#and its staged. they throw the dinner at the same time. this is something they thought out and talked about

[theonlyadawong]

reading people reviews of home movie and either im a genius and im the only one in the world who understands this movie or im an idiot and everyone else understood the movie and i didnt

[sixosix]

YOU MUST LIKE ME FOR ME | LYNEY

notes wc 3.5k, for readers keeping up with the updates as they come, it’s been a while since the last update! so for the sake of understanding this chapter, please reread the previous one !!

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You were starting to regret ever opening your mouth and letting Aether blackmail you into helping him. Maybe if you had insisted on cooking dinner and Rosalie took over the counter, none of this would’ve happened. But what’s happened has happened—and you have a feeling that you would’ve ended up here regardless because fate hated you.

Lyney emerges from the shadows, sliding into the spotlight as if he was born for it. Meant to be there in the middle of the stage with all eyes on him and nowhere else. He has his arms spread wide open, fully welcoming the elated whispers of the audience.

“Welcome, one and all, to Lyney and Lynette’s magic show!”

His voice echoes throughout the opera house, nearly drowned out by the roaring cheers that follow after. Lyney then grins, bowing with half of his body.

The way he moves across the stage—it’s hard to imagine it’s the same guy who stumbled over his steps to make you notice him. It seems like the roles have reversed. Now, the audience is watching each move with bated breath, on the edge of their seats, watching him.

“Please, let me also welcome my sister and my assistant, Lynette!”

Lynette steps onto the stage, her tail flicking at the noises. You swear you heard a kid whisper wildly to his mother that it was a part-cat human, maman! Why is Mr. Lyney not also one if they are siblings, maman?

Lyney may not have the ears and tail, but you remember the way his eyes followed you around like a cat tracking its prey, seconds away from pouncing. He resembled a cat more than Lynette at times.

“Hello,” Lynette says to the crowd and leaves it at that. The crowd loves it anyway.

Lyney grins. Something about it feels so different. He was cute as a kid, but now, with all teeth and sparkling eyes, he’s like a dream far out of reach.

“Are you okay?” Aether whispers. You almost jump out of your seat, breaking from the trance. “If you keep digging your nails in like that, you might rip the dress.”

“Ah.” You haven’t even realized. “Don’t worry about it. First-show jitters or something.”

“You’re not the one performing?”

“Or something.” you insist. Aether laughs under his breath and, thankfully, leaves it.

Back when you were at the House, Lyney could only do simple tricks. Plucking cards from his sleeves or hiding them in between his fingers. He was clumsy with making cards float, revealing doves from his hat, and producing flowers in a snap.

It seems to come from second nature for him this time. He flicks his hand, and a beautiful Lumidouce Bell materializes on his palm. Lyney throws it to the crowd; it lands by your feet.

“Wow, that was so cool!” Paimon gasps as you move to pick it up.

You remember now. This was the only flower Lyney used for his tricks, as they come in bundles when found. Often after dinner, Lyney would perform to practice for the other orphans, and it ended with a mess of these flowers scattered across the ground or left unattended by their beds after presenting it to them.

“Hold on,” Paimon says, “Is he looking at us? Did we miss something?”

Lyney is definitely looking in your direction. He has fallen silent, frowning. You start wishing that he is staring, not because he recognizes you but because you’re drop-dead gorgeous or something.

“Y/N?” Lyney says, his soft voice loud in the pin-drop silent auditorium.

Well.

“Mr. Lyney?” One of his assistants on stage asks. “What’s wrong?”

The crowd starts to murmur; then their fervent whispers grow in volume until everyone is talking loudly. Another accident? Mr. Lyney looks terrified! Aghast! Meanwhile, Lyney stays frozen in his spot; he doesn’t look like he’s breathing. It was the same look he gave you that night. Maybe his face hasn’t changed that much, after all.

“Lyney?” Lynette asks from the side of the stage, her face poking out. Then she follows his gaze, and her eyes widen as well. That’s when you knew—

“Shit,” you mutter, clutching the flower and springing up from your seat. You can’t have this happen while an audience is watching. That would totally ruin the whole point of laying low.

It was definitely not because you’re drop-dead gorgeous, but the fact that he still recognizes you has to mean something, right? Something that you don’t want to think about at the moment. You hurry to the exit, ignoring the dirty looks you get as you brush past.

“Did that girl do something?”

“Where are the gardes?! She must have done something to make Mr. Lyney chase after her’”

Seriously? You cast a glance, and Lyney’s scrambling down the stage, his assistants yelling after him and demanding for an explanation.

“Wait, no!” Lyney exclaims in response to the audience reluctantly getting up from their seats and reaching out to you. “Ah— Not to worry, everyone! I just have personal matters to attend to. Please, just stay—”

Idiot, you want to scream, it’s not so personal if you’re chasing after me in front of all of them!

The Melusine guarding the entrance seems oblivious to the ruckus inside. She blinks up at your haste and asks, “Is the show over?”

You say, “I have an emergency. Uhm—I, uh.”

Her face turns serious. She nods. “I see.”

“What— what are you thinking? it’s—” Your ears pick up on Lyney’s steps, and you wisely decide that it is not the time to save face. You give the Melusine a wave. “Thank you!”

You take a swift, sharp turn once you’ve reached the end of the stairs, stumbling into a dead end, and you don’t get very far.

You wonder if Aether and Paimon chased after you or if they’d pretend not to know you for the sake of the mission. If you die, you hope they would at least still pay you for compensation, and the money would go to Rosalie. Or maybe she would be enraged when she finds out you’re a Fatuus and doesn’t take it. Maybe your story of deceiving Rosalie would make her customers flourish, buying flowers to disguise the intent of asking about the liar residing in her home for years.

“Caught you,” Lyney whispers, his firm grip around your waist. The rushing water is noisy, but his voice is clear to your ears.

Hearing his voice up close is a problem. “Whoever you think I am, you’re mistaken!”

“Then why did you run?”

“You—” You had that look on your face I didn’t want to see again “—I forgot to lock my door. I don’t want my house to be robbed. Which might be occurring at this moment the longer you have me like this.”

Lyney laughs. It sounds like music that has haunted you for years—and with a new one playing, it’ll torment you for years more. He loosens his grip but keeps you caged in, still. You’re twirled around to face him, and something about his expression has you swallowing thickly.

“You’re even more stunning than I remember, ma chérie.”

Your face burns. “Thanks, but I don’t even know who you… ugh, stop looking at me like that…” Lyney’s smile, looking so fond, doesn’t falter in the slightest as if he expects that you would say that word for word.

“You think I’d mistake someone else for you? You’re the only one who runs from me like this,” he murmurs. His gaze feels heavy. 

“Mr. Lyney,” you sigh and turn away. You can’t bring yourself to look him in the eye when he says shit like that.  “Please. I didn’t show my face around anymore for a reason. A good reason.”

“I don’t trust your judgment to believe that.”

“Don’t talk as if you know me. We’ve been apart longer than we’ve been together.”

“Still, your words are as hurtful as ever,” Lyney says with a sad smile. You stiffen when he cups your cheek and touches you, his gloves rough on your skin. “You’re alive.”

You scowl. “Have you such little faith in me? How many times have I beaten you again?”

Lyney laughs again. Somehow, this is much worse than him killing you on sight. 

Lynette appears in your line of sight from behind Lyney, with Aether and Paimon trailing after her. Her steps are slow. Aether has that expression on his face that says, don’t react!

Luckily, Lyney takes your hitch of breath as embarrassment at having witnesses. He tears away but promptly reaches for your wrist as if a leash for a dog. You tug, but nothing happens. For someone who looks so delicate, he has quite the strength.

“Hello, Traveler, Paimon,” he says pleasantly. “Sorry to interrupt your show.”

Aether shakes his head. “I just wondered if something went wrong.”

Does this not look wrong enough for him? You hurl him a blank stare.

Lyney follows Aether’s gaze and glowers. He jerks you to his side and stares at Aether pointedly. Aether looks at you, confused. You don’t know what the fuck is going on either.

“I didn’t know you were familiar with Y/N,” Lyney observes coldly.

“I don’t,” Aether says easily. “I came out here to see if you were okay.”

Still, Lyney doesn’t loosen his grip.

“Y/N,” Lynette says. She interrupts whatever dick-measuring contest is brewing with a small smile on her face. “You’re here.”

“I am,” you wheeze out, still trapped in Lyney’s arms. It’s a little difficult to be anywhere else with your current predicament.

Lynette clears her throat, giving her brother a look. You recognize that one—it’s the one she uses when Lyney is embarrassing her and would give him a stern word about it later. Lyney grumbles and sets you free.

“Traveler, I have something to say to you,” Lyney says, his chin high and his stare cool.

“Alright,” Aether says, brows furrowed. He casts you a glance that Lyney watches carefully. “Come on, Paimon.”

Lynette fixes your sleeves as the boys leave for somewhere more secluded. You follow them until their silhouettes disappear. “How have you been?” she asks.

“I’ve just been in the low, but I’m doing fine,” you say, feeling a little shy. Lynette has grown up as nicely as her brother. Her hair is tied up now; you remember that Lyney used to beg for Lynette to use the hairclips he’s bought, but Lynette insists she doesn’t like them. You offered her a hair tie that day. “It’s been really stressful and all that. Sorry to ruin your show.”

“Don’t worry about that. Or them. You’re here—that’s the most important thing on Lyney’s mind at the moment,” she says, and at the face you’re making, she adds: “And you can’t tell me I’m wrong. You know I’m not.”

“Haha.” You don’t know what to say to that.

Lynette hums. “Are you carrying out missions?”

You start thinking about the danger of confessing to present-fatuis that you are no longer one. As much as you trust them, you don’t trust they hold you to the same level. They have complete faith and loyalty towards The Knave, which you abandoned long ago. The orphans’ trust ran deep, and no one—not even you—could fuck with it.

You nod. “Yes, which is why I’ve been too busy. I’m— you see, I work for Lord Tartaglia now.”

Lynette looks stunned, speechless. Lyney has words to say, though, coming back at the perfect time. You take a peek at Aether, but it seems that he hasn’t followed Lyney back.

Lyney hurries to your side. “Master Childe? Is that why you’re here? We saw him around yesterday… Was it yesterday?” He turns to his sister, who nods.

Just your luck. Of all the Harbingers you thought of, it’s the one currently in Fontaine.

You’re losing confidence, and you hope it doesn’t show on your face. You used to look at the orphans in the House of the Hearth and think that you can beat them easily, without a sweat—right now, it feels as if they’re miles from your reach.

“Is this where Mr. Lyney went?” you hear from afar. “Perhaps they went back to the city!”

Lyney and Lynette’s faces turn exasperated. Lyney drags you further to the corner of the wall, and Lynette has her eyes peeled, scanning the path that leads here.

“Listen, I have to go. I can’t stay here for long.” They report everything to her; you know that well enough. “The— ‘Father’ already knows I’m here, so there’s no need to talk about me.”

Lyney stares at you for a moment too long. “Why?”

You wrack your head for something the twins wouldn’t be able to push. “I’m ashamed to see Father while I’m like this. After our fight, she had to transfer me. My pride and all that, you know?” You put on a timid expression. “Please don’t push.”

It works seamlessly. Lyney’s face falls. “Are you going to run from us again?”

“She might make me leave if she finds out I was talking to you.”

Lyney looks angry. “I’ll make sure she won't.”

“Don’t push,” you remind him softly. You’re a little stunned that he’s going this far. “I thought you hated me.”

“I could never hate you to the point of letting you slip from my grasp again.”

Hmm. That’s a strange way of phrasing it.

Before you can look into it anymore, Lyney takes your hand. “You said to me my loyalty is my worth. Well, by that logic, I’m nothing but valuable to you.”

“…Right,” you murmur, facing away from him and turning to Lynette for help, but she’s looking off to the side as well, still watching out for any gardes, yet her ears are pointed here. “I know that.”

“Y/N?” Lyney’s smiling when he forces your attention on him once more.

“Hm? What?” You need to look for Aether fast. Maybe tell him of the events that transpired and convince him that this was a terrible idea and Aether can arrest Lyney for all you care.

You do care. That’s the whole reason you’re doing this in the first place.

“I’m happy to see you,” he says.

“...I’ll see you around, Miss Lynette and Mr. Lyney.”

It wasn’t difficult to look for Aether and Paimon. You found them easily because you wanted to go there yourself: Hotel Debord.

Paimon’s wolfing down a plate of cake while Aether idly sips on his drink. Aether notices you first, waving you over. You find it strange that as soon as you pad over, Aether gestures to the stairs. You three climb up and find a place at the furthest table in the far corner.

“Lyney performs here sometimes, I heard,” Aether says as you settle in on a seat.

“Let’s hope he doesn’t strike this place with a surprise one while we’re on the most conspicuous seat,” you grumble. Paimon hands you her drink as comfort.

“I’d say that was a success,” Aether says, grinning. “Heartfelt reunion and rekindled feelings— I’ve never seen Lyney like that.”

“Like what?” Remembering Aether’s fixation on insisting on a blossoming relationship between you and the man you can’t even look in the eye, you immediately say, “Never mind. I don’t care. I ruined the plan.”

Aether laughs. “You didn’t, trust me. I learned something valuable today.”

You sip on the teacup. It’s Fonta, and it’s as unbearably sweet as the look in Lyney’s eyes as he talked to you. You’ve had enough of that for today.

“You can never hide it in your face when you care for someone,” Aether continues.

“You have that look on your face,” you say suspiciously. “Don’t tell me you’re also going to blackmail Lyney?”

“What? Of course not. That’s what I blackmailed you for.”

You snort. “And the Outlander reveals his true colors. You seriously still don’t believe me?”

“I still don’t have the information I want to have,” Aether reminds, stealing a piece of Paimon’s cake. She grumbles but doesn’t say anything else. She’s surprisingly compliant when there’s a plate before her. “That’s what you’re also here for, remember?”

“I don’t know, Aether,” you lament, sinking into your seat. “It feels like I made everything harder for me. “Do you still not trust them?”

“I think I blew it, too,” Aether laughs sheepishly. “I don’t think Lyney trusts me anymore.”

Paimon snorts, then quiets down when Aether shoots her a look.

“What did you and Lyney talk about?”

