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daleisgreat · 3 years

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Shawn Michaels: The Showstopper Unreleased

WWE has release a few Shawn Michaels DVDs over the years, but continuing on the theme of my last few wrestling-centered entries, WWE Home Video stuck with their “unreleased” brand of DVDs in 2018 with the three-disc release of Shawn Michaels: The Showstopper Unreleased (intro - I could not locate a trailer for this anywhere!). In that clip Shawn quips that the producers deserve an award for finding previously unreleased matches. I believe the criteria for this release is still similar to previous “Unreleased” collections where they may have aired on television (and thus likely in the WWE Network archives) or long discontinued VHS tapes, but this DVD will mark the first time the matches are available on disc. Also included is a new interview with Michaels that they broke up in several parts and sporadically inserted throughout the collection. The first disc is something special as it essentially is a “Best of Rockers” DVD. The first two matches are from Shawn’s rookie year in 1985 for Mid-South in quick enhancement matches for Hector & Chavo Guerrero and Jake “The Snake” Roberts. Matches serve their purpose, but it is nonetheless fascinating to see how Shawn had that already apparent potential in him way back in 1985. The remaining 11 matches on the first disc are all Rockers matches, with the first three tag matches being from their Midnight Rockers AWA days with two bouts against Doug Summers & Buddy Rose and one more with Brian Knobbs & Dennis “I’m not booked” Stamp. The two Summers & Rose matches are show-stealers that had exhilarating beginning/middle/end structures, and was fun to watch the 1980s crowd go nuts for.

The first disc is almost all AWA & WWF Rockers matches!! For the eight WWF Rockers matches, they consist of almost an all-star lineup of a golden age for WWF tag teams where they square off against the likes of Demolition, Brain Busters, Hart Foundation, Natural Disasters and Legion of Doom. The sad thing about The Rockers back then is that as charismatic and agile as they were back then, they mostly made other teams look good in their WWF run and that is the case here as they lose six of those eight WWF matches. Even worse is the two matches they win is a DQ win against the Rougeaus after Jimmy Hart’s megaphone is used, and a countout win against the Orient Express. That said, a lot of the other matches are pretty damn good, with high honors going to the Brain Busters bout, two Demolition matches and surprisingly working in a lot of good stuff against Legion of Doom. Worth pointing out is another good match against the Hart Foundation where it seems noticeable the teams missed their cue to go home because the match starts to feel there is no end in sight when out of nowhere during an abdominal stretch a bunch of wrestlers run in and an awkward impromptu brawl ensues and the match is declared a draw.

Disc two has 12 matches from Shawn’s first singles WWF run from 1992-1998. Some highlights from this are an unsurprising technical showcase with Mr. Perfect, oddly having a positive dynamic with Bret Hart to team up against the Blu Brothers in 1995 and predictable-yet-high quality formula matches during his first WWF Title run against 1-2-3 Kid and Steve Austin. Disc two has a disappointing triple tag elimination match with Shawn, Diesel and Undertaker against Psycho Sid, Tatanka and Kama filled with lots of stalling and headscratching booking for the eliminations. There is also a questionable match against Vader a month after their controversial-yet-excellent Summerslam match, where in this match Shawn takes 95% of the offense and quickly squashes Vader in three minutes. There is also a fascinating bout against Yokozuna from the summer of 1996 in Kuwait, when Yoko is nearing the end of his WWF run due to him putting on excess weight, and the match kind of expectedly plods along, until something must have clicked for Shawn to motivate Yoko into a pretty watchable match in the back half, and the two show respect afterwards which was awesome to see….until Yoko suddenly darts off to the back like he really has to go to the bathroom. The third disc consists of 10 matches from Shawn’s return run to WWE from 2002-2010. All the matches here are from RAW, so that means they follow the formula that still holds true for WWE TV main events today where it is either a cobbled together tag match, or a really good one-on-one match with interference or a hokey finish. There are a couple exceptions with worthwhile clean matches against Ric Flair during a Japan 2005 tour and against Christian in 2004 when he was building momentum with Tyson Tomko by his side. HBK’s matches against Rob Van Dam, Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho are the highlights on disc three, but all three contests have varying degrees of interference to effect the finishes, and in some cases it actually benefits the match as is the case with Angle with the story they were telling. I was delighted to see a post-RAW dark match included with Shawn teaming with Batista against Triple H and Edge. WWE is notorious for usually doing a fun untelevised promo or bonus match for the fans after the cameras go off the air with some quirky moments that would never fly in a televised match. That is the case here with Triple H doing lots of exaggerated selling and fun jawing with the crowd that absolutely ate it all up for a fun time.

