#boy can fit so many dog metaphors

[dallasgallant]

Last note from my last rewatch before I watch again….

Johnny sighs like a puppy. He just lets out this sad huff

He even whale eyes…

Rest in peace Johnny Cade. Never beating the kicked puppy allegations 🙏

[saiintofawe]

gideon nav loves like a dog who grew up with nothing but a chain around her neck and a bowl of dirty water and that knows that the hand that feeds her is the very same hand that beats her but she still can't help but wag her tail a little when she sees her owner approach

[vechter]

descended from dreamers, li-young lee // new titans (1988) #61 // nightwing (1996) #35 // drafts, ohevoyev // nightwing (2011) #30 // the last days of judas iscariot, stephen adly guirgis // sacrifice of isaac, caravaggio // vaulter (2x02), succession // new titans #57 (1989) // batman: gotham knights (2000) #17 // unknown // black canary (1993) #10 // on perplexity: chrysanthemum, richard siken // new titans #57 (1989) // and my father's love was nothing next to god's will, amatullah bourdon // batman (1940) #605 // the last days of judas iscariot, stephen adly guirgis

dick & bruce + if you love somebody, they turn into a god

[longbeachgp]

carlos and dog metaphors go hand in hand like nothing else in this world

[allwaswell16]

A fic rec of One Direction fics where they're neighbors as requested in this ask. If you like the fics, please leave kudos and comments for the writers! You can find my other fic recs here. Happy reading!

—Louis/Harry—

✦ so let's cross the lines we lost by thecoloursneverfade

(E, 165k, uni au) Harry and Louis have a complicated past, Niall throws too many parties, Zayn is definitely not pining, and Liam just wants everyone to get along

✦ Speaking of Marvels by navigator, quitter

(E, 100k, nanny au) AU. Louis is a nanny in suburban New Jersey, and the neighbors' son is home from college for the summer. It was supposed to be a fling.

✦ Light My Fire, Blow My Flame by @softfonds

(E, 98k, adaptation) the One Where…. Louis is a Broadway actor, Harry is a newly graduated lawyer, Liam is a radio DJ, Zayn is an English Professor at NYU, and Niall is a music producer. A Friends AU.

✦ to lure a hummingbird (you had me moonstruck) by brokenbeaks / @broken-beaks

(E, 81k, trapped au) An enemies-to-lovers fic where Harry and Louis are neighbours who are forced to get along due to the inconvenience (or convenience) of a broken lift.

✦ Little by Little by nonsensedarling / @absoloutenonsense

(E, 65k, omega/omega) Harry discovers figuring out who you are is more complicated than a potato metaphor.

✦ Enchanted by @brightgolden

(E, 25k, kid fic) Where Louis finally meets his neighbour. After a few conversations, he begins to realise he is too weak to resist the charms of the new mother and his six month old daughter.

✦ In Dreams by dolce_piccante / @haydolce

(M, 23k, secret admirer) AU. When Harry moves to a new city, his new flat come with a number of sweet, anonymous gifts and surprises that brighten his days.

✦ That's How I Know by @allwaswell16

(E, 19k, parrot fic) the one where Harry’s African grey parrot spills his dirty secrets to his very hot neighbor.

✦ please don't be in love with someone else by wildestdreams / @thelavendrhaze

(E, 18k, friends to lovers) the one where Harry and Louis are neighbors and there's a lot of overthinking, misunderstandings, Backstreet Boys sing-alongs, embarrassing moments in the hallway, and pining. They somehow still make it work.

✦ Cut to The Feeling by ishiplouis / @pocketsunshineharry

(E, 16k, fluff and smut) AU where Louis is a ghostwriter working from home, and Harry is his firefighter neighbour who happens to have the cutest dog on Earth.

✦ come on over, we've got something to share by @jaerie

(E, 12k, a/b/o) Even as an unbonded omega with a four year old, Harry had everything he needed. 

✦ A Real Work of Art by @lululawrence

(NR, 11k, makeover au) the one where Harry calls on an old friend, the super popular Louis Tomlinson, to help him change his look to capture the heart of Logan. Things only mostly go as planned.

✦ You and Me and the Devil Makes Three by moodlighting

(M, 10k, bed sharing) AU. Louis moves in next door to Harry. Louis has a ghost, Harry has an extra futon and a crush.

✦ Just Your Jinx by @larryatendoftheday

(T, 10k, witch Harry) Harry Styles may or may not have accidentally jinxed his extremely fit new neighbor, and it's not so easy to make things right.

✦ Wanted: Dog Walker by YesIsAWorld / @louandhazaf

(G, 6k, silver fox Louis) Louis needs a dog walker. Harry answers the ad.

✦ I'll Keep You Warm by @parmahamlarrie

(T, 6k, snow storm) Louis is the kind of guy who keeps his head down and minds his own business. He’s lived on the same street for years and barely would recognize the buildings, let alone his neighbours. 

✦ Love Mail by @neondiamond

(G, 5k, strangers to lovers) the one where Harry and Louis keep mistakingly receiving each other’s mail (and also fall in love)

✦ Through the Wall (Through the Wall) by @taggiecb

(M, 5k, humor) "We live in adjacent apartment and one day I accidentally knocked a hole in the wall and into your living room. I'm really sorry oh my God you're naked" AU 

✦ Unplant by @hellolovers13

(M, 4k, trans Harry) Louis should've looked where he was going, then he wouldn't have to desperately try to save a little flower now.

✦ Heels Over Head by @kingsofeverything

(E, 3k, famous/famous) Louis Tomlinson returns from tour to find that his new next door neighbor doesn't realize his backyard is not completely private.

✦ an honest mistake by @disgruntledkittenface

(NR, 2k, humor) Louis has ridden the elevator with his neighbor all week. The first time they speak, there’s a misunderstanding.

—Rare Pairs—

✦ Now that you're here, I never want you to leave by WeAreTheLuckyOnes

(E, 17k, Louis/Nick Grimshaw) the one where Louis's a drummer, Nick's a radio DJ, and Louis's dogs are menaces.

✦ Kind of Tough to Tell a Scruff (Stand and Deliver) by sunsetmog / @magicalrocketships

(M, 4k, Louis/Nick Grimshaw) In which Nick moves north and Louis lives next door.

✦ Take a Piece of My Heart by cherrylarry / @beelou

(G, 4k, Niall/Shawn Mendes) The one where Niall invites his neighbor Shawn to a Valentine’s Day get together with his friends and maybe it’s a mistake.

[briefle]

*slaps roof of bdubs* this bad boy can fit so many stray dog metaphors in his character.

[meyerlansky]

my take on gale mota, if this helps: so obvs he's generally holds back and is very careful socially, tending towards watching rather than participating. i also think he's very reactive, inasmuch as he gives people what "fits" their personality. egan's an annoying endearing brat so he gets the longsuffering treatment. curt's longsuffering, so he gets gale's version of a brat. neither is a /lie/, persay, but both are an obfuscation of the whole picture. he deliberately casually makes himself 1/

...hard to know, which is also shown in his general stoic snarky shtick. again, it's not a lie, it's just not /everything/. exactly what part of himself he's trying to hide is up to interpretation (big gay boner for his buddies, anyone?) but i personally think he's trying very hard to hide just how fucking mean he can be. ironically i think this is exactly why bucky is drawn to him (because maybe he'll smack him around a little) who said that 2/2

yessssssss all of this is so good and i agree with nearly all of it: gale is definitely very cautious, very withholding, and very reactive, and i also definitely see a deep capacity for viciousness and anger and meanness as one of the vices he's decided Cannot Under Any Circumstances Be Expressed, Lest He Be Too Like His Father. i think my only major difference in read is i can't see gale bratting, at least not early on; not only does bucky have the brat market CORNERED, but i think gale wants to be good. he doesn't want to have those vices, he doesn't want to lash out when he's angry, he doesn't want to be a dog off the leash. what he needs is a firm hand at the end of the leash, who'll tell him when he's being a good boy.

i think he also wants that hand to hold him back from the anger and the meanness, but this is where i think curt becomes an interesting choice for being that firm hand (vs, say, bucky, who wants to drag gale so far off-leash that they both forget what the concept of leashes are, and i'm losing control of this dog metaphor but you get what I'm saying). because i think curt is happy to put gale where he belongs when it's necessary—it takes barely a touch to his chest and, what, fifteen words to make gale back down in the RAF scene, when gale FORCED bucky back down into his seat to keep him from taking the hit? seriously, curt doms that boy with so light a touch i don't think gale even knows it's THERE—but i also think that curt sees that vicious streak in gale and likes it. it just needs pointing in the right direction. so i think it'd be good for gale in that he can bring curt as many apples as he can get his hands on and get told he's a good boy for it, and curt valuing that protective streak gale seems to lump down into Anger, Which Is Always Bad means gale would get more space to have those feelings in productive ways. i.e. circling the fight like a guard dog to keep the RAF guys from taking any potshots, and reeling curt into safety the second he's in range. and also the two of them brat-taming the fuck out of bucky, with curt telling gale exactly what and how much he should give bucky. i mean what.

[wrt smacking bucky around lmao genuinely i think curt and gale BOTH have crises about That Time Bucky Made Me Hit Him, but they're flavored differently: curt is upset bucky kept pushing at what curt tried to express as a limit, but gale is upset that he couldn't "control" himself in the face of bucky pushing him. i don't think either of them have the language to express any of this clearly, either, so it's a top drop clusterfuck both times, but it's worse for gale because he has the self-hate i'm-just-like-my-dad-after-all spiral waiting and ready to go, whereas curt's like "i'm fucked up over this. why am i fucked up over this. oh, because i didn't want to, i SAID i didn't want to, and bucky didn't listen to me." i've got thoughts about it]

[smoothpowerforthestreets]

❤️‍🔥🗡️🍸🌹I TRIED POPULAR FEMME FATALE TIPS FOR A YEAR🌹🍸🗡️❤️‍🔥

Hello everyone! I always have been fascinated by the femme fatale energy and I was so obsessed as a kid with femme fatales like Ava Gardner, Marilyn Monroe, Gilda by Rita Hayworth and some characters by Angelina Jolie or Penelope Cruz.

