#nyc is my favorite place in the whole world so i get to see one of my 7 favorite ppl in the whole world & then wander around nyc for 2 days

[ddaengju]

i'm using all my newly acquired pto and pretty much spreading my wallet super thin for the next two months to make this nyc/hobi concert trip happen. literally with a payment plan and itinerary all mapped out. this will be the literal highlight of my entire year

[at0michips]

home sweet home — josh o'connor

summary: your long distance boyfriend decides to move all the way to NYC so you can live together, but with all the work he has to deal before he can enjoy it, you decide to take care of the move. now after long weeks apart he's back.

Today was the day, where Josh was finally going to come back home after months of doing press all over the world and the country. Well, not exactly home. Yes it was his house, and yes he was going to live there with you after a year and a half of being together, but with two new movies out and a whole press tour that included being only a few hours away from you and your new house in New York, to being literally across the world, the poor english man didn't had the time to be there to even unpack the things he brought from England or the ones you bought together.

However, you promised yourself this wouldn't be a problem at all. He did what he had to do and you would be there no matter what, of course it was kind of energy draining to deal with your work and moving in but you made it! You would finally be able to be with him by the end of the day, and the dinners wouldn't have to be over facetime anymore with a different time zone. Not complaining tho, you were forever grateful for when your boss sent you to England to cover an event were you met you now boyfriend.

You were so excited that you could also feel a little anxious too, making sure that even after everything was on it's place for two weeks now, there wasn't anything wrong. Not like Josh would get in the apartment and start pointing out the things you could have done better, he wasn't that kind of person, and he also knew better that going against you but you just couldn't help but want everything to be perfect for your first night together in your own house to be just perfect.

And apparently everything was just fine, his favorite meal was in the oven and shouldn't be ready for at least the next 30 minutes, meaning you had plenty of time to do nothing. With that in mind, the wine bottle on the countertop that you bought on your way from work seemed perfect to ease your nerves while you waited for Josh to come home, wich by your counts could happen anytime now.

Time actually flew after your second glass of wine and sometime (you have no idea of how much) scrolling through tiktok that you were actually surprised when you heard the doorbell, and with that you looked like an anxious kid running barefoot to open the door to see the person you were craving to see for weeks now. The first thing you do is throw yourself at him who's more than ready to catch with his strong arms and lift you up just a little bit of the ground.

"Oh my god I missed you so so much!" you said before attacking his cheek with kisses. You could finally hear his pretty laugh close to your ear and the fact that it wasn't through a phone call was so relieving.

"It seemed like forever without you luv." he said putting you back on the ground with a stupid smile on his face, while he admired you for a moment before connecting your lips together in a quick kiss. The man ahead of you looked exhausted yet so happy to finally meet you again for what felt like ages.

After realizing you guys were still outside of your house, you take his hand and pull him inside, excited for finally having him to yourself.

"You're making dinner? It smells amazing in here" he said with an excited tone as he entered your now oficially shared house and locked the door behind him.

"Guess what it-" but before you could finish your sentence he was already taking a look in the oven "Josh no! Why are you like this?" you pouted.

"Aw babe, I can't believe you did my favorite." he said turning back to face you and failed to hold a laugh after looking at your frown "M'sorry for antecipating the surprise luv, i'm starving!" he took your cheeks into his hands and lowered himself a bit to give a peck into your lips, that immediately made you melt into the man's hands.

"Okay, but next time wait until I finish my line. Now go wash your hands." you said with the demanding tone Josh missed for what felt like an eternity.

The male did as you told him so and went to the bathroom to wash up as you took the dish into the dining room, serving each of your plates with the food you made and your glasses with the already opened wine. Everything was ready when he got back, and you guys proceeded with the dinner, sharing stories from each other works, giving updates about friends, family and silly things from your routines.

It seemed like you guys were never apart from each other, like this was just another regular night of your little life together and not the first from what you hoped would be forever. After dinner, the man decided that the dishes could wait until tomorrow, he didn't wanted you to work more. He knew your weeks has been exhausting, having to wake up early, do your job and then take care of the small renovation in the house and the move. And he knew that today even after the apartment was ready, you haven't stopped, going to work and then making him dinner after arriving.

What has he done to deserve someone so caring? That thought didn't left his mind for one second the whole night, and he was determined to make you feel the same, at least a little bit. With that in mind, you guys went straight to the bathroom of your suite to take a shower together.

It was such a sweet and intimate moment. Of course it wasn't the first time you guys took a shower together, but there was something about his gentle hands on your shoulders and all the way down your back while he kept up a small conversation about the little things he noticed around the apartment that just made this moment so special for you. In your eyes this was real intimacy, being able to be naked and so close and yet don't feel the need to be having sex with each other. Of course you were missing him in bed, god how many times you had to please yourself while he was away, but for now that moment felt like it was enough for both of you.

After the bath, you put on your pajamas and were now on your shared bed with some of the gifts the british man bought you during the press tour. Most of them came with a "oh this one reminded me of you" wich just melted your heart.

"I figured this one we could use together, what do you think?" he said holding a face mask next to his face. You laughed, like how cute could a 34 year old man be?

"Of course my lord." you said with a fake british accent and started tying up your hair while he rolled his eyes at your mocking and proceeded to open the packages.

"And now what?" he asked as you tidy up the mask on his face.

"Well, the package says we have to wait 10 minutes and then take it off." you get up and start to put away your gifts and hear the body of your boyfriend dramatically fall back in your bed, to wich you return with your everyday lotion in hands.

"Let me take care of it for you." he sits up and basically takes the lotion out of your hands and motioned for you to lay down "Relax for a bit, you must be tired...".

He's right, luckily is a friday night and you won't have to worry about waking up early in the morning for the next two days. So you do as he said and lay your head on the pillow and just enjoy the sensation of his long fingers coated with your lotion massaging your feet, slowly working his way up your leg. You smile at the sight of Josh caressing your skin so carefully, his face so concentrated but it was impossible to take him seriously with that mask on that you closed your eyes, choosing to just enjoy your broyfriend's affection.

It must have been the wine, the calming sensation on your face and the loving touch of your boyfriend, but after your eyes closed it only took five minutes for you to doze off. Josh laughed a bit when he realized that, he gently left your feet in the bed while he stood up to put away your lotion and turn off the lights, coming back to carefully take the mask off of your face, taking his own next.

The man stretched himself before laying by your side and pulling the covers up both of you. He was so tired of the long flight, but so grateful for you to be there, always caring so much for him, the thought of going back to his house in England was boring, but after getting to be with you tonight it sounded even worse, it would be sad. There wouldn't be nobody to receive him by the door, or a warm dinner for him to eat, or someone for him to share how exciting it was to be all over the world and have his work recognized by millions of people.

You shifted in your sleep finding your way to his chest and he could swear that this was the moment his heart melted. It wasn't only today, he had noticed your effort all around the house, how you made sure all his favorite stuff had a visible place so it could be exposed or put to use. He wrapped his arms around you and closed his eyes, slowly giving in to sleep with a warm feeling in his chest. He was finally at home.

[hughiecampbelle]

Succession Preference: S/O Being A Famous Actor

Requested: The Roys with Oscar-winning movie star s/o preferences please!!! - anon

A/N: This is such a cool request!!! Thank you my love!! I hope you like it!!! Feedback is always appreciated 💜💜💜

Connor is so proud of you. Your career didn't take off until a little later than you expected. He's been there for everything. Every play, every musical, every indie film. When it does take off, it takes off quickly. Suddenly you're wanted on every late night show, every red carpet, every show and film. When you win your Oscar, when you make appearances in interviews, you have lots of people to thank, but the first is always Connor. He never lost faith in you even when you lost faith in yourself. You thought about quitting acting for good, but Connor always saw your potential. He always knew you'd be successful. Now that you're in such high demand, you find it hard to find time to be together. You're always wanted in LA, so he gets a place there just for the two of you. That way you can be together and still have your career. He loves to go along with you to things, making you look good in interviews, and make headlines with a passionate kiss. He's unbelievably proud of what you've accomplished and can't wait to see what you have planned next.

Kendall can't believe you're into him. He's seen you in everything and had the biggest crush on you from the beginning. You meet in a club, drinking with friends while you're shooting in NYC. You like him from the start. He makes you laugh easily and doesn't treat you like some weirdo. From then on you're inseparable. When you win your Oscar he's one of the first people you thank and he throws a huge party for you when you get home. Kendall couldn't be prouder of you. You worked so hard, you put so many hours I to your craft, you've put up with so much. You really do deserve it. He's your biggest supporter and will go on forever at interviews if they didn't stop him. You're my biggest fangirl, Ken. And he is. Everything you have a movie or show coming out he makes sure everyone in his life is watching it. You could do no wrong in his eyes, even if you're unhappy with your performance. As far as he's concerned, you're the best.

Shiv can't believe you've won an Oscar. Of course she can believe it, she tells you you're talented every single day, but seeing it in your apartment is a whole other story. She can't believe it's real. You're both very busy people with crazy hectic schedules. It's the kind of relationship you really have to make time for. Most of the time you're on opposing side of the country or even the world depending on where you're filming. You make it a point to see eachother in person at least twice a month when you're filming and call eachother every night, or morning, depending on the time difference. It's her favorite part of day, when she hears your voice. She feels like she can finally breathe when you're back, when she can hold you in her arms. This is the kind of relationship that fits her life: you're both passionate and driven in your own worlds. You're able to live your lives and have one another, too. When she joins you for press events and interviews, you're an unstoppable couple.

Roman definitely doesn't feel good enough for you. You're an Oscar winner. You've been in countless films and shows. You have the paparazzi following you wherever you go. You're famous, in a good way, a rarity in his world. He's just Roman. He feels like he doesn't deserve you, that you're too good for him. When you want to bring him to red carpet events and premiers he always has an excuse. When you tell him how much it hurts you that he doesn't want to go, he finally explains. He loves you, he loves you so much he doesn't want your career to be ruined by him. He'll mess it up like he does with everything. You remind him that you love him, that no one could ever change that. The next premier he's on your arm, posing in front of the cameras like his goofy self, making jokes to you about your co-stars. You make headlines and laugh when the headlines call him your lap dog. He loves you so much he's afraid he'll ruin it.

[lgcnathan]

*guess_who's_back_back_again.mp3* hi all ! thank you so much all the warm welcome (back's) 🤍 i'm kristin / admin *, and for those of you who don't know, nathan is my previous third-turned-second muse before i dropped out of the rp completely back in may of last year. i've still been around doing graphics, but nathan has always had a special place in my heart – and i knew that if i were to return with a muse, it would be with him. so when soobin opened up, i knew this was my one and only chance !

that being said, nathan is ~pretty much~ the same but ofc different in ways. his timeline is a continuation from where he was ic-wise last year, and you can read more under the cut about what his life is like now in the post-type zero era of his career. i've also linked his previous introduction that includes more of his backstory before he came to legacy for your reference !

now, without further ado, please like or reply to this post if you want to plot ! and if we plotted before, please don't feel like we need to keep the same connection – i'm practically starting from scratch here, and i'm excited to see what the future holds for nathan + all of you !

because i am an admin, you can easily reach me here or on the main. alternatively, you can find me on twitter or discord – just ask for my username, and i'll add you !

super stoked to be back here in my favorite place with my favorite people – let's get this party started 🥳

tl;dr on his backstory is that he (1) grew up in new york city, (2) acted out a lot because of parental neglect (re: being raised in boarding schools his whole life), (3) ended up in korea because the school board threatened to expel him after a prank-gone-wrong, (4) auditioned for legacy after his npc-big brother got signed to the company, (5) stayed because it was the first time in his life he ever got praised for literally anything and, wow, very much attention and affection-starved from the get-go, and (6) debuted in type zero in april of 2021 after four years of training!

now ... where, oh, WHERE do i even begin? like i mentioned in my ooc post when i dropped, nathan ultimately left type zero because of massive burnout. at the time, he was practically hard-carrying the group's promotions with his solo activities, and the burden of maintaining type zero's 'status' in the industry was eventually too much for him.

it was a lot for him, okay. not only was he dealing with the emotional turmoil that came from being in a group with so many line-up changes and differing opinions from the public, he was succumbing to the pressure of all these expectations placed on him that he (as he knows now) never felt properly prepared for before his debut.

the first few weeks after his departure, he had an extended staycation with his grandparents in the outskirts of seoul before flying back to nyc for some much-needed r&r.

since he was still signed to legacy even after leaving type zero, he returned to training after about three months of 'vacation' – so he's only been full-time training for a little over six months now.

he's been avoiding, basically, everyone – previous managers and stylists and other staff members, other debuted idols in the company, and, of course, the type zero members.

he's so ashamed of himself, for giving something up that (as he first-hand witnessed himself!) hundreds of kids only dream of after sacrificing their childhoods, their youths, their critical developments years all for the goal of becoming an idol.

and he's embarrassed, for obvious reasons. when he left type zero, he was practically at the top of his game, but now? now he's stuck in the basement, in the hallways of dance studios and practice rooms, surrounded by unfamiliar faces that whisper and gossip as he passes by. he's visibly older than most trainees now, and his energy nor enthusiasm can barely keep up anymore.

before, nathan thought he could take the world on by storm – that no matter what problem or obstacle, he could bulldoze through with sheer willpower alone. but now he's scared, and more jaded. the idol industry isn't anything like they tell you to believe, and there truly are things you can only learn through real-life experience.

but at the end of the day, nathan knows why he's still here, why he's tormenting himself by going through this rigorous training process again. he loves it. he loves it so much, and so much more than wanting to run away from it all once again.

