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agentravensong · 3 months

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Sooooooo Book of Webs

alright, let's do it. let's talk about the book of webs by Jesse Kohn (yes it's not capitalized, yes that's important).

i read this book over the summer, having randomly spotted it in the fantasy/sci-fi section of a bookstore and deciding to take my chances with it. the premise, as best i can put it, is that two revolutionaries are trapped in a cave, recounting to each other the story of how they got there. their purpose in this retelling is to try and remember the contents of the book of webs: a book so powerful it can change (and thereby, in their hands, liberate) the world.

the best way to describe the book of webs is that it's Complex with a capital C. if you try to take it as a standard narrative with a solid throughline and a True version of events beneath all the tangents, perspective shifts, hypotheticals and obfuscations, then you'll find it hard to follow and potentially unsatisfying.

rather, it's a maze that you're dropped somewhere in the midst of, a labyrinth with impossible geometry that will, after a long stretch of seeming progress towards an exit, loop back in on itself — just as often as it will defy your expectation that it will loop and instead take you to an entirely new ecosystem. it's meandering. it's heavy and dense. it's absurd.

it's also, when it wants to be, genuinely funny.

the thing is, to try and describe what this book is about, to sum it up in a post, is going against its very nature. because it's a book about the tyranny of meaning.

but, of course, that's oversimplifying it.

it's a book about books, what they mean to people, and how they can change the world.

(ragad fans, this book is for you)

it's about books as doctrines and as active shapers of truth. it's about the intentions they're written with and the ways they expect you to engage with them. really, it's about narratives in the all-encompassing sense of the word, and the myriad people and entities that shape and follow them.

in particular, this book is in large part about the narratives that the state writes (or co-opts) and propagates to sustain itself and its systems, writing reality for all who exist within and beneath it. (the 'state' later being substituted by God, psychologists, an amusement park, a mall, etc.) it's about how a person's expression of even their most personal, creative thoughts is hampered and twisted by the dominant structures of communication and meaning. a book about the inherent political nature of all stories, all ideas.

it's a book about authority and alienation. about how collectives are made up of individuals and individuals are made up of collectives. it's a book that interrogates the idea of the individual. it interrogates the idealization of completeness and cohesion. it's a book where its revolutionary heroes must seek out imperfections — including their own, the rebellions of their bodies ("excretions, tics, bad hair days, and, most importantly, their dreams") — and must tear themselves into pieces in order to triumph over empire.

it's a book about the power and limits of speech, of words, and the impossibility of knowing other people.

and yes, this book is about the tyranny of meaning and truth, but it's also about the desire for meaning and truth. about the longing for understanding. for connection.

it's about how our definitions of those concepts, of our desires, and our understanding of what things we are supposed to desire, are informed and enforced by society; how it contains our very imaginations...

...and what it might take, what it might look like, to exist outside those definitions. to imagine something genuinely new, genuinely liberating, and make it real.

it's about the good that can come from letting yourself be confused. from taking a leap of faith: pulling up the anchor you've set down in safe harbors — or full-on abandoning ship.

from taking yourself apart and reconstructing those parts into something different; something nonhierarchical, noncohesive, unco-optable, ungovernable.

it's a book that interrogates all the things you've taken for granted (in stories), all the structures you've been mentally subsumed by, and posits, instead, actively losing oneself, letting oneself become lost, as a way to freedom.

it's a book that's full of and celebrates such seeming contradictions, because that's how the world is: Complex with a capital C. incomprehensible in scope; ever-changing yet so resistant to change (or so it feels), so difficult to actually fight against.

it's a book about getting caught up in things.

(ragad fans, this book is for you)

or, to put it another way: it's a book. about webs.

i'm going to cut off my rambling there, but i will still include a couple of bonus passages where, upon reading them, i couldn't help but be reminded of some other works that i love:

beginner's guide moment:

and we know the devil moment:

with all that having been said. i figure you, reader, can determine for yourself whether or not you'd be interested in this book. if it does sound like your thing: you know what to do. :)

#the book of webs #jesse kohn #book recs #long post #narrative nonsense #imo this book never has a dull moment #it's endlessly creative and thought provoking #it's a tough read for sure. but it's really worth it.#all images have alt text

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clovecardamom · 9 months

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i really didn't like barbara (2023) but i think the thing making me feel most bonkers is the idea that ken goes outside like this in public:

and all he can remark upon is how respected, cool, and powerful he feels. how everyone likes him, and respects him, and it's nothing at all like how people look at him in barbieland. that he feels, specifically, no violent intentions towards him, while barbie is grappling with the concept of the male gaze for the first time.

and this was a problem for me, and it haunted me for the rest of the movie. because do you know what it actually feels like to be man dressed in public like this? to put on your funny little cowboy outfit and romp around with your gal pal?

you're not nodding to a bro finishing his set at the gym. you're not getting fist bumps and handshakes from random men on the street. you are getting called slurs.

you are getting literally nothing but barely contained homophobic contempt from men who immediately clock you as a gross, weird, queer freak. this is a one way ticket to being called the gay slur of the day, and the movie just sort of hopes you forget homophobia exists and how men enact homophobia onto each other constantly.

i don't know how this happened, but it remains a glaring issue for the rest of the movie. the ken characters dressing in sexual, hyper-masculine archetypes of cowboys and every imaginable type of jock is supposed to be a joke about guys being dudes and how ken dolls used to dress but it just... loops back around to feeling pointedly homophobic, when these are aesthetics that have been 100% adopted by gay men?

like, any salient conversation about the patriarchy doesn't function when your toxic alpha males are dressed to go to a circuit party. this is what i wore to pride.

as a man who does dress like this pretty often, and loves to go to the gym dressed like this to work out and feel sexy and confident... it felt really bad? and really mean for no reason? like, these are aesthetics that gay men adopted because we like being men, and we like playing these male archetypes to such campy extremes precisely because straight men stop finding it appealing and it lets us enjoy all of the fun parts of male identity we didn't get to enjoy when male spaces were toxic cesspools of homophobia that pushed us out.

i accept the possibility that i am being dramatic, but i think it is an issue for me that barbara (2023) thinks its funny and absurd for men to dress like this, and plays the visual of it it so often for comedy while the boys wrestle and grab and tease each other that it begins to make me feel really unwelcome.

making fun of guys being dudes so much that you accidentally become homophobic is not new! and i always hate it! but in this instance, it did really did make me, a doll collector and barbie fan who is also a gay man? a gay man who really loves and has a deep affinity for the idea of being a wonderful supportive ken to all of the wonderful barbies in my life? who also dresses in slutty little neon gym shorts sometimes because it makes him feel confident and sexy in a form of masculinity that has been queered into something empowering?

it made me feel really gross. i did not like it at all.

also i hated allan.

#barbie #i love yelling on tumblr dot com #it's so much fun to yell here

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xxswagcorexx · 1 year

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brainrotting about the fallen angels swagdoons so freaking hard but in an incomprehensible way ya know.

also glad to know that bc of me asking you decided to also tell this shit on here because holy moly core this au is absolutely wonderful and there's So much symbolism and by god aren't symbolisms the coolest things ever. just people giving a completely different meaning to things that never had this meaning before.

sorry for ranting lmao

aaaaanyways, what's up with that thing about casino quartet ^-^ is there anything else about the world's worst polycule?

OMG TYSM CHERNY THE BELOVED!!!! omg tysm for letting me ramble abt the fallen angel concept.,… i was torturing my friends too much with it thank u for letting mr be silly on main ^_^ /silly

ALSO IM SO GLAD U LIKE THE SYMBOLISM!!! i love making up made up symbolism fr…its so fun to make order out of chaos and looking closely at things and bring New Life to them i loveeee doing to sm (and i love aus like that in general they make them feel so Alive)

but ya!! i mentioned how it started off as a crack au with casino quartet and uh. (tries to think of a way to describe them without going into the main tags <-scared) let’s ramble about them! ^_^

basically so uh. for a while i thought one of the funniest things ever was to make a mcyt au from the music video lore of this one k-pop group because the idea was so absurd and it was niche enough that people Won’t Know/clock it right away and the idea of being “SURPRISE IT WAS KPOP” was something REALLY funny because i am messed up and evil in the head!!!

but. if i’m being honest. their my aesthetic low key slapped for no reason so as i started thinking about it and whatnot the au just became. its own thing. like you can sorta see bits of The Original Intent in there but its so far removed its basically its own thing so. (if you figured out who i assigned who to who no you dont /silly)

but uh. the lore is Very long and casino quartet only really work with one of the subgroups of the k-pop group so i’m just gonna focus on that one ^_^

basically, their subgroup’s lore is a vaguely based off of a few anesthetic of the bible, more specifically the story of adam and eve and angels escaping eden or whatnot. there’s 4 members, one representing adam, one representing eve, and the last 2 representing angels, with one following adam and eve to escape eden and the one who’s left behind eventually becoming fallen and finding self worth in herself

in the main music video where their Lore is shown, the other angels literally leave one of them out of the loop as they plan to escape eden together—just without the last angel :( and there’s a really sad shot of her looking at all of her friends running out of eden without her. then i another music video we get the other angel looking very sad that she left her friend behind but adam and eve r so smitten with each other that they dont care <- no way it’s clownzy and ash in team chaos i mean WHATTTTT ^_^

anyways. as u can tell. i mostly went “omg casino quartet” at the team chaos parallels and the Betrayal and Making Things Right themes and since their subgroup was Inspired by bible aesthetics, the idea for red being a fallen angel kinda Stuck with me and i (eventually) brainrotted the idea so hard and connecting to more things about fallen angels and whatnot i came across to the point it became its Own Thing. but tbh i really like the idea of ash trying to get red back and whatnot and him being a Fallen Angel as well stuck A Lot

and Also i like the idea of clown and branzy being the more modern interpretations of adam and eve. like someone who’s smitten in love and being willing to bite the apple and fall into sin for that. they’re so ill about each other it could go either way its them fr!!!!

but yeah. thumbs up . thats the Lore reason to why fallen angel ash and red became a thing >_< clownzy is a secret 3rd thing to me when it comes to the fallen angel concept but !!! its awesome maybe ill redraw the mv scenes with them one day….

#casino quartet #tw caps #media.warning.caps #anyways. illness #if u know what i’m talking abt it. no u dont /silly #but maybe. will jumpscare the tag and post the redraw art once i complete it #it would be Very silly i think #anyways ya tysm for the ask!! if u want me to dm u the mv links 2 u….feel free to ask!!!#mailbox.core

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fwoopersongs · 1 year

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不好惹 - Don’t Mess With Him

youtube

Someone asked me to think on my sins, but I reflected many times daily [1] and found that the fault lies not with me. Someone said that I’m a big monster [2], but I’m just an annoyance who likes to hem for two seconds before speech [3]. A friend has come from places distant [4], we must torment their spirit and labor their limbs, yeah ~ starve their body, impoverish their person, cause disorder in their actions [5] and whip them, maybe ten times. Then finally, banish them to some other court [6].

Passerby A: Boss, what are these hard-boiled eggs selling for? Lü Shu: Boiled eggs eh, one-fifty each, three dollars for two, ten dollars for six with a dollar change. Passerby A: Then please give me three. Lü Shu: This is a small business which doesn’t take credit ~

Excuse me, I shall leave now. Listening to you monologue has wasted ten precious minutes of mine.

Of people with shared mutual dislike, there are many. This decision to keep a distance is not bad at all. If you ask me how far is enough, I would say, ideally, a separation by life and death.

This lifetime of mine, I’ve never asked anything of anyone, besides the psychological SHADOW of everyone seated here. I am naturally best at filling people with impotent infuriation.

Oh, and cutting ties.

.............................................................................................

OMG I saw the OP for this donghua 大王饶命 in December and was utterly obsessed. It’s SO GORGEOUS. Very very imaginative! I still watch it at least twice a week. Forgot I’d translated it for a friend bc I put it in our chat and never went back xD. We were supposed to be going out in two hours (to have tofu and then teaaaaaaaa), but I shared the vid and she said she watched it on loop for a while one year ago, but doesn’t know what the lyrics say.

So like obviously, I was a liiiiittle late to the outing. LOL.

Sharing it here now!

I don’t want to ruin the gorgeousness of the video with fonts so, here it is in English just so you know what it’s about (I think there must be quite a number out there!) ~ IT’S SO IRREVERENT AND FUNNY.

There’s a lot of it that must be references to the novel or donghua, and this amazing MV made its donghua a place on my to-watch.

Don't take any of the quotes too seriously 🤣 this POV is trolling all the way.

[1] 日三省吾身 From Analects, Chapter: Learning (学而) - https://ctext.org/dictionary.pl?if=en&id=1105&remap=gb#s10019801

[2] 大魔王 Big fiend / demon king. This is what you call a big troublemaker and plague on your soul xD

[3] 不过爱沉吟两秒的气人精 Pretty sure this is a reference to the character of the speaker who may also be the main character? The irritation caused by a deliberate indecisiveness perhaps? xD

[4] 有朋自远方来 Also Analects, Chapter: Learning (学而) - https://ctext.org/dictionary.pl?if=en&id=1102&remap=gb#s10019792

The absurdity of having a friend over to visit and instead of being a good host, you uh ↓ do that (’Heaven’) and shoo him away with a whip like a toad disturbing your fun.

