#since it specifically said you I decided to write this about myself and fiancé anyway

[bstroobery]

“You’re kidding,” I mumbled as I looked up at the two officers in front of me. “Why would you guys choose me? I mean, I’m a sad pathetic guy that no one would-”

“Oh.”

I guess it all made sense. No one was exactly trustworthy of this new peace treaty. If the alien empire did in fact end up killing the prince of the humans to destroy moral or something, then it would be best to send in a nobody that lives completely alone in his apartment. I was that nobody.

But I actually didn’t complain much. It’s better than remaining in that run down apartment. You know, I could die and no one would notice until a neighbor began complaining about the smell from my place. So, possibly being killed by an alien princess would exactly be too bad.

The problem was convincing them. I wasn’t exactly the “royal” type. The governments all came together and decided to choose some random schmuck to get this stupid war possibly over with.

Things moved by quickly as they got me ready. Pretty soon, everything I had was packed and I was on a ship to a neutral planet that had been selected for the ceremony. It was going to follow the empire’s customs. So… I’d have to be schooled on that.

It was… weird, honestly. To think a week ago I was just living my boring average life. Now I’m named the Prince of Humans and betrothed to an alien I’d never even seen before. No one had actually seen what the aliens in the empire looked like. Not out of armor anyway.

Before I knew it, we were there. I made my way through the square with the officers by my side. Everyone looked at me. Aliens from different species all watching us curiously. Earth was an outlier planet, apparently. Every other known planet had been in contact with one another before.

The Empire soldiers stepped forward, with them a dark slimy creature. To be honest, if this was my bride-to-be, it could be worse.

But then he cleared his throat, clearly seeing the nervousness on my face as I watched him. His skin was made of that black goo, and it moved around unnaturally as he simply stood there. Actually… I guess it technically would be natural for them.

“So,” he said, speaking through a universal translator, “you’re the prince?”

I had been handed one too. I nodded. “Um… yes…” Damn that was the least confident answer I could have given. One of the officers gave me a dirty look. “Yeah. Uh… my name is Simon.”

The creature nodded. “I’m the leader of this empire. You’ll be marrying my daughter,” he said as one blue eye looked me over. “Sadly.”

I nodded. “Um… when do I meet her?”

The Emperor smiled at me. “I’ll actually be relieving you if you guards. Don’t worry. We honor our peace treaties. No harm will befall you.”

I gulp down my fear and press myself forward. Something in his eye told me he could feel that fear deep within my soul. The officers didn’t actually bother following as soldiers began talking with them.

The Emperor led me to a hotel of sorts, where we were greeted by many… friendly people. They were extremely nice. They’d asked how my journey was, if I’d had a long day, needed to rest, or if I needed any refreshments. I was surprised by the hospitality, honestly.

The Emperor cleared his throat, and I looked over to see a caring smile on his face. “Please,” he said, “follow me.” It was… odd.

I continue to follow him until we reach a garden. There, standing on the balcony overlooking it all, stood the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. She had light brown hair with blue tips, radiant smooth skin, and fluffy blue bunny ears peaking out from the hairdo. It was done in a clipped up sort of style, making it appear shorter than it really was.

“Blue,” The Emperor said, “the Prince of Humans is finally here.”

She turned and smiled at me with eyes that were nearly black, rosy cheeks, and a warm and welcoming expression. She wore a blue gown that hugged the top of her figure before flowing down to the ground, forming a train behind her. She walked over and smiled at me.

“Hello,” she said softly. “I’m sorry that my English is a bit… I’ve only been learning for a few years now.”

She didn’t have a translator on…

“No,” I said with a shy smile on my face as I felt it heat up, “it’s actually pretty good.” I hold out my hand. “I’m Simon, by the way.”

Blue looked down at my hand before taking it and shaking it slowly. “You, handshake, right?”

I nod. “Yeah. Uh… what do you usually do when you meet people?”

Blue smiled, pulled their hand away, and then held out their other hand. “We shake hands too,” they laughed.

I laughed too, shaking their hand with my other.

The Emperor rolled his eye at us.

Gosh. It’s a shame I’m betrothed to the Emperor’s daughter. Blue is actually… very nice. I wouldn’t mind getting to know her more.

“So you’re the one I’m betrothed to,” she laughed.

What?

The Emperor nodded, giving a sly smile at my confusion must have been… extremely evident on my face. “Yes, I’m aware we don’t have much of a family resemblance. But Blue is my daughter.”

“Adopted,” she laughed again. It was a contagious laugh. “So, Simon, we should probably get to know each other better.”

I nodded. How the hell did I luck out this much?

The two of us spent a lot of time together, no guards around either of us. We spent most of our time in the gardens, which were very lovely. Blue showed me multiple different plants, and animals.

At the end of the evening, we both simply sat on a bench, watching the stars and talking.

“You’re a lot cuter than I expected you’d be,” she said, smiling.

“You too, actually,” I said back.

Blue nodded and looked up at the stars. “But, there is one thing I have to say.” She slid her hand over mine gently, the other reaching up towards my neck, and then the next thing I knew, I was pinned to the ground with a knife to my throat. “You’re not actually the Prince of Humans.”

I stared up at them in shock. It probably wasn’t hard to figure out, but it wasn’t exactly easy either. I thought I put up a good act.

“H-how are you so sure?” I ask sheepishly. The blade gets closer to my throat. Not enough to cut, but there is definitely a lot of pressure making it hard to breathe without cutting me.

“Earth has way too many governments to have just one prince,” she said. “You’re a very… divisive species. Our empire is diverse too, but at least we’re all United under one flag. Unlike your planet.”

She leaned down closer to me. When she had pinned me down, some of her hair had come undone and was falling close to my face.

“Listen,” I said, “I’m just a nobody they sent here because no one would miss me. No one trusted the treaty.”

Blue sighed, removing the knife from my throat and helping me back up. “Oh, we’re aware. We’re not stupid,” she huffed. “My father had already completed a full background check of you the moment you had left Earth to get here.”

I put a hand to my neck as I processed the fact that I could breathe normally again, as well as all she had just told me.

“That being said,” she laughed, “you’re still pretty cute. Marry me as planned and maybe we can take down your planet together? They were the ones who sent you to die, after all.”

God the whiplash from all the turns this conversation took was giving me a migraine. Processing it all took some time. But even before my thoughts were able to catch up with me, the words still fell out of my mouth.

“Absolutely.”

Blue smiled at me and grabbed my arm. “Great! Maybe we can start some preparations for the siege.”

As I followed them, the reality of everything finally set in. How they had already known I was a fake, how they were planning to kill me, how Blue suggested we marry anyway and destroy Earth, and my answer…

My answer was still the same. I would absolutely marry Blue, and I wouldn’t quite mind the Empire taking over Earth.

Honestly, as long as I was outside my dingy apartment and someone would actually notice if I died, I don’t care what the hell happens. And marrying Blue isn’t a half-bad idea either.

Due to rising tensions, humanity and the alien empire have decided to make peace with a political marriage between a prince and princess of the two species. The empire isn’t aware that mankind doesn’t have a singular prince, but the world will pretend, so you’re picked to marry god-knows-what.

[nothingmancy]

hung aloft the night - chapters 2 and 3 dvd commentary

let's get into it...

