#we’re still in the flop era

[cogpulse]

[livvyofthelake]

well episode 2 was fun see you in another full calendar year for episode 3

[rubytuby]

surprise

patrick zweig x fem!reader 

word count: 3.3k (LOL)

warnings: established relationship with patrick because i'm lazy, art is your best friend, mentions of getting drunk but it's college so like to be expected… also allusions to sex haha but um i just love to write a cutesy plot.

note: i am normal about patrick zweig, i feel so normal about him #needthat. jokes, but i am in love with him its so bad, i wish he was real. also please don't be offended by my tashi erasure, still love her, but she didn't exactly fit in here. obv this is not canon bc you're dating patrick in stanford era instead of tashi, anyways, hope you enjoy <3.

FEBRUARY 23 2007, STANFORD

The sun hung low, casting long shadows over the tennis courts as you and Art wrapped up your practice session. Both of you were drenched in sweat, Art slung his tennis bag over his shoulder and jogged over, his face lighting up with a mischievous grin.

“So uh, want to walk back to the dorms together?” he asked, sounding overly eager.

You squinted at him, wiping your forehead with the back of your hand. “Sure, but I need to shower first. You know, make it seem like I haven’t been pushed to my physical limits,” you said, gesturing to your sweaty attire.

Art laughed. “You have a single, why don't you just wait until you get back to your dorm?”

You groaned, shoving your racket into your bag. “That's the problem. The maintenance guy showed up at 7:30 this morning to tell us they’re shutting off the water from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. only on my floor for some urgent plumbing issue.”

“Damn, that sucks. Are they even allowed to do that without giving anyone notice?”

“That's what I asked, but apparently, giving us 30 minutes notice is considered adequate. So, technically, they can,” you replied, rolling your eyes in exasperation. “I’ll be quick, though. Just need to rinse off. If you don’t wanna wait for me to chill, you can walk back to the dorms. I won’t be offended.”

Art shook his head. “I’ve got time, I’ll wait. I’ve gotta call someone anyways,” he said plopping down the bench and pulling out his phone.

“Alright weirdo, if you’re sure,” you said, dropping your tote bag next to him. “I’ll be super quick.” With that, you darted off to the girls' locker room.

As soon as you disappeared, Art pulled out his phone and dialed Patrick’s number. The phone barely rang before Patrick answered, his voice tense with impatience.

“Are you guys on the fucking way yet or am I going to have to wait longer?”

“Hello, sunshine!” Art greeted cheerily. “Your beloved is taking a quick shower. We’ll be there in about 25 to 30 minutes.”

Patrick groaned loudly. “Why didn’t you just tell her to shower in her dorm? I’ll lick the sweat off her if it means not waiting any longer.”

Art grimaced at his best friend’s comment. “The water’s out on her floor. She said she’s literally only rinsing off and changing. Just be patient. I’ll text you when to leave so we can time it perfectly.” A sigh rang out on the other line.

“If this plan doesn’t work and I’ve been hiding from my girlfriend for a couple hours for no reason, I’m going to seriously hurt you,” Patrick grumbled, staring out Art’s dorm window.

“Well she definitely thinks you're in New York visiting your parents,” Art paused, “I just had to talk her down from buying a plane ticket, so I think we’re good.”

“I told her I just got into the city a couple hours ago when I actually got to SFO. She was so upset yesterday when I said it’d be five days until we saw each other. She called me a fucking asshole, so I dont know what to do anymore.” Patrick said as he flopped onto Arts bed.

Art scribbled on his worksheet, humming in response. “Well, at least you know that she definitely misses you.”

“Yeah, but I’m not sure if she misses me or just wants to slap me in the face,” Patrick replied, exasperated.

Just then, Art saw you coming out of the locker room, chatting with one of your friends on the team. “Hopefully not the latter. Anyway she’s out. See you at 15. Don’t be late,” Art said flatly before hanging up, knowing Patrick and his unfortunate untimeliness. 

Art smiled up at you as you approached. “Who was that?” you asked, eyebrows raised.

“Our shared lover,” Art replied with a laugh, haphazardly shoving his worksheet and phone into his bag as he stood up.

“Aww, any exciting updates from Pat? He still stuck with his parents for another five days?” you teased, sticking your tongue out playfully.

“He just got to the city. He mentioned playing on the East River courts and paying someone to hold a spot for him,” Art lied smoothly.

“Sounds about right,” you said, sighing. “Anyway, I was talking to Nathalie over there…” you squinted, linking arms with Art as the two of you started the walk back to your dorm. “She mentioned a frat party happening tonight. Since Patrick’s trapped in New York, I figured why not go?”

“There’s going to be a keg stand, a ton of alcohol, and some shitty DJ or something,” you added, glancing at a group of students touring the campus before turning back to Art.

Art nodded, slightly wincing at the mention of the keg stand. “Wow, sounds like a lot of fun,” he replied sarcastically, earning a nod of agreement from you.

“I was planning on skipping it, but Nathalie really wants me to go. I thought if you came with me, it might actually be fun. Better than wallowing in my room wishing Patrick was here,” you admitted, biting your lip.

"Well, we had fun at that party last Friday, you remember right?" Art asked, smirking.

"Remember is a strong word," you replied, shaking your head with a laugh. "I think I have bits and pieces from that night. I do remember waking up still drunk at noon with my t-shirt on backwards and you snoring next to me in bed. Also like 5 missed calls from Patrick."

Art flashed you a lopsided grin. "Well, your bed's comfy, but I thought I was going to roll off in the middle of the night."

"Well, I stayed in my corner, I was flush against the wall as you were all sprawled out making yourself at home on my bed," you teased, nudging him playfully.

As you approached your dorm building, you noticed Art’s phone buzz. He glanced at it quickly, fumbling to put it away as a smile grew on his face. “What’s with the grin, weirdo?” you asked, narrowing your eyes suspiciously.

“Oh, nothing. Just a funny text,” Art replied too quickly, stuffing his phone back into his pocket.

You rolled your eyes. “You’re terrible at lying, you know that?”

“Who, me? Who said I’m lying, I’m the picture of innocence,” Art said defensively.

You shook your head. “Sure you are. Anyway, I think I’m gonna drop my stuff on the floor, crawl into bed, and maybe take a nap. Maybe we can think about that party, I can call you at 11 so we can pregame.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Art said with a nod. “I’ll walk you to your door.”

You smiled gratefully as the two of you ascended the stairs to your floor. Art talked animatedly about his plans for the weekend while you half-listened, preoccupied with thoughts of collapsing onto your bed and taking a deserved long nap.

"Yeah anyways, I'm thinking of catching up on some studying, this english class is kicking my ass," Art continued, unaware of your drifting attention. "Maybe I’ll go on a run later though. You could join me if you wanted, if you’re up."

"Maybe," you replied absentmindedly, reaching a hand into your tote bag sifting for your keys.

As you reached your door, frustrated with your bag, you dropped your tennis bag and lifted your whole tote up, practically sticking your face in it to find your keys. "I hate these fucking tote bags, I can’t find shit," you grumbled to Art, feeling a tap on your shoulder.

Startled, you turned around with a scowl— until you saw Patrick standing there, a mischievous grin on his face. "Patrick! What the fuck? What are you doing here-” you exclaimed, letting your tote bag fall to the floor and throwing your arms around him in a tight hug.

Patrick laughed, hugging you back just as tightly. "Surprise" he exclaimed, holding you close, smiling at Art over your shoulder.

You pulled back slightly, giving him an incredulous look. "You asshole! Trapped in New York with my parents, my ass!" you shook your head, playfully hitting him on the chest.

Patrick held his chest dramatically and leaned in, kissing your cheek lightly. "All part of the plan," he murmured. “Plus, I had a little help," he added, nodding towards Art, who was standing nearby with a smug expression.

You turned in Patrick's arms to face Art, scoffing in shock. "Art, you were in on this? You’re such a liar," you exclaimed.

Art shrugged. "Hey, I was just hosting him at my dorm while we were at practice. Technically, I didn’t lie—I just omitted a few details," he explained, grinning.

"How could you do this to me? Traitor!" you said dramatically, though a smile tugged at the corner of your lips.

Patrick wrapped his arms tighter around your waist, pulling you closer against him and resting his head on your shoulder. "Come on. You know it was worth it," he said, his tone teasing.

You sighed playfully, shaking your head at the pair of them. "I guess I can forgive you both this time," you conceded.

Patrick’s hand gently brushed through your hair as he settled his head into the curve of your neck. “You know I can’t stand it when you’re mad at me,” he said softly.

As you lingered in Patrick's embrace, you paused. "Wait, where's all your stuff?" you asked, pulling back slightly and turning to look up at him.

Patrick grinned, nodding towards your door. "In your dorm," he replied casually.

“Wow, Breaking and entering," you quipped, crossing your arms squinting at Art.

Art interjected with a laugh, "Actually, perfectly legal entering. You're the one who gave me a spare key."

You shook your head, "That's for emergencies, Art," you retorted, shooting him a mock glare.

Patrick turned you around to face him, his hands resting gently on your shoulders. "Come on, admit it, you're impressed," he teased.

You sighed, "I'm shocked you guys were able to pull this off, honestly," you admitted, shaking your head with amusement. Patrick laughed softly, rubbing your back soothingly.

Reluctantly pulling away from Patrick's arms, you grabbed your tote bag from the floor, turning to face Art and Patrick. "As much as this hallway talk is very exciting, I seriously need to find my keys. I'm exhausted," you declared half-joking.

After a brief search through your bag, you finally located your keys nestled among your belongings. Patrick picked up your tennis bag with a playful grin, indicating his readiness to follow you inside.

"Alright, Art, thank you," Patrick called out over his shoulder as you unlocked the door.

Art waved casually. "Have fun, be safe you two. I'll see you later," he replied as he walked down the hallway.

As the two of you entered your dorm room, you barely had enough time to place your bags on the floor before Patrick closed the gap between you and him and crashed his lips onto yours. His hands pulled you against him as he pressed your back against the door, placing his hands on either side of you almost boxing you in. His kisses were sloppy, teeth colliding as his lips moved against yours, hands desperately roaming your body, as if he couldn't get close enough to you.

You responded eagerly, melting into his embrace, your own hands finding their way into his hair, tugging him closer. His lips moved hungrily against yours, his tongue tracing your lower lip, hands roaming over your back, then up to cradle your face, pushing strands of hair away as he deepened the kiss.

"Patrick," you managed to gasp between kisses, your chest rising and falling with each breath. "I... I need to put my stuff away," you painted, reluctantly pulling back

Patrick leaned back, a mischievous smirk on his face, moving over to lean against your desk. "Sure," he murmured, his gaze lingering on you as you took out some things from your bag. "So, how was practice?" he asked, his voice low, as he looked you up and down.

You scoffed, a hint of satisfaction playing on your lips as you organized. "Heinous. I keep getting paired with this girl on the team who can't return any of my serves," you replied exasperatedly, glancing over at him.

Patrick raised an eyebrow, "maybe you should just go easy on her."

You shook your head, clicking your tongue in frustration. "I've tried to go easy on her, but she can't even play me when I do that. She acts like it's my fault she can't play for shit," you paused to sigh.

Patrick grinned, tracing a hand up and down your arm. "We both know you're too good for stanford women's tennis," he murmured, moving from the desk to stand behind you, his hands coming to rest on your hips and giving them a quick squeeze.

You whipped your head around, rolling your eyes and scoffing at his comment. "Careful," you say firmly.

Patrick put his hands up in mock surrender, his cocky grin never faltering. "Alright, alright. Sorry, my bad," he said. "You're right."

As an unspoken apology, Patrick moved closer, his hands gently moving up to your waist as he leaned in to kiss your neck softly. His lips left a warm trail on your skin, "I missed you," he murmured between kisses, his breath hot against your ear. “So much.”

You tilted your head slightly, allowing him better access, closing your eyes briefly to savor the sensation. "I missed you too," you hummed, your voice softening as you turned to face him fully. Your hands came to rest on his chest. "You know, I wish you would’ve just told me you were coming," you teased, carding your fingers through his hair.

Patrick's playful demeanor softened as he gazed into your eyes, his fingers brushing against your cheek as he pushed a stray lock of hair behind your ear. "Sorry again," he murmured sincerely, his breath mingling with yours. "Do you still love me?" he asked, clearly teasing and testing you.

You couldn't help but smile, your fingers threading through the strands of his hair at the nape of his neck. "I still love you, even with your elaborate lies," you replied, planting a sweet kiss on his lips. "But I have to say I knew something was up. Art was being weirder than normal."

Patrick hummed, his hands gently caressing your sides as he leaned in for another kiss.

"Hey? Are you even listening to me?" you asked, blinking up at him, a playful smirk tugging at your lips.

Patrick paused, his forehead resting against yours as he looked into your eyes. "Sorry, what did you say? I was a little distracted," he said, smiling.

You laughed softly, giving him a light shove. “I said Art was acting weirder than normal. I could tell he was hiding something.”

He shook his head and grinned, suddenly, he scooped you up over his shoulder, eliciting a surprised laugh from you as he carried you to the bed. Playfully flopping you down, his hands on either side of your head as he leaned in to kiss you again, his lips warm and insistent.

"So, what's our plan for tonight?" he asked between kisses, his fingers tracing light patterns on your sides.

You sighed softly, your words catching in your throat as his kisses became more fervent. "Well, there's this party my friend invited me to," you managed to say, struggling to speak coherently. "But last time I went out with Art, it was a shit show," you paused, trying to focus as his lips trailed down your collarbone, "but you're here, so we can do… whatever you want," you finally managed to say, your voice breathless with desire.

"Can we?" Patrick teased, his tone dripping with innuendo, his kisses becoming more urgent and needy.

You sighed deeply, rolling your eyes. "You know, you're impossible," you muttered, shaking your head. "But yes, we can."

Patrick grinned triumphantly, his hands roaming over your body as he leaned in to kiss you again, his hunger for you evident in every touch and movement. "Good," he murmured against your lips. "I think I just want you to be myself tonight."

"Freaky," you quipped, biting your tongue to hide a laugh.

With a self-assured grin, Patrick swiftly removed his T-shirt, revealing his lean and tan body. His gaze never left yours as he leaned back in, his lips finding yours with intensity. Your fingers traced lightly over his chest as you meshed together, and through kisses, you opened your eyes for a moment, gaze fixed on the freckles dotting his nose and cheeks.

"You've got more freckles," you observed with a playful smile, pulling back slightly, teasingly tracing each tiny mark with your fingertip.

Patrick grinned warmly, his eyes crinkling as he removed his lips from yours pulling you into a tight hug. "You're so cute," he murmured, squeezing you against him. His hands gently moved up to cup your face, his thumbs brushing against your cheeks as he pulled you closer, lips looking for another kiss with a soft sigh of contentment slipping out. His gaze, filled with adoration and longing, locked onto yours, silently expressing his deep affection.

"Fuck, you're so pretty," he whispered, his voice low and filled with awe. You locked eyes with him, your own expression softening as you smiled, your fingers tracing the curve of his jaw.