“It was a bit weird,” Aether confesses, then blushes at his drink. “I think Lyney was threatening me. He told me he saw me with someone by an alley.” At your confused look, Aether clarifies, “Doing something scandalous, I mean.”

You never thought Aether was the type, but that’s none of your business.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Aether sighs. “Of course I wasn’t up to anything of that sort. I’m still figuring out what he meant by that.”

“Maybe it’s a metaphor,” you say.

But Lyney doesn’t go lying about things like that. He may have a roundabout way of talking when he’s feeling playful, but ruining someone’s reputation is far too serious for that. And Aether never told you that Lyney was hostile around him—none of this just makes sense.

“All I remember was…” Aether’s gaze cuts down to your waist, and then he falls silent.

You frown. “Aether?”

Aether sighs. “I blew it. It’s up to you now.”

“Do you still see them as a threat?” you ask.

“It’s not that I see them as a threat. It’s just that… if they’re an obstacle I have to overcome between me and my sister, then I will do what it takes.”

Of course, you’re still stuck handling a pair of identical siblings. You could never understand the bond between them, but you have to admit, it’s interesting to see two sides of twins. One still together and one apart.

“Oh, right. Hold on,” Aether mutters, swiping a hand in the air. You watch in fascination as a bag materializes on his lap. He draws out a letter. “Lyney wanted me to give this to you, too.”

You read the contents. Aether asks, “What is it? A love letter? Does it have hearts drawn on it?”

“Stop that,” you say. “It has an address, no hearts.”

Aether gasps. Even Paimon pauses from her feast. “An address,” they chorus.

“It says meet me tomorrow.”

Aether hums. “Maybe this isn’t turning out so bad.”

Lyney’s soft expression flashes in your mind—the flower, the arm around your waist, ma chérie— Seriously, who told him it was alright to go around seducing women like that? You groan, your face falling into your palms. You both blew it. Maybe Paimon has a better chance of retrieving information than either of you.

“You must’ve really liked the Fonta,” Aether says, gesturing to your empty cup. “Want another one?”

You don’t hesitate before saying yes.

The flower Lyney threw you has already wilted by the time you return to the flower shop. It’s past midnight, yet there is still a dim light washing over from outside. You spot Rosalie seated by the chair behind the counter, her posture straightening as the bell chimes.

“You’re back!” She grins, though her eyes look heavy and a little red. She must’ve been sleeping deeply.

“Rosalie,” you greet, a little fond, a little exasperated, “did you wait for me?”

“I told that Outlander boy to bring you home before ten,” she huffs, ambling over to you. She pats your dress and sighs dreamily. “Did you enjoy Mr. Lyney’s show?”

There was no show to begin with. “Yes. I did. It was splendid. Cut a bit too short, though.”

“Were you chosen as a participant?” she asks, hopeful.

“No,” you say, laughing a little. Although Mr. Lyney did chase after me. You wonder what kind of face Rosalie would make if you told her that. She wouldn’t be able to sleep if you did; you’re sparing her quite nicely.

Rosalie smiles. You like her smile; it’s all soft and fond, and she’s always smiling, leaving smile lines on her face. If you got caught earlier and she found out about your true past, would she still smile at you like that? “You should get some sleep. You look tired.”

“Yeah.”

“You’re so cute, mon ange. You look like you’re glowing!” Rosalie squeals, pulling you in for a hug that smothered your face on her neck. “You should go out more often!”

“Glowing?” Rosalie’s hug has your words come out all fucked up. “If anything, I’m drained— maman, your hair is getting on my mouth, please. And I still want to work here, okay? Don’t kick me out so suddenly.”

Rosalie’s frozen, her smile wiped off her face. You look up and blink at her curiously. “Rosalie?” you ask.

She stammers, “Oh—ah, it’s nothing. I just thought— Oh, you’re right. I’m tired, too. Don’t stay out so late next time if you don’t want my face having eyebags!”

As much as you hate to admit it, seeing Lyney and Lynette did feel a bit nice.

notes !!! new chapter yay :D lmk what u think !!

akagi back at it again with giving us bangers like its NOTHING. look at this scene of lyney recognizing reader in the audience!! the details... aughhh + THE EXTRA ART IS SO FUNNY

PLUS PLUS LOOK AT AKAGIS ART OF LITTLE LYNEY AND GROWN UP LYNEY AAAHHH

TAGLIST.

@thenyxsky @aeferkssr @1mewo1 @lacrimae-lotos @meigalaxy @hyacinth-daze @miwafei @popochakku @svasilios @heyhazelnut101 @kruinka @waveto-earth @superstar-ethereal @mxplesyrvp @achilleas-dream @episodecete @jellifizz @auranny @motherscrustytoenailclippings @iawaaaaaaa @rionah @cherryig @kzhwaif @mystiquemare @unknownlololol @sanluvssu @blvdmrcnry @kascar-chronicle @idontevenknow129 @tarathecogsci

[embersofhope-if]

"On the 25th anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that their children were dying because of their choice to initiate violence, every district was made to hold an election and vote on the tributes that who would represent it."

Twenty-five years have passed since the rebellion, yet the price is still being paid by the Districts. Even though most people alive today had no part in the fight, they suffer the consequences of the Capitol's anger. The harsh reality of the Capitol's cruelty is revealed every year on July 4th, Reaping Day. On this day, two children from each of the 12 districts are randomly chosen to fight to the death in an arena until only a lone victor remains. Parents hold their children close and hope it isn't their child who will be ripped away from them, knowing that there is nothing they can do to stop it.

However, this year is different. This year marks the very first Quarter Quell, and parents don't have to worry about whether their children might be taken away because, for this once-in-a-lifetime event, they get to choose who goes into the arena. But there's no doubt in anyone's mind who's going in when the mayor has a child of his own - me.

Now it's my turn to play a true game of life or death. May the odds be ever in my favor

Demo ☆ Playlist ☆ Pinterest

Customize your appearance (hair type and color, complexion, height, build, clothing)

Choose how you interact with the Capitol and those of your District

Form new relationships and change the ones you already have

Train in the weapon of your choice yes including a bow

Try not to die<3

17+. Content warnings for graphic violence, child death, child abuse/neglect, starvation, murder

Creon Levesque ♤ The Mentor ♤ RO ♤ 19

A special friend in very special places. I met Creon when you were 12 years old at a dinner party my Uncle Keyon had brought me to in the Capitol. Maybe it was the fact that I was very obviously District or maybe it was something else entirely, but from that night forward, Creon and I have had an intense and strange relationship. And now they stand before me assuring me that with them as a mentor, everything will be alright. How they managed to get themselves as a mentor they won't tell me, but honestly, in the end, does it matter?

♤Creon is gender selectable by the player♤

Romance Route: Red flag of all red flags, forbidden love, different worlds, insta love (at least on Creons part)

Aurelius/Aurelia Weaver ♧ The District Partner ♧ RO ♧ 18

My district partner. I don't know them that well, especially after they dropped out of school at 16 to work full-time in the factories. I'm not entirely sure what I did to them to warrant the looks of pure disgust and anger they throw my way after that, but now things have changed. They asked to be the other tribute for District 8, and now standing in front of them and looking into their eyes, all I can see is a predator looking at its prey. They are going to kill me, and they're going to enjoy it.

♧ Aurel is always the opposite gender of Mc ♧

Romance Route: Enemies to Lovers, Doomed Love, potential unrequited love, perhaps unrequited but actually requited love😏

Asher "Ash" Fairchild ♡ The Childhood Bestfriend ♡ 16

Ash was the first and only real friend I've had my entire life. They were practically the embodiment of everything good in the world. Everyone loved Ash, and when they had their name called for the 23rd reaping the shock and sorrow was felt throughout the entire District. Even walking up to the stage, they moved like a petal dancing through the wind. Their memory has haunted me every day for the past two years, and now I get to experience the same terror they felt in their final moments.

♡ There will be an option to be in a relationship with Ash before their games. Ash is also gender selectable by the player ♡

Romance Route: First love, childhood friends to lovers, soulmates

Soren Vesper ◇ The Mayor ◇ 46

The mayor of District 8, and my Father. A very stern man who prefers things to be done his way. I've never seen his mask of the harsh mayor who does everything the Capitol request ever break, that is until the announcement of the Quarter Quell. The change happened so fast that it scared me. A once mighty man who didn't care about the people of his district now begging them to choose anyone but his child to go into the games. At least I get to know my Father does care for me before I die.

Tribute and Other Profiles TBA

☆This is my second IF my main one is @shadowsofthegun-if if anyone is interested in being a goofy little cowboy and i have another IF @dustandshadows-if set in the world of the shadowhunter chronicles if anyone is interested in that as well. @konosadmaru is also my main if anyone wants to follow me on there☆

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

we had a chef MC headcanon, now how about M6 when MC made them a meal but it tasted just downright horrible and MC is just kinda oblivious to it, asking M6 with the brightest, most innocent smile "Do you like it?"

i hope you have fun writing this if you do choose this humble request

- 🌼

The Arcana HCs: When MC is a terrible chef

~ this reminds me of the time when teenaged me combined old rice, hot dog chunks, cold broccoli, and buffalo sauce (in one bowl!) for a late-night snack. thank you for the giggles this gave me, yellow flower friend, let's hope I pay them forward! - brainrot ~

-- to set the scene --

Somehow it's been one of those weeks when everything in your food supply begins to reach its end or expiration date at the same time. You know your regular grocery shopping is tomorrow, and you have an extensive list prepared, but dinner is up to you tonight and you don't have anything comprehensive planned. It looks like it's time for your famous "everything but the kitchen sink" stew. You've only made this in the past when it was just you in the shop and you were still figuring out how to cook, but you remember it being fairly edible.

(Continued below the cut)

You get some beans boiling (there hasn't been time to soak them), add a cup or two of vinegar to soften them faster, dice the not-molded parts of a tomato and onion you found at the bottom of a sack, and rinse the slime off of some wilted greens before throwing them in. You're craving something spicy, so you dump in the rest of your chili sauce, but when the steam makes you tear up you scrape out the rest of the mayonnaise to even it out. It was starting to smell funky anyways. Your hand slips when you add the salt, so you pour in some honey to counteract it, and in a final burst of inspiration, you plop in two bananas that have gotten too mushy to eat. The signature suspicious scum of your original dish is just floating to the top of your soup when your beloved returns, hungry from a day of work.

Julian

Too happy to see you to notice the poison on the stove at first

The words die in his throat when he does. Tell him it's a potion. Tell him it's a curse. Tell him it's a prank. Don't tell him, don't tell him it's ... it's dinner, isn't it?

He watches you happily ladle a generous scoop of your curdled concoction into his bowl and gulps. He loves you. He's got this. He will eat your food, he will tell you it's delicious, or he will die trying

He's starting to get caught up in the poetry of it as he sits down across from you. Like a lamb to the slaughter, accepting the sweet taste of death from his beloved's cruel hand - stew isn't supposed to be sweet, oh god why is it sweet

But for his darling's delight, he will overcome -

"Julian, is everything alright? You look like you're about to go on stage."

"Oh, is ah - is that what I look like, my dear?" He's pale and sweating at this point, poorly disguising the tremble in his hand as he brings his second glass of water to his lips

"It's my stew, isn't it?" you dolefully lift a gelatinous spoonful and watch it fall back into your bowl with a sickening squelch. "I remember it tasting weird, but not this weird ..."

"No, no!" His voice cracks against his will as he sees your sadness as proof of his failure. "It's delightful, delicious - worthy of the gods, even." You hear him mumble a prayer for forgiveness under his breath and drop your spoon

"I know when you're acting, Julian."

"Ah, so I - so I am. You know -" he stands abruptly, his chair falling behind him in his haste. "I just remembered that Pasha invited us for dinner tonight. Shall we?"

He's never been so happy to see you walk out his front door

Asra

They can smell it as soon as they walk into the shop and are immediately concerned. That is the smell of death. Why is the smell of death in your shop oh no - "MC? MC, where are you?"

"I'm upstairs!" Thank the patrons, you're okay

Then again, maybe you're not, considering how perfectly comfortable you seem standing over whatever monstrosity is releasing toxic vapors into the atmosphere. Is that ... soup?

Color him intrigued. He's doing his best to hide a laugh and find a way to ask what enabled you to create something so terrifying out of simple kitchen ingredients without insulting you

"So, is this recipe an MC original?"

"Yep!" You smile at him cheerfully, seemingly oblivious to the stomach-churning way that the chunks plop from the soup spoon into their bowl. "I always make this when we're running low."

"You've made this before?" They're starting to get concerned again

"Just a few times, when you were on a trip. Do you like it?"

He takes a bite, so intrigued by the way it seems to wriggle down his throat that he tries a second. "I've never had anything like it."

"What do you think of the mayonnaise? It smelled a little funky ..."

We have mayonnaise? They wonder, but on the outside they're still smiling. "It certainly adds to the experience. Is this ... banana?"

"Yeah, it seemed too mushy to eat on its own, so ..."

Asra sets down his miraculously empty bowl with a loving smile. "MC, you shouldn't have to do the cooking so often. Let me help out more often."

Nadia

She doesn't know how it's come to this. Nobody knows how it's come to this, when the Palace kitchen is kept fully stocked and there are chefs available at all hours

But you had said that you missed your home cooking, and she had given you full access to the backup kitchen to do as you pleased, and - ah, the only things kept in there are leftovers

That would explain the stench

Speaking of, her respect for your resilience has reached new heights. How you've been able to survive on your own is a mystery to her. Please tell her this isn't how you ate for three years -

But you seem as deathly serious as the radioactive sludge that's churning in her fine china like a lava lamp, and she realizes that this is going to be a labor of love. She must eat her fill and do so with elegance

You watch her bring the daintiest (read: tiniest) spoon of slime to her lips, pausing to test the aroma before setting her jaw and putting it in her mouth

Oh, look at that, she's already eaten her fill

"MC, my darling, what do you say to an evening walk? It seems I haven't the appetite to dine at this moment, how about a stroll around the palace gardens? The night is still young."

