#but he's also embarrassed that he's nervous about it

[mochiwonz]

— SMILEY EYES

PAIRING. fem!reader x jake sim CONTENT. strangers to lovers , fluff <3 , cursing , vv cute :3 NOTE. jake's smile is so so beautiful but what always stands out to me is the way his eyes also smile when he is really smiling > < so ofc, i had to make this !!

7:45 am. Monday. The start of another long, tiring, and boring week.

Yes, you hung out with your friends sometimes, but you spent most of your time working at the cafe. Working at the cafe has always been unpleasant, however there was one amazing benefit.

You always got to see him, that cute smiley guy with his even cuter smiley eyes.

lt may seem silly to say this, but he was the sole reason you hadn't quit yet. Your manager sucked, your co-workers did basically nothing, and you had to do most of the work.

You memorized everything that you could about this cute smiley guy. He always arrives 10am and orders an iced americano or a vanilla latte with half sweetness. He had an accent, one that you would assume was an australian accent. He also has a habit of biting his lip and tends to smile with his eyes a lot. That was something that you adored about him.

One problem though, you didn't know his name.

Whenever you ask for the name for his order, he always says "J". Like, literally just "J".

You secretly hoped that one day he would give you his name, or even his number. You definitely wouldn't complain.

Today the weather was gloomy and cold, 69 degrees. What a great start to the day!

On the way to work, you spotted a couple sitting on a bench with their dog. They were just cuddling. They looked so full of warmth on this cold day.

Finally, you arrive at the cafe. Your shift starts at around 8:30am, so you have some time to kill. But instead of doing something useful, you ended up daydreaming about all the possible scenarios with him, cute smiley guy.

The sound of bells is what wakes you up from your daydreaming and oh shit. It's already 8:32.

The first customer arrives and then the second, and then the third. You're really just waiting for him to arrive.

Luckily, you hadn't had a grumpy customer yet- thank god.

You don't know exactly why you feel so attracted to him. It's like he has this energy that literally makes you feel so much happier, especially when he smiles.

You feel your heart literally melt into mush every time you catch a glimpse of him smiling. The way his eyes also smile makes you want to sob. You've truly never seen such a beautiful and radiant smile.

9:50am, ten more minutes until he would usually be arriving. You could already feel your excitement.

He came every single day of the week, and this made getting through work so much easier for you. Of course he didn't know that but you're very very thankful.

"okay, your order will be out shortly! feel free to take a seat anywhere you'd like" you tell a customer while looking at the time.

9:58, two more minutes.

In those two minutes, you spend your time making a matcha latte for a customer and excitedly daydreaming about him.

"order 56 for ____!" you call out, and hand the drink to the customer.

You quickly drink some water and nervously wipe the sweat off of your hands.

*Ding!*

He's here.

You look over at the front door and not to your surprise, it's smiley guy. Sometimes he'd come with his friends, but today he was alone. He looked so good today, his hair was fluffy and he was wearing a navy blue hoodie with a white shirt underneath and some baggy jeans. God, you could already feel the hearts forming in your eyes.

pull yourself together.

"goodmorning! please take your time and let me know when you're ready to order" you say, trying not to sound awkward or nervous.

He nods and smiles at you in response, still looking at the menu.

No, why did he have to smile?

You felt your heart melt and your palms start to get sweaty. You were definitely going to embarrass yourself now, fuck.

"can i get an iced americano, large, with matcha cold foam on top?" he asks while looking at you, holding eye contact.

Of course, there was no way you could hold eye contact with him. You'd probably shit yourself.

So, you just nod and put his order in the tablet.

He giggles and fuck, he definitely noticed that you couldn't hold eye contact with him. You were so fucked.

"anything else for you today?" you ask while nervously smiling, still not looking up at him.

"yeah, just one more thing" he says.

"okay, what would that be?" you respond.

"your number perhaps..?"

Was the daydreaming taking a toll on you or did smiley guy just ask you for your number?

"wait- what, huh? you want my number???" you say, obviously sounding a bit confused.

"mhm!" he says while nodding and flashing you his cute smile.

You can't help but just stand there and stare at him. You might just vomit due to how confused, nervous, and overwhelmed you are right now.

This beautiful man that looked like he was a model, was asking you- an average cafe worker, for your number?

"uhm yeah of course, here-" you finally say in response while writing down your number on his receipt. "here's my number and oh, i need your name for your order?"

"the name's jake" he says while smiling, but this time with his cute smiley eyes, too.

You can't tell if you're red or glistening from your sweat, but you nod and write down his name.

"what's yours? i've just been calling you pretty girl in my head but uh, yeah, what's your name?" he asks, and yeah- you're definitely red now. he found you pretty?

"i'm y/n" you tell him shyly while grabbing his drink and handing it to him.

"okay well then y/n, i'll text you soon!" he says happily while walking away, and you're still in shock.

Maybe deciding to work at the cafe was the best decision you ever made.

pls reblog if you enjoyed :D my other works here if you want to check them out <3

© mochiwonz ― all rights reserved. do not copy, steal, or translate my work.

[seasprincess]

ok another one. im sorry this man is PLAGUING my mind helppp

teaching stiles how to kiss you. Just, fully talk him through it- where to put his hands, when to move them, other places he can kiss, not to cover up his sounds-- and then it gets a little heated, but reader has to go and stiles is left a flustered hot and bothered mess but hey! now he fully understands the joys of kissing

sorry im constantly requesting the same character hes just USHDFDJSK yknow? no? okay bye 😭

kissing practice with bf!Stiles

warnings: suggestive so mdni! mainly fluff

Stiles Stilinski has never had a girlfriend. Well not until now. But seeing as he’s not had a girlfriend before. He doesn’t know a lot of…relationship things.

