#//dude made QUITE the impression on them. The crush has since faded a bit over the course of their journey and prioritizing it tho

[dutybcrne]

Lumine has mulled over the idea of finding love in someone in Teyvat and settling down with them, especially after getting to know certain people. She’s aware it’s an exceedingly self-indulgent idea, esp since she doesn’t KNOW if she’ll choose to stay in Teyvat once she gets through to Aether ( if they have to leave Teyvat to keep the Abyss’s influence away from him, so be it ). But she genuinely has thought it over and imagined not only what wedding she’d like, but also what life there would be like for her and her spouse, where she would like to spend their married lives at.

[writingwitchly]

James the hero

Word count: 2k

A/N: Thank you to @alrightginger @women-inthe-sequel @magic-girl-in-a-muggle-world @jamesandthedog @blitheringmcgonagall @all-perks-of-not-being-me @erase-grace​ @beaubcxton​ for supporting such a silly idea. I hope you like this at least a fraction of how much I like your writing and personality

Pairing: Jily

Summary: If I wrote a summary, I’d ruin the surprise.

***

When Mrs. potter walked in the living room of the Potter Mansion, she felt that something was wrong. Her skin prickled, and her Mom senses were alert for the first time since two weeks ago, when the Hogwarts express had left in direction of Scotland.

Her eyes scanned the place: Mimsy—their cat—didn’t seem to have broken anything for once, nor had it scratched any of her favorite pillows; the fireplace harbored no fire, so the house couldn’t be burning down—from there , at least; and her husband was lazily going through the Daily Prophet, seated on his armchair.

Really, everything seemed to be quite alright-

-until she noticed the little badly wrapped parcel on one of the glass tables.

That had no business in her living room.

“Fleamont?” she called, creasing her brow. “What is that ?”

The man raised his cheerful eyes from the newspaper, and peeped at her for a few seconds with his most innocent look. When her severe expression made it clear that he couldn’t get easily out of this one, he tried to hide his sheepish smile behind the publication.

“Something for James. I’m waiting for the owl to come back to send it over,” he muttered, hoping that she would be satisfied with this answer.

Of course, she wasn’t.

“Fleamont,” Mrs. Potter took a step toward the brown wrapping, and lifted it in the air to inspect it. “I swear to Merlin, if you get my son into detention once more -”

Mr. Potter clicked his tongue on his palate, and dropped the Daily Prophet on his lap, half-purposefully slapping the Minister of Magic’s squeamish face, “May I remind you, darling, that this was an accident. Minerva oughtn’t to punish her students because-”

“Somebody’s hair has turned into sheep fur? No, surely not,” Mrs. Potter burst, trying to decipher the letters that labelled the bottle—for it was a bottle, in the parcel—through the thick paper. “Mind you, maybe when one or two students get such a relooking, one could think of a mistake in the shampoo brewing. But when half the staff walks around the castle with a fleece on their head for an entire week, with not charm to solve it-” When she looked down from the little package, her husband had found cover once more behind an outraged Minister of Magic. “ Fleamont .”

“Fine,” Mr. Potter said, sending the newspaper flying to the other end of the room. “I might have sent James some Mutton Mixture for testing last time, but this is a completely safe product.” He stood up, and gently took the parcel from his wife’s hand. “Which I am going to send right now, with a public owl, so there will be peace again under this roof.”

Mr. Potter left a little peck on his wife’s cheek, took his hat from the coat rail, and opened the door.

“Fleamont,” Mrs. Potter called again, “What is it for?”

She just heard the words “impress” and “girl” before she was alone for good in the house.

 ***

James’ feet-tapping had become so irksome that Sirius couldn’t get himself to gulp down any food anymore.

“Alright. What is it, Prongs?”

For an answer, James only beamed—and Sirius very much felt like throwing him the rest of his porridge square in the face. Hadn’t it been for Remus-

“What Pads is trying to say, Prongs,” the lanky boy articulated between two mouthfuls of tart, “Is that you’re fucking annoying, beating some dumb rhythm and looking like you’ve been told that Snivellus got bitten by a Blast-ended Skrewt.”

“Has he?” Peter shrilled. His eager expression faded when Sirius muttered that no, but he wished.

Ignoring this, James leaned toward the pumpkin juice carafe, placed between their four plates.

“I have a plan,” he whispered, and his eyes immediately darted to the redheaded girl that was sitting at the far end of the bench.

Sirius dropped his head, and Remus and Peter groaned, but the three boys listened nonetheless.

***

Everything was clear in James’ head.

Ever since Lily had come back from summer vacations, she hadn’t stopped going on about this Muggle spy movie. She loved the actor, she loved the story, she loved the character, and she couldn’t stop gushing about it all.

Of course, this annoyed James very much.

It’s not like him and Lily were good friends—or were friends at all, to be honest—but they were on fairly good terms, and James was working his way to become her hero—it is a truth universally acknowledged that girls fall in love with their heroes. So the fact that a fictional bloke was standing in his way was clearly the worst of all things.

To bypass the whole my-crush-of-forever-keeps-swooning-over-a-fictional-dude-and-thus-does-not-notice-me-as-she-should situation, James had first brooded quite a lot. But as he was not too much of the emo type—it made him too similar to a certain slimehead he found absolutely repulsive—, he had tried to get Marlene and Dorcas to talk Lily out of her fangirling. Which would have worked, had he not gotten not too politely rebuked for apparently acting like a creep.

James had considered every other solution, but had come out with none that would work: dueling, arranging a date with another girl, and pranking would of course be pointless, as the guy was fictional, for Merlin’s sake;  throwing a tantrum or threatening to fling himself from the astronomy tower seemed to be a bit dramatic, and he doubted that McGonagall would ever forgive him if he wrote “Hey Lily, I am here,” on any wall of the castle.  She still hadn’t forgiven him for the last time he’d done it.

So, at this point, James had found himself in quite a dead end, and Lily kept talking about that cold-blooded, heart-stealing spy with flushed cheeks.

