#*mourn his gorgeous locks for 5 minutes*

[cobaltsunflower]

BUGGY NATION WE ARE WINNING!!!! 🤡 🤡 🤡

[softholand]

pot valiant - t.h

pairing: bartender!tom x reader

summary: pot-valiant, definition; bold or courageous under the influence of alcoholic drink

warnings: drinking, swearing, smut, dom!tom

words: 4.3k

a/n: i did it!!! bartender!tom was always present in my mind and after that picture (thanks paddy!!) i couldn’t help myself ;))) i hope you guys like this and please let me know what you think <3 enjoy!!

Two weeks, three days, 5 hours, and 22 seconds. That was the time your best friend Briana gave you to mourn your last failed relationship. Once that time had passed, she broke into your house, made you take a much necessary shower, forcing you to shave and wash your hair, while she took care of the mess that was your house. Plastic food containers and cans of beer and Coca-Cola littered both the kitchen and the living room floor, making the house smell like a garbage can.

“Glad to see you’re still alive!” Briana cheered after you got out of the shower, wearing your fluffy robe. “I am but barely. Wow, what did you do to my house?” You asked, being met with a completely different scenario from the one you left.

“I just put out the trash, y/n! Something you should have done before.” Briana scolded you, making you roll your eyes. “Should have waited and put me out too, since I feel like trash!” You groaned, flopping down on your sofa.

“Hey, no, no, no! Get up, y/n! We’re going out!” Your best friend announced, before trying to make you stand. “Noooo, please, Bri! I’ll do anything you want, but that!” You pleaded, but it was of no use. “I don’t wanna hear it, y/n! I didn’t come here to clean your house, I came to take you out of here and that’s what I’m gonna do.” Briana stated, taking your hands.

“Bri, I love you, but please let me stay just a little longer, I’m not ready for the outside world yet.” You groaned, trying your best to convince your best friend. “y/n, I love you too, that’s why I’m here! I can’t stand seeing you like this anymore! Yeah, what Tyler did to you was fucked up, but that doesn’t mean you have to stop living your life because of it.” Briana exclaimed.

“I know, Bri! I know! It’s just… hard for me to wrap my head around the fact he ditched me after all this time and that I’m single now.” You sighed, starting to feel emotional. At that, Briana pulled you closer and wrapped her arms around you, engulfing you in one of her best hugs. “I’m sorry, y/n! I didn’t mean to make you cry again.” Bri apologized, making you chuckle through your tears. “It’s okay, Bri! It’s not your fault, really. I’m just… a mess!” You laughed, drying your face with the robe sleeves.

“One drink. We get one drink and if you still don’t wanna stay after that, we leave. I promise!” Your friend offered, with hopeful eyes. “Fine! One drink!” You sighed, to which she squealed. “Yes! Thank you, y/n! You’re not gonna regret it! I’ve found this new club, it opened just a couple of weeks ago. You’re gonna love it!” She grinned. “Now, go put on your best outfit, we’re going out!” Briana squealed, making you laugh at her excitement.

About an hour later and after a whole lot of makeup and trying on clothes, Briana finally decided you were done with what she called: a Cinderella transformation. Of course, you laughed at her choice of words, and to irritate your friend, even more, you asked if you also should be back at midnight. She gave you the middle finger, before giving up and joining you in laughter.

After a quick cab ride, that could be done by feet, not with the heels you two were wearing though, you and Briana were at the new club she talked about. Once inside, you had to admit your best friend was right. The place looked like a mix of everything you enjoyed, the walls were coated in a beautiful shade of red, while the lounge area was filled with dark green sofas. Different from the other places you had been to, the bar on this one was positioned right in the middle, with bar stools in that same dark green velvet texture, rounding the space. The dim light that filled the space gave a mysterious/sensual vibe, something you were also a fan of.

Briana immediately dragged you to the bar, waiting patiently for one of the many bartenders. While she made her request, you took the time to scan the place, noting some artsy bits that complemented the space. “What can I get you?” A smooth masculine voice took you out of your daze, making you avert your attention to him. Right in front of you, a gorgeous boy with hazel eyes and chocolatey brown curls grinned at you, waiting for your answer. What was even the question?

“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you.” You apologized, making his smile grow even more. “I asked what can I get you tonight, darling?” He asked, making you smile with the nickname. “Oh, uh… a daiquiri, please!” You finally said, not being able to avert his gaze. “Good choice! I’ll be right back, girls!” He smirked, before going to the enormous wall of beverages behind him.

Once he was out of earshot, Briana lightly kicked your bare leg, getting your attention. “Isn’t he hot?” She mouthed, making you roll your eyes. “Really, Bri? Already?” Shaking your head, you went back to looking at your surroundings. “Oh, c’mon y/n! A woman has to eat!” Briana joked, making you both burst out laughing.

Seconds later, hot guy was back, this time with two cocktail shakers in his hands. Like every bartender in the world, he made his presentation while pouring the ingredients into the containers, making sure to really flex his arms while shaking it. Not that you noticed.

With two glasses in front of you, he poured the drinks in, doing the finishing touches before serving them to you. “Two pretty drinks for two pretty ladies, enjoy!” He smirked, before going back to his business. “Oh God, he only gets better!” Briana jokingly fanned herself, making you laugh. “He’s just doing his job, Bri! How many times do you think he used that one?” You asked your friend, who rolled her eyes at you. “You’re no fun!” She groaned, putting her tongue out.

Briana was only halfway through her Cosmopolitan when one of her favorite songs started to play. She made everything in her power to make you go with her but you denied her offer, stating you were fine watching her from the bar. With her drink in her hands, she made her way into the dance floor, purposely shaking her booty at you, which made you laugh and almost choke on your barely touched drink.

“Not into dancing?” The same voice from minutes ago asked, startling you. “Oh, no! Not today, at least!” You shrugged, offering him a smile. “So, what brought you and your friend here? I’m Tom, by the way!” He asked, cleaning the surface in front of him, making the watch he wore catch the fluorescent lights of the club. “y/n! And to be honest, she dragged me here.” You told him, giving into their usual small talks. “Wanna talk about it? I’m a pretty damn good listener!” He offered you with a smile.

You took a deep breath, asking yourself if it was really a good idea to share a part of your life with a stranger, and since you weren’t going to step foot on the dance floor, you thought this was the next most reasonable thing to do. Right? “Well, I was into a two-year relationship that ended a couple of weeks ago, and apparently staying inside your house, eating takeout food, and crying over stupid romantic movies is not a very healthy thing to do, so today she went to my house and here I am.” You smiled, taking a sip of your drink.

Once you looked at Tom, he gave you a pitiful look, to which you shrugged. “That’s not even the worst part though.” You said, the alcohol in your system already making the choices for you. “Instead of calling me or sending me a text asking to talk, you know, like a normal person, he invited me to his parents’ tenth-anniversary party and broke up with me in front of his whole family, claiming I wasn’t what he wanted in a relationship anymore.” With a raise of your glass, you finished your sad story, downing the rest of your daiquiri.

“Damn, what a dick!” Tom breathed after a couple of seconds, making you chuckle. “Oh, well! Cheers to single life, I guess…” You said, raising your now empty glass. “Need a refill?” He asked, pointing to the glass on your hands. “Please!” You huffed, before thanking him. “What will it be now?” Tom smirked, seeing your thinky face. “I don’t know, something strong.” He nodded, giving you two thumbs-ups, before going back to the wall to collect the ingredients.

Once the song ended, Briana came back to you and you two chatted until Tom came back with your drink, waiting for your approval. “It’s good! I like it! Thanks, Tom!” You smiled, locking eyes with him. “Do you want a refill too, darling?” He asked Briana, to which she said a beer would be fine. Once he was off, you felt your best friend's eyes burning a hole in your skull. “What?” You asked, impatiently. “We’re already on a name basis then?” Briana smirked, making you roll your eyes at her. “Yeah, I mean, he introduced himself, what did you want me to do?” You snapped and that was enough to her smirk double in size. “Okay, girl! You sure you don’t want to go home then?” She asked you for what felt like the fifth time. “Yes, Bri! I’m good! I promise!” You assured your best friend before she once again was off to the dance floor.

You quietly took sips of your new strawberry drink, watching from afar as your friend seemed to get her eyes on a specific guy for the night. She gave you a wink, making you roll your eyes at her antics. “She seems to be enjoying herself.” You heard Tom’s voice, turning the barstool to find him looking at you. “Yeah, she always does!” You agreed, taking another sip of your drink. “So, you’re from here?” He asked, sounding interested. “Yeah, I’m a local! You?” You said, raising your brows. “Same!” He smiled, going right to the next question.

The conversation kept going for most of the night, Tom attended some clients, while you took sips of your drinks, and once he was free, he was right back at you with another round of questions. Seeing as Briana wasn’t by your side anymore, you welcomed his company, glad at least this way you wouldn’t be left alone. “Museologist? I’ve never heard that before!” He grinned, making you chuckle. “Yeah, it’s not very common. Basically what I do is investigate and preserve material cultural stuff, like paintings, sculptures or constructions and immaterial, such as traditions and folklore.” You answered and Tom couldn’t help but find adorable the way your eyes lit up while you talked.

Briana came back after a couple more songs, sitting by your side and asking Tom another beer. “So, found your prey?” You joked, making her laugh. “Actually, I did! See that blonde? With the samurai bun?” She pointed and you nodded once your eyes landed on him. “Nice, Bri!” You complemented, giving her a playful high five. “Right? And he’s so sweet and smart and funny! He even asked me if I wanted to go to his house.” She blurted, seemingly disappointed. “And?” You asked, not getting why she reacted that way. “Oh, no! I’m not leaving you. I dragged you here so I’m taking you home.” Briana exclaimed, to which you rolled your eyes. “Bri, I’m totally able to call a cab and go home by myself. I’m fine, I promise! You can go with Mr. Samurai bun if you want.” You assured her, seeing her eyes widen. “No, y/n/n! I promised you!” She protested, making you groan. “I’m fine, Bri! Go with him!” Once again, you insisted. “Are you sure?” She asked and you had to laugh at her. “I’m not a child, Bri! Now go, he’s not going to wait all night!” You teased, getting a hug and a kiss on the cheek from your friend before she was off.

“Lost your friend?” Tom asked once he was back from his bartender duties. “Yeah, it's just me now and I think I’ll actually call it a night and go home.” You told him, making him frown. “Hey, not to sound creepy or anything but are you going by yourself? Because that’s not very safe and my shift ends in like ten minutes. If you want, I can accompany you.” With hopeful eyes, the boy in front of you smiled, making your heart flutter just a tiny bit. You thought about leaving a stranger accompanied you home, you really did, but something in your gut told you it was fine, Tom was a good guy and would never do anything to harm you. So, you went with it. “Yeah, that would be great, actually.” You smiled and ten minutes later, you were both leaving the club, at 3:30 in the morning.

Tom offered to call a cab but seeing as your house was only a few minutes away, you asked if it was okay for him that you guys walked. He agreed and with the moon illuminating your steps, the pair of you made your way into the almost silent streets. You guys kept talking and occasionally your hands would brush on one another, which caused little butterflies to erupt in your stomach. Once in front of your apartment building, you stopped, having no idea what to do next, since you were in a relationship for the last two years.

“It was nice meeting and talking to you, Tom!” You said, opting for the easiest way out. “Yeah, the feeling is mutual, y/n!” He answered, stuffing both of his hands in his pockets. “Thank you for… listening.” You mumbled, making him chuckle. “Of course! Whenever you need!” He smiled, not moving a muscle. “I’ll see you around, then. Bye!” With a little wave of your hand, you made your way to the door, while Tom watched you from his place. “Sure! Bye, y/n!” He exclaimed, making you smile, finally entering the building.

That’s how you found yourself going back to that same club every Friday, getting a couple of drinks while talking to Tom, then being escorted home by him. You had been doing this for almost a month now and Briana was starting to get suspicious. It was Friday again and she had just called you while you finished getting ready. “So, any plans for tonight?” She asked, already predicting your answer. “Not really, just gonna get some drinks and head home.” You said while clasping your black sandals. “Tom’s gonna bring you home again?” You sighed, already knowing where this conversation was heading. “I don’t know, Bri! If he wants to.” You looked in the mirror for the last time, before taking your bag and heading out. Once Briana finally hung up, you threw your phone into your purse, getting into the cab.

The routine was the same, you got in, spotted Tom, sat in one of the many barstools, and waited for him to approach you. “What can I get this beautiful lady today?” He joked, a smile wide on his face. Today he was wearing a simple black shirt, tight around his muscles, the watch still sat proudly on his wrist, and his curls were a little bit messier than most days. “You know you don’t have to waste your pickup lines with me, Tom.” You smiled, watching his reaction. “Okay then, what can I get this grumpy old lady today?” He smirked, making you chuckle. “A Sex On The Beach, please?!” You grinned and after a quick wink, he was off.

The rest of the night passed like magic, you didn’t even see the time pass and once you took a look at your phone, you saw that it was almost time for Tom’s shift to end, which meant it was time to head home. The chilly London air hit as soon as you stepped out of the club, making you shiver, seeing as you were only in a dress. Like the gentleman he was, Tom took off his jacket and placed it on your shoulders, and although you protested, saying he was going to catch a cold, he assured you he was fine with his shirt.

You didn’t know what you were thinking when the words “Do you wanna come inside?” came out of your mouth but now was definitely too late to take them back. “Oh, yeah! Sure!” Tom agreed, making you smile. The short lift ride was awkward and once you walked into your apartment, the feeling only grew. Tom stayed pretty close to the door, with both of his hands in his pockets, while you put your purse away and turned on the lights. “Welcome and sorry for the mess.” You said, going back to the living room. Tom just smiled, before saying, “You call this messy? You should see my house!” You both laughed and the tension was back in the air. “Do you want anything? Water, wine, beer?” You offered, taking off your shoes and his jacket, putting the both away. “Water would be good.” He said and you quickly made your way to the kitchen, shaking your head to try and get rid of some very intrusive thoughts.

“Thanks!” He smiled, taking the glass from your hands, while your eyes kept focused on his arm and the prominent veins and the way his shirt was almost being ripped by his bicep. “y/n? You here?” Tom’s voice brought you back, making your face grow hot with the knowledge you got caught. “Yes, sorry!” You apologized, watching as his smirk grew in size. He placed the cup on the small table by your door, before taking a couple of steps closer. Slowly, as if testing the waters, he put his hands on your hips, leaning the smallest bit in, not taking that stupid smirk off of his face.

