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galaxysgal · 3 years

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Songbird c2: Honey Hi || Frankie Morales

Pairing: Frankie Morales × gn!reader

Summary: A couple weeks after first meeting the kind bartender with the warm brown eyes, you begin to get to know him better.

Warnings: none ??

A/N: I can't believe im already losting chapter 2 what the hell its only been a week since this idea came to me

Wordcount: 2k

Series Masterlist

xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx

You stood back, looking at the loose outline of a song you had just scrawled across the chalkboard wall in your room. You had a good feeling about this one. All you needed was one good afternoon to sit down and put it to music before it would be ready for the citizens of Boston. You had picked up a couple of regulars after eight months of busking, they enjoyed your original songs and had even bought the shitty CDs you'd made with a mixture of covers and original material. Speaking of busking...

You looked out your window to make sure the bright, cloudless sky hadn't changed since sunrise, then grabbed your acoustic guitar and headed out.

The sun shined on you as you made your way through the streets of Boston, past restaurants and studios, across crosswalks and through the crowds. As you passed the Sunrise Theater, your thoughts fell warmly on the fond memories you had already made there. It had been a few weeks since Rumors in the Night started weekly gigs there. The money was doing you well, but you still took to the streets two or three times a week. It wasn't even really for the money, although a couple extra dollars from passerby was a bonus. What you really loved was the performance, sharing a part of yourself with an indifferent world. If you could bring a smile to the face of just one lonely passerby, you felt you had done good.

You set up in the shadow of a bank, in a small alcove where the walls would push your voice outwards. You sat your donation jar at your feet and unzipped your guitar case, pulling it out and beginning tuning. When everything was set, you began to sing.

"Honey, honey, honey / Who could be sweeter than you / Honey, honey, honey / Bitter sweet, but what can I do."

You were completely carefree, singing on the streets of Boston. This city was beginning to feel a bit like home, although you knew you wouldn't be here for long. Your eyes were still fixed on LA, on the lights of Hollywood. You longed to see your name in lights, headlining at the Hollywood Palladium.

"Lord it's been good to talk to you / Even sweeter than wine / Don't take the love light away / Cause I'm far away from home / Daddy, all I'm trying to tell you / Lord, I really love you, love you, love you."

This was a good song to warm up with, medium paced and not too vocally challenging. It sounded better with a full band, though. You would have to ask Fatima if you could put it on the setlist for your gig in the park this weekend.

"Honey, honey, honey, hi / honey, honey, honey hi / honey, honey, honey hi."

You watched a child come up and drop a few coins into your jar and you smiled, leading straight into your next song. You ran through Have You Ever Seen The Rain by Creedence Clearwater Revival, Waiting on the World to Change by John Mayer, Silver Springs by Fleetwood Mac and a couple others you had in your repertoire. You liked to finish up with Thank You for the Music by ABBA, it was a favorite of yours but it took a while to warm up for.

"Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing / Thanks for all the joy they're bringing / Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty / What would life be? / Without a song or a dance what are we? / So I say thank you for the music / For giving it to me."

There was no one around, but you didn't care. This song meant something to you, and you were going to sing it for the world to hear.

"So I say / Thank you for the music, for giving it to me."

As you finished the song, a familiar face appeared in front of you.

"You take requests?" Frankie asked, a smile tugging at his lips.

You chuckled, grabbing our water bottle and taking a quick sip. "Yeah, if I know 'em. I was just about to pack up for lunch but one more song won't hurt. For a friend, of course."

"A friend?" he asked, a gleam in his eye.

"An acquaintance. Someone I know. But anyway, hit me."

"Landslide," he said, and you rolled your eyes. "What!? It's my favorite."

"You could pick something a little more original," you teased as you tucked your pick into your pocket and started to pluck the opening of the song. Frankie backed up against the lamp post to your right, settling his arms across his chest.

"I took my love, I took it down / I climbed a mountain and I turned around / and I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills / 'til the landslide brought me down."

The song was well known, and it brought you a small crowd almost immediately.

"Oh mirror in the sky, what is love / can the child within my heart rise above / can I sail through the changing ocean tides / can I handle the seasons of my life," you smiled softly, looking at the faces around you as they stopped to watch.

"Well I've been afraid of changing cause I built my life around you / but time makes you bolder even / even children get older / and I'm getting older too."

You closed your eyes, letting the music take you over. You lost yourself in the song until it was over and the five or so people around you were clapping quietly and nodding in appreciation.

"Thank you, thank you," you stooped to place your guitar in its case, watching from the corner of your eye as the onlookers drop a dollar or two into your jar. You looked up when you saw a twenty flutter into the jar, your eyes meeting Frankie's kind gaze.

"No, no I can't-"

"Nonsense," he said, "I liked your music, and you deserve it."

You zipped up your guitar case, taking the bill from the jar and pressing it back into Frankie's hand. "I can't take your money, Frankie."

He chuckled at your persistence. "Alright, alright. You said you were headed to lunch?"

You shrugged, "I was gonna go home, maybe make myself some ramen…"

"On a day like this?" Frankie shook his head, then jerked it to the side, asking for you to follow him. "C'mon, we're getting you some real food."

You huffed out a breathless laugh as you slung your guitar case across your back. "Maybe that's a good idea. I've been living here for nine months and the only restaurant i've ever really been to is the Thai place over on Matthews."

"You can't be serious," his voice was thick with disbelief as he looked back at you. You nodded, confirming your statement was true and he hadn't heard you wrong. "What about the others, Ezra and them… Are they the same?"

"Ezra's a native Bostonian, but he's not big on restaurants. Julian and Cade both moved here around a year ago and me and Fatima have been here for nine months, we moved together. So we're all pretty new here, except for Ezra." You watched with curious eyes as Frankie waved to a man across the street selling snow cones. He was just so personable, no wonder it felt like you'd known him forever even though it had only been a couple of weeks since you met. He adjusted his gait for a second so you'd fall into place beside him, and for a moment you felt your heart flutter.

"I'm from Eastern North Carolina, originally-"

"I can hear it, you've got a bit of an accent," there was a twang to some of the words he spoke, something that gave him a bit of a southern gentleman flair. And he was a gentleman, as far as you could tell.

He laughed at that, nodding in agreement. "Folks here say that too. I moved her when I was eighteen but I guess it never really left me."

"You can take the man out of the south-"

"But you can't take the south from the man," Frankie finished. His cheeks were tinted a little pink, a smile falling into place on his lips.

Momentarily, you paused to admire him. "Do you miss home?"

He shrugged, "Yeah, I miss it sometimes. I go back once a year over the summer, to visit my family. My sister and my nephews are still down there, and my mom and dad. But this is my home now, I don't think I'll ever leave."

You found yourself in front of a corner hotdog shop, and Frankie opened the door for you. The place looked like it was straight out of the 60's, checkered tile and all. "This is real food?"

Frankie looked offended as he sat down in one of the booths. "And here I thought you'd appreciate this," he pulled one of the menus out and handed one to you as you slid in across from him.

You looked over the menu, looking for something that would catch your eye. "What do you suggest," you asked Frankie, laying your menu flat and tucking your feet up under the booth so you wouldn't kick him.

"This." He pointed out a burger, and you had to admit it looked good. "Best burger I've ever had, I swear on everything holy you'll love it."

The waiter came and took your orders, you got the burger Frankie had suggested and a strawberry milkshake to go with it. Afterwards, you found yourself staring off at the Jukebox by the counter. You wondered what they had in there, and if it was automated or authentic.

As if reading your thoughts, Frankie tossed you a quarter. You barely caught it, watching in confusion as he stood. "It's old school, just like everything else in here." You followed him over to the jukebox, and laughed when he pulled out a pair of reading glasses to see the small print of the track listing.

"What are you, fifty?" you teased.

"Watch it," he returned with a playful glare. "I'm paying for your lunch."

"Frankie you don't have to-" you started, but he shook his head.

"I'm paying, end of story. Can't have you thinking I'm not a gentleman." Your eyes fell on the gentle crinkles by his eyes that showed up when he smiled, and you wondered how anyone could mistake him for anything other than a gentleman. But you kept your mouth closed. "Now c'mon, pick a song, Songbird."

* * * * * * * * * * *

That night you found yourself sitting with Fatima, eating ice cream and watching a baking marathon on the food network. But your thoughts weren't on the contestants' lemon meringue pies. You were staring at the wall, your lunch with Frankie running through your head. Your lunch… date? No, that wasn't a date. That was just a lunch between acquaintances. Between friends.

You began to turn to Fatima, but as always she was ahead of you. She had turned down the TV and was already turned towards you, waiting. "He likes you."

You weren't even surprised, Fatima knew you better than anyone else. Of course she knew what you were thinking. "You think so?" you asked, and Fatima glared at you.

"Yes, I know so."

You tucked your knees against your chest, pulling your spoon out of your tub of Ben and Jerry's and chewing on it a little. Frankie was a kind man, you didn't want to read too much into his actions. But still, he had taken you out to lunch. And payed for your meal. And given you a nickname. "He called me songbird," you mused.

"Thats… That's adorable oh my god." Fatima sighed wistfully, eating a spoonful of her ice cream. "You should invite him to the show on Saturday!"

"I did. Well, I really just told him about it. But he said he'd be there. Is Landslide on the setlist?" you asked, and Fatima nodded. "Good. It's his favorite."

"What would you say if he asked you out?"

"I think…" you paused, but there was no need to. "I think I'd say yes."

End.

Permanent Taglist: @poestardust @tinyphantomsalad @thelazyhero-ttums @poe-djarin @djarinsidebitch

Pedro Taglist: @blackmarketmummy @coldlilheart @agentshortstacc

Frankie Taglist: @remmysbounty

#frankie morales x you #frankie morales x reader #francisco 'catfish' morales x you #francisco 'catfish' morales x reader #francisco 'catfish' morales #triple frontier

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zontiky · 3 years

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okay so i tried to save this ask as a draft and it got deleted because tumblr is just such a functional website like that <3 but the prompt was “the hargreeves as ghosts in the apocalypse with five” or something like that i’m going to scream

this is SUPER long so i’m putting it under the cut hfkjsd

pre-five: the hargreeves siblings are dead. wait i feel a drabble coming on ooh

The Hargreeves siblings are dead.

Ben isn’t very aware of this at first. He’s been dead since 2006 -- he’s quite used to it, by now. What he is aware of, first, is light. Blinding white light. And Vanya, in the middle of it. He doesn’t close his eyes because he can’t feel pain, but if he could he thinks she would have made him blind. There’s light, and heat, and power, and then he closes his eyes anyway because the ceiling is collapsing around him and it’s instinctual.

When he opens them again he sees ash. Ash -- and Klaus.

He’s gotten used to Klaus, too. Klaus has a memorable sort of face; even if he didn’t, Ben has seen it every single day for almost twenty years. He doesn’t know if it’s actually been twenty years, for him. He doesn’t know how time moves for ghosts. Klaus has assured him it moves the same as it does for the living. Ben isn’t sure Klaus, stoned out of his mind, bleeding sluggishly from his arm, knew what he was talking about.

Anyway.

Klaus.

He’s wearing the coat he’s been flaunting around for the past week. His shirt is see-through, with little stars on it, like a pale imitation of the sky. Ben remembers his pants had laces on them, he’s sure they did not a minute ago, before the brightness that threatened to wipe out his very soul -- his soul is all he has left, really. His gaze drifts down anyway, to check.

Yes. Klaus’ pants have laces up the sides.

“No,” Ben says. Klaus is laying in a heap on the ground, his fingers curled like his tendons have been cut.

His lips feel numb because they always feel numb. Because Ben can’t feel at all. He takes a step. “No,” he says again, louder, surer. “No!”

Klaus looks up at him. His makeup is smudged, like it tends to be. His lips are bitten raw, like they tend to be. His hair is a mess, like it tends to be, and like it will be, always, because Klaus isn’t breathing.

Klaus is lying in a heap on the ground. Klaus is standing above his own body. Klaus is reaching for Ben like he’s hoping to touch him for the first time in years. Just when Klaus’ cold, dead, fingers brush his face, a voice from behind says, so quietly, dripping with disbelief: “Ben?”

Ben shuts his eyes and wishes desperately he could cry.

He feels a hand on his shoulder, for the first time in so, so long, but he also doesn’t feel it at all. He feels-but-doesn’t-feel someone turn him around, until they are saying, “Ben? Ben!” and he has no choice but to open his eyes and face the music.

Diego is gripping his shoulders like he is a dying man and Ben is the answer. Behind him, Luther and Allison watch them, stunned silent. Allison’s hands are pressed to her mouth. She looks like she wants to cry.

And Vanya. Little Vanya, painted white. Her head is hung as her shoulders shake with the weight of the destruction she has so inevitably caused. (Ben would say he always knew she was destined for great things -- but he can’t, because he didn’t.) (Nobody ever said great things had to be good.)

The Hargreeves siblings are dead. Their bodies are strewn across what is left of their childhood home, smouldering and burning, and Ben is very aware of that fact.

righto anyway. so they have an emotional reunion but its also kind of bitter? id have to actually write this for it to make sense so lets skip it for now lol

five shows up

he cannot see them obviously bc theyre all ghosts

god if i did write this it would be such a monster of a fic and would take me like 2 years to finish i already know fhkjdsk

somehow ?? they manage to influence the world around them maybe? idk maybe now that klaus is dead hes sober

or maybe hes high for all eternity?

for the purposes of this au lets say he died sober or in the late stages of withdrawal, and bc ghosts cant feel pain in action hes sober

so EVENTUALLY they figure out how to corporealize bc klaus is like blam wham ghost powers

asdlfk that sounds so stupid im sorry

he would say that tho imho,,, it sounds like something hed say,,,

if i DID write this it would be alternating povs also,,,

ok so out of all of them klaus and ben have the most experience homeless

and while being stuck in an apocalypse is not at all the same thing as being homeless it does help to have some knowledge

five doesnt eat the twinkie!! good for him

dammit okay. theres 2 options we can take here. in the comics five couldnt get back bc he fucked up his math and spent 15 years doing the wrong thing, but if u apply that here, with 6 other ppl checking his work this could be avoided and they end up skipping the whole assassin shtick and just hopping straight back to 2019, ready to prevent the apocalypse

OR five still gets hired for the commission but the sibs are tagging along

i think bc five isnt completely alone in this au unfortunately dolores doesnt exist :((

for each other the 2 paths tho theres also options?? bc they (ghosts) can go back in time and inhabit their past selves bodies? OR they could just,,, cease to exist

IM JUST NOW REALIZING HOW MANY PATHS THIS COULD TAKE,, AAH FUCK

okay gonna split this into parts. this is gonna be so long brace yourselves.

1) they go back in time because math checking and the ghosts swap out for their past selves

after multiple years of being stuck in an apocalypse together i think they would learn to get along with each other. like at least a little bit

which would make it easier for them to prevent the apocalypse

bc theyd:

trust each other more

already know abt the apocalypse and not have to wait for five to grace them all with his knowledge

are working as a team from the very beginning

have open lines of communication

yeah uh. so there

vanya is also already aware of her powers so the whole harold goading her into turning against her family and snapping to wipe out all life on earth thing? yeah that doesnt happen

oh and harold wouldn’t know how to do that in the first place because klaus wouldn’t throw out reggie’s journal! this solves so many problems wtf

there’s still commission issues bc they (and by they i mean five) are on the commission’s radar

so there’s still dope fight scenes sdlkfd pinky promise

okay idk. they stop the apocalypse and everything is okay the end hfkjd

2) they fix the math but only five can go back and the ghosts cease to exist

this is just sad! it would be sad okay! im sad! lets move on

subset of the past one: ben CAN go back with five because he was already dead and time travel affects them differently or something idk

aaaaaa

five & ben dynamic duo would be dope as shit BUT five would not be able to see him... so they use klaus as a middleman fjsdsfd

is there 2 bens? is one ben deleted in favor of the time-traveling ben? i dont know! i dont know my brain is melting

either way shit is happening yall!! obviously klaus is clued in, directly or indirectly it doesnt matter but he is on board the ‘don’t let the entire world end in flames’ train

3) they join the commission and then when five goes back in time they all go back

this is fun because now five is a highly trained assassin who is also lowkey a complete marshmallow for his siblings and once again TEAMWORK WOO

basically the first path but now five has a gun fhsdjk

4) they join the commission but five has to leave them behind and they cease to exist

five with a gun but hes sad now

i didnt go into how much losing his siblings would suck in the prev path but like. it would suck so much. he’s already lost them once if you think about it when he time traveled the first time and yeah he found the adult ghost versions but,, its different

and now suddenly hes stuck with these strange adult versions of the people he knows and he KNOWS them but also he doesnt? at all? they dont have all the years of shared experiences together? and theyre all grown up from the first ‘set’ of siblings he had which for five was like 40+ years ago??