Without breaking eye contact, Patrick's hands moved to the hem of your T-shirt, his touch almost insistent. He lifted the fabric, exposing your skin to the cool air and his heated gaze, with the T-shirt slipped over your head and thrown to the floor, forgotten. His gaze traveled downward, taking in the sight of you, bare-chested in front of him, a cheeky grin began to spread across his face. 

You rolled your eyes, whacking his arm. "Are you 13?" you teased.

Patrick laughed, unfazed as his hands and mouth roamed your newly exposed skin, his lips moving back to your collarbone, placing soft kisses along its length. Your remaining clothes were shed in a flurry, falling to the floor as you both moved with urgency desperately reconnecting.

Finally, as your kisses slowed and the two of you were breathing somewhat heavily, you rolled onto him, resting your head on his chest. His arms wrapped around you instinctively, pulling you close, with the steady rhythm of his heartbeat beneath your ear.

"I love you," Patrick murmured softly, placing a lovingly sweet kiss onto your forehead.

You met his gaze with a soft smile. "Is that just because we had incredible reunion sex?" you teased lightly, a playful challenge in your voice. "Or do you love me all the time?"

Patrick laughed, his fingers moving up and down on your back. "Only for the sex, it's usually worth the plane ticket," he teased back, with a smile. "Just kidding. I love you all the time," he replied earnestly, as a grin started forming on his face.

Leaning up from his chest, you pressed a sloppy kiss against his mouth, your hands tangling into his hair as you felt the corners of his lips curve into a smile against yours. "I knew it," you murmured against his lips, a hint of amusement in your voice.

"Say it back," Patrick urged with a playful grin, attempting to deepen the kiss, but you playfully pulled away before he could capture your lips again.

Rolling your eyes theatrically, you feigned annoyance, though your smile betrayed your true feelings. "Fine," you replied, leaning in to kiss him once more. "I love you too, freak."

[pixlezz]

lmk s5 small rant

yall do realize though that even if the animation quality has changed for lmk the writers and story. hasn’t? like we’re still getting a continuation but ppl are acting like it’s over and wildbrain iz gonna change everything when that’s just not true. it’s a new style of animation for them considering they only do puppet rigs for 2D and pretty good 3D animation. besides, let’s not forget it took a season before flying bark got to the iconic / more flowy animation of s2 that we all attribute to lmk. besides, these ppl animated carmen sandiego, a show with action and fairly smooth animation (i’m pretty sure someone fact check me if you need to), lmk is not in its flop or bad era. we’re judging it very heavily based on like a minute. let them cook yall ! hype mk up !! hype little bro up itz his 5th season !!! give it a chance before you count it out ! i trust that even if the animation is lacking that the story and the writing will still be something amazing

yes yall can be sad or even upset that flying bark pulled out of the project but lmk isn’t done yet ! it hasn’t even released so we should at least see it till the end or just not completely attack it yet. be civilized

[phoenixisobsessed]

For 79! I see the (2) which i'm guessing means two characters? (If i'm misunderstanding my apologies)

If its one: Starscream from BWII

Or if its twooo: Starscream and BB from BWII

“BB!!” (Original post: PINNED)

YEEEES

FUCK YEEES I LOVE THESE GUYS SO MUCH OH MY GOD YEEEEEEAHHHH. I’m so happy I finally got to draw them. Starscream is so like…I don’t know what word to use other than sexy, in this show. Like a sophisticated whore. Like his Japanese VA oh my GOD I was on my knees the entire time. I don’t know how the way he sounded so calm even if he was clearly stressed out af was so APPEALING?? I am still obsessed with Beast Wars II Starscream and BB duo they live in my mind rent free (together with Starscream’s party invite for the insectrons ARARGHSADDGa).

Also I might or might not have noticed that there are technically 2 people in the photo and not just 1 person…but we ignore that and move on because I LOVE THEEEEEM.

My Catformers ngl in their flop era rn BUT IDC I FUCKING LOVE THEM SO MUCH AARGH (keep the asks coming guys we’re so close to being done.)

[dearestkong]

reflections // starting the summer term 🌷💌

(feel free to skip … just a lot of rambling about changes of mindset, i’ll sum it up later in my new pinned.)

it’s been more than a month since I’ve started this blog, and I’m really really glad that I did. not because my productivity has spiked or my anxiety has diminished or whatever (though there have been positive effects), but because just attempting to start something like this meant that I was no longer willing to suffer and rot in private. i talked about the “hole of dysfunction and self-hatred” in my old introduction: for so long, that hole was my best-kept secret and my greatest shame. being competent and ambitious was an aspect of my personality, and I couldn’t handle the idea that it wasn’t true.

but then…. dearestkong emerged!! and I started being completely transparent. telling strangers about every day of self-destructiveness. it was a good form of accountability, sure, but it was also a means of telling the truth. this blog has been a way for me to say: i’ve been struggling, and it’s not a fluke or a “flop era” or something entirely disconnected from the high achiever i used to be. the girl fighting off inertia and the girl seemingly doing everything with ease are the same person.

🌷☆彡

my posts have been getting more optimistic recently, and that isn’t a fluke, either. lots of things have happened: i’ve realised how many people support and believe in me, i started taking medication for a problem i’ve had for a while (it’s crazy how the world seems so much brighter now?!!?!), i started writing in my diary again. i’m now 27 days clean from a self-destructive behaviour (this blog isn’t about my relationship with that, but in the early days i used to make a note of relapses and just the fact of acknowledging it felt so freeing to me. it wasn’t something to hide anymore, but a fight i was making progress with.)

this seems like a rapid evolution for such a new blog, right?! but in the next six months, i’m going to be applying to university. i’m about to undergo some of the most rapid evolutions of my life.

🌷☆彡

for so long, i’ve had this vague and unspecified dream: “doing the best” “working my hardest” “impressing my teachers”. now my dream has a name and a face and admissions results attached to it and it’s making me so scared that i want to throw up. when i was in the depths of the hole i couldn’t stop seeing my life as a binary. either i get in, or i don’t. and if i don’t, what the hell is the point of living?

38 days later and i feel a little differently. i am someone who has climbed out the hole of inertia and lived. i have done many things and they’ve all turned out fine— great, actually. i have reason to believe that things will go well.

i still have a pretty nasty relationship with myself, lol. it makes me really happy when people on this blog interact and talk, but they’re all so nice and it makes me feel a little fake. in reality i’m standoffish, awkward, and often mean. i coast by on intellectual abilities while slacking off. i’m a judgemental egoist who is sometimes self-destructive. all of that is true—>

but at the same time, i still have this crazy belief that i deserve the best. it’s literally an overflow of egoism ;;;; there’s nobody i’m more in love with than myself. i think of the girl i’ll be in the future with such affection, and i don’t want her to feel ashamed or resentful of me. she deserves to have her hopes fulfilled!! she deserves the brightest, the best that i can give her.

in conclusion: even if i don’t like the person i am at the present, i have to do it anyway. 1 because there’s no other option and 2 because i love the person i’ll be in the future too much to stop.

🌷☆彡

so from now on, the purpose of this blog is changing slightly. it’s no longer “get out of the hole and survive” like it used to be. we’re past that, we’re already surviving.

now, the aim is to “do my best so my future self can live with no regrets”. that’s not very concise but I’ll work on it.

let’s do this! 加油！

[daffodil-mania]

The Itch, pt. 2

Stanford era!Sam Winchester x fem!Reader. Swearing, sexually suggestive/explicit language, brief mention of serial murder and Ted Bundy. Still no smut but we’re getting closer (mwheheh >:3). Takes place around 2002-ish

Author’s notes: Hey y’all!! I’m so sorry it has taken me so long to post this. I could give you a whole spiel about why it took so long, but all I’m gonna say is bitches be crazy and life be crazier. Enjoy part two of The Itch!!

—

Sam’s looking at you, bangs falling in his eyes, pink lips slightly parted. His cheeks are flushed, and you spot a cute little mole on the side of his nose that you hadn’t noticed in the dim lighting of the house. Meanwhile, the itch is back in full force, and it refuses to be silenced. Your mind presents you with images of that mole peeking up at you from between your thighs, and you feel like you’re gonna explode, so you cast your eyes downward. Your eyes land on where both of your hands rest your dropped, soiled shirts, your fingertips barely touching. You slowly look back up at Sam through your lashes, and notice that his expression looks… hungry. His eyes are dark and unreadable, and you’re busy trying to work out if he feels what you do when he clears his throat and hurriedly picks up the shirts and shoves them at you before scrambling to his feet.

You rise as well, holding your shirts to your chest, feeling more than a little disappointed and very, very awkward. You’re unsure of what to say or do to break the tension when Sam speaks. “Um, if you want I can take you to my place and wash those for you. It’s not far; just five minutes.” He’s looking down at his feet, but the sliver of his face that you can see through his bangs is beet red. Your heart is beating wildly against your ribcage, and your eyes are glued to his frame. Your mind is spinning out of control and your thoughts keep flip-flopping from holy shit maybe he does like me to stop projecting your horniness onto this poor stranger, you psycho. You realize Sam is looking at you now, his face expectant, and everything inside you seems to freeze. Your heart stops beating and your breath hitches. He cocks his head to the side and you finally exhale with a nod. “Yeah. Yeah, that would be really nice, thank you.”

Sam nods gently, a soft smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “Of course. We can leave whenever you want; parties aren’t really my thing, so I’m ready to go whenever.” You look back at the house. “Honestly, I’m good to go now. I just need to get my jacket from the hall closet before we leave,” you say, looking back at him. He’s nodding slowly, his eyes unfocused but trained in the direction of the house. “It’ll only take a minute, so you can wait out here if you want,” you continue. Sam looks at you and nods. “Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll go ahead and get the car started.” You smile at him, and you can’t be sure, but it looks like he gulps. “Alright then. Go team,” you quip, pointing two finger guns at Sam. Chuckling, he points his own finger guns back at you, and before you start to walk back he takes the shirts from you and says something about holding them so you don’t have to carry them the whole time. Walking back to the house, you can feel the itch like a burning in your chest, a swirling mix of excitement and tense energy. Just be cool, you think to yourself. He’s just a guy. A really hot, really tall, really sweet guy, but a guy nonetheless. Just be cool and everything will be fine.

With a deep breath, you plunge back into the house and muscle your way through the crowd to the hall closet under the staircase in the living room. Thankfully, there’s no one in front of the door, so you manage to squeeze inside and retrieve your jacket. You pull your phone out of one of the pockets and flip it open. You hastily text your friends that you’re leaving as well as a brief description of Sam — just in case. You don’t really see him as the serial murdering type, but you know damn well that you can never be too careful. No one thought Bundy was a killer either, after all.

You wait a couple of minutes for a response from one of your friends, but it never comes. You roll your eyes. Oh well. If you do get murdered, at least the cops have a place to start. You close your phone and shove it in the pocket of your jacket after you pull it on. You’re starting to feel quite cozy in all of your layers, so you push out of the closet and back into the living room. Before you know it, you’re crossing the lawn to Sam’s car. He’s already sitting in the driver’s seat but he steps out when he sees you coming. He opens the passenger door for you like a gentleman and a new generation of butterflies take flight in your stomach, fluttering in rosy bliss. The smile you bestow upon him as thanks is just the right mix of genuine appreciation and alluring shyness. “Thank you,” you purr, your voice laced with a level of confidence you didn’t think you possessed. Sam’s face flushes with color, and if you weren’t sure before, you are now; Sam’s into you. On some level, Sam Winchester is into you. Holy shit.

You’re about to say fuck it and plant a kiss right on his mouth when Sam does something you’re not expecting. He moves in a little bit closer to you, crowding you just enough, and ducks his head down a bit. Your heart is beating in your throat and your brain is short-circuiting when he breathes a hushed “you’re welcome” into your ear.

Holy. Shit.

And then he pulls away, a smirk plastered proudly on his face. His eyes twinkle as he leaves you gaping on your side of the car. He slides into the driver’s seat and you shakily climb into the car, trying desperately to regain your composure. He notches the car into “drive” while you buckle your seatbelt, and you can see his pleased expression in your peripheral vision.

You don’t think you’ve ever been more wet in your entire life.

Silence has just settled over the car when Sam turns his head slightly towards you, keeping his eyes on the road as he pulls away from the curb. “Wanna hear some music? There are some CDs in the glove compartment.” You hum your assent, grateful for something to break the silence, and for something to focus on besides the dampness in your panties. You open the glove compartment and find that there’s a small metallic blue CD binder in the otherwise empty compartment. You reach in and pull it out, setting it on your lap before you unzip it. You see that Sam has quite the motley collection; Red Hot Chili Peppers, Elvis, Deftones, and Celine Dion, to name a few. You take out Californication, the most recent Chili Peppers album, and pop it into the CD player. As the first song on the track list starts to play, you twist in your seat to face Sam.

“You’re not a serial killer, are you? Because it would be kind of a downer if this was just some elaborate ruse to murder me in your basement or something.” Sam snorts at that. “No, I’m not a serial killer. But even if I was, do you think I would freely admit to it?” You shrug. “Maybe. You could be trying to lull me into a false sense of security.” Sam’s bobbing his head thoughtfully, and you continue. ��Or you could just be a very honest serial killer.” Sam makes a small humming noise, and the car goes silent for a while, which leaves you cringing at your stunted attempt at a conversation. Sam takes a deep breath, and in a rush he says, “But even if I were a serial killer, I could never kill anyone as pretty as you.”

Your face feels like it’s on fire, and you’re blushing so hard you feel like Pepé Le Pew. You search the recesses of your mind desperately for some sort of witty and equally flirtatious comeback, but the only thing you can come up with is, “Well. Guess I’m safe then.”

You mentally beat the shit out of yourself.

It’s not long after that exchange when Sam pulls up in front of an apartment building. He pulls into an empty space in the crowded lot that sprawls out in front of the building, and gently eases the car into “park”. The two of you unbuckle, but before you can exit the car Sam reaches behind his seat and grapples around for something. You can see a sliver of his stomach from this angle; toned and tanned, with a nice happy trail that leads into the jeans that are slung tantalizingly low on his hips. His boxers peek teasingly over the waistband of his jeans, and your mouth suddenly feels very empty.

You snap your eyes to the front windshield as Sam twists back around, your cheeks burning. He holds a plastic bag out to you, the kind that you’d get at a dollar store, and you can see that he’s used it to store your shirts in it. You take it, and when you meet his gaze you can see that he’s barely concealing a smirk. Your stomach drops and you realize that he knows you were ogling him, so you stutter out your thanks as fast as you can while you frantically exit the vehicle. Sam smoothly follows you, closing his door and locking the car with the fob. You stand awkwardly in the shadows, clutching your little bundle. Sam lopes over to you, taking his sweet time, and you get the sense that he’s fucking with you on purpose. Your itch is back, and it seems that the game is very much on.

You follow Sam to the complex, and he stops outside the main entrance to pull his keys out of his pocket. He opens the glass door and holds it, allowing you to go in first. “Thank you, sir,” you curtsy before walking in, grinning. Sam grins as well, and gives you a little bow. “M’lady.” The grin on your face widens, and you let out a giggle. You’re in a small entryway, and you’re currently facing the glass door that lets you into the lobby. There are two long and narrow glass panes on either side of the door, and through them you can see the interior of the lobby. It’s completely deserted; even the front desk has been abandoned. You see a few love seats facing the elevators, and then a small “exit” sign on a far wall above a door. Next to the exit door is another door that reads “stairs”.