I never tried to tap into the femme fatale energy because I always thought that I didn't fit the "aesthetic", then I read Ava Gardner's biography how she made womanizer Sinatra go suicidal for her and I noticed that femme fatale energy isn't about looks or aesthetic (partially) but your attitude, energy and self love. So I started to get all the information I could about femme fatales and these are the most popular tips I've tried:

💋 Let them pursue. Let them show you how much are they interested in you and how far would they go for your attention.

I think this one it's not exclusive about FemF it's something that every girl should do. It's really simple: if they really want you they'll move mountains for you, and girl, don't even think it's because you set your standards too high because it's the bare minimum. Stop being in situationships where it's very clear that he doesn't want you, I'm sorry but it's really pathetic.

My experience: I've been applying this boundary for a long time now and it's the most effective way to see who actually wants you. Why? Because it's too simple, if they want to they will. This saved me a lot of situationships and giving access and power to someone who doesn't want me. The results are a little annoying because let's be real, boys🤡, they always come back so when I say it's annoying it's because it's ridiculous to see them get confused and then pursue you when it's too late. AND LET ME TELL YOU, when I put a cross on your name there's no way to erase it (metaphorically). Ugh, really why do they do that? They make clear that they don't want you and when you cut them off they decide to come back in the way you seem to want. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, don't go back to them, if they really wanted you that badly they would never have put you in that position.

💋 Don't be impressed by the things they think can get you. I'm talking about superficial things like physical appearance, fame, money, properties, cars, luxury lifestyle, etc. Please I know everyone loves money but believe me when I say it doesn't get you anywhere mentally if you don't have your shit together, don't let desire for rich appearances guide you to shitty men just because they can provide money. You should be able to afford your things so you don't have to be waiting for a man like a poor dog.

My experience: Girl I'm going to spill some tea about this one. I had two famous men asking me on a date, one of them I no longer speak to him and the other one is currently pursuing me like crazy just because he saw I was not amused about the luxury things he was bragging. We're friends for now because I don't trust him lol but he tries every now and then to ask me on a date. Girl trust me it's not that rare to get that type of men, almost every friend of mine has been pursued by a man in power.

💋 Trust in the feminine power. Trust in the power that a smile or a gaze has, learn from the best: Angelina Jolie, Marilyn Monroe, Ava Gardner... A subtle way to let a man know that you like him and you can have him going all over you. How many times a man has approached you just because you looked at him? That's the power you have, women have that power.

My experience: Not so long ago I had a thing with a man and somehow we lost contact but we have a friend in common so we see each other often. The other day I tried this technique to see if a gaze was enough to let him know that I'm interested and it's true, I looked at him directly into his eyes and that was enough to have him the rest of the night right by my side.

💋Red nails theory. The color red is said to represent passion, love and sensuality. The red nail theory got viral on TikTok because a girl said that the reason she attracted more men with red nails was because they saw a lot of red nails while growing up.

My experience: I got my nails done red and I don't think much changed. I think red is a color that generally attracts men but I don't think it's something exclusive for nails. A red lipstick or dress will always be on point.

💋 Be cold af. Not every time but when he does something to annoy you don't react. Could be he's trying to make you jealous, to see how you react or how much you care about him. DON'T REACT, even if it's killing you inside. Act like you couldn't care less and move on. He still flirts to other girls? Then that means you're not in a committed relationship and you can flirt with whoever you want to too.

My experience: This one is sooooo fun to apply and I like to add a little spice and mirror their behaviour. Because when they do something I don't like I usually cut them off and that's it, but when I know they did it to hurt me I like to have my revenge. You've met your match bitch.

I was getting to know this guy who made very clear that he enjoyed single life so I did too and when he saw me on another date he went nuts and stopped seeing other girls. But one day he got angry because I said that I found attractive one of his friends and that night he started a little flirt in front of me with a girl so I just said I'm going to say hello to someone and I went to do the same with his friend. He immediately came so angry, asked for a word alone and told me to stop messing around. He asked me to be in a committed relationship the next day and that was the last time I saw him. I know it seems so toxic but I didn't want a relationship with him and he tried to hurt me so idc.🤷‍♀️

Sorry if you see some spelling mistakes, english is not my first language!

[tinypandacakes]

1. Song recommendation for TK playlist: "Cirice" by Ghost

2. PANDA, WHEN I CATCH U PANDA-

I swear the rollercoaster of emotion I get reading new chapters ;A;

THE RABBITS METAPHOR??? HELP. 🤎🤎🤎

Also poor Häschen is up for a rough ride and I'm not ready for that ;AAA; I have too many theories about what König hides in the basement (probably not Soap... OR IS IT???), but i know Hase is gonna snoop around and find out 👀

Also König being both scary and comforting is too much for my heart, literally every time he and Hase interact I'd be like this meme

BUT ALSO WHAT WAS THAT PILL KÖNIG, HUH??? >:(

Sorry for a long ask, I got lots of emotions after the newest chapter 🫠

Ahhhh don’t be sorry for long asks, my heart is so happy right now 💕💕💕 I always get this weird slump/emotional hangover after I post any fic or update (it’s just the anxiety T.T) BUt reading sweetness like this gives me a much needed boost!! So thank you!!

Omg I love the band Ghost! Husband and I are big metalheads and they were such a fun live show!! Saw them in 2017 or 2018 maybe? Excellent suggestion, adding it to the playlist!

I’m so glad everyone isn’t sick of the rabbit/pet/dog/wolf metaphors yet XD I love them so much, I mean she’s basically living like a human pet 😭 it’s like that meme with the car salesman slapping the roof of a car “this bad boy can fit so many stray/animal metaphors in it!”

Do you really think that Häschen could resist snooping behind that door? She is pretty deep under his influence…but maybe not enough yet :) ;) we will see hehe

[drchenquill]

Since you've taken the liberty to ask me about my title, I have to admit, I've been curious about yours too. But I've been really preoccupied with personal stuff so I got a bit late. And I have ALOT. Hope you don't mind me bombarding you.

Desire Is The Purest Of Sins

Life Can Be a Bitch

Elite

The Fairy And The Man

The Nightingale

Pas De Deux

The Secrets Of The Sea

Veangeance Is The Meal Of The Powerless

The Memories Of The Future

Foliè

I can't help it 😭 the titles were pulling me in 😭😭😭.

Oh gosh!!! Thank you so much for the interest!!! I'm overwhelmed (in a good way)!! I'm always happy to talk about my stories, so don't even worry about bombarding me!! I welcome it!

Let's begin, shall we?

Desire Is The Purest Of Sins

This story talks about a young woman named Rosie the goes through life with metaphorical blinders. Nothing can change her world view, until she lands a job as a barwoman. There she'll meet a man she first gets to know as "Gin". He is a charming man, flirtious, knows his way around the ladies, but Rosie won't let herself be swooned or brought off track, until she sees something she shouldn't have. Her "blinders" get ripped off and now she is forced to see the world in a whole new light. (spoiler: it's a fantasy story~)

Life Can Be a Bitch

This is a rather tame, non-fantasy high school romance story. Eighteen year old Hannah moves into a new city with her mother and has to attend a new school. To her surprise, she fits in quite well, making friends pretty fast. She meets Dylan, a wannabe bad boy that gets beat up on a regular basis, and they get along like a cat and a dog (not) , but they gradually get used to each other and something starts to bloom~

Elite

This is quite tricky to explain, but I'll try my best. I've come up with a race of creatures who inherited their luck bringing powers from "Lady Luck". Their task is to prevent a vitium. A vitium is what happens when a world is in such a bad streak of bad luck that it fades from existence. This usually happens when the world has to go through something that affects its history. If for some reason that doesn't happen, then the world is gone because its story hasn't been continued. Now, the main character of this story is part of the elite, the best of the best. She gets send down on earth to investigate the disappearance of some of her collegues that had previously send down to safe the world from the incoming vitium.

The Fairy And The Man

This one is about soulmates, or better, the wish of having one. Moira, the main character, is a fairy woman, locked up with other fairy women to prevent the extinction of their race. You must know, my kind of fairies, are very, very, sensitive to emotions. A fairy could literally explode from happiness or die out of fear, so they lock them up and give them a pill to surpress any kind of emotion. But Moira hates being locked up, she wants to go outside, to find out who she could be if those walls wouldn't be trapping her. She suddenly gets a roommate, sixteen year old Felicity. A young fairy that is everything that withered away inside the now twenty year old Moira. Felicity is full of exictment and joy, awaiting the arrival of someone that could sweep her off her feet. Sadly, that person does come and manages to coax young Felicity out of those protective walls, leading her into an unknown world. Moira follows without a second thought, but everything goes downhill from that point on.

The Nightingale

A young woman forced to either marry a wealthy man or to work under a wealthy woman. She chooses the latter, of course, because with that one, she will at least get paid to do the housework. Madeline Templeton starts working under a noblewoman as one of many other maids. She is eager to please (to not get kicked out) and follows all the rules. At least some of them. She is very curious and sticks her nose into things the lady of the house might want to keep hidden. One of the biggest rules is to not enter the white door that she will eagerly open anyway. In there she will find something that will change her life forever... or maybe someone?

Pas De Deux

Another non-fantasy story. Ellie is a ballett dancer with a weird sort of problem. She hates being touched. Only the people she knows her entire life long are able to touch her without getting snapped at or even hit. She can't help it, she herself doesn't understand why. Everything goes to shit when her train and dance partner ditches her. At least he has the decency to present her wih a solution: his older brother. Joshua Reed is a boxer with a nasty reputation and a shitty personality. She begrudgingly gives in to let Joshua help her with the training, which is the worst idea she could ever have.

