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ohtobeleah · 2 years ago

Note

Need more of Terms of Endearment. Plz and thank xx

Warnings // Rooster x F!Reader. Hangman x Platonic!F!Reader. Mentions of Alcohol consumption and physical assault.

Masterlist

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“What the hell are you playing at Hangman?” Rooster questioned as he dried his hair roughly with the towel that had recently been tucked around his waist. A fresh pair of jeans now adorning his hips.

“I'm playing matchmaker–” Hangman was quick to respond as he sat the car seat down on the bench in the locker room. Tapping the top of it twice with a shit eating grin. “Fe asked me to drop this off before you go.” Rooster hadn’t even thought about the car seat. God his Bronco was not built to harbour a car seat. “She also told me to tell you that she’ll call when she's leaving the workshop.”

“Id ask if you hit that bird on purpose but I know you wouldn’t be stupid enough to risk ruining a multi million dollar jet on the grounds of setting me up with your roomie.” You and your little girl Dot had been living off base with Jake since you arrived in North Island in the middle of the night, running for what was essentially life or death. You wouldn't have come to Jake if you had any other choice–not one for handouts or charity, so when he was opening his door in the middle of the night, bat in hand because who the fuck was trying to bang his god damn door down in the middle of the fucking night–he was softening instantly.

“I have nowhere else to go–” You sobbed as Jake dropped the bat to the ground just barely missing his own foot. Completely and wholeheartedly accepting you and your crying daughter into his humble abode. He wasn’t blind, nor did he have a deviated septum. He saw the bruises and smelt the absurd amount of liquor on your breath. The way you clung to your daughter like she was your entire word made Jake hold his tongue. Pressing it into the side of his cheek as he let his chin rest on top of your head. It had to have been bad if you drove in the state you were in.

“Uh, I prefer stowaway–actually.” Jake teased as he watched Rooster throw his shirt over his head. “She needed a push—“

“I know what I’m doing man, I don’t need you interfering with my love.” Rooster huffed, he honestly didn’t mind playing the long game with you. He knew winning you over slowly would be worth it in the long run. He wasn’t all that sure of what you had been through—both you and Jake liked to keep that information under lock and key. But Bradley knew, he knew you were worth the wait, the work, the effort it would take to break your walls down brick by brick.

“Your love life is nonexistent Bradshaw I’m doing you a favour here!” Jake was no stranger to bringing home beautiful women, but ever since you and little Dot had been occupying his spare room? He had become more and more selective about the type he brought home. “And honestly, I’m just about sick of having to explain the children’s toys lying around whenever I bring someone home—“

“So this isn’t about Y/n at all then?” Rooster scoffed as he shook his head in utter disbelief. “This is about you wanting her out of your place.” Rooster had never actually strapped an infant's car seat into his car before. Picking up the capsule he marched out of the locker room into the hall, Hangman right on his tail. “I don't know what your thought process is man, but getting me to pick up Dot isn’t gonna have Y/n outta your house any quicker.”

The first time Bradley met you, he'd been tasked with finding out why Hangman was late for work. The cocky fighter pilot with the big ass egomaniacal smile and even bigger shit eating grin was usually if anything early. But the day Bradley first met you? It had been two hours since the first flight and Coyote was about ready to trade out his wingman. Patient had worn very thin. There’d been no calls and texts from Jake, no excuse or reason for his absence.

“Bagman!” Rooster was banging down Jake's front door incessantly. Huffing when there was no response. “Jake man you good?” He never stopped knocking. It’s what had woken you from what felt like your final resting spot on the lounge in the living room. The morning after Jake had taken you in. “SERESIN!” Roosters knuckles didn't meet hardwood when you swung the door open. Almost connecting with your already bruised and battered face as you held the door open.

“Fuck off!” Bradley Bradshaw had never been so taken aback in his life. “Stop knocking its rattling my fucking brain.” Rubbing your eyes as you yawned, stepping back to let whoever it was that wanted your brother so desperately into the house that would soon become a home. “Jakes upstairs–” At the mere mention of his name, Jake Seresin was barreling down the stars still doing up his flight suit. He knew he’d fucked up, but he’d been up with you all night holding your hair out of your face while you cried and threw up the content of your stomach. Dot in his lap crying in hysterics because she hadn’t slept a wink either. He’d only just work up after having slept like a log through his alarm.

“Dude—I’m fucked aren’t I?” Jake groaned as he tried slipping his work issued steel caps on.

“Who's the walking corpse?” Rooster asked as he watched you fall back onto the lounge, your ass on full display for him as you rolled over and pulled up the blanket Jake had given you. You were so plastered that the pain of your hangover hadn’t even set in yet. Jake was right, maybe he should have taken you to get your stomach pumped last night, but he was confident you'd thrown enough up that it wasn't a life threatening amount. “She's wearing your TopGun shirt–” Raising a questioning eyebrow, Rooster turned back to Jake. “You let strays stay the night now do you?”

“She's my sister.” Bradley heard the way Jake said it with a sigh, like he was almost disappointed. Jake could never be disappointed having you as a sister, but he was disappointed in a few of the choices you made that led you to this moment. Hungover, on his lounge with your daughter still asleep upstairs. You hadn’t been coherent enough last night to watch over her. Jake had stepped in. “Shows up on my doorstep last night, believe it or not she was in a worse state than this.”

“And the bruises?”

“Like I said, she showed up on my doorstep last night in a worse state than this.” Jake repeated himself as he held back tears. “I haven't really been able to get much out of her besides vomit.”

“Why haven't you ever told me you have a sister?” Rooster knew it was probably a stupid question to ask as he watched Jake fixed up the blacket that youd thrown harphazardly over yourself. “All this time we've known you and never a peep about a sibling—well, we know you have a brother but—“

“Non-biological.” Was the only answer Jake gave Bradley. “And whatever it is she’s going through it must be bad or else she wouldn’t have shown up here.”

“Yeah but if she’s occupied with you she might not be home all that much and before you know it? She’ll have approval for staff accommodation in no time.” You’d been waiting for a house for you and Odette the second you applied for a job as a technician. Jake had been the one to set you up. Your visit wasn’t meant to be permanent, but it seemed to be the safety and most secure option for you and your daughter.

“And she swears you’re an alright guy?” Rooster groaned as he unlocked his car, opening the passenger side door before placing the capsule inside. “Stay out of my love life—I don’t appreciate the meddling.”

“Fine, but I’m not making any promises to not meddle in Felix’s love life—“ Jake was quick to slightly step Bradley aside as he watched him struggling to connect the capsule car seat. “Here, you gotta loop the straps.” Rooster just stood back and took notes. How many times had Hangman actually done this? “She deserves the world and if I know anyone deserving of her? I’m looking at him.” Rooster just let the compliment Jake had gifted him sink in. Perhaps this wasn’t such a bad thing—maybe Jake was genuinely doing him a solid.

Or maybe Jake Seresin was truly just over the two year old who cock blocked him more than she’d ever know.

***~***~***~***~***~***

Odette Dolan was the light of your world. Anyone who knew you knew that you’d set fire to the rain for that little girl. And as Bradley waited at the front counter of Sunny Side preschool and after school care, he understood what that feeling felt like.

“Who are you to little Odette again, Mr. Bradshaw?” One of the early educators asked as she eyes Rooster down. Curious as ever to know who this mystery man was. You’d only ever picked Dot up. Jake had done a few scattered—but it was always you if you could help it.

“Uh—I’m whoever she needs me to be I guess.”

Roosted rubbed the back of his head nervously. “Y/n asked if I could pick her up, I was free—so why not right?”

“Well, She had a bit of a meltdown just after lunch but since she's woken up from her nap she’s been fine—“ One of the early educators beamed as she signed Rooster in. His palms were sweaty as he rubbed them together. “I already let her know that mummy’s friend Rooster was coming to pick her up today so she didn’t get too disgruntled on pick up.”

“Routines are important, I get it.” Rooster had a soft spot for your daughter. That spot got a whole lot bigger when Dot came flying around the corner with her bag on her back, shoes on the wrong feet and a picture of a stick figure flying a plane that her early educators had helped her draw.

It was Bradley. Her Rooster.

“Hey Dot!” Rooster beamed at the little girl smashing into him as he crouched down to pick her up–swinging her up onto his hip. “Whatcha got there?” Rooster always had the all the time in the world for Odette Dolan. How a single man has so much patience and so much unconditional love for a two year old you'd never understand. But they shared a bond like no other. Jake liked to joke that Rooster and Dot bonded so well because they shared the same mental age, but you knew deep down it was because he saw a little bit of himself in her.

“Wooster–” Your little girl laid her head gently against Rooster's shoulder, her eyelids heavy as he handed him the paper. Another picasso to add to his ever growing collection of fridge drawings. Too sentimental to let fall to the wayside. His heart exploded like new years eve fireworks over Time Square every single time she’d hand him a new artwork dedicated in his honour.

“Oh for me?” Rooster raised his eyebrows in excitement as he took the piece of paper. “Woah! You’re getting so good at these, looks just like me” If Bradley were a few pounds lighter maybe.

“Mama?” Dot questioned as she looked around for where you might be. Holding your daughter a little tighter as Rooster said his thanks to the early educators before venturing outside.

“No bubba, just me—“ When Rooster placed Odette into her car seat, he double then triple checked if everything was secure. “But mama's coming soon.” For a moment Rooster just sat in his car, wondering if he should go back to his or not. Looking over at your daughter as she already started to doze off in her seat, Rooster settled his decisions.

First Stop? The Hard Deck for some take away. Second Stop? Your house, not because he didn’t trust himself to take care of a two year old. But because this specific two year old probably wanted to go home.

And who was Bradley Bradshaw to deny your daughter of anything she wanted?

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Tags: @a-serene-place-to-be @lilyevanswhore @thescarletknight2014

#bradley bradshaw x female reader #bradley bradshaw fanfiction #bradley bradshaw angst #bradley bradshaw x y/n #bradly rooster bradshaw #rooster x f!reader #rooster series #top gun bradley bradshaw #jake seresin imagine

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1indigoisles · 11 months ago

Text

Chapter 2 - Excerpt 3

Oh, you're going to love this one *villainous laughing* Prepare to be astonished!

That night, I decided to finally nose-dive into my ocean-deep pile of homework, which was no mean feat considering there was a perfectly good bed right next to my study-table. Whoever made the judgement that a workspace would do well to be placed in a bedroom clearly didn’t have their head screwed on right.

Now that I come to think about it, it was Lila who had made the judgement in question. But it wasn’t as though her head wasn’t screwed right – it was – she just had a... unique way of using it.

I crossed out a trigonometry sum and commenced redoing it.

But I wasn’t concentrating, not really, and the symbols and ratios seemed more and more confusing with every step I pieced together. I was fairly sure I’d gotten at least four of these sums wrong.

And it did no favours to my concentration when I discovered the existence of a small marker-drawn black dot near the foot of my bed.

Over the past couple of days, I’d paid more attention to these things, marks of a killer, scattered across the house like misplaced socks, and with every new one I found, they looked more and more sinister, and felt unsettling to be around.

And if I stared at one of these marks for too long, I swear I could see them getting-

My phone rang.

I snapped my gaze and reached for my phone. The caller-ID read ‘Cass’.

Cass was short for Cassidy Teigen, Lila’s sister and best friend. We’d lived close to each other (Cassidy was settled down in DC), and we’d stayed for two years there, not like our usual one year. Lila and Cassidy were alike in their love for adventure, and in their irresponsibility, having gotten drunk once on New Year’s Eve in a bar. For reasons that I still do not understand, I was on both Lila’s and Cassidy’s speed-dial, so naturally, I was called to pick them up. And when the people on the other end finally figured out that I was, in fact, a 15-year-old without even a driver’s license, they told me to come with an adult with ID, which I had been originally planning on doing anyway.

When I later questioned the hungover sisters with barely concealed exasperation why they thought I was the correct person to be their designated driver, Lila irritably answered, “Because there’s only one 40-year-old between the three of us, and that’s you, kid.” To which Cassidy had grunted in approval.

So, obviously, Cassidy had been more than a little pissed when Lila politely informed her that we were moving. I could tell as her face instantly fell that she thought I would have done something to stop this – after all, we were happy where we were, weren’t we? We were with the only family that ever cared.

So it was even worse to look at when Lila told Cassidy that we were going to Rhode Island, and that it had been entirely my choice.

For a moment, so many emotions ran across Cassidy’s face that it had been hard to catch it all. Confusion, shock, anger, sorrow, betrayal.

Then Cassidy, instead of saying anything either rebellious or mournful, went completely rigid, stalked out of the apartment with an unreadable look in my direction and a contemptuous, “Damn you, Lila.”

After that, both of us were silent for a long time.

Cassidy didn’t visit us or try to contact us anymore after that, and if we were ever in the same supermarket at the same time, she pretended like we didn’t exist.

Even Lila hadn’t tried with Cassidy, cheerfully-not-so-cheerfully assuring me (herself more than me, I think) that Cassidy would eventually come around – she couldn’t be mad at us forever, now could she?

But she could be mad at us forever, and was, except for once on the day we were moving to give me a small hug, saying that it wasn’t right to hold grudges against children. And as if that weren’t bad enough, she hadn’t so much as glanced at Lila before immediately departing.

And now she was calling me.

I picked up.

“Hello, Cassidy,” I greeted cautiously in a neutral voice.

“Kenneth!” came a startled and strangled cry that made me almost jump out of my seat. “Thank goodness you picked up! I’ve tried calling Lila, but it says her phone’s switched off! You won’t believe – no you definitely won’t – I’m so happy to hear from you; I thought you guys had been kidnapped or something! Hell, I thought you guys were dea-”

“Cassidy!” I intervened.

“Right, right, sorry,” Cassidy cleared her throat. She then added in sweet voice, “How are you, Kenneth?”

“You mean right at this moment? Confused by whatever you just said,” I replied.

“Right! Right, right,” Cassidy muttered. “You probably think I’m mad.”

I waited patiently.

“Okay, questions before answers,” she started. “Question one: Where are you?”

“At home, in my room,” I answered.

“No, no, that’s not what I meant,” Cassidy said. “I meant, where are you?”

I paused a moment. “In Knightville,” I then answered, “Rhode Island? You knew where Lila and I were going before we left.”

Silence from the other end.

And then a small, soft, “That’s not possible.”

There were loud rustling noises, like lots of paper being pulled and shoved, forward and aside. They were so loud, I couldn’t entirely hear what Cassidy said next – just a few words like ‘not possible’ and ‘Knightville’ and ‘Rhode Island’ and ‘Utah’, of all things.

“Cassidy, what’s gone into you?” I asked, starting to feel the tiniest bit of fear for my aunt.

But when she replied, she sounded the clearest she had ever been throughout this entire conversation, perhaps even in all the time that I knew her. “Knightville doesn’t exist,” she said.

At that moment, thunder could have struck and split the world and Bleak House in half, but it wouldn’t have stopped me from replying, “What?”

“You heard me. Your Knightville, Rhode Island doesn’t exist, and the only thing closest to it is a ghost town in Utah, with the same name. I can tell you this for certain because I have a degree in history, I checked every geography book there is, including the Internet, and I also bought five different maps of Rhode Island to be absolutely sure.” She paused. “So now it begs the question, where are you both, really?”

There was another pause, in which I was silent for a while, drinking in whatever Cassidy was telling me. I had to assume that whatever Cassidy was telling me was true – she would never mess around with something as serious as this.

“Send me pictures,” I finally said, “send me pictures of your maps. Tomorrow, I’ll go and check up some maps of Rhode Island that I can find here.”

Cassidy sounded surprised when she said, “You’re taking this very well.”

“No other way to take it,” I replied.

“Don’t forget to tell Lila,” she reminded me, before hanging up.

But I had questions, so many questions that I needed answers to.

But I only had an answer to one of them, and that enough to make me want to get more.

Yes, something was very wrong with Knightville.

Think of this as a New Year's Special, my dears.

Taglist: @jeahreading, @mayaheronthorn, @damn-this-transgirl-hella-gay. Frohes Neues Jahr!

#Land of Magic #Chapter 2 - Excerpt 3 #Writing #Writers on Tumblr #Tumblr Novels #Writerblr #Indigo Isles

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simschallengesfor3and4 · 8 months ago

Text

Castaway Challenge for sims 4

You were on a plane which crashed and now you are stranded alone. What will you do?

Intro: Hello for this challenge you will need island living (for now) as I have made the island you need for the challenge there and with that pack. My gallery id is: NichoDB

Here you can find the island I have made for Sulani for the challenge, I will be making another one base game friendly in case you don’t have island living. This is somewhat a legacy challenge as you will need to survive on the island for 10 gen (generations)

starting out with cas:

1 sim any age from teen to adult

Any traits really, may randomize if you want to.

The rules for the island and first gen:

get sim onto island, made it easy there is a ladder leading in so no need for cheats.

Pick 2 garden beds, and one tree bed from the basement.

Pick 1, either chickens, bee’s or goats and sheeps may only pick up to 3 in all of goats and sheeps (2 hens and 1 roster, 3 goats and 3 sheeps are in the household inventory) You can trade them for meat, indgredents and simoliens they will leave the bag at the egde of the lot wich you can drag in.

Pick 1 bed of choice, from the basement may change the color of the bed.

Pick one storage chest with 1 suitcase, may change color also from the basement.

Pick 2 hobbies: there is a small gathering of hobbies, knitting, painting, handiwork and such. You may only pick 2. These will be important choices, as they will have consequences.

Pick 6 book's from the lilttle bookcase thing. You may buy book’s, but you may only pick 6 in all.

Pick 1 grill or the cooler.

Pick the toilet if you don’t have, jungle adventure for the pee bushes on the island.

Pick 1 trashcan.

Pick laundry if you want.

Lot traits Off grind must be on, if you have cottage living so must Simple Living, and great soil must be on too, may pick any other traits and challenges for the lot.

___________________________________________________________________________

Now put all plant’s, and the 2 ladders in the family inventory and delete everything in the basement. Now the 1 gen starts, rules:

Skills will determine what you can and cannot do. So if you want a hut/house you’ll need handiness skill, the higher the more you can make/buy. Gardening will determine how many plant’s you may have and how much from the harvest you may keep. If you have nifty kitting,the knitting skill will allow you new clothes and outfits. Painting will allow you to change color on objects you make/buy, so the higher skill the more color you get else it’s the wood/brown colors neutral colors, on the objects.

Handiness unlocks 1-3(Small decorations, and big objects that look broken or not put together right) 4-6 (Walls max 10x10, windows, doors,stairs no more than 4 steps and railings/fences) 7-8 (All hobbies and other objects, toilets, beds, kitchen stuff all objects are now unlocked but not the best quality so must look like it could be handmade) 9-10 (May build as big as you want and as much as you want no limit, and can buy any object, if you have eco lifestyle you may buy solar panels and water catcher, get some power going) Of course anything the woodworking table allows you to build as you level up you can build but the levels allow you to buy stuff from build and buy mode.

Gardening unlocks 1-3(May only have the plants you chose so 9 plants, may only keep 3 off each plant harvest so does a plant give you 5 or 10 then you have to sell until you only have 3) 4-6(May plant 3 extra crops, may keep everything) 7-8(May make a small farm no more than 6 garden plots from cottage living or you can use the garden beds) 9-10 (May have as many plants or farms as you want and can evolve plants now)

Knitting unlocks 1-3(May have any small piece of clothing hat’s, socks, gloves, underwear, bra’s) 4-6(Rug’s can now be bought too, any shirt any length, skirt’s and shorts) 7-8(All kids clothes and down, so toddler and infants, may buy sleeping bags) 9-10(shoes are now unlocked) Of course as before anything you can knit as you level up are you allowed to make.

Painting unlocks 1-3(beige, brown, white are unlocked) 4-6(Yellow, red and blue colors are unlocked and so are simple patterns) 7-8(Purple, orange and green are now unlocked) 9-10(All colors any pattern you like)

___________________________________________________________________________

The last rules for gen one

Gen one may first get a partner when they have a small hut/house. You may make this sim or take one that is already generated from mange households, they must be single.

May have as many kids as you like, just remember only one is going to be the heir.