She's relieved at how easily you agree, deeply concerned by the fact that you've already finished half of your bowl, and eager to get you out of the palace so that the maids can make dinner disappear

She's going to lose sleep for the next three months about whether or not she should be honest about what happened to your soup

There's now a bald patch in the grass behind the kitchen that hasn't been able to grow anything in three years. There's a rumor that stepping on it will release a stench so foul that you won't be able to eat for twenty-four hours afterwards

Muriel

He's not too worried. He used to eat spoiled food out of the trash heaps all the time as a kid, he's sure he remembers how

But he's a little surprised that said rotting food is being actively cooked. By you. Seemingly in a choice made of your own free will

He wasn't expecting ... this, but a quick glance around the hut makes it clear to him that nothing terrible has happened, that you seem perfectly sane, and that you don't think anything's wrong

Well, you seem to trust your cooking, and he certainly trusts you, so ...

He side eyes Inanna's dramatic performance of whimpering and pawing at her nose, eventually turning to let her back out of the hut as you serve your bowls with a smile

He takes a glance at his serving as you dig in. Asra still talks about the time he ate a whole chili pepper without flinching - he can do this. He picks up his spoon, scoops up a jiggling chunk, and eats

You're a little surprised at how quickly his bowl disappears. You're not really enjoying your food yourself, but you're not going to judge his strange enthusiasm

"Muriel? If you're still hungry, there's more on the fire ..."

"I'm fine." He's getting out of his habit of depriving food of himself, but in this case, refusing to eat is a personal kindness

He drinks several glasses of water while you finish your dinner, asking you about your day and trying not to grimace at every silent burp that pulls the aftertaste back into his mouth

Inanna buries the rest after the two of you go to bed. Nobody knows how she managed it without opposable thumbs, but everything is possible for a wolf desperate to preserve her nose

Portia

Her brother might be an award-winning actor, but her flair for the dramatic only goes as far as silly little bits designed to make people laugh and pretending that she isn't about to punch somebody

She is a woman who knows her mind, her heart, her strength, and her limits. This is a limit, and she is doing her best to pass it

You can tell right away that she doesn't want to eat what you've made. You've never seen her smile look so uncomfortably tight, and you certainly didn't miss the way her stomach heaved when she leaned over the pot to take a closer look at your creation

But she's insistent on going through with your evening, even steering you towards the kitchen table and serving the bowls herself. She tries so very hard to mask the look of revulsion on her face when different chunks of stew jiggle at different frequencies

She places your bowls on the table and lifts her spoon, waiting for you to take the first bite in the hopes that your eyes will be opened and you'll insist on eating something else

No such luck. You're two spoonfuls in, so in the spirit of keeping an open mind, she loads up her utensil and shoves it in her mouth

You weren't expecting to be sprayed by the choke that seizes her, but sitting across from her puts you in the splatter zone and you're quick to give her your napkin and ask if she's okay

She nods weakly, looking slightly green. "MC," she says, "you are definitely stronger than I imagined." She takes another look at the gelatinous blobs on her table. "Stronger than you need to be."

She dusts off her hands and practically drags you out of the cottage. "Let's eat out tonight! My treat. And I just had the best idea for our next date night - we should take cooking lessons together!"

Lucio

He notices Mercedes and Melchior acting up on the way back to your campsite, but doesn't have any idea why until he gets a whiff and - oh, that is nasty

Some kind of skunk jacked up on magic must have done that, never fear, MC! He's here to save the day now - what do you mean that's dinner? That is not dinner. Dinner is not supposed to smell like that

He's not sparing a second to consider manners or acting. Lucio calls it like he sees it, and all he sees is poison

"MC, do we have to? It smells so bad, look at it MC, just loo - bleugh - no I'm not being dramatic! The smell made me gag for real, watch!"

And he leans over the pot again, just to take a deep lungful and subsequently let out the most visceral gagging belch you've ever witnessed

"See? It's bad, it's really bad, and I don't want to eat it! Why are you being so mean to me, MC?"

To be honest, you're not particularly excited to eat it either, but it's all you've got until you make it to the next town tomorrow, so you tell him as much as his pout slowly deepens

"Fine, I'll do it. I guess it can't be that bad if you made it -" He watches the way it slops into his bowl and gulps. "I take it back."

Sure it's a little spicier and clumpier and saltier and sickly sweeter than you planned, but you're able to stomach it just fine

And to your surprise, Lucio can too. He complains loudly the whole time, but his whining somehow grants him the ability to eat three full bowls

"See, you ate so much of it!"

"Well of course!" he puffs out his chest proudly. "I'm the best. At least it's not as bad as what we had in the army. But - MC?" he looks at you with pleading eyes, "please don't make that again."

[ayeeedomino]

Ateez 9th member

Roux and her dates

Ryujin:

Roux and Ryujin were talking via SNS, about their tour plans and countries they will be in the future. The two have been to unofficial dates before, but never a formal one at that. Ryujin sent a a flirt message:

“Why don’t you come have dinner with me and then we talk more? 👀”

“Sure babe😉”

With that settled, at a Friday they met up in front of a famous trendy restaurant in Seoul. As the night went by, they got talking about their time together at JYP, their dreams and goals, and their personal life.

"You know, Jinnie, there's something I've been wanting to share with you. Ive been seeing your performances and I really admire your confidence on stage and how effortlessly you command attention. It's truly captivating, as if you cast a spell on them.”

"Wow, thanks babe. That means a lot coming from you, you’re gonna make me blush. Honestly, I've always been in hypnotized by your stage presence! You really evolved, it’s like a whole different girl from the one I met back then.”

"Thanks darling. It's not always easy, but when I'm up there, it's like I'm in my element. And being able to connect with fans through music, it's a feeling like no other. And the guys been helping me build my confidence. But what have you been up to in your rest days??”

Ryujin gives her little charming chuckle and proceeds saying; "In my rest days? Well, you know I like to rest at home, like binge watching some new tv show, listening to music, and cooking! You know is like a therapy for me!”

As Roux smiles, she throws a shot; “You know, next time you rest you can call me to cuddle, right?”

"Yeah, I will, it sounds nice. You know, you continue being fearless. You're not afraid to be you, and that's a rare quality.“

Roux looks into her eyes and says; "Thank you, but it’s not hard when I’m around you, you are captivating.”

Ryujin smiles and reaches to hold Roux hands; "You know, you mean a lot to me..and also,we could be a very hot pair…”

“I know right?..” as she giggles, they both continue enrolling through the night, wondering about what could be their future together…

Yves:

They don’t really know each other, but one day Roux sent a message complimenting Yves a story she posted. Yves replied complimenting her back and they started talking. A few weeks later Yves decided to invite her to a night out.

They first meet up at a trendy bar known for its lively atmosphere and creative cocktails. As they chat over drinks, they discover shared interests in music, fashion, and travel, sparking a sense of excitement for the night ahead.

After a few drinks, they move to a nearby club where they start dancing, they feel free. As they lose themselves in the music, dancing together with uninhibited joy and passion, their laughter blending seamlessly with the rhythm of the crowd.

As the night passes, they take breaks from dancing to share intimate conversations in quieter corners of the club, getting to know each other on a deeper level amidst the vibrant energy of the night.

"Roux, can I be honest with you for a moment?"

Roux smiles and says; "Of course, unnie. What's on your mind?"

After a deep breath she said; "I just want to say that I've really enjoyed getting to know you. There's something about your presence that's so captivating and genuine. I feel like I can be myself around you."

Roux blushes; "Thank you unnie. I feel the same way about you. It's rare to meet someone at first sight who understands you on such a deep level, you know?"

Yves nods; "Yeah, it is rare. But with you, it feels natural. I admire your strength and your passion for life. You have this inner light that shines so brightly, and it's impossible not to be drawn to it."

"Wow, thanks unnie. That means a lot to me. And you, there's a kindness in your eyes that speaks volumes. It's like you see the beauty in everyone and everything around you."

Yves looks away into the crowd before proceeding; "I try my best. But with you, it's easy. There's something about you that brings out the best in people. I feel like I can open up to you in ways I never thought possible."

Roux looks down to Yves hands, looks up where their eyes meet, and gently takes her hands; "I'm glad you feel that way. Even thought we only met personally today, I feel like I’ve known you for a long time."

As Yves squeezes her hands, she said; "Me too. I don't know what the future holds for us, but I do know that I want you to be a part of it. You've captivated me."

Roux leans very close to Yves, before whispering; "Then let's make the most of every moment we have together. Whatever the future may bring." before pulling her back to the dance floor.

As the early hours of the morning approach, they decide to call it a night, their hearts racing with adrenaline and their faces flushed with excitement. With promises to do it all again soon, Roux and Yves part ways, their spirits lifted by the unforgettable memories they've created together on this exhilarating date.

Giselle:

Giselle and Roux met back in 2020, when their schedules overlapped. Since then they kept talking and going out. Roux just called Giselle and asked her to come over.

They start by watching random tv shows, before watching the movie “Carol”. The movie is pretty intense, and made them cry at the end. As it ended they started discussing their favorite scenes, moments and critics of the movie. That lead to an intimate conversation.

“You know Roux, I really connect with you! We share similar struggles, issues, and moments. I feel you and I match.”

“I feel that way too! I guess we both dealt with bad comments from the media..”

“Yes! Talking about that, how are you dealing with that scandal? I mean, it’s bad enough to have people eyeing your personal life, but something so intimate as sexuality must be shit.”

“I mean, I guess I’m fine? Yeah it’s annoying, but that’s nothing really I can do? Dealing with this industry have so many problems, but also have me the ability to share my music, my passion, something so dear to me…and have so many supporters feels nice, you know?”

“Yeah, I know. Feels nice to not feel alone.”

After a moment of quiet, she said:

“I don’t mean to be weird or make you uncomfortable, but is it true?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Oh, hope you don’t let anything bad get to your head, because you are a really amazing person, intelligent and gorgeous at that.”

“Oh stop you’ll make me blush.”

“You know, I’ve never really thought of myself being with a girl…I guess I never gave myself the time to really think. All of my life I just thought I had to like men, before I even stop to think what I really like..”

“Oh I know that feeling. I guess you just have to have some introspective moment with yourself, do you see yourself with a woman? With a man? Or both? Do you see yourself settling down with all of them? Or just one of them? Guess you should just really think, and don’t pressure yourself with it! Everyone have their own time!”

“Thanks….though I feel like I wouldn’t mind doing any of that with you…of course, slowly, but if you are open to it, I wouldn’t mind…”

As they cuddle together, they spent the rest of the night talking and just being comfortable with each other.

Yunjin:

This year 2024 Coachella happens to have both Le Sserafim and Ateez performing. What a better excuse to have more time together? First they meet backstage and go out to see other head liners. But at their day off they decided to go to an amusement park.

They arrive early, eager to beat the crowds and make the most of their time. Hand in hand, they start with the roller coasters, laughing and screaming as they race through loops and twists, adrenaline pumping through their veins.

Afterward, they explore the various attractions, from the dizzying heights of the Ferris wheel to the exhilarating drops of the Tower of Terror. With each ride, they bond over shared excitement and occasional nervousness, reassuring each other with comforting words and playful nudges.

As they stroll through the park, they indulge in classic carnival treats like cotton candy and funnel cakes, savoring the sweetness of the moment as they exchange stories and inside jokes.

Feeling adventurous, they challenge each other to games of skill and chance, determined to win each other stuffed animals as souvenirs of their unforgettable day.

As the sun sets and the park lights up with colorful displays, they find themselves on the carousel, riding side by side on majestic horses, feeling like carefree children lost in a whirlwind of joy and wonder.

As the night comes to a close, they share a quiet moment on a bench, watching the fireworks paint the sky with bursts of light and color. With hearts full of happiness and memories to last a lifetime, they share a tender kiss, grateful for the magic of their day at the amusement park.

"I've been thinking a lot lately about life, you know? A few years ago I thought I would just become a lawyer, but now I am here, traveling the world, seeing so many different cultures, exploring the world.”

“I get it, seeing all of this make you feel so accomplished."

“You know, whenever I’m with you, it’s like the world stops, the sounds fades, it’s just you and me.”

“That's exactly how I feel too. You just always manage to make so comfortable, so nice."

"And I love that. I love how we can just be ourselves with each other, no pretenses, no expectations."

"Me too. It's like we have this special connection that's just ours, you know?"

"Yeah, I do. And I never want to take it for granted.."

“I'm truly grateful for tonight. It was a cool way to rewind."

“You’re right.” With that they share an embrace watching the sun go down.

[archive245]

no thoughts empty head only the horsemens as a boyband

- will def gives drummer, said drums are prob white and red covered in random stickers

- michael def bassist and main vocals, guitar is def red

- kai keyboardist and vocals, keeps both keyboard and mic clean and minimalist, his in ears prob have a cross on them or something

- damon is like electric guitar, black definitely black, like a glossy black tho

- damons the type to have messy black eyeliner and a leather jacket yk the bad boy

- kais signature piece of jewelry are rings, wills is chains and necklaces

- very chase atlantic and arctic monkeys vibes

- kai never or barely uses social media, has like 20 posts at max and only posts band activities

- WILL ON THE OTHER HAND SPAMS POSTS LIKE HIS LIFR DEPENDS ON IT, funny picture of damon and michael? posted. rehearsal? posted. dinner at a local diner? posted? sexy selfie? posted. this man probably has like over 1000 posts

random scenario: fan throws bra on stage

michael: picks it up and while smirking say something suggestive

kai: doesnt say anything just see its smirks moves on

damon: like michael says something dirty and hangs the bra on his guitar

will: puts the bra on and does the rest of the performance with it on

- they all write and produce, but its a spectrum how quickly they brainstorm

- michael takes a average week to think of an idea for a beat and lyrics, damon and will randomly gets random creative brusts, kai consistently gets ideas but at random intervals

- designated spots on tour busses

- will is stage presence even tho hes near the back bc yk drums he has the ability to get the crowds attention, winks, flirts, blows kisses, the whole package

- damon tends to wonder the stage never ending on the same place he started when the songs over, walking closer to the crowd to flirt with them or walking back to flirt with the others ( will specifically)

- OR he tends to be very cold and intimidating not very flirty or interactive with every one, yet has a very strong aura that just catches ur attention

- kai pours his whole soul into singing, and even tho hes a sub vocals he tends have the most lines

- hes very tame when it comes to interacting with the crowd, like yes he will wink at them or flirt with them, but he isnt on the verge of making out with one of the fans like damon or will are. but eye contact

- michael is the one who throws water on the fans, the “are you ready??” and “lets go”. the fan hyper yk the one who makes the concert more fun

another random scenario: getting mobbed by paparazzi

michael: pissed and it shows on his face

kai: tries his best to be polite but about to smash the cameras

damon: decks them in the face (causes the group lots of criticism)

will: ditches the group and runs in the other direction

- it was was will idea to start the band, kai was coerced bc he was the only one who knew how to play an instrument (piano) at the time. and damon and michael joined to piss off their dads

- during interviews will has no media training and says random stuff, kai tries to damage control it like “haha no hes joking”

- michael survives off monster, on or off tour. kai prefers coffee, will red bull and damon water :D but he smokes a shit ton of cigarettes so it cancels out

- damon blatenly post spoilers on his socials, kai acc does this as well but not as obvious

- they have a tradition to have comebacks (I DONT KNOW THE NORMAL TERM FOR THIS I ONLY KNOW THE KPOP TERM I AM SORRY) on october 30

- lets be honest they all hook up with fans

[moonlightperseus]

wistful sighs (across phone lines) [6x08 coda / 597 words]

“So how was the school dance?”