“Is this fine?” Stiles says as he looks at you sitting on the bed, pulling away from the kiss.

Stiles is meters away from you, to scared to get to close and fuck this up. He doesn’t want to make you uncomfortable either, even if you were the initiated it.

“You can move closer.” You say as you look over at him. Slightly moving closer to him. He’s just so far away.

“Yeah, sure, right okay.” He says as he moves closer before looking at you. He’s so nervous it’s honestly so cute. He cares so much about making sure you’re okay that he’s forgotten to act like a human. “You sure this is okay?”

Stiles constantly checks in with you whenever anything slightly sexual happens. When you’re cuddling, kissing or even just holding hands. He stresses so much.

So much that you decide to take things into your own hands.

Literally.

You grabs Stiles hands and place them on your hips as you look at him.

“Let me help you.” You say as he looks at you with those big brown puppy eyes, waiting for this moment to happen.

“Sure, okay, cool. Coolio.” He mentally slaps himself. His mouth just speaks and embarrasses himself more and more.

But when you laugh he just breathes out a breath he didn’t know you were holding. Thank god you don’t think he’s weird. Well. Not too weird.

“Just keep kissing me like you were, you can add tongue too.” You say as his cheeks turn a rosy pink, visibly getting flustered by you. “And your hands, touch me more. Okay?”

Stiles nods quickly. Embarrassingly quickly.

You place your lips back on his as you start your practicing. He takes a few seconds before kissing you back. His hands moving over you before coming up to cup your cheek. Pulling your face closer as he takes your words in account as he gets more needy.

You move closer to him before slowly slipping your tongue into his mouth. Smiling.

But as you do a little whine comes from Stiles, his eyes widening as he pulls back to look at you.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to do tha-“

“It’s okay Stiles.” You cut him off as you smile at him. “It’s normal. Don’t need to hide it.”

“I don’t?”

You shake your head as you smile at him. Gently stroking his cheek.

Stiles can’t help but feel more safe with you, feeling less embarrassed about the noise that came out. You make him feel so safe.

“Why don’t you kiss my neck?”

Stiles perks up at this as he looks at you. Nervous about this idea but also so excited.

He nods as he leans closer to your neck before his lips attach to it. Kissing it softly as you are the one now making noises.

You decide to move and straddle his lap. Which earns some panicked expressions from Stiles as he looks at you.

“Okay. We’re doing that now.” He says as his nerves pick up.

“Is this okay?”

Stiles quickly nods as his hands land on your hips as they slowly start to rock.

And god is Stiles enjoying this, little noises falling from his mouth as he captured you in a sloppy kiss.

This moment is perfect. Your perfect. He doesn’t want this moment to end. He wants it to last fo-

Your phone dings so you have to pull away. You check your phone to see your dad’s wanting you home.

“I gotta go home.” You say as you place your hands on his cheeks.

And Stiles is disappointed by this. He pouts as you climb off him. He can’t even speak, he’s just too flustered.

He’s so worked up and flustered and you’re leaving him like this?

Now that’s got to be a form of torture.

“I’ll ring you later.” You say as you kiss him before heading to the door, having to get home quick.

“Yeah. Call you.” He says as he smiles. “Love you.”

“Love you too.”

And with that you’re gone.

And he’s still flustered. He’s going to be thinking about that kiss while he does some…activities in a moment.

a/n: not proof read and i LOVED this request!

tags- @inlovewithdob @allydiass

[aplaceinme]

For @tommygiving

Tommy parks his truck and turns the engine off. He has been smiling since he woke up this morning, knowing that he is going to spend the entire day with Evan. 

Before getting out of the car, he looks in the rearview mirror and fixes his hair. Evan likes to pull on his curls so Tommy has gotten to wear it a bit longer than he normally would. Once he is satisfied with the way he looks, he turns and just as he is about to open the door, he sees Evan exiting his building and bouncing towards him.

As always, Evan looks amazing, he is wearing a blue sweater that makes his eyes pop, and some black jeans that accentuate his big and strong thighs perfectly. He also seems to be in a hurry, since in no time at all he is opening the passenger side door. 

“Good morning, gorgeous!” Evan greets him, leaning over and giving him a way too short for Tommy’s liking kiss.  

“Good morning, love!” Tommy replies. “I was about to go up… I always go up. Are you that excited to go to the supermarket?” 

“Yeah, I’m really excited! I even have my clipboard, see?” Evan says, waving the clipboard for emphasis. 

Tommy chuckles. “I can see that. Ok then, let’s go!” 

—

“Are you sure you are ok?” Tommy asks for the second time. 

“What? Yes, I’m ok… why? Don’t I look alright?” Evan asks in a slightly hysterical way. “I’m alright!”

Tommy raises one eyebrow in disbelief. “Evan, you have been all fidgety and acting all nervous since… since you got in the truck, actually. What’s going on?” 

“Nothing, I’m fine,” Evan says, not so convincingly. 

“Evan,” Tommy sighs. “Look, you do know that I don’t care about the food or the decorations or anything like that, right? You don’t need to put too much pressure on yourself to try to host the perfect Thanksgiving… it will be perfect no matter what because we are going to be spending it together. And that’s all I want.” 

Evan’s posture relaxes minimally, his eyes go as soft as the smile tugging at his lips. “You’re right, it will be perfect because we will be together.” 

They share a sweet but short kiss, both aware that they are in the middle of a supermarket with lots of people desperately buying all kinds of stuff for Thanksgiving. 

“Should we see if we are lucky enough to find a turkey?” Tommy asks as he intertwines their fingers and starts to move across the aisle. 

“Turkey?” Evan yelps. 

Tommy stops walking and turns to look at him in surprise and confusion. “Yes? I mean… Aren’t we having turkey?” 