I think every AU version of Quentin needs (and can have, which is fun!) the Fillory series as a component of his personality. this is true in my teacher/single parent AU too!! here I imagined it would be more literally Alice in Wonderlandish in public perception. canon-wise obviously Plover's whole deal is Lewis Carroll directly fused to C.S. Lewis but my ideas....were about vibes...... how many AUs can I write before me working this in as a slight riff is like annoying

not to repeat myself from my last silly commentary but another essential component of queliot is the "I'm going to tell you something deep and dark and personal. Ready? Okay" which translates pretty conveniently for Eliot infodumping about vampires. there also needed to be a sense of playfulness even though Eliot is telling him kind of dark stuff, and then subsequently Quentin in chapter 3 is just taking notes, because he's a nerd

I meant to create a sense that this was different from the Magicians' universe's magic. I thought probably too hard about how to portray the vampires and greater universe because I wanted Gothic fiction vibes! I wanted this one to be more like, Creature Mythos with an emphasis on Mythos. you know, folklore!! like Ms. Swift said......

I went back and forth a lot on how, uh, sheltered? to make Quentin, which comes up for the first time in this chapter with his greenness when it comes to drinking, so I'll discuss it here.......but essentially underlying all my choices is my thesis that in this version of reality he would have literally no close friends other than Julia and then James. pondering his Big Virg-osity reminded me of the Atonement behind the scenes story where it was really important to Joe Wright that Keira Knightley's character was a virgin for the Themes even though some like historical expert came to the set and explained that high society girls in the time were REALLY fucking. but I think my choice is more artistically sound on account of Quentin Coldwater and also that whole story is embarrassing for Joe Wright and making Quentin an incredible virgin is not embarrassing, it's emotionally resonant. BUT ANYWAY TO GET BACK TO THE POINT, what I ultimately wound up going for was that Quentin's lack of potential for interaction with even different points of view and literally no Google/internet + general repression + Quentin's specific, somehow more painful since people certainly fucked in the 1880s, repression + almost no friends = the guy in this fic. again I will continue to talk about this.

also to bring it back to stuff in the chapter, the unicorn line is about Quentin being a virgin thus attracting unicorns, bit copyright to my fiancé

it's funny to have Eliot be the introducing mentor/expert/audience explainer, canonically and otherwise, because he's Eliot. he's 19(0) and he's never learned how to fuckin read. that number is not literal I never decided how old eliot is EXACTLY in this fic, what am I a math nerd???

equally as much as Quentin is just a guy hanging out adjacent to a fantasy story (things happening to him, etc.), Eliot is a somewhat more agential guy just hanging out next to a fantasy story. What I imagined was that they were loosely associated with power-hungry vampires, but mostly these last several generations both he and Margo just kind of drink blood, con people, and hang out. obviously Margo would be a little more involved and aware of what other people are up to which I hope?! is apparent later in the fic.

[dreaming-about-fanfictions]

Red - Jaskier x Reader

Summary: The fear of losing the person who means the world to you and a wedding that comes out of it.

Request by: a lovely anon <3 “Can you write a romantic Jaskier x female reader story, where him and the reader get married?” I hope you enjoy it, anon! I put (just a little) drama in there but tried to keep if mainly romantic. Thank you so much for the request, I had a lot of fun writing it!

A/N: You guys gave me so much positive feedback on my last Witcher story so here comes the next! Hope you enjoy it!

Words: 1733 Pairing: Jaskier x Reader Warnings: mention of blood, a little angst and a lot of fluff

“You could have died!” Jaskier paced back and forth, a strained expression on his face. “I could have been in the midst of funeral preparations right now! I could be choosing your tombstone right this moment because of your stubbornness and your apparent lack of survival instincts!”

“Could have, would have,” you mumbled, not looking up at him. Instead you wiped your blade on your cloak. It was ruined anyway, you noticed. Torn apart, covered in dirt and blood – there was no way you’d be able to save it. Damn. This was the second one this week. A heavy sigh left your lips before you got up with a groan. Your whole body was hurting and you felt exhausted, craving a hot bath and something to eat.

“Are you making fun of me?” Jaskier snapped. “Or are you not taking this seriously? Honestly, Y/N, I don’t what’s worse!”

Truth be told, you had never seen him so angry. His arms were flailing around from gesticulating wildly and his face was a deeper shade of red than your favorite kind of wine. However, after being on the hunt for over a day, you had no interest in fighting with him. You wanted to get home. 

“And now you’re ignoring me!” Jaskier scoffed. “Geralt!” He turned around to the Witcher who was standing a few feet away, examining Roach for injuries. “Y/N is ignoring me!”

“Can’t blame her,” was the dry reply.

You wanted to smile at that comment but guessed that it wouldn’t be very constructive in the current situation. “Look, Jaskier,” you began. “I’m sorry. I really am. I didn’t mean to scare you but you know I can take care of myself.” 

Jaskier crossed his arms in front of his chest. “This has nothing to do with taking care of yourself, Y/N. You jumped from a damn tree to land right in their nest while these monsters fed on a bear!”

He was right. It was a dangerous and any other person would probably be dead right about now. However, you weren’t any other person. You were a skilled fighter who knew what she was doing and when to back down from a battle. After all, this wasn’t the first time you accompanied the Witcher on a hunt.

The first time you saw Jaskier and Geralt was less than two years ago when they came to your village, badly wounded and searching for a healer. Your family took care of them, tending to their bruises and cuts and it didn’t take long for you to develop a soft spot for the funny bard who kept cracking jokes even when he was feverish and in pain. Twenty days later and you bargained with the two men to take you with them on their journey. You craved more than a simple life in the small village where their arrival was the most exciting thing in years. While Jaskier was hesitant but secretly loved the idea of keeping you around, Geralt was strictly opposed to it. Well, you followed them anyways and one dead monster later that you saved them from while they were sound asleep made him change his mind. “You can apparently hold a sword, so don’t expect me to come to your rescue if something goes wrong,” Geralt had said grimly later that night. “Handle it yourself.” 

The bard and you were inseparable since then, falling in love with each other hard and fast. A life without him seemed like a life not worth living anymore. So it pained you to see how your actions hurt him. You reached forward to take his hands. “Jaskier, I find none of this amusing and I take your concerns were serios,” you assured him. “I can see how this must have been terrifying for you. I’m sorry.”

“Then why do you keep fighting them? Every time you leave with Geralt, I’m scared it’ll be the last time I see you alive,” he sounded more vulnerable now than ever.

A soft smile appeared on your face. “You know why.” After you leaned in to give him a soothing kiss, you whispered: “I love you. I love you so much, Jaskier. I promise you won’t lose my by the hand or paw or claw of any monster.”

“You can’t promise me that, Y/N,” he stated. Yet the tension in his composure gave way and he put his arms around your back.

“I’ll do my best then,” you replied and let him embrace you completely. Being in his arms like this made you feel like home. It was true, Jaskier was your home now. Everything you ever wanted and more. You considered yourself lucky beyond words to be with a man as wonderful as him.

“I love you,” he whispered. “And you ruined my night.”

“What?” You blinked in confusion and looked at him. His left eyebrow was raised and you couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not. You had thought, the fight was over.

“I said you ruined my night,” Jaskier repeated himself and pouted a little. “My night and my day. I had so much planned for us. For you.”

“Planned? Why?” Was today important? His birthday maybe? No, that was still months away. You tilted your head slightly, furrowing your brows while desperately trying to remember why today was important.

Suddenly Jaskier let go of you and took a step back. His eyes were focused on the ground as he nervously cleared his throat. “I don’t believe there’ll be a better time. Who knows what monster is lurking behind the next tree.”

At this point, you were thoroughly baffled. “Jas-“

“Y/N,” he cut you off and began rummaging through the pockets of his jacket. When he found the item he was apparently looking for, he paused again. And then he slowly got down on knee.

Oh.

Nervously, Jaskier cleared his throat he second time. When he began speaking, his voice was shaking just a little. „Y/N, I fell in love with you about two seconds after I first laid eyes on you and even though some people –,” he glared in Geralts direction, “– insisted that it was only the fever talking, I knew it wasn’t.”

