#love me some funny dancin guys

[alttheloco]

[offers you season 1 ghostkicks]

[royalvelvette]

and love will bring us freedom

Read on Ao3 (or reread part 1 on tumblr)

Rating: M

Characters: Charlie Morningstar, Vaggie, Angel Dust, Alastor, Mammon, Fizzarolli, Niffty, Asmodeus, Beelzebub, Husk, Cherri Bomb Mentioned: Glitz, Glam, Loona, Vortex, Lucifer Morningstar, Sir Pentious

Warnings: Canon Typical Language, Minor Violence (not on purpose), Mammon's Canon Treatment of Fizzarolli, Not Beta Read or Edited

Word Count: 2222

The robo-fizz advertisements passed in something of a blur. Charlie distracted herself by explaining more about the pageant itself – anything to not pay attention to the way Mammon was currently talking about how you could fuck the Fizzbots. Vaggie’s hand was a familiar weight on her knee, keeping her from growling at the tv or accidentally hitting Cherri with a too-emphatic gesture.

“-so they show off some clown skills first – stuff like juggling and balloon animals, y’know? And then there’ll be an intermission for us when the in person meet and greet is happening, then there’s some more... general performing. Singing, dancing, acting – really anything-”

Vaggie squeezed her thigh, and Charlie took a breath. “It’s cool,” she finishes lamely. “Fizz always does a big musical number, you’ll love it.”

Angel tilted his head up to look at her. “You sure you ain’t just sayin’ that ‘cause you like singin’ and dancin’?”

“Watch it,” Vaggie snapped.

“It’s okay,” Charlie said. “I mean, Fizz has won the last ten years running, so it isn’t just me, but you’re probably... not wrong that I’m biased.”

Alastor half-tuned out the conversation happening beside him. He was watching the picture show intently – more specifically, he was watching the Mammon and Fizzarolli now on screen. The distasteful advertisements were almost at an end, for certain, as these two iterations seemed more recent.

“There’s a Fizzy for every occasion!” Mammon shouted, gesturing widely. “All thanks to my old brand, Fizzy!”

Fizzarolli was dragged against Mammon’s side. He covered his discomfort remarkably well, but the subtle wince – something Alastor was intimately familiar with, whenever somebody touched him – belied his true feelings. His antlers were beginning to hurt.

“That’s me, folks!” Fizzarolli said, better at keeping the discomfort from his voice than his body. “And the Fizzies’ll keep coming, unless you think you can beat me-

“At Mammon’s Annual Clown Pageant!” Mammon cut in at the same time as Fizzarolli.

Alastor lifted his lip. Perhaps now, it wasn’t quite so shocking for Charlie to be unable to hide her dislike of Mammon. Alastor had no idea who Fizzarolli was, until this day, and yet... something about Mammon’s treatment of the jester set every nerve on edge. The manhandling, especially.

Niffty began to wiggle on her perch beside his head when the prices finally faded from the screen, overtaken what was presumably a live broadcast directly from the Greed ring. Mammon, of course, was front and centre. How... distasteful.

Niffty knew she was going to be in trouble later, swinging her legs and rocking so close to Alastor – it was just so hard to sit still when there was such a delectable bad boy right in front of her! An actual bad boy, too, one even Miss Charlie didn’t like! One who wasn’t secretly lame, like the snake guy or Lucifer, either!

(Lucifer being so... like that had been the only unpleasant discovery ever since he moved in. He was the king of hell! He should have been the ultimate bad boy! Instead, he was even lamer than Pentious had been. Almost as pathetic as that stupid TV head guy who used to follow Alastor around like a puppy, urgh, saved only by the fact he was leagues more powerful.)

Though... Mammon did violate one of the rules Alastor had given her, when he first brought her to the hotel. Upsetting Charlie was a no-no, no matter how many funny colours she turned or how spiky Vaggie got. It was really the only new rule she had gotten, so it had to be extra important. Did that mean Mammon was off limits?

Niffty pouted, legs stilling. Of course, the only real bad boy in the entire place, and he was somewhere Niffty couldn’t even go and not someone Alastor would approve of. Ugh.

One thing Mammon had always been good at, for as long as Charlie had known him, was showmanship. He’d used it to great effect when she was young, enchanting her with simple magic tricks and silly songs and dances, announcing everything with so much aplomb that Charlie had been practically begging to eat all the vegetables on her plate at family dinners.

That very same showmanship was on full display as Mammon introduced the contestants for this years pageant. The first four, even with Mammon hyping them up (he always did this, always, like any of them actually had a shot against Fizz – none of them did and he knew it, because he was the one who trained Fizz) passed her by quickly – though she did hear Cherri snort when Pierrot was introduced.

It was the duo, introduced just before Fizzarolli, that made Charlie nervous. There was a sort of... easy confidence to them, and they definitely had the whole ‘please step on me’ vibe down – that would definitely get them past the first few rounds with pretty high scores, and that’s if they didn’t perform well. If they were any good at clowning – or even just performing in general – there was a pretty high chance they’d make it to the finale with Fizz.

(Part of Charlie hoped that they did – the further they got in the competition, the longer Charlie could oogle – possessors were just always so pretty – but part of Charlie hoped they didn’t, with the way Fizz was constantly looking at them out of the corner of his eye.)

Angel winced when Charlie’s cousin fumbled the juggling act. As a performer himself, there was nothing worse than fucking up on the very first take. Even though he was the only one to mess up the first trick, he still shot up to second place – just behind the pair of sisters up on the wire, while the imp in full clown getup was given the boot. Brand recognition did a lot, something else Angel was intimately familiar with.

(He couldn’t help but wonder if Fizzarolli dealt with the same sorts of creepy-ass fans, despite being in a different sort of gig. He did work at some sort of sex club for the sin of lust, so... probably.

Was it weird, to relate to someone he didn’t even know existed until today? It was probably weird.)

Fizzarolli recovered nicely in the second act, at least. And his balloon figure – Mammon, presumably – was impressive. Angel could twist himself into all sorts of fun shapes, but balloons? Fuck no. That shit would pop on him so fast. Sucks that it didn’t give Fizzarolli the lead, especially because the sisters just added to his instead of making their own fucking thing, though at least it was tied up.

Charlie frowned as the curtains opened for the final performances. It hadn’t been Fizz first, like she was expecting, like it had been for the last ten years – instead Glitz and Glam took the stage. It made Charlie... nervous. Mammon always did Fizz’s act first, always showed off his biggest asset when he did anything – something was wrong.

She let go off Vaggie’s hand to get her phone out of her pocket, shooting off a quick text to Uncle Oz. She would text Fizz himself, but if he was prepping for his show – she wouldn’t distract him. Not when something was already wrong. She tried to settle herself, taking Vaggie’s hand back and watching the sisters perform.

They were good. Like, good enough to be actual competition. The song was catchy, and they definitely knew how to work their attractiveness to their advantage. She gripped Vaggie’s hand tighter. Fizz wouldn’t lost – couldn’t lose, this was his thing – but actually fighting for the win... shit, he was probably having a panic attack. All Charlie could do, though, separated by several rings as they were, was hope that Oz was with him, somehow.

Then something exploded into blue smoke behind Mammon – who had been stammering as Fizz failed to appear – and Charlie settled. Ozzie was there. Fizz would be okay.

Charlie’s nails – not quite her claws, not yet – were painfully sharp where they dug into Vaggie’s thigh. She was leaning forward, eyes fixed on the television – the same position she had been in ever since Fizz had come onto the stage. Admittedly, Vaggie was more concerned with keeping Charlie from leaning forward enough to faceplant off the couch than paying attention to what, exactly, Fizz was singing about as he bounced and swung around, but even she noticed the finale.

“-Mammon you sad sack of shit, fuck youuu-ouuu-ouuu, you bitch! Yeah!”

Vaggie jumped as Angel started clapping with all three sets of arms. Cherri whooped loudly, and even Husk was smiling – wider than she had ever seen. It almost distracted her from the pain as Charlie’s claws sliced her skin when Charlie leapt to her feet.

It did not, however, distract from the way Charlie’s tail was whipping nervously behind her as she watched the screen.

“Babe,” Vaggie started.

“Mammon’s not going to take that well,” Charlie said.

“What’s he gonna do?” Cherri asked, cackling. “The crowd loved it!”

Charlie’s stomach twisted the longer Fizz talked. She knew what was coming even before Fizz finished his farewell speech – and she knew, more than anything, that Mammon would flip. At least he would have replacement talent ready to go, with Glitz and Glam – and the sisters were good! But Fizz had been his brand for ten, nearly eleven years. There was no universe Mammon would take him quitting well.

(Pride burned hot in her chest despite her unease. Fizz was finally quitting. Mammon’s prime moneymaker was leaving. Good, something in her purred. Let his cruelty burn his empire to ash.)

And then, the grand finale – not the one Mammon had been hoping for – came. Fizzarolli looked up, directly at Mammon (yes, that same voice hissed, yes) and said,

“I quit!”

“Yes!” she whisper-shouted, punching the air, even as she kept her eyes fixed on the screen, even as every nerve-ending in her body practically sang with be careful Fizz.

It only got louder as Mammon jabbed his staff at Fizz. Her horns were out and she was growling at the TV – someone was saying something behind her, but she was too furious-anxious-furious to pay attention to the words. Fizz’s words were tinny and faint through Mammon’s microphone, but there was no mistaking the second ‘I quit’ or what came after.

Then the mic exploded and green smoke filled the arena.

Vaggie was moving even before Charlie screamed. Her wings were flared, protecting Cherri, Husk, and Angel from the blast of heat that shot out from her girlfriend – Alastor had managed to bring up one of his shadows to cover him and Niffty.

“Jesus Christ!” Husk shouted. “Why is she hulking out?!”

Vaggie didn’t answer, couldn’t answer – the air itself was pressing down on her, forcing her down-down-down to her knees as Charlie grew, snarling and growling at the television.

“Babe-” she gasped. “Charlie-”

Charlie whipped around to face her, nearly taking her head off with her tail. Her eyes were bright and gleaming red, redder than Vaggie had ever seen, but clear. She looked at Vaggie silently for one beat-two-

Then Charlie started to shrink back down. Her horns remained, as did her tail, but she returned to a more normal size and the pressure she had been emanating receded, allowing Vaggie’s lungs to expand fully. She coughed once, weakly.

Charlie rushed to her side immediately. “Ohmysatan, I’m so fucking sorry-” she babbled, holding Vaggie’s face in her hands. “Are you okay?! I didn’t hurt you, did I? Is everyone okay?”

Vaggie’s answer was cut off by Asmodeus appearing on screen.

The shame was going to eat her alive, Charlie knew, but her self-recrimination was derailed when she heard her uncle shout,

“What? That I love him? Well, I do!”

The rest of the confrontation passed in a blur after those words. Her horns and tail receded slowly – Ozzie would protect Fizz. Ozzie could handle Mammon. Fizz was safe, he was loved, he was free. She let go of Vaggie’s face to wrap her arms around her shoulders instead, burying her face in her girlfriend’s neck as all of her nervous energy and anger drained away. It was over.

Fizz was free.

She stayed like that, holding Vaggie, trying not to cry, until her phone rang. She was pretty sure someone had been trying to get her attention before then – or at least, the others had been moving around them, dispersing (thank fuck, she hadn’t hurt them, she hadn’t wrecked everything) but it was only the ringtone she had set for Bee that snapped her out of it.

Charlie let go of Vaggie, answering on autopilot. “Hello?”

Bee squealed. “Charlie!!! Babe, did you see- did you see?” she shouted, flying around her chandelier.

“I saw!” Charlie said, strained.

“We need to celebrate!” Bee said. “You should come down-”

Charlie laughed. “I can’t, I can’t, remember? I got the hotel now-”

“Then I’ll come up! Ooh, ooh! I’ll bring Tex and Loona – you’ll love her, she’s great! - and you should ring Oz- I can meet your friends! Oooh, this is going to be great!”

Charlie laughed again, the earlier strain gone from her voice as she responded, “Give me like, an hour tops to get things ready, okay?”

“Okay!! See you then!!”

Bee hung up, immediately dialing Loona. “Hey, hey, you remember me talking about Charlie...”

[perspectivestarters]

Perspective's Sentence Starters; 1989 (Taylor's Version) by Taylor Swift (Part I)

WELCOME TO NEW YORK

The village is aglow.

Everybody here wanted somethin' more.

It's been waitin' for you.

I could dance to this beat forevermore

The lights are so bright, but they never blind me.

Everybody here was someone else before.

You can want who you want.

Like any great love, it keeps you guessing.

Like any real love, it's ever-changing.

Like any true love, it drives you crazy.

But you know you wouldn't change anything.

BLANK SPACE

I could show you incredible things

Magic, madness, heaven, sin

Oh, my God, look at that face.

You look like my next mistake.

Love's a game, wanna play?

I can read you like a magazine

Ain't it funny?

I know you heard about me.

I'm dyin' to see how this one ends.

Grab your passport and my hand.

I can make the bad guys good for a weekend.

So it's gonna be forever, or it's gonna go down in flames?

You can tell me when it's over if the high was worth thе pain.

They'll tеll you I'm insane.

I love the players and you love the game.

We'll take this way too far

I've got a blank space, baby, and I'll write your name.

You're the king, baby, I'm your queen.

Worst is yet to come.

I can make all the tables turn.

Oh, my God, who is she?

I get drunk on jealousy.

You'll come back each time you leave.

Darling, I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream.

Boys only want love if it's torture.

Don't say I didn't warn ya.

STYLE

Could end in burnin' flames or paradise.

It's been a while since I have even heard from you.

I should just tell you to leave.

I know exactly where it leads.

You got that James Dean daydream look in your eye.

I got that red lip classic thing that you like.

When we go crashin' down, we come back every time.

We never go out of style.

I got that good girl faith and a tight little skirt.

He can't keep his wild eyes on the road.

I heard that you've been out and about with some other girl.

What you heard is true.

I can't stop thinkin' 'bout you.

I've been there too a few times.

Take me home.

OUT OF THE WOODS

Looking at it now, it all seems so simple.

The rest of the world was black and white, but we were in screaming color.

Are we out of the woods yet?

Are we in the clear yet? 

We were built to fall apart.

Your necklace hanging from my neck.

The night we couldn't quite forget.

We decided to move the furniture so we could dance.

Baby, like we stood a chance.

Remember when you hit the brakes too soon?

When you started crying, baby, I did too.

When the sun came up, I was lookin' at you

Remember when we couldn't take the heat?

I'm settin' you free.

The monsters turned out to be just trees

When the sun came up, you were lookin' at me.

ALL YOU HAD TO DO WAS STAY

People like you always want back the love they gave away.

People like me wanna believe you when you say you've changed.

The more I think about it now, the less I know.

All I know is that you drove us off the road.

All you had to do was stay

Why'd you have to go and lock me out when I let you in?

Now you say you want it back?

I don't know what to say.

I've been pickin' up the pieces of the mess you made.

People like you always want back the love they pushed aside.

People like me are gone forever when you say goodbye.

Let me remind you this was what you wanted.

You ended it.

You were all I wanted.

SHAKE IT OFF

I stay out too late.

Got nothin' in my brain.

That's what people say.

I go on too many dates.

The players gonna play.

The haters gonna hate.

I'm just gonna shake off.

I never miss a beat.

I'm lightnin' on my feet.

That's what they don't see.

I'm dancin' on my own.

I make the moves up as I go.

That's what they don't know.

You could've been gettin' down to this sick beat.

My ex-man brought his new girlfriend.

Won't you come on over, baby?

I WISH YOU WOULD

It's in the past.

You're thinkin' that I hate you now 'cause you still don't know what I never said.

I wish you would come back.

Wish I never hung up the phone like I did.

I'll never forget you as long as I live.

Wish you were right here, right now.

We're a crooked love in a straight line down.

Makes you want to run and hide.

It makes you turn right back around.

I wish we could go back.

Remember what we were fightin' for.

I miss you too much to be mad anymore.

You always knew how to push my buttons.

You give me everything and nothin'.

This mad, mad love makes you come runnin'.

BAD BLOOD (+ REMIX)

Now we got bad blood.

You know it used to be mad love.

So take a look what you've done.

Now we got problems and I don't think we can solve them.

You made a really deep cut.

Did you have to do this?

I was thinking that you could be trusted.

Did you have to hit me where I'm weak?

I couldn't breathe.

Salt in the wound like you're laughin' right at me.

It's so sad to think about the good times.

Did you think we'd be fine?

Still got scars on my back from your knife

So don't think it's in the past.

These kinda wounds, they last and they last.

Did you think it all through?

All these things will catch up to you.

Time can heal, but this won't.

So if you're comin' my way, just don't.

Band-aids don't fix bullet holes.

You say sorry just for show.

If you live like that, you live with ghosts .

If you love like that, blood runs cold.

I can't take it back.

I don't hate you, but I hate to critique, overrate you.

These beats of a dark heart, use basslines to replace you.

Take time and erase you.

No, I don't fear no more.

Respect ain't quite sincere no more.

Remember when you tried to write me off?

Remember when you thought I'd take a loss?

You thought that I would need ya.

It was my season for battle wounds, battle scars, body bumped, bruised.

Still, all my life, I got money and power.

You gotta live with the bad blood now.

You forgive, you forget, but you never let it go.

