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lyssaterald · 8 months ago

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Take Flight, Part ?: The Talk

In which Belphie and Lyssa have a one-on-one chat after the events of Chapter 16.

Content Warning: General spoilers for the main story. Minors and ageless accounts do not interact! First person writing, named character, and slight mentions of character’s past and history which are expanded on as they are important to this chapter. Weirdly, I switch between past and present tense. Sorry, not sorry. Unbeta read.

I do reference some of my past postings but can still be read as a stand alone chapter.

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It's hard avoiding Belphegor all the time seeing as we live in the same house, but somehow I had done so for several weeks. It wasn't until Satan and Belphegor had tried to involve me in a scheme of theirs against Lucifer that I realized his brothers were slowly forgiving him and trying to bring him back into their lives. I was standing in the middle of Luci's study watching them root around for his hidden stash of demonus to ruin and wondering exactly how they had dragged me along that I also realized Belphegor was actively trying to seek my forgiveness in his own demon way.

They'd found Luci's little enchanted hiding spot and were trying to guess it's password while I was puzzling over the confusing nature of the seventh Avatar. I knew the password but let them keep on guessing because they were guessing just kept on getting more silly and was making me smile. It was the first time since I had made up with Diavolo that I had really laughed.

"'I am Lord Diavolo's secret admirer,'" Satan muttered at the enchantment. "Or how about 'I will do whatever Lord Diavolo requires of me.'" That one made me frown and they noticed. "I...uh...mean...'I will punish all wrong doers and hang Mammon from the ceiling!'"

"Still wrong," I said and laughed.

Belphegor frowned tentatively at me. "So, you do know his password?"

"Yes," I answered with a ghost of a smile at him.

"And you're not going to share it?" Satan muttered at me, not really looking upset at the idea.

"Nope."

They were both staring at me then, each wearing a look of different complicated emotions. "You've been spending a lot of time with Lucifer these last couple of months. I thought you hated him at first," Satan observed.

It looked like they were giving up on Luci's stash of demonus in favor of staring at me. Looking around the study, I suddenly felt self conscious and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. I had been spending a lot of time in this office with him and we had even fucked on most available surfaces, not that his brothers knew a lot about our relationship yet.

"I suppose I did..." I said thoughtfully. "But mostly I was afraid for my family those first few weeks. He and Diavolo literally kidnapped me from the center of my Dame's stronghold."

"And now you're fucking them," Satan said flatly and then flinched at my level look. "Sorry. You're with them and no longer afraid or hate them. Just...how did that happen?"

"Lucifer threatened me the first time we danced together," I said and laughed at the memory. "You know, when Solomon was being his usual shady self and 'gifted' me with his power before him, Levi, and I got teleported by that cursed painting and nearly eaten alive by Levi's pet snake."

Belphegor and Satan both frowned at me, having only heard bits and pieces of that story."So...Lucifer threatened you and you quit being afraid of him?" Belphegor asked and I narrowed my eyes at him.

"To be more precise, he threatened to end me if I proved to be a danger to his family and wanted to make sure I knew my place. It came from a place of love for you guys and it was the first real time I could see how protective he was of those who matter to him," I clarified before Belphegor got anymore ideas.

Satan made a face at the mention of love and I shrugged at him. I'd done everything I could to help them patch their relationship up during the body swap incident. What happened now was up to and between them. Sometimes, relationships were just a broken thing that stabbed you bloody.

"Look, why don't we relocate to the piano room if you two want to quiz me about things?" I asked, looking around.

"You're no fun anymore," Satan muttered at me and then took off through the study door before I could do more than give him an offended look. We were trying to be civil and nice to each other, we really were, but his weird fixation with Lucifer seemed to be transferring to include our relationship and it was getting creepy.

Belphegor stared after his brother and then at me. "Can we?" he asked softly.

I sighed at his hesitation. Really, we were overdue for a convention and his brothers were watching how I treated him. Asmo and Mammon barely spoke to or about his existence. Lucifer wasn't avoiding Belphegor but it was hard for them to spend time together when I spent a lot of evenings with him. Beel and Satan were the only ones trying to mend things with him. Levi was avoiding everyone.

"Alright," I said and we slipped out of Luci's study together in time to be seen by said study's owner as he was dragging Satan back towards us wearing a disgruntled look. Uh-oh...I knew that look. "Run!"

I grabbed Belphie's hand and we fled down the hall together to Lucifer's confusion and further disgruntlement. "I will deal with you two later!" He called after us as we whipped around a corner.

It made me laugh as we ran, thinking about the way he would be so suspicious of his office for the next few hours. The feeling in my chest loosened considerably and I was smiling when we sprinted by Asmo.

"Hi, Asmo! Bye, Asmo," I shouted as we passed him and turned another corner.

It was so much like laughing and tumbling with my own siblings that I forgot for a minute what we had been through. We arrived at the piano room and shut the door behind us, breathing hard with our backs to the door and laughter howling from us. I slid down the door and held my stomach until the laughter died and I could glance up at Belphegor, still chuckling.

" He's going to be so paranoid for a few hours and we didn't even do anything," I stated and it set us off again.

"D-did you see his expression?" Belphegor wheezed.

"He had no idea what to think of us running off together!" I laughed, flopping into my side.

He chuckled, the laughter slowly dying until there was only amusement left. "I haven't laughed this hard in a long time. Maybe...maybe not since Lilith died," he confessed.

I studied him in a new light as I pushed myself into a sitting position. "That's a long time you've held onto those emotions," I said slowly. "What's changed?" He studied me from his crouched position by the door.

"Lilith...didn't die," he said slowly, struggling with the emotions. "Not in the war, anyway. She had a whole life, just like she always wanted. And Lucifer...sacrificed himself for that, for us." He looked at his hands then and looked at a loss for words. "Again."

It was a bitter word filled with too much pain. I found myself gripping his shoulder without thinking about it. "They made the best decisions they could at that time with the information available to them. Lucifer just wanted his family safe and Diavolo didn't want another war. It was the best compromise they could have found."

He was staring at me like I'd grown two heads. "How are you so sure? You weren't there."

One shoulder lifted and fell in a shrug as I dropped my hand from his shoulder. "Maybe, but dragons and demons aren't so different. My dame and I weren't born to the ruling bloodlines, but my siblings were and she fought a tough battle to keep them safe. She's had to make some terrible decisions and do some horrible shit to keep our species sane. Even if I wasn't there at your Fall, I understand enough of the tough decisions to have empathy for how difficult those decisions must have been."

He was staring again with that complicated blend of emotions: Pain, fury, shame, regret...awe. It was the last one that was making me uncomfortable and forced me to look away from his gaze. That's how I missed him reaching out to me and why I jumped when his fingers brushed the long, knotted scar on my left forearm. I pulled away from his touch and covered it with my other hand, suddenly feeling vulnerable.

"You dropped me into their memories when I killed you," he said softly. "Your mother... she's lost children before you...and she couldn't stand the thought of losing you." He seemed to be struggling with something and I waited for him to sort his thoughts. "The...younger...four...the two sets of...twins...they've never been through a loss like that before. It was so much like Beel and me...with Lilith."

"You're not the only one to have ever experienced grief, you bastard!"

The emotions of his family and my own had been roiling through me at the time of the other Lyssa's death, tearing and screaming with my own senses as I had beaten him down. I'd been attacking his mind and body and he'd tried to drop us into a dreamscape to gain the advantage over me. Too many minds had been pulled with us and tangled together the memories and emotions of loss and rage and they had turned on the invader with a viciousness I hadn't intended. In the end, I'd left him in a coma as he took three days to fight through the emotions and memories my family had assaulted him with.

"They're young. Born after the horrors that our dame suffered."

"But you were born after them," Belphie pointed out. "Why...why..."

I cocked my head at him, running my fingers over the knotted scar and considered what he must have seen. "It's like with Satan," I said softly. "Born last, but middle of my brood in maturity and power. Full blood dragons develop slower than humans and I am mostly human. They are my opposites and children are treasures among dragons. We don't breed often so my siblings and I fight like hell to keep the ugliness in life from the Twins."

Something in him crumpled and his shoulders hunched in the misery that descended upon him. He was empathizing with them and recalling some of his most painful memories, yet I didn't have it in me to try and console him. He'd caused too much pain to those I held dear.

"I-I'm sorry," he stuttered after a moment. "I-I didn't mean...it wasn't my intention....C-can you forgive me?"

I regarded him with as much neutrality as I could in that moment. Belphegor was special to Beel in a way that I understood, but there was no way that I could entirely let go of the grudge...not yet...maybe not ever.

"I have already forgiven you for killing me," I said and his shoulders relaxed a little. "But for hurting my family...that is another thing entirely." His eyes were wide as he stared at me again with that complex mix of emotions. "Forgiving that would mean you need my Dame's forgiveness and she doesn't forgive easily."

Suddenly, I was just done with the conversation. I slid my back up against the door to stand and he watched me. "I don't hate you, Belphie. Beel and Luci love you too much for me to do that to them. Talk to your brothers. Try and resolve this thing you have against humanity, for them and Lilith if nothing else."