You looked down and finally realized what laid in the palm of his hand. The most stunning ring on this continent if not the world with a dark red gemstone, reflecting the last sunrays of the day. You swallowed hard.

“I wrote a song for this exact moment,” Jaskier continued and let out a chuckle. “Now, I don’t believe that any lyric, any poetry, can express how I feel for you. Y/N …”

You kept your gaze focused on the man kneeling in front of. Tears dwelled up in your eyes and it took every ounce of willpower in your body to hold them back.

“Y/N, will you marry me and take me as your husband?”

***

The moments after the proposal were a blur. You flung your arms around him while saying “yes” and “of course” and “I love you” over and over. He grinned from ear to ear, pure happiness radiating from him. You kissed. It was a long and passionate kiss and you probably would have stayed there, in the woods, for hours if it weren’t for the tired and slightly-annoyed Witcher standing near you.

“Congratulations, but are you done?”

The both of you broke the kiss and laughed at this question.

“I’m hungry,” Geralt added dryly, ignoring your reaction. However, when you looked at him, you could have sworn you caught him smiling a little.

***

The engagement was shorter than expected. Way shorter. To be specific – it lasted for exactly three hours. Jaskier was right, you thought, why wait any longer? In this world, death was lurking behind every corner. So the two of you decided upon arriving in the small village that you wanted to get married right this evening.

Geralt made the request to at least take a bath beforehand and have something to bite. You agreed with him considering your clothes were still ripped and smelling like blood and intestines.

“No, Jaskier,” you whispered and playfully pushed him back. The two of you stood in front of your room.

“You’re a tease,” your fiancé replied and pulled you in for another kiss. You happily obliged and sighed when he slightly parted his lips. Jaskier pressed himself against your body and you let out a sharp breath when you felt something very hard through the thin fabric of his pants. “Tell me again how you don’t want me to come inside your room,” he mumbled with a husky voice.

“We’re getting married in an hour …” 

“So?”

You chuckled. “Have you noticed the way I look?” You gripped him by his collar, softly planting kisses down his neck.

“You’re tormenting me, woman,” he groaned, closing his eyes. A shiver ran down your spine. Oh, how you wanted him to come inside ...

Without another word you swiftly looked back up and planted a last wistful kiss on his lips before quickly disappearing inside your room, locking it from the inside.

“Well,” you heard Jaskier say from the other side of the door. “That is mean.”

“Save it for the wedding night,” you chuckled.

“Oh, I will, darling. Believe me.”

*** 

One hour later you were standing in front of Jaskier, wearing a bright smile on your face. Your dark red dress matched the beautiful engagement ring on your left hand perfectly. Torches burning brightly around you lit up the night and the smell of wildflowers was still lingering in the air.

The ceremony took place on the outskirts of the village on a small field. It was short and sweet and perfect. To your surprise, Jaskier had found someone to officiate the wedding even at this ungodly hour. There were no guests present, except of course Geralt who – for the first time in quite a while – couldn’t stop smiling. He was happy for the two of you.

Two years ago, you had been living on a farm with your family. A woman who didn’t seem to fit in anywhere until a Witcher and his bard stumbled onto your fields. Today you were looking at your best friend, your greatest love, your soulmate as you promised each other love and a future together. Oh, how the times had changed.

***

My Masterlist

Tag list: @just-antiyou​ , @sarah-midnight​

If you want to be added to my tag list, message me! <3

[fmdjaewonarchive]

► ‘our songs’ audition.

date(s): 20 july 2020 mentions of: jiah, ash, andy & sooyeon (all briefly namedropped) word count: 1617 warnings: n/a details: jaewon decides to audition for ‘our songs’ and somehow, manages to already stress himself out before the show has even begun. he also covers ‘q’ by onewe (note: the original version of the song features hwasa but this stage was my main reference point for this)

it’s not that jaewon has been putting this off but that’s exactly what he has been doing. which, truly, is stupid. he’s the one that decided he wanted to sign himself up from this, it’s one of the very few things in his idol schedule that he gets to weigh in on.

unlike his own music these days.

oh right, that’s why he’s been so stressed about this. dimensions entertainment had kickstarted his 2020 with a big fuck you and the announcement that they’d be taking away his creative freedom for something that would hopefully be more… lucrative than his own work. and their strategy had been proven effective, the sheer commercial success of fiancé has been a thorn in his side, a constant mocking reminder that maybe, jaewon doesn’t know shit about making music after all.

it has also only solidified dimensions position meaning that truly, jaewon could write any creative freedom apart from the odd co-writing jobs for unity and songs he featured on goodbye.

until our songs came along.

sure, the company hasn’t said it in that many words, nowhere has jaewon actually gotten the confirmation that maybe, if he does well on this, they’ll consider letting him weigh in on his own solo work again. but hey, there surely is no harm in taking some initiative right?

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

which circles right back to where jaewon is right now, in the home studio of his and soo’s apartment at some awfully late hour at night -because apparently his brain does not function during common office hours- to sit down and record this video for once and for all.

(for the 5th time this week but really, who is keeping count).

jaewon is glad he’s in a space so familiar to him as his own home, it takes away just a little bit of the stress and if he tries hard enough, he might even be able to forget just how much he has riding on this already, a pressure that for some forsaken reason he’s put on this all by himself.

he turns on the camera before leaning back into the office chair. it might look relaxed almost but anyone that knows jaewon also knows that the pen he’s twirling in his left hand is to keep the nerves at bay. luckily enough he can pass it off as a means of concentration for now.

the questions are displayed on the monitor of his computer in such way that jaewon can read them without having to make an obvious effort to lean forward. he has no answers written down but truly, he has mulled over these questions for so long by now that there is no need for that anyway. jaewon knows what he wants to say and he knows himself well enough that he can’t truly rehearse those words without sounding stiff and insincere.

“what inspires me to write songs?” he allows a brief silence to settle, a light frown on his face. “i’m not the best with words, not when i have to say them at least. i’ve always had struggles communicating, i just kinda… froze up. writing has helped a lot with that, it’s made it easier for me to put my feelings into words and to get messages across i wouldn’t have been able to get past my lips otherwise. i’ve written songs about difficult subjects in the past and hearing back from people that those resonate with them has really been keeping me motivated to keep pushing the bar further for myself, even if it’s a little hard sometimes.”

“what is my favorite song that i worked on... that’s kinda impossible to answer. i’ve been very fortunate to release quite some music already and to work with a lot of really talented artists. they’re all very different songs too so it’s hard to compare them so i don’t think there is really one ultimate favorite. if i had to name a few though-” he let his voice trail off for a second. “i collab earlier this year on we don’t talk together, i really enjoyed that song and working on that, i think it turned out well. oh and i got to feature and work on jiah-sunbaenim’s easy which has been released recently. i don’t get to take too much credit for that one though, taeyong-sunbaenim worked on that too.” his free hand moved to rest under his chin. “if i’m thinking about my solo work though i’d probably have to say am 4.44 and rebirth, both from my biorhythm album.” jaewon didn’t know if it was necessary to name what album they were from, especially since he hadn’t gotten to write a single word on love language but it would have to do for now. “i think those two are kinda a package deal for me? am 4.44 is about a pretty low point in my life, just mentally and all and rebirth is kind of the process of recovery from that.”

“songwriters i look up to? i worked with a lot of people and they all brought their own strengths to the table, all of those experiences have been very useful and incredibly pleasant.” he nods absent-mindedly. “i’d say i look up andy-sunbaenim, i got to work with him twice, on both bermuda triangle and on his latest album, i really like his style, i feel like it’s a bit different from my own but i do think they go well together. i also admire sooyeon from wish a lot, she’s very talented at a very young age. she balances both wish’ style and her own very well i think, i have a lot of respect for that.”

