#what it really is is just songs that don’t stand alone on their own EXCEPT for 20 dollar nosebleed

[yellowsubiesdance]

Folie à deux for the album track list rating thingy post !

EEEEEEEE when i TELL you how excited i am to receive this ask, omg

i actually love this album SOOO much the only easy answer is what i’ll put as first (and i think we all know)

Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown on a Bad Bet (are we shocked)

Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes

Tiffany Blews

w.a.m.s.

West Coast Smoker

I Don’t Care

She’s My Winona

27

America’s Suitehearts

(Coffee’s For Closers)

What A Catch, Donnie

The (Shipped) Gold Standard

20 Dollar Nosebleed

[seaadc]

migraine. | morax

ANGST, NO COMFORT, READER MENTIONED WEARING A “dress”, ADEPTUS READER, MORAX X GUIZHONG, ZHONGLI X READER, CHILDE X READER, FT. TEUCER, FEM!READER

(inspired by the song “Migraine” by Moonstar88.)

link of the song is at the end of the work.

summary: morax, the god of contracts and guizhong, the god of dust. they look perfect being with eachother— but how about you? have you ever crossed his mind atleast once?

inspired by: 🚽’s post (don’t ask why a toilet)

“Is my existence still present to you?”

Morax who was inlove with guizhong and [Name] being inlove with Morax, though it's just a one sided love.

Unrequited, if i may say.

Guizhong and Morax laughing around wholeheartedly in a field of glaze lilies while [Name] just stared, envious 'nd jealous that Guizhong's getting the attention and love of Morax.

though who is [Name] to intrude such a lovely couple?

She stands up, brushing away the nonexistent dirt in her dress. “I’ll get going now, I don’t wanna intrude in this… outing.” You speak up.

Morax turns away from Guizhong and focuses on you. “You’re not intruding on anything, [Name]. You are our friend, What are you trying to imply.” And with that, he smiles softly.

You smile back, faintly. You don’t answer his question and turn on your heel and start walking off.

You haven’t gotten far yet, but you hear their laughing resume.

Even without you, They’re contented. Morax is contented.

Moons later, [Name] has a new life and was wandering the streets of Liyue Harbor to be greeted with a newly refined person, Zhongli.

Zhongli who gets shocked since he thought [Name] was already dead and that he lost Guizhong and [Name].

"[name]? Is that really...you?" He murmurs, tears prickling under his eyelids.

You widen your eyes, averting your gaze away from him as you bit your bottom lip.

Zhongli wasted no milisecond and walked over at you, he wanted to hug you so tight that you can’t even escape from his grasp—

There you are again, running away from your problems but just before you could– He was there. Zhongli was there.

He held your wrist tightly, pulling you to his chest and wrapping his arms around your shoulders. "I.. I thought I lost you.. Guizhong's gone and I..."

Just as you were about to love him once more, you can't.

You knew him all too well, Guizhong would always be his first priority and his concern.

But you?

...

"[Name]!" You flinched, hearing a child-like voice behind you as you pulled away from Zhongli's grasp, much to his dismay.

Brown hair and blue eyes peeked from the corner of your eyes, the little boy was jumping up and down.

You widened your eyes, shifting your full attention to the boy.

"Teucer?!" You shrieked, crouching 'nd hugging the boy close to your heart.

The heart that once was filled with love and cherish for Morax, now replaced with morose.

Teucer giggled, hugging you back tighter. "What are you doing here all alone-" You got cut off when a pair of blue eyes crouched down before you.

His gaze meeting your very own orbs, both of you having eye contact with eachother.

"Childe?" Zhongli speaks, his deep voice echoing in your ear which makes you flinch. You almost forgot about him, almost.

Childe ignores Zhongli, except he smiles at you. "Of course my sweet dear brother isn't alone, when he's there, it means- "Big brother Childe misses you [Name]!"

You turn your head towards the child(e), a faint blush appearing in your cheeks as Childe sighed and smirked impishly. "There you got your answer." "CHILDE!"

Zhongli watched this scene unfold carefully, your cheeks coated with a red tint as Childe laughed at your reaction.

He found your reaction cute, however.. what is this he feels? Could it be because you looked wholesome, Teucer looks all so supportive–

oh.

I think he knows. (taylor swift reference)

Jealousy.

For the next few days, Childe had invited him to hang out with both of you. You agreed, though you didn't talk to him much.

Zhongli was the first to strike a conversation for both of you, to which you replied with short replies like "Yes." "Oh, okay." "Hm? No."

He finds them okay, but something's missing. Probably because you used to be energetic with your replies.

You still are! well, not to him that is.

Childe laughs softly, flinching when [Name] had nudged the side of his waist. "Shut up! I'm this close to burying you alive!" You shriek, blushing intensely since Childe had been teasing you for the past few minutes.

Zhongli watches from behind, feeling left out as his eyes were left half lidded, what is happening to him?

That is when he realizes, the girl who he cherishes, was not Guizhong.

But you, and only you.

Though it's too late, however.

He belonged to you, but you didn't belong to him.

A part of him wishes that you never met Childe, a part of him wishes you stayed loyal to him and kept loving him even though he had treated your heart like a piece of plastic that he threw in a bonfire.

And there’s this selfish side of him, wanting to claim you and make you his once more.

But you aren't. The space inside your heart that was, before, filled with love for him.

It was not Zhongli she loves, it was Morax.

That was before.

The after, is Childe.

He looks at both of you, seeing how happy you both were. Deja vu.

Should he still have hope in you? or is he left with nothing but not being able to touch you?

A yarn of your dress falls of, Zhongli looks at it and picks it up without you nor Childe noticing.

He clenches his fists, not aggressively.

The yarn. that was the most closest thing he could touch that belonged to you.

He feels like throwing up, His insides are being eaten.

His knees are hurting, Is there a need to kneel?

Can you count on him to fill that empty heart of yours with his name.. again?

He can only reach up to this point, dreaming that you'll be his.

made by @seaadc and @seaadc only! ©

I HAD TO REDO THIS 2 TIMES BECAUSE IT WOULDNT SAVE BROOROROR (10/31/23)

smth special since today is the last day of angstober 💛

link to the song: 💽 ⇦ click !

I FORGOT TO POST THIS ON THE 31ST OF OCTOBERRR😭😭 so yh this is pretty late.. :(

[bluethunderbombpop]

Handprints

Title: Handprints Pairing: Rhea Ripley x Reader Prompt: 41. "You keep acting like a little brat and I'll take you over my knee right here, I don't care how many people are watching." Warnings: smut, spanking, dom Rhea, sub reader Minors DNI, 18+ R WC: 1167

Dom's engagement party was never going to be a calm affair. You knew that something would happen, especially once you heard that his parents had accepted the invitation Dom's fiance extended towards them. That was why there had been extra security hired by Rhea, who wanted everything to be perfect for Dom's big night. Damian and Finn had personally gone out and vetted the security guards themselves while you helped Dom pick out a nice suit for the night. Everything was lined up to be absolutely perfect, up until Rhea had taken a look at the guest list for the night.

Austin Theory had been one of Dom's friends from the Performance Center, and even if they weren't on the same show, they were close. Rhea didn't personally have issues with Austin, but he was public enemy number one whenever you were around. To most people, you and Rhea had been together since forever. She had been your girlfriend before either of you signed to WWE, but whenever you had been released in 2018, you left with an invitation to join some friends in Japan. That stint had been short-lived as AEW started to secure its roots and find its footing to air. Whenever you had returned back to America, Rhea had ignored you, but Austin had reached out. For the next couple of years, you had been Austin's girlfriend, a time that Rhea liked pretending never happened despite it being a big part of the two of you getting back together.

"I can't stand that asshole," Rhea grumbled as she turned away from Austin at the bar. He was on the dance floor with Dom, something that Rhea normally would have laughed at. You knew why she was being so serious, but it wasn't like she owned you. Austin had asked if he could dance with you whenever the DJ had played your song, and you had accepted because you and Austin were just friends. Rhea didn't seem to care about that, all she cared about was the fact that Austin had put his hands on your body for all the world to see. Nobody else got to touch you in public except for Rhea.

"No, you don't. You're just jealous and acting like a baby about it," you teased. Rhea glared at you as she took a sip of her drink. You pressed a kiss to her cheek before sauntering away towards the dance floor again. You shared a dance with Dom and several pictures were taken by his parents, who had always kind of assumed that you would have ended up with him. Rhea knew that, but she didn't seem to care about your friendship with Dom like she did your one with Austin.

Rhea sat back seething as she watched you from the bar. Usually, you would have been a bit more careful, but for the members of Judgement Day, the party was continuing. You knew that Damian and Finn had all sorts of stupid shit planned for the rest of the weekend. There wasn't really a good opportunity for Rhea to do something about this during the weekend, and you knew that she didn't like to hold onto things for more than a couple nights. She thought that long-term punishments were ridiculous. However, you did not count on her whisking you away during the party to deal with you.

"We need to talk," Rhea said as she pulled off of the edge of the dance floor. You let her drag you over to a more secluded table. There weren't as many people over in the corner, but there wasn't a single spot in the whole party to be completely alone.

"What's your deal?" You usually would never have went forward with such an attitude, but you had been having a good time with your friends before she pulled you away from it all.

"You're my deal. You keep acting like a brat and I'll take you over my knee right here, I don't care how many people are watching," Rhea said. You knew better than to see it as a threat. Rhea had gotten handsy enough in public for you to know that she wouldn't think twice about actually bending you over her knee in public. There would probably be at least one or two people around who would think it was a joke anyways.

"I'm not doing anything. The point is to have a good time," you told her. Rhea gave you a dangerous look, one that you knew was the last warning. You stormed away from her and went back to the dance floor. Rhea stayed in the corner watching you the whole time, which didn't go unnoticed by you. You made sure to make a show of letting Austin and other people put their hands around your waist. It was mean to toy with Rhea like that, but you weren't in the mood for playing nice. Rhea sat back and let you do what you wanted to, which had sort of taken the fun out of messing with her.

"Ready to go?" Rhea asked you. You nodded as you tucked yourself under her arm. The air around her was a bit tense, so you tried your best to subtly calm her down. However, once you got out to the parking lot, you realized there was no use. Rhea spun you around so that your front was pressed against the car when the two of you got to her parking spot. "Did you think that I wouldn't notice all of that shit you were doing back there?"

"I-I knew you would," you stammered. Rhea nudged your legs apart as she ran her hand up your thigh. The skirt of your dress started to ride up a little as her hand moved, but still kept you partially covered. Rhea's fingers pressed against your cunt through your underwear. She let her hand rub back and forth against you, occasionally pressing her middle finger a little harder over your clit. Rhea listened to each of your moans and gasps to gauge how far along you were. She let you get used to the feeling of her hand pressing against you when it was removed to deliver a swift smack to your ass. "Fuck!"

"Shut up, you wouldn't want someone to come out here. I told you this would happen, and you didn't listen to me," Rhea reminded you. There was something in her voice that made your knees so weak that you were leaning against the car for support. Rhea waited for you to brace yourself a little better before delivering the next couple of spanks to your ass. The fourth one hit your pussy instead, and Rhea covered your mouth with her hand when she gave you that one. "Let's get out of here, the party's just about over anyways. I'd hate for one of the boys to catch you like this, you've paraded yourself around for them more than enough tonight."

[bluewasthecolor]

This Is What It Feels Like

Word Count: 5330

Warnings: Smidges of angst.

A/N: The anons who requested that I work on this get a special shoutout because Gracie is superior. Also this song was written about a friendship but I am writing about a relationship because art is up for interpretation (and I like writing about relationships)! I'm really proud of how this turned out, so I hope you like it! Let me know what else you'd like to see from me. I've been pretty much exclusively working on this one for the past few days, but I'm planning to work on some requests/ficlets now so expect to see more uploads from me in the next few days.

The city's gettin' loud

If I choke, it's only 'cause I'm scared to be alone

“You coming out with us tonight?” You look up from your phone to see Leah standing over you.

“Pardon?”

“We’re going out to have some team bonding time–just going to dinner, having a couple drinks, nothing major. You should come.” “Oh, um, I think I have plans tonight, but thanks for the invite.” You smile awkwardly and walk out of the changing room, leaving Leah standing alone.

On the drive home, as you cook yourself dinner in your flat, and as you eat alone, you can’t stop thinking about your interaction with Leah. You’re not sure why you said no to her invitation. You really don’t have anything to do–how could you? You’ve only been in London for a month and all of your time has been spent with the team so they’re your only real opportunity for social interaction. You pray that Leah doesn’t think about this, doesn’t realize you were lying. It’s not that you don’t want to get to know them, you truly do, it’s just that all of this feels a bit much right now. You’ve always been pretty shy and that makes it hard to get close to anyone. It took you almost a year after being drafted to OL Reign before you finally settled in, so it’s not much of a surprise that you’re still having difficulty making connections. This was supposed to be different though. This isn’t how it was supposed to go. Moving to London was supposed to help you, was supposed to be an escape from all the noise. Instead, here you are panicking just as you have so many times before. You feel as though you’re back in Seattle, back in that godforsaken apartment, trying not to drown. It’s not all that different you suppose, then and now. You were alone then and you’re alone now. Except now you’re in London halfway across the world from everyone you love. You feel naive that you thought this would help you, that you thought transferring to Arsenal was the right choice. Instead of being able to call somebody to come over when it all gets to be too much, you’re left struggling through on your own. This must have been a mistake.