You may not have any pets in gen one sorry

NO LEAVING LOT ONCE ON IT

Money cheats are allowed

CC is allowed and so are mods

The rules are guidelines the point is to have fun, is a rule making it less fun remove it

Gen 2:

Whatever gen 1 left is what you have, to survive with

You may get a pet, but no leaving lot for it

NO LEAVING THE LOT

May get a partner/get married when they are young adults. You may make a younger sim, the partner is basically someone new who stranded on the island (use the basement to get them onto island by placing the ladders back in, and removing them after they are on the island)

Money cheats are allowed

CC is allowed and so are mods

The rules are guidelines the point is to have fun, is a rule making it less fun remove it

___________________________________________________________________________

Skill rules:

The rules are the same somewhat

Handiness unlocks 1-3(Small decorations, and big objects that look broken or not put together right, can NOT fix any objects that break, leave it broken or delete said item) 4-6 (Walls max 10x10, windows, doors,stairs no more than 4 steps and railings/fences) 7-8 (All hobbies and other objects, toilets, beds, kitchen stuff all objects are now unlocked but not the best quality so must look like it could be handmade, can now fix all broken objects) 9-10 (May build as big as you want and as much as you want no limit, and can buy any object, if you have eco lifestyle you may buy solar panels and water catcher, get some power going) Of course anything the woodworking table allows you to build as you level up you can build but the levels allow you to buy stuff from build and buy mode.

Gardening unlocks 1-3(May only have the plants you on the island so what gen 1 left, may only keep 3 off each plant harvest so does a plant give you 5 or 10 then you have to sell until you only have 3) 4-6(May plant 3 extra crops, may keep everything) 7-8(May make a small farm no more than 6 garden plots from cottage living or you can use the garden beds) 9-10 (May have as many plants or farms as you want and can evolve plants now)

Knitting unlocks 1-3(May have any small piece of clothing hat’s, socks, gloves, underwear, bra’s, may not make new outfits) 4-6(Rug’s can now be bought too, any shirt any length, skirt’s and shorts) 7-8(All kids clothes and down, so toddler and infants, may buy sleeping bags, new outfits can be made no shoes) 9-10(shoes are now unlocked,outfits with shoes are now unlocked) Of course as before anything you can knit as you level up are you allowed to make.

Painting unlocks 1-3(beige, brown, white are unlocked, may not change color on items, unless it’s to beige, brown or white) 4-6(Yellow, red and blue colors are unlocked and so are simple patterns) 7-8(Purple, orange and green are now unlocked) 9-10(All colors any pattern you like)

Gen 3:

Whatever gen 1 and 2 left is what you have, to survive with

You may get a pet, but no leaving lot for it

NO LEAVING LOT

Money cheats are allowed

CC is allowed and so are mods

The rules are guidelines the point is to have fun, is a rule making it less fun remove it

___________________________________________________________________________

Skill rules:

The rules are the same as gen 2

Gen 4:

Whatever the last gen’s left is what you have, to survive with

You may get a pet, but no leaving lot for it

NO LEAVING THE LOT

May pick 4 plants from the family inventory or 1 tree, so a tree box or plant box

Money cheats are allowed

CC is allowed and so are mods

The rules are guidelines the point is to have fun, is a rule making it less fun remove it

___________________________________________________________________________

Skill rules:

The rules are the same as gen 2

Gen 5:

Whatever the last gen’s left is what you have, to survive with

You may get a pet, but no leaving lot for it

NO LEAVING THE LOT

Money cheats are allowed

CC is allowed and so are mods

The rules are guidelines the point is to have fun, is a rule making it less fun remove it

___________________________________________________________________________

Skill rules:

The rules are the same as gen 2

Gen 6:

Whatever the last gen’s left is what you have, to survive with

You may get a pet, but no leaving lot for it

NO LEAVING THE LOT

May pick 4 plants and a tree or 2 trees

Money cheats are allowed

CC is allowed and so are mods

The rules are guidelines the point is to have fun, is a rule making it less fun remove it

___________________________________________________________________________

Skill rules:

The rules are the same as gen 2

Gen 7:

Whatever the last gen’s left is what you have, to survive with

You may get a pet, but no leaving lot for it

NO LEAVING THE LOT

May pick 4 plants or a tree

Money cheats are allowed

CC is allowed and so are mods

The rules are guidelines the point is to have fun, is a rule making it less fun remove it

___________________________________________________________________________

Skill rules:

The rules are the same as gen 2

Gen 8:

Whatever the last gen’s left is what you have, to survive with

You may get a pet, but no leaving lot for it

NO LEAVING THE LOT

May pick 8 plants and 1 tree or 2 tree and 4 plants (if possible)

Money cheats are allowed

CC is allowed and so are mods

The rules are guidelines the point is to have fun, is a rule making it less fun remove it

___________________________________________________________________________

Skill rules:

The rules are the same as gen 2

Gen 9:

Whatever the last gen’s left is what you have, to survive with

You may get a pet, but no leaving lot for it

NO LEAVING THE LOT

All plants left are now yours

Money cheats are allowed

CC is allowed and so are mods

The rules are guidelines the point is to have fun, is a rule making it less fun remove it

___________________________________________________________________________

Skill rules:

The rules are the same as gen 2

Gen 10:

Whatever the last gen’s left is what you have, to survive with

You may get a pet, but no leaving lot for it

NO LEAVING THE LOT

Money cheats are allowed

CC is allowed and so are mods

The rules are guidelines the point is to have fun, is a rule making it less fun remove it

___________________________________________________________________________

Skill rules:

The rules are the same as gen 2

#sims 4 challenge

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fivelakesinwriting · 3 years ago

Note

hii!! id love it if youd make a rafe x reader enemies to lovers fic where the reader gets a nipple piercing and rafe sees the piercing thru their thin/tight top? reader tries to tease him but rafe tries to ignore it and shit gets FREAKKYYYY lollol

Author's Notes: Y'all are little freaks...and I love that about you. I named the girl in particular for this story, sometimes it's just easier! Please let me know what you think if you have a moment. If this was your request, I hope you love it! xoxo

Warnings: Talk of piercings (might make people uneasy), Swearing, Drinking, Sexual references - Sexual innuendos, Smut *(biting, rough sex, mentions of choking , unprotected sex - please be safe out there, your choice how! ) All Characters are 18+

Requested? YES! Requests for OBX are OPEN!

*My work is not to be transferred, copied, translated or reposted to any other sites without my permission. Please see my masterlist for all other works and warnings. Thank you! xoxo

To say that Rafe loathed his sister Sarah's friend - Evie - would be an understatement. He didn't know why he disliked the girl so much, she had never really done anything to him to make him dislike her so much. There was just something about her that rubbed him the wrong way.

Maybe it was the way she didn't move out of the way for him when they crossed paths in the hallway at Tannyhill, the way she called him by his full name - Rafe Cameron - or perhaps, because she looked like the kind of girl that wouldn't give him the time of day. And that bothered the shit out of him.

It was a lazy Summer afternoon and Rafe planned on doing nothing with his day. Topper and Kelce weren't available for golf, and Barry was out. So Rafe cut his losses and decided he would hang out at home by the pool and drink beers all day.

As he descended the stairs towards the kitchen to begin his afternoon he heard his sister's laugh and the distinct sound of Evie's laugh just after. Rafe exhaled heavily as he rolled his eyes, succumbing to the notion that his relaxing afternoon would have the background noise of a witch's cackle.

"Ladies." Rafe grumbled as he quickly made his way through the kitchen, a beeline towards the fridge to grab a beer.

"Rafe Cameron, nice to see you." Evie smiled over the top of her phone as she showed Sarah a photo.

"Evie, see they rescheduled your burning at the stake." Rafe glared as he popped the top of his beer, sipped, then made his way out the patio doors towards the pool.

"Rafe!" Sarah scolded as she picked out a piece of fruit from the bowl on the counter in front of her, and threw it at the door as he closed it behind him.

Just as Rafe started to get settled on the lounge chair by the pool, the sun hot on his chest and face, the patio door opened and the girls came outside still giggling.

"Do you need to be here? Can't you take the car and like, leave?" Rafe sighed as he turned his hat back around to shield his eyes from the sun to properly glare at his sister.

"Last I checked this wasn't your house, Rafe. So, we're staying. Deal with it, or go back inside." Sarah replied with a roll of her eyes as she stepped into the pool.

Rafe let out a long, dramatic sigh as he pulled his hat down over his eyes but kept it high enough that he was able to see the pool just under the brim. He crossed his arms over his chest and listened intently to the conversation the girls were having.

"So, you and Anthony are done?" Sarah asked as she waded further into the water.

"So done. Couldn't be more done." Evie stated firmly, and Rafe heard the sound of clothing drop to the deck of the pool.

"That's what you said the last time, and then I had to come pick you up from that party and your knees were all scratched up -" Sarah stated a smirk evident in her voice.

Rafe's ears perked up at the turn the conversation was taking. He knew his sister had a tendency to pick friends that were less than good influences on her. But this? Oh, he would stay and listen to this.

"And that's why I got these done. It's my gift to myself for kicking that loser to curb. And my constant reminder every time I see it." Evie replied with a laugh.

Rafe was beyond curious as to the gift she had given herself. His mind raced as he thought of all the possibilities. And he had not even known she was with someone until that moment. Rafe pulled his hat back up over his eyes, squinting against the sunlight, then stood up from the lounge chair as not to seem like he had been eavesdropping.

But he was.

"Oh, Rafe Cameron! Wait up." Evie called after him as he headed back into the house to grab another beer.

Rafe gave the door a push to keep it open for her as he continued his walk inside the house again, the air conditioning cool on his skin. He opened the fridge doors once more, but felt uncomfortable, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up as he felt a pair of eyes on him.

"Stop staring at me." He ordered as he grabbed another beer and closed the door of the refrigerator harshly.

"Just waiting for you to move, Rafe Cameron." Evie smiled while she leaned against the island counter, her sunglasses pushed up on the top of her head as her eyes scanned his body.

"Can just ask." Rafe grumbled as he shifted out of the way, flicking the tab of his beer can. He felt uncomfortable under her gaze but also confident, and powerful. He didn't know which way to go.

Witch.

"Thank you." She nodded as she made her way passed him to open the doors of the fridge again and peered inside.

Rafe looked over at her through the corner of his eye as best he could, trying to figure out what she had been talking to Sarah about. What was the gift? He cursed his inquiring mind with a bite of his top lip and quickly turned on his heel to leave again.

"Oh, wait. Rafe? Can you help me? I can't reach the glasses up there." Evie asked with a strain in her voice.

Rafe turned around again with a sigh, placing his beer down on the counter then walked back over to the short girl trying to reach a glass in the high up cabinets. He easily reached above her head, grabbed a glass and placed it in front of her.

"There you go." Rafe mumbled as his fingertips trailed over the countertop as he backed up a little to give her some space.

"Thanks, Rafe Cameron." Evie nodded as she turned around to face him, leaning against the counter.

It was then as she was leaned up against the counter, arms holding her body up as Rafe noticed what Evie had been telling Sarah about all along. It had been under his nose, and under her tiny t-shirt the whole time.

"Who's Anthony?" Rafe asked with a clear of his throat he hoped wasn't too obvious before he pointed to her nipples, pierced, very visible through her white t-shirt.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Evie grinned as she got close to him, close enough that he could smell the chlorine from the pool on her and whatever perfume she used. She brushed by him, her nipples grazing his bare arm as she exited the kitchen and Rafe shivered.

Witch. Bitch....fuck, she's hot.

Rafe growled low in his chest as he turned around, grabbed his beer and took a big drink. He pushed the door open to the pool area again and stalked out to see Evie sitting on the pool deck, her feet in the water as Sarah floated on an obnoxious flotation device shaped like a swan.

"You didn't bring a suit, Evie?" Rafe muttered as he took another generous sip of his beer and placed it on the table beside his lounge chair.

"This is my suit." She replied as she kicked a leg out of the water.

"A white t-shirt and bikini bottoms?" Rafe inquired, attempting to keep his tone even.

She didn't reply, only tossed him a smile as she placed her leg back in the water while she leaned back on her hands. She extended her neck back, letting the sun hit her face as she let out a content sigh.

Rafe didn't like to be teased.

"Sarah, go pick up Wheezie." Rafe ordered as he finished off his beer and adjusted his hat on his head, turning the brim backwards.

"Why do I have to do it? You're the one with no friends and nothing to do." Sarah replied with a glare over the the neck of the swan.

"I'll get us all dinner if you go and pick her up. I don't like that Samuel kid she hangs out with." Rafe grumbled as he leaned back in the chair.

"Do you like anyone?" Sarah sighed as she pulled herself over to the edge of the pool and climbed out.

Sarah asked Evie if she wanted to come along, but Evie declined. She said she would stay here, dry off and make sure that Rafe didn't fuck up the dinner choice for them all.

"You want a beer, Evie?" Rafe asked once Sarah had left and it was just the two of them and the tension he wasn't sure how to label.

The two of them stood in the kitchen, looking through take out menus and avoided conversation. Rafe's eyes flickered over the top of the menu he was pretending to read and zeroed in on her nipples, still visible through her shirt and he was reeling.

"You should change your shirt before Wheezie gets back." Rafe mumbled as he quickly looked back at the menu in his hands so she didn't catch him staring.

"For whose benefit? Hers or yours, Rafe Cameron?" Evie smirked as she tossed the menu she was holding onto the counter, then leaned on her forearms and looked up at him.

"Listen. Maybe this Anthony character liked to be teased and have you shove your tits in his face, but I don't. So quit it." Rafe growled as he dropped his own menu to the floor and reached over the counter to take hold of her face, making her look right into his eyes.

"You don't like my tits?" She questioned, hands pressed to the counter as she started to climb onto it to get closer to him. The other shoe starting to drop.

"I love them." Rafe practically whined as Evie climbed onto the counter and crawled over to him. He tugged off her still wet t-shirt, dropping it to the floor before he reached for her breasts.

"Gentle!" She hissed with a yank of his hair as he tugged at either of the steel bars that pierced her nipples.

"Hurts?" Rafe breathed out as his nose brushed over hers, his palms kneading her breasts a little more gently as he let her pull on his hair.

"Not too much. You just look like you can get rough." She muttered as her other hand reached for his bicep and squeezed.

"Can be, yeah. Won't be this time if you don't want that." Rafe exhaled while his lips got closer to hers. She still smelled like chlorine, and her perfume was some sort of flower he couldn't name. He loved it.

Evie twisted her fingers into the hair at the back of his head and pulled his lips to hers, the other shoe finally dropping. Rafe groaned against her mouth as he released his hold on her chest in favour of wrapping his arms around her instead, pulling her close against him.

"Don't bite! Your sister will notice the marks." Evie gasped when Rafe removed his lips from his and kissed down to her collarbone, sinking his teeth into her skin still warm from the sun.

"Give you one of my shirts. Have to cover these anyways." Rafe mumbled into her clavicle as he reached up to palm at her breasts again.

"Because Sarah and Wheezie coming home to me in your clothes isn't more suspicious, Rafe." She scolded as she reached for his hair to tug his face up, making him look at her.

"Let me worry about them." Rafe growled as he grabbed her hips to lift her off the counter then placed her on the cool tiled floor in front of him. He spun her around and pulled her bikini bottoms down her legs, his breath in his throat at the naked woman in front of him.

"Here?!" She squealed as she tossed a frantic look over her shoulder at him, eyes wide as she waited for his next move. Rafe ran his hands from her shoulders down her back to her hips, simply admiring her form.

"Too much for you?" Rafe grinned, an eyebrow raised to challenge her.

"So, teasing is okay as long as you're the tease?" Evie shivered as her head dropped down, forehead pressed to the countertop as Rafe reached around to roll her nipples between his fingers again.

"Yes." Rafe stated simply, as if this were a fact she should have known upon walking into Tannyhill. He bent down to press a kiss to the back of her neck, a groan in the back of his throat as she pushed back into him.

"C'mon, Rafe." Evie whined as her right hand reached back to pull at his hair as he bit down on the creased of her neck while he untied his swim shorts, letting them fall to his feet.

"You're so whiny. So bratty. I fucking hate it." Rafe growled into her neck as he lined himself up with her entrance, choking out a breath at how wet she felt against him.

"Are you sure?" She exhaled and Rafe could hear the smile on her face.

Fucking witch. Beautiful, pierced, whiny, wet and warm fucking witch.

"If you wanna keep this gentle I suggest you keep your mouth shut, sweetheart." Rafe breathed in her ear as he pressed his tip inside of her, and he swore his heart stopped for a second as she clenched around him.

Her back arched and she let out a pathetic little whine that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he sunk inside of her completely. She reached a hand back to grab his wrist, her nails deep in his skin as he settled inside of her to let her adjust to his size.

"Damn." Rafe groaned as he pulled his hips back, fingertips pressed into the skin of her hips to keep her steady as he thrust back in. He sunk his teeth into her neck again, loving the way she bounced back into him when he did.

"More, Rafe. Please." Evie begged breathlessly, her neck extended to the side to let him mark her up. Rafe pulled his calloused fingers over her hips and up to her breasts again, kneading them before he rolled her nipples between his fingers.

"Hate how good you feel. Goddammit, Evie." Rafe growled while he wrapped one arm around her chest to pull her close while his other hand reached between her legs.

"Shit! Too much!" Evie gasped, her eyes wide when Rafe gave a firm thrust that sent her forward to the countertop once more. Her nails scratched over his forearm as he pressed his middle finger to her clit, finding it easily.

"Can't handle it?" Rafe grunted as a smile tugged at the corner of his lips, his middle finger circling her clit as he pounded into her from behind.

"Fuck you, Rafe Cameron." Evie sobbed out, back arched as she pulled one hand down his forearm and the other reached back to pull at his hair.

"You already are, and I can fucking feel you coming. You always this easy? Hmm?" Rafe panted as he unwrapped his arm from her chest to press his large palm to her collarbone, bringing her upright against him. He wanted to wrap his hand around that delicate little neck so badly, but he would wait. She had asked him to gentler with her, and he was trying so hard.

"You're a fuc - " She cursed but was cut off by Rafe reaching up and pushing two fingers in her mouth.

"Shut up, and just cum for me." Rafe growled as he pushed his middle and index finger further in her mouth, a shiver going down his spine as he felt her tongue swirl over the pads of his fingers.

As she came around him, whining around his fingers, Rafe was reconsidering his deep hatred for Evie. He chased his own release and kept an obnoxiously bruising grip on her hip with his free hand. Rafe groaned against the back of her neck, pressing his palm flat against her stomach to keep her flush against him as he finished inside of her.

"Shit." Rafe breathed out against the back of her neck, removing his fingers from her mouth. He gave her a soft kiss below her hairline as a thank you, and he hoped she didn't feel the way his breath shook on his exhale.

"I still don't like you very much." Evie whispered as she rested her head back on his shoulder, her eyes closed as she twisted his hair between her fingers.

"Don't like you all that much either." Rafe scoffed as he pressed a kiss to her forehead, although he had to admit in that moment just the two of them in the quiet house wrapped around one another - he didn't hate her all that much.

"I might let you do that again, though. If you give me a shirt, and order me food." Evie responded, her eyes opening just a little to watch as he kissed her forehead to the tip of her nose and then her chin.

"If you don't get burned at the stake first, be happy to do that again."

Hotties:

@anonymousobxfan @starkey-babie @barrysjumpsuit @sodasback

@fashion-fasting @vintageobx @babeyglo @rottenstyx @pogueslandia @soph0864 @whcclxr @beauvibaby @plutooryectors @rafecameronspolo

*tag list is open, please let me know if I forgot you or you would like to be added/removed from particular posts. I've removed the people that don't pre-populate :(

Please let me know what you think if you have a moment! Thank you so much xoxo

Requests for OBX ARE OPEN!

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loudestcloud · 3 years ago

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HEYO! I did this kinda cos I noticed some new One Piece followers coming in from my Baron posts.

Explanations under cut

• Flame Flame fruit - I think that it's fun, looks cool and is used by 2 of some of the most coolest character. However I would never want it as I am 🔥🔥Pyrophobic🔥

• Mt. Colubo - idk, I think living there would be nice. It being just out the way enough of Dawn Island means it's not too crazy but also not too calm and prime for mini adventures.

• Rumbar pirates - Sing me Bink's Sake anyday boys, I'm always up for it! Its actually one of my main vocal stims to hum or whistle it, it's that engrained in my brain. Anyway, these lads only wanted to be free on the seas to be who they are and sing as the waves crashed on the ship. They never lived to see the pirate king race or even the popularity of pirates as a whole, they just vibed until they died and truely? Who could ask for more? This crew was so kind and wonderful right until the grave and even past that.

• Skypiea - This will probably change cos I'm only on Dressrosa ✌🏻

• Skypiea - I like the storyline, I like the actor, most of my favourites jokes are from this arc, I love the world building and the flashbacks while a bit problematic are still very fun and my favourite.

