#i did have a lot of fun with the strings in this track though! honestly wasn't sure if i could pull it off or make it sound not terrible

[rocketbirdie]

So here's an underrated boss battle theme from Remake, which they apparently decided to use for a silly ghost instead of for a calamitous world ending eldritch monstrosity. Now in crunchy PSX quality!

[violettwrites]

quiet birthdays — trailerpark!daryl

a/n: hi my lovelies ! i actually had a lot of fun writing this, and i really hope you enjoy ! i love writing the trailer park trio so much !!! i also listened to the birthday party by the 1975 while listening to this, but you don't have to ! it just fit the quiet vibes of the story when i wrote it.

as always, if you enjoyed reading this, please don't forget to like, reblog, and/or comment !! you know i always appreciate your support !

summary: anon requested ! reader keeps quiet about her birthday, but the dixon brothers find a way to make it special

warnings: none !

word count: 1,308

resources: divider by @/adornedwithlight

➵ rules

➵ masterlist

➵ ask box (requests are open!)

the sun had already begun to dip below the horizon when you pulled into the trailer park, the air thick with the lingering heat of the day. your limbs ached with hours spent on your feet at work, and all you could think about was getting home, throwing yourself into bed, and forgetting that today was supposed to be special. it was your birthday— though you hadn’t bothered to mention it to anyone. not because you didn’t care, but because you didn;t see the point. it was just another day, another year passing by without fanfare. you honestly couldn’t remember the last time you celebrated, anyway. no birthday parties when you were younger, no birthday cards from family. nothing. so you never bothered anymore.

but as you approached your trailer, something caught your eye. there was a faint glow coming from the corner of the lot where the dixon brothers lived, and you could hear the low murmur of voices. curiosity piqued your interest and you made your way over, wondering what they were up to. as you rounded the corner, the sight stopped you in your tracks.

a bonfire was crackling, the flames licking up into the darkening sky. around it, there were a few mismatched chairs, a cooler, and some string lights that were lazily hung from daryl’s trailer, casting as soft glow over the area. daryl stood by the fire, poking at it with a stick, while merle sat on a lawn chair, leaning back with a stupid grin plastered on his face.

“well, look who decided to finally show up!” merle called out as soon as he spotted you, his voice loud and teasing. daryl glanced up from the fire, his expression more subtle but no less aware of your presence.

“what are you two doing?” you asked, stepping closer, your brow furrowed in confusion. it wasn’t unusual for merle to light up a bonfire randomly through the week and have a few beers, but the slight effort that was present in their set up threw you off. you had just left for work this morning like any other day, and now this?

daryl wiped his hands on his jeans and looked at you, his eyes darting away quickly like he was embarrassed. “heard it’s ya birthday,” he muttered, shuffling his feet a little. “figured we’d do somethin’.”

merle chuckled, leaning back in his chair with a beer in hand. “took ya long enough to get home. baby brother said ya’d be back by five. we been waitin’ all damn afternoon!”

you stared at them, completely taken aback. you hadn’t told anyone it was your birthday, and yet here they were, the two roughest boys you had ever met, putting together a surprise for you. your heart swelled at the thought, and for a moment, you weren’t sure what to say.

“you did this for me?” you asked, still trying to wrap your head around what was happening.

daryl shrugged, his eyes flickering to merle as if he was uncomfortable with the attention and wanted merle to take over. “ain’t much.”

merle let out a bark of laughter. “yeah, well, he didn’t do it alone. i helped.” he gestured towards the cooler. “we got drinks, and daryl here even made ya a cake.”

“a cake?” you couldn’t help but smile at the absurdity of it. daryl dixon, the gruff and silent man you had come to know, had baked you a cake?

daryl looked even more uncomfortable now, and you could see his cheeks turning the slightest shade of pink. oh, now he was blushing. you watched as he rubbed the back of his neck, chewing on his bottom lip for a moment. “well, tried to. merle here ain’t much help.”

merle stood up with a mischievous grin, and waved you over to the small folding table they had set up near the fire. “c’mon, darlin’! take a look at this masterpiece.”

you followed, your curiosity getting the better of you— daryl had baked you a cake, so of course you wanted to see. and there it sat, in the middle of the table. the most chaotic looking cake you’d ever seen. the edges were burnt to a crisp, the middle sagged like it hadn’t fully risen, and the frosting was a mess– half melted, uneven, and smeared across the plate like it had been slapped on with no real plan.

daryl dixon had baked you a cake.

you covered your mouth to stifle the laugh that was threatening to escape. it was a disaster, but the fact that he even tried melted your heart.

“it’s… something,” you said, finally letting out a chuckle.

merle grinned and clapped daryl on the shoulder. “told ya she’d appreciate it.”

daryl shot him a glare before turning his attention back to you. his expression was softer now, his usual guarded demeanor cracked enough for you to see the effort he’d put into this. even if he was definitely no baker. “it ain’t that bad,” he muttered, but there was a hint of a smile playing at the corner of his lips.

you stepped closer to the cake, your chest warm with emotion. it wasn’t even about the cake at this point– it was the thought behind it. the fact that they had gone out of their way to make today feel special when you hadn’t expected anyone to notice.

“i love it,” you spoke sincerely, moving towards daryl so you could wrap your arms around him. you felt how stiff he was underneath your embrace, but he eventually softened, arms wrapping around your frame now. “thank you.”

he nodded his head once you both pulled from the embrace, his face relaxing a little. “glad you ain’t mad we made a mess,” he chuckled softly, his voice low.

“it’s not my kitchen i have to clean,” you teased, shaking your head, looking back at the cake.

merle, ever the one to break the mood, cracked open another beer and shoved one into your hand. “enough with the mushy, lovey dovey crap. let’s celebrate! yer gettin older, and that’s worth drinkin’ too!”

“everything’s worth drinking to with you, merle,” you retorted, rolling your eyes. but you couldn’t help the smile that spread across your face as you accepted the beer. the three of you settled around the fire, the crackling of the flames filling the comfortable silence between conversations. merle kept the jokes coming, loud and brash as always, while daryl stayed quieter, content to sit besides you, occasionally chiming in with a dry comment directed towards his older brother that made you laugh.

as the night wore on and the fire burned low, you found yourself watching the flicker of the flames, feeling something you hadn’t in a long time— contentment. this wasn’t the kind of birthday you’d ever imagined, but it was exactly what you needed. simple, messy, but full of heart.

you glanced over at daryl, who was staring into the fire, his profile softened by the glow of the flames. there was something about him that always put you at ease, even when he wasn’t saying much. you had grown fond of his quiet presence, the way he showed care through actions rather than words, and tonight was no different.

“hey,” you said softly, catching his attention. he looked over at you, his eyes meeting yours. “thanks again. really.”

daryl shrugged, but there was a warmth in his gaze that wasn’t there before. “ain’t nothin’.”

but it was. to you, it was everything.

you didn’t need a big celebration or an extravagant party. you just needed this— two people who cared enough to sit with you by a fire, drink a few beers, and share a burnt cake. and for the first time in a long time, you felt like your birthday truly mattered.

[kitkat-the-muffin]

Late screenshot dump/review for Cloutchase Vol 4!

Here are the previous three installments: [1][2][3]

Hey everybody! It's been a while, about 7 months since I've last been remotely active in this fanbase, but this past weekend I played Vol 4 with my friends and I am here to share my favorite screenshots! I will of course start this post off with some spoiler-free teasers to encourage others to play the game themselves!

And now it's time for the rambles!

This session was quite unique since I had two friends with me this time!

"Homestuck is too problematic lets to Danganronpa" oh I just know you guys put that in on purpose. I only ever saw the Danganronpa anime once but my friend immediately knew who they were going to dress up as and she was right haha

Honestly I love how Snapchat has a permanent dog filter on. My other friend who joined us today gave him the most perfect voice that I can barely attempt to describe. I called it "Irish-Canadian stoner" if that helps you imagine it

Backrooms reference *airhorns*!!!! It was kinda funny when TikTok just abandons the player in favor of egg theft, but what I think desperately needs to be talked about is the alleged missing lion man. Who is he? Where did he go? I have to know!

I spent a good 5 minutes rambling about Musical.ly's character design before I realized they're TikTok pre-transition. They look so fashionable tho! Can I get the raw files of these photos?

YOOOO VINE GETS NEW SPRITES!!!! I like how he's behind the times because he's been dead for a while haha

This is the best possible timeline I think

Tumblr looks FANTASTIC heck yeah

What did they mean by this?

Kinda love how Threads is a character and also kinda not a character. Design is peak tho

Get Gatsby'd! If I had a nickel for every time I was Gatsby'd this year I'd have two nickels-

Congrats on the gender! Genuinely though why did Twitter start looking infinitely more attractive to me after coming out as transfem? Like... she's so pretty now... but also exactly the same? Gender is a construct but holy cheese

I was literally trying to read the option choices and she cut me off ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff anyway hi Reddit. My friend had a surprisingly good Reddit voice (I'd describe it as incel meets gamer but less embarrassing somehow)

Old man Facebook! My friend had the WORST voice for Facebook... Imagine the creepiest old man asmr of your life

Kinda interesting that the Magical Girl sequence is part of the Bad Ending. My friends and I agreed that it was more of a Neutral End than a bad one. She looks great tho, I love the art in Instagram's route

Caught in 4k! This frame only appears for a split second haha

I really like how they characterized the creepy tracking of meta software this way. Instagram looks pleasant on the outside but underneath that top layer is a completely fake personality that covers another layer of invasive curiosity that covers another layer of genuine artistic enjoyment. That's so interesting! Anyway my friends and I started theorizing what the multicolored strings mean and we're stumped on the white bit between Amino and Kik-

I love Insta's photos, I like how they're physical polaroids. The logo on her bag is also the old Instagram logo! I need to see that full sized photo of Tumblr and Twitter tho-

Honestly didn't expect this ending but it's cute and I love it! Genuinely we should all be encouraged to post about our favorite simple pleasures rather than trying to appeal to the masses

Anyway before calling it a night we looked at some of the new bonus content (some of which is just stuff from the tumblr blog lol) and dang is Wikipedia so pretty in this screenshot

Actually my friend saw this next photo and said "he's just like me fr why don't I have that?" Honestly I can't wait for the Wikipedia route hahah

ANYWAY GET GATSBY'D FOR A THIRD TIME-

Or a second time if you aren't a Gravity Falls fan lol

Anyway, this volume was a lot of fun and I greatly enjoyed playing it! I like how TikTok's route had multiple activity choices and endings. It's kind of reminiscent of how much time you can accidentally waste on TikTok haha

Instagram's route being based on trying to maintain a level of perfection was interesting, as well as the Great Gatsby motifs. I laughed out loud when Waltz of the Flowers played because I'm hyperfixating on Princess Tutu rn and my friend is obsessed with Tchaikovsky so that was fun

Here's to the next volume! I can't wait to play it!

[mydearesthrry]

SWEETENER, the zane lowe interview, part one ~ track 14, harry styles

pairings: ex1dbandmember!y/n x harry styles, fem!reader x harry styles

warnings: none, swearing

——

“So just immediately jumping in, Sweetener. How did you come up with that name and what does that song and this album mean to you, specifically?”

“Sweetener— I feel like I kinda wrote when I was in a complicated-ish time in my life? A lot of these songs I’d actually written right before the hiatus and a couple of months after, so I had written most if not all of these songs in the span of like, 11 months? And they surprisingly made it through the cut, most of them.” She explained, legs bent with her left foot tucked under her right thigh, right leg swinging over. 

“Oh, wow. So this is like, a manifestation, kind of? Because I know there was-- unfortunately, a lot of internet backlash around that time, especially with all of your decisions to take a step back from the band just a couple of months before the hiatus was even announced. What was that like, by the way? Being the only girl in a stereotypic ‘boyband’ and then making that tough decision to step back? What was that like for you in all aspects, really?” 

“Oh, good question!” She pauses, gnawing a bit on her lower lip as she tried to decide how to put her thoughts into words. “I think it was very isolating. Over anything else, it was an extremely… isolating feeling. Because even though the media’s comments were very harsh, I more so felt the disappointment and confusion and stuff like that from my close friends and family as well. I think that was the isolation? But there of course was the doubt that I hadn’t chosen correctly or had either abused my greed and selfishness and left because I was entitled? Which was honestly something that I fought with myself with a lot, and still kinda do to this day if I’m honest. But other than that, yeah man, just a fuck ton of isolating days and nights, lots of shit happened. But I also am very lucky to have had a really stable and understanding support system there, like, I constantly had H, and like, fuck, my best friend Nova. I don’t know if I would’ve gotten out of that if it wasn’t for them, yeah.” 

Zane nods, letting her words ring through the air. The two both pause for a few beats, before a cheesy grin plasters itself on Zane’s face. “So, speaking of H, when diving into Sweetener, we find that there’s a really big bold statement in there, wouldn’t you say?”

“If you say what I think you’re about to say, I am going to strangle you.” The girl nodded along, sarcastic smile on her face. 

“Harry Styles– the song. That’s a very bold statement, wouldn’t you say?” He cheeses, laughing softly at the girl who plants her forehead in her hand.

“I knew you were going to do it,” She sighs, genuine smile now gracing her features. “Mhm, there is in fact a song on Sweetener called Harry Styles.” 

She looks to the right of where the main camera sat, Harry Styles literally sitting there with a bright grin on his face, chin resting in his palm as he sat on the grass. He scrunches her nose at her, winking, then laughs at the pink flush that coats her cheeks at his gesture. 

“Hey! My interview, not his,” Zane laughs, catching the young couple’s moment. “Anyways, what was the writing process for that? I’d imagine it’d come together pretty quickly.” “God, umm- yeah! Soulmate– which is what we’ve been calling it since day one, has a lot of sentimental value for me. I wrote it in Italy and then produced it in… I think, New York? When we were in the process of producing it, I wanted it to sound how it felt writing it and the reason- reasons why I wrote it. Like, the sleepless nights and beach days, the more core memories from that trip I wanted to implement the feeling into the production. I think the strings really put it all together. For the writing process, however,” She pauses, taking a quick sip of water before clearing her throat, “The writing process was so fucking fun.” “Okay, so let me tell you how it started. Me and H had taken a quick little 4 day trip to Italy and stayed in our cottage and we went out one day and went to the beach and towards the end of the night, we were sat on a beach towel and I was humming the part at the end that’s kinda like– ‘Got me happy, happy, imma be happy, happy’ and I literally pulled out my phone and recorded me humming it on voice memos. The waves were in the background too. I wrote the rest of it in a little journal I got, basically like the ‘My whole life got me ready for you’ and then the rest came to me pretty naturally.

“But then, right after I thought I finished the song– writing it at least, I found this old poem that I wrote when me and H started exploring our relationship, so like right before we ended the Take Me Home Tour, and it said like– I think the universe has my back, because like an angel, you fell from the sky and into my lap, some cheesy shit, whatever. Before that tho, it went like… ‘Never felt a love so true, and baby I know that it’s you, and I always see my soulmate in all that you do’ but I didn’t really like it, so finding that poem was literally life-altering. And then I was like… what if I just– wrote a song about him and titled it Harry Styles? Like that’s some ballsy shit. And he is my soulmate, anyway. So I did it! And it’s one of my favorite tracks, by far.”

[boxturret]

Steamboy Legoes

I think it just so happened Steamboy came in to my life right when Bionicles started to get bad, so around that time I made a lot of M.O.C.¹s based on the various machines from the film.

Since most of my legoes at that point were, in fact, Bionicles, I didn't have all that many parts to work with, so many of my builds were quite unorthodox. There's not going to be much S.N.O.T.², short for Studs Not On Top³, here. Also legoes aren't some holy relic that must be treasured above all else, so I cut, glued, and stuck paper on things as I saw fit⁴.

I also wasn't very good at taking photos that were in focus, so you've been warned.

Steam Automotive

This, being the first big crazy machine you see in the movie, it leaves a big impression. Its scene and music are also amazing so that helps.

I made this thing so many times. The gearing on the front wheels was always such a big thing for me, the fact that for it to move forward the larger gear had to rotate backwards was really eye opening for me at the time.

I was really quite inspired by seeing someone else's build of it, it was motorised and ran on tracks and had the monowheel on a rod in front of it. It was really cool, so much so that I'll forgive the fact that when the Steam Automotive was on the tracks it was in front of the mono wheel. I can't find it anymore, I swear there was more Steamboy stuff on Brickshelf at one point.

The way the machine has two drivers, a guy in the back in a more standard locomotive cab and then this guy in a tiny chair in front of the weird vertical second boiler/smoke box(?) with a head on it, its so interesting.

Honestly over this period the legoes I had was pretty consistent, but as I studied the reference materials I had closer and got a more complete idea of how everything went together my approaches changed a lot.

This was the last version I made, and probably the last M.O.C.¹ I made in general. It has a really different structure to the others, but some things have been retained. Sliding tires over 2x2 bricks and technic bushings to make tubes is a pretty good technique I think. Probably heretical in the church of lego purity though.

This model was kept together over my dark ages⁵, if you can call the period of time between when the legoes go in the attic to when they go on ebay that. I did think about keeping it, but there were too many parts from bigger sets in there, and I needed money to buy Rahi.

Note how by this point I'd just completely given up on miniature figures. They're just...so ugly lol, catering builds to fit those blocky awkward giants in was just not fun.

Most of the other builds are all one-offs after this point.

Steam Castle

Except this one. I tried a couple times to give it more texture, but it was hard at the scale. Not really notable at all. Basically only made it because I had enough black connectors to make a circle.

Return of the Steam Automotive

It happened again.

This was basically made right after I watched the movie from memory, so that's why all the colours are off. The gears still work!

And I took a second crack at it. its such a pleasing design.

Aero Corps.

Structure wise this one is really accurate lol, but trying to fit it with a miniature figure just doesn't' work. I was really happy with the custom wings.

Aqua Corps.

I was really happy with the arms. I bet its illegal, but who cares lol, it works. Never even tried to fit a man in this.

Blimp

This was the biggest thing I made, and thus suffered the most from my lack of parts. It should be noted that the bulk of this stuff was built at once, even though I never took a group shot.

I had one wright flyer set and that's where all the tan panels for the tiny fraction of the air sack came from, the curve was just some click hinges but the panels were so heavy they had to be held held up with strings.

The biggest problem was always things with multiple identical components. It was a stretch to make the 6 fingers of this crab thing even with such a simple construction.

Legged Tank and Steam Trooper

I love this tank that appears in like 3 shots and in 1 is getting blown up and in another is dead. Why didn't I use a minifig for the steam trooper? I hear you ask, well, the backpack was more important for me, and I couldn't have a breast plate and a backpack without a major headache.

The linkages don't really do anything productive, except make it hard to rebuild the boxor in 12 years. But they looked cool.

This one really benefitted from me getting the collector's edition of the movie that came with a booklet that featured some concept art and renders. You barely see this thing in the movie, and certainly not from the back.

Flying Machine

I call this one the "I saw someone make this on brickset using revolvers and it looked really good, but all I have are brown muskets because my lego collection is a couple pirate sets from before I was born, bionicles, and the wright flyer".

British Tank

This was the second version, the earlier one was too bad even for me.

I didn't have the stuff to make custom treads so instead I just used the giant chain from the wright flyer and faked the thickness lol. I think that's a pretty good Union Jack for being done freehand on a tiny flat tile with some not very fine tipped sharpies.