SCREAMS

i have losing my mind disease (self-diagnosed)

subset: five has to leave them behind but they still exist because the commission is out-of-time kind of? idk but they’re still floating around somewhere and come back to impact the plot later or something

yeah idk. literally just wrote them down bc i didnt want them to die^2 hfkjwehd

subset: they still exist but instead of being just Somewhere they’re specifically at the assassination of JFK onwards because thats where five left them and they either go on ghosting and make an appearance in s2 OR they cease because them-wise they havent died yet but that doesnt make sense because ghosts can time travel so nevermind

i dont have the brain energy left to explore this one aaaa

okay jesus christ i think that’s all

I DON’T KNOW. i don’t know. i might write some more of this because honestly it is a very fine flavor of angst + hurt/comfort <3

#didnt proofread this at all 💀 fhsdfks #tua #the umbrella academy #pls dont let this flop i spent like an hour on it hfjksd #aus #team zero #ben hargreeves #wip #I GUESS #misc #ghosting au

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angrylizardjacket · 4 years

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mouth full of white lies {Machine Gun Kelly} 2

2. i been fronting that it’s just for the summer

Summary: So you’re together, sort of, and it’s great! Everyone seems to be convinced, that’s not the issue. The issue comes when you fly to LA for filming, and you decide to stay with Colson, but the room only has one bed. And the paparazzi crash your first “date”. And he kisses you and your heart feels like it’s going to burst out of your chest, which is not supposed to happen because this isn’t a real relationship! But it’s fine. Probably.

A/N: So bare with me, it’s a very long chapter. Also, pretend the Tunnel of Love remix by haroinfather came out before 2018 and not in 2019. Enjoy.

the brainstrust: @sataninsatin @silvertonguedserpent @juliarose21 @kellysimagines @estxxbritt @machine-gun-casie @harringtonstudios @misscharlottelee @narcvissa @hiworlditishumbleme @angelwarner28 @nevilles-insinuations @rumoured-whispers @mgkobsessed @edwardtriggerhandzz @suckerforbarnes @wastelcve @bakerkells @local-troubled-writer @freddiessmallnipples @oopsiedoopsie23

----

It feels like you’re braced for impact when you walk into rehearsals the day after you release the video. Douglas has already seen it, of course he has, he messages you minutes after it’s posted.

[Dig Doug: Not gonna say I Told You So, but im glad you’re happy. 🦆🦆]

It gets you to smile, despite your anxiety surrounding the whole situation.

“Now what?” Colson asked after the video was posted, sitting next to you on his bed. The duvet is so soft, and somehow the whole situation is so inherently soft. Maybe it’s that you’re both in hoodies and sweat pants. Maybe it’s that you’d just told the world that you’re dating. His eyes are so blue.

You phone goes off.

His phone goes off.

Both of you have Twitter muted, but even so, it needed to let you both know that you were getting a lot of mentions.

“Now we’re dating,” you say, flipping your phone over, while Colson picks his up, opening Twitter and beginning to scroll through his mentions. Where in the Hell were you meant to go from here.

“Alright, cool; you wanna get pizza or something?” He asks, simple as that, and it’s now you seem to realise that you’ve been so stressed from everything that had been happening that you hadn’t been remembering to feed yourself.

“Honestly, I’d love to.”

The next day, however, it’s the elephant in the room; the others don’t say anything, but everyone, even Douglas to some extent, was wondering how in the hell they had missed your apparent relationship. But it’s not awkward; you and Colson act the same as always, you take notes for Josy, and get coffee, and type away on your laptop.

They break for lunch, and you look up from your work only to see Josy making a beeline for you, an intimidating look of determination written all over her face. Ah, here’s where the interrogation begins. Glancing over your shoulder you see Colson shoot you an amused, if concerned look, glancing to Josy. In response, you shrug; it can’t be helped.

“We need to talk,” Josy tells you, steers you from the room, across the parking lot, into a whole new building, where she paces for about three minutes, unable to look at you, hands basically pulling out her hair, all of which amuses you greatly. When she comes to a stop in front of you, it’s as if you can see the cogs of her brain turning, her fingers steepled in front of her mouth as she tries to order her thoughts.

“You know you’re my favourite assistant in the world and I treasure our friendship, right?” She asks, and you fix her with a fondly exasperated stare.

“Of course, you see fit to remind me every time I bring you coffee -”

“Then why, my little duck, my little goose, apple of my eye, enchilada of my bosom,” she says with an almost poisonous sweetness, looking you directly in the eye, “would you date one of my actors?” And you have to hold back your laughter in the face of her sincere and rather angry confusion.

“Josy, please,” you start, and she already looks like she wants to interrupt, “I like him is all, okay? I won’t be a distraction -” you can already see her trying to protest, but you hold up your hand to stop her, “and he won’t distract me; if anything, it means there’ll be no outside distractions, hopefully.”

“[Y/N] you test me,” Josy sighs deeply, scrubbing at her face, “how long?”

This gives you cause for hesitation, because neither you nor Colson had thought to get your whole story straight the night before. He had ordered room service and you’d just talked about music until you finally went back to your own room. An oversight, sure, but you had been glad to have a plan, and were happy to figure out the details later.

“A few weeks -” when you say this, Josy makes a choked, wheezing noise, and you pause, “since... uh, since he took us around the city at the end of the first week.”

“Does Douglas know?”

“He’s not my handler,” you fire off reflexively, and Josy winces, a little sheepish, “but yes.” You paused. “Now.”

Josy lets the whole conversation slide with some reluctance, and she asks you to get her lunch from the deli a few blocks away. You agree, partially because it’s your job, but mostly because you’re just glad to get out of the building and away from her exasperated, judgmental stares.

He’s corrupting you. It’s what the media thinks. It’s what Josy thinks. And something about the assumption is already starting to get under your skin. But right as you start to get truly annoyed by the subtext she had been blasting you with, you hear your phone chime.

[Colson: am i gonna get The Talk from my AD later on? Ducky: wot Colson: like u no... if you hurt my daughter im gonna hurt you Ducky: Josys not my mom??? shes like 3 years older than me???? Colson: its a joke. chill ducky. everything alright tho? Ducky: told her wed been dating since that night i filmed a few weeks ago Colson: smart. everyone thinks weve been together since then nyways Ducky: you want anything from the deli? Colson: what Ducky: im at the deli. u want a sandwich? Colson: yeh sure. surprise me. maybe chicken idk. webber wants a chocolate milk Ducky: milks bad for vocal cords Colson: he doesnt care 😈]

It makes you laugh. He makes you laugh. It’s as easy as that; you’re still friends, it’s just that you spend more time together, are closer, when you go out for dinner with the cast, he’s invariably beside you. You’re both always on time to rehearsals, and he keeps sending you selfies from costume and makeup tests, and it’s going fine, great even, despite all the nasty DMs you were still receiving. Of course the supportive ones always outweighed the negative, and even the negative didn’t really bother you, because it’s not as if there was a real relationship in jeopardy, so it actually took a lot of weight off your shoulders.

Filming is set to start on location in LA after about a month and a half of rehearsals, and while the first month had primarily been working on scenes, the extra fortnight you’d been there had been almost consistently rehearsing as a band for eight hours a day, six days a week. The day before you’re due to fly off, the whole cast looks exhausted at brunch.

“Pass me the salt,” Colson yawns, half asleep with his head against the window of the cafe.

“It’s right in front of you,” you counter, knocking his knee with yours beneath the table.

“My arms don’t work,” he groaned, but he was smiling now, just a little. You look to the other cast members all enjoying their own respective breakfasts. Daniel’s on voice rest, despite the fact that they’re going to be using recordings of Motley Crue themselves for the actual film, they still want him able to perform covers for when they’re filming; currently he’s nursing a lemon and ginger tea with enough honey to drown a bee. Actually, Colson was the only one out of the four of them not to be drinking tea; both Iwan and Douglas both having ordered a cup with their breakfasts. Iwan was the only one who looked ready for the day, with the rest of them all slumped over in various states of exhaustion.

“Ducky, come on, please?” Colson actually whined, and you rolled your eyes, passing him the salt.

“You’re so needy,” you tell him, but your smile is enough to let him know that you’re joking.

“Why’re you called Duck, if I may ask?” Iwan asks, and you heave a sigh, knowing Douglas was already smiling before you even turn to look at him.

“Because when our parents first brought her home, all she did was follow me around like a duckling,” his tone is all fond, and he wraps his arm around your shoulders, pulling you in for a side hug despite your indignant noise of protest.

“Adorable,” Iwan grins over the lip of his cup. You just groan, and steal a bite of Douglas’ pancakes, though he doesn’t seem to mind, “have you worked much in the industry?” Iwan’s accent sounds like home, and despite how quiet and bitter he is in character, he’s rather bright and talkative as a person.

“Here and there; I actually spent quite a few of my teenage years as Doug’s assistant when he would be filming in London,” you say with a half-smile, “still a bit of a duck I suppose, but it looks good on my CV. I do odd-jobs on sets here and there back home, have been a runner for a few TV shows, but I don’t really go out of my way to be on camera, you know,” you shrug, before hearing your mistake. Both Colson and Douglas are already laughing, while Daniel and Iwan just seem confused. “Apart from, like, my actual job, you know? Like I’m on camera for YouTube, but not for a real movie or anything.”

“Well you seem very good at your job, we’re glad to have you onboard,” Iwan nods with a surprisingly sincere smile. Beneath the table, Colson’s hand is on your knee, and he gives you a small squeeze.

“I thought your hands didn’t work?” You raise an eyebrow at him, and Douglas almost spits his drink all over Daniel at the implication.

“Excuse me?” His eyes are wide as saucers and Colson’s quickly turning red.

“I said my arms don’t work but damn, call me out why don’t you?” He splutters, raising his hands in the air in mock surrender, with only mild wincing. It’s about now that you realise the assumption that your brother had jumped to.

“His hand was on my knee, Doug, I was trying to make a joke,” you explain, flustered, though Daniel and Iwan on the other side of the booth have collapsed on top of each other with laughter. You, Douglas, and Colson, however, are all equally mortified, and make a point to move so neither of you are touching as you finish your breakfast quickly.

“I just appreciate,” Daniel was still chuckling as you all left the cafe, as was Iwan, “that Doug genuinely thought Colson was getting busy with his sister at brunch, like, right next to him under the table.

“Nah,” Iwan actually laughs, his smile sharp, “they’re just really in character.”

“Hello! Hello and welcome back, ducklings! Today we’re flying all the way to sunny L.A, which honestly isn’t that far from Portland, but the production company was nice enough to not make us road trip it.”

The video starts in your hotel room, and follows you as you pack your things, and cuts to a montage set to some royalty-free music, of you heading to the airport, of the cast yawning. Your brother buys you breakfast at a fast-food restaurant in the airport, and you check your bags; a panning shot in the waiting area, of every single member of the cast and crew that are taking this flight on their phones.

“You look cute,” you mutter very quietly to Colson, who’s sitting next to you, scrolling through Twitter with a travel pillow squished up around his neck. He gives you a toothy smile, leans his cheek against the pillow, and winks at the camera.

The hotel you’re staying at is beautiful, all marble pillars in the foyer and beige and cream counters, and it feels like it might be too much. This is where the stars stay, and you? You know you’re absolutely not a star.

“Duck?” And there’s Josy’s voice, hesitant, about to tell you the jig is up, hand you keys to a water stained motel room a few blocks away. When you turn to her, she’s got two separate key cards in her hands.

“Yes, Josy?” You ask sweetly; it’s not her fault, after all, that you’re not a top-billed star.

“So corporate wanted to put you with some of the other crew, they’re staying in a place down the road - it’s really lovely, trust me, and if you want it we can still get you a room - but,” Josy glanced to the cards in her hand, before holding them out, one in each hand, “if you’d like to stay here, both your brother and Colson are happy to share with you.” And at this, your brain stalls, looking at the key cards being offered to you.

“Why didn’t they tell me this?”

“Because they’re already heading up, but they wanted me to let you know that the offer’s there.”

So it seems that in the three minutes that you were mooning over the architecture, and giving the guys their space, since you’d assumed you’d be staying elsewhere, both your brother and your fake boyfriend happened to mention that you’re able to stay with them if you want. Douglas is not a surprise; Colson is.

“How big are the rooms, I don’t want to -” you start, but Josy’s quick to cut you off.

“The size isn’t the matter; they’re big enough rooms, got really comfortable sofas from what I could see, but...”

“But?” You prompt, and Josy gives a smile.

“Of course, it’s all about what you’re comfortable with; you know Doug’s more than happy to take the sofa, I just know you and Colson haven’t been together that long -” And here it all starts to make sense, and you hope the smile you give isn’t nervous as you ask which key is which. You take Colson’s.

The elevator ride up to the cast’s floor has you wracked with nerves, which you think is ridiculous; you can sleep on the sofa, it’s no trouble, and he wouldn’t have offered the room if he hadn’t meant it. So why does the idea of staying in a room with him, with only one bed, have your heart beating so fast? You’d been teasing each other, flirting and being cute together, in front of other people, that was easy, but since the night you’d released the video, you hadn’t really been alone together. You hadn’t needed to be. It seems like all you can think about as you walk down the beige hallway to your room, on auto-pilot as you scan your key card and enter the room.

It’s quiet.

There’s the gentle whistling of wind that comes from the balcony, the overhead sun beating down on the pristine, Hollywood beaches. He sits on the balcony, plush armchair, smoking a joint with his shirt off. Inside, it’s all white walls and gold accents, his suitcase on the bed, already open the contents inside surprisingly neatly folded. There’s a door beside you that you’re pretty sure leads to the bathroom, and the room itself is spacious, with a gorgeous, gray sofa sitting off to one side, and a wall-mounted television on the other. Just for the moment, all the fears and anxieties in your mind vanish at the sight of this pristine serenity.

Quietly, you wheel your own suitcase to the sofa, and pull out your phone.

He’s stunning, like that, his feet up on the coffee table on the balcony, free hand tapping a lazy beat on the arm of his chair. You take a candid photo of him as he exhales smoke, and it catches the sunlight beautifully, with the water out of focus in the background.

“Can I post this?” You ask, and he jumps a little, not having heard you come in, before his concerned expression morphs to a genuine smile when he realises that it’s you. Turning the phone to him, you show him the photo you took, and he lowers his sunglasses to get a proper look at it. After a beat, his gaze flicks to yours.

“’course, it’s a nice photo.”

“You’re very photogenic,” you brush of his compliment with a smile, and he pushes his glasses back up his nose, looking out from the balcony.

“You crashing here?”

“If it’s not too much trouble,” you respond, and he actually laughs, though the sound is kind.

“Wouldn’t have offered if it was.”

Easy. Like everything else about him, it seemed, this was easy.

You caption the photo ‘the view from my balcony 😍’ and post it on both Twitter, and your Instagram story, tagging him in both, and you set about checking out the room’s facilities. It’s a normal, if fancy hotel room. Little bottles of soaps and shampoo and conditioner in the bathroom, TV with a bunch of standard channels, and a whole ton more that you could pay for if you wanted, it even had a set of cables so you could charge your phone, either side of the bed. The singular bed. Which Colson has clearly already claimed.

Maybe it had been a mistake to not board with your brother.

“I’m getting lunch, you want anything?” You call, needing to get out of your own head for a bit, wanting to explore the city a little. He’s quiet for a moment, then you hear a strained ‘yeah’.

“Gimme a moment, let me put on a shirt and I’ll come with you,” he tells you through a lung full of smoke, putting the joint out in the ash tray provided, tucking the other half in his pocket for later.

“You not gonna vlog this?” He asks, half smiling in the elevator, hands tucked into his pockets.

“Oh, shit, knew I forgot something,” you mutter, and you go to punch in the number of your floor again, but his hand catches yours.

“We’re coming back after, don’t worry about it.”

And, well, you don’t.

It’s easy to talk to him, you swap stories about life in the entertainment industry from two wildly different perspectives, and you find a cute and overpriced restaurant to have lunch in. All the while, you’re so aware of where you are, how there could be any number of people snapping photos of the pair of you. It’s not like you’re being overtly couple-y, you’d only been putting on this ruse for three weeks at this point, but he pays for your lunch.

“Oh, I didn’t realise this was a date,” you admit, a little surprised, a little flustered. He shrugs, eats the last bite of his burger, and smiles.