Yet, one day-

One day, James heard the name of the character, and something clicked in his head.

He had a plan.

***

“Do we tell him or-?”

Remus slapped Sirius round the head, “Come on Pads, James is our best friend. Between having a good laugh, or telling him the truth, we shouldn’t even hesitate.”

As they watched the bespectacled boy climbing the stairs to the common room, parcel at hand, the three-fourth of the Marauders grinned, loyal to their rebellious teenager natures.

“‘Course we ain’t telling him,” Peter concluded.

***

As James got out of the bathroom, an electric silence fell in the sixth year Gryffindors’ room.

“So?” he asked, wiping the mist away from his glasses with the fabric of his t-shirt.

The three other young men thanked Merlin that he couldn’t see shit without those, because it let them enough time to regain their composure.

“Mate,” Sirius said, when his best friend's hazel eyes finally put his face into focus.

He whistled, and that seemed to be enough to James. He looked at his friends with expectancy,

“Are you coming to witness my triumph?”

A little silence followed, and Remus considered throwing himself out of the window to avoid chuckling. But this would mean missing the next scene, so not thank you.

“‘Course,” Sirius said, his face professionally solemn.

“Wouldn’t want to miss that,” Remus added, skillfully turning his snort into a cough.

James sought Peter’s answer, but the boy just nodded. (Fact is, he had a part to add too, but he was chewing the inside of his cheeks really hard, and didn’t trust himself to contain his laughter otherwise.)

James beamed, and turned around, riding one of his hands in his messy hair. (That hadn’t changed.)

As the boys followed him toward the common room, Sirius let out his umpteenth groan, and Peter nearly suffocated.

***

“Oi, Evans!”

At the sound of James’ voice, Lily prepared herself to execute the most massive eye-roll in history of eye-rolls. What did he want, now? Couldn’t she study in peace on a Sunday morning? Considering the looks she spotted on her friends’ faces, their inner voices were shouting the same.

Still, when Lily turned around, a salty remark already on the tip of her tongue, all the air was knocked out of her lungs, and her jaw dropped somewhere near the floor. 

For a second, she considered that the sunlight coming through the window might be playing her some wicked trick.

“James-” she whispered in shock, struggling for words that didn’t want to line up in her mind. “You’re- you’re-”

“You’re blond!” Marlene squeaked, raising a hand to her mouth, only to let it drop soon after.

To her cry, all the students in the room looked up from their books, essays, or games of exploding snaps. Some of them gasped, while the other half choked on their saliva.

“Yes,” James said, puffing his chest up with a smug smile. “Like that Muggle spy you always talk about, Evans.”

He wriggled his eyebrows at Lily, in that ridiculous way that he surely believed was charming.

Some sort of noise escaped Lily’s throat—similar to the squeaks that Peter made when somebody told him it was exams day—and said boy had to take one of the cushions from the couch to muffle his wave of giggles.

From the floor, Mary and Dorcas were still staring with open mouths, and the former braced herself, blushing for James, hoping that Lily wouldn’t be too hard on him: it was a cute thought, after all.

“What,” James asked, when the awkwardness in the room became so palpable that even he could sense it. “Have I grown a horn or-”

“See, Prongs,” Remus finally said, torn between a smile of pure amusement, or one of slight guilt. “The fact is that-”

“You look like him,” Lily cut across the lanky boy, springing from the floor. “You exactly look like James Blond.”

Sirius’ expression went from I’m-on-the-verge-of-dying-from-laughter to excuse-me-but-what-the-fuck??

“It’s-” her voice came out a bit strangled, laughter threatening to burst from her throat at the realization of his misinterpretation, but she checked herself, and swallowed.

She couldn’t entirely bite back her smile, though, but made it as gentle as she could. There was even a slight hint of red on her cheeks.

“It was kind of stupid of you, Potter-”

She was close enough to him now for his nose to face her forehead. One of her hands rose, as if to touch the pseudo-sunburned streaks of his hair, but she seemed to ditch the idea. Instead, she propped herself on the point of her toes, and left a swift kiss on his cheek.

“But it’s a nice surprise.”

When she left towards the dormitory, holding a hand to her mouth, the Marauders were so surprised that Sirius forgot to whistle.

***

It turned out that Mr. Potter had been quite mistaken about his affirmation: they dying lotion wasn’t as safe as he’d believed. Just like it had happened with the Mutton Mixture, the Blonde Brew lasted one week before starting to fade away.

Now, I could leave to you the task of imagining how these seven days went by, but something tells me that, maybe, you’d like to hear it from me.

The first to notice, apart from the Gryffindor students, was a very confused Filch. During his morning stroll, before which he had maybe drank a cup too much, it caused him a shock to see a blonde replica of James Potter—for his first thought was that it was a clone of his worst nightmare wandering around, you see. Filch ran to Mrs. Pomfrey in panic, and swore to never drink a drop of firewhiskey again, or it’d cause him a stroke, sooner or later. He instead moved on to vibringvodka.

When Professor McGonagall and a couple of other teachers came across James, in the hallways, they blinked furiously for a couple of seconds, but did not even try to understand. There was some relief in their countenance, as if they were just glad their own hair hadn’t been turned into something else, this time.

Professor Dumbledore eyed James’ mane very intently during dinners, and envied him this dazzling color for a while, while Professor Slughorn got quite distracted by the change, and blew some cauldrons during lessons.

As for the core of the Hogwarts student, anyone who even thought about telling James about his little mistake ended up jinxed, spluttering slugs instead of words. Said students never knew how it happened to them, but when they turned around to race toward the Hospital Wing, they’d always bypass a redhead, her rosy cheeks stretched in a fond smile.

Somehow, James had become something close to being Lily’s hero.

[spidey-dood]

Guitars and Headaches - Peter Parker x singer!fem!reader

Summary: The one where Peter Parker has a crush on the girl with the voice of an angel.

Warnings: None? Fluff w/ some cringe. Also unedited whoops. 