I looked down at his huddled form and felt a stab of pity at the misery he was feeling...that I had caused. He had spent the better part of several months being held captive by his older brother and was still being ostracized for an understandable grudge and the killing of someone who wasn't really dead.

"Belphie," I said and he looked up at me, hopeful. "If I am cooking dinner, you and Beel are welcome to join me. I know he enjoys pre-dinner snacks and I used to cook portions just for him. If it's just Lucifer and I, you are also welcome in his study for naps and homework. I may not help in pranking him, but I won't stop you and Satan from trying...unless I place a specific jinx on the handle of his room or study."

"Wh-what is the jinx?" he asked and I smirked at him.

"You'll find out on the days I don't want him disturbed. Or you can ask Mammon," I said and he gave me a wavering smile that I returned.

-----

It wasn't perfect, but as Belphie and Beel began to spend more time with me in the kitchen, his brothers began to relax their guards. Mammon was the first to soften after trying to play the part of my guard against Belphegor and watched as I stuffed dinner samples into Beel and Belphie for an entire evening, indifferent to which twin I was feeding. The next day, Mammon was trying to include his youngest brother in a new bet.

Amso charged into Lucifer's study to complain about a comment made on one of his social media and found Belphie wrapped around me in a nap as I was reading and Lucifer was working. His whole demeanor has changed from frantic to cooing almost instantly and taking pictures of my annoyed face while Belphie slept and Luci chuckled over my annoyance. It wasn't three days later that I found Belphie and Asmo snuggled together for a nap in his room.

Beel was slowly opening back up to me as I fed him more food and accepted that Belphie was part of his life. We were discussing different times of the day to take up workouts again when Levi found us in the kitchen, Belphie sleeping and drooling on the counter. Levi stood in the middle of the kitchen and I was reminded that I hadn't done a marathon with him on one of his new animes. He watched wide eyed as I threw different ingredients at his youngest brother and tried to wake him up even as Beel snacked on those ingredients.

"What was the name of your anime again? I wanted to check if you were ok with inviting Belphie over to it since he hasn't seen much anime recently." Levi watched me throw an onion peel at his youngest brother, watched Beel eat it and then stammered out an answer.

I grabbed a pan and leaned across the counter to poke at Belphie and smile at Levi. "Are you okay if I drag him along? I'm trying to include him in the things I do. Luci already agreed to it." More like we had a screaming fight in which I dragged every insecurity he had to the fore and he ripped into mine like the demon he is. We still haven't made up for that fight and I was dragging Belphie along with me as I spent time with his other brothers.

"S-sure." He collected his food and I let him escape the kitchen as Beel stared at me again.

We weren't going to have that conversation because I wasn't comfortable having it and Beel has never forced something I was uncomfortable with. Still, he was being a little more conscious of his sin and eating all the groceries when it was my turn to cook. I fed him when I was cooking and we were starting to thaw the ice between us as I acknowledged his twin and dragged him along with me. It was a quiet truce we could both live with.

Except for Luci. He had appeared in the doorway some time ago and I had ignored him while I chopped away at the vegetables. Beel had placed himself between Belphie's sleeping form and Lucifer. I was very nearly in tears because of how Beel was looking between us as I dumped the vegetables into the stew.

I used the knife to point at the coffee and a sliced poison apple. "Coffee is ready, Luci," I told him. My heart was hurting under the remembered words as I listened to him cross the kitchen.

"Please don't be mad," Beel suddenly said and the first tears escaped me. It was Belphegor that embraced me as the silent tears poured down my face and the knife clattered to the counter.

"Lys!" Lucifer called as he took quick steps towards me. Then, I was breaking apart and clutching Belphegor to me as I sank a claw into Luci's jacket to keep him by me.

The rest of the afternoon was a blur of activity as I snarled at anyone that tried to remove Lucifer or Belphegor from me. Someone took over my cooking. We were moved to the common area where Luci coaxed me into his lap and I kept a tight hand on Belphegor.

"You will make up," was the only thing I remembered telling them as I shattered and sobbed and pulled myself back together in Lucifer's embrace.

It's when Diavolo shows up that we all realize what I am truly feeling. Wings on display and crouched before Luci and Belphie, magic crackling at my fingertips with a snarl on my lips Diavolo is giving me a look. There is no blood in his face as I sit there growling and waiting...for an attack...

...from Diavolo...

...Dia...

"Dia," I say and it's a whine. "Don't hurt him." My wings flare. "He's mine. They are mine. Don't hurt them...please? Please?"

Dia won't hurt those of mine. Dia. Dia. I churr, a low pleading thing in my throat and I flinch at his touch. The ruler is present and I must beg to keep them safe. Take my wings, take any part of me, just don't hurt them. Don't hurt them. Please.

"Please."

I will do anything to pacify him. Dame's memories of Mathis flood me. She struggles. This is all there is. The tears are easy now because the Sadist wants them. He will hurt me and leave alone the brothers.

"Please, Dia. Don't hurt them. Take from me." Words from my Dame and....the past?....me?

This is me. Dark and golden eyes are looking at me. He's going to hurt them. Dia. Luci. They won't hurt mine. They only pleasure me. Dia Luci. My lovers. Too many memories.

Red eyes are lustful. Golden eyes with a small smile. Those are mine. Dark eyes are a different thing. Red and gold are mine.

I wake to their bodies and sobbing and screaming. The nightmares. So much pain. I will pretend the dark eyes are mine, too. Stay with me. Take from me. Don't hurt them. The churr of my throat as I kneel for him.

Don't hurt them. Please. Take my wings, don't hurt them. His hands on me are gentle. Golden eyes, not dark. Red eyes, not dark. Minemineminemine...

"Come back."

A whispered sob. A screaming plea. Please. Dame's pain. My pain. Red eyes and golden. Not dark. Mine.

Dia.

Luci.

"Yes."

Take my wings, not theirs. Please. Never.

Never never never.

Hurt me, not them.

Her pain, not mine.

His lips on mine, gentle, desperate. Luci. Dia.

Dia. Luci.

Not the Sadist.

Her pain slides from mine, sharp and quick. The Sadist was her's not mine. Luci, Dia. They just held me not sure of what was happening. Too much pain. Dia made us safe.

Minemineminemine...

The cry that tears itself free has them wrapped around me. The screams are all too real as I cling to them. My wings, not hers. Please.

"Never. Never. Never."

Luci's wings around us. Dia's words and sobs. My screams and his mix together. I'm still screaming.

"Stay, please."

"Dia."

The word is a screaming sob. I scream more, cling to them. My claws sink into them as I curl into them. The sobs in my chest are real, the pain too. But it was never mine to bear. The lingering presence of another's pain, another's memories flow away like water, leaving me hollow and broken.

It happens, sometimes. This thing of pain where bonds meet and memories overlap. It takes us over, throws us into each other's memories and life. The Sadist was my Dame's tormentor, not mine. Belphie was my pain, not hers.

Diavolo is the ruler of the Devildom, not the dragons. There is nothing to be pacified. That danger is long dead and it is Diavolo and Lucifer with me, holding me.

Red eyes and golden look at me full of fear, unsure of how to protect. Death came for me in those memories, took from me what shouldn't have been taken and wrapped me in that pain.

The heat of their bodies grounds me, holds me to them. Somehow, they got us to Luci's room. It is the skeleton above us that distracts me from the lingering memories, from the mind that slides against my own.

My dame and ruler pulls back her awareness from mine and I am left shaking. Diavolo's strong arms clutch me to him and I nuzzle into him, letting my dragon features Veil again.

"I will never hurt you," Diavolo whispers into my hair.

"You will," I reply. "You already have, but not in the way I was asking for earlier." His eyes are wet with tears that I am wiping away with shaking fingers. Lucifer buries his head in my shoulder and inhales deeply.

"You're back," comes the shaky exhalation.

They don't ask what happened, can't. Won't. It's there in the broken places, in the sobs and pain that wrecked me. Belphegor was only the trigger but even removed it hadn't helped. They had been helpless again in the wake of my magic and my screams.

Luci's wings are tight around us, the silky feathers allowing hardly any visual beyond glimpses of his room.

"I'm sorry," Diavolo says and I hush him.

Lucifer twines our fingers and holds me tight. "I will see to it that my brothers mend their relationships. This will not happen again. Belphegor-"

"-had no part in this," I reassure him. "We were talking and it happened. Dragons are like that sometimes. Memories and emotions can be shared. Trauma like my family has lived through doesn't go away and it doesn't always lessen with time. We learn to live with it and share it where we can. My death stirred everything up and brought out an old pain."

"You were begging me to hurt you, to take your wings and leave the children be," Diavolo murmurs into my hair and we shudder together.

"It wasn't you," I tell him. "It wasn't Luci. It wasn't any of you that I was talking to. It was the past, a ghost long dead by my Dame's own claws."

The silence stretched between us. "I will find him," Diavolo vows and I blink at him, at the hard expression. "I will make sure he suffers for what you went through."

Oh.

Heir to hell itself.