Sam opens the door to the lobby, but this time he goes in first, which you don’t mind. You’re just happy to be here. You still can’t quite wrap your mind around the fact that you’re here, with your coffee shop Adonis, on the way to his apartment. Jesus Roosevelt Christ, you think you could squeal. Even if nothing happens, even if all you get out of this impromptu trip is freshly laundered clothes, you’ll be satisfied.

Well. Your itch won’t, but that’s a problem for your right hand to solve.

You follow Sam through the lobby, taking in the rest of your surroundings. Some wilting plants in big ceramic pots have been pushed into the corners of the lobby, and a few muted watercolors have been hung from the walls in an attempt to add more color to the otherwise drab space. You’re snapped out of your trance-like state of observation by the sound of the elevator button being pressed. Sam moves away from the button, hands shoved deep into his pockets, and you get the impression that he’s trying to take up as little space as possible. Maybe it’s nerves; you aren’t sure. You decide to break the silence.

“D’you go to any of the universities in the area?” You inquire, clearing your throat, even though you’re fairly certain you already know the answer. Sam nods. “Yeah, I’m a first-year undergrad at Stanford. You?” You nod, folding your arms over your chest. “It’s my first year at Stanford, too. But I think I might transfer to Palo Alto next semester.” Sam cocks a brow and smiles lopsidedly. “So you’re studying psychology, then,” he says, and you smile, too, and throw your hands up in mock surrender. “You caught me,” you chuckle. “What about you? What are you studying?”

“I’m pre-law,” he says, and he appears almost shy when he says it. He drags a hand through his hair, mussing it a bit, and it falls back in a way that looks effortlessly perfect. Damn him.

“Pre-law; that’s cool. What kind of law are you interested in practicing?”

“Well, the goal is to become a defense attorney. But I’m also really interested in environmental law,” He adds, his passion for his studies evident in his eyes, sparkling hazel star shows that you get the privilege of experiencing firsthand. The elevator dings and the doors slide open. He clearly wants to divulge more about his degree, but he restrains himself. As you step in the elevator, you ask, “Can you tell me more?”

Sam’s sheepish smile turns into a full-scale grin, and he wastes no time on diving in. He tells you about why he chose pre-law, details his coursework, shares some funny stories from classes, and the two of you get so engrossed in your conversation that you actually miss your stop on his floor. It’s only when the elevator is called back down to the lobby and a new person steps in that you realize. Sam turns scarlet and apologizes profusely. You tell him that it’s alright, and you give his forearm a reassuring squeeze that seems to abate some of his nervousness, but not the tent that you pretend not to notice forming in his pants.

After an awkwardly silent elevator ride, the other passenger exits onto the seventh floor, and you continue your ascent. The elevator dings again on the twelfth floor, and Sam steps out first. “It’s the second door on the left; room 1203.” He explains in a murmur. There is an unbroken quietness on the twelfth floor, probably due to the late hour. You check the time on your phone; it’s nearly one in the morning. You stifle a yawn, suddenly very sleepy despite the throbbing you still feel in your core. You blink to try and combat how heavy your eyes suddenly feel, but the rhythmic sounds of your footsteps in the carpeted hallway makes it even harder to concentrate.

Sam slots his key into the lock and opens the door with ease. He holds it open for you, the chivalry routine but not unwelcome at this point. You trudge into his apartment and he flips the switch on, basking everything in a soft yellow light.

Sam’s apartment is a studio. To your right, there’s a small kitchenette and dining table complete with two chairs. Directly in front of you, a bed has been pushed against the far left wall, and it’s been neatly and almost militarily made, with a few blankets and fluffy pillows resting on top of the gray comforter. Across from the bed there’s an extremely comfortable-looking and well-loved sofa that faces a wall-mounted TV and a slightly scuffed-up coffee table. You notice that the walls are devoid of any type of art or posters, unlike the lobby. There are also no plants or rugs to be seen. The decorations and attempts at making the space feel more homey are kept to a minimum, which confirms your earlier suspicions about Sam’s anti-consumerist tendencies.

You hear Sam closing and locking the door behind you, so you move deeper into the apartment to make space for him. Your heart begins to thump. You turn to watch him lock the door, and you notice that he has some kind of decorative macrame hanging from his ceiling eight beside his front door. It’s made of some kind of woven rope-like material, and in the middle of it you recognize a pattern that you’re faintly aware protects against the evil eye. This highly decorative and spiritual display doesn’t seem to match the rest of the decor in Sam's apartment, nor does it seem to match Sam as a person. But, again, you just met the guy, and far be it for you to judge anyone’s practices or beliefs.

Sam turns and notices you looking at his display, and he flushes. You’re starting to notice that whenever you discover something personal about or of personal value to him, Sam becomes embarrassed and almost defensive. You wonder what kind of life he must have had that has made him so secretive and protective.

You gesture vaguely to the macrame. “I really like your display. That’s a protective symbol against the evil eye, right?” Sam nods, glancing at it, his head ducked. “Uh, yeah. It’s found in a lot of Mediterranean and some Central and Western Asian cultures. Actually, there are even mentions of similar symbols or wardings used in Abrahamic religions.” He explains, his words coming out slowly and carefully. He worries a hand over the nape of his neck and jawline, and you nod, processing the information. His eyes snap up to look at you, and he looks not unlike a deer in headlights. You gesture to the macrame again. “If you don’t mind my asking, how do you know all of that stuff? It’s really impressive.”

Sam swallows thickly. He looks like he’s about to vomit and you’re about to apologize for being such a massive bonehead when he exhales, seemingly pulling himself together for a response. “I was really into folklore and mythology growing up, and I’ve taken a few classes on it here. A-at Stanford, I mean.” He braces himself as if you won’t believe him, but you just nod in a way that you hope seems nonchalant and accepting. Your itch has slowly started making its presence known once more, whining at you, begging for satisfaction. You decide to let your itch win this round. “Smart and cute. Nice.” You blink at him, slowly, allowing a gentle smile to sweetly spread across your face. You hold your breath, hoping that he doesn’t respond adversely to your flirtation. Sam flushes pink again, and his eyes take on that hungry look again.

Time seems to slow to a crawl, and the air is so electric that it makes your hairs stand on end. You can feel your heartbeat in your core and your body seems to be radiating some sort of electromagnetic current that’s pulling Sam towards you. Your heartbeat grows louder and louder with every step he takes until eventually it’s all that you can hear. Sam’s towering over you now, and you swear your heart is beating out of your chest like you’re a goddamn Looney Tunes character. He bends down slowly, and…

… And he takes the plastic bag of shirts from you. He straightens up, a devilish smirk plastered on his face, his hazel eyes twinkling. “I’m gonna run these down to the laundry room. Make yourself at home.”

Jesus. Fucking. Christ.

—

Author’s notes: That’s it for part two!! I really wanted to make this part longer, bUT I also really wanted to post something because I know it’s taken me a dick year to get this out. I hope you enjoyed and let me know if you want to read more of this fic!

Tag list: @startterfly

[notebookishtype]

Hello, do you have any recs for star wars books and comics with the best lukeleia content? In my lukeleia era and I really wanna start reading some OT legends stuff but I don’t know where to start.

Stories that take place during, between, and shortly after the Original Trilogy? We are lucky to have decades worth of content set in this time period! It’s the only place we can find things published before the sibling reveal, and/or acknowledging that Luke and Leia were attracted to each other.

✨I’ve included links to every book and comic mentioned below. I don’t think it’s immoral to pirate from a corporation. If you (general) take issue with that, I have bought most items listed at least once, and I would lend it to you if I could.

✨Some of the comics are only available in large collections, you may need to scroll to find the correct issues.

Legends Books

The first that comes to mind is Splinter of the Mind’s Eye. It was published in 1978, Luke and Leia were still love interests, and it takes place after ANH. They crash land on a mining planet and discover there is an Imperial presence there.

Fun Facts:

This story was commissioned to be a low budget sequel if A New Hope flopped.

This novel also inspired some of the canon lore for kyber crystals.

I started an impromptu reread earlier this year, and I did not remember how shippy this book was. This is just four pages into the book:

Splinter of the Mind’s Eye was also adapted into a comic in 1995… and it was still incredibly shippy? I recommend both if you have the time and executive function. If you’re low on focus or time, go with the comic.

I’ve been told the novelization of A New Hope also has the same vibes, and is by the same author. So if you enjoy Splinter thats another place to look.

As far as other novels, we’re mostly looking at crumbs. Off the top of my head I know both Shadows of the Empire and The Truce at Bakura acknowledge their feelings for each other.

Shadows of the Empire:

The Truce at Bakura:

I would only recommend these if you’re interested in the rest of either story.

Shadows is a take on what happened between ESB and ROTJ, published in ‘96. Want to see how the Rebels get the plans for the Second Death Star? Read this. Want to see Darth Vader forced to play politics? Read this. If Han and Leia’s relationship is a no go for you, you might consider skipping it. Content Warning: the antagonist attempts to “seduce” Leia via pheromones. Read: rape. He is a serial rapist.

Truce takes place immediately after ROTJ, and has some great character moments for our heroes, again a lot of focus on Leia and Han. I do, however, choose to view the fact that Luke’s love interest in this book is a young Imperial Senator who we are meant to compare to Leia, through a shippy lense. I cannot escape the idea that Luke is projecting. Otherwise this book is about dinosaur looking aliens using human’s life energy to power their ships.

If you’re interested in checking any of these books out I recommend looking here or here.

Legends Comics

Splinter of the Mind’s Eye (1995)—as mentioned above.

Star Wars Tales (1999-2005) 15, Do or Do Not—Takes place immediately after ROTJ. Luke is processing after the Battle of Endor, and uncertain of his place. His feelings for Leia are acknowledged.

Star Wars (2013) 1-6, In the Shadow of Yavin—Takes pace after ANH. Leia is working with a handpicked X-wing squadron, to expose a spy. Her position in command causes friction between her and Luke. This is one of the few stories really leans into Leia having feelings for Luke.

Star Wars (2013) 15-18, Rebel Girl—Leia accepts a political proposal in exchange for a secure base location. Luke is a jealous brat about it, puts himself in danger, and plans to run away.

Marvel Star Wars (‘77–86)—I haven’t read these yet, but I’ve seen plenty of panels and pages posted on Tumblr that give lukeleia vibes, even some that take place after ROTJ. These have been gathered into several omnibuses. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

Disney Comics

Star Wars (2015) 1-6, Skywalker Strikes—After ANH, the gang is infiltrating an Imperial arms factory, Vader shows up, Luke has a crisis. The Luke and Leia interactions are primarily in issues 3 & 4, but it’s a solid story arc.

Star Wars (2015) 33–Actual Publisher’s Summary: The Hero of the Rebellion & the Princess of the Revolution! Luke and Leia finally get some time alone… Unfortunately, it's stranded on a desert island.

The Storms of Crait (2017)—After ANH. Our heroes travel to Crait, in hopes of establishing a base there. Luke is delightfully flustered by a kiss on the cheek from Leia.

Star Wars Adventures (2017) 4 & 5, The Trouble at Tibrin—Leia and Luke are on a diplomatic mission that goes awry. Leia rescues Luke in this one. Acknowledges Luke’s feelings.

Star Wars Adventures Annual 2018, Mind Your Manners—Another diplomatic mission gone wrong. Not all that shippy, but discovered it while making this list, so it felt wrong to leave it off.

Star Wars Adventures (2020) 7 & 8, The Princess and the Bog, A Twin Tale—Leia and Luke are scouting base locations. Luke is terrible at following Leia’s orders, and wants to pet all the animals.

Star Wars Hyperspace Stories (2022) 2–Another search for a base location. There are several cute moments between them in this one.

Deleted Scenes & Behind The Scenes

I know the ask was about books and novels, but I’d also recommend—if you haven’t already—searching for deleted scenes, alternate takes, behind the scenes photos and promo photos, etc. There are goodies from each film, but the most substantial stuff is from/for ESB.

Is That Everything?

I doubt it. There are many other stories that take place in this time frame that I haven’t investigated yet. Here are some that are on my list:

Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor (Legends novel)

Heir to the Jedi (Canon novel)

Heart of the Jedi (unpublished Legends novel)

Star Wars (1977-1986) (Legends comics) (mentioned above)

Star Wars (2020) aka Star Wars V3 (Canon comics)

Razor’s Edge & Honor Among Thieves (Legends novel duology)

I’d bet on there being content down the timeline that reads as shippy, but that’s a whole future post.

[waywardangel-wilds]

BFF Katniss and Finnick shenanigans - Go

(A lot of ppl voted that I should just post all my drafts, so let’s start!)

You don’t understand how pissed I was when Finnick died, obviously it’s just plain SAD, he was such a great character. The friendship between him and Katniss would have been a delight to read. It would have included Peeta and Johanna and Annie and it would turn them into the ultimate victor friend group and just AHHHH

in this fic I’m writing I’ve detoured just to have a Finnick and Katniss friendship era because I love them so much.

If we’re talking post mockingjay (HES ALIVE!!) Finnick… life is literally just an endless bbq idk why. Just Finnick in flip flops really settling into fatherhood and treating Katniss and Peeta’s house like it’s his house, spending the whole day there when he visits. He treats Katniss like his little sister anytime he sees her.

I think that they’d eventually reach a level of friendship where he just shows up unannounced. I also think he keeps fishing hours, so he’s arriving super early in the morning but still not early enough to catch Peeta on his workdays.

Because Katniss and Finnick were willing to play a joke on Peeta in the middle of the hunger games I think their relationship would be kind of jokester-y (is this even grammatically legible?? 😭). There’s no way they aren’t terrorizing Haymitch together.

I also know that Katniss legitimately loves and values Finnick so she’d appreciate spending time with him. I wonder if they’d ever all go swimming in twelve together, just to soothe Finnick curiosity of how in the world Katniss learned to swim in district twelve. That might be nice! Imagine Finnick pushing Katniss in only to get pushed in by Peeta a moment later. In this scenario Peeta and Annie are hanging out on the shore while Finnick criticizes Katniss’s lake for not being as awesome as the ocean.

[thewordworrier]

Are You Thinking Of Me Like I’m Thinking Of You? - Part One

Series Masterpost

Word Count: 7,481 words. Warnings: A decent amount of swearing, some slightly perverted flirting.

While Shelly can always escape the weather, she can never escape her band. At least not for very long. Ultimately she doesn't really mind, even if the conversation gets a little bit heated.

[Setting: We’re a few years into the Revenge Era, and the band are performing a few sets at some kinda Music Event during the warmer months. This is probably Warped 2005. Or thereabouts.]

It was hot. Far too hot. Way too hot, way too loud and way too busy. Shelly found herself struggling with it all, honestly. She couldn’t get used to the different types of heat in America, and she felt a bit dumb for it, really. She’d been working this side of the water for a good couple of years now, so surely she should at least be a little bit used to it.