His smell was intoxicating, the mixture of alcohol and mint was definitely making your mind clouded. “Tom…” You whispered once he was only centimeters away from you. “What is it, y/n?” He asked, looking between your eyes and your lips. “Kiss me!” You almost pleaded, his smirk the last thing you saw before his lips were crashing into yours. The feeling was new, you hadn’t kissed anyone since your ex-boyfriend and you couldn’t help but compare them. Tom’s was so much better though, his lips could be thin but they held so much power on them, his mouth worked like magic against yours, and before you knew he was pulling away, completely breathless. The pause didn’t last long though, he looked so good with his lips plumped, the tiniest of the smirks still proudly on them, you just couldn’t help yourself and launched yourself at him.

You backed him against the wall, moaning when you felt his tongue entering your mouth. Tom placed both of his hands on your ass, squeezing it before asking, “Bedroom?” Without breaking the kiss, you pointed in the direction of your room and before you knew it, he was carrying you in his arms. You squealed, wrapping your legs around his torso, before going back to his lips. He placed you on the bed, making a trail of kisses from your neck, all the way to your stomach. Once he positioned himself between your tights, he looked at you with his bright brown eyes, asking if he could take your dress off. You nodded and after a little bit of a struggle, he took the thin material out of your body, leaving you in just a pair of white underwear. “You’re so beautiful!” He whispered, going back to your lips and attacking them with kisses. “Tom, please…” You moaned, growing even more eager to feel him. “What do you want, darling?” He smirked, loving seeing you like that. “You, I want you!” With a shake on your voice, you pleaded and he finally took the clue and went to work.

After another confirmation from you, he discarded your panties, tracing his fingers through your now soaked folds. “You look amazing, y/n!” Tom breathed before going straight to your core. You let out a moan as soon as his lips touched you, making your whole body shake with pleasure. “And tastes amazing too!” He purred, focusing on his task. Your moans only grew louder when he pushed two of his slender fingers on your heat. “Fuck, Tom! Feels so good!” You blurted, not being able to control yourself. “That’s it, baby! I can feel your walls clenching around my fingers. Tell me how much do you wanna cum.” Tom whispered, making you clench even more, only by his words. “Wanna cum, Tom! Please…” You were never this talkative in bed and not once has a guy been this dominant with you but you couldn’t say you weren’t enjoying it. “Cum for me, baby! Wanna hear you scream my name!” He mumbled and finally lost control. Your whole body shook with pleasure and you had to contain yourself from closing your thighs around Tom’s head.

Once you came back from your high, you opened your eyes to find Tom already looking at you, with some of your wetness still glistening on his chin. “You alright?” He asked, concern coating his words. “Yeah!” You smiled, before going back to his lips. With a quick move, you straddled him, helping him take off his shirt, letting his chest perfectly exposed for you. You lowered yourself, leaving a trail of kisses on his jaw, neck, collarbones, chest, each one of his abs, and finally, his perfectly sculpted v line. “Are you sure? You don’t have to, I’ll be perfectly fine by just giving...” You interrupted his mumbling by attaching your lips to his, hoping it would be his answer.

With the rest of his clothes discarded, you couldn’t help but admire his body. He was perfect. Sculpted by the gods, even. After wetting your hands, you took his cock, pumping a few times before attaching your lips to it. You twirled your tongue, tasting his precum, feeling him grow harder and harder on your hands. “Holy shit, you feel so good, y/n!” His words of encouragement were enough for you to start moving your head up and down, taking his member into your mouth inch by inch, until he was bucking his hips. “Fuck! You’re bloody amazing, darling!” He praised, while making direct eye contact with you, “But if you want more, you better stop before I coat your throat with my cum.” You had to admit, his dirty talk was doing something to you.

Releasing his cock with a loud pop, you climbed on top of him, kissing his lips. “Do you have a condom?” He asked between kisses. “Bedside table, first draw.” You answered and after a loud smack on your ass, you got off of him, both of you wearing playful smiles on your faces. Tom opened the foil package and rolled the material into his member, positioning himself at your entrance. “You sure you wanna do this?” He asked, making sure you wanted this as much as he did. “Yes, Tom! I want you to fuck me!” You said, kissing his lips.

With both of his hands on your hips and a huge smirk on his face, he pushed himself into you, making you moan. It took you a few seconds to get used to him and once you nodded, Tom started to move, bringing another level of pleasure to your body. “Fuck! You’re so tight around me, y/n!” He whispered, biting your earlobe. “Tom, fuck me harder!” You pleaded, wanting nothing more than to be railed by him. That seemed to take Tom by surprise but he was quick to obey your wish, thrusting harder and harder into your soaking wet core. “You look so beautiful like that, all sweaty, begging me for more!” He kept praising you, feeling how much you liked when he did.

With both of his arms by your head, he caged you, tattooing your face with kisses. “Feel so good, Tom! Please, make me cum!” You mumbled, by now barely able to form sentences. Tom was quick to obey and once his fingers found your clit, rubbing small circles in it, you were gone. Toes curling, you arched your back, getting a handful of the mattress in one hand while the other scratched Tom’s back. “Fuck, y/n!” With a final thrust of his hips, Tom reached his high, moaning your name like it was the most beautiful prayer.

He collapsed on top of you, leaving a long kiss on your lips, before getting up and tossing the condom on the trash. You went to the bathroom to clean yourself up, seeing as you were too tired to take a shower, and asked him if he wanted that too. He agreed and once you were decent enough, you put on clean panties and his discarded shirt, asking him to join you on the bed. Of course, he accepted, he wasn’t planning to go anywhere either so, after putting his boxers back on, he climbed on the bed with you.

You quickly doze off but right before you did, you admitted to yourself that, like most of the time, Briana was right, and going to that new club wasn’t a bad idea after all.

tagging: @stuckonspidey @bi-writes @duskholland @screamholland @missnxthingg @tomhollandthing @wazzupmrstark @peeterparkr @veryholland @spideyspeaches-deactivated20221 @lauras-collection @tommybaholland @rebekkah4766 @hopelessromm @pensivepeter @geminiparkers @mrs-hollandstan @hollandcreep @uglypastels

[unforth]

May Trope Mayhem Fill Day 1: Friends to Lovers

Fandom: Tian Guan Ci Fu/Heaven Official’s Blessing

Ship: Xie Lian/Hua Cheng

Rating: Gen

Tags: modern au, tooth-rotting fluff, 520 day, florist Xie Lian

Word count: 2,492

Cross-posted to AO3

@duckprintspress​

The bell over the door rang and Xie Lian turned from the bouquet he was arranging, forcing his expression into a tired smile as he prepared to greet yet another customer. 520 was an auspicious day for love, and a great day for Xie Lian’s shop, but it was exhausting. His smile widened and became more genuine, though, when he saw his customer: Hua Cheng, one of the few regulars that Xie Lian knew well enough to consider a friend. 

Not that they’d ever met any place outside of “Buds to Blooms.”

Not that they’d ever spent much time together.

Not that they talked about anything other than flowers, at least not most of the time.

Not that they had really any relationship at all, no matter how much Xie Lian might want one.

Hua Cheng looked especially dapper for the holiday, tall, slim form clothed in black slacks, a red button up shirt, and a black suit jacket. Silver jewelry adorned his neck, an intricate filigree in the shape of butterfly nestled between the open buttons of the top of his shirt. His fingers were beringed, one looped with a red string that seemed oddly familiar, and sparkling chains were threaded through his long hair. Tiny chimes sounded every time he moved his head. As if his attire wasn’t enough to demonstrate that he had a date for the evening, his eye patch, usually plain, today was decorated with a red felt heart that Xie Lian suspected had been sewn on by hand.

He was gorgeous.

(read more!)

Something unpleasantly like jealousy curdled in Xie Lian’s stomach. If only he were the one that Hua Cheng got dressed up for...if only he were the one Hua Cheng wanted...if only--

“Xie Lian?” Hua Cheng asked.

Blinking, Xie Lian flushed. He’d been staring, a white rose stem still clutched in one hand, his trimmers in the other. With a shake of his head, he shoved the blossom into the arrangement he’d been working on, set the clippers down, and wiped his hands on his apron as he stepped out from behind the counter. 

“Good evening, Hua Cheng,” he said brightly. Being jealous of the man, woman, or genderqueer individual privileged to spend the evening with Hua Cheng was absurd. “You’ve got perfect timing, I was just about to close up for the night.” Xie Lian was under no delusions of what his actual relationship with Hua Cheng was - customer and businessman, with a splash of friendship. “Indeed...I’d probably be closed already, except I wanted to get a head start on tomorrow.”

“I know,” said Hua Cheng with a toothy grin. “I got tired of waiting.” Confused, Xie Lian tilted his head to one side. Stopping in the middle of the open store floor, Hua Cheng turned a slow circle, eye searching the decimated shelves and coolers. “Wow, you musta been busy.” Xie Lian usually prided himself on the profusion and variety of flowers he kept in stock, but closing time on the busiest day of the year saw him nearly cleaned out. 

“I’m exhausted,” Xie Lian confessed. With any normal customer, he’d never have admitted it - always have to be bright and perky and indefatigable for the clientele! - but Hua Cheng wasn’t a normal customer. “But 520 day alone pays my rent for most of the year, so it’s worth it.”

“I’m sure it is,” Hua Cheng murmured. “And I’m sure you need a break, so…” A decisive nod set of a cascade of beautiful music as Hua Cheng strode to one of the coolers and pulled it open. A few bedraggled bouquets and a single bucket full of stalks of cape jasmine were all that remained within. Every year, Xie Lian stocked up on the cape jasmine, tiny white blossoms nestled in profusion amidst evergreen leaves, and every year hardly anyone bought any. Xie Lian didn’t care. They were his favorite flower, and a small indulgence, and when no one bought them, he got to take them home and put them on his dining room table and imagine impossible things while he ate dinner for one on the most romantic night of the year.

Except apparently not this year, because Hua Cheng ignored the arrangements and grabbed the entire plastic vase of jasmine.

“How much for all of these?” Hua Cheng asked, hefting the container and letting the cooler door slide shut behind him.

Could he be any more perfect?

“Oh...uh…” Catching his lip between his teeth, Xie Lian looked at the flowers, looked at Hua Cheng, looked at the darkness outside his shop window, and sighed. “...just take them. You’re a loyal customer, and it’s not like I was going to sell them to anyone else tonight. They’ll be past selling by tomorrow, so…”

“No,” replied Hua Cheng firmly. Xie Lian frowned, confusion intensifying. “Name a price.”

“But--”

“Look. There’s this person. I’ve tried everything I can think of to let them know how I feel, and nothing has worked. And I have a suspicion or three about why they won’t listen, so tonight is the night. They’re worth it, and I need them to know they’re worth it, and so I’m paying, and then I’m taking these flowers to them, and then - unless I’m devastatingly wrong about their opinion of me - we’re spending the evening together, and I’m getting them dinner, and maybe giving them a foot massage. So. Tell me how much I owe you, Xie Lian.”

No, seriously - could he be any more perfect?

Yes, he could...if I was the person he was doing all those nice things for.

Xie Lian heaved a sigh. “250 yuan,” he said. Hua Cheng lifted a suspicious eyebrow. Yeah, Xie Lian might have low-balled that number a little...a lot… “...okay, more like 400.”

“Perfect,” Hua Cheng announced. Setting the container down at his feet, he reached into a pocket, withdrew a billfold, and deliberately counted out 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 100 renminbi bills.

“Hua Ch--”

“Zip it,” Hua Cheng said, setting the money down on the counter just behind Xie Lian. Because Xie Lian was still just standing there. With his hands at his sides. Staring. And feeling sorry for himself. “I’m taking the container too.”

“That still doesn’t cost--”

Oh, but he was so tired.

“This person is worth it.”

Xie Lian struggled to keep his exhale from leaving as a forlorn sigh; it whispered from him, leaving his shoulders slumped, his mind fogged, and his chest hollow. “Alright. Have a nice night, Hua Cheng.”

“I will.” There was an inexplicable intensity to Hua Cheng’s voice, but Xie Lian didn’t want to try to understand. What he already knew hurt enough, and he knew he was being absurd. Dwelling on it would only intensify his sadness. Hua Cheng lifted the bucket of jasmine again, hugged it close with apparent indifference to the damage it might do to his expensive suit, and walked to the door. “I’ll see you soon, okay?”

“Yeah, of course,” said Xie Lian, his voice empty, his heart empty, his store empty, his life...he shook his head and followed Hua Cheng to the door. Given Hua Cheng’s burdens, Xie Lian hustled and stepped before him, opening the door so he could leave without even more difficulty. “Thanks as always for your business.”

“My business…” Hua Cheng echoed. “Is that what this is?”

Xie Lian had no idea what Hua Cheng meant.

Xie Lian refused to think about what Hua Cheng meant, as Hua Cheng stepped out of the store, and Xie Lian closed and locked the door behind him, and Xie Lian turned and stared at his barren shelves, cast in deep shadow in the low evening light.

Tomorrow, he’d be up bright and early to receive his shipments, make the day’s deliveries, run the business, do all the work of owning a florist shop himself.

Tomorrow, he’d be collected, and calm, and professional.

Today…

A single teardrop made a wet, cool line down his cheek.

...today, he was being ridiculous.

Shaking off his melancholy, Xie Lian set about shutting down. There were cases to refill, vases to wash, coolers to clean. There was work to do, so much work to do, and he lost himself in the rhythm of it, in the simple joy it brought him. Minutes passed, the evening stretching later. Outside, he could hear as celebrators walked by. There was so much joy and jollity in their voices, and brought him a sense of pride to reflect and think - he helped make the day better for many people. His flowers brought happiness to dozens, hundreds, of people.

It was enough.

His flowers brought happiness to Hua Cheng.

It was almost enough.

It was--

A knock-knock-knock startled Xie Lian as he carefully swept bits of leaf and petal into his palm after wiping the cooler interior. Tumbling to his bottom, scattering flower bits over his lap, he sat there blinking. It was probably just some doomed boyfriend or husband realizing they’d forgotten to buy their love a gift. It was probably...but he glanced toward the exterior door, and there was no one there.

Knock, knock, knock.

