#bad romance because i think it’s the only song i could actually hit the notes in and i am always trying to not embarrass myself in public
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Imagine Karma having a bad day and a smart af reader who can see through him instantly catches on and tries to do little things to make him feel better but doesn't do anything direct bc they know that Karma isn't so great with admitting he's upset and he eventually opens up and cuddles up to them and omGHW RKSIAJWWNAOQ
KARMA X READER WHO READS HIM LIKE AN OPEN BOOK
This took like 2 weeks I’m sorry there’s so many requests 😭
Karma has never been the best at hiding how he feels, it never even seems like he tries to as he’s very open and honest about what he thinks.
No one can really read him except for you.
He doesn’t know wether to think of that as a good thing or not. You understand him but is having someone like that something he wants?
He sits down next to you in the morning for first period. He came late and he has this grouchy look on his face, you ask him what’s wrong.
he brushes you off “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”
It was obviously something still you didn’t want to be pushy.
The rest of the day you could tell something was weighing on his mind so you made it your life’s (or days) mission to make him feel better.
You spent the rest of the day trying to cheer him up
passing him notes during class, (Korosensei sees you but doesn’t stop you from doing it when he sees Karma smiling while reading them)
Messing with him during your sparring session
“[Name] you sure you want to fight me? I’m not going easy on you.” (He totally will)
“You don’t have too! I’ve been practicing too.”
mid way the fight you realize you overestimated yourself, even with him letting you hit him it was somehow hurting you more.
“[Name] I’ve seen cats that hit harder than yo— PffttHAHAHA WHY DOES YOU TICKLING ME HURT MORE??”
you realize there was no beating him through sheer will but you did know he was ticklish and that’s a big enough weakness to exploit.
You were also just being extra corny all day just for the sake of it
“This (love) song reminds me of you.”
“[name] that’s so chessy it’s gross.” he says trying to hide the smile creeping up his face
You went to his house to hang out for a while
“Karma, let’s watch [insert really overrated action move]!”
“I thought you said you didn’t want to last time.”
“You like it right? I want to watch something you like.”
His heart exploded right then and there. How could someone be so sweet without realizing it
mid way through the movie his spirits seemed raised so you ask.
“Karma do you mind me asking why you were upset today?”
“t’s really nothing I’m surprised you could even tell. No one else said anything.”
“I just pay extra attention to you, they didn’t say anything cause you have resting bitch face”
“Obsessed much?”
“As if! seriously though, what happened?” You had to push further for him to admit anything actually happened
“I just got into a fight with some stupid guy”
“Really? That’s it? You get into fights like everyday.”
“It’s a long story. Him and his friends were talking about you and it really set me off because I’d already had a shitty morning— my parents called to tell me they already made plans to travel to New York after they told me they’d stay here for atleast a month?”
“Oh wow- I’m sorry Karma, I know they promised and everything.”
“Yeah. Uhm sorry— I didn’t mean to unload that much.”
(Sorry??? He says sorry??)
“Huh? You don’t have to apologize, I want to know these things cause I care.”
“Oh. Thanks [name], you’re the only person I’d ever tell these things too.”
“Whys that?”
“I trust you too much, who knows when you’ll blackmail me with this.”
“Blackmail is your thing not mine!”
“Mhm, that’s what a blackmailer would say. Anyways let’s finish the movie the best part is coming up!”
“I was hoping you forgot we were watching that snooze fest.”
“In what world is [super mega overrated action movie] a snooze fest??“
“Do you hear yourself right now..?”
“You don’t see me complaining when you make me watch those romance dramas you like.”
“What are you saying, you never shut up about how unrealistic the scenes are.”
“Cause they ARE— in what world do guys get in car crashes, stay in mid air for 5 minutes and look good while doing it??”
“…in what world does an antihero ninja go around fighting people to save humanity.”
“To be fair we’re trying to kill an alien octopus to save the world from exploding these days.”
“Yeah.. if you asked me a year ago which of these events were most likely to happen I wouldn’t have guessed alien octopus world explosion.”
“Right, to be honest the car accident in true beauty seems fairly realistic in comparis- [Name] LOOK THATS THE SCENE!”
in the end you fell asleep on the floor together when you woke up he complained about how you slept though it. (He fell asleep 5 minutes after you.)
#ansatsu kyoushitsu#karma akabane#akabane karma x reader#assassination classroom x reader#karma akabane headcannons#karma akabane x reader#karma x reader#assasination classroom#assassination classroom#assclass
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2022 dramas ranking so far
We are halfway through the year, so I am doing this. This is only for dramas that aired in 2022.
Note, I have not finished some of these yet but I’ve watched enough to have an opinion - they may move up or down when I complete but that is where they are for now. Also, this is not an argument for quality but purely what I love more and mostest!
From least fave to most:
TERRIBLE!!! PROOF OF GEHENNA
The Legendary Life of Queen Lau (C) - I am as allergic to this drama as its makers are to a coherent plot or decent acting.
Unforgettable Night (T) - like a BDSM session with wet noodles and no safe words.
Mirror: A Tale of Twin Cities (C) - as bad as it was expensive, and it was very expensive. I’ve seen cereal labels of more innate interest.
Kiss Sixth Sense (K) - more like Kiss No Sense
The Lady in Butcher’s House (C) - shrill and idiotic and ML is the only one who bothered to act.
Shooting Stars (K) - somehow managed to make the entertainment industry not entertaining.
Snowdrop (K) - its controversy was the most interesting thing about it.
Forecasting Love and Weather (K) - an actual weather forecast has more to recommend it for entertainment. Park Min Young does the same role over and over and over, and I will never get how Song Kang became a star.
Decreed by Fate (C) - my list said I watched it but I literally cannot remember anything about it which says its own story.
Because of Love (C) - amazing chemistry, trash story.
I AM SIR MEH FROM THE TOWN OF MEH
Woori the Virgin (K) - tried to be kooky and charming ended up just kooky.
Love Like a Melody (C) - you could do worse if you want a cheap light bit of fun, but you can do better too.
Rewriting Destiny (C) - not terrible but only has enough material for a couple of eps. However it goes for 24.
Showtime Begins (K) - Park Hae Jin is FINE, the rest not so much.
The Autumn Ballad (C) - tries to be low rent Minglan, ends up just low rent instead.
Moonshine (K) - this drama about moonshine is enough to turn anyone into an alcoholic.
Defying the Storm (C) - do you love communism? Well, so does this drama. Really really really! Cool fashion and very solid performances, however.
Tomorrow (K) - you have one cool story and blah one. Which one do you focus on? If you said the latter, congrats, you are this drama.
Royal Feast (C) - so beautiful. But so is a painting and I don’t need to spend hours staring at it.
The King of Tears Lee Bang Won (K) - very old school with all the pluses and minuses that brings. I think if you imported this in 1999, it would be a smash hit.
The Jinx’s Lover (K) - interesting premise but NIW is clearly a hard limit for me.
Cafe Minamdang (K) - that heroine is enough to kill a drama singlehandedly, but it’s also I just don’t do well with broad comedies.
A Dream of Splendor (C) - you know how some cool kids hate popular things? I am the cool kid here.
WORTH A LOOKSEE
25 21 (K) - I stopped halfway through for life reasons and never went back when I saw the fandom meltdown after the ending, but it was certainly well acted and decently written.
Again My Life (K) - I am not big on romanceless procedurals which is what this really is, but Lee Junki is excellent in this.
F4 Thailand (T) - either I am getting too old for this story or I have seen it too many times. This is a perfectly well done adaptation of Hana Yori Dango but I found myself losing interest about a third in, alas.
The Wind Blows from Longxi (C) - I wanted to love it but did not. Still, it’s gorgeous and well-acted.
Believe In Love (C) - sometimes all you need is adorableness and sugar. Not advisable for diabetics.
Reset (C) - I almost never enjoy modern cdramas but I did this one.
My Villain Husband (C) - funny, short and sharp!
Who Rules the World (C) - I did not love it as much as I wanted, but it’s gorgeous (and I am not just referring to the cast) and if you want to watch a romance with wuxia elements, you could do worse.
Military Prosecutor Doberman (K) - two badasses against the world. Yes, please.
Love in the Flames of War (C) - China does telenovela and it’s delicious.
Our Blues (K) - very good, very solidly acted slice of life. I am not big on omnibus story format but despite it being relatively low on my subjective list, objectively it’s probably the best drama I’ve seen this year.
City of Streamer (C) - it loses steam in the last quarter, but until that it’s a deliciously decadent romance with truly insane chemistry between a dark, ruthless older heroine and her devoted charge whose father she is trying to bring down. For those with a governess fetish.
My Sassy Princess (C) - it’s a trifle but it’s mad addictive and the chemistry! It has its flaws and the story is flimsy as tissue paper but honestly, it’s a fever delight.
Gold Panning (C) - I almost never enjoy contemporary cdramas but this gritty, dark story of desperate people involved in greed and murder while mining gold is so good!
The Blue Whisper (C) - a gorgeous xianxia romance hard carried by Allen Ren as naive turned vengeful merman. It might go up higher once I finish it.
KinnPorsche (T) - it didn’t end up as good as the first half promised, but it was still such a fun watch. Gay mob boys, you made my spring and summer!
THE LAND OF UNSTINTING ADORATION
Bulgasal (K) - objectively it was flawed. Subjectively it was everything I love in terms of tropes and leads and romance. I still swoon thinking of it.
Bad and Crazy (K) - so gonzo, so funny, so off kilter so full of Lee Dong Wook hotness!
Old Fashion Cupcake (J) - this was short and slight and seemingly with no great stakes or plot but this narrative about two men finding each other over dessert is better than the best cupcake you ever had
Bloody Heart (K) - it didn’t end up as dark as it started but it was still smart and dark and visually utterly eye popping (hands down, the most beautifully shot kdrama I’ve seen all year) and all the performances? MMMM
Link: Eat Love Kill (K) - proof that first impressions can be deceptive. I’ve dropped it after the first ep, put off by the jarring tonal shifts and then saw some gifs and went back. Now 11 eps in, it’s my baby and the tentative romance, the trauma and healing, the mysteries, and the main characters I want to protect forever are my jam.
Alchemy of Souls (K) - this is the first Hong Sisters drama I’ve loved in well over a decade - the plot, the characters and how desperate and extra they are, the EVERYTHING!!!!
Love like the Galaxy (C) - this is visually amazing, the romance is to die for, and I love that the narrative allows both the hero and the heroine be ruthless and damaged and oh my GOD I am swooning so hard for this epic period romance tailored explicitly to my tastes.
Heroes (C) - my favorite drama this year (so far?), this wuxia dark epic with bromance and romance and loss and complicated characters and out of this world visuals and great performances is everything I could have dreamed of in my wildest fever dream and then some.
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Sparrow Hood and the Fox Adaptation
By @the-lavender-creator, @thelivingmemegod and @feline17ff
Summary: Sparrow and his Merry Men watch Disney's animated adaptation of the Robin Hood tale.
AO3 link
Notes:
There aren't really names for the Merry Men kids in EAH canon that we know of, so we made some up!
Tucker: son of Friar Tuck
Johnson: son of Little John
Wilson Scarlett: son of Will Scarlett
Much II: son of Much the Miller's Son
We used this website as reference for who the Merry Men are in the first place, and as a basis for those characters.
Sparrow downs a soda while one of his Merry Men puts a DVD into a TV they snuck into their hideout. Apparently, it was something Maddie Hatter had given one of his men. Sparrow was already preparing for it to be really bad when he saw the cover art, depicting a fox in his dad’s iconic outfit.
He’s not expecting much at all.
His expectations were dropped further when the movie started with a chicken doing the narrating, and then King John was introduced as a maneless lion. “So, I’m guessing none of the characters in this are human? Place your bets for who everyone’ll be! I’m guessing Maid Marian will be a chicken or kangaroo or something.”
As soon as he finished that thought, Maid Marian showed up on screen in the form of a fox as well.
One of the Merry Men shakes his head, “That doesn’t fit her character role at all.”
“Did they make her a fox like Robin Hood because they wanted them to date and didn’t want, like, cross-species romance or something? Just take the romance out, it’s not that important anyways!” Sparrow scoffs.
Once the introduction ends, the group all sings along to the Robin Hood and Little John song. That’s been passed down through the Hood family, but this generation tends to prefer their rock rendition of the song. Oh well- they still know the original version by heart.
Shortly after the song starts, they actually start enjoying the movie! It’s stupid and it has stunts that could only be performed in cartoons- but it’s funny!
Sparrow even sheds a tear when King John starts sucking his thumb in the mud! There’s a lot of this, the Merry Men almost drowning out the movie in their laughter. Though a warm sense of nostalgia still hits Sparrow. This is exactly how his dad would tell it, though with more humans and less cartoon logic, but he’s not admitting that.
After a few minutes of Robin and Little John hanging out and doing their thing, one of his Merry Men looks over at him. “I don’t think any of our other parents are gonna be in this.”
All of the Merry Men- with the exception of Johnson, son of Little John, and Tucker, son of Friar Tuck- nod in unison.
“That sucks. They can’t just cut out most of the Merry Men, they’re a big part of the story! Plus, I wanted to see what animals they’d be,” that’s always been Sparrow's biggest gripe with most retellings, the lack of Merry Men! He doesn’t get why they almost always cut his bros from the story. He doesn’t really care about how accurate it is beyond that.
"Hey, Friar Tuck's in this!” Tucker beams, as soon as he sees the interpretation of his dad. They continue watching and see him help out an injured blacksmith, making him smile even more. “And he’s a great guy, just like my old man!” Then they see him dig both his and the blacksmith’s graves when he made him walk with coins in his cast, making them jangle and alerting the sheriff.
His friends looked at him as the blacksmith jangled forward. Tucker pinched the bridge of his nose, “My dad would never be that careless, you guys.”
“We never said that was your dad.”
Tucker thought for a moment until it clicked, “Hey! I’m not that careless!”
“Oh yeah? What about the time you stole one of Briar’s necklaces to give to Ashlynn because you didn’t know she isn’t poor, and then found out that the necklace was a gift from Ash in the first place?”
“How was I supposed to know that?! You would’ve made the same mistake!”
“Uh, no. The necklace’s pendant had the words ‘to my best friend Briar, love Ashlynn’ engraved on it.”
“‘The necklace’s pendant had the words nah nah nah’,” He grumbled, mockingly. “Just play the hexing movie!” He pouted and sat back down.
“And that’s not even counting that Ashlynn is one of the most famous princesses at Ever After,” but his voice drowned out as Tucker increased the volume.
They continued watching and Tucker almost shouted, "What the hex? Did- did the Sheriff just steal a little kid's birthday gift? What the hex- what the hex," his voice slowly turning into a whisper as he kept on repeating himself.
“No wonder our parents did what they did…”
The archery contest comes on and Sparrow starts complaining about how lovey-dovey Marian and Robin are. Is it because he’s aromantic, or because this is exactly how his parents are? Probably a mix of both. He spends most of the fight scene swinging between cheering on the characters kicking butt, and rolling his eyes at the romance.
The merry men all agree though, that Klucky and Little John are the MVPs of the fight.
Afterward, they all get ‘The phony king of England’ thoroughly stuck in their heads during the party scene, and sing it going into the scene of Prince John raising all the taxes even more, and the despair that follows.
Sparrow’s heard this story probably more times than he could even count, so he ends up telling them what happens. After a bit, Johnson asks, "They're- they're really going all out with the 'rich vs poor' idea, huh?" as they watch baby rabbits being chained up in jail, followed by the injured blacksmith's other leg being in a ball and chain, rendering him entirely unable to walk.
"Yeah, they really went all out," Sparrow gulped.
The belly bump fight between the Sheriff and Friar Tuck before his arrest did garner a ridiculous amount of light laughs from the boys "What in Ever After," they said between giggles.
Sparrow didn't hide his intrigue when fox Robin started ziplining the bags of gold out of the tower, "That's smart," he said. But he retracted his statement when he painfully watched Robin try to get the last two bags of gold, "That's so dumb! He’s practically trying to wake the prince up! My dad would never do that."
“Yeah, but you probably would if you got to keep it for yourself.”
“Hey!” Sparrow rolls his eyes at his traitorous friend, but follows it up by laughing at his own expense.
Everyone watched the climax intensely. Of course Robin Hood would win, and of course Little John and Friar Tuck would make it out alive, but knowing that didn't make it any less exciting!
They rooted for the good guys, they booed the king and his posse, and there was even a string of "Aww"s when the rabbit cutely thought he had hit a baddie but it was actually Robin Hood.
They were so engrossed that Much (the Second)'s "Wait a splinter!" made Tucker fall off the bean bag chair he was lounging on.
"What the hex, Much!?"
"Doesn't the snake have hypnosis powers?" They took a second to recall it then murmured in agreement. "Why isn't he using that anywhere? What was the point of telling us that but not using it in the movie?"
There was silence, then Wilson Scarlett finally said, "No clue," and pressed play.
None of them pay too much mind to the wedding scene at the end, and they end up delving into the plans used in the movie and what they’d change… well- Johnson and the other Merry Men do, Sparrow is just kinda going with it all. The only thing he’d really like changed is the overabundance of romance and the unfunny violence.
Once they’ve gotten sick of talking about the movie, Tucker goes to return the DVD to Maddie while Sparrow and the rest of the Merry Men set up for band practice.
---
Come at me @stone-cold-style
[Puss in Boots voice] If you dare.
MWAHAHAHAHA 😈
#ever after high#sparrow hood#stone cold and feline fight over sparrow#feline17ff#my friends#the lavender creator#thelivingmemegod#stone cold style#eah fanfic#my writing#robin hood disney
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Truths & Misconceptions about Haylor part 5 - "I Knew You Were Trouble"
In an interview with "Access Hollywood," Taylor said she started writing a slow song called "Trouble" in early 2012. She put it on hold to write with Max Martin and Shellback later in the year. "There's this song on the record that I really like called "I Knew You Were Trouble" that is so different than anything that I've done before. It was a piano ballad and I thought it was just gonna be a really sad, down tempo song. And I remember Shellback going, 'What if we do like a dubstep bass drop?' And I was like, 'Um, yeah! Let's do that.' " She went on to explain that the song was inspired by a real-life romance with a guy that she knew was bad for her.
On a video I found on YouTube called: Taylor Swift Red - Stories behind the Songs [HD], she says about 6 months before she's set to write with Max Martin (who she wrote with in June 2012), she had this really good idea for a song called "Trouble." She said, “That song is less about, like, 'You broke my heart, shame on you,' it's like, 'You broke my heart, shame on me, I totally ignored the red flags.'”
The idea for the song and at least the chorus were written about 2-3 months before she met Harry. Unless she can predict the future, this song is not about Harry. Likely guesses?
John Mayer:
The guy in the video wears a hat similar to hats John used to wear occasionally. John is known for his bad boy reputation.
Taylor said in an interview that "IKYWT" and "Treacherous" were about the same person. She said "Treacherous" was in the beginning of their relationship and "IKYWT" was at the end of the relationship. In "Treacherous," she uses the word "gravity" (a 2007 hit for Mayer).
Jake Gyllenhaal:
"Flew me to places I've never been." According to this article: In November 2010, Gyllenhaal reportedly shelled out an estimated $165,000 so he could take Swift on a very special date. First, he flew her to Luton on a private jet, where he was in town promoting his film, Love and Other Drugs. Swift was scheduled to be in the nearby city of London shortly thereafter to play at the Radio 1 Teen Awards, but she flew in early to spend some quality time with Gyllenhaal.
In Treacherous" her liner notes read: WONT STOP TILL IT'S OVER, which are lyrics in the song "Sweet Disposition," lyrics she uses in "All Too Well."
Both John & Jake have clues that could point to them. I guess that makes it harder to actually figure out who it's about. It doesn't make sense to be about Harry though.
Taylor & Harry met at the Kid's Choice Awards on March 31, 2012. Taylor was at a country music awards show in Las Vegas on April 1. One Direction flew to NYC for SNL rehearsals and to appear on SNL on the 7th. Taylor also flew to NYC at some point because she was seen there on the 8th. One Direction arrived in Australia on April 9th to resume their UAN tour, so they had to have flown out on the 8th to get there (long flight - huge time difference). That means Taylor & Harry had known each other for only 9 days when 1D left for Australia.
Since Taylor kept insinuating the song was about Harry, Haylors tried to come up with an explanation of how it could be about Harry. They claim Harry cheated on her with Emma Ostilly because of a picture.
Emma was one of the girls in the "Gotta Be You" video that was released in November 2011. She had a boyfriend (her high school sweetheart who she eventually married). Harry & Emma, along with others, went out to eat together in New Zealand. They kissed goodnight at the door (which means he didn't stay overnight). It could have just been a quick peck, but since there's a picture of them kissing, it turned into "dating," even though we never saw them together again. Emma's boyfriend didn't break up with her. He even married her.
But Haylors think Taylor wrote about being cheated on after knowing him for less than a month, and only having spent a few days together the first week in April. Does that count as a relationship? It also makes Taylor look really desperate if she wrote that song about Harry after spending that short amount of time with him - seeing the red flags - then being cheated on - then dating him again later that same year. That seems kind of desperate, doesn't it? Haylors have now made her into the character in "Blank Space" (latches onto a guy quickly, needy, clingy, jilted lover who writes revenge songs about her ex). Congratulations.
At the 2013 Brit Awards, Taylor said "It's not hard to access that emotion when the person the song is directed at is standing by the side of the stage watching." She said directed at, not that she wrote the song about him. She has never ever, like ever, said this song is about Harry. The media thought Taylor's statement was confirmation that it was about Harry and wrote stories about Taylor confirming it. The media was wrong.
It was convenient timing that the song was popular at the time of their breakup. Taylor took advantage of that to throw shade at Harry whenever she could, and again, people thought that meant the song was written about him.
Taylor implied that "IKYWT" was about Harry. She dissed Harry while singing "We Are Never Getting Back Together" at the Grammy's on Feb 10, 2013. That song is definitely not about Harry, but while singing it on live TV: "So he calls me up and he's like, 'I still love you,' (in a British accent) and I'm like, 'I'm sorry, I'm busy opening up the Grammys,'" Here's what Nick Grimshaw had to say the next day: "Ol' Swifty! Very animated and annoying at the Grammys last night." She kind of threw shade at Harry again in August at the VMAs (because by now, people assumed "IKYWT" was about Harry). She said the main feeling while dating him was anxiety because she knew the relationship was fragile and could end at any time. If they were truly in love, there shouldn't have been so much anxiety. They should have been happy and carefree. All the paparazzi? There are hotels in NYC with underground parking. Nobody would have seen them come and go. Maybe it's a little out of the way, but wouldn't it have been worth it? If the relationship was so fragile? If they loved each other as much as Haylors think they did, they would not have broken up, or they would have gotten back together. They never did. Haylor wasn't "the greatest love story," just a normal "briefly dated and broke up story."
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The people have spoken! How can I not give them what they want?
I'm gonna put this all under a cut, since it's a bit long, and also because it's highly interpretative/speculative and not everyone likes those kinds of posts as they can be rather subjective and, I suppose, invasive. I want to give two major caveats to my thoughts below: first is that I tend not to buy the idea that Paul was the "stable/normal" Beatle, mostly b/c I view marijuana dependency and workaholism as addictions and I take them pretty seriously. Second is that I really do love this kind of tabloid/gossip/personal account shit; I think it should be taken with a handful of salt, but I don't think it should be entirely dismissed out of hand either. I read this stuff like I'm piling up sheets of stained glass: I'm intrigued by the places where the colours blend and overlap, and ignore things that fall outside the prism. Anyway, let's dig in:
Okay, so what I found fascinating about 'Body Count' is that it's one of the only sources which observes Paul McCartney's mental health during the period between the India trip and when the band breakup really got rolling. I think it's overall a fairly self-absorbed text that definitely has some lies and exaggerations peppered in there to make things spicier and more dramatic, but its broad characterization - as I mentioned in my first post - isn't exactly libelous or out of left field. Some elements that make me think it's generally if not wholly authentic are: Paul's simultaneously forceful and dorky seduction style, his terrible Liverpool diet and poor housekeeping, the bouts of thrill-seeking recklessness, avoidant adventure crafting, dark moods when drinking non-socially, the occasional hot and cold bouts with the Apple Scuffs camped out at his gate, and the way in which he underplays his drug habit, which is SO "in truthfulness we spent most of the filming of Help! slightly stoned":
These details are so bizarrely specific and have significant overlap with both sympathetic and spurned personal accounts of Paul I've read in the past, so I believe Francie is just telling "Her Version Of The Truth" here rather than crafting a piece of pure fiction. The most important and revealing anecdote in the book is this one.
There's no reason not to believe this is a fairly accurate representation of something that actually happened, imo, since we know that anxious purse strings were an ongoing issue in the unusual turnover rate within the band Wings, and there are plenty of confirmed and rumoured cases alike of extended family members feeling entitled to a "piece of the pie"; this is just like, the kind of thing that happens to working class people who get catapulted into fame and fortune. And Paul in particular already had deep-seated financial anxiety for whatever reasons he'll never fully admit (as is his right, but I think his offhand claim that he "once heard some adults arguing about money and that's why" might actually be alluding to having heard some adults - y'know, like his parents - arguing over money fairly frequently). What esp interests me about the anecdote is the way Paul seems to connect the conflict b/t his dual "identities" with these financial expectations. Perhaps the CAPSLOCK emotional hysteria related in the book is puffed up for drama, but it does bring to mind one of the most revealing comments Linda ever made about their relationship, which is that Paul needed to be told he would still be loved when the cameras weren't rolling. And that's the thing: Francie caught Paul at the exact moment that the pillars of his Smile-For-The-Camera "Beatle" identity were collapsing; the dissolution of his relationships with John and Jane.
Whatever all this could possibly mean re: the breakup of the Lennon-McCartney partnership is a post for another time. What I wanna do instead is apply the level of speculation we usually reserve for that relationship to the endpoint of Paul and Jane's courtship.
So like, Paul and Jane: I know people are resistant to this specific POV, but I honestly just don't... think it was that deep? "Not deep", mind you, doesn't mean "not significant". Paul was obviously Jane's first love (u never forget), but the feeling I get from Paul's side (as a subconscious process I mean) is that Jane's importance was primarily as a lynchpin in his London Socialite persona. He loved her family, he loved the friend group, the artistic scene dating her gave him access to, as well as the leg up he got in the class system, etc. He liked to be the kind of guy who was dating Jane Asher. But I don't know that he was the guy who was dating Jane Asher, you get me? When people describe their "great love" they accidentally tell on them (Cynthia innocently describing Paul as being pleased to have her on his arm like a trophy; John: "it was an ordinary love scene"; Alistair Taylor noting that Paul was humiliated by the breakup). Paul's a serial monogamist who U-Hauls like a lesbian, of course, so he definitely took the relationship VERY seriously, but it's telling that all of his love songs to her were either about hitting a brick wall in arguments (certainly not dreamy, fond, yearning of "sunday morning fights about saturday night"; and occasionally expressing hints of class tension too), or completely non-descript Guy With A Guitar Trying To Get Laid shit. I could extrapolate a lot about Linda just from listening to McCartney I/RAM and the Wings discography, but 'And I Love Her' doesn't tell me a single thing about Jane besides that she's pretty. It could be about literally anyone the same way 'My Love' or 'Maybe I'm Amazed' could only be about his dynamic with Linda. Some of this is obviously the natural result of getting older and gaining emotional maturity; what I'm saying is that Paul's behaviour and self-expression in this relationship does not suggest to me that it was one in which his emotional maturity was able to develop or flourish.