Word Count: 1417

A/N: My first fic!! I’m actually kind of proud of how this turned out?? Like it’s not my best and I absolutely hate how I ended it but?? I don't know I’m just happy that I’m getting into writing again because I haven't had any motivation for sooo long!! Feel free to leave feedback or send in requests!! Also I might do a part 2 for this?? I was going to write more but it felt right to end it there sooo yeah I might make a part two with the rest!!

Masterlist

The café was buzzing with warm chatter when Peter Parker walked in, Ned and MJ in tow. It was a Friday night and the trio had decided to visit one of the many small cafés of New York, and this one just so happened to be hosting an open mic. The crowd held a modest amount of people, all intently watching the performer on stage -a man with an acoustic guitar singing about some sort of heartbreak. He wasn't there for much longer, though, as he had been nearing the end of his song when the group had walked in, and was now mumbling a few words of thanks before leaving the small stage. One of the baristas, clad in black jeans and a coffee stained t-shirt, approached the microphone as the crowd applauded. He held a notepad in his hand, reading the next person’s name off the paper. 

“Our next performer will be y/n!”, he said a little too enthusiastically for ten o’clock on a Friday night. Regardless, the crowd erupted into yet another round of applause as a girl stepped onto the stage, an electric guitar slung around her shoulders by the leather strap. She plugged the guitar into an amp before fiddling with the settings a little bit. A few words of encouragement emitted from the crowd, suggesting that she was a regular performer. The girl stood up, standing in front of the microphone and smiling at the audience. It was now that Peter got a good view of her face, his mouth parting ever so slightly at the sight of her. 

Her eyes sparkled under the café lights, holding such joy and passion that made butterflies erupt in his stomach. Her hair sat in soft waves, draping over her shoulders, and she wore a little red dress with buttons down the centre that twirled around her legs when she moved. Peter thought she was absolutely captivating, however he was dragged out of his trance when MJ released an amused snort.

“Maybe you should take a picture, Parker. It’d sure last longer”, she remarked, causing a blush to rise to his cheeks. 

“What? I wasn't staring”, he said, eyebrows knotting together. He knew it was pointless, though. It was quite obvious that he’d been staring and MJ had caught him.

“Uh, yeah dude, you were”, Ned said.

“And it was creepy”, MJ added, only intensifying Peter’s embarrassment. It quickly faded though when the girl began to sing, bringing to Peter‘s attention that he hadn't heard her introduce herself since he was too busy being embarrassed by his friends. He watched as she began to strum the guitar, playing fluid chords that complimented her voice perfectly. Her voice was warm and smooth, hitting every note flawlessly. Peter noticed that her face was very animated when she sang -her eyebrows raising when she hit high notes, and furrowing when she sang low. Her boot clad feet tapped to the rhythm of the song, syncing with Peter’s increased heartrate. The song ended all too soon, and the girl was taking a brief bow before walking off stage.

“Wow”, MJ said, “she was-”

“-amazing”, Peter interrupted, his voice coming out as more of a sigh. MJ glared at him for interrupting her, however nodded her head in agreement.

“You're still a creep for staring though”, she said, “I’m going to get a drink -you want anything?”

Peter shook his head, his mind still clouded with the girl. Ned, however, nodded eagerly and followed MJ to the counter, leaving Peter on his own. Realising how awkward he looked standing on his own, he sat at a nearby bench which faced the window. He took out his phone and scrolled though his Instagram, trying to look more casual and yet still managing to look incredibly awkward. It didn't help when someone walked past and an unknown object collided with the back of his head. Whatever it was, it hurt. Peter held the back of his head as he hissed in pain.

“Oh my gosh, I am so sorry”, a feminine voice sputtered, grabbing Peter’s attention. It was the girl from before, “I wasn't paying attention and I had my guitar on my back and I forgot that it sticks out a lot and -is your head okay?”

A blush spread across her cheeks from her excessive talking -she did that a lot, especially when she was nervous. Peter gave her a small smile, ignoring the light throbbing pain in his head.

“Don't worry about it”, he said, “I’m fine.”

She let out a relieved sigh, before taking a seat next to him at the bench. She still had her guitar on her back and was careful not to hit anyone else with it as she pulled herself up on the stool. Unbeknownst to Peter, Ned and MJ had been watching the encounter from another table, choosing not to interrupt the pair. 

“I’m y/n”, the girl smiled, holding out her hand for Peter to shake. He gently took it, trying not to think about how soft her palm was.

“Peter”, he replied, “I, uh, watched you sing before -you’re really good.”

“Thanks”, she said, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. She had always been shy about receiving compliments, especially when they were coming from a cute boy, and this boy she thought was very cute. She had a thing for brown eyes, and his were making her stomach flip. Not to mention the little curl of hair that fell onto his forehead, which she thought was adorable. 

“Um, do you sing here often?”, he asked, wanting desperately to make conversation so she wouldn't leave. 

“Almost every Friday night”, she nodded, “my dad’s the owner so I convinced him to start hosting open mics every week, it helped me get over my stage fright, y’know, since there aren't that many people here -or at least, there weren't many when I started.”

Peter hung onto her every word -her voice sounded beautiful even when she was merely talking. He couldn't believe that a girl like her had ever suffered from stage fright -especially after seeing how natural she looked on stage.

“Well that's good, because y’know, you’re really good”, he exhaled, his mind too occupied by her to speak properly.

“You said that already”, she laughed, “but thanks, do you have any hobbies?”

Peter blushed in embarrassment, “uh, y-yeah, I like, um, science.”

“Impressive”, she said, “I’m terrible at science, I’m like, last in my class.”

“I could help you”, he blurted, a little too eagerly, “I m-mean, if you wanted.”

Oh god, he thought, she’s going to think you’re a weirdo!

“Actually, yeah, that’d be great”, she replied, trying not to laugh at the nervous boy.

“Really?”, he said, his voice failing to hide his excitement, “I mean, um, we could do dinner if you wanted?”

“Where you would teach me science?”, she asked, amused. Peter blushed again, mentally scolding himself for being an idiot.