Thankfully, she wasn’t totally needed at that moment - the bands were all mingling, hanging out and having a good time until their set times. Besides, if her band needed her, they’d call her. They knew that they could call her whenever they needed to, no matter what the time was or what they needed. But right then, Shelly needed to find somewhere quiet because everything was starting to feel overwhelming.

Once Shelly made her way through some of the backstage areas, it took her a few minutes to find somewhere that wasn’t occupied. Once she had though, she dropped her bag by the small couch and flopped onto her back, stretching out and letting out a sigh. It was quiet and a bit cooler. Maybe it was cooler because she wasn’t surrounded by people. Or maybe it was cooler for another reason; her brain wasn’t exactly running on a full tank of gas. She was just too hot - even though her “uniform” in the summer months ended up being t-shirts or tank tops, shorts and sneakers, she still found herself roasting.

She wasn’t very good with the heat; she reckoned if she wasn’t so hot, she’d be able to deal with everything else so much more. Of course, if she could get used to any one of the three things that were overwhelming her right then (the heat, the noise or the crowds), then the rest would fall into place. In theory anyway - it was, of course, entirely possible that everything felt like Too Much because it was All At Once. But she reckoned that the heat was the main offender. She had never been very good with the hotter summers back home either.

Shelly spent some blissful minutes in solitary silence, cooling down a little, even managing to cool down enough in order to sit up properly instead of being stretched out. She pulled her phone out of her pocket to check it, to see if she was being looked for, but before she could properly check her notifications, the door opened and she heard her name.

“Shellyyyyyy!”

The blonde in question looked up to see a heat flushed Lux.

“I found youuuu,” the other girl said, closing the door behind her. “I need time away from smelly boys. There’s so many of them! They’re awful in this weather. Can I hide with you?”

Shelly giggled and gestured for Lux to join her. “Sure, baby.”

Lux beamed and plopped down next to her for a moment. “Thanks! Do I smell? I’ve been outside all day.”

“Hmm,” Shelly leant closer to sniff her drummer. “No, I don’t think so. I think you’re alright.”

“Okay great!” Lux huffed a bit before she stood up to stretch, feeling restless. “So, what are you doing?”

“Um,” Shelly rubbed her arm a bit. “Just trying to catch a break from all the noise and all the people, and especially all of the heat because oh my god it’s so hot.”

Lux nodded, she knew that Shelly suffered in the heat, and sat on the other couch in the room. “I agree. It’s all too much.”

Before Shelly could say anything else, there was a knock at the door.

“Come in.”

The door opened again and Mikey stuck his head around it. He looked worried until he saw Lux, and then his expression changed to relief. “Ah, there you are.”

Lux blinked rapidly. “What?”

“I thought some creep -” He paused before shaking his head. “You know what, it doesn’t matter.”

Shelly tilted her head and cleared her throat a little. “What can I do for you Mikey?”

“Nothing Shell, just looking for Lux.”

“Come and hang out in here,” Lux said with a grin. “It’s much cooler.”

“I am apparently very good at finding the coolest spots,” Shelly said softly, rolling her eyes.

Mikey chuckled and settled close to Lux, not too close because it was still hot after all, before turning to Shelly again. “I suppose you’re still not used to this weather are you? I mean, Britain is well known for being… Wet?”

Shelly giggled a bit at his tone before she tried to fan herself with her hand for a moment. “It can rain a lot, yes, but even when it’s warm, it’s not this warm.”

Mikey nodded as he listened. “Different climates and humidity and all of that.”

“Exactly,” Shelly nodded and squirmed in her seat for a second before plucking at her darker coloured t-shirt and standing up, grabbing her bag. “I might need to change this. I screwed up putting this on today. Does anyone have a problem with that?”

Mikey shook his head, and to make a point, he took off his glasses, hooked the arm in his t-shirt and covered his face with his hands. Shelly watched this, slightly amused, as Lux sat up a bit straighter, resting her chin in her hands.

If you asked Lux about this at a later date, she would probably willingly admit that she was ‘chin-handsing’ at Shelly getting half naked (not that this was new to Lux, the girls often shared a room and sometimes a bed), and maybe, just maybe she would admit that she was also heart-eyesing at Mikey being so darn respectful.

“I’m assuming you don’t have an issue, Miss Lux?” Shelly grinned slightly in the younger girl’s direction, giggling when Lux went a bit pink before she shook her head. “I didn’t think so.”

“You’re just so pretty Shell,” Lux said, as she watched the blonde pull a tank top out of her bag.

Shelly shook her head at Lux before looking at the tank top. She then pulled a face before turning her back to the other two. “Ugh, it’s white. I guess all the others are in the wash pile.”

“That bag is your emergency bag though,” Lux said, trying not to be too obvious about watching Shelly change. “You don’t really plan to use what’s in it. It’s a last resort.”

“Perhaps,” Shelly tugged her t-shirt off over her head, rolled it up and shoved it in her bag before pulling the tank top on. “Maybe I should swap the emergency shirt for a darker colour once we’ve done some laundry.”

Almost as if he was summoned by the flashing of female flesh, there was another knock at the door and Frank appeared. He looked around to see some of his bandmates. And Shelly, who seemed to be half dressed.

“Well, well well!” He said, closing the door behind him. “What’s going on in here?”

Shelly pulled the fabric down properly over her chest before turning to face the noise. “It’s like Waterloo Station in here.”

The other two frowned at her slightly, while Mikey kept his gaze averted.

“Um! It’s like… Uh, Grand Central Station? New York Airport?” She tried to correct herself. “It’s a really busy public transport hub - one of the main ones in the capital city.”

It was only as she looked around at them that she realised that Mikey still had his eyes covered. She giggled and made her way back over to the smaller couch to sit back down.

“Oh, Mikey, honey, you can look now.”

Frank plopped himself down between Mikey and Lux as the bassist quickly cleaned his glasses on the hem of his t-shirt before putting them back on.

“Nice bra, by the way,” Frank said to Shelly with a grin.

“Oh shut up,” Shelly rolled her eyes. “I didn’t think I’d have to wear white today.”

“Is that blue?” Frank leant forward a bit, trying to get a closer look at Shelly. “Or is it some kinda purple?”

“It’s purple!” Lux blurted out, earning a smile from the blonde.

Frank glanced at Lux, grinned even wider and then turned to Shelly again. “”Purple is very becoming on you. Then again -”

Mikey rolled his eyes and elbowed Frank. “Don’t be crude.”

The guitarist managed to avoid the elbow to the ribs and just cackled. Lux rolled her eyes at this behaviour.

“Who’s being crude?” Ray asked as Gerard closed the door.

“Who do you think?” Lux said.

“Frank,” Mikey clarified, as he rolled his eyes.

Ray sighed.

“We’re,” Frank gestured to himself and Lux. “We were just talking about Shelly’s bra.”

Gerard glanced over to Shelly - she had settled on her back again, stretched out on the smaller of the two couches. She had one arm over her eyes and the other was resting on her stomach. Although, it took him a little while to notice that because his eyes lingered on her chest. He couldn’t help it! Her bra was actually quite visible through her white tank top. Which he swore she wasn’t wearing earlier. He’d remember it being so see through.

“Shut up Frank,” Shelly muttered. “Is that Ray I hear?”

“Hey Shell,” Ray took a seat in the single chair that looked like it was once part of a dining set. “Are you alright? What’re you doing here?”

“I was searching for somewhere quiet and cool to relax. It’s too hot and busy for me.”

Frank had been focused on Gerard for a few minutes, so he had seen where the singer’s gaze had lingered.

“Gerard’s here too,” Frank said. “But he’s been too busy trying to figure out the colour of your bra too. Which I still think is blue.”

Gerard went bright red.

“It’s purple!” Lux repeated, going pink herself.

Shelly removed her arm from covering her eyes and glanced around. “Oh, the gang is actually all here.”

Frank laughed a little at Shelly’s observation as he watched her cover her eyes with her arm again. Gerard, meanwhile, glanced around; checking to see if there was somewhere for him to sit. He didn’t really want to ask Shelly to move - she’d been here first after all, and she’d clearly found the best spot in the room for her needs. The best spot to stretch out in an attempt to cool off. A bit like when cats found the sunniest spot to sleep in, actually but… He’d much rather see her stretched out like that, than all curled up like a cat. Sure, maybe that was because of the shorts and the white tank top. Those definitely didn’t hurt. And that had been his thought before he let himself acknowledge the fact that he could see her bra through her top. Jesus. So, maybe he’d rather see her stretched out because of her clothing… Or maybe he’d rather see her stretched out because it meant that she was happy, comfortable and (hopefully) relaxed. That second reason sounded a bit… Lame, actually. It was true! He did like seeing her comfortable and happy! But he was also only human. And she was very attractive.

Asking her to move wasn’t an option to him - as much as he wanted to sit next to her. He wouldn’t even mind if she wanted to stay stretched out - he’d quite happily have her legs in his lap. Then again, he’d be more than willing to have her head in his lap too, or even her whole body… Like… Her sitting in his lap -  but he didn’t want to give those thoughts too much screen time because he knew he wouldn’t keep it PG if he did. And he really needed to not think about her like that. At least not right then at that second. He might allow himself a few minutes of inappropriate thoughts later on when she wasn’t around.

“Gerard,” Shelly grumbled quietly, making him jolt out of his head. “Sit down, I can tell that you’re still standing.”

“I’ll make room!” Lux offered quickly, standing up to allow the vocalist to sit in the spot closest to their tiny tour manager.

Frank snorted slightly as Gerard took Lux’s spot after a quick “you sure?” exchange. “And where are you gonna sit?”

“She can have my seat,” Mikey moved to stand up, but stopped when he saw Frank roll his eyes.

“Jesus,” Frank muttered. “Someone needs to just sit in someone’s lap, or something! Enough musical chairs.”

“Although,” Ray glanced over to Shelly. “I really, really would advise against asking the tiny one to move.”

Shelly huffed - more at the heat than at anything else (she didn’t mind the ‘tiny one’ comment from Ray, as she really was small compared to him). She sat up and fiddled with the hem of her tank top to knot it up under her bust to get it off of her skin. Once she was sort of happy with that, she flopped back down again.

Gerard glanced at her as soon as she huffed, and then continued to watch her as she fiddled with her clothes. Frank, still sitting in the middle on that couch, heard Gerard sigh softly as soon as her lyric tattoo was exposed by her fiddling with her top. Frank grinned at the vocalist, not that Gerard was paying any attention to him at all.

“You’re really suffering in this heat, aren’t you?” Frank asked gently.

The older Way next to him nodded (despite the fact that Frank had aimed the question more towards Shelly) at the same time Shelly whined. That little noise from the blonde made Gerard sink back into the sofa, trying really hard not to file that noise away for later.

“I’m not built for this,” Shelly grumbled.

“I don’t know,” Frank grinned as Shelly turned her attention to him. “You’re certainly built for wearing very little clothing.”

Gerard sank even further back into the couch, if that was at all possible, and decided to keep his mouth very, very shut on that matter.

“Quit aggravating her!” Lux tutted at Frank with a roll of her eyes, shifting from one foot to the other - she was still standing up, not having been brave enough to just, as Frank suggested, sit on someone’s lap.

Mikey reached forward and tugged at Lux’s clothing. When he’d gotten her attention, he gestured for her to share his spot. He figured that they were both tall and fairly skinny, so two of them would fit in the space sized for one regular person. Lux smiled and, quite happily, squeezed in with Mikey. He made sure that Lux had as much of the space as possible, nudging up against Frank in the middle a little bit. He wasn’t concerned about the warmth he might start to feel from being too close to Frank - he was just happy that Lux was close. Both of them were totally oblivious to the looks that most of the rest of the band exchanged. Because god forbid that anyone admit their feelings.

Ray had been studying the situations in front of him while all of this had been happening. He spent a little longer studying the small blonde before letting out a soft “hmmm” and leaving the room.

The others (except Shelly, who had her arm across her eyes again) glanced at their tallest guitarist, first as he got up and their eyes widened as he left. They looked at each other, all sort of mentally shrugged and then turned back to their previous conversation.

“Well, it’s a shame that it’s summer really, Shell,” Frank mused after a few minutes.

Shelly sighed. “I agree, but… I’ll bite -”

Gerard nibbled his bottom lip. Yeah, she could bite him if she wanted.

“Go on,” Shelly grumbled. “Why?”

Frank grinned. “Because if you were cold, Shell, most of us have really warm hands.”

Lux groaned, which Shelly heard and giggled at, while Mikey rolled his eyes.

“Keep your hands to yourself Frank,” Lux grumbled.

“I think she’ll chop them off right now if I don’t,” Frank said. “But you just wait until winter.”

Gerard coughed very slightly, starting to shrink back into himself a little.

“She doesn’t need your hands, Frank!” Lux retorted, her tone slightly sharper. She had noticed Gerard’s reaction and felt a little bad for him; it was never nice seeing someone flirt with someone you were interested in.

Frank looked at Lux and raised an eyebrow at her. “You offering yours?”

Lux hesitated, realising what she’d said, and how that might’ve come across, and, again, aware of Gerard sitting right there.

“Hmn!” She said eventually, figuring that her flirting with Shelly a little would probably be a bit better than Frank. “Maybe I am!”

All three men glanced at their drummer, and even Shelly tilted her head in the direction of Lux’s voice.

“Well,” Frank grinned widely. “I’ll yield to that if you’re gonna put your warm hands all over her.”

“Ugh,” Lux muttered. “It’s Shelly’s body, and only she can decide whose hands she wants all over her!”

Shelly giggled from her sofa. “If it’s that cold, and people’s hands are that warm, I’m not gonna be overly fussy, to be honest.”

Gerard perked up a tiny bit - that didn’t sound like she’d be against him volunteering to help warm her up… Sure it wasn’t her seeking him out specifically, but she wasn’t exactly excluding him either. So… That was something.

Frank grinned, Mikey shook his head and Lux just sighed. The drummer was a little annoyed that Shelly wasn’t picking up on the hints that she (Lux) was trying to put out/down. It wasn’t that she didn’t want Frank touching her friend, and it wasn’t that she wanted to feel Shelly up (although Lux wouldn’t be totally against that…) - but Lux had noticed how much Gerard quietened down and shrunk back every time Frank flirted with the blonde. Despite his stage persona, Gerard was just not that forward, not that brave. Especially when it came to Shelly.

The shorter guitarist looked at Lux as she sighed, before he looked at their singer. Gerard was fiddling with the hem of his t-shirt, while glancing up at Shelly every so often. Frank shook his head a little bit. The vocalist really did have hearts floating around his head every time he looked at the girl.

“Although,” Shelly pulled herself up into a sitting position before stretching a little bit (Gerard tried really hard not to stare at her when she did that). “I don’t know what Jamia’s gonna say about you putting your hands all over another woman, Frankie. Maybe it’s better that you keep your hands to yourself.”

“Yeah, Frank!” Lux relaxed a little. Maybe Shelly did pick up on the hints after all. Even if it was just a fraction, that would do.

Gerard smiled a tiny bit at this interaction.