Yes the boiler was held together with rubber bands why wouldn't it be.

Say hello to Mr. "Everyone in this movie has a moustache because its 1866 but I only have one miniature figure head with a moustache".

I was quite taken with how the gun was a separate unit that could be detached.

Monocycle

Ray's a part of it, it can't stay together without him. Its all just wedged in there. I got some very used lego once that had some parts of an old police station from the 80s in it, and some of the pieces weren't even broken! So I managed to salvage the back half of a bike from there.

I also made Edward.

Since I didn't have any brown sharpies I just stuck on some paper coloured brown with a marker. At some point I found that the glue I was using to stick the papers on also could rub the prints off so that was cool, saved sanding. Very few miniature figures from my childhood remained.

And this concludes a short look at my dark past. If for some reason you want to see more, there's some more photos of the older ones can be found on this brickshelf.

I wrote a big post about Steamboy over here, if this didn't scare you away.

Notes ¹Short for "My Own Creation". ²Short for "Studs Not On Top"³. ³Often abbreviated as S.N.O.T.². ⁴If the sight of such things disturbs you please leave the post now. ⁵Fans of legoes liken the part of their life when they aren't buying legoes to a period of scientific and cultural stagnation.

[bots-and-cons]

What type of soulmate AU do you think Optimus prime would have (timer, red string, tattoo, first words, etc), what are his opinions? Would he be opposed to meeting his soulmate? Would he try to avoid them? (Gn human reader preferably ^^)

Uuu, I’ve maybe done one soulmate thing in this blog, but I’m not sure. I really like soulmate AU stuff though and I feel like this was sort of funny to write. Idk if this is actually funny to anyone but me but hey, at least I had fun. Pretty long for HCs and might have gone a bit off track also, but eh. If you want to me to find the other soulmate thing you can ask but you can also just check the masterlist in the pinned post and look for it yourself, I’m pretty sure it’s an OP or a Ratchet one

•I think I like the whole first words thing for him

•Optimus was incredibly confused when he read the words etched onto his wrist for the first time

•To his surprise he didn’t understand a word, because it wasn’t cybertronian it was some language that was foreign to him at the time

•When he eventually came to earth and learned english he was quite perplexed by the fact that it was of a human language, a single word in english that decorated his wrist

•”Quack?” was what it said

•He of course soon realized this either meant his soulmate was a human, or some autobot or a decepticon he had yet to meet that was also on earth and was using english

•The sentence itself had him quite convinced that his soulmate was indeed a human

•Optimus of course turned out to be right about that

•You’d been wondering your whole damn life what the hell the words on your wrist meant

•What situation could you possibly get yourself into, where someone had to tell you “Duck!”

•There was an exclamation point and everything, so were you going to get attacked by a duck and someone was going to warn you or something

•A lot of people made fun of you because of the word you had, many people came up with all kinds of crazy/stupid scenarios for it, but you never really found any of them funny or realistic

•But none of them would come even close to how crazy it was when it actually happened

•Optimus honestly wished he wouldn’t meet you, he didn’t want another person he cared about for Megatron to hurt

•He got really anxious about it for a while, and when he did eventually meet you the anxiety got even worse

•So, how did you actually end up meeting your soulmate?

•It was just about the worst day of your life, you were out for a walk, because your head couldn’t handle being cooped up at home anymore and you ended in some remote part of a park on the edge of town

•You saw some weird lights in the woods nearby and your curiosity got the better of you so you went to investigate

•You had no idea what you were looking at at first

•There were these light projectiles going back and forth and the sound of metal scraping on metal

•Then you heard it, someone yelling “Duck!” at you, you didn’t realize it was a command to move so you just meekly went “Quack?” because of course that’s a reasonable reaction

•Then you got swept of your feet by something very big and got pushed to the side

•Optimus just froze when he heard you say that, because he knew what it meant

•He’d found his soulmate in the first possible moment, in the middle of battle

•The autobots had to retreat and Optimus grabbed you to take you with him, because he couldn’t just leave you there with the cons, you were just a tiny human and they would’ve surely hurt you

•At some point you’d just closed your eyes and the next time you opened them was when you were set down on something soft

•You were sitting on a couch, in some place you didn’t recognize and surrounded by some huge robot looking things

•Since there was no one else around, you figured your soulmate had to be one of them, but since you’d closed your eyes, you hadn’t seen who’d talked to you before

•So you go taken in by the autobots, but it was weeks before Optimus admitted he was your soulmate, because he was terrified or the consequences 

•Optimus felt like if he didn’t tell you, you would be safer, that maybe you wouldn’t be targeted if nobody knew

•He most definitely did not want you to get involved with him, but of course fate had other plans

[pbandjesse]

I just noticed I have a little bit of sunburn on my back so James is currently putting aloe on it. I was for sure more exposed in the sun today despite our best efforts. It was still a really nice day. Even if it was a bit to hot. I was happy to spend it with my husband.

I slept alright last night. I was tossing a lot. I fell asleep quickly and deeply but I was just a little to warm.

And because I was to warm and the room was bright I woke up way before my alarm. James wasn't even back from their bike ride yet! So I kept dozing and trying to be comfortable.

When I got up for real I would get dressed and felt pretty happy. I was not really looking forward to today but I was trying to remain positive. James would go and gather a few last minute things I thought would make the printmaking pop up easier. And I am glad I made those calls.

It was still early and we didn't need to leave for a while. So I finally picked up my temperature blanket would record the missing days. Two months. It's not amazing but I was able to completely catch up on May. So I know I will be able to get this knocked out. I am still working on squares for my other blanket and will continue to work on that as well. It was nice to have James help with writing down the temperatures and I was just chilling on the couch for a bit measuring out the days. While James went to water the plants. And once everyone was fed and happy we would leave.

A little early but that was fine. We headed to SoHa.

I was nervous. I didn't remember the woman's face who had invited me so I was really worried about checking in but it ended up being find. James would do a uturn once we saw people setting up and would let me out of the car to go ask. And I was able to get some directions and things would work out really well.

I was a little nervous about my spot. The woman in charge had me on the corner and I was a little worried about being so close to traffic. But it would mainly be okay. The cars and traffic going by was just loud at times. But no one was being unsafe thankfully.

We got set up and I wasn't thrilled. I forgot to get the second basket of bears so I felt like my display was weak. It was to windy for all my sticker displays so I only had the one out. I was a little flustered. James was trying to help best they could but also a lot of the way I wanted things to look is just in my head and I was struggling because it was already hot and I didn't eat anything yet and I was just. Shakey and overwhelmed.

But it would honestly be really great. Besides the heat I would have a really good day.

We didn't make a ton of sales, but we did make some, and people loved the print making. And I am so glad we put up a tip venmo scanner because that added a lot to the total! And I am continuing to be on track with my average market take home and that just feels really good.

And I was just really happy being with James. Their style of trying to get people in in very different to mine but it was still fun. And we had people of all kinds coming up. Kids. Adults. Barbie! The older lady in the picture. She was so nervous but she did such a nice job. I loved telling people to sign their work when they were done because they did such a nice job. I had asked James to hang a string in the back of the tent so we could hang up people's art. It didn't really need time to dry, it was so hot today it was drying almost immediately (wasted so much ink!!), but it was fun to have them displayed.

People were also just really nice. They were excited and getting their kids to try it but also just fun. I truly had a really good day. Even though I was hot.

Half way through the day, long after I finished my knitting, the sun started to creep into the tent. James went and got an umbrella for me so I could have some protection but it only sort of helped. James would get me a lemonade (strawberry) and eventually I would go for a walk.

I got myself a necklace on my walk. A pretty amber pendant. And I got a quesadilla to share with James that was honestly excellent. I had a few conversations with other venders.

And that's when we all got the news that Joe Biden dropped out of the race. Wild. At first we were all having trouble verifying it because only the BBC has it posted. But pretty quickly news spread. And I don't know how to feel. Like I do think it's the right choice. He is very old. I think he's mainly a kind man. But I don't think he's the right choice, and I think if he stayed it would have split the vote and won Trump the election. It makes me nauseous to think about politics these days. But I know it's important and I have to be aware.

Speaking of voting we would sign a petition to let the independent candidate on the ballot this year. And had a nice conversation with the man with the form. He appreciated that we let him sit at our table for a moment. And while he did not make art with us he did think it was nice that we invited him too.

James would run the booth for a bit. And it was very sweet watching them teach printmaking to kids and adults. I love my husband and they are so good with people. And it's interesting to see how they do it differently then me. Not better or worse, but different. And it just made me love them that much more.

I would get a little snippy and nauseous from the heat though. And at 4 James would convince me to go into the vintage shop (the women who run that place organized the event today) and cool down. And I did but I also bought a 1970s poncho sweater for $10! And the girl at the register was like why is this $10?? And the owner was like it was $50 but it's been in the store for over a year. And I'm like oh it's because it was waiting for me! Obviously. It has deer all over it and I can't wait for the fall to wear it.

James laughed at me real big when I came back with my $10 sweater poncho. And one of the vendors tipped me for helping her and her precious daughter make a print, with a floral ice tea (that she makes and sells) and a $5 bill. So sweet. I really appreciated it.

I was absolutely counting down the minutes. And while I was enjoying the music (including Max the musician's stylings about basketball, and kid karaoke where a 7 year old sang Free Falling and it was hilarious), I was very very ready to go home.

At 455 we started packing up. And we are very efficient. We did printmaking last in case anyone else wanted to join us. And at 5 we did the big moving and packing. James had parked just down and across the street so they made the trips. And I packed things away. Getting the tent down was the only part I needed help with there and the Waldorf school's table was next to me and the two lovely people there helped me. And we would help them in turn when they couldn't figure out their tent. But all four of us together got it down.

We would grab our last things and say goodbye. I would send a follow up email saying thank you and sending along some pictures from the day. And I was just so happy to be out of the heat and on our way home.

It was decided we would go back and James would make naan and go get a few groceries while the bread machine mixed that up. I would put things away and take a shower and wash my hair real good. And it looks great honestly. My new shampoo is working really well. And I felt not amazing still once I was clean but it was an improvement and I would continue to feel better.

I reworked on my packing for the cruise. Switching to different bags and then back to the suitcase. I packed my clothes a bit different and I feel pretty happy with the decisions.

James would get back and reheated my leftover Indian food and it was so good. And once I was done eating and packing j would get in bed. James would join me. And we would have ice cream and hang out watching videos. And I am a little nauseous still. A little dehydrated. But I am happy. Very tired. But happy. I got to spend the whole day with my husband. We made pretty good money. James got their cousins some Christmas gifts. It was a really good day. Even if I got sunburn.

And tomorrow will be good too! James is going to go and take our kayak to the inner harbor to try that out. And when they get home we will have a nice brunch. And chill for the day before I have my rhumatologist appointment and then I head to Jess for the night. And then on Tuesday morning we start the journey to New York and the cruise port. It's going to be a very big week. Wish us luck! I love you all! Goodnight!

[bonesandthebees]

Since you recently answered three of my asks, I'm just gonna respond in a single ask because I don't want to crowd your inbox.

1. Ah, that's really cool that Phil likes Portrait so much. I love the rock sound to it. Every time I hear the opening chords, I always want to mix it with cmwyl because for some reason, I want to sing "i've never been a fan of the internet".

And I just watched the music video for Portrait today. It's so sick! Ted did an amazing job.

2. I listened to Katawaredoki, and it's so beautiful!

What are your other favorite movie/tv show soundtracks and/or composers? John Powell and his work on httyd will always be in my top. Sometimes soundtracks are just better than other music.

3. I finished songs of change! It's so good! I love the scene where Wilbur realized that his yearning for Phil and Techno's presence/company was not the instincts but purely himself. Ugh, this is why found family is my favorite. I honestly think it started with clinic.

And at the end when Wilbur and Schlatt still see each other on the seas! *chef's kiss*

That's really cool about the background OCs. I bet if you ever wrote a story/novel with original characters, it would be amazing because your characterization is so good! Though, I also understand the benefits of having characters already pre-made for you to just throw into different angst and fluff scenarios.

Thank you for answering the ask game! I love getting a different flavor of boba every time I go, so I'm always asking people on their favorites. I've sampled thai tea (tumblr, stop saying that I spelled it wrong) before, but never a full drink. Can't wait to try different combos!

Have a great day!

- 🐼

yes the portrait video is SO good ted did so so good

oh yes finally I get to ramble about my favorite soundtracks. my top three movie composers (in no particular order) are

Trent Reznor and Atticuss Ross (they always work together on soundtracks so I'm counting them as one). My favorite soundtrack of theirs is the Gone Girl soundtrack but my second favorite is The Social Network soundtrack. Both have such distinct tones to them I love them so much

Ramin Djawadi who is obviously a very well-known composer since he did Game of Thrones. I haven't watched GoT but I have watched House of the Dragon and adored his soundtrack for it, but my favorite of his is actually the Westworld s1 soundtrack. It's so eerie and soft with dashes of fun jaunty western tunes at the same time it's such a unique sound.

and lastly, Nicholas Britell who is the genius behind the Succession soundtrack for all 4 seasons. The soundtrack for that show is so distinct with its blend of hip hop foundational elements (like an 808 beat) with heavy orchestra strings, and it's absolutely stunning. The title theme is amazing, but there are so many tracks I'd just listen to on loop if it didn't ruin my spotify wrapped

and ty I'm so glad you enjoyed songs of change!! yes I loved including that moment of it was never really the instincts it was just wilbur. I feel like it was a fun subversion on the way instincts work in a lot of fics in this fandom (no hate to other instinct-driven fics, I just wanted to do my own twist on it)

tysm I hope I can get the time + motivation to write more original stuff soon. I definitely haven't stretched my oc building muscles in a few years so hopefully I'm still decent at making my own characterization lol

I highly highly recommend thai tea. it's sooo good although the place you get it from really makes or breaks it. there was this pho place near my college campus I used to go to all the time, and that has always been my gold standard for thai tea it was so good there and I've never found any that hits just as much as that did

[vitaminwaterreviews]

Girls' Generation - I Got A Boy

Alright, well that’s the album. It actually reminds me a lot of Pink Tape. It didn’t have the Moment that Pink Tape had though. Like, it needed a random dubstep breakdown in the middle of a hype song, and we didn’t get that here. Or, I guess we did, but it was in the first song on the album. And that kind of messed with me. But I think that’s something that Pink Tape does which no other album has the courage to do. Rum Pum Pum is a good title track, but there are way better title track options on Pink Tape. But they are where they are on the structure of the album because the album demands it. If they stuck IGAB as track 7 on this album, maybe my perception of the album would be different. Then again, maybe the biggest issue is that I already Knew IGAB, so I didn’t get the same shock effect. Average score of 8.0 which feels about right. It’s a Very good album, I enjoyed it a lot.

It sounds very SNSD and not very Red Velvet overall. Very f(x) too.

Here we go, I’ve been waiting for ages to do this one, and it feels like the right time. No preamble, let’s get into it. I know IGAB, I don’t know any of the others.

I Got A Boy

I literally watched this music video last night

This is #2 on my favorites list

And also, fun fact, the first time I heard this song it was a 10/10, and it’s stayed a 10/10 since. No other song has ever done that for me.

Should I watch the music video? Honestly, I don’t think I will. I always get way too caught up in their fashion to pay attention to the song as much

Haha I guess I actually just put the preamble into the notes section. Anyway:

In hindsight, the instrumentation and Sound here is very f(x)

I read once that the percussion is intentionally stripped back in this song; many of the percussion roles are actually filled by synths

The chorus is actually so good

Which does raise the question: is the song Elevated by the simple percussion? Or is it hindered? Because this type of sound is Nonexistant in modern kpop, you’d never catch a chorus with that simple of a percussion section

Another fun fact: I used a screenshot of Jessica saying the “don’t stop” line as my pfp for a while on Discord

Love the “oh” and the main chorus together at the end

10/10 obviously, this is objectively the best song in kpop

Dancing Queen

This does have a MV so I guess I’m obligated to watch it

Youtube thinks I’ve seen this video before. Maybe I’ll remember it?

Well it sure opens just like IGAB

Haha even that opening piano

Guess we’re going back to 2008

Lol what’s with the AOA cat dance

The “ooh”s are super cool

The dance is Super simple for a song called “Dancing Queen,” I might want to check out the dance practice at some point

And then they tease IGAB at the end? Alright I guess

Awww they teased the best part! Dumb

Okay anyway, I hardly talked about the music because it … wasn’t all that interesting? The music was alright, I was disappointed by the choreo, sooo

7/10, pretty good but nothing great

Baby Maybe

Super cute strings here in the intro

Nice strong drum beat

This is totally building to something

Either they’re doubling the strings here or adding piano, and chimes?

Synths now, hear that bass

Okay, I’m on board. Now deliver

The light parts of the pre-chorus(?) are fun

Yeah, this bridge section (if that’s what it is) is so good

Wow, I’m super impressed by this song, this feels so good to listen to

9/10, this was a really really good song

Talk Talk

Wind?

Synth

Oh ok now we’re strong

This synth bass is going extra hard

These vocals feel like they’re being chopped up

The chorus on the other hand is bouncy

The bass feels like it’s being dragged through the mud

Ugh the pre-chorus is SO cool

8/10

Promise

Piano, chimes, vocal flexing

Slow jam time

Feels a tad fast for a slow jam but the instrumentation is all there

Yeah this chorus is super slow jammy

7/10

Express 999

Did he just clear his throat in my ear?

Super funky beat, strong synths, Strong bass

Strong drums too

Kind of soft, subdued vocals

Woahhh okay, the chorus surprised me

Strong guitars there

Haha the post chorus!

AND NOW WE”RE HERE!!

Yes haha this is So good wtf

And now we’re back here

The OHHHHs though

9/10

Lost In Love

This feels dreamy and I’m not a huge fan yet

Chimes, piano, strings, a very Thicc soundscape

Apparently this is the most-streamed B-side though so it should have something to it

It’s very ballady so far

Okay, here’s the beat

Back in semi-slow jam territory

Male vocals in the background here?

Oh this is just Taeyeon and Tiffany? That’s neat

This is like a True ballad though

And I definitely prefer it, it really is so pretty

8/10

Look At Me

The more albums I listen to, the more I realize that there are no new titles in kpop

BOOM

Woah what

Okay, I like this

Heyyy some rap, we’ve hardly had that this album!

Hmm… The chorus feels just a bit too simple, lyrically, I want more here

Ugh I love a good kpop girl group rap though

The bridge is … ominous

Haha that guitar sample

And we’ve got some bubbles in the background

Alright I guess, I really like everything in the song except the chorus which feels a bit too simple to me

7/10 but I’ll probably go higher on future listens

XYZ

Some nice hard synth

Hard drums too

Their vocals almost sound Red Velvet to me for some reason? That’s weird

It’s a Loud song, doesn’t do much for me though

7/10

Romantic St.

Distorted piano

And now we’ve got distorted strings

And now it’s like… a theatre song?

It’s kind of pretty and bouncy, I don’t know if I buy it yet

I mean, it’s pleasant to listen to. It’s actually pretty bubblegum sounding

8/10

[deadcactuswalking]

Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 2006

Content warning: Swearing, brief mentions of drugs, particularly unappealing-sounding sex, problematic behaviour and Chris Brown

2006 was the year Twitter was founded. Fittingly, this is the year Twitter dies. So let’s get straight into it. Shout out Montenegro, these are my favourite hit songs of 2006!