“U-uh, or just as a date”, he mumbled, figuring he had nothing left to lose. This brought a blush to her face, and she fiddled with the ends of her hair. 

Please say yes, he mentally prayed, not wanting to be rejected even after his hopeless attempt at asking her out.

“Sure”, she smiled, “dinner sounds great.”

He had to take a moment to make sure he’d heard her correctly. Was she really saying yes even after he’d made a complete fool of himself? 

“C-cool”, he stuttered, “um, could I maybe get your number?”

She nodded, taking her phone out of her pocket and handing it to him. He did the same as they put their numbers into each other's phones. She added a music emoji next to her name, handing his phone back with a smile.

“I have to go, but I’m looking forward to that date”, she grinned, shifting herself off the stool and walking off, but not before looking over her shoulder and sending him another sweet smile. He didn't even notice his dumbfounded expression as he waved at her retreating figure. MJ and Ned walked over, each of them holding a glass of lemonade.

“Finally”, MJ huffed, “we’d been waiting for you guys for like, twenty minutes!”

“Wait, you were watching us?”, he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, how else were we meant to make sure you got her number?”, Ned replied, causing Peter to glare at him.

“Well, I guess it was worth it, because I got myself a date.”

[stevecanmakeanythingnerdy]

Battle #10

Beastie Boys: Licensed To Ill ( Side 1 )

Vs.

Slade: Rogues Gallery ( Side 2 )

Beastie Boys: Licensed To Ill ( Side 1 )

The Beastie Boys were an American hip hop group from New York City formed in 1981. The group was composed of Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass) and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar, programming). Originally The Beastie Boys were formed as a four-piece hardcore punk band, the Young Aborigines, in 1978 by Mike D (vocals), MCA (bass), John Berry (guitar) and Kate Schellenbach (drums). The6 were on a thrash hardcore and metal comp, but achieved local success with the 1983 experimental hip hop single "Cooky Puss", and soon after, the Beastie Boys made a full transition to hip hop. I would say it’s a decision that definitely was in their favor. It’s a case for “the right place at the right time”. Hip Hop was exploding in NYC in the early 80s and by the time the mainstream came around, these 3 white guys could hold their own in a predominantly black genre. I don’t mean that to sound racist, but it was quite rare to see any white rappers, let alone rappers at all on MTV. That all changed in 1986 when acts like Run DMC, Kool Moe D, and LL Cool J were smashing stereotypes and combining rock riffs and samples with sick rhymes and showing the masses a new medium. And these beastie boys were paying attention. When this album came out, it didn’t take long for it to begin charting. Blistering hits like “Rhymin’ and Stealin’” with it’s crushing tempo and vocals in the round ( which would become the Beasties classic signature style). Strangely pirate themed as well. “The New Style” describes exactly what all of this set up was about and the samples are very ample for example (#seewhatididthere) nice switch up with the “ummmmm DROP!” Centering around the classic Zeppelin riff is “She’s Crafty” followed quickly by “Posse in effect” - a tale about being a cool dude with a big crew- very important for the 80s. They have a rhyme with Abe Vigota in this one (Godfather reference surely) for crying out loud!!! “Slow ride” has another badass switch up and “Girls” (a beasties classic subject : laydeeeeees) is just an awesome song. The latter being the most formulated of all of their songs. Very standard rhythm and rhymes. As if this album couldn’t get any better, the next song, and essentially the launch pad for their entire career is “Fight For Your Right”. It sounds political, but rest assured it’s a cause you want to join. This song became an anthem for every teenager and college kid in 1986-87 (and continues through today, really) and between the radio airplay and video presence on MTV, you couldn’t escape the beastly power (#seewhatididthere) they had unleashed. Who doesn’t know that chord ringing out followed by “Kick it!” I love that it’s buried on the A side too. The record company executives missed that one! And that’s just Side One! The flip has equally impressive hits like “No Sleep ‘Till Brooklyn” and “Brass Monkey”. A virtual hit machine! What you have to understand is just how groundbreaking this album really was though. For the time it really was light years ahead and the fact they could actually play their instruments paid off well on later releases which nod to their roots. They were truly innovative and master craftsmen at carving out a niche in a newly developing genre. Iconic is an understatement. Fun facts : the tail of the plane says “eat me” backwards.

Slade: Rogues Gallery ( Side 2 )