The Secrets Of The Sea

Pirates, wohoooo!!! Maire is the daughter of a pirate captain and the sea is the only think she knows. She was born on it and will die on it. One day, her father decides to visit an old friend, explaining that he still owned him a favor. Without doubting her father one bit, she and the rest of the crew agree to this favor. As she will find out, the favor included trafficking of a creature she long thought a myth: a siren.

Veangeance Is The Meal Of The Powerless

Its' a vampire murder mysterty and it's sort of a sequel of a finished book of mine "Who's to judge?". We follow Thana, Talon, Valerio and Leroy as they get called to assist in a murder case with a vampire as primary suspect. The evidence was clear as day, they only needed to find which vampire took their anger out on the victim. But the more they dig, the more intricate the case becomes. What if the murderer is the actual victim? What if this wasn't an act of meaningless killing, but an act of veangeance? Our four vampires will need to question thei own morals and world views to get to the bottom of this.

The Memories Of The Future

Picture this, a young girl lives with her aunt and her border collie in an old town where nothing intersting ever happens. This young girl, Sophie, is as chaotic and skittish as a squirrel, and just as forgetful. She leaves notes for herself around the house to remind her of stuff she has to do, which she still forgets. But as she soon will find out, those notes and those confusing visions she has, are acutally snippets from the future, and it turns out, some people might want to kindnap her because of it.

Foliè

My newest baby. This is the first story I planned out the numbers of chapters (let's see how well that will go). It's set in a world where the air has been polluted by something the humans call "The Madness". It's a gas that slowly makes you lose the grip on reality. Once you inhale it, there's no turning back. You'll hear a womans voice, whispering to you your deepest, darkest wishes. She will not stop until you act upon it. Some scientists succeeded in building a machine that filters the air, but since it's still in its early stage, it needs a lot of maintrnance, that's where the main character comes in. They are in charge of checking every crook of the machine, which goes well until, one day, they start hearing the womans voice.

That was a wild ride! Again, thank you so so so much for asking and I hope you have a wonderful evening/day!!!

[mrssimply]

16th: Silence

There are many drawings of catboy!Johnny on twitter, and no I think it's very fitting because Johnny is totally a stray cat. It's a metaphor I've used many times before, so maybe it was time I embraced it fully. On my list of ideas, this one was supposed to be... so much more than that. But every time I thought about writing yet another silverdyne long fic, I would lose steam 'cause I think the last one, To the Day I die, was like a purge and I couldn't find energy to write another one.

But it was still in my head still demanding to be known so here it is, just a glimpse of what I had in mind.

Oh, and despite being about cat!persons, there is no concept of heat (not at this moment in the story I had in mind), and it's neither funny nor sexy because well... I love complicated things ;) It's T-rated.

You can find the prompt list here.

Every fic will be posted on my AO3 Account here.

There is someone slumped against Milt’s door. Kerry thinks it’s a man, maybe a few years older than him. He’s pale, and way too thin, like he hasn’t had a good meal in ages. His skin is covered in bruises, some old, some new, and Kerry recognizes the kind: he’s been beaten up. He is naked except for a pair of ratty jeans, and Kerry would bet he lost the rest of his clothes in the fights that got him those many bruises. There is blood at the corner of his mouth, and tickling out of his right ear. Kerry is fascinated by the ear, because it’s not a human ear, it’s a cat ear. Covered in fur black as the stranger’s hair, Kerry would have missed it, if not for the blood. It twitches weakly as rain falls on it, a sluggish reflex. There are other particular features on the stranger, like his tail, limp and lifeless between his legs. The boy is sagged sideways, allowing Kerry to see where the boy’s skin slowly transforms into fur as it forms the tail. Last notable thing is his left arm: it’s a heavy piece of cyberware, military grade, crudely sewn into his flesh. The chrome flashes with the neon’s sign flickering above them that says there is a ripper’s clinic here.

Kerry lives in the building above the clinic with two of his older sisters, and the boy is literally on his way to access the back entrance, which he prefers to use. Crouching in front of the young man, Kerry extends an arm to brush the tip of the fur-covered ear. It twitches again, evading his intrusive touch. 

Biting his lower lip, Kerry makes a decision. 

Five minutes later, Kerry is back with Milt, the ripperdoc. 

“Damn”, the man whispers and it doesn’t reassure Kerry. 

“Is he gonna be alright?”

“I dunno. Help me get him inside.”

-

The boy is heavier than he looks, so it’s panting and heaving that they push him on the medbed. Diagnostics start to run as soon as Milt turns on the scanner. Kerry looks at the monitor and the cat person intermittently. 

Milt mutters about dehydration and undernourishment, about broken ribs and concussions. He straps an IV to the stranger and injects a cocktail of meds and stim to go with the fluids.

Then, the doc starts looking at the arm.

“Arasaka,” he says, more to himself than to Kerry. Hanging around his neck are dog tags, or well — cat tags, Kerry supposes.

“RJL-20.103”,” the doc reads. 

“Is that a code or something?" Kerry asks.

"Designation. Company and platoon, probably,” he explains while pointing to the two numbers separated by a dot, “and then his personal ID.”

“No name?”

“Don’t think they give them names...”

Kerry lowers his eyes. Cat people were first engineered by the army, to combine human intelligence with the agility, strength and endurance of big cats. Later, when the war was “won”, they sold the patent to interested private corps, which birthed them for commercial purposes, mostly for the pleasure business.

The boy is obviously military oriented, the tags are a clue if the arm wasn’t sufficient, and if he’s here alone, then that means he escaped.

“Deserted” would have been the term for any normal soldier, but cats are not citizens, they are property of the army, or the Corp which birthed them. They don’t get the same rights, their purpose is to live and die on the battlefield. There is an entire army corp with just cats, and they get deployed in the most dangerous zones. They are used as cannon fodder, and stay simple soldiers all their short lives since the officers' positions are given to humans.

Kerry watches as Milt tenderly moves a lock of hair away from the boy’s cheek, and remembers the doc’s son enlisted some years ago, and that Milt has had no news ever since. Kerry doesn’t remember how the conversation went, but he knows Milt and his son, Cody, parted in anger. People that enlist nowaday are guaranteed a good position, the field work is mostly done by cat people, so ambitious young folk try their chance at war, thinking themselves safe from harm in command tents. The doc was opposed to his son enlisting, but Cody felt the army would give him better, and easier prospects than staying here to learn his father’s practice.

Milt sighs, says they now have to wait and see, and goes to fetch a blanket. Kerry watches over the stray. He is filthy, but Kerry can tell he would be real pretty usually. They almost always are, with genes handpicked for their purpose. That one got long dark lashes, the echoes of a smirk on his thin lips, and the beginning of a beard. He can’t be over twenty.

Kerry brushes his fingers behind the cat’s ear, stroking the soft fur, fascinated by the creature resting on the bed.

-

Kerry fell asleep on the couch, lured by the warmth and the regular beeps of the medical equipment of the clinic. He came back after dinner to see if their rescue was awake, but was informed by Milt there had been no change. He practiced on his guitar for a while, and then the tiredness of the day caught up with him. Since he turned eighteen, his sisters have asked Kerry to help them with the rent, saying he’s now a man and has to do his share: he can’t lay around all day just playing guitar, since that doesn’t pay for food. Yet. Kerry has big dreams.

Dreams that are violently interrupted by an aborted shout, followed by a growl. He opens his eyes in time to see the catboy jump/fall from the med bed, tearing up at the tube Milt linked into him and kicking the equipment around in his wild thrashing.

“Hey, wow, calm down!” Kerry speaks while getting up. Intense dark eyes zero on him before the young catboy crouches, ears flattening on his skull. He stills, body brimming with tension except for his tail which is swishing slowly behind him. Kerry raises his hands in the air.

“It’s ok, you’re safe here. You’re in a ripperdoc clinic.”

The catboy’s head wipes around, maybe searching for the doc, or just finally realizing where he is. It doesn’t relax him in the slightest, but he looks less ready to jump at Kerry.

Milt appears in the doorframe, probably alerted by the ruckus. When the stray sees him, he finally relaxes and rises slowly to his feet. His ears perk up, although one stays bent toward Kerry, as if keeping him in check while his attention is focused on the doc.

“You’re awake, good.”

Milt comes forward, outwardly relaxed. The catboy follows him with his eyes.

“I can remove this,” the doc indicates, pointing to the tube and cable he linked to his patient for diagnosis. 

After a moment of hesitation, the young soldier leans against the med med and extends his arms. Milt removes the IV, and the wire connecting to the chrome arm. 

“How do you feel?” he asks, but gets no reply. 

The catboy is looking at Milt very intently and Kerry even catches him taking a sniff. He swallows, glances at Kerry and nods to himself like he’s reached a conclusion.

He hops on the bed and takes off his left boot. Kerry sees him manipulate the heel until a small compartment opens. He tips the boot and something falls into his waiting palm. Too curious, Kerry approaches and the cat’s gaze pins him for a second before deeming him as no threat. The experience is still jarring, but Kerry is no chicken so he comes closer anyway.

It’s another set of dog tags, and these ones are more classical, displaying the soldier’s last name, the initials of his name, blood type, the acronym “USMC” and a religious preference (which indicates “none”).

The catboy hands it to Milt, who looks at the tags with shock. Kerry takes a better look and feels his stomach fall, because the last name reads Nauman. The doc takes the little metal plates with trembling fingers and reads the rest of the data. His mouth parts around a silent sob, and it’s all the confirmation Kerry needs. 

