#also when i fly places i feel like i haven’t gone anywhere bc it didn’t take long enough?

[bright-and-burning]

EVE! yes/no on driving over flying

yes

yes or no game

[novacxlum]

the wedding planner

in which you’re a wedding planner working on the biggest party of your career with more than a few bumps along the way

a/n: facts about this piece: 

1: this isnt much like anything ive ever written and doesn’t rly sound like me AT ALL

2: its really quite long, like nearly 25 pages in word

3: this is very much based on the jennifer lopez movie bc its SO good

You squint under the bright sunlight as you rush down the bustling city streets; it’s an unusually warm day in southwest London and you can’t help but curse yourself for not checking the weather. If your arms weren’t so full, you’d shrug off your cardigan, but between your phone and purse and binder, you can’t find a spare hand.

“Listen, Izzy, tell Joelle to stop freaking out. We’ll just tour venues tomorrow, instead. Call her and make sure she’s okay, tell her I’ll call them all.”

“Do you still have the list or do you want me to send it to you again?” Your assistant and best friend’s voice echoes tinnily through the phone and you purse your lips. You can barely focus on the question, the heat beginning to become unbearable. Your shoulder is becoming sore from bumping into everyone on the crowded sidewalk.

“Um, I may have it, but can you send me an extra copy just in case?” You fit your phone between your ear and shoulder and you begin to rifle through your binder.

“Yeah, for sure. She also wants to add Heavenly Hollow onto that list. I’ve got their number right here, can I read it off to you?”

You look up from your binder to gauge the distance to your crosswalk and pull a pen from your hair, find a blank page, and say, “Yeah, but hurry.”

You listen to her speak quickly and jot down the number as fast as your fingers will move. Just as you begin to walk across the crosswalk, you stick your pen back behind your ear. “Okay, call me when you get home.”

“Will do,” you grin, saying your goodbyes and listening to her hang up.

You struggle to get your phone out from its secure place. Someone’s shoulder hits yours particularly hard and you grunt as it falls from your arms. You gasp as papers fly around you and you hastily sheathe your phone in your pocket and crouch down, fumbling with your papers. If this weren’t the most important wedding of your career, you’d have left them, but you know there are papers here that Izzy doesn’t have and you’ll be damned if you’re going to let Joelle Christiansen the same wedding treatment you give everyone else.

“Hey!” The word rings loudly in your ears. You barely hear it, still struggling to get your papers back in their spots. “Hey, ma’am!” This time you look up; not at the man yelling, presumably at you, but at the tourist bus hurtling straight toward you.

“Shit,” you whisper, clutching your binder and standing to your full height. You take a step, and before you can get anywhere, the wind is knocked from you. There are arms wrapped tightly around you, but your back slams into the cement of the sidewalk. You groan, still gripping your binder as the sounds of screeching rubber from the bus ring through the air.

“Jesus, are you okay?” A Welsh accent asks. Your eyes, which you had not realized were still closed, blink open. You let a deep breath out and look at your savior.

And, good god, was he a savior. A beautiful one at that. You clear your throat and close your eyes again, your heart still pounding. “Did I get all my papers?” You ask, and he chuckles ludicrously.

“Yeah, love, I think you did.”

“Thank Christ.” You breathe, dropping your head back. You eyes immediately snap open. “And thank you! Seriously, I owe you my life.”

He laughs softly, and as you stare up at him, you become acutely aware that you’re still trapped beneath a strong contender for the most handsome man you had ever seen. You sit up quickly and he falls to sit beside you. “Are you alright?” He asks again, and you let out a huffy breath, blowing your hair from your face.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” The two of you stand, you gratefully taking his hand when he offers it. “Hey, let me buy you a coffee or something. It’s the least I could do.” You plead, still holding your binder close to your chest.

“I shouldn’t,” he breathes softly, and you give him the smallest of all smiles.

“Please. It doesn’t even have to be a coffee, I just owe you.”

“Coffee would be lovely.” He admits. Your face splits into a grin and you hold out your hand.

“I’m (Y/N), by the way.”

He accepts your handshake and the two of you begin to walk toward the cafe just around the corner. “Taron,” The name is familiar, but you suppose it isn’t an entirely uncommon name. You furrow your brows as you try to remember exactly where you’ve heard the name. “So, what exactly is in the binder? If you don’t mind my asking.”

“Oh, it’s just, uh, work stuff.” You chuckle. “It’s a big client.”

“Big enough to risk your life over?” He asks teasingly, sticking his hands in his pockets.

You laugh softly. “You have no idea.” You shrug off your sweater and lay it over your arm.

“Well, hey, I hope it works out for you,” he admits, pulling open the door for you. You thank him, walking into the cafe.

The two of you order, and despite Taron’s insistence, you pay for his drink. As the two of you sit at a table, you begin to wonder how you got so lucky. Sure, you may have nearly died, but there’s a silver lining to every cloud. You laugh at all his jokes, not because you feel that you have to, but because you actually think they’re funny. It had been a long, long time since you had met someone you saw something in, and it felt as though you and Taron were operating on the same wavelength.

With a quick glance at your watch, you gasp softly and begin to grab your things. “Taron, this has been lovely, truly, but I have to go. I’m so sorry.”

“Where are you rushing to?” He asks curiously as you grab your things.

Shrugging your sweater on, you smile. “My best friend, Izzy, and I go to outdoor movies in the park every Friday. She should be getting there by now.”

“Oh, they’re playing An Affair to Remember tonight, right?” He asks, and you cock your head.

“Yeah, actually. Do you go see them?”

“I used to, a few years back. I haven’t gone in ages.” He admits. You grin, stuffing your binder in your oversized purse.

“Well, hey. If you’re looking to reminisce, you are very welcome to join us.”

“I’m sorry, (Y/N), I’m not going to be able to make it tonight,” Izzy says apologetically.

“Izzy, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it, okay? Next weekend.” You sigh softly, looking to Taron’s confused face.

“I’m sorry, okay? I love you, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I love you. Bye,” you hang up with a soft sigh and look to the man standing beside you. “So, Izzy isn’t going to make it.” You quirk the corner of your mouth up.

“Oh, damn.”

“Hey, if you want to bail, that’s fine.” You assure, and he makes a playfully offended face.

“I could never.” He teases. He offers you a package of M&M’s and you hold out your hand, clutching onto the candies he pours into your hand.

The two of you listen to the music in silence, waiting for the sky to darken enough for the movie to start. As much as you adore the tradition with Izzy, you’re grateful to have what felt suspiciously like a first date. You look over to Taron and already find his gaze on your face, causing you to blush. He inspects you and you raise a brow, a silent challenge. Instead of saying anything, he shakes his head with a smile and scoots the smallest bit closer to you.

Within moments, the movie is beginning.

“That movie is terrible.” Taron criticizes, and you glare at him, nudging his ribs with your elbow.

“It’s not! It’s one of the most romantic movies of all time.” You defend, and he rolls his eyes.

“It’s such a cop-out. The ending would be so much more impactful if they never ended up together.”

The crowd begins to disperse as the moviegoers began to leave, but you and Taron remained seated on the grass. Your thighs pressed together and your hands rest on the ground behind you to hold up your weight, making you blush every time Taron’s arm brushes against your back.

“I think it’s sweet. I like happy endings.” You admit softly, your gaze resting upon the smooth skin of his face.

“There aren’t always happy endings.” He reminds you, making you roll your eyes, looking away from him.

“So cynical,” you tease, making his shoulders shake lightly as he laughs quietly. He turns to look at you, a small smile pulling at the corner of his lips.

“Maybe so.” He accepts, his eyes still trained on you. You begin to falter beneath his stare, looking into his bright eyes and allowing your own smile to take root.

The silence is nearly stifling, and you feel his hand move near yours, his fingers brushing over your own. You let out a breath, the anticipation burning in the pit of your stomach. He leans toward you, just slightly, and you subconsciously mirror his movements. He’s only inches away when you hear a voice cutting through the cool air.

“Hey! We think it’s gonna start raining, you might want to pack up.” Your head swings around and you catch sight of a security guard.

You nod and hear Taron’s thanks, mate before the two of you stand, looking to one another. The air is awkward now that you’ve been interrupted, so you laugh softly. “I should go. Thank you, for everything today.”

“It was truly my pleasure, (Y/N).” He assures, and you grin. You purse your lips, looking to him before booking a thumb over your shoulder.

“I’ll see you around?”

You see him narrow his eyes, but he nods, a sweet smirk pulling at his mouth. “Yeah, of course.”

You turn and fight the smile at the thought of him, and you want to roll your eyes for already being enamored by him, but you can’t find it in yourself to care. It isn’t until you’re nearly home that you begin to berate yourself for not getting his number.

“So what, you just didn’t ask for his number?” Lewis asks, and you glare at your father’s best friend from across the table.

“No, Lewis, I didn’t.”

“Well, did you at least kiss him?” His wife asks. You purse your lips and avert your eyes to your coffee mug.

“I mean, technically--”

“Come on!” You father cries, making you shake your head.

Saturdays were your designated days to spend with your father. Saturday mornings, anyway. It was hard to get Saturdays off with work, spending most weekend afternoons and evenings with brides touring, tasting, and tailoring. It was busy, and most days physically exhausting, but it was worth it. At least, you seemed to think so.

You roll your eyes and take a sip of your coffee, changing the subject immediately. “Anyway, we’re touring venues today, I’m hoping we can finally pick one and start setting vendors in place.”

“You work too hard,” Katherine scolds, and you smile at her.

“I’m not working too hard, I’m just dedicated.” You shake your head, looking to your father.

“Don’t get yourself too worked up over this wedding, (Y/N/N), or you may actually get hit by a bus. Literally or figuratively.”

“Yeah, whatever.” You roll your eyes playfully, laughing softly under your breath.

There’s a soft knock on the front door and you look over, your brows furrowed in curiosity as your father cries, “Come in!”

The door opens just as you begin to lecture your father. “You cannot just let random people into your house, dad. Do you want to be robbed?”

“C’mon, do you really think I’d rob him?” A familiar voice asks, and you blanch.

“(Y/N), you remember Colin.” Lewis reintroduces his son, and you watch him with wide eyes.

“Uh, yeah, of course.”

How could you possibly forget? You had grown up with him; you’d known him as long as you can remember. Lewis and Katherine’s son was, in a way, your first love. For years, you’d pined over the man. In fact, you still felt your heart race at the sight of him. Colin, however, had been several years older than you and as far as you were concerned, far out of your league.

You stand as he approaches you, reciprocating his actions as he wraps you in a tight hug. “God, you look so different! You look great.” He grips your hips and you allow him to push you away as he looks at you from a distance, gripping his elbows. “Really great.”

“You too,” You breathe, looking up at his face. He flashes a grin and you offer a bashful smile, feeling the heat rise up your neck.

“Can you two get a room?” Lewis teases, breaking you from your reverie. You clear your throat and allow your hands to fall, ignoring Colin’s chuckle from behind you as you turn to face your father. You ignore your burning cheeks, giving a convincing smile.

“Y’know, Colin is single.” Katherine admits, a knowing grin on her face and a playful twinkle in her eyes. You make eye contact with your father, who shrugs and stands to get Colin a cup.

“Thanks, mum. Really.” You hear Colin chuckle. He nudges your arm to get your attention. “We should catch up.” He offers.

Your mind immediately goes to Taron, and though you nearly blush again just at the thought of him, you begin to wonder if you’ll ever even see him again.

“Yeah, totally.” You nod, a friendly smile on your face. You can’t tell if you’re accepting because you’re being polite, or if you actually want to go, but you sigh.