Evan ducks his head, rubs at the back of his neck, and starts to drag the tip of his shoes along the ground. 

“Evan?” 

“Well… I was thinking that maybe… just maybe! We could go vegan this time?” Evan asks sheepishly.

“Oh! Uhhh, yeah, sure, ok. We can do that if that’s what you want.”

“Yeah? Awesome! Thank you,” Evan says, beaming. 

If Tommy hadn’t been blinded by Evan’s beautiful smile, and by the way it made his eyes sparkle, he would have noticed that in his enthusiasm Evan had started to walk backwards, right into a display of canned cranberry sauce. As it is, Tommy is too late to fully stop him. He grabs him by the arm and tries to pull him away but by then Evan has already lost his balance and he ends up falling over the cans and pulling Tommy along. 

“Oh my god!” Evan mumbles, on the floor and covered in cranberry sauce. “Ouch.”

In the same position as him, Tommy nods, agreeing, “Yeah… ouch.” 

“Are you guys ok?” One of the supermarket workers asks them, looking down at them. 

“Peachy,” Tommy mutters.

“I’m so, so sorry! I can’t believe I did this! It was a mistake… I’m so clumsy sometimes,” Evan says apologetically while sitting down slowly. 

“It’s ok. It happens, not that often, but it happens,” Susan, as her name tag reads, says. “Are any of you hurt?”

“No, just embarrassed,” Evan replies. 

“Tomorrow… that’s when we will be feeling it,” Tommy groans, standing up and giving a hand to Evan. 

“Should we clean it up?” Evan asks hesitantly. 

“No, no, that won’t be necessary,” Susan reassures him. “The facilities are near the bakery section, by the way.” 

They thank Susan and go to the bathroom to wash a little bit of the sauce. 

“This is not going well,” Evan complains. 

“Don’t worry about it… think about it this way, it will be a funny story to tell everyone,” Tommy says, helping Evan with cleaning his lovely curls. 

“No one will know about this, Tommy. No one!” 

Tommy laughs and kisses him on the cheek. “Alright, my lips are sealed. Should we continue with the shopping?”

“Ugh, yes! We don’t really have any other choice,” Evan says, pouting. 

—

Evan starts to get fidgety again once they are back in the truck and driving to his loft. 

“Hey! We’ve got all the ingredients you need, right? It will be great, I know it,” Tommy tries to reassure him, his hand reaching over from the steering wheel and grabbing one of Evan's hands. 

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Evan gives him a barely there smile that is not fooling anybody. 

The nervousness and fidgeting get worse as they approach Evan’s door. He even takes his time opening it, doing it as slowly as possible. As soon as he opens it, though, he pulls Tommy inside and quickly closes and locks the door. 

Completely bewildered by the action, Tommy puts the groceries down. “Evan, what is go- what the hell is that?” 

There, by the loft window, is a cage. A cage with a turkey in it. A very much alive turkey. 

“It’s a turkey,” Evan replies too casually. 

“A tur- a turk… why do you have a turkey?” Tommy asks him, beyond confused. He even pinches his arm, trying to see if he is having a weird dream. Or maybe he got concussed when they fell in the supermarket. 

“So, funny story,” Evan starts. “You see, yesterday, we had a call to this place and this dude had an illegal turkey.” 

Tommy blinks once, twice, but he remains confused. “Ok? That doesn’t explain the turkey in your loft though.” 

“Right… the thing is that the dude was trying to get him to fight, sort of like cockfighting, you know? So, he is quite aggressive.”

“How aggressive?” Tommy asks, taking a step back.

He is suddenly having flashbacks of when they had responded to that call with Maurice… he shivers all over. 

“Quite a lot, unfortunately. That’s why I begged Bobby to let me take him to one of the farm sanctuaries or a center where they rehabilitate animals,” Evan tells him with a bright smile. 

Tommy doesn’t know where to start. “And Bobby just said yes?”

“Well, I had to be really convincing, say that I was afraid that Alex here would end up getting killed, and I might have also said that I was going to take him to a farm yesterday,” Evan says, blushing but shrugging his shoulders. “But I was too tired and today I already had plans with you… so I will take him tomorrow.”

“Ok, so you aren’t actually planning to keep him, then?” Tommy asks, extremely relieved, and ignoring the fact that of course already named the turkey. 

Evan opens his mouth but gets interrupted by Alex gobbling, startling them both.

“Jesus, that’s loud,” Tommy says, resisting the urge to cover his ears. 

“He is, which is why I was hoping that we could keep him in your house? I’m not allowed to have pets here,” Evan asks, looking adorable, peering at him through his eyelashes. 

Sighing in resignation, Tommy nods. One day he will be able to say no to Evan, but today is not that day. 

[breakingsanity-aruani]

Some cadet AruAni headcanons!!

Hi hi! I wanted to share some headcanons about cadet AruAni soooooooo here we go!

Both Armin and Annie developed crushes on each other during training, it was Armin who formed these feelings first, then later on Annie! Armin was always so nice to her and simply treated Annie like any other person, and she was enamored by that gentle kindness.

Armin would also ask Annie for combat training, requesting her to never hold back on him... which Annie didn't, and would flip him over just the same as everyone else. However, Annie would help him up each time, admiring that he would ever request this, knowing how in over his head he is...

Annie talked to Armin far more often than most during training, along with Mina, and genuinely enjoyed her conversations with him despite her usual deadpanned stare.

Annie LOVES Armin's smile, finding so much warmth in it...

Annie also ADORES Armin's long hair and is slightly jealous by how perfect and angelic it looks. Sometimes the other girls would drag Armin into their barracks and liked to play with his hair. :3

Armin at one point tried writing a poem for Annie, but he threw it away due to being far too embarrassed.