“Hello to you too, Buck,” Eddie responds with an amused laugh.

Buck rolls his eyes, something that doesn’t translate well over a phone call so he adds dryly, “Hello Eddie—how was the school dance? What did Christopher say about it?”

“He said he had fun, but I’m sure the details you can ask him yourself when you come over for dinner tomorrow—honestly I think he tired himself out tonight, he went to bed without any of the attempts at bargaining for just a little more time.”

“Oh, actually, I wanted to ask—are you cool with rescheduling? Maddie and Chim want to give house-hunting another try after Maddie’s shift tomorrow and asked if I could watch Jee Yun again.”

“Babysitting again, huh?” Buck can almost hear the smirk and eyebrow raise in Eddie’s voice. “Sure you’re up for that?”

“I just wasn’t properly prepared the first time, I have baby gates now—and I’ve hidden all the toilet paper.”

Eddie laughs, and the sound brings warmth to Buck’s chest even from across the phone, “we can reschedule dinner—or maybe Chris and I can swing by tomorrow night with food, give you a little relief from dealing with the terrible twos alone—if you want?”

The warmth spreads its way up to Buck’s face, no doubt with it bringing a light blush, he ducks his head to hide it even though he’s completely alone in his apartment. “Uh, yeah, that sounds great, but I’ll warn you—she’s big into throwing things right now, including her food.”

“I kinda missed that stage with Christopher, so I’m pretty sure it’ll be like—karma—if I get food thrown at me by your niece.”

Buck snorts, “Just remember that tomorrow when you’re trying to get mashed potato out of your hair.”

“No mashed potatoes, got it. Any guidelines on the choice of vegetable?”

“Pretty sure Maddie and Chim will drop off food for her again but uh—apparently she’s really into brussels sprouts right now?”

“Oh, so she is related to you after all.”

“I’ll have you know I was a very normal kid who didn’t like eating vegetables and it wasn’t until my twenties that I became the vegetable aficionado that stands before you today.”

“We’re not even in the same zip code right now.” Eddie points out, amusement laced in his voice.

“Semantics.”

There’s a pause, and Buck’s pretty sure that Eddie’s rolling his eyes and he can’t find it in him to care.

“So does like six work for you?”

“Six sounds perfect—they’re gonna drop Jee off around three thirty so hopefully she can tire herself out a little bit before you get here.”

“Is that code for you’re gonna be utterly exhausted?” Eddie teases.

“Shut up,” Buck huffs, grateful for once that he’s alone in his apartment so that no one can see the giant dopey smile on his face, “I’m not the one who fell asleep at the table at the station the other day.”

“It was two am—we were on a twenty-four-hour shift! And I only dozed off for a few minutes.”

“Whatever you say, Diaz.”

Eddie huffs softly, and Buck can almost perfectly picture him shaking his head in that slow, fond manner he does.

When the silence stretches on a little too long for a normal casual phone conversation, Buck glances at the clock on his stove and lets out a little wistful sigh. “I should let you go—before you fall asleep on me again. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” Eddie replies, his own voice sounding almost wistful in its softness, “see you tomorrow.”

[sukirichi]

okay long rant ahead !

“It filled him with a sense of achievement knowing he’d been the one to cause your undoing.” For rock bottom mental health too 😍

“The realization that he wasn’t desperate to be King anymore made him tighten his hold on you, his face buried at the crook of your neck. This was all he wanted now. To live the rest of his life like this – with you, in this home.” stop 😭😭😭

“That’s exactly why we should break up. I’m married, and I’m tired of being passed around between you brothers like I’m some sort of toy.” the only sensible thing iris has spoken so far. (also what passing around? bro literally only hooks up with rin)

“He looked and looked – and there you were. Then, her gaze flickered upwards to smirk at him – daring him, challenging him, to prove his words.” I am gonna throw up they are sick for this

“And when one was in love, one would forgive.” yes rin please exploit this as much as you can <3 wouldn’t expect anything less from you <33

“But then she came, and – and marriage is not so bad.” I KINDA WANNA CRY CAUSE the thought of what could have been, of something so loving and sweet kills me but 🥹

also the ending,,, the way I was anticipating it (and actually wanted it) but I just know Princess is not gonna take it easy. it’s like despite knowing everything, reader will be heartbroken considering they are still in love with him (idk how) + I feel reader felt better thinking that they would be the one asking for divorce instead of rin (not to mention the whole planning with omi) so him asking for that is a little out of syllabus.

rock bottom mental health 😭😭😭 no omg that next line, he was evil for that like wdym he’s changed his mind and is now hoping he can gallivant as a happy husband and even hoping he’d be a dad :( it’s like he forgets its not that easy, and a dinner date wouldn’t solve any of that. ABSKWLA iris saying she gets passed around is peak delulu because miss girl, kiyoomi does not want you AT ALL

that ball scene where he looked for reader !! the butterfly effect of it haunts me because in reader’s mind, she’s just doing what is expected of her and attending a royal ball. like it would have never crossed her mind that doing so would mean she’d become the victim and prey of a certain prince with ego issues </3 like what if she didn’t go? who would have suna targeted if not her? and to think she never even thought she might find love by attending that ball, and when he approached... she must’ve thought, “oh. so i could be loved, after all.” but none of it is real and he loved her too late 😭

and yes unfortunately at this stage, yn still loves him </3 that’s why she’s so hurt about this, because she loves him and she cares. i think it hurt her more because she’d planned to find ways to divorce rin long ago before the beach house scene, but she’d given him another chance and for him to suddenly say he wants to divorce and how its like he’s giving up . . . well its all very hard for her to process, but at the same time, i think its good that this is the worst it can be ! they’ve hit rock bottom, a dead end. it’s only yes or no from this point onward

[finkinthisfrew]

Anything (Pt.37)

Chapter 37 After a beautifully intimate dinner in the foliaged corner of an outdoor patio under strings and strings of fairy lights, and a leisurely walk along the charming city streets interspersed with over a dozen makeout sessions in whatever hidden corner we could find, Matty and I finally arrived at the evening's destination. As we walked up the brick street towards the bar, only an hour late (not bad for us!), I admired the charming glow of the multicoloured Christmas lights which framed its otherwise unassuming doorway.

As Matty pulled the door open for me, we were hit by the overwhelming sound of people yelling and laughing as a cheesy recording of Toto's 'Africa' blasted throughout the bar. As we entered the long room, which boasted even more of the same yellow, orange and red Christmas lights which cast a warm glow over the whole bar, along with strings of coloured pennants along the ceiling, we searched the tables for the rest of the band.

Suddenly, a familiar voice rang through the speakers, singing the opening line to 'Africa' along with the track which played. I stood for a second processing what was happening, then Matty and I turned to each other at the same time with identical looks of astonishment and realization. At that moment, I realized two things. First, that we were at a karaoke bar. And second, that the voice I recognized, the one currently crooning the lyrics to the second verse of 'Africa', was none other than my friend, my boyfriend's best friend, and the 1975's drummer, George Daniel's.

We rushed over to the small crowd which stood surrounding a tiny stage in the back corner of the bar, pushing through to get to the front, breaking through just as George began to belt:

"IT'S GONNA TAKE A LOT TO DRAG ME AWAYYY FROM YOUUUUTHERE'S NOTHING THAT A HUNDRED MEN OR MOOOORE COULD EVER DOOOO"

George's face lit up with joy as he saw us break into the front of the crowd. We screamed the lyrics along with him as I felt several arms wrap themselves around me. I turned to see Jamie, Ross and Polly throwing their arms around both of us, drunkenly happy to see us. We all danced and shouted and laughed together as George performed and waved his full pint of beer all over the stage, by the end of which was entirely empty.

Afterwards, once Matty and I had a full fresh pint of beer in our hands each, and George two, he slung his arms around our shoulders, sloshing beer everywhere as we walked towards a table near the middle of the bar where Adam, John and Gabrielle all sat, smiling up at us.

"I've missed you two," he said happily as one of the other bar patrons began to sing a song I didn't recognize, "Do you know how much I love you both?"

"I didn't take you for such a sop, George," I teased, overwhelmed by the candidness of his declaration. He looked down at me with a giant grin.

"And I didn't take you for a Brit," he rebutted. "You're definitely spending too much time with Matty- we must preserve your Canadian-ness," he said as he plopped down in an empty seat at the table.

"Oh?" I responded in question, pretending not to hear Matty's giggle as we both remembered what happened the last time Matty teased my new vocabulary... "And how do you suggest we do that?" I asked as Matty pulled out the seat next to George for me to sit in. I turned around and smiled at him in thanks. He leaned down to kiss me in return, then as he smiled back at me, lingered for a few moments, then winked at me. My stomach flip-flopped.

Once we broke eye contact, I watched Matty sit down beside me as I felt something large and heavy land in my lap. I looked down to see a giant tattered binder that read 'KARAOKE' in big black letters.

"I'm certain they've heard of Celine Dion at least once in Panama," George said with a cheeky smile.

"Ohhh, no no no, there's no way I'm going up there," I said as I tossed the binder back onto the table and crossed my arms. Everyone began to protest.

"Oh please, Anna!" Matty begged along with the rest of the table as his hand replaced the binder on my lap. I felt his skin through the sheer material of my dress. I subdued a shiver- somehow his touch still made my heart skip a beat.

"Guys, there's literally no way in hell I'm getting up there and singing in front of a group of literal rock stars- I can't sing," I said as I shook my head.

"Hey, that's not fair!" George protested, "Not all of us are rock stars! Ross just stands there and looks pretty."

We all burst into laughter, buzzing with happy energy as Ross shook his head disappointedly, trying to hide the smile on his face.

"But George is right," Matty said as everyone's laughs faded. "That actually isn't fair of Anna to say," he said looking at me as he spoke to the group, "She's a beautiful singer. She has the loveliest voice. She even plays a little guitar!"

I shot daggers at Matty as he bragged about me, but he just continued to smile.

"Oh don't be modest, darling!" he said with a little scowl. I opened my mouth to object but George interrupted me.

"No, it's true! I've heard a recording myself- she's got this little angelic voice!" George said as he reached out and pinched my cheek. I scowled at him as everyone at the table started to shout at me to sing. A minute later everyone was banging on the table rhythmically and chanting, 'A-nna, A-nna, A-nna!' over and over. I sunk into my seat and hid behind my hands in humiliation.

Matty rubbed my leg comfortingly, then squeezed my thigh to get my attention as he leaned in toward me.

"Sing me a song, darling," he asked with giant begging eyes, "Please?"

I melted at his pleading face. How could I say no? I sighed dramatically, then uncrossed my arms and stood up to talk to the MC to submit a song.

After I sat back down, we'd just finished our second round of drinks and were about to take the shots Ross had bought for the table when they called up my name to the stage. Everyone looked over at me, and without hesitating, I immediately downed my shot of tequila, then took George's out of his hand and downed his too. I hopped up from the table, ignoring George's complaints as I headed over to the stage. Everyone stood up with me and walked over to join the crowd as I stepped up on stage, not letting myself stop to think even once about what I was about to do for fear of bolting directly out the door and into the night.

As the intro of Frankie Valli's 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You' began to play, I looked into the small crowd in front of me and found the glow of my favourite pair of eyes looking up at me. I gravitated toward their warmth, Matty's smile soothing my nerves slightly. I took a deep breath and began to sing the verse to him, like we were the only ones in the room. The way he smiled up at me morphed my anxious nerves into excited ones- he was so absurdly handsome in the soft red glow of the room, I felt giddy just looking at him.

People in the crowd began to whoop and cheer and scream the horn line as the song ramped up. Finally, when the chorus hit, I belted it out as everyone in the crowd, as well as the rest of the bar, screamed the lyrics along with me. I happily watched as everyone danced below me, Matty and George hooking their arms through each other and prancing in circles as Ross twirled Polly, Hann and Gabrielle and John doing the can-can. As terrifying as it was, it was exhilarating, and I loved every moment of it.

When the song finished and I finally stepped off stage, what felt like a million hands clasped around me, my knees buckling from their weight. I couldn't hold back my giddiness, laughing as I fell. Everyone helped me up, then praised me, showering me with compliments and pumping me up as another bar patron went up on stage.

As we all began to head back to our table, the crowd parted, and like in a movie, I saw Matty standing there, waiting patiently for me. He stepped over to me in two quick strides before picking me up in his arms and spinning me around, but I didn't notice any of it. All I could focus on was the way he beamed up at me as he spun me in the air, smiling at me so proudly, his eyes shining bright with joy. As he set me down, he pulled me in to kiss me, pressing his pride into my lips over and over, making me giggle as he did.

"My little rockstar," he said in my ear just to me as we finally pulled apart, looking down at me with a cheeky smile. He took my hand to lead me back to our table, squeezing it tightly as we walked. "You were brilliant," he said as he pulled out my chair for me. I thanked him with scarlet cheeks, overwhelmed. As I sat down, he pulled out his own chair and tucked it right up against mine, as close to me as possible, then put his arm around me pulling me in close against him.

"I feel like I finally understand what it's like for our fans when I look at them on stage," he turned to me as the rest of the table returned to their own conversations. "I thought I was about to melt into a puddle every time you looked at me up there," he said, trailing his finger along my thigh as he spoke. He looked down at my lap before adding quietly, "I could've sworn I was the only man in the room and you were singing just to me."