[sillygoblinantics]

Click her for the first four generations!!!

Gobbo’s Semi-Complete Pokémon Retrospective!!

Pt 2.

The previous post wasn’t able to save the rest of the draft that contained the layout of Gen five and so I will be continuing my retrospective starting with Gen five, here! Please know this is based primarily on personal experience as well as some bits of bias but I’ll try to not let my word take away from experiencing these games from you! With new advancements of technology it’s now possible to enjoy if not through a not entirely exact structure and gameplay of the originals to replay these older games without a DS or cartridge via emulators! So if you can I highly suggest trying them out! Alright let’s get to it!

Heads up this will be quite long of a read so take breaks if need be

Gen V (halfway there!!)

My memories of this game is very limited as this was a very sad time where my brother and i’s pokemon journey would end after the 3ds came out. But I will share what I do remember and then go over some interesting findings of this game!

My mom usually took both of us to GameStop to get the newest pokemon games only this time when black and white came out, my mom took me to get the game I wanted (I personally wish I goth pokemon black because I personally loved the design of reshiram more and its symbolism/ties to daoism representing Yin) on our way home my mother kept reminding me to not let my brother see me playing the game to which I followed! Up until my brother saw me playing while I was chilling in my parents room to which he gasped and exclaimed no fair before racing downstairs yelling for our mom to take him to GameStop, I all wide eyed would race to advance further in the game before he got back only to lose the race! XD I had made it to the third or second town from the starting town when he caught me! Oh and my starter was a female oshawott I named Shelly! I also had a massive crush on N. And didn’t need to fight him four times to get further in the game.

Now for the trivia part:

The biggest addition that sadly didn’t make it out of Gen five was the changing seasons that would change whenever you next opened the game if my memory is correct? This was also a sort of reintroduction of the pokemon franchise! The small roster of new pokemon shaked things up for long time fans especially with the exclusion of older pokemon but in post as well as the sequels you could still get some of your favorites without having to hack them in like a certain ralts enthusiast has done to paint a biased narrative. LILY.

Unova being the first region not based on a specific area of Japan like the first four games were, unova took place in a ingame version of the Empire State, New York, NY! In an interview the unique meaning behind the region’s Japanese name truly illustrated the very common experience one has to traveling to a new country.

The Japanese name roughly translates to: “From afar there is one” if we take this in the context of the region’s real world inspiration and the perspective of someone who’s never left their home country and is travelling to a country they’ve only had a very limited understanding or experience with only going by caricatures or stereotypes. From afar they believe where they’re traveling has only one type of people but as they get closer they learn and realize that there is a much broader and diverse picture of a multitude of combinations of people of many different backgrounds and ethnicities!

New York cities Ellis island was the birth place and port that welcomed many different families of many different backgrounds that would disperse across the city and the states.

It’s no wonder that in gen five we are given not the standard eight gym leaders instead we have ten! Each one being a representation if not stand in for the different kinds of people you meet in NYC. And outside of trainers and characters the Pokémon themselves even reflect the diversity found in NYC and the states as a whole. From elgyem and beehyeem being the greys and flatwoods monster, the Gothitelle line being based on well goths but also Lolita-goth fashion, braviary being the national bird the bald eagle (and a continuous scientific paradoxical mystery that rattles my mind to this day XD), several exotic pets that get brought to the states, and something very interesting I learned given new information that I find is an example of GameFreaks’ attention to detail when it comes to making new regions:

Golett and Golurk

As I’m sure we are all aware of, these Pokémon are suppose to be the golem from ancient Jewish mythology. For those unfamiliar: the golem was a humanoid creature made of a special clay adorn with special ornament and prayers. The golem would only move when given a task that would be written on a scroll or parchment that would then be placed in its mouth, once active the golem would then fulfill this task and once complete return to a dormant state awaiting its next task.

But something that stood out to me has always been the arm bands and head spike golurk seemed to have apart of its design. When talking with someone who has given me insight of his culture I learned of a prayer that stood out in how familiar the concept was! This (below) is a

Tefillin. The way the belt on the arm is wrapped can mean a multitude of things when in prayer the box on the forehead also holds different prayers as well!

Keep in mind I’m just speculating this but the implied detail of this in a pokemon that debuted in a game based on New York City which has been a starting for many Jewish families who immigrated to the US while still looking for refuge in thousands of years of exile. Sorry I got sidetracked on the cultural history!

Please remember that I in no means intend to discuss or promote a political stance on my page and this is all I’m going to say on the matter, my only intent is to share information and insight into the making of these games and elements of the story and concept process.

Back to Pokémon! Outside of cultures that were brought into the use there’s a lot of native or indigenous influence as well!

But Unova has more than just the Pokémon and influences in design, there’s the mechanics and worldbuilding still left to address!

From the subway battles to the musicals and even the studio in the sequels there’s the secret world that varies based on game exclusives. But out of all of this there was a new battle mechanic that gets overlooked, I’m of course talking about rotation battles which involved three of your pokemon out in the battle where you could rotate and decide not only what move to use but which of your pokemon attacks first as the your opponent could easily rotate their pokemon to easily avoid or minimize damage from the move type. Essentially it was a triple battle with finesse!

Of course the story continues after the first games in the sequels unfortunately I wouldn’t get a chance to play them as my brother would end his journey one fateful day when his friend was over, taking all his ds games and ds lite into the garage and to my childish horror smashed all of them with a hammer beyond repair! I had no time but only to cry out “no not twiggy!!” Twiggy being the name of my brother’s starter in Gen four, turtwig. It would be after this where I began buying both games to keep the spirit of our tradition alive. We can now move on to…

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Gen VI

Yes this is the generation where my oc Ripley came from as well as the backstory for Brid.

I also love Gen six however one gripe I had with the game was the exclusion of contests which if you remember the anime, was a thing for one of the characters and in universe something Diantha had done too! I’m still bitter about it but my enthusiasm and anticipation for PLZA is tenfold as now we get to see the possible era of French history known as the rebuild of France! Which lines up with some of the most impactful artistic historic movements in art, writing, science and fashion! I’m getting ahead of myself as this game is almost out! And this’ll have to this post into the second part of probably three or four.

Kalos is gorgeous with how bright and vibrant the world is with delicate touches of detail. Being the first of three games to be on the newest console that had the gimmick of being 3d, it also brought some controversy in regards to the transition from the top down 2d sprites to the jarring switch to 3d models. Of course the way the game opened was a way to transition that change from a restricting aerial or birdseye camera angle to a freeing and semi limited 360° camera movement. I chose fennekin as my starter and was sad when I didn’t get a girl but I didn’t let that stop me.

I nearly forgot to mention the big pull that Gen six brought to the battle mechanics of the competitive scene: Mega Evolution, the next step and true show of synchrony between a Pokémon and their trainer. And no Lily it’s not a sexual thing, we know what you wrote.

We also got introduced to what has to be one of my favorite types on a conceptual level: Fairy types!

It made more sense to add this type especially in a region based in Europe as many countries there have many variations of faeries or fey. And the added bonus of its type advantage being a reference to many children’s fairytales while the disadvantages being a call back to the Gaelic or Celtic origins of the faerie world! I.e. the weakness to iron which was used to protect children from being stolen by the fey. I also as of writing this had an epiphany as to where the poison weakness came from: the poison apple from Snow White or many other Grimm fairytales involving the use of poison! I just realized that!

This would be the last region where we would get a new eevee evolution that would not come back since the release of X and Y.

The fact these games are so heavily intertwined with such a rich usage of mythos and legends of Europe fills such a warmth for world building inside my heart. From the Nordic mythology the legendary trio of this region have ties to, to the dark ages of sickness and pain the black plague brought to even Arthurian mythology! With my personal thoughts of legends arceus’s art already set my excitement as of now calmed radiates as we get closer to the release of the legends ZA game’s art direction!

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For now I think I’ll end here and continue when I’m more awake to finish off with the last three generations! Let’s hope I can get through the three games in one last post but I can already tell I’m gonna be going on about Gen nine so that’ll be fun!

[globaloscillations]

Rediscovering New York

Quite a while back now we grabbed tickets to see John Oliver and Seth Meyers live in New York at the Beacon Theater. Back on March 9th we made that trip and it was our first time in New York City proper since 2015. 🤯 For this particular trip Kristen and I, because it had been so long, kind of wanted to rediscover things and get our bearings on our own terms. It's fair to say though that it won't take us almost another almost entire decade to make it back. Though it pains the 'Boston is better rivalry' part of my soul to fully admit it was a fun adventure and there's a lot to explore we left planning our next trip.

At least some of my mind-shift on New York is based on the fact that in a lot of the best ways it feels kind of like another country. We took the train there, there's a bustling transit network, a unique culture, lots of dining and pubs, world class cuisine (mmm bagels LOL), and a seemingly endless amount of entertainment, landmarks, museums, etc. to explore. Our trip started by hopping on the Amtrak Acela and heading down the Northeast Corridor for a quick 3 and a half hour trip, perhaps the most Europe equivalent train journey you can make in the United States. You'd be unlikely to drive it in that time with typical traffic and if you did you'd of course miss out on "train beers." 😉 As a transit nerd aside one nice thing about the BOS-NYC section of the Northeast Corridor is it has some of the fastest sections of track on the whole corridor (except you Connecticut come on get with the program!). We emerged into the new 'Moynihan Train Hall' Amtrak's primary station in New York City (more on that later) and made our way to the cab stand for a short ride to our hotel in Chelsea.

We had more extensive plans from Saturday evening but by the time we made it to our hotel room and got settled the rain had started teeming down and we didn't really have the appetite for traipsing across the city. So we made our way to the 'Barcade' located a few doors down from our hotel. Apparently these are a chain across at least the NYC are and they're a lot like what they sound like. Overall the beer selection was good with a bunch of craft beer options on draught and the selections of games was fairly solid as well. There were classics like Frogger, Galaga, Ms. Pacman to pretty wild things like Sega Time Travler, Tron DISCs, and a Trivial Pursuit in arcade cabinet form. For me the highlights were a version of Tapper with the proper Budweiser branding both on the cabinet and in game as well as the Asteroids & Lunar Lander with the proper vector displays. To me the most unique thing I saw was an Apollo 13 pinball game which was very well themed and instead of having the standard pull to shoot the ball it had a replica of the Apollo Command Module abort handle that you had to twist to launch the ball, very unique. Overall we had fun imbibing, vibing, enjoying some above average nachos, and alternating between our favorite games. All in all a pretty solid date night we'd have to work harder than walking a few doors down to achieve at home. I certainly forget at times the convenience of city level density, not that it doesn't come with its inconveniences to.

Sunday morning we headed uptown and stopped for what else? BAGELS! I got in the epic line to order and it took me a minute to figure out what I was looking at in the display cooler...cream cheese like I've never seen it. Mountains of it in flavors I wouldn't have dared to imagine. Pretty wild honestly. 🤯 I placed our order and took a seat at the table Kristen had found. After a few minutes a guy came over not sure if he was the owner, manager, or just MC it is apparently a thing most legit bagel places in Manhattan have someone out on the floor to kind of keep order, mingle with tourists like us, direct traffic, add some local flavor to the experience, etc. He asked where we were from and told us an amusing story about a family that had been down from Massachusetts not long ago and were very hesitant to reveal their origin. LOL. He was like "Hey own it!" Absolutely. Honestly I've never had a hostile reaction to being in NY and from the Boston area. Maybe some good natured ribbing but I'll be the first to admit there ain't much of a Sox/Yankees rivalry these days and that's in favor of the Yankees with the Red Sox lagging the last several seasons.

After some delicious bagels, no one does it better than NY, we headed over to the Museum of Art and Design for an exhibit they've been running on Taylor Swift's various concert attire, outfits, fashion, artifacts. The collection was donated and curated by Swift herself. It's always interesting to see the genuine article for stuff like that. After the museum we headed back downtown to our hotel and as Kristen had some work to finish up I went the next block over to Smithfield Hall which is a soccer pub in NY and often home to Manchester United fans in NY area. Sadly United weren't playing but I caught the tail end of the Liverpool/City game and had a beer so I could say I did.