“Why not? We haven’t had the chance to go on one yet, let’s take it for a test drive. Do they- are boardwalks still a thing? Is a boardwalk carnival still a thing or was that just the nineties?” You’re actually rather taken aback by his suggestion, and can’t help but grin, picking up your mostly empty glass to swirl the ice at the bottom.

“Pretty sure boardwalks are a thing, not sure about carnivals on them, but we can check it out.”

You each finish your drinks and leave, setting off for the waterfront. Feeling bold, you tuck your arm in his, and enjoy the Spring-time sunshine. The boardwalk, as it turns out, is still definitely a thing, as are the kitschy carnival rides along it.

“I feel like a fuckin’ teenager,” Colson mutters under his breath, knowing you’ll hear it, “if we see a couple where they’re both wearing braces, looking like they just got out of school, I’m throwing myself straight into the ocean.” He informs quietly, and you snort at that.

“Not a fan of traditional cute date shit?” You ask, as the pair of you approach the ticket booth.

“Not in the slightest,” Colson admits through his teeth while trying to smile at the attendant. The attendant, who obviously recognizes at least one of you, is doing her best not to look like she’s staring. You each buy a ride pass and head in, and the girl tells you to have a good afternoon, with a nervous sort of excitement.

“This feels like somewhere I’d go with my daughter,” Colson looks doubtfully up at the ferris wheel that sat ahead of you at the end of the pier, looking more than a little perturbed, but his words struck you in a way that you hadn’t expected.

“Have you told her about us?” You asked, and he casts an unreadable glance at you.

“Listen, if we’re going to talk about... stuff like this, let’s at least do it somewhere a little more private?” It seems he, just like you, is acutely aware of how busy the little set of attractions is, and having already been recognized once, it’s almost certainly not going to be the last time today.

The gangly-limbed teenager working the ferris-wheel doesn’t even hide that he’s staring at Colson with hero-worship in his eyes, and he gives you a look over, followed by an approving, rather smug nod, before closing the door of the carriage. It makes your skin crawl.

“Why does everyone get to decide if I’m good enough for you based on my looks?” You hear yourself mutter, but Colson’s slinging his arm around your shoulders as the pair of you are raised steadily into the air.

“Who gives a shit? They’re jealous, and it doesn’t matter because we’re not really together anyways,” he’s got a point, but your expression is still downcast, and there’s a strange sadness settling in the pit of your stomach.

“I suppose.”

Once you’re high enough in the air that no-one from the ground should be able to hear either of you even a little bit, Colson sits back, lets his gaze drift across the horizon.

“I told Cassie about us, told her the truth.” He doesn’t sugar coat it, doesn’t try and explain his way out of it, when instead he looks tense, like he’s read to defend himself. You, however, nod, giving him an understanding smile.

“Of course, she’s your daughter,” you pause, and he finally looks back at you, and you think you see some hint of relief in his eyes, “I never expected for you to lie to her.”

“She’s a good kid,” he assures softly, “got a good head on her shoulders.” And now he’s turning fond, giving your shoulder a squeeze, “fuckin’ who knows where she got it, ‘cos it ain’t me.” Laughing a little, he’s surprised when you answer, voice soft and sincere.

“You’ve gotta give yourself more credit,” you tell him matter-of-factly, “you wouldn’t be half as successful as you are if you didn’t have a good bit of sense.”

“I knew there was a reason I was dating you,” he teases, pulling you in close, but you play along.

“Yeah, it’s that good sense of yours,” you returned, and he gave you a gentle shove. “Am I going to meet her at all?” You ask finally, and Colson gives another shrug.

“Yeah, I mean sure, she wants to come to set, so if you’re around you’re welcome to meet her,” his fingers are drumming lightly against your shoulder, “I should warn you though, she tends to vet any girls I’m getting serious about pretty hard, fake or not.” And yeah, you’re laughter’s a bit disbelieving, and though he sees the humour in it, he doesn’t seem to be joking, “she’s a good judge of character, and I’ll tell you now, I’m mad protective of her, but she’s mad protective of me too.” The thought of it is actually endearing, and you lean into him, letting yourself heave a sigh of contentment, glad to have talked this through.

“This would have been real nice to film,” he muttered, a teasing edge to his voice as the two of you stared out at the glittering ocean.

“Don’t even start,” you gave his ribs a shove, which only made him laugh, the sound warm and easy in the afternoon air, the sun moving slowly to the horizon.

Slowly but surely Colson was warming to the little boardwalk carnival. The two of you play obviously rigged games, and ride the rollercoaster that creaks ominously, and he even convinces you to share some fairy floss. He snaps a picture of you grinning wide and genuine as you offer him the treat, and posts it to Twitter with the caption ‘sweet’.

There’s a Tunnel of Love ride that Colson had adamantly refused to go on at first, but as sunset was drawing closer, he relented.

“I’m not a cliche! I’m not a fucking cliche!” He huffs, sitting beside you with his arms crossed, his legs so long that his knees came up almost comically. You’re filming on your phone for your Instagram story, and will later add at least two heart gifs, but for now you’re just obnoxiously singing the Tunnel of Love remix, thankful that you’re the only two on the ride at the moment.

“You so fucking cute, when I see you, I uwu, can you be my fucking boo? Can you be my sailor moon?” Hearing the smile in your voice, he turns to you, something about his expression softening as he sees the joy written all over your face that the camera can’t see, “and I don't wanna fight, I just wanna treat you right; I was aiming at your heart and I don't wanna say goodbye.”

He just laughs, and shakes his head as the ride takes off, fond adoration written all over his face.

The sun’s setting by the time you’ve ridden all the rides you wanted to, eaten all the candy you could possibly stomach, and failed at enough rigged games that you were about ready to call it quits.

“Hey I didn’t just wanna come here for the carnival shit,” he said, and you’ve got your arm tucked into his again as he steers you both to the edge of the boardwalk, where there was a set of steps down to the beach.

“Under the boardwalk,” you nod knowingly, which he parrots back with a smile. Beneath the boardwalk there was a gaggle of youth, looking slightly older than teenagers, some still in uniforms from boardwalk rides, some smoking, most looking intimidating, but when Colson asks them for a light, they seem to get much less hostile.

“Hey are you MGK?” One asks, and when Colson lights the half a joint he had from earlier, he nods. “Sick.” The kid nods sagely, before his gaze turns on you. “And you’re that Booth chick, aren’t you? I’ve seen you on Twitter.” It’s not hostile, it’s genuinely curious.

“You’re a fucking idiot, Eddie, that’s [Y/N], do you live under a rock?” One of the girls pipes up, decked out in black, with a thick piercing through her septum, and an intimidating amount of eyeliner. The boy, Eddie, flushes scarlet, and snaps that not everyone watches the same shit as her. “I’m Samara,” the girl offers with a grin, offering her hand to you, which you shake, more than a little pleased with their various reactions.

“I heard yous was boinking -” a third girl interrupts, wearing a boardwalk uniform and hitting a vape pen pretty hard.

“Emma!” More than one of them shout, though Samara is the loudest.

“Is boinking still the term?” Colson snorts, taking it all in stride, though he’s got an arm around you now, “Jesus fuck I feel ancient.”

“You are -” Emma interrupts, much to the rest of the group’s chagrin, but Colson just laughs.

“I’m twenty-seven you fucker!” He crows, and Emma cracks a smile, and takes another hit off of her vape pen. “Whatever,” he shrugs, “just tryin’ to show my girl everything LA has to offer.”

“So you come under the boardwalk?” Eddie asks, with a skepticism that made you all flustered at his insinuations.

“Can you blame us for wanting a bit of privacy?” Colson smirks, to which the group of youths all collectively ‘ooh’ at, and he gives your hip a squeeze.

“Try the one a quarter of a mile that way,” Samara points further down the beach, “less carnival, less people.” She winks, before adding, surprisingly hopefully, “but could we get like, a photo or something first?”

Of course you both agree, and among the group photos, you learn that they’re all working around town during winter break for college. Samara specifically asks for a photo with you, where she plants a kiss on your cheek, looking a little flustered herself, muttering a quiet thanks. You follow her back on Instagram, and she gives you this starry-eyed look.

“She’s got a crush on you,” Colson snickers as the two of you head down the beach, well and truly out of earshot of the others, and you smile, finally looking up from your phone, a little endeared at the young woman’s antics.

“Jealous?” You ask, loftily, and you expect him to laugh, but he goes quiet. When you turn to him, he’s regarding you with amusement, and something else you can’t quite identify. “Colson?” And you slow, now near enough to the next section of the boardwalk. As promised, it was rather secluded.

After a beat, he leans in and kisses you, soft and unexpected, but his lips fit against yours like you were made for each other. Leaning into him, you wrap your arms around him, letting him pull you close. Not exactly sure what triggered this, you’re just happy to lean into it, enjoying the moment. And then he’s pulling back, forehead resting against yours.

“You see the guy to our left who’s just left the group of kids under the boardwalk? Hawaiian shirt and expensive camera?” He asks quietly, and you glance out of the corner of eye, only to spot the exact person he’s talking about, you make a quiet noise of confirmation, and you keep up the ruse, hand coming up to cup his jaw, butterflies going ballistic in your stomach despite now knowing that it was obviously for show, “been following us for the past hour.”

“Fucking paps,” you hiss, but before your expression can sour, he kisses you again, gives you a squeeze, as if to remind you to put on a show of not noticing him. Much to your surprise, he bites gently at your bottom lip, and you let out a quiet but pleased noise that neither of you had expected, and when he leans back, he looks both surprised and kind of into it, what’s more unexpected is that the exact same expression is written all over your face too.

“Back to the boardwalk, uber back to the hotel?” You ask, resolutely not talking about what had happened, but still smiling and all up in his personal space.

“Love it, let’s get out of here,” and he takes your hand, and leads you back to the safety of the street. It’s the first time the two of you had kissed, not that you’d realised it in the morning, but it was good, you reflect, it felt like it made sense. If you’re a little more giddy than you probably should be on the way back, Colson doesn’t seem to notice, in fact, he’s grinning too, humming to himself.

There’s two posts, one right after the other on Samara’s Instagram story when you check it that night, after having briefly seen it in the uber on the way back to the hotel.

The first is a video captioned [gross thats my mom and dad] The video was pixelated as hell, and she hadn’t tagged either you or Colson, but you knew it was the two of you, wrapped up in each other, half a mile down the beach. In the background, her friends are arguing about something much closer, though one voice cuts through louder than the rest.

“Hey, Hawaiian shirt hipster paparazzi fuck! Yeah you! Give ‘em some fucking privacy!” And as the voice, who you think is Emma, shouts, Samara turns to focus the camera on the paparazzi Colson had spotted earlier, still incredibly zoomed in, capturing his sheepish, angry expression in all it’s rather pixelated glory.

“Fuck you kids!” He shouts back. Someone throws a can at him.

“Piss off!” Samara shouts, “we know you’re not taking photos of seagulls, cunt!” He goes to respond, but the group just starts chucking things at him. In the background, you can see yourself and Colson heading back up to street level, oblivious to what was going on.

The second post is a screenshot of a set of DMs between yourself and Samara.

@yourinstagramhandle mentioned you in their story

6:28pm

@yourinstagramhandle responded 😍 to your story @yourinstagramhandle: god i fucking love you guys, it was so great to meet you @unholy-samara-tin: 😅😅😅 it was the right thing to do lmao no stress he was a creepy fucker

It’s captioned [HOLY SHIT I’VE DIED AND GONE TO HEAVEN].

You get dinner with Douglas and tell him about your day, and he gives you this sweet, if a little smug smile.

“You seem very happy.” He says, knowingly.

“I am, it was a good day!” You tell him, and he hums, but won’t say anything else on the matter. The conversation is taken up mostly by excitement regarding the makeup and costume fittings that they have over the next week and a half before filming starts, and then it’s back to your own rooms. At your door, Douglas calls out to you, three rooms away.

“It’s strange to see you so grown up, duckling,” he hasn’t called you that in so long, not since you were children, even your mother had abandoned that nickname for the mildly less embarrassing ‘Duck’ in the past few years, and while it warmed your heart, you couldn’t help but tense in anticipation for some sort of gentle, sibling embarrassment, probably to do with you sharing a room with your ‘boyfriend’.

“And?”

“And nothing,” he shrugged, “never thought you’d become cool is all, a star in your own right, aren’t you?”

“Of course I’m cool, would you like me to give you some pointers?” You asked sweetly, and Douglas couldn’t help but laugh at that.

“I walked into that one, didn’t I? Anyways, have a good rest of your night, Colson and Dan have gone out drinking.”

“Thanks for the heads up,” you tell him, and the two of you finally go into your separate bedrooms. He’s right, of course, there’s clothes strewn all over the bed, and the shower’s been recently used, and the whole little place has a warm, clean smell, like the last mist of some spiced cologne was still lingering in the air. The only light on is one of the bedside lights, and the lights of the city outside twinkle brightly, though you can’t see many stars for the light pollution. You crack the screen door to the balcony open, and shiver a little, though you tell yourself it’s from the cold, and not because the rather comforting and clean smells were quickly dissipating.

You are alone when you try to fall asleep on the plush but desperately uncomfortable sofa, alone and struggling to pass out with the bedside light still on, not wanting Colson to have to stumble around in the dark when he gets back. You spend almost a full hour on your phone blocking people who send you nasty DMs, and responding to a few kind ones, and you post a photo of the roof just captioned ‘cant sleep’.

It’s just gone one when the door clicks open, and Colson steps in, pretty well coordinated, and trying to keep quiet. But then there’s you, staring back at him in the lamp light.

“Hey.”

Awkward silence.

“Why are you on the sofa?” He asks, hauling his bag from the bed, shoving his loose clothes in haphazardly, before patting down his pockets. “Sorry if I woke you,” it’s almost an afterthought, and he pulls out a box of cigarettes.

“You didn’t,” you tell him with a yawn that says otherwise, but you power through it, “and I didn’t want to intrude.”

He casts a dubious glance at how you’re angled on the sofa, but doesn’t say anything, and opens the sliding door wider to sit on the porch and have his cigarette. Without even hesitating, you join him, and your spine thanks you the moment you stand.

“Nice night?” You ask, sitting out on the balcony with him.

“Nice night,” he agrees, adding, “nice day all around.” And something about it makes your heart flutter. “You know you can take the bed; I’d rather sleep on the floor than have you get scoliosis.”

“I don’t think that’s how scoliosis works,” you say with a huff of laughter, but he just hums, “and you don’t need to do that, I’m fine,” you try to insist.

“You know you’re welcome to just share the bed, it’s fucking massive, I feel like I’ll get lost in it,” he actually yawns, takes another drag of his cigarette.

“So you want me to, what, ground you somehow?”

“I just wanna know that if I roll over in the night and there’s something solid there, that it’s your arm and not like, the lightpost in fuckin’ Narnia,” he tells you, and breathes out a lung full of smoke. You watch it hang in the air, pale and silver in the light of the moon.

“We’re gonna be in the tabloids tomorrow,” you tell him quietly.

“No-one reads tabloids anymore, we’re gonna be on like, those snapchat news things,” he says, and laughs but it doesn’t sound very amused. “Have you been getting less shit?”

“Actually,” you consider, “yeah, most of your fans are mad supportive when you ask them to be. What about you?”

“Your fans are cute, you know that? I was scrolling through twitter and I saw a whole bunch of photos of us like, photoshopped together,” he paused to chuckle, “some had flower crowns.” You can hear the smile in his words, and he seems quite enamored by the phenomenon. It’s a nice moment; he’s drunk and a little high and you’re exhausted, and you fall into bed like it’s a sitcom.

“Tell your spine I said ‘you’re fucking welcome’,” he tells you, and it’s so absurd that you laugh, even as you pull the covers up over you and snuggle in, comfortable as all hell, before turning the light off.

Then, there’s movement, and a loud ‘thwap’ as Colson’s hand comes to knock your shoulder, landing on top of the duvet.

“Narnia?” He asks, and you give a small smile in the dark.

“Just me.”

You wake in the morning to the sound of Colson’s alarm, or more accurately, his groaning at his alarm. And swearing. And muttered ‘fucking makeup tests’.

He’s dragging himself into the shower while you relish your days off, nose and eyes peaking out from the covers when he comes out of the shower wrapped in a towel. The two of you make direct eye contact before you mutter a flustered apology and flip away from him, though he doesn’t seem to know how to react, just quietly getting dressed. The rest of his morning routine passes mostly in silence, before you hear him open the door.

“If you wanna get like, lunch or dinner or something, lemme know, or I’ll let you know if the boys are organising something,” he tells you, and you call out a sleepy thanks in response. The door closes. Silence. You could go back to sleep, but you’re curious about the turn around time for paparazzi media, and you were not disappointed.

