#but about a year ago a friend from college invited me to join a rec volleyball team even though i'd never played volleyball | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

pindaleng · 3 years

Link

Merry Pitchmas @anotherbechloeshipper !!

Had so much fun writing this one, hope you enjoy it :)

Title: In From the Snow

Pairing: Bechloe

Chapters: 1/1

Wordcount: 2943

Summary: Beca didn’t anticipate making many friends her freshman year, much less become best friends with one Chloe Beale. When a snow storm ruins both their plans to travel home, they get to spend some quality time together. Beca thinks this might be her best chance to tell the other girl how she feels.

Read on AO3 or below.

Beca stared gloomily at the large flakes falling outside her dorm window.

There was no way her old Camry would be able drive more than ten miles an hour in these conditions. The forecast said “heavy snow”, but she didn’t realize it’d be this bad.

She totally would have left a few days earlier if she didn’t have a final scheduled for the absolute last day of the semester. It’s not like she was super excited about heading back home either, but she knew her dad and step mom would give her shit for it.

She sighed. Might as well text them now to rip off that band-aid.

Shortly after she sent the message, she heard a knock on her opened door.

“Hey, you’re still here!”

In the doorway stood Chloe Beale, undoubtedly the coolest person on their dorm floor. Beca (to her surprise) got along with most of the people on her floor, but something about Chloe specifically drew her in.

Admittedly, she found the other girl annoying at first, as she seemed like the high school girls that were fake nice just to talk about you behind your back. She soon learned, though, that Chloe was the real deal.

But not of course before giving her a hard time for a couple of months. Frustratingly, but thankfully, Chloe was incredibly persistent. Beca hadn’t really expected to make so many friends, intending to keep her head down and make her way through, but everyone grew on her. Especially Chloe.

“Yeah, unfortunately still here.” Beca replied. “Wanted to drive out today but doesn’t look like that’s gonna happen.”

Chloe invited herself in and hopped onto Beca’s bed. She hummed in understanding. “I just got back from the store and driving was for sure a struggle. Definitely would not recommend.”

“Great. You’re staying here too, then?”

“Yep! Which means you get to spend time with little ol’ me.” She propped her head on her hands. “Any plans for the day?”

There wasn’t really a Plan B since she didn’t expect her driving-back-home Plan A to not work out. “Not really, probably just gonna work on some mixes.”

“Can I join?”

“Yes, please make it a little less sad that I’m stuck here on Christmas Eve.”

“Sweet, I’ll be back.” Chloe slid off the bed and make her way out the room. “Don’t have too much fun without me!”

Beca just rolled her eyes and started setting up her laptop.

Chloe came back moments later with her sketchbook and colored pencils, and settled on Beca’s roommate’s bed. Both of them were friends with Stacie, so they knew she wouldn’t mind her bed being used.

They passed time peacefully like this for a couple of hours, each doing their separate thing.

Beca was so engrossed in her music that she doesn’t notice Chloe call out her name until the other girl waved at her to get her attention.

She slipped off her headphones. “What’s up?”

“I was thinking about getting some food soon. You in?”

The hunger hit her stomach now that food was mentioned. “Yeah, I could eat. Where at?” Though the dorms stayed open, dining halls were closed. There were plenty of places nearby though, and many of whom delivered. They went back and forth suggesting restaurants until Chloe looked like she had an epiphany. “We should go to that new ramen place!”

Beca’s immediate reaction was to pout, as they didn’t deliver. Chloe laughed.

“Oh come on, it’s a five minute walk, max. You big baby.” Chloe playfully poked her cheek. “Plus it’s super pretty outside.”

“And it’s super warm inside.”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “I’m going with or without you.”

The ultimatum was effective. Beca grumbled but put her coat on anyways. The reluctance was really just all show, as she would probably walk naked into a freezing lake for the other girl.

Snow was steadily falling outside, blanketing all the surfaces in a thick layer of white. Campus was quiet, as most of the students had already left for the holidays. It was both eerie and calming. The absence of drunk frat guys yelling, though, was definitely a plus.

“Okay I admit, it is pretty outside.” But you’re prettier. The automatic thought was so cheesy she almost threw up a bit in her mouth. Since when did she think such gross things? She could practically see Stacie smirking annoyingly at her.

Chloe grinned in victory, and Beca’s heart swooped.

Her brain definitely wasn’t lying though: Chloe was undoubtedly beautiful. The snowflakes in Chloe’s hair contrasted perfectly with the red color, making her look like some sort of magazine model. It felt kind of unfair that she could exist like that and not know what she was doing to poor Beca’s soul.

—

When the waitress asked if they needed one or two checks, Chloe replied “just one” before Beca could get a word in.

As the waitress walked away, Beca sent a questioning look to the redhead.

Chloe shrugged, “It’s easier for them to just run a single card.” Beca offered to pay her back, but she insisted it to be a holiday present. If Beca didn’t know better, she would have swore it was a date.

They were on their way back to the dorms when Beca felt something hit the back of her head.

She whipped around. “Hey!”

Chloe was already packing another snowball, clearly out for blood. She quickly launched that one too, which Beca barely managed to sidestep. She bent down to create her own snow projectile.

Chloe began to run away to get out of range, so Beca went to chase her. Unfortunately, Beca slipped on the snow and fell. Chloe was immediately at her side. “Oh my god, are you okay?”

The snow cushioned her fall pretty well, but Beca didn’t want to give that away just yet. She faked a grimace. “I think I broke my leg.”

“Oh shit.” Chloe furrowed her eyebrows in worry. “I’m so sorry I-“

Beca felt too bad that she immediately stopped her. “I’m joking, I’m actually fine.”

It took a moment to register, and then Chloe slapped her on the arm. “You scared me!”

Beca rubbed the spot where she was hit. “Ok now I actually have to go to the hospital.”

Chloe just slapped her arm again, before offering a hand to pull her up. Beca took it but didn’t get up. Chloe looked confused as Beca smirked, and then pulled the other girl down into the snow with her. She fell on her face in the fresh snow with a satisfying poof.

“Oh my god, you asshole.” Chloe laughed after pulling her face up, and shoved at the other girl, who was still laying in the snow.

“Chlo you have a beard.” Beca was practically wheezing at the sight of Chloe having snow stuck all over her face. “Still hot though.”

Chloe modeled it, striking poses and getting up to walk down an imaginary runway, while Beca yelled after her, hyping her up.

They messed around in the snow for a while longer, then took the long way back. Beca considered complaining about the cold and wet seeping in, but Chloe just looked so happy. Plus, it really was nice outside. Walking with Chloe in the peace of campus was a moment Beca wanted to keep tucked in her pocket forever.

—

After getting back, they went to take showers (separately) to warm themselves up, deciding to reconvene later in Chloe’s room. Beca sat on her bed with her hair in a towel, scrolling through her phone. She opened a message from Stacie, who was definitely one of her best friends in college so far. She flew out a couple of days ago and told Beca not to “get too freaky” while she was gone. Beca practically shoved her out the door.

Stacie [6:31 pm]: You make it home?

Beca [7:13 pm]: No, stuck here. Stupid snow.

A reply immediately came in.

Stacie [7:13 pm]: Ugh that sucks, are you by yourself then?

Beca hesitated on what exactly to say, knowing Stacie would immediately make fun of her for the truth.

Beca [7:15 pm]: Not exactly…..Chloe is also still here

Stacie [7:16 pm]: !!!!!!!!!!

Stacie [7:16 pm]: BECA

Stacie [7:16 pm]: THIS IS YOUR CHANCE

Beca [7:17 pm]: Dude she doesn’t like me

Stacie [7:18 pm]: Do NOT bother coming back to campus if you don’t shoot your shot right now

Stacie [7:19 pm]: Joking but also not

Stacie [7:19 pm]: She hangs out w you all the time. She actually listens to your music recs. Plz do something.

Stacie [7:20 pm]: Ok talk later family is calling for dinner, good luck!!!!!

Beca [7:21 pm]: ??? I’m going to ignore that you basically implied not listening to any of the music I’ve suggested

She fell back onto her bed. She wanted to make a move, and she did feel like there could be something between them. However, each time Chloe was nice to someone else, she got psyched out believing that Chloe was always just being platonically nice to her. No flirting involved.

With each passing day, though, it became harder to deny she wanted her. And how badly she did. She caught herself staring a bit too long, and hung endlessly on the small touches Chloe would always do. A brush of the finger here, and a hair tucked behind an ear there. Beca thought some days she might explode.

She texted Chloe to ask if she was ready yet.

Chloe [7:25 pm]: Sorry got distracted!! Hopping in the shower now.

With the extra time, Beca decided to finish the mix she was working on earlier that day. There was something off about it that she couldn’t quite figure out, but coming back to it now, she figured out what it was missing. She listened to it a few times to make sure she was really happy with it before mastering it.

A text came in from Chloe, letting her know she could come over whenever.

Beca quickly added the song to a USB which already contained many music files, then placed the drive into a small pink, cardboard box she got from Stacie. The box originally held a necklace, which made it the perfect size for her gift.

She stashed it in her sweater pocket then made her way to Chloe’s room in the other wing of the floor.

It was still relatively early in the night, so Chloe suggested a movie. Beca wasn’t one for movies usually, but it wasn’t like she had any better ideas.

They cuddled together on the small dorm bed in Chloe’s den of pillows, with the laptop in front of them. The movie was actually pretty good, despite all the bad decisions the main character kept making, and the fact that Beca missed half the plot due to glancing at Chloe instead, and being nervous about how close they were.

“Thoughts?” Chloe turned down the volume as the credits began to roll.

“I think she should have gone with the second guy.”

“Really? I thought he was kind of iffy.”

They proceeded have a lively discussion about the movie, with Beca continuing to argue mostly to mess with Chloe, who seemed quite adamant about the main character’s end choice of romantic partner. It ended with Chloe tickling her until Beca finally admitted her defeat.

“Okay, close your eyes.”

Beca looked at Chloe warily, still catching her breath from the tickling attack. “Um, why?”

“Just do it.”

She sighed but did as she was told.

“No peeking!”

Her index finger drew a cross above her heart, signaling her promise to not look.

“Okay, you can open them now.”

In front of her was a piece of paper carefully rolled into a tube and bound with a red bow. Beca picked it up, gingerly untying the ribbon, unraveling her gift. Her jaw dropped.

“Chloe…”

In her hands was a pencil sketch of her with headphones on, smiling and almost on the verge of laughing. Honestly, she never thought about what she looked like while she was happy. The image of herself in her mind was always some version of broody. Is this how Chloe saw her? Beca wasn’t one to usually cry, but she might have teared up a bit.

“This is…incredible.”

Chloe looked kind of nervous. The same way that Beca was protective of showing others her music, Chloe was hesitant to show much of her art. “You like it?”

“Dude I love it. Seriously.” That reassurance seemed to put Chloe at ease. “Okay, your turn to close your eyes.”

Chloe did it without hesitation, and also held out her hands. Beca shook her head a bit in amusement and placed the small box into her palm.

“Okay, open.”

She opened her eyes and lifted the lid of the box to find a black USB drive, with a piece of tape on the side simply labeled “For Chloe”.

Her smile widened as she realized what her present was. “Do I get to finally listen to your music?”

“Maybe.”

“It means a lot, Beca. Thank you.”

“Um yeah, no problem. Don’t tell me if you end up thinking it’s bad.” She joked.