[5] 必先苦他的心志劳他的筋骨 yeah 再饿他的体肤空乏其身行拂乱其所为 From Mengzi's essay, 生于忧患，死于安乐 - https://ctext.org/dictionary.pl?if=en&id=1789&remap=gb

[6] 然后鞭数十吧最后再驱之别的院 From Shen Fu's essay, Interesting Things in Childhood (童趣), about what he did to a toad which interrupted him watching insects fighting

https://m.gushiwen.cn/shiwenv_e6ea5cd95b75.aspx

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有人让我反省自己可我日三省吾身发现错不在我有人说我大魔王可我不过爱沉吟两秒的气人精有朋自远方来必先苦他的心志劳他的筋骨 yeah 再饿他的体肤空乏其身行拂乱其所为然后鞭数十吧最后再驱之别的院

路人甲：老板这个煮鸡蛋怎么卖吕树：煮鸡蛋一块五一个三块钱两个十块钱六个找你一块钱路人甲：那麻烦您给我拿三个吕树：小本经营概不赊欠

在下先失陪听君一席话浪费了我宝贵的十分钟

彼此讨厌欠扁的人很多保持距离这个决定还不错如果你问我多远才足够那么我会回答最好是阴阳相隔

我这一辈子谁也没求过除了在座各位的心理SHADOW 我本最擅长的就是气人不偿命

哦还有斩断人际关系

#不好惹 #阿萨Aza #夏铜子 #MeLo #this OP is so pretty #i still watch it once in a while lol

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crsentfairy · 2 years

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15, 25, 32 for quincy Lloyd sean damien and roman 🙄

#wemustcancelroman

15. What kind of sense of humor do they have? Or do they have one at all?

Quincy has dark humor, and no not in a 'sexist, culturally insensitive bigot' way, but in a 'he's clinically fucking insane' way. He also uses corny emojis i.e 💦😹😈💯 ironically. Its an acquired taste.

Sean is the type of guy to be funny without even trying, most of the time the guy is dead serious and has people dying of laughter. He's the best type of funny.

Lloyd is so sarcastic, it's suffocating. Its also hilarious. He's also guilty of self-deprecating jokes but hey, who isn't? Gotta laugh at yourself sometimes, man.

Damien's humor consists of staring incredulously into an imaginary camera after hearing something even remotely absurd.

Roman is the obnoxious type of funny via doing the lightskin face in every passing mirror, sending a random pic of his purposely ashy feet, or calling random old people down the street sexy. That guy's a character for sure.

25. Do they have a daily/nightly routine?

Quincy's a uni student, and when he isn't going to his classes he'll normally just stay in his dorm, FaceTime his little sis and have her talk ab her day in middle school as white noise in the background as he plays Doom Slayer or At Dead of Night. He will occasionally tune in, giving prompt responses as well. He's quite the homebody, but can once in a while take a stroll to take in the scenery, and if it calls for a small chit chat with passing strangers, why not? He isn't someone with much productiveness, but does try to at least make the most out of his days.

Sean has a set routine, and a busy schedule. He practices his drums, bass and does voice checks. He cleans all of his instruments, fine tunes his bass guitar, cleans his piercings, moisturizes his locs, exfoliates his skin, and on off days he'll finally max out on the sofa with his cat. He doesn't have much of a nightly routine that doesn't consist of reading music sheets and falling asleep on his work desk.

Lloyd doesn't have a daily routine, he likes to do at least one thing different from the day before. It gives him a sense of spontaneousness and livelihood. Besides the obvious basic hygiene and workplace activity, he tried something new every day. One day he'll randomly decided to get a new tattoo or piercing, or he'll try out the Sakura tea at the romance festival. He doesn't know where he'll go after he drops dead, or if there even is life after death, but he's here now.

Damien is a lovely housewife from the 60s trapped in the body of a massive, heavily tattooed 6-foot-tall man. He deep cleans the house, relaxes in the bath tub, does groceries, walks his dog, picks up his nieces from daycare to babysit them often, cooks, irons his clothes for tomorrow, daily jogs at the park, and spending time with family.

Roman wakes up, make money, cheats, lies, and goes back to bed. The end.

32. If they could change one thing about themselves what would it be?

Damien: To be less gullible and trusting. He really thinks there are more genuine people on earth than there actually is.

Roman: Everything. He does bad things because he knows he's a bad person because of the bad things he's done so he's inadeptly trapped himself into a loop of despair, and he just wants to...go.

Sean: He wishes he could speak more, he was practically always a silent boy to the point of being diagnosed with selective mutism. So many missed opportunities because he's managed to convince himself his voice cannot possibly make an impact.

Lloyd: His temper. He wants to be dependable and not emotionally exhausting. His post tantrum clarity leaves him in deep shame, and he just can't keep living like this.

Quincy: His lackluster personality. Why isn't he vibrant like the other kids? Why does he have no real ambitions? Why why why ?? Many questions, no answers.

#ask #harrmoony #oc #damien reyes #roman valentine #quincy drake #lloyd miles #sean tate

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borrelia · 2 years

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the racial coding with maria is so funny. like its racist. but to the point that it just loops back around to being absurd. in order to make the sweet innocent completely faultless tragic child in shadows backstory seem as sweet and innocent and faultless as possible, we GOTTA make her a blonde hair blue eyed little white girl. for maximum effect

#i simply do not like how blonde hair blue eyes she is its Unsettling #like ivo isn't blonde. hes got brown or red hair #like.... i know its racism i know thats why they made her look like that #to be As Innocent Coded As Possible #and its so weird #she's like brahms the boy to me but if brahms was unsettling #myaa

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quacka-quacka · 2 years

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Hi i want to ask you about Paul jealousy towards John. Do u think his jealousy are same as John? Thats what i see from Get Back, Paul always get away from this. People always focus on John jealousy and mental psychology while Paul often being ignored or under explore. I just want hear something from you because your blog quite fascinating about Paul, makes him more human i think.

Yes, Paul is also a jealous guy, especially towards John. The legendary partnership of Lennon-McCartney is not only created by cooperation, but the mutual competitiveness that neither of them wanted to be behind each other in any way. It's just that Paul is the only one alive who can always say his songwriting partner was jealous of him whereas John, unfortunately, was busy being dead.

The rivalry is always there, I think, it didn't explode until the final time of the Beatles- when John brought Yoko into the studio. That's really pushed Paul's jealousy to a new level, he actually spends rest of his life competing with JohnandYoko, either about itself or its enormous impact.

The intimacy between John and Yoko bothered Paul most at the beginning when he just got dumped by his fiancee not long ago. It can be seen that he is jealous of John for diving into a romantic relationship so much as well as Yoko taking his creative partner away. He always considers himself as the only one who was desperate to keep the band together but he actually made the situation worse by bring several girlfriends into the studio to get his own back. He couldn't help doing it even if he knew how absurd this competition was. As George said, "That really helped put the nail in the coffin."

We all know what happened next: The Beatles was disintegrating while John and Yoko was at the height of their popularity as the high-profile anti-war couple who acted like messengers of peace with the famous slogan "Make love, no war." A succession of eye-catching peace activities during the Vietnam War made JohnandYoko a cultural iron and made John well known as an intellectual, a political figure, a true artist. After his death he was put on a pedestal not even his Beatles colleagues could reach. Till today, even the wife beater image can not weaken his influence, actually, it's part of it for being so famous that even the bad things are so widely known.

I don't like any of their peace events and works (including the song Imagine), nor the saint John people worship who has been reduced to a couple of labels. It's kind of sad to see such a funny man with extraordinary charm be remembered as a hyper serious person talking about world peace. But it can't change the fact that they are the main reasons that made John much more famous than other Beatles. Paul isn't content with it, he has always been trying hard to prove that he deserves the same praise. Those main public images of John are the ones Paul highlights in his interviews and books:

Intellectual

It's an old chestnut that Paul has always been arguing he isn't viewed as an intellectual like John. Obviously it's another competition with John as well his resentment towards stereotype he thinks caused it all. The lad who said "we ain't written no poetry" with his innocent huge eyes widely opened eventually become a bitter gammer babbling "John never had anything like my interest in literature." What a sad thing to see.

Artist

The one Paul seems to care about most - as a rough estimate, praising how artistic Paul is takes up half the length of Many Years From Now. Whether it's avant-garde loops, film, orchestra or painting, he's good at it.

PAUL: We used to have drawing competitions in the group where we'd sit down and say, 'Let's draw Mal,' and mine was often the likeness. I used to catch it. John's were often like crazy, because he couldn't actually draw like that. He did character drawing, he drew his little men, people with bulbous noses with hair coming out of them, bizarre character stuff, but he wasn't actually that good at representing something figuratively.

— Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now

(If I never saw his drawings I may buy that Paul is a realist painter more distinguished than John.)

In fact, it connects with the intellectual one, only in a more specific aspect. When it came to making loops, he didn't forget to say he and John was "wildly in reverse" on intellectual level:

PAUL: I was into a lot of those things, which was very strange because I was at the same time known as the cute Beatle, the ballad Beatle or whatever. I hate to think what I was known as. John was the cynical one, the wise Beatle, the intellectual. In fact at that time it was wildly in reverse.

— Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now

Political Figure

I don't like this one but it's crucial to John's public image. As he thought John would become "Martin Luther Lennon", Paul must be aware of that too.

He could be a manoeuvring swine, which no one ever realized. Now, since his death, he's become Martin Luther Lennon. But that really wasn't him either. He wasn't some sort of holy saint. He was still really a debunker.

— Paul McCartney, off the record conversation with Hunter Davies, 1981

Paul's rude remarks can be understandable consider what mental state he was in just five months after John been shot dead. But he doesn't seem to mind calling John "a manoeuvring swine", which can be found quoted in Many Years From Now - his official biography written in the 90s.

The others, much as they also loved him, regarded him as a 'manoeuvring swine', as Paul once put it.

— Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now

(George and Ringo: How did we get dragged into this?)

He already had a problem with Bagism back in Get Back session. And 30 years later, after praising his leadership in marijuana legalization protest for a whole section in Many Years From Now, the long journey of "Expanding the Field of Consciousness" end up with a comparison with Bagism and Imagine:

This was the first example of Paul's involvement in political lobbying, a skill which he would later apply with great success to saving his local hospital in Rye, Sussex, and in starting and funding the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts. The Beatles signed and paid for the advertisement at his instigation. There was no high-profile posturing. He did not sit in a black bag or sing a song about it, just supported a traditional method of lobbying. In this instance quiet and effective work led to a change in the law - from which he himself benefited when police found pot plants growing on his Scottish farm in 1972.

— Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now

In a certain way it is really an intense relationship that both of them can make the other one extremely jealous if any inequality exists. In Paul's case, as a person so insecure and so afraid of losing face, his jealousy also fueled by the public. The competition continues after John's death because he isn't on Lennon's bandwagon of being one of the greatest men in the world. It sounds snobbish but it's hard not to believe this is true.

#i hate 1-video-per-post limit #paul mccartney #john lennon #john and yoko #the beatles #mclennon

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anika-ann · 3 years

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No Strings Attached - Pt.1

Y/N vs. The Mutual Crash

Type: Modern-college-professor AU x CHUCK, part of Attached series More info here and on the Attached masterlist

Pairing: professor!Steve Rogers x reader Word count: 2900

Summary for the series: When you literally run into a cute guy named Chuck in school hallway, you soon learn there is much more to him than meets the eye. Unfortunately for you, you learn the hard way.

What’s worse, the encounter sets events in motion you couldn’t imagine in your wildest dreams – and it make you question everything you know.

Warnings: for this chapter - tiny bit of 18+ nsfw smut in the beginning though it’s barely there, swearing, mention of a migraine... that’s it?

A/N: Just so I don’t spook you, we’ll start off easy… with a 2,9k chapter… enjoy and thank you if you’re giving this crossover a chance. You don’t need any knowledge of Chuck, not realy.

Attached & No Strings Attached masterlist

⊱-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦ ✉ ◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-⊰

Almost as soon as you woke up, there was a feeling in your gut; today was going to be strange. Strange in a way that you might not be entirely able to put a finger on, nothing all that special happening, but even though it was only half past six, you knew it was going to be one of those days.

Maybe it was the fact that you cautiously dropped a forehead kiss on Steve’s still sleeping form only to find out he was very much awake. His arms swiftly took a hold of your waist and pulled you on top of him, drawing a startled yelp from your lips, which he quickly silenced by a passionate good-morning kiss.

Maybe it was the fact that you nearly ended up being late.

You were not the only one waking up with a peculiar mood. After Steve’s kiss stole all air from your lungs, he was rolling the pair of you over, trapping you against the mattress, arousal evident, hands wandering and sneaking under your sleepshirt, trailing higher and higher until they reached one of his favourite playgrounds. The rest was history; it was quick and little sloppy but undeniably lustful. Still, it led to mutual satisfaction and to not having even remotely enough time to get ready for the day.

Maybe it was the e-mail Bucky sent yesterday at almost 10 p.m. informing his students that there would be a last-minute change of classroom, because special guests were coming to give a lecture. A lecture that started at 8 a.m.. You hated early morning classes; the only thing making them bearable was Bucky, because he was a damn good and funny professor.

God knew if the guests were about to be a blessing or a punishment. Either way, you had a hunch today was going to turn out kinda weird.

And you only had that confirmed as you rushed through the corridors, the home-made coffee in your opened thermo cup in hand—and suddenly it was gone.

Because you crashed into someone. Well, someone crashed into you. It was a mutual crash.

Point being – a hiss of pain escaped your lips, cup slipping from your fingers as the last remnants of coffee stained it, hands thrown in the air—only to slap the person’s shoulder in the process, because they happened to be in the way.

“Whoa!”