Shawn didn't disappoint in his 21st century run, with matches included here that don't disappoint against Ric Flair and Kurt Angle. A couple of promos are uncovered like Shawn doing an open Q&A with the fans when Sensational Sherri was managing Michaels early in his singles run. Another amusing bonus promo is Shawn and Diesel doing a Times Square workout session to hype up their upcoming WrestleMania 11 match with the one-and-only Todd Pentigill hosting. The several interview clips inserted throughout the DVDs has Shawn hitting on certain parts on where he was at that stage in his career and reflecting on the infamous Barber Shop break-up with Marty, his 2002 return, rebooting a less edgy, more goofball version of DX in 2006 and retiring in 2010 (this was filmed before his ill-fated Saudi Arabia return match). From these series of introspections, it was fascinating to hear Shawn think back on why he was not all-in for teaming with Jose Lathario in his WWE Title run, and hearing him settling on being a family man in retirement and turning down multiple

WrestleMania return matches. There are also a few sets of interviews with NXT talent commenting on how lucky they are to have Shawn as a teacher at the WWE Performance Center. Shawn comments a few times here too on being proud of passing on his knowledge, and it is obvious he is genuine on his passion for his new role building talent in NXT. WWE has once again amassed another recommended collection of un-vaulted matches. I am digging this format following the Piper and Macho Man sets where they break up the action every few matches with a set of interviews. Wort mentioning is about a quarter of the 35 matches here have no commentary because they were either dark matches, or from arena shows WWE use to film at regionally in the 80s and 90s and never recorded commentary for and/or lost the rights for the commentary. While there are some skippable matches, the good-to-bad ratio is largely in the positive here, and the not-so-good bouts usually at least have an entertaining backstory or era they emanate from. This all adds up for Shawn Michaels: The Showstopper Unreleased being another must-have installment of the Unreleased branding. Past Wrestling Blogs Best of WCW Clash of Champions Best of WCW Monday Nitro Volume 2 Best of WCW Monday Nitro Volume 3 Biggest Knuckleheads Bobby The Brain Heenan Daniel Bryan: Just Say Yes Yes Yes DDP: Positively Living Dusty Rhodes WWE Network Specials ECW Unreleased: Vol 1 ECW Unreleased: Vol 2 ECW Unreleased: Vol 3 Eric Bishoff: Wrestlings Most Controversial Figure Fight Owens Fight: The Kevin Owens Story For All Mankind Getting Rowdy: The Unreleased Matches of Roddy Piper Goldberg: The Ultimate Collection Hulk Hogans Unreleased Collectors Series Impact Wresting Presents: Best of Hulk Hogan Its Good to Be the King: The Jerry Lawler Story The Kliq Rules Ladies and Gentlemen My Name is Paul Heyman Legends of Mid South Wrestling Macho Man: The Randy Savage Story Memphis Heat NXT: From Secret to Sensation NXT Greatest Matches Vol 1 OMG Vol 2: Top 50 Incidents in WCW History OMG Vol 3: Top 50 Incidents in ECW History Owen: Hart of Gold Randy Savage Unreleased: The Unseen Matches of the Macho Man RoH Supercard of Honor 2010-Present ScoobyDoo Wrestlemania Mystery Scott Hall: Living on a Razors Edge Shawn Michaels: My Journey Sting: Into the Light Straight Outta Dudley-ville: Legacy of the Dudley Boyz Straight to the Top: Money in the Bank Anthology Superstar Collection: Zach Ryder Then Now Forever – The Evolution of WWEs Womens Division TLC 2017 TNA Lockdown 2005-2016 Top 50 Superstars of All Time Tough Enough: Million Dollar Season True Giants Ultimate Fan Pack: Roman Reigns Ultimate Warrior: Always Believe War Games: WCWs Most Notorious Matches Warrior Week on WWE Network Wrestlemania III: Championship Edition Wrestlemania 28-Present The Wrestler (2008) Wrestling Road Diaries Too Wrestling Road Diaries Three: Funny Equals Money Wrestlings Greatest Factions WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2015 WWE Network Original Specials Second Half 2015 WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2016 WWE Network Original Specials Second Half 2016 WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2017