• I know what your thinking " Sans, how can you know these panels if you are anime only and on Dressrosa?" First off, don't call me by my name, it's confuses people. Second, listen, If I hear something big is happening and Sanji is involved, I'm gonna spoiler myself for the sake of Sanji deleopment. I know way too much about Whole cake because I got sucked in and had to pull myself away before I knew everything that happened. But also when it comes to Wano, I know Sanji was smiling a lot at the start and he asked Robin for help in a fight and that's huge, I know about out cute and powerful trans lady and out sexy strong big tiddies trans man. That's all.

• Sanji - He look, who'd have guessed. For real tho, I always looked up to Sanji as a kid, who had only ever seen his into arc, I wanted to be cool like him. I tended to dress like him any chance I could which was easy cos I'm British so it was just my school uniform really. I would fight like him too being the scrappy lil kid disabled with mild anger issues I was. If someone would try and start shit with me or my friends and I'd just kick their legs out from under. I'd usual fall too, again being disabled n all, but I'd flip back up so I still looked pretty cool. I thought his fight style was perfect for me because if I punched, my arm just dislocates but my legs where strong at the time so it was perfect. Now my legs aren't really that strong either and I use a cane for walks outside the house. The only think I didn't do was cook and that always made me sad but cos I really wanted to but poor ment that I felt didn't have enough food for me to be abled to get things wrong with and again, I'm pyrophobic so cooking is still hard for me like I said before when I picked One Piece back up in 2019, I started trying to get over my fear of cooking by useing Sanji as motivation. The only think id change is his simp levels and his transphobia. But, It's safe to say that Sanji has had a consistent impact on my life. Also as a child I tended to pick the role models that where also womenizers, another example being MCU Tony stark.

• Buggy - He's funny sometimes, he's dumb, I actually like clowns, he was hot in Impel down and we don't talk about how he looks past that. Fatherless behaviour at its finest, I know.

• Shanks - He's disabled, he's powerful in multiple ways, he's got dad vibes and I cosplayed him once and it gave me gender euphoria. So like, he's cool.

• Aokiji - Fujitora, Koby and Isuka had been super close choices but Aokiji ultimately landed on top because I remembered how whenever he shows up, my brain stops working and I have to do nothing but listen to him talk and also him in Film Z

• Brook - My love for Brook is only a tiny but less then Sanji and that's probably only because Sanji has been around longer and reasons I mentioned above. Brooks story is beautiful, as I said I love his crew, his loyalty is so unmatched and he's a really nice old man who is surprisingly chill with new consept. The one thing I don't really like is his panties obsession but at least he is polite about it ig.

• Post timeskip Luffy - Listen, if you've see the outfit exams I used to do, you'll know why I love this design so much but for the new comers let's just say that a lot of thought went into this outfit, a lot more than you'd actually guess.

And a quick bonus, my favourite movie is very obviously Baron omatsuri and the secret island, as if it would be anything else.

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nickjunesource · 4 years ago

Link

Full article below.

Max Minghella is sitting in his backyard in the LA sunshine, his t-shirt an homage to the French filmmaker Mia Hansen-Løve, his adopted shepherd mix, Rhye, excited by the approach of a package courier.

“You okay, sweetheart?” he asks — the dog, not me — tenderly.

Minghella, who at 35 has dozens of screen credits to his name, is best known as The Handmaid’s Tale’s cunning chauffeur Nick Blaine, a character who it’s difficult to imagine saying sweetheart. In airless Gilead, of course, a cautious hand graze with Elisabeth Moss’ June can pass for a big romantic gesture. In a Season 1 episode featuring child separation and hospital infant abduction, Nick’s major contribution is to trade stolen glances with a sex slave while “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” pumps discordantly along. I ask Minghella about playing the series’ closest approximation to a dreamy male lead against the show’s dark narrative of female subjugation.

“I know this is not the answer you want to hear,” Minghella says with none of Nick’s hesitation. “But I like that stuff, right? In the pilot, I think Nick only had a handful of lines. It wasn't clear that this is what the character would turn into. And it's quite fortunate for me personally, because I'm not a massively sort of intellectual person in my real life. I love Fifty Shades of Grey. That's like my Star Wars. It suits me to play a character like him.”

Minghella surmises that this enduring romanticism is an outcome of nurture. His father, the late British director Anthony Minghella, made grand romantic dramas like Cold Mountain and The English Patient. And there was the young, cinema-mad Max sitting on the living room sofa, absorbing everything. “It’s taken me a long time to understand this,” he says of his prolonged childhood exposure to love stories. “My dad made The English Patient when I was 10. So it was two years of watching the dailies to that movie and then watching 50 cuts of it. And then [The Talented Mr.] Ripley he made when I was 13, and it was the same thing.” These were an adolescent Max Minghella’s alternative to reruns. “I think they did shape my perspective on the world in a lot of ways, specifically The English Patient. That was a complicated love story, and I wonder sometimes how much it's affected my psychology.”

Some sons rebel; others resemble. Minghella’s co-star O-T Fagbenle, who plays June’s other lover from before the time of Gilead, got his first job acting in Anthony Minghella’s romantic crime film Breaking and Entering. “Anthony is one the kindest, most beautiful men that I've ever had the privilege of working with before,” Fagbenle says. “And Max has his gorgeous, sensitive, open-minded soul.”

Though Minghella spent his childhood on the set of The Talented Mr. Ripley, playing an uncredited Confederate soldier role in Cold Mountain, and tooling around with a Super-8 camera Matt Damon gave him, he insists his upbringing was normal. He grew up in South Hill Park overlooking Hampstead Heath in London with his father and mother, the choreographer Carolyn Choa. (Minghella also has a half-sister, Hannah Minghella, who is now a film executive.) Yes, technically, it was London, but that’s not how it seemed. “I feel like I grew up in a very small town. Every school I went to was in Hampstead. I was born in Hampstead,” Minghella says of the small map dot of his life before university. “When I went to New York, I felt I was going to the big city.”

Despite his illustrious surname, movie-watching was far from restricted to the classics. “Beverly Hills Cop is definitely the movie I remember having an unhealthy obsession with. I think I saw it when I was 5 for the first time, and I'd watch it just two or three times a day for years. I'm just obsessed with it.”

Plenty of actors can trace their love of movies back to a love of stories, but for Minghella the relationship seems to flow in reverse. When he left for Columbia University, Minghella opted to study history for its connection, through storytelling, to film. It was during the summers between his years of college that he started taking acting more seriously. Before his graduation, he’d already appeared in Syriana, starring Damon and George Clooney. Soon, he’d make a splash as Divya Narendra in The Social Network in 2010 and be cast in Clooney’s Ides of March. As all young actors eventually must, Minghella moved to Los Angeles.

It’s been over a decade since he last lived on the Heath, but, perhaps unusually for a person who’s chosen his profession, Minghella is adamantly not a “shapeshifter,” in his words. Home for Christmas this year, he started sifting through old journals stored at his mother’s house, “just like scraps of writing from when I was extremely young up through my teenage years,” before coming to America. “It was hilarious to me,” Minghella says of staring at his childhood reflection. “My review of a movie at 7 years old is pretty much what my review of a movie at 35 will be. My taste hasn't changed much. And when I sort of love something, I do tend to continue to love it.”

Which brings us back to his enduring love of romance, born of his bloodline, which is all over Minghella’s own 2018 directorial debut. Teen Spirit is a hazily lit film about a teenage girl from the Isle of Wight — the remote British island where Max’s father Anthony was born — who enters a local X-Factor-style singing competition. (It stars Minghella’s rumored girlfriend of several years, Elle Fanning.) The story is small, but its crescendos are epic.

Minghella calls the movie — an ode to the power of the pop anthem — “embarrassingly Max.” Max loves a good music-driven movie trailer — he’s watched the one for Top Gun: Maverick “many” times. And Max loves the rhythmic beats of sports movies like Friday Night Lights. Max loves movies with excesses of female energy, like Spring Breakers. He likens Teen Spirit to an experiment, his answer to the question, “Can I take all these things that I love and find a structure that can hold them?” The result is a touching “hodgepodge” of Minghella’s fascinations, inspired by the songs from another thing he loves: Robyn’s 2010 album Body Talk (itself a dance-pop meditation on love).

Minghella hasn’t directed any films since, but he sees now how making movies fits his personality — organized, impatient — more organically than starring in them does. Directing also helped him to appreciate that acting is “much harder than I was giving it credit for,” which, in turn, has made him like it more. Besides The Handmaid’s Tale currently airing on Hulu, Minghella appears in Spiral, the ninth installment in the Saw horror franchise and, from where I’m sitting, at least, a departure.

“I do like horror movies, but the thing that was really kind of magical is that I was feeling so nostalgic, right? We talked about Beverly Hills Cop earlier. I was just missing a certain kind of movie,” Minghella explains of his new role as Chris Rock’s detective partner. He was yearning for simple story-telling, like in the buddy cop movies of his youth, especially 48 Hours. It almost goes without saying that a buddy cop movie is another kind of love story. “And then I read the script and it was very much in that vein.” He clarifies: “I mean, it's also extremely Saw. It's very much a horror movie.”

His renewed excitement for acting translated onto The Handmaid’s Tale set, too. Veteran Hollywood producer Warren Littlefield describes casting Minghella in the role of Nick as an effortless choice: “Sometimes you agonize over things. [Casting Minghella] was instantly clear to me, and everyone agreed.” Now in its fourth season, the tone of the Hulu hit is graver than ever. Gilead is more desperate to maintain its rule, and so more audacious in its violence. Perhaps it’s fitting that the show’s romantic gestures finally match that scale.

In one particularly soaring moment, Elisabeth Moss’ June and Minghella’s Nick meet at the center of a bridge and crush into a long kiss. It’s been two seasons since they held their newborn daughter together, and it’s hard to see how this isn’t their last goodbye. Littlefield, like Minghella, is here for the romance among the rubble. “It's spectacular when they come together. In the middle of all of the trauma is this epic love story,” he says. “Max is just magnificent in the role.”

For Minghella, the satisfaction is more personal. He works with good people, he likes his scenes, and he thinks Nick is a complex character. Minghella read The Handmaid’s Tale for the first time in college in 2005. Like all the things Minghella has ever liked, he still likes it. He’s as proud of this most recent season as he is the show’s first. And he watched Nick and June race recklessly back to each other across the expanse of the screen exactly how you might expect. “I watched it like a fan girl.”

#max minghella #the handmaids tale #the handmaid's tale #nick blaine #nick x june #june x nick #osblaine #*

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itsuki-minamy · 3 years ago

Text

WONDERFUL SCHOOL DAYS: MY PRECIOUS RED

CHAPTER 1: START

Translation: Naru-kun Raws: skyflyinginaction

* Gakuen K (List of Chapters) * Projects & Chapters

Suddenly she raises her face to the sound of something rolling.

It looked like it was a dolly.

The morning dew turned everything milky white.

The light red of cherry blossoms stretched over her and the world turned pink.

A school route that shouldn't be there yet.

The refreshing air that touched the surroundings was cold, humid, and heavy.

The cool green was also wet with dew and reflected the morning sun softened by mist.

There was still a little time left before the morning dew cleared, the air warmed with the breath of the students going to school, and spring felt warm and joyful.

"Super Ashinaka High School, huh."

From today she will attend classes here.

Her new uniform was a bit embarrassing.

A mixture of anxiety and tension, she could barely sleep last night. She should be weak in the morning, but she woke up at 5 in the morning.

She was told that she had to go to the school principal's office in front of the classroom to register and receive various explanations from her teacher in the staff room. So she left early, but it may have been a little too early.

She walked alone before a row of cherry blossoms full of morning dew.

Being alone in a world that melts into light red made her uncomfortable.

She decided to move to this school because she no longer wanted to be alone. But after all, she had the unpleasant feeling that she here she too would be alone.

Thinking it too much, she wondered what to do with everything from the first day of moving, but she kept thinking.

"……!"

When she was desperately trying to get rid of the anxiety that was born when she moved out, she heard a jerky sound again.

"Ah?"

Was there anyone? At this time of day?

Suffering from loneliness and anxiety, she was scared and ran away. She continued to the plaza in front of the school building.

In the gradually fading milky-white morning dew, she gasped as she encountered a figure that seemed drawn in light ink.

Along with the sound she heard earlier, the shadow made strange movements.

She was a little scared, but at the same time, her curiosity grew.

Beyond the miserable line of sight, there was a boy.

A boy in a black school uniform.

Navy blue hat. Peculiar auburn hair that bounced.

The open-chested shirt was hemmed at the pants and was a bit baggy.

She instinctively looked at the bright sky blue jacket he was wearing.

A school uniform? Hey? What? Student from another school?

But here on the school grounds? But the uniform here was...

"……?"

She didn't know why, but she tilted her head.

However, when she suddenly saw his feet, she was convinced of only one thing. Ah, she already understood it. That shaking sound was the sound of a skateboard.

The boy, who seemed unaware of her existence, was skating and skating, whether he was playing or practicing.

She thought he was jumping energetically. He turned the skateboard under his feet a few laps and got back on the skateboard. He spun on impulse, lifted the skateboard with one foot, and mounted again.

Although he was gliding at considerable speed, he avoided obstacles like nothing.

A series of light techniques that made him feel like the skateboard was part of his body.

Crack...

Involuntarily, she likes it.

She wondered if she could do it, or she would fall terribly.

How will he balance it? Why does that skateboard stick to his feet even if he jumps? It was strange…

It was like playing with the wind. It was like the wind itself.

Light, fast, refreshing and unpredictable. Freedom anywhere.

There was nothing to bind or trap him now.

His appearance was carefree and he didn't seem to have anything to do with worries and problems.

Integrating with the wind as he wanted.

It was at that moment that she became curious and was watching every move he made.

"Ah?"

The boy with the skateboard got on the railing of the stairs and went down.

"What?"

In an instant he was gone and involuntarily screamed.

Hey? Uh, it can't be! He fell?!

Before thinking, her feet moved forward. She was running out of breath.

She immediately reached the stairs and stood on them. Looking down with her heart pounding, he seemed to skid over the railing, landing brilliantly at the bottom. He slid down as he was and leapt to the top.

Did he hear her when he inadvertently held her chest with both hands and took a relieved breath?

Her shoulders shook and she quickly looked up at him.

"……!"

He had amazing eyes. Sharp, fierce, warlike, and savage. Hot and strong. It was like a flame.

She took a breath and opened her eyes. He looked at her too.

At that moment, he suddenly turned bright red and hurriedly turned around.

As he was, he kicked the ground several times and accelerated. Without stopping, he left her behind.

"Wait."

She swallowed the words that rose to her throat, surprised that the words were coming out of her throat.

She rambled a bit and lowered her hand, which reflexively pursued his back.

She felt that she wanted to see a more splendid technique, but it was a bit disappointing, but was it enough to stop him?

She turned her head and turned around.

The morning dew was quite sunny and the petals of the cherry blossoms fluttered happily in the blue sky.

"I am Konohana Saya. Thanks."

The letters "Konohana Saya" written on the board. When she bowed her head, she received crackles and scant applause.

Super high school "Ashinaka", 2nd grade group.

Ashinaka Junior High School, an integrated education school from kindergarten through college. This island centered around the school is called "Super Ashinaka Gakuenjima".

The economy is established only on the island and it feels like another country other than Japan. In fact, it seems that few people come to the island, even if they are not related to the school.

Until recently, she didn't even know such a school existed. She found out about it from a letter of recommendation to move suddenly.

But she believed that this was exactly like a ship for migration.

At the time, she was in a situation where she had to transfer to another school and hopefully she would stay away from her parents and the environment around her.

So, she came to this school, which has a dormitory on this island far from her parents' house, and they recommended that she move.

Suppressing her nervous, throbbing chest, she looked around her at all who will be her classmates.

"……!"

And then, she gasped when she saw the boy with a bat on the window seat.

Eh? Was he the boy from this morning?

Was that boy from this school? Was he wearing a black school uniform?

Behind him... a big blond boy with sunglasses, he was wearing the same school clothes.

Why just those guys?

The moment she turned her neck, she realized she was wrong.

She was wrong. Not just those guys.

On the side of the hall, she glanced at the boy who was looking away.

The boy with glasses was wearing a pure white school uniform.

She did not believe that the uniform was free choice. She had not seen such a guide.

Then why?

When she was filling her head with question marks, the master said, "Then, Yukizome-san. Please take care of her.", and he walked around the main room.

In the classroom, where there was a lot of noise when the teacher left, she was a little anxious and looked around her. A girl with sincere and friendly eyes ran up to her and smiled at her a friendly smile.

"Yes. Transfer student. Nice to meet you. I'm Kukuri Yukizome."

"Yukizome-san."

"Call me Kukuri. I'll call you Saya-chan too."

She was relieved that she had a carefree smile.

"So, Kukuri-chan."

"Hehehe. If you have any questions, ask me anything! I'll show you around the school today after classes, but trust me for whatever you need."

"So what comes first?"

Kukuri begins by explaining the PDA, which is a student ID card.

Ah... the uniform. She had wasted the time to ask.

She wanted to know about the boy she saw in the morning, but at that moment Kukuri's explanation was more important. She couldn't be rude to overlook her kindness.

She regains her mind and look directly at Kukuri.

After all, that question solved itself after lunch.

"It looks delicious!"

Around the same time that the teacher left the classroom, she looked for a place to sit for lunch, and suddenly they hugged her from behind her.

"Kyaa!"

"Oh, I'm hungry! It smells good!"

When she hurriedly glanced back over her shoulder, she met stunning strange eyes, blue and gold, and her eyes widened.

She was a beautiful girl. Literally, truly, a beautiful girl.

White skin and cherry cheeks. Long straight light red hair.

A boy with silver-white hair and tender eyes came towards her, who was stunned and hardened, and clasped his hands in a hurry.

"Sorry. Hey, Neko!"

"Shiro! That gohan smells delicious! This class was really difficult!"

Hmm? Is it a delicious gohan smell?

Eh? Isn't that the delicious smell of gohan?

Kukuri smiles bitterly beside her like a poker.

"Wagahai-chan, Saya-chan = Gohan, right?"

"Yes!"

"Yes!" She said cheerfully.

"Sorry. Neko isn't good at remembering people's names. She's not malicious."

"Eh? Oh, it's fine. I don't feel uncomfortable. I was surprised."

Um... when she looked at the boy, she thought he realized the meaning of that line of sight. The boy smiled and bowed quickly.

"I'm Yashiro Isana. Everyone calls me Shiro. So I'm glad you call me that too. That girl is Neko. Shiro and Neko."

"Shiro-kun."

"Yes. And this is Kuro."

A boy approached before she knew it. He had beautiful black hair and straight black eyes.

"I am Kuroh Yatogami. As a classmate, thank you for your continued support."

"Huh? Oh, yeah! This is it!"

Unexpectedly, she bowed at the harsh self-introduction. She was shocked. By no means, when she introduced herself, have they thanked her for any support.

"Shiro~. I'm hungry~."

"So, let's make a lunch box. Konohana-san, we'll let you go then. Konohana-san has to have lunch too."

"Bento!"

Neko suddenly let go of her and looked at Yatogami-kun's heavy weight with her eyes shining.

"Hmm. Okay. Then Saya-chan, let's go. I'll show you the school cafeteria and tell you the location of the shopping department."

"Eh? But…"

Kukuri's hand seemed to have a lunch box.

"If it's a cafeteria, I think I can go alone with the navigation system. That's Kukuri-chan's lunch box, right?"

"That's right, let me go with you. Oh! I'm not just a guide am I? I want to eat lunch with Saya-chan."

"Eh? Ah…"

She said those words softly to her. She was so happy that she was going to cry.

"So, I take your word. Thank you."

"You don't have to thank, because I want to talk a lot and get to know you well, Saya-chan. Let's go!"

Kukuri called out to her and smiled.

She wanted to meet her. Those words were a bit shocking, but she was still happy. It was amazing that she wanted to be her friend.

They greeted Shiro and left the room together.

"Oh, it's true."

They were probably boys from another class. She remembered the uniform when she saw the boy in the black school uniform fluttering around and came forward.

"Hey, Kukuri-chan.", she told her as she showed her the back of the boy who was walking away from her.

"Why do some guys have different uniforms?"

"Oh, that boy belongs to a special club."

"Special club?"

"Yes. Special club activities. It is one of the characteristics of this school. There are seven special club activities at this school in addition to the regular club activities. Club members will be able to use special skills when they join the club. They are popular among students, because the word "special ability" is great, isn't it? But only the "chosen ones" recognized by each director can join the club."

The word "special ability" surprised her.

"Only the chosen ones?"

"Yes. Not everyone can enter. In that sense, it is 'special'. The one wearing that black school uniform is from the red club."

"Red club... There were two people in the class, right?"

