#and i finally get to cross another song off my big list of songs i want to make community amvs to

[greatkateweathermachine]

and isn't it just so pretty to think, all along there was some invisible string, tying you to me? --- the study group + taylor swift's "invisible string"

[lovelyflora21]

Strangers

Summary: She was still herself, he was still him. In the same place. Yet, isn't it strange how people can change?

Pairing: Leon S Kennedy x Fem!Reader

Tags: Angst, hurt, no happy endings (?) 

A/n: A rather lengthy continuation to my previous fic, inspired by Celeste - Strange. Would recommend listening to the song whilst reading this to really get the feel of it ;)

Wc: 1,8k

P.s. Let me know if anyone wants to be added to the tag list! <3

Tag list: @lysa1201 @lysol1201

I tried for you. 

What Leon said that night, the way he looked at her with complete utter disdain; mixed with a cacophony of heavy breathing and slurred speech of spiteful, venomous words spewed her way–safe to say, it was enough to turn that tiny little voice inside her head louder. Ten times louder than the conscience, the soft spot she’s always held for him. 

That maybe everything she did for him was, in fact, all in vain. That it was a complete waste. She was wasting her precious, precious time and energy; her life, on a drunkard. An asshole of an alcoholic, once applauded for his bravery and prowess as an agent–akin to that of America’s very own zombie-killing, man-made Superman. 

God, mama was right! I should’ve dumped him. What was I thinking?!

Were what had crossed her mind as she skipped down the stairs of his apartment’s fifth floor’s stairwell. She clung onto her bag and pride, more on her pride (what was left of it anyways) than her bag really, as she rummaged through the tote bag for her car keys. She had tears welling up in her eyes, her throat burning and constricting in a measly effort of holding herself together. From sobbing her poor heart out. From breaking down on the stairs and pitying herself.

Tried to see through all the smoke and dirt. It wouldn't move.

Everything else was a blur then. The drive back home. The whole thought process on deciding to finally and completely vanishing from his life. All that in a span of minutes. Most would criticize her for being too overboard with her impulsivity, for making a big deal out of nothing! 

Oh spare me the theatrics! She could still hear Leon’s voice; nagging in the back of her mind, it would have been his reaction, if he had known of what she was about to do to him or saw an ounce more of her true reaction in response to his cruelty. 

But as she drove through the traffic and streets of DC’s avenues, her heavy-with-tears eyes dropped to see his name popping up on her phone; his number texting and calling her numerous times–his picture flashing, showing off his stupid fucking cocky grin–it silenced the other voices that were doubting her decision. And suddenly what she was about to do was justified and she saw nothing wrong with it. 

So when it turned red, she reached for her phone; looked at his number and picture one last time before she blocked it–blocked him, and shoved the phone back inside the bag. 

The first night, she couldn’t cry at all. She tossed and turned in bed then eventually fell asleep. But the next few days? Oh they were torture. Hardly sleeping, hardly eating; the blunt of the impact finally hitting her head on. Her feelings, emotions and sound mind were colliding against one another. Everything was everywhere all at once. Anger, disappointment, hurt, sadness, grief and shame. Surging all at once then fading away just as quick into numbness and denial. Then she’d crash out again, and again, and again. Rinse and repeat. 

So she did what Leon S Kennedy would’ve done. Drown herself in work, overtime after overtime. Back to back meetings, projects, RnDs. Anything to get her mind off of him and that night. One thing for sure though, she was done. 

Days turned into weeks, weeks into months. Before she knew it, she earned herself a promotion, alongside an offer to relocate somewhere else; she was given the liberty to pick the spot. To pick which branch of her office she would be relocating to. 

Without doubt and further, deeper questioning; she said yes. Again, some would have considered her impulsivity a major flaw but to be fair, this was the opportunity she had been looking for. Especially after that night and after Leon. 

Albeit the suffering and grief it brought upon her; that night brought her an epiphany. A revelation, that her whole life had revolved around him and him alone. She was never the center of her own universe, no–it had been Leon. 

It was a mistake. 

So now, with Leon gone and out of the picture; she had nothing to revolve around. There was nothing left for her here anyways…

She was never one for spirituality but it got her thinking– that the opportunity presented itself just in time. It was perfectly aligned with her, as if the universe had given her its blessings to move forward. Even without him.

As if it was a way for the universe to tell her.

He’s very dreamy, but he is not the sun. You are.

So when it was all said and done, when everything’s packed into the back of a moving truck and she’d bid farewell to friends and colleagues; she moved. Out of DC and to Francisco. 

And things were okay again. Late nights weren’t so heavy and she wasn’t so burdened with all-consuming thoughts of him. Mornings came by easier for her. She began liking the way coffee smelt, the way the flowers bloomed and the plants flourish, she began liking the taste of sourdough bread with runny eggs on top.

Casual dates were a thing for her now. Enjoying herself and her time as an individual rather than a thing attached to him. 

And before she knew it, a year had passed. 

Life was great. She was flourishing, bright and blooming. 

The sun was high above, her locks cascaded like waters down her neck. She wore a white dress, the patterns were small flowers in the color of muted salem. She had the day off, needed to pick up on groceries and flowers for her vase in the living room and kitchen island. She’d grown to fall for flowers ever since she’d moved to Francisco. 

As she was looking at the arrangement of fruits set before her, smiling at the older lady; she couldn’t help but to notice a man staring at her then approaching her. 

Hey there.

So when her eyes found him, clad in blue instead of black; they widened for a second. Taking in the phantom of what once was the man she’d loved and devoted herself to. 

They stood there, just…staring…

Then there was silence. 

Say, isn't it strange? I am still me You are still you.

—

So they sat there, across one another. This was their second meeting. In a cafe, her favorite. She’d suggested the place. They opted for the outdoor seating instead, feeling as though the walls around them were too overwhelming for her. Too suffocating, especially when she would be near him. 

Her white shirt was slightly crumpled, tucked inside her blue denim jeans that clung to her perfectly. Her bag was set by her ankle, under the table.

She crossed one leg over the other, her eyes never leaving Leon’s. Who had his own ocean blue eyes on her.

Leon had begged her for this chance. Said he wanted to talk to her, needed to talk to her. And she gave him the same grace she would’ve wanted people to give him. Less of a second chance and more towards the urge for a proper closure, really. 

Leon Scott Kennedy was never one to be curious. He’d learnt from his line of work that curiosity can and will kill the cat. And yet when it came to her, he was as curious as ever. So many things he wanted to say, to ask, to question, to find out, to know and last but never should be the least; to understand. Why did she disappear on him like that? Where has she been?Why San Francisco? How did she end up here? Is she with someone else? Is that why she was here now? Was she now a happily-married woman living the white picket fence dream?

But only one thing came out of his now slightly chapped-lips and dry mouth.

I am so sorry. 

Back to our roots What did we lose? What did we lose?

He began, stammering as he leant forward across the table that barred him from feeling her warmth. From feeling her kindness, her love, her tenderness and the familiarity of her.

It’s in the past.

Her voice was…soft. But it lacked the love and gentleness she once held for him. Her eyes were distant…as if staring at a far away dream instead of him.

I shouldn’t have said what I said, I was an alcoholic and an asshole and I didn’t deserve you.

You really didn’t. 

Then there was silence again. Leon’s breath caught as he heard her utter those simple words with such indifference it sent shivers down his spine. 

There was no malice, no anger, no bitterness lacing her words yet all the same it wounded him so. In ways he never thought nor imagined possible. 

Isn’t it strange? How people can change. 

Give me one more chance, let me make things right. 

His pleading was met with silence. Then there was a soft tapping noise against the table, Leon’s blue orbs flitted to her manicured nails for a second before coming back to her face. They were painted beige.

If I could, I’d pull your strings for one more dance.

I…I’ve changed. I’m not drinking anymore and I’ve been going to therapy and I’m not missing out on them anymore. I swear.

It was pitiful how he dragged on and on about how he was a changed man. But seeing she was not budging at all, made Leon’s stomach twist and turn. 

I can’t.

Tell me what I need to do to make this work, to make things right.

She simply shook her head, a defeated and reserved smile graced her lips. God, those same lips Leon had missed so much. How he wished he hadn’t taken her for granted. 

It’s for the best.

And with that, she gathered her bag and herself. She mustered up enough courage and willpower to heave herself up to her feet. Even outside with the wind breezing past them and the world still revolving around them, she felt just as suffocated and as still as ever. She refused to look him in the eyes, refused to study the way his face fell and his eyes glazed with tears. 

I look at you, with nothing to say.

Leaning down for one last kiss, she placed a chaste and small peck on his cheek. Feeling the stubble caress her skin and mouth. She dared not bid him farewell, nor did he. Neither lovers dared to lift their faces to meet one another’s gaze, afraid it might shatter whatever defense they had left.

Isn’t it strange? How people can change From strangers to friends Friends into lovers

So she walked away, never looking back. 

And strangers again.

[vanillablankcanvas]

Part 10 Trolls Headcanons/ Theories/ Thoughts/ Ideas

This may be my last headcanons list, my friends. Will still do art and stuff but I am fresh outta ideas.

Part1 Part2 Part3 Part4 Part5 Part6 Part7 Part8 Part9

Enjoy 💕

Sub Tribes - KPop/Reggaeton/Yodelers/Chaz etc. there's not many of them around because they came from overseas.

King Peppy - Didn't tell Poppy about Viva because he was in the early stages of dementia. (Canon?) For a while he thought Poppy WAS Viva. By the time he realised his 'mistake', Poppy was already grown.

Vacay Island - the brothers sometimes help Bruce at his restaurant. They have name tags with funny 'work names'. Flood, Big Fish, Classy, and Big Brunch. Viva and Poppy have done the odd shift as well, as Pinky and Vista. 😝

Brozone - they became world famous, argued and left BEFORE the cage went around the Pop Troll Tree. (Canon?)

Brozone - there was a rumoured 'unfinished' Brozone song that was supposed to be released after that tour. John finally finishes it and the brothers offer to sing it for Poppy's bridal entrance song. Poppy immediately faints. In my head the song is 'Helpless When She Smiles' by The Backstreet Boys

Brozone - whatever the Trolls equivalent of the Superbowl is, I feel like Bruce and JD would be very into it. Jerseys and face paint and everything.

Bruce - cameras make him self-conscious. If he is in a group he can tolerate it but hates being the only one in the photo.

Bruce - has caught his kids trying to do the Brozone dance routines. He tries to stay out of it best he can and let them have their fun but then they ask him to teach them and doesn't he just melt.

Bruce - has a wedding ring but it is Vacationer sized. He keeps it in his hair mostly but will braid it into his hair like an accessory for special occasions.

Bruce - 100% certain Poppy and Branch's first born would be a boy. "We're a family of five brothers! It took Brandy and I thirteen tries to have a daughter. Trust me, I have no doubt your first egg will absolutely be a boy." *They have a girl* Bruce 😑

Floyd - can only sleep comfortably near an open window. Sometimes can only sleep sitting up.

Floyd - will randomly stare off into space or mutter to himself.

Floyd - *clears throat* I ship Floom! 💕🏳️‍🌈

Floyd - can't stick to new hobbies for very long, he hyperfixates for a week or two then gets bored. Macrame, candle making, soap making, jewelry making, photography are some examples.

Clay - his brothers collectively tried to convince him that he was the adopted brother.

Clay - is quite squeamish. The sight of vomit, open wounds and bodily fluids; Clay will absolutely pass out. Snotty babies make him very uncomfortable.

Clay - gets Viva to braid his hair out of his face only when something really serious is happening *cracks neck* "Viva?" "Yah?" "Braid me" "Yes, Sir." Shwoooop

Clay - Found out the Classical Trolls have a library larger the Pop Village. "Viva, they have a whole wing dedicated to tragedies! Tragedies, Viva!"

Clay - okay, so he and Viva have never been a couple, even if he ever considered it, their work came first and he didn't want to jeopardize what they had. Buuuuuuuttt the thought that another Troll could one day be Viva's person, that she would go to them instead of him for comfort or ideas or laughs or safety or hugs... it makes Clay feel... weird.

Clay - at some point is named some kinda Troll magazines most eligible bachelor. Bro was in a boyband, co-runs a society of survivors, runs a business, is close friends with royalty, has been knighted, has a license to practice accounting and was part of the only known Perfect Family Harmony. He's apparently a hot commodity now.

John Dory - takes night classes to finally get his highschool diploma. Is too embarrassed to tell anyone until he graduates.

John Dory - doesn't get sick often. But when he does, he keeps going to the point of exhaustion.

John Dory - has indeed crossed paths with Delta Dawn before. Both of them have very different versions of the story. "I serenaded her." "The fool was whining something from the inside of a jail cell."

John Dory - has been known to sleep with his eyes open. Freaks people out.

John Dory - will drink milk straight from the carton and put it back in the fridge.

John Dory - teaches Bruce's kids all the swear words and does in fact tell them his rendition of where eggs come from.

Viva - tries to hide sadder feelings from Poppy. Worried that Poppy won't want to hang out with her if she isn't fun.

Poppy - sometimes feels guilty, if things had been different, Viva would have been Queen. Viva tries to reassure Poppy that she is "The right Troll for the role." 👍🏻 Also Viva tries to argue that they both technically get be Queens now anyway.

Guy Diamond - Trolls have eggs when they have powerful feelings of love. Guy Diamond was able to have Tiny because he loves himself so much.

[starstruckzine]

A little AU lore...

"Your old man is going to lose it." Keigo chuckled as he watched Touya towel dry his freshly dyed hair. The snow-white locks were pitch black, and his white tee shirt was splattered with patches of purple that matched the scarred tissue covering the lower half of his face and arms.

"Like he'll even notice." Touya scoffed as he grabbed his guitar off the bed. "The only way Endeavor would ever pay attention to me is if I set the city on fire," he paused, a wide grin crossing his lips as he added, "or killed someone."

"Don't even joke about that, you psycho."

Touya played a few chords and laughed at the worry in his best friend's voice. "Don't get your panties in a bunch, Birdie. I've got a different plan in mind for the future."

🌟

Dabi read through the email he'd received a few minutes earlier from the band's manager. Their record label was putting together a tour; some big, fancy music festival that would travel the world over the span of a year. The details were being finalized, and Cremation had been invited to take part in the event.

A faint smile curled his lips as he turned and stared out the window of his penthouse apartment. The sky was dark, but the city was an ocean of colors: red and gold and bright white sparkling into the distant horizon. Maybe he hadn't become a hero like his father, but Touya Todoroki made a name for himself. And he did it on his own terms. Now, millions of people admired him, listened to his songs, and crawled over one another to buy his merchandise.

In a lot of ways, he'd surpassed Enji Todoroki, was living for it.

His phone rang, vibrating against the desk. He didn't need to glance at the screen to know who was on the line before he answered the call. "Hey, Birdie. I'm gonna guess you saw Compress's email."

Keigo chuckled. "World tour, huh?"

"That's what it says."

"Ever think we'd see the day?"

Dabi glanced at the display case in the corner of the room. A soft blue light illuminated the interior where a single guitar hung. It was just an old acoustic model, plastered with a collage of skulls and crosses. The brand name had worn off long before he ever touched it, but he never cared about labels anyway.

"Of course, I did. Everything worked out according to my plan."

A small blue flame lept from the palm of his hand. He watched it flicker as he listened to Keigo rattle off a list of places he wanted to visit during the tour. The bird's early childhood years  made him desperate to explore as much of the world as possible. Dabi's determination to succeed had almost as much to do with giving Keigo that freedom as it did with showing up his old man.

Now, all of their dreams were about to be realized on a scale he never dared to imagine.

"You're gonna run me ragged this entire tour, aren't you?" Dabi groaned as he extinguished the flame, but a grin stole across his lips. The social media opportunities would be limitless. So many chances to throw his fame in Endeavor's face.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you there's no rest for the wicked?" Keigo was laughing now, the excitement obvious in his voice.