“Oh please, you’re going to have to block me with how many good things I’ll say.”

“Don’t tempt me, I might delete your contact right now.”

Chloe laughed. “Oh please, like you could last a day without me. Also, I actually have another present for you.” She scotched a bit closer to Beca.

“Oh,” Beca furrowed her eyebrows. “Well, I don’t have anything el-“

She was swiftly cut off as Chloe kissed her, soft and sweet. So polite and unassuming it almost felt platonic.

But god did it give Beca butterflies.

Chloe pulled away so quickly that Beca wasn’t sure it even happened. Like maybe she just daydreamed too hard and manifested a hallucination.

She must have had a deer in the headlights look because Chloe suddenly got super shy. “Was that okay?” She whispered, face still close.

Beca finally came to her senses. “Yeah, totally. More than okay. Amazing really.” She must look like a blushing mess.

The corner of Chloe’s mouth quirked up in amusement and relief. “Yeah?”

“Still could be better, though.” Good work Beca, make a joke to regain some semblance of having her shit together.

“Oh?” She watched Chloe lick her lips, a mesmerizing motion. The shyness was all but gone, replaced by something much more confident, and destined to ruin Beca’s life. And she knew she’d welcome it with open arms.

—

Beca woke up in the morning to the light touch of fingers trailing along her jaw. She smiled, remembering where she was, and more importantly, who was besides her. She probably had the best night of sleep in her life. “Can’t keep your hands off of me, Beale?” She asked, keeping her eyes closed.

“Are you going to try and stop me?” Chloe whispered. Her raspy morning voice was really so damn attractive.

She opened one eye, smiling. “I wouldn’t dare.”

“Good.” Chloe leaned in for a long kiss, the hand on her face pulling Beca closer. Her breath hitched. She didn’t think she could ever get used to this. Kissing Chloe Beale. Touching her.

She pulled away all too soon, just as Beca began to want her even more. Beca was quickly learning how much of a tease Chloe was.

“i’m going to get ready, and then maybe we can go get breakfast somewhere?”

“Or…we can stay in bed all day.”

Chloe giggled, and Beca almost professed her love. “Becs, both of us gotta head home.”

“Do we though?”

Chloe just smiled as she slipped out of bed and grabbed her toothbrush and face towel. Before she was completely out the door, she gave her butt a little shake, as if she could tell Beca was staring at her clad in a large t-shirt and sleep shorts. Beca was sure Chloe was smirking as she did it.

As soon as she was out of sight, Beca grabbed her phone from the desk. A text from her dad and a couple from Stacie. She opened the messages from the latter.

Stacie [11:13 pm]: How’d it go?

Stacie [11:30 pm]: I’m assuming the silence is a good thing and ur just too busy making out with Chloe to reply ;)

Beca typed out a quick message.

Beca [9:30 am]: So…..

Stacie [9:30 am]: THIS BETTER BE GOOD NEWS

Beca [9:31 am]: How do you keep replying so quickly??

Stacie [9:31 am]: How about you stop avoiding

Beca thought of the million different things she could say, but opted for simplicity.

Beca [9:32 am]: :)

Stacie [9:33 am]: Is that good

Stacie [9:33 am]: Beca is that good

Stacie [9:34 am]: ?????

She set her phone down, feeling giddy. It might have been a bit cruel to leave Stacie hanging, but she’d get over it. She’d get the full story eventually, but right now, Beca wanted to keep as much of this thing with Chloe to herself as possible. Definitely not like a shameful secret, though.

Something about telling someone about it, however vaguely, made last night and this morning seem actually real. She had this feeling deep in her chest that this was the start of something incredible, which made her both excited and a bit scared. Ok a lot scared. Terrified even.

It sucked that they’d have be apart right as they were starting something. Winter break couldn’t be over soon enough.

#bechloe #merry pitchmas 2020 #pitchmas 2020 #pitch perfect #beca mitchell #chloe beale #stacie conrad #college AU #snowed in #fic #anotherbechloeshipper

79 notes · View notes

lilydalexf · 4 years

Photo

Old School X is a project interviewing X-Files fanfic authors who were posting fic during the original run of the show. New interviews are posted every Tuesday.

Interview with Slippin’ Mickeys

Only 3 stories by Slippin’ Mickeys ended up at Gossamer, but she’s written many more stories than that. She’s also one of the few authors who posted numerous stories during the show’s original run and then again in the revival years. I’ve recced some of my favorites of her stories here, including Last Chance Falls and Currahee. Big thanks to Slippin’ Mickeys for doing this interview.

Does it surprise you that people are still interested in reading your X-Files fanfics and others that were posted during the original run of the show (1993-2002)?

I would say that it does and doesn't surprise me. It surprises me that anyone would want to read something I wrote all those years ago, (only in that I was an actual teenager at the time, and had no chops at all -- I've grown a lot as a writer, and honestly have trouble reading my old stuff because I would have made much different creative decisions now). But the fanfiction that came out of the original run of the show -- from almost day one -- was so rich and varied and a lot of it so well written that I am not the least bit surprised that people want to read it today. I go back and read old favorites often, and am always thrilled to find something that's new-to-me, even if it's 27 years old.

What do you think of when you think about your X-Files fandom experience? What did you take away from it?

The first thing I think about when I think about my fandom experience are the friends I made along the way. The X-Files came up with the internet, and there was a whole new way of connecting with people that liked the things that you liked. To this day, I am good friends with many people that I met through the show back in 1997-98. When the revival came about, I dove back in, and made new, more recent friendships that are just as rich. I love the show, but I also love the people I met along the way.

Social media didn't really exist during the show's original run. How were you most involved with the X-Files online (atxc, message board, email mailing list, etc.)?

I first got into the show's online community on some random message board that I think I probably found through a Yahoo search one day in a computer lab on my university's campus. I connected with one woman from Greece named Fay that day, who invited me to join a group of women that chatted about the show after it aired on Monday nights. After the first time I hooked up with them, we talked almost daily via ICQ. Later, in the early aughts, I found the forums on Mighty Big TV/Television Without Pity, where some of the most intelligent discussion was going on. The forums were heavily moderated, and so they were always on topic, and it was just a smart, funny, great place to be.

Eventually, I started working for TWoP as both a writer and moderator (surprise! A lot of people don't know this because TWoP protected the identities of their mods so well, but I was the X-Files board mod after Jessica left!). It was my first paid writing gig and opened doors for me both professionally and personally. Two TWoP recappers were in my wedding!

What did you take away from your experience with X-Files fic or with the fandom in general?

Fanfiction opened my eyes to storytelling as a medium. I'd obviously gone to school and read books, but it opened my eyes to words to could do and be. It was a heady time. There were stories of every stripe. Short, long, canon-compliant, AU, experimental, you name it. We had such gifted writers, too. To this day, I'd almost rather read a piece of well written fanfic than a good book. Fanfic made me want to be a storyteller myself.

What was it that got you hooked on the X-Files as a show?

It was the 'ship. God bless the ship. My first episode was Never Again, but I didn't watch again until I was sitting with my college roommate freshman year and she was like "sorry, but I have to watch The X-Files on Sunday nights." That first episode was Redux. The next week was Redux II, and by then it was all over for me. The lengths Mulder and Scully would go to for each other? And the relationship wasn't even sexual? Here were two people who loved each other. Really loved each other. Selflessly. I was SO IN.

What got you involved with X-Files fanfic?

At first, I started reading it. This was back when you could only watch the show in reruns or on those VHS tapes that were sold in three packs that had two eps on each tape (I still have the trading cards that came with them), so after I burned through the VHS options (of which there were few), and set my VCR to tape the weekly reruns on FX, I needed MORE. I found fanfic. And in fanfic, Mulder and Scully actually like, kissed and maybe even had sex! I read everything I could get my hands on. Pretty soon, I wanted to write it myself.

What is your relationship like now to X-Files fandom?

Things are tough these days. It's a hard world to live in, and politics aside, it just feels like everything is falling apart around us. When I first found the show, my life was in a bit of upheaval and I dove into the fandom to distract myself. I'm doing the same thing these days. When the show ended, I left the fandom and lived without it for about 15 years. But when the revival came (and really only after finishing season 11 -- season 10 didn't do much for me), I dove back in. I have quite a few more responsibilities these days, but when I can't watch the news anymore, I log on to XF Twitter (I use my fandom account far more than my IRL account) or Tumblr and get lost for a while. And most nights find me reading or writing fanfic before bed. When the world gets better (I'm cautiously optimistic) and the show has been off the air for years and years, will I leave again? Maybe. But for now, it's once again my happy place.

Were you involved with any fandoms after the X-Files? If so, what was it like compared to X-Files?

Nothing hardcore. The X-Files is my ride or die.

Do you ever still watch The X-Files or think about Mulder and Scully?

I do an occasional episode or movie rewatch. Not too often, but when I'm jonesing and have 45 free minutes, I'll put one on. But I'm writing fanfic again, and I get hit with inspiration at random and odd intervals, so it's safe to say I find myself thinking about Mulder and Scully probably more than is healthy.

Do you ever still read X-Files fic? Fic in another fandom?

All the time. The old stuff, the new stuff, the good stuff. If I have five minutes and my kid is entertaining himself? I'll happy pull out an old favorite.

Do you have any favorite X-Files fanfic stories or authors?

I'm reluctantly abstaining from this question, as I'm still active in the fandom and I know that naming favorites will hurt some feelings.

What is your favorite of your own fics, X-Files and/or otherwise?

Of The Eight Winds is probably my favorite. I've had a lot of fun writing AU's lately. It's a nice creative outlet, taking our favorite agents and plunking them in a totally different world.

Do you think you'll ever write another X-Files story? Or dust off and post an oldie that for whatever reason never made it online?

Do I! I have a whole ass queue. It's frankly irresponsible.

Do you still write fic now? Or other creative work?

I was writing professionally before I had a baby, and I took years off to be a stay at home mom. Once my kiddo was finally in school full time, I started writing again. With the pandemic, that's for the most part on hold, as I just don't have the bandwidth to dedicate to professional work. Fanfic is easier to play with when you only have five minutes here or there, and it's also great exercise when it comes to plotting and prose, so I'm sticking with fic for now. When the kiddos are all back in school, maybe I can start getting paid again.

Where do you get ideas for stories?

I get a lot of prompts that I just adore. And honestly, a lot of times, I'll post a stupid picture or ridiculous prompt of my own on Twitter and get dared to write it. If the idea gets stuck in my craw, I generally have to exorcise the demon.

What's the story behind your pen name?

Bad Blood had just aired and I was obsessed with it. I wanted to pay homage to it, so took Mulder's "who slipped him the mickey?" quote and ran with it. Do I regret that? Sometimes.

Do your friends and family know about your fic and, if so, what have been their reactions?

My husband knows and is supportive. He's a working writer, so he supports my endeavors, though I know he wishes I were doing something I could monetize. But it makes me happy, and ultimately: happy wife, happy life and all that jazz.

The friends of mine that I've made through the fandom all know and are super supportive.

As for the rest, well... I have a nom de plume on purpose!

Is there a place online (tumblr, twitter, AO3, etc.) where people can find you and/or your stories now?

All my newest work is on AO3. My old stuff can be found on various archives. Like the truth... it's out there.

Is there anything else you'd like to share with fans of X-Files fic?