I want to stress again that I don't think this belittles the significance of the relationship or makes it "bad" or "fake". Like, sometimes hot people just date for a while in their teens and twenties and love each other without necessarily unlocking their inner emotional cores, usually because they don't know how to. It's, like, fine. You need to experience relationships like that as stepping stones. I simply believe that this sort of front-facing social importance being prime in the romance is a major factor in why it ultimately didn't work (and probably in Linda's reported lingering jealousy of Jane, who wasn't just an ex, but also a symbol of the life Paul ditched to build a new identity w/ her, and sometimes still pined for). With Jane, Paul was dating the "right" kind of girl (didn't put out on the first date, erudite and middle class, as serious about her career as he was, a good "celebrity" match), but the relationship often wasn't doing what he wanted it to do. Francie's observation is that by 1968 it also wasn't doing what he needed it to do either. This is the overwhelming "mood" in her affair with Paul McCartney: that he needed something very badly from a romantic partner that he just was NOT getting, and Francie couldn't figure out what it was either:
(note that she means "queer" as in "mad", not "gay")
This was an EXTREMELY roundabout way of asking: well, what WAS it that Paul needed a relationship to do for him? And I think this is Francie's big, accidental insight. The most scandalous claim in 'Body Count' is that Paul told Francie that he hit Jane and it "turned her on".
I personally think this is p. absurd absent any real proof to back it up, but like, what is Francie actually saying HE'S saying here? If she's exaggerating or lying, she's trying to make it believable within the psychological parameters laid out, right? It's not an expression of some secret desire to dominate women she's accusing him of, but emotional disturbance and confusion at the idea that the woman he was with might like that sort of forceful, masculine violence more than his softer, feminine side, which he was - yeah, we all know it - deeply insecure about.
Regardless of whether specific details are true or false (and I think there's both in this story, all hyper-magnified to make it, y'know, a ~STORY~), I think what might be true is the emotional undertow of the retelling, that this all taken together is actually representative of the side of Paul McCartney she was exposed to, at a time when his public and private facades had both become unbearable to the point of cracking and the drug-fueled optimism of the Summer of Love was getting scrubbed off of everyone and everything. It's the Paul McCartney who eviscerated frogs because he was worried he was too "soft" for compulsory military service. The Paul who modelled his masculine teen behaviour off John Lennon's fake "Marlon Brando" swagger, but was actually more fond of the velvet "Oscar Wilde" interior.
What's SO FASCINATING about all this to me, is I deeply believe that one of the key factors in what makes The Beatles music so unique and compelling is that both the songwriters experienced psychological strain from the tension b/t their parochial socially-defensive "masculine" pride, and their sensitive "feminine" core, the latter of which they were able to express in the unburdened emotionality of their music. The reason I care about doing these totally unhinged psych analyses is because I do think it reveals something about the underpinnings of the music, as well as the reasons why the band was such a hysteria-inducing phenomenon (the rise of psychology, imo, is almost as important as the rise of industrialization as a defining factor of the modern and postmodern eras; mass psychology can be understood and wielded in precise ways, and The Beatles were one of the first empires built on that). The subconscious drives caused by this tension have been ENDLESSLY picked apart re: John's psyche, but Paul's "mirrored" issues are very under-discussed (mostly b/c he's still alive so people are a little more leery about putting him on the "couch" as a historical figure). 'Body Count', intentionally or not, painted a portrait to me of someone who was drowning in their own ill-fitting celebrity "suit", collapsing under the weight of "Being" "Paul McCartney". A guy who desperately needed some sort of space to be vulnerable without feeling emasculated for doing it. By 1968, there was no one in his life anymore - and maybe there hadn't been for a while, or ever - who was giving him this space.
In other words: the thing he needed to avoid going "stark raving queer and killing himself" was simply someone who would love him 'after the ball'.
EDIT: read the comments for further clarification and discussion! ;)
#/#//#///#////#/////#the beatles#mccharmley#analysis#long post#Talking About Paul The Way I Talk About John lmfao#Taking Tabloid Bullshit Seriously#(if not literally)#*gets out my fake spectacles and jumps into the psychiatry armchair*#idk if i laid out my thoughts v well here but i hope it satisfied all the people who asked#i also tried to warn what genre of post it was for those who hate this kinda thing lol#i feel like i have more to say re: how toxic 'The Beatle' facade got for all of them by this point#and paul and john's mirrored post-india breakdowns#but francie's perspective is specifically on how it felt to be the girl he used to divebomb his relationship with jane asher SO
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𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙚! 𝙖𝙤𝙩 𝙗𝙤𝙮𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙣𝙨 | 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 1
𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚 - 𝙢𝙖𝙮 4𝙩𝙝
warnings: mild swearing, mildly suggestive (if you squint lol)
| armin - colt - eren - jean - porco |
armin arlert
• i think most, if not all of us, agree that armin looks like the type to get all flustered with PDA & shy away from his emotions --- HOWEVER.
• rather than being all over you, he finds himself most comfortable with holding your hand or having an arm wrapped around your shoulders.
• he wouldn't mind you being clingy though 👀
• would occasionally place a gentle peck on your forehead, cheeks & his personal favorite; the palm of your hands.
• you guys' dates would mostly end up being in a library, café & restaurants with a nice warm atmosphere.
• i bet he would be the kind of guy to take you to the beach whenever you're stressed out in hopes of calming you down.
• gets very defensive when his friends tease you, if a man could bark his friends away, it's armin arlert.
• this lad over here would establish a routine with you (with your consent & opinions ofc)
• mondays to friday mornings are centered on school, you guys do your own thing at school & walk you home while making sure to stop by a convenience store for snacks, assuming that you guys don't live together yet.
• both of you make it a point to check on one another to make sure you guys aren't wearing yourselves out.
• which leads me to the conclusion that your parents grew very fond of him & treats him more like their child
• when you guys are having a sleepover, this whole lowkey facade of his takes a 180 and the second you reach the bedroom he'll shower you with cuddles and kisses.
• you would watch movies (mostly rom-com just bc armin makes it work okay) tucked in a warm futon with popcorn and candies between you two.
• armin strikes me as a very studious guy and he does this to ensure you guys' future together ^-^
• all in all armin cares about you so much and he doesn't mind being vulnerable to you. he is your safe haven, and so are you to him.
colt grice
• okay can we talk about how this perfect man deserves some more attention
• colt, my man, gives me disney's prince florian vibes. the soft-spoken, kind-hearted, & just an absolute dream.
• he's the kind of guy to take you to the park, a greenhouse, & WORKSHOPS!!!
• given the idea that he is in fact a shy little baby, he is actually pretty active with you. every date you guys have is different. mans has a quest planned out for y'all.
• at school i think that you might be the one to initiate skinship. doesn't have to be kisses on the lips, it's more of gently trailing your index on the back of his hand or rubbing a hand on his forearm when he gets a little anxious.
• the type to peek through your classroom's door because bubba's too shy to ask someone to call for you 🤧
• colt, in my opinion, is very domestic in private, now don't get me wrong he may be a little too shy in public because he isn't used to it but i promise you he takes on the nurturing role of the relationship more than you are.
• he helps you with cleaning, folding your clothes, and god if you guys get periods, he's got a whole pouch in his locker just for you.
• he doesn't do it intentionally, he happens to know you so well that he notices the slight change in your moods & cravings.
• colt often reads a book while you guys cuddle during the afternoons once all the work is done, he'd make you tea or whatever you want. he hums a tune, probably from old disney movies that his brother falco used to enjoy as a kid.
• your parents are more invested in your marriage than you and colt combined.
• okay, now if you happen to have a baby or a toddler somewhere around the house, someone keep this man from turning into a putty.
• as much as colt acts prim and proper most of the time, he has his moments where he just wants to be an entire mess. perhaps sleeping past his usual waking time, indulging in more snacks than usual. you know, loosen up? yeah, that is a side of his that only YOU will ever be allowed to see.
• so yes you and colt would be labeled as the: put-together couple who needs a little bit of adventure every now and then.
eren jaeger
• i hope i don't ramble too long because i love him sm
• mr. loverboy over here is a simp for you, more than you are a simp for him! he is not afraid to show you off and shower you with flattery. now he does this because he feels so lucky to have you.
• he can be a little cliché (well maybe not as much as jean --- more on that later), like he'll randomly interrupt your vacant class with a gift box he put together, & a bouquet. yes. (carla helped him pick out flowers from her shop)
• he's the type to crash his lips with yours in the middle of campus when you achieve something or when he does, vice-versa. if he plays in one of your school's teams, there just HAS to be a bet that if he wins he gets a kiss... or more... or something else.
• dates with eren are usually random than planned. like it pops in his head and he'll inform you right away. he respects your vacancy too of course but if you aren't he might pout just a little bit.
• his ideal dates are prop shop dates, going to hotspots, amusement parks, antique shops! & maybe late night drinks at a quiet bar where you can both enjoy the solace of the atmosphere.
• on special occasions, he does plan ahead. usually it's something on the simpler side. candlelit dinners at home or somewhere you guys both enjoy dining.
• if eren's had a bad day, best believe that he will run to you for comfort. only you can help keep his aggressive response to anger at bay.
• if given the chance he would take you around the world, he's that passionate in making sure you live a little
• hear me out... you and eren would probably have the most philosophical conversations, just laying on your backs beneath his room's skylight? heavenly.
• eren can get a little poetic expressing himself & i believe that it's just wonderful. no one can describe their feelings as good as eren.
• his favorite look of yours is when your eyes beam with excitement, it usually happens when you spot something that you used to enjoy as a kid or when you're concentrating on one of your hobbies.
• he's a very touchy person too, his hands are usually on your stomach/waist, his kisses are random & they linger for awhile.
• when you're asleep next to him, it's his habit to solemnly watch you while his own drowsiness starts to take over.
• eren is passionate & sometimes people might take it the wrong way. one of the reasons eren loves you is because of the way you understand how he is. mutual growth for y'all ♡.
jean kirschtein
• jean is not afraid to pull a live performance for you, you see this man is at the top of the world when he's with you. from 80s hits to recent releases this man will blast his playlists catered for you.
• dates with jean are certainly spent on concerts, (him & eren bond over chase atlantic don't argue with me) music festivals, thrifting & late night drives!!!
• personally, i don't see jean as very gimmicky unless you guys are with his friends, he takes you very seriously and you are his top priority.
• at school i think he's definitely one of those flirtatious boyfriends. the kind who would not miss an opportunity to blow you a kiss or throw you a wink. he can be a bit of a dork, who wouldn't be? if he can get one of your rare smiles 🥺
• jean's the type to ask his pals for help when it comes to styling. not because he dresses badly but he's too focused on getting a flush on your cheeks. he's a hopeless romantic.
• if you guys happen to stay at home, he'll definitely serenade you with the amount of songs he had written recently just for you.
• since he bonds with sasha and connie, his jokes are either dad jokes or something that went viral on tiktok. he's the perfect balance of goofy and mature.
• if you aren't much of an active person he wouldn't mind being lazy with you and insist on a diy spa day at home.
• it's just netflix with a tub of ice cream and face masks on.
• since jean is quite the romantic, he would be into couple outfits or items that aren't cringey obv and probably doesn't mind using your perfume or vice-versa.
• jean probably asked you out during one of his gigs, offering you a single rose afterwards.
• he's the type to leave you random post-it notes if he visits your house. just random phrases or doodles. and boy does he pick you up every single day on his smexy motorcycle.
• he'll bring you coffee and breakfast to-go. this man's spoiling you baby.
• aside from that, i feel like jean would make you hand-made gifts with the help of his momma. he thinks it's sentimental when you make your presents because it's one of a kind.
• jean does all these things because he's 100% about you being a constant person in his life. he loves how he can be whoever he wants when he's around you, i'm certain you guys wouldn't have it any other way either.
porco galliard
• porco can be a dick if he wants to not to you though, this tough guy turns into putty just for you. he definitely loves being treated like a baby.
• at first he might come off as cold because he isn't used to the whole romance thing and he gets flustered with the slightest pecks so you might have to initiate at first.
• but once you guys get through the awkward phase this boy would straight up greet you with a passionate kiss and does not give a damn about everybody who witnessed it. he might even have a stupid smirk on his face.
• like eren, i feel like porco would be very passionate and intense. he doesn't say much but he definitely shows you just how much he adores you.
• speaking of friends (: reiner would tease him every second of the day. i bet he would team up with bertholdt to annoy this poor boy. annie and pieck's not much help either.
•whenever you're stressed, porco would run you a bath and give you massages very often. he'll sit on the edge of the tub while he runs his hand through your hair.
•his type of dates would be watching at a cinema or a drive-in, going to the mall just to look around,he's a simple guy.
•if you guys happen to have an argument, porco would distance himself for a few minutes to a few hours just to process the situation and avoid anything his aggression might cause.
•he knew that if he wanted you guys to work he needed to be better.
•he would come back though and hold you in his arms while you guys talk it out.
•i bet he's one of the aot characters who would be an athlete, so most days you'll end up watching him practice.
•overtime, porco would be more open to being intimate in public and post stories of you two just doing things most couples do.
•he's proud that you're his and he's all yours.
•porco is a great guy and he would do anything just to make you smile.
i hope you guys liked these~! let me know who you guys want to be in the second part. requests are open and as always, stay safe! - 🌸☁️
#aot headcanons#aot x you#armin headcanons#armin arlert fluff#colt headcanons#colt grice fluff#eren headcanons#eren jaeger fluff#jean headcanons#jean kirschtein fluff#porco headcanons#porco galliard fluff#🌸☁️ works
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AOT Freshman v Senior Year headcanons (Eren, Armin, and Mikasa)
❥ AU: Highschool!AU
❥ Genre: Fluff
❥ Rating: Everyone can read
❥ Pairing: hinted at Eren x reader
❥ Warnings Include: Profanity, mentions of violence, manipulation, mention of weed, and slight angst
❥ Author Note: I'm making this an entire series for the main cast or my favorite characters from AOT
Eren Yeager
Freshman year
Extremely fucking loud for no reason
Runs to class and somehow always manages to be late
Tries to pay attention in class but due to his ADHD would always spaces tf out
Despite being loud, only talks to Mikasa and Armin
Smells like nothing but AXE body spray, its not even a bad smell, its just too much
That kid that takes P.E. TOO fucking serious
"Eren you know why you're in trouble right?"
"No."
"...You hit your classmate in the face with a ball."
"He could have dodged."
"Eren it was a basketball, you broke his nose and chipped his tooth."
"He shouldn't have gotten so close to me."
Im sorry but totally dresses like this
Constantly compared to his older brother.
"Yeager... Are you by any chance related to Zeke Yeager?"
"No way, your brother is THE Zeke Yeager?"
Makes a name for himself rather quickly
Listens to heavy rock/metal music
He loves My Chemical Romance and Three Day Grace.
Learned how to play the guitar just so he could play "Teenagers"
Forced Mikasa and Armin to also listen to the bands
They ended up all deciding on making a small little garage band; Miki on vocals and drums, Min on bass, and Eren as lead vocalist and electric guitar.
His style changed randomly but no one questioned it since his personality remained the same.
Senior year
180 personality
Completely mellowed tf out
Either he is in class on time or not showing up at all
Senioritis is strong within him
Works better when he is completely out of it
STONER
This mf always high as shit
Either you love him, hate him, or respect him there is no inbetween
MANBUN
Smart as hell but usually on the low
His music taste has changed a little
LOVES POLITICAL RAP
J.cole and Kendrick stan; it is not up for debate
His favorite songs are Neighbors by J.Cole and Alright by Kendrick
Listens to throwback RnB when high
Still godly at the guitar
Has a couple stick and poke tattoos; He has one behind his ear matching Min and Miki.
He has the sun, Armin has the ocean waves, Mikasa has the moon
PIERCINGS
A total of 8; 4 in his left and 2 in his right + the industrial
Has a tongue piercing
A two slices in his eyebrow but only got them as a dare
Most of them minus the industrial piercing was done at home because he has an abnormally high pain tolerance.
Dresses like this
Doesnt really play sports but is super good at soccer and basketball
He's actually good at most sports just refuses to join because why would he want to support a corrupted system??
Still more of a loner but has a rather nice friend group
Looks mean asf but is actually really nice
Goes the hardest for his friends
You fuck with them = you getting your shit rocked by him
100% the friend that hits you for forgetting to eat
Despite being hot as shit; never really has a girlfriend
Its only because hes oblivious or just not interested
Deathly scary when hes pissed
If you guys got beef; there is no talking
Its on sight bro
Be prepared to get beat the fuck up
A few things that makes him go from 0 to 100 is racism, mocking disabled people, and domestic violence
He's an activist
If you need help organizing a protest; he'll help and somehow manage to get people to come.
Basically a really good guy just hot headed as hell
Armin Arlert
Freshman Year
The kid who looked up those lame videos on how to survive highschool.
Panicked when it came to speaking in class
Stuttered like hell
AP CLASSES
He's way too advanced like could graduate early but refuses to so he can stay with his friends
Super sweet but extremely naive
People definitely took advantage of him.
"Hey Armin, my dog got in a car accident so I wasnt really focused in class, can you give me the homework answers?"
"Yeah sure its no problem."
Sends them a whole ass powerpoint on the entire lesson and teaches them better than the actual teacher.
Band nerd
Can play the Piano, Bass, and Trumpet
Listens to Mother Mother and Queen religiously
Only joined Eren's garage band after he agreed to watch Bohemian Rhapsody
Dresses like this
Moved in with Ren and Miki after he went through some shit with his family; he came out as bisexual after realizing he was attracted to one of his classmates.
Sometimes worries that Eren gets uncomfortable but relaxes after he remembers who Eren really is.
Wouldn't trade his friends for the world
Senior Year
His glow up took awhile because he didnt really feel the need to change
He was always rather cute; just shy and timid
VALEDICTORIAN
Slightly because he manipulated his runner up into become a burnout gifted kid lmao
Everyone has his Snapchat and Instagram so they can get help
Now he knows when people are using him and he still lets them; the only difference is you fuck with him and he can make you end up repeating the same grade.
Lets people copy his test and at the last minute pauses and erases all his answers before putting the correct ones.
No one has realized his plan.
His fashion sense changed a lot
Subconsciously tries to match Eren all the time
The only person that noticed was Mikasa; she thinks its cute
Is in love with Russian foreign exchange student, Annie.
He talks to her from time to time before gathering enough courage to ask her out
Doesnt realize how popular he is.
Oftentimes volunteers at the aquarium to study the ocean life as well as help out.
Helps plenty of organizations clean up the ocean.
A total of four piercings and the tattoo that matches his friends.
Two in his ears and nipple piercings.
It was a dare he sobbed through
Mikasa Ackerman
Freshman year
Basketcase
Follows Eren and Armin around
Super quiet
Doesn't really have much of a personality
She is cute though
Dresses like this
Like I said no real personality at all
Well except she was the girl who thought she was in a romance novel
Especially when Eren would get into a fight.
"Eren look at me... This isnt you."
"Mikasa move."
Most times it wouldnt work.
It was just cringy man...
Can play the violin, flute, piano, and cello
Only learned the drums so she could play with Eren and Armin
A secret pop stan
Loves Ariana Grande and Doja Cat
Thank god she manages to grow out of that yucky phase.
Senior Year
GOTH GF
Track, Gymnast, and female basketball player
She mellowed out as well and became her own person
Still heavily in love with Eren
Confessed to him during a karaoke session to the song Baby I by Ariana Grande; he didnt realize.
Sang her heart out and was a blushing mess but still got no where
Has deep down accepted that she may never be more than just his friend
Is okay with it and NOT toxic when he's crushing on someone else
Just wants him to be happy
Saw how he looked at some girl during a fundraiser to raise money for animal shelters and realized that he may never look at her like that.
Turned a guy down because Armin had a crush on him
The ultimate wing girl
Introduced Eren to her opponent after a track meet after realizing it was the girl from the fundraiser.
Dresses like this
Super sweet despite her look
However pick on her friends and you're fucked
CAN and WILL whoop your ass
The only person who can get Eren to not fight.
Pissed them both off at the same time and you're screwed
Has a total of three piercings
Her ears and nose
Loves her boys more than anything
Stays with Eren while her parents travel to help with natural disasters
Noticed that Armin's ideal type is Eren but never mentioned it because she knows Armin would overract
Very observant
Just wants the best for her friends even if she is the one who ends up happy
Eventually falls for the guy that asked her out junior year.
Still close to her boys because they come before anyone.
#eren yeager x black reader#armin arlert#mikasa ackerman#eren yeager#highschool headcanons#attack on titan#snk fanfiction
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General Soul Eater HCs please
Soul Eater: General headcanons
Death the Kid:
He’s an art critic
Hear me out
He is obsessed with symmetry, and loves the beauty in it
So when he sees something non-symmetrical, especially in art, he can’t help but to critique it
May go as far as to send a personal letter to the artist (If they’re alive) about how offensive it is that they created something so asymmetrical
If he can’t send a letter to the artist, he’ll send one to the owner/museum and request it be taken down, while listing reasons why it’s horrible.
Anything he writes has an even amount of letters and words
Be that his test answers
Essays
Letters
Diary entry
Speaking of diary entries, he definitely has one
But it’s actually just a catalogue of symmetrical things he’s seen
He puts photos into it and writes about how beautiful it was to see
He doesn’t care what it is much, just that it was beautiful
Meaning he takes photos of people too
Which can be unnerving at times
He’s probably taken a photography class before, or at the very least is self taught
Literally has a photo album of things he views are beautiful, but non symmetrical and he would die if anyone found it
Like a particular sunset with uneven hills
Or a flower with one too many petals
Definitely has an 8 ball, not a magic one, just an 8 ball, it’s placed on a velvet pillow in his room and he frequently polishes it
Elizabeth Thompson:
Makes several backup plans as a way to cope
Especially after dealing with an experience with a ghost
She has notebooks full of them, labeled and detailed
At one point she started putting them in alphabetical order but stopped immediately when she realized Kid’s perfectionist habits were rubbing off on her
She practices acting in the mirror
Usually so she can charm a man into dating her
But also to con people
She used to be a “Street rat” and that thought of ending up on the streets again constantly plagues her mind
She takes full advantage of the “Rich life”
Shopping sprees
Quality makeup
Salons and spa days
The works
She lets Patty’s thought that she knows everything get to her head
The fact alone that her sister believes in her that much is enough to make her a bit egotistical
And Patty’s admiration for the girl makes it ten times worse
She literally doesn’t care if she ends up being wrong because she’ll just be right next time anyways
So stubborn in that aspect
Patricia Thompson:
She likes dark humor
You can’t convince me otherwise, you actually can’t, I have evidence
She made an origami Giraffe, and broke its neck
Laughed when Kid said he “wants to die”
She literally pokes him with a stick when he’s depressed
She likes dark humor, and probably looks up jokes to tell others just for kicks
She’s secretly sadistic, and likes scaring her sister and others
She may act naïve and innocent, but she is anything but
She definitely has, more than once, banged on Liz’s door at 3AM just to hear her sister squeal like a little girl
Honestly, she probably purposefully gets their pose wrong, just to see her sisters annoyance and laugh when Kid gets smacked
She likes origami
Probably first got into it because of the paper ninja stars
Then just found it relaxing
She most likely makes the ninja stars mostly, and keeps a box of her origami creations somewhere
Has in the past, and will not hesitate to do so again, beat someone up for kicks or just to destress
Patty has two faces, the childlike innocent one, and the insane anger one
So it’s not too far fetched to say that she’ll hide her anger till she can corner someone alone and beat them up
Or that she gets bored and decides to do so
I wouldn’t be too surprised if her sister occasionally joined as well
Maka Albarn:
She’s a Harry Potter nerd and you can’t convince me otherwise
She loves the concept of magic
Loves the dynamic between Ron and Hermione, though feels a bit of Deja vu thinking about it
Probably used to write fanfiction, but in a way that made it seem like it was actually part of the story
She will hit you if you mention it
Definitely the type to compare books to their movie counterparts
Not in like, a critic way, but she will definitely rant about the differences, or how a character looks exactly like she imagined, or if they didn’t put in a particular scene she liked in the book
Forces Soul into movie nights, but it’s only the movie counterparts to her books
I can see her forcing everyone into a group study session
Be super organized about it, and setting it up in a way so that no one can refuse
She probably has specific ways for everyone to study
Like having Black☆Star work out while studying so he retains the knowledge better
Or setting up the session in a symmetrical way so Kid doesn’t freak out about it
She writes letters to her mom, as a coping mechanism for when her emotions get to be a little too much
Like when she’s having a bad day
Or if she’s particularly peeved at something Soul did
She writes a lot more letters when it comes around the time of her mom's birthday or death anniversary
She likes the thought of an old timey romance, and often listens to songs that give off that kind of feel
She really likes “It’s Been a Long, Long Time”, it’s one of her favorites
She also likes the old Disney songs, like “Once Upon a Dream” and “So This Is Love”
She would be so embarrassed if anyone found out though, especially if it was her dad or Soul
She isn’t quite sure why she’s so worried about Soul finding out though
Speaking of, she half realizes, half doesn’t with anyone's romantic feelings, including her own
She’ll fantasize about getting a love letter or having someone present her with a bouquet of roses
But if it actually happens she’s like “Oh, thanks friend!”
She knows the behaviors, she just can’t put two and two together
They would have to be extremely blunt, no over dramatic confession, just “I’m in love with you and want to be romantically involved with you”
She reads dictionaries for fun
She really likes to read out of date dictionaries, just to see what words and slang existed back then
She also highlights words she likes and uses them frequently on accident
She has most definitely yelled “I have cupid’s kettlebells*! I’m not flat!” at Soul before
Soul Evans:
Bottles. Up. His. Emotions.
He’s influenced by “toxic masculinity” and fully believes that being vulnerable in a serious way “isn’t cool”
He will bottle everything up so deep down inside that it seems impossible for it to surface
Feelings of inferiority to others? Bottled
Want to cry or break down? Nope, gotta be cool
Started crying in front of someone and can’t stop? He’s not crying, you’re clearly blind
Speaking of crying, once he starts, and I mean genuinely starts, it’s so hard to get him to calm down, and even then the tears don’t stop
Sometimes he’ll start to freak out and send himself into a panic attack because the tears just won’t stop
He’s that influenced by the thought of being vulnerable
On a lighter note, he does adore playing the piano, but the only person he’ll play for is Maka
He swears it’s not favoritism, and it’s partially true, but favoritism does play a large role in it
He frequently drags Maka to his room to show her a new piece he put together
And if he notices her feeling a little down that day, he’ll start playing a song that he knows she likes
He definitely knows about her love for old timey romance songs and is very embarrassed to admit a lot of the pieces he constructs are based off of that
The walls are p a p e r t h i n , he can hear her music through the walls
He secretly finds it adorable when he catches her listening to it because she’ll be dancing around to it
He also frequently finds himself thinking about those moments
He’s the stereotype that parents tell little girls about, with how boys will bully their crush
He’s a lot more playful and easy going, but still teases Maka, so much
Unlike Maka, he’s fully aware of his feelings, and acknowledges them, but bottles it up, only letting himself entertain the thought every once in a while
He jabs at Maka’s lack of “Cupids Kettlebells” as a way to try and ensure she won’t fall for him, because he doesn’t know what he’ll do if she does
He reads the same dictionaries that Maka does, not for fun, but so he can know just what the actual h e l l she’s saying
More than once he’s had to look up a particular word or phrase online because he can’t find it in the dictionary
“What the hell? It’s an old Victorian saying!? Where does she keep finding this stuff!?”