#Wrestling #Shawn Michaels #the rockers #wwf #WWE #awa #marty jannetty #ric flair #kurt angle #Christian #Bret Hart #diesel #psycho sid #dennis stamp #jake roberts #mr. perfect

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2018shawn · 4 years

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Only for you, baby

OMG so I went for something a bit different - the parts in bold are normal time, the parts in italics are throwbacks, mostly consisting of smut so if you don’t wanna read them then don’t but if you do, then you do you, boo. Sorry if it does not live up to expectation I just let it flow 🥰🥰🥰

Warnings: smut, bad writing and not proof-read 🥺🤪

The St. Christoper trailing from his now flushed, marked neck bobbed up and down, where it rested at the top of his chest, with the rhythm of his heavy breathing. The love heart shaped earrings he’d brought you back from some quirky, independent store whilst he was on tour and lifelong silver anklet were the only things covering your bare body. But one thing you both did have in common was the fact you both felt nothing but heaven and ecstasy all rolled into one. Your head rested on his solid chest, the feeling of his breath brushing through your hair every so often. “God, I've fucking missed you”, he sighed happily, pressing his lips to the top of your head, almost eating a mouthful of your hair.

His holdall dropped to the floor immediately, slamming the door shut behind him with his foot. You were sat in the kitchen, the steaming pasta dish you’d made displayed nicely across the dining table, a selection of his favourite garlic breads in the middle. “Babe?” He shouted, instantly making you chuckle. His first point of call was the living room, where the television was muted, but playing re-runs of some dumb reality show to itself. He stood in the door frame, as if he was double checking you weren’t in there as you crept up behind him, your tip toes aiding you in reaching up to cover his eyes with your hands. “No, a robber, actually...” you smiled, unable to keep him from doing a 180 spin on the spot, knocking your arms away from his face.

Your breathe paused - taking in all of the glory that was known as Shawn Mendes. He could be gone for 5 minutes or 5 months - which, unfortunately, he had - and you’d still be surprised at how incredible breathtakingly beautiful he was every time. He, of course, would say the same thing about you, one hundred times over. His eyes were sleepy, presumably from the long haul flights and endless amount of shows, but somewhere in there you saw the lustful, loving look he always gave you. “Sexiest robber I've ever come across”, he laughed, before you knew it, bending down and gripping around the back of your thighs to pick you up. He walked a few steps forward, your legs wrapped around his waist, until your back pushed against the grey wall in the hallway, closing you in with no way out. Not that you minded one bit. His lips were eager to meet yours, hungry for the taste he’d missed so much over the past months. It was sloppy, but perfect, making up for every second he’d missed whilst being away. “I made...” he interrupted your sudden speech with more kisses, pausing you, “your favourite...” and again, “dinner. Thought...” again, “you’d be hungry”, you finally rushed out, continuing to accept his attack. “Oh, I'm hungry for something” He smirked, walking you both away from the direction of the kitchen and towards the bedroom.

You tried to sit up, wanting to turn around and face him, failing miserably when your body just crashed back down to the bed, feeling fragile and very well loved. “I’ve missed you too” you smiled, managing to turn onto your side, with a few winces, unsure if he had noticed the pain racing through your body. It was a happy pain, which you didn’t think was ever a thing, until you met Shawn. The feeling of being with someone you love as much as you do, pleasing them with every action you made even if it tired you out as much as this. You were well and truly under a love spell. Your hands reached up to his bed of curls, running your hands through gently - much different to the tugging you were participating in when he was in between your legs, making you see stars.

He balanced on his knees in between your legs, his thighs looking delightfully thick and toned, even through the thick, black denim. His fingers were tracing the shadows silhouetted across your chest, your delicate features instantly hardening at his sensitive touch. You think you heard him somewhat purr, and it didn’t take long for you to realise that your nipples weren’t the only thing getting hard. With a forearm either side of your head, he lowered down, starting at your chest and working down your body, kissing every little part of you that he could.

The feel of his breath hovering nearer to your aching centre left you unsure if you could handle the anticipation anymore after being so long apart. Sure you'd had phone and video calls, but nothing can ever compare to the way he makes you feel in person. He was soon lost in the same thought, his best skills working wonders on your swollen pussy, wanting to taste every last drop as you tugged fiercely through his hair, a sign he knew and thrived off all too well.