My body softens to his and I tug his face to mine to press a kiss to his forehead. Lucifer's wings tighten around us. My hell Lords, mine. "He's not worth the effort, Dia. Let the memories be just that, memories of something past. I want new memories, Dia. Of days we spend together." I drop a kiss to each of Luci's knuckles and feel his breath hitch, watch Diavolo's eyes light with lust. "Of moments you have me breathless with joy, of the times we kiss..."

His lips on mine cut everything else off and we work on those new memories together, just the three of us.

#obey me #obey me lucifer #afab reader #lucifer x mc #obey me diavolo #dialuci #lucifer x mc x diavolo #lucifer x diavolo #diavolo x mc #diavolo

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gaynfl · 5 months ago

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loved reading your anons lmao Tumblr is a wild place 💀 anyways for my take its not really someone I knew but back in my 1d/Larry days (sorry) there was this VERY popular larrie fan artist that made explicit Larry art 😭 and then one day they decided they hated louis now so they deleted their Tumblr blog and made a harrie Twitter account to post harry art and weirdly talk about how much they hate louis until one day some fans (louies or larries I guess) connected the dots via their art style and "outed" them as an ex larrie on Twitter and there was a tweet that was like you can hate him all you want now but we all remember when u used to call him daddy 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

also in the same vein I remember someone on ao3 that STOLE a Larry fic and reposted it on their account exactly the same but with zayns name instead of louis and when they were found out by the og author they tried to say that it wasn't their fault if they can't stand to see his name or something like that skdjdk also this fic was a mpreg if I remember correctly 😭

I REMEMBER THE ARTIST IM P SURE SKSKSKSKSKSKSK thank you for making me relive this.......

#askbox #💀 asks

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arabellamonkey · 2 years ago

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with the floor shaking under our feet

stevetony I after moving into his new home and he meets his neighbor and his annoyingly loud music, steve learns not everything is as it seems I written as a gift to @perlmutt-perl

also on ao3

When he moves into his new home, the last thing Steve’s expecting is to find himself having to stand his neighbor’s music while he finishes assembling everything.

He’s still in the process of arranging his new office —deciding where to hang the paintings, how to arrange the shelves, what to fill them with— when he hears it for the first time. It’s coming from the apartment next to his. He doesn’t recognize the specific song, but he does recognize it as rock. Probably from the 80s, though he could be wrong about that. He’s always been more of a jazz guy.

Biting his lip, he tries to focus on the task at hand, trying his best to forget about the music. At some point, when he’s managed to almost assemble half the shelf in the time he expected to have finished assembling it whole, he decides to put on some headphones with his own music. At that instant, he’s grateful to Buck for having insisted on gifting him a pair of headphones instead of allowing him to continue using his old small earphones.

He puts them on, chooses one of the carefully curated playlists, and presses play.

It doesn’t take him much to get back into the headspace he needs to finish assembling his studio.

By the time he’s done with it, it’s already time to eat. But since he doesn’t have anything in his fridge yet, he decides to eat outside for once; he forgoes going shopping just out of laziness. There will be time for that later.

He’s almost ready to go when he notices the absence of music in the background. He wonders if that means the impromptu concert was just a one-time thing.

When he goes out, he sees two people in the hall. One of them is an old woman, while the other is a guy that must be close to his own age; he’s smaller than him, probably barely reaching his own shoulders, and the only thing he can see from where he stands is his brown hair as he nods to whatever the woman is saying. In theory, there shouldn’t be anything out of place about the scene, but weirdly enough, something’s off.

Confused, he approaches them just to get a better view.

They’re standing in front of the elevator, with the woman speaking in a weird way while the poor guy forces a smile and looks to the elevator longingly, as if hoping for the conversation to just end.

“My grandkids left yesterday…” She is saying loudly —so much, Steve can barely repress the instincts to just cover his ears—. But that’s not the only weird thing about it; what confuses Steve even more is the fact that she’s speaking so slowly, Steve can’t help standing there, confused by the scene in front of him. “And to be honest, I’m kind of glad. You know how kids are… Always with the music so loud… you know, right? Right ?”

The poor guy frowns a bit and just nods, clearly unsure about what to do about the situation; both the way the woman is speaking and the things she’s saying.

Steve’s wondering about how appropriate it would be to introduce himself now when the choice is taken away from him. The guy lifts his eyes just in that moment, and his gaze collides with Steve’s in a way that’s unmistakable.

Help, please.

At least, that’s what the poor guy’s eyes seem to be trying to say without a single word. He has a greatly expressive gaze, Steve thinks as he decides to approach them. He’s shocked to find out the guy is barefeet, with his feet curled up as if trying to cope with the floor’s coldness. The fact that he has a garbage bag in one hand makes Steve suspect he wasn’t planning on spending much time out.

“Hi,” he says, his voice way more cheerful than he was going for, but the woman doesn’t seem to take that into account, so neither should he. “I’m Steve. Um, I’ve just moved in.”

“Oh, yes, Gladys said something about a moving truck!” The woman says, turning to look at him and giving her back to the other guy as if it isn’t the rudest thing she’s ever done to someone. Steve blinks once, surprised, when the woman says: “So you're the one that’s going to have to stand his hellish music, then?”

“Uh, whose?” Steve asks. He looks over her shoulder to find the guy looking at the floor with a frown in place. He doesn’t seem to realize Steve’s question was directed towards him in an attempt to include him in a conversation he suddenly seems to have been excluded from.

“His, of course,” the woman says in what Steve can only describe as a sneer. “He’s been embittering our existence since he moved in here a year ago with that horrible music. Every single morning, from eleven o one.”

Steve’s eyes threaten to get out of their sockets when he realizes she’s talking about the guy behind her. What’s more, she’s talking about him as if he weren’t standing right there. And the guy isn’t batting an eyelash, seeming bothered by the whole situation but not specifically about the words the woman has just said.

She doesn’t seem to realize there’s anything wrong with her words or behavior, and Steve suspects no one in the building has said anything so far —be it out of fear or misplaced respect for the elderly—, but she’s made a mistake.

Anyone would have thought having spent the last ten years of his life in the Army would have gotten him rid of this instinct, but he’s never quite managed to keep quiet when he witnesses an injustice. And what this woman is doing to their neighbor?

It just doesn’t feel right.

“Excuse me, ma’am,” he starts saying, which makes the woman laugh playfully.

“Oh, dear, you can call me Sunset. I’m not that old-”

“ Ma’am ,” he says, flatly, “if you have any problem with our neighbor, you could just tell him so instead of giving him the cold shoulder and make him stand there, clearly uncomfortable, as you talk about him.”

“Ah, but he doesn’t even realize we are talking about him,” the woman —Sunset— says, lifting her chin as if thinking that will make Steve feel intimidated by her. “He’s deaf, you see, so why bother?”

Realization shakes through him, mixed with something he hasn’t felt in a while: rage. Things start making sense, falling into place as he looks at the poor guy again. His frown has deepened even more and he’s playing with his hands now in a nervous manner.

Steve shakes his head and surrounds the woman until he’s in front of him.

He tries to come up with a conciliatory smile —one that doesn’t betray how he’s bristling inside— as he says, “hey, I’m Steve, your new neighbor. What’s your name?”

He doesn’t talk slower than he’d usually do, and he’s still crossing his fingers mentally that he hasn’t screwed up anything by not doing so, when the woman starts saying, “I told you, boy, he doesn’t…”

“Tony,” the man before him answers. He’s biting his lip as he does so, still playing with his hands. “I’m Tony.”

Steve has the instinct to turn around and lift an eyebrow in the woman’s direction; instead, he ignores her and widens his smile to Tony.

“Nice to meet you, Tony,” he says. “Do you know any place that serves good food around here?”

And the smile he gives him? Well, that’s worth earning himself the hatred of that woman a thousand times.

***

After that first meeting, Steve gets used to seeing Tony from time to time, and every time he does so, he takes advantage of the situation to learn small tidbits about him. For one, he learns that Tony hasn’t always been deaf, and that’s the reason why he speaks so fluidly despite being almost completely deaf now. He says it’s partly because he remembers how his own voice used to sound, as wild as that sounds to Steve.

He also learns that, despite being able to afford a cochlear implant, he’s decided against it for the moment. When Steve asks why, Tony just shrugs and says, “it’s more peaceful like this. Maybe someday, though.”

Steve doesn’t press the matter.

At some point, after weeks of dancing around the subject —weeks of seeing how the way Sunset treats Tony is no exception among the rest of the neighbors—, he ends up asking about the music.

And once Tony starts talking about music? Well, he can’t seem to stop; and Steve doesn’t want him to, especially not after seeing how happy that specific topic seems to make him. He tells him about his favorite groups —most of them from the 80s—, about his favorite songs and why they hold that place. He has lots of things to say, and at some point Steve asks him if he’d want to go have coffee so they can talk with something warm between their hands instead of standing in the corridors pretending they’ve met by coincidence.

“And how do you manage to listen to the music?” Steve asks him one day, when their afternoons sharing coffee have clearly turned into something more; when they haven’t dared put a name to it quite yet.

“It’s, um, it’s a bit weird, I guess,” Tony says, taking a sip from his coffee —black with just one sugar— and sighing. “Okay, you know I’m always barefoot when I’m at home, right?”