Subconsciously, as time goes on, he starts using old phrases as well, he was so embarrassed the first time he got caught saying “Keep your idle daddles* off of her!” when defending someone from a perv.
Black☆Star:
Is so unbelievably selfish with food
It’s not even funny
He will stab someone if they reach for his food
He surprisingly eats healthy most of the time though?
Says something like “I have to otherwise I’ll never surpass the gods!”
The only person who could ever p o s s i b l y steal his food is Tsubaki, but even that’s pushing it
He has the weirdest dreams, and I mean weird
Dreams like being turned into a potato and being cooked, mashed, and devoured by Tsubaki herself
He didn’t talk to her for a week after that dream, and refused to eat potatoes for a full year because “You never know if it could be a person turned into a potato!”
He was also very offended when Tsubaki ate potatoes during that time period
He takes things very literally
Like up above, if someone does something in a dream, he acts like it was real
Or if someone makes a joke about fighting, he will drag them outside to fight
He’s secretly scared of Tsubaki
But it’s for literally the stupidest reason
And he fully believes that because of it she could fight god and win
She used to have a pet cockroach
One of the flying ones
And he is so unbelievably scared of them, because for some reason they just don’t die, and they have w i n g s
So the fact she owned one as a pet scares him so bad even though it was literally for only a week
He has a soft spot for children
He doesn’t really know why
He just does
Is secretly really good with kids
Literally the definition of dad material
He has his flaws but still
Little kids are the only people who could steal his food and get away with it
Every. Time. and it makes the others so mad
Tsubaki Nakatsukasa:
What can I say, she’s perfect
She probably receives love letters
Reads them over when she’s feeling sad
Likes to keep them in a shoebox she painted
She definitely paints to unwind and relax
Likes to go outside and paint the sunrise/sunset
Takes note of beautiful scenery so she can come back in her free time and paint it
She probably draws/sketches too
Carries a sketchbook with her
More than likely has drawn Black☆Star doing something
Like napping or training
She’d never show him though, too scared of inflating his ego or giving him the wrong idea
Stress bakes/cooks
We know she cooks
Liz took advantage of it and pretended Tsubaki’s cooking was her own
So we know she does
Sometimes painting/drawing doesn’t cut it
So she heads to the kitchen and bakes away her worries and unwinds
The main reason Tsubaki would possibly be spared from Black☆Star’s stabbing habit with food is because she cooks all the meals
She makes sure everyone is comfortable around her
She’ll go as far as to learn someone's customs and practice cooking their unique cuisine just to make sure that they feel comfortable and safe in her presence
She radiates mom friend energy
She’s perfect mom material, perfect wife material, perfect in general honestly
*Cupid's Kettlebells is a old term for a woman's bust
*Idle daddles is a old term for hands
I Hope you like these general headcanons for the main seven! You didn’t say which characters you’d like to see, so I played it safe by putting the main characters! Thank you for the ask!
#soul eater#anime headcanons#headcanon#general headcanon#maka albarn#soul evans#blackstar#tsubaki nakatsukasa#patricia thompson#elizabeth thompson#death the kid
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lessons in romance // nate mackinnon x reader
summary: nate mackinnon is really bad at keeping a steady girlfriend. so bad that’s become somewhat of a joke between him and the boys. but you come along and try to set him straight.
word count: 14k+
author’s note: it’s finally here. i’m honestly surprised at how fast i cranked this out... which is actually a LOT longer than most people write on here so mayb i shouldn’t brag lmao! this fic was inspired by THIS gifset. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE give me feedback/reblog!!!!!!
warnings: smut (i jumped out of my comfort zone people. i finally wrote some lmfao) & mentions of a past toxic ex
Weekends were better spent in bed or visiting family, not sitting in a crowded bar with men who reminded you slightly of your ex-boyfriend. You were probably overreacting a little bit because the guys truly meant well, but their overly boy-ish energy was startlingly similar to that of your ex. Maybe a few more drinks would help the cause and you could get passed the sex jokes.
Mel Landeskog was the reason you were there. She wouldn’t take no for an answer, much like her husband, and so you were sitting across the booth from some of the largest men you’d ever seen in your life. Gabe gave you the rundown of their names as they arrived though the only one you could remember was Cale. He was a perpetually blushing 21-year-old named after a vegetable; how could you forget him?
“Do you think Nate’s upset about this one?” Cale asked. The new topic of conversation was their friends’ disastrous date since he texted to tell them he was broken up with and was on his way to them. “They were sort of serious.”
“We’re about to find out,” Gabe announced, nodding towards the entrance of the bar. Nate was on his way to the booth, tired smile on his lips. As he got closer, he started shaking his head and the table erupted in chirps at his expense.
You recognized him from earlier at the Landeskog’s pregame. He was slipping out of the front door as you stepped in. His cologne was the type the good-looking guys always wear, and you weren’t disappointed when you looked up at him. He was handsome with the sleeves of his dress shirt rolled to his elbows and the top three buttons undone, and when he smiled, you all but swallowed your tongue.
He began to greet his teammates. The chain around his neck caught the light of the DJ booth and you found yourself gazing at it. You tore your eyes away from the gold at the sound of Mel’s voice introducing you.
“This is my girlfriend, YN, from my Saturday morning Cycle class,” she said. “And, YN, this is my husband’s boyfriend, Nate MacKinnon.”
He threw his head back in a laugh at Mel’s joke as he extended a hand to you. “Nice to meet you.”
You listened to the quips from his teammates, each one with their own opinion about Nate’s relationship or lack thereof. It seemed like this wasn’t the first time in recent months that he’d been broken up and it had become somewhat of a spectacle to the boys. Mel, who’d seen this song and dance one too many times, wrapped her fingers around your elbow and tugged you with her towards the bar.
“What was that about?”
“Nate can’t hold down a girlfriend,” she explained. “It’s been a joke since he first came here because they almost all have the same issue with him.”
“And what is that?”
“He’s not romantic enough.”
You glanced back over your shoulder and watched the boys laughing amongst each other. It looked like they were celebrating as they lifted their beers in a sad looking toast, and it hit you right where it hurt.
You really saw your ex-boyfriend in the group now and, though you tried not to make assumptions, you found it hard to set the first impression aside. The liquor in your system didn’t help. With each joke about his dating misadventures, you became less of a fan of him and by the end of the night you were bubbling over in annoyance.
Gabe and Mel offered Nate a ride home towards the end of the night and you managed to keep your expression neutral when he accepted. As they headed out to grab the car, you and Nate waited at the curb several feet away from each other.
“I’m sorry about your break up,” you offered after a moment of silence. The statement came out more like a question and Nate’s lips quirked up into a smirk at the inflection of your voice. “Sorry, I just can’t tell if you’re upset or not, so I don’t know if I should even offer my condolences.”
“I’m, uh, I’m not upset,” he began. “I saw it coming.”
“How so?”
“Let’s just say this isn’t the first time a girl’s broken up with me for not being romantic enough,” he said. Thoughts were filling your head faster than you could make sense of them. There was no reason for the situation to annoy you as much as it did. You didn’t know this guy and the odds that you ever saw him again were slim.
“So, if it’s not the first time, why hasn’t anything changed?”
“Excuse me?” he asked. There was a crease between his eyebrows. He hadn’t been expecting you to respond like that. You shouldn’t have. It wasn’t your business
“I mean, you act like a martyr when you probably would be successful in love if you just put in the romantic effort these girls are craving,” you said. Your anger had begun to boil over and words were spilling from your mouth faster than you could stop them. “Guys like you are the worst. You lead girls on and make them think they’re special. Next thing they know, they’ve been wasting time on you and your lack of effort.”
The comment made Nate take a step away from you. His eyebrows drew together in shock and confusion. As you spoke, he turned his body to you and crossed his arms over his chest. The moment you closed your mouth, he interjected. “You don’t even know me.”
“I don’t have to,” you argued, turning to him. You were in a stand-off with a man several inches taller than you, and to any passerby it probably looked a little bit funny, but you weren’t backing down. “I know guys like you. I’ve dated guys like you.”
Before Nate could continue arguing, the Landeskogs pulled up to the curb. Mel hollered out for you two and the topic of conversation was dropped.
---
You regretted everything you said to Nate the moment you woke up the morning after. It wasn’t like you to be so rude, especially not to someone you didn’t know. Your heart stopped every time Mel texted you in the days following. You thought that at any moment she’d confront you about what you said to him, but it never came. As the week carried on, you found yourself forgetting the harsh words spoken outside the bar and the worry stopped.
Until Thursday night.
The knock at your apartment door was unexpected. You met your roommate, Mara’s, narrowed eyes over the dirty dishes you were working on. By the look on both your faces, neither one of you had a guest on the way over. She turned on her heel to check the peephole and the next look she gave you was equally as confusing as the previous one. She still opened the door.
“Does YN live here?”
The voice sent shockwaves through your veins and you stopped your movements, plates held just above your head as you were about to slide them into the cabinet. Nate MacKinnon was at your apartment. Mara nodded at him slowly before stepping back to let him in.
“Hi,” he greeted. His hands were tucked into his sweatshirt pocket, legs clad in compression leggings and a pair of shorts. He looked like he’d just come from a workout and his hair was still wet from the shower he’d taken before coming over. “I hope you don’t mind. Gabe gave me your address.”
“No problem,” you told him through a shaky breath. “Come in. Come sit at the island.”
He removed his shoes and approached slowly, sending Mara one last smile as she crept off down the hall. You silently cursed her for leaving you with your shaking hands as you cleared the clutter from the countertop. You watched him as he settled into the stool across from you, mirroring the kind smile he was sharing with you.
“Can I get you anything? Water? Coffee? I have food, too, if you’re hungry.”
“Don’t worry about me,” he said. His voice was softer now than it had been before. “I wanted to talk to you about the other night. It won’t take long.”
“Oh?” you asked, trying to ignore the way your stomach dropped. You wanted to start apologizing right then. You didn’t have a reason to go and butt into his personal life like you had. You should’ve kept your mouth shut. Guys like him didn’t care about your opinions. “I’m sorry for what I said. When I get drunk, I have the tendency to shoot off at the mouth.”
“Don’t apologize,” he said. Your mouth snapped shut. “No one keeps me in check. All the guys think the fact that I can’t keep a girlfriend is a big joke because I’m so bad at dating. It shouldn’t be a joke. So, I’m sorry and thank you.”
You dropped your hands to the counter and leaned against it. The last thing you expected was for Nate to thank you, so you needed a moment to gather your thoughts. His eyes glistened as he watched you and then the corner of his lip quirked up because you started giggling.
“You should not be thanking me,” you said. With that simple statement, the tension in the air lifted. You turned your back on him, indicating that if the conversation must go on, you were going to be doing the dishes as well. “I was just being bitter the other night.”
“You had every right to be,” he said. “I was gloating.”
“You were kind of gloating,” you mumbled. You hadn’t meant for Nate to hear, and he knew that, but he laughed anyway. You turned to face him with an apologetic smile. “Sorry.”
“Stop apologizing,” he said. He didn’t even know why you were apologizing at that point. It seemed like you’d apologize for taking up space and that made him feel a bit sad. He smiled politely at you anyway, to signal he wasn’t annoyed by the apologies, and it lit up his features in a way you hadn’t noticed the other night. “Anyway, I came here for a reason.”
“Okay.”
“I need you to teach me to be romantic.”
He delivered it tentatively, as though he was afraid of the way you might react. In the split second that followed, your mouth open and closed twice as every possible response came to your mind. He waited patiently.
Finally, “You don’t even know me. How can you be so sure that I’m the right person to teach you this stuff?”
“You’re a girl,” he explained, deadpan. “Girls know romance.” You snorted at how adorably dumb he was. Your hand flew up to cover your mouth in embarrassment and your cheeks burned as he grinned at you, amused by the sound of your laugh. “What do you say?”
---
Mondays were always your least favorite day of the week. Every weekend, your workload piled up and most Mondays you could hardly take a lunch break because you were so busy getting shit done. Whenever you came home from work on Mondays, you were wiped. Mara always made sure to have dinner ready for you when you got in, and the two of you often sat on the couch while eating those nights.
That Monday, you were sure that you’d be in bed before the Bachelor even started. But then Nate showed up unannounced. Mara was in the middle of washing the dishes this time, so you were the one to open the door. He greeted you with a goofy smile and a large electrical wire. Without a word, you stepped to the side and he was kicking off his shoes to enter the living room. Mara caught the roll of your eyes as you followed him.
He was standing beside the television when you entered the room. The wire he’d brought with him was connected to his cellphone while he found a port for the other end. You sat at the corner of sectional and waited, yawns escaping your mouth every minute or so. The day had been long enough already.
Suddenly, the television lit up with his cellphone background on full display. He held it up to show you, a grin present on his face.
“I need your help,” he began. He tapped one of the dating apps on his home screen and immediately you were regretting letting him in. You realized he wasn’t leaving any time soon as he unraveled the cord and plopped down beside you on the couch. Mara entered the room, eyes catching on the beautiful brunette woman on the screen, and then she gave Nate a curious look. “Come on, Mara. Join us.”
An amused smile came to her lips as she sat on the other end of the couch.
“I am not swiping for you,” you grunted, rubbing at your eyes. “I have no interest in judging girls off these apps.”
“Relax, YN,” he said. “I’m not asking you to play matchmaker. Just help me talk to this girl.”
“You need help talking to girls?” Mara asked as she gave him the once over. You laughed out loud while Nate blushed.
“I don’t need help,” he began. He turned his attention back to the television and pulled up the profile of a beautiful brunette woman. “I just don’t want to come on too strong, or douche-y. This girl is perfect and I wanna take her out.”
“Can you two make this quick?” Mara asked. “The Bachelor’s on tonight.”
“And my bed is calling my name.”
Nate peered at you over his shoulder. He smiled at your tired eyes, drooping as you leaned your head on your hand. He leaned back, stopping inches from your face and said, “I’ll make it quick.”
To your surprise, and Mara’s delight, he reached up and ran his hand over your hair before turning back to the television. He gave a rundown about the girl on the television, but his words went in one ear and out the other. Your glazed eyes watched as he typed out messages to her, and you laughed when Mara made fun of the way he was talking. (“Why the fuck are you talking like that? Are you her father?”) Finally, he turned on you.
“Are you gonna help or what, love doctor?”
“Give me the phone,” you said, extending your hand. He plopped it into your palm and watched you type out the message on the television screen. It took you less than a minute to type out a sweet message asking the girl out on a date before you were shoving the phone back into his hand. “You overthink too much.”
“That’s it?”
“Short and sweet,” you noted with a shrug. “I’d say yes.”
Nate’s eyes cut to you and you felt a chill run down your spine at the intensity behind them. Mara cleared her throat as you diverted your attention from him, shaking the feeling you got from his baby blues. She smiled sweetly at the two of you. “Can I detach your phone from our TV now? It’s almost time for Bach.”
You peeled yourself off the couch and headed to the bathroom to wash your face before changing into sweats and a t-shirt. You returned to the living room to find Nate with his feet up on the coffee table. Mara had tuned the television to ABC and the Bachelor recap was playing. He looked up as you entered and frowned.
“Stay out here a little bit longer,” he proposed, bottom lip jutting out in a pout. “We’ll watch some of this and see if she says yes to the date.”
“Nate, I’m exhausted.”
“C’mon.”
You couldn’t say no, not when he was pouting like that. So, you rolled your eyes and walked around the couch to plop down in the spot you’d been before. Before long, your eyes were closing and you couldn’t keep them open any longer.
Nate didn’t realize you fell asleep, but he didn’t mind when you leaned against his arm as a pillow. He stiffened for a moment, unsure of what to do, but a soft snore escaped your lips and he found himself smiling down at your peaceful face. He didn’t move for the rest of the episode because he was too nervous to wake you. When the credits began to roll, he dropped a hand to your knee and shook you lightly.
Your eyes opened, bleary from sleep, and you found that you’d fallen asleep on him. You jerked away, realizing that it was probably too close for comfort, and smiled apologetically. He returned the smile before standing and gathering his things from the coffee table.
“Get some sleep,” he said on his way to the front door. You hummed in response, following him to the door to say a proper goodbye and lock up. He pulled you into a hug before going, shocking you once again by with how gentle he was despite hardly knowing you.
“Did she say yes?” you asked as he pulled away from the hug. “I almost forgot to ask.”
“Yeah, she did.”
---
Lesson #1: The First Date
In the chaos of the week that followed, you’d almost forgotten that you promised Nate your assistance before the date. You weren’t used to being accountable for someone else like you were now, so it wasn’t surprising.
“There is a man at reception asking for you.”
The office receptionist, Debby, was standing in the doorway with a giddy smile on her lips. You knew immediately from the look in her eye that the man at the front desk was going to be the talk of the office for a week.
You stood, following her out the door of your office and down the hall. As you rounded the corner to reception, you saw Nate leaning against the desk. He was sucking on a mint from the bowl in front of him and smiled wide when he saw you.
“What are you doing here?”
“I have my date tonight, remember?” he asked. One glance at your watch told you that you worked a little too late. You cursed under your breath, turning quickly to head back to the office and send one last email. Nate hesitated, but ultimately decided to follow you down the hallway. He eyed the pencil skirt you were wearing, eyes lingering a little too long on your ass. He shook his head from his trance, knowing damn well that he was just asking for trouble.
Nate lingered in the doorway of your office for a moment before his eyes landed on a picture frame across the room that caught his attention. It was a marble frame without a photo like it had been removed and never replaced. He picked the frame up and turned it over in his hands, then turned to you.
“You need a picture.”
“What?” you asked, eyes still trained on the screen. They flickered up to see what he was talking about and then got right back to work. “Used to be a picture of me and my ex. Nobody’s important enough to put in.”
Nate placed the frame down. He felt a pang of sadness for you in that moment, but distracted himself by moving onto the next shelf and playing with some of the desk games on it. He was in the middle of fiddling with your Rubiks cube when you stood from the computer.
“You’re wearing that?” you asked. Nate winced at the question, glancing down at the jeans and t-shirt he was wearing. When he looked back up, you were wearing a shit eating grin. “I’m fucking with you.”
“Jesus, YN.” He clutched his heart and released a deep breath. You rounded the desk and grabbed your jacket from the hook. As you swung it over your shoulders, Nate stepped up to help. You slipped your arms through the arm holes trying to suppress the flair up of butterflies in your stomach.
When you reached the sidewalk outside the building, you led him down the block to a florist. Their window displays were your favorite in the city and you often found yourself going out of the way to peak at them on shitty days. You daydreamed about the day someone bought you a bouquet from there specifically.
The bell above the door rang as you stepped in. The smell of fresh flowers hit your nose and you sniffed it in happily. You grinned back at Nate and he felt a tug at his heart at your excitement.
“Can I help you?”
You bounded over to the woman behind the counter, Nate following behind you a little awkwardly. You gave him an expectant look and then his brain finally caught up with the question. As he leaned forward to look at the flowers in the case in front of you, his hand pressed against the small of your back.
“What would you get?” he asked curiously. You took a sharp intake of breath at the lack of space between you and pulled away to look at the flowers.
“Sunflowers and baby’s breath are my favorites.”
Nate smiled at the woman behind the counter and repeated what you’d just said, adding, “It’s for a first date, so I don’t need it too big or anything.”
You laughed at his explanation, and then the blush that come to his cheeks when he realized how silly he sounded. Neither of you noticed the confused look on the florist’s face. She was about to comment on how cute the two of you were, and in hindsight she was glad she kept her mouth shut. He reached out and squeezed your arm as a warning to stop teasing him. You stepped away completely, still smiling stupidly as he turned to pay.
“I’d’ve put roses in there too,” you told him once you were back on the sidewalk. “But this is only a first date. It might’ve been a little intense.”
“Roses?” he asked. You hummed in response, plucking the flowers out of his hand as you continued in the direction of the restaurant he was meeting his date at. “Good to know, you know, for the future.”
The walk to the date spot was only about ten minutes long and most of it was spent talking about your plans for the weekend as opposed to his date. He was going to be away with the team and you had plans to visit family. You kept thinking to yourself that you needed to stop getting distracted by him and his good looks and his sweet disposition. He was dating someone, and that person was not and would not be you, but he kept surprising you with the way he weaseled himself into your life.
“We’ll have to hang out next week sometime, then,” he said, snatching the flowers back out of your hand playfully. You nodded, but you were taken by surprise. It didn’t make sense that he’d want to hang around you without getting something out of it, whether it was dating advice or something more. Clearly, Nate didn’t care and you were beginning to wonder if maybe you’d get a beautiful friendship out of this nonsense.
“Any last-minute advice?”
“Don’t say anything dumb,” you said to him, emboldened by the realization that you might actually be friends now. Nate laughed out loud. “You think I’m just being funny, but sometimes you say stupid shit.”
“Jeeze,” he muttered. “Way to fuck up my self-esteem right before a date.”
“Oh, please.” You rolled your eyes and came to a stop just before the crosswalk he’d be using. He slowed to a stop as well, the bouquet of flowers falling to his side as he looked down at you. You reached out to right them with an amused smile. “Careful with these.”
“Got it, boss.”
You stalled a moment more, gazing at the flowers. You almost felt jealous of the girl going to dinner with Nate because those flowers would look perfect in a vase on your dining room table. “God, I really hope she appreciates those.”
The tone of your voice took Nate by surprise. It sounded a little sad, and full of yearning, and he felt kind of bad that he’d be walking away with the flowers you’d been admiring the entire walk from the florist. Even so, you said your goodbyes and he watched you turn on your heel to head home. He felt stuck in place, eyes trained on your retreating frame while his feet were cemented to the sidewalk. Before he could second guess himself, and his motives, he called out your name.
“Wait, YN!” When you turned, he was halfway down the sidewalk to you and, once he was within arm’s length, he plucked a sunflower from the bouquet and extended it. “For you.” Your cheeks felt red hot as your fingers curled around the stem. You hoped he couldn’t notice a blush. If he did, he didn’t make it known and left with a simple, “I’ll talk to you later.”
A stupid smile sat on your lips the entire way home. You felt the thumping of your heart long after you’d entered your place and placed the flower in the dining table vase. No matter what you found yourself doing that night, Nate remained at the back of your mind. You swore to yourself that it was because you wondered how his date was going, nothing more. But, when your eyes kept finding their way to the sunflower on the dining room table, you worried that maybe the reason you couldn’t stop thinking about him was something more.
---
You grabbed dinner with Mel the next Tuesday. Because of your trip to visit family, the two of you agreed to take a week off and reschedule some sort of get together for Tuesday. Gabe was home so he’d be with Linnea, and you were just happy that it wasn’t Monday. She was in the middle of a story when your phone lit up beside you; Nate’s name was on full display.
When’s our next lesson?
You snatched the phone off the table and away from Mel’s prying eyes, hoping that it wouldn’t peak her curiosity. The movement itself was enough to stir her, though, and Mel was soon leaning forward to see what was going on. She reached out and pushed the phone down, craning her neck to read the text.
“Next lesson?” she asked, eyebrow quirking. “Who is this?”
“It’s Nate MacKinnon.”
You said it so quickly and so nonchalant that Mel actually continued picking at her brunch before she reacted. Her fork clattered to the plate. “Did you just say Nate MacKinnon?”
“This,” you began gesturing at her wild eyes and wicked smile, “is exactly why I didn’t tell you.”
“Why?” she asked, feigning innocence. “Because I’m totally going to take this and run with it?” You dropped your face in your hands. “You should go for it. He’s a little dumb, but mostly cute. You definitely have the patience to deal with him though.”
“Mel, it’s not like that at all,” you told her. “I’m helping him learn how to be more romantic.” Her eyebrows shot up to her hairline in shock. “I’m serious. You know just as well as I do that he’s bad dating. He asked for my help after we met. I have enough experience with douchebags to tell him what not to do.”
“You sure do,” Mel agreed. You laughed at her response and an easy smile spread across her face. “Maybe teaching him a thing or two about how to be romantic will remind you of what you deserve.”
You sighed, picking up the coffee in front of you to take a sip. Mel knew better than anyone, besides Mara, how shitty the guys in your life had been. She met your ex last year just before your break up and she hated him from the moment you introduced the two. He never deserved you and her heart broke the longer you spent wasting your time on him. When you finally ended it, she was your biggest supporter.
You left the message unanswered, not wanting to give her anymore ammo in what was sure to be her new mission. When she got up to head to the bathroom before the check came, you opened the message from him. The last conversation was from Saturday night and he was letting you know that the girl he’d gone out with was looking forward to their next date.
What do you need help with now?
Do you know how to cook?
---
Lesson #2: A Homemade Meal
“I can’t believe you don’t know how to cook,” you grunted as soon as Nate pulled his apartment door open on Friday night. The grin on his face was anything but apologetic and you pushed past him with two large grocery bags in hand. You brought them to the kitchen and began unpacking them onto the counter.
“I do know how to cook, by the way,” he said, stepping up beside you to help you remove everything from the bags. You eyed him skeptically. “Mostly just the basic meats and vegetables.”
“You can’t cook a date your pregame meal.”
Nate knew that. He wasn’t that stupid, but he did love saying stupid shit around you. You tended to roll your eyes at him, but your lips always gave away how you really felt about his stupidity. The right side always curled up into a smirk, like you were trying to fight the laughter bubbling in your chest. He loved it when you did that.
“Is this, like, a meal your ex used to make?” he asked after grabbing some spices from the cabinet. You were grateful that his back was turned because the easy smile on your lips disappeared at the reminder of him. You busied yourself with the pot of water on the stove and set it to boil.
“No, my ex never actually made dinner for me,” you answered in a poor attempt to keep your voice steady.
Nate stopped prepping the meat and turned to face you. Questions sat on the tip of his tongue, begging for him to ask, but you wouldn’t look at him. He felt a little bit angry at your confession, though he couldn’t quite place why. Admittedly, he had been that boyfriend before – the one that didn’t cook dinner. Now, he was mad at himself for ever being that guy.
When you didn’t turn to look at him, he dropped the subject. You worked in silence, you busy with the pasta and him with the chicken. As you waited for the food to be ready, you hiked yourself up onto the counter. Nate grabbed a bottle of red wine from the end of the counter and poured glasses for the both of you.
He stood across from you with a dish towel over his shoulder and his own glass of wine in his palm. He asked about work and you filled him in on all the hot office gossip. The smile on his face didn’t fall once as he listened to your stories, and he never tried to change the subject or take over the conversation for himself. After a while, you stopped.
“I’ve been talking forever.”
“Yeah, and I’ve been enjoying it,” he told you. You laughed. “I wish I could be a fly on the wall in your office.”
Feeling a bit bolder, you kicked your foot out and nudged his side. “Maybe I can take you to bring your pet to work day.”
Nate’s jaw dropped, a reaction you weren’t expecting, and you began laughing hysterically at his surprise. He placed his wine glass down beside him and took a step closer, wrapping a hand around your ankle to tug you closer to the edge of the counter. You yelped in surprise.