Cody was about five years older than Kerry, and he dated one of his sisters for a while, so the young man remembers him fondly. He had no musical sense, but he could talk about the history of music for ages. He was one of the coolest guys Kerry ever knew and his death feels strange. Like an impossibility.

On the bed, the catboy looks sad. His head is bowed, eyes hidden from view but his ears and tail telegraph his emotion clearly. Beside the obvious grief, there is something else on the stranger's face. Regrets, anger, guilt…  A mix of all three. It distracts Kerry from his own emotions until he hears Milt’s harsh breathing.

Both young men catch the tears on the doc’s face, silently running as he continues to look at the tags, and they tense, unprepared to deal with such display of emotion. The soldier in particular looks absolutely terrified, eyes widening and panicking as he finds himself caught in the grief of a father.

“Thank you,” Milt breathes, barely hiding the sob in his voice. “Thank you for bringing me this I… How…” He stops, closes his eyes and turns away. “I’m sorry,” he mutters, before practically running out of the room.

Kerry and the catboy look at him go, helpless to help. Kerry feels tears stinging at the back of his eyes and blinks furiously. The news hasn’t really sunk yet, but it feels like a gaping hole opened inside his chest. 

He is pulled out of his grief by the stray putting his shoe back on. Kerry looks at him doing it with empty eyes, and it’s only when the young man jumps on his feet that he reacts.

“You’re going?”

The other nods warily, looking at him with suspicion.

“You can’t go yet, Milt… Milt will want to talk to you, you… What happened? How did it happen?”

The cat looks distinctly uncomfortable, his face is closed off but his ears are back to being flat against his skull and his tail is rigid between his legs. He eyes the door and tension fills his body gradually, like he is seriously thinking about bolting out.

Kerry catches his wrist tightly, making the catboy twist toward him with a snarl. Startled, the other boy released him with a gasp.

“Sorry,” he mutters as fresh tears rise to his waterline. He lowers his head to hide them, chest feeling tight, like the rejection is breaking something inside of him.

The cat sighs and fidgets before circling back to the med bed, hovering uncertainly. The strange feeling inside Kerry settles, and he looks back to where Milt disappeared. He lives upstairs with his wife, and Kerry supposes he will need time alone with her to process the news.

The two young men look at each other in awkward silence, when suddenly, the catboy’s stomach grumbles loudly. Kerry smiles faintly and turns to take his guitar back.

“We should find you something to eat, c’mon.”

He gestures for the other boy to follow, and after a moment of hesitation, he steps behind Kerry. 

-

The catboy took a tour of the flat while Kerry reheated the pasta his sister Emma made earlier. She works the night shift as a dispatcher for the trauma team’s med center, so she cooked before going to work. Kerry ate with his oldest sister Malika while the stray was still sleeping, eager to get back to watching him. The moment the leftovers are served on a plate and put in front of the stranger, he seems to forget all about his wariness and digs into the plate with abandon. It’s a bit obscene to watch, but Kerry can’t tear his eyes away; he really must have been starved. After a few bites, he slows down and Kerry can tell it’s at the price of a great effort but he seems to know that eating too fast will just make him sick. He frequently glances at his host, and during such instances, Kerry gets a better look at his eyes. They are of a rich dark brown, but the pupil is slit like one of a pet cat, and the young guitarist feels a bit like a mouse when that gaze stares at him intensely.

Kerry drinks his Nicola in silence, and can’t help but note that the catboy won’t touch his, but he drinks the tap water from the jug next to the can eagerly. In silence, Kerry observes his various bruises and wounds. Some look really gross, still an angry red, even though they can’t be that recent. Those around the arms are the most impressive: the skin there looks tender and sensitive, but not in a good way. He is also really dirty, with stripes of dry sweat visible on his torso, and he smells really bad too.

“What about a shower?” Kerry offers once the plate has been mostly cleared. The catboy tenses, looks around, seems to weigh his options before nodding with a displeased expression. Obviously, he’s not super keen on the idea, but he’s also pragmatic: he doesn’t know when the opportunity will present itself again.

-

Kerry shows him the bathroom before going to his room to fetch clothes: a sweatpant and an oversized shirt. Even if the cat is really underweight, his frame speaks of military training and his shoulders are wider than the average male of his age. When Kerry reappears in the bathroom, the other boy hasn't moved an iota, struck looking at his reflection and touching his jaw length black hair like he doesn’t recognise it. 

“Here, that should suit you. C’mon, I’ll show you how the shower works.”

He gets the water on slightly hotter than he prefers, and steps back when he thinks everything is set. Turning around, he loses what he wanted to say, looking at the catboy standing naked under the shitty light. He is fucking hung!

Kerry’s mouth opens in surprise and he can’t tear his eyes from the tableau; they really make them perfect. The stray smiles slyly when he catches him looking and his expression deepens when Kerry blushes and averts his gaze promptly. 

“Ok, I’ll leave you to it,” the host declares, passing by his guest, only to be yanked back and pushed into the shower. He stammers, winces when his head collides with the tiles, and sputters when the hot stream hits him in the face. 

When he finds his bearings enough to open his eyes and takes stock of the situation, the catboy is still holding him fast against the wall of the shower, and he growls when Kerry tries to disentangle himself.

The sound prompts a shiver to run down Kerry’s spine, and he forces himself to relax, hands going lax on his sides. They look at each other for a moment before the catboy relaxes somewhat, but he still holds Kerry firmly against the wall.

“Ok,” the young man breathes, “ok I’m staying,” he says and the other nods like he’s happy he made himself clear. Kerry doesn’t really understand what happened, but sure, he can stay here, it’s just super uncomfortable in his wet jeans. 

Meanwhile, the boy is back to looking at the door, like he expects to be attacked any minute and Kerry finally understands: he’s here to watch the stranger’s back while he is in a vulnerable position. 

“Can I just get rid of my clothes?” he asks and after a glance and a moment of hesitation, the cat steps back.

Kerry keeps his boxers on like they are a last barrier against the strangeness of the situation, and pours shampoo in his hands before slowly raising them to his guest’s hair, stopping with a questioning gaze.

Again, there is a moment of hesitation before the young ex-soldier lowers his head a fraction and Kerry starts massaging his scalp. He keeps an eye on the door for a while, but before long, Kerry sees his shoulders drop in relaxation. Huffing out a small laugh, Kerry continues his massage and even chances to rub the boy’s nape. 

It takes a small minute, but Kerry suddenly realizes there is a soft vibration under his fingers and he stills. With the shower running, he can’t hear it but he is pretty sure the boy is purring. He starts his massage again, trying to act like nothing happened, persuaded that remarking on it would make the cat stop.

Slowly, the boy raises his head and lets the water wash the shampoo away, allowing Kerry to wash the rest of his upper body. His gaze looks hazy, a far cry from the  previous tension, even if he jumps a bit everytime fingers brush against his scars. 

Shyly, Kerry stops when he reaches his guest’s waist, and the other boy seems to get out of his trance. He smirks and raises a challenging eyebrow at Kerry, who colors even more with a mix of embarrassment and anger. He accepts the challenge and wash the rest of his guest’s body with jerkier movements than before. He takes mean pleasure in grabbing his cock a bit too tight and even stroking it once under the pretense of cleaning it. The catboy’s expression is smug, even if he blink and jerks forward when Kerry gets to his cock. 

“There, all clean,” the host declares with a glare, taking the shower head to rinse him, and making sure to direct the stream right in his face. The ex-soldier sputters and growls, but Kerry can tell he’s not really angry. They get out of the shower and dry themselves in silence.

With a head movement, Kerry brings the catboy to his room.

“This is my sisters’ room. They’re not here. Emma is working and Malika is out with her boyfriend,” he explains as they pass the door in the corridor.

At the mention of Malika’s name, the boy perks up.

“Yeah,” Kerry says sadly, “she and Cody were together for a while. He told you about her?”

The catboy nods and continues looking at the door with something of a sad expression.

“You liked him?”

A shrug, but Kerry can tell they were close, maybe a bit like what Cody used to have with Kerry. The thought brings a fresh wave of grief to Kerry, who swallows thickly and continues to his room. He will deal with the emotions later, he doesn't want to right now.

-

In Kerry’s small bedroom, the two guitars he owns have a prime position. The one he had downstairs is his most recent acquisition. His sisters think he bought it thanks to doing more hours at Caliente, but in truth Kerry klepped it. His sisters understand nothing about music, so they didn’t recognise the quality of the instrument. The other one belonged to his father, also a good brand, though that one is really vintage. Both are electric, and there is an amp waiting in between. 

The cat immediately takes an interest now that he is not in survival mode, and Kerry wonders if he can play. He sits on his bed and pats the spot next to him before grabbing his father’s axe.

The boy sits gingerly next to him, still taking in the rest of the room, but his attention zeroes on Kerry when he starts playing. The first notes of Depeche Mode’s Enjoy The Silence float in the quiet of the flat, and despite the amp being set to medium, it sounds really loud. 

The boy listens intently, ears perking and tail tense as he looks at Kerry’s fingers on the guitar’s neck. 

“You know how to play?” Kerry asks, never stopping to play. 

A swish of tail, and then a tiny nod.

“You know that one?”

Both ears twitch back, like he is hesitating again. 

“Take the other one if you wanna,” Kerry offers and that seems to decide his guest. He grabs the axe and takes his time admiring the quality of the work. Kerry can tell he is impressed and he grins, recognising someone who knows his guitars.

When he starts playing, it’s obvious the cat is skilled: his technique is good, the rhythm is perfect, and he even adds some personal style to it. Kerry is mesmerized, and he’s clearly not prepared for what happens next.

The boy starts to sing.

His voice is low and rough, like he hasn’t spoken in a month or two, and it waivers as he tries to find the right pitch. It’s unequal, and the process looks painful but he plows through it and it’s the most beautiful thing Kerry has ever heard.