“I’m sure she won’t mind,” Frank said with a pout.

“Dude,” Mikey sighed, nudging his glasses up to rub the bridge of his nose. “You already have a woman. You don’t get two. Don’t be greedy.”

“Yeah,” Lux nodded. “Some people don’t have one, so chill out.”

Frank pretended to huff, but before he could argue any more, Ray returned, looking a little… Rumpled. He handed out some bottles of water to everyone, ignoring the curious expressions.

“Miss Manager,” he said.

Shelly blinked rapidly at him and the offered bottle.

“Drink this please,” he said.

She smiled slightly, took the bottle from him with a raised eyebrow, but, ultimately, she did as she was told; twisting open the cap and taking a drink.

“Better?” Ray asked, his voice gentle.

“Mm hm, a bit, thank you.”

He nodded before going to sit in the chair he’d been in earlier. “Good.”

“Thanks dad!” Lux grinned at him, almost giggling at his splutter. It always startled him when she called him that. Still, as Frank had pointed out once, at least she didn’t call him ‘daddy’ - he’d nearly choked on his beer that day.

“Awww! Look at Band Dad looking after the kids! And looking after Band Mommy too,” Frank grinned, almost giggling at the looks shot his way.

“I’d threaten to punish you, but I think you’d enjoy it,” Shelly shot back at Frank, with a roll of her eyes.

Gerard bit the inside of his cheek as his brain decided to wander off with those words.

Frank puckered his lips at Shelly in a kissing motion. “What’re you gonna do Shell? Spank me?”

Ray sighed, got up and clipped Frank around the head. Lightly, but still enough for it to be felt.

“Ow!” Frank whined. “Dad!”

“Behave,” Ray sat back down. “Don’t be so crude. Give the woman a break.”

“Bless you for calling me a woman and not a girl, Ray,” Shelly smiled sweetly at him before blowing him a kiss.

Privately, Gerard thought that yes, Shelly was very, very much a woman. Clearly not a little girl. Clearly a full woman. And just… God damn.

“Why do you look like you’ve been in a scuffle?” Mikey asked, after peering at Ray for a moment.

The question caught Shelly’s attention. And Gerard’s actually. He even stopped half watching Shelly to look at Ray properly.

Ray looked a little sheepish when all of his band turned to scrutinise him. “Um. Well…I did get into a little bit of an altercation.”

“What?” Lux perked up. “Do we have to go and fight someone? Who’re we fighting?”

“Down BabyCat. You are very vicious,” Shelly said, turning her attention back to Ray. “Excuse you? Who do I have to have Words with?”

The band shared looks. Shelly’s version of “having words with someone” could be just as vicious as Lux’s actions.

“No, no! I’m fine!” Ray said quickly. “I was talking to a friend, asking a favour, and someone overheard and said something stupid, so they got a little…”

“Ruffled?” Frank suggested after a moment of Ray searching for the right word.

“Yeah!” He nodded. “They just got a little bit of a talking to.”

“A stern Dad Talk?” Mikey asked.

Shelly narrowed her eyes at Ray. “Okay. What are you not saying?”

“Who was it?” Lux asked again.

Ray hesitated, because they had clearly seen through him attempting to brush the finer details under the rug. As he’d expected, Shelly had been the first to properly call him out.

“How about you just tell us exactly what happened?” Gerard said, his voice quiet, calm and rather matter of fact. Not accusingly or anything.

“Like I said,” Ray started, sheepishly. “I was talking to a friend - I managed to get a fan for the bus for you, Shell. Hopefully that’ll help you deal with this heat a bit better.”

Shelly’s expression softened. “Thanks Ray.”

“And,” he continued. “I was asking him if I could do something in return, like a trade system thing -”

Shelly tilted her head as she listened.

“Makes sense,” Mikey nodded.

“And some idiot nearby must’ve heard most of the conversation,” Ray hesitated, clearly not really wanting to continue, but after a sigh, and a look from the blonde, he did. “And he said something like…”

“About something I could do in return, right?”

“Fucking pig!” Lux spat out.

Mikey pulled a face, agreeing with Lux. He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but this was the main reason why he kept a closer eye on Lux. Not that she couldn’t take care of herself! Because she was very capable of that. But she was the youngest of their group, and another woman in a male dominated space. And, clearly, so many of these guys could be complete assholes.

Gerard huffed angrily from beside Frank, almost trembling in rage.

“Fucking what?” Frank hissed. He, like the others, hated this attitude anyway, but he was also super protective of Shelly because of how she took care of them all - especially him.

Shelly watched Ray nod, slowly and regretfully, in answer to her question, and she sighed.

“I might’ve gone for him,” Ray admitted quietly. “But I didn’t get far, as my friend grabbed me first.”

The blonde shook her head and pushed herself to her feet, untying her tank top and smoothing it out so it sat properly again.

“Well,” she said softly. “It’s not the first time someone’s said something like that, and I doubt it’ll be the last.”

“It shouldn’t fucking happen at all!” Gerard exploded. He’d raised his voice a bit, but he wasn’t yelling. “And it shouldn’t be a case of ‘oh well he wouldn’t say shit like that if you were our sister’ or something like that. How about you don’t make fucking disgusting comments like that about women in the first place?!”

The rest of the band stared at Gerard.

“She doesn’t have to go by that ‘oh she’s someone’s daughter’ thing to deserve some damn respect,” Gerard continued. “Why does everyone think she got her job on her knees anyway? Why is that the only answer to most of them?! Is it really that hard to believe that women can work just as hard if not harder than men in this industry?” He huffed for a moment. “And, more to the point, they often do work harder because of attitudes like that!”

Shelly had turned to look at him at the same time as the rest of the band. She blinked rapidly at him and tilted her head as she listened. When he looked up and noticed that she was looking at him, he went quite pink, and even pinker when she smiled a little.

Lux looked at Mikey, her eyes wide. She was still pretty much in his lap at this point, having been gently anchored to the couch by the bass player when she’d been getting excited about the prospect of a fight. While Mikey knew that everything Gerard had said was true, he looked just as surprised at his brother’s outburst. Normally the vocalist was a bit more subdued (but no less accurate) in voicing his opinion on the matter than he was during that outburst.

Ray and Frank glanced at each other before nodding in agreement. This wasn’t the first time Gerard had gotten like this, but it didn’t mean that they agreed any less. That was a sentiment that the whole band would share too, if you asked any of them.

“Why don’t you walk Shelly back to the bus?” Ray suggested. “It’ll allow her to cool down more without having people gawk at her, and you can make sure that she gets there without being harassed.”

Frank opened his mouth to make some kind of… Frank comment, but Lux shot him such a look he gulped down the words again.

Not that Shelly or Gerard noticed that. Or the looks the rest of the band kept sharing. She kept glancing from the others to him, back to whoever made a noise, or whoever said something, but she always ended up looking at Gerard again. Gerard, on the other hand, kept glancing up at her, and then back at his lap again.

“Um,” Gerard pushed himself off of the sofa and to his feet. “Um, yeah, sure, I can do that.”

Shelly smiled a little before going to grab her small bag. She had no complaints about this proposed plan. Of course not, why would she? Once she’d grabbed her bag, she shouldered it and waited for Gerard.

“Hold on,” he said, untying his hoodie from around his waist before he offered it to her.

She side eyed him a little, her eyes darting from the offered hoodie to his face.

“Just until we get there,” Gerard said.

“Okay, I guess, but why?” She took it, but still looked very confused.

“Um,” Gerard swallowed and avoided her eyes. “Well…”

“Your shirt is very see through Shell,” Frank finished for Gerard.

“I wouldn’t put it past someone to throw something on you to get it to be both clingier and more see through,” Ray added.

Gerard exhaled deeply through his nose, cross at the thought of someone doing that to her. But on the other hand… He tried really hard not to think about the results of those actions. 

“It’s days like this that I’m glad I’m not sexy,” Lux shook her head.

Mikey’s eyes widened at Lux’s words.

“Psh! Nonsense!” Shelly put Gerard’s hoodie on and zipped it up. “Yes, you are.”

Gerard watched her while she did that. He hoped he had a neutral, quiet expression on his face. Because his mind was very, very loud - seeing Shelly wearing his clothes like that.

“Nah,” Lux shook her head again. “I’m not. But! Let’s not worry about that right now. Go ahead, get out of here.”

Mikey squinted at Lux, his brain naturally and automatically disagreeing and arguing with her. Not that his mouth would go along with that right then; his mouth would stay quiet. He still couldn’t really decide if that was a good thing or not.

“Go on ahead Shell,” Ray nodded to the blonde. “We’ll catch up later on.”

“Hmn,” Shelly eyed him suspiciously for a moment, shouldering her bag again. After a minute, she shrugged. “You’ve got the other set of bus keys, right?”

Ray nodded. “Yes ma’am.”

“He is the responsible Band Dad after all,” Gerard said with a grin, moving to stand next to Shelly.

“Well, one of you has to be the other responsible one,” Shelly edged closer to Gerard, kinda surprised to see him wearing a regular t-shirt. If he had been wearing a long sleeved top, she would’ve been able to gently grab ahold of the sleeve. She was touchy feely like that sometimes.

“Hey!”

She giggled at the exclamation from multiple voices, and gently took Gerard’s hand. “C’mon, before they lynch me.”

“They wouldn’t dream of it,” he let her take the lead, definitely not complaining about her holding his hand. “See you later guys.”

The others waited until the door closed behind the other two and then for just a moment more. Frank then let out a groan before moving to sit on the couch Shelly had vacated.

“Jesus Christ, they are oblivious!”

“Well, I don’t know if she’s actually said anything to anyone about… Anything,” Ray tried to be diplomatic. “Like, how she feels. But we all know how he feels.”

“Oh, she likes -” Lux started, immediately stopping when her brain caught up with what she almost admitted. She could feel her cheeks starting to get warm because of her slip up.

The other guys looked at her.

“Miss Lux,” Ray tilted his head. “Do you know something?”

Frank tilted his head. “Or, are you just going off of her behaviour?”

“I don’t know if you can do that though,” Mikey said quietly. He was still sitting with Lux practically on his lap, despite the amount of freed up space - Frank had moved over when Gerard had gotten up. “Go off of her behaviour I mean. “She’s pretty affectionate with everyone. All of us anyway.”

Lux glanced around to see the three guys looking at her, clearly expecting some kind of answer. She hesitated for a moment before sighing. Truthfully, Lux did actually know how Shelly felt - the girls had had conversations about it before. Shelly had still been a little bit cagey about her feelings, not wanting to come out and say anything explicitly, just in case she was overheard but she still opened up just enough for Lux to get the picture. The thing was though, Lux didn’t want to outright say for definite how Shelly felt, just in case, so she decided that the best thing to do was to make it seem like she wasn’t positive.

“Listen,” she said quietly. “This doesn’t leave our circle. Okay?”

The three men nodded.

“I think that Shelly does actually like Gerard. Not just in the ‘he’s the favourite’ friendly kinda way.”

“Like, a romantic way?” Mikey clarified.

Lux nodded. “I… I think so.”

Frank looked at Lux, curiously. “Has she said something to you?”

“Frank,” Lux frowned at him, annoyed. “Do you honestly think I’d tell you if she had? You’d go and tattle!”

“I would not!” Frank pouted.

“It would be good for them to sort themselves out though,” Ray mused quietly.

“Gerard did nearly punch a guy for her after all,” Frank said.

“I think we’ve all nearly done that though,” Mikey said before nodding over to Ray. “You nearly did today!”

Ray just smiled.

“I would if I had the chance,” Lux added, smiling when the others nodded. Because she would - she’d fight for that girl.

“And,” Ray added. “We all remember having to hold Shelly back from, more than likely, badly hurting Bert.”

“That was hot though,” Frank said. “Little Miss Spitfire!”

“I’ll admit that I didn’t think that she had that in her,” Mikey said with a shake of his head.

Lux pouted. “I’m kinda gutted that I missed that.”

“But, it was probably better that you weren’t actually there; I don’t think we would’ve been able to hold both of you back,” Ray rubbed the back of his neck.

“Oh definitely, there’s no way I would’ve just stood there and let him say that shit about Shell.”

“We know,” Frank nodded with a smile. “We’re the same.”

“Especially Gerard,” Ray said with a grin.

Lux giggled. “Well, yeah, but we all know that.”

“He’s proven that by his reactions every so often,” Frank said with a nod.

“Not just by reacting to people saying things about her in front of us, but by the speeches he keeps giving,” Mikey added.

“Oh, like the one to us earlier?” Lux asked, getting nods. “It clearly really annoys him. But is that because it’s aimed at Shell, or does it annoy him in general?”

“It annoys him in general,” Ray said. “He’d feel that way even if Shell wasn’t around.”

Mikey nodded. “Yeah, we kinda had that attitude installed in us by our grandma. Respect and all of that.”

“So he’s double annoyed because not only is it an attitude he doesn’t like, it’s an attitude towards the girl he’s crushing on?” Lux said with a nod.

“Exactly,” Ray nodded. “It’s a feeling we all share so the mood surrounding it is amplified.”

“Speaking of crushing,” Frank shook his head. “Why can’t they see what we can? Or at least, why can’t she see it? We know he’d never believe it.”

“She’s being professional,” Lux said. “She loves her job, remember?”

“That covers her behaviour,” Frank replied. “Like, why she hasn’t made a move, why she’s not reading into things -”

“He’s said that he doesn’t want to risk losing her,” Mikey said from his spot with Lux. “He’d rather have her around as she is, with him pining a little bit, than not have her in his life at all.”

“He doesn’t want her to go and work for someone else either,” Ray added. “I think that’s the main reason he falls back on. He keeps saying that he doesn’t want the band to lose her.”

“I mean,” Mikey tilted his head. “She works so hard for us, having her go and put all that effort into another band? That would really suck.”

“She wouldn’t leave us though, would she?” Lux asked before her voice dropped in volume a bit, exposing a bit of her vulnerable, squishy centre. “I mean, I don’t think… I don’t think she’d leave me…”

“She wouldn’t want to,” Frank said quietly and genuinely. He recognised that Lux was opening up a little bit, and while she was pretty comfortable with them now, she didn’t do that very often. “She’d try and cope if it was a bit awkward, and see how long she could cope for. She’d hold on for as long as she could.”

“Yeah,” Ray nodded. “She really adores us as a band, she really believes in us and what we stand for.”

“She really loves you though,” Frank said to Lux.

“Are you just saying that?”

He shook his head and Lux snorted.

“I don’t know if I believe you.”

“You forget that she and I spend a lot of time together when she’s looking after me when I’m sick. We talk a lot during those times, about a lot of things. And, almost every time you come up in conversation, Shelly says something like…” Frank paused to try and quote Shelly directly. “She says something like; ‘I love that girl and I will fight anyone about it’ - which scares me a little, as I’ve seen her start a fight.”

Lux studied him for a moment.

“I agree with Frank,” Ray said quietly. “She really does love you. She’s so very protective of you.”

“You’re just as protective of her too,” Mikey added.

“Sometimes it feels like you’re more protective of her than we are,” Frank said.