“my goals as a songwriter? i think to continue to grow till i can hold my ground by myself amongst other songwriters. i’ve learned a lot from all the people i already worked like i said before but i don’t think i’m near their level yet. i want to reach the point where i can continuously put out high-quality songs for other artists. like, i know my own sound and songs that work well for me but i think the real skill is being able to write well for someone other people. i want to be able to do that someday.”

“what do i hope to achieve by participating on this show?” to tell dimensions to go fuck themselves, jaewon thinks bitterly. but he can’t say that, not now he’s supposed to be all camera friendly. “i want to prove myself. towards other people on the one hand of course, you know, get my name out there and show everything i’ve learned up until this point, show that i know what i’m doing.” and yes, of course, other people in this case could just as easily be replaced with dimensions entertainment but there was no hard evidence for that. not like anyone was aware of jaewon challenging his label, not even dimensions itself. “but also to prove myself towards me. i’ve been writing for a while now, mostly when i felt like it or when i had an idea stuck in my head. i want to push those boundaries, to write specific themes within specific timeframes instead of just on a whim. i think that’s an important step i have to take for myself.” jaewon nods firmly. if he didn’t know himself so well he could believe it looks confident even.

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

after he pauses the recording, the first thing jaewon does is roll his shoulders and let out a deep sigh. he’s definitely not an interview person he can’t help but think to himself, at least the worst part is over now.he takes a sip from the water bottle on his desk, letting his eyes fall shut for a second as he leans against his seat. just a brief moment of recovery before he forces himself back into action.

the interview might have been the worst part but he still has a cover to record.

first he gets up to retrieve the electric guitar they keep in their home studio, getting it plugged in and getting the microphone all set up, before pulling up the audio file from his desktop and hitting record on his camera.

there are some changes to the original song. after all, onewe is a band and q is not a rap song but jaewon toyed around with audio some, emphasizing on electronics of the backing track rather than the instruments. he has taken some liberties on expanding on the rap parts in the verses and together with the monotone, repetitive chorus it makes it sound so much more like a laidback hiphop song rather than the band song it was before.

another big change is made to the bridge. jaewon has taken out the vocals at the beginning of the instead opting to extend the guitar solo that follows. which is where the electric guitar on his lap comes in. admittedly, it’s a risky choice because while jaewon doesn’t have to worry about hitting notes he can’t reach, he also isn’t as gifted of a guitar player as he pretends to be.  it works though, maybe it’s because he’s been practicing this particular riff until he could barely move his fingers and he has to admit, it sounds pretty good.

he finishes recording, switching the camera off nearly immediately after and then spends another hour rewatching both videos -the interview and the song cover- fixated on finding a fatal flaw, any reason to tank this whole idea and just not send in his audition for the show.

he doesn’t find it.

so instead he sends it in before finally calling it a night.

 here goes nothing.

[margarethelstone]

Dragonfly ‘A’

When your friend writes you some dumb Hiccstrid to make you shut up, but instead of doing this, you decide to turn it into an actual fic.

Based on this conversation with @wilderwestqueen​

Can be found on fanfiction.net as well

“Hiccup”, Astrid said, looking soulfully in his eyes. “I am eternally, utterly and hopelessly in love with you. Let’s wed on the shores of the Edge and fly off into the sunset together, shooting plasma blasts through the wind, all whilst conceiving twelve beautiful children named after every dragon we’ve met on this island.”

“Astrid,” Hiccup said, tears filling his eyes as he grabbed a hold of Astrid’s hands. “I thought you’d never ask. Quick, clasp my chest. Let’s ride Toothless into the night sky and make passionate love in mid-air whilst wearing our dragon fly suits!”

Honestly, she didn’t even know she could raise her eyebrows that high.

“This is insane,” she stated, eyeing him in disbelief. “You are insane.”

The man in front of her rolled his eyes, but didn’t stop smiling nevertheless.

“Hiccup, I am not wearing this.”

“Just give it a try, will you?” he answered her, the excitement still resonating in his voice, as if he hadn’t heard what she’d just said. “It won’t bite, you know.”

“Oh, yes it will. And even if it doesn’t, I’m sure it will be the cause of my misery, injury, or death itself in some other way. Look, I love you, but this is way too much to expect from me.”

“Astrid, just -”

“I’m not wearing the Thor damned flight suit!”

With that, silence fell on the room. Admittedly, Hiccup did open his mouth, but clearly, he wasn’t able to come up with any sensible answer, so he closed it soon enough. He didn’t retreat immediately, but responding to Astrid’s words proved to be more difficult than ever, and thus, after a few moments of frowning and chewing his lower lip, he gave up, and sighed.

“Fine,” he muttered under his breath. “Forget it. Apparently I can’t even make a gift for my betrothed without making a total fool of myself.”

Berk’s blonde Shield Maiden only shook her head, seeing the grumpy expression on her beloved Viking’s face.

Good gods, he was hopeless.

When he told her that morning that he wanted to talk to her, she didn’t have the slightest idea of what it might be about, but then again, she didn’t really care that much. Fairly speaking, she expected him to propose another round of let’s-map-the-entire-world-together-before-my-Dad-decides-to-make-me-Chief thing rather than anything else, however, she was quite as ready to do everything he wanted her to.

Except this.

In her wildest dreams and nightmares, she certainly did not suppose that Hiccup Haddock, the Pride of Berk, her personal husband-to-be would drag her to his workshop, and gift her with nothing else, but her own, brand new Dragonfly ‘A’.

Yes, that was the name.

“Hiccup, listen to me,” she said, trying to sound softly, taking a few steps towards the flustered man. “You know how… sceptical I’ve always been about the whole Dragon Fly idea. It’s frustrating enough to see you using it, provoking some accident to happen every time you jump off of Toothless. What on Earth made you think I would agree to use one, too?”

“I figured that maybe if you ever tried it yourself, you might be more understanding for me and my enthusiasm for it,” he mumbled, still avoiding her gaze.

Astrid crossed her arms on her chest. “Well, I’m not.”

Hiccup finally glanced at her, only to give her the most offended glance he could offer – and yet, his beautiful fiancée didn’t even stir.

“I can see that.”

He looked away as soon as he’d voiced the words, clasping the suit in question in his hands. The blonde warrior couldn’t miss the pain that reflected in his features as he turned his head away, slouching as he did; but even considering the fact that she really didn’t want to see him like that, she still wouldn’t be able to accept his unusual present.

Sighing, Astrid stepped towards the Rider, stopping right before him. She tilted her head, trying to meet his gaze, but it was of no use; Hiccup simply wouldn’t look at her now, no matter how hard she had tried.

“Can you please tell me what it’s really about?” she asked gently. “Why would you want me to use that suit all of the sudden? It’s your thing.”

“I wanted you to fly with me,” came a muffled answer, before Hiccup mustered to look her in the eyes again, and explain himself more openly. “I thought that, well, maybe it would be a nice change. That instead of riding dragons together, we could try to do that on our own. Well, kind of. Anyway, that’s it. You can laugh now.”

The girl stared at him for a while, her eyes wide in shock. How was she supposed to answer something like that? Flying? Together? Was that the romanticism he wanted to put into life now?

She knew that at this specific moment, she should stay calm at all cost – but she couldn’t.

No longer bothering, Astrid burst into the most sonorous laughter, completely taking Hiccup aback.

“What?!” she stuttered, almost chocking on her own saliva. “Hiccup, this is bad even for you. I mean, what’s next, conceiving our children on the backs of dragons? Or naming them after the ones we’ve met so far?”

Hiccup’s cheeks were blushing madly at this point, but she couldn’t bring herself to stop laughing. She pressed her hands to her mouth, trying to muffle the sound, but it didn’t make much of a difference. Hiccup looked awfully miserable, and she knew it was her fault, but could anyone blame her? Yet, she tried once more to calm down, hoping the Viking would not take offence for too long.