One night on a starey sky, Annie was out roaming, unable to sleep. Eventually along her light travels, she finds Armin also wandering... and she calls out to him. Armin would be nervous initially, fearing he was caught being out at this time, but instantly relaxes seeing Annie. After exchanging words for a few moments, Armin invites Anine to sit with him and watch the stars. They ALMOST held hands...

There was a night where Annie had a dream of being in her Female Titan form and finding Armin... he didn't seem scared of her, so she picked him up... having Armin sit in her left palm. She lifted up her right hand and began petting him on his little head with her index finger, ruffling Armin's hair. He was SOOO CUTE!! Leaning up into her touch with a warm smile, blushing so intensely and then- Then, Annie woke up... and sighed heavily.

These were just a few headcanons I have of these two blondies, AGH I love them sm x3. I hope you enjoyed some of silly headcanons! <3

[wispforever]

when you want to kiss ur partner on his gd mouth but the intimacy is too much

[memento-morri-writes]

More dnd writing because it's all I have but I here's a snippet from a vignette I did of Rook's past (from Zara's POV), because Rook and his mentors never fails to make me sick (/pos).

[transcript under the cut]

Taking a coin out of her pocket, she rolled it across her knuckles, back and forth. It gave her hands something to do, and prevented the urge to bite her nails, something she hadn’t done in years. Ten minutes passed, then twenty. Zara began to pace as Rook’s breathing grew shakier and the color drained from his skin. Where the hells is Jay? she wondered. The room was so quiet that she could hear every tick of the small clock on her bedside table, and each one echoed in her head. How many ticks does he have left? She didn’t want to think about it.  She’d had crew members die before, of course. You don’t go as many years as a captain as she had and never lose a soul. But all the others who had died had died quickly, in combat. She’d mourned for all of them, even shed tears in private, but there was something different about watching the life drain out of a person right in front of your eyes.

[wavernot4love]

i do believe it is time for another vaguely infamous wavernot4love show recap ...... idkhow impending gloom rochester, 11.16.24 edition (tour spoilers after the break thingy)!!!! one of my favorite visitations i've ever experienced methinks ..... finally gettin the chance to ramble 2 dallon after years ...... and successfully getting rid of most of my bracelets ..... oh my!!!! oh boy, this one is going to be lengthy because SO MUCH fun stuff happened, man. right then (note that i went in mostly blind this time which was certainly An Experience):

also!!!! in general!!!! as i mentioned up there visitation was easily a top 3... top 2???? visitation i have ever experienced (i told dallon this exact thing.... more on that later).

i'd hoped she'd play hot to go 😍

(but unironically, transition back into visitation goes crazy) ((i feel like the absolute lack of any form of Cinematography whatsoever in this goes to show how i was feeling here)

let me tell you, the MOMENT the oh my lord lord lords started i just had this Feeling it was gonna be one of those visitations (i recall turning 2 my cousin and this sentiment being echoed). and that it was ,,,,, the ol Split sure did happen directly next to us so we got 2 chill there goin yeedy yeedy heedy heedy with dallon and his megaphone. i could recite the entire visitation yodel segment in my sleep methinks. very fun stuff. peep me lookin 4 videos from the other side of the split on instagram ,,, also gotta say dallon's "ladies, gentlemen, and everyone in between" will always make me giggle and kick my feet a bit (in a /j way). it's like the mormon tabernacle choir bit (which didn't happen this time, i honestly think this was the first non fest show i've seen where they didn't do a letter. not complaining as uhhh.... absence can in fact make the heart grow fonder n i know she'll be back someday)

is now the time to share that i only know the words to hot to go due to 1. this and 2. terrible influence toronto. the titronto singalong as i've seen it be called. i am about the same level of an up to date main pop girlie (gender neutral) as your grandpa. but i am glad 2 be adopted into the singalong by true main pop girlies (dan phil and dallon)

with that being said... SIXFT went too hard last night!!!! as always. but dallon's lil speech about us all focusing on the moment now because someday we'll all be six feet deep that went right into the tune..... oh yes what an intro.

i feel like earlier on, things REALLY started picking up/the crowd and everyone got into the swing of things with gloomtown brats. i always kinda take note of when everyone seems 2 loosen up near the beginning of a set and Yup . this one was it last night. blondie rapture-esque 80s rap bit you will always be so beloved. i remember when you were just a figment of dallon's imagination he talked about potentially wanting to do someday on twitter ,,,,

we finally got satanic panic oh yes. the minute dallon started talking about growing up in the 80s oh i knew where This was going. this is makin me wish i could post more than one video in here.

also speaking of, hearing kiss & tell live made me like her SO much more oh my. dallon crushes it in the chorus, something about it is very earwormy to me gotta say.

also..... ABSINTHE CAME BACK FROM THE GRAVE!!! mad iqs as well but i think absinthe had been... absent for longer. i will always think of the time i was goin nuts during her at this radio fest in 2019 and my phone sailed straight out of my pocket and across the crowd.

i fear i will Always enjoy dallon telling us under 25s to cover our ears and eyes for Adult Themes before what love. as someone who recalls when he did something of the sort for the debra cover circa 2019 i am glad i still fit into the age bracket 2 be patronized here.

opening band was gr8 as always, my favorite bit being the.... extended .... you may just like the.... segment. the parents, and especially boyfriends, sure did get shouted (called?) out. dallon (about said boyfriends getting dragged along): ....but you still gave us money! [crowd laughter] (back to singing) and that's what gives me.... a purpose ......

choke also hit extra last night. song goes HARD, i was desensitized for a while way back when it was constantly getting play on alt radio, but man, she is Not overrated,,,, appropriately rated, i think

no extra ending brobecks song but i am Not complaining. gr8 set, and hopefully someday bike ride will come back 2 me ......