Dabi chuckled, too. He'd strayed towards more nefarious paths when they were younger, considered actions that would have gotten him branded as something worse than "bad boy rock star". Somehow, Keigo always managed to drag him back in the right direction, kicking and screaming at times, but he was grateful for the support. Thinking about how things could have ended up without the bird made him cringe.

"Seriously, though," Keigo said suddenly, no trace of humor left in his tone, "I don't think I've ever thanked you."

"Thanked me? For what?"

"Are you kidding? For the music. The band. For making sure I didn't end up like my old man... Or yours."

"Like hell you'd - "

"Touya, shut up and let me finish. I'm just saying that my life could have gone a lot of different ways, but I'm grateful for where I ended up. I don't have a single regret about where I'm headed, and it's because of you."

Dabi was silent for a long moment, unsure how to respond. He glanced over at the desk and saw two new notifications on his phone. One was a text from Himiko, and the second was another email from Compress, titled "Please Review".

"If you're really grateful, you'll swear not to snore the entire tour. I need my beauty sleep."

"Don't change the subject. I'm trying to be vulnerable here."

There was a long pause before they both busted out laughing. Dabi sat back in his chair and took a deep breath. "We should go out and celebrate. My treat."

"Not gonna pass that up. Want me to invite the others?"

"We can plan something with them after we sign the contract. Tonight, we'll go haunt that little bar where we played our very first gig."

"You don't mean..."

"That's the one."

"No wonder you offered to pay."

The place was a small, hole-in-the-wall, dive bar where they'd played some gigs when they were still pretty young - too young to be in a bar - but the owner overlooked that little detail and paid them under the table. It was just the two of them in those days, but the money they made helped to pay for new equipment as their band and their popularity grew.

"You can pay then."

"Hey now, slow down. You were kind enough to offer, and it'd be rude of me to refuse. I'll let you pay."

"Sounds like a plan. You can pay when we take the rest of the band and Compress out to celebrate."

Dabi pictured the shift in Keigo's expression as he realized what just happened.

"Now wait -"

"Don't get your panties in a bunch, Birdie." Dabi interrupted, chuckling. "It was a joke. I'm gonna jump in the shower then hop on my bike and ride ovrr. Meet me there in an hour."

ZINE INTEREST CHECK

[writernopal]

⛺Camp? Camp.⛺

We're 10 days into Camp Shrimpmo (we renamed it to something like that lol) so here, have an edited passage of AASOAF 3 as a treat :3

WC: 645 CW: thalassophobia, minor body horror

a/n: recommend listening to Siren by Amanati while reading!

The Mirage tottered violently then, listing one way then the other until the sparkling sea washed a tongue, perhaps even a finger or a leg, over the bulwarks and a sort of sucking sound came from somewhere down below. Blackened and shiny limbs followed—his subjects—and slowly, the Mirage relinquished her will to breathe and sank. 

The sea closed around us, tossing my hair up in one great mass as bubbles tickled the back of my neck and the sunlight flickered through the surface like pale spears. Fishes and sharks and other sea life, peered curiously in our direction, seeming in awe that a surface dweller like me breathed their water as commonly as air. Their attention was short lived, however, as they quickly darted away once we reached colder waters. What lay below were the mostly eyeless stares and out of tune humming of sea witches—beings they wouldn’t dare cross.

But we drifted freely by them, their poor excuses for eyes—beady lumps on the back of the heads—shining like wicked marbles as they warped themselves round in corkscrews to get a better look at their master. Strange half-shrunk and faceless creatures they were, with bony fins and tails, maws in their necks, and skin grey as decaying flesh. A few seemed to be blessed by him, Satoyev, as their limp bodies hosted swollen bellies. He paid them no mind.

We touched down on the sea floor, the expanse before us was so dark it seemed an illusion, as if I might wave my hand before me and find a velvet curtain concealing the world. But here, my outstretched arm was swallowed, such that anything beyond my elbow was invisible. I’d become a collection of stumps, sprouting from the seed of the overeager sun upon my chest and the heart beating beneath it. The light and warmth of my brand’s celestial counterpart was a foreigner at these depths, perhaps even a myth. Its rays could never penetrate this darkness, much less affect the temperature of this place, which I could only, and inadequately, describe as cold.

I returned my hand to the visible realm, resting it over my chest. With it came Satoyev, his fins and scales glowing dull blues and reds. He put a hand beneath my chin and drew me close.

“Come.” 

I didn’t resist, so he clutched me close, his many eyes pulsating in the darkness, and we began to move. How fast or in what direction I couldn’t say, but my stomach lurched and my eyes became so unbearably cold that I shut them. At intervals the current snatched them open, painting glowing smears of bright blues and greens—kraken eyes—curiously watching us. No doubt they rejoiced their lord's return home. 

“Here.” 

We passed underneath a dark mass, and toward something shimmering. It appeared the surface of another ocean but when we cleared it, there was no air, just more water, this time strangely warm and very salty. The area was small and clouded by strange thick grey gasses rising from some place. Clusters of pale worms and shrunken mollusks peeked between their billows. In the center of the space was a sort of cradle crafted of whalebones and decaying flesh. Peering between its remains shone a hazy blue light.

I squinted into it as we drew closer, my eyes struggling with this brightness after desensitizing dark, until its source finally came into view—a large rough cut sapphire. It was similar to the one I used to summon Saviyesaih, but thrice as big, and gave off a much more powerful energy. The water around it formed gentle ripples, as if the stone itself breathed, the frequency increasing as Satoyev and I came near. We came to a stop just before it. Whispered whale song floated from it, caressing not my ear, but my heart instead.

AASOAF 3 Taglist: @outpost51 @thelivingdeceased @faelanvance @captain-kraken @illjustpretend

@elshells @full-on-sam @the-mindless @zestymimblo @tabswrites

@void-botanist

Join/leave the taglist using this Google Form.

[ezras--moon]

Red Smoke

finally!!! My favorite boy. Thank you for these @wannab-urs & @dreamsofmandalore ♥

named after yet another KGLW song (I was listening to this on and off while writing this so I had to put it in there somewhere, have fun spotting it), this is probably the filthiest thing I've written so far??? so, of course, as always,

18+ Minors do not interact

word count: 3265

this takes place right before the events of the movie, so Ezra still has both arms.

Warnings: bondage, dom/sub dynamic, Ezra is kind of maybe a little bit slightly controlling but in a hot way, king of sadistic sexual torture, slapping of ass and pussy, oral(f receiving), unprotected PiV sex, minimally edited so excuse repeat words or small errors.

  From the first day you knew him, that first job on The Green you’d been hired for together, you’d been infatuated with the way Ezra talked. His warm voice and the slight twang he hung onto his words; words which he chose so deliberately, it seemed, to make himself sound like he was perhaps writing a formal letter or a report to an employer.

  Sometimes it wasn’t easy to follow him when he went off on a tangent. Sometimes you had to interrupt him to define a word he used. But he never made you feel stupid about it, he never laughed, he never teased, he was patient and earnestly trying his best to communicate sufficiently - because he liked you, a lot.

There was another thing about him you could never get enough of. When he was joking with you, trying to make you laugh, he always laughed a little bit with you, but then let his smile fall just for a moment, as if to focus on watching your face twist and listening to the sound of your chuckle, before letting the smile take back over. His eyes would get all big as he studied your face, and sometimes he’d even grab your wrist to draw his thumb over your skin in a pattern.

But when he came sauntering up to you that morning, holding up another harvesting offer after months of staying home on The Pug with you? You didn’t feel like letting him hear your laugh at all. He’d promised he was done. You’d both promised you were done. He made you promise, just like you made him promise, that the dangers of the toxic atmosphere, other prospectors or harvesters and the religious fanatics were behind you.

You weren’t interested in hearing him out, and he wouldn’t let you win; didn’t even want to argue, just for you to accept the facts of the matter. To him, it was already decided when he read the price. He wanted to buy a house, he wanted to settle down, he wanted to live in the comfort of knowing that you were taken care of - and that meant he had to do it, in his mind.

“I can’t believe you, Ezra.” you said, furiously scrubbing away at the already polished plate in your hand just so you had your hands full. God, you wanted to smack him across the face. You wanted to scream, yell, kick and protest. But you also wanted to cry and beg for him not to do it. He couldn’t see your face from where he stood, leaning against the door frame with the paper listing the details of the job in one hand and the other fidgeting with the zipper of his hoodie.

“Baby, we can’t keep sustaining ourselves on meager scraps tossed at us down here. I have the intention of providing you with a better alternative than… this” he gestured vaguely at the perfectly fine apartment you were living in. You dropped the plate into the dishwater and swiveled around, furious. “You promised you wouldn’t do this to me” you snapped, furrowed brow and feeling the heat shoot into your face.

“Oh, please.” he pouted, letting his head roll back against the door frame. But you only stare at him, unrelenting and expectant. “Birdie, I-” “Don’t call me that when we’re fighting.” “We’re fighting?” “Yes. We obviously are.”

Finally he pushed himself off and crossed the threshold, gently placing his hands on your shoulders and smoothing them down your sleeves with an apologetic look in his eyes. “I’m sorry, baby. I have to do this.” “Oh, but you don’t!” you refuted, swatting his arms away and taking a step back, but he cornered you against the sink like a wolf might corner a lamb.

He tutted, planting his palms against the edge of the countertops. “Little bird-” “Don’t.” “How can I make you understand, hm?” he asked, voice low and nose brushing against yours, “How can I make it up to you? Because you won’t talk me out of this endeavor. But I would prefer it if I could still come home to you when I’m finished with it.” 

It took him more tries to wind you down and make you accept that this was what he wanted, what he was going to do, but in the end he was always going to call the shots on where your money came from. He wanted to provide, you let him. He wanted to take care of you, you let him. All you wanted was for him to come home safe, back to you unharmed.

Two days before he was scheduled to enter his pod and leave for The Green, you’d finally come to terms with it fully, and the anxiety you felt at the thought of him being up there subsided - he could handle himself after all, you’d seen that play out plenty of times. He knew what he was doing. He was confidently competent, his reflexes were no worse than a teenager’s, he knew how to defend himself, and most of all you knew he’d come back making both of you richer than you could ever imagine.

But for now, he had you on your stomach in the bed, hips lifted and angled by two pillows underneath you, limbs tied to the posts. He’d been edging you for what felt like at least an hour already when he swatted his hand down on your right ass cheek in a harsh slap, appreciating your aroused cry with a hum. 

“That’s for making me wait for this pussy” he hissed as he kneeled between your legs, two fingers pumping in and out of you at a punishing pace, “for not talking to me for an entire cycle” he delivered another smack to the same spot, “for gallivanting around the premise in those awfully short shorts” another even harsher slap, “and one to remember me by in three days time.”

It wasn’t always like this with him, but when it was? You couldn’t get enough of his relentless teasing and the punishments his beautiful sadistic mind came up with. Sometimes he’d edge you like this, never let you cum until you’d beg and plead for release, and sometimes he’d give you so many orgasms you’d start to tremble and cry and damn near pass out.

Ezra was not afraid to call for back-up either; he had multiple drawers filled to the brim with all different types of gear and toys - he was depraved, and you were his willing subject.

“You know what happens when you make me wait, birdie, don’t ya?” he drawled, pacing around the foot end of the bed, knowing you were close to giving up and about to start begging him to finish you already, “You know I always get my revenge eventually.” “Ezra, please” you whined, cunt throbbing and leaking your arousal onto the sheets.

You thrashed in your restraints, tugging at the cuffs and attempting to press your thighs together for some friction. Ezra tutted, landing another surprise smack on your ass, making you mewl. “Don’t be so rapacious, dove. Or must I move on to another part of yours with my flagellation?” “No, please, pl- no, Ezra, please just fuck me” you whined, muffled by your face in the pillows.

Ezra couldn’t be domesticated, you knew that - you appreciated that about him a lot more than it frustrated you from time to time - but he sure was doing a damn fine job at doing it to you. He’d done it before, when you were on that moon together for harvest. He’d charmed his way into your space, into your heart, into your pants, and it came so easy to him too. It was natural and effortless, intoxicating in the way he had you wrapped around his finger so quickly.

Hook, line and sinker you were flopping around helplessly again and again for him like a particularly meaty fish that’d prevent him from starving in a hostile world. Someone else like him might have lost interest quickly for your lack of resistance to his advances and all his little games, but Ezra became addicted to how much you liked it. The way you were begging for him every time, salty tears rolling down your cheeks with overstimulation and need.

“I wonder how many more times you will say please for me in that tone before I can’t stand to hear any more of it and have mercy on that needy little cunt of yours” he mused, crossing his arms off to your side. You snapped your head to look up at him, already beginning to stain the sheets with your tears, and you couldn’t believe the curious head tilt and dark, hungry look he was giving back.

You could tell he wanted to give in then, his ruthless exterior beginning to crumble in front of your eyes. “I know you wanna fuck me, Ez, just fucking do it already, please” you begged again and regretted it the second the words left your mouth - the plead at the end not doing anything to soften the blow to his ego. Making his threat a reality, he shook his head and pushed his own weakness down, going to kneel on the mattress, to your left.

“Noooo” you whined, knowing what was coming. “How dare you speak to me like that, little bird.” he said, tone ripe with fake-offended ridicule. Without another word, he smoothed his left hand over your abused ass cheek; squeezing your tingling meat there to spread you apart further, easy access to deliver a stinging slap to your weeping folds.

The wet sound the action produced was so sinfully loud and the blood under your skin that pooled there already made it hurt quite badly - just how you liked to be tortured. A guttural moan following the gasp that fell from your lips made him hum appreciatively. “How many more of these beats can you endure, dove? Two? Five? Ten?” You protested with a pained whine, shaking your head as well as you could with your pulse thrumming in your ears, and your thighs began to tremble harder.

“Three?” he offered, holding two fingertips close to your clit, barely touching and unmoving. You took a moment to think, trying to decide what to do so he wouldn’t go higher; though you knew the mind shattering orgasm he was about to grant you would only increase in intensity if he did. Before you could respond, however, he took your silence as affirmation, “Four, baby? Can you take four more for me, darling?”

Always the terms of endearment when he was playing his most unhinged of games.

Figuring four was about as much as you could possibly withstand, you nodded with a soft whimper, really making an effort not to roll your hips against his fingers. “Alright, sweet girl, you got yourself a deal.”

The next slap made you jolt forward, your eyes rolled back in your head and you bit down on the pillow under your head to muffle the pain escaping your lungs in the shape of a sob. More tears. Ezra’s warm hand gently rubbing your reddening cheek, soothing the ache somewhat to help you swallow what he was doing to your pussy just below.

“Count with me now” he ordered, “one. Say it.” “One” you whined, a pathetic sound that made him chuckle. Another smack. “Two- ahhh” “Good girl, look at you” he praised, “you always take my chastisements so well!” Smack. The burn, your heartbeat throbbing everywhere he’d touched you so harshly, the noise of his palm hitting your sopping folds - it was so much, it was everything.

“Oh my god, please, Ezra- I can’t do it, I can’t take any more” “You haven’t told the number, darling, that means it didn’t count!” he said with mock disappointment, “You know the rules, and you still break them.” Your grip on the sheets at the corners of the mattress tightened as you protested with a mewl, a desperate, sweet sound that had Ezra growing impossibly hard in his boxers.

Debating if you should say the safeword but deciding against it - you’d let him do worse to you - you took a deep breath to steady and brace yourself for two more. Smack. “Three! O-oh, god! You’re gonna make me cum” you whimpered. Ezra laughed. “That’s adorable. I have to say I’m rather pleased with how fucking famished you are to be filled by this fat cock.”