After dinner you’re sitting in your living room when your musings are interrupted by the ring of the doorbell. Confused about who could be at your place–about who even knows where you live–you look through the peephole to see Leah standing on the other side. Your breath catches in your throat. What is she doing here? You press your back into the door, reminding yourself to breathe. She’s one of your teammates, not some random stranger. It’s going to be okay. With that, you swing open the door. Leah looks up as you do so, smiling when she sees you.

“Hey Y/N. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” “No, no not at all. I thought you were going out with the girls tonight?” “Well, I was, but then I talked to you.” A smirk is playing at her lips and you’re not quite sure what to make of it. “You said you had ‘plans’ but then I realized the likelihood of you knowing anyone in London besides the team is very very slim. So, I thought I’d come over.” She holds up her hand and the bottle occupying it. “I brought wine. Can I come in?”

Taken aback by her assertiveness, you step aside allowing her to enter. You’re still confused about what’s going on, but you follow her into your kitchen anyway, determined not to make things awkward. She grabs two wine glasses off the shelf, pouring each glass half full and handing one to you. You take it, grateful to have something to do with your hands.

“Would you like to sit?” You tilt your head towards the couch, and Leah nods. You move to sit next to one another and she looks at you. Like, really looks at you. The prolonged eye contact makes you shift uncomfortably, looking away after a few seconds. 

“So. Y/N.” Leah’s voice is soft, comforting. “Truth be told I didn’t just come here to drink wine.”

You look back up, a question in your eyes.

“I wanted to check in on you. You never come out with us, barely interact with the team besides to talk about football. Did we do something? Are you just not interested in getting to know us?” 

“Ah, so this isn’t just a friendly visit. You’ve been sent here on a spy mission. Get me to confess all my secrets, report back, right?” You’re half teasing, but apparently you’ve struck a nerve.

“No!” Leah is quick to deny, but even quicker to backtrack. “Okay so maybe Caitlin mentioned that I should come over and see if I could get you to crack, but it’s just because we want to know you. And I was already thinking of asking you to do something one on one.” The last part of her confession takes you off guard, but you compose yourself quickly.

“Alright. You get three questions. Go.” You’re not used to people being this honest with you, so you decide to give her something in return.

“Why don’t you ever spend time with us outside of training?” Her first question is as expected, and you begin to give your routine answer.

“I’m just really shy. I never really get to know people right away.” Her eyes narrow at your response, and you can tell she doesn’t fully buy your answer.

“Be more specific.” “This is gonna count as one of your questions, you know.”

“Be. More. Specific.” 

“It’s been like this since I was little, I think. My mom tells me my teachers would always send home notes saying that I was smart but needed to talk more in class. As I grew up it just kind of stayed the same way. I think I’m scared that if I let people in, if I get to know them, I’ll just end up getting hurt. If I never make an effort I never have to be let down or worry that someone doesn’t want to be around me.” You stare at your hands as you say this, embarrassed to look up at her. Leah is silent for a moment and you think you’ve scared her off, shared too much, but then her hands are on top of yours. 

“You don’t have to be scared with us. I know that’s a hard thing to believe, but you’ll never know unless you just trust us, unless you try. Give us a chance. Or, y’know, at least give me a chance, I’m not total rubbish.” She adds a cheeky wink with that last detail that makes you question whether or not she’s flirting with you. 

“I…I can give you a chance. I’m not so sure about everyone else. I’m not so good in a group setting.” Leah nods to herself. “And by the way you have one more question left.”

“Alright, how about this: will you go on a date with me?”

“I–uh–what?” You sputter out, not expecting the blonde to be quite so forward. 

“Go out with me. We’ll get to know one another, you can see that I genuinely want to know you, and then maybe you can work towards getting to know the rest of the girls.”

“Why can’t we just get to know each other as friends?” You ask, wary of her motives. “Because you’re insanely gorgeous and I’m pretty sure if we started hanging out as friends it would quickly turn into something more. Why not just skip to the fun part?” She has a point, you admit to yourself. You’re definitely guilty of sneaking glances when you think she’s not looking, admiring her beauty from afar.

“Okay, sure.” You can’t help but smile as you agree. “Let’s go on a date.” Leah squeals, actually squeals, and launches herself at you for a hug. 

“How’s this Thursday? Pick you up at six?”

Two Weeks Later

I would do whatever you wanted

We don't have to leave the apartment

You’ve been going out with Leah for two weeks and it’s good. Waking up in the morning and realizing you have an hour before your alarm goes off, finding the perfect pair of jeans, heart stoppingly good. It’s easy with Leah, unlike many of your past relationships. You don’t feel like you’re constantly second guessing yourself or like you need to be on when you’re with her, you can just be. She doesn’t play games with you, she’s straightforward and doesn’t beat around the bush. It also doesn’t hurt that she’s good in bed. On the rare occasions that she lets you take control, on her back completely at your mercy, you feel powerful and in control. When she’s on top of you, coaxing orgasm after mind-blowing orgasm from your body, you lose yourself in the way she makes you feel. The way she takes you apart oh so slowly and–

“...Y/N?” Leah’s voice snaps you out of your daydreaming as she taps on your forehead. “Hello, is anyone home?”

The two of you are lying in her bed, spending one of your rare days off with one another. The defender has her back pressed against the headboard and you are settled between her thighs, head resting on her chest. “Sorry, sorry. What’s up?”

“I was asking what you wanted to do for dinner tonight.” “Oh, I don’t care. You pick.”

“Well…” Leah pauses, looking down at you with careful concern in her eyes. “Beth and Viv are having a thing tonight. They invited us. We could go to that.”

“I’m not so sure Leah. I don’t think I’m ready.” You look up at her guiltily, feeling bad that you’re preventing her from seeing her friends. “You should go though. I can just head back to my place for the night.”

“What? No. I want to hang out with you, I just thought it might be time to get to know the girls. It’s okay if you’re not ready though.”

“You don’t want to go?” “I didn’t say that. I said I want to spend time with you.” 

“I still think you should go.” This conversation was slowly starting to feel more and more like a fight.

“What’s this about, Y/N? Do you not want to spend time with me?” Leah’s voice is cold now.

“Don’t turn this on me, I-you know what? I think I should just go home. I’ll see you at training tomorrow.” You push yourself off the bed, stalking to gather your things. 

“What the hell, Y/N? Is this how you deal with things? You can’t just up and leave when shit gets hard. Come sit down and talk to me.” You look up to see that Leah has followed you out of the bedroom and is sitting on the couch. You shuffle over, perching on the edge of the sofa.

“Well?” Your voice is short. “I don’t really have much else to say, so it’s your turn to talk.” 

“I guess I’m just a bit confused. Why are you so insistent that I do this? Are you just trying to get rid of me?” Leah’s voice is still cold but a bit of insecurity creeps through as well, her voice breaking just a little.

“No! I just…” Tears begin to well in your eyes before you can get the full sentence out. Taking a deep breath, you try again. “I don’t want you to resent me. Or feel like I’m keeping you from your friends.” “Oh, Y/N.” Leah murmurs, her voice soft now. “I could never resent you, baby.” “I just…we never do anything with anyone else. It’s not much of a relationship. I don’t want you to get bored of me” You stare intensely at your lap, not fully buying her response.

“Hey. Look at me.” The blonde tilts your chin up with her finger, forcing eye contact. “I am happy to do absolutely anything with you. It doesn’t have to be with other people. Hell, we could never leave this flat again and I wouldn’t complain. I never ever want you to question this. We’ve just gotta communicate, yeah?” She pulls you into her side as she says this, rubbing her hand up and down your arm.

“Yeah. Yeah you’re right.” You let yourself lean into the Brit. “And I want you to know that I do want to get to know the girls, I just don’t think I’m ready yet.”

“Just let me know when you are, darling, and I’ll set it up.” With that, Leah presses a kiss into the crown of your head. “Where’d we land on dinner by the way?”

“Well you’re certainly not cooking so would you rather have me cook or should we order takeout?” Your cheeky response results in Leah pushing you so that you are now on your back and she is hovering above you, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

She looks as though she’s about to kiss you, she even leans in as though that is what’s going to happen, but then her hands are on your sides and she’s tickling you. You squeal, trying to squirm away from her but she has you pinned to the couch. You eventually manage to roll off the couch and dash off, using your knee to push Leah off of you. She follows close behind, wrapping her arms around your waist and lifting you off your feet. As you laugh breathlessly she carries you towards her bedroom, tossing you onto the bed a dark look coming over her eyes.

-

Afterwards, the two of you lay intertwined, recuperating from taking one another to pieces. You reach up to stroke her hair, content in the small moment you were sharing. It was in that moment that you knew.

“I’m ready to get to know everyone now.” You murmur softly, looking up at Leah to see her reaction. She’s hesitant at first, not wanting to push you. 

“Really? You’re sure?” You nod, smiling up at her. “Is this because of the sex? Like, y’know, I’m just so good that you’re super confident now?”

“No you asshole!” You sit up, smacking Leah lightly on the chest. “I just…I don’t know. You make me feel so safe and you obviously trust the girls, so I have no reason to be scared I don’t think.”

Leah presses a kiss to your cheek, pulling you closer.

“I’ll set it up.”

That Weekend

We stayed a couple hours

Our clothes matched enough to throw me off a bit

“You’re kidding.” Leah snorts as you open the door to your apartment. You stare back, unsure of what to say. The two of you have accidentally dressed in what are basically matching outfits: white tank top, black pants, white sneakers. 

“Goddamnit,” You groan, turning to head back into your place. “I’m gonna go change. They’ll think I’m weird if we show up in matching outfits.”

“We’re late enough as it is, it’ll be fine.” She says, a hand reaching out to wrap around your wrist. “Let’s go, Y/L/N!”

-

As Leah parks the car in Viv and Beth’s driveway, you try to focus on your breathing. It’s just a dinner. A dinner with your teammates who, Leah has assured you endlessly, are excited to get to know you. Still, you can’t help but worry. What if you mess something up? What if they don’t like you and it changes how Leah sees you? What if, what if, what if. The possibilities are never ending. Leah, having finished parking, can clearly see that you’re overthinking things.

“What’s going on in that pretty head of yours, baby?” She reaches over the center console to rest her hand comfortingly on top of yours.

“I dunno, just nervous I guess.”

“There’s nothing to be nervous about, they’re gonna love you, I promise. Just be yourself.” She lifts your hand to her lips, pressing a kiss on each finger. She then gets out of the car, walking around to open your door. 

“Shall we?” She asks, extending her arm.

You grab it, stepping out of the car slowly. You let her lead you to the door and she squeezes your hand twice as she knocks. Leaning over to you, she whispers:

“If it gets to be too much, tell me. We can go whenever you want.” Grateful for her concern, you squeeze back. 

At that moment, the door swings open. 

“Leah! Y/N! Come on in!” Beth is smiling brightly at the two of you as she steps aside to let you enter. “Everyone’s just chilling in the kitchen, follow me.” 

The blonde leads the two of you further into the house, stopping in the kitchen. Viv is behind the counter cooking with Caitlin as her sous chef, while Lia, Katie, and Ruesha are perched at the counter observing. They’re all laughing at something Ruesha said, and look up when you walk in. Caitlin is the first to speak, greeting you warmly.

“Hey guys, good to see you!” The rest of the girls follow suit, echoing greetings at you. Beth passes you each a glass of wine and gestures to you to take a seat at the counter.

“Um…did you guys mean to dress alike?” Katie asks, hiding a smirk. You blush, and look at Leah.

“Maybe we did, maybe we didn’t. What’s it to you, McCabe?” She bites back, a grin on her face.

You perch next to Leah, your hand finding hers under the counter. As you chat more with each girl you can feel yourself relaxing bit by bit. They’re all incredibly kind and clearly do want to know you. 

“Viv, whatever you’re cooking smells fantastic.” You compliment the Dutch woman, who smiles as you say this. “Can I help at all? I’m not too bad in the kitchen.”

“That would be great actually! Cait’s a great help but many hands make light work. Do you think you could make a salad?” Viv directs you, gesturing to the empty salad bowl. “Everything you need should either be in the fridge or on the spice rack and if you’d like an apron they’re in the first drawer to the right of the dishwasher.”

You stand from your spot behind the counter and tie an apron around your waist.

“Oh my God, Y/N you have to make that one kale caesar salad with the dressing. It’s the best salad you’ll ever have, I swear.” Leah directs the last part to the rest of the room, all of whom look intrigued.

“Okay then! One kale caesar salad coming up!” 

You set to work, gathering your ingredients for both the salad and the dressing. Viv and Caitlin work next to you, the three of you in perfect sync as you move around the kitchen. 

“Leah! Come sit in the living room with us,” Katie’s voice drifts into the kitchen, and you look up to see that she, Ruesha, Beth, and Lia have all moved into the next room. Only Leah remains at the counter, watching your every move. Now, she looks at you with a clear question in her eyes.

“Go, I’m good.” You smile reassuringly, waving your wine glass towards the next room. She returns the smile and turns to go. 

“So. Y/N.” As soon as Leah’s left the room, you hear Caitlin’s voice behind you. “Now that Leah’s out of the way, Viv and I want to get to know you some more.” 

You spin to see the two women smiling mischievously at you, clueing you into the fact that this was somehow planned.