He flashes you a blinding smile before walking to the kitchen to meet your father. You sit at the table, glaring at Katherine and Lewis.

“You did that on purpose.” You accuse. Katherine just shakes her head, taking a sip from her mug.

She had been the only person to know of your childhood crush on her son, and though you had sworn to her for years that it was over, she never fully believed you. You hadn’t seen Colin in about six years, and distance had done you well.

Out of sight, out of mind.

But now, Colin was very much back in your sights. As you peer into the doorway of the kitchen and see him laughing with your father, you wonder if it was in everyone’s best interest that you might pursue a relationship with him. After all, he was still extremely handsome. And kind, a generous person since the time you were young children. It was difficult for you to find fault in him, something you had tried and failed at doing whilst trying to get over him years ago.

You sigh, crossing the table to say your goodbyes to your father’s friends. Gripping your cup, you hesitantly venture to the kitchen to rinse your mug and say goodbye to your father and Colin. You peek in the doorway, catching only a second of their hushed conversation before fully stepping in. Colin catches your eye and grins. Your father twists to look at you.

“Hey, love, you leaving?” He asks, reaching out to take your mug. You hand it to him with a grateful smile and nod.

“Yeah, I’ve got to be at a venue in thirty minutes.” You sigh, hugging your father.

“Hey, (Y/N), can I have a word?” Colin asks softly. You look at your father, offering a soft smile.

“Yeah, for sure.”

You watch your father set your mug in the sink and exit the room awkwardly, a small laugh falling from your lips.

Colin watches you carefully, smiling softly as you turn your attention to him. You push yourself to sit on the counter, looking at him with curiosity in your eyes. “What’s up?” You ask, tapping your fingers on your thigh.

“Would you allow me to take you to dinner?”

You try to hide your shock, but you can’t get out many words, so you say, “What?”

He laughs, loud and warm and you can’t help but smile at the sound. “I want to take you out.” He says again. You shake your head to clear your mind and nod.

“That would be lovely, Colin.” You say. You know now you’re accepting because you want to. As much as you hate to admit it, there are still residual feelings for Colin. He grins, nodding.

“Okay, great. I hope you don’t feel that I’m too eager, but how’s tomorrow night?”

This could not have been described as anything but your childhood dream. You can’t help but break into a smile, sitting up a little taller as he approaches you. “Tomorrow night sounds wonderful.”

“You slut!” Izzy gasps, punching your arm.

You can’t help but laugh, pushing her away from you. “It isn’t that big of a deal,” You assure her. “It’s just Colin.”

“But you didn’t tell me about the other guy. What’s his name? What does he do? Did you get his number?” She pressures, walking beside you. Her voice echoes through the eerily quiet church and you want to scold her for yelling, but you can’t find it in you.

“His name was Taron, I don’t know, and no. And we didn’t even kiss, it was barely a date.” You patiently reply, flipping through the pages on your planner.

“That’s kind of a coincidence.” She mumbles, pulling your purse off your shoulder.

Your eyes remain on the papers before you as you move your arm to give her access to your bag. You don’t bother asking what she’s doing as she rifles through your belongings. “Why?” You ask, finally reaching the page you’ve been searching for. The binder was still a mess, no longer the organized, clean collection you were so proud of. Papers were wrinkled and out of sorts, the pages you had lost reprinted just to be shoved in the front pocket.

“Our groom’s name is Taron.”

You gasp and look up at her. “That’s right! I knew it sounded familiar, but I couldn’t remember who it was.”

“We’re finally gonna meet him today.” She reveals, and your eyebrows shoot up. She immediately begins to address the silent question in your eyes. “Well, if you weren’t so busy going to movies with handsome strangers and being asked out by literal brain surgeons--”

“Colin isn’t a brain surgeon.” You scoff, looking up at her through your lashes.

“He’s a surgeon of some sorts, who cares? Anyway, I tried to call you last night and tell you, because Joelle told me when I called to talk about the venues.” She finally finds what she’s looking for, a pack of gum spilled at the bottom of your bag.

“Well, that’s good. It’s not often we get this far in the process without meeting the groom.” You sigh, closing the binder. She hands you a stick of gum, popping her own piece into her mouth.

“Well, Jo said he’s been out of town, right? I guess he just got back a few days ago.” She shrugs, handing you your purse back. You pass her your binder to drop into her tote bag, at which she winces. “Jesus H, this thing is in bad shape.” She breathes, earning a playful glare from you.

“Don’t make me feel worse about it.” You groan. You glance at your watch, and as if on cue, the church door slams open, a breathless Joelle rushing through the door.

“Hey, ladies! Sorry, we got out late. Taron is parking the car, he’ll be here in just a second.” She finally reaches you, her breath heavy.

“Hey, Jo. You guys didn’t have to rush for us.” You say, listening to her laugh in your ear as the two of you embrace.

“Oh, it’s fine. He hates to be late, so no matter what I said, we would have been speeding here.” She giggles, turning to hug Izzy. “We can start without Taron. He’ll find us.” She suggests, and Izzy looks at you with a raised brow.

“That should be fine. Let me go get the pastor, he’ll be giving us our tour.”

You turn on your heel, letting out a breath before looking for the office. Joelle Christiansen was A-list; she was, without a shadow of a doubt, the most high-profile client you had ever had. You had been recommended through a friend of a friend, and every single time you interacted with her, you were desperate to keep her happy. On top of that, you were quite fond of her.

You knock on the door, smiling as John swings it open. “(Y/N)?” He asks, a friendly grin painted on his face.

“Hi,” you reach out a hand to shake his. “It’s so great to meet you. Sorry about the mess with scheduling.” You apologize. He waves a hand to dismiss your worries, closing the door of the office behind himself.

“Don’t worry about it, we don’t get too busy here.”

The two of you make your way back to Joelle and Izzy, the voices echoing off the high ceiling. The pastor reaches his hand out to shake theirs, greetings flying around as everyone introduces themselves. You finally allow yourself to take a breath, with the attention off you. With the pastor in charge, you finally feel at ease.

“Well, let’s start the tour,” he claps. Just as he turns around, the door flies open and all four of you turn to look at the intruder.

For a split second, you’re nearly ecstatic, a smile playing on your lips before you realize what exactly is happening. Izzy’s eyes fly to you, and you lean over.

Taron half-jogs toward all of you, your Taron. You turn to Izzy in a panic; she looks back to you, her face twisted into a silent question.  

“That’s him.” You say, the beginnings of a panic attack taking root in your gut.

“Obviously that’s him.” She rolls her eyes, discreetly elbowing your side.

“No, the guy from last night. That’s him!”

“Holy shit.” She whispers, catching everyone’s attention.

“I’m sorry?” The pastor asks, his brow furrowed. Taron begins to chuckle but is cut short as soon as he sees you. He blanches as you glare at him and the sound of Izzy apologizing is quiet to you as you think of the infinite amount of things you wanted to say to him. Your anxiety is replaced with anger and you can’t help but keep your cold stare on him.

“Tar, you okay?” Joelle asks. He averts eye contact to look at his fiancee--the word nearly makes you sick--and flashes the most convincing smile you may have ever seen.

“Yeah, love, I’m fine.” He assures, reaching out to shake Izzy’s hand first. “Taron, nice to meet you.”

He’s too busy introducing himself to the pastor to hear Izzy’s, “Is it?”

He reaches for you last. With a small hesitation, he reaches for your hand. “Taron, hi. You must be (Y/N).” There’s a silent plea in his eyes and you resist the urge to scoff.

“Hi,” you greet curtly, shaking his hand for only a second before dropping it as though it’s burnt you. You spin on your heel to face pastor John. “Right, should we start?”

He begins the tour, the four of you following him nearly silently. Taron and Joelle listen intently as you and Izzy follow from a distance. She sends you a bewildered look, and you mirror her expression; how the hell did you end up here? It’s safe to say you’re in the unventured territory. Izzy was equally overwhelmed, looking between you and Taron.

John rattled on as Joelle and Taron followed, paying close attention to the information he was feeding you all. Taron sends a look back at you, a look that obviously meant something. We need to talk, he mouths before quickly turning back around. You and Izzy shared another look and turned your attention back to the tour.

“Taron, this place is beautiful.” Jo gasps. The tour is just barely over, the four of you standing in the middle of the alter.

“Yeah, it’s quite nice.” He mumbles, the deep Welsh accent echoing off the marble walls. “I just think it may be a bit cold.” He offers. She purses her lips.

“Well, should we move on to the next?” You ask, pulling your binder from Izzy’s bag.

“I think I’m going to run to the restroom, okay?” Joelle asks. You smile curtly, watching her retreat. The three of you watch her wander away, the silence stifling until she turns a corner.

“Can I speak to you?” He asks, sending a pleading look to Izzy. “Alone?”

“Hell no. I’m not leaving.” She snaps. He looks at her with a near pitiful face.

“She knows?”

“Izzy, I’m fine. Give us a minute.” You sigh, pushing her lightly away. She glares at the two of you but meanders away to sit on a pew.

“I am so sorry.” He whispers.

“What is happening? Are you stupid?”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“You’re engaged? How can you act that way with someone when you’re engaged?” You exclaim. He runs a hand over his face, pinching his bottom lip.

“I hadn’t meant to, not at first. But you’re so lovely, and I just kind of got carried away.” He sighs. A hand reaches out for you, but you pull away.

“You are a literal psychopath.” You take a deep breath before squaring your shoulders. “But this wedding is big for me, okay? So we’re going to pretend we just met, and you’re going to be a helpful groom because if you aren’t, I’ll kick your ass.” You threaten.

He looks at you in shock and opens his mouth to reply. Before he can get anything out, Joelle rushes out from the bathroom. “Okay! Are you ready?”

You turn around with a blinding smile. “Yep! Let’s head on out.”

“It’s been five dates,” Izzy reminds you, causing you to roll your eyes.

“And?”

“And it’s coming! He’s going to ask you soon.”

The two of you walk into the bakery, waving at Joelle and Taron. “No, he isn't. It isn’t that romantic, Iz. And they’re barely dates, we’ve just been catching up.” You sigh, looking over at her. She raises a brow, giving you an incredulous look.

“Then why is he coming today?” She asks, rolling her coffee cup between her hands. “That’s boyfriend shit, (Y/N).”

“He’s just dropping off my laptop.” You defend. The two of you stop a few feet from the table, you in hopes to end the conversation before you sat, and Izzy because she wasn’t ready to give this up.

“Which you left at his house! Plus, you’ve kissed. He’s got a leg up on that one guy.” She says pointedly.

“Fuck off.”

“I’m being honest. Two weeks and five dates, you’re kissing him, and leaving things at his house? This is getting serious.”

“Can we finish this later?” You sigh, pinching the bridge of your nose. She nods and walks toward the table, sitting down. You follow, greeting the couple and pulling a pen from your purse.

“Good morning, guys.” You greet, opening your binder to a blank page. “Let’s just jump right into it, yeah?”

“Someone’s feeling productive today,” Joelle notes, her laugh ringing through the air. You laugh, too. Not because you think it’s funny and definitely not because it’s true, but because you want to get as much of this done before Colin got here and you don’t want to have this conversation.

“Well…” you trail off, finally looking up to the pair. Joelle has a friendly smile painted on her face and Taron has a curious brow raised, a silent question. Your gaze lingers for only a second before you look down at your page. “What flavors were each of you thinking?” You ask, looking back up to them.

Taron’s disinterested face watches you as Joelle rattles off a list. You write them as fast as you can, nodding as she continues to speak.

