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daddykylokenobi · 1 year

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Kylo Ren x Y/N chapter 8

Warnings- pet names (good girl, little girl.) piv sex, fingering, overall sexual themes, very soft fluffy loving sex.

Ben woke up the next morning to an empty bed, there was an indent in the pillow beside him which let him know that Y/n definitely did sleep with him that night. He rubbed his eyes and stretched out his arms in front of him then stared widely at the ceiling as he recalled the events of the night before.

He could hardly believe what happened between him and Y/n, he felt a tinge of guilt course through him that he didn’t reciprocate a climax to her but he knew she was tired and she didn’t ask either.. she wasn’t mad was she? His brain filled with anxious thoughts as he wondered why she had left him in bed alone, was she actually upset that they fell asleep without him… Then suddenly Ben slapped his hands back to cover his face, his cheeks were burning hot as he thought of all of the things that he could do to Y/n to make her feel good..

Ben’s fantasies were interrupted by a clatter from outside of his room, then he heard voices. The girls were all up and in the kitchen making breakfast before the two had to leave that morning.

After Ben pried himself from the bed he cleaned up and got dressed, as he left the bedroom he was welcomed with 3 “good mornings” from the trio of girls.

Dahla was pouring a selection of mugs full of a steaming hot liquid he assumed was coffee, Rey was eating from a bowl of fruit and Y/n was slicing said fruit.

“Morning” Dahla gestured a friendly smile to Ben as she handed him one of the mugs. “Sorry to crash in on you two, me and Rey are making it upto you guys with breakfast though!” Dahla was a kind girl, Ben was glad that Y/n had some good friends who seemed sincere. He took the mug gladly with a soft smile and nodded a silent thank you.

“Okay but whose the one who has made most of the breakfast…” Y/n smirked while pointing to the arraignment of fruit, scrambled eggs, and toast that was served nicely on the kitchen counter. Y/n couldn’t help taking over the breakfast ordeal since cooking was one of her few talents.

“Hey you need a sampler okay?” Rey laughed as she sat and continued to watched the girls.

The girls all chuckled in unison, it was so nice to have a peaceful time together Y/n thought, it had been so long since things just felt…. Normal.

Ben caught eyes with Y/n and they shared a quiet acknowledgment, he noticed she was wearing a turtleneck jacket that was zipped all the way up even though the weather outside was warm enough for light clothing, he felt a sheen of embarrassment flash over his face as he realized why she had it on, memories from the night before danced through his mind, he didn’t mean to mark her neck but now that he thought about it he Had been a bit rough…

The group breakfast was short and sweet as Rey and Dahla both realized they were behind schedule, after they quickly packed up their things they were heading out the door.

“Thank you again for letting us stay you guys.” Rey had a wide grin on her face, her uplifted mood was always a breath of fresh air to be around.

“No problem, I hope you two have a safe trip, make sure to check in here and there okay?” Y/n looked at Dahla with a serious expression as they exchanged a quick hug.

“I will, and next time we see eachother we Need to talk.” Dahla whispered in Y/n’s ear as they embraced.

“Damnit.” Y/n thought, Dahla was way too good at reading her and she knew that she had picked up that something between her and Ben was going on.

“We will.” Y/n nodded to Dahla as they all 4 waved goodbye.

The apartment door slowly shut, Y/n and Ben both let out a quiet sigh of relief and roamed back to the living room to sit on the couch.

“Well that went better than expected..” Y/n huffed as she rubbed the back of her neck.

“Will you let me see?” Ben asked quickly.

Her eyes darted over to his and she raised an eyebrow at his question. “See what..?” Her voice was low and she felt herself start to become fidgety.

Ben reached over and grabbed the zipper on her jacket, she gulped hard as she tried to swallow her embarrassment.

Slowly Ben pulled the zipper down then grabbed her collar and folded it over itself to reveal her naked neck. It was sprinkled with dark purple and pink bruises he had left the night before.

“Oh Y/n…” he breathed out. Although he didn’t want to admit it he was slightly admiring his work on her.

“It’s okay it doesn’t hurt.” Y/n quickly defended the marks as she shook her head, “it’s not a big deal..” she was looking down at her lap, she knew if she were to look up to Ben her face would surely turn bright red.

“I’m sorry..” he began with a soft tone. “I didn’t realize it was going to do that so bad.” He brushed his thumb over the colorful bruises on the side of her neck which trailed down the front of her throat and chest.

“You don’t have to apologize,” she built up the courage to face him then she gently planted her right hand on his knee. “I-… I enjoyed it..” her lips trembled as she thought back to their night together. She had been so brave in the beginning but after Ben put her in her place and showed her that He was in fact in charge her entire demeanor towards him in this way changed.

“I did too.” He nodded as he leaned in closer to her, he brushed his cheek against hers then curved his head lower and began to press tender little kisses against her marks, he lifted his arms to entangled themselves around her waist and squeezed her closer to him.

Y/n whimpered as his lips softly kissed her sore neck, she didn’t want to say that it hurt but in reality it did a little.

He wanted to finish what was started last night, the guilt from that morning was still lingering and he couldn’t wait any longer to deliver her the same pleasure that she had gifted him just hours ago.

He started to lick and suck at her throat as he leaned her back to lay down, he moved his mouth down to her chest while he unzipped her jacket the rest of the way, he felt so lucky that she didn’t bother wearing a shirt underneath and he could leave a path of kisses all over her stomach and waist.

“B-Ben..” she softly cried out his name as he laid over her on the couch, he was moving lower and lower down her body and he had started to play with the hem of her shorts. She felt a heat rise inbetween her legs as his hands lingered right above it.

He crawled himself back up to face her and pressed his mouth to hers, he couldn’t resist her calling to him with such a sweet voice.

He made love to her lips with his own before pulling away to bring himself to her ear where he began to nibble and suck on it.

“H-hey-!” She scrunched up her shoulders as she giggled at the sensation, he smirked as he continued to play with her. Before long she had grown accustomed to the new feeling and it had become pure pleasure, she let out pretty little moans as he kept his mouth on her while he began to tug down her shorts bit by bit.

In just a few seconds her shorts were pulled down around her thighs and he started to hesitantly rub his fingers up and down overtop of her clothed slit.

She jumped as he did this causing him to pull away and open his eyes to look at her, she had opened hers as well and they stared at eachother.

“Do you want this?” His voice was deep and breathy, she couldn’t think of anything else in this world that she wanted but still her nerves were getting the best of her, she worried that he would somehow not find her ‘privates’ as she was raised to call it, attractive.

“Y-y-yes… I’m just nervous..” she whispered.

Ben’s face become caring and he looked at her with the kindest eyes she had seen from him. “What’re you nervous about?” He felt like he should be the one who was nervous, he had never touched a woman like this before and although his exterior might not show it he was worried that he wouldn’t be able to make her feel even half as good as she had last night.

“I just…” Y/n looked to the side to hide her face as much as she could. “I just don’t know if you’ll like it..” she admitted.

Ben’s eyebrows pushed together in confusion. “What do you mean..?” He asked as his hand rubbed her inner thigh.

The touch caught Y/n’s breath in her lungs and she tightly shut her eyes trying to compose herself, Ben smirked at this reaction and returned his hand to her heat where he started to massage his fingers back and forth.

“I-.. mmphh..” she bit her bottom lip roughly to hold in a moan. “I just don’t know if you’ll find it p-pretty.” She choked out the words as she looked back at his face. His expression was determination mixed with lust, hearing how she was insecure over this made him want to pleasure her even more.

“I see..” he slowly exclaimed as he looked down to her underwear he had been rubbing circles against, a small wet spot had grown under his fingers and he felt himself getting hard as well. “I guess I’ll just have to decide for myself.” He moved himself back to sit on his knees, he laid her legs over his sides and pulled her entire body back close to him where he then grabbed each of his hands to each side of her dark underwear.

Y/n was shaking underneath of his touch and as he towered over her she watched him slowly strip off her underwear to reveal everything she was worrying about.

Ben sat staring in complete silence for a moment before he let out a long and satisfied sounding sigh. “Y/n…” he shook his head as in disbelief as he reached forward to her inner thighs, he swept his large thumb along her slit then rubbed it slowly up and down.

Y/n brought her arms up to cover her face in embarrassment, she twitched and jerked under his touch and bit the side of her hand to keep herself from completely humiliating herself in dramatic moans from such a light touch.

He smirked as he reached up with his free hand to pull her arms away from her face, her cheeks were hot pink and she was heavily breathing in and out to keep herself from unraveling. He looked her in the eyes and tilted his head to the side, “Y/n, I couldn’t have imagined anything more perfect..” he said as he slowly started to part her folds and rub this thumb through her wetness.

“H-ha.. nmpphh..” she bit her lip as she looked down to watch him continue to play with her.

After a few more seconds of this he carefully pushed his middle finger to her entrance, her back arched lightly and he felt his cock jump in satisfaction to her reaction.

“Ben p-please.. be gentle…” she begged inbetween precious whimpers.

“Of course..” he reassured her as he began to inch his middle finger through her entrance, it slipped in easily with how wet she was. “I don’t want to hurt my little girl..”

Y/n didn’t know if she was moaning from him entering her or him calling her that, she quickly concluded that it was both as another wave of moans escaped her lips as he began to softly pumped his middle finger in and out of her tight hole.

Ben realized the effect this pet name had on her and made a quick note of it, after all she was His girl and much much littler than him.

After a minute of warming her up he added his ring finger into her, she let out a sigh of pleasure and bucked her hips against him, he couldn’t help but think about how good she would feel wrapped against his hard cock which was buried underneath layers of clothing.

“Ughh Ben it feels… so good..” she brought her eyes upto his, they were glazed over and half lidded, her head felt heavy with bliss and her whole body was steaming hot.

He felt so invigorated when she told him how good he was doing, he moved forward to lean over her and started to lay kisses against her neck again, “Y/n..” he sighed. “I want to make you feel So good.. Just say the word..” he groaned as he pressed his bulge against her hips.

Y/n knew what he was asking and with how amazing he was already doing she couldn’t imagine what he would feel like actually Inside of her. “Y-yes… yes..” she huffed as she nodded her head up and down, “please Ben, I want you.” She whined against his shoulder.

“Such a good girl..” he whispered as he caressed her cheek then kissed his moist lips to her forehead.

He slowly pulled his fingers from her and began to quickly fumble with his pants, Y/n let out a sigh of disappointment as his fingers left her. After a moment he had kicked off his pants and started to remove his boxers.

“You’ll go slow.. right?” Y/n asked him with worry in her voice as she watched him take off the final layer separating them, she had never had sex before and she was wondering how something so big was going it fit inside of her..

He leaned back in to kiss her, his mouth was hungry for hers and his tip brushed lightly against her inner thighs.

“Hnngh..” Ben groaned into her mouth as he felt himself becoming needy to be inside her. He pulled away from her mouth with a heavy exhale and stared into her eyes.

“Ri-right..?” Y/n repeated her question out of breath.

He grabbed onto her cheek and leaned closely to press his lips against her ear. “I promise I’ll go slow, I would never hurt you..” he then pulled back to bring her legs upto his sides, she willingly spread her legs open for him and watched as he lined up his head with her glistening entrance.

She held her breath as he slowly pressed himself forward, as his tip made contact with her wetness he released a sharp exhale from his mouth, then he continued forward and in a few seconds he had fully buried himself inside of her.

Y/n breathed out harshly and was gripping his hand painfully tight, the feeling of him pressing inside of her was like nothing she had ever felt, it was warm.. comforting.. she felt ridiculously full as he stretched her walls in every direction from his size.

Ben couldn’t believe the euphoric sensation of being inside her, she was perfectly wet which made the process so much easier and her heat radiated around him. He then began to pull back and then push forward again.

“Fa-faster Ben..” she pleaded as she looked upto him with submissive eyes.

Both of their moans echoed off of eachothers as he picked up his pace and started a steady rhythm in and out. He leaned down to be close to her, he brought his left arm underneath of her and pulled her forward against his chest, she gladly wrapped her arms around him.

“Ahhh-ah!” Y/n let out a loud whimper as he roughly thrusted into her, he pulled back out so painstakingly slow then in one full thrust slammed himself back against her walls. “Ben!” She cried out as she bit down onto his shoulder.

Ben huffed out as he tried to catch his breath, “You’re doing.. s-so! good..” he said inbetween his hard thrusts into her.

He again picked up his speed and was now quickly moving in and out, her inner thighs were covered in wetness as her sex leaked out everywhere it could.

A few minutes passed as they moaned and whined out pretty little exclamations of pleasure to each other.

“I-“ Ben squeezed her body close to his leaving no space between them as he felt himself start to come close to climax. “I’m getting c-close” he groaned as he brought his right hand down and started to rub tiny circles around her clit.

Y/n inhaled sharply as this new addition of pleasure was sending her to her end as well.

“Ahhh” Ben moaned as his hips began to stutter and he felt his orgasm begin.

Y/n was also reaching her climax, the sensations were almost too much and she dug her nails into his back as she squeezed herself against his body. “Ben I-I’m..” her head was dizzying and her eyes fluttered shut as she felt herself come undone, “h-haa” she squealed as her entire body shook and flinched as her orgasm reached its peak.

Ben was overwhelmed by her perfectly beautiful reaction to him pleasing her, he wanted nothing more than to make her feel good and he had accomplished just that. He too felt himself climax, he held her body flush to his as his hips struggled to continue to press into her as his hot cum shot inside her walls.

They both fell back onto the couch with heavy sighs escaping each of their mouths, Ben nuzzled himself into her neck and weakly kissed at it as she wrapped her entire body around his. It was quiet for awhile as each of them came down from their highs, Y/n was rubbing her hands up and down his back as she kept reminding herself that this was in fact reality and did just happen.

Ben finally propped himself up on his elbows and greeted her face with his, he leaned forward and pressed the most delicate kiss on her lips that she had bitten red.

They looked lovingly into eachothers eyes as they savored the moment together.

“That was..” Y/n began, “so amazing…” she brought her hand up and started to run her hands through his thick dark hair. “I keep reminding myself that I’m not dreaming..” she smirked.

He returned the smile and looked at her with the softest expression, “You’re telling me…” He sighed as he tilted his head towards her to better position himself for her to play with his hair.

#kylo ren #star wars #ben solo #kylo ren fanfic #kylo ren x reader #adam driver #the force awakens #ben solo x reader #ben solo fanfiction #ben solo fanfic #kylo ren x y/n #ejmumbles

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purselover2 · 3 years

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Neighbors

Pairing: Bucky and You

Warnings: Language, physical harm, being scared, pissed off Bucky, sweet Bucky, Bucky playing doctor (!!!!), revenge but we don’t see it played out, misunderstanding, did I say Doctor Bucky??

A/N: This for the Bucky Barnes Valentine’s Fic Exchange. I have never been this excited to write an exchange fit for someone. This is written for my lady @constantwriter85 I was sooooooo excited to get your name and I tried my best to give you everything you wanted, hence the 4000+ words. Lol.

I hope you love it as much as I love you. I wish you nothing but Bucky Dreams and Bucky Level Happiness always.

Divider by the amazingly talented @firefly-graphics

Bucky sighed as he got to his door and went inside. It had been a long couple of weeks. He and Sam had been working non stop and Bucky was tired. Just as he went to move inside he heard several sets of footsteps coming up the stairs. Turning his head he was surprised to see Y/N walking towards him flanked by two police officers. Bucky’s guard suddenly went up. Y/N was a school teacher and not one to cause trouble. So that left only one other reason why she was being escorted home. They were with her because something had happened and from what he could quickly asses, it had happened to her. He quickly assessed her and discovered she was favoring her right wrist which was bandaged. Other than the look on her face and the tell tell signs that she had been crying Bucky couldn’t see any other injuries.

“Y/N? You okay?” He asked setting his bag down and nodding at the officers.

“Hi Bucky. Glad you’re home okay.” You couldn’t hide your excitement to see him. A friendly face after everything that had happened earlier, not to mention Bucky always made you feel safe.

“Wish I could say the same, but it looks like you’re anything but okay.” Bucky immediately knew that this wasn’t a simple accident that had hurt her. The presence of what amounted to a police escort meant that something had happened. Someone had happened. Bucky reminded himself to stay calm. She was already upset, she didn’t need him adding to it.

“Yeah.” She answered without really looking him in the eye. Turning to the police officers, “Thank you both for brining me home. I’ll be fine from here.”

One of the officers nodded, while the second looked from her back to Bucky then back to her. “You’re sure?” It was obvious he knew who Bucky was and wasn’t a fan.

“I’m very sure officer. Sargent Barnes is my neighbor and close friend. I’ll be fine.” You smile at them while Bucky tries very hard to not react to how her words made him feel inside.

“Alright then. You have a good evening and we’ll be in touch.” The first officer said and motioned for his partner to follow him. Once they were headed down the stairs, you turned to Bucky and just broke down. Bucky pulled you to him.

“It’s okay. I got you.” He said holding you tight but being mindful of any injuries you might have that he isn’t aware of. “Let’s get you inside.” Without letting you go, he takes your keys and opens your door. Grabbing his bag and your purse he leads you inside. He lets go long enough to close and lock your door and sit the bags over to the side. Then he’s pulling you back to him. He wants so badly to know what happened. Who hurt you. Where they hurt you. Why they hurt you. Mostly the who, so he can go and make sure they know they should have never touched a women, much less your woman. It doesn’t matter that she doesn’t know she’s yours. The two of you have been friends for over a year, having met when you moved in. She had been a one woman welcoming committee. Bringing you dinner your first night and introducing herself. She was a history teacher at a private school. She was teaching a class the next semester on World War II and she asked if she could ask you some questions, if it wouldn’t bother you or bring up bad memories. She had been a surprise. A delightful one. You never expected to find such warmth and light from another person. Most people stayed clear of you, but not Y/N. She made it very clear she knew who you were, what you are, and what you had been and she didn’t care. Bucky fell in love you right then. That love had grown over the last year as the two of you spent more and more time together. Movie nights, your own bookclub of two, long talks. He never said anything because he didn’t want to ruin what you had by making things uncomfortable and over the last couple of months he had picked up on you pulling back a little. Like you were trying to maybe distance yourself from him. He hoped he was wrong, that his mind was just playing with him. He didn’t think there was anyway you could know how he felt.

You were still crying, soaking his shirt with your tears, breaking his heart. Lifting your head you pull back away from him to look at his face. “I’m sorry. I’d been doing a pretty good job of holding it together and then they left and you were here and I felt safe for the first time since….well since, and I just broke.”

Bucky took the thumb of his flesh hand and whipped away the tears. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I’m here. What do you need? What can I do?”

“I really want to shower. To get…..to get the feel of everything off me.” You said.

“Alright. How about while you do that, I order your favorites from that thai place?” Bucky said.

You smile at him. “I would love that. They told me the bandages would need changed once they were wet. Do you think you could help me do that?”

“Doctor Bucky at your service.” He replies. “Whatever you need.”

You nod and make your way into your bedroom where it doesn’t take you long to realize you can’t move your arm over your head to remove your shirt. It hurts too much. Its going to take someone helping you. Realizing who that someone is going to be you try to think of any other way. You’re not sure you can handle Bucky seeing you in just your bra. For a year, you’ve fought your feelings, trying hard to never let him know how you felt. That you loved him. There had been a time when you were thinking about letting him know, but thankfully you over heard a conversation he was having on the phone with someone. The other person must have asked about the two of you and Bucky had replied that it wasn’t like that, followed by the phrase, doesn’t do anything for me. That had hurt, more than you wanted to admit. But at least it had saved you from embarrassing yourself. You had decided then to just be happy with what you had with Bucky. But you had wondered if maybe you were spending too much time with him more than normal friends would do. You didn’t want him to feel smothered or like he didn’t have space, so you had started pulling back a little realizing that it was maybe good for your heart to have some distance.

Trying again to get your arm up you had to stop when the pain almost made you pass out. You didn’t realize you had cried out until Bucky burst into the room looking like he was ready for a fight. Seeing that you were alone, he quickly changed his posture and looked at you. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Just hurt my arm trying to get my shirt off.” You really wished you’d worn a button up shirt that day instead of a pull over.

“Need help?” Bucky offered just as it occurred to him what he was offering to do.

“If you don’t mind.” You moved closer to him.

“Never.” He reached down and grabbed the hem of your shirt and started lifting it. He moved it up to your neck and helped you guide your good arm through. Then over your head trying his damndest to keep his eyes locked with yours. Next came the bad arm. “Okay I’m going to as gentle as I can. I’m going to pull it down easy and help you move your arm out of it. If I hurt you at all let me know and we’ll stop. We’ll cut it off.”

Well that’s great. Now you had a visual of Bucky taking one of his many knives and cutting your clothes off. Little did you know Bucky was visualizing the same thing. Taking the shirt he moved it over your shoulder and down to your elbow. He had to look now to make sure he didn’t hurt you. Glancing down he wasn’t prepared for the sight of you in your bra. It was lace and see through. Pink lace with a bow. A fucking bow. Bucky swallowed and moved his eyes to your arm. Gently taking your hand he moved the shirt lower and lower until it was down to your wrist, where it tried to catch on the bandage. Taking his fingers Bucky stretched the material until it slid over your wrist and off your arm.

“There, no cutting required.” He joked.

“Its okay. I don’t intend to ever wear these clothes again.” You said as you looked down at it laying there.

If Bucky wasn’t already thinking the worst he was after that comment. But before he could say anything you turned around. “Do you think you could do one more thing for me and unhook this?” I won’t be able to reach around.”

“Sure.” Reaching forward Bucky took both ends and moved the hooks out of the loops. “There you go.” He said not realized you were both thankful that you’d not worn a front close bra that day.

“Thanks Bucky. I’m going to shower now. I’ll be out in a few.” You moved towards the bathroom and Bucky was left standing there wondering how he was going to fix this. Whatever this was. Once he heard the shower running, he left and went back into the kitchen. Picking up his phone he ordered all your favorite dishes and once he had confirmation he started pacing waiting on you to come out. Finally hearing you coming down the hallway just as the intercom buzzed. He pushed the button and buzzed the delivery guy in.

A few minutes later you sat on the couch feet curled up underneath you and ate. Bucky had made you what he called a sampler plate. Some of everything and you were trying your best to eat it. Finally having enough you sat your plate down and looked over at him.

“I guess you want to know what happened.” You were dreading this conversation. Knowing Bucky you knew how he was probably going to react.

“Yeah, but if you don’t feel like it I understand. But know this. Until you tell me my mind is going to keep coming up with things it could be.” He explained.

“I’m okay. I was attacked by one of my student’s fathers.” You started and Bucky was glad you weren’t looking at him. The word attacked and knowing it was by a man triggered Bucky like no Hydra words ever could.

“He came to see me wanting me to pass his son in my class. His son is a bully and a trouble maker but everyone looks the other way because he donates so much money to the school. I told him no. That it didn’t work that like. That I didn’t pass students based on who their parents were. I based it on their grades and performance. To say he didn’t like that answer is an understatement. He started with the verbal threats. My job, my reputation. I kept saying no over and over. He then offered me money. Money. A bribe. That was then I got pissed. I told him no again and demanded that he leave my classroom. He refused telling me that he was through asking and now he was telling me I was going to pass his son. Got right in my face like I should be scared of him. Little did I know at the time I should have been.” She stopped and took a deep breath. Looking over at Bucky she could tell he was furious. “You okay?” She moved closer to him and took his hand in her good one.

“Don’t worry about me, I’m fine. Go on if you’re up to it.” Bucky felt himself calm down some with her touch.

“I had to work late tonight getting some things ready for the Valentine’s Day Dance tomorrow night. It was already dark and since the campus is a closed one with a gate, I didn’t think anything about going out to my car alone. Once I got to my car he was waiting on me. I could tell he was even more upset. I had also officially turned in the grades for this semester before I left and he would have gotten a notification that his son had failed my class. He was livid. Ranting on and on. Calling me names, saying I wasn’t going to ruin his son’s life. I tried to get around him and that’s when he.” You take a deep breath and Bucky rubs his thumb back and forth across your knuckles. “He grabbed me by the wrist. He had such a tight grip on it, I tried to jerk away but when I did, I felt something give in my shoulder. I guess I pulled it out of the socket. I screamed from the pain but he didn’t let go.”

Bucky saw red. He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt this much anger and the need to beat this guy’s face in was all he could focus on. “Y/N, I need you to tell me this guy’s name.” He tried to sound calm but was failing.

“Bucky no. I’ll be fine. The police are looking for him and I don’t want you to get yourself into trouble. Not for me.” You hang your head and Bucky leans forward and puts his hand on your chin lifting your eyes to meet his.

“Y/N, I’m don’t give a damn about getting into trouble. This piece of shit hurt you and he going to answer to me for it.” Bucky said finally getting his voice to calm down. “Now tell me his name. Please”

He pauses giving you time to respond when you don’t he adds, “You know I can find out anyway. Have FRIDAY tap into the latest police reports and get me a name.”