“Alright, what do you want to know?” You respond, surprising even yourself with your willingness to be open. Something about Viv and Caitlin just makes you feel at ease.

“What was it like to play in Seattle?” Viv jumps at the chance to ask a question just as Caitlin is opening her mouth.

“I mean, it was amazing, I won’t lie to you. I grew up in Seattle so it was unbelievable to get to play for my home club, and the culture of the team is insane. They’re absolutely still my family.” 

“So why’d you leave?” It’s Caitlin this time asking the question. “Sorry if that sounds rude I just mean if it was so perfect something must have happened, right?” “Yes and no. I think part of it was that I felt like I wasn’t progressing much as a player and I knew my contract was up at the end of the season so it seemed like the right time for a change. I think if I had been in a different headspace I might have tried to stay at OL Reign, but I was struggling a lot so it just wasn’t the right time for me to be there. I’d love to go back someday though.” You answer her question with complete honesty, already feeling as though you can trust the two women standing before you. 

Apparently satisfied with your answers, the two women go back to working in silence. You smile to yourself as you mix the salad dressing. It appears as though you’ve made your first friends at Arsenal. It feels good to have someone other than Leah in your corner. While she’s amazing, there’s something to be said about the strength of friendship. Just as you’re thinking of her, the blonde sneaks up behind you and wraps her arms around your waist, burying her head into your neck. You chuckle, leaning back slightly so that your weight is resting on her body. 

“Hey pretty girl.” She murmurs, the words vibrating against your neck. You shift your head slightly away from her, a suggestion that she should take advantage of the extra space. Thankfully, Leah takes the hint. She presses subtle kisses against your neck, and you can feel that she’s smiling as she does so. The moment is cut short all too soon, however, by Caitlin clapping her hands.

“Dinner’s ready I think!” The Aussie announces. “Y/N, Leah, stop your PDA and come eat.” Blushing, you separate from Leah and carry the salad bowl into the dining room. The brit is close on your heels, snagging the seat next to yours and placing her hand on your thigh as soon as she sits down. You lean over, beckoning Leah closer.

“Someone’s feeling a bit clingy tonight, huh, darling?” You whisper, cupping your hands around her ear. “And I thought I would be the one stuck to you all night.” 

Leah smirks at your comment, now leaning into your ear.

“I can’t help it, love. I can’t wait to get my hands on you later.” Her voice is low and rough, suddenly full of desire.

Her words elicit a small gasp from your lips, and you look at her purposefully. This is not the time nor the place for such a display but you’re also not too upset about it. You know she won’t push you farther than is comfortable and definitely won’t do anything that will embarrass you, so you’re content to let her tease you a bit. As the rest of your teammates sit down, you notice how easy this feels. You aren’t second guessing everything you say and you’re able to chat easily with each of the women sitting at the table. You sit with them for what is likely another two or three hours but feels like thirty minutes, talking and laughing with one another. Eventually, Leah is yawning next to you, sleepy from the amount of wine she’s had, so you decide it’s time to head home.

“Are you sure you’re alright to drive?” Viv asks with concern as everyone gathers by the front door getting ready to leave. “You’re more than welcome to stay the night.” “I only had one glass while I was cooking and that was ages ago. We’ll be alright, thanks so much Viv. Dinner was lovely” You smile warmly at the Dutch woman and pull her into a hug. You make the rounds to all the other girls, wishing them good night. When you reach Caitlin you grin as you hug her.

“Let’s do lunch soon, yeah?” You ask as you pull away.

“Absolutely. See you at training, mate.”

With that, you and Leah head to the car. As you’re pulling out of the driveway Leah looks at you, eyelids heavy with sleep.

“Thank you for coming tonight. It meant a lot to them. And me.” She murmurs, reaching to place her hand on your thigh once again. You put your hand on top of hers, tapping it lightly in reply. One night doesn’t automatically solve your problems but it’s a really good start.

Two Months Later

And I need you sometimes

We'll be alright

Met you at the right time

You’re pretty sure you’ve just ruined everything. Two months of pure bliss and you just destroyed it all with three stupid words. What had you been thinking? It’s too soon. You know that. You’re usually the one wanting to slow things down in relationships and yet you still did it. Something just came over you today. After Leah’s telling silence you had fled and now, here you are. Curled up in bed with a tub of ice cream, crying over everything you’ve just lost. 

After about an hour of this, you hear a knock on your door. Not in the mood to talk to anyone, you decide to ignore it and hope whoever it is will go away. They do not, and the knocking continues for another five or so minutes. Just as it’s finished and you’re thinking that the knocker has finally left, your phone lights up with a text.

Cait: Leah called me. Viv and I are here.

You wait a moment hoping they’ll get the hint, but no such luck.

Cait: Please let us in.

Sighing, you push yourself out of bed. The two women, who have quickly become some of your closest friends, are clearly not planning on leaving anytime soon. You open the door and are met by two of the most concerned faces you’ve ever seen.

“Shit, Y/N. Come here.” Viv exclaims upon seeing you, your face stained with tears.

Viv reaches out, enveloping you in a warm hug. You feel Caitlin’s arms wrap around you from behind. After a few moments of this, you pull away and gesture inside. The women follow you inside to the living room, settling on the couch on either side of you. Caitlin grabs your hand, squeezing lightly.

“We’re here if you wanna talk about it, but it’s okay if you just want to sit here.” The aussie says gently, nudging you with her shoulder.

“I want to talk about it.” You say, still sniffling. “Leah and I broke up.”

Three Hours Earlier

It started with pancakes. You had spent the night at Leah’s and woke up early, wanting to surprise her with breakfast in bed. When you woke, however, Leah was no longer in bed. Confused, you padded into the kitchen to find her at the stove–a rare sight. She didn’t notice you when you entered the kitchen, so you snuck up behind her, wrapping your arms around her waist. She jumped slightly when you did so, a smile appearing on her lips.

“Whatcha doin’?” You asked, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

“Making you pancakes. But I can’t focus when you’re right there, you have to go sit at the counter.” She playfully nudged you away from her, and you obeyed, moving to sit at the counter. 

Watching her move around the kitchen, focusing oh so carefully on her cooking, determined not to mess up, you were struck suddenly with a thought. A thought you couldn’t hold in much longer. Just as she set a plate of pancakes in front of you, some part of your brain decided that was the perfect time.

“Leah.” You said, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards you. You cupped her face, brushing her hair back. “I love you.”

She didn’t say anything. She stood there, looking down at you for what felt like hours, but didn’t say a single word. Dejected, you pulled away.

“I, um–I have to go.” You stammered, embarrassed that you had thought the two of you were ready for such a big step. 

“Y/N, wait–” She called after you, but it was too late. You had left, were driving home with tears rolling down your face. This wasn’t how things were supposed to be.

Present

You look back and forth between Caitlin and Viv as you finish telling the story. They’re sharing some sort of knowing glance that you can’t read. Then, Viv places her hand on your arm.

“Y/N, that’s really hard and I know it feels like shit to not have her say it back but it doesn’t sound like you broke up.” Viv’s voice is soft, almost a whisper. You look at her, confused.

“What am I supposed to do now though? Pretend I never said it? I can’t do that.” 

“Nobody’s asking you to do that, we just think you should talk to her about it.” It’s Caitlin speaking this time. “And, by the way, she didn’t say you’d broken up when she called me. She just said you were upset when you left but she wasn’t sure if you’d want to see her.”

“Okay,” You sigh. “I’ll text her later to see if we can talk.” “Or,” Viv says as there’s another knock on the door. “You can talk to her now. We texted her when we got here.” Your friends get up to leave, each kissing you on the forehead as you sit frozen on the couch. You hear murmurs in the hallway and then the sound of the door shutting. Suddenly, Leah is standing in the living room, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot. She’s clearly been crying too, her eyes bloodshot and her hair mussed. 

“Hi.” The blonde says tentatively, taking a step towards you. “Can I sit?” 

You nod, gesturing to the spot next to you on the sofa. She sits gingerly, clearly wary of how close she should sit. You look at her, unsure of what to say. Thankfully, she speaks first.

“So I think I owe you an explanation.” She looks at you, searching your face. For what exactly you’re unsure, but you nod at her to continue. “My last relationship moved pretty fast. We said I love you pretty early on and then we kind of crashed and burned. I swore to myself I wouldn’t do that again so today when you said it I was caught off guard. I didn’t want to ruin such a good thing. But then you left and I was broken. Not knowing where you were or if you were okay…I couldn’t stand to lose you. That’s when I realized.”

“Realized what?” You look up at her to see that she’s been waiting for you to make eye contact.

“That I love you too.” 

When she says this you lean farther into her, pressing your lips to hers. This kiss is different from all the ones you’ve shared before. It’s tentative, not because you don’t know each other but because you don’t want to move it too fast. You both want to savor it, not wanting to let go of this moment.

-

Later that night as you lie in bed together, a question pops into your mind. A question that might be risky, but that you can’t shake. 

“Leah?” You murmur, twisting in her arms so you can look at her. “What would you say if I asked you to move in with me?” A wide smile appears on your lips and she kisses you once more.

“I’d say I was about to ask you the same damn thing, my love.”

[riahlynn101]

More Mike x Vanessa from the FNAF movie please it's the best

Progress is kind of slow, but here's a snippet of the next one shot:

There are few comforts that Mike allows himself to indulge Even outside of not having the money to do so-and when he does have the money, it goes to Abby (because she deserves all the best things)-he’s content with the little he owns. 

The one thing he really truly loves is his walkman. 

When his parents bought it for him back in the early 80s, it had been brand new. Mike can’t imagine how much they paid for it, and he can only guess how many extra shifts his parents pulled at their jobs to afford it.

Of course, as with all things older siblings get, he was forced to share with his little brother. This wouldn’t have been an issue, except he liked to listen to hard rock. And Garrett….

To this day, Mike has no idea why Lamb Chops put out that tape with that song on it. His eye still twitches at the memory of hearing, “The Song that Doesn’t End,” blaring from his brother’s headphones.

It wasn’t all bad, though. Sometimes-when Garrett and him got along-they curl up on the couch and pass the headphones back and forth, sharing songs. 

BZZZT

Mike takes his headphones off, placing them around his neck. He looks at the front door cameras, frowning. Standing there, just like the first night, is Vanessa. He hasn’t seen her in over a week. All his calls and texts have gone unanswered. 

He….was scared that she….

By the time Mike gets to the front door, Vanessa has stopped ringing the doorbell. He unlocks and opens the door. He frowns, ready to ask her where she went. Of course, Vanessa doesn’t have to tell him anything. But they’re friends, and friends don’t just up and disappear without some kind of explanation. Even if that explanation is, “leave me the hell alone!”

“Where have you-”

Whatever he was about to say is cut off and immediately forgotten. Vanessa holds the labels of his jacket, pressing her lips against his. Surprised, it takes Mike a few seconds to realize what’s happening. 

He relaxes into the kiss, pulling her closer. 

It’s warm….

It’s bliss….

It’s-

[officialchristiancagebbgirlblog]

2: “try and get some sleep baby”

34: “shh, it’s okay. I’m here now”

Hopefully this is okay, I made it into a sort of nightmare in which the reader wakes up to a caring Christian Cage. Any feedback is appreciated! Hope you enjoy! 🩵

Tag: @brideofinfamy

Warnings: none

Theme: angst and fluff at the end

Word count: 1407

Link to masterlist

Happy reading 🖤

“I know it’s not easy, but try and get some sleep baby.”

For the last few days, you had been really struggling to get to sleep. You weren’t sure where the problem was starting but all you knew is you were sick of sleeping so late all the time. Christian laid behind you, spooning your body while one of his cats happily nestled behind his knees. He mumbled sweet nothings into your hair, trying to help you get to sleep. Even though he was half asleep he still tried his best to get you as relaxed as possible before he drifted off into his own dreams.

“I’ll try, babe…” you sighed, feeling him plant a soft kiss on the back of your head and pulling the sheets higher up on your bodies. You went to say goodnight, but by the time you turned your head towards him, he was out like a light.

The clock by your bedside table read 2:13am. It wasn’t the time you wanted to see at all, having tried for hours to get to sleep. Strangely enough, you were tired enough to get to sleep but your brain was just refusing to shut off for the night. It’s not like you had even done anything crazy that night anyways! At best, you and your boyfriend, Christian, had just had a quiet night cooking dinner, watching a movie. Being in his later years, he preferred to stay in and hang out with his girl. There was nothing he needed to prove to anyone by bringing you out, showing you off to his friends to prove that ‘he’s still got it!’ He didn’t need to prove to anyone that he was still worthy of being loved by younger women. So he chose to spend his nights relaxing with you instead. He knew you didn’t enjoy going out and partying until the early hours of the sunrise, so it never took much convincing to get you to stay home with him.

You envied Christian for being able to sleep so quickly. As soon as you guys had got yourselves tucked in he fell asleep. Snoring away behind you, his sounds were oddly relaxing. They were loud, occasionally a little bit squeaky but it was just enough to help lull you into a restless sleep.

Once your eyes finally closed and you melted into the sheets, you found yourself standing alone in a hallway. Wide awake.

‘Strange…’ you thought aloud, ‘where is everybody?’