Slade are an English rock band from Wolverhampton and they rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s. You know, Ziggy Stardust and all...they achieved 17 consecutive top 20 hits (!) and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart. The British Hit Singles & Albums names them the most successful British group of the 1970s based on sales of singles. That’s there...in the U. S. they are a bit more obscure, but you would instantly recognize tunes like "Mama Weer All Crazee Now" and “Cum On Feel The Noize” - more famously (stateside anyway) done by Quiet Riot. Sorry. Not their song. It belongs to these Glam rock champs of the early 70s. In fact, Slade Alive and Slayed? are considered two of the greatest glam rock albums ever. They really were equally well known for their outlandish outfits and I have no idea what the misspelling is all about, but it runs rampant throughout their early catalog. The rise and fall (and eventual rise again) of Slade is an interesting one. They were doing quite well, charting and finding success in the U. K. But were disappointed that they were not achieving notoriety in the U. S. So they did what any band would’ve done and they moved to the U.S. and basically started over from the ground up. They did so for about 3 yearsbut to no avail. They just didn’t chart or have much interest here. So they went back home...only to find that Punk Rock had taken over the airwaves in 1977. This led to further “failures” by not charting or keeping relevant...it also didn’t help that they kind of alienated their existing fans by moving to the USA. Poor Slade. But wait! There’s more! Right around the punk rock phase there was also an onslaught of British Heavy Metal, and Slade picked up their battle axes and went to war. By the apex of the heavy metal invasion, Quiet Riot had released their version of the aforementioned earlier Slade hit. This coupled with the band finally getting the recognition they deserved caused the labels to take notice and sign them. Their first single to reach American charting was “Run Runaway” which saw extensive airplay on MTV. The band had finally come full circle. The roller coaster continues from that point up and down and they faded and were rediscovered several times between then and now, and they’re still active! This is a band that’s been playing since 1969!!!! I think that just Slade is Crazee now!! (#seewhatididthere). So this is their 12th album, 1985’s Rogues Gallery. It contains the minor hit “7 Year Bitch” which makes me think that someone did them wrong. It’s a poppy mid tempo tune, but as you can guess, not terribly friendly. “I’ll be There” is not a Jackson’s cover and is in fact, VERY Irish sounding. A lot of Scottish flair on this one...like there might as well be bagpipes! A bigger sound and some harmonies too. Not to far removed from a current act like Mumford and Sons honestly. Too looooooooooong though. Trim it!! “I Win, You Lose” has an emphatic and orchestrated feel. Some of the rock seems to have vacated in these earlier tunes. Big solos but still lackluster somewhat. I think we lose... “Lock Up Your Daughters” has to be a barn burner with a title like that, right? Well, it is. Finally, THERE are those A/C D/C riffs we all love so much! This one shreds and it’s tight and treacherous (just like your daughter! OH! #seewhatididthere (Sorry...too far?)) *ahem* “Time to Rock” is another return to form with stadium shaking beats (come on this is a group that practically invented these kind of songs!!) BIIIIG sounds, THIS is Slade! Whistle-core outtro is a bit strange. A Rogues Gallery of sounds mayhaps? And a sidebar: These dudes seem quite fond of hats. They remind me of a more rock oriented Big Country on this one. Other Slade albums are better, and this is right in the middle of their mellowed out phase.

So The Beastie Boys may be licensed to Ill, but the only thing that is sick, is their music. (#seewhatididthere) BBs took 23 minutes to burn 151 calories over 7 songs. They burned 21.57 calories per song and 6.57 calories per minute. The6 also earned 16 out of 21 possible stars. Slade came out of retirement with a Rogues Gallery of songs and sounds. They belted out 5 tunes over 21 minutes and burned 132 calories in the process. They burned 26.4 calories per song and 6.29 calories per minute, earning a total of 11 out of 15 possible stars. In today’s battle, the Beastie Boys passed the mic, rhymed AND STOLE (#seewhatididthere) today’s prize.

Beastie Boys : “Fight For Your Right”(Cliche I know, but I HAD to go with this one. You get it all: the rock, the rap, the humor...THIS IS THE FRICKIN’ BEASTIES!!!)

https://youtu.be/eBShN8qT4lk

#Randomrecordworkoutseasonseven

#Randomrecordworkout

[reptilerach]

“Rejection”; Chapter Seven

NOTES: Okay, so here’s the deal. I couldn’t think of an intuitive enough way to incorporate all medical conditions (such as asthma and eczema), so we’re just gonna have to stick to my original script: which is where the Reader has scoliosis. When I was writing this for myself, I wanted to include the struggles I’ve personally had throughout my life. Scoliosis being a major obstacle. This spinal condition will be brought up quite a bit in later chapters, so....yeah. Plays a decent-sized role in the Reader’s health.

Also, there will be a few dark themes in this one, so if you are afraid you’ll get triggered, then there’s your warning. (Don’t worry, there isn’t any gore! It’s just stuff like...well, you’ll see.) Enjoy!

______________________________________________________________

You backed up into a corner, but hit something fluffy. You froze, and bit your lip. You knew he was right behind you, because you felt the touch of his hoodie. So you whirled around, holding your breath- but no one was there. Your heart skipped a beat, and you really began to sweat. Your hands turned clammy, and your back ducked further into the wall. Suddenly, the lights flickered and he was standing right in front of you. You screamed, but he muffled your mouth with a skeletal hand quickly.

He was even scarier like this up close, and you could see his blue eye flaring wilder than earlier before. Your knees knocked against one another, and you gulped. Sans smiled evilly, just as you had did with Papyrus’s protection before he ditched you. “ya know, i thought we were getting along quite well until you went and decided to tease me.” Sans bluntly grumbled, and you showed a nervous smile. “We are! I was only kidding, Sans. Lighten up.” You tried to push him away from you, but he snapped his fingers and suddenly a huge weight was placed upon your shoulders.

Oh, come on! Not again! You wheezed for air, and Sans grinned. “if you are trying to piss me off, it’s working.” He growled, and raised his left hand. The fingers were outstretched, but in the light they looked like talons. You rolled your eyes. “I'm just trying to lighten to mood, dude. Have some fun around here. I know you need it.” You glared at him, and gained the strength to stand up straight.

Sans’ shit eating smile faltered, and he blinked. The blue in his eye was gone, but the feeling of being crushed remained. You beamed triumphantly, and pushed past him to the sink. When you got there, you splashed your face with water to help relax a little. Sans was gonna give you a heart attack sooner or later, with all the stress he puts on you physically and emotionally. Sans turned to face you, his hand still outstretched in case he wanted to prepare another attack. Right now, he was merely keeping you on an invisible leash.

He grunted, and folded his arms. “i have plenty of fun on a daily basis, thank you very much. i don’t need your pity.” The pressure on your shoulders didn't fade away. “Hey, ya mind laying off with the magic? My scoliosis can't take this amount of weight.” You blabbed about, when you suddenly shut your mouth. Dang it. Sans snapped awake, and peered at you with a great deal of inquiry. “‘’scoliosis’? what's that?” You buried your face in your hands, wanting to cry all over again when you got the news about your back.

“Do we really have to talk about it? It's kinda personal.” You pleaded, but Sans only smiled wider. “you heard some of my secret shit, now you hafta’ spill yours. it's gotta be good if you're this reluctant to tell me. besides, you brought it up-” “Alright, alright! Jeez!” You complained, and threw your hands up in the air. Sans smirked, and leaned back against the wall where you were just cornered. You rubbed your temples, and began to explain your condition.