“Dammit!” you cursed, shaking your hand to distract yourself form the mild burn.

You eyed the puddle of brown liquid at your feet before your gaze moved up, noticing a few droplets on your jeans, and finally you fixed your gaze on your crashmate.

A relatively tall brunet stared at you, dark eyes wide, an apologetic expression on his face.

“I’m sorry!” you both blurted out at the same time.

Short awkward silence followed as you just kept staring at each other, unable to utter a word. And then you chuckled at the absurdity.

You noticed the guy’s lips curling up in a brief smile as you shook your head and went to find tissues in your backpack.

It wasn’t funny – more like annoying, actually. But you did find it funny. Maybe it was because you had a perfectly steamy morning quickie with your fiancé, making you giddy. Maybe it was because this guy, dressed in a grey shirt and black dress pants was kinda cute, the dark curls of his hair causing him to look rather endearing and charming at the same time and—he was smiling too. There was an air around him; a very friendly air.

“Oh, no, let me help!” he rushed to crouch by the offending puddle before you could even open your backpack and you swiftly lowered yourself too.

“It’s no problem, the cup was pretty much empty, luckily…” you mumbled, shooting him a forgiving smile. He met your eyes, one corner of his lips rising higher.

Oh no. He really was cute.

Now, after the mess with Daniel, you were wary of cute guys, even if it came to innocent flirting. But this one, your crashmate… well. There was something about him screaming ‘trust me’; with Daniel, when you looked back at your first encounter, everything screamed ‘smug jerk’.

The brunet reached for the pack of paper tissues you were holding and so you shrugged, handing him some. If he wanted to help, who were you to stop him? It was both yours and his fault.

“Well, I’m glad it wasn’t full and I didn’t go all Hugh Grant on you,” he uttered as you both worked.

You stared at his Converses for a full second and then it hit you, drawing a surprised laughed from you.

“Was that a Nothing Hill reference? Am I Julia Roberts in this scenario?”

He smiled unsurely at you, seeming rather embarrassed – but seeing your expression, he relaxed. “Yeah, but luckily, you’re not, because the cup was almost empty. Still sorry about the coffee though.”

Picking up the soaked tissues, you went to find the nearest trash can.

“Well, if I-“ didn’t let my fiancé fuck me raw when I was supposed to be getting ready for the day- “-was watching where I was going, this wouldn’t have happened, so we’re good,” you assured him.

“Are you sure that I shouldn’t, eh,” he pointed somewhere behind him vaguely in a sweeping gesture, smile a smidge shy, ”run to the cafeteria or something to buy you a fresh cup?”

Alert! A guy’s asking you out!

And alert it was; after the fiasco with Daniel, you made it a point to cut things off before they could develop into a sticky situation.

“Oh! That’s really nice of you…?”

You didn’t remember seeing him around before. New student? An exchange student? Because it always went so well with those…

“Chuck.”

“Right, Chuck. Nice to meet you,” you quickly uttered, introducing yourself as well. “But I don’t really--- I, eh-“

You gave up and just awkwardly showed off your left hand. The beautiful ring that once belonged to Steve’s mother – and goddammit, wasn’t it still making you feel all soft and fuzzy – sitting on your ring finger.

Chuck’s gaze zeroed on the jewellery for a moment and then it seemed that something clicked in his brain. He swiftly raised his hands in a no harm gesture, brief panic crossing over his face.

”Oh no! That’s not what I meant, though--- congratulations, but I really didn’t mean to ask you out or something-“ he babbled, hands clenching and unclenching, toying with the belt-loops of his pants the next moment.

You felt your cheeks heat up. Was he trying to cover for the fact that he was embarrassed for wanting to ask you out or had you totally misjudged this situation?

“-though this totally was a meet-cute if I’ve ever seen one and it’s not that you’re not good-looking, I mean attractive and beautiful, because of course you are-“

Oh god, he wasn’t cute.

He was an adorable disaster! You didn’t even care what the truth was at this point.

“-but obviously you’re engaged and I really wasn’t making a move or anything—and I’m gonna have to stop talking right now,” he finished breathlessly, closing his eyes with a self-depreciating smile, his chest rising and falling as he was trying to calm down.

Your cheeks burned from smiling so wide, a cackle fighting its way past your lips. Even if you didn’t want to laugh at him.

“Okay, Chuck. I think I get what you’re saying,” you assured him and because he was clearly adorable, he warily cracked one eye open as if to check if the embarrassing situation you two found yourself in went away. When he noticed your smile, his tense shoulders relaxed, both eyes opening.

“I’m glad. I’m sorry for embarrassing us both. I might as well be that guy from Nothing Hill…”

You laughed – like honestly, nearly having to clutch your belly, laughed. You couldn’t help it.

“Well, you’re charming enough. But I’m afraid I’m no movie star in hiding.”

“You’re cute enough to be one, no discussion here,” he said, his twinkling eyes gave your face a very quick once-over. Somehow, you found his compliment both funny and flattering. A lopsided grin appeared on his face, twisting into a grimace as he hesitantly raised his finger. “But, if we’re talking meet-cutes, I’m afraid I’m more of a Richard Gere here… I got a little bit lost. Point me the right direction, please?”

Whoa, he was stepping up, talking Pretty Woman now. You really liked that dorky comment though.

“Where you headin’?”

“2.34?”

You blinked in surprise, wondering if you heard wrong. Because that was where you were heading.

“Oh? Interesting…” you muttered, earning a curious head tilt from him. Glancing again at your jeans, you grimaced. Those stains had to go… guess direction would have to do. “Yeah, that one is a little tricky… and dumb. You have to go through 2.33. Not that there’s any badge on the door on anything.”

He gasped theatrically. “Tricky!”

“I know! It’s a test of our interhuman skills; can’t really finding without asking someone first. I’ll see you there, I suppose, gotta clean up the cup and… well, me.”

“I’m sorry, again. And thank you,” Chuck said politely, sending you a final smile.

“You’re welcome, Chuck.”

Here’s a thing about hunches: sometimes, they come true.

Being run down in a hallway was nothing too weird, oh no. Not even when a funny charming guy was involved.

Things only got weird when you entered the lecture hall and finally realized why was Chuck heading to the same room as you did. He stood next to Bucky at the professor’s stand, quietly talking to a stunning blond woman in a dress suit and glasses.

Feeling blood rushing to your head, setting your cheeks aflame in embarrassment, you went to find a seat, noticing everyone was sitting with a space of at least three seats between them and never behind. As if you were about to write an extremely important test. Great.

Could this day get any better?

Two taps sounded through the room as Bucky tried the microphone.

“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Well, good for some of us, at least,” Bucky stated, unmistakably finding you in the crowd as if he knew exactly how your morning went – at least the part before you left the apartment. You wanted to sink through the floor – and wasn’t that a familiar feeling under Bucky’s knowing gaze. “Find your seats, please, so we can start. We have some special guests from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today with us to present you a special program you can apply to, so… you know. Pay attention. They’ll tell you the rest.”

Oh, so you had run into a guy from Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Spectacular.

To be fair, he had been a dork. How were you supposed to tell he was important?! He was still pretty cute standing there.

Also: the blonde by his side? Yeah. You understood now why he reacted the way he did earlier. Because if he knew a woman like that, the idea he was trying to ask you out – or anyone, really – was laughable. Hell, you’d ask her out.

“Morning, my name is Charles Carmichael and this is my colleague, Sarah Walker,” Chuck started off pleasantly, if little nervous from having all eyes on him.

“Like your professor said, we’re here to present you… with an opportunity to get a training for special analyst in one of departments. And before you ask why we’re ambushing a history class when we’re looking to fill an analyst vacancy…”

Several people laughed and you did too – he sounded like the guy from the hallway, only a bit more presentable.

“-it’s because we really talk about this with pretty much every student on this university, so you can see we have a lot of presentations still ahead. Anyway, I’m gonna talk a bit about the program and about our ministry in general, so… yeah. Please listen carefully and watch carefully too. Spoiler: it’s important. Thanks.”

The lights dimmed and he started the presentation, slowly pulling you in and making you forget the incident in the hallway.

And despite his charming ways… the presentation was rather strange too.

It was just one of those strange days.

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You didn’t think there would be anything to add insult to the injury, to turn into the so-called cherry on top.

You were wrong.

Chuck, or Charles Carmichael, was an alright presenter. He remained a dorky character, only enough to hold all of the students’ attention, that was quite okay. It was the pictures that appeared in between those images that felt perfectly in place, that were… just weird. Like… a rose. A beach. New York skyline. Pictures that were not at all related to what he was talking about. He always played it off as a joke – supposedly placing them there to keep you on your toes – but there was something that just felt… off.

And during what you later found out was like the last third of the presentation, you felt a headache starting to build. Not a terribly intense one, but strong enough to be fairly annoying and insistent on bugging you, just above your eyebrows. You couldn’t remember your head ever hurting in such way.

Then things got worse; you indeed got a test to complete. The nice people from Ministry of Foreign Affairs told you not to worry about getting it wrong affecting your marks in your course, obviously, so you didn’t, not really.

But it was hard to ignore that it was the weirdest fucking test you had ever seen.

In each task, pick five of ten words you associate with the word in question, read the instructions. Which on its own could be considered strange, but… it was the supposedly associated words that truly confused the heck out of you.

For ‘rose’ there were clear answers like ‘thorn’ and ‘flower’. The rest of the offered words? Non-sense. Like—utter nonsense. Bulldog, Victoria, Sao Paolo, camp, mirror, Tower Bridge, eagle, heroin. You stared at the words, reading them over and over, the pressure in your forehead growing more vexing by the minute.

For some inexplicable reason, your mind kept on gravitating towards the Sao Paolo, eagle and heroin; surprisingly vivid images of each flashing behind your eyelids as you closed them to relieve the headache. The light was starting to hurt your eyes despite being rather low. It was irritating.

Deciding the stupid test didn’t matter, you went with the first thing that came to your mind for each question, finishing among the firsts. It was rather relieving to see everyone’s face as confused as you imagined your looked.

Leaving the class, you spared Chuck one last glance, finding him staring at you with eyebrows furrowed; brief glance at Bucky told you why, for he wore the very same expression. It seemed that you weren’t very good at masking your suffering. You attempted a lame smile, knowing that you were about to ditch the class that followed.

Catching up with Linda, one of the girls who were with you in Callahan’s class, you begged her to give him your apology; the headache was turning into a splitting damn migraine.

Linda shot you a compassionate smile and assured you she would vouch for you looking absolutely terrible and having no other option than leaving.

“Thanks,” you chuckled weakly, nails digging into your palms as a mild case of vertigo threatened to throw you completely off balance.

“Hey, do you want me to call someone? Take you to the infirmary?” Linda worried, sporting a textbook example of having concern written all over her face. “Not joking, you do look like you’re gonna pass out. Rogers’ gonna be out for blood if he finds out I talked to you and let you wander off in this state.”

The image of Steve stalking down the hallway with an exasperated expression on his face searching for your classmate seemed rather amusing; but that was unlikely to happen.

“Nah, he should be all sunshine. Lots of endorphins released this morning,” you mumbled, absently rubbing at your forehead.

You only realized what you said when a dramatic silence followed, soon broken by Linda’s snort of laughter. The shock of you blatantly revealing something like that in your compromised state helped you to focus a bit more, bringing some clarity to your vision.

“I so didn’t need to know that. Good thing I have Callahan now and not him, I wouldn’t be able to look him in the eye. I’d be imagining him shirtless with a perfect case of bed hair. Gosh, you’re such a lucky bitch.”

“Don’t I know it,” you offered with another weak smile.

“I’m sure you do,” she hummed, lightly patting your shoulder. “Now you get home safe and get some rest.”

“Thank you, Linda. Really.” She only shrugged it off as if it was nothing. The friendly display brought an honest smile to your face and caused you to perk up enough to joke. “Oh, and Steve usually sleeps in a t-shirt, sorry to break it to you. But his bed hair is dreamy.”

“…I hate you.”

“No, you don’t.”

She would have if you added that the rumour about Professor Rogers being true. That he was indeed packing.

With a smirk at that thought alternating with a grimace whenever a sharp pain hit the back of your head, you headed home.

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Part 2

About

Chuck characters

⊱-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦ ✉ ◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-⊰

Thank you for reading :-*

In case you missed one of my way too many announcements, in Chuck, every episode was named Chuck vs. Something. I decided to keep the theme and go against my usual not-so-frequent use of Y/N in my stories.

P.S. – if any of this felt familiar to Chuck fans, know, some of the plot is a big nod to episode 1x07 Chuck vs. the Alma Mater. It’s one of my faves for many reasons – the plot, hilarious lines, the LOTR references… Honestly, they had me at this scene (0:05 – 0:25 though you can watch the full 2 min, obviously)

Anika Ann out

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tallstars-rewrite · 3 years

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Chapter 32

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A bright ginger tom padded confidently along the narrow fence, taking in the scents of the morning. Dawn was cloudy and gray, but there were small streaks of yellow and orange poking through the gloomy cover. It wouldn’t take long for them to dissipate and give way to scorching clear skies. Jake normally wouldn’t bother being awake so early, as his housefolk wouldn’t be up to feed him until well after sunrise, but this morning felt different.

Jake had looped the neighborhood twice already looking for...something. He didn’t know what, but he figured he would know when he found it. So far everything was quiet. But he knew when his gut told him that it was a day for going out, he should listen. It had always been right so far--well, ok, it was right at least half the time, but that was a good enough ratio for Jake to take seriously. So, he kept his ears and nose open and searched for anything and everything slightly out of the ordinary.