I'd leave it with: we're a blessed fandom. The show we stan (even with the real stinkers, there's always something to love) keeps giving, the fellow fans are all some of the smartest, sweetest, and most dedicated people out there... we've been blessed for 25 years, and I don't see that stopping any time soon.

(Posted by Lilydale on August 11, 2020)

#new post #old school x #xfiles fanfic #xf fanfic #slippinmickeys #xf fanfic author interviews

90 notes · View notes

curatedkmen · 3 years

Text

“Closer”chapter II

Song rec: Blood Knows - Rhye

2016

“Seonho have you met everyone? This is Bae Sung Woo hyungnim, Park Sodam, and…” Le Dong Ha was introducing everyone to Seonho who just came in the theatre meeting room for a first script reading with the cast of “Closer.”

Closer. The theatre play that leave a huge impression in Seonho’s heart, mind, and body. After the alley accident that happened 6 years ago, Seonho could not get rid of Geunyoung’s image in his head. Well despite the fact that Moon Geunyoung is an actress and she is everywhere on tv so it’s impossible to forget her face but he specifically could not get rid of the image of Geunyoung kissing him and moaning between their kisses while his three fingers were moving deep inside her. That night when he went home, he was feeling a little pain and discomfort on his scrotum. The guy was feeling the symptoms of blue balls from holding that erection for a long time without having an orgasm. He got home riding the subway, went to his room and took a bath, feeling ecstatic from remembering Geunyoung’s face when she came and painful at the same time from his dick.

A month after that alley accident, yes, Seonho prefered to call it an accident because both can't possibly know that they were gonna make out in an alley with strangers they just met in a club, Seonho went to the military. Fulfilling his duty as a South Korean citizen for 18 months and came back again as a theatre actor.

He continued to land on offers and more offers for a theatrical role. He was given the nickname “theatre idol” because of how famous he is amongst the theater fans due to his great acting and irresistible dimples. His career gradually grew as he got more important roles and played in biggere auditoriums, which showed how more and more people were expecting his performance on stage.

He continued with his life and had a couple of girlfriends but no one could ever help him forget Moon Geunyoung.

One day in April, Seonho received news from his theatre crews about a role in “Closer” stage play that was going to be held in the second half of the year. He was offered the role of Dan.

When he first got a call from the directors, he almost lost his shits. He was so happy because he loved the play so much, the range of emotions, the dialogues, and the build up was so stupidly intense but delicate at the same time so as a theatre freak he was so excited to challenge himself in that role.

“Kim Seonho-ssi, I’m sure you've heard about the offer, so I just want to confirm if you would like to join us on this year’s “Closer.” I watched you a lot already, I couldn’t watch “True West” but I watched “Almost Maine” and you were brilliant in it.”

“Yes, Director. I would love to join you. It is an honor, really. I have been a fan of “Closer” for a really long time. I would love to challenge myself to bring Dan into life this time.”

“Wonderful, I’m so glad to hear that. Oh did you perhaps watch “Closer” in 2010?”

“Yes, yes I did. It was a month before my enlistment so I couldn’t miss it”

“Actually we will have some of the same actors from “Closer” 2010 but it is still being discussed”

Seonho almost could not believe his ears. Same actors? Don't tell me she’s gonna play as Alice again? I’m not sure I can behave for the second time looking at her in that freaking dress for fuck sake.

“Really? Which actors is it?”

“Bae Sung Woo and I’m not sure again with the others. But I’m sure you’ll see them all in two weeks for our first reading”

“Okay Director, I will see you in two weeks then. Thank you very much again for this opportunity”

Seonho couldn't get the thought out of his mind that Geunyoung might be acting again on this year's closer again but he just decided to not let that thought bother him or even to ask the director about it and see for himself if In two weeks he will find her in the room for their first script reading.

Two weeks went by and he finally met his co-stars on the first group reading when he first entered the room. He quickly screened everyone out to make sure the girl that he would love to see once again but at the same time also the girl that he would hate to see in this setting is not in the room. Thankfully she was not there.

“Sunbaenim, I actually went and saw ‘Closer’ six years ago and I watched the one where you were acting as Larry. I just wanna say that I admire you as an actor and it is an honor to be able to act in this year’s ‘Closer’ with you” Seonho said to Bae Sung Woo as they wrapped up the script reading session.

“Thank you Seonho. It is like a fate then that you’re here now acting as Dan six years later. I’m really looking forward to your performance, I’m sure it’s gonna be great”

Next to Bae Sung Woo was Park Sodam who acted as Alice in the play. She overheard Seonho talking to Sung Woo and jumped into the conversation.

“You’re so lucky Oppa, I did not watch the Closer in 2010, I wish I did. Did you watch the one where Sung Woo Oppa and Geunyoung Unnie were in it?”

“Uhm yeah actually I watched the one with Moon Geunyoung in it” Seonho answered her question while trying to stay calm.

“Oh gosh, I bet she was amazing as Alice. I should call her and ask for advice.”

Seonho forgot for a second that these people in front of him have been working in the industry for years and it came as no surprise that they knew Geunyoung, the verteran actress. Suddenly, he felt a hand landed on his right shoulder, he looked towards his right, apparently Park Eunsok, the one who was gonna play Dan other than him, now stood beside him.

“Hey you should invite her to come to our play Sodam-ah. For old time sake. I’m sure she would love to see it. I will contact her as well so she’ll come hahaha. Sung Woo Hyung you should also invite her!” Park Eunseok said eagerly.

Fuck, oh right he worked with her in that drama last year. Why does everyone know her? Well she could come when Park Eunseok plays instead then I’ll be saved. I’ll just see her from far away in the audience seats.

A month later, after countless practice, they finally had their first show. Seonho had been so busy practicing for his role that he forgot about his worries about the possibility of Geunyoung watching the show for a while. He did a lot of shows already for 2 weeks and he had not seen Geunyoung in sight. He thought maybe she came already when Park Eunseok was playing as Dan and he did not even bother to ask Sodam or Eunseok because he could not even bear saying her name in front of her colleagues or friends.

Until one day, in the middle of the show, he was saying his lines for the scene where he was arguing with Alice. He sat on a chair facing towards the right side of the audience. As the emotion built up, among the words of Dan, he spotted those eyes.

The eyes that he could not possibly forget since he first saw them so close six years ago. Moon Geunyoung was amongst the audience. Wearing a black dress and a grey sweater on top of it. Even in the darkness he could see her eyes shining. He was lost in her eyes for a split second as she was also looking at him from her seat before he continued to deliver his lines. His heart was beating so fast he felt like he could explode on that stage in that second. The sudden adrenaline rush has caused him to scream louder when he finally hit the moments where he had to show frustrations to Alice. He thought that maybe letting it all out would reduce the surge of energy that he was feeling after he saw Geunyoung in the audience.

The show finally ended, successfully, like usual. All casts went backstage to do a short evaluation and to pray once again for another successful show next week. Afterwards, usually the cast’s close friends or colleagues approached them backstage to say congrats and all.

Seonho was talking to one of his college friends when he saw Geunyoung again, entering the room and went straight to Park Sodam to congratulate her. She had not seen him yet so Seonho had the liberty to stare at her still in disbelief from across the room since he was not able to do it in the auditorium. Not long after, Bae Sung Woo and Park Eunseok approached Geunyoung and Park Sodam. Seonho can see the four of them talking and laughing from where he was standing.

Not long after, his college friend bid him goodbye and so he was finally left alone. He was not able to think straight. He knew that Geunyoung just saw his performance on stage and now she is in the room standing just 7 metres from where he was standing. He did not have the guts to approach her. Not tonight. So he just packed up his stuff hurriedly and when he was finally done, he turned around and he felt like his heart dropped. Park Sodam was standing in front of him.

“Kkamjjag-iya, why Sodam-ah? What’s wrong?” he said hurriedly while putting his right hand on his chest.

Park-Sodam looked at him while trying to hide her laugh, “why are you so surprised Oppa? Hahaha you’re so red right now.”

“It’s just, because it’s hot here.”

“Wait are you leaving? No way, I want to introduce you to Geunyoung Unnie first. You’ll love her. You don't know her right?”

“No it’s fine you don't have-”

Before he could finish his sentence, Sodam was already calling Geunyoung, “Unnie, come here” and she looked towards them. Now he could not possibly just run away. As Geunyoung walked towards them, he could feel his heart beating even faster every time she took a step closer to him.

“This is Kim Seonho Oppa, he played as Dan earlier. He is good right? He said he saw Closer in 2010 when you were in it. Talking about fate huh and now he is in it”

Geunyoung was standing in front of him, looking even more dazzling, mature and beautiful from the last time he saw her.

“It’s nice to finally meet you again Seonho-ssi. It’s been awhile” she offered her hand and he shook it while trying his best to stay calm and to not smile creepily. The moment his hand touched hers, he felt like screaming inside.

“Wait, you guys know each other? How?” Sodam asked in curiosity. Before he could answer Sodam, Geunyoung spoke.

“We had a drink together after my show in 2010, i met him in that Jazz club near this auditorium.”

Seonho was so surprised at her answer, he thought she would pretend to not recognize him and besides, forgetting a face of a stranger after 6 years of not meeting them is understandable for him. Even when that stranger fingered you the first time you met.

“Really? But you guys did not know each other before that? Interesting“ Sodam said as she smiled at both of them cheekily. “Well, you guys should catch up then. I’m gonna talk to Eunseok Oppa for a sec” and so they were left alone.

“You look so handsome Seonho-ssi. I was enjoying your performance earlier. Dan really suits you. Finally I got to see you on stage six years later huh” Geunyoung broke the silence. She was lying when she said he was handsome. She thought he looked so hot the whole time Seonho was acting as Dan on stage, but she could not bring herself to say that. That suit and tie and the way he delivered his lines and acted out Dan’s emotions was so sexy. She could feel herself as Alice as she fell in love with this Dan on stage.

“Thank you. You look-” he took a pause to find the appropriate words, “very pretty tonight. Thanks for coming to our show.”

“When I saw you on stage, I wished I was Alice.”

Seonho could not believe what Geunyoung just said to him. He stared at her in silence, hoping the woman in front of him would say something but she just stood there smiling at him.

“What do you mean?”

“I guess I’ve missed you? Can we talk in private?”

#geunseon #kimseonho #moongeunyoung #geunyoung #kdrama #catchtheghost #fanfics #tvn #tvndrama #au

2 notes · View notes

notesonnotes · 4 years

Text

Notes on Hyperview

Hey music fam! Today we’re taking a look at a band called Hyperview! Hyperview is a 5 member pop/punk/emo/hardcore band from Buffalo, NY. Each member took a little time to answer some questions for us to get to know them and the band a little more. Take a few and see what they had to say!

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

NON: How did you all meet? What drew you to start a band?

AJ: I’m AJ and I do a lot of yelling. I was trying to get a band together in Los Angeles and then again in Sacramento. Nothing really stuck so I figured I’d move back to the east coast and landed in Buffalo. I met Courtney and Matt online. They were looking for a guitarist for a new project since their last pop/punk band had some sort of falling out. Couple of changes to the lineup and now I’m on vocals with the additions of Steve and Chuck for guitars. I’ve always wanted to play music since middle school, but I didn’t start teaching myself guitar and singing until about high school.

Courtney: I'm Courtney, I play the drums. I've played music the majority of my life. I was involved in small projects in high school, and took classes in college that was playing as a band. Then after I graduated I wanted to do it all for real.