Take a look at this photograph: my favourite hit songs of 2006

You know the gist. I listened to the Billboard Hot 100’s year-end list of the 100 biggest songs of 2006. Is it an accurate list? No. Is it a good list? No. Is it a list? Even that I feel is in dispute. Unlike 2000, where I was unfamiliar with a decent amount of songs, I have some nostalgia for a few of these tracks and it was genuinely difficult to separate that sometimes, but there were many songs I had no idea about or very little memory of that ended up surprising me, and did end up on this list.

Before we get to the list, I’m going to shoot out some honourable mentions, of which there are quite a few of this time around, and a lot more that are just good but not exactly great, and won’t be mentioned here, so let’s zoom through and give a shout out to the hardest cut from this list, “Feel Good Inc.” by Gorillaz, the undeniable banger “Hung Up” by Madonna, the sweetest slow-burn of Mary J. Blige’s “Because of You”, Gnarls Barkley’s fantastic 15 minutes together with “Crazy”, Rihanna flipping a classic sample right on “SOS”, Kelly Clarkson’s best song “Walk Away”, the absolute chaos that is “Money Maker” by Ludacris featuring Pharrell Williams, the surprisingly dynamic and insane fun of “Pump It” by the Black Eyed Peas, Chamillionaire’s all-time banger “Ridin’” featuring Krayzie Bone, “Photograph” by Nickelback - shut up, YOU listen to that chorus and try not to sing along, Young Dro recruiting T.I. for the infectious and kind of pioneering trap anthem “Shoulder Lean”, Eminem’s simultaneously solemn and overblown tribute to himself and his daughter “When I’m Gone” and finally, “For You I Will (Confidence)” by Teddy Geiger. Trans rights forever, let’s get to the list.

#10

So this annual year-end throwback list thing wasn’t intended to be annual, but if it’s going to be, then I may as well lower the stakes from last year’s 2000 extravaganza, and there is no better way to do that than start with funny anecdotes about funny guys. There are two Sean Pauls on this list, and they both appear on multiple songs. One doesn’t have a Wikipedia page, and is only there through features - he’s a member of rap duo YoungBloodZ, who ironically do not appear on this list as a duo. The other Sean Paul, the Jamaican guy we all know and love, has three hits here as the lead act, and just as he pipped the inferior SP to the post with quantity, he did so also with quality. Let’s start this fun list with a fun song.

#10 - “We be Burnin’” - Sean Paul

Peak: #6 | Year-End: #81 (2006), #88 (2005)

Yeah, I didn’t expect Sean Paul to make this list. To be fair, the 10th spot was very much in contention throughout nearly all of this, and on a better day, maybe a day where I cared more about my “credibility” as a “critic”, Gorillaz would be in this spot instead. This one is impossible to not have fun to though, right? Of the three songs from THIS Sean Paul on the list, this is the one that felt the most breezy and tropical, like a complete escape from 2006, which was a hellscape in its own way. Andre Saunders and Delano Thomas mix the digital drums with a killer acoustic guitar rumble that makes the song intense but never aggressive, maintaining a dancehall bounce that of course makes some pop sacrifices but they’re implemented very well - the synth strings in the chorus are lovely inclusions, and it’s not like the chorus ever feels like it interrupts the natural flow of what Sean Paul is doing here. Hell, he returns to different parts of the first verse and the chorus as loosely and organically as possible, and honestly, he’s flowing a lot harder than most American rappers on this list. His melodic tendencies seep into the faster rap flows so seamlessly it’s impressive, and whilst much of the content is just flexing, hanging with girls, and smoking Mary J, that’s the very reason why this song hits for me in the same way it does. It’s a tropical mantra, commanding you not give a damn about what anyone else has to say. Keep burnin’ and not concernin’ what nobody wanna say. I say it’s good advice.

#9

Is this the first best list I’ve written that includes a metal song? I’ve definitely touched on every other genre, even country and reggaetón, and now dancehall, so I may as well hit up the final genre for me to praise in this format. 2006 was a very diverse year-end list at times, and it definitely made listening to it far from a chore. So for probably the first time on this blog ever, let’s sing the praises of a metal band.

#9 - “Call Me When You’re Sober” - Evanescence

Peak: #10 | Year-End: #77

I’m not a fan of Evanescence, mostly because I haven’t looked nearly deep enough into their catalogue - I think I’d like them more than I’d expect to - to really form a full opinion. This song, like “We be Burnin’”, was a late addition to the contentious lower spots on this list, and ultimately won me over because… it’s really literal and straightforward. This is something singer Amy Lee has referenced herself - it’s not draped in metaphors about her breakup with the frontman of Seether (MASSIVE fumble on his behalf), it’s just a cathartic release wherein Lee chooses happiness for herself over continuing to maintain the lie that this relationship is working. As a result, this feels like an intensely personal song, even with the typical Amy Lee belts and the metal backing, and the bloody DJ Lethal turntables. It feels like it wants to keep an inherent distance through all of this overdramatic production, keeping on the defensive, but those lines in the chorus that start with an attack - “you” - end with “me”. All of the anger directed at Mr. Seether - name unnecessary - is rooted so heavily in her own personal frustrations, and those frustrations are heavy to the point where I kind of hate this guy too! Of course, David Campbell’s orchestral arrangement is beautiful, and it getting muddied behind all the metallic intensity spare for brief moments of piano respite in the trip hop bridge furthers that constant split between the inherent distance the song tries to place and the intimacy the song is displaying. Amy Lee’s laugh at the end melts me every time, I love this song - if you forgot about it, give it a relisten. Also, second best pre-chorus on the year-end list: we’ll get to the best in a few songs down the line.

#8

You know, this song would probably be worth an introduction in 2006 but I question the need for it now. For a song from 17 years ago - Jesus Christ, we’re all getting old - this sounds just as fresh. No introduction needed, it’s just a timeless song.

#8 - “Me & U” - Cassie

Peak: #3 | Year-End: #14

You can’t tell me DJ Mustard wasn’t secretly producing songs as early as 2006. He must have been sending Ryan Leslie tips from high school, this has him written all over. Part of that DJ Mustard-like approach is what Cassie hated about the song, and also what made it so forward-thinking: it sounds monotone. There’s a slinky robotic feeling to the entire song, whether it be the extremely simplistic main melody or the squawking metallic synth lead, or especially Cassie’s performance, which despite all of the checks of a functioning R&B vocal performance being there - the multi-tracked harmonies, the rhythmic backing vocals and echoes, whispery cooing, belted riffing - nothing functions the way everyone in 2006 was used to. To this day, probably because it plays on the expectations of the time, it still sounds futuristic, and whilst Cassie shares the Ciara syndrome of not having any weight to her voice, it enhances the performance a lot here, especially in those stray riffs in the chorus that are mixed bizarrely and make their mark in an awkward way that doesn’t fully “mesh”. I don’t know if Ryan Leslie, who produced and wrote the song all by himself, could see into some dystopian future when he was programming that distorted bass, or that a cyborg version of DJ Mustard from the year 3092 was instructing him and Cassie on how to perfect that shrill bridge, but whatever was going on, they pulled it off in a song that is still fascinating now. Maybe when AI has taken over the world, this one won’t be as timeless, but for now, yeah, this still deserves the plays it got back then… and Cassie deserved that career as an R&B superstar that she never really got.

#7

Fun list. Low stakes. This song is hard as bricks.

#7 - “Stay Fly” - Three 6 Mafia featuring Young Buck and 8Ball & MJG

Peak: #13 | Year-End: #92

In the back of my mind, I was waiting for this song the entire time because it’s at the tail-end and I just knew out of my initial skim reading that this was the song that went the hardest out of any on that year-end, with very little hesitation. I mean, when you start with that drawn-out DJ Paul “Yeah” before dropping into a chopped chipmunk soul sample being just murdered by the Memphis rap drums Juicy J placed over them, you just know it’s going to stay at that level of hype for the whole song. Juicy J is obviously at home over those slick guitars and trinkling hi-hats, and then DJ Paul comes in with his slower bombast that shows you exactly why these guys were counterparts for so long in the Memphis rap scene. The way Three 6 take the snares away and loop the sample to intensify the beat while keeping all the claps and snaps is an exemplar of how to mess with a beat and maintain the song’s momentum. It does help that whenever that happens, we either have DJ Paul record-scratching his own vocals or Young Buck delivering an all-time great verse, spluttered with distant yelling ad-libs that transition perfectly into Memphis’ rendition of the Ol’ Dirty Bastard, the menacing sing-songy verse from Crunchy Black. 8Ball’s verse functions as a call-and-response and MJG picks up the pace with a rapid flow for the two closing verses, and once you think they’re going to run out of steam, the song ends, never letting that happen. You’re still going to play it again, though, aren’t you? To hear the elegant string inflections, the monotone sing-a-long chorus, and verses that make the nearly four-minute song feel like it just breezes by.

#6

There are a ton of oddities on this year-end list, from time capsules to failed experiments that still failed hard at the time. Hell, we start with “Bad Day” by Daniel Powter, we have two different Sean Pauls, Jibbs featuring Jibbs and of course, Ludacris giving you swimming lessons on the penis. This next one may be the oddest of them all.

#6 - “London Bridge” - Fergie

Peak: #1 for 3 weeks | Year-End: #22

How this got to #1 is beyond me, let alone three weeks. Maybe it was pure spectacle because this song is… something else. Of course, we start with the now-iconic yelp of “OH SHIT!” - a shout I can’t separate from how it was implemented on Girl Talk’s fantastic mashup album Feed the Animals, in which I wouldn’t be surprised to find half of the songs on the 2006 year-end are sampled in - before Polow da Don hypes the very presence of Fergie over a blaring siren that goes on for way too long and a wonky trumpet that farts under the march of Polow’s percussive cacophony. Critics at the time rendered this a rip-off of “Hollaback Girl” and I do not see it - did Gwen Stefani have every line end with a comically unfitting “OH SHIT!”? Did Mrs. Stefani-Shelton make her chorus a reference to how her panties go down like the London Bridge? Fergie is fully convinced in her incoherent “bars” that the song, which starts sounding like complete ass, doesn’t grow on you as much as it just convinces you to stop worrying about how it sounds, and rather on how you feel. If that feeling is nausea, then I’m pretty sure that’s what Polow da Don intended, considering the quick drunken interlude, and Fergie slurring incomprehensibly with additional “OH SHIT!” yelps over what should be the song’s one space of guitar-inflected peace in the bridge. Eventually, you realise that peace is overrated and you don’t want to leave this alcohol-infused nightmare of a song because if you try, Fergie’s claws will reach out and clasp you in your grip, and all of a sudden, “OH SHIT!” sounds like a pretty reasonable response to your current situation.

#5

One thing I very rarely see this band play into successfully is their manic energy. I’m glad they pulled it off at least once, and to many great returns.

#5 - “Dance, Dance” - Fall Out Boy

Peak: #9 | Year-End: #33

Now THIS has the best pre-chorus on the list. The way that one part of the song elevates the chaos of it all is something Fall Out Boy has rarely replicated since. “Dance, Dance” revolves around a teenage infatuation and naturally, nothing about the song really works all too well apart from its jerkiness. The bassline is pretty undeniable but it’s not like Patrick Stump is sliding here, rather just slipperingly stumbling over his words before the oddly stiff guitars clumsily find their way in some other pocket that the rest of the instrumental decides to respectfully ignore until that pre-chorus compiles all the stray fumbling in one burst of energy that continues less-than-gracefully into the miserable but anthemic chorus. Stump interrupts the second pre-chorus with a distantly-mixed refrain shoved in as if the unabashed misogyny of it intrudes onto his ability to construct basic songs, or thoughts for that matter. All these little details - including the reversed chatter adding that high-school atmosphere - make the song feel like an event and narrative every single time, perfect for one of those teenage-oriented awkward sex comedies from the early 2000s. The song reaches its peak, however, when that awkward bridge is recited over the half-time dirge in place of a guitar solo, expanding upon the gross distaste and turning it into outright pathetic desperacy. By the end, all he can spit out is the word “dance”, as everything that matters to him seems to have crumbled on the dancefloor, with the listener’s added knowledge that none of this really matters, but for those three minutes, they damn right made you believe it did, didn’t they? This still holds up as one of the band’s best tracks, and if they’re going to spend the rest of their career updating that Billy Joel song and making mediocre throwbacks to this very era, at least we’ll have this to stack up on in case of extreme deprivation of any good pop-punk.

#4

In this top 10, around four were songs that I wasn’t immediately familiar with prior to going on this venture. Two of them, specifically the first two songs on this list, I was vaguely aware of. The two songs I’d never heard in this top five, however, I immediately fell in love with, and they follow into a very black-and-white dichotomy too. This is the happy one.

#4 - “So What” - Field Mob featuring Ciara

Peak: #10 | Year-End: #55

If I were to rank these songs based on how much pure enjoyment I personally get from each one, which is like 90% of the reasoning songs are where they are but still not the deciding factor, “So What” would be #2, easily, and may even compete for #2. Hell, it’s probably why it’s this high as I mean, this is otherwise kind of standard, right? A Jazze Pha-produced Atlanta bass track with a weedy synth backing, whispery vocals from Ciara and catchy one-hit wonder raps… it’s been done. So why is it the fourth best hit song of 2006? It’s sheer unbridled joy to me. Jazze Pha’s rich “Ladies and gentlemen!” starts the song off with a surplus of character, and his dialogue introduces a fast-paced weightless hook from Ciara that is not only some of the catchiest refrains in this year’s R&B, but also just a sugar rush in how it’s performed with as much harmonic breeze as possible. Field Mob #1 Smoke replicates the melody initially in his first verse, before dipping into many others in his incredible verse, one so good that I’m surprised he didn’t find at least some success as a Ludacris type. He clings onto different sing-songy cadences but continues to switch them up, in an almost childlike way, honestly. There’s a youthful carelessness to the performances, and a perfectly-administered beat for them to lay on top of. Field Mob #2 Shawn Jay goes into a higher register than I think he can fully maintain, making little call-and-response bars with his own ad-libs and it’s just adorable. In fact, the song speaks to me because of how adorably love-struck it is overall, with both Smoke and Shawn Jay trying to convince Ciara that she shouldn’t listen to the gossip surrounding them, rendering much of it as lies, even if Shawn Jay admits that he’s been to jail but also that he’s working on self-improvement. It’s a genuine and very human song, wherein Ciara’s hook and especially her verse, which is gorgeous, reassures that she loves this guy (which one of the Field Mobsters it actually is is unknown), and that this togetherness trumps any lie or assumption people could have about him or by extension, her and their relationship. Jazze Pha and the Field Mob are there every step of the way hyping up the relationship through these cute ad-libs and chanting, too, it’s just an adorable song that I am so glad to have discovered. It puts an automatic smile on my face on every listen, and I was honestly kind of surprised a song this wholesome came out of the year that also features Yung Joc’s girl chewing on his penis like a piece of Bubble Yum.

#3

I have my issues with Justin Timberlake. I have possibly criminal issues I’d like to raise with T.I., or at least his lawyers, regarding substantiated allegations. This is still one of the greatest #1 hits of all time.

#3 - “My Love” - Justin Timberlake featuring T.I.

Peak: #1 for 3 weeks | Year-End: #61 (2006), #26 (2007)

I’ve been wanting to talk about this one for years, and I still don’t know if I can do Timbaland’s production work any justice. The futuristic production sound he mastered alongside Danja made this inexplicably popular form of decidedly pop-unfriendly R&B, and it’s on full display here when compellingly placed against a profession of love from Justin Timberlake, where the organic meets the robotic and the real meets the fake. Timberlake undercurrents the song with beatboxing that plays off the pulsating synth bass and its warped electro lead that commands the song’s wonkiness, and contributes to the tonal disaster that is a love song from someone who sounds forced to profess any of this. Part of this is how desperate Justin is - writing her a symphony, giving constant compliments, proposing to her - just so she dates him… “on the regular”. His eerie falsetto and the stiffly-programmed beat with all its manic clicking turns these otherwise slightly-awkward confessions and promises into unwanted robotic misfires, as he depicts in the chorus a stereotypical depiction of what a loving human relationship should look like. In the chorus, Timbaland’s monotone begging that she doesn’t give away his love is contrasted with what sounds like maniacal laughter, performed by the personification of a computer virus. The ring represents his heart because there is no human way for Timberlake to make that connection to this woman, it’s kind of a profoundly sad song through that lens, so it kind of helps that it still sounds bizarre and futuristic to this day, and that even that jittery malware laugh is catchy as all hell. Amidst this narcotised ballad, that definitely made way for people like The Weeknd to launch onto the scene later on, we have T.I. prefacing his verse but wondering why Justin’s hesitating… and he goes in. Tip finds the most groove possible in this staccato dirge and plays the human threat to Timberlake’s slow, robotic love - he has the charisma and swagger that’s worth more than Justin’s shoddy idealism. He finds so many catchy pockets, and says memorable garbage like “They call me Candle Guy simply ‘cause I am on fire”, and kind of takes the song away with him to the nether like he took Justin’s girl, leaving him standing stranded repeating that same hook, without Timbo backing him this time around. This is a brilliant meshing of all styles involved, mostly from Timbaland as this kind of glassy stodge was something he leaned into around this time, and the way the drama plays out over an intricately detailed instrumental has always been compelling. Timberlake and Timbaland really were the dream team for a while, and this is one of their many hits that stands the test of time, and my personal favourite.

#2

Okay, I know I said this would be fun and low-stakes but just for a second, let’s get into darker territory. This is another song I hadn’t heard until going on this venture and God, it hit like a truck. This song was originally about a breakup, sure, but was reframed in the video to be about the singer’s mother, and if you really pay attention to the original, it’s clearly about her in the first place. I’ve never been particularly close to my mother, but this song still absolutely crushed me, just astonished me on first listen. Let’s cry to post-grunge, ladies, enbies and gentlemen.