“Scoliosis is a back problem where my spine isn't straight. It's curved like an ‘S’, and it hurts a lot when I don't wear my brace.” Sans looked completely confused, and instinctively rubbed his own spine. “that doesn't sound too bad. where’s your brace?” You groaned, and stood up to crack an ache that had grown into a tight knit behind you. “I don't need to wear it anymore. I wore it for 3-4 years, and it was awful. For the first year or two, I had to wear it 24/7.”

You gazed over to the short skeleton, who gave you a lazy smile. “what's wrong with that? this scoliosis sounds like it's a good thing. can be an excuse to get out of work.” You wanted to smack him, but only threw him a poisonous glare. “The brace was bulky, poked at your side like knives, and everyone would make fun of you!” You were on the verge of tears, and Sans instantly dropped his grin. He actually looked a little more concerned.

You wobbled on your feet uneasily, and grabbed a kitchen chair. You sat down in it, and decided to just let it all out. “‘Here comes Fatty (Y/N)!’ ‘Look at her, she's a screwed up girl who will never get anything done worthwhile in her life because of her disease!’” You choked on my words, and covered your mouth from sobbing completely. Sans stood still in the corner by the fridge, not daring to move.

Sans stared at the trembling human girl by the kitchen table. Her eyes were wide, tears almost about to slip off the edge and spill. Her hair was distraught, and her fingers were clenched white against her lips. He could barely hear what she was saying under her breath, but made out the words, “It’s not a disease… I'm not a monster….” Sans was slightly offended by the last part, but shook it off. Frisk did say that the humans on the Surface were a lot crueler than the monsters in the Underground.

Sans stepped towards (Y/N), and she flinched. But he kept going, until he was right beside her. She was panting heavily, and her shoulders were bouncing up and down from trauma. The skeleton frowned, and lifted a hand shakily outwards, until he stopped mid air. What was he doing? He barely knew this girl. She knows too much, and obviously isn't afraid to test Sans when she wanted. If he got too attached, he could get really hurt. Like what happened with Frisk. At first, he really did care for the human. But after countless resets, Sans had taught himself to not feel anymore.

However, now he was feeling something. Something strong; something that no one ever could give him besides Frisk. And even then the kid didn't provide efficiently. Sans felt sympathy for (Y/N), and knew how scared and depressed she must be living down here in this hell hole. She doesn't know her full capabilities, and probably misses her family on the Surface. if she’s even from there. Sans wanted to trust (Y/N), to be sure that she was a good person just dealing with intense emotional struggling. But he couldn't. He did the same for Frisk, and they failed him. And with emotional struggle, one would get to the point where they'd do anything to relieve themselves from some of the pain. Sans understood this perfectly.

You couldn't help yourself. You bawled your eyes out on that table, not caring what Sans was doing. All you knew was that he was standing right next to you, listening. Your depression and self wallowing came back, and you felt like kicking yourself for letting Sans take on some of your personal burdens. “Do you think it's been easy for me? My scoliosis is only scratching the surface of my problems. And I'm not just about to dump them all out on you. That's not fair to you. But still, you can't judge a person by a first impression, Sans! You can't just assume they're a bad person who wants to hurt people when really all they want to do is have someone to talk with. No friends….no support...it makes you feel all-” “suicidal.”

You whipped your head to him, and the whites in his eyes were gone. He seemed lost in a trance, and grimaced. He blinked his eyes back to normal after a few silent moments. You were stunned, and sniffled pathetically. You wiped your face, and snot covered your arm. You stood up to go to the sink to wash your gross arm, but something caught your left shoulder. It was Sans, and he was smiling sadly at you. You figured he understood what you were saying, since he had finished your sentence for you on the dot.

“(y/n). you aren't a monster, and you have friends. you have toriel, frisk, my brother, and me. we may be only part of a video game-” he paused, and you bit your lip anxiously, “-but it's better than nothing. the point is, you're here now. and you're a strong, healthy human. and although i have been judging you all day, from the way you act towards me and my brother to your sense of humor, i really do see how unique and good hearted your soul is.” You smiled, but your eyebrows drooped empathetically. Sans chuckled, and shook his head.

“i could tell from the moment i judged your soul in the forest, that we have many things in common. and although you can't see the future for this particular timeline-” He beamed a genuine smile, which made you chortle quietly, “i have a feeling that we were gonna be good friends. no matter how much to like to push my limits.” The two of you laughed, and it went without saying that if you were to ever turn on him and hurt his loved ones you were pretty much dead.

A strong sensation burned inside of you, and you decided to go along with it. You grabbed the skeleton by the blue of his jacket and pulled him in for a hug. You wrapped your arms around his neck, and he froze. But, after a few awkward seconds, he returned the embrace by placing his hands on the small of your back. You dipped your burning cheeks into his hoodie, and took a deep breath. The smoothness of his white bone rubbed against your temple, and the grooves from his hands tingled through your shirt. You could really get used to this. “we, uh… have a lot to talk about.” Sans murmured into your shoulder, and you nodded.

When you pulled away, you kept your hands on the 5-foot tall skeleton’s shoulders. He left his hands on your sides, and you laughed to ease the tension. “We all gouda, my bone-a- fide friend?” You giggled, and some hair fell into your face. You pushed it back, and Sans smirked like he just won the lotto. “i already used that.” You shrugged, and grinned. “Couldn't help myself; there was no use skulking around anyways.” Sans chuckled deeply, which pulled on your heartstrings. God, I’m screwed if he keeps that laugh up. It's making my heart get nervous… in a good way. You thought happily, gazing contently at his large, goofy smile. 

FIRST

PREVIOUS

NEXT

Chapter Ten (Where all the chapters before that are.)

Chapter Twenty (Links for Chapters 11 --> 19)

Chapter Thirty (Links for Chapters 21 --> 29)

[eerilee]

For a bumbleby prompt about Blake inspecting Yang's new robot arm for the first time?

At Arms Length

She was having a heart attack.

Chest pain

Lightheadedness

Nausea

All signs of a heart attack.