“We’re going to have a lot of guests,” she begins. In your head, you cannot help but say ‘562 guests,’ a thought you had been carrying with you for weeks. 562. “So obviously we’re going to need a lot of it, but I want everyone to have something they want.” You zone out, nodding as she speaks despite the fact that you aren’t listening. Her high-pitched voice echoes through the nearly empty bakery.

“Well, we can sample all of these and you can pick three or four, we can do several cakes or a large tier cake; we can talk about that later, though, so don’t worry about it.” You stand to take the list to the man behind the counter when the bell above the door rings. You turn out of instinct and freeze. “Hey, Iz, you wanna take this up?” You ask rhetorically, offering the list and motioning to Colin.

She turns and makes eye contact before breaking into a mischievous grin. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Hey, Colin!” You greet pitchily, walking toward him. He’s nearly an hour early; he had told you he would be here at ten, but it’s barely a pinch past 9:10. “What are you doing here?” You laugh a little, trying to hide your anxiety.

“Why are you freaking out?” He sing-songs, pulling you into his side. He presses a chaste kiss to your temple and you look up at him.

“I just wasn’t expecting you this early, that’s all,” you whisper in response to his teasing, thanking him as he hands you your laptop.

“The department meeting didn’t last nearly as long as I was expecting. Didn’t think it would be a big deal if I came early. Am I interrupting?”

“No! No, of course not. You’re fine.” You assure.

“(Y/N), who’s this?” Joelle asks playfully. You turn to look at her, a bashful smile on your face.

Colin reaches his hand out for a handshake, gripping Joelle’s hand tightly. “I’m Colin, (Y/N)’s boyfriend.”

Your brow furrows in confusion for only a split second. He reaches for Taron, who watches Colin carefully as they shake hands. “Um, Colin, this is Joelle and Taron.” You introduce, ignoring Izzy’s smug look as she returns to the group.

“It’s just lovely to meet you, Colin.” Joelle winks at you. You roll your eyes playfully. “Would you like to stay with us?” She invites.

You begin to wonder what you’ve done to deserve something like this. Things with Taron were still awkward, to say the least, and even just the few moments Colin has been here had been nearly unbearable. There’s an unmistakable tension in the air, but just a single glance at Jo shows you she’s none the wiser.

“I’d hate to intrude.” He says, looking to you.

After a beat, you realize it’s up to you. You jump. “Oh! Um, you’re welcome to stay, if you’d like.” You say, watching him break into a grin.

“Stellar.” He exclaims, pulling up a chair. Taron raises a brow at you, but you become distracted by the comprehensive amount of cake being delivered to your table.

Cake tasting is not nearly as uncomfortable as you’d feared; Colin’s inexplicably charismatic personality had made it easy on you. In fact, you’d barely gotten in any words in between the rambunctious conversation. Taron and Collin had even built some rapport, much to your own surprise. It had been a rather lovely morning, in all honesty.

Cake is long finished and conversation seems to be nowhere near over when Colin’s pager begins to beep loudly. Around the table, faces scrunch in confusion as he pulls it out, sending you an apologetic look. “I just got called in. I’ll call you tonight, yeah?” You nod, a small grin on your face as he leans over and pressed a chaste kiss to your lips. “It was so great to meet you all, but I’ve got to go.”

Joelle’s hands clasped over her chest. “Colin, it was wonderful to have you. I hope to see you soon.”

“Likewise,” Taron nods from across the table. He stands parallel to Colin to shake his hand again, a kind smile gracing his face as they say their goodbyes.

You watch him exit the shop, a nearly-wistful sigh leaving you. “(Y/N)!” Jo squeals, catching your attention. “He is so cute, why didn’t you say anything?” She asks. You chuckle softly, shaking your head.

“It’s kind of new.” You excuse, beginning to pack your things.

“I have to go to a meeting but I’ll call you later, and not just about the cake,” she winks. Izzy chortles from beside you, and even you can’t help the laugh that falls from your lips.

She leaves, sharing a chaste kiss with a quiet Taron before rushing out of the shop.

You and Izzy are talking quietly about which flavors you liked best, starring the ones you thought Joelle enjoyed when Taron speaks up. “I think it’s rich that you chastised me for being in a relationship when you’ve got him.” He grumbles.

You give him a tired look. He looks back, his disinterest gone as he watches expectantly for an answer.

Instead, you say, “It seemed like you liked him.”

“Well, I did.” He’s caught off guard, of which your a little proud. “But that’s not really the point, is it?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but I’ve known Colin my whole life, and our first date was days after I met you.” Taron looks a bit embarrassed, so you sigh and backtrack. “We don’t have to fight like this, all the time.”

“Yeah, it’s kind of exhausting.” Izzy cuts in, ignoring your glare.

“Can we just call this a truce?” You say softly, crossing around the table to stand next to him. You hold out your arms to invite him in a hug, giving him a playful smile. He diverts eye contact but grins, holding his arms out as well. You let out an exclamation and hug him tightly, ignoring Izzy’s soft ‘yay!’

“Friends?” He proposes, giving you a squeeze before pulling back.

“Friends.”

“I miss you guys!” Joelle’s voice lilted through the phone.

“We miss you too, love,” Taron says sweetly.

She’d been gone for nearly a week and it happened that she had the smallest bit of separation anxiety. Knowing the three of you were planning without her made her neurotic and phone calls were coming in nearly every hour.

“You’ll be back tonight, in no time,” Izzy assures. Joelle hummed through the phone, her discontent obvious. “What have you guys done since we talked last?” She changes the subject. The three of you can’t help but snicker under your breath.

“Honestly, we haven’t even gotten to the tailor yet.” You say, your eyes attached to the road.

“Are you serious?” She screeches. You raise your brows in surprise, the corner of your lips turning up.

“Well, Jo, you called us last not even an hour ago.” Taron reminds her. There’s a beat of silence and she giggles.

“I suppose you’re right.” She admits. ”I’ll stop calling, I guess. (Y/N), call me tonight and we can go over it all.”

You chuckle, parking your car. “Alright, I’ll talk to you then.”

The four of you say your goodbyes before she hangs up. Taron twists to look at you, his face turned down.

“Don’t look so excited,” Izzy suggests. You giggle, nudging him over the console of your car.

“It won’t be that bad. We’ll be done before you know it.” You assure him, though you weren’t so sure of that yourself. Tux fittings never were so bad for you or Izzy. In fact, you found they were the most relaxing appointments of the entire wedding for you. It was a break from the usually overbearing bride, a time for you to sit and relax. The grooms, however, never much liked them.

The three of you enter the building, immediately greeted by an older man behind the counter.

“We have a fitting for Egerton.” You inform him, turning over your shoulder to look at the ornate tuxedos on mannequins around the shop. As you check in, you turn to look at Taron, his less-than-enthused disposition clouding around him. “Taron, be a big boy.” You cajole, following the man as he leads you to a separate room.

“I don’t want to,” He glowers, causing you to glare at him.

“Well, I guess you’ll just have to deal with it.” You grumble.

You and Izzy fall to sit on the couch across from the mirror, watching the man fidget as he stood before you. He taps his foot impatiently as the three of you waited for his tux, inhaling sharply.

“Dude, why are you flipping out?” Izzy asks, catching his attention. He doesn’t answer.

He lets out a deep breath. You can’t help but stare at him, watching the wrinkles between his brows as he paces the room. He peers over at you and you snap your attention across the room. You’re grateful for the soft knock on the door before it opens to reveal a kind-looking man with Taron’s tux in hand. You let out a soft sigh of relief as he introduces himself.

“Taron? I’m Marcus, nice to meet you, mate.”

“Hi Marcus, pleasure.” Taron smiles. He gestures to the two of you on the couch. “Um, this is (Y/N) and Izzy.”

“Which of you is the bride?” He asks, and you chortle without thought, putting a hand to your lips when you realize how odd you must seem.

“Sorry, neither of us. We’re the wedding planners.” You introduce, ignoring Taron’s look of surprise.

“Ah, lovely. Well, Taron, if you’ll just follow me…”

The door closes behind them as they retreat to a changing room. “Holy shit, you’re a mess.” Izzy giggles.

Your head snaps to her, eyes narrowed. “Excuse me?”

“Could you be more obvious? You’re all flirty and the glances are getting weird.”

“Izzy, shut up. We’re friends, it isn’t that big of a deal.” You try to convince both Izzy and yourself.

“I mean, the flirting is pretty toned down when we’re with Jo or Colin, but now there are no barriers and it’s so incredibly obvious that the two of you have feelings for one another.”

You pause, trying to process her words before you open your mouth with your rebuttal. No sooner have your lips parted is the door opening to reveal Taron and Marcus. He holds his arms out, looking to the two of you for a reaction.

“Cute!” Izzy exclaims. However, you inhale sharply, fixated on him. Maybe there was more truth to Izzy’s words than you cared to admit. As he stood before you, you felt your heart beat faster.

He crosses the room to stand before the mirror. “(Y/N)? What do you think?” He stares at himself anxiously in the mirror. You stand, watching as he turns to face you. His jacket remains unbuttoned, revealing his white dress shirt.

Your fingers are working seemingly without your permission, slipping the buttons into their designated places before he turned back to face himself in the mirror. You rest a gentle hand on his back, so light he can barely tell it’s there. “I think you look very dashing.” You admit. He breaks into a grin, looking into your eyes through the mirror. “The legs are a hair too long, but that’s a simple fix.”

“Okay, fantastic. I’ll go change then?” He says softly, eyes still locked with yours. His smile is long gone, so the two of you stand silently for a beat before you clear your throat.

“Yeah, go ahead.”

They retreat yet again, leaving you alone with your best friend. You turn to her with a grimace.

“Oh, you are so fucked.”

“Bye, Izzy. We’ll see you in a few days.” Taron says, waving at her from the rolled down window of your car.

“Bye, guys.” She calls from over her shoulder, walking into her building.

You let out a soft sigh, shifting the car into drive and relaxing into your seat as you began the route to Taron’s.

“So, how’s Colin?” He asks, fiddling with his own fingers. You glance over at him before clearing your throat.

“H-he’s good, I guess.” You shrug. You’re unusually nervous around him after the fitting, and he feels it too. He’s much less playful; the atmosphere in the car is nearly stifling.

“You guess?” He asks, twisting to face you in his seat.

“I haven’t really talked to him today.” You admit.

“What’s the deal with him, anyway? Like, this handsome, charming, doctor man? I’d like to know how this came to be.” He says honestly. He’s watching you intently, waiting for you to crack. You fear you might do just that.

You blow a raspberry jokingly, causing him to chuckle. You glance at him again, watching you and waiting for the story, so you shrug. “I’ve known Colin for my whole life. My dad is best friends with his parents. I guess Colin was my what if.”

“Your ‘what if?’” He asks curiously, cocking his head to the side.

“Yeah. You know, that one person you know you’d never be with, but you can’t get over them, so you just think about them all the time and think of all these scenarios even though you know there’s no chance.” You ramble. You look to him for confirmation. He doesn’t say anything but the look on his face is enough to tell you he understands.

“If you never thought you’d be with him and now you are, why are you going days without speaking to him?”

The question catches you off guard and you narrow your eyes. “I guess it’s just not what I thought it would be.” It’s the first time you’ve said it, and you can’t believe it was to Taron, of all people. “I mean, I’ve created this version of him in my head but it isn’t like him at all. That’s not to say he isn’t wonderful, but it’s not what I thought it would be.”

There’s a pregnant pause as you park in front of his building. You look over at him, gazing as he stares out the windshield.

“I don’t know if I can marry Joelle.” He says softly. You gape at him, reaching across to grasp his arm.