Wandering down the hall you could hear faint, illegible voices that went up and down in both tone and volume. Almost like a weird song? You couldn’t quite pinpoint who the voices belonged to but it definitely sounded familiar. Deciding to stop, you pressed your ears against a closed wooden door on your right to see if you could make out what they were saying. But weirdly, as you got closer you heard more voices that made it so hard to hear as you got closer to the wood. They were loud, distorted, and almost angry. But after some head movements, you found the sweet spot on the door that allowed you to make out at least some words. Sadly, though, it might’ve just been better to ignore them.

“She’s just so…and I don’t…why would he go…someone as young as…she’s just in it…for the money…he could do…so much better…”

‘Oh my god,’ you gasped, ‘is…is that what she thinks of me?!’

It took you a moment to figure out who the voice might belong to, and you felt your heart drop when you realised it was one of Christians friends. It could’ve been Shayna, or possibly Beth but you weren’t fully certain on which of the girls. You swallowed thickly, and with a tightness on your chest you continued down the hall. On your left, this time, was a new wooden door. Except this one was painted Green with a little peephole looking into the room. You could see the back of someone sitting, typing furiously on their phone and dictating loudly what they were writing. Whoever they were, they were practically shouting their words of hatred:

“What does he even see in her…why on Earth…date a younger…she deserves to be-“

Quickly and clumsily stepping back, you tried to spare yourself from hearing the end of that sentence. You felt the cool wall slam against your back as you stumbled down to the floor.

‘Oh my god, what’s going on?!’ You thought to yourself, head buried in your hands, body trembling. The tightness on your chest started to feel more like a weight. Like something was sitting on it, hot and kind of fuzzy? It almost felt like it was merging with the inside of your throat. After what felt like forever, you found the courage to lift your head only to be met with an open doorway. Looking in, sat on a lone chair in the middle of an otherwise empty room sat Christian. Staring at you. With no love in his eyes.

He didn’t say anything, just watched as you shakily lifted yourself off the floor to walk towards him. With each step closer, his expression became more sour and angry.

‘Baby, it’s…it’s me. What’s wrong?” You questioned, lips quivering. Still, he stayed silent and unmoving.

‘Please just say something! Anything!’

Slowly he stood from the chair, eyes trained on you with a scowl plastered on his face. He took a step forward towards you and placed his hands on your shoulders.

‘You disgust me…’ he spat out, beginning to shake you violently. With each shake, he shouted disgusting comments at you, spit flying all over your face as he closed the space between the two of you. You couldn’t move. You couldn’t even breathe. The man that you were in love with stood before you shouting abuse at you. Tears streamed down as you stared at his greying face, his cheeks burning a bright red of hatred. Everything felt like it was shaking around you, and you had the odd sensation of being lifted from the ground. But, his voice kept you distracted from everything around you. You barely even noticed his expression soften, his voice suddenly quiet and soothing.

“Hey, wake up!”

Sitting up in a panic, you almost shrieked. The heavy feeling in your chest quickly disappeared as his cat (who was previously cuddled up on your chest) tumbled down into your lap with a gentle meow in protest. She hopped away from the bed, unhappy with the level of respect. Apparently she didn’t much appreciate rolling down somebody's body. Looking around the room that was just barely lit with the lamp beside your boyfriend you realised where you were. Back in the safety of his bedroom. It was just a horrible nightmare. It still didn’t stop your sobs and violent shakes as you fell sideways into his awaiting arms.

“Oh baby, shh. Shh, it’s okay. I’m here now…” he mumbled, face buried in your hair, hands caressing your arms. You tried to speak but you just couldn’t get the words out between sobs.

“No it’s okay, sweet girl, you don’t have to say anything. I know you had a nightmare. You don’t have to tell me what happened.”

His reassuring words helped you calm down quicker, his soft hands acting as a fantastic distraction from the sadness. Finally you were able to calm down again. The tears had stopped flowing, the shakes were less violent. But that didn’t stop him from continuing to hold you, rocking you side to side. You looked over to him to see him flash you a warm smile.

“Are you feeling better now?” He held an open bottle of water to your lips, trying to get you to have a few sips which you gratefully accepted. Still feeling too upset to properly talk, you gave him a nod before laying back down under the covers. He placed the water down and turned off the lamp, plunging the room back into darkness. There was a brief moment of anxiety which quickly washed away as he nuzzled in next to you.

“Th…thank you.” You managed to mutter out, just loud enough for him to hear. Another kiss was given to you but this time on your cheek.

“I’m here for you sweet girl, whatever happens. Try and get back to sleep if you can, okay? I promise I won’t let go of you tonight.”

[lt-natrace]

Travelin' Sailor | Robert "Bob" Floyd

Description: A fic based on the song Travelin' Soldier except it's the happy ending that it should have been

Content: Sad/Lonely!Bob for a minute, less than ideal family dynamics (Bob has mommy issues low key), friends that aren’t supportive, a love at first sight so quick it’s unreal, wrong info about the navy, probably wrong timing of how long it takes to receive a letter from cross country on a naval base, happy ending I promise

Word Count: 3.8k

The absolute biggest thanks to @hederasgarden for being my beta on this and being incredibly patient with me never wanting to end a sentence properly. Another thank you to the top gun gang discord for encouraging me to write (and post) again, so much love for y'all.

You could always tell when spring was turning to summer despite the dates on the calendar. The humidity had begun to hang around, the sun set later, and those that came in on lunch break used more napkins to wipe their sweat. You found yourself fanning your warm skin in between running food in the family owned diner you worked in when your coworker, Melissa, asked you to cover her section while she took a quick break. It was nearing the end of the day and the dinner rush had begun to die down, so you accepted. 

A few minutes later, you spotted a tall man with dirty blond hair, outdated wire-framed glasses, and a green jumpsuit making his way across the small dining room to sit at the high top bar. It wasn’t unusual to see men from your small Tennessee town in uniform, many of them took any opportunity to get out just as you were planning yourself. However, most of them were surrounded by loved ones right before deployment. He sat alone, placing his duffel bag on the seat next to him and resting his arms on the counter. As you made your way over to him, you found yourself wondering how someone could be alone at such a time. He had a baby face, but he couldn’t have been much older than you. 

“Can I start you off with something to drink?” you asked with a kind smile, feeling sympathetic. 

“Not really hungry, ma’am. I could use some company though,” the blond man uttered in a quiet voice, as he glanced up only long enough to get a quick look at you. 

“Well, I’m afraid I’m not off for another hour, but if you want to wait until then you’re more than welcome to…Lieutenant Robert Floyd,” you said, reading the patch on his chest as you leaned down and rested your elbows on the bartop in an attempt to see his face better.  He looked down at his fidgeting hands, a deep red forming on his neck as he replied, “That’s fine, I have a few hours until I need to be in Memphis anyways.”

Despite what he said, you still put in an order of fries and got him a fresh cup of iced water. He graciously accepted and you spent the rest of your shift finishing with the few tables you had left, grateful it was a weekday and you didn’t have anyone coming in at the last minute. Throughout clearing tables, grabbing your tips, and beginning to sweep, you felt his eyes on you. Looking up, you had caught the man at the counter looking away as quickly as possible, creating a small smile on your face. As you rounded the corner from the kitchen with your purse and removed your apron, you found him rummaging through his bag.

“Ready to go?” you asked, shaking your hair out from the bow you used to tie it back.

“Um, yeah, I just need to find my wallet to pay for my food,” he stated, not removing his eyes from his duffel as he pushed his hands through the side pockets.

“Don’t worry about it Floyd, consider it a thank you for all that you do,” you said, grabbing his plate and taking it back to the kitchen. You found him shifting in his seat, obviously uncomfortable. “Or you can get me next time”.

He relaxed slightly, grabbing his duffel and watching as you came out from behind the bar to meet him. It wasn’t until he was standing next to you that you realized how tall he really was. You grabbed his arm, wishing Melissa a good night and walked through the front door. Starting your walk down the street, you noticed the hot sun finally beginning to set beyond the trees. 

“My name-, he started.

“So, are you,” you began, realizing you had spoken in unisom. “You first.”

“I was, uh, I was just going to say everyone calls me Bob,” he stated, motioning to the patch on his chest.

“Ok, Bob, I was just asking if you were from this area, think I would remember someone like you,” you inquired, watching a small smile, the first you’d seen him crack, appear on his face. 

“No, m’am, I was born and raised just outside of Knoxville, one blinking stoplight, one bar. Seems like you might know the type.” He let out a chuckle as he looked around the small main street you’ve been taking him down for the past few minutes.

Shortly after, the two of you arrived at a small wooden dock overlooking a pond that had begun to look green with lily pads. You sat your bag on the picnic table and walked down the rickety dock, making careful steps to avoid the weaker spots. Looking over your shoulder as you sat, you spotted Bob cautiously trying to follow your steps. You felt the dock shake slightly the closer he got to where you were seated, feet dangling inches above the water. He sat next to you, pulling his legs under him to avoid getting his boots wet. After a few moments of silence he spoke up.

“Miss, I need to be honest here. I know you probably have a boyfriend and I’m just a stranger, but I got no one back home. I remember during basic, they would pass the letters from loved ones out and I would just sit there. Having to would watch everyone read how much they were missed back home and I would just hope that maybe,” he cleared his throat. “Maybe next time, I’d have someone missing me. Yet here I am, headed to base for the next few months with no one. If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, I’d like to send a letter back here to you.”

You watched him lift his head, his blue eyes meeting yours for the first time. Your heart ached, wondering how a man with so much love could have no one to send a letter home to. 

“Who said I have a boyfriend?” You asked, keeping eye contact as long as he allowed.

“I guess I just assumed a girl like you would have men asking left and right for at least a dance,” Bob said in a voice so quiet, it was barely heard over the sound of the cicadas. 

“Well then, it may come as a surprise to you that I do not have a boyfriend and I have far less men asking me for a dance than you’d expect. Zero to be exact,” you trailed off, suddenly embarrassed by the admission. “But, I really would enjoy receiving a letter from you, Bob”

He smiled at you, “Tell me about yourself“

The two of you spent the next few hours talking about your hometowns, his time training, and even what he could about the next few months. When the time finally came for him to make his way back to town to catch his ride, the sun had set and the air had become cool again.

You walked him back into town, sharing a comfortable silence. Reaching where you had parked, you found yourself filled with dread at the idea of him leaving. You finally met a man your age with a good head on his shoulders, and he was hours away from being shipped across the country from you. Trying not to be bitter in your last moments together, you looked up at him with the best fake smile you could muster. Despite knowing him for only four hours at this point your conversations felt so natural and you hoped that he’d felt the same.

“I wanna thank you for today,” he started, looking down at his hands as you leaned against your car. “Having someone to be with before being sent away made today less dreary…” he trailed off, looking back at your face, and studying your reaction. Although you would never understand what he was feeling now, you couldn’t imagine the loneliness that came from not having anyone to come home to after months away. 

“The pleasure was all mine, never met a navy pilot before.” You smirked, watching him open his mouth in protest. “Sorry, forgot you’re ‘just a WSO’. I can’t believe you thought being the person in charge of dropping bombs from an airplane was lame. I never wanna hear that again, got it?”

He looked at you confused for a moment. “Again?”

“Well, I’m not going to write these letters and pay postage for a man I don’t plan on seeing again. Plus, you owe me for the fries.” You replied, watching his face redden as he pushed his glasses back up.

“You'll wait for me?’ He asked, making sure he was reading you correctly.

“As long as I keep getting replies to my letters.” You reached up, wrapping your arms around his neck to embrace him and hoped he couldn’t hear the way your heart was beating out of your chest. After a moment, you pulled away, taking one last look into his eyes as a truck pulled up. As it slowed to where you both stood, you noticed a man in a similar uniform sat in the driver’s seat. Bob took a step back, eyes staying locked on yours as he opened the door and climbed in. You broke contact first, hand rummaging through your purse at your side as you took two steps forward, now standing on the edge of the curb. Your hand hit silk and you pulled the ribbon out quickly.

“Something to remind you to come back,” you said, reaching through the rolled down window, and tying it onto his duffel bag. You knew he’d have to find somewhere else to keep it once he got to base, but for the time being, it would be tied in a bow on the top strap.

You stood still, watching the truck drive away until it turned down a street out of sight. You walked slowly, feet dragging along the pavement to your car. You took a few moments of silence to consider the events of today before you turned the key and made your way home, drafting what you wanted to include in your first letter.

—--------------

The first month went by fast, school was out for the summer which meant there were more teenagers at the restaurant and more time you spent working. The times you weren’t, you spent in thought about Lt. Robert Floyd. Your friends took notice of how often you spent staring off and despite your best efforts to explain the connection, everyone brushed it off as a simple school girl crush over a man in a uniform. At first you were frustrated having to explain how in a few short hours and two letters with military postage, you felt you knew him forever. As the months would go on, the comments from your friends had become less frequent. You didn’t know if it was from them beginning to understand or them growing bored of the same jokes, but it didn’t matter.  The third letter you’d received at the very end of the month had a new return address– San Diego. You felt your heart ache as he was now across the country. 

By the second month, you built a routine of sorts. The main part included going into work before the sun rose to distract yourself and avoid worrying about how he was. Some days you felt silly, stressing over a man that was too busy doing tasks of actual importance to worry about some girl he met once at a small diner in a map dot town. Other days, you worried about his safety. You would attempt to reassure yourself with the thought that he knew what he was doing, but his pilot? You had no idea who they were. Did they have someone to come home to? Did they care about the safety of their WSO in the backseat? You wondered if the man that drove him to base was his pilot. 