As the chorus nears, Kerry snaps out of it and starts playing again, even joining him in the singing. When they finish the song, they both linger on the last notes and Kerry can’t help but grin.

“You can speak.”

The catboy smiles smugly and winks.

“I’m Kerry,” the host says, realizing they never exchanged names.

“I know. Cody said you were like a little brother to him.”

Kerry looks down and bites his lip.

“Yeah, he really was the big brother I never had.”

His voice is rough again, sorrow making the words difficult to get out. The cat shifts on the bed, uncomfortable. When Kerry glances at him, he seems lost in thought, sorrow threatening to take him under, too.

“He was my captain. Only decent officer ‘round. He really cared about us.”

His voice is but a whisper, and when he finishes, his tail swish back and forth nervously, like he’s said too much.

“Do you have a name?” Kerry asks next, trying to bury the sadness.

The boy shrugs.

“RJL, that’s how they referred to me. But Cody called me Johnny.”

“Johnny,” Kerry repeats and the other young man stares at him intensely, a small smile lifting his mouth. The host’s expression rises to match, and the smiles transform into grins, reflecting the elation they both feel for reasons they can’t yet explain.

The moment is interrupted by the doorbell chiming. It’s Milt, asking to speak to Johnny. Taking a deep breath, the catboy accepts, ears low and tail curled around his leg. Two hours later, Johnny climbs the fire escape to knock on Kerry’s window, tells him Milt wants him to stay with him for now, until they can make him papers by taking advantage of Night City liberal regulations about cat persons. For lack of a better option, Johnny said yes, he would stay, but just for a while. 

-

Kerry was already in bed, tossing and turning, so he scoots back to give some space to his new friend, and ignores his heart when it races as the other boy lies down next to him. They talk until the wee hours of morning, avoiding the painful subjects and concentrating on music, until Johnny falls asleep under Kerry’s attentive gaze.

In hindsight, Kerry will know this is the moment he fell in love. But right now, he knows nothing about the pain and trials they’re gonna face, together and alone. He knows nothing about what Johnny will accomplish for cat people and the world, and how extreme he will get to achieve his goals. He knows nothing about the depth of the emotions he will experience for Johnny, and the destructive devotion he will endure for him. He knows nothing about how the intensity of his love will be matched, though nearly never acknowledged by his friend. He knows nothing about how dark some days will get, but that in the end, it will be worth it. For now, Kerry just watches Johnny sleep, watches his ears twitch as he dreams, his tail curled around his friend’s waist possessively.

Wows are spoken To be broken Feelings are intense Words are trivial Pleasures remain So does the pain Words are meaningless And forgettable 

All I ever wanted All I ever needed Is here in my arms Words are very  Unnecessary They can only do harm

[skamenglishsubs]

Subtext and Culture, Young Royals, Season 1, Episode 2

Episode 2 picks up the morning day after the initiation party, the girls are having breakfast lunch at their dorm, the boys at theirs, and everyone wants the juicy details about what happened at the party...

Culture: Tell me more, tell me more, did you get very far? Although, it's pretty funny how the roles are reversed, Maddie is all "meh" about it, while Nils tells a different story. Then again, since when do you get together after a blowjob?

Culture: I actually have no idea why Simon is having breakfast at Skogsbacken, since regular schools only cover lunch for students, everyone eats breakfast at home, and then goes to school. Then again, it allows a scene where (Never mind, they're having lunch, thanks @kamand !) Blink and you miss it: Wilhelm casts some nervous glances at Simon after having been called out for disappearing at the party and almost forced to confess to making out with someone.

Culture: I know Felice is trying to put August down, but don't knock a proper Swedish pizza! As much as I like living in the US, they can't fucking make pizzas here, and the first thing I eat every time I go back to Sweden is always a real pizza. With pineapple and shrimp as God intended pizza to be made!

Culture: August is namedropping ski resorts in the Alps, which is where you go skiing in Europe if you have money, although Saint-Martin-de-Belleville is actually near Val Thorens in France, while Verbier is in Switzerland. It does have a three-star restaurant, though. Sweden and Norway have a couple of decent ski resorts, but the Scandinavian mountain chain is simply not as impressive as the Alps.

Subtext: Remember Wilhelm getting up and hurrying to math class in the beginning of the scene? It was so he could grab the other seat next to Simon, because he knows Simon is gonna sit next to Sara, since no-one else does.

Culture: Formally greeting your teacher before class is very uncommon in Sweden, but since Hillerska is all about discipline and tradition, of course they do it. Note that they're again using the formal Swedish title for male teachers, Magister, which in a regular school would be kind of a joke, since teachers and students are on a first-name basis with each other.

Subtext: Wilhelm is exposing how the world works if you have money. At Simon's old school, studying alone would result in good grades, but Hillerska is slightly corrupt and almost expects the students to essentially pay for getting a good grade.

Subtext: Simon is lying to his teacher, he absolutely hasn't talked to his parents about paying for private lessons.

Subtext: No, Sara absolutely does care about what other people think about her, and when she directly tells Felice that she would actually like some friends, that's when Felice gets it and starts making an effort to become real friends with her.

Culture: They're all bilingual at Simon's home, they're all speaking Spanish and Swedish, although Linda has a very noticeable accent to her Swedish. Based on demographics and statistics, the most likely scenario is that Linda immigrated to Sweden from Chile, met Micke, and started a family. In real life, Omar Rudberg was born in Venezuela and grew up in Sweden, while Carmen Gloria Pérez was born in New York, and grew up in Puerto Rico.

Subtext: Remember how I talked in the intro post about how distant social classes know nothing of each other? Ayub and Rosh are either working class or lower middle class like Simon, and since rowing is a typical upper class sport, they know nothing of it, they don't even think of it as a real sport. Unlike football, which is a proper working class sport, they know all about that!

Subtext: Scandinavia has Jantelagen, and everyone there thinks it's uniquely Scandinavian, but all countries have some form of Tall Poppy Syndrome. In this scene, Simon is starting to make a class journey, he started rowing, he started trying to fit in with the other upper-class kids, and getting into a relationship with someone as upper-class as Wilhelm would definitely move him all the way. But going on a journey means leaving things behind, which is why Rosh and Ayub are cutting him down and literally turning their backs on him. They like it in the small town of Bjärstad, why can't he be happy there too? Why is he betraying his roots?

Subtext: This comment from August nicely foreshadows a later episode when August does something traceable on a School computer...

Subtext: What August means is that he's not sure Wilhelm has the same desire to be accultured into the upper class, to play the part of a proper prince, in the same way that he and Erik have accepted their roles and are even enjoying them.

Culture: Although it's impossible to read the name of the medicine, the paper tag on the bottle indicates that it's some kind of prescription medicine. From the conversation with Vincent, we learn that it's some kind of ADHD medication, probably some kind of Dextroamphetamine since those improve athletic ability and cognitive functions in healthy people.

Culture: Birkenstock sandals are associated with hippies in Sweden as well as in many parts of the world, so August is actually saying that the school counselor isn't really part of the same upper-class society as the rest of the staff. And again, his use of the word sosse drives the point home.

Subtext: Consequently, the counselor sees right through August and refuses to immediately prescribe him the medication that he wants...

Subtext: ...even though August tries to both bribe him and threaten him into giving him the medication he wants.

Subtext: A big theme of this episode is class journeys, and in this scene and a previous exercise scene, August gushes about how good a thing that is, how proud he is of Simon for going on one, and spouts some crap about how everyone can make it if they really want to.

Subtext: Thankfully, Madison says what we're all thinking: August is full of shit, life isn't fair, and they're only at the school because they were born into privilege.

Blink and you miss it: After Wilhelm has nervously texted his crush for the first time, he starts to bite his fingernails, but quickly stops himself, because why would he be nervous? He's just texting another boy about rowing practice, there's nothing more to it!

Subtext: Simon's texting game is on point though, he knows exactly what he should write to get Wilhelm to go on a totally-not-a-date with him.

Subtext: In the same way that August couldn't convince the counselor about being sick, I don't think Wilhelm's atrocious acting here convinces August that he's sick either.

Culture: Public transport in the greater Stockholm area - or wherever we're supposed to be - is of course cash-less, and you pay by either charging a special card, or by signing up in their app and buying tickets through there. The point of this scene though is to drive home how Wilhelm has never ever had to take the bus before in his life, and therefore has no idea how it works.

Culture: The totally-not-a-date starts at a Circle K, which in Sweden is just another gas station, but it is actually a Canadian multi-national convenience store corporation. The price of gas is of course posted in kr/l, and 13.98kr/l corresponds to roughly $6/gal.

Subtext: Throughout the totally-not-a-date, Wilhelm is trying to reach for common ground with Simon, trying to show him how he's just a regular guy...

Subtext: ...but then real life intrudes, Wilhelm is recognized by some local girls, who call out to him and run away giggling, which shows how he's not a regular guy, he's going to get recognized wherever he goes.

Culture: Kokt eller grillat, boiled or grilled, are the two ways you can get your hot-dog at pretty much any hot-dog place in Sweden, and ketchup and mustard is always offered. The correct answer to this question is of course grilled, with ketchup and mustard, and this just shows that Wilhelm is a man of culture and good taste. Unfortunately, they were out grilled ones, so they all got boring soggy boiled hot-dogs instead. Is there a metaphor here? I don't know.

Subtext: Again, the show drives home the point that absolutely no-one has a problem with people being gay. Simon is clearly out to Ayub and the rest of his friends, and Ayub immediately picks up on the fact that this is totally a date.

Blink and you miss it: Ayub nudges Simon with his elbow to tell him that he should make a move on Wilhelm.

Culture: What we're looking at is just the local junior/high school football team, Bjärstad, playing a match against some other unnamed junior football team. Since the stakes are super low, the audience basically consists of whichever parents and friends of the players that could be bothered showing up.