also, i should mention that i Really enjoyed brasko's set. not inherently my kinda music per se, but the energy was off the charts. the dude had character, which i respected. get there early if you're going 2 any of these shows. also, opening band w/ alexsucks dude was sweet. the way i also have the "headlining band" segment memorized from the superet days ..... much like other Live Idkhow ™️ moments like the "i died in 1917" bit of visitation (which actually caught me off guard last night when it was changed to "i died in rochester new york" ...... damn poor visitation character. /hj) or the OH WHA OH OH OH in the second verse of clusterhug.

anyways, on to the post show Events .....

so long story short all the folks i knew @ the show wanted 2 leave (hence why i drove separate,, mwahaha), so the gang split up and i headed 2 the side of the building with the bus, where there were lots of people hanging around, and pretty much curled up borderline in the fetal position against the wall where i sat for a solid 45 minutes (it was cold and in the moment i did not quite have the energy 2 wander around starting conversations to trade etc)

due to said Cold, i pretty much set a time of 12:15 for when i'd leave if nothing had happened yet.... a couple times i contemplated going since i was straight up shivering but Something made me stay and man am i so glad i did!!!!

i remember watching that clock tick qusstioning how much longer i could go, and then right about 12:15 (maybe a minute or two after), a crew member came out and told us dallon was coming out to meet us, he was just on vocal rest but could sign/take pics etc!

so naturally wavernot4love was Back in business and i jumped 2 my feet and instantly was energized enough to chat some folks up and get rid of a good chunk of my bracelets (!)

sadly i somehow didn't think 2 bring a cd or anything so i had Nothing to get signed (oh my) but man, that didn't matter. i was just so stoked to finally meet dallon after years of going 2 shows/trying to!

anyways, homie came out and when he got to me he like. waved dbdbdh our whole "conversation" was quite funny considering the ways dallon improvised to get around not being able to talk.

i was basically like "hello! i know you can't talk so i am just.... gonna ramble 2 you for a minute!"

and that i sure did. essentially i went on a quick minuteish long recap of the Lore ,,,,

i remember i started by just saying how much the shows/music have meant to me over the years, and dallon did a thank you in sign language to me (like, the motion with your palm facing your chin that kinda looks like a backwardsish wave) which he did probably a dozen times later (it was really sweet honestly) and bringing up that this was my ninth time seeing them which made one of the ppl i was trading w exclaim like, "wow!" or something along those lines (hghfhfh i got vaguely embarrassed then, the way whenever i am meeting band folks i just completely go in our lil Bubble internally and forget other folks are. Right There), and dallon like. put his hand by his heart and then put his hand out like, wanting me to shake it and i think he seemed like he wanted me to introduce myself so i quickly said ya know that i am nat or natalie whatever you want 2 call me,,,, while we were shaking idk dawg it was goofy.

anyways, i babbled about how i'd been a fan of idkhow/the brobecks' music forever, and that i first saw them like, down the street basically at a venue called anthology on the waterparks tour way back and since had seen them all over rochester, syracuse, and buffalo, and how i was so glad they/he keeps coming back and how nice it's been to not have to travel outside of the area for any of my shows!!! i just went on about how much i love the shows and how much i especially loved visitation, and he kept doing the thank you thing (he did that about as much as i called him "dude," something i tend to do in Band Folk conversation when i'm meeting someone for the first time and am vaguely nervous (god it's like my literal embodiment of the "sorry i say shawty when i'm nervous" meme).

when he could tell my story was pretty much. you know. ending he made like. a lil camera taking a picture motion with his hands with like. a question mark in there somehow fbfbfh which was really convenient actually because i always feel awkward asking. anyways, i was like hell yeah let's go and then i did my goofy thing i always do for pictures where i remember i don't like how my glasses glare or whatever for pics so i panic and am like "actually wait!" while i randomly chuck them someplace out of the picture for the moment. i may have mildly scared dallon here i'll be honest. but also kinda amused him who knows, we all have our quirks

anyways, we took a few pics and i basically said great show man thanks and see you at the next show! and he i think waved or something along those lines and we went our separate ways!!

i did make a lil post right after this happened last night here but here's the pic again!!! hooray!!!!

i do think it is safe to say i finally broke the wavernot4love x water street music hall curse (the other three shows i'd been to there, not idkhow, were not really the greatest experiences). it is lookin good 4 the future!!!!

anyways, GREAT great show as always and man i'm so glad me and dallon could finally meet!!!!

[mars-ipan]

i talk SUCH a big game but if the way i interact with fictives is anything to go off of i'm actually a liar and a coward

[alterouslyinlove]

me: “i think men should kiss more often”

him: “i agree.”

him: “i think i should do that more often”

💥💥💥⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️ i volunteer hello hi 👋

(ps rambling in the tags don’t. don’t even look at me)

[i-cast-zone-of-truth]

While endgame Cloud is not outwardly as radically changed as he feels, I do think I can tell that he isn’t much represented in fan works, because they are often omitting his readily-identifiable new trait: he’s EMBARRASSING. Too vulnerable! Too odd! Almost ABJECTLY sincere! He might get less raw as things settle down, but he ain’t going back!!! And that’s so important to me!!!!!