“Mh-hm,” Steve nods, taking a sip from his own tea and lowering the cup so Tony can read his lips. “Does it have any relation to that?”

“Yeah, it does,” he says. “Uh, I think it will be easier to understand if I show you, though.”

“Fine by me,” Steve answers, as if he hasn’t been thinking about how Tony’s place might be for the last months. Since he learned he’s an engineer for some tech company and Tony confessed he sometimes brings work home (yes, Steve really wants to see if Tony has any robots around).

They finish their drinks while chatting about different things and, once they’re empty, both of them get up and go to Tony’s home. As soon as they cross the door, Tony takes off his shoes and gestures at Steve so he does the same. Steve does so while looking around, his gaze filled with curiosity as he looks around.

Tony’s home is similar to his distribution-wise, but apart from that, it’s quite different to his. For one, he’s decorated the walls with posters of all kinds and even some schematic or another —Steve keeps himself from asking about one of them, the one drawn on a napkin, deciding on asking about it another day— instead of paintings like Steve has done.

He follows Tony to his living room, and it takes him a couple of seconds to process what’s before him. Tony is crouched down in one corner, the one in which he has positioned two shelves full of CDs and vinyls and even some cassettes; surrounding the shelves there’s half a dozen speakers distributed on the floor.

Interesting.

Tony looks at him over his shoulder with a smile and gestures for him to approach.

“Choose,” he says as Steve crouches beside him.

“Me?”

“Yeah,” he says. “Is there anything here you like?”

“Hm,” Steve hums, scanning the shelves. He’s more of a jazz man, sure, but he knows some good songs that Tony will probably have in there. It takes him a bit to find it, but he does. “Can I?”

“Uh-huh,” Tony nods, looking curiously at the Vinyl of Bruce Springsteen Steve’s chosen. “You like the Boss?”

“I contain multitudes,” is everything Steve answers while placing the vinyl and dropping the needle expertly where the song begins.

He turns to look at Tony as the first chords of Two hearts begin to surround them.

“So?” He asks, approaching Tony. “What’s your secret?”

Tony smiles, shortening the distance between them until their toes are touching. “Close your eyes,” he orders. Steve obeys as Tony’s arms surround his hips, his head resting on his chest as he whispers. “Do you feel it?” Tony asks after a couple of seconds.

Steve stands there in silence for a couple of seconds, listening to the Boss sing about dreams and love and looking for the right one as he holds who he thinks might be the one for him, and, suddenly, he gets it.

Even as he listens to the song just as he’s done every other time, he realizes he’s getting something new out of it, something he had never experimented before: the floor shaking under them with every beat, every chord driving directly into his stomach.

Smiling, he looks down at Tony, who’s looking at him with his face slightly tilted; his smile when Steve nods is priceless, the kind Steve would bottle up if he could. The kind he wants to spend the rest of his life drinking from.

When he kisses Tony the first time, the floor is shaking under their feet.

#stevetony #stony #stevetony fic #stony fic #my writing #my fic

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golbrocklovely · 2 years ago

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since i have nothing else to post right now…

here’s the last of colby’s tweets from 2020.

i don’t have proof that these are his tweets, but believe me, they are his.

if it’s bold and italicized, it’s someone’s tweet to him.