MTV’s snapchat story posted “MGK and New Boo [Y/N] Booth Caught Getting Steamy Under the Boardwalk” the headline.

The self-proclaimed ‘Rap Devil’ Machine Gun Kelly, best known for his album bloom, has managed to find himself locking lips with YouTube’s darling [Y/N] Booth, though you may know her best as the vlogger, and entertainment industry insider, DuckDuckBooth.

It seems new media’s hottest couple have finally landed in LA after their surprising hookup in Louisiana, set to continue working on some mysterious project that they keep hinting at, and they seem to still be going strong!

The pair were caught after a cute date along the Hollywood seaside -

[And here they’d entered your Instagram story, from the Tunnel of Love, as well as Colson’s Twitter picture of you with the fairy floss.]

- after meeting a group of fans, they found somewhere a little more private to get a little bit romantic in a way that 90s kids truly will appreciate; making out under a boardwalk. It feels like it should be ripped straight from a John Hughes movie set in Hollywood.

However unlikely this pair may be, you can’t deny that they’re cute together.

[And here’s those traitorous, and almost painfully HD photos of yourself and Colson, wrapped up in each other, that the paparazzi had taken the day before, though with the legs of the boardwalk, as well as the ocean and the sunset as your backdrop, the photos themselves are surprisingly stunning.]

“Fucking paps,” you mutter under your breath, and screenshot the photo anyways. If it’s your lock screen, well, it’s what any real girlfriend would do, right?

#mgk #mgk imagine #mgk x reader #machine gun kelly #machine gun kelly imagine #machine gun kelly x reader #douglas booth #douglas booth & reader #The Dirt #the dirt imagine #the dirt cast #the angry lizard writes #colson baker #colson baker imagine #colson baker x reader

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littlemeowyoons · 5 years

Text

Bonded

A/N- It’s my first time posting my writing on Tumblr but I guess better late than never huh, so here you go. More is in work so please anticipate a lot.

~Fay

Pairing: Yoongi x Reader

Genre: Fluff(lots of them), a drop of angst, Single Dad! AU, College! AU, Introvert! Yoongi, Tutor! Y/n

Word Count:1.7k

Synopsis: Yoongi found a basket left in front of his dorm room one day, and turns out it was his daughter, left alone crying. Puzzled and scared was an understatement. When his 4 semesters roommate Jimin left for his hometown, he was left with the last straw of help, turning to his physics tutor a.k.a friend-that-I-only-know-name-but-have-no-interest-in-knowing-more ; you.

Series: Masterlist ll Part 2 lI Part 3

Part 1: Distress

°•. ✿ .•°

“Why own a fucking iPhone when you can’t even answer a fucking call?! Dammit!”, he breathed hard after his nth tempt to connect the line failed again, his own Samsung device was clutched tightly in hand, knuckles turning white from the pressure. Yoongi had reached that point where smashing the black covered device in hand to the wall was considered a bliss, but he was saint enough to convince himself otherwise. Not when his phone was his gateway out of this mess; the only way maybe. So he tried again; redialing the numbers, manually even.

“I swear I’ll shred your trench coat to pieces, fucking im-“

The end of the line connected midway his constant ranting.

“Oh thank God above you finally answered! What took you so long?”

“Ever heard of Bio lecture Yoongi?”, the soft voice at the receiving end answers calmly, though Yoongi knew the person was beyond annoyed.

Who wouldn’t? Multiple spam in all form of communication, texts, kakaotalk, Instagram dm; at this point, Yoongi wanted to settle down to those damn pigeons. Even Yoongi would be out of his head if it happen to him, not that it will happen in the near future or anything.

“Don’t outsmart me woman, I’m not in the mood.”

“What is it Yoongi? You know I have class at this time of the day”

“I need your help”, his breath came out breathless than ever.

“Fuck if you’re asking about the same kinetic and potential energy chapter, I’m gonna rip all my nonexistent and existent hair out of my-“

“Please…”

☾ ⋆･ﾟ:⋆･ﾟ:⠀ ⋆.:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆ ☾

You swear it took you everything not to scream out of frustration watching your phone blow off during lecture period. Plus, the same ID that keeps popping up on the lock screen adds the bitter taste. Once your professor said the word ‘thank-‘, you were already making your way out of the hall, books not even properly shoved in bag and you were sure you left your favourite baby blue Sharpie highlighter behind.

Once in the hallway, you yanked your phone out of your sling bag and slide the screen harshly, already embracing yourself for the upcoming questions and constant groaning. What you did not expect is the person on the other side panting heavily, desperate. Yoongi sounds…distress.You were still processing his jumbled words but once the word ‘please’ escaped his mouth, you froze.

That word is so rare to even pass-through Yoongi’s head, what less say it. The last time you remembered the word ever exist in his sentence, was the day he consulted you at the cafeteria. Head down, full frown and shoulder slumped was some few giveaway you could collect which equals to one thing; failed test.

You were used to people asking you questions, since you were one of the few alphas in curriculum areas. But having Yoongi, the junior of Art and Music Department, Majoring in Music Production asking you to be a full-time physics tutor is…well, unexpected. You pity him, that poor boy seems like he couldn’t breathe for goodness sake, not until you lean back to your metal seats and smile softly, not forgetting to nod along while you utter the word that Yoongi seems dread to hear, ‘Sure, when?’

You swear his eyes shine like a good measure 60 watts light bulb. But that was long time ago, you lost track how long it was though you were sure it won’t be more than a year now, hearing that Yoongi is in serious problem was the main pushover to your muscle cells.

The thing is Yoongi never beg, ever. He never sounds that desperate even when he got 5 per cent on his last two physics quiz, he never sounds this discomfort.

“I’ll be there in five”.

☾ ⋆･ﾟ:⋆･ﾟ:⠀ ⋆.:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆ ☾

You almost lost a footing while climbing the stairs up the boys’ dormitory, but you didn’t stall behind. Once room 103 is in front of you, you proceed to reach out to knock, when you heard an infant’s cry. You froze, chest rising in rapid beat from all the runnings.

“Yoongi?”

The crying was still there, you glance to check the neighbouring room number on the door, confirming that the room in front of you indeed belongs to Yoongi. So you crossed your heart and decided to knock, after all, you go with the concept YOLO. The door opened to reveal a hopelessly in despair Yoongi and a small woven basket on his dinner table, the moving mauve blanket shows that he wasn’t alone in the room, physically anyway.

Though the facts were right in front of your eyes, your mouth was sealed from emitting any word, what less sounds. You just stand there, at his doorstep, mouth agape. The cried were getting louder and the small tiny hands rising from the woven basket was doing nothing other than deepening the frown on Yoongi’s forehead.

“Come on Y/n, say something…”

Once his words registered in yourself, you took a last glance to Yoongi, before backing away into the hallway and sprint off.

“I need to go.”

“Y/n wait!”

No no no, this is bad. He thought Y/n would be different, thought she’ll understand but turns out, she ran away.

“Just…just like Hyoju.”, Yoongi whispers.

The cries from behind him gets louder and he snapped to look at the one sole thing that currently gives him a headache.

“Can you fucking shut it?!”

Yoongi growled but then retracted away from the dining table, against the wall and sliding down on his back until he reaches the floor. A sudden seed of fear bloom in his chest,

“What am I doing, am I already out of my mind? He’s just a baby, what does he even know?”, Yoongi sigh while standing and dragged himself to the basket, brushing along his slender fingers through the baby’s thin hair; his baby. The living being right in front of him is his own making, an act done without even considering about the effect. In this case, Yoongi can admit that he’s one of the few to be blame, maybe THE ONE to be blamed, fuck he was so drunk that night he can barely remember her, the mother of his child, Han Hyoju

The baby’s crying subsided a little as soon as Yoongi’s fingers make contact with the head, as if the touch of a 10-minutes-ago-newly known-father is proof that it’s safe for the little one.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what to do”, he whispered because it was a fact.

Yoongi was never a fan of kids, he was never a person-type, a typical signs of an introvert. His only source of never-ending help support is none other than his roommate, Dance Major Park Jimin. He helps Yoongi realize that age is just numbers, Yoongi; as a hyung, two years older, seeks more advice than he wants to admit. This whole two years living with Jimin, the topic of conversation never goes off if it didn’t start with Jimin encouraging Yoongi to get some sunlight on him to which Jimin always said, as Yoongi quoted “We don’t need a walking paperwhite corpse walking around campus, hyung. Go out and get some air would you?”.

It’s just that Jimin’s happy go lucky trait as well as his naturally warm smile is enough to blooms a friendship unlike Yoongi, who people would just point fingers at and said ‘cold, harsh and rock dead’ just by a mere look. Jimin don’t, however. That’s how Yoongi opened up a little to him. But now, that said roommate can’t help him, being on the other side of Korea, back in Busan his hometown for four days(though Yoongi doubt he won’t prolong it) limits Yoongi to ask for any favour to his friend. The kid in front of him will die of thirst first if he waits for Jimin. That’s what left him to his other only friend; Y/L/N Y/N.

But Yoongi could understand what you did, how you act. It’s because both Yoongi and you didn’t share more than three sentences, or on some lucky days short bickering outside of your tutoring hour. He only knows the basic things for someone to be an acquaintance; name, major and room number(because it slipped your mouth once when texting your roommate), but other than that, zero-knowledge. Jimin insisted that he asked more, to what Yoongi always dismiss, he’s too shy or scared, or maybe both.

Though Yoongi knew so much, he still labels you as a friend, which means a name listed in his life whereabouts, significant enough for him, not a nobody. He wanted to smile thinking that you’re indeed a friend to him, but it falters upon remembering you retreated away.

“I’m doomed…”

A sudden burst of the door jolted Yoongi, retracting his hand that once was playing with the baby hairs on his child’s head. You walk in, head high and face determined. You dropped off your school bag by the sofa, the usual place when you hang around Yoongi’s room after tutor session. Yoongi was overwhelmed, all his senses went numb, why did you return?

“Yoongi, does the baby comes with a bag, a pouch, anything other than the basket?”, you already made your way into the kitchen, but Yoongi still got a perfect view of your side profile from where he’s standing.

“Umm-“, Yoongi snapped out of his short trance and reached out for the mustard yellow beg that was originally in the same basket as his child when he first opens his door this morning, “Is this it?”

You glance over to him and nod, motioning him to hand it over. Once the bag is in your hand, you unzip it and pull out a baby bottle. Yoongi just watched in awe as you mixed baby formula, Yoongi assumed the grey paper bag you brought with you contained the powder formulae. He knows he shouldn’t be gawking like that, but he’s completely amazed, the fact that you came back had him racked his brain for a reason why, and now you’re going through all of this just to feed his kid. He felt small. Once the formula milk was done, you walked towards the living room and straight to the dining table, where the baby is. The red face of the baby shows just how long it had been crying.

‘Poor thing.’, you thought. You put down the baby bottle on the table, hands reached out to swoop out the crying baby and puts the nuzzle near the mouth. After some effort, the baby takes in the nuzzle into his mouth and right away the rooms fell into a deep silence.

“Aww you poor thing, starving huh? It’s okay it’s okay. I got you.”, you cooed.

Yoongi stood there dumbly, watching you feeding his own child, still confused but for sure, extremely grateful. Now if only explaining is easy enough.

#bts yoongi #single dad! au #bts #bts imagines #yoongi imagine #bts fluff #bts x reader #bts x y/n

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tfw-no-tennis · 4 years

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hxh RESUME

back at it again w/the hxh, heres my recap of the last few eps

ok so i totally forgot to recap that one ep at the end of the hunter exam arc lets see what i remember from like 3 wks ago lollll

i thiiiiink i left off in the middle of ep 21 lol. i really dont remember much tbh so im gonna skim the ep to refresh

exposition time! its so wild that if you lose ur hunter card That It like u cant get another or retake the exam hgabjdfuhasjf Ls

also the fact that you can sell it is rlly interesting

leorio & kurapika backing up gon as he confronts illumi again :’) good lil family

illumi u fool. gon is a shounen protag. he can do anything he sets his mind to

the fact that gon thanks illumi for telling him where killua is....hes literally THAT polite like...what a perfect boy

hisoka just fuckgin stepping out of the shadows....ok bitch

the fact that gon fucked up illumis arm that bad with one hand....boi is STRONK

AUGH AUGH AUGHHHH HISOKA IS SO CREEPY AUGHHH I HATE THIS BIIIITCH

ok but like is illumi implying that hisoka is a fr p*do bc uhhhhh thats so nasty oh lord. pls stay away from gon, and killua, and like everyone as a matter of fact

EWWWWWWWWWW I HATE HISOKA HES SO NASTY. PLS STOP MAKING P*RNO FACES IN RELATION TO 12 YR OLD BOYS.

no but rlly what IS hisoka gonna do now. im assuming he’ll show up p soon (tho probs not in the zoldyc arc like i thought bc its shorter than i thought)

ok the fact that they have the internet is hilariously wild to me for some reason....it just seems like this would be one of those fantasy shounen worlds with very little tech (a la one piece) but lol nope we can just google shit hvbhjdhjdfks

gon: it was fun when you beat me up for 3 hours and broke my arm! seeya dude!

i love gon he is so chill and doesnt seem to hold grudges except when it really matters (like hisoka and illumi)

hanzo has.....ninja business cards....thats amazing hvbhsdjkujfnd

dont worry pokkle, leorio was basically carried thru the hunter exam by various people and also won by default. he still deserves his license tho

an exotic game hunter sounds pretty cool! i wonder if we’ll see pokkle again. kinda doubt it? that sounds pretty firmly non-combat based, and therefore probably pretty far from any plot lol

so gons dad is a bigshot huh.....whatever hed be a bigger deal if he didnt abandon his son tbh

gon swinging his feet on the bench....sooo cute

so ging could restore a bunch of ruins but he couldnt raise his son...ok

im just gonna be bitter at this guy for abandoning the most perfect boy vhbhjfbsjhdhbfsk sorry dude but being a good hunter doesnt make up for being a shit father

gon is so precious ;_;

WHAT WAS SATOTZ GONNA SAY TO GON???

why does it look like theyre googling things on MS paint

ah yes, padokea, on the continent of Africa But Sideways

idk if i talked abt it before but the world map is WILD lmao i love how its all the continents/landmasses scrambled around.....im super curious abt that weird island in the top center of the map, thats the only thing that immediately sticks out as not having a real life equivalent

the music in this show is so charming :’) i love the main theme sm

gon is sooo precious i literally cant get over it. and his hurry to rescue killua is so sweet....and i love how naturally charming/charismatic gon is....pretty much everyone he meets likes him, especially leorio and kurapika, who basically adopted him after knowing him for like a day, and continue to be completely taken by him

ok wtf is satotz & co talking abt......do they know something abt ging that they arent allowed to tell gon???? shouldnt gon have access to the same info now that hes a hunter? i need ANSWERS

i bet this whole thing abt the hunter exam not rlly being over is a metaphor abt the hunter exam NEVER truly ending bc youre always being tested, or st

ok the ED continues to be So Much like especially the last shot where the 4 main characters look like theyre posing for a JC Penny catalog while the singer goes FULL metal-screamo

ok ruth and i just rewatched the next two eps woohoo

i love that there are tourist busses that take people to the front gates so they can like pose for pics and stuff vhbhjafdsfkj and its like ‘ah yes here are where the local assassins live!’ thats so funny yet it makes so much sense

i love that leorio passed tf out during the bus ride. big big mood

gon is so cute...hes like ok yes i understand that we’re not supposed to go in but i think they can make an exception for me bc im very polite.

