#how long did it take post italy for this scene to happen

[elephanttheft]

do you wanna talk about what happened

[alpaca-clouds]

The history of Solarpunk

Okay, I guess this has to be said, because the people will always claim the same wrong thing: No, Solarpunk did not "start out as an aesthetic". Jesus, where the hell does this claim even come from? Like, honestly, I am asking.

Solarpunk started out as a genre, that yes, did also include design elements, but also literary elements. A vaguely defined literary genre, but a genre never the less.

And I am not even talking about those early books that we today also claim under the Solarpunk umbrella. So, no, I am not talking about Ursula K. LeGuin, even though she definitely was a big influence on the genre.

The actual history of Solarpunk goes something like that: In the late 1990s and early 2000s the term "Ecopunk" was coined, which was used to refer to books that kinda fit into the Cyberpunk genre umbrella, but were more focused on ecological themes. This was less focused on the "high tech, high life" mantra that Solarpunk ended up with, but it was SciFi stories, that were focused on people interacting with the environment. Often set to a backdrop of environmental apocalypse. Now, other than Solarpunk just a bit later, this genre never got that well defined (especially with Solarpunk kinda taking over the role). As such there is only a handful of things that ever officially called themselves Ecopunk.

At the same time, though, the same sort of thought was picked up in the Brazilian science fiction scene, where the idea was further developed. Both artistically, where it got a lot of influence from the Amazofuturism movement, but also as an ideology. In this there were the ideas from Ecopunk as the "scifi in the ecological collaps" in there, but also the idea of "scifi with technology that allows us to live within the changing world/allows us to live more in harmony with nature".

Now, we do not really know who came up with the idea of naming this "Solarpunk". From all I can find the earliest mention of the term "Solarpunk" that is still online today is in this article from the Blog Republic of Bees. But given the way the blogger talks about it, it is clear there was some vague definition of the genre before it.

These days it is kinda argued about whether that title originally arose in Brazil or in the Anglosphere. But it seems very likely that the term was coined between 2006 and 2008, coming either out of the Brazilian movement around Ecopunk or out of the English Steampunk movement (specifically the literary branch of the Steampunk genre).

In the following years it was thrown around for a bit (there is an archived Wired article from 2009, that mentions the term once, as well as one other article), but for the moment there was not a lot happening in this regard.

Until 2012, when the Brazilian Solarpunk movement really started to bloom and at the same time in Italy Commando Jugendstil made their appearance. In 2012 in Brazil the anthology "Solarpunk: Histórias ecológicas e fantásticas em um mundo sustentável" was released (that did get an English translation not too long ago) establishing some groundwork for the genre. And Commando Jugendstil, who describe themselves as both a "Communication Project" and an "Art Movement", started to work on Solarpunk in Italy. Now, Commando Jugendstil is a bit more complicated than just one or the other. As they very much were a big influence on some of the aesthetic concepts, but also were releasing short stories and did some actual punky political action within Italy.

And all of that was happening in 2012, where the term really started to take off.

And only after this, in 2014, Solarpunk became this aesthetic we know today, when a (now defuct) tumblr blog started posting photos, artworks and other aesthetical things under the caption of Solarpunk. Especially as it was the first time the term was widely used within the Anglosphere.

Undoubtedly: This was probably how most people first learned of Solarpunk... But it was not how Solarpunk started. So, please stop spreading that myth.

The reason this bothers me so much is, that it so widely ignores how this movement definitely has its roots within Latin America and specifically Brazil. Instead this myth basically tries to claim Solarpunk as a thing that fully and completely originated within the anglosphere. Which is just is not.

And yes, there was artistic aspects to that early Solarpunk movement, too. But also a literary and political aspectt. That is not something that was put onto a term that was originally an aesthetic - but rather it was something that was there from the very beginning.

Again: There has been an artistic and aesthetic aspect in Solarpunk from the very beginning, yes. But there has been a literary and political aspect in it the entire time, too. And trying to divorce Solarpunk from those things is just wrong and also... kinda misses the point.

So, please. Just stop claiming that entire "it has been an aesthetic first" thing. Solarpunk is a genre of fiction, it is a political movement, just as much as it is an artistic movement. Always has been. And there has always been punk in it. So, please, stop acting as if Solarpunk is just "pretty artistic vibes". It is not.

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk, I guess.

[vyorei]

I found a post about Palestine and olive trees about a week ago, this reminded me of it so I'm gonna post the text below.

This was posted on Facebook by Dima Seelawi on the 29th of October 2018, it just happened to find its way to my newsfeed:

"When I was young, I never really understood my parents insistence to only use olive oil imported from Palestine. It took a long time and a great distance in a process that was neither cheap nor convenient. The oil came in old beat-up containers that did not look appealing to me at all. In my head, if they wanted to support distant family back home, they could just send them money and save us and them a big hassle. We could just use the nice looking olive oil containers from the nearby store. Yet, this was never an option in our household. The only olive oil we used at home was from Palestine.

As I grew up and started a student part-time job, I worked with olive oil a little. I knew all about olive oil imported from Spain, Italy, and other countries. I knew which ones were better and more expensive. I also learned to tell, based on the pungent taste, which ones were extra virgin. I was tempted to use my employee discount to bring home one of the fancy bottles and use at our kitchen. I could not get myself to do it, and I did not exactly know why. I felt like it would be disrespectful to my parents even if it didn’t make sense to me. It did not feel right. It was not an option.

After living in Palestine for a year during the olive picking season, something changed. The olive picking season in Palestine is holy.

Palestinians relate to the weather based on how it would benefit or harm the olives. There is well-known unspoken rule about treating olive trees with respect. There is a day off from work just to pick olives. On public transportation, it is not unusual to hear someone on the phone telling their friend to stop by for their share of this year’s olive oil stored in what used to be a Coca-Cola or a liquor bottle. A driver will stop in the middle of the way to give his brother- in- law a jar of olives that are so close to one another that they start to crush showing their insides.

In Nablus, the owner of the Nabulsi soap factory takes pride in how picky he is about getting his olive oil. He insists on filling a cup to let me smell how authentic it is and smirks as he sees my diasporic facial expressions transform in appreciation of its strong smell running through all of my brain cells.

I started noticing how olive oil is an essential part of so many dishes. “Palestinians drink more olive oil than water” I would jokingly say and they would laugh in agreement. Olive oil is truly an everyday ritual.

They fantasize about its color when it’s fresh and remind me that it starts to change as it reacts with oxygen over time. They dip their bread into olive oil, just like that and without any additions, and enjoy it more than the sweetest of all foods. I can guarantee that every lunch invitation (عزومة) I received during the olive-picking season was a chance for my hosts to share their olive oil using Msakhan (a traditional Palestinian dish).

I now have a deeper understanding of the psychology behind the burning of olive trees by Israeli settlers and why farmers moan at the scene as if they lost a loved one.

Wherever you are, if it’s accessible to you, make sure your olive oil is Palestinian. Your ancestors would want that."

And this picture was attached:

Link to the article in the header image:

[theshe-devil]

SO DEAR PEOPLE,

-GG REBOOT SPOILERS AHEAD -

I just saw the finale. And as I initially only watched season 2 for the polyamory relantionship between Aki, Max and Audrey, I will very understandibly post and discuss first about them:

I will adress the scene, oh you know what scene (Thomas is a very underrated actor, that isn’t for debate), and it was heartbreaking to watch through.

" What an absolute...fool", you can feel his pain.

Max realized that Audrey & Aki had no intention of breaking up between them even tho they all agreed that is "all for all or none for none".

And the fact that they (Aki & Audrey) broke the very pact that convinced Max to start a relantionship with them (his first of a kind too), hurt him more than the break-up per se. That must have been very hard on Max, with also him realizing that they don’t love him in the same way he loves them.

I am not saying those two aren’t in love with Max. What I am saying is that :

They didn’t fall hard, at least not like Max did for them.

They don’t seem to know that they have fallen in the first place.

It was dissapointing to see them ultimately break up. I don't intend do deny it. But I do understand the directors's take on this for a various number of reasons:

They are teenagers. They make mistakes, they try hard to learn from them but they also follow their instinct a lot. The instinct to just take it. To just do it. This is the part of their life when they are exploring, finding themselves, starting to risk things. And so on. This whole new unexplored area is scary. And insecurities are always gonna swim their way through.Breaking up, drama, a very large amount of overflowing emotions, failed relantionships (platonic or romantic ones)- these are very common between the ages of 16-20, more so in the GG universe, where we have a little taste of arrogant, entitled, used to get their way or/and selfish teenagers. They are gonna make bad decisions(fully aware). And this js the process of them reaching maturity. All the bad in the means of good ( a saying from my country, it means that we have to pass very bad times to reach the fullfiling ones at the end)

Polyamory was a new thing for all of them. How do u compromise so everyone it’s happy and comfortable? As we could see from this season, it was tricky and a bit difficult. Again, they are teenagers. They don’t know how this works, they are scared and they are trying.

They ALL needed time apart from their other 2 partners. (Something that didn’t happen (A+A) entirely...) To grow and see where they standed outside of their relantionship. You know, having different plotlines for each of them, like the original GG. I think the 3 of them coming together after all of that would have made a much bigger impact than them staying together now.

They were gonna be ENDGAME. As I said before, them coming back together in the end of season 3 after some time apart would have made a big impact, and a much awaited moment. It appears they were actually gonna do that, as I recently found out:

They did add that scene where Audrey stares at a painting simply because it reminds her of Max.

But they didn’t add the dialogue between her and Aaron, nor the context of her staring. Because they knew when they were editing the episodes that they wouldn’t get renewed for another season. They cut a lot of scenes filmed in Italy beacuse of that. The episode was meant to be longer.

They didn’t know that fact when they filmed tho, another proof that originally, those 3 were meant to end up together sooner or later.

In another words, I was right when I said that Audrey looking at the painting was foreshadowing their (Aki's and Audrey's) longing for Max in the future.(in a hypotetical third season)

I am kind of mad (just a little) that they knew this was a farewell, and they still ended, with such a negative note too, the poly relantionship. (A type of relantionship that is almost always portrayed as unreal and non-functional, which, unfair)

But again, I see where they were coming from with this. Safran said himself that it wasn’t their intentions to portray polyamory in a bad way, and that they believe it's real and does work for some people. (See the images attached).

And it would have been splendid if a third season would have been released in the future, so we could see them play this out, (as characters with unique storylines too), how it's gonna be Aki's and Audrey's turn to fall as hard as Max fell for them.

Just when it started feeling like a true familiar show....it gets canceled. Altho I am not a fan of their "keeping Luna and Monet out of the group in meaningful moments".

But maybe they would have changed that.

Oh well.

You can not have everything.

Can you?

[yolowritter]

Volpibug AU (better title pending)

So, it's this time of the month again, for me to drop a post in the tumblr void and then vanish again until next called upon! But! This one...this one is good! Like, "I'd need > 50k words of worldbuilding to write this" kind of good!

Quick story time: I recently wrote a Lilanette ficlet based on an ask I saw here on Tumblr. I won't get into the hows and whys, it's on my Ao3 acc (I have the same username). Anyway so while I was writing it, I added the line "and with her (Lila) necklace being all too magical" as a little easter egg, to say that she actually has the Fox Miraculous in this AU. Then...then my brain Did A Thing™. So it's a full AU now. Here's the context! Or at least...part 1, meaning the pre-story setup and up to the "Volpina" episode itself. I'll do a part 2 of this post to talk about the Lilanette lovesquare, because it keeps me up at night and I will share that with all of you very soon! Since Tomas Astruc has so gracefully and respectfully decided to actively depict 1940s Paris in S5, I am shamelessly using that mistake to make something I think is cool! So, while Fu and Marianne were in Paris, there was someone who helped them hide. A young woman from Italy, whose family had moved to France so her father could avoid the draft. The three become friends in the short time they know eachother, and she happens to learn that Fu is carrying a box full of magical little creatures with him. Therefore, she understands they need to escape, and promptly decides to try and sneak them out of Paris. But...we get to the scene where Fu and Marianne are being chased (the one from Evolution), only she's with them, and they're losing ground. So she begs Fu to let her take the Fox Miraculous and distract the soldiers while they run away, promising to come find them once it was safe. And so, with little time left to spare, Fu makes the gamble and passes Trix to her. She then tranforms and promptly makes an illusion to let him and Marianne get away before also going to hide. For the remainder of the War, she stays in France and devotes her time to help whoever she can escape, through conjuring minor illusions and such. She ends up being an unsung hero, and some years later she and her family move back to their old home in Italy. So...you're probably asking me what in the name of Gabriel Agreste's secret butterfly room does this have to do with Lilanette? Well, said woman (who I've yet to think of a good name for) is actually Lila's grandmother! I know, huge shock! Her superhero name? Why, Volpina of course! When Fu and Marianne return to Paris to come find her, she's unfortunately long gone. Therefore, we have 3 missing Miraculous. The Peacock, Butterfly, and the Fox. They stay in Paris (and yes this time they didn't split up, because I want to make Marianne happy okay?) like in canon, deciding to protect the remaining Kwami rather than go around the world searching for a woman they can't find. Conclusion, Trixx stays with Lila's family. Now, our beloved liar's grandmother has a daughter, who marries a man and also has a daughter, Lila. Listen, I do not want to open the can of worms of "Lila has at least 3 moms actually" because as cracky as it is...just no...not until they explain it clearly. Anyway her mom's marriage falls through, and through this time Lila stays with her grandmother, where she happens upon an old necklace she's held onto all this time. Cue Trixx showing up again, and Lila's grandmother explaining what a Miraculous is, and telling her the stories of her and the Fox Kwami's adventures. I'd assume this happens pretty much right before Lila comes to Paris, for a few reasons I'll explain in a bit. Anyway, Grandma Rossi gives Lila a crash course on how the Miraculous works, and swears her to secrecy, since nobody can know about Trixx, before passing the necklace to her when it's for her and Madame Rossi to come to Paris. The conclusion?

Lila isn't lying in the "Volpina" episode. She really is the descendant of a superheroine, and very proud about it because she loves her grandmother! It's also worth mentioning that because I genuinely hate how 2-dimensional they've made her in canon, this version of Lila is an actual character with positive and negative influences in her life. She still barely sees her mother and craves being the center of attention, but above all, through her grandmother's stories she got to see her friendship with Trixx, and is obsessed with the idea of having such a genuine connection with another person. So, she's not a manipulative psycho who's in it for the fame and glory, rather she just wants people to like her and hates being ignored or brushed aside, as her mother so often is forced to do because of her busy schedule. Lila may not be the most empathetic, kind or gentle soul around, but she's not sadistic or heartless like in the show. Now, when she transfers to her new school she's eager to make friends, so naturally she uses her cunning to quickly get people to bring up their interests and then spins stories of her relating to those things. For example, Juleka really likes Jagged Stone's music? Why, Lila has had a front-row seat to one of his concerts and absolutely loved it! She "knows a guy who knows a guy" who might be able to get them tickets if he ever comes to Paris, and hey, they should totaly go together sometime! Stuff like that, to become popular. She goes about her day telling the same lies she did in "Volpina" (Alya mentions a few at the beginning). Cue Adrien Agreste, locally famous teenage model, coming in with a book that has superheroes all over it. Lila is very interested in making friends with him, for obvious reasons.