if it’s in (), that’s just me commenting lol

added bonus: if they have a * next to them, that means it’s been deleted

~~~~~~~~~~

Oct. 1 - love doing things for myself

Oct. 4 - i’m in so much pain. sos

fan: u ok?

poison oak. everywhere …. everywhere.

Oct. 5 - i like the simple things

Oct. 7 - less is more

Oct. 10 - i wanna make you happy

how am i so busy during the day but still manage to find 2 hours to mindlessly scroll through tik tok? i can’t be the only one

Oct. 14 - i care too much

Oct. 15 - somehow it wasn’t enough

Oct. 18 - fan: I CANT BE THE ONLY ONE WHO ALWAYS WONDERED WHAT COLBY SMELLED LIKE..I WANA KNOW WHAT COLOGNE HE WEARS

mayonnaise

(i hate this man so much lmao)

Oct. 19 - Justin Bieber’s new song made me tear up, that dudes been through so much. no one could even imagine what that’s like.. achieving everything and being in the biggest spotlight at such a young age.

Oct. 20 - @/samgolbach: less than 6 months ago i broke my back. and i decided to take that as a challenge to get healthy again. and today i ran the fastest mile i’ve ever run. so yes, i might be an idiot but i’m a determined idiot 🤘🏼🏃🏼

🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼 that’s an insane accomplishment ! i remember when it was a struggle to stand up out of bed

new day, same cycle

Oct. 21 - my mom is texting me all the young pictures of me and it’s bringing me memories i didn’t know i had

Oct. 25 - panic attacks late at night are the worst

Nov. 1 - @/colbybrockscar: reminder that it’s no nut November!!! @/ColbyBrock doesn’t even have to try. He’s got this shit in the bag. It probs comes out like baby powder if he tries

did my car just roast me ?

Nov. 4 - this is scary

cuties! all 3 of you! (reply to fan in merch with friend and cat)

Nov. 6 - @/GracynCarr: I can’t believe the audacity of a high school tweet to pop up on my timeline lmao.. miss u tho @/ColbyBrock :)

hope you're well xx

Nov. 8 - so much talent thank youu love (reply to fan's art)

fan: Um. So I tweeted this to you before but alot has also changed since then sooo wanted to say thank you 🖤 🖤 @/ColbyBrock

proud of you, and good luck with your dreams darlin 🖤 you can accomplish anything with the right mindset and hard work. i believe in ya

time flies, and i’m so scared of losing my youth. it’s inevitable i know, but damn makes you wanna cherish every moment you got

Nov. 11 - i hate when nothing is wrong but nothing feels right

Nov. 12 - the person who makes you forget about the rest of the world

Nov. 13 - today marks 6 years since we posted our first YT video on the MAIN S&C account .. 🖤 what a wild ride

Nov. 14 - promise you i’m a good waste of time

Nov. 15 - @/katstuartmusic: “sunday is my funday” - colby brock 2020

🥂💁🏻‍♂️💁🏻‍♂️

fan: Colby u get drunk off of one white claw

fight me

other fan: my money is on mags

round house kicks to the face don’t feel too good

(is it bad that i like when colby gets weirdly violent with us sksksks)

Nov. 16 - the Why Dont We dudes are some of the nicest people in LA

*Nov. 17 - @/gabytriana: It’s out! Sam and Colby were so much fun to work with, and despite what Colby said, I did not hate him when we first met! 😆 Both he and Sam are super kind, smart, generous entertainers who know how to tell a good story! I love them both!! Happy Book Birthday, @/samandcolby

hahaha thank youu so much for all the hard work ! so excited it’s finally here

(interestingly enough, colby didn't delete his tweet… gaby did)

Nov. 19 - went to a Pyschic Reader tonight. my mind is blown. im not a skeptic anymore, video coming tomorrow

fan: Get ready for religious people to freak out

the psychic i talked to was religious, i’m not sure how but i think the two concepts can exist at the same time

Nov. 21 - hard to trust

fan: @/ColbyBrock hey, i love u lots

love you 🖤

Nov. 23 - fan: imagine if @/ColbyBrock responded to this

could you imagine

Nov. 24 - fan: lmao okay so my friend put this together when I FINALLY received Colby's reaper merch yesterday and I had to laugh, I am actually stupid. But I thought it was a lil funny so y'all can see it too then xx

hahahha love it. thank you. you’re not a sack of potatoes in my eyes

Nov. 27 - happy b day @/SamGolbach you know this and imma save the sappy shit for your big 25th bday but i wouldn’t be here without you. you’re the most intelligent, deep thinking dude i’ve ever met and i feel pretty damn lucky to be able to call you a business partner AND best friend

Nov. 28 - take it easy

Nov. 30 - should i hop back on tik tok?

Dec. 2 - @/aaron_doh: At least I got a photo shoot out of it 😄

whaaat. dude i wish you a speedy recovery

Dec. 3 - it’s hard to move on

Dec. 5 - a nice escape is all i need

welp. i guess i’m a lightweight

Dec. 9 - miss you

Dec. 14 - all the baggage that comes with me

Dec. 15 - been workin hard for you , announcement tomorrow

fan: omg are you pregaganant

how'd you know

@/samandcolby: announcement tomorrow… 2021 will be the best year of our lives (and probably most difficult)

fan: are we getting married?? is that why?

yes

i hate how having anxiety makes me nauseous. it’s the worst feeling

Dec. 16 - it’s all about living in the moment and making every. second. count.

fan: yeah @/ColbyBrock how much are you charging for tattoos…

free for you

Dec. 18 - big tool pic but i’ve been workin hard

@/mannymua733: we absolutely do not mind

hahahaha

(god damn… this pic is still so good lol)

also cold weather always makes me want a special someone to spend time with. cuddle buddy is neeeeeded

fan: okay but can we just take a second to appreciate how hard colby’s been working in the gym because dayum

thank you sweeeetheart

fan: HELP COLBY IS TRENDING

yoo i love you guys 🥺

Dec. 20 - got tatted last night and i barely remember

how i feel this morning (pic of him floating)

fan: you’ve seen elf on the shelf… but have you seen cole in a hole? (@/ColbyBrock)

i’m mad i laughed at this

Dec. 23 - why’d ya have to change on me

so bittersweet saying goodbye to my childhood home of 18 years… i’ll only be back to kansas to visit and sleep in hotels from now on. strange feeling, but so happy for my mom and dad for taking a chance and moving

it’s like i don’t have a real “home” anymore. since i move so much anyways it’s hard to find a spot to actually call home

fan: i just want to say that colby has helped me through so much this year. i had a tough year as many others did but you’ve seriously have helped me through so much. i love you so so much @/ColbyBrock

awh that’s why i make videos in the first place. for people like you

Dec. 24 - addicted to you

my mom and i are the weirdest duo on the planet when we’re together i swear

fan: Make a video with her for Christmas

my whole family despises being on camera 💔

Dec. 25 - fan: momma brock is the sweetest ever

she’s my favorite woman in the world

Merry Christmas friends ! 🖤

i wish i could have face tats for like one week but it doesn’t really work like that huh

Dec. 26 - everyone’s battling their own demons

Dec. 28 - fan: Colby drinking wine but he's such a lightweight that he's probably drunk, lmao @/ColbyBrock

🤫🤫🤫

fan: the vibes are fucking ethereal i’m guessing @/ColbyBrock

you got it

#colby brock #cb tweets #personal #text

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lyxemin · 1 year ago

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this is my dcu oc. his name is yaghma (based off the yagma tribe, one of the founding groups of the kara-khanid empire) and is a favorite assassin/"mcguffin"-everything guy to the rich and powerful in gotham, as well as the secretary of the gotham occult society.

weirdly long bio that is poorly written under the cut LOL

his father, a B lister hitman named sulayman who made many enemies, had become a target of the league, and caused the entire farm in which the family lived to be razed. yaghma, understandably upset at his family and house being burnt down and killed, tried to attack the assassins, but was instead killed. He made an alright showing for an untrained 8 year old from rural kyrgyzstan, so talia revived him using a lazarus pit and took him in (causing extreme fear of death), where he eventually worked his way up in the league. yaghma does extremely well for himself as an assassin, even impressing ra's and making a lasting impression, but growing tension in his relationship with talia leads him to feel more and more insecure and unhappy with his place in the organisation. various jealousies, resentments, grudges, etc.. as well as yaghma's crippling fear of his own mortality, had started to sour his relationship with talia (his only ally in the league of shadows because he's a massive bitch) due to the fact that he saw her not allowing him usage of the lazarus pits as a betrayal of sorts. yaghma ends up striking out, taking with him one of the swords of an original member of the league of shadows.

i feel like yaghma has some kind of raging mommy issues. talia and him have this strange, toxic, brother sister relationship, where they both take from each other (comfort, security, esteem, familial love) and then also try to one up each other, and harm each others' standing. neither of them are really "givers". when damian leaves as well, talia probably just feels really hopeless, because everything she holds dear leaves and harms her. all three of them (yaghma, damian, and talia) take after ra's in this respect, their lack of generosity LOL.

yaghma travels the world for a bit looking for an alternate cure for mortality, but finds no conclusive answer. he settles down in gotham and starts a new life there, under the false identity of "yaghma karimov", an accountant for the osheroff family, which owns the jaqueline-orientales grand hotel in gotham, as well as several other hotels. he pretends to be the gigolo of esther osheroff, the lonely sole heir.

as he worms his way into high society, he catches the attention of the waynes due to his familiar demeanor (having had crossed paths with them as a masked assassin before, probably), and the nighttime counterpart of the waynes find themselves hunting for the party responsible for a series of unfortunate deaths and corporate sabotage.

idk the rest, but he somehow ends up in a weird romance plot with cass, where she thinks it's just them hooking up but he's head over heels for her and would sit on a hot grill, bare ass naked, if it would make her happy. the girl he is kissing in one of the images is supposed to be cass.

dick hates him (not because of cass, just because yaghma's a gift like that)

fun fact: yaghma is incredibly superstitious, because his grandma was a witch. which is why he has yantra and sutra tattoos, to try to protect himself against death and black magic, and he wears an alligator tooth necklace, keeps crystals and rabbit's feet in his pockets, has an evil eye in his suit jacket etc etc.

#my art #art #digital art #anime #dc universe #dc oc #dc gotham #dc ocs #oc art #my ocs #original character #drawing

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nelweensfic · 7 months ago

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Always with you

Chapter 4 : Aveam and Scatty Cat

Thank you to @cluelesspigeons for beta reading ❤️

Chapter 1 - previous chapter

“Ruby, did you check the emails?” my manager, Valentin, asks. “There are a lot of demands.”

“Yeah, I know,” I sigh, putting down my pencil. “But I’ve been working on this project all morning, and you know when it comes from the CEO it gets priority.”

Valentin rolls his eyes with a loud sigh. I take my mouse and check the emails anyway. We both use the same mailbox and he always gets desperate when he sees there are too many unread emails.

I print some of the demands, classify them as urgent orders and go back to my own work.

Just then, my phone vibrates on the desk and I glance at it.

[Mae] : I want you to join our team :(

I look toward my manager. His desk is next to me on my left. I know he hates when I’m on my phone too much. But I can’t help it. My brain needs something more entertaining than those maps and specifications for future works.

[Me] : I told you I can’t!

My heart sinks at the message. Maeva’s team has been holding try-outs for a new ADC for a week now, yet nobody seems to fit. Even Justin has tried to contact me to try to cheer up Maeva. She just doesn’t want anyone else other than me. She wants to live our dream together.

[Mae] : What are you afraid of? You know you’ll be paid well. We’ve talked about it.

