#i can literally reenact this show beat for beat in my room and i am mouthing the words outside patron's line of sight

[vogelmeister]

my two greatest acting performances to date, in order:

number two: in year 11 english when my teacher asked for homework i didnt do, so i feigned confusion and pretended it was in my other english folder

number one: when a patron at work asks me if i am sick of the show

[stqrnlvs]

"traitor." c.s.

warnings: bad language, slightly suggestive, my second attempt at fluff, chris is slightly flirty

summary: you and bsf!chris spend some bonding time together, but it takes a turn

i sighed as i rolled over on chris' bed after staying the night at his and his brothers house. i was on my phone watching social media, alone in the serene downstairs bedroom. i hear the garage door opened, and smiled at chris when he entered the room. i exchanged greetings with matt and nick as they passed the door before chris closed it.

"hey," he breathed, sitting next to me as i sat up. "hi," i replied. "i'm lowkey bored right now. what do ya wanna do?" he asked while turning to look at me. "we should play roblox again," i giggled, laying back down. my hair separated around my head as he laughed looking down at me. "okay," he agreed.

we lay next to eachother while he plays with my hair as his game loads. "dti?" i ask, looking away from my phone and turning to him. "oh you're so getting beat," he scoffed. i playfully rolled my eyes as i joined dress to impress.

"beach?" he read out. "these hoes are cooked," he giggled. i laughed at his confidence. "what? i'm getting first place unless these bitches don't know what real style is," he retaliated. "okay buddy," i sighed. "i'll show you, and then you won't be doubting me."

i put on a short skirt, a bikini top, sunglasses, flipflops, and the little coconut. i was about to add jewelry but the round had just ended. "fuck you," i spat at the game for ending already. "if you want to," chris breathed. "shut the fuck up," i giggled as he laughed with me.

chris reenacted his poses in the game, which made my stomach hurt from laughing. "you- you look like you're on drugs," i stuttered. "am i eating? is this giving diva?" i laughed even harder. "you slayed the house boots down, houston i'm deceased!" i replied.

the round ended, and i had gotten first place, while chris got third with his striped t-shirt with jorts and sunglasses. "these hoes clearly don't know what fashion is. this is fucking rigged," he said as he slammed a pillow. "christopher," i laughed at his reaction, blocking all the pillow blows. after winning many more rounds and chris claiming each round was rigged - ("i don't understand why they're all meatriding you, without me too-"), we both decided to play some murder mystery 2.

the first few rounds went fine, both of us getting innocent each time. when chris got sheriff, we both laughed at his pathetic efforts to try and shoot who we thought the murder. he flinched when he unexpectedly got killed by the murder lurking in the sewers of the factory map.

then- i finally got murderer. "i've been innocent forever- when can i be sheriff too?" i asked no one. "hah, i got murderer," chris flaunted, not knowing it was actually me. i hid my devious smirk as the round started.

the round started off normal, everyone was keeping distance from everyone else and collecting coins. "okay i was lying. are you murderer?" chris asked as he looked at my phone. since his sight isn't the best, he didn't notice the knife in my inventory. "umm... no. i'm still innocent," i sighed.

"bro, if we don't get a role next round, i'm leaving," chris suggested, and i agreed. it was the workplace map, so we passed eachother in the hallways all the time. i eventually grew balls and started killing some people, acting surprised each time the knife sound played.

"w-who is it?" chris asked, looking at my phone every now and then. i only killed when i knew he wasn't looking. after i killed the sheriff, i decided to make my way to chris. "i literally don't see anyone-" his sentence was cut off with a knife sound.

"traitor."

"i know," i laughed.

~

SHOULD I MAKE A PART 2 WHERE HE GETS FED UP OF US LYING??? AND YES THIS IS INSPIRED BY THEIR DTI VIDEO AND THAT ONE STREAM WHERE THEY PLAYED MM2

[harrysgoldenline]

Hi lovie 🧡 First of all, let me just say how wonderfully amazing your writing style is. It truly takes my breath away. Keep on writing because this fandom (Harries) needs brilliant people like you to reenact our fantasies. Secondly, I saw that you were asking for requests, so I've got one for you: could you please write something (either a one shot or series) based on friends to lovers trope, where Harry's in love with his friend who's also a poet. It would be marvelous if some scenes took place in Japan, if that's possible. Once again, thank you for your work. Wish you all the best 💐

OMG YOU ARE SO SWEET!!! that is literally the sweetest thing in the whole world. thank you so much love, genuinely. 

Comments are always highly encouraged and appreciated! I love seeing what you guys think of the writing!

Support me and my writing here!

Writing with You

“Y/N, you’re finally here!” You heard Harry exclaim and you drop your bags as you seem him run towards you, literally sweeping you off your feet and spinning you around his rental home.

He had been beginning you to come and visit him and Japan and you could only use work as an excuse for so long until he came up with an elaborate plan, now here you were. 


After a few moments, he sets you back down on your feet, a massive smile on your face as he looks deep into your eyes, “I’m so fuckin’ glad you’re here.” he beamed, reaching down and grabbing your bags and cocking his head to the side as he lead you through the house, “Your room is right across from mine, if that’s alright. If I snore too loud just come in and hit me with a pillow.”

“Happily.” You laughed, giggling up at him as you followed him throughout the home, taking in the space around you, admiring his small touches he added to the rental home, “What have you been up to lately? Anything exciting?”

“Oh, you know just living the rock star life” He winked, setting your suitcase on the bed before laying down on it, extending his arms and making grabby hands at you until you lay next to him, which you happily do, “I’ve been sleeping in, writing, recording and going to bed early.”

“You are such an old man.”

“Hey!” He playfully scolded, fingers digging into your sides, “You menace! I only brought you here because I thought you would be nice to me!”

“Someones gotta keep your ego in check,” You teased, “tell the fans I say you’re welcome for the ‘arrogant son of a bitch’ lyric.”

“Yeah yeah yeah,” He chuckled, shifting his body weight and laying a bit closer, eyes looking deep into yours, faces a mere foot apart at most, “speaking of, have you been writing much lately? I’d love to pick some more out of that beautiful mind.”

“I have a bit,” you blush, sitting up a bit and digging into your backpack, flipping through the pages of your notebook, seeing if anything stands out enough to show him now, but you end up just throwing it on a nearby chair and laying back down with a yawn, “I have stuff, not sure if it’s third album worthy.”

“Oh please,” he started, furrowing his eyebrows at you, sincerity in his eyes, “you are an incredible writer, I love writing with you. I’m sure the studio tomorrow will be magic. But! You need some sleep, you’ve had a long day. Can I get you a snack or drink or anything before bed?”

You shook your head, eyes closing with another yawn and your heart sinks as you feel the weight of the bed shift as he crawls out of bed, eyes fluttering back open and you give him a tired smile .

He smirked, flipping off the switch as he reached the bedroom door, “Sweet dreams, love.”

***

“I am officially mad at you,” Harry said the second you entered back into the studio that was connected into the home that he was renting, to coffees in hand.

“What did I do?” You gasp, handing him his coffee as you plopped down next to him in the studio, taking a long sip as he shook his head at you.

He remained silent, pulling your notebook out of his back pocket and flipping through the pages, his long fingers trailing along them as you could see his lips move, silently reading them to himself. He looked back up at you, closing the notebook and handing it back to you.

“These are all incredible! What do you mean none of ‘em are good enough for the album?”

“Really?”

He smiled and nodded quickly, snatching the notebook back from you as he flipped back through the pages while drinking from his mug. Soon, he hands the open notebook back take you, swallowing the warm liquid as he tapped on the open page, a love poem on the page.

“This one…” he began, “is breathtaking. Most definitely my favorite.”

It’s about you. You wanted to say, looking up at your best friend, but instead you say, “help me finish it? I have some more ideas for lyrics but you are the musical mastermind.”

“I would love to.”

So you two worked together, hours passing as if they were minutes as you huddled together at the piano, thighs pressing together as Harry practiced different melodies, the sound of his voice calming you further.

You couldn’t help but close your eyes as you listened to his voice, humming along where he requested so he could help visualize different melodies. Drifting off into the music, you leaned your forehead against his shoulder. Harry kept playing away at the piano, stopping every few measures or so to scribble away on the sheet music, testing out different melodies and lyrics the two of you pieced together.

“I love this so far…” he whispered, looking at you quickly, “I haven’t felt this excited about a song in so long. Thank you.”

“Harry, you wrote the majority of it!” you laughed, playfully shoving him, “I just had, like, a verse and a half.”

“You inspired what I wrote!” He chuckled, glancing down at you, eyes softening, “in more ways then one.”

Your quickly help your heart beat accelerating slightly, looking up at him wide eyed as you struggled to find the words.

“I mean…” he slowly began, adjusting his body so he was fully facing you, “I mean… your words inspired me to write but… it’s also just you, Y/N… You inspire me.”

His eyes were pleading with you, gnawing on his bottom lip as his hands trembled, praying that you understood what he was saying.

“You inspire me too.”

“Did I inspire this song? Is it… about us?”

You slowly nodded, looking down at your shaking hands, “look, I understand if you don’t feel the same but-“

You were cut off with a kiss, two strong hands grabbing your face as your best friends lips crashed onto yours. You kiss back in an instant, hands coming up to his shoulders, tugging on the hair at the nape of his neck.

“Is this okay?” he asked softly against your lips and the second you nod he’s kissing you again, as if to try and make the years of waiting pay off in a single kiss.

Which he was able to accomplish.

He pulls back slightly, pressing a few soft pecks onto your lips before you two look at each other, a blush covering both of your cheeks.

“So…” he smiles, his fingers dancing over the back of your hand before intertwining your fingers, lifting your hand and kissing it, “will you be mine? Finally?

“Yes.” you smirk at him, a hand coming up to his face as you kiss his cheek before letting out a laugh, “So… you gonna give me writing credit this time?”

Harry let’s out a loud laugh, standing up at the piano bench and throwing you over his shoulder and carrying you back into the house, “I knew I love you.”

[skullhaver]

It's 2021, and I'm watching Buffy for the first time.

The Virgil on my Buffy journey is my long-distance girlfriend, who has loved the show for years. We just finished season 4, and I wanted to write about my favorite episodes so far. I suspect some of my faves are beloved by most fans, but others are weird, personal picks. Buffy fandom, please don't come for me.

I thought this post would be short but I was wrong.

Hono(u)rable Mentions: "Band Candy" S3E6 and "Halloween" S2E6

Both these episodes have fun premises where the Scoobies run around Sunnydale after it was upended by zany, chaotic dark forces. "Band Candy" is fun for devil-may-care teen Giles. "Halloween" is fun for 18th-century-ditz Buffy. These are both very good, and are the sorts of episode I can imagine happily rewatching in the future. I just have more to pontificate upon for the other episodes on this list.