You turn your head until your check presses into his palm. “Please Bucky. Don’t do this. Let the police handle it. Stay with me tonight. I don’t want to be alone.” You tell him, then because you know its your ultimate card to play you add “I’m scared.”

Bucky closed his eyes and resolved himself that there would be no hunting tonight. “Alright. I’ll stay. But I am calling FRIDAY and having a squad of Tony’s Legion go out and search as well. This asshole isn’t getting away.”

“Thank you Bucky.” You smile at him.

“You’re welcome doll.” He gives you a half smile and you know its killing him to just sit and do nothing. “Give me a minute to make a call and when I get back we’ll watch something.” He gets up and walks to the door. “I’ll just be out in the hallway, don’t worry.”

When he closes the door behind him, you get up and take your plate into the kitchen having to make a couple of trips because you can’t use both arms. When the mess is cleaned up you go to the bathroom and wonder what Bucky’s saying.

Out in the hallway Bucky was pacing like a caged lion. He wanted to go after this guy. Find him and make sure he understood that hurting any woman was not okay, but to hurt one Bucky cared about was a one way ticket to hell. On the phone with Sam he was filling him in on what had happened. “I appreciate any help you can give me on this one.” Bucky listened as Sam promised to do some digging and he couldn’t promise not to pay the guy a visit himself to which Bucky replied, “No. If it comes down to us having to find him, he’s mine.” Bucky thanked Sam again and after double checking to make sure his apartment door was secure he went back inside Y/N’s apartment a small amount of panic setting in when he didn’t immediately see her. Then he heard her voice coming from the bathroom. She sounded upset and Bucky made his way to the door knocking softly.

“Y/N? You okay in there Doll?” Bucky waited and he heard the door knob twist and then the door opened. She looked up at him and could tell something was wrong. “Tell me.”

“The police called, they still haven’t found him, but there was a break in at the school. My room was trashed.” You explain, not wanting to add the other part, but you should have known that Bucky wasn’t going to not notice, so you tried to change the subject as you pushed yourself past him and back into the living room.

“Y/N, what else did they say?” Bucky was right behind you. Just then his phone dinged with a text. Thinking it might be Sam or FRIDAY, he unlocked the view screen and looked at the picture Sam had sent. “Never mind. I know what they said.” Bucky turned to leave. “Sam is having the Legion surround your building and when I open the door there will a Legion guard there. Don’t be afraid. He’ll protect you until I get back.”

“Bucky! Wait. Don’t go. You promised you say with me.” You walk over to him and touch him with your good hand.

“That was before. Before I saw what he did. I can’t let him stay out there not knowing where he is.” Bucky tried to move but you wouldn’t budge.

“I know we’re friends Bucky, but why does it matter so much to you? It’s not like we’re in a relationship, or going to be.” You rambled not noticing the look that passed over Bucky’s face when you mentioned that you would never be in a relationship.

“Y/N, I know you’d never want to be anything more than my friend, and even though I would like to be more, I respect that. But I do care, and I can’t let you get hurt anymore than you already are.” Bucky picked you up and gently moved you from in front of the door.

“Wait, wait. What do you mean I would never want to be anything ore than your friend? Why would you think that?” You were confused. It was him that didn’t want to be anything more than friends. You had heard him say that you didn’t do anything for him. “It’s you that doesn’t have any interest in me.”

“Y/N, I assure you, I have a great deal of interest in you. We’ll talk about this when I get back. Keep the door locked and don’t open it for anyone other than me or if Legion tells you he needs to extract you, okay?” Bucky leaned forward and kissed your forehead. “Stay safe for me.” And he was gone.

You sat down on the couch and waited. You hadn’t wanted him to know about what else Mr. Anders had done, let alone see it for himself. But you should have known better, had no doubt that his phone call in the hallway had called to action members of his team. As you sat there you pondered the last of your conversation, why in the world would he think you didn’t want anything more than friendship? Why would he have said what he did to the person on the phone if he wanted more? Laying down on the couch you closed your eyes not expecting to fall asleep, so when you awoke a while later to the sound of voices in the hall you were surprised. Just as you moved to sit up, the door creaked open and Bucky’s voice came through.

“Y/N, its me Doll. I’m coming in.” He pushed the door the rest of the way open and you took him in.

You could tell he’d been in a fight but wasn’t injured. He had a look on his face that was intense and made you want to make him smile instead. “Is this where you tell me I should see the other guy?” You smiled at him.

Bucky’s lips curled just a bit and he came over and sat down beside you. “You won’t ever see the other guy.” He took your hand in his.

“You found him.” You said, no need to ask, you knew when Bucky left earlier he wouldn’t come back until he had.

“Yep. He was holed up in a warehouse down at the warfe. He was apparently into some shady business and his partners didn’t like the fact that he had brought attention to them and their operation. So, after they left me talk to him they had a serious discussion with him. You could tell by the words he was using that he did more than talk and that Mr. Anders’ business partners did more than talk, but you didn’t ask. You’d seen enough TV to know to not ask questions.

“Thank you Bucky.” You leaned over and gave him a hug with your good arm. Pulling back you looked at him. “Now I think we need to talk about why you think I don’t want to be anything more than friends.”

“About 3 months ago I had decided that I wanted to see if maybe you wanted to move past friendship, to go out on a real date see if we worked, but you started pulling back. I didn’t know why, assumed you had picked up on what I was thinking and it was your way of letting me know you weren’t interested. So, I didn’t pursue it. Having you in my life at all is a blessing and something I’d never risk ruining.” Bucky explained.

You were trying to remember three months ago and suddenly it occurred to you. That was around the same time as you heard him on the phone where he made the comment. “Bucky, I started pulling back because I also wanted to try and see if we could be more. But one evening I came over, you had left your door unlocked for me and I heard you on the phone with someone. I don’t know what they said but you told them that it wasn’t like that and they must have asked something else about me because you said “Doesn’t do anything for me”. So I realized you weren’t interested in me and I kept my interest to myself. I think I started pulling back some because I did have feelings, but didn’t want to make you uncomfortable and like you I didn’t want to ruin what we do have.”

Bucky remembered exactly the conversation she had overheard. It was with Sam. They had been planning their next mission. A lead on Zemo that they had to follow. Sam had asked him in his typical Sam fashion if he was going to get him some goodbye sex before they left. To which Bucky had replied that your relationship wasn’t like that. Then Sam had gone on to say Bucky should just hookup with one of the many women who came on to him when they were out. To which Bucky had replied that those girls did nothing for him. He could see now where you would have thought he was talking about you. Pulling you closer he explained the conversation to you and what you had heard.

“Don’t ever think that I don’t want more. I do. When I saw you earlier, hurt, afraid and knowing that he was still out there, I wanted to kill him. He touched the wrong woman and then when I saw the picture of the note he had left on the board in your room I knew that I had to find him. It pissed me off. That he thought he wanted to do those things to you, then when I found out who he was contacted to and that he might just have the means to follow through with them, I was scared. I don’t get scared, so yeah. I love you. I know its probably too soon and you don’t have to say it back, but I didn’t want to waste anymore time and not tell you.” Bucky touched your face.

You smile at him. “I love you to Bucky. I have for a long time. I want more with you too. Thank you for protecting me and making sure that I’m safe.”

“I’’m going to kiss you now.” Bucky warned you.

“I’m going to kiss you back.” You replied and you did.

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes valentine exchange #bucky x reader #bucky fanfic #bbvalentine2021

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almostkoo · 4 years

Text

Sampler Special | Jeon Jungkook

pairings: jeon jungkook x oc

summary: oc is a new worker at a “human buffet” for vampires to feed, jungkook is a new vampire and neither one of them really knows what to do

word count: 1.8k

warnings: unedited borderline crack, language and 1 (one) use of the word sex

authors note: this is part of my spooktober stories to celebrate this halloween ! i always get so nervous uploading so i’m nervous now but i hope you guys enjoy :]

Standing across from the old brick building you felt intimidated, you wrapped your arms around yourself tighter in an attempt to keep the chilly autumn breeze from slipping further up into the sleeves of your windbreaker.

Roughly a week ago you vented your frustrations about having no money, one of your classmates and friend Jimin told you about a .. sort of underground eatery of sorts called the Blood Bath. It was a small restaurant that local vampires attended to get their fix. They were looking for more donors to hire and Jimin, who worked there told you they were hiring and gave you the heads up. Naturally, one would be a little worried about letting a vampire feed off them. you’d heard enough scary stories growing up about vampires snapping their prey's necks when they were done feeding, but that’s exactly what it was. You had met a few vampires growing up and they were wonderful people. You couldn’t imagine any of them doing such a thing.

What's the worst that could happen ?

Taking a deep breath you picked your head up, taking confident strides towards the building. You pushed the door open immediately feeling warm air wash over you. Your eyes scanned the room you stood in which seemed to be a waiting room, behind the front desk stood Jimin, dressed very different than his over sized hoodies and beanies you often saw him in during your shared literature lectures.

You walked over to the front desk where Jimin greeted you dressed in a black mesh top, his ash blonde hair slicked back and out of the way.

“You look .. very comfortable.” Jimin stated, giving you the once over, you were dressed in your windbreaker, jeans and crocs.

Let’s not even get into the worn out Sailor Moon hoodie under your windbreaker.

“Was I supposed to wear something specific?” you asked, Jimin shrugged making a face.

“I mean you look like you just came from the library doing a study session.”

“I did, how did you know?” you whispered. Jimin opened and closed his mouth like a fish gasping for water. He took a sigh before shaking his head.

“You know what never mind, you’ll be good if any of the fresh ones come in tonight. Your relaxed attire might be more refreshing instead of all of this” Jimin gestured to his clothing. “let me just show you where you’ll be this evening.” Jimin walked from behind the front desk. He took you down a hallway full of doors. He stopped in front of one of the doors closer to the end of the hallway and opened it.

“Here’s where you will be serving tonight.” he said with a smile. The room was dim lit, various cushions and pillows adorned the floor, a brown loveseat was in the corner of the room with a throw on it, tapestries hung on the wall. it seemed very cozy, a little cliche but cozy and comfortable.

“There’s some incense around here if you wanna burn some. So you can just wait here and I'll escort someone back here when they show up, there’s outlets here too if you wanna charge your phone and relax while you wait.” He stated. You walked in the room taking a seat on the couch.

“Just a few things before I go. Be careful and set boundaries. Put your guard up and don’t let it down. I’ll be careful who I send back here but keep that in mind.” Jimin winked at you and left the room. You sat on the couch, rigid with perfect posture. You couldn’t allow yourself to relax. You were nervous. You could hear soft music playing from the rooms on the side of you. What was going on in those rooms besides vampires feeding….you had no clue and wanted to remain blissfully ignorant. Your fingers drummed against your legs, pulling your phone out of your pocket you attempted scrolling through Twitter. Nothing new was popping up on your feed. You ended up settling on playing Bubble Witch. After a few minutes and a couple of failed attempts at passing the current level of Bubble Witch you were stuck on, you heard a soft tapping at the door. The door cracked open and Jimin stuck his head in.

“I have somebody for you.” Jimin opened the door fully and from behind Jimin stood a taller boy, he looked young most likely around your age or should you say he probably was around your age due to the predicament you all were currently in. He had on sunglasses that hid his eyes and under the bridge of his eyes, a prominent nose that seemed to fit his face perfectly and smaller lips. He was dressed in all black with piercings adorning his ears. “This is Jungkook” Jimin pushed the boy, Jungkook in front of him. Seeing him closer you could see that he was built. “he’s new and you’re new so this should be a pretty good mashup. I explained to Jungkook the rules so everything else is between the both of you. If you need help or any assistance just shout. Hopefully you won’t. I have to go. My favorite customer Taehyung showed up.”Jimin waved as he left. Jungkook stood in the middle of the floor playing with his hands. You looked around the room awkwardly as if you were on camera waiting for a director to yell action.

“So uh are you gonna just stand there all evening or did you maybe want to take a seat?” you offered, shuffling over on the couch so you no longer sat in the middle. Jungkook tread over and sat next to you on the couch, with little to no room between the both of you. You took notice over the lack of heat radiating from him.

“You’re new to this too? Jimin said that right?” Jungkook asked.

“Yeah it’s my first night on the job I’m just trying to make some spare money.” you ended with a hum. Jungkook nodded. You saw him push his hands into his front pockets, hunching in an attempt to make himself seem smaller. You sighed in slight annoyance wanting this to be over quick.

“So have you fed from a human before?”

“Uh, n-no no. I’ve only drank from blood bags that my friend Hoseok gave me. Then the first time, after I changed from a deer. But it was too messy. I didn’t like that so that’s why I’m here.” Jungkook shrugged.

“Okay so how do you want to do this? We got my neck or maybe my wrist? I don’t know what’s better for you or what you want to try.” you asked, waving your hands around awkwardly. Jungkook opened his mouth, hesitating before answering. “Can I try your neck? If that’s okay. I mean I know you said it was but I just-” Jungkook shook his head. “I’m sorry.”he laughed, bashfully.

“Okay. Promise you won’t roast my sweatshirt.” you said, reaching for your zipper.

“What’s wrong with it?” “It’s a little childish but it’s my most comfortable hoodie. I didn’t think to get so dressed up for the occasion. I didn’t know what to expect.”

Jungkook paused before placing his hand over yours that rested against your leg. Rubbing his thumb along the side of your hand.

“Not to be weird or anything but it’s both our first time doing.. something like this. So it’s okay we can both take our time, figure this out and be awkward together.” He smiled softly and you immediately started cracking up. Jungkook's expression shifted into something of confusion pulling away from you. “I’m sorry! It’s not that I’m laughing at you. The way you phrased it made it sound like we’re about to have sex or something. I’m sorry.” you said quickly straightening up. You pulled the zipper down of your windbreaker, showcasing your hoodie. You looked up. Jungkook had taken his sunglasses off revealing big, round bright red eyes. You looked deeply into them before Jungkook turned his head away from your gaze.

“I didn’t mean to scare you. I am ruining this. Should I just go back to the front desk and ask for someone else?” he asked. “What just happened to all of that working through the awkwardness together? I just didn’t know your eyes were so uh.. bright .”

“Well I haven’t fed in like two weeks. So I’m kind of hungry.” he mumbled. Realization hit you quick.

“Well shit let’s get this show on the road. Don’t wanna make you wait any longer. I’ll just tap you if I’m feeling lightheaded.” you pulled the zipper down of your hoodie just a little bit further to reveal your neck and collarbone. Being careful of how low you pulled the zipper down remembering that you didn’t wear anything underneath. Jungkook’s half lidded eyes ran over your neck. You tilted your head to the side, allowing him more access. Your eyes darted down to him, you could see his fangs slightly ghosting above his bottom lip. It was almost like you could feel the thumping of your heart in your ears. You felt a sharp pain that quickly ebbed away. You could feel Jungkook’s lips against your neck as his tongue swiped back and forth over the bite mark and he drank more and more from your neck.

Quickly you felt yourself getting lightheaded as if someone was trying to pull your brain out of head through your ear canal. You started tapping at Jungkook’s shoulder. Before he pulled away from you rapidly wiping away the blood that was around his mouth.

“Are you okay? I didn’t drink too much, did I?” he grabbed your shoulders, holding you forward. Newly brown eyes scanning your face. Man, is he cute. You thought to yourself. “I’m fine, nothing a turkey sandwich and a juice box can’t fix.” you joked. Jungkook didn’t seem to take to your joking mood. He still looked nervous. You patted his side. “Jungkook, I’m serious I’m fine. Are you okay?”

“I feel better. Not as hungry anymore. Maybe that’s nothing a turkey sandwich can’t fix.” he smiled.

“Maybe .. you know we should get turkey sandwiches together sometime if you want?” you asked.

“In all honesty I’m more of a ham sandwich type of guy myself.”

“Subway has ham, they also have turkey and white chocolate macadamia nut cookies too. So we both win.” you shrugged.

“How about I give you my number and we can set something up?” he asked. You nodded in agreement quickly exchanging numbers. Jungkook stood up making his way towards the door.

“Thank you for making jokes and attempting to lessen the awkwardness in the air. I appreciated it.”

“Thank you for not draining me like a capri sun.” you smiled. Jungkook threw his head back letting out a laugh.

“I’ll see you later.” he said, exiting the room. You leaned back, finally relaxing back into the couch. Rubbing your neck you thought back to yourself. This wasn’t so bad. So far one person came through and you were still completely intact. The worst case scenario didn’t occur and you ended up with a cute guys number.

Maybe you could do this again.

#jeon jungkook #jungkook scenarios #jungkook fanfics #bts imagines #jungkook #jungkook x reader #bts x reader #bangtan x reader #jungkook smut #fic:sampler special #writer:almostkoo #spooktober 2020

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thiswasinevitableid · 3 years

Note

3. Sweets for OT4 because Barclay making sweet things for his polycule is the soft that I need! Sfw, with mer Duck and Joseph?

Here it is! Joseph’s design is based on a Spotted Drum, Duck’s on a Mahi-Mahi.

Most days, Barclay’s house resembles a cookbook library. Today, it looks like a cookbook library that got hit by a catastrophic earthquake.

His goal is to find three perfect recipes to bring to the beach with him tonight, but he keeps changing his mind; whenever he settles on a menu, he turns the page or turns around and finds another contender staring at him from its glossy photo.

Indrid is the simplest; he likes sweet food in all his forms, though he’ll make concessions to the rest of the tastes from time to time. It was one such concession (to sour) that first introduced them. Indrid was shooting a fashion spread in town and came into Amnesty Lodge, where Barclay was working the counter at their little coffee bar.

“I suppose I should get a slice of the key lime pie, since we’re in the keys.”

Barclay cut him a generous slice because he liked the curve of his smile. Indrid sat at the counter, took a bite, took a second bite, and then ate so fast his fork was a silver blur. He licked his plate clean when he thought Barclay wasn’t looking. There was a dot of whipped cream on his nose that Barclay almost offered to kiss off. But he exercised restraint and gave him a napkin instead.

Indrid came back the next day, and the next, and the day after that too. When Barclay asked how long the shoot was, Indrid admitted it was done three days ago.

“I, ah, I’ve been coming down from the city just for your food.”

“That’s the best compliment anyone’s ever given me.” Barclay leans across the counter, smiling when he spots Indrid’s eyes giving him a once over from behind his red-lensed glasses.

“May I have the chance to pay you some more? Perhaps tonight if you’re free?

He was, and Indrid complimented him before, after, and during the night they spent together. Barclay would have been fine with a one-night stand, let the memory of Indrid’s tan, angular body under his hands carry him for the next few months. But the photographer came back at least three times a week and took Barclay out as much as possible. He learned Indrid was a big enough deal that he could pick and choose assignments and that he traveled often, but the longer they were together, the more he talked about moving his headquarters to Kepler.

Two years later, his office and studio are ten minutes from the apartment he and Barclay share. When he’s in town, he’s glued to Barclays side.When he travels, Barclay gets postcards signed with hearts or filled with sketches of what Indrid’s seen (and he always comes home laden with local delicacies for Barclay to try).

Wait, what were those hard candies he brought back and then ate all of? Yeah, that will work. Barclay checks to be sure he has heavy cream and makes a note to get pineapple from the grocery store. He’d hoped to avoid a trip out, but Indrid is worth it. Indrid is one of the best things to ever happen to him.

He’s also the reason Barclay has to find three recipes and not just one.

A year ago Indrid was location scouting for a dramatic oceanside shoot. On a remote outcropping, waves splashing around him, a man popped up from the water to ask what the hell he was doing so far out and didn’t he know the tide overtook this rock real quick?

Indrid, a little strange himself, recovered quickly from being scolded by a merman. And promptly asked if merman would like to pose for a portrait. If not, would he be able to show Indrid some good locations for photographing rays?

Duck, green-finned and strong, became Indrid’s guide to the reef. It didn’t take long before Barclay noticed Indrid getting dreamy-eyed when he recounted their adventures. Maybe he should have been jealous, but he was just happy his boyfriend found a hunky merman to show him the wonders of the sea.

These days, he considers Duck one of his best friends, a friend who also happens to make Indrid’s face light up like the Vegas strip whenever he smiles at him.

Duck’s palate tends towards the savory side, and on days when he needs a pick-me-up Barclay will bring him a travel bowl of french onion soup and a hard seltzer, the two of them sitting on the sand and comparing notes on troublesome customers (or, in Duck’s case, park guests in the aquatic campground on the far edge of the reef.

Actually, that gives Barclay an idea. He grabs the flour from the cupboard, sets it next to the jar of yeast and a bottle of wheat beer. They may be metamours and not partners but, as Barclay often jokes, he owes Duck big time.

See, shortly after meeting Duck, Indrid guided Barclay down to a hidden patch of beach.

“I want Duck to meet you, dearest. He also has someone he wishes to introduce to us.”

Duck barely had time to emerge before another merman pulled himself onto the beach and began asking questions.

“See, this is why I asked him to come. Joe’s fascinated by the human world. Even swam under a glass bottom boat tryin to get a look at some tourists. Which was real dangerous.”

“You didn’t seem to mind disciplining me for it” Joseph shoots a smile at the other mer, then continues his examination of Indrid’s camera.

With black hair, blue eyes, and a stunning white and black tail, Joseph is the most handsome man Barclay’d ever seen. Later, when he had to explain the fact he was attracted to both him and Indrid, he’d say that the difference in his boyfriends was like the difference between being fed by a classically trained French chef and Spanish chef pushing the boundaries of molecular gastronomy; radically different, but equally amazing.

Joseph, inquisitive and clever, began asking to see them whenever he could. Barclay started bringing food down for Joseph to try, played him movies on his phone, and fell harder for him whenever he laughed or smiled or made a bad pun.

Some nights Duck, Indrid, or both joined them. Other nights it was just the two of them and water, Joseph lazily waving his tail back and forth as they talked. One evening, he dragged it across Barclay’s legs by accident and the human wasn’t quick enough in hiding his reaction.

“Should I do that again?”

“S-sure.”

“Can I kiss you at the same time?”

“Yes! No, fuck, wait we, we need to talk to Indrid and Duck about this.”

“I suspect they won’t mind, but you’re right. We’ll take a rain check, big guy. And please pass me that cake.”

In addition to his other good qualities, Joseph has the most sophisticated palates of anyone, mer or human, Barclay knows. As in he can taste the notes of blackberry or chocolate that a wine label insists are there but Barclay can only sort of get a hint of. Barclay once bought him a sampler box of expensive wines, cooked oysters over a driftwood fire, and hand fed both to Joseph as he moaned and wiggled with delight, outlining in no uncertain terms what he’d do for Barclay as a thank you.

(He still can’t look at a bottle of white wine without blushing)

That means Barclay has to make something that's as sweet and sophisticated as the mer himself. Ripe peaches tickle his nose. He grabs his copy of Dessert for All Seasons, flipping to summer with a smile.

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

“Okay, so” Barclay sets the bags down on the picnic blanket, “I, uh, I decided making one sweet thing wasn’t enough. I know that’s kinda silly but you three are so fucking important to me I wanted to do this right.”

“Doubt you’ll get any complaints from mr. sweet tooth.” Duck smirks. Indrid, lounging in linen shorts a moth patterned Hawaiin shirt, sticks his tongue out. The mer just blows him a kiss in response.

“And there’s no need to apologize for being thoughtful.” Joseph drapes his tail over Ducks, “it’s one of your best traits.”

“Thanks, babe. Uh, so, Indrid, this is for you.” He lifts the pie plate from the ice chest, “it’s pineapple cream with vanilla whipped cream on top.”

“I love you.” Indrid takes the dish with wide-eyed appreciation.

“Duck, these are for you.”

“Oh hell yeah, pretzels. Wait, is this-”

“French onion soup dip? Yep.”

“I’m gonna eat the hell outta this.”

“And, uh” he slides the cake carrier towards Joseph, “I found a recipe for a peaches and cream Prosecco cake. Hope you like it.”

Joseph lifts the lid, licks his lips, then pushes the carrier into the center of blanket so he can roll and put his head in Barclay’s lap.

“You’re the best.”

“Indeed. Which is why we have something for you as well.” Indrid stands, stepping over Duck and then eeping when the mer gently whacks his ass with his tail. When he returns (stopping to bend down a pinch the sensitive upper back of said tail), it’s with the cake carrier Barclay looked everywhere for earlier today.

Beneath the pink plastic lid is a cake coated in milk chocolate frosting.

“‘Drid said this was the one you made yourself for your birthday.”

“Oh fuck, the chocolate malt one?”

“The very same. We had to get a bit creative cooking it; Joseph suggested making the layers in cast iron over a fire, which worked well. After all, we didn’t want to ruin the surprise.”

The frosting message of “happy one year anniversary” gets a little blurry, and he wipes his eyes, “this is so fucking sweet, you guys.”

“You deserve it.” Joseph kisses his hand as Indrid rests his head on his shoulder, Duck scooching over to lay across Indrid’s lap.

Barclay smiles, “We all do.”