The days new letters came were your favorite. No matter how soon the last letter had come in, everyday you’d run to the mailbox hoping to find a white envelope with clear, neat handwriting addressed to you. On days you did, you’d drop your bag on the floor of the hallway and hurry to sit and read every word of his surprisingly tidy cursive. After the third read you’d carefully fold it back up exactly as it was and hold it to your chest, sighing deeply. Any chores you’d saved for after work were abandoned in order to get your reply out as soon as possible. 

The third month was hard, nothing you did could distract you from your thoughts. Everywhere you looked there were banners and flags in celebration of those who serve. The local VFW hall was handing out small flags with tags that included names of local veterans or those currently serving. Your friends humored you by tagging along when you placed one in the ground, a small label that read, Lieutenant Robert “BOB” Floyd US Navy, WSO.You spent the Fourth of July watching fireworks with your loved ones, hoping next year he could be beside you on the small blanket. After the holiday passed, you went back to the VFW hall and grabbed the small flag to show Bob when he returned. 

The fourth month brought a lot of doubt from those around you, especially your friends. You were young and they felt you should be out having fun, not waiting by your mailbox hoping for a letter from your favorite sailor. You had shared your frustrations with Melissa and some of the regulars at work, but they encouraged you to ignore what those around you had to say. The older crowd at work especially loved what you were doing, believing it was romantic and a true test of commitment.

At the beginning of the fifth month, you had grown anxious. It had been almost a month since you heard anything from him. The prior letter was short and explained, without giving details, that training was going to be more rigorous to help prepare them for something that had come up. This meant that he wouldn’t be able to write much. In your reply to him you wrote you understood the situation and told him he needed to focus on training. The letters could wait if they needed to, you wanted him to have a clear mind in the sky. That was twenty six days ago. Worried thoughts had begun to take up space in your mind with each day that passed. You wondered if his plane was shot down or if there was a malfunction in equipment during training. In the back of your mind you selfishly wondered if he had grown bored of this game the two of you had been playing. 

After one exceptionally long day you raced home to check your mailbox and this time, there was a letter. In his handwriting, your full name and address were on the front. Tears welled up in your eyes out of relief and you couldn’t wait to open it inside. As you sat in your car, you carefully opened the envelope and saw it contained more pages than he had ever written. Each sentence cleared any doubt you had about him coming back to you.

The first page was strictly apologies. One for the late reply and making you wait for him, the other for not being able to fill you in. In the second page, he went on to explain that he had been selected for a mission that was ‘complicated’, as he described it. He figured it was easier to sugar coat it than worry you that his admiral called it a suicide mission. But somehow, against all odds, everyone made it back on the carrier.

Bob shared more about his family next, he explained that he was raised by a single mother that worked nights and overtime to support them. This led to him joining the navy right out of high school after researching the benefits they could receive. He wanted to step up and help provide a better life for the both of them. He even wrote how he watched her heart break when she found the papers in his bedroom. Instead of beaming with pride as he expected, she was furious, wondering how he could put himself into such a dangerous situation willingly. It’s been nearly four years since they’ve spoken. The fear of losing him in a tragic accident was too great and she couldn’t take anymore heartbreak.

Your cheeks had become damp with tears, but you continued to read. As he would tell you later, you had become the first person Bob ever admitted feeling scared to. He would never tell anyone else, but sometimes the lack of control in the backseat made his hands sweat. This was immediately followed by how in those times of fear the past five months, he would take a deep breath and imagine you. Specifically how you looked dipping the tips of your shoes into the pond with a smile on your face, a pale pink haze from the sunset surrounding you. Your letters  motivated him to stay focused and do whatever he needed to do in order to come back for you. Afterall, he owed you fries, and he could never turn back on that. 

You sat in your car until long after the sun had set and the cool breeze coming in the windows helped to dry your tear stained cheeks. You held the letter against your chest like all the times before, but this time it wasn’t just to feel close to him, it was to make sure that you weren’t dreaming. You wanted to be sure that the pages where he had poured his heart out to you were real. You tried to imagine him writing the letter, probably on a bunk too small for his height. Maybe it was late at night after everyone else had fallen asleep. Above all, you wondered if he felt the same butterflies writing it as you did reading it. The thought alone left you with a giddy smile as you walked into the house. 

Three weeks had passed since that day and you still reread parts of the letter daily. Specifically, the final paragraph where he’d promised to come back. You’d gotten a few letters since, one that had come the next day apologizing for dumping a lot on you. He hoped it hadn’t scared you off, but if it did, he understood. At the end of it he told you that they were starting to wrap up this deployment and while it could still take another month until he was back, the end was within reach. After receiving it you woke up everyday excited to see if today was the day. However, you didn’t feel disappointed when you returned home alone because that meant you were one day closer.

On the last Saturday of the fifth month, you arrived at work early in anticipation of a busy day. There was a lot that needed to be done and you didn’t want to be working on it while the breakfast rush was coming in. As expected, the diner filled up within an hour of being open and remained busy for most of the day. Thankful for the fall weather that had begun to come in, you opened the windows in the late afternoon to get some fresh air before remaking the coffee. With your back still turned to the door you heard the familiar chime of the bell alerting you to someone arriving.

“I’ll seat you in just a second!” You called out, focused on pouring fresh water into the coffee pot.

“That’s alright ma'am, I think I’ll sit at the counter if that’s alright. Just here for some fries,” a timid voice replied. 

You turned around to greet the man and there he stood, Lieutenant Robert Floyd in the same green flight suit you met him in nearly six months ago. He had a slight tan from the west coast sun and he looked tired, but it was him. You stared in disbelief, wondering if your eyes were playing tricks on you.

It took one of your favorite regulars yelling out, “Well honey, don’t just stand there, welcome the sailor home!” to snap you out of your trance.

You don’t remember where the mug you were holding went, all you could focus on was taking the five large steps across the outdated tile to be standing in front of him. Bob met you halfway and pulled you into a tight hug, his hand holding the back of your neck. You nuzzled your head into his shoulder and inhaled, trying to memorize the way this moment felt in every sense. The silence that had fallen over the diner was gradually replaced with the regular sounds of the dinner rush, but you don’t hear any of it. The only thing you could focus on was his heart beating, the sound grounding you to him. After a few moments, you removed your head from its spot and looked into his eyes. His watery blue eyes meet yours as the tears that had been collecting begin to descend down your cheeks. 

“Hey, hey, hey, no tears okay? I’m here, plus I brought something back for you,” he said as he moved his thumbs from the side of your face to wipe your tears. One hand unzipped the flight suit and the other reached into the breast pocket, pulling out the same silk ribbon you had given him. You were surprised at the condition. It was perfectly intact. He reached around your shoulders to tie your hair back with it, similar to how it was when he first got a glimpse of you. As you opened your mouth to ask how he kept it so nice, Melissa called out, “Alright kids, outta here, I’ll close up tonight.”

Before you could protest, Bob had your hand in his and was pulling you outside to where his truck was parked. As you reached the door he turned you, pressing your back against the warm metal and leaning down close, trying to judge your reaction. With a subtle nod, he closed the gap between the two of you for the first time. His lips were soft and you reached up to grab at the back of his neck..

He pulled away first. “It’s nice to have someone to come home to.”

Tagging: @skvatnavle @a-reader-and-a-writer @callsign-phoenix @wildbornsiren @hederasgarden

[dan-whoell]

what are some phancoded songs?

@fryday has covered this a ton recently, but some I doubt anyone else will say:

How Far This Can Go by Bowling for Soup. The chorus??

Let’s take it fast to slow Hold our breath and jump into whatever this is Grab a coat and let it all rain down If we never stop believing, it’s gonna be alright But if we don’t try, we may never know How far this can go

It's very early days, but also every adventure they've had??? Like even as recent as resurrecting the gaming channel, if they hadn't taken the chance on doing that we might not be in the middle of whatever the phagenda is now. I also think about Dan being 18 and still not having coming to terms with his own sexuality, but still jumping into whatever was going to happen with Phil.

By the time the curtain's falling There'll be standing under and screaming out our names Can’t you hear the future calling Will go all the way and never be the same, yeah

I mean. Self explanatory. Makes me cry to think about everything they've built. And I love the love the audience has for them. I can't think about it too long or I end up a pile of goo.

Come Monday by Jimmy Buffett. I grew up listening to this man, I've done a list of some favorites. But this one specifically gives me dnp vibes.

Come Monday, it'll be all right Come Monday, I'll be holding you tight I spent four lonely days in a brown L.A. haze And I just want you back by my side

Again, I think about them in the early days, hanging on every visit and always trying to get back to their bubble together. But also Dan on tour. I wish I could remember who it was that made a post about why now as far as a potential rebrand/launching so hard into joint content again, and the tldr was after wad, Dan coming back and and being like 'Okay. I've done it solo, and I've realized I don't want to do this without you.' And that's the same vibes I get with this song. Being away from each other sucks, and I just want you back by my side.

I can't help it, honey You're that much a part of me now Remember that night in Montana when We said there'd be no room for doubt?

You know. Their lives are so intertwined. Phil literally said our life. They own a house together. They have their own fucking language. They know each other so well. I've said it before but although I don't believe in soulmates, they are the exception to the rule. As for the second half... I mean. Early days. Jump in. See how far this can go.

I hope you're enjoyin' the scenery I know that it's pretty up there We can go hiking on Tuesday With you I'd walk anywhere

It's the idea that everything they've done for 15 years, and everything they will do, they'll do it together. In the sense of a joint endeavour, or just supporting one another in solo projects. Them doing shit they'd never normally do on their own, but they have their soulmate by their side so how bad could it be?

(This one is depressing so apologies in advance)

Haunted by Spanish Love Songs. Sort of a Phil perspective on Dan's struggle with depression.

You're not haunted You just miss everything You're not a cautionary tale So don't you vanish on me

And you're not haunted It's just the devil in your skin It'll be this bleak forever But it is a way to live You're not alone You just miss everything When you're feeling like a ghost Would you come haunt me? Please come haunt me

I'm not gonna say a lot here, but I know what it's like to love someone so fiercely and be heartbroken that they cannot see themselves for who they are. I've also been the person who can't see it. I think a lot about Phil always being there for Dan, and I'd love to hear him talk about the experience of love in those situations. (And if he never does I totally get it, it's private and it's not really our business. Just from a relatability standpoint.)

This is in the same vein but Washington Square Park by The Wonder Years, specifically this:

She said, “I let this slide when we were younger You know you don’t have to write like this The whole world’s full of losers If you get a chance to win, (you should) take it!”

Like. Phil always trying to get Dan in colors. Dan face down on the floor and Phil being there to pick him up and distract him. I love a love song as much as the next guy but this is my bread and butter.

To end on a happier-ish note, Love Will Keep Us Alive by The Eagles.

I was standing, all alone against the world outside You were searching for a place to hide Lost and lonely, now you've given me the will to survive When we're hungry, love will keep us alive

Early days??? Phil being the first person that made Dan feel safe??

Don't you worry Sometimes you've just got to let it ride The world is changing Right before your eyes

Coming out??? Meeting so many queer fans on tour and that being a push to come out themselves?? HELLO??

Now I've found you There's no more emptiness inside When we're hungry, love will keep us alive

I think about the state of things now, how fucking happy they've been since coming back. How different it feels from when they started. There's always been laughs, always been fun, but there is so much joy now. I'm sure I've said it but personally my heart feels so fucking full when I see how far they've come. When I see what they've built for themselves.

Anyway I could go on and on about songs that make me think about dnp, especially stuff that's not top 40's pop or is 30+ years old, but I think I've yapped enough on this particular post.

[calmasyoghurt]

The joker out pride project

Tihihi I love Jure X Mark. Also on ao3.

June 17th, prompt 8. First relationship.

After Jure’s first meeting with Jan, Kris, and Bojan, over a year passes until the band decides that their drummer needed to be replaced. When meeting up with Bojan in a park, the singer says that the previous drummer, Matic, didn’t have the same musical vision as the rest of the band. Jure can think whatever he wants about that, but he doesn’t question it. 

It’s really nice joining the band. Their first album is completely done, so there’s a lot to learn. The guys are all really nice too, and even though they don’t know a lot about drums, they try to help Jure get the sounds right. The recordings of the songs are played over and over, and by the time he can play them of by heart, Jure has heard ‘play a boom boom tss’ and ‘no, it’s the big drum there’ a million times each. 

It so happens to be that not too long after Jure joins the band, a music video shoot for one of the new songs has been scheduled. It’s Jure’s first music video, and he’s a little nervous. Not that his scenes need any real acting, he’ll mostly be standing on a rocky beach or float around in the water for most of it. But it is his first acting role nonetheless.

But it turns out to be fun. The scenes he’s in are quite quick to get done, and in between takes Jure gets to talk film with their producer. Standing behind a camera had been a dream of Jure’s, so getting to talk to someone who does it for work is great. The producer introduces himself as Mark, and when he understands that Jure knows his fair share about cameras, he starts info-dumping about his dream equipment. It’s really fun to listen to, Jure would love to hear more. Their conversation is however cut short, the shoot needs to get finished. 

A few days later, Jure receives a direct message on instagram. It reads “I’m editing the mv, want to help out?”. It’s from Mark, and Jure replies right away, says that he wants to help. A new message appears with an address, and Jure is on his way. With that, some kind of friendship starts to form. Except Jure can’t really call it a friendship, because there’s definitely something more, something stronger between him and Mark.