"I was," I replied honestly. Matty looked up at me with wide eyes, and his face broke into another huge smile, making my heart flutter all over again.

"Well that's a disappointment, I thought that was all for me," I heard George say as he leaned into me on my other side, grinning cheekily at me.

The three of us laughed and fell into conversation about karaoke songs, discussing the best and worst possible choices. We had just been laughing about the thought of someone performing 'Tequila' by The Champs, when Matty announced he was going to the bathroom.

"Would you like another?" Matty asked, gesturing at my empty pint glass.

"Yes please," I nodded. He pointed at George with raised eyebrows and he nodded as well.

"I'll grab us another round on my way back," he said. He kissed my cheek sweetly and stood up. Then, as if reading my mind how I already missed the way his leg pressed up against mine and the way his arm wrapped around me like a warm blanket, he leaned down to my ear and whispered, "I'll be quick, I promise. I miss you already," before pressing one more kiss onto my temple and shooting me a little smile and a wink before disappearing into the thick of strangers.

"I just wanted to say... Thank you again for coming, Anna," I heard George say to me. I turned to find his face earnestly looking at me as he placed his hand on my arm in thanks. "I really mean it. I know you know how much it means to him, but you'll never know how much it means to me. So thank you."

I looked into his eyes and noticed how they didn't light up all the way- how something dark lingered in behind his appreciation. I could tell there was more to this, but I wasn't sure how to approach it.

"I would do anything for Matty," I said. I meant it, and I knew George knew that too. He smiled at me when I said this, squeezing my arm as I opened my mouth, pausing with hesitation. I didn't want to pry too much, but something told me George would be open to it.

"I get the feeling that there's more to this," I began tentatively, "than what either of you have told me..." I left the sentence open-ended in the hopes of George filling in the blanks for me. He looked down at his nearly empty pint before downing the rest, then wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve and took a deep breath.

"Did Matty ever tell you about Steph?" he asked looking back at me.

My heart stopped. I knew Matty must have had plenty of exes, and I wasn't stupid enough to think I was the only love of his life, but to hear a name... Something about it felt too real, too threatening. I didn't like it, but I pushed my jealousy aside and shook my head, more concerned with what George had to say next.

"They weren't together for very long- maybe five, six months tops? They had a bit of a whirlwind romance. I remember he was careful at first. He tried to go slow, but the more time they spent together, the faster he fell. They had everything in common, and she was positive and optimistic, like a little ray of sunshine amidst the self-identity crisis that had been brewing within Matty over the years prior. He was so drawn to her- she seemed tailor-made for her."

I swallowed the lump that grew in my throat and tried to relax my stomach as it tensed up. I mostly failed. George continued.

"I was always weary about her- I didn't like her, and I couldn't figure out why," George said, and I had to try very hard not to let my smugness at this show. "Eventually, it all fell apart and began to make sense... Turns out she was tailor-made for him- she had lied about everything. When they first met, she pretended she didn't know who he was but it turns out she was a super fan- she'd figured out the places he frequented and staged their whole first meeting. She knew everything about him and used it all to make herself seem like his dream girl- yeah, I know, it was foul," George said, looking at my jaw which dropped open in shock. A moment ago I was jealous of this girl, but now, I felt nothing but pure hatred.

"It got even worse," George continued. "Matty found out she had been sending screenshots of their conversations to her friends. She also took all these pictures and videos of him without his knowledge or permission and would send those along, as well as the ones he'd taken that he thought were just for the two of them. I think she also was spending his money on clothes and shit for herself and her friends. I remember he flew a couple of her friends out for some shows and they went on some crazy shopping spree with his card. I don't think Matty cared that much about that, but I was fuming about it because I'm pretty certain they didn't ask beforehand..."

"That is so awful..." I said in disbelief as I shook my head.

"Yeah, it was mental. The breakup was big and messy and it really fucked Matty up for a long time... He'd already been having these identity and trust struggles outside of the relationship beforehand, and he'd been flirting with escapism with drinking and other things... but after he found out about Steph's charade, that's when he really fell apart," George explained. "I was really worried he was going to go in that direction again when we left London- I hadn't seen him so distraught since that breakup," George said, before shrugging to himself and adding, "But he seems to be doing great again, now that you're here."

"And you think that's because of me?" I asked tentatively.

George pondered thoughtfully.

"Yes," he answered bluntly. "I mean, he's a grown man and he's more than capable of taking care of himself, but the bloke's been through the wringer- it's not his fault he crumbles when the good things in his life disappear. It's like this," George turned to me fully, using his arms to explain, "His highs are so high- much higher than what a normal person would experience. But his lows are so much lower because of that, and I think he's still learning how to cope with that. Because at the end of the day, as popular as he is, he's just a normal bloke. I mean, he's not- the man's mad," George smiled cheekily as he propped his elbow on the back of his chair and rested his head in his hand, "But he's just a guy. And if you take anything from any of this, it should be that the way he feels about you... Look, I can't speak for Matty, but I know him better than anyone and I've seen what he's been through, and of all the highs I've seen him at... you're his highest. Easily."

I looked at George wide-eyed, stunned. He smiled at me kindly before taking hold of the Song Book and rifling through its pages, leaving me to my thoughts.

I sat in silent reflection as I processed everything George had just told me. It really started to sink in just what Matty had to deal with, and why we had the connection we had. It was wild to think how two people who'd gone through their own versions of hell, who were given every reason to lose hope and become distrustful and jaded about love, could trust one another so easily. Trusting Matty felt like breathing. It was effortless. And knowing how he'd gone through all of that and still treated me with so much care and affection... I always knew what we had was special, but it wasn't until now that it really hit me.

Without thinking twice, I stood up from the table and turned to find the bar. I pushed my way through groups of people and emerged to find Matty's back, standing patiently as the bartender poured a pitcher of beer in front of him.

I came up behind him, placing my hands on his waist, then wrapped my arms around him and squeezed him tightly. I felt him turn back to see who the hands belonged to, his body relaxing as he realized they were mine. He placed his hands on my arms, loosening my tight grip just enough to let him turn around in my embrace. Before he even finished turning to face me fully, I reached up on my tip toes and kissed him ferociously. I felt his shock at my urgency, which dissipated quickly as he sunk into me. His arms enveloped me as he kissed me harder, matching my level of passion. We kissed like we were alone. It felt like we were, even amidst the crowded bar which buzzed with drunk and happy people. But no one was happier than me. No one. It was almost too much.

"I love you so much," I said emphatically as we parted.

Matty smiled at me curiously as he took my hand in his, our fingers interlacing.

"I love you too, my darling," he said sweetly, cocking his head to one side, but I shook my head. He raised his eyebrow in question.

"No. I love you greedily, incessantly, naturally, necessarily, urgently, easily... I've never felt love like this before. I don't think anyone has ever felt love like ours," I said, my intensity registering with Matty as his face morphed into something more serious. 

He slowly nodded his head in understanding as his eyes looked back and forth between mine. His mouth tensed slightly and I saw his chest shake slightly as he inhaled deeply.

"Sometimes, not often, but sometimes I worry that maybe I'm the only one who feels this way..." he said as he looked down at our hands. "That maybe we're both in love, but that this feeling I feel- this intensity, this overwhelming, other-worldly love I feel- that maybe I'm the only one who feels this way," he said. His eyes returned to mine, sparking as he saw me shaking my head.

"I think it's safe to assume that whatever you're feeling," I said to him as I let go of his hand and wrapped my arms back around him, "I feel ten-fold."

Matty smiled back at me, then bit his lip and shook his head before responding. 

"Only if you assume the same with me- except make it a hundred-fold," he winked cheekily as he pulled me in for a hug.

His hands wrapped around me, his strong arms enveloping me. I tucked myself into his chest, breathing his comforting scent in as I tightened my hold.

"Can we go?" I asked Matty quietly.

He did a double-take, certain he misheard my quiet words in the loudness of the room.

"You were right," I continued as I looked up at him. "I don't want to do anything but lay in bed with you all night..."

His eyes melted at this and he smiled at me in adoration.

Instead of telling me 'I told you so' as I deserved, he kissed me gently on the forehead, then whispered in my ear, "Whatever you like, my darling," before taking my hand and walking us out the door and into the warm summer night.

[ethereal-feline]

I woke up about an hour ago with this idea in my head now y'all get to hear it too.

I've seen the opinion Furina shouldn't have been forced to cross her boundary of not wanting to be on stage/act anymore for obvious reasons, so what if instead of Furina filling in she hastily suggests the Traveler does(no it will not matter if its Aether, just roll with it).

Traveler accepts, maybe hesitantly, but Furina's lines in this version would give us the options of "gladly doing it" and some unhinged "alright but I expect a reward" for a response.

Cue whatever quick time events or rhythm game as gameplay to rehearse, with Furina coaching, maybe a couple little fetch quests for props or costumes. Meanwhile, everyone backstage are all happy one way or another to see Furina after however long its been since they've seen her. Like, some seemed genuinely worried for her well being and are relieved. Others are just total fans and maybe that's why the fetch quests exist, like they got so caught up working with Lady Furina they forgot a thing or an important prop.

Anyways, time for Traveler's big moment! The lights dim save for one shining on the Traveler. Players are probably gearing up for more quick time/rhythm gameplay but then....we go to Furina, backstage. She closes her eyes, reminiscing when she used to actually enjoy performances, which allows the scene to transition to the canon cutscene.

She hears the applause and for a brief moment she smiles, genuinely. But the applause is for the Traveler. Furina looks a bit sad, but everyone backstage who saw her also applaud. Its a smaller audience, but Furina still smiles.

The end goes rather the same, Furina getting that name drop credit, but this time the Traveler can say something like "Archon or not, they're still happy to see you."

What about Furina's Vision? Well maybe, after Furina still resolves to return to acting and performing on stage, we get a moment at her apartment where she finds it waiting. Maybe among some other gifts or something, but its there. Similar lines about it, but maybe Neuvillette was also trying to respect her boundaries and didn't want to make a big splash about it. After all, it is the first Vision he's giving as the Hydro Dragon Sovereign and seeing how he still respects and adores Furina, there might as well be a handwritten note saying "I hope you like this gift, you deserve it for all the hard work, hugs and kisses, mwah" lol.

Then the Traveler probably has dinner at Furina's. Spoiler alert, its macaroni, since either she did say she would treat us(the Traveler) if we accepted(gladly) or she's sassy about us not specifically saying what the reward should have been.

And end quest!

Probably not a new thought but I'm throwing my hat in the ring. Take it or leave it!

[madaboutmunson]

Again - Part 11

Part 1 | Part 10 | Part 12 | Full list of Again series links

Steddie fic where Steve and Eddie are in their mid 30's and everyone has sort of drifted apart

Taglist: @adaed5 @grtwdsmwhr @swimmingbirdrunningrock @mightbeasleep, @jewellthebooknerd

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Sunday rolls around much too quickly for Steve's liking. Honestly, he knows summer is coming to a close and other than being whined for the last few days about Zee having her own cell phone, he was really going to miss it once it was over. Sure, he'd get to see them again in a week, but it was just different out of term time. They were a little more carefree. They'd had a great few days, cooking together, playing video games, school shopping, and even some two-on-one basketball. Since Wednesday, Zee had called Morgan every day, only for ten minutes tops. Steve could manage the phone bill but didn't want to put Eddie or Jenny in an awkward situation where they couldn't do the same. Although curiously, Eddie hadn't called Steve at all, he got this weird message on his cell that had Eddie's name on it, but there were no words, just numbers and letters. 

He pulls up on Jenny and Val's driveway, and the kids and Beans rush out, leaving Steve to get the bags as usual. He bundles up what he can under his arms and walks up to knock on the door.

Steve had a key, but he always preferred to knock at the door out of some weird kind of respect. Jenny, short blonde hair in a chic bob, dressed in a loose flowing long summer dress, opens the door and blocks the kids, trying to get into the house without hugging her first. Squeezing each of them tightly, "Oh, I missed you, terrors" The kids make a break for the stairs, "Dinner will be ready in five minutes, so don't get too involved in anything. That means no computer games, Corey!" She shouts after them and turns a kind smile to Steve. "Come on in." She says enthusiastically, wrapping him in a big hug too. Then almost getting barrelled out of the way by the enormous furry projectile that was Beans. She beckons him to the kitchen and puts her finger to her lips, laughing. Steve obliged the silence but couldn't help but notice there was something different about Jenny. He's not sure exactly what it is, but it's familiar. She points through the kitchen door, and Steve peeks around the door to see Val in a chef's hat and apron, singing and dancing around the kitchen as he cooks. He nearly jumps out of his skin when Bean's wet nose prods at the back of his knee. Still, when he realises who it is, he beams in delight, "Oh Beanies! Memento", he says to the dog putting his hands together like he's praying. He walks to the fridge and breaks off a chunk of cheese, throwing it around his back into the air for Beans to catch, before returning to the stovetop, putting the newly strained linguine into the pan, and tossing its contents effortlessly in the air. Steve smiles and shakes his head, and looks back at Jenny. Her expression radiated the affection Steve had only seen in the early stages of relationships or at boy band concerts. She's looking at Val like he's the most marvellous creature in the universe, and he supposes to Jenny he was in the top three. For a second, Steve feels that pang of jealousy, the one he tells everyone else and himself he doesn't have when it comes to this situation, but it's much more complicated than jealousy. He doesn't want Jenny back as his wife or romantic partner. He doesn't want her to endure those strained times again. Most of it was great, but when it was terrible. When the dark clouds came for her, Steve couldn't stop them no matter how hard he tried, but Val could and can, and Steve wondered what that must feel like. Not just to be like that for someone else but to have someone like that for yourself. He was jealous that no one looked at him that way and that he had no one to look at that way. He was just not jealous enough to make it a bitter taste in his mouth.

"STEVEN!" Val exclaims, taking off his chef hat and apron revealing his jet black slicked back hair that curled up at the nape of his neck, some very tight Levi jeans and Ralph Lauren polo shirt. He makes a beeline for Steve, gripping his shoulders and kissing him on each cheek, "Sit, sit! Steven, please." he gestures at a chair at the table, and Steve smiles and obliges. No matter how many times he told Val that Steve was fine, he persisted with Steven, he said it commanded more respect and it felt better in his mouth when he said it. Valentino was pretty much impossible to refuse unless, of course, you wanted to offend the man. Steve is so grateful for him, there were a billion frogs out there and Jenny most definitely landed a Prince, which wasn’t just a bonus for her, but Steve too. He knew Valentino was great with the kids, and made Jenny so happy, which made everything so much easier. Val picks out a pile of dishes and deals them like playing cards around the table as Jenny sits in her usual seat at the head of the table.