Uncertain, Xie Lian rose and walked toward the back of the store. The knocking grew louder the closer he drew to the receiving door, and finally, baffled, Xie Lian went to it and peered through the peekhole.

Hua Cheng stood outside, smile suave, arms embracing the container of cape jasmine branches.

Xie Lian hesitantly unlocked the door and pulled it open. “Apologies, was there something wrong with…?”

“Oh, never,” replied Hua Cheng brightly. “I just got tired of waiting. Again.”

“I don’t…um...?”

“I told you, I have someone very important I want to see tonight, and they deserve to know how much I value them.”

Hearing it again stung. Did Hua Cheng really have to rub in how special this person was to him? What did any of it have to do with Xie Lian? Why was Hua Cheng here, instead of with them? None of it made any sense, and Xie Lian didn’t want to think about it, except how could he not think, and wonder, and mourn, with Hua Cheng standing in front of him once more?

“I’m sorry...I don’t…”

Hua Cheng rolled his eye. “Unfortunately, he’s not always the most observant individual, but I forgive him for that. To tell you the truth,” Hua Cheng whispered, leaning forward conspiratorially, “I’d forgive him anything.”

Wait.

Was Hua Cheng implying…

Don’t think about it.

“Huh?” asked Xie Lian.

...but it almost sounds like...

With a hearty, gorgeous laugh that set flower bucket water sloshing to the ground, Hua Cheng threw his head back. “They’re for you, Xie Lian,” he managed between gales. “They’re your favorite, right?” 

Oh.

Oh...oh, wow.

No...it couldn’t be.

“Huh?!”

Setting the container of flowers down beside the door, Hua Cheng withdrew one stalk, length heavily bowed with tiny white blossoms, and held it out for Xie Lian to take. Too tired, too bemused, too drunk on nascent hope to decline, Xie Lian took it. 

“I couldn’t exactly ask you out while you were on the clock,” Hua Cheng explained. “For a long time, I thought I’d been so clear about my interest, and that surely you’d pick up on it and, if you were interested, respond in kind. But even though you flirted back, you never, ever did, and I started to wonder...I was pretty depressed about it for a while there…”

“...you stopped coming for a few months…” murmured Xie Lian.

“Yup, exactly - then. But I couldn’t stay away, and when I returned you were so happy to see me, and I couldn’t believe I’d misread your mutual interest so completely. And then it occurred to me...what if it wasn’t your interest I’d misread, but...you?”

“Me?”

“You’re so quiet.” Hua Cheng’s voice was fond, his expression gentle, and he reached out with a hand to cup Xie Lian’s chin. “You’re so kind.” The red string tied around Hua Cheng’s finger brushed Xie Lian’s cheek. “You’re so self-effacing.” The feel of it was familiar, and Xie Lian finally recognized it - it was one of his strings, from the store, the ones he used to tie bouquets. “You would never presume that I’d be more interested in you than in the flowers you sold.” Hua Cheng was wearing it like jewelry. “Not that I don’t love flowers - I do, truly.” That was so… “Almost as much as I love you.”

...so…

...wait, what?

“Hua Cheng,” Xie Lian breathed, heart in his throat, tears in his eyes. 

“Will you go out with me tonight, A-Lian?” asked Hua Cheng, deep and rich and gloriously sincere.

Xie Lian opened his mouth, closed it, opened it, closed it, blinked away tears, and then smiled. “I guess it depends,” he said with a grin.

It was gratifying to see Hua Cheng look a fraction as confused as Xie Lian had felt most of the evening. “On what?”

“...did you mean what you said earlier?”

“Every word.”

“Even the part about the foot massage?”

“Especially the part about the foot massage!” said Hua Cheng. “When was the last time you sat down?”

“I don’t even remember,” Xie Lian admitted. “It’s been a long day.”

“I know, A-Lian.” Sliding a hand down Xie Lian’s neck, along his shoulder, and down his arm, Hua Cheng took Xie Lian’s hand in his own, clasped both their fingers around the jasmine stem, raised it to his lips, and gave it a gentle kiss. Jasmine petals rained down between them like spring rain. “So I hope you’ll forgive me for making it even longer.”

“Oh, Hua Cheng…” Joy bursting through his heart, Xie Lian allowed Hua Cheng to gently tug him out the back and pull the door closed behind them. “...A-Cheng…” The soothing scent of jasmine flowers filled the alley. “I’d forgive you anything.”

“Anything, anything?”

“Anything, anything,” Xie Lian confirmed. “Though--”

“Knew there’d be a catch.”

“--I’d appreciate if I could go home and change before dinner?”

“...that’s fair. Should I wait for you here?” asked Hua Cheng with a gesture to the narrow, dirty alley.

“Why don’t you walk me back?” Xie Lian suggested.

“Not nervous about inviting a strange man back to your place?” Hua Cheng teased.

“I think only a strange man would want to come back to my place…”

“As I suspected - you sell yourself far too short.”

“Then aren’t I lucky to have you to tell me your worth?” 

I do have you, right? You really think…

“You are,” Hua Cheng replied, unhesitating and firm. “And I will.”

...you really do.

“Wow.”

I was right.

“You’re worth everything to me, A-Lian.”

He really is so perfect...

“And you, to me.”

...we’re really perfect.

And, hand-in-hand, in a cloud of cape jasmine blossoms and a choir of chimes, they walked toward Xie Lian’s apartment.

Together.

[amythedvdhoarder]

Starting Over

Pairing: Bucky x reader

For the Flex Your Muscles Writing Challenge set up by @captain-rogers-beard​

1st of June word prompt: Active

Summary: Set after the end of Endgame, Bucky wants to start over, he just isn’t sure how

Warnings: mentions of character death (end of endgame) but mostly fluff

Word count: 1.2K

Authors notes: GIF not mine. Never done a writing challenge before, thought it would be a good way to expand my fanfic writing. First ever one-shot. Hope you enjoy!

----------------------------------------------------------------------

After the second fight with Thanos everything was different. The world was still mourning the loss of Tony, Nat and the many others who had died trying defeat the evil titan. Steve had obviously changed. A lot. He had lived 2 lives; one saving the world over and over again and one with his true love Peggy.

Bucky knew Steve had intended to stay behind when he returned the stones to their rightful places in time. He didn’t begrudge his friends decision, in fact he thought it was brave. Steve deserved a life, one where the world didn’t demand so much of him. People had at first been confused why Steve handed the shield to Sam, but not Bucky. This was another way that Steve had looked after him, tried to protect him. He had given Bucky the chance to start over again and try to have his own life.

That was exactly what he was trying to do. With the Avengers compound still in ruins, Pepper and Happy had made sure that what was left of the team had somewhere to stay. She bought a tower block not far from the old Avengers tower in New York and had organised the refurb of a couple of floors. This gave everyone space to live, train and be together in the aftermath of recent events.

Bucky had taken up Pepper’s offer until he figured out what he wanted to do with his life. He had a specific skill set but beyond this he had no idea. After catching up with Steve he realised that he wanted to settle down and enjoy life, but he was too aware of his past. For now, Bucky was just trying to find a routine consisting mostly of going to the gym. Which was exactly where he was now.

“Every time I come down here to try and get away from people you’re always here Barnes” Sam threw is arms up in exasperation sending Bucky a hard glare.

Bucky shrugged. “Gotta stay active bird brain.” Bucky didn’t want to tell that idiot the real reason he was here so much. He carried on smashing his fists into the punching bag raised in front of him, ignoring the comments Sam was muttering under his breath. 15 minutes, and a punch bag later, Bucky sat learning against the wall taking a sip of water, his eyes flicking to the doors every so often.

“What you …” Sam’s words were cut off when the door to the gym suddenly opened and a young woman walked in. Bucky’s hands immediately flew to his short messy locks as he tried to smooth them, a smile forming on his lips. Sam rolled his eyes as he realised what was going on. He looked at the woman walking towards the infatuated super soldier. She had towel slung over shoulder, dressed in black leggings and loose vest which exposed a hint of her strappy sports bra beneath. Her long Y/C/H tied up into a messy bun, a smile adorned her feminine face and her Y/C eyes were sparkling as she walked closer to the man sat on the floor.

‘Hey James” she spoke softly. “Y/N, didn’t expect to see you here” a blatant lie but you let it slide. You offered a hand down to Bucky which he took willingly. You pulled him up and let your eyes linger on his as he grinned down at you. Realising he was still holding your hand, he pulled it back, a blush forming on his cheeks.

A few weeks ago, you had taken a break from work as a SHEILD agent and decided to hit the gym. You had your headphones in and were running at a steady pace matching the beat of your music.  5 miles in you got the feeling that someone was watching you and glanced around to find some crystal blue eyes studying you. You had slowed the treadmill and turned your music off and started chatting.

Bucky was infamous throughout SHEILD but you had never met him before. You had heard all about his past but as you studied the man, you could see a softness in his eyes and heard a gentleness in his voice. You were immediately spellbound by him, of course you couldn’t deny that he was gorgeous. He had a strong, muscly frame but he moved with grace. You could tell he was self-conscious about his arm, opting to keep it behind him as you chatted away to him. You talked about work at first but then the conversation flowed easily onto other, more personal topics, such as family, friends and even relationships.

Bucky upon hearing you were single felt his stomach flip slightly. He couldn’t understand how no-one had snapped you up already. You were funny, kind and the first time in a long time he felt comfortable being around someone. He had to fight to keep the disappointment of his face when he had to say goodbye to you later that day. “See you around Y/N?” You caught the question in his tone. “I hope so James, it was great getting to know you a bit.” With that she had left. Bucky replayed how you said his name over and over. On that day he made it his mission to run into you again and ask you on a date.

After weeks of spending hours in the gym in the hope you would walk through those doors again, you were finally here. You looked at him sweetly, and could see he nervous by the way his hands fidgeted slightly. His eyes were shifting as if he were having some sort of internal debate. He slowly moved his flesh hand towards you and tucked a loose strand of hair back behind your ear, his thumb trailed down your cheek delicately resulting in a soft sigh escaping from your lips. His eyes locked onto yours, you could feel your heart hammering in anticipation. “Y/N, I was wondering if you wanted to grab dinner sometime?” You were absolutely stunned, you hadn’t expected this at all. Bucky Barnes could have any girl he wanted, but he wanted to take you out. He must have been out of his mind. Bucky started to step away from you, taking the delay in your response as rejection. He silently began to curse himself and looked to the floor.

“How’s tomorrow night? I have work until 6 but am free later.” His head shot up and sent you a lopsided grin. “Yeah tomorrows great Y/N, I’ll meet you downstairs at 7.30?” You nodded “can’t wait” as he started picking up his belongings. He pressed a quick kiss to your cheek, “see you tomorrow doll.” Your hand touched the cheek he had just kissed as you watched him leave. “See you James” you muttered to yourself as the doors closed behind him.  

A loud chuckle erupted from the corner behind you. You spun around to find the falcon laughing to himself. You scowled slightly at him waiting for an explanation. “So you’re the reason he has been spending every waking minute down here.” You laughed to yourself, head shaking in disbelief. You were going on a date with James Buchanan Barnes.

[fanficflaneuse]

One Day - Part 5

A/N: Hello magical tumblr friends! I hope you’re all doing alright. So...we’ve reached the middle of this series! I can’t believe I work four chapters in a week. Goodness! I feel on fire right now. I hope you like it. What’s about to come is just plain, simple, absolute drama. 

For this chapter, I drew a bit of inspiration of a series called The Arrangement by @fandomsfeelsandfanfics. It’s not plagiarism or anything, but I did have it in mind as I wrote. All of this to say you should check it out if you haven’t, it’s an amazing series and I’m waiting for an update lol. 

Finally, thanks for all your love and support

Here we go: 

Draco x reader (she/her pronouns) Word count: 2607 (oops...I did it again! (lol) I’m sorry it’s so long. I think this will be the longest chapter of the series).  Summary: One day AU. Post-war. Since The Battle of Hogwarts, Draco and y/n meet one day a year.

Masterlist 

3 May, 2002

“(Y/N), you cannot lock yourself in your library forever.”

“That’s rich coming from you, Hermione,” she said, her voice hoarse.

The brown-haired Gryffindor rolled her eyes, trying to be playful, but there was a hint of concern she couldn’t hide. (Y/N) had been working nonstop. Headmistress McGonagall had offered her a position at Hogwarts. Without a second thought, she quitted at the Ministry and now spent a lot of time in her library, revising every book on DADA and making her best to create a study plan that was challenging and fun. She was also writing again. (Y/N) felt her life was heading in an interesting direction.

“Listen, (Y/N/N), I love you. We all do,” Ginny said as she dragged (Y/N) to her room, Hermione trailing behind them, “And we support every single one of your choices. But you cannot keep waiting for Malfoy to appear at your doorway and magically revive what you had.”

“Besides, he’s bad news, (Y/N). You’ve seen what they write about him in the papers. Not someone a respectable Hogwarts professor, like yourself, should be associated with,” Hermione pointed out, using what they now called her ‘ministry voice’.

“He is a good –“

“We know, we know, love. We know he can be a good person. He is – or was? – our friend as well. Not as close as he was to you,” Ginny raised an eyebrow playfully at this, warranting an annoyed eyeroll from (Y/N), “But we did help save him from Azkaban, didn’t we? So yes, we know he can actually be a good person. You just can’t go around saving him forever, dear. Don’t you realize most of his friends have stopped talking to him because of his behaviour? Merlin! Even Parkinson and Zabini are friendlier to us now than he is.”

“He’s chosen a path, (Y/N/N). He’s not trying to change. And even if he was, he’s not here. It’s time for you to move on,” Hermione reasoned.

(Y/N) sighed. She missed Draco way too much. Sometimes she wondered if he missed her. He hadn’t contacted her in a while. No owls, no visits, no cuddles. It had started out small, a bit of extra drinking during the week, an increasing amount of partying. Then every time she saw him, Draco was nursing a drink. Then the visits started to spread out. He’d always have a party to attend, an invitation somewhere and some sort of alcohol running in his veins. His letters stopped coming shortly after. As she got busier, (Y/N) ceased reaching out for him, tired of his excuses and self-destructive behaviours. She started mourning their friendship and her love for him.

At that point, the infamous articles were already a thing. Draco’s drunken antics had warranted him the moniker of “enfant terrible” and his misadventures were fuel for Rita Skeeter’s sensationalist quill. He always made the front page for the worst of reasons. Everyone had tried to talk some sense into him, to no avail.