Culture: Driving age is 18 in Sweden, and even then getting your own car at that age is extremely uncommon. However, you can easily get a license for a moped when you turn 15, so these are the vehicles of choice for teenagers to get around.

Subtext: August found out about Wilhelm's trip to town, but his main problem with it is that he wants Wilhelm to stop slumming it with lower class people, and to start hanging out with everyone at school instead, so that he can be properly accultured into the upper class. Again, sosse in this context means working class, not socialist.

Subtext: Although Simon felt really great about his first date with Wilhelm, the text message reminds him that Wilhelm isn't a regular person, and that even this innocent little trip generates interest and scrutiny, and can't be posted publicly.

Culture: As everyone should have noticed by now, Madison keeps speaking English, while everyone speaks to her in Swedish, so clearly she understands it. But here she gives her motivation for sticking to English, and that is that she doesn't feel she's good enough at speaking Swedish. Boarding schools like Hillerska attracts international students that have some kind of connection to the country, so a likely scenario is that Madison grew up in the US with a Swedish parent, and she's being sent here to experience Swedish culture and get immersed in the language to learn it better.

Cinematography: This shot of August drives really home all the pressure he is under, he's out of drugs, the headmistress just hinted that he's out of money, and he's literally being weighed down by books and work-out weights.

Subtext: Simon has kept his visits to Micke a secret from Sara, so here he has to intervene to make sure August doesn't accidentally reveal this to her. He also wants to protect his sister, so he's redirecting August's search for drugs onto himself.

Subtext: And on the flipside, Simon isn't really telling his dad that Sara still hates him and really doesn't want to see him, so he's vague when Micke asks about Sara and Linda.

Culture: Finally a bottle of medicine where we can read the label! Unfortunately for Simon, this is Tramadol, an opiate prescribed for pain relief, which is the complete opposite of the kind of drugs August wants.

Subtext: If you haven't figured out yet that this episode is about class journeys, August spells it out for us here. However, the reason he's "congratulating" Simon in front of everybody is because Simon just supplied him with more drugs, so this is his way of thanking him, since he can't really pay him.

Blink and you miss it: For a split second, Wilhelm grabs Simon's leg during the scary scene.

Subtext: The entire dialogue of the movie works as subtext for what's actually going on between Wilhelm and Simon at this point, and Wilhelm is getting a little freaked out by this sneaky display of affection.

Subtext: The movie also puts words on the implications of Wilhelm getting together with a boy, what about having kids in the future? Can you carry on your family name and traditions, or will they die with you?

Lost in translation: The plaque actually says "FEEL YOUR RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE HERITAGE". Even though the plaque means the heritage and legacy of the school itself, Wilhelm is thinking about his legacy, his heritage, and how getting together with Simon would threaten that.

Lost in translation: Wilhelm actually says "jag är inte en..." - "I'm not a..." before he stops himself. So it's not possible that he was trying to say "I'm not gay", because that doesn't work grammatically in Swedish either. He could be trying to say "I'm not a guy like that" or "I'm not a guy who likes guys", that would work.

Cinematography: The framing and silhouetting of this shot is just chef's kiss. The outline of their hair allows us to see who is who, and we can see from their poses that Simon is welcoming a kiss, while Wilhelm is still hesitating.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 291: The Endeavor Pamphlet

Previously on BnHA: Dabi showed up atop Gigantomachia’s back and was all “you’ll never guess who I really am!” and the readers humored him and were all “who?” and he was all “TODOROKI TOUYA” and we were all “WOW └(・。・)┘ OH MY GOSH I WOULD NEVER HAVE GUESSED”, except for Shouto and Enji who were GENUINELY SHOCKED. Anyway so Touya was all “and guess what I’m doing right now!” and before anyone could even try, he was all, “STREAMING MY EMMY-NOMINATED MINISERIES ‘HELLO, I’M EVIL BUT ALSO TRAGIC AND SEXY, NOW LET ME TELL YOU ALL ABOUT MY DAD WHO SUCKS’’, THAT’S WHAT.” And everyone was all “oh my god” and Touya was all “ヽ(⌐■_■)ノ♪” for basically the rest of the chapter, and that’s pretty much it! Oh, wait, except for the part where he also doused himself in bleach in a fit of pure theatrics, which is actually pretty much the main takeaway from the entire chapter really because it was just wild af. ANYWAYS.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi introduces Baby Touya, the world’s most enchantingly sweet character, and is immediately all, “I sure can’t wait to tell you guys all about how his fucking jaw burnt off.” Thankfully he doesn’t (YET), and we cut back to the present pretty quickly, where Dabi explains how he took all of his brain cells that should have been used to stop him from pouring bleach over his head, and instead put them all toward his big brain plot of releasing an elaborate video detailing Endeavor’s various abuses and crimes, and even throwing Hawks under the bus as well because WHY NOT. He then leaps off of Gigantomachia’s back (like I said, no brain cells) all set to blast them with a Prominence Burn, only to be stopped by none other than THE LEGEND HIMSELF, MOTHERFUCKING BEST, PRETTIEST, NICEST, MOST OUTSTANDING MOTHERFUCKING JEANIST. Who’s no doubt outraged by the crime against hair he witnessed only moments earlier. GO GETTIM JEANY BOI.

so I haven’t had time to answer any of them because this has been the stupidest week, but I just wanted to tell you guys that I received no fewer than nine asks about Dabi’s hair. which, in a week filled with election memes and tumblr’s most cursed fandom briefly rising back up from the dead, is a pretty impressive feat for him if you ask me. like, I know I was making fun of it basically nonstop, but it sure did generate a lot of discussion so maybe I should rethink my opinions on Dabi’s PR strategies now, idk

anyway. it’s Saturday. time to catch up on this shit. let’s see how fucked the Todorokis are

OH NO HE’S CUTE

HOLY SHIT THIS IS TOO MUCH TO FUCKING PROCESS. I’M JUST TRYING TO ENJOY MY DAY HORIKOSHI, ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO TRAUMATIZE THIS POOR CHILD RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY SALAD

“thanks for being all right” the fuck

who allowed this child to be so cute. I’m serious. who signed off on this

how could a child this adorable possibly want to murder his equally adorable baby brother. please, your honor. there must be some mistake here

guess how prepared I am to read all about Touya’s tragic past. mm. that’s right. zero ready. none ready

anyway. TWO THOUSAND DEGREES LOLOLOL. NO TRACE OF A CORPSE HOW CONVENIENT. A PIECE OF HIS LOWER JAW BONE FFFFMSGHKLSh. LOVELY. LOVELY

LMAOOOOO

listen you guys. I just want to take a moment to appreciate that Horikoshi Kouhei did one of two things here. either (1) he planned it out FROM THE VERY START that Touya would be born with red hair Because Fire Powers, but would then have his hair turn white due to trauma, thus making the Dabi/Touya connection very slightly less obvious, although Let’s Be Real Who Are We Kidding. OR, (2) the anime got it wrong and gave him red hair, and rather than allowing this plot hole to continue to exist, Horikoshi took it upon himself to concoct this elaborate storyline and pretend it was never a plot hole at all! in which case I sure hope someone at Bones is sending him a VERY nice Christmas card this year. got this man sweeping up all your messes for you. you’re just lucky he has some sort of wild compulsion to address these things

anyways!!

FATHER AND SON. how sweet. :| still zero percent ready for any of this btw

STOP BEING CUTE

THIS IS RIDICULOUS. I’M SO MAD RIGHT NOW. HE IS THE SINGLE CUTEST CHARACTER IN THE ENTIRE SERIES, and do you even know how many other baby characters I’m betraying in order to say that?! baby Kacchan, baby Deku, baby Ochako, baby Shouto, Eri, baby Hawks. I’M LOOKING YOU DEAD IN THE EYE RIGHT NOW AND TELLING YOU THAT BABY TOUYA IS CUTER THAN ALL OF THOSE PLEBS. AND YOU’RE LOOKING BACK AT ME RIGHT NOW ALL “YEAH IT SURE IS A PITY ABOUT HIS JAW MELTING OFF THOUGH.” THAT’S IT, I QUIT THE SERIES

and Enji’s smiling at him. he’s so proud of him. but then Touya won’t be able to do it, and Enji’s gonna stop training him, and Touya’s gonna feel like a failure and keep pushing himself in order to try and win his dad’s affections back, because that’s all kids fucking want, all they want is just love, that’s fucking it, you couldn’t just give him that?? and then he’s gonna immolate himself fflkdlskfh THERE YOU SEE HORIKOSHI, I KNOW THE WHOLE STORY ALREADY, YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THE WHOLE “SHOW THEM THE DEAD DOG” THING YET AGAIN YOU PIECE OF SHIT

OH SNAP THERE GOES THE TWIN THEORY. R.I.P.