those 2 dudes r so ugly and so dead god bless

that bigass buster sword....sir please

ruth and i rlly thot that the old guard guy was gonna turn out to be grandpa zoldyk or st lol

the fact that the dog managed to eat All their flesh but left some clothes....skill

also the dog is named mike but it sounds like the guy is calling him miku hvbjdfssk

this cant be the first time some morons have been killed here likeeee

i cant believe nobody has visited the zoldyk estate in 20 years damn they all rlly b havin no friends. depressing

the whole gates thing is wild. also that part where gon gets the math wrong on the weight.....BIG mood kiddo

ok the part where gons on the phone w/the butler is soooo good oh man. i love how gon just calmly dials the phone again after hes hung up on the first time and then YELLS....and leorio and kurapikas faces r so good

also the butler guy unfortunately has a point, it isnt foolproof that gon is here Legit....but he IS let him see his tiny bf :(

as ruth pointed out, the butler guy is reminiscent of kuro from one piece. same vibes

maybe if leorio was jacked like he is in the manga/1999 anime he couldve opened the gate that first time around....Ls

god i love this shows approach to Everything so far,....as ruth put it, half the time its like ‘oh wow they should do [x]/i wish theyd do [x] but ofc they wont cause its a shounen’ but then they DO do [x] and its like damn thats dope

anyways i love how gon is increasingly approaching situations with his Plucky Shounen Protag Attitude in full swing, and he pretty much gets shot down every time. BUT his general determination to see killua bc killuas his FRIEND and hes gonna RESCUE HIM is still a good and pure motivating force

like here, when hes climbing over the wall and hes like whatever i dont wanna have to deal w/being tested thats bullshit, i wanna see killua, my intentions are pure, im gonna try my luck with the dog....i was like ok yeah he’ll get over and like tame or defeat the dog and the guard will be suitably impressed bc nobodys ever done That before, and then gon will continue on to get killua

but NOPE instead the guard calls him down and explains that gon Will Die if he tries that, and then the guard will die too for letting that happen. and gon is like oh shit my actions have consequences for people other than me, wow.

and THEN the guard takes them in to meet the dog. and hot DAMN that is a scary creature. not even really a dog tbh. they did an excellent job making the dog Legit Scary and not just like, big and flashy looking....those eyes are so soulless, and the proportions are freaky

and the guard says exactly what i was thinking - that gon would use his Country Boy Woodland Creature Skills to workaround the dog....but then the subversion - this creature is NOTHING like the woodland critters gon is probably used to dealing with. theres no way gon stood a chance here. the guard just saved him from a really unfortunate death

i love all the Super Heavy Stuff in the servant house that seems so inconvenient vbhjdkfasjfld. also forgot to mention earlier but the guard guy being Absolutely Ripped was wild and kinda funny

training montage! gon continues to be so cute. and i love so much how leorio and kurapika are like no, you rest, we’ll take care of this. good parents!!!!

and then!!!! they sync up and use the power of gay love to almost open the gate. but then gon uses the power of Improbable Shounen Protag Healing Speed to toss that arm sling off and help out

i feel like leorio was side-eyeing gon like w8 a sec u broke that arm like a few days ago that aint right.....

oh man i almost forgot abt that scene with the zoldyks torturing killua :( :( this poor kid he doesnt deserve that

also mom zoldyck seems truly awful but i must say her aesthetic does fuck. the victorian-lookin outfit paired with the futuristic cyclops visor thing....excellent. also im betting this face bandages are from killua cutting her face

this family is so fucked up hvbsjdhjfbakdfn

killua telling his mom that gon is definitely gonna make it there :’) hes got such unshakable faith in his bf thats so good.....

back w/the gang, and immediately they run into more trouble in the form of the young girl butler, whose name i dont know, but i love her....her design is SO good oh man. a non-caricature black person? who also isnt sexualized? in MY anime??????

i love how gons approach to conflict is currently ‘let more powerful person beat me up for hours straight in hopes that they get tired or something idk bro’ like....i love him lol, is it in an effort to show how determined he is? he doesnt even try to dodge her blows or get around her....id be tryin to hop that fence lol

oh shit the tiny zoldyk kid from earlier is spying on them....she was w/the mom so im sure thats not good

when he punches the rock part and it breaks....strong boiiii

oh man that little flashback from when killua first came back and told her that he made a friend ;_; bruh

i love butler girl :( she wants to let gon but knows it isnt allowed....and as soon as she starts to waver BAM here comes mom zoldyck JFC that was so sudden and jarring....im assuming butler girl isnt dead cause that would be lame and anticlimactic

also IS THAT NEN??? NEN>>>??? NEN??? HM? NEN?????????

im so annoying abt nen i need to make one of those ‘is this a pigeon?’ memes w/’is this nen?’ bc thats me anytime anything remotely weird happens lmao

i do think its rlly nen this time tho

anyways shit is wild, cant wait to meet the full zoldyck family

PREDICTION CORNER:

as i said above i doubt hisoka will show up now bc this arc is a lot shorter than i anticipated. also im doubting that illumis even gonna show up honestly

i think we’re gonna have this OP for a while, as the part just at the end shows gon and hisoka fighting in what looks to be an arena, and ik the next arc is the heavens arena arc, which im assuming is the tournament arc....

also i have no idea what that weird building in the OP is but my guess is that its the building w/the heavens arena in it bc its tall and,,,,heaven

i predict there wont be much fighting in this little arc bc how tf else is it so short. at this point i rlly think gon is just gonna grab killua and go lmao. im super curious abt how thats gonna go down, considering that killua is currently strung up just bc he wont apologize...so i cant imagine his family would just let him leave w/gon. i wonder if killua will fight them, or if gons determination will impress them and then theyll let killua go (doubt it)

thats basically it....we’ll see abt the next few eps holla

#lj watches hxh #hxh #woohoo continuation

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sazandorable · 6 years

Text

so im gonna do that AAW meme thing! cw: tmi about aza’s thrilling life, some cringey or vaguely depressing/upsetting anecdotes, some happy things in a silly way, and fandom

1. Sunday, 21 October:

o Describe your experience of finding out about asexuality/the ace spectrum. What source(s) did you find it from? How did it feel to find out about asexuality? How did it change your life?

~Sherlock BBC fandom~! /o/ Yeaaaaah.

To be precise, the kink meme, on livejournal. just a random prompt asking for something exploring the arrangement between asexual sherlock and uhhh probably john but tbh i don’t remember that. maybe Irene. I’m almost sure this was right after the Scandal in Belgravia episode had aired, and that episode was why people were playing with the idea of Sherlock being uninterested in sex.

I don’t remember my exact feelings when I read that word, but I do remember that I was delighted at the concept (+ the discussion in the same episode about falling in love outside of your sexual orientation) and immediately convinced, that I jumped into researching asexuality, and that barely a few weeks later I was very deep in contemplating and musing about my own levels of attraction and sorting out all that stuff. I do think I just instantly realized this concept applied to me; I found the AVEN site and its definitions very fast, and grey-a felt good instantly. (I found demi later, and it took me a bit longer to claim it for myself, though I don’t remember much details about that.)

Like, years later I’m very much bitter about and Over™ Sherlock BBC, its writers, and that episode in particular and their stance on the sexualities and orientations of all their characters, but... it did bring me something very precious, that it would have taken me years to find out about otherwise.

It did change my life in that this is when I realized that I really, really, really didn’t have to date, have sex, marry or whatever “one day” if I never wanted to and I wasn’t “late” on anything. Took off a lot of pressure, and also made me stop trying to dub-con myself into accepting things I didn’t actively want just because I didn’t actively hate them.

2. Monday, 22 October:

o Talk about your coming out experience. Of course, one many never be finished coming out, but you could describe how you came out to friends, what reactions you have gotten, how you have felt by coming out, and more.

Mm, two:

not quite coming out, and I don’t remember how it came up, but I mentioned “ok but what about asexuality” at my mother, perhaps a year or two after finding out about it, and she just scoffed and said “that’s not a thing, it’s just being scared of sex,” and I just... froze. Blanked out. Zoned out. Possibly shook a little. This was my first first-hand experience of being just... disacknowledged, erased, denied out of existence, and I had absolutely not expected it, nor the violence of it, nor the casual quality of that violence. I couldn’t say anything in reply, and I don’t think my mother noticed anything at all.

on another hand, I once explained to a gay male friend of mine that, well, I don’t call myself a lesbian, I like girls but I don’t call my super-duper-precious-friend my girlfriend, we are extremely close but we don’t have sex or really date, I’m asexual; and his reaction was “?? THAT’S SO COOL. That fits you! I’m glad for you that you can just do whatever works for you without following conventions about relationships! Cool, great!” and that just made my day.

3. Tuesday, 23 October:

o Describe your experience of confronting stereotypes. There are many stereotypes or expectations of what being on the ace spectrum is like, but of course aspec people are just as diverse as any other group. How have you defied or corrected these stereotypes?

uuhhhhh

Mostly this happens when I talk about asexuality with people who are questioning themselves, explaining the many different flavors it can come in, that yeah you can be asexual at the same time as enjoying sex, masturbating, having fantasies, wanting to date, etc. Not so much smashing established stereotypes, more confirming that nop this thing that you think would “disqualify” you from being asexual doesn’t, actually, you still might be, you’re not “fake”.

4. Wednesday, 24 October:

o Talk about positive representation of aspec people in media which has benefited you or speaks to you strongly. Aspec people are not often represented in media, so it will be nice to see which representations have the strongest impacts.

*STANDS UP, VIBRATING*

TWENTYACETEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!

This year I got two cases of explicit, confirmed, canon, accurate and nuanced representation with central characters in two series that were already extremely close to my heart, and I’m so happy about it!!!!

Spoilers for both fandoms!

1) Shimanami Tasogare: a recently finished manga about LGBT community. In one of the last arcs, we learn that the very central yet mysterious character Anonymous (Dareka-san) is asexual. Like, the character says it, in full letters, and it’s discussed a lot.

Well, it’s more complicated than that, because it’s set in Japan and written in Japanese and Japan has different approaches, concepts and vocabulary around asexuality than English-language; what Anonymous initially describes might be closer to what English-language would call aromanticism. But they also later go “Am I interested in sex, or not? Who knows :)”, with their potential interest in sex represented with them reading porn magazines, and they’ve already expressed that they’re not interested in dating, so as it happens they’re probably both aro and ace (in English terms) anyway. (In the same sequence, they also explain that they might be male, or female, and generally aren’t overly concerned with how people think of them, anything works for them.)

This brings the other characters to think some more about their own desires for love, sex, relationships, human contact... There is a beautiful scene where the main character thinks that knowing this lets him finally understand Anonymous, that this must be why they are so mysterious and detached and fleeting — and Anonymous tells him point-blank that nah. They’re not just their asexuality. Don’t reduce them to that. They’re not “anonymous” because they’re asexual, and vice-versa — those are just two incidental parts of who they are. They are a full person, who just happens to be asexual, and also to enjoy being anonymous and unknown and find freedom in living their life this way.

It was just incredible to read entire chapters dedicated to a central character talking at length about their asexuality, and also how they relate, not only to straight people, but also to queer non-ace people. In the end the main character still doesn’t quite get Anonymous, and that’s how they like it.

2) The Magnus Archives: an ongoing horror podcast that’s casually LGBTQIA-friendly. (Like, a lot of horrible stuff does happen to queer people, but that’s because there’s a lot of them, and I do think that statistically more of them survive than straight people. Equal opportunity horror.) I had been toying with headcanoning the main character Jon as asexual for a variety of reasons for a while, and then in an episode that aired a few months ago a character casually mentioned that “apparently [he] just... doesn’t. At all.” Asked to elaborate, the writer confirmed on twitter that yup, he’s written as asexual (though who knows if Jon would use that word himself, he doesn’t really think about it).

I’m especially delighted because this came up, in context, because Jon has dated. At least once. We know his ex, and she is super chill with him. This reveal also comes up in the same breath as the reveal that a male character seems to have a crush on him, and IMO the show seems to hint that said character is aware that Jon doesn’t do sex, and doesn’t/wouldn’t mind this if they were to date.

Jon did start out as the usual cold, rational, unempathetic character archetype (in fact, he’s very reminiscent of BBC’s Sherlock in early episodes), but by the time this line comes up, the listener knows that he actually cares a lot and is full of emotions. He’s shown to be very, very protective of the people close to him — though also very bad at it. And at expressing it. But, still around the same time of the ace reveal, he is making deliberate efforts to communicate more and value everyone’s feelings. And of course, being the central character, he’s a veeeeery developed character with tons of evolution and nuances, and a huge fandom fave. The reveal that’s he’s asexual has changed exactly nothing in the show; but, like I said, it fits him, he read as asexual to the point that I was suspecting it despite zero real textual evidence until then.

When this episode came out and I heard that line (... I actually had missed it on first listen), I was at work, and I just started almost crying at my desk.

And then I got to go around yelling about it at my fandom friends.

... And at my non-fandom friends.

#asexuality awareness week #aaw #about aza #representation #shimanami tasogare #the magnus archives

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baelllamyblake · 6 years

Text

Alive and Well. ( Bellamy Blake x Reader )

Request : 1 -Reader suppose to be on the Ring but she was with Clarke and they didn't make it to ship on time but they both survived. And Reader and Bellamy were couple so she's the one talking to him on the radio everyday. And he was completly broken after that and when they got back he's shocked and they share very emotional reunion (as they both changed very much). And she almost attacked them scared that they're people from this prisoner ship. Thanks! -ANON

2 - Hey there! Just another cute request with Bellamy Blake coming back on earth 7 years after praimfaya when the reader had to stay on earth (he thought she was dead with Clarke) Small detail: one day before goint back to the ark, the reader gave birth to their daughter and see her again 7 years after, when Bellamy had to raise her alone in the ark. NOTHA REQUEST WHICH ACTUALLY GOES WITH THE PREVIOUS ONE: could I please with sugar on top get an imagine when bellamy is raising his daughter alone on the ark with the reader being on earth (supposely dead) Like cute moments daughter/father, the skaikru team being protective and playing with the daughter 😎 Have a nice sundayyyy - @enoraturner

Pairing : Bellamy x FEM Reader

Word Count : 2,753

Warnings : like three curse words lol

A/N : okay so lets just imagine that D/F/N was a ripped metal ass baby that can survive the vacuum of space bc going to space a day after ur born is kinda unrealistic LMAO the ending might be a little lackluster sorry!! just wanted to get this out there ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ also thank you so much for requesting!! please request some more !! i love writing for Bellamy !! im really scared on how this will do pls help me out here

D/F/N, D/M/N = daughter’s first name/middle name

FEEDBACK IS GREATLY APPRECIATED SO PLEASE FCK ME UP WIT IT<3

“ Here we go again. “ You huffed out quietly, a radio in one hand and a wrinkled map in the other. A stray breeze flowed gracefully through your hair and along the branches of nearby trees. You gazed longingly at the black CB radio in your palm, hoping a familiar voice would just speak out of nowhere. It nearly brought you to tears just imagining the thought of someone responding after six lonely years.

“ Bellamy, if you can hear me, you’re alive. It’s been 2,199 days since Praimfaya. I don’t know why I still do this every day. Maybe it’s my way of staying sane here with Clarke. Not forgetting who I am, who I was. It’s been safe for you to come down for over a year now. Why haven’t you? I miss you. “

“ D/F/N D/M/N Blake! Come out, come out, wherever you are! “ Bellamy playfully yelled out, his voice echoing throughout the metal halls of the Ark. His feet quickly tip toed along the corridors while his eyes briefly scanned each and every room in search of his little daughter. Just before leaving after peeking in the last bedroom of Hall C, a high giggle could be heard from under the floorboards.

“ Hm, if I was a seven year old, where would I hide? “ Bellamy questioned curiously out loud, attempting to lure D/F/N out of her hiding spot. The tiny child kept her fingers planted on her lips, refraining from making a peep of noise. Her father slowly kneeled down on the floor, silently lifting up a tile and revealing the surprised face of a little girl. “ I found you! Now, come on out, sweetheart. Monty’s making us try foods again. “

“ Ewww, do we have too? “ D/F/N groaned out, her nose crinkling in disgust as she crawled out of the tiny floorspace. Bellamy hummed out in affirmation, a small sigh following suit. During the six years in space, Monty has been experimenting to find sources of nutrients to sustain eight people, even if they tasted like bitter posion. “ Last one there has to drink two! “

“ Hey! No fair! “ Bellamy barked out, running after his daughter who already disappeared around the corner like a ghost. He groaned out as a hand ran through his ruffled hair, knowing full well he would never catch up to D/F/N. She was too smart for her own good, an obvious trait she inherited from her wonderful mother, and she never stopped asking about going back to Earth.

Bellamy saw so much of you in D/F/N: the H/C hair, the E/C eyes, the ability to think in such creative and unusual ways. She was practically a carbon copy of everything he missed so dearly. Bellamy would look down on the world from the Ark, watching it simmer in radiation and never letting himself forget how he didn’t try hard enough to get you to come along. As D/F/N grew, Bellamy became somewhat accustomed with your absence, it was like you left her as a souvenir for him!

“ Bottoms up, King. You got two to drink this time. “ Murphy teased, his chin planted in his palm as a smug grin curled on his lips. The rest cheered loudly as Bellamy took the seat next to D/F/N on the bench, eyeing the nutrients warily while his stomach did ten flips.

“ Chug! Chug! Chug! “ Skaikru chanted over and over, their fists pounding sonorously on the metal table, even D/F/N joined in! That little rat! Bellamy groaned out defeated, his hand lifted the bowl to his lips and his throat choked down both bowls of the sharp tasting sludge. Laughter and claps broke out when Bellamy slammed the bowl down on the table, sloppily wiping the residue from off his mouth.