His fingers were running up and down your side, stopping every so often to play dot to dot with the freckles spotted over your hips. “I could tell”, he smirked, raising his eyebrows and nudging his eyes down to the wet patches that were decorating the bed sheets. You knew he could be cocky about his performances, but with stamina like his, how couldn’t you be? You rolled your eyes, but in no way was annoyed by his boyish behaviour and speech. “Ermmmm, did you just roll you eyes?” he stopped all movement of his hands, gripping your hips as if you was amount to run a mile. You, by no stretch of the imagination, were in no fit state to be moving anywhere, let alone running. You shrugged your shoulders, the best you could, given your awkward side positioning.

The sound of you moans filled the room as he brought you to your first climax, your body shaking with energy. All you could see was a brown mop of curls and his arms, wrapped around your thighs and resting on your hips to stop you from moving so he - and you - could enjoy every little second. He’d waited for your breathing to calm until he continued his loving, crawling up to meet your eye level once more. “Still got it” he smiled, making you giggle and roll your eyes in return. As if something had possessed him, he was dragging you up by your wrists, tugging you to lay across his lap as his leg dangled over the edge of the bed. “What have I said before about rolling your eyes, my dear” he tutted, shaking his head as his hands smoothed over the skin of your thighs and ass in preparation for what was coming next. “I... I’m sorry, baby” You stuttered, wriggling under his touch. He raised his hand, bringing it down with almighty force, shifting your entire weight underneath him. The sound of his palm against your skin filled the room, and continued to until you admitted there would be no more eye rolling.

“Ok, Christian Grey...” you started, resulting in him bringing his hand to his chest and opening his mouth to mock offence being taken, “maybe tomorrow; this chick is done for tonight” He was by no means the leading character of 50 Shades of Grey, but he knew just what boundaries he could reach, ensuring both of you still enjoyed them to their full potential. After agreeing and pressing a sealing kiss to your lips, he sat up, running his fingers through his messy hair, letting his long legs dangle over the edge of the bed. You admired how his back muscles flexed as he moved, scanning your eyes over the artwork of red scratches you’d left decorated on his broad shoulders. He turned around to look at you, catching you out during your lustful gaze. “Like what you see, baby?” He smirked, his left eye falling into a quick wink. He acted like this when he’d been away, teasing you for knowing how much you wanted him and you could give him hell for being 10 times worse than you, but, hey, let the boy have his moment. You pushed yourself up using your hands, your back dragging up headboard until you found a comfortable spot to rest yourself against. You tried to pretend like your entire body wasn’t aching, that your intimates weren’t sore and your ass didn’t have a sting from his hand. He stood up, walking around the bed, picking up both of your scattered clothes as he did so, throwing them into the hamper in the corner of the room. Only 3 of the 7 items actually landed in there, but you giggled at his attempt, knowing you’d only have to tidy up after his tidying like normal. His tall figure towered over you, your eyes almost rolling into the back of your head as you looked up to meet his own. With a swift movement, he bent down, pressing his lips tenderly to your forehead as he brushed the wild hair out of your face. He muttered a little “stay there” before he shuffled off into the en-suite bathroom, leaving you to assume he was just going to tidy himself up and you would do the same when you found the energy to move.

Soon back by your bed side, with strong arms, he scooped you up into his chest, one arm supporting under your knees and the other wrapped around your back, resting his hand on your side. “What on earth are you doing, Shawn Mendes?” You squealed, unable to stop yourself from reaching your arms up to cling around his neck like a baby sloth on a branch.

“Looking after you, bub” He smiled, pressing another delicate kiss to your warm, furrowed forehead.

His infamous single curl dangled down, almost tickling your forehead as you giggled up at his complete adorableness; even when he was about to fuck the absolute shit out of you. He hovered over you, using his arms to support himself from squashing your much smaller but curvy body, as his throbbing length finally entered into you for what felt like a lifetime, both of you moaning with pure pleasure. It was the slowest and intimate he’d been throughout the whole night thus far and you loved every moment. He came to a halt when you’d taken as much of him as you possibly could, resting there to just take you all in, having missed it for the last 5 or so months. He thought he could’ve got off at just the feeling of your tight walls alone, but was determined to make you feel so good you couldn’t walk and make up for lost time. You squirmed under him, digging your nails into his shoulder blades. “Do you want me to fuck you?” He asked, his lips brushing against yours as they moved. You could only nod, too in a daze to let yourself speak. “Answer me properly” He ordered, readjusting one of his arms to allow it to be closer to your face, his fingers dragging through the front part of your hear to tuck it behind your ear. You'd never known anyone be so demanding by loving at the same time and you couldn’t help but thrive off it. “Yes.. please” you stuttered, only managing the two brief words. “Good girl” he expressed, moving his lips from your mouth and pressing a rewarding soft kiss to your forehead before he began fucking you into your next climax.