A pretty gray molly bounded up onto the fence when he walked by her yard.

“Good morning Quince,” Jake greeted her.

She purred and rubbed her cheek against his. “You're up early,” she purred in a honey sweet voice. “Are you going to watch the sunrise with me after all?”

“Sorry, I was just going to walk by the woods today.”

She rolled her eyes “There’s nothing interesting in the woods! What do you want to go there for?”

“There’s plenty interesting in the woods! Don’t you remember that story I told you before?”

“Oh yes, yes, the monster cats. You’re still going on about that?”

“They’re not monster cats Quince! They’re called warriors.” Jake said indignantly. “Well don’t let Nutmeg hear you talking about it again, you know how worked up she gets about it.”

Jake knew his friends didn’t care as much for his stories of the wild cats that prowled in the woods and beyond. And they didn’t believe him about the one he’d met once either. Sometimes even he wondered if he was just manufacturing the memory of that cat. It felt like it had been an eternity since he lived on the farm at the edge of the moorland; the world around him sprawling in every direction, massive and wondrous if his legs had only been long enough to run it. It certainly felt a bit like a dream when he described it, especially to cats who had always lived in a smaller world where you couldn’t see very far without a house or tree in the way.

Not that Jake didn’t like living with Cris and Dusty, he loved them both dearly. His housefolk had always been in his life, though he never really understood what made him suddenly want to take all of their things and leave the farmhouse behind. Jake was happy to go with him, but he couldn’t help wishing he’d had just a little bit longer at the barn near the moors. But as his mother always said, life for a cat simply goes on. Everything changes eventually. His paws would be swept in a new direction, with him simply carried along and adapting with it. Family goes separate ways, one day you only know a few fields and a shed, the next you’re whisked to somewhere completely strange, and so it went. It was bewildering, but also exciting in a way.

Jake had lived in his new home here for moons He’d explored every nearby inch, including the farther town, and got lost only a few times. It was nice, but it had started to grow a tad...monotonous. And, sure enough, there came an itch in his paws and a tug in his gut that insisted...maybe it’s time to get swept along again. He was restless with the waiting, so he made a point of following the impulse every time. Usually it led him places he wasn’t supposed to be, angering housefolk and strays as he went, but...maybe this time was different.

Jake’s friends didn’t really understand his fancies, but he still tried to goad them into joining him anyway.

“There are lots of birds in the woods this time of day, Quince,” Jake pressed. “You like watching birds don’t you?”

“I like watching birds from my garden, where it’s safe,” she replied, pointedly.

He had promised not to try exploring the woods because it made Quince and Nutmeg uneasy, but it was the only place he hadn’t checked yet. Quince continued giving him a hard look.

“I’m not going in or anything!” Jake insisted.

She narrowed her clear blue eyes a bit, clearly having doubts about that.

As they walked, eventually they heard a rustling below. Someone hissed up at them. Jake and Quince looked down to see a disheveled looking tortoiseshell who walked with a bit of a limp.

“Good morning Nutmeg!” Quince chirped. “You’re not hurting your leg more are you?”

“No, mom I’m not doing any jumping,” Nutmeg rolled her eyes. She carefully clambered up onto a stool, and then a table, to poke her head over the fence.

“You look more ruffled than usual. Anything different go by?” Jake asked.

Nutmeg broke her leg some time ago tumbling off a roof. She’d gotten frightened by a large bird when she was trying to peek into a new neighbor's garden, but the accident hadn’t stopped her from keeping up her favorite hobby: spying on all of their neighbors. Keeping a defensive lookout, she called it. Or perhaps just being very very nosy.

“Listen, I squeezed through the fence into Tyr’s yard earlier,” Nutmeg said in a hushed urgent voice, “and there’s this dangerous cat walking around!”

“Is this like the dangerous cat that actually turned out to be a little lost terrier?” Jake asked.

“Shut up Jake, that was one time!” Nutmeg hissed. “And yes, I’m sure, Tyr saw it too! It was a big lanky freak all covered in blood. It had probably just killed, and I bet it would do it again! It tried to attack both of us, but we managed to get away. Tyr just left me to scramble down the ladder like the coward he is, and I almost bent my other hind leg in the process.”

“So you have been hurting your leg more,” Quince tutted. “You're never going to get rid of that limp at this rate.”

“Are you even listening? That dangerous cat is still out there! You should both go back to your gardens and get inside.”

Jake couldn’t hide the spark of excitement. This was certainly different.

Nutmeg glared at him with flattened ears. “I know that look Jake, and don’t you dare even think about it. You can’t go messing with dangerous strays! Last time you did that you almost lost an ear to a mangy old brute.”

“We came to an understanding eventually,” Jake said simply. “I just surprised him is all.”

“Well this isn’t just any stray! This cat wasn’t normal, it was long and gangly and bony, and its claws were huge. A mistake of nature if ever I saw one! So whatever you're thinking, you’d better not.”

Jake blinked at her innocently. “I wasn’t thinking about anything.”

“He was just thinking of strolling by the woods.” Quince chirped.

“Tattle-tail,” he grumbled.

“No!” Nutmeg yowled, digging her claws into the fence in exasperation. “It was right by the woods where we saw it! Just go later! Or better, not at all! Do you have fluff in your brain?”

“It would be a better idea to go home, I think,” Quince said nervously. “I certainly don’t want to meet any aggressive strays.”

Jake sighed. “Alright, alright. Since everyone’s so worked up about it.”

“Thank you.” Nutmeg huffed, “Now get out of my garden, you're going to attract attention.”

Jake waved goodbye to both his friends as Quince quickly made her way back to her own house. He padded onward down the fence. His home was nearby, since he’d already made a full loop of the neighborhood. Truthfully, he wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to keep his promise about going inside. What kind of cat could Nutmeg have been talking about? She had a tendency to exaggerate, but she did seem very worked up. He could go to Tyr and ask him, but Tyr was...well, Jake didn’t want to call him “stuck up” because that would be rude, but he was sometimes... difficult to talk to. And more prone to exaggerating than even Nutmeg. Whatever this mystery was, he’d have to find clues himself.

Jake always believed his paws would take him where he needed to be even if the path there was bumpy, and that destiny was something that had funny and unexpected ways of finding you. Maybe it was an overly colorful way to look at life or even a little naive, he knew that, but Jake figured he would rather be a little naive then miserable and bored. And as he approached his garden, he became all the more certain his gut was right about today after all.

A sharp scent hit the roof of his mouth and he opened his jaws to get a better taste. Was that...blood on the grass? Jake couldn’t help his curiosity. How could he possibly not follow it? So follow it he did, and to his surprise, the trail led him right into his own yard. Cris would still be asleep. Housefolk hated when Jake woke them up, but he would do it if he had to, in case there really was some sort of danger.

His other housemate, Dusty, had broken off a small bottom chunk of the wooden fence trying to dig his way out (and maybe Jake had encouraged it a bit), and it looked like someone else had squeezed their way through the hole. Slipping through after it, Jake could scarcely believe his eyes.

There was a long, stretched out form sprawled out awkwardly in the freshly cut grass. Skinny, bloody, and scratched up badly. There was dark wet spots on the ground where it smelled like they'd been sick. It was certainly a cat by the looks of it, though for sure an odd looking one. They were rather big, with an impossibly long tail and the biggest ears Jake had ever seen.

A series of memories came flooding to the surface of his mind. The sprawling moors, the scraggly border of the woods, a bewildered black and white face blinking down at him with eyes the most beautiful shade of orange and copper Jake had ever seen, like a brilliant setting sun. Memories from a different world that almost felt like dreams these days.

Jake sniffed the limp form. He was definitely passed out cold. It couldn’t really be him could it? It was too perfect a coincidence. It was absurd! And yet...Tallpaw was there. Of course, it all made sense now, that “lanky freak” couldn’t possibly be any cat else.

And he was an absolute mess.

“By all the stars!” Jake breathed “What happened to you?”

***

Nutmeg was the last to pull herself up onto Jake’s windowsill.

“Be careful not to put weight on your leg,” Quince warned. Nutmeg huffed in annoyance for the mollys fussing.

“Be quick! You won’t believe it,” Jake chirped. He could hardly keep the excitement out of his voice.

“I hope it’s good, because you’re right, so far I don’t believe it.” Tyr scoffed. Jake hadn’t actually invited him, but the pampered old tom had just invited himself as usual, and Jake was too nice to tell him to go away. The windowsill barely fit all four cats. Jake ignored Tyr’s comment and peered in, eyes bright with excitement.

“I’m telling you, it’s the same cat I talked about that I met when I was younger, I’d know those ears anywhere!”

Nutmeg narrowed her eyes. “And he’s in your house now because…?”

“Well, yesterday he passed out outside and I got Cris’s attention because I knew he would help any hurt cat, and then he took him away and brought him back, and now he’s in this room!”

“I cannot believe your housefolk just brought a strange stray into your house! Neither of you know if he’s dangerous. Jake, your housefolk’s head is as full of fluff as yours is,” Nutmeg exclaimed.

Jake turned up his nose. “He cares about everyone, I like that about him! Now wait here, I heard mumbling earlier, so I bet my friend is awake.”

Nutmeg’s short mottled fur stood on end “Wait, don’t go into that room! What are you thinking?”

“Everything’s perfectly under control, Nutmeg,” Jake assured her as he squeezed through the narrow gap in the open window. This window luckily never closed all the way and it was easy to shove a paw under and get open. Jake leaped down into the room and padded over to the carrier. It was covered in a shabby towel.

Poking his head underneath the cloth, he said as gently as he could “Hey, how are ya feeling? Any better?”

A garbled growl was his response. Well he was sort of awake at least. The carrier suddenly shook violently. Alright, he was definitely awake. Jake scooted back as a long, clumsy white forepaw shot out between the bars and swiped blindly at the air. When the paw got tired and drooped onto the floor, Jake patted it gently with his own paw, and promptly dodged another swipe in response.

He looked back at his bristling friends on the windowsill. “See, perfectly under control. He’ll feel better when he’s not stuck in that box. Hey Nutmeg, what was the trick you figured out about opening these carriers again?”

“I’m not telling you!” Nutmeg's growl was very high pitched. “You can’t let that thing out Jake, you don’t have any idea what you’re doing!”

“Maybe it would be best to be careful, Jake.” Quince agreed.

“Oh nevermind, I remember now.” Jake pawed at the silver lock. It had to slide in some direction...He batted at it, and the cat inside growled in alarm. “Don’t be afraid! I just have to paw at this until it moves.”

At last it slid, now if he could just get a claw around the door….

It turned out he didn’t have to, as a blur of black and white barreled into the door and it flung open, forcing Jake to spring back. A bristling ball of fur and bandages rocketed across the room until it tumbled into a pile of spare towels tossed on the floor. Cris was never very good at cleaning the house. He heard his friends on the window cry out in alarm, and Jake instinctively jumped back up on the tall windowsill, needing a bit of help from Quince to haul himself all the way up.

“There, everything’s fine,” Jake gasped. “Just want to give him a moment to calm down, being trapped in those little boxes is the worst.”

“That’s...really a genuine real life wild cat then?” Even Nutmeg sounded a bit amazed.

“Yep! He’s from the huge field I told you about, he’s the fastest cat who ever lived.”

“You don’t know that,” Tyr sniffed. He hated any cat that was more impressive than himself, with his “purebred bloodline” whatever that meant.

“I do so know it,” Jake argued, “They’re all really big, and they have a whole society with no housefolk to take food from. And we were friends, and he helped me get home when I was lost once!”

An angry pair of blazing orange eyes glared at them, hissing as he tried to stand up, but wobbling badly on his feet and falling over soon after. The vet’s medicine had obviously not worn off as Tallpaw stumbled around the room. Jake heard Quince giggle.

“He’s really as noble as you described,” she purred.

“Be nice!” Jake said. “We all saw how bad Nutmeg was when she came back from the vet after her leg got hurt. They make your head all funny.”

Down below, Tallpaw had gotten frightened by a mirror, tried to claw it, hurt his paw and scampered awkwardly away. “Who’s there?” he slurred. “I’m not afraid of you. I’m not afraid of anyone.” He smacked a stray piece of trash on the floor, but the noise it made when it clattered into the wall clearly startled him. He arched his back and snarled.

“He’s snarling at a piece of plastic.” Nutmeg said.

“He’s just confused, I’m sure I can calm him down.” Jake mewed.

Suddenly, Tallpaw whipped around at the sound of their voices and launched himself at them, attempting to leap up onto a shelf near the window. Nutmeg cried out in alarm. Tallpaw’s aim was unsurprisingly poor as he missed the high shelf and tumbled back to the ground. At last he lay still on the carpet, panting.

“W-well he is...something, isn’t he?” Quince stuttered.

Jake winced. “I’ll er...I’ll go see how he’s doing.”

“Wait, that is that same cat from yesterday, I know it!” Nutmeg called, claws digging anxiously into the old wood. “Jake, he’s dangerous and clearly insane, you can’t just walk up to strays like that!”.

“Well, I’m gonna,” Jake said over his shoulder. “I told you, I know him! His name is Tallpaw.”

“I thought its name was Tal.” Tyr muttered.

Tallpaw was breathing heavily on his side, clearly having exhausted himself from his drunken run around the room. Jake padded up and tentatively touched him on the side. Tallpaw’s head shot up, lurching back to his paws again and barring his teeth, but his gaze was blurry and unfocused. “Don’t sneak up’n me, intruder!” he slurred.