You were losing your mind as he was palming himself through the thin fabric of his underwear, the last remaining item of clothing on his lean body. Anticipation for the final blow caused an exhilarating rush of adrenaline to course through your veins, increasing your heart rate some more. He could sense it, he could sense everything, so he hesitated. He took great pride in his ability to wind you up like this, only to let you release and let go of it all in a grand finale.

Smack. “F-four, fuck!” “Theeeere you go, little dove. There you go. You made it through that one without a hitch!” he praised, you could hear the proud grin on his devastatingly handsome face. “You gonna be alright when I hump the ever living hell out of this sweet cunt of yours now?” “Pleeeease-” “I take that as a yes.”

The weight of his body lifted off the mattress long enough for him to drop his boxers and come up between your thighs, but instead of lining up with you, he couldn’t resist pressing his open mouth to your clit to lap up the slick that he’d coaxed out of you there. His tongue swirling around your clit, his big hands spreading you apart by the ass cheeks, the lingering burn of his toying with you - all of these sensations brought you to the edge, but he moved off before you tumbled over it.

Your pained cry was cut off by the gasp in your throat when you felt him line up with your center and feeding his cock inside you, holding himself up with his palms splayed over your hips. The angle was just right - it hit you like a freight train. “Oh, fuck, mmfff” you whimpered into the pillow, biting down on it. The sinful groan growing in his chest and tumbling over his tongue when he bottomed out went straight to your pussy, past his girth stretching you deliciously and nipping at your cervix.

“Fuck, yes, that’s my good little dove, fitting my manhood inside each and every one of your tight little holes like that” he huffed, hot breath fanning over your bare back. He held himself there, buried so deep you could almost taste him, helping you adjust. His fingers were digging into the flesh of your hips so harshly they were certain to leave marks as he held you in place, prime position for him to have his way with you at this punishing angle.

One of his legs hooked over yours and his right arm snaked around your hip to pull your ass further up into the air, allowing him to fuck you deep and hard once he began to move - and so he did. Immediately, with the first rolling thrust, you couldn’t hold on any longer. You cried out, back arching and walls clenching around him as he settled on a fast pace. 

He huffed a laugh as you fell apart beneath him, legs shaking and breath hitching in your throat, stifling all noise before the string of sacrilegious, wanton moans escaping your raw throat rewarded Ezra’s hard work. “Yesss-” he hissed, “give it to me, birdie- let me hear your heavenly hymn, whore of all whores”

Damn near blacking out, you were shaken and ravaged and completely ruined by the supernaturally drawn out waves of your climax. Red smoke clouded your mind, numbed all of your senses besides those necessary to sustain the ecstasy. A devastating wildfire burning within your groin that Ezra was fueling with the snap of his hips, his gorgeous cock fucking into the cavern of your tortured cunt.

“God damn, little bird, you make me fucking lose my reprobate mind- ahh, fuck-” he mumbled, hissing at every pulling out of you before he slammed himself back inside the inviting warmth of your core, “you feel categorically stellar wrapped so securely around my cock, I- ahh, fuck!” 

Even as the orgasm was subsiding, you never wanted him to stop ever again, and so you spurred him on with more wanton moans, eyes shut tight and focusing on the feeling of fullness and the warmth of his hands all over your ass, hips and back before they planted into the mattress to hold him up. 

“Fuck me harder, Ezra, please-” you begged, “give it to me; fucking give it to me!” There was a pain, a delectable burning sensation as he pounded into you - he’d tortured your cunt so uncompromisingly that the reward was felt tenfold. Teetering on the edge of another orgasm already, listening to Ezra’s labored breaths and pleased grunts you could tell he’d wound himself up too with all the teasing and torment.

“You want it that bad, huh? Want me to pour my white hot absolution deep inside this pretty pink little pussy, don’t you?” he huffed, delivering a particularly harsh thrust against your hips, “Don’t you adore it when I treat you like this? You love it, don’t you?” “Y-yes, Ezra, yes, I love it so much, so much, oh my god-”

Blinding grayscale pulsing through your vision like white noise on a TV screen as he slammed into you even harder, the sound of skin hitting skin, wet slapping making you spiral and sob tearfully. “You’re being such a good little slut for me- ah, absolutely drenched for my cock; you’re-” his impressive vocabulary was faltering as he came apart at the seams with a handful more snaps of his hips that hit so deep and so tight - his cock so hard inside you, pulsing, twitching as he emptied himself. “Fuck” he cursed, punctuating his final roll of his tight hips, one hand on the mattress and the other squeezing your ass before he collapsed on top of you completely spent and out of breath.

You hummed; he was just as sweaty as you were and so warm, the weight of him a comforting blanket. His arms were caging you in as he looped them around your waist and pulled out of you, leaving you leaking onto the bed. Both catching your breaths, this was the only time you’d catch Ezra lost for words, on a different plane of existence entirely in his mind.

He pressed soft kisses to your shoulder blades, caressing his velvety palms over your skin. “I love you so much” he whispered, stroking your hair aside to allow him to kiss along the curve of your ear, nibbling playfully at the lobe before he went to untie you. You loved it when he was like this, taking care of you after he’d just positively wrecked your entire body - loving and sweet he could be.

You were going to miss him so much when he’d leave for this one last job.

Little did you know he’d be missing more than just you, the love of his life, when he came back - it was going to be significantly more difficult to treat you like this with only one arm to his body and a young girl trying to sleep in the next room.

[sleepyeri]

Oops!

Based off a roleplay I had hihi.. decided to dump it here as well bc oh well

you both already have an established friendship here btw

cw: minor swearing

wc: idk i dont count words lmao

diluc x gn!reader

major word vomit the og plan was for me to speedrun diluc recognizing me as his lover but it ended up with me having to earn his trust and this happened HAHAHA

bothreaderanddilucarestraightforwardandawkwardidiotsbcmeandthebotwerecrippling

Swirling the drink in your hand, you hum and turn to face the bar. A small smile plastered to your face when you see tonight's bartender walk toward you. He huffs a bit before crossing his arms infront of you.

"You know, even if we are friends you still need to pay. Don't be like that bard who 'pays with songs'." He rolls his eyes and hands you over the bill, which wasn't too expensive but it definitely still irked him. You chuckle a bit at him.

"Don't worry~.. I'll pay when I'm done, red." You smile and Diluc sighs. You motion for him to take a seat infront of you. Seeing that there was no one else to serve, Diluc reluctantly sat across you. He leans back a bit and raises his brow.

"Well?"

"I saw something today..."

"Really now... what was it?"

"Something beautiful." You sigh and take a small sip of the drink you ordered. You feel your face grow hot as Diluc leans forward, curious of what was so beautiful you just had to tell him.

"May I know what it is?"

"Look at a mirror."

Silence fell before you two before Diluc tilts his head and stares at you with confusion.

"I don't see as to what's so beautiful and interesting about a mirror... sure, others may have intricate designs that certainly make them unique but..."

"I mean the reflection, Diluc..."

Another moment of silence. Diluc sighs. He gets up from the table and you raise your brow. He walks back to the bar and after a bit, you stand up and sit infront of him. Diluc seems to be in deeo thought, ignoring your calls.

Archons forbid you notice how he's struggling to compose himself after your attempt in complimenting him. The compliment left him overthinking as to what you meant.

Oh Barbatos was that a confession? Usually we both 'compliment each other' with passive aggressive terms - i mean... best they told me was that i look like a hairy grumpy fairy-

You poke his arm and he snaps out of his thoughts.

"Hey, why'd you walk off like that-"

"It's nothing. I just remembered that I needed to clean the glasses."

Silence. The door opens and closes. The tavern is now deserted, with only the two of you inside. Diluc focuses a little too much on said glass he's trying to clean and realization sinks in.

"Holy shit..."

"What? Did you finally realize how bad that compliment was?"

"Yes but- wait did you just insult my skills?"

"You may be strong and intelligent in other fields but expressing your emotions poetically is not your forte."

A dramatic gasp from you makes Diluc smile. He finally turns to face you, cheeks dusted pink. You cross your arms and huff, leading him to laugh.

"But I'll take that compliment. You're not too shabby yourself."

"Excuse you-"

"Otherwise I wouldn't have grown an attraction to yoo-ooohhhh shit."

"What...?"

Silence. Your bickering comes to an end and Diluc's face reddens. He just blurted it out didn't he?

Stupid.

"Uhm... forget... I said anything."

You process his words for a bit, before a big smile appears on your face.

"You... like me...?"

"I said I was attracted to.. uhm..- ugh- yes. Yes I do."

Your smile grows wider and it doesn't even take a second before you're taking his hand that's covering his face.

"I like you too dumbass."

idk i dont write much so egrhegee

feel free to request anything in the comments while i set up a master list

[conquerthenight]

This concept won’t leave my brain so here’s my full list of songs and scenes in Rebecca that I’d put Lydia in if she were canon. I’m going to refer to these songs with the titles and lyrics from my fan translation.

Last Night I Dreamt of Manderley

This song has virtually no changes. Lydia will be part of the shadow ensemble and cross the stage from the opposite wing as Mrs. Danvers when Ich sings “I could feel her ghost…rose to do what’s right”. While Danny gives Ich a menacing glare on Ich’s right side, Lydia will end up on Ich’s left and look up at her as if she’s pleading. The rest of the shadows will circle in on Ich with Lydia and Danny off the side at the edge of the huddle, but on opposite sides as if they’re leading the charge. Lydia, Danny, and the shadows will disperse as Ich sings “I was only 21…in Monte Carlo”

The Second Mrs. de Winter

This would be where Lydia makes her first true entrance into the plot. I purposefully left her out of Monte Carlo to emphasize the distance between her and Maxim, but Maxim will mention her briefly after Ich tells him her parents are dead by inserting a line (“I have a sister, a daughter, and an ancient grandmother, but none of them make for companionship”) that’s mostly taken directly from the novel. She would enter with Danny by following her down the stairs. Danny’s big entrance bit will be split with Lydia. Lydia would sing a few lines after Danny sings “For me no one will e’re replace the only Mrs. de Winter”about her nerves about what Ich will be like and/or her hope that Maxim finding love again will make him less distant to her (“My mother’s lying in the crypt. Another comes to Manderley. But will he come back finally changed ever?”). She’ll then stand against the bottom of the stairs because she doesn’t want to get in everyone’s way. The rest of the song would proceed as written with Frank and Danny, the newlyweds entrance, etc. with the exception of a quick introduction by Maxim between Lydia and Ich. Lydia would follow Ich, Danny, and Clarice up the stairs, but she would stop at the middle flight and sing the last verse with the staff (“What a surprise, she’s quite shy…how she fares as the second Mrs. de Winter”) and exit as the ensemble sings “We’ll have to take her as she is…second Mrs. de Winter”

She’s Still Here With Me

I explained the bare concept of this one in the post I linked above, but here is how I would stage it. As stated in the aforementioned post, this will be a duet between Danny and Lydia. The stage would be split between the morning room on stage right, and another seperate room on stage left. One of Lydia’s hobbies is playing the piano, so I would incorporate that into the song. She would play the beginning intro. The keys would face away from the audience so the hypothetical child actor wouldn’t need to actually know how to play and could just fake it, similarly to how the Phantom fake plays the Don Juan melody before “I Remember/Stranger Than You Dreamt It”. She would then step away into a spotlight to sing her verse because she’s distracted and frustrated by her inability to concentrate. While Danny sings the bridge, she would slump against the piano as the spotlight fades away. During the bridge, the set will change to the full on morning room with the lights fully on Danny, giving Lydia time to quickly exit and then reenter through the door to the morning room. Lydia and Danny will come together during the final chorus, standing on either side of the orchid pot and looking away from each other. After the final line, they’ll look at each other, Danny will sigh like Pia did in the Stuttgart production.

The Morning Room

Lydia prepares to exit, but as she does so, Ich enters as normal. Both are startled by the unexpected sight of the other. Danny notices this and tells Lydia to stay solely because she thinks Ich will be uncomfortable with Lydia being there while she makes a show of showing off all Rebecca’s things. Ich shoots Lydia a few confused looks as Danny predicted, and Lydia, believing Danny is just showing Ich the ropes, tells her to “go along with it” and that “Danny is just sentimental”. Remember to keep in mind we aren’t aware of Rebecca’s true nature until much later, so Lydia will constantly be tiptoeing around any mention or hint of past abuse and how she feels about everyone else’s opinions about Rebecca until after Maxim’s confession. Anyways, Danny says the line about how Ich “would like to write your correspondence now” and tells Lydia to follow. Lydia does this, but she pauses for a moment to glance back at Ich as if to wish her luck. She sees the cupid get broken and runs offstage to greet Beatrice and Giles. This exchange still happens offstage and is mostly the same as written, except when Bea asks where her new sister in law is, Lydia is the one to tell her aunt and uncle that she’s in the morning room.

Do You Love Me/I’m So Sorry

Ich and Maxim will be playing chess in the library. Off the side Lydia will be reading a book. When Maxim says “Blast, I underestimated you”, Lydia will look over at them and make a joking comment about how “someone finally beat him”, making Ich laugh and tease Maxim by asking “What do I get for winning?” Lydia doesn’t actually sing during the song, but just sits there listening intently to the conversation between her father and stepmother. Ich brings up the costume ball and that she thinks it would be a good idea to host it. Lydia chimes in agreeing with Ich and says she hopes Maxim will actually dress up this year. Again, we’ll insert a line from the novel but with a slight change (“You know I never dress up, it’s the one perk I insist on”). Danny enters and they talk about the cupid. Ich and Lydia share a knowing look, with Ich making some sort of gesture to imply she doesn’t want Lydia to say anything. Ich confesses to breaking the cupid and Lydia insists it was an accident because she doesn’t want Danny to be mad. Maxim is annoyed by this and tells Lydia to leave because “the adults are talking”. “I’m So Sorry” is the same as written.

Help Me Face The Night

As with “She’s Still Here With Me” the concept and additional lyrics were explained in the post I linked. Instead of Ich being in her bedroom, she’ll be on the staircase during this song and sing her verse. Maxim won’t leave the stage at all and will remain in the library pacing while the set slowly changes around him. The lights will dim on his part of the stage and when they come up on him again he’ll be leaning against the chair Lydia was sitting in in the previous scene. During his verse he’ll sit down and remain sitting for the rest of the song. Lydia will be in her bedroom, replacing Ich’s original blocking. The key will change to add an additional verse for her. The three of them will all sing the final chorus together. Ich and Maxim sing mostly in unison until the last line (with an opt up for Maxim on ���Can you find me a future?”, specifically on the word future because my friend did that in our version and it’s chef’s kiss). Lydia will harmonize with them to show how she feels separated, but will sometimes end up on the same note as either Ich or Maxim because at her core she wants the same thing as they do, but in a familial sense instead of a romantic one. If anyone wants to hear how Lydia’s harmony would sound, click on this link.

Rebecca’s Room (before Rebecca I)

Lydia and Ich will enter Rebecca’s room together because they both heard Favell and Danny arguing during “She Was Attractive”. Lydia enters first on the grounds that she knows who’s in the room with Danny and Ich is nervous. Favell doesn’t notice Ich at first. He looks at Lydia, chuckles, and says “Oh, it’s just you” and right after that, he notices Ich. Danny introduces Ich and Favell. He asks Ich and Lydia not to tell Maxim he was at Manderley. Lydia offers to lead him out because she doesn’t want to be in her dead mother’s room any longer than necessary. Thus, she does not hear Danny’s suggestion that Ich dress up as Caroline de Winter.