10. "Ted" S2E11

I can’t say I enjoyed this episode, but it did take me for a wild ride. Probably nobody else has strong feelings about this weird story where Buffy's mom dates a stereotypical cheesy family man, who turns out to be a controlling abuser, who turns out to be a robot. I remember shouting at the screen, "Did Buffy just kill a human man?? Is it okay in the moral logic of this show for Buffy to kill a human if he's a direct physical threat to her??" I knew Buffy would have deeper stories than the monster of the week formula we'd seen so far, but this early in season 2, I had no idea when or how that would happen. This was the episode that finally taught me that Buffy is largely not interested in moral ambiguity, or in exploring what it means to be good or bad. Except for season-defining exceptions like Faith and Angel, evil characters are simplistically, essentially evil. But it was wild to believe for a moment that Buffy murdered her mom's abusive boyfriend and would have to live with the consequences.

9. "Helpless" S3E12

When Buffy tries to be genuinely scary, it succeeds with aplomb. The premise of this episode is dumb and contrived ("Giles has to remove Buffy's powers without her knowledge for a seeeecret test by the Watcher's Council") but the chase and fight in this episode are some of the most tense and spooky scenes of the whole series so far. Buffy's vulnerability makes the stakes feel real in a way few other episodes manage. And Buffy's victory is all the more satisfying because she can't punch her way out of this problem, she has to be smart and creative. The fridge horror, of course, is that Giles would endanger her like this in the first place, but that gets sorted out over the emotional arc of the next few episodes.

8. "I Only Have Eyes For You." S2E19

Another spooky episode, this one a classic ghost story of forbidden love ending in murder - but with the twist that the ghosts possess people's bodies to have them reenact their final moments. I love stories about breaking a doomed-to-repeat cycle. I love weird shit like the snakes manifesting in the cafeteria. And I really loved the choice to have Buffy and Angel come to understand their feelings about their own relationship by embodying these ghosts - especially how they embodied different genders than their own to better fit the "roles" of the haunting story, thus subverting the expected pattern. I found this episode clever, poignant, and effective.

7. "Who Are You?" S4E16

"Faith and Buffy switch bodies" is a wild premise, but the real joy of "Who Are You?" is watching Sarah Michelle Geller being an extremely talented actress for 45 minutes, portraying a totally different character. Watching Faith confronted by kindness and love from Buffy's mom, Riley, and her friends, then getting launched into an existential crisis over it is so great. Also, I just dig a good church fight.

6. "Hush" S4E10

As stated above, love an episode that reminds me that these people are talented actors! Featuring demons that render all of Sunnydale unable to talk, we get to watch great physical comedy right next to tense, silent fight scenes. The visual creepiness of the Gentleman and their straight-jacketed weird little helpers is hard to beat. "Hush" is such a clever episode that it ascends monster of the week status to become almost Twilight Zone-esque. Also, for the first time, Buffy sees Riley doing his Initiative thing, and Riley sees Buffy being the Slayer, but they can't talk about it?? That's good shit.

5. "The Wish" S3E9

Both "Something Blue" and "The Wish" feel like the writers decided to use fanfic premises on their own show... so obviously I like them a lot. But getting to watch a dark timeline AU with interesting world-building and attention to detail, a hilarious and horrifying Cordelia POV, AND a smirking kinky vampire Willow? Hello?? And the fact that the Wishverse comes up again in "Doppelgänger" (another truly fun episode) only improves my opinion. I imagine this is the kind of episode fans simply love coming back to.

4. "Restless" S4E22

This David Lynch-ass dream sequence was a weird choice for a season finale, but an extremely ambitious and cool episode. I should say up front that I love David Lynch-ass dream shit. There were creative and well-executed scene transitions as characters moved seamlessly from one dream room into another. Several memorably neat shots - Willow running between endless curtains as she tries to get onstage, Buffy alone in a vast desert with a weirdly high camera angle. And I got myself all excited thinking that the First Slayer would maybe become a different kind of antagonist - maybe not even fully revealed in this episode, or maybe an Id-like aspect of Buffy herself. But I forgot Whedon gonna Whedon, so the First Slayer had to be someone Buffy could punch in the end. And the First Slayer is sadly yet another primitive-themed, emotionally-stunted character of color for this show. Most of her lines in this episode are literally voiced by a white woman speaking for her, and of all the dumb quips to make, Buffy had a line about her hair being unprofessional? Also, I'm a lesbian, so the fact that the most explicit act of intimacy between Willow and Tara this show has allowed us to see occurs in Xander's horny dream sequence... it’s unforgivable, Joss. This episode was one of my favorites ever, deeply marred by some bad writing choices.

3. "Lovers Walk" S3E8

Spike, perhaps the best non-Willow character in this show, is back in Sunnydale, a hilariously heartbroken mess of a man, hell-bent on getting his former girlfriend Drusilla back. (Drusilla left him for a fungus demon.) So Spike breaks into a magic shop to get ingredients for a love spell, where he runs into Willow, who is getting ingredients for a de-lusting spell, because she is worried she and Xander will be too thirsty to behave appropriately in public with their actual partners, Oz and Cordelia. This is a hilarious moment just to exist. This is all the episode needed to do to satisfy me. But the fact that Spike then kidnaps Willow, and it ends with tragic stakes of everyone's relationships coming apart, not to mention me genuinely thinking Cordelia was dead for a minute there - wow. Chef’s kiss. The episode is balanced shockingly well between Spike being an ominous villain, and being the sort of lovable semi-evil (more gremlin-like) side character he'll become in season 4. What a wild ride.

2. "Graduation Day" S3E21-22

I'm counting this two part season finale as one because it's my list and I'll do what I want. "Graduation Day" feels like a quintessential Buffy episode executed to perfection. It has Buffy reaffirming her position as a moral heroine, sacrificing her own blood to save Angel's life even when she thought she had to kill Faith to save him. It has Buffy and Faith (or Buffy/Faith, as I prefer to think of them) getting to square off in a dramatic, tough fight. It has a lot of Mayor Wilkins, a character I truly adore for some reason. Nothing like a public administrator who plays mini golf in his office, wants you to chew with your mouth closed, and will kill a graduating class of high schoolers to gain immortality. The catharsis of the whole school getting to fight back against evil, instead of just Buffy against the world - a real joy. This episode misses the top spot for two reasons. "A special vampire poison and the only cure is the blood of a Slayer" is too contrived for me to let slide, and also I had to see Cordelia and Wesley kiss.

1. "Becoming" S2E21-22

Buffy’s season finales really do have good stories and satisfying payoff. First off, Buffy starts this episode by punching a cop and fleeing from the law. Later, Spike also punches a cop. A.k.a., Buffy said blue lives don't matter. Second - I haven't gotten a chance to comment on this yet, but all throughout season 2, evil Angel is such a joy to watch. As regular Angel, David Boreanaz makes exactly one face ("I am a kicked, angsty puppy") and bless his heart, it gets so tiresome. As evil Angel, he is so expressive, dynamic and terrifyingly creative in his badness. And I love his weird threesome energy with Spike and Drusilla. But also, it's so hard to watch Buffy suffer as she deals with her evil boyfriend doing evil things. Her ultimate choice in this episode, to kill Angel even as Willow's spell restores his soul, gave me some real big feels! Also, this episode marks the first moment of Willow doing big, plot-shifting magic on her own, solidifying her transformation from computer nerd to witch! 

Also, shout-out to the many good smaller moments in this episode: Spike making awkward small talk with Buffy's mom, Buffy constantly dunking on Principle Snyder, and Giles being tortured by visions of Miss Calendar (RIP Miss Calendar, I was your biggest fan.)

"Becoming" is an excellent season finale and the kind of Buffy episode I imagine I will want to re-watch in the future just for nostalgia's sake.

[itsa-lie]

The “Death” Of A Liar [Epilogue of Birth Of A Liar] 

A epilogue of that headcanon I wrote for Kokichi. You can read all five parts here. Will contain spoilers so read at your own risk!  Trigger Warning: death, poisoning, needles, and a mention of a certain death in game.

There it was...

The  Hydraulic crusher comes closer to his face. It was slow, painfully so. The pain in his body was unbearable. The poison was going through his body at an accelerating rate. Kokichi slowly turn his head to the side to see Kaito. His face was a literal mess. His face was full of tears, red and puffy, nose running like a faucet of snot. Oh jeez...if he wasn’t so in pain he’d make fun of this big hero guy bawling like a baby. Though he could only give a smile to him. And a small pained chuckle.

“C-C’mon Kaito, you’re the hero guy, right? You’re about to defeat the baddest villain ever. You shouldn’t be crying. Ya...ya..big baby...”

Kaito glares back to the boy laying shirtless on his back on the press, the tears still not stopping. “You idiot! Biggest bad villain?! J-Jeez! You’re doing this to stop the Mastermind! This was all your plan! Don’t...don’t say you’re a villian, alright? You’ve done some stupid things but...”

Kokichi cut the purple haired teen off with a weak “nee-hee-hee” as he turns his head back to the slowly descending iron. “You always were an idiot...” Kaito slams his fist on the control panel angrily, still filled with sorrow. “I am NOT an idiot!” Kokichi laughs again, the press only a few feet from his face. “You’re too trusting...I mean...you’re trusting me right? ....thank you for that...even if it is an idiotic decision...but hey....maybe I’m an idiot too right? I am trying to stop this horrible game.” Kokichi’s breathing gets shallow, each breath was an exhausting experience now. Even if it hurt horribly, Kokichi smiles.

“It’s like those movies, yeah? A hero and their side-kick try to beat the super villain, the villain causes so much trouble for a few more movies, then finally after a big climatic battle the hero finally defeats the villain.” The press was only a few inches from his face now, he couldn’t turn back to see Kaito without being even more in pain than he already was. Not to mention his constant wheezing from Maki’s poison made it hard for him to even talk. He had to hurry this up.

“I’m...not the final villain, you hero guys still gotta...find them but...but at least...I wasn’t boring...right?”

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

“SIMULATION TERMINATED. EJECTING...EJECTING...”

The horrible pain of getting every sort of bone crushed in your body suddenly halted as a robotic voice echoed in the air. There were sounds of machinery opening and whirling, yet everything was still so dark, so odd...