“Oh you're not on about that again, are you?” Jake laughed. “Come on Tallpaw, don’t you remember me? It’s me! It's Jake!”

“W-wh....Jake?” Tallpaw blinked at him blearily, as if he was trying to focus. He swayed back and forth on his paws like a tree in the wind.

“Yes, Jake. You're in my house.” Jake mewed slowly.

Tallpaw looked around again, his eyes focused on the three kittypets muttering to each other outside the window. “They’re laughing at me,” he growled. “I’m getting outside.”

Before Jake could stop him, Tallpaw crouched and leapt straight at the window. Tyr yowled in fear and promptly fell off his perch. Of course, Tallpaw smacked hard into the glass and fell back down again with a loud thump that shook the windowpane, but obviously didn’t budge it. Nutmeg and Quince were bristling in surprise, but Quince was clearly trying very hard to suppress a giggle.

Nutmeg was less amused. “What is wrong with that cat?” she hissed.

“It’s ok! It’s ok, no one is laughing at you!” Jake said quickly.

Tallpaw covered his eyes and groaned.

Jake pressed his nose against his head. “It’s all ok, maybe just stay on the ground ‘til you're feeling a little less dizzy, yeah?”

Tallpaw’s sunset colored eyes widened again as he looked up. “Jake?” he wheezed, as if he’d only just seen him.

“That’s it!” Jake purred. The wild cat remembered after all.

“But...but you got eaten by a monster. Where am I?”

Jake cocked his head in confusion. “Huh? I didn’t get eaten by anything, I just moved away.”

“You’re not real. I’m dead, this is just part of the punishment...” Tallpaw moaned and flopped back down, burying his face in his paws.

Jake licked his head. “I’ll give you a moment to rest until your head clears.”

“It’s so bright and loud,” Tallpaw mumbled. “I know buddy, here this will help.” Jake tugged the towel off the carrier and went to awkwardly drape it over the shaking WindClan cat. “There, if you can’t see it, it can’t hurt you.”

Tallpaw only groaned again, but eventually grew quiet and still. Jake looked sheepishly up at his friends while they stared in complete bafflement at the bundle beneath a towel.

Well alright, so this wasn’t the best of introductions.

Eventually the others were shooed away, but they were obviously very hesitant. Jake couldn’t help being a bit frustrated. Sure there had been one or two times….or maybe several times where he assured his friends that he knew what he was doing, only to come home with new angry bite wounds from adventures gone awry, but couldn’t they give him the benefit of the doubt?

The house cat sat contentedly next to the wild cat trapped in his house, who was still halfway hidden under a towel and making the occasional whimpering sound. Jake blinked fondly at him and sharpened his claws on the carpet to contain a burst of restless bubbling excitement. He had a feeling the next change in his life was about to start.

chapter list / previous / next

#FRU32 #chapter 32 #a sudden POV switch 32 chapters in? its more likely than you think #this was one of my favorite chapters to write lmao

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singing-till-the-end · 3 years

Text

lonely nights

pairing: childe x lumine (chilumi)(genshin impact)

word count: 1319

in which lumine spends the lantern rite alone and childe comes to join her

It was a lonely night.

The city below her was filled with jubilant laughter and endless celebration, yet —

It was a lonely night.

It had been months, months, since Lumine had started her travels in Teyvat (in addition to the god-knows how long she spent in slumber), and still she was no closer than before in finding her brother. What if he was alone? What if he was in danger? What if...he’s dead?

She quickly shook her head, cursing her head for coming up with such absurd thoughts. Thinking like this wouldn’t help her; time wondering about what-ifs was time wasted.

But she couldn’t help but worry. Aether was all she had; it had always been just the two of them, jumping from world to world. Sometimes she allowed herself the fantasy of having parents who were out there somewhere, desperately awaiting for their return. But it was just that: a fantasy. And reality spent no effort humoring her.

She didn’t know what she would do if she never found him. Sure, Lumine always put up a confident front, but when she was alone, these awful thoughts always came back to plague her mind. Before, whenever there was ever some sort of trouble, she had always confided in Aether. Paimon was a more-than-competent traveling companion, but she wasn’t Aether; no one was Aether.

Looking up at the sky, its inky blackness glittering with bright stars, Lumine was reminded yet again of how they had once flown across those very stars. What she wouldn’t give in order to go back to those simpler times, where the only worries they had were finding a pleasant world to settle down in.

Under the darkness of the night, the traveler allowed herself a moment of vulnerability. Just a few minutes with a few tears, then she would be back to the festival. That’s what she had in mind, at least; she should have realized at this point that not everything went according to her plans. Actually, most things didn’t.

What was supposed to be a few drops of tears soon turned into a cascade of emotions. She buried her face in her knees and wept, wept for Aether and herself and the unfairness of this all. She hated this, resented this so much. She was so sick and tired of feeling powerless every night when the nightmares came to haunt her, of being forced to relive her brother’s horror-struck face and that outstretched hand, desperately grasping for something, yet meeting nothing but air.

Sometimes, she would wonder to herself if she could even save Aether even if she found him. If the two of them combined hadn’t been enough to defeat the Unknown God with the entirety of their powers, then how would she alone take down this damned deity?

It’s a never-ending loop of despair and regret, one which Lumine can’t ever seem to find the exit. Yet there’s still hope, buried somewhere deep inside, that drives her forward. It’s the promise that everything will be okay after this was all over.

Hope, she bitterly chuckled, is a dangerous thing.

The still silence surrounding her was effectively ended with the arrival of sudden footsteps that were most definitely heading toward her. Lumine instantly tensed, slowly turning around, readying her hand to summon her sword at a moment’s notice.

The enemy would have the cover of the dark while she was exposed in the open, but she would defeat it, like she did for all her other challenges. For all she had was herself, because no one would be there, defending her, not anymore; if she couldn’t even fend for herself —

She paused. Standing in front of her was none other than Childe, gazing at her with an uncharacteristically soft look in his otherwise dull eyes.

Lumine whirled around, suddenly aware of the tears still staining her face.

Yes, she and Childe were...friends, but he was a Harbinger first and foremost, someone who could and would betray her in a heartbeat if need be, just like what happened at the Golden House. In the end, he would only be an enemy, an obstacle in her path, and Lumine wasn’t exactly keen to show a foe how vulnerable and weak she really was.

Anything and everything could be used against me, she reminded herself, wiping away the tears.

Her walls were ready to emerge again, both protecting and isolating herself from the world. As much as it was painful, she knew better than anyone else just how necessary they were.

But in that moment, when Childe sets his coat upon her shoulders and lightly scolds her for being out here when it’s so cold, her walls crumble away to nothing but dust. It’s a little funny, really, how easily they manage to collapse compared to how desperate Lumine has been to keep them up. She was the one to blame, of course; it was her heart that fluttered and it was she who secretly welcomed the sensation.

Taking a seat on the ground beside her, Childe asked, “What are you doing here, ojou-chan? They’re releasing the Mingxiao Lantern tonight down in the harbor, you know.”

“I could say the same for you,” she replied, grimacing briefly when her voice cracked. Maybe he noticed, maybe he didn’t, but she was grateful all the same when he didn’t mention anything about it.

He smiled. “Couldn’t let my favorite traveler spend the night out here all by herself, now could I?”

Lumine found herself staring a little. Childe’s smiles were usually wide and mirthful yet painfully empty, just cheerful enough to fool the next person, but not Lumine; she doesn’t know when it started, but she found herself being able to differentiate between his fake and genuine smiles with relative ease. Even with all the time she’s been spending with the man lately, a genuine smile was incredibly rare. It was the type of smile that exuded warmth, one where his eyes shone with a light that made him look alive. The type of smile that she silently vowed to protect. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

“Ojou-chan, if you keep staring at me like that, I might be convinced you’ve fallen for me,” Childe lightly teased.

As a blush slowly crept onto her cheeks, Lumine hastily turned away, clearing her throat. Attempting to change the subject, she said, “Did you release a Xiao Lantern yet?”

It worked, thankfully. “No, not yet.”

“Why not?”

“Well, for one, I don’t know how to make the lanterns, and I don’t think anyone down in the harbor would be exactly thrilled to teach me, seeing I did almost destroy their entire city.” He laughed it off, nonchalant about the whole situation. The traveler just rolled her eyes, feeling exasperated, yet fond all the same.

When had she become so relaxed around Childe? She tried to remind herself to stay more wary, but as she laughed and joked around with him, the warnings inside her head disappeared without a trace. It was stupid, so awfully stupid, to want to trust someone who, in the end, would only end up hurting her, yet with Childe, all sense of reason was thrown away in the wind.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

Perhaps she was a little greedy, Lumine thought, cradling her lantern delicately, but it was fine.

Beside her, Childe held his own lantern, messily built but still viable. “What did you write?”

“Something a little ambitious. The gods out there probably won’t be able to grant it, but then again, even if they could, where’s the fun in that?” She smiled. “I’ll just make it happen myself.”

He laughed. A genuine laugh.

“Sounds just like you, ojou-chan. I’ll be looking forward to it.”

They released the lanterns together, watching as they slowly rose, illuminating the night.

Perhaps it wasn’t so lonely, after all.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

I wish to find my brother.

I wish to stay with Childe.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

Plot? We have no plot.

Sort of just wrote this on a whim. Would have loved to publish it on the last day of the Lantern Rite in-game, but alas, my writing skills said no <3

yeah I also sort of gave up near the end

#genshin impact #genshin lumine #genshin childe #chilumi #chilumi fanfiction #i want to write fluff but i can’t write fluff #just lumi and her thoughts #some angst i guess?

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softxhariana · 3 years

Text

34+35 live stream

description: ariana’s live stream before debut of 34+35 remix music video.

word count: 2.22k

A/N: little piece based off this live stream that ariana did in the countdown to her releasing the 34+35 remix music video with doja and megan. obvs not included every question but just a few fun bits and harry mentions for you x

also disclaimer, this is NOT real, if u don't wanna read about these two then don't, i’m not tryna act like they’re together it is fiction.

❤ anywayz hope u enjoy luvs xox

❖ "HELLO EVERYONE! thank u for coming to this premier,” ariana smiled sweetly at the camera, as the video cut to a shot of her for the beginning of the countdown.

“we had so much fun making this 34+35 remix video for you, and uhh, we hope you love it.” she continued, playing with her hair. no matter how long she did this for she swore she would never cease to get slightly nervous in these situations. where it was her alone, in front of a camera. but her fans made her feel at ease, and she felt she owed them something, as she hadn’t done many quarantine interviews like other celebs have.

“i thought i would come celebrate and join the countdown with you guys. which is something that I've never done before, but i’m very happy to be here and i was very excited to get some questions from you all...” she held up the sheets of twitter questions she had received, “um that i’m gonna be answering while i’m here so, i cant wait to celebrate this together and countdown and answer some of your questions!” she finished with a smile.

and it was genuine. a real smile that her fans were thrilled to see.

ariana was genuinely so happy and content with her life right now. with her family, her music, her friends, harry. harry her FIANCE!! might she add.

everything just felt perfect, and after all the shit the last couple years had thrown her way, she appreciated the break.

she got her love back, she was making music that she fully loved, and put her whole soul into, and she had fans who had stuck with her and supported her through some of the darkest times in her life, that were now able to experience her happiness and personal growth with her. so truly, little things like this, felt like the least she could do for them.

“ohh this is a good one because its 34 35 related” she tucked her hair behind her ears, “@noirgrande said ‘ummm its just i wanna the end of 34+35 is it awww shit or nooo shit, i just wanna sing the song right”

“umm it is indeed no shit” she confirmed, smiling matter of factly at the camera before reciting the closing line of the song.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“@arianalocks1223 said ‘will we get to see the track list before the songs release?’” she paused for a second to process - which turned into a few more seconds, she was a bit slow today. she had told harry with full sincerity that she thought it was because she was getting old but he had just cracked up at her absurd statement, and told her that if that was the case he’d still think she was a milf

“you will!” she nodded with certainty, “indeed. ummm... i can tell you them now” she blurted, oops.

“i suppose thats not like... is that against the rules? can i do that?” she turned, to question scooter who was supervising off camera, not wanting to get her label mad at her for releasing too much information, something she has a tendency to do.

after getting the nod of reassurance from him she turned back to the camera, “so out of ‘POV’, you go into, um, an interlude called ‘someone like u’. after that is a song called ‘test drive’, after that is the 34/35 remix with doja and meg” she smiles lightly, “and after that is a song called ‘worst behaviour’, and after worst behaviour is... a song called ‘main thing’...” she finishes, a shy smirk forming on her face, dimples appearing, “so that’s the tracks.”

continuing with the countdown, ariana felt her heart warm at the love her fans were giving her and this album. she loved interacting with them and making them happy and proud of her so knowing she had done just that, was an amazing feeling.

“umm hesbloodsline... @hesbloodsline ... i’m really fond of this question because its really to the point, ‘where's the pig and where the fuck is harry?’” she smiled, holding in a laugh.

“piggy’s here, she's great, she's really doing so well and life is really good for her right now, she's really thriving and doing her thing” she ranted, a hint of sarcasm in her voice, “um, i make her big salads everyday that she likes, she's doing really great. she asked me to stop posting her as much because she's actually really offended by a lot of your jokes that you make on twitter, she asked me to have a word with you guys” she continued to joke, well aware that she probably found herself more funny than anyone else did right now.