[commsroom]

thinking about eiffel making hera a mixtape on cassette by recording over some old Goddard protocol tape he found in storage, but he doesn't have access to his tunes in a way he can transfer to a cassette recorder so it's just him singing out of key and getting lyrics wrong in a way that makes them more about Hera

this is soo sweet. he's such a massive ham; i love the idea of eiffel, like, dedicating the classical music they pick up to hera, or asking her to dance and dramatically - kind of awkwardly, in low gravity, but also just because he's not a very good dancer anyway - 'waltzing' with himself, or just... singing to her. pointing at her cameras. incredibly off-key. i love the thought of hera hearing some of those songs - the actual, non-eiffel versions - on earth for the first time, after all the times she's heard him singing them.

there's this interview gabriel urbina did a while back, where he was answering character-building questions, and said that eiffel once made someone a mixtape "in the way that only an obsessive 90s teenager can really make a mixtape"- like he really put effort into it, and really cared about it, and the person it was for didn't really appreciate it. and he never fully got over that. i think about that a lot, and how important music is to eiffel, how much is communicated through music... i think it would really mean a lot if hera could make a mixtape for him, someday. i think that's such a sweet sentiment, like a continuation of the way she gifts him music for his birthday.

[lily-ohfally]

WoL QotD: Is there a specific thing your WoL does when they feel a specific emotion? Grit their teeth when angry or scratch the back of their head when they feel shy?

Follow up: Do they do it consciously or subconsciously?

[softquietsteadylove]

some confused thena? xoxo

"Aunt Thena?"

"Jack," she blinked, looking down at him as he walked away from his friends and the curb of the school's front entrance.

He looked around them, "what...are you doing here? I'm taking the bus home today."

"Oh," she blinked again, also looking around and appraising herself of her surroundings. She was standing in front of Jack's school, humans mulling about, cars idling while waiting for children. "Yes."

"I thought you were home with Uncle Gil," Jack continued as he took in his aunt, standing with such a bewildered expression on her face. He toyed with the straps of his backpack. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," she repeated, although she didn't look any less confused about her surroundings. "I...I thought I was."

Jack reached up for his aunt's hand, sliding his smaller one into it, "did you get confused?"

Thena smiled.

That was the word for it that had worked thus far. Aunt Thena had her 'episodes', or 'fits', or whatever the rest of them called it. But Jack simply said 'confused' to suffice for what clouded the Warrior Eternal's mind.

"Yes, it appears I have," Thena sighed as she enclosed her hand ever so gently around Jack's precious little one. "I seem to have ended up here."

Jack merely shrugged as he began the walk home with his aunt beside him. "Yeah, I guess that's how I get here too."

Thena merely walked beside him, looking around her still, but perhaps with less apprehension. She recognised more of their surroundings as they walked. She knew the school, and the route they took when Jack was coming and going.

"Do you feel okay?"

Thena smiled down at her brother's child, so gentle at heart. She wasn't sure if all humans had such sweetness to them and she didn't much care. There were many things which paled in comparison to Jack in her mind in that regard.

"I was at home," she narrated as they walked slowly and gently. Jack got to take his time with his little legs, while Thena drifted idly beside him. "I remember looking for something to eat and then... "

Jack merely nodded, so easily accepting of the fact that sometimes Aunt Thena would wander out into the yard and stand still for a long time. He had no fears nor reservations about it, as far as he was concerned.

Thena looked down at their hands and then around them. She tilted her head at him, "do you not fear judgement from your peers?"

He tilted his head right back at her and her antiquated speech.

"You do not wish to hold your fathers' hands."

She was referring to how 'holding hands was for babies', as Jack had so boldly proclaimed last time Phastos attempted to hold his hand in the parking lot of the mall.

"Mm, well," Jack twisted his lips as he made a face for the sake of his thought process. He shrugged, "that's different."

Thena accepted the statement for what it was, as he had done for her. She gave his soft little human hand a squeeze, "thank you, Jack--for helping me get home."

Jack smiled up at her as well, showing off the young teeth in his mouth still finding their permanent placement. "You're welcome. I get confused too sometimes--it's pretty scary to be alone for it."

"Yes, I suppose it is," Thena conceded to the young boy's wisdom, well beyond his years and even the words he had at his disposal.

Jack looked up at her, "does Uncle Gil help you with that?"

Thena smiled at the mere mention of her most constant in life. She nodded, looking at Jack and then at the golden bracelet around her wrist, keeping her powers in check.

True, at first Phastos hadn't gotten them quite right. Gil hadn't been very happy about the side effects they'd had on her. But she wore them still, because they were for the safety of her nephew.

"Aunt Thena?"

"Yes, Jack?" she asked softly as a breeze passed by them.

"What makes you feel better?" He looked up at her more sheepishly, "after you get confused, I mean."

There were some things, although she had more of a history of violence before coming to Chicago and getting these bracelets shackled to her. But she supposed that going dormant on the spot was a small price to pay instead of becoming the planet's deadliest force alive.

"Uncle Gil," she answered plainly and honestly. Truly, the man who had been by her side for - in many ways - her whole life was her strongest pillar of stability. She smiled and uncrossed her other arm from around herself to pat Jack's head, "and you."

"Really?" he blinked at her, baffled by the suggestion. "What do I do?"

He reminded her that life was full of promise, and love, and joy, and that it was worth protecting. It was worth all the pain and fighting and the sacrifices she had seen - and made - with her own eyes.

She leaned over, kissing the top of his head, "plenty."

Jack rubbed his hair, now thoroughly embarrassed by the public affection. "Okay, I guess."

Thena smiled, allowing his resistance to her gesture. It was part of his maturation, she was told. He no longer liked hugs and kisses and holding hands by family. She seemed a slim exception to the rule. "Indeed."

Finally turning down their street, with the house in sight, Jack looked up at his aunt again. "Do you feel better now?"

Thena inhaled as the front door opened, Gilgamesh clearly on his way to sprint out of the house to come find her. She smiled, "much."

"Good," Jack sufficed, although his hand did give hers a little squeeze.

"There you are," Gil greeted lightly, although his eyes ran over her frantically in search of distress or injury.

"I walked home from school with Jack," she explained needlessly. She let go of Jack's hand as he walked past them and into the house to shed the school day from his mind.

Gil looked at her, "you okay?"