She took a deep breath, then another. One more.

Alright, she was fine now.

“Babe, I’m sorry,” she began, praying to the gods she would not start giggling again. “I really shouldn’t have said that. It’s just -”

“It was calling out to be said, wasn’t it?” he responded harshly. “You’re right, you’re absolutely, positively right. The idea is ridiculous, I don’t know what I was thinking whenI decided to share it with you. Must have been drunk or something.”

“You’re never drunk.”

“Well, something tells me I will be tonight,” he drawled. “Not that you would care. I’m just that weird guy with one leg and ridiculous ideas. Why don’t you just turn on your heel, and tell me you don’t want to have anything to do with me?”

“Good Thor, Hiccup, you can be such a child sometimes,” she moaned mockingly. The word child brought the fresh memories to the man’s mind, and now he was blushing again in result. Astrid laughed shortly, and cupping his face in her hands, she made him turn in her direction. “Listen, Dragon Boy. I am eternally, utterly and hopelessly in love with you. I want to have everything to do with you. If you asked me to clasp your chest, fly to the Edge, and marry you on its shores right after we land, I would probably say yes, and never regret it. I am ready to die for you or kill for you -” she paused for a moment, watching how the expression on Hiccup’s face changes, feeling him relaxing into her grip “but I refuse to do neither of those looking like some feral crazy Dragon Lady.”

Before Hiccup had a chance to respond, Astrid stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips on his, while her hands moved swiftly, one landing on the man’s chest, the other on the back of his head, dipped in his luxurious auburn hair.

Hiccup, shocked, didn’t respond immediately, blinking in surprise, and wondering what he should do in a situation like this.

He didn’t want to kiss her.

He really didn’t want to kiss her.

Gods, he always wanted to kiss her.

Restraining himself no longer, he leaned in, embracing Astrid’s waist with both arms, holding her as close as he found possible. She smiled under his lips.

She always did.

When they broke apart, he saw a question in her eyes, but he only shook his head, smiling fondly at her. Her own grin widened significantly, and once again, Hiccup thought that he really couldn’t live without that smile.

He still felt embarrassed by the entire situation, but somehow, he was beginning to accept it. Astrid rejecting his gift was bad. Astrid laughing up the idea behind the gift was absolutely, terribly horrifying.

Yet, the same Astrid expressing her feelings for him so straightforwardly, holding him, accepting him, loving him sort of made it worth the pain.

Astrid snuggled her face into his neck, hugging him tightly.

“I’m really sorry, Hiccup. I shouldn’t have laughed like that, but it seriously wasn’t a good idea.”

“I think I can live with that. I overreacted, too.”

“You know, I don’t mind you wearing that suit yourself, it’s just -”

“It’s not your thing. Yeah, I know.”

He put a small kiss on her hair before the girl raised her head, still not loosening her grip on him.

“Yes. But also… If anything happens to you during those crazy flights, I want to be able to actually rescue you. And I won’t be able to do that if I’ll be falling into the ocean with you.”

Hiccup couldn’t help but chuckle at her words. He gave her another kiss, this time placed on her forehead, and whispered, “You’re quite right about that, M’lady. As you always are.”

“I’m glad to hear you say something reasonable for once,” she teased him back, also whispering, and then raised her brows in anticipation. “So, what do we do now?”

“Well,” Hiccup mused out loud. “Since you can’t appreciate the present I gave you, we must think of something else. Now, as much as I love the idea of marrying you at the Edge’s shore, I’m pretty sure Dad would kill me if I did, and I’d like to be present on my honeymoon. So, that’s out. But… How about a moonlit flight instead?”

“With how many dragons included?”

“I thought about one, honestly. You know, like for the first time.”

“Sentimental again.”

“Is that bad?”

“No.”

“Great,” he glanced at her mischievously. “Ready to grab my chest?”

[tclkingtothemoon]

good morning, baby. i hope that you slept well, and that your mind let you remember your dream like i asked it to do ( especially if your dreams were filled with me, and only if they were sweet ). if it did, i’d love to hear about it when i wake up as well. i know that you know this by now but a quick reminder: i love listening to you talk; i could hear you talk about anything under the sky and i’d still find myself entirely charmed. it’s the sound of your voice, and the way that your features change as you tell me whatever it is you’ve decided to share with me in that moment. you’re so expressive; the way that a story makes you feel is written across each and every feature of you as you talk. and god, i love that about you; i love studying each expression - each shift in each feature - and committing what it meant to you to memory. because i love knowing you, and i love knowing every part of you as well as i know the back of my hand.

i saw a google commercial, with this old man who was telling google to remember certain things about his wife: ‘remember she always used to say this specific phrase’, ‘remember her favorite movie was this’, ‘remember where we had our first date’, ‘remember that she loves the smell of these flowers’, ‘remember that she always laughed this way’. i saw that and i remember thinking that i wanted to do that with you. not necessarily with googles product placement ( thank you very much ), but that i just ... wanted to know all of you in that way; details that no one else knows or even thinks to ask about, details that maybe you don’t even realize you’re giving me, details that maybe you wouldn’t deem important but that make up the very fabric of who you are ( and, therefore, are incredibly important to me ). and even after being my best friend, and the love of my life, for as many years as you have, you still give me new details to learn about you every day. you still show me new things about you with each passing day and i still wake up with the same enthusiasm and eagerness to learn them all as i did the very first day we met. because despite all of the years that have passed between us, every time i look at you or you confide in me or you kiss me it feels like the first time all over again.

anyway, it’s ironic that you asked me to write you a letter tonight, because i was actually thinking that i’d write you one tonight even before you asked. after we finished the taylor documentary, i had a lot of feelings that i just sort of felt like i needed to get out somewhere before my chest just completely collapsed on me. and you do that to me a lot, you know; give me this swell of happiness in my chest so big and grand that it seemingly makes time come to a halt around me as me and my heart are left trying to make sense of the wonderful boy in front of us and how on earth he would’ve decided to love us out of everyone.

and you know when taylor was talking about joe, and lover in general, and she said something about being happy just because they were happy together? when she’d previously had so much of her happiness relying on everyone else’s happiness and what they thought of her? that sentiment made me think about you, and about what you and i have, a lot. because i’ve told you before that i used to give what people thought of me more weight than it deserved, and that my happiness was always something hypothetical and in the distance, but you’ve shown me and given me something so beautiful that i couldn’t care less about what people think of me anymore - not as long as i have you, and as long as you and i are happy with this life that we’re creating together. nothing else outside of this, and us, holds any weight to me anymore; not in the way that it did. everything is in perspective now, thanks to you; and the perspective is that the rest of the world could be falling apart around me and i wouldn’t even bat an eye as long as you were there beside me. i can never find the right words for this but you’re the love of my life, you’re my best friend, you’re my future, you’re my home, and you’re my happiness; you’re absolutely everything to me. and watching taylor redefine her world, and herself, based on the love that joe had been able to show her existed felt a lot like what you have done and continue to do for me. it’s not that the world becomes irrelevant, it’s just that you change the entire meaning of it; the rest of the world still matters, but you’re engrained into every detail of it now and that’s why i love it. i don’t know if that makes sense, it probably doesn’t, but i only mean that i think taylor and i both found love in the world itself and in ourselves because we look around at things that used to seem daunting or terrifying in some way and we suddenly only see the ones we love or the things that our loved ones love in it instead. it’s the rare, once in a lifetime, sort of love that so few find and ... i’m just so lucky that you’re mine.