BABY FUYUMI. PRETTY CUTE. NOT AS CUTE AS TOUYA THOUGH. HEY LOOK, NO REASON TO GET MAD AT ME I’M JUST STATING A FACT HERE

YEAH THIS IS GONNA GO REAL WELL OH BOY

I keep pressing the emergency stop button but this industrial tragedy machine just keeps on chugging along anyway, I’m pretty sure this thing is not up to code

:| I am so sorry sweet boy, Horikoshi is only getting started with you

FUCKING HELL WITH THIS NARRATION

but he wasn’t actually a child to you, he was just a little puppet child for you to live vicariously through!! and then you went and did the same fucking thing with Shouto afterwards and never learned your lesson until just six months ago!! fucking hell, Enji

so now he’s all “Touya is dead, that’s an unforgivable lie” fflkdhflk motherfucker does he look dead to you. if you really think that, tumblr and twitter have got a little over five years’ worth of archived theory posts to show you

oh shit Touya’s countering with “it’s an unforgivable truth”, which, damn. I actually think Horikoshi’s dialogue is one of his weaker points as a writer a lot of the time, but that comeback was snappy as fuck

actually guys, now that I’ve seen how ridiculously fucking cute baby!Touya was, I can almost understand why Shouto and Enji never put the pieces together before lol. any passing similarities would have easily been dismissed on account of he’d need to be at least 10x more adorable in order to get the full resemblance

OH MY GOD

NOW YOU SLEEP??? SO YOU POINT BLANK REFUSED TO PASS OUT WHILE YOU WERE BUSY MAIMING ALL OF MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS, BUT NOW THAT THERE’S AN OPPORTUNITY TO SEE YOUR REACTION TO THE “YOUR LIEUTENANT WAS SECRETLY RELATED TO ONE OF YOUR WORST ENEMIES THE WHOLE TIME” BOMBSHELL, YOU FINALLY DECIDE TO GET YOUR FORTY WINKS. I SEE

WOW DABI

I’M SURPRISED YOU DIDN’T ALREADY HAVE YOUR ANCESTRY.COM RESULTS PRINTOUT READY TO FOLD INTO A PAPER AIRPLANE AND ZOOM ON DOWN TO HIM

LOL NEVERMIND

gotta say, so far The Endeavor Pamphlet is just about as spicy as I could have hoped

(ETA: Natsuo’s face as he watches his beloved dead brother come back to life only to literally and metaphorically set everything on fire in one fell swoop is :/. why must you do this to me Natsu. can’t you see I’m trying to throw a Welcome Back Jeanist party here.)

HAVE YOU READ THIS?! TODOROKI ENJI ABUSED HIS OWN HEIR, AND DABI WROTE IT DOWN RIGHT THERE

WELL HE’S NEVER GON’ BE NUMBER ONE NOW / NEVER GON’ BE NUMBER ONE NOW / THAT’S ONE LESS THING TO WORRY ABOUT / THAT’S ONE LESS THING TO WORRY ABOUT

btw I neglected to mention this last week, but yes I do recognize and appreciate that this is Can’t Ya See-kun himself whom Horikoshi has chosen to be the face of this existential crisis which the general public is about to experience. rip CYS-kun

OOF

excuse me. putting aside the implications of Dabi sharing this context-less murder video of Hawks with the entire world for a moment, I just have to pause for a sec here, because when exactly did he get a chance to edit this all in?? complete with voiceover that seamlessly ties in with the prerecorded footage of him with DNA test results sans shirt?? you’re telling me this motherfucker, with all the smoke that was in the room thanks to his own quirk, somehow got a PERFECT SHOT of the PRECISE MOMENT when Hawks drove his feather knife into Jin’s back, using his MAGIC CAMERA THAT HE I GUESS HAD THE ENTIRE TIME IN THE POUCH RIGHT NEXT TO HIS BLEACH BOTTLE, and then immediately somehow got this very next shot as well FROM AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT ANGLE

ALL THE WHILE IMMEDIATELY RUNNING THROUGH SCRIPT REVISIONS IN HIS HEAD, WHICH HE THEN PROCEEDED TO RECORD... WHERE, EXACTLY?? WITH SKEPTIC, WHILST RIDING ON MACHIA’S BACK??

AND THIS IS ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF???

and this after I just wrote that whole long paragraph positively GLOWING about this man’s ability to plug up a plot hole. jfc. just scratch out every damn word I said lol. just forget all of it

are you fucking kidding me, the footage was from the cameras Skeptic planted on Hawks??

that’s... actually... okay you know what, it still doesn’t make any sense in the slightest, but the determination to address it nonetheless... just, dammit... I feel like I’m constantly at war with myself over whether or not I want to shake this man’s hand or slap him lmao. whatever, then!!

anyway, since Shouto and Enji can’t actually see the damage that Touya is dealing to the hero industry even as they speak, Touya is taking it upon himself to give them the highlights

I think it’s a testament to how much Endeavor cares about Hawks that he managed to zero in on that comment even amidst all the craziness of his eldest son returning from the dead to announce how he’s been carefully plotting their destruction for years and years. like, he heard “Hawks” and his face immediately went like that. you think he’s worried that Dabi did something to him? because he’d be right to worry lol

so the Endeavor Pamphlet narration is now explaining all about how Hawks totally killed the Number 3 Hero Best Jeanist as well! yep... he sure did... totally...

OH MY GOD WE’RE CUTTING TO HIM AHHHHH

Hawks, that is. lol. not Jeanist. NO, JUST MY POOR HALF-DEAD WINGLESS BABY SON

NOOOOO HIS LITTLE WING STUMPS. BUT SOMEHOW HIS FACIAL HAIR IS STILL INTACT. OH TO BE AN ANIME PRETTY BOY BEING SET ON FIRE. “HEY, TAKE IT EASY, WATCH THE FACE”

EXCUSE ME WHAT

interesting! we suspected as much, I think, with the clues that Ending dropped, and the little flashback right after the name reveal. still not clear how Dabi found out about it though!

looooool okay here we go, breaking out the heavy-handed holier-than-thou shit now

you know, I do find it interesting how trying to model themselves after All Might’s noble Symbol of Peace image has kind of ended up being the heroes’ undoing here. like, I could write a whole essay on this, but what it basically boils down to is that they were all trying too hard to be perfect. All Might went out there and did his thing and was amazing, and so the powers-that-be built an entire system centered around this seemingly-infallible person, and they acted like the system was infallible as well. and so most of the population ended up becoming complacent over the years, and meanwhile the people who were unfortunate enough to fall through the cracks understandably wound up disillusioned and perceiving the heroes as these false idols

anyway, but I think one positive takeaway from this is that the new up-and-coming generation of heroes represent a breakaway from that system. like, imo what we’re witnessing is the downfall of the Perfect Hero, and the rise of the imperfect hero. and this new generation doesn’t shy away from their failures or pretend like they never happened. they pretty much can’t pretend, because their failures are all right out there in the open for everyone to see. Bakugou Katsuki, just to name one example off the top of my very biased head, has had his own personal character journey basically play out right in front of the media’s eyes. his humiliation at the sports festival, his kidnapping by the League, and all of the fallout afterward. this isn’t someone who can ever go out there and convince the world that he’s perfect. but what he can do, instead, is show the world that he’s trying. that he’s trying with everything he has to do his best, to be the best. rather than this untouchable godlike image, it’s instead the image of someone painfully human who is nonetheless striving with everything he’s got to keep moving forward, flaws and all, and work his way to the top

and ultimately I think that’s going to be a much more positive image to send out to the world when all’s said and done. because rather than merely inspiring awe, heroes like that inspire people to take action themselves. or at least that’s what I hope! and not just Bakugou, but the others as well. we’ve got Shouto, whose own personal trauma is being aired in front of the whole nation even as I sit here ranting. we’ve got Deku, who cries at the drop of a hat, and who fought to become a hero despite being quirkless (and I think it’s only a matter of time before that eventually becomes public knowledge as well). tl;dr because I’m getting way too long-winded here, but these kids have effectively been humanized in a way that the old generation never was, and I think that’ll go a long way towards building trust between them and the people they’ll someday be protecting, and inspiring the next generation in hopefully a much healthier way

anyway so where were we. ...oh yes, Dabi was explaining that heroes only protect themselves, and is presumably building up to his grand conclusion of “therefore you should all just let the villains take over and burn down the world”

omfg. YOU GUYS

DOES CAN’T YA SEE-KUN’S SHARK FRIEND ACTUALLY CALL HIM “CAN’T YA SEE-KUN.” HE HAS A NAME YOU KNOW!! UNLESS HE LEGALLY GOT HIS NAME CHANGED TO CAN’T YA SEE-KUN. OH MY GOD

ALSO, IS THAT CAN’T YA SEE-KUN CRYING IN THE BOTTOM RIGHT THERE OMG. GIVE THIS CHILD A HUG. EVERYONE STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING RIGHT NOW AND HUG HIM

BAKUGOU IS BARELY HANGING ON THERE LOL. GOTTA STAY CONSCIOUS... SO MUCH TEA BEING SPILLED... FOCUS... CONCENTRATE

IIDA’S ANGLING HIS HEAD IN A WEIRD WAY, LIKE DUDE. LOOKING SUSPICIOUSLY SNUGGLY THERE. MMM THESE IIDABAKU CRUMBS

HADOU IS ALL “WHAT EVEN IS ACTUALLY GOING ON” LMAO

LASTLY, POOR SHOUTO OMFG. WHEN YOU’RE ALL FINISHED HUGGING CYS-KUN THIS CHILD NEEDS YOUR ATTENTION!!

so now Dabi’s leaping off of this ninety-foot-tall gargoyle man like that’s a normal, smart thing to do. unless he can fly too now? saw his dad doing it back at Fukuoka and was all “hmm”

OH MY GOD SOMEONE TELL ME RIGHT NOW WHAT WORD SHOUTO IS USING TO ADDRESS ENJI, THESE TRANSLATIONS LOVE TO MESS WITH MY HEAD

ENJI GET MOVING DO YOU NOT SEE THOSE TEARS!!! SNAP OUT OF IT YOU BIG TREE

AHHHHH

OH KACCHAN YOU WOKE UP A LITTLE MORE THERE, HUH

lol he and Deku both look so determined but they’re basically sitting ducks. their “oh shit” faces do look remarkably like their “TIME TO SWING INTO ACTION” faces but don’t be fooled, they have one good arm and about six pints of blood left between the two of them. looks like this one’s all on you Shouto

-- AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH --

BAH GOD... WHAT’S GOING ON HERE... THAT’S BEST JEANIST’S MUSIC

y’all. can’t even talk right now, my brain has completely shut down lol. just. ...