She’s Gone

The first part of the song is the same, Ben is alone on stage. There’s some offstage dialogue between Lydia and Ich (Ich: “Where does that lead to?” Lydia: “The beach, but we shouldn’t go there” Ich: “Why not?”) and she goes down the boathouse stairs before Lydia can answer. Lydia hesitantly follows behind her. Ben sees them, he knows Lydia and they are friendly with each other. He asks Lydia who “the strange woman” is. Lydia introduces Ich as her stepmother and deliberately pauses before going to tell Ben Ich’s first name, but Ich cuts in during the pause with her “Hello, I’m Mrs. de Winter” line which will create a nice little fake out for the audience. Haha, you thought you’d get a name reveal 😈. The dialogue is mostly the same as written, with Lydia inserting a line here and there (ex. Ich asks if Ben lives in the boathouse and Ben tells Ich that no one’s allowed in there. Ich says it looks nice to which Lydia reiterates that no one’s allowed in there). Every time Ben mentions Rebecca, Lydia looks visibly upset. Ich assumes that this is just because Lydia feels bad that Ben’s afraid of being put into an asylum and that she misses Rebecca and doesn’t want to be reminded of how she died. The song ends and Maxim calls out from offstage.

“You’re Scaring Me” (before Please, My God)

Ich stays where she is but Lydia immediately runs up the stairs so Maxim doesn’t see that she was near the boathouse. She makes it about halfway but stops because Maxim appears right in front of her. He asks what they were doing at the beach. Lydia tries to explain but can’t get the words out because she knows her father is pissed. Ich takes the hint and says that Lydia was just showing her around. Maxim asks if they went into the boathouse. Ich and Lydia both insist they didn’t. Maxim glares at Lydia and yells at her (“You know I hate that damned boathouse. Why did you bring her here? Go back to the house!”). Maxim allows Lydia to pass him and she hurries up the stairs. Maxim goes up to Ich as she asks about the buoy. He then yells at her and gets in her face. “Please, My God” is completely the same as written.

Before Rebecca (Act 1 Finale)

Lydia sneaks into the ballroom unnoticed by the guests during the play out of “I’m an American Woman”. Frith announces Ich’s entrance. Ich comes down the stairs in the Caroline de Winter costume. Lydia is the first to see Ich’s costume and screams. This alerts Maxim and he looks over at Lydia. Lydia gestures to Ich and Maxim looks up at his wife. He drops his champagne glass and it shatters as he sees the costume. Beatrice, Giles, Mrs. Van Hopper, and all the other guests then notice what’s wrong. Beatrice whispers inaudibly to Giles. Giles ushers a traumatized Lydia offstage as it’s revealed that Rebecca wore the same costume last year.

She’s Gone (Reprise I)

Prior to this scene, Lydia was woken up by the rockets during “Just One Step”. She sings this song in unison with Ben from offstage, her vocals will either have been prerecorded or she’ll just be standing in the wings with her microphone on. She will not be present during “You Still Love Her” or “Why Do I Still See That Smile” as I want to keep it so that Ich is the only one who knows Maxim killed Rebecca.

Why Do I See That Smile

As mentioned above, Lydia isn’t present in this song. However she will be mentioned in it. During the part where Maxim recalls Rebecca’s “pregnancy” reveal, he’ll quote Rebecca, but instead of “Who would know it wasn’t yours? It would be mine of course and when you’re gone, Manderley will be his” she’ll have said “I’ll give you a true heir…will be his”. The line about how Maxim “will always be a fool” will include Lydia (“You’ll both stay as you are. The perfect little fools”). The rest of the song is the same as written. The dialogue after with Maxim and Ich will include additional lines (“I already failed Lydia. I couldn’t watch her put another one through all that. It’s over, Rebecca has won”).

Free Now

I know that this song was only added in for London, but I felt it would make sense for it to be here with Lydia as a character. The scene would be set back in the house. Before the song, Ich and Lydia will have a brief conversation where Ich tells Lydia that she knows what Rebecca was really like, but she will not mention that Maxim killed her. The song will start with Ich singing the first verse and chorus as written. Lydia will sing the next verse with only one change (instead of “He did not love Rebecca. He never loved Rebecca” she’ll sing “She knows now of Rebecca! I won’t hide from Rebecca!”). Ich sings “I will fight for him, making all things right for him”. Instead of what’s written, Lydia sings “I won’t let the shadows silence me. Reach out and speak again. It’s time they see.” Ich sings “Because I’m free now. Free to be with him” Lydia sings “No more me now. It will be us, it will be we”. They both sing the last line (“We’re together, we’re free”) and embrace.

They Left At Eight

Unchanged apart from Lydia is listening on the stairs with the staff and sings with the ensemble.

The Revelation (This Was All Just A Game)

Lydia enters the library while Maxim is talking to Ich on the phone. Frank asks what Dr. Baker said. Maxim asks Lydia to come over to them because he wants her to know what’s up too. The song is the same as written. Maxim reveals Rebecca was dying from cancer, and instead of Frank saying that this explains her suicide, Lydia asks if that means her mother killed herself. Maxim says “Yes, she wanted to end her life” aloud, but mutters “…and destroy mine” under his breath.

I Hear Your Voice (Rebecca Final Reprise)

Lydia passes Danny on the stairs. This is another duet between them. Lydia sings “I hear your voice…words you said”. Danny sings “Our lives were one…betrayed me”. Lydia goes up the stairs while singing the word “Rebecca” with the ensemble. She is offstage for the rest of the song and thus doesn’t know Danny plans to commit arson.

Conquer The Night

I was heavily debating whether to put Lydia in this song because it’s the love duet between Ich and Maxim, but ultimately I decided to do throw her in because I didn’t want her at Manderley during the fire. She enters with Maxim and they wait for Ich at the train station. She and Maxim are awkward with each other because they haven’t been alone post confession and don’t know how to interact now that everything’s out in the open. Lydia sees Ich and calls out to her. The three of them hug. Maxim looks at Ich and tells her she was so strong. Instead of Ich saying “It’s finally over”, Lydia says that line. Maxim doesn’t say that Rebecca “wanted to make me a murder and almost succeeded” because Lydia doesn’t know that a murder even happened. Instead he affirms that it’s over but he can’t get Rebecca’s smile out of his head. Ich says “She can’t harm us anymore” and the song begins. The format of the song is in the linked post. Since they’re unified now, Lydia won’t have a separate harmony with the exception of in the final line (“You’ve shown me what love can do”) because I like the chord it makes.

Manderley’s On Fire

The ensemble part at the beginning is the same as written. Lydia runs on stage with Ich and Maxim. Frank sings his part. Lydia sings the ensemble part that underscores Frank. Frank and Ich run off and one of them motions for Lydia to go with them. Lydia does, but stops as soon as Maxim starts singing (“The house I loved…burning lost for good”). Lydia sings “But with the house…haunts me, haunts me”. She and Maxim meet in the middle of the stage to sing the last part (“Oh my god…there’s no escape”). Just for some added angst, they stay for just a second longer than as written. The debris starts to fall and Maxim pushes Lydia offstage and out of the way before running off himself.

Last Night I Dreamt Of Manderley (Reprise)

Unchanged until the very end of the song. Instead of just Maxim being revealed after the ensemble disperses, Lydia is there too, but she’s older now because the epilogue will be set 5-8 years into the future. The actress playing Clarice will double as the older Lydia. Lydia places Ich’s hand in Maxim’s similarly to the scene in Disney’s Hunchback where Quasimodo does the same thing with Esmeralda and Phoebus. It’s her way of reaffirming that she accepts their relationship and more importantly has moved past Rebecca’s shadow. Ich and Maxim kiss as usual, then the three de Winters take hands and face away from the audience. They take a few steps upstage because “walking to the future cliché” is cute and the curtain closes.

Bonus: During the curtain call, Lydia will bow after Favell and before Danny

[pluviophile-bookworm]

HSMTMTS season 4 reflections: I have been changed for good

It's been an incredibly wild ride and I was overflowing with emotions even before watching the final season, but now... the emotions are even stronger. I've let them settle down a bit and I think I'm ready now to share a list of my favourite and least favourite things about this season (both lists in a completely random order, though more or less chronological, if anything).

My favourite things:

‘It’s a good thing the cameras won’t be in our faces back at school. Right?’ This has the exact same energy as ‘Nothing will shake these ivy walls’ in School of Rock, and I love it for that. I'm all about the dramatic irony.

Alyson Reed as Ms Darbus looks just like a much older version of Ashlyn as her in season 1. What I’m saying is, the casting choice of Ash as Ms Darbus was on point.

I learnt the hard way back in season 2 not to get too invested in any core four relationships, but Ricky and Gina… they’re kinda it. I mean, just look at them, they’re so cute. Also, I've come to realise that, as an aroace autistic person who loves shipping, I mostly tend to ship canon couples only, except for when I don't perceive them as having chemistry. Conversely, I will sometimes ship non-canon couples if I perceive them as having chemistry. This will be important a bit later.

Rina's duet with the montage of season 1 references. That was so beautiful. And don't get me started on their Can I Have This Dance... Miss Jenn was trying to get through the table read quickly through all the chaos and wanted to skip over the songs, but Gina was just like 'no, I'm not doing that'. And we love her for it.

Ricky’s ‘You can tell it’s a joke because I laughed’… so me-core. Love it.

I found the bit about Troy and Gabriella being in couple's therapy so funny... I wonder, is that anything like Therapy from Tick Tick Boom?

Now or Never, the audition version (and the show version, too, but especially this one). That was the definition of Slay.

As a newly dog-favourable person, I would agree with Ricky — puppies are everyone’s kryptonite. In one way or another… I mean, can you believe that up until this last April, I would just literally go out of my way to avoid crossing paths with any dog of any kind, and then I put it into my head that I wanted that to stop, and now I’m this close to actually becoming a dog person? All this to say… I really appreciate those puppies. Everything really is better with puppies.

Ricky's background character in the film was giving Thayne Jasperson in Stick to the Status Quo. I enjoyed that.

Ashlyn's iconic 'I'm dying, I'm deceased, yes' is back again, and once again it comes in connection to Ms Darbus. We love to see the parallels.

Nightmares Come to Life is such a good song, though. Hallowe’en-y, creative, but also reflective of the characters’ very real fears and anxieties. Might be my favourite. Or it might not -- remains to be seen.

Why are all of Ashlyn’s songs the best in the show? Idk, but I might be warming up to Madlyn after this. Call It What You Want is quite something and their chemistry is off the charts.

Redlyn have always been so in sync, they even broke up with so much love and respect and amicability... I've heard the phrase 'We can still be friends' so many times, but they're one of the few ex-couples where I actually fully believe it.

EJ and Ricky’s duet is everything, and they’re finally, finally letting Matt sing… took them long enough.

Big Red in the last couple of episodes -- I literally teared up instantly even upon his first appearance, and with the exception of the extremely stupid and unnecessary cheating storyline, I just enjoyed seeing him one last time and especially getting to say a proper, less embittered goodbye at the end.

Carlos' recap in 4x6 goes hard. Pun absolutely intended. As were all of his go puns in it.

4x6 is the most Glee this show has ever been, even if we take season 1 into account. This is basically the '2009' episode of HSMTMTS, and my favourite of this season until the final one.

Seblos being back and making me believe in love again. I think the world healed a little after that duet. Though I've got to wonder... if it was meant for Ryan and his partner in the film... what is the script making those two go through to warrant such a song? I'm just curious, is all.

Dreams Don't Die, and Emmy's energy throughout the entirety of this season. It's been a sight to behold for certain.

Miss Jenn sending out Ricky's college application behind his back (Troy and Ms Darbus much?) and Mr Mazzara, Benny if you will, vouching for him. The world has truly turned upside down.

EJ and Big Red and Seb showing up for opening night (and Ricky carrying on Nini's opening night cards tradition), the way the gods intended. Big Red expecting to be 'screaming, crying, throwing up' (huh, a bit like on BATB opening night in season 2, innit?), and EJ just vibing to the entire first act, while Seb sings along like his life depends on it.

Carlos and Kourtney being magnificently fabulous as Ryan and Sharpay. Also, Seb just walking out there amid the number and planting one on Carlos with no warning. I sort of got Nick Nelson on sports day in season 1 of Heartstopper vibes from this. 'This means we're a thing'... we love it.

EJ’s scene with Miss Jenn… when did he become so wise? I was going to ask that about his scene with Ricky in 4x5, but this, this is something else. This is an adult conversation he’s having. It was even officially labelled as such. I just… I love this boy, this young man, I really wish him all the best. I wouldn’t have believed you if you’d told me this during season 1, but I shall miss Elton John Caswell.

'Antoine' not really being French was absolutely something I'd called all the way back in 2x7, but back then I certainly couldn't have called him being interested in Big Red, and not in a million years Big Red being interested in 'Napoleon over here', as he once referred to him. Then again, back before I watched this season, I'd never considered the thought of Redlyn not being endgame, so there's that. But I'm now 1000% here for it. As I mentioned a bit earlier, I ship canon couples if I see chemistry between them. (Also, it took me longer than it should have, but... Andy? Like Andrew? They literally didn't bother giving the character a name.)

The last ten or so minutes of it all, with Denny's and Born to be Brave and For Good at the end... now that was a sendoff such as this show deserved.

My least favourite things (some of them I find mildly irritating, others I'm actually enraged by; I hope it comes across which are which):

In the entire first half of the season, feeling like I couldn't even say 'Seblos' anymore bc they felt, for the first time since forever, like such separate entities which didn't seem like they'd be one again. That was painful for a while.

The 'Seb and Big Red cheating on Carlos and Ashlyn together' plotline... like, not only is this sticking an arguably biphobic stereotype on my favourite character, but it also feels extremely out of character for both of them. Another bit which just hurt to watch and to think about.

This is a bit of a gripe with HSM3 itself, but also with the fact that this version did nothing to change that up -- the two genders according to A Night to Remember: excited for prom and dreading prom. Interesting how I've always identified with the latter and to this day regret going to my prom... oh well. This is one of those mildly irritating ones.

The way Emmy pronounced Jean Valjean... I mean, nobody’s perfect. Even Mike Faist says ‘mischievious’. But this was a bit much for me. Still, it was sobering in this emotionally charged moment. I sort of needed something like this to take me out of things for a bit.

So yeah, it's clear to see that I liked more about this season than I disliked. At the end of the day, I walked into this season expecting to feel a bit 'meh' about it and walked out all like 'how can I sleep at night, pretend that I'm fine leaving it all behind'... That's been HSMTMTS, and it's been quite a wild ride. Because I knew you, I have been changed for good, indeed.

[dorayakimanjiro]

My Champion, Your Star⭐️

BOTW Revali x Idol! Reader

Part 1

Y/n is a famous 20 y/o idol in Hyrule, well-known for her natural charima and appeal. Tired of her busy schedule, she embarks on a vacation to the far lands of the Hebra Region in a calmed village called Rito Village. What may the village offer to the young idol? She wants nothing but day off of her idol life.

A/N: This fanfic talks about idols as in Japanese Culture. The reader is inspired by Ai Hoshino, from Oshi no Ko, again it's inspired, it isn't her full personality just took some glimpses of it. Enjoy!

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

I stand in the dark, eyes closed.

I hear the staff running around. Asking each other questions.

"Got the speakers on?" "Yes, sir" "Lights and screens ready" "Are the costume changes here?" "All set!"

I can hear an audience going wild above us.

I take a breath in, filling my lungs with air, and steadily blow it out.

I hear my band members talking.

"Everyone got their in-ears ready?" 

"Last monitors check-up, testing 1,2, 1,2,3"

"1,2, testing, all check!"

"Girls, I'm about to open your mics, so stay in silence" Someone said to our in-ears.

'This is it' 

"Girls, in pose... we are gonna lift the platform in 3...2...1.." the platform slowly uplifts itself,

My nerves building up as I feel it ascending under my feet. 

I sense very bright lights slowly covering my whole body, from the top of my head til all the way to my feet.

Gradually the audience's screams becoming louder as we ascend.

Opening my six-pointed star eyes, I'm welcomed by a sea of lights and a crowd of energetic shouts and screams.