“Pet?” he asked. You wiggled your foot out of his grasp, giggles falling from your lips as he dropped his hand to his side. The oven started beeping, interrupting whatever moment you were having before it could continue. “Saved by the bell.”
“Looks good, Nate,” you praised as he pulled it out of the oven. “My mouth is watering.”
“Go sit down,” he ordered. “You have to evaluate my presentation and make sure I look good.”
Nate entered shortly after you sat down and placed the plates on either side of the table with a smile. He slipped back out and returned with the wine. There was mischievous glint in his eyes as he topped your glass off and added to his.
“How is it?” he asked, leaning back. A look of cockiness flashed over his features and you felt it in your stomach when you looked at the way his arms were crossed and his biceps filled out the sleeves of his t-shirt. You picked up your utensils and cut into the meal, picking up a bit of each piece before putting it in your mouth.
Nate leaned forward eagerly. He watched your eyes light up when the flavor hit your tongue and he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. You nodded emphatically as you swallowed your first forkful. He cut into his own meal and the moment he took a bite, he moaned. The meal was so good that conversation was sparse and, by the end, it looked like your plates had been licked clean.
You didn’t stop Nate from filling your glasses again, though you figured you should have. The third glass always lowered your inhibitions.
“How pissed off would you be if I asked you about your ex?”
“Not pissed off,” you answered. You took a sip of the wine, then leaned your cheek in your palm as you spoke. “What do you want to know?”
Nate sat up at this, suddenly realizing that he hadn’t prepared himself with a question because he didn’t think you’d give him the go ahead. He let out a tuft of breath, took a sip from his glass, and thought. Finally, he asked, “Why’d you break up?”
“How long do you have?”
“As long as you need,” he answered. His voice was soft, comforting, and you felt yourself relax into the question.
“Honestly, I didn’t want to break up with him,” you began. “And, if I didn’t have friends like Mel and Mara, I might still be with him. Things have changed now, though. I realize what a crap human being he was but, if I stayed with him, I don’t think I would’ve realized how much better I deserved.”
“Did you fight a lot?”
“Do I seem like the fighting type?” you teased. He shook his head. “He did enough fighting for the both of us. He would yell at me for no reason sometimes, just because he felt like it.”
Nate was angry. His features were contorted in distaste as you told him about your ex. Even though you tried to make light of the situation with a few light-hearted jokes, Nate couldn’t find it within in him to react with laughter. You deserved so much better than what you’d been given.
“When I broke up with him, Mara was there. We packed my things and moved it all out. I was going to leave a note, but he came home from work early and caused a scene. He went out the night after and sent me all these videos and pictures of him out with his friends. They were flipping me off, girls were draped all over him, etcetera. I blocked him the next morning and I haven’t seen him since. That was over a year ago.”
“Fuck,” he muttered, dropping his head in his hands. He felt ashamed. “That’s why you yelled at me.”
“Yep,” you answered. “Emotions got the best of me.”
“I don’t blame you.”
Silence filled the room and you felt vulnerable. You didn’t share the story about your tumultuous relationship often, but with Nate it just slipped out. You grabbed your glass from the table and finished it off.
“I’m not staying for another,” you announced. Nate sat back, his face flashing with an offended expression. As you gathered the plates from the table, you tried to ignore the knots in your stomach that were becoming more and more prevalent when he was around. “Nothing good ever happens after the third glass. But, if I was your real date, I would definitely stay for a fourth and you would probably get to kiss me at the end of the night simply for how good that meal was.”
The words fell from your lips so easily that it shocked you and you hoped that the playful tone of your voice wouldn’t scare him off. You gathered yourself before turning back to look at him. He was still sitting at the table, chair pushed back with one arm over the back of it. The way he was looking at you was lethal, eyes drinking you in as you stood in his kitchen. You couldn’t tell if you were imagining the tension or it was real.
“Thank you for dinner,” you said finally. You grabbed your bag from the counter and pulled it over your shoulder as you headed for the door. Nate stood then to walk you out, pulling the door open as you slipped into your sneakers. “It was delicious.”
“Thank you for teaching me how to cook something actually good,” he said. “Poor girl would’ve been eating chicken and vegetables or pasta if you hadn’t come by.”
“Can’t let that happen, can we?” you asked. “Let me know how dinner goes.”
Nate leaned down, wrapping an arm around your waist to tug you into a warm embrace. You melted into his arms as yours came up and around his neck. For a moment, the two of you just stood there in each other’s arms. You wondered if he could feel the beat of your chest again him. It sped up as his hands flattened against your back, crossing over each other to engulf you completely.
“I’m not that kind of guy,” he said. He leaned his cheek on the top of your head and his chest rumbled beneath your own cheek as he spoke. “You know that, right?”
Your blinked away tears before he couldn’t notice then and nodded in response to his question.
When he pulled back, he leaned in to press a kiss to your cheek and his lips caught the corner of your mouth. An electric shock coursed through your bloodstream and you pulled back quick before offering one last smile and tossing a goodbye over your shoulder.
---
Nate called you the next Friday night with plans for Saturday.
“Mel and Gabe invited a bunch of the guys over and she told me I should see what you were doing tomorrow.” he said. “I feel like I haven’t talked to you much since last week. The guys would love to meet you.”
“Meet me?” you asked. “So, it’ll be more than just the ones I know?”
“A few more,” he answered with a laugh. “They’ll love you, okay? I’ll be at your place to get you at 5:30.”
It was the first time you were going to see him since you made dinner together last Friday. You exchanged a few texts throughout the week, but nothing of substance. You knew his dinner date went well, though you didn’t know to what extent. You found yourself wondering if she stayed for that additional glass of wine after dinner, or if she stayed for the night after.
He showed up to your apartment wearing a white dress shirt, sleeves rolled to his elbows. You welcomed him in while you went back to your room to get your heels on. He gaped at the dress you were wearing as soon as you had your back to him. His eyes wandered over your curves as you bent to grab your heels from the floor in your bedroom. When your dress slid up your thighs, he had to force himself to look away.
You tried to get more details about his dinner date out of him on the way to Mel’s, but he kept quiet. She liked dinner, she stayed for an extra glass of wine, and then she went home at the end of the night. An invisible weight lifted from your shoulders upon hearing she didn’t stay the night and you settled back into his passenger seat.
Nate noticed the way you relaxed into the seat and tore his eyes from the road for just a moment to sneak a peek at you. You were watching the world go by from the window, unaware that he was even looking at you. When he turned his attention back to the road, all he could think about was his sweaty palms and accelerated heartrate. Why did he care so much about what you thought?
Everyone was already at the house when you pulled up. The two of you walked up the driveway, his hand against your lower back much like it had been in the florist. Mel opened the door, lunging to sweep you into her arms and whisk you to the kitchen, her husband and your, well, Nate left behind.
“Thanks for having me, Mel.”
She handed you a drink complete with a salted rim and said, “I’m glad Nate asked if you could come.”
“Nate asked?” you repeated. She affirmed with a nod and ushered you to join the others in the living room while she and Gabe finished dinner.
You swore half the team was there, which meant not one seat was open on their couch. As you passed Nate, he grabbed your hand and sat you on the arm of his chair. He pulled your legs over his lap and began introducing you to the boys you didn’t already know.
You caught Cale’s eyes and felt heat rise to your cheeks. Out of everyone in the room, he was the only one making note of the lack of space between you two. Though you weren’t technically sitting in his lap, it still felt a little inappropriate. Nate’s hand was like fire where it rested against your thigh and you had to remind yourself to stop peeking at the placement.
Nate lied about your invitation to dinner, and for what? He could’ve just invited you himself instead of disguising it as a joint decision between him and Mel. What was he so afraid of that he couldn’t man up and admit he wanted you there? Better yet, why didn’t he ask Gianna?
You somehow ended up seated away from Nate at the dinner table. Cale settled in on one side of you and EJ occupied the other. Across from you sat JT and Tyson, bickering as always. You don’t know how you ended up separated from Nate, but you welcomed it because you needed the breathing room.
The meal was delicious, but Nate couldn’t even enjoy it because you were so far away. He was going to get fucking whiplash because of the way he kept looking back to see who you were talking to or hear what you were laughing at. How did he even end up this far down from you?
On the other hand, he couldn’t stop the smile that kept creeping up to his lips when he saw you with his teammates. They loved you, probably almost as much as he did, and he was proud to have you by his side that night. But then came the harsh reality that you weren’t actually his to show off.
When the party relocated, he made sure to slide up next to you on the way to the couch. EJ’s laughter mocked him, but you didn’t catch on to his teammate’s playful ribbing. With Gabe and Mel’s eyes in the room, he didn’t pull you over his lap and opted to lower his arm over the back of the couch instead. There were just inches between your skin and his but, after having you on his lap earlier, it felt like miles.
Drinking games were played, stories were shared, and you all left the house with full bellies and large smiles. Nate was driving, so he eased up on the drinks after dinner. You, on the other hand, were feeling just as free as you did after three glasses of wine at his place last week, and feeling daring enough to ask him the question that’s been on your mind all night.
“Why did you tell me that Mel asked you to invite me?”
“What are you talking about?”
“When you invited me, you said that Mel told you to,” you explained in a slow voice as if you were breaking the situation down to a child. “But she said that you asked if you could invite me.”
“Why does it matter where the invite actually came from?” he asked. A slight panic was rising in his chest because he didn’t have an answer for you. This wasn’t supposed to come back around to you. “Everybody wanted you here anyway.”
“Why didn’t you ask Gianna?” you asked, stepping down to join him on the path to the driveway. He rolled his eyes at this, and you noted it because though you’d done it to him many times, he’d never done it to you. He began walking, so you followed. “Are you going to answer my question?”
“Because I didn’t want to introduce her to everyone yet,” he answered. “You just fit in with us.”
Nate saw your face fall and decided not to push the conversation any farther. He said something wrong, but he didn’t know what. As far as he thought, he was complimenting you. He was complimenting how easy going you were, how his friends got along with you so easily. You were already a part of the group. It was great.
You continued along to the car in silence, not bothering to argue with him over a dumb comment. He wanted friends, so you were giving him friends, but the touches and the invite to team dinner was something more than friends. You needed distance. And he needed to figure his shit out, fast.
---
Lesson #3: Meeting the Friends
Something changed. When Nate dropped you off that night, he left you with a half-assed hug and a quiet goodbye. You couldn’t catch a wink of sleep that night because something changed. But then, Nate texted you tomorrow and tried to carry on as normal. Things weren’t normal.
And you knew that for sure when Nate didn’t invite you to EJ’s house the next weekend. Mel invited you instead and since you could never say no to Mel, you went. The thought of texting Nate to let him know passed briefly through your head, but the sheer fact that he hadn’t even bothered to talk to you about it in the first place was enough to decide against it.
When you entered EJ’s living room, you knew exactly why he hadn’t asked. Gianna was sitting on his lap, fingers curling through his hair as they talked. Anger rose in you no matter how hard you tried to suppress it. Just last week he said he didn’t want to bring her around and now she was here? Now she was here and he couldn’t even talk to you?
There was an uproar as Nate’s teammates noticed you standing in the doorway and Nate’s eyes cut to you in surprise. You lifted your hand in a pathetic wave before Cale was wrapping his arm around your shoulders and leading you to the kitchen.
“Who’s the girl with Nate?”
“His new girlfriend,” you answered, hoping that you didn’t sound bitter. “I don’t even know if that’s the right title for her, but they’ve been on a few dates.”
Cale let out a soft hum, his tone indecipherable, just as Tyson entered the room.
“What’s the deal with Nate’s new girl?” he asked as soon as he saw it was just you and Cale in the room. When you didn’t answer, he nudged you for an answer.
“What do you mean?” you asked.
“Well, she’s no you.”
---
Nate couldn’t help but ask himself, “What the fuck are you doing?”
As you were pulled into his teammates arms, he watched and couldn’t decide whether he wanted to get up and hug you too or if he just wanted to disappear. When Gianna’s fingers gripped his bicep, he decided he wanted the latter.
That’s when you looked at him, of course, and the smile that was on yours lips faded just a bit. At least, that’s what he thought. You lifted your hand in a wave before Cale was looping his arm around your shoulders and directing you towards the kitchen.
“Who was that?” Gianna asked, fingers curling into the hair at the nape of his neck.
He looked up at her with a simple answer. “One of our friends.”
Gianna kissed him and for the first time since he met you, Nate thought about what it would be like to kiss you instead. He brought her to EJ’s in a pathetic attempt to right the way he was feeling about you, but it only made it worse.
---
“Nate was weird last night,” Mel murmured after Cycle the next morning. You were waiting for her to say something. Since all the guys made comments the night before, you knew Mel was next. “Did you guys fight?”
“Fight? Me and Nate?” you repeated, stalling for time. “We didn’t fight.”
“What did you think of his girlfriend?”
“I actually didn’t get to talk to her,” you answered. You shrugged, giving the illusion that you didn’t care all that much even though you were fuming. After all the help you’d given him, he couldn’t be bothered to introduce you to her? And that wasn’t all. He hardly spoke to you all night, only entertaining conversations with you when someone else was around. You ended up spending most of the night with EJ.
“My sitter just bailed for tomorrow.” She’d been tapping away at her phone for a few minutes, no doubt panicking to Gabe. You watched her a moment longer as you wondered what her plans were for the next day. Then, it occurred to you.
“There’s a game tomorrow, right?” you asked. She nodded, still typing out messages to whoever was on the other end of the phone. “I can watch Linnea tomorrow. Don’t worry about finding a sitter.”
“I couldn’t ask you to do that.” She waved you off absentmindedly and continued talking, “Besides, I thought Nate had a ticket for you or something. Didn’t he ask you to go?”
“Tomorrow?” you said incredulously. “No, absolutely not. Isn’t it like a WAG game? It would make no sense for me to be there.”
“Oh,” she murmured. “I just thought that he told Gabe,” she paused and noticed your set jaw. You were clearly not Nate’s biggest fan at the moment, so she decided to tread carefully. “You know what? Nevermind. I would love it if you could watch Linnea.”
---
As expected, Linnea was an angel the next day. You spent the time lounging in their living room with the game on TV while you played together. She took a bottle in the middle of the game and you brought her to her nursery once she’d been burped to rock her to sleep. But, you couldn’t quite peel yourself from the chair to put her in her crib. She was sleeping so peacefully and for the first time in a while you felt calm, so you stayed with her in your arms long after she’d fallen asleep.
You didn’t know what time it was when Gabe and Mel got home, but you heard their car doors close. You waited for them to happen upon you in the nursery, so you were surprised when it was Nate that knocked at the door.
“Hi,” he whispered, stepping into the room. He studied the decorations as he approached the rocking chair you were sitting in. When he stepped up beside you and admired Linnea, you tried not to look up at him. You knew it wouldn’t help the butterflies in your stomach, but you did it anyway. He was smiling down at the peanut in your arms. “Mel and Gabe are in the kitchen. They saw you on the baby monitor and told me to come get you.”
“Okay, I’ll put her down and meet you in there.”
“I can wait for you,” he said, stepping away. You stood, cradling Linnea to the crib and then craning to put her down in the center. Nate was watching you intently from the doorway with an unreadable expression on his face.
He stepped out into the hallway first, but he wasn’t walking towards the kitchen. He stood, waiting for you to stepped out into the hallway and look at him. You gave him a half-assed smile, still feeling a little hurt that things had been so weird between you two, and he asked, “Are we okay?”
“We’re fine,” you answered. He wasn’t convinced, but you reached up and shoved him lightly to get him to move down the hall. He didn’t budge, hand coming up to grasp yours against his chest. The beating of his heart sat right at your fingertips. “How was your game?”
“It was good,” he answered. “I wish you were there.”
“Well, then, you should’ve asked me to come,” you said, quite boldly. His lips parted, but whether it was to speak or not you wouldn’t know because you were continuing down the hallway without him.
You slipped into the kitchen to find Mel, leaving the men on the couch in the living room. The moment you stepped in, she was turning to greet you with a smile. You hissed, “Are you behind this?”
“I mentioned you were babysitting, his eyes lit up, and Gabe was the one to invite him over.”
“Team effort?”
She feigned an apologetic smile before ushering you out to rejoin the boys. Gabe got the fire going and Mel curled in his chest once he settled back on the couch. You sat on the other end, legs extended towards Nate in the corner. You felt his eyes whenever there was a suspended silence. You knew he was thinking about you, and selfishly you relished in the attention.
“YN, did you know that Nate’s parents were visiting next weekend?” Gabe asked during a lull in conversation. Nate glared at him, but the Swede happily ignored his buddy at the center of the couch. His eyes cut to you.
“I didn’t,” you answered. “But that’ll be fun. I know how much you missed them.”
All he could offer was a stupid ‘yeah’ before Mel swooped in to save the entire group from a very awkward moment.
Nate was going to kill Gabe. He was going to kill Gabe, but first he had to make a decision. He knew exactly what he had to do. It felt like you were a thousand miles away, not only physically but emotionally. Gabe should’ve kept his mouth shut. He was going to have you meet his parents, he just hadn’t gotten the chance to ask. Now, he looked like a dick. You couldn’t even look him in the eye.
“I was going to tell you about my parents,” he said, practically chasing you down the driveway after you ducked out while he was in the bathroom. To his surprise, you stopped walking and waited for him to catch up. “Seriously.”
“It’s getting hard to believe that, Nate,” you said. “I don’t know what’s going on in your head.”
Nate felt his heart sink. He began to rack his brain for a way to salvage the conversation, but it was too late by the time you reached your car. You stopped before opening the door to look up at him.
“You’re thinking too much.”
“I just—I know you’re upset with me,” he began. “I want to make it better. We haven’t really talked since EJ’s, and that’s on me.”
“Were you going to invite me today?” you asked. He gave you a curious look. “To the game. Mel mentioned something about it at Cycle. That you told Gabe you were thinking about giving your ticket to me.”
Nate ran his hand over his face. The Landeskogs had really gotten him into some trouble here, and he wasn’t sure it was accidental.
“You’re the one I wanted at the game,” he admitted. “I wanted to invite you, but I knew how bad it would look if I didn’t ask Gianna.”
“So, you invited her,” you concluded.
“No.”
You looked at him in shock, mouth agape, and asked, “You’d rather no one go than give the ticket to her?”
“Well, when you put it that way,” he grumbled. You threw your arms up in surrender, hoping the words would sink in. “I don’t know, YN.”
“Yes, you do,” you argued. He kept his mouth shut at that, knowing you had enough. You sighed heavily, allowing the conversation to roll off your back. “When are your parents going to be here?”
“Saturday morning.”
“What are you planning to do?”
“They’ll be at my game in the afternoon and then I was getting us a reservation for dinner,” he trailed off only momentarily. “I haven’t made it yet because I was going to invite you, but Gabe beat me to the punch in there.”
“What about Gianna?”
“YN, if I didn’t want her at my game, why would I want her to meet my parents?” he asked. He made it sound like you were asking the stupidest question in the world. But, he wasn’t answering the most important one. Was he breaking up with her? You wanted to ask, but part of you didn’t want the disappointment. He worried while you thought.
“I’m around on Saturday,” you answered. He smiled, and you forced one back. You hated the feeling between you two. The air between you had never been so stuffy and you wanted to clear it. “Anything else you wanna tell me before the Landeskogs do? Is Sid actually your long-distance girlfriend?”
Nate laughed loudly as he stepped away. He answered your question cryptically, “No, nothing to tell you right now. Not yet.”
---
Lesson #4: Meeting the Family
You planned to meet Nate at his apartment before dinner since his parents had gone to the hotel upon arrival. On the way, you picked up a box of pastries from your favorite bakery. You were taught to do little things for important people, and anyone who was important to Nate felt important to you. You tried not to think about the implications of having dinner with his parents, but it was hard to shake the nerves.
“What’s this?” he asked as soon as he opened the door. His finger slid over the logo on the top of the pastry box, eyes catching on the word bakery. When he looked up at you, his eyes were shining. “For me?”
“For your family,” you told him. “Don’t get any ideas.”
“I thought maybe you heard about my break up and you were trying to comfort me,” he said like it wasn’t breaking news. “I’ll put these in the kitchen.”
“You broke up?” you asked, following him to the kitchen. You stopped in the doorway as he put the pastries on the counter. He nodded simply as he cleared some clutter from the countertop. You could see his muscles moving beneath his navy polo. Guiltily, you couldn’t stop yourself from admiring the way the sleeves hugged his biceps or the wide expanse of his back and shoulders. “What happened, Nate?”
“We can talk about it later, alright?”
“Are you single or not?” you asked. Nate caught the frustration in your tone and he’d be lying if it didn’t make him want to kiss you right then. You needed to know what was going on with him, and that made him feel good about whatever was going on between you two.
Nate started to exit the kitchen, but stopped in the doorway beside you. You were crowded against his chest as he smiled down at you and answered, “Yeah, I’m single.”
You released a breath once he stepped out of the doorway. He slipped his shoes on while you stood nearly the front door. He caught the look on your face, a little scrunched up as you spaced out. You were thinking too much, worrying about what happened with him and Gianna. When he walked back over to the front door, he took you by the hips and said, “We can talk about it later, if you want. Right now, I just want to be with you and my family.”
---
“I’m nervous,” you admitted as Nate pulled up to valet outside the restaurant. He looked at you in shock. “Don’t make fun of me.”
“I’m not gonna make fun of you,” he promised. He reached over and dropped his hand to your thigh. You pouted at him, and his first instinct was to lean over the center console and kiss it off your lips. He knew better than to risk it all just before dinner, so he grabbed your hand and dropped a kiss to your palm instead. “You’ll be fine. No need to be nervous.”
A heavy sigh left your lips as he stepped out of the car. He rounded the front and opened the passenger door for you, grabbing your hand as you stepped out. After he handed his key to the valet, he laced his hands in yours and led you into the restaurant.
The MacKinnons were already at the table that had been reserved for them. There was uproar of cheers when they saw Nate walk in. You stole a peek at his face and the pure joy on it set your heart aflame. He dropped your hand as you approached the table to hug his parents and sister. They introduced themselves to you as well, sweeping you up in tight embraces like they had with Nate.
“It’s great to finally meet you,” they spoke as they hugged you.
Nate pulled your chair out from across his mother and then situated himself beside you. The menus were passed out and Nate whispered suggestions in your ear while his family members debated their own meals. She took the time to calm her nervous. Parents loved her, so there was no reason to freak out. Eventually the drinks were handed out, orders were taken, and the chaos at the table stopped.
“Now, how’d you two meet again?” his mom asked. You looked at each other, stupidly, both stammering in response until Nate got his shit together.
“We met through friends,” he answered simply. Then, his lips curled up and he said, “She yelled at me.” You dropped your face into your hands, embarrassed by the picture he was painting of you, but they took it in stride, laughing at your expression. “It wasn’t that bad.”
He continued, “As you guys know, I’ve been very unlucky in my personal life.” Sarah snorted at this. Their mother smacked her knee as a scolding. “I literally suck at being romantic and all the guys were joking around about it after I’d just been broken up with. YN called me out, so I asked her to teach me how to be romantic.”
“Well, what’d you learn?”
“How to cook a meal other than my pregame types, and I also have a new favorite florist,” he said. He reached into his back pocket for his wallet and flipped it open to slip out their business card. You didn’t realize he grabbed one. “There are some other things, like her wine rule.”
“Wine rule?”
“Nothing good ever happens after the third glass of wine,” you explained. They laughed at that, though they seemed bewildered by your reasoning.
Nate elaborated, “It just means that if your date stays for a fourth glass, you’ll probably get lucky.”
This earned him a smack on the arm from both his sister and yourself.
Nate’s family was just as kind as he was and it was clear how much they all adored each other. You fit in seamlessly, at least that’s how it felt, and when they asked the waitress to take a picture of them, Nate tugged you into his side to keep you in the frame.
“Take one without me,” you urged him. He just shook his head, gazing down at the picture on his phone. He passed it off to his parents and sister for approval. “Nate.”
“I want you in the picture,” he whispered to you. His hand came up to the back of your neck and he pulled you in to place a chaste kiss to your temple. He pulled away, like kissing you in public and on the forehead was normal now, and asked, “How was your food?”
When you got back to his place after dinner, you presented his mother with the pastries and earned a hug and kiss on the cheek as a thank you. They settled into the kitchen as he made drinks, chatting as a family about the people back home and his life in Denver. You slipped out to go to the bathroom, and give them some alone time.
“I like her,” you overheard his mother say as soon as you slipped out of the kitchen. You slowed your steps on your pursuit to the bathroom even though you knew it would be best to keep walking. You couldn’t help but be a little nosy.
“That’s good to hear,” Nate said. You smiled to yourself. “I like her, too.”
---
Nate’s family only stayed for another hour before you were bidding them farewell from his front door. They squeezed you and thanked you for the pastries, and then began inviting you to visit before Nate had to shut it down. Your heart felt full after spending the night with them, but sitting alone in Nate’s apartment in anticipation of what was to come was scaring the shit out of you.
Your hands were a little shaky and your palms were definitely sweaty. There was change coming, change that was already present, and you were both excited and terrified for it. Nate reentered the apartment not long after. When he saw you sitting on the couch, he released a breath he’d been holding.
“Are you going to stay for another glass?” he asked after locking the door behind him. “That one’s only your second.”
You eyed his smile, heart beat stuttering a bit beneath his gaze, and lifted the glass to your lips to finished what was left. You nodded and followed him into the kitchen. While he filled both your glass and his, you picked yourself up onto the counter like you’d done so many times before.
“I did a bad thing,” he murmured after handing your glass back to you. You raised a brow at him as he reached over to one of the cabinets and opened it to reveal two pastries in a Ziploc bag. “I stole two of them from my mom.”
“Nate!” you exclaimed. He chuckled at your exasperation. “I can bring you to that bakery whenever you want! Your parents don’t live here! It was a gift!”
“And they have the other eleven pastries,” he argued. “They’re not going to miss two.”
Reluctantly, but still with a smile, you took a pastry from his hand. You bit into it at the same time, eyes lighting up at the taste. At the sight of each other’s faces, you were doubled over in laughter before you had the chance to swallow what was in your mouth. You looked away from him to regain composure and only looked back when you were sure you wouldn’t choke.
“Those were fucking good.”
“Only the best for your mom.”
“Thank you,” he spoke. “For the pastries and for hanging out with my family today. I’m sure you had other things to do, but it meant a lot. They’ve been hearing a lot about you.”
“I had a lot of fun with them,” you said. His smile was soft, shy even, and he watched you carefully as you sipped from the glass in your hand. “It was nice to meet the people who made you who you are.”
“Wait until you meet Sid.”
You decided to move from the kitchen to the living room in favor of more comfortable seating. He reached his hand out behind his back, and you linked your fingers with his lazily so he could lead you to the couch. You slowed to a stop as he sat down, legs spread to pull you between them. Your hesitation caused a look of confusion to flash over his features.
“Can you tell me what’s going on inside your head now?” you asked, placing your glass down on the table beside the arm of the couch. He followed suit, then placed his hand delicately at your hip to urge you closer.
“Sure, I can,” he answered. He pulled you into his lap. You looped her arms around his shoulders as he flattened one hand against your back and curled the other around your thigh. “I don’t want to waste those romance rules on someone I don’t really like all that much.”