When Ladybug shows up to scold her for lying about being a superhero, Lila barely holds back from transforming then and there, only because her grandmother had made her promise to not reveal the Miraculous to anyone. Unfortunately...that only gets her as far as being out of view before deciding to go for it anyway, despite Trixx protesting. Same exact thing with the fake meteor shower happens, and Hawkmoth is very curious as to what exactly is happening. Gabriel, being Gabriel, decides to wait and see what's going on. Ladybug and Chat show up, and she immediatelly accuses Lila of being an Akuma. Lila of course has absolutely no idea what those are because it is her first day here, but the more Ladybug scolds her the more she realizes that it's nothing good. Chat steps in as he did in the episode, defending her because Marinette is not being very logical right now. Long story short, Volpina asks about what exactly has been going on in Paris, and they give her the rundown on what Akuma are and who Hawkmoth is. Understanding this, Lila thinks to herself that Trixx...had a point. She probably shouldn't have exposed herself like this, and needs to find a way to get out of this situation. How does she do this? Oh, by pretending to be Akumatized of course! She conjures an illusion of Hawkmoth and then jumps Ladybug (mostly because she's mad at her for embarrassing her earlier) and then loses on purpose, "accidentally" falling off a ledge as she detransforms. Thankfully she's fine, and promptly thanks the heroes for saving her. Ladybug agrees to be "friends" with her, and is more focused on the personal situation than the lack of evil magical butterfly. I'm sure that won't affect the story in any major way. If you couldn't tell, I'm being sarcastic! Chat takes Lila back to school and tries to comfort her by saying she's kinda cool, and Lila lies to Adrien when he "happens to walk by her", telling him that she really wasn't ever a hero. Eventually, Marinette comes back to school just as Adrien is agreeing to be Lila's friend, and promptly decides that it's better to keep her "rival" close, telling Adrien that she's also his friend. Of course, he's overjoyed at having made two whole friends today (Nino is fondly shaking his head in the background), and that's the end of "Volpina". For those curious, yes the Grimoire still goes to Fu because that scene doesn't change. The only different thing is that both Fu and Gabriel suspect the real Fox Holder to be in Paris, but only Fu knows that this Miraculous has been missing since Nooroo and Duusu just...wouldn't know that. Tbh, I really want to write this AU sometime soon, but I'd also like to hear your thoughts on it! I know this post is mostly just a huge backstory rant, the real good stuff comes in part 2! Anyway, time for me to disappear yet again, but I'll be back soon with more!

[hozier-is-my-wife]

Take Me To Church

A yap session, straight from my silly little brain <3

cw: mentions of sexuality and religion, but nothing too bad really lol

word count: 1.1k

Here's the song to get you in the mood to read this yap paragraph. Warning, it is extremely long but I think it's pretty well thought out. If you have anything to add after reading it, let me know!

Also, I'm just making this/posting this as a little something to keep you entertained while I try to get the first chapter of that hozier x reader fic out. And just as a small disclaimer, some of the things may be slightly incorrect, but I tried to fact check everything. If I'm wrong about something, let me know and i will correct it <3

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Okay, so HOW did take me to church get popular in 2014 of all times? Another question is why did christians latched onto this song so HARD, despite it definitely not being a christian song? It topped charts and is even certified multi-times platinum. That is EXTREMELY impressive. But anyways, I've been thinking about this a LOT and it actually is kind of shocking. How the lyrics are written, the meaning of the song, and just the overall sound of the song are so different from all of the other chart-topping songs of that time. So how did this happen??

So to make this easier on myself and any possible readers, I'm separating this little yap paragraph into different sections. I'm also going to abbreviate Take Me to Church as TMTC to make it easier to type.

Here are the sections I am separating this into (I'll make sure to put headings so you can skip to certain places if you'd like):

Overview (just basic info)

It's popularity

The music video

The meaning of the song

The lyrics (which i will separate from the meaning)

His competition at the time/the state of music at the time in general

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Overview on TMTC

TMTC was released on September 13, 2013 and it was Hozier's debut single. It's also the opening track on his debut album, Hozier. It was first released in an EP with Like Real People Do, Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene, and Cherry Wine. The music video was then released on September 25, 2013. Still, the song didn't become widely popular until summer/fall of 2014.

TMTC's popularity

I'm putting all of its achievements (I guess achievements is a decent word for it) into bullet points to make it easier

Topped at #2 on US billboards charts, making Hozier one of the only irish singer/songwriters to top US charts

Topped at #1 in several countries (including Austria, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic 2x, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, and on some US charts)

Still appears on some charts now, nearly 10 years after its released

One of the most listened to songs of 2014 on Spotify charts

Certified multi-platinum in multiple countries

Was nominated for a "song of the year" grammy in 2015

Music Video

So the music video was actually pretty controversial for its time. It features a gay couple, which still wasn't widely accepted in 2013. Technically, gay marriage wasn't even legal in several countries at this time. So even though this is a small point, this really adds to the "how did this get popular?" question and even more to the "why did christians latch onto this song so much?" question.

The Meaning of TMTC

TMTC has several meanings. The main two meanings are sex/sexuality and violence from the church and several countries, especially against LGBTQ+ people. Hozier himself said, "It’s about sex and it’s about humanity, and obviously sex and humanity are incredibly tied. Sexuality, and sexual orientation, regardless of orientation, is just natural. The song is about asserting yourself and reclaiming your humanity through an act of love." It's also talking about how certain institutions, such as the church, force you to be ashamed of things such as sexuality.

The music video further pushes its meaning by featuring a gay couple who gets attacked after being caught together. Hozier openly talks about politics in his music, so having such a political song is completely expected from him. It was meant to make a change and it was meant to bring awareness to the hatred from several groups of people.

Now, the political aspect isn't the only meaning behind this song. It's also about love and devotion, comparing their lover to religion. In true Hozier fashion, it's about worshipping your lover in a similar way to how you would worship a religion.

I could go into more detail about each lyrics (like quite literally break down every line) but that would take absolutely forever, so this is like an overall summary. And that leads us to our next section:

The Lyrics

The lyrics to TMTC are insanely meaningful and written in a way that's comparable to poetry. The way that Hozier writes is always in a poetic way, so TMTC's lyric style is no surprise, but what IS a surprise is how people took the lyrics. Compared to popular songs of that time, not only was the overall meaning different, just the writing style was different.

Think of "Shake It Off" by Taylor Swift or "All About That Bass" by Meghan Trainor. When you take those lyrics and compare them to lyrics such as "If I'm a pagan of the good times, my lover's the sunlight/To keep the goddess on my side, she demands a sacrifice" or "No masters or kings when the ritual begins/There is no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin/In the madness and soil of that sad earthly scene/Only then, I am human, only then, I am clean."

Those lyrics are quite different, right? Like I mentioned, not only are the meanings different, but the overall style was so different as well.

His Competition and the State of Music in General

Imagine this...

It's 2014. You're riding around in the car and you turn on the radio. Dark Horse (Katy Perry), Happy (Pharrell Williams) , Timber (Pitbull Ft. Kesha), and Boom Clap (Charli XCX) are just a few of the songs playing on repeat. But then, Take Me to Church comes on. What a mood change, right?

That's because it was a huge change from most of the other music on the radio and on main charts. The music wasn't political and it was much more upbeat and "poppy." TMTC even sounds different, with its dark sounding piano and occasional deep sounding guitar. Even his vocals had a different sound.

Outro

So now that we've gotten through all of my points (unless I randomly decide to add more, which usually quite possible), why did TMTC get popular? With its controversial music video, political message, and different sound, how did this happen? I mean, even Hozier himself said he never expected TMTC of all songs to get popular.

Truthfully, a huge part of it going viral and becoming so popular is because of the music video. Once it blew it up, the song blew up, but I suspect there's a deeper meaning to its popularity. What's that you may ask?

Well, I suspect that people needed that change. People craved music that had that deep meaning and they craved change. At this point, politics weren't a huge part of mainstream music, even though art is inherently political. Music at this time had developed into a more fun, "everything is great!" vibe. Although this music is great, it needs to be balanced out. I mean, if everything was political, people would crave fun. It's just a matter of people needing that balance and TMTC is what gave that to them at that point. It was meaningful and had a different sound, which was what ultimately led to its popularity.

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thank you so much for sticking around and reading this entire thing, it means a lot to me. i love being able to have somewhere that i can yap about my interests (mainly hozier) and actually have people care. this may be a little messy, considering i wrote it at like 3 AM, so just ignore any typos or grammar mistakes. but anyways, that's all! thank you again for reading <3

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୨୧┇tags:

[simon-x-billy]

Simon x Billy

Year of the OTP: June

Chapter 6: Where’s the helipad?

June prompt: Soulmates

AN: Enjoy the sweet sweet sounds of helicopter blades slicing through the air. I love the helicopter scene so much. It is happy-making. It just makes me love both of them for each other. (Let's ignore the fact that I wrote it.)

We are so close to the sex, guys. So close. This is the last SFW chapter for a while. Bask in the virginal dude-bro vibe, and let people know that you read the chapters before they were cool.

TW: Rewrites. Mystifyingly late posts. Drunkenness. If alcohol is triggering for you, no need to read the last teeny section after we first meet Barry. Rest assured that Simon gets home safely and says cute stuff, then happily goes to bed.

Masterlist || ao3 || Prev || Next

————/Simon/————

I am trying to stop thinking about falling to my death. Give me a minute.

Ok, so this is…………This is a long flight of fucking rickety, wind-blasted wood. Not like that metal set of stairs with all the switchbacks I was complaining about last time I encountered stairs. I take all of my complaints back about that place. That was the height of stair-building technology by comparison. This place is just…..language fails me, like I’m picturing the stairs failing me any second now.

Shush, I need to concentrate.

————/-/————

Oh my fucking god. I can’t breathe. Metaphorically kissing the ground due to sheer survival has become a feature of my stay here. Just cuz I survived. So much ground kissing happening in Italy. Especially near stairs.

So from the size and schmanciness I’m guessing this place was either for a huge schmancy family, or hardcore party animals needing lots of bedrooms (the olden days version). This coastline has been a summer getaway spot for centuries. Scratch that. For millennia. What, like maybe three thousand, four thousand years?

But actual beaches are rare here. Anybody with two inches of it will stick a beach umbrella in it. So imagine owning an entire beach. Right? Beside the hotel, the only other possible access is from the water. And there are a lot -- I mean a lot of yachts around here. They will never, ever look normal to me. But they’re starting to look like a normal thing around here. And I’m told these aren’t even the big ones. Fuck me sideways.

Both shots are from the website of the actual Hotel La Tonnarella, which is the hotel I based my fictional hotel on. Yes, it really looks like that. Yes, I did stay there. Totally worth going into debt. Best decision I’ve ever made. You can faintly see the stairs, at left. It’s that pale diagonal line down the cliff from the hotel at top left down toward the beach, crossing right in front of that ruin in the middle, halfway down the cliff.

Anyway, we’ve seen the (only) road and there’s definitely no place for me to do my morning run. It doesn’t even have a shoulder. I guess if I can’t run without going airborne off a cliff, I could do the steps when I wake up. Better than nothing. It’s just-

Well, we’ve seen that I hate stairs. Steep stairs. Cliff stairs.

Fuck. Besides being terrifying, it was tiring just getting down here. What am I going to do when I have to go back up?

Anyway, Billy’s working down here today. And I really feel like disrupting his job well done.

“Will yeh take a look at yer man now. Down the beach, explorin,” he calls, as I approach the hotel’s tiny beach bar. “You didn’t take the stairs, did yeh?”

“Um, yeah? Certo. I wanted to see the beach.” Obviously.

“Why didn’t yeh take the lift?” he asks me.

I fix the man to his spot with a very frowny, very deep, “Would you mind repeating that, Billy?” Exactly like if Kronk was playing me in the movie. I can barely see through my eyes that have now narrowed to slits of disbelief and distrust and discomfort. “There’s an elevator?”

“Well, yeah man. How else are people meant to get down here? The cliff’s a dangerous way down, innit?”

It’s ok, Lewis. You can incorporate this new information without flipping out. Just be proud of yourself for facing your fears. You descended steep, unsafe stairs. Good job! And you were only vaguely terrified the whole time. Good job!

“Is the cliff so dangerous that they should close it down due to the mounting death toll? Or is it only dangerous in an inoffensive, cute way?”

He huffs out a quick laugh, then returns to slicing up lemons.

“Billy? That was an actual question. Care to provide an answer?”

“Meh, it’s safe enough,” he says. And that, ladies and gentleladies, is all I need to convince me I can indeed use this as my new Italian Morning Exercise. 1. Cliff, 2. Coffee, 3. Cliff, 4. Vomiting coffee. Perfect.

————/-/————

I’ve spent all this week forging a grudging relationship with the beach stairs.

I’m getting a little more accustomed to it. I have a few specific stones and broken twigs I’ve chosen as landmarks, whenever I require reassurance that I am indeed climbing down the right cliff. And if I’ve survived it the last four mornings, I can survive it a fifth time. Flawless reasoning.

Behind the beach bar, Billy spots me and gives me a wave. “You packed, man?”

My insides instantly start fizzing. I am so fucking stoked. I got us an airbnb in Naples for the weekend so we can check out Sabina’s gig tomorrow night. Billy could not say yes fast enough. He’s a social guy, and there’s not a lot of nightlife around here. I have no idea how he’s managed it all this time. Oh wait, that’s right. He’s managed it with women. Lots of women.

Over the last week, I’ve come to the realization that management does not mind a guest hanging out at the bar distracting their employee all day, because while that guest is distracting the employee, he is also ordering drink after frothy fruit-based drink, and healthy fruit-based foods. It’s like they’ve realized that my distraction of Billy might actually be lucrative for them. I even have my own barstool. Officially.

I have an announcement to make. “I have come to a decision,” I announce. “We need a convertible.”

“Sorry?”

“A convertible. We need one,” I repeat.

“Yeah, mate, heard yeh.”

“What, it’s a convertible!”

Billy remains unmoved. “Why can’t we take the train? It’s simplest-”

“We are not taking the train.”

“But I quite like the train,” he claims.

“Because you’re insane and don’t like convertibles.” J’accuse!

“See now, I never said I don’t like convertibles. I-“ he begins.

But I totally interrupt him. “I need to go do something.” Because my brain just exploded with potential.

“What?” He might be alarmed.

Whereas I’m enthusiastic. “Be an Ugly American.”

“Er, that sounds terrible,” he says.

“If you’re gonna be American, you might as well own it. Watch me own it, Billy, watch me.”

Oddly, Billy still looks wary. “That sounds-”

“Awesome.”

“-terrible. You’re not plannin to wear one of them caps with straws into beer cans, are yeh?” He snorts at whatever he’s picturing. “Actually, I might pay yeh to do that.”

“Nah. Not my brand,” I say, sliding off the barstool. I snag an olive and pop it in my mouth, to avoid grinning like someone who grins because they’re about to do something awesome. “Ciao, Beelee.” I wave behind me.

I’ve got the phone out and I’m already dialing before I’ve even reached the stairs. And then I remember I can also take the elevator.

———/-/———

Billy has finally met up with me at the fountain by the hotel entrance. Thank god, cuz I really don’t want him to miss the arrival of that Ugly American thing that required a phone call. Ever notice there’s an ugh in ugly? Just occurred to me.

“There you are, Delaney. MWAH hah ha ha hahhhhh! Prepare to hear the sweet sweet sound of helicopter blades pulsing through the air. It’s done, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.”

“Simon-”

“So where’s the helipad?” I inquire.

“The what now? Mate, it’s not that kind of hotel. Why are we taking a helicopter to Naples?”