but, before we started watching the documentary, we also spent so much time reminiscing earlier tonight and .. i know that we already talked a lot about all of that while we were getting lost in memories but i’m still thinking about it now because it’s just so overwhelming ( in the best way possible ) when you lay so much of it out like we did. i mean - just a little less than three months ago, you were kissing me for the first time and i was wondering how i was going to pretend that i could kiss you in the future without wanting a life with you if that was what you ended up deciding that you wanted. and four, or five, months ago, i wouldn’t have ever allowed myself to believe that you would ever kiss me at all; i was completely convinced that loving you was an activity that i would have to do from far away. but now here we are, almost three months since you asked me to be your boyfriend, and you’re my fiancé; we’re talking about finding a house together and starting a ( even bigger ) family with each other. we have so many of the things that i used to lay in bed and yearn for and dream about and cry over and it feels so surreal that it genuinely kind of makes me tear up just writing this. because you’re here, and you’re mine, and i love our memories ( every single one of them ) but it’s the knowledge that we have only just begun making them that really makes my heart leap. these memories that mean so much to me that i’m blinking back tears as i think about them are only a fraction of the memories that i’m lucky enough to get to share with you in this lifetime. we have done so much and yet we have only just begun and ... i can’t wait. i cant wait for the lifetime of memories that you and i have ahead of us. i cant wait for the life that we are going to live together, and the wonderful things that we are going to do. you’re the only person that i have ever, will ever, or would ever want to spend and share this life with and i’m so unending thankful that you’ve agreed to let me.

this letter was all over the place, and i’m so sorry. once i start writing these letters for you, i tend to ramble and get a little distracted along the way. I hope that it still made you smile, and i promise that you’ll have a lot more letters coming a lot more consistently soon, baby.

also, because i feel i haven’t said it enough ( and i never will ), just a reminder: i love you i love you i love you i love you i love you i love you i love you i love you i love you i love you i love you i love you. i love you so much. so so so so so much. so much more than i feel i can ever effectively articulate. i love you with everything that i am.

[prorevenge]

My kid does 13K in damage to studio equip, we handle it like lunatics.

[Part 1]

Some background:

I'm an audio engineer and score arranger full time in my self-owned business. It's how I provide for myself, my fiancée (also CF), and my mother. I record, mix, and master for bands, voice-overs for local commercials, and write music for people's weddings, college films, indie games, etc.. It was my passion since I was a child and every day I ask myself why I get paid to do what I do.

You know, until today.

I had a woman schedule to come in because she wanted me to record her monologue for an acting class. I thought it was going to be easy enough. I set up a mic and a music stand in the sound booth and got my workstation prepped for tracking. She was supposed to show up at 3:30, so when 4:00 came around, I called her to ask her if she was still coming. It was my last contract for the day and I was wanting to get home to my fiancée, dogs, and dinner.

"Oh, sorry sweetie, I'm going to be there soon. I just had to get my son from ex-boyfriend."

Uh oh.

4:12, she showed up with her child.

To preface, I've never really wanted kids, and don't really hate them either. But I've been childfree of mind for a decade now in league of several bad child experiences in public.

Anyway, I sat her down at the conference table and tried to talk to her about the contract and billing, etc., and just couldn't because of the six-years-old pile of ovary droppings next to her.

"Mommy it's cold in here." "Mommy, I'm bored." "Mommy, that guy has girl hair." "Mommy, I want to play on the phone."

The incessant whining went on for the entirety of the discussion. She did nothing about it. I had an ache in my stomach that this might be a rough session.

I was right.

I showed her to the sound booth, positioned the mic at face level, told her the basics of mic use, and then she floored me with a question.

"Can my son stay in there with you while I do this?" I insisted that he wait in the conference room (across the hall from the control room) because the control room wasn't a very kid-friendly place considering the 120K of equipment at arms reach.

"But he's a little angel."

I shouldn't have taken her word for it. I SHOULD NOT have taken her word for it. This kid was ANYTHING but. I let him in, told him to sit in one of the office chairs and don't touch anything. Needless to say, he touched. I queued the recording arm and signaled her to start. She got three lines into her take before I hear a deafening screech and crash.

That little shit machine had just knocked over a $4,000 Korg into a rack with $9,500 of equipment. Completely shattered the touchscreen on the Korg, busted the dials off of half of the effects, and totaled my distressor that I use for almost all the vocals I track.

All of this, by the way, was the room's length apart from where I told the crotch goblin to stay.

The kid, because of the loud noise, started full-lung screaming. Not crying. Not yelling. Screaming.

The mother, with no hesitation, ran over to the control room and DEMANDED to know what I did to her child. She cussed at me and accused me of hurting her little snot monster. Threatened to sue and even swung at me. When I told her that her precious angel had just racked up at least twelve grand of damages, she said "good", spit on me, then stormed out, slamming every door on the way. So I pulled the security camera footage and had filed a police report. Grand total: $13,504.25. I also mailed her the bill for her session for good measure.

Of six years in the studio, this is my only truly terrible experience. Fuck mombies. Fuck having children. Thanks for making my vasectomy decision that much easier on me.

[Part 2]

I'm going to start off and say that this community is bad ass. With legal advice, moral support, and inquiry of the trade, you guys/gals/other have made this whole endeavor a bit easier on me.

Cheers.

Okay, since Sunday, I've managed to speak with my insurance company, my lawyer, some repair techs, the police (again), and my urologist. For the sake of good storytelling, I'll organize this chronically.

Monday:

I left a message for my insurance agent about all this. I then called some repair techs about getting my Korg and the distressor repaired to potential working order, and to no avail. The distressor would have costed two grand to repair (on a $1,320 piece), so I wait on my insurance payout to replace it. Korg, apparently, has no replacement parts available anywhere in the US for their flagship keyboard, so another $4k down the drain. The dials on the rest of the effects rack can be easily fixed. May not look as stellar, but what can you do. At least it survived an attack from an over-metastasized cumshot. I ordered replacement dials from my local electronics store and mailed out the session bill to Mombie. Beyond that, I got in touch with a friend in Memphis who was gracious enough to lend me his Portico 5042 in the meantime. Should be arriving some time Friday.

Tuesday:

Boy oh boy. I went to my lawyer's office to see what could be done about Mombie's actions. He's thinking it'd just be best to let the insurance company go after the property damages, and that it'd be too expensive for me to recruit him for what the insurance company will do by themselves. As per the assaults are concerned, he asked me to gather all evidence (Video, contract, police report) and said that since no bodily harm was caused, it'd be the best idea to go to civil court rather than criminal, and file for a protective order. The words "emotional damages" were emphasized. He was very specific about not posting any of the evidence. As long as what I post remains vague, doesn't mention any identifying information, it doesn't stand in court.

"Make sure you can say it is a made up story if asked."

We also discussed revising my contract, more info on that when we get to it. Beyond that, I decided to jump the gun and inquire about a vasectomy. I have an appointment with my GP on the 7th of March.

Wednesday:

Reader beware, this is where it gets cringy. I'd grab a stiff drink if I were you. I opened the studio back up and got back to work. I had a voicemail left for me on the studio phone. A "lawyer", toting the most deep fried country accent I've heard, called me from a "Ford & Handcock" law firm (which I couldn't find anywhere on the internet) threatening "Immediate sueing" for "Sexual rape harassment" for filing a police report against his "client."

Here's the transcript of what I could understand through his dumpster fire of an accent: (I swear I'm not making this up) "Yeah, this is [withheld] from Ford & Handcock callin' to tell you that you're gonna get immediate sueing for what you did to my girlfri- client and her baby boy. Y'all know as well as I do that [unintelligible noises] was nothin' short of sexual rape harassment and that you're goin' ta be in a lawsuit if you don't delete the cop report you made up(?)."

I couldn't breathe, I was laughing too hard.