“she doesn't like the jokes about being eaten, they really hurt her, umm yeh, and she asked me to convey that... no she’s great...” she finally decided to answer, “and harry, is on set today, so um, yeh thats where he is... but don't worry i will tell him to keep you in the loop, i’ve got you”

ariana unconsciously let a small smile take over her glossed lips when talking about harry. he had been so excited about this new project and seeing him passionate and happy about anything he’s doing, always made her happiest.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“nicole! @nastyctrl. nicole said ‘who helped come up with the concept for the positions music video, love u sm ari’ love you so much to, i love you so much more” she paused, she loved this story,

“um this is actually a really funny story, dave and i had been going back and forth on several different concepts, and i couldn't, like... marry one... i couldn't really, like, really commit to one, i wasn't 100% sold. and it was missing a certain element of empowerment. and i kept, you know, trying to think of things that would make it more impactful cause i wasn't loving what we had...”

“anddd then me and harry were on this huge hike, and he just turned to me and was like, ‘what if you were the president?’ which was like, not at all fitting cause i was dying and complaining the whole time. but i was like,” she tried to imitate a shocked face through her smile and laughed

“and when i called dave he was like ‘oh... kay, ill call you guys back’ and had the whole production team redo everything, and i had mimi pull completely different outfits and we completely started over cause that idea was what i was, craving and missing. and i was like, wow, thats so perfect” she smiled, shrugging her shoulders, “so yeh, honorary directing credit to harry styles, if you liked that”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“this is from @borderlinevinyl, who said ‘how much of the album was recorded at your little home studio?’ ummm..” she sang, looking off camera in thought, everything in quarantine had honestly just blurred into one so she was struggling to remember what exactly she recorded where,

“um... a lot of it was... i think i did parts of everything here and parts of things at tommy's i know i did, um, the final chorus ad-libs for positions at home” she began listing in her head, “i know i did all of off the table at home... i know i did the final chorus of my hair at home because we- i-” oops. she had to control the laugh threatening to leave her lips at the lack of subtlety in her correction

“-i got out of the shower and he was like ‘oh your whistles are really here right now’, and i was like y’know what... yeahh they are aren’t they” she laughed as she squinted her eyes and recited that part of the conversation, even trying to imitate his deeper accent.

she had been singing in the shower - as she always did - and harry joining her never seemed to stop her from belting out any whitney or old one direction classic she wanted to. he would even join in sometimes and they'd end up with their own mini concert, dancing around naked, shampoo and conditioner bottles in hand singing their hearts out to everything from high school musical to nicki minaj to fleetwood mac.

while it felt like too bold of statement to make as she truly revelled in and enjoyed everything they did together, showering with him was truly one of her favourite’s. whether it was steamy shower sex that had all glass surfaces in the room fogging up or letting loose and dancing and singing under the pouring water, every moment felt so intimate and sacred. it truly made her feel like they were they only people in the world.

of course he would claim she was out singing him every time she whistled and would jokingly try to replicate the note but he was truly just in awe off the sounds that came from her mouth (in all senses of the word;)

"-and so i opened ‘my hair’ and just randomly did that” she continued, “um what else did i do here, i did the a lot of the backgrounds and ad-libs for 34+35 here, um, obvious was done at home, a lot of six-thirty was done at home”

caught in her own thoughts she only realised she had probably been droning on for too long when she caught scooters eye across the room and with a blush she shook her head as if to clear it, “this is an annoying answer, everything was kind of all over the place but i did a lot, a lot, a lot of the vocals for the album at the house" she finally finished the long answer, moving on quickly as she realised she didn't have long until the premiere and she wanted to answer as many of the questions as possible.

“ok, second last question from hannah, ever- @everdxystxless, im sorry i don't know how to pronounce that” she laughs looking up at the camera with wide eyes, not sure how exactly how she was supposed to go about pronouncing the username,

“im sorry, um, but anyway she say’s ‘ari baby, how do you feel about harry getting to do a movie with florence pugh, we know your a big fan of hers, ps. i love you so much!’ well hannah, i love you too” she replies, as she thinks back to when harry first introduced the two, after she had gotten over the initial fangirling, the pair became amazing friends. florence struck ariana as such a genuine, loving person and they shared the same dry sense of humour. plus ariana might of been just a little obsessed with her accent - not that she would ever admit that and scare the girl off.

“and... um, yeah, it literally, made me beyond happy, i was fully like, fangirling when i met her the first time” she laughs as she plays with her hair, “she honestly, probably was like, ‘who the fuck is this girl? what is she doing?’”ariana imitated, a faux scared/weirded out look on her face, playing the part of a mildly pissed off florence - which she luckily had never been on the receiving end of, “im sure i was being the opposite of subtle about it but, no, she really truly is the sweetest, kindest, most beautiful, talented human being” she emphasises, the thought of any news outlets of fan’s trying to spin a ‘jealousy’ story about this making her internally role her eyes,

