#chris mckay fanfiction

[horrormoviemonstermakeout]

MONSTER RATING: Dracula (Renfield)

Renfield is a horror-comedy directed by Chris McKay and marks the second movie where Nicolas Cage plays a deranged vampire. When I found out he was set to play Count Dracula, I had to mull it over in my brain before finally determining, yes, Nicolas Cage as Dracula is actually extremely fitting. I’ve not read Dracula but from what Tumblr people have told me, he’s a giant freak, and oh boy does Nic Cage make Dracula the biggest goddamn freak you’ve ever seen. I almost wish he was in a better movie than this one.

Renfield plays out like fanfiction of the original story. The story takes place, presumably, over a century after the events of the book (though Dracula either survives the battle at the end or it never happened at all) in the city of New Orleans. Robert Montague Renfield (Nicholas Hoult), servant and familiar to Count Dracula (Nicolas Cage), has grown tired of his abusive relationship to his master and seeks to escape it. While attempting to search for more victims to restore his lord to full power, he runs afoul of the Lobos gang, run by Teddy Lobo (Ben Schwartz) and his mother (Sohreh Aghdashloo). This happens tangentially to the side plot of an extremely angry cop, Rebecca Quincy (Awkwafina), who is attempting to take down the Lobos gang after the murder of her police lieutenant father by their hands. These two plots collide as Count Dracula and the Lobos gang team up in order to rule the world, and it’s up to Renfield and Rebecca to stop them.

This movie is a complete mess, and I am shocked that it somehow garnered a 65$ million dollar budget, and slightly less shocked that it was a total flop at the box office. I’m going to tear into this movie, but I will say outright that I fairly enjoyed it, it’s delightfully stupid - mainly because I watched it with friends and we kept making fun of it; the best way to watch this movie in my opinion.

Tonally, Renfield is all over the place. The themes of an abusive relationship, the absurd amount of gore, and the characters cussing every two seconds would make you think this movie’s intended audience is for adults, but the plot plays out like something out of an Illumination film. Renfield doesn’t want to be a conniving monster like his master, he wants to be independent, a defender of the innocent, a hero - just like Rebecca! These characters act like they’re in a kids movie all the while being surrounded by blood and viscera. There’s this one scene where Renfield and Rebecca have to defend themselves from the gang threatening to shoot up the diner they’re inside of, and the two manage to brutally kill and mutilate every single enemy in the vicinity. Afterwards, they share casual, somewhat awkward dialogue - Rebecca tells Renfield he’s a hero, Renfield is a bit sheepish about it, they make little quips at each other - keep in mind that they are surrounded by several dozen dismembered corpses while they share quips. This happens more than once. They just seem incredibly blase about their extremely high body count, which I’m aware is quite possibly the joke but it falls completely flat. I’m certain that if you took out all the gore and swearing, this movie would barely be PG-13.

I was right about Nic Cage being an amazing fit for Dracula. Nic Cage’s Dracula is the only anchor that makes this film worth watching, in all honesty. He plays into his character so delightfully freakishly that I almost wish he was in a better movie than this. Can you imagine how bad a movie would have to be if it makes you think, “Nic Cage’s talents are being wasted on this film?” I’ve seen Adaptation. I know he’s goofy but I think he’s a genuinely good actor, and his interpretation of Dracula was one of the few things that made me keep watching this film. He plays his character more or less completely straight compared to everyone else, and it’s way more fun than watching Renfield and Rebecca share stock movie dialogue and having a liar-revealed-plot. He’s an overly-dramatic little goober who tries his best to be 100% spooky all the time. He sits on a throne made of blood bags. He sips blood out of a martini glass filled with prop Party City eyeballs like he’s still playing the Ghostrider. He wears black suits with glitter lapels. I came for Nic Cage Dracula, I stayed for Nic Cage Dracula, and I do not think this movie would be as worth watching without him in it.