“I suppose I can hit more people than you guys,” Lux said after some thought. “I can hit girls who start and I can hit guys. You guys can’t really go for the girls.”

“That’s fair,” Ray nodded. “You’re not picky about who you’ll go after if they hurt someone you care about.”

“That’s right!” Lux beamed before turning to Mikey. “Look, I know he’s your brother, and the band’s lead man, but if he hurts her -”

“He’ll have a line of people after him,” Mikey said with a small nod. “Don’t worry. He doesn’t get special treatment. I’m not gonna stick up for him just because he’s my brother - especially if he’s actually in the wrong.”

“If anything,” Frank said. “He’s under double scrutiny; he has even less of a pass.”

“And considering he doesn’t have a pass anyway,” Ray added.

“None of you get a pass,” Lux looked around at the three men. “If any of you hurt her, I will come for you.”

They all nodded solemnly.

“We don’t plan on doing that Lux,” Ray said. “We promise.”

“Good. I wouldn’t want to have to break anything for any of you,” Lux smiled as innocently as she could manage.

The group fell quiet for a little bit, enjoying the coolness of the room, because of course Shelly had been right; of course she’d picked somewhere that would’ve fitted her needs at the time.

“Do you think if we give them enough time alone, one of them might say something?” Mikey asked the room.

“We give them a lot of time alone and no-one’s done anything yet,” Ray shook his head.

“Yeah, but he might accidentally say something while she’s…” Frank paused. “While she’s scantily dressed. He might be so distracted by her bra and her legs and all of that skin that he forgets his filter.”

Lux rolled her eyes and shook her head at Frank’s words, although she wouldn’t deny that he had a point. Shelly could be quite distracting sometimes; Lux definitely agreed with that. She was a little guilty of having a wandering eye when Shelly was involved. Especially if the blonde was wearing a little less than normal or a lower cut top. The drummer was not immune to Shelly’s particular… Charms.

Not that Lux would ever admit to Frank being right. Nor would she really admit to (sometimes) being no better than a man when it came to their tiny tour manager. Not that Shelly minded - she’d said so once or twice when the girls had been sharing a room. Despite the fact that Lux essentially had permission to gaze at Shelly like that, she still felt a little… Nervous about it. She didn’t think she was going to stop, but she also wasn’t going to be obvious about it. 

Especially not in front of Frank. And maybe Gerard. Poor boy had enough to deal with, with Frank flirting with his crush all the time, he didn’t need the reminder that Shelly played for both teams. Not just because that might be a distracting thought, but also because that might make him feel even more like he didn’t have a chance with her. Which was such a lie, because he totally did.

“How likely do you think that might happen?” Frank asked Mikey, breaking the silence they’d fallen into for a few minutes.

“Um,” Mikey shifted in his seat. “It’s not impossible. I know we’ve given him the idea that she might have similar feelings.”

“He’s listened to us, has he?” Frank raised an eyebrow.

“Well,” Mikey scratched his neck. “Yeah, of course he’s listened. He doesn’t believe a word of it, but I know he’ll take things on board. They'll stick in the back of his mind and linger.”

“I know I’ve tried to coax Shelly into opening up to him,” Lux said before remembering that she was supposed to be pretending that she wasn’t sure how Shelly felt. “If she has any kinda feelings for him, I mean.”

Frank side-eyed the drummer. He didn’t believe that she was unsure about how Shelly felt, he thought that she knew for definite. But, he wasn’t gonna call her out - he understood that Shelly would’ve told Lux in confidence. Even if she never planned on doing anything, Shelly might’ve felt better just telling someone. They all knew that Shelly valued loyalty and trust, but he didn’t think that she would be mad that Lux had let slip about the blonde’s feelings for the vocalist. Especially not if they could all encourage the pair to get their acts together and just… Confess how they felt about each other, to each other. The rest of the band could see it, the rest of the band didn’t have a problem with it; hell, they all wanted the two to get together. They just needed to get on and do it.

“They would be so cute together,” Lux shook her head slightly, having noticed Frank’s side eye. “They’re so perfect for each other!”

“As much as I hate to admit it,” Frank said before letting out a soft sigh. “You’re right there. They are perfect for one another.”

“She brings out a lot of good in him,” Mikey added. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look at someone the way he looks at her.”

“That’s kinda gross, to be honest,” Frank pulled a face jokingly before shaking his head.

“I think I’ve seen her look at him the same way though,” Lux continued to at least try to pretend that she didn’t know anything for certain. “She’s normally so smart. I wish she would just continue to use that big brain of hers.”

“Not just a big brain she has,” Frank grinned.

Lux looked around for something to throw at him, and, when she didn’t find anything, started to get up to go and hit the guitarist. Mikey grabbed at her to stop her.

“Leave it Lux,” Mikey said quietly. “I don’t think Shell would be impressed if we went back to the bus after having been fighting each other.”

She huffed but did as she was told before turning back to Frank. “Don’t be so crude!”

Frank giggled, mostly at Mikey holding Lux back and at Lux doing as she was told. Normally she only really listened to Shelly, so to see her listen to someone else was amusing to him. Actually, seeing her listen to anyone at all was funny.

“I mean it!” Lux continued, frowning at Frank’s giggle. “She doesn’t need or deserve to be objectified all the time!”

“She likes it though.”

“Not all of the time,” Lux shook her head. “Just like… Give the girl a break?”

“She’s not even here!”

“That’s not the point!”

“Well!” Ray said, a little louder than normal in an attempt to get the other two to stop, bickering a bit. “Enough of all that! Let’s get back to the matter at hand, shall we?”

“Which was trying to get Gee and Shelly to get their acts together,” Mikey said with a nod as Lux and Frank huffed a bit between them. “Via more encouragement and time alone together.”

“Yeah,” Ray nodded. “All we can do is try, right? Try and give them as much time as we can and just hope it works.”

The others nodded. There really wasn’t a lot else they could do, except maybe lock them both in a room until they were forced to talk, but they knew that Shelly wouldn’t like that. She’d feel betrayed, trapped and uncomfortable. And that was the last thing they wanted.

“Yeah,” Frank shook his head. “Let’s just hope they get their acts together before we have to properly intervene!”

“Because nobody wants that!”

[therecordconnection]

Ranting and Raving: "Video!" by Jeff Lynne

There is no such thing as the “Cult Classic” anymore. Today, if a movie fails or a television series flops, it’s just removed and completely forgotten without a second thought. With physical releases no longer having the same cultural weight as before, it makes media preservation even harder. I hear if you complain long enough about this and get caught, Netlfix or Hulu or Pooblo or Tuubah or whatever else comes to your house and hits you with the Neuralyzer from Men in Black so you’ll shut up.

In the eighties, this wasn’t the case. Movies could brick at the box office, but they might get lucky and find their audiences later on through cable or video rentals or just really good word of mouth. Xanadu still exists today and has love because HBO kept showing it during its infancy and LGBTQ audiences eventually latched onto it (though that’s probably more due to the everlasting power of Olivia Newton-John’s gay fanbase). Phantom of the Paradise owes its continued love and existence to Guillermo Del Toro, the Daft Punk robots, and all of Winnipeg, Canada really loving that movie. I’m with them in that boat (Phantom is one of my favorite movies). Electric Dreams, a 1984 science fiction-tinged romantic comedy, exists today purely through video rentals and good word of mouth.

Electric Dreams is a wonderfully weird cult classic in every sense of the word. It has a very lovably goofy eighties rom-com setup and delivery: Miles Harding (Lenny Von Dohlen), a loser tech nerd geologist who gets no bitches, falls in love with his new apartment neighbor Madeline Robistat (Virginia Madsen), a quirky and beautiful cellist. They're an unlikely pair in every conceivable way, but they fall for each other. The only problem is that Miles' fancy new supercomputer (who becomes sentient and later identifies himself as “Edgar”) would like to see Miles destroyed so that he can be with her instead. Edgar then does everything in his power to ruin Miles’ life and his chances to be with Madeline. Eventually, Edgar comes to accept the love between Miles and Madeline and they get their happily-ever-after. 

On paper, the whole thing probably sounded silly to a 1984 audience, which might be why nobody bothered to see it at the time, but Electric Dreams fucking rules. Von Dohlen and Madsen are great and have such an odd yet instantly lovable chemistry with each other that you can’t help but root for them (it helps that they were good friends instantly and remained that way until Van Dohlen passed away in 2022). Steve Barron, one of the great music video directors of the early MTV era (he’s responsible for Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean,” Toto’s “Africa” and “Rosanna,” and many more), brings that same music video storytelling style to this movie’s visuals. If this movie had done better upon release, it would’ve gotten everything Miami Vice’s directing style often gets credited for. The soundtrack is also really great! Giorgio Moroder did the movie’s theme with Human League frontman Phil Oakey as well as a killer score for it (only Moroder could find a way to expertly turn Bach’s “Minuet” into a duel between a cello and a computer. He couldn't get more eighties than that if he tried). There’s also a really neat Heaven 17 cut that sounds like a Crash Bandicoot level theme (“Chase Runner”), Culture Club right at the end of their relevance (“Love is Love” and “The Dream”), and Jeff Lynne from Electric Light Orchestra with arguably the two best songs in the movie. One of them, “Let It Run,” is awesome as hell, but “Video!” is the one we’re gonna talk about.

“Video!” appears at a pretty pivotal point in the movie. It soundtracks the montage of one of Miles and Madeline’s first proper dates, which involves sneaking away from a tour group to run around and play in Alcatraz (I’m serious). They’re also seen together at a carnival. Before this date, Miles tasks Edgar with finding a way to write music for Madeline. He intends to pass off whatever Edgar comes up with as his own work, hoping to impress her and make her fall in love with him. This is one of the main reasons Edgar wants Miles out of the picture. He knows he can make music with Madeline (he did it previously in “The Duel” scene, though Madeline thinks Miles is providing the music, not the computer) and fell in love with her by doing that. He is fully aware that Miles is trying to win her love with a lie. Once Edgar figures out how rhythm works, he figures out how melody is made by reviewing and absorbing the music playing in television commercials. “Video!” then starts playing proper once he’s got the basics down. For a computer with no previous songwriting experience, writing a Jeff Lynne composition is a pretty impressive feat!

Electric Dreams is not the first movie Lynne has contributed music to. There are two others. The first one was 1976’s All This and World War II, which is a movie which pairs all-star covers of Beatles songs and World War II footage. I’ve never seen it and I don’t think I need to. But you can hear Lynne, the most famous Beatles fanboy to ever live, do a fully symphonic version of “With a Little Help From My Friends” and “Nowhere Man.” It’s pretty cool. The other one was Xanadu, which is much more well known. Lynne provided five songs: “I’m Alive,” “The Fall,” “Don’t Walk Away,” “All Over the World,” and the title track with Olivia Newton-John. I think they’re all great. Xanadu totally works on its own as a great ELO EP if you want to forget there’s a movie attached.

This is all to say that Lynne was no stranger to giving songs to strange movies, even if he harbored regrets later on about doing that. He regretted Xanadu for a while, but made peace with it decades later (he re-recorded “Xanadu” in 2000 for the ELO compilation Flashback and he’s revived “All Over the World” for every ELO tour since 2017). I don’t know how he feels about Electric Dreams and at this point, he’s done so much in his career that I doubt he even remembers it. I think he should! I think “Video!” is a great song and I think he was a perfect fit for Electric Dreams. The entire soundtrack is dated as hell, but in a fun time-capsule kind of way. It represents the sound of what people in 1984 thought the future was going to sound like. Lynne had already spent time imagining the sounds of the future.

At the dawn of the eighties, Jeff Lynne had gotten tired of dealing with the big orchestras you hear on that great ELO run from 1976-1980. Orchestras started becoming a pain in the ass for him around the time when synthesizers and keyboards were getting some big technological boosts. New wave artists like Gary Numan, Kraftwerk, and the Human League were pushing synths and keyboard sounds into the mainstream and proving that the new technology could be used to make some wildly futuristic sounds. Lynne quickly learned that with a few fancy keyboards, you could start simulating strings and classical sounds, but in a new and exciting way. Suddenly, Lynne and ELO keyboardist Richard Tandy could keep the symphonic pop sounds the band had been making, but update the sound and take it into the future. Suddenly, the “Orchestra” part of the ELO name suddenly found itself obsolete and out of a job.

Dick Clark asked him about this choice on an American Bandstand appearance in 1986. Lynne responded, “Well, you know, I got fed up with using a big orchestra because they used to always be in a union and stuff like that and they used to put their equipment away while we were still recording. So I thought what we'll do is we'll use just ourselves and then we can work as long as we'd like and nobody would complain.”

So Lynne took advantage of all this new technology that was floating around and used it to craft the 1981 masterpiece, Time. That album is the best example of retrofuturism in music I can give. In Time, Lynne imagines a loose concept album about a guy who gets yoinked out of 1981 and flung into the year 2095. The entire album is full of songs where Lynne imagines a future that he would never live to see (I won’t either, unless I somehow make it to a full century of life). Hover cars, rides to the moon, robotic girlfriends (built by IBM) who can also serve as telephones, prison satellites, ivory towers, plastic flowers, and meteor showers as a common weather condition are all present in Lynne’s visions of the distant future. Most of his predictions feel like they’re coming out of science fiction magazines from when he was a child, but the album is more concerned with just letting his imagination run wild and wonder about how one would feel if they were flung far into the future where everyone they’ve ever loved is gone. The future presented in Time feels like daydreaming rather than any kind of cautionary tale or warning. I’ve never gotten the sense that Lynne thinks any of what’s in the album will actually come true. 

If Lynne got anything right, he somehow nailed the still-lingering nostalgic yearning to return to the eighties. Lynne’s narrator constantly laments that he’s stuck in 2095 and 1981 is name dropped in “Ticket to the Moon” and “The Way Life’s Meant to Be.” “Ticket to the Moon” even begins with what is now a variation of the only kind of Youtube comment you’ll find on any old song from the decade: “Remember the good old 1980s / When things were so uncomplicated / I wish I could go back there again / And everything could be the same.” He might as well have called himself “Nostradamus” when writing that one, because that line is going to keep feeling accurate to people until every child of the eighties and every vintage style eighties cosplayer on instagram is dead and in the ground. Lynne using the current year the album was made in had a real danger of seriously dating it, but Time has never sounded dated to me. It doesn’t sound like anything else from 1981 and it still doesn’t. Lynne blended all the old sounds and genres he loved and infused them with the new sounds of the day on that one and imagined a future that still sounds just as magical then as it does now. It took pop music a few years to catch up with what Lynne was doing on that one. Time is still a retro futuristic dream and he carried all the tech and sound effects that he was using on that album with him when he made “Video!” for Electric Dreams. ELO’s future was up in the air by 1984 (Lynne would dissolve the original band for good two years later) so he tackled “Video!” as a solo artist (literally, as no other ELO members are on this) and released it under his own name.  

I don’t know if Lynne’s predictions for 2095 will come true. The verdict is still out on that. But what I do know is that everything Lynne is describing in “Video!” is a reality that I’ve lived to see, though perhaps differently from anything Lynne could’ve imagined in 1984. We’ll get there.