Steve: Hey I’m Steve and I play bass. I've been friends with Matt for years and he invited me to play in the band. He's been doing projects for a while and I wanted to be a part of this one.

Chuck: The band was already established for about a year or so before I joined. Actually, I met the singer through a craigslist ad, and spoke to him on Instagram, and I guess we had common ground of what we wanted musically.

Matt: I’m Matt and I do guitar/backups. We all met through a various series of online forum postings. Whether they were from other bands or pieces of older bands we all used to be in. The exception is Steve which I met through high school friends, whom I eventually became roommates with. We all started bands for different reasons for different times in our lives. I started a band when I was younger to have a place I could go, express myself, and probably fit in. It was a long time ago and I don’t really remember exactly why, but I’m sure it had something to do with thinking I was an outcast when I probably wasn’t.

NON: What drew you to this style of music?

AJ: I went to middle school in Coral Springs, FL and there was this upcoming pop/punk band building a sweet culture around town. It was New Found Glory. Meanwhile, my older sister was showing me bands like Senses Fail, Hawthorne Heights, and Panic! at the Disco.

Courtney: I grew up listening to this style of music my entire life and have always had it ingrained into me.

Steve: I was a big ska and punk kid growing up. As those scenes faded away pop punk started to pick up so that was the natural progression musically. I guess my sharp edges got rounded off over the years and I became more attuned to the melodic side of things.

Chuck: I’ve been into pop-punk stuff since I was a kid. The first CD I ever bought was New Found Glory’s “sticks and stones” from media play.

Matt: Pop punk was the first style of music I actually connected to. I mean I had a stack of my old man’s records, a Coolio CD, some Weird Al, and a bunch of mail order albums you’d grab out of your neighbors mailbox. Though none of it hit quite like Blink 182 and NFG in the summer.

NON: What's the story behind the band name?

AJ: I really loved Title Fights album Hyperview and thought it would be a cool name for the band.

Steve: Needed a name, AJ gets name credit

Chuck: I’m assuming it’s derived from a super tight album, that everyone should listen to.

Matt: The band name came from giving up on finding a name that we came up with because every band name was taken already, so we just used an album name one person in the band had listened to. It was most likely better off we went with a name that isn’t so genre conforming, so you have to listen to the music before you hate it and not just going off the name. NON: What has been your favorite venue to play so far?

AJ: I think my favorite show was at BJs in Fredonia. It was only like our second show and the placed was PACKED out. Those college kids didn’t come for us but they still jumped around with us and sang the words to our cover songs. ‘Twas sick!

Courtney: So far my favorite place we play at is Mr. Goodbar, the turn out is always amazing and we always have such a good time.

Steve: Favorite venue is rec room

Chuck: My personal favorite was Rec Room, here in Buffalo. We’ve had good times at Goodbar and Mohawk place as well.

Matt: Being a small local band, all venues are pretty much the same and rating them of ‘best’ is going to be biased by how good the crowd was. If we had 12 people going hard in a dumpster canister off Bailey then that would be the best venue we played. That being said, I loved BJ’s in Fredonia, I only wished we had this incantation of the band coupled with the live experience we’ve gained since. NON: What is your dream venue?

AJ: Don’t really got one, honestly. I think venues are second to the people. I’d rather have twenty raging kids in a basement than five head bobbing peeps at a larger venue.

Courtney: The dream for right now would be to play Town Ballroom, and then it just goes up from there.

Steve: Dream venue is an aircraft carrier. We play while mortal Kombat happens in front of us

Chuck: Honestly, probably the Town Ballroom or Riverworks. It’s always been a dream of mine to play on a big stage right at home.

Matt: Dream actual venue is either Red Rocks or the O2. I don’t really think about venues like that because when you are facing the reality of music, it’s the moon away. I just want to be in people’s lives to a point I could have a career in the industry. NON: Who are some of your inspirations?

AJ: The bands I listed earlier are definitely inspirations. It’s hard to narrow down but a handful of my favorites would include: Silverstein, The Story So Far, Balance and Composure, mewithoutYou, letlive. and A Day To Remember

Courtney: As far as playing music and drums, the artists that inspire me most would have to be Dani Abasi, Cyrus Bolooki, and Jake Massucco.

Steve: Less than Jake, Rancid, Blink, Story so far, Four year strong

Chuck: I’m a complete sucker for the 90’s and 2000’s pop-punk and emo bands. New Found Glory, Bayside, Sum 41, Taking Back Sunday etc.

Matt: Inspirations, well there are a lot of people I think are great artists. Without sounding like I bottle my own farts and age them like a fine wine; I (at this age) am more inspired by the general culture of art in any medium. Anything that you can feel the creative effort in, even if you don’t understand it or even do it. I watched this guy rehab old paintings. That inspired me. I didn’t want to clean an early 20th century fruit study, but you know what I mean. NON: Where do you see yourself/selves in 5 years?

AJ: Hopefully in a city near you touring our butts off!

Courtney: In five years, I would like to have toured and to continue doing tours across the states or if we get lucky in another country.

Steve: On that aircraft carrier baby

Chuck: Hopefully on the road with some super rad bands, playing in really cool venues, for really awesome people.

Matt: 5 to7? Probably washed up as fuck somewhere, but I tried

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

Spotify

Facebook

Instagram

2 notes · View notes

momtemplative · 4 years

Text

Nine Days. (COVID-19)

To say day-to-day life has changed since I last posted (March 9) feels like a gross understatement. Nine days feels like the gestation period of some unknown force that continues to grow.

I’m writing, but my words feel like sheets of paper in a cyclone. Nothing cohesive. Self-judgment says, does anyone really want to hear what you have to say in the midst of this barrage of COVID-19 thoughts/opinions/posts/news? Then I shut up and write, even if it’s just something, even if it’s not pristine.

Nine Days, in list form:

1. Thursday, March 12, 2020—THE OUTSIDE TURNS DOWN.

We get the news that schools are going to be shut down for many weeks, probably more. When that happens, the lighting in our house shifts. It’s as if the outside turns down, like half-drawn curtains. And those who live inside the walls of our little house—Jesse, Opal, Ruth, myself, and the pets— take on a fresh-rinsed potency, as if we know we are on the brink of something big and we are in it together.

2. Friday, March 13, 2020—TARGET

We take a trip to Target. Ruth begs to wear her tap shoes, which I reluctantly agree to. The people at Target are amiable; nobody is concerned about keeping a distance yet. We are pushing carts as two-way traffic down aisles, brushing elbows, as we would on any large-crowd shopping day. Moms exchange nods of camaraderie, like fellow Harley drivers on the highway. The overall feeling is generous and very much we-are-in-this-together. What is different, what is startling, is the very, very low inventory. Some of the shelves are completely empty, (toilet paper, cleaning agents) which, in spite of the music, crowds and fluorescent lighting, feels eerie.

The lines are 10-12 people long, cards filled to the brim, and even though I don’t hear one short-tempered word, most of the people in the lines are wrapped comfortably in the tiny glare of their smart phones. It’s amazing how deeply grownups crawl into those little screens, even in public. Ruth walks by them with her tap-tap-tap shoes, duct taped at the buckle and two sizes too big. They make a startling, gloriously sharp sound against the linoleum.

Imagine a line of adults raising their gaze with each step of her foot, like a face-only version of the wave, a beautiful cascade of heads that rise to meet the sound. Each face spreads into a smile when they see where it originates: tiny girl, impervious to her impact, shiny-star tank top and tutu, like a Disney+ version of Madonna’s Like a Virgin.

Back at home, emails flood our inboxes with some variation of ‘COVD-19 closure’ in the subject line. The library. The Rec center. Stores dropping from Main Street like birds shot from a wire. Restaurants and coffee shops are sweating hard, offering discounts on gift cards for later and curbside take-out.

We are getting wind of the fact that we need to slow the spread of this virus so as not to overwhelm the healthcare systems—to ‘flatten the curve.’ We need to stay in as much as possible. Not be in big groups. Probably not see the grandparents for a while. Wash our hands like crazy, scrubbing while singing the ABCs from start to finish.

It sure looks as if we won’t be going to Target (where Ruth who touches every surface with all ten fingers then promptly rubs her eyes and picks her lip) for a while.

3. Saturday, March 14, 2020—SHOULD WE??

Every out-of-house action feels strange and other-worldly. Even the most benign of outings suddenly beg the question, wait—should we?? Do we really need to?? Going to the kid-gym and kid-yoga just two days earlier suddenly seems outlandish. A planned gathering with friends that felt wonderful yesterday feels out of the question today.

4. Sunday, March 15, 2020—COMMUNITY.

There is an amazing video going around of a community in Italy who are quarantined, but still singing from their balconies as an etherial chorus.

A family-walk around the block feels potent and perennially safe. Our next-door neighbor joins us with her dog. We wave at another family of neighbors who are perched on their porch in the sun, their toddler wearing the hilarious mirrored sunglasses of a studly lifeguard. Then we cross and take the bike path behind the houses that are on the other side of our street. Another neighbor exits from her sliding back door, her dog lurching out from behind her. Yet another neighbor steps out into the light wearing pajamas and with his small dog under his arm. Everyone feels hungry for sunshine and familiar connection, but we all keep our distance.

When I was 13, I took a spring break vacation with friends to Arizona, where we visited the “Biosphere2.” The headlines read: “Eight explorers join together in a daring, high-profile study of sustainability and the new science of biospherics—the study of closed systems that mimic Earth’s environment.” Essentially, eight people lived in a sealed-up dome, a mini-earth, for two years to study sustainability. We could see them all through the glass. I remember waving, though I don’t know how accurate that is. I think of that right now, as I wave to my friends through their windows.

Even Opal is weighing her options. Just after lunch, she says to me, “I’m going to try and make Ruth my friend. We may be together for a long long time and I want to have fun with her.”

The girls laugh so hard at dinner tonight, we wind up calling a moratorium when they are unable to take a drink without spraying it across the table. This is very unusual.

5. Monday, March 16, 2020—RAGE

The media is rich with photos of college kids whooping it up over the weekend for St. Patrick’s Day. Seeing photos of hundreds of young bodies smashed together in a bar makes my blood curdle. I can practically see the virus spreading.

Let’s talk about neuroscience for a minute. The brain isn’t fully developed until the age of 25. Therefore, to leave hundreds of thousands of 18-24 year olds to their own devices to make good choices around self-quarantining is like requesting the same from a litter of wild animals. Is there a psychiatrist out there observing this with some sense of concern? Where are the leaders in this? I don’t just mean parents. I’m also wondering about teachers, staff, the adults who own the bars, ANYONE who has some sense of perspective and enough maturity to help float those who aren’t as evolved.

Concurrently, parents are home from work, doing their human duty of staying home/keeping kids home to slow the growth of this thing. Healthcare workers are AT WORK so we can stay home and everyone can get a handle on this thing. Grr. It really is infuriating.

6. Tuesday, March 17, 2020—WHAT IF IT WERE MY IDEA?

Today I have a random memory of having insomnia for close to a year when I first moved to Colorado fifteen years ago. It was agonizing: the mealy brain that would wake me up with an indifferent shrug and leave me unsettled and restless for hours—a fate far worse than jolting into a leap of wide-awake!—left me feeling dead-brained and disconnected for weeks at a time. The only thing that helped me to recover was to pretend it was all my idea. I have no recollection of how that notion ever came to me but there it was. I’d wake up at 3am and force myself to say, well, super! I was hoping to be up tonight! I have so much to do, after all! Filing, for example, was a big one. Before going to sleep at night, I’d actually pile things by my bed to do when I’d wake up during the night. It positively worked. In under a week, I was sleeping like a mouse.