[aestheticvoyage2023]

Day 204: Sunday July 23, 2023 - "Son Shine"

He woke up before 6am, but sat quietly and watched trains on youtube in the bed next to me for the next hour as I struggled to come to grips with the reality of another weekend day up with the sun. Once on my feet, we walked the dog before it got too hot, served up some yogurt cereal mix, and then enjoyed some fresh air outside while it was still only in double digits. He was happy and pleasant, as I drank my coffee and read the latest Arizona Highways magazine. From time to time, he'd visit me and climb on my lap and give me a hug and a kiss before going back to driving his Ice Cream truck around the yard. The Ice Cream truck has accrued a lot of miles on Sunday mornings just like this. Id been trying since his birthday to capture a perfect candid shot that is the essence of him at 2. And in this perfect little scene of a Sunday morning with just me and him, he climbed up on my lap and cooperated as I pulled out the phone nonchalantly and captured the look Id been looking for. His big brown eyes, alive and engaged. His whispy uncut hair in his face and over his ears. His lips pinned back in a smirky grin as if he was about to say something really cute or absurdly funny. A pause in the calamity of a day built for surviving until Mama gets home; a moment of calm and quiet and connection. Those golden moments experienced far more than ever captured. This is William at 2. The candid perfect picture.

Last week, on our anniversary, as we bought sheets at Home Goods, in the checkout line we wound up gripping a yoga loving Lion King, working on keeping his peace and balance. William said he wanted to take it home, and I quickly agreed. I've added it to our bedtime routine as we make our rounds to say goodnight to the moon rock, the blue airplane and mama, the bobble guys, and ALL the mascots. This one is for me. My reminder. My touchpoint. To keep the balance for my Lion. My responsibility to contribute to raising a peaceful centered little lion. My reminder to appreciate and thrive for moments like these today.

Song: Andy Frasco & The U.N. - Dancin' Around My Grave

Quote: Be gentle, my little thunderstorm. The world is just not ready. -AJ Lawless

[heathengentleman]

Uneasy Rider '88

Me and my buddy got us a wild hair And figured we wanted to go somewhere So we loaded up in my ragtop Chevrolet We had a little bit of money and a whole lot of show And with Hank Jr. blarin' on the radio We got us a tank full of gas and we was on our way We figured we'd go down to New Orleans We were barrelin' down old 17 When a man with a blinking red light was on our tail He said you were doing sixty in a fourty-five But I'm gonna let you go this time But if I catch you again, I'm gonna slap you in the county jail We said "Thank you, sir, you sure been nice And you ain't gonna have to tell us twice" And we were southbound and down with the wind blowin' in our faces We kept on rolling, and pretty soon The radio was cookin' out a Haggard tune And we were pullin' into Houston and checkin' out all them places I was feelin' dry and I said "I think we ought to stop and get ourselves a drink" And old Jim said "Yeah, 'cause we got time to kill" We kept on rollin' and I seen this spot And we pulled into the parking lot Of this place called the "Cloud Nine Bar and Grill" We walked through the door, and the place was jammed The lights were low, they had a punk rock band And some orange haired fella singin' about suicide I said "Jim, this ain't our kind of place" He said "Well, let's just have one round anyway" So against my better judgement we walked on inside Went up to the bar and we sat down This fella walked up and said "I'll buy this round" And he sat down on the bar stool next to Jim He looked like a girl, but he talked like a guy He had lipstick on and mascara in his eyes And everybody in that place looked just about like him I said "Jim, this ain't our kind of bar" Let's just go on out and get back in the car 'Cause there's gonna be trouble Ain't no sense in taking a chance We was gettin' up, gettin' ready to leave Somebody grabbed old Jim by the sleeve Was this good looking girl, she was asking my buddy to dance I said "Jim, don't do it, there's somethin' missin'" There's fellas dancin' and fellas kissin' There's a fella in high-heeled shoes wearin' panty hose He said "Partner, I just can't turn this down You just go over there and have one more round I'll dance with the lady, and we'll get on down the road" So he walked away and left me alone And this funny looking fella kept comin' on And he was makin' me mad with some of the things he said And then he put his hand on my knee I said "If you don't get your paw off me I'm gonna locate your nose around on the side of your head" He said "I love it when you get that fire in your eye" I said "Well, partner, try this on for size" And I unloaded on him and he went out like a light Everybody in that place must have been his friend They all headed for me, I said "This is the end" But where I come from we don't give up without a fight They were screamin' and yellin' and scratchin' and clawin' I was punchin' and hittin' and kickin' and pawin' I was holdin' my own 'cause I've been in a scrap or two Old Jim come runnin' up out of the blue And that gal he was with come runnin' up too And proceeded to beat on me with a high heel shoe I grabbed her by the hair, it come off in my hand And that beautiful girl was just a beautiful man Old Jim just got sick right there on the floor He dropped that dude like a shot from a gun Smeared his lipstick, made his makeup run And me and old Jim started fightin' our way to the door Man, we lit out of there in that Chevrolet And I put in on the floor and she stayed that way We was goin' down the highway doing 'bout a hundred and ten We was headed for home and we was gettin' nearer Then a red light came on the rear-view mirror And that same blame cop was pullin' us over again Well, I'm sittin' here in this county jail I had to call my daddy to go our bail But I learned me a lesson that I never will forget again I done give up drinking, I've give up bars And runnin' around the country in souped up cars I'm goin' back where the women are women and the men are men

[meilas]

Socks Reviews: Copacabana-April 11, 2001

The show opens, but we can't see anything for almost 15 minutes. When we can finally see anything, it's a bunch of well-dressed dudes in nice pants singing "Dancin' Fool" and guess who is right at the center? That's right. It's Franc. He plays Tony, a bartender at the Copacabana, who is also a musician. And also apparently a good dancer.

Shortly after Dancin' Fool concludes, we meet Lola, who just arrived from Oklahoma, and she wants to be a singer/dancer (unclear) at this establishment. Tony gets her a meeting with the manager Sam Silver. Tony offers to provide her with an arrangement for her audition the next day, but she declines because she already has an arrangement of an original song written by her band teacher Lumpkin and somebody called Mr Schmeagle, which Tony thinks is funny. Lola doesn't like his attitude, so she tells him that she is going to show him and everybody what she's capable of. You go, girl!

Tony has decided he's in love with this girl after only knowing her for five minutes, and he sings a song called "Sweet Heaven" and it's a delightful little song. Franc puts on a top hat and immediately becomes unrecognizable and gives ringmaster vibes with his hat/cane/tailcoat combo.

The next scene is Lola's audition. Her arrangement is a ballad that is about 6 pages that I can count, though it could be more. The quality of the boot isn't the best. Her ballad is to be followed by a polka(?) and then a military medley. And her starting position is atop the piano. And yes, we get to hear the clashing notes as she steps on the keys.

The rest of her audition (all 21 seconds of it) includes singing in a very nasally southern accent and swinging her handkerchief around and hitting the poor pianist in the head several times before he gets fed up and snatches it away.

Immediately after, the person presiding over the auditions tells her she's done. Shame. I wanted to hear the polka. I don't really know what is happening now. We get to see Tony sing something with two other girls, and then Lola is auditioning again with the same song. This time, she hangs onto the handkerchief. But when the person in charge of auditions tells her "thank you, next!" she wonders if she should try the song again "in a higher key." The pianist suggests she "try it again, in Cleveland."

I'm still not sure what is going on here. It sounds like Tony is auditioning somewhere else, but nothing he plays on the piano satisfies the guy listening to him. The boot cuts over to Lola, who is again auditioning with the same song. And she has not changed the key. This time though, she falls off the piano. Back to Tony, who is singing and dancing, and it's honestly working for me. But not for the guy he's auditioning for, who seems to have passed out. Probably from seeing those pants up close.

We meet up briefly with Tony and Lola, and they've both had rough days. Gladys (a former Copa girl who sells cigarettes at said club and is friends with Tony) tries to cheer up Lola by telling her that people don't hate her, they just think her act stinks. Lola is somehow not comforted by this. Gladys sings about what it's like being a Copa Girl, which includes getting half a pig from the butcher when you only wanted a pork chop. And I honestly don't know if that's a dick joke or not. But apparently Gladys has also met a prince from a country with a name that sounds like a cheese. I'm 87% certain that is a dick joke.

The next scene is the actual Copa girls rehearsing. They are interrupted by Mr. Sam Silver, the owner of the Copa, who offers some "constructive criticism" by saying "it stinks!" Gee, thanks, mister. Mr. Silver also doesn't like the color of the tablecloths, because pink makes him gag. Tony asks when someone is going to get out of prison, and then Lola shows up for her audition that Mr. Silver said she could do. Unfortunately, she doesn't have a pianist to accompany her, so Mr. Silver tells her to not come back until she does have one. Lola starts to cry, and Gladys runs over to comfort her. I just want to say that I absolutely love Gladys and how she looks out for Lola and acts like an older sister to her. Found family is the best. Tony also offers to help out and asks Lola if she has music. "Yes I have music," she says, handing him her six page audition piece. Tony is a little taken aback. "You sure do. What is this, the Ring Cycle?"

Regardless, Tony plays for her. And she's on a piano the length of a dining table I would expect to find in a castle, so she's not hitting poor Tony in the head with her handkerchief. Mr. Silver reacts the same way everyone else has, and cuts her song short. Tony begs for two minutes to fix it up a little, and gives Lola some rapid-fire instructions, and then tells her to take off her dress. Lola is initially suspicious, but Tony tells her to trust him. They start again, (Lola now in her undergarments) and he plays an up-tempo version of the song, while Gladys tries to encourage Lola to dance. After a bit of awkward wiggling, she starts to really get into it. It's a pretty nice dance, which ends with her on top of the piano, but unfortunately nothing will get rid of that southern twang. Mr. Silver's opinion? "Not bad." Glady's opinion is much better. "You didn't stink." Lola is hired as a Copa girl, and Tony is also hired as a musician! Mr. Silver and Gladys leave, and then Tony and Lola hug each other and then laugh awkwardly because let's face it, Lola is only wearing her underwear under a robe at this point and Tony absolutely has a boner the hots for her.

Lola asks Tony how he was able to come up with a new arrangement of her audition piece in two minutes, and Tony explains how to write a song. "Start in the beginning, you add a little, and pretty soon you got a song." Lola asks him to demonstrate. "What, now?" Tony asks. "Sure! Write me a song!" Lola says. Tony protests, "aw, come on, I couldn't!" But Lola insists, telling Tony she "thought [he was] great." Tony manages to squeak out an "okay!" and sits down to do this thing. "Lola," he sings. "Sweeter than a.......... cherry cola!" He gets his act together a moment later and starts to sing "Who Needs to Dream" and the whiplash is unbelievable. This is the high point of the show. Just peak romantic Franc. Such a full voice. So romantic. The song ends with Tony on some stairs and Lola ascending toward him. They embrace and kiss passionately.

Oh yeah, so Franc doubles as a guy called Stephen who is actually making up this story as he goes along. Periodically, Stephen will narrate what is happening in the story. Stephen tells us how a guy called Riku/Rico shows up at the Copa. And then we see the Copa girls singing about how they "Gotta Be Bad". And they're wearing cat tails? The Copa girls' song ends, and Rico and his date, Cochita, share a dance. Rico thinks that Cochita reminiscing about their past is depressing. Unfortunately for Cochita, Rico has noticed Lola and asks to meet her. It also turns out that Rico is not welcome at the Copa, according to Mr. Silver. Every time Rico shows up, one of the Copa girls disappears and is never heard from again. And one of those girls, as Cochita tells us, is "pushing up the daisies." Yikes. Lola shows up, and she's very excited to meet Cochita, who her mother got to see perform. Cochita isn't happy about how Rico seems to like Lola, and gives her the cold shoulder. Rico though starts to put the moves on Lola by giving her champagne. Lola is having a great time. She's only just arrived in New York, made a couple friends, got a great job, and met this nice guy Mr. Rico who could maybe be a new friend! And who thinks she'd look good on the stage of the Tropicana, a club he owns in Havana. Which only makes me think of this:

Lola is obviously not used to drinking alcohol. She admires a couple people dancing to "Bolero D'Amor" while Rico sings to her. It's a really beautiful number with slow dancing and I really wish this video was a bit higher quality so I could appreciate the details. While Lola is dancing, Rico does something with her drink. He hands it to her, she drinks it, and then she staggers away, only to dance back to Rico or his bodyguard (I can't tell who) who picks her up in a bridal carry. He carries her up the stairs, which cross the stage behind some fog while the bolero dancers keep dancing. The scene transitions to Rico's place, presumably the Tropicana. And Rico is really fucking sexy. (He's played by Philip Hernandez, who has played both Valjean and Javert on Broadway.)

Act 2 opens at the Tropicana, I think. I am basing this on the fact that the Copa is in New York and the Tropicana is in Cuba and there are palm trees on the stage. Anyway, the dancers here are singing "Havana/Caramba." When it ends, Cochita is upset over the tempo, and then Rico/somebody tells her she never used to have trouble with the tempo when she was younger. Chastised, she says she wasn't having trouble and they should up the tempo even more next time. Rico announces that he's decided to revive a show the Tropicana did in the past called El Bravo, but instead of Cochita playing the lead, it will go to Lola. Cochita is of course not happy about this. She has been wishing and hoping that the Tropicana would do this show again, and she is not happy about being sidelined for Rico's new eye candy. Rico spells it out for her: she's too old. (At this point someone in the audience goes "oooh!") Rico walks offstage and Cochita collapses on her chair. The dancers all crowd around to try to comfort her, and she stands up and claims that she's fine. "I'm better than ever! I am fabulous!" She really gives glam kitchen vibes.

Cochita leaves to give Lola her own special kind of welcome...

Meanwhile, Gladys, Sam, and Tony are finding out what happened to Lola. She's been kidnapped and taken to Havana, guys, come on. You know Rico's reputation. Tony decides he's going to Havana to rescue her. And then he proceeds to strip to his skivvies on stage. This is the content I'm here to see.

He puts on a pair of khaki pants which aren't quite as nice as his waiter pants, but if you're going to Havana to rescue your kidnapped girlfriend, you're going to need pants that are easy to move in. The owner of the Copa, Mr. Silver, also decides that he's going to Havana. But then he seems to change his mind. But he runs offstage clutching the viking helmet. And then Gladys sings that she hopes Mr. Silver will return to her.

Cochita has gone to Lola's room and tricks the guard into leaving. She wakes up Lola, who asks who she is. Cochita is very sassy and says she's "Evita Peron." Lola isn't fooled, and asks where they are. "In Havana, of course," Cochita says. She tells Lola to get out. She's not the first young girl that Rico has promised to make a star, and eventually she, too, will be replaced by someone younger. Lola doesn't know what Cochita is talking about. They were only talking, and then Rico asked her to dance, and then... nothing. Cochita realizes that Lola really doesn't know what's happened or how she came to be there. "That lunatic! He must have drugged you!" Lola is very upset about this turn of events, and Cochita tries to comfort her. She says that Rico's heart is so full of Lola, he won't let anyone hurt her. Lola claims he doesn't have a heart. Oh, but he does, Cochita says. "But it has hair on it." Lola wants to know why Cochita puts up with Rico, and Cochita explains that she loves who Rico was before, but "what's done is done." Like her uncle Jose used to say, "once the milk is in the bucket, you cannot squirt it back into the cow. Comprende?" Lola does not, in fact, comprende. "Don't worry about it," Cochita tells her. "Uncle Jose was an idiot." Now that they're friends, Cochita promises to try to talk to Rico and get him to send Lola home. And then Rico arrives. He wants to show her the city! He's going to make her his newest and brightest star! But Lola is starting to get it. "Is that what you tell all the girls you kidnap?" Rico claims that Cochita only told her lies, and he slaps her in the face. He says that Cochita is only being a bitter old woman, and tells Cochita to apologize, which Cochita does in Spanish. He then shouts for her to get out of his sight. Lola is understandably frightened of Rico after this, but he promises to take care of her. Rico leaves, and Lola sings "This Can't Be Real." She just wants to go home, to Tony. Stephen (the guy who is making up this whole story and is played by the same actor as Tony) joins the song. He sings about how Lola isn't actually real, she's a character he made up. An illusion. That doesn't stop them from dancing together and even kissing, though.

The next scene is Cochita's friends rehearsing. They disperse, and Tony sneaks in. Franc might be a little confused about what show he's in at the moment because he does the Phantom Portcullis Sprawl™️ on a staircase.

Cochita demands to know who he is, and he says "I'm a frieeend.... of Lola's." Sir what is that delivery. Chochita's friends are still rehearsing, and Tony ducks behind the staircase every time one of them announces his presence and enters the stage swinging on a rope. Between all of this, Cochita explains that she cannot help Tony rescue Lola because Lola is under guard at all times, except when she's on stage. Cochita hears Lola coming and shoos Tony away because if Lola "knows you're here, she'll ruin everything." So it seems Cochita is going to help Tony after all. Rico tells Cochita to teach Lola well, and then says she has "that look" that means she's "up to something." And then just to hammer home what a sleazeball he is, he calls her "old woman" and asks what the scheme is. "A little accident for my new star?" Before he leaves, he warns her that "accidents can become contagious." Cochita tells Lola she's going to help her, but Lola must trust her and do what she says.

We find out what that guy was doing swinging on a rope. It seems that El Bravo is about pirates. And Lola's character's lover is a sailor. I think her character is also a pirate, based on her outfit. I want to see the entirety of El Bravo. After a lot of dancing from pirate ladies, Lola is walked up the stairs and then it looks like she's being made to walk the plank. I am going to assume that her fellow pirates don't like the fact that her lover is a sailor, and that she is being excommunicated from the pirate ship for said crime. She steps onto the plank (being held by one of the dancers) and then we hear Tony's voice join the chorus of "El Bravo!" and he swings in on the rope.