"I can look after myself” you smiled, however still grateful for his concerns. “And you must be tired, you should eat and go to bed”

“I’ll do that when I know you’ve done the same” He smiled as you both ended up in his destination of the bathroom. You were too busy looking up at his chiseled features that you’d missed so much to notice the quick turn around of the bathroom. The bath was filling with bubbles, close to overflowing, in fact, because Shawn had no concept of how far bubble bath actually went. The few candles lit up the dim room, only a small amount of light coming from the mirror that was hung on the wall. He stood you down gently in front of the mirror and sink, holding onto your hips for a brief moment to ensure you were good before picking your hairbrush up that you’d left there from earlier on. He took the small hair tie that was wrapped around the handle and delicately brushed all your hair into one section, stretching the scrunchie around your thick locks until he created a messy high ponytail. You watched in the mirror how he stuck his tongue out in concentration, noticing how gentle he would brush the comb through your hair like you was a china doll. He placed the brush back down, grabbing your hand and pulling you towards the ridiculously large bath tub, your legs feeling like jelly. He kept hold of your hand, raising it slightly and nudging his head towards the water, suggesting for you to get in. You felt like you put you entire weight on him as you climbed in, but he didn’t mind. He never minded.

He was soon behind you in the tub, leaving loving kisses on your neck as he squeezed a sponge to let the warm, bubbly water drench your exhausted body. “Tell me what’s been happening whilst I've been gone” He said, and you began to ramble, even though you spoke as often as you could whist he was away, there was a tonne of stuff that you’d soon come to realise you missed and found yourself laughing at dumb stories that he completely wouldn’t understand because you had to be there. He loved every little expression or giggle that escaped your lips, genuinely laughing along with you because he thought you were the most amazing story teller. You were almost finished your stories, picking up handfuls of bubbles and blowing them out in front of you in the process, until you felt him move behind you, standing up.

“You can finish telling me in bed” He smiled, reaching down and lifting you up again.

He got out before you, grabbing the fluffiest white towel he could, wrapping it around your body almost twice due to its large size. He aided you in stepping out the tub, pulling you back into the bedroom and ordering you to sit on the end of the bed. Of course, you did. You watched as he vanished back into the bathroom, shortly returning with a tub that you recognised as your favourite but most hella expensive body butter that only came out when you really deserved it.

Kneeling beneath you, he lifted you legs, one by one, taking a large dollop on the end of his finger. Like the doofus he was, he drew silly faces on your skin with the white cream, before smoothing it all out trying his hardest not to miss any patches. You weren’t talking, but it was moments like this when you didn’t think words were needed. He looked after you more than you could ever imagine and no amount of words could make up for that.

Once you felt like you had brand new skin, he dressed you in your nicest pyjamas, even though you half wished you were in one of his t-shirts like you had been for the past 5 months. But instead of wearing t-shirts that smelt like him, you now had the real thing back and that was better than any item of clothing he could dress you in.

He put you in bed, the large television on the wall opposite turned on with some universal pictures movie starting. “I’m just gonna go lock up baby” he informed you, bringing the duck feather duvet up to your neck and fluffing your pillows to triple check you was comfortable enough. You just hummed and smiled innocently, keeping your eyes on what you soon figured to ironically be 50 Shades of Grey.

Walking slowly back into the room, carrying a tray, being extra cautious not to spill anything because he knew you’d go ballistic over how clean your plush carpets are. You admired his efforts, noticing the bowls on the tray full of the dinner you’d made earlier, accompanied by two bottles of water. Looking further up, you laughed at the piece of garlic bread hanging out of his mouth because he simply couldn’t wait.

The next minutes weren’t spent eating, regaining energy and lapping up each others company. Some of the things you both appear to do well.

“So basically, then she headed for the door but fell over in the process because she’s a dumb ass” Swirling some tagliatelle around your fork with a struggle.

“Just like your dumb ass fell for me?”