She nodded, leaning into him without hesitation as he pressed his lips to her temple, "I'm sorry I frightened you. I woke and...there he was."

The two drifted into the house, watching as Jack independently got himself a glass of milk and some cookies. Gil chuckled, "great kid."

"He is," Thena agreed.

"Aunt Thena," Jack called out as he slapped the tupperware of homemade cookies onto the table, "have some!"

Gil ruffled Jack's hair on his way past him, "at least put 'em on a plate, buddy--come on."

Thena just smiled, seating herself at the table and taking one of Jack's preciously guarded cookies (which Gil made). "Thank you, Jack."

"Aunt Thena, do you know math?"

"Not at all." She had lived throughout the life of some of the world's greatest minds. She chewed on her chocolate chip, "ask Uncle Gil."

"Hey, don't look at me," he laughed, setting some of the cookies on a plate for the two of them and putting the rest away. "You'll have to ask your dad."

Jack let out a loud groan before rifling through his back for other homework that required his attention.

Gil and Thena traded a look over his head, assuring that she was safe home after another bout of Mahd Wy'ry--this time thwarted by a ten year old human.

[beepsparks]

Fun fact I have never been actually acknowledged by an actor or voice actor for a character I like before, noticed MAYBE because Andy Poland mentioned he looks at the fanart channels in the official Jackbox server sometimes but a few of my friends have gotten direct acknowledgment from actors of characters in media we like before (and tbh its funny because usually its OUT OF NOWHERE and completely unexpected)

On that note istg if my “baby’s first acknowledgement from an actor/va of a character they like” moment is from Tom or Phil my brain will implode

[takiki16]

so what’s the deal with your new blorbo? assume 1. i know how football works (used to actually watch) but not how/why some players get famous; (2) i know nothing about messi except that he. exist; (3) feel free to go bananas to your heart’s content if you decide to answer this.

fuuuuUUUUUUUQ ME. Can litchrally any Argentinian, any FC Barcelona supporter, ANYONE who has followed fuutyball for more than *checks watch* TWO WEEKS spot me for this one?!?! I am GROSSLY underqualified to answer this question Cunningham's law is about to hunt me for SPORT.

Okay. LIONEL MESSI. I can't summarize everything about this Guy who is currently one of the Main Characters of the most watched sport in the world, but I CAN summarize how he has started cooking my brain!!!

(that is him!!!! my guy!!!! HIM JUMP)

I have been trying to read a book with @rhaeneystargaryen for at least a couple years now, but somehow never had the spoons or the right overlapping interest. And then she told me that she was reading this:

I figured I would give it a try! I wanted something low effort, low investment, something I didn't care a whole lot about that I could put down at any moment bc work has been hell lately. And then I hit THIS line in the introduction, and I could literally FEEL the cursed hyperfixation key in my brain start to turn:

GUESS WHICH ONE IS MESSI!!!!!

I'm not a twitter stan, I swear. I am AWARE there is a media layer here. These people are real, actual human beings with documented flaws and mistakes, I am WELL AWARE that they are ungodly wealthy pro athletes and not "stars who are just like us!!! ✨✨✨." It's also obviously reductive and unfair to view anyone solely through a comparative lens - no living being could live up to the marketing hype that has been generated around Messi, Ronaldo, or indeed any pro athlete in the elite leagues.

BUT GOTDAM IF THIS FUCKER DOESN'T MAKE IT HARD!!!!

Bare bones: Lionel Messi is a football player born in Rosario, Argentina, who at 13yo moved to Spain to play for FC Barcelona. He joined the adult team at a whole ass 17 years old. Ensue absolutely RIDICULOUS teen prodigy meteoric rise, with both Messi and Barcelona winning all the Best Football Awards ever and Best Individual Sports Achievements in Everything. I have spent the last two weeks spending FAR too much time reading football books, and all the gotdam graphs look like this:

People talk about Messi being the player who made them fall in love with "the most beautiful game," and I can SEE WHY!!! HERE I AM!!!! A CLOWN!!! ALSO FALLING IN LOVE!!!! I am googling sports highlight reels of his plays like a CHAD FOOTY HOOLIGAN!! WHO AM I, I AM HAVING AN IDENTITY CRISIS. It is just so much fun to WATCH him! Listening to commentators screaming "Eight, ten, IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW MANY DEFENDERS THERE HE GOES THROUGH THEM!!! MESSI GOAAAALLLLL"

What makes it WORSE is the whole fukken rivalry business the book was about. Cristiano Ronaldo was another super-gifted player who debuted at about the same time and had a similar prodigy teen genius rise. He signed for a rival club in the same league at the same time Messi was playing with Barcelona. The story reads like a gotdam Hollywood sports drama, on both an individual and a team level!! I cannot IMAGINE what it was like watching this unfold as it was happening!

For starters: on an individual level, they were constantly thrown up against each other for every award imaginable. The Ballon d'Or awards list, which crowns you King of Soccer for the year, has looked like this since 2008:

(there is obviously talk that Messi is up for an EIGHTH award this year, but I don't think about the future bc it is bad for my cooked brain 😊)

On a team level, there was (and IS) of course the clubs. I am ABSOLUTELY not qualified to get into the weeds on this, but the rivalry between Barcelona and Real Madrid has deep, deep political, historical, and cultural roots going back (among other things) to Catalonian oppression under the fascist Franco regime in Spain. Josep Suñol, then-president of FC Barcelona, was shot in 1936 by Francoist troops.The matches between the two clubs and the two players with their drastically different teams and styles at the time were super-charged - an ACTUAL QUALIFIED Barcelona supporter is going to have to get in here and explain the history and emotion behind the Clasicos bc THAT IS SEVERAL BOOKS IN AND OF ITSELF!!!!!