What felt like a cool breeze hit Kokichi’s face as he could feel some sort of apparatuses snap off or out of his body. And then he fell face first into a tiled floor. A cold, unforgiving, tiled floor. Grunting, Kokichi sits up and rubs his nose from the fall. ...wait...everything didn’t feel like a pancake...was he...alive? Should he dare open his eyes? Okay...on the count of three...one....two...three! His eyes wandered to his hands, both looking normal, except he was in some sort of different clothes. They looked familiar, but kinda boring. Oh God this was hell wasn’t it? Only the Devil himself would have everyone in such boring school uniforms. Kokichi missed his DICE outfit but hey, no one cared about him anyway so maybe hell was where he deserved to be. He wasn’t complaining. But if it was hell, where was the fire? Or the demons? Or the Devil and his pitchfork?

But the only place he saw was a white room. A white room full off odd sci-fy like pods. Some pods were empty, but others did have people inside them. They happened to look a lot like the surviving classmates, one of which seemed to be tossing and turning wildly. 

“Kaito?”

That was Kaito alright...only he wasn’t wearing his usual jacket and tee shirt, he seemed to be wearing a drab school outfit as well. Wait...how did he get to hell? This guy was Mister Perfect! Why would he end up in a place that bad guys go to if he’s the hero? Maybe he should have a talk with God and get Him to reconsider. That was...if he could get out of this room! But what was this weird pod everyone was in? Was he in one as well? Upon turning around there was indeed a pod just like everyone else had. The inside had a soft plush interior as well as a weird white halo-like contraption at the front. There also seemed to be tubes and needles that were on the side. Wait...what did the tube go to-never mind, he looked in and regretted it. It was apparently attached to a catheter bag...okay new idea, no more trying to explore weird tubes and stuff. 

However a noise coming from the other side of the room caught his attention. A girl had come in. She looks exhausted, her breathing fast and rapid, her face as red as an apple from exertion. Short brown hair framed her face and she wore a very fancy middle school uniform. Honestly she looked familiar but for some reason Kokichi couldn’t figure out who she was. “Kokichi! I ran here as soon as I saw and-”

“Finally! Satan! I’ve been waiting for you. Ya know, I really wasn’t expecting you to be a little girl, I thought you’d be a bit intimidating or somethi-”

Before he could finish that statement the girl slapped him hard making him stumble back holding his hand to his face. The girl looked angry as hell.

“I saw everything! What was wrong with you? You called out that Kaede girl, and that poor bug man, and-and-and-well you did so much I don’t even want to think of it!” She was shaking with rage. Was this girl just a fan of the show? No...she might have been but if this was just some random passerby saying these words to him he wouldn’t care. But for some reason coming from...whoever this is...it made him feel extreme guilt? But just like always...Kokichi hides his real emotions behind a blank stare.

The girl stopped her ranting and looked up at Kokichi, her eyes still watering. “Don’t you...remember me?”

A blank face, a white lie, a half-truth.

“Nope. Not at all.”

This answer got the girl more upset as she began to sob. “You don’t remember me, do you?” She rummages through her back pocket as she pulls out a poorly drawn clown mask and places it on her face. And for the first time...Kokichi was at a loss for words. That mask was important! Yeah, in his memory he remembered it looking much better but this was DICE’s logo! Their uniform! All of the members had one. However he couldn’t get himself to say anything! Say something! Say anything, stupid!

“I knew it...” The girl places her mask back. “I’m Hanako! The person you promised to take care of DICE if you were ever gone! And now you betrayed everything our organization ever stood for by acting like a mean selfish brat! And not only that!” She stares daggers at the pod containing what appears to be a sleeping Maki. “Big sister tried to kill you! I don’t know what happened in this game but it’s like I don’t even know who you two are anymore! You’re like two evil strangers!” Before she could go on her rant, two policemen had entered from an unseen stairway. Come to think of it that was probably how Hanako got in.

 “Only Crew-members and participants are allowed through this point, little girl.” One says grabbing the girl’s arm. “Ah, her uniform. She must be from that fancy shmancy all girls orphanage not too far from here. According to my records she escapes a lot.”

“Let me go! I-I have to go back to DICE! I hate that orphanage!” Hanako tries to struggle out of the man’s grip but to no avail.

“Wait just a second, fatso! I was talking to her!” Kokichi demands. This girl was being forced back to a place against her will and even if he was the Ultimate Supreme Leader Of Evil, he definitely wasn’t going to sit back and watch these two bully her! Not only that, this girl had information on DICE, maybe she knows the truth. “Shuddup pipsqueak. You got what you deserved.” One cop completely discarded him.  

“Wait, what happened? Did the little grape kid kill anyone directly yet? Shit did I miss his execution?”

“Almost. Seems he tried to kill that Kaito guy under a giant press but then suddenly outta nowhere the complete opposite happens an’ Kaito is alive an’ the supreme leader is squashed like a grape!”

“Shoot! I missed it! Did they record the squashin’?”

“No but you know, they do show his body...or what’s left of it anyways. Plus they do a whole play-by-play anyway with a reenactment of what happened. Sadly I think they’re gonna execute the Kaito kid next...”

“A shame, but at least he’ll go out as a hero, right?”

Kaito...execution...he knew this would happen...and he didn’t really want it to. Hell...after seeing so many of his friends die Kokichi was willing to go through an execution as well out of extreme guilt for not finishing this “destroy Daganronpa” plan quick enough! But at least Kaito will die as a hero, and he’ll most likely die of his disease before Monokuma could really kill him. The thought of that bear being frustrated with that filled Kokichi with so much joy. He smiles a little, only to be pushed away like trash by the cops as they take the girl back up.

“.........”

That’s right...he was the “mastemind”. The guy who kept causing trouble for everyone in the game. The bad guy. The antagonist. That’s what he was now...to the world, to Maki, to Hanako, and most likely to DICE themselves. Whoever Kokichi Ouma was before the Killing Game was gone. Everyone forgot that version, even Kokichi himself...no one would want him around anymore. So it was settled. He won’t go back to his orphanage...he won’t go back to DICE, they tore down their headquarters anyway. He was going to hide away. He’s been doing that for years now and he was good at it. Why stop now? With his blank stare which hid tons and tons of pain, he made his way up the stairs to start his new life who knows where.

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

“Will that be for here or to go?”

“Uhhhh....I think I’ll take it to go. Oh, can I get some extra ketchup?”

“Sure. Alright m’am. Have a happity-happy day.”

God he hated saying that, but he had to. It’s part of Happity Burger’s policy. The woman had to double take looking at him too. No doubt she recognizes him. Shit.

Good thing he was on his break. His manager was apparently not into television shows so he didn’t mind hiring him, though still he hid his name-tag or borrowed a co-workers anytime he needed one for the uniform. Yeah flipping burgers and singing that same stupid happy birthday song to some kid who was this close to barfing on you wasn’t a glorious life but...hey it was a way to get by. Once you get through the stares that is.

And people stared.

A lot.

Ugh.

It was during his break that he got a text from an unknown number. Kokichi slightly looked at his phone to see who it was.

Unknown: Hello? Unknown: Do I have the right number?

Who would even text him besides his boss? He rolls his eyes and goes back to looking at memes trying to get a chuckle out of his depressing life. He looks around to see more people looking at him. Tch..he turn around to the window in the booth he was sitting at, ignoring the trash and spills on the table from the family who ate here before. 

Ding!

Unknown: Kokichi Ouma? 

Okay that surprised him for a second. Hardly anyone knew his name because he wouldn’t tell it, so how the hell would they know? 

You: Sorry, wrong number.

Well he was a liar after all. According to his phone he had only a few minutes of break time left before the lunch rush comes in. He cursed to himself and cleaned up the table he was sitting at. As he did he thought about all of his friends...not all his memories had come back...though some came back quicker than others. He did remember the Killing Game participants vividly though. Kaede, Shuichi, Kiiboy, Kaito,...Maki. Actually now that he’s older and an adult now he holds no ill will towards Maki. The fact that girl...whoever she was...remembered both him and her meant something. He still hasn’t figured that out. But that Kokichi Ouma was dead. Crushed by a  Hydraulic press much to the delight of an entire audience of strangers. Shuichi was right.

He was always going to be alone.

And he was used to it. There was nothing he could do about it. The universe hated him. And honestly...he hated himself too.

Another ding. What do they want now?

Unknown: Yep. It’s you alright. It’s been five or six years, hasn’t it? Meet me outside after work, I want to talk to you.

[the-textbased-jiaqiverse]

[Start of Log 073]

Log 073: The Cigar

*sighs* This is my fault... well not all my fault! Why do I have this story to tell today you may ask—if you may ask I mean—it all begins with John and James.

Yes, I write and save little love letters and love poems to Dice, yes, I do that ok? Just dunno how to up and say it to him sometimes... but I think he might have read them though, somehow... I probably deleted thousands of drafts and stuff. Hey why do I mention stuff I deleted? Well...

I needed this file from our archive, I needed John and James to pull it out, what happened is that I wanted to get it as fast as possible so I forwarded these wishes to John and James, I didn’t want to hang around them when it seemed like they always have the words *quotes*“we want to embarrass you BADLY” written on their faces recently. Right, I told them to look for file 021125, and observed them type in 155... not a joke! 115 oops, 155! I was like, “I was NOT telling you how many of these numbers are there, it’s 1 zero, 1 two, 2 ones, then 1 two and 1 five!” It was when they literally typed in 1012211215 that I realized they were trying to stall me, and well, build tension for something they possibly waited for a long time to do. I didn’t want none of that crap, so I shouted, “just type this in! Digit by digit alright?!! 0, 2, 1, 1, 2, 5!” That was easy right? No they entered sloth mode!

“0”, yes you typed zero, hooray! Now go for two, that’s right, it’s right there, look IT’S RIGHT THERE! Just put your finger on it, no no no why are you now pointing to 1, I said 2!! Oh that’s right now you’re there, type 2, 2, 2!!!!!!

“2” oh thank God! Now go for 1, yes 1, no not 0 NO NO NO! Ok yes, 1, yes. Should I remind you of the next three numbers? Because at this rate when you finished typing the 1 you would’ve forgotten the next three numbers already!

“1” on second thought, if I reminded you the 125 you might just mess up the entire file number so we have to start over if I can guess what you are thinking. WAIT WHY ARE YOU GOING TO 0? Look you don’t have to start from 0 and move to the number every flipping time!

“1” this is an eternity! Wait is it just me or did you slow down? Can you be ANY slower than you were just now? Apparently yes! OMG I can feel my life flash in front of my eyes. I still have so much to do and so much to fix! Have I told Dice that I loved him?

“2” if it wasn’t for the little screen with the search bar I would have forgotten where we were at myself! ............................................................