I got to wondering if that hypothesis could be applied to this COVID reality. Perhaps, I could say to myself, now is as good a time as any to face down some mortal fears and learn about what it’s like to live in quarantine with a four and a ten-year-old. I’m not talking about Pollyanna-Sizing in the least. Just talking about broader perspectives to keep sanity in check.

7. Wednesday, March 18, 2020—A FEW GOOD THINGS

Some parts of this feel tenable, dare I say nurturing. The first few days of this have felt like a combination of a snow day and a meditation retreat. It is part family love-fest, part novel bio-spheric experiment. The weather is warm and inviting so we triple our number of family walks and clock in hours in the backyard. (Backyard, oh how I love thee.) Time feels abundant and luxurious. The slow-drip news of this international trauma infuses the ordinary moments with a sense of urgency, of faintly (or not) facing our individual mortality. Each choice is whittled away by the updated COVID rules du jour. Gratitude lists brim with things that may have previously been taken for granted: health, family, running water.

I clean the hell out of the bathtub today and enjoy every moment of it. I cannot for the life of me remember an instance when I took my time cleaning the bathtub like this, doing small circles on the tile like Mr. Miyagi. I typically rush through my cleaning with some sense of discontent, feeling that it’s taking up space that could be used for something worth relishing.

I typically feel paycheck-to-paycheck with regards to time. But now, time is one thing we have more of than we could possibly use. Usually, my brain has the feeling of being pulled down the road by pack of strong wolves. A lurching feeling. Now—not the case. I feel a shit load of feelings, but rushed and overwhelmed are not on the list.

While I clean? The girls are content reading books in their individual ways. Jesse is in the living room in the rocking chair he continues to scoff at, feet up on the rocking foot-stool, MacBook in his lap as if he’s rocking it to sleep. In that moment, there is a settled feeling inside the places where rushing and overwhelm are usually expected. This is one part I do not mind about the new norm.

8. Thursday , March 19, 2020—SNOW / CREATIVITY IS REQUIRED FOR SUSTAINABILITY

There is at least ten inches of snow on the ground—an abrupt change in weather—and I want to start drinking well before lunch. Cozy as it is, all I can think of is our lack of ability to escape into the out-of-doors.

Yesterday I felt heavy and blue, like the adrenaline was wearing off and the novelty of our situation was waning. My face felt leaden and I was short-fused with everyone, making audible sighs of exasperation that drive me bonkers when done by someone else. I miss my friends. I miss my routine and my work and Sunday morning writing-then-yoga. I know everyone does, but I do too. I want my Big child to continue to enjoy being with my Little child without constant management. I want to know HOW THIS IS ALL GOING TO UNFOLD.

Then, moments later, I am telling Opal how we need to try and be patient with each other. We can get what we need with kind words. We are a team.

I am struggling to find balance. One moment, I am a parent who remembers that Opal feels the same feelings as I do around all of this, yet with less perspective and practice on how to be with those scary inner-bits. The next moment, I am fed up with her vague grumpiness and I just want everyone to work together dammit!

The koan is how to feel spacious in a scenario where there is very little limited space.

Today I awoke feeling brighter. Opal has a Girl Scout meeting over Zoom at 2pm. Something for the schedule that did not originate from a member of Grimes Home Base! Yay! We are both as excited as eager peaches. Facetimes, Skype, Zoom calls are going to be the wiring the keeps us tethered to our relationships. Such irony, when, not long ago, the internet felt like the very thing that perpetuated our universal disconnection.

People are starting to get innovative with their use of the Web, and it’s inspiring as hell. Creativity will save us. Some of my favorite local musicians are doing “QuaranTours”—live shows on line. A famous kids’ book author is teaching the art of doodling. Late night Talk Show hosts are doing shows from their living room, with kids climbing on their shoulders and cheeks shiny without the help of a make-up crew.

9. Friday, March 20, 2020—WE NEED A BROCHURE.

Last weekend, we invited our dear next-door neighbor over to watch Frozen 2 with us. She ate our Pirate Booty, sat on our furniture. The things you do with a friend on any given, normal day. This weekend, she texted to see if we wanted to watch another movie, this time with her fiancé who had been traveling last weekend. I felt the need to explain that so much has changed since last Sunday, at least for us. Had it for them? Our tactics had been distilled down to the essence. At this point, we have decided not to let anyone else in the house right now. They totally understood.

Then I ran into them while on a walk today. They were walking towards Elvis and I on the sidewalk and I crossed the street away from them, not at all realizing who they were. I was just doing my usual COVID-cross-the-street-to-give-room move. I was also absorbed in a Podcast.

I crossed-back to see them. I was genuinely giddy with the prospect of their company. I realized I hadn’t been with any adult other than Jesse during the past week. I must've oozed with fervor! But, quickly I felt awkward because I was standing only a few feet away from them! I stepped back but that also felt wrong. Then I was aware of them being aware of me, and I thought, what is happening to us? These are my friends! But because we are not all on the same page, it can feel a bit clunky. Even still, our interaction was supremely satisfying. I wanted them to stay with me for the rest of my walk, but they had plans to go play Scrabble.

Oh how hungry I was for diverse conversation! Those few minutes on the sidewalk together were rich with talk-points and humor. Memorable. I’m still finding my way with enjoyable FaceTimes, but long-distance sidewalk chats are thus far my jam. I had a fantastic chat with a neighbor a few doors down while we were shoveling, and with another neighbor from my porch to her on the sidewalk. Both were far enough away to comfortably toss a softball. Both lasted only a few moments. Both were lavish with depth and hilarity, but concise, as if there were no time to waste.

March 20, 2020

Photos—Top: gel print by Opal. Middle: quick portrait by Ruth. Bottom: me rainbow-organizing markers (who has time for that on an average day??)

#momtemplative #HeatMamaWords #mindfulparenting #CovidList #NineDays

2 notes · View notes

kae-karo · 5 years

Note

Hi Katie! I’m a freshman in college. I just started a couple weeks ago but currently have no friends. I have a few acquaintances from classes and clubs I just joined but I feel like everyone already has a group from orientation and such and I don’t want to insert myself. I really like being alone but it gets really sad when I’m the only one on my floor on weekend nights ://. Do you advice as to how I could build stronger connections w ppl and actually make friends???? Thanks and sorry to bother!

oh hi dear! first of all, i hope everything else is getting off to a good start for you! hm, now let me add a quick disclaimer: i made,,,,,,,,,pretty much zero friends in college and i don’t remember most of my time there cause Depression but here’s the advice i think i would’ve liked to follow/would maybe try to make more of an effort to follow if i could go back

for meeting people, generally:

you are probably not alone!!!!! i don’t doubt that if you feel like a bit of an outsider, there are one or more others who feel the same. if you see anyone standing alone, not majorly participating in a group discussion, etc, maybe try reaching out!!! they might be in the same boat as you but more nervous to initiate conversations. this is genuinely how i made a few acquaintances that i do still remember (and follow on various social media) today

in your clubs/classes, you might notice that there’s at least one person who tends to make an effort to include everyone in whatever they’re doing - gravitate toward them! they may be a good resource to help you meet others and feel more included in the group

take advantage of the situations where you have to interact with others - group projects or activities in classes, partner work, labs, etc. there’s some study out there that lists some numbers, but generally it takes a certain number of hours to build a connection with someone! so literally just actively spending time with people is a way to move toward those connections! and hey, maybe they’ve got some time to grab a coffee after you get some work done/take a break and grab a snack/grab dinner between classes or something! the worst thing that can happen is they say no!

put in more effort to meet/talk to people in classes/activities you’re really interested in (and less effort in the classes you’re like,,,,,eh about, cause hey we all only have a certain amount of energy so we should spend it wisely, esp if you’re on the more introverted side!) that shakespeare class you took cause u love shakespeare/theater? that’s where you want to spend your energy and mental effort trying to get to know people, cause the likelihood is those people are the ones who you’ll get on with better, cause hey, they probably have a similar passion/similar interests and boom! that’s something to bond over!

dorm activities!!!! idk if you live in a dorm (most freshman do) but my dorm did like tons of get-to-know-people stuff and tons of general dorm activities - this is a great place/time to really interact with people, cause hey, they live near you! it’s super easy to hang out and you’re far more likely to see them on a regular basis! and then it’s super easy to be like ‘oh hey do u wanna grab dinner, i was just about to head over to the dining hall!’

a quick side mention - there are like some apps i think that help you meet friends in your area? i vaguely remember one from when i was in school that my school mentioned or w.e but i can’t think of the name right now. but if you think that’s something you’re comfy with/interested in, it might help you meet people who you might be more likely to form connections with!

okay now for forming better connections with people... this is definitely where i struggled or could’ve done better honestly

consistency is key - for me, i was always more of the like. i only want to put in effort with people i actually feel like i vibe with and not waste energy on people i just really can’t get along with. the trouble for me was just with following through with that lmao. but like. if you see them in the halls or w.e, take that extra few seconds to be like ‘o hey waddup!’ and mention something from the last time you talked, or something you know relates to something that would be of interest to you both (ie u in anime club? ‘o hey so-and-so, how’s it going? awesome, yeah i’m surviving haha. honestly just living for that next ep of [insert anime here], do you watch that one?’ or whatever - find reasons to connect and extrapolate from them!!!)

if you do find some people you vibe with, figure out how to make connecting with them easy - get in a group chat or get their number, follow them on social media (with consent lmao) or whatever. make talking to them an easy thing to do, that way you’re more likely to do it even if you don’t have a ton of energy!

thing from the other bullet point - reasons to connect - build on that! start with the easy stuff (like obvious shared interests) and start extrapolating. like in my example, asking if they watch another anime, or if they have any recommendations! communication (and therefore development of connections) is a 2 way street! invite them to participate and then listen and show interest. if they rec a show that sounds mildly interesting, give it a watch and offer your thoughts on it! ask for their opinions on it! stuff like that!

in that same vein, pay attention to the kinds of things they talk about - ask questions and encourage them to talk! like this is just generally a good listening skill, but encouraging people to talk about the things they like is like the Best way to form connections! let someone rant about something they’re super into!

now, a sort of segue which is related but more on the side of like,,,,,,don’t get into unhealthy relationships: take note of how they engage with you. do they just talk about themselves/their interests with no regard for your thoughts/your own interests? do they shame you/make fun of you for stuff in a ‘joking’ way (esp even after you ask them to stop?) do they put you down in front of others even though they seem perfectly nice in one-on-one conversations? do they try to guilt you into doing things? (literally anything you aren’t comfy with - whether it be watching something that you’re not into/might be triggering for you, going to an activity you aren’t really comfy with, hanging out with people you don’t like or who make you uncomfortable, etc etc etc) just watch out for those things, don’t let someone take advantage of your mental/emotional energy and your desire for connection!