“I can’t move on from something that never happened,” she declared in defeat.

“Well, more reasons for you to put this gorgeous dress on and enjoy your date with Ernie,” Ginny pressed on as she threw a blue dress over her shoulder.

“We’ll be waiting for your every detail,” Hermione added as she started working on your hair.

Ernie McMillan asked (Y/N) out at least five times before she accepted. In the end, she did because of her friends’ insistence. Everyone agreed she needed to go out. (Y/N) hadn’t been on a date for such a long time, even she admitted to herself the idea sounded tempting. She wasn’t particularly attracted to Ernie (she wasn’t particularly attracted to anyone whose name wasn’t Draco Malfoy), but she found him very sweet and patient. As the day approached, (Y/N) was getting excited about it.

Then, just the day before her date, she was invited for tea at Malfoy Manor. The affair had been so nerve-wrecking that (Y/N) came back home and cried her eyes out. She spent all night in her library, curled up in a ball. That’s where Ginny and Hermione found her. She had puffy eyes and seemed tired. They didn’t need to think too hard to guess what was the reason for her sorrow. It had been the same for a couple of months now. That’s what made them push harder for her to go out.

As Ginny helped her with her makeup, (Y/N) could only think about her visit to Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy. The only time she had been in their lavish mansion, she had been tortured and put in a cellar with her friends. As she stood in front of the gates, she felt her hands clammy and her whole body shaking. Every fibre of her being was begging her to turn around and run. She felt the tentacles of her fear and trauma engulfing her again, trying to drag her down, reduce her to tears and panic.

“Are you alright?” said a voice she’d recognize anywhere: Lucius Malfoy himself had come to greet her. She saw a lot of Draco in his father. The striking grey eyes were almost too painful to look at.  Lucius’ eyes didn’t hold for her the same affection Draco’s did, but she could recognize a mixture of respect and also a bit of fear. Was he afraid of her? Or was that concern? Did she look that frightened?

“Yes, sir. I was just…”

“Remembering?” he offered, an apologetic expression settling on his aristocratic features.

(Y/N) nodded in response. She tried to smile at him.

“I am glad you could come, Miss (Y/L/N). My wife and I have not had the pleasure of your company since the trials. We never got the chance to thank you for everything you did for us,” he said, motioning her to walk with him.

They strolled through some beautiful gardens. The flowers were blooming and the peacocks showed their beautiful feathers. As they entered the house, (Y/N) felt shivers down her spine. She had to stop for a second and take a deep breath. Lucius waited for her patiently. The walked up the stairs and move through different halls.

“We well be having tea at our living quarters. Narcissa is recovering from that hippogriff virus. Fortunately, it is under control, but my wife is still very delicate and needs her rest,” he explained as he opened the door to the room.

Narcissa Malfoy greeted them. She was seating up on the bed, her back pressed to a mountain of fluffy pillows. She wore an embroidered nightgown and her silky bedspread covered her up to her waist. She was a vision; even in the comfort of her bed, Narcissa looked like a queen. Her whole demeanour, even her seemingly informal attire, made (Y/N) feel underdressed.

As soon as (Y/N) was close to the bed, Narcissa grabbed both of her hands affectionately. It took (Y/N) less than five minutes in front of that majestic woman to decide that even if Draco was physically a copy of Lucius, everything else was absolutely Narcissa: his mannerisms, his smile, his way with words.

“I am so happy to see you, (Y/N),” she said, offering her a smile so wide that reminded her of Draco.

As Lucius brought her a chair and left to fetch the tea, (Y/N) felt really out of place. It was not only the looming idea that she was intruding, but also the way in which such domesticity seemed so strange to her. Draco had told her about his life growing up, how he had a seemingly happy childhood, even if his parents were – to an extent – emotionally distant. The Manor was huge for him alone, but his parents dotted on him and cared for him. (Y/N) imagined that this scene, three people sitting close by in the middle of a huge room, was a constant in Draco’s childhood.

As minutes went by and both women engaged in small talk, (Y/N) let go the idea that Draco would barge through the door at any moment. She then concentrated in her current situation, trying to figure out why would they, of all people, invite her over for tea. Narcissa noticed this and pursed her lips.

“I am going to be direct with you, (Y/N). I know it must be very strange, our invitation, I mean. I do wish we had done it sooner, for I have a lot to thank you. The matter at hand, though, is not a joyous one,” she explained, carefully, “we are very worried for our son”.

(Y/N) gulped. She was about to respond when Lucius came back, balancing three cups and a teapot. As he made his way to them. He served the three cups with effortless elegance.

“I hope you like jasmine tea, Miss (Y/L/N) ,” he said as he offered her a cup.

“Yes, it is excellent,” she answered, trying to adopt a posher inflection in her voice.

Lucius and Narcissa shared a meaningful look. “I was just telling (Y/N) how we are worried about Draco,” she explained, almost as a though it was a nuisance.

“Worried?” Lucius scoffed dramatically, “I am not worried. If anything, I am mad and disappointed. He is tarnishing the family name with his stupidity.”

“He is worried,” Narcissa decided. Lucius sighed and nodded in response.

They talked for a while about how he had gotten into drinking. It had started with a glass of firewhiskey every other day, then he was drinking every night, going to bars and partying until very odd hours. The conversation flowed between Narcissa and (Y/N), with Lucius adding his somewhat scathing remarks. They talked about the articles in the Daily Prophet and the stupid moniker.

“I have not talked to him in a long time, Mrs. And Mr. Malfoy,” she said at some point. Her vision got a bit blurry with tears, but she was determined not to cry in front of them. She tried to blink them away to no avail. She looked away. Lucius took her cup from her trembling hands and Narcissa enveloped her in a hug. (Y/N) started crying on her shoulder.

“I wish there was something I could do. I tried. I really tried,” she sobbed.

(Y/N) felt really stupid for how she was behaving. But both Narcissa and Lucius were surprisingly nice about it.

“Dear, we did not invite you here to ask you to do something. We know if anyone has tried to help our son, it has been you. I was really sick, you know? As a matter of fact, I almost died. If you ever get that hippogriff virus, please do take it seriously. When I was delirious, only two things truly worried me, (Y/N): one was leaving Lucius behind and the other one was Draco. My son’s life is an utter chaos as it is. And I know my husband and I have a very big responsibility and a lot of blame for his bad decisions, but I also know the kind of person I gave birth to. And he is a good person. I know you saw something in him. Something good. And as I started getting a little better, my heart was suddenly set on one thing. I needed to know you. I needed to know that someone out there genuinely cares for my son and sees him for who he is, (Y/N).”

(Y/N) felt her heart heavy with longing. She took Narcissa’s hands. “I love your son,” she said and immediately felt her face getting hot, “a –as a friend, I mean. It’s no secret we haven’t talked much in the last year…but I still care for him. I think I will always care for him.”

Narcissa squeezed her hands and smiled at her. “Thank you, (Y/N).”

As Lucius was escorting (Y/N) out of the manor, they bumped into Draco himself. He could barely stand on his own. He reeked of alcohol. His eyes were glossy and an easy smile was set on his face. Lucius frowned. The sight, however, broke (Y/N)’s heart.

“Hellooooo, father,” he slurred.

“Draco, where were you?” Lucius countered, trying to be as patient as possible.

“Around,” Draco said.

“You have been around for three days now. Your mother was very worried.”

(Y/N) winced. Draco took notice of her. At first, he didn’t recognize her (or maybe he didn’t want to recognize her), once he was sure it was her, he tried to stand up a little straighter. He gave her what he thought was a charming smile, but his mind was so hazy it was actually pitiful.

“Hello, Dray,” (Y/N) whispered, trying to keep her emotions in check. As she said this, though, Draco lunged forward clumsily and gave her a hug that felt almost like he was slumping onto her. (Y/N) held him in place, almost collapsing under his weight.

“I’ve missed you so so so so so so so so so much, (Y/N/N). I promise I’ll write more. I miss you,” he said, covering her face with kisses. His breath also stank of alcohol. Although his words were a consolation, his deplorable state made her very sad.

“Behave, boy. I thought I had raised you better,” said Lucius in annoyance.

He grabbed Draco by his shirt and pushed him away from (Y/N). Uncoordinated as he was, he fell on his bum. He searched for (Y/N)’s face, teary eyed. As they made eye contact, (Y/N) was reminded of a very small child. She wanted to cradle him in her arms again and reassure him that everything was going to be alright. (Y/N) knew that wasn’t the best idea. Her thoughts were echoed by Lucius, who, as kindly as possible, asked her to leave.

(Y/N) kneeled in front of Draco, who looked at her with a bit of sorrow and a great deal of confusion. She kissed his cheek and he smiled.

“Take care, Draco,” she said very softly.

Just thinking about that now, as Ginny blended her eyeshadow, gave her enough reasons to want to apparate in Malfoy Manor. She knew her friends were right; she couldn’t save Draco forever. She couldn’t change him either.

As Hermione and Ginny pushed her in front of her mirror, (Y/N)’s heart was shattered. She looked beautiful. The dress fit perfectly. Her makeup was incredible and her hair was twisted in a delicate braid. Somehow, even like that, she felt like hiding herself under her bedspread. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her doorbell.

Ernie had arrived.

…

“I can’t believe I’m going out with a published author,” Ernie said with a cheeky smile. 

“Oh, it’s just a couple of short stories in The Hogsmeade Review. It’s not a big deal,” she answered before taking a sip of her wine.

“The Hogsmeade Review is a big deal, (Y/N/N),” he countered, “it’s where most big shot writers started. I believe Newt Scammander published his first essays there as well. Can you imagine your novels becoming standard Hogwarts readings?”

Ernie had a very articulated opinion on everything. At times during the date, (Y/N) would let him talk and talk and talk, until he seemed to exhaust his information on whatever they were now discussing. Did it bore her? To infinity and beyond. She couldn’t deny, though, that his enthusiasm was a bit infectious as well and she needed something like that at the moment. And, surprisingly, she wasn’t having a bad time.

So, when he asked her out for a second date, she bit the inside of her cheek and accepted.  

tags: @naomi02hook @okaydraco @fandomscombine @iliketoast23

[daydreaming-jessi]

Lmao guess who’s dealing with an existential crisis so she decided to write more for the Beetlejuice cat au???? If you wanna see the previous posts then just go to the shoggoth au tag on me blog kk

So, now Charles and Delia go from having 0 cats in the house to suddenly having 5.

It’s worse than the sudden ghosts

Because! Charles is allergic to cats! Emily was allergic to dogs, it’s why they never had any pets in the house before.

But he can’t exactly say no he’s seen shoggoth bring Lydia down from sudden panic attacks in like ten minutes and the kittens just lessen the panic attacks altogether!

Delia points out that the house aura has never felt better than when the cats were there. He sighs a heavy dad sigh and resigns to like twenty years of constantly taking Benadryl. (Shoggoth has also declared him a perfect nap lap and he also seems to be doing so much better mentally with the cats around. He likes seeing the kittens trample over each other after string sue him)

Barb and Adam are ecstatic!! Barb just adores animals! She had all kinds growing up, like snakes, lizards, fish, dogs, rodents, ferrets, and especially cats!!

I personally think she may have grown up on a farm, thus was constantly around animals (and doing hard work making her ultra strong).

Adam is more into bugs and snakes, but he loved fostering cats whenever he and barb took in a batch of christmas kittens, and these guys are so! Smart! Shoggoth has figured out how to open the attic door to sunbathe in the windows in the afternoon and the kittens have learned how to fetch! For them! When they need something for their town model!!!! (They of course are specially made for the model)

They name one kitten Patchie because it’s just so splotchy with it’s black and white fur and looks like a mini version of his mom but like a printer ran out of ink while making him. Beej tells them they are the most basic people he’s ever known and he loves them

Delia loves the cats, shoggoth will supervise Delia’s morning yoga everyday, sometimes joining in her own kitty way, and the kittens jumble up everywhere in the kitchen and garden whenever she is working in there, But one kitten... one kitten!

Delia swears they have some strange competition going on! This kitten pops out of nowhere and scares the daylights out of her every time! It is exactly like Lydia! (Lyds, Beetlejuice, stop laughing, it’s true!)

Lydia grins deviously and names this lil tabby brown lad Azazel. Beej cackles in the background while Delia is a lil confused.

But there’s this other fluffy black kitten with the most gorgeous dark eyes, and it reminds her so much of Lydia as well, so she names that little baby Circe. Lydia and Beej secretly think this is the coolest thing ever. Charles just smiles fondly and is ever more grateful for this eccentric lady that has become a part of their lives. Adam and barb think Delia is a delight (lol)

But there’s one kitten. One lil tabby black girl that’s just... dumb.

Like, you never think cats can be dumb, they’re so graceful and elegant and just.... smart! But this one kitten...

Shoggoth seems to always be supervising this kitten and yet it still gets in trouble. She’s managed to lock herself in the guestroom closet twenty two times- make that twenty three. (Charles get the coat hanger, she’s done it again!)

This kitten doesn’t seem to be mentally lacking behind her brothers and sister, she just... doesn’t seem to think things through.

Whenever someone takes a bath she wants into the bathroom, and she’ll want to sit in their laps while they’re in the bath so she’ll jump in without realizing that the human is... in a bath. Of water. Many times a soggy black shadow will sprint down the stairs away from the bathroom while someone in there laughs.

Beej took it upon himself to name this kitten.

“Her name... is Beef.”

“... Beej that is the worst name I’ve ever heard.”

“No, no, my mother is the one that’s come up with the worst name ever and that’s calling your son Beetlejuice instead of Lawrence in front of everyone they know forever sealing his fate as beetlejuice.”

“.... Beej you okay?”

“I am never okay Lyds.”

Beef is a special kitten that Shoggoth seems to stretch herself thin trying to keep in check. The parents can relate when this cat comes into the living room at night looking haggard and crashing on the nearest soft surface to pass out for twelve hours away from her kids currently crowded on lydia’s bed.

Many of lydias photography now include dozens of pictures of the cats (and pics Beej had a hand in choreographering). The cats being goofy, the cats being majestic, shoggoth is a star in many creepy photos, being a cat that just screams bad luck with her one eye and crooked tail, there’s one of Delia about to be scared by azazel that always cracks lyds up

Lydia feels her aesthetic is complete when she goes out walking five cats on harnesses wearing full mourning clothes and her camera while electric green haired Beej follows wearing college sweatshirts and jogger handmedowns from Charles. What is this aesthetic? Hell if she knows.