#OT4: Government Men and Their Cryptid Boyfriends #mermay fills #mermay #Indruck #sternclay #duck newton/agent stern #Indrid cold/Barclay

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formal-fauxpines · 5 years

Text

Unofficial Say It Sequel- Chapter 1: Say It Gently

This is one of my first fic ideas when I decided to start wrtiting Pinecest fan fics. Inspired by the fic Say It by @pinewreaths, I wanted to explore the idea of what happens to Mabel and Dipper after she becomes a semen eating vampire and how that affects their relationship after first feeding on him.

Big shout out to @pinecesttrain for helping with editing and helping with further inspiration. And of course big thanks to @pinewreaths for giving me their blessing on using their work that helped set me on the path to write.

Meal time for the Pines Twins came around as it usually did: Door locked and blinds drawn, Dipper lying on the bed, his pants drawn down with his throbbing member exposed for his sister to extract the vital fluids she needed to sustain herself. Her head bobbed up and down on his shaft with long, languid licks and sucks to ensure the utmost pleasure, usually providing the largest payoff of the sweet ambrosia that was her brothers seed.

Since Mabel’s transformation into a vampire a few months ago, meal times had become a bit more unusual to the outside world. Luckily for them, they already were used to the unusual, especially since the twins being unusually close was such a norm.

In becoming a vampire, no thanks to her lying, asshole, vampire ex-boyfriend, Mabel was granted most of the usual afflictions that come with the condition. However the one that took her, and subsequently her brother, by surprise was the method of feeding that she needed. Not the usual blood that is so emphasized in media, stories, and mythology, but weirdly enough, semen.

In a moment of emergency, her brother had been willing to oblige her need to feed and provided the necessary fluids for her. However, with her hunger too great to control, his plans for a more modest feeding method quickly degenerated into a rockus night of fellatio that he had never thought he would be engaged in. Not that he minded,after all, Dipper was always willing to help his sister when she needed it,no matter what the task.

A few days after the first feeding, the twins were able to contact their great uncle Ford, via a special video phone he made for them, getting fed up with Skype, and ask about any conditions of Vampirism that he may have discovered. !

“Ah yes! Vampirism! In fact, I’ve thought about it a few times when I needed the physical capabilities to conduct my research, but the associated issues would hinder me in the long run so I would always need to change back. Good thing too. Some dimensions I found where blood didn’t exist. In all my research I did find a cure for it, however the time limit on reversing the condition is 24 hours.” The twins sighed in exasperation, feeling defeated in the news their great uncle revealed.

“However the condition is manageable,” Ford started up again with a little more enthusiasm. “I was able to find some artifacts, spells, and other techniques that can offset some of the less, desirable traits of the condition. Aside from the usual annoyances, all you have to do is make sure you have a viable food source.” The twins sighed in relief this time. There was a way to have Mabel live with it. “By the way, what is your prefered food source, Mabel?”

The twins froze, caught off guard by Ford’s nonchalant way of asking. What was he getting at? What other feeding did he mean? Did he know about theirs? “C-come again?” Dipper broke through the tense silence.

“Yes, yes, the substance you need to draw your energy from. My research has found that vampires actually have many different types of feeding styles. The most common, of course, is blood. Which can usually be human or animal. Also sweat, saliva, and even a few more unusual fluids like urine, or semen. I have found these particular vampires to be more under the classification of a crossbreed between vampires and succubi. Really fascinating to find out how many different ones there are in the world. So which is it?”

“Blood!” both the twins shot out with urgency, hoping it wasn’t too obvious they were hiding something.

“Alright, a common type then. have you found a viable source yet, children?” Ford asked, not giving any inclination of suspicion to the twins’ quick reaction.

“Candy was able to swipe a bag for me from a recent blood drive, and Sir Dipping-sauce here was nice enough to let me have some of his blood in a few emergency cases,” Mabel said, trying to keep calm with the half-truth she had to tell her Grunkle.

“Very good, just be careful though. If you don’t get a source of food regularly the hunger builds up and things can get a little… crazy.”

CRASH!!!

“STANLEY!” Ford yelled, turning his head to look off screen with a tinge of irritation in his eyes, “I told you to stop messing with my experiments! Sorry kids, I have to go. Let me know if things change.”

The line disconnected and the screen turning back to the devices menu settings. The twins were grateful that the chat was cut short as neither of them were sure they could hide the reddening of their faces. They knew exactly how wild things could get if her hunger was left unchecked.

“Welp”, Mabel said, slapping her hands to her knees after a moment of awkward silence . “Looks like we got to find me a new food source then.”

“Hehe, y-yeah. I guess we do.” Dipper joined, in scratching at the stubble on his chin.

The following weekend, Mabel and Dipper worked hard on finding a new food source. Mabel knew the easiest method for finding one, but she didn’t much like the prospect. She always considered herself a love expert, and felt her skills improved as she grew older and learned more about relationships and dating. However using her skills to just land a guy to suck off she felt would besmirch her talents. BESMIRCH! Plus, she was not the kind of girl to mess with someone’s emotions, she learned that lesson years ago.

The Pines twins’ plan of attack was to find any guy looking for a good time as much as she was looking for an easy meal. The two would peruse areas for guys who may be looking for an easy hook up, and being college that seemed easy enough. On weekends they would go to the bars, frat houses, and any type of party that looked wild enough. The point was to find drunk bros, which much to Mabel’s chagrin, was not her type.

Mabel busted out her best to attract and draw in the easier prey: Tops that showed off more cleavage, skirts that rode a little high, heels that accentuated her booty. She knew she would hit the mark when, on more than a few occasions, she got Dipper red in the face or had him stare a little too long when asking him what he thought. If it was good enough for him, it was good for some fast food. With Candy and Grenda by her side as her wing women, she felt like it would be easy pickins.

Dipper also took up a role in her hunts as more of the scout. He would look in areas Mabel couldn’t normally go, like the men’s restroom. Even though she was a sperm-sucking vampire, Mabel still had standards. He would also offer to go to other bars nearby, increasing their range, and allowing Mabel a second set of eyes if she couldn’t find anything for herself.

Dipper was a little against this method, and memories would surface of how protective he could be from similar guys trying to hit on her in the past. How he would intervene if the guy wouldn’t take the hint. She always felt a comfort in how he would watch out for her, making her heart give a little flutter at the thought. The thoughts were pretty nice, in a weird way. It made her kind of glad their options were a little limited, since it meant he agreed to help despite his misgivings.

Despite all their efforts, however, Mabel kept running into the same problem every time. She would land a guy, and get back to his place or hers. They would start by making out, Mabel thinking sexy thoughts to get her through the start if she wasn’t into the guy, which was most of the time. Admittedly, Mabel would occasionally have a flash of Dipper and his manhood run through her mind. The taste of his seed, the smell of his musk, the warmth and texture of his shaft on her tongue would all do the trick to push her past her current prize with the more delectable memories of her exquisite first meal, driving her hunger enough not to care. Still, most of the time once they got past the make out phase, she would start to wane in her appetite for the guy in hand. The saliva would at least be a slight appetizer which gave her some energy, and a slight taste of what was to come. Or in many cases, didn’t come.

Her vampire senses presented both a blessing and a curse, allowing her to see, hear, taste, touch, and smell exceptionally better than before. However, the smell and taste became an issue to her. When she tried to select her prey for the night usually she could only catch a faint hint of their smell among the myriad of scents in the usual pick up spots. But once she got some one-on-one time the smell became more noticable and harder to ignore. If the taste of the make-out session didn’t send her packing, then the whiff of what lay to the south surely did.

The first few attempts to eat were more forced, Mabel going about a more ‘giving it the old college try’ mentality, as she was not used to such a casual take on such an intimate action. She tried to dive right in, in some cases holding her breath to avoid the scent. The taste of pre-cum that exuded from their member gave a stronger taste than the make-out sampler. It was too strong in some cases, ending the session earlier than expected. If she was able to get past the drops that were a precursor of what came next, she regretted it afterwards.

The surge of life-sustaining fluids tasted nothing like what she received from Dipper. It drove her sense of taste over the edge to the point of being physically ill in some cases. She wrote it off as being from having too much to drink that night, not that she had a drop to begin with, and excused herself to purge the contents of her belly.

After a few times to try and get a new food source from weekend to weekend, Mabel learned to check waste baskets and bedding to get a better look at the menu rather than lead a guy on with the make-out session. Picking up on trace amounts of fluids was easy enough, but led to the same disappointing conclusion that she was not hungry enough to drink what she thought tasted like a milkshake made with carrot juice and squid.

A few times the guys would get belligerent, which Mabel could understand, but did not take kindly to. In those moments she was always happy knowing that her new condition provided her the means to defend herself just fine. Dipper was always sweet telling her he would stay close in case she needed help, but was always proven unnecessary after she showed she could take care of herself now. He still made it a point to ask her to contact him in case things got out of hand. They never did, but she still felt a warmth knowing her brother always wanted to be her hero in her time of need.

At the end of the night though, he really was her hero. Perhaps not in the normal sense, but he had saved her from a few nights of going hungry. After the first few failed feedings, Mabel had turned to her brother, asking for something to hold her over in case she didn’t get enough energy from her supposed dinner. He had been a little taken aback, surprised that Mabel had struck out with the guys she tried to get with. After hearing her situation though, he was willing to oblige.

Since they had already went all the way with the first meal he provided her (or second, technically) it wasn’t the most awkward thing to ask him. They decided to arrange that if she needed a quick pick me up shot Dipper would provide it. He would rub one out in a condom like the first time when she asked, agreeing to this method since she didn’t really want to press the issue of getting it straight from the source. Partially embarrassed from how she lost control last time and partly because she didn’t want to admit how good it made her feel to feed off of him.

But since she did lose control, she settled for a sack lunch. Despite the fact that it wasn’t fresh, the ambrosia she remembered still tasted as sweet and savory as ever, filling her with a warm sensation through her whole being as she imbibed it. Yet as she enjoyed what she could get from him, more and more she would ask for a late night snack as she kept failing to feed. Even if she was successful, she would often ask for a chaser to get the terrible taste out of her mouth and wash away the dissatisfaction.

“Another dud, huh?” Dipper asked as Mabel begged him for another semeny snack. He rubbed the back of this neck nervously as he sat on the edge of his bed. “I’m sorry this keeps happening, but… you sure about this, Mabes?” “I mean, I know I was your first source, but I can’t be that much better than the guys you were going after. I’ve seen the kind of guys you go boy crazy for. Some of them seemed your type from what I guessed.”

“You don’t understand, Dipper. I thought they were going to be okay, but when we stepped away from the crowds and got some one-on-one fun time, their B.O. would make my stomach go ‘OH NO!’” she said in a silly voice reminiscent of the Kool-aid man, punctuating her last statement with a playful poke to the stomach.

Dipper sighed out in willing defeat. “Well, I don’t want my sister to starve. And Ford did say it would be bad to let you go too long without feeding. I mean, we have first hand experience with that.” He blushed at the thought of it.

“Hehe, yeah. I guess I got a little too cray-cray on my bro-bro then. I promise I’ll be better and keep it under control. You did give me a lot that time though and I’m not as hungry as then, but I am getting a little bit now,” she said shyly, biting her fingers, her fangs showing slightly.

“I guess we could give it another go. If it could help us avoid another frenzy. Just give me a minute and…” He reached for his sock drawer and pulled out another set of condoms and tore off a square.

Mabel reached out and grabbed his wrist firmly with a restrained urgency.

“Actually, I was thinking we could maybe try sooooomething else?” she said, biting her lower lip.

“Um-uh, o-o-okay? Uh, w-what did yooooouuuu haveinmindexactly?” Dipper asked with a nervousness in his voice. His eyes showed a glint of fearful curiosity. “I mean d-did you want to just, um…” He coughed in his fist, unable to finish the thought, instead looking down to his crotch.

“N-no, I mean kinda, I mean not yet, I mean…,” Mabel took a deep breath to calm her flustered self from saying what she wanted. “Grunkle Ford did say that vampires could use other food sources too, right? When I was trying to do some ‘meal prep’, so to say, I got a slight taste from the make-out sesh. I mean it wasn’t like a full first course, but it gave me just enough to make it through the night, or at least to you.” She stared down to the floor as she said it, grabbing at a lock of hair, twisting it in her fingers nervously. “Kind of like having cold fries before having a four star meal. So maybe we can give that a try? I mean if you don’t mind your sis macckin’ all over you?” Mabel explained spitting the hair out and adding a slight giggle.

Dipper thought about it, contemplating the scientific ramifications of it all. “True, I mean, I don’t mind giving you what you need in the end. You know, since we already did, well… you know.” He blushed and coughed into his hand again. “But if this is what you want to do then I’ll do it...” His lips turned upwards into a warm, comforting smile and he placed a hand on her knee, “...for you.”

“You really are the best, broseph.” She clasped his hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. “So how do you want to ya know… do this. I don’t want to break you as bad as last time”

“How about you start and take it how you feel. After all, it is your ‘snack time’.”

“Okay then, I mean, no biggie. We did this before, kissing and all ya know. Just one twin helping the other this time.” Her face flushed a slight pink as she leaned into him. The closer she got, the more warmth she could feel from his breath. He met her half-way, connecting with her lips, softly and gently as to test the waters of this new/revisited experiment.

Mabel felt a slight jolt of energy right when their lips made contact. She was reminded of drinking hot cocoa, the warmth of the sweet liquid making contact with her lips before letting it in. This was a thousand times better in her opinion. Sweeter than any cocoa she could buy, with a perfect heat that warmed her to the core without burning her, and a scent that she learned from experience was about to come.

Remembering her first feeding and how that tasted, this one seemed more like a light snack. Lighter, like a small drop, but still giving nourishment. She found it peculiar thinking about all those other guys, that they couldn’t give her this amount of energy from even the full salty shebang. Just this kiss might have been enough for her. She wanted more. She needed more!

Mabel pressed more into her brother’s lips. He seemed just as eager to receive her. Their mouths opened slightly, allowing their tongues to pass though and connect. Soon the drop on her lips turned into a drizzle on her tongue as they embraced one another. Their hands began grabbing frantically at each others clothes and hair. Mabel was desperate to get a grip, as though doing so would make him give her more of what she was tasting.

The full flavor of his saliva was just what she expected from the initial kiss. It was as if she were drinking up the most delectable beverage in the world.The closest thing she could compare would be the sweetest honey, mixed into the smoothest of creams, with a slight hint of a fruit that is so amazing it may have not been discovered yet. She knew well enough that Dipper didn’t partake much in these foods, so she accounted this blending of flavors as his own personal essence. She couldn’t get enough.

Every bit of pressure, every smack of the lips, every grab at her tresses of hair and clothing was like she was being treated to the best dining service she’d ever had. She was disappointed when she had to stop for a breath, much like in the past drinking too heavily to quench her thirst. She panted heavily after her intense snack session, looking down at her brother.

Lips pink and slightly swollen, eyes half-lidded with a sense of shock and euphoria, a small trail of saliva that lay at the corner of his mouth from when she pulled away. He was breathing just as hard, if not harder from the intensity of what they shared. But, His body didn’t have the stamina of a vampire to keep up, and he looked exhausted.

“Oh my gosh Dip! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to lose control like that again. Are you alright?” Mabel laid her hand on his face, cupping his cheek. He nuzzled into it and grabbed it with his, squeezing her hand lovingly. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of him being so warm and affectionate to her touch. A small flutter began to rise in her stomach.

“Yeah Mabes,” he said between breaths. “I’m fine. Just never had a make out session that intense before.”

Mabel cocked her head to the side in confusion. “Really?” The gears started turning in her head at all what he just said could mean. She decided to take a chance on it. She turned her head back upright with a devious smile spreading across her face and eyelids half-lidded. She asked again with a sultry tone, “Really?”

“I mean, I’ve had some pretty good ones in the past, but I think you just set the bar.” After uttering those words Dipper’s eyes shot wide open realizing the confession he just made. “I-I-I mean, um, ah...”

She pressed a finger to his lips as if to push the pause button on his mind. It seemed to work, as he halted his hectic explanation. “Relax broseph, after all we’ve done since I transformed, it’s not the weirdest thing to admit. Plus, if I were to be really honest, you make a great kisser too. And not just because you taste so amazing.” She bent down to him lapping up the small bit of spittle at the corner of his mouth left behind from her earlier departure, and followed with a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “Thanks, Dipper, for being so understanding.”

He reached up to stroke her hair and wrapped his arms around her to cuddle on the bed. “Of course Mabel. I’d do anything to take care of you,” he said gently as she wrapped her arms around him too, and slipped into a warm embrace.

After about 20 minutes of blissfully cuddling with each other, Dipper broke the silence. “Hey Mabel? Not to ruin the mood, but I got a question for you.”

“What’s up Dip-dop?”

“So did that give you the energy you needed then? I mean. I know you need um, you know, the other stuff, to be fully nourished, but how did that work for you?” he said in his usual sense of curiosity he had for the supernatural but underlined with and awkwardness for talking about this particular subject with his sister. .

“Dang Dip,” Mabel said with a bit of disbelief at what he just asked. She sat up out of the cuddle session, feeling its warmth and enjoyment snuffed out by awkward sciency questions. “Can’t just let that curious mind take a break for once, can you?” She tapped her index finger to his forehead as she asked him.

Placing her hands on her hips she began to give him the answer he was looking for with a hint of annoyance for being such a wet blanket to the warm and silent affection they were sharing. “If you must know, it actually filled me up better than any other guy I tried with. Like, even when I got a full load out of them,” she said matter of factly and ended with her arms crossing across her chest.

Dipper shifted a bit at the last statement showing discomfort at the premise. Mabel picked up on it, all her senses making it hard to ignore. “Um, sorry, Dipper. Just wanted to be honest with ya. Must be getting too used to these feeding arrangements that it seems normal now,” she said, patting his thigh, hoping to ease his distress.

“No no. It’s fine. I mean, I asked after all,” he replied, trying to shake off his embarrassment at the mental image of Mabel with those other guys. “But, like, ya know... I just can’t help but wonder. What makes this so different,’’ he gestured between the two of them. “Why are you getting more out of me? Like, what makes me so special?”

“I dunno. Maybe those guys were just not that tasty to begin with? Like even regular Mabel would have passed them up if given the option. Or maybe you just happen to be so sweet helping a girl out like this,” Mabel added, poking Dipper in the cheek, drawing circles into his stubble with her finger.

“Hehe, thanks for the compliment Mabel,” he said, grabbing her hand gently to cease the playful pokes, “but seriously, if we don’t get this feeding thing figured out soon, I may just be your soul source of food.”

“Well,” she said with a little hesitation in her voice, “it’s not like it would be the worst thing ever.”

Dipper was a little caught off guard by the comment. “Wait, what?” he asked in disbelief.

“I mean, sure it may be a little awkward to find a new food source. But as long as I have you to keep me fed when that falls through I should be alright,” she said with a chipper attitude. Then she turned serious and sour. “Unless, of course, this arrangement bothers you.”

“What!? No, Mabes, of course not!” He raised his hands between them as if to deflect her accusation, shaking his head to assure her it wasn’t true. “I was just thinking about your, uh, situation. You know, I don’t want you missing out on anything because of this is all. I can handle anything to make sure you are fed. Just that...” he sat and stared at the floor silently, hesitation and concern about what he was going to say plastered on his face.

“Spit it out Dipper,” she said, slightly annoyed at his hesitation.

“You really don’t mind me being your source of sustenance? I mean,” he looked away scratching his neck, a few drops of sweat forming on his brow, “don’t you find it a little... weird?”

“Sir Dippingsauce I am surprised at you. We’re the MYSTERY TWINS, weird is in our genes. And we already passed the bounds of weird with me being a sperm-sucking vamp. If that happens to come from my twin bro-bro so be it,” she said defiantly. Mabel settled herself down and placed a hand on Dipper’s shoulder, speaking calmly. “But if it bothers you, we can always find another way.”

“No!” He jerked his body to face her straight-on making her release his shoulder. His eyes appreaed filled with worry at the suggestion . “I-I mean... like I said. I just want to make sure you are okay with this,” he added before turning his head to stare at the floor.

Mabel leaned in to deliver a kiss on his cheek, her lips parting just enough for her tongue to graze along his skin and leave a wet spot. She pulled back and proceeded to lick her lips, humming in pleasure. Dipper felt a shiver run down his spine, causing Mabel to giggle. “Yep, just as sweet since I last checked.”

She gently grabbed him by the back of the neck and placed her forehead to his. His face emitted a greater heat and his pulse quicked. “Don’t worry Dipper,” she said in a soft, gentle tone. “We’ll check with Grunkle Ford about this whole thing. Come what may we’ll get this figured out. Now come back here and cuddle me dag-nabbit.”

Dipper looked up into her eyes. She could tell just in this short talk that it was what he needed. Concern still flitted in his gaze, but also comfort and love. Her senses picked up on his vitals, telling her that he was calming down.“Okay, okay. ‘Come what may’ it is,” he said embracing his sister once again.

The sound of his heartbeat, his personal scent, and warmth he emitted comforted her in ways she hadn’t thought possible. For her, next to him now, everything was perfect.

Then again, she thought, maybe it always was.

#faux-fics #pinecest #unofficial say it sequel #vampire mabel #fauxpines #inspired by pinewreaths #edited by pinecesttrain

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rooneywritesbest · 5 years

Text

The Horsemen

By Cory Benoit And Brendan Rooney

Takes place in the quaint town of Springdale which was built over an Indian burial site underlining and alluding mystery. We open to the 4H it’s a bar. The horsemen are the title of a group of friends who are essentially brothers. The horsemen are enjoying Guys night when they hear it’s karaoke night what could go wrong

John - 21-year-old leader of the solves the problem (Action Man)

Jose - 21 yrs old Brain of the group

Jim - 21 yrs old Moral compass of the 4H sees the problem but can’t figure it out

Mackie- Funny outgoing, caring, tries to do the right thing all the time also trying to get out of the shadow of the 4H

Melanie - New girl working or in town

Johnny: Hey Guys another night at the 4H Does this mean we are officially horsemen because were regulars all the time. They literally have our faces on the wall of fame.

Jose: Maybe in your mind but isn’t it the wall of shame. I Mean Mackie threw up last month when we were here.

Jim: Lol maybe you guys are right what do you think Mackie.

Mackie: I think it's time to order actually boys.

John: yeah you're probably right Jim - Mackie look at the new hottie at the bar absolutely smoke screen.

Jose - Well mack go get it.

Mackie- I don’t know boys she looks like she’s staring into my soul.

Johnny - Tell you what Mack I'll take a shot. Here I go boys

Melanie - can I help you another drink or closing your tab?

Johnny - Nah just shooting my shot and see where im getting

Melanie - Nice try and no thanks scurry back to your little fraternity over their

(Feeling a sense of shame and being upset John swallows his hubris and proceeds to walk back to the horsemen)

Mackie - Damn Johnny you got crucified up there by the bombshell

Jose - Using those big words again Mack trying to play out of bounds

Mackie -Screw you Jose I don't see you trying to stand out and make a name for yourself

(Jim proceeds to smack Mackie on the head almost to wake him up from his tangent)

Jim - Come down to earth Mack and relax bro the waitress is coming back boys you ready to order yet

Melanie alrighty you four ready to order. (Melanie has a sense of disgust for the four sitting like they owned the bar.

Mackie - I’ll have a beer and a burger

Jose - steak for me please, seasoned, and medium rare

Johnny - Uh i'll have Wings and I’m sorry for before we noticed ya wasn’t from these parts

Jim- I’ll take a sampler platter

Melanie - So Btw horsemen I guess that’s what they call you guys. There is a karaoke night going on maybe you should join

Mackie - What uh no thanks singing is for chumps.

(Mackie suddenly gets an urge or a gut feeling then Mackie realizes karaoke sucks but only says that because he has ulterior motives because Mackie doesn't possess the ability to sing.)

Mackie- You know what actually I’ll give it a try.

Johnny - Mack attack you sure you wanna go up there

Jim - Mack we know you can’t sing you sound like a dying whale

Jose- Do you bro remember boys Mackie just being Mackie

(Mackie goes on the stage looks over at the 4H and scolds and scolds himself for getting himself in this predicament. Mackie warms up and makes a whale like sound which proves to himself that he can't sing. Sweating bullets on the stage.)

Jim- So you heard it here first I’m telling you boys shammu wants his voice back

Mackie: all right everybody got a mop this won’t take very long (im getting nervous Mackie has a sense of fear painted on his face)

Extra - here’s the mic here is the screen go break a leg. Big guy

( Mackie gets the mic he feels an earthquake below his feet but notices no one else is feeling the same which Mackie feels nervous.) (The earthquake is figurate because it’s a shift in the tone and emotion of Mackie) But I feel I could put an audio bite in the BG

(Mackie starts to sing a little)

(Melanie is seen talking to the horsemen with a sense of amazement on her face. The others are surprised on what is occurring)

Melanie - Wow so boys Mackie is really good did you guys know he could belt like Sinatra

Jose- That’s just Mackie being Mackie

Jim- The Machine is probably doing it for him

Jose- I don't know guys. I feel like what if it’s something else. I really think it’s more than autocorrect something about that machine don’t seem right?