okay last point i think - be willing! that means a lot of things - willing to listen to the people you want to form connections with (including being willing to listen if they ask you to stop/express disinterest in something/etc), be willing to put forth effort on your own side to meet a person in the middle (like participating in an activity with them cause it interests them), and be willing to let people go! sometimes you meet someone and, in spite of your best efforts, there just isn’t any clicking between y’all (it may not be a bad relationship/connection, but sometimes it just doesn’t work out) and that’s okay! not everyone will be a great friend! and it’s totally cool to just remember a few things about them and continue to maintain a general acquaintanceship with them where you might casually chat when you see them but neither of you really goes out of their way to push the relationship (cause it just doesn’t feel right). and remember! quality connections are better than just having a ton of connections, that’s how you feel less lonely

okay sorry actual last point here - it’s also okay to have some friends who maybe you don’t get along with for everything but hey man, when y’all talk about anime, they’re awesome! casual friendships like that can be great too - especially if you have diverse interests! that friend you made in your shakespeare class may have mentioned they haven’t really ever gotten into anime, but that person you met in anime club might love talking about all your fave shows! obviously the ideal is to find a person or people you can talk to about everything, but you may not find them right away! or even at college at all! and that’s fine! just find the people that you can build good connections with and roll with it! it’s a little bit like eating a ‘balanced diet’. for someone who’s vegan, that might mean they get their protein all from plant-based foods, while someone who doesn’t have a specific diet may get it from a mix of meat and plants, and someone who’s really trying to eat a lot of protein might be eating a lot of (or exclusively) meat to get their protein! my point there is like. there are a lot of ways to fulfill your nutrition needs, and there are just as many ways to build a healthy spread of connections to fulfill all your emotional needs! there’s no single Right Way to do it, just find ways that work for you!

phew okay i talked a lot but i hope this helps you a bit, dear! oh, one last thought - if you have friends from before college that you connected well with, don’t forget about them! i mean, don’t feel like you can or should rely on them exclusively, but there’s no reason to feel like you have to only get your emotional needs fulfilled by people at your college. that goes for family as well! my sis and i got a lot closer once i went away to college, so if you’ve got any close (or semi-close) family relationships, definitely give those some attention as well! anyway, i hope that helped and i hope you start to feel a little more at home and connected as your year progresses!!!

#advice #anon #ask #kt

9 notes · View notes

justlookfrightened · 5 years

Text

Locked out, Alicia Zimmermann has a talk with Eric

Based around Alicia's talk with Eric in Chapter 11 of Locked Out

Alicia stood at the boards, watching Eric spin and leap and dance. He seemed an entirely different creature from the boy who dressed in hockey pads and played with Jack and Bob. He might have been nearly a head shorter than both of them, but he clearly had no trouble keeping up.

Now that speed was on full display as he circled the ice backwards and launched himself into the air, spinning before landing on one narrow steel blade.

He might look like a sprite, a tiny elfin creature, flighty and capricious, but he had a spine and a spirit every bit as steely as his blades.

Alicia hadn’t been sure what to make of it when Jack started mentioning Eric, first during phone calls and then during his July visit. He was clearly smitten, in a way Alicia had never seen before. It wasn’t like with Kent, when Alicia began to suspect that he was more than a teammate and friend to Jack.

Then, it was Jack’s embarrassment more than anything that tipped her off. Well, that and his secretiveness. Once he talked about Kent as least as much as his other teammates; the last few months before the draft he would clam up or even leave the room if Kent’s name came up.

But Jack wasn’t reluctant to talk about Eric at all, from the first anecdote about stopping to help him get his car unlocked -- “He brought pie to thank me, and did you know he plays hockey?” -- to sharing Eric’s travails coping with checking and finding a place to live in Providence.

She was half afraid that Jack would invite this virtual stranger to move in.

He didn’t, but it seemed like Eric was spending nearly all his free moments with Jack, or in Jack’s home.

“It’s only that he doesn’t have a kitchen where he can bake,” Jack said. “He has a vlog where he teaches people how to make things.”

So it was no surprise when Jack said they were dating. Alicia and Bob agreed they were grateful that Jack had signed all those years ago with the Falconers; Georgia Martin had become a good friend and would help him navigate the team situation.

Which meant all Alicia had to worry about was Jack’s heart.

Then when Jack visited and they went to Nova Scotia, it seemed like he found a way to turn almost every conversation to Eric. Anything about food? Eric made something like it, or could make something like it, or made it better. Anything about hockey? Jack never skated with a faster player, and he was getting so much better with physicality.

But what touched her most was the way he related Eric’s situation -- being in the closet in Georgia, with parents he wasn’t entirely sure would be supportive -- to what they had gone through together after the overdose.

“You and Papa were always there, always ready to listen -- even when I didn’t want to talk,” Jack said. “I know I took your support for granted. Eric doesn’t have that. I can’t imagine what it would be like to doubt that your own family would love you if they really knew you.”

Bob was thrilled. Alicia could see it on his face. If Jack got gooey eyes when he talked about Eric, Bob got gooey eyes watching Jack be in love.

Bob developed a sudden interest in baking, and asked Jack how to find Eric’s vlog. He was a little surprised Jack didn’t know already, but when Jack explained that Eric tried to keep his online and in-person lives separate, Bob accepted it with good grace.

Alicia wanted to be just as delighted as Bob. She was happy for Jack, no doubt about that. But she thought it might be … unwise to throw his heart at this boy he’d only known for a few weeks. He still suffered from anxiety, and he had gotten to the point that he nearly died once. She never wanted something like that to happen again.

She wished he would protect himself, just a little. She was pretty sure Eric knew how to protect himself, if the way he guarded access to his vlog was any clue. (Of course, he could be a cam boy or something like that, and Jack would have no clue, a suspicious voice said in her head.)

She wanted Jack to go slow. Take time to get to know this Eric fellow. If it was meant to be, it would still be meant to be in a few more weeks or months.

Then Jack was leaving a day early, headed to Atlanta, without so much as giving Eric a heads-up, as far as she knew.

“It’s romantic,” Bob said.

“Maybe,” Alicia said. “But don’t you think it might seem a little pushy?”

“I trust Jack’s judgment,” Bob said.

Jack reported that Eric’s coming out didn’t go as badly as it might have -- which left a lot of ways in which it might have gone better. The summer continued, with Eric still a fixture in Jack’s conversation, and Bob and Alicia continued to press Jack to invite him to Montreal.

Despite all she had heard, and the pictures Jack had shown her, Alicia wasn’t quite sure what to expect when Eric arrived.

Her first impressions were of a young man -- barely more than a boy -- who was well-mannered and wide-eyed. He didn’t seem overly impressed to meet her, or too excited about meeting Bob. Mostly he just seemed very young. It made Alicia want to mother him, but didn’t convince her that he was ready to be a serious partner for Jack.

He didn’t open up until he smelled Bob’s burnt cookies. Then it was like someone flipped a switch, and he took charge, ordering his boyfriends Hall-of-Famer father around the kitchen while he explained ingredients and techniques and produced heaps of cookies.

He was a near-perfect houseguest. He was quiet when the house was quiet, he was almost too eager to help cook and he cleaned up after himself.

It was clear from the way he looked at Jack that he thought Jack hung the moon. But how long would that last? She loved Jack more than life itself, but he could be a huge grump, especially if the season wasn’t going well.

He spent most of his time with Jack, of course, or Jack and Bob, who came back from their first trip to the rink going on almost more than Jack about watching Eric figure skate.

Later that evening, when they were out, Alicia had the chance to ask Bob what he really thought.

“Jack’s right,” Bob said. “He’s really quick, and he has great hands. Seems like he sees the ice well too.”

“I wasn’t asking about his hockey,” Alicia said.

“Well, to be able to go from that to the spinning and the jumping -- I always knew those skaters had to be strong, but I don’t think I ever appreciated how strong until I was standing right by the boards,” Bob said.

“Bob,” Alicia said. “Be serious.”

“I am,” Bob said. “Who said I was only talking about physical strength? He’s a boy who grew up figure skating in a small town in Georgia, switched to rec league hockey for three years and made a NCAA team. He went home and told his parents he’s gay without knowing whether they’d even support him through his last year of college. And he’s not sad and bitter. He’s not saying, ‘Poor me.’”

“I agree he’s a great kid,” Alicia said. “If he was just a friend of Jack’s, I’d be ready to adopt him if necessary. But he’s so young.”

“He’s young,” Bob said, “but that doesn’t mean he’s immature. He’s a force to be reckoned with, and quite frankly, Jack needs that.”

“He does need someone he can relate to as an equal,” Alicia said.

“You think he doesn’t see Eric as an equal?”

“I think he does,” Alicia said. “I’m not sure Eric sees himself that way.”

The next day, she joined the boys for their trip to the rink. She watched Eric hold his own in the odd, lopsided game of shinny they played. Then when he came off to change, she followed him to the locker room.

It wasn’t until they got there that she realized how awkward that was. She’d only been intent on getting him alone. But he just grinned and said not to worry about it; he’d grown up in locker rooms. Then he proceeded to tell her -- in much nicer words -- that he and Jack were adults and she should let them make their own decisions.

She walked out of the locker room feeling better than she had in weeks.

#locked out extras #omg check please #omgcheckplease #zimbits #my fic

123 notes · View notes

newstfionline · 5 years

Text

This man hosts a free Thanksgiving dinner for all who RSVP. It’s his 33rd year.

By Cathy Free, Washington Post, November 19, 2018

For his first Thanksgiving alone in 1985, Scott Macaulay was thinking that he would have to heat up a frozen turkey dinner and turn on a football game to stifle the silence in his apartment near Boston.

With his parents recently divorced and “nobody talking to anybody,” he said, “I was looking at a pretty rotten Thanksgiving. And I absolutely hate to eat alone.”

Then Macaulay, a divorced vacuum cleaner repairman, had an idea: What if he took out an ad in his hometown paper, the Melrose Free Press, and invited 12 strangers to join him for Thanksgiving dinner? It seemed like a manageable number to host at the First Baptist Church he attended--and, yeah, it was a little crazy, but it had to be better than being lonely.

“I knew that I couldn’t be the only one in this situation,” he said. “There had to be at least a dozen people out there who didn’t want to spend Thanksgiving Day alone.”

Actually, more.

Since those 12 strangers gathered around his table for turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie 33 years ago, Macaulay has made his free feast an annual event, inviting anyone to make a reservation by calling his office phone number that’s printed in the paper. He does not own a cellphone or computer. Through the years, he has fed plenty of widows, widowers, homeless people and college kids who can’t make it home. A few years ago, one of his guests crawled under the table. All are welcome.

In the town of 27,000 about 10 miles northwest of Boston, Macaulay feeds 60 to 100 people every year. When the oven broke at his church one Thanksgiving, he moved the repast to the basement of Melrose’s Green Street Baptist Church, which now donates space for the dinner every year.

About a week before Thanksgiving, Macaulay, 57, who owns Macaulay’s House of Vacuum Cleaners and lives above the shop, goes grocery shopping and purchases everything himself, though he prefers not to say how much it all costs him because “that would take away the spirit of it.” When asked again, he said the total exceeds $1,000.

The menu includes four large turkeys, five kinds of pie (pumpkin, apple, mince, cherry and the ever-popular Hershey’s frozen sundae pie), sweet potatoes, stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, butternut squash, cranberries, fruit cups and rolls with butter. He stores it all in refrigerators at the church until the morning of the feast.

A few days beforehand, he hauls in sofas, recliners, oriental rugs, even a couple of fake fireplaces, and decorates a rec hall to resemble a cozy living room. Candlesticks and cloth napkins are placed on the tables, curtains are hung in the windows, and adjoining rooms are set up for guests to relax and get to know each other over appetizers: chips and dip in one room and cheese and crackers in the next.