If you can’t find Beej anywhere he’s most likely where the cats are. He loves to nap in the sun with shoggoth, he loves slinking around the shadows with azazel, he loves playing with patchie in the wood shavings of the maitlands model town carving, he loves drifting after beef as she gets in mischief. Sometimes he’ll be sitting down and suddenly the cats all climb on top of him and take a nap, and he’s just still and suddenly at peace and doesn’t need to do anything else. He just, really loves these cats.

It’s kind of scary for him, since they have a much shorter life span than breathers do, and he’s not entirely sure where animals go when they die. He’ll get really quiet sometimes thinking about death and how suddenly it can change his entire life when before it was basically all he knew. He feels much better when shoggoth begins grooming his crazy hair and Lydia shows him another breather thing or Delia asks him to go shopping with her, or the maitlands ask him questions about ghost things, or Charles shows Beej another cool house he’s selling.

Head cannons of Beetlejuice now lives with the deetz time

Everyone... tries to get used to beetlejuice. Delia makes the most surprising progress. Within two days she’s calling Beej Lawrence and both him and Lydia are helping her make breakfast in the morning before he helps her with her garden and dusting her crystal collection. She’s pretty much adopted him like she instantly adopted Lydia when Charles hired her.

Charles has some reservations. This guy tried to marry his daughter, chased him and Delia out of their house, getting him fired from his job, and tried to kill him several times. But then he sees what Delia sees.

And what did Delia see?

A kid. Just, a kid that was really badly abused by his mom. He has abandonment issues from losing his dad and basically learned that the only way to get people to be nice to is by manipulating them. People don’t love you, Lawrence, you’re a useless mess of a boy that’s good for nothing and has no friends. Love is not for people like you.

Charles joins the Beej protection squad lyds and Delia have formed pretty quickly after that.

It’s harder for Adam and barb. They both are still a little scared of Beej. They would be cool with him, but he harassed them a lot before. Lydia can’t blame them but she also knows that Beej struggles to understand personal boundaries and really does have a big crush on them. Lydia is helping Beej better understand personal space (she had a tough time with it too when she was younger) and he’s learning to not force himself on others quite so much.

Beej really does like the maitlands, they’re stable, really in love with each other, actually genuinely nice, they’re kind of the coolest couple of newlydeads he’s ever met. He... wants to be a part of that. But he’s not completely sure how to join that. His usual tactic of overtly sexual actions usually work all the time, but not here. They enjoy... genuine affection??? Who??? What??? What do you mean you like me for my personality my personality is depressed garbage?

Lydia is relieved. No more keeping secrets from her family. Her pseudo brother best friend is now summoned again, being on his best behavior and allowed to stay with them and is now also healing from his mom troubles, and she has five cats now. Nice. Dead mom would love this new family Lydia and Charles made themselves. They love it too.

Of course, this doesn’t mean Lydia and Beej haven’t given up their favorite pastime.

Whenever Delia and Charles are out, and the maitlands are busy up in the attic, the two share an evil grin, and start to call some numbers, ready to hear that beautiful sound once more.

Now with the added bonus of cat yowls and howls. That really freaks people out.

What? Just because he’s getting over trauma and is a part of a loving family doesn’t mean Beej is a better person now. It just means his mom isn’t holding him back anymore >:3

So... what happens when Juno comes back wanting revenge on her no good son?

Lemme know if y’all wanna hear anymore of this au or have ideas of your own I’m kinda on a beetlejuice kick rn lol

[tsc-updates]

Modern TID - Part 5

Part 4 - Part 6

They kept texting regularly and seeing each other in class before thier date on Wednesday. This time, Tessa tried not to think about it too much. They had a class together before their lunch date, so she tried to look as if it was a normal day. As if her stomach wasn’t doing backflips every five minutes, and her legs weren’t crumbling with every step and her heart wasn’t racing to the point of cardiac arrest.

She arrived at class fifteen minutes earlier in hopes she could see him. When someone tried to sit next to her she almost pushed them off the seat. At last, he arrived in class, and the world stopped around them. Her stomach started flipping, her legs stilled, and her heart began beating normally. She felt completely at ease.

“Morning, gorgeous.” He said while sitting next to her.

“Good morning, flatterer.” She smiled.

It was one of the hardest classes Tessa ever had to go through. It wasn’t just the feeling of him sitting next to her, it wasn’t just that every time their hands accidentally touched there was a shock throughout her entire body, it was mostly the fact that Will kept sliding notes to her the entire two hours.

“You look cute when you’re focused”

“Hey, you. Yes, you. I like you :)”

“I’m bananas for you” ��Roses are red. Violets are blue. I don’t like flowers. But I do like you.” Even though she was loving them, she knew they had to pay more attention so when he slid one saying “I like you a latte” with a terrible drawing of what was supposedly a coffee cup, she turned it around and write “Pay attention” underlined three times. A few minutes later he slid another note.

“I can’t pay attention when you’re this close to me”

Her heart jumped a beat. She could feel his eyes on her. She blushed and couldn’t stop herself from smiling.

When class ended, they left together, in the direction of the same café they had been to on thier date-but-technically-not-a-date lunch on the day they met. While they were walking his hand slid down and took hers. She didn’t move away. Instead, she interlocked thier fingers and squeezed his hand in reassurance. Their hands remained locked together throughout the entirety of lunch.

“I know this movie theatre that only shows old movies. Never shows new movies that just came out. Only movies from ten years ago and prior.” He brushed his hair out of his eyes. “And today they’re showing ‘Four Weddings And A Funeral’. It’s one of my favorite movies so I was wondering if you’d like to come and see it?” His cheeks were slightly pink with shyness.

She smiled sweetly. “I would love to.” She took a sip of her nearly finished iced tea. “What’s it about?”

Will widened his eyes in startlement. “You’ve never seen it?”

She shook her head. “Nope.”

He waved his hands. “That settles it then.” He leaned closer to her. “You’re gonna love it.”

She leaned even closer. “You haven’t told me what it’s about yet.”

“I can’t tell you.” He leaned back in his seat.

She crossed her arms. “Why not?”

“Because if I start talking about the movie I’ll never shut up.” He smirked. “Like you with Charles Dickens.”

She pointed her finger at him. “Hey, that man is a literary God.”

He raised his hands. “Alright, alright! Don’t shoot!” She started laughing and soon enough he was laughing with her.

The movie theatre was considerably close. But even if it wasn’t, she still would’ve chosen to walk there. Strolling through London with Will by her side, their hands intertwined, was the best feeling she’d had in months.

There was a showing about to start so they raced inside. They sat in the back because Will insisted it was the best seats in the room. “I didn’t ask if you wanted anything. Popcorn? A drink?”

She shook her head. “I hate when people eat in the movies. I came here to watch something, not to hear fifty people munching for 2 hours.”

He raked his fingers through his hair. “Thank goodness. I hate it too. Those people should just watch movies at home where the only people they can annoy is themselves.”

The couple sitting in front of them turned around with two big bags of popcorn in their hands. Annoyed, they got up and moved to different seats. Will and Tessa shared a look and immediately burts into laughter. “Did you know?” She asked.

“I had no idea.” He wiped a tear from his eye.

The movie started and they hushed into silence. Will had been right, this was a great movie. She could tell why he loved it so much. When the character Gareth started clutching his arm and fell on the drinks table, Tessa heard herself gasp, and tears prickled her eyes. She had wondered at the beginnig of the film who the funeral was for, and as the story went on she found herself bonding with this particular character. Watching him die of a heart attack gave her a sick feeling.

At the funeral, when Matthew started giving his speech, Tessa heard a sob from next to her. She turned to Will and saw him crying. “I’m sorry.” He said. “This part gets to me every time.” He took a deep breath, and like Tessa usually did with books she’d read time and time again, he lowly recited the speech at the same time as the movie.

“This is actually what I want to say: Stop all the clocks. Cut off the telephone. Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone. Silence the pianos, and with muffled drum, bring out the coffin. Let the mourners come. Let the aeroplanes circle mourning overhead, scribbling on the sky the message: He is dead. Put big bows on the white necks of the public doves. Let traffic policeman wear black cotton gloves. He was my North, my South, my East and West. My working week and my Sunday rest. My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song. I thought that love would last forever. I was wrong. The stars are not wanted now. Put out every one. Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun. Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood. For nothing now can ever come to any good.”

He took a breath, to regain his strenght. He was shaking, and there were tears on his face. She didn’t speak. Waited for him to say something. At last, he did. “One day, I will recite this very poem at a funeral.”

She wanted to ask who’s. But she didn’t. “Hopefully you won’t have to fir a very long time.”

He sighed. “Much sooner than we all hoped.” He gave a bitter laugh. “You must be regretting the decision to come with me. You must be waiting for the movie to end so you can hop off and leave.”

She leaned closer to him. Kissed him on the cheek, and took his hand, squeezing it reassuringly. “I’m not going anywhere.” He didn’t turn, didn’t say anything. Just held her hand throughout the rest of the movie.

They walked back to her apartment in comfortable silence. She pulled him up the front steps with her. “Does this means I have to say goodnight? Because iI really don’t want to.” Will smiled up to her.

She looked at the time on her phone. “Technically not goodnight since it’s only 6pm.” She grinned.

“Time flies when you’re having fun.” He went up to the smae step as her, making her have to look up at him. “Maybe we could have fun again this Friday?”

Date number three? Uh oh, we’re inching closer to ‘Status Update: In a relationship’.” She laughed.

“Would that be so bad?” He asked, a serious look on his face.

She shook her head. “Not at all. But be warned, I come with an idiotic borderline psychotic brother.”

“I come with a house of nut jobs and identity issues.” He shrugged. “It’s a pretty sweet deal if you ask me.” She laughed but he turned serious once again. “I have a question.”

“Go ahead.” “Can I kiss you?” His cheeks were tinted rosy, and his blue eys were staring at her intently.

She pretended to think about it, even though she knew what answer she wanted to give him. She stood on her tiptoes to get closer to him. He tilted his head and leaned down, but just before he could kiss her she stopped him. “Not yet.” She pulled away and smiled up at him.

His eyes were wide and his mouth agape. He smiled nonetheless. “I’ll see you on Friday then.”

She laughed and walked inside. Her happiness was short-lived. Walking inside her apartment, there was her brother and his friends. She made a beeline for her room, her brother paying no attention to her this time. One of his friends unfortunately did. “You look nice.” He was leaning on the wall next to her door. She didn’t know his name, and she didn’t care to find out what it was. “Big date?”

“Just studying.” She tried to get into her bedroom but he blocked her path.

“Those clothes look good on you.” His breath smelled of alcohol and something else she couldn’t put her finger on. Her blood ran cold when he stepped closer to her. “I bet they’d look better off.” She felt his hands on her hips.

Suddenly he was pushed off her and into a wall. She was frozen into place. From the corner of her eyes, she could see her brother keeping him locked at the wall with his arm. “If you ever touch my sister again, I will kill you.” He threw him to the floor and the guy stayed there, almost unmoving. Her brother whispered in her ear. “Go into your bedroom and don’t come out.”

She did as she was told. She was too afraid to protest. She heard fight noises from the other side of the door. She wanted everything to disappear, to go away. She got under her covers, with the same clothes she had gone with. Her phone rang with a message tone. She pulled it out of her pocket to see a message from Will. “I’m missing you already.” She smiled despite everything happening outside.

She realized something. That even though he snapped at her, and it felt like he wished she was gone, her brother still protected her from the evil monsters that lurked in the shadows. And that Will, though having just met him, could make her smile no matter how hard things were and how miserable she felt.

Will was the Prince Charming of her fairytale. All that was left was to find out if Nate would be part of the angelic cavalry, or part of the venomous demons.

[scarlettwitcher]

Excerpt of something I might not ever write...

Based on Jolene by Dolly Parton. It's been stuck in my head for a while and I've had this idea bouncing in my head for a while. I wanted to make it a series but I just can never find the inspiration to sit and write so I'm just going to write this part that's been replaying in my head. I'm not tagging anyone, except like 4 people that I hope like it, because I've been gone so long, I don't know who's active and who's not. I bolded lyrics I used from the song.

Dean x Lisa, Dean x Eventual Reader

"(Y/n). "

Your name bounced off of Dean's lips like a prayer. But the only one listening to this prayer was Lisa. It was 4 am and like clockwork, Dean began to move and moan, gasping here and there, grunting, and exhaling your name every few minutes. Lisa could easily guess what his dreams we're. She couldn't stop the way her heart felt so heavy and the way she felt it crack inside. She knew those dreams meant nothing but deep down, she knew they were only roots to what she feared most. Most of her friends had warned her. They had told her of what they've seen and what they were suspicious of but Lisa never had proof because really nothing was going on.

He talks about you in his sleep, there's nothing I can do to keep from crying when he calls your name..

Lisa couldn't bear hearing your name coming from Dean's lips. She stood slowly and made her way to the bathroom, letting the silent tears and choked sobs escape. How did she get here? How was she losing Dean easily? Why were you doing this?

Lisa knew you since you were 4. She was only 6 years older but she watched you grow up. Her town was small and everyone knew everyone. You were the town sweetheart. Everyone loved you, including Lisa. You were gorgeous and nobody could deny it. The way your eyes always shined when you spoke or the way you walked, flawlessly, and Lisa even swore she watched you move in slow motion, just accenting everything about you.

Once you turned 18, you started working at the only burger joint in town. You were the most popular waitress. The place always had so much business because everyone came in to see you. When Ben was 5, he would drag Lisa to the diner so he could tell you about his day at school. Lisa would never admit it but in some way, she envied you. She envied who you were. She wished she was like you. That was before Dean came into her life. After he quit hunting and moved in with Lisa, she felt relief and happiness and she forgot about you. Couple months into Dean living with Lisa, he started working construction with the boys. They always had to leave early in the morning. Most of the boys Dean worked with had gone to high school with you, and some were your father's friends. Every morning they would stop by to your diner to have some of your coffee which was loved by everyone.