So, I’m going to talk about something that will seem very out of left field: is this movie copaganda? True, the entire police force is controlled by the Lobos gang - very little surprise here - but our hot-headed cop deuteragonist Rebecca is portrayed as a heroic figure, despite her continuous violation of several laws. More than once she discharges her firearm into a public space filled with innocent civilians, and manages to stack a body count about as high as Renfield’s. Of course, this is typical police behavior, but the movie never seems to criticize it once. In fact her only flaw is “she gets too angry sometimes,” which doesn’t even seem to be resolved by the end of the film. And I know it seems absurd for me to expect “Renfield” of all movies to criticize police behavior, but she’s literally about as violent as every other corrupt cop in the movie.  I guess her excessive murder is justified because she’s doing it for a good cause: to extrajudicially execute as many gang members and cops that stand in her way to arrest one person. True justice!

To reiterate: this movie is a mess. It’s bad, but I do believe bad movies are good in their own way. I had a fun time watching it with friends. Would I watch it again? No, not really. But if you’re looking for a movie that you can just turn your brain off to and make fun of with buds, Renfield is probably the movie for you.

Okay, I’m tired of talking about this shitass movie. Insert your "this movie sucks" joke here and let's get on to talking about the only person that matters in this movie

- MONSTER RATING - DRACULA -

CREEPINESS: 3/10 - He’s too much like Nic Cage. I understand that this is why I like this version of Dracula, but I like it because he’s a delight to watch. Would I say he’s scary? Well, his rows of sharp teeth, pale green skin, and raspy, whispery accent does give him a creepy-ish vibe. But it’s Nic Cage. He, and I cannot stress this enough, sips blood out of a martini glass full of eyeballs. He’s about as scary as Jeff the Killer. He’s a caricature of something scary. This isn’t to say that the movie intended to make him scary - it is a horror-comedy after all. In fact, this is probably the genre of horror movie best suited for him if he were to play the antagonist. I don’t think he could play a serious role.

Would it be possible to make him scary? …Maybe? I’m trying to imagine what a scary Nicolas Cage might look like, but all I can think about is him being a little menace in Face/Off, or every meme in The Wicker Man. I think his image is too ingrained into his other, less serious roles for me to be convinced that he’s something to be feared. Like trying to make Christopher Walken or Seth Rogen the main monster in a horror film, I don’t think it’s ever happening. That’s probably why he got cast into a horror-comedy instead of a straight horror film in the first place.

WETNESS: 7/10 - This movie is shockingly gory, but in a gleeful, silly way. Renfield tears off a man’s arms and uses them like nunchucks, clubbing goons in the head with them. This is equally true for Dracula, who tries to find every chance he can get to soak himself in blood. It is Dracula after all, a very cartoonish depiction of him at that.

After Dracula’s introduction, he gets incinerated to charred, black flesh by the daylight and has to spend some time recuperating. When we see him next, his head is covered in patches of regenerating skin, some of it hanging off of him in loose strips. Exposed musculature is visible in parts that aren't covered by loose clumps of flesh. It’s surprisingly well-made makeup and practical effects, which is one of the few things I can give this film props for. Though, everything that isn’t practical effects - which is to say, very little - instead uses CGI, which is fine for what it is. I’m not gonna expect Renfield of all movies to be the bastion of practical effects.

DATEABILITY: 1/10 - Listen, I understand that Dracula is one of the most fuckable entities in all of fictional history, but you need to consider that this is Nic Cage’s Dracula. This monster rating is highly opinionated, and no offense to Nic Cage, I’m sure he’s a wonderful person, but I do not see him as a suitable romantic partner. The Dracula in this movie is too ingrained with his personality for me not to disentangle it from him. This is just Nicolas Cage as a vampire to me.

There is also the fact that this version of Dracula is meant to symbolize an abusive partner, which makes the dateability score drop very low in conjunction with the fact that it’s Nicolas fucking Cage. A narcissistic partner who gaslights and manipulates Renfield into staying with him despite all his abuse very clearly tells me he would make a terrible partner for someone. Just fuck regular Dracula like a normal person.

FINAL RATING: I WOULD NOT KISS THIS VAMPIRE / 10

[desiraypark]

Teacher (ft. Chris McKay)

Any Euphoria fans out there?! 

Characters: Chris McKay x Black Female Reader Content: Fluff; couple talk; college couple (maybe sophomore/junior year)

“I’ve been thinking about the conversation we had last week...” you said, wrapping the end of your braid around your finger. You and McKay were in your dorm room, squished onto your twin sized bed and watching a Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta marathon. 

“What conversation?” he asked. He was stretched out in front of you, feet hanging off the side of the bed and looking upward at your television, while you were pressed into the corner, resting against pillows that were pressed up against your wooden headboard. 