By this point it was time to head to dinner. I'd picked a place I thought looked good and we hopped a cab. Unfortunately when we got there it was apparently trivia night and there were no tables. My suburban proclivities were caught of guard by the concept of a trivia night on a Sunday but hey who am I to judge the customs of another culture? Since the place happened to have a Cask Ale on I had one before we headed up the street to a different pub and were seated quickly without issue. I had a solid steak sandwich and ended up partaking in another unusual custom of this different culture something known as "happy hour?" Apparently the custom involves drinks being discounted, sometimes heavily, to draw in patrons at times when business might otherwise be slow. Truly this is a foreign custom! (Aside: I kid but for those not in the know Massachusetts has outlawed happy hour since the 1970s. There was an accident involving an attractive young woman being tragically killed in a drunk driving incident and people had had enough. It is not, as commonly thought, a Puritan thing but it does fit with that narrative. There have been some efforts to revive it but change around anything alcohol related takes time lots of time here in Massachusetts.)

Time for the main event, or at least rationale for this trip in the first place, some stand-up courtesy of John Oliver and Seth Meyers. I don’t think they need any introduction. John Oliver was up first and his set was more or less in the lane I would have expected. What I was most impressed by though is the absolute effortlessness and lightness he proceeded through his set with it. It was impressive and not unexpected but fun to see from a master practitioner of the art. Seth was up next and had a great set as well. His material was more centered on family and parenting vs. the well trodden path of ‘Closer-Look’ segments. Still a very funny set and fun to witness. Afterwards the two teamed up for a Q&A that was definitely worth staying for despite their insistence that all were free to leave and probably should (😂). Perhaps the best review/summation of the evening was Kristen who said as we were leaving “I’m pretty sure I just laughed for two hours straight.” I don’t disagree.

So here’s the thing reader... As travelers we aren’t great at the ‘last day’ of a trip. Monday morning we headed of for some bagels (obvi) and the made our way down to checkout some shopping in the area of the hotel. Sadly one of the places we were hoping to check-in on was the LEGO store and it wasn’t open. Also unfortunate the iconic Flat Iron building is currently covered in scaffolding. Which is a theme I thought about a few times over the course of the trip was how much work it is to maintain the iconic landmark buildings in and among all the new construction. Personally I’m glad the effort is made because there’s nothing I love more than some 1930s Art Deco architecture. The LEED certified glass monstrosities that Boston seems to throw up if it gets the chance just feel so uninspired in comparison. On our very wind walk back to the hotel we spied the Empire State Building poking out every so often and I thought about what it’d be like trying to dock a Zeppelin to the top in those winds! (Aside: the design of the Empire State Building was such that at Zeppelins might dock to the top of the building and man would that have been absolutely amazing to see!)

After making our way back to the hotel in the crazy wind we decided that we didn’t really have a strong plan for the rest of the day. With our train being at 5pm we could probably have made more use of the day but with the wind and lack of planning we didn’t have a strong sense of what we’d do. We ended up making our way over to Moynihan Train Hall and grabbing a couple of day passes to Amtrak’s “Metropolitan Lounge.” The passes are $50 bucks a day for the NYC lounge and you get a spacious private lounge that lover looks the train hall, a buffet of food and non-alcoholic drinks, private cash bar, and pre-boarding of your train. All in all it didn’t feel like that bad a deal especially when we got a private escort right on to the train platform a good 15 minutes before everyone else. This made an already pretty hassle free experience of boarding the train (vs. any commercial airline experience in the US) pretty much sublime.

We spend a fair bit of the day looking out over the relatively new (apparently it has been 3 years?!) Moynihan Train Hall the primary arrival in NYC for Amtrak trains traveling the Northeast Corridor. Honestly the facility is impressive and apparently at one point in time was the primary mail sorting facility for the USPS in New York. The impression the openness and architecture provides on first arrival in my opinion rivals most of what I’ve experienced in the UK or Europe. A realization that comes with a twinge of frustration because it takes so much to get big infrastructure projects over the finish line in this country but look at the result when we do! When they happen, all to rarely, they’re a reminder that we can achieve things worthy of the greatness we like to ascribe to the fragile experiment we call America. Then it was time for the rain ride home which was the same relatively three hour trip but no quite as fun. Did get to spend a minute looking out at the gridlock on I-95 from the bar car though.

It was a fun mini-trip and we hope to do it a fair bit more in the future explore some more and hopefully meet-up with friends in the are on subsequent trips!

“New York is not a city, it’s a world.” – Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1958)

[nameless-and-joymaking]

advice for someone from another country visiting new york for the first time for like 2weeks?

ahh honored that you would ask my advice!

General/boring advice: be prepared for Weather (carry a sweatshirt and an umbrella bc the ones they sell on the street are shit, carry a handfan bc the trains aren't always air conditioned), avoid the G and L trains wherever possible, and the 1 train on the weekends, be alert but don't be afraid, pay attention to subway announcements and read the subway maps carefully (ppl will know you're a tourist if you're glued to the map inside the train car but who cares), avoid times square if you can help it, walk fast if you're in midtown everyone will be grateful, dont smile at strangers except old ladies and babies, thank your bus driver. Follow @got2gonyc on insta bc they have a map of public bathrooms that is VITAL (my personal favorite public bathroom in nyc is inside the shops at columbus circle.)

NOW for fun stuff/ Grand List of Recommendations. im going to split this into sections and go into WAY too much depth. im also assuming you're staying in manhattan but going to provide recs throughout the boroughs

Culture

if you have some money to burn, definitely see some theatre. If you like musicals, Kimberly Akimbo has $40 rush tickets (meaning if you show up at the box office right when it opens you can get cheap seats), Parade has $45 rush (if you're going to the city before it closes).

see a film at the Metrograph or Film Forum (metrograph has uncomfy seats tbh but always shows great stuff.) The Angelika is also fine, and Alamo Drafthouse is not NY-specific but it's cool.

go to The Strand! not on a weekend bc it's far too crowded but there are just so. many. books. or go to a community bookstore like Word Up in Washington Heights or Bluestockings downtown (lots of queer and political books)

You gotta do a museum or two. The Museum of the Moving Image in Queens is all about film and if you love movies, it is beyond delightful. You can spend a whole day at the Met just wandering, but if you like an agenda, I really recommend going to the Dutch painting collection in Gallery 964 and checking out my favorite painting I've ever seen up close, as well as the sculpture garden in the American Wing, the Asian Wing, the Islamic Wing, and the Egyptian exhibit (you have to walk through it to get to a bunch of other things anyway). There are some van Goghs there, too, and the costuming exhibit and and and-- ok i'll stop here. The American Museum of Natural History has the ability to make you feel like a kid again if you were into science as a child.

Lots of museums, including El Museo del Barrio, Bronx Museum of Art, and the Museum of Jewish Heritage have days where admission is free. Lot of the galleries in Chelsea are also free every day (including the Gagosian Galleries on West 24th and the Chase Contemporary)

Visit a library! The big one in midtown or a smaller one (Morningside Heights Library by the Columbia campus is nice, I like the Mosholu one in the Bronx as well)

Food

you cannot leave NY without having a good NY bagel. Downtown: Bagel Bob's. Uptown: Pick-A-Bagel. Bronx: Riverdale Bagels (you need a bus to get to this one, or a long walk, but worth it.) Downtown, midtown, and Brooklyn: Russ and Daughter's. any old dollar pizza place is probably great, but if you want to be fancy, go to Luzzo's on the upper east side.

if you eat fish, Astoria Seafood is a MUST. fresh, delicious, no frills, BYOB. easy to get lost on the way there if you don't know Queens, so be careful.

Queens in general is a great place to eat. Most diverse urban community in the world! Mama's Empanadas (right by the Museum of the Moving Image, on Steinway Street) is a strong recommendation there, as well. Hot pot, bubble tea, Greek food, and momos are, as a general rule, very good in Queens.

if you want relatively affordable sushi and sake, Marumi is my go-to in Manhattan.

if you want a bougie brunch or dinner, go to Lido in Harlem. Any Jamaican place in Harlem or buffet-style southern food is likely to be good if you want to be adventurous and just pick one. Pies n Thighs in Brooklyn is also good southern-inspired food if you eat meat.

Tasty Handpulled Noodles in Chinatown (there's one on Doyers and one on 9th ave) is some of the best Chinese food. Chinatown Ice Cream Factory is upsettingly expensive but very delicious.

If you like to cook, go to Kalustyan's in Little India and get yourself some spices. They have more kinds of pepper there than you've ever seen in your life.

there is a sandwich shop in the Bronx i will ONLY tell you about via dm bc i won't have my secret faves revealed in a public forum.

lmk if you want Fancy-fancy recs for food, I can make a whole other post.

Green Spaces/Nature

Wave Hill up in Riverdale is beyond beautiful, and free on Thursdays. A bit of a trek from any trains, buses involved etc, but worth it!!

If you're going with friends or peers, a picnic in Central Park (North Meadow by the 103rd st/CPW entrance is a good spot, also Sheep Meadow or the Great Lawn) or just a walk through the park can be amazing. A little touristy, but who's counting.

The Coney Island Aquarium (whether or not you also go to the amusement park) is really nice. Very far from Manhattan, but easy to find (lots of crowds lots of signs)

I don't know Prospect Park in Brooklyn super well, other than the area right by Ample Hills Creamery-- great ice cream, by the way-- but it's pretty and really huge. On that note, also try The Social in Brooklyn for ice cream and DEFINITELY eat an icee from a cart. Churros from a cart in the subway in particular also always hit.

It is tenuous to call this nature but the Union Square Farmer's Market pops up every Saturday and you can buy really good produce/honey/flowers/booze (also, incidentally, right by a good ice cream place, Van Leeuwen's) ((also incidentally, I'm at the market pretty much every Saturday. idk if meeting a tumblr friend is on your want list but yeah.))

[lightyaoigami]

what places would you want to (re)visit when you go back to japan? 🗾✨

fingers crossed that my plans don't go awry and i will still get to go later this year! i loved kyoto & osaka and i really recommend both but since my time in tokyo was cut short by typhoon hagibis i would like to do a bit more in tokyo and possibly take the train up to sendai or aomori.

as far as revisiting places i have been already: i would love to go back to meiji jingu. i know this is such a tourist destination but it was dead silent and so beautiful and almost eerie the way all the city sounds instantly stopped when you walk through the torii and into the forest. tsukiji also slaps of course because who doesn't want to eat a whole uni with a toothpick while standing on the sidewalk.

i think one of my personal favorite things about japan is that there are beautiful things everywhere. just leaving my hotel there was a totally empty and gorgeous shrine complex on the same block. i don't want to over idealize it or be a weaboo or anything but it was just one of the really compelling things about my trip to be able to just Walk and See Things. i feel this is probably true of nyc also but i live here so i'm jaded.

one thing i would do differently is to try and get more dinner reservations rather than just hoping for the best in golden gai or whatever. a lot of concierges will do this for you but i only did it once last time and i wish i did more. obviously the food slaps in japan generally and there are so many amazing hole in the wall restaurants and coffee shops (the coffee is literally world class omg) but i think maybe doing one kaiseki or omakase dinner would be ideal :')

[glimmerbugart]

A Birthday to Remember

Hard to believe but this past Monday I turned 50! Yep, 50 years old! A half century… and I feel very fortunate because I still feel like I’m in my early 30s.

We’re not a big party type of family, so we decided to celebrate at my second favorite place ever: New York City!

Off we went for a fun little jaunt to the best city in the world. Full of lights, sights and interesting stuff, it’s my kid’s favorite place to go and explore. They’ve been to NYC a dozen times and never tire of the hustle and bustle, so everyone was pretty excited to go back for a night.

Driving in was no big deal and only took a little over 3 hours. Guess it pays to drive on a Monday late morning because traffic was not bad at all. It was easy going for the whole drive and looking forward to the evening made it even better!

Once we checked into our favorite hotel, The Pearl, said hello to our favorite bellmen, Francisco and James, we headed out to do a little walk around the neighborhood and check out a few of our favorite stopping points before checking in. It’s kind of funny. Watching my kids walk around the streets, knowing where everything is, it’s a great feeling knowing that they can navigate a city with no problem. They handle the traffic, vendors, entertainers and all that with no issue whatsoever. Not even nervous and know exactly how to get from points A to B. They walk confidently and are always aware of their surroundings, keeping a watchful eye on each other as well as all the goings on around them. My father, born and raised in NYC, would have been so proud to watch them experience his favorite place to be.

Once we were back at the hotel, it was time for a quick change and then to walk to dinner at one of my all-time favorites, The Russian Tea Room. I’m the only one in my family that has been there, so I was looking forward to seeing how the rest of the family liked it. It’s all Russian food, from borscht and pelmini to chicken Kiev and verenika. Luckily, my kids have grown up on many of these dishes, so they were not weirded out by anything on the menu and knew what everything was. And what was even greater was that all that they ordered, they loved (although I’m told that my cabbage soup and borscht are their favorites!). Hubby loved it as well and even ordered himself a Russian mule!