"Yes. Yata-kun and Kamamoto-kun. Yata-kun has auburn hair and a hat. Misaki Yata. The boy with the big sunglasses is Rikio Kamamoto."

"Yata-kun. I see. His name is Yata-kun...", she thought.

"Some boys wore white school uniforms, right? That boy was from the blue club. Fushimi Saruhiko-kun."

"Blue. So all seven of them have different uniforms?"

"No. There is also a regular uniform section. For example, the silver part. There is also a club that wears a rabbit mask and wears a ninja costume only during club activities."

"Eh?"

Ninja costume?

Did she wonder why? Was she the only one to whom all this was really suspicious?

"In this school, the special club activities are something special. Well, I think you will know right away. Oh, Saya-chan. There are several ways to get to the cafeteria and the shopping department, but the shortest route is to through this courtyard."

"Courtyard?"

"Yes."

Saya pushed open the glass door that led to the courtyard.

"Wow..."

She involuntarily screamed into the courtyard, which was much bigger than she expected.

The well-kept flowerbed had colorful spring flowers. The fresh green of the plantation was also visible.

The lush grass. No trash had fallen on the cobblestones. Light pink petals fluttered from the beautiful and splendid cherry blossoms. The white garden table and chairs below were very fascinating. It would be very nice to deliver her lunch there.

"Ah, but it's better to stop by on limited menu day. I think it's best to tour the school building. There are plenty of places to shop."

What?

"Eh? Did you buy it now? I heard it well?"

Eh? A joke? Would they laugh?

Kukuri just laughed kindly, "Yes. Is that true?"

"As Miwa-san says, it is a tactic. It is a strategy to expel the rivals. Most of the students cross the courtyard, so the courtyard is inevitably the most dangerous place."

She said it naturally, didn't she? Waiting? Was it weird that she didn't understand?

"I set up a purchase to get a limited menu... I haven't had any experience with that."

"Oh, is that true? It's interesting once you get used to it."

So it was.

But surely it would be fun to think of getting a limited menu through the differences? Should she think of it as a game?

That was when she thought about it.

"Sorry. I can't come here."

Kukuri sighed and looked back.

"Eh? Why?"

When she tilted her head, Kukuri pointed at something, saying "That." She was just looking around her and, for the first time, she realized that there were a lot of people gathered there and she opened her eyes.

Also, the atmosphere was not good for compliments. It was terribly upsetting and she felt bad.

A group of black school uniforms and a group of white school uniforms staring at each other. Was it a special club activity?

People who wore black school uniforms had a slightly mischievous impression. In contrast, many of the people wearing white school uniforms appeared to have a tight look. She felt like they were honor students.

However, all white school uniforms with his honors wore sabers at the waist.

So those sabers were weapons that can kill people. What was that?

"Kukuri-chan? They seem to be looking at each other, but what the hell are they doing? And what they have around their hips is a saber, right?"

"It's a conflict. What they wear on their waists is a saber."

"What?"

The answer is so simple that she doubts the ears of her.

"Conflict... is that a fight?"

"Of course it is."

"Eh? Are they fighting? Students?"

"Oh. It's a good reaction. Fresh and cool. Okay. You'll be surprised at first, but you'll get used to it. It's the usual thing."

What was that reaction?! It was really weird.

She realized that she was used to conflict.

However, when she looked around her, there were people looking away, but no one was surprised or made noise, and it seemed that Kukuri's reaction was correct there. She said it was a statement of fight, maybe the common sense of this school was a little strange?

Struggling to understand, she returned to a group of gazes.

"Oh, Yata-kun..."

"Yes. I told you that he is a member of the red club and wears a black school uniform. There is also Kamamoto-kun."

Kukuri pointed a finger at that big blond boy with sunglasses.

"Most of the red club members are bad. Oh, but that's fine, you'll be sure. We don't take the word 'bad' as a bad thing, so they are accepted by the students in general."

Eh? What kind of place was this? She didn't understand anything.

"Isn't it bad?"

"Hmm. It may be wrong to use the word 'bad', it doesn't mean they are bad people. How to say it? I think it's like people who aren't good to keep up with everyone. People who live their own way can be the closest ones. The principal is Mikoto Suoh, a third-year student. He is also one of the heads of this school, it is said that he has a lot of fights. You see, it's that red-haired person next to Yata-kun."

Kukuri points to the person in the middle of the black group.

Chillingly sharp red eyes. Tense and delicate cheeks.

Was he really older? He seemed charismatic. Regardless, his presence was astonishing.

"The blue club are wearing the white school uniform. They have excellent grades and good behavior. Most of the members of the group are super elite who also serve as student organizers and members of the disciplinary committee. The activities are the maintenance of discipline, student orientation, activities such as leading students at a school event, etc."

Discipline, right? Eh? So... what about sabers? Isn't it a violation of the law to use weapons and swords?

"That's why they don't seem to get along with the blues from one point of view. The director of the blue club is Reisi Munakata, a third year student. He is the director of the Student Organization within the School, the example! of exemplary behavior!"

That's right, the central figure of the white group that Kukuri later showed was like the "exemplary student".

Sharp glasses with calm and cool eyes. He listened to the red club swearing with a sweet smile on his lips, as if he were listening to classical music.

"You saw the one next to him in the hall, right? That's Fushimi Saruhiko-kun."

"Fushimi-kun."

"That's why I can't come through here. It's hard to get involved."

Well, could they involve her?

She was scared and just wanted to get out of there immediately.

"Hey, Monkey! Bastard, say it again!"

However, at that moment, a strong voice rang out from the courtyard.

She turned around and looked at the group again.

"Oh, I'll tell you a few times. Your power is below mine. MI SA KI."

Fushimi laughed vividly. Delighted, as if he was intoxicated with something.

He was creepy.

What was that look?

Furthermore, Misaki really looked angry.

"Hmm...! I can't take it! I'll take you down!"

Yata jumped up, fierce fury fading into his eyes. That's it… Misaki is Yata's name.

Suddenly, his classmates began to move.

"Wow. It's started. This is the end of the story for the special part. We have to move fast."

Kukuri came out in a hurry.

But she couldn't answer.

She was fascinated by the fiery bat metal that rose from Yata's hands.

What? It was certainly a flame.

Born from empty space, grew up in the blink of an eye and covered Yata's hands.

She was stunned by the fist that burned like a torch.

"What?"

"Saya-chan?"

The shape was slightly different, but everyone in it was able to easily create a flame and target the blue club. The members of the blue club also drew sabers one after another and defended themselves.

It wasn't just a saber, there was a blue light on the blade.

Is that a special ability?

It's like the magic that appears in the story... Wasn't it a dream?

Well then, what about her...?

"Saya-chan!"

Her shoulders were shaking and she suddenly returned to herself.

"Ah... sorry. Kukuri-chan..."

"Okay. It's dangerous here. Let's go now."

"Yes."

At that moment, Kukuri urged her to move quickly.

Yes, it was exactly a fight. Other students in the courtyard were screaming.

"Ah!"

Looking back, the first thing she saw was a knife with a red lotus flame approaching them.

And that was the last thing. She didn't have time to think about anything.

"Kukuri-chan, it's dangerous!"

Kukuri's body moved quickly. At that moment, a flash of light enveloped her.

In the bright light she was unable to open her eyes, and a tremendous destructive sound was heard.

"Tsu!"

However, it was only a moment, and soon the light disappeared like a lie.

However, the numb ears remained as they were, and the sound of the world that was lost immediately after the destructive sound had not yet returned, leaving only a high-pitched beep.

She thoughtfully held her ears with her hands and shook her head to shake her eyes and limbs from her.

A vague hum came from a distance, and she suddenly lowered her eyes over Kukuri in her arms.

"Ah...! Kukuri-chan, are you hurt?"

"No. I'm fine. Nothing happened to me, but... Saya-chan..."

"Eh?"

"Well, the light is coming out of Saya-chan's body, but..."

"Ah!"

She was surprised by the words. She quickly released Kukuri and looked at her hands.

Both hands had a vague white light. Her whole body was in that state. It was as if she herself was emitting light.

When she looked around her hastily, the stone pavement was severely broken and scraped only around her. It was like they had excavated with heavy equipment or something.

The knife... strangely, it pierced the stone pavement with the flame burning.

The knife turned to stone. It was also deep. That should not be the case.

"Ah!"

Many of the impossible visions piled up and the blood rose again. Reflectively she hug her.

Oh! She again...

"Saya-chan. What's wrong?"

Kukuri's question chilled her back.

When she stood up, she took a step back and walked away from Kukuri.

"Saya-chan...?"

Kukuri's astonished face stared at her back.

What did she have to do? What was she to answer?

She didn't even know what that was.

It was at that time...

"A 'skill', right?"

A sweet, low and gentle voice resonated with the usual sound of his shoes.

When she shook her shoulders and raised her face, the person standing there was Reisi Munakata, who was the head of the blue clan and the Student Organization within the school.

In his hand was a sword that glowed pale.

It was horrible, but... no, more than that.

"Skill...?"

She was amazed at the words she heard for the first time.

"Yes. People with innate special abilities are called 'Strain'."

With that said, Reisi Munakata put the saber in the scabbard and pulled up his glasses with his fingers.

"The power of a Strain sometimes hurts people."

A painful memory crossed her mind at that moment.

She instinctively she pursed her lips.

"It is also our job to prevent that from happening. The other day, there was a report that a Strain had entered the island, but are you a transfer student?"

With a rattling noise, Munakata took a step closer. He turned and took a step back.

"The birth of a talented person off campus is infinitely equal to zero."

"Oh, that, I ..."

"In other words, the exception is that you are a Strain. Transfer student Konohana Saya. If you don't resist, nothing bad will happen to you. Surrender quietly and quickly."

Surrender.

As usual, a soft, sweet smile on his lips.

However, there was a dignified and sharp light in the eyes behind the glasses, showing that the words weren't a joke.

"Here we go."

Reisi Munakata approached her.

She knew she must accept. She should quietly surrender.

But what would happen as a result of the surrender? She already knew what to do after that.

She didn't want to think like that again!

A trauma revived in the back of her eyes.

She shook her head violently and took a step back. And when she held her head, she screamed.

"I do not like it!"

"……"

At that moment, the flame worn by the knife driven into the stone pavement on the rocky shore swayed and suddenly turned into a terrible glow.

Munakata was shocked and flew away.

At the same time, a column of fire that was burning the heavens unnaturally swelled and surrounded her.

"Eh?"

The heat increased and the view was surrounded by flames.

Although she glanced around her hastily, it was a flame on one side. A flame surrounded her.

What?! What was happening?!

No way, this was her too?!

"What...?"

She thought about it for a moment. Suddenly feeling congested, she looked at her limbs.

She got worse and worse and she knelt on the spot.

"What?"

The field of view was blurry. The smoke soaked her and tears came out, she spilled and got wet, she was fed by the heat and she dried herself quickly

Her head was shaking and she fell.

"Evacuate!"

Was it Munakata senpai? A sharp voice rang out.

Beyond the flames she was terribly crowded, with countless footsteps flapping.

"......"

Why did this happen?

The earth was burned, the sky, while the flames protected it and prevented other invasions.

No, it could be the other way around. Maybe to protect everyone from her. She maybe she was trapped in a fire ship so as not to harm her surroundings again.

That's. The witch must be burned at the stake. So the price to pay is fixed. She is not a good common person.

"Cough..."

She fell and coughed.

It was painful. The air was not getting well into her lungs.

Severe pain ran down her left hand.

It was a stabbing pain, but she could no longer move her body.

She tried to stand up, but she couldn't even see anymore.

However, as if she were hazy, her consciousness blurred and vanished.

(Oh really. Why did this happen?), she thought.

She wanted peace. But that was it. It must have been terribly modest.

It was at that time.

"Reject."

Lowly, a voice echoed out.

When she opened her eyes slightly at being invited by that voice, a black figure appeared in the fire in front of her. She seemed to rush there without hesitation.

No way, because such a burning flame. She couldn't just touch him and be sure.

It sure was a hallucination. It was a convenient illusion, because no one would come to her like this.

The moment she thought that, she felt something put on her head.

She was surprised by the feeling. Her vague awareness woke up and she opened her eyes.

Immediately afterwards, she had the sensation that her body was floating gently.

She didn't scream (she couldn't), but she was in awe.

When she hurriedly raised her face, it was red that was occupying her field of vision.

His red hair swayed from the heat and his red eyes stared directly at her.

Certainly, Suoh. He was the head of the red clan.

She gently touched what she had on her head.

Something with sleeves and black, maybe the school uniform?

Suoh said "Let's go.", while he held her, but did not understand the situation (it was not a hug like holding a princess, but a hug where she felt his arm. As parents do with small children).

Go where? How?

However, she still couldn't say those words.

And it seemed that he did not ask for her consent, and Suoh began to walk with her in his arms without waiting for her response, towards the flame.

It was no longer a scary story, and she reflexively tightened Suoh's shirt and supported her face to cling to his shoulders, but strangely it was no longer hot. The flame that had burned her skin a while ago was completely gone.

On the contrary, the cooling breeze immediately caressed her feet and her hair, and she widened her eyes in amazement.

"Hey! Transfer student!"

At the same time, a strong voice echoed out from the vicinity.

The voice was the same that started the fight, she shook her shoulders and raised her face from him.

His fierce eyes were now terribly anxious, painful, and distorted.

Yata.

Nor did her voice come out.

"You, your hands..."

Yata's expression, who seemed to be terribly surprised, slowly looked at her left hand. Both her blazer and shirt were charred and the back of her hand was swollen red.

Looking around her, the pillar of fire was still there. Behind Suoh and her.

How did they get out of it? What the hell happened?

As he held her in a self-defeating state, Suoh looked around him.

When she turned her gaze from her to him as if she was invited, she saw Munakata and Fushimi holding a saber.

Behind them, people in white uniforms were still busy moving.

Suoh stared at them, raised the edge of his lips and laughed lightly.

"This girl is mine."

Saying that he began to walk calmly.

She had a lot to say, but she couldn't get it right, she couldn't speak, and she closed her eyes softly, clinging to his neck.

"It's a clubroom, but... sorry I rarely use it. It's dirty."

Silky light brown hair. A good man with tender eyes offered her a can of juice and smiled.

"I am Totsuka Tatara. I am a third year student from the red club."

"Totsuka-senpai."

"Yes. You burned yourself, are you okay? How about the infirmary?"

After that, Suoh took her straight to the infirmary.

Her wound was a burn on her left hand. A slight low-temperature burn on her right knee. When she fell, she hurt her left knee a bit. It looked like her left hand was a bit awful.

She let the burns cool, then applied an ointment, covered with a bandage, insured and strap up.

All she had to do is wash, disinfect, and apply an ointment.

The time was about fifteen minutes, but during that period, the members of the red club stayed in front of the infirmary and nobody could get close, so it became a bit of a scandal.

So the nurse told her to rest, but she rejected that and immediately left the infirmary.

At the time, she was surrounded by a group of black school uniforms and in the meantime, she was led into a somewhat crowded empty classroom.

Several desks and chairs were stacked in one corner, and an old black leather couch was placed in the shape of three triangles. Juice cans and bottles were placed on the central floor, and it was really like a "gathering place".

Oh, Suoh? Suoh left her with the nurse and left immediately, but where did he go? He wasn't there either.

He had helped her and she wanted to thank him.

Sitting on one of the couches, Totsuka, who was sitting next to her, offered her some juice and looked at her left hand, which was bandaged.

"The burn on your left hand seems to be a bit terrible. You should go to the hospital after school."

At her words, Yata, who was near the door, made his shoulders explode.

"Yes. I am concerned. I hope there are no marks left."

Scars?

"Scars, what ..."

That didn't matter to her.

When she smiled and shook her head, Totsuka frowned.

"Um...?"

"I have to find a new school again."

"Eh...?"

When Totsuka was surprised, his eyes rounded.

That was a bit strange.

She was sure that this person was also in the yard. It was very strange to see that and not think "why?"

She smiled selfishly and slowly spread her hands.

"I have a power that ordinary people don't have. Did you see it? A while ago, in the courtyard. I did that in the previous school. I broke the school building in half, injuring a lot of people. That made me incapable of stay at the old school."

"……"

"That is exactly what Munakata-senpai said. I hurt a lot of people with my abilities. I have done something irreparable."

People from the red club were looking at her.

"Living as a 'normal person' in this school. Hide the ability. Never let my abilities go crazy. Do not disturb anyone, just control myself, do not stand out anyway and live calmly. That's what I imagined."

But it does not work. No way, and it all happened on the first day.

Oh, no matter how she fixed it, she was a "monster".

"Guh!"

She couldn't do anything else.

It went dark in front of her.

That show that never went away while kept burning in her mind.

Perhaps even a big earthquake happened, a part of the school building was ruined and turned into ruins.

Students who were at that time. A blue sheet placed in the schoolyard. The groan that filled the place. A bloodstained towel. And…

Involuntarily, she clenched her back teeth tightly.

She was unharmed. It was as if she was protected by the light emitted from her body.

A mixed look of amazement and fear towards her. It soon turned into disgust. Neither her friends, her classmates nor her eldest looked at her. They didn't try to get involved. Even the teacher looked away from her.

Even her family was scared and they always tried to be in a good mood. If they were in a bad mood, that house would be destroyed next. Her parents believed they could be attacked.

She lost everything that was important at the time.

She didn't want to repeat that feeling.

"No, wait. Um, Konohana-san, right? You don't have to do that. Konohana-san, you can stay here. Rather, I think you should be in this school. The "Ashinaka Super High School" is a school. where talented people meet."

"Eh? Are you gathering talented people?"

"That's right. Did you ask anyone about extracurricular activities?"

"That is…"

She had heard it.

But it was a story where you could use special abilities when you entered a special club, wasn't it a story that people with abilities met in this school?

At her words, Totsuka understood easily.

"That's right. That's true for most, but some people have the ability before joining the club, like you."

"Ah… Before joining?"

"Yes. It is training. But that is not what I mean. The important thing is that there are many talented people in this school. The skills are both congenital and acquired. That is this. It is the 'normal' of the school. You understand It is not "abnormal"."

"It is normal..."

"Yes, no one discriminates against talented people."

Discriminate?

"But... that person, Munakata-senpai said that I should give up..."

"That's because your ability is a mystery. I think I wanted to have it on hand before the hardships happened. It seems that Strains are rarely born outside of the school island."

Does that mean that she was a "foreigner" among talented people?

"You are so different from other talented people that he wanted to keep you close and monitor you."

She involuntarily clenched her back teeth and squeezed her skirt tightly.

Her burned left hand ached, prompting tears.

Why? Why did he have that ability?

The overflowing sound slid gently down her cheeks, and the voice of Totsuka and the members of the red club breathing in the room echoed out.

She didn't need something like that. That is why she lost everything. On top of that, he said it was different in another way and will likely be a target in the future. Until she surrenders, until she's under his control.

She didn't want to be a talented person. She wanted to be normal.

All she wanted was "peace". That was all.

Normally, she just wanted to enjoy school life every day. Why wasn't even that allowed?

"Usually I want to enjoy school life. I don't need any skills..."

"Uh..."

That's when she told him to leave her and roughly wiped her tears away.

"That was wrong!"

Yata, who had been standing in front of the door until then, suddenly threw himself in front of her and sat on the ground. Then, with a loud voice echoing through the room, he screamed, "It was wrong!", and rubbed his forehead against the floor.

"Eh? Ah…"

"That knife, I threw it at you!"

"……!"

""I threw the knife thrown by the monkey! Well, that's why I was the one who created the opportunity for you to use your skills!"

So it was like that.

But beyond that, she didn't know what to say.

She may have misinterpreted him as angry. Yata looked up and stared at her, then leaned down to slam his forehead hard against the ground again.

"The knife flame was probably me too! I hurt you...!"

But it was probably she who created the pillar of fire, and it was Yata who was injured.

She shook her head and wanted to say it. No, she was trying to say it.

But before that, Yata raised his head again, stared at her and yelled, "I won't let you do that!"

His eyes pierced her and held burning flames.

Dedicated to it, he gasped.

"Yata-kun..."

"Thanks to you, I didn't hurt the average student! And yet my benefactor saved you... Let me make it up to you!"

"Huh? But the wound is..."

"I will never let them monitor and control you! I will not let you do that!"

She involuntarily lost her words at the powerful scream.

"I won't let the blue club do anything! I promise to take care of other departments too!"

There was no hesitation in his hot eyes.

It was a trustworthy word that she could understand from the bottom of her heart and made her heart warm.

"I'll protect you!"

"Ah…"

"It has nothing to do with talented people or Strain! You are you! Enjoying normal school life, it is not allowed to do anything to you! Absolutely!"