“This isn’t about the food, though,” Macaulay said. “It’s about having a place to go. Silence is unbearable, especially on Thanksgiving. My goal is always to replicate the feeling of having a nice dinner in somebody’s home.”

Reservations usually come in at the last minute, he said, “because everyone is hoping for a better offer.” After 32 Thanksgivings, Macaulay can laugh about it and never takes offense. He’s made dozens of friends and an equal number of memories.

“There was a guy one year who’d just lost his wife,” he said. “And after dinner, he put on her old apron and helped me to do the dishes.”

One year, he said, an elderly woman paid $200 for an ambulance to drive her to the church from her nursing home. She arrived decked out in fancy clothes and told Macaulay she hadn’t been out in seven years. She cried when dinner was over.

Last year, two people showed up with service dogs.

Another year, Macaulay took a plate out to a woman who was living in her car and was too ashamed of her plight to come inside until almost everyone had gone home.

“She came in to get some leftovers,” recalled Macaulay. “And she sang ‘Amazing Grace’ with this incredible voice. What a year that was.”

Then there was the time his parents both showed up. Macaulay’s mother was dying of breast cancer and wanted to be with family. So did his dad.

“There they were, sitting on the couch together,” he said, “holding each other’s hand, years after their divorce. I can still see them sitting there. That’s a happy memory.”

Infants have spent their first Thanksgiving with Macaulay, and more than a few elderly people have sat down for their last. Some people return year after year to relax with strangers in front of a faux fireplace.

Geoff Shanklin, 65, who lives alone and has attended every dinner since the tradition began, said he watches in admiration each year when Macaulay makes the dinner happen.

“He prepares it all and we bring ourselves,” Shanklin said. “He really enjoys passing it on to lonely people in Melrose. For people like me with nowhere to go, Scott is family.”

Last year, Loretta Saint-Louis, 66, was feeling down because she couldn’t make it to Ohio for her family’s annual gathering. Then she spotted Macaulay’s newspaper ad.

“I had no idea what I was walking into,” she said, “and I was surprised at how fancy and well-done it was. Scott really goes all out. It’s extraordinary that he does this, but he sees it as a gift to give to everyone. He really pulls the little community of Melrose together.”

Because Thanksgiving wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without giving thanks, Macaulay always asks people to write what they’re thankful for on a slip of paper and leave their thoughts in a basket. He saves the submissions and reads them throughout the year, long after the table has been cleared and the dishes washed.

The top thing people write about is being thankful for their health.

“Sometimes, they’re grateful they no longer have cancer or that they finally found a job or have a place to live,” he said. “One year, a guy wrote that he was thankful his son was speaking to him again. That one was a tear-jerker.”

Macaulay also has a son, Walter, 22, who pitches in to help serve and clean up. He’s the designated turkey carver.

Neither father nor son batted an eye a few years ago when Macaulay’s ex-wife strolled in with her new husband and offered to play the piano while everyone ate.

And as for the woman a few years ago who hid under the table?

“I don’t ask questions,” Macaulay said. “She got served the same as anyone.”

#Thanksgiving #Scott Macaulay

2 notes · View notes

expurgatedversion · 6 years

Text

Self-Rec Fest

Welcome to the Self-Rec Fest, where we encourage authors to celebrate their own works without shame. Fandom: Supernatural. Pairings: Destiel, Jensen Ackles/Misha Collins Warnings may apply, and summaries may be edited from the original.

Summer Blue Skies by @destimushi RPF - Jensen Ackles/Misha Collins. Complete. Rated E. Part 1 of a series.

The mission was to infiltrate. Jensen knew the consequences of capture, and when it happened, he was ready to die for his country. Misha Collins was the master of torture, and it shouldn’t be difficult to hate him, but the interrogator was hot and cold, and Jensen soon found the boundaries between love and hate blurring.

Between the Folds of Submission by destimushi Destiel. Complete. Rated E.

Castiel races against the clock as the killer ups the ante, but Dean—rich, drop-dead gorgeous, and a famously unconventional Dominant to boot—proves to be a distraction he can’t afford. As the danger grows, Castiel finds himself torn between upholding his beliefs and giving in to his desires. Can he resist his urges long enough to find the killer, or will his biology consume him?

Music To His Ears by HollyBlue2 @envydean Destiel. Complete. Rated E. On the way home from work, Castiel hears the lilting tune of a piano and eventually goes to investigate. When he does he finds his mate in Dean Winchester, who rejects him right off the bat, sending Castiel into a debilitating heat.Ending up in hospital, Castiel and Dean finally meet again...

Lazarus Writing by @jemariel Destiel. Complete. Rated E. Castiel is an author struggling to come up with his next novel. Luckily for him, a gift arrives in the mail from his publisher: a fancy new notebook and pen set with a note that promises to “bring new life to your writing”. It’s all fine until Castiel decides to write his grocery list in the back of the book… only to find the items have materialized in the kitchen. So, Castiel is in possession of some freaky magic which could be pretty amazing… if it weren’t for the fact that he just started a new novel in that book and the contents are not something he wants to see in this world.... Five Days in May by Dangerousnotbroken, @kreweofimp Destiel. Complete. Rated E. The unseasonable hurricane wasn’t the only force of nature on the beach that night. Dean counts himself lucky that the beautiful blue-eyed stranger was there to save his life. He never could have anticipated that a nameless one-night stand in a tiny storm-tossed shack would change his entire life. Like Catnip by KreweOfImp Destiel. Complete. Rated E. It's one thing to be pissed off that Cas was up late gaming and didn't come to bed when he said he would. And yeah, Cas pretty much figured there was gonna be some sulking and he was gonna have to do some groveling to make up for it. He maybe even could've foreseen the desire for a little revenge. But did Dean really have to involve the cat? Cumulonimbus by KreweOfImp Destiel. Complete. Rated E. In which Cas watches snow, Dean watches Cas, Sam is a jerk, things get out of hand, and Dean is taken in hand. Written in the Stars by @lunastories Destiel. Complete. Rated M. Castiel, one of the last of the Celestials, descended onto Earth by orders of his garrison leader. What he finds there is the soul he lost long ago, the other part of him that he'd been searching for.

Dean was a normal guy, living his life and trying to take care of his errant researcher brother. When his brother asks him for a favor, claiming that an alien wants to speak to him, he's of course skeptical.

He didn't expect that meeting to change the course of his entire life, throwing him into a war that he wasn't prepared for. Love me to Death by LunaStories Destiel. Complete. Rated M. There once was a man who feared Death. He feared him so much, he tried to seek immortality but his efforts were in vain. Eventually, he learned to love Death and everything he represented. This is the story of a mortal and a god and their love for each other. Mermen and Mistletoe by @robotsnchicks Destiel. Complete. Rated T. When Cas draws his long-term crush's name for the office gift exchange, he is determined to find the perfect gift. Unfortunately his co-worker Meg has an unconventional suggestion. Signs Point To Yes by robotsnchicks Destiel. Complete. Rated G. A series of coincidences conspire to remind Dean of his New Year's resolution—To ask Cas out. Lifestyles of the Weird and Sexy by robotsnchicks Destiel. Complete. Rated E.Dean's roommate Castiel is a pretty weird dude. He's also hot as hell and Dean might have a bit of a crush on him.The problem is Cas might be a witch. And finding out the truth isn't as easy as Dean thought it would be. I Don't Know Why by @saltnhalo Destiel. Complete. Rated E. Dean gets home from a long job to find a note on his front step. He knows exactly who it's from and what it means; it promises fun and danger and a fucking good time, and there's no way he can turn down this invitation. He can never say no to the Angel. Roll With It by saltnhalo Destiel. Complete. Rated E. For two years, Dean’s been slaving away beneath his boss – many label him a secretary, but he fucking hates that and feels like it only applies to someone wearing a pencil skirt, so he insists on his title of Executive Assistant. And for what? In the vain hope that one day he’ll manage to become an editor for Sandover Publishing, and that he’ll see the manuscript that he’s slaved over since college finally realized in print. That’s the dream, anyway. Right now, he’s fucking late. From Grace and Uniform by saltnhalo, thepopeisdope Destiel. Complete. Rated E. When FBI agent Dean Winchester was first assigned to the Ghost’s case, he was expecting it to be the same as any other serial killer hunt--frustrating dead ends, a trail of bodies, unending paperwork. What he wasn’t expecting was for it to be interrupted by a mysterious alpha calling himself Cas, knowing far too much about him and offering up not just a lead, but concrete information on his mother’s killer. As the two set off in search of justice for Mary Winchester and the countless other victims of Azazel Masters, Dean struggles to come to grips with himself. Despite his whirlwind attraction to Cas, he knows that exposing himself to his colleagues as an omega instead of the beta he pretends to be would be a mistake. Nothing can happen between the two of them; not without Dean losing everything he knows. Waiting in the Wings by @seraphwrites Destiel. Complete. Rated T. Castiel an injured hunter stumbles into a town and meets an angel who may just have be having the same rotten luck he is. Written for the Hey, Sweetheart 2018 challenge. spinning (series) by @reallyelegantsharkfish Destiel. Complete. Rated T-M. “Listen up!” Dean hollers, louder than necessary in the small space. “We are spinnin’ this bottle, and then we’re going to do some kissin’! Happy New Year!” suckerfish (series) by sharkfish Destiel. Complete. Rated E. At some point in the last couple of months, Dean became friends with the monster in the lake. traveling light by sharkfish Destiel. Complete. Rated E. Cas is, impossibly, far more gorgeous in person, and he’s taller than Dean expected, and he moves with this casual grace that makes Dean’s brain short circuit. So Dean thinks he probably looks a little like a deer in the headlights when Cas catches his eyes from the door of the restaurant. He breaks out into a smile, the full, wide one that never came out in his pictures, and Dean actually goes weak in the knees. “Cas,” Dean says. “Hello, Dean,” Cas says. Sealed lips. Tied hands. by @sternchenchas Destiel. Complete. Rated G. Dean Winchester doesn't look forward to his first day of school, but it's not because of your usual teenager problems. He would be glad if he had to deal with dates, grades and rumors about his love life. Instead, he struggles even to communicate. In a world where everyone talks in sign language, his hands are tied. He's a happer. One of those weird people who have a hard time figuring out what others say, and can't express what they want to tell. But one good deed might save him because he helps Castiel Novak. A boy who might be just as different and weird as Dean. A boy who understands even when Dean's lips are sealed. Reality of Dreams by sternchencas Destiel. Complete. Rated E. Dean Winchester has been living a boring life. At least until his brother is missing, the police think he has something to do with it, and a group of people who call themselves 'Liberi Somniorum' and live in an underground bunker ask him to join them so they can teach him how to use his dreaming abilities. As if that isn't bad enough, the police also took his car and then there's this guy in a trenchcoat who's guarding him, and some dark secret. Dean does his best to convince himself it's a dream. But somehow, sometimes, dreams can be very real, and this time, he just can't wake up. Porch Light by @surlybobbies Destiel. Complete. Rated N/A. Before he could think too much about it, Dean had reached over his duffel bag and skated his knuckles across Cas’s cheek, just once, before dropping his hand and his gaze. “I’ll leave the porchlight on for you,” he had mumbled. (Dean and Cas reunite in Lawrence after meeting in Boston 6 months prior.) Brambles by surlybobbies Destiel. Complete. Rated T. “You like the dirty mechanic look, Cas?” Dean says, winking.Cas steps back to let him in. “Not particularly.” Dean’s grin falls. He swipes an arm over his sweaty forehead. “Well, get used to it, bud, ‘cause I’m your neighborhood dirty mechanic on the days I’m not the neighborhood drunken arsonist.” Criminality by surlybobbies Destiel. Complete. Rated T. In which Dean accidentally breaks into and falls asleep in Cas's car, and Cas accidentally kidnaps the stranger who had been eyeing him all night at the bar.