#2 - “Hate Me” - Blue October

Peak: #31 | Year-End: #82

This song, when it first came on in the year-end list - and I listened to this in order so it was right after “We be Burnin’” of all songs - initially confused me… and then it gradually rendered me kind of astonished. This is pretty heavy, and really I think the song is up to and deserving of some interpretation, but bear with me on this. This song is a particularly self-indulgent one, wherein memories surrounding our frontman, Justin Furstenfeld, seem to surround him and never get fully absorbed, because if they did, I think it would snap him back into reality, which is far away from how this song sounds and functions. Everything here is wrapped in Furstenfeld’s head. We start with an ambient introduction, draping an otherwise innocuous, incredibly low-quality recording of girls singing Blue October’s previous hit, in mystery, as the last note loops and warps under a voicemail from Justin’s own mother sharing her concern about her son’s mental health. You might be wondering how this charted at all considering that this abstract intro takes up most of the song’s first minute but the radio edit did cut much of it out, which is a shame as there are moments within it that are really painful, like how the voicemail starts to warp and be manipulated once she ensures that he knows she loves him and that he should be taking his medication. Furstenfeld’s over-written, grotesque lyrics read like a suicide note as he questions his mother’s loyalty to him, but not necessarily based in her own actions, as she clearly loves him as we know from that voicemail. Instead, Furstenfeld’s paranoia emerges from his own struggles, making the “you” he addresses far away from the “you” he’s really referring to. There are many poetic turns of phrases in these verses that resonate, but that chorus is undeniable, as the guilt he feels because of his own perceived inability to live up to his mother’s dreams, giving this sense that he wants to erase himself and replace him with a version of himself that is actually grateful for everything his mother helped him with as described in the second verse. This man being completely unaware of how his mother feels, deluded into thinking the person who loves him most would see value in disregarding him entirely and find catharsis in despising her own son, is pretty heartbreaking, especially when what I interpreted as a suicide attempt plays out in front of her in the bridge over the crushing grunge guitars that have long-replaced the acoustic strum we started with, only for it to return amidst the delicate strings in the defeated final chorus, before those vocal samples from the intro return, now in unavoidably distorted form. You can no longer hear the words the girls are singing, and his mother’s “Hey, Justin” pitches down into a demonic “Hate Justin”, where we realise the one thing his mother could ever hate him for would be Furstenfeld taking himself away from her. It’s a great deal of melodrama, sure, but a song with this heavy and complex of a narrative is not present elsewhere on the list, and it never fails to hammer me down on every listen. It’s an excellent, difficult listen, only beaten out by a song that is completely undeniable. Before we get to that, however, let’s take a trawl through the garbage.

The worst list

There was a lot of crap on this list, for the record, definitely more so than 2000, although part of that may be my familiarity with both the songs and also the general sound of the year, so it’s easier to spot when something ends up going awry in attempting to fit in within those trends… or you know, it’s just ass. Note that there are four Chris Brown songs on this list. Let’s just briefly sift through the 10 worst songs, because I’m not all for negativity. With that said, I’ll keep it short…

#10 - “There it Go (The Whistle Song)” - Juelz Santana

How do you make a song this depressively minimal and the whistles end up clipping in the mix? How?

#9 - “Lips of an Angel” - Hinder

Somehow not the most punchable song on this list, but a dirge regardless. I was originally going to put “Move Along” by the All-American Rejects here, and it is actually much lower in my ranking of each song but I think the worst of what rock had to offer in 2006 is better represented by this rather than a song I personally dislike.

#8 - “Beep” - The Pussycat Dolls featuring will.i.am

The song is rote and shrill as is, but why THAT specific beep sound? Their other song on this list, “Buttons” with Snoop Dogg, is just about as annoying.

#7 - “Laffy Taffy” - D4L

This would teeter on comical if it was T-Pain or something but this beat - and most of the verses - are dead on arrival.

#6 - “Shake That” - Eminem featuring Nate Dogg

This song has the self-awareness of a goldfish in a strip club. That is also exactly how Eminem sounds in this song… about a strip club.

#5 - “Get Up” - Ciara featuring Chamillionaire

Was Jazze Pha drunk with this one? Like, he and Ciara work together in my top 5, what went wrong to make this ear-hurting calamity?

#4 - “You’re Beautiful” - James Blunt

And the White People Choice Award for Slowest Love Song goes to…

#3 - “Unfaithful” - Rihanna

This is a fascinating case study of a song. It’s a complete cacophony with absolutely no idea how busy it is, meaning absolutely everything sticks out like a sore thumb, to a ridiculous degree. This is probably the worst-sounding song on this entire list.

#2 - Chris Brown

This was before he committed any crimes, so I’m not putting him as a person here, rather just the fact that teeny-Breezy has four songs in this year-end - one, “Say Goodbye”, is a boring ballad and the other three are unlistenable, including the insufferable “Yo (Excuse Me Miss)”, the laugh track-deserving failure of “Run It!” with Juelz Santana - what a year for him - and finally, “Gimme That”, the ode to statutory rape featuring Lil Wayne on the remix guest verse. Sure.

#1 - “Stupid Girls” - P!nk

This is near the very bottom of the year-end - it’s one of the most hellish songs I have ever heard, failing as a commentary due to its failure as a satire which is in turn due to its failure as a functioning song. I sincerely hope and pray P!nk has grown and moved on from this immature, attention-seeking garbage. Now, speaking of seeking attention, how about we end this list with someone who’s never been fond of taking attention away from themselves?

#1

Look, I don’t like this artist. Or band. Or whatever it counts as nowadays. I have no interest in praising him or his work, and avoid doing so in most situations. So the song just really has to be that good.

#1 - “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” - Panic! at the Disco

Peak: #7 | Year-End: #20

Okay, so the truth is I do like Panic! at the Disco. I don’t like admitting to it but there are many songs from them I love - “Nearly Witches (Ever Since We Met)” is my favourite - and I have on the vast majority of their albums pretty positive outlooks. Of course I do, theater kid magic works on me when there’s genuine groove behind it and an ego that at his worst has a level of over-written nuance that makes sub-par songs fascinating rather than just straight-up bad. So why do I say I don’t like Panic!? I don’t know, man, it just feels like I shouldn’t, especially when I’ve listened to a wide array of music that resonates with me on deeper levels. There’s something primal and cathartic therefore in firstly knowing this song exists, because to me, it needlessly justifies every qualm you could possibly have with Mr. Brendon Urie, and secondly, the chorus silences whatever complaint you could have. This song is chock full of hooks, refrains, inescapably so. And for that, I love it, with what feels like my gut rather than my brain, and I think that’s what pop music is all about, right?

Okay, well, I guess this isn’t strictly a pop song. It’s an emo song, and you could call it dark cabaret if you really wanted to I suppose, but it’s still undeniably within the boundaries of “popular music” and whilst the bridesmaid isn’t Ciara, this song is definitely a further exploration of elements of popular music that I love pop for, and as a result is avertly “pop” in how it expresses itself. Firstly, it’s catchy to an infectious extent. The sly piano is like a spider creeping up the twinkling drains of the counter-melody. I know every single word to this song and more, partly because Urie repeats the vast majority of it at least once if not nauseatingly so, but also because these refrains are so incremental to the song’s very existence that you can’t take any repeated line out - the second verse just repeats itself instead of thinking of another four lines like the first verse, but the increased desperacy in Urie’s voice as he sings lyrics already ridden with guilt and denial for the second time makes the repetition integral to not only the narrative of the song but its composition. The song is about infidelity but treated with all the irreverence that its overlapping double-tracked vocals will allow, especially with that abrupt stop in the first verse just to make way for the killer conventional rock instrumentation, which gives the song much of its irreverence in my opinion, as well as of course, its momentum. This twinkling, shrill sing-song about infidelity loses much of its impact when the looming cellos aren’t concluded by an excellent performance from Ryan Ross and ESPECIALLY Spencer Smith, whose drums are the propellent force this song takes to go from a well-written pop song to downright explosive. By the end, Urie’s distant belts are soaring at the back of the mix - he doesn’t matter any more, the song does, and especially its theatrics. That’s pop music to me: everything is secondary to the song. Oh, and I mean, you’ve heard the chorus?

I chime in with a “Haven’t you people ever heard of closing the Goddamn door?”

Any song that opens its chorus in that way is probably going to end up on a list of mine. There’s definitely some nostalgia here, definitely a preference for emo-pop on my behalf that may explain the high placement on this list, but I genuinely think this is a flawlessly written and performed song, and my personal connection with it only furthers the fact that this is definitely my favourite hit song of 2006. Thank you for reading and I’ll see you on Friday for your normal programming.

[haikyustanaccount]

Taylor Swift (again)

My opinion changed enough that I’m running it back! Honestly, I’ve just had enough time with each album that I really feel like I can make a confident statement about all of them. 10. Taylor Swift: 7/10. Sooo sweet. This album is just really sweet and even this early in her career her eye for lyrical specificity and chorus catchiness is amazing. Even with that though, the youth blinders are on pretty hard and its the hardest to ignore it on this one. I think the best song is maybe Our Song or maybe Mary’s Song it could even be I’m Only Me When I’m With You. There’s a lot of choices.

9. Fearless (Taylor’s Version): 8/10. Exactly the same except the youth blinders have lowered a lot. They’re still visibly there, but the improvements are massive. Her lyrical ability is only going up and the songs just straight up sound better and more unique. I think my favorites are probably Hey Stephen or The Way I Loved You. I just like the way they sound.

8. Midnights: 8/10. I feel really bad for this one. I really wanted to like this one. I organized a listening party with a bunch of snacks, drinks, and over 20 people in a massive room and it was actually really fun. Even with all those great memories this album just isn’t much to latch onto. Lavendar Haze and Sweet Nothings are really the only songs I’ve continued to listen to. Although Karma is kinda great too.

7. Speak Now: 9/10. ooooooo dam this ones good!! I’m honestly kinda upset with myself cause I couldn’t click with this one as much as I can with the others above it. The songs all smack and they all are surprisingly unique. Just looking through the tracklist I remembered how every song went even though its been years since I listened to it. My faves are maybe Haunted and Enchanted.

6. reputation: 9/10. Now this one was one of the first albums to reallllly grow on me. To the point that several other albums grew on me more, but I still love this album. It’s kind of a beautiful madness and in the right mood nothing feels better than this album. Faves are I Did Something Bad and Getaway Car.

5. Red (Taylor’s Version): 10/10 Oh how times change, this used to be my top and now its fifth. Even though its literally still a 10. Yeah this one’s amazing, it soundtracked such an important period of my life and it still remains one of my favorite albums of all time. Faves are my namesake Starlight and Stay Stay Stay. 4. Folklore: 10/10 AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA i realy like this one. Its just so simply perfect. Everyone takes this one to death, but yeah the instrumentals are beuatiful and Taylor’s best lyrics make for a damn good album. The bonus track is even amazing. Now my favorites on this one slides around constantly, but seven is always amazing, illicit affairs and invisible string have been growing on me, and like i mentioned the lakes is amazing too.

3. 1989: 10/10 I recently had my 1989 era and it was super slay and sad. So I am contractually obligated this album up pretty high. Also important disclaimer that I am referring to the deluxe album since all the bonus tracks are bangers! This album has a pretty similar album arc to reputation just with different genres and the layers slowly pealing back to reveal a love story. Whether falling in or out of love, but love is a primary focus of both. faves are definitely clean and wonderland those songs mean everything to me.

2. evermore: 10/10 I don’t think any album has grown on me as much as this one. It just means so much to me and every song is kinda perfect. It basically takes all the things from folklore but change the setting to a lonely cabin in the woods and you’ve got it. Each song feels so slow, methodical, and careful. It’s her most beautiful album. fave songs are marjorie, closure, cowboy like me, and ivy.

1. Lover: 10/10 Shut up I like being happy. I don’t care if other people think other albums are better this album is the most emotionally mature she’s ever made. It feels like healing, thriving, and genuine happiness in a way none of her other albums do. It just makes me happy to listen to. I don’t love every song, but I believe that she does and that’s more important. faves are Death by a Thousand Cuts, Cornelia Street, Afterglow and the Archer.

[some-teeth-in-a-trench-coat]

I saw your reblog+tags and I'm curious: how does one play Minecraft with a Jewish twist? :0

Basically, I'm trying to play in a way that corresponds to Halakha (Jewish law), which for now mainly involves trying to simulate Shekhita (Kosher slaughter). I did a lot of research on the requirements for the type of blade (called Khalaf or Sakin Hashekhita depending on who you ask) as well as how it must be used and concluded that only a diamond or netherite sword with sharpness V was suitable for slaughtering a cow (as they deal 10 and 11 damage respectively and a cow has 10 health and it Must be a one hit kill to be kosher, additionally it cannot be a critical hit as that might count as excessive force which is forbidden).

There is so much fun to be had around Kashrut (the dietary laws) in Minecraft. Did you know you're not allowed to eat fruit from a tree until it is three years old? Thus, I can only eat apples from oaks that have existed for 36 lunar cycles (3*12 months).

I've tried playing with "must keep Shabbat" but honestly it's very annoying to once every 7th ingame day just not be able to do basically anything. Pretty much everything that can be done in Minecraft is prohibited on Shabbat, including Mining and Crafting. You can maybe go explore, but you can't take anything with you or pick up anything, or make plans for what to do after Shabbat with what you find, and you can only go by foot, which I think means you're not breaking the prohibition travel, but I'm not sure, I need to look into it. It's possible that enchanting would be allowed if you reaaally stretch the concept and try to define it as studying, which is encouraged on Shabbat. Anyway I'm currently ignoring the Shabbat part because it's annoying to keep track and there's nothing you can really do. (Not to mention if you want to properly observe Shabbat you do so with meals which in Minecraft means you need to fast all week to be hungry enough to eat several meals.)

Once I get a bit more set up I really hope to create some redstone thing at spawn that will count the days for me so I can incorporate holidays. Maybe. It would be fun to build a Sukka (hut) for Sukkot (holiday when you build and live in a hut for a week) in Minecraft, but I might end up just going by the real world calendar to make sure I have time to really celebrate ingame (especially since lunar cycles are 8 days in Minecraft which means I'll have barely any time between holidays, Sukkot alone would take up a whole month).

It's basically a fun roleplay twist and as a bonus I get to research and learn about different Mitzvot (commandments) and Minhagim (traditions) before I'm able to meet a rabbi and incorporate them into my own real life. I love learning about Halakha and Judaism and I love any excuse to ask all the silly questions about it. Like earlier today a friend and I were arguing about whether a gun that shoots blades could be used for kosher slaughter! Judaism is so great and appealing to my autism like it has probably the world's largest collection of commentary upon commentary about how to interpret the rules and what does it all mean and I could spend the rest of my life learning about it and while there are disagreements there's bound to be some answer to any question I have about an ambiguity of a rule and oh my autistic little heart.

But there's some stuff I don't feel comfortable doing yet, even in game, because they feel too important and exclusive to real Jews, such as Tzitzit (knotted strings that are attached to certain articles of clothing) on my Minecraft skin, though I drew on a kipa (traditionally a round flat little hat worn by men) because it is only a Minhag (tradition) and not a Mitzva (commandment) and I wear one in real life. I've been considering making a Mezuza (little container put on doorposts containing an important prayer and marked with the letter ש, it is a Minhag to kiss it when you pass it) by writing the Shema (the aforementioned prayer) in a book and putting the book in a barrel next to the door and then putting a button on the barrel and pressing it to kiss it and open the door, but it might also fall into this category and might have to wait until I'm further in my conversion.

Anyway thanks for listening to me infodump about Judaism, it will happen again. Also there are 613 Mitzvot in the Torah and countless more in rabbinical texts, just so you don't think I'm even scratching the surface here. This is a brief summary of scratching the surface. In Minecraft.

[demonboyhalo]

The Technoblade Conspiracy

Even before Dream claimed there was a traitor in Pogtopia, there's been a lot of...suspicious activities happening in Techno’s streams. Others on the SMP are already distrustful of him, and the fans are as well, but I believe that we’re focusing on the wrong thing here. This thread isn’t quite a traitor theory, but rather a dive into what Techno has been hiding at large. I can say with utter confidence that the extent of what Technoblade has accomplished on the Dream SMP is being greatly underestimated.

I recommend looking at the sus Techno moments thread by @piggytechnobarb on Twitter for some of the stream clips I'll be discussing.

This is going to be fairly in depth, so the rest is under the cut!

1. There is another room under what Techno calls his "secret base"

I won't talk too much on how strange his choice of "secret base" is for now, but please do keep in mind how out of character it is for man-who-tracked-down-Squid's-college to settle for a home base so unprotected and close to Pogtopia's very well known location.

So, for some reason, there is Polished Blackstone Brick under the floor of Techno’s wall. He accidentally reveals this when a donation asks him to mine the exposed redstone in his wall, acts a bit strange for a good 15 seconds, and then never mentions it again. Sight of the brick prompts him to silently zoom in, fill the hole with stone (not cobble), and say "Don't ask questions".

This is only so strange because there's no real reason for him to have stone at the ready, or any blackstone brick at all. Techno is NOT a builder, and if a creeper blew up down there, he'd fill it with cobble and not give a shit about aesthetics. He doesn't use smooth stone in his base, and has never built with blackstone on stream. Not only are they unusual items for him to have, it's unusual for him to make a point to not have the viewers question it. Yes, it could just be Techno being dramatic, but why did he go silent for a straight 5 seconds at the sight of the blackstone?

Considering who he is as a player, it is completely in character for Techno to build a second base. The lake he lives under is incredibly near Wilbur and Tommy, and he's well aware that all an enemy has to do is watch his stream to infiltrate his base. Techno goes to the extremes when they aren't even required (Ex. His insane skill in party games, beating Skeppy in as niche of a game as Grinch Simulator, etc.) So I don't think it's a stretch for him to go the extra mile, and hide a bunker/resources/extra armour and what have you from even his own viewers.

2. The overpowered illegal villager farm

For those of you who don't watch Ponk, he recently stumbled across an area that is supposedly banned on the Dream SMP - a villager farm. In the clip, his voice is astonished and his confusion is palpable, and he goes so far as to say "It's a full scale arms race" because of how many good trades there are. The location is laced with traps, though he doesn't mention what exactly he had to get past to find the farm. Ponk's reaction is far too genuine for the farm to be his, but then that begs the question, whose farm is it?

...Who is willing to risk Dream's wrath by breaking his rules? Or, alternatively, who is capable of making a secret pact with the server owner to allow such a farm? The answer could only be Technoblade.

Ponk says it himself in the video, he does not have the time to build this. Whoever made this had to have carved out a hidden cavern, lead at least 14 villagers down there, breed them until only the ones with the best trades were left - all off stream, and without another player catching them. Whoever made this had to spend hours of work with no content to show for it, and who do we know has been grinding for DAYS on the server? Technoblade. Not to mention, all the villagers are numbered, and all but one are fletchers.

The signs above each stall are so important, because going so far back as SMP Earth, Techno has a history of dispassionately breeding mobs to his benefit, and then killing any mob not performing well enough. For example, his horse farm: where the horses stay in numbered rooms rather than all being named. The villagers in the screenshot above are numbered rather than named.

Wanna hear a fun fact about Fletchers? They're well known for accepting sticks for emeralds, but will also take string for that trade as well! And guess who has been seen waiting at the spider spawner collecting string by Sapnap, Awesamdude, Quackity, and multiple other players? Technoblade.

Technoblade also has every reason to be breeding villagers for special arrows and crossbows, because he's said on stream that he wants to try spamming multi-shot crossbows in combat to take out huge groups of enemies. He said at a later point that he had run into trouble with getting multiple crossbows with the enchantment multi-shot, and implied it wasn't going to happen. But has he ever been the kind of person to be stopped by something being challenging? Absolutely not.

Think of literally anything Techno has done - his Bedwars win streak, beating MC with a steering wheel, the Potato Wars - what I believe is really happening, is that Techno is lying about how equipped he is so that no matter what side he ends up fighting for, his enemies will have no true way of knowing how powerful he is.

3. Dream might be his secret ally (AKA The Glowstone Incident)

This brings us to a...confusing moment in Techno's stream that sparked a lot of questions. It pointed me towards 2 different, but not necessarily exclusive, theories.

