's neck and tasting a large portion of his skin. Steve's head falls back and his fingers gets tangled in Billy's wild curls. "Totally." Steve moans. His body begins to show all too well what he wants and maybe he could explain why he is with Billy without a shirt. But sitting without a shirt with Billy and boasting an erection; that's a whole other thing. Their upper bodies are pressed against each other and lips locked in heated desperation. The room feels warm and enclosed; the absent light like the protective shade they need to be close to each other. A knock on the door causes the two boys to throw themselves apart. On their asses in each end of Steve's bed, they stare with wide eyes to the door.

"Dinner is ready Steve. Will your friend join us?" His mother's voice is curious, but Steve can't seem to trace any suspicion in it. But his heart was escaping from his chest and he is struggling trying to keep it behind his ribcage. "Uuh .." Confused and panicked he looks to Billy who picked himself up much faster than Steve himself. As if Steve's mom could see them, Billy runs his hand through his hair and straightens himself where he sits. "That would be lovely, Mrs. Harrington." He replies with an unnaturally charming voice. Steve blinks at him as if Billy were completely out of his mind. "What the fuck?" Steve mouths and Billy simply smiles cockily before shrugging. It's quiet outside the door and Steve manages to calm down enough to think rationally. "You will be the death of me." Steve complains when facing his boyfriend leaving the bed and with his hand down in his jeans, Billy corrects his own proof of what just happened. Steve swallows hard. "You'll love that too." Billy winks and Steve clenches his jaws. It's too fucking easy loving Billy for his attitude sometimes, he realizes and maybe it will be the death of him; but as Billy said: He'd probably love that too.

#i'm having a bloody attack i'm so nervous #me popping my harringrove cherry #harringrove #harringrove fanfic #harringrove fic #harringrove oneshot #billy hargrove #billy hargrove oneshot #billy hargrove fanfic #steve harrington #steve harrington oneshot #steve harrington fanfic #stranger things #ktf stranger things

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mcrmadness · 4 years

Note

Oooo, how about two from each of them? Fanfic asks: J and P, film asks: 15 and 16, music asks: 20 and 26.

OMG thanks!!! :DDD

Ask games: Fanfic asks, Film asks and Music asks. (People you can still send me asks if you want, asks are fun to answer to!)

***

FANFIC ASKS:

A little background before we get to the questions: I haven’t written too many, actually only 6 quite short ones (and one of them is a bit longer than usual) about Die Ärzte (Bela/Farin FTW) and all of these I have written between the years 2009 and 2012, so I was 18-21 which means they are not that good. And there’s lots of things I wouldn’t write anymore. I also have a WIP on my computer, I started it in 2012 but stopped writing altogether only to start writing again in the end 2018, it has bit over 28k words currently and tbh I have written 90% of that when I started writing again two years ago. I still have my old ones up on LiveJournal (ask for a link), but I haven’t published anything fron this later one as I’ve just been writing down all kinds of snippets whenever I have had an inspiration. I think those are also a lot better in quality than what I wrote before, the old ones are quite cringey.

J. What is your favorite fic that you’ve written?

I guess we talk about those fics I have also finished, now. It’s actually hard to decide but I would say my favourite is either Why not even once? or The Boring Book Freak. I think the latter is actually The favourite.

The first one (was actually my second dä ff overall) is set to happen in 2003 and in that one Farin is leaving for another vacation somewhere and Bela wants to go with him, but Farin wants to travel alone and Bela is struggling with that, as well as with Farin finally leaving and having to somehow survive his time at home without Farin there. The writing itself is bit stupid and I feel that the end got bit too far but otherwise I like the idea.

The second one (came actually after the previous one) is set to happen in the early/mid 90s (my fave Bela/Farin era btw) and on that they just are at some random summer cottage. Now, fuck cottagecores and such, I wrote it because summer cottages are a thing in Finland and I wrote it when cottagecore was not even cool yet. Somehow I imagined that it would be very Farin-like to rent a cottage from the middle of nowhere, in a forest and then spend a weekend or so there with Bela. Who then is not entertained at all and is bored because Farin won’t put away his book and won’t give him any attention, so he tries everything to get Farin’s attention. I especially like the visual images this fanfic gives to me, I can see their hairs and outfits so well and those are also aesthetically very pleasing. (They look the same as in that Absolut Live interview from the 90s, I don’t control their looks with my fics usually, I just have an idea and then my brain creates how they look in that particular scene :D)

I have also written a short songfic around the lyrics of their song “Ich weiß nicht (ob es Liebe ist)” and it was fun to imagine that as Bela/Farin. That was fun to write.

This got a bit long so I put the rest under a cut:

P. What are your favorite tropes to write?

(Had to google what a trope is lol. I’m old-school and no longer know most of the terms unless they’re old terms.)

Angst - I put my own angst, sadness and angriness into my writing often. It’s when I feel like in real life I would need other people but I don’t know how to reach out or don’t just feel comfortable about opening up, I open up a file and start writing. This is also where we get to the next trope...