"So Steve, I see Beans is here. Are you going somewhere?" Jenny asks, unfolding her napkin into her lap.

"I mean, I'm not sure yet, maybe. I figure I should do something with the last week of summer, right?" Steve says, being careful not to mention that he would probably spend most of that week waiting for Eddie to call if he would at all. He’d only brought Beans on the off chance maybe he and Eddie might go someplace together. Val stops mid-cutlery placement and lifts his head to Steve with slightly narrowed eyes, "You know, maybe a city break or something? Like I say, I don't know yet," Steve adds as a half-truth was better than a total lie. He stopped bringing up dates with Jenny and Val a long time ago, especially when they barely made it to the end of the first date before they were another loss on the tally. "What have you both been up to this week?"

"Well. Val got a promotion, which is really exciting. I've just been given a new team to bend to my will, I mean take care of," she laughs, "So things are going pretty good, I think you could say" Jenny looks over at Val, radiating happiness. Val turns and blows her a kiss as he brings around the pan to dish out the food, which smells divine. "Have the kids been alright?"

"Mackenzie went to her D&D club and made a new friend, who came by this week to play basketball. He wanted some help because his Dad said he's going to high school soon, so Corey and I practised with him, but honestly, he's a natural. I think he's gonna be okay." Val places a serving of linguine into Steve's dish and appears to be scanning his face for information.

"Oh, that's great. I'm glad you drove her out there; it made a world of difference. Though I suspect there might be a little crush developing there too." Jenny says with an adoring smile at the cuteness of it all, "Mac's first crush, huh? Wow, time is just going by so quickly" Steve nods in agreement, "And can I just say, Steve, how impressed I've been? I mean, I was certain the day this happened, you'd be a lot more upset about it."

Steve laughs. "I know me too. There have been a few moments where maybe I wasn't at my best, let's say, but I figure it's best not to meddle, you know? Just keep an eye on things, which is much easier when they aren't hiding anything from you." Steve clicks his fingers, remembering, "There was a hair incident with one of your old curling tongs. We sort of figured it out for now, but if you're taking them for usual haircuts before school, maybe get them to blend it in a little better than my hack job."

"Oh, christ! Sorry, Steve, I keep meaning to get my old stuff from yours!" Jenny says, wiping her hand down her face.

"No, it's fine. It's nice for the kids to have your stuff at mine too, in case they miss you, you know? But, er yeah, I might have lost my temper with those particular curling tongs, so they are now in the trash." Jenny grimaces, "Don't worry, Jen, I took them and my temper out to the garage." Jenny smiles, and Val raises his eyebrows at Steve as he brings his oversized pepper grinder around.

"KIDS!" Jenny yells through the door, and a thunder of feet and squabbling can be heard before Zee and Corey appear in the kitchen.

"Beans out, please," Steve says gently, and she obediently goes to sit in the hall.

Dinner conversation is mainly driven by the kids, and Steve sits quietly between Jenny and Zee, enjoying his food and the company. Several times throughout the dinner, Steve looks across the table to find Val staring at him like he's trying to unravel him. Each time Steve gives him a smile laced with a bit of concern and then goes back to eating.

"Say, kids, Val got a soft serve machine. We've set it up in the garage. Wanna help me grab some for all of us?" Jenny asks, a massive grin on her face like soft serve ice cream was the answer to all life's problems. Then like a ton of bricks, something hits Steve. His eyes dart to Val, wide-eyed in realisation, and the analysing stare he's had on Steve all evening drops and is replaced by one of alarm, and he puts a finger to his lips. Now it makes sense! He looks down at his plate, no seafood, no wine with dinner, how Jenny was positively glowing, why Val was dancing around the kitchen, why Jenny had been mooning over him in the door, and the last clue, the soft serve machine at home. So she could know exactly what went into it. Steve silently, but his face is loud with communication, points a finger at Val behind the backs of Jenny and the kids as they leave.

Val gets up and rushes to the door to close it, and pins himself against the back of it, his hands at his chest, fingertips pinched together, "Please, Steven, don't be angry", he whispers.

Steve gets out of his chair and approaches him, "Angry? Why would I be angry? This is wonderful! Congratulations!" Steve whisper shouts, pulling him in for a hug, and he feels Valentino begin to weep against his shoulder.

"J-Jenny, she said not to say. She said it was too soon, and it is early, very early, Steven, so we aren't telling the k-kids yet," Val manages to say through his tears muffled into Steve's shirt. Steve pulls back, holds him happily by his shoulders, and beams at the blubbering mess before him.

"Oh Val, I know we're all one big unit, but you're gonna be a Dad, and I am fucking psyched for you, man! You have no idea how amazing this is gonna be. I promise you, there is nothing on this earth like it," Steve enthuses, shaking him maybe a little too roughly with excitement before pulling him in for another tight bear hug, with an audible oof when he nearly takes the air out of Valentino. "Is that why you've been acting so weird tonight? Because you wanted to tell me?"

Val gestures at the chairs again, and Steve pulls one out and lets Val sit down first before sitting opposite him at the table. He offers Val his handkerchief, which he takes gladly and wipes his eyes. "No, Steven, no. But also, yes. I did want to tell you, but Jenny said no, so I wasn't going to tonight, but when it was time, we would sit and tell you together, but you guessed." He says with a shrug.

"Ok, so if it's not the announcement, why have you been staring at me like that? Do I have something in my teeth or hair?" Steve reaches up to check, and Val captures his hands gently and brings them down to the table. He pats them, grabs two little cups, and pours them an espresso. Val sits back down and takes a sip, letting out an ah, putting it down and looking directly into Steve's eyes.

"Because you, Steven, are in love," Val says seriously. Steve laughs and shakes his head.

"That's ridiculous. I am not," Steve replies.

"Ah-ah-ah Steven, do not lie to your Valentino" Val leans over the table, and he lays his accent on thickly as he does, even though Steve knows he was born and grew up in Indianapolis. Val reserved this stereotypical accent for three things, when he spoke Italian, when he spoke to customers and when he wanted to get his way. Steve was loath to admit it, but generally, it worked on everyone. "Now you tell me who this heavenly creature that won the heart of my friend is, uh? Is it one of your fancy ladies with a little chihuahua? Or maybe some big-time executive man like Richard Gere in Pretty Woman, only you are not a prostitute, obviously, Steven. Come on, tell me. You know Valentino loves romance, Steven, please" he rests his chin on his hands, pouting, making himself look adorable and Steve’s weak defences fall apart.

"Let me just start by saying love is a big word there, Val. But I am interested in someone and-" Steve doesn't get to finish that sentence because Valentino is whooping, clapping his hands and has scooped Steve out of his seat into his arms and is dancing him around the kitchen. He looks up into Steve's eyes.

"Steven, tell me everything!" He says adamantly.

"Well, he's someone I knew a long time ago before I met Jenny, and um, he's kinda the Dad of Zee's friend Morgan," Steve says a little awkwardly, and if they weren't attached, Val's eyebrows would have shot clean off his head due to the velocity he raised them before his expression fell into a cheeky smile.

"Oh, Steven! You bad boy, organising your own play date at the same time, uh?" Val says, twirling Steve around back into his chair.

"Well, that's not exactly what happened, but-" Steve starts again as Val slaps him on the back.

"Is he handsome? No, don't answer that. Stupid question. Of course, he is. Charming, naturally. Tall, of course." Val is pacing, tapping his chin. “But what has he got that the others did not. Something different…" Val says, scanning Steve's face again.

"He's crazy!" A voice comes from the now open doorway as Corey thrusts an ice cream cone at his Dad. Zee hands one to Val, and they both disappear into the den.

"A wild man, eh Steven?" Val says with surprise as his laughter booms around the kitchen, making Steve blush a little and chuckle himself as Jenny sits at the table and looks between them.

She tuts, "Oh Val, you told him, didn't you?"

"Congratulations," Steve says quietly, reaching to hold her hand and beaming at her.

"Let's just not get ahead of ourselves ok. It's early" she points a finger at both of them.

"That's not all Luce della mia vita. Steven has a new old flame. Molto piccante," he purrs and slides into the chair next to Jenny, kissing and then nuzzling her cheek, but she is just staring at Steve.

"What do you mean old flame, like when, before me?" She asks, her brow furrowed.

"Ah yeah," Steve says, but then the realisation hits him that in their eleven years, he never mentioned Eddie by name. Any stories about him were gender-flipped to a girl with no name. Steve would tell Jenny when they first started dating, he never wanted to say that name again, and at the time, he'd meant it. It wasn't a secret he was bisexual, just that, at the time, it was a lot less liberal.

"Nancy?" She asks in surprise, and Valentino laughs.

"No, no, tesoro", he scoops up her hand and kisses it, "A tall, beautiful, charming, crazy man", and Steve gulps.

"Wait, you never said anything about a guy, Steve..." Jenny starts to say before she gets deep in her thoughts, then taps her finger rapidly against the table, her eyes widening in realisation, "He's the one that left, isn't he?" Steve nods. It's all he can do at this point. He's still determining which way this will go. "He's the one that broke your heart and why you were getting wasted in the bar!" She taps the table a few more times, and for a glimmer, she looks angry but then looks at Val, who seems to communicate silently with her and she softens. "Well, he better behave himself this time, else I'll hunt him down myself!"

"Crazy", Val says, kissing Jenny's hand, and pumps his eyebrows at Steve, "So what are you still doing here, Steven?" Val chuckles, "Why don't you hunt down your wild man before Jenny does?"

"He's probably busy. So I think I'm just gonna head home, have a nice bath, and plan something for the week," Steve says, wolfing down his ice cream, eager to get out of this potentially awkward conversation.

"Too busy for you, no! If he's too busy for you, he's not good enough, Steven," Val says with a big smile. Jenny smiles, too, but it doesn't reach her eyes. It puzzles Steve. Was she angry about him telling her it was a girl, not a guy? Was she mad because she thought he would hurt Steve? He'd swear she was jealous if he didn't know any better, but that was impossible. She had everything she wanted and then some. He couldn't work it out, so he decided this might be his cue to leave.

"Well, thank you for a wonderful evening. I am so excited for you both!" He says, turning around, picking up his blazer, and hugs them both goodbye. He notes Jenny's hug isn't the usual tight squeeze. He says goodbye to the kids and Beans and heads home.

As he rounds the corner to his home, he's surprised to see Eddie's motorhome parked up in the driveway. Steve gets out of his car, walks over to the door, and knocks, "Eddie? Everything ok?" He shouts at the door. Steve hears a small tumble of objects from inside, and Eddie curses quietly.

[canarymemories]

endless dream

rating: general audiences archive warning: no archive warnings apply category: gen fandom: paradox live characters: kureha aoi, visty mentioned, kei is also mentioned additional tags: introspection, written before showdown, pre-canon, visty my beloved, flower language, he/they pronouns for kureha aoi, a bit of an introspective on visty's whole situation pre road to legend date published: 2023-09-08 words: 1700

summary: how foolish to try and reach for a dream again.

written for when this flower blooms

here on ao3

the day visty debuts, their agency gifts them each a small bouquet of roses in their assigned colors. they can surely pay for something more extravagant, but aoi doesn’t think about that, instead happy to be given anything at all. the past few weeks had been a whirlwind, so he’s glad to have something physical as a reminder that all their hard work hadn’t been for nothing.

he wonders if the others feel the same.

once the five of them return to their shared apartment, aoi takes his flowers to his room and carefully cuts the stems, avoiding the few small thorns that remain not having been snipped before being packaged. they place the flowers in a tall, skinny vase that he slides to the side of his desk, not wanting to accidentally knock it over. 

aoi isn’t sure what the others do with their roses, but they find themself admiring his flowers for maybe longer than he should. in his defense, though, the thrill of successfully debuting with the people he looks up to — maybe even views as family — hasn’t completely worn off.

however, no matter how well aoi tends to the flowers, it doesn’t take long for some of the roses to wilt, their petals drooping and changing from a soft lavender color to something closer to brown, losing their vibrancy as they fall onto his desk. 

it’s nothing more than a sign of passing time. it probably sounds a little silly, but aoi feels a spike of fear in his stomach when he walks into his room after school, not even two whole weeks since their debut, to see nearly all the roses are wilted. he could very well throw them out, but they feel attached to the flowers. maybe it’s the memory of their first real live — the distant cheering rings in aoi’s head at the memory; the lights had drowned out the crowd from where he was on stage, but he could still hear them nonetheless — or something equally as sentimental.

in the end, they decide to press the flowers to keep a few as a little memento before they all wither away.

aoi sorts through the remaining flowers, the ones that have yet to fully die, only to find that there’s one rose that’s still the same purple hue it was the night he’d received them. he sets that one aside for three more to join it, though they’ve already begun to unfold as their petals turn lighter.

after searching for the easiest way there is to press a flower and then waiting the next few weeks for his heaviest books to do their jobs, aoi finds themself with a permanent reminder of the home they’ve found.

the apartment is quiet after kei announces his leave. aoi doesn’t expect anything different.

shogo is withdrawn as he attempts to tie up all the loose ends so that the four of them remain afloat all while sacrificing his own sleep for it if the bags under his eyes mean anything. toma, as always, tries his best to carry conversation over dinner or whenever he happens to run into one of them in their shared space, but all his effort falls short from truly lightening the atmosphere further than a forced smile. and kantaro… well, aoi isn’t sure how many days it’s been now since any of them have seen him out of his room.

to say they’re a mess is a bit of an understatement.

the pressed rose, the one that had yet to lose its color, sits on aoi’s desk. the others he’d slipped into plastic and now remain in books half read. instead of the pleasant reminder they’d started as, the flowers feel like a cruel joke.

aoi stares at the flower sometimes. it catches his eye while studying and distracts him from his homework.

 he isn’t sure how to feel about it.

about the flower.

about kei.

they’ve always looked up to the people around them. aoi yearned to be like those people, so bright and confident and strong. to define a place for himself among those types had always seemed so far out of reach, but he had done it in the end, hadn’t he?

but now, with those steady pillars they’d grown used to crumbling before their eyes, all of them being thrown off by kei’s sudden departure, aoi isn’t sure what to do. he wants to be angry, that the five of them came so far as a group, as friends, only for it to be tossed away so easily. it’s not fair that kei gets to walk away from it all like he did while the four of them are stuck scrambling to try and make everything right again in his absence.

aoi knows that being the youngest of the group doesn’t help him any; they know that toma and shogo keep things from him and kantaro, so maybe aoi should feel some kind of anger towards them too. but, same as kei, he can’t be angry at them either. he can’t feel much of anything than a muted sense of sadness about everything.

after all, debuting and reaching the level of popularity they managed in such a short amount of time truly felt like a dream. and aoi would be dumb not to realize a dream always has an ending, and this awakening was about as abrupt as it could’ve been.