Sun didn’t seem to register Blake’smyocardialinfarction as he continued hisexuberance.

“So I was just hanging around thedocks right? Just getting a feel of Menagerie, giving you some timewith the parentals, and guess who I ran into.”

“It was m-”

“IT WAS YANG!” Sun interrupts theother blonde, arms outstretched and directed towards Yang as if somesort of game show host.

Amber eyes shift about to take in theother girls appearance, as if she hadn’t been the only thing theycould focus on in the last sixty seconds. She wore white shoes, greypants, and an orange shirt beneath a khaki jacket; her blonde hairwas pulled back and contained with a purple band.

Yang was still standing just outsidethe front door, as if she wasn’t quite sure if she should cross thethreshold into the Belladonna home. Lilac eyes shifted about, lookinganywhere but at Blake. Her shoulders looked stuck somewhere betweenrigid tension and sagging defeat, and hands tucked securely in theback pockets of her pants.

Upon realization, Blake’s eyes quicklyflashed between Yang’s left and right side looking for any evidenceof the traumatic event that she herself had witnessed. To the nakedeye nothing seemed out of place, but the faunus could only image whatlay behind that jacket.

She didn’t know what to say. She had tosay something.

“How….”

That single syllable alone seemed tocrack upon release, and Blake wasn’t sure she could bare more.

Just as Yang’s mouth opened to respond,Kali Belladonna seemed to appear out of nowhere beside her daughter.

“What’s going on? Who is this….human?”

Kali’s eyes widened in surprise beforelooking to her daughter for an explanation. Blake, however, wasunable to break her gaze from the blonde girl before her. Sun jumpedin excitedly.

“This is Yang Xiao Long, Blake’s oldpartner from Beacon.” He turned back to Yang. “Yang, this isBlake’s mom, Kali Belladonna!”

Both women shared a surprised Oh! inalmost perfect unison, but it was Yang who seemed to recover first.

“Apleasure to meet you m'am.”

Kalismiled kindly before looking to her daughter. Blake in turn finallypulled her gaze from Yang to her mother before dropping it itcompletely to the floor. Kali frowned and looked back to Yang,noticing that the new blonde seemed to be avoiding making direct eyecontact with Blake.

Adead, awkward silence quickly took over.

Sun looked between the two, his initialexcitement upon seeing Yang finally subsiding enough to feel thethick tension that had been steadily filling the air around them.Looking to Kali, the two faunus seemed to have a silent discussionbefore he nodded his head and approached Yang.

“Hey Yang, how about I show you tothe spare room? You gotta be tired after that trip. I mean, I shouldknow!”

Yang looked startled upon hearing hisoffer, looking between the two Belladonna women and then back to Sun.

“Oh! Umm, you know what, I’m fine.I’m thinking of just heading back in to town; see when the first shipleaves in the morning, and then maybe just getting a room for thenight. I think I saw an inn when I was down there.”

“Nonsense!” exclaimed Kali, movingaway from her daughter to approach Yang, putting a gentle hand on herleft arm. “You are a friend of our daughters, and in this housefriends are family. Besides,” Kali’s cat ears drew down a bit asshe continued, “not everyone around here will be quite so willingto rent a room to a human.”

The older woman moved to retrieve thebeige duffel that sat at Yang’s feet before promptly dropping thestrap when she seemed unable to lift it. Yang jumped in, bending downto scoop up the bag and drape it over her left shoulder. Kali lookedimpressed, giving the girl a once over.

“Well aren’t you strong. Ghira isgoing to just love you.” She turned back to Sun, nodding, lettingthe boy know he could take it from here. Sun sprang forward, drapingan arm casually around Yang’s shoulders and guiding her forward.

“Dude, wait to you see the rest ofthis house! It’s awesome!”

Sun’s exuberance slowly faded away thefurther the two got into the house. Kali turned to Blake.

“So….”

Blake bit her lip, cat ears folded downagainst her head.

“So….”

Kali approached her daughter, pressingagainst the girls side and placing a caring hand on the middle of herback.

“So…. she’s the reason you leftVale?”

Blake was at a loss for words, butluckily, or perhaps not so luckily, Kali continued.

“Look, we only know as much as Sunhas told us, which to be frank, isn’t much. Something about a foodfight?”

Blake huffed out a laugh at the thoughtof a more innocent time before sobering up and looking at her mother.Identical yellow eyes bore back into her own. Kali had begun to movethe hand on Blake’s back, back and forth in comforting circles. Theteen leaned back into the hand, a soft purr escaping her lips.

This was her mother; the only woman whohad always been able to calm her down. Well, until recently.

Kali continued.

“I don’t want to pressure you. Youcan tell me when you are ready, and if that day never comes then sobe it. But you are and always will be my kitten. I know you; thisgirl means something to you.”

Her mother’s words hung in the airthickly.

This girl means something to you.

That was an understatement.

She couldn’t speak, caught somewherebetween the inability to express how she was feeling and fear that itwould somehow all come spilling out of her.

Sensing her daughter’s struggle Kalileaned up, pressing a kiss to Blake’s temple before moving away.

“Tell you what, dinner should be donesoon. Why don’t you go see how our guest is getting on before then,”the older woman spoke over her shoulder before disappearing aroundthe corner into the kitchen.

It had taken all of her will power justto approach the door to the guest room Sun had said he dropped Yangoff at, and now she couldn’t find anything left within herself toknock. Movement could be heard within and that only seemed to terrifyBlake more.

Just as she was resigning herself tobeing the coward she is and turning away, the door abruptly opened,and amber slits met surprised lilacs. Blake’s eyes shot downward inan effort to avoid the emotions that looking into Yang’s eyes broughtup and that’s when she saw it.

Yang’s arm.

Or, rather, Yang’s new arm.

The blonde had appeared to have takenoff her jacket in an attempt to get more comfortable. Blake was inawe.