“The correct response would normally be ‘because we can’-” Obviously. Certo.

“That is not a normal response.” Billy looks mystified, yet still amused. So that’s a thing.

“-but not this time,” I finish. “That’s not the real idea.”

“Oh, so you’re tellin me this is a superfluous helicopter. That is ugly.”

“No! It is most definitely not superfluous.”

“Your carbon footprint’ll be spendin all eternity in hell, man.”

“Billy.”

“Simon.”

“Stop talking. And just enjoy the mounting anticipation. The mellow sense of horror, or at the very least a nasty case of creeping dread. MWAH hah ha ha hahhhh!”

“Stop it, mate. You’re gettin evil genius all over my uniform. And you know how I feel about laundry.”

“Just a little bicarbonate of soda. Gets out even the most organic of stains. MWAH hah ha ha hahhhhh.”

“Simon.”

“Billy.”

“Stop talkin. Like an evil genius. We’re gettin complaints.”

“Are not.”

“From me. I’m complainin.”

“What am I going to wear?” I ask. It’s a fair question.

“Simon. Oh my god.”

“I’m serious! I packed for Italy in ten minutes. It’s all socks and shorts.” And sunblock. And chargers.

He’s shaking his head at me. For some reason, this makes me happy. In my tummy. How novel.

“Is that the fire alarm?” he asks.

“Huh? I mean, MWAH hah ha ha haaaah, oh no. What you’re hearing is the sweet sweet purring of a helicopter bearing my booty.”

“You didn’t think that one through, mate.”

“Oh, but yes, yes I did. This booty is worth baring. Can you feel it? The heady excitement of anticipation? The mellow terror?”

“Yes. I feel the terror,” he says blandly. He finds my terror bland.

Wait. “That would be the best cologne flavor ever. Mellow Terror, by Simon Lewis. Pour homme.”

“Are you manic right now?”

———/Billy/————

I was joking, but Simon just went very still. I’ve put my foot in, haven’t I?

“I am a bit manic, am’nt I?” he offers, tossing off a fake laugh.

“Somethin wrong with your shoes, mate? Simon, man, my eyes are up here.”

“Just wait til you see what I’ve done,” he says sheepishly, eyeing me from under his furry eye caterpillars.

“Simon. Should I be worried?”

“Oops?”

Oops? I haven’t a clue what to do with oops.

He grabs me excitedly by the forearm and starts dragging me toward the hotel gates.

That’s…Wait, is that-

“Simon. Did you buy a Mini Cooper?”

“A convertible Mini Cooper.”

“But why?” I ask the reasonable question.

“Because I can!” He’s practically vibrating. I can tell he wants to do his jumping-clapping thing by the way he’s currently bouncing on his toes.

“Simon.”

“Billy.”

“You bought a Mini Cooper. Convertible,” I swiftly add. “You’re in the land that built the Maserati, the Lamborghini, the Ferrari, and every other sports car that ends in i-”

“Not Audi.”

I huff in annoyance, “-and you bought a convertible Mini Cooper. And had it airlifted here. Because you could.”

“I’ve always wanted a convertible Mini Cooper.”

“But not a convertible Ferrari,” I clarify.

“No.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m awesome,” he answers, because he’s Simon.

I decide not to mention that we could have skipped the car altogether and taken the helicopter to Naples.

This is so childish, and impetuous, and reckless, and I refuse to find the actions of a grown man adorable. Jaysus.

“Oh my god!” he squeaks. “They were driving Minis in The Italian Job!!!”

Shaking my head. Just shaking my head. “Did you have them airlift in some clothes, too?”

“Shit! I totally should have!” He appears to actually mean that.

“You should see your face,” he hoots. Feckin hoots, all half bent over from laughin.

And now he’s ignoring me. Suddenly I’m not even here. He only has eyes for his Mini. “Oh my god it’s so kawaii.”

His smile is kawaii.

“Go away,” he flaps a hand at me. “I want to fanboy freely and without judgment from a judgy Irishman.”

“Fine. I need to pack anyway.”

And off behind me I hear him call, “Wait! What am I gonna wear?”

Shaking my head. Just shaking my head.

————/-/————

I’ve gathered my gear, and I can see Simon out by the car park. I’m hitching up my pack, so it isn’t really until I’ve cleared all the foliage that I realize Simon is humping his Mini Cooper convertible. “All right?” I ask, tryin to keep a straight face.

“Oh, yes. All is definitely right,” he purrs.

“Have you turned her on, too?”

He slides off the car til his Converse hit the pavement with a slap.

Now he’s draping himself over the boot. I can’t help it that I’m laughing. Sometimes he hits me just right to set me to belly laughin. Doesn’t happen often with Simon, but when it does, he wears the greatest surprised happy face I’ve ever seen. This time there’s giggling. Off to a good start, which is good. Yes. Good.

I hesitate. “Look, mate. Will this thing actually fit us?” I eyeball the car. “I am quite seriously concerned that we might actually need the top down to ride in this thing. How tall are you, anyway?”

“Six feet. Why? How tall are you?”

“Mate, get off the boot so I can shove this in there and we can go.” He does, and I do.

I have to say it, “Thanks for not getting the red, white, and blue one.” There is a god. Thank you, Poseidon.

“They were out of orange, white, and green, too,” he says with regret.

“You asked about the tricolor, did yeh?” Alright yes, he’s got me laughin again. Simon Lewis. Driving the Irish flag.

“Fuck out of the driver’s seat!” he’s suddenly roaring.

Blimey. He looks proper angry. I may have just flinched. “Don’t you want a car and a driver? No, serious, don’t yeh want me to drive, since I know the way?”

“Get the fuck out of the driver’s seat, Billy. Now!”

“Alright! Fine, fine. You’ll be usin GPS then, will yeh?”

“Si si si, certo.”

I groan. “This is all about to go so very-”

“Awesome,” he declares. “This is all about to continue to be awesome. Be the change, Billy. Be the change!”

“Oh my god Simon.”

“I can hear you rolling your eyes from here,” he says from behind the boot, which he slams shut a little too hard. I feel it in every moving piece of this tiny automobile. Bigger than a SMART car, so I suppose I shouldn’t be complainin.

Well, here’s hoping he’s still so enthused about it at the other end. “Gotta say, mate. I’m surprised you’d want to drive at all.”

“Why not?” he’s askin.

“Because mate, it’s Italy, innit. Famous for frightenin foreign drivers.” He has to remember what the drivin was like on our three other trips down this road. “Well,” I sigh. “At least you get to drive on the ‘right’ side of the road in Italy.”

—--/-/—--

“See? I told you you’d fit.”

“Alright man, you did,” I admit to the muppet.

“Come on, give it up…”

“What?” I’m not laughing, I promise. “Is she a smooth ride? I don’t know, man, why don’t yeh start her up ‘n find out?”

“Well there is that. So yeah,” he says as he pulls out of the car park and up to the mouth of the hotel driveway. “It’s to the left, right?”

“Em, yeah. Yes, the city of Naples is still in the general direction of left. Like the other three times we’ve done this road together.”

He rolls his eyes, and all is right and well with the world. Until the moment he pulls out onto the road. Then I’m brought up quick by the realization that between us we know fuck all about the convertible Mini Cooper. “Wait, where’s the GPS on her, for the flat’s address?”

“I dunno, check the screen thing.” So helpful, yer man Simon is.

“Do you even have an Italian driver’s license? Or insurance? I love this guy. How’ve yeh managed to live this long?” I pause for an answer, but none is forthcoming. “I mean, fucksake, Simon. You called someone to buy you a car and suddenly you’re on the road to Naples. Do you even know where the directionals are? Or like, the wipers? Should I be concerned for my safety?”

“Shoosh. Don’t jinx us,” he sternly admonishes me. “Do you need to have registration in Italy? Or insurance? I don’t know. Italy doesn’t really strike me as a big insurance-y type of country.”

“Fair point. But I take it you have….whatever, I dunno, papers and all that?” How is he like this?

“Don’t know. What’s in the glove box?” He makes a flappy gesture in the general direction of my knees.

“How are you like this? Were you actually born like this, or did it come with fame and wealth?”

“You mean, was I actually born a flaming asshole, or just become one?”

“Meh. Yeah ok,” I shrug. “We’ll go with that. So, what’ll it be?”

“Ow. Straight for the throat, Delaney.” His tone is recriminating as he protects his throat with both hands. “Uncool, man. Uncool.”

I’m flipping through the owner’s manual. Before long I’ve programmed everything, located the GPS, found Simon’s Only In Italy playlist, and even found the button to pop the bonnet. “There you go. It’s workin now.” I toss the manual in the glove box.

“What’s working?” he asks.

I shrug. “Everything, man. Everything.”

He barks out a laugh, the grumpy fuck, and I realize I’m laughing as well.

I plug in the address for the flat and immediately the voice pumping out the speakers is a woman speaking Italian. So I’m maniacally fumbling with it again, while Simon drives on in a fit of laughter.

“Aw, come on! Let’s see how we do in Italian,” he gasps out.

“Fucksake. See how we do in Italian.” Shaking my head.

“No, seriously. Let’s hear what she has to say, this ummmmm, what should we call her - Maria! Because obviously.”

“Certo.” That gets me another laugh.

“Santa Maria, Holy Madonna, show us the way, in Italiano,” Simon pleads in a truly horrendous Italian accent. “I am so happy right now.”

He says it with a laugh. Such a thing to so easily roll off the tongue. Fella I met a few months ago, I never would have pictured bein happy, let alone noticing it, naming it, declaring it. Nice to see. Unexpected, know what I mean?

“I don’t trust you when you’re quiet that long, Delaney.”

“Hm?”

“Exactly.”

Am I missing something?

“Ok, so.” He clears his throat. “We know who I am. Who are you? Let’s hear it. Who is Billy Delaney?”

Aw, man. Serious? “How long we got?” Please don’t make me.

“How would I know?” he shrugs. “Maria’s speaking your language, not mine.”

“Fair enough.” I hit play, hoping the music will make the conversation trail off from there. But of course it doesn’t, because this is Simon. Si. Certo.

“What. Do you have some horrible second identity thing going on? Are you really even Irish? Truth time, Delaney.”

“You show me yours, I’ll show you mine?”

“Yeah, ok,” says the cheeky monkey.

“Oh,” I answer, not sure how else to dodge Simon’s inquisition. Uh, erm….. “Soooo, what mate? What do you want to know?” I ask, though truthfully I wish he’d just let it go.

“Is your name really Billy Delaney, and are you actually even from Ireland at all?”

“Yes.”

“Boring.”

“Brief,” I counter.

“Obtuse,” he counters.

“Si.”

“Oh my god, Billy. So where are you from?”

“Ireland.”

He looks around us rapidly. “Is she going to start speaking Italian? Cuz we just passed Ercolano.”

“Already?”

“Yeah! I know, right? Time flies when you’re torturing someone for information. So should I panic?”

“Nah,” I reassure him. “We've a bit more road before we turn aside. Maria can sleep on.”

“Alright. But I swear to God, Billy. If you don’t start coughing up some details, I'm serious, I will pull this car over. Do I have to pull this car over, young man?”

“Wow, that’s forceful.” Cos it is. “Ow!” I flinch when he swats my shoulder with a backhand. “Fine, ye bastard. My name is actually Lola, but I go by Billy Delaney. And I’m only mostly joking. One of the summer cousins I used to play soccer with couldn’t say William when we were little. So for a few months every year, I was Lola. There. Was that not juicy enough for yeh?”

“Charming. But from that I got these few details: 1. You have cousins. Conceivably fertile ground. We could continue that way. 2. You play soccer, and you call it soccer. Isn’t that illegal outside the US? No- don’t answer that. I’m not finished. 3. You go someplace where there are cousins to play soccer with in summer. Are we even still in Ireland?”

Em. I just sort of sit here and wait.

“And you really don’t want to talk about this, do you?”

“You are so easily distracted,” I tease. “No, but seriously, here’s some details for yeh. I’m 27. Left Ireland at 18, after graduating culinary school, and was sent out to do my apprenticeship. That was at a manor house near Galway,” I say, wrapping up the conversation.

“And…..”

“That’s not enough?” I thought that was a fair bit of information, to be honest.

“Do I have to turn this car around, young man?”

“I fear I might be missin some essential cultural reference here, mate.”

“Don’t distract me with your distractions, Delaney. Feed me.”

And that’s when Maria tells us to turn left.

—--/Simon/—--

I can’t fuckin believe that there are Irish pubs in Italy. Nor can I believe I’m in one. I mean, where do real Italians go to watch soccer? This can’t be right.

“All right?” Billy asks the bartender.

“Howeyeh,” says the man back to him, and Billy’s eyes go comically wide.

Next thing I know, I’m bored stiff, pretending to find the intricacies of European football interesting with a Welsh guy named Barry.

And whoa, turns out Billy’s day-to-day accent is pretty washed out in comparison to the thickness of his accent when he’s speaking to his new BFF. They’re speaking so fast that I can’t understand a word through their accents and grammatical errors. Welsh is so much easier.

That is, until I hear a voice disturbingly similar to Billy’s, requesting a Bud.

I swing back around in time to see Billy’s new BFF nod at him and begin turning toward the draft beers.

“No! Wait,” I wave. “He’s only joking,” I say, emphatically shaking my head no.

“Oh,” the Irish bartender looks back to Billy in surprise. “Were you?”

What, he thinks I’m lying? “Course he was! Certo.”

“Why ‘of course’?!” Billy turns on his barstool to face me. “What the fuck, Simon?”

“Sorry if I fucked up your joke, dude, but don’t drag it out, ok?” I say under my breath.

Disparaging other people’s beer of choice is like a national pastime in Brooklyn, because it frequently employs irony, and we are naturally good at it from birth. Don’t blame him, he’s new.

“I’ll take that Bud,” Billy reiterates. “Ta, mate.” The barkeep returns his nod and goes about the business of it.

“Billy? We’ve talked about this. You swore you’re Irish. Were you lying to me? Are you a lying liar who lies?”

“Why do yeh say that?”

“Because you can’t – you’re not – you’re not, like, allowed to drink bad beer when you’re Irish. Isn’t that illegal? Or fatal, or something?”

The big ape is just lazing back against the bar, sipping his pint of piss beer, looking at me in amusement.

“You’re like a caricature of yourself sometimes, Simon, d’yeh know what I mean?”

“Fuckin- What?! That’s not very nice! I’m outraged.”

“You should see yerself, mate. Yeh look like your face is about ready to split down the middle and outrage’ll start pourin out like lava from the fissures.”

I stop and cock my head at him. “That was both specific and descriptive. Nice one. But that said, how dare you! I demand an apology.” I’m trying really hard to keep a straight face. He has no intention of making it easy for me.

“Apologize? For what?” He gives me a cock-eyed grin. Oh look, his cock eyes are doing that twinkly thing again.

“You have offended my good taste and have let down your countrymen and native soil. Or water or whatever it is that makes all beer taste better in Ireland. The least you could do is the decent thing and apologize to your countrymen, and me, and then hide it in your jacket where no one can see you sneaking sips!”

He laughs because he thinks I’m joking.

“Do you just not like beer at all? And that’s why you don’t order the good stuff?” I prod.

“Simon, you are such a snob,” he says, and goes right on twinkling.

“Correct. And if you’re going to drink cheap beer, for god’s sake, order PBR and salvage at least some of your self respect.”

“Do you know this man?” the bartender asks Billy. “Is he harassin yeh?”