Johnny- Sweetheart The Mack cannot sing it’s just not possible if he could sing then I'm an alien in disguise but that’s a big joke

(Jose proceeds to get up and walk around to solemn apologize for Mackie singing even though the crowd starts to boo Jose)

Jose- Hey everyone here sorry for the torment on your ears they are probably bleeding by now

Melanie - Sounds like maybe you guys should pay more attention to Mackie from now on. You guys must look like fools not knowing he could sing like that. (Melanie walks away tending back to the bar)

Jim - Maybe the waitress is right btw what’s your name

Melanie - It’s Melanie

Johnny- Boys lets go get the big guy off the stage and buy him a round.

(So the scene ends and now we have A brotherhood. That is broken and torn because of that Microphone. The horsemen play it off quickly dismiss it. But the action shifts to Melanie sketching away on her notepad and Melanie’s design shows Mackie singing afterward)

(Melanie suddenly gets a gut feeling pointing her to the image of the mic cemented in her train of thought)

The scene opens the horsemen sitting around confronting and asking Mackie about what just occurred walking out of the 4H

Jim - So i gotta ask Mack where did that come from?

Mackie - I don't know boys I really don't remember what happened

Jose - Mackie all the ladies were chanting you're name

Johnny: bro that was dope.

( Suddenly Mackie has anger on his face almost a complete 360 of his positive attitude all the time. A vain imprint was on the face of Mackie he looked over at the three with disgust in his eyes).

Mackie - I gotta go and screw you guys. Maybe you know what. Mackie should hit the road and leave the horses in the stable from now on Mackie out.

(The trio felt broken and split Jim being the brains of the group comes up with a theory about what occurred)

Jim - Boys I think Mackie is revoking his brotherhood card. I’m telling you something is wrong with that machine. First off who talks in the third person about themselves. You know what I’m gonna take a further look. Even autotune being invented in the spring of 1997. No one is that good.

Jose- What happened to the mack

Johnny- Boys that’s not Mackie something feels wrong

(Johnny walks to the bar and bumps into Melanie. Melanie being startled proceeds to run away).

Johnny- I'm sorry btw on how I treated you did a great job and the boys and I wanted to give you a tip welcome to the 4H and the quaint city of Springdale.

( But it was Too late the humiliation was already in seeched in his vigor and her mind)

(Next day Mackie has a proverbial fire lit up his ass.)

Mackie arrives at 4H to see the guys sitting alone. Mackie pulls up a chair

Mackie- What’s up dipsticks

Jim: Mackie you're being a douche and you can say yeah yeah whatever but you know it’s the truth. Look inside bro this isn’t you

(The horsemen are playing cards and Mackie gets dealt in)

Johnny - Deal him in boys

Mackie - Cards in time boys Aces boys I win alrighty. So I’m off now. See ya later boys.

(Mackie leaves the table goes to the bar. The 4-horsemen are now dissolving away to the trio comprising of Johnny, Jose And Jim.)

Jim - Jose what’s macks problem he hasn’t been the same since the karaoke night

Jose- Maybe it’s a new Mackie and he wants to test the waters of the social chain I guess. (Jose tries to hide the fact that he’s afraid of what Mackie has become and wants his friend back

Johnny- I don’t know boys maybe we should come back on another music night. Wonder if Mack will actually show.

(Mackie comes back from the bar to tease the horsemen with his newfound talent)

(Jim looks at the trio with a mission about to take place).

Jim- Hey if anyone asks I’m in the bathroom.

Jose- You got it, bro, wait are you sleuthing again? (Jose gets a sense of feeling annoyed)

Jim-Maybe maybe not

Johnny- Just don't get caught.

Scene end

(We return to Jim looking at the karaoke machine and Melanie investigating the disturbance holding a letter in her hand).

Jim - I knew it autotune wasn’t even turned on. So it has be to something else or Mackie can just really sing because I’m all out of ideas. (Jim hears an explicit sound) Whose their?

Melanie- Relax I'm not here to turn you in. I just doing some maintenance getting the machine ready for the headliner. (Melanie feels conflicted should I give him the letter or not?)

Jim- Please just don’t tell anyone about this ok I’m just worried about Mackie. He’s never been this distant.

Melanie- I understand I won’t tell but you kinda should hurry back to your table just saying. (Jim leaves the backstage and joins the trio waiting for the stage to erupt when the corrupted Mackie gets up there.) Whew, that was a close one when should I tell them the truth it has to be soon. I can feel it.

(We pan to the horsemen sitting in their booth feeling lost and confused with a not a glimmer of hope to rescue their friend. Mackie strolls over with a smug attitude emanating from him clouding his judgment.)

Mackie- So boys ready for karaoke again. (Mackie then proceeds to push the horsemen severing the bond) Get out of my way chumps. It is time to grace my kingdom. If you excuse gotta go warm up the pipes.

(Melanie enters the bar holding her notebook sketching an image of the mic pondering till it hit her what if the mic was the problem for the four horsemen)

(Melanie rushes and surveys the bar to find the horsemen to spread the newfound answer to all of their problems)

Melanie - Guys I know what’s wrong with Mackie it’s the mic if we destroy the mic I feel like we can change him.

(The horsemen look at her with a confused look on their faces. Jim then gets up to talk to Melanie about her theory)

Jim- What are you talking about destroying the mic you crazy.

Johnny- Yeah are they gonna put that on our tab or yours just saying,

Jose- Hey are you not telling us something we should know?

Melanie - Everything you need to know is this in the letter please trust me. I can get your friend back i know a way but we have to work together. (Melanie throws the letter on the table. Jim proceeds to open and read the letter. Then the trio’s faces are immediately glued with the impression of a shock to the new-found clue of their investigation.

Jim, Jose, John- what!!!!!!!!!!!

(John Reads the letter with anger and sadness on his face staring at Melanie sensing her guilt.

John- “Dear Horsemen, It’s Melanie aka the hottie from the bar btw thx for that insult but I think I know what’s wrong with Mackie. If you guys claim to say that he couldn’t sing then explain to me in person how did he sing and belt-like Sinatra moving on? When he was up there something was surrounding him. I know it sounds weird and hard to explain. But you need to believe me. So stick with me the town of Springdale is not what it seems. Mackie will continue to spiral down a path of being a jerk and will slowly break away from you guys. I’m telling you this ahead of time to put aside your own truths and pride to save your friend before it’s too late. I know you four are inseparable but the time is now you have to fight for Mackie or you will lose him forever. (Jose stands up with a new lit fire of emotion)

Jose- Boys Mackie is our friend our brother. our fellow horsemen it’s not the 3 horsemen it’s the four horsemen we take on everything together. He fought for us let's fight for him. Whose with me!

Johnny- For the Mack

Jim- For our brother

Melanie- ok ok relax and breathe guys Get Mackie on stage and we can fix this now

(Jim finds Mackie standing at the bar flirting away with his new faux sense of pride and confidence. The first part of the plan is starting to come together. Jim grabs Mackie and walks him to the backstage area)

Jim- Hey Mackie buddy it’s Showtime show the 4H some magic bro

Mack - Alright Jim I never liked you anyone what’s your game anyway.

Jim- I just want to see you sing bro

(Mackie walks to the stage grabs the mic. starts to sing and has the crowd chanting his name like nothing ever seen before).

(Melanie Picks up her notebook and starts to draw a presence of energy around Mackie confirming her theory)

(John now standing next to Melanie sees her sketching away and the aura around Mackie starts to emit from the page to the visible eye).

Johnny- What's that around Mackie? (John says curiously)

Melanie - That John would be dark energy let's just say I have my fair share of knowledge

Jim- So what do you want us to do. Should we get the mic or create a diversion. Your call. I say we stop doing this and leave but that’s just me. But this is for Mack i want the old Mackie back.

Jose- I say diversion turn the lights off and get the mic out of Mackie's hands

Johnny- Melaine your call?

Melanie- do both

Jim - ok let's do this! This all started because of that stupid mic.(Jim interrupts Mackie on stage to get his attention) Mack, I'm sorry for this bro but get off the stage you stink

(Mackie furious stops singing proceeds to fume anger and the darkness around him starts to emit from him being visible to Jim.)

Mackie- What did you say to me out of everyone I thought I trusted you, Jim. You're just a follower you have no identity. (The distraction was going perfect. Jose was in a position calling out orders. Johnny would bullrush the stage and Melania was idling by at the lights waiting to pull the switch.)

Jose - Now Johnny get that mic and break it. Melanie, you got lights

Melanie - Got it

(Melanie turns the lights off for a few seconds. In the dark a fight can be heard for the control of the cursed mic)

Mackie - what's going on hey where's the mic

Jim - Sorry bro but this is for your own good.

(Johnny grabs the mic and then stares at the evil creation but then makes the choice of a hero cementing the role of horsemen leader)

Johnny- I’m breaking it boys just remember Melanie this is going on your tab

(Melanie starts to laugh and roll eyes a little. Then at that moment, The aura disappears from Melanie's notebook and the cloud around Mackie. Jose then starts to talk to Mackie)

Jose- Mack Mack you ok bro?

Mack - Boys what happened i don’t remember anything from the last time. I was up here on the stage

Jim - It’s alright Mack we got ya bud now how about a round of beers on us

Mack - I'll drink to that btw what are we drinking towards anyway

(Melanie laughs and calls the horsemen to the bar then serves the drinks and says)

Melanie - To friends and brothers who are the one and only Horsemen

Johnny- Hey Mel can I talk to you in private what's up with that notebook of yours.

Melanie - Let's just say I don’t think the mic will the end of these disturbances. Just remember Springdale is a scary quiet town but with tales waiting to be written. No offense you guys aren’t ready to fully understand who lives in the shadows and plagues the streets of Springdale. No one is ready for that, for now, See you boys around.

Johnny- Wait stop please your hiding something I can feel it. I know it. (Melaine calls Johnny outside and they converse more in private)

Melaine- Listen Johnny you're the only one. Whose figuring out my story, and your buddy Mackie. The poor guy just wants a place to belong and to break out of your shadows. You may not know but you cast a huge shadow on that poor guy. Just remember you seem different but that’s the thing it’s cool and intriguing about you four something brought you together. Destiny has a bigger plan for you i can feel it. I gotta go.(Johnny walks backs inside the bar almost feeling like nothing occurred in the last couple days. When it really it did but he was happy to have his brothers back.

(The horsemen sit and ponder about what just occurred and with Mackie having no memory and Johnny questioning his thoughts on who Melanie really is and what she told him? Melanie stands outside 4H sketching an image of the horsemen enjoying their drinks. Melanie then looks up and says)

Melanie- Those four really have no idea what really lies in Springdale. However, it may seem crazy destiny has a bigger plan for them I can feel it. (Melanie walks off into the shadows of the night.)

End?

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the-messr-m · 5 years

Text

Chocolate

Remus cut a sad figure in the luridly colourful shop, his faded robes clashing with the vivid sweets that lined the shelves. The bell jangled over the door announcing his presence in the empty shop. It was an early weekday morning, he purposely avoided the crowds. He greeted the shopkeeper as he appeared from the back room, his robes as colourful as the shop around him, Honeydukes emblazoned in gold across his chest.

“Early morning, professor,” the shopkeeper, Ambrosius, observed, “curfew’s barely lifted.” Remus’ throat tightened as he nodded to the notice in the front window, the Ministry urging people to stay indoors until the sun was safely up. Remus murmured some kind of response, guiding the conversation to the task at hand.

“Twelve of your finest chocolate bars, if I may, Ambrosius.”

“That’s quite the stash.”

“Not for me, I’m afraid, for the students. The dementors -” he said by way of an explanation. “I’m not too partial, myself.” He smiled ruefully, nodding towards the chocolate bars the man was now collecting.

The older man behind the counter raised an eyebrow, “Come now, professor, you can’t fool an old man,”

“As a child, of course. Now a nice dark chocolate every once in awhile suits me fine. It’s usually not a luxury I can often afford,”

“But these dozen -?”

“The school is very kindly paying. Or, rather, a portion of my wages. But it’s more than made up for in meals and board.”

“Well in that case, why don’t I throw in a little sampler for yourself.” Ambrosius beamed with glittering eyes. “We have a new chocolate bar, so dark it’s practically black -”

Remus choked, as though he had just inhaled something unpleasant. Like a wasp. He cleared his throat in an attempt to cover it.

“ - very rich flavour, a few shards are enough, even the sampler will last quite a few days for the most fervent chocolate lover.” The man behind the counter continued as though nothing had happened.

“That’s, hm,” Remus cleared his throat again, “that’s far too kind, I -”

“Already done.” The shopkeeper held up his hands in a motion of finality, still beaming.

“Thank you.”

The two men stood in silence for a moment as Ambrosius finished bagging the twelve chocolate bars, plus the dark chocolate sampler, a small box about half the size of the others. It was velvety black and stood out against the varicoloured packets of the other bars. As he took the payment offered by Remus the shopkeeper looked up again.

“Fantastic thing you’re doing for your students,” he praised in a soft voice. “Those demen-” he shook his head, unable to say the word. “...Awful. Just awful. We’ve been trying to make sure we have enough chocolate stockpiled so no one who needs it goes without.”

Remus gave a polite nod. There was another moment of silence. Remus’ cash still in the shopkeeper’s hands.

“Do you think he knows?” Ambrosius suddenly whispered.

Remus’ head jerked upwards to meet the owner’s eyes. “Who knows?”

He leaned across the counter slightly, lowering his voice. “Sirius Black.”

Remus took a sharp breath in through his nose. Then a slow breath out, steadying himself.

“Knows what?” His voice was sharper than he would have liked.

“Do you think he knows about the chocolate? That it helps?”

Remus blinked, squeezing his eyes shut firmly, until it almost hurt, trying to push out the memory that sprung up.

****

1980. Azkaban.

They had been sent to the prison to try to get information about You-Know-Who from a recently captured Death Eater. They didn’t get much. The Death Eater in question didn’t have much sanity left before entering Azkaban - the result of prolonged crucio they suspected - and the prison and its guards stole any further sense from their rightful victim.

After less than an hour they left, moving quickly through the tomb-like building towards the exit, like drowning men reaching for the surface. When they finally got out onto the slippery rock that housed the towering prison they boarded the small self-sailing boat that clung to the tops of the waves in silence. The journey over they had talked ceaselessly, trying to distract themselves from their task. They couldn’t fathom words now.

They didn’t talk until they got back to land and, arms around each other, Apparated back to the Order’s headquarters.

“Well,” Sirius drawled, closing the front door behind them, “that was shite.”

He reached a hand inside his robes, and with a flick of his wrist produced a block of chocolate.

“Here, Honeyduke’s finest,” he offered it first to Remus.

Remus had looked at him skeptically.

“The guards - it helps,” Sirius’ eyes flicked to the floor as he spoke. “I, uh, before I -”

Remus didn’t make him continue, instead he wrapped his hand around the one Sirius proffered with the block of chocolate.

“I remember.” He remembered how terrified Sirius had been when he ran away from home, that somehow his parents would make good on their threats and find a way to get him arrested and sent to the prison in the sea. He remembered himself and James and Peter talking him down, telling him it wasn’t possible, he hadn’t done anything wrong. But Sirius had obsessively researched for days until he heard that he had been officially disowned, blasted off the Black tapestry for good. He remembered the sigh of relief that came from the boy then - they couldn’t hurt him anymore.

Remus took the offered chocolate, broke off a row, and handed it back to Sirius, who quickly did the same. They each took a bite and slumped against the walls of the narrow hallway.

“Oh, thank god, that actually helps!” Sirius spoke through a mouth of chocolate. Remus hummed in relieved agreement, slumping a little further against the wall, his head falling back against it. They stayed like that a moment, shuddering with the fear and emptiness the dementors had dragged up inside of them, waiting for the warmth of the chocolate to wash it away.

“Let’s never go back there. I don’t care what information they say they have.” Remus had groaned, only meaning the first half of what he said. Sirius huffed out a mostly humourless breath, straightening to walk out of the hall. He wrapped an arm around Remus’ shoulders as he did so.

“Let’s bloody not.”

****

Remus made to speak but all that came out was a small cough, like someone had snatched his voice away. He tried again.

“Black’s mind would be mangled by Azkaban. Who knows what he’d know anymore.” His voice was grim. “We can only hope not.”

The shopkeeper nodded. “Well bad news for him, I know his face. No one here’ll be selling him anything.” It was a weak attempt at humour, though they both appreciated it. Remus gave him a weak smile, gratefully collecting his change and grabbing the bag from the counter.

“Well,” he raised the bag, “thank you. Hopefully I won’t need all of this.”

The shopkeeper didn’t seem quite as positive anymore.

“See you next time. Enjoy the sampler, professor!”

Remus stepped out of the shop, the bell in the doorway ringing far too cheerfully, and out into the cool air. He clamped his mouth tightly shut, swallowing hard to try to keep down the bile that was rising in the back of his throat. After a couple of deep, steadying breaths he began the walk back to the castle, though bile still sat burning in his throat. He peered into the brightly coloured paper bag and noticed the single black box, half the size of the others, and remembered a warm hand in his, the weight of an arm across his shoulders, the promise of happiness spreading through his veins, and he was sure he was going to be sick. It had been a nice gesture but the sampler box was going to stay unopened in the bottom of his desk for the rest of the year. He didn’t think he could stomach another bite of chocolate ever again.

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tintinnabulary · 6 years

Text

Archeron Ambrosia

Chapter Three

AN: Thank you all for the amazing support you’ve given me the last two chapters! Here’s another one that I wrote, and hopefully I’ll start posting a chapter every Friday. Luckily, I think the scene is finally fully set and developed, so from here forward I’ll be doing cute (and maybe eventually smutty???) goodness for you all to enjoy!

Don’t forget to comment, and let me know if you want to be tagged in any of the future chapters!

Masterlist

Feyre readjusted her heavy backpack on her shoulder as she glanced down at the directions Nesta had given her to get from Velaris University to the new storefront they had been working on for weeks. While working at a bakery was never the plan for her life, Feyre was quite content being a cake decorator--and equally glad her capstone supervisor, Alis, let her turn in photographs of her cakes as part of her artist portfolio.

Feyre heard a male voice calling her name in the distance and picked up her pace. Since starting her final year at VU last semester, another student named Tamlin had been trying to ask her out and learn more about her. At first, it was flattering having someone take such a keen interest in her. But then the obsessive behavior became more and more alarming, and Feyre had no doubt it was his voice calling out after her. Not wanting to be so easy to catch up to, Feyre ducked down a side road and began zig-zagging her way through businesses. Her heart rate picked up as she heard his steps pick up on the concrete behind her.

Feyre quickly diverted to the main road, and saw the bakery a few blocks down on the side. As she looked over her shoulder to gauge her distance from Tamlin, she ran right into a stranger. Without thinking, Feyre blurted out, “Pretend you know me, please.”

Feyre looked at the stranger, who’s beauty struck her near speechless, and noticed his violet eyes looked at her, flickered over her shoulder, then hardened slightly which didn’t match the smile that sprung up on his face. He threw his arm around Feyre’s shoulders, then loudly declared, “There you are. I’ve been looking for you.” He winked down at her, equal parts flirty and conspiratorial. He glanced at the paper in her hands, his smile seeming to turn a tad more genuine. “I was supposed to walk you to the bakery. Why didn’t you wait for me?”

Confusion clouded Feyre’s eyes eyes before settling into the role he had built. “You were late. I had to get to work. Couldn’t be late on my first real shift.”

“Well, I’m sure Elain would understand.”

Fear coursed through Feyre’s veins. How did he know her sister’s name? Did she just get herself into a worse situation with this stranger? He leaned down to her ear and whispered, “Calm down. I met her earlier today. I work next door. I’ll explain later when this guy leaves.” Feyre nodded slightly, placing a smile back on her face and relaxing slightly.

At that moment, Tamlin caught up with Feyre, his eyes setting into a cold, hard stare at the mystery stranger.

“Hello, lovely day isn’t it?” the stranger said, a playful and dangerous smile adorning his face.

Feyre tried to match the man’s smile and tone when she said, “Hey Tamlin, This is my boyfriend.”

“Rhysand.” He held out his hand. Tamlin stared at it before crossing his arms and looking at Feyre.

“How come I’ve never heard of him before?” The smug look he wore, like he caught Feyre in a trap, made her want to punch him.

“Because I like to keep my life private, Tamlin. Now, is there a reason you’re here, or can I finish my walk to work?”

Tamlin fumed, but spun on his heel, walking away as Rhysand yelled, “Nice to meet you!” at his retreating form, shit-eating grin on his face.

Feyre spun out from under his arm, grumbling a “thanks,” then continued walking towards the bakery.

“ Hey wait,” it didn’t take long for Rhysand’s long legs to catch up to her. “You work at Archeron Ambrosia, right?” Feyre only glanced up at him. “Your sister, Elain. She came by my our shop and brought a cookie sampler tray. They were delicious. Did you make them?”

Feyre snorted. “No. I just decorate them. Nesta does all the baking.”

“I didn’t meet her. She’s another sister?”

“Yeah. The oldest.” Feyre stopped outside the bakery. “So I take it you work at,” she looked around Rhysand to see the sign, “Illyrian Inscribed?”

“It’s a tattoo shop.” Rhysand shrugged, placing his hands into his pockets. “I own it with my two brothers, Cassian and Azriel. And my cousin Mor works the front desk. So, if you ever want to get some work done, I’d be happy to give it to you.”

“Maybe, we’ll see.” Feyre smiled at him, then moved towards the door, running into a shaggy haired man leaving the store, smile lighting up his face. “Oh! I’m sorry. The second person I’ve run into today.”

“Speak of the devil.” Rhysand smirked. “This is my brother, Cassian. Cassian, this is Feyre. She works at the bakery too with her sisters.”

“Hi.”

“Hey! Your sister, Nesta, she’s a firecracker.” Cassian ran a hand through his hair, “I hope you’re not as tough.”

Feyre laughed, “No, she’s the toughest of us all. I’m a nice, middle of the road kind of girl.”

Rhys cocked an eyebrow at that, and Cassian roared with laughter. “Good, good. I’m glad this little place has moved in next door. I think it’s going to make things quite interesting.” Elain came rushing out of the tattoo shop, blush coloring her face, as she rushed past the group and into the shop. “Very interesting.”

“And on that note,” Feyre declared, adjusting her backpack again. “I’ll see you guys around.” Feyre moved towards the door.

“See you around, Feyre darling.” Feyre looked at him, where he returned the wink, and she scoffed and entered the bakeshop.