"ZORA'S DOMAIN! ARE YOU READY?!?!" I shout with so much light and radiance in my eyes.

...

Idols...

Idol, by definition is a someone who's highly loved, admired and respected by others.

 An idol, is a type of entertainer, whose image is produced to attract and lure dedicated fans to support them.

I'm (Y/n)(L/n) and as some of you may've guessed, I'm an idol.

My career started when I was 17 y/o, debuting in an idol group called Aether.

3 years have passed since my debut, I'm currently 20. 

My role in the group is being the center and the main vocalist, not to brag, but I'm also an incredible dancer.

In the years I've dedicated myself as an idol, I've been acknowledged and praised by plenty, earning titles such as: "Aether's absolute ace", "Shining Rookie", "The Unshakable center", "The beauty of Hyrule", the list goes on.

But the most notorious one is, "The Star-eyed Idol", as a result of the six-pointed star eyes I was born with.

This last year, I received lots of calls and job offers like modeling for local clothes stores, Mcing events and competitions, invited as special guest to big talent shows, and more.

With my popularity boosting, my manager decided to start promoting me as a solo artist and make myself a name out of Aether, I began releasing solo albums and singles, whilst continuing with the group's activities, like rehearsals, concerts, producing song and writing lyrics, etc. 

Thankfully, my band members were really supporting in the matter and motivate me to keep going. Nowadays, I'm a popular soloist, I became way more popular than when I was only in Aether, however, I promote the group in every chance I get, and we've become successful.

Currently, I'm planning some vacations for myself, in need of a well-deserved break after these prosperous years.

What I wasn't expecting, was for a conceited, prideful Rito to cross my path and change my whole vacation's plan...

...

I sigh, removing my stage costume to change to my casual clothing. 

'Finally, another successful tour concluded, Zora's Domain surely was wild, though the sunset's on Lurelin Village were breathtaking' I tiredly smile.

'We traveled across almost all of Hyrule, I'm exhausted, ...even so, it was fun' I hang my costume in a closet.

'Tomorrow I'll start packing for my trip, it's the perfect place for an idol to rest without worrying about fans' I fall to my bed and smile at the ceiling.

'I can't wait to be there.....

...Rito Village'

'I choose this destination specifically for it's isolated location and serene environment' I get up of my bed and watched out the window.

'Hyrule Castle Town it's a bustling place, always crowded everywhere you look; Can't walk 1 block before people surround me asking for autographs' I sit at the edge and lean my forehead on the window.

I sigh, 'This also applies to towns like Zora's Domain, Lurenlin Village, Kakariko, Hateno and Gerudo Town, I guess that's the prize of fame...'  

'Sometimes I wished I could've a normal life... go outside without being stalked, ...befriend anyone for real friendship and not for convenience, ...hang around with friends all day, ...date who ever I liked, truly fall in love with a guy, ...do what ever I please and not being judged by the public eyes, ...stop pretending when I'm not fine...' I shake my head, don't want those thoughts get the better of me.

'Good thing that rule doesn't apply in Rito Village' I grin at a memory.

Flashback to a fan-sign:

"it's nothing personal really," a Rito fan said.

"It just takes a lot for some of us to acknowledge new ideas out of the village, specially when it comes to archery and singing- but your music is great and you've a beautiful voice (y/n)!" the fan said.

My eyes-widen due to the news.

"So that's the reason why I don't see any Ritos in my events *does thinking pose and pouts* mmmm well, that's fair. Thanks for the information, you're the best!" I sweetly make a heart with my hands hence receiving a flustered reaction of him.

The poor Rito nearly had a heart attack by my gesture, he squawked out of excitement...

End of flashback:

The Rito are known for it's prideful demeanor, close-minded creatures when it comes to archery and singing. Distinguised by their unique and wonderful voices along with their outstanding superior archery skills, of course, they'll hardly believe anyone could be better than them.

I'm impressed I've managed to make few fans from this tribe. It is rare to see a Rito at our concerts, I could easily count the times I've meet with a Rito fan with my fingers... and it's 3 times!

But oh well, I'm grateful for now I can enjoy some sweetie vacations at their village. :)

*timeskip to Rito Village*

Rito Village welcomes me with the scent of fresh wood and damp earth, the sound of the wind whistling and leaves rustling filled my ears.

A clear blue painted the sky above me with no clouds at sight.

From a far distance, a mechanical giant bird beast seems to be resting at the top of the giant rock pillar on the center of the village. 

My mind-blown by the impressive sight of the mechanical beast.

'That must be the Divine Beast everyone was been gossiping about!' My mouth-agape at it.

Walking into Rito Village, with it's cozy huts, wood bridges and giant rock pillars, I'm amazed by the view.

'It's just like a fairytale, how I wish my band members were here!' I look around in astonishment.

Everything would've felt perfect, if it wasn't for my assigned Rito escort who was being escorting me all the way from Hyrule Castle Town. 

My plan of attracting unnecessary attention to keep a low-profile going straigh to the sewer. RUINED!

'JUST GREAT! >:/'  I grumble .

My manager insisted, would dare say, almost begged. Being awared it was for my well-being and safety, I agreed. 

'An escort a day keeps the stalker away, (Y/n)...' their words keep repeating in my mind.

Flashback to Hyrule Castle Town: 

"It'll just be on your way to the village and once you comeback" They announce it.

"Inside the village, you'll be free to do whatever pleases you without the escort's supervision, the village is well guarded so you won't have to worry about stalkers, but do keep this in mind..." They grab my shoulders.

"Stay out of trouble. Your reputation and image is at play, this could be your only chance to show the Rito what you're built up with" They look at me directly to my star eyes.

"I ain't a big fan of you going on vacation's by yourself, but I can't deny you a break after all these years" They look down at the floor.

 "And please take care of yourself! my! MY-..." They raise their head.

 "MY SHINING LITTLE STAR! WAH-!' My manager throws theirselves to my arms, they were almost crying.

'Sheesh, they're so dramatic' I sweatdropped as I patted their backs, "There, there, I'm gonna be fine, okay? I promise to stay out of trouble" I try to calm down their ugly crying.

End of flashback:

'Tss, I already miss their dramatic ass' I smile to myself.

My footsteps clunking across the creaky wood floors of the village. Side-eyeing my escort, I glance at his stoic face, I'm surprised he've managed to keep that face since my depart. He's been awfully quiet too, not that I mind, I appreaciate silence.

I believe, he was well-trained for the duty; just as I was trained to perform for long periods of hours and keep up a smile despite the tiredness. Anyways, He's doing a great job!

I secretly send a soft smile his way.

I gaze down to my outfit, which consists of a black coat with a white shirt underneat.

 An ankle-length dark turquoise skirt with black ankle boots.

With my hair styled in a half-pony tail along with a black bow and a black cap resting in my head. Final touch, some lucid (favorite color) sunglasses. (A/n: change the outfit if u want, tho we got the drip on point, this the outfit Ai wears in the 'Idol' MV, I pretty liked it)

'Maybe, I was a little harsh towards the idea of an escort, I am enjoying his company, he's a calm guy' I continue sight-seeing the village with a beaming smile on my face.

3rd POV:

Soaring throughout the bright skies of Rito Village, an indigo Rito guards his home village.

The pride of the rito, Revali.

The rays of sunlight gently touching his feathers, whilst the wind currents embrace his body.

With hawk-eyed vision, the Rito insights for any suspicious behavior around of the village.

Suprinsingly, it was one of those days the indigo Rito would train until afternoon, preferably taking care of his commitments with the village first.

Flying around the giant rock pillar, his eyes quickly catch up a new traveler in the village, behind the traveler, one of the village's warrior following closely behind her.

Intrigued, he approaches the scene diving straightly at them. Landing in a intimidating way, he slowly stands up and puffs out his chest.

As he landed, he slowly stands up, his chest puffing out.

"Hello there" He greets with cockyness.

The traveler's caugh off guard by his sudden entrance.

"You're not from around here, would you care to explain your visit to Rito Village?" He looks at her from head to toe with a distrust gaze.

"If you haven't heard, we're at war with the Yiga Clan, you could be a spy for all I know" He slightly threaten her.

'Straight-forward, huh? Right to the grain, a Karen on my first day, how splendid'  She thought in irony.

'Mm, he stands with overconfidence, definitely gives me arrogant guy vibes' she analizes him in seconds.

'I've heard rumors about elite warriors for each tribe in Hyrule, known for excelling in their respective tribes with their talent and unique skills, ....I wonder if he might be..Nah, no way, I'm already annoyed by his attitude' I sweatdrop at my thoughts.

'Let's play a little with the birdie~'

She fake gasps.

"Oh! Please forgive me Sir, I didn't meant to look suspicious, I'm a mere humble traveler" She says convincingly with a hint of tease.

Raising his feathered-hand in defense, Revali's ready to argue back when..

"Sir, may I speak with you.." the escort glances at the girl.

 ...in private?"

Lowering his hand, he turns to the escort and they walk a few meters away from the girl.

Confused, Revali listens what he has to say.

"I was not informed about the reason this girl needing an escort, but for all I know, is that's she's a very influencial young lady across big mayority of Hyrule and requires special protection to keep off stalkers " The escort states in a low voice for only Revali to hear.

"Hmmm...a very important girl, you say? I can't say I'm entirely convinced, but I'm interested in hearing more" he replies lowly to the escort.

Turning around, he approaches her and Revali asks.

"What is your name, girl? What is so special about you?" 

'Something about him makes me trust him with my little secret, he seems to be some sort of leader or general of the rito warriors' I thought.

"Huh? I guess, it's only natural for you not to know me, but I must admit, out of Rito Village, anyone in Hyrule would be surprised at my presence by now" takes her sunglasses off.

Revealing a pair of shiny (eye color) orbs with a six-pointed star in each of her eyes.

Revali is taken aback, eyes slightly widening yet opted to remain stoic.

"I'm an idol, you see, that's what's so special about me, Sir~" She charismatically winks and does a peace sign.

The escort let out a small gasp, moved by her charisma while by the other hand, Revali stands deadpan.

"You're an idol? Hmm, okay then..." Revali takes a step back.

"So, what exactly brings you to Rito Village? If you're an idol, where's your fans? Where's your crew?" Revali cross his feathered-arms.

He hates to admit, he feels frighten yet drawn to the girl's eyes, like they're slowly mesmerizing him.

Noticing the indigo rito's gaze at her, she puts her sunglasses on and replies.

"I've come to clear my mind off my busy schedule. A vacation to be more precise, just look at this place" she turns around and spreads her arms.

"Isn't it majestic?! Why wouldn't anyone come visit this beautiful and aesthetic village?" she brightly replies.

 "And about my fans" Turns to glare at Revali, bringing her index finger to her lips.

"They don't know I'm here, planning on keeping a low-profile" rests her hands behind her back.

"And regarding my crew, they know about my whereabouts, but insisted on assigning me an escort for mere caution, keeps stalkers away, you know?" she charmingly nods at the escort with a cheeky smile, gaining a shy smile from him, completely forgetting his professionalism as a warrior.

Revali is left stun by the girl's influence on his warrior.

Sending him a threatening side-eye, the escort quickly composes himself.

"Interesting. A vacation...Well, I'm glad you've had the chance to...uh...rejuvenify yourself...here in Rito Village" Revali continues.

"But I'll need you to understand" His voice becomes serious.

"That this village is under my protection, now and forever" In a slow intimidating pace approaches her.

"Any suspicious or threatening travelers will be detained and questioned. No strangers are allowed on the divine beast, either" Raises his finger in a strict demeanor as he stops once he's in front of her.

"If you think for one second you're special enough to be given a free pass...think again. You'll go through the same procedure as everyone else. Got it?" He harshly looks down at her.

Standing as straight as possible, she happily salutes him.

 "Yes, Sir!" playing fool of his threats on purpose.

".....very good" Revali looks at the escort.

"She seems harmless, but I'm not taking any chances. Why don't you show her where she'll be staying for the night?" he says.

"Yes, Sir!" the escort salutes him with respect, earning an approvable nod from Revali.

"Make sure she doesn't access the Divine Beast. Don't take your eyes off her. You don't want to be in my bad books, do you?" Revali commands.

"No, Sir!" the escort exclaimed. 

A cough interrupts the two ritos,

"Ahem, I hope, I don't sound rude, but how could I possibly fly all the way up to the divine beast, if i don't have any wings?" she shrugs with a small mischievous grin on her lips.

'Wasn't it obvious, bird brains?' she thought.

The 2 ritos are hit hard with realization, both their eyes widening.

"Well, I may not be a scholar, but that sounds like a logical statement to me" Revali plays smart to hide his embarrasment.

"However, the King's instructions are clear. Not a single stranger is to enter that divine beast. I'm afraid you just can't be trusted" he defenses.

"Now, I suggest you finish escorting this girl to her room" Revali gives a firm look to the escort.

"And you, girl" he points at her.

"Don't even think about trying to fool around" he warns with a stern gaze.

"Understand?" he instructs both with authoritarian demeanor.

"Yes, Sir!" the escorts yells and proceeds to turn on his heels to escort the girl to the Village's Inn.

Feeling someone's eyes on him, Revali turns his head and notices (Y/n) stayed behind, glaring directly at him, a faint glimpse of amazement in her bright eyes.

"And you..." he says.

"I have my eyes on you..." He turns and begins walking away.

 Glacing back over his shoulder, his stare locks on her.

"Better keep your nose clean, girl " he threatens her slightly.

Chuckling softly, she joyfully replies.

"Worry not Sir! I wash this pretty face every morning and night, my nose won't get dirty" she jokes with an mocking humor.

"..." Unamused by her joke, Revali stands deadpan for a moment.

Looking at her with disapproval and irritation, he rolls his eyes and continues walking across the village.

Chuckling at his behavior, she turns on her heels and catches up with her escort. 

Y/N POV

Walking with a small spring in my steps, I merrily follow the escort to the Village's Inn.

When a thought came like lightning.

'Oooh! I didn't catch his nameee... and neither he catched mine,... Oh well, I'll probably find out later haha'  

[scotianostra]

Happy 79th Birthday to Scottish singer/songwriter Graham Lyle,  born March 11th 1944 in Belshill. 

There’s nothing I can find about Lyle’s early life, but he  is best known for  collaboration with fellow Scot Benny Gallagher.

Graham and Benny first teamed up in 1959 as members of a local The Bluefrets, and teamed up again in a band based in Saltcoats called the Tulsans.   The Tulsans released two singles in 1965 under the name James Galt these rare tracks are now prized by Northern Soul Collectors.

So after doing their apprenticeship around Ayrshire and Glasgow  Graham and Benny headed south to London in the mid 60′s,  a rare one-off single, “Trees”, was issued on Polydor UK another very rare song, if you come cross it in amongst an old dusty second hand shop you might get a few quid for it.

In 1968 the pair were signed up to write songs for artists on the Apple record label, mainly for Mary Hopkins. Two years later the pair formed the band  McGuinness Flint  writing nine of the 11 songs on the group’s eponymous debut album, including their two top five hits, When I’m Dead and Gone and  Malt and Barley Blues. A second album followed before the pair left to branch out as duo with Gallagher and Lyle in 1972.

As a duo, Gallagher and Lyle recorded a total of eight albums, while they weren’t all big hits the duo were well respected for there song writing and chemistry between them. Their biggest hits I Wanna Stay With You and Heart on My Sleeve  both of which also charted in the US.    Gallagher and Lyle ‘s songs both topped the US Billboard  Adult Contemporary chart for Art Garfunkel and Don Williams respectively.  As session musicians, Gallagher and Lyle also backed numerous big names on disc, including Eric Clapton, Andy Fairweather Low and Fairport Convention amongst others.