It hits him one day, out of no where, when they’re out for a walk. It happens quickly, Mark takes Jure’s hand in his own and gives it a little squeeze, then let’s go of it again. It takes Jure by surprise at first, but when he looks back over the past few weeks, he understands. Mark has been flirting with him all this time, and unconsciously, he’s flirted back. It’s a rather strange feeling, a new one, but he doesn’t hate it. In fact he likes it a lot. But he has to tell Mark something very important. Something that hopefully won’t ruin what they have. 

“Just so you know, I’m asexual. I don’t really enjoy or do the whole sex thing”. It’s easier to say it now then it was a year ago, but he’s still a bit proud of himself every time he does it. 

“Hmm. Okay. I think I can work with that” Mark says, but Jure doesn’t quite understand what he means. He shoots him a questioning look, Mark takes the hint and continues. 

“If someone sets a boundary in a relationship, then the other should accept and live with that. If you don't want to have sex, than I shouldn’t force you to have sex. We can still date each other, if you'd like. And if I need to let out some steam, then it's a good thing they invented masturbation”.

Jure is stunned. Never in his entire adult life has he met someone who is willing to give up sex to be with him. So he tells Mark exactly that, and then he tells him that he'd like to give dating each other a try. 

Jan is the first to notice. After Mark has showed the band the finished music video, Jan asks Jure to come with him for a smoke. Jure has had time to learn that this is Jan’s way of asking to talk to someone alone, so even if he doesn’t want to smoke at the moment, he follows the guitarist. 

“So. Looks like I’m the only single one in the band” Jan says after a moment of silence. That’s another thing Jan does, he’ll notice the smallest of details no matter how subtle you’re trying to be. 

“I guess. It’s official then, that Kris and Bojan are dating?”. The two of them never said anything about being together, but it’s so obvious they have feelings for each other that even a snail would notice. Jan looks like he’s collecting his thoughts before answering Jure’s question. 

“Well. They don’t want it to come out, so they haven’t said anything about it. But like, Kris is my best friend, Martin is Bojan’s best friend. It wouldn’t be fair if you were the only band member who didn’t know the full story. But you have to promise not to spread it”. Jure promises he won’t, and Jan continues. “Basically, they had crushes on each for at least two years, or more like four years in Bojan’s case. Then in 2018 they finally did something about it. At first they were just fooling around, but then decided to actually start dating. They didn’t really talk to anyone about it then either, not even with each other. It led to a few to many misunderstandings, so they went on a break in 2019. It effected the band as well, since they could barley be in the same room. It took a few months, but eventually they talked it out and got back together. I need you to communicate with Mark, we can’t lose either of you. If you need to end it, end it on good terms, okay?”. 

Jure gets it, he really does. The band has already lost a member. They can’t afford to lose another one, wether it’s one of the actual band members or someone in the crew. Jure will not let this setup change. 

[jaytriesstrangerthings]

Daily Drabblers Prompt from @strangerthingswritersguild prompt “Come back!”

—

People don’t stay. They never really have when it comes to Steve. It was probably the first thing Steve knew for certain, barely ten years old and his parents decide to leave him alone with a shitty nanny who doesn’t really care about Steve as much as she cares about the Harrington pay rate. It didn’t matter how much Steve cried and begged as they were leaving, how desperate he was on the rare phone call begging his mother and father to “Come back!” promising to do anything and everything to be someone worth sticking around for.

There was nothing Steve could offer that compared to whatever New York or the Hamptons had. He was just a kid, but he was their kid, and he thought maybe that would count for something. Steve had never been very good at math, counting, apparently, was no exception.

It wasn’t until Robin that he knew what it was like for someone to stay. She insisted their souls were tangled together and promised she would never leave him of her own volition. Over the years she was a constant in his life. They went through everything together. As close as two people could be in a way that never really made sense to anyone else. Robin helped him take nudes on a regular basis, Steve checked Robin’s breasts for lumps on a monthly rotation, Robin helped Steve realize that maybe guys can be just as attractive as girls which is ironic considering Robin’s status as a raging lesbian. Point is Robin is his everything.

Was.

He’s yet to figure out what tense to use, didn’t think he’d ever really need to know. Thought “is” would be all he ever needed when it comes to Robin. He always just kind of assumed they’d die hand in hand in a shared room at some nursing home making jokes about tapioca pudding and gossiping about the staff.

Robin was supposed to stay.

After graduating they bought a duplex, each claiming one of the units so they could live together but still technically have their own space. They tore down the fence splitting up the backyard and still spent basically every night together like an infinite sleepover.

It’s cold without her, sitting on the green couch they found at a thrift store in town about a week after moving in. The fuzzy yellow blanket with cartoon bees she’d given him declaring he’s “the bees knees,” doing nothing to warn the ice in his veins.

Robin was supposed to stay.

Steve blames himself. It should have been him if it was going to be someone. He wished it was both of them if it had to be her. He was the one driving, looked over to her for a second too long and didn’t see the semi coming around the bend.

His car is fixed and sitting in the driveway, has been for weeks now. He hasn’t driven since that night. Maybe it’s fear, anxiety, maybe it’s just the reminder that she isn’t going to be sitting in the passenger seat anymore, flipping through songs and never making it to the end of one before she would get bored and switch CDs or change the station. Steve always pretended to be annoyed but he refuses to listen to the end of a song ever again.

Robin was supposed to stay.

There was a funeral of course, Steve was the first one there and the last one to leave, standing over the fresh pile of dirt and waiting for someone to jump out and tell him it was some insensitive prank or something. Begging her desperately to Come back! despite knowing she wouldn’t, couldn’t.

He knows she would. In a heartbeat she’d be back if she was able, even if that just meant haunting their duplex.

He’s half convinced himself that that’s why it’s so cold even with the blanket. Sometimes Steve feels like he’s waiting for her to level up in her ghost adventure or something, going from just making the room cold to flipping the TV channel and knocking things over like a disgruntled cat.

Robin was supposed to stay.

But people don’t stay. They never really have when it comes to Steve. It was probably the first thing Steve knew for certain. How could he forget?

[aveegrex]

COWORKER!SANJI

coworker!sanji has a crush on you and reevaluates his everything upon learning it its reciprocated. genre: fluff, coworkers (friends) to lovers pairing: coworker!sanji x gn!reader word count: 1,1k trigger warnings: none except for a little dumbassery on sanji's side, a couple of curse words and mentions of alcohol and cigarettes. author's note: I've recently started One Piece and I am now infatuated with this blondie

coworker!sanji who always compliments you on your looks, making sure to address not your body, but your clothing choices or your make-up

coworker!sanji who knows you hyperfocus on your tasks and don’t pay attention to the clock, and gives you a little shoulder squeeze in the beginning of a lunch break

coworker!sanji who shares his lunch with you, telling you he just ‘accidentally’ made too much for himself

coworker!sanji who smiles shyly when you compliment his cooking, and makes a mental note to himself to bring you something special the next day

coworker!sanji who put up a cute picture of a cartoon monkey with a cake on your desktop on your birthday, and then denied all allegations with a playful giggle

coworker!sanji who lives for the moments when the two of you go on a smoke break while it’s raining and he gets to stand closer to you since you always manage to forget your umbrella

coworker!sanji who lives for the days when you come to the office wearing hoodies and little to zero makeup, stealing glances at you throughout the day to relish in your domestic vibe

coworker!sanji who also doesn’t really enjoy office parties and eventually you two end up on the couch in one of the rooms, chattering away with soft drinks in your hands

coworker!sanji who plans on making a move on you for the fourth party in a row, but is too scared to ruin the special intimacy you two share 

coworker!sanji who stands up for you when the hr people stick their tongues in their asses about your boss overworking you

coworker!sanji who is dying of happiness inside when you ask him to give you a ride home since your car is stuck at the mechanic’s 

coworker!sanji who dies internally when your fingers brush against his as you’re trying to lower the volume of radio playing some random song

coworker!sanji who stummers on his little ‘what?’ when you ask if he’s busy this evening, and quickly composes himself enough to mumble a ‘oh, sure, thank you’ when you invite him for some tea

coworker!sanji who looks confused as you then fetch two wine glasses and a bottle, saying he can’t drink as he has to drive home later

coworker!sanji who thinks he’s gone to heaven when you rub his cheek with your thumb, your lips too close to his own chapped ones, and whisper ‘stay’, giving him a feather-light kiss 

He thinks he’s lost his mind, unable to believe a single ounce of reality, because it simply cannot be. It is not. You’re not kissing him right now. It’s not your soft lips he feels on his own. It’s not your house, it’s not you. It’s not him here. 

It cannot be true because it’s just against every law of nature that he wasn’t alone in his feelings. So Sanji quickly breaks the kiss, looking at you as if he’s seen a ghost. 

‘You - his hands shaking, every cell of his being on fire. - You..’

Your eyes widen and you almost jump away from him, covering your mouth, a tiniest ‘Sorry’, not louder than a mouse’s squeak breaking the silence. 

‘I’m.. I’m so sorry, Sanji, I-... - you avert your eyes, quickly turning away to the counter, fidgeting with little misplaced utensils that you forgot to put away in the morning. - I just, I’m so sorry, I just assumed you liked me - oh, silly me, heh, - and I…’

You turn back to him, the overwhelmed state you’re in filling your eyes with tears, and you sigh, meeting his confused gaze.

‘Let’s just for the sake of my dignity - well, whatever’s left of that, - let’s pretend it didn’t happen and I didn’t just do … that’

Sanji was borderline going insane. He should’ve closed the damn distance between you two and kissed you, should’ve pulled you snug against his chest and crashed his lips against yours to muffle the mumbling mess that escapes your mouth and to finally have what he was craving since the first day he saw you. 

Sadly, Sanji was an idiot. 

‘You kissed me. - he gulped, his stare still lingering on you as he hesitantly brought his hand to his lips. - You kissed me? Why?’ 

Sanji’s CPU malfunctioned exactly the moment you made your initial move and ever since was quietly resting in peace with all the smart words and cute flirts and sleazy pick-up lines the man has ever come up with. 

Not a thought flashed in his brain, all built-up neuron connections ceasing their work for the day and calling it quits since one of the fundamental beliefs of Sanji Vinsmoke 1.0 was butchered by your lips and a single word that escaped them. 

‘Sanji? - you took a step towards him and your next line sounded too much like a question. - Sanji, I like you.’

Dead as a grave. 

‘Sanji, I’ve liked you for about two years now’

Try again. 

‘Sanji, kiss me right fucking now or I swear I’m gonna kill you so this shame dies with yo-mmmphhh’ - and you melted in the man’s arms as he obliged, kissing you feverishly, religiously, pushing you two towards the wall and outright moaning as his tongue found it’s way in your mouth. 

It was autopilot Sanji, the one that took charge preserving man’s life in the craziest of moments, and this Sanji knew damn well to not break the kiss. To hold you so tight against him that you were borderline asphyxiated, and never let go, because miracles don’t have a habit of happening often. 

His hands hooked under your thighs and he raised you oh so easily to bring you on the couch, stumbling yet dead set on having your full body pressed against him. Falling to the soft cushions he let his hands into your hair, his lips raw of bites you’ve left, and only then he broke the kiss. 

‘Is that really happening?’ - the puppy eyes stared into your own and you couldn’t contain a giggle.

‘Yes, yes it is, Sanji. - you smiled softly and he swore under his breath again, incredulous of how such beauty as yourself is even allowed to exist. - I sure damn hope it is’

A big foolish grin adorned Sanji’s face and he raised his hand to cup your cheek, running his thumb over your lips. 

‘If so, please don’t kill me. I won’t tell anyone, promise’ 

You laughed and nodded, your own hands finding purchase in his now messy hair. 

‘So, wine?’

‘Anything you want’

reblogs are welcome, MDNI, confess your feelings people

© 2022 AVEEGREX, all rights reserved. reposting and copying my works without my consent is forbidden.

[fritextramole]

in their secondhand smoke

part 1 of an Eric van der Woodsen playlist - best heard in order

tracklist and quotes under the cut

If I Go, I’m Goin ~ Gregory Alan Isakov

This house, she's quite the talker She creaks and moans, she keeps me up And the photographs know I'm a liar

Sweet Hibiscus Tea ~ Penelope Scott

And I am not your protagonist, I'm not even my own

right where you left me ~ Taylor Swift

Trends change, rumors fly through new skies But I'm right where you left me

If You Know That I’m Lonely ~ FUR

Maybe it stays as it's always been Hazy and they see what we can't see Please let me know if you want me around And I'll try my hardest to be good

Matador ~ Minta & The Brook Trout

Go out of your way Or fake it through another day Everything is real Make your peace with whatever you feel The unwilling coalition of characters crowding your thoughts Make too much noise And way too little sense

Everybody Dies ~ Billie Eilish

Everybody dies, surprise, surprise We tell each other lies, sometimes, we try To make it feel like we might be right We might not be alone

feelings are fatal ~ mxmtoon

I'm always sad and I'm always lonely But I can't tell you that I'm breaking slowly Closed doors, locked in, no keys Keeping my feelings hidden, there is no ease I need it to stop and I want to be able to open up

6/10 ~ dodie

I know that you don't want me here I know that you don't want me here I know that you don't want me here I know that you don't want me here I know that you don't want me here Oh I'll just call a taxi (I know that you don't want me here)

Self Care ~ Penelope Scott

Do drugs, have sex, tell your deepest darkest secrets to your friends Post cringe, buy guns, are you done yet? Fuck, not enough, cry a river, smash a cup But it's never ever gonna be enough For the people in the back row, but you still choose to listen Knowing damn well it's really not their decision

Soda ~ Nothing But Thieves

I'm an exception It's hard to accept Because I try to be happy But then I forget

Goodbye Rocketship ~ Maya Hawke

I forgive you, and I thank you, you know all the reasons why I'm sorry and I love you, all we can do is try

Guiltless ~ dodie

You opened a door that a kid shouldn't walk through Oh, but I’m not bitter, I'm just tired No use getting angry at the way that you're wired

xanny ~ Billie Eilish

What is it about them? I must be missing something They just keep doing nothing Too intoxicated to be scared Better off without them They're nothing but unstable

Andromeda ~ Weyes Blood

Lift the heart from the depths it's fallen to We all want something new But can't seem to follow through Something's better than nothing Or so that I thought

Memories Can’t Wait ~ Talking Heads

There's a party up there all the time And they'll party 'til they drop

After Hours ~ The Velvet Underground

Dark party bars, shiny Cadillac cars And the people on subways and trains Looking gray in the rain as they stand disarrayed Oh, but people look well in the dark

They / Them / Theirs ~ Worriers

What if I don’t want something that applies to me? What if there’s no better word than just not saying anything, anything?