The whole point of THIS particular book was not, in fact, a blow-by-blow comparison of the players. The point was that by being WHO they were and WHEN they were, Messi and Ronaldo changed the shape of the game forever in terms of marketing, branding, team strategy, finances, etc etc etc. It's an interesting read (if not entirely unbiased on all points), if you enjoy the absolute blood and oil-soaked clown show that is professional football money!

But ANYWAY.

AFTER I finished the book Messi ended up cooking my brain bc (1) all of the context above re: rivalry in league football, and (2) his PERSONALITY. Someone made him in a lab to ruin my life!

I mean, the club loyalty gets me. For his entire professional career, Messi has played for exactly two teams - Barcelona and his homeland Argentina NT. He only left Barcelona in 2021, VERY much against his will (per him, his agent, his friends, his family, AND FC Barcelona) due to an absolute hot mess of a league financial situation that is apparently still sorting itself out. I don't know how common it is for pro athletes at his level to move around, but I feel like it's more common than that!!! THE CLUB LOYALTY gets me, the HOME LOYALTY gets me!!!! Especially as he's gotten better and better, and there's been more and more pressure on him to keep delivering even in the absence of anything else!

The gotdam STOICISM also gets me!!! Call it shyness, call it humility, call it down-to-earthness or reservedness or whatever you want - what everyone kept mentioning about him in the books (and what certain French marketing departments are still probably saying about him) is how QUIET he is. Journalists would complain about how he "made it to age 30 without ever uttering an interesting sentence in public." A Nike exec who lost a bid with his agent for a sponsorship waved it off by saying "Imagine how much trouble we would be in if Messi had a personality." Relative to his peers in the elite football world, he doesn't have a flash lifestyle with a huge entourage. He doesn't do a lot of press. He doesn't try to push a personal brand, even though it's a big chunk of income for wherever he plays. Even though he obviously COULD, he doesn't go around talking about Greatest Of All Time (TM). When he DOES give interviews he doesn't even talk super loudly. He keeps to his immediate family and his closest circle of friends.

AND YET. AND YET. ON THE PITCH, HE PLAYS LIKE HE DOES. He creates not just for himself, but for his TEAMMATES the way that he does! I realize that NO ONE gets an award for being a team player in a team sport, or for "not being as much of a dick as you could have been," but HE STILL HAS HIS HOMETOWN ACCENT!!! He dedicates his goals to his GRANDMOTHER! He met his wife when he was FIVE YEARS OLD, he has never had a relationship with anyone else ("It has always been Antonella, for me"), he has three beautiful kids, his teammates keep apparently falling in love with him and doing Intricate Rituals, I AM ENDEARED I AM ENDLESSLY ENDEARED

Did I mention he is also very short? Allow me to mention that. 5"7 / 1.7 meters in pro-athlete world is PICK-UPABLE SIZE. Multiple reels out there of his teammates celebrating goals just by PICKING HIM UP it MAKES ME SO FOND

(on an Intricate Rituals note, Messi's size and his evasive style of play has caused a lot of opposing team's strategy to be "make a cage, kick him as soon as you can and tackle often," which has in turn prompted a lot of specific protection strategies for him as a forward and also over-protective teammates :)))). WHICH OF COURSE COOKS MY BRAIN EVEN MORE YOU KNOW HOW IT IS.)

And that isn't even STARTING on his saga with the Argentina NT, which reads like YET ANOTHER HOLLYWOOD SPORT DRAMA that I cannot believe actually happened!

Again, I am begging ANY Argentine to jump in here, I AM GROSSLY IGNORANT as to the history of this sport I got here two whole weeks ago how is this HAPPENING to meeeeeeee

My very basic understanding of the situation is that Messi has played for the national team ever since 2004, whenever he was on break from Barcelona. Over the years since then, Argentina (with Messi) has tried again and again to win the World Cup (and the Copa America), but consistently failed despite regularly advancing to finals. BECAUSE Messi was on the team, Argentina routinely and perhaps unfairly got billed as "favorites" to win, with criticism in the press being focused disproportionately on Messi when they didn't. I don't know how bad the situation in Argentinian media got, but even the western English outlets were picking it up. "Messi plays better for Barcelona than for his home country, Messi isn't Argentinian enough, Messi keeps too much to himself and doesn't sing the anthem,etc etc etc". Maradona famously commented that Messi was "a great person, but had no personality," and that it was useless to try to make a leader out of him because he caved under pressure (referring to Messi reportedly being sick from nerves before the world cup games).

(note: gotdam rivalry. Of the people named who would be better and more stylish leaders, Cristiano Ronaldo was up top )

The pressure DID get to Messi in the end - he issued a statement in 2016 saying he would retire from international football, but there was a huge home campaign to get him to come back to the team. Argentina still didn't win the 2018 World Cup (players of opposing teams said that their strategy against Argentina was not letting them pass to Messi). And so on, and so forth.

AND THEN!!!!! 2021!!!!!

I THINK I HAVE POSTED FAR TOO MUCH ALREADY about the current Argentina NT for someone who, as I said, JUST ARRIVED AT THIS GOTDAM SPORT, but I'm going to make everyone look at these quotes again. These are quotes the team has given ABOUT MESSI HOW IS THIS REAL????

Argentina would go on to win the Copa America - and then...well 🥰

I DON'T KNOW IF I'VE EXPLAINED THIS ADEQUATELY!!! I DON'T KNOW IF I HAVE SUFFICIENTLY REPRESENTED THE DEGREE TO WHICH MY BRAIN IS COOKED!!! Did that mean anything to anyone???? I don't know!

HELL

[rexscanonwife]

Ok I'm gonna go sleep soon but I watched a few episodes of s2 of mha tonight and goddd Toshi is such a cute goofball 🥺🥺👉👈💖💖💖