Once I regained my composure, I called back to inquire about this impending doom that I was promised by this product-of-incest harbinger. The call was forwarded to their voicemail inbox, where it opened up with the aforementioned accent, saying:

"Hey, this is [different name than the "lawyer"] and [mombie's name] and we're not here right now so if you could leave..."

So on.

So I just hung up and called my fiancee, emailed her the voicemail and asked her to listen to it, just to hear her sniffling and cackling like a maniac at the sound of this guy's six-inches-deep-in-cousin accent and overall misunderstanding of the american law system. I recorded the voicemail onto a thumbstick and giving it to my lawyer along with the video, police report, etc..

Thursday:

As of this morning, no call back from my insurance adjuster, so I'm just going to wait on that. I'm sitting by the phone, so if I get another call from "Ford & Handcock", I can deliver the "Do not call back/stop harassing me" line, so I can add that to the list of potential charges if it becomes a thing. Not very much else happened beyond that, and I'll keep you lot updated. Thanks for your support. *Edited to fix a phone auto-correct, what was supposed to say "Ford & Handcock" said "Ford & Hitchcock". Sorry all.

[Part 3]

There has been a... development with the mombie, dr /professor/lawyer/part time absent-father from Ford and Handcock.

I said in the update I posted before (Links at the bottom) that I had a call from a "lawyer" from one "Ford and Handcock", and am practically on standby for another call from said "lawyer".

Well, that call came on Friday.

So, guy called back, my fiancee was in the studio with me while we were taking turns playing Dishonored 2 on a "workstation" pc doing very important adult-like studio work, and his message for me was practically a carbon copy of the last one. I gave him the "Do not call back/stop harassing me" bit, to which he said

"That law don't apply to me. I'm a laawwyyeerr. I can do whatever the hell I need to do to do the law, even if it takes lethal deadly force" [sic]

Given the threat, I called the police, filed a report, gave them the original recording of the call and kept a copy for myself.

My wife-to-be did notice that the inbred gave the pseudonym "Conrad McMasters", which she recognized from the TV show "Matlock". Go figure.

So, skipping on to tonight.

We came back to the studio to pick up a laptop for my mum to use while in the hospital (just a minor fall injury, she'll make a full recovery), and noticed that the handle on the exterior door had been jerked loose. So, I told Fiancee to get back into the car and park down the street, have 911 dialed, don't come out until the all clear, call the police if she heard gunshots. I drew my handgun and looked around the place.

I didn't find anything, but the windows and outside door were damaged with what seemed like an attempted break-in, and a "Cash Express" post-it-note stuck to the stoop that said "U fucked up".

Shout out to U/VanillaG6790 (hope I'm formatting this correctly) for suggesting that I put cameras outside the studio alongside the interior ones. I only have one installed as of yet (DIY), facing the front door. So, I made sure nobody was around, waved Fiancee back to the studio, we got in, locked up, and backed up the security footage to see what we could find.

Lo and Behold, Mombie's car. A man (maybe the singletoothed re-imagining of Mr. McMasters from before?) yanked on the outside door with the veracity of a chimpanzee in the prime of mating season, walked out of frame (in the direction of the aforementioned windows) and stayed out of frame for about fifteen minutes, before returning just to scribble on the note and stick it on the stoop. He then saw the camera, shot the biggest 'O SHIT' face, and scurried back to his methmobile and sped off.

So to recap, we have a clear-view copy of:

His license plate

His attempted breaking-and-entering

His face. The pez-dispenser looking motherfucker practically spiked the lens for five seconds.

Police were called for this too. Details will be submitted post-trial, and I'll contact my lawyer first thing in the morning.

I tried doing it just now, but, DUH, it's Sunday, his office is closed.

Anyway, you guys are awesome. The advice I'm getting from you lot is saving me so much grief. I'm contacting the Bar association to tell them about the actions of Dr./Professor/Matlock-Impersonator/absent-father.

By the way, Meeting with GP (and then hopefully my urologist) next Tuesday in attempts at getting snipped.

Oh, and I've gotten most of the dials my equipment repaired, I ordered another KRONOS, another distressor, and got the Portico 5042 on Friday as a temporary stand-in. I have to give it to the Portico. Not bad. Not bad at all.

I'll keep you all updated as things happen, but I'm not sure when it may be. I'll post a micro-update on how the appointment goes on the 7th.

(source) (story by deleted)

[fashiontrendin-blog]

12 Women on Whether They Felt a “Spark” When They Met Their Partners

http://fashion-trendin.com/12-women-on-whether-they-felt-a-spark-when-they-met-their-partners/

12 Women on Whether They Felt a “Spark” When They Met Their Partners

T

he first time I met my boyfriend, I felt absolutely nothing. Actually, that’s a lie. I felt irrational anger toward him for showing up to town and (innocently, unwittingly) enabling one of my close guy friends to get back with a toxic ex — just before he was set to fly back to the West Coast and completely avoid the aftermath. I also noticed he had the well-timed wit that all my womanizing exes had shared.

Maybe anger and passion are similar enough emotions…I don’t know. But I do remember that he made me laugh in spite of myself and that a seed of something was planted that night. I didn’t start to fall for him until much later though, through a series of stories my friend Jordan told me about him from when he used to live in Ann Arbor and dated her roommate. I came to recognize his character, emotional intelligence and kindness even later.

After we met, I didn’t see him again in person for a year. Too shy to do anything about it, I didn’t make my interest known for another six months after that. He never made me wait or wonder, though, for the record. Not like all those exes I mentioned. We talked all the time, and he was clear about his feelings from the start — quite a different trajectory than the spark-filled phenomenon I’d replicated many times before him.

Before all this, I’d toyed with a lot of personal theories about “the spark” — whether great love can exist without it, if it was a manufactured product of my anxious attachment system, etc. All I can say now is that I’m no longer convinced of anything at all, except perhaps that love has about a million incarnations.

To get a flavor of the many shades on that spectrum, I asked women in thriving relationships what they felt when they met and started to get to know their current partners. From weird vibes to excitement, easy camaraderie to absolutely nothing, here’s what they told me.

I’d been single for five years when my husband and I met for a blind date on a Sunday night at a hotel bar in L.A. I walked through the lobby and into the bar, sort of looking around for a guy sitting alone, and then in the back room I saw a dark-haired man on a bench looking up at me with sort of a sly look on his face. I was like, WOW, he is way better looking than I expected! I felt instantly relaxed and happy. We ended up talking for over four hours, and he just seemed different than the typical L.A. guy. For one, he was Canadian, and he was almost nine years older and just felt solid and mature — more relationship-minded than a lot of guys I’d met, but not in a weird, clingy way. At the time I was sort of seeing this other guy who was very hot and cold with his attention. After my date, at around midnight, my phone rang. I thought it might be my now-husband calling to say he had a good time, but it was actually the other guy! Something clicked for me in that moment, and I knew I was completely over him and moving on to something better. We fell into a relationship pretty quickly and got engaged two years after that.

Samantha, 47, married for 9 years

I met my husband and his friend, my eventual roommates, the same night. I remember he was nice, welcoming, funny. I felt at ease with him, but there was not even a blip of romantic interest. He was not remotely my type. When we moved in together, we always had really great conversations, though. I started to think, Hmm…maybe? Everything changed when we got drunk one night and made out at a bar. That was the beginning.

Andra, 29, married for 2 years

I feel like people always expect some crazy romantic story from us, but really we met on Tinder. I remember the first picture I ever saw of her perfectly, though. I really did think she was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen, and I was so excited when we matched and quickly decided to go on a first date. We went to an annual art festival in our city and spent hours walking around and chatting. I thought she was so cool and intriguing, and I wanted to learn everything about her. I also thought she was hilarious and hung onto her every word — which she loves, because she also thinks she’s hilarious. With Allie, things were totally different than anyone else I’d ever dated. I always felt a little bored with other people and often couldn’t wait for dates to end. I felt so attracted to not only her outer beauty but her amazing personality — and it happened almost instantly. I definitely fell fast. But ironically, Allie had no idea. She initially thought I just wanted to be friends and didn’t clue into the fact that I wanted a lot more for a couple dates.