The Glowstone Incident precedes as follows: Techno needs glowstone but can't find any in his chests, so he puts on his BRB screen. He says that he is "hacking" and asking Dream to use game mode to give him the glowstone. Typing can be heard, and then multiple chests are opened. Techno takes off the BRB screen and he now has three stacks of glowstone dust. This was absolutely bewildering to watch live, and was one of the most blatantly suspicious things he has done in front of his viewers. (You can find the exact clip on the thread I mentioned, it is...so weird)

Theory A: Though unlikely, Techno could be Dream's secret ally, and Dream really did use creative to give him the stacks. Or, he potentially gave Techno OP permissions so that he could get the glow stone (and any other materials he’d want) himself.

We all remember their meet up on that ocean hill, where Dream gives Techno golden apples, diamonds, and other such materials for the battle against Schlatt. It seemed to be a one-off gift that was more for Wilbur's benefit than Techno's, but there's potentially the chance that Dream saw an alliance to Techno to be more beneficial than working only with Wilbur, and contacted him off screen to make deals.

Going back to the Village Farm - for a player to get the exact enchantment they want for a reasonable price, breeding them is the most logical option. It's the route Techno would take regardless of Dream's rules on the SMP too, as he tends to show little regard for what the creators want (Ex. Taking over SMP Earth, exploiting Hypixel Skyblock, etc.) However, it could also be possible that Dream gave Techno permission to do this, and so the reason Techno is keeping the farm secret is so that the viewers don't know of their alliance.

Theory B: Techno has hidden resources in his base that he doesn't want anyone to have even the chance to see. Whether it is to hide from enemies watching (or to hide from Dream in particular because Techno knows he's breaking the server's rules) there are secret chests that Techno has with extra resources that can be heard loud and clear in the video.

They could be simple ones hidden in the walls...or in the blackstone brick base hidden under his floors. Saying he’s “hacking” rather than the reality of him just checking all his chests again is on par for Techno’s usual dramatics - yet we can clearly see that there’s no glowstone in any of his chests. This is why I believe he got the glowstone from some unseen resource. With the BRB screen on, Techno prevents his viewers from actually seeing how he got the 3 stacks of powder, and it keeps the location of his hidden materials safe.

Personally, I feel theory B is more likely, but there have been moments where Dream has acted Sus so...be on the lookout y'all.

4. Techno not participating in MCC

For those of you who watched Techno during the Potato War, many will remember that MCC 6 had a stressful undertone. Because of how much effort and time Techno had been putting into farming on Skyblock, taking a break to compete in another event was distracting. It ultimately led to him losing time that, from his perspective, would have been better off spent farming.

Techno might not be as blatantly grinding on the Dream SMP as he did with the Potato War, but it's undeniable that other streamers have seen him online for stretches of 10 hours and more. When asked about why he wasn't participating in the next MCC, Techno didn't say he was taking a break - something that'd be entirely reasonable and honestly well earned - he said "I don't want to."

It could be awkward phrasing by virtue of Techno's personality, but what I think is more likely is that Techno has learned from his past mistakes. Rather than "waste" time competing in MCC, Techno might be planning to use the time everyone on the SMP is gone to his advantage. He could sneak into enemy territory, set traps in certain areas, or maybe even perform some illegal acts that Dream would never allow. Either way, I suspect Techno has something planned for the 14th.

Honorable Mentions:

Dream poking fun, or blatantly covering for Techno?

This clip of Techno's secret Something??? next to the spider spawner, undeniably suspicious

Techno had around 5 stacks of wool in his inventory at one point - he absolutely could be bed mining the nether not only so that he has multiple sets of OP netherite, but possibly because he's preparing the gear for another person (cough cough Philza) or people

Techno's collection of ghast tears. He's studied Crystal PvP and made plenty of 2b2t references in the past (Look up FitMC for more info on those things) So it could be possible that Techno is hiding stacks of end crystals so that he can decimate multiple players in an instant

All in all, I'm 100% convinced that Techno has some serious plans hidden behind the scenes that he's not going to share until it's time for him to unleash utter chaos. We know he's keeping secrets, we know he's had the time, and we know he's capable.

I hope you all enjoyed my research and feel terrified of what Techno could possibly have done off camera :D

If anyone else has different theories, corrections to what I wrote, or other moments where Pink was Sus, feel free to comment!

[mrpenguinpants]

Xiao and Diluc: Opposites Attract HCs

Minor spoilers for Xiao’s and Diluc’s backstory.

Yes, more xiao content. Oh and Diluc. Diluc is there too. I wonder who my favourite child is? Honestly, it’s probably Childe. Every time I write “child” I end up misspelling it to “childe”. It’s consumed me. But yes anon I love the opposites attract trope. It’s so nice having person A be this cute cinnamon roll and person B is the ew don’t touch me go away I hate you, just mwah 💕

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Today’s appreciation post goes to imlikemoony. My entire reblog notifications have just been you and thanks for the spam haha. I love seeing new people go through my work and enjoy it so thank you^^ Please don’t feel like this is a callout post I swear it isn’t 💕💕

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Xiao Semi Series

[ Friendship ] [ Falling in Love ] [ Cuddles ] [ Protective ] [ Affection ] [ Jealously ]

Diluc HCs

[ Comfort HCs ] [ Relationship HCs ] [ Being Fathers HCs ] [ Jealously HCs ] [ Unrequited Love HCs ] [ String of Fate [Soulmate] ]  [ Fainting ]

[Masterlist]

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[taglist]  <- if you want to be added, please read this first.

@hanniejji  @mikeysbike @unionwitch @musekala @twistedsunnshiii @stanzastic @akaasea @xoneaboveallx @adoring-ghost @asheseiler @childelover @dilucsz @dai-tsukki-desu @youaskedfurret @snowy224 @mayumintsu​ @tigerpriestess @yuu-yuukurotsuki @legionqueensav

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Xiao and Diluc: Opposites Attract HCs

Xiao

It occurs to Xiao one day that despite being alive for centuries, he doesn’t know a lot of people. Xiao has only known Rex Lapis and his fellow adepti and only just recently introduced this life to others such as Verr and Ming. It never bothered him and still doesn’t, he prefers his life to be peaceful and in solitude since it’s safer that way, but when you crash into his life with all your unrestrained energy. He’s a bit of a loss for words. The only other person he knows that acts similar is Guizhong, but it’s still a bit of a troubling memory but either then that, he’s never interacted with someone so...open with their feelings. Though he supposes that Hu Tao was somewhat similar but in a different way. Unlike the craziness and exasperated actions that Hu Tao brought, your presence was a breath of fresh air and sometimes he found himself caught up in your antics.

When Xiao thinks about it, if he were to ever find love he suspected he would prefer someone who was calm and independent. He wasn’t the most affectionate so he wouldn’t want a partner that relied on that and he liked the peace and quiet the inn provided. That was until he saved you one day and you felt it was your absolute responsibility to return the favour, even though he told you many times that you really did not need to. If you wanted to return the favour you could leave him alone. Simple as that. Which didn’t work and in hindsight he was glad you were so stubborn to hang around until you managed to find out his favourite food was almond tofu.

The moment that set in stone Xiao’s love for you is when he told you his past. When he was named Atalus. How he had been possessed and forced to kill against his will. How he devoured dreams and lived in agony before he was saved by Rex Lapis. He was scared that you would fear and leave him, only for you to slowly lace your hands with his and wept for his own misfortune. He’s never had someone cry for him and he realized that he never wanted to see you upset like this again.

At first your larger than life personality put him off a bit, how could someone run through life as if nothing was wrong? What would happen if you finally faced loss? Wouldn’t that make things worse? It wasn’t until he spent more time with you that he saw your point of view, that while he couldn’t adopt the same idea, he respected it and began to appreciate it. It was nice having some sort of solace in his day even if it was just for a few minutes. Something to get his mind of the darker things while you start chatting about this really nice old lady with a domain sized teapot.  

Though, there was a bit of a downside to this. Since you bared your heart on your sleeve, perhaps in Mondstadt it would seem normal but here in Liyue, everyone hid behind some kind of mask so people found you a bit naïve and would try and hassle you. It always sent Xiao into a worried state when you left the inn to go out on your next adventure. Verr likes to compare him to a cat waiting for it’s owner at the door, but as soon as they return he acts so moody as if he wasn’t waiting at the balcony trying to see if he could see your clothing peak over the hill. He has no idea how she comes up with these ridiculous ideas.

Another “downside” Xiao discovers is that you have mini bursts of affection. You describe it as a those anemo slimes that pop when you shoot them, morbid as that description is, you’re not wrong. Your bursts of affection always manage to startle and embarrass Xiao, especially when he was with others. He wasn’t going to tell you to change yourself, never will he do that, but when you clasp his hands and tell him with all your love and shining eyes that he’s “doing such a good job” and “you’re so proud of him”. He wants to melt because wow, he never noticed how much he values your praise and how it sends his heart flying. But he can’t because Childe and Zhongli are right there.

Zhongli smiles pleasantly while Childe looses his absolute shit, which causes Xiao to kick his spear at Childe because he refuses to let go of your hands and hisses at him. Even when you try and scold him it doesn’t last long because this has become a weekly occurrence. Only now Xiao will give you a quick kiss before he goes off to gut Childe while you and Zhongli wave pleasantly and talk about how the weather is faring. Everyone that isn’t a native to Liyue think’s you’re all insane as they hear Childe’s screams as Xiao attempts first degree murder.

It interesting to see you both interact to outsiders. Xiao has his piercing yellow eyes and reserved demeanor while you’re this sweet and bright person. Before Xiao met you, people could never get a good look at the mysterious man that stays in the top balcony of the Wangshu Inn. But now if they came at the right time, they could spot a soft smiled man in green listening to a very animated talk with someone else, using their hands with a dramatic flair. That is until the man notices them trying to eavesdrop and the softness in his eyes drops and goes to irritation as he glares at them, curling a hand around his partner’s waist, and he let’s off a warning growl. His partner never seems bothered, only turning around to give a small wave in greeting, smiling as if the dangerous aura radiating behind them didn’t exist, before giving the man a small kiss as they go back to their conversation.

While you live a larger than life way, you also enjoy the small moments with Xiao. Xiao prefers to spend his time sitting above the inn and overlooking Liyue which you enjoy too. Resting near each other as you watch the sun go down is calming and takes the stress of life away. But sometimes you just want to bring Xiao out and have some fun.

Which ends up with you dragging him off to the pond near the Wangshuu inn, you wanted to catch frogs for whatever reason. Weren’t you both a bit too old to be playing with frogs? But he stands by and watch's you chase around the poor animals, tracking mud all over your clothing and skin, he can’t help but let a small smile slip. It isn’t until you end up falling into the pond after slipping that he’s on alert mode that he runs over worried.

Only for you to pop up and start bursting out into laughter. Xiao is stunned for a few moment as he watches you laugh at your own mistake, mud scrapped all over your face and clothes, the fact that you’re still in the pond with a frog on your head. He can’t help but feel his face fall as his mouth twitches into a smile as he chuckles along with you. He reaches over to try and scrub the dirt off your face but it only ends up smearing it more but you appreciate the effort. He carefully lifts you up as he carries you back to the inn. He thinks back to when you both first met, how he spent so much time worrying over his life as an adeptis and you as a human, but now those thoughts have been flung out of his mind. He wants to take your approach, that why worry over the little details of the future when you can enjoy the bigger moments you have now.

Diluc

On days that Diluc works as the bartender for Angel Share, if you come at just the right time when the sun was still high in the sky, you might be able to catch the ever distant man smiling and engaged with a conversation with one specific patron. Of course, this silly “rumour” was made up by the ladies of Mondstadt with too much free time on their hands but given Diluc’s reputation and demeanor it did make some travelers curious. Only for them to write it off as this special patron to be a green bard or cunning captain. One that Diluc surely did not crack a smile at. In fact it seemed to be the opposite. But the tavern isn’t so bad, there’s this nice individual that will listen to all your sorrows with kind eyes and a gentle heart.  

As soon as the last customer leaves and Diluc locks the door, does he let his shoulder drop and he breathes a sigh of relief. Before turning and walking to you as he let’s himself relax in your embrace. He listens as you re-tell on the woes of a jewelry saleswoman from Liyue to how Venti is still getting ID checked at the Cat’s Tail as he basks in your warmth. He’s glad that this is what’s troubling the people of Mondstadt and not anything incredibly dangerous relating to the Fatui or the Abyss Order. He asks if you’re doing alright to which you grin and nod that everything was perfect, before placing a small kiss on your forehead and he leads you out back and into the night and ready to return home.

Kaeya finds a lot of enjoyment going to up to you and discussing his “concerns” about Diluc. It always leads to you fretting over his health and if he was working too hard and he should take a break. Diluc is whipped and cannot say no to you so he always begrudgingly let’s you lead him away as Kaeya smiles and waves him off. It’s gotten to the point that no matter what Diluc is in the middle of, unless it’s of the upmost importance, if he catches Kaeya anywhere near you he’s swooping in and leading you away.

Diluc has always been straight to the point, non-nonsense idle talk, but when you drag him away to simply lie down at Starsnatch Cliff just because you were worried about him, he can’t help but feel his heart warm. Watching you blow on dandelions and enjoy the peaceful winds of Mondstadt does he let his hectic life standstill. 

When Diluc first met you, it was during his three year long journey to discover the truth of his father and the Delusions. You had saved him during his escape from a Fatui stronghold and explained you were apart of a third-party observer from the North. A vast underground intelligence network that approved of his actions and wanted him to join. Diluc, still deep in his anger and untrustworthy state of anyone, declined the offer but you still hanged around him. He didn’t understand why, and frankly did not want you anywhere near him, but you did save him. Something you very much liked to bring up, even after returning to Mondstadt. He couldn’t necessarily push you away and despite leaving the Knights of Favonius, he still maintained the same chivalry that all knights had.

From then on it had just been the two of you, him looking for the next Fatui base while you travelled with him as an “observer” despite helping him and being overly chatty. Asking where the next destination is like you’re some sort of overeager kid. At first, he really disliked your presence. A lot. In his mind you were a second Kaeya and after the events of what had happened, he might have been far colder to you than he should have been. He thought you were hiding behind the same kind of mask Kaeya did and that you were secretly some Fatui agent sent to kill him. But that never seemed to deter you, even making fun of the idea that the Fatui would seriously try and send an agent to con him rather than try and kill him outright with all the information he had on them.

You both had your clashes when it came to certain things, especially when it came to taking breaks and sightseeing. He felt that you were way too relaxed for something so important and you felt he was way to uptight and needed to stop running through life. But overtime, he found that he actually somewhat enjoyed your personality and quirks. While you could kick a Fatui’s guard head off if you tried hard enough, you would also drag him to feed the ducks by a pond. He had come to learn that you and Kaeya were different, you didn’t wear a mask and bared your heart to the world. He thought you were a bit foolish for doing that since you can never really trust anyone but you instead offered that not everyone was a bad person, that if he spent every waking moment trying to backstab someone would that really be a life worth living?

It’s during the lantern festival in Liyue does he really come to understand his goals in life. Writing down wishes for the new year to send off in paper lanterns is when he acknowledges his shortcomings and finally agrees to join the underground intelligence network. You offer him a bright grin as you cheer that he finally finally got off his stubborn self and you’re now officially partners in not-really-but-still-technically crime. For the first time since Diluc started his journey, he gives a small smile and let’s himself relax as he watched the golden lanterns fly through the sky beside you.

When he decides it’s time to return to Mondstadt and take up his position as Diluc Ragnvindr, he tries to not so subtly ask if you would want to join him. He knows that you still have ties to that secret organization and you probably have your own agenda but Diluc has gotten used to your bubbly personality, he doesn’t want to live without you. But his worries are quickly squashed when you tease him for a bit but slip your hand in his and ask where the next destination is. 

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Gripping my writing hand, I went overboard and ran with it. I really want to write pre-hcs of how you met Xiao and a continuation of young Diluc and you. But I must finish my inbox.  Also my joke of Xiao beating things into submission started all the way back to my first Xiao HCs of friendship. I did not know this lol. I just think it’s funny to imagine xiao doing it. I’m about to high five my past self.

By the way, should I break up my hcs more? I feel like they are actual paragraphs and that might be annoying to read.

[titan-fodder]

Prima Vista Part VI

[ previous ]

Rating: E (explicit; mdni) Pairing: Mike Zacharias x fem!reader, Zeke Yeager x fem!reader wc: ~ 11.2k

Warnings:  explicit sexual content, ass play, jealousy, possessive behavior, humiliation, manipulation, OC introduced (read A/N), non-con coming inside, fighting, miscommunication A/N: As I was writing this, I decided to bring original female characters in to play the “bad guys” because I didn’t wanna demonize the canon AoT girls. Just didn’t feel right. So, everyone, meet Rhi. Enjoy~

Mike is extremely fucking aware of you sitting a foot away from him on his couch. You're hunched over and whining about him beating you in Mario Kart again, and honestly, he doesn't know how he's doing it because he is so not focused on the game. 

 You came to the party in tight jeans and a sparkling top, and all Mike can think about is getting you out of them, spreading you out underneath him just like he used to. 

 But, he's not gonna say anything about it, not even gonna allude to it because he feels awful about pushing so hard at the Pike house. He never thought he'd be that type of guy, but he's been known to go a little off the rails when it comes to you. 

 "Have you ever played this with all banana peels?" Mike asks, trying to get his mind off of the heat he thinks he's radiating. 

 "What?" 

 "Like, you set it so all the items are bananas."

 Your eyebrows raise. "That sounds nightmarish."

 "Oh, it is," he agrees. "But you should experience the chaos at least once."

 "Alright, fine. Nanner me up, then." Mike snorts as you sit back against the cushions, examining the Switch controller in your hand and mumbling, "Could they have made these any smaller? My hands are too big. How are you even playing?" 

 "Practice. We played a lot of Don't Drink and Drive my sophomore year."

 He toggles to change the settings, and you both pick characters again. Mike selects Baby Park and grins too widely when you squeak. 

 "This is the worst possible—"

 "It's the best possible track," he corrects you. 

 The next minute or so is spent with Mike swearing and you screeching, but a melody of giggles can be heard in between. 

 He stands up like it'll help him focus, and you follow suit, bouncing and leaning forward until Mike thinks you might lose your balance. It's the only match you actually beat him at, and you raise your arms in victory, acting like the terrible winner you are. You dance and poke him in the chest so that Mike rolls his eyes and shoves you with just enough force (so, not a lot) to make you fall back onto the couch. 

 "Wow, rude!" You exclaim with a little pout.

 Mike stands next to you, a little too close as a retort forms on the tip of his tongue, but the angle is awkward, and he watches your eyes flit from his face to his waist (or what's a little below it) for just a split second, just long enough for him to notice, and he has to fight a smirk as you meet his eyes again. 

 He can imagine your cheeks are feeling pretty warm right now, but Mike doesn't say anything about it, just takes his place beside you. If he's sitting a little closer than before, neither of you mention it. 

 It's nearing one in the morning, and both of you are starting to feel it, eyes and hands too slow to keep playing the video game, so you switch to a movie. Mike doesn't think much of it when he lays down, legs hanging over the armrest, head in your lap. You tense for about two seconds before relaxing into the position you both know so well. 

 The first Jurassic Park plays from the TV, but Mike isn't paying any attention, too busy watching the way you're nibbling on your bottom lip. It's your thinking face, means you're lost in your own brain, just as far away from the film as he is. 