“You really didn’t like her?” you asked meekly. Of fucking course he didn’t like her, you were thinking. You were in his lap, not her, but you still couldn’t wrap your head around it. “Why?”
“The only reason I looked forward to going on dates with her was because I got to spend time with you before,” he confessed. You felt it all through your body. “I broke up with her the morning after we were at Gabe’s together. After you called me out on my bullshit, I knew I was being stupid.”
“Why me, though?”
“Because you deserve the world and I want to be the one to give it to you.”
It was only natural for you to lean in and capture his lips with yours. After all this time spent waiting and beating around the bush, you didn’t want to wait a second more. It was passionate, and new, and exciting. His hands held you close while your fingers curled into the back of his hair, but he wasn’t close enough.
You swung your leg over to straddle him, not caring that you were wearing a dress with just panties underneath. His hands flew to your hips as you grinded against him. You gasped against his lips at the friction as he held you tighter, teeth nipping at your bottom lip until you covered his mouth with yours again. He guided your hips to grind against him once more, but you braced your hands against his chest to push away.
“I’m not staying for a fourth glass,” you said breathlessly. He smiled up at you, eyes falling to your lips that were red and plump from kissing him. Kissing him! He leaned in, tongue swiping along his bottom lip, and pulled you down by the back of the neck.
He murmured through his kisses, “You didn’t even finish your third.”
At the challenge in his voice, you reached over for the glass on the side table and finished what was left. He held you close, laughing against the crook of your neck. You giggled along with him until you felt his lips against your skin again and a gasp fell from your lips.
“You gotta leave before I pour number four,” he warned, breath ghosting over your neck. He kissed your neck again, this time sucking lightly enough to earn a strangled moan. You pushed back against his chest and stood, flustered as you adjusted your dress and your hair. Nate couldn’t help but smile as he watched you cross the room for your purse. He grabbed a pillow and held it over his lap to hide his hard-on.
“What are you doing tomorrow?” he asked as you put your heels on the end of the couch. He was admiring your flushed cheeks and your wild hair as you busied yourself. You fastened the strap on each heel before looking back at him. It took everything in you to not go back over there and unbutton the rest of his shirt.
“Nothing,” you answered as you stood. He followed suit, adjusting his dress pants just a bit so he was comfortable and making you giggle in the process. He stepped up beside you and pulled you against him again. He placed one, two, three kisses against your neck then your jaw then your lips.
“Let me make you dinner.”
---
Nate wasn’t going to be able to keep his hands to himself. He knew that the second you walked out of your room in that little black dress, but he was really trying to be on his best behavior. It was technically only your first date and he wanted to impress you. You just weren’t helping very much. As soon as you were in his car, you were grabbing his hand and lacing it with yours to drop them into your lap.
He was a little nervous that he wasn’t going to be able to pull this off. He was sure that he’d fuck up somewhere and you’d go running. And, truthfully, you could tell that he was overthinking every little thing he did. The tension in his shoulders as he moved about the kitchen to prepare everything for dinner was clear.
“What’s wrong with you?” you asked.
He gave you the most pathetic shrug and shake of the head as he tried to wave off your concern with a soft, “Nothing.”
“That’s a lie,” you called him out. “You look stressed.”
“I mean, I am a little stressed,” he admitted, diverting his eyes from yours as he headed over to the fridge. “I don’t want to fuck this up.”
Before he knew it, you were standing between him and the refrigerator. You flattened your hands against his chest and slid them up until your hands were linked behind his neck. A slight tug on him was enough to get him to kiss you. He finally relaxed, arms dropping from the refrigerator door to grip your hips.
“You’re not going to fuck this up.”
“I don’t have a very good track record.”
“You do with me,” you said softly. He looked skeptical, not quite understanding what you meant, so you pressed against him as his arms enveloped you. “You gave me a sunflower the third time we were ever around each other. You’ve cooked me dinner already. Sure, it was under different circumstances, but it counts. Nate, you know exactly what you’re doing. Don’t overthink it.”
“Go sit,” he said, pressing a kiss to the top of your head. You managed to calm his nerves better than anyone he’d ever known in a matter of seconds. “I’ll plate dinner and then I have to grab something for you, okay?”
Nate entered the dining room a minute later, placing both plates down across from each other before disappearing to grab wine glasses and another bottle of wine. Then, he was off down the hall to his bedroom. Your eyes followed him curiously, wondering what else he could possibly have up his sleeve. He’d already impressed you enough by cooking a meal you didn’t teach him.
“Oh, wow,” you breathed out when he appeared in the hallway with a bouquet of flowers. “Nate.”
“For you.”
You stood to take them from his hands and kiss him in thanks. When you pulled away, your fingers danced along the petals of the roses tucked between the sunflowers and baby’s breath Nate had grown to love too.
---
You filled your glass for a fourth time as inconspicuously as possible after your last bite of dinner, but Nate caught your eye over the bottle as you poured and you knew he knew what you were doing. He tried to stifle his smile unsuccessfully, picking up his own glass to cover it. One sip and his third glass was done.
“More?” you asked, extending the bottle in his direction.
“Four glasses?” he teased. “What do you take me for?”
“Okay, more for me then.”
Your voice was low, eyes dark as they settled on him, and suddenly he was lunging forward to grab the bottle and pour another glass for himself. Your giggles filled the room. He wanted them to echo off his walls forever.
“I want to take a picture with you,” he said. You gave him a curious look, though your stomach was doing cartwheels at the suggestion. “I keep thinking about your empty picture frame and I want you to have something to put in it.”
“We can take a selfie,” you suggested. He was quick to shake his head, pushing away from the table to take your hand and lead you to the patio. He pulled the phone from his back pocket and set it up against the couch. He removed the glass from your hand to place it out of view of the camera.
“Now, this is quite the set up,” you murmured as he moved furniture out of the way so there was ample space to take the photo. Denver’s city lights were sure to be the perfect backdrop and having Nate beside you wasn’t too bad either.
“Well, it has to be perfect if it’s going in your office.”
“How do you know I’ll even want to put it in the frame?” you asked. Nate pressed the timer and turned to walk back at you, smirk on his lips. You were teasing him, but you were playing innocent with those doe eyes. He curled around you, arms pulling your back against his chest to pose for the picture.
“After tonight, I’m sure you will,” he murmured in your ear. “Smile.”
The audacity of a man who tells you to smile after igniting your entire body in goosebumps.
The camera went off in a sequence, five pictures for the one timer. You smiled twice before he reached up to turn your face to his for a kiss. The sound of the shutter had you pulling away from his lips with a giggle. He smiled down at you for the next photo as laughter spilled from your lips, and then he was kissing you again.
When you finally pulled away from him, all giggly and handsy, Nate dragged you along with him to his phone. He curled around you as he flipped through the photos, each one cuter than the one before.
“Are you saying you wouldn’t put that in your office?” he asked. His breath tickled the back of your neck. You were just trying to tease him before, but with the lack of space between you and the way he was looking at you in these photos, you just couldn’t tease him anymore. His fingers trailed up your arms, goosebumps rising in their wake once again.
“How’s that fourth glass of wine treating you?” you asked. Nate tucked the phone in his back pocket as you turned to face him. His hands were on you once they were free, curling over the curve of your ass.
“I shouldn’t have let you talk me into it,” he murmured against your lips. “I’m trying to be good, but it’s impossible to keep my hands to myself.”
“What if I don’t want you to keep your hands to yourself?” you against, arching your body to press against him. You could feel him hard against your hip and knew you had him exactly where you wanted him. You pressed your lips to his and, as you pulled away, you took his bottom lip between your teeth and sucked on it.
A growl ripped through his chest as he lifted you into his arms. Your legs came to wrap around his waist as he carried you into the apartment and slammed the patio door shut behind him. He dropped you onto the bed, one hand coming to tug you towards the end by the ankle. His hands spread your legs so he could step between them and they slid up your thigh, pushing your dress up as they went.
“You don’t know how badly I’ve wanted to do this,” he murmured in your ear as his hands reached your hip, dress bunching around his wrists and revealing your lace panties to him. “Stealing touches in a crowded room just doesn’t compare.”
You lifted your arms as he guided the dress over your body and tossed it to the floor. At the sight of your match set, Nate pushed you up the bed and crawled over you. He peppered kisses along your skin from your collarbone to your chest. He worked his way down your stomach until reaching the top of your underwear. In on swift movement, your thong was on the floor and he was spreading your legs.
“So pretty,” he murmured, fingers spreading your folds. You moaned out as he slipped his finger in. “You like my fingers in your pussy, baby?” You could only manage to nod because he’d already slipped a second finger in. He curled them while he pressed a kiss against your inner thigh. “How about my tongue?”
Nate licked a stripe up your center and you gasped, hands flying down to curl into his hair as he continued to eat you out. He sucked on your pussy, continuing to thrust his fingers into and curl. He dragged moans out of you, obscene words dripped from your lips, and the filthy sound of his tongue filled the room.
“You taste so good.”
You tried to grind against face for some more friction, but he held your hips down and continued. You whined, tugging his hair and arching your back as he brought you to orgasm.
“Nate, I’m gonna cu—” you moaned, toes curling at the feet of his lips around you. Suddenly, cool air shocked your core and your orgasm retreated. You sighed as your whole body sank into the bed at the absence of stimulation. Nate crawled up your buddy, licking a stripe up your neck before attaching his lips to yours.
“Sorry, baby,” he said. He nudged your knees apart and situated himself between them, hand falling to his dick as he lined it up with your entrance. “I just need you to cum on my cock.” You moaned as he pushed his head between your folds. “YN, as long as you’re mine, I’ll never make you feel like you don’t deserve all the most romantic things.”
You answered with a moan as he bottomed out inside you. He watched your face as you adjusted to his size and smiled as you whimpered, pulling your teeth between your lips. You felt so good around him and as he began to pull out and thrust in again, your nails dug into his biceps.
You knew he was trying to take his time, but you could hardly take it. As far as you were concerned, Nate would have all the time in the world to take it slow with you. Tonight was not that night.
“Fuck me harder.”
When you sounded like that beneath him, how could he say no? His previously slow and calculated thrusts became sloppy at your request. He relished in the sound of your moaning and the way you called his name like a prayer. You were unraveling beneath him and he wanted to get you there. He adjusted your leg over his shoulder so he could hit a new angle.
“Come on, baby,” he moaned against your lips. “I wanna see you cum for me.”
He reached down and placed his thumb against your clit, rubbing in circles as he pumped into you. You screamed out and your body arched as your orgasm ripped through you. Nate pumped into you a few moments more as he chased his high while listening to your whimpers. He spilled out into his condom as a string of curses left his lips, then collapsed onto of you to catch his breath.
Your fingers immediately found his hair as your breathing evened out together. His body was hot on yours and a sheen of sweat covered both of you. Nate’s fingers curled around your waist and into your skin, squeezing you like he needed to get closer but couldn’t. Finally, he pulled out of you and sat back on his knees.
“You’re so beautiful,” he sighed, hands rubbing up your stomach to cup your breasts. You shivered at his touch. “I never want to leave this bed.”
“Not even for shower sex?”
“Okay, maybe for shower sex,” he murmured. He picked you up, tossing you over his shoulder to carry you to the bathroom.
---
A few hours (and orgasms later), you were clothed in Nate’s sweats and t-shirt and waiting for him beneath the covers in bed. He was cleaning up the glasses you left on the patio and running the dishwasher, though he was quick to finish it up and return to you. You looked so cute propped up against the headboard that he couldn’t stop smiling as he got ready for bed. He pulled on a pair of sweats, but remained topless as he slid under the covers. Instead of pulling you down to rest on his chest, he dropped his head onto your stomach and pulled you tightly to him. Your fingers carded through his hair.
“Thank you for tonight, Nate,” you spoke. “This was the best first date I’ve ever been on.”
“I’m counting this as our fourth date,” he responded. You laughed at him, slapping his bicep lightly at his teasing. “Let’s be honest, I was trying to impress you this entire time anyway.”
“Consider me impressed.”
Nate pulled you down to eye level with him, heads on your respective pillows, and then turned to shut the lamp off beside him. When he turned back, he pulled you against his chest. With your ear to his chest, you listened to his heartbeat and his breathing as it evened out. His fingers scratched your back ever-so-slightly as if soothing you to sleep.
“Are you happy?” he asked. You looked up at him with a curious gaze. Could he not tell how happy you were?
“Of course, I am,” you answered. “Are you?”
“How could I not be?” he asked. “You’re so far out of my league.”
“No, I’m not,” you groaned. You covered your blushing face with your hands at his words, hoping that he couldn’t feel the beat of your heart. Nate was quick to tug them down, holding them against his own chest. He didn’t care if you felt how hard his heart was beating. In fact, he wanted you to know. He wanted you to know the effect you had on him.
“You feel my heart, right?” he asked. You nodded. “You did that. You do that to me every single time I’m around you.” Your eyes began to water and you tried to pull your hand away from his to wipe the water pooling in the corner. Nate grabbed both your hands with one of his and wiped it with his own thumb. “I’ll never let you go to bed thinking I don’t love you. I’m going to shower you with flowers from our favorite florist and buy you pastries from that little shop you like, and I’ll never make you feel like you need to stifle yourself and who you are on account of me.”
“Nate.”
“Just listen to me, alright?” he asked, voice soft. You nodded. “Your ex stuffed you down and he didn’t appreciate you. That’ll never happen with me, and if you feel like it is, you need to tell me, just like you did when we first met.”
You tried to stammer through some type of coherent response, but words failed, so you kissed him. His arms wrapped around your waist to pull you flush against him and your legs intertwined. He was intoxicating, you couldn’t get enough, but he felt just the same. He wondered how anyone had let you go before and simultaneously thanked them for the gift that was you.
That night, Nate vowed he’d never let you go to bed unhappy and he’d never let you feel any less than perfect. He waited forever for a partner like you, honest and kind, and he finally had it in his hands, in his bed. And you promised that you’d never love anyone as much as you loved him. You just knew it.
#nate mackinnon imagine#nate mackinnon fic#nate mackinnon#nhl imagine#hockey imagine#nathan mackinnon imagine#nathan mackinnon fic
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HSMTMTS 2x12 Review
Second Chances was a lacklustre finale for an uneven season. Let’s dig in!
Earlier this week I re-watched S1 in preparation for the S2 finale and the contrast between the two seasons is jarring. In almost every way S2 has been worse and after seeing this finale I’m less optimistic that Tim will be able to fix the long list of things that have gone wrong. Tim has said in some of his interviews today that pretty much all of S2 was written before the pandemic and that they didn’t have to do as much re-writing as people might think due to the stringent safety measures Disney put in place. Of course, that removes an excuse for the bad writing we’ve seen so much of this season as according to Tim what we saw of S2 is largely what he envisioned minus big crowds and background dancers.
Across his many interviews today, the one consistent point is that Tim does not have any real plans for future seasons; things like Ricky’s endgame he hasn’t decided on and he can’t even guarantee the summer season the finale sets up due to the weather in Salt Lake. I do think a S3 is an almost certainty given the show’s popularity but I’ll take Tim at his word that he truly doesn’t know if they’ll be renewed since it seems to be a new Disney tradition to wait until seasons are done airing before making a renewal decision (the same thing happened for the popular and well received Mighty Ducks: Game Changers which got a silent renewal only after all of S1 aired). That being said as poor of a season finale as Second Chances is it is also a terrible potential series finale. In large part it goes back to his lack of planning, he wants to keep all options open but in doing so Tim is crippling the show’s ability to deliver any pay offs or tie up loose ends.
The one mostly well done plot line this season was Portwell which got a happy ending tonight as they canoned. The only good thing about the big brother angst was that it was so insane that it had to be addressed and sure enough it was and Gina got her first kiss with a guy she really liked. If Tim is to be believed the reason we didn’t get an on screen Portwell kiss was not because of their age difference or covid concerns but because he felt that everyone’s first kiss was different so he wanted it off screen so viewers could fill in the blanks themselves. Tim’s line of reasoning is profoundly stupid. Imagine if they had Jamie show up and he and Gina talked off screen and Tim tried to claim that because everyone has a different relationship with their own siblings that he wanted the audience to fill in the blanks as to how their conversation went!
Still we saw great character development on Gina and EJ’s part as both really grew from the people they were in S1. As Tim noted, EJ bringing Gina back in 1x10 was kind of the set up for this story line. The only thing missing was a brief Portwell scene sometime in eps 2x01-2x04 to set them up. The consistent development they got from 2x05-2x12 is unlike any other ship on the show; only Rini exceeds their development.
Unfortunately I don’t think that will last in S3 because Tim will always favour Ricky over EJ and if he wants to do Rina he’ll dispose of Portwell before doing so. I was surprised that they never bothered to have Ricky and Gina have a conversation about Gina’s S1 confession. It was a huge mistake to have Gina pine over Ricky for half the season and it was no surprise that Gina’s story line got instantly better once she stopped interacting with Ricky. Tim has made clear in interviews that he’s still interested in the possibility of Rina which makes his poor writing of them even more bizarre. What conclusions are the audience supposed to draw from the Rina story line this season? That Ricky never cared that much about Gina? That it’s totally fine for the show if they don’t interact for 6 eps in a row? That Gina has moved on? I’ve said before that a wiser man than Tim would recognize that doing both Portwell and Rina will do tremendous damage to the show and he should pick one and not do the other. Of course he’s not that smart but it is wild how he’s accidentally written their story line to make for a perfect end to Rina.
Second Chances was great and is the only part of the finale that would have been well suited to being part of a potential series finale.
The Rini closure was a sad inverse of their S1 opening night confession. They’ve fallen so far from being the it couple of the series and I fear Tim doesn’t actually know what to do with them now. He really needs to decide if he’s tearing down that treehouse for real.
The less said about the Valentine’s chocolates the better but at least Gina and Nini are cool again and Nini can explore her budding music career with Jamie’s help. Tim repeatedly said in interviews that the scripts about Nini’s music career were all written before Driver’s License came out and I think he understands that the audience is just going to see the show as copying from Olivia’s life.
The wildcats just deciding to drop out of the Menkies was a lame cop out. Tim has said he always meant for that to happen though they were originally going to compete at the Menkies then drop out (presumably that’s where we would have heard Lily singing Home). Somebody should have mentioned the $50 000 prize money which the East High theatre department could surely use after Miss Jenn and Mr. Mazzara burned it down (remember that story line that had no consequences?). And that NYU scholarship could have been life changing for one of them and yet no one even brought it up once this season.
I did like the twist that it was EJ and his dad who got Mazzara into Caltech. He’d be a fool not to take it but I’m glad he confessed to Miss Jenn. She’s had a really rough season and I hope she redeems herself in S3.
Howie was acting so weird tonight and last ep that I have a hard time believing he was really so awed by Kourtney’s talent rather than feeling guilty for helping to steal the harness. The harness is another useless plot device; there are no consequences for Lily stealing it, she’s not caught, East High pulls off another version of the transformation off screen, and then East High withdraws from the Menkies anyways. Doubtless the harness will eventually come up to serve Rily angst.
At least Lily was straightforward, I’ll give her that. She has such an odd way of speaking, almost child like. As awful as it is there is potential for a forbidden/secret romance story line with Rily. It really does not speak well to Ricky’s character that he’s so easily fallen for Lily’s act when he has no reason to trust her and she never apologized for making fun of Big Red during the auditions or making Ashlyn feel insecure during the dance off.
The one way in which S2 was drastically better to S1 was in regards to the Seblos story line. Clearly Joe being bumped up to regular made a big difference. We got the first same-sex kiss between two boys and the first love song sung by one boy to another in Disney history and that is a legacy to be proud of. Of course, there was still some Disney censorship such as Carlos and Seblos being unable to use the word gay in the same ep that focused on Carlos singing In a Heartbeat to Seb.
S1 of HSMTMTS had a clear direction, the wildcats would have to try and come together to stage High School Musical and Ricky and Nini would have to decide if they still had a future together while Gina and EJ had to work on being better versions of themselves. It was simple sure but it worked very well. There was a lot of heart but also a lot of humor and the show never took itself too seriously. What has S2 had? Beauty and the Beast was hardly the main focus of the cast or the writers and the central couple that S1 was built around is now broken up either for a long time or for good. There was a lot less of the meta moments that jokes that made S1 such a hit, for far too many eps this season the show took itself way too seriously. Hell even the lighting this season was darker than in S1.
Olivia Rodrigo’s team had complained in a recent article that Olivia wouldn’t be able to potentially tour until fall 2022 due to her contractual commitments which is a sign that they think a S3 is very likely though I wonder how late S3 filming would have to start to keep her occupied until late 2022. There’s no confirmation of this but I thought it might be worth keeping an eye on; a post on r/hsmtmts by someone who claims to have a source working on production says that the plan is for S3 to be a summer theatre camp possibly with Camp Rock renditions and the plan for S4 is to jump 6 months ahead to the final semester of senior year and end with Ricky, Nini, Big Red, and Kourtney graduating from East High. They also say that part of the delay in the S3 announcement is a conflict between Tim and Disney executives. Tim wants to move production to LA and film on sets as it’s easier and cheaper while the Disney execs still want some on location shooting in Salt Lake. Again this is all unconfirmed but if it pans out it will represent a major shift in the series.
Regardless if Tim wants the show to remain successful he needs start planning out what he wants to happen. He should not assume he’s getting more than 4 seasons. If the series gets a S3 but then is suddenly cancelled then how would he want all the main story lines to wrap up? And if they make it to S4 where does he see it ending? The graduation of the current juniors is a logical series ending point but if Tim wants to do something different he needs to start thinking of that now. I can’t say I’m excited anymore for S3 but I do really hope that Tim and his writers can turn things around and that will only happen if they recognize what they did wrong and learn from their mistakes.
Until next season Wildcats
#HSMTMTS#Portwell#Rini#Gina Porter#EJ Caswell#Ricky Bowen#Nini Salazar-Roberts#Kourtney Greene#lily#HSMTMTS Reviews
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Drummer Boy
(Connie Springer x Female Reader | NSFW)
A/N: So i was using the bathroom and then BOOM Connie fic idea. In conclusion, using the bathroom=best ideas.
Also I wrote this awhile back and since it’s Connie’s bday today, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to post it.
Warnings: Connie with eyeliner, Smut: Fingering, rough sex, and Connie grabbing the headboard
Summary: Y/N and her childhood best friend, Connie grew apart when once they began college. Three years later, Connie sees Y/N practicing and his feelings return for her.
*2,785 words*
Songs I listened to while writing:
Bubblegum Bitch by Marina and the Diamonds
Bad Romance (Lady Gaga) by Halestorm [Cover]
You and Connie used to be close friends since you were three all the way up to college.
Even though you two were best friends, you were polar opposites. He was an extrovert and you enjoyed quiet time by yourself. You had straight As, and Connie on the other hand, struggled in school. A D was an A to him. And although Connie was more popular than you, there was always one thing that brought you two together. Music.
Music has always been something you two can bond over. You played the violin and he played the drums. Even though you two enjoyed different genres of music, you understood each other's passion. Connie always wanted to play in a band and you always wanted to travel with a big orchestra and be first chair. You two understood each other's motives and worked hard everyday.
When you two started to grow up, you guys made a promise to never forget about each other when you two become famous. But that promise was broken, when you went to college. You and Connie both attended the same university, but became distant as you two joined different groups. You guys didn't realize the relationship died, it just gradually happened.
You both were caught up in different careers and lost time for each other.
You two met again, while you were practicing your solo, for an upcoming concert. You didn't realize anyone walked in until you heard the sound of clapping and a voice. "Wow!"
Your eyes adjusted to the figure below and you realized it was Connie. "That was amazing Y/n, you really have grown." He flashed a smile and you gave him a small one in return.
"Thanks Connie." You started to place your instrument in the case.
"How you've been?" He asked softly.
"Fine. And you?" You turned around to make eye contact with him.
"Good." You two stood in awkward silence. It's been so long since you two interacted with each other. You didn't know what to say. You guys haven't talked since freshman year of college, you're a senior now.
"Well, I'll go now." You gave him another small smile and proceeded. As you were heading out, you heard him call out your name.
"Wait Y/N!" You turned around and saw him jogging towards you. "Come to my gig tomorrow night."
"I don't know, I think I have practice tomorrow."
"Well if you don't." He pulled out a folded piece of paper out his pocket and handed it to you. "You're always welcomed." You studied the flyer and saw at the top, "10 pm: Riot of the Red Heart will be performing, 'There's a Hole in My Stomach.'"
"I'll see." You smiled and left the building.
*
You plopped on the bed and studied the flyer. "Riot of the Red Heart," you said to yourself. You decided to look them up and was amazed how popular they were on campus. You noticed they had an Instagram and clicked on their page. There were three members: Connie, a girl and a guy. The guy hair was pretty long and he had a beard, and also played guitar. The girl, you assumed was the main singer, had light brown hair and in her right hand was a potato.
As you continued to scroll through their page, you took note how happy Connie looked. Something in your heart twisted as memories came back, but you suppressed them and told yourself that you were happy that he was happy.
Unlike Connie, you didn't make any close friends during your four years of college. You had one friend named Mikasa and that was because she was your stand partner in orchestra, but outside of practice, you two never talked and if you did, it was only about what time practice was.
You put your phone on the charger and placed the flyer on the nightstand next to you, heading off to bed.
*
The next day you found out you didn't have practice and a part of you was happy that you could have a break. You decided to head back to your dorm and take a nap. It was rare for you to go a day without practicing, but you deserved it. You've practiced so much that your shoulders hurt more than usual. You would always forget to do stretches before and after practicing and would have to suffer the consequences because of that. As you drifted off to sleep you thought about Connie and wondered what he was doing right now.
*
"You guys excited for the night?!" Connie said wrapping his arms around Jean and Sasha's shoulders.
"Yep!" Sasha exclaimed, "Also after our performance can we go out to eat? I was thinking about that steak house down the street."
"Do you wanna go there because you've been crushing on that waiter?" Jean teased.
"What's his name?" Connie scratched his head and then smirked, "Niccolo?"
Sasha elbowed Connie in the side and walked off, " That's not true,
I just liked the food there." Sasha crossed her arms while staring at the pavement trying to hide her embarrassment. "
"Mhmm, whatever you say." Jean remarked.
"Oh guys I invited someone." Connie spoke up.
"OOO who??" Sasha said.
"Her name's Y/n, she's a childhood friend." Connie rubbed the top of his head. "I want you guys to meet her."
"Oh she must be really special," Jean teased Connie.
"Yeah she is actually."
"Well I cant wait to meet her." Sasha said while throwing her arm around Connie's shoulders. Ever since Connie saw you yesterday, he couldn't get you out of his head. Connie used to have crush on you from middle school all the way to high school, but it left as you two grew apart. But those feeling returned when he saw you playing.
He didn't say anything that day when he entered the building and saw you practicing. He just stared in awe as you engrossed yourself in the music. Although you music was placed in front of you, your eyes were closed. It made him think how hard you have been working that you didn't even need to look at the music. He hoped you come tonight because he really missed you, and wanted to start over with you and possible relationship.
*
When you woke up , you saw that it was 9:00 pm. Your eyes then traveled to the flyer next to your clock. Connie's performance started in an hour. "I guess I could go." You said to yourself as you got ready.