Billy is now laughing so hard that he’s almost fallen off his stool.

“We know each other,” I reassure the barkeep. “Don’t know how long that’ll last, all considered, though. Check back for updates.” I raise my pint of Guinness in respect.

“It’s czech. Budvar,” the man informs me.

“Ah, no! Why’d yeh tell him, mate!” Billy raises his hands theatrically. I’m telling you, theatre school. “Yeh just had to put him out of my misery, yeah?”

“And my misery,” says the man.

—--/-/—--

Ok, so what is it with the whole pub drunkenly singing “oh-ay-oh-ay” at the top of their drunken lungs, sloshin beer out of their pint glasses, whenever Europeans play soccer. Mebbe they sing it in Southmerica, too. Butwhatevercuz I don’ really care.

If you can’t – beat em then join em. Thassmymott, um, -o. Thassmy motto. Motto.

Where’s Billy? I can’t see him. If thissperson would get out of the frickin way. He’s all backed up against my face’n I can’t see. Anything. Nothin to see here, folks. Move along, people, move along.

Where’s Billy? Oyeah, right right right. Right here in my face.

I figure it’ll be easier to keep track of him if I hold onto his belt loop. Or a pocket or something. Yeah, I’m just gonna hang on to his pocket.

Pocket.

I like the word pocket. Lossa hard consnits that pop. Pop.

Pop.

I like the word pop. It sounz like it pops. And it’s the same backwards and forwards an’itsall about the lips. Pop ’ing.

What? Where’s he going? I’m trailing after him with my hand in his pocket. He keeps pullin it out and I keep puttin it back in. Oth’wise I’m gonna get lost and then where would I be? Huh? I wouldn’t even know!

“Oh! Now I know where we are! We’re on the block where we’re were where gonna sleep.” If make it up th’stairs. But Billy’s helping. He’s nice like that.

“You’re nice like that,” I say with a big smile. “And you‘re funny lookin.”

Wait.

“Oops! I mean yerlookin funny at me right now. Whass funny? ‘m’I funny? ‘r’Juss funny lookin?”

I crack myself up. Like in real life, cuz I’m laughing. Right now. Sometimes iss hard to stop laughing but I’ll be ok.

“Billy. Billy! Hey, Billy. What’re you doing? Tryin to get in my pants? That tickles! Oh, hey! Did we win? I mean, I don’really care - just wonren.”

Hey! Tickles! “Stop that! How’dyou know I don’t wanna wear those? I’ll take ‘em off when I feel like it. Prollymaybe take ‘em off tomorrow. Hey! I was wearing that! And that!”

He’s very pushy. “You’re very pushy. Stop pushing!”

I land on the bed and it’s like fluffy clouds of teddybears. “K, fine. I’ll go to bed, jeez.” Alls I wanna do is bury my face in pillow, but can’t breathe when I do that.

“Don’t close the door all the way, Ma. And leave the hall light on, K? g’Night, love you too.”

————/-/————

Masterlist || ao3 || Prev || Next

————/-/————

[dojae-huh]

hi huh 🫶 so many good news happened in just a span of one day yesterday, the reaction on X is chaotic so your blog is my safe space!

i love jaehyun's new song! it showed a new color of his vocals, and his lyricism (though i'm not really fluent in korean, i can't say much about it) and the chance for him to be creative and do what he wants. it was nice and refreshing 💛

do the ever supportive "co-worker", posting about every neo solo on his ig each time. it's endearing 🫶 has become a thing for jaedo, they really do have a special connection hehe

nct 2023 announced a few hours after jaehyun's solo, which i would admit a very bad move on sm's part. though i'm excited really, with the return of t7s unit and the upcoming nct concert. but i do notice one thing - where is nct japan unit??

i did my basic google search, lastart will be around 5 eps and this week is the 3rd eps. So 2 weeks more and we have the final lineup for nct's last unit. and it's just right before the nct concert and album release, so i was expecting them to be included in 😔 i feel very bad for these trainees, all these fans doomsaying and planning to boycott any nct activities is just evil they're innocent :( the fandom, at least on twitter is a whole mess, i can only hope that nct 2023 is as successful as the other nct albums. i feel it's safe to hide behind ask and say about this, and i love reading your replies so i hope you don't mind my thought dump haha

i'm also curious about your thoughts on riize? i've been actively following them and they're really good!! all the boys seem promising and i'm shaking with anticipation for new content haha. they just had their first ig live last night, it's cute how shotaro was suspected as the leader since he's leading the group greeting!

link for group greeting -> https:// twitter.com /riizepics/status/1688883426659872768?s=46&t=m039VaKV8OZmu71_7XkSMQ

hope u have a good day and thank u for readinggg 🫶

Hi,

X is like a busy market where everyone hurry, shout and shove others with their elbows, meanwhile small blogs are like bars with regulars.

I can't say much about Jae's lyrics as well. As English is not my native language, I can't even feel how off the English parts are.

Many pop songs don't have intricately crafted lyrics, they just rely on words of association, a few sentences that vaguely paint a scene or describe a feeling, therefore, Jae shouldn't be much worse than the average male singer nowadays, me thinks. He does try to be poetic, describe love taking certain moments in daily life, states of "being/existing" as a starting point (spending time alone in a room, longing; daily life on the road; yearning after parting), which is nice.

NCT2023 album will be released in less than three weeks, there is little time for promotion. If the shops are ready for pre-order, it is time to make the fans know. It's inevitable that announcements overlap, NCTLab is a side project, like SM Classics, not a solo album. Sm moving to NCT2023 doesn't mean the promotion of "Horizon" has stopped. "Forever only" was included in several articles with best songs, there was a remix.

The MV has Mnet 2023.08.03 stamp at the very beginning. Seems like the MV was originally scheduled to be released earlier, on the 3d and not on the 8th?

Fans are quick to say SM does something intentionally to undermine their artists, when oftentimes it's circumstances and SM's lack of staff to properly manage everything. Which should be fixed, for sure.

Let's appreciate that Jae's MV was shot in Italy, has the boyfriend vibe that will give the song a bigger chance to take off, and not in a studio with a few hung lights like Moon Sujin&Taeil's The Moon.

The last unit is scheduled (tentatively) to release the first solo at the end of 2023. The unit need to train together, shoot some promotional content (like NCT LIfe). Quite possible they will start with a showcase in Japan to launch them. It is Riize' time now.

NCT2023 will have merch. And you can't make one for NCT Japan while the members are still unknown. Plus, the fans will hate the new unit for "riding on the coattails". They haven't earned the NCTnation concert yet.

It's OK. SungTaro were accused of every possible evil as well. A couple of years later the same fandom was crying over their departure.

Every NCT album was planned to be boycotted. Didn't happen.

Riize group greeting

I've checked Riize IG and the first track video, I will observe their debut. I have a feeling they will become like WayV for me: I'll tune in only for the albums and won't follow closely. The concept isn't for me. I have no interest in bands and the garage group aesthetics. Seunghan and Shotaro are the only attracting factors, the new members didn't pick my interest. I might as well just subscribe to a Seunghan stan acc to not lose the sight of him.

[navs-bhat]

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@youreobsessedwithtoomanyfandoms

I tagged 42 of my posts in 2022

#marvel - 7 posts

#bucky x reader - 5 posts

#sebastian stan - 5 posts

#mcu - 5 posts

#bucky - 4 posts

#bucky barnes - 4 posts

#marvel fic - 3 posts

#bridgerton - 3 posts

#anthony bridgerton x reader - 3 posts

#anthony bridgerton - 3 posts

Longest Tag: 95 characters

#no offense but literally hes just a man hes not a hero hes just a man who had to sing this song

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

11 notes - Posted May 10, 2022

#4

Okay so I was reading this enemies to lovers bucky barnes one shot and well my phone switched off and I've lost it

So basically it goes like Tony and Steve send the reader and bucky for some time to Tony's winter cabin and well there's not enough food there and one bed and the couch dissapears and the rules are they can't say no

So bucky makes the reader call the pizza place but the reader tells him they'll only do it if he excepts that the last mission was his fault and then since he says that won't ever happen

The reader tells him to call the pizza place

"I want a cheezy pizza with extra cheese"

"Shut up"

Help me find it ahhh

11 notes - Posted February 13, 2022

#3

Student Of The Year Rewatch Thoughts? Idk reallly know what this is yet lmao

I hope this reaches my target audience

Firstly, it's been too long since I've rewatched this I used to watch it whenever it came on tv and I'd find it while surfing

Secondly, I still enjoy this movie I think lmao

Let's see

-okay so to start with the kukkad song

-I never realised that the lyric says " ainu vekhe de munde to kehnde Oh My God" I always thought it was kudiye both times

-kinda gay tbh jk jk

-Abhi is in the wrong tbh like this guy is parking a bike in a car park and then is like who said this is an entitled rich boy's parking LIKE WHY ITS A CAR PARK NOT A BIKE PARK

I STILL DONT KNOW HOW I HADN'T REALISED IT TILL NOW

-then he goes and ruins a beautiful Ferrari😭

-one big question I have is how can Abhi even have thee audacity to get into physical fights with rich boy on what seems to be his first day

-this man is here on a scholarship he can't afford to do all this on his first day bro

-I always loved Siddharth Malhotra more than Varun Dhawan while there were many dying over varun

-I remember the whole thing was just as big as Team Edward or Team Jacob here okay

-Rohan is too mean too Jeet

-ALSO why was even Shanaya still with Rohan like according to her first few lines he definately has a habit of flirting with other girls while he calls her his girlfriend LIKE GIRL YOU COULD DO BETTER

-Rohan's dad and brother are too mean yikes

-no wonder rohan hates his dad the way he does

-why is the dean so weirdly gay its too funny but at the same time CRINGE

-it's sad to see Rishi Kapoor now :(

-all the parents are so weird

-THE WHOLE CONVO ABOUT PUSHUP BRA AND FLIRTY DMS BETWEEN TANYA AND HER MOTHER DBCBFUFBGUEFGHFOIUHKEFJBSJK

-SHE SUGGESTS SURGERY?????!?!?!?!?

-Sumo is so sweet actually

-Dean massaging the coach 😭😭😭

-DID BOMAN IRANI JUST SPANK RISHI KAPOOR IN THE FLASHBACK SCENE WHAT IS HAPPENINGCJNUDKBKJ

-hes so gay its gay

-BIG FAT INDIAN WEDDING

-TOO BIG FAT MAN

See the full post

30 notes - Posted May 3, 2022

#2

HI

I lost this fic I was reading

Help

It was basically an Anthony Bridgerton x reader and the first half was just reader chatting with Colin Benedict and Eloise where Colin pulls the readers leg about being unmarried and the reader snips back and takes Eloise's hand

Uh she has a gossipy mother

The reader and Anthony share this passionate look and the reader goes to the lemonade stand to look around and spot Anthony but she doesn't find him instead this other guy I forgot his name shows up and starts talking to her she decides to ask him about his trip to Italy to keep him talking while she ignores him

Eventually Anthony takes her away from tha guy and they are in the garden and he's jealous and she teases him by asking him why he hasn't kissed her yet

AND THATS ALL I READ BEFORE TUMBLR RANDOMLY REFRESHED

SO HELP

40 notes - Posted April 17, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Okay so I went to the page cause someone said they missed the book sucking scene and others said thank god its not there

Bur anyway the whole kate having a horseback accident reminds me of this one x reader fanfiction I read here

It was the same basic plot but the reader and Anthony were married and she was going to look for Anthony himself

I'm assuming it was inspired by the books but I love this

60 notes - Posted March 26, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[mostbeautifulloveinlife]

200819 In the Soop S01 E01 VMIN Moments to Cherish

Recently I felt the need to watch In the Soop again and I thought I would make some posts about each episode and the amount of Vmin moments that are to treasure and cuddle like little puppies. Okay cringe enough, let's go with the list of moments.

INTRODUCTION

So I don't know if it's noticeable but this season is sponsored by Fila

So the introduction has the production team explaining BTS about the show and how they can ask them the things they want to take in their little cabin in the forest. They are so humble it makes me cry rainbows because they literally don't know what to ask or ask for things that are very characteristic of each one (like Jin's big ass fish tank) and in the first few minutes we don't get a lot from Jimin or Tae. Then the camera cuts to Jin asking for some canvas in order to paint with Yoongi (hello, my second comfort ship) but we can see Tae talking and staring lovingly with his puppy eyes to Jimin

I mean look at him. LOOK AT H I M.

In Italy we say something like "less is okay too" so less love Taehyung, we get it already

After this little interaction we heard Tae coming back to whatever was happening like why-are-we-gathered-here-anyway-oh-right-the-show and he then proceeded to ask something.

"Hello sir, yes, you say we could ask anything we like, well can you get me this very rare and refined wine called 1520 that I absolutely want to drink in the middle of nowhere for reasons? thanks"

Now I am particulary found of Taehyung because his brain in built different from other people, he just is his own and I'm not excluding the theory that Tata's story is autobiographic and he is really an alien who came to earth to become an idol, so one thing is 1) Tae just asked for this for no particular reason other than him being him or 2) he talked with Jimin about the wine and he just took the chance to ask because that would make a very nice occasion to spend time together and you know ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) (hold hands and hug because they're friends)

(=˃ᆺ˂=)

THE VMIN CAR JOURNEY

This is a moment we can really cherish because it lasts so long and it's full of love I'm crying in the club. As always I would like to thank Hobi because he is the president of this ship and he gives us the air we need to breathe so he decided to put himself in the same car as the boys and practically living our dream in real life

Leaving so early should be against human law but Jimin took the time to really wear his hanbok and we really have a mochi so early in the morning looking like this

Also me every second of my life

(this screams so much parenthood and it's also a very war flashback of the dumpling incident Y'ALL)

THEN WE HAVE THIS.

SAMEEEEEEEEE

It's already past August 2020 I think

IN THE SOOP

All of them finally arrived in the house by the soop (tmi but before actually seeing it or hearing about it back when it was announced i though this show was going to be called "In the Soup" and I expected a cooking show) and looking at them going around to see everything with Jimin wearing the hanbok feels like watching a isekai drama with someone from old Korea who has been teleported in the future to be part of an idol group.

then my soul was healed once again (Alexa play Love's Theme by Barry White)

We also had a brief moment of vmin playing football before grandma and granpa Jin and Suga called them to eat lunch

so now my delulu mind will enter the scene to say this. While they were eating Taehyung put a piece of meat on Jin's bowl who was going for seconds and after that he put one piece also in Jimin's bowl who was sitting next to him. I read many beautiful soul warming posts of amazing vmin fans that put together moments where Tae did that to Jimin, feeding him or just making sure he was getting delicious food so my mind thought that, although he really meant to give it Jin as well because they are just a bunch of beautiful souls and they are so domestic and oh my god I'm dying he did it so that giving it to Jimin didn't feel to exclusive? even though they knew them and knew they usually do that and probably nobody care and we are so used to them feeding each others like little birds. But really, I see feeding Jin who was looking for what was left in the pot but then he so quickly feed his soulmate as well. And Tae is also the one saying about himself that he is alway on the receiving side of love while he does these little love gestures. I'm not okay.

that's some dope brotherly love there yes thank you editing team

YES like the song for Jimin? By the end of August 2020? But I forgive him because he cleaned all the dishes and was so good that Jimin even felt the need to praise him because words of affirmation and love is what friends do

Tae was locked out of the room and when asked what was the password to enter his brain went inside the Jimin related folder to think about one

and then the last moment we had is the very unexpected always full with suspence and plot twists moment where bts decides room arrangements for the night and guess who always decide to sleep near each others? Yes I was very shocked too, didn't believe it.