“About what you wanted to do. In life...”

“What were you thinking about?”

“I. think...” you started, accentuating each word with a light tap on his calf muscle. “You should become a teacher.”

McKay twisted his body to look at you. “A teacher?!” “Yeah! I think you’d made a great teacher, McKay...”

“What makes you think that?” he asked, facing the television again. 

“You’re super smart, for one. And...I think a lot of young people could relate to you. Especially Black kids.” McKay grunted out a chuckle.  “What Black kids? Suburban ones?” he asked sarcastically.  You tightened your braid around your finger and shrugged. “Suburban. Urban. Rural. Anywhere. All those Black kids who need help figuring out who they are, and not what society tells them they should be.” You rubbed his calf muscle and continued. “The kids who want to be athletes, but their parents tell them they need to be doctors. The kids who want to be doctors, but their parents tell them they need to be athletes. You’re very patient, McKay. And observant. I think you’d make a great mentor...” McKay turned back to face you, then sat up on the bed, so that he could pivot his body and lie with his head pointing to the headboard. He bent his elbow and rested his head on his fist. “You really did think about this...”

“I did.” You lightly brushed the exposed scalp between his cornrows with your fingertips.  “Teachers don’t be gettin’ paid, though,” he said.  “Well, Knucklehead,” you said, palming his head, then releasing it. “As you help little minds grow, maybe you can advocate for better pay, too.” McKay laughed. “You’re really putting a lot of trust in my capabilities.” “Well, Chris McKay...I’ve seen what you’re capable of, so...yes. I am putting trust in it.”

You stared defiantly into McKay’s eyes. Then, you leaned forward and the two of you exchanged a soft kiss. 

“I’ll think about it,” he said.

You smiled, then you locked lips again. He scooted closer to you and traced loving lines up and down your back.

[therainbowromance]

Rainbow Romance Favourite Couples

I have always been interested in Rainbow Romances since I was a teenager and fell wildly in love with Maurice and Clive's romance( (a sad one) in Maurice,1987.

The Internet era brought to light the exciting concept of Slash writing aka MM Romance in Fanfiction today. The concept of two fictional males or female characters paired romantically came from the late Sixties as underground zines; the ‘slash’ term referring to the symbol / between the two names. Star Trek Season 1 (1966–1967) started it all ,I understand, with Spock/Kirk who won legions of fans eager to romantically pair them; so they wrote about it.

The golden era of Slash fanfiction remains for me between 1997 to 2007. During these 10 years we got some fabulous amateur writers who wrote fantastic slash stories. After that many went professional with the growth of the Male/Male romance genre in book publishing.You can still find some good MM free romance stories on https://archiveofourown.org/ but for me it is not the same. I have moved on to the MM romance books as well and have my favourite writers; Shannon West or Stormy Glenn to name a few.

I miss though the trill we had while waiting for the next parts of a story featuring  favourite slash couples. Many stories are worth being read again. Try Xanthe or Willie J' ones; they were spectacular.

Here are my list of favourite Slash couples

( Whether they were indeed a couple or a romanticised one)

in order (Funny enough just one of the pairs was an actual couple)

Chakotay and Tom Paris ( Star-Trek Voyager) Xander Harris and Angel/Angelus  ( Buffy ) Rodney Mckay and John Sheppard  (Stargate Atlantis) Anthony Dinozzo and Leroy Gibbs  (NCIS) Alex Krycek and Walter Skinner (The X-files) Danny Williams and Steve McGarrett ( Hawaii-05) Tobias Beecher and Chris Keller ( Oz) 

My obsession with Ben Mitchell and Callum Highway (Eastenders BBC) surprisingly has not translated into reading related fanfiction stories.It does not seem to work for me and I rather wait for the new EE episodes to find out more about them. Perhaps it's because it is an on-going love-story that stops me from being trilled with the fanfiction versions.

I also like to point out that Yaoi couples and its westernised versions do nothing for me. They're very much dominate now though and essentially for younger fans.

If you want to know more about Slash writing or fanfiction writing in general then this is the place for you.

https://fanlore.org/wiki/Main

[paperbackd]

Here’s a masterpost of YA books (and a few crossover MG titles) to be released in February 2017. Check out this month’s new releases below. Feel free to use this as a guide to this month’s releases, but please do not repost it in its entirety elsewhere. If you found this masterpost helpful, a like, reblog, or link back to Paperback’d would be much appreciated!