That's when Dean met you and when things slowly started to crumble for Lisa. The moment Dean laid eyes on you, it's like the world just stopped. Nothing could describe that moment. He felt like a sweaty teenage boy about to talk to his crush. When you came to take the boys orders, Dean stuttered like an idiot, he was sweating, he even tripped over himself... while sitting on the chair. You watched as Dean made a fool of himself. You giggled but moved quickly to help him up. Seeing your eyes so close to his, your lips almost touching his, his heart just couldn't take the emotions he was feeling. Once you made sure he was okay, you fed the crew and even packed them lunch, on the house, and wished them a good day. Dean knew he no longer was anyone's but yours. Everyday, Dean never failed to show up at the diner and talk to you. Sometimes he'd go an hour or two earlier than usual just to sit and talk to you. Everyday, he felt himself become a part of you.

Lisa knew. She knew Dean was slipping through her fingers. She knew he wasn't hers anymore but she just couldn't do anything. Lisa knew when Dean was leaving at 4 in the morning for work, it's because he was going to the diner. She knew where he spent all of his time. She knew who he was spending his time on. It hurt her too much and she did what she thought was best.

After a few months of Dean appearing every day of the diner, it had been a few days since he'd come around. You thought it was weird and you even contemplated calling him, when you saw Lisa walk in. You smiled wide and walked over hugging her tightly like you always did. However, she didn't hug you back. She actually hadn't moved. She looked at you with pain and anger. "Can we talk?"

"Of course. " You let your boss know you were taking a small break and led Lisa to a booth near the back for privacy. You brought her a water and even a muffin and handed them to her. You watched her as she sat there, staring at the muffin. "You're probably wondering why Dean hasn't come. "

You nodded softly and watched Lisa warily. "He hasn't been around for a few days which is odd since he's a regular. I hope everything's okay. Did something happen at work? Do you need me to take care of ben? "

Lisa swallowed thickly and closed her eyes tightly, wondering just how she was going to approach this with how nice you were being. "No, no, he's fine. He went on a fishing trip. You know, last minute thing. " Lisa knew this was a lie. He was on a hunt with Sam but she doubted you knew anything so she decided lying was a better way to go.

"Oh okay. That's good. I was actually about to ring your house when you walked in. I'm glad everything's well. "

"I came to talk about you... And Dean. " You frowned at her words. The way she spoke them sounded like she had been mourning.

"Me and Dean? Oh Lisa, there must have been a misunderstanding. Were only friends. He comes every morning with the crew for breakfast. It's like a tradition. If it seems like we've been more than friends then I deeply apologize. But I do insist that me and Dean are just friends. "

Lisa only nodded along to your words like she was repeating them in her head from memory. You watched her confused. She started to play with the paper around the muffin before sniffing quietly. She rubbed her nose quickly and sighed. She finally looked up at you but her eyes we're now red rimmed. You finally focused on her face and you could see just how tired and sad she looked. "I know. I know nothings going on but that's the worst part. Nothings going on yet, I'm still losing him, to you. He says your name in his sleep every night. Anytime we talk, it's about you. It's always about you." You didn't know what to say. Lisa's confession was news to you. You sat there quietly, eyes wide, shock evident in every part of you.

"W-wh-"

"Look, I came here to ask you to just please, stop. Stop talking to him. Don't be his friend. Stop letting him fall in love with you. I love him, so much, and I can't lose him. But, I can't force him either. You, however, you have this hold on him, on his heart, that used to be mine, he used to be mine and now, I'm lucky if he even hugs me anymore. Youre this amazing girl and you could have whoever you wanted but just please, my happiness depends on you and whatever you decide to do, I beg you, just stop. " Lisa didn't let you answer as she stood and stormed out of the diner. You sat there, dumbfounded and utterly confused. You started to think about to everything and slowly it all made sense. The lingering stares, the touches, the way he spoke and flirted with you. How you had been oblivious to it, you have no idea but now, you had a choice to make.

You slowly rose from the booth. You heard the door jingle, signaling a new customer, and you knew you had to go compose yourself and finish you shift for the day. Before you could take a step, his voice froze you where you stood. "(Y/n)? "

"Dean? " You turned slowly and there he was, standing in front of you.

"Hiya sweetheart. Sorry for just ditching like that, I've missed you.. And your coffee. " Dean noticed his slip up and coughed his way through the rest of the sentence. You noticed, however, Lisa's confessions ringing throughout your head.

You couldn't stop what escaped your lips. "Do you love me, Dean? "

Dean looked at you with wide eyes but you could see it. The adoration, the way they softened when they landed on you. "Why would you as-"

"Answer me. "

Dean swallowed thickly before sighing softly and nodding, keeping his eyes locked with yours. "Yes, I do. "

You watched him. You watched the way the nervousness seeped through his pores, the way his fingers fidgeted. But the only thing that was sharp and focused was his eyes on you conveying his truth. The truth you just never saw. You didn't say anything for a few minutes and Dean thought he had scared you.

Finally, you got the courage to speak. "Why didn't you tell me? "

"How was I supposed to even begin to explain what I feel for you? "

You shook your head gently and turned to walk away but Dean gently grabbed your wrist and tugged you into him. He caught you quickly and wrapped his arms around your waist. His lips was inches from yours and he caressed your cheek gently. "I'm about to leave with my brother, from here, for good. "

"Dean.. I-"

"Come with me. "

"What? " You squeaked out softly so only Dean could hear you.

"I can't bare leaving you here alone.. Come with me, with us. Come with me and I promise to God I will love and protect you like there's no tomorrow."

You felt your eyes water over, the intensity of Dean's proposal weighing on your chest. You broke the lock you had with Dean's eyes and looked out the window and you felt your heart sink. Lisa was standing there, cheeks wet with fresh tears, she, however, didn't look angry. She looked sad, she was preparing herself to say goodbye. You knew what she silently was saying to you. You looked back up to Dean before letting out a soft breath. "Where are we going? "

@giftofdreams @captain-rogers-beard @sis-tafics @angelkurenai

[jafreitag]

Grateful Dead Monthly: Academy of Music – New York, NY 3/28/72

Before Europe ’72, there was Academy of Music ’72. Between March 21 and 28, 1972, the Grateful Dead played seven concerts at the Academy of Music in New York City.

That’s the original Academy of Music. It opened in 1854 as a 4,000 seat opera house on the northeast corner of East 14th Street and Irving Place in Manhattan. The Dead didn’t play there. They played across the street at a 3,400 seat movie palace also named the Academy of Music, which opened in 1927.

That’s the latter Academy of Music. It shifted from a cinema toward a concert venue in the mid-60s. The Rolling Stones played there on their first U.S. tour in 1965. Around the closing of the Fillmore East, some eight blocks south and east (if my dodgy NYC geography is correct), the former movie palace was a full-on rock palace, hosting the Allman Brothers Band (8/15/71), Aerosmith opening for Humble Pie and Edgar Winter (12/2-3-71), and the Band (12/28-31/71 – those shows were excerpted for the 1972 live album Rock of Ages and featured in their entirety for the 2013 box set Live at the Academy of Music 1971).

The Academy of Music was renamed the Palladium in 1976. And on 9/20/79, this happened there.

The guitar smash, not the album, obv. #paulsimononftw The venue was converted to a nightclub by Studio 54 guys Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager in 1985. In 1992, they sold it to Peter Gatien, who kept it open until 1997. The last concert at the Palladium was Fugazi on 5/1/97 (Red Medicine tour, I think). It’s now an NYU dorm with a gym in the basement.

The Dead visited the Academy/Palladium twice – once in 1972 and once in 1977. In ’72, they were workshopping material that they would soon take across the pond. In ’77, they were solidifying material that they would soon take upstate for the ne plus ultra. Fun fact, the fourth night of the ’72 run was presented by Hells Angels. Here’s the full poster.

[The lessons of Altamont ’69 apparently had been learned, then put to rest. Quick replay, tho, from less than three years earlier.]

The New York Daily News summarized the run like this: “Seven concerts in one week at the Academy of Music, every one of them sold out within hours, more by ESP than advertising… The week’s series will help finance the Dead’s traveling expenses for a two-month, seven-country tour of Europe beginning Saturday.” That quote appears in an excellent and exhaustive recap of all the shows (and their recordings) by someone called “Light Into Ashes” on the Grateful Dead Guide blog. There, LIA posits:

“Musically, this run falls midway between the honky-tonk vibe of the fall ’71 shows, and the smoother Europe ’72 tour. Probably one of the Dead’s plans for the run, aside from raising money for the Europe tour, was to hone their performances for the upcoming live-album recording – after a two-month break from playing shows together, they would need to get back in the groove! 

People who saw them at the time were probably struck by the changes in repertoire. (They only played two songs that had been on Live/Dead, one time each; few songs from Workingman’s Dead or American Beauty were played at all; and many of their newer songs were not on any albums yet.) Pigpen was also singing and playing more than he had in ’71 (singing five or six songs a night); a new piano player had altered the band’s sound quite a bit; and some unknown longhaired lady would come onstage to sing for a song or two. New Yorkers would also have noticed that the Dead no longer played til dawn, as they had done so often at the Fillmore East!

The average show length was three and a half hours, as they played through most of their repertoire each night. (Any audience members who went to several shows in the run would hear most of the same songs a LOT of times.)”

The Grateful Dead Sources blog has a 1972 newspaper review from Toronto’s Grapevine. Pretty funny, it’s worth a look.

Betty Cantor-Jackson recorded the shows, but the tapes disappeared until some guy from Northern California bought them at an auction in 1987. The tapes sat in his barn deteriorating. When Jerry died in 1995, one of the guy’s friends, who must’ve known a thing or two about the Dead, contacted Dark Star Orchestra’s Rob Eaton. Eaton cleaned and restored the tapes at his own expense, and returned them to the guy.

(^ Rob Eaton)

From LIA’s post, which quotes Eaton from an interview with Katie Harvey:

“‘The collection was really unique. Half of it was Garcia-Saunders from ’73, 74, 75. It was just nothing anybody had ever seen. And all the Academy of Music tapes from the Dead in ’72, which no one had ever heard a tape of: really bad audience tapes were the only thing [from that run], nothing was in the Vault. So I knew it was really important.’

Eaton kept DAT copies of the reels, although the buyer made him sign a contract not to copy or distribute the recordings. ‘He drew up this contract that I was liable for $100,000 in liquefied damages if I released the contents of the collection without his written authorization. And I wasn’t allowed to keep a copy according to this thing. All the copies had to be in his possession. Of course I’m keeping a DAT master of everything I’m doing. I’m not that stupid. I was a deadhead and protecting the music was my first and foremost thought. Legally, I wasn’t really that concerned with it. Because I was sort of in with the Dead office at the time, they found out that I had these. They wanted to get a hold of the guy. So I got them in touch with this guy who wanted a million dollars. They just told him to fuck himself. They came back to me and they go, “Look, we know you’re smart. We know you probably kept a set of DATs. What would it take to get that set of DATs from you?” And I said, “Well, first of all, I signed this contract.”’

But according to Hal Kantor, the Dead’s attorney, ‘He can’t claim rights to what’s on the tape. He has rights to the actual physical tapes, but what’s on the tape is our rights, not his.’ So Eaton copied his DATs (including Dead shows from 1971-76) and gave them to the Vault. And as Harvey writes: ‘They prohibited him from distributing copies because they planned to commercially release the material.'”

Parts of all seven nights in 1972 are scattered across various official releases, but the archivists have unloosed only two complete shows – 3/26 (Dave’s Picks #14) and 3/28 (Dick’s Picks #30). The latter also contains the Bo Diddley sit-in from 3/25, so ECM and I decided to focus on that one.

According to the DP#30 Wiki, the 3/25 show was a “semi-private party” billed as Jerry Garcia & Friends. In reality, it was a GD with the band backing Bo Diddley for the first set, then playing its own second set. The entire show has sound quality issues, but the first set is quite poor. The “jam” is the most notable part. It’s essentially a slower version of the “Hard to Handle” wig-out, and not super interesting.

The Dead opened their set with a couple rarities – How Sweet It is (To Be Loved by You), on which Donna Jean reaches a truly wicked level of caterwaul, and Are You Lonely for Me Baby?, from which Bobby must’ve gotten inspiration for Black-Throated Wind. Are You Lonely was later a staple of Garcia/Merl Saunders sets in ’72-74.

3/28 is better, and offers more typical Dead fare. The first set features an extremely hot China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider duo, and some funny stage banter from Phil Lesh. After the band played Mexicali Blues, some audience members chanted for Alligator. Phil responded, “Hey, for all you Alligator fans out there, we done – ah alright alright alright. We understand that there’s a lot of Alligator fans out there, but we done forgot it, see. And so ah, we’re gonna have to remember it sometime later, you know.” The second set showpiece is an extended version of The Other One that offers a preview of what the band would do in Europe.

Ed reminded me that this show was Pigpen’s last in NYC. And he added that it contains Donna’s first Playing in the Band wail. Awesome. His listening notes are more robust than mine, as usual:

The Europe ’72 tour began on April 7th, but the boys played a preparatory seven-night run at the Academy of Music in NYC in the days leading up to their flight across the pond. 

The festivities open with a rockin Truckin.’ All the first set songs are played with gusto and feeling especially the “new” songs such as Tennessee Jed, Chinatown Shuffle, BT Wind, Mr. Charlie, You Win Again and Mexicali Blues.  After Mexicali, the audience is calling out for “Alligator” and Phil tells them that “we done forgot it.” A rare, mid-set Brokedown follows and it is a pure joy. It just might be my favorite song from the entire first set. Next Time You See Me is perfectly executed. The band tears up Cumberland. Bobby is high in the mix and it is exciting to hear his guitar part. Next, Bobby introduces LLR as a “cryin’ song.” It’s a gorgeous version that has Jerry on pedal steel and Phil on backing vocals.  and China->Rider really stands out. The segue jam in China->Rider is especially interesting as the band seems to struggle at first to find the groove behind Bobby’s solo, then they just roll with it, and then Jerry locks into a cool riff before diving into Rider. The only minor complaint is that after 6 shows, Garcia’s voice is beginning to show signs of strain (You Win Again, Big Railroad Blues and China Cat). 