Whenever I saw this cup I nearly fell out of my chair! I can remember my dad drinking his vodka from a similar cup we had at home. He’d always stir the ice cubes with is pinkie finger (hence my issue with ice) and that cup was always colder than cold. In his later years, he’d drink iced milk from this cup. I had to tell the manager all about it when he came up to see how we were doing during our meal. He got a huge kick out of that story.

The whole dinner, I had this huge shit-eating grin on my face as I looked around at all the beautiful decor and rich colors and hues. It was simply marvelous!

Towards the end of the dinner, as we were getting ready to head out to the jazz club, the manager surprised me with my very own mule mug, with the RTR logo etched onto it! So very thoughtful and appreciated. I cannot wait to go back.

The evening ended with a wonderful jazz show at Dizzy’s club, over in Lincoln Center. Typically, we go to Birdland, but since we were up for trying something new, this was a great spot. During the show, the kids enjoyed a lovely and delicious cheese board as well as sorbet, while hubby sipped his “gimlet” and I my “pineapple fizz.” Playing onstage was none other than jazz great drummer Louis Hayes, who, at 87 years old, was spry and in control of incredible solos and gorgeous arrangements. Was quite an honor to be in his presence, one of the last greats of the old days of jazz. And on top of it all, his cousin was none other than Prince! Pretty awesome.

All in all, I’m sad it’s actually over! It was just so so much fun and I had such a great time with my little family in the city. We’re already planning another trip back… can’t come soon enough!

[surveysand]

twenty.

What kind of movies are you drawn to? documentaries. i don't really watch movies much otherwise. How often do you update your Facebook status? never. What would you like best about living in New York City? public transportation and so many new restaurants to try. also, it seems like exclusive events a lot of artists do tend to be in nyc or la, so those would be cool to attend. What’s the main reason why you use a laptop/pc? it's much easier to use than a phone, especially if needed for school/work things. my old laptop broke for a few days at one point during my junior year and trying to write an essay on my phone was one of the worst things i've ever had to do. What do you think the world needs more of? basic human decency.

What type of pet would you like to have? i would love another dog, but i know that it's not the best move for me financially. How do you feel about mornings? i'm am not a morning person, lol. What breakfast are you most likely to have? a bagel or breakfast sandwich with orange juice or an iced coffee to drink. What type of day do you like more? one where i can just relax and don't have to worry about anything. Your social life is: not that active, but more normal than not.  What career field could you see yourself in? research, clinical positions, etc. When you’re starting to feel sick, you: take medicine and lay down. Which city would you rather relax in? the one i live in currently. What would you enjoy most about being a vampire? being able to avoid light. What colors are you most drawn to? muted tones. What flavor ice cream would you prefer? cookie dough. You rather have lunch at: a mexican place, preferably a local family-owned restaurant. Your oldest friend would describe you as: many things, but i think she would talk about how similar we are to each other and how our "no bullshit" attitudes are what have kept us friends for so long. You are attracted to homes that are: cozy and individual. What deadly sin are you most likely to commit? sloth. What section do you drift toward at bookstores? i really don't know, i haven't been in a bookstore in so long. i usually peruse the whole store. Are you a thinker or a feeler? thinker. Would you rather go to a festival or a book reading? festival. Are you more into drama or comedy? drama. Do you prefer to lounge in a hot tub or swim in a pool? lounge in a hot tub. Can you roll your tongue? yes. You are more likely to stop wearing something because? it doesn't fit well or i don't have anything to wear it with. Have you ever smoked pot? yes. Do you speak a second language? no. How many books do you have out in the public areas of your house? a few. What three words best describe you? funny, accepting, and passionate. What two elements are you most comfortable with? earth and air. Your relationships tend to be: coveted. Who makes a better burger, in your opinion? out of, like, chain restaurants, shake shack is my favorite. it's too bad it's so expensive. Where would you most like to spend Christmas vacation? i'd love to go to maine or somewhere further north. i am not someone who wants to get away from the snow. For you, snow means: winter! my favorite time of the year. What do you like best about the holidays? time off work/school, being able to see those close to me who i maybe haven't seen in a while otherwise, and being able to eat some amazing home-cooked food. You think your eyes convey: anger. Besides screaming for ice cream, what else do you scream for? many things, i'm a loud person, lol. Favorite summer scent? coconut. basically all of my shower products are coconut-scented. Do you listen to Billy Ray Cyrus? no. Do you know how to shoot a shotgun? no. Do you like fried chicken? yes, but i prefer grilled.

[greensparty]

Movie Review: Air

It is kind of ironic that the Academy Awards that Ben Affleck has won are for writing (for Good Will Hunting with Matt Damon) and producing (as a producer on Argo), but he’s a superstar known for acting and directing...yet he hasn’t won for acting or directing. When he was a young ambitious actor from Boston and then in NYC, I met Mr. Affleck in 1997 when he joined Kevin Smith for a screening of Chasing Amy (one of his best performances). He was really nice and he was getting ready to film GWH that month. Since the success of GWH, everyone has been hoping for a Damon / Affleck reunion. While they have produced several films and TV shows together and they co-wrote Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel, they’ve only done small supporting roles together (mainly in Kevin Smith films). Now with their Artists Equity production company, they are back together again producing. But the super exciting news is Air, directed by Affleck and starring Damon and Affleck and a tremendous ensemble cast. By this point the two are one of the great on-screen duos and since GWH and Affleck has become quite a director in his own right. 

movie poster

In this biopic, Sonny Vaccaro (Damon) is a sales exec at Nike, which in 1984 is the lowest-selling sneaker. As the company is trying to court some basketball players for some endorsement deals, Sonny has the bright idea instead of getting three or four rookies, they take their entire budget and see if they can get rookie Michael Jordan. With the help of Nike execs Rob Strasser (Jason Bateman), Howard White (Chris Tucker), and CEO Phil Knight (Affleck), they try to pursue that. Sonny is so serious, he even goes to Michael Jordan’s mother (Viola Davis) to pitch her to see if they can pitch her son.

the Air Jordan sneaker from 1984

While it is a very different story than Argo, Affleck approached this in a similar way: both are biopics taking place in the director’s lifetime but very different than the world in 2023, both films get right into the world of the protagonist and initiate the stakes and both films build to those stakes, and both are stories the average viewer will know the outcome going into it, but will be on the edge of their seat the whole time! This is a sports movie without the sports, it’s the sales and marketing that is more competitive than professional sports and it’s the first great movies of 2023! I also loved how it was edited like an 80s movies and he even pulls soundtrack music from Harold Faltermeyer and Tangerine Dream (along with tons of 80s hits). Damon is very likable and the viewer is rooting for him to make it happen. Obviously we are viewing this movie from the perspective of knowing that the Air Jordan shoes are one of the most successful shoes ever and that Jordan himself is one of the biggest athletes of all time, but this isn’t so much about the ending as it is the inner workings of how they get there and the need to make a big gamble that just might payoff. The supporting cast is quite impressive notably Davis who keeps a poker face the whole time, but is quietly orchestrating the master plan. Argo is still my favorite movie Affleck has directed, but this one is insanely awesome! Maybe he’ll finally score a directing or acting Oscar.

Affleck directing

For info on Amazon Studios’ Air: https://www.amazon.com/AIR-Matt-Damon/dp/B0B8Q3JMCG

4.5 out of 5 stars

[travisklcesasdfasd]

PRIVATE: in this world of craziness and things people throw in the trash? anything could happen. haven't you heard of the people that kept pet alligators in nyc and when they got to big threw them in the drain and that's why they sometimes find them in the massive drains underneath the city? so who knows what could come out from a dumpster, or even yet raccoons with rabies? it would leave to headlines i mean we get a mix of are we on the rocks already and we're doing better than ever getting ready to get married and build a family. there's no happy medium we're always we've jumped into this too fast and we're already struggling with your career and mine to find balance now that we've come this far and that we're planning babies and wedding and we're happier then ever. people can't just let it be one thing. can't wait to see you up in the box cheering for me baby, that was the best part of the season for me, even with winning the superbowl. knowing you were up there screaming and cheering for me. i've no doubt we can make some room for instruments, i mean it's a pretty large house, i've no doubt we could even make part of the basement into a proper recording studio if you wanted to so that if you wanted to work on things from home while there you could. i do love nashville and your rhode island home is beautiful and would never want to see that go because that's a perfect vacation or hideaway spot. new york won't provide the privacy that's for sure but it will provide a place where our future kids will be open to more community, diversity, and i think that's just as important in their lives where kansas city and nashville, as much as i love them, are a little less... diverse.

at least they didn't get anything indecent and then you might have to worry about bond money for me. something tells me wherever we go, unless we can put a very large something around it so that people can't see the whole damn place, it's going to be impossible to keep it from being seen. not with the brilliance of these long scope cameras they have these days and the people who are obsessed with getting photos of you. why are you apologizing, that had nothing to do with what you can control. that is beyond your control of anything you could do. people know how you feel about your privacy especially with your private life. you have given them bits and pieces of our relationship which you haven't gotten to do in the past, and they still aren't happy, that isn't on you. that's on people never knowing when enough is enough, but you have fans that stand behind you knowing that it's intrusive and don't want to see it. the more that don't and won't perpetuate it, the more they will end up backing off. just saying it would be hot, and who knew you were into roleplaying in the bedroom we can come up with so many more ideas now. i love you too, baby.

you are an amazing person, i love the way you love your friends, but just know that anything can happen. remember he is your ex but her ex-husband and that's just a different level i think sometimes. no there's nothing you need to know, i just know from different players on my team that went through divorce and let me tell you they were dicks too. i saw how they were and some of them cheated, and were horrible and then they moved on and got along or got back together or co-parented horribly and think out of this situation we'd rather see co-parenting in a good way for any of the nieces. i'm very different off the field yes, but could i absolutely pulverize someone if i felt i needed to? yes. for me it's not about his personal beliefs and i'll follow whatever they want me to say for the sake of the team, but i don't follow those beliefs. my mother and father were both workers and homemakers. they both loves both their jobs, and i never want my nieces to feel like they can't do something or that their lives boil down to marriage and having babies. it's why i love that wyatt's favorite song is the man, it's so important she keeps that in her head at all times and accomplishes whatever she wants.

if we don't stay in the hotel with the team we're fined babe. and i don't want you paying the hotel don't worry they won't see anything. just send a text before hand and we'll be fine. we always get our own rooms. and you'll get to see me naked plenty when we travel, we have to keep the spice alive not that i think we'll ever struggle with that. can i get a version of the i can do it with a broken heart outfit in the chiefs colors? trust me i will never feel you up in front of the family because the girls running around. now might i grab your butt playfully sure, but actually being too handsy, you don't have to worry about that. you don't realize how much jason does try and get because we edit so much out, babe. there are things he tries to find out that has to be edited out.

take my frustrations out on you? that sounds like a dangerous game to play, not that i'd ever hurt you but those frustrations after a loss run deep. against a flat surface bent over is always going to be a great way for pent up frustrations, i can reach every bit of you then. you wanted my lips to leave marks and was all too happy to show it off on stage. i hope you're right baby. i really hope you're right because you're on top of the game, and i would love to be back on top of the game another year.

Private: Do you think that something is going to come out and bite us or something, babe? Cause I doubt that would happen. But I can see the headlines now 'Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce - are they on the rocks? Take an inside look into their dumpster date. Break up on the horizon.' It's a long title but I'm sure that people would have a field day with it. I would hope that he's not looking for another job anytime soon but if he was - nothing but high recommendations from me. As much as he is my employee - I like to think we're friends, too. Whenever I'm able to on when it's on season for you - I'll be in Kansas City right by your side, baby. It only makes sense for us to be there considering I can do my job from anywhere. The only time I need to be in New York, really is for recordings and such. Although I do hope you're willing to clear out a room for me to add some instruments to it. When it's off season, though - that's a tough question because all of the cities are amazing. Nashville does provide the most privacy out of all of them. Or Rhode Island. I could sell my Nashville apartment and house. We look for something there? It'd be a nice place to raise kids. At least part time raise them. The other places we can just use if we happen to be in that city. As much as I love New York.... I don't think it quite provides the privacy I want for when we start a family.

I loved the place we stayed at too, but now it's come to my attention that it's far too easily seen into. So we could still get married in Italy but I think we need to find somewhere a lot more private. I don't want the photos out there before we get the chance to share them ourselves. People are creeps and do anything for a quick buck. And I'm so sorry that your privacy was breeched like that, baby. I... never want you to have to experience that level of paps and I've done everything in my power to stop it from happening. I guess this time I just wasn't careful enough. We'll find somewhere that's perfect for us. We've set the date - the location will come along. Lucky we've got all this week together to look at places online and four months to figure it all out. Next month I think I'm going to ask my girls if they want to be brides maids. I'm going to ask Sabs to be my maid of honor. How much do you think she's going to lose her mind? Why would I be mad about you and Ryan snuggling up together? Snuggle away cause that's what I'm going to be doing with his wife. I'll just find a orange jumpsuit then. I'm not going there just so you can find me hot. Weirdo. I love you.