Hurt/Comfort - But not so that X hurts Y, but that Y feels hurt for other reasons and then X comforts them. I kinda got obsessed with this theme after being bullied at school so I was always hurt but never comforted, so I often go back to those feels and emotions with my text to look for that comfort (hug, nice words, whatever) I never got in real life.

Fluff - This is bit complicated because I like writing fluff but I also hate reading fluff I have written. Because it does not sound like me. And sometimes when I write, I feel like standing behind my own back and vomiting a little on the inside because of how cheesy and disgusting that is but still I can’t stop writing. And then I feel like a different person when I read them because I can’t believe it’s ME who wrote them. The same way when I watch movies and people kiss, I always look away. And I want to look away when I read my fanfiction. But I can’t, especially because I know I looked at that scene in my head when I wrote it.

Humour - I love humour so much and I like to include this to my writing. Normally I put the humour in my comics but some of that fits also in the regular texts too.

***

FILM ASKS:

These are super tough but also fun - I have been trying to think of what to answer to these for days.

15. A film everyone loves but you hate?

The Avengers (-12). Sorry but not sorry. Well I don’t hate it but I don’t understand why everyone says it’s the best Marvel movie ever. It’s not. It’s full of clichés and stupid forced heteroromances and whatnot and the plot was just so, so predictive I don’t understand why it’s often talked about as some sort of cinematic master piece. I literally was able to tell everything that was gonna happen next when I watched it for the first time. Only cool things in that movie are Loki and Iron Man, whose character I already liked as I had seen the Iron Man movie and liked it. But I hated both Thor movies (the third one is awesome tho).

I like Marvel and I have seen I guess most of the movies - before MCU all good Marvel movies to come out were The X-Men movies and Spider-Man movies, and because I saw so many terrible Marvel movies, I was avoiding the whole MCU and I got into these movies much later and still, after seeing them all, I say The Avengers is one of the worst ones. Thor and Thor 2 are pretty much even worse (and I haven’t even seen the Hulk movie because it looks terrible), mainly because I just can’t stand the fact they’re mainly just built around Thor and his love interest...

16. A film you love but everyone else hates?

Spider-Man 3 (or the whole trilogy with Tobey Maguire). I see we continue with Marvel here but seriously I don’t understand why everyone is always picking on Tobey’s version of Spider-Man? And people especially hate the third movie and how Venom was portrayed in it (I’m obsessed with Venom’s human teeth pls I want his teeth), when it’s actually the best one for me. The second one is bit boring because it was again all about whining and Mary-Jane... Anyway, the reason why I am so attached to these movies is that I saw the first Spider-Man movie from TV when I was a teenager and in junior high myself, and I was bullied and a bit of a nerd so I could relate to Peter Parker a lot, and it gave me just so much strength to see him become Spider-Man and to stand up against the bullies and other assholes.

I also saw the third movie in the movie theater and there was one scene during which I started hysterically laughing with my friend because of an expression Tobey made as he was sitting on a bed, I don’t know why but somehow I just totally lost it at that :D It still makes me laugh so much when I see it! And when the movie ended, I heard a The Killers song “Move Away” for the first time during the end credits and TK was one of my favorite bands at the time (and still is).

***

MUSIC ASKS:

20. a song that empowers you

It gotta be Dead! by My Chemical Romance:

youtube

This album was what got me through all the shit that happened when I was 15+ and especially this song always made (and still makes) me feel so good. I often listened to my old mp3 player while walking to school and back home and every time this song came by, I just felt like nothing can harm and that life FINALLY was so great! It’s so energetic and still makes me feel that living is actually super awesome.

26. a song that taught you a lesson

Hmmm. I think I will answer to this with Dusche by Farin Urlaub.

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That thumbnail is terrible but... And why did I choose this song? Well, I’m all for the sound what comes to music and I’d say at least 80% of all lyrics go way over my head. I just don’t have the skills for understanding poetry and also very poetic lyrics make me go crazy. I hate not knowing and when I have to assume, guess and interpret something. I don’t want to guess but I wanna know what someone has actually thought.

Dusche was the first song that had lyrics that for the first time ever actually spoke for me. I probably saw some video with English subtitles a fan had made and it just blew me away because holy shit, people are capable of writing lyrics even I can understand??? And that way I realized I can like lyrics but only if they make absolutely no sense (aka are funny or somewhat crazy, like Dusche) or when they are written in a story form or sung from the 1st person view or to “you” or in passive - but only if I can get behind the idea there.

After Dusche, Farin’s song Porzellan followed. And one of my absolute favourites is Karten. So, Farin is one of the only few people whose lyrics I have been able to understand. I still don’t hear lyrics and don’t understand a majority of the lyrics my fave bands write, and I have understood only a couple of Bela’s lyrics and I’m not sure if I’ve understood any of Rod’s lyrics. It’s not even about the language barrier anymore really, it’s just the topics or wordings I cannot comprehend.

Thank you again for the ask! This was very interesting to ponder and answer to :)

#useless-blog-of-a-moth #mutuals #ask games #mcrmadness' random stuff

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