The setlist for Set II pretty much speaks for itself. Playing in the Band continues to progress. This performance marks the the first time that Donna lends her vocal contributions. The jam section starts off drifty like Veneta with that big psychedelic bubble. By the 6-minute mark Jerry is in full guitar psychosis mode. They cool down into drifting, mournful ribbons of sound only to bring it to another peak around the 10-minute mark before entering the reprise. A few songs later we get a high-energy Sugar Magnolia. Jerry goes nuts on the wah pedal during the coda. Donna has not yet found her way into the arrangement yet). This segues directly into a brief drum intro that leads into a 28-minute version of The Other One. The entry is surprisingly laid back as is the entire performance. By the 7-minute mark there are no traces of the song. The band has entered uncharted territory…deep space. This is pretty experimental stuff…atonal notes and peals of feedback. Things begin to become melodic again at about the 14-minute mark as the band prepares to deliver the first verse but it takes them 2 more minutes to eventually get there and after dispensing with it they return to the same misty pastures where they once were. The concert ends in fine form with their standby crowd pleasing closer of NFA>GDTRFB>NFA. The jam at the end of NFA leading into GDTRFB especially shines. 

The only version of the Sidewalks of New York is just a half-minute tuning.

Here’s the Spotify widget.

I’ll add LMA links at some point.

More soon.

JF

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[noccalula-writes]

Do you have any favorite fics?

This is going to be long. 

Disclaimer - I often hunt fic purely to look for smut, I have a short attention span and it’s hard for me to commit to an actual lengthy story and follow through to it. This will also span several fandoms because I am vast and contain multitudes like the rest of us. 

There’s a zillion short smut fics in my favorites - Kastle (which I only half ship but greatly appreciate), Negan (y’all already know Cunninglinguist or @hannibalssweaters is hands-down the best for Negan insert-fic), some Skyrim (I know, whatever), John Winchester (my personal kinks usually revolve around this motherfucker, so help me). A lot of American Gods now too, mostly smutty things revolving around Mad Sweeney. 

I’m not going to go into the smut-only pieces for now as that’d be a whole ‘nother question to answer, but here’s some that are plot-y foremost and any sexiness is incidental. 

For shorter pieces - 

The Beginning & The End are two short pieces by insulpherblue (MCU, Iron Man comics) and are probably two of the most original pieces on AO3. The concept can be hard to follow at first but if you love Tony like I do - or even if you’re just sick of people getting his character wrong - go read them. They’ll stick in your brain. 

Served Faithfully by Zooey Glass (Supernatural) is a John Winchester song fic set around one of my favorite Ani DiFranco songs - ironically, months before I found this fic, I sent the song to my wife and said “wow, this really reminds me of John Winchester.” Apparently I wasn’t alone. 

In The Middle of The Night by unourssongeur (MCU) is my vanity entry since it’s a response to my short Stucky piece Our Love Comes Back, but I loved seeing it mirrored back from Bucky’s perspective. 

It’s Called Google Translate by Mozzarella (Iron Man comics) is ONE OF MY FAVORITE STORIES ON AO3, EVER, AT ALL. It’s an extremely rare pairing from the Matt Fraction run of Invincible Iron Man that broke my fucking heart and STILL haunts me to this day - the piece is sweet but man, if you know the story behind it… 

Judas by MumblingSage (Constantine) is a really sharp, smart BDSM fic based on the Constantine TV show (my wife is a giant JC fangirl) and centering John and an asexual Anne-Marie. The sex drives the plot here but the character exploration here is priceless - this immediately became my canon vision of Anne-Marie.

For longer pieces - 

we did not make ourselves by MLeigh (MCU) is probably the first fic I read on AO3 - I was a late bloomer on the site and had more or less sworn off fanfic for a hot minute but this was the one that made me make an account. It’s dizzyingly good Stucky, probably one of the best known Stucky fics if I had to hazard a guess, and it should be required reading if that’s your bag. 

Better Natures by etirabys (Punisher, Daredevil) is really, really incredible. It kept my incredibly shitty attention span on lock the entire time with it’s incredibly subtle but beautiful S/D dynamic between Frank and Karen while simultaneously giving me zombie apocalypse to boot. It’s a really gorgeous piece, you have to read it to really understand it but I definitely recommend it. 

Hell On Wheels by LastAmericanMermaid (MCU, Avengers) is the roller derby AU Stucky fic you didn’t know you needed - it’s adorable and fun, and I love their characterization of Natasha.

All The Kingdoms and Their Splendour by TigerDragon (Sherlock, novels and Downey films) is hands down one of the best OC insert fics I’ve ever read in my life. It’s SACD and Downey Film Sherlock-verse - full disclosure, I’ve never seen BBC Sherlock and I doubtfully ever will but I loooove the Downey films - and it’s written in period appropriate prose the way the original novels are narrated, which is a risky gamble for a writer but they pull it off magnificently. It’s got a great build and a gorgeous, perfect ending that had me quite literally smiling when I finished it. 

Conversations We Didn’t Have In Skyrim by wshaffer (Skyrim) is one of my favorites even though it’s a big niche piece. Basically I fill in all the open holes in the stories for my Skyrim characters with conversations, exchanges, etc and I was SO thrilled to see that not only did someone else did this but she wrote them all out. I can’t imagine that a lot of people would find my OC’s all that compelling in an open-world video game but goddammit this seems like it would be really, really fun - I loved reading about her Breton’s love affair with Farkas. 

The Darcy, Loki and the Yarn Store series by Hermaline75 (MCU) is probably the only multi-part series that I’ve ever just sat down and powered the entire way through - it was so perfect that all the author would need to do is change a few names and this book would absolutely sell. It is smutty but plot-driven - I’d be lying if I said the Salacious Saga didn’t have influences from this story all over it. If I’d picked this story up at a bookstore, I’d have bought it. GREAT pacing, funny and clever and sweet, it’s Darcy-centric and super inclusive. 

A Rat’s Life by bardsmaid is widely considered /the/ ultimate Krycek fic (X Files). It’s a detailed, well-planned account of his life offscreen, which is hard to pull off since half of Krycek’s allure is that we know so little about him and it’s dangerous to toy with the foundation of a character sometimes, but this is expertly crafted. Sadly, bardsmaid passed away a few years ago, but her blog and writings remain up and no one has surpassed her in terms of Krycek-centric fic. 

I will forever mourn that Kept by becisvolatile (MCU) seems to be completely inactive now - last update was like 2 years ago, but the 5 chapters we got were so, so good. This is straight up smut so I’m violating my rule here, but the characterizations are deep and abiding and there’s so much more to the story than just the white-hot, explicit as hell sex scenes. I love Tony Stark both to play with and read but I so often hate the way people portray his character. This is one of my favorite Tony’s, hands down. 

You’ll Probably Go To Heaven by ILookDaftWithOneShoe (MCU) is fucked. up. You get a lot of psychological warfare in a deeply unhealthy, abusive and monstrous Loki and Tony fic (not at all a pairing I’ve ever once given a shit about until this story) but it’s gripping and addictive. Also I only just recently figured out the title was a Scissor Sisters reference. 

There were a few others that I can’t find hosted anywhere but suffice to say, when a story haunts you long after you’re done reading it, you’ve found a good one. 

[wereflamingo]

Self-Insert

My submission for the wolfstar introvert prompt: Internet Crush

Huge thanks to @nachodiablo and @mirgaxus for the beta and the support!

Summary: Remus and Sirius both write self-insert fics in the same fandom. One day Sirius asks to borrow Remus's OC for his new fic. What could he possibly be planning, and what is the mystery pairing he promised to introduce?

Read it here or on AO3

Padfoot was a very popular writer in the Double Trouble fandom. His OC, Orion, had long, sleek black hair, piercing grey eyes, and cheekbones that could cut glass. Orion liked to wear crop tops, leather jackets and combat boots, as well as numerous sassy pride pins. In some stories he just hung out with the prankster YouTuber twins, but usually he dated Fabian, the member of the duo who was rumored to be gay. The stories were filled with cheeky innuendo, and the occasional euphemistic sex scene. Truth be told, Remus had a bit of a crush on Orion - how could he not? He knew most of the readers did, because they said so, in all caps, in the comments section.

Remus also wrote fics in the Double Trouble fandom, under the nickname Moony, but he wasn't nearly as popular. His OC, Romulus, also usually dated Fabian, although in one fic it was Fabian's brother Gideon who was secretly gay and fell for the shy OC. Remus didn't describe Romulus's appearance much, only stating he had light brown hair and looked very average, but his best friend, Daisy, who appeared in all the stories, assured him he was totally cute. He did always mention Romulus's shyness, bookishness, and inexperience.

Romulus was just naturally uninterested in fooling around, focusing on finding The One. In some stories he'd never even kissed anyone. Remus felt like the story was cleaner that way, even though he himself had actually dated Lily, whom Daisy was based on, for two whole weeks.

Once, feeling brave, he decided to actually put his “relationship” with Lily in the story. It served as a way for Romulus to find out he didn’t like girls, because he was supposed to be attracted to her, but wasn't. Remus himself wasn’t actually sure he didn’t like girls, but he figured a totally gay character would be more relatable, as well as more attractive to a confident older guy like Fabian. He let Romulus feel confused for a while, just to make it interesting, before Fabian swept him off his feet and showed him how gay he actually was.

It was this story that got him his first comment from the one and only Padfoot.

Great story, man. I loved the confusion over Daisy and Fabian. Did you consider that Romulus might be bi or pan though? Not saying he has to be, just that while we all know Fab is hot enough turn any guy, even he can't put a guy off girls entirely if he's into them.

His heart beating fast, Remus wrote a reply: 

Haha, yeah. He could be bi. I mean Daisy's not the only girl in the world. But right now he obviously has a strong preference for men, and one especially. ;)

Thanks for commenting!

Over the next few months, Padfoot commented on all of Remus's fics, and on every new chapter of his WiP. He even followed Remus back on Tumblr, after months of Remus following him. Occasionally he messaged Remus, although the conversation usually fizzled quickly since Remus had no idea what to say. Remus consoled himself with Padfoot's frequent likes on his posts, which never failed to put a goofy grin on Remus’s face.

And then the fandom exploded. It came out that Fabian was dating Caradoc Dearborn, a popular and rather attractive game reviewer. Some fans were excited about the new ship, but others mourned, especially those whose OCs were paired with Fabian. Padfoot, however, announced on his blog that he was writing a new story, which was Fabidoc, and also contained a new pairing. Remus clicked like. Orion and Gideon would be hot together. A minute later, he was surprised to see a message from Padfoot.

padfoot hey moony

moony Hi?

padfoot what's up? listen i wanted to ask you smtg

moony Sure

padfoot can i borrow romulus for a story i'm working on? 

moony Er, sure. What for?

padfoot you'll see 

Unlike most of Padfoot's stories, the new story turned out to be a slow burn. It was an AU set in a college, and the first few chapters were mostly Fabian and Orion being flirty gossipy gay best friends, and Gideon being straight and exasperated. Caradoc showed up in chapter two, but only hung out with Gideon, barely giving Fabian a glance. There were some crazy plans cooked up by Orion and Fabian (with occasional input from Gideon, who just couldn't help himself) to get Caradoc's attention on Fabian, all failing spectacularly, but there was no love interest for Orion himself.

Remus was stalking Padfoot's face tag (he looked just like he described Orion, although Remus wondered if the eyes were photoshopped), when he received an email notification from AO3. "Padfoot just posted chapter 5 of The Moon to My Stars," it said. Excited, he clicked the link.

And there he was. Romulus was the cute hipster working in the library, described at length from his soft brown curls to his scuffed trainers. Orion only had time to ask his name before he had to dash, throwing one last wink at him, narrowly escaping a furious Gideon, whom he had locked in a bathroom stall so that Fabian could go meet Caradoc in his stead.

Remus thought false imprisonment, of a friend no less, was rather excessive just to get your friend a date. He was about to click the back button, disappointed, but his eye was drawn to the next paragraph, where Fabian was relating how Caradoc had recognized him immediately and saved him from trying to pretend to be Gid. Apparently Fabian was having second thoughts about the plan, because what do you know, some people don't want to start a relationship based on lies. He was extremely pleased that Caradoc  had recognized him, though, considering he and Gideon were identical twins and most people couldn't tell them apart. Remus thought it was very romantic, even though he himself had memorized the freckle patterns of both twins and could tell them apart easily.

The story rolled faster from there. In chapter six, Fabian refused to listen to any more plans. His new plan, to Orion's chagrin, was to stop playing around and be direct. It seemed to work for him, as he managed to make plans alone with Caradoc (which he insisted were not a date, because nobody said so directly, but obviously were). Orion, dragged away by Gid when he tried to spy on them, and then ditched in favor of football practice, wandered into the library, bored. Of course, there he met Romulus again. Remus thought the description of Romulus's laugh was a bit gratuitous, as was Orion's random stretching, like he didn't wear crop tops half the time anyway.