“Exact- SHAWN, no, you’re so annoying” You laughed, and he loved nothing more than the sound of your happiness. “You are the most smug person I've ever met”

“Only for you, baby”

You second climax was over and Shawn was showing no signs of slowing, adamant to make up for lost love. You lay beneath him as his hardness withdrew and your legs fell from around his waist. “Fuck...” You pined, telling him with your eyes how much you were enjoying having him back home. His lips tangled with your, sloppy kisses trailing down to under your jawline. He took the skin of your neck in between his neck every so often, making you jump every time.

"One more?” He smiled, looking up at you with dangerous eyes.

“I might be able to” You stuck your tongue out, startled when he caught it in between his teeth.

“You’re so good to me” He said, placing a hand on each of your hips, rolling you over with a force you didn’t think someone could have in them. You squealed playfully at the movement, automatically raising your ass up in the air, knowing exactly where he wanted you. His hands caressed the areas he'd created red hand prints, his cock twitching as he thought back to how they got there. You turned your neck to look back up at him, hair fallen to one side of your face, so he could see that you was the one smirking now.

“Only for you, baby”

#Shawn Mendes #Shawn Mendes fic #Shawn mendes blurb #Shawn mendes imagine #Shawn mendes fluff #Shawn mendes smut #Shawn mendes request #my request

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rainbowshawn · 4 years

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Yours

A/N: Sorry this took so long, I couldn’t even tell you how many times I’ve re-written this one. It’s a long one though so hopefully that makes up for it!! Anyways I’m a sucker for Jealous!Shawn fics so naturally I had to write my own.

Summary: Shawn is determined to remind you who you belong to after an old friend crosses the line.

Warnings: Mentions of alcohol, language, jealousy, and absolute filth. (Dom!Shawn)

Word count: 7.6k

“Shawn, stop it”

You spot him rolling his eyes behind you in the mirror you were currently using to finish up your makeup. A smirk formed on his face as he watched you applying your highlighter.

“I didn’t do anything,”

“Uh-huh,” you drag, squinting your eyes at him.

A few of your old friends were in town and they had invited you to one of the new clubs in the city. It was an upscale venue and you had been absolutely dying to find an excuse to go. It also didn’t hurt that you had a dress collecting dust in your closet that was screaming to be worn. That little black dress had Shawn wrapped right around your finger and you knew it.

“Uh huuuh, that’s why you’ve been eye-fucking me back there for the past fifteen minutes,” you smirked coyly. He shifts from his spot on the bed and slowly makes his way over to you, his gaze growing more intense by the second.

“It’s not my fault you look this sexy, kitten,” he purrs, leaning down to graze your warm neck with his lips. “I think you’re trying to drive me crazy.”

You hum as you feel his lips pressing against your neck; your focus no longer on finishing your makeup. You roll your head back loving the feeling of his lips on your skin and his warm hands trailing up your stomach, getting dangerously close to your breasts. You reluctantly sit back up, shrugging off his affection in favor of getting back to your makeup.

“Don’t distract me, hornball,” you giggle, picking one of your brushes back up.

He sighs, sitting back on the bed as he licks his lips. You choose to ignore his boyish antics as you finish up your dark eyeshadow. He was already dressed and ready to go, only waiting on you so you two could head to the club.

“Who’s all gonna be there?” he inquires.

“Mmm, I think Kira, Lexi, Emmy, and Matt,” you say slowly, trying to apply your nude lipstick at the same time.

Shawn tenses at the mention of the last name. Matt was an old friend, nothing more, but he knows from stories you had told him that Matt used to have a crush on you. You had always insisted that it was nothing, just some stupid high school crush, and Shawn believes you. He really does. But he can’t stop his mind from going into defense mode, suddenly anxious about you being around someone who had wanted you for so long.

He knows it’s wrong and he trusts you. One-hundred percent. So he swallows the feeling and scolds himself internally for feeling this way.

You eye yourself in the mirror, unaware of Shawn being lost in his thoughts behind you. Your skin is glowing and your eyeshadow makes your eye stand out than it already does. You snatch up your phone that was faintly playing music and snap a few selfies in the mirror. You had to admit it; this look had you feeling super confident. Your makeup came out just right and you took the opportunity to get some cute photos out of it.

“Hey, Bubba,” your voice snapped him out of his trance, “c’mere.”

His head snaps up and he blinks quickly, getting out of his head. You’re looking at him in the mirror, your phone still held up in your hand and he catches onto what you want. He smiles as he comes over to your vanity, crouching down to be level with you as you wrap your arm around his neck.