“midsommar is, like, one of my all time favourite movies, and she's amazing in it, and harry’s like so fucking lucky its crazy. so yeah, thats insane”

~~~~~~~~~

"...so yeah... thank you so much! this was so much fun!” ariana exclaimed as she wrapped up the Q&A, smiling wide at the camera, she knew her fans were going to love the music video and she couldn't wait for them to watch it, plus interacting with them in this way always made her happy.

“i love you guys, i miss you” she reminded, “i am so appreciative of everything you've done for this album, for these singles, for this music. i hope that, um, that this makes you super happy, i hope it makes you smile...we had so much fun shooting it and um, the girls are so fantastic, so i hope you love this and i hope you love the deluxe!”

ariana didn't know how many more ways she could say thank you and express her gratitude but she still had over a minute and a half so she’d have to come up with something, even if it meant she’d sound like a broken record

“i am so thankful for everything and for the love that you've shown this music i cant even begin to articulate it properly so, thank you! i appreciate it so much” she breathed out all in one, “but anyway, the video should be starting soon, so... i hope you like it, don't refresh! it’ll be here soon... i promise... just don't refresh” she urged dramatically, she was really dragging this out, “but yeh” she got out through laughs “the video should be starting anytime now, i love you guys” she blew a kiss to the camera before moving as close to the lens as possible “byee”.

🖤 there u go!! i hope you liked it, and any feedback would always always be welcomed and so so appreciated pls and thanku x

#3435remix #35+35 #ariana #grande #butera #ag #agb #viral no1 #hiphop #rap #RnB #music #female #woman #trio #livestream #countdown #harrystyles #hs #hariana #dojacat #megan thee stallion

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vivithefolle · 3 years

Note

I loved your ranking of character arcs (for the main seven)! Would you mind going into more detail about Ron's character arc, and how he developed from the first to the last book? I apologise if you've already answered a similar request! :)

[Ranking of character arcs]

Well, during the first three books Ron is rather static - he’s awesome, but he doesn’t has much in the terms of “character growth” moments. He does epic stuff like the chess match, following the spiders et all we know, but that isn’t character growth as much as it is freaking badass.

The first three books serve to sow the basics for Ron’s character: he’s a devoted friend, he can face death with a laugh, and in spite of his bouts of rudeness or temper he’s fundamentally kind and doesn’t take himself too seriously - something two people like “boy-who-lived” Harry and “child prodigy” Hermione desperately need.

But what the first book does is introduce Ron’s emotional baggage.

"I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left -- Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."

This introduces us to Ron’s inferiority complex and its origins.

And later on, The Mirror Of Erised helps elaborate:

Harry stepped aside, but with Ron in front of the mirror, he couldn't see his family anymore, just Ron in his paisley pajamas.

Ron, though, was staring transfixed at his image.

"Look at me!" he said.

"Can you see all your family standing around you?"

"No -- I'm alone -- but I'm different -- I look older -- and I'm head boy!"

"What?"

"I am -- I'm wearing the badge like Bill used to -- and I'm holding the house cup and the Quidditch cup -- I'm Quidditch captain, too."

Dumbledore will then add his grain of salt -

Harry thought. Then he said slowly, "It shows us what we want... whatever we want..."

"Yes and no," said Dumbledore quietly. "It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts. You, who have never known your family, see them standing around you. Ronald Weasley, who has always been overshadowed by his brothers, sees himself standing alone, the best of all of them. However, this mirror will give us neither knowledge or truth. Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen, or been driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible.”

Something to know about Dumbledore - he’s JK Rowling’s mouthpiece. When she wants to tell us something, she puts it in him.

And... well, this looks like a rather... selfish interpretation of Ron’s desire. Especially the “standing alone” part. It somewhat implies that Ron is selfish - especially compared to Harry’s desire which is oh so pure and oh so sad because boo hoo orphan family stuff. (I may be letting all the times Harry fans have pulled the “butt herry iz an orhpan!! :’((” card colour my perception.)

“The best of all of them”. When Ron sees himself being both Head Boy and Quidditch Captain. He’s combining his brothers’ successes into himself. His belief is that this is how he could stand out and be loved - by combining his brothers’ accomplishments.

Anyway.

Goblet of Fire then makes us see Ron’s main problems - his insecurity can lead him astray. First he believes that Harry left him behind during the Triwizard, because why not? After all Ron has already seen that betrayal can come from the craziest places (Lockhart, aka adults/authority figures, Ginny being the Heir Of Slytherin aka family even against their will, and last but not least, freaking Scabbers, aka SEEMINGLY INNOCENT THINGS YOU FEED AND PROTECT). Add to it his budding feeling that he is overlooked in favour of Harry (the twins giving Harry the Marauders’ Map...) and Ron’s emotions get the best of him, which isn’t helped by Harry’s entitled attitude and his acting as though Ron is stupid for questioning him. And then Viktor Krum appears as a prop show us what a catch Hermione is and to be all that makes Ron insecure. The Yule Brawl serves to foreshadow Romione but also to show the negative aspects of Ron’s insecurity, namely jealousy and how he lashes out when he feels betrayed. However, at the end of Goblet of Fire, Ron symbolically outgrows his jealousy by asking Viktor Krum for his autograph.

Order of the Phoenix will then go on to show Ron being jealous of Krum, although being a bit less vocal about it... and it also gives Ron half of the things he’s dreamed of in first year: he’s made a prefect, and joins the Quidditch team. But those are immediately made hollow by the... lackluster reaction of his loved ones and by Malfoy being a vile piece of pond scum. The fact that he’s prefect could have been used to make Ron take on more responsibilities and showcase his motherly side more, but Rowling only used it to again pit him against Hermione by making Ron look like “the immature one” and making Hermione “the responsible one”. And then, to REALLY drive home the point that Ron isn’t allowed to have anything for himself, she has Dumbledore say “oh yeah Harry, you were supposed to be prefect, even though you’re basically allergic to rules and authority and also are emotionally stunted”, and so in a symbolic way VALIDATING Hermione’s reaction to Ron being prefect. Yeah fuck you too Rowling. And the Quidditch debacle could have been used to give Ron confidence in himself. Actually, it does somewhat give him confidence once he trounces Slytherin in the last match of the year. But the fact that Harry and Hermione weren’t present means that Ron’s victory is an afterthought, a background event, a minor thing. Yet, Ron still proves his maturity and patience by just accepting that his friends weren’t here to see him play. They don’t deserve him, seriously. This year also marks a drama-free year for Ron and Hermione, which could have then been built up to make them grow even closer in the next book... but oh, the faults of TERFs...

Half-Blood Prince basically takes all of Ron’s progression through the last two books and says “see that? All that? Well let’s pretend it never happened and do it again, but shittier!” The thing is, Rowling wants Ron to “make himself worthy of Hermione” like the very progressive person she is. But she is also aware that Ron is kind of a naïve romantic who wouldn’t date around while he’s in love with someone else. Unless... Unless she resurrects plotlines that have already been finished, thus bringing Ron back to square one. Now he’s back to not being able to play Quidditch properly and Hermione acts the saviour because girl power. Now he’s back to being enraged by Viktor Krum’s name. Now he’s even less mature than he was in Philosopher’s Stone because Plot Be Like That. JKR did do a pretty good job at setting up the whole argument, not gonna lie. Since Ron is so sensitive to betrayal, finding out that Hermione had lied to him about Krum would indeed make him furious, especially when he finds out that Ginny knew about it and (apparently) so did Harry. Basically, the entire sixth year is built to undermine Ron’s growth and character, both because Harry must be in love with Ginny and in order to properly appreciate Ginny he has to appreciate Ron’s qualities less, since Ginny and Ron basically have the same qualities Harry appreciates but he can only be in love with Ginny; and also because Ron “needed to make himself worthy of Hermione” courtesy of double-standards, sexism and general immaturity from our author.

Finally DH closes the horrible loop. Rather than letting Ron grow secure and confident, Rowling instead insists on pulling him down, and down, and down, then gives us Harry saying “she’s like my sister, I thought you knew” as if that somehow would fix the self-esteem issues and the self-hatred and the sheer abuse Ron is subjected to by his friends - and for someone as obsessed with "love redeems” as Rowling is, it probably is, but those of us suffering from depression know better. Even though the Epilogue shows us Ron being happy and confident enough to joke about fame, it still leaves a bitter taste in the mouth when you realize that Ron-bashers take the “Confunded the instructor” lines to absurd levels and use it as “proof” that Ron is a bad husband / lazy / a cheater / etc... when it’s immediately followed by -

"I only forgot to look in the wing mirror, and let's face it, I can use a Supersensory Charm for that."

This is basically Ron doing the wizard equivalent of the rear-view camera. But of course, bashfics have been written to make it so Ron causes a horrible crash accident and Hermione calls for divorce and blah blah blah sigh.

#vivi answers #ask #ron weasley #ron weasley defense squad #ron weasley defence squad #romione #hermione critical #harry potter #hp meta #harry potter series #anti jk rowling

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taylorinthetardis · 3 years

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Wallflowers - A Henry Cavill x Reader fic

So I did a thing! Rather than continue to work on my larger, more complicated Pride and Prejudice fic, I decided to make a fanfic out of the fantasy I had at work the other day!

There will most likely be a part two to this, I just thought I was at a good stopping point and wanted to see what you guys thought about it.

Full disclosure: I didn’t mean for this to whole ass turn into a Bath and Body Works ad, but it kinda did. For those of you reading in countries that do not have Bath and Body Works, its basically just a body and home care store. In the US their scents are legendary. Pretty much every young girl went through a BBW phase where that was all they used for soap and perfume. That all being said, in the interest of further disclosure and covering my ass, I own neither Bath and Body Works nor any of the trademarks on the scents listed herein. I also do not own Henry Cavill because owning human beings is a crime.

This is my first Henry fic so be gentle with me! It’s a bit longer than I had anticipated and un-beta’d.

Warnings: just a lot of fluff. some self-deprecation. loads of swearing. don’t know if I should warn for slight bashing of the religious but I will anyway so no one gets mad at me.

Wallflowers

It was shaping up to be another boring ass day at Bath and Body Works. I had started working here during the Pandemic after I was laid off from my job at the movie theatre. I had planned on it only being temporary, but even after things got better and I got my theatre job back, I decided to stick around. What can I say; a bitch is broke. Nothing wrong with double-dipping.

There was something about Sunday mornings in the mall. Probably because people around here still went to church in the mornings. Like it matters. Sunday mornings are always so slow, here and at the theatre, but the day always picks up after 1, when morning church services finish. It was me and Samantha up in the front room this morning, working out the leftover boxes from yesterday’s shipment. She was one of the first people I really bonded with here, both of us being super into both Marvel and DC, specifically Sebastian Stan and Henry Cavill. They had just started filming the next Superman movie and they were going to be shooting scenes up in Michigan again, like they had for Dawn of Justice.

“I’m just saying, we should really consider asking for a few days off and just going up there and scoping it out. I mean, it’s Henry fucking Cavill. He’s less than an hour away from us. Right now. Less than an hour. When is that ever gonna happen again? I can use some of my vacation time at the theatre, so at least I’m not missing out on money from them. It’ll be a blast. I mean, what’s the worst that can happen? We don’t see him? I mean at least we’d have tried. I’d rather try than stay down in stupid Ohio with the knowledge that he’s that close.”

“Do you really think Ann’s going to give us time off to stalk Superman?”

“We ain’t gonna tell her what it’s for! Just lie, c’mon now.” I laughed. I dropped a box of Gingham body cream into the understock drawer and broke the box down. Out of the corner of my eye I caught movement, oh goodie, a customer. Samantha was quicker to greet them.

“Welcome to Bath and Body… OH MY GOD!” I turned around and was met with the sight of none other than Henry fucking Cavill, sheepishly running his hand through his now jet-black curls, obviously embarrassed at having been recognized. Damn, am I glad I put make-up on this morning. Alright Y/N, this is your fucking chance. For once in your damn life, be fucking cool. You can do this. You look good, you smell like Champagne Toast, you’ve got this. I pulled my hair down from its messy bun and shook it out a bit before walking over to where Samantha was still trying to collect herself. The store radio started playing Halsey’s Bad at Love and I had to bite my lip to stop myself from bursting out laughing at the absurdity of the situation we were now in. Not five minutes ago we were talking about seeking him out and now here he was in all his brick-shithouse-ness. I looped my arm through Samantha’s in a show of support.

“What a wonderful coincidence! We were just talking about you and now here you are! It’s crazy how the universe works, isn’t it? I’m Y/N, this is Samantha; what can we help you with today, Henry?” I smiled my most adorable smile at him, the one that makes my little cheek dimple pop out, and, honestly, they both looked shocked. Samantha was clearly surprised that I was more capable of speech than she was, and to be honest so was I, and Henry seemed shocked that I would openly admit that we had been talking about him before he got there, which probably wasn’t a great thing to say, but I panicked.

“Well, I was told this was the best place to go for candles and air freshener-y type things. The house I’m renting just has this odd odour that I can’t get rid of. I’ve been airing it out during the day, all the windows open, and I come home and it still smells funky. I know I could just find a different place, but it’s close to a park and that’s been nice for Kal and I don’t want to make a fuss, so…” Henry sort of shrugged, the buttons on his plaid shirt straining with the movement of his broad shoulders, and gestured around the store as if to say “that’s why I’m here”.

“Well, you’ve definitely come to the right place. All of our home care is in the second room, grab a basket, I’m sure we can find you some scents you’ll like.” He walked over to the basket tower to grab one as a couple more customers walked in. Samantha nudged me towards the second room; I was going to have to handle Henry alone for now, it seemed. He followed me over to the Wallflower wall. “So, these are our Wallflowers. They’re sort of like the Glade Plug-ins, I don’t know if you’ve seen those, you plug this diffuser into any power outlet and screw the fragrance bulb in and it diffuses the scented oil into the room. They last for about a month or so. These’ll probably be the best option for you, well these and maybe a room spray or two to start with. The candles are good, but obviously the scent is gonna be strongest when they’re burning and it’s probably not a great idea to light a bunch of candles and then leave for the whole day.”

He chuckled. “No, I’d say you’re right about that. I definitely don’t want to burn the place to the ground. Are there any scents that you’d recommend?”

“Well, I mean, it obviously all depends on your personal preferences. I like sweet scents. I like my space to be smelling like a bakery or a candy shop at all times, so I tend to go for anything like that. We actually still have some of our holiday scents that we’re trying to get rid of and there’s this really great one in that line called Spiced Apple Toddy. It smells like apple pie. I love it. It’s only out during fall and winter so I stocked up. I need it all year long, honestly. I still have so many other scents at home, but like I’m probably never gonna get sick of it, for real, it smells so good. Or I might go every other month swapping between that and Black Cherry Merlot because that’s awesome too. And then there’s Champagne Toast, I mean, that one might be a bit too feminine for you, but I love it. It’s sweet and just a tiny bit citrusy. I can’t do any of the floral or like, outdoorsy scents, they set my allergies off. And honestly there’s some of these that I smell them and I’m like, who is putting this in their house? Like, what nutjob thinks this scent is good? How many people have senses of smell that are this screwed up?” At this point I was rambling, talking excitedly and with my hands, handing him testers to smell and trying to gauge his reactions to know what to hand him next. He didn’t have any bad reactions to anything I gave him until I handed him the tester for Fresh Balsam. His nose scrunched up in the most adorable way and he very carefully set the tester down on the counter as far from him as he could manage. He handled my word-vomit good-naturedly, with a small smile on his face, nodding and chuckling when he thought something I had said was funny. Our fingers brushed a few times as I handed him the testers and after the third time, I began to feel like it was deliberate on his part, but it couldn’t have been, could it? He couldn’t really be interested in me. He’s Henry Cavill. I’m just, well, I’m just me.

Me, with my two minimum wage jobs, still living with my parents, inching ever closer to 30 years old. Why would he want any of that? Why would he be interested in me physically either? I mean, he’s literally flawless and I’m short, overweight, I eat like shit, I don’t exercise, hell, I barely know how to put on make-up correctly. Yeah, I look good today, but that’s not par-for-the-course.

He put a few each of Cinnamon & Clove Buds, Black Cherry Merlot, Limoncello (for the bathrooms, he said), and Laundry Day (for the laundry room, obviously) in his basket along with enough of the plugs so he’d have one in each room. He also grabbed a Black Cherry Merlot and a Limoncello room spray off the shelf next to the Wallflower display before turning back to me. “So then, where do you keep this Spiced Apple Toddy that you like so much, or did you hide them so you could have them all to yourself?”

I chuckled nervously and ran my hand through my hair, sort of disbelieving that he was actually paying attention to what I had said. Boys never listen to me when I talk, I always have to repeat myself, but I guess that’s because I usually end up talking to the dumb ones. Henry’s not dumb. He really is just fucking perfect, isn’t he? Pretty and he listens? That shouldn’t be such a difficult combination to find, but for me it had been. “They’re on the table over here with the rest of our leftover Christmas stuff. Hopefully the tester is still there somewhere.” I put my hands in my apron pockets and I could feel the jolt of confidence I had had just minutes before leaving my body. His charm had worn me down, bringing me back to my normal, anxiety-ridden self. I caught the toe of my boot on the corner of one of the other tables as we walked towards the center of the room. I stumbled, but before I could fall his arm was already out to steady me, wrapping around my waist to keep me upright.