February 1st

Unconventional by Maggie Harcourt ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Wipeout (The Seven Signs #3) by Michael Adams ✤ Goodreads

February 2nd

All About Mia by Lisa Williamson ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

February 7th

At the Edge of the Universe by Shaun David Hutchinson ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

The Burning World (Warm Bodies #2) by Isaac Marion ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Denton Little's Still Not Dead (Denton Little #2) by Lance Rubin ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Disruptor (Seeker #3) by Arwen Elys Dayton ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Guardian of Secrets (Library Jumpers #2) by Brenda Drake ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

King's Cage (Red Queen #3) by Victoria Aveyard ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Lessons in Falling by Diana Gallagher ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Nowhere Near You by Leah Thomas ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Returned (Forbidden #3) by Kimberley Griffiths Little ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Rise of Fire (Reign of Shadows #2) by Sophie Jordan ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Romeo & What's Her Name by Shani Petroff ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Starfall (Starflight #2) by Melissa Landers ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

To Catch a Killer by Sheryl Scarborough ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

A Tragic Kind of Wonderful by Eric Lindstrom ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Traveller by L.E. DeLano ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Wintersong by S. Jae Jones ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

February 9th

Ariadnis (Erthe #1) by Josh Martin ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

We Come Apart by Sarah Crossan & Brian Conaghan ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

February 13th

Any Boy But You (North Pole Minnesota #1) by Julie Hammerle ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

There's Something About Nik by Sara Hantz ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Weddings, Crushes and Other Dramas (Willa and Finn #2) by Emily McKay ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

February 14th

American Street by Ibi Zoboi ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Dare You (Nikki Kill #2) by Jennifer Brown ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

The Last of August (Charlotte Holmes #2) by Brittany Cavallaro ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

The Release (The Prey #3) by Tom Isbell ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

A Season of Daring Greatly by Ellen Emerson White ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Stranger than Fanfiction by Chris Colfer ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Switching Gears by Chantele Sedgwick ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

The Valiant by Lesley Livingston ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

The Wish Granter by C.J. Redwine ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

February 15th

When Morning Comes by Arushi Raina ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Who We Are Instead by Kyla Stone ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

February 17th

Frogkisser! by Garth Nix ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

February 21st

Beautiful Broken Girls by Kim Savage ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic #3) by V.E. Schwab ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Day of Ice (A Crusoe Adventure #2) by Andrew Lane ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

The Dragon's Price (Transference #1) by Bethany Wiggins ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

The Education of Margot Sanchez by Lilliam Rivera ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Everything Beautiful Is Not Ruined by Danielle Younge-Ullman ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Long May She Reign by Rhiannon Thomas ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Making Faces by Amy Harmon ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Optimists Die First by Susin Nielsen ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Ronit & Jamil by Pamela L. Laskin ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

February 22nd

The Eleventh Hour (Agent Nomad #1) by Skye Melki-Wegner ✤ Goodreads

The Things We Promise by J.C. Burke ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

February 23rd

In Your Light by A.J. Grainger ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Close Your Eyes by Nicci Cloke ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

February 28th

10 Things I Can See from Here by Carrie Mac ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Avenged (The Arnaud Legacy #3) by Lynn Carthage ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

The Beast Is an Animal by Peternelle van Arsdale ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

The Free by Lauren McLaughlin ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Gardenia by Kelsey Sutton ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

A Good Idea by Cristina Moracho ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Heels, Heartache and Headlines (Hollywood High #5) by Ni-Ni Simone & Amir Abrams ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Here We Are: Feminism for the Real World by Kelly Jensen ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

A Lie for a Lie by Robin Merrow MacCready ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Lifeblood (Everlife #2) by Gena Showalter ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Off the Ice (Juniper Falls #1) by Julie Cross ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

One Blood Ruby (Seven Black Diamonds #2) by Melissa Marr ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Rebels Like Us by Liz Reinhardt ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Sad Perfect by Stephanie Elliot ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Velocity by Chris Wooding ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Well, That Was Awkward by Rachel Vail ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

Wild Lily by K.M. Peyton ✤ Goodreads | Amazon

[desiraypark]