“ Your turn, dear. “ Bellamy spoke deviously, nudging D/F/N and almost nearly gagging right after. It never got any easier to drink that sludge, ask anyone in the Ark. D/F/N sighed out, silently preparing herself as she pinched her nose and downed the nutrients without fail. Raven and Echo clapped happily, showering her with accolades for being such a big girl as Murphy gave her an eager fistbump. Monty slapped his hand with a smile on his face and D/F/N did just the same, taking Bellamy by surprise. When did he teach D/F/N him and Jasper’s signature quirk? “ Okay, that was pretty good, I won’t lie. “

“ You’re just mad because you had to drink two, dad. “ D/F/N boasted confidently, her nose stuck up and her arms crossed firmly over her chest. Bellamy’s right eyebrow cocked slightly at her, the rest pointing and laughing at him. The mischievous smile on Bellamy’s face hinted that karma was about to bite D/F/N in the ass.

“ Well, joke’s on you, sweetheart. You earned yourself an extra hour of studying. “ Bellamy stared bluntly, the jeering instantly shifted into boos as D/F/N pouted childishly. The resent showed plainly on her face as she stomped to the makeshift library down Hall D.

“ You make a great dad, you know that? Y/N would be insanely proud of you, really! “ Raven commended him, the others quickly agreeing as well. Bellamy smiled sheepishly in response, relived that he wasn’t doing such a bad job of being a father figure to his daughter. “ We’re all really proud of you too, Bell. Keep up the good work! “

“ I really appreciate all your guy’s help. I wouldn’t have been able to this on my own. “ Bellamy humbly thanked Skaikru, a small smile remaining on his tanned face. Everyone sat in a comfortable silence, looking back on what’s happened during the six years in space as well as the years down on Earth. Everyone missed you yet no one mentioned it, especially Bellamy. You always had a way of breaking the silence and distracting people in a way where they totally forgot that the world was a complete shithole. “ What do you guys think about returning to Earth? I think it’s about time. “

“ Can you please help me? “ D/F/N peeped out, a small book in her hand as her finger pointed out the name Hecuba. Bellamy put down the Iliad beside him to get a better look. “ What does that say? “

“ Hecuba. Say it for me? He-Cu-Ba? “ Bellamy enunciated the name of the woman whose cry of grief moved the Greek Gods in the heavens above, looking to his daughter after. D/F/N attempted to repeat the name but didn’t really succeed. It’s the thought that counts!

“ Hey, D/F/N. Want to do something not boring? “ Raven peeked in the crack of the doorway, moving the tendril of hair behind her ear. D/F/N gasped in response, her mood instantly lifting and her eyes sparkling as she dashed out the door with Raven. Bellamy sighed out, she was supposed to study! He roamed over to the bedroom window, a perfect view of the scorched Earth beneath him. A half full bottle of alcohol sat on the windowsill, Bellamy’s thoughts pondering if they should really go back.

He left you behind and he couldn’t seem to stop beating himself up for it. Bellamy brushed his hand over his beard out of sheer stress, what if you and Clarke were dead this whole time? The trip back would be all for naught and there was definitely no way of getting back. The rest of the group were also uneasy about the proposal of risking everything if there was just going to be another Praimfaya and no second option of surviving it. Bellamy and them decided to let the thought marinate a little before collectively making a final desicion.

Bellamy contemplated finishing off the rest of the blue potion, in hopes that everything would be okay and that you were still kicking it. He took it into his hand before shaking the thought off and setting it back on the window sill, he has better things to do. Bellamy forced himself up off the desk chair to find D/F/N and Raven somewhere in the Ark.

“ Oh my god, Raven! You are not taking her on a space walk! Are you fucking crazy! “ Bellamy scolded her as she froze in the middle of zipping up a child sized space suit for D/F/N. He nearly lost his shit at the scenario of D/F/N floating off into space like some thriller movie. Echo, Monty, and Murphy sat silently in guilt, they thought it would’ve been cool! How could not try it? “ When did you even make that! “

“ Echo and I totally did not sew this suit for D/F/N a few months ago and we totally have not been planning this space walk for a few months now. “ Raven lied through her teeth, her head hung low in shame. Anger rose in Bellamy’s chest, so much for thanking them for their help! They were going to kill his one and only!

“ And you guys just let this happen? “ Bellamy questioned Monty and Murphy, putting them on the spot just before berating them for being in on the scheme. He looked to D/F/N with furrowed eyebrows and kneeling before her, his hands planted on the sides of her tiny biceps. “ You should’ve told me, sweetheart. This is dangerous! You could die out there! “

“ I’m sorry.. If we were on Earth, stuff like this wouldn’t happen! I want to see my mom already! “ D/F/N murmured out an apology with a sniffle before bursting into tears and running out of the airlock room. Bellamy sighed out, if you were here, he wouldn’t have been dealing with this problem. Bellamy rose from his place on the cold floor and sent one last death look to everyone before retreating to find D/F/N.

“ D/F/N? Where are you? I’m sorry for yelling, sweetheart. I just didn’t want you to get hurt! “ Bellamy yelled down each hallway, his head peeking in every other before moving into the common room. He stopped dead in his tracks like a deer in the headlights. D/F/N stood frozen in utter fear as a rifle barrel was pointed just between her eyes.

“ Come with us or she dies. “ One of the strangers spoke up as the other retrieved D/F/N who let out a high yelp as the woman dragged her roughly down Hall B by the bicep. She tried so hard to rebel against the outsider by screaming and thrashing violently but the effort was rendered futile. They both disappeared around a corner but D/F/N could still be heard crying and shrieking out for her father. Bellamy’s raised hands gripped into tight fists out of fury. Where were they taking her?

“ Who are you? “ Bellamy barked loudly, his jaw clenching tightly as the rest of Skaikru joined behind him, their hands slowly rising to the ceiling. His instincts told him to attack while the end of an assault rifle forced him to seethe in rage.

“ We’re here to take you back to Earth. “

“ The bunker’s gone silent, too. We tried digging them out for a while, but there was too much rubble. I haven’t made contact with them, either. Anyway, I still have hope that I’ll get to see you. Tell Raven to aim for the one spot of green, and you’ll find me. The rest of the planet, from what I’ve seen, basically sucks, so- “ You spoke into the radio, eyes gazing at the dirt and leaves under your boots. A distant boom ripped your attention from the ground to the high clouds above.

A small, almost microscopic in the sea of blue zoomed across the sky, the sound of its rockets could be heard from a mile away. You rose to your feet, your chest rising with all kind of emotions like you were going to burst into a million pieces. Bellamy felt the same way, the possibility of seeing you again and showing you the product of his teachings made him want to scream out in joy for no reason at all. D/F/N tightened her clutch on Bellamy’s jacket, her nose sniffling as leftover tears stained her cheeks. He wrapped his arms around her thin body, his lips pressed against the top of her head in hopes to reassure D/F/N that everything would be fine. Bellamy couldn’t wait to tell you everything that happened up in space, holy shit.

“ Nevermind, I see you. “ You uttered, tears running down your cheeks as you rushed to wake Clarke up. You shook her awake, a giant smile plastered on your face. Clarke grumbled incoherently, her fingers rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. “ They’re here! I think they heard us, Clarke. “

Clarke instantly shot up from her resting spot, following suit behind you as you dashed to get a better look at the ship. It was strange as the ship inched closer and closer to the ground, it was a lot larger than you remembered. Bellamy was unsure of how close they were to landing, they were locked on the bottom of a floating prison transport ship while the fugitives piloted the vehicle on the top floor.

“ You said it was a small ship, right? “ You asked, slight fear consuming your chest cavity. Clarke confirmed with a silent nod as you looked down the sight of your nearby assault rifle. “ Oh God, get down and get the rover out. Load all of the guns too. “

Clarke hastily followed your orders and retreated into the driver’s seat of the jeep, backing it up behind the treeline. What the fuck is going on? You cocked the handle of your rifle and slowly made your way to the landing site of the prison transport.

The ship was dauntingly gigantic, much larger than the drop ship but smaller than Arkadia. You’ve never seen this kind of ship before, it looked much more advanced than any technology you’ve seen on the Ark before. You’ve never seen the corporation name either. Who was running the Eligius Corporation ship?

Your train of thought was quick to be derail when the sound of latches and locks started moving out of place, indicating that the entrance will be revealed and you were going to kill whoever came out on sight. The gun was pressed firmly to your shoulder, your finger itching to press the trigger.

You already knew who it was as soon as you saw the top of their head. The tears were already falling and all your muscles immediately untensed in complete and utter relief. Bellamy was alive and D/F/N was absolutely gorgeous. You dropped the gun on the grass, your heart raced at a hundred miles per hour, excited to hug the love of your life.

It was like all the oxygen in Bellamy’s lungs left as soon as his eyes adjusted to the light and eventually focused on you. Skaikru stood in blatant shock, you were alive and well after everyone thought you weren’t. You beat the impossible odds and here you were in your full glory, face to face with Bellamy after an eternity spent apart.

No words were spoken, just a long awaited hug to confirm that you both were real and it wasn’t just a simple dream. D/F/N hid behind Echo’s leg, her large eyes trained directly on you. You took in all of Bellamy: his hair, his clothes, his smell. Before opening your eyes and realizing that your seven year old daughter was watching you. You pulled away from Bellamy, acknowledging D/F/N was here on Earth with you. She rapidly averted her gaze and shrank even more behind her leg. Echo looked to D/F/N and patted her head comfortingly, letting her know that everything was completely okay.

You knelt on the ground and held out a hand to her, eyebrows furrowed in nervousness. What if your daughter rejects you? You wouldn’t know what to do with yourself. D/F/N peeked her eyes out to look at Bellamy who nodded for her to come out of her hiding spot. She steadily shuffled her way to you, uneasiness showing as plain as day on her face.

“ It’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve been waiting a really, really long time for this, D/F/N. I’m Y/N, your mother. “

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fuck-customers · 6 years

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FUCK MY MANAGER ( tw for emotional manipulation, ableism, and brief suicide ideation)

(Im writing this on 3/5) I had the absolute worst night ever last monday. Bear with me because this is a doozy. The friday before, our manager (ill call her L) was being super passive aggressive towards us and being rude as hell (as usual) but it was about employee sales. Employee sales were only aupposed to be done by a manager, or by a key / with permission. I had two receipts (count em; T W O) to my name from way back in November/December, meanwhile my other coworkers each had over 30. No joke. Apparently our overseer BJ had a massive issue with that, and decided to impliment a new policy that only managers, or keys with explicit permission per sale were allowed to ring employee sales out. So implimenting this apparently meant L treated us like shit and passive aggressively, and cryptically, accused us of being shitty employees. Id completely forgotten about the TWO sales I'd ever done, so I wasn't even remotely worried and said "well I know it's not me because I dont even know how to do an employee sale (which I don't)". L got pissy and left the three of us in a huff. We spent the night shit talking and expressing our frustrations about how we'd been being mistreated lately. L is always bitter and in a bad mood and doesnt give a shit about us besides being worker bees. We were all pretty upset so we did a mini strike and hardly did any work that night (we still finished what we were supoised to, it didn't do it quickly basically). I should also mention at the same time, we were supposed to be watching for a shoplifter because someone had been scoping our store recently. I noticed a kid in the store that fit the description, and a car outsude that matched the description and I went terminator mode basically and took control of the team (I'm not even a key, I'm a runt hire. ) I was going loops and making aure they were watching g the floor, and in 20 minutes I got two full body descriptions written down for L and my other manager the next morning. They left while I was on break, so I went around the store and started straightening things. I found a really weird pair of shorts on a rack that were not ours (they were boys Olaf work out shorts.... yknow, like from Frozen...) So I brought them up, asked about them, and left them for our managers to discuss. Now, fast forward to Monday. My other manager J asked me about the Olaf shorts and I showed her exactly where I found them. L came over and started accusing me, alone, of being the reason the shorts were there. She twisted a story that someone wore a pair of shorts out and left those in their place. That would've been a solid case if anyone actually fuckong walked into our store with those shorts on because admittedly I wouodve noticed and gossiped with my coworkers about it. So no, L, that didn't happen. She continue used accusing me of not watching the floor and being lazy, and I got really irritated super quick and i was so done with being solely accused, so I snapped at her "I got two full descriptions of shoplifters friday night. I WAS watching the floor" and I just walked away. She pulled me into the back room and startes talking g down to me like I was a dog. 'I'm your MANAGER, I'm your SUPERIOR, blah blah blah IM ABOVE YOU YOU HAVE TO RESPECT ME, YOURE JUST AN EMPLOYEE blah blah, and decides to fuck with my head (despite knowing about my sevwre paranoia, panic attacks and other mental illnesses) and proceeded tell me that all my coworkers hated me and were 'sick of my shit' and went on to use ONE singular time I missed a customer at register to support her argument that I was a COMPLETELY incompetent worker. I went back on the floor and she proceeded to tell at me a bout the reciepts infront of customers, and laighed when I said I didnt even want to do them (which I hadn't!!) And I told her W had said it was okay to do it. she laughed at me and blamed me for not knowing (???????????) Sent me back out on to the floor and I started dissociating almost immediately, and then the slow burn panic attack crawled in an hour later and wouldnt go away. it progressed fast. I wound up hyperventilating for three. hours. straight. I was a complete emotonal wreck, but somehow by the power of Odin and Thor I managed to keep my head on straight when talking to customers. I got home that night and I went into a full blown manic panic attack. I became hysterical. I was physically vibrating because I was shaking so bad. I was literally walking around my apartment in a daze, laighing crying and just so fuckig. out of it, and somehow got a knife I don't even remember grabbing or even having in the house. I'd alao started texting my partner and apologizing for existing. I ideated taking pills and killing myself. I went completely off the deep end because of my OCD and severe paranoia. Honestly, I should've been sent to the hospital. Instead, to calm down, I smoked weed. I'd been clean for two months straight because I've been trying so hard to find a full time job and I wanted to pass a drug test if I needed to. so now that's ruined for me. I smoked, calmed down completely and wound up blacking out from exhaustion that hadnt hit me because of adrenaline. (I'm writing this post a week later (happened on 2/26) and the effects of going through that are still hitting me today(3/5); my body hasnt been right, and sleep isn't registering properly and ive hardly eaten anything in a week) I understand this sounds very fabricated but I promise you on my life its not. This has happened only on a few occasions; I don't usually go manic in panic attacks. And I don't usually black out. This was literally so bad I should have been hospitalized. and I actually had been before back in 2016 Ffor going off the deep end. Since then ive been working on my mental health and beconing more stable. Anyways. I come to work Friday (3/2) and find out L still hadn't talked to any of my coworkers, despite having a literal nor'easter and getting 28+" of snow, that the entire store had been empty, and she had three hours to talk to my coworkers about stuff. After L left for the night I managed to get the guts to tell my coworkers W and N about the fact L said that they all hated me, and they both denied mentioning anything about me more recently than two months ago; they told me the only mentions they made were literally from last year when I was going through some heavy shit and I was super on edge (I'll give them that because I was going through heavy shit, and had been very snappy and defensive-- those complaints / mentions were completely justified) I convinced myself to believe them to avoid another manic episode. Fast forward to today (Sunday, 3/4) I find out neither one of my managers mentioned ANYTHING about the Olaf shorts or the situation in FIVE FUCKING DAYS over the entire week and they're literally trying to drop it and leave the blame entirely on me when it wasn't even my fault. TLDR; my cunt of a manager L blamed me solely for a theory she had twisted, dehumanized me, manipulated me, fucked with my head, lied, and used my mental illnesses against me and caused me to have a 7 hour long manic panic attack, and caused me to have a phsychological snap that nearly sent me to the hospital. And is now trying to ignore the situation and act like nothing ever happened while leaving all of the blame on my shoulders. FUCK MANAGERS AND FUCK RETAIL.

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astoundingbeyondbelief · 6 years

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Fifty years ago, Japan’s Kaiju Boom was at its peak, with Ultraman and Ultraseven on TV and films from four of the country’s five major studios in the theaters: Toho’s Son of Godzilla and King Kong Escapes, Daiei’s Gamera vs. Gyaos, Nikkatsu’s Gappa, and Shochiku’s The X from Outer Space. Wouldn’t you know it, in 2017 there were five kaiju movies and two Ultraman shows too, as the transnational Kaiju Boom rolled on with no end in sight. Let’s take a look back at all that transpired.