And that's all, sorry for this ass long post but the next ones will be long as this as well. I hope you enjoyed this recap of vmin moments as much as me. I purple all of you.

[disappointingyet]

Priscilla

Director Sofia Coppola Stars Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi, Ari Cohen, Tim Post Italy/USA 2023 Language English 1hr 53mins Colour, black & white

Stranded in Graceland

When it was announced that Sofia Coppola was making a film about Priscilla Presley’s relationship with Elvis, there was a general ‘Yeah, makes sense’ vibe. Coppola mostly makes movies about young women (2020’s On The Rocks was a rare sortie into middle age) and her characters are often trapped by their circumstances and operating in constricted (but usually quite grand) spaces. 

All of this is true of Priscilla, which could be seen as a companion piece to Marie Antoinette, with Graceland taking the place of Versailles, showbiz royalty subbing in for the dynastic kind.  

The early part of the movie had me thinking, ‘I know that happened, but I can’t believe it happened…’ Imagine you’re a couple in 1959 on a US military base in Germany, an air force officer and his wife, and your 14-year-old daughter is invited to a party at Elvis Presley’s house. The biggest pop star in the world, very much a grown man. Yes, your daughter/step-daughter is bored and homesick and will be endlessly sulky if she’s not allowed to go – and who could blame her? – but how could you possibly justify saying yes*? 

But of course, they did say yes and Priscilla met Elvis and despite the fact that she was a child and he was in his twenties, a relationship (kissing only at that point, the film seems to be trying to reassure us, as if that would be OK) began. 

Cailee Spaeny plays Priscilla from 14 to her mid-20s (Spaeny is 25) and it’s rather unnerving how convincing she is in those early scenes. Jacob Elordi (who is Australian) has worked hard on the Elvis voice – I think he lacks a bit of spark, but maybe that’s what Coppola was going for (I haven’t seen the Baz Luhrmann film, so can’t compare Elordi to Austin Butler). 

What’s interesting – in critical terms – here is how this is and isn’t like a conventional biopic. Is because we can see the span of time and the changing hairstyles etc. Isn’t because even when the protagonist becomes reclusive (The Aviator, say, or Love & Mercy) that’s by contrast with what’s come before. But after Priscilla arrives in the US from Germany, apart from quick jaunts to Vegas and LA, she’s stranded in Graceland. This is all a bit Rosencrantz and Guildenstern – the story of what was going on off-stage while the ‘main’ story happened elsewhere.

And yet, there are moments when it does feel a bit TV biopic, especially when we get to the late 1960s and early ’70s and Elvis’ comeback usurps the story from Priscilla for a few scenes. But a great ending pulls it back from the brink. 

The film didn’t have the rights to Elvis’ music, and that might seem like big setback, and has been a big problem for movies in the past. But of course, this isn’t an Elvis movie and Coppola and her musical collaborators, including her husband’s band Phoenix, have assembled a wonderful soundtrack that does the job perfectly. 

I had huge expectations for Priscilla going in – Sofia Coppola is a director whose movies I always make a point of seeing in the cinema, and, like I said at the top, this seemed to be a perfect project for her. And probably because I had those high expectations, I was a bit disappointed. 

The film is too long (even if it is short by today’s standards!) – somewhere in the late ‘60s section I was thinking, ‘Yeah, we get it.’ And for a while, it does become too like other rock biopics – and, in critical circles, if not necessarily audience ones, there’s a strong sense that Bohemian Rhapsody destroyed any remaining patience for these cliches.

Ultimately, Coppola is a far better director than that and she’s made a film that’s far more interesting than most rock movies. But those trad moments  mean it falls short of greatness.

*In case you’re assuming that like Elvis, the Beaulieus came from one of those parts of the American south where very early marriages where still common, nope – he was from Quebec and she was from Brooklyn.

[literaryfic]

i want to address the criticism about how vincenzo was acting out of character when he decided to save cha-young and not help han seo/neutralise han seok.

so, at first i felt the same way (i was about to post about it) but i wanted to gather my thoughts beforehand and i’m glad i did because i have a new perspective on this.

i want to say that the criticism is completely valid and understandable and that not everyone will share my point of view and it’s okay.

especially because vincenzo did act out of character.

the vincenzo we all know and love is always composed, extremely smart, quick on his feet, has amazing instinct...

in the past few episodes especially, the writers have really shown how invincible he is. he outsmarts all his ennemies, and they admit defeat. e.g. choi myung hee tells han seok he’s not someone they can beat. han seok goes to prison as a last resort measure because it’s the only way he can protect himself.

han seo even said in this episode that it will be okay [even if han seok wants to kill him] because he has vincenzo, and vincenzo knows everything, keeps him safe and beats up all the bad guy. he even asks “how can you be so amazing?”

and surely, vincenzo just like his name suggests, always succeeds. they’ve been showing that consistently the entire drama, it’s satisfying because he always triumphs, often without anyone’s help or at least by his own means.

however, in ep 19, vincenzo doesn’t succeed, or doesn’t succeed on his own.

1. he doesn’t beat up all the bad guys. he almost does, but he’s out numbered, cornered until the tenants appear. the ones saving the day are the tenants. it’s all of them working together that saves the day. they succeed as a family, as people coming together to conquer, not just vincenzo being moves ahead of everyone.

2. he doesn’t know everything. he did not anticipate myung hee’s sacrifice and han seok getting out of jail without anyone knowing. he didn’t see their move coming.

3. he didn’t keep [them] safe. cha-young and han seo both get abducted. vincenzo couldn’t protect them from han seok.

with this scene, the writers literally told us what would happen/was happening.

so yeah, the rational thing for vincenzo to do would’ve been to allow cha-young to flee by freeing her leg, than go on to help han seo overpower han seok and disarm him. and if this was the beginning of the drama, that’s what he would have done.

but there’s nothing rational about vincenzo in that moment because he’s scared. this is the first time that we’ve seen him AFRAID. (except maybe when his brother’s men almost got him killed but i would argue that it’s different bc it was only about himself, about his life.)

vincenzo has just lost his mom, and realised how hard it was to miss someone who’s dead. at first, he didn’t have any strong enough attachment in south korea to truly know what grief meant.

vincenzo has a family now. he has friends, companions. people who he cares about and who care about him. he has someone to lose.

cha-young is obviously the closest to him and the person he cares for the most. there’s no denying that. apart from his mother, she is his weakness.

in this episode, we see him accept his feelings for her. i think he’s realised he loves her a long time ago, but up until he decided to not leave for italy at the end of ep 18, he had never allowed himself to give those feelings a chance, to give cha-young and himself a chance.

in ep 18 he realised that he couldn’t leave her and that it was possible for him to stay by her side (or at least come back later and then stay). he made up his mind.

so when han seok kidnaps her, vincenzo is scared. not for his own survival, but for her. he’s scared to lose her because he knows how bad his mother’s death hurt him and he would rather get killed than let cha-young die. he even decides to sacrifice himself for her.

he’s not thinking straight, there’s no logic behind his actions. he’s a man that’s scared to lose the person he loves the most.

and so the moment he has a chance, he prioritises her survival over everything. he doesn’t do what’s right, he only does what he can.

his new found family might be his biggest strength, but it’s also his biggest weakness, his achilles heel. vincenzo up until now has been a dark hero who was always victorious, invincible. but now he’s become human, someone with fears and flaws, a mortal.

we’re used to watch vincenzo and get this satisfying, gratifying feeling of the dark hero always beating the bad guys, always coming to the rescue, always ahead of everyone. but in tonight’s episode, or at least its ending, was vincenzo failing. this obviously throws off most watchers.

the ultimate win will be even more satisfying and amazing to watch because of how disappointing/frustrating the end of this episode was.

anyway, that’s just my take on it. i think the writers made a choice in doing this because it’s part of his character development.

i’d be very interested to talk about it tho, especially if you disagree!!! i definitely felt wronged when i first watched this lmao.

[1ddiscourseoftheday]

Mon 14 June ‘21

Louis Tomlinson Cooks is here!! Yeah it’s 100% for sure as delightful to watch Louis make himself a sandwich as you might have hoped, but how was his cooking? Well I’ll let Louis rate himself-- “I’m not gonna lie not that appetizing is it, I mean look at it,” he says when it comes time to taste his creation, plus, “chopping peeling slicing not great to be fair- everything else I’m all right” (he’s… not wrong, even aside from the peeler issues has this man ever held a knife??) but- “it probably tastes nice though as I said it’s not about presentation for me… [munches cutely]... it’s actually pretty banging, that’s actually quite nice!” Success! Maybe it’s cause he knows the secret to faking good cooking- “as you can see I don’t have a lot of cooking ability so the more butter the better,” I mean the experts can tell you, that’s advanced stuff right there! #Louis-aChild! Substituting mustard and ketchup for coleslaw is a bit of a bold move, but in a belated attempt to convince the kiddos to eat some healthy veg even though he won’t he does bravely try the cucumber strips despite being “not really a man for cucumber” and makes a pained attempt to be positive- “bit of crunch.” Oh and speaking of crunch I’m relieved to have learned that the waffle is NOT a waffle, it’s a crispy waffle shaped bit of potato; a much more reasonable fish sandwich addition than the American version of a potato waffle! Full Time Meals polled to see what people think of Louis cooking; the two choices are “it was amazing” and “the best,” THEY GET IT. My kind of Louis poll! Helen Seamons rated him a “10/10 for effort and entertainment”, Masterchef acknowledged Louis as one of their own, and Marcus Rashford keeps it simple- “my guy” with a lil heart. YEAH, SAME.

Harry showed up in Italy, where he was papped in Venice being driven around (with PA Luis) on a boat (as you do, in Venice). He’s in a cool embroidered Bode shirt and shades and fancy hair, looking good. He’s seen carrying his suitcase, taking photos, and resting his head on his arms looking like a model. One might think, since we just saw the My Policeman cast and crew on set celebrating the wrap of the shoot, that they were done filming and Harry was off to do something different, but nope, he’s there to film! The book has key scenes in Venice that folks had been wondering about the filming of, and David Dawson is also being boated around Venice for the paps, so, it seems that was just for the wrap of the *UK* filming, which makes sense I guess since it would mostly be different crew I imagine, and perhaps some of the main cast are done as well.

Liam’s NFT sale is happening tomorrow! If you’re confused and want more info, I’M NOT GONNA HELP THAT MUCH… uh but I mean you can check out Liam’s youtube video explaining though I would guess that won’t help much (even Liam thinks so; “there’s probably websites that explain a lot better than me” he admits). There is a roundup now posted of what’s on offer for the buyers of the NFTs but I’m gonna be really honest with you, I’m more confused now than I was before. It’s clear that there are only SIX LONELY BUG NFTs right? They for sure said that I believe. But the packages for each different piece (token bundles) seem to me like they’re available to multiple buyers? Like maybe you don’t get the NFT but multiple top bidders on each get the extras? Like they can’t be selling multiple copies of the NFT... can they?! Isn’t the WHOLE POINT that only one person gets to own it? I DON’T FUCKING KNOW I AM SORRY. What I think I understand to be true: the six NFT buyers get to go to “a once-in-a-lifetime immersive dining experience at Resorts World Las Vegas” (this is the dinner with Liam and “a selection of crypto leaders from around the world” which takes place on display inside a giant glass box) and also “a bespoke commemorative presentation box containing the world’s leading holographic display... with audio... and a custom made Lonely Bug commemorative coin,” and “a unique QR code directing the owner to a special ‘Director’s Cut’ edit of the short digital film ‘Making Of Lonely Bug Collection’ which features unreleased footage from the day of the drop showing the creators' reactions when the winning bids came in” (I mean YEAH I would think it’s unreleased it literally hasn’t happened?) But then there are really a lot of other extras including tickets with Meet & Greet access to any Liam Payne headline show around the world, admission to pool and cinema parties in Vegas with Liam, signed art, non-Liam extras (I will literally bid to NOT have 20 minute phone calls with those crypto entrepreneurs PLEASE… but that’s just me), and access to an online party hosted by Liam; I really get the impression many of these, especially the last one, are just crypto tokens that are for sale that aren’t linked to the main Lonely Bug NFTs and many more than 6 people can buy them but a lot of the extras I’m not clear on which it is. Perhaps tomorrow I’ll understand better WE WILL SEE.

Liam also dropped by the discord last night to say some hellos (after a “long long day”) and that he “bought a piece of NFT art of myself tonight I’m going to give it as a prize Monday night so someone can own a piece of art that was owned by me” (an even less tangible bragging point than simply owning an NFT wow that’s an achievement) and the most important update- “I want a French Bulldog”! Oh and he said “that’s like one I did myself” in his fanart channel to a pic of a tiny crocheted illustration of Louis and Harry holding up a rainbow flag. Didya Liam?? (...Liam is crocheting??) Anyway I recognize who it’s supposed to be because it’s based on a familiar piece of fanart, but Liam definitely might NOT realize it’s meant to be someone specific, and tbh I’m more <eyeballs> at him saying that at the rainbow flag crocheted thing than at it being shippy.

Our Song acoustic version is out this Friday!! And Niall talked about NH3 some in an interview today; “I’m in the studio most days, it feels really good. I’m kinda in the latter stages of it and then I’ll go get a band together and go in and record the whole thing. I’ve just kind of been writing for the past 9 or 10 months and really enjoying it” and “It sounds like a complete album. God knows when it’s coming out because I’d like to be able to get around the world to see all the fans as well” and “It’s different. It sounds a lot more grown up. I’m 27 so it’s about time. I really wanted to kinda cement a sound. The singles I’ve released previously have all been kinda different sounds. I would like to have my ballad sound & like a cemented uptempo sound.” He and Anne Marie also talked about one of the other songs they wrote together saying, “It’s kind of like a, how do you describe it- guitar driven meets Tom Petty meets Katy Perry meets…” but say “We haven’t really decided if we are putting it out yet, the conversations are kinda happening... but it’s completely different (from Our Song).”

[sunflowerdarlingx]

Fred Weasley - “Fred doesnt date” 2

Hi everyone, I hope you’re all okay <3

Here is part two to “Fred doesn’t date”, please let me know what you think, I do have a part three idea ready but wont post it unless some of you want it. 

PART ONE

Female Reader 

Warnings: none 

------------------------

Some might say Fred Weasley was scared to commit, some would say he enjoyed the player lifestyle and others would say he was some sort of sex addict who just enjoyed multiple partners but not all at once.

The truth was, Fred was indeed scared. He felt that the people close to him were he only ones he could trust, the only ones he could truly open up to. He was very happy with his life and his relationships, those he chose to build were stronger than most. He never expected to be drawn to Y/N, he also never expected to develop the feeling he did.  

He was utterly shocked at the way their relationship progressed, he had never felt this before, the butterflies he would get when he saw her or the way his heart fluttered when their skin made the slightest contact or the undeniable feeling of love he had when she fell asleep in the common room all cuddled up into Fred’s chest after a night of her homework and him planning pranks.

This is why Fred Weasley didn’t date. It always got complicated. Feelings of anger, hatred, sadness filled him up and he couldn’t take his eyes away from the scene in front of him. Cedric placed a kiss on Y/N’s jawline before placing one on the corner of her lips. Soon enough his lips were on hers as his hand moved down to her waist whilst the other supported the back of her neck so he could pull her closer.