“Oh man,” Cassian laughed, clapping a hand on Rhysand’s shoulder. “We are in trouble. Let’s go find out what Az did that made that little doe-eyed girl turn so red.”

~~~~

Feyre walked into the shop, bells jingling, and moved behind the counter. She set her backpack in a small storage area beneath the cash register, tossed her directions into the trash, and began putting on her black and blue night sky themed half-apron. Hearing voices from the back, Feyre made her way into the back to see Elain talking animatedly, blush still adorning her cheeks, and Nesta calmly measuring cream and butter into a large electric mixer.

“And he stood so close to me, and reached around to grab a cookie. It was so intimidating. He was so tall and mysterious and handsome and I just don’t think I can ever go over there again!”

“Who are we talking about?”

Both heads whipped up at Feyre, then relaxed. “Azriel! Az? I don’t know what to call him. He works next door at the tattoo shop.”

“Oh yeah. I met Rhysand and Cassian on my way here. They both seemed nice.”

“And handsome.” Elain sighed. “How are all three of them so attractive? That really isn’t fair. Or real. Real life is not full of men that devastatingly beautiful.”

“You can say that again.” Nesta mumbled.

“What was that Nes?” Feyre asked, smirk firmly in place.

“Nothing.”

“I saw you met Cassian. He said you’re a firecracker. Started ballbusting right from the get go?”

“He needed to be knocked down a few pegs.” Nesta blew at a strand of hair that was falling into her face. “Coming in here with all that swagger and confidence like I’d just throw my panties at him” She blew another breath at the strand. “That’s probably what he expects from all of the girls.” A third frustrated breath had Elain coming over and tucking the strand behind her ear. “Thanks.”

“No problem. That’s the first guy to ruffle your feathers though, Nesta.”

“He ruffled nothing.”

“Well, Azriel ruffled something with me.” Elain laughed, and Feyre joined in.

“Well, Rhysand came in like a knight in shining armor, saved me from that awful guy Tamlin that I haven’t been able to shake. I literally ran into him on my walk home.”

“That’s just like a romance novel” Elain sighed. “Three of us, three of them. Triple dates?” Elain perked up, and Feyre laughed at the face Nesta made.

“Elain, you might be jumping ahead. You might want to work on a conversation with the guy before you plan your children’s names.”

“Or,” Nesta interjected, “We could focus on all of the cakes we have to make. And making sure this business succeeds. And not worry about what the people next door are doing.”

“Nesta,” Feyre leaned on the counter. “They have a successful business. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to talk to them about what they’re doing to get business in this little corner of the city.”

Elain leaned next to her, “And if you happened to get a date out of it, would that be so bad?” She batted her doe eyes at Nesta, and Feyre burst into laughter. Nesta’s face scrunched up and she leaned across the counter, facing her two sisters.

“Would you two please, for the love of the Mother, get to work on your decorations?” The two burst into laughter.

“Alright, alright.” Feyre stood up, and moved towards her airbrush kits in the back corner of the room. “Elain, let me know when you’re ready for me to paint those fondant flowers you’ve got for the Spring Court cake, and I’ll work on the wood patterning on this cake for Mrs. Alias’s party. I’ve got to get it right since it’s the first in my portfolio she’s going to see up close and personal.”

“Fine.” Elain grabbed a slab of fondant out of the industrial fridge and slapped it on the counter. “But we’re not done talking about a triple date.”

“We’ll talk about it when you can hold a conversation with the guy.” Nesta said, blowing hair out of her face as she poured her batter into cake pans.

Tag List: @tragically-broken, @bluephoenix222, @alicethelonerabbit, @court-of-fandoms-and-art

#archeron ambrosia #acotar #acomaf #acowar #nessian #feysand #elriel #nesta #cassian #feyre #rhysand #elain #azriel #my fanfiction #chapter three

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helenscarsdale · 6 years

Text

a few questions answered by robert hampson on the 1994 album ‘motion pool’ by main

when my editor at the wire proposed this idea of writing on the broader implications of 'less is more', i immediately thought of ‘motion pool’ by main as a distillation of the ideas and forms that had taken shape in loop. the following is a series of questions that were answered by robert hampson, the architect of both main and loop

questions:

with the statement on the back of that album ‘drumless space,’ rhythm was not necessarily eschewed but often made evident through a refined riff bolstered by studio tricks, electronics, samplers etc. when you were making that record, how did the concept of ‘drumless space’ guide the album?

in looking at the themes of loop — just from the titles themselves, ‘fade out’ “this is where you end,” ‘heaven’s end’ — there is a recurrence of annihilation. yes, this is something that simon reynolds mentions in blissed out, but i had wanted to revisit this idea once again but in the context of ‘motion pool’. as loop progressed through ‘a gilded eternity’ and you began main, that annihilation was manifest in sound. by the time you arrived at ‘motion pool,’ i find myself returning to a metaphor of the earth gone and the remaining satellites cast in vertiginous orbits circling that void. is a science-fiction reading apt? if not, where would a better metaphor be located?

what were the working methods for ‘motion pool’? this seemed right on the cuff of digital workstations becoming prevalent, but with midi, samplers, and global clocking, i have a sense of how such a precision was maintained throughout those recordings. could you elaborate on what technologies you were using and how you and scott approached them?

can you talk about your initial inspirations to the big rock ’n’ riffs? what is your perspective on the recent, re-activation of loop in the light of the deliberate deconstruction of those riffs through main?

will there be an ‘array 2’?

how did you and stefan mathieu begin with to work together as main? is there anything else you are working towards as main?

i did catch loop perform in san francisco. that must have been 2016, and i was pretty sure that you played ‘feed the collapse’ or was it another main track? are you still performing that song? how do you see those early main albums (‘hydra-calm’ ‘dry stone feed’ and ‘motion pool’) in relation to loop nowadays?

answers:

Basically, with ‘Drumless Space’, it was very much the idea of trying to abandon the rhythmic element identified with traditional percussive sound and making it more kinetic with what I had liked to describe as ‘outer sounds’.

Derived from other sampled elements, the notion of rhythm was built up by programming these samples in a similar way a drum machine was programmed, but the less percussive nature of the sound made interesting counterpoint elements, which could then serve as a layering textures to build around.

So, it served as very much as a directive in the making of Motion Pool. It has a very clear path of starting with more song like structures and gradually losing those stylings over the course of the record, until it became simply sound design and abstraction.

As soon as Main had started, it was a very evident approach to simply stripping away at the traditional sounds of a guitar, which was not new in any sense in experimental music approach, made by the like of Keith Rowe et al, but we were trying to find sounds that became so abstracted, it wasn’t identifiable at all as to what it was.

It wasn’t immediate, there was obviously a hangover from what I was trying to do in Loop, but it was a thought process and intentional for it to slowly evolve with each release.

Gradually, of course , guitars simply disappeared completely as being used as a source for sounds. They had reached the logical end in Main by the time of the Hz project and just evaporated.

I think it’s safe to say, I have an obsession with decay. It’s always been about things breaking down or simply fizzling out. Metaphors aplenty!

But, I have said this before, I like a notion of mystery in all the things I get involved with. I don’t like to explain things away too easily. I love the idea of people creating their own worlds or ideas around this kind of music. I like to think that there’s many different notions of what a certain track or piece can be about and that they can be wildly different.

The lyrics are always left to interpretation and the vocals are simply an element buried within other elements.

There are perhaps statements on the notions of decay in our world, how we could stop it, a dystopian view that we can’t and we have to simply accept that these are they way it works out. Everything has a starting life and a logical end.

Science fiction certainly plays a part as an influence. I’ve always loved the works of Philip K Dick and early J G Ballard was a massive influence, which remains to this day. Anthony Burgess, William Golding, Aldous Huxley, Ray Bradbury et al, they all have a great influence on how I like to shape these ideas.

Early Main recordings didn’t employ anything close to samplers or midi. It was all done in real time to tape or we used tape loops.

I was very suspicious (in hindsight, very stupidly) of samplers at first. But really that came from the very generic sense they being used in i.e. sampling a drum break.

But when I was working with Godflesh and Justin was using an Ensoniq EPS 16+ keyboard sampler, I became intrigued. It was real lightbulb moment for me and gave me the idea of replacing traditional percussive sounds in rhythmic patterns, which of course lead towards the ‘dreamless space’ concept, that kinetic energy coming from those ‘outer sounds’.

So i quickly got myself the Ensoniq and set up a Atari ST computer with the original Logic programme, then made by Emagic.

Triggering all these tiny samples with midi from the Logic was just a whole new galaxy opening up in front of me, and I never looked suspiciously again at that kind of hardware.

It easy to forget that in those days, sample memory was absolutely minuscule and buying memory expansions was very expensive.

But as in all things, less is more and it simply made you work harder for the goal ahead.

I did find the Ensoniq very limited in what could be achieved so that didn’t hang around that long once I embraced all this new tech, and I went straight into the world of Akai samplers and then upgrading to a very basic Apple computer.

This was all still triggered by SMPTE codes running off a 16 track tape machine and midi and then all the mixes were done live to DAT. We were not in the world of digital editing then. No ProTools for us… we simply could not afford it.

As Main and my solo work had become purely an experiment in abstraction, musique concrete and acosmatique textures, I did find myself going against all the tendencies I had maintained for so many years in my mind. i wanted to maintain all that I had created down the line, but felt an urge… I really felt like making a huge noise with guitars again, I can’t really put in fine detail why I had such a big change of heart. It still makes me laugh now that I did a complete about face on that.

I had been badgered by others for years to possibly make Loop a going concern again, and I had swatted away those notions more times than I can count.

But, simply put, one day I just really felt like going back to those styles again and seeing what might happen.

I do hope we will make more new Loop music, it’s there to be done. It’s been a strange couple of years, I’ve had a lot of issues to deal with, including someone trying to use the name Loop and it interfered with my workings so much so, i had to go down legal routes to put an end to that. It was not easy and basically takes up a lot of working hours, effort and financing to make people realise they’ve made a very serious error in simply adopting a namesake with such a long history and thinking it’s all ok to do so. The mind boggles… it appears Google wasn’t their friend.

I have to be honest, it drove me to thinking of removing myself from all this mess, it seemed more trouble than its worth. It did at one point make me want to stop Loop again.

But, no-one can deny I don’t have the patience and persistence needed to get through this kind of crap, and a large heaping of sheer bloody-mindedness helps too. I and many others were appalled at the situation that arose, and many other artists came to my defence. It truly mended a very weathered heart to know that I wasn’t losing my mind and fighting over a lost cause. Thankfully, thats over and it’s back to serious business.

I was aware of Stefan and his work obviously and we met whilst both working at the GRM in Paris.

We got along well and I had wanted to make Main a collaborative project again. I had not worked with anyone for a very long time, everything i was doing under that moniker or under my own had been very much solo affairs.

I really wanted to work with other people on ideas and projects and bringing that element back into the fold for Main was the obvious choice.

Main is certainly still a going concern and at some point, there will be more new Main pieces. Loop and all this legal maelstrom has taken up my time for quite a while and Main is just gently resting for now.

The next thing I have is reactivating my Chasm project. I have been working on that and it’s looking like it will be released on Karl O’Conner’s Downwards imprint.

No, we haven’t played any Main material in Loop. We’ve talked about doing Flametracer and There Is Only Light for a bit of fun, but that hasn’t been addressed yet. It may or may not happen.

The early Main material has trace elements of Loop. It was how I envisioned Loop going after A Gilded Eternity. It’s obvious it’s got my fingerprints all over it, it’s my signature I suppose. I like to think that all the things I do have some sort of link, a signature and that they are all part of the same jigsaw. All the pieces fit in some way or another.

#robert hampson #loop #main #motion pool #jim haynes

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missgeek83 · 6 years

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A Guinness in Galway

TITLE: A Guinness in Galway AUTHOR: @missgeek83 RATING: NC-17 SUBJECT: Ed Sheeran AUTHOR’S NOTE: Old friends go out for a drink, and maybe a little more. This is my first foray back into the fanfic world. *nervous laugh* Be kind? <3

The bartender handed me my glass and the last lights of day glittered off the sides. The sun was still warm on my back, but it couldn’t compete with the flush I felt when I looked over and caught his eyes. It took barely a second to get lost in them, and I wasn’t even concerned with how my face must’ve looked until I shifted my glass and a beam of light caused him to squint in pain.

“Aye, watch where you’re pointin’ that,” he said with a small laugh.

Oh, shit. I shifted the glass back. “Shit, sorry.”

He was laughing as the bartender handed him his beer, giving the guy a nod as he sat back down.

“They should be here soon, they said they were close...” I rushed my words, trying to pretend I was still casual. (I wasn’t.)

“They’ll be another hour then, yea? Knowing that lot.”

“Well, I mean you’re not wrong.”

A few beats pass and then my phone buzzes in my jacket pocket. I pull it out, raising my eyebrow knowingly at him. I read the message, and laugh.

“Christine says they’re trying to find a parking spot. Soooo, give or take about 15 minutes.”

“Enough time for another drink,” he says with a grin.

The group files in about 8 minutes later, filling the bar with the sound of their feet and laughter. As they all settle at the bar next to us, the whole place seems to come alive. The noise level rises just enough that I don’t feel like I have to fill in the spaces between sentences, which is good because to speak to other people down the bar Ed is having to lean over me and I am absolutely distracted. Christine, who sat to my right, is laughing into her drink when my brain comes back into focus. I shoot her a warning glare.

“What?!” She tries to act innocent. “I heard something funny.”

“You’re gonna see something funny in a second,” I mumble, tipping the last of my drink back.

She starts to speak, but Ed sits down at that moment and asks if I want another drink.

“Uh, well if I’m gonna drive later maybe not?”

He smiles at me for a brief second before waving down the bartender.

“Aye, mate, can we get two doubles?”

“Wait - oh, no, yea ok you’re already gone.” I give Ed an exasperated look. He grins and gives my shoulder a squeeze.

Hours later, we all start to disperse, heading to our cars to figure out who’s going home and who’s going for more drinks. Being one of the lightweights, I’m debating on just calling it a night. Christine is headed with her friend-but-not-quite-boyfriend to a bar down the street, and she wants me to go with. I look behind me, trying to see if Ed is leaving or staying. He’s next to a friends car, but soon gives them a salute and turns toward us.

“Coming to Smithe’s?” Christine asks him, looping her arm through mine and giving me a little tug.

“Might as well.”

“Great!” She smiles and lets me go to catch up with Jon, who is already walking out of the parking lot toward the next destination.

I sigh, then laugh. “She’s going to be the death of me.”

“Probably,” Ed says, putting his arm where hers had been and hauling me with him through the parking lot.

We’re both laughing when we catch up to Christine and Jon at the front door of the bar. We wait to be seated, Eds hand coming to rest lightly at the small of my back. Telling myself it’s just the alcohol, I try to ignore the chill that goes straight up to my brain as we’re ushered inside. The booth they sit us in is like its own little island, nestled away in the darkest corner of the bar. I’m suddenly very aware of how tipsy I am as we all slide in behind the round table; first Jon, then Christine, then me, then Ed last. We all chit chat idly and skim the drink menu until a waiter comes to get our orders. Everyone gets a water, and a drink, and we order the biggest appetizer sampler, hoping to soak up some of the alcohol for the drive home. Once the waiter is gone, Christine announces she has to pee, and after giving me a look, I remember that I, uh, have to pee, too.

We barely make it in the bathroom door before she starts.

“So, who drove?” she asks from her stall. "I did," I reply, staring at myself in the mirror to make sure I don't look as drunk as I feel. "Mmmhmmmmm..." She trails off.

"Once the food settles I'll be fine to drive us home, and he has a thing tomorrow anyway." "A thing for you," I hear her mutter as she fusses with the toilet paper. "Stop that, he doesn't think of me that way."

I'm messing with my hair and watch my own face drop in sadness. All the years we've been friends, never once had I thought Ed saw past the gangly blonde girl who ruffled his ginger hair everyday in middle school. We'd both been outcasts, brought together by our love of music and stuff that everybody else hated, but he'd never shown a romantic interest in me. Most days I was ok with that, because for the longest time I hadn't seen him like that myself. It wasn't until the summer he went away for a music thing and came back all...grown up, that I'd started looking at him differently. He grew his hair out, got a couple tattoos, and suddenly he was this irresistable, unattainable person that I had never really seen before. Maybe it was the months he was gone, maybe it was the change in appearance, or maybe it was just something in the air, but in the two years since I hadn't been able to convince myself he was the same kid. I notice Christine has been talking while my brain has been elsewhere. "...maybe if you did that he would open up." "What? Sorry, I wasn't listening." "What else is new?" She exits her stall and rolls her eyes at me. "I try to impart my wisdowm and knowledge on you and you don't even hear me. No wisdom for you!" We laugh as she tosses her paper towel in the trash and make our way back to our table. The guys are having what I can only assume is an awkward attempt at conversation when we get back because Ed has the most relieved face I've ever seen on a person as we sit down. "That was the most painful five minutes of my life," he mutters to me as I reach for my drink. His is already dangerously low. I snicker and take a sip. "Next time, I'll make her go by herself, I promise." He smiles at that and shakes his head. He reaches for a cheese stick and offers it to me, wiggling it in my face. I reach for it, only to have him pop it in his mouth. "Rude!" I squeal, laughing. The rest of the food goes quickly, and after our drinks are done, I notice Christine giving signs that her night needs to be finished elsewhere. Jon nods at her and they rise from the table. "Alrighty guys, well we had fun! Jon's got work in the morning so I think we're gonna head out." Ed and I get up and hug her goodbye, Jon gets a solid handshake and a big-brother-type threat from him, I get a wink from her, and they're gone. Now it's just Ed and I at the table, nursing the last of our drinks in silence. "So, you...want me to take you home after this?" I ask him, pushing my empty glass aside and reaching for my water. "Uh, yea, got that interview tomorrow so..." I nod. My head is still a bit more spin-y that I'd like, but I know he's had way more than me so I pray to the water gods that I'm sober in the next 10 minutes. Suddenly my right cheek burns hot, and I glance over to find him staring at me. When my eyes meet his he doesn't look away, only holds the gaze and the left side of his mouth tips up into a grin. I give him a puzzled half smile back, unable to look away. My heart pounds away beneath my ribs and I feel my head start to fall forward. His does too. In slow-mo, my eyes drop from his as I watch his lips inch closer to mine, and I feel for a second like I'm outside my own body. I think for sure he's going to pull away, because this couldn't possibly be his intention. My vodka-adled brain is making things up and I'm about to make myself look incredibly stupid...until it happens. His lips brush mine and I instantly melt into him. I'm warm all over and my heart is rattling around my chest at an impressive speed. He presses his lips firmly against mine a second time, and I feel his hand come up to rest against my chin. He tilts it upward, catching my mouth again and again and I can't breathe. Breathing feels secondary to making sure my face stays connected to his. Then I'm drowning; in his lips, in his warmth, in the taste of him...I'm a goner. Then it's over. He pulls his face back and I feel a whimper escape my lungs at the broken connection. When I snap back to reality and open my eyes, he's smiling at me with a soft look in his eyes. His hand is still on my face, his thumb rubbing over my jaw line lightly. I stare back in shock, slowly coming out of my haze and suddenly petrified with fear. He notices the change in my face and speaks first. "Hey, you ok?" "Y-yea...I..." Words don't make sense and I can't think of enough of them to describe a single thing I'm feeling. His fingers are still carressing my face. "Is it ok...that I did that?" He seems apprehensive now, like he's scared I didn't want him to kiss me. "No, no! I mean, yes it was ok. More than ok..." I trail off and bring my eyes back up to meet his. The worry fades and his smile returns. I have to be grinning like an idiot by now but I'm trying to savor every second so who cares? I'm still trying to form more than a few words at a time when the hand on my chin slides back behind my ear and brings our heads together again. The synapses in my brain are exploding like fireworks inside my skull as I fall into his chest and my nose catches his cologne on an intake of breath. He smells woodsy, like sandalwood, but also sweet, and a little bit like Guinness. The slow burn that started in my head after the first kiss is spreading like wildfire throughout my entire system. Even though most of the alcohol has left me it's still propelling my actions forward at what I realize is an alarming rate as I snake my hand up his chest and toward the zipper of his hoodie. I stop myself and pull away from him, as much as I hate the idea. We're both slightly out of breath, and his lips are a lovely shade of red, with just a touch of pink from my lipstick. He looks confused. “I...We should probably...” Eventually my vocabulary will return to me, I'm sure, but it's really causing issues currently. “Somewhere else?” “My place?” he asks, raising his eyebrow with a smirk. I nod and fumble behind me for my purse. He's already sliding out of the booth and tossing some cash on the table as I unlatch my car keys and stand up. I take a deep breath, because despite the lovely feeling rushing over me I'm also scared as hell by what may or may not be about to happen. As I'm gathering myself together I see his hand pop out in front of me. I look at him, then take it, and internally squeal when his fingers lace through mine. He leads me from the bar back to my car and waits as I unlock the doors. It's cold out, and I'm thankful for the heater as I crank it and drive off toward Ed's apartment. We don't speak, but the bluetooth plays songs from my phone quietly in the background, helping keep my mind from wandering too far in the wrong direction. When we pull up in front of his building a few minutes later, I get a chill of anticipation...and possibly a little apprehension. He takes my hand again when we meet in front of the car and walks me to the elevator. His complex is by far the nicest in the county, maybe the whole state, and makes my rental look like a total dump. Except that right inside the front door you can immediately tell it's lived in by a man because there are clothes thrown over the couch and cups in single file in front of the sink. He doesn't bother turning on the living room light, just kicks his shoes off and throws down his keys. Dorito (one of his two feline companions) looks up lazily from the moonlight streaming through the window she's laying in and gives a soft meow. I wiggle a finger at her and from behind me I hear Ed laugh. “What?” I say, a smile playing on my lips. “Don't be pointin' fingers at my pussy,” he jokes. I roll my eyes, but realize he probably can't see it. He slides a hand behind me and lightly pushes me toward the stairs. I step out of my shoes and follow him to the second floor. I've been to his place a million times, slept on his floor, his couch, a couple times even his bed – but never like this. Only in my wildest (to the letter) dreams had I ever walked toward that room with this same feeling. I watch my toes indent the carpet in the hallway as he stops ahead of me to open the bedroom door. There's a pause. “I won't bite,” he says, softer than I've ever heard. His soothing voice convinces me to go inside, and I walk in, resting on the side of the bed I know he doesn't sleep on. He flips on the two bedside lamps from the wall and closes the door behind him. He takes his jacket off and tosses it into the chair in the far corner of the room before crawling onto the bed himself. He scoots to the middle, leans against the headboard, and motions for me to join him. I do, and he wraps me up in his arms as I rest my head under his chin. “We don't have to go any farther, if you don't want,” he whispers to me, fingers slowly working through my hair. I don't say anything. Honestly I don't know if I want to go further. We've already thrown “friends” out the window, I don't really want to risk the rest of the night going badly trying to get to whatever is next. As I try to think of what to say, he starts to sing softly, something I've never heard before. “Dancing in the dark...with you between my arms...barefoot on the grass...” He trails off into a hum, obviously not having found the next line yet. His voice is smooth and sweet, and I never tire of listening to him sing. He sounds so much more British when he sings, his lilt making each word bend and sway like reeds in the wind. He sings me to sleep, which was not exactly my intention, but after all the liqour and the excitement of the night, my brain is exhausted. I wake up the next day, the late morning sun filtering in just above my head. I stretch, yawning as I rub my eyes and open them to find...myself alone in a room that is not my own. It takes a few seconds for the night to play back in my head and I laugh a little to myself, half embarrassed and half regretful that the night had ended with me passing out like a child. I hear some clanging from downstairs and am relieved to know he's still here. I'm still wearing everything except my jacket, and I opt to leave it as I shuffle sleepily downstairs. All the blinds in the kitchen are up, and Ed is at the stove, shirtless and in his sweats, making what looks to be eggs. He turns to grab a plate and the sun bounces off his hair, a small flame atop his porcelain skin. He's singing to himself, and I smile, reaching the last step without being seen.