(aoi can only imagine how the stellas who showed up to every live and every stream feel. maybe they can be outraged enough for the four of them.) 

mind distant from the words he’d written in class, even further from the concept of studying, aoi shifts his notebook further up his desk. they rest their cheek on their outstretched arm, staring at the flower.

the flower stares back.

their fingers inch closer to it, fingertips brushing against the surface of the desk as they near the flower. aoi feels the edge of its plastic covering, a sharp little corner, before pulling his hand away. 

crossing his arms on top of the desk, aoi rests his forehead on them and closes his eyes.

how foolish to try and reach for a dream again.

the rose moves up to aoi’s bookshelf where it’s easier to ignore. his eyes are no longer drawn to it when he walks into the room and as odd as it is, he does feel a bit better with it gone from view.

or maybe that sense of relief is from the four of them having found a solution in the form of paradox live. hip hop isn’t exactly visty’s style, but aoi knows they’re desperate enough to try any way they can to claw their way up from the edge of the cliff they’d been stranded on. that and they’re accustomed to phantometals already, having been using them in their performances since their debut.

(aoi hasn’t missed the nightmares that came with using the metal, reliving the same words over and over and over until he feared he’d still hear them echoing around in his head even when awake. but still, they can deal with them as long as it means they can stick together. shogo seems sure of visty’s ability to stick it out through this tournament. or maybe it’s the desperation taking hold of him as he too realizes with startling clarity that this really is their last chance.)

even so, aoi finds themself feeling a bit more calm knowing that shogo has faith in the four of them, no matter how many comments on social media or late night specials have nothing better to do than to talk about visty’s sudden fall from grace. with that confidence, aoi feels his own growing, although more tentatively.

with the flower out of his view, aoi feels he can breathe a little easier. they have a way to get out of this mess and if they’re to get anywhere in this competition, he knows they have to prepare.

the chill of early morning air does wonders to block out the thoughts racing through aoi’s mind as they do their daily jog. the date for visty’s appearance in paradox live grows nearer and nearer and even with all the practicing the four of them have been doing, both as a group and individually, aoi can’t help but wonder if it’s enough. 

he knows it doesn’t do any good to be pessimistic about a performance and it’s not like they don’t have confidence in their ability as a group, but there’s just this nagging dread at the back of aoi’s mind. no matter how hard they try to ignore it, will it away, it remains annoyingly persistent through every waking moment to the point of losing sleep.

aoi knows that visty isn’t exactly in a good position — not that they have been in a while, if he’s being honest — but he’s stuck with the others long enough to know that whatever may happen, even with however strong their fellow competitors may be, they have a fighting chance. they won’t let this chance slip between their fingers.

they need this win to survive.

his breath comes in puffs, throat stinging slightly from the cold air.

aoi slows to a walk, looking over the nearby buildings they idly pass. there’s a cat or two in a few windows, blinds still drawn on a few, customers entering and exiting a nearby coffee shop. but then he pauses, spotting a small gathering of white flowers, their little petals facing downwards in an apartment window.

he’s not sure what they are, but there’s something about them that stirs a feeling in their chest that they can’t quite put a name to.

aoi exhales, breath turning into a faint cloud before disappearing. he shakes out his hands and begins jogging once more. they’re almost back to the shared apartment now. as nervous as aoi is about performing on a new stage as big as paradox live, about this being their one and only chance to stay as visty — to continue their dream as four instead of five — he feels a sliver of hope that whatever the outcome may be, visty will remain.

end notes:

hi everyone, check out the zine! it was so fun working on it and everyone else's pieces are so good too!

flower meanings: purple rose - looking up to someone, in admiration of (not hanaktotoba based, but i did think this meaning was interesting), snowdrop - hope, consolation (hanakotoba based)

[cto10121]

Twilight Meta Review—Chapter 8-10

In which Bella’s bad MC luck attracts the worst sort of men at Port Angeles and Edward is quite literally murderous. Which means, of course, that they dine at this romantic Italian restaurant and have a conversation rife with UST and revelations. Romance book logic at its finest. I definitely approve.

Chapter 8: Bella Being A Weak Female Heroine(tm) & Edward Is Officially A Bodice Ripper Alpha Male

But first, girlfriend time! Bella has some nice girl fun Jessica and Angela at Port Angeles.

Jessica’s dinner with Mike had gone very well, and she was hoping that by Saturday night they would have progressed to the first-kiss stage. I smiled to myself, pleased.

So far I have sorely neglected Bella’s matchmaking attempts with Jessica and Mike (curiously enough in Midnight Sun Edward does something similar with Angela and Ben, I think; again, birds of a feather). It’s not a big deal, but it does show Bella’s tendency to support people and put their needs and happiness into consideration.

Angela was passively happy to be going to the dance, but not really interested in Eric. Jess tried to get her to confess who her type was, but I interrupted with a question about dresses after a bit, to spare her. Angela threw a grateful glance my way.

Bella is such an awful friend to her Forks friends, isn’t she? Ugh, never liked that clown take. Of course she helps them and supports them. Hell, she was only vaguely alarmed at Lauren’s hostility. She just isn’t very close to them.

“Didn’t you ever go with a boyfriend or something?” Jess asked dubiously as we walked through the front doors of the store.

“Really,” I tried to convince her, not wanting to confess my dancing problems. “I’ve never had a boyfriend or anything close. I didn’t go out much.”

“Why not?” Jessica demanded.

“No one asked me,” I answered honestly.

Makes sense. Phoenix is a big city and Bella’s high school was most likely huge like mine and most U.S. cities and suburbs. Bella may be pretty, but she is introverted, bookish, and not the most charismatic of girls. She prefers not to stand out or be noticed, and with so many other pretty girls around, Bella passed by unnoticed.

The sky suddenly darkened further, and as I looked over my shoulder to glare at the offending cloud, I realized with shock that two men were walking quietly twenty feet behind me.

And here we go. Bella gets lost and gets targeted by serial rapists who fence her in.

I had a good loud scream, and I sucked in air, preparing to use it, but my throat was so dry I wasn’t sure how much volume I could manage. With a quick movement I slipped my purse over my head, gripping the strap with one hand, ready to surrender it or use it as weapon as need demanded. […]

I braced myself, feet apart, trying to remember through my panic what little self-defense I knew. Heel of the hand thrust upward, hopefully breaking the nose or shoving it into the brain. Finger through the eye socket—try to hook around and pop the eye out. And the standard knee to the groin, of course. That same pessimistic voice in my mind spoke up then, reminding me that I probably wouldn’t have a chance against one of them, and there were four. Shut up! I commanded the voice before terror could incapacitate me. I wasn’t going out without taking someone with me.

Bella being a weak female heroine again. So weak she was ready to throw up hands. Of course, she really should have run if she could (from the description, though, she probably couldn’t; also, she would definitely trip). But yes, that is the attitude to have if you choose to fight. Do not go gentle into that good night.

But the silver car unexpectedly fishtailed around, skidding to a stop with the passenger door open just a few feet from me.

“Get in,” a furious voice commanded.

It was amazing how instantaneously the choking fear vanished, amazing how suddenly the feeling of security washed over me—even before I was off the street—as soon as I heard his voice. I jumped into the seat, slamming the door shut behind me.

Bella’s reaction is instant relief. My theory that she is not truly afraid of him is ringing more true.

I studied his flawless features in the limited light, waiting for my breath to return to normal, until it occurred to me that his expression was murderously angry.

“Are you okay?” I asked, surprised at how hoarse my voice sounded.

“No,” he said curtly, and his tone was livid.

What is it that the kids say? “See the feminism leaving my body”? Yeah. I am Elmo in the hellfire for this trope. Edward is justified, though!!! Rapists are truly the lowest of the low.

“What’s wrong?” My voice came out in a whisper.

“Sometimes I have a problem with my temper, Bella.” He was whispering, too, and as he stared out of the window, his eyes narrowed into slits. “But it wouldn’t be helpful for me to turn around and hunt down those…” He didn’t finish his sentence, looking away, struggling for a moment to control his anger again. “At least,” he continued, “that’s what I’m trying to convince myself.” (p. 167)

Turns out in Midnight Sun he did turn Lonnie and the gang in (or Carlisle, I don’t quite remember). Glad he didn’t do that Batman shit.

In any case, his priority is Bella, as it should be, which means taking her to dinner at La Bella Italia.

He spoke before I could. “Go stop Jessica and Angela before I have to track them down, too. I don’t think I could restrain myself if I ran into your other friends again.”

I shivered at the threat in his voice.

Yep, feminism leaving my body. No thoughts, head empty.

Anyway, Edward is in full Alpha Male mode, insisting Bella eat.

The host was female, and I understood the look in her eyes as she assessed Edward. She welcomed him a little more warmly than necessary. I was surprised by how much that bothered me. […]

And then our server arrived, her face expectant. The hostess had definitely dished behind the scenes, and this new girl didn’t look disappointed. She flipped a strand of short black hair behind one ear and smiled with unnecessary warmth. (p. 167)

Now it’s Bella’s turn to be miffed. The amount of estrogen in this passage, I swear. She needs to own it more, stop being so nice. He’s just saved your life—he yours. Tell her back off, bitch!!!

Edward was shrugging off his jacket. I suddenly realized that I had never once noticed what he was wearing—not just tonight, but ever. I just couldn’t seem to look away from his face. I made myself look now, focusing…It fit him snugly, emphasizing how muscular his chest was. […]

I shivered again. It smelled amazing. I inhaled, trying to identify the delicious scent. It didn’t smell like cologne. The sleeves were much too long; I shoved them back so I could free my hands.

Tiny!Female and Big!Male Trope will never grow old. But curiously Meyer gives little indication of what Edward’s scent is like. Jacob and the wolves experience the vampire scent as “too sickly sweet.” So it’s sweeter than cologne, definitely.

“You can trust me, you know,” I murmured. […]

“I don’t know if I have a choice anymore.” His voice was almost a whisper. “I was wrong—you’re much more observant than I gave you credit for.” […] “I was wrong about you on one other thing, as well. You’re not a magnet for accidents—that’s not a broad enough classification. You’re a magnet for trouble. If there is anything dangerous within a ten-mile radius, it will inevitably find you.”

“I don’t go looking for trouble, trouble usually finds me.” Even Harry Potter has its claws on this one. And of course, Bella gets involved with werewolves next book as well.

I wondered if it should bother me that he was following me; instead I felt a strange surge of pleasure. He stared, maybe wondering why my lips were curving into an involuntary smile.

Bella having her Juliet moment. Stalking? Not a problem if it’s beloved. Edward-senpai noticed her, and that’s all that matters.

“I heard what they were thinking,” he growled, his upper lip curling slightly back over his teeth. “I saw your face in his mind.” He suddenly leaned forward, one elbow appearing on the table, his hand covering his eyes.

Meanwhile the movie version has Edward demonstrate his mind-reading abilities like a town psychic on the rest of the patrons as if Bella needed one. And as if we gave a fuck.

He didn’t look from me as he thanked her. I suppressed a smile.

Bella is literally more upset at the waitress flirting with Edward than Edward confessing to stalking her and wanting to kill her attempted rapists.

…Yep, sounds about right. No notes. Go on.

Chapter 9: “Joke’s On You, I’m Into That Shit”: Or, Bella Finally Tells Edward She Knows

But first, Bella has to freak out about him driving so damn fast. Ngl, could have been a funny moment in the movie were it smart enough to employ it. But alas.

“I decided it didn’t matter,” I whispered.

“It didn’t matter?” His tone made look up—I had finally broken through his carefully composed mask. His face was incredulous, with just a hint of the anger I’d feared.

“No,” I said softly. “It doesn’t matter to me what you are.”

A hard, mocking edge entered his voice. “You don’t care if I’m a monster? If I’m not human?”

“No.”

Edward, Edward, Edward. Don’t you get it? Bella’s into that shit, yo. She’s into you. But that is something he will have to learn in the later books. That is, essentially, his arc.

So anyway, they go into this amusing exchange about vampire myths that I’m too lazy to reproduce, but I still want to talk about Meyer’s vampires.

Honestly, I like her vampires. They are truly fascinating. The venom, the unnatural beauty and scent to appeal to their prey, the traits in their human life amplified in their vampiric life…the dismissal of the whole sunlight and coffin thing as myths (because yeah, they’re cheesy). They’re just too overpowered. Honestly, even a couple of vampires could rule the world if they wanted to. They even have additional gifts! The only downside of being a vampire is the sharklike bloodlust. In a way, they’re almost like Biblical angels with a really perverse twist.

“You might have called me,” I decided.

He was puzzled. “But I knew you were safe.”

“But I didn’t know where you were. I—” I hesitated, dropping my eyes.

“What?” His velvety voice was compelling.

“I didn’t like it. Not seeing you. It makes me anxious, too.” I blushed to be saying this aloud.

Bella really needs to claim Edward some more. Own the cock, ffs. But of course, he is still resisting her.

His words cut me. “It’s wrong. It’s not safe. I’m dangerous, Bella—please, grasp that.” (p. 190)

All of this could have been avoided had Bella just told him she was into that shit. She is not a pushover. She is horny. There is a difference.

“Don’t go into the woods alone.”

I stared at him in blank confusion. “Why?”

He frowned, and his eyes were tight as he stared past me out the window.

“I’m not always the most dangerous thing out there. Let’s leave it at that.”

Again that unintentional foreshadowing. I almost feel Meyer did think about continuing it past one book or at least toyed with the idea.