  °˖✧◝(￣▿￣)◜✧˖°

[ourskiesaboveus]

it’s the my boy !!

here is another attempt at… some kind of propaganda @doomed-bythe-narrative

vote for mike walters :) come on he already lost one election to a dog, let him at least proceed past round one of an internet poll to soothe his ego

here be spoilers... to some extent? you will be spoiled

he is a silly goofy murderer who never fails to have a very loud crisis before, during, and after a kill. he is a loving boyfriend/husband who is extremely mushy about his boyfriend/husband 24/7, except for when that partner is dead because oh! his partner is actually doomed to die on this one specific date 8 years from now and despite everyone’s best efforts, nothing can be done? and that death is used as a catalyst and justification of an entire story arc, so his husband is doomed to die to… push the narrative along? say it ain’t so.

mike has also been thrown through the metaphorical woodchipper so many times that i’m sure next episode he’ll be put through a real one. i mean he already got mauled by a bear and cut his arm and hands off. i saw propaganda for his various injuries and trauma in a reblog so i'll gloss over it

also i still can’t get over the fact that there were virtually infinite amounts of him that were ALL doomed in a fashion similar to being in a prequel when you aren’t in the main story? except they are in the main story, but not really.

so they were all trapped within a compound being endlessly tortured in unethical experiments, the usual, and one escapes. only one mikey escapes, truly. you can always hold out hope and wait for others to escape, but if they hadn’t appeared within the story outside the compound, they can’t ever escape because time travel. they could and would be in the same time period as mike, himself from five years in the future, and himself from ten years in the future. the fact that they aren’t cements their fate.

in mike’s own words: “It is going to happen no matter what any of us want. We are dolls being posed by gods. Let them play with you and get their rocks off, for God’s sake. Give up on wanting to be a real boy. That was never actually an option.”

i would write another essay but i have run out of words and i have no time :(

have some A LOT OF lyrics from woe.begone songs that fit the mood instead. i have many thoughts about them and how they relate to dooming but you will simply have to commune with the universe in order to get the thoughts my apologies i am about to pass out

“there will be nothing to sacrifice / the light’s already left from both our eyes”

“i must be the loser in some ancient war / every newest struggle i’ve never seen before / there must be someone pulling strings that wants to settle scores / i must be the loser in some ancient war”

“shackled to the future and what it has in store”

“i was marked for removal / before i first set foot through your door”

“i have been to the future / and I don't wanna scare you / but not only were you not there / they never even knew you / they didn't know me either”

“i heard there's a rainstorm coming / i heard they won't try to save me / i heard you've been wondering where I've been / and i heard giving up is enough”

“i don’t have to check the door / to know the other side is burning / who else could that be for?”

“they printed all of the good news / but I can't break it to you / because not only are the words smudged / they never could include you / they can't include me either”

“what if we were both lost and I was never found / and you were / tasked with breaking news and letting down?”

“hoarfrost in the water / surely some must die / freezing over overnight”

“how are you so sure / that i haven't already started decomposing? / how are you so sure?”

“i will try to be kind / if the soil will let me”

“and where i find / i’ve wasted my time, i wonder / if that is dying too”

“there will be no one to witness this / a circumstance where you do not exist”

“merciful, i will / grab you in my jaws to hold you / i will grab you in my jaws to hold you / but blood seeps through my jaws when I hold you”

“if i were a wise and ancient beast / could i lay claim to anything / or be a menace to be slain?”

no i didn’t just re-listen to i have been to the future and have emotions what are you talking about

Doomed by the Narrative: Side B - Round 1

[mahalshairyballs]

Moon Knight playlist

A work in progress, it will grow

Part 2

So far the songs I think fit them are :

.

Already Dead by The Pretty reckless

In the doldrums of my life

I was nice to the people that I meet

But inside there was hate

Can you relate to the feelings that I preach?

.

If you're sure I know

The way to go

I'm sure it's all in your head

I'm cold, already dead

I'm cold, already dead

.

I, I saw in the distance

a freight train out of the mist

It was heading, it was rolling right at me

.

So I started running but I lose my breath

Too many cigarettes, I smoked me to death

And I will remember I can feel it all

[...]

You died so long

So long ago

I'm alone up here on this stage

I'm cold, already dead

[...]

This one is pretty metaphorical but also weirdly literal (the Marc system is pretty good at dying after all).

And it relates to all the system. First two lines are about Steven, then next two are Marc's. Then later on we have Jake with 'too many cigarettes I smoked me to death'. Most of the song is about Marc talking to his other alters or even to himself.

.

Bad Company by Five Finger Death Punch

A company always on the run

A destiny, oh it's the rising sun

I was born, a shotgun in my hands

Behind the gun

I'll make my final stand, yeah

That's why they call me

.

Bad company

I can't deny

Bad, bad company

'Til the day I die

[...]

Rebel souls

Deserters we've been called

Chose a gun

And threw away the song

.

Now these towns

Well they all know our name

The Death Punch sound

Is our claim of fame

And that's why they call me

Bad company

[...]

This one is mostly Jake but also a bit of (mercenary) Marc or both of them as Moon Knight

.

Between the Bars by Elliot Smith

Drink up baby, stay up all night

With the things you could do

You won't but you might

The potential you'll be that you'll never see

.

The promises you'll only make

Drink up with me now

And forget all about the pressure of days

Do what I say and I'll make you okay

And drive them away

The images stuck in your head

.

People you've been before

That you don't want around anymore

That push and shove and won't bend to your will

I'll keep them still

[...]

This is definitely a Layla x Marc song for me. With the soft music and the lyrics it reminded me of my headcanon for them with soft domme!Layla x repressed bottom!Marc

.

Bird on a Wire by Sarah Blasko

Hurt like a bird on a wire

You got cursed

You got burnt

Something that no one deserves

.

Has broken your wings

You forgot how to sing

All the trouble it brings

Trouble that it brings

[...]

For the first time in your life you're coming home

You can feel the strength returning to your bones

[...]

This is another Layla x Marc song, or just Marc song but I do picture Layla saying/singing this to Marc, with 'for the first time you're coming home' talking about herself. Since after season 1, for the first time he's really there with her.

.

Birth in Reverse by St. Vincent

Oh what an ordinary day

Take out the garbage, masturbate

I'm still holding for the laugh

.

The dogs will bark, so let them bark

The birds will cry, I'll let them cry

Here's my report from the edge

[...]

You could say that I'm sane

In phenomenal lies

[...]

This one has only a few lyrics that fit to me, but I like the vibe it gives. It's mostly Marc but a bit of Steven too ?

.

See Part 1, Part 3, Part 4

[phantom-curve]

23,27, 99 for spotify wrapped ♥️

#23: please by chelsea cutler ft. jeremy zucker

this song is so soft and heartbreaking and I would make juke suffer with it but it would end with a HEA! it would be a college AU where the boys are alive but they haven't quite formed jatp yet. Julie and Luke are just friends, best friends, and everyone else knows they're in love but of course they can't see it for themselves. one night, after either a few too many drinks or maybe an exceptionally good sunset curve show or a house party or something, they have A Moment™️ and both of them realize oh shit, I'm in love. but they're both too scared to acknowledge it so instead they get awkward with each other, pulling away and miscommunication and breaking each other's hearts right alongside their own. it feels wrong, but they can't fix it until the rest of the crew locks them in a closet to figure it out (a metaphorical closet. probably actually the studio cause at least it has a bathroom). there's a heated back and forth about how weird things have been that finally culminates in one of them (probably Luke) screaming "I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU" and it stops Julie short and then this long silence stretches before Julie whispers "what?" but she doesn't sound mad, more wondrous, so Luke takes a few steps closer, until he's right in front of her, and he dips his head down so he can look right in her eyes as he softly repeats "I'm in love with you" and then they kind of fall into each other and kiss and make up and Alex and Reggie and Flynn and Willie all come running in, screaming and yelling over who won the bet and it's a big old dog pile of love on the floor of the studio that ends with Luke asking "wait, what bet?!"

#27: stay by gracie abrams

oof this would 100% be a break up fic. Luke and Julie break up and it's not pretty. it's messy and heartbreaking and each one of them suffers. their friends hate it, but they feel like it's what has to happen, they've been together for so long, they know each other too well, it's not healthy to be so codependent. but they can't quite quit each other. Julie keeps his sweater and wears it to bed at night, can't help but think of him every time she tries to put pen to paper. Luke's got her sweater too, the one she bought three sizes too big and left on his floor one day. he also tries to write her out of his system, fills an entire notebook with thoughts of her and still can't escape them. in moments of weakness they go back to each other. they meet in the studio, curl up on the couch, pretend it's like it used to be. sometimes they think about trying again, but they're different now. they don't fit in the ways they used to. they know they can't go back, can't rewrite their story, but when they wake up in the morning, limbs entangled, heartbeats synchronized, for just a moment they can forget all the ways that they're broken. for just a moment they can stay. before it all falls apart once again.

#99: twenty something by nightly

this song gives me ultimate late-night-post-house-party vibes. the boys are alive, the band (+Willie) all live together and they're slowly working their way up through the music industry as a band. they do a lot of local open mics and they live in a ridiculously giant warehouse apartment (that is really only hospitable because Willie has handy-manned his way through the entire place, hence why their rent is so cheap and why they never have to deal with noise complaints), so they throw house shows a lot. no one even realizes they live at the venue, so on social media it looks like they sell out big private spaces that no one can quite seem to find any information on other than evidence of previous shows, so it kind of becomes a bit of an LA legend to get an invite to a jatp show. they all live just on the edge of broke, but there's always food at the Molina household and they don't ever need anything more than exactly what they have. they're ridiculously happy, living in their glorified storage unit and staying up late playing music, surrounded by each other. basically a love letter to my early 20s lol

Send me a number 1-100 and I’ll say which song it corresponds with on my top 100 playlist, and what kind of fic I would write if the song name was a fic title.