The arm was clearly robotic, Atlesianpossibly; scuffed steel atop some form of synthetic, black material.The limb moved fluidly, as if it had always been a part of the girl.A million questions popped in to Blake’s head at once: how could Yangafford such technology? Was it dust powered? Was the metal cold?Would Yang ever be able to forgive her?

Did she deserve forgiveness?

Yang cleared her throat, abruptlyending Blake’s train of thought, before stepping to the side to allowthe other girl entrance into the room. The faunus stepped inwordlessly as Yang closed the door and turned around.

It was awkward, the tension in the roomwas beyond stifling, and something was crushing her heart andsimultaneously creeping up her throat. Her vision tunneled to thepoint where she didn’t seem able to register anything but Yang’s arm.

But it wasn’t Yang’s arm. It wasn’tflesh, it wasn’t blood; it wasn’t Yang.

Was it possible to have two heartattacks in one day?

“Do you want to touch it?”

Well that shocked Blake’s system backto reality. She stuttered to respond.

“Excuse me?”

Yang was rubbing her right arm, runningthe fingers of her left hand along the joint between flesh and steel.A new nervous habit perhaps? Blake wondered if she still twirled herhair like she used to.

“I asked if you want to touch it? Thearm? You seemed to be staring.”

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” Blakestuttered out, cat ears pinned down and face beat red inembarrassment.”

Yang chuckled, but it sounded nothingof the girl Blake used to know. Yang had always laughed freely, andit had always been contagious. This was something else entirely; itwas controlled, and bordering on bitter.

“It’s fine. I don’t really mindanymore, and I can’t blame you for being curious. Here…”

Yang held her right arm out towardsBlake, palm up, and despite her embarrassment Blake couldn’t miss theopportunity.

When would Yang allow her to be thisclose ever again?

Blake moved a step towards the blondebefore reaching a shaky hand towards the appendage. Fingertips grazedthe metal before Blake’s palm completely flattened and her fingerswrapped around Yang’s arm in surprise.

“It’s warm.”

Blake took a chance glance up at Yang’sface, but the other girl’s eyes were locked on where the faunus’ handmet her arm. Blake looked back down.

“Yeah. Something about all that powergenerating a lot of heat. Ironwood said they even had to develop aspecial cooling system to combat my own added temperature.”

Ah. Ironwood. That explained a lot.

“I’m surprised Ruby hasn’t tried tomodify it yet.”

She had been aiming for lighthearted,anything to help lessen the tension in the room; to get even aglimpse of her old, exuberant partner. But upon glancing back up intothe blonde’s eyes she noted that they seemed to darken even more.Long gone was the sparkle of excitement that those lilacs usuallyheld.

“Umm, Ruby never got around to seeingit.”

For the first time since their reunionYang finally made direct eye contact with Blake and it was worldshattering. In all her years Blake couldn’t recall a time when shewitnessed someone looking so… tired. And then Yang’s words sank in.

Ruby never got around to seeing it.

Yang continued.

“Shortly after wereturned to Patch Ruby went off with Jaune, Ren and Nora. Dad saidsomething about Haven, but no one has heard from her in months.”

Blake’s throattightened. Ruby left?

“Weiss?”

“Back in Atlas. Iguess her Dad snatched her up pretty quick, cause by the time I wokeup she was gone.”

Yang said all ofthis as if it was some normal, every day event. As if Blake had askedher what she wanted from the cafeteria. Only not, because any timeBlake had actually asked her such a question the blonde would respondby playfully stroking her chin in thought before exclaiming, I’llhave whatever you’re having Blake! I trust you.

What had she done.

The taste of guiltwas bitter, like stomach acid, and seemed to have taken permanentresidence in Blake’s mouth.

She looked backdown where she was still tightly gripping Yang’s arm. The other girlhadn’t even seemed to notice and that’s when Blake realized that sheprobably couldn’t even feel it. She snatched her hand back as if shehad been burned. She might as well have. Perhaps if she had some sortof physical reminder, something tangible, something glaringly obviousthat made it impossible to pretend she could forget.

Yang had one ofthose.

Blake glanced backup at the blonde, who remained standing there awkwardly, clearly notwilling to be the one to break the silence. It was then that Blakeremembered how odd it was, that Yang was here.

Here. In herparents home.

She was reminded ofsomething she had tried to ask Yang earlier.

“How did you findme?”

Yang’s demeanorshifted, becoming more rigid, if that were even possible. Lilac eyesrolled off to the side and away from Blake.

“Honestly? Iwasn’t even looking for you. The morning Qrow left to go after Rubyhe left me a note folded up on my bed. It said You’ll find whatyou are looking for in Menagerie. When I finally decided to setout from Patch I didn’t really have a destination in mind, but then Iremember that note…”

“Oh.”

Blake didn’t knowwhat else to say, and Yang huffed bitterly.

“Uncle Qrow hasalways been a bit of a useless drunk.”

That hurt. Aninvoluntary rush of moisture filled Blake’s eyes and she blinkedrapidly to will them away. She had no right. Before she could evenbegin to develop some sort of response, a voice could be heardcalling from just outside the door.

“Yo girls! Dinneris ready!”

Sun. Her mothermust have sent him. Yang quickly turned to the door, swinging it openas if they hadn’t just been picking through the ruins of an emotionalapocalypse.

“Be right there.”

Sun nodded, knowingwell enough not to acknowledge the tension now able to spill outthrough the open door and continued on his way back to, presumably,the kitchen.

Yang spun about andmoved to brush past Blake, the latter’s breath hitching before sherealized that the blonde was moving to retrieve her jacket. And justlike that, she slipped the material, her armor, back on, covering herrobotic arm. She moved to exit the room, but before she could Blakecouldn’t help but to blurt out one final question, the very samequestion that everyone else had been asking her; the question she hadyet to answer.

“Don’t you wantto ask me why?”

Yang froze in thedoorway, and at first it seemed like she might not even know exactlywhat Blake was talking about. But then, without turning around, Yangspoke.

“I think I’mfinally past the point of wondering why the people I love leaveme.”

And with that, theblonde left the room.