You threw on a sweatshirt and jeans and fixed your hair before grabbing your purse.
Connie's band was performing at a small place called, The Corps Club.
When you entered the club, there were a lot of people, but it was pretty calm. Everyone was genuinely having a good time and you cursed yourself for not bringing Mikasa with you. You felt awkward as you sat at the bar fiddling with your purse, hoping to see Connie.
"Can I get you something?" A bartender said while cleaning a cup.
"Just a lemonade please, thank you." You were so focused on watching the bartender pour your drink you didn't even notice the presence beside you.
"Y/N Hey!" It was Connie. You took in his appearance and noticed he had on black eyeliner and wore a gray shirt that no sleeves along, a sliver necklace around his neck, and a chain that hooked to his pants. "I wasn't expecting you to come." He leaned on the table, "Hey Levi I'll pay for it."
"Oh no Connie that's okay." You protested but the man already took the money. "Thank you." You said softly while taking a sip of your drink.
"Thanks for coming y/n, I really appreciate it."
"Of course."
Connie then grabbed your arm and pulled you through the crowds of people. "I want you to meet my friends." He shouted and lead you through a door. "Guys I want you to meet y/n."
You seen them before, but it was different seeing them in person. "Y/N this is Sasha and Jean."
"It's so nice to meet you!" Sasha said and then pulled you into a hug. "Any special friend of Connie's is ours too. You want some chips?"
"No thanks," You said, your face heating up slightly at the thought of Connie talking about you to his friends.
"I'm Jean." He said as he held out his hand. You didn't imagine him to be so tall you thought as you shook his hand. "Connie you didn't tell us your friend was hot." Your eyes widened at his words.
"Jean please shut up you're making her uncomfortable." Connie said while hitting the back of his head.
"Anyways y/n, we're performing a song called There's a Hole in My Stomach. It's about a guy and girl who are twin flames, but the girl gets shot in her stomach and the boy basically loses another piece of himself." Your mouth opens slightly at the sad, but oddly specific, story behind the song. "I know right depressing, but it was Connie's idea." Sasha continued.
"We have five minutes 'till we perform...Y/N I'll show you a good spot to watch us." Connie said while grabbing your arm. He led you to the front row, "This seems like a good spot." He then pulled you into a hug and you felt your heart beat quicken. "Thank you y/n," he whispered into your ear. He pulled away and ran off, leaving you stunned.
You were blown away how good Connie's band was. Although the topic of their song was depressing, they played as if it wasn't. The three complemented each other so well. Sasha's voice was also beautiful and powerful. Jean played the guitar with a smirk plastered on his face as he rocked his head back and forth (let me stop before i turn this into a jean fic).
You then looked over to Connie and saw how intense he was as he hit the drums. It was like he was different person. You seen him play the drums before in high school, but that was nothing compared to now. His muscles flexed as he drummed. You thought he looked sexy, especially with the sweat gliding down his face and his eye liner starting to smudge. As if he heard your thoughts, Connie made eye contact with you and winked and quickly looked away.
After the performance you met up with the three and congratulated them. "You guys did amazing and Sasha your voice is so beautiful."
"Thank you." She said while wiping the sweat off her forehead. They all were sweating and you saw how Connie's eyeliner was now smeared across his eyes. "Are you coming with us to eat?"
"Oh no, it's late, I need to get back to my dorm."
'Are you sure Y/N?" Connie said while patting his neck with a towel.
"Yeah..Thank you."
"Well let me walk you back since it's late." He said while throwing his towel on the couch.
"Bye y/n!" Jean and Sasha said as you and Connie headed out.
The walk back to your dorm was silent until Connie said, "Thank you for coming. I'm so happy to see you again."
You smiled, "Of course Connie."
"It's been a long time since we seen each other." You hummed in agreement. "I missed you so much y/n" Connie stopped walking and stared into your eyes.
"I missed you too." There was tension between you two and you didn't know why, but you continued walking anyway.
You two were now in front of your dorm's door. "Thank you for inviting me Connie. Good night." As you were going to open your door Connie then said, "Y/n wait." You turned around in confusion.
"I want to start over."
"What?"
"I really missed you. Like a lot." You nodded your head, confused to where he was going with this. "Fuck it." He then pulled you by your waist and pressed his lips against yours. Your eyes widened at his sudden actions. You knew you should've pulled away but you couldn't.
You two were now in your dorm and you made out with each other as you straddled his waist at the edge of your bed. His tongue explored your mouth as he rubbed and squeezed your thighs.
Wanting more friction, you decided to rock against him and he groaned in your mouth. "Keep doing that." He said against your lips as he slid his hands under your sweatshirt to unstrap your bra. You were still in shock that you were making out with your old best friend, but that thought left when you felt his big hands cup your breasts and his thumbs circle your nipples.
He pinched and twisted your nipples as his mouth traveled from your cheek to your neck to suck on the skin.
You ran your hands through his hair and noticed that it was longer than last time you remembered. You giggled as a memory of you calling Connie a bald penguin popped up in your mind.
He then took your sweatshirt off and stared at your breast and then he squeezed your hips, urging you to keep grinding on him. "Stop staring."You whispered in embarrassment. He then attached his mouth to your nipple and you gasped at the wet feeling. His hands traveled your body up and down, his hands rubbing your curves and then cupping your ass as you continued rocking against him.
Your panties were wet and you wanted nothing more than for him to touch you where you most needed it. He didn't notice you unbuttoned your pants until you grabbed his hand and slid it down to cupped you down there. He felt how warm and wet you were and began caressing you gently through your underwear.
He then pulled your panties to the side and rubbed a finger up and down your folds before placing his middle finger inside of you. You hid your face in his neck as you rocked against him while he placed another finger inside of you. He rubbed his other hand up and down your back to ease you. "You're so beautiful," he said softly before placing a third finger inside of you.
"Connie" You moaned his name and that's when he lost it. He pulled his fingers out of you and laid you on your back. He shoved your pants and underwear down while he peppered kisses on your neck. You kicked the remaining clothing off your legs and pulled his shirt off while you wrapped your legs around his waist.
You two were now fully naked as Connie teased your folds with his penis. You bit your lip in anticipation. "Connie pl-" before you could finish he pushed himself inside of you and you clawed at his back as he stretched you out. He moved slowly first and you watched as his chain dangled in front of your face. You took that opportunity to grabbed him by his chain and pull him into a kiss.
He started to pick up his pace and you had to hold onto his shoulders for support. "So fucking tight." He said as he watched how you took him so well. When he felt you loosen up, he took the opportunity to lift your legs over his shoulder and pound into you. This new angle had you gasping for air as his hips snap against the back of your thighs.
His hand was gripping the headboard to go faster and his other hand also had a death hold grip on your waist, you knew there will be a bruise there tomorrow but you didn't mind. The more you said his name, the faster he would go.
He slowed down a bit when he felt your walls clench around him. You were close and he had to control himself because he wanted to make you cum first before him.
Your eyes rolled to the back of your head as you came intensely and then a few moments later, Connie also came.
Connie then pulled out and collapsed on top of your body, then proceeded to give you small kisses between your breast. You both were breathing hard and you felt a small smile slowly form on your face. "I know this wasn't the proper way to build our relationship back up." He said against your skin. "Let me make it up to you and take you out tomorrow." He looked up at you through his long eyelashes.
You smiled and brought his head up to kiss him again, "I would love that."
*
*
*
Follow me on Instagram @//jungjaehoe127
#connie springer#connie smut#eren season 4#levi x y/n#eren x reiner#connie x sasha#jean kirchstein#sasha braus#aot x reader#aot season 4#aot spoilers#attack on titan#anime#aot annie#female#isayamahajime#levi aot#eren aot#shingeki no kyoujin x reader#eren jaeger#titan shifters#mangadrawing#aot manga#marco aot#eldians#marleyans#founding titan#ymir aot#mikasa ackerman
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I just watched Batman and DC has once again drawn me into their waters with siren song before they will most likely drown me again.
Thoughts and feelings under the cut (major spoiler talk so spoiler warning!!!), but the short version is I love it.
First off let me get this off my chest: year three Batman year three Batman year three Batman year three Batman year three Batman year three Batman-
On a serious note I just love that they approached Batman in his early days without going all the way to the beginning. So often in the movies those days of Batman still figuring stuff out and making major mistakes with major consequences just don’t get explored but now we did!!
And while I’m not surprised at all I am very happy about Matt Reves’ and Robert Pattinson’s approach to Batsy. I’m talking emo I’m talking in a serious mental health crisis I’m talking on constant verge of crying (yeah people really weren’t joking about that) I’m talking self destructive and one track minded but ready 👏for 👏change👏
Like the fact that Bruce didn’t know Spanish enough to pick up on the grammatical error. The fact that the Riddler himself was like “oh you’re not as smart as I thought you were”. This movie let Bruce make mistakes and I for one am here for it.
Speaking of the Riddler I am so happy we finally have him back! Like thinking about it now he is the perfect franchise-starter villain because his aesthetic and his means demand all the basic elements of Batman that make him who he is: the mystery solving (detective Batsy!), the weird and wacky but also really dark looks, the multiple villains being kind of parallels/foils to Bruce!
Also I was pretty worried they would turn the Riddler into a Joker wannabe the same way Batman V Superman did Lex (I don’t hate that movie but it did Lex dirty), but he actually got to be his genuinely own thing! And they drew on different elements of the different ways the Riddles has been characterized over the years at that!
Sidenote one of my two pet peeves about this movie was the Joker reveal at the end (I am just so so tired of the Joker), but I’m willing to let it go if it just means we’ll get a full rogues gallery one day rather than this becoming a Joker franchise.
Speaking of rogues gallery Selina motherf*cking Kyle! Fashion girl Selina is back and she is rocking the prettiest leather looks in town to the point where even emo Bruce can pick her boots out from miles away. But even more important she gets to be the Catwoman brand of morally grey. Like, she’s the kind to pick up strays of any kind and only attacks/takes money hits on those she categorizes as morally bad, but she’s also convinced the world is doomed and that murder is the only end to violence and corruption. We really got to understand why her and Bruce are so perfect for each other but can’t really be together either.
And the way she fit into the story! Like it wasn’t just “look, there’s Catwoman doing her thing to the side!”, but instead that she was an instrumental player to the story.
My other pet peeve was that several of the romance-ish scenes between Selina and Bruce were so corny they took me out of it. Like Bruce awkwardly staring at her body and the romantic strings every time they were in the same frame. I love BatCat and maybe they needed this level of cheese for what is essentially a 24/7 drama queen movie (an observation not a diss), but I could have dealt with a little less of it. Cornyness aside the overall arch between the two was really good though.
Also James Wright is the best Gordon. That may be a personal opinion and not a fact, but It’s my fact.
This movie really was so dramatic from the Ave Maria and Nirvana to the artsy cinematography (which my basic film girl ass is very much here for) the constant melodrama. It might be bad in another world, but for Batman? For year three Batman? It’s what he needs and it’s what we as an audience deserve.
While we’re on the topic of cinematography this movie is so pretty. Like especially the lighting and the texture, it felt so up close and personal. I especially loved the Ice Lounge shots and the car chase with Penguin (I mean come on).
Not to mention that this really was a Bruce Wayne origin story. I love how in contrast to the trilogy this movie was about Bruce realizing he needs to be more than a selfmade weapon against crime. That when he does things thast way he’ll (however unintentionally) inspire people to do what the Riddler did. And how seeing Selina go down the same vengeance path he has carved out for himself helped him see that path in a whole new light. His parents may have been stupid at best and willfully colluding with corrupt forces at best, but Bruce has a duty to help as himself for the community and for himself. (and shoutout to mayor Reál, I am rooting for her)
I probably have a lot more thoughts and feelings but just. This f*cking movie.
#the potato rants#the batman#batman#bruce wayne#selina kyle#catwoman#james gordon#the riddler#dc comics#the batman spoilers
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It might be foolish, but you got me all soft
Read on Archive here.
Kate's nose crinkles as she watches Penelope and Colin. Their feet dance with one another underneath the table. He leans over, whispering something in her ear that makes her giggle. Their smiles are brighter than the fluorescent lights of the coffee shop. Watching them is almost blinding.
"You guys are so cute," Kate observes with puckered lips. "I hate that."
Penelope turns to Kate with a bemused expression. "No, you don't. You love us."
"Love isn't the word coming to mind. Nauseated is more like it."
"Kate, everyone finds us adorable," Colin insists, wrapping an arm around Penelope. "It's not a matter of opinion. It's just a fact."
"I'm happy for you two. Honestly, I am. But you're acting so lovey-dovey and sweet that it makes my teeth ache," Kate jokes, picking up her coffee for a sip.
"If we make your teeth ache, then you and Anthony cause cavities," Colin mutters.
Kate chokes a little on her mocha, causing a few patrons to give her odd looks.
"Excuse me?"
"Colin, we talked about this," Penelope says through gritted teeth, shooting him a disapproving look.
"No, you talked about how we weren't supposed to say anything because they're both so jumpy about it, but I disagreed," Colin protests. "Someone needs to open their eyes."
"Hello, I'm still right in front of you," Kate says, waving her hands at them. "Open my eyes to what?"
Colin and Penelope argue with their eyes for a few moments before Penelope cracks, nodding. Colin turns to Kate with a sly grin.
"That you're in love with my brother."
It was a good thing she wasn't drinking that time, or she'd have to spit her coffee all over them. Although, perhaps a spritz of hot coffee would wipe the amusement off of Colin's face.
Kate feels her cheeks heat. She opens her mouth, but only incomprehensible protesting sounds come out.
"It's nothing to be embarrassed about," Colin says, his smile turning softer. "He loves you too."
"That is not true," Kate insists, standing up straighter in her chair. "I don't love him, and he certainly doesn't love me. Right, Penelope?"
When Kate turns to Penelope, the friend she usually can rely on for back-up is instead chewing her lower lip.
"Well...."
"Pen!"
"I'm sorry, but Kate, Colin's right," Penelope says, the words rushing out guiltily. "I write romance books for a living. I know the enemies to lovers trope very well, and you two embody it."
"That's ridiculous!" Kate exclaims, her heart beginning to hammer in her chest. "We drive each other crazy. I mean, we've become better friends over the past few months—but it's not like that."
Penelope tilts her head. "Would it be so bad if it was?"
"Yes!"
"Why?"
A hundred reasons that Kate could never utter go through her mind. She wants to say, "Anthony dates pop singers and models, and I can't live up to that." Or she could confess, "When he looks at me a beat too long, I feel like I could combust from the weight of it." Most of all, Kate wants to say, "If I let myself love him, I know that I'll never be able to stop."
But she can't tell them any of that. Kate had been just fine about the prospect of being alone. She's satisfied with her career, family, and friends. But if she admits that she loves him, then she'll never be content with any life that doesn't include him in it.
No matter what Colin and Penelope think, Anthony doesn't love her. He can't. Letting herself hope that he does is too dangerous. It scares her more than any thunderstorm she's ever endured.
"I have to go," Kate murmurs, standing up numbly from the table.
"Kate, wait," Colin says, grabbing onto her arm. He looks apologetic, and it's impossible to be upset when looking into his puppy dog eyes. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up."
"It's fine," Kate insists with a thin smile, tugging her arm away from his grasp. "I got to go. Have a nice evening."
As she walks out of the coffee shop, she hears a cheesy pop tune about love play on their radio.
The lyrics inspire Anthony's face to surface in her mind.
Kate groans, knowing she's in deep trouble.
That night, she couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned in her bed but couldn't stop hearing Anthony's teasing voice in her head.
In a huff, Kate gets out of bed and quickly puts on her clothes. She debates whether to reapply makeup but decides against it. No one else will see her where she was going.
Luckily, she's friends with the security guard, who let her inside the building that turned off the lights twenty minutes prior. She thanks him and hastily goes to her office, turning on the light and booting up the computer at her desk.
If she wasn't going to sleep, she might as well get some work done.
For a while, all that she hears is the sound of her keys as she typed and the soft hum of music she'd put on to work.
She thought she'd be safe listening to music without lyrics. But Anthony creeps into every note, every chord, and every song.
Just as Kate lowers her head to beat it against the table in frustration, a knock on her door causes her body to jolt upright.
She stands from her chair slowly, walking to the door with caution. No one else would be here this late, so she fears what was on the other side of the door. But if someone was there to hurt her, why would they bother knocking on an unlocked door?
When Kate turns the knob, she sees the face of the man who's been haunting her thoughts for the past few hours (longer than that, if she was honest with herself).
"Hey, what are you doing here so late?" Anthony asks.
"Um, working."
Anthony scans her with curiosity. "On a Sunday?"
"So are you," she points out, crossing her arms.
He holds up a black leather journal. "Actually, I just came by the office for my phone book."
"You have a phone book? Anthony, there's a reason for that contact list on your phone."
"I like writing it down," he defends, looking affronted.
"But you can't add emojis, which adds personality to someone's contact." Kate pulls out her phone and holds out the contacts for him to see. "Edwina has two pink hearts, Penelope has a book, Benedict has an easel, and you have a fire emoji."
"Why do I have a fire emoji?"
"Because you make me want to set things on fire, of course."
Anthony smirks. "Well, next time we play that 'who's most likely to' game in the office, I'll be sure to put you down for becoming an arsonist."
Kate smiles at him, and they fall into one of those moments that's becoming more frequent between them—ones where his body seems to close, and his eyes gleam with something she can't name but feels a kindred sensation within her heart.
Kate takes a step back from him. "Why did you need your phone book so late, anyway?"
Anthony itches behind his ear. Kate frowns, as it's a nervous tick she's never seen from him before. Anthony, like fire, was all-consuming. His feelings were as hot as flames and easy to detect. But now, he looks more guarded, his eyebrows scrunched and his posture squirmish.
"Anthony?" she asks again.
Anthony takes a deep breath. "Well, I actually needed it to call you."
"Me?"
"Yeah. My phone hasn't been working since I went out on the boat with Simon. The bloody idiot knocked it onto the water," he grumbles. "I got a new phone and need to add my contacts back on, which is why I'm lucky I have this phone book which you mocked me for having."
Kate rolls her eyes. "What did you need to call me about?"
"Well, I know we had a rocky start to our relationship—."
"Because you hit on my sister?" she asks, arching her brow.
"I did not hit on her. I merely danced with her at the Christmas party," Anthony corrects with an exasperated sigh. "How many times are we going to argue about this?"
"Until you admit I'm right."
"It'll take a long time for that to happen."
"I've got plenty of time to spend with you."
As soon as those words are out, that heat radiating from Anthony's fire feels warmer. It's as if more time with her is exactly what he wants.
But Kate doesn't let those thoughts get far. She squashes them before they can take root in her mind.
"Continue," Kate tells him.
"Yes, well, as I was saying, we didn't start on the right foot. But, over these past few months, I feel like we've become friends." He looks at her with a hesitant kind of hope. "We have, haven't we?"
Kate smiles. "Yes, we have."
"So, I thought as my friend. You'd like to come with me to this."
Anthony draws two tickets from his pocket and holds one out to her. Kate takes it from in, and her eyes widen as she reads what's on the paper.
"The Vitamin String Quartet?"
"I know you listen to them to relax. I saw that they were touring and coming to London, so I thought that—." His words suddenly halt, tilting his head at her curiously. "What?"
Kate blinks in confusion. "What do you mean 'what?'"
Anthony points at her face. "You were looking at me all funny."
"I was not!"
"Yes, you were! You were looking at me like this."
Anthony imitates a soft-looking expression, gazing at her with an affectionate smile. Kate, in horror, realizes she had been looking at him like that.
"Shut up," Kate scoffs, nudging his arm and hoping it distracts from the blush on her face. "Like I'd ever look at you like that."
"If you're going to be mean, I won't give you the ticket."
He reaches over, but she pulls her hand back.
"Fine, I'm sorry," Kate says, looking down at the ticket in awe. "This is really nice of you."
"So, you'll go with me?"
"Of course I will," she nods, beaming in excitement.
Anthony releases a breath. "Good."
He begins to back out of her office, but she steps forward from her desk, grabbing his arm.
"Anthony?"
He turns. "Yes?"
Before she can second guess herself, she leans up, pressing a kiss to his cheek. When she pulls back, it takes a few seconds for his eyes to open, as if he thinks she's a figment of his imagination that will disappear.
"Thank you," Kate whispers.
Anthony nods, giving her a kind smile before leaving her office.
The music on her computer is still playing. Kate hears the gentle notes of a piano, cautious and optimistic-sounding.
The night had been amazing.
The quartet performed beautifully. They played orchestrational versions of pop songs, which makes Kate feel less guilty about listening to them.
She worried when Anthony said he'd never heard any of their music himself, that he wouldn't enjoy it. But when the concert started, she kept stealing glances out of the corner of her eyes. She saw him watching the players with a content expression.
However, the music didn't help her much with her newfound Anthony problem. When she closed her eyes, the violins sang his name. When his hand grazed hers on the armrest of the chair, the music swelled in tandem with her heart.
He was a song she couldn't get out of her head.
And the worst part was, it was a tune she didn't think she'd ever tire of hearing.
They bantered a bit about the weather while waiting for their Uber. Kate claimed the night was perfectly brisk, not enough to warrant a coat. Anthony, however, disagreed. He poked at the goosebumps on her arm as proof and insisted she take his jacket. She eventually relented, letting him drape his jacket over her shoulders.
When he looked away to wave at the car they'd been waiting for, Kate turned her nose to the jacket. She smelt the scent of amber, sandalwood, and something that was discernibly Anthony.
When they get into the back seat of the car, Anthony turns to her. "Can you believe that couple who sat in front of us?"
"I know! They were all over each other the whole night."
"Music is the food of love, but couldn't they have got the meal before the concert?"
"You'd think," Kate huffs, curling her fists further into his sleeves for warmth. She looks back at him, offering a smile. "I had a really nice time."
"I'm glad," Anthony nods. He swallows nervously, forcing himself to meet her eyes. When he does, Kate sees a raw vulnerability glistening in them. "I just wanted to make you happy."
She bumps her shoulder against his. "You do that by just being you."
Kate's words skim a cello string, creating a deep note that lingers in the air. Something flickers in Anthony's expression, his gaze steadying on her. Suddenly, it's harder for Kate to breathe.
"Look at us, acting like that couple," Kate jokes, trying to ease the tension. "The music must be getting to us too."
"Yeah, that's probably it," Anthony hums, moving a fraction closer to her. "Because right now, I feel this urge to put my arm around you."
Anthony gives in to the feeling, putting an arm around her back. Kate's breath hitches as his thumb rubs circles on her arm. Even through the material of Anthony's jacket, his fingertips send electric shocks to her skin.
"And I want to lean my head right here," she finds herself saying, resting her head on top of his shoulder.
"I want to tuck this strand of hair behind your ear.”
Kate feels his fingers skim against his cheek, gently moving a curl that had fallen into her face behind her ear. Her breath quickens, slowly turning her eyes up at him, and the look he's giving her is overwhelming.
"This is all so ridiculously stereotypical. You make me feel so—so..." Kate's words drift, unable to finish her sentence. Her tongue goes out to wet her lips that suddenly feel dry. "I hate it."
Anthony's index finger goes to her chin, tilting it up and off of his shoulder. "Do you hate this?"
He leans forward, kissing her so sweet and tenderly that she knows if she were standing, her foot would pop up like all of those delusionally romantic heroines in movies do when they kiss.
She gets lost in him. Her hands go up to cup his cheek as she deepens the kiss. Anthony's arm moves from her shoulders to her waist, pulling her flush against him. He swallows her gasp, and Kate hears a cacophony of melodies in her mind.
Kate doesn't know how long they stay wrapped in another's arms. It's only when the driver clears his throat that she realizes the car had come to a stop.
They jump apart, and Anthony gives the driver an uncomfortable nod. "Sorry, sir."
"It's alright," he says gruffly and mutters something about "just wait till you have kids, it won't be like this" as they get out of the car.
They stand awkwardly on the street for a few seconds. Kate looks around them. The vivid leaves of the trees stand out amongst the darkness of the night.
Kate remembers when she first met Anthony. It'd been fall, and the trees were bare with leaves littering the ground. It had felt fitting. Back then, her publishing company announced that they were joining one of their competitors. She had to work with Anthony, as they were both the top production editors of the separate companies. Like the leaves, it felt like everything was falling apart. Every smirk or retort of Anthony's felt like the leaves blowing chaotically in the wind.
But now, the trees were alive again, flooding with color. Kate's at the dawn of a new season with Anthony. It's something as inevitable as the change of weather but as everlasting as the stars above them.
No—stars eventually burn out. Kate thinks that whatever is between her and Anthony will continue to burn when all other flames dim.
"So, that happened," Kate says, breaking the silence.
Anthony takes a cautious step towards her. "Yeah, it did."
"I didn't hate it," she shrugs with a teasing tilt of her lips.
"Wow, what great appraisal. Can I list you as a reference for giving me such a raving review?"
"Excuse me, who else are you planning to apply with?"
"No one, I'm quite satisfied with my employment with you," he assures smugly, his hand going up to her cheek. "But, I'd like to have a slight promotion in my position."
Kate leans into his touch. "Oh really, what position do you want to fill?"
"Well, I think I've done everything that I can in the enemy job. I've enjoyed the friend's position. But, if the boyfriend position is available, I'd like to submit my candidacy."
Kate loops her arms around his neck. "Well, how about we check over your application one more time?"
"Where do you want me to start?" Anthony asks, pressing his lips to her temple. "My education?" he murmurs as he kisses her forehead. "My goals?" Kate sighs as his lips move to the corner of her mouth, and his hand curls around her waist. "My experience?" He kisses her again, and Kate feels his smirk against her lips. "Or, my skills?"
Kate pulls back with a smirk of her own. "How about what drew you to this position?"
His eyes gleam roguishly, looking at the lack of space between them. "This particular position?"
Kate tries her best to give him a stern look. "Anthony."
"You," he answers simply, resting his forehead against hers. "Everything about you."
Kate's unable to stop herself, chuckling softly. "Wow, that's incredibly sappy."
"But it's true."
She takes a deep breath, feeling content and peaceful in his arms. "Maybe being sappy isn't such a bad thing."
"No," Anthony agrees, the corner of his lips tilting up as he studies her intently. "I'm starting to think that it's not."
This time when Kate kisses him, she does it without a single reservation about cliches or stereotypes, or how she would roll her eyes if she saw the two of them on the street.
Kate's foot pops, and the song that's been stuck in her head gets set on an infinite loop.
#kate x anthony#kateandanthonyweek#kateandanthonyweek21#katexanthonyweek#katexanthonyweek21#modern au#anthony bridgerton#kate sharma#kate sheffield#kanthony#kathony#anthony x kate#fanfiction#bridgerton#bridgerton netflix#bridgerton books#bridgerton series#bridgerton fanfiction#penelope x colin#polin
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Scottrospective: Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together! or Days of Summer
Hello all you happy scottaholics! Welcome back to those of you who’ve read the rest of this retrospective and welcome to those of you just joining us. This is the Scottrospective, my look at all 6 volumes of Scott Pilgrim, the game and the movie. It’s all the video game refrenes, slice of life story telling and boob punches you can handle!
It’s been three months since I left off with “The Infinite Sadness” , and while I intended to cover this one for Valentine’s Day, my schedule got away from me and with March being full up, this ended taking till April
I”m not too put off by it though as the hiatus between these two reviews is fitting for this one both in story and out. In story there’s a couple month time skip between books, while out.. this book got delayed a few times.