In 1981, Graham Lyle formed his own publishing company, Goodsingle Publishing (later to become goodsingle.com), chiefly to administer his own copyrights, and began writing for other artists. These artist included Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Patti Labelle, Joe Cocker, Hall & Oates, Jim Diamond, Wet,Wet,Wet, and Wyclef Jean….the list really is endless!

Finally the song that we definitely all know best that was written by Graham Lyle is the Tina Turner smash hit What’s love got to do with it, in which he teamed up with the English-Australian songwriter Terry Britten. It won the Song of the Year Grammy. The song hit the top of the charts in many countries, and was a worldwide hit, in 2012 it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

My favourite Lyle composition is another collaboration, he co-wrote I Should Have Known Better with Jim Diamond, and I love the song, I sing it often at Karaoke, and yes I hit all the notes!  Another one he wrote with Bitten was the Wets, If I never see you again, which reached number three in the charts here.

Caledonia USA, a musical based on the songs of Gallagher and Lyle, was staged in Largs in April 2016. Originally titled “When I’m Dead and Gone”, it was subsequently retitled after a new song written specially for the show by Gallagher and Lyle.

Again, as with his early life I can find nothing about what Graham has been up to of late, he teamed up with Gallagher for a tour in 2018, since then there’s nothing. 

[maggiecheungs]

hello ! Sorry to bother But I was wondering if u had any 90's Hong Kong movies that you could recommend me ? I'm researching them for school and I usually get the most interesting and gutwrenching sinophone movie recs from your blog so I thought I should ask if u had any ! Thank u ❣️

Hey you 🥰 this is probably waaaaaay to late to be of any help with your research (sorry!) but I'll answer anyway just in case <3 (also, it got. a bit long 😳 so sorry about that lmao)

I'll start off by addressing the elephant in the room, a.k.a. Wong Kar-wai: the director you really can't avoid mentioning when talking about 90s and 00s Hong Kong cinema, and for good reason. I won't mention all his films here, but his best known are probably In the Mood for Love (which is regularly hailed as one of the greatest films ever made, which. yes); Happy Together (a staple of queer cinema starring Tony Leung and Leslie Cheung caught up in a fever-like, destructive love affair in Buenos Aires); Chungking Express (another classic beloved by many, many people); Fallen Angels (a stylish and chaotically seductive about eccentric figures inhabiting Hong Kong's nightlife).

Another director from this period who I think is worth highlighting is Stanley Kwan. He's probably best known for Rouge, which is from 1987 but which I’m including because it’s a classic; it stars the wonderful Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui as the principals in a doomed, decades-spanning love affair, featuring sumptuous visuals, ghosts, and time-slippages between the 1930s and 1980s. His other most notable work is probably Center Stage (1991); it's a very meta biopic of the 1930s actress Ruan Lingyu, who is portrayed by Maggie Cheung, and Kwan uses the film to draw parallels between the two actresses living decades apart. And I'll also mention his Lan Yu (2001), a gay love story set against the backdrop of Tiananmen Square and its aftermath (it's probably weird to admit that this is one of my comfort films but shrugs).

Comrades: Almost a Love Story (1996) is an absolute favourite of mine, about immigrant identity, missed chances and lives you could have led, human connection under capitalism, and the love story between two people whose paths keep crossing despite everything--all of which is topped off with fantastic performances from Maggie Cheung and Leon Lai.

Farewell My Concubine (1993) was a Hong Kong-mainland co-production and is probably one of the best known films on this list, starring the fantastic Leslie Cheung in one of the defining performances of his career (tbh it would be worth watching for his performance alone). Coming in at just under 3 hours, it's a cinematic epic in pretty much every sense of the word.

Speaking of Leslie Cheung: Viva Erotica (1996), in which he plays an arthouse director whose Serious Films keep flopping, so he has to turn his next film into an erotic movie financed by a triad boss. It’s funny and big-hearted and has some unexpectedly interesting things to say about filmmaking and cinema as both an industry and as an artform.

Ann Hui is one of the few female big-name Hong Kong directors of the 90s; I'd recommend her 1990 film Song of the Exile--a film about generational conflict, immigration, cultural alienation and family ties, which takes place across the UK, Hong Kong, and Japan, and stars Maggie Cheung in the lead role. (Another prominent woman director from the period whom I've been meaning to watch since forever Mabel Cheung--really looking forward to finally seeing something of hers soon.)

Takeshi Kaneshiro and Kelly Chen had quite a few collaborations which are rather nice. Their Anna Magdalena (1998) is a quirky but poignant love-triangle story that inexplicably turns into a delightful steampunk romp. Lost and Found (1996) is another quirky-but-poignant love story, albeit a little more sedate.

For action films, there's the legendary John Woo, whose films are pretty quintessential action flicks--Hard Boiled is a pretty good example of his filmography. There's also The Heroic Trio and Executioners (both 1993): an action duology starring Michelle Yeoh, Maggie Cheung and Anita Mui as a trio of ass-kicking vigilante superheroes. It's sooooo much fun, peak cinema, marvel could never, etc. etc. I'm also going to mention Infernal Affairs (2002), starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Andy Lau, because it's one of my favourite action thriller films of all time.

Wuxia: a lot of the most well-known titles of the genre are from the first decades of the 2000s, and because of their scope they tend to be international productions, but often had veteran Hong Kong actors in main roles (for example, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Hero (2002), House of Flying Daggers (2004)--all of which I would recommend, btw). But there were also quite a few wuxia films that came out of Hong Kong in the 90s, including New Dragon Gate Inn (a fun 1992 remake of the 1960s wuxia classic, starring Brigitte Lin, Tony Leung Ka-fai, Maggie Cheung); The Green Snake (1993), a retelling of the traditional Legend of the White Snake that doubles as an interesting deconstruction of lots of the main tropes of the wuxia genre; Wong Kar-wai's 1994 Ashes of Time, which has an insanely star-studded cast and is pretty much what you'd expect a wkw wuxia film to be like.

.......aaaaaaand i'm going to stop there, because this is already a Lot😅 but hopefully there's something of use in here--if not for your research, then at least recommending a new film to watch <3

[anukulee]

Because You Know Better

It was a simple disagreement between Loki and Guinevere (Gwen), something that was more common between the two. The avengers were used to the sight of seeing their two teammates locked into some disagreement. All of them had long learned to stay out of it even Thor gave up on trying to reason with the two. For oddly enough whenever one talked about one of them they would get defensive of each other. As everyone usually tried to stay out of their way when they were like this as they tried not to be caught in the crossfire. But what was a simple disagreement between the two of them became complicated.....

Gwen had yet another failed date with a Midgard man something that Loki was used to. Mentioning that maybe she should try and search outside of Misgard. This resulted in Gwen giving him a big eye roll and her hands crossed against her chest glaring at the god. "Oh like you know any better?"

  "Well pet, I happen to know better." Loki was wearing a smirk that both infuriated Gwen and did things to her all at the same time.

  "Oooh, do you? What does the all-knowing Loki know about dating?"

"I know that getting out off dates usually has one knowing more than just a few things."

  "What would one know outside of dates?"

"Well if a date were to truly be of interest they would know things about a person."

  "Like what?"

"Shoe sizes, favorite book, favorite color."

  "You have listed do you?"

"What does it matter if I do?"

"Well for all you know we could have discussed that. Not that it would be any of your business if we did."

  "Please darling we both know that I know more about you than your so-called dates do."

"Enlighten me of what you could know about me oh great god of mischief."

  "Gladly darling."

"And stop calling me those names." Gwen's face went a little red in the face which tended to happen whenever Loki called her by those names.

At this, a smirk spread across Loki's features once more. "I will when you stop reacting that way pet."

Gwen let out an eye roll at this comment trying to cool down her face. "Yeah yeah."

"Now as to what I know about you. I know that whenever you are particularly invested in a media you will voice your opinions about it even if nobody is around, you tend to talk to yourself rather than be silent, and your eyes always light up when it comes to food, no matter how much you try to hide it I know words get to you, I know your favorite flowers are Irises even if you claim it's roses, I also know you can prefer comedy even if you say you love romance more, I know one of your favorite songs is Come Home With Me from that Misgard musical Hadestown, I know your dream relationship is someone who will bicker with you because it means it means no matter how much you fight you will care about each other, and I know you like Italian endearments because you find them romantic."

 "How do you know that?"

"Because I know you far more than your dates could ever know about you."

  "As if the only you can know that is if you read my mind."

  "Darling I don't need to read your mind to know you."

  "Ooh, then how can you know me?"

  "I can know you because I pay attention far more than you might think."

 "Sure as for my dating you act as if you are any different. I have yet to see you with any long-term partners."

  "Well, maybe that's because I have someone in mind."

  "Ooh, and who does the great god of mischief have in mind?"

  "It matters not because they would never return my feelings."

"Sounds to me you are being a coward and here I thought you were the mighty Loki burdened with glorious purpose."

"I regret telling you that."

 "Well I know, so it's too late for that sweetie," Gwen added an endearment hoping that would get something out of Loki as his name got out of her. She was right because rather than say something Loki went silent for a moment. As if he was trying to process something until finally, he spoke.

  "Sweetie?"

  "Ooh is the great Loki embarrassed?"

  "You wish short stuff."

  "Ooh, short stuff you haven't called me that one in a while. You question me about my dating life, but tell me nothing about yours. How is that fair?"

  "Does that  matter?"

  "It matters because you act as if you know all about love, yet haven't shown what you do know. All bark and no bite it seems."

  "I am a god and I know far more than your Midgardian mind could comprehend."

  "What would you know about love then? Please tell me oh great Loki." Gwen took a fake bow as she said. 

 "I know that love is a fickle thing."

  "What else?"

"I know love is selfless and one could never love a monster such as me."

"Oh and is that why you have yet to tell whoever you love about your feelings because you think they couldn't love you?"

  "What does it matter if I did it's my choice if I recall."

  "It matters because if someone can't love you for who you are then they must be the most idiotic person in all of the nine realms."

"Is that so," Loki asked as he took a step forward toward Gwen. Gwen too took a step forward toward Loki. Loki's height towered over Gwen. Gwen's heart was beating something she was used to when dealing with Loki. Feelings that she had long learned to repress after all even if she were to have an attraction towards Loki nothing would change. She was merely a Misgardian who dared to fight back against him. 

  "It is."

"And if I were to say that person, was you? What would you say then?"

At that moment for once in her life Gwen had nothing to counter back. At this moment Gwen's heart was skipping leaps and bounds far more than it had been on any date she had been on. Gwen was trying to calm down reminding herself that it was probably just another one of Loki’s pranks that one such as he could never be attracted to much less love someone like her. She was a Midgardian who would only live a hundred years compared to the thousands of years Loki had left in his lifetime. By the time she died Loki would remain looking as he did now even if he was merely a couple of years older than her in human years. He wouldn’t age not for thousands of more years while Gwen herself would age year after year. So even if his voice was like deep and soothing, his looks handsome, his long raven hair so tempting to touch, his smile so sweet to see, and his personality hard not to love even with all that it was. Gwen couldn’t be drawn into it no matter what. No matter how many sweet words he said. No matter how much she was tempted to go into his arms and see what they feel like. No matter how much it was hurting her to hear how he saw himself all because of the gaslighting of his adoptive father. No matter how much she was tempted to see what it would be like to love him. It would never end happily something that was keeping her on the straight and narrow as Gwen finally thought of her next words. “Very funny Loki. But I am in no mood for your games” A cold laugh came out of Gwen's mouth as her heart broke a little.

  “It’s not a game.”

  “It must be because we both know how this would end.”

   “How would it end?”

  “I would pass away eventually and get older while you would remain as handsome as you are now.”

  “There are steps we can take.”

 “Loki please don’t do this.” Gwen's voice became one of pleading as she kept remaining herself not to be drawn in.

  “Do what?”

“You know what. Say those words we both know what I am to you.”

  “And what would that be love?”

“I’m the Midgardian that you fight with, the one who you tease for not being able to get a date, someone you could never love.”

 At this, a look of hurt and anger seemed to cross Loki’s face. He took a step back. “Why because you could never love a monster such as me? The monster that parents tell their children about at night”

  “No that isn’t what this is about?”

“Oh, then what is it about enlighten me.”

“Loki you are handsome no matter what form you are in whether that be Jotun or Asgardian. But you are also still the same trickster god who will live more years than I can ever imagine.”

  “What if I don’t care about that? What if I were to tell you I would do anything to ensure that I stay with you? What would you say then?”

  “Loki you want the throne still do you not? You can’t have that if you are with me. Surely Asgard would never accept a Midgardian queen?”

  “And if I were to say I am willing to give up the throne for you. What would you say then?”

“Loki doesn’t do this. Don’t say words you don’t mean.”

At this Loki let out a loud groan that surprises Gwen. “You are truly frustrating you know. I am offering to give up any chance of the throne that was promised to me. Yet still, you doubt me I don’t know why I love you.”

At this Gwen once again froze upon hearing these words. Gwen had never heard those words, not from any of the guys she had seen in the past. Gwen tried to speak as she was trying to process everything. All while her heart was determined to leap out of her chest. “You love me?”

  “Obviously how can one not love you?”

  “You weren’t kidding about it?”

“No.”

  “But why nobody seems to love me?”

“Why wouldn’t one love you?”

  “Because I am too blunt, I fight with almost everyone, I am stubborn, and so many other reasons.”

  “You tell me I am not a monster right?”

“Yes.”

  “Well, you are so much more than just blunt and stubborn. You are so caring towards others even me. You defended me to Stark and you saw who I was even after what I did to your planet. Were you not listening when I told you what I saw about you?”

  “You might have to remain me.” A smile began to appear on Gwen as she got closer to Loki as was on the balls of her toes. Maybe she could take a chance on him he couldn’t be any worse than any of her other dates.

  “Ooh, do I? Does this mean you will take a chance on me shortie?”

  At this Gwen let out an eye roll. “Must you ruin the moment by calling me shortie?”

  “Maybe I call you shortie because I love you. You ever think of that?”

  “Perhaps and I don’t know why I am putting up with you.”

“You like me and you know it.”

  “Oooh, I can’t love you?”

“Do you?”

  “Not yet, but I can see it happening.”

  “Can you well then maybe I will need to ensure it happens.”

“Because you know any better?”

  “Yes, I do because I am a god.”

“Cocky, aren’t you?”

  “Perhaps.”

“Loki.”

“Darling, Sweetie, Pet, Shortie.”

“Must you with the nicknames can’t you shut up.”

At this Loki let out a smirk. “Make me shortie,” he teased when he did this Gwen got tired, pulled him by the tie to her level, and pressed her lips against his, smirking the entire time. That single kiss started the start of something new all because they thought they knew better than the other.

A/N: I have so many issues and I am attempting this. I told myself I wasn't going to write anything yet I ended up writing something. So in case nothing happens let me reveal to you all a peek into Gwen and Loki's future. They date and when Thanos comes Loki will betray him, Thanos will choose to snap Gwen to torment Loki knowing that Loki living while Gwen was snapped would hurt him more. But guess what after the time skip Loki will get her back and she will join them in eventually kicking Thanos behind. Loki and her will get married and bicker until the end of their days. I think there are two endings Gwen will become the goddess of agreements or mischief or Loki will become mortal I think the first will happen but the choice is up to you. Either way they live happily plus Odin owns them for the whole near Hela thing and Dark World. Plus the lies so yeah that is their future. Now I bid you all goodbye until the next update. 

[aestheticvoyage2023]

Day 69: Friday March 10, 2023 - “Sparty Hooky”

After a very busy morning for both of us, we were both ready to crash.  I took a quiet afternoon off work to lay down next to William and watch Sparty get bounced from the BIG 10 tourney.   Guess I can cross them off my weekend To Do List!  When he finally fell asleep, nestled into my armpit, and I turned the volume all the way down, that quiet time together, was the best part of my day and the best part of my week.  Sometimes I really struggle.  Those little quiet moments make it all up.  Sparty lost and I didn’t even really care.  Watching that game really was great.