*reenacts the scene himself* “5” FINALLY!!! Now you just have to click “search”... wait a sec...... UUUUUUUUHHHHHH!!!!! They can still drag this on!!!!!!

*keeps reenacting* right so John finally clicks “search”, and the file shows up right? So I directed, “tap on it!”, so the file would be extracted, but........... how does one accidentally click on the delete button while opening up the file??!!! Especially when you are made to do things for us with precision and elegance?!

*reenacts the convo* “Hey boozoos! You know I would go to Dice about your, INCOMPETENCE right?” “Aw chill out, don’t go yet, we can still recover the file,” John said it without a thread of dread, so I know something had to be amiss, because they are usually scared of Dice hearing about them messing with me. “JUST GET ME THE FILE!!!” “Ok Boss,” but recovers something else, “oh what’s this? ‘Dice, not a moment passes without me thinking of your soft skin, oh how I longed to have you in my arms!’ What is this cringe Boss? Oh and, ‘you are life’s greatest gift for me’, why is this in the trash Boss? Little pieces like ‘when you and I are alone I gained my own piece of heaven,’ why this cringe Boss? You know practically everyone working in this casino can see this, don’t you? Why don’t you report your little works of art to Mr. King Dice too?”

I practically broke into Dice’s office after that!

Dice just stared at me knowingly and said, “it was John and James again wasn’t it?” I almost cried and I thought it would be very clever to say “Dice you love me right?” And confess that I wrote some cringeworthy stuff about us two, just before I let Dice get back to work... probably became one of the reasons why Mr. Wheezy turned out like this...

I thought Dice couldn’t look more dumbfounded than he did then—when I confessed, but I had a whole new idea after seeing his reaction to Wheezy’s nonsense.

So, Wheezy’s first day on the job. I actually liked him a lot, Wheezy is really just a simple guy, he fit right in with our existing staff, he is very down to earth, everyone liked him. The best part? Wheezy is not trying to play tricks all the time like John and James would do, he was so enthusiastic and was very good at his job. I heard from James that Wheezy threw that arson rat out long before he got mad and torched our property again, just because he thought that guy didn’t feel right. Wheezy was lit, literally. Every one of our employees cheered for him.

Huh... you know, why would Dice light that stupid cigar right? Probably because of the fact that he was really distracted by my cringe stuff...

I was happy about all Wheezy’s hard work, but James up and said that guy was for some reason very off, and I should keep a good eye on him. At the time I even teased James, “Aww you probably thought he’s off because you are jealous that I liked him more than you and John, Wheezy listens to me without trouble at least, UNLIKE YOU TWO, haww-hawww, be jealous pal, be very jealous.” I should have paid attention when he said, *impersonates, reenacts the tone of urgency* “I am not joking around this time, I’m being serious! John thinks so too.” But I didn’t think much of it, I mean, Wheezy’s perfect as long as he does whatever Dice and I wanted him to do without overthinking or messing around, the casino is never this in order—something would always go wrong with those costumers—this peace and quiet is all thanks to Wheezy kicking the rat out. I seriously thought Wheezy is like a lucky charm! Why didn’t I realize that those days could have been just some of our quieter days.

Wheezy ended up not being very busy, then he apparently wanted to just walk around and find somethings that he can lend a hand to. He did find something...

Right after offering to heat Mangosteen’s dinner, which is NOT part of his job, Wheezy found out Pip and Dot had a gas leak going on in their room, he volunteered to fix the issue, which is also NOT part of his job. Needless to say, lit cigar plus gas right?

BOOOOOOOOM!!!!!

Now I get it! Wheezy is trying way too hard to do ALL the jobs just because he might want to feel validated and he liked that feeling.

Dice told me later that night that he intended to be calm and collected when he had to talk to Wheezy about how half our staff quarters exploded, but he just can’t hold it in... when Wheezy accidentally made a pun. He tried his best to calm himself again and explained why the explosion happened to Wheezy—Wheezy had no idea why!—he has to explain as best as he can. It seemed that Wheezy did understand, and he said he would stay far away from future gas leaks. After all this Dice is just completely and utterly exhausted.

As we were drifting off to sleep, Dice got a call and this is when his jaw just dropped, that was the most dumbfounded he had ever appeared to be. John and James were tasked to fix the gas leak, clean up and restore our staff’s rooms, that should have taken no longer than 5 minutes, but somehow in that little interval of time mangosteen was just UNBEARABLY hungry and wanted more food, mind you he had dinner—the dinner Wheezy heated for him remember?! His room was one of those that was completely taken out by the explosion, and he can’t wait 5 minutes. So being the good *ironic*“resourceful” person he is, Wheezy offered to heat a can of food from his room for Mangosteen, HHHHHHH...... HAHAHAHAHA, I shouldn’t be laughing but, let’s describe it with Wheezy’s own words like how John did on the call, *clears throat* “I read the label on that can, it said ‘DO NOT PUT CAN IN MICROWAVE OVEN’, so I poured out the food into my metal pot and put that into the microwave, I’m not stupid.”... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA... and then “Well of course I put the metal pot in there too! Geez I’m not going to just put the food in there silly” And the microwave caught on fire, our staff tried to put it out but it didn’t work, so now the remaining half of their quarters is gone as well, John and James didn’t even know how to tell us about that! After 1 minute of silence Dice finally told them to split up, keep an eye on everyone as the other quickly rebuild everything, otherwise no one would get any rest at all. Guess who got no rest in the end, Dice, he was so... shocked, he spent this whole night making this group of cigarettes to “assist” Wheezy—actually to keep him under close watch.

Fast forward to yesterday, 3 days after the last gas leak incident.

Everyone got along just well, especially Wheezy and the cigarettes, they bonded like brothers. They are like heroes to the majority of our staff, lending helping hands and keeping potential troublemakers away. You think everyone would hate Wheezy’s guts after what happened with their quarters right? Apparently not... For some reason. This time they really want to impress Dice and I, maybe to make up for the fact that they made such a mess, or get more validation, idk. The problem is that they went to an extreme length. They were everywhere, and they are *quotes*“nice” to the point that it’s intimidating! Once, Wheezy and two cigarettes actually followed Dice into the washroom and asked if he needed assistance there, I didn’t hear that part at that time but I did hear a loud “EXCUSE ME?!!” from Dice. I dragged them out and nearly beat them dead. Dice stopped me, why Dice I should’ve beat them dead so they wouldn’t cause all this trouble yesterday! At that time Dice probably wanted to believe that they’re just not clever enough and we have to patiently explain EVERYTHING to them, including personal boundaries, and what their jobs actually include.

John and James couldn’t focus on their jobs because they spent so much energy on watching the cigarettes, still had that lingering doubt about them. You see, John and James didn’t check the pressure of our gas lines or something and there was an even bigger leak starting out from our basement. Guess what, being the room closest to the basement, Pip and Dot’s room is once again filled with the smell of gas, and they just assumed there’s a leak in their room again. What did they do may I ask? Did they go to John or James, or Dice, or me with the problem? NO, they turned to their group of friends, which unfortunately includes Wheezy......

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!!!!!

Half of our casino was gone with the blast!

And yeah... we somehow managed to be calm enough to clean ourselves up and have a late dinner like nothing stupid happened.

I checked with everyone, and imagine my surprise when I found John and James working alone on rebuilding the casino. Then it hit me, I really haven’t seen Wheezy and his cigarettes!

This is what I found them doing...

At that point it was already late, and Dice was still covered in ashes, I had to pull him away from the situation because I can clearly see that they are not on the same page.

It was then I found out from Dice, that he found out from our staff, that Wheezy did want to dive headfirst into the gas again! Wheezy completely forgot about the last incident and what Dice tried to tell him! Which means he had to repeat all that once again... Luckily the little cigarettes stopped him and reminded him that HE cannot go near the gas leak and Wheezy was all “yeah yeah yeah”. According to our staff the cigarettes also prevented him from putting metal into the microwave YET AGAIN, so thumbs up for them there. Then why was there still an explosion? That’s because Wheezy worked his magic and convinced one of the cigarettes to go repair the leak in his place! Why not ANYONE ELSE? I DON’T KNOW! It was then I knew stupidity is probably contagious... all I need to say is, that little cigarette that went in is of course, lit!

Now I get it, saying Wheezy is not allowed to fix gas leaks was not enough, we have to address each and every cigarette and tell them they are not allowed to do so as well! But what’s weird about this is that while this time Dice tried to tell them all that they can’t help with a gas leak, because they are lit cigarettes, Wheezy just blew into this sudden rage and exploded about how being cigarettes didn’t mean that they can’t help and he didn’t like how Dice kept thinking cigarettes are not good enough. Then he called Dice every name in the Inkwell version of a dictionary. This came out of nowhere whatsoever! Did something ridiculous just click to him somehow? We never said or indicated ANYTHING like that to them right? Knowing Wheezy he probably wasn’t trying to, or plainly couldn’t make this kind of a joke for laughs, he basically accused Dice of thinking all that. The biggest issue is that Dice couldn’t get them to understand that they took what he is saying wrong, therefore the conversation went between Dice talking about how scientifically, LIT cigarettes can’t mix with gas, and Wheezy taking that and applying that to all things unrelated and believing further and further that Dice is just not willing to give him this pet on his back no matter what he does, because of an unrelated reason, so Wheezy hates an idea that he gets out of whatever Dice is trying to say even when that’s clearly not what he meant AT ALL, and he feels the overwhelming need to attack Dice for it. UHH!! Wow I wish I listen to John and James, I mean they were right about most people!

Hey I hope Wheezy snaps out of this eventually right?

[End of Log 073]

Lmao when Mr. Wheezy says “I’m not stupid” and proceeds to tell someone else that they’re “silly” after burning his microwave oven

Inkwell version insults, what would all of those be like?

Piece the timeline together (use hints like the log numbers and certain contents), otherwise it wouldn’t make sense how one minute Wheezy hated KD then the next he worshiped him

There’s a follow-up to this!

[castcharmperson]

Taakitz: Free Day

Time is an illusion so let’s all just pretend it’s still Day 6 of @taakitzweek, okay? This story is inspired by a concert I went to see a few weeks ago, where the conductor was a whirlwind of movement and passion, and all I could think of was “yeah this is what Kravitz would do.” Warning for a little self doubt, I guess? Mostly this is just Taako being in love with his husband.

Seeing Kravitz’s fingers twitch along with the ancient records, the way he so clearly longed to conduct without even seeming to be aware of it, it made Taako ache. It reminds him of the days when recipes race through his mind, but the sight of the kitchen makes him feel sick. Even if Kravitz doesn’t realize what’s happening, Taako wouldn’t wish that fate on anyone, especially not his husband.