This is notable to me at least because this was the first volume of the series I bought when it came out. As i’ve brought up before I came into the series via the Free Comic Book Day Issue and the second and third volumes, picking one up later. I still have my original copies despite no longer really needing them thanks to having the color editions in general. Always will provided something dosne’t happen to them. So this was my first instalment that I got to read fresh and got to wait for and be hyped about and i’d saved enough money that I was able to pre-order it. So the experince of waiting and waiting for the book only to keep seeing it slide back is vivid in my mind as is the frustration I felt having the one thing I COULD NOT WAIT FOR, keep going further and further back.
So with this long wait and the fact I bought this one when it came out, as I would for the next two which didn’t get delayed thank god, this volume naturally means a lot for me. When I wrote Scott Pilgrim fanfiction, this volume’s status quo is what I based it on. It was the coolest to me and the one I loved to reread the most. It has the most contained story, the most character growth at the time, and the best art due to Bryan’s style having finally hit it’s stride. Not that the art for volumes 1-3 is bad mind you, but it’s very clear his style was changing and shaping into what it is now with each one and while it’d change a bit more, this volume is where the style and quality everyone thinks of when they think of this series and the kind you see on various art done from it comes from.
So as you can tell i’m excited for this one. Before we get started there WERE two shorter comics released between this one both for Free Comic Book day, the first of which, Free Scott Pilgrim, is the reason I got into the series and the second, the Wonderful World of Kim Pine .. was both delightful and sets up Kim moving in with Hollie for this volume. Originally I intended to cover these in this review.. but I realized they wouldn’t of helped the pacing and this review is going to be way longer than my standard as is.
So instead I came up with the compromise. I did review them.. but as bonus reviews on my patreon. For just one buck a month you can read them and help me reach my stretch goals which now include reviews of Lost at Sea, Seconds and SnotGirl, aka Bryan’s OTHER comics. You can find my patreon THROUGH THIS LINK HERE if your intrested in the exclusives or helping me reach my reviews. I also intend to do an exclusive of Monica Beetle, a short comic Bryan did starring Scott’s dad in the 70s at some point so keep your eyes peeled for that, as well as the three strips he did of Style, the comic that gave us the prototypes for Lisa and Kim.
I will talk about their connections and setups for this volume briefly: FSP sets up the next ex as a ninja, with Roxy having a bunch of posters come to live and pummel our boy, while Wonderful World has Hollie tell Kim she can move in with her. It’s not much, hence why i made these exclusives but they are good stories, so check them out. And with that JOIN ME UNDER THE CUT, as we enter Scott’s world once more as he grapples with the past, employment, and saying the L-Word... which might be Lesbians. I don’t know. Find out bellow!
So we open Two Months after Volume 3 with a beach birthday party! Complete with Kim in a swim suit!
But it’s for Julie who lobs a volley ball at Scott’s head when he and Ramona try to make out.
I also dont’ know if “Manfiesting out of all the world’s collectives sorrows” counts as a “birth” necessarily but whatever. I love a good beach story. It’s just a fun setitng for swimming, romance and battling a giant crab with the help of the bird what lives in your backpack.
So after the beach our heroes get dinner and Ramona sweetly calls Scott the nicest guy she’s ever dated. He responds with “That’s sad”. Blunt, but entirely accruate. Julie calls it pathetic and tries to counter Ramona RIGHTFULLY saying “who the hell asked you?” something that really should come after EVERYTHING Julie said with “Back off bitch i’ts my birthday”
So later that night Sex Bomb-Omb has a beach sing along, and I can’t help but notice Neil’s hairy legs.
I mean yes it does make since for a 19 year old to have leg hair, but of all the characters besides Stephen, the ONLY other character we’ve seen it with to give it to, why the character you specifically single out as “Young” it’s just a weird choice I never noticed before.
But anyways Julie has to whine about it because she’s Julie, she can’t stand other people being happy and complains the song...
One of my faviorite moments of the series. Knives puts a nicer spin on it, she’s here too and not over with Neil because, as we’ll find out later they broke up, but she just asks if Knives should be drinking. She shouldn’t but for fucks sake lady she was just trying to talk. I also do like that despite Julie trying to control Ramona’s love life, you know the thing the VILLIANS are doing, Ramona cannot stand her now.. and honestly probably never did.
But Julie, SOMEHOW turns out to be right for once as Kim and Knives have disappeared later that night, and Scott elects to go look for them. Also Ramona says she wants to marry kim while drunk after Julie asks if she does. The throuple is strong with these three... serioulsy that’s my one true pairing for all three now. I mean it ballances out their collective flaws, it’s cute and Ramona is just as into her boyfriends ex as she is her actual boyfriend even when she’s not hamered. Why the fuck not?
Scott instead finds the two making out. I will confess I shipped these two when I was younger.. but I don’t. Not because their gay or anything or because I found another ship for them but because the age gap is still just as wide as it was for Scott. The game did not get this memo and made them a couple which is... ehhhhhhhhh. I mean I wouldn’t mind either being bi, but it just brings up the same problems even if their both hammered. I also question why this scene exists. No really outside of one face punchingly dickish comment from Scott later, this never comes up again and it doesn’t effect Kim’s or Knives character any. Why have this? it’s clearly not fanservice, it’s just a thing that happened. And while Scott Pilgrim as a series does have some of those, as does life and that’s fine.. this is a bit too major, i.e. Kim and Knives, two of the main cast, making out, drunkenly or not, to just.. gloss over you know? I feel Kim would feel majorly guilty for this, as she has the most active moral compass of the main group, and Knives would be massively confused but it’s just.. forgotten because I dunno. In a story that’s otherwise pretty stellar this stands out as an utter waste of potential. I’m not saying have them hook up, gay or not it’s still not better than what Scott did, but have them at least talk about it and have both grow or something from it. Sheesh.
So we cut to.. another day. Maybe the next day I dunno but it’s August. Point is Scott and Wallace are grocery shopping and Wallace notes they can’t get fancy mayo as their barely in budget. I would’ve glossed over this scene... but @panur
pointed out back around the Infinite Sadness review that this scene reveals something very intrestng: Scott.. is kind of a fincial burdern to Wallace. Before this while Scott mooched off him it wasn’t all that clear that Wallace was struggling.
But here we notice that outside of some Havarti, it’s just the simplest stuff imaginable: turkey, bread, boxed mac and cheese ramen noodles... it’s nto BAD stuff, I have all of that in my house and it’s good stuff... but it’s not the kind of thing that you need to carefully budget for. Now granted part of this probably is Wallace as he likely spends a LOT on drinks, condoms and two 2 liters of diet soda a day.. but while he really needs to adress his alcohol issues, the rest is fair. He should be allowed to have as much sex and diet coke as he wants it’s his money. Same with the havarti. He earned it if he wants some really delcious cheese with herbs, seriously Havarati is the best, then that’s his bidness. But the rest of the time he’s barely managing to get a basketfull of cheap food.. because he has to provide for Scott. It’s clearly something Scott dosen’t get and something I can relate to not getting. It took me a while to get how hard it is to budget for a full family, let alone two people on one income like Wallace has to. But Wallace is working on a nice job... but still a call center or something. He can’t pay for everything and the finccial stress is about to give as their landlord wants to meet with them. And as we’re about to learn things were even worse than we thought.
Our heroes head home where we get a truly iconic conversation when, over margeritas (again proving my point that while Scott certainly isn’t HELPIGN wallace’s finacials, it’s not all on him)
This will be imporant later.. both the Lesbians part and Scott’s struggle saying it. he tried earlier on the beach but couldn’t get it out and Ramona clearly didn’t want to hear it as she kapt sshhhhing him.. playfully of course but still.
So some time later it’s moving day! Kim is moving into Hollie and Josephs, and Scott, Stephen and Jason are helping. You might be wondeirng who the hell Jason is. He’s Kim’s boyfriend. I do not likes him. Not because he’s kim’s boyfriend, getting upset because a fictional character you fancy is dating is just patently stupid. I’ts like getting upset a celebrity crush is in a relationship: you had no chance anyway why. I wasn’t even bothered as a kid. I don’t really like him.. because he has no real personaliy and no real baring on the plot and I struggle to think why Bryan included him other than for a really annoying plot twist next time, which does not help my liking him knowing what’s coming.
But while our heroes help our heroine move in, and Scott is suprised Hollie is there despite Kim having told him a minute ago she was moving in with her, something I can relate to sadly, we get something vitally plot important; Stephen passes Joseph’s room.. and notices he has a small recording setup in his room. Stephen quickly begs him to record the band’s album and Joseph agrees if only because he finds Stephen hot. Eh i’ve seen better relationships start on less, fair enough. And yes I said relationship more on that in a bit.
So after a brief scene of Scott and Ramona having lunch where Scott fails to know her age and when Ramona says he could just ask.. hea sks and she dosen’t tell, not a bad scene character wise just not very plot important and probably should’ve bene swapped in order with the previous scene, we get to the next day. There’s a heat wave so Wallace orders Scott to go to the mall maybe find a job. He emphasises that.
Instead Scott just sorta bums around thirst but nto having any money.. until an old face shows up.
For those who forgot like Scott has, it’s Lisa Miller from the Volume 2 flashback, the girl who had a crush on Scott and was close friends with him and Kim. After a tackle hug and some panic Scott eventually remembers.... if in a curiously unique and self serving way
At the time this was just hilarous. Now it’s very clear foreshadowing for the big twist in Volume 6. The two catch up while Scott is very clearly attracted to her but very clearly dosen’t want to be, with Lisa wondering where kim is, finding about Ramona, etc, before offering Scott lunch as the two catch up and Scott is very conflicted about how he feels. It’s nice visual stuff as he’s blushing, something more clear in the color version and trying to desperatley sort things out. As for why Lisa’s here she’s moving to the states soon, but is staying with her sister for now.
So after an incdental scene with Wallace we catch up with Knives, who has broken up with Neil. And after some talk about Clash at the Demonhead, Tamra notes Knives apparently put a big x on her shrine of Scott... which baffles Knifves as she sure as hell didn’t do it and is still, sadly, obessed with Scott as ever. Granted Tamra isn’t at all helpful here claiming she did it even when she says she didn’t, is clearly confused and while yes we don’t know who else would care Tams, that just makes it all the more creepy. Stop gaslighting your bestie, she’s already got enoguh issues. She dosen’t need thinking she might have a split personality on top of the stalking, obession over a guy who has no intrest in loving her back, and attempted stabbings. Knives dosesn’t get a ton of focus in this one sadly. She kind of takes a back seat, and while sh’es not GONE from the volumle and someone close to her does impact it, she dosen’t really have any personal progression, negative or positive, like she does in every other volume, a shame since her personal jouney is one of the most intresting of the main cast.
Anyways that night Scott hangs out with Lisa, having not gotten around to telling Ramona she exists yet and plays a game of find the Kim Pine. She goes to Neil’ and Stephen’s place for practice, but finds no one there and Neil being a dick... get used to that it’s going to get about 80 times worse soon enough. Though we do get this classic panel i’ve gotten some use out of
He goes to Kim’s place, but she , Hollie and Satan’s Misterss have all left to Sneaky Dee’s, the local mexican place, for something to eat and Stephen is either high or doing.. something with Joseph.
Yeah i’m not hiding that Stephen turns out to be gay in the final volume or cheating on Bitch and a Half with Joseph. And even if I hate Julie with the power of a frozen sun, I still dont’ think cheating on her is kosher. He could’ve just broken up with her and while part of it was likely confusion, and he could also be bi and not decided which one he wanted to be with, it’s still a dick move.. and later makes him a hypocrite but that’s a rant for next volume.
So our heroes FINALLY find Kim, along with Hollie and Mouthface. And a nice thing I like is that Kim and Lisa are just.. increidbly close, happily catching up and making plans to hang before Lisa leaves, that despite Lisa having feelings for Scott the two ended up as close and She and Scott did and i’ts sweet to see. it’s also just.. rare to see Kim GENUINELY happy. I mean look at her
It’s not like she HASN’T smiled across the series but normally she’s just so miserable, likely because her best friends are a grumbly asshole who forces them to hang out with a raging typhoon of bitchiness, and an insenitive asshat who she never got closure with. This is the first decent human being whose not Ramona or Hollie, and that last one’s not going to last, in a while. It’s genuinely sweet to just see her.. enjoy the moment for once, honestly engaged with someone. Ramona shows up and finally meets Lisa, who apparently was on Degrassi.. I mean she says candaian show no one ever watched, and I watched that plenty but i’d like to think she was on there for a season or two. I liked Degrassi.. I honeslty miss it and think it could use some form of revivial and think porting it to netflix was a smart decision.. what wasn’t so smart was not having the other seasons leading into it on there. Need to watch more of it.
So the next day Ramona stumbles into Scott’s dreams and both are annoyed, with Ramona suggesting he get a job. This finally gets him to try. He asks about Wallace’s work but understandably, he dosen’t really want scott there and asks if he even knows. So Scott sets out to ask his other friends for jobs, while Knives shows up saying she’s “totally not stalking him” but someone is following HER, a mysterious spiky haired dude in a black leather jacket, shades and with a sword on his back. Whu-oh.
He tries Second Cup, with Julie annoyed that Stephen’s recording.. it’s hard to tell if she’s annoyed because she’s a bitch or because Stephen is both gneuinely annoying right now and clearly screwing around behind her back. My take?
But Scott realizes maybe getting a job at his Sister’s place of work who also works with his arch enemy might be stupid and backs out. He next tries Kim’s, but backs out of that too, admitting to kim it’d be stupid and Kim lists off all the reasons (His lack of resume, the fact them working together would be stresful and his ountain of late fees) why that’d be stupid, but in a jovial way. For once i’ts clear that while she’s still taking the piss out of them she isn’t mad at Scott.
In fact she genuinely helps him get a job, taking him to Stephen’s work since hers is dead right now anyway, a vegan place. While Scott naturally compares things to a job system as he’d start as dishwasher while Stephen taught him prep, Scott agrees to genuinely take this seriously and Stephen’s boss decides “eh why not” when he asks her to employ him. Scott is gainfully employed baby! God I miss that. Seriously i’m not pimping my patreon for shits and giggles.
But as he celebrates and Kim wishes she could punch his life in the face, they run into some trouble on the way home: Katana man who slices a motherfucking bus in half and chases them, with Scott reluctnat to fight because he has a sword and Scott does not, which is valid. He does escape though using subspace. He and Kim part awkardly and he returns home to Wallace throwing a party with two intresting charcters, a woman and a man of color, one of the few in the entire work, who are never seen again.
The next night is practice.. or rather recording, and we start to see Neil get edged out, with him unable to come due to exams and clearly not happy about it, and Stephen just kind of ignoring anything he cares about like the dickhead he is. It dosen’t get any better as “recording” ends up just being Scott, Ramona, and Ratfaced Knacker watching bored with Joseph and Stephen work. Eventaully Scott and Ramona decide to get out of there as things are getting tensed between thing one and thing bitch, and leave.. and take Julie with them for some reason.
So the three have dinner with Lisa, Kim, and Jason before The Mummies Curse thankfully leaves. Jason thought they were friends.
We also get this exchange.
I mean.. she is the better option. She his THE option. But before we can get the obvious answer of
Stephen comes in with Knives. He smuggled her in. This leads to problems when Scott returns from the bathroom to find Queen Bitch throwing a bitch fit about him having brought her and screechs at her when she dares to talk to him “How do you even know my name?” Well Ted Cruz, you see when someone is an actually thoughtful and likes other people, they keep track of things about them and don’t constnatly tear them down or assume their partneer is automatically bonking a 17 year old instead of you know, actually forming something of a friendship and not shutting her out sensing she needs this friend group. Some people are not vacous piles of vitriol who care about nothing but themself and seem to go off at the slightest thing.
Scott takes Ramona home but finds a drunken barely awake wallace so no sexy times. Not that he could anyway as the next day is the meeting with Peter their landlord.
Peter reveals they’ll have to clear out by the 27th as their lease was for one year and their paid up.. as in only the first and last month. The two part melacholy knowing this sucks and isn’t a great situation. Then it’s time for Scott to work work, angelica, work work, eliza and peggy. After grueling day, can relate, he runs into a wisp on teh wend and steels himself for a fight.. okay he bitches about it being too hot but it’s Scott. so it’s expected. He does get a hit in on his mysterious persuer.. and that’s when we meet Roxy.
Via boob punch, something Scott’s not proud of but in his defense, as Roxy keeps complaning about it, he was blindly struggling for a hit and din’t know the next Ex, or any of them, were female.. not that Ramona didn’t suggest it loudly enough by empahsising “exes” but scott’s a bit of a fuckwit. She mentions “everyone allways remmebers you”.. which is kind of ominus and tells me she tried to hook back up with ramona despite her having a boyfriend and she rejected her. Still on good terms though. But this confusing encounter ends with Roxy vowing she’ll get him next time gadget, next time.
So we get some assorted slice of life scenes with the band, lisa and what have you as Scott tries to get in touch with Ramona but she keeps avoiding him. THat’s not worrysome at all. And Lisa brings up high school while drunk and clearly hits on Scott. He sidesteps it with her drunkness.. but this clearly isn’t over or going to stop being a problem.
Speaking of problems Wallace makes Scott confront the truth: He either needs to find a new place to live or commit to staying, though Wallace is trying to nudge him toward asking Ramona to move into her place. Scott starts thinking it over, it being very hard especially since, as Stephen points out this was his very first place of his own.. but Stephen also points out these things are temoporary.. right before Scott ducks from katana guy.
At work Scott wonders who it could be, though it turns out Stephen’s met him before, as he’s brought his family in here. So he’s PROBABLY not one of the exes.. but it leaves the question why he wants to cut Scott in half like Dewey Cox’s brother. But it turns out he’s nto the only enemy Scott’s casually running into as Roxy is there too.. with Ramona.
The two talk, clearly about Scott and Lisa with Roxy trying to convince her he’s cheating and Ramona rightfully trusting Scott: while he IS attracted to her, he’s been fighting it every step of the way. Scott storms over to find out what’s going on and while Ramona is more distracted by his new job, she eventually realizes Roxy did attack him and he simply dscribed her poorly when he mentioned the incident over the phone. Scott is confused as he dosen’t get it. Is she with one of the exes what? After some hiinting from both parties, and Roxy rightfully mocking him for not getting the obvious... he finallyg ets it in the grandest way possible.
So Roxy gets ready to fight and Scott can’t because sword, and gets fired in the background as he hides in Ramona’s bag and Ramona prepares to step in. Roxy screams at her for trusting him and defending him when Ramona.. just dosen’t her boyfriend to be bisected by her ex. A fight insues and a damn cool one at that. I honestly wish the movie had taken more from this, but simply didn’t have time leading it to instead be more like the envy fight with a bit of the Winfried Hailey fight from Free Scott Pilgrim.
Roxy chases her and Ramona rightly points out Scott can’t run forever but takes him into Subspace.. where Roxy heads them off, having “taught you everything you know bitch” leading to a cool fight in the wintery version of subspace. Again why THIS wasn’t used instead I have no real idea. We also find out she’s a half ninja but she eventually leaves afer Ramona presses that button.. but Rammy is actually apologetic about it and Roxy’s “I hope you and your 24 children are happy together comment” is telling.
Upon this readthrough of the volume.. I realized Roxy is the most layered and intresting of the exes next to Gideon himself. None of them are out and out terrible, but most of them have pretty simple motives: to kill Scott, ???, profit. Or in Todd’s case to kill scott, bang around and be a dick. But Roxy.. genuinely wants Ramona back. She’s the ONLY one who does: Gideon kinda does, but only in the sense that he wants her for his collection. But Roxy geninely still loves her, admitting so during this fight. And it’s not like she has no chance: out of the 7 exes she’s the ONLY one who parted with Ramona on anything resembling good terms. While intrestingly we don’t find out WHY they broke up, Ramona didn’t cheat on her like she did everyone else she was with. The two have coffee and hang out and Ramona geninely dosen’t even consider until Roxy tries to attack Scott that she’d really try killing him and tries her best to talk her out of it. But what holds Roxy back is her anger: She’s so bitter about the fact Ramona is bi or pan, so dedicated to viewing Ramona’s very orintation as a betryal (though Ramona calling it a phase dosen’t help and the movie RIGHTLY has Roxie comment on it and fly into a rage over it), and so driven to make sure the woman she loves dosen’t get hurt again that it blinds her to the fact Ramona dosen’t love her the same way anymore, and that while Scott is objectively a dick, and a cheater, and a greasy buttcrack pooflap, he is not a terrible person. A meh one sure, but he’s got good to him. She’s so biophobic she simply can’t see he’s a harmless moron.. well harmless to Ramona even with the cheating. He’s killed two people at this point and will kill again. Also she apparently has issues with only being a half ninja but this is never adressed. Point is Roxy’s really grown on me and is now probably my faviorite ex.
Scott and Ramona talk it over on their way to Sneaky Dees and Scott finally asks to move in and gets a yes. His response is downright adorable.
So at Sneaky Dee’s Young Neil is just a bit absolutely irate with Scott.. which isn’t fair as them not playing things is entirely on the blocky face asshole. Yell at him.. which he does, pointing out that they haven’t played shows in forever, and that the lady who owns Sneaky Dees not only runs shows, in the upstairs space, but has been asking them to play. Kim is rightly curious about this and to both Stephen just keeps saying “We’re recording right now.” And some of you may of wondered why I hate him. Well while he’s not exctly stellar in the first half in the second Stephen becomes goddman insufferable, slowly destroying the band for his affair and not giving one iota of a shit what anyone else wants. He’s a selfish, egomanical cheating prick. And yes I get it their recording an album.. but doing live shows would give them extra practice, MONEY, even if likely not a lot and exposure for said album. I get professoinal bands stop touring for a bit to do an album but you are not a professional band, and said bands still often iron out the album on the road. God you suck.
But while Scott sidesteps this argument he walks into another where Ramona confronts him about lisa about liking her.. and he rightly says if there was anything, which there was not it’s in the past. And while yes he is a cheater, she does not know this yet. This plot honestly would’ve worked better if she learned about the knives thing sooner, but instead she just comes off as paranoid for listening to Roxy about something that isn’t happening. Yes Scott’s been shown to be attracted to her.. but he’s been ashamed of it, fighting it and in denial about it, and is clealry all in with Ramona. Being attracted to someone else on a phsyical level does NOT mean your relationship is doomed.
Things get worse as he goes home to ruminate.. and instead sees a man’s Penis. And Wallace..is at his second most unsymapthetic, not letting Scott get a shirt or a bus pass or something like a decent human being for no goddamn reason. Usually when Wallace is a dick to Scott, Scott’s earned it and badly needs a slap in the face. Here he’s just being a prick because.. the plot needs him to? I dunno it dosen’t work for me. It’s in character, I just don’t have to like it.
So with no other options.. Scott ends up at Lisa’s. And so we get the last temptation of Scott. Lisa admits, embarassed that she’s been wearing sexy dresses and what not specifically to attract him, with Scott also mentioning how things are rough, Lisa tries to fight it herself pointing out he’s with ramona.. and when Scott points out they didn’t do anything in the past Lisa points out they should’ve.. and maybe they should now.
We fade to black as Scott ends up in a dream and finds Roxy, who naturally has the same skill and tries to Freddy Kruger him before he wakes. He finds Lisa but they didn’t do anything: Scott pushed her away and babbled about how much he loved Ramona instead. As i’ve said.... his heart was never with LIsa... and even when he was so close to giving in he couldn’t. It’s a tangible sign of growth: He screwed around on Knives with Ramona, and given how bad things were getting with Ramona, it would be oh so easy to once again ditch a relationship the minute he found something else and oh so understandable. But... he dosen’t. He loves Ramona even if he hasn’t said it, he wants to make this work, and he’s changed. She’s changed him. He’s not quite a good man yet.. bu he’s getting to be good enough. Love turned him from a skeezy dumbass into a far more loveable dumbass. Ramona’s gotten him to stop dating a teenager (even if again he cheated), face his past with envy to finally move on and now get a job. He’s realized just hwo much she means to his life and world and so he goes to tell her.
Riggghtttt after going to get his job back and works a shift, with steven wanting to punch his life in the balls. Stephen shut the fuck up. Just because Scott is lucky and your stuck dating satan’s scrotum does not mean you get to punch his life int he balls. Kim does, because he’s put her through more shit but not you.
He goes to second cup to talk to Stacey.. only to end up at the wrong one where Knives also now has a job... and we finally get an answer to who the mystery katana guy is...
Yup turns out wielding giant weapons in vengance runs in the family. As for how he knows about Scott her aunt mentioned her boyfriend, everyone freaked out and obviously while her mom was mentioned as knowing in volume 1, they did not tell her dad whose brain turned into an engine of vengance and defaced the shrine. While part of it is apparnetly racisim for Scott being white the fact is he clearly saw Scott’s photograph. The guy is 5 years older. I get him being protective. Still dosen’t justify cutting off his head. His balls maybe but not his head.
And then Scott ran, once agian finding a subspace entracne.. and this time we see inside ramona’s head and well...
Yeah.. that’s.. kind of fucked, and Ramona isn’t happy scott saw that, though she backs down once Scott explains..a nd then gets upset over him staying at Lisa’s but before SCott can tell her he loves her it turns out Roxy stayed over. So yeah, Ramona might of cheated, she tells him to alk it off and he runs around in a psycadelic haze of emtoinal confusion. And meets.. someone new...
Scott snaps out of his funk and ignores his doppleganger heading back for Ramona... whose fighting Mr. Chau. Scott left the door to Ramona’s head open and he followed him through Subspace. Scott lures him into the house and away from her only to run into Roxy. This leads to both of his attackers fighting and her wondering if Gideons ent him “Why does no one ever belivie in me?!”
She soon realize no i’ts just unrelated and calls Scotto ut on hiding behind not having a sword and behind her being a woman, caling it a flimsy excuse. I mean she’s tring to kil lhim. It’s okay to hit an enemy combatant. Scott realizes he has to stop running... and get real with ramona leading to a truly epic, romantic and heartfelt speech and given how far he’s come and just how heartfelt it is it’s a real sign of how deep he feels. Sure we’ve seen genuine chemstiry between the two.. but htis moment is a shit.. from a simple relationship.. into true love.
I may of only had a few but Relationships are not easy, They take work, they take time, they take patience and theyt ake love.. but if your willing to work with someone, look past some flaws and help them with the rest.. then it’s worth it. And Scott has finally realized it and for the first time in a while is running TOWARDS something difficult, actually working on this relationship and talking with his partner instead of running finding someone else or wallowing. He’s truly grown up. While he still has miles to go.. he’s taken about 50 steps forward with this. And as such given the kind of unvierse we’re in, as Ramona is genuinely touched by it he levels up a glowing sword with a heart shaped hilt coming out of his chest.. and realizing what’s happening he pulls it out....
So Scott faces off with roxy and in an awesomly short battle, their sords clash.. and he bisects her.
Scott then honestly talks down Mr Chau who leaves after a nod, and Ramona tells Scott she loves him two. The two make out and all is well.