“Taron, what are you talking about?”

“I--” He takes a deep breath, groaning at the exhale. “I wouldn’t feel good about marrying a woman when I have feelings for someone else.”

He looks at you pointedly, staring into your wide eyes. You let go of his arm, turning back to face forward in your seat. It’s what your subconscious has dreamt of hearing. You’ve wanted the confirmation, wanted to know he’s jealous of Colin, wanted to know he wanted you. But you can’t accept it; you know it’s wrong, no matter how much it pains you to talk him out of it.

“You have to marry Joelle.”

“Why? Because we already reserved the venue?” He scoffs. “I love Joelle, but I have never felt like this about her.”

You turn toward him once again. “I hope you know I adore you. But I respect Joelle far too much for anything like this to happen. If I have to keep my distance, I will, but you have to go through with this. You and Joelle were meant to be.” The words sound like a lie coming out of your mouth, but he nods anyway.

“If that’s how you feel.” He says quietly. He opens his door and gets out, facing you one last time. “Have a good evening.”

Before you can answer, the door is closed, he’s walking up his steps, and your phone is ringing. You take a deep breath before answering with a fake smile. “Hey, Col. I can’t talk long, I’ve got to call Joelle in a little bit.”

Things were back cold with Taron and you, avoiding contact with one another at any given opportunity. Izzy had to become a human buffer between the two of you, much to her chagrin. With Joelle back in town tonight, you were praying for things to return to normal, or as close as you could get to it. Your phone call with Colin can’t be over soon enough. You’re feeling guilty and more conflicted than ever about your relationship; it’s the same reason you’re dreading the call with Joelle, but you’d rather get it over with than deal with her questions tomorrow.

You’re settling onto the couch with a glass of wine and a blanket when you call, ready to get it over with so you can laze and watch a movie. She picks up immediately, a sniffle audible over the line.

“Jo?”

“Hey, (Y/N),” she says, her voice thin.

“Jo, are you okay?” You ask, sitting up straighter. You hear another sniffle and your face wrinkles in concern. Your mind can’t help but turn to Taron. Had he broken up with her? Was she even home yet?

“Um, I don’t know.” She whispers honestly.

“What’s wrong? Do you want to come over?”

She laughs despite herself, shaking her head. “No, it’s fine. But I’m glad you called.”

“What’s up?”

“I’m on my way home, and I realized I don’t want to go.” She says softly. “I mean, I had to pull over. I literally cannot go back, (Y/N).” She breathes. For the first time, you notice her car running softly in the background.

It’s unlike you to pry, but she said she needed to talk to someone, so you ask, “Why?” What else could you ask?

She takes a deep breath. There’s hesitation, but she starts. “I was dreading being away from Taron this week. Seriously, I was sick over it. And then I was away, and...I don’t know how to explain it. It was so relaxing. Can you believe that? My business trip was relaxing. I love Taron, but being alone was--” She collects herself. “I kept calling because I thought if I spoke to him, I would miss him again, but I didn’t.”

Your heart soars for a moment before you frown. “Jo…”

“I know. I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to hurt him, but I don’t know if I can do this.” She groans.

You lean back into the couch in silence. What are you meant to say? Break up with him? You couldn’t. Not if you tried. “Jo, are you sure you aren’t just getting cold feet?” You suggest,

“I don’t think so.”

“You two are made for each other.” This is as close as you get to begging, your voice a little softer as you try to reason with her.

She doesn’t say anything for a few moments and momentarily, you wonder if she’s hung up on you. You’re about to check when she says, “Have you noticed the way he watches you?”

You feel like you’ve been kicked in the chest. You had sworn whatever had happened between you and Taron before tonight had been buried and that the two of you were acting normally. “What?”

“I don’t know,” she sighs. “It’s like he’s watching over you. Like if anything came within ten feet of you, he’d lose it. He’s never looked at me that way.” She says softly.

“Maybe he’s just really passionate about the binder.” You attempt to lighten to air, successful for a moment.

She chuckles. “Maybe I am just getting cold feet.”

You breathe a silent sigh of relief. “Are you going to go home?”

“Yes.” She affirms. “Thank you.”

Instead of accepting her thanks, you say, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

She hangs up and you lean back into your couch. A heavy sigh falls from your lips and you dial Izzy’s number.

“Hey, (Y/N/N).”

“Hey, Iz. You busy?”

“I’m already out of the door.”

“Thank god.” You breathe.

“What’s up?” You hear her keys jingle and her front door shut behind her.

“You’ll never believe this.”

Just over a week. It was just over a week until the most important wedding of your life, and you couldn’t have been more relieved.

Today was a rare day off, full of sleeping in and watching television with Colin. Izzy was meeting with Joelle and Taron this morning for some final touches, locking in details before giving them the rest of the week off. Izzy agreed that you needed the week off as well, nearly forcing you to take the following days off.

Lying in bed, you couldn’t have been more grateful to her. The TV is already on and you can hear Colin fumbling around in the kitchen, murmuring to himself. You smile softly, swinging your legs over the side of your bed and stretching with a heavy groan. Colin had been quick to find your spare key and wasn’t shy about using it; when you woke up to breakfast, you couldn’t find it in yourself to care.

You pad to the kitchen, grinning as you hear him singing under his breath. Briefly, you wonder if Taron sings when he cooks breakfast, or if he ever cooks, but just the thought of him makes you anxious, so you shake him out of your head and enter the kitchen, catching Colin’s attention.

“Ah, you are just in time.” He praises, pulling two plates down from your cupboards.

“Am I?”

“Very much so, dear.” He dishes your plate, handing it to you with a grin. You set it on the table, grabbing glasses and filling them.

“I wanted to talk to you.” He confesses, sitting across from you at the table.

“Oh really?” You ask, beginning to eat. You watch him with a soft smile until you notice how serious he’s become. Your brow furrows and you lean toward him, setting your fork down. “Colin?”

“You know how much I care for you, right?” He asks, reaching to grip your hand softly.

“Of course. What’s going on?”

“I think we should end this,” He admits, catching you off guard.

“I’m--Colin, I don’t--” You take a deep breath, shaking your head. “Did I do something?”

He smiles sadly, shaking his head. “No, of course not.”

“Then where is this coming from?” You ask, slightly disgruntled.

“You don’t love me, (Y/N),” He says softly. He exits his chair to squat in front of you, your fingers still entwined.

“No, I do! Colin, I do.” You try to convince him, getting down to his eye level.

How could this possibly happen? You swore things with Colin were going perfectly. You thought you loved one another. You thought it was getting serious.

“Maybe you do, but you couldn’t love me like you do Taron.”

You’re taken aback by his words. First Joelle, and now Colin? Admittedly, you and Taron had gotten close and you spoke about, maybe in excess, but you were sure it seemed friendly. But as you stare into Colin’s melancholy eyes, you almost feel sick.

“I don’t love him.” You lie, shaking your head heavily.

“You do. And that’s fine; I think we both knew this was too good to be true.” He says softly, dropping your hand to cup your face, his thumb rubbing lightly under your eye.

Behind your eyes, stings and your throat feels dry as a tear falls from your eye to his thumb. “I’m sorry, Colin.”

“It’s okay, (Y/N/N).”

Your eyes close, reveling in his touch. After all, you knew this would be the last time.

“We’re not getting married.”

The words make Izzy choke on her tea, groaning when she feels it shoot up her nose.

“I’m sorry, what?” She inquires, staring across the table at the pair. She feels like a child with separated parents, but they could still pass as a couple when they look at one another with knowing smiles.

“Izzy, you and (Y/N) have been so amazing throughout this process and I genuinely consider you my good friends,” Joelle assures.

“But,” Taron’s voice cuts in and captures Izzy’s attention, “we want different things. This is very mutual, and we still love one another, but getting married is not the right move for us.”

“You guys are still getting paid, so don’t worry--”

“I’m not worried about the payment! I’m worried about you.” Izzy exclaims, looking into Joelle’s concerned eyes. “I mean, you guys seemed so happy. Where did this come from?”

Again, a knowing look is shared between the two across from her. Joelle’s smooth, small hand reaches across the table to grip Izzy’s with a soft smile akin to a mother’s.

“It’s been a long time since I was alone. I forgot how good I am at it, how much I like it. As for Taron…” she trails off, her left eye dropping into a wink. Izzy’s eyes narrow as she looks at the man, who gives her a bashful smile, his hands releasing one another and thrown up as if to say, ‘what can I tell you?’ “I think they’re much more suited for another than he and I ever have been.” She admits.

Izzy’s head is spinning, unable to wrap her mind around the information being thrown at her.

“She told you?” Izzy asks softly. “(Y/N) told you?”

“Told me what?” He inquires, the wrinkles between his brows appearing.

“That she’s in love with you.”

“She’s in love with me?” He gapes. Izzy’s mouth forms an O, a hand coming up to cover it.

“I told you!” Joelle squeals excitedly, punching Taron’s arm.

“She didn’t tell you?” Izzy groans, her hands on her cheeks.

Taron stands, a confident smile tugging at his lips. “Ladies, if you’ll excuse me.” He shrugs on his jacket. He looks at Joelle with a nostalgic smile before squeezing Izzy’s shoulder and rushing through the doors.

There’s only a beat of silence before Izzy turns to Joelle and offers, “This must be terribly uncomfortable for you.”

Joelle only shakes her head, a wistful smile on her lips as she stares at the doors.

The knock on your front door is the first thing to get you off your couch. You can barely move. First Colin, then Joelle? This was meant to be a relaxing day off. Instead, you feel as though your world may be collapsing. Despite Jo’s assurances that she couldn’t have been less upset, that she still loves you, you feel sick.

You swing the door open to reveal your best friend. “Did you hear?” She asks in lieu of a greeting.

“I just got off the phone with her.”

“Holy shit!” She exclaims, pushing past you to get into your apartment. “Hey, where’s Colin?”

You wince softly, shrugging. “We broke up.”

Izzy gapes at you. “Why?”

“Because he thinks I’m in love with Taron.” You groan, dropping onto the couch yet again.

“You are.” She reminds you, earning a glare from you. She sits beside you, rubbing your back comfortingly. “You know what will make you feel better?”

“Dying?” You ask facetiously, the eye roll from Izzy glaringly obvious.

“The park is playing About Time tonight.”

Despite yourself, you can’t help but gasp. “Really?”

“You wanna go?”

The park is less than crowded tonight, which means the two of you get a great spot, the thick blanket laid over the grass less than five rows from the front. It’s a much-needed distraction from the hot mess that is your life at the moment.

“Are you going to call Taron?” Izzy asks, the two of you ignoring the previews.

You sigh softly, picking at the grass near your hand. “I don’t know. I’m afraid it’s too soon.” You admit, turning to face her.

“Are you kidding? This dude canceled his wedding for you, I don’t think it’s soon enough.”

You groan, your head falling back. “Don’t remind me. I mean, I guess--”

“(Y/N!)”

The Welsh accent calls through the park, echoing over the heads of the patrons. Izzy’s head snaps toward you, a grin spreading over her face. “I don’t think he thinks it’s too soon.”

You spin around, but can’t see him. The sky is dark, making it difficult to see anything behind you. You’re straining your eyes to find him as he continues to call your name until Izzy slaps your calf. You look down at her, twisting when she gestures toward the screen.

There he stands, smack in the middle of the screen. Taron’s voice is still reverberating around the field and you can’t help but laugh when those around you begin to call your name. “Go over there, dude!” Izzy cries, reaching to push you toward him.