Fred knew he should look away, he knew he was torturing himself watching the scene in front of him unfold.  

He wanted to scream, he wanted to go over there and pull Cedric as far away from Y/N as he could. An overwhelming need to break his hands for even touching Y/N in such away creeped inside his body and his fists clenched at his side.

How dare he.  

How dare he stand there and touch her, kiss her, do all the things that Fred should be doing with her.  

Surely he had heard the rumours. He knows how close they had been getting. How dare he interrupt that and take her away from him.  

Tears pricked at the corner of Freds eyes, threatening to spill at any moment. He knew he couldn’t stay there, so he didn’t. He forced himself to look away form the two and turned to head back to his dorm.  

He thought Y/N liked him, he thought she felt the same way he did. Why did she kiss Cedric if she knew?

He was angry with himself, he was so stupid to let himself get attached to her in the first place, he knew it was a bad idea but she was so bloody addictive. Every little thing about her drove him mad but in the best way possible.  

As Fred walked down the corridor the tears started to fall freely from his eyes, scared someone would see him he ran as fast as he could up to his dorm. A few girls saw him and tried to stop and speak to him but his feet carried him straight past them. His top teeth were embedded in his bottom lip to stop the sound of heartbreak escaping his mouth.

Even after what he just saw, no other girl could take his attention away from Y/N. He made it to his dorm, he was greeted by a smiling George who soon had a look of fear paint his face.  

“What’s wrong Freddie?” his voice was laced with concern as he walked over to his brother. He had never seen Fred in such a state. His eyes were red and puffy, his cheeks were wet with tears and his lip was bleeding slightly. It was obvious this wasn’t from a fight so what had gotten Fred so worked up?

Fred stood still in front of his brother, he looked around the room before a broken sob left his mouth, George’s heart broke at the sound. George wrapped his arms around Fred and pulled him close. “Mate what is it? You know you can tell me anything”  

Loud broken cry’s left Freds mouth as all his emotions bubbled over, chocked sobs and snotty sniffles filled the room as he collapsed against George. Though Fred and George loved each other dearly, they never really hugged, it wasn’t uncommon but it wasn’t something they did regularly. They usually hugged when something good happened, like when they got the money for the shop that they planned on opening over the summer or when it was their birthday. George couldn’t believe that the reason they were hugging was because Fred was, well heart broken.

“Digger kissed her, he actually fucking kissed her” Fred shouted as he pulled away from George. “How fucking dare he, who does he think he is” he pulled his shirt over his head and wiped his face with it before putting it in the wash basket.  

“Fuck...Fred I’m so sorry” George had never seen Fred so angry, even loosing quidditch to Slytherin never had him this mad. His hands were in fists by his sides whilst his chest heaved with anger, jaw clenched.  

“I should have asked her sooner Georgie, why the fuck didn’t I ask her sooner” soon the anger was replaced by sadness, which consumed Freds body as he lay in his bed. He’s never been so emotional before, his heart literally felt like it had been broken in two, he felt weak… hopeless  

“Cmon mate, why don’t we go down to dinner, food will help and I’m sure we could see if the elf’s could get you ice cream, like what mum does when you’re upset”  

Fred buried himself in his duvet, “nah I think I’m gonna stay here, don’t really want to have to sit and watch her and perfect Diggory be all over each other again”

“I’ll take you something back then, just please come and find me if you need me, even send one of the first years down and I’ll be here as soon as I can okay?”  

Fred nodded “turn off the lights please on your way out”, George left the room and anger flooded his body. He hated seeing any of his family sad but the fact it was Fred, it was prankster Fred who was always laughing but now broken, angered him even more. He wanted Fred to be happy but after seeing the state he was in, it felt like it would be a while before laughing Fred returned.  

-

“Ced, I really think we should go and find Fred, what if he’s looking for us” Y/N pulled Cedric by the hand towards the staircase leading to the Gryffindor common rooms.  

Cedric pulled her back toward him, wrapping his arm around her waist “cmon you agreed to a snack first” he looked down at Y/N with his best pleading eyes. She rolled her eyes before grinning at the boy beside her “fine, only because I’m hungry”  

They made their way down the corridor, “he’s probably off shagging some girl in our year, doubt he’s looking for you”. Y/N felt angry hearing that, she knew Fred had a reputation but they had been getting closer and going on dates and stuff, surely he wouldn’t be off seeing other girls when he was suppose to be spending the day with her George and Lee.  

“I don’t think so Ced, he was suppose to be spending the day with us” her voice was quiet as she looked ahead of her.  

“Oh cmon Y/N you can’t be serious, Fred doesn’t care about that, as long as he’s getting a shag then he’s happy” Cedric laughed. “What’s going on with you two anyway?”  

“Fred and Me? Nothing...we are just friends” Y/N looked down at the ground, the thought of Fred with another girl upset her, Y/N had always hoped that the rumours going around school just now were secretly true. That Fred was finally settling down with someone. With her.  

Cedric turned them so Y/N rested against the wall, “are we friends Y/N” he asked as he rested his elbow above her.  

“Of course Cedric, why would you ask that?” she looked up at him, forcing a smile.

“Well if I’m honest, I’ve always liked you Y/N, obviously I figured it’s better to tell you now before it’s too late. Especially since I’m leaving at the end of the year.”  

“Oh Cedric...I’m not sure what to say, I’m flattered really” suddenly her shoes looked very interesting.  

“Cmon Y/N, I’m so much better for you than Weasley, he can’t give you the things I can, plus you know his reputation just as well as I do. Remember that time Lucy is my year came into the common room crying her eyes out because Fred said he didn’t want her? What makes you think you’d be different?”

Y/N couldn’t help but frown. Cedric was right, Fred did have a reputation for hurting girls, she never thought he would really mean to hurt them but what if he did? He’d led her on and now he was no where to be seen.  

Why would Fred change for her? She was nothing special. Plenty girls at school were prettier than she was, smarter than she was. She was a fool for thinking Fred would want something more.

“We would be good together Y/N and you know it. Summers in Italy or at yours, your brother loves me already so we know he’d be on board with it us. Plus, look” he gestured down to his body “who could say no to all this”.  

Y/N couldn’t help but giggle at Cedric, she had always found him quite attractive, though they really only started speaking last year, Y/N had lost all her puppy fat over the summer, her boobs had gotten a bit bigger and her arse and curves were more defined.  

“Hmm summers in Italy do sound good” she teased  

“I’d hope I’d get your attention more than just through the summer” he leaned down placing a kiss on her cheek.  

“I’m sure we could arrange that if it’s your deepest desire” he smirked against her before placing another kiss on her cheek.  

“It’s all I’ve ever wanted” he teased, placing another kiss on her jaw, “can I kiss you?” His voice was a low whisper in her ear. Y/N wasn’t sure what to say, on one hand she would like to kiss Cedric, she did use to have a crush on him, but the other part of her wanted to say no, hopeful that Fred would maybe want her.  

Her body reacted before she could, nodding at Cedric. He grinned down at her, he ran his hand across her cheek pushing her baby hairs back form her face, she giggled at the contact.  Cedric placed a soft delicate kiss on her jaw and then her lips, soon enough their lips where moving in sync but something felt off.  

She pulled away before smiling up at Cedric “cmon we better go and get ready for supper” she places her hand in his and pulled him towards the common room.

-

When she got to dinner she sat with Cedric, laughing with him and his friends, her attention was drown to the flash of ginger hair walking into the hall. It was George, she looked over and smiled at him, shock consumed her when he glared at her. If looks could kill she’d have been dead.  

His eyes trailed down to the table where Cedric has his hand rested on top of hers. George looked angry, his face turned slightly red and his nostrils flared. He walked over to the Gryffindor table, immediately meeting with lots of “you okay George?” “Where’s Fred?” “What’s got you so angry?”.

He was sat with Lee, Angie, Alicia and Katie, once he told them all what happened they were fuming. None of them really liked Diggory in all honesty, from the way he acted during quidditch to his show off personality, they all thought he was a bit of a tool.  

To say there were all shocked was an understatement, they had all seen Y/N and Fred together and even they knew they were more than friends.  

“Well I won’t be saying hi to her again any time soon” Alicia said in a bitchy tone, “how could she do that to Fred?”.

-

Fred eventually got hungry, and honestly he hoped food would comfort him. He pulled on a hoodie with his grey joggers and made his way down to the great hall. As he entered he avoided looking over at the Hufflepuff table, usually he would look for Y/N and send her a wave or a wink or a goofy grin but not today. Not ever again, he thought to himself when he reached his friends. He was sat in between Lee and George, both of them giving him a pat on the back as he sat down.  

They tried to distract Fred by talking about new pranks and quidditch plays but he wasn’t really paying attention. He was desperate to turn around and look at her, to go over and pull her away from perfect Diggory and convince her that she should be with him instead but he knew he had to be strong. He knew he didn’t stand a chance against Diggory, after all, he he was the better option, he would give her the things Fred couldn’t, like luxury holidays to Italy.  

Ginny came over to them and sat in-between Fred and Lee, giving her brother a comforting hug once he explained what happened. A few little sobs leaving his mouth which he covered with a cough. Fred had spoken to Ginny loads about Y/N, she was the only one who wouldn’t slag him off for being all lovey dovey about her.  

“Fred, don’t look now but Y/N is coming over” Alicia said as she kept looking over to where Y/N walked over towards the table. Fred groaned and felt his eyes start to water.  

Ginny turned around and glared at the girl coming towards her, “bitch” she mumbled before turning to Fred. “Want me to tell her you don’t wanna talk?”

“Fuck” he rubbed his eyes with his pointer finger and thumb, “it’s okay gin, I can’t exactly avoid her”. Y/N came over and wrapped her arms around Fred’s neck, pulling down his hood “what’s up with you Freddie?” her voice whispered in his ear. Fred tensed at the contact, before relaxing at her voice.  

Y/N was worried about Fred, he was never usually late to dinner and she didn’t even get her usual goofy smile off him.

Her voice was one of his favourite sounds, he often fell asleep to her voice in the common room late at night when he’d sneak her in. His head would rest on her lap as she read muggle tales to him, the way her voice soothes him sent him into deep slumbers. He couldn’t help but melt in her arms and at her words, she’s always so caring.

He looked at his friends who were all sending glares her way. He sucked in a breath before pulling her hands away from his neck, he turned around and looked at her. She frowned at his current state, his hair was a mess, eyes bloodshot and face red.  

“Nothing I’m good” Fred stood up and, made his way out of the hall.  

“What’s up with him Georgie?” She turned to look at Fred make his way out the hall.  

Ginny scoffed and rolled his eyes at her, “hmm I wonder” sarcasm laced her voice as she tapped her chin. Ginny learned at a young age to look after herself and then she very quickly realised she had to look after her family. They always came first and no one said anything bad about them.  

She’d had her fair share of arguments with boys and girls over the years, boys trying to slag off her brothers out of jealousy and girls complaining about rejection. Knowing how much Fred liked and cared for Y/N only made Ginny angrier, Fred actually allowed himself to get close to someone and she broke him. She stood up to face Y/N, eyes staring her down, “why don’t you go ask your new boyfriend Diggory? Maybe you two can recreate some of the dates my brother took you on”, her voice was cold as ice as she spoke. She shoved past Y/N and went to look for Fred.  

Y/N’s eyes widened as she looked down at George, he just looked at her before a “she’s right” left his mouth and him and the rest of the people he was sitting with left the hall.  

-

Y/N was shocked, she was an idiot for underestimating what she and Fred had. She stood for a moment trying to think about everything that had happened. She majorly regretted kissing Cedric now, she should have spoken to Fred, asked how he felt but she was an idiot. She let her insecurities get the better of her.

She decided to go to her dorm and call it a night, at about 2 am she woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep, her mind in overdrive. She decided to go for a wander out to the gardens to look at the stars.  

-

Fred was in and out of sleep, if he wasn’t having dreams about him and Y/N, he was dreaming about her and Cedric.  

He woke up after dreaming about walking in on Y/N and Cedric, Cedric was above her, hands running down her body, they were laughing at Fred as he stood at the door watching.

“Oh Freddie, you didn’t actually think you had a chance with me, did you?” Y/N’s giggle flooded the room but it wasn’t her normal laugh, it was laced with mockery and hate. “Why would I settle for you, poor little Fred Weasley, can’t even commit to a girl. You honestly think I’d settle for that? Cedric treats me so much better”. Cedric leaned down kissing her roughly..

Fred shot up from his bed, chest heaving as he tried to calm down. He was an idiot for thinking he stood a chance, why would she be his when he’d been with so many other girls? When Cedric could offer her the world and he could offer her a summer at the burrow?  

He got up and chucked on shorts and a hoodie, making his way out his dorm and out the portrait. He made his way around the castle avoiding the prefects and Filtch. He reached the gardens and was sat on the grass looking up at the stars above him.  

He was staring up at the moon, all he could think about was Y/N, the way she laughed, the way she listened to everything Fred had to say, the way she could brighten up even the darkest days and the way she made everything better.  

He thought about Christmas, he’d asked her to stay with them over the festive period. He was looking forward to spending all his free time with her, playing in the snow and showing her all his favourite places around the burrow. He knew she’d love their garden, the stars were even clearer there. He was to engrossed in thought that he hadn’t heard Y/N walk up behind him,  

He was even looking forward to having her meet his mum and dad. Molly was shocked when she saw the letter from Fred asking for his new friend-girl to stay over at Christmas. Molly had a feeling another sweater may be needed.  

“Freddie….” Her voice was a whisper but still managed to make him jump “can I join you?”……..

Part Three

Tagged

@manuosorioh @itsbebeyyy @britishspidey @supermassiveblackhope @impossibelle @jenniweaslee

[infinite-wanders]

Do you have any prediction in mind for S3 of Never Have I Ever? 🤔

I hadn't thought too much about it but rather had wishes here ... and my Ben predictions here

So... let's get into predictions that I will most likely get wrong 😅 I didn't realise I had so many until I started answering.

**

Devi eventually has sex with Paxton, and leads to her sexual awakening.

Am very much here for the trope "she fell, he fell harder."

I'm still open to them revealing that Paxton is also a virgin (like with Ginny x Marcus)

**

Nalini notices Devi is more relaxed and calm around Paxton, and brings her back memories of Mohan and Devi’s relationship.

This could lead her to accept their relationship ... until Devi’s grades drop. Nalini then has a discussion about Paxton not being good enough, a comparison to Ben is part of the conversation.

Paxton overhears as he climbs into Devi’s window and the sting on his insecurities put a strain on their relationship.

**

I'm hoping this doesn't happen, but when they've talked about a scene that left them all crying, I was thinking that Ojichan passes away.

**

Paxton goes back to swimming (I feel this was set up in s2 when he was able to lift weights after his accident. Not just a scene for thirsty teens)

He is able to get a collage scholarship that likely won't be Princeton (at first) which will lead to the long distance relationship convo.

Paxton has hinted that he doesn't consider long distance a viable relationship (s2 ep1) ... which would maybe be what his advice is to Fabiola when Eve moves to Korea.

That is until he realises how in love he is with Devi and they will end up being long distance. So to avoid this he works hard to get into Princeton. And he gets in on scholarship but then something happens and Devi is on the waitlist. To get it she feels forced to write about her trauma as suggested by counsellor Ron and we see her work through her grief ... but then maybe writes about all her messiness as a teen - titled Never Have I Ever (see what I did there).