 It's stupid that you're both fighting this. Mike doesn't understand. If he wants it, and you want it, what the fuck is standing in the way? Zeke? That pretentious, clay-stained fuck? You don't even fit well together. In any way. He's too arrogant and philosophical (or so Erwin says). He probably doesn't appreciate your sense of humor (or so Mike says). And, he won't fuck you (so you say). How are you happy with him? 

 "Miche," your voice is quiet, but still loud enough to send a shiver down Mike's spine. 

 "Hm?"

 "Stop staring at my mouth."

 "You looked at my dick earlier."

 "Shut up, no I didn't."

 Mike laughs, turns his head to bury it in your stomach, and you start carding fingers through his hair. It's natural with the two of you. Nothing is forced. It took a while to get back into the groove of your friendship, but now you're here, and Mike is breathing in the smell of your perfume and fabric softener and you, and he wants so badly to just raise your shirt and plant kisses all over your soft skin. 

 Your body rises and falls with a deep breath. Your hand stops at the crown of his head. Then, you whisper the words he wants to hear most: "Just one more night?" 

 Mike sits up so fast, he nearly smacks into your chin with his forehead. He turns to face you again, eyes too round, voice too hopeful as he assures, "Just one more night."

 He knows the only reason you're considering this is because Zeke has you all wound up, but that's okay. Mike will take care of you. He'll scratch that itch and then some—remind you of what you're missing. 

 "Alright, yeah, I—"

 Mike is suddenly standing and taking your hand, leading you to his bedroom as the Jurassic Park theme plays you both out. 

 He knows you'll want to snoop—it's sort of your thing—but he doesn't give you time as he bends and catches you in a kiss, hands holding your face, tilting your head. He feels you curl your fingers into his shirt, using him for leverage as you balance on your tiptoes, and he lets you dance like that for a little while, desperate little ballerina as you open your mouth for him, but as soon as he feels your tongue against his, Mike lifts you clean off the ground. You wrap your legs around his waist, no need for straining muscles now as you both lick and suck and hold on to each other too tightly. 

 Mike paces over to the bed, nearly tripping over the shoes he left in the middle of his room earlier that day, but he’s able to drop you onto the mattress and catch himself above you before any real damage can be done. 

 You laugh out a, “Real smooth, Zacharias,” that he ignores in favor of taking his shirt off. 

 He can’t see well in the darkness which just will not do as you begin stripping, but then he remembers, “Oh,” and leans over you to plug in the string of lights he somehow managed to hang around the flag pinned above his headboard. “Ambience.”

 You crane to look at them, suck your teeth, and say, “Let me guess. Erwin told you to do it.”

 “How’d you know?”

 Another little giggle as you tuck a few strands of hair behind his ear—“Because Erwin is the fairy lights type of motherfucker, but you…” You don’t finish that thought, just shake your head and tell him, “They’re cute. I like ‘em.”

 Mike hums, “Good,” then leans down for another kiss. Several more, actually. 

 He’s missed this so fucking much, the way you taste on his tongue, the way you sigh into him, the way your body moves beneath his. It hurts to think this will be the last time he gets to experience it with you, but he plans to savor every second, never let himself forget and, hopefully, make sure you never forget either. 

 Cheesy or not, the lights cast incredible shadows on your body once it's bared to him. Your silhouette is something he could stare at for hours, days, a lifetime. If he were even slightly artistically inclined, he’d probably try to paint it, but as that’s not the case…

 Starting at your jawline, Mike leaves a trail of little bites, pinching just hard enough to make you gasp. When he reaches your neck, though, he begins sucking, dragging his teeth over new-forming bruises so that you whimper and arch to press your chest to his. He moves slowly, barely even registering your breathy pleas as he holds a patch of skin captive between his incisors and laves over it. 

 A mark on your neck. One on the swell of your breast then on the side of the other. The space between two ribs. Just above your naval. The hollow of your hip bone. And, finally, the insides of both thighs. 

 Last time he did this, on the bed in your old room doused in moonlight, he wasn't trying to be possessive. 

 Tonight he is. 

 “M-Miche, please.” Your voice is catching as if you’re crying—as if Mike is torturing you. He supposes he is. You’re ready for relief, and all he’s doing is winding you tighter and tighter. It’s okay, baby, he thinks to himself, I’ll make it worth it. 

 Swiping his tongue between your folds, Mike groans at how wet you are. He almost feels sorry for you. Now, he’s gonna have to spend even more time drinking you in. 

 You throw your legs over his shoulders with no prompting, letting him sink further into you. Mike licks in long, deep strokes that make your thighs tremble and jump around his head. He sucks your clit into his mouth, slick and swollen against his tongue, and makes sure to move his face just enough to make a mess of the hair on his chin. 

 You’re begging again. For something. For nothing. He isn’t quite sure. But, when Mike moves to lick around your dripping hole and uses a finger to flick over your sensitive little bud, you sing for him, and he realizes just how pent up you are. 

 Oh, he can have fun with this. 

 Pausing to suck more bruises onto your thighs, Mike tries to calm himself down, find a way to ignore the throb between his legs, but that doesn’t seem likely judging by the way you just keep trying to spread yourself further and further, like it’ll get him to move faster. 

 He crawls back up your body, face level with yours as he teases your entrance with a finger. You let out the cutest sounds, brow furrowing like you’re focused as you shift your hips in a silent demand that Mike does not follow. 

 His face is slick with you, and he knows you can taste yourself as he forces you into another long kiss. You let out an honest-to-god sob when he pushes his finger inside of you, throwing your head back and clenching around him while praising, “Yes, yes, yes, fuck, tha—thank you.”

 Mike pumps in and out a few times, finds your spot with ease and massages over it until he sees true tears leaking from your eyes. 

 Then, he pulls out, slaps a hand over your cunt, and warns, “Don’t thank me just yet.”

 Your chest heaves as you stare at the ceiling seemingly in shock. Mike raises to his knees and wipes his chin on his shoulder, glances back just in time to see you sit up and attempt to tackle him back on the bed. 

 Mike snorts, catching you by the wrists and leaning in close. “What do you think you’re gonna do?”

 Your eyes are a little wild, lips kiss-swollen, body marked to hell and back from Mike’s mouth. You just can’t get enough, shamelessly cock hungry, and god, he is so glad he's here to witness it. To be a part of it. Maybe he should send Zeke a gift basket, an edible arrangement or something. Thanks for letting me satisfy your girl since you can’t. 

 It takes no effort to lay you back down, just like it takes no effort to flip you over. Mike raises your hips, enjoys the view of you whining into his pillow for a second, then turns his sights to your ass. He gives it a couple spanks, biting his lip at the way it makes you clench your muscles, then spreads your cheeks and spits. 

 “M-Mi—”

 “‘S’okay,” he tells you before letting more of his saliva drip from his mouth and land on your asshole. “Gonna feel good, I promise.”

 He’s never done this with you before, not that he hasn’t wanted to, but he figures if there’s any night to go all out, it’s this one. 

 The first press of his tongue against your hole has you inhaling sharply, and the first press of his fingers into your pussy has you moaning low in your throat. Just like that, you relax for him. Mike works himself inside of you, opening you up until you’re nothing more than a drooling mess on his bed. You allow him to lick inside of you, to take in every exposed part of you as he rubs your g-spot over and over. 

 “Mm, gonna… gonna…” Your words are thick and wet. Mike isn’t even sure you realize that you’re speaking. He knows what you’re trying to say, though, so with a mischievous smile, he removes his face and hand, admiring his handiwork as you drop back to the bed and whine for him. 

 There’s a bottle of listerine in his nightstand, one he only planned on using when he would wake up in the early morning hours with that dead animal taste in his mouth. Turns out, it has more than one use. Mike takes a swig so that you won’t freak out if he tries to kiss you after eating your ass, swishes it around, then swallows. 

 “Not supposed to drink that,” you slur, already looking much too fucked-out for someone who hasn’t even taken his dick yet. 

 “Harmless in small doses, babe,” he tells you, recapping the bottle and tossing it back into the open drawer. “If I just chugged all of it, it’d be a different story.”

 You let out a little scoff, mumble something he can’t hear, then ask a little louder, “You ready to fuck me yet?”

 Mike smirks, pushes you to roll over again, then strokes a thumb over your face. “I am literally always ready to fuck you. Just trying to draw it out tonight.” 

 It makes you pout, but he thinks your eyes clear a little. Like you understand what he’s feeling. When you pull him down for another kiss, much softer than all of the previous, Mike smiles—another little snapshot he’d like to tuck away. 

 Without any warning, he pulls the pillows your head is resting on out from under you, snickering at the grunt that leaves you. He taps a hip, “Lift,” and shoves them underneath when you do. He should probably ask if you want him to wear a condom, but that’s nothing more than an afterthought as Mike begins to push into you. 

 “Ohh, thank god, thank god, thank god,” you pant, and Mike chuckles, dipping a hand down to gently stroke over the tissue stretching around his cock. 

 Every shallows thrust pushes more slick from you, and he can’t help but gather some on his finger and hold it to your mouth. You’re quick to lick it off, but instead of dropping his hand, Mike moves to press a thumb to your chin and hold your mouth open. You stick your tongue out, and he mumbles a low, “Such a slut,” before spitting on it. 

 As soon as you swallow Mike snaps his hips forward and starts a hard, fast rhythm. The way your face splits into a crooked grin almost has him coming on the spot, so fucking pleased with yourself, but he wants to make sure you’re seeing stars by the time he’s finished with you—wants to make sure you can’t even get out of his bed. 

 You're sucking in air through your teeth, little hisses that could be from either pain or pleasure, but the way you keep raising yourself off the pillows to meet Mike halfway is a pretty good indicator of which one it is. 

 While your voice seems muted at the time being, your sloppy little cunt is not—lewd, wet noises echoing through Mike's room as well as his head. That fucking squelch he hears every time he pushes in, the mirroring suck whenever he pulls out… You always get messy with him, or maybe he always makes a mess out of you—either way, it's one of the many things Mike adores about you. You were shy about it maybe the first two fucks but not anymore. Now, you wrap your legs around Mike and pull him closer, claw down his back and try your hardest to fuck yourself on his cock until he's laughing in your ear. 

 "Here, hold on."

 You whimper when he pulls out, but it's only to flop down in his back and let you climb on top. He expects some kind of break, a single second to breathe, but you just sink down on his length and let your head hang back. 

 "Mmygod," you moan, taking him in as far as you can then rocking back and forth. 

 Mike can feel your thighs break out in goosebumps, traces a finger over your arm to find the same effect and hums. Bracing yourself on his chest, you plant your feet on the mattress and bounce like your life depends on it, that drunken smile back in place as Mike coos, "That's it, baby, take what you need." 

 He reaches up to grope your tits, cupping both of them, brushing calloused palms over each nipple. It makes you arch your back and gasp, but the rhythm of your hips doesn't stop. Mike can feel the way your pussy is drooling on him, slick little rivers that add to that filthy, beautiful symphony. He wants to hear it every night on repeat. Most played song of—

 "Oh fuck, oh fuck," you whine, and Mike reaches between your spread legs to press a thumb against your clit, fingertips digging into the meat of your thigh as he rubs in tiny circles. 

 You sit and take it for several seconds before your eyes find his, widen, then roll as you start to come. 

 Mike takes over, lifting and lowering you on his cock as you twitch and cry for him. You're so pretty like this, hair out of place, damp with sweat and tears, thighs painted with your own orgasm. He doesn't want this to end. He doesn't want this to be the last time. 

 With your pussy still spasming around him, Mike switches positions again, lays you down like before and situates his head between your legs to idly lick everything that's dripped out of you. Your legs are shaking, kitten-like mewls meeting his ears. You jump whenever he runs his tongue over your clit, but you never move to stop him or swat him away. 

 Mike waits for you to go boneless before scooping you up and sitting on the edge of the bed. You're clumsy and slow as you straddle his lap, letting him slip inside you once more, but it's nowhere near as frantic as before. 

 He guides with gentle hands under your thighs, coaxes you to uncurl them from underneath you and wrap around his waist instead. Chest to chest, you rise and fall together. Mike breathes heavily into your neck as he hits that unforgiving wall inside of you. It makes you wince, but you don't shy away from him. 

 He's careful after that, makes sure everything he does is slow, tender, and when he sees fresh tears shining in your eyelashes, he knows it isn't from anything he's doing to you. 

 Mike is able to suck a few more bruises onto your neck and shoulders before he feels you nose at his cheek. Your kiss is dream-like, deep and relaxed but so full, and Mike knows he would be able to just do that all night if his orgasm wasn't about to run into him like a train. 

 He breaks away, looks to the ceiling only to have little fingers curl around his jaw and bring him back. You watch him with half-lidded eyes, bottom lip sucked between your teeth, and that expression—that need to see—it makes the cord in Mike's gut snap. He sees a vague twinkle in your gaze as his jaw drops then blackness as his eyes are suddenly facing the back of his god damn skull. 

 Every line of cum he shoots inside you has him groaning, his fingers digging into the swell of your ass as he fills you up. You purposely squeeze him, clenching on his cock to milk him of everything he has until Mike is shuddering and whispering, "Okay, okay, okay."

 "Okay?" You question then squeeze him again, giggling when he grunts and twitches. 

 Lying back on the bed, Mike lets you pull your legs out from under him, but you remain straddling his waist as you lean forward to lay on his chest. It’s quiet for a long time. A different Jurassic Park movie is playing now, the music too intense for the deep, even breaths you’re taking, for the way you’re lightly tapping Mike’s shoulder in time with his heartbeat. 

 His head is beginning to clear again, the lust and excitement ebbing away into those reflective thoughts that always seem to hit him after a mindblowing orgasm. It’s mostly questions: Why are you doing this? Why is he doing this? Why can’t you keep doing this? Why didn’t you pick him? Why don’t you want—

 “Okay, I gotta get up,” you grumble. “I can actually feel your cum dripping out of me.”

 Mike snorts, looking over his nose at you. “Never complained about it before.”

 You push yourself off of him, both of you hissing at the sensation, then Mike watches you stand and glance around, probably trying to figure out which door is for the closet and which is for the bathroom.

 “It’s the one on the left,” he grunts, staring at your ass a little too long and suppressing a groan when he catches sight of white fluid streaming down your thighs. “God dammit.”

 The toilet flushes, the shower starts, and Mike is left to wonder if you need the alone time or if he should treat this like any other time and join you. Are you in there trying to wash him off of you or—

 “You comin’?” You peak out from the door, wet hair dripping, tired smile in place. 

 “Just did,” he shoots back while sitting up. Like every other time. Just keep it casual. 

 The water is hot, but you’re even hotter as you lather your hair in shampoo and soap up your body. Since he’s back to pretending like this is nothing more than your old routine, Mike has no problem pressing himself against you from behind, running his hands up your sides, “helping” in the bathing process by squeezing your tits, feeling the suds get caught in the webs of his fingers. 

 “You’re playing with fire, Zacharias,” you tell him, and he can see your lips pulling into a smirk. “You need to stop unless you wanna go for round two.”

 He nips at your earlobe, uncaring of the soap that gets in his mouth. “Or three, or four.”

 You laugh and turn to face him, but your eyes are shut as you rinse your hair. It gives Mike time to admire all the marks he’s left on you—too many, probably—and he doubts you’ll be very happy with him once you notice, but fuck, you’re so pretty covered in him. 

 The shower ends. Mike expects you to ask for a ride back to the dorms (that he doesn’t understand why you’re still living in), but it turns out you’re not all talk. After sitting on the couch for only a few minutes, trying to make sense of the dinosaur movie you’ve walked in on halfway, you’re crawling into his lap again, teeth dragging over his neck this time as your hand trails down his torso to rub over his rapidly growing cock.

 “Oh, shit, I didn’t actually think you were serious,” he chuckles through a kiss.

 You grind down on him, bite his lower lip, then remind him, “I told you I was frustrated.”

 He smirks, gives your hair a little tug that makes you moan, then makes sure his words just ghost over your mouth when he teases, “Like a bitch in heat.”

 This time he takes you over the armrest of the couch, leaves you swollen and dripping his cum again. 

 Another shower, the steam on top of such vigorous activity has both of you deliriously tired, and Mike is honest when he tells you, “I really shouldn’t drive now. I’m about to pass out.”

 “You and me both.” 

 So, you slip into one of his shirts and crawl into bed with him, but neither of you get more than a couple hours of sleep before the morning sun is shining in through the window. Mike’s grumpy groan very quickly turns to one of interest when he feels you push your ass against his morning wood, and then you’re at it again. He’s never fucked this much in such a short amount of time, and he can’t imagine doing it every day or even every other day. In fact, he thinks he might be a little burnt out for a bit. Unless it’s with you, of course. He’ll always make an exception if it’s you moaning his name and hiking a leg over his hip and milking him dry. He guesses if this is the last time he gets to do this for the foreseeable future, he’s at least made it worth it.

 Back in your little party outfit, you step up into Mike’s Jeep and almost doze off in the short time it takes to get to student housing, but you’re roused when he pulls into the parking lot and steps on the breaks just a little too hard.

 Mike snickers when you jolt forward and grunt, cutting your eyes at him and muttering, “Fucker,” before undoing your seatbelt and leaning over to pull him into another kiss. He cradles the back of your head, holds you there for too long as he tries to make you feel everything he’s feeling through tangled tongues, little nips, and the string of spit that stretches between two bottom lips. 

 He thinks he’s been good at hiding it, but now as you’re about to slip out and away, those words are lodged in Mike’s throat again, and no amount of swallowing will get rid of them. He takes a deep breath and forces one of those horribly insincere smiles, and you can tell because the look you give him is thoughtful and sorry, and your voice comes out as a whisper when you say his name, “Miche.”

 “Hm?”

 “Uh… Thanks.”

 He lets out a humorless laugh and asks, “For last night? This morning?”

 “For everything. I mean, last night and this morning were incredible, like… Incredible. But, it’s more than that. For helping me with everything you have in the last year or so.”

 Mike’s heart drops into his stomach, and he sits back in his seat as his mind starts racing because this doesn’t sound like gratitude; this sounds like goodbye. 

 But, why? He’ll see you on campus in a day or so, at the PKA parties you end up going to. You probably won’t be able to attend a ton of his games, but that’s fine. He understands. Are you just being dramatic—sad that you won’t be able to fuck him anymore?

 He can’t ask any of this, settles with a half-hearted, “Yeah, no problem,” as he fights the confused frown that’s slowly taking over his face. 

 “I’ll see you around,” you tell him.

 Mike nods and watches as you slide out and start walking to the bland building. He doesn’t like how that just ended. It doesn’t sit right in his head or his gut. It could be that you’re already regretting it. It could be that you're fearful of the consequences. It could be that you think this might be the final straw in your friendship. You’d be wrong on that one, though. Mike is willing to let you get away with a lot—too much—before he runs. You can use him in whatever way you need, and he’ll keep coming back. He just can’t help it.  

 *

 That had been a bad idea. A really, really fucking bad idea. The ache in you has been completely satiated, and you loved being able to hang out (and fuck) Mike—wouldn’t really trade it—but as you walk up the stairs to Zeke’s apartment sore as all get out and see his face when he swings the door open, it really hits you—

 That had been a terrible idea. 

 “Why the fuck did Eren say he saw you leave the party with Zacharias?”

 “Alright, I’m just gonna turn around,” you say, pivoting back toward the staircase because you really don’t like the way Zeke’s tone is tying your stomach in knots and making your neck prickle. You haven’t ever been one to be scared of men, but in this moment, you would much prefer to not be anywhere near him. 