1) Kong is King

If cinematic universes are the future, then the world’s greatest kaiju are lucky to have Legendary Pictures in charge of theirs. Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ Kong: Skull Island, the second entry in the MonsterVerse started by Godzilla in 2014, hit theaters during a busy March to rave reviews and respectable box office. Packed with monsters, helicopters, talented actors, and 70′s hits, it kept the action contained on the giant ape’s home; a restrained blockbuster by today’s standards. If the film’s post-credit scene ate up the conversational oxygen a bit too much, well, that’s the price you pay for teasing Godzilla, Rodan, Ghidorah, and Mothra in one scene.

But that wasn’t all for the Eighth Wonder of the World this year. BOOM! Studios’ Kong of Skull Island comic concluded with its twelfth issues. It was succeeded by a one-shot, Kong: Gods of Skull Island, and a strangely apt Planet of the Apes crossover, still being published. Legendary got in on the act too with Skull Island: Birth of Kong, a prequel/sequel to the film.

I have proposed a moratorium on Kong titles with “Skull Island” in them. Unfortunately, this confusing trend is set to continue, with Jonathan Penner and Stacy Title currently writing a King Kong Skull Island TV show for MarVista Entertainment and IM Global Television.

2) Godzilla is King of the Whole Stinking World, What Now

Another year, another new Godzilla movie. It’s been a while since we could say that, hasn’t it? Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters, the first in an animated trilogy by Kobun Shizuno and Hiroyuki Seshita, was released in Japanese theaters this November. A worldwide Netflix release will follow on January 17th. The next two are coming this year, presumably so Toho can atone for not releasing one in 2015. Godzilla: The City Mechanized for the Final Battle (or however it’s ultimately translated), due in May, will feature the return of Mechagodzilla.

Shin Godzilla, meanwhile, made kaiju history earlier in the year, becoming the first film in the genre to win Picture of the Year at the Japan Academy Awards. (It also netted prizes in six other categories.) On the American side of things, Legendary finally started filming Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), and Godzilla vs. Kong (2020) found a director in Adam Wingard.

On the home video front, Shin Godzilla hit DVD and Blu-ray around the world, and Criterion picked up the rights to almost every film in the Showa series, plus Rodan and The War of the Gargantuas. Physical releases have yet to be announced -- they’re currently streaming on Filmstruck -- but seem inevitable.

3) Sturm Organs, Chaiyo Vanquished, and the Phantom Channel

I could have made this post the 2017 Ultraman Year in Review without changing the format of the photoset one bit, although the tone would have been a shade more bitter.

Ultraman Geed, starring the son of arch-villain Belial, ran for 25 episodes. Ultraman Zero and his mild-mannered salaryman host Leito ended up stealing the show. (It also gave us the phrase “Sturm organs,” which I never want to read again.) Cruchyroll, as is tradition now, announced it was simulcasting Geed about eight seconds before the first episode aired.

Ultraman Orb: The Origin Saga, the prequel to last year’s series, concluded on Amazon Prime Video in Japan. A promised English release never worked out, although the fansubbers picked up the slack.

Ultraman Orb the Movie arrived in Japanese theaters on March 10. It wasn’t very good, but Ultraseven made a hell of an entrance.

Keeping the Orb train rolling, the 24-minute Ultra Orb Fight aired over the course of eight episodes of Ultraman Zero: The Chronicle, another one of Tsuburaya‘s compilation shows.

Ultraman X the Movie and Ultraman Ginga S the Movie played in a handful of American theaters, with English dubbing from William Winkler Productions. Winkler also dubbed the three Zero movies this year; no word on when they’ll be released, nor what happened to the physical/digital releases of the X and Ginga S movies.

Tsuburaya Productions uploaded scores of Ultra Fight episodes to its YouTube channel. Unfortunately, no subtitles were provided; the show’s narration was significantly more intensive than Redman screaming attack names.

Toku, a ludicrously obscure on-demand channel, picked up the rights to a ton of Ultra shows, most of them without official releases in the U.S. -- Leo, 80, The Ultraman, Neos, Nexus, an English dub of Max, Ultraseven X, both seasons of Mega Monster Battle, and Neo Ultra Q. No one has recorded any of them. The channel is affiliated with Amazon Prime, but only 80 (free on Crunchyroll) and Neos (already fansubbed) are available through it. go90 also has Neos and Ultraseven X (also already fansubbed).

In November, Tsuburaya finally regained the international distribution rights to the first six Ultra Series from UM Corporation, setting the stage for more abrupt Crunchyroll additions in 2018 and beyond. Before the ruling came down, UM licensed Ultraman to a Chinese company, BlueArc Culture Communications, for three years. Dragon Force: So Long, Ultraman was released in Chinese theaters in October. I thought this ruling would make it rather difficult to see, but, uh, it’s on YouTube already.

The Ultraman manga by Eiichi Shimizu and Tomohiro Shimoguchi reached Volume 11 in Japan, with a 3DCG film adaptation by Production I.G and Sola Digital Arts due in 2019.

4) She is Colossal

Director Nacho Vigalondo and Voltage Pictures survived a Toho lawsuit to bring us a bizarre tale of alcoholics in an upstate New York town who have the ability to summon and control giant beings in Seoul under very specific circumstances. Kaiju are often metaphors for issues that are accordingly massive in scope, like nuclear warfare or environmental devastation. Here they embody more personal problems -- not a totally novel concept, but one handled with far more depth than, say, Ultraman 80. The movie was a thud at the box office (the producers apparently ordered an upgrade to the VFX after rave festival reviews), but will hopefully find a second life on Hulu.

5) What Do You Find Between a Dragon’s Teeth?

Based on a 2014 short, The Dragon Dentist is an anime film (well, a two-part TV special that’s 90 minutes long) in which dragons and humans have reached an unusual agreement: the humans clean the dragons’ teeth, and the dragon rain down destruction on their enemies. If that sounds strange, well, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Unless Planet of the Monsters pulls off a miracle, it has my vote for best kaiju movie of 2017. Section23 released it on Blu-ray in October with an English dub included.

6) A Jaeger is You Times a Thousand

Pacific Rim Uprising, the sequel that refused to die, is mere months from release, and its trailer made a big splash at New York Comic Con this year. Mysteries abound about the plot, but we have details on an art book, prequel novel, prequel comic, novelization, and plenty of toys. (Still waiting on that tabletop RPG and the return of the Create-a-Jaeger site.)

7) Reddo Continuation, and Other Printed Works

IDW may be finished with Godzilla, but Matt Frank is far from finished with kaiju comics. He sold The Last Hope, his Heisei Gamera prequel doujinshi, at G-Fest this year, and announced in October that he would be writing and drawing a comic about Redman, the murderous Seventies “hero” of recent YouTube fame. Phase 6, the same company reprinting Godzilla: Rulers of Earth in Japan, is the publisher. Other kaiju comics this year: Season 3 of Xander Cannon’s always-excellent Kaijumax (which I need to finish reading), Greg Pak’s Mech Cadet Yu (which I need to start), and Marvel’s crossover event/miniseries Monsters Unleashed (which I am too intimidated to start).

And in the realm of prose: Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski published their long-anticipated Ishiro Honda biography, providing a comprehensive look at the legendary kaiju director’s life and career. Raffael Coronelli threw his hat into the authors’ ring with Daikaiju Yuki and Y2K: Yuki Conquers the World, post-apocalyptic epics about the Pantheon Colossi and the human heroes who join with them to protect the world.

Oh, and some guy named Michael Callari announced he was writing a book on the Gamera series.

8) Every Monster Has a Country

The movie-mockers of Mystery Science Theater 3000 have been linked with giant monsters since the beginning, and this year’s Netflix revival saw them taking on two more: Reptilicus and Yongary, Monster from the Deep. The former led off the season, and the novelty of a monster from Denmark led to one of the show’s greatest songs.

9) In Memoriam

As I wrote in August, “Monsters, of course, live forever. The people who bring them to life are never so lucky.” 2017 saw the passing of four giants of the kaiju genre:

Haruo Nakajima (b. 1929) -- Suit actor and fight choreographer for Godzilla and countless other Toho/Tsuburaya monsters from 1954 to 1972.

Yoshimitsu Banno (b. 1931) -- Director and co-writer of the Godzilla vs. Hedorah, assistant director and co-writer of Prophecies of Nostradamus, executive producer of Godzilla (2014).

Yoshio Tsuchiya (b. 1927) -- Eccentric actor with a long tokusatsu filmography, including the titular role in The Human Vapor, the Xian Leader in Invasion of Astro-Monster, and Shindo in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah.

Chikara Hashimoto (b. 1933) -- Suit actor for Daimajin in Daiei’s trilogy and Daimon in Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare.

#godzilla #ultraman #king kong #kong skull island #godzilla planet of the monsters #ultraman geed #mst3k #colossal #the dragon dentist

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wrestlewriting · 7 years

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Fall Back Down, Pt. 4 [Finn Balor]

Part One. Part Two. Part Three.

Author note: This is the story that just keeps happening even when I don’t think it will. So let’s just agree there will probably be a part five at some point and be done with it.

This is just all fluff. This story is basically my happy place at this point.

Remember to thank SPARKLEEEE CUPPPP ✨✨✨✨ for the help.

@thebadchic @running-ropes @chasingeverybreakingwave @thegenericluchadora @wrestlingnoob @alexahood21 @castielscamander @cosmicswimming @spine-buster @heelturn-timesten @crookedmoonsaultpunk @morgunsilver @wrasslin-rollins @imnobodiesbitch @morgancorbin @reigningambrollins @ryrybebe @bbmbabe @allhailthe-demonking @rebelfleur22 @alynevelludo2 @im-indestructible @heelstarla @sixdegreesofsamson @vixxyvampire @ihtscuddlesbeeetchx3 @valeonmars @pjanina13 @spot-of-bother @bolieve-that @theelitevillian @nickysmum1909 @ortonaholic

The rain was louder than you thought it would be. Maybe it was just you, but rain sounded different when it hit different surfaces. And as it hit the very top of the apartment building, and onto the concrete surrounding the empty pool that belonged to the complex, it felt like it was in surround sound.

You knew the storm would pass soon, maybe last a half hour more if you were lucky, but it was perfect for right now.

Even though it was 2 AM, the lights scattered among the buildings gave a soft glow in places. It was still fairly dark overall, only with spots of light.

It was peaceful. No one else in sight, out and about. Not that you expected anyone to be at this hour and in this weather, but there could always be someone like you who wanted to be out.

Things had been…a lot different lately.

Just a bit over three months ago, you’d had a decent understanding of your life. You’d suffered a big loss in your father’s death, but you were figuring it out. You were wrestling for NXT and training new ladies on the side. You had great friends and colleagues surrounding you. Best friends, a family, even.

And then Finn had kissed you.

That night in your apartment, it still felt as fresh as it had happened yesterday. Finn helping you decorate, having established a routine of seeing one another on weekends. An unspoken calmness and understanding between the two of you.

After that night…there had been many more kisses. There had been actual cliché dates, nights at restaurants and movies and mini golf. Finn had made sure to properly court you in his own way, making sure you understood with each date that he was serious.

The relationship between the two of you was building with each day. There was a strong foundation of friendship and a new strength in your intimacy. It helped that he was around Florida a lot, working through his injury. You’d gotten to really know each other, have time together. Come to care for and rely on each other.

You spent every day together in some capacity.

And then this weekend came, and Finn eagerly got to return to the ring, actually have a real match, at the house shows. When he had found out he’d be doing it, he had grabbed you and spun you around like a ragdoll out of his excitement.

You had been happy for him because you knew he was happy. He loved wrestling, it was what he did, and it was where he belonged. But the selfish part of you, that part of you was bitter that he was one step closer to being back on the road full time. And therefore one step closer to being away from you more often than not.

Everyone assumed he would have been at RAW tonight given his weekend in-ring return, but instead he’d had you take a picture of him with the TV remotes, teasing that he was at home.

His home, where you’d been spending a lot more time since the new year. Though, he’d been spending equal amounts at your place.

The sound of the sliding door behind you didn’t startle you. Somehow you’d known Finn would find his way out of bed and onto the balcony.

“Hey you.” His voice was quiet, still full of sleep. You glanced back over your shoulder, finding he had put on a t-shirt before coming out, as he’d only gone to bed in shorts. His hair was sticking up more at the front, mussed up in the back in its own way.

“Hey,” was your whispered response, watching as he shuffled his way onto the balcony. You were sitting in the chair in the corner, your legs crisscrossed under yourself. Finn dragged the other chair over, placing it next to yours. You watched him through all this, smiling softly when he less-than-slowly plopped down into the chair. “You coulda stayed in bed.”

“Nah, it’s fine,” he replied, leaning back, looking out over the balcony. “You’ve been out here a while, yea?”

“Not sure,” you shrugged, though he wasn’t looking at you. “Hour or so, I guess?”

“I heard you get up. Figured you’d come back not too long after. You usually do.”

You usually do.

The sentence stuck with you for some reason. Three months in, and he already had an idea of your routines, your habits, an understanding of who you were. To be fair, your friendship for long prior to a relationship fed into it, but your bedroom behaviors were definitely only a recent discovery.

“Why did ya come out here?”

“Rain is kind of…my thing,” you stated, shifting in your chair to bring your knees to your chest, resting your chin atop them. “When I was little, Kate and I would go outside and spin around in the showers. We’d sit together in the garage and watch the lightning.” A wistful smile was on your face as you tried to see as many of the droplets in the air as possible. “And whenever…whenever I’ve felt like I truly needed my dad, needed some sign that it would all be OK these last few months…it’s rained.”

“Did you need that tonight?”

“Maybe? Sort of, but not really. It’s always a nice reminder,” you mused, throwing him a look before turning your eyes back out over the balcony.

“That was…a vague and unhelpful response,” Finn pointed out. You had to give him credit for calling your bullshit.

You took in a deep breath, slowly letting it out.

Mind as well just let it all out now.

“I’m gonna stop wrestling.”

“WHAT?!” His reaction was immediate. Finn sat up straight in his chair, turning as much as he could towards you.

“Relax,” you instructed, your tone light, as you looked over towards him. “I was talking with Matt and Sara, and I think I’m gonna switch over to full-time trainer. And Hunter mentioned wanting me to come on the road some too, to work with the ladies on the main roster.”

Finn looked…still a bit panicked, to be honest. But the tension appeared to leave his body more as your words seemed to process in his mind.

“Are you…are you sure about this? I mean, I’ll support you, I will…. But, have you done everythin’ you’ve wanted to? Is there a reason you’re doin’ this?”

“Do you remember when we were at the zoo last summer?” He seemed confused at the topic change.

“A little, yea.”

“We were talking about the future, and I said that someday I would just know when I was OK to walk away from wrestling,” you remembered. “Finn, I’m OK to walk away now.”

“…we were talking about havin’ kids,” he seemed to suddenly remember.

“Technically, yes, we were. But that’s not…that’s not what now is. Please, don’t think I’m trying to plan some crazy ass future for you and me and us, that’s definitely not happening. I’m just…I’m good to stop this part of my life, and do something…more, different, that I still love. I want to feel useful, not lost in the shuffle.”

Finn’s gaze moved over you, apparently trying to assess your seriousness and honesty. You could understand why he was surprised; you had anticipated it. The few informal talks, and then more formal meetings, you’d had at NXT about this idea you hadn’t told him about. You hadn’t wanted to bring it up until you felt sure of it, felt you had a good idea of what you wanted to do. Looking down towards the concrete, you awaited his next question or statement or concern.

“What if…what if I want to plan for our future?”

Your eyes unintentionally widened as you heard his question, as your gaze cut back towards him. He was no longer watching you, his own eyes back out into the rain.

“I would say you’re sleep drunk and I don’t think you’re thinking right,” was your answer.

“I’m thinkin’ just fine, darlin’,” Finn countered, looking towards you, the picture of sincerity. “We’ve known each other a long time. This, us, this isn’t just accidental. This isn’t just for fun, at least not for me. There’s a…reason, we’ve ended up here, together. And I just…I want to know, we’re thinkin’ about the same things for the future. I’m not saying tomorrow, I’m not saying next year even. But I want to know, at least some day, these things are at least possible for us.”

Every part of your body felt frozen, and at the same time like it was vibrating.

How had a discussion about your career path turned into a discussion about the state of your relationship with Finn? Why did he have to remember that detail about kids from the conversation from the zoo? Your heart was beating irregularly as you took in his words, understanding he wasn’t just talking to talk.

“Anything is possible in the future,” you finally spoke. “Things can change at any moment. But right now, if I had a say in it, had any control… I don’t see myself without you.”

The smile was almost immediate on his face, if not a bit bashful as well.