**

Would love to see Eleanor x Trent's relationship blossom and they be the surprisingly super wholesome couple of the show, given Eleanor's track record with Oliver and old mate.

Trent is just El's biggest support/fan and his think out loud attitude would keep El a bit down to earth but also encourage her flair for dramatics.

**

Fabiola - I just love her moments when she is really honest about her feelings, ie. Confessing about being queer, popping off when devi drenched her, standing her ground that she is a nerd who loves robots (and loves eve).

Just want to see our girl happy, not bottle up her emotions to avoid confrontation (relatable but not healthy) and comfortable in her identity so more of that please.

**

I saw a post by Ben Norris (trent) from set captioned When In Rome.

Am still unsure if to take this literally as a possible scene in Italy but def gave me Lizzie Maguire vibes.

**

I don't have any predictions for Prom yet. Happy to leave it as a surprise for myself than try imagine and end up disappointed.

**

Thanks for coming ✌️

[royallyprincesslilly]

Title: Crown For Two {1}

Henry Cavill AU x OFC Xari Thornton AU

Warning: Plot, Mild Cursing, Cheesy Christmas Themes, 

Words: 6.1k

Summary: Xari Thornton is a travel photographer with a blog and social media that garners some heavy-duty traffic. People tune in to see where she is and what she’s doing there, all in hopes of either living vicariously through her or to plan their next vacation.  

Her slogan; “Traveling the path to the most off-beaten places, so you don’t have to.”  

Her next stop on her four destination travel itinerary of “Places You May Never Have Heard Of” is Sandvell, a small European country. When her plane makes an impromptu stop due to bad weather, she has no idea where she is. It feels like she’s stepped inside of a snow globe and back in time in a modern way. It leaves her fascinated. 

This bad weather forces her to stay at an Inn, The Beaux, for the night. Rather than letting the hours tick by in her room, she explores and meets the friendly locals. While taking photographs, one local in particular captures her lens with eyes as blue as the ocean and a jaw that was chiseled from stone. They strike up conversation during their time drinking at one of the local bars, Ickles. Once they separate, she gets herself into a harrowing situation.  

As soon as she awakens, she realizes she’s not in some fever dream, but a palace and the owner of the palace is none other than the local she met before with the piercing blue eyes, His Royal Highness Henry Wellington Leopold Danglishton, First of his name, Crown Prince of Brexendor.

Note: All right, all right people, the ride begins. I really, really hope you enjoy this. As a note, it’s going to be fast-paced a bit, and I am gonna overload you with pictures because why the hell not, it’s a Christmas Fic. 😁 Feel free to come by and tell me what you guys think.

As always, thank you all for reading, I appreciate each and every one of you.

If you enjoyed this, please, LIKE, COMMENT, REBLOG!!! ❤️❤️

***Loosely Edited/Proofread***

***Interactive***

***Picture Heavy***

Chapter One

“You were supposed to be on your way home.”

 You rolled your eyes as you scoffed. You’d mentioned nights ago that you thought you should just go home, but then you went to your next destination. It was a moment of weakness or it could have been loneliness. Your schedule took a lot out of you. No one saw it because it was all behind the scenes. All anyone ever saw were the incredible places you went to, the fun things you experienced, and the culture you soaked up. What they grasped was whatever you posted in your pictures.

 “You know I can’t. I started this series, and it’s gotten the eye of a lot of sponsors, and one of them is even talking about some really big ideas at the end of it if it goes really well. that could be incredible for my brand,” you explained.

 Anika sighed loudly. You knew she was annoyed with you right now, especially it being December.

 “I know you’re disappointed. I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you.”

 “Whatever.”

 “Attention, ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. It looks like we’re headed right into a storm. We’ll be experiencing a little turbulence as we veer off course a little bit as we try to evade this thing. Please return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts.”

 You sighed while buckling your seatbelt, preparing for what was coming.

 “What’s happening?”

 “Going through some turbulence. It should be fine,” you assured your sister.

 “Ma’am, I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to hang up.”

 You nodded to the flight attendant and promptly ended the call promising your sister that you’d call her back when you landed in Sandvell. As soon as you hung up, the turbulence began. It started out with slight bumps, that you could sip your drink through. Then graduated to bigger bumps that had you gripping the elbow rests. When the entire plane started to shake, your heart leaped into your throat. One minute passed, then two, and after five minutes or so, the speaker came back on.

 “Ladies and gentleman, your captain again. We’re going to be landing shortly. This storm is not one to be messed with. I apologize for the inconvenience, folks, but on this airline, we choose safety above all else.”

 You weren’t going to argue with him. You definitely didn’t want to risk your life over getting to your next destination. What was a one or two day delay? Once the pilot got to a lower altitude, the majority of the turbulence subsided. It was another ten minutes before the plane landed, but when it did, all you could see from the window was white overcast with darkness.

 When you had your belongings gathered and began walking off the plane along with the other fifty or so passengers, you tried to find cell service, but you had zero bars.

 “Excuse me, where are we?”

 “Uh—I’m actually not sure, ma’am. Patricia, where are we?”

 The two flight attendants looked puzzled. The second asked a third, and that third asked another. None of them seemed to know. That was not a good sign, you thought. Once you’d walked down the long corridor that served as the connection between the airport and the plane, you found yourself in one of the classiest airports you’d ever been in, and you’d been inside quite a few as a travel blogger. As far as the eye could see, it was class, with the exception of the floor.

You looked around you and marveled at the detail in the design that was around you. Where most airports were mainly logically designed without lavishness. This one looked like lavishness was the first priority. The floors looked to be made from the finest paonazzetto marble. You remembered the name because of the substantial time you’d spent in Italy trying to capture architecture through your camera lens. Reaching for your camera around your neck, you began snapping a few frames of the floor. Getting lost in picture taking, you found yourself at one of the many glass windows snapping pictures of the airplanes on the tarmac.

 Hearing the commotion of raised voices behind you, you looked back and saw the passengers of the plane you’d just disembarked from gathered in a huddle. You walked back toward them in time to catch a question from a concerned passenger.

 “How long are we delayed? When will we get back in the air? I have to get to Sandvell.”

 A man wearing a mixture of royal blue and white colors cleared his throat then spoke. “I apologize, ladies and gentlemen, for the delay. There is a storm heading right for us on the path to Sandvell. Continuing through it would be lunacy. Our only viable option is to wait it out.”

 No one seemed to like that answer. All the questions flew out at once. All their voices overlapped, and you could tell that the gentleman was overwhelmed by not only the volume of questions but also their voices.

 “According to our team here, we’re expecting possibly a twenty-four to thirty-six-hour delay.”

 Everyone groaned in unison, everyone but you. You’d traveled enough to always expect the unexpected. Things like this didn’t bother you so much now, three years into your career. The only thing that bothered you now was that you’d have to rearrange your hotel plans as well as finding somewhere to sleep tonight.

 “You said here,” you began with all eyes trained to you. “Where exactly is here?”

 The gentleman cleared his throat again. “Brexendor.”

 The crowd murmured as they looked at each other. Clearly, no one had ever heard of Brexendor. Some even pulled out their travel map to scour it for the country.

 “So what are we supposed to do now? Where do we stay?”

 “We are in the process of arranging accommodations at one of the inns within the capital. If you all would work with us so we have your names to get your luggage to you in a timely fashion so you can be shuttled over to the Inn, that would be appreciated.”

 Everyone filed into a line in front of one of the four airport staff, hoping to hurry matters along while you searched your phone for any information on where you were. When you typed in Brexendor into the search engine, the first thing that popped up was a map of the country. Apparently, it was next door to Sandvell. They were considered sister countries.

 “Population three million, run as a monarchy, considered one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Average life expectancy one hundred and ten years. Well, damn.”

 Someone clearing their throat brought your attention up in front of you. You were next in line.

 “Sorry.”

 The woman with brown eyes and blonde hair smiled warmly. “It’s all right, Ms--.”

 “Uh, Thornton, Xari Thornton.” You handed her your passport and boarding pass and waited as she scrolled through her tablet.

 “Ah yes, Ms. Thornton. Here is your paperwork. On it, you will find where you can retrieve your luggage and the shuttle number that will be taking you to the Inn. Once at the Inn, just provide your name, and you will find everything has been taken care of. On behalf of Brexendor Aviation, we humbly apologize for this snafu.”

 Her customer service training was on point, you thought. Her smile was warm, as if she really meant the words she’d just said. Finding it refreshing, you took the paperwork and proceeded to where she was motioning. Everyone you passed as you walked the fancy halls had a warm smile plastered to their face and even warmer words of welcome. You felt as if you’d stepped through into some alternate universe. You made a voice note about everything you encountered. You wanted to make sure you captured your authentic feelings and reactions in real-time. It made writing about your experience on the blog page easier. You’d even found that readers and supporters liked the play by play with your added thoughts. They commented it added personality.

Once you’d made it to the baggage claim area, your jaw dropped at the change in décor. There were Christmas trees that sparsely decorated the space, and they were all lit with the same blue, silver, and white theme. It contrasted with the latte color of the leather seats and the cream offset tables. The design gave the space an elegant but also comfortable vibe. When you slipped into one of the chairs, you released an audible moan. It was like sitting on a cloud.

 After gathering your luggage, you followed instructions through a hall lined with Christmas trees, stopping every so often to take a few pictures before you made it to the front of the airport. As you stepped outside, your eyebrows shot up seeing the fresh snow cascading from the sky. The bite in the air had you bundling your jacket tighter, but it did not stop you from snapping a few pictures. One turned to ten and ten to fifteen until another person clearing their throat brought you back to reality and to the waiting bus ahead of you.

You took a break from pictures and called the hotel in Sandvell, hoping to alter the dates of your stay. What you expected to be a hassle and a long drawn out process ending in them saying they were booked and nothing could be done, turned out to be quick, easy, and painless. The Luxembourg Hotel assured you that your room would still be available and there would be no charge for the altered dates. You made another note on your phone, a point you had to stress when you wrote your piece.

 You continued snapping pictures from the window of the bus with an easy mind. Everything you passed seemed like it didn’t belong. It all looked so old fashioned but so modern all at the same time. The buildings looked to have been standing since the beginning of time in the materials they’d been built in, but the displays were from the twenty-first century. It was the most exciting contradiction. The only word you could think to describe it was—quaint.

 When the bus drove over a bridge, you got a semi-bird’s eye view of the town across the water, and your jaw nearly dropped.

 “Brexendor? What the hell?”

 The entire drive had you widening your eyes like a child seeing an insane amount of presents on Christmas morning. Buildings were decked out in Christmas lights, and every door had a wreath with blue and silver Christmas ornaments. Almost every few feet, the sidewalks were decorated with poinsettia trees that were half the average human’s height, and the way the freshly fallen snow-dusted their tops only made it even more perfect.

 By the time the bus stopped, you’d taken so many pictures, and part of you was dreading having to go through them to choose the ones that would make the cut. You knew it was going to be a next to impossible decision. As you stepped off the bus, you felt like you’d walked right into a snow globe.

“Holy shit!”

 You spun, taking in a full three-sixty view of your surroundings. all the glistening lights and the falling snow only made it feel even more magical. You didn’t know where the hell Brexendor was or why the hell they rolled like this, but you were excited to see more. When you stopped spinning, you realized several other people were snapping pictures and looking just as marveled as you were. After gathering your luggage, you followed instructions and walked across the street to the building that a friendly looking man with slightly greying hair was standing before beckoning you inside.

 For the second time that night, you felt as if you’d stepped into a Christmas movie set. The interior was set so cozy. It felt like a Christmas cottage, and you loved it. Instinct had you reaching for your camera and taking a few shots of the Christmas tree in the corner by the fireplace and the plaid decorations on the leather couch. Even the pictures on the walls got a snap.

 “Miss?”

 Looking back to the owner, you smiled and approached the desk.

 “Hi, I’m so sorry. This place is so gorgeous.”

 “Thank you. I wish I could take the credit, but it is all my wife.”

 Just then, a beautiful brunette came out wearing a bright red sweater and one of those spoof reindeer antler headbands that bounced with every move.

 “Hi, there darling. Welcome to The Beaux. I’m Anita, and this is my husband, Borik. I heard all about your ordeal. I’m so sorry.”

 You shrugged but kept your smile plastered on your face.

 “It’s all right. Can’t control the weather, right?”

 Anita smiled and nodded. “Definitely not in Brexendor.”

 “I have never heard of this place before, and I am lost how. Everything is gorgeous and so quaint. How have you stayed under the radar?”

 Anita and Borik looked at each other with an all-knowing look that you wanted in on.

 “Guess it’s just happened,” Anita cheerfully said.

 You knew they knew something. Staying this under the radar, including from America, didn’t just happen. This took work. You wondered who in charge in their right mind would make a stupid decision like that.

 “Okay, what’s your name, darling?”

 “Uh, Xari Thornton.”

 “Ah-ha, I told you, Borik. Once we were contacted with a list of names that would be checking in, and I saw your name, I told him I just know she’s gorgeous and look. You are a vision.”

 You couldn’t help but smile widely while trying to keep your head under proper proportions.

 “Thank you.”

 “You must have quite the many suitors where you’re from,” Anita continued.

 You snorted and shook your head. The reality was you were as single as the number one with no prospects.

 “No suitors here.”

 Both Borik and Anita looked shocked, as if you’d said the most appalling thing.

 “That can’t be true. Borik. She’s single and at twenty-eight. Even our Kennedy was at least engaged by the time she turned twenty-seven. Here that is unheard of. A woman is usually married by twenty-four, especially if she’s a looker.”

 You pinched your lips, trying to keep your laughter in. this was not the first time you’d been called an old maid. Hell, your mother said it often, especially since you flat out turned down Maurice’s proposal three months ago. She was livid.

 Anita must have sensed the awkwardness of the moment because she cleared her throat and brought all her attention back to the reservation.

 “Well, your room is prepared. I took the liberty of giving you one of our prettiest rooms. Would you like Borik to carry your bags up?”

 “Uh—no, I’m sure I can manage,” you began.

 Borik stood, shook his head, and came around to you.

 “I won’t hear a thing about it. I’ll happily carry your luggage up. Follow me.”

 “That’s my Borik, ever the gentleman,” Anita filled in with an enamored smile before Borik walked off, leaving her to check in a few of the other passengers from the plane.

 You listened to Borik tell the story of the Inn and how it got its name. You kept one ear on his story while you took in every detail around you. The wood looked so rustic, and you guessed that was what gave the place such a warm and welcoming feeling. The higher you climbed, the more you saw, and the more you saw, the more you liked. You followed Borik down a hall, noticing that all the doors you passed had mini wreaths decked out in the same blue and silver ornaments like at the airport and throughout the streets.

 “Ah-ha, here we are,” Borik said before he put the key into the lock and pushed the door open. Once he did, the scent of cinnamon and pine hit you in the face. It was like the hand of Christmas came out and smacked you.

 “My wife loves the smell,” Borik explained as you stepped inside. You smiled and thanked him for his help.

 “If you get hungry, you have a few options. There are plenty of places nearby you can eat some authentic Brexendorian food, but also my wife cooks every night, and dinner usually is at eight o’clock, but tonight Anette has agreed to keep some heated for anyone who would like some. It’s stew, rabbit.”

 “Oh, thumper. Wonderful.”

 Borik laughed loudly with that one. “I know that one, Bambi, the children’s cartoon. Good one Ms. Thornton.”

 You smiled. “You can call me Xari, Borik.”

 “Well, have a good night,” he said before he walked out.