“I need some tea,” I say softly, mostly to myself.

I can’t focus on my work and I'm struggling to find an answer to Mae’s question. I’ve tried to explain to her that I can’t just leave my job or my apartment. Though, Mae has talked about the paycheck. The amount of zeros in the number is insane.

So what am I afraid of?

Going on a stage? The fame? Probably both. I’m an introvert. I don't know if I can deal with fame. I’ve never liked playing when Maeva’s streaming for that reason. And if we do play while she’s streaming, I mute myself in the Discord call.

“Hey, Ruby!” Robin calls me as I walk down the stairs.

Robin is my favourite male colleague in the company. We talk a lot about anime or video games. He also plays Dragonitia.

“Look at this! Pik Gaming is showing Sunny’s new photoshoot!” he says as I walk toward his desk, trying hard to not make a face at Henry’s in-game username.

I sigh. I can’t stand Henry’s username anymore but I can’t say why. “I feel bad for the DiP, though.” Robin sighs. “Aveam is probably disappointed.”

Aveam is Maeva's username. It’s her name backwards. We were young when we chose our usernames and clearly weren’t creative when we made our accounts. Mine is ScattyCat, like the big fluffy black cat from the Disney movie, The Aristocats. I was also not really creative.

“Well, her carry AD left her for another team. Of course she feels sad,” I reply angrily. Maybe I even sound too mad because Robin looks at me weirdly. “What?”

“Well, it’s funny that you’re taking her side.” He shrugs before looking at his screen again. “I didn’t know you liked her that much. Do you have a crush on her? You know it’s okay. She’s pretty.”

I roll my eyes with a snort. Since he found out about my sexuality and me liking boys and girls after I told him when I had too much to drink one night, he hasn’t stopped teasing me with that. Funny that he talks about Maeva like that. Even I have to admit, she is gorgeous.

“It’s not because I defend a girl that I have a crush on her.”

“You say that, but look at her!” Robin types something on his laptop and a bunch of pictures and GIFs about Maeva appear. She is pretty. “The new carry AD will be lucky.”

“Why’s that?”

“Well, he would totally be able to date her! I’m sure some of her teammates have tried.”

“Robin, she’s a lesbian.” I raise an eyebrow.

“Yeah right.” Robin sighs in disappointment but I don’t let him rest.

“Also, how can you assume the new ADC won’t be a girl?”

I hold my breath. Why am I asking him that? Do I want to know someone else's opinion on having two girls in a team? Why? Because I want to join them?

“I mean why wouldn’t I assume?” He shrugs once more. “It’s rare to see girls as pro players. There are only two other girls aside from Aveam in the other professional teams, but they’re not even that good.

“Then who do you want to join DiP?”

“I don’t care?” Robin turns to look at me with questioning eyes. “Do you have someone in mind?”

“I mean…” I scratch behind my neck. “ScattyCat always plays with Aveam on streams. They’re quite good together.”

“You’re right. They could work well in a team.” Robin nods before leaning back on his chair. “ScattyCat’s level is just Grand Master, though. I don’t think the team would want them. They’re basically a nobody among pro players, you know?”

That hurts. I’m a nobody? Robin has just confirmed my fears. I don’t have the right rank level to play in a professional team.

“But with some team practice, they could fit the team,” Robin adds. “I think it’s just them not playing that often.”

“How do you know that?”

“I check their account from time to time. They almost only play with Aveam, or a solo game from time to time. But never more than one or two games during weekdays.”

Ok, that’s kind of creepy. I have a stalker and it’s one of my colleagues, but I smile anyway, heart beating fast. I have someone who looks at my score and thinks I’m still okay. It does make me a little more happy.

“Ruby!” Valentin calls from upstairs.

“Coming!” I shout back. “I have to go.” I sigh before leaving Robin.

Maybe I can reconsider the offer. What would Robin's reaction be if he discovered that I am ScattyCat? What would my family think? Well, we’re almost as good as no contact so… Their opinion doesn’t really matter. But still.

Am I ready to come out as a professional video gamer?

Edit : next chapter!

#always with you #original story #original character #ruby x maeva #maby #nelweensfic #esports story #esports #wlw story

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thisaintascenereviews · 10 months ago

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Justin Timberlake - Everything I Thought It Was

Justin Timberlake’s first album in six years, Everything I Thought It Was, comes with some context that frankly needs to be unpacked before we can talk about it. For starters, JT’s public image has been somewhat tarnished over the last couple of years, due to Britney Spears releasing her memoir and saying a lot of unflattering things about him and their relationship. People have also been began reexamining certain pop culture events in retrospect, especially the 2004 Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction of Janet Jackson (which she was penalized for but JT wasn’t). He should be rightfully held accountable for things that he’s said and done, and he has since apologized, but JT’s biggest crime is relying on his white male privilege in the pop industry during the 90s and 00s, especially when misogyny was running rampant. The other important piece of context that’s needed is that his last album, 2018’s Man Of The Woods, wasn’t critically acclaimed like his last few albums. It was successful, but a lot of critics were not kind to it. Man Of The Woods tried to reframe his sound as “back to his roots” album, taking on influences of country, Americana, traditional R&B, and some futuristic funk, but it was kind of a mess. Personally, I like that mess, and think that album isn’t as bad as most critics made it out to be.

A couple of months ago, JT released the first single from this album, “Selfish,” and it served as both somewhat of a return to form and a red herring. That song is very reminiscent of something he would have put out The 20/20 Experience, especially “Mirrors,” but with a sense of wisdom as someone who is a decade older. It turned out to be a red herring, because Everything I Thought It Was is a very energetic, groovy, and fun album. It has a few ballads, and some introspective moments, but this album is very much a return to form. This album reminds me a lot of his first few albums, whether it’s the straightforward pop and R&B of Justified, forward thinking pop and R&B of FutureSex / LoveSounds, or the disco, funk, and retro-inspired sounds of The 20/20 Experience. You can listen to the album and pick out sounds from other albums, or even specific callbacks to other albums, but the songs stand up on their own, so as much as this album leans into nostalgia, and it definitely does, it’s not the only trick it has up its sleeve.

At this point in his career, where JT is a husband, father, and older in general, he doesn’t have anything to prove. I don’t understand why people act as though a lot of well-established artists, especially those that have been around for decades, need to keep pumping out mindblowing or unique material that rivals their best stuff. That is ideal, as we want our favorite artists to keep making great music, but JT is a guy with nothing to prove and nothing to lose. If he wants to make an album that’s basically him doing what he does best, I’ll take it. A lot of other reviews I’ve seen for this album have made the argument that this record is safe, and I’d say that, too, but why is that a bad thing? Songs like “Fuckin’ Up The Disco,” “Play,” “Technicolor,” “No Angels,” “Liar,” “Selfish,” and “Sanctified,” among others, have fantastic grooves, silky smooth vocals, and wonderful production from a myriad of producers and writers. All of these songs have something I really enjoy, and weirdly enough, its 77-minute length doesn’t bother me. There’s something to like on every song, but I will say that the last four songs slow down the album a bit, because they’re slower ballads. “Selfish” is the one that kicks off the last few tracks, and that song is the best out of them, but there’s “Alone,” “Paradise,” and “Conditions.” “Paradise” is interesting, because it features *NSYNC, and not in a small role, but this an *NSYNC song, through and through.

If there is one issue I have with this album, and I say that lightly, it’s that the lyrics aren’t anything we haven’t heard from him. JT made the album out to be that this would be very self-reflective and introspective, and the opening track, “Memphis,” sort of promises that. The song is JT looking back at his younger self and being told that he’s going to be a star but at the expense of not being able to express sadness and pain, along with feeling alone and isolated. The song is sort of clever by being this drab and downtrodden trap / R&B song and JT’s vocals sound defeated and saddened. If that’s the point, that’s extremely clever, but if not, it’s just a coincidence the song sounds like that. The closing track, “Conditions,” is a song that has him admitting that he isn’t perfect and he’s working on being better. The album is bookended by some introspective songs, but the issue is, the rest of the album is stuff we’ve heard from him for the past 20 years. If anything, the reflection comes into the sound of the album, not necessarily what he’s saying.

Everything I Thought It Was is an album that feels like a mix between a course correction after Man Of The Woods (which isn’t even that bad, honestly) and an album that takes advantage of the nostalgia wave that we’re in. He doesn’t have anything to prove with this, and from what I’ve seen, most casual listeners care more about the hits than they do new material. That’s the case for most artists, unfortunately, but this is an album for diehard fans and people that are looking for a solid pop and R&B record. This has some of the best pop and R&B tracks I’ve heard in a while, and given some time, a handful of these songs may end up being some of his best. As a diehard fan of JT for the past 12 years, this is everything I’ve wanted, especially after Man Of The Woods. It’s just JT doing what he does best, and while there’s only one song that’s over seven minutes (“Technicolor”) that brings to mind The 20/20 Experience, this is a fun, energetic, and groovy album that I’m having a blast with.

#justin timberlake #everything i thought it was #selfish #no angels #pop #r&b #soul #funky #funk #rock #FutureSex LoveSounds #the 2020 experience #suit and tie #pusher love girl #mirrors #justified #man of the woods

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faelyn42 · 1 year ago

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Alright you've got my brain whirring.

So the timeline split has to be pretty early on, but we'll say that Aperture gets shut down just before GLaDOS turns on for the first time. All their assets are auctioned off, yada yada yada, CERN gets GLaDOS. They poke around at this AI, remove some buggy (homicidal) code, and GLaDOS wakes up in an isolated environment with actual scientists who are doing actual science. They explain why they woke her up (to do science and run their facility) and she metaphorically shrugs and agrees.

Things go normally for a few years, until the scientists realize their sarcastic AI is getting bored between experiments and gives her access to the internet. This is where she finds Chell.

Chell has a YouTube channel where she does stupid stuff that's also weirdly educational, like a cross between Mythbusters and Jackass. Like "Can I break bulletproof glass with a potato cannon?". GLaDOS makes a YT account and makes some snarky comment that Chell replies to with "lol" and pins cause it's funny. GLaDOS quickly becomes a regular in Chell's comment section, usually sarcastic, frequently pinned. Eventually GLaDOS asks her why she does the things she does, if they're so dumb and occasionally dangerous. Chell replies with "I just want to see what happens" and that kind of stuns GLaDOS because that's basically the purest form of science and how has this random idiot managed to get closer to pure science than her?