That’s not to say Kravitz was unhappy with where fate put him. Most of their dinners were spent talking about their adventures, the ones happening now and ones from years past. Kravitz’s job was an endless adventure and every tale he told brought a smile to his face. Sometimes, he didn’t talk about taking down cults or the rush of dodging a sinister spell; Kravitz was equally thrilled to reenact a conversation with his Goddess or chatter about a particularly interesting piece of paperwork. Taako still wasn’t sure how paperwork could be anything other than hell, but Kravitz could probably read the dictionary and Taako would be enamored with it.

They didn’t often bring up the strangely intimate details they’d shared during that strangely intimate meeting-turned-date at the Chug N’ Squeeze, but when they did, only a few things had changed. Taako still often felt out of place, but he knew he had people who wanted him around. Kravtiz’s undeath still hadn’t really been his choice, but he was content with what he’d been given.

Content wasn’t enough though, not in Taako’s opinion. With two new reapers on the force, Kravitz had enough time for a live among mortals. He had enough time to keep up with the insanity of being part of the Starblaster family, surely he could find time to follow his calling from life. But any time Taako brought it up, tried to get him to play the piano that sat in their living room or the guitar that Magnus had made a few candlenights ago, Kravitz hesitated. He’d make some excuse about professions and destinies and “oh is that the Queen calling?”

Taako was done toeing around the subject. His husband was going to get everything he ever wanted, whatever anxieties holding him back from asking for it be damned. There was nothing to hold Taako back, not when he was an interplanar celebrity with all the resources either of them could dream of.

“So Ren got it all worked together and the kids seem thrilled, bunch of tiny nerds. But for the life of me, I still can’t find a conductor.” Taako was impressed with his own poker face- Kravitz always said he had a tell when his cards were good, but right now the reaper didn’t suspect a thing. His fork had been frozen, hanging with half spooled pasta ever since Taako had mentioned a “new music department.”

He let the natural pause draw out a little unnaturally, until Kravitz seemed to snap back to reality, spooling the rest of his pasta a little too frantically. “That’s very exciting, love. I’m sure you’ll find someone.”

“What about you?” He could help but show his metaphorical cards as he grinned.

“What?”

“How would you like to conduct the Taako’s School of Wizardry, Cantrips and other Magicks academic orchestra? It’s not exactly Fantasy Carnegie Hall, most of the kids are fairly below your skill level, but you’ll still have fun.”

“Taako, I can’t.” Kravitz shook his head.

“Flex scheduling. If you’ve got work, the kids can have a study hall.” He’d played this discussion out in his mind a thousand times already, every counterpoint was accounted for. “I’ll have a substitute for when you go on longer missions.”

Kravitz put his fork down. “I have sworn my time to my Queen.”

“Who has repeated told you and me and Lup and Barold and literally anyone who will listen that she wishes her ‘best reaper and favorite child’ would take more time for himself.”

Kravitz laughed at Taako’s poor impression of a goddess and Taako grinned. At least his husband didn’t look so tense anymore. He almost looked like he was considering the offer.

“I really am out of practice though.”

“They’re kids, they’re learning too.”

“What if they don’t—“

Taako put his hand over Kravitz’s, almost uncharacteristically serious as they locked eyes. “They will love you. You’re going to be amazing.” He felt an echo of his own goddess through him and Taako pulled back, running that same hand, now shaking, through his hair. “Besides,” he tried for causal, “they can’t give you a hard time because your husband is the headmaster. They’ll have detention for life if you they so much as look at you wrong. You’ve got nothing to worry about, my man.”

“I—“ Kravitz looked at where Taako’s hand had been, like he felt the brief swell of ethereal power too. He looked back at his pasta and tried to fight down a grin. Discussion won, game over, all chips to Taako. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Well, most folks I hire usually ask when they start, and I already checked with bird mom— your first day’s Monday.”

Kravitz blinked at his pasta, then looked up to Taako. “What day is it today?” He tilted his head, birdlike. That and his disastrous inability to understand time on the material plane shouldn’t be so damn adorable, but it was.

“Saturday.”

“What?!” Kravitz stood so quickly, his chair fell over. He righted it, before making his way out of the dining room. “Sorry, love.”

“Where are you going?”

“I have to lesson plan!” He was halfway into the living room, but turned around to quickly kiss Taako on the cheek. “Dinner was amazing, thank you, love.” And he was gone again. There was some shuffling through their vast record collection and some muttering about which composers to start with. Taako couldn’t even be mad about getting stuck with the dishes, not when Kravitz grinned at him like he really was the only reason his undead heart was beating.

“It’s about time I check out with this music department is doing! Make sure it’s worth keeping around!” Taako made his way through the halls of his school, Ren at his side and rolling her eyes. The students who overheard, tuning their instruments outside one of the building's rehearsal spaces, seemed unfazed. The semester had only started two months ago, but that was more than enough time to know their headmaster was often over dramatic with very little true intent behind it. The arts would never lose funding at this school.

Taako let the double doors slam open to announce his entrance, ignoring Ren lecturing about damages and the odds of a good strength roll. Kravitz was in one of the audience seats, next to a young cellist. The sharp sound had him on his feet, but whatever half motion he’d started to summon his scythe stopped when he saw Taako.

“Hello darling.” He grinned as he made his way up the amphitheater stairs and gave Taako a quick kiss on the cheek. The elf’s heeled boots were so tall, Kravitz didn’t even need to lean down to reach him.

“Hi babe,” Taako dropped his ruthless headmaster facade for a moment, before brushing past his husband. “So, your spring concert is coming up.”

“Yes,” Kravitz followed him back down the stairs, trying to follow his train of thought.

“I wanna see it.” He moved into the center of the third row, kicking up his boots onto the back of the chair in front of him. Ren sat next to him, immediately shoving his boots back to the floor. “Or hear it, whatever. Sneak preview for you boss.”

“Oh, I was unaware the Raven Queen was on campus.” Kravitz’s cheeky grin almost broke through Taako’s facade again, a smile twitching on the edge of his lips before he steeled his expression.

“Don’t get cute with me, Mr. Kravitz. I sign your paycheck.”

“Actually, I’m pretty sure Ren signs them.” Kravitz shot her a wink and she laughed while Taako gave a frustrated groan.

“Whatever,” he dragged out the word as far as it could go, kicking his feet up again. “Make with the music.”

Kravitz gathered his students on the stage, whispering a pep talk as they set up their instruments. “I’m so proud” “It’s just Headmaster Taako, nothing to worry about, trust me,” and other endearing snippets that Taako could only barely hear from his seat, but they were enough to win a smile out of him. Kravitz tuned back to the audience, locking eyes with Taako and all but beaming. He fidgeted with the lines of his suit, with the conductor’s baton in his hand, but the nerves were nothing compared to the obvious outpouring of joy. Taako never had any doubts his plan was flawless, but seeing just how happy Kravitz was to be on the stage again was something else entirely.

Kravitz always seemed to glow when he smiled, eyes closing and cheekbones doing all the right things as his perfect lips showed off his perfect teeth. Taako knew he could never look like that. He was more comfortable with a smirk, a scowl, or sharp words on his lips. He had fierce smiles for the press, charming looks for photos with the crew, but whatever was happening to his face when he saw Kravitz like this felt completely out of his control. His nose was scrunched up, his eyes showed his age. His smile was goofy and lopsided but, surprisingly, he was okay with that. It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t Taako™, but sharing a moment like this with Kravitz felt good.

The moment passed when Kravitz turned back towards his students, but the warm feeling lingered even as the first cheerful notes filled the space. It sounded flawless, even without any musical training Taako could tell that much. Yet he couldn’t focus on the music; Kravitz held his attention. He wasn’t sure what he had been expecting. Before their century across the cosmos, Taako and Lup didn’t exactly have the means to see live music beyond a drunken bard in some bar. Even at Legato, Taako didn’t spend any time with the musicians. And after the stolen century was basically like before.

Maybe he thought it would be sharp, neat movements, like the flawless lines of Kravitz’s suit. He’d keep time with the same dedication to order that he kept the laws of life and death with.

It was nothing like that. It was chaos and passion. While Lup and Barry had turned a worldwide performance into a space where only the two of them existed, Kravitz turned a rehearsal into a screaming declaration of every emotion anyone could dare to imagine. The braids of his hair were flying in all directions as he used both hands to ramp up the music. His whole body chased crescendos and it looked like a beautiful mess of movement to someone like Taako, who didn’t have a clue how conducting actually worked.

Honestly, without the swell of notes following his command, Kravitz would look ridiculous. It was more passion than Taako every willingly put into anything he did. Kravitz gave himself over to the art, to the melody of sound, so eagerly, excited to have his heart on display, treating an audience of two as though they were two million. Taako had never felt more in love. It was like the cheerful spring symphony was rising up in him too and suddenly he had to see Kravitz’s face.

Rolling high on his stealth check, Taako got out of his seat and out of the aisle. He took the stairs at the stage left wing and found himself staring.

Kravitz had been a bard in life, Taako knew that, but now he understood it. He was so intrinsically linked with the music. It commanded his expressions, his whole body. Or maybe the other way around. The smallest twitch of Kravitz’s fingers called for violins, the rise of his brow brought trumpets, a twist of his wrist gave life to a humble page of notes. As the song came to an end, peaceful as each gentle cord faded away, Kravitz’s serene smile remained.

Taako couldn’t help himself; the final note landed and he had already sprinted across the stage to kiss his husband. Ren was laughing, the students were laughing, it was all so joyful but all that sound was merely background noise to Taako. He could hear nothing but the echo of Kravitz’s music until he broke away to breathe.

“Not bad, Professor Kravitz, not bad.”

Now Kravitz joined the laughter with his perfect face and his perfect smile all perfectly scrunched up. “Thank you, love.” There was weight behind the words, more than just grace in receiving a compliment. He may not have noticed Taako’s plan as it first began those months ago at dinner, but it was obvious to see now. Did a music department make sense at a non-bardic institution? Not exactly, but nothing like ‘academic standards’ would get in the way of Taako making sure Kravitz had everything he ever wanted. Right now though, with his husband in his arms and the sound of joyful friends around him, Kravitz couldn’t imagine anything he wanted more.

I don’t know how to write endings anymore, ugh. Anyway, thanks for reading! Check out my charmedwords tag for more taz fics!