I am supportive of her, babe. I want them to get along for the kids. You know how much Willa and Delphine mean to me. I love being their Aunt just as much as I love being an aunt to yours and my brother kids. But I don't ever see myself liking Joe. He's done far too much damage for me to get over that. Soph is just a better woman than I am. It sounds like you are trying to defend him. Do you know something that I don't? Being on the field is a little different to the situation here, isn't it? Professional football player Travis is nothing like off the field Travis. Yes, you're just as passionate and protective but it's slightly different. I know they're not all good. There's a bad lot in every sort of job and such - but the ones that matter, they're good. A kicker doesn't mean shit so he can run his mouth as much as he want. There's guys like you and Mahomes out there that show the world what it actually means to be a team player and to stick up for women. Those are the men that should be getting attention.

You might be a dick but I can be a right bitch in the moments. Another reason why we're a good match, I guess. And despite what any gossip sites are saying... I don't think we're toxic. I actually think we're being decently behaved. But hey, if they want to paint me out that way - then they can be my fucking guest. Bunch of pricks. I just want to enjoy what time I've got off with the love of my life and friends. One day we'll get roomed with someone we actually like.

Maybe you should just be booking your own hotels from now on. I'll pay for them in whatever city you need for games and things. That way we don't need to play it careful when I'm calling you. Cause I wanna see my man naked, too. Kind of hard to do if you're having to make sure people are out of the hotel room. No feeling up in front of family - the one rule that we can hopefully stick to. I'm surprised that Jason hasn't tried to get more information out of you for the podcast yet. I just know that he'd be a laughing mess that whole time.

Whatever you need to do to get through the results of your job, you should do it. No one is going to stop that. But if I happen to be at a game where you do lose then... well, feel free to use me to get those frustrations out. I happen to love when you shove me against a wall and fuck me. Or against any flat surface, really. And your hand around my neck? Can't get enough. At least your hands don't leave marks like your lips do. Frustrated Travis is kind of hot. We're not even going to talk about you getting injured. That's not something we're putting out into the world. You're going to have an amazing season. I can feel it in my bones.

[e-dubbc11]

The Rabbit Hole

Photos are not mine. They are courtesy of Pinterest/Google.

Pairing: Billy Russo x F! Reader

Warnings: Swearing, little bit of violence, alludes to sex, mention of service member being out of shape (I’m not shaming anyone, I just think service members should be held to a higher standard, physically. They are supposed to be our best. Please don’t come for me.)

Word Count: 3k-ish

Summary: Billy had a hard day at work and all he wanted was to have dinner and drinks with you.

A/N: I wrote this very quickly, I probably spent more time on the header than I did writing it so I apologize if it sucks. The Rabbit Hole Tavern is a little place about 30 mins away from me in the lovely town of Old Saybrook, it’s not in NYC. My father and I have been there a few times for really good burgers and beer. It’s a little hole in the wall but it’s delicious and their homemade aioli is to die for. I’ll include a pic at the end of this which isn’t mine either, it’s on their website.

As always, thank you for reading!  I appreciate it so much and comments, reblogs are welcome and encouraged. Don’t be shy to tell me your favorite part. 💕💕💕

“I got you, handsome. I know the perfect spot.” You said to Billy while you were on the phone with him.

He called earlier in the day to tell you he was having a rough one, that he desperately needed a burger and a beer and you were more than happy to oblige.

Billy came straight from work to pick you up at your apartment as he always worked later than you did, so it was just easier for him to pick you up or to meet up somewhere. Most times he picked you up though, Billy didn’t like the idea of you walking by yourself and he was VERY protective of you.

He had on his dark gray suit with a black tie, looking insanely handsome as always. You’d never know he had a bad day by the smile he gave you. Billy’s smile had the power to stop you dead in your tracks, it gave you butterflies every time and it didn’t matter how many times he did it either, it felt like the first time.

He looked forward to seeing you, he felt like it was the only way for him to get over a bad day at work, lately. Billy loved how excited you always were to see him, throwing your arms around his neck and pulling him in for a kiss was just the best part of his day.

When you hugged him, he always nestled his face into the crook of your neck and ran his fingers through your hair. He inhaled the scent of your perfume, stared down at you like you were the only woman in the world, and to him you were—you were his whole world.

You held his gaze for a minute. “What is it, Billy? Are you ok?”

His trance was broken. “Oh…yeah sweet girl. I’m just happy to see you.”

He kissed your forehead then tilted your chin up to have your lips meet his.

“Are you hungry?” You asked him, biting back your enthusiasm.

He brushed a stray hair away from your face. “Starving.” He replied and kissed the tip of your nose.

The Rabbit Hole wasn’t exactly the best looking bar around but their burgers were excellent, their homemade aioli was the perfect addition to any burger and you knew Billy would love it. Taking seats at a high top table, he ordered a beer for you and one for himself. Normally, Billy’s drink of choice is bourbon but tonight he decided that beer would go well with dinner while he gave you the rundown of his day.

He was happy just to be out with you and he always tried his hardest to not bring his work home with him whether it’s paperwork associated with recruitment or a job that was a little more than he bargained for. Some days were harder than others, but you never pushed him to talk about it. Billy would talk if he felt like it, that’s just the way it was.

He’d always ask how your day was, he listened intently and by the time you were done, it made him forget all about his bad day. He loved your work stories, not necessarily because he always understood the inside jokes, but because of the way you told them. It was never an easy feat to accomplish but you made Billy laugh.

The slight wrinkles near his ink like eyes were a little more prominent since you started dating, however they were a welcome sight, you had made it your daily mission to make him laugh, and most days you succeeded.

“…so then we were walking up the stairs from the basement and she turned to me and said ‘hey can’t you see Blair just sitting in a foxhole, eating mashed potatoes?’ And baby, I lost my shit! I had to stop on the stairs and grab the railing otherwise, I was going to fall over because I was laughing so hard.”

Billy almost spit his beer out. “How can he be that out of shape and allowed to be in the reserves? Where have the standards gone?!” He asked.

“I dunno, we were wondering the same thing!” You told him. “Anyway, how was your day, my love?”

He proceeded to tell you about his day, never giving too many details although he was more forthcoming now than he had been when the two of you first got together.

At the beginning of your relationship you’d ask how his day was, he’d give very short or one word answers and then ask about you, which you loved how interested he was in your daily life but all you wanted was for him to open up a little more and not keep so much inside and he was getting better at it.

Billy worked hard, sometimes a little too hard but only because he loved his company. He was proud of what he’d accomplished so far, he put a lot of time and energy into making Anvil everything he dreamed it could be.

Although sometimes it had led to arguments, you telling him that he needed a break, that he can’t do everything himself, maybe he should take a few days off, and he’d always say the same thing. He’d tell you he couldn’t because there was a big job coming up and that he was fine. And every time he’d tell you that he was fine, you told him “Just take care of yourself, Billy. Please?”

Billy hated fighting with you, he felt terrible every time it happened because he knew you were right and you didn’t deserve how curt he was being towards you. He’d come to your apartment late at night after finishing up with work, Billy had a key to let himself in. He just had to see you and he couldn’t wait until the next day.

He’d crawl into your bed, sometimes looking for forgiveness and affection and other times he wanted to be forgiven and just hold you close. His beard tickled the back of your neck while he kissed your warm, supple skin and you would fall back to sleep in his arms until morning.

The two of you had come a long way in your relationship, he took more breaks, more days off and left work at a reasonable hour. Billy still had long days every now and again but not nearly as many which led to less arguing and made you both a lot happier.

As you sat there listening to Billy’s stories from his day, you couldn’t help but notice a man sitting at the corner of the bar, over Billy’s left shoulder, with his eyes on you. And you didn’t dare tell Billy, he was already a little uneasy from all the stuff he was dealing with at work, telling him would just send him over the edge because of how protective he was of you. For the moment, the man just continued to stare.

Billy let out a sound when he bit into his burger that you could only describe as orgasmic. “Baby girl, THIS is delicious! How did you find out about this place anyway?”

He looked so happy, like the stress of the day was finally washing off of him and he was your Billy again, it was hard not to smile.

“My dad and I have come here before shows, he asked me if I wanted to have the best burger in town and he brought me here, to this little hole in the wall.”

“Well I am going to give your father a big kiss on the cheek the next time I see him because this is the best burger I’ve ever tasted.” He said as he took a sip of his beer.

You continued to ignore the man in the corner and concentrate solely on Billy, making him laugh, helping him wipe his chin when he got aioli all over it and ordering two more beers when the server came over to clear your dishes away.

The man in the corner was downing one beer right after the other and you lost count of how many he had just in the time you and Billy were having dinner. He had been there when you arrived at the bar.

Billy had moments where he let his jealousy and possessiveness show. There was one instance you had decided to visit him at the office, it was your first time being inside Anvil and you needed help finding his office so you stopped to ask. The guy pointed and said “Oh Mr. Russo is actually right over there.” You thanked him and made your way over to Billy who apparently watched the guy check out your ass the entire time as you walked over to him. The guy was fired on the spot.

“Was that really necessary, Billy?” You asked sharply.

His next words sounded like a hiss from a dying fire. “I made an example out of him. I don’t want any of my employees thinking they can look at you the way he did and get away with it. I’m the only one who gets to check out your ass.”

It was things like that, sometimes servers at restaurants would hold their gaze on you a little too long and he called them out on it, bartenders, or strangers in the park.

Billy’s verbal warnings were enough to deter anyone from staring at you a little too fondly. But what would he do if someone actually put their hands on you?

Billy got up to make his way to the men’s room which was all the way down at the end of a long, skinny hallway, leaving you by yourself at the table and giving the man at the bar the perfect opportunity to make his move.

As soon as he saw Billy stand up, the man started to slide off his barstool and walk over towards you, stumbling a little as he did so. You could tell he was quite drunk when he started to talk.

“Welllllll heeeeey there, p-pretty g-girl. Cannnnn I—I b-buy you a drink?” He was slurring his words badly.

You were trying to be as nice as possible, the last thing you wanted to do was upset him. “Oh no but thank you, I just got a fresh one.”

He was persistent. “Come onnnnnn! Just one drink.”

Maybe a scare tactic would work? “My boyfriend just went to the men’s room, he’ll be back in a minute.”

That’s when the man grabbed your wrist and nearly pulled you off of your chair. “O-oh, you mean that p-pretty b-boy you’re with?!” The man said as he gnashed his teeth together and the smell of beer lingered in the air from his breath. Billy hated to be called “pretty,” he loathed it actually and you were grateful he wasn’t around to hear the man say that.

This guy was strong, he had a very tight grip on you. “Take your hands off of me, please.”

He was getting louder and more forceful. “Look, I’m t-tryin’ to be nice and b-buy you a drink, j-just one drink and I’ll leave y-you alone.”

His grip was so tight, it felt like your wrist was in a vice, he was hurting you—a lot. “Please let go of my wrist, you’re hurting me.”

You hadn’t noticed Billy come up behind you and before you could blink, the man’s head hit the table hard, he started to bleed immediately, the beer bottles fell from the table, and pieces of glass skirted across the bar floor.

After knocking the man’s head into the table, Billy picked him up and pinned him up against the brick wall with one of his arms flush against his lower back and his other arm outstretched in back of him. If Billy pulled back hard enough, he would break the man’s arm.

Billy’s eyes looked even darker than usual, like two small pieces of obsidian glaring at the man that dared to put his hands on you. “You think you can just put your hands on women whenever you feel like it, you piece of shit.” He said angrily. Although he wasn’t yelling, you knew he was absolutely furious. “Apologize to her or I’m gonna break your arm and make sure it will never be the same after tonight.”

“Billy!! He’s not worth it. I’m alright!” You insisted.

You watched as Billy pulled back slightly on the man’s arm causing him to cry out in pain. “APOLOGIZE NOW!!” He was yelling now as everyone watched on wondering if Billy was going to hurt the man more than he already had.

The man apologized profusely, over and over again he kept saying he was sorry until Billy finally let him go. The man crumpled to the ground like a puppet with the strings cut and the bar staff escorted him out.

Billy rushed to your side while you rubbed and shook your wrist to try and get your circulation back. “Are you alright, y/n? Let me see…” He gingerly took your wrist and looked it over. “You’re gonna have a bruise there. You sure you’re alright, baby?” You nodded and he kissed you on the forehead. “Let’s get the fuck outta here before I change my mind and finish what I started with his arm.” You weren’t sure you had ever seen Billy this angry before and you knew you had to get out of there before he made good on his threat.

You paid the check, Billy helped you with your coat and took your hand in his to lead you out of the bar. His car was parked a few blocks away and as you walked in silence, you felt the need to break that silence.

“Billy…can you stop and talk to me, please?” You pleaded with him.

But your words were met with more silence as you walked on towards the car. So you just stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and pulled his hand towards you.

“Billy stop!” You weren’t angry or scared, you just wanted to make sure he was ok.

His lips were pressed together in a straight line while he looked down at you, his breathing was shallow and labored and you knew he was still angry. “I’m not gonna let anyone put their hands on you, no one is going to hurt you while I’m around.”