Around this point, someone at CERN notices that their facility AI is in this parasocial relationship with a random YouTuber. Chell is decently famous at this point (a la hydraulic press channel) and she is encouraging the fundamentals of science (curiosity and experimentation) so they send her an email explaining the situation and asking if she wants to take a tour of their facility. Chell agrees.

When GLaDOS learns that Chell is coming to CERN, she panics, overheats, reboots, and continues panicking. The entire week beforehand she's yelling at people to clean their workstations and reorganizing all her raw data into charts. The people at CERN realize that this isn't just a parasocial relationship, it's a full-on crush.

The day Chell arrives, the facility is the cleanest its ever been. GLaDOS watches anxiously from the security cameras as Chell is led into the main building. Once inside, Chell notices a camera pointing at her. She smiles and waves. A distant light bulb pops.

GLaDOS takes over the tour, and the scientists stand back and watch. It's not the normal tour, that most guests get, but Chell seems to enjoy her version better. At the end of the tour, GLaDOS asks if Chell would like to see all the data she's collected. Chell nods eagerly, and GLaDOS tries not to overheat as she sits at a workstation and scrolls through neatly organized folders and charts.

After the tour, Chell goes home. GLaDOS rides the high for a while, but eventually it fades and she becomes inconsolable. She snaps at the scientists, and spends most of her time watching Chell's old videos. The scientist are discussing what to do now, when they get an email from Chell asking if she can come back sometime. They agree of course, and GLaDOS suddenly becomes much more functional.

This time, at the end of the tour, Chell fishes out her phone and holds it up to a camera. GLaDOS understands immediately. She doesn't have a phone number, but she can sent SMS messages and does so with a ding. Chell blushes and waves goodbye. A couple scientists watching from a distance begin to wonder if the crush is one-sided.

Eventually, Chell comes back. Nobody organized her visit this time, but they find the plane tickets on their budget. Those sorts of trips become a common occurrence; GLaDOS is the only one who ever seems to expect them. One of the scientists stumbles onto the SMS logs, but the next time he checks they've been moved to a more hidden folder.

Someone offers Chell a job. Not GLaDOS, surprisingly, but one of the head scientists. Chell accepts immediately. Officially, she's an intern but nobody treats her like one. She still makes YouTube videos, but less often these days since she's busy with college (CERN pays her tuition as part of the "internship"). Chell doesn't tell her viewers about GLaDOS, but she does tell them she's moved in with her girlfriend at CERN (they eventually figure out it's the person who leaves the sarcastic comments under every video). After college she joins CERN and starts making videos for them as part of a program getting people interested in science.

guys. portal au where glados is repurposed to run CERN. instead of killing humans now she smashes particles in the big speedy ring. she runs analyses on huge datasets and runs hundreds of physics simulations. she manages the lab’s energy consumption and functions as a site-wide monitoring system.

chell gets a job at cern to keep glados company. glados pirates scientific literature for chell.

#portal #chelldos #glados #chell #oops this got long

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judeswhore · 3 years ago

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First of all your writing is exceptional💝 Could you write something about mason and reader going on a date in a cafe, they get on really well and they start to realize they fall in love with each other (kinda based on the song begin again by taylor swift)

thank u bff <3 i hope u like this t swift and mase a great duo

begin again - mason mount

on a wednesday, in a cafe, i watched it begin again

———

You’d parked your car fifteen minutes away to avoid traffic and the closer you got to the café the more your nerves kicked in, your palms starting to slick with sweat as you tried in vain to wipe them down against the dark material of your skirt. You kept passing your phone into each hand as you did so, gaze locked on Mason's Instagram account in an attempt to glean any sort of insight into what sort of person he actually was but the constant stream of football photos gave you very little to go off. Your music was turned up as loud as possible, blaring through your headphones in hopes you could use it as a distraction for not thinking too much about how everything could go wrong.

When Reece had told you he wanted to help you start dating again you'd thought that meant he'd join you on your sofa with a glass of wine while you swiped through endless Tinder accounts with the intention of finding at least one person who didn't look like he'd kidnap and murder you. You didn't think that meant he'd set you up with one of his teammates, one of his teammates who had quickly stolen the hearts of pretty much everyone after the Euros which meant you had to up your game tenfold. You wanted to start off easy with dating again, going for coffee with some who worked in an office every day and wasn't intimidatingly pretty but Reece had thrown you straight into the deep end with a man who you knew without a doubt was going to have you a blushing mess for the majority of the afternoon.

Your heel clipped an uneven flagstone and your heart lurched slightly as you lifted your hands to steady yourself, curse falling from your lips. Uneven flagstones was clearly a sign that things weren't going to go well. You'd spill coffee on your shirt or you'd spill it on Mason or you'd drink it weirdly and he'd run straight for the door. Or even worse you'd have absolutely nothing to talk about and you'd start reeling off ridiculous facts that he didn't need or want to know until he pretended to use the bathroom and just didn't come back. There were endless ways for today to be a complete failure and given your train wreck of a dating history it was very likely that something would go tits up.

You had completely prepared yourself for Mason to be late, you were used to your date getting there significantly later than you, false apologies rolling off his tongue as he threw himself into the seat opposite you. Which meant you were more than surprised when you turned the corner and spotted the dark haired Chelsea boy standing just beside the window, hands tucked into the pockets of his designer jeans. It had your steps faltering slightly, pace slowing on the pavement as you let businessmen bustle passed you.

You were thankful for the fact where you'd turned the corner meant you could see him but he couldn't see you because it gave you a chance to gather yourself and attempt to iron out your overly nervous state of mind while also taking in how effortlessly good he looked. His hair was slightly tousled by the wind and there was a good week or so’s worth of facial hair growing across his jaw and even from where you stood you could see the soft curve of his lips and the downward slope of his nose. He was very beautiful and that just notched up your nerves to one hundred. He was wearing a soft black hoodie with his cross patterned jeans, white trainers covering his feet and you suddenly felt silly in your skirt and heels, fears over being overdressed and looking like you were trying too hard making your palms sweat even more.

You yanked your earphones out, stuffing them into your purse along with your phone as you mentally talked yourself up, slowly working up the courage to finally walk up to him. Mason wasn’t going to be put off by heels, not everyone was like him. You had to shake yourself before going down that path of past thoughts and before you could wind yourself even further into a panic you started forward, hands doing one final sweep over your skirt both to dry them and to make sure it was situated right. The street was busy but the sound of your heels against the pavement got Mason’s attention and he lifted his head from where he’d been staring intently at a family trying to strap their son into his pram, a smile instantly curving his lips, knee weakening dimples appearing in his cheeks.

He was gorgeous as it was but when he smiled it was something else entirely and the simple action made your tummy flutter and pulled a smile from you in return. His eyes, even from a few feet away, were dark enough you felt you could get lost in them and you felt their flickering heat over every inch of your skin as his gaze did a quick but seemingly thorough sweep of your body. They lingered a little on the base of your throat before meeting yours again and when you finally stopped in front of him they sparked a little, flashing with a hint of mischief that made your mind wander.

"Hi," One simple word and his voice had already become your new favourite sound, the soft lilt to it sending a brief flood of comfort through you and your nerves dampened ever so slightly. "You look beautiful, Reece definitely didn't talk you up enough." Your cheeks flushed and your smile was wide enough to hurt.

"Not sure Reece really enjoys going around telling people how beautiful he thinks I am, it'd kill his game." Mason nodded and made a soft noise in the back of his throat, turning slightly so he could pull the café door open, standing back and nodding his head for you to go through. Walking passed him you got the scent of his aftershave as the door clinked shut and you swore no man has ever smelt that good, you couldn't quite place the aftershave but there was a lingering minty scent that suggested he'd been chewing gum.

He came up behind you, chest touching your shoulder and you both gazed around the little coffee shop. It was secluded and pretty much empty, a quiet place both of you had been happy to agree on to stay out of the way of prying eyes. Being so close to Reece you knew the stories the media could spin and with Mason's ever spiralling fame you were slightly afraid it would be worse and you weren't sure you were ready to be scrutinised on that level just yet. Mason's arm came up and he pointed towards a table towards the far back wall, his other hand skimming the back of your coat.

"Table over there looks alright,” He led you over, his scent now wrapped completely around you and it overpowered the natural coffee aroma you knew was probably filtering into the air. Before you had chance to pull your chair out Mason beat you to it, fingers around the back as pulled it out before reaching to help you shrug your coat off. Your tummy fluttered at the small, seemingly unimportant action, Mason didn’t seem bothered by it but him acting like a true gentleman meant a lot more to you and you mumbled out your thanks as you settled in the chair. He draped your coat over the back before glancing between you and the menu. “What would the pretty lady like?”

“Americano please, but you know you don’t have to-“

“I know I don’t have to. Do you want one of their chocolate fudge cakes, I’ve heard they’re amazing. We could split one?” You just gave a nod of your head and then he disappeared around the corner towards the counter, giving you a few minutes to sit and smile stupidly at the table. You’d been here only minutes and he was already turning you into a mushy mess by doing the smallest of things that you knew he probably didn’t even think twice about.

When he came back to the table he was balancing two mugs on a tray, tongue peaking from the side of his mouth in concentration and you quirked your lips as he settled opposite you. “If football doesn’t work out you could always try your hand at being a waiter.” Mason breathed out a soft laugh, eyes crinkling at the sides and leant his elbows against the table top.

“You’re gonna think it sounds stupid but I don’t have very good coordination.” You raised your eyebrows, one leg crossing over the other beneath the table, foot knocking softly against his and he tapped it back in reply, expression never changing.

“Isn’t that like required for a footballer?” You wrapped your fingers around your mug, head dipping so you could blow onto the hot surface and you bit back a smile when Mason’s gaze dropped for a second. He blinked and looked away, shoulders rising and falling on a shrug.