[ultchaebugi]

like framed memories ; wh

req: from the drabble game

“welcome back. now help me.” “safety first. what are you? five?”

genre: fluff pairing: wonho x reader word count: 1.8 k this was supposed to be a drabble but wonho happened warnings: this is the softest thing i’ve written a/n: hi babies!! this is the fluffiest fluff, and i really enjoyed writing this so please give this scenario lots of love!!! give feedback to a bitch that literally searched on wikihow how to hang a frame on the wall to write it out properly………. anyways i hope you really enjoy this scenario and give dramarama lots of love!!♥

Lazy mornings were always your boyfriends’ favorites- hot coffee, cozy blankets and soft y/n to cuddle with while watching netflix or a random tv show, or sometimes even just staring at the window- if it was by your side, he loved it.

Ever since you two moved together your mornings were starting to light up, not scared anymore of shitty routines and waking up alone, no more getting late to work because you fell asleep, no more crying because you were stressed and alone, no more. Living with a partner was a lot of responsibility but it was easier for you to take than living by yourself and stressing out to the point of crying yourself to sleep. Undoubtedly, your days with Hoseok by your side had gotten better- a lot better.

Since the apartment was a lil -let’s say- deteriorated, you decided it was a good idea to paint the walls. Maybe put some decorations here and there, new courtains and things your family and Hoseok’s gave you when you moved, somethings even from yours and your boyfriends’ friends. A light beige that fit perfectly with the wooden floor and the white marble counters, the light lumber table with a white tablecloth and a jasmine the same color, and the slightly seashell colored fridge. Everything feed the aesthetic- the only thing left was painting a little part of the wall that was opposite to the kitchen.

You clasp your hands together and take a deep breath, decided to finish the last part before your boyfriend comes back. You managed to convince him to go out with his friends, calling Hyungwon to help you out and give him a surprise, then sit there and drink a hot tea pretending the apartment didn’t shift from old and worn out to beautifully arranged… that is, before you realized the couch was damn heavy and there’s no way on god you can move that big ass thing without your boyfriend. You’re not weak- the thing is enormous. And no, it’s not an excuse. 

You sigh, your eyes closed, your mind playing a memory from that day like a scratched CD.

“Come on baby, let’s buy this couch!” “Hoseok… that’s a fucking bed.” “I know it’s big, but it’s not a bed! Look, it has cute bunny cushions that come with it for free! and is on discount!!!” your mind reenacts your boyfriends’ high-pitched voice by itself, and you facepalm. “Oh my god… you’re so lucky I love you.” He gave you a peck on the lips, the saleswoman staring at you and chuckling, muttering something along the lines of “how cute”. You groan. “I’m going to regret this so much…”

And fuck, you were right. Sure it was comfortable and you were thankful you bought it for him but it was a surprise all thrown to the trashcan and surely Hyungwon won’t take Hoseok to the movies again just for you, judging by the long sigh he made when you asked… and the fact that you had to beg to get him out of bed on his lazy day to take your boyfriend out, just for a surprise.

“You’re lucky you make my best friend happy, you sure are.”

You grab the couch by the edge of it and pull, trying to get it out of that place on the floor but if barely moves half an inch and you’re sure you’re not finishing this in less than an hour.

Well… not exactly an hour.

You hear the keys on the door lock and mentally curse, praying it’s that annoying lady from the lower floor asking you to stop moving things around like it’s thundering, and not your boyfriend with Hyungwon behind waving his arms around muttering an “I couldn’t hold him back” followed by an “I’m sorry” and an awkard smile. Much for your dismay, that’s exactly what’s on the other side of the door.

When the door slams open, there’s Hyungwon with a poker face behind your boyfriend with a big ass grin, that covers his mouth the moments he sees everything you rearranged- from the flowers that he liked the most, to the essences and the walls painted- all except for one.

“Baby, you did this yourself? Why didn’t you ask for help?” “It was a surprise, dumbass.” Hyungwon whispers in his ear from behind, startling Hoseok and earning a chuckle from you. “And you were part of his plan?” he looks offended. “Well, yeah, duh. Of course I am. But you rushed me,” he then stares at you, and you just look at him in desbelief. “And I didn’t think the movie was that short.”

You sigh. “welcome back. now help me.”

He looks at you, tilting cutely his head- god, he’s so cute. “Help you in what babe?” Hyungwon is about to throw up. He waves his hand at you and closes the door, sligtly alarming Hoseok again.

“In moving this colossus. I can’t move it for shit and I have to paint the rest of the wall.” He gets closer to you, a smile plastered on his face. “So you need your strong boyfriend right?” You hit him playfully, he giggles. “Stop talking and help me out.”

You both move the couch easily once he helps you out and you put a little more of strength, just enough to leave a space between the wall and start painting.

He helps you paint, his face covered in beige and yours in dust because of the paints’ lid that was probably conserved in a very dusty place -obviously, what a dumb thought- and you couldn’t be happier. Seeing this man, next to you- although he drives you nuts sometimes, he’s the softest man alive, and you affirm this when he pulls a frame out of his backpack, along with a photo Kihyun took of you both for your first anniversary: the orange sunset, the wet sand as your feet and cold water hitting them- cuffs rolled up and him giving you a piggyback ride. You remember Kihyun’s smile and telling you later on how glad he was that you made his friend so happy, that ou helped him finally getting over his insecurities and thanking you for joining this project of his.

“Do you remember this day?” he stares at the framed picture. “I printed it and framed it to hang it on the wall once we got everything painted and beautifully organized. That’s why I rushed Hyungwon, because I wanted to give it to you since I really liked it,” he told you sincerely. You felt your heart beating faster and faster.

He stares at you, lovingly. “What if we hang it on the wall, next to the window?” he suggests and stares back at the photo. “I think it’d fit. It’s a really nice place and it doesn’t seem so empty that way.” You suddendly want to cry. You get up, giving him your hand. “let’s get to work!”

You take the hammer carefully between your hands, your boyfriend by your side, staring at you amused. “Are you sure you can handle it?” “What are you implying? I can do this myself.” “Well, you asked out for help to move the couch…” before he could finish, you add, “don’t even get started,  that couch is fucking big. Don’t compare a small hammer with a big ass couch that even you couldn’t move without making weird noises.” He choked.

You put the nail carefully on the wall, your tongue sticking out to one side of your lips signaling deep concentration and you frown, holding the small artefact with force until it almost slips out of your hands- and your boyfriend quickly puts it out of your reach, in a safe place: his hands.

“I’m not letting you do this. You’re going to hammer your fingers.” You groan, but he’s right. You’re pretty much a mess, you’ve been working a lot to get everything prepared and your hands are trembling. Putting your pride aside for a moment, you let Hoseok do the thing.

He takes your place andyou take some glasses that you had from your previous home.

“Safety first,” you say, smirking. “what are you, five?” He looks at you in desbelief, handing you the hammer to hold it while he puts the protection glasses on and then switching again. “Says the one that almost choped her fingers off.” “How can you possibly chope your finger off with a small hammer that barely has the force to do its work on a nail? He quickly responds, ”then why couldn’t you do it?“

You remain silent.

You both plop down on the couch, sweaty foreheads from all the work and breathing heavily from moving the remaining boxes of your room and a few stuff that was left- completing the home sweet home look of the apartment and leaving it like you wanted.

You feel a warm sensation in your hand, opening your eyes that were shut down trying to bring back your sould to your body and they quickly switch to the man to your left.

You appreciate him smiling, caressing your fingers gently and cupping your cheek lovingly, closing the distance between the both of you with a heartwarming kiss. His lips feel flushed against yours, soft and you can almost feel the cherry red on them only by their taste. He pulls away slowly, his sweaty forehead against yours- but you don’t mind. You close your eyes and smile widely, opening them again and taking your time to carefully stare at the masterpiece before you.

His hair falls perfectly, his eyes sparkling love everywhere and his smile just showing how much you love him. It’s a picture you want to frame forever in your heart, in which you don’t need any nails to hold it because he removed all of them, everything that made your soul bleed- he made it go away. You loved this man with your entire heart. Your soul belong to him and his to you. You feel like crying and get closer to his chest, hugging him tightly by the waist and accomodating your legs, laying them comfortably on the couch and finally resting your head on his lap, like a stray kitten that knows it’s finally home after wandering around for its entire life. 

You close your eyes slowly, drifting off to dreamland- and your boyfriend pulls away all the hairs that won’t allow him to see your beautiful face, caressing your hair, your cheeks and your shoulders while he waits for you to fall asleep and finally carry you to bed like the royalty you are to him- the one and only that governs with calm and justice in his heart. The one that will always be for him and that he’ll be glad to serve for.

[tanyaodebra]

You 2.8: “Fear and Loathing in Beverly Hills” – And Hunter Wept

I’m obsessed with this show and I am definitely going to keep watching, but COME ON. As a Passions fan, I’m truly down for anything – a monkey who’s a nurse, a witch who controls a town through a caldron, simultaneous pregnancies that are not twins, an evil doll that comes to life – select any flavor of soap opera madness and I will shovel it into my gaping TV-holes as long as it adheres to the tone of the show. But a drug episode? Really? This is tonal chaos. Anyway, we pick up right where we left off, with Delilah trapped in a glass case of emotional torture. David Fincher calls again and when Delilah lies in order to gain Joe’s trust, she says they’ll go on a date soon, a lie that cuts deep. Joe does indeed act as though he’s going to free her – he purchases plane tickets, says his goodbyes, and sets up Delilah in time-release handcuffs (which are real, because fetish people) so she can let herself out after he’s on a plane. And then we hit the first in a series of clichés – he sets a timer for sixteen hours so he is literally fighting against the clock. It’s a little much, and it telegraphs the idea that he’s going to fail.

Love is looking crazy-eyed in her lemon palace, and her team of enabling friends give her permission to do what she really wants, which is obviously to get Joe back. Dottie, egged on by her shaman, makes an unexpected appearance, and the two share a dysfunctional dinner. Love brings up the au pair, and Dottie hisses that she “did what she had to do.” Was Dottie involved in the murder, or just the cover-up? Love drunkenly storms out. When Love can’t handle her liquor, Dottie swoops in to take advantage of this moment of vulnerability.