“Are you alright Y/N?” A look of genuine concern was on his face and I swear to God I swooned. Like, fuck, I just stubbed my stupid toe, it’s not that serious. I mean yeah, I stubbed my toe and then almost fell into a table covered with candles in glass holders, but like, I didn’t fall, you caught me, please stop looking at me like you care. You can’t give me that much hope. It isn’t fair. And goddamnit I love the way my name sounds coming out of your mouth. Like, fuck it’s never sounded so good. This isn’t fair, why is this happening?

“Yeah, Henry I’m fine, just a stubbed toe. Thank you for…you know.” I gestured down to his arm, which was still around my waist. The sound of me bumping into the table drew the attention of the rest of my co-workers, however, who were now coming out of their various positions to see what was going on and to make sure no one had broken anything. Samantha popped her head in from the front room and Kelynn and Mira came out from the cashwrap with Pilar and walked to the edge of the third room to peek in. All they saw was me, blushing profusely, with Henry Cavill’s beefy-ass arm still wrapped around my fucking waist. “Everything’s fine guys. I promise.”

“Holy shit, is that…”

“Mira!”

“But Kelynn that’s fucking Superman!”

“You can’t cuss in front of him Mira, he’s a customer!”

“Will you guys cut it out? You’re embarrassing us in front of the hunky British dude!”

“Hey, I’ve got an idea. How about we all pretend like this isn’t happening right now? Pilar can go back to the cashwrap, you two can go back to whatever it was you were doing, and I’ll go back to what I was doing, namely making a damn sale!” I extricated myself from Henry’s grasp so I could shoo them back towards the cashwrap. They turned and walked away, bewildered looks on their faces. I turned back to Henry who was shifting awkwardly from foot to foot, clearly uncomfortable. He cleared his throat and ran his hand through his curls, leaving them messier than they were before. An errant one fell over his forehead and I wanted to brush it out of the way, but he just left it.

I walked over to the table that I was originally heading for and found the Spiced Apple Toddy Wallflowers. There wasn’t that many left, but there was still a tester. I grabbed it and spun around to bring it to him, assuming he hadn’t followed me, but as I turned, I found myself going face first into his massive chest. I put my unoccupied hand up to steady myself and pushed on his chest to force him back. He was just too close. Why was he so close? He opened his mouth to say something but I beat him to it. “Here. This is what I have in my bedroom right now, this is Spiced Apple Toddy.” Oh god, why did I say it like that? The one I have in my bedroom. Jesus Christ. He quirked his eyebrow at me and cocked his head to the side, smirking a little. Instead of taking the tester from me, he took my much smaller hand in his, guiding it up towards his face so the tester was close to his nose. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. A serene smile spread across his face and I felt my face get hotter. He opened his eyes, looking down into mine. Fuck I could drown in those ocean eyes.

“Oh, I like that very much. You were right. I think that one’s my favourite.”

#henry cavill #henry cavill fanfic #henry cavill x reader #my first henry fic #fluff #unintentional bath and body works ad #be gentle

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chaerrie-on-top · 3 years

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five

The night comes to an end eventually, as it always does. The girl's finish gradually finish their meals, however, they sit and chat for a while with their full bellies settling. The girls talk about everything and anything, like the classes they would ultimately have the next day, homework, fussy professors; <i> anything and everything </i>. More likely than not, the girls would burst into a fit of laughter every few minutes. It was a good time, really, and by the end of the night, Dahyun's cheekbones were burning hot from how much smiling she'd done.

The girls eventually cleaned up after themselves before exiting the restaurant as a group, standing just outside as they bid their goodbyes. "We had so much fun," Tzuyu comments, hooking her and Momo's arms together at the elbow.

Momo nods in agreement and smiles warmly, "We need to do this again soon. Maybe this weekend?"

Dahyun and Sana nod simultaneously, the cute action of the pair makes Tzuyu chuckle. Sana, cutely oblivious to this, doesn't notice. "Sure, we can plan tomorrow or something once the weekend gets closer," Sana offers. "But, we'll see you around, right?" Dahyun, however, can feel a blush creep its way to her cheeks.

Momo and Tzuyu wave, "Yeah, bye! See you guys later!" Momo says, before her and Tzuyu turn around and start to disappear down the darkening, almost foggy campus as nighttime creeps up on the town.

Sana and Dahyun's homes were towards the opposite side of campus, so once the others left, the two friends turned around and started their own trek home. Walking side by side along the sidewalk, the girls head for the grand entrance gates of the campus which protrude under the glow of bright streetlights. Their shoes create a soft, rhythmic beat on the ground as their movements fall in sync. When Sana steps forward with her left foot, so does Dahyun. Sana smiles at this, sneakily glancing at Dahyun to see if she notices (which she doesn't). It's a Wednesday night, and the campus is surprisingly quiet. Everyone must be busy tonight, Sana figures, perhaps getting their studies out of the way so they can have a fun weekend.

“Thanks for coming to the meeting with me," Sana breaks the comfortable silence that had settled over the girls as they walked. "I'm sorry for forcing you to pretend to be a foreigner."

Dahyun giggles, tucks a long strand of hair behind her ear as the two pass through the entrance gates, turning left so that they end up on the sidewalk of the main street. She thinks about how absurd such a statement would sound to an unknowing bystander, and laughs more.

"What?" Sana asks innocently, chubby cheeks pushing her eyes into crescents as she smiles at the other. "What's so funny?"

"Ah, nothing," Dahyun smiles at her, melting on the inside at how cute Sana could be. "Anyway, It's okay," Dahyun feels Sana playfully loop her arm into Dahyun's, locking them together at the elbow. Sana puts a little hop in her step, gleefully skipping alongside Dahyun. "You know what? I had fun. And-"

"And?" Sana quizzically persists, looking at Dahyun with a playful gaze.

"We made new friends, so..." Dahyun smiles. "No harm done."

Sana points at Dahyun, playfully booping the youngest of the pair on the nose. "See, I told you! I knew we'd have fun-- and the whole reason I made you come was so that we could meet new people!"

"What, am I not enough?" Dahyun teases.

Sana halts in her steps so fast trips over her own feet. Dahyun steadies her, watching with wide eyes as Sana laughs at herself for being so clumsy. "Of course you are," Sana tells her once she's composed herself. "You're more than enough."

Dahyun's mind goes blank as she stares back at Sana's beautiful face; her features are illuminated so nicely under the moonlight and her soft brown hair frames her face just right. It felt like Dahyun's entire world had stopped-- to be talked to so sweetly by such a perfect person made her insides feel all warm and tingly. It sounded gross, really. Like, seriously cliché. But Dahyun adored this new feeling she got when she was with Sana. She adored the feeling she got <i> because </i> of Sana.

"I don't think I've ever seen someone as clumsy as you," Dahyun teases once she finally crashes back down into reality. Sana playfully pushes her, erupting into laughter when Dahyun stumbles a bit. "Okay, guess I deserved that."

The pair are too busy laughing and fighting, as Dahyun jogs ahead with Sana following closely behind, playfully swatting the younger on the arm. Both girls feel as though they are the only ones in the world as they run along the street, crying out and laughing as they go. They slow to a stop at the bus stop deemed as the area where they would part ways, as it was an equal distance from both of the girl's respective homes.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Sana," Dahyun shyly casts her gaze toward the ground, suddenly feeling sheepish standing before her like this.

"Okay," Sana smiles, leans forward and tenderly snakes her arms around Dahyun's waist in a hug. Dahyun, taken aback, stands motionless with her arms at her sides. Electricity runs along Dahyun's back under Sana's touch, a tingle running up her spine and almost making her shiver. "You're supposed to hug back, you know..." Sana's voice is muffled from burying her face into Dahyun's warm body.

"Ah..." Dahyun, feeling stupid now, hurriedly wraps her arms around Sana and hugs her back. Sana giggles, "You're so cute, Dahyunie."

The younger blushes as they pull away. "See you tomorrow."

Sana steps back and waves goodbye. "See you tomorrow, Dahyunie!"

"Goodnight!" Dahyun calls, standing alone under the fluorescent light at the empty bus stop. Her arms hang at her sides as she watches Sana playfully skip down the road. Sana whirls around every few steps to wave goodbye, and Dahyun waves too. Once older girls has disappeared around the curve of the road, Dahyun lets out a deep sigh, her lips tugging upwards into a smile.

***

The next day rolls around and Dahyun begrudgingly finds her way in her early afternoon math class (the one she's only passing thanks to her "magical" Amethyst). She greets her professor with a respectful bow before trudging towards the rows of seats, settling on grabbing a random one in the middle, towards to the back of the lecture hall. As she goes through the rows of seats, a voice whisper-yells out to her. "Dahyun! Over here!"

She whips her head towards the sound where she finds a familiar girl with long brown hair and shimmering brown eyes. Dahyun's mind goes blank as she looks at the girl, jogging her memory of yesterday's events before suddenly realizing it was Tzuyu! Feeling both surprised and relieved, Dahyun ducks into Tzuyu's row and grabs the empty seat Tzuyu gestures for her to sit at.

“So this is where I knew you from," Tzuyu is smiling at her, watches as Dahyun sits her bag down and gets her supplies out for class. "I knew you looked familiar!"

"Ah, I'm sorry, I feel so stupid for not recognizing you," Dahyun blushes under Tzuyu's curious gaze. "Don't take it personally; I'm always so preoccupied with not failing this class that I just don't pay much attention to my surroundings."

"It's okay," Tzuyu waves it off. "I'm, like, decently average in math, so I can help you if you need me to."

"Oh, I'm okay. My Ame-" Dahyun cuts herself off, biting at her bottom lip as she wracks her brain for a cover up. "I mean, my um... My roommate has been helping me a lot lately, but I'll definitely come to you if I need anything!"

"Okay! I'm still around just in case," Tzuyu picks up her pen and starts writing her name and the date at the top of the notebook spread out on the desk before her.

"Thank you, Tzuyu. Anyway, how's Momo doing? Have you talked to her today?"

"Mhm, we have a morning class together so I see her every few days. Besides that, we try to hangout outside of class too," Tzuyu explains, doodling at the top of her paper. "Later we're going to that new café down the street, actually. If you and Sana don't have any plans then feel free to tag along!"

"Ah, thanks. I'll see what Sana's up to, but I should be free."

"Mhm," Tzuyu labels the current page of her notebook as 'notes'. "You know... Momo and I were talking and... Ah, how do I say this?"

Dahyun is curious now, and a bit nervous as she worries about whatever is on Tzuyu's mind. "What?"

"Um... Are you guys dating?"

Dahyun nearly chokes on her own spit, clearing her throat as she scrambles for something to say.

"I mean, if you guys are then that's okay. Don't take this in the wrong way," Tzuyu hurriedly adds, her youthful face softening sheepishly after Dahyun's reaction.

Dahyun blushes, adverting her eyes out of embarrassment. "We aren't; we're just friends."

"Oh okay. Just wondering since Momo kinda has a bit of a crush on her," Tzuyu blurts out, before her eyes suddenly go wide as she turns to look at Dahyun. "Oh God, don't tell her I told you! She'll kill me.”

"Momo has a crush on Sana?"

Tzuyu nods, "Mhm... Don't tell anyone, please."

Dahyun nods in agreement, and after a brief moment of silence Tzuyu goes on, "Momo really likes her. I mean, we both do. You and Sana are seriously the nicest people I've ever met," Tzuyu thinks for a moment. "I mean, I only view you and Sana as my friends though."

Dahyun feels her stomach flip in circles, her heart clenching as she's faced with this new dilemma. Tzuyu raises her eyebrows at Dahyun. "You have a crush on Sana too, don't you?"

Dahyun blushes. "Um... Well-"

"No way," Tzuyu giggles, seemingly proud of herself like she cracked some type of code. Dahyun bites her lip, looks down at her blank notebook as she processes this new information Tzuyu has shared. "Ah, it's so obvious."

"Good afternoon," the professor comes and stands at the middle of the room, looking up into the eyes of the students gathered in rows.

"Really?" Dahyun whispers, looking up at a smug Tzuyu. The youngest of the group nods, smirking to herself as she prepares to write down whatever the professor had to say. Feeling a bit anxious (not entirely sure what was making her anxious, too) Dahyun chews at her thumb. The professor continues to talk and Tzuyu maybe whispered something, but Dahyun has accidentally tuned everything out.

***

"So, are you doing anything now?" Tzuyu asks once the lecture has finally ended and everyone is left to freely chat and pack up their things.

"Um," Dahyun hesitates; she was about to text Sana. "Not that I know of, why?"

"I figured we could grab lunch. I invited the girls," Tzuyu tells her as she drops her notebook into her bookbag.

"You did?"

"Mhm, you should check your phone."

Dahyun pulls her cellphone out from where she left it in her bookbag during class. Upon turning the device on, her screen is littered with tons of new messages. "You guys made a group chat?"

"Pretty sure Sana made it while we were in class," Tzuyu tells her. She stands up and stretches, her back cracks so loud that its almost comical. Tzuyu smiles down at Dahyun as she slings her bag over her shoulder. "Well, are you coming? I'm starving; sushi sounds really good right now.

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yetanotherfilmkid · 4 years

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TV Shows I’ve Binged During Iso & Brief Thoughts on Them

I noticed lately that I have been watching far more series than movies so I thought I’d share a few thoughts on what I’m watching at the moment.

High Fidelity - I loved this show so much that I watched it twice (once by myself and the second time with my friend, Ethan). Definitely the standout feature of the show is the soundtrack, it sent me on a 4 week Bowie-Bender both times, and Rob’s outfits (much time was spent with Ethan discussing her killer style). I definitely recommend this if you’re a music lover.

Fleabag - Fleabag is competing to be my favourite show of all time. Even though I personally believe that season 2 was (eeeeever so slightly) better, the whole show is funny and brash and sad and relatable and I want to just loop it in my brain forever. High Fidelity and Fleabag are cut from the same cloth in subject/format but I think Fleabag does a more intimate job of it. This is easily one of the most satisfying shows ever, the character development is beautiful and doesn’t feel forced. Also, fourth-wall-breakers, take notes. Phoebe Waller-Bridge is just an amazing writer and actress, holy hell.

The Good Place - I accidentally binge-re-watched all 4 seasons in 6 days (oops). I don’t even know where to begin on how much I love this damn show. It just keeps getting better as you go along, even though the first season is phenomenal, the rest just ...improves?? It’s genuinely hilarious (“I love you too, egg” has had me cackling at 3 am like a madwoman more than once) and the discussion on ethics and humanity is just *chef’s kiss*. It’s not often that you see a show with decent and insightful commentary on morals, politics, humanity and the good and evil binary; multiple POC in leading roles; genuinely good humour and aesthetics and set design that deserve love. Everyone should watch this show.

Community - This was another re-watch for me (Ethan recommended it to me a couple of years ago) but it has always held a special place in my heart. Much like The Good Place, the heart of the show runs through the idea that humans, together, are better and will make each other better people. I could continue to be sentimental about the characters but that wouldn’t give me enough time to gush about the several other beauties of the show for example, homages to classic movies, Donald Glover, the many 3%er jokes, paintball episodes, Troy and Abed doing literally anything, the absolute absurdity of the show, the list is infinitely long and it’s only a matter of time before I accidentally summarise each individual episode. #SixSeasonsAndAMovie bitches ✌

Love - Ethan and I watched this together and it was pretty fantastic. We both agreed that Gus and Mickey were kinda overrated as a couple and as human beings but even so it was a fun and wholesome watch. We spent multiple hours bitching about all the characters, especially Gus and Mickey, and occasionally the writers. This is the kind of show you watch because you’re super invested in the side characters and have a reluctant soft spot for the main characters, but as a whole is entirely lovable. (Bertie deserves better).

Midnight Gospel - Midnight Gospel is an absolute trip to watch. Animating a podcast was a really cool idea but how can we possibly make it cooler?? By animating groovy space creatures in psychedelic palettes of course! The whole show is sensory overload in the best way possible and I want to re-watch it asap because there is so much to absorb in such a short amount of time. Even though the early episodes are totally awesome, the last few episodes are my favourites by far as they feel more personal and not gonna lie, I cried in the last episode. I really hope it comes back for more seasons because it was a really strong start.

Normal People - I read the book and then counted the days til the series came out. I’m not joking. I loved this adaptation a lot. It paid a lot of respect to the book but managed to divert comfortably into its own medium too. I was super worried they’d turn it into a flowery teen romance series and I’m infinitely grateful they didn’t. Ethan thought that the series was actually an improvement on the book whereas I love them both equally. The two highlights for me were the cinematography, the shots were so damn pretty, and the pacing of the script, it left a lot open for the audience to sit with and think about before moving on. It’s probably one of my favourite adaptations of a book ever.

Unorthodox - Ethan and I watched this most recently and this is another one everyone needs to see. I’d like to start this by saying I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Hasidic community portrayed in any media before which was really interesting, I feel like majority of devout followers in media are Christian so this was an interesting learning point for me. Unorthodox was really beautifully made and, most importantly, it was made by people who genuinely care about the story. The absolute standout was the amount of raw emotion packed into it all. The characters don’t even need dialogue for us to feel what they’re feeling. Shira Haas did a phenomenal job portraying Esty. I think it’s also important to remember that it’s not an indictment of religion, but rather, an exploration of Esty’s personal relationship with God and herself. Just thinking about this show makes me want to talk about it for hours

One Day at a Time - I watched this one with my sister @juicebox-baby and holy crap it is extremely wholesome. It’s your classic family sitcom but it’s also super heartfelt and inclusive. Full disclosure, I cried like an absolute baby on like 5 or 6 separate occasions. At times, the writing feels like it’s trying to cram too much in and as a result, the arcs can feel a little bit rigid but that’s fairly easy to look past in favour of the really sweet family feel. Also I have to take a second to say that Abuelita is a gift to humanity.

Killing Eve - Phoebe Waller-Bridge is back. Can Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh please get all of the awards for having stupid amounts of talent? Not to quote the ads but they really do have killer chemistry and it’s a little offensive how amazing they are. I don’t normally go for murder/espionage shows but there was something about this one that had me completely hooked. Even my mum (who falls asleep during every. single. show.) managed to stay awake almost the whole time and was nagging me to watch the next episode with her.

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