"Tony?!" Lola exclaims, and then dashes down the other staircase. We hear a gunshot, and then Rico shouting "stop that man! Stop him or I'll kill you all!" Tony is grabbed by a couple dancers. He struggles for a moment before noticing that Rico has grabbed Lola and is holding him (Tony) at gunpoint. It's here we get a certified Franc Moan™️. A shot rings out, and Rico lets go of Lola, who runs to Tony. But it's Rico who has been shot. He collapses to his knees and then falls backward, and Cochita walks onstage holding a gun to him. Tony and Lola embrace, while Cochita collapses on top of her dead former lover. The stage goes dark.

The stage is lit again, and Tony and Lola are crouched beside Sam Silver, the owner of the Copacabana. Apparently he "tripped over the footlights, fell into the hall, and knocked himself out." He attempts to go back to sleep, but wakes up to ask if they won. "We sure did!" Lola informs him. Sam thinks it's no thanks to him, but Tony assures him he was magnificent. (Was he the other guy in the El Bravo rehearsal?) In fact, "you knocked out three of Rico's goons, single-handed!" he claims. Lola adds to the story. "Then you climbed up a sixty-foot rope, grabbed Tony, and swung him to safety!" It's giving vibes of two kids making up a story together. Sam says it's time to go home, and he leaves the stage so that Tony and Lola can make goo-goo eyes at each other and kiss. Tony bursts into song ("Sweet Heaven") and they run offstage together. The scene transitions to the Copacabana, where a few showgirls are performing. They are joined by a few guys with a few more girls, and then Tony and Lola (now outfitted in a white suit and a white dress) join them. The song ends, and Tony talks about their future together. A little house, with a picket fence... kids. Lola doesn't seem opposed to the idea. They'll also have "music, and fashion, and that's all we'll ever need." Tony then goes into the song "This Can't Be Real" as a reprise. A bit of interesting blocking here. Lola walks offstage, and two guys come out and take Tony's jacket, turning him back into Stephen the Storyteller. He walks around his studio, looking a little confused and sleep-deprived. Then he pulls a couple feathers? Out of his pocket? And we hear the voice of Lola saying "well, hit me with a stick! The Copacabana!" followed by the voice of Tony saying" Lola. Beautiful girl, beautiful name." This is followed by a few other echoes from various points in the show. Then we hear the voice of Samantha, Stephen's wife. Tony says he can't believe it's her, and she wonders if he was expecting Madonna. The whole show we've just seen was all in Tony's head, and he seems to have cast himself as Tony and his wife as Lola. And tonight is their anniversary! And Samantha's parents are visiting! It seems that Stephen has cast his wife's parents as Sam Silver and Gladys. And they just argue when they walk in. It's funny to see him go from flirty to stoic when the parents walk in. They take turns greeting their daughter, then Samantha's mother greets Stephen, who can't manage a single word when asked how he's doing. Samantha claims that he's just lost in his thoughts and work, and then Stephen starts kissing her shoulder and being very sweet. This is a man who loves his wife. Samantha's mother notices and thinks that they've interrupted something.

"Let's stay home tonight!" Stephen suggests. Samantha doesn't know what's going on. "Have you told your drum machine about us?" she asks. "I love you," Stephen says. "I'll never let anything come between us again." Awwww! "Yeah, I know," Samantha says. "I'm the girl of your dreams." And Stephen launches into "Who Needs to Dream" and Samantha wants to know what's come over him. However, when he does the Phantom Hug™️ Samantha says he does have his charms.

All this romance has made Stephen reconsider the ending of his story. Maybe it's Tony who should die instead of Rico? Samantha isn't amused by the way Stephen's mental train has switched tracks and she lets him know. Just kiss her, you idiot! Stephen does, and the show ends.

Overall, this was a very funny show. Everyone was really on point and the comedy just kept hitting. There were a few points during the show where the blocking didn't quite look the best, and although I like the bit with Stephen and Samantha at the end, I don't feel that it was necessary for the show. Franc was of course the star of the show, and he got to show off his comedic chops a bit, as well as some dancing skills. I didn't like how Rico kept calling Cochita old as a way to remind us that we shouldn't like this guy. You'd think the kidnapping would have been enough. I would have liked to have seen Sam offer Cochita a job at the Copacabana and make a new start for herself. And as a personal preference, I could have done without Lola's/Samantha's nasally Tulsa, Oklahoma accent.

[minutiaewritings]

but I knew you ⋆ draco malfoy

A/N- this is a draco malfoy imagine based off taylor swift’s song ‘cardigan’. 

Bold font is flashbacks, bold italic font are the lyrics! 

angst and i guess a little fluff here and there:)

Sensual politics When you are young, they assume you know nothing

Voldemort was back. There was no denying it, everyone knew it. Whether they wanted to believe it or not, he was back. Hogwarts no longer had that gleam of ‘safe and perfect’. 

“I saw him, Y/n, I did. I wouldn’t lie about something like this.” Harry potter mumbled next to you as you sat with the gold trio, your fork slushing around the mashed potatoes on your plate. 

“I know harry, I believe you. I just wish Umbridge did, she’s such a git.” You scoffed, causing Ron to chuckle. The turkey leg the Weasley was holding to his lips caused grease and juice to spew onto his chin. You and Hermione shared a disgusted glance as you handed him a napkin.

You were pulled out of your thoughts as you saw shining, blonde platinum hair enter the great hall. “I’ll be right back, I need to have a word with a certain Slytherin.” You excused yourself and shuffled towards Draco. 

You flattened your robes as you approached him. “Draco...”You said softly, reaching out to grab the pureblood’s arm. Draco jumped slightly, causing a frown to grow on your features. He had been so different lately, no longer wanting to sit with you at the astronomy tower in the middle of the night, no longer asking you to sit with him during meals. Dark bags had found a home under his normally bright, beautiful blue eyes. His eyes still caused your heart to falter but in a different way. When he looked at you, his expression was no longer soft and warm, it was cold and distant. As if he wasn’t actually there in front of you, his brain elsewhere. 

“Draco..” You said again, trying to get him to focus on you. 

“I have something to attend to.” Draco said coolly and turned, leaving you standing alone by the Slytherin table. Pansy gave you a sad smile, she was always weirdly nice to you. 

You returned a kind, small smile that you could muster. You turned on your heel and walked out of the great hall, your mind spinning and running through what the hell was happening.

Everything felt different. No, everything was different. And you knew it. 

-----

But I knew you Dancin' in your Levi's Drunk under a streetlight I, I knew you Hand under my sweatshirt Baby, kiss it better, right

You sat on your bed, thankful that your shared room was empty. You lied down and let out a sigh. What was happening with Draco, he’d been so different lately. He was normally so open with you, which was a surprise to everyone at first, especially you. But overtime you stopped wondering why he was so nice to you, you accepted it with grace and became close the Draco. You saw him differently than everyone else, you actually knew Draco. The real him. 

You remember your first of many Hogsmeade dates. 

It was spring time, the air felt clean and warm, inviting. You and Draco had just left the leaky caldron and had way too many butterbeers. 

“Watch your step here.” Draco said from behind you as you walked, stepping over a couple of fallen stones. You giggled softly, his warm breath fanned the back of your neck, causing goosebumps to fall in  it’s wake. You don’t remember why but you guys stopped for some reason, your conversation flowing with ease. There were giggles in the air and everything felt right. 

“When we get back to my common room, we need to dance.” Draco hummed, leaning against a lamppost. 

“The Draco Malfoy dances?” You teased.

“I do.” Draco said smugly, a playful grin erupted onto his lips, making your heart jump. “And I’m bloody good at it.”

“Oh yeah? Let’s see those moves Malfoy.” You laughed loudly as Draco began dancing. It was awful to say the least, his moves were sloppy from his tipsy state but it was the smile on his face and the laughs that fell from his lips that made you smile widely. 

You began dancing with him, no music, just the sounds of the two of you laughing and teasing each other.

Draco took your hand, spinning you before pulling you flush against his chest. Your breath hitched, whether it was the alcohol in your system or your underlining feelings, your cheeks darkened. 

“I’m gonna kiss you.” Draco said quietly, your eyes widened. “Not now, but soon.” You were content with that answer, despite you wanting his seemingly soft, pink lips against your own at that very moment.

Draco had kept his word, kissing you hundreds of times after that night. Each kiss and touch made you feel like you were on fire, alive. And you wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Tears pulled in the corner of your eyes as you the memories came crashing around you. You just wanted Draco to be okay again, something was definitely wrong. Your thoughts drifted to one specific memory.

You had just gotten out of detention with Umbridge. Her detentions were the worse. You had been laying in Draco’s bed, his arms around you as you cried silently. Draco accidentally brushed his fingers over the red, bleeding words on your hand, making you gasp slightly. “I’m sorry my love, I didn’t mean to.” He cooed in your ear softly. 

You offered the boy a sad smile and reassured him it wasn’t his fault. You and Draco sat in comfortable silence before he brought your injured hand to his lips. His breath fanned over the wounds, causing you to shudder. Draco eyed you carefully as he brought his lips to the wounds, kissing each letter that spelt out ‘I will obey authority.’

“Feels better already.” You laughed softly, causing Draco to smile widely. 

“In that case I’ll continue.” He grinned evilly before kissing down your neck, your eyes fluttering close as you embraced the warm feeling pulling inside your stomach. 

That Draco took care of you, making you feel good in more than one way. At the end of it all, you lied in each other’s arms again, whispering sweet nothings and basking in the scent of his sweater. 

“Y/N?” Hermione asked quietly as she looked at you, pulling you out of your thoughts. You weren’t even sure when she had entered your guys’ room.

“Sorry, what were you saying?” You offered a small smile.

----

And when I felt like I was an old cardigan Under someone's bed You put me on and said I was your favorite

You sat on the edge of the windowsill, enjoying the night view from the astronomy tower. You snuggled into your sweater. It was one of Draco’s old sweater’s. You breathed in his scent, smoky and comforting. Merlin you missed him.

Suddenly something fell behind you, causing you to jump. You stood to your feet and say Draco standing at the doorway, the moonlight highlighting his features beautifully. “Draco.” Your heart hammered against your ribcage as you tried to steady your breathing. 

“Didn’t know anyone was up here, I’ll let you be.” He turned to leave. 

Before you could even think, your feet were moving and you were flying towards him. You wrapped your arms around his backside and whined softly. “Please. Please stay. I miss you.” You feel tears falling down your cheeks, leaking into Draco’s shirt.

Draco turned and pushed you away in one swift motion. You stumbled back, looking up at him with watery eyes. 

“Merlin, Y/N.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair. 

“Draco, I miss you. So much, please. Don’t push me away, I know everything about you and-”

Draco scuffed, cutting you off. “You don’t know anything, Y/N. We went on a couple of dates and snogged a little and suddenly you think you know me?” 

Why was he being so cold? “B-But I-I...” Your throat began to sting and burn as you swallowed back tears. “But you said you cared about me? You were so sweet and you made me feel special.” You just wanted Draco to say he was sorry, and for him to tell you what was on his mind as you played with his hair. You wanted to hold him and tell him everything was gonna be okay, that you guys would get through this together. 

“Oh, bloody hell. Y/N, you would feel special if any git held open a door for you. You just want attention, affection from anyone who will give it to you. Frankly, I’m rather bored of you. You’re quite boring and needy. You’re so dense to reality it’s rid-”

“Stop!” You screamed, you didn’t care if anyone heard you. You backed up to the window and leaned against it for leverage. “You-You asshole! Why, why are you being such a dick?! I’ve done nothing but be kind and patient with you, yet you’re saying all this...” You shook your head as the tears began to fall more and more. “You don’t mean it. I know you don’t. I know how you feel about me.” 

“Oh? And how do I feel about you, Y/L/N?” Draco smirked. 

“You love me, I know you do.”

Draco laughed, but it seemed like a tired one. “Oh, that’s rich. Really is. I don’t love you. I never have and I never will, you were merely a new experience for me. And now I’m done.” You looked at him, you could practically feel your heart breaking. 

“Fuck you.” You seethed and pushed past him, running out of the room and towards your common room. Your shoes pounded loudly against the stone floor as you rand ran. When you finally reached your common room, you collapsed on one of the couches and began sobbing. The sobs racked through your body, causing you to shake and heave for air. How could someone be so cruel? So heartless? Did you even really know Draco like you thought you did? Of course you did, you told yourself. But maybe you didn’t, because that person you left in the astronomy tower wasn’t the boy you grew to love. 

At the beginning, before you had met Draco, you always felt unlovable. Like you weren’t ever good enough for anyone. It seemed that way at least, always being second or third even. Boys would always want to be with you sexually, but none of them ever seemed to want more, want to love you. 

That all changed when you met Draco, he had made you feel special. Really special. He had made your heart skip beats and made you smile more than you had ever before. He was caring, kind and warm. he was funny, and sucked at cooking. He loved to read but wouldn’t show anyone that side of him. 

Draco had opened his heart to you, and you gladly took it. Draco had made you feel like you were enough for once, you always seemed to be first in his eyes. 

But you guessed that wasn’t the truth. 

----

'Cause I knew you Steppin' on the last train Marked me like a bloodstain

You hadn’t spoken to Draco since everything. You didn’t want to, the thought of him caused your chest to rise and fall in an ungodly manner. You didn’t want to see him smile or laugh, the thought caused bile to rise intro the back of your throat. 

“Y/n.” Ron said, you turned to the red head and smiled. “Gonna miss you this summer! You sure you don’t want to join Harry and Hermione coming to the burrow? Mum won’t mind one more mouth to feed.” He cheesed. 

“My dad misses me, I promised I’d spend the whole summer with him. But I will see you next year.” You gave your best friend a tight hug. You hated lying to Ron, to any of them. But you wanted to spend this summer alone, wallowing in your heartbreak. Your dad wasn’t even gonna be home for half the summer. 

“Alright then, we’ll see you later Y/N! We’ve got to catch the first train.” Hermione said as she hugged you quickly, followed by Harry. 

You waved your best friends goodbye, leaving you alone at the train platform. Other classmates waited here and there, some getting on the next train that came. Unfortunately you were the last train of the day. 

Leaning against a wall, you read a book to past the time, occasionally glancing up to check your watch. When you looked up from your thick book, you saw him. He looked handsome as always as he stared ahead at the train coming into the station. It was the last train. 

“Shit.” You cursed, spilling your book into your carry on bag and standing to your feet. You watched as Malfoy checked his luggage, making sure he had evrything he need. He stood straight again, eyes sweeping his surrounding before you two made eye contact. You felt frozen in place, watching as Draco took his eyes off of you and walked straight onto the train. 

He had looked at you, genuinely looked at you. Your heart sank as you thought about his face, his expression. He had no sign of remorse, his eyes had nothing in them that hinted that he missed you as much as you missed him. He looked more annoyed than anything. That’s what hurt the most, he seemed to hate you now. You blinded back tears before grabbing your luggage and climbing onto the last train. 

----

I, I knew you Leavin' like a father Runnin' like water, I And when you are young, they assume you know nothing

You lied on your living room couch, flicking through the channels. You don’t know why you were so picky with what show too put on, it was just gonna be background noise anyways. That’s what it seemed like, everything was background noise now. Your thoughts were always filled with Draco’s eyes and his smile. 

Your friends all wrote you letters when you first arrived home for the summer, but you just never replied. You didn’t have the energy to. You didn’t have the energy for anything it seemed like. Your father was still away on business matters, thankfully. You knew if he saw you right now he would be worried, very worried. You looked tired, thinner than usual. You had the same bags under your eyes as Draco did. 

Merlin. Why did your stupid brain always go back to him. You sighed, rubbing your hand aimlessly over your eye lids. You were tired, but you hadn’t been able to sleep since Merlin knows when. Your dreams were plagued with happy memories and you hated it. You’d give an arm and a leg to have bloody nightmares instead.

Suddenly there was a pounding on the door. You looked over at the entry way, towards the front door. Your cat, Milo, sat on the headrest of the couch and stared at you curiously as you rose to your feet. You slowly made your way over to the door as the banging continued, now more loudly. You took a deep breath before opening the door, you genuinely didn’t know who it would be.

Ron, Harry, and Hermione stood at your front door, a smiling Dobby at their feet. Unlike the house elf, your friends did not have a smile on their faces. “Bloody hell, Y/N!” Hermione yelled as she shoved you aside, storming into your house. She turned towards you as the boys followed silently. “Are you kidding me? Where have you been? What have you been doing this whole bloody summer!” You’d never seen her so angry, she’d never gone off this bad with Ron. Dobby tugged on the sleeves of your sweater, making you tear your eyes off of your friends. 

“Dobby is sorry, Dobby only wished to help his friends find Y/N. Dobby was worried for his friend.” Your body began to shake as you heard him speak. They cared about you, all of them And you had lied to them for your own selfish reasons. You felt guilt eating away at you slowly. 

The frizzy haired girl looked down at the kitchen table, picking up a stack of unopened letters. Their unopen letters. “What the hell. You couldn’t even bother to open them.” Ron chimed in. He looked more hurt than anything. His frowned deepened as he met your eye. Harry remained silent, staring sadly at you.

“I-I..” You began to speak but the words could barely make it past your dry, chapped lips. You licked then quickly and looked down at your feet. You could feel the tears beginning to well up at the ends of your eyes. Merlin you were tired of crying.

“Is your dad home?” Hermione asked, her voice was less harsh but still firm. You shook your head as your bottom lip quivered slightly.

“When will he be returning?” Ron asked. You looked past him and at the wall behind him. You had to tell the truth, you’d already upset them.

“Another 3 weeks.” You said flatly. “I haven’t seen him since the start of summer. I’ve been here alone.” You looked at Harry, watching his eyebrows raise in shock.

“You lied to us.” Harry said, his tone dripping with disappointment.