“Careful,” I say in a groggy voice. He turns to look at me. “That's what got me in trouble last night.” He laughs, tossing the eggs and some toast onto the plate and laying it on the bar behind him. “Yea, you were proper tired, ay? After all that and I get snoring as a reward...” He shakes his head in a 'tsk-tsk' way as I sit in front of the plate and scoff. “Maybe your charms need a little more umph to them,” I tease. He rounds the bar and grabs me suddenly, placing his lips against the side of my neck. My eyes flutter closed as he butterfly kisses up toward my ear and then pulls away. “O-or, ya know...not.” “No?” His eyes are mischievous, and also a little arrogant. The bastard. “Water?” I request, clearing my throat to pretend like he hadn't gotten to me. “Say please.” More kisses to the neck, this time crossing my collarbone. “Please?” It comes out as a gasp, airy and hardly a solid word, but it's all I can manage. It's too early for my brain to process any of this and I have no hope of winning this battle. Despite my weakened plea, he continues to kiss across my neck, then up my face, everywhere but my lips. The flame licks at me, reignited from the night before, and my hands slide into his hair. I use it to pull his face up enough for my mouth to find his, and the sensation is enough to blow my scalp clean off. He takes like orange juice, and my hands grasp at his shoulders to pull him closer because the space bewteen us is too much. He steps between my knees, bumping the stool I'm sitting on, and I feel him pressing against my stomach as he tries to right us. The feeling breaks what little control I have over my brain and when our lips separate I can't help the moan that escapes me. I see his eyes roll up, he blinks, then he hefts me up onto the bar. The plate clatters to the floor, but it doesn't stop us. Using my toes, I push the sides of his sweat pants down and after a second they fall to the floor. He's not wearing anything underneath and his erection bounces freely in front of me. He doesn't seem detered by his sudden nudity and tugs at my jeans. I hurry to unbutton them and get them off without being too awkward. The granite bar is cold under me, but every inch of me is on fire. His right hand grips the back of my head and his lips are back on mine. He scoots me to the end of the counter and I wrap my legs around his waist. In time with our kisses, I rotate my hips and rub myself against him. He drops his head to my shoulder for a second and pushes back against me. I see his hand reach to my side, to a black bowl, and bring back a black square. He lifts his head and carefully tears the side off the condom wrapper. There's a small tremor that runs through me, because this is about to happen, this is real. He's rolling the condom on when I snap back, and he looks up at me expectantly. I nod, my chest heaving, and he runs a finger along the top of my underwear. He helps me shove them off and then he spins me around, so he can lay me back on the bar. I use a balled up shirt to put under my head and feel him press the tip against my opening. I take in a big breath, holding it as the pressure subsides and he's completely inside. I can't take the separation anymore and sit up, wrapping my legs around him again and he presses a kiss to my breast. He starts slowly at first, and my eyes meet his. He's entranced, his face full of awe, and I can't look away. I fight back the feeling in my throat, the tears coming to my eyes, knowing that I'd wanted exactly this for the longest time. It spurs me on, and I meet each of his thrusts in earnest. He's breaking a sweat, the sun reflecting off his freckled shoulders. I bite my lip and he closes his eyes.

“I'm close,” he whispers. He can tell I'm not quite there yet, so he reaches between us and uses his thumb to find my clit. I inhale sharply and I see him grin. After a couple seconds I can feel it coming. I moan loudly and I can tell he's done when his face pinches and his thrusts slow. Shortly after I feel the same explosion and everything is white for a second. As my vision clears I feel him holding me, panting heavily against my shoulder. I cradle the back of his head with both hands, mostly trying to steady myself from the last of the tremors coursing through me. It takes a minute or two for our breathing to return to normal, and when it does he slips out of me and discards the condom. I meekly look around for a towel, and snag a few napkins from the far end of the bar. He chuckles. “So...shower?” He extends a hand toward me, his whole face lit up like a Christmas tree. I nod and reach out to him, sliding off the bar onto the floor. My legs wobble beneath me and he quickly puts an arm around me to steady me.

“Damn, thanks...” I say, giggling. He stops and picks me up, carrying me back upstairs. He's careful not to hit my head as we re-enter the bedroom and then the bathroom. He sets me down and goes to turn on the shower. I watch him pull a couple fresh towels from the cupboard, turn around and test the water temperature, then nod for me to get in. He pulls the curatin closed behind us and hands me a bottle. It's my favorite body wash, most likely left here long ago, after a night similar to last night. Except without the kissing and, uh, everything else. I use a spare loofah and start to soap my arms. He does the same, and I catch him looking at me from the corner of my eye. He doesn't look away, just raises his eyebrows sexually. I laugh and duck my head, stepping into the stream of water. “That's exactly how we got into this mess, you and those eyes.” “Sooo, are you saying you don't wanna be in my mess?” He pretends to be hurt. “Oh, quite the opposite...couldn't you tell from my extreme enthusiasm downstairs?” “I maybe got an idea.” He wraps his soapy arms around my waist and kisses me, so very slowly. But only for a second, then he rests his forehead against mine. “Are you gonna be my lady?” My heart drops. Straight through the floor, down, down, down. Everything I've longed for is right here. “Is that what you want?” I ask, voice hitching. “Is that what YOU want?” I raise my eyes to meet his. “It's everything I want.” My voice is barely a whisper. “Then that's what you'll have,” he says, and it sounds like a promise. Like a contract we both signed with the kiss he places on my forehead afterward. I don't notice them at first because of the shower over head, but soon I realize I'm crying. Not long after I'm gasping for breath, and he holds me tighter. “Shh,” he whispers, slowly rocking us side to side. He hums a familiar song, the first song we bonded over as kids, and it brings my tears to a stop. “Come on, let's rinse off. Then we'll have a proper breakfast, yea?” I nod, and he kisses me before stepping into the spray to wash off. After breakfast, we snuggle in bed and watch whatever is on the last channel his TV landed on. He twirls my still-damp hair between his index and middle finger absentmindedly. My phone goes off, several texts in a row, on the bedside table behind me and I know immediately who it is. “That'll be Christine, looking for a story,” I say as I reach for it. Whithout looking away from the screen, Ed laughs. “Well, this should be a good one.” “WAKE UP!” “I know you're awake. And you're not at home.” “WHAT HAPPENED?!?!?!” “At Ed's. Spent the night. EVERYTHING happened. Literally. Lunch later?” I see the elipses at the bottom of the screen immediately. “WHATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT?!?!?!?!?! LUNCH?! I CAN'T WAIT THAT LONG.” Laughing, I put the phone down and lay my head back down on Ed's chest.

“She wants to meet up and hear all about it.” “I'm sure she does.” He looks at his watch. “I've gotta be out in a couple hours, if you wanna pop off.” “She can wait. I'm not done here.” I snuggle as close to him as I can, and close my eyes when I feel him kiss the top of my head. Yea...she can wait. After this long, I deserve to stay here as long as I can. ---------- Masterlist here.

#Ed Sheeran #Ed Sheeran fanfic #Smut #One shot #Fan fic

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tauers-go-dutch · 6 years

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Italy: like putting on an old boot

Since losing my passport in Madrid, I had a two-week window before our next trip to get a new one. I ended up going to the US Consulate in Amsterdam, which was an adventure all in its own. If you picture the DMV, but on ‘roids, that is about the experience of applying for a passport abroad. After getting a new passport photo, I got to wait outside the building on the literal coldest day of the year for an hour before being ushered through security in order to wait for another two hours interspersed with quick trips up to the counter to explain that I don’t know what happened to my passport because I lost it and then being chastised for losing my passport because I must look too young to possibly be able to comprehend the gravity of importance such a document. Oh, and I had to pay $140. But luckily the US is very efficient at printing rush order passports and it arrived the following Friday, just in time for our trip to Rome. But of course, there would be one more hiccup in the story- the city lost power on Friday afternoon when I planned to pick up my passport. So the Consulate did not have power… or at least the backup generator did not power the whole building. Luckily, the guards were able to just grab the newly printed passports (I was not the only one trying to pick one up that day), and I was on my way.

Once we got into Rome, the same feeling of joy I had from my first visit washed over me, and I think I had a smile on the whole weekend. Rome is a huge city, so it is crowded, busy, smelly, full of trash, a bit rundown, etc. However, I love it for the amazing art, culture, and food. What can I say, Rome was the center of Western culture for much of history, and for much of my Catholic upbringing (and my brief stint as a Latin nerd), so it generates some degree of awe.

We threw in our coin, so I guess we’ll be back again

We checked into our hotel, which was across from some state building. When checking us in, the clerk said if we take photos from the window, the state employees might think we are spies and send people over to the hotel to investigate. I’m pretty sure he was joking? Mariah may have tested the theory the next evening after a few drinks.

We went to dinner that evening and tried some authentic Roman dishes, including an artichoke sampler platter. To be honest, steamed artichokes and butter was one of my sister’s favorite meals growing up, but they were never one of mine. But the Roman style artichokes blew me away. They are originally prepared by Jewish immigrants, but were quickly adopted by the Roman locals, so much so that Rome is one of the largest artichoke producers in the world. The Jewish version is lightly battered and fried, while the Roman version is steamed, and both are incredible. I also had pasta al’amatriciana (tomato sauce with pork cheek) and Mariah had ravioli before we split an incredible tiramisu. Before calling it a night we walked over to the Trevi fountain and threw in a coin. I guess we’ll be back one day.

Magical artichokes

We had some super delicious pastries in our hotel the next morning before heading to St. Peter’s Basilica. After taking some initial photos, I was talked into upgrading our museum tickets to a guided tour. While this is expensive, it is worth it- the guide is great, but you’re really paying to skip the 3+ hour line to see the basilica from the museum (and Sistine Chapel). We learned why the Vatican is its own country (long, convoluted story short- the modern church never wanted to join the united Italy, and the arrangement stuck- helps when you have your own private army). The Vatican treasures are as incredible as they are extensive. We saw Greek/Roman gods, human personifications of the Tiber river, supposed tombs of Helena and Constantina (mother and daughter of Constantine), maps of the world, paintings and tapestries for days, and a Roman Zach Galifianakis. But this was all a lead in to the Sistine Chapel, of Michelangelo fame. Of course there are no photos, but the Creation of Adam and the Last Judgment are every bit as amazing as hyped. We then fast tracked to the staggeringly beautiful St. Peter’s basilica. We saw the tombs of the popes (St. John Paul II has his own chapel on the main floor) and the Pieta, but my favorite is the altar from Bernini. Just look at the pictures.

St. Peter’s Basilica

Is that you, Zach?

Pieta

Pope JPIII!

Bernini’s altar

After a lunch of arancini (rice balls- I might not be able to eat the ones at Cinzetti’s ever again) and cacao e pepe (literally cheese and pepper- basically Italian mac ‘n cheese for adults), we set out to explore the city. We saw Castle Sant’Angelo (the pope fortress/Church of Illumination), Piazza Navona, The Pantheon, the Spanish Steps, and so much gelato. Eventually, we met some friends who also happened to be in Rome, and had dinner and a shared a few bottles of wine.

Gelato number two - sadly, we have no evidence of number one

The Pantheon

These two like their Italian wine

Brent and Christine happened to be in town

The next morning, we packed in some more sightseeing with the Altar of the Fatherland (Mussolini funded statue dedicated to the united Italy), Palatine Hill, the Capitoline Wolf, and Turtle Fountain (which does not have live turtles in the fountain). We ventured to the Jewish quarter of town, and had more marvelous artichokes, pasta, and possibly some of the best table bread ever (I had to take a picture it was so good). We went to a beer bar and enjoyed some brews (Italy has some good breweries), before going over to the hip Trastevere neighborhood and having more food (including a tremendous prosciutto sandwich which I would not shut up about, more arancini and a pizza) and beers. We needed to get back to the hotel, and decided to walk by the Colosseum and the Circus Maximus on the way. Unfortunately, the sky opened up and we were drenched in ten minutes… so we made a quick pit stop for more gelato to let the rain pass. There are worse things.

Remus and Romulus!

No live turtles

Mariah’s happy place (Gelato three of four?)

...and mine (prosciutto sandwich)

Sometimes I can get her to drink a beer

But it generally involves bribery with margherita pizza

Aaaaand it’s pouring outside

Rain keeps the tourists away - most of them, anyways

Are you not entertained?

All that’s left of the Circus Maximus

We packed a ton into our Rome weekend, so in Florence (the following weekend) we were a bit more relaxed. We arrived late on Friday so our adventure really just started on Saturday morning. Our first stop was to the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, which is better known for ‘il Duomo,’ or the massive dome that adorns the church and dominates the city skyline. It was a fairly easy climb, but the vertigo is real when you are on the interior of the church and looking down. But you are rewarded with amazing art reminiscent of Dante’s Inferno (Florence is his home town, btw) and panoramic views of the city.

I hope you’re not claustrophobic... or afraid of heights!

Afterwards, we put our name down at Trattoria Mario for lunch, and killed some time at the markets before our table was ready. I don’t think you can see more leather outside of a Vegas S&M convention, but to be honest it is really cool. We stopped into a market and bought some pastries- creampuff for me and a chocolate cookie for Mariah- to hold us over. Luckily we did not have to wait for lunch long. Trattoria Mario is regarded as the best restaurant in town, and is only open for lunch. The place is tiny, and you will be seated at a two-person table with two other people and sit on stools that are made for toddlers. The bread is disappointing, but the food is marvelous. The place is meat-centric, and their specialty is the classic bistecca alla fiorentina, which is a super thick, bloody porterhouse steak. The frites were good too.

After lunch, we crossed the famed Ponte Vecchio to the other side of the city. We walked up to the Piazzale Michelangelo for more magnificent views of Florence. We walked along the river and stopped by a small tea shop, and sampled some of their goodies. We walked out with some good stuff, and an aspiration to become a tea sommelier and to (keep) travel(ing) the world. We had a rest at a dessert shop before finding dinner (easier said than done, since our first choice for dinner just never opened the restaurant for service- no notice posted physically or online), and closed the night with more beers. It was a bit early, but we have been traveling a lot.

It was a pretty creepy sculpture...

We slept in, but woke to go to the Galleria dell’Accademia, which is a museum that has nothing of much significance except for a little piece from Michelangelo called the David. Before seeing the main event, we did explore some of the other parts of the museum, including the musical instruments and some religious paintings. Two asides- first, we saw a pair of little girls (say seven) on a private guide with their parents looking at the musical instruments and throwing out some serious knowledge of the Medicis and the Renaissance art movement (the girl was a self-proclaimed art history buff, and I believe it!). Second, some of the art made to explain the dogma of Christianity is as bizarre (though simultaneously stylish) as the Thai paintings we saw in Bangkok. Seriously, if I didn’t have knowledge of the immaculate conception, I would have thought Christians believed that an old cloud god shot pigeons at a sleeping woman while some creepy dude with wings looked on approvingly.

But onto the David. It is every bit as masterful as everyone says. The story is unbelievable too. Just think, some 27 year-old just said, ‘hey, can I use that chunk of marble over there? I wanna make something for you.’ And then the Florentine people were graced with one of the most incredible works of art in history is ridiculous. Michelangelo was TWENTYSEVEN!!! Oh, and he made the Pieta before that (pictured above, from Rome).

Just look at him!

Afterwards we just relaxed. We had some pizza, coffee, macarons and beers. I did grab a snack- a lampredotto. There was a stand just outside of our hotel which filled up during lunch with locals, so I figured I’d try it. The sandwich is made from spiced lamb intestine, and it’s pretty good. I mean, it’s no prosciutto sandwich, but its good. We did make our outside the Uffizi gallery before leaving, and took in some of the city’s most famous patrons before saying goodbye.

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes... singing ayo...

NBD, just our country’s namesake

Last minute snack

Italy is superb. It is a country with so many different layers of nuance and culture. Sometimes I feel people boil it down to pizza and statues, but it’s so much more. Each region, from Rome, Florence, Venice, Naples, Sicily, Milan, etc. is so different from the next. The food, outside of the tourist traps, is every bit of what makes Italian fare heralded as some of the world’s best. The culture and history is dense and rich- just think, Rome was the center of the western world through two different points of time for two different reasons. Sure, Italy has its problems and frustrations like we all do, but it is a country I will enjoy returning to time and time again.

#tauersgodutch #tauers go dutch #Italy feels like putting on an old boot

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thetapelessworld · 6 years

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thetapelessworld Interview with Blinksonic

Here is an Interview we did with Sylvain Stoppani of Blinksonic. Blinksonic make 3rd Party Device for Native Instruments Reaktor plugin. BlinkSonic currently have 4 Commercial Products Ruidoz Electrtonic Percussion Mangler, Aetonz Hybrid Polytonal Sampler, Substanz Beatmaking Station, and Voz Virtual Vocal Generator. Blinksonics Devices are great for all Modern Producers. First I love the Gui’s their modern and easy to use and understand. It’s also very easy to take a preset and turn it into something unique. All Blinksonic Devices are unique and can bring something special to your music productions. And thanks to Reaktor framework its easy to use your own Samples to further customize Blinksonic devices to make original content. These Devices belong in any Electronic Musicians or Sound Designers Toolbox. So be sure to Check out their Products.

https://www.blinksonic.com/

https://www.blinksonic.com/blog/

https://www.blinksonic.com/about/

So on to Blinksonic Interview

What got you interested in music?

Music is such essential and important for me since my youngest age, that I finally forgot what’s kept me interested at the early beginning. Probably the possibility to escape, to let off steam, to express oneself, to mentally visualize kind of images and representations through sounds ... In the auditory field of our perceptions, music and more precisely sounds, are a powerful vector for communication. Whatever the mother tongue, I tend to think that we should not look any further to find a form of audible universal language.

Do you remember the first piece of music that moved you? And how has that influenced you?

Very early, my parents gifted me a slot-in record player with a whole collection of 45 rpm vinyl disks for kids. I remember owning a lot of Japanese manga music (Captain Harlock, Grendizer, Captain Future ), French cartoon ( still have a strong remembering of the introduction of « The Mysterious Cities of Gold » anime ) and also some original soundtracks of children's movie like E.T.

It really took me out and it was a great time !

Much later as a teenager, I loved listening/dreaming with headphones to psychedelic rock of the 60s, 70s.

Like many young person who only had access to pop music (before internet), I was fascinated by the ability to play with sounds and turn noise into art as did guitarists like Jimi Hendrix.

I also loved the energy that emanate from some bands, more or less extreme, indie rock and metal of the 90s.

My attraction to the sound is certainly wrought through larsen/feedback screams’ and a lot of sound effects abuse. I always have been fascinated by sequences that suggest emotions not describable via a riff or melodies. The way Sonic Youth was creating chaotic guitar parts on some moments of their tracks, impressed me a lot.

Thanks to my discovery of hip hop, I also have been very quickly interested in the art of sampling.

It was much later that I came across electronic music.

Aphex Twin - Come to daddy is a EP that definitely brings me to this playground as a musician and music lover, as much this record brought together stylistic elements that I loved to hear together.

What are some of your favorite musicians, composers or sound Designers. and does that influence Blinksonic?

All the early and actual catalogue of Rephlex, Schematic, Skam, Planet Mu, Mego, Ghostly, Raster Noton and Warp Records… Really did my school days by listening to their releases.

I feel linked to Richard Devine which was the first to support me. I love the way he makes beats, this unique techno-organic rhythmical time signatures only him have the secret !

The sound designers who impresse me the most are also both good composers and live performers… I love the very versatile fantasy brings by Otto Von Schirach.

Today however I am a little less connected than before, there’s every month excellent stuff that comes out and it's not easy to be aware.

It takes time and I rather be focused on my own work.

However on artists more or less recent, I like VHS Head, Meat Bingo, Com Truise, Kelpe, Patten, Vaetxh (aka Rob Clouth), Freeform, Cristian Vogel, Baby Kruger and Freeka Tet.

There are many artists I admire for their talent of crafting their own sounds and merging the music with other artistic practices.

I like composer that can tell a story, not only with melodic structure but with the expressive power of sounds.

What made you decide to start making Reaktor Ensembles?

I mostly use Ableton Live until the beginning (from 2002) and I have always used Reaktor since version 3, to provide myself with sound contents, which I mount and arrange thereafter in Live.

I quickly realized that I had a tool as powerful as it was original. I have almost learned with it more about synthesis and sound processing than on any other platform or hardware instrument.

At first, modifying the existing ensembles, I ended up doing mine. I have always wanted to generate my music from a custom interpretation process .. and Reaktor is perfect for this.

After a lot of experiences and discographic projects more or less discreet and anonymous, I started to find that the diffusion of my creations did not meet the format of diffusion that I wished ..

It was not enough adapted to the way I work and the things I wanted to express in music production. I wished a more interactive diffusion which would include the process of creation itself, and not something locked/achieved in time as a classic EP or LP format. I wanted something that let the structural forms of the composition to be possibly autonomous or manipulable.

That's what led me to release the first version of RUIDOZ° with many presets included .. like pieces of an album that was not completely achieved… A sound material which aims to be eternally modified by end users.

What makes you stick out from other developers. What is Blinksonic doing that others are not?

Maybe precisely the singular character of this approach. I do not propose an algorithmic killer way to make music but rather an original playable sound environment.

According to the inspiration and the technical level, I think we can use these tools as something serious .. but also as an interactive trip that you open as a video game :D And it’s also a collection of ideas that only wait to be incorporated inside tracks..

Beyond that, I must remain humble, I am new in this field.. lots of things to learn yet..

But I think my main asset is to offer a successful and unique user experience.

Many Reaktor instruments have not been enough achieved at the graphic interface level to become really interesting.

A good instrument is not only an instrument that sounds good. It must be take in hands in the best way possible for taking advantage of it.

The GUI really did the difference even if it can be considered as secondary for a sound making tool. With screen technologies, this the interface which provides this feeling and helps being inspired.

In computer music and in term of algorithm, nothing is really new actually, apart the renewal of graphical interfaces and some new integrations of concepts related to spectrum analysis and processing, artificial intelligence and machine learning. I have the impression that developers are more focused to recycle algorithms on making them more tangible and improving the usability of applications, making them more convenient and easier, more immediate and fun.

Aside from the visual aspect of my instruments, I think it’s the stylistic orientation suggested and the non academic character that makes the difference and helps my work to meet an audience. I work alone so it's also a form of freedom, with no limit or drastic specifications to respect. I walk through inspiration .. and always with the intention to provide my own arsenal .. for a bit that one day I stop developing to try to use my tools to compose or interpret music again :-D

What direction do you see yourself taking Blinksonic?

It's pretty vague at the moment, because I have a lot of ideas and it still necessary to choose the good ones .. I would like for example to release album concepts or EP based on Reaktor.

I really like the idea of using Reaktor as a final format for broadcasting a musical work with a graphical interface which aims to manipulate it in real time, play and illustrate the universe described by the music ...

A similar trip to the Demomakers or, I do not know if you remember it, this R3-based application, called « Mewark - Stoderaft » by Lazyfish that NI released for free in the early 2000’s.

At that time, I was fascinated by this futuristic music diffusion concept !

I also dream to be able to produce an hardware effect in a close futur…

Also gotta say love the Interfaces of your devices. What influenced them and do you also like design?

Thanks!

I am generally influenced by any technological objects that are currently offered to us and I am directly influenced by current trends around what we can call "tablet design" and « industriel design ». I also love the work on HUD/GUI for sci fi movies.

Today, we all have in hands smartphones and all the user experiences that goes with it, with the most minimalist design possible, infographic that responds to information codes of representations. I am influenced by this and I completely abandon skeumorphic and realistic graphic models. It looks gorgeous but it tends to not be readable and practical as the original emulated hardware are.

Flat design is not just a trend. It really brings something more optimized and kind of technological elegance to applications and well suited for screens.

This said, I am not against bringing back some shadows as « Material Design » suggest it.

In all case, I am very focused on all the possible trends and field of development that can improve the User Experience of an application. So I watch a lot what happens in that domain.

Is there a designer, Art or Software developer that influenced your GUI's.

I am always amazed by the design work of Teenage Engineering. It must be felt on my own work that they influenced me. :)

To my eyes, it’s truly THE way to of designing. This vision of graphically illustrate technical sound parameters in a scalable way… I love the idea that the symbol or the icon to become the object of control.

In pure software design on audio, I love Sugar Bytes, Sinevibes, Audio Damage, iZotope, FAW, Unfiltered Audio and obviously many instruments edited by NI.

Last but not least, I can’t forget to mention Thomas Hennebert (Inear Display) and Ivo Ivanov (Glitchmachines). I feel also very close to their vision of sound design.

What are your 5 favorite Reaktor Ensembles (non Blinksonic) that you like or wish you made ?

RAZOR !! This the killer one !! it is timeless .. I dream that someday this synth will be replicated as an identical hardware! It would be crazy!

ROUNDS is an amazing instrument too !

NODE by Antonio Bianca.. it's so small and fine, beautiful, effective and inspiring at the same time ..

The FLOW by Tim exile.. also GRAINCUBE ..

There is plenty which I love and I certainly forget .. SPACEDRONE, METAPHYSICALL FUNCTION ...

Ah yes probably the one that I particularly like .. a very old one, TRAVELIZER from the original library of R4 ... I found it crazy to be able to manipulate a wave file that way when I discover it !

Do you have a favorite Reaktor Ensemble Developer (non Blinksonic)?

I think that Sasha Lazyfish is above any hierarchy. He invented a lot of things in the early beginning of Reaktor that still inspire me.

I also have a lot of respect for Twisted Tools. They were the first to release premium ensembles with the same quality of a AU/VST plugin. They injected on their instruments and effects such singular method to produce electronic music with always a both forward thinking GUI.

I can not forget to mention Tim Exile, but he’s out of any category… This guy is cracked of talent and naturally inspired !

I was going to forget Antonio Bianca. But it's people everybody knows ! :D

I love this artist called « Even Iter » whose sharing amazing generative ensembles on the User Library. All ensembles always contain geometrical visualizations of sounds, generated and drawn via Reaktor coding.

And since the Blocks framework advent, I am keep a lot of attention on COLUGO_ stuffs.

I also have been lucky enough to collaborate with Sandy Small, who has rebuilded in Core most of the structure off my block PROCESSORZ°.

Sandy is as accurate and logical as he’s brilliant.

Which BLinksonic Ensemble are you most proud of ?

I think VOZ brings something special, it looks a bit like OUTPUT EXHALE, but the concept is pushed a little further with the ability to randomly change samples from a limited range of incoming notes. This is not my most popular instrument, but it's the one I find the most achieved and powerful .

With this semi modular approach ported to a tone sampler, I regularly discover many new ways to use it and create textures. The sound bank compiles 15 years sound recordings of my voice, so it’s necessarily something special for me. It gives a strange second life to the provided vocal formants.