 Finally alone, the first thing you did was text your sister to let her know not to worry and give her an update on what was happening. After you let Anika know what was happening, it didn’t take long for your phone to ring. The next ten or so minutes were spent talking to Anika and telling her how amazing the things you’d seen so far were. You could not shut up about the decorations, the way the snow looked to have been groomed to lay on things perfectly. It was that damn picturesque. Since you couldn’t stop talking about it, Anika was the one to suggest you go out and enjoy it before you got back on the plane. It was a suggestion you fully intended on listening to.

 Fifteen minutes later, you were back downstairs bundled with your camera and your purse, ready to explore. When you told Anita your intention, she gave you a map of the city and highlighted places to look at but cautioned you to hurry because stores would be closing soon, and nights during Brexendor winters could be brutal. You promised you’d be quick and careful, then stepped out, ready to explore like Dora.

 Your first stop was a block down, a children’s toy store. It was decked out with all the latest toys along with some traditional things that Santa would have brought specially made from his workshop. While you were snapping pictures outside the window, a kid ran up to the window and pressed his nose to it. His eyes were wide, and his mouth matched their size. You asked the adult with him if you could take a picture. When they approved, you got one or two from a few different angles before they walked off.

 As you walked through the city, enjoying the scenery, you took pictures of everything that caught your eye, ornaments, trees, people, stores, even pets. Christmas wasn’t your favorite holiday, but it was your second favorite, and being here really as inching it higher on the list.

 When you felt a strong wind hit you, it stopped you in your tracks. It was strong enough to have you stagger backward a little, allowing a chill to sweep through you. You looked around and saw a few feet away was some sort of bar, and behind it was swirling snow that looked like a tornado. You hurried toward the building, being careful not to slip on any ice that may be hiding underneath the snow. Once to the door, you walked inside, and the sound of Christmas carols filled your ears.

 “Jesus.”

 If the scent of the Inn felt like Christmas slapped you in the face, the look and sound of this place was the one two-hitter that settled that you were in a whole nother world here. You looked around and found a coat rack along the left wall. After placing your jacket and scarf on the hook, you walked to the bar and slid onto a stool. As you waited for the bartender to come over, you looked around. Here it didn’t smell like cinnamon, but the pine was present, along with the smell of alcohol and licorice.

There were several small dark wooden tables around the bar with chairs and even booths that decorated the walls. The floors matched the tables, and those matched the walls. This place looked like somewhere you’d find in the middle of nowhere. The window to the back of the establishment showed the dark woods with tall snow-covered trees and that howling snow tornado.

 When you turned back to the back, the huge elk head above the wall lined with alcohol bottles had you gasping.

 “Jeez,” you said as you snapped two of three pictures of the creepy looking thing.

 “That is Hogan’s prized possession.”

You looked beside you where the voice came from to see a very attractive man there. When you’d sat down, you didn’t notice anyone beside you, so to see his piercing blue eyes boring holes into you. Your eyes traveled lower to his awkwardly shaped nose. It looked like it had been broken once or twice and never quite went back to normal. You didn’t mind it, though. Who liked a perfect face, especially when looking at him, seemed like that was about the only thing that was not absolutely perfect. His jaw was carved to precision like he was specially crafted and not born. When your eyes fell to his lips, you purposely forced yourself to look away.

 “Is—is that right?”

 “Yes. I bet you cannot guess why,” the stranger said in a crisp European accent that was very close to British. You weren’t one hundred percent sure if it was or not, he just sounded proper as hell, and it was actually a bit of a turn on.

 You shrugged while looking at the bottles that lined the back of the bar. “Enlighten me.”

 Just then, a large man with blond hair in a man bun walked over. He had to have been over six feet tall, and if this were America, he’d definitely be a shopper at the store Big & Tall. The man looked to the one seated beside you, ready to speak but suddenly closed his mouth.

 “Hogan, Ms--,” the stranger began waiting for you to fill in your name.

 He thought he was so smooth; you thought as you smiled to yourself.

 “Xari.”

 His eyebrow shot up, and he smiled sweetly. “Wow, what a beautiful name.”

 You smiled, and as you felt it widening, you bit onto your bottom lip to stop it. “Thanks.”

 “Ms. Xari would like to know why Shandoe is your most prized possession.”

 “Shandoe?”

 Hogan looked behind him at the Elk’s head then smiled. “It’s been in my family for generations. It was the first thing my great-great-great-great-great grandfather ever killed for himself to feed his family. They ate everything but the head and decided to keep it as a reminder of where we came from.”

 You were expecting some weird manly story but what you got was a wholesome and heartwarming tale. You smiled, raised your camera, and snapped Hogan, and as he stared at the Elk’s head with such a loving look on his face that was such a contradiction for his large frame.

 “Are you a reporter?”

 “No, no. Not at all. I’m a travel influencer and blogger. I go around and soak up what the world has to offer while taking pictures and writing about it on my blog for others to read about.”

 The man beside you nodded, then raised his glass to his head.

 “What can I get you?”

 “Uh—what is he drinking?”

 “The Mistletoe Bomb.”

 You snorted, unable to contain yourself any longer. “What in the world is that?”

 “You laugh now, but it is a blend he makes special for me. It is not for the faint of heart,” the man beside you informed.

 “Oh no, well looks like I’ll be having one of those.”

 Hogan looked to him, then back to you. “It is all right, Hogan. Give the lady what she wants. I am assuming fell strength is also what you require?”

 “Yes, full strength. I want all the mistletoe and all the bomb.”

 Hogan went to work, making the drink while you continued looking around.

 “Em, I’m Henry.”

 You looked to him to find his hand outstretched to you, waiting for you to place yours in it. When you did, you repeated your name as you noted how soft his hands were. It felt like he’d never done a day’s work with them. Henry rose your hand to his lips and placed a soft kiss on the back of your hand. It was one small action, but that action had butterflies flitting in your belly and your cheeks heating as if a heater was aimed directly at your face.

 “I am delighted to make your acquaintance,” Henry uttered while looking into your eyes.

 “Same,” you whispered.

 Henry released your hand and turned back to his drink at the same time Hogan placed a mug before you.

 “One Mistletoe Bomb for the lady.”

 You looked at the large mug then to Hogan, who waited expectantly. When your eyes drifted to Henry beside you, he too was watching and waiting. No matter how much you felt like this was a setup, you persisted, not wanting to back down. When you took your first full mouthful of the drink, your eyes immediately bugged. Your tongue was on fire in seconds, and it seemed the longer you held the liquid in your mouth, the worse the burn was. You gulped it down and instantly knew the mistake. Not only was your mouth on fire, but now your throat and chest as it burned a fiery path to your belly.

 “Holy fucking shit!”

 The two men boisterously laughed, the sounds booming off the wooden walls before filling the entire room. You looked around, noticing for the first time it was completely empty.

 “What the hell is that?”

 “Something that will put hair on your chest,” Hogan teased.

 “No, shit.”

 Henry seemed to like that response; he laughed again then finished his mug.

 “How can you drink this?”

 He shrugged, then turned his body to you. You gave him a well-paced once over, taking in his furry winter boots, dark pants, and dark sweater to match the pants. Underneath the sweater, though, you saw peeks of a crisp white shirt. He dressed like he had money, you thought.

 “I have done it for half my life. I do not even feel the burn anymore. Do you know why he calls it Mistletoe Bomb now?”

 You giggled and nodded, pushing the mug away. If you drank that, you’d need to be carried out of here. As Hogan appeared to take the mug away, Henry reached for it, insisting he’d finish it while Hogan placed a beer bottle in front of you.

 “Would you like a straw?”

 You looked at Hogan as if he were crazy. Who drank beer with a straw? You shook your head and raised the bottle to your lips to take a swig. This was more your speed, not pure petrol.

 “So you are new in town,” Henry began.”

 “Kind of. My plane had to detour because of the storm, so here I am in a place I’ve never heard of and cannot figure out why.”

 “Is it strange to never have heard of every place in the world?”

 You thought about it for a moment as you took another mouthful of beer then nodded.

 “Yes. I’m from America,” you began.

 “Ah, American. Let me guess. Everything has to be discovered, and if it is not, then either it doe not exist, or it is being hidden.”

 You snapped your mouth shut. He’d guessed American thinking in one try. “Well, that’s not fun,” you added. Henry laughed and took his mouthful of fire.

 “I am sorry. I know America well,” Henry informed.

 “Oh, so you’ve been?”

 “No. I do not need to. I have spent my entire life learning it.”

 You looked back at him, confused by what he meant.

 “Every country gives lessons on other countries of the word, especially powerhouse countries,” he explained.

 “Well, your studies have paid off.”

 “Do you really believe that everything has to be discovered?”

 “No. where is the fun in that? I believe that the world has to have some mystery.”

 “Then welcome to Brexendor,” Henry said with a smile.

 “Brexendor. What’s it’s deal?”

 You leaned closer, resting your elbow on the wood of the bar as you watched him.

 “Deal? I am afraid I do not understand.”

 “What I mean is, the people are nice. Everyone I have encountered, including at the airport, is nice. You know airport staff can be so mean, but not here. The people who own the Inn I am staying at are so sweet. Even strangers I bump into don’t;’ seem to mind. Not to mention, this place has the whole snow globe effect down. It’s incredible. What is the deal? Is the president some fantastic guy who pays everyone well and gives them ample vacation time for them to be so happy?”

 Henry smiled, dipped his head lower, then rubbed the back of his neck.

 “Would that be unusual?”

 “Yes. Compared to what America has going on—highly unusual.”

 “Well, the first thing to know about Brexendor is, a president does not run it,” Henry clarified.

 “Ah right, it is a monarchy. So does that mean there is a king, and queen, lords, dukes,” you began, then gasped, remembering more. “Princesses?”

 Henry smirked, gulped his drink, then nodded. “Yes.” He continued to take another swig from his mug.

 His words slowly resonated. “What!? You’re serious?”

 He nodded, then placed the glass onto the bar.

 “Wow. How interesting. So this King and Queen are they the good kind?”

 Henry’s smile turned somber before it disappeared altogether.

 “Did I say something wrong?”

 “No, no. Yes, the King and Queen are the best kind,” he filled in before he took the last mouthful of his drink. “They would like you.”

 You laughed loudly and shook your head. “Me? I doubt that. While all the mothers of my boyfriends have loved me, I don’t think the King and Queen would care for me.”

 “Boyfriend, so uh—you’re involved,” Henry said as he avoided your eyes.

 His words sounded like a statement rather than a question, so you remained quiet. After a few moments, he looked at you expectantly. You pinched your lips before you finished your beer.

 “Are you involved?”

 Henry took a deep breath looked forward to the bottles at the bar as a pained and confused expression washed over his features.

 “I’ll take that as a yes,” you replied.

 “I am not—involved,” he answered.

 “You said it like you weren’t sure.”

 “It is complicated.”

 “Well, I am a stranger in a bar—an empty bar. You’ll most likely never see me again, and I’ve been told I’m a great listener.”

 Henry smiled then turned back to you, resting his elbow on the bar mimicking your stance.

 “You have not answered my inquiry.”

 “Inquiry?”

 Henry smiled again, then bit his bottom lip. That is where your eyes went to. He had nice lips, you thought.

 “On if you are involved,” he clarified.

 “I am not involved with anyone. If you ask my mother, she will tell you I’m an old maid with no prospects.”

 “I do not believe that. You are funny, intelligent, fun to be around, and quite beautiful. There is no way you have no admirers.”

 You smiled and began toying with your necklace.

 “I’m sure you say that to all the girls you meet in deserted bars during a snow storm.”

 He snorted, and you felt his breath across your cheek. It was then you realized how close the two of you were to each other.

 “To be honest, I have never found myself alone with a woman in a bar. You are my first.”

 You bit your bottom lip feeling more flirtatious than usual as you gazed into his hypnotizing eyes. He was gorgeous and becoming even more so with every passing minute. The two of you ordered more drinks, then drifted off to one of the booths on the wall that was more hidden and even more comfortable. You talked about nearly everything and nothing at the same time. He spoke a lot about philosophy and astronomy and the sciences that motivated a lot of the earlier theories. It was fascinating just listening to him speak. There was something about his mouth and the properness of the words he used. Never once did he use slang or even a contraction. You’d never met anyone who didn’t use contractions. The longer you sat there, the more you felt like never getting up.

 “There is something about you that is so comfortable and easy,” Henry began.

 “You too.”

 “I feel like I can talk to you about anything. I even want to.”

 You smiled, “You too.”

 Your eyes lingered, and you saw him sway forward, but then he stopped only to do it again and again. With your faces were centimeters from one another, it was then you noticed the slight speck of brown in his left eye. You felt Henry’s hand gently cup your cheek; then, his thumb slowly stroked your skin. The heat from his palm seared your cheek, and every stroke of his thumb send heat tendrils down your jaw to your lips, making them tingle and yearn for his.

 This had never happened to you in your entire life. You’d known this man a few hours and were ready to possibly bring him back to the Inn with you. Henry didn’t move. It was like he was giving you the last few centimeters to make a decision, but you didn’t make it. A phone went off, but you both ignored it until the sound went off. You raised your hand to rest on top of his. Once your skin touched his, Henry lightly sighed out. Before either of you could make another move, a phone rang again. This time Henry groaned before he looked away just as you did.

 You cleared your throat and slid from his body as he checked his phone.

 “I have to go,” he announced.

 Frozen, you sat there trying to understand if you’d read this entire thing wrong.

 “I am sorry, something—urgent has come up.”

 You snapped out of it, then nodded. “It’s fine. I should probably get back to the Inn anyway. They say a storm is brewing.”

 Both of you stood from the booth while straightening your clothes.

 “I really enjoyed tonight,” Henry added.

 You smiled and nodded. “Me too. It was—nice.”

 Your eyes lingered again, and your bodies drifted closer. It was you who looked away first and stepped back. You reached for your purse, but Henry stopped you.

 “It has been taken care of. Let us call it a tourist special, right Hogan.”

 “Right your--,” Hogan began before Henry looked at him, cutting him off.

 Henry ushered you to the coat rack on the wall by the door then helped you into your jacket.

 “Can I drive you back to the Inn?”

 “No, please. I am more than capable of getting back,” you assured.”

 “Are you sure?”

 You nodded then turned to walk out, but Henry pulled you to him. “I want to see you again.”

 “I don’t see how. I leave tomorrow as soon as the storm passes.”

 Henry looked to be thinking before he sighed. “I guess it was not meant to be,” you whispered, a tinge of sadness filling you as reality set in.

 “In another life,” Henry softly said.

 He came closer then placed a slow, chaste kiss on your cheek before he released you. The two of you stared at each other for a few moments, and in those moments, anything felt possible. When you faced that anything could have been possible but not for you, you sighed. A few seconds later, you turned and walked out of the bar.

Once outside, the rough wind caught you off guard. You took a few moments to bundle yourself, then continued walking back to the Inn. The swirling snow in the air made it a little challenging to see, but you tried the best you could. Several times, the wind picked up and shoved you where it wanted, forcing you to grab on to something to hold until it passed.

 Suddenly a big gust of wind blew you to the right and knocking you off your feet to roll for several feet. When the wind slowed, you rolled over onto your back to spit out the mouthful of snow that you’d managed to ingest. It took you several tries to stand, but when you did, you tried to see where you were and what direction you needed to walk in. That was when the wind picked up again, making you scream. When you turned, you saw two headlights coming right at you, then all you felt was pain before you were out cold.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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