Samantha, 24, together for 4 years

We instantly had not one but two jobs together. We were both in grad school at the time; I had been hired to wait tables at a restaurant and had just gotten a tutoring position at the campus writing center. At orientation for the restaurant job, the guy who was leading it found out I also was going to be tutoring and said, “Well you should meet one of our bartenders. He works at the writing center, too!” So he introduced me to Paul, and I thought it was a cool coincidence but really didn’t think anything else about it. I wasn’t super interested in Paul at first, and he was already dating someone — a girl who was also tutoring, no less! But we had a lot in common with two built-in communities from our two jobs. So we chatted a lot and hung out in groups, sometimes going for drinks. But he was also a big partier at the time, and my general impression was that he kinda needed to grow up. Five years later, he did just that! In the interim, he had dated other women and I had moved to New York. But finally, when I moved back to California, something clicked. I knew we were being flirty, but I was kinda scared to make anything of it; we were working together again at the restaurant, and I didn’t want that to be awkward. I also didn’t want to ruin our friendship. (I know.) But finally I got the nerve up and just asked him out. The rest is history.

Christy, 34, married for 4 years

We met at the library, where he was working at the time. I asked to check out some sheet music to some Broadway musical. I had an inexplicable feeling, as if I knew him — which was not possible, since we’d just met. It’s not that he reminded me of someone else; it was more like I felt we knew one another in a previous incarnation. Crazy, I know…but here we are, happily married 20 years later.

Natalia, 40, married for 20 years

He was wearing this blue button-up, sitting behind his computer at his desk. When I was introduced to him, he just kind of looked at me and barely said anything, while I was being my extra-bubbly self because it was my first day of work. Now I know he’s introverted, but I felt judged! I thought he hated me or was at least totally annoyed by me. Anyway, I thought he was cute, but not like drooling-ly so. I was dating someone else at the time and didn’t really consider his level of cuteness that much. Liking him kind of came out of nowhere, which was cool and different for me compared to other relationships I’ve been in. Ben and I just started hanging out because we liked to do the same things, like play basketball after work until the traffic died down or run to Meijer to buy PB&J supplies versus going out to eat. I really didn’t want to date anyone at all, but it just transitioned into dating all of sudden because he was so easy to get along with! It was effortless. Literally, the least amount of effort to date of anyone else I’ve ever been with. I can’t remember a specific moment where it became romantic. It was more like, we’d have an awesome week of hanging out, and the weekend would show up, and I’d miss him, and then I was like, “Wait, when did this happen?”

Shanley, 25, together for 18 months

We originally met online in 2009, but I friend-zoned him for the next eight years! In February of 2017, he finally told me bluntly that he’d been hinting he was still interested in me for some time. I’d missed all the hints. We arranged to meet up outside a Panera before I had a night out with some friends. When I saw him again, I had this weird feeling that whatever happened between us would be very different than anything I’d ever known in relationships before. We only spent about 15 or 20 minutes together that night, but we hugged before parting ways and when he wrapped his arms around me, I felt like I was in a familiar embrace. Our first official date was the following week. He walked me to my car after dinner and gave me another hug. I knew in that moment that I was already falling in love with him. Our relationship developed more slowly than any other relationship I’ve been in, and yet that gave us a more solid foundation than any other relationship I’ve ever been in. We took our time, carefully considering each step as we moved forward. We are now getting ready to move in together.

Wendy, 39, together for 15 months

I was actually turned off by his braggadocious behavior when we met in a bar in Baltimore, and I was skeptical of his big personality. But we ended up talking the night away with awesome intellectual debates about psychology and mental health. Long story short: We dated, I ended things, we stayed friends, we got back together and now we’ve been together for seven years. I had no idea when we first met what an amazing match he was for me. He would say that he knew when we first met, and I think many of my friends knew early on, but I didn’t understand until years later. Ironically, his big personality is what keeps our relationship so fun and exciting. His confidence extends past himself to belief in both me and our relationship. He’s helped me become more confident, too.

Rebekah, 36, married  for 3 years

I first met my now fiancée, Anna, online through OkCupid. It sounds cheesy, but I was immediately drawn to her screen name, which had something about Michigan in the handle. I’m a big Michigan fan, and it’s also the state where we now live together. We chatted online for the better part of a month, as we were both out of town when we connected, and I just remember feeling like, Wow, we have a lot in common and I really hoped we actually meet up. I felt really excited for our first date, but I really didn’t have any expectations. I wasn’t quite in the mindset for a serious relationship at the time, as I’d previously been engaged and it hadn’t worked out, but then I walked into the bar where we were grabbing a drink at together. I felt a connection right away; I immediately felt comfortable in her presence. We quickly dove into easy, meaningful conversation about anything and everything, like Detroit, sexuality, politics, our friends and family, traveling and so on. It was the most meaningful conversation I’d ever had on a date, and before we knew it, three hours had gone by. I remember feeling like I wanted to talk forever and be in her presence, but also a little overwhelmed that I’d met someone I liked so much when I wasn’t expecting it. I also remember entertaining a thought about how it seemed like we were such a good fit! I felt excited but was super nervous about the idea of us turning into something serious; I had never had a thought like that so quickly after meeting someone. It’s been a journey ever since, but a beautiful one with lots of growth. I am so excited to marry her.

Jess, 34, together for 4 years

I met my husband at work while I was living in DC and he was based in New York. During a work trip, our colleague introduced us. He gave me a polite but very short, “Hi, nice to meet you.” I felt absolutely nothing; zero sparks. He was also married at the time, albeit on the rocks (unbeknownst to me). Over the course of the next two years, we both moved to the West Coast, became closer colleagues, collaborated on a lot of work projects and developed a really solid friendship. Fast forward a little bit further and our great work partnership evolved into very clear, strong romantic feelings. After his marriage completely ended, we started dating, moved to New York together and got married. Not at all what I expected, but it’s worked out great.

Amy, 31, married for 1 year

We first met online. I thought she was cute, but she was a super-hippy Hawaii beach girl who overly edited her photos, so I wasn’t sure how I’d feel until I met her face to face, which happened when she came to study abroad in London in 2008. As soon as I walked across the bridge from Waterloo station, I spotted her gorgeous, long blonde hair and my heart started to flutter. We instantly hit it off and didn’t stop chatting for hours. Two weeks later, we were officially girlfriend and girlfriend. We both quickly knew that we wanted to marry one another. We’ve conquered four years of long distance between Hawaii and the U.K.; had a civil partnership and “upgraded” to marriage; and will have been together for a decade in October. I’ve never had the same feelings about anyone else that I have for Whitney, and I certainly never had them reciprocated in the same way. We’ve always been on the same page, which has been wonderful.

Megan, 31, together for 10 years

When I first met my husband during Trinidad Carnival in 2006 in a mas costume, there was instant rapport. I immediately felt comfortable with him — and that had never happened before with any other man I’d met. His energy was comforting and familiar, and his being cute probably didn’t hurt either. After dating, talking over the phone continually and traveling to see each other for a few months, we decided to commit. Although we didn’t live in the same city at the time and were a bit leery about starting a long-distance relationship, we decided to give it a shot because the option to not be connected and committed to each other felt empty. From the very beginning of the relationship, we agreed that at the two-year mark, we’d make a decision about relocating to be together. We did exactly that at two years and were married just over a year later.

Esha, 40, married for 8 years

Photo via Getty Images.