That. That look they were all wearing on their faces, the silent words they weren’t speaking. The tension in the air. That was it. You felt something crack inside you and you gasped. Tears poured down your cheeks as you began breathing heavily. It was as if you’d had felt every possible emotion ever, but all of the negative ones. You felt loss, anger, betrayal, guilt, anxious, hungry, tired and numb. You couldn’t handle the way legs trembled as you collapsed the ground.

Harry was the first to act, scooping into his arms. Hermione came to your side and rubbed you. Ron crouched in front of you, tears in his own eyes as he watched one of his best friends break in front of him. “Y/N. What’s going on? What is happening to you?” Ron said softly.

“Just breathe, it’s okay we can talk about this after you calm down. You’re okay, we’re not cross with you. I’m sorry I yelled.” Hermione sniffled, hugging you while your in Harry’s arms.

“Yeah, we aren’t mad at you. We’ve been worried, extremely worried. That's why we’re here. We care about you.” Harry’s voice boomed behind you. Hermione and Ron nodded quickly, agreeing with the Boy Who Lived. 

After you had calmed down and were able to make coherent sentences, you told them everything. You told them why you lied, you explained what happened with Draco. You apologized over and over, begging for your friends to forgive you for being so dumb. You were so dumb for not telling them, what were you thinking? You were so caught up in your head that you completely forgot you had amazing friends who meant the world to you. 

“It’s okay, I’m sorry that happened to you. You deserve nothing but the best. Draco is far from that.” Hermione whispered softly next to you. You and the golden trio were now in your room. Hermione lied next to you, Ron on your other side as Harry sat on your floor, rubbing a purring Milo. 

“I swear I’ll bash his stupid face in when I see him. No one deserves to hear those things he said to you, especially you.” Ron said as he rubbed your arm comfortingly.

“I..I just didn’t expect him to just leave like that. So abrupt and sudden.” You sighed. Draco had left your life just as fast as he entered it. Changing everything just the same. The pain you had felt when he left was the same pain you felt whenever your father would leave for his business trips. You remembered how you wrapped yourself around his tall frame, throwing a temper tantrum because you didn’t want him to leave you. But now it was Draco who had left, and you couldn’t wrap yourself around him to make him stay. 

The rest of the night was spent cuddling and talking with your friends, and drinking pumpkin juice. You were happy that they came, truly. You didn’t want wallow in your sorrow anymore. You wanted to be free from Draco and the memories. But that was easier said than done. 

----

But I knew you'd linger like a tattoo kiss I knew you'd haunt all of my what-ifs The smell of smoke would hang around this long 'Cause I knew everything when I was young I knew I'd curse you for the longest time Chasing shadows in the grocery line

Returning back to Hogwarts wasn’t as hard as you anticipated. You’d spent the rest of your summer with the Weasley’s at the burrow. Molly was exhilarated when you showed up at her door with Ron, Hermione and Harry. The mother never failed to make you feel like you were apart of their big family. 

You’d just finished unpacking your trunks when Hermione waltzed into the room. “You’re lucky I’m letting you have the bed next to the window. I always claim it.” She hummed as she plopped down onto your bed.  You laughed loudly. 

“Well thank you, I don’t know how I could ever repay you.” You giggled, sitting next to your best friend. 

She wore a wide grin as she grabbed your hands in her down. “I know how you can repay your debt.” She began as she watched you slowly. “Please tell me if you need anything, I’m serious. If you need to cry, let me know. If you need space, let me know. Just don’t push me away again. Any of us. We all love you, Y/N. You’re our best friend and we want to help you, that’s all.” 

You smiled and threw your arms around the girl’s shoulders. “I love you, Mimi. What would I do without you.” You whipped the few stray tears that had escaped your eyes. 

“Please don’t call me ‘Mimi’! I hate that childish name.” Hermione groaned before standing up. 

You laughed as you followed your friend out of the dorms and through the common room. You made your way through the halls and towards the great hall. Harry and Ron were at your table already, chowing down. Your stomach grumbled loudly as you took in all the food before you. The welcoming feasts were always the best. 

You sat down quickly, putting some shrimp and green beans onto your plate. “They have shrimp?” Ron asked, mouth full of bread. He eyed the shrimp on your plate before slowing reaching across the table. 

“Ronald! Get your own shrimp, you thief.” You swatted his sticky fingers away from your plate. Ron smiled and scooped some of the seafood onto his own plate. Everything felt right again, you felt happy. You didn’t have to force a smile or a laugh, it was so natural. You’d missed yourself, you missed feeling like yourself. 

A smoky, sweet scent wavered passed your nose, causing you to drop your fork onto your plate. You knew that smell all too well, it was him. You turned your head towards the smell and saw his blonde hair walking towards his table. You watched as he sat down with his Slytherin friends, laughing at something one of them had said. 

You frowned, turning forward again. The familiar feeling of dread began to fill your chest once more. You didn’t want to cry, you were so tired of crying. “Y/N.” Harry said softly, reaching across the table and touching your hand gently. “You’re gonna be okay, it stops hurting eventually.” You nodded at his words, thanking him. 

And you were okay, somewhat. Somedays were harder than others, but you could feel yourself healing minute by minute. The memories didn’t help though. You couldn’t go to the astronomy tower anymore, the memories too strong to ignore. You couldn’t sit under your favorite tree by the black lake anymore, memories of eating stolen pastries and chocolates with the boy who broke your heart. Hogwarts wasn’t the same without Draco by your side. You didn’t want it that way, but for now that was your truth, your reality. 

Draco had imbedded a place in your mind, whether it was a present thought or in the back of your head; he was always there. 

----

A/N- let me know how you guys like this one:) PART TWO IS UP YAY!!!

part two- What am I now?

[bluefurrsmemes]

A list of sentence starters from No Doubt’s Greatest Hits album. PART1.

JUST A GIRL.

“Don't you think I know exactly where I stand?”

“The world is forcing me to hold your hand.”

“So don’t let me have any rights.”

“Oh, I’ve had it up to here.”

“ 'Cause I'm just a girl, I'd rather not be.”

“Guess I’m some kind of freak.”

“That’s all you’ll let me be.”

IT’S MY LIFE.

“It’s funny how I find myself in love with you.”

“I’d pay to loose.”

“How much do you commit yourself?”

“It’s my life.”

“It never ends.”

“What good do you do?”

“Don’t you forget.”

HEY BABY.

“I'm the kinda girl that hangs with the guys.”

“Hey baby, hey baby, hey.”

“Somehow everybody knows my name.”

“There is no need to be acting shady.”

“Can you be my one and only sunshine lady?”

“I’m just sipping on chamomile.”

“A stranger in my face who says he knows my mom, and went to my high school.”

BATHWATER.

“You and your museum of lovers, the precious collection you've housed in your covers.”

“My pregnant mind is fat full with envy again.”

“I can’t help it, you’re my kind of man.”

“So why do we choose the boys/girls that are naughty.”

“I don’t fit in so why do you want me?”

“And I know I can't tame you but I just keep trying.”

“Why do the good girls always want the bad boys?”

SUNDAY MORNING.

“Sappy pathetic little me, that was the girl I used to be.”

“You had me on my knees.”

“I’d trade you places any day.”

“You sure have changed since yesterday, without any warning.”

“I thought you knew.”

“I know who I am, but who are you?”

“I didn’t think you had it in you.”

HELLA GOOD.

“Well come here a little closer.”

“ 'Cause I wanna see you, baby, real close up.”

“You got me feeling hella good.”

“So let’s keep on dancin’.”

“And who would have thought it'd be the two of us.”

“I don't know, I didn't think it was ever gonna happen.”

“So don't wake me if I'm dreamin'.”

NEW.

“This feeling has got to stay.”

“New, you’re so new.”

“My normal hesitation is gone.”

“Oh, you’re not old and you’re not familiar.”

“Who sent this maniac?”

“Why am I so curious?”

“I’ll be back in line with my broken heart.”

[sedge-yells-at-comics]

Remember That Time... Vol. 01

Remember that time Eobard created giant robot horses from prison in exchange for a pardon, and then released one back into the 20th century in a long con to have an ugly statue stolen for him by Hal while he and Barry vibrated into each other, fusing together to defeat the giant robot horse by stomping it to death, and then Eo accidentally blabbed his whole plan after Hal returned with a dissolved statue and Barry defeated him by stripping his suit off?

This is the cover art to one of Eo’s lengthy Eobarry fanfics, because you know he’s one of those fanfic authors who’s extra like that.

“THAWNYE” sounds like some kind of diminutive if you say it like “Thawn-ya”. Great job keeping track of things, guys. Look at Barry pretending he doesn’t know who Eo is... or maybe it’s just the name thing. I’m not sure how humanity managed to drive horses to extinction, but I’m taking that as an indication that the 25th century is actually a horrid dystopia. I assume Eo does know what horses really look like, and just took some creative license, but it would be funny if he didn’t. I’m also concerned that they gave him a shop to work in, what with him being a mad scientist and all.

LOOK AT THAT OUTFIT. My boy is always out there, bringing the hottest new looks. Since his giant collar is the same color as his pants, and it’s The Future, I’m willing to bet that he wearing a--say it with me--mid-20th century retro-futuristic jumpsuit! And those pirate boots! And that consistently inconsistent hairline!

I kinda can’t help but wonder if Eo has some deep, hidden desire to become a sculptor. And is it the getting of the statues, or the having? Is it the thieving, or the collecting? And is shitty modern art the only art that exists in the future? Oh god, now I can’t get the image out of my head of Eo making a (life-size) reproduction of Blucifer, the 32ft tall patricidal horse statue, in his prison workshop. It just seems like an appropriate thematic progression to the robo-horses.

Side-sidebar: It amuses me that people in the 70s couldn’t imagine that we would move beyond the CRT screen. But I hope to god we don’t move on to the holographic/clear glass screens that Current Year people think we’ll have.

Ugh, the Guardians. If the worst Earth-cops ever did was steal the occasional bad statue, we’d be in a good place.

Also, uhhhh. Folks who are up on the Lantern lore--is time travel a standard feature of the rings, or is this one of those “it happened because we needed it to in this one issue” things?

BRING. BACK. EOBARD’S. SILLY. LAUGH.

Is it me, or does Central City--20th and 25th century--have a lot of movin’ around room? Lots of PLAZAS. Lots of pedestrian spaces. I like it in concept, kinda like how the Europeans do it, but in execution it has the feeling like you could start walking to those buildings on the horizon, and you would never get there.

I’m not going to lie to you. I included this page solely and entirely for the butts.

FUCKING. ANTICS.

Aaaaand FUSION DAAAAAAANCE! I love how Eo’s complaining and doesn’t know what Barry’s doing, but he starts vibe-dancin’ anyway.

+1 for the artist remembering Eo’s nose. I need to create a compilation in celebration of Classic Eo’s nose.

WELL.

I don’t know about you, but. I’m aroused. Not gonna lie, before I’d read this, I’d already been contemplating what a Eo-Barry fusion would look like and. Well, this isn’t what I had in mind. And I kinda got stuck on the resulting costume being ENTIRELY ORANGE.

Eo’s FACE in the 3rd panel is priceless. Is this confirmation that Barry would lead in any hypothetical dances? I’m taking it as that. And they’re doing a great job, considering! Eo seems so excited in the last panel. I want to see these moves at regular speed. They must be... somethin’ else.

Oh, right: Heh heh... the beast with no backs. Pffffff--

I know it’s a mindless robo-horse, but this, uh. I kinda feel like I need to call some sort of humane organization about what I’m seeing here. And that pink cloud HAS to be an environmental hazard.

BUT CAN YOU IMAGINE the grape-crushing potential?

Why Would Hal Jordan Do This?

WHAT IF...? They weren’t able to separate, and just had to DEAL with it for like the next year or so? Don’t think about it too hard, though.

Eo’s FAAAACE in panel 5 is *chef’s kiss*.

An ASTONISHING HR nightmare! I have a love-hate relationship with how the older comics avoid explaining how these suits work. They always pop out like they’re one single piece--gloves and boots and all! Do ya gotta slide yourself in through the neck hole? Where is all this excess fabric on Eo’s suit coming from? It sure doesn’t look like Barry’s making any headway in removing it. He’s a 25th century Draupadi over here. And he’s just wearing regular ol’ clothes underneath a skintight suit, a thing that will continue to baffle me about Flash comics for decades to come.

[eberles]

Could you do a jj x reader where the reader says TikTok references 24/7 like it is what it is, you did this for what and your fucking lying let me see . Just thought it would be funny 😅

Hii anon!! This was a funny idea, i’m honestly not sure i did it justice but i hope you liked it! ☺️

i’m a savage .... classy 👑bougie 💋ratchet 💅🏼sassy  💁🏽‍♀️moody 🙄 nasty 👅😏what’s happenin 🤷🏻‍♀️

jj just stares at you while you repeatedly sing it and wave your arms around while you practice throwing it back

when all of the seats on john b’s couch were taken jj would tell you sit on his lap

“so you think im SKINNYYYYYYY”

he didn't get it, but you laughed

you walk around the house singing “somebody come get errr she’s dancin like a stripperrrrr”

jj starts to like this tik tok obsession you’re having when you drop your towel to catch his reaction

“oh shit” 

“you look...hot”

he licks his lips a lot before walking over to you and grabbing your waist

“hey babe, i stole a gun from a safe in some dead guy’s hotel room”

“ur fucking lying, let me see” 👀

john b: “the van won’t start”

you: “it isss what it isss” 🤷🏻‍♀️

jj: “it iss what it iss”

you are constantly trying to get jj to do dances with you

he rarely ever agrees

*after you watch tiger king*

“carole baskin...killed her husband, wacked him, cant convince me that it didnt happen...”😳🐯🦁

now jj feels like he has to watch tiger king so he can understant what the fuck you’re singing about

constantly saying “when i popped off” and then doing the hand motions right in his face

👊🏼👍🏼👎🏽🖐🏻✌🏼🤞🏽👌🏾🖖🏿

he loves when you throw it back on him

the rest of my jj tik tok series

[kiyoedits]

MONDO OWADA

- He loved every parts of you your intelligence, your body, your heart, your everything

- You'll do tiktok dances everyday you kept asking him to dance with you but he'll never do it with you, you caught him dancin in his room you recorded him dancing till he saw you near the door with your phone you ran to your room but you didn't know where else to go

"YOU BETTER DELETE IT OR ELSE!!" - Mondo

"no" you giggled, he grabbed you by the hand and trying to delete it but you send it anyways

"Damn You!.." He left the room mad

You kinda felt bad for sending but you thought it was funny, you went to find him sitting on the couch with anger on his face. "Ahw babe don't be angy your dance was perfect."

- Mondo will hold you buy the hand around public people but when he's with his gangs some random guy will walk up to you and start a conversation with you trying to flirt with you, Mondo came up to you and grabbed you by the waist "stay away from my girl or else" - Mondo

(⚠️I WANNA GIVE YOU WARING ABOUT SELF HARM⚠️)

-"Your fat no one likes you" - Hiyoko,

-"Your not fit or beautiful like me, now get away from me rat" - Sonia (I'm sorry y'all Sonia lovers!)

You ran away with tears in your eyes, you bumped into Teru he looked at you with his grin smirk on his face and slapped your butt you ran away and went to your room crying, you sat on the floor thinking about negative thoughts about you 'I'm fat, im ugly, no one loves me, I'm useless, I should kill my self, I shouldn't be in this world' you got up and went out to the kitchen you looked around the kitchen to check if there's no one, no one was in the kitchen so you went up to grabbed the knife and put it in your pocket til you heard someone footstep "Huh y/n what are you doing in here? - Mondo "I-I was hungry" you studderd, "Oh- umm...I was thinking that we can hang ou-" he got cut off "I-I can't I'm busy.." "busy with on what?" "w-with h-h-homework" "but we dont have homewor?.." "oh umm busy working with C-Chihiro on stuff...." "o-oh.. okay..." you left immediately but Mondo grabbed you by the hand "But when your done working can we ha-" "I'm sorry but I'm busy!" You left to your room, "Am boring?.. or am I not good enough for her?.."

*TIME PASS BY*

You where in your room with your knife thinking, you cutted your wrist and more till there pink blood on the floor, "H-hey are you in there cause I ask chihiro is y/n with you? But you weren't with her.." he open the door and see you In a pink blood bath "Y/N ARE YOU FU*KIN OKAY!" he came next to you and carried you to the nurse.

"O-O-oh my what happened to Y/N!?" - Mikan "IDK I just came in and saw y/n with a knife in a bloody pool" "I-I-I'll help her get well, you can put her on the bed and go back to class t-thank you for bring her in" "y-yeah.." he left the room while Mikan helped you.

*TIME SKIP BC IM LAZY 12:41am*

As you got better Mondo walked up to you "H-hey y/n are you okay?" "I-I'm fine" "are you sure?..." "I'm totally fine" you tear up a bit, "hey hey something wrong?" You hugged him and cried he was shocked he hugged you back and trying to chee you up "Shhh it's okay y/n let it all out" "...mondo...." "hmh yeah?" "D-do you think I'm fat?.." "Huh..no your not fat your beautiful the way you are" your face went tint pink, "I..I I love you M-Mondo I- I know you won't feel the same way-" mondo cutted you off by a kiss "I feel the same way you".

ahh sorry I can't one up sorry if it's short but I can take some requests

[onceattwice]

TWICE’s Headcanon: Dating

Request: May I requested dating the girls of TWICE Headcanon, separately please? I really enjoy those and your writing, it’s really good for someone whom just started.