It seemed a bit…intense to be having this conversation at only three months into this relationship. But Finn was right in saying you’d known each other for a long time, been good friends for months on months prior to becoming more. It wasn’t like you didn’t know he wanted to have kids someday, and he clearly knew you did too. You just hadn’t ever thought you’d be having the conversation with Finn about doing that with Finn.

But, it was nice to know you were at least both on the same trajectory for life, together.

“C’mon,” you stated, sliding off your chair, the rain having slowed significantly. “Let’s go back to bed.”

“When are ya gonna switch over to training?” Finn asked, still sitting as you stood before him.

“After Wrestlemania. Why?”

“Just wanna know how much longer I get to cheer on my girl.” You rolled your eyes at his words and the grin that accompanied them.

“Goober,” you declared. His smile only widened at that. Reaching out your hand, you waited for him to take it. He finally did, lacing your fingers together as he stood up. Except when you went to walk towards the door back inside, he didn’t move. You turned back to him, awaiting an explanation.

“You’re sure this is what ya wanna do?” Finn confirmed softly, his eyes searching yours as you stood a few inches apart.

“I’m sure,” you assured him.

“Alright,” was his response, before stepping closer in order to kiss you lightly. You stood up on your toes ever so much to meet him, sliding your arm around his waist.

You understood his hesitancy, uncertainty, over your decision. This was going to be a change for you, having been an active wrestler for so many years. And it was going to be another change for him, as he was working towards being back on the main roster, and being away from you.

The long hope of you ever joining him on the main roster was gone. Though, not entirely, as you had the opportunity to work backstage at least.

By the time you broke the kiss, and both finally headed back into the apartment, the rain had stopped.

#finn balor fan fiction #finn balor fanfic #finn balor imagine #finn balor fan fic #finn balor fanfition #finn balor #wwe imagine #wwe fanfiction #wwe fan fiction #wwe fan fic #wrestling fanfic #wrestling fan fiction #wrestling imagine #wrestling fan fic

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jawllines · 7 years

Note

im crYING PLEASE SHARE WHAT U HAVE OF SINGLE DAD HARRY SO FAR

OKAY HERE IT IS IT ISNT A LOT BUT LIKE KIND OF A LOT I STARTED WRITING A WHILE AGO

Y/N falls a lot.

Its an unexplored phenomenon that happened upon her suddenly; she thinks she might've been on the end of some curse, if you asked her, that's how sudden it'd been. As if she'd ticked off a witch somehow and she damned her to a life of ungainly inelegance that gets her fixed into some shitty situations. Like once she'd tripped over her feet, reached out for something to grab onto and unintentionally knocked over two motorcycles outside of a cute diner that she then had to hall ass from (her friend in toe). Another time she tripped over the curb, sloshed her coffee on a small child and had to deal with a very bitter mother. Once she'd even stumbled a little too far beyond a bush at a club she 100% wasn't meant to be at, and found her history professor getting his nether regions fondled by a cute, blond beefcake. Hell, she was even losing her job soon because of it -- nobody likes a waitress who spills everything.

It's safe to say, it was a terrible thing she's got going for her. . .except her history professor will often be lenient with her and extending dates or grading easier, but she thinks it's because he's married and she's carrying his secret with him -- but other than that, mostly bad.

So when she'd tumbled down outside of a particularly big, fancy house because she'd missed a small ball rolling towards her, she only expected the worst. Especially since this isn't her neighborhood, and she sort of snuck in passed big rocks and dusty bushes with her dog tucked beneath her armpit. Now before someone goes and calls her a creep or a burglar or something, she walks her dog here for two reasons. 1 being it was a nice neighborhood that she didn't have to look over her shoulder constantly in fear, and the streets were wide, and it was nice to pretend that this is where she lived for a few minutes. 2 being that this is where Alfred -- her pug -- liked walking most.

Her tumbles often result in scratches and scrapes, but a particularly sharped pebbled area had raked across her knees. She moans in pain watching a trickle of blood, glistening in the glittery rays of sun and leaving a snail trail of a stain in it's wake -- she's got to climb over all them rocks again, but with an opened wound? So basically she's welcoming any sort of disease to just really have at her, like a buffet for tiny little viruses hiding in dirt or however that works.

Alfred is getting fussy besides her because they are sitting and not walking and Y/N's about to tell him to stop being a grump when a small voice startles her, "Oh no!" It exclaims, all snuffled and snotty and her head darts over to see a kid around 5 or 6 staring at her knee with wide eyes, "Your hurt! Oh no, oh no, oh no, you're going to die!" And he's cute -- really cute, and familiar looking but before she can get a look at him or tell him that she isn't dying or anything, it was just a scrape, he's scampering off back towards his house. For a moment she thought he'd been running away from the scene of the crime, as she presumes it was his ball she tripped over, but then with a loud cry of, "Daddy!" and a few stumbles over untied shoelaces, he's barging through his front door and leaving it wide open.

Y/N wraps her fist around Alfred's leash a few times -- the naughty bugger is trying to get away -- while she stares up at the massive house. It's the one all the neighbor's always gab to her about (they think she's a hot shot lawyer's kid down the way or something, but it's not like she's lying she just doesn't bother correcting them when they spout the wrong name to her). Messy divorce, she'd heard, including stuff thrown onto the lawn, yelling loud enough that they could hear despite the space between each house, keyed cars, angry ex's, scorned lovers of the past, a whole shebang at a party a month or two ago that involved heavy alcohol and admitting infidelity. Pretty juicy stuff, about this house, and she's about to meet one of causes of it.

She hadn't known they had a kid though. . .that makes the gabbing much less satisfying and much more sad.

The kid was cute enough -- sounded like he had loads of snot jammed up his nose, but he had soft features and soft looking hair. Very precious. . .like a cute little newsie boy; if he was her kid she would probably dress him up like that. She'd also get him to blow his nose until all of the gunk left in a gnarly hunk, but he wasn't her kid so she guesses he'll just have to stay stuffed up and uncomfortable. Or a least she thinks he might be uncomfortable because she's surely uncomfortable when she can't breathe but --

"Here Daddy look!" The voice starts again and Y/N looks up to where she sees the boy again and a very frazzled looking man running out in a robe that's just barely tied and his hair wrapped up in a towel and Y/N's mouth falls open.

His father. . .his father was very much Harry Styles.

"She's going to die, Daddy, and it's 'cos of me ball." He goes again, wiping at his nose on the sleeve of his shirt and Harry freaking Styles smiles warmly as he let's his son -- his son who Y/N knows is named Theodore because she's been following this man's life since her awkward teenage years -- tug him down to his level, before a more apologetic smile lands on Y/N.

"She's not going to die Pet," he sighs, "Just a scrape is all -- what've I told you about playing outside when I'm not out with you?" It's very fatherly, how he says it, and Y/N would coo probably if not for feeling so star struck and also the throbbing pain in her knee.

Theodore looks down sadly, "Said not to, or I might get smushed by a car," he then turns to Y/N as if to explain himself, "'cos m'not so good at lookin bof ways."

"Understandable," Y/N tells him, "I'm not very good at looking both ways either."

Theodore grins, like he's forgotten he's getting scolded and points towards her pug who is sitting in a huff besides her, "Wha's your dog's name?"

"Alfred," she answers easily, leaning over and heaving the oversized Pug from her left to her right so he was closer to the boy and his famous father that was hovering over them suspiciously quiet, like he was trying to see how this might play out, "He's a bit cross with me because of the fall so that's why he looks like such a grump. You can pet him if you want, he loves getting rubbed on his head," she shows him how before moving her hand so his small, chubby fingers could replace hers -- she nearly expected him to be rough like most kids are with pets, but he's gentle in how he moves his fingers and his mouth falls open in awe like he'd never seen a dog before.

"I'm sorry about the ball," Harry starts suddenly, and Y/N jumps a bit, having been staring at her pug and the kid, "I -- your knee is pretty busted up. Are you able to walk? Which house is yours I can take you to --"

"No, no, it's fine, don't worry I --" she stutters some, because how terrible would it be to admit she doesn't even live around here? "I think I can make it."

Pressing her palms into the ground, she wobbles herself up to a stand the best she can without wincing too much in pain. She didn't want him to think she was being overdramatic or anything, even though it did hurt like a bitch and she wasn't 100% sure how she was going to climb over the rock and bushes again. Fact of the matter is she is meeting her idol with blood dribbling down her leg in a manner that makes her look like a total stalker, so she can't even say she's a fan.

When she gains her footing, she is about to sigh in relief but a gust of wind and a tug from Alfred nearly sends her tumbling down again, if not for an arm clasping around her bicep. A squeak echoes through he basically empty street and bounces back into her ears as she tries to regain the footing she lost, "Sorry, thank you."

Harry eyes her suspiciously before shaking his head, "C'mon, lets get you cleaned up. D'ya think you could make it to the porch with me?"

"Oh, no, I wouldn't want to be a bother --"

"You aren't," he tells her, holding out his arm, "Worry that might get infected though, and you can barely stand so I can't imagine you walking home in this state -- might tumble and make it worse." Y/N takes it hesitantly, twisting the leash around her fist again so that Alfred wouldn't try making a run for it with the kid in tow. They start making their way towards the huge home, Y/N trying to hobble quick enough to match his pace and also trying not to be knocked over with the sheer fact that her clumsiness worked out in her favor this time, only not so much as well. The circumstances in which she imagined herself ending up at Harry Styles' house didn't normally begin with his kid trailing behind them and her knee stained Scarlet, nor did it include Alfred's snorting, slunky way of toddling through the new surroundings.

Harry disappears for a moment inside with Theodore in in tow and remerges with a first aid kit. She keeps her hands settled in her lap, looking around with wide, wondrous eyes at the expansive lawn and fountain accompanying it, hedges sculpted for a king it looked like, grass kept well and green, and as the reality of the situation settles, she feels a slight panic set in, and she hopes she's not shaking because her insides are vibrating and she feels like she might cry. At least the crying she could blame on the knee, but there's so much that she wants to say to him and yet she can't think of anything at all, all at once.

So she sits still and quiet, save for a stern, "Be good, Alfred." and watches as the Pug sits in a huff besides Theodore who keeps a hand carefully between Alfred's ears.

"You'll save her daddy, right?" He asks hesitantly, like he might have confidence in his father but also knows that he's a singer and an actor not a doctor, and as far as he is concerned right now Y/N is bleeding out. There is a nervous light in his eyes that almost convinces Y/N that she's on her way out too, brows furrowing and another stir of a panic sparking in her but Harry tuts his tongue.

"Pet, what did I say? She's okay. Aren't you?" He looks towards Y/N and his eyes are very sweet and kind and he looks a bit sleepy doesn't he? Maybe he'd just woken up a little while ago, and now she feels bad that she disturbed his morning, as she nods quickly and flickers her gaze back to Theodore.

"Right as rain, promise." She holds out her pinkie finger and wriggles it, "Just a scratch is all."

"See?" Harry bends down before her, and she jumps a bit when he swipes up her leg to clear off the blood stain, "She's fine. Why don't yeh go play with Mr. Snuggles in your room, Teddy?"

"Nuh-uh," he tells him, "You got out the sprays -- spray is the worst part, so I gots t'a hold her hand during." With this Harry sighs as his son scrambles up to stand, rushing over to her side and grabbing at her hand with soft, chubby, sticky fingers (it might be snot from his stuffy nose, but she tries not to think about it too much), as he stares with big eyes while his father reaches out for the spray, slides his hand beneath Y/N's knee (she also tries not to think about that too much either, because this is not how she imagined a scenario in which Harry Styles was touching her would go).

Cautiously, he holds it above the scrape, "This is going to sting a bit, yeah?" He warns and Theodore's grasp becomes tighter, "Think you'll manage?"

"Who's to say?" Y/N jokes and she manages to get a small smile out of him before he spritzes it over her wound. And Y/N hisses a bit, Theodore holding even tighter -- tiny cratered half moons dug into her palm from his nails -- and Alfred snorts like some might have ricocheted onto him. When Y/N doesn't immediately start sobbing underneath the pain of the sting, Theodore lets up on her hand while his dad swipes petroleum jelly on the inside of a band aid.

"There," he utters, crumbling up the wrapper in his hand and shoving it in his pocket, "All cleaned up. Still sore?"

"A bit, but I think I can make it home," she tells him, before shooting him a smile, "Thank you loads for patching me up -- I don't think I've been able to even afford a box of band aids in a long while." Standing up steadily, she decides it might be best to pick Alfred up so the heft of his body doesn't try to tug her forward to fall again before she's out of Harry's eyesight, "It was nice to meet you! And you," she shifts the pug over to one arm and cradles him the best she can so she can hold her hand out to Theodore, "Thanks for saving me. Don't think I would've made it without your help."

He snorts up snot and smiles shyly, shaking her hand, "Come back soon so we can checks for infections, okay? Follow ups are 'portant."

As they walk down his driveway, Harry explains, "He's caught me watching Grey's Anatomy one too many times, so medical jargon fo' him is a norm."

When they get to the end, Y/N hugs Alfred a little tighter, "Thanks again for fixing my knee."

He waves his hand as if to brush it off, "Don't mention it. Be safe, yeah? No mo' falls."

It doesn't really hit Y/N until she's on her way down the street, when the star struck wonder finally fizzles out into a more reflective understanding. That's the house with the messy couple, which means Harry Styles and his girlfriend had been the messy couple, which also means that their relationship was 100% on the rocks probably (unless the nosy old women got the wrong house, but they don't do much on Weekends besides poke their heads in everyone's business so she can't imagine them having gotten this one wrong). Sure she reads articles and stuff, but other than a few offhanded remarks about things being a bit off between the two, nothing had been expanded on.

So she has some intel that not many other people might, which is pretty cool, but then her heart is sort of sad too. That stuffy nosed cutie is going through a terrible, terrible breakup between his parents, including clothes being tossed out and screaming matches. . .the whole nine. She could only hope he didn't have to see or hear any of it. And if there was any truth in what Charlotte down the way had said about the party, the man (what she presumes now his Harry) called out the girl (her name had been Ava -- some model or something, Y/N hadn't paid much attention to her though) out for cheating on him during her time in Amsterdam, and she threw her drink onto him and stomped away and Harry had stormed up stairs (and might have broken a vase, she said some people heard a crash and glass breaking).

With a sigh, Y/N hikes herself and Alfred up the dirt hills she'd crawled over to get here; she guesses it's none of her business, but she hopes he's okay.

. . .

Y/N refrained from taking to social media about her meeting Harry, even though her fingers were itching to type out in all capitals that he smelled like Spring and fixed her knee. That would only lead to "how did you meet's" to which she would have to explain what she does, which will sound very creepy and stalker-ish even to fans online, and if she doesn't cough up the goods or a picture she might be accused of lying. So she steers clear of the topic at all costs on the internet.

Her friend Michael had not heard the end of it, however, because as soon as it all settled into her head what had happened she'd called him immediately. Talking at 100 words a second, explaining the whole thing, beginning to hyperventilate to the point he told her to locate a paper bag. It was amazing and so real and he was so real and "His hair was wrapped in a towel, how cute is that?"

Though she tells Michael of the encounter, she doesn't share the nitty gritty details of it, like how the house he is in was apparently the same house that a messy break up occurred or how tired he looked. Not because she didn't trust him with this information but something inside her tells her it's not her place to share his business, especially when she's no real understanding of the situation. Like, how truthful could Sabrina Kibbleton be anyways? Surely if it were that messy it would've had to end up in the papers one way or another, like a proper Brad/Angelina/Jennifer style blow up on every National Enquirer insight. The headlines different exaggerated variations Ava files for custody: a dirty battle in court over Theodore or maybe even "She's a *&%@!" - Harry yells in Whole Foods, humiliating Ava in front of hundreds! accompanied with a picture of him somewhere entirely different, maybe not even yelling just with his mouth kind of open, or a grumpy face.

So she keeps that for a later day, instead zeroing in on all the cute stuff, and "I don't think you understand, he said I wasn't a bother and bandaged up my knee! It was like a fairytale."

"Dunno what kind of fairytales you've been reading, but that's pretty sad." He monotones, "Oi, why are you calling to talk about it when you're coming over anyways? And how long is it g'na be, have you got the donuts yet?"

"Jeez, gimme a minute, you know Alfie likes sniffing the flowers outside the bakery before I tie him up." She huffs, tucking her phone between her shoulder an ear before bending down and looping Alfie's leash around the bench to the left of the door, "Did I tell you he had the dreamiest eyes?"

"Yes you did, about seventeen times."

#tELL ME IF YA WANT IT TO KEEP GOING #anon

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