What's are some of your favorite hardware or Software gear to process samples?

As mentioned above, and beyond the design aspect, I am conquered by the OP-1 of TE. This kind of "soft" sampler never existed before on hardware , or in any case, not in this compact format . I’m waiting for the OP-Z with the same excitement as kid during Christmas.

As much as I am unconditional of Ableton, I recently put my fingers on MASCHINE, there is room for it to become a complete DAW, but besides that, I think it's the best software sampler on the market today. The functions to handle audio slices, the maneuverability + an app that comes with a controller. I really observe with a deep interest all the coming new features and improvements that will be implement to it.

Otherwise, I watch with attention also New Sonic Art, James Walker Hall is a pure developer and also SoundGuru « the Mangler » is extremely attractive concept ..

An also ! ... The impossible to forget sampler, but unfortunately only available on iOS: SAMPLR. I can spend hours on it, it's very intuitive and fun to play !

What are some of your most used plugins and what do you use them for?

I already mention some of them above. As much as I observe and test everything possible that exist on the market, but I keep the same habits, and come back very often to the same tools.

By cons, I also use some additional hardware, like my old subtractive synth CRUMAR BIT 99, a kind of JUNO, very typical eighty sounds and I recently acquired the 2 Nozoïd synthesizer. (nozoid.com) They are amazing !! By the way, for the sound quality but also for their modular design in a compact format. I will never have been able to mount an Eurorack with the equal features for the same price.

Are you working on something that you would like to tells us about?

I can’t say a lot about it but I hope to come back this next spring with a new concept of instrument. I am actually inside development days, and even if I have my idea, I don’t know myself what kind of sonic craziness it will be at the end ;)

Apart this I will participate to the next NATIVE SESSIONS called FUTURE TECHNIQUES, the 17th February, in Paris. I will perform with my instruments and give a short masterclass.

For Info on Native Session: https://www.native-instruments.com/fr/community/native-sessions/native-sessions-future-techniques-2018/

youtube

#news #blinksonic #reaktor #nativeinstruments #reaktor5 #reaktor6 #komplete #sounddesign #sounddesigner #musicprooducer #musicproduction #Soundfx #samples #musiccompostion #Gameaudio #filmmusic #electronicmusic

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ibangtanthings · 7 years

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Vampires Will Never Hurt You - pt 2

Jin had been away for two weeks. He didn’t say anything once he came back either.

He just walked into class, took a seat next to you and put an arm around your shoulder. He put two fingers under your chin and brought your lips to his.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered in your ear before leaning back, paying attention to the board once the professor came into the room.

What could you say at this point?

Everyday you told yourself he had to have a good reason for leaving.

An hour and a half passed by and the professor finally called for fifteen minute break. You began to get up from your chair but he wrapped his arms around your waist and glued your body to his.

You could sit on his lap for hours and he wouldn’t get uncomfortable.

Also, you wouldn’t be able to escape his grip no matter how hard you tried.

You flushed, embarrassed by the stares and glances from your classmates. “Jin.” You complained quietly.

He didn’t let go.

Soon most of the class left to get snacks or drinks to make it through the rest of the lecture.

“Jin.” You placed your hands over his and he let go.

Sitting back down in your chair, you faced him for the first time since he left.

He stared back at you, watching your movements. You wanted to ask him why he left and to where but really, you were just glad to see him again. His golden brown eyes melting your heart each time they looked into yours.

“I don’t want to talk about it here. I’m glad you’re back though. I missed you.”

“I’m hungry Y/N.” He said seriously and you saw him swallow.

You didn’t realize before that his grip although strong, it wasn’t as strong as usual. You took his hand and quickly led him out the room.

There was a lab room, empty and unlocked. He covered the door with an oversized poster and locked the door. He rest his forehead against the door and took a deep breath.

“Why didn’t you feed before coming?” You asked, prepping yourself.

“It’s been weeks.” He said turning around. His veins had already turned grey under his skin and his eyes were dark now. “I haven’t fed since I left and I didn’t want to kill anyone so I just waited to see you again.”

“Come here.” You pulled him to you and wrapped your arms around him. His fangs bit into your neck with a sharp pain but it was nothing you couldn’t handle.

He kept feeding and you sank back into one of the countertops, lacing your fingers into his hair and biting your lips shut.

Maybe he needed more than a pint.

When he pulled away he placed his fingers over the puncture wounds and grabbed your bag. Looking through it he found the tiny round stickers he gave you that were practically like a second flesh. They hid the wounds perfectly.

He also pulled out the water bottle and took a sip then handed it over. You took it from his hands gratefully, drinking the whole thing in one shot.

He kissed your cheek and then down your jaw.

“I want to fuck you so bad.” He breathed causing you to smile.

“I’m still mad.” You replied, nonetheless holding onto him and feeling lethargic.

“Can you walk to class? I’ll get you something from the vending machines.”

You nodded and made your way to the door.

“Hey.” He said making you stop to look back at him.

He walked towards you and kissed your lips gently. “I missed you too.” He said seriously.

You couldn’t help but smile and place a hand on his cheek. “I’m not that mad at you Jin. It just sucks being away from you.”

“I know.” He agreed. “Even for just a moment.”

He took your hand and kissed it but as you stared into his eyes you saw how sorry he still was.

During class you could’ve fallen sleep in your chair but Jin made sure you ate the candy and snacks he brought.

Your energy started to come back and class came to an end quickly. The bad thing was, you would need to review the textbook once you got home because you couldn’t concentrate on the lecture anymore, only on Jin.

Even now you felt like the other girls, stealing glances at him, admiring his features.

You still blushed bright red when he winked at you.

“Come on, let’s go eat. We have to get some real food into you.” He took your bag and held your hand as he led you out the school.

Secretly, you liked the new found status being with Jin gave you. Before, no one would bother asking you how your day was, if you needed the notes from last class, or if you saw last week’s episode of the new mystery drama everyone was watching now.

But at the same time all this attention was just artificial. It was the result of your relationship with Jin, nothing else.

Making friends at this age, it wasn’t supposed to be hard. Somehow you coasted your way through these past few years of school without making any significant friendships. Suddenly, with Jin it felt easier to make friends…or fake friends but at least people gave you some respect. All because of him.

“So where did you go?” You asked after the waiter took your order of hamburger and fries while Jin asked for the sampler.

He didn’t have to eat and he wasn’t hungry obviously, but human food would keep the blood in his system longer. So long as he ate human foods he wouldn’t need to feed for another week.

“Home.” He began.

Instantly you felt sad for him.

For Jin, home wasn’t a place he liked going back to. It was hell.

It was where he died, and where he was brought back to life. You never wanted to hear the story again but he had to tell you at least once every year. Just to come to terms with his new self.

He couldn’t tell anyone else.

__________________

“You killed him.”

“Jin. What am I supposed to do?” Taehyung cried.

“Run.”

“They’ll know it was me. Even if I run.”

He was right. Jin looked at his friend. He was scared. His shirt and hands were covered with blood.

Taehyung was a good person, not a murderer. Yet he killed his own father and Jin knew that it didn’t matter if it was self defense, Taehyung had killed someone.

Who would believe his story? His own sister looked at him with fear and ran. The sister he was protecting, now afraid of him.

He didn’t deserve this.

Jin looked at his friend and felt just as lost. All of this, it was happening so fast.

“That shaman, the one who warned all of us. He might be able to help. He knew this was going to happen. Remember?”

“How? How can he help me?” Taehyung questioned.

Jin picked him up. “I don’t know but hurry. We don’t have much time before your sister tells someone.”

“I didn’t say goodbye to her.” He struggled against Jin.

“You can’t. You can never go back. I’m trying to help you Tae, come on.”

As much as Taehyung protested, Jin dragged him away, muffling his screams and cries.

This shaman, he could help. Jin knew there was something up with him since the day they met. He had to know why this was all going on.

It was at the docks, the air was cloudy and it seemed like it was going to rain again. Everyone was there, Taehyung, Jungkook, Jimin, Yoongi, Hoseok and Namjoon.

They were kicking around a ball, making noise when the shaman came out from one of the boats and onto the dock.

He was dressed in a dark brown robe with feathers and he walked really slowly to the point that Jin didn’t know whether he was coming towards them of heading past them until he came to a stop before them.

The ball bounced towards him and rolled to his feet.

The man kicked the ball into the water with an energy that seemed abnormal for his sloth like movements.

“What the hell man?” Jimin tried to see if he could reach the ball but it was floating away.

“You gonna pay for that?” Jungkook went up to the man and stared him down.

“This is my property, now leave!” He yelled.

“You don’t own the docks.” Hoseok and the rest of them went to Jungkook’s side.

“I’ll call the cops. Now leave!”

“Nice, maybe they can save us from your crazy ass.” Namjoon smirked.

“Make us.” Jin said calmly, challenging him.

This time the crazy man laughed. He took one good look at each of them and shook his head.

“You all have sad lives don’t you?” He sighed. “So young too.” He looked at Jungkook.

That when they realized that there was something really off about him. There was no way he could have known Jungkook was the youngest.

“Are you taking your medications? Or do you self medicate?” He looked at Namjoon then at Hoseok.

“No one loves you enough to stay anymore?” He looked at Yoongi and Jimin.

“What’s your problem?” Jin faced him.

“You have problems, you all do. And it’s only going to get worse.” He laughed. “Much worse.” He looked at Taehyung.

Jin had enough.

“Let’s just go. We can buy another ball and come back tomorrow.” He said.

“And the day after that, and the day after that.” Jungkook added.

“Sadly, I don’t think so. I hate to break it to you but this will be the last time you guys are here.” The man shook his head, as if disappointed.

“Whatever.” Namjoon spit on the ground and walked past him.

“Be careful. Be very careful. I’m just warning you…There’s nothing to be afraid of except yourselves.” He laughed again.

“He’s crazy” Taehyung brushed past him and the rest followed suit.

But as crazy as he seemed, he was right.

Weeks later Hoseok overdosed. Yoongi burned his house down. Jimin fell asleep in the bathtub, Jungkook was jumped and Namjoon got arrested.

Now Taehyung had blood on his hands.

Jin wanted all of this to end, his friends were falling apart right before his eyes, but most of all Jin wondered what would happen to him.

All he could do was think about the guy from the docks who said all of this was going to happen. But how did he know?

Taehyung cried the whole ride over to docks. He kept saying “sorry” over and over again, to his sister, to Jin, to himself.

Jin’s tears got the best of him even though he was trying his best to stay calm, for Taehyung who was sobbing uncontrollably and the agony was so deep in his cries.

The same cries he’s head each of his friends make. It wasn’t fair. They had gone through so much together and all Jin could to was cry too.

“Taehyung. Something’s going on. It’s not your fault.” Jin tried to explain through sympathetic whimpers. “I know you.”

He helped Taehyung out of the car, practically carrying him over his shoulders because Taehyung was in another world. His body was limp and weak with guilt.

Jin spotted the boat and carefully boarded the swaying wood, kicking the door open.

“Sit here.” He placed Taehyung on the floor.

He slumped down, talking to himself and not making any sense.

“Breaking my property now?!” The old man came out of another door, probably leading to another tiny room. “What’s this? What do you want?” He pointed at Taehyung.

“You need to help. I know you can tell the future. You said things were going to get worse, how did you know?”

“I don’t need to do anything. This is just how things occur in life.” He replied.

“Yes you do. All my friends are living through hell right now and you know why. You know how to stop it. Who are you?”

“I came from South America, they referred to me as the shaman…As for your pathetic friends, it wasn’t my doing or anyone else’s. it was their own doing.”

Taehyung whimpered.

Jin grabbed the shaman by the collar. “You need to help them! Why is this happening? How do I stop it?”

“Are you afraid of what’s going to happen to you?” The shaman scoffed.

“I don’t care what happens to me, help him!” Jin was shivering with anger.

“If I help him it means another life gets ruined instead.”

“Who’s?”

“Yours.” He replied quickly.

Then he leaned down and pet Taehyung’s head.

“You’re going to hell, your sins will drag you down without mercy. How do you want to live till then?”

Jin kneeled down next to Taehyung and pushed the shaman’s hand away.

“Hyung, please help me.” Taehyung murmured, looking at Jin.

The shaman sighed. “You have two choices Taehyung…live with the sin you have committed…or bury it forever with another soul. No one will know, no one will come after you, and it would be like it never happened. Things will go back to normal, even your friends will be happy again.”

“What are you talking about?” Jin questioned but the shaman only spoke to Taehyung.

“You’ll have to kill him.” He said to Taehyung, and Jin grew angrier.

“Kill who?! You’re not making any sense. Just help us. I’ll do anything. Just please help my friend.”

“Why?” Taehyung cried out, grabbing the shaman and shaking him around. “Why?!”

“You took a soul Taehyung. Now your soul is doomed. To save it, you must take another and send that one to hell in your place.”

“Why him?!” Taehyung growled, tackling he shaman to the floor.

“None of you died yet. He’s weak. It was going to happen anyways. Destiny wants one of you……………..just one life. Is it going to be yours?”

Taehyung began to sob again. He rocked backed and forth and shook his head.

“What is he talking about? Tae. Don’t listen to him. We can run. Together. They won’t find you ever again.”

“One life, in exchange for the happiness of the rest.”

“Hyung, I can’t. I’m sorry. I can’t live like this. We’re all fucked. I have to help them, just like you’re helping me. I’m sorry. We love you.” He cried.

“Tae. Don’t listen to him. He’s not making sense. He doesn’t want to help us. It was a mistake coming here. Let’s go. We need to get as far away as possible.”

“So what’s it going to be?” The shaman asked.

Taehyung’s words were almost unintelligible through his sobs now.

He held onto Jin’s hand and cried harder than ever.

The only thing Jin understood were his apologies. The shaman was gone.

Taehyung suddenly stopped crying and looked at Jin.

“Tae. Where did he go? What did he tell you to do?”

“Kill you.” Taehyung said emotionless.

Jin couldn’t move. Taehyung moved behind him and covered his eyes with one hand.

A sharp pain in his neck made Jin’s eyes widen and a gasp escaped his lips.

The shaman reappeared and Taehyung fell to his side, Jin watching in horror as blood covered his own body.

Jin fell onto his side as well and the shaman began chanting over him. As he looked at his friend next to him, Jin was afraid that Taehyung was dead already. He was completely still but eyes open and lifeless.

The shaman cut Taehyung’s shirt off of him and Jin saw the marks on his back. At the same time he felt weaker with each minute.

It had to be an artery bleeding out.

Taehyung’s eyes began to blink and his face scrunched up in pain. Jin saw the marks become wounds and then with each passing minute it became clear what was happening to his friend.

He was growing wings. Dark black wings.

Quiet groans filled the room. Jin was paralyzed and dying, unable to help his friend despite the fact that Taehyung had caused this.

Jin reached out for Taehyung, who was on his hands and knees heaving with pain, and just barely touched his hand.

The shaman continued chanting and Jin lost consciousness.

“What happened after that? When you woke up.” You asked him. He didn’t realize he was crying and when you wiped his tears away he gently pushed your hand away.

His expression turned hard again.

“I woke up as a monster. Taehyung was sleeping. He didn’t remember who I was. No one did, only Jungkook.”

“Why? Where is he now?”

“He ran away. He was scared of running into the people who hurt him. I killed people to ease the pain. I didn’t want to feed but once you starve yourself for so long, you lose control. The shaman was right about one thing….everything did go back to normal, but normal was already a living hell for us. But at least they had each other….They didn’t remember me so I stayed back, watching them from a distance.”

“How did you end up here?”

“I just chose a random city. Going back to school seemed like the most normal thing to do.”

“At least you chose this city and this school.” You wrapped your fingers between his.

“Yeah.” He squeezed your hand in his. “I guess that’s the only thing that went right so far.”

___

“Why?” You asked.

Home was a place of bad memories, of trauma. Why did he have to go back?

“Jungkook.”

“He came back?” You didn’t know if this was a good thing or not.

“Yeah but thing have changed since then…the guys, they wanted nothing to do with him. Jungkook brought back too many dark memories. He knows something's different about me and he knows I killed the shaman, but he doesn’t know what I really am.”

You couldn’t imagine it. Jin killing someone. It just sounded wrong. He seemed like he could do no wrong. Too perfect to have any flaw.

But you knew better than that.

“What are you going to do about him? Or what did you do.”

“I told him to start over, like I did. As always he never listens. He’s been pestering each of them, trying to get them to remember.”

“Did he go to Taehyung…did you see him again?”

Jin lowered his gaze and shook his head.

“That’s why I went. To stop Jungkook from getting to him. If Jungkook’s the only one that remembers me then I’m worried he’s the only one that can make Taehyung remember.”

“It’s not fair Jin. So what if he remembers what he did. Why should he get to live a normal life? He killed you. It’s not your problem if he remembers, it’s his own guilt that he’ll have caused.”

Even though Jin said he was happy with you it was hard not to wonder, if being with you was enough to overshadow the sorrow he felt knowing he was going to be like this forever.

Being something other than human, it wasn’t his choice and he didn’t enjoy having to kill others. The fact that he killed the dangerous, the criminal, it still didn’t shake the thought that he was also a murderer.

You always wondered if he had just taken a life or when he was going to take another. It was hard to believe that he was capable of murder but he was a vampire and he had no other choice.

He tried animals, blood bags, even starvation wouldn’t kill him.

Your blood quenched his thirst but only for so long. He couldn’t go more than two weeks without needing more.

But you’ve grown addicted to his bite. It was a sadistic and embarrassing need you grew to like. He hated it.

Once he realized you were aching for his bite he tried to feed on you only when necessary.

He was trying to find others like him, in hopes of some explanation as to why you would want to get bitten. Maybe it was just him. Something vampires have, like a way to attract prey. But that made no sense because he needed to kill, yet he couldn’t kill you no matter how good you taste.

“Don’t think like that Y/N. I don’t need you to be mad at him for me. If Taehyung and the rest of them remember, what good does it do? It won’t change me back. They’re happy now. That’s why Taehyung did it. Not for himself but for everyone else.”

“Everyone else except you.”

“I’m happy when I’m with you. That’s enough for me.”

“You basically just said that you hate the rest of your life except for when you’re with me, that’s sad Jin. And it’s not right.”

“You know what’s not right? Jungkook keeping me away from you for two weeks. I’m going to make sure he suffers when he comes.”

“He’s coming here? And you know, a text would’ve been nice. That’s really the only reason why I was mad.”

“Ah…about that.” Jin took out his phone.

The screen was shattered.

“Jungkook likes to get on my nerves. And yes. He is coming here…to start over.” He sighed.

“There’s still email…” you muttered, knowing he could hear you clearly.

“Stay with me tonight.” He said lightening the mood.

He liked to tease and joke around but only when he was with you. At school he was the cool guy but with you he was funny, silly, he was alive again.

“No way. You’ll bite me again.”

“Isn’t that what you want?” He winked.

You gasped and blushed bright red. He was using your slight addiction against you. He sometimes called it your kink but that made you so embarrassed he knew it was dangerous to call it that.

You could hit him with all your strength and he wouldn’t feel a thing. He said it would help you relieve stress but you only tried it once and it didn’t relieve your stress at all. He was like a statue without reaction. It was like punching a mannequin.

Only when he began to make exaggerated expressions as if in pain, that’s when you started to laugh and shower him with kisses.

“If I stay you can’t touch me.” You said casually.

“Deal. Now finish eating. We don’t have all night.”

______

“Just carry me.” You whined.

It wasn’t that you felt tired, it was just that you hadn’t felt his arms around you in weeks and you just wanted to cuddle.

“If I stay you can’t touch me” He threw your words right back at you, raising his voice an octave higher.

“Jin, I’m tired.” You whined, determined to lie your way into his arms. “It’s like thirty feet to the front door.”

“You’re heavy.” He said getting out of the car and coming to open your door.

“i am not. To you I’m like a feather.”

“No more like a really heavy box.”

“I haven’t seen you in half a month.” You frowned, tiring of his teasing.

He noticed and a smirk spread across his face.

“Come here.” He said, opening his arms.

With a smile, you got out of the car and latched onto him, wrapping your legs around him as he carried you off to the beautiful beach house.

Part of you ecstatic that you didn’t have to get sand anywhere near your feet.

At school, everyone begged him to throw parties here at the beach house but Jin really got the place to have a quiet hideout. It was at the end of the beach and far from the public area but it was huge and visible from anywhere on the sandy coastline. It was built on a cliff that wasn’t too high but also not too low either.

You had some things here and some stuff back at your apartment. He wasn’t rushing you into moving in and he even paid the rent for your apartment to give you something less to worry about.

This was just one of the ways he liked to spoil you. He wanted you to use your money however you wanted, and other expenses like rent, utilities, even groceries he covered.

Of course you declined initially but he wasn’t having it. He was so rich, he had to hide money from the government.

Most of the money he has, it’s technically stolen. He liked to threaten the ones who used their power selfishly.

He got a steady income from some of the world’s wealthiest men and he secretly owned most of the stocks from more than ten small countries.

Countries that were in economic disarray. He was in school to learn how he could use his advantages to help those countries and its people in need.

He mentioned that overseas, Jungkook was taken in by a wealthy oil tycoon who left him millions before his death.

But that made Jin wonder why Jungkook would even want to come back, or why he would want stay here in this old city. He could go anywhere else in the world. You guessed that Jungkook just wanted to be around Jin. He wanted something familiar. Something to remind him of the home he was forced to leave behind.

Overall, Jin’s past and his old friends had a sad story.

As much as he wanted to, Jin could never move on like the rest of them. He was stuck like this forever.

“I’m glad you’re back.” You whispered against his chest, snuggling into his arms and feeling the soft cotton of his shirt against your nose.

“Me too.” He said quietly.

You could still hear the pain in his voice.

“Don’t be sad Jin. You’re home now.” You breathed, pulling on his shirt.

He grabbed your hand while it was still clutching his shirt and you opened your eyes, looking up at him.

You let go of the fabric and Jin kissed you before taking off his shirt and climbing on top of you.

Wrapping your hands behind his neck, you pulled him in close again and he made out with your lips.

Without warning he punctured your lips and you winced with a small whine.

“Jin.” You smiled, and he kissed your bottom lip, sucking and licking the small drop of blood forming at the skin.

“I got carried away.” He kissed your cheek gently and rolled onto his back.

“We can't do anything tonight anyways, you already bit me.”

“I know, I took a lot of blood too.”

You guys tried more than once before, but having sex after losing blood, it left you exhausted the next day. So exhausted you couldn’t move any part of your body.

One of the setbacks of being human.

You straddled him and he shook his head, already shaming you for not going to sleep like a good girl.

Blood droplets continued to form at your lip and you frowned. Tomorrow your lip would be a bit swollen and it would hurt when he kissed you.

Slightly annoyed at him for teasing, you licked the blood off your lip and tasted the bitter, iron like liquid.

He quickly pushed you onto your back again and you looked up at him innocently, knowing exactly why he was so riled up.

Seeing you taste your own blood, he said it was the sexiest turn on.

“Go to sleep Y/N.” He glared back, tucking you in and moving away to his side of the bed.

You pouted and felt stupid for teasing him like that especially when it was the first night you had him back, and the first day he’s fed in weeks.

Hugging him from behind, you kissed the back of his neck and knew he wasn’t going to move the rest of the night. He wasn’t mad, he just knew how to make you do what he wanted.

You already knew that no matter how hard your tried, he wouldn’t talk to you again for the rest of the night, he would just stay frozen like a statue.

Instead you spoke to him, telling him about your days while he was away, and slowly but surely dozing off into your dreams.

______

The cafeteria was almost deserted this early in the morning. There were maybe about five people sitting down on their laptops and eating at the same time. Others on their phone.

You skipped breakfast that morning and Jin said he’d meet you here.

At the doors there were vending machines that sold all kinds of drinks. After getting a coffee, you stood by the doors and heard their voices approach.

“Jin hyung. Please. I have no where to go.”

“Not my problem Jungkook. It’s not like you don’t have money to rent a place. Plus I have a girlfriend, she practically lives with me already.” He swung the cafeteria doors open.

One of them swung into you, a small gasp escaping your mouth as you stumbled towards the nearest table, somehow not spilling an ounce of your drink.

“Are you okay?” His arms were stabilizing you in an instant. The look of death on his face. “I didn’t see you babe, are you hurt?”

“I’m fine.” You laughed, embarrassed at his behavior in front of his friend. “You must be Jungkook.”

“Yeah. You must be Jin’s girlfriend.” He said, smiling politely.

You wondered why he didn’t know your name but then you remembered what Jin just said. Jungkook didn’t even know you existed until just now.

Jin was still staring at you.

“Jin, I’m fine. Really.”

Like that, he snapped out of it and turned to Jungkook.

“This is Y/N. We’ve been dating for a while and we have plans to eat breakfast together so-”

“Got it. I’ll text you later. It was nice meeting you Y/N.” He nodded.

“Likewise.” You waved goodbye as you were herded towards the food by Jin.

“You seem annoyed.” You commented, a bit disappointed that Jin was in a bad mood and that he didn’t even mention he had a girlfriend to Jungkook.

“He’s being a pain in the ass.”

“He misses you maybe? It seems like he needs you and he wants a place to stay where he can feel comfortable.”

“You heard all that?” He asked.

“I don’t have to come over. I can move my stuff out. You guys can be bros and bond again.”

Jin grabbed a tray and began looking through this morning’s options. You didn’t even bother looking at the food since he already knew what you liked.

“I really don’t care if he misses me or not.” Jin continued to fill your tray.

“You didn’t get a tray for yourself.” You pointed out.

“Jesus.” He said, almost cursing, before turning back to get another.

When he came back you took his tray and grabbed his face in your hands. He froze but he looked down at you with a hard expression.

“Jin. Relax.” You kissed him and felt his body relax instantly.

“If you want to help me relax, I suggest we go somewhere else.” He trailed his kissed down your neck.

You pushed away from him before anyone saw. “Your human emotions are coming out.”

“Vampires get…excited…too.”

You sighed, giving him a sad smile. “I mean you’re lack of sympathy. If you don’t want anything to do with him that’s fine. But I assume in his eyes, you’re his friend.”

“You know I don’t have friends. Not really.”

“Only me.” You reminded yourself like he always does.

He only cared about you. No one else.