A/N: Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy this one just as much :) I didn’t include an NSFW for each girl because it wasn’t specified but if you would like one, feel free to send in another request! 

word count: 6,007

IM NAYEON

she is the sweetest girlfriend ever! she tries her best to be the perfect girlfriend. sometimes, you wonder how you got so lucky. 

wakes you up by planting tiny kisses all over your face. she always gets super giggly when she sees your sleepy and confused expression.

she makes you take lots and lots of photos when you guys go on dates. they’re usually photos of her.

although, you aren’t really complaining because now you have a whole album full of pretty candid photos of Nayeon. there are also a handful of funny ones that you use for playful blackmail against her.

you usually end up in the middle of her disagreements with Jeongyeon, big or small. when this happens, she’ll expect you to take her side. when you don’t, she gets pouty and won’t let you touch her until you take her side.

her laugh is absolutely contagious and you really can’t stop yourself from laughing along with her. 

Nayeon loves to hit you when she laughs really hard so your shoulder is constantly sore from all her smacking.

she keeps a pack of muscle relaxants in her cupboard just for you. although, you can’t tell if you should be happy that she’s trying to take care of you, or annoyed because your shoulder is always sore, to the point where she feels the need to keep muscle relaxant stickers. 

she LOVES physical affection. 

when you guys are alone in your room, she becomes a cuddle monster. 

she doesn’t mind displaying PDA but will limit it to hand-holding, hugs, and cheek kisses. anything beyond that stays AT HOME! 

so many pet names/nicknames! she finds it super cute when couples have pet names and will bother you until you give her one. sometimes her pet names for you will spawn from a funny memory or it’s just something super sweet/basic. 

“Can you pass me my water bottle, love?”

lots of hitting and smacking when she hears your pet name for her: bunny. you say it’s because of her teeth but she whines that you're not being original enough and that her fans already call her that. 

is your biggest cheerleader in everything. literally will smother you with compliments and praise. 

you never doubt how much she loves you. she always makes sure to remind you and is not afraid to show you just how much she loves you. 

it’s always out of the blue, sometimes for no apparent reason. you can never pinpoint when she’ll say it next but you appreciate it nonetheless.

tons of back hugs.

sometimes you guys will argue due to her stubborn nature, but she will always apologize if it’s her fault and try to make it up to you. in turn, she expects the same from you. 

if you get mad or annoyed at her, she’ll bring out the aegyo. it’ll either be super ridiculous and make you laugh, or super adorable. either way, it always works on you. 

matching couple outfits. so many matching outfits.

you swear she has a problem and there have been many instances where you’ve had to physically hold her back from ordering dozens upon dozens of couple outfits.

“But it’s so cute!” 

she can be unexpectedly protective of you. whenever you get hurt, she’s the first one by your side. Nayeon can sometimes be overdramatic and will try to call an ambulance when all you did was scrape your knee.

you usually have to calm her down with loads of kisses and reassurance that you’re okay. 

can also be super jealous if you get too close with the other members. Sana once crawled onto your lap and Nayeon refused to talk to the both of you for days. 

it's not because she’s insecure or doesn’t trust you, it’s just that she likes to have you to herself. she also likes the feeling of seeing a side of you that others cannot. 

all you had to do was treat her to a nice dinner date, whereas Sana had to grovel for forgiveness. 

she smiles and laughs the most around you. the members all approve of you because they can see that you really do make her happy.

restaurant bills are always split because neither of you will let the other pay. the only solution would be to split 50/50.

she sometimes worries about not spending enough time with you. her job makes it difficult for you guys to meet up often. you have to reassure her that you love her and that you guys have all the time in the universe.

after all, you are each other’s forever.  

YOO JEONGYEON

although she’s known for her strong girl crush image, whenever she’s around you, she becomes a huge softie.

really cannot resist you in anything. if you ask for it, she will give it to you! although it’s mostly just you asking for hugs and kisses

she’s super protective of you and will literally fight anyone who makes you sad. you like to think of her as a big cuddly bear. 

she likes to spoil you with gifts!

most of the time, it isn’t something super expensive because she knows it can make you a little uncomfortable. but if she travels, she makes sure to bring back a small souvenir for you to keep. 

“Look! It’s a bear keychain!” 

loads of online shopping together. you have to physically stop her from checking out the hundreds of items in her cart. some of them are absolutely useless. 

you guys most definitely do not need a new welcome carpet. you already have a dozen of unused ones from previous shopping sprees.

it’s definitely a problem. but you kind of think it’s cute.

she always asks for your opinion when it comes to her hair. if she wants to cut it, she’ll ask you for permission first. you think it’s kind of ridiculous that she keeps asking you so you just tell her to do whatever makes her happy. if she's happy, then you are too.

she’ll blush and grin at your response. 

after that, she’d switch up her haircut every couple of months just to surprise you. 

“I kind of went for a new style this time. How do I look?”

you think she’s beautiful either way. 

her reaction to your enthusiastic response is always the same: a shy ‘thank you’ with a bright smile accompanying it. 

staying up late with her in the dance practice rooms and encouraging her to keep practicing even though she may get frustrated sometimes. 

she can be super competitive sometimes and when she gets into the zone, she gets super loud.

truthfully, you had to go out and buy noise-cancelling headphones.

whenever the other members come over, your house becomes a warzone. Jeongyeon gets super excited and basically forgets that you are there as well.

however, when all the other girls leave, Jeongyeon cuddles up to you and you guys spend the rest of the night just in each other’s arms.

the girls always love to tease Jeongyeon about your relationship. she’ll deny being whipped but you’ll tell them stories that show otherwise. 

she’ll get annoyed that her street cred is being ruined and claim that the girls won’t respect her anymore. 

“Say one more word and you’re sleeping on the couch tonight!” 

“But I can only fall asleep next to you.” You pout and pull out your famous puppy eyes.

“...Fine.”

“Whipped!” Sana screams. laughter ensues. 

she’ll be your biggest cheerleader.

when you went into a cafe for your first job interview, she sat in the table behind you guys and threw you encouraging thumbs-ups throughout the interview. 

she may have also been the one to send multiple plates of ‘anonymously paid for’ cookies to your table for you and the interviewer to enjoy. 

needless to say, you got the job!

she’s not big on PDA and will smack you lightly if you try to do something fishy in public. 

but at home, she loves getting cheek kisses from you even if she denies it. Sana pouts when she catches wind of this but eventually gets over it.

she’s practically glued to her phone whenever she’s away from you. she highly anticipates your texts and will stay up late just to talk to you. 3am conversations always result in some very funny inside jokes.

she won’t outright say that she misses you. instead, she’ll send you a photo of something with the caption: “reminded me of you”. 

you’ve learned to appreciate and love the little things when it comes to her. 

HIRAI MOMO

you guys actually met through a mutual friend! she had invited you to her birthday dinner where she introduced you to Momo.

you two hit it off right away, bonding over your mutual love for food, and natural dorkiness. 

of course, you spent the entire night goofing off, trying to impress her and keep her attention on you. you would later find out that she thought it was absolutely adorable. 

you asked for her number at the end of the dinner and she shyly gave it to you, making you promise to text her the next day. the rest is history!

Momo loves stealing your hoodies, especially if they end up looking big on her. she loves the fact that they always smell like you. 

More often than not, she’ll end up taking it home and you won’t see it for another week. it’s the main reason why ever since you started dating Momo, you’ve managed to lose half of your hoodies.

whenever you tell her that you love her, she always blushes before saying ‘i love you too’ back.

most of the time, Momo is the one to initiate physical contact first. it doesn’t matter where you guys are or what you are doing, she’ll always try and get as much skin to skin contact with you. 

this results in a lot of bear hugs and linked arms.

she’s super soft and gentle with you. whenever you get hurt, she has to resist the urge to start babying you. although you’ve told her that you don’t really mind it, she still tries to refrain from doing so because she doesn’t want to suffocate you. 

a lot of late-night texting. Momo doesn’t really know how to start the conversation first so she’ll just send you something random and hope you reply. 

she always manages to rope you into dancing with her. whether it’s uncontrolled party dancing, slow dancing, or hip hop, she’ll always try and convince you into dancing with her.

she told you it’s because dancing makes her happy and so do you. therefore, she feels the most joy when the two are combined together. 

and honestly, how could you refuse to dance with her after she’s told you that? 

she’s actually super shy around her members when you’re around. they love to tease her unstop, especially Jeongyeon and Sana. 

she always whines whenever this happens and tries to hide her blushing face by burying it into your body, whether it’s your arm, chest, back, neck, etc.  

you’d never tell her but you secretly love it when she gets teased and that’s why you’ve never once tried to stop the girls from doing so. 

“Stop teasing me or I’m going to move out of the dorm! You’ll never see me again!” Momo whines.

“Oh? Are you going to move in with Y/N instead then?” Jeongyeon wiggles her eyebrows as Momo groans in embarrassment. 

soooo much eating out together. whenever you have the chance to, you like to take her out to eat. she’s super appreciative of the fact that you always let her choose where you guys eat. 

she’ll try and get into your hobbies as well. you guys once went hiking and although she was extremely tired, she never once complained. it’s because she knows how much hiking means to you and she doesn’t want to bash on it or make you feel as though she’s not enjoying it. 

Momo wants to know everything about you. so, she’ll end up becoming super serious when you let her know about the things that you are passionate about.  

as long as she’s spending time with you, it doesn’t matter to her what you guys are doing.

so much cuddling. a tremendous amount of cuddling. it’s her favourite thing to do with you. 

she changes between little spoon and big spoon, depending on what she feels like at the moment. 

Momo is just the softest girlfriend ever. 

MINATOZAKI SANA

contrary to popular belief, she actually likes to go slow with her relationships. she doesn’t ever want you to feel rushed, so she always takes extra care in making sure that you never feel uncomfortable.

kisses are either super sweet or super passionate. there is no in-between. 

her favourite way of waking you up in the morning is to place kisses all over your face.

you’ll often find her staring at you with a gaze full of wonder and curiosity. when you ask her why she’ll just say that she doesn’t think she’ll ever get over the fact that you’re hers.  

she’s not afraid to be touchy with you in front of the other members. sometimes a little too touchy. the members usually end up cringing and telling you guys to get a room.

she smiles and laughs the most around you. sometimes you aren’t even doing anything and she’ll look at you and smile.

Sana loves it when you call her ‘baby’ or ‘sweetheart’. she finds it so adorable and her heart flutters every time. 

it’s usually rare that Sana will get flustered, but around you, she’s always blushing and can sometimes become timid.

she just loves you way too much.

movie nights always end with her crying in your arms. it’s because she always insists on watching a heartfelt romantic film, even though you keep telling her that she’ll end up in tears. 

Sana feels too deeply, that’s just who she is as a person. this means that she loves you more than she could ever describe in words. however, this also means that when you guys fight, she’s unable to think properly and will become overwhelmed with sorrow.

she’s usually the first one to apologize, even if you were in the wrong. she just hates fighting with you and wants it to be over as soon as possible.

“Can you please come back to bed? I can’t sleep without you in my arms.”

you can also get jealous when she’s acting too flirty with other people. whenever you bring it up, Sana will understand where you are coming from and will try to be more aware of her actions.

the time that you two spend together is mostly spent cuddling, kissing, or goofing off. she’s super playful and that only gets amplified when she’s around you.   

whenever she can, she’ll drag you to the JYP practice rooms so that you can keep her company as she dances and trains. 

this usually starts off innocent but when she starts dancing to a sexy routine, you just can’t keep your hands off of her. this results in a LOT of making out and the occasional unplanned trip back home. 

let's just say that the security cameras at JYP have a lot of unnecessary footage of you and Sana in compromising positions. 

so much aegyo. you are bombarded with aegyo 24/7.

she’ll bring out the aegyo whenever you’ve had a bad day because she knows how much you secretly love it. 

however, she’s just a naturally cute person. so honestly, aside from the times where she will purposefully exaggerate her cuteness, you basically live with a human aegyo machine. 

one of her favourite things to do is to go shopping with you. she loves making you flustered when she comes out of the change room with a sexy outfit on. 

of course, she’s not allowed in the kitchen because you are seriously afraid she will burn it all down. she’s too clumsy for her own good.

and because of her clumsiness, she managed to break four plates in the span of two months. 

although you suppose it’s not too bad since next morning, you’ll find a brand new set of plates sitting outside of your front door.

you’ll band together with her to tease the other members. they’ll often joke about you being the 10th member of Twice since you end up becoming so close with all of them.

this makes Sana really happy because she loves her members and she also loves you. she’s always wanted to date someone who gets along well with her members, and ta-da, she found that with you. 

she tells you that making you her ‘forever’ was the easiest thing she’s ever done.

PARK JIHYO

she’s honestly such a softie when it comes to you. she’s so loving and cherishes you so much. when Jihyo is around you, it feels like she’s found her missing puzzle piece.

she’s a sucker for romantic gestures, and so your anniversaries are always so well thought out and heartfelt. 

you still have the poem that she wrote about you! you keep it in your desk drawer. she was so embarrassed when she found out and told you to throw it away. 

though secretly, she was glad that you kept it. 

she loves kissing your cheeks and forehead. Hand holding is also super special to her. it’s her favourite form of physical contact. 

with Jihyo, it’s the little things that matter the most. you don’t need to buy her extravagant presents or shower her with expensive dinners. as long as you show through small gestures that you care, she’ll be forever grateful. 

she never takes you for granted. in fact, she’ll always preach about how she must’ve saved the entire universe in her past life for her to have been so lucky.

you’re the one she rants to when it comes to netizens. she’ll almost always end up in tears and you’ll rush forward to comfort her. 

you’re the only one that she feels comfortable around enough to show her vulnerable side. 

she tries to make you feel as special as you make her feel. she’ll shower you with compliments and will melt whenever she sees your face light up.

anytime you shower her with your love, she’ll end up paying you back tenfold.

there is nothing in this universe that could keep her away from you. whenever she has time, she always makes sure to spend it with you.

she can sometimes get scared that you’ll find her busy schedule too much to handle. as a result, you always have to reassure her that you love her as much as she loves you. and unless she wants you to, you will always stay by her side.

“I choose you, forever and always. You will always be my first and only choice, okay?”

whenever she goes on a diet, you’ll go on the same diet with her. you told her that that way, you guys can go through it together. you hope that she knows she’s never alone. not with you. 

never with you.

she’s too embarrassed to say it, but she really appreciates it. it only makes her love for you grow.  

she especially admires how selfless you can be and really strives to become a girlfriend that you can be proud of. 

you think it’s a little ridiculous because really, how could you ever not be proud of her? 

she always pushes herself to be better and will take any of your concerns about the relationship seriously. if you think that you guys aren’t spending enough time together, she’ll start planning extra dates with you.

you told her that it’s not necessary to do that but she just waved it off and told you that you’re being ridiculous. you’re the most important thing in her life. of course it’s necessary. 

“I don’t want you to feel neglected. And even though I can’t guarantee that you won’t feel that way with others, the least I could do is make sure you don’t feel that way with me.” 

she loves eating sweets and you’ll try to indulge her every time you get your paycheck. it’s become a small ritual and routine for you guys to go out and eat sweets.

eating healthy is super important to her though. she kind of becomes a mother figure and will hound you if you develop unhealthy eating habits.

she’ll wake up earlier than normal and will personally cook you homemade meals as an attempt to get you to stop eating out.

she eventually had to stop because you kept whining about not being able to wake up with her in your arms. and honestly, you looked way too adorable to resist.

that and because her heart skipped a beat when you admitted that you love waking up to the feeling of holding her. 

you love her and she loves you. that’s a fact, not an opinion. nothing in this world could ever change that. 

MYOUI MINA

you guys met at a flower shop. you were picking up some lilies for your mother, and she was ordering some daisies for Chaeyoung’s birthday.

you couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she was. thus, you mustered up all your courage and decided to make small talk with her. 

unexpectedly, you guys had so much fun that when it was time to leave, you found yourself unable to move. she felt much of the same. you guys exchanged numbers and the next day, you picked up a couple of roses on your way to meet up with her.

although she’s known to be quite shy, she actually becomes super talkative when you’re around.

Mina just finds you so interesting. you’re like a puzzle to her and she desperately wants to solve you. she wants to see the full picture.

during the summer, she’ll sometimes wake you up early in the morning so that you can both take a stroll in the nearby park. 

she just loves your presence. parks help to bring her peace and she secretly wishes that they do the same for you.

she can become surprisingly protective of you. at first, the members were skeptical of you. after all, they had no idea who you were and what your intentions were.

Mina kept on defending you and shooting down every remark that they made. she insisted that you were a good person.

in the end, she managed to convince them. she’s extremely strong-willed when it comes to protecting you.

she loves hand-holding. it’s her favourite thing to do with you. it always makes her smile when she sees how perfectly your hands fit together. 

you are the only one to truly witness the extent of her ballerina abilities. her fans have seen little bits and pieces, but when she truly gets into it, you are always awestruck by her skill. 

you’re her pillar of support. whenever she isn’t feeling well, you’re the first one she’ll call.

she really does depend on you for a lot of things. you have to constantly reassure her that no, she is not a burden to you. and that yes, you love her. 

her love for you is silent and strong. she doesn’t often express it in words. rather, it comes in the form of small gestures. 

sometimes, you’ll come home to a homemade dinner or you’ll find small encouraging sticky notes tacked to your laptop screen. 

it’s almost scary how well she knows and understands you. whenever you’re stressed, she just automatically knows and will bring you some tea.

you’ve asked her how she knows, and she just replied with: 

“Guess you really are my soulmate.” 

she’s such a soft girlfriend.

will have sweater paws even as she plays her video games. 

you guys play various video games together. to be honest, sometimes you’ll purposefully let her win because her entire face lights up when she does.

you’d never tell her that though. 

never has she ever taken you for granted. she always ensures that you know how much you mean to her.

she’s so cheesy. most of the time she isn’t even trying to be, but you just bring out that side of her. 

loves super romantic gestures. she’s never outright told you, but she really does appreciate it when you take the time to plan out a small and special date for the both of you. 

she cherishes every date that she gets to go on with you. 

she also has a habit of counting the number of kisses she gets from you every day. 