A Busy Holiday

This was supposed to follow a prompt, but per usual, I deviated lol. Characters: Chris McKay x Black Female Reader / Also: parents, grandparents, siblings, and best friends. (Note: I gave you the last name “Davis”) Content: Fluff; a little angst?; worry; overthinking; couple issues.  Word Count: 1,659

McKay had been acting strange all week. He’d been avoiding you—responding to texts with single phrases or short sentences; not answering phone calls at all. The two of you were supposed to hang out during the holidays, and you’d spend Christmas Eve with your family, and Christmas Day with his. You wanted to go over your plans, but he just did not seem invested. Sure, he worked at a real estate agency, but surely people weren’t buying houses during the holidays? Or, maybe you were just an idiot who knew nothing about real estate...

Sigh...your parents always warned you about your tendency to jump to conclusions about everything, so you kept your cool. But now, it was two days before Christmas Eve, and you needed to know what was up. So, you called him, and finally, he answered.

“Hey, baby…” he said with a tired voice. “McKay? What the fuck is up?!” “I’m sorry, baby. I’ve been super busy.” “Me too, McKay, but I still make time to call. We’re supposed to be spending Christmas break together. Is that still happening, or no?” “Yes, it’s still happening. We agreed to do what we did last year, right? Christmas Eve with your people, then Christmas Day with mine, then just you and me at the Ramada, right?” “Yeah, but—” “I booked the Ramada in October, remember?” he pressed. You got agitated. “Yes, but McKay, just because we’re an hour away from each other it doesn’t mean we can’t still communicate. These short conversations have me thinking that you’re up to something.” “Up to something like…working? Spending time with my family and friends? Registering for next semester? Not everybody gets to just chill on their breaks...” He had a point with that last statement, but you chose to bypass it. “Am I not family or friends, McKay?” You heard him sigh. “Look, baby. I’ve got to go. I’ll see you Christmas Eve. Early in the morning. Okay?” You rolled your eyes. “Sure. Okay.”

Christmas Eve

McKay texted you the night before, saying that he would be over at ten. Of course, you sent him a dry “K.” in response. But who were you fooling? You got up the next morning, spent an eternity in the shower, slathering soap and body scrub all over your skin and shaving non-existent hair from your legs—just in case. You rubbed coconut oil into your skin, sprayed your Versace crystal on your neck, applied a little face makeup, and slid on some popping red lipstick. Maybe you were tripping…but you were going to make sure McKay got a GOOD look at what he’d been missing out on the last three weeks. 

The doorbell rang at exactly 10:00AM and your dad answered it. “What’s up, Chris?” your dad’s voice boomed throughout the house. “How you doin’, Mr. Davis?” McKay said. You heard the slapping of skin in a dap. Then, the front door closed. You gave yourself another look in the mirror—lifting your boobs in your red T-shirt, rubbing your hands along your thighs, and fluffing out your white cardigan. “I’m doin’, I’m doin’,” your father responded. “She’s in her room.” You yanked your phone off your dresser and jumped onto the bed. Then, you leaned over on your side and thumbed through the phone, pretending to be unmoved by McKay’s impending presence. He walked in with fresh braids, wearing his usual blue hoodie, some jeans, and his blue and white Jordan 11s. In his hands were a bouquet of red roses. “May I come in?” he asked jokingly. You looked up from your phone with an unimpressed look. “Sure.” He shook his head, chuckled to himself, and put the roses on your dresser. Then, he leaned over the bed and gave you a kiss on the lips. You almost fainted at the smell of cologne. “You tryna act like you ain’t happy to see me?” he asked, sitting beside you. You put down your phone and lifted your body to rest against your pillows. “I usually don’t get excited about seeing strangers,” you responded. He rolled his eyes and lean back. “Maaan, come on. Cut that shit out!” he laughed. You buried your face into your knees and laughed, but he wiggled his finger under your chin and tilted your head up. Then, he kissed your lips again.    “I’m sorry, baby. But I promise you, things have just really been busy,” he said. He lowered his head and rubbed your sheets. “And…I guess I have to be honest with you.” “Please do.” “I’ve had some shit going on mentally,” he admitted. Your heart sank. You really could be an asshole. You took his hand and kissed it. “I’m sorry, baby…” “No, don’t be sorry. Nothing bad, for the most part. I’ve just really been in my head about some things...” “But you know you can talk to me about it, right?” you asked. He stared into your eyes and smiled. “Yeah, I know.” He leaned forward to kiss you again, but just as his lips were inches away from yours… “Hey, McKay!” your mother’s voice screeched. You both looked up to see her in the doorway with an ugly Christmas sweater and reindeer ears on. You scoffed and buried your face in your knees again. “Mama, what are you wearing?” “Hey, Mrs. Davis!” “Hey, McKay baby. And what do you mean what am I wearing? It’s Christmas Eve!”