But there was something else in his eyes that made your expression soften and your body less tense, he looked…scared, like if anyone were to hurt you, his world would come crashing down around him. You knew then and maybe you’ve always known that he loves you more than anything.

You thought back to when Billy finally decided to tell you about his childhood, how awful it must have been, as a small child to not have anyone around to protect you when you were the most vulnerable. Is that why he never let you get too far away from him? He felt the need to protect the most precious thing he has in his life at all costs because no one did that for him. It was something he could control and you understood why he reacted the way he did.

There was a dull ache in your chest as you slowly moved in closer towards him, almost as if to not scare him. Even though he was looking right at you, his pupils were wide and unfocused. You gently snaked your arms around his neck and tenderly raked your fingernails against his scalp. “I love how you always want to protect me, Billy. I feel safe with you. But that was…a little excessive. You could have really hurt him.”

“HE was hurting YOU.” He stated firmly.

“I know but you can’t save me from every drunk asshole out there, my love.”

The corners of his mouth turned up, you pulled a smile out of him and he seemed calm. “I can try, sweet girl. And look, I know this is going to sound really corny but the reason I try so hard to protect you is because I love you so much and…my heart doesn’t belong to me anymore, it belongs to you.”

Those words had your heart soaring, no one has ever made you feel this wanted, so desired, so beautiful, so…loved. Billy did though.

“I can’t believe I just said that out loud because it sounds so lame but it’s true, it’s all true.”

That made you laugh a little as you pulled him in for a kiss. “I love you too, Billy.” There was something in the way that Billy defended you that turned you on and a feeling came over your body like a rush of adrenaline and the kiss deepened, became more primal as your lips parted and your tongue tangled with Billy’s before he pulled away slightly to flash that smile at you.

He then looked at you slightly confused. “Wait…did watching me throw that guy against the wall, turn you on?!” He said slyly.

You were caught. “I only said it was a LITTLE excessive. I never said it wasn’t one of the hottest things I’ve ever seen, Billy. So why don’t you take me home, handsome. There are plenty of walls there that you can pin me against.”

Something in Billy snapped, he pressed against you with your back touching the car door to kiss you fiercely, the bulge straining against his suit pants thrusting you into the side of the car. His fingers reached under your shirt until he was lightly touching the skin on your stomach and he found the button of your jeans. “I can’t wait until we get home, I need you now, love.”

“Billy Russo, we are in the middle of the street!!”

His tongue darted out to lick his lips as he pulled back to wink and smile at you. Oh that smile, it would be your undoing. “That’s why I have tinted windows. Get in the car, baby.”

Tag List: @mindidjarin @saintmurd0ck @wheresthesunshinesblog

If you’d like to be added to (or removed from) my tag list for the ever so handsome Billy Russo, just let me know and thank you again for reading! 💕

[livinluxuriouslyselena]

Audiodrama Recommendations

Since I see so many requests for recommendations (mainly on the Audiodrama Subreddit) and make plenty of my own requests 😚

I decided a few months back that it seemed the least I could do was to pay the kindness forward (for all the times y’all have supplied me with suggestions).

Before browsing my list- I think it’s important to have a general idea of what kind of person the AD-lover is before getting your hopes up by their recommendations- because, taste is subjective, no? 😉☺️🌟

So, to me, audio drama is defined by having a full-cast of talented voice actors who’s job is to bring a well-written script to life. It is my opinion that *narration* has *no place* in audio drama **unless** it’s *absolutely essential* to the development of the plot as the script requires.

I’m a lover of all things **surreal** ( favorite Artist? Salvador Dalí, favorite author? Rob Shearman 🫠)- I have LOTS of weird sci-fi/horror/thriller/mystery AD’s under my belt.. (I have literally cleaned out the entire *Big Finish Audio* catalogue. 😳)

I grew up on horror everything - I was 5 when I saw *Poltergeist* 👀 so… and was reading my parents Stephen King books in elementary school 😅🙈🤷🏻‍♀️ - by the time I hit highschool I had watched every horror film in Blockbuster (wow I am old 🤦🏻‍♀️) - from the classics like *Psycho* & The Exorcist to the cheesy 80s b-roll slasher films 🙈😂🤣.

That said - I am an equal opportunity listener and I love many shades of comedy dramas. Though I do prefer my comedy to have a bit of *bite* to it.. 😅 and I’m not here for narration. Full cast audiodrama with sound production is my thing. 😅😉😘

as an adult I am partial to UK/Australian/Canada based entertainment. Even though I have lived in NYC my whole life 🤷🏻‍♀️

And here’s the list (I am sure I have forgotten about the audios from before I began this list - so feel free to add to it in the comments)

NOTE- most links take you to Spotify, some exceptions include the BBC SOUNDS app & audible

______________________________

Horror/sci-fi thriller/supernatural thrillers (simplified into “more-serious audiodrama”)

—Restart : by the creators of **The Cypher**

— Children of the Stones : (BBC) paranormal/sci-fi/thriller-mystery full cast audio drama.

—The Piper - (BBC) paranormal/sci-fi detective mystery/horror story (full cast audio drama)

— Jackie the Ripper : the infamous 19th century Whitechapel murders retold with some very sociologically-relevant, feminist twists. I debated whether to place this in the comedy or sci-fi/horror section because, technically, it’s a brilliantly British & even mix of both. Description from their website: “in this modern twist, men are the victims of dark, sexually aggressive murders. The kind that leave them penis-less... Behind all the bloodshed is a woman, Jackie, a ruthless serial killer ready to strike again, and again, and again….without a single ounce of remorse and ready to share it all on social media.”

— BODY HORROR (BBC) : psychological mystery thriller (contrary to the title of the piece, it’s not even remotely in the body horror subgenre lol - no gore or any talk of blood 🩸 because it’s not necessary - this one cuts deep, in particular for any1 who’s suffered from issues of identity or body-image disorders).

—In Another Room : paranormal investigation turned straight-horror

—Fulmar’s Folly uk-based post-apocalyptic water world

— Red Valley : surrealist-sci-fi-thriller-horror full cast UK audio drama. BRILLIANT plot & a few thought-provoking mysteries. S1 & 2 end w/ incredible twists & had me in tears one moment; and laughing the next. S3 is in the making & will be it’s final season; completing the story.

— Lusus - (BBC)- *like* an anthology (which I am not really into anthologies unless they are super original 😅) but if you *pay attention*, each very different story is linked. Each episode is unique in its own subgenre of the horror/mystery category.

—5 Week Countdown

— Murmurs (BBC) high-concept, surrealistic sci-fi-horror

—Limelight - another BBC AD: composed of mini-serials. My personal favorites are English Rose (5 part mini-series) ,The System series 1 (6 parts) & 2 (5 parts), Dead Hand (5 part mini-series, each episode a half an hour run-time), & Steelheads (5 parts)

—**Weird Tales** : (BBC) Some of these were just phenomenal. They ease you in with *The Fly* (not associated with the movie) and then they dial up the psychological fear-factor times 10 for *The Loop* - which was my favorite of the entire series. But they are all great (though the framing device is lazy & unnecessary)

— Malevolent : an indie lovecraftian tale

— Dashing Onions Audio : I read a review while Google searching best audiodrama - the mini series When We Were Two (3 part mini-series) was a perfect recommendation- this is how *every* Twilight Zone episode should have been. Upstairs, Upstairs was good just too short. Customs is a master class in script editing. Overall I prefer their mini series.

— Video Palace : traditional horror story

— The Man in Black bought on audible the version with Mark Gatiss; listened to the OG version on the BBC SOUNDS app. ((Anthology-horror)) Each episode is the length of many modern podcasted-audiodrama’s full seasons.

— Dangerous Visions (BBC) Horror/thriller

— Forest 404 (bbc) sci-fi/fantasy-thriller; hard to actually put this one into a genre category..but it’s written by Timothy X Attack, & if you’re a fan of his work with **Big Finish Audio**, it’s worth ur time.

— The Message sci-fi/mystery/thriller

— LifeAfter sci-fi/mystery/thriller

— Archive 81 : ((i suggest u start with S3. If you like it, wither go back to S1 & continue in order, or stick with the “backwards” route; going from S3->S2->S1 😉))

— The Imperfection : award winning. Any more description will ruin it. Go in cold.

— Who Killed Alaska? : sci-fi/mystery/thriller w/elements of surrealism,dark comedy, & possibilities of the paranormal..?

— How I Died : ongoing sci-fi/mystery/horror-thriller

— The Cypher : truly a great mystery (or mysteries..?), definitely a futuristic, world. Sci-fi thriller. Also by the BBC but available on most podcasting apps like the other BBC AD’s I have recommended here (spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Pocket Casts, a few are even available on audible)

— Petrified: Ireland based award winning full cast horror audio drama

— Subsister: A Real Podcast ongoing sci-fi mystery with multi-media/arg elements.

— The Deep Vault : made by the Archive 81 team. Fast paced true horror.

— The Oyster : this one I was apprehensive about & it was just… great. Cerebral, thought provoking, *moving*, psychologically-terrifying sci-fi. You will laugh & likely cry & feel your stomach fill with butterflies & it leaves a definite impression that lasts for days…

— Tracks (BBC) There are 5 different seasons - each could be listened to in isolation as they all have their own individual mysteries that are solved. All weird sci-fi, psychological thriller fiction

—Steal the Stars (renamed STORIES FROM THE STARS) : a shortened version (and obviously far more streamlined in storyline, production etc) of Archive 81 but here the writing shines, the pacing is absolute perfection - and then it’s like a roller coaster that I didn’t see coming - that ending I was so, so unprepared for 🤯🫢🤐

— Marvel’s Wolverine: The Long Night (can be found under the feed “Marvel’s Wolverine: The Lost Trail” - which is the 2nd season of the series) : I am not into the DC/Marvel universe. The last super-hero movie I saw was the 1990’s Batman movies 😳. I knew literally *nothing* about Wolverine, the character, when I finally caved into trying this…and boy, am I glad I did. This AD serves as yet another reminder of how holding onto preconceived notions only limits one’s potential for enjoyment. Anyway… this is absolutely not for children, & not an origin story (which is what I had been expecting). I was shocked to hear that the titular character (the term “Wolverine” is never used. It took a bit of googling for me to see that the missing “Logan” = Wolverine) is played by none other than Richard Armitage (who I know most recently from his spine-tingling portrayal of Rassilon in the Gallifrey Time War boxsets) and oddly enough, said-titular-character has very, very few lines/appearances in this story. I could go on, & on, & on trying to sell the idea of what this thing is & why it deserves your time - but it’s easy enough to just Google..

— St. Mary’s School for Children with the Stigmata

— The Grove : short serialized mythological horror story (obviously full cast)

—The Deca Tapes : almost like an experimental ARG-type formula? Basically you are dropped into a futuristic sociological experiment of sorts- and it’s up to the listener to figure out wtf is going on. This one has narration but it’s integral to the storytelling.

— BOOM (by Stak) : From their website: “It's 1999 and Enron finance manager Jim Yang has received an email from the future.”

—Parkdale Haunt* ((*I found the first season to be almost intolerable due to the very slow opening and pacing issues - but when it gets going it is good. I get the impression that they were finding their feet so-to-speak)) a supernatural horror story- seasons 2 & 3 are great - season 1 is a treck so if you don’t have the patience or tolerance, I advise skipping this one

—The Bright Sessions* (slow the 1st season. But worth it come the AM Archives)

—SCP: Find Us Alive : a darkly comedic horror serial set in the SCP universe but doing something CREATIVE within it

—The Sink: A Sleep Aid (BBC) immersive experience in psychological horror

—Case 63 : a short, professionally recorded, concisely-written psychological thriller

—Blood Culture : horror/sci-fi serial

—Quiet Part Loud : by Jordan Peele. This is a must listen.

—Tomorrow’s Monsters : serialized horror/sci-fi thriller

—Eliza : A Robot’s Story : professionally recorded.

—Borrasca* : paranormal investigation turned horror series by Q-code so that in itself is an advertisement warning complete.

—Passenger List: slow burn mystery. Caitlin Le, an Asian college student from Kansas is attending university in NYC when news breaks of a plane going missing (ala the Malaysian airline’s mystery). As the “disaster” unfurls, she is surprised to discover her twin brother was on the flight from London to New York. Months later the airline announces a “bird strike” was responsible for the flight crash; despite the fact that no evidence of a crash has been found. Caitlin Le can’t move on until she knows what happened to her twin. Soon she uncovers multiple rabbit holes 🕳️ and she gets lost . Did she really ever truly know her twin brother?