“I got 27 yesterday so I should get 27 or more today.”

you think it’s absolutely adorable that your kisses have now turned into a bargaining chip. 

she likes to whisper ‘i love you’s. you’ve always wondered why, so one day you decided to ask her.

she bashfully told you that if she whispers, it almost feels as though it can stay just between the both of you. it becomes something special, almost like a secret that only the both of you know and understand. 

her love should only be heard and felt by you, and you only. 

KIM DAHYUN

you guys are the craziest couple ever.

no joke, whenever you’re invited to the dorm, it somehow manages to become 200% louder.

mostly because Dahyun gets louder when she’s trying to impress you. which, in retrospect, is probably 24/7. 

she’s really playful and likes to tease you a lot. the rest of Twice doesn’t even get the chance to tease you guys, Dahyun does all of it already.

“You know Y/N told me yesterday that-”

“I’m leaving.”

you like to tease her back by watching her old weekly idol videos. that always manages to make her blush. 

her laugh is so contagious. seriously, it’s your favourite sound in the entire world. 

she’s extremely outgoing but becomes even more outgoing when she’s around you. not to mention, she’s absolutely won over all your friends. they’ve threatened to break your legs if you ever hurt her.

which is unfair because a) they’re your friends and b) you would never dream of hurting her. ever.

she really is like a small ball of sunshine. she’s just naturally cute, but whenever you point it out, she likes to exaggerate it by drowning you with her dramatic aegyo moves.

when she gets serious though, she gets serious. this usually happens when you guys get into a small argument or disagreement.

she’ll try and isolate herself so that she can sort through her own feelings first before she blows up on you. when she comes out though, she turns into another person completely. 

you aren’t allowed to leave until you two fix the issue. you were extremely surprised when it first happened.

underneath all her smiles, she’s actually a really thoughtful and mature individual. 

she always puts your needs above hers. although, it’s usually through small unnoticeable gestures. 

she doesn’t mind that you don’t know half of the time. the only thing that matters to her is that you are happy and well.

due to her pale skin, she actually blushes really easily. whenever you say something sweet or romantic, her entire face will turn red. 

you think it’s cute but she sees it as a complete betrayal.

“My body has betrayed its owner!”

her skin is just super soft in general. you don’t know how she manages to get it that way but wow, it’s so soft.

how you found out? well, that’s a story for another time. 

she’s so energetic. not really in the mornings, but when afternoon hits, she’s vibrating like a generator. 

Dahyun really does manage to brighten your days. 

whenever you get sick, she becomes your very own personalized nurse. she will also search up puns and jokes to try and lighten up your mood. 

they really are bad jokes but you laugh because they’re from her.

also because she put a lot of effort into finding the jokes and memorizing them. 

her kisses are usually pretty short and sweet. she likes to keep the making out to the confines of your own home. PDA just is not her thing.

your text chats are filled with inside jokes. she’s somehow funnier over text. maybe it’s because there's a lot of emoticons to choose from, but she always manages to pick the perfect one.

she’s doesn’t really mind what you guys do when you hang out. as long as she’s with you, anything is fine. 

soooo cheesy. Dahyun is loaded with cheesy, and sometimes cringy, pickup lines. 

“OUCH!”

“Dayhun! Are you okay?”

“Woah. I think I fell for you again.”

“I’m never talking to you ever again.”

for some reason, she loves it when you call her baby. she will get extremely flustered and will give you a peck on the cheek as a reward.

it’s honestly the easiest way to get her to kiss you.

at the end of every day, she’ll send you a small heart. it’s become a ritual for you guys even though you’re still not too sure how it started in the first place.

she really has a knack for making you feel special. 

she truly does love you to infinity and back. 

SON CHAEYOUNG

she actually approached you first and made the first move. 

so many cute artistic dates. she keeps mini canvases stored in her closet just for you.

you only recently found out that she has a whole notebook dedicated to little sketches of you. 

she’ll get little bouts of inspiration. and when she does, she’ll grab her notebook and sketch you performing your every day tasks. 

you’re still annoyed that you never noticed.

whenever she travels, whether its for vacation or for a concert, she’ll always bring back cute little trinkets for you.

it’s gotten to the point where you have a small drawer full of key chains, plastic flowers, toy cars, etc. 

she has sweater paws 24/7 and you think it’s absolutely adorable.

a lot of the time you guys spend together is either spent in silence, just enjoying each other’s company, or in absolute chaos. 

she’s becomes an A list comedian around you. Chaeyoung somehow manages to memorize an entire set of jokes and will tell you one every day.

seriously so cute though. you love making her smile and will stop at nothing to get a laugh out of her.

sometimes a small snort will escape if she laughs hard enough. that’s when you’ll know you have accomplished your mission. 

she’ll tie her hair up in ridiculous hairstyles and will always ask for your opinion.

“How does this look?”

“Chae I love you but you look like a clown.”

“That’s the point!”

before she dyes her hair, she’ll ask you which colour you would like to see on her. your opinion actually matters a lot to her.

post-concert celebratory dinners are almost always spent with you. most of the time, she’ll be the one to pay because she wants you to save up your money.

she’s super independent and doesn’t like to rely on you for too much. however, when things get tough, you are the first person she will go to for help and comfort.

she doesn’t really mind PDA. in fact, in some cases she will welcome it. she thinks it’s perfectly normal to show affection for her significant other. 

this results in a lot of cuddling, hand holding, and kissing around her members. 

they always tease her about how she’s basically whipped for you. she won’t say anything in retaliation because she knows it’s true, but she will definitely throw the nearest pillow at them.

Jihyo was the most skeptical of you at first. Chaeyoung is like her little sister and she didn’t want her to get hurt, especially since this would be her first relationship.

you ended up getting interrogated by Jihyo, but unsurprisingly, you passed with flying colours.

when Chaeyoung found out about this, she wouldn’t stop pouting. for the next couple of days, she ignored Jihyo as a way to show her disappointment in her elder’s behaviour. 

you had to calm her down and tell her that there was nothing wrong with what Jihyo did. you weren’t mad and you guys actually had a really pleasant conversation together.

after that, Chaeyoung stopped ignoring Jihyo.

you got a basket of wagyu the next day, coupled with a card that was signed with J. 

Chaeyoung can be so protective of you. if anyone hurt you, she would get super quiet. that’s how you would know that she was angry.

she would take steps towards ensuring that they would never be able to hurt you again. this usually meant utilizing her various idol connections to her advantage. 

when you guys had a fight, which was rarely ever, she wouldn’t exactly blow up on you. instead, she would be really levelheaded while trying to solve the issue.

she hates it when you guys fight and sometimes she’ll end up in tears. she can be really sensitive around you and she doesn’t ever like it when you raise your voice. 

so many cheek and forehead kisses. however, because of her height,  they’re only ever done when both of you are sitting down.

she gets embarrassed extremely easily. her entire face, up until the tip of her ears, will flush red. 

a lot of tickle fights will ensue. she loves being playful with you. 

she genuinely is at her happiest when she’s with you.  

CHOU TZUYU

at first, you totally thought she hated you. 

you met Twice at a company event and she completely ignored and avoided you. you tried multiple times to try and talk to her but she always stared blankly at you.

eventually you gave up trying.

in reality, she was just too shy to try and talk to you. Tzuyu was absolutely stunned by how gorgeous/handsome she thought you were. whenever you were around her, she would freeze up. 

when the end of the night neared, she kept whining about how cute she thought you were. Jeongyeon eventually got fed up and asked for your number in place of Tzuyu.

that’s how you guys started talking.

she’s usually pretty quiet but she gets super excited around you.

she likes to go on small picnic dates with you. you guys would take turns planning it out, and at first, you guys would bring foods that the other person liked most. 

after a dozen or so picnic dates, you guys just started to bring weird and wacky food that the other persons never tried before.

the surprise element was what kept it interesting for Tzuyu. 

you most definitely got smacked for bringing fried scorpions once. 

she’ll rope you into starting a very extensive skincare routine with her. it has a total of 15 steps, lasting around 45 minutes.

whenever her mother sends her new skincare products, you suddenly become her guinea pig.  

“Stay still! You’ll get wrinkles if you keep moving.”

at first, she was really awkward when it came to physical affection. she was never one for cuddling, but once you guys started dating, it quickly became one of her favourite activities. 

she’s a really innocent person. you had to explain a lot of... things to her.

sometimes she’ll just sit and stare at you for no reason other than the fact that she loves you. 

you never pegged her as someone who was into romantic gestures, but she manages to prove you wrong.

for your anniversaries, she always goes full out. she usually spends 2 weeks planning the event beforehand.

when it comes to you, she’s incredibly patient and understanding. 

if you guys can’t see each other, she’s perfectly content with just video calling. to her, just feeling your presence is more than enough. 

although, when you guys are together, kissing is definitely a bonus.

you passed the ‘Gucci’ test.

aka if Gucci likes you or not.

to her, it is highly imperative that Gucci likes you. after all, Gucci is one of her best friends. 

every once in a while, you’ll bring Gucci some dog treats. you’ve also brought a couple pieces of dog clothing that you bought online. Tzuyu always appreciates the fact that you’re making an effort to show love to her dog as well. 

when you guys are at the dorm, she likes to spend half of the time with the girls, and the other half with you in her room.

she values personal space a lot so sometimes she will need a little bit of time off to herself. however, you’re the only person she doesn’t feel the need to distance herself from.

in fact, you’re the only person who’s allowed to enter her room without her permission first. 

she’s so appreciative of you. she notices every little thing that you do for her and will silently melt inside. 

Tzuyu just loves how attentive you are when it comes to her. 

whenever she sings “One in a Million”, she always thinks about you. 

You really are her soulmate. 

[willmelon]

i don’t usually do this but i feel Compelled to do a liveblog/review of Mouth Dreams so here goes

Please don’t read this if you haven’t heard the album yet as it’ll spoil Everything

(i’ll admit the idea came to me After i listened to Just a Baby so these first ones are gonna be relistened reviews)

first we got Yahoo. what can i say about this song? neil starts off Strong with incredibly sustained notes and just one phrase, in typical neil style. and he makes it work in so many different ways! honestly didn’t expect myself to get so attached so fast but that’s just the way his magic works ig. when the hoooooooos harmonise it almost brings tears to the eyes. i would love to see a group of choristers singing this with another guy on an electric keyboard. what a cold open. 9/10

of course then we go on to the titular track, the dimension of sound, the dimension of imagination, the dimension of doors. rod serling narrates the intro in his traditional monotone as the warbling twilight zone theme plays in the background. i tell ya i was actually Screaming when the track finished and he dropped the title! it may not be a song per se, sort of like Blockbuster from Mouth Moods, a ‘filler track’ if you will, but the effort in those fifty seconds cannot be ignored. it just goes to show once again how Good he is at what he does. 6.5/10

oh lawd, my favourite so far, Spongerock. reading the title i had absolutely No idea what to expect. the goofy goober song from the movie? winner takes all from band geeks? i was pleasantly surprised to find myself tapping out queen’s distinctive boom boom CLAP as the song progressed, and i was in complete Hysterics the whole way through, chanting along with the kids as the pirate encouraged me to sing louder. it’s such a beautiful fit the way they mesh together, and it’s one of those mashups that you listen to and think ‘why has nobody done this before?’ but neil is on a higher plane of existence than us and Knows where it’s at. you’re never the same after you’ve listened to Spongerock. 7.5/10

Just a Baby, where i stopped to begin this thing, is a melancholy song, which i’m not usually a fan of. i admit i don’t know the original song so i kept quiet until the last chorus or two. it’s the yang to the yin of Wow Wow from Moods, another sentence-mixer that was like a full Bop and barely gave you time to catch your breath. in Just a Baby you begin to empathise with the singer as he regales confusing times of his constant youth, including the time his mother (a train) shot a man in cold blood. it’s a powerful ballad, and it’s got a tasteful amount of justin bieber adding backing vocals to the chorus. i may have to deduct a few points cos the lyrics are gonna be hard af to remember. 7/10

ok next up we got Superkiller. this one’s totally blind! i’m. ehhhhh okay not diggin this one very much. ok that say something once line being repeated was comedy gold but talking heads are just like. kinda tuneless tbh. i’m glad he’s trying to lassoo it together with u can’t touch this but it’s kinda falling short tbh. i wouldn’t skip it but it’s not as memorable as the previous ones. 5/10

starting Get Happy. i’m not gonna lie i think i Know what this is, there are only so many options after all. i predict it’s a mix of “get dancin’” by disco-tex and the sex-o-lettes and “happy” by bahrrel williams, and i really hope that ain’t the case cos i Love the first one but despise the latter. oh well let’s see if he can pull it off. sounds like village green by the kinks so far lol uhhhh i have no idea what to make of this. okay i feel like i’m gonna like this after all. hey it’s got memorable lyrics at least! is it gonna get faster? or just more bassy? yknow maybe i was too critical at the start, but i had no idea what to expect. this is a feel-good pop song and it’s definitely making me feel happier than i was when i was listening to Superkiller. 7/10

Ribs? wtf do i expect from a song called Ribs lmao another song i’ve never heard of IH IT’S EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE TH WORLD OH YEEEEEEEEES omg i Love this song i sing it to myself when i’m walkin my dog cos his little paws click-clack on the pavement to the exact rhythm of the song omg i’m in Love! another one with odd lyrics but i think after a Lot of repeat listening i’ll be able to properly croon along to this one omg! it reminds me of Best from Mouth Silence in that they’re both about products, only instead of folgers in your cup it’s about chili’s baby back ribs omg neil you’re Perfect! how come more advertisers haven’t contacted you for a product placement deal?? 7.5/10

next we got My Mouth. welcome to? who knows let’s hit play. ooooh minor key. is this a real song? it sounds like oney singing a cover of something. oh That’s the gimmick? 2:30 long i hope there’s something else tbh cos otherwise it’s gonna get pretty thin pretty fast. mm not a fan. the weakest so far imo especially after Ribs blew me away. definitely a bad dream. 3.5/10

Aerolong don’t fail me now! okay see This is how you do a mashup. I DON’T MISS YOU BABAY AND I DO WANNA MISS A THING THAT’S GOLD!! this is just a song about saying bye to your ex lmao i love it. wish it was longer though. 6/10

Sleepin’ here we go! ok in the youtube version the first half of this song is just silence so that wasn’t fun. gee this one’s only moderately better than My Mouth i’m feeling very shortchanged. 4/10

what to expect from Aamoorree? hopefully this one’s another jam but...okay i’m likin this one. it’s Fun and isn’t trying too hard! it’s just a drunk dean martin singing about pizza pie on karaoke night, what more could you ask for lol. 6/10

Where Is My Mom? by the p-p-p-pooo-oo-ooo-oooool of course. i don’t recognise the other song but it’s decent. i’ve listened to slowed-down songs before (the sludgefest chipmunks albums lately) and this one’s kinda ok. not a fan of the ending but points for effort ig. 5.5/10

Fredhammer ay? might there be some peter gabriel in there? undoubtedly. yup there it is lol ok now bring in the flintstones? oh ig that’s fred durst? mm not totally feeling it so far but censoring he** was funny lmao HEY THERE’S SEINFELD i’m wheezin that was a good way to end a song, well done neil. 6.5/10

here goes Limp Wicket. i’m on the edge of my seat. and Again i’m disappointed. is this a bunch of ewoks singing some kind of star wars song? or is it jarjar? either way this is Not a good song. it probably wasn’t before he mashed it up but this wasn’t an improvement. bringing in Fredhammer didn’t help this song much at all, in fact i think it brought both songs down actually. last one was a 7/10 but i Have to dock it points now that it’s a two-parter. as for this one? i’m being generous cos the limp bizkit song was good. 1/10

Cannibals runs for 4 minutes. PLEASE don’t let this be a repeat of the last one. i get that miners can’t dig up gold every time but don’t just show up with a bunch of rocks and iron pyrites yknow i’m just gonna start. i don’t want to be angry at this album. i recognise that sound in the bg! from a cyriak vid i think. thx comin in. loooooooong drone. ugh UGH there are Too many lucid dreams on this album. starting to regret liveblogging this cos i Loved the other three mouth albums. this one’s just falling flat again and again. 3/10

here comes The Outsiders. there is NOTHING to say about this. 1.5/10

come on Johnny. okay that got a laugh out of me, not many songs start with a booing crowd like that, is that meta? wouldn’t put it past him tbh. ah i’ll give it a 5/10, for a kinda filler song it wasn’t too bad.

Closerflies, this has gotta be gold. PLEASE. intro’s goin on for a little too long...mm having never heard the original version of closer i gotta admit i thought it’d be faster, like the one used in Rollercloser in Silence. this version seems very sloppy and sluggish, especially the bassline. 3/10

Nightmovin’ i’m not expecting much OH good intro oh YES now here we go. this is a good one, it’s got clear lyrics and a catchy tune, i’m liking this one more and more by the second. cuts off weird but it’s going into the next one. so i’m gonna leave the rating out of this one and see how it is after the next one.

Whitehouse i’m holding my breath. mm it’s Good but not great tbh. criminal that the last one was half as long as this one. think i’m gonna give both of these songs a 5/10 i doubt they’ll be anyone’s favourites. the title is a nice little joke too i respect that.