In the context of Electric Dreams, “Video!”’s lyrics are all about the many things Edgar the computer can find out about the world in pre-internet cyberspace. He can watch it all, from rock n’ roll to old time movie scenes, and learn. He has no other choice: he can’t move from Miles’ desk and see it himself. Nothing in Lynne’s lyrics are dated except for one thing. He mentions that satellites “send their love from up above / Down to [his] VTR.” VTRs, which I believe is meant to be a reference to “Video Tape Recorder,” is an obsolete machine in 2024. It’s long been replaced by digital video, such as DVDs, Blu-Rays, and 4K. That’s the only specific reference he makes besides working in both the movie’s title and  the title of the Phil Oakey/Giorgio Moroder collab. “They beam across the sky / Together in Electric Dreams.” I imagine Lynne was probably told he had to work in the title somewhere. To his credit, it’s a pretty smooth title drop. Clumsier movie songs have done it much worse. 

Lynne sneaks in a few lyrics in the song that become ominous and foreshadowing if you’ve seen the movie more than once. The first two verses end ominously with the lines “The world is at my fingers / Under control” and “I’ll just stay here on my end / I’ll have it all.” Those lines foreshadow Edgar eventually using his supercomputer intellect to control other computer systems and mess with Miles’ life, from cutting off access to his credit cards and funds, to manipulating phone lines so Madeline can’t call Miles later in the movie for comfort when her cello has been broken in an accident (it gets caught in an elevator door and gets crushed). His whole motivation in the movie is that he “wants it all,” especially Madeline. Lynne later captures that ominousness with the absolute beast of a song “Let It Run,” but “Video!” is reserved for Lynne soundtracking the moment where Edgar stays inside and excitedly discovers the world at large and how to write pop music, while Miles simultaneously goes out and discovers the world at large with his lovely lady. 

Musically, “Video!” strikes a balance and finds a perfect blend of the mechanical and the human elements of music making. Lynne seemed to understand that more than some of the art-school new wavers that were ruling the US and the UK in the early eighties. The entire song is mechanical, but that makes sense given the in-universe explanation that a literal computer is making it. The rhythm is provided by a drum machine and everything else is synthesized and sequenced to hell and back. Even the fun sound effects throughout the song and during the middle instrumental bit are canned and not original to the song. There’s something that kinda sounds like a twangy guitar at the end of the verses and on the chorus, but that could just as easily be a keyboard making that sound. Lynne has made records where he’s played all instruments organically, but keyboards, sequencers, and machines not only suit the assignment, they’re necessary for the assignment.

The human elements are Jeff Lynne’s vocals and his always sharp sense of melody. Lynne’s never been the most mind blowing singer, but his vocals and melodies capture a magic and a warmth here that few of the survivors from his generation still making music in 1984 were capable of. He sings the song with that same sense of wonder that he has on Time. I love the melody of the verses and that chorus is so upbeat and happy and infectious. I love the way he slides into the chorus by holding out the word “on” before saying “video.” Oooooooon! It’s pop music at its most delightfully fun.

I’ve been surrounded by video my entire life, but Lynne makes it feel like it’s a brand new concept to me when I hear this song. I said that everything Lynne is describing in “Video!” is a reality that I’ve lived to see. That reality is Youtube. “The world is at my fingers” because I can more-or-less search for whatever I want (whether I actually find it is another story). The entire second verse can be used to describe someone discovering Youtube for the first time:

I see that rock and roll And all those old-time movies scenes They beam across the sky Together in electric dreams I'll just sit here on my end I'll have it all

Youtube, for all its numerous (numerous) flaws, allows me to be my own MTV VJ and watch scenes from my favorite movies with only a few mouse clicks. I can sit at my computer and watch videos in comfort (and while eating my dinner). Like Edgar, I have it all. Lynne sings that verse with completely sincere jubilance. The song is entirely mechanized, but the feelings presented in the song are not and they help provide a warmth and joy to the whole song that makes it sound like a dream. Lynne makes the concept of watching video sound like it’s the most exciting technical marvel you’ll ever see. He sells it like he’s Grover Cleveland lighting up the 1893 World Fair. It’s fantastic. Lynne isn’t even just fascinated by video, he’s fascinated by the entire process that helps bring it to life. That first verse takes the song from the hugeness of outer space and leads it to the small and insular space of a computer in an apartment without ever losing a step.

The satellites that search the night They twinkle like a star They send their love from up above Down to my VTR

Lynne sounds absolutely amazed by the technological wonders of 1984. He sings it with a child-like fascination that’s so lovably dorky. He sounds like Miles Harding does in the movie when he gets to talk to Madeline about architecture and his dream project during dinner. I was only ten years old when Youtube first arrived in December of 2005, so I essentially grew up with the rise of the internet and internet video creation. I imagine it must have been mind blowing to older people who were there to witness that boom. Maybe some of them were as excited as Lynne sounds on this song.

Nowadays, we take a lot of the modern technology around us for granted, but for Lynne in 1984, this was all exciting and new. That might be where the excitement and exuberance in the song stems from. Betamax and VHS had only existed for about a decade when Electric Dreams first came out, so people were only just getting started in terms of building up home video libraries and having video readily available to them. Camcorders were only starting to become a common commodity when Electric Dreams arrived, so I imagine people were going nuts and losing their minds that they could make home movies and shoot video of their own. Nowadays, technology has reached the point where the little bricks in our pockets (which are Edgar-level supercomputers of their own) can do almost anything, even film video anytime, anywhere. Now more than ever, the world really is at our fingers due to the way technology and social media keeps us interconnected.

“Video!” sees a continuation of Jeff Lynne’s interests in technology and the future that he was exploring on the Time album. Once again, his music is featured in a movie that’s weird, strange, and ridiculous, but also incredibly fun. “Video!” and Electric Dreams as a whole, is a beautiful little time capsule. It arrived during a time when the wonders of the future and technology was full of optimism and we were once again evaluating our relationship to tech as the world was continuing to undergo constant change. After Electric Dreams, Lynne would examine his own relationship with technology with the 1986 song “Calling America,” one of the last ELO singles before he went off to enjoy a second life as an in-demand producer for a while. He doesn’t sound as excited when he sings “Yeah, we’re living in a modern world” on that one. He doesn’t sound as excited about satellites on that one either, though that might have more to do with him being fully sick of ELO by that point and having to wrap up one last album before he can move on to other things.

Electric Dreams, both the movie and the soundtrack, aren’t as well remembered as Xanadu and I think that’s a shame. Electric Dreams is such a strange, beautiful, and moving love story. It’s the thinking man’s version of Spike Jonze’s Her (it’s also better than Her). The movie only played in theaters for a few short weeks before resigning to its fate as a strange movie you take a chance on when you’re wandering around the video store on a Friday night and you and your partner are looking for something interesting to watch. In hindsight, maybe a movie like Electric Dreams was just too strange to ever capture mainstream attention. 

But don’t feel bad for it! It’s lived and has found its share of people who love it, despite its initial failure. I’m one of them. Lenny Von Dohlen and Virginia Madsen are also in that boat. They loved working on it and had nothing but positive things to say about it. Madsen still considers it one of the best things she’s ever made and I agree with her. Cult classics like Electric Dreams find their audience. Sometimes it just takes a while.

I can tell you that Tumblr absolutely fucking LOVES this movie. If you do a search for “#electric dreams” you will find SO. MUCH. FANART for this movie in that tag. It’s not even funny. Tumblrinas L O V E making art of Edgar the computer. They love making art of him so much, you’d think he’s the protagonist of the movie, not Miles and Madeline. You’d also think Miles, Madeline, and Edgar are in a polycule with each other (hot take: polyamory would not have saved them). The fanart in that tag isn’t even that old either. People love this movie and they love him. (A shocking number of fanart posts depict Edgar hanging out with GLaDOs from Portal, HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey, and AM from the Harlan Ellison short story I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. I have come to the conclusion that Tumblr really loves antagonistic machines).

Electric Dreams celebrates its fortieth anniversary this year (it came out on July 20th, 1984, so this post missed its birthday by eleven days). An unloved film in its time, but a lovably strange and beautifully sincere science fiction romance that remains a beloved cult classic to those who know about it. If you want to see the film for yourself, it’s on Youtube for free. I highly recommend it.

Jeff Lynne is also celebrating this year. At the time of this writing, he’s preparing to take his modern day version of Electric Light Orchestra on the road one more time before retiring for good (he’s calling it the Over and Out Tour, which I think is just a fantastic name). He’s definitely not going to play “Video!” but he’ll be playing every ELO banger in existence, of which there are many. If you’ve never seen the maestro present his music live, I highly recommend you catch him before it’s too late. I plan on going to one of the Philadelphia nights. It’s gonna be a lot of fun. 

“Video!” and Electric Dreams are snapshots of a simpler time that dared to get a little silly and dream about a possible future. Some of its ideas about where technology was headed and our relationship to that technology were hauntingly accurate, some of it is hilariously outdated. Lynne’s visions of video and where video technology ended up being incredibly accurate in all the best ways. Video madness came upon us like a trance in the dark and because of that madness and the internet that houses all that madness, a movie that went completely unnoticed forty years ago can still exist and float out there today, waiting to be found. It wants to share with you what the world looked like during an interesting crossroads in time and it wants to show you what people thought the future might look like. Electric Dreams wants you to know that the future is strange, but it’s also bright and love can be found in the strangest of places if you know where to look. Don’t worry. It’s all under control and it’s all on video.

Electric Dreams sends its love to you. Send some of yours back to it.

[firstelevens]

I must ask about WEE BABIES! do you see sambucky having kids in your au? if yes, soon after they're married or wayyy into the future? hypothetically what would happen if *gasp* their child doesn't have a sweet tooth? 😱

The answer to this question would have been a clear no a few months ago but now I think it’s fifty-fifty. If they did have a kid, it would probably be a couple years into their marriage, and if that kid did not have a sweet tooth, I think it would go a little something like this:

“This is your fault, you know.”

“My fault?” 

“One hundred percent,” says Bucky, lifting their son into his lap and narrowly avoiding dragging his knuckles through ketchup. He’s opting to ignore the way that Riley dramatically flopped onto the table after pushing away his plate, a move that definitely came straight out of the Barnes playbook.

“You’re blaming me for the fact that he doesn’t like cake,” Sam says, as he brings their plates over, already dished out. The era of serving dishes on the table ended right around when Riley figured out how to get a grip on serving spoons and they haven’t gone back yet.

“He knows that—thanks, sweetheart—he knows that Daddy can’t carry him if Daddy’s carrying cake, and now he resents an entire genre of food.”

Sam snorts. “Yeah, it’s that and not the fact that he just doesn’t like sweet things.”

“He did act like we tried to poison him that time we fed him ice cream,” muses Bucky. “Doesn’t explain why he took one look at the chicken nuggets and decided that they were cake, too.”

Riley, not one to let his opinions go unvoiced, shifts his face slightly away from where it’s tucked into Bucky’s chest and cries out, “No cake!”

“No cake,” repeat Sam and Bucky, practiced enough to be in sync now.

“I think it’s the color,” says Sam, picking up one of the nuggets to examine it. “And I guess they’re shaped kind of like the gingerbread he tried and hated at Sarah’s.”

“I can’t believe cookies don’t get a pass, either,” says Bucky. “What are we supposed to bribe him with when he gets older?”

“Cucumbers,” says Sam. “And cherry tomatoes, when we’re desperate.”

“This kid’s being raised by two semi-professional bakers and he’s got the same diet as AJ’s pet turtle.”

Sam laughs out loud, and Riley immediately turns to look at him like he doesn’t want to miss it. Bucky can’t blame him, even if it does mean having to scramble to hold Riley secure in his lap as he wriggles around.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to hold him?” asks Sam. “How are you gonna eat?”

“I’ll be fine,” says Bucky. “One of us skipped lunch today, and it wasn’t me.”

Sam’s eyes narrow. “How’d you know that?”

“Cass ratted you out,” Bucky says. “How does a man spend ten hours a day surrounded by food and somehow still miss a meal?”

“J and I shot an extra video today so I could take tomorrow off,” says Sam, and points with his fork towards Bucky’s plate without interrupting himself. “I got distracted.”

Bucky takes the hint and looks down to see what put that little grin on Sam’s face: Riley’s chubby hand reaching out to grab one of the vareniki on Bucky’s plate. They both watch as he examines it, then grin wider as he seems to deem it far enough from cake and takes a bite.

It’s important that they not hover, so Bucky makes himself continue the conversation even though he’d much rather watch Riley copy the way Sam is eating.

“I swear, I’m gonna start setting a reminder on your phone like old people have for their pills.”

“Yeah, ‘cause what I need in a kitchen with six ovens and a dozen batches of proving dough at any given minute is more timers.”

“Then prepare for Cass to keep– wait, zaychik, that’s not a normal cucumber; I don’t think you’ll…”

Bucky trails off as Riley takes a bite of a cornichon, braced for his horrified reaction to the sourness. Instead, all they get is a thoughtful hum before he takes a second bite.

“What the hell?” mouths Sam, and all Bucky can do is shrug.

“Try the beets,” he mouths back at Sam, and watches as Sam spears a vinegar-dressed beet with his fork. A second later, Riley picks one up, too. This time, sweet doesn’t seem to be an issue, and he immediately goes for another one before turning back to the dumplings.

At some point, Sam’s phone came out of his pocket, and now he’s got it pointed at Bucky, shoulders shaking with laughter.

“What have we learned today, Buck?”

“That apparently you could’ve been wielding your influence way more often at the dinner table?”

“Bucky.”

“We’ve learned that sometimes picky eaters aren’t picky eaters,” he says, with a laugh. “Sometimes they’re just Russian.”

“And whose fault is that?”

“Hey, just 'cause I'm teaching him about his family, doesn't mean you're off the hook for the cake thing.”

“Papa, no cake!”

“No cake, buddy,” Bucky intones solemnly, and kisses the side of Riley’s head. "Guess we'll just do a giant bowl of beets for the third birthday then, huh?"

(This time, when Sam throws his head back and laughs, both Riley and Bucky stop what they're doing to admire him.)

[bi-disaster-kit-herondale]

The Mortal Instruments as Speak Now TV pt. 1/2

this is gonna flop since nobody really talks about tmi anymore, but I love them so much <3

Enchanted: Alec & Magnus (them. the entire song.)

“this is me praying that this was the very first page, not where the storyline ends. my thoughts will echo your name until I see you again. these are the words I held back as I was leaving too soon. I was enchanted to meet you.”

Mine: Jace & Clary

“you said, “I remember how we felt sitting by the water. and every time I look at you it’s like the first time. I fell in love with a careless man’s careful daughter. she is the best thing that’s every been mine. hold on, make it last.”

Ours: Simon & Izzy

“the jury’s out, but my choice is you. so don’t you worry your pretty, little mind. people throw rocks at things that shine. and life makes love look hard. the stakes are high, the water’s rough, but this love is ours.”

Back To December: Magnus & Alec (breakup)

“I watched you laughing from the passenger side and realized I loved you in the fall. and then the cold came, the dark days when fear crept into my mind. you gave me all your love and all I gave you was goodbye.”