You take a hesitant step, enough movement to catch his attention. He doesn’t say anything, just watching as you speed to get to him. Within seconds, you’re standing before him. The two of you stand in front of one another for only a moment before your arms are thrown around his neck, his wrapped tightly around your waist. “Did Joelle tell you?” He asks, and you can only nod against him. “I don’t even care about Colin, (Y/N). Marry him, for all I care. But I want you to know I love you.”

“Colin and I are done. Because I’m in love with you.”

A face-splitting grin overtakes him and he pulls you closer, leaning down until your lips are connected. You lean into his body, the passion behind the kiss causing you to wobble. His lips work against yours, a hand raising from your waist to your face, caressing your skin gently. He pulls away, resting his forehead against yours with a sigh of relief. You grin, pressing another kiss to his lips.

“Maybe you aren’t so cynical after all.”

[oodlyenough]

aight... here’s a pretty long yet tip-of-the-iceberg collection on my overall thoughts on bl3 now that i’ve finished the damn thing, every main mission & every sidequest (dynasty dash don’t interact). 

obviously mega spoilers

the good

aside from that one infuriating difficulty spike when i arrived on promethea, i had a lot of fun playing. i found the gameplay a lot smoother than the others in the series (as it should be), i liked being able to climb stuff, i liked having an easy mode tbh!!

i really liked playing amara and i like the flexibility of action skills and being able to swap on the go without having to respec. the brawl tree ended up being very well suited to my type of play, it hindered me only during boss fights and even then at least i could switch to phasecast y’know

i had a lot of big fears about what this game would do and it managed to not do anything that makes me want to, like, burn and salt the earth, so that’s a win

i thought it was pretty funny! or at least on par with the other main games, which always kind of ride the line between funny and obnoxious and sometimes misstep

i enjoyed a lot of the cast, both new characters and characters who were returning but who i had no particular feelings about before, hammerlock, zer0 and ellie as particular examples

hammerlock and wainwright were cute af and it’s nice to see a gay couple in a triple-a game 

thought the twins were fun and funny af i liked them. because fandom is Like That i was a little exhausted by troy before he even showed up but even then, like, idk i liked them as a duo and i liked the break from jack honestly 

a lot of the new gun quirks were fun. i’m not like a big... gun person... but i found some cool ones i enjoyed playing with. 

loved getting to see different planets, it was a nice break from pandora all the time. and skywell was super fun! love the low-grav playfulness from TPS without the infuriating oz kit nonsense

the little quality of life improvements from previous games were great, like fast travel from anywhere, auto-refilling ammo, etc

some of the side quests were really fun. i liked the ratch quest for rhys, the birthday party quest for mordecai, the claptrap dancing quest was sweet, the buff movie buff quest was fun, the quest where i killed grandpappy 2 seconds in and got a reward was funny as hell esp because i drove off a cliff by accident, etc

lots of people had really bad glitches and stuff but... honestly can’t relate the game ran very well for me. advantages to not marathoning it before they’ve released their first couple patches, i guess, lol 

the less good

i played a solo amara and there are some bosses that seem like they would’ve been pure hell to do alone... i was lucky and able to phone a friend for a lifeline in those scenarios (shoutout to @heavybreathingcatt and @valoscope) but if i couldn’t do that idk i would’ve just broken my controller in rage i guess lmao 

why is resurrecting each other so hard? i don’t think i’ve ever done it successfully, because it takes too long and more importantly bc while i’m doing it some enemy will just toss a grenade or punch me and i get knocked away from the ally, rendering it useless

rest in peace maya, the best res AI in the whole damn game, got me through the rampager fight her damn self

there were a lot of characters and themes and ideas that i liked in theory more than in practice... because in practice they felt like a first draft. very often i felt like i liked a thing, and then on reflection thought about nine hundred ways it could’ve been better, deeper, more emotionally resonant, more developed, whatever. 

the angel stuff was kinda nice but... also... my longest deepest sigh ever @ Poor Sad Jack Some People Terrorize Entire Planets And Abuse Their Daughters To Cope With Their Fridged Wife

like the siren lore... wish i coulda heard it without having to backtrack across every map post-game

while i found the game generally pretty funny,  almost all the emotional scenes fell completely flat for me and there were a number of scenes that SHOULD have been emotional that just were not 

for eg i am actually not upset about maya or lilith dying (or turning into the moon as it were) -- i am ok with those beats for those characters, especially lilith getting a heroic sendoff. however... both of those scenes could’ve been more impactful than they were. maya’s i think was better than lilith’s, but both of them felt flatter, either in the moment or in the aftermath, than those characters deserved. 

related: NPCs reacting to major events is fun. i liked to do the tour and check in with all my buds to get their couple custom lines after a big plot thing happened. HOWEVER... those lines are obviously timed which is *mostly* fine but in some cases really, really weird? the lines about maya should stay in rotation for a lot longer. ava shouldn’t go back to LOL LET’S STEAL two seconds after maya’s gone. i missed zer0′s maya lines entirely bc i didn’t track down zer0 on time lol. stuff like that 

the bad

i miss my girls :( we really did keep only the white men huh

the last act felt severely underbaked. i have to wonder how many rewrites this game went through, and how much the back end was slapped together last minute, or cobbled together from various drafts. a lot of this felt very first or second draft, where the characters and themes are *there* but not refined at all, or they contradict each other. the family theme that goes basically nowhere and says nothing. the way the story handles atlas vs the way the story handles jakobs vs the way the story handles corporations writ large. 

for the twins -- lack of proper emotional resonance or development for them is one of the biggest failures imo, because i think they WERE very enjoyable villains and the core concept of like... evil video game streamers is honestly on-brand and funny af for the franchise... but as soon as troy died everything went downhill? tyreen’s non-reaction to her brother dying isn’t even a reaction, it’s not even “tyreen doesn’t care she’s evil lol” which would’ve been a boring direction to take anyway) it’s just.... “we barely wrote a response don’t worry about it”. her endgame is to be a big monster because... she’s ... fame hungry? huh? her motivation fell apart.w whether they went with “troy and tyreen are shitty people who get caught up in a power struggle but ultimately love each other” OR “troy and tyreen are shitty people who turn against each other in individual bids for power” could both have been interesting stories but they did neither. 

i’m def missing some echos on the twins which brings me to another thing i hate although it’s endemic to the series and not to bl3 specifically -- hiding important lore and characterization in random echos in random places on the map without even an indication of how many there are total, how many you’ve collected, where to find them... frustrating as hell. a lot of those echos are some of my favourite material in the game! at LEAST tell me “1 of 5 echos on this map” if you don’t wanna tell me where they are! why is major lore like the twins’ backstories hidden?????? 

and bc i haven’t heard them i don’t know if it’s fandom doing what fandom always does, or if it really is the game implying tyreen is The Evil Mastermind and troy is poor manipulated brother, but either way fuck that entire noise lmao of course the women of colour in the series are just Born Evil but jack and troy and whoever else are just Sad :( fuck off actually 

typhon... sucks... what an irritating character. irritating to retcon him in as The First Vault Hunter, irritating to have him talk about shit and sex all the time, irritating to have every established NPC be like oh wow my HERO typhon deleon what a HERO i LOVE him, irritating that we skate over his parenting failures, irritating that he has a fridged beloved wife, ESPECIALLY irritating he gets a memorial sidequest and maya didn’t . just. bad.

aurelia is evil now cause reasons... bad... 

vaughn also bad lmao i can’t believe they made amara yell “blood feud”... disgusting... 

the playable had no role in the story. they’re just a fly on the wall in every cut scene. this is whack in general, and a crit i can apply to all of the main borderlands games, however it is extremely jarring to play amara in a siren-heavy game and have no one acknowledge it. 

OVERALL... I guess like a B-? Maybe a B. I had fun playing it and I’m still having fun running around in Mayhem Mode and I am def looking forward to the DLCs. Gameplay is great. But while I had hoped this installment would take the storytelling of the main games a step further, it actually felt like a step back in virtually every respect. 

[jae-bummer]

Time in the Sun

Request: Can you do a Xiumin fic where you get sick/in an accident so he takes a hiatus to take care of you and considers leaving the group bc he enjoys temporarily living a normal life with you? It can be angst or fluff and how it ends up to you :)

Pairing: EXO’s Xiumin x Reader (ft. Jongdae)

Genre: Angst/Fluff

“I can do it,” you hissed between labored breaths. Attempting to ease yourself into the wheelchair seemed like an easy challenge until you actually began doing it. 

“I know you can,” Minseok chuckled. “I’m just helping.” 

“But I don’t need-” you groaned, losing your balance. Gripping onto his shoulder, you pushed your weight onto him. He staggered a bit before recovering, holding you in his strong arms, and easing you toward your new mode of transport. 

“What don’t you need?” he hummed with a small smile. Tilting his head as he looked upon you fondly, he placed his hand atop of yours. “Certainly you weren’t going to say Minseok?”

“Of course I wasn’t,” you grumbled. “His help on the other hand...” 

“Oh, you’ll be needing his help,” the nurse clucked from behind him. Swiveling his shoulders, he moved so you could see the sudden appearance of the medical worker. “You’ll be needing all of the help you can get.” 

“I’ll be able to manage just fine,” you huffed. “He has work.” 

“And he can take off work,” Minseok hummed, patting you lightly on the shoulder. “You broke both of your legs, Y/N.” 

“And some toes,” the nurse sighed as she glanced over your paperwork. “What were you doing anyway?” 

“It involved being invited to a roller rink for a birthday party,” MInseok muttered. “Chaos ensued.” 

“I quickly discovered that “Crack the Whip” is a game for those much younger than I,” you grumbled. 

“Serves you right then,” the nurse clucked. “You should know better.” 

“I’ll show you what you should know better,” you grumbled beneath your breath, causing Minseok to turn a wary eye in your direction. 

“Here are care instructions,” the nurse sighed, seemingly not hearing your comment. She handed them over to Minseok who nodded attentively. “We’ll need you to see an orthopedist within the next few days to confirm what we’ve seen and come up with a treatment plan. We’ve also included a list of recommended doctors.

Right now we have you in walking boots to keep your bones stable and protected until the actual orthopedist decides if he wants to put you into casts or-”

“Casts?” you croaked. “How can I move around in two casts?” 

“How can you move around now?” Minseok hummed. “That’s why I helped you into the wheelchair.” 

“No way,” you huffed, crossing your arms. “This isn’t going to cut it. How am I expected to be self sufficient if I can’t even walk around?” 

“You’ll be needing a lot of help,” the nurse nodded. “But luckily, it looks like you have a good support system.” 

Minseok nodded in unison, glancing proudly from the nurse and toward you. 

“Oh, do I?” you whined. “He’s a musician. He has schedules and he-” 

“And he can have a break,” Minseok hissed, his expression urging you to quit talking. “Really.” 

Rolling your eyes, you stuck out your lower lip, and crossed your arms. “We’ll see.” 

And you did see. 

Once you had visited the orthopedist, and it was confirmed that you would need a cast on both legs, Minseok had gone into doting, parent mode. It was hard to go anywhere without the man by your side, granted, he was the one pushing your wheelchair most of the time. After four weeks you would hopefully be able to stand on your own two feet again, but you wouldn’t know until the time came. 

And until that time came, Minseok pretty much lived at your apartment. 

“Do you want cheese in your eggs?” Minseok called over his shoulder, running the hand that he wasn’t holding a spatula with through his hair. “I just put on another pot of coffee. It’s a new blend I got from the-”

Your mind had long since trailed from his initial question as you teetered on the bar stool behind him. You glanced along his shoulders, bare around his tank top. The sight was enough to cause you to choke on your orange juice. You were never quite sure how he looked so good even straight from bed. 