One make out fades into another, as we cut to Scott moving in with Kim and Blockhead’s help. Well kinda they only had one box but they owed him one. He and wallace comiserate over the end of their time as roomies. They’ll always be friend but it’s truly the end of an era. Also Wallace gets off another bit of dickery as he’’s very glad it all worked out for scott...
Now there’s the Wallace I know and love. Dickish but just the right loveable kind of douchebag with that swagger.
Back at Knives house she’s apparenlty into somebody though who I have no idea, Mr Chau give sher his blessing and she.. apparenlty doesen’t know chinese. I dunno. As I said her subplot this go round was her weakest overall.
And so we end with the whole gang gathered to see Lisa off. It’s a REALLY nice shot, and one of the only times Wallace is seen with the Sex Bomb omb side of the group. Oh sure he goes to their shows and what not, but generally their never in the same vincinity so while there’s no interaction I still find this neat. Seriously the whole main cast is there, it’s a really lovely shot
Also Jason and Hollie.. who are getting awfully chummy. Whu Oh. And of course Craphole and Mouth Face are as likeable as ever.
So we jsut get a genuinely nice sene. Except Stephen and Julie reconciling. Fuck that. Please move on. And as everyone fondly wishes Lisa adeu and wish she stuck arond the res tof the series we end on Scott and Ramona snuggling, Scott asking her her birthday and finding out she’s 24, and they both will be come september. Scott wishes this moment could last.
They probperly snuggle as the volume ends on a high.
Final Thoughts:
Yeah.. Gets it Together is, on rexamination, DEFINTELY my faviorite of the 6. Besides personal value i’ts hte best contained story, contaning lots of character development, great character moments, jokes, and EASILY the best art so far, with goregouness and creativty abounding.
There is a problem here or there: Stephen and Julie’s subplot feels underbaked, and not just because I hates them, and there are several scenes that don’t further plot or character stuff. Ther’es also stuff that could’ve been expanded on.. but given this is still a pretty meaty graphic novel, it’s understandable why it wasn’t.. though it is why I’d love a streaming series since while the movie is excellent, a full series could expand on stuff from the books more Brian simply didn’t have time for. Knives also didn’t get a lot to do.
But their drowned out by tons of great decisions: Lisa was a wonderful additoin to the cast and I genuinely wish she’d stuck around, adding in some energy, blending well with the Sex Bomb Omb crowd, and having great dynamics with everyone and her arc with Scott is heartbreaking,knowing she can’t have him but wanting him anyway having never gottne proper closure on the man she’s always wanted. She’s a heartbreaking character and its nice to see her end in a decent place and on good terms with Scott, having let him go for both thier sakes.
And while Lisa is a highlight everyone is on their a game here for the most part apart from knives, girl hitler, and captain dumbass: Scott grows signfigantly but is funny as hell, Wallace has an intresting arc trying to nudge Scott out without being overt about it, scared to really confront him, Kim is in a happy and serene place for once and it shows. The villians are also intresting: While Mr Chau is a tad underbaked, he’s sitll a cool imposing presence. I do think he shoudl’ve had more to do with the plot.. but is still just so freaking cool it papers over that and him just.. disappearing after this like poor Lisa.
Roxy is far more intresting, having clearly more going on than we see and while I wish we’d got her backstory, she’s easily the most engaging of the exes, being the only one to actively compete with Scott (All her and ramona end up doing is making out a little it turned out), and have bigger stakes than just “The glasses wearing douche asked me to beat up my exes boyfriend and I was like alright.
All in all Gets it Together is really magical, the series high point, and just damn fun and it was a pleasure to go through
Next Month on Scott Pilgrim: It all falls down as we take a look into what once was my least faviorite Album, vs the unvierse. Two perfect assholes try and murder scott with Robutts, his relationship and band crumble and things get sad so very very sad.
Next on this blog: More LIlo and Stitch! The Proud Family come to Kauai and get into a fight with our heroes. Also wizard kelly... who if nothing else is now far more tolerable now i’ve had to spend another volume with the wicked bitch of the west. Touche universe touche. See you at the next rainbow.
#scott pilgrim#ramona flowers#wallace wells#roxanne richter#knives chau#stephen stills#julie power#mr chau#stacey pilgrim#neil nordgraf#young neil#comics#oni press#scotrospective#lisa miller#kim pine#jospeh
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Maybe Forever
I did two remixes this year, and for @rnmremix I took on @daughterofelros and her story Maybe Someday which is about Michael plantsitting Alex’s plants. I turned it around, and this has Alex plantsitting Michael’s plants. I angsted in this, but the ending is still happy. Happy reading!
Ao3
It takes him by surprise when he gets the question, as it’s something he never thought Michael would ever be a fan of. Not because it’s wrong, immoral, strange or anything like that. He just didn’t expect it. Because, you know, it’s... Plants. Green things with foliage and sometimes flowers in all different shapes and sizes. Michael is rough, wild curly hair, motor oil, science and sass. Plants don't seem like something he would enjoy or care about. But here he is, down in Michael’s bunker where plants really shouldn’t thrive. But they are. Thriving, that is. Growing wild and beautiful in what is seemingly organized chaos around Michael’s science equipment and feats of mechanical engineering.
“This is what you want me to watch for you? Plants?” he asks incredulously as he looks around.
“Yeah? Something wrong with plants?”
He can hear the defensiveness in Michael’s tone of voice, and he flinches minutely. “That’s not what I meant, Guerin. I’m just surprised. I didn’t know you had them, especially down here.”
“There's nothing wrong with keeping plants down here you know.”
“I know that,” Alex says, his own tone becoming more defensive. “I’m surprised you have plants, I didn’t know that would interest you. That’s all.”
“I can have hobbies you know,” Michael replies, looking like he’s already regretting asking Alex to water them while he’s gone for a week.
Alex just looks at him, eyebrows lifting at the way Michael is acting, wondering if they can ever be close again without bickering. Michael seems to realize it too, as his posture relaxes with a deep sigh. He’s visibly calming himself down, and Alex can’t help but admire how easily he does it. Especially since he knows it isn’t easy at all for Michael, so used to keeping the charade that keeps him and his family safe up at all times.
“Sorry. I’m being defensive for no damn reason over here.” Michael sighs again, impossibly deeper this time. Like sighing takes deep stress away from him. Maybe it does, for all Alex knows. “My mom kept plants, and could grow them with her powers. I… I wanted to try it too.”
“You’re doing a great job,” Alex says, smiling at him. It’s tentative, but honest. Real. “And I’m sorry too, I was honestly just surprised, I didn’t mean to make you feel bad about it.”
“It’s okay.” Michael smiles in return. “So. You think you could be up for it?”
“Yeah, I’ll watch over them. No promises they’ll be alive when you get back though.”
“Nah, you’re Alex Manes. You can do anything.”
The smile on Alex’s face turns wry, probably a bit unsure. It’s not true, in so many ways. But he appreciates what Michael is trying to do. The confidence he’s trying to instill in the face of a task Alex has never had before. Michael knows how uneasy he is when it comes to situations like this. But he’ll power through like he always does. Especially for Michael. And it’s plants. It can’t be that hard.
-----
He quickly finds that he’s wrong. So damned wrong. He has no idea how Michael created a thriving garden in the dark bunker but it quickly becomes apparent that Alex cannot do the same thing. He can water them and trim them if needed but three days into Michael’s week away from Roswell and they’re starting to droop. Sad, missing Michael, drooping. The worst part is he knows how they feel. And his life has officially turned even weirder now that he’s sympathizing with plants. But he can’t help but feel for them, as the flowers lose a little of their shine the longer Michael is away, how the leaves aren’t quite as green. Their person isn’t there anymore. Maybe they’ve given up on Michael coming back.
Kind of like Alex has. Oh, he knows Michael is coming back to town, he’s only in Albuquerque for a week with Isobel. But as the days grow longer the plants still turn sadder.
If he can’t do this one thing for Michael, how can he ever hope to get him back. In the way he wants, in the way it matters. Back in his arms, his life, preferably one day his, or even their, house. After Maria, after Forrest, after his dad.
Realizing he wanted Michael officially back, out, proud and completely took a long time. The knowledge of it not so hard, the need and want harder. They’ve wasted time, so much damn time. And here he is, surrounded by green and yellow and blue, things so important to Michael because his mom was supposedly good at it. And Alex is having the hardest time keeping them alive and well. It’s making him feel like his dad, trapping aliens behind glass walls and torturing them for kicks.
He just wants to do this right. Then maybe, just maybe, he can find the courage within to tell Michael his hopes. But it’s not looking too good. He’s tried everything, watering, giving them lots of light, talking to them, hanging out in the bunker in case it’ll help. But so far it’s not working and the plants just droop more by the hour. Michael coming home is still three days away, they’ll end up being dead if he can’t fix this. And he fears whatever progress they’ve made will die with them.
He’s out of options though, he doesn't know what to try next. He’s not an alien, he doesn’t have powers nor gifts with anything besides guns and computers. Neither which will be handy here. He looks around desperate to find something that can help.
He doesn’t expect to spot a guitar. The same guitar he tried gifting to Michael which failed desperately. The same guitar he regifted him later, after Maria, after Forrest. When death of loved ones and broken hearts weren’t between them. When they could actually call each other friends. Regardless if that friendship was still fraught with tension, a will they or won’t they that still weighs heavily on them. Even when they try to push past it and just be.
But the guitar means much to them. Music in general means much to them. Maybe it’ll help.
He picks it up gently, taking it out of its case with great care before running his hand over it and smiles. The strings have just been changed, Michael has been taking good care of it. Something eases inside of him when he sees that, though he doesn’t quite understand why. The guitar isn’t a symbol of their relationship, Michael making sure the guitar is in tip top shape doesn’t really mean anything. It just means he likes playing. It still brings a tingle to the pit of his stomach which he crushes swiftly and surely. There’s no point in useless hope.
He brings it over to the chair by Michael’s drawing board and sits down, settling it gently on his legs and making sure no pressure is on his prosthesis as he sits with the guitar. He takes a few deep breaths before he strums. Of course the guitar is finely tuned.
He still checks everything before softly starting to play. He’s played Wonderwall a thousand times, he’s sick as hell of it but he still plays it first every time he picks up a guitar. Old habits are hard to break. He plays bits of the melody to warm up, humming alongside it as he does. Five minutes in, he’s relaxed, he’s more settled, he feels good.
He drifts from Wonderwall, eyes closing as he moves over to various songs from Breaking Benjamin, stripped down versions of My Chemical Romance, seamlessly switching to Blink 182, Placebo, Snow Patrol and The Strokes. He loses himself in A Perfect Circle, in Third Eye Blind and The Cranberries, resurfacing after he’s hit Linkin Park, Gavin Degraw, Panic! At the Disco and the odd Spice Girls song just to switch it up.
He lets the last note fall as he breathes out, smiling at the peace he feels just from the instrument in his hands, his voice slightly raspy from singing and the contentment of being wanted and free in Michael’s space. He smiles to himself, taking another deep breath as he opens his eyes again, looking at his watch to find that almost three hours has passed since he started playing. He’s not surprised though, music has always been the place he felt the most free, the most able to be himself.
He takes another deep breath, briefly closing his eyes again as he centers himself before he looks up at the plants. They look the same, but no worse either, so he figures he’s done all he can for the day. He decides to go home for the night, he’ll come back tomorrow and continue trying his best to keep them alive. He doesn’t want to fail now.
———
The shock comes when he gets down the ladder the next evening after a gruelling day at the base. He comes down expecting the plants to be their usual droopy selves but instead he finds them perked up, their foliage nice and green, the flowers shining and pretty. He almost calls out Michael’s name to check if he’s there, but he knows he’s not, having talked to him just an hour earlier. He’s still in Albuquerque, still there for a couple days with Isobel and the newly arrived Max. Just three aliens in the big city, he’d joked, Max hissing at him to keep his voice down in the background while Isobel laughed. They deserve the time away to just be siblings, after everything. But the thrill of Michael calling him still sits in his brain, making him smile.
But there’s still the mystery of the plants. Happier plants. Plants who don’t look like they’re on the brink of giving up. And the only thing he did differently was playing guitar and singing. Maybe that’s how Michael keeps them happy. He decides not to mistrust his instincts the way he usually does and after checking the soil and making sure everything else is okay he gets out the guitar again. He still starts with Wonderwall, still hates it, still can’t break the habit. But he moves along faster than yesterday, switching to other songs of Oasis, moving along to Death Cab for Cutie, The White Stripes, Stereophonics and HIM, before jumping over to Shinedown, Muse, Journey and Creed. He plays for hours like yesterday, loves every minute of it, and feels more relaxed when he opens his eyes again at the end and sees the plants visibly better in front of his eyes.
He laughs to himself, a laugh filled with more desperation and relief than he wants to admit. But it’s okay. Maybe he can do this.
———
He spends hours down in the bunker the next two days, playing everything and anything he has in his repertoire, rediscovering the love he has for the music he grew up with and feeling the thrill of just his hands, his voice and the guitar, surrounded by Michael’s space, Michael’s plants, Michael’s mechanics. He’s surrounded in every way by Michael Guerin, and his own wants, hopes and dreams for the man and what he longs for them to become. He’s spent years away from Roswell and Michael before but now, after one week of him gone, after one week of his voice in his ears as they talk and laugh on the phone until Isobel or Max drags him away, he misses him. Misses everything that they were, everything that they are, everything that they’re heading for. And Alex knows where they’re headed, now. Knows where he wants them to head.
He’s there when he hears Michael’s truck, still playing guitar, strumming along on notes shaping up to be another song, the melody forming underneath his fingers as words form in his head. He doesn’t stop playing, but instead listens as the truck stops and Michael gets out, as his heavy steps move towards the bunker and down the ladder. He opens his eyes as Michael stops, watches him with a smile forming as Michael stares at him and the plants in awe.
“Damn Alex, I’d have stayed home if I knew listening to you play was on the menu.”
Alex snorts, stopping his strumming and placing the guitar back in the case before he gets up on his feet. “It was the only thing I could think of to keep them alive. We had a few dicey days before I started playing, and apparently they liked it.”
“You’re a good player, Alex, no wonder they liked it.”
Alex smiles, taking a step closer to Michael. “Maybe. I’m just glad I got to be here, it’s been fun.”
Michael tilts his head in that inquisitive way of his, but Alex just shakes his head. His revelations and discoveries are too heavy for this moment, he’ll get to them eventually. Michael nods, understanding without needing words that this is something to be left for now. They’re good at that, easy, silent communication. Too bad they kind of suck at the harder communication, but that’s all fixable.
“Hey. Thanks for doing this.”
“Any time, Michael.” Alex looks down for a second. “I’m happy you trusted me with this.”
“I had no doubts you could do it. The doubts were all yours.”
Alex can’t deny that’s true. But here, in the bunker, surrounded by plants and Michael smiling at him in his carefree and relaxed way, Alex feels another doubt snap. And before he lets himself second guess it, he steps forward and cradles Michael’s face in his hands. He sees the look of shock, but also the hope that blooms in Michael’s eyes and pulls him softly towards him in case Michael pulls back. But he doesn’t have to worry, Michael pushes forward as easily as Alex pulls and their lips meet softly. It’s a sweet kiss, a familiar one, but no less exciting with no small amount of fireworks firing in the pit of Alex’s belly as Michael puts his arms around his waist and pulls him closer still. It’s everything Alex wanted, everything he needs, the appreciation and love for Michael flaring as their first kiss in a long time keeps on going.
It turns from sweet to needy, to wanting, to unbelievably hot quickly, but that’s always the way it is with them. They can’t help but want each other in all ways. They both break apart at the same time, moving away from the kiss but not from each other, leaning their foreheads together as they smile and laugh at each other, their happiness bubbling between them. It’s never a question if both of them want it, they already know that. Maybe this time they can have it too.
“So,” Michael says after a while. “My plants decided to try and die on you and you got them back by singing and playing to them? How’s you figure that out?”
“Well.” Alex sneaks another kiss just because he can, a thrill going through him as Michael hums in a happy tone. “I figured you sang to them. You know, since your guitar was down here.”
Michael pulls back and gives him a puzzled look. “Alex, I live in an old airstream in the middle of a junkyard. I keep it down here so it won’t be stolen.”
“Oh,” Alex says. “I didn’t even think of that.”
“I’m glad you didn’t.” Michael kisses him again. “I’m glad you can afford not to.”
“Guerin-”
“No, Alex. Your life has been shitty enough, be happy you don’t have to worry about that too.”
“How about...” Alex pauses, gathering his courage. “How about you keep it at my place? It’ll be safe there too.”
“Oh yeah?” The smile Michael gives him is blinding, beautiful. Happy. “You wouldn’t mind having me in your space?”
Alex smiles in return. He leans in, kissing Michael dirty and hot, the way both of them want it. ”I definitely wouldn’t. I’ll even take the plants, if you want to.”
He smiles wider as Michael laughs, head thrown back with unruly curls bouncing as he does. They need to talk, figure them out and take it day by day. But he’s so gorgeous, and Alex wants to keep him forever. Him and the green things who are perking up even more in Michael’s presence. And here he thought they were bonding.
“The guitar first. The plants we can talk about down the line,” Michael replies when he finally stops laughing. He tilts his head forward, looking at Alex through long lashes. Alex feels the same want bubbling in his stomach as always. He wants Michael in his bed, in his kitchen, in his living room. He wants him close, he wants them to be good. Together. They have a long way to go still, but it feels like a beginning. It feels like hope.
“I’d like that.”
#roswell new mexico#malex#malex fic#rnmremix2021#my fic#that feeling when you forget the name of your fic#and give it the incorrect title
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story of us
pairing: suna x reader
the story of ur relationship <3; alternatively (more) dating sunarin headcanons but this time is somewhat of an order and talks good and bad 2K+ worth lol
a/n: i had more planned but half of these have been sitting in my notes for months and its kinda fucking long already bc he lives rent free!!!
warnings: uh the usual aged up (in ur 20s time skip type beat), language, yeah
Meeting
Now when y’all met suna was not looking to love at all. That man was just living his life and so where you. The two of you pretty much meet through komori. You’re a friend and it’s his birthday so him and a few of his friends go out for drinks bc why not. Young hot pretty financially stable v-ball players. Nah no ones there for any type of hookups literally just there celebrating a great guy.
They rent out a section at a relatively nice bar tbh. Not the cheapest and you can actually hear conversation. But also not a super expensive one where the patrons are middle aged with jazz music and the occasional track to relive “youth.” Komori’s a sweetie and will come outside to get you when you text that you’re there. You’ve met washio and ofc sakusa Before so you greet them casually then you turn and there’s Suna and a few others you haven’t met.
That greeting isn’t anything special I promise. Just “hey I’m so and so” and vice versa. It’s one of those meetings where you just think “he’s cute” but it’s such a fleeting thought. Y’all don’t even really talk that first night tbh. At the next practice Suna mentions offhandedly that he didn’t know komori was dating someone and komori is like: huh? Yeah sorry. I love (Y/N) and all but were just friends. Suna just shrugs not really caring to be honest until Komori just asks what did he think of you.
“Don’t really remember much man. Seemed cool though” he didn’t think he’d really see you again. Yeah you were close enough to have been at Komori’s birthday but if that was his first time ever meeting you, he figured you weren’t from around there are present very much. Yeah he was wrong.
Suddenly you were on Komori’s snap story more often, or maybe he’d just been noticing more. Too bad he couldn’t even remember your name 💀. Then it turned into you occasionally popping up where he was. He’d been told your name at least 5 times already but wouldn’t remember it the next day. Whenever he’d see you again he’d get a strained look like: “what is this mf name again” just laugh and tell him again bby.
That changed at some random house party by another mutual friend you two apparently had? You two were the only people just around the fire pit trying to catch some warmth in the chilly night. He’s probably just on his phone head bobbing his head to the muffled music from inside. And you’re just like “remember my name yet?” All jokingly. This sparks the tiniest bit of interest in him and he lets out a low chuckle and just admits “not at all.” I also feel like this is the first time he really looks at you and he’s like 🤨, wait you’re actually kinda cute.
That night y’all just kinda talk and vibe. The conversation comes easy as you two jump back and forth from talking about the music playing to sneakers which he brings up to stuff that you like. He’s actually really easy to talk to. So easy that u can forget about him not remembering your name despite meeting several times. You mention that you’d hung around komori before while they were gaming and that he seemed pretty cool. That leads him to asking “how do you know him anyways?”
“I used to date Sakusa”
Mentally he’s just like— ‘yeah I’m not getting involved in this. Time to go.’ Until you just start laughing.
“I’m kidding. He’s not really my type. We met after being paired together for a project in school.”
The two of you spend quite a bit of time just talking that night until you are joined again by some friends and it’s deadass like y’all weren’t just talking for almost an hour straight.
Getting Together
The process of getting together is like a cat and mouse game. You two start getting closer than friends and then something happens and you’re not talking for weeks. Whether it be life just getting busy, and then someone ending up on some random tinder date or so be it. Definitely one of those things were somehow someway y’all end up just hanging on one of your couches watching a movie. At some point there’s definitely a hint of sexual tension but neither of y’all act on it (later on you find on his finsta that he used to post several “i wont you 😔” memes Folks can’t tell if hes joking or not (hes not))
You probably gotta tell that man you like him so if that ain’t you I’m sorry. Y’all not dating 😹. It’s something casual, y’all going to pick up some snacks for a movie night and why this mf keep looking at you out the side of his eyes instead of the road. You def texting the groupchat asking if you should confess. They tell you to boss up and just do it baby.
You literally end up confessing in that parking lot. Like right when he shuts the car off and starts swinging his keys on his finger and you kinda just blurt “I like you. Like like you.” He just kinda nods before his eyes widen. “Wait are you fr?” Like no you’re joking tf. It gets a lil awkward so you just go to get out the car and he’s like “I like like you too.”
I definitely don’t think either of you ever officially asked the other out it’s just at some point the understanding that you two are a couple. Like when you’re hanging out just you two hes more touchy, and then y’all start kissing and holding hands at some point. Then when you’re with friends he almost exclusively sits next to you and your friends notice the whispers in one another’s ears at the loud bar that seem just a hint too intimate for ppl who are just friends. Then y’all start arriving and leaving places together and people just at some point get the message (it’s later confirmed by you tweeting some shit like: I hate Rin why is that mf my boyfriend)
As far as anniversaries y’all draw straws to pick a day in the ballpark of the time y’all both think you became official. That’s the day you stick with even if it’s not true.
Relationship Flaws
A fault in the relationship is sunas kinda poor communication when it comes to things that matter. How he feels. Arguments. Love sure as hell don’t come east with anyone but when your partner won’t let you in? Yeah that’s like hell. That’s something you struggle with. And then on your end, it’s the impatience with him not letting you in. You try to wrongfully rush it.
There’s definitely been arguments that stem from him just being upset about something unrelated to the relationship then coming to you for comfort without actually telling you what’s wrong. He kinda just wants to lay with his head on his chest but at some point that’s not enough. Y’all are in a relationship and should be able to talk about your bad days too.
You’re not innocent in this issue either because sometimes it comes off too pushy. Yes it’s from a place of care but sometimes that silent comfort is necessary. The walls will break in due time and y’all both know that deep in the back of your minds But then there’s a part that’s like— yeah we can’t let this become the norm
“Rin, can you please talk to me”
He will have literally told you “whatever” and that he “can’t deal with this rn” several times as he just shrugs and is like yeah “I’m gonna just go home. I’ll text you later” with an awkward ass pat on your shoulder if it really ruined his mood. If he’s leaving before he gets super upset and uncomfortable just some half assed kiss in your cheek
Another thing is I feel like he could be passive aggressive and let’s be real other folks doing it causes you to do it to. Y’all probably drag eachother on your finstas where you can both see it lol
But when it comes to making up he cracks first and apologizes when he started it. Or as y’all get more comfy with communication. If it’s not anything major he’ll just hit you with a text like “I’m bored come hang”
More Relationship Things
I feel like he love/hates driving. Likes the ride not always driving though. So if you ever proposed a late night drive he’d be down (if you offer to drive). He does let y’all take his car though. He reclines the seat pretty far back. Alternates between just closing his eyes vibing w/ the music or kinda just looking at you (he the type of bf that makes u nervous no matter how long y’all been together)The way he looks at you makes you nervous cause that man is fine as hell and you can just feel his eyes on you.
He films you on Snapchat and sends the video to you like “you look hot”
If he’s not ‘resting his eyes’ he’s mumbling along to the music because he has the aux. if y’all music tastes are different he occasionally throws in something you really like bc he likes how you perk up at one of your fav songs
Moving on. Y’all dap eachother up after s3x because it’s “modern romance” (boy stfu). You two came up with a sex playlist together and it’s on both of your phones. Sometimes one of you will add a troll song that the other doesn’t know and put it in the lineup. (Stole my heart by 1D has definitely played before and you were practically in tears laughing at his reaction. That was one of those songs he was like ‘yeah alright i think we’re done).
At some point you two develop your own handshake and it’s cute. Whenever either of you have to travel without the other that’s always the last thing you do before you leave eachother. There’s vids of your friends daring y’all to do your elaborate ass handshake drunk and doesn’t matter what’s in your system, you both know it like the back of your hand.
I think he values quality time a lot so there’s so many nights where you’re both just chilling in his room just doing your own things. He could just be at his desk watching some game highlights and you’re just doing hw on his bed with your own earbuds in work all spread out and he’s content. He’s also attentive so if he calculates that you’ve been working too long he’ll just take ur earbud like “hey let’s go get something to eat.”
People definitely think he’s the lazy one in the relationship but it’s 100% not true. Like stated above, he’s very attentive and can pretty much gauge how you’re feeling in the blink of an eye. He knows when you need alone time but won’t go without reassuring you that he’s here whenever you’re ready. When you do just need him he’s there without a second thought. If you’re more touchy he’ll have your head in his lap his arm running up and down your as you tell him what’s wrong. He knows when to joke about a minor inconvenience and over the course of your relationship knows when to cut the jokes and be serious with you.
He’d never admit it but he knows your coffee order by heart (he keeps up his image my asking wtf do you get everytime. Just let him LOL). He the type to peek at what you plan on wearing and ‘accidentally’ color coordinate then pull some shit like “why are you copying me”
Y’all def shit talk together. See someone doing something completely out of pocket in public— straight to ur phones you go (pack it up shade room). To the public it just looks like you aren’t paying any attention to one another on your dates but y’all are. Just over the phone so u don’t piss off ur target 😌
Y’all are very comfy in your relationship that you just say stuff. Y’all don’t even think.
“Rin, what if i crashed us in this car rn 😹”
“Do it. Might be fun”
When you two finally move in together it’s almost like how your relationship starts. Slowly more and more spares of stuff for you end up at his. He does sorta make the move near the end of your lease and is just like “you’re here more than me anyways.” (hes nervous but swears he’s not. Bby you’re literally shaking). Him moving you in is like hell. This mf takes sooooo long to help with boxes. Picks up 1 then sits for like 15 minutes. You ask for help the first few times and he’s just like “I got you” while continuing to scroll his phone.
Sleepy Shoulder kisses in the mornings. Only form a greeting you get but it’s ok
this is like my 100th dating suna hc and im still going this is SICK. it was so hard to not drop old refs bc i still believe in them 100% yes i do!!!!
#haikyuu x reader#hq x reader#suna rintaro x reader#suna x reader#haikyuu imagine#suna imagines#hq imagines#haikyuu headcanons
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