"Yata-kun ..."

"Like I said, you'll be fine! So... uh, uh, don't cry, uh... that face..."

Yata lowered his eyebrows as if he was in trouble.

But still, Yata did not take his eyes off her.

"Guh..."

The tears overflowed again.

"What?! Did I say something strange?! Or did your wound hurt?"

Yata fluttered hastily and looked at her.

He was wrong. That was not. What should he do? She was happy.

She was a "monster" and there were people who wanted to "protect" her.

She could have hope and "peace", be "normal". That was forgiven.

She never thought that she would get a word like that.

Oh what should she do? She was happy!

When she brought her hands together, she squeezed her eyes tight.

Yata's worried voice, "Hey, Konohana…" made her heart flutter.

"Ah…"

She was glad. Her heart was full and she couldn't say anything more.

She could not believe it. From that day on, her life was going to change completely. She had experienced it. They hurt her and she suffered. It was still in her, too vivid a memory.

Talented people weren't special. She could stay at this school. She should calm down. Although she was happy with just that word, they would protect her.

She now she was normal.

She could enjoy her school life in peace and safety.

Will she be forgiven? Such thing. Furthermore, she, who caused such an incident...

(Oh, but I don't want to be a "monster" anymore! I'm so scared of myself! I want to recover "every day".), she thought.

"Hmm..."

Nobody said anything anymore.

Yata didn't even say, "Don't cry."

They were all there, silent.

A bell rang on the way to announce the start of classes, but no one seemed to mind that.

He was kind and gentle and surrounded her.

"Konohana?"

Kamamoto looked at her.

After skipping class for an hour, she returned to the classroom with Yata and Kamamoto, but she was scared and she stopped in front of the door.

Kamamoto breathed as she clasped her hands, holding her breath.

"Are you afraid?"

"……"

"Okay. There's Yata-san. I'm also."

"It's true, but..."

"Okay. Maybe there's nothing Konohana should be worried about."

Was that so?

Was it really possible that they saw her with the same eyes as this morning when she knew nothing happened?

"Okay. Come in."

But she couldn't escape.

She couldn't say that she couldn't get into the classroom if she was going to stay at that school.

She took a deep breath and desperately suppressed the tremors in her body.

When she looked up, Yata looked at her and opened the door.

Kamamoto patted him on the back.

She takes a breath and half shaking she enter the classroom.

"…!"

Immediately afterwards, the classroom, which had been noisy until then, quieted down.

At that moment, something cold ran down her back.

Ah! Ah! After all, she couldn't lift her face and closed her eyes. Was when…

"Hey, Saya-chan!"

It was Kukuri's strong voice.

Then there were turbulent steps and they grabbed her by the shoulders.

When she opened her eyes in amazement, Kukuri's crying face appeared right in front of her.

"I was worried! Oh, bandages! You're hurt! Oh, your legs! Do you hurt? Are you okay? I was worried because you didn't come back soon."

Shiro and his friends also run towards her with other classmates.

Was this a reality?

"Kukuri-chan..."

"Thanks for your help on the courtyard! I'm sorry I couldn't thank you right away!"

That said, Kukuri hugged her.

The warmth of her finally made her realize that this was not a dream.

Her back back of her nose hurt, and at the same time, her chest.

"Kukuri-chan... Am I not unpleasant?"

"Hey, why?"

Kukuri looked into her eyes as if she didn't really understand her meaning.

"Because, this ability..."

"Yeah?! I don't believe that at all. You were great as an ally of justice, right?"

"Ah..."

"Because you are a lifesaver, I don't think I could feel uncomfortable. Tell me if there is anyone who thinks otherwise! I will preach for about three hours! Hey?"

At Kukuri's words, Shiro and Yatogami took control.

"Ah..."

Oh, she already understood... what should she do? She was happy.

The exact opposite of the previous school. But it may be that she used to hurt people with her abilities, and this time she protected people with her abilities. Still, it's the same thing that was destroyed here and there with the non-human ability. However, by no means, would it be accepted like this!

"Eh? Saya-chan? Why are you crying?"

"Gohan~? What's wrong? Does it hurt?"

Both of her hands caressed it gently.

That invited more tears.

When she suddenly looked for Yata, he was already moving by the window.

When Yata looked into her eyes, he turned red and turned away from her. That was not the case a little while ago. Kamamoto gave him a small blow.

Finally, she was relieved.

She took a deep breath and put her hand on Kukuri's back.

++++++++++

"Yata-san! I'm here!"

Around the same time that the teacher was leaving the main room, the members of the red club entered and greeted Yata.

"Oh, come in."

"Understood."

"Wow, Saya-chan."

"Eh?"

Wow, she?

As she prepared to go home while glancing at him, she was shocked when she was suddenly called by her name. Surprised, she looked at the boy who was looking at her with a smiling face.

"What?"

"Oh, hi. I'm Chitose Yo. This guy next to me is Dewa. We're sophomores and members of the red club."

"Chitose-san and Dewa-san?"

"Yeah. The blonde over there is Eric. It was a bit noisy to get into the room, I wonder if it would have been better later. Let's go first."

Eh? Where?

"This is your bag."

"Eh?"

"Yes. Princess. Please give me your hand. Right hand. Take your left hand, don't you?"

"Eh?"

What? What was happening?

When she looked at Yata with a feeling of confusion, for no apparent reason, he turned red and turned around. Kamamoto who was next to her raised his hand and said: "Okay."

But that was it. She did not understand the meaning.

As she filled her head with question marks, they gently lifted her up and carried her out of the classroom.

(What? Well, wait. Where are we really going?), she thought.

"Ah, that? Where are we going?"

"Let's go to the red club room."

"Eh? Let's have lunch, that?"

"Oh, no. Not there. It's where we usually hang out."

Eh? Oh, that's right, Totsuka said, "We rarely use the place for lunch."

"Yes. That's right. I'll show you, so follow me."

He asked Dewa to please give him her bag, while Chitose tugged at his hand.

A boy in sunglasses and a hoodie under his school uniform pushed his back.

Behind it was a slim blond boy. Next to them, a boy who seemed to be serious, although his hair was standing on end, seemed to be calm. There were many others.

Yata was the first to walk. Kamamoto followed him diagonally behind.

Kamamoto suddenly turned around and raised his hand saying, "Okay."

Really? No, she didn't think Yata and his friends would do something to her.

But was she worried after all? Because she didn't understand the meaning or the intention.

Why were they trying to take her to the red club?

The appearance of walking surrounded by the members in black school uniforms of the red club seemed strange, and all the students who passed by had round eyes.

"It's unreasonable, it's not good."

Anna Kushina. A mysterious Japanese teacher, a beautiful girl with long straight hair and big red eyes, looked like a girl.

It was Chitose, not Yata, who replied with a smile: "I understand."

Anna nods and passes without stopping.

She looked back over her shoulder and saw Dewa.

"Huh? What happens now?"

"Anna-sensei. Doesn't she know?"

"No, I know. I know."

"Oh, Anna-sensei, the red club advisor."

After thinking about the meaning of her question for a moment, Dewa convinced her. It was true, that's why she couldn't resist.

"We got to the living room. Yes, let's go."

"Ok. You can change clothes yourself!"

Chitose, who tried to be fragile, is hastily stopped and their shoes are changed.

Oh, she's already seen it! She can look at it with a sense of interest!

However, apart from her, they march around her began again, probably because they didn't mind the direct gaze of other students.

She was embarrassed and lightly clasped her hands in front of her chest and denied.

"Oh, should I go to the girls' dorm? I'm out of school, but something..."

Eh?!

"Is this outside of school? Even though it's a clubroom?!"

"I wonder if it is a clubroom or a place that replaces the clubroom."

"Yeah? Well that's..."

"By the way, do you think Anna-sensei and other teachers will get mad when they find out I'm going in there?"

Would they be offended?

When she asked them all of a sudden, not all of them showed a congested expression, they just looked at each other and said, "Okay."

"Yes. It's fine during the day."

She got more anxious.

It was like that, they walked a bit. She went to a bar where they took her.

The name of the store is "HOMRA".

"Homura?"

"Yes. Homura. The common name of the red club."

It was strange. Was the red club commonly known as Homura?

Retro look and nice British flair. The deep, calm red was very impressive. The gold lettering "BAR", the lights and the exterior menu board were very atmospheric and liquorous.

The tenant on the first floor... but the building itself was made of brick and the window frame was dark green. It felt like you were on an English street that you see in the movies.

She knew it was prejudice, but it wasn't a "bad hangout."

"Oh, I see. It's fine during the day because it's a bar."

"Yes, please!"

Chitose opened the door with a smile.

A bright caramel colored wooden counter that can be seen as antique. A wooden floor that squeaked when you stepped on it. A classic that flowed smoothly. Various traditional and elegant interiors. The spacious couch seats looked very comfortable.

At the back of the counter, there were many bottles of liquor.

One person was polishing glasses, had shiny auburn hair and purple glasses. She wondered if he was the age of a college student. He was like an older brother with a big smile.

"Oh, that boy?"

The boy smiled as he watched her enter.

"Then Kusanagi-san, do something sweet."

Perhaps he arrived a little earlier, Totsuka, who came out the back, beckoned her to come.

"Yes, sit there on the couch."

"Eh? Ah, that..."

"Saya-chan, right? You don't like it?"

"Huh? Oh, I can't drink alcohol."

When she answered that while she was sitting on the couch, they looked at her like everyone was shocked for a moment.

Eh?

"Ah, that?"

"Well, did you think they'd be drunk? Well, it's definitely a bar here, right? But it's not good for minors. It's a waste."

She smiled and waved her hand.

She believed that it was different for not drinking because it is not good...

Oh, but that's not what she just said.

She shook her head, looked at Totsuka and then looked back at the young man.

"I thought they were drunk, but it was about making sweets. I'm not good at cakes made with western liquor, nor compotes boiled in alcohol, although I skipped the alcohol and the rum raisins. I mean, sorry. I think I am. I said many words."

"Oh, that's how it is."

"Wow, did you think it was going to be bad?"

"Saya-chan."

She felt bad. In a hurry, he waved his hands and apologized, and put the glass he had polished on the shelf and laughed mischievously.

"If you forgive a man too much, he will eat you, don't you think?"

Eh?!

"Hmm, wait a minute. Look, you guys are scaring the princess, don't you think?"

"Ah, that?"

Eh?! Princess?!

She was surprised to hear that, but the boy started to prepare.

When she looked at Kamamoto, who was standing next to him, Kamamoto said "Oh." and he point to the young man with his hand.

"Izumo Kusanagi. He is a college student at 0B and from the red club. He is the same age as Mikoto. He is the owner of this bar."

What should she be surprised about?

Is he the same age as Suoh? Does that mean Suoh was repeating a year? So he was a college student and a business owner? College student?!

"Kusanagi-san, what about Mikoto-san?"

"He comes in the afternoon, now he is sleeping."

Kusanagi responds without stopping to Yata's question.

"Oh, upstairs? The second floor is also a store?"

"He has nothing to do with the store. He's using the empty room on the second floor as a nap spot. He's the King."

"King..."

"Mikoto-san…"

At Kamamoto's complementary explanation, she looked ahead.

Late? So after that he came there? What? And the lessons?

"The basement is the storeroom for the store and it feels like our gathering place."

"I'll tell you. Even though I'm immersed in this all year, it's never been quiet in the basement and they've interrupted my business."

At Chitose's words, involuntarily, she chuckled softly.

"Oh, now you have a nice smile."

Then Totsuka laughed, gestured with his thumb and forefinger, and looked at her.

"You brought her in because you wanted to see her smile, right? Yata."

"Eh?"

When she looks at Yata sitting on the counter, Yata turned his bright red face and turned around, saying, "Ah, that's not it!" She's been thinking about it since noon, but maybe Yata was really shy?

"Yata-kun, really?"

"Ah...! But I said you would have fun in your school life!"

When asked, Yata yelled as he looked away. His profile was tinted red, and surprisingly the red was turning redder.

He somehow embarrassed her and her cheeks heated up.

"That's right. That's why Saya-chan…"

Chitose knelt on the ground and reached out in front of her.

"Plays with us."

"……!"

"Oh, I said it, it's not because Saya-chan is a Strain. I'm sure she created that pillar of fire. I'm glad she protected the students in general. No, I'm really grateful. I think she is. It does worst thing to do to injure a student in general."

When she shook her shoulders, Chitose rushed to shake her hands and said, "Oh! I don't blame Saya-chan!"

"We want you to join this special club, we have skills too. It's different from you that you didn't even know you had the skills. We got them because we wanted it. I think there is a great responsibility there."

Totsuka looked at her and said calmly.

"That's right. It's like Chitose said."

"Everyone in the red club is grateful to Saya-chan."

"Really...?"

(Wow, thankful to me? Um... why did I do that?), she thought.

She was confused and denied, but everyone was smiling at her.

"Yes. Thank you. Oh, and we're sorry that your hand got hurt, Saya-chan. I'm not saying that because I feel responsible, only Yata got hurt."

"Eh?"

"The rest is fine. Because the red club has a reputation for being bad. It's great that you didn't see us with that kind of eyes, but, above all, seeing those tears and doing nothing would make a man leave."

"Chitose-san..."

"We're having fun. Maximize that out now. I want Konohana-san to have fun. So I thought. That's why you came to this school, right?"

"Totsuka-senpai..."

But, she was a different "Strain".

(I'm happy, but...! But it can be a hassle!), she thought.

However, no one seemed to care about that. Why?

On the contrary, everyone was very happy.

"I'm happy. The first female member! It's the first time I've seen it of all generations, isn't it? Kusanagi-san!"

"Saya-chan. It certainly is. There has never been a female member in the red club. I hope you join the club."

Kusanagi, who came out of the counter, said that and placed a fruit-filled parfait in front of her. It was cute and it looked delicious.

"Yes, here you go."

"Oh, thanks! It looks delicious..."

Well, everything was getting really good. It would be good?

The moment she received the spoon that was offered to her while thinking about it, the floor creaked.

They all looked back in surprise. Kusanagi also laughed and stood up slowly.

"Good morning, Mikoto."

Suoh, who came down from the second floor, yawning sleepily.

No one said anything, and naturally everyone turned away. There was nothing to block his red eyes staring at her.

Great charisma. A bottomless flame.

She shrugged reflectively.

That wasn't horror, it was amazement... she felt a bit shocking.

"……"

Looking at her like this, Suoh scratched his head.

Then he took a little breath and walked over to her silently and sat down casually next to her.

"Hey."

"Oh, yeah!"

"If you feel like it, join."

The hand that reached out in front of her, made her eyes open inadvertently.

She was instantly engulfed in flames, and she gasped.

"Eh?"

"Okay, it's like a rite of passage."

Totsuka told her gently, and she turned to look at him.

"A rite of passage?"

"Yes. Sorry, but it is absolutely necessary to join the red club. There are many people who cannot take that hand and stop joining, but trust."

Totsuka wiped the smile on his lips and looked directly at her.

"Trust me. We, the red club, will never hurt you."

"……"

Looking at Yata, there were some members who seemed a bit concerned, but his gaze was very sincere, determined, direct, and fiery.

She was relieved, it should be fine. She had just met them, but she could believe it. There were no lies in those words. They would protect her. She looked at everyone around her.

They were all staring at her.

She swallowed her breath and looked at him.

That's why? There was no wonder or anxiety.

Without anxiety, she had no reason to be surprised.

This is where her words wanted to come out of her throat.

When she pursed her lips, in the hand that held the flame, she placed her hand.

#k #k project #k wonderful school days #gakuen k #novel #yata misaki #suoh mikoto #totsuka tatara #kamamoto rikio #munakata reisi #fushimi saruhiko

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haifengg · 4 years ago

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Lead On - Seungsik

Summary: The finale of PDX101 was on and you were following the voting on your laptop at your place. You knew at some point that night you would get a call and you’d have to be ready to run wherever he needed you.

Disclaimer: I do know very little to nothing about what went on behind the scenes at plan A or within/among Victon. I don’t know what talks they had or anything. This is purely fictional.

Genre: Fluff! Established Relationship! Slight Angst!

Authors Note: Why is it always Y/N who needs comfort? I felt like we need more content the other way around.

It’s the night of truth

The finale of ProduceX101 was broadcasted live and thousands of people were watching

Most of them watching the elimination excitedly

There was only a small fraction following the voting with mixed feelings

Among them were you, sitting in your apartment at the kitchen island

The entire process had been going on for a while now and since the entire time you sat on your chair, already wearing a jacket and sneakers

The car keys were resting within reach so you could grab them and run if you got the call

There was no way your phone wouldn’t ring tonight

There was no way not a single one of the members would call you to at least give you a status update

Because there was no way Han Seungwoo wouldn’t be part of the new group

You suspected they already knew what was coming

If you spend so much time together, do many years practicing and living together some things you just sense

Of course it was CJ ENM and literally no one knew what was going on behind closed doors but how could people not love Seungwoo?

So you were certain things would go down

Your boyfriend had been the leader since Seungwoo entered the competition

That was decided beforehand obviously and by that time all of you could tell that Seungsik was already worried about it

He tried to hide it but the guys knew him too well and they eventually decided to tell you

They understood why he was trying to keep his worries from them and they wanted to respect his choice but also wanted to give him the opportunity to let down his guard when he was with you

So one night shortly after the announcement of Seungwoo’s participation you sat down and confronted him about it

„Don‘t you think it’s possible he’ll get eliminated in the process and everything will go back to normal? He is much older than most of the other trainees.“

„Don’t be ridiculous. He’s so talented and and handsome and he has been pretty much carrying Victon during the first years. Of course will he make it. He’ll pass flying colors.”

You shook your head at that remark

„Okay, now you’re being ridiculous and please don’t paint it all black. I think it’s possible he’s considered too old to debut again and he did not carry you! Every single one of you contributed to the group and worked very hard to be were you are now. Never forget that!“

Before he could say anything else you just got up from your chair and pulled him very close into your chest

Which was just another way of shutting him up

You didn’t want to hear any more of this but you knew he was right somewhere

The votes were out

Seungwoo made it into Group third Place

The camera was going back and forth between the members faces and the ones who knew him could see his heart break

Maybe he was happy to have made it

Happy for the other kids on the show who finally would get to debut

But one could tell that it meant he wouldn’t go back to work with his friends for a really long time

And no one would be happy about that

You sighed and closed your laptop only being able to imagine what was going down at victon‘s dorm

You were sure no one present really knew what to feel

For a while you just sat in your dark kitchen, not bothering to turn any lights on or check your constantly

You just waited patiently

In your Head you played through every scenario imaginable

Utter chaos

Denial

Lots of tears

Whatever it was they would confront you with and expect you to fix - you would be prepared mentally

It took them about two hours for Byungchan to call you

Before he could say anything you asked:

„How are things?“

He hesitated. „Well ... let me be straight with you: Mixed feelings really. A few of the managers called to check on us but we either ignored them or apologized and hung up on them. Can you come over?“

„Does he want me to come over or is this you telling me to come because he won’t admit it.“

You could hear him shake his head

„No, he actually asked me to give you a call. Idk why he didn’t do it himself. That’s just how he is sometimes, you know that.“

„I know. I’m on my way. 15 minutes if there is traffic. There are people in front of your dorm right?“

„Yeah. But I’ll make sure you get into the Deep-Level garage. Don’t worry, security knows your license plate by now.“

Byungchan was right

There were a few people by their house, mostly peaceful Alice holding and putting up a few signs with encouraging messages on them, playing some of the old songs and chatting

Just making sure to show them they’re still supported

You went behind the back of the building, showed the security guard you ID and signed in on the usual list

You parked your car, walked to the elevator and went up to the floor their apartment was at

Heochan opened the door, his hair held up by a small pink clip he looked like any other day you have spend here

Despite the fact you could see he had been crying at least a little

„He’s in our room. We didn’t get in there once he closed the door so I don’t know what’s going on.“

You knocked on the door, feeling the guys look observing you from the other end of the hallway

„Seungsik, Open up. It’s me.“

The door opened up a crack and you entered the room closing the door behind you

You found your boyfriend in a very confused state

Once the door closed he dropped back on his bed, sitting up and staring at you

„What am I supposed to do now?“

„What do you mean?“ you dropped your keys on the desk and walked up and crouched in front of him so you could look up to him, taking his hands in yours

„How the hell am I supposed to lead them on? When Seungwoo is gone for 5 years?“

„2,5 years.“ You corrected him calmly in an attempt to divide his terror

„He is Victons‘s leader. Not me! He did it since day one and he knew what he was doing! Everyone counted on him! He is the most reliable person. Not me. I am not the one who is supposed to guide them through whatever shit show is coming up in the future! I can not be there for them the way he would be and I can’t mediate between our company and the guys as professionally as he-„

„You are forgetting something extremely important here.“ You interrupted him and looked him straight into the eyes

He had been crying while he was in here and that was why he made Byungchan call you: He didn’t want them to see

By now he was tearing up again

„You are forgetting that Seungwoo recommended you specifically for the job and that every one agreed. Everyone in this apartment thinks you are fully capable of it and we think you will do it well! They would have never even asked you to do it if they wouldn’t trust you with their careers and with the future of this group.“

Seungsik remained silent two seconds and his voice was shaking when he spoke again: „Well, guess what: I don’t think I can.“

Tears started to roll down his puffy cheeks and as you got up to hug him anyways his arms were already reaching out for your waist pulling you in

„But we are certain you will. It is okay to doubt yourself but be aware that it’s not a one man job. You guys are in this together, the others know how heavily this must way on your shoulders and you can always ask Seungwoo for help if you should need any.“

Seungsik was throbbing in your arms and all you could do was holding him tight. Regardless of the fact he was balling his eyes out your were smiling softly and patting his head gently

„You are not alone with this. Seungwoo will be back eventually. We all trust you with this and we will all support you. You’re a very competent and hardworking man, you always give your best and you know it’s okay to rely on other people. We will stand behind you.“

„I love you.“

„I love you too.“

„And I am happy for Seungwoo. In a weird way.“ His muffled voice came out of his hood, your jacket and a lot of sleeves

„Of course. He did great.“

„It’s selfish ... but I really wanted him to not make it.“

„I know.“ You sighed deeply looking out of the window. „I know.“

#sometimes men need hugs #just comfort them okay #again it’s just fiction #why is always y/n that needs comfort #victon fluff #victon reactions #victon imagines #Victon Seungsik #Victon Seungwoo #Hanse #subin #byungchan #heochan #Seungwoo #Seungsik #sejun #Victon imagine #Victon scenario

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allaboutve · 4 years ago

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FAVORITE MOVIE REVIEWS: #9 THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR, John McTiernan

My ninth favorite movie is perhaps my most embarrassing. The Thomas Crown Affair is fundamentally a date movie that happens to be about a heist. And call me a liberal fruit bat, but the film articulates some very problematic values.