While that seemed sweet at first, you came to realize that he really didn’t care about others. You wondered if it was because he was a vampire, or because he was afraid to trust anyone else.

Humans were really no better than vampires when it came to sympathy, empathy, jealousy, envy and any other bad emotion.

“He ran Y/N. He ran away from all his problems, from us.”

“From what I know, he didn’t have a choice. He was young and he was probably scared to death.”

He smiled at your unintentional choice of words. Instantly, you felt embarrassed.

“I’ll be nice to him. Only because I don’t want you to think I’m some demon from hell with no feelings. You know, you’re no human either Y/N. You’re an angel.”

“I know you’re not a monster Jin. You think you’re a monster but humans aren’t much different. I love you, blood sucking kink or not.”

He gave you a genuine smile before his expression turned dark.

“Prove it.” He dared, taking a step closer, eliminating the space between you.

You wrapped your arms around his neck and kissed him gently. He took control and pressed his lips against yours, getting rougher with his movements and you giggled, bringing attention to yourselves but he played it off by focusing back on the food selection.

__________

His teeth grazed the skin on your neck and you inhaled sharply, biting your lips in hopes of not letting him know how much you wanted it. He wanted it too, the ecstasy and peace he left on top of the pleasure.

Your neck was more than exposed for him but you kept your head back, focusing on the pleasure building up within your core as you rode him on the couch.

He kissed his way up between your breasts and he loved to leave marks around the skin with each greedy suckle.

“Faster baby.” He ordered, concentrating his lips onto your neck.

He gently sucked around the wound marks, and the slight pain heightened your senses, the pleasure.

“Jin.” You whined, holding him tighter and rocking your hips faster, pumping him just the way he liked.

“Ahh, fuck baby.” He growled, sucking your sweet spot and controlling his hunger.

If he bit, then it would hurt you and ruin your high, but he would feel so good, so pleased.

“Do it Jin.” You breathed, kissing his lips and assuring him that you wanted this. You missed him so much, his touch, his groans, his breathy orders. You wanted to please him.

He kissed you again before switching positions, picking you up and placing you against the couch instead. He was so fast with his movements, it all happened within a blink.

He was pounding into you now, and you threw your head back, letting him sink his teeth into you. The pain somehow wasn’t as bad as usual, and you felt yourself orgasm suddenly.

He groaned loudly and you were underneath him, on cloud 9 and breathing quickly, completely overwhelmed with pleasure.

As you both rode out your high, he brushed the hair away from your face and became gentle again, kissing your cheeks and letting his other hand caress your body.

“Fuck princess, you came when I bit you.” He kissed your neck with a gentleness that felt tender and warm.

“I’m sorry I can’t keep going.” You breathed.

He laughed and kept kissing you wherever he could. “I’m more than satisfied baby.”

You were spent and exhausted. He licked the blood dripping from your new wounds and carried your tired body to the bathroom.

“Having that kind of stamina must be nice for vampires no?”

“Vampire sex is boring. I like feeling your body react to everything I do, I can hear your heart pounding, your scent, it’s intoxicating. Not this, tropical melody body wash.” He picked up the bottle of soap and passed it to you.

“It was on sale.” You informed him as he lowered you into the bathtub.

“If I turn you, sex won’t be so much fun.”

“But I’d last a few more orgasms don’t you think? How many have you had in one night?” You asked, but you didn’t really want to know because then you’d wonder who was the lucky one that had pleasured him so much?

“No more than two, I only beat that record with you.” He said smugly, recalling the last time you guys had sex and you both came three times. “We’ll have plenty more orgasms princess but I prefer to keep you human for now.”

“As soon as I see a wrinkle you better turn me.”

“You’ll get wrinkles if you stay in the water too long, hurry and bathe, I’ll take a shower.” He kissed you and walked into the shower, turning the hot water on and fogging up the glass so that you couldn’t see him.

“Jin they haven’t stopped bleeding.” You entered the shower with him after you were done bathing.

He lifted your head up and looked at the puncture wounds.

“I already put on the stickers you gave me but they dissolved.”

“I’ll patch them up with a bit of gauze and in the morning they should be fine. Do you want to eat before we go to sleep?”

You shook your head.

As soon as the silk of the pajamas hit your skin, silk he bought custom made, you fell into his arms and closed your eyes before making it to the bed.

The next morning you didn’t even remember when he taped the small squares of gauze onto your neck.

But that’s how it usually went. Your low stamina felt like a burden. Most of the time you fell asleep right away when you just wanted to cuddle and have long conversations.

You peeled the tape and cotton off, two small scars developed on your skin. The other scars on your neck were fading but you realized that there were a lot. Pairs of dark spots lined your neck, which you always covered but it felt a bit scary to look at.

Were you becoming addicted? The pain was worth the unique sensation. To be able to please him, to feel the thin border between pain and pleasure as he suckled the skin on your neck. Isn’t that like a kink, not an addiction you had to be ashamed of?

You looked at yourself in the mirror and Jin came into the room. He did a double take and came to inspect your skin immediately.

“You have too many marks on your neck. They’re not fading as fast as before. Y/N, you have every right to refuse my bite.” He said disappointedly.

“I can cover them up easily. It doesn’t hurt. You needed to feed before, and last night I wanted to make you feel good.”

“I need to take you to the doctor, when’s the last time you had a checkup?”

“Six months ago, when you took me.”

“We need to go again. Maybe you need to change your diet. Is anyone in your family diabeti-”

You shut him up with a kiss.

“I’m fine Jin. You wouldn’t have to worry so much if I was like you.”

“We talked about this.”

“I know. I don’t want you to turn me but all I can see are positives.”

“If you saw the real me you wouldn’t want anything to do with vampire.”

“I know the real you Jin. Stop trying to make me feel bad for loving you.”

“I scare you sometimes. Isn’t that reason enough for you to stop loving me?” He lowered his head.

It was one of those rare times in which he became vulnerable and completely human.

“Okay then break up with me. You should have the guts to leave me, to break my heart and claim it’s for my own good.” He looked up at you, watching your small outburst and he became a vampire again.

He bit his lip slightly and stood up, taking your face into his hands and bringing his lips dangerously close to yours.

“You know what’s the worst thing about being a vampire Y/N? Why I can’t just leave you alone?” You stared into his eyes and felt nothing but complete love for him, hypnotized by his perfection and the way he made you feel.

“We love being selfish.” He growled before biting your neck. You gasped at the pain and yet it didn’t matter.

You loved him too much to refuse and he loved you too much to let go. Even if this only lasted a lifetime, you wanted him to be your vampire, and no one else’s.

_______________________

Part 3

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fluidsf · 5 years

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Fluid Label Focus on Genot Centre 15 Mor Air: Life Behind Glass (2019) Cover by Zdeněk Růžička Catalogue number: GEN036 Reviewed format: advance review copy of digital album on Genot Centre as kindly provided by Genot Centre Welcome to a new review in the Fluid Label Focus series on the Genot Centre label, today I have for you a brand new release, which is the album Life Behind Glass by Canadian artist and DJ Mor Air, who previously released music and mixes on a variety of underground electronic (dance) labels, online radio and various mixes as Spurz. This review is based off the advance pre-announcement review copy press kit I received from Genot Centre, which features: the album cover in 1624x1553p resolution, a press text docx document, the album in 10 16-bit/44.1kHz WAV files with cover too, as well as a folder with artist press photos and a folder with the front and back cover of the release, both again in 1624x1553p. Genot Centre regular graphic designer Zdeněk Růžička has designed some lovely artwork for this release again, combining colourful warm blurry imagery on the front and back cover with mirrored type stating the album artist in elegant calligraphic type, with the album title and other text on the album’s packaging in neat sans serif type. On the inside artwork of the packaging the text is placed in normal format, without mirroring and the artwork is not blurry, instead featuring a funky mixture of beach photography and various abstract shapes, creating an 80’s like colourful summery aesthetic but also with contemporary refinement within its style. The cassette tape itself comes in an oversized norelco case that house both the cassette horizontally and a poetry book by More Air, featuring “interpretations” poems that match the music on the tape. Life Behind Glass is definitely an album that fits the warm, pleasant and relaxed state of feelings in the summer with the 10 tracks over ~ 43 minutes feeling like old-school 80s tinged Ambient vibes as well as mixtures of warm layered ambiences and contemporary styled punchy grooves. While the album was actually created to escape from the hurtful feelings of a recently happened tragedy (as described by Colin Moir (aka Mor Air) in the press text, the album’s warmth, experimental playful sampling techniques that hark back to the 80’s sampler craze and fluidly mixed in field recordings together create an album that in many ways feels like wiping a slate clean, starting with a new better phase of life or simply relaxing in good vibes in the evening or early morning. So let’s get into the music on this album. Life Behind Glass begins with the track We Found A Few More Down Here which sounds a bit like the soundtrack to a journey on a submarine. Combined with the other tracks in the beginning of the first half of the album, Life Behind Glass does start with a bit of a varying set of tracks, in that the style jumps around a bit at first but fortunately stabilises quickly, giving the album a good coherency. In We Found A Few More Down Here you can hear eerie rumbles, delayed samples of a man saying commands taken from what could be a sci-fi film, various samples of water and synth effects as well as male breath samples. Filtered high pitched glassy drones seem to be matched with the water samples at various pitches too. It’s an eerie mysterious start of the album that mixes the submarine resonant drones with some lovely sonic details through mixed techniques that blend the inside and outside ambience of a submarine to create a sonic picture which is both describing the mystery of the dark ocean surround the submarine and the activities and work going on inside the submarine. Quite a bit different in ambience from the rest of the album, but the water sounds do connect this to the rest of the album in that they reference the ocean like sonic signature Mor Air uses a lot on this album. Then on Placate Mor Air balances 90s Braindance styled harmonies with atmospheric Deconstructed Club elements in the form of the rhythmic construction which features a mixture of auto-tuned vocal samples, thumping sub-bass kicks that appear regularly in “build”-like fast patterns, various drum samples and synth effects also add to the equally relaxed as kinetic vibe of the rhythmic layers in the piece. The melodies have a quite constant flow in this piece, not entirely idle, but still flowing forwards in a kind of state of infinite tranquility. The piano chords that appear often in the piece as accents add a nice acoustic element to the piece, though they also do seem to remind the start up sounds of old Macintosh computers, adding to the rhythmic layer as well. This piece definitely showcases the tropical island style of calmly flowing yet also intricately sound designed and inspired compositions Mor Air brings us a lot on Life Behind Glass. Never really abrasive, but also never sinking into just ambience for ambience’ sake. On Face To Face Mor Air blends a melancholic warm synth melody with an organ like drone, glimmering nature field recordings and pitched voice samples as well as flute like resonance effects. In the second half of the track, the music moves into a nicely slowed down UK garage style groove, with bouncy low pitched drums. It’s a great combination of atmospheric elements and some club vibes in this piece and again there are some cool sound design details in the piece, like the stretched textures within the drone, and subtle extra melodic elements. A very nice track again. Then on In Solidarity With Ghosts the lushness continues with another pleasantly flowing combination of synth melodies, melodic synth variations, as well as choppy kick rhythms, similar to Placate but with a more EDM styled click to the kick sound and the staccato melodies match the rhythm of the drums. The poppy flowing warm synth melodies do actually remind me a bit of The Chemical Brothers in their fluctuations and playful warm mellow ambience and the percussion sounds (drum sticks, flanged delayed claps) add a nice trippy vibe to the whole piece. Like I mentioned before, the music on this album really has a kind of relaxed island vibe to it, with the melodies being quite easy going but the tracks also being filled with nice details and wide spaced ambience textures, great music. Two Years then is a much more minimalist hypnotically repetitive piece with glimmering ambiences, sweet trumpet melody samples and tumbling looped piano samples that form the base of the piece. Very rich in textures and warmth and this piece definitely has a very nice uplifting feeling about it. Head Blown Out afterwards moves back to the more consistent mixture of ambiences and often quite bassy grooves, with a piece that has got some awesome samples, deep bass, and a strong old-school Dubstep influence with its deep wobbling bassline, delayed sample stabs manipulated vocal samples and filtered synth effects. The track also reminds me a bit of Wagon Christ’s (Luke Vibert) early albums on Ninja Tune. An intriguing mixture of obscure mysterious melodic elements, nature field recordings and a choppy beat, very nicely driving and deep piece. One of my favourite tracks on this album for sure. Build Me As A Birdhouse is an ecstatic piece filled with warm bright synths, nature recordings, including some seagulls and more high pitched details which builds towards a pretty intense and distorted climax. Nicely pulsating synths in this one, if you listen closely you’ll also notice that yes, there’s also some cool vocal samples in this piece, just like in Head Blown Out. Please Let Me Sing The Good Notes then, is a soundtrack like contemplative piece of music, featuring effected piano, deep spacious sparse panned percussion, bright synth and a train like rumbling percussion rhythm as well. This piece has got quite an 80s vibe to it, with the anvil like resonant percussion sound recalling 80’s Industrial styled textures and the synths having quite clean production to them, albeit it with some funky filter effects to them as well, nice piece again. Ruined Night does continue the 80s sound in a way with an oriental melody, Ethereal female vocals and an intense drum machine rhythm, which also includes drum break samples and nicely a punchy 32nd note kick pattern. The vocals are however also effected in a great way with a panning effect increasing the rate of stereo stutters and decreasing it in waves. The firework sounds are also a great addition to this track which adds some extra cinematic depth to the piece, very nice again, excellent deep atmospheric groove. Final piece First Blush is like the first track a short piece, in this case a Progressive Electronic styled synth ambience backed by a bouncy PWM synth arpeggio and effected dialogue spoken by a woman. Both atmospheric and spacey, this fluid ambience stream is a great ending of this lush album by Mor Air. All in all on Life Behind Glass Mor Air very successfully blends elements from various exciting styles of electronic music into his own personal warm beatscapes and ambiences which are not only rich in soundlplay and layering but are in the end also very hopeful emotive pieces of music that together form a sweet soundtrack like collection of music on this album and of which certain melodic and sonic details might recall some particularly pleasant memories of your own life as well. An excellent album for not only fans of the aforementioned genres but also for people looking for a warm melodic album of electronic music that not only relaxes but inspiring your subconscious in a peaceful state in this late summer. Go check it out. At time of writing this album is still available as limited edition cassette tape including "Interpretations" poetry book by Colin Moir at the Genot Centre Bandcamp: https://genot.bandcamp.com/album/life-behind-glass

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lokgifsandmusings · 7 years

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Definitive Ranking of Book 4 Episodes, #1/13

1. 4x02 Korra Alone

Non-linear all around perfect episode that explores Korra’s struggles with PTSD and I can’t even be funny about this. Oh and Toph.

This is a post that’s taken me some time to write, because addressing the perfection of this particular episode is a daunting task. I mean it. It’s not just the best episode of Book 4, it’s the best episode of the franchise. The most daring as well.

For a little bit of context, there’s an incredibly popular episode from Avatar: the Last Airbender called “Zuko Alone.” It picks up after he leaves Iroh in “Avatar Day,” because his uncle kind of pointed out that the hunt for the Avatar might be a tad on the futile side. His brain can’t reconcile this, so the episode instead shows him trying to blindly stick to this task, while feeling as though he has no place in the world, and being rejected by anyone who finds out who he really is. He struggles with inner darkness, inner pain, and the whole time his story is punctuated by flashbacks of his relationship to his sister, his mother’s disappearance, and his father’s ascension to Fire Lord.

I’m not sure I’d call it the high point of ATLA (“Crossroads of Destiny” gets that honor), but it is kind of everything with regards to Zuko, easily one of the strongest characters Bryke have ever written. Also it did a great job of not endorsing his self-destructive tendencies or making excuses for him.

“Korra Alone” was announced (and screened) at the 2014 New York Comic Con, and when Bryke first said the episode title, the audience screamed. Smugly, from the comfort of my couch, I shook my head at the livestream and declared that there was no way this could measure up.

Well, color me dead wrong. I forgot that it was starring Korra, and she not only measures up, she creates a new goddamned reality the world didn’t know it needed.

Just thinking about the episode for first-time viewers, it does exactly what it needs to do. It’s impactful coming off the [mostly] Korra-less “After All These Years” to not just see her, but feel what she’s going through and feel that isolation, even when she’s surrounded by her parents and other loved ones. Though it somewhat takes on the travel+flashbacks format of “Zuko Alone,” even Korra’s present-day plot isn’t strictly sequential—most notably with us learning the real reason she entered the earthbending cage-match, with the flashes moving faster to get her to the swamp. It gives the entire episode a very ungrounded feel, which for the viewer does two things:

You desperately begin to want Korra to connect and be stabilized, because there is an inherent discomfort from the loose form for your brain (not a bad thing...an effective discomfort)

It REALLY gives the impression that time is passing in this episode

The second point is especially striking when you consider the scope. We’ve got in one “plotline” (for lack of a better term): Korra underground fighting, following a ‘dog’, and getting sucked into the swamp where she meets Toph. This alone covers significant ground. Then we have her flashbacks of leaving Republic City, not improving in her home and Senna begging her to go to Katara, Katara’s first healing session, the letters from friends that paint time as passing, Katara’s ‘wiggle your toe’ session, Tenzin visiting, Korra’s narrated letter to Asami while she meditates and trains, her leaving the SWT, her failing to apprehend the thieves, turning from Yue Bay, cutting her hair and donning new clothes, the tree of time scene, then traversing every possible landscape.

HOW WAS THIS ALL IN A 22 MINUTE EPISODE?

Yeah. This is three years, no question about it. It’s visually stunning, but there’s also this extreme sense of loss that the viewer is clued into, and the aimlessness that is heavily felt. Korra’s physical appearance changing was the external manifestation of this, and the symbolism surrounding it was as clear as when Iroh and Zuko did the same nearly 8 years prior. Toph popping out at the end is the one bit of relief, and it *really* shines, especially given her voice actor being perfect and sounding instantly familiar to us (did Philece Sampler just watch hours and hours of Jessie Flower footage or something??).

I can’t see this not landing for someone the first time through, to be perfectly honest. It sets up Korra’s journey for the season, and with her still out of touch from Raava and still away from friends and family, there’s a lot that needs resolving, and that the audience should definitely want to see resolved.

Placing “Korra Alone” in the context of the entire season, and the series at that (or even the franchise) is a different ballgame. Not a worse one, but it certainly means that you can consider this in Korra’s healing arc as a whole.

I’ll fully admit I was not 100% on-board with Dark!Korra being the representation for PTSD at first, even though this is, at the end of the day, a Y7 show that needs to break down these concepts to children. However, it worked within this episode, and given how the whole thing was resolved through mindful meditation (plus how the little bit of metal Korra extracted didn’t end up being a cure-all), I think it justified itself in a general sense.

In the case of “Korra Alone” alone (lol), it worked in a sort of 3rd person omniscient way, to quickly convey Korra reliving this moment and having a ton of anxiety each time it occurred. What had the potential for being a bit of a cheap visual metaphor instead mostly landed, giving us a kind of visceral understanding of that anxiety (and as someone who’s had to explain what that feels like to people who’ve never experienced it, that’s really no easy task).

When it comes to Korra’s healing arc as a whole, I’m going to have to be an asshole and tell you that Gretchen ( @theonewithpurplehair ) and I are planning on writing something about it when she gets back from South Africa. It will be lengthy and emotional and talk about THEMES and how important this is. We do that.

But even in advance of it, I think there’s a point to be made about Bryke choosing to have a healing arc in the first place. They didn’t have to, you know. And for some, especially in light of the indelicately worded “I needed to suffer” quote from the final episode, having two white men use a bisexual indigenous woman to explore a story about recovering from extensive trauma is uncomfortable, which is absolutely a valid tension.

However, something I think @glamourweaver highlighted best back when fandom dialogue was more...heightened, was that like it or not, Korra’s gone through major traumas throughout the show. In Book 1, she lost most of her bending and was so affected there was not-subtle-at-all suicide imagery included. Then Aang’s magic touch fixed her depression! Yay!

In Book 2, she had Raava ripped out of her and lost her (admittedly newfound) connection to her past lives, calling into question her very identity as the Avatar. The whole astral-projection thing she did? That was just Korra’s strength of soul, separate from anything to do with reincarnated powers. So yeah, reconnecting with Raava and becoming the first Avatar of a new spiritual age would totally be healing, but the idea that there’s no trauma she’d need to explore? Book 3 is near and dear to me, but in many ways it almost feels like a new show, complete with not bothering to tap into implications of the first 2 seasons. Whoops!

It’s yeah, not great how much she was put through the wringer when you get down to it. But Bryke are conscientious and tend to fix their mistakes. In a lot of ways, Korra being given PTSD—like...realistic PTSD—and an ensuing healing arc in Book 4 was the direct answer to everything previously glossed over.

The result? To that, I’ll just go ahead and quote @beccatoria’s essay (seriously, read it), because it lays out the meaning so well:

“This brings us to the final part of my argument: forming new meanings. The therapies I have mentioned so far focus on the physiological issues. The brain blows a fuse and can't process what it has experienced, so if you fix the fuse, you fix the processing problem. This still leaves a person who has been through an extremely traumatic event. PTSD almost always presents alongside issues such as depression and can lead to feelings of isolation and guilt. Individuals may either feel emotionally disconnected or emotionally out of control and have often internalised damaging messages as a result of their trauma. There is often a focus on creating new meanings as these memories are re-examined. We see this in Korra's evolving attitude to her own experiences.

Zaheer asserts that her power is limitless. She should never have been able to survive the poison. He offers her an opportunity to recontextualise her survival as evidence of her enormous resilience and strength rather than as a failure because she did not survive unscathed. While she is recovering, Katara tells her about Aang and how he chose to find meaning in his suffering. “What will I find?” Korra wonders. “Won't it be interesting to find out?” Katara asks. The answer comes in her final conversation with Tenzin. Korra chooses to form new meanings for her experiences, and chooses to find a message of compassion and empathy.”

Yes, the landing was not 100% perfect, but the recontextualization of her suffering and subsequent empowerment through that was clear. Korra ended the series hopeful about the future, and more at peace than we had seen her—certainly more at peace than that flailing teenager who was more willing to demand a duel with Amon than admit fear. She had grown and found ways to reconcile what happened into how she wanted to lead her life.

Do you mind if I get personal for three seconds? I have general anxiety, as well as a very specific (and admittedly mild) trauma associated with driving, and though I’ll never equate my experience to Korra’s brutalization (seriously, mine just involves a hangover, a large cup of coffee, pizza, and a bridge), there is something about that terror of being out-of-control I identify with, and it features so strongly in Korra’s arc. I also know what it’s like to want to will something away and fight against everything that’s happening. Why can’t my stupid brain just STOP?

But the thing is, like beccatoria said, it’s about contextualizing it. Anxiety never goes away, and it certainly can’t be willed out of the forefront. But you can choose to look at things with a new point of view. To be able to sit with a feeling and recognize what it is, even if it’s massively uncomfortable or puts your body in flight-or-fright mode. Personally, I’ve come to look at my anxiety/intrusive thoughts as a very badly behaved cat. The cat is weirdly trying to protect me, and truly thinks this is what will help keep me safe, but well...it’s an idiot:

Still, it’s *my* idiot, damnit, and now when I drive, I can just picture her in the passenger seat chewing on the emergency brake. She’s also the survival mechanism my brain came up with to shield me from more chaotic forces in my life, and that’s kind of neato, when you get down to it.

*Kind of*, okay? (I still need to replace this chair, though Trystane Nymeros has done more damage to it with his many toes).

The point is, Korra’s story is powerful and salubrious because she just...goes through hell and back, she really does. But she not only finds meaning in it, she finds positivity and hope. She is at her MOST secure when she flings herself in front of that spirit gun, and then talks down the season antagonist with a few words. It’s uplifting, without pulling *any* punches on how ugly and terrifying and isolating PTSD can be.

There were punches thrown outside of “Korra Alone” too, but that was the episode that waded in most deeply, and somehow did it in an appropriate fashion for a Y7 show. I can’t sing its praises enough, truly.

Having laid this all out, it seems almost trite to mention the Korrasami aspects of the episode. It didn’t escape the fandom that Korra telling Tonraq and Senna she wanted to go back home read like a coming out conversation, and the “Dear Asami” sequence is without question the most stunning of the episode. Though @queertoonqueertoons lays out why there’s other reasons for that as well. But like, what can be said? Korra lets herself be vulnerable around Asami in a way she won’t with others, and Asami asks for very little in return. It was a nice, continuing thread, but it never became a focal point of the episode, or the series, so shame on me if I buck the trend.

I can give overall thoughts on Book 4 when I pull together the final post for this ranking, but like Korra, I think I’m ending on a pensive and positive note. “Korra Alone” will do that for you, even though it may be the darkest episode of the franchise. What a masterpiece.

#13: 4x08 “Remembrances”

#12: 4x11 “Kuvira’s Gambit”

#11: 4x09 “Beyond the Wilds”

#10: 4x07 “Reunion”

#9: 4x06 The “Battle of Zaofu”

#8. 4x12 “Day of Colossus”

#7 4x01 “After All These Years”

#6 4x03 “The Coronation”

#5 4x04 “The Calling”

#4 4x05 “Enemy at the Gates”

#3 4x10 “Operation Beifong”

#2 4x13 “The Last Stand”

Book 2 ranking/essays found here

#korra #lok #lok meta #korra alone #book 4 ranking #meta #korra 4x02

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