Your faces squish together and he can’t help the blush that appears on his face as you take a few photos. He smirks as you push your lips out in a flirty pose. He chuckles as he shifts to press a kiss to your cheek as you snap more photos.

“Mmm, my pretty girl,” he says lowly, his tone sounding deeper than normal.

You shivered as you looked back through the photos, smiling as you take a liking to the one of him kissing your face.

“We look so cute,” you smile, posting the photo on your story.

“Don’t we always?”

—

The bustle of the party was a bit disorienting when you first arrived. Shawn has his arm around wrapped protectively your waist as you take in the modern club. People brush by quickly as the music pumps through the busy room. You take a moment to scan the busy area for your friends until you stumble upon a familiar face.

“Matt!”

You smile as you see the tall blonde take notice of your presence. He makes his way over to you in large strides, instantly grabbing you up into a strong hug, your laugh filling the crowded air.

“Y/N! God, it’s been yeeears!”

“I know! How have you been?” you say, beaming at him. His arms stay wrapped around you as you two speak. You’re so taken aback at your reunion that you don’t take any notice but Shawn sure does. His jaw clenches as he watches the exchange.

You go back and forth with Matt, catching up with each other briefly before Shawn clears his throat. Your attention shifts and you quickly separate from your old friend, laughing when you realize you never introduced the boys.

“Oh, duh, Matt, this is my boyfriend Shawn” you glance over at Shawn, grabbing onto his arm to introduce them.

“Nice to meet you man,” Shawn says, extending his hand out to Matt. He notices Matt’s eyes scaling your body before he snaps out of it and shakes his hand. Shawn makes sure to grip his hand extra hard, sending him a quiet signal of dominance.

“Yeah. Nice to meet you,” Matt mumbles out, still a bit distracted by your figure in your tight dress.

You remain oblivious to the exchange, smiling up at Shawn.

Some time passes and you end up in one of the large mahogany booths in the club with the group. Kira and Lexi were busy scanning the room for cute guys, hoping Toronto would be a jackpot for them. Emmy was talking to you about her trip to Iceland with her new executive boyfriend. You listen and chuckle. Still as pretentious as ever.

You’re seated between Shawn and Lexi, Matt, Kira, and Emmy directly across from you. The conversation shifts and the group starts talking about old times. You giggle at Emmy’s story of Lexi getting blackout drunk at a party you had all went to years ago, where she puked all over the guy she was trying to hook up with.

“Y/N, you remember when we used to skip school and go out to that creek? I’ll never forget when you slipped on the rocks and busted your ass,” Matt laughs out, “I had to carry you outta there and then somehow explain to your mom what we were doing down there.”

Shawn’s brows furrow as he wonders what you two were busy doing. He feels guilty for feeling uneasy about Matt. He’s never been the jealous type but he can’t seem to get past the looks he’s seen Matt giving you all night. He’s not stupid. He shifts in his seat and guides his hand onto your thigh, holding onto it protectively.

“How could I forget?” you laugh, hiding your face in your hands.

“I can’t count how many times I’ve had to take care of your clumsy ass,” he chuckles.

You quickly down the rest of your drink and interject before you can be further embarrassed in front of Shawn.

“On that note,” you interrupt, shooting matt a teasing glare, “Why are we just sitting here, guys? Let's go dance!”

You tug Shawn up, walking backward as you pull him towards the dance floor. You beam up at him, giggling as he takes in your figure, smiling at you. He knows he’s in for a long night.

You embrace the loud music and low lights as you feel the alcohol start to hit you. You dance to the top 10 hits blaring through the speakers, laughing the whole time. Shawn just watches you, a smile plastered on his face as he observes your drunken antics.

“You’re adorable,” he giggles at your dancing.

“Mmmm I know,” you say, wrapping your arms around his neck and pressing a kiss to his lips, “Now let loose a little, loverboy. Show me those moves.”

—

Shawn had just reluctantly left you to grab some more drinks at the bar. After a while of being apart from the group, you see Matt making his way back over to you through the packed crowd. He stumbles along to the loud beat pumping through the club and you cock your head, observing him. His eyes rake over you and you suddenly notice the look hungry look on his face. Once he reaches you, his hand settles onto your lower back and he pulls you into him as he speaks over the obnoxiously loud pop song.

“Can I get you a drink?” he shouts, “My treat.”