However, The Thomas Crown Affair benefits from being one of my favorite movies from my adolescence and does a lot of things right. One of these is its representation of New York City, which is not accurate in detail as much as in spirit.

As an adult I appreciate the relationship between Thomas Crown, played by Pierce Brosnan, and Catherine Banning, played by Rene Russo. There are no easy answers in the movie or in their fun yet troubled romance.

Although The Thomas Crown Affair is shamelessly materialistic its moral strength is its honest amorality. It never mistakes its main characters’ drives with a higher sense of right and wrong, which is sadly becoming the norm in today’s media.

Thomas Crown is a Wall Street Mergers and Acquisitions giant with a fondness for one particular painting--Noon - Rest from Work by Vincent Van Gogh. He affectionately calls it “Haystacks.”

Late for work and stuck in traffic, he leaves his personal chauffeur in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art to view the painting from a bench the impressionist wing. It should be mentioned that Crown brings a briefcase containing his lunch, which he eats in the museum.

He shows up later in the day at the Wall Street headquarters of his company Crown Acquisitions, having accidentally left his briefcase in the museum. Crown spends the rest of a busy day looking at his watch, waiting for the day to finally end. Crown finally leaves the office with another briefcase and returns to the Met.

I should mention that over the course of the day, a foursome of Eastern European thieves smuggle themselves into the museum hidden inside a Greco-Roman Horse (“Trojan Horse”) preparing to heist the very same wing Crown frequents. Their heist is unrealistically complex--involving crawling through air ducts, sabotaging the air conditioning and an airlift via helicopter.

When Crown arrives, he discovers the nefarious goings on and draws museum security to it. Security thwarts the art thieves before anything is stolen. But not quite.

1999 audiences knew from the trailer that Thomas Crown would steal one of the paintings. But in fact, the entire heist was orchestrated by Crown. While the impressionist wing is sealed and the thieves apprehended, Crown slides under the closing gate, steals one painting off the wall and stashes it in a briefcase hidden under a museum bench. He left the briefcase in the Museum intentionally!

And Crown is only able to make his escape because one of the gates is wedged open by the second briefcase he brought work. We later learn the briefcase was loaded with titanium.

Crown does not steal his “Haystacks.” Instead, he steals a painting by Claude Monet San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk. The movie sets up the painting early on as the watershed painting by Claude Monet that founded the Impressionist movement, worth $100 Million.

(It should be mentioned that this backstory is made up for the movie. The Claude Monet painting that founded the Impressionist movement is named Impression, Sunrise. It is actually housed in Paris and its subject matter is superficially similar to San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk, though less dramatic.)

This is our first insight into Crown’s personality. Crown spends the early part of the movie fantasizing of an easier life, like the man enjoying a siesta in Noon - Rest from Work. But it is a facade. Crown is after the drama, dynamism and richness embodied in San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk.

The above synopsis is only approximately the first twenty minutes of the film. The rest of the movie focuses on the investigation of the robbery. On the case are two NYPD detectives (“Michael”) McCann and Paretti--played by Denis Leary and Frankie Faison.

Having four thieves in custody, they want to treat the case textbook and overlook some of the unusual details. But they are joined within the first hour of their investigation by a Private Investigator named Catherine Banning, played by Rene Russo.

Her job “is the painting.” Already a nuisance to the detectives, she sits in on the Witness ID of the thieves, in which Thomas Crown is the witness. Banning gives Crown several suspicious glances, the gears in her mind turning.

After doing some research Banning discovers Crown has a habit of bidding on paintings by Claude Monet at auctions. She becomes certain that he stole the missing Monet, and after she resolves other details of the robbery McCann and Paretti believe her.

The rest of The Thomas Crown Affair involves Banning’s attempt to retrieve the missing Monet by seducing Crown--who also appears to be seducing her. While the plot develops it becomes unclear to both whether Banning is after the painting or Crown.

Whether or not The Thomas Crown Affair lands depends on its execution of the romance between Thomas Crown and Catherine Banning. More than half of the movie conforms to the plot structure of any modern romantic film. However, The Thomas Crown Affair deviates from romance tropes in several ways that give the film life where another film’s story and characters would drag.

(SPOILERS BELOW)

This is not to say that there are not several romance tropes littered throughout the movie. For instance, two love triangles are forced throughout the movie--involving Detective McCann and a young woman seen dancing early in the film with Crown. One of these love triangles even leads to a misunderstanding that makes Banning betray Crown to the police in the film’s climax.

Banning is also led astray by Crown’s wealth and privilege--a tropey characteristic of female romantic leads all the way into the 21st Century. This would not be distracting except that it occurs during a sequence in the Caribbean island Martinique where the film’s pace otherwise grinds to a halt.

For reasons to be discussed, these appear to be problems with the script from its most early drafts. But The Thomas Crown Affair starts to circumvent romance tropes with its first shot. If there is a theme in The Thomas Crown Affair I have come to respect, it is the couple’s incongruent needs. Thomas Crown is attracted to Catherine Banning because of personal insecurity. On the other hand, Banning is attracted to Crown because he is handsome, receptive and fun to be with.

Crown’s insecurities regarding his love life are first stirred up in his first scene when his therapist questions in session whether a woman could ever trust him. In Crown’s relationship with Catherine Banning, he tries to prove that he trusts her as opposed to earning her trust.

From this context, Crown cannot resolve by himself his insecurity about whether a woman can trust. He is going about it wrong. What’s more, trust issues are only Crown’s hangup, not necessarily Banning’s.

Crown’s insecurity is not resolved at the end of the film. At a height of tension in their relationship, Crown promises Banning he will return the stolen Monet to prove that he trusts her. Instead she passes the information to the police.

This turn of events is perhaps the strength of The Thomas Crown Affair as a romance film. It is true that Banning sides with the police in part because of a misunderstanding about Crown’s relationship with another woman. This sort of misunderstanding is typical of Hollywood romance films.

On the other hand, the film avoids a more problematic romance trope by not stating whether Banning should choose Crown or the police. Romance films are typically coded so that a couple, especially the female-gendered half, should choose their romantic interest over their other values or responsibilities. But The Thomas Crown Affair does not even make the case that Banning should side with Crown over the police.

A climactic chase follows between Crown and the police inside the Met. Crown not only returns the painting while evading the police, he steals another--The Banks of the Seine at Argenteuil by Édouard Manet. The painting by Manet is what Banning points to on their first date, saying she would steal that one if given the choice.

Banning goes to the Wall Street Heliport where Crown asks her to meet him. But he has already left and his associate gives her the painting instead. A generous gesture, but Banning does not keep the painting. She returns it to the police instead.

In that entire sequence, Crown shows that he did not fully trust her. And Banning does not reciprocate Crown’s further doting on her.

Catherine Banning’s attraction to Crown is based less on her emotional needs than for the thrill. As Crown says on their first date, “You like the chase.” This aspect is consistent with Banning’s counterpart in the 1968 film, Vicki Anderson as played by Faye Dunaway.

However, one of the major deviations between the 1999 movie and the original 1968 The Thomas Crown Affair is the remake’s “happy” ending. Crown arranges to sit behind Banning on her flight back to Europe and draws her attention by speaking in a Scottish accent.

The scene is ambiguous as to the couple’s future. The fact that Crown speaks in a Scottish brogue for his last line is a callback to the couple’s first date, when he says the hardest part of attending Oxford University was “learning to talk.” Crown finally feels free of the pretensions of English and American culture.

At the same time, Crown and Banning’s needs in the relationship are so different that it is foreseeable they are not a long term match.

As a film romance, The Thomas Crown Affair is refreshing because its romantic leads are not necessarily perfect for each other. They have their own motivations that are never completely reconciled or resolved. And that is more true to life than most Hollywood romances.

The Thomas Crown Affair’s script is written with a curious indifference to materialism. In today’s world, its tone may come off as dissonant. But understanding its perspective requires consideration of not only the era when it was written but the people involved in making the film.

The Thomas Crown Affair was one of the first films produced by Irish DreamTime, a production company founded by Pierce Brosnan and Producer Beau Sinclair. By the time a Director was signed, at least one version of the script was already being drafted. The best explanation why the film conforms to romantic comedy schlock is that its first draft was written to do so.

The early version of the script appears to have remained intact, since writing credits were still retained by Leslie Dixon and Kurt Wimmer. And since Pierce Brosnan was a producer, this means that The Thomas Crown Affair was intended as a vehicle for Brosnan. This is made apparent in the Martinique sequence, which is also where the film’s perspective on materialism is its most loud.

In the exact middle of the film, Crown takes a holiday with Catherine Banning in his island estate. As intimate and seductive as the setting is, Crown also advertises his lavish lifestyle to Banning. His seduction of Banning becomes more obvious when he offers her even more money than her commission to run away with him.

This sequence was likely included at the behest of Actor-Producer Brosnan himself. The actor has a well known attraction to tropical locales and even maintains a home in the Hawaiian Islands today. The ambiguities regarding Crown’s criminality or immorality would then be the product of indifference by the Writers and production staff.

This part of the film stands out in the 21st Century because of several scandalous stories involving Caribbean criminal havens, including the Paradise Papers and Jeffrey Epstein’s estate on Little Saint James in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Obviously these scandals were not in the mind of the Producers when the movie was shot in the late 1990s.

But Thomas Crown is also represented ambiguously throughout the film. He is a remorseless criminal who has his hands dirtied by other schemes--bribery and offshore banking. This is consistent with the original 1968 film where Crown was more a villain than antihero. But more than the 1968 film, Thomas Crown is humanized as a protagonist and romantic lead. By association his values are also normalized.

Director John McTiernan’s similarities to Thomas Crown make the film’s perspective on materialism and white collar crime suspicious. McTiernan did more than direct. He also (uncredited) rewrote the script and used his own property and vehicles in the film.

McTiernan’s biography is also suspect. In 2000 McTiernan wiretapped a film Producer and later lied to Federal Investigators twice. Prosecution would drag until 2013 when McTiernan was finally sentenced to twelve months in prison.

During McTiernan’s first sentencing in 2006, the presiding judge publicly stated John McTiernan thought he was “above the law,” and “lived a privileged life and simply wanted to continue.”

There is reason to believe that McTiernan based Thomas Crown on himself during his rewrite. Thomas Crown is shown not to be attracted to fame or a cushy lifestyle. Instead, he is a thrill-seeker with a death wish.

But Crown’s motives are never stated explicitly in The Thomas Crown Affair. Furthermore, they are muddied by the existence of a forged Monet in Crown’s possession. The forged painting is eventually discovered by Catherine Banning. Although Crown needed the real Monet to commission the forged Monet, we learn by the end that Crown no longer had the stolen painting when he first met Banning.

Although the forged Monet tricks Banning, this could not have been Crown’s intent when he commissioned it. The best explanation is that Crown intended to trick the police.

More than that, it means Crown committed his theft intent on being found out. This is curiously similar to the judge’s description of Director John McTiernan--that he thought he was “above the law.” McTiernan’s detachment from the consequences of lying to Federal Investigators twice also echoes Crown’s arrogant disrespect for the police.

There are also sociological reasons The Thomas Crown Affair is ambivalent about wealth and materialism. Public opinion about Wall Street and the U.S. financial industry was not as negative in 1999 as it is in 2021. This is partly a result of politics changing in response to current events.

At the same time, the Wall Street boom of the 1980s and how it changed New York City were still fresh in the public consciousness of 1999. Especially in 1999, where big business was not yet politically divisive prior to the Dot-Com Bust.

The indifference the public had for big business is embodied by Detective McCann. By the end of the movie, although Thomas Crown has outsmarted the police and museum security, McCann admits to Catherine Banning that he does not really care about catching Crown.

McCann implies that compared to cases of domestic violence and human exploitation he usually investigates, the art heist by Crown is a victimless crime. The stolen paintings only matter to “very silly rich people.”

Detective McCann is held up throughout the film as its moral center. He has legitimate care and respect for Catherine Banning--even though it is shamelessly teased as a love triangle. He is motivated to solve the case from a sense of professional responsibility. In his last scene Banning even tells him, “You’re a good man, Michael.”

But McCann’s indifference to Crown’s crimes is The Thomas Crown Affair’s moral failure. The victims of art theft are not just the owners but the public itself. Pop culture pre-Enron was similarly indifferent about fraud and white collar crime, believing the victims were only the rich and wealthy.

This indifference is a product of the era. The world would learn very shortly that costs of financial fraud and white collar crime are felt more by society than by the financial industry itself. But to Hollywood and audiences in 1999, Thomas Crown’s art theft and financial crimes were all victimless crimes.

An aspect of The Thomas Crown Affair that deserves credit is its representation of New York City. The city depicted in the film is different from the experiences of most New Yorkers, even in 1999.

Although the film is not always shot in the correct location, the city is represented well in spirit. Early in the movie, a truck driver making a delivery to the Met gripes when Thomas Crown crosses into his lane. Detective McCann similarly expresses contempt for New York City’s social circuit in a manner often overhears. “I love this neighborhood, some of these broads are wearing my salary.”

An AIDS Research Ball hosted by BVLGARI is another realistic part of New York City culture in that AIDS activism had become mainstream by the late 1990s.

The Thomas Crown Affair is shot in a part of New York City that is inaccessible to most people, yet widely advertised. And it is represented in film authentically and amorally--if for no other reason than because the film was shot almost entirely within the city.

Perhaps the most widely entertaining aspect of The Thomas Crown Affair is its contribution to the heist film genre. Heist films are different from other crime movies in that the narrative usually follows the criminal’s or robber’s perspective.

Heist films are also preoccupied with how the criminal will pull off the caper. They differ from detective films where catching and identifying the criminal are the lingering mysteries.

But The Thomas Crown Affair is different from other heist movies in that the finer details of Thomas Crown’s capers are never shared with the audience. For instance, when Crown steals the Monet we are left to wonder how he evaded museum surveillance. Catherine Banning offers an explanation, but the question is never answered for certain.

Another mystery lingers when Thomas Crown steals the Manet at the end of the film. Absolutely no hints are offered as to how he managed to steal it. Part of the attraction of films like these is they leave audiences to guess how certain events occurred.

My favorite explanation for the stolen Manet is that Crown had a mole working at the Met steal the painting beforehand. That also explains how Crown obtained the information necessary to steal the first painting.

Catherine Banning’s explanation for why museum security failed to capture the first theft is that a heater was left in front of the painting. That is because museum surveillance used infrared cameras that responded to temperature, and a heater would have been just enough to interfere with the infrared camera. I should mention now that this feature of museum surveillance is one of the more far-fetched details in The Thomas Crown Affair. Especially today, since face recognition software is in such demand in cyber security.

Lack of realism in films about art or jewel theft is common within the genre, and especially true of the era’s other films--Mission: Impossible, Entrapment and Ocean’s Eleven.

The purpose of heist movies like this is wonder more than realism. And prior films have been similarly tongue-in-cheek about painting and jewel theft--such including the Blake Edwards comedy The Pink Panther.

Films like The Thomas Crown Affair are not intended to be a blueprint for future criminals. Ironically, The Thomas Crown Affair did inspire one bank robber who got away with the loot using the same costumed diversionary tactic as Thomas Crown in the film’s climactic chase scene.

Even though I have said a lot about The Thomas Crown Affair, there are simple reasons why I am fond of the movie. It is a well-made movie, beautifully shot and secretly intelligent. It is a decent representation of New York City, despite complications in the script and budget.

The movie itself is light and entertaining and leaves it up to the viewer to make up their mind. Yes, it requires some suspension of disbelief. Yet even in that way, it treats its audience as mature adults. A quality rare in action or romantic films of any era.

-ve

NEXT POST--#8 LET THE BULLETS FLY (dir. Jiang Wen)

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ri-ahhh · 4 years ago

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idk if you’ve heard the song toxic by kehlani but maybe you could write something based off that song where a tipsy y/n calls up her on and off ex (grayson) to come over 👀 i love your writing btw

It’s already late when your best friend Fallon knocks sharply on the front door of your apartment. You had texted her not even half an hour ago, all up in your feels after you saw Grayson’s Snapchat story of him and some friends at the beach, an unfamiliar and pretty blonde girl tucked under his arm in one of the photos. She had responded immediately, letting you know she was on her way.

Feet clad in your fuzzy pink slippers, the strings of Grayson’s old hoodie keeping the hood cinched around your face tightly, you heave yourself off your comfy couch and trudge over to the front door to let her in. When you swing it open, she’s standing there with her hands full with her purse in one and an obvious brown paper bag in the other.

You stand aside silently, letting her pass the threshold and dump her shit on the kitchen island. “You didn’t have to bring alcohol, Fal, you know I don’t drink like that anymore.”

“Exactly,” Fallon deadpans, whipping out the bottle from the bag. “You stopped drinking because of Grayson Dolan. I think you owe it to yourself to let yourself start drinking because of him, too.”

You push the hood off your head and take the blue bottle from her when she offers it to you. Your brows raise. “You bought me Don Julio to cry over my ex? Isn't this, like, $50 for a bottle?”

Fallon waves a hand dismissively. “That’s exactly why I got it; you’re not gonna cry over your ex. Wine of any kind is crying juice. Vodka makes you a dumb bitch, and bottom shelf tequila makes you cry, a dumb bitch, and a ho. You need the good stuff, so we can bring out the bad bitch. Who can talk about her ex, get it all out, without crying again, or texting him, or posting a thirst trap.”

You roll your eyes. “That was only one time I accidentally sent you that nude instead of Grayson. And we were still together, so it didn't count as being a ho. I was just giving my boyfriend good spank bank material.”

Fallon is already rummaging through your cabinets, in search of the nearly-forgotten shot glasses. “Babe, you know I support every woman’s right to be a ho as much as she wants, especially after a breakup, but this is Grayson we’re talking about. You two were so into each other, it was toxic. You fought all the time, and by your own admission fixed everything with sex. You’re addicted, and as your best friend, I’m inserting myself here to keep you from talking to him anymore.”

She turns around, two little glasses in hand, and looks at you then the bottle in your hands pointedly. You give in and pull out the stopper and the Don Julio Blanco to her.

“Now, I’m not gonna get you drunk. But we’re gonna get enough in you to loosen up that tongue, you’re gonna get all your Grayson shit out before I leave, and we’re gonna go to bed happy and feeling better,” she says matter-of-factly, pouring the clear liquid into the glasses. She hands one of them to you. “Cheers, bitch.”