Gone for Good ~ Matt Berry

After a whole night of hell Could be night, who could tell? I realize no matter what I display It turns to shit and ends up just the same way

Shine ~ Collective Soul

Love is in the water, love is in the air Show me where to look, tell me, will love be there?

IDK You Yet ~ Alexander 23

How can you miss someone you've never met? 'Cause I need you now but I don't know you yet But can you find me soon because I'm in my head?

Dear Someone ~ Gillian Welch

Hurry and take me straight into the arms Of my dear someone

Comfort Crowd ~ Conan Gray

I just needed company now Yeah, I just needed someone around Yeah, I don't care what song that we play Or mess that we make Just company now

Home ~ Cavetown

Often, I am upset That I cannot fall in love, but I guess This avoids the stress of falling out of it

Storm Cellar Heart ~ Mutual Benefit

Taking shelter To wait out this inclement weather And when you hold me It's so much better

Soft Place to Land ~ Sam Beam, Jesca Hoop

If you're looking for a soft place to land The calm of a steady hand An unconditional friend If you need to take a moment to catch your breath Come in before you catch your death You don't have to pass a test to come home

[cazperx-x]

Hi, can I request some Gareth x reader fluff please. Where they are both metal heads but one day Gareth wakes up and reader is dancing and singing in the kitchen to some pop song. No worries if not but thanks for reading this ask anyway :)

Oooooooo

Early Morning Radio

Gareth Emerson x reader

Summary is the request

This one is pretty short- 618 words

💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕🥁💀💀🥁💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

It was close to 11 am, and you were home alone. Well, except for your boyfriend Gareth, who stayed for the night. You were in the kitchen, trying your best to make a decent breakfast with the radio on. It was all generic pop music, and as much as you would never admit it, especially to Gareth, you didn’t mind. 

“Clock strikes upon the hour, and the sun begins to fade..”

You started humming along to the song I Wanna Dance with Somebody by Whitney Houston, slowly swaying side to side. 

“Still enough time to figure out how to chase my blues away..”

You casually turned the volume up, quietly starting to sing along. 

“I've done alright up to now it's the light of day that shows me how..”

You pretended to be singing into a microphone, the microphone in question a whisk from the scrambled eggs you had forgotten about making. 

Meanwhile, Gareth slowly blinked awake, sitting up in your bed. He yawned, got out of bed, and paused when he opened the door, a mischievous grin appearing on his face when he heard the familiar voice of Whitney Houston. 

“Oh, I wanna dance with somebody, I wanna feel the heat with somebody”

By the chorus, the radio’s volume was all the way up, and you had completely forgotten about making breakfast. Using your whisk as a microphone, you were singing and dancing around the kitchen. 

“Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody, with somebody who loves me”

Gareth quietly walked down the stairs, careful so you couldn’t hear him. But to be fair, you were lost in your own little world and probably couldn’t hear him anyway. 

“Oh, I wanna dance with somebody, I wanna feel the heat with somebody.

Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody, with somebody who loves me“

Gareth watched you sing and dance to the chorus of the song from the bottom of the staircase, a sly grin on his face. You had yet to notice he was even there. 

As the next verse started, Gareth appeared in the kitchen doorway. He dramatically gasped with a hand on his chest. 

“Who are you and what have you done to my metalhead girlfriend?!” 

You froze in your tracks and quickly turned around, your face bright red in embarrassment. You quickly turned the radio off. 

“I-I didn’t think you were awake yet.” You muttered. “Are you upset?”

Gareth furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “For what?”

“Lying to you. About liking pop music. Don’t get me wrong I do love metal a lot more than pop like way waay more, it's just I know you really don’t like pop and-”

Gareth sighed and walked up to you, before cupping your face in his hands. 

“Y/n. You know I love you, right?”

You nodded your head. 

“Good. Look, I don’t give a shit about what music you like to listen to. As long as you’re happy. Even if it’s ‘I wanna dance with somebody.” He sang the song title off-key with his eyes closed, making you giggle. 

He opened an eye. “Well? Are you gonna finish the lyric or leave me hanging?”

“I wanna feel the heat with somebody.” You matched his goofiness, grabbing the whisk to use as a microphone again. 

“Yeah. I wanna dance with somebody.”

“With somebody who loves me.” You sang the last line together, before collapsing on the floor in a fit of giggles.

“Wanna dance?” You offered, standing up and putting out a hand to help Gareth up. 

“Anything for you lovebug.”

  You two spent the rest of the morning dancing in the kitchen to cheesy pop songs on the radio. And you both wouldn't have it any other way.

[annonniiiiieeeee]

You know if Tangled with a hard watch for a

Usagi, because of the lantern scene reminding him of him being alone in the festival. after the events of chapter 15 I think that's going to be a hard watch for him, too many bad memories

A bit of spoilers for chapter 15 of TWOFFF

Tangled (while it is one of my favorite Disney princess movies) is a rough watch for Usagi.

At first it’s a fun adventure. He can see why people like the movie. Rapunzel is optimistic and Flynn’s character growth is excellent. He can see why they make a good couple. The animation is fun and while he’s still not used to all the singing he can see the appeal. He lives around Leo and his brothers they sing a lot (plus Jupiter Jim has musical numbers he’s experienced this before)

In the beginning of the movie when they talk about the lanterns it does remind him of the yoake festival but it’s a passing thought. Something he’s excited to have a connection to.

Then they get to the actual lantern scene and he’s watching Eugene and Rapunzel having this magical moment surrounded by paper lanterns as they sing ‘I see the light.’ And he aches. He and Leo didn’t get that moment. Yes it’s because Leo got pulled back to his family. Which is way better then some of the alternatives Usagi thought off. (Being dragged back to the Krang) but it still sucks that their romantic moment was taken from them. That the moment of Usagi’s triumph, of the tournament he won, where he fought in Leo’s honor, the moment of celebration was taken.

He’s glad Leo was safe. Knowing what he knows now about Hikiji his world wasn’t as safe for Leo as he had believed at the time. But seeing what he incisions for them playing out in the screen does make his heart hurt.

And then the lovers are separated by a misunderstanding and manipulation. It’s not the same and yet so similar.

He can feel his dread building. As Eugene gets rescued, as Rapunzel stands up for herself, he knows it’s going to be bad.

He isn’t expecting Eugene to get stabbed. And he knows Eugene’s going to sacrifice himself for Rapunzel.

He can feel Leo going stiff beside him and the room go dead quite. The Hamato’s have all scene the move before but everyone in the room is putting the pieces together it real time and no one is okay.

And of course it’s Rapunzel’s love that saves Eugene in the end.

All in all it’s uncomfortably familiar to everyone.

Not enough for a panic attack or anything but enough that Leo and Usagi are curled against each other by the end of the movie. Enough that the others have squeezed in close to them. Enough that they have to put on another move rather then go to bed because no one wants to be alone with their thoughts right now. (Really hope they don’t put on something like big hero six next) most likely they put in a comedy something pointless that they can all chuckle at. Though I doubt Usagi or Leo will be laughing the rest of the night.

One day I think he might love the movie. It’s so similar yet different from their own story. Maybe after a while when the wounds aren’t so fresh and they’ve had time to process it. He might really like it.

Maybe it’s Sakura and Ume’s favorite. They’ve been to the yoake festival so the paper lanterns are familiar and dazzling. They e also heard child friendly versions of their parents story. They can see the parallels.

I think Mikey or maybe Lisa puts the movie one when they are watching the kids. Lisa wasn’t there, she’s heard the story but again who would make that connection. And Mikey probably just put in Disney plus with the kids and the movie popped up. Enough times passed, Leo and Usagi aren’t there it should be fine.

Except kids get hyper fixated on things and the girls want to watch it all the time.

I think eventually it gets to the point where Leo and Usagi are comfortable watching it with their kids. It’s a mile stone of healing. So much so that maybe when their alone Usagi will him the tune to ‘I see the light’ (he has always liked the song and he hears it at least once a day now) and Leo will sing and it’s peaceful.

[findmeagreenlight]

Wait, do you think Mike has realized his feelings and was thinking about breaking up with El? Why do you think so?

For one thing, I think Stranger Things uses a LOT more coding and allegory than people give it credit for. And they are saying that there is absolutely some perspective fuckery going around in the season 2 finale even if I don’t understand it fully. People tend to mention the two cars that take El and Will away but it goes deeper.

But I don’t think that’s what you’re here for so instead I’ll talk about the Snow Ball. I believe Mike got his first big clue beforehand.

Because Lucas/Max and Jonathan/Nancy get fitting and happy lyrics whenever the camera is on them during the Ball, meanwhile El and Mike’s are downright miserable. And El has no reason to be unhappy so it has to be Mike.

Here’s a full breakdown:

It always struck me as weird that Mike would encourage Will to dance with a girl who just insulted him – Mike encouraged the Party to ignore Troy's bullying or outright stood up to him previously. And besides, that’s just not what a good friend does! It’s Dustin’s conversation with Steve outside the gym that gives it away:

Steve: So, remember, once you get in there… Dustin: Pretend like I don’t care. Steve: You don’t care. Dustin: I don’t care. Steve: There you go. You’re learning, my friend. You’re learning.

This refers back to Steve’s arguably bad advice earlier in the season – except they conveniently leave out every other context clue of the situation that makes Dustin’s situation different from Mike’s. No mention of girls or Max or that the goal of pretending is getting the person you like to dance with you or reciprocate your feelings. NONE. That’s because you are meant to understand that Dustin during the Snow Ball is Mike’s stand-in.

He’s changed something about himself to fit in better, can’t dance with the person he really wants to dance with, looks out into the crowd but noone else approaches him. He starts to wallow and even cry on the sidelines until Nancy arrives to dance with him, just like El arrives to dance with Mike.

The most damning are the songs, though: they show which characters are genuinely enjoying themselves and who aren’t. There are three songs playing during this sequence.

1)

Nancy and Jonathan glance at each other while Twist of Fate is playing, this line specifically: Life doesn’t mean a thing without the love you bring.

2)

Mike has fun until a romantic song comes on and everyone takes notice. Lucas asks Max to dance during Time After Time but he’s nervous, stammers, backtracks but Max helps him out:

Max: Are you trying to ask me to dance, stalker? Lucas: No, of course not. Unless… you want to. Max: Sooo smooth. Come on.

These are the lyrics playing:

Lying in my bed I hear the clock tick and think of you Caught up in circles Confusion is nothing new

Fitting and sweet because Lucas is talking in circles. Now this is the part where a girl comes to ask Will to dance: (tumblr keeps breaking my formatting so I hope it works)

Sometimes Do you want to dance? you picture me Um… I don’t… I’m walking too *Mike nudges Will* far ahead I mean… I mean, yeah. Sure. You’re calling to me *shows Mike* I cannot hear what *shows Will and girl* you’ve said / Then you *shows Mike and Dustin* say go slow *Will-girl and Lucas/Max* I fall behind *Mike and Dustin* The second hand unwinds *Lucas/Max*

3)

After, Mike is frowning (and he looks in Will’s direction longer than Dustin pays attention to Max). By the time El arrives, he looks very out if it, sitting alone. Every Breath You Take starts playing and is probably the most revealing part of this whole long ass post. Watch the scene and connect what is shown on screen and what you hear. Consider that it’s often from Vecna’s point of view, sometimes from the characters. It’s not generally a romantic song, a lot of it is quite creepy but there are some lines that are endearing on their own or just a cheeky reference to Max calling Lucas stalker.

Every breath you take /Mike Every move you make /El Every bond you break /Mike Every step you /Mike take / I'll be watching you /El

Every single day /both El and Mike And every word you say /both Every game you play /Mike: You look beautiful. Every night you stay /El I'll be watching you /Mike: Do you want to dance?

Oh, can't you see /El: I don’t know how. Mike: I don’t either. You belong to me? /both How my poor heart aches /They take each other’s hand. With every step you take? /Mike: Here, like this.