— Batman Unburied : I’m not into the whole Marvel comics thing but this audio drama does something different with classic tropes

—Batman : The Audio Adventures : again, very well done. I was into the Gotham TV show for awhile - but that’s the only marvel/DC-spawned-entertainment that’s ever caught my attention. This is another one that works for both fans of the Batman and newbs alike

—The Secret of St. Kilda : this is more of a drama with some supernatural/mythical elements

—Give Me Away : I was torn whether to put this one in the comedy or serious section because it’s more of a “dramedy ”. And it’s scary because of what it says about society but not traditional horror. It’s also by the team who did *Steal the Stars*

—Paragon : an hour-length sci-fi/horror audio drama and is part of the PRIMORDIAL DEEP feed

—Wake of Corrosion : post-apocalyptic horror (ongoing)

—Quietly Yours : straight-up horror, bottle episodes (anthology of cinematic horror drama for the ears)

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Non-horror full cast audio drama (space operas, comedic serials, etc)

—Juno Steel : part of the Penumbra Podcast

—EOS 10 : comedic space opera

— Brimstone Valley Mall : dark comedy nostalgia fest

—We Fix Space Junk : comedic space opera

—Marscorp : comedic space opera

—Classified : Dark Comedy, triggers : mental illness/asylums

—Wooden Overcoats : dark comedy “sitcom”

—Mockery Manor : nostalgia-fueled dark comedy/mock/horror

—Eternal Strife : comedic serial

—Victoriocity : a less serious, less professional version of Jago & Litefoot

—Alba Salix : comedic serial fantasy

—Bubble : this one is a weird one because it is full cast and yet it has a designated narrator… so… 😏 give it a shot & if it doesn’t work for you probably give it a pass 😙

—The Candyman : Horror-comedy/parody - very indie but quite short and worth it 👏😂

—Human B-Gone : ongoing but so far so funny

—Two Flat-Earthers Kidnap a Free Mason: This one is definitely meant to be a farcical, satirical look at the internet conspiracy world (ie: the people who followed Alex Jones’ almost religiously lol) - it’s only 14 episodes in so far, and clearly ongoing… it’s not great but it works if you’re bored..? There are certain parts that would be really funny if the pacing had been better.

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Free Full Cast Audible Audio Dramas Worth Your Time (modern radio/audio drama & *FREE*)

—Space: 1969 (comedy/alternate reality) pieces of the description from the site: “What if President John F. Kennedy had survived and rocketed the Space Race of the 1960s into overdrive? And what if he was, maybe, not quite… himself? Space: 1969 is a retro sci-fi comedy adventure that has to be heard to be believed!”

—Heads Will Roll dark fantasy comedy

—Radioman (psych thriller/horror) from the site: “When a series of gruesome murders leaves a community in despair, a former local DJ decides to start a podcast and do something about it. But as his following grows, long-buried secrets from the past resurface revealing not everyone is who they truly seem....”

—The Method (serial killing actor- intense)from the site: “James Patterson leads you into the darkest recesses of the mind with this chilling, immersive audio thriller. We meet Brent Quill, a frustrated actor trying to take his game to the next level. When he learns about the intensive Method acting process, he dives in deep—and immediately lands the lead role in a TV series about a brutal serial killer.”

—The Catchers (straight horror/paranormal possibly cryptid) from the site: “Catchers is a small-town horror tale with all the charm of a classic ‘80s creature-feature, updated for the modern era.”

—Self Center (dark comedic horror; social relevancy)

—Hit Job (dark comedy)

—The Rivals: Tales of Sherlock Holmes’ Rivals (what it says on the tin - but very funny as well as delivering good mysteries)

—Tribulation : religion trigger warning. Interesting idea - religious cult on an AM broadcast is using electricity to “steal” people and force them into “tribulation”…

—High Strangeness : Doctor Who meets X-Files & Stranger Things - very good; very funny

—Apocalypse Untreated : “five mentally ill teenagers in an inpatient wilderness program during the apocalypse face not only the end of the world, but also the end of their prescriptions. Now, they have to figure out what’s real and what’s just a side effect, and keep their wits about them as they fight for their lives and their minds. Apocalypse Untreated is a multi-part, post-apocalyptic thriller brought to life with world class sound design, and performance.”

—Sorry Charlie Miller : another one w/Zachary Quinto (the protagonist/antagonist of The Method) but this is a modern comedy - from the website “Sorry Charlie Miller is a Tik Tok era mystery with twists, turns, and a whole lot of questionable fashion choices. It takes place in Florida, hello.” - so yeah, for me it depends on the time of the day and time of the month. It’s good for the right time basically 😂

—Sheltered : British humor - very bingeable just wish there was more 😔 Description from the site: “It’s been centuries since Armageddon and no one has ever left the bunker that has sustained what remains of civilised human life....When innocent simpleton Gary and social climber Veronica are sent to explore the world outside, they soon regret ever leaving the safety, soft furnishings and quilted toilet paper of Fallout Shelter 7421.”

—Sour Hall : magical horror staring Pearl Mackie (aka: Bill from the Capaldi years of Doctor Who, also the protagonist of AD Forest 404)

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[user21340]

maybe somthing where reader gets hurt and nat helps?

falling for you

(not my gif)

summary: you are a pretty injury prone person on many different occasions. you also don’t have the best relationship with the one and only natasha romanoff. what will nat do when you are tired of the team’s comments about your clumsiness and your life is in her hands?

pairing: natasha romanoff x fem!reader

genre: minor angst and fluff

warnings: self neglect, violence, cursing, alcohol consumption (let me know if i’m missing anything)

word count: 2.5k

a/n: hey! thank you all for 408 followers! sorry i haven’t been release too much content lately i really have just been super dry on ideas. teen beach movie is so cute and is literally just bi panic for me the whole time between maia mitchell and ross lynch. sorry if this fic is kinda sucky the last quarter of it was written at 7 am with no sleep prior but i hope you enjoy and have a nice rest of your day! love youuu! 💕

being the newest addition to the so-called ‘Avengers Initiative’ is the best thing that could’ve ever happened to you. with that being said, it isn’t all smooth sailing, contrary, it’s quite a bumpy road. this has nothing to do with your personality or even capabilities, but your one main character flaw, your clumsiness.

ten months ago…

you had been on the team for around two weeks now and were finally getting settled in with them. to be completely honest, you are pretty easy to coexist with. you clean up after yourself, are independent but have no issue working with others if necessary, have an overall bubbly and positive personality which makes it very difficult for any of the team members to hate you, which lets you fill the role of an avenger perfectly.

all was well until you were training pretty hard one night alone and made the mistake of not wrapping your hands before slipping on your gloves when bombarding the 120lb heavy bag with all different types of punches while controlling your breathing.

SH

SHHH

SHH

CRACK

since you lacked the wrist support of the wraps, one wrong placement of your jab caused you one broken left wrist. yes it did hurt, but you’ve also dealt with much worse. so you walk yourself down to Dr. Cho’s office to see if her or one of her assistants are in at the moment only worrying about the length of the recovery time.

lucky for you, Helen was in her office finishing some last-minute paperwork so you were able to catch her before she left.

“Excuse me, Dr. Cho? Could you take a quick look at my wrist, I’m pretty sure I broke it while training.” you say.

“Sure y/n take a seat.” she responds.

ten minutes later...

“SIX WEEKS? Is there really no way to speed up the healing process?” you groan.

“Sorry y/n/n it’s the best I can do for you. Just take it easy so six weeks is the maximum time you need to fully heal.”

“Okay, thank you anyways.” you mutter.

in the morning, almost all of the team is concerned by the state of your wrist. they were also pretty confused about how in the world you managed to break your wrist without being on a mission. fortunately, there were no major missions taking place during the six weeks you were healing.

eight months ago…

it hadn’t been long since your last accident but that didn’t stop you from injuring yourself once again. january rolled around and you were picking up some pastries and coffee for yourself and wanda at your favorite cafe in nyc. it had rain the night prior and the temperature also dropped below freezing point causing a lot of the roads and sidewalks to be iced over. as one would predict, about five minutes into your walk, you took a step and landed on the side of your foot causing you to sprain or break your ankle. you still continued your walk to the cafe because it was only another two minutes away. you limped back to the compound with all the goods. you approached your floor which you also shared with natasha and wanda.

it may also be a good time to mention that you were the least close and even had a tiny crush on natasha but neither of those factors stopped you from trying to grow your friendship and/or relationship with her. you make your way to the kitchen and both women are attempting to recreate one of their favorite european dishes which isn’t too uncommon for them as they took comfort talking about their home countries with one another.

“Hey Wands, I got more pastries than usual so just take whatever you want.” as you place the bags on the counter and hand her her coffee you notice nat giving you a side eye, probably annoyed at you for interrupting their cooking session. “Thank you y/n/n, you’re the best.” wanda says, “Oh Nat, I also got you a slice of red velvet cake because it reminded me of you.” you blush. “I don’t like red velvet.” natasha deadpans. “I-it’s okay, you don’t need to have it.” you say embarrassed as ever, looking down at your feet. you start limping over to your room. “Hey, hey, what’s up with the limp hun?” wanda asks as she runs over to you completely disregarding your uncomfortable conversation with nat you had fifteen seconds prior. “Nothing, just slipped while walking to the cafe.” “Well what are you doing walking to your room then? Come on, let's go see Cho.” you are about to protest but she just picks you up and carries you to the compound’s infirmary.

after wanda drops you off at the infirmary, Dr. Cho tells you you have to heal for eight weeks which really puts a damper on your mood.

present...

now don’t let the time skip fool you, the injuries never stopped occurring and the team's comments regarding said injuries only increased. broken nose from soccer with the team for team bonding, concussion from bumping into a shield agent, broken fingers from bar fights with creeps who try hitting on you, wanda, carol, or even nat, and many more minor and major injuries.

at the beginning when these accidents happened, whenever tony, nat, or sam would make comments such as, “Jesus, we might as well start wrapping you in bubble wrap, kid.” or “Y/n, you have got to start drinking more milk.” everyone would have a good laugh including you. however, after months of enduring the same lame jokes made over and over again ended up annoying you more than anything. when you get injured now, barely anyone checks in on you and it kinda reminds you of the boy who cried wolf in the sense that since your injuries weren’t entirely life threatening no one gives a shit or even if they are life threatening, no one believes you.

your bubbly personality is becoming more of a simmer and no one seems to notice or care. since wanda has been spending most of her time with a certain red synthezoid you are pretty lonely. you now train efficiently and hard so you have less room to make mistakes in the field and real world. by training this way, it is pretty common for you to forget to eat or even sleep.

since you aren’t feeling the best due to the lack of sleep and nutrition you start walking to the main kitchen for the team and coincidentally a majority of the team is hanging out in the living room watching some shitty soap opera. you take a step forward only to trip on an arc reactor just laying on the floor and brace yourself for impact per usual, but to your surprise it never comes. instead you feel two arms gripping your waist to keep you from hitting the cold tile floors. you turn around to see who has saved you the embarrassment of getting a minor concussion only to see nat.

you both are looking at one another with wide eyes and look at the living room full of ‘earth’s mightiest heroes’ only to see everyone staring at your and nat’s first non-forced interaction in months. you heard tony’s chuckle followed by, “Y/n, how do you manage to fuck up walking? maybe we should just start carrying you everywhere.`` everyone else starts laughing as well. you take one last glance at natasha only to see she isn’t laughing but you still decide to head back to your room before you end up punching tony in his little smug face.

as you are in your room you figure that heading to a bar and drinking your sorrows away would be better than being cooped up in your room all night. when you arrive at the bar it doesn’t take long at all for you to get wasted. however, even when you are hammered, you can still feel when you are being watched.

to your dismay, you turn around only to find a group of around 3 men not even trying to hide their predatory gazes. you quickly get the bartender's attention so you can pay because surely due to the state you are in, there is no way in hell you’ll be able to take out 3 men who are all at least two times bigger than you.

you take about nine steps out the door only to be stunned with some type of taser and dragged to the nearest ally. one of the men flip you on your back so you are able to look them in the eyes and says, “Aww, if it isn’t the precious little avenger y/n l/n. It really is too bad that by the time we are finished with you, you’ll have the title of avenger stripped from you.” just as you are about to ask them what they want from you, a strong kick to the ribs interrupts your train of thought followed by more harsh kicks to head, thighs, arms, and pretty much everywhere else imaginable. two of the men walk away and through your dazed vision you are able to make out the hydra symbol on the back of one man’s hat. the last man just towers over you, takes out a handgun and fires it at the outer side of your left shoulder. the man just chuckles before walking away from the alley knowing you’ll bleed out in no time.

you reach your shaky right hand into your pocket and take out your phone. you call wanda no answer, tony no answer, sam, cap, bruce, and bucky wouldn’t be at the compound because they had a mission tonight (which you weren’t able to wish them good luck on). it was starting to get more difficult to keep your eyes open and your breathing steady but you’d be able to make a call to one last person before you blacked out for good. you clicked natasha’s contact and you were baffled to see she actually picked up. “What do you want?” she asks clearly, a bit annoyed, “N-nat I need help. I don’t have much time. Please don’t let me die.” you plead. “Woah woah, what are you talking about? I swear to god y/n, if this is another dislocated shoulder-” she rambles, “NAT, PLEASE!” you cry. nat quickly traces your phone’s location and sprints to her car. “Alright, y/n/n I’m on my way, please just keep your eyes open for me, okay?” “You always had the prettiest eyes nat. I’m sorry I was more of a burden to you and the team than anything else. I hope you can forgive me someday.” you mumble. “No, no, no I’m almost there, hang on.” and with that the line goes silent.

about thirty seconds later nat pulls up to the alley where she sees your disheveled figure lying in a pool of blood. she gasps but rushes over to check your pulse and lift you into the passenger side of her car. nat wasn’t sure of the last time she was this worried about someone. as she handed you over to Dr. Cho, she felt all of the guilt of her past interactions with you flood her mind.