Right before you clink and tap, Fallon’s phone buzzes. She leans over to check it where it’s resting on the counter, and her eyes widen. “Shit...”

“What?” you ask concernedly. Fallon puts down her glass and starts typing madly.

“It’s my downstairs neighbor. She said Roxy’s been barking for nearly an hour straight and she’s gonna file another noise complaint if I don’t get there to let her out.” She stops for a moment and looks at you. “Shit. I’ll get evicted if I get another one. Like actually evicted.”

Fallon’s dog Roxy has serious attachment issues, which is usually extremely annoying, but right now you're thanking her. You love Fallon to death, but this isn’t exactly the friend therapy you needed or expected when you called her up to come over.

“Dude, go! I promise I’m fine. I don’t need to worry about you being homeless on top of my shit.”

“Okay. I’m sorry, babe, I promise I’ll FaceTime you as soon as I’m home.” She’s gathering her things, leaving the tequila open on the counter. “Make good choices, please. Love you!”

“Love you!” you call out behind her as she rushes through the door.

The door slams, and it leaves a ringing silence almost as loud as your best friend. You look around at your suddenly empty apartment, your eyes landing on the still-full shot glasses.

What the hell? You snatch one of them off the counter and down it with a grimace. Admittedly, it was the best tequila you’ve ever had, but it’s still tequila. The burn travels down your esophagus and settles in your near-empty belly. The sensation reminds you that you’ve hardly eaten today, and one shot was probably more than enough considering your lack of food and the fact that you’ve probably reverted to being an extreme lightweight after not drinking for so long.

You and Grayson have barely been broken up for a month, and despite how hard it’s been, you haven't been tempted to touch more than a glass of wine or an occasional Whiteclaw if the stress of the day was too much. But it never felt right to have more. Grayson is still a part of you, even though that’s part of the reason you broke up to begin with. The two of you were becoming codependent on each other, which was turning into jealousy and neediness that built up into huge, explosive fights and ended with you fucking on whatever surface was nearest.

It was, indeed, a vicious, toxic cycle. Even though you tell yourself it’s for the best, you also can’t shake the feeling that the two of you aren’t done. That there’s still hope for your relationship, especially now that you’ve spent time apart.

Fallon’s tactics have backfired as you stomp back to the couch and snatch your phone off the cushion. Julio has given you the liquid courage you need to do exactly what Fallon told you not to.

I miss u

A classic. You wish you had it in you to be more creative, but the simple truth of it is: you do miss him. You miss his laugh. You miss his smell. You miss coming home to him, either here or at his house, after a long day. You miss his kisses. You miss his dick.

There’s little shame for yourself in admitting that. You used it to solve your problems, but you were blind to that before the breakup. Everything is more clear now, especially the fact that you still love him deeply.

Suddenly, your phone starts buzzing. You don’t even look at the caller ID, assuming it’s Fallon calling impatiently from her car.

“Hello?”

“Hey.”

The deep voice on the other end of the phone startles you, and you hold it away from your face to see his name in big, white letters. No longer ‘Gray’ with some heart emojis, but ‘Grayson Dolan.’

You swallow hard and put the phone back to your ear. “Uh, hi, Hey.”

There’s a beat of silence before he speaks again. “I, uh, got your text.”

You don’t say anything, picking at a piece of fluff on your slipper.

“I miss you too. Like, a lot. Too much.”

You bite your lip tightly, chewing it nervously. You hadn’t expected him to fucking call. Calling and texting had two very different vibes. Over text, you would probably say something cute and calm and ask if the two of you could get coffee tomorrow.

But a call? You can hear his voice for the first time in weeks. It makes you want to jump through the phone and wrap him in your arms, to cry in his chest -- from happiness or sadness, you’re not sure. Either way, this is the closest you’ve felt to him in so long, and it makes you weak.

Grayson may be loud, but he’s good at shutting up when he wants an answer. It’s one of the things that drove you most crazy when you fought. He’d yell his piece, then stare at you until you had a retort. Sometimes you did, sometimes you didn't; you were always both at fault, for the most part.

You take a deep breath and find your voice at last. “Me too. I...I haven’t been doing so great. Without you.”

She hears him sigh. “Me neither.” He pauses, and you wait anxiously. “Look, I’ll be honest. I was with Ethan when I got your text and he...well, he doesn’t think it’s a good idea that I called you. Or that we’re talking to each other, period.”

He leaves his sentence hanging, almost like an open-ended question without phrasing it as such. You can't stop the laugh from bubbling past your lips as you shake your head. “Fallon was just over at my place and said the same thing. So that either makes us really fucking stupid, or our best friends just don’t understand.”

“Famous last words, either way,” Grayson chuckled with you. You can hear crickets chirping in the background, and imagine he’s sitting outside by the pool. The two of you used to like to do that together.

You decide to follow his example and head out to your balcony, plopping down in one of the plastic chairs with your knees tucked to your chest. “What do you think about us talking, then?”

He doesn't miss a beat. “I think I miss you. And I love you. And I know I fucked up a lot, but I’ve been actually reflecting on everything that was wrong with us and I think I know now what I can do better. This time apart has been really fucking hard, but I think it was a good thing. For me, anyways.”

Your lip finds its way between your teeth again. You clamp it hard to hold back the shake in your voice. “Me too, Gray. I wasn’t perfect by any means, either. But as long as we both know what we need to work on, I want to try again if you do.”

“I do want that,” Grayson sighs, relief flooding his voice. He laughs that laugh you missed so much. “You have no idea how happy that makes me. I’ve been driving E crazy having these meltdowns all the time thinking about how I fucked up so bad that I wouldn’t ever get you back.”

You smile into your knees, and decide in that moment to risk it for the sake of your biscuit, which throbs at the mere thought and sound of him. “Is it too early to mention that I miss all of you?”

“Careful, or I might think you only want me back for my body.”

“I mean, I definitely had to use my imagination a few times without the real thing. I only had to think of you, though. How good you fuck me.”

This right here is probably where the tequila is coming in to play. Fallon was wrong again; you’re about to go Full Ho, having phone sex with your kind-of ex.

His breath picks up nearly imperceptibly, but you can also hear the smirk in his voice. “How many times did I make you squirt in the tiny house shed that one time, baby? That was so hot.”

“Mm, it was so good, Gray. I remember you had to carry me inside to your bed because I couldn’t walk. And then you fucked me nice and hard on your bed.” A rush of wetness floods your panties, and you squeeze your thighs together. “You came all in my mouth that night. I miss how your cum tastes.”

“Fuck,” he whispers. “Can I come over?”

You hesitate. You think of Fallon, of Ethan, of Don Julio. Of Grayson.

“Yes. Please.”

#anon i LOVE kehlani #and this song #sorry it wasn't super sexy #i loved writing this might fuck around and add to it eventually #whoever this character is has my dumb bitch energy #dolan twins #grayson dolan #blurb #g blurb

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seokmingiggles · 4 years ago

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interview tag.

tagged by @kithtaehyung (thanks a bunch, ryen!!)

rules: answer questions and tag 20 blogs you’d like to know better!

tagging: @adi--writes @lunatens @sanshiine @wonwooslibrary @woozisnoots @elcie-chxn @carat @gallivantingheart @escapewriter @heartshxkr @lovingyu04 @interludeshadow @merakiiverse @aunty-tiger-potato @flytomyjoon (i’m sorry in advance if any of you have done this before!)

name/nickname:

kalan! i’m frequently called lan or lannie too!

pronouns:

she/her and they/them; i’m equally fine with either.

star sign:

scorpio sun (but i’m contractually obligated to also mention my overwhelming pisces rising).

height:

157cm! (or just shy of 5′2)

time:

it’s currently 10:23pm as i’m typing this sentence. (morning edit: it’s now nearly 12 hours later! 10am as i’m typing this.)

when is your birthday:

november 15

nationality:

i’m canadian!

favourite band/groups:

(for kpop:) seventeen, bts, ateez, mamamoo, txt, cix. (other artists:) broods, the japanese house, wet, oh wonder.

favourite solo artists:

(for kpop:) taemin, hwasa, j-hope... can i also include dokyeom and seungkwan’s solo stuff/covers?? (other artists:) niki, sam smith, jeremy zucker, troye sivan (and many, many others).

song stuck in your head:

surprisingly, nothing in particular at the moment. maybe it’s because i’ve been listening to the same 7 songs on repeat for nearly three hours now... (morning edit: it ended up being the same 7 songs on repeat for four hours :D)

last movie you watched:

(i’m not going to count your name as i mentioned it in my last tag game) the last movie i watched on my own was in this corner of the world. i wanted to rewatch it as it’s one of my favourite films.

last show you binged:

(i’m also not going to count meteor garden as i mentioned it in my last tag game) the last shows i binged by myself were crime scene: the vanishing at the cecil hotel and puella magi madoka magica (i can’t remember which one i watched more recently! that’s why i’m including both.)

when you created your blog:

mid-december, 2020; it was during my winter break between semesters!

last thing you googled:

it was the name and number of the caller id who called me twice in a row... (i’m not going to say that here for obvious privacy reasons, lmao)

other blogs:

just @readbylan for now! it’s where i reblog the stories i’ve read <3

why i chose my url:

it had to do with a (slight) rebranding when i began posting my teacup collection! “cha” or 茶 is tea in mandarin (i’m half-chinese), and “lan” or 兰 is part of my name (i nearly went with “lu-cha-lan” [green tea lan] for the alliteration, but i didn’t want that many dashes, lol) cha-lan can also be a play on my full chinese name, kalan!

how many people are you following:

at the moment, it’s 72 users.

how many followers do you have:

more than i expected to have nearly 3 months after posting my first fic! i actually recently hit a milestone last month that i’m really grateful for <3 a ginormous thank you to everyone who’s been with me thus far!

average hours of sleep:

on average, i’d say about 7-8. although sometimes i can sleep anywhere from 5 hours or 9-10 depending on how tired i am.

lucky number:

122 (not sure if it’s actually lucky; it’s just my favourite!)

instruments:

i used to play the violin for about 6 years! more recently, i’ve been teaching myself songs on the piano (for... wait, it’s been roughly five years already?? i guess that’s the last time i played the violin too, then </3)

what i’m currently wearing:

very baggy sweatpants, my college sweater, and fuzzy socks! (very classy, i know)

dream job:

that bts staff member who got to rub hobi’s tummy in that one behind the scenes video... can’t remember specifically what video it was, but that clearly hasn’t left my mind. (morning edit: found it. yep, that’s my dream job.)

dream trip:

honestly? right now, it would be to the gulf islands (here in british columbia) to visit my grandma. i meant to see her last august for her birthday, but there was a covid outbreak in a city near me, which prevented the trip from happening. (morning edit: or paris to eat all the crepes.)

favourite food:

i have too many! my go-to answers are either sushi or my grandma’s cooking! i really like pizza, too ^^ and fruits and vegetables! (morning edit: french crepes, too.)

favourite song:

at the moment? that would be spell by niki!

top three fictional universes you’d like to live in:

i recently rewatched puella magi madoka magica and was reminded how much i adore that anime, so that’s my first choice, for sure. as for the other two universes, i know my 13-year-old self would practically scream lord of the rings. and lastly, maybe ponyo? just a studio ghibli universe, in general, but i’ve been fixated on ponyo’s universe lately.

#i probably put way to much time & effort into answers for these sorts of tag games #but oh well #i enjoy doing them!#ask lan #about lan #tag games #kithtaehyung

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felicia-cat-hardy · 3 years ago

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Max Minghella On 'The Handmaid's Tale,' His Dad, Romance, & 'Spiral'

“You okay, sweetheart?” he asks — the dog, not me — tenderly.

Get Relationship Advice Here

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anarchist-soupkitchen · 4 years ago

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ooop its a really long essay

A brief list of why the Tories is pretty rubbish

Before we start, I have a few things to say. As this is intended for UK audiences it might be a little difficult for people outside of the UK to understand the wording of certain topics, I will include somethings that need more explanation up here but if I do not include it here, please feel free to ask down in the comments.

Tory: someone who is a part of the conservative right

Anglicanism: the English church’s version of Christianity

This essay is a PERSUASIVE ESSAY this means its BIASED I hope you could tell from the title. This essay is from the view of someone who is white I am not trying to speak over people of colour on issue like race and I encourage you to look at non-white creators within the UK to get views on this matter.

I am pretty armature when it comes to my writing so do not expect something ground-breaking. And with that out of the way, let us begin.

1. The tory party we know today was founded in 1834, you would think that would be plenty of time for its members to grow and shape the party into the best organization it can be. But with the tory party still stuck on the same ideas that Anglicanism is the only true religion, and that queer people should not have rights you would think that the party is straight out of the early 20th century, or still stuck on the same ideas the party was founded upon. It does not matter what side you are on and how your choice to view the tory party, people can agree on the prominent figures inside the tory party from old to recent. An example of a prominent tory of old was Winston Churchill a well know racist who also, coincidentally got us through WW2 when he was appointed by Chamberlin. He fostered such views that white people should govern over the “primitive” black and indigenous people of Africa and that Indian people “bred like rabbits”. To anyone who knows their UK history, 1983 was a very eventually year for politics and the UK as a whole. You now have to wear seatbelts in the front seats of cars, the dismembered victims of serial killer Dennis Nielsen are found in his London flat, unemployment was on a record heigh since the 1930’s and a general election found that Margaret Thacher was to be the next prime minister after a landslide win in the polls. Over the course of her 11-year reign of terror she periodised free-market capitalism and privatised public sectors including transport, railways and mines. Then because she did not like the Scottish government, she through a hissy fit and closed all mines in Scotland. Just like that she fucked up the economy, where in the big mining areas of the past are still experiencing the aftershocks today. I remember my granny telling me how she made up food packages for the miners around town and how it was so devastating to the town’s economy. Everyone was unemployed and starving, even my grandad. These examples really show that the Tories will support people who are the worst in British society if they have the parties’ interests at heart. You would think the tory party cannot get any worse but with modern polices such as pledging to get 50,000 nurses for the NHS while only giving them a 1% pay rise, which is only £7.78 for a low band nurse, by 2023. Or being “tough on crime” even though 96.4 crime were recorded by every 1000 people in 2019. You can see how tough they are about carrying out their polices. Let me tell you my favourite of the lot, Boris Johnston, our current PM, wants to limit immigration by 100,000 people. They want to only let in “the brightest and the best,” what a load of shite. Our immigrants are the backbone of our society doing everything people like the Tories would not even dream of doing. Imagen seeing Boris working in a McDonalds or in your local call centre. That fucker probably has not worked a day in his life. According to the migration observatory, migrants make up 50% of the low pay workforce. Either way you look at it, its abysmal. The government should do more for these people that letting them rot in a McDonalds or in a low paying job. If you have taken time to be a model citizen, train and get your qualifications, possibly learn a new langue to mover over to a shitty wet rock I do not see any problem with the government providing necessities to get you started in your new life. We have got the money.

2. Can I ask you, what side do you think Boris Johnson is on? I will let you think for a moment. The Working class makes up more than half of our population according to the BBC’s class calculator. They say that a government is reflective of the people’s views and I think that is bullshit. Out of the working-class eligible to vote, who do vote, only three in ten vote conservatives. Do you want to know why people in the working class do not vote tory? Because under tory leadership since 2010, 6000,000 more children and their families were forced into poverty. The need for foodbanks skyrocketed 12.3% in the last five years and that is no even accounting for the pandemic. It is clear by now; I have given you enough time to think. “we know whose side Boris Johnson is on- the billionaires, the bankers and the big business.”- labour shadow chancellor, John McDonell. We know the conservatives are very busy committing acts of voter suppression and giving money to their friends instead of caring about you. They are buzzy introducing laws that make it mandatory to have voter ID in order to vote. If you do not make it free people will stop coming. The electoral commissions think 3.5 million voters just will not come back. this is all a part of, “takle[ing] every aspect of electoral fraud”- tory manifesto. It is well known that many rich people have been investing in the party for quite a while. Here is just a few: Anthony Bamford head of machinery in JCB, he gave £12.1 million since 2005. Charles Cayzer owns a shipping tycoon, he gave £480,00. Did you also know, Boris is known to be very generous when it comes to giving back. You’ve probably herd in the news about the conservatives handing out £3mil in contracts to tory owned covid PPE companies over the course of the pandemic. Some of that went to a MP, Nadim Zahawi who is a shareholder in SThree. SThree was given £1mil in contracts over the course of the pandemic. With all the evidence I have given above you’d think the government its rolling in it, I suspect they are but I doesn’t look like it from the outside. They have cut funding to courses drastically, as well as benefit schemes. Like cutting access for eighteen- to twenty-year-olds to the housing benefits. Yet with all the money they been cutting away from services and councils who desperately need it they still have enough money to cough up a commission for a royal yacht named after the duke of Edinburgh, costing over £200 million. Seems sweet does it, name a yacht after the ghoul of Edinburgh, right? You probably know the just of it now, your wrong. Not only is the yacht being paid for by taxpayers, but they are also naming it in honour after a racist. Or how the BBC would phrase his words as “memorable one-liners”. Here is a selection I find quite fitting: “The Philippines must be half empty if you’re all here running the NHS”- while meeting with a Filipino nurse. “If you stay here much longer, you’ll be all slitty-eyed”- he said to a group of British students while on a royal visit to China. My favourite must be “It looks like it was put in by an Indian.”- referring to and old-fashioned fuse box in Edinburgh. He is supposed to be the duke of the bloody place! I really like how one article what I read put it “[Prince Philip] screams out loud what other racists like him have learned how to conceal and camouflage in what they think and project as civilised demeanour.”- Hamid Dabashi.

3. What I find absolutely astounding, is the Tories inability to show compassion to the people who have nothing. If you did not know the vagrancy act among other things crimeless the homeless and rough sleepers, which is by far a very bad mixture with the recent homelessness statistics, homelessness has risen 28% since labour was last in office and if the Tories continue down the path they are now, it is only going to keep rising. What you would find is most shocking is that there’s solutions for the homeless crisis right in front of us, what the Tories must to not be able to see. Layla Moran of the liberal democrats thinks they “must take a more compassionate and holistic approach, starting by scrapping the vagrancy act”. I think that would be a step forward and away from the old ways of prosecuting people for not being as fortunate as the rest of us, but there is something even more simple than that. Repossessing the 200,000 buildings that have been vacant in the UK for more than six months. Not only would that put a sizeable dent in the houses we need, but it also saves space. The UK is small collection of islands and I do not think the Tories can see that. We do not have the land available to just start building everywhere while leaving all those homes empty and unfilled. Its not a way to solve the housing crisis and its certainly not a way to save the money we supposedly need. Even the homes the Tories are building are left dormant because they are too expensive for the area, they are located in. With the way things are going the Tories will have to build more houses than they ever built before, because by 2041 homelessness is expected to doble. That is 400,000 more households if things do not change -a study by heriot-wat university. The evidence suggests that whatever the Tories are doing to end homelessness it is not working. Everything is not as bleak as I just told you though, the conservative has ended homelessness before. In the hight of the pandemic the conservatives got 90% of all rough sleepers off the streets and put them in hotels or hostels. This helped people apply for benefits, find jobs and get some more permanent assistance. People was helped during the pandemic, but when the funding ran out last July, homeless and the rough sleepers in the hotels and hostels where back out in the streets again. Alone and forgotten by the government that promised to end the very crisis they are apart of years ago. Theis shows that the Tories have the money to help the unfortune but they would rather sit on their arses chatting about what colour they should paint the walls of their house. More recently the Torie introduced a law what will fine people for sleeping in doorways. It really shows what the Tories care about, getting linings for their pockets. The Tories have the money to stop homelessness and when it was a danger to them, they stopped the issue what has been so recuing in our politics for decades. They helped the people who so desperately needed it only to chuck them back into the cold when covid-19 was no longer a danger to them.