We hit the second cliché when Forty and Joe are kidnapped. It felt so out of the blue that it totally took me out of the story. In fact, Joe even says that if this were a movie, he wouldn’t believe it. Things feel a little more planted in the world of the story once it becomes clear that Forty had planned it. Forty needs Joe’s help writing his screenplay and they will remain hotel room hostages of gun-toting Russians until they finish. I guess Joe is getting a taste of his own medicine, which hearkens back the first episode’s promise of karmic retribution. Forty’s back on the ‘booch, but this time he’s mixing it with Dexedrine. Not a great sign, because last time he was drinking kombucha he went hog-wild at Hendy’s. He spirals very quickly after Ellie’s honest notes and he jumps out the window into a dumpster, then absconds to a bar. Joe is obligated to follow him, and the clock keeps ticking. Joe finds Forty seated behind a sea of empty shot glasses, swimming in the blues. Apparently Forty is still texting Candace, which would lead a normal viewer to believe that she is alive and well. Lucky for you, I don’t trust anything or anyone, so I feel certain that Love is necro-texting from Candace’s phone. Fueled by tequila, Forty throws a drunken grenade into a nearby couple’s wedding reception by reenacting a watered-down Indecent Proposal – he kisses the bride in exchange for ten grand in cash. At his wits end, Joe attempts to leave the bar with or without Forty, but Forty grabs his arm and pens “8:52” in Sharpie. You see, that’s the time Joe started drinking the seltzer Forty dosed with four hits of acid. There it is, the third cliché. Literally anything is plausible now, which feels very, very cheap. Poor Joe has never taken LSD before, so he is about to have his ass handed to him. He is, to say the least, displeased. But then he bumps into Love – she “put two and two together,” aka stalked him or had him followed, and chose to have dinner in the same hotel where Joe and Forty were writing – when he starts tripping HARD.

Joe’s trip is a kaleidoscope of flashbacks about his childhood and imagined conversations with his mother. She provokes him, coddling his worst impulses. Forty uses the trip to get inside Beck’s head, which sends Joe spiraling. Forty narrowly escapes being choked to death by kneeing Joe in the balls during a roleplay gone wrong. Joe is freaking the fuck out, and rightfully so. Four hits of acid is a stupidly high dose for anyone, let alone a newbie. Forty allows him to use the safe word (I don’t know if this is a cliché, but it’s a really crazy plot coupon) to get moon juice (is this some LA thing I don’t know about, or is it a fictional Anavrin thing?) and snacks. Forty can’t come, because he’s conveniently peaking. Joe blacks out and finds himself standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom. Did he ever leave? There’s blood on his hands. He washes them, then all the blood disappears. Was it ever there? When he returns to the living room, Forty’s drinking moon juice among a gaggle of grocery bags. He confirms that Joe definitely left and brought this stuff back, but he doesn’t know how he got there or how long he was gone. Weird, since it seems like Joe would not go back to that room on his own. Dmitri (Adi Spektor), the Russian bodyguard, affirms that Joe came back with clean hands. Joe hears Love’s ringtone in Dmitri’s pocket, and he freaks out until Forty bribes Dmitri with cash for the phone. This phone call is a fishy dish. Love claims they can figure out whatever he’s running from together. Why does she know he’s running from something? Running implies guilt. After what Candace told her, why wouldn’t she want to stay far, far away? Joe says the magic words that Milo never would have said – they can take Forty with them on their escape tour. Maybe this is something James never would have agreed to? After another mommy-induced blood cry, Joe seeks solace in Forty, who has actually cracked his story. The beat board is organized and ready to go. The key was in figuring out who the real killer is, and it’s not Dr. Nicky. According to Forty, it can only be Beck’s unnamed ex-boyfriend, because he’s the one who truly loved her. Just as Joe is about to slash Forty’s throat, Forty reveals that he can empathize. His au pair didn’t kill herself – Forty killed her in a jealous rage. He claims to have blacked out, then awakened to see himself standing over her corpse. Their parents made it look like a suicide. So, Love’s weirdness around that story could have been the simple fact of lying about it. But the detail of Forty blacking out has me doubting… Maybe he didn’t kill her. But maybe he did. We’ll see. Either way, Joe is immensely comforted by this story and in turn, he comforts Forty. The two seem solidly bonded by this experience.

The next morning, Forty is MIA. Joe has exactly one hour and twenty minutes to resolve his situation with Delilah. The plan is to negotiate with Delilah so he can live happily ever after with Love. He makes it to the storage unit with seconds to spare. There’s just one problem – Delilah’s dead. Did Joe kill her? I mean, it would make sense. He’s the only one who knows where she is. Except she’s lying in an ocean of blood, and his clothes are totally clean. There is no way someone who is peaking on four hits of acid could have gotten it together to murder someone, then either change into an identical outfit or wash the one he had on. Not possible. And that both Forty and Joe killed someone in a blackout is weird – I’m willing to bet that either it’s true in both cases or false in both cases. But if Love’s detective has been following Joe this whole time, as I suspect, a garden of possibilities blooms. See You next time!  

[fercurrentlywriting-blog]

Love beyond time. (Chapter 1)

“The beautiful girl, the scared boy and the poker”

It all started 10 years ago. Back at the age of twelve, I was standing in the kitchen reenacting my fall earlier at school to mom. I was reaching the most embarrassing part when I landed on the principal's feet. Then, the world changed.

Suddenly, I was standing in the middle of a fancy candle-filled room, trying to recover my balance. The only way to describe what was happening was as if my brain was turned into pudding, my thoughts were all mingled together, I didn’t know where they started and where they ended. It took me a few seconds to notice my surroundings.

The room was a big space with a red carpet covering the entire floor, green wallpaper and a chandelier in the ceiling. The wall was full of paintings, all from people I couldn't recognize. I turned my head to one side and the biggest mirror I have ever seen was standing in front of me, reflecting myself. At the bottom, there was a chimney, with burned wood. The furniture seemed taken out of one of my history books about the Victorian age. It could fit perfectly in a castle.

A crash was heard from upstairs. My head turning immediately towards the sound and my body prepared itself for an attack, even when my blood had turned into ice I was ready. I had read enough survival books to know how to… well, survive. Things like: what to do when you found yourself lost in a forest, how to tie a knot and the difference between dry and fresh leaves Add to the equation a terrified twelve-year-old about to be torn apart by the thing approaching him, whatever was stumbling downstairs was about to know how dangerous a crazy, desperate and scared person can be.  

The owner of all the commotion reached the bottom level. It was a girl. The most gorgeous I have ever seen. Eyes were brown, they resembled melted chocolate. Hair falling in dark long waves down her shoulders.

I demonstrated my greatest talent in the most charming possible… I completely embarrassed myself when I asked “Are you real?” in the squeakiest voice ever. 

She started walking towards me. Watching me with a mix of fond, curiosity and confusion. It was incredible. In some cultures, there is the belief that if you stare at an angel’s true form your eyes will burn out. Her presence made me wonder if my eyes were about to turn into two flaming torches.

“Who are you?” she demanded. “How did you manage to break in?”

Some part of my brain shut down so my most logic answer was not speaking but reaching out and trying to touch her, trying to convince myself she was real.

It was a chain of reaction. She, there’s no other word, snapped. We were standing close to the chimney, close enough for her to reach and grab the red, hot poker and threatened me with it. When I didn’t back down she started swinging it, screaming. I could feel the heat coming out of it... in my nose. Actually, it was too close. Time to react, boy!

Ok, remember those books I was talking about earlier. One taught about what to do when encountering a bear and not getting killed. I threw myself into the ground. Face down, limbs spread and playing death.

“What are you doing?” the girl wondered.

“Showing you I do not represent any sort of danger to you,” I rambled, voice muffled by the carpet. “When you face a grizzly bear you have to play death,  the bear will lose interest in you but you have to careful because if what you are facing is a brown bear and do the same thing he will see you as-,“ words kept flooding out of my mouth. I couldn't stop. My God, I didn't even know what I was saying.

She dropped down on her knees, the motion intriguing me. I turned my head, eyes locking and my mouth still sprouting words. She put a hand over my mouth. Silence finally surrounding us.

“What are you?” she wondered, clearly changing her earlier question from who to what. It seemed more of a question for herself rather than me. “What is your name?”

Now I knew I wasn’t in danger of becoming this girl’s victim I sat down. The question itself wasn’t hard but when you have a name like mine, it’s a little embarrassing to answer it. Taking deeps breaths I revealed my name. “Aspen Leaf Berry.” she blinked and burst out laughing. My whole face went red immediately.

Let me educate you a little bit, Aspen is a tree. A tree which leaves flutter with the slightest breeze. Also, in some countries, it is a girl name, so there’s that. Do you understand now why my name is a joke? It literally means a leaf from the aspen tree.

Oh! Then my mom’s last name is Berry. I had spent my short life being mock because the whole thing is literally taken out of a... and I quote: Wild names book, unquote. Literally, my mom confessed it to me a few time ago. She told me how she spent days with my dad, when he was still around, in front of a book with the title of unique names from the wild until she found the perfect match. If this illustrates my mom perspective of combination you can imagine her fashion sense.

There you go, in front of this beautiful girl was sitting a twelve-year-old boy named leaf from an aspen tree, berry.

“Sorry, sorry!! It is too much to wrap my head around it, maybe I’m finally losing it” she apologized and then smiled. Wow, if my name caused that, maybe I will start to say it more often. “My name is Vienna," she said while reaching to shake my hand.

It came all down to me right then. I didn’t know where I was, only knew the name of this random girl and I was still a bit shaken up by almost being attacked.

“Where am I?” My eyes were watering. “I don’t know how I got here” voice trembling.  “How do I get back?”

Vienna put a hand on my face, caressing my cheek. "Oh, sweetie I don't have any idea.” I was blinking quickly so the tears threatening to fall down could stop, maybe a little too quickly. It was making me dizzy. Making Vienna seem out of focus.

The same feeling that brought me here came back. I couldn't think straight. Vienna was still fading but I could see she was talking. The sounds had disappeared as well. The sound of the burning wood chirping fading away. Sounds. Color. The room. Vienna. Everything faded away and I was standing in my kitchen once again.

Before I could focus again I was engulfed in my mom’s arms. Panic flooding me immediately. She was crying... like hysterical crying.

“Oh, baby! I’m so sorry. I thought you would be safe from this!” she started kissing my, well, whole face.

“Mom, what happened?” I asked stepping away from the hug so I could stare into her eyes. I could see pain, sorrow, and desperation in them, filling me with dread.

"I thought you’re going to be saved from it," she continued as if I had said nothing. "Listen to me okay? This is going to sound mad but you have to promise something first."

I nodded. “Mom, you’re scaring me.”

Again she ignored me. “Promise me that no matter how hard it gets, you will never stop fighting. You demonstrate nothing can beat you.”

“Okay," I answered in a small voice.

“You’re able to time travel.”

Oh shit…

Thanks for reading guys!! Any sort of criticism is accepted! 

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[ruinitpop]

2500+  mostly unedited words on why I love Simple Plan

Here we go, I’ll try not to ruin it:

Come with me back to my childhood. Far enough back that you might not remember when you first saw something that is extremely important to you, for me apparently that’s 2002. The live-action adaptation Scooby-Doo comes out that summer and it has what I like to call “kick ASS pop-punk soundtrack”. I remember liking the movie so much that my friends and I definitely tried to reenact the entire thing on the playground one day. Anyway, Simple Plan had a song on the soundtrack, It was Grow Up and it plays over an establishing shot of Spooky Island. Yes, I’ve seen the movie several times and I know the song by heart. 