*flashback*

y/n became pretty familiar with each avenger’s way of destressing after a tough mission she also paid a lot of attention to natasha’s routine in particular. nat’s routine consisted of a long warm bath with amazing smelling soaps, binging of cheesy reality tv shows, and the consumption of her favorite russian comfort foods which were hard to get a hold of during the early morning hours when she’d usually return to the compound. with all of this being said, y/n had taken the time to gather and put all of these comfort tools together and set up natasha’s room so she didn’t have to worry about anything upon her arrival and could just relax for once. she had also written a note and placed a bright sticky note on nat’s door that read:

i hope you enjoy your night.

remember, if you need anything

or anyone to talk to, my door

is always open for you :)

love, y/n

a couple hours after nat’s arrival y/n receives a text from her that reads, “Stay out of my room.” this hurt. something y/n wasn’t aware of was the tears in nat’s eyes when she took notice of all the little details you managed to perfect to a t with her routine.

*end of flashback*

nat needed you to be okay even though she’d never admit it until that day. something about seeing you look so small, vulnerable, beaten, and battered broke natasha’s cold heart. nat stays in the infirmary room with you for a couple hours after she’s notified the team about your condition and she began to grow drowsy and with that she falls into a light sleep.

she is awoken in what feels like a blink of an eye only to see you slowly rustling around under the covers above you. she lunges to the side of the bed as you slowly open your eyes.

“Hi.” you rasp.

“Hey.” she responds while surveying your figure.

“Jeez, you step on one little pebble and this happens to you.” you send a small smirk her way as you carefully lift your hands up to wave them over your upper body.

“Not funny.” she says.

“Come on Nat, don’t act like you care.” you chuckle but her brow furrows.

“I do. As you may know I’m just not the best at showing it.”

“Oh reallyyy? You wouldn’t mind showing me how much you care then would you- Wait. What is that on your cheek?” she quickly brushes her slender fingers over her cheek and you think you also see a light warmth growing on the skin she just brushed over. possibly from the embarrassment of something so miniscule disrupting her appearance even though yours is clearly in much worse shape.

“Nope. Missed it. Here, let me get it for you.” you lean into her as she is visibly confused and place a gentle kiss on her cheek. “Got it.” you laugh and you can see a wide smile grow on the redhead's face. “No you didn’t.” now it was your turn to be confused before a pair of the softest lips you’d ever felt collide with yours. you got into the rhythm of each other's lips and it felt like you’d both done this thousands of times before with one another. the kiss is broken when nat pulls away for air and you let out a little whine. “Now you did.” she giggles, “We’ve got to do that again.” you say still stunned from the kiss. “Well, I plan on it, detka.” she presses a quick peck on your forehead and skips out of your room. this was when you realised, you’d fall for her anyday, anytime, anywhere.

[peterparkers-bad-youtube-apology]

maybe Y/N Stark is a new avenger, Peter see her before in a college party where they had very great sex. When she is introduced to everone. Wanda reading her thoughts finds out what happened between them. and CAOS. I love you xx

Okay see I love this because it plays into my favorite headcannon that (y/n) Stark is just a big party girl. My favorite trope is just like mean x soft, love someone who is just soft for their baby and that is so my favorite way to potray (y/n) Stark, like she’s just kind of brat expect for with Peter. Anyway I’m saying a big fat yes, and here she is. Hope you like it babe! Love you xx

Guys I am still doing requests and promts so please feel free to send some in, or even just hit me up, would love to be your bestie 💖

Awkward

Pairing: Peter Parker x Stark! Reader

Summary: The first post hookup meetup is always a little awkward 

Prompts

Masterlist

//

(y/n)’s pov

New York city has to be the most magical place in the world, the lights are brighter, the buildings are taller, and the parties are way more awesome than the little boarding school dorm parties I’m used to. As a Stark it’s really just my social obligation to throw the best parties in the city though, and that’s a lot of pressure. I knew my New York debut would have to be awesome, so I rented out the 404 NYC and filled it to the brim with the best food and liquor money could buy, the most killer DJ I could find, and sent out an invitation to every socialite in the city. 

Then I invited Peter Parker, a boy I’ve only ever met in passing really, but he was important to my dad. Dad always used to tell me he thought we’d really get along, but we never really got the chance to know each other before dad passed away. Now that I’m in New York I want to try to be friends, he’s also the only avenger my age so if I want to carry on my dad’s legacy I think he’ll be a good teammate to have. From what I remember he was just a dorky, quiet kid, he’d hardly said two words to me the handful of times we had met. So you can only imagine my surprise when he walked in and the dorky little boy next door had become possibly the hottest boy in all of NYC. 

“Hey Peter,” I giggled as I waved to him, “I’m so glad you came.”

“Yeah, of course, I was a little surprised you invited me though…” he rubbed the back of his neck with an awkward smile.

“Oh yeah, I just figured a friend of daddy’s is a friend of mine,” I stopped one of the waiters walking by and passed Peter a drink, “Here, have this, it’s crazy good.”

He takes a little sip and nods, “Good. I’m glad you did, I was wondering if you were still gonna go to college out here after everything that happened.”

“Of course! I love New York,” I wink before taking a big swig of my own drink, “Plus I kind of wanted to give the whole Avengers thing a shot.”

“I heard, Fury said you’ve been talking about helping out.”

I nod, “Yeah, I don’t know if I really want to be a superhero per say, but it’s my dad’s legacy and I want to help out in some way.”

“Cool,” he blushed as he glanced down at his drink, “Sorry, parties aren’t really my thing still, I actually kind of just came to see how you were.”

“Aw,” I coo, “That’s so cute, I thought you would be, you seem more confident, you actually look me in the eyes now, mostly.”

He looked back up at me with a smile, “More confident sure, but I still don’t really go to parties.”

“Well you’re like an honorary Stark aren’t you?”

His whole face flushed red at that, “I don’t know about that.”

“Nah, you totally are, which means you’ve got to party like one,” I push the drink to his lips, “Chug that and we’ll get you another, then I’ll teach you how to dance,” I wink, downing my own drink to demonstrate.

He takes a deep breath and down the whole cup in one drink.

/

The first thing I notice when I wake up is how unusually warm it is, then it’s the arm around my waist. I roll over groggily and rub my eyes, giving myself just a few moments to take everything in. The first thing I spot is Peter, laying in bed besides me, naked. After checking him out for a second, what happened last night comes crashing back to my mind.  I feel my face start to burn, don’t get me wrong, he was great in bed, but I just know I totally corrupted him. Oops. 

It’s a little hard to feel bad when the sex was that good.

Peter’s eyes flutter open, looking over me sleepily before going wide eyed, “H-Hi,” he stutters.

“Hey,” I smile back, “You’re like a little space heater you know?”

“Uh, thanks,” he sits up very suddenly, looking a little frantic as he grabs his phone, “I-I’m sorry I really have to go, I h-have plans.”

I frown, watching him scramble back into his clothes, “No problem, I’m sure I’ll see you around?”

He nods, not meeting my eyes as he pulls his shirt on, “Y-Yeah, see you!” he’s out the door fast enough to give me whiplash.

Did I just get smashed and dashed by Peter Parker?

/

I feel awkward about what happened with Peter, I mean I had a good time but the more I think about it it just seemed like something was off that morning. I want to apologize or something, but I don’t have his number or anything. I was hoping he’d be at the Avengers tower while I’m in today, but no such luck. I feel really bad, I had a lot of fun with him, I really did want to be friends. He just really doesn’t seem like the type to hit it and quit it so I really feel like I did something wrong…

“Oh hey kid,” Bucky breaks my train of thought and draws my attention away from the papers I was looking over, “What are you up to?” “Looking over some of my dad's old suit plans,” I hum, “What about you?”

“After mission snack,” he smiles as he opens the fridge, “Peter and Wanda were right behind me.”

My eyes widen and I look right to the door, waiting for them to enter and debating what I should do. I guess just ask him to talk?

He meets my eyes as soon as he enters the room, his cheeks flush instantly and he clears his throat, “Oh, hey (y/n).”

“Hey,” I smile back.

Screw that fucking Spiderman suit, he should go to jail for looking like that.

“Hi (y/n)” Wanda smiles as she walks in behind him, “How are you?”

“Good, you?”

“Starving,” she rubs her stomach with a smile, “I need a snack,” she heads right for the kitchen while Peter just stands a few feet away from me. “How was your mission?” I ask.

“Good, nothing special really,” he crosses his arms over his chest, “How have you been?”

“Good.”

How do I bring this up? I mean normally if I hook up with someone I don’t care that much about talking to them after, but I really liked hanging out with Peter at the actual party too. He’s awesome in bed, let’s not pretend he isn’t, but he’s funny too, and wicked smart. Plus he’s a lot nicer than most guys, I don’t know, I just really got along with him. I really hope I didn’t ruin things between us.

“Well I’m just gonna grab a snack too,” Peter pushes his hand through his hair, a light pink color dusting his cheeks and nose, “I’m pretty tired…”

“I bet, you should get some rest,” I cross my legs and turn back to the notes, only to spot Wanda staring at us, “What?”

She smirks, “Nothing, nothing.”

I frown, “Okay, not nothing, what is it?” “You two are just having some interesting thoughts,” she snickers.

Both Peter and I flush red while Bucky cocks his head in confusion, “What are they thinking about?”

She gets ready to speak but I’m quick to interject, “Nothing.”

“The kids were just having a little fun,” she smirks, “Come on Bucky, I think they need a little alone time.”

He went wide eyed, “You two better not try anything in here.”

“Jesus Christ we won’t!” I snap, “You two are gross!”

“Oh I’m gross?” Wanda raises a brow, “I know exactly what’s going on in that little head of yours,” she glances towards Peter, “She’s into the suit Peter.”

“Hey!” I glare at her while he blushes, “Don’t kink shame me.”

“I’m gonna go throw up,” Bucky snatches up his food on his way out. “You better leave to,” I threaten Wanda, pointing my pen at her as threateningly as I can.

She starts laughing, “Yeah I’m getting out of here before you two start getting heated,” she winks to me as she saunters out of the room, “Wrap it up this time!”

“Hey!” I snap, my cheeks flushing once more, “I have an IUD,” I try to assure Peter, who seems to be malfunctioning, “Uh, you good?”

His mouth hangs open for a minute before he speaks, “I’m really sorry about them.”

I shrug, “It’s fine. I really did want to talk to you alone though, I’m really sorry about the party.”

He knits his brow, “Why are you sorry? I had fun at the party.”

“It seemed like you regretted it,” I bite the inside of my cheek nervously.

He purses his lips and shakes his head, “I don’t regret it. I shouldn’t have left like I did though, I promise I’m not normally like that.”

“Oh,” I don’t really know what to say, “So you really just had to go?”

He averts his eyes before shaking his head, “I kinda panicked?”

“Panicked?” I chuckle, some of my nerves starting to ease out, “Why?”

“I just haven’t really done that before…” he blushed.

My jaw falls open, “Oh my God Peter I am so sorry, I had no idea. I should have asked if I was your first th-”

“No, no! Not like that, I’ve slept with people before,” he shakes his head, “It’s just always been with long term girlfriends. I just didn’t really know what to do when we got up and I panicked.”

I can’t help the small laugh that escapes from my lips, “That’s really cute Peter, and I mean what you did was fine, I was just a little disappointed I guess. I mean I had a lot of fun just hanging out too so I was kind of hoping we could have kept hanging out, but if you just wanted a one night stand that’s fine too.”

“W-Well I wanted to keep hanging out too, I guess I should have just asked,” he laughs lightly at himself, “Sorry.”

“You can make it up to me by taking me on a date sometime,” I shrug, “You know, just if you still wanted to hang out sometime.”

He goes wide eyed before clearing his throat, “Oh, um, yeah, I should do that. Do you, uh, have plans tonight?”

I shake my head, “Nope.”

“Cool, uh, would you want to go to the movies then?”

I nod eagerly, “I would love to.”

“O-Okay!” he grins ear to ear, “I’m gonna go shower though, and change! I’ll be back in ten?”

“I’ll be right here,” I smile back, “Can’t wait.”

“Me either,” he begins walking away but spins suddenly loudly declaring, “Oh!” before he spins back around. He presses a quick peck to my lips and bites his lips, “Okay, I’ll be right back.”

I blush, my stomach filling with anxious butterflies, “I’ll be waiting.”