Dear John: Jocelyn & Valentine

“well, maybe it’s me and my blind optimism to blame. or maybe it’s you and your sick need to give love then take it away. and you’ll add my name to your long list of traitors who don’t understand. and I’ll look back and regret how I ignored when they said ‘run as fast as you can’.”

The Story Of Us: Clary & Jace (sibling era 🤪)

“I’d tell you I miss you, but I don’t know how. I never heard silence quite this loud. now I’m standing alone in a crowded room and we’re not speaking. and I’m dying to know is it killing you like it’s killing me? I don’t know what to say since a twist of fate, when it all broke down.”

I Can See You: Izzy & Simon

“what would you do if we never made a sound? cause I can see you waiting down the hall from me. and I could see you up against the wall with me. and what would you do baby, if you only knew.”

Haunted: Maia & Jordan (tbh every verse is like a POV change and a different part of their story)

“something’s made your eyes go cold. come on, come on, don’t leave me like this. I thought I had you figured out. something’s gone terribly wrong, you’re all I wanted.”

When Emma Falls In Love: Izzy

“when emma falls apart it’s when she’s alone, she takes on the pain and bears it on her own. cause when emma falls in love she’s in it for keeps, she won’t walk away unless she knows she absolutely has to leave. and she’s the kind of book that you can’t put down.”

Innocent: Clary (this song is so james & matthew coded but i’ll give it to the other fairchild cuz she’s also been through a lot)

“wasn’t it beautiful runnin’ wild ‘til you fell asleep. before the monsters caught up to you? it’s alright, just wait and see. your string of lights is still bright to me. oh, who you are is not where you’ve been. you’re still an innocent.”

Long Live: Alec & Magnus

“I was screaming long live all the magic we made, and bring on all the pretenders, I’m not afraid. long live all the mountains we moved, I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you. and I was screaming long live that look on your face.”

part two!

[georgiapeach30513]

I think after R1 you’re not likely gonna see CE in blockbuster/franchise type of movies again.

I think he’s done with that. I think he’s going in the direction that he seems to have always wanted…smaller more niche roles but getting to pick and choose what he wants. With a bucket list movie here and there.

Of course, people are already expecting R1 to flop and they’re mad about it already but most of Hollywood is experiencing flops and multiple at a time. He is not and will not be the only to experience this and even if it’s a hard reality to face, he is still working and is still moving forward. As we all should.

I’m not necessarily expecting gladiator 2 to do that well either but that’s just my take. I loved the first one but don’t have much or any interest to see the second one and it’s mostly because I don’t care for either Paul or Pedro and much of this stuff feels like cash grabs to me even if people like these new and upcoming actors. I have no interest in wicked and no interest in Moana either. I think the future of marvel is def teetering on its last legs and as disappointing as that may be, it’s a lesson to learn for those in charge.

One thing I do think will keep its legs and is the backbone of the industry is the horror and psychological thriller genre. Satirical films with dark humor. Terrifier 3 outperforming joker 2 by like triple times despite having the budget it has tells me even in the era of streaming and everything fatigue, the world still shows up when they can experience a good time and a good scare. Also, we’re all a bit cynical these days, which is why dark black comedy humor and satire are becoming more relatable to watch. People still want to have fun and be entertained, and that’s truly what matters in an industry that’s paid to make sure you get just that.

IMO, people will still show up and still tune in for a good show and an original take. Good storytelling still matters.

I think sacrifice is a very interesting movie now that the full synopsis was revealed, and just how much the character of Mike Tyler is going to go through it. Anya being as excited as she was about this film has me excited because I recently watched her in the menu and man, this girl is a talent. She chooses roles that are just like her - unique but unforgettable.

as for Chris, I think the role of Mike is actually perfect for him. Not for the sake of sounding cynical, but I think these recent past years of his life, has put him in a place where I think he can in some ways, relate to this character. Is it just me?

I agree. I think the only franchise we’re likely to see Chris in again will be MCU based.

And a Christmas movie was a bucket list item for him, plus he got a good paycheck. I think people are wanting him to have Sebastian’s career, and he never wanted to. He’s creating the career he wants. I actually am excited about Wicked, and Moana is my favorite modern movie, so I am actually excited for 2. But I do agree that these can go one of two ways. The difference with those three movies, again, are the built in fan bases. Moana 2 will be family friendly as well.

I think those movies have done well for several reasons. Tis the season for them, plus they don’t have those inflated budgets. It’s easier to make your money back with a smaller budget. Plus, people just want good films. I think we’re overwatered at times, and it’s overstimulating and we can’t watch them all.

Agreed. Storytelling is often lost to flashy CGI and action these days…

Anya is such a unique and talented force. She is almost otherworldly, and she’s investing more than just her talent to the movie. That says a lot to me. Anya truly understands her craft and talent. She seems to pick roles that really suit her. So that is an added excitement for me.

No, after reading the synopsis I did find his character quite interesting. Which I feel good acting takes pulling from your own personal life and experience to fully bring it to life. Making yourself vulnerable to the emotions that happen with them. Plus I can’t wait to see him have a meltdown on the freeway!

I think the issue we have now is that the industry has changed. Streaming is where it’s at and blockbusters don’t happen quite as often. I think Gladiator 2 will fare well. They do have a built in fan base, and that always helps. And movies like that are best viewed in the cinema.

[housewarningparty]

Okay so it’s been a while, I haven’t found the time to watch episodes lately so this truly is the irregular Buffy update (my notes are really gonna pay off here its been like two weeks since I’ve seen the most recent of these episodes). So first of all I was gonna say yeah Series 5 it does feel like a bit of a reset (even beyond suddenly Dawn), but like really pretty much every one so far except for S2 into S3 felt like a bit of a reset so should I really be surprised?

So Buffy vs Dracula, loved this ep. I loved everyone being so excited to meet the actual Dracula, he’s so fun, Anya having history with him, Xander, Riley and Tara all being jealous of him. Also like its a pretty straightforward set up on what everyone wants to accomplish over the next batch of episodes which doesn’t normally happen like this in the show? Buffy wanting to learn about the deep Slayer lore, Giles and Xander wanting to exit their flop era, Riley being a bit jealous and still wanting to be helpful but in a bit over his head, Willow wants more magic? I guess? Good for her she didn’t actually have a moment to be like this is my goal going forwards. I also have in my notes here RIP Gwendolyn Post from the OP. Also ‘RIP Dracula what a legend’ followed immediately by ‘RIP Dracula?’ So more RIPs than usual.

Real Me, also real good, loved the diary framing device with a show that now has eight (?) main characters I think are in the OP now its a real economical and effective way of getting all these new dynamics they need with Dawn, as someone who has definitely always been there. Really enjoy Harmony ending up top dog vampire by virtue of attrition. There’s something real neat about that conflict between Buffy and Dawn over Dawn being able to have had a normal childhood and Buffy having had to spend hers being the Slayer considering Dawn has not really had said childhood.

Something I enjoyed from my notes 'Dawn has good taste, likes Willow and Tara' followed later on by 'Dawn has bad taste, dislikes Anya'. But I do enjoy Dawn I think she’s a real good addition to the cast particularly in the fun new dynamics it gives her with Buffy but I think it’s a pretty good dynamic with everyone it really adds a lot. They laid it on a bit thick that she might be malevolent so I’m going with she’s not evil and that's all smokescreen.

The Replacement, I thought it was pretty good Xander episode, fun twist lotta fun in general. He finally manages to start crawling out of the loser allegations, good for him and beats his Restless nightmare which like great for him he gets straight out that basement nobody else has that kind of efficiency to beat their nightmare in just three episodes. I don’t really have too much to say about it but I enjoyed it. Oh yeah I guess it does say something about Xander’s portrayal that him with only his negative qualities reads kinda perfectly as Xander and him with only his positive qualities reads as a demon who’s taken over his life. Oh yeah and they mention Anya has her own place? I guess I just assumed she's been crashing with Xander the whole tiem. Where does she live? Does she have a job to pay for it? Why do they seem to exclusively hang out in Xander's basement? It raises a few questions.

So Out of My Mind, like I’m still not like the biggest fan of Riley but I do appreciate the work done in this episode to draw parallels between him and Spike considering it looks we’re finally going in the Spike/Buffy direction, I’ve enjoyed Buffy/Angel and Buffy/Faith so far so we’ll see how the third of her big ships goes for me later. But anyway I thought this was actually a pretty neat follow up to his stuff with the Initiative. My favourite comparison between Spike and Riley here was the big one with Riley’s goal in this episode is to not have life saving surgery from the government doctor so that he can remain strong and be part of Buffy’s life and his fear of what they’ll put in there like the chip that Spike is desperate to get out with life risking surgery so that he can become strong again (and fight Buffy). Also like, personally I don’t really buy the Riley relationship being that crucial to Buffy but I do appreciate the acting in that scene where she talks about how important he is to her, also congrats to Riley for pulling that I’m deciding we’re breaking up now to avoid later complications like Angel did. Also like I want to take this moment to formally apologise to Joyce, back in Lover’s Walk I’d made a note about how Joyce talks about how Buffy likes History when that’s actually one of the subjects she’s really bad at as a sign of Joyce not knowing as much as she should about Buffy, but this episode proves she knows her better than I do because Buffy and Willow have their scholarly debate over History in this episode she is actually good there.

Also enjoy that the four episodes all so far have a broadly similar underlying theme of people not being as they should be that feels like it ties in with the weirdness of Dawn being there; Buffy vs Dracula for Buffy, with her being more forced towards the Slayer balance of her life following her dream adventures with the First Slayer. Real Me for Dawn obviously, The Replacement for Xander with the premise of the episode feeling like its gonna be broadly similar to the Dawn situation with him being replaced, Out of my Mind for Riley acting out of sorts with his Initiative experiment side effects.

Anyway Angel’s alright, I like the idea of this Darla plot thread going forwards, it’s a nice reversal from S1’s overarching plot of Angel needing to build human connection for S2 to be about the consequences of his vampiric connections, shout out to Judgement for having a pregnancy storyline that isn’t Expecting. Great to see Lorne’s introduction, is it a bit convenient to have both Cordelia’s visions to start plots and his karaoke to solve them? Perhaps, but Angel doing karaoke is great so I can forgive it. I like the usage of Angel effectively killing himself with that random demon who was acting as the girl’s protector to pull the rug out form under the team who were riding high coming in from S1. Also surprise Faithwatch, was not expecting her to make an appearance until way later but it was a nice usage of her for an additional perspective on the road to redemption with Angel messing up this episode as well.

So like I dunno if its sacrilege or something, but I gotta be honest 2x02 did not grab me at all, there’s some decent stuff in the second half but David Boreanaz had to pretty much carry this entire episode on his shoulders and I think he does good work with people around him but I don’t think he succeeded here to do the majority of this episode solo. And when I looked up on my phone to see what the popular opinion on this episode was (which I don't usually do especially mid ep but as I said I was very not grabbed) all I found were threads about how this was the best episode of Angel, the moment people fell in love with the series, the episode that marked AtS as better than BtVS. So yeah unpopular opinion I guess but I wasn’t a fan. Like I say there was some decent stuff, like seeing the interim between freshly souled Angel and eating rats in the alleys Angel, the Angel lynching scene and the climax were pretty strong but it just did not grab me.

And First Impressions, I like a lot of stuff in this episode, I like the backslide from being connected to the world that Darla is causing to Angel, I like having a Cordelia and Gunn focussed episode with him being promoted to main cast. But the idea of Cordelia and Gunn’s plot being that she needs to fix him isn’t great, y'know? I do like the mirroring it has with Angel though that both of them are too focussed on the past, with Gunn pushing himself too hard and Angel becoming overly sedate in withdrawing into it.

But yeah having a good time, looking forward to watching some more especially Buffy, hopefully it doesn’t take me like a month to watch a few more episodes.

you did send these a while ago, but reading them now is REALLY making me nostalgic for s5 buffy. i am still only in s6 of my rewatch but it has been. difficult. a season of big highs and lows and a lot of little things in between that kinda put me off. but we persevere! personally, my biggest motivator is 1) knowing i'm so near the end of the series 2) knowing once i do this i can finally let myself read all those s6 AUs i've been hoarding.

mostly just posting in appreciation of your commentary per usual but i especially enjoy what you highlighted about dawn. the way she represents so much of what buffy wants but couldn't have. dawn getting babied by joyce, really being a kid. having everyone look out for her. buffy's jealousy of that is deeply humanizing and ALSO goes to highlight how young she still is. siblings have a way of bringing the kid out in us, i think, now matter how far away from your childhood you feel.

i love dawn, i think her introduction is genuinely brilliant. i came to the show after it had already ended, so i can't imagine how insane it must have felt to watch that as it aired.

[perenlop]

ok now that a day has passed i can post this without feeling mean now that he’s out of the anime and people were emotional abt it (including me dont get me wrong)

the pokemon finale felt.... so underwhelming. the team rocket thing happened for no real reason and that’s probably my second biggest gripe. let’s ruin their finale centric episode with a 30 second ooc argument, have a tiny moment in the next episode, and then have them make up in two seconds in the final episode after just going “yeah without each other theyre chefs or something who cares”. yeah its not like its the finale to these characters being mainstays after over 25 years or anything. its whatever

and then my second thing is like. really? we aren’t changing the status quo in the slightest? this is just another “oh ash comes home but decides he wants more” finale? i mean, i guess it’s in character for ash to be restless and unsatisfied even with where he is, and in my nextgen in my head he was always a guy who just kept traveling well into his adulthood helping people around the world. but the way he talks about being WORLD CHAMPION just felt... weird. like yes, he’s going to think that there’s more for him out there, but it just felt strange that this miniseries started with him going “wow i wanna see whats out there!” then he goes home, says goodbye to misty and brock, hangs out, and then goes “... wow i wanna see whats out there!” it’s like. nothing changed at all really? and it feels so weird because this is supposed to be the FINALE to his journey, we aren’t going to see his next adventure, and its weird he’s talking about this the same kind of way he talked in the other finales. 

and like again, it’s in character for him, i’m not saying it isn’t, but it’s just weird considering this episode also doesn’t feel like a multi season arc finale. nothing changes. like, pidgeot rejoins ash i guess... not like we’re gonna see any of what comes of that... he sees gary again... he got new shoes.... annnd nothing else. i was at least hoping for something with team rocket changing? like maybe the series ends because they realize that they’re unhappy in team rocket, and nothing has changed for them despite everything, so they give up on pikachu and finally open the restaurant of their dreams. sure, it wouldn’t be an end regarding the main character, but it’d be... something? and it’s not like people weren’t rooting for them to quit team rocket and be happy considering that’s something the show has set up numerous times. idk i feel like something should have happened in that episode to mark an end of an era rather than “yeah it’s an ending but like they’re still doing the exact same thing they’ve been doing after a break”, like, idk, ash turning 11 (which i KNOW would have become a meme but like it’d be something!)

im very cynical i’ll admit that, but this really just felt like a business decision where they HAD to keep the door open just in case horizons flops and people complain that they want ash back, and they can go “hey ash is in the gen x region!!”