4. The conservatives fail to keep minorities safe in the society that they created. It is not surprise that the Tories are the most incompetent as ever. A study by BBC radio 5 found that hate crimes have doubled since 2013. An optimist would assume that is great, that there must mean that people have been reporting it more, right? Partly so. Although we have seen a rise in reports of hate crimes, the rate of prosecution has dropped down from 20% to just 8%. And that is just the tip of the iceberg, in a survey of faith-based organizations; the home office found that seven in ten of the employees surveyed has never reported a hate crime to the police where one happened. For a country where we are supposed to be the most tolerable it is no surprise that a big portion of the hate crimes committed are ones where the religion the victim followed played a big part. Our population, like many others, is influenced by our politicians. After Boris described Muslim women in burkas as “letterboxes” in an interview; citizen UK found that there where a surge in hate crime directed to Muslim women where the word “letterbox” was used. Again, continuing with the theme of hate crime against religions, Muslims made up half of the statistics in 2018 – 2019. The biggest spike we have seen in the last few years has been to Jewish people, where hate crimes against them have more since doubled. It is not a surprise since people seem to relate being a ‘good’ Jew to being a Zionist. Other minorities like trans youth under sixteen in England and whales now must go through everything that goes with puberty on top of not wanting to have the body you cuntly have all because TERF’s and conservatives do not think puberty blockers should be available to them. At this point I genuinely think they want trans kids dead, how could you not see that the benefits of puberty blockers far out way the potential consequences. If puberty blockers really where the target they would have taken them of the shelfs completely, but they did not do that did they? They just restricted the rights of an already marginalised group more. Its not just trans kids but the fight for a third gender to finally get recognised is still waging on despite it being a battle since 2018. The government petition has been signed 136,000 times demanding non-binary finally be recognised as a valid gender in the eyes of the law. I hope I can get recognised as well as everyone else. It may not seem a big deal to some of you reading this but it is to thousands. Especially the people who want to go on hormones and medically transition. Because right now I and many other people are restricted and not allowed to get that service. If you are in the UK and you are of age, I urge you to signs the government petition. In other news the conservatives are just now getting to outlawing conversion therapy three years after they announced they would do so. It just shows how the party is not on target. On the topic of not on target let us talk about the increasing number of racial minorities becoming homeless because of lack of funding to their communities. Since the conservatives got into power in the 2010 racial minorities now make up 40% of all homeless despite being only 15% of the current population. It really shows how much they care about anyone who is not white. Yet people like my gran will continue to say they are doing enough for these underfunded communities.

the tory party really has nothing going for them, they are certainly not for the working class, they cannot solve homelessness and they do not give two fucks about minorities. To think anyone would vote form them is just amazing. Its fucking stupid to believe that they are anything but a bunch of rich shites dawdling around and thinking up ways to get more money into their pockets. To end this really all over the place essay, if you vote tory you are a massive twat.

Sources in comments:

#essay #uk #uk politics #uk politics essay #persuasive essay #tory government #tory #left wing politics #conservatism #conservtive #if any reads this well done #im sorry #its long #heehee hastags go burrr

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smolbeandrabbles · 4 years ago

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How Deep Is Your Love - Danny Rayburn x Reader (Bloodline)

GIF CREDIT: X

@mandy23b @wltz-bby @happyskywhale #mendotagsquad.

Danny + 91 - “Tell me you need me.” Requested by Anon 💙

Author’s Note: Danny is the final posted as tradition states! Here we are, 16/16! It’s taken a significantly shorter period of time than last year and would have taken even shorter if I’d have just posted them one after the other. So, your request “He needs some reassurance after a day with his family.” might have been calling for some sweetness and angst... I accidentally gave you spice instead... Ooops... 😬😬😬

I hope it’s still enjoyable - and even more I hope this last one was worth the wait!

Disclaimer: Bloodline characters not mine / gif not mine (credit as appropriate) / lyrics not mine.

Premise: After another particularly hard day with his family, Danny is in need of a little R&R. However, his idea and yours might not be exactly the same...

Words: 3896

Warnings: Sexual Pre-Amble / Sexual Connotations / Dirty Dancing / Swearing

____

I want you to breathe me Let me be your air Let me roam your body freely No inhibition, no fear Open up my eyes and Tell me who I am Let me in on all your secrets No inhibition, no sin How deep is your love? Is it like the ocean? What devotion? Are you? How deep is your love? Is it like nirvana? Hit me harder, again How deep is your love? Is it like the ocean? Pull me closer, again So tell me how deep is your love, can it go deeper?

---

Danny didn’t look particularly happy as he closed his room door on the day. That might also have been understatement of the year, aside from the fact that Danny never looked particularly cheerful when he was in the Keys – not really. Maybe he’d smile and feign joy, but you’d been together a long time – you knew him better than that. You were only meant to be down here for a couple of days, and it was the first time you’d driven down from Miami since he’d decided to settle back here and get his life back in order, but the second you saw him you knew you’d be staying far longer. If there was one thing you hated it was to see Danny unhappy – he had enough of that as it was, without someone making him upset. You already knew that being around his family was always hard for him, although usually he got to come back to Miami for respite. Now he was with them 24/7, and you weren’t sure that you could stand for it. And he was working late too; you also weren’t sure that was fair on him, but then Danny would only argue that he needed the money. For Nolan, Danny would do anything - he’d already proven that. You’d been sitting cross legged in the middle of his bed for a little while, watching the sun sink below the horizon line and waiting for him to return to you – tonight, dinner in hand. “How was work?” You didn’t dare ask how he was; that was fairly obvious. “Yeah.” He blew out a breath and joined you, “It’s a job.” You reached out and took his hand in yours, “Danny,” but your sentence faltered, because you could think of nothing good to say, and didn’t want to start an argument about his family right now. He nodded gently, completely getting it and slipped his hand from yours to touch your cheek, “Thank you.” “For what?” “Being here.” He gave a heavy shrug, “Hell, I don’t know what I’d do without you.” “Nor me you…” Your voice was quiet, and you kissed his wrist, and then his palm before you let him go. You ate dinner in relative silence, but he did spend a little bit of time here and there updating you on his day, before Danny asked you about yours. You hadn’t done a lot, having seen him off – with more kisses than you could handle – early this morning with the wish of a good day. How you’d pulled him close and held him there in front of them all. You’d already seen the way the Rayburn’s looked at you like you were too good for him, that was before he’d come here – back when Danny was doing well for himself. It was even more important to you now that they understand just how much you cared for him - about the fact that you were his and you weren’t about to leave. You’d then subsequently spent some time on the beach and gone shopping in town. You loved the Keys islands, the little towns with quaint shopping districts. It was by no means quiet, full of spring breakers – who appeared to be frequenting a ton of venues that had all day parties going on, possibly all week. You raised your eyebrow; it’d been way too long since you’d done something like that – but you did like occupying dancefloors – and at least a little part of you wished to get back on one. But really your day hadn’t been that interesting. “Your cooking is – as ever, incredible!” Finally there was a smile at the compliment. “Thank you. You’re far to kind.” “Are you kidding? This is so good!” “It’s good comfort food, yeah!” You finished your plate and leant across to kiss him – lips grazed to his gently, soft and sweet – Danny set his food to one side and pulled you to him. You knew then how much he needed this, “Danny…” “It’s okay, you don’t have to say anything…” But you felt like you did, you could only imagine what he’d been through today. “Baby tell me. Please tell me.” You whispered the words softly against his skin between kisses, and eventually Danny gave in and told you about his day. “--And yeah, well…You know my family…” You couldn’t help your frustrated sigh, and – considering you called it like you saw it – your exclamation of “Fuck your family!” You weren’t in a good mood, despite high spirits, just because of the situation – his depiction of what was going on here just made you more livid. And more importantly, you realised it wasn’t helping him – you leapt from the bed and tugged his hand. “What?” Danny tilted his head – wanting nothing more right now than to cuddle up in bed with you. “Come on.” “What?! Where?” “I want to get you out of this fucking house!” “Well, where are we gonna go darlin’!?” But Danny wasn’t so reluctant, and curiosity got the better of him to rise from where he was sitting and allow you to pull him from the room – you kept your hand in his and tugged him down the stairs and outside, all the way to his truck. You pressed your back against it, and he pinned you there; wonder still in his blue eyes as he traced them from your eyes to your lips and back. You bit your lip gently in invitation for him to taste you again, and Danny did so. “You’ll see, when we get there…” *** You figured you were smiling by the time you got to the end of the drive; Danny already with his arm and head out of the window, enjoying the cooling night air as the breeze swept in from the ocean. You liked driving his truck too – that was just a nice bonus right now. Neither of you were really dressed for where you were taking him, but you honestly weren’t sure you cared. It was what you were going to do there that was important. First you had to scope out a good one, and seen as you’d been observing them all day, you knew which you were going to pick – backing out onto the shore line with pretty strings of coloured lights and an outdoor dancefloor on decked levels. Strangely sophisticated for spring break dive bars – and you’d been to your fair share of them. Not that the clientele were wearing anything sophisticated; in fact, when you pulled into the parking lot it looked like most of them were coming off the beach – bikini tops and short shorts. You looked down at yourself; huh! maybe you’d scratch that, you were dressed perfectly. Perhaps you were a little more covered than a fair few. Turning back to Danny, he was surveying the scenery with curious interest, a bemused sort of smile on his face. “You’re about to tell me we’ve arrived aren’t ya?” “Mmhmmm.” You leant across to kiss his cheek, before hopping out of the car, “Come on babe! Let’s go!” “Oh geeez.” He slid from his seat, still starring at the hordes of already drunk twenty-somethings (and probably teens with their plethora of fake IDs) dragging their friends towards your location of choice. Danny slipped his hand into yours as you walked, “A bar? A dance bar? On spring break? With no cash?” You rolled your eyes at his tone; “Shut it! I’ve got money and it’s totally NOT about the drinking!” He raised an eyebrow and looked to you; “With a bunch of ‘breakers half our age-!?” “Excuse you-! Half your age maybe!!” That made him cackle; “Already, yeah, that’s probably true…” Although as you pulled him towards the entrance, he already spotted those more around your age – maybe not his age. But still older. Not that he hadn’t kicked around with kids the age of most of the attendees before today – Danny would just rather not tell you that. Once in, you pulled him straight to the dancefloor; but Danny didn’t go unwillingly, gripping your hand a little tighter as you pulled him through the crowd. He wasn’t about to lose you – especially not to those he could already see turning their heads to your presence. That never surprised him, it happened in Miami enough, it was dead certain to happen down here. You were just shy (but still on the right side!) of a good age gap apart – and been together long enough now that it really didn’t matter. That of course wouldn’t stop others from thinking they were in with a shot. You had but one goal tonight; finding a good space and turning back to him – pulling him closer. Love on him; even if that meant getting kicked out of here for dancing a little too dirty. Heck Danny always deserved it, tonight he just needed it a little more. The track didn’t matter as long as you had the rhythm to the beat correct, although this was hardly about dancing. Keeping him close was barely a challenge either; it wasn’t like Danny didn’t want you all over him. Holding his body this close to yours, with his arms around you, the way you used the beat of the music to grind yourself smoothly against him in ways that caused Danny’s blue eyes to illuminate and that beautiful little smirk to appear on his face. Your attention was all his, and you didn’t take your eyes off him – the look you were giving Danny under no illusion as to how badly you wanted him – as if you’d die if he wasn’t here with you right now. You let his eyes leave yours as often as he wanted, catching those sneaky little glances he was throwing around the floor and bar area; and how that smirk, and his confidence would grow. Your goal was to make everyone else on this dancefloor jealous – hell, to make everyone that had shown up here tonight jealous; of either of you, you didn’t care. And when Danny’s eyes eventually fell back on yours, you couldn’t help but mirror his smirk. Oh, he was loving this – and you already thought that alone was lifting his spirit. If the dancing wasn’t a little dirty to begin with it only became more so. The heat between you was obvious; but you’d both always been that way around each other – tonight Danny was completely irresistible, you didn’t even have to over-act that. But he knew it; and as much as it being your aim, you knew you needed to keep that ego in check to make sure he didn’t do something dumb. Danny was partial to the occasional bar fight and drug misuse. You weren’t about to let it happen. Especially after a hard day with his family, he’d just spiral. When that happened you always feared you wouldn’t get him back. Still, this wasn’t the night to dwell on such things. And you took your mind back to the point – eyes leaving his own, look just short of shy, with an obviously seductive lip bite as you traced his body. You wanted to tease him. You wanted him to tease you – you wanted to wind each other up to that point of no return; insanity, where all you could think about was each other and nothing else in the world mattered. In your opinion, in times like this, nothing else did. You let your hands wander – running them over his chest and back; up under his unbuttoned overshirt but not quite grazing his skin until you got to his arms. The continual press of your body into his became increasingly needy – invitations for Danny to touch you wherever and however he wanted. He accepted your invitation with haste, hands tangled in your hair despite the endless string of teasing almost-kisses that never happened, down your back to trace the curvature of your spine, his other hand ghosting under your shirt, across your stomach and ribs (which you couldn’t help but groan in anticipation at), until he was simultaneously cupping both your breast and your ass. Your eyes fluttered closed, as his fingers worked their way under your bikini and you sighed again. A gorgeous one at that, which had Danny chuckling. Usually you’d have slapped him for even daring to get this frisky with you – especially in public – but tonight not one complaint would pass your lips. In fact, tonight it just made you grind harder against him and continue those little sighs into his ear. “You like that, darlin?” “Yes…” Your voice was blissful, “Danny, yes…” “That’s my girl…” By now his voice was lust filled and husky, and enough to drive you wild. There was just something about when he talked to you like that… You moved your hands down to his hips, swaying your body to the control of his. He was intoxicating; you were under his spell. It was like Danny was a drug, the best hit you’d ever get but he just kept giving you more, and you wanted everyone on this beach to know it. With those gorgeously blissful little whiney sighs and moans in his ear, Danny was on his own kind of high. Every thought from earlier today long gone at hearing you at this point of near ecstasy. The contact was so close – you were nearly one, but you wanted more – it wasn’t enough to just feel him against you like this, in the middle of a dancefloor with an energy like this. Where every other couple out here were maybe several years younger than you, but still wanted the same thing. You were pretty sure everyone out here was looking to take someone home – or a hotel room – tonight. But they weren’t nearly as caught up in each other as you were; not just because you’d been together a while, but because they were all taken by you both too. Pushing one of your legs between Danny’s allowed you to further tangle your bodies. He had a little bit of height on you, his body was bent anyway – and although he was regarding you with curiosity Danny was still smirking. You moved yourself up his body; a trail of ghosted kisses – lips barely millimetres from his skin, with the occasional brush against it, if at all. You could taste sweat and sea salt, and you could breathe him in. All you wanted to do was breathe him. He might act like he’d complain at these, but you could hear those little sighs you were enticing through him – and the groans that tried to keep themselves in his chest. By the time you were back to his lips you were gently grinding up on his thigh. Danny Rayburn wasn’t about to stop you either – removing his hand from your shirt (eliciting another desperate whine) he ran it teasingly to join his other at your ass, grasping you to him – the friction between you heightened as he deliberately increased the pressure. You didn’t care – if it was going to be sex on the dancefloor, then Danny could damn well take you now; this was tame compared to what you could be doing to him. And your mind was racing. Your sighs were no longer gentle and your body vibrated against Danny’s as you continued to ride his thigh – hands shooting up to loop around his neck, tangling your fingers in his hair. Perhaps it made you look needy and desperate for him. You had, just like Danny, caught those gawking at you opened mouthed and those quite obviously jealous, and offered them nothing more than a smirk of your own. Hell yeah they should be jealous; of you for getting to hold a man like this in your arms. Despite the way you were portraying yourself however, it didn’t stop you from being the tease you usually were. Danny could run his hands all over you, wherever the hell he damn well wanted, but you weren’t letting his lips touch yours. Oh, you would let him try to kiss you, and every almost kiss you gave him resulted in an equal and opposite reaction. You weren’t allowed to place your lips to his. Danny chased you, and in the same way you’d ghosted his skin, he traced your shoulders and up to your jawline, hand in your hair to aid in exposing the column of your neck to him. Then the kisses were real, harsh, and his teeth grazed over your throat to pull a louder groan from you. This, more than any other night, was the perfect one to be in tune with each other’s bodies. The absence of his lips on yours was making you both whine though: that strange begging for more, and yet denying your partner everything. It wouldn’t be long until you let him take you over completely and all you’d be able to taste was him – your every sense would be dominated by Danny Rayburn. And you ached for that moment; as if he wasn’t already guiding your hips as you continued to grind up against him. It felt so good; because it just was? Because it was a little sinful? Because it was so public? You weren’t sure – perhaps even a little of all of that. The dig of his nails into your hips and the next movement caused friction that had you gasping a little too loud, followed by a moan and shudder that could only mean one thing. Danny immediately chuckled – he knew exactly what he was doing to you, he barely needed that vocalisation, but it was good affirmation. He kissed your neck again before tracing his lips to your ear. “That’s my good girl…” “Danny-” Your voice was breathy, arms locked a little tighter around his neck, very nearly clinging to him now, “Danny… baby…” “Baby girl…” He kissed your jawline again, and then finally held you to him as he kissed you. It was a fierce kiss and your hands couldn’t scrabble for enough of his shirt. You wanted it off; you wanted him to push your shorts down and take you right here, right now – you wanted the world to know that you were his. And Danny deserved nothing less than such a public display of affection. You could feel his smirk against your lips, the swell of your own against his hungry kisses. How erratic the push of your hips into his leg were – but how out of rhythm your body suddenly became, void of all thought but his lips on yours. About where else on your body you may want them… Releasing you from his string of hot kisses, Danny pulled you flush to him. Enjoying your warm shaky breaths against his ear as he held you close in his arms, kissing the shell of your own ear. “Tell me you need me.” It was a shiver inducing growl, and he followed it up with a nip to your ear lobe, before repeating it slower. Voice lust laced. “I need you…” You sighed, eyes fluttering closed, wrapping him tight in your embrace, feeling as much of his body against yours as was possible; “Danny, I need you.” You sounded so desperate for him; you were and you wanted to. He loved it, and you could feel that within him. Exactly what he craved to hear. Despite what Danny was saying, the way he was saying it, and the way you were telling him what he wanted, there was an underlying reason for both. His unspoken uncertainly and insecurity; that only his family could cause, and you would blame them for for the rest of your life. Danny needed to know that at least SOMEONE out there needed him. Even if it was just one person – but he was glad more than anything that that person was you. And Danny knew you meant it, no matter whether you were sighing it against his ear in breathless ecstasy, or you were taking his hands and saying it with a sunshine smile as clear as day, you meant every word and you always would. Because you really DID need him. You loved him. There was no way you could live without him. It wasn’t ‘tell me you need me to fuck you’ but ‘tell me you need me, because no one else does’.

*** Eventually even being lorded with so much attention, neither you nor Danny could take the sexual energy currently running through both of you. It was do something about it here – and maybe get charged with public indecency – or go somewhere else. It was dirty dancing sure; but you were both one small step away from touching each other in places you really shouldn’t be. Danny moved away first, curiosity in his eyes as he tipped his head; smile a little lopsided, maybe even a little innocent. Not that you should believe that for a second. You smiled back with an encouraging nod, before pressing your lips to his. He brought you a little closer again; lips leaving yours to favour your jawline and cheek, before kissing your ear – signature smirk back in place. Danny stepped back, taking your hands in his, and he pulled you from the dancefloor. You held his hand tight as Danny pulled you through the crowd – seemingly everyone swivelled with you to watch you leave, and for the first time you felt like you were getting away with him. You finally got to be the one to steal him away, even though he was leading you. He kept you close as you headed towards his truck, both knowing that it probably wouldn’t be going anywhere any time soon. You were tangled together before Danny had you pushed up against it again, and this time you let him take what he wanted; you couldn’t get enough of him. Every gentle needy sigh against his lips, those you let escape into the night air as he pushed your shorts from your hips and laid you back in his truck bed. Your fingers tangled in his hair as his trail of kisses ran lower on your body to match the wander of his hands – before he desperately came back to your lips again. Danny was certainly not going to waste the opportunity to kiss you now you weren’t going to tease him. But there was no haste, this wasn’t a quick fix no matter how long it might actually be allowed to last. You unbuttoned his slacks, winding your legs around his. ”Danny…” You whispered it; your breathing heavy – heart on overdrive. All that ran through you was unbridled joy and you pulled him closer, catching him safely back in your arms. His hands held you to him, as close as Danny could get until you were one once more. Neither of you need say a word; you could feel his heart beat in the exact same way as yours. All that mattered was him, all that had ever mattered to you was him. You smiled gently, and realised you were crying; tears of nothing but pure happiness. And you bit your lips together despite the cries of elation you wished to release. They could hold on, for just a moment longer. This was more important. ”I need you… I’ve always needed you.”

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All 16 done! Thank you everyone for being a part of this years request month! Time for me to start thinking about what I might ask for next May... Holiday fics will also probably happen again this year in December! 😁

#Danny Rayburn #Ben Mendelsohn #Bloodline #Danny Rayburn x Reader #Danny Rayburn x You #I actually thought this was waaaay longer than it was!#I was surprised it didn't hit 4000 #But I really like it #TW flashing #flashing TW #Linzi Writes #Linzi Writes Requests #100 Sentence Challenge #Liliana #(Aw - c'mon you all knew it)#178

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