Every move you make /Mike: Yeah, like that. And every vow you break /Nancy Every smile you /Dustin fake / Every claim you stake / I’ll be /Will watching you /Lucas and Max

Since you've gone, I've been lost without a trace /Dustin and Nancy I dream at night, I can only /El and Mike see your face /Max kisses Lucas I look around, but it's you I can't replace /Lucas and Max I feel so cold, and I long for your embrace /Max hugs Lucas I keep crying, baby, baby please /Mike kisses El

Look, pretty much every other part of the song fits so I can’t help thinking that what it says about Mike/El is true as well. As of s4, we know Mike is a target of Vecna and that Vecna is wary of El. We know Lucas and Max’s feelings for each other are genuine and this is one of Max’s happiest memories. Nancy and breaking vows? She had a messy breakup with Steve in season 2 after taking back that “I love you”. We know Will is faking a smile here because he obviously doesn’t want to dance with a girl.

The difference between other couples and El/Mike shots is incredible when you start noticing. The ONLY remotely romantic lines they get are the same ones that the song fades out to, showing the Mind Flayer/Vecna: at the end, the shot covers Mike’s eyes as El leans her head against his. We go outside, where the camera turns upside down:

Oh, can't you see You belong to me?

In the gym in normal Hawkins, there are yellow lights inside. In the Upside Down, the same lights are blue.

And we know that attraction is just like electricity, in the show’s language.

(Best I can tell, lights never change color in the UD in any others scenes. Not the streetlights, or the headlights on Billy's car, or the lamp Nancy & company are gathered around in s4.)

As for how it went after, this is just my speculation but it makes sense to me currently:

I think Mike realised his feelings for Will are romantic sometime around the end of s2. They scared him. He latched onto his parents telling him he will grow out of childish things, even ones "with emotional value" so he convinced himself to avoid Will, spend less time on dnd and more with El. He thinks he likes both of them, one person he will grow out of, one he will grow into. It will work! After all, he was so relieved and overwhelmed when El showed up alive, wasn't he? It has to be romantic.

S3 is him not knowing what he wants. That's why he is shocked when the "I love her" slips out. (It's true, just not the way he thinks.) That's why he is trying to recreate the "crazy together" moment with El but can't bring himself to say he loves her twice when he's alone with her - it would come across as romantic and he might not be conscious of it, but deep down he doesn't want to lie to her, not about this. He loves her after all, he cares about her so, so much and doesn’t want to hurt her.

And then, at the end of s3, he literally has a light bulb in the closet turning on moment. He doesn't want to kiss El back, hearing I love you too doesn't make him happy, and now El reinitiated a relationship he can't break out of. He's what, 14? He doesn't know how to break up with a girl who is grieving her father over a letter and besides, what if she doesn't want to see him again? They told us Mike fears that El would no longer want his friendship after she doesn't need him, which is why he's so worried and preoccupied with her during s4 post-Lenora. (Which is only 3-4 days, tbh.)

I think s4 is Mike learning to let El go, despite appearances. We are told in El's letter that Mike was trying to console her about not fitting in at school, possibly about her grief. Then during their fight, Mike is forced to acknowledge he can't even write love to her, which he hasn't noticed, but she has - he realises that they might have to break up even if El is hurting because he's just adding to her pain by waiting. He pretty much tells us they can’t come back from that fight.

The reason I don’t vibe with the interpretation that he’s trying to convince himself he still has romantic feelings for her during the course of the season is that I find it incredibly sketchy how vaguely he speaks of the issue. He uses “if I explained myself” and nods when Will says it’s hard to tell people a truth they won’t like. He goes on about Lois Lane being needed and useful even outside a romantic relationship and when he says he “got lucky” he found El he glances at Will – in part, he was using El to find Will back then so that calls the romantic connotation into question.

Even in Lenora, he says “maybe I should have said something, and if I would’ve said that thing” but never specifies what that something is. He could have worded it as “El wanted me to say something to her but I couldn’t do it on the spot, I panicked/I don’t know why and now I regret it” see!!! It would be easy even without telling Will about the ily part but the writing made the narrative choice where Mike never outright tells the viewer that he wants to be able to say those three words during s4, not in conversations where he’s not pressured to do so. Only during the monologue.

I believe that if Will is our unreliable narrator during the whole season, then Mike is meant to be misleading the viewer during the entire season, not just the monologue. Speaking of, it’s easier for me to understand why he sounds so incredibly pained during the entire speech if he knows he’s lying but couldn’t refuse the chance to save El. He was put on the spot by Will himself. It's a tragicomedy of errors.

(Btw, he totally pulled the same “pretend you don’t care” bs with Will when he arrived at California just like at the Snow Ball but secretly paid attention to him anyway.)

[starglaee]

Cobra Kai and Cold Hearted (my fanfic on Wattpad) characters and plotlines as folklore songs. Cold Hearted spoilers below. Feel free to add your own thoughts and opinions!

Tag list: @secretsandwritings-blog

-

the 1

Cobra Kai: Lawrusso. Easily. Every time I listen to this song I can’t help thinking of them: “ And if my wishes came true, it would’ve been you. In my defense, I have none for never leaving well enough alone. But it would’ve been fun if you would’ve been the one.”

Cold Hearted: Elion and how I feel from writing them: “I persist and resist the temptation to ask you if one thing had been different would everything be different today?”

-

cardigan

Cold Hearted: No matter what happens, Robby is there for Zion. They know each other, they trust each other, and confide in each other. This is especially true post season 3. There’s no other couple in the show or my book that really fits this song like them: “When you are young they assume you know nothing. But I knew you.”

-

the last great american dynasty

Cobra Kai: Tbh this song gives me Sensei Kim Da-Eun vibes. While I’m still waiting to see what they do in season 6 with her character, I think she fits the depiction of a badass woman coming to town and turning it upside down: “There goes the loudest woman this town has ever seen. I had a marvelous time ruining everything.”

-

exile

CH: This is the title of my playlist for Elion (Eli and Zion). The angst fits them so perfectly. Also, the mentions of violence and clear jealousy illustrates these two in season 2 and 3 in a way no other song I’ve found can. Taylor’s writing makes me so happy, and Bon Iver’s voice makes it that much more heartbreaking: “I can see you standing, honey, like he’s just your understudy. Like you’d get your knuckles bloody for me.”

-

my tears ricochet

CK: This very much applies to Johnny and Kreese. Kreese made Cobra Kai a safe space for Johnny in his childhood only to abuse him and shut him out. Johnny grew but brought back Cobra Kai then Kreese tries to join again. Once he did, he stole it from Johnny. I have too many quotes for this one so here’s a few: “And if I’m dead to you, why are you at the wake? Cursing my name wishing I stayed…” and “And I can go anywhere I want, anywhere I want, just not home.”

CH: Zion and Terry and Kreese are exemplified beautifully in this song, too. Like Johnny, they used her for their own gain while mentally abusing her in the process: “And you’re the hero flying around saving face.” and “‘Cause when I’d fight you used to tell me I was brave.

-

mirrorball

CK: Samantha LaRusso is a mirrorball. In season 1, she did anything to fit in and be popular like endure what Yasmine and Moon said to her and her former friends and classmates. In season 2, we get a glimpse of her changing herself to be with Robby and try to push Miguel and her feelings - both anger and love - away. In season 3, she’s masking her PTSD. In season 4, she does all she can to be the Bonsai Badass for her dad and the Miyagi legacy. In season 5, she finally breaks down for Miguel and says she can’t do karate anymore until she really knows who she is and overcomes all the mental obstacles still waiting for her. She also lets Daniel and Chozen in over the course of the show, letting the mirrorball crack more and more. (I love the exploration of her PTSD, if you can’t tell): “The masquerade revelers drunk as they watch my shattered edges glisten.”

-

seven

CH: Tbh I think this only fits Jess and Zion since we don’t know a lot about anyone’s childhood except Anthony and Johnny, but they don’t have any friends that would fit this song. Jess knows from an early age that Zion’s mom is bad, though they can’t put their finger on it. It’s such a sweet and haunting song about childhood that only they can really express: “Your dad is always mad and that must be why. And I think you should come live with me and we can be pirates then you won’t have to cry.”

-

august

CK: This is an accurate song for SamRobby. The summer romance, the angst with the Miguel of it all, and the whispers of hiding it from Sam’s parents: “‘Cause you were never mine.”

CH: This song heavily inspired the prequel chapters with Zobby (Zion and Robby): “August slipped away into a moment in time.”

-

this is me trying

CK: Johnny’s relationship with Robby is beautifully detailed in this song. It’s about overcoming alcohol and peaking too soon. Johnny won 2 AVTs in high school before losing to LaRusso. After that, he let it and his trust issues overtake him and thus drive Robby out of his life. When he finally gets his act together, it’s for Miguel. But he keeps trying for Robby at the end of season 4 when he tells Robby they’ll save Kenny together (though I still wish Johnny would prioritize Robby over Miguel more and actually help him rather than depend on Robby helping him but that’s another rant): “At least I’m trying.”

CH: This is also about Zion in season 5 to everyone she loves while she does all she can to recover from the addiction: “Pouring my heart out to a stranger, but I didn’t pour the whiskey. I just wanted you to know that this is me trying.”

-

illicit affairs

CK: Samiguel, duh. It’s not as beautiful of a story as Taylor describes because it’s just them kissing at a party while actively having their respective partners: “It’s born from just one single glance, but it dies and it dies and it dies a million little times.”

-

invisible string

CK: This may be a weird take in a non-romantic way, but the invisible string is for Julie Pierce and Daniel. The string is actually Mr. Miyagi. But regardless I think this is a cute way to think about it, like karate has bonded them even if they don’t know it yet. (This is also my official prayer and plea and whatever that Hilary Swank will be in season 6. I guess we’ll see): “Isn’t it just so pretty to think that all along there was some invisible string tying you to me.”

-

mad woman

CK: aka Tory. The woman is always mad as hell (/lh). She’s always called crazy and manipulated by some old Cobra Kai war veteran. Just give her a break, man: “Every time you call me crazy I get more crazy.”

CH: Yeah, it’s the same with Zion tbh. But I also pose the idea of it being Zion’s pov on the Demetri rivalry. He calls her crazy, initially had Yasmine on his side, and she reacts the only way she knows: “What did you think I’d say to that? Does a scorpion sting when fighting back? They strike to kill, and you know I will.”

-

epiphany

CK: Is it weird to give this song to Silver? (I guess it also applies to Kreese.) He’s a war veteran with very obvious and untreated PTSD that he uses to mold an ideal version of the world for himself where Cobra Kai rules and he doesn’t have to answer for his heinous and violent actions. He also hid away from the karate world after the AVT in ‘85 with his money, business, and rich friends, which was where we found him at the beginning of season 4. He even repressed those memories until Kreese brought them out, thus also bringing out the monster: “Just one single glimpse of relief to make some sense of what you’ve seen.”

-

betty

CK: This song is a poor apology, kind of like what Miguel gave to Tory. It reminds me of that scene in season 3 when Miguel is at Tory’s work accidentally and they talk and she calls him out on just wanting Sam back (despite that being her initial suggestion for the relationship anyway (also another topic for another time)): “I thought of you all summer long.”

-

peace

CK: Daniel’s song for Amanda. She’s such a catch, amazing wife, fabulous mother, and whatever. But Daniel can’t stop the karate villains from his past from emerging or from engaging with them. He may never “give her peace,” but he tries to be upfront about it. In season 5 she really snapped when rival after rival showed up and how Terry manipulated and divided them, but after he got hurt and she talked to Jessica it seemed better. And at the end of season 5 she gets it. So I feel like this song was a conversation at some point offscreen, and it helped their marriage significantly: “I’d give you my sunshine, give you my best, but the rain is always gonna come if you’re standing with me.”

CH: Zion to Robby. Rumor after rumor, fight after fight, manipulation after manipulation, and breakup after breakup. He’s still there for her. Like Daniel, she’s desperate to get her partner to know that she does all she can for him despite the drama the real world brings in. She acknowledges her trauma, and Robby acknowledges his. Because of this it’s a bit healthier than the song depicts where Taylor’s lover is on a pedestal in comparison to her. Let’s just say Robby lets her bejeweled (iykyk): “All these people think love’s for show, but I would die for you in secret.”

-

hoax

CK: I kind of feel like this is Robby’s song for his mom. He loves her and is so protective of her, but she keeps choosing alcohol (and drugs?) and men over him. Even though she makes him sad, she’s the person he goes to after kicking Miguel. Even though she’s not the best mom, she’s all he has. He let her do whatever just to keep his mom around: “Don’t want to know other shade of blue but you. No other sadness in the world would do.”

-

the lakes

CK: This one is for Miguel. He suffered in silence during season 4, doing what Johnny asked and supporting him when he was the one who needed that. He wanted to run away to Mexico because he felt he didn’t belong in karate anymore (and because of his dad but for these purposes it’s just because of karate): “What should be over burrowed under my skin in heart-stopping waves of hurt.”

CH: This one is also for Zion, the girl who always fantasizes about running away and finding a better reality than the Valley, especially with Robby: “I don’t belong, and my beloved neither do you.”

-

Fun fact: my Zobby playlist is called My Beloved. I’ll share the songs if you’re interested. It’s a long list, though.

Let me know your thoughts on this if you have any! Please remember this is just my take on things.

It’s fun to do these, so feel free to request more things. I’m most familiar with Taylor’s music, but I’m open to listening to new music or doing non-Taylor related content.