 “No, no, let’s talk about this,” he says with a suck of his teeth.

 His grip on your arm is just shy of painful, and you take note of the way he forcefully guides you into the apartment rather than tugs you. 

 You chew on the inside of your cheek, setting your purse down on the counter as you follow him over to the couch. Zeke sits down at the other end facing you, as always, blue eyes narrow behind his glasses. “So, is it true?”

 “Yeah,” you admit before diving headfirst into a lie, “It was just to play videogames, though. Neither of us were diggin’ the party, so—”

 “That so?”

 You nod. “We used to all the time.”

 “And, what else did the two of you used to do?” He mocks, and you keep your mouth shut, bottom jaw sliding as your lower lip starts to quiver. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

 “Thank whatever you want, Zeke. I was just hanging out with my best friend, okay?”

 “Your best friend?” He snaps. “Tell me, sweetheart, just why might you be covered up head to fucking toe, hm?”

 You cringe inwardly, taken back to the debate you’d had with yourself in front of the mirror. Your normal casual wear would show off some of the bruises Mike had littered you with—cold spoons can only do so much—but getting buttoned up would be suspicious. You had opted for the latter, hoping it would escape Zeke’s notice, but of course it didn’t. 

 Now, you’re sweating in your jeans and a fucking turtleneck you’ve never even worn before, and Jesus Christ, you just want to leave. Zeke is hot, but not hot enough to put up with this kind of bullshit.

 “Don’t have a comeback for that one, do ya’?”

 Mental note: kick Eren’s ass next time you see him. You knew that kid rubbed you the wrong way for a reason. 

 You don’t know who to be more upset with, the little brother or yourself. You could be irritated at Mike if you really wanted to—he hadn’t been subtle about wanting you last night, but then again, you hadn’t really expected him to, and you can’t find it in yourself to fault him for his feelings. There’s no way you could actually be mad at him.

 This is your fault. You need to deal with the consequences without bringing anyone else into it.

 “What d’you want me to say, Zeke? What’s the right answer here?” You ask exasperatedly. 

 “The fucking truth!”

 “We hooked up, alright? I fucked him! ‘Cause you don’t wanna fuck me, which would be fine if you’d just tell me why, but you won’t!” You’re starting to breathe a little heavy, voice rising as you continue, “I feel like you’re just waiting to see how long it’ll take for me to lose it, and apparently it was last night, and you know what?” You grin at him, nerves on fire the more you let every frustration fly from your mouth. “It was awesome. It was so fucking good, you don’t even understand.”

 Zeke’s eyebrows are high as he lets your little rant die off, obviously annoyed when he asks, “You finished?”

 “I think I am,” you laugh. 

 “Fantastic. Take your shirt off.”

 You choke on your tongue. “Excuse me?”

 “You heard me. Take. Your shirt. Off.”

 “No!"

 “You just said you wanted me to fuck you, so—”

 “Not right fucking now!” Even if you wanted him to, you wouldn’t be able to take him. You don’t think you’ve ever been so sore after having sex, but that could also have something to do with the multiple rounds of being impaled on Mike’s horse cock. God, you already miss it. 

 “Swear to god, if you don’t take it off right now—”

 “You’ll do what? What’ll you do, Zeke?”

 Your breath gets caught in your throat when he lunges at you, one foot planted on the ground as his other knee digs into the couch in a way that cages you in. His nails scratch against your skin as he pulls roughly at the material, and you hear the sound of threads splitting as you grunt and squirm and try to keep the terror rising in your chest at bay because this is not happening. This is not happening. 

 Zeke manages to rip the turtleneck off of you, and you shiver on the cushions as his eyes trace over every inch of you he can see, icy blue somehow becoming colder and colder. 

 “One,” he growls, shoving a finger into your neck. It smarts the way every bruise does, and you bat his hand away only for him to move it to the skin just beneath your collarbone. “Two.” He shoves your bra up to find hickeys three and four, making you wince as he digs a fingertip into both. “Five,” your ribs. “Six,” your stomach. “Seven,” your hip. 

 Your face is incredibly warm, tears stuck at your waterline as humiliation washes over you in waves. And naturally, it just gets worse. 

 “Are you gonna take your pants off, or will I have to?”

 You aren’t breathing deep enough anymore, and you can feel a burning in your lungs as a result. When you don’t answer quick enough, Zeke threatens, “I’ll rip them if I have to.”

 “They’re denim,” you snark, but that last piece of attitude is stomped out when he unbuttons and unzips your pants and tugs each corner, effectively tearing past the zipper. 

 You let out something frighteningly close to a whimper as he pulls them off, then sits between your legs and starts counting the marks dotted along your thighs. 

 “I’ve gotta hand it to him—Zacharias is a pretty thorough guy.” He pinches you a couple times, chuckling at the way you jump and hiss. “Did you like it when he was treating you like a fucking fire hydrant? Marking his territory like a dog?”

 “Shut up,” you grit, sitting up only to get shoved back down by a hand that curls around your throat. 

 You stare at Zeke with huge eyes, finally letting that fear bloom inside you—what is he about to do? What is he about to do?—and as he leans over you, tears start streaming down the sides of your face.

 He lets out a condescending little, "Oh," then lowers his face to run his lips over your temple and whispers, "Don't be scared. It's okay."

 A gentle kiss, and then he pushes himself up, stands, then disappears into his room. You stay on the couch, trying to catch the breath you didn't realize you'd been holding. Shivering as you sit up, you reach for your close only to find them ruined. 

 Zeke must have known that the moment he ripped them off of you (honestly, you should have known too) because when he returns, he tosses a ball of material at you—an old t-shirt and pajama pants. 

 "I'm gonna throw a pizza in the oven. That okay with you?" 

 You blink at him, unable to respond as he glances over his shoulder and makes a face like he's annoyed. 

 "What, are you stupid on top of slutty now? I asked if that was okay with you."

 "I—Ye—I need to leave," you mumble, quickly slipping the clothes on and standing. "I'm gonna leave."

 "How about you just chill and watch a movie instead?" 

 "Why would I want to—"

 The look Zeke gives you is chilling, mouth downturned, one eyebrow raised. It's a challenge, one you don't have the energy or fight to rise to, so you drop back onto the cushions and sigh. 

 It’s fine. You’re fine. He didn’t go nearly as far as you thought he was about to—just got upset. He had a reason to, right? There were better ways to handle it, a fucking conversation for example, but at least now he’s giving you a little space, cooling down in the kitchen while you gather your thoughts. You could go without the name-calling, though. 

 He just lost his temper, wanted to remind you that it’s him you’re with. You have been for a few months now. And, until now, Zeke has been a nice albeit slightly arrogant guy. He’s personable, he’s smart, he’s funny. Most importantly, he’s level-headed. You probably just pushed him a little too far. It could have been worse. It could be worse.

 You play it over and over in your head as Zeke hands you a plate with a slice of pizza on it. You play it when he sits down and throws an arm around you. Then, you play it when he walks you to your car that evening and kisses you like nothing ever happened.

 Could be worse. Could be worse.

 *

 Mike curls his tongue over his bottom lip and squints at the array of cups on the table across from him, picking one out before tossing the ping pong ball with a flick of his wrist. 

 It bounces off one of the cups' rims, and Nile easily snatches it up and smirks at him. 

 "Dude," Erwin starts, frowning when Mike turns to him. "Why do you suck so much tonight?"

 Mike rolls his eyes. "Man, fuck off."

 "No, I'm serious. What's up with you?"

 "Nothin'. Just having an off night."

 "More like off week," Erwin scoffs. "Month."

 Gelgar sinks his ball into the middle cup, and Mike quickly reaches forward to grab it, extracting the plastic before downing the beer. 

 Erwin is right, but Mike refuses to tell him that. He's been off since the last party a couple weeks ago, the last time he saw you—last time he touched you. He's spotted you around campus several times since, but you're always hanging off Zeke's arm, and Mike isn't about to pry you off him (despite how much he wants to).

 Honestly, he's a little surprised at how close you still are with him, how unaffected your relationship is by the hookup. Maybe Zeke just never found out. Mike has tried to ask you about it, sent more than one text, but they've gone unanswered which is a concern all on its own. Two weeks without talking at all. Mike feels like he's going insane.

 Could it be that you're mad at him, upset that you gave into temptation and you're blaming Mike instead of yourself? He understands the need to scratch that itch, but if you really hadn't wanted to fuck, you could have just said so. 

 Mid-terms are next week, so Mike figures if you still haven't talked to him by then, it's definitely time to worry about the state of the friendship. He's trying not to get himself worked up, but honestly, just the thought of you being upset with him is enough to make his stomach roll. He just needs one text. One everything's fine. That shouldn't be too hard for you, right? 

 Mike misses another shot and swears to himself, sticking a middle finger up at Erwin when he throws his arms out. 

 "It's just beer pong, bro. Calm down."

 The party is like every other—loud music, rowdy college kids, too many girls Mike doesn't care about making eyes at him from across the room. He really just wants to go home, but he can't help but stay in hopes that you might show up. It's highly unlikely, but that slim chance keeps him rooted to the spot, missing cups left and right until Nile and Gelgar win. 

 Erwin is not happy as he drinks his share of the remaining beer. Once he finishes the last, he tells Mike, "You owe me for that pathetic fucking display. Tell me what's going on."

 Mike comes close to just turning his back and walking away, but he can see that even through his irritation, Erwin is worried for him. 

 Running a hand through his hair, Mike just asks if Erwin has heard from you at all recently. "I just can't get ahold of her, and I can't tell if it's 'cause she's busy or ignoring me or what."

 Erwin's thick eyebrows knit together as he shakes his head. "No, I haven't talked to her in a while. Did something happen between the two of you?" 

 "I mean, we hooked up at the last party—"

 "Oh, that ended up happening?" Erwin asks, surprised. 

 Even after making up last semester, Mike has tried to keep the details of his sex life with you to himself and away from Erwin specifically.  After the shit he pulled that drove the rift between them in the first place, Mike isn't willing to be quite as open about you as he previously was, but he did have to break that code at the last party when he was convinced you would end up fucking. Buzzed and excited while still at the house, Mike had asked Erwin if he'd be cool with the two of you using his room (with the promise of cleaning up, of course), before you ended up just retreating to the quietness of Mike's apartment instead. 

 So, Erwin knew the potential that evening had, but Mike never followed up with him until now. 

 "Yeah, it did."

 "Well, what did Zeke think of it?"

 Mike shrugs his shoulders. "Dunno. She hasn't talked to me since then."

 "Shit." Erwin looks genuinely taken aback. "It's been that long?"

 "Yeah. I'm trying not to freak out, but like—"

 "No, I get you. If I end up hearing from her before you do, I'll let you know."

 Mike nods, "Thanks, bro," and forces a smile when Erwin claps him on the back, then breaks away from his friend to mope around somewhere else. 

 What if something happened? What if Zeke had found out and lost his temper with you? Mike will murder him if he finds out that four-eyed fuck put his hands on you. Gruesomely murder.  

 If he could take back what you both shared that night, he would. Things seemed to be getting somewhat back to normal between you—talking and making dumb jokes, like you were actually comfortable around him despite your boyfriend. If Mike had known one last night would fuck that progress up, he wouldn't have ever brought it up. 

 Then again, you had told him. I don't wanna fuck things up with Zeke. And, he had still pushed, tried to get you to give in, and god, that's embarrassing. Mike is glad you called him out on his shit, but looking back on it still makes his face heat. That was fucked up. He fucked up.

 "It's Mike, right?" 

 Mike's eyes snap downward, caught off guard by the girl suddenly standing in front of him, dainty fingers with painted nails clutched around a beer bottle. It's the same kind you would drink only to end up giving it to Mike. 

 "Uh, yeah, that's me."

 The girl smiles at him. He's seen her around the college, events shared between both frats and sororities, and the more Mike looks at her face, the more he recognizes her as one of the chicks who used to hang around the baseball team a lot. In fact, he's pretty sure she's—

 "I'm Rhi. You played really well yesterday. I was watching you."

 "Thanks."

 She bats her eyelashes at him as she returns, "You're welcome," then clicks her tongue and asks, "So, who ya' lookin' for?" in a sing-song voice. 

 "What do you mean?" 

 "I mean, you've been scanning this room for the last, like, fifteen minutes. Looking like you're playing Where's Waldo or something."

 Mike snorts, flipping hair from his face as he lies, "No one in particular." 

 He recognizes the look of satisfaction that blooms on Rhi's face, has seen it many times before on many different girls. It makes him sigh inwardly because he really could not be any less interested. 

 "That's good." Rhi's wide grin shrinks into a smirk before she adds, "I was hoping you'd say that."

 Mike feels his mouth tug up on one side in what he's pretty sure comes off as a sad little smile. 

 Fuck it, though. At least she's pretty. 

 *

 Things don't change all that much between you and Zeke. After spending a day or two rationalizing, you're able to look at him and smile again, to laugh at his jokes and listen to his tangents. He's back to playing with your fingers on the table while you sit face to face for lunch, back to shoving his hand in your back pocket while you walk around campus. It's like nothing ever happened. 

 If anything, you start spending even more time with him. He walks with you to and from class whenever he can, tells you to come watch his practices because the teammates he's closest with—his best friends—want to get to know you better. It's all normal, and you get used to the slight change in routine without a problem. You like the Galliard brothers, Marcel who plays shortstop and Porco, the catcher, so it isn't a chore to hang out with them after games and practice.

 What is a chore is watching Zeke talk with his bubbly ex as he walks with her to the science building you're waiting at. Leaning against the brick wall under an awning, you squint as they approach. Rhi is looking at him with those huge, entranced eyes you know too well, a little too much pep in her step making her tits bounce in a way that's fucking impossible to ignore. 

 You shouldn't be territorial. If anything, you should probably still be mad for the stunt he had pulled with you, but… if he gets to be possessive, so do you. It only makes sense. 

 'Cause that's how healthy relationships work, you think with a snort, pushing yourself off the wall when they both stop in front of you. 

 "Babe, you remember Rhi," Zeke reintroduces her like you haven't been at least a little wary of her for the last couple months. 

 "Yeah," you nod, forcing a smile. "How are you?"

 "I'm great!" She grins, looking at Zeke for one reason or another, like he needs to approve her answer, which is fucking dumb, but you also kind of understand because that's just the effect he has on people. 

 "Glad to hear it." You turn your attention to your boyfriend, content to ignore her from here on out, and ask, "Did you wanna grab something to eat before practice?" 

 “Yeah,” he nods before glancing at Rhi and offering a, “Catch you later,” that sounds too promising for your liking. 

 You don’t glare at the other girl as the two of you leave, but you definitely do not smile, and as Zeke drives you both to your favorite cafe, you whine to Hitch through texts.

 i wouldn’t be too worried about it, she tells you. she’s in my psych class and she’s kinda dumb. i doubt zeke wants to put up with that again. probs why he dumped her in the first place

 You try to appear unbothered through lunch, but you’ve had a pretty shitty day so far—woke up late, probably failed a quiz, got no response from Mike despite texting him three times in rapid succession, and then you had to witness that doe-eyed little brat blatantly pine for—

 “You know, you don’t have any right to be jealous, right?” Zeke asks after swallowing a bite of salad. 

 You blink at him, having to process for a second before you understand what he’s saying. And, why he’s saying it. How can he just read your mind like that? You don’t think you’ll ever understand. 

 “‘M not jealous,” you mumble, stirring soup you really have no intention of eating. 

 Zeke smirks across from you. “No?”

 “I’m just having a bad day. Don’t make assumptions just ‘cause I didn’t smile at your little ex.”

 His expression of self-satisfaction falls into a frown, and he asks what’s going on. When you tell him, you purposely leave out the detail about Mike ignoring you because it would only further Zeke’s point about you having no right to get possessive especially considering how fucking upset you are about the matter. Why the fuck isn’t he talking to you?

 “Want me to help take the edge off?” Zeke asks when you finish venting.

 You look at him with one raised eyebrow, tempted to reply with a smart-aleck ‘only if you plan on seeing it through’, but that sounds like too much of an ultimatum, too manipulative. You’ve made it this long without being a shady bitch, and you have no intention of becoming one. 

 He can see the gears turning in your head, leans forward and grabs your hand before urging, “Come over. Skip your evening class, and we can just… Relax.”

 You snort when he wriggles his eyebrows suggestively, possibly the first time you’ve smiled today. “I really shouldn’t skip. We’re reviewing for our exam next week.”

 “All the more reason to. You’re not getting any new information. You can just go back over it on your own.”

 He has a point. You have all the notes and PowerPoints, and the idea of just lounging and fucking is very tempting since the last time you had sex was the night with Mike.

 And, just like that, your stomach is in knots again. Why won’t he just text back?

 Sighing, you come to the conclusion that a distraction is exactly what you need.

 “Yeah, okay. That sounds nice.”

 “Oh, I’ll make sure it’s more than nice.”

 Zeke finishes his meal then asks for a to-go bowl for yours, and after about fifteen minutes, you’re in his apartment. 

 “Let’s watch something while my food settles, and then we can you know…”

 “You know,” you mimic, putting the leftovers up in the fridge then joining him on the couch.

 He turns on some underground horror movie that doesn’t exactly set the mood, but you power through about half of it before all but throwing yourself at Zeke as soon as he pats his lap.

 Chuckling, he helps take your shirt off, kisses your collarbone and murmurs, “Damn, should we just move straight to the bedroom?”

 “I literally could not give less of a fuck. Whatever you wanna do.”

 He grips your thighs and stands, making you hold onto his shoulders for dear life as he walks into the back and drops you on his bed. You immediately kick your pants off, a constant stream of ‘yes yes yes’ running through your mind. You need this. God, you need this. 

 But, when Zeke curls over you, he doesn’t feel broad enough, and when he kisses you, his beard is too thick, and when he trails his hands down your body, they’re barely calloused. 

 You squeeze your eyes shut, trying to turn your brain off—please, just turn off—because you should only be thinking of Zeke. 

 Zeke who circles your nipple with his tongue, who brushes fingers over your bare pussy and groans at how the sensation makes you arch into his mouth. 

 “Can’t wait to stuff this pretty cunt,” he breathes before grazing his teeth over pebbled flesh. 

 His voice isn’t deep enough. His blue eyes have a different shine from the green you're so used to.

 Fuck, fuck, fuck, just let him—

 Shimmying down your body, Zeke spreads you open and pushes spit from his mouth to land on your clit and drip downward. It makes you gasp, and you feel that familiar throb of arousal that grows when he starts rubbing soft circles over the sensitive bundle. 

 “Oh, shit,” you huff.

 Heat pools between your legs as he continues the motion, only stopping to replace his finger with his mouth. 

 You let out a high-pitched moan, thinking to yourself, what about pillows? You can get a better angle with pillows. It doesn’t matter in the long run as he drags his tongue over your entrance, dipping inside for just a second before going back to swirling the muscle around your clit. 

 A finger is pushed into you a little too roughly. It’s not quite long enough, not quite thick enough, but it still feels good, especially once Zeke finds your g-spot and massages it until you’re whimpering and begging for more.

 “You think you’re ready, sweetheart?” He speaks into your thigh, a thigh that was once littered with dark bruises from another mouth. 