Song: Zach Bryan - This Worlds A Giant

Quote: “Beauty is not who you are on the outside, it is the wisdom and time you gave away to save another struggling soul like you.” ― Shannon L. Alder

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 11/03/2023 (Nicki Minaj, j-hope/J. Cole)

For an eighth consecutive week, “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus reigns on top of the UK Singles Chart. Welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

Rundown

I’d like to say that this is a pretty calm week, which I’m somewhat glad about, though it does mean I don’t have all that many observations so let’s just get straight into our notable dropouts, which are songs exiting the UK Top 75 – the chart that I cover – after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40. This week, that list includes “Me & You” by Central Cee (good!), “METAMORPHOSIS” by INTERWORLD, “Here with Me” by d4vd (right after peaking as well), “The Color Violet” by Tory Lanez, “Lionheart (Fearless)” by Joel Corry and Tom Grennan and finally, “When I Was Your Man” by Bruno Mars.

Considering we don’t have any returning entries, it’s just the gains filling up the space left by those songs, and we have an interesting selection of songs gaining traction, with “In Ha Mood” by Ice Spice at #58, “Snowfall” by Oneheart and reidenshi of all songs at #57, “REACT” by Switch Disco featuring Ella Henderson and the late Robert Miles at #54, “Bad Habits” by Ed Sheeran inexplicably picking up at #53, “Here” by Tom Grennan up big at #50, “I Ain’t Worried” by OneRepublic at #43, “Shut Up My Mom’s Calling” by Hotel Ugly at #41, “Another Love” by Tom Odell at #40, “Oh Baby” by Nathan Dawe and Bru-C featuring bshp and Issey Cross making the top 40 at #35 (great!), “Whistle” by Jax Jones featuring Calum Scott also making the top 40 at #34 (not great!), “22” by JayO flying way up off of the debut to #32, “Pretty Boys” of Caity Baser at #26, and finally, making its way to her first top 10, we have Libianca at #8 with “People”. It’s a fantastic song, and I’m very much glad it’s here – now the task the UK has is ensuring she stays there.

The top five of this week’s UK Singles Chart consists of “Sure Thing” by Miguel at #5, “Kill Bill” by SZA at #4, “Die for You” by The Weeknd at #3, “Boy’s a liar” by PinkPantheress at #2 (I would credit the remixes for those two if OCC did) and of course, “Flowers” at the top. As a little aside, if you’re wondering what the best way to tell a slower or quieter week from a standard or busier one on the chart, you could look at the low sales in the top 100 or simply see where “Mr. Brightside” by the Killers is. It’s up five spots to #65. It’s even above a new Justin Bieber song. Speaking of...

NEW ARRIVALS

#74 – “Private Landing” – Don Toliver featuring Justin Bieber and Future

Produced by Cardo, Omar Guetfa, Rob Bisel and 206Derek

So Don Toliver released his newest album, Love Sick, and it was a bit of a commercial disappointment. I haven’t heard the record, but given it has credits such as James Blake, TisaKorean, Teezo Touchdown and Toro y Moi, I can only assume it’s a more adventurous project that paid the price for being so, debuting at #36 on the UK’s albums chart, his lowest showing yet. If Don had a Justin Bieber and Future collaboration, one does wonder why he couldn’t have pushed this as a single to save a flailing rollout, but commercial success isn’t the only thing that matters, of course... well, okay, financially and statistically it is, but is the song any good? No, of course not. Don’s voice is very situational so placing his nasal riffing over intimidating bass knocks with an odd bass mix and a monotonous bell loop that sounds accidental just doesn’t work, especially if the song is going to refuse any attempt at being actually catchy. Whilst Future obviously fits well within these kinds of textures, his verse isn’t particularly interesting, and then we get to the Justin Bieber “verse” and it’s pretty clear that this is an attempt at bridging gaps like Travis Scott did so successfully on Rodeo, pitting Bieber against Future but his “verse” consists solely of droning Auto-Tuned repetition over a “psychedelic” beat that both goes nowhere and doesn’t end up feeling as much of a trip as it does just an unfinished demo, especially if Bieber’s going to put as little effort in as possible, seemingly not understanding the purpose of all the trap-rap he clearly listens to. When it comes to constructing a song, whilst Travis has his problems, especially in the mixing department, at least there’s ambition but with “Private Landing”, absolutely nothing happens between the first and final chorus that makes either stand out. Also, I guess Future’s really into feet now, which is brand new information.

#73 – “Freezing” – Mimi Webb

Produced by Andrew Wells and The Nocturns

Mimi Webb has released her debut album, Amelia, which debuted at #4 on the albums chart and the new single is seemingly less popular than “Mr. Brightside” by a decent amount. I could leave it at that, right? It’s a breakup track with an “anthemic” hook that sounds way clunkier than I think Webb realised before recording, going for that final wham line in the chorus that could work if it weren’t so tackily connected to the rest of said chorus. The synths are hazy and lacking in punch unlike the drum machines which just pummel cheap gated synthpop in your ears like a conveyor belt. Yawn.

#70 – “Right Hand” – Unknown T featuring Knucks

Produced by R14 Beats, Chucks and HONEYWOODSIX

Unknown T’s back with a song about his right-hand girl, who doesn’t understand his life but is still precious to him... I don’t care, there are no stakes and his verses are not really funny or interesting so I have no interest in this relationship. T has his awkward charisma that he always has, but it comes off as a bit on-the-nose when he’s rapping with obvious punch-ins over a very minimal beat with softer keys. His gruff ad-libs and flows that sound really bizarre under his constantly snivelling, menacing cadence just doesn’t really work over this instrumental. Knucks is way more predisposed to work on this material, and his flow is way smoother, telling a short narrative within the little time he has about this girl whose boyfriend is toxic so Knucks kills him, but only as an act of selflessness because he’s not interested in this “groupie” he’s now acquired. I mean, it’s misogynistic, sure, but at least slightly compelling compared to Unknown T? Regardless, there’s just not much to this song, so let’s move on.

#63 – “Rhyme Dust” – MK and Dom Dolla

Produced by MK and Dom Dolla

These little duos make sense for now, but the next one goes against that trend as much as possible. For now, however, Mark Kinchen teams up with Australian producer Dom Dolla for a song that may require a bit of a history lesson. In 1971, Kool & the Gang, legendary funk group, released a live album that contained the great jam track “N.T.”. Like many tracks from Kool & the Gang, it has been sampled extensively in hip hop over the years, by a grand roster of rappers including Nas, ScHoolboy Q, Dr. Dre, Run-DMC, Common and more, as well as several times by Q-Tip. Whilst several of Tip’s uses of the song’s drum break were in music by his group A Tribe Called Quest, he reached #12 in the UK as a solo act with “Breathe and Stop”, a catchy, percussive track produced by the late J Dilla that honestly I’m not a fan of. I just find it a bit dull, as whilst Tip’s verses are sometimes impressive, the flows are monotonous and the breathy percussiveness of it all ends up actually hurting the groove. Hey, if Q-Tip and J Dilla will fail, which they rarely did, they will fail in an interesting way. Naturally, 23 years later, MK and Dom Dolla scrape up some vocal loops from that song for a propulsive house banger that sets a pretty unsettling atmosphere at first with its door-knocking sound effects, sirens and incessant mantra from Q-Tip until the buzzy synths come in and the hype starts to click in... yet it doesn’t come immediately. Instead, a soaring, ambient synth gradually comes in aside a growing sprinkling of atmosphere, and by the time we get back to that lead synth, we’re without a bass. It’s a pretty intricate, club-ready track, but it’s also damn near eerie, especially since once that bass knock finally comes in the whole song becomes a minimal almost-pastiche of itself, using those same loops that are familiar to you but without much effort regarding an actual groove or melodic base, just fluttering out as soon as possible. It’s pretty difficult to hear how this came from a funk jam by Kool & the Gang until you realise how much this sounds like an essential moment of tension within a DJ mix, and that’s definitely one I want to hear. I’d be surprised if it lasted on the charts, but it’s a welcome addition to this week’s chart at least.

#59 – “Can’t Tame Her” – Zara Larsson

Produced by MTHR

Much like Miley Cyrus before her, Zara Larsson can’t be tamed, and is proving so through one of the tamest genres possible: an 80s synthpop pastiche. That is really a wild and untamed sound to tackle in 2023, truly. I don’t even know why I’m being sarcastic, I actually like the song a fair bit, given how the synths are ACTUALLY 80s in the way they stab in and out instead of always phasing in, and they hit particularly hard against the sweet pianos that add a lot of melodrama to the song. The writing is fun too, with Larsson observing this party girl who is unbothered by any attempt to tie her down, which I actually think is more interesting than her directly taking on that role. If I have a problem, it’s probably that the drums just don’t hit as hard as they really good, as whilst they are pretty choppy, I’d prefer for a fully propulsive and overwhelming rhythm section, yet the chipperness of the lighter production here, especially with the cheesy bass synth wobble in the second verse, probably fits the content more. Some of Larsson’s melodic tendencies and inflections are a bit awkward and stuffed in, but that’s pretty much a nitpick, especially since I love the infectious gang vocals in the chorus. The song does feel like Ava Max should be singing it, since she could actually kill that bridge with her performance that Larsson kind of dips out of, especially when she’s needlessly distorted in the mix, and Cirkut could add a bit more pulse to it, but Larsson holds her own fine and ultimately, it’s an insanely catchy pop song that I think will be a hit, and absolutely deserves to be.

#37 – “on the street” – j-hope and J. Cole

Produced by Pdogg

Our final duo, like I said, makes a lot less sense, though also more than you’d expect. Sure, j-hope is a member of BTS, and K-pop as an industry is very separated from American hip hop, especially the semi-conscious brand that Cole makes. As an art form however, K-pop cannot exist as we know it without its rap influences, and BTS is a group that made its rappers a large part of their music for much of the time that the band was together. j-hope has referenced and remixed J. Cole before, and he even met his idol at a festival last year, so the collaboration makes a bit more sense, especially given it’s been nearly a decade now since BTS first released their “Born Sinner” remix. Oh, and continuing the trend the last two songs set, this is seriously great. The whistle and acoustic guitar had me worried but against the overwhelming boom bap drums and record scratching, this has a really nostalgic pop-rap feel that j-hope matches with his melodic rapping (even though his verse is annoyingly short for all its passion), as well as the chorus that doesn’t show much vocal range but instead acts as one of those casual rap choruses that everyone can sing along to: if j-hope were to show more of his vocal prowess, it wouldn’t be nearly as casual and chill, especially with the multi-tracking making it sound like he’s hanging out with friends and they’re all singing together. Of course, we then have J. Cole, whose verse is absolutely transcendent. I am not a fan of Cole’s, in fact quite the contrary, but his more homely verses always get me, and this one starts with some flexing but it’s all founded in genuine anxieties that he’s gotten over, all with an effortless flow and slick rhyme schemes. The way the beat envelops around him when he gets into the compelling anecdote about why he personally believes in God is just really sweet and excellently crafted by Pdogg, especially with those smooth keys in the back and the distorted drum fills. Cole is definitely in his typical bag when going all meta and referring to his place in the rap game, but him contemplating retirement sounds a lot more genuine this time around, especially when his bars about a father crying when seeing his daughter walk down the aisle, and easing off to “let her grow”, in some ways mirror both the fact that j-hope will himself be enlisting in the military, as well as the fact that Cole has a record label now for his younger talent, that recently with JID and Ari Lennox is showing a lot more potential, meaning Cole’s preparing for his role as an elder statesman. It’s a fantastic verse then topped off by Cole showing his singing skills for once, with some of his most impressive harmonies backing j-hope in that final chorus, which really highlights the role model dynamic Cole balances against j-hope. Goddamn, a song by a BTS member and J. Cole actually made me feel something other than regret. I know it’s only in the top 40 because of those K-pop stan sales, but it’d be a breath of fresh air if it stuck around for any longer.

#30 – “Red Ruby da Sleaze” – Nicki Minaj

Produced by Go Grizzly, Cheese Beatz and Tate Kobang

“Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)” by Lumidee is a very interesting song. It’s an oddly ghostly, pitchy vocal performance over a percussive, kind of lo-fi drum pattern that not even Timbaland would have approached yet in 2003, yet is still mind-numbingly catchy. It hit #2 in the UK on release, and has since been somewhat of a staple, recently finding success as a sample for Chip and most notably Anne-Marie and Little Mix with “Kiss My (Uh-Oh)”, which is pretty fascinating considering how singular the song really is. I was pretty compelled by Nicki’s use of the sample since it kept the awkward intensity whilst adding Nicki’s similarly singular rap delivery, with some pretty detailed, aggressive bars dissing her competition... but with the chorus, the awkward, trap-adjacent percussion comes in alongside Nicki’s lazy, Auto-Tuned singing that never sounds good, and all of that intensity just leaves the song, since she ends up in goofy sex-rap territory once again. The second verse, once again, is pretty intense and uses the ghostly essence of the Lumidee track as a great foundation for some hardcore bars, even if she becomes less tense and more reminiscent of boring flexes as it goes on. Honestly, I know it wouldn’t have been a hit, but she could have just made a drumless track – she was raised in New York so a grimey, Griselda-esque sound would be a natural fit, and it would take out all of the need for the “contemporary” production since it would reach a more niche audience alongside her core base of fans who already buy everything she makes. I don’t think it would alienate nearly as many fans as she thinks it would, and it’s a shame that there’s a pop hook tacked on to what could be a heavy-hitting, toxic diss track otherwise. With Nicki Minaj, for me, it’s always been hit-or-miss, and yes, usually, within the same song as well, but I REALLY wished I could have liked this more because it could have been well up my alley.

Conclusion

Well, it’s an interesting batch of new songs and most of them are pretty alright. Worst of the Week easily goes to Don Toliver, Future and Justin Bieber for “Private Landing”, although I’m mostly blaming the producers... okay, and Justin Bieber. Mimi Webb bags the Dishonourable Mention like clockwork for “Freezing”, but as for our best it wasn’t even that difficult either. Of all people, j-hope and J. Cole take away Best of the Week with “on the street”, whilst I think MK and Dom Dolla are just barley eeked out by “Can’t Tame Her” by Zara Larsson for the Honourable Mention. All three of those songs really pleasantly surprised me. As for what’s next on the horizon, I suppose we’ll see what damage that Miley Cyrus album does, but for now, thank you for reading and I’ll see you next week!

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Complete Mess - Daniel Ricciardo - Chapter 2

Read part 1 here! 

Masterlist

Pairing: DrummerAU!Daniel x female!Reader 

Summary: After a bad break-up, your friends drag you to a bar in search of a rebound hook-up. When you cross paths with a certain tattooed drummer in a local band, he seems like just the guy for the job

Warnings: swearing, drinking, reader is BIG DUMB in this one lmao, Daniel being secC as always, kissing (kind of haha) 

Author’s note: finally chapter 2, yay!! Sorry it took me a while, uni has been kicking my ass lately. Gonna start a tag list for this one, so message me if you want to be added! Also I changed the header bc I decided the last one didn’t fit the *vibez* yk 

Based on the song Complete Mess by 5SOS, give it a listen if you want :)) Feedback is very much appreciated!! Enjoy xx 

Words: 4k

Chapter 2: This evanescence always fleeting like a flame

It was no surprise that Lily had managed to drag the two of you through the crowd of people so that you could stand right at the stage. She had clasped your hand like her life depended on it, knowing that if she didn’t, you would gladly stay in your comfortable little booth. Alex was nowhere to be seen, and you silently cursed him for flying under Lily’s radar because she was so focused on getting you laid. Luckily, you’d managed to grab another drink before Lily abducted you, and you quickly downed about half of it, hoping that it would help with the awkward – I have no idea what to do with my hands – phase of the concert.