#Self Rec Fest #Supernatural #destiel #cockles #jensen ackles/misha collins #fic rec list #fandom events

73 notes · View notes

lonerangerinspace · 7 years

Text

Bellarke Fic Rec 1/?

The 100 Bellarke fandom has some fabulous writers and I’ve been saving some of my favorite fics. And now I’m sharing them. I tried to group them into basic genres and I’m planning to do more posts! (Fics under the cut)

Genres: Modern AU, Soulmate AU, Celebrity AU, Cannon Divergence/AU, Grounder AU, Historical/Fantasy AU

Modern AU

so put your hands down my pants and I bet you'll feel nuts

Summary: Clarke meets a guy at a party and drunkenly shares a lot of information with him that she is going to regret.

Don't Trust People Who Read Fight Club

Summary: Bellamy Blake is a librarian. And with that great power comes great responsibility. But it’s what he does, and he lives for those who are actually interested when they lean on his desk and ask for recommendations. That sort of people make him forget all about assholes like the blonde who drops by his desk one day, looking to check out Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Palahniuk’s Fight Club.

Aurora Borealis

Summary: Clarke sets up shop next door to Aurora's Tattoos; Bellamy takes issue with her flower shop's name. The rest goes from there.

Time Enough for Rocking When We're Old

Summary: boston > boston/camb/brook > housing > apts by owner$2-300 Roxbury small room in 3-br 1-bath house, spouse preferred (Roxbury) Pair of siblings looking for housemate. Due to extenuating circumstances I will share with interested parties, I would prefer a roommate who is willing to get married for legitimate personal reasons that do not include sex or anything sketchy. If not interested in marriage, room still available for $300/month plus utilities. Pets okay, no smokers, NO DRUG USE.Please don't just email me to tell me this is fucked up, I know it is, you really don't have to tell me.If you are interested in the marriage part, a female spouse is preferred, but male would be okay too. I promise I will explain this if you really want details, but I'm not putting it online.Serious inquiries only.

The Giant Squid's Got Nothing On You

Summary: “That is what stalking is though, technically,” says Raven, stirring cinnamon into her coffee. She’s joined her today on her sketching run, and the cafe is packed to the brim. “And it’s not normal either. Soon enough someone is going to show him those drawings and then there’ll be a lawsuit on your hands. And I’m not going to bail you out.”Objectively, Clarke knows she’s probably right, but she still can’t help but lift her chin determinedly and say, “He is not going to find it.”She can barely hear her scoff in reply over the din of the cafe. “Yeah right,” says Raven, “The internet is forever, Clarke Griffin. He will find it eventually.”or, Clarke finds her new muse at the local cafe

Soulmate AU

Livewire

Summary: Clarke Griffin finds 'Atlas' written on her wrist and Bellamy Blake sees flowers bloom on his skin. *Soulmate au where when you write something on your skin with pen/marker/whatever the hell you want, it will show up on your soulmate's skin as well.

I Knew You'd be Trouble

Summary: A soul-bond AU where the first words that your soul mate will say to you are marked on your skin in their own handwriting.Wherein Bellamy is a giant sap and has spent his entire life planning the first words he'll say to his soul mate and practicing his penmanship so her marks will be perfect and Clarke sort of forgot that it was a thing entirely and never quite learned to hold her tongue.

and love, you taste like magic

Summary: For a moment she was sure she was seeing lightning marks, her lightning marks, but then the sunlight hit his arm just at the right angle and the black ink glinted under her fingers.But tattoos weren’t real soulmarks, no matter how much she wished them to be.

Where the Memories Flicker

Summary: It's very tempting, to get in touch with your childhood friend once he makes it big in Hollywood. But it's also very awkward, so Clarke's going to skip it. Really, she is.

Feel the Beating of Your Heartache Drum

Summary: Bellamy is seven when he feels his soulmate for the first time. He is also seven when he meets Clarke Griffin. And for the next eleven years, nothing makes sense about the person he is supposed to love, his soulmate. But loving Clarke Griffin feels pretty right.

Celebrity AU

Time Is Running out (but We Are Running Free)

Summary: It starts because of a show about space pirates and mojitos. And everyone loves an off-screen romance between co-stars. Or: Bellarke co-stars fake dating AU. “So, what? We just do this? Fake dating?” Bellamy asks, leaning forward on his forearms, bewildered.“I don’t see a problem, then. Just do what you’re usually doing. Tweet at each other, but don’t confirm anything.” With that, Anya focuses all of her attention on Bellamy and Clarke. There’s steely determination in her eyes as she announces, “We’re going to slow burn the hell out of this.”

Caught in a Riptide

Summary: Bellamy invites his best friend, Clarke, to the gala of his movie, and she just refuses to step on that red carpet. Because.

What We Do to Each Other

Summary: A Bellarke AU in which Bellamy and Clarke are childhood best friends, separated by life and trying to relearn each other again. *"You would, yeah."He frowns at her wistfulness, looking like he's caught between spreading his arms for her and rejecting every memory they made together. "I would what?""Fill your apartment with books, have a fire escape so you can run away a little and - and I bet you still keep sunflower seeds around, don't you?"Bellamy flashes her a rueful smile and she's back into the day they shared her bed, his body curled into hers as they watched their lives being pulled apart at the seams.This is the real distance, and it is not measured in miles. It is measured in time you spent away, time that is lost, time that can never be brought back.

Or, You Could Always Google It

Summary: “You know,” Bellamy muses, grin wide and a little conspiratorial, “you’re robbing our legions of fans here. They’re expecting a showdown and you’re being perfectly cordial towards me.”“Right,” she nods, pursing her lips to keep from smiling. “Well, it’s not too late. I could always pitch that glass of water down your shirt.”Someone really should have warned Clarke that the first step to becoming internet famous would involve acquiring a nemesis. (Or, Bellarke as rival YouTubers, basically.)

take the world

Summary: “Bellamy!” Monty greets, “Thanks for coming. I know you’re swamped with homework. This is Clarke. She’s new!” “Great,” Bellamy mutters, meeting the wide eyes of Clarke Griffin, who schools her features into boredom the second she takes him in. “Princess,” he says, nodding at her. “I will castrate you. ”Monty looks warily in between the two of them. “So… I guess you guys have met?” “Oh, we’re old friends,” Clarke says cheerfully, a smile plastered on her face. “This is going to be so much fun.” OR; a The Prince and Me AU. Bellamy and Clarke meet in college. Bellamy is just trying to make it through his last semester, and Clarke is trying to keep a secret.

Canon Divergence/AU

Let Me Show You How It's Done

Summary: Bellamy's a virgin, which wouldn't be such a problem if virgins didn't make such great sacrifices.

take what you can (give nothing back)

Summary: For Clarke Griffin from the Arcadia Colonies, being abducted by space pirates was not what she had in mind. Being ransomed back to her potential husband, was definitely not what she had in mind.

Love Will Come Through

Summary: "The vows were short, perfunctory; Clarke was asked to say I do, and she did. There were rings, too: Bellamy’s fingers were warm against her hand when he slipped a ring on her finger, and she put a ring on his. They were instructed to kiss. His lips were dry, pressing against her mouth for a moment, and that was it. They were done. She was a wife, and her husband was a stranger."AU. Clarke winds up in an arranged marriage with Bellamy.

bound by the secrets we share

Summary: Ninety-seven years ago, a nuclear apocalypse rendered planet Earth unlivable, leaving only the four-hundred people on the twelve space stations as its survivors. Over three generations, these twelve nations joined together to form the unified Ark Station.To preserve the human race, the leaders of the Ark implemented strict measures including: capital punishment for anyone over the age of eighteen, a ration system based on job placement, and the arrangement of marriages based on genetic compatibility. If the human race was to return to Earth, it had to be strong to survive.Clarke Griffin turned eighteen and celebrated her birthday with a marriage ceremony.

Son of Lycaon

Summary: From the ground Clarke can see that Amy was right; it’s not quite a wolf, but she doesn’t know what else to call it. The teeth are wrong, its spine elongated too much- it’s the stuff of nightmares, if Clarke had any room in her dreams for more horrors.

Grounder AU

And I Love This Place, the Enormous Sky

Summary: The Skaikru needs an ally, and the Delphi Clan is willing. It might not be their tradition to seal such alliances with a marriage, but Clarke Griffin has always done what her people need. Bellamy can't help admiring that. So he goes with her.

The Name of a Foreigner's God

Summary: Bellamy and the delinquents leave the dropship and run straight into the Ice Nation's arms. The Ice Queen only requires one thing to secure their allegiance: a marriage.Or, Grounder!Clarke and Bellamy in an arranged marriage. (Also featuring domme!Clarke and sub!Bellamy, just for funsies.)

Anywhere I Go (There You Are)

Summary: BFF fill for "I was wondering if you could do an 'In your eyes' (2014 film) bellarke fic, maybe when one of them lives on the ark and the other is a grounder? I love that film and can't find any fics for it" For valar-adorehaeris

In My Dreams We Are Always Together

Summary: 100 delinquents got sent to Earth and battled for survival against the odds. They landed in Trikru territory but that is not where they stayed. After weeks of battle and war, the Sky People finally lost. They were sent to a land far away, where a group of Grounders unlike any they've met waited for them.

Facing Tempests of Dust

Summary: Clarke Griffin has grown up in the perfectly controlled environment of the Ark dome, a city created to withstand the destruction of the world outside. Now, she's been sent out with 100 other delinquents to try to survive on their own, but she knows the truth. They weren't sent away for their crimes, but rather to buy time for others in Ark, as the city is failing. While Clarke struggles to lead her band of teenagers, she encounters a man with strange abilities and an offer she finds hard to refuse.

Historical/Fantasy AU

It’s Just That It’s Delicate

Summary: The main reason Bellamy gets Lady Clarke's hand is marriage is that her father was a traitor and he's the bastard heir of an unpopular baron. But it might work out for him, after all.

Your Heart and Your Mind (They Are Mine, and They're Lovely)

Summary: Bellamy Blake makes a deal with a witch.

Without Giving Anything Away

Summary: When Octavia gets married and leaves home, she's worried Bellamy won't be able to handle the ranch on his own. So she talks him into putting an ad in the paper to see if he can find a wife.

I Choose You

Summary: (Vague) Period AU: Just days away from her eighteenth birthday, Clarke is running out of time to find a husband. Conveniently, that's when Bellamy Blake shows up at her doorstep.

No Desire To Be King

Summary: Clarke is in love with him from their first adventure. But she's a Crown Princess then, and he's got no desire to be king.It's been ten years of him always showing up when she needs him the most - battles, armies, mythical beasts... even when she lost her parents. But they've just faced another battle side by side, and she's a Queen and he's got no desire to be King. And she's sick of saying goodbye.But this time, he doesn't seem to be leaving.

#bellarke fic #bellarke au fic #bellarke fic rec #my recs #bellarke au #the100 #the100 fic #the 100 fic #bellamy x clarke #blarke #blarke fic #my fic rec

37 notes · View notes