 “Yes,” you pant. “Yes, please, please, Zeke.” Even his name feels foreign falling from your lips despite having said it hundreds of times.

 You don’t understand why your mind is sabotaging you like this. You’ve been desperate for Zeke for months now, so why is it that you’re finally getting what you want but can only think about Mike? What is wrong with you?

 He scissors two fingers inside of you, making sure you’re nice and stretched, and you want to tell him to hurry up, that you’ve taken someone substantially longer and thicker, because yeah, Zeke has a nice cock, big enough to be satisfying, flushed pink at the tip and dripping, but it’s doubtful that he’s gonna hurt you. 

 He has a lovely upward curve that drags over your spot as he slides into you, and it makes you groan, eyebrows knitting together as Zeke swears.

 “Fuck, you feel good,” he breathes, giving a few experimental thrusts. 

 You can take him without issue, wet and stretched, and god yes, finally. Finally. His pace quickens, coarse hairs on his pelvis rubbing against your clit and causing your eyes to roll back. Locking your ankles around his waist, you grin at the new angle, and Zeke huffs out an appreciative, “So fucking sexy when you smile for me, baby.” You stick your tongue between your teeth, something between a moan and a laugh leaving your throat, and he coos another, “Feel good?”

 “Ye-es.”

 Your mind is finally cleared—for a few minutes, at least—until Zeke pulls out and tells you to turn over. “Hands and knees.”

 You comply, and when Zeke spreads your cheeks and shoves his cock back into your wet pussy, the memory of Mike’s tongue on your asshole flashes through your brain. 

 “Jesus Christ,” you whine. 

 Zeke’s balls slap your clit with every snap of his hips, the sound of skin on skin ringing through the room. It’s so fucking lewd, the sweat breaking out on both of you only making the noises more obscene. The fingers of one hand are gripping you tightly while Zeke brings his other down on your ass with a little too much force. The burning that follows feels good, makes you hiss and push back against him.

 Pulling out so that only his cockhead is inside you, Zeke stills to focus solely on spanking you, alternating between cheeks as heat radiates from them. You cry and keep moving to the best of your ability, fucking yourself on his length as you get lost in sensation. 

 You lose track of time. Zeke switches between abusing your ass and leaning over you to grope your tits. No matter what he’s doing, you’re moaning, and eventually your own hand travels between your legs to play with your clit, the pressure in your gut becoming too much. You need to come, need that release, and when your back arches and your muscles tense, Zeke growls against your spine, “Fuck yes, come on my cock—just wanna feel you—”

 He lets out a little, “Ha,” when you pulse around him, gushing slick and leaving you overstimulated as he continues to fuck into you harshly. 

 Your arms give out, elbows buckling and sending you falling face first into the pillow. Every noise you make grows in volume but remains muffled. Zeke is relentless in his strokes, but he thankfully doesn’t last much longer, droplets of sweat landing on your back as he curls over you once again, breathing heavily into your ear, “Can I come inside? Lemme come inside you.”

 Before you can realize what you’re doing, you shake your head, turning your cheek to the cushion and panting, “No, don’t.”

 It shouldn’t matter. You’re protected, and you’ve done it before, but…

 You only want to do that for one person. You don’t want to let anyone else.

 “Don’t, Zeke, I—”

 “Did you let him come in you?” He suddenly asks. “Did you let him fill you with cum?”

 He reaches around you to pinch your clit, and you squeal and squirm, trying to get him to drop his hand, but he doesn’t, just holds it with two fingers and taps the swollen bud without mercy. 

 “Did you?”

 “No!” You lie, voice rising. “Fuck, I didn’t let him!”

 Zeke scoffs. “I don’t believe you,” pinching hard enough to make tears spring up in your eyes before letting go. He returns to your hips, blunt fingernails digging into your skin as he gives a few more thrusts and groans, spilling into you then moving you back and forth on his cock, watching his own cum get pushed further into your hole and coat the entirety of his length.

 “God dammit, what the fuck, Zeke?” You speak through gritted teeth, shoving back against him suddenly and with enough force to make him lose his balance and fall backward. You can feel thick fluid dripping down your thighs and turn to glare at him only to find him smirking at you. 

 The space behind your eyes grows hot with tears you refuse to shed in front of him. Instead, you get up and walk to the bathroom, slamming the door and locking it before sitting down on the toilet with your head in your hands. 

 You shouldn’t be as upset as you are, generally like the feeling of guys releasing inside of you. It’s just hot. But, you had not wanted it this time. You weren’t ready for it, and now you can’t help but feel… tainted. 

 You pee then hop into the shower to rinse off, to cleanse yourself and calm down, and once the hot water has drained you of most of your anger, you slip into one of Zeke’s t-shirts and go back outside. He’s in sweatpants, sipping on water as he stares at the TV.

 “Feel better?” He questions without actually looking at you.

 You’re free to roll your eyes, but you think you sound convincing when you answer, “Yeah, a lot.”

 He hums. “Didn’t seem like it.”

 “I mean,” you sigh and move to sit down next to him, one leg tucked under you as you think about how you want to word what’s on your mind. “When I ask you not to do something, I, you know, want you to actually listen."

 Now, he turns to look at you wearing an expression frighteningly similar to the one he'd worn the day he humiliated you on the very couch you're sitting in. 

 "Oh, so you want me to respect your wishes." He doesn't sound at all sympathetic. "Kind of like I wanted you to respect mine before you went and fucked Zacharias."

 "Alright," you drawl. "We're back to this again. Awesome."

 He didn't ever explicitly ask you not to sleep with anyone else. At that point, you don't know if Zeke even saw you as a legitimate girlfriend. And, you understand why he's annoyed by your actions, but you're getting extremely fucking tired of him dangling it over your head. 

 "Uh, yeah, we are."

 Taking a deep breath, you try to keep a level head, to appear collected when you tell him, "Look, I see your frustration. I get it. But, me sleeping with Mike is a little different than—"

 "How?" Zeke cuts you off. "How is it different?"

 "Because what you did in there was against my fucking will. I told you not to come inside me, and you still did."

 Zeke is on his feet in an instant. "Is that a fucking accusation?"

 "No, no," you hold your hands up in defense as you peer up at him. "I'm not trying to say that everything that happened in there was non-consensual—"

 "Sounds a lot like you are."

 You're starting to panic. You don't like how hostile he's getting when he isn't even trying to understand you. 

 "You're trying to fill in blanks that aren't there, Zeke. I'm not trying to accuse you or get you in trouble or anything. I'm trying to explain how fucked up—how scary—it is for someone to ignore your boundaries in the bedroom."

 He makes a little, "Tch," then mutters, "You're blowing it out of proportion." 

 It's about the worst thing he could say to you. Firstly, he's the one getting offended by the situation, and secondly, it completely invalidates you. 

 "You're the one who was so desperate for sex you went and fucked someone else," he adds. 

 You massage your temples, figure you need to remove yourself before saying something you can't take back. 

 Your phone is still on the armrest where you left it before going to the back, and it lights up with a text—Hitch—and displays the time. It's only five. If you wanted, you could still make it to your six o'clock class. 

 "You know what, I'm gonna put a pin in this so we can both simmer down. We can revisit it later."

 Zeke doesn't seem to like that solution, or lack thereof. You grab your shirt off the floor then pad back to the bedroom to change into the clothes you picked out for the day, texting Hitch back while you're hidden. 

 She had asked what you were up to, and you reply with, at Zeke's. Could you by any chance pick me up? I didn't drive and we just got into a spat. 

 on my way 😘

 You waste a little time before deciding to brave your boyfriend again, simply telling him that you're just gonna go to class and that Hitch is coming to get you. 

 "Fine," he dismisses.

 You think about giving him a little peck but decide against it, opting to just grab your backpack and slip on your shoes. 

 "I'll text you," you tell him. 

 He replies with a short, "Sure," and you take that as your cue to leave. 

 It doesn't take long for Hitch to get there and takes even less time for her to ask what happened. 

 At last, you give her the full scoop (barring Zeke's meltdown after originally finding out you slept with Mike). She frowns almost the whole way through, and you expect her to either soothe you or tell you that he's being an asshole, but instead, she clicks her tongue and mutters, "I don't get why you aren't just dating Mike. Like, yeah, Zeke's hot and all, but you and Mike have always had a thing. And, you both obviously like each other so whyyy," she ends in a frustrated whine. 

 "Because Mike and I…" You trail off. You don't really know, honestly, not for a few seconds at least, and when it hits you, it isn't some big epiphany. It's more like a natural thought. "Because Mike is long-term. If we got together it would be, like, the real deal. And, I don't think either of us are ready for that."

 It feels good to admit both to Hitch and to yourself. You never thought about it in depth before, mostly because while you've known about his feelings for you for a good while, you haven't fully accepted your own. 

 But, if the hurt you're feeling at him not texting you back is anything to go on (not to mention how much you thought of him while fucking Zeke), your fondness for him has probably turned into something more, something deeper. 

 "I don't understand what's so bad about the real deal, but whatever. You guys will sort it out in your own time."

 "I don't know about that," you mumble. "He hasn't talked to me since that morning. Just won't reply to any of my texts or calls."

 "That's weird," Hitch thinks out loud as she pulls into the parking lot. "If anything, I thought he'd be fighting even harder now."

 "Yeah, well, that is clearly not the case." You grab your bag out of the backseat, guessing, "He must be mad at me or something."

 "Maybe. Maybe he's just trying to give you space."

 Shrugging, you get out of the car, forcing a smile as you thank your friend for the ride. 

 "Any time. One more thing, though," Hitch stops you." You tilt your head in curiosity as her face grows uncharacteristically serious. "Next time Zeke uses that against you, tell him to fuck off. And, consider dumping him."

 "I mean, I did fuck up by sleeping with Mike."

 "Yeah, but you and Zeke aren't gonna work if he keeps holding that over you. Something like that isn't supposed to be leverage. If he can't handle it, he needs to leave."

 It's rare that Hitch loses her happy go lucky attitude, so seeing her like this is a little jarring. 

 "I'll take it into consideration."

 As you walk into the dorms, you pout about how your shitty day only got shittier. All you want to do is talk to your best friend, but that's obviously not gonna happen. 

[ next ]

[sunjaesol]

because your kiss is on my list

alternatively: four times juke snuck up on each other for affection and the one time they didn’t have to | based on the achingly beautiful fanart by @lovelyrugbee

1. 

Luke was being manic again. And not in a cute: “Oh my God, he’s so passionate about music!”-way, but in a: “He might actually tear his eyes out from these infuriating lyrics that aren’t working”-way. Every once in a while, songs didn’t flow out as easily as they usually did. The topic was a bit trickier, or the instrumentals didn’t mesh, or something was just off. Julie wasn’t too stressed about it. They had plenty of time to rework and fix things before the gig in two weeks. 

Unfortunately, Luke didn’t have the same mindset. 

He has been holed up in the studio all day, cramped on the windowsill to the point of submitting himself to a hernia and scrapping writing scrapping scrapping scrapping. The sound was infuriating, Alex being the first to poof out and Reggie following soon after when Ray became far more interesting than a guitarist going haywire. Which was sad, cause her dad was just unloading groceries. 

Alright. She had to do something. Standing at the doors of studio with a somewhat amused expression, she took in as her boyfriend was oblivious to the world and her. In any other situation, he’d notice and compliment the orange dress she was wearing. She thought about calling his name, maybe singing or jamming her fingers on the piano, but then a better idea came. A fun one.

Quietly slipping closer, a mischievous grin crawled on her lips. Thank God she was barefoot, or else her sneakers would’ve squeaked against the cement floors. He still hasn’t noticed her, the pinch between his brow so deep and lost in thought. 

Three, two, one... 

“Ah!”, she cried out like a warrior, snapping her arms around him from behind and snatching the damned songbook from his grasp. Before he could react, she smacked a wet kiss on his cheek and added a “Mwah!” for good measure. 

The startled Luke began chuckling, trying to get his book back, her peppering more kisses on his cheek in retaliation. He had to get out of this funk! Breathe a little! Turning his cheek to look at her, he smirked. “Sneaking kisses now, Jules?”

Julie hummed against his skin, eyes sparkling. Whispering in his ear, she said: “Stop breaking your head over these lyrics and relax. We have time.” 

His smile softened, gaze tracking the way she hugged him and then- “I like the dress you’re wearing.”

Ah, yes. There he was. 

2. 

Julie Molina truly made the afterlife less boring and a whole lot more bearable. Which became really apparent whenever she had an avalanche of homework and couldn’t hang out. Luke loved his boys, but damn did he miss his girlfriend a lot now. If the situation were different (you know, had he not been head over heels in love with her), he’d poof up to her room and annoy her until she came to the studio. Alas, he respected his girlfriend and her interest in getting good grades, so he had to deal with it. 

Bleh. “Dealing with it” was like a curse word to him. 

He hasn’t seen her all day though. She left early for school and didn’t pass by the studio when she got back. All he needed was a quick look and talk and maybe a hug and then he wouldn’t be so antsy. 

(What he’d give to wrestle her into cuddling right now. He was honestly blessed he found a girl who saw all of his need for affection and then gladly gave triple the amount.)

Yup. Screw homework. He had to see her. Without telling the boys, he stood up with a huff and poofed out. The offended “hey!” from Alex he ignored. 

Dropping into Julie’s room, a smile instantly bloomed on his face at the sight of her. She was on her bed, textbooks and notes splayed out in front of her while her curls danced with each breath she took. Even when tired, his girlfriend was pretty as hell. 

“Hey,” he grinned.

She didn’t look up and mumbled: “Hey.” A page turned. “What’re you doing here?”

Luke sat down on the edge of her bed, far enough so her pens wouldn’t roll away. “Haven’t seen you today. I missed you.”

This time she did look up, her weary eyes softening and smiling. “I missed you too. I have homework though, so...” The implication was there: please leave so I can finish. His hope for a hug quickly dwindled.

“Yeah,” he muttered, not ready to go back and get slapped by Alex. “Uh...” His eyes fell on her right hand, slightly more outstretched then the other. It just... laid there. Teasing him. Freaking tantalising him when he knew how good it felt whenever those fingers brushed his cheeks or raked his hair. 

It happened before he thought about it. Crawling onto the mattress, he snatched her hand and pressed soft kisses on the knuckles. Julie caught his gaze again, that smile he loved so much melting into an adoring puff - like she couldn’t believe this idiot was her boyfriend.

He didn’t mind being her idiot.  

3.

Sometimes, Julie was just that more adorable. Like now, with her hair spread around her shoulders and that small smile stuck on her lips and her eyes that seemed impossibly soft today. All for him, only for him. 

Sure, it was probably because they were working on one of their personal songs, but the fact remained that his girlfriend still left him rendered speechless months into dating.

“What if we try it in a lower key?”, Julie proposed, nodding at his guitar. 

The song in question was a song about them. It wasn’t so lovey-dovey that it would turn the guys off, but it was still blatant. Only they would write about ‘the sea glass green of his eyes’ and ‘the smile that put Mona Lisa to shame’. 

He did what she asked, her singing the same verse again. It held more depth now, soulful and lively. The rasp in her tone made it playful and egged him on to join, like it was truly banter between lovers put to music. It was them. It was her. It was-

Luke abruptly stopped playing, pushed his guitar aside and grabbed onto her. She hardly had time to chuckle as he pressed his lips onto her forehead and held her as tight as possible. Warmth filled his chest, that strange sensation of being loved and loving back twice as hard, as she clutched his body. He almost got choked up. Here he was, in the sundrenched studio with the girl he adored playing the music they created together and she was singing it in such a quintessentially ‘them’ way. No one but them would ever truly understand the magic they conjured. How it was only explained through grins melting on skin and the giddy skip in his heartbeat. 

“What’s that for?”, she smiled. 

His hand trailed from her back to her cheeks with an elated shrug. How could he explain to her her ‘Julie-ness’ was dialled up to two hundred without sounding insane? Caressing the skin, he murmured instead: “I guess you’re just irresistible today.”   

Her eyes squeezed shut at his words, like she was embarrassed how much delight it brought her, and pressed her face back in his shoulder. 

Letting that giddy skip in his chest kiss her again, he gently pulled away to sent her a wink. “Let’s finish ‘Wicked Love’, yeah?”

4.

“So, Flynn’s been thinking-”

“Mh-hm.”

“-about a new poster for the gig we’re playing. The old one is a little amateur and she made some new concepts. Wanna see?” Julie held her phone at his face, his hand leaving the strings of his guitar to gently push it back. Falling back on the bed, she frowned. 

“Maybe later, I’m figuring out this progression...” His back bend over his guitar again, only giving her a view of the black muscle tee. 

When Luke told her he wanted to hang out that Saturday afternoon, she had hoped it would be a bit more ‘Julie and Luke’ and not ‘Luke and His Guitar’ - alas, the girlfriend was competing with a piece of wood and some metal. While texting Flynn about graphic design was fun, it was time for Luke to start doing what he promised her.

Then again, she was a sucker for music talk. “Why don’t you try switching up the chords? Start with G instead of C.”

He tried it out, a grin crawling on his cheeks. “Yeah... yeah, that works. Thanks, Jules.”

“So?”, she sang. 

“Hm?”

With a sigh, she grabbed onto the strap of his guitar and gave it a tug. Luke’s neck rolled backwards in surprise, catching her playful smile.  

Chastely pecking his forehead, she said: “Your head is in the clouds.”

The teasing look of his matched hers. “You’re kissing my head right now.”

“Mh-hm,” she mumbled, loving the way his hair had that perpetual scent of apple and something inherently Luke. Kissing the locks, she added: “And you’ll be getting a lot more if you actually start hanging out with me.”

His book and instrument slid off his body just like that as he speared her into hug. Luke collapsed onto her body with the cutest grin and she knew she caught him. Their laughs chimed throughout the house for the rest of the day. 

+5.

Luke poofed onto her bed with a grin, his girlfriend automatically snuggling into his side and finding each other’s lips with ease. For a beat, they’re cherished the quiet passion shared between them. They didn’t need to do a lot to feel loved by the other. 

He pressed his nose into her curls. “How was school?”

“Good,” Julie whispered against his neck. “How was the studio?”

“Chill. Reggie scared a spider.”

She giggled, the sound making his grin widen and hide his face so she wouldn’t see how ridiculously giddy she made him. Turning her head so she’d see him anyway, her nose scrunched. “I know you’re smiling.”

“That’s my line, Molina,” he huffed, the teasing glint shimmering in his eyes. 

A signature brow quirked. “You got that on paper?”

He didn’t miss a second. “I love you.” He didn’t need to ponder or linger or rewrite or scrap or workshop the thought. It wasn’t even a thought. It was a truth and he’d repeat that truth over and over again until the universe knew it too and kept it in their books for centuries to come. He loved her, he loved her, he loved her. 

The smile that came was worth the truth, how her love for him broke through without a moment of hesitation. Now she’d say the same, over and over and over again, so the universe knew they were talking about each other and would always keep their names together in said books. 

Julie kissed him again, long and sweet and as easy as breathing. Her utters were barely audible, but his heart caught it. “I love you too.”

Locked in their embrace, they shared earphones listening to their favourite music until they fell asleep. (How Luke could fall asleep, but only when in her loving touch, he wouldn’t question. Some oddities of the universe were best unsaid.) 

@blush-and-books @unsaid-emily @bluefirewrites @willexx @ourstarscollided @alexjulies