Then again, due to recent events, you had never seen him straight from bed before. 

Straight from...your bed. 

Shaking your head, you attempted to toss the inappropriate thoughts away from your mind. You didn’t realize when you broke both of your legs that it would simultaneously be the best and worst thing to have ever happened to you. While you were hardly mobile on your own, you did have the added bonus of Minseok constantly handling things you would normally do. Your relationship had honestly never been stronger, but then again, you had spent more time together now than you ever had. 

“Hello, earth to Y/N,” Minseok laughed, waving the spatula in front of your face. 

“Cheese!” you spluttered. 

“So...was that a scream for or against cheese?” he asked, lifting a brow. 

“For,” you nodded. “Has there ever been a time I’ve been against cheese?” 

“Fair,” he hummed, spinning back around, and continuing to cook. 

You smiled to yourself as you watched him work, his hips swinging to music only he could hear. Chewing on your lip, you felt a pang of bitterness sweep through your heart. 

He had to have missed dancing. 

Clearing your throat, your mouth attempted to form the question smoothly. “So...have you heard from the guys lately?” 

“Who?” he asked, continuing to casually move his butt to the imaginary music. 

“The guys,” you chirped. “You know...Junmyeon...Baek...Jongdae...any of them?” 

“Oh right,” he hummed, his body finally slowing. He glanced over his shoulder again. “Uh...not really. They know I’ve been busy.” 

“But I’m sure they have been too,” you prompted. “I know you guys were working on the next comeback. I’m sorry my injuries have gotten in the way of-” 

“Hey,” he smiled sadly, spinning with the frying pan in hand. He slowly began to spoon eggs onto your plate. “You can’t control your relationship with gravity. Well...I mean you kind of can, but it wasn’t in the cards that day. You didn’t want two broken legs.”

“And you didn’t expect to have to take care of me,” you teased. 

“I will always take care of you,” he cooed, shuffling to your side of the bar. He placed a soft kiss on your hairline before pulling away. “But for now, I have to take care of myself. I need a shower.” 

“Yes, please take care of your stench,” you grinned. 

“You love my stench,” he smirked. 

“Right, stale coffee smell is my turn on,” you laughed. 

“I can’t help that I sweat mocha,” he muttered, heading down the hall. 

“Actually, I think that is exactly a thing that you can help.” 

Without comment, he shut the bathroom door. You grinned to yourself as you began to spoon the freshly scrambled eggs into your mouth. 

“Mmm,” you hummed happily, just as his phone began to ring. 

“Minseok!” you called, picking up the phone and glancing at the screen. Jongdae’s smiling face filled up the glass. “Minseok!” 

Letting out a deep breath, you accepted the call, slowly waiting for it to connect. 

“Y/N!” Jongdae exclaimed as his actual face mimicked the photo you had just seen. “How are you feeling?” 

“Hey!” you grinned, attempting to swallow all of the food that was left in your mouth. “As good as I can feel I guess! What’s up?” 

“Well, you aren’t Minseok,” he laughed, tilting his head. “Is he still at your place?” 

“Yeah, he’s actually in the bathroom right now,” you hummed, eying the hallway cautiously. “I tried to call for him, but I think his hearing is a bit shot from all of the performing you all do.” 

“And keep trying to do,” Jongdae chuckled. “If he’d show up to practice.” 

“What?” you asked, narrowing your eyes. 

“Practice started about  twenty minutes ago,” he sighed. “Minseok said he would make it, but we haven’t heard anything. He’s been ignoring most of our texts. The last time he had talked to Junmyeon he had mentioned not participating in this comeback.” 

“I’m sorry, but am I hearing you correctly?” you whispered. “Minseok...sitting out of a comeback?” 

“Yeah, so you agree it sounds strange?” Jongdae hummed. 

“It doesn’t sound like him at all,” you muttered. “He’s usually willing to do anything for you guys.” 

“But he’s also willing to do anything for you,” Jongdae smiled sadly. “And unfortunately for us these days, I think one may be a little bit more important to him than another.” 

“Oh,” you croaked. “Do...do you think Minseok has been neglecting EXO because of...me?” 

“I didn’t say it,” Jongdae chuckled. “I just know that he loves you a lot, Y/N...and no one said an idol’s path was easy.” 

“I’ll try talking to him,” you said quietly with a somber nod. “Thanks for calling, Jongdae.” 

“It was good to see your face,” he smiled. “Bye!” 

You hung up the call and slowly set Minseok’s phone on the countertop. You reached forward, taking a deep drink from your juice, and swallowed hard. Why did Minseok lie to you? He hadn’t heard much from the guys? More like the guys hadn’t heard much from him. You knew that he would do anything you asked him to, but you had never quite asked him to take care of you. You had hoped he didn’t feel as if he was obligated to be there just because you were dating. You could manage just fine without him. Surely he knew that. 

After a few more moments of waiting in anxiety, Minseok finally emerged form the restroom, scrubbing a towel through his hair. 

“Did the coffee finish brewing?” he asked, shuffling toward the pot. 

“Jongdae called,” you spat, unable to keep the words from flying out of your lips. “Um...I mean, yeah.” 

Minseok turned to you, eyes wide. “Uh...?”

“Yes, the coffee has finished,” you said calmly. “Also Jongdae called.” 

“You or me?” Minseok asked absently reaching to his phone. 

“You,” you nodded. “I tried to call you, but I don’t think you could hear me over the water.” 

“Did you answer?” he asked, lifting his brows. 

“I...I thought it could have been important,” you said quietly, looking to your hands in your lap. You hadn’t realized that it would reflect poorly on you for answering his calls. 

“And was it?” he questioned. 

“Well, I mean, kind of,” you continued, choosing your words carefully. “He said they had expected you at practice and-” 

“Oh, that’s all it was about?” he asked, a nervous grin taking over his face. He wandered over to the coffee pot and began to pour himself a cup. “Would you like a cup?” 

“No thank you,” you muttered.��“But...um...Minseok? I don’t think you should be missing practices on my account...and...and he had mentioned you not wanting to participate in the comeback?” 

Minseok set his cup down, his jaw tightening with your sentence. “Did he?” 

“Yeah,” you whispered. “He...he thinks it may be because you’re caring for me-” 

“That punk,” Minseok said through clenched teeth. Your eyes grew wide at the tone, unfamiliar coming from Minseok in general, but especially in reference to Jongdae. “I’ll punch him in the eye.” 

“Minseok,” you said slowly. “What is going on with you? If I’m the reason you’re skipping out on things, please, I can take care of myself just fine while you’re gone. If you need to focus on work-”

“I need to focus on you,” he said, his tone close to a whine. “You’re my priority.” 

“And what about your career?” you asked, your heart breaking. You knew Minseok loved performing. You didn’t want to stand in the way of that. 

“I’ve paid so much attention to my career,” he said quietly. “I’ve waited so long to be an idol...and I think it’s time that the idol life waited for me.” 

“What about your fans? They’ve waited so long to see you.” 

“If they’re truly my fan, they would understand,” he nodded. “You need me.” 

“Minseok,” you said quietly. “They need you too.”

Letting out a groan, he leaned forward onto the counter, and dropped his face into his hands. “I just...I just want something normal, Y/N.” 

“I’m...I’m sorry?” you asked.

“A normal life,” he croaked. “Being here with you the last few weeks...taking care of you...going places with you. It’s been so normal and I didn’t realize it was something i had craved so badly until now.”

“But there’s time for normal,” you sighed. “And there’s time for work. You’re going to be going to the army soon and-”

“Do you not want to see me as much as possible before that happens?” he asked, his expression one of desperation. 

“Of course I do,” you cooed, placing your palm on his cheek. “But I’ve also learned through this relationship that I can’t be selfish. Maybe the fans can wait, but you shouldn’t make your members wait...your brothers, Minseok. They are your family. Not participating in the comeback is letting them down...and honestly, it’s also letting me down.” 

“It’s...It’s what?” he whimpered. 

“No matter what you say,” you began. “I will think that if you don’t participate, it is because of me. When fans are upset, and when EXO members are upset, it’s on my account. I don’t want to be the reason for hurt feelings...”

“But...” he began, furrowing his brows. “How will you get around?” 

“Very carefully,” you grinned. “And whenever you aren’t practicing, you come here. You come live a normal life with me and spoil me as much as you want.”

“But when do things get to stay normal?” he asked, smiling sadly. “When do I get that?” 

“When work is done,” you cooed, smiling back at him. “Remember that passion that made you want to become an idol. You’re still young, MInseok. It’s time to live your dream. I’ll be here to support you and be as normal as possible when you get back.” 

“You’re never normal,” he grinned. 

“And never planned to be,” you chuckled. “That’s why the whole argument of a normal life was a bit shocking for me.” 

“Hey, you know what I meant,” he laughed. “Non idol living.” 

“I know,” you nodded. “But you’ll have that soon enough. Enjoy your time in the sun. You can enjoy your time in the shadows just as well once it’s all over.” 

Crossing the kitchen, he maneuvered himself to stand behind you, and wrapped his arms around your waist. He nuzzled his face in your shoulder and took a deep breath in. “How am I so lucky?” 

“I could ask the same thing,” you hummed, reaching up and running your hands through his damp hair. “But you better get going. I think you’re late for practice.”  

[veedramon-beanie]

Ignore the empty shelf at the bottom left and the (long since disassembled and now partial) Digimon collection on the top right shelf, but here’s the result of my late night sorting yesterday!  It’s so cool to see all my Pokemon plush set up together like this, aaa....!  I’ll go through them shelf by shelf so you guys can get a better look at everything!  I’m not gonna bother naming everything, though, like I normally do with my Digimon - because that’s too much work!  I’ll mention notable things, though.  Also assume most of my non-jakks pacific plush are bootlegs lmao, I know some that probably aren’t (bought on ebay, purposefully avoided bootlegs bc the officials/a certain style of official looked nicer, or bought off of a probably reputable site) and some that 100% aren’t (bought from the store, ie english-released Tomys and Pokedolls I bought straight from a Pokemon Center in Washington)

First shelf!  Just a shelf for special plush, or more accurately, plush I didn’t have room for anywhere else by the time I remembered to put them in.  Mimikyu is probably real since I was avoiding the bootlegs (so many cheap bootlegs...!  They looked soft, but I just loved the accessories on the official one too much to go with a bootleg...because the bootleg’s look so poorly made in comparison) and the Substitute plushie is.  Well.  I honestly don’t know.  I’ll be putting all my future plush up here too even if they have a place to go because haha, whoops, those shelves are p a c k e d in case you can’t tell.

Second shelf!  Here I have my normal types and electric types.  Fun fact: that Jakks Pacific Pikachu is my first ever Pokemon plush ever!  Cliche, I know.  But I picked him out from the only other option (bonsly) and he was the only non-bonsly plush in the store.  Also I like Pikachu, he’s cute.

Water type and Ice type shelf!  Aka best starter type shelf, even if my preferences vary over the generations.  That Keldeo secret sword form (at least I think it’s that form?) was bought from an irl Pokemon Center!  I go there every time we go on vacation to Washington (my dad has work up there every so often and we used to have family up there, but we haven’t gone for a few years...)  I wish I got that Amaura, Greninja, and Popplio from the Pokemon Center, tho, haha.  Also fun fact - the glaceon behind the popplio is probably a bootleg (it came with the same kind of tag as the vaporeon) but I actually bought it from a real store.  I felt like it had to be real if a real store was selling it for $10 and it had an alarm on it and everything, right?  I feel jipped.  Give me back my money, Universal Studios, I bought it in that Hollywood walk or w/e the fuck near your park.  Nah I’m kidding; I like getting plushies as souvenirs from places when I go on trips, and it was cool to get a Pokemon one!