Go forward a year and another movie comes out with a “kick-ass pop-punk soundtrack”. It was 2003...anyone have any guesses? Steve Martin fans in the room? It was Cheaper By the Dozen, a movie kind of about a book that I don’t know if anyone has actually read. But the movie is great, I love it. You may not think so but I reserve the right to life things that are objectively bad. (See my love of the live-action Scoo-Doo movies) Anyway, Simple Plan had a song on the soundtrack. It was I’m Just A Kid and it plays over the scene where all the kids have their first day at the new school and some preppy asshole shouts “MY LATTE!”. 

One more year passes and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed comes out and it, for a period of time, becomes MY FAVORITE movie. Like, I went on a trip for a kinda nerdy thing I did in 4th grade and we watched Scooby-Doo 2 easily 4 times over the course of that one week trip. AND I’m pretty sure this trip is the first time remember listening to No Pads, No Helmets, Just Balls from beginning to end. Anyway, again, Simple Plan had a song written for the film on the soundtrack. It was Don’t Wanna Think About You and it’s seriously...just...so good! It’s emotional, and it like perfectly accents what’s happening in the movie! I cry when Shaggy says “They’re like totally having a montage in there without us Scoob” 

Now I’m just gonna rattle off a ranking of their soundtrack appearances as they appear in my brain: 

Don’t Wanna Think About You from Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed.

Because duh

 I’m Just A Kid from Cheaper by the Dozen. 

Kinda scandalous for this to beat Grow Up but I like the scene it plays over better

 Grow Up from Scooby-Doo. 

This could be purely nostalgia-driven but I just love the movie so much and it was basically where so many people first heard them and there is a huge significance to that in my head.

What’s New Scooby-Doo from the show of the same name.

 This song is awesome and I remember seeing them play it for what they claimed was the first time in over a decade in Santa Anna California in 2016 and I remember Pierre doing a little intro but not saying what song it was and I looked at my sister and said “holy shit they’re about to play What’s New Scooby-Doo!” so that’s why it’s on this list even though it’s TV and it’s my list I’ll do what I want. That memory warms my cold heart

Christmas List from the Unaccompanied Minors soundtrack

 Full Disclosure I still haven’t this movie (what kind of movie guy am I?) but the song is also a bonus track and also full of dated pop culture references like PlayStation2 and DVDs which I love to chuckle at to this day. When I got my first MacBook in early 2012 one of the first things I did was use garage band to split the bonus track off as it’s own track. 

Vacation from New York Minute

I had a weird interaction a little over a year ago where a Gen Z kid was randomly singing it and I was like “How do you know this song?” and he was like “oh some Mary-Kate and Ashley movie” and I said “So it is Vacation by Simple Plan. Accept I know it because I love Simple Plan. To this day I have never seen that movie but I know it’s from that movie and this little memory gives that song a special place.

Happy Together, a cover that was produced and on the soundtrack to Freaky Friday

This song it the top cover because it’s actually good AND the movie has grown in a significant tentpole of pop culture

Can’t Keep My Hands Off You from Disney’s Prom

This came out in 2011, I haven’t seen it. I imagine it’s not great but seeing as how the song is pretty good on its own and I have no other attached feelings it goes here on the list. But even this movie appearance isn’t as unsatisfying as...

Surrender from the Fantastic Four (2005)

We all remember this movie, people have mixed opinions. Mine are basically that the movie is fine, there are definitely better superhero movies now but this doesn’t necessarily deserve to be panned at trash or anything. It was 2005 and it’s at least as good and Sam Rami’s Spiderman.

Apparently there is a site for this but it doesn’t include New York Minute but it does include Clockstoppers. A movie I know I’ve seen but I don’t remember noticing there was a Simple Plan in it. There was a cool scene where they pause time next to a sprinkler and they push the droplets around and stuff. I just found this out after I typed my list. You can look at the link but it doesn’t have my opinions on it so why would you?

So, if you’ve read this blog before or maybe even know me in person you know I’m a big movie buff so it’s no surprise that I kinda discovered my love for them through movies. However, Simple Plans music nostalgia goes really deep.

I remember my first MP3 player. It was terrible, I’m going to date myself a little here but it only has physical buttons, it worked like a flash drive so if you didn’t organize your file folders properly it was basically impossible to navigate, and it only held like 100 songs. In comparison, my old sister had a Microsoft Zune. (You know Zune? The thing that Star Lord gets and the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 which was directed by James Gunn; the same guy who did the screenplays for both the live action Scooby-Doo movies that introduced me to Simple Plan in the first place! Which is part of why I’m writing this post!! If that dumb full-circle moment doesn’t give you warm and fuzzies you can stop reading) She had a pretty substantial library already and I had to carefully pick and choose what to put on it and I remember one the first songs was My Alien which isn’t a super popular track but it spoke to middle school me. There were definitely more of their songs from NPNHJB and Still Not Getting Any because self-titled Simple Plan didn’t come out until 2008. Eventually, I got an iPod nano with a whopping 16gb of storage and my life changed! I could hold basically all the music I wanted and that included all three of the Simple Plan albums that were out at the time. I have a very clear memory of making my mom listen to them a few times on the way to/from the orthodontist (which was a 40 minute drive because everything is far away in rural America) and she told me that I was just as good as a singer as Pierre. There’s no way, Pierre is an icon.

Over the course of the last decade, a few Simple Plan experiences have occurred around my birthday and I’m convinced they must know when my birthday is. The first time this happened was 2011 when they released Get Your Heart On! Which might be my favorite album if I was going to pick one but they’ve literally never written a bad song so why actually pick favorites? I remember a friend saying “This sounds like their old stuff and I love it” and I was offended. Like, how dare they slander Still Not Getting Any and Simple Plan like that?

As high school went on I started to have a very stressful Junior year. I bit off more than I could shew academically and one day I had a massive stress attack and I basically shut down but Untitled really got me through, I listened to so much Simple Plan that night but Untitled really helped me calm down and relax enough to get my head straight. While I’m talking about the song I’m gonna mention it was a charity track and the music video WILL make you cry but it’s super important and you should watch it.

Forward a couple more years and I’m in my first semester of college. I had chosen the wrong path at the time and I was in the process of fixing that by completely changing up my education including changing schools and giving up a rather big scholarship. I was feeling pretty good but uneasy about what I was doing at the time and what do you know? Right when I needed something comforting Simple Plan gave me an early Christmas present and released the EP Get Your Heart On - The Second Coming and every track on the EP reached into my soul and helped me process. I also started to GYHO again heavily and Gone Too Soon helped my deal with how much I was missing home and how much I missed a lot of my friends (I know the song isn’t really “about” that but it helped). 

At this point in my life, I’ve mostly given up hiding my fandom. I started following the band members on social media and I was VERY closely following the release of the next album. Which I was sure was going to be released by my birthday. (this is the second time a birthday coincidence happened) The band had another plan, which was to hype me up for an album drop and then only release a non-album single Saturday that wasn’t even on the album that came out later! I accepted their gift though because I wanted more songs so desperately! I was so thirsty for Simple Plan content that I also listened to an episode of the Lead Singer Syndrome podcast with Pierre and learned so much about the band and their careers together, it warmed my heart! The album Taking One For the Team wouldn’t drop for almost an entire year! But when it did they also announce their first tour in the US in years!

In early October 2016, I finally saw then live for the first time. I already talked about this, it’s when they played What’s New Scooby-Doo! The place where my sister and I chose to stand was near a stantioned-off area that looked VIP. Before the band went on their families came out escorted by security and watched the set right behind me! That trip was so fun! It was also my first concert ever, I had been to Warped Tour the previous summer but I choose to call that my first festival. 

The tour I saw them on kinda just morphed into the 15th-anniversary tour for NPNHJB. Remember when I went on about Scooby-Doo? Yeah reader, it’s been 15 years. I saw Simple Plan for the second time in April 2017 and I was able to convince a bunch of Set It Off (great band) fans to come with me because they were also playing. My roommate at the time said that seeing me at the concert was one of the times they’d seen me happiest. I thought that was very sweet and I’m glad I was able to have that experience with those people. Weirdly enough though, I had just started a new job and my new boss was also at the show. There isn’t much more to that particular story but I still think it’s funny. 

After this I closed a chapter of my life by leaving the fraternity I was a part of for most of my college experience. At the alumni ceremony, people often do personal things for those leaving, gifts, speeches, etc. For me, a few of my Brothers played Welcome To My Life. It was one of the sweetest things anyone could have done. 

The next time I saw them was on the final Warped Tour. I was so excited! I took time off so I could go and see them in San Diego because it was closer to (this is the 3rd coincidence) my birthday! I drove to San Diego alone and stayed in a hotel alone and had a couple of meals alone and saw a movie alone all so I could see Simple Plan. I did meet up with some friends at the festival on the day of and it was amazing! One of the people is very close to me and we shared a lot of music that day. I waited in line for over an hour at the SP merch tent and I was going to have sign some stuff with a happy birthday but they ended up having to leave the tent to get ready for their set and I nabbed a quick picture with Pierre. They closed their set with Perfect and everything felt melancholy but very “right” you know?

Most recently I saw Simple Plan alone in Phoenix. It was awesome! I was uneasy just seeing a show alone but being in that room with people who probably have a ton of stories just like this one (though probably not so many words) was exhilarating. They definitely had the best set and this time I noticed some of the things they kinda always do at shows. Like Chuck crowd surfing or the same call response to their most popular songs and another rendition of What’s New Scooby-Doo! 

This pretty much brings us to the present, thanks for taking this 2500+ word journey down memory lane with me. Currently, I’m feeling upset that the tour planned for this summer was called off because of the COVID-19 epidemic and I kinda have no idea when the album might drop. I am in no way diminishing anything that has happened to anyone else but for me, the current way of the world has taken a lot of what makes me happy away. My career is on hold, I can’t go to movies, and it even took away Simple Plan. Writing this has been mildly therapeutic and that was the point. If for some reason this post reaches the band I just want to thank them all. Pierre, Chuck, Seb, David, and Jeff. You guys are unbelievably amazing! Thank you for being somehow integrated into a lot of things that I really hold dear but most importantly thank you for the music! I can’t wait for more! Now, I’ll leave this train of thought before all this nostalgia makes me sick (get it?). 

I tried not to ruin it but this is almost 2600 words so I probably did.