Wah! what’s neil’s obsession with using wannabe as a source lmao! it’s another decent one but nothing memorable again. 5/10

Pee Wee Inc i’m expecting big things. good intro I’M IN LOVE okay this is Much better than i imagined it’d be. did he use the radio edit of feel good inc? this is a heck of a way to bring it back to the gold stuff and i wouldn’t be surprised if this is what neil’s head sounds like all the time. 7/10

on to 10,000 Spoons. not sure what to expect from the title. okay this is a Nice one i think. throwback to the likes of Just a Baby with the two songs and the sentence mixing and it’s Good. and really 10,000 spoons is So ironic anyway, don’t you think? 7/10

oh another song called Mouth Dreams? an extro? that was Weird lol ok the intro i wasn’t too keen on, def not as much as the intro, but i got to appreciate it as it went on. like Rlly appreciate it i was beginning to reflect on what a journey i’d been through tonight, especially writing it all down. felt very poetic. and then WHAM, out of nowhere, after being gone for 23 songs, all-star came Back and How! gotta give this one a 7.5/10

keep the train rolling Brithoven! i can hear faint bits of instruments in britney’s song in the back of her audio which sound like a mistake but knowing neil.......yah lmao. this song’s kinda like Promenade (Satellite Pictures at an Exhibition) from Mouth Sounds, i liked what i heard. very nice. 6.5/10

the final song. we’re gonna be hit one more time for Ain’t! and i have NO idea what i’m in for! in the hall of the mountain king eh? is this like a way of looping around to the first song of the first album with classical music? ok the snoring’s a nod to Bustin i’m sure lmao funny anyway. i thought i heard a hey now in there but i must be going nuts. wouldn’t call it a grand finale but it is what it is. 5/10

now the question that must be asked - was Mouth Dreams trying to make a point? was there a reasons so many songs were of lower-quality than previous albums? perhaps it’s just a matter of taste, or perhaps it’s as rod said back on track two, that this album is a doorway into another dimension, and the further you progress, the more mind-rattling, brain-melting concepts you come across. the album gets an average of 5.5 which is kinda disappointing. don’t think i’ll be listening to the whole thing again. thanks for reading!

[currentlyreadingmanga]

Toilet-bound Hanako-kun Chapter 17: The Little Mermaid (Part 2)

Previously:  we started a new arc and things get complicated for both Yashiro and Hanako. We met “the other Hanako” and with that, we got a glimpse of Hanako’s backstory (if his reaction is anything to go by). After being so shaken by the encounter, Hanako starts to avoid Yashiro and it couldn’t happen at a worse time since the Mermaid’s followers found her and now are trying to get Yashiro to sever her bond with our ghost boy and to go with them instead. The chapter also brought up the concept of trust and how Yashiro views her relationship with Hanako so far (with Tsuchigomori putting in his two cents and talking a little about how Hanako probably feels), and I really really love how the author is handling it so far.

Now onto the next chapter!

Ohhhhhh!!!!! That’s the image from the anime opening!!! The one that I think made every anime-only go “wait….what???”. This image was pretty disturbing without context, but now knowing that the shadowy figure could represent his brother, it adds another layer of yikes ngl

Ah, right, when we last left off, the fish had forced Yashiro into the water when she declined their invitation. A great way to get her to trust you, guys. Truly a phenomenal job.

………..

I want to be where the people are, I want to see- want to see 'em dancin'~~

Again: that’s fucking rude! Don’t you go dissing my girl like that, she’s a bit ditzy but she’s wonderful!!

I was gonna say “how do you expect her to come with you after trash-talking her like that?” but that’s probably the angle they’re going for. They’re trying to crush her self esteem so that she has no choice but to think that going to their world would be the best thing she could do. Clearly, they’re not above using dirty tactics.

…………..sigh Yeah I was afraid of that. Like, the way I see it, Yashiro’s concern with popularity stems from her own desire for people to like her (it goes hand in hand with her romantic personality), so if these fish tell her “Oh, you’re nothing more than a walking disaster as a human, no one will love you if you stay here. but if you come with us, you will be loved by all”, it doesn’t surprise me that she would be tempted by the idea.

Oh, is Hanako finally here?

There he is!! And as always, he arrives just in the nick of time and rescues her with great dramatic flair. Also, there’s something about fish!Yashiro’s expression that is just really funny to me.

He says “your world may be kind to her...this one my be cruel...but it doesn’t matter” 

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh ಥ‿ಥ you tell them, Hanako! They have no right to try and take Yashiro away from this world and him. Also, this page is beautiful holy shit, it’s simple yet detailed where needed. “Are you gonna praise the art style every recap?” you ask……...yeah, probably

ಥ‿ಥ  I love them so much ಥ‿ಥ

You know? Sometimes I forget how scary Hanako can look sometimes. But then his eyes go all black and he smiles like that and I remember.  The threat seems to be enough to send the fish packing, though, even if they do say that they won’t give up on getting Yashiro to go with them.

Ahhhh, this makes me so happy! They’re clearly still learning to interact in a more “serious” manner around each other. It’s a slow process but they’re communicating more effectively (Yashiro with her speech to him when she gave him the donuts and Hanako apologizing not only now but also after the confession tree incident) and it’s really nice to see. And just look at how happy that made her! That’s all that she wanted, for him to reach out to her after he avoided her for a while. Another thing that I really appreciate is these rare moments where we get Hanako acting sincerely, no jokes or cheeky smiles, just him laying out his genuine feelings; especially here, since it proves that what the fish said was wrong.

I feel the need to point out that she’s not denying it. Like, yes, she meant it as friends, but the implications are there and don’t think for a second that I don’t see the “badum, badum, badum” and the blush. The romantic chemistry they have is very apparent and I’m living for it.

OH! There it is! Well, I’m glad that the reveal didn’t take very long (even if it was a pretty important thing to be spoiled on).

That’s a nice detail. He’s trying to act naturally but this is clearly a sensitive topic for him……..which makes me think that Yashiro’s assumption last chapter will be right.

……………..yeah, there it is. Can’t say I’m particularly surprised but it’s still a hard pill to swallow. I talked about it last chapter (and maybe during some of the other chapters as well) but with the clues we’ve been given and considering Hanako’s behaviour, the theory that makes the most sense to me so far is that Hanako probably killed his brother in self-defence. Then again, this is still pretty early in the story, so there’s probably a lot we still don’t know. Like I mentioned earlier, Hanako also has moments where he looks/acts scary, so there could be something more to that. It could also just be a side effect of him becoming a supernatural but  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Hanako asks her if she really wants to get to know him after learning that, and tells her that if she does, he will tell her everything someday. And this is a great step in the right direction. Not only it puts Yashiro’s concerns ("does he trust me?”) at ease, but also it shows his current feelings ("i’m not ready to share yet, but i need to let het know that) and his willingness to open up and be vulnerable in the future. Character development, gotta love it.

(TдT)(TдT)(TдT)

OH!!!! Are we shifting perspectives to the suspicious girl?? Because I remember that in the anime she was always the one that spread the rumors over the radio, or, well, the intercom, I guess. And since we now know that she’s Hanako’s brother’s assistant, there’s a very high chance of seeing him again. I’m both excited and terrified by the prospect. ALSO what the actual fuck is that on the left. Why are there body parts seemingly floating around??? is this just an artistic choice or are they actually there?? Either way, it’s creepy as hell.

Oh, god, it looks like those things are actually there in the room and just imagining being there gives me goosebumps. But yes, anyway, there she is! And Natsuhiko, too! Gotta say, kinda missed our suspicious person 1 and suspicious person 2. He’s worried about letting Hanako’s brother run off but she says that he wouldn’t have listened to her if she had tried to stop him anyway. Which is interesting, since while Hanako does march to the beat of his own drum, he still seems to take what Yashiro and Kou say into consideration (even if just a little bit).

Oh? “boundaries within cities”? Like, not just within the school? We know that she has knowledge of the boundaries thanks to her conversation with Yashiro in the library but maybe she’s expanding her search to reach a bigger scope?

Natsuhiko is worried about the chance of our wonder trio finding out they’re the ones behind the changes in the rumors. And that’s a valid concern, since Hanako is in charge of maintaining the relationships between humans and supernaturals, and he obviously would have to intervene. 

………...I-I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this omfg. She certainly has him wrapped around her finger, huh?

(⚆.⚆)  Oh boy, there he is, oh boy. 

I’m sorry I just have to point out how utterly done she looks. Like, since she slapped Natsuhiko for touching her hand, I’m guessing she’s not a very touchy-feely person, so this must be quite bothersome for her. Still, her expression is wonderful lol Also! It looks like not caring about people’s personal bubbles is something that runs in the family……….oh, is that why she called him a cat? Possibly.

Okay, so he says that this is not his usual outfit (and that explains the more Japanese-style outfit I saw him wearing in the spoiler) but he wore it because he “was seeing Amane for the first time in ages.” So there’s the confirmation about the fact that he hasn’t been at the school for a significant amount of time. And, again, that’s very suspicious.

Okay. Listen. He looks very cute. But Hanako’s terrified expression keeps reappearing in my mind when I think that. So I’m gonna wait and see what’s the deal with this boy because for now I mostly feel….unsettled.

“He looked happy to see me,” he says, while floating around in a childlike manner. I, uh, um. Are you sure about that, honey?? Because it sure didn’t seem like it to me. 

Also: “But I still can’t move around that well yet. They chased me off.” So that’s what happened on the rooftop. He said that she had helped him get here, so maybe his spirit form hasn’t fully “materialized” enough  for him to move around comfortably.

(⚆.⚆) (⚆.⚆)  Remember how I said that I felt unsettled? Well, this really isn’t helping the matter jfc

Wow he’s really clingy, like, even more than Hanako by the looks of it. He’s like my cats when it’s time for me to feed them. Also! Sakura! I’m guessing that’s her name, right? I can finally stop calling her suspicious girl lol

But yeah, quite the trio we have here. Now that Hanako’s brother is here, I’m guessing that their little ensemble is complete since they would work in direct opposition to Yashiro, Hanako and Kou.

Oh! I feel like I’ve said “oh” so much this chapter….oh, well. The fish are back! “We’ve found him” Are they talking about Hanako’s brother? Do they know who he is or maybe they are mistaking him for Hanako?

Ah, no. They saw what happened in the rooftop the other day; they recognize him and they remember how shaken Hanako looked at the time so they want to win him over to be able to fight against Hanako. I mean, it’s not a bad plan. Hanako’s brother doesn’t seem to want to hurt him but by that one interaction they had, we can see that their relationship definitely has some complicated layers.

So what’s been happening with the rumors has reached even the mermaid’s kingdom? That really makes me wonder exactly how interconnected the different worlds are since information seems to travel quite fast.

Natsuhiko spotted the fish and…

*me, remembering his comment about wanting to see how the fish are on the inside*  (⚆.⚆)

(;;⚆_⚆) (;;⚆_⚆)

(ﾟдﾟ；) yeah, I don’t think he’s gonna listen to you, Sakura.  jfc that’s a face that’s gonna appear in my nightmares

Σ(ﾟДﾟ|||)  (ﾟдﾟ；)  Σ(ﾟДﾟ|||)

……………………don’t get me wrong, I wanted the fish to stop interfering but. not like This. I-Well, that’s certainly a way to end a chapter omfg. The fact that Sakura and Natsuhiko, seem to be used to him doing this kind of thing is…...concerning, to say the least.

[stareyedplanet]

Sarge’s Girl || 01

• Chapter One •

“Mama, I’m an adult now. I’m going dancin’ with Madeline and Ruth, whether you say I can or not,” Anabelle pursed her lips as she spoke to her mother. She was 24 years old. She wasn’t a child anymore. Yet her parents didn’t seem to see that.

“You wanna take a different tone with me?” Her mother suggested, raising an eyebrow in warning.

Anabelle sighed and backed down. The last thing she wanted was to get herself grounded. That would certainly put a damper of her evening plans.

“Mama, all I’m sayin’ is that I wanna go out and have some fun. Just for tonight.” Anabelle said, her hands clasping together over her chest. She was practically begging.

It was Ruth’s 26th birthday, and she wanted to celebrate, even if there was a war going on. Her boyfriend was going off to war soon, and she needed an excuse to see him. Ruth’s parents were extremely strict, and her boy, Tommy, wasn’t exactly up to par with their standards.

So the plan was devised, and Anabelle and Madeline were more than happy to go along with it, just to see Ruth happy.

“Madeline, Ruth and you are gonna be together? All night?” Her mom asked, hands on her hips.

“Yes, mama,” Anabelle answered dutifully.

“And there will be no boys there?”

“Yes, mama,” Anabelle lied, keeping her gaze on her mother. “Even if there were I’d never even think of talkin’ to them.”

Anabelle’s mother nodded. She considered the idea a moment longer before sighing.

“Alright, you can go.” She relented, causing an excited shriek to leave her daughter’s mouth. “But, you are to be home no later than ten, understood?”

“Completely, mama,” Anabelle nodded and smiled. She hugged her mother. “I’m gonna go get ready at Madeline’s house!”

“Anabelle, I mean it,” her mother warned. “No later than ten. And no boys.”

She couldn’t have her eldest getting pregnant. The family was already one of six. They couldn’t afford another mouth to feed. And until the point in time that Anabelle got married, which was the only option in her parents eyes, she would still live with them. It was a funny sort of irony. She wasn’t to meet boys, yet she was to be married. To a man. Sometimes her parents completely confused her, yet she didn’t argue.

She moved over and kissed her mother’s cheek swiftly.

“Yes, mama, I know.” She assured the older woman.

Her mother nodded and waved her away, returning to the dishes in the kitchen.

Anabelle darted to her room, grabbing a few things and dropping them into her purse. She would borrow one of Madeline’s dresses, as she had the best ones, and was the only one of the three girls who could really afford nice clothes. Ruth and Anabelle’s families were less well-off, but they never complained. And Madeline never hesitated to share.

It took Anabelle nearly an hour before she found herself outside Madeline’s house, in the wealthier part of Brooklyn. She knocked on the door, being greeted by Madeline’s mother and let into the home. Madeline and Ruth squealed, hugging her when she entered the home. The girls laughed and talked as they got ready.

“My Ma says we have to be home by eleven.” Ruth tells the other girls, pinning her blonde hair up.

“Mama says I have to be home by ten. No exceptions.” Anabelle frowned, putting an earring in her ear.

“Awe, that’s okay sugar. Worst case we just spend the night here, yeah? Ma won’t mind, and if my Ma tells yours it’s okay, you’ll be fine.” Madeline assured, running some lip gloss along her lips.

“You girls ready? I told Tommy we’d get there round eight.” Ruth piped up, smoothing the front of her dress with shaky hands.

She was nervous, and upset. This was the last time she would get to see Tommy before he was shipped off to fight in this war. There was a chance it was the last time she would ever see him. So naturally, she was a little anxious.

Both the other girls shared a glance, standing up and gathering around Ruth, who looked close to tears. The pulled her into a hug.

“He’s gonna be okay, Ruthie,” Anabelle assured, wiping her tears away.

“Yeah. He’s goin’ to protect you, sugar. And he’ll come back to you cause of it.” Madeline said. “Now come on, let’s not keep your man waitin’. That way you two can spend as much time together as possible.”

Anabelle nodded encouragingly, coaxing a small smile out of their friend.

“Yeah, you two are right. Let’s get goin’.” Ruth agreed.

The two arrived at the club at top speed, wanting to have the best evening they could. As soon as they arrived, Ruth completely vanished into Tommy’s arms, already pulled to the dance floor, her fears forgotten and a laugh bubbling around.

Madeline and Anabelle grabbed themselves some drinks and secured a place to sit. It wasn’t long before Madeline was whisked away into a man’s arms.

So Anabelle sat alone. She didn’t entirely mind as she sipped on her drink. It was how it normally went. Anabelle kept an eye on her two friends, and whatever man was with Madeline that night, just to make sure she was safe. Sometimes she danced, most of the time she just people watched.

It was exactly what she was doing now when her eyes landed on a man, who was in fact staring at her. There was a skinny boy beside him, talking, though the taller man didn’t seem to be listening.

He waved his friend away, saying something Anabelle had no hope of understanding. She averted her gaze, hoping to avoid an interaction. Tonight, she had no desire to dance.

Fate was against her.

The handsome stranger sauntered on over to their table, leaning his forearms on it. He flicked his eyes over her momentarily, subtly, admiring her beauty.

“What’s a dame like you doin’ sittin’ all alone?” He asked, a sultry smirk on his face.

“What’s a guy like you doin’ disturbing the peace?” Anabelle shot back, eyeing him.

He was a nice piece of eye, with short brown hair and piercing eyes. However, she could tell he was a player, and Anabelle wanted nothing to do with him.

He placed a hand over his heart, feigning a hurt expression.

“You wound me,” he told her, but his smirk returned soon enough. “Name’s Bucky.”

“I don’t care what your name is, you’ll never be hearing it from my lips.”

“I think you’ll be changing your tune after a dance, doll,” Bucky told her, confidence oozing off of him in waves.

He was frustratingly persistent already, and Anabelle had only been talking to him for mere minutes. She could only imagine how much more insufferable he would get if she agreed to dance with him.

“Sorry, sugar, but I don’t dance with men like you.” She told him, mocking the nickname he called her. “Oh, wait, never mind. I just won’t dance with you.”

Bucky grinned, pushing a hand through his short strands. He had picked the prettiest girl in the joint and it turned out she was feisty. It only made her more endearing. After all, he was getting sick of all the giggly girls, who were admittedly a fun evening, but otherwise too much for him to handle.