Fire, fighting, rock, and ground type shelf!  That Tyrunt was also bought from the same Pokemon center (at a later date, though).  Also, that Jakks Pacific monferno in the back is the second ever Pokemon plush I bought!

Sorry for the light change on the next two, but:

Grass types and (er, some) dragon and flying types~!  The black thing in the back is a mega shiny rayquaza, but he’s actually way more massive than he appears in the picture!  Also, the smaller snivy is something I got from the Pokemon Center as well!  I actually didn’t mean to buy it, but I got it for free with one (that’s in the next picture - meloetta) and hey, I can’t complain if the machine gives me a free Pokemon!  The bigger snivy I got wayyy back when Black and White hadn’t released over here in the US yet (ah, the dark days when you had to wait for english translations of Pokemon games...) and I actually recently found his long-since-detached tag that I for some reason kept...cool!  (God I want the shiny version of this plush soooo badly though, shiny snivy was the first legit/non-event/ect shiny I ever got in the games and not to mention I have an emotional attachment to that specific plush anyways...totally a holy grail of mine!  Maybe some day I can get it....[unlikely, lmao, especially since I have cheaper holy grails I want like the porygon2 pokedoll and any Digimon beanie ever- but I can still dream...])

And the last shelf - my dark, ghost, psychic, fairy, and dragon types that I accidentally forgot to account for when doing the other shelves and then was like “well, shit” so I had to stick them here!  Yes I know tyrunt is on another shelf and noibat and noivern are flying/dragon and 100% should be on other shelves but by the time I remembered to put them + the shiny tyrantrum anywhere, I didn’t have enough room...all three of the plush are pretty big (especially noivern and tyrantrum tho) and as you can see, the flying Pokemon (and dragon too, but it’s harder to tell) and Tyrunt are some of the closest to the front and thus some of the last ones to be put on the shelf - and given that the bigger ones need to go to the back, I didn’t have a lot of options here.  PS - there’s a shadow lugia (99% likely to be a bootleg) pokedoll between umbreon and togekiss/next to the bigger shadow lugia and the purloin/absol and a Jakks Pacific lugia (100% legit, bought it from target at the same time I bought pichu a few pictures back) behind the meloetta (also 100% legit, got from the Pokemon center with the snivy) and the shiny Tyrantrum (100% fake, but it’s fuckin fantastically well-made)

Tbh though, I’d really recommend those bigger bootlegs, esp for Pokemon that are near impossible if not 100% impossible (like shiny mons that dont have actual shiny plush, or legitimately un-plushified mons) to get your hands on.  They have Digimon ones too (one of which I own - a Dracomon!) that are equally as varied and that’s pretty fantastic considering how selective Digimon is with its merchandise compared to Pokemon.  I know bootlegs are bad but they’re soooo nice, plus you can’t claim they’re stealing nintendo’s profits when nintendo (or bandai) hasn’t even made plush of those characters yet and likely has no plans to...so especially if you’re buying second-hand I’d go for it!  But of course, that’s really a matter of personal preference; you do what you’re most comfortable with ^^ but if you feel lowkey bad but still wanna buy one, just buy ones that don’t have legit counterparts, or something like that.  Or buy legitimate ones alongside the fake ones; that way you have a giant cuddle buddy that isn’t worth much collecting-wise AND a rarer, legit plush that you can put on display!

Anyways feel free to let me know if you would like to see any plushies more closely!  Always happy to do that~

[littledonkeyburrito]

Got my hopes up that the school might actually be on fire

1. Are you going anywhere for this summer? I’ll be going back to Australia in the middle of their summer. That counts, right?

2. Do you put ketchup on top of your French fries or on the side? Neither. Not a huge fan of tomato sauce. I think chips taste just fine on their own

3. Last time you smoked weed? I think it was July. It was my last attempt to see if I could actually enjoy it. I didn’t.

4. What are you currently hearing right now? Tengo un Amor - Genitallica

5. Do you go to the bathroom with the door open or closed? The bathroom door in my apartment doesn’t actually close properly but I still close it as far as it will go even though I live alone.

6. Have you ever kissed someone that was high? Yes

7. What are you looking forward to? Having a salary again. Also seeing my friends for the first time in a year. But I am not looking forward to the price of alcohol in Australia

8. If you were kicked out of your current residence, whom would you call? A hostel.

9. Are there framed pictures from your parents wedding in your house? There are not even framed pictures of my parents’ wedding in their own houses, since they split up 17 years ago

10. Do you ever hang out with someone of the opposite sex? Their sex is irrelevant. I don’t hang out with anyone because I don’t have any friends in this country.

11. Who was the last person you cried in front of? A cinema full of people who were probably also crying

12. Would you rather live in New York City or Washington DC? New York is further from the annoying orange but tbh I’d rather not live anywhere in that country.

13. Have you ever slept on the floor with the person you like? Who is this person I like? Can you introduce me? 14. Last non-alcoholic beverage consumed? Orange juice. I haven’t drunk any alcohol since I accidentally got trashed home alone last week haha 15. What are you wearing? stripey long sleeve shirt, grey hoodie, jeans, socks 16. Is it okay to kiss people when you’re single? Are you implying that some people think it’s only okay to kiss others when you’re not single? I don’t understand.

17. Have you ever met someone who is amazing? No, all my friends are shit. Of course I have met amazing people. 18. Does someone love you? I like to think my mum does 19. Do you want any tattoos? I used to but now I don’t care so much 20. Do you have anything in your pockets right now? Phone.  21. Where did you get the shirt you are wearing? Muji, in Japan 22. When are you going to dye your hair next? Not for a long time. I’m pretty happy with my natural hair colour these days.

23. Are you listening to music right now? Yes, currently playing is Fake My Own Death - Sum 41

24. Have you ever been awake for 48 hours straight? A few times, but not in the last couple of years

25. Something’s wrong: FIRST guy you turn to? Depends what is wrong but probably my dad

26. What kind of booze did you last take shots of? I think it was either white rum or tequila

27. Do you wear sweaters in the Winter or hoodies, more often? Depends on where I’m going. Lately I like my stripey sweater if I’m going out and wear my hoodie at home

28. Has your school ever had a lockdown? If so, for what reason exactly? Okay so when I was in highschool I was in music class in a classroom attached to the gym which is slightly separated from the rest of the school. We were watching lord of the rings bc we were learning about film soundtracks. One girl had gone outside, walked all the way around to the bathrooms at the back of the gym and come back. It was just after she got back that one of the groundskeepers came into our class and was like “what the hell are you guys doing?? You know the whole school is on lockdown, right? Didn’t you hear the alarms? Get under your desks!”  So we were all like “um wtf??” and got under our desks and turned the movie off. We peered out the windows across to the carpark and there was a bunch of cop cars with their lights on. Turns out there was an intruder in the school with a knife and the lockdown alarms had been going off but there was no alarm attached to the gym so we didn’t hear it, especially not over lord of the rings. They installed an alarm there that same week. 

29. Do you enjoy it when your school has drills? No, it was always so boring and got my hopes up that the school might actually be on fire this time.

30. What color were the last pair of headphones/earphones you bought? I have a growing collection of white earphones but I didn’t buy any of them. I keep getting given them on planes and nightbuses.

31. Are you a confident person, or do you keep to yourself usually? These are not mutually exclusive

32. Where was the last place you vacationed to? Did you enjoy this time? I went to Paris a couple of weeks ago. It was okay but would have been better if I had people to hang out with. I’m pretty bad at travelling solo and I struggle to meet people in hostels.

33. Do you like Mexican food? What’s your favorite meal under that genre of food? Genre? lmao

34. Are you afraid of thunderstorms? I love storms and that is one thing I miss from living in the tropics/sub-tropics

35. What is keeping you warm right now? WELL IT SURE AS HELL ISN’T MY PIECE OF SHIT HEATER

36. Would you ever donate blood? If they’d let me, but the countries I’ve lived in lately don’t want it because they think I have mad cow disease.

37. Would you go 2 days without eating for $200? For only $200? Hell no. Add another zero and I might consider it.

38. What are you currently listening to? This question comes up so often but fortunately it’s always a different answer. Now playing is La Mordidita - Ricky Martin

39. When’s the last time someone made you feel like you mattered? I was talking to a friend about when I’ll be back in Aus and he asked for plenty of notice on what date it would be so he could take a couple days off work because he was really excited to see me again. That was a nice thing to hear and I’m pretty sure we’re going to get fucking smashed when we see each other again because we are each other’s party friend. My liver dreads this date but the rest of me is excited to see him again.

40. Would you say your life is on the right track right now? It’s off-roading

41. Do/Did you skip class? On days I had drum lessons I would usually skip an extra half an hour or so. One of the drum teachers I had did not give a flying fuck that I was skipping class and he would actually kinda help me with it. My lesson was supposed to be 30 minutes every week. But I would rock up toward the end of the second break and stay until home bell rang almost 2 hours later. We would just jam or sometimes I’d show up and he’d literally leave to go get lunch while I sat there playing drums instead of going to maths.

42. Do you have long eyelashes? Yes. My lower eyelashes are so long that if I were to wear mascara it would smudge onto my skin when I blink. I learned this when my mum put makeup on me as a trial run before my highschool formal.

43. Does your family make you feel supported? Yes, I have a pretty great family

44. What is the highest outdoor temperature you’ve ever had to endure?  Outdoors? It was 45 Celsius in Varanasi, India AND I was sick at that point which made it even worse. I only went out at dawn and dusk for those couple of days. But I’ve been in slightly higher temperatures in vehicles in India. On one bus my phone was in my bag and it turned itself off because it was too hot.

45. And the lowest?  When I went up the swiss alps as a kid. It was summer but up at the peak my dad says it was negative 20. Tbh that’s probably an exaggeration but it was still pretty damn cold.

46. Can you usually tell when someone has feelings for you?  Oh my god no. I am so oblivious to this. Like that time a guy was hitting on me in a restaurant in central america and it took me more than an hour to realise. People say latino guys are more direct but I still didn’t fucking notice

47. How often do you straighten your hair? I don’t think I ever have

48. What was your FIRST alcoholic drink? I had sips of beer and wine growing up but my first ever full alcohol beverage was a can of pre-mixed JD&coke. Or was it jim beam and coke? Idk. One of them.

49. Do you ever take medication to help you fall asleep? I have sleeping pills and I used to take them sometimes when I did shift work but they ended up making me just as drowsy the next day as if I hadn’t slept so they aren’t really worth it unless I desperately need sleep and only have a certain amount of time before I have to go somewhere.

50. Do you feel more comfortable with a male or female doctor/nurse? Female. For invasive procedures and also a woman is more likely to actually listen if I’m telling them something is wrong.

51. What was the last thing you bought? Groceries 52. What is something you do every summer? Sweat, rack up a decent electricity bill from blasting my AC, sweat some more as soon as I go outside 53. Do you have a job? I’ll be working again in February. And then I’ll be my older brother’s boss. 54. When was the last time you ate pizza? No idea. A long time ago.

55. Do you live near a beach or amusement park? Beach is about 10-15 minutes walk. But I’ve never swam there 56. Have you ever failed a final exam? Yep. I did not enjoy or do well at uni. 57. Who would you be shocked to see call you? A dead person. 58. Do you hate it when people smoke around you? I’d rather they didn’t but I don’t care that much. 59. How old is the computer you’re on? Less than 2 years but it is structurally falling apart. I have to be careful how I pick it up or adjust the screen angle because I could literally just break the whole thing apart. I just need it to last a few more months until I can afford a better one. 60. What is your blood-type? O+ the same as my mum 61. Are you donating your organs? Not currently. I’d prefer to wait until I’m not using them 62. What is one show that is canceled that you wish was still on? The Bitch in Apartment 23

63. Have you made any life altering decisions lately? To go back to Australia, I guess. But it’s more of a necessity than a choice.