You and McKay started the day with some window shopping. You’d both completed your shopping, but it wouldn’t hurt to see what was left on the shelves. Next, you went on a double date with your best friend, Mariah, and her boyfriend, Johari—first some lunch at Panera Bread, then the movies. After that, you hung out at Johari’s apartment, playing board games. McKay insisted on playing Monopoly, the longest damned game in the world; then the two of you had to dash home for dinner with your family. You came home to smooth Christmas jazz playing from the radio, dim lights and candles—very different from the usual festive setup, where The Temptations would be blasting and every single light in the house would be on—with the blinds and curtains opened, too--much to your chagrin.  Both sets of your grandparents were in the living room, and you gave all four of them big hugs, as did McKay. “Babe, I’m going to go change out of this hoodie really quick,” McKay said. “Alright.” McKay returned to the living room in a crisp white Polo, but you noticed he’d changed into Khakis and dress shoes, too—the Polo shirt tucked in like he was going on a job interview. You raised an eyebrow, but figured he just wanted to be respectful. You hung out in the living room with your grandparents, and when the table was set, everyone made their way to the kitchen. Plates were already made with Dad’s famous ribeye steaks, mom’s crab cakes, and green beans. A tray of potatoes—sat in the center of the table with a bowl of sour cream beside it, a stick of butter, and the salt and pepper shakers. “McKay, would you like to say grace?” your dad suggested. Your eyebrows furrowed, because since when? “Um, sure Mr. Davis,” McKay agreed. Everyone bowed their heads. “Dear God, thank you for this day, and thank you for this dinner prepared by family…” Suddenly, the back door opened. You opened one eye to see McKay’s parents and brothers crept into the kitchen. You swung your head up and looked around at everyone and their still-bowed heads. “God, I especially thank you for allowing the Davis family to welcome me with opened arms. And today…” McKay removed his hand from yours, and suddenly, everyone’s head lifted. McKay stepped back and started digging in his pockets. Your hands flew to your mouth. “…I hope you’ll allow me to talk out of their home, with their daughter as my fiancée,” he said, pulling out a tiny box and falling to one knee. You stood frozen with your hands to your mouth and eyes wide. Then, tears started to stream down your face. “I can’t stand you McKay,” you blubbered. “I know,” he laughed. “Y/N Davis, will you marry me?” he opened the box and revealed gold band with a sparkling sapphire jewel in the middle—the exact kind of ring you told him you’d like when you were just two project partners for your Cultural Studies course—discussing marriages and weddings around the world. You shook your head in disbelief and wept. “Of course, I will, McKay. You know I will!” McKay took the ring out of the box and slid it on your finger, and your family—current and future—clapped and cheered. McKay rose to his feet, pulled you in his arms and kissed you on the lips. You rested your chin over his shoulders and spotted Mariah and Johari in the doorway. You let out a scream and a hearty laugh. “I hate y’all!” you shouted. They laughed and walked over to you and surrounded you both in hugs. “Is that why you had me in there playing some damned Monopoly?!” Everyone burst into laughter, and hugs and kisses went around.

During dinner, McKay informed you that he didn’t book the Ramada—but a weekend at a beach house through Noirbnb. You packed some lounging clothes, beach wear, and other necessities, hopped in the car with McKay, and the two of you made your way there. Of course, he teased you about your bratty attitude—and promised some punishment for it later—but the both of you promised to be better at communicating and understanding each other. You arrived at the beach house, owned by a lovely middle-aged couple, and made yourself comfortable. You were too full and tired to do what you both really wanted to do, so instead, the two of you wrapped yourselves in a blanket and sat on the beach, talking beneath the crescent moon, and before an endless ocean.