The chapter ended there, leaving Remus a little confused. Was Orion flirting with Romulus? Just then, he heard a pop sound. He had a message from Padfoot on Tumblr.

padfoot have you read my new chapter?

moony Yeah, just finished it, very cute Are we going to see Fab and Doc's date though?

padfoot nope orion's not there if he doesn't get to see it then neither do you

moony You can change POV just for that?

padfoot meh tbh they're a side pairing

moony What do you mean?

padfoot moony, do you want to maybe beta the next chapter? it's nearly done

moony Alright Are you going to answer my question? 

padfoot nope i'm sending you a google docs link in half an hour 

padfoot here: [link] 

moony Padfoot! 

padfoot moony! did you like it? 

moony Yes, but Isn't Orion basically you? 

padfoot yeah 

moony And you realize Romulus is me, right? 

padfoot lol yes i figured hoped 

moony So... 

padfoot so? 

moony So you paired our characters together in your fic 

padfoot yep! ^__^

moony Your gorgeous sexy OC and my dorky OC. 

padfoot rom's not dorky ok he's a little dorky, but in a cute way also thanks :D since we've established orion's actually me glad you think i'm gorgeous and sexy

moony Padfoot

padfoot because i've been trying to get your attention for months

moony Wait, what? Months? 

padfoot yes, months i've reblogged every one of your rare selfies i've commented on every chapter you posted i recced you on my blog and now i went and did this very nearly in public i mean anyone reading mtms knows where this is going but at least this chapter isn't posted on there so i could maybe i dunno abandon the fic if you don't like me back

moony What do you mean everyone knows where it's going? I didn't know where it was going! 

padfoot how?? they were obviously flirting i mean it's a fic they always get together in the end also it's called the moon to my stars ffs 

moony It wasn't obvious to me I mean I suspected but I wasn't sure 

padfoot oh my god and here i thought you p much hated me or weren't even reading because i'm boring or you think i'm a perv or smtg

moony Hey, I left kudos! 

padfoot yeah, back when i posted ch 1 i thought maybe you stopped reading 

moony No, definitely not Sorry, I just get anxious when I try to comment 

padfoot no no, i'm not trying to guilt you about not commenting that's totally fine 

moony Okay 

padfoot ffs moony, will you please put me out of my misery already? do you like me back or not?? 

moony You were the one who pointed out that I pretty much said I thought you were gorgeous and sexy 

padfoot okay but you could still hate my personality 

moony Is your personality like Orion's?

padfoot yes no he's the best of me and some of the not best too actually i make terrible decisions but they're amusing so i left that in but also we've been talking why do you need my oc to figure me out

moony I may have been a little star struck for most of our interactions You have tons of followers I have like five 

padfoot i don't believe that 

moony What, that I have five followers? Fine, I have 45. So many, aren't you amazed? Also your selfies are amazing and I'm a potato 

padfoot you are not look, i actually like you i really hope you can look past the fandom celeb and just see me 

moony Okay, I have an idea They have this date in chapter 8, right? Let's co write it Like, roleplay it 

padfoot moony are you asking me out on a date??? that’s the best idea i've ever heard 

moony Technically neither of us will be going out, but yeah, I guess I am? 

padfoot ooh we can do it on skype then we can dress up for it 

moony .... You just want to wear a crop top and fluster me, don't you? 

padfoot good idea but we'll be sitting down anyway so you won't see it i'll have to put on makeup and fluster you 

moony Okay we can talk about the details later, I gotta make a couple of corrections in your chapter 

moony Okay, all done 

padfoot yay! ^__^ 

padfoot er, moony? 

moony Yes? 

padfoot why are all your corrections related to rom checking out orion's butt? 

moony ^_____^

padfoot don't use my emoticon against me

moony You haven't finished reading yet, have you? Keep going

padfoot oh my god they kiss romulus kisses orion moony you are perfect i'm keeping you

moony Hehe Please do <3

And they lived happily ever after, and got a shout out in the next Double Trouble video because Padfoot's fans ratted them out. The End.

[seaninkorea]

it takes two...to tour

this week’s prompt:

have you visited any tourist sites since you arrived? what was your impression of the site and why do you think it is important or meaningful? have you spoken to anyone from your host country about what the site means to them?

over the past week, i’ve been trying to get out and about more: i think visiting interesting places--touristy or not--should be a bigger priority of mine, since i won’t be able to see these places again until who knows when!

to that end, i started this week by going to 동대문 (dongdaemun), a really cool district perhaps most notable for either its many shops (into which i dared not tread, lest i spend the rest of my light award check in one shopping trip) or the 동대문디자인플라자 (dongdaemun design plaza), a massive building (?) designed by zaha hadid: it’s really quite an incredible sight!

striking the stereotypical tourist pose by ddp. i read that not a single piece of the outside plating is the exact same as any other--it reminded me of how they say there are no right angles in morse/ezra stiles colleges at yale! i still the latter fact is untrue, though, so who knows about the ddp.

in this shot, you can see the overarching dome on the plaza’s top surface, as well as one of the many people-shaped sculptures which surround the main area.

my friend sarah and i got lunch at a nearby 짜장면 (jjajangmyeon, noodles with pork in black bean sauce) place; it was delicious, and we couldn’t finish the meal there was so much food! plus it was only about $5 apiece; food prices in korea continue to astound me.

안녕, sarah! jjajangmyeon on the left, seafood soup of some sort to the right.

the interesting thing about this restaurant (and dongdaemun more broadly, really) is that it’s very catered toward chinese tourists--many signs were in korean and chinese (sometimes they had english as well, but chinese was certainly more common). jjajangmyeon is a dish with chinese origins, which i suppose explains why this restaurant is in this district. at the end of the day, it’s a subtle but potent reminder that the world hardly revolves around america.

i couldn’t resist posting this picture; my favorite part of dongdaemun might’ve been the kakao friends store, where i managed to get this adorable picture with my favorite tail-less lion, ryan.

continuing the touristy theme, i spent the whole afternoon and evening of the next day with my buddy exploring 광화문 (gwanghwamun). this area is notable for having a lot of museums and historic-style attractions, such as 경복궁 (gyeongbokgung palace), the statues of 세종 and 이순신 (king sejong the great and admiral lee sun-shin; the former is credited with inventing 한글, the latter with defeating the japanese navy even when greatly outnumbered), and more. we visited a museum in gyeongbokgung, which was filled with cool displays and artifacts from the 조선 (joseon) dynasty; unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take photos ☹️

next, my buddy took me to what he said is the biggest book store in seoul, 교보 (kyobo)--i’d certainly believe that claim! they had mountains of books, and even very large english, french, and spanish book collections. they also had a huge collection of cds and vinyl records, stationery shops, electronics stores, and more. i was really so enthralled that i forgot to take photos; however, i did snag a photo of a cool engraving outside:

“people make books; books make people”

did i mention my buddy had his father (who had the day off from work) drive us from snu to gwanghwamun? they’re both incredibly nice! his dad works at gimpo airport and loves classical music. he was thrilled to hear i did too, and we shared an emotional moment listening to moonlight sonata--music is special, i thought, in that sharing a musical or aesthetic experience with someone transcends the need for a shared verbal language.

after the bookstore, we went to 남산 (namsan) tower, also known as n seoul tower. my buddy was exhausted since he had just finished finals that afternoon (he apparently slept 30 minutes the night before. not good! i’ll probably have to make another post soon about the intensity of korean education), so we took a cable car up instead of walking. it was incredible!

selfies in korea are called “셀카" (short for “self-camera,” i guess)

i also a had one of my favorite experiences waiting for the elevator. a european couple was in front of us in line as my buddy and i were speaking in korean about the different restaurants and what constituted a “good” hamburger (one claimed to have the best hamburger in seoul). one of the couple suddenly turned around and asked me, “excuse me, where are you from?” i told him, “america,” and he seemed a bit startled: “oh, really! i was just curious because i heard you two speaking korean. you’re quite good!”

of course, there’s no way this guy would know if i was speaking good korean since it seemed he didn’t speak it. but it did make me feel like i must be doing something right if i can impress other tourists 😤

the koreans copied the parisians! but in typical korean fashion (although i haven’t been to the bridge in paris), things are more efficient and capitalist: you can buy a lock (the more you spend, the bigger and fancier the lock design) and pens at a booth about 10 feet away. i mourned what i perceived as a lack of authenticity. then i mourned my inability to talk about and share those thoughts with my buddy in korean. rip

this picture is really special to me not just because it’s gorgeous, but because my buddy and i actually shared a really cool conversation--in korean--right after i took it. he’s going to germany to study abroad in the fall and we talked about what it means to throw yourself into a new environment, as i’m doing now and he will be doing soon. he said that places like namsan, where you can look out across the expanse of something great, are vital for keeping oneself inspired to explore and continue seeking out new things. i couldn’t help but agree.

[themarsupials]

100 Best Songs of 2017, pt. 4

25. Broken Social Scene – Hug of Thunder

“Showcases the spontaneity and communal spirit that have carried BSS from the start: every piece of the song, from Feist's discursive lyrics to the circuitous rhythm and flickers of U2-like guitar, all seem to contour around each other, moving as one without falling into lockstep.”

 24. West Thebarton – Moving Out

“A charging coming-of-age ode to the peaks and pitfalls of sharehouse living. Marrying the explosive urgency of Eddy Current Suppression Rin and the ruthless growl of The Saints into something irresistible and distinct, it’s been their smashing opening number since it was written.”

 23. Grizzly Bear – Three Rings

“Even for a Grizzly Bear song, “Three Rings” is a lot to unpack. Its sequence of starts and reversals, intricate symphonics, and untidy free jazz fit together like a Rube Goldberg machine.”

 22. Dirty Projectors – Up in Hudson

“Longstreth’s attempt to control the narrative: Yes, he and [Amber] Coffman broke up, and yes, it’s cool. In unusually candid prose, over a velvety, horn-licked near-eight minutes, he details their courtship: seeing her onstage, recruiting her to be in the band, feeling time stop during their first kiss, writing her “Stillness Is the Move.””

 21. King Krule – Half Man Half Shark

“A delightfully ramshackle blend of punk ethos, bluesy progressions and Archy Marshall's strangled, gravelly shout-singing.”

 20. Thundercat – Friend Zone

“A gorgeous pearl of groove, with hints of underwater funk not unlike Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s.”

 19. Pierre Kwenders – Sexus Plexus Nexus

“Draws from Congolese rumba, contemporary electronic pop, 1980s retro, smooth jazz, and ’70s funk. This results in a cornucopia of sound filled with goodies from a wide breadth of eras and cultures.”

 18. Jay Som – 1 Billion Dogs

“It’s every bit as fuzzy as the title suggests; demonstrate[s] [Duterte’s] knack for nailing full-band compositions that could hold their own in the ring with any ’90s alt-rock hit. The guitars in this one are loud enough to blow your face off, but Duterte’s presence behind the mic is a lighthouse in the storm, showing the way to the squiggly solo at the end.”

 17. Priests – Pink White House

“Singer and lyricist Katie Alice Greer doesn’t merely vent frustration with the election, the two-party system and the gender binary; she also indicts liberal complacency as she spits out a litany of consumerist comforts, from Netflix to SUVs, and coos sarcastically about “my American Dream.” With Clinton in the Oval Office, “Pink White House” would’ve been a tough critique from the left; now it sounds like a postmortem of neo-liberalism.”

 16. Siamese – Computer Patient

“As a taste of what to expect from their debut EP, it’s an exciting single to listen to. The single itself is tight in arrangement, with 90’s alt-rock influences ringing strongly. With both feet firmly in the now however, Siamese are upbeat and the songwriting nous they’ve showcased on “Computer Patient” is impressive.”

 15. Father John Misty – Pure Comedy

“Tillman undercuts his lyrics with subtle chord shifts, landing on resolutions and notes that punctuate his thoughts. By the time he goes full-on white-boy-soul at the end—which, given that he once featured a laugh track on his record, could very well be satire—he actually sounds completely earnest. For all his meme-filled music videos and forays into comedy, Father John Misty sounds like he's not fucking around anymore.”

 14. Tropical Fuck Storm – Mansion Family

“Written by The Nation Blue’s Tom Lyngcoln, shudders with a kindred malaise. “I can feel a cold change is coming,” Liddiard intones, and as the tension mounts, the new day dawning foreshadowed in the lyrics feels like cause for dread.”

 13. Downtown Boys – A Wall

“One of the most electrifying rock’n’roll tracks in recent memory by any band. It opens with a snare crack like the first gunshot of a war, then a chugging one-note bassline that you can feel in your chest, then the pleasant surprise of a lilting saxophone arrangement.”

  12. Priests – Nothing Feels Natural

“Begins with an ominous surf-rock shimmer, but rather than shifting into a frenzied tirade, Greer surprises us by maintaining the subdued melody, allowing for more melancholic singing. Typically, Greer’s voice ricochets from verse to verse, spitting out her words with anger, rocketing others into the sky. But here, her voice is lower-toned, and mournful, as she ponders if she will ever change.”

 11. The Smith Street Band – Birthdays

“The Smith Street Band don’t change too much, they just get better at being The Smith Street Band. ‘Birthdays’ sees the band tread new ground with a synth driven bridge and guest vocals from Melbourne singer-songwriter Jess Locke, but it is undeniably both a progression and also a song that captures the same magic that is apparent in the rough recordings of South East Facing Wall six years ago.”

 10. Nilufer Yanya – Golden Cage

“With its upbeat, jazzy nature, the instrumentation of the track reflects the feeling of being blinkered to a bad or difficult situation, looking at things with rose-tinted glasses and turning a blind eye. But that swelling positivity tumbles away, leaving Nilüfer to try and break the spell while accompanied by harsher, starker guitar strums and slightly more melancholic brass melodies.”

 9. Lonelyspeck – Happy New Year

“It features their most perfect, intimate vocal moments yet – and has these lowkey moments that swing between sounding like Ariana Grande and birthday. A very perfect place to be. Lonelyspeck is a very very very talented person who will be an important part of what pop music sounds like in 2017. They’re forever experimenting, and we’re forever excited.”

 8. LCD Soundsystem – Tonite

“Murphy and his gaggle of robo-harmonisers sardonically read too much into mindless pop songs over squelching synths, while continuing his trademark meditations on ageing. (Now, he introduces himself as a “hobbled veteran” in a genuinely laugh-out-loud passage).”

 7. Tropical Fuck Storm – Chameleon Paint

“it’s a tripped-out mid-tempo piece of art-punk-psych-experimental-rock madness.”

6. Heaps Good Friends – Let’s Hug Longer

“It's hard to make something that is the right balance between cute and sexy. You did it. It's sublime. It's a bag of cookies in bed. Tuck me in, baby.”

 5. Thundercat – Show You The Way

“A strong return from the bass virtuoso, showing that he can bridge the gap between two disparate eras with ease, while strengthening the case for Thundercat the singer—who more than holds his own against two vocal powerhouses.”

 4. Feist – Century

“Its battle-ready drums and tightly wound guitars are blunt, slamming into you from the opening moments. Feist’s vocals peak along with the crashing instruments, looking towards a bleak future.”

 3. LCD Soundsystem – Call the Police

“A sour, simmering survey of modern America that references resurfacing antisemitism and the brain-scrambling effects of online chatter while name-checking Leonard Cohen, Lou Reed and Bowie’s Berlin period. One of Murphy’s signature lump-throated vocal melodies swells throughout.”

 2. Perfume Genius – Slip Away

“…The best song Kate Bush never wrote, is not only a defiant call to ignore the haters (consider it Hadreas’ ‘Shake It Off’), but draws attention to a driving force behind the album’s entire aesthetic in Hadreas’ line about being “carried by the sound.”” 

 1. Jens Lekman – How We Met, The Long Version

“The entire affair is likely the most fun Lekman has had on record to date, but that’s just one side of the story here. Lyrically, this is classic Jens: wry, highly specific, self-aware, and a bit sweet. With a crush percolating, person A comes up with a flimsy excuse to see person B (in this case, to borrow a bass guitar). Then bam, B plants a surprise kiss on A—and the rest, as they say, is history. A satisfied Lekman croons as the song closes, “We made it happen.” Considering the song’s early rough draft, it’s fair to say he did.”