64. What is the closest store to you? The cornerstore is next door to my building on the right and a bar is on the left. 65. Do you have any songs currently stuck in your head? Yofo - Molotov 66. Where is the last place you applied for a job?  No idea. I applied to a lot. 67. Which continent would you most like to travel to and why? Aside from going back to Australia, the next place I go will probably be somewhere in Latin America again. There’s so much more to see there. 68. Are there a lot of tourists where you live? So goddamn many. It’s not so bad now that it’s winter but the summer was so hectic.

69. Do you have to use public transport often? Whenever I go somewhere that’s not walking distance. The metro system is really good here. 70. Does your house have an alarm? Why, you gonna try to break in? I’ll save you the effort, I have nothing of value aside from the $30USD on my shelf 71. Have you ever asked someone out on a date? Y'know I actually don’t think I have 72. Whose grave did you last visit? Oscar Wilde’s

73. How far out of your age bracket would you date? Ideally within about 5 years of me but I figure anything less than my parents’ age gap is passable (15 years)

74. Could you go a day without talking to the last person you kissed? I have gone many days without talking to him.

75. Do you like mac n cheese? It’s mediocre.

76. Did you wake up in the middle of the night last night? I woke up at midday but then went back to sleep for another 2 hours.

77. Are you usually wide awake when you wake up? God no. 

78. How long have you known your first phone contact? Since May

79. Which would you rather play: guitar or drums? I can play both but I prefer drums

80. You can never drink tea again or soda. Which do you give up? I don’t drink tea anyway so that’s a pretty easy choice. Besides, I wouldn’t mix rum with tea.

81. Do you live in the past? What time travelling secret do you have that I don’t know about?

82. Do you think that black cats actually bring bad luck? the fact that I’d have just seen a cat would already be the result of good luck.

83. When’s the last time you went to a party? Absolutely no idea. A long time ago

84. Do you like Chinese food over pizza? Very much so.

85. If you got married to the last person you kissed would you be happy? Married is a bit much

86. Can you go a month without swearing? I really couldn’t. Swearing is an ingrained part of my vocabulary, thanks to working in the security industry for 3 years.

87. If you had a chance to make $200, only, by stripping for truckers on a corner, would you? Why do you all think $200 is a lot of money?

88. Would you run down the street naked if it meant earning $15,000? That’s more like it. Yes I would certainly consider it at least

89. Do you own a pair of skinny jeans? A couple of pairs. Currently wearing one of them

90. Do you automatically check your phone when you wake up? Yep

91. How many pairs of Converse do you own? Three but one of them are pretty destroyed and should go in the bin.

[not-another-imagine-blog]

Ready for the Olympics (David Pastrnak)

Anonymous said:

Hello love! Do you mind if I can request a David Pastrnak imagine where it's the family skate and reader is super nervous bc she doesn't know how to ice skate and David didn't really know about that bc it's still early in the relationship and he teaches her? Just a bunch of fluff please. Thank you so much! 😊 I also love your writing especially your recent Auston Matthews one about the Ca vs Az

Word count: 1747

Author’s note: Somebody pls kill me this is just too damn fluffy

When you first started school at Harvard, you were shocked. The classes were fine, the people were easy to get along with, but the big city was a whole different experience. You grew up in a tiny town of about 6,000. The biggest city you had ever been to had a population of about 50,000. Needless to say, the first time your friends had taken you to Boston for a night out, you experienced some of the biggest culture shock of your life. You hated everything about big cities.

And then you met David.

David Pastrnak, a tall, shy Czech boy, had immediately become smitten with you when you had braved going into Boston by yourself for the first time. Your friends had all gone home for the weekend and you were feeling homesick so, instead of studying in one of Harvard’s studious libraries, you decided to go find a nice coffee shop in town. After taking the wrong subway once and going the wrong direction twice, you had finally found a Starbucks. It was packed, which was typical of Starbucks on a Saturday morning. You managed to find an empty table and promptly parked your stuff, making sure people knew that this table was occupied.

And then, right as you had opened your laptop and plugged your earbuds in, your designated study music playing gently, a large figure blocked the light. You looked up to see a tall man mouthing something to you. You had pulled your earbuds out only to hear him quietly asking if he could sit with you.

“Of course!” You had responded, clearing off a spot for him.

“Děkuji.” He had said gratefully, sitting in the chair.

“What language is that?” You asked. And from there, the conversation had took off. In the three hours you had first spent with David, homework forgotten, you and he talked more, and more in-depth, than any of your classmates at school.

You had learned that he, too, was new to Boston, coming from the Czech Republic to play hockey for the Boston Bruins. He learned that you were on academic scholarship to one of the top colleges in the nation. He and you both also learned that they really, really liked the new face in front of each other.

He asked for your number, stating that he wanted to take you out for dinner the next day. From there, your relationship had only grown.

It’s been a month since you and David had started dating, and you loved every second of it. You loved filling in a word when he was speaking English and got confused. You loved how he would whisper things to you in Czech. You loved the kind texts, the coffee dates, wearing his jersey to games and even just sitting on the couch next to each other, you doing homework and he watching a hockey game of some sort.

Today he was taking you on a date, but he wanted to keep it a surprise.

“David, why can’t you just tell me?” You ask as you climb into his car.

“I am trying to be romantic, (Y/N).” He huffs. You adore the little accent he always inadvertently puts on your name.

“That’s new.” You joke. He shoots you a glare, although he’s smiling so you know he’s joking.

“You want to walk, yeah?” He asks.

“You wouldn’t be able to leave me! You’d feel too guilty and turn right back around.” You declare triumphantly.

“You are...absolutely correct.” He sighs as you laugh, savoring your slight victory. David starts driving to the ‘secret’ destination. You make light conversation as you gaze out the window, watching for any landmarks or clues as to where you might be going. Suddenly, as the streets start getting more familiar, you suddenly realize what day it is.

“We’re going to the family skate, aren’t we?” You ask suddenly. David lets out a loud groan and throws his head back against the seat.

“You are too damn smart for your own good (Y/N), did you know that?”

“One of the questions at my Harvard interview was asking if I could guess any secret dates my boyfriend would take me on.” You deadpan. He glances at you quickly, seeing the grin on your face.

“Shut up! They did not!” You grab his hand.

“They didn’t...You really want to take me to Family Skate?” You ask.

“Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I want to take you?”

“Well I’m going to slow you down seeing as how I’ve never skated before.”

“What?” You shoot him a curious look.

“Um, yeah? I haven’t told you that before?” David scoffs.

“No, you did not tell me that you’ve never skated before!” You let out a shaky laugh.

“I kind of ruined this date, didn’t I?” He shakes his head.

“You didn’t, don’t worry. Even if I end up having to carry you down the ice, it will still be one of the best dates.” You blush slightly as David turns towards TD Garden.

“It’s not weird that I’m going to be at the skate with you?” You ask nervously.

“Why would it be weird, miláček?” You shrug.

“I don’t know, we’ve only been dating for a month. Aren’t your teammates gonna think it’s weird?”

“(Y/N), I don’t care what my teammates think. You are the only person that matters to me, and I want you at the Family Skate with me. Now,” He opens his door and you do the same. “Let’s teach you how to skate.”

You shakily lace up the white figure skates as David laces his own worn hockey skates. He stands patiently as you tie the last skate, offering you his hands.

“You ready?” He asks. You nod and grab his hands, letting him pull you up. You and David slowly walk towards the ice, David letting you get used to the foreign feeling of ice skates. The Chara family is already on the ice and Tuukka and his family quickly walk past you two, Tuukka ruffling David’s hair.

“Brought the girlfriend with you today, eh David?” Tuukka grins at you. “Nice to finally meet you, (Y/N). David only talks about you all the time.” David goes bright red and lightly shoves Tuukka.

“He’s lying. He’s just trying to look...uh, cool?” You nod, encouraging him. “He’s just trying to look cool around you.” Tuukka sighs.

“‘(Y/N) did this, (Y/N) did that.’”

“‘(Y/N)’s just so great.’” Brad Marchand chimes in.

“‘You’ll never guess what (Y/N) did today.’” Patrice Bergeron mocks. You’re pretty sure you’ve never seen David get as embarrassed as he is now.

“Don’t you have families to skate with?” David asks, moving you towards the ice. The guys all finally go back to their families as David steps onto the ice with ease. “You ready?” He smiles at you encouragingly and grabs your hands.

“You’re not gonna, like, start making me skate right away, are you?” David laughs.

“Of course not! You can take all the time you need, alright?” You nod. “Alright, here we go! Put one foot on,” You tentatively place one foot on the ice. “There you go, you’re doing great miláček! Put your other foot on?” You step on, feeling the slippery ice underneath you. Your ankles are already trying to turn out and you can feel your skates sliding farther apart. David has a tight grasp on your hips, reassuring you that he’s not going anywhere.

“This is so embarrassing, I’m sorry.” You apologize. David lets out a quiet laugh and kisses your forehead.

“Don’t be embarrassed! You’ve never done this before, no one’s going to blame you for not being an Olympian the first try. They’ll expect that on the second try.” You glance at him.

“Don’t be a smart ass.” David grins.

“What’s that saying you Americans have? Don’t, eh, don’t dish it-”

“If you can’t take it?” You finish for him. He nods, satisfied.

“Yes, that’s it!”

“Oh ha ha.” You say dryly, watching as some of the younger kids go flying by. “Ready to teach me how to skate?” David’s face brightens.

“Alright, I am just going to hold onto your hands and tug you along, does that sound okay?” You nod.

“I’m ready to make my debut as a hockey player.” You say seriously as David laughs. He slowly starts tugging you with him. Your ankles keep wanting to turn out and it constantly feels like you’re going to fall, but you’re still skating. You let out a shaky laugh.

“Well, would you look at that? You’re skating!” David grins at you.

“I’m skating!”

“Are you going to be okay if I skate next to you?” Your eyes widen.

“Can you still hold my hand?”

“If I didn’t know any better I would say that you are just looking for an excuse to hold my hand.” You roll your eyes.

“Whatever makes you feel better, love.” You and David start skating around the rink, watching the team skate with their families.

“Thank you for coming with me, (Y/N).” David comments. You look at David and smile.

“Of course David. I’m honored that you even asked me to come to Family Skate.” David shrugs.

“You are my family.” He’s about to continue when suddenly Elliz and Zdeno Chara go flying by. Little Elliz accidentally knocks into you, sending you tumbling to the ice. David just barely catches you, one arm around your waist and the other hand grasping tightly onto yours. You’re almost vertical to the point where you can feel your hair touching the ice, David’s face extremely close to yours.

“Are you okay?” He asks, alarmed. You nod.

“Elliz has a mean cross check on her!” You joke. David grins, slowly pulling you up.

“Kiss, kiss, kiss!” You look over to the source of the noise to find all of the vets chanting.

“Should we give them what they want?” David asks. Before you have the chance to respond, he kisses you passionately, sending his teammates into an uproar. You both pull away as you grin breathlessly.

“I guess I should go skating with you more often, huh?” You end up tripping over the toe pick on your skate, causing David to catch you once again.

“How about we try and make it one full lap without you falling, okay?” You smile. David kisses you again as you set off on your slow trek around the rink.