“One dance. I’m on my knees here begging, doll,” Bucky pleaded, his blue eyes shining. He bit his lower lip, the action drawing Anabelle’s eye. She found herself staring at his lips, only breaking her gaze when Bucky chuckled.

Her eyes snapped up to his eyes and her parted mouth snapped shut. She couldn’t say his eyes weren’t just as easy to get distracted by, but then, she was gently being tugged to the dance floor.

“Hey!” She exclaimed, but she didn’t try to pull away, even though she could. Bucky’s grip on her wrist was hardly tight, and it was obvious he would let her go if she pulled away.

“So, you ever gonna tell me your name, doll?” Bucky asked her, pulling her into a dance. His hands rested on her waist, a signature smirk resting on his lips.

Anabelle shook her head, a playful glint in her eye. If he could have fun, so could she. But she refused to let herself fall for Bucky in any capacity. She didn’t want her heart to get broken.

Bucky kept Anabelle on the dance floor all night. She had slowly relaxed into him and begun to let loose, laughing in enjoyment. He loved her laugh. The way her eyes lit up and her bright smile that accompanied the angelic noise.

“Anabelle, oh thank goodness I found you!” Ruth said, tugging her away from Bucky. The girl momentarily got distracted by the tall man before her. She shook her head and got back on topic. “We have to go! Now.”

“What? Why?” Anabelle asked, furrowing her brow.

“Darlin’, it’s late! Our curfew was ten, eleven at latest. It’s nearly midnight. We gotta go.” Ruth said, tugging on her arm.

Anabelle’s eyes widened. How could she have lost track of time so easily? It had been eight not to long ago, hadn’t it? She couldn’t understand how time had flown so quickly.

She glanced at blue eyes and quickly understood. It had been him. He was the reason she lost track of time. Nothing good came from dancing with strangers. She should have listened to her mother.

He gave her a boyish grin, tilting his head to the side.

“Looks like you have to go doll,” he said, a frown on his face, paired with disappointment in his tone. “At least I know your name now.”

“Bya, Buck,” she told him, Ruth still tugging her away.

Just like that, the smile snapped back into place.

“I told ya I’d be hearing my name from your pretty lips,” he called after her.

Anabelle blushed, ignoring the onslaught of questions that ensued directly after the interaction. Madeline caught up to the pair, and after hearing the news that Anabelle had found herself a man, even she was in on the interrogation.

She shook off their questions, not wanting to have to talk about a man she would never meet again. He was a charmer, should would give him that, but she wasn’t about to get hung up on a man she had danced with for one night.

Her life moved on, as did her heart. She had hardly gotten attached. It had been only one night after all. There was no use in shedding some tears over a guy.

“Mama here are the tomatoes you wanted,” Anabelle said, putting the two tomatoes into her mother’s basket. It was a special occasion in the Burton which called for a special meal.

Anabelle’s little brother, Charlie was turning ten. The age of ten was the last time any of the Burton children got to celebrate their birthdays, so Bonnie, Anabelle’s mother, did her best to make it special.

“Thank you, honey. Could you go get me a loaf of bread from the bakery next door while I wait in this line?” Bonnie asked, handing her daughter some money.

“Of course mama, I’ll be right back.” Anabelle nodded, slipping the coins into her pocket.

She hummed as she crossed the street to the bakery. When she entered the sweet smelling store, Anabelle stopped dead in her tracks. It had been four months. Why was she seeing him now?

Of course, he was with a girl, and they were smiling and laughing. Anabelle’s thought grew bitter as she realized that he was indeed a player, a man who could never stick with one girl for too long.

She kept her gaze on the ground, but once again, fate seemed to be against her.

“Anabelle?” Bucky asked her.

He had glanced over his shoulder only to see the girl that had been in his dreams all these months.

Despite how often he went on dates, solely for the reason of forgetting her, Anabelle stayed stuck in his mind like glue.

She defiantly ignored him, but her was persistent, just as he had been that night, and eventually she glared at him.

“I wouldn’t think you’d be talking to me instead of your date,” she spit out, her face neutral.

Bucky’s face contorted between happiness, confusion, and finally, pure utter amusement. He bursted out laughing, wiping away tears. Anabelle simply stood shell-shocked as he laughed. She wasn’t sure what was so extremely funny.

“I didn’t take you for the jealous type doll,” he said, his laughing calming down.

“I’m not.” Anabelle insisted. “And I’m not your doll, so stop calling me it.”

“Fine then, Annie. You should know you have nothing to worry about. That’s my sister, Becca.” He said simply, crossing his arms over his chest.

Annie was even worse than ‘doll.’ She wasn’t sure why, but it just riled her up. Anabelle wasn’t sure what Bucky’s plan was here, but if it was to annoy her till the ends of the Earth, it was working.

“Don’t call me Annie, either. I’d appreciate if you left me alone.”

“Can’t do that, Annie,” Bucky shook his head with a grin. “I’m glad I’ve found you. I wanted to ask you on a proper date that night but you had to go. So whaddya say?”

“No.” Anabelle answered quickly, and Bucky seemed momentarily stunned, but he was quick to recover.

“Well why not?” He asked. “C’mon, just one date. Please?”

“No.” Anabelle repeated, sending him a look. “I’ll just keep asking until you say yes,” he warned.

“And my answer will always be no.”

“You also said you’d never say my name, but we both remember how that ended.” Bucky smirked.

“Goodbye, Bucky,” she sighed, groaning as his face turned smug.

“See, you just said it again. I’ll get you to change your mind.” He promised her, backing away when his sister joined him. “See you again, Annie.”

Bucky and Becca left the bakery, and Anabelle realized she was in for a ride. He wasn’t going to give up, but Anabelle was no longer sure she wanted him to.

[futurewriter2000]

Opposite numbers ~ pt. 1

A/N: Welcome, to my torture for you. Cuz this is gonna get good.

xx

There was a privilege of having another student for a neighbor. The two of you could talk about school, study together, go on adventures and have some good memories to reminisce about later in life.

Well, yeah, you definitely didn’t have that with James Potter. The two of you HATED each other.

It started as soon as you moved into the house next door and he threw an egg as a welcome to the neighborhood gift. He was an evil delinquent to who you lived for the last 10 years.

Here is the story. His way of getting on your nerves was pulling pranks, your way on getting on his nerves was blasting music. Your windows were right the opposite of each other. The two of you grew up next to each other in hate and resentment. In school, the two of you pretended not to know each other at all.

Simple. It was simple until one night you decided to drink two cups of coffee.

Coffee. How could you not love a drink like that? It was delicious and it sent all kind of emotions through your body, especially adrenalin.

---

James held his pillow around his head, pushing them against his ears and trying to muffle the music coming from the window opposite his. He was so irritated by your taste in music. And why on earth would you be listening to The Jacksons at 11pm?

If you haven’t played the same song for the last hour than he might as well know all the lyrics to it.

It was coming to end right now...so if you play it one more time, ONE MORE TIME, he is going to lose it.

He closed his eyes as the music finally stopped and he squeezed the pillow tighter. “ Please don’t. Oh, God please just let her go to sleep and stop with the music. Please, please I beg you-”

‘ My baby's always dancin' and it wouldn't be a bad thing  But I don't get no lovin' and that's no lie  We spent the night in Frisco at every kinda disco '

“ ARGGGHH! “ he jumped from his bed and opened his window, throwing one of his pencils towards it. “ OI! Jackson the 6th! “

Here’s the thing. When you drink two cups of coffee, blast music and feel endorphins in your body, you don’t hear the pencil hitting your window. You feel the rhythm in your bones and the music in your ears. Dancing, whether you were good at it or not, when it came to funky music, there was no denying you weren’t shimmying or doing the boogey.

Having neighbors didn’t matter, nor anything in that matter. What mattered was that all the energy went somewhere and at this point, you were dancing and holding your microphone in your hand which in this case was a hairspray.

Oh, how James didn’t believe his eyes when he saw a girl with who he grew up with in resentment, dancing to Blame it on the boogey in only her messy bun and an oversized shirt. He laughed and he watched because that was something he couldn’t let go as another way of you annoying him.

That was until the music changed and you finally stopped dancing. The heat finally washed over your body and you felt your cheeks burn as well as every single body part started to sweat.

You threw yourself on the bed but that didn’t help. So completely blind to the boy watching you from the other side, you slipped out of your shirt and pulled on a tight top.

James froze where he stood and he couldn’t help himself but feel another, different kind of heat wash over him. And as if seeing you in only a top and lacy red panties weren’t enough, Careless Whisper by George Michael started playing on your stereo.

Oh, how funny the universe worked.

“ Should've known better than to cheat a friend  And waste the chance that I've been given  So I'm never gonna dance again  The way I danced with you… “ you started to sing along the song, calming your heart rate and starting to fix your messy bun that was falling apart.

Your voice was different. When you usually sang it annoyed him, as if he was listening to a suffocating hijena, but now your singing seemed to be the perfect music to his ears. The way you let your hair down and brushed them on one side seemed to be a perfect turn on.

Though it seemed perfect for James at the very moment, the music seemed to bore you. Jumping over to the stereo, you switched the song and grabbed half empty water bottle next to it.

‘Somewhere after midnight in my wildest fantasy  Somewhere just beyond my reach, there's someone reaching back for me  Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat It's gonna take a Superman to sweep me off my feet I need a hero I'm holding out for a hero till the end of the night He's gotta be strong, and he's gotta be fast And he's gotta be fresh from the fight I need a hero I'm holding out for a hero till the morning light... "

You jumped, did everything you could with your body. The song was taking over you and to be honest you had no idea what you were doing at the moment, especially to the boy next door. What you did know the song got you on your knees and you couldn’t help yourself but sing your lungs out until your throat started to ache.

Opening your eyes and looking over to the mirror, you saw a familiar face leaning over their window and watching you. It was obvious that you saw him and he couldn’t help himself but to blush and duck under his window.

Grabbing your sweatpants and pulling them on you ran to your window and smirked. “ Hiding, Potter, are we now? ”

He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that this might as well be a nightmare he can’t wake up from. What kind of guy hides away? What was he thinking?

“ I know you’re there, you might as well show yourself.” you put your head on your palms and watched innocently at his window. “ I have all night. “

He let his heart rate calm down first. He couldn’t get even more embarrassed than he already did. He crawled his way behind a wall and spun his body to the window with a mischievous grin plastered on his smug face. “ Some dance moves you’ve got there. Might showing me some?” he winked at you and your grin only grew.

“ OH? “ you scoffed surprised, crossing your arms over your chest before leaning forwards again. “ So now you like me or what? “

He chuckled and licked his lips as your cleavage was exposed and your hair seemed to block that perfect neck. “ I don’t know what you mean. I have always liked my best neighbor. “

“ You threw me off the tree house when we were seven.”

“ I said my best neighbor, I didn’t say that was you.” he winked and couldn’t help himself but to feel the heat strengthen in his body as you started to put your hair in a high ponytail.

“ Whatever, Potter. I’m going to sleep anyway so don’t worry about the music.” you rolled your eyes, closed the window and wiping his smirk off his face.

He couldn’t help himself but stare at the dark window, so instead of going to sleep himself, he decided to do something else for a change.

----

Your parents were out with Potters that was why you could blast music today. It was those adult gatherings everybody attended and let kids like yourself and James be home alone for once in your life.

You saw him today at how he looked at you. He observed your features, drolled over your body but he hated you. He has always hated you just as you always hated him. It was always like that and it will always be like that.

It seemed to upset you how the two of you could have been close. Around his friends he seemed to be relaxed and fun, always laughing. With you, all he did was smirk or pull some kind of prank. It always happened at home and not during school.

Here, the two of you were practically at each other's throats and in school it was like you have never met the guy.

You didn’t go to sleep because it was barely 11pm. It was summer and what kind of teenager would you be if you went to bed at 11pm during the summer. Instead, you walked your way towards the kitchen, turned on the radio at a low volume and opened the refrigerator.

Your eyes set on the leftovers in the back but before you could reach them somebody knocked on your door. You pulled your head away and slowly closed the refrigerator.

‘Who could be at your door at this hour?’ you thought to yourself and slowly walked to the door.

Three knocks and a kick. That’s what you heard and it didn’t take you a second longer to figure out who it was. It was James because since the two of you were kids, that was his secret knock.

“Seriously, James.” you opened the door as fast as you could and before your thoughts could even manage to process anything else, he was kissing you.

Pinning you against the wall and trying to close the door with his leg, he kissed you passionately and with hunger. “ James-” you pulled away and feel his heart rate racing as he was pressed against your body. “ What-”

He shut you up with another deep kiss before pulling away again. “ I want you. Right here, right now. I want you.” he practically begged and you couldn’t help yourself but to smirk at his desperation.

“Than take me.” you let his grin spread wider and he pulled you into another kiss.

It started with a kiss. A deep, passionate kiss which revolved teeth clashing and tongues fighting for dominance. Of course, he won. He was definitely more eager to taste you, the whole you.

His hands slid up your body and to your breast but before he could take off your bra you pushed them away. “ I think it’s better to take this elsewhere,” you smirked and glanced to the stairs on your left.

You grabbed his hand and pulled him upstairs with you. He was so impatient about it, it was so damn hard to stay away from you, to not touch you at those 30 seconds where you led him to your room. He craved your kisses, your touch,...

Entering your room and you were back at the beginning. Against the wall and being covered with his kisses. He wasn’t patient enough. He ripped your top off your body, exposing you and your red lacy bra. It took him a moment, a moment to take in the image in front of him but for you, he took too long because you were hungry as well and impatient just like him. Grabbing his shirt, you pulled it over his head and was immediately pushed back against the wall. His hands slid down your thighs, under your sweatpants, and to your bare skin. He gripped your ass harshly and you wrapped your legs around his waist.

Your lips were locked, your lungs running out of air and he...he didn’t stop. As soon as you two reached your bed, he hovered over you and let his eyes wander on your body. He smelled like vanilla, spice and strong scent of sandalwood and it drove you insane. You craved for his kisses but he only roamed your body with his rough hands as well with his flaming hazel eyes.

He kissed your neck, softly. He brushed his mouth down your collarbone and slowly, teasingly, he left soft and gentle kisses on your body.

But then there was a sound.

“Why is the door open?” you heard your father say down-stairs and you immediately pushed James off you.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” you say as you quickly grabbed the shirt from your wardrobe.

“Well, apparently not.” James rolled his eyes and grinned at you.

“James! Hide!” you whispered at him.

“It’s just your pare-”

“I see you repainted the walls.” Mrs. Potter’s voice came down as well while your father's footsteps kept approaching.

“Oh, shit!” he got on his feet and grabbed his shirt from the ground and ran into the wardrobe.

“(y/n):” he burst into your room and you just kept putting your pants on.

“Daaaaaad!!” you closed the door. “I’m changing!” you lied. Well, technically you weren’t lying but-

“Sorry, honey. I was just worried since the doors were opened.”

“Yeah. Umm...James was here.”

“The Potter’s boy?” he furrowed his eyes and came in the room.

You leaned on the chair casually and crossed your arms, shrugging. “Yeah.”

“What did he want?”

“He- um- he just rushed his arse in and started yelling at me to turn my music down. You know. The usual.”

“Did you blast it again?”

“Maybe.”

“(Y/n).” he sighed.

“ I turned it off, okay.”

“Or you turned it up?” he quirked an eyebrow, a smirk appearing on both of your lips.

“Maybe.” you smiled.

“You two used to be so close once.” he sat on the sitting bag in front of your closet, making you tense up. “Thick as thieves.”

“When?” you scoffed, glancing from the wardrobe to your father.

“When the two of you were kids. Both of you always played tag and had these cute fights.”

“Dad.” you looked seriously at him. “We weren’t playing tag. Or had cute fights.”

“Yeah, I know.” he chuckled. “But the two of you were the most adorable rivals.”

“Were?” you quirked an eyebrow at your father. “We still are.”

“Maybe he likes you.” your father continued, unaware that the boy he was talking about was right behind him, hearing every single word. “You know boys would do anything to get a girls attention.”

“Really?” you moved closer to your father and sat on the bed, glancing at the wardrobe and though you couldn’t see James at the moment, you just knew the roll of his eyes.

“Don’t know why you hate him so much though?”

“Dad. He ruined my auntie’s dolls.”

“Those dolls were horrible, to begin with. He did you a favor.” he continued to chuckle.

“Well...That only made auntie make more of them, which was worse. “ you stood back up and walked away. “He hates me.”

“He doesn’t hate you, honey.” your father stood up as well.

“Why else would he do those things he did and continues to do?” you looked up at your father though the question was directed to the boy in your closet.

“Maybe because he likes-”

“He likes the redhead Gryffindor. I thought the whole of Britain would know this by now. He just likes torturing me.” you moved around your father and started pushing him through your door. “Now you’ve got guests. Shoo.”

“You can say hi as well. “your father took your hand and pulled you with him.

“I’m not dressed properly.” you tried to find an excuse.

“They have known you since you were a seven and it’s midnight, so it’s acceptable.”

“Uh-yeah-okay.”

---

After the whole parents’ interrogation, you were put through, you excused yourself and went back up to your room.

He was still there.

“James, the hell?” you rushed over to him and slapped his arm. “Get out of here!”

“You really think I hate you?” he asked seriously.

“James, this is really not the time to discuss it.”

“I’m not leaving.”

“Bet your arse you are. Or you’ll accidentally get thrown through the window.” you pushed him through the door. “Use the back door and be careful for them not see you.”

“(y/n).” he tried to come back in.

“James. Another time, please.” you pushed him back but he grabbed your hand from his chest and pulled you into a kiss. A deep, hell of a fiery kiss before he pulled away and smiled.

“I don’t hate you, (y/n).” and he left.