 You turned your attention to the band, noticing their lead singer and guitarist who you hadn’t met. After a quick Instagram investigation, as per Lando’s suggestion, you’d found out that their names were scotty and Michael. You could tell many girls would go crazy over these guys, both more ‘conventionally’ handsome than Daniel, but neither really your type. As soon as the thought crossed your mind, you focused on the drum set that was set up at the back of the stage. Daniel was already there, making some last-minute adjustments to his drums, looking so serious and concentrated that it made your brows screw together in intrigue, as Scotty began introducing them and hyping the crowd up to the best of his abilities.

 “I can tell you’re into him you know” Lily whispered in your ear next to you with a smirk.

 “Lily, remember what I told you about needing a break with relationships?”

 “Who said anything about a relationship?” she answered smugly, “come on, I know you must be sexually frustrated after Nick, let’s be real, you should have dumped his ass after you found out he wasn’t into giving head-“

 “Lily!” you gave her a slight push as a final warning to stop talking. Luckily, the band started their first song, the sound coming from the speakers just a few feet away from you finally succeeding in shutting Lily up. You downed the remainder of your drink as you shook your head at her a final time and focused on the music instead.

They were good, you had to admit. Scotty was made for the front man role, his voice perfect for the indie rock vibe they were clearly going for. As Lily and you swayed to the music, her words still lingered in your head. Maybe she had a point, you couldn’t for the life of you remember when you’d had sex that was, you know, good. So perhaps there was no harm in giving it a try with a hot drummer guy? Jesus, listen to yourself, sounding like a desperate groupie or something, you weren’t even sure if he wanted you like that in the first place.

The turmoil inside your head was causing your attention to focus solely on Daniel, sweat visibly dripping from beautiful nose as he drummed his heart out, perfectly illuminated by the subtle stage lights. He looked like heaven.

Suddenly, his eyes caught yours as they transitioned into a slower song, and he flashed what was clearly his trademark smile at you, eyes crinkling and perfect teeth on full display before he focused back on the drums. He put even more into it this time, almost like he wanted to show off now that he knew you were watching. As your conscience dripped back into reality, the short interaction had you feeling way too hot under the lights and in between the dozens of people. When you turned to look for Lily, you noticed Alex had finally appeared too, holding another one of those awful blue cocktails in his hand. Great, this gave you the window of opportunity to make your escape without her noticing, because if this night was really going to end up where it was heading now, you were going to need more alcohol.

Once back at the bar, you chose to abandon the flimsy cocktails and go for shots instead.

About forty-five minutes and 4 shots later, Lily and Alex joined you at the bar, and you could hear the crowd cheer as Scotty thanked them and made his way off the stage, but not before Lando could butt in and plug their Instagram on the mic. Ofcourse.

 “Don’t think I didn’t notice your little houdini act over there, missy” Lily said in a disappointed tone, “Alex isn’t half as fun of a dance partner as you are”

 “Uhm, I’m standing right here, you know” Alex said in disbelief.

 “Listen, guys, I had fun and I really enjoyed tonight, but I’m tired…and also drunk because I just had shots on my own for no reason so I think I’m gonna head ho-“

 “uh-uh, no way I’m letting you leave without some more shots and some more dancing, I heard the DJ takes requests when he’s drunk enough so we’re dancing to Taylor Swift whether you like it or not, I don’t make the rules”

 Though you already wanted nothing more than to be in your bed, you felt bad for turning Lily down after she tried so hard to cheer you up. Without her, you’d still be on your sofa in the same position she found you in earlier today. You gave her a nod, and she clapped her hands excitedly as she ordered some more shots for you.

Things were already starting to blur by the time Lando joined your group of three, clearly bursting from adrenaline from the show, patting Alex on the back and gladly accepting the shot that Lily offered him.

“You weren’t there to catch my drum stick”

The voice coming from behind you made you jump so hard you almost fell from the bar stool as you clutched your chest in surprise. Daniel quickly gripped one of your arms and set you up right again as he apologized, clearly fighting the urge to laugh at you. Smooth, Y/N.

“Yeah sorry, I uh- I got a bit hot, needed a drink” you felt like an idiot as you gestured towards the many empty shot glasses in front of you. You wished the ground would just give way and swallow you whole, because your original plan of getting some liquid courage to aid you in flirting with Daniel was falling apart in front of your very eyes. 

Your drunkness was made worse by how exhausted you felt, a combination of the emotions of the last day, the lack of sleep, and the alcohol making it so you had trouble keeping your eyes open, let alone maintain any sort of noteworthy conversation with the man in front of you. 

Daniel had changed out of his band tee, too soaked with sweat to justify keeping it on, and had traded it for a simple white one. The contrast between the shirt and his tan skin was so enthralling that you failed to notice that his mouth was moving. Right, he was speaking to you. Shit.

 “Don’t worry, I saved you one” he said as he reached into his back pocket and slid a single drum stick over to you on the bar as he took a seat on the stool next to you.

You stared at the drum stick like you’d never seen one before in your life, not knowing how to react to his gesture, before finally collecting yourself and at least making an attempt to match his flirty behavior.

 “I should save this and sell it when you guys make it big, huh?”

 “When we make it big, I’ll give you more than just a stupid drumstick” he stated firmly as he took a sip from is beer, tossing in a wink for good measure.

 “Hmm. You give all the girl you meet at your shows one of these?” you asked as you twirled to drumstick between your fingers. You were sure he would answer with some cheesy line like “only the pretty ones”, but his response caught you somewhat by surprise. He took a long pause before answering.

 “No” he set down his bottle and turned his face to yours, eye contact so intense that it made your insides turn…in a good way.

“No, I don’t” was all he said, letting the words marinate between the two of you for a moment before finally tearing his eyes from yours again.

His confident demeanor had your intoxicated and tired brain scrambling to match his assertive tone, and you suddenly felt like you were in way over your head with him. It made you feel small, like there was no way you could ever be interesting enough for a guy like Daniel for him to entertain kissing you, let alone take you home. 

If you weren’t even good enough for an asshole like Nick, then Daniel would surely be out of your league. Maybe he was only flirting with you because Lily set him up to it, you wouldn’t put it past her at this point. As the familiar sensation of self-doubt started making its roots inside your mind, you did what you were used to doing, and ran.

 “If you’ll excuse me, I’m just gonna…go to the bathroom”

There wasn’t even time for Daniel to say anything, but you caught a glimpse of his expression before you made your escape. He looked disappointed, confusion clear on his gorgeous face.

 You did actually make it to the bathroom, and as you gripped the sides of the sink and took a look at yourself in the mirror, you felt even more drunk than you did before, clearly those last couple of shots that Lily bought you had taken their time to kick in. Okay, you needed to find Lily and tell her you were going home for real this time, making a mental note to never attempt to forget about being broken up with through alcohol ever again. Doing your best to collect yourself, you made your way back to the dancefloor and attempted to locate Lily and Alex. You were stumbling now, and you realized that you were going to need Lily to get you into an Uber safely. Absolutely fantastic.

The helpless feeling that had been slowly building in your chest was threatening to spill over as you pushed through the crowd. You felt dizzy, panic starting to settle in as you tried to find your phone in your pockets to text Lily. When you couldn’t locate it, struggling to move in the dark and crowded bar, you felt tears pricking your eyes, a physical sign of the frustration you felt with yourself.

Out of nowhere, you felt a hand on your shoulder, softly gripping your upper arm and dragging you to the side of the bar. The hand felt alien, and it surely wasn’t Lily, so you were half ready to throw a punch if the stranger had bad intentions with you, two tears now quietly rolling over your cheeks.

“Hey, hey, shhh. It’s me” Daniel grabbed both your shoulders now, turning you to face him so you could see that he wasn’t a threat. You finally calmed down, letting your tense shoulders relax under his hands.

 “Come on, let’s get out of here”

Daniel took your hand in his and led you to the exit of the bar. The cold air made you feel instantly better, like a fog being lifted.

 “Are you okay?” Daniel asked worryingly as he let go of your hand. You found yourself instantly missing the warmth of his hands on you, even though you’d only just met him, his presence felt as comforting as being next to a friend you’d known for years.

 “I’m sorry for being weird, I just…I had a really shitty day and I drank too much and I can’t find my friends and I’m just so fucking tired so-“

 “Okay, okay” Daniel stopped you before you could get yourself all worked up again “listen, tell me your address and I’ll get you home safe, okay?”

The idea of finally going home and into your bed seemed like heaven, but you knew you couldn’t just leave without letting Lily know you were okay, so you decided to try and find your phone again. This time, with ample room and the street lighting to aid you, you located it quickly in the pocket of your jacket, but the relief was quickly replaced by distress once again as you felt around for your keys and came up empty handed.

 “Shit, my keys, I know I had them, they have to be here-“

Daniel’s eyes followed your frantic hands as you examined every pocket, without any luck.

 “Listen, I know the owners here, they’ll find them, and we can come pick them up tomorrow, it’s a lost cause looking now with all those people inside. Text your friend to let them know you’re okay, you can crash at my place” the worried look that he had dawned seconds ago had made way for a content grin, clearly satisfied with his plan. His calmness had rubbed off on you, and suddenly the situation didn’t feel nearly as dire as it did a few minutes ago. You quickly drafted a text to Lily, not really knowing how to explain the situation in a single sentence.

 Hey, I lost my keys and Daniel is letting me sleep at his place

I’m good but very tired and drunk and I blame you and your shots (and using Taylor Swift to bribe me when they didn’t even play any of her songs)

Love you Lils, tty tmrw

 Good, that should do it. You tucked your phone back in your pocket and smiled at Daniel, letting him know you were ready to go. Expecting him to pull out his phone and order an uber, you were surprised when he just started walking down the street. When he realized you weren’t following him, he turned on his heels and looked at you expectantly.

 “Well, you coming? Or do I need to carry you, princess?” he asked as he made a little curtesy bow. The nickname that rolled of his tongue in a teasing tone made you sober up slightly, and you quickly caught up with him, giving his shoulder a soft punch in retaliation.

His apartment was less than 10 minutes from the bar, a narrow building that looked like it had seen better days. Daniel led you up the two flights of stairs before stopping at his door and fumbling with his keys to open the door. It was comical almost, how you’d imagined ending up in this exact situation earlier in the night, only it hadn’t gone exactly the way you’d intended it to. He let you enter first, and you stepped inside hesitantly, taking in your surroundings as you did.

It was…different than you’d expected. On the short walk here, you’d imagined his apartment as a bachelor pad inhabited by a guy in a band, messy and filled with posters, a little like the bar, but the small studio apartment you stood in was nothing like that.

It was neat, dark walls mostly empty except for a small Australian flag that hung in the centre of the wall, the creaky wooden floor making the space feel more warm and homey. A few pictures adorned the small table that doubled as a dining table, and you blindly wandered towards it and picked up one of the frames.

It was a photo of Daniel and his parents; you could tell because he looked so much like his mother that it made you smile fondly. The picture next to it was one of Daniel and a little boy on a bike, both smiling wide at the camera.

 “You’re a family guy, huh?” you asked as you gestured towards the pictures.

Daniel took off his jacket and took a few steps towards you. He nodded, but didn’t say anything, and you could tell that talking about his family conjured up certain emotions that he might want to hide from.

 “Do you miss it? Home, I mean” you asked as you nodded towards the Australian flag on his wall. Daniel cast his eyes towards the ground as he leaned back against his kitchen island, only a few feet away from you in the small studio.

 “Yeah, ofcourse. I left Aus the week I turned eighteen, wanting to make it big in music, you know. I was just a kid back then, happy to be free and independent” he made a sound, like he was mocking his own naivety at the time.

“Looking back at it now, that had to be so hard for my parents, but they let me go, they let me go so I could chase my dreams, I owe them everything”

 “They sound like great people” you said as you set the picture back down.

“And they were right, to put their faith in you”

Daniel looked up at you, and he suddenly looked vulnerable in the dark room, the only source of light to illuminate his face being the street lighting outside.

“you’re good. Seeing you on stage tonight…you were born to do this I think, doesn’t matter how many fucking Instagram followers you guys have”

 “Lando would disagree” Daniel huffed, but he looked visibly more relaxed, like your complement had calmed him in a way. You wondered if he felt the same self-doubt that paralyzed you sometimes. It seemed impossible, because he was so talented that the idea of him being unsure of his abilities was almost comical.

 “But enough about me, what about you? What’s got you all jumpy tonight, you know, except the six shots I saw you down after the show” he teased as he pushed himself off the kitchen counter and approached you with slow steps.

You had no idea what you were supposed to say, the fact that he was now so close to you that you could feel the warmth radiating off him not helping you to find the right words in the slightest.

Yeah, my asshole boyfriend dumped me, so I wanted to use you as a rebound, but I got too drunk and had a panic attack instead.

Not exactly the best ice breaker. However, it didn’t feel right to lie to him either.

“I, uh, just got out of a shitty relationship and, yeah, that doesn’t mix well with alcohol apparently”

Daniel nodded, looking deep in thought, before speaking up again.

“Whoever he is, he’s not worth it” he said as he raised his hand, the thumb that adorned the rose tattoo that had captivated you when you first met now grazing your check, swiping over the dried up tears that had collected there.

You felt your heartbeat in your ears, so loud you feared he could hear it too. Looking into his eyes now, rich and soft like the sweetest chocolate you felt all your worries disappear.

You let your gaze drop down to his lips, and the second you did you knew you were done for. Finally, fueled by the remnants of alcohol in your system and the feeling of Daniel’s thumb still stroking your face, you kissed him. If someone would have told you two days ago that you’d end up here, kissing the drummer of some underground band in his apartment, you’d called them crazy, but here you were.

His was soft, and as your lips touched, you lifted your face slightly so your nose grazed his, feeling the warmth of his breath on your face. But before you could lean in fully and kiss him like you’d really intended to, he took a step back, removing his hand from your cheek along with him.

“Fuck, we can’t, you, uh-you’ve been drinking and I don’t want to take advantage of your situation” he rambled as he ran the hand that had just been touching you through his curls franticly.

“No, please, I want to, Daniel-“ you argued as you tried to close the distance between you and him once again.

“Don’t-“ Daniel said as he took another step back, running out of space and bumping into his kitchen counter instead.

“I’m really exhausting my will power here, so just, uh, stay back” lifting a hand as a way to encourage you to stay where you are.

Your body wanted to argue, feeling a burning need to be near him again, but your tired mind surrendered quickly, and you moved back and gave him some space, Daniel visibly relaxing as you did.

“You can sleep in my bed, I’ll take the couch, come on” he beckoned you to follow him as he made his way to his bedroom. Again, you couldn’t find the energy to fight him on that, the idea of an actual bed being way too good right now.

His room was small, queen-sized bed tucked in the corner of the room. A desk with a notebook and many ripped up pages caught your attention, and you wondered if he wrote the songs for the band. You should ask him tomorrow, you thought as you felt your eyes fighting to stay open. You sat down on his bed and leaned back to unzip your pants. Daniel gave you a panicked look, and you laughed earnestly. He turned around as you quickly rid yourself of your jeans and covered yourself with the blanket.

“You can look, drummer boy, I’m decent, I promise” you grinned.

Daniel was blushing now, and you found yourself thinking how his overly confident attitude had slightly faltered over the past couple of hours. It was interesting, like he was hiding a more sensitive man behind that bigger-than-life mask he put on.

 “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow” despite his words, he stood frozen in his place in the middle of the room, like he was unsure of his next move. Eventually, he approached the bed and with a gentle brush of his hand, brushed your hair out of your face. Wanting to savour every second of the moment, you fought to keep your eyes open, but you could feel sleep creeping in fast.

 “Goodnight, Y/N”

Taglist: @rachaeldonnaspiteri1​