About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was a part of him—and I didn’t know how potent that part might be—that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him. (p. 195)

Still so iconic. But Bella is really still clueless about his obvious attraction to her, isn’t she? Incredible.

Chapter 10: Horny Bella (feat. Juliet Capulet vibes)

The poor girl is far gone.

Again, the fabric clung to his perfectly muscled chest. It was a colossal tribute to his face that it kept my eyes away from his body.

[…] I pulled the jacket onto my lap, pushing my arms through the too-long sleeves, curious to see if the scent could possibly be as good as I remembered. It was better. (p. 197)

Edward: I am a monster, a creature of the night, condemned to an eternity of purgatorial emptiness.

Bella: *snuggling in his jacket 🥰*

Meanwhile Jessica is waiting to ambush Bella about her night with Edward. Edward finally tosses Bella a bone and tells her that he would be listening in. Jessica is duly eager for the gossip.

“Please, Bella,” she begged. “Give me some details.”

“Well…okay, I’ve got one. You should have seen the waitress flirting with him—it was over the top. But he didn’t pay any attention to her at all.” Let him make what he could of that.

Bella is still on the flirty waitress train!!! Jealous!Bella is definitely my favorite.

“How much do you like him?”

“Too much,” I whispered back. “More than he likes me. But I don’t see how I can help that.”

Edward is not going to like that. Talk about triggered.

“I’m curious,” I said…“what would you do if someone dared you to eat food?”

“You’re always curious.” He grimaced, shaking his head. He glared at me, holding my eyes as he lifted the slice of pizza off the tray, and deliberately bit off a mouthful, chewed quickly, and then swallowed. I watched, eyes wide.

Bella: Gee, I wonder if you could eat food

Edward: ugh FINE i’ll eat a slice *chomp* happy now?

We were inclined toward each other across the table now. He had his large white hands folded under his chin; I leaned forward, my right hand cupped around my neck. I had to remind myself that we were in a crowded lunchroom, with probably many curious eyes on us. It was too easy to get wrapped up in our own private, tense little bubble.

Romeo and Juliet: *popping up with a happy little wave*

Seriously, this has R&J written all over it. Copy and pasted, too. The sheer audacity. Meyer, you bad bitch. You’re almost as bad as me.

“Do you truly believe that you care more for me than I do for you?” he murmured, leaning closer to me as he spoke, his dark golden eyes piercing.

[…]

The silence dragged on. I refused to break it this time, fighting hard against the temptation to peek at his expression.

Finally he spoke, voice velvet soft. “You’re wrong.” (p. 208)

I may be wrong, but I do think that may be Edward’s first official love declaration. He has demonstrated it in many other ways, but I think this is the first verbal admission.

“Well, look at me,” I said, unnecessarily as he was already staring. “I’m absolutely ordinary—well, except for bad things like all the near-death experiences and being so clumsy that I’m almost disabled. And look at you.” […]

“You don’t see yourself very clearly, you know. I’ll admit you’re dead-on about the bad things,” he chuckled blackly, “but you didn’t hear what every human male in this school was thinking on your first day.”

Retcon? Admittedly I don’t remember that part of Midnight Sun. Mike is horny towards Bella, though, that’s canon. Edward is exaggerating, I think. He himself rather dismissed Bella as pretty but ordinary when he first saw her—as he rightfully should.

“But I’m not saying goodbye,” I pointed out.

“Don’t you see? That’s what proves me right. I care the most, because if I can do it—” he shook his head, seeming to struggle with the thought—“if leaving is the right thing to do, then I’ll hurt myself to keep from hurting you, to keep you safe.”

I glared. “And don’t you think I would do the same?”

“You’d never have to make the choice.” (p. 211)

And then New Moon comes around with Bella saving Edward’s life from his suicide attempt. Edward in the clown makeup Part 38388383.

“The weather will be nice, so I’ll be staying out of the public eye…and you can stay with me, if you’d like to.” Again, he was leaving the choice up to me.

“And you’ll show me what you meant, about the sun?” I asked, excited by the idea of unraveling another of the unknowns.

And here we go. The big one. The one we’ve all been waiting for. The linchpin. Meyer’s whole reason for writing this book. But first, the Biology UST.

[silverspoonfedbraggart]

I played alongside my little cousin

This thanksgiving

I used the culmination of my work experience

To elevate the dining experience

Of the youngest member of our family

Well at one point

Just like me

16 years i held onto that crown

Before stepping down

Glad to relinquish spotlight

She seemed so much more willing to perform

But i know the baby is pushing her from her stage for the first time

Shared limelight on the couch in the living room. As mother Mary hands her newborn to the youngest in the room. Without telling her to support the neck, a child holds an infant and the woman call to all to make more.

I look to my queer cousin with a shared reality that our ships have both sailed away from that idea of family. Though we like to come back for snapshots

But maybe Emma was even there as a new boy stole her fame

Something new always develops just out of frame

I’ll be the lighthouse that keeps her from crashing rather than a panopticon, watching for her to trip and fix it.

Adjourn the domestic sphere

For a brief recess

Play in the meadows-grown-over-farm-fields,

be gay backdropped by deer

She says she wants to play hide and seek

No on has asked me to play my favorite game in years

We Negotiate the game rules

But I tell her not to hide outside the fence

Out of bounds, off the map, what would her parents say if i lost her to the woods?

i slink into shadows to count

Riffle through the inventory to keep the magic alive with pretty rocks and natural history

Through whimsy teach her

how to really play hide and seek

We only talk about deserts and the extremes of ourselves

Loves and hates

When we reenter for dinner, I’m sorry to her that i got distracted from our game.

But i cant help but see the record skipping

As i look around the room

See so many that share my face, my brain, my, dna

To feel like you are the same

Yet you can’t sink in

To the seam of the couch

Because they remodeled the farmhouse

Gammie overplayed and overlayed

By leisas wallpaper in a warmer shade

The yellow wallpaper

I stare out and resist the urge to crawl on all fours

Like i did as a little girl

To talk to the animals

Since no one else would take the time

To listen

To understand me

But I’ve made myself understandable to Mankind, i am the ambassador at dinner for child and man, man and woman, the bridge between two spheres. Reconnect the bisected globe

I dont care who else is talking. I’m listening to her

Because she does that to me.

Takes my word on good faith

That i can speak to foxes and can tell stories in cards.

The looks of dissonance behind her eyes. As new information enters her mind and makes its place, the boxes of fact and fiction not unsealed in her mind, not to mentioned emptied and resorted. She opens her mind and the magic that i speak is real, and i get what Peter Pan meant

A boy healing his inner child

The little girl that curled and went dormant inside this suit of armor

Red riding hood was never cut out of the belly of the beast, but My Dear never learned to fear Canine teeth

So maybe I’ll gently lie to her about the details of our world. She’ll be ready to know someday. Until then

I’ll ask her questions and I’ll remember her answers because a 6 year old has a lot figured out

But still needs someone there to direct, guide, and lead the way

Through the woods and through the dark

To find discarded branches from trees

Sticks to throw to the dogs, make even the smartest at ease

And i tell her to only pick up the sticks from the ground

Because those were the gifts the tree left

And my little doe, if i wanted a strand of your hair,

Wouldn’t you rather i pick it off the ground than cut it from your head? 

It’s an impossible wish for me to hope that she comes out of childhood, still intact

Maybe she won’t be consumed entirely, will be able to crawl back up the throat because she won’t wait in vain for someone to save her

I’ll teach her to save herself.

[trustdrum]

Kendrick lamar don t kill my vibe lyrics

It’s also in the way Lamar zig-zags through it, managing to be awe struck by where he’s ended up (“put me on stages/to me that’s amazing”) while also throwing out a bunch of disses. It’s partly in the way those strings give way to the beat, the two eventually synthesizing into one fly-as-hell production. Yet I find it difficult to put into words why this song sticks with me. It’s probably one of my most played tracks period of the last year. Michel: This is the Kendrick Lamar song I’ve listened to the most since last fall, on long train rides and walks to work and times spent preparing dinner. Well-observed, still too damn garrulous, and Lamar’s dork impersonation still sounds misconceived. Sounwave digs up some Danish downtempo fluff and strikes smoke if only Kendrick could show the same curiosity about the actions of others.Īlfred Soto: One of my least favorite good Kid, m.A.A.d city tracks gets a sonic spritz, although this incarnation lacks the desperation of the other diva-addled editions. The vibe doesn’t really seem endangered: he says he’s shouting but we can’t hear it. What actually matters, though, is Kendrick - his verses are so insanely good on the remix that they won me over to a song I was initially cold on, but when I go back to those original verses, I remember that they really weren’t anything special.Īnthony Easton: The music is lush, seamless, and gorgeous…like a slightly cryptic luxury product you didn’t know existed five minutes ago, that you will dispose of in two or three days, but you need now! It’s too bad so much effort is put on the cliched lyrics and tired flow of the hyped-to-death Kendrick.īrad Shoup: Lamar’s exceptionalism grates against his declarations of fallibility. But oh lord does the “bitch” belong, if only to give the song its bite and keep it from wafting away on air.Īl Shipley: It’s interesting to listen to the solo album version given how much it’s been framed and defined that the superstars that have touched it in other incarnations: Lady Gaga on that increasingly laughable, thankfully discarded early draft, Jay-Z on the event remix. For the single version, it’s been changed to “trick,” turning the chorus into something lighter and more accessible. And the word “bitch” hits like a brick, a spiky detour from the rest of the song’s measured atmosphere. It’s a curious song – curious meaning that it feels singular, but also that it shows Lamar trying to understand the world around him as he tilts his head at finding something new. It floats along calmly despite being based around a withering put-down, stands alone on an album entirely concerned with thematic cohesion and showcases craft over savvy marketing (Lady Gaga was supposed to be singing the hook once upon a time). Pharrell Williamsĭaniel Montesinos-Donaghy: For all that’s been written in the wake of last year’s good kid, m.A.A.d city (my personal favourite: Houstonian writer Matthew Ramirez’s tumblr essay), “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe” has retained an element of mystique despite the level of attention paid to its host album. Donnie Trumpet & the Social Experiment.I LIE HERE BURIED WITH MY RINGS AND MY DRESSES.Email (song suggestions/writer enquiries).

[greysrank]

Kendrick lamar bitch dont kill my vibe lyrics

The song, produced by frequent collaborator Sounwave of Top Dawg Entertainment in-house production team Digi+Phonics, heavily samples "Tiden Flyver", by Danish electronic group Boom Clap Bachelors. Even in the midst of an effort to “stop all pollution,” Lamar is yelling the titular protest."Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe" (edited for radio as "Trick, Don't Kill My Vibe" or simply "Don't Kill My Vibe"), is a song by American rapper Kendrick Lamar, from his major-label debut studio album Good Kid, M. The song’s gold-hued beauty is infused with contradiction: its a languid meditation on trying to elongate a transitory moment. “Look inside of my soul” are Lamar’s opening words and he maintains this introspection even while expanding his thoughts to encompass the city that puts him on stages and we fiends waiting on his records “like the first and the fifteenth.” It has a delicacy defined by its precariousness Kendrick is a sinner certain to sin again, but there’s hope too: in the change he feels coming and the new life approaching. Jonathan Bradley: Hip-hop isn’t usually this internal in its focus it can get personal or spiritual or contemplative, but “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe” notably turns away from an outside world with which rap is inerrantly to engage. Whatever the reason, this one’s still going to be monopolizing my iPod whenever I end up passing by the “k’s.” So maybe I should take Lamar’s advice and cut out all the talk. Maybe it’s something about the very first words here - “I am a sinner/whose probably going to sin again/Lord forgive me/Lord forgive me thing’s I don’t understand” - that’s achingly human. It’s also in the way Lamar zig-zags through it, managing to be awe struck by where he’s ended up (“put me on stages/to me that’s amazing”) while also throwing out a bunch of disses. It’s partly in the way those strings give way to the beat, the two eventually synthesizing into one fly-as-hell production. Yet I find it difficult to put into words why this song sticks with me. It’s probably one of my most played tracks period of the last year. Michel: This is the Kendrick Lamar song I’ve listened to the most since last fall, on long train rides and walks to work and times spent preparing dinner. Well-observed, still too damn garrulous, and Lamar’s dork impersonation still sounds misconceived. Sounwave digs up some Danish downtempo fluff and strikes smoke if only Kendrick could show the same curiosity about the actions of others.Īlfred Soto: One of my least favorite good Kid, m.A.A.d city tracks gets a sonic spritz, although this incarnation lacks the desperation of the other diva-addled editions. The vibe doesn’t really seem endangered: he says he’s shouting but we can’t hear it. What actually matters, though, is Kendrick - his verses are so insanely good on the remix that they won me over to a song I was initially cold on, but when I go back to those original verses, I remember that they really weren’t anything special.Īnthony Easton: The music is lush, seamless, and gorgeous…like a slightly cryptic luxury product you didn’t know existed five minutes ago, that you will dispose of in two or three days, but you need now! It’s too bad so much effort is put on the cliched lyrics and tired flow of the hyped-to-death Kendrick.īrad Shoup: Lamar’s exceptionalism grates against his declarations of fallibility. But oh lord does the “bitch” belong, if only to give the song its bite and keep it from wafting away on air.Īl Shipley: It’s interesting to listen to the solo album version given how much it’s been framed and defined that the superstars that have touched it in other incarnations: Lady Gaga on that increasingly laughable, thankfully discarded early draft, Jay-Z on the event remix. For the single version, it’s been changed to “trick,” turning the chorus into something lighter and more accessible. And the word “bitch” hits like a brick, a spiky detour from the rest of the song’s measured atmosphere. It’s a curious song – curious meaning that it feels singular, but also that it shows Lamar trying to understand the world around him as he tilts his head at finding something new. It floats along calmly despite being based around a withering put-down, stands alone on an album entirely concerned with thematic cohesion and showcases craft over savvy marketing (Lady Gaga was supposed to be singing the hook once upon a time). Pharrell Williamsĭaniel Montesinos-Donaghy: For all that’s been written in the wake of last year’s good kid, m.A.A.d city (my personal favourite: Houstonian writer Matthew Ramirez’s tumblr essay), “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe” has retained an element of mystique despite the level of attention paid to its host album. Donnie Trumpet & the Social Experiment.I LIE HERE BURIED WITH MY RINGS AND MY DRESSES.Email (song suggestions/writer enquiries).