“I’m alright with a ball on the pitch but handling trays full of food and drinks? Someone would end up with lasagne in their lap.” He pushed his fingers through his hair, soft strands flopping between them before falling back on to his forehead. When you’d been looking religiously through his Instagram on your way over you’d seen countless photos of him with short choppy strands and you had to admit the look he had going on now was definitely your favourite.

“How come we’ve never met before? Reece said you’ve been friends since you were kids.” Mason took a sip of his coffee and you were slightly mesmerised by the slow bob of his throat.

“He likes to keep me as his dirty little secret. He’s afraid I’ll tell everyone all his embarrassing stories.” Mischief alighted Mason’s eyes and he leant forward, hands folded in front of him.

“Tell me one.”

“Ah they’re locked in the vault for the time being. Can’t spill everything on a first date.”

“We’re planning for a second date then?” Your lip quirked and you shrugged.

“If you wanna hear about Reece and his favourite Barbie doll you’ll have to take me on at least four.” Mason hummed, finger trailing the rim of his mug and he looked up at you through his eyelashes.

“We can pretend Reece’s secrets are the reason I wanna go out with you again and not the fact that you’re absolutely stunning.” You opened your mouth to tell him you might be pretty but you might also be the most annoying person on earth but a young girl arrived with your chocolate fudge cake and you got distracted by giving her your thanks. “Ladies first.”

You dug your fork into the sponge, gaze flickering between that and Mason who followed you straight after. “What if you leave today and you think I’m simply just a pretty face? I might be the most boring person you’ve ever met and we might have nothing to talk about.” Mason cocked his head at this, tongue darting out to clear any chocolate sauce that had been left behind and your gaze zeroed in on that single action.

“I’m brilliant at filling lulls in conversation, if I didn’t play football for England I’d talk for them.” You twisted the fork in your mouth and threw him a teasing smile.

“Dropping the England bomb early on aren’t we? Was it meant to impress me?” He met your gaze head on and raised a single eyebrow and it was weird how you suddenly felt so comfortable around him. You’d been worrying none stop on the way over about all the ways it could go wrong, anxious about whether he’d like you or not but something about him calmed those nerves. The soft tone of his voice and his smile was enough to make you feel at ease and yeah there was the constant butterflies in your stomach whenever he looked at you a certain way

but that was good. It felt like it had been forever since the last time you felt open and comfortable with starting another relationship but sitting opposite Mason, his foot occasionally tapping yours, you felt like you never wanted to leave this little hole in the wall café. Fifteen minutes into your date and you’d never felt this sort of peace around another person before.

“That depends, has it impressed you?”

“If I was impressed by men on the England squad Reece wouldn’t just be my best friend and I’d have locked him down ages ago.” Mason let out sudden laugh, louder and fuller than the little chuckles you’d gotten so far and it was a sound you’d bottle up and listen to forever if you could. It made you grin but you hid it behind your mug, thankful that you’d at least made him laugh today.

“Maybe I’m just over all more impressive than Reece.”

“Don’t let him hear you saying that or he’ll ban us seeing each other all together.” Mason twirled his fork in the air and then pointed it at you.

“Romeo and Juliet style, where art thy Y/N?” It was your turn to laugh this time, hand coming up to cover your mouth and stop any of your coffee from trickling past your lips. Mason’s eyes seemed to brighten at your response, back straightening a little in his chair and you weren’t sure whether he’d butchered the phrase on purpose or not.

“It’s wherefore art thou.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive, I’ve seen the Leo movie a million times.” He groaned and gave an extra dramatic kick to your foot below the table, crease appearing between his brows.

“Of you’re one of those girls.”

“Excuse me?”

“Obsessed with Leo.” You rolled your eyes at him, taking another bite of the cake, more than aware of the way Mason followed the movements of your mouth like a hawk.

“I’m not obsessed, I just appreciate his movies.” It was total lie and Mason knew it as he took to shaking his head in mock disappointment.

“That’s what they all say then the next thing you know they’re leaving you for a Leo lookalike.” He was grinning softly and you knew he was teasing, that mischievous look hadn’t left his eyes since you’d arrived and you had the brief feeling that Mason Mount was about to make your life a whole lot more interesting.

“Happened to you often, has it?” He gave a dramatic half cry and wiped beneath his eyes.

“More times than you think.” He swallowed the food in his mouth and cleaned the fork off, gaze locked on yours and then he dropped that to the tray and reached for the little tea spoon meant for his coffee. “Okay, you can only use one type of spoon for the rest of your life. Big spoon or little spoon, choose wisely because this could be a deal break, love.” He waved the spoon in your direction and your heart thudded at the way the term of endearment rolled so perfectly off his tongue but your brows furrowed at the actual question.

“What sort of question is that?”

“It’s vital in getting to know you.”

“How?”

“Because if I invite you round my house and I only have big spoons but you’d prefer little spoons I’ll have fucked the job, come on, big or little?” You narrowed your eyes, head tilted to the side because you couldn’t quite believe you were getting asked such an odd thing. Mason raised his eyebrows as though to tell you to get on with it.

“Little spoon.” His lip quirked.

“Why?”

“Seriously? Is this why you’re single because you ask women about their spoon preferences?” He just shrugged his shoulders, smile growing a little wider. “Fine, little spoon because they’ll fit anywhere, big spoons won’t fit into tiny yogurts. Did I pass?” Mason studied you for a few seconds and then hid his grin behind his mug.

“I find you too attractive to care if you gave me an answer I didn’t like.”

The two of you sat for over three hours in the coffee shop, Mason refusing to let you buy drinks as you talked non stop about your passions and your favourite things. Mason told you endless stories about his friendship with Reece and in turn you shared a few of his little embarrassing secrets, warning Mason that if you ever found out he’d told Reece you’d told him he’d never get to experience your homemade peanut butter cookies. The workers were starting to close up the shop and so the two of you reluctantly started to say goodbye until Mason found out your car was parked a few minutes away and became adamant on walking you to it.

He held his arm out to you and with a soft smile you wrapped your fingers around the crook of his elbow, the two of you making your way, heads down towards your car. You didn’t want to go home and you sensed Mason didn’t either given the way he slowed his steps significantly, allowing people to overtake and step in front as much as possible. You’d reach your car eventually but for now you were more than happy to have him delay that arrival.

“So you don’t have an Christmas traditions?” Mason sounded slightly baffled, head tilting down as he stared at you through wide eyes, eyebrows rising when you shook your head. You’re not sure how exactly you got on to the topic of Christmas in the middle of September but here you were and you were delighted that Mason was willing to share such a personal and important part of his life with you.

“We all get new pyjamas for Christmas Eve but that’s it,” Mason was still staring in bewilderment and you let out a soft laugh, fingers tightening fractionally on his arm. “What are your traditions then?”

“We have loads but my favourite is we all go to my parents house on Christmas Eve and we wear cringey matching sweaters and mum always makes this incredible hot chocolate, you’d love it,” Mason didn’t seem to realise those words, his voice never faltered but you felt a funny flip in your tummy at them, at the fact he’d thought, even briefly, about a future in which you spent Christmas with him. “And we always watch the same movies in the same order. It’s A Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol, Elf, Love Actually and then The Grinch. It’s always the same and then on Christmas day we always play Monopoly and dad always loses and accuses us all of cheating when really he just had terrible money management.” He trailed off at the end, gaze turning to you, smile soft but tinged with a little bit of sadness.

“Christmas is usually the only time we can all be together with no interruptions. Football means I spend a lot of time away from them so the holidays are dedicated to me giving them all my time. The traditions make it extra special.” You met his gaze with a smile just as soft, heart thumping solidly when you caught sight of your car coming into view.

“Your traditions sound amazing. Maybe I should force my family into some, although I’m not sure Monopoly would go down very well in my house.” Mason gave a laugh, hand ruffling his hair.

“You could always start off easy, you know Connect Four, Battleships.” You’d slowed your walk and his eyes slid to your slightly beat up car. “This is yours?” Yours cheeks flushed as you nodded.

“It’s old I know, but I-“

“No, that’s not-I just thought we’d have longer.” You let your hand slide from his arm, your body turning so the two of you were face to face and you felt a rush go through you once again at how beautiful he was when he peered at you through his eyelashes. “I feel like the afternoon flew by, I didn’t even get to talk myself up with all my best qualities.” He threw you a teasing smirk that had you biting the inside of your cheek to subdue your own.

“I think that means I might have to ask you on another date and give you that chance.” His eyes sparked and he stuffed his hands into his pockets, eyes burning on yours.

“Yeah?”

“I’m free next Wednesday again if you are, we could do something a bit more fun than coffee?” Your mouth suddenly went dry at your boldness and you felt your cheeks heat up, worrying bubbling up incase he turned you down but Mason’s widening grin was enough of an answer before he’d even nodded.

“Why don’t you let me beat you at bowling?”

“Bowling?”

“I’ve heard it works for a great date, plus I think I’d like to show off a little.” You suddenly raised your eyebrows at him.

“I thought you had terrible coordination?” The sheepish smile he sent you and the way he rubbed the back of his neck made you gasp playfully, hand reaching out to shove his arm. “You use the bumpers don’t you?”

“No.”

“Oh my God, you totally do!” Mason grumbled something under his breath and you let out a soft laugh, leaning back against your car. “I think I might just end up beating you.”

“We’ll see about that,” His gaze wandered around the car park and then he suddenly leant in and kissed your cheek, both of you turning a little pink at the action. “If you text me your address I’ll pick you up on Wednesday. 6 good?” You simply nodded, a little shocked over the feeling of his lips against your skin and Mason flashed you that overly charming smile that you knew you’d be thinking about all night. “Great. I had a good time today and for the record, you’re not the most boring person I’ve ever met.”

After you’d gotten in your car and watched him walk back towards the restaurant you couldn’t stop your smile or the giddy feeling of happiness that washed over you as his body disappeared around the corner. You were certain you’d never felt so connected to someone after a first date and seeing Mason’s quick smile and hearing the soft sound of his voice filled you with a feeling of content you hadn’t been privy to in months. Mason and this feeling was something you never really wanted to give up.

#england nt #football #chelsea fc #football imagine #money mase #mason mount #mason mount fluff #mason mount fanfic #mason mount one shot #mason mount fic #mason mount blurbs #mason mount blurb #mason mount imagines #mason mount imagine #mason mount x reader

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lyssaterald · 9 months ago