You notice his eyes mentally undressing you and you giggle, unsure of how to respond.

“I think I’m okay,” you say, wiggling in his tight grasp as he grinds into you, dancing to the song. Shawn sees the exchange from the bar and immediately starts walking back to you with jealousy pumping through his veins.

“Matt, seriously stop, you’re being weird,” you half chuckle, still confused by the situation. Matt just shushes you and moves his hands towards your hips.

Shawn immediately steps over towards you, hand snaking around your waist and brushing Matt’s hands off of your body.

“She’s good, man,” Shawn blurts out; his tone a bit stronger than normal. “Hands off.”

Your timid eyes shift over to him, noticing his jaw clenching. His cheekbones looked extra defined and his jawline somehow seemed sharper than usual. You bit your lip at his dominant demeanor, suddenly distracted from the tense situation playing out in front of you.

“Woah, man,” Matt defends, “I think I was talking to the Y/N, not you.”

Shawn’s arm grips your waist tighter, and you feel him stand up straighter next to you. You hear the slur of Matt’s words and piece together that he’s beyond drunk. He had never been a big drinker and you had only seen him drunk a handful of times in high school. You were surprised at his bold advances towards you.

“Don’t think it matters,” Shawn spits, standing up straighter and towering over the blonde. He shifts to step towards Matt, moving your body behind his, “That’s my girl.”

“Guys,” you move to press your palm into Shawn’s chest and step between them, hoping to deescalate the situation. You shoot matt a glare as you see him open his mouth back up to reply. “Knock it off.”

“Whatever, man,” Matt scoffs and backs up, rolling his eyes as he disappears back into the crowd.

“What the fuck?”

“He’s been practically eye-fucking you all night!” Shawn defends himself.

“Shawn,” you trail, placing your hands on the sides of his face. He turns his head to the side, avoiding your gaze.

You squint your eyes before laughing teasingly, “You’re so jealous.”

“Am not,” he grumbles.

You turn his face, making him look at you as you squint up at him.

“Whatever you say,” you trail. “But really. He’s just drunk. He’s just my friend.”

His arms wrap around your waist and pull you to his warm body. He presses his hips into your stomach and you have to hold back a groan as you feel him grind against you.

“I don’t care,” He cranes his head down to murmur into your ear, “You’re mine.”

You groan lightly at his words; the sound lost amongst the bustle of the loud room. His lips are suddenly pressed against your neck and he nips at the skin teasingly. His hands are settled on your hips and you feel his grip tighten as he pulls you closer.

His lips trail up from your shoulder to your ear where he whispers darkly,

“How about we get out of here, kitten? Need you. Want you to myself. That dress is driving me fucking crazy,”

—

The ride back to the apartment felt like an eternity as you wound through the busy streets of Toronto. You and Shawn were in the back of an uber, trying your best not to pounce on each other. The tension was tangible as his hand rested on your thigh; his fingers drawing light circles on your sensitive skin. You bit your lip and looked out the window trying to distract yourself from his teasing.

You roll your head and look at Shawn through your heavy lids. A small smile plays at your lips as you eye the beautiful man next to you. His features are relatively lost amongst the dark environment of the car, but the dim light trickling in from the window dances across his face. He’s shifted, meeting your gaze as you rub a hand up his arm that was in your lap. His lips look extra plump as he shoots you a smirk and it takes all your strength not to latch onto him right there.

“Like what you see, dear?” he asks, knowing full well, of course you do.

“Mmm,” you hum as you press a kiss to his lips; finding them to be too hard to resist. Your hand sneaks it’s way up to rest on top of his semi-hard bulge and Shawn bites at your lip in an attempt to keep quiet.

Luckily, you don’t have too much time to get any more lost in him as you pull up to the apartment the two of you share. He’s out in an instant, faster than you could blink, reaching a hand out to help you out of the low car.

Somebody’s eager.

He tugs you through the lobby quickly, occasionally stealing glances back at you while you trail behind him. You enter the elevator, pressing the button a few times in a faulty hope that it’ll go faster. He wraps his arm around your waist and pulls you to him, pressing a kiss to your hair.

“When we get inside I want you to naked and kneeling on the bed,” he murmurs into your hair, “alright, princess?”

You bite your lip and nod your head. Your legs clench together at the nickname, the heat between your legs growing warmer. You know exactly what mood he was in tonight and you know he’s not playing any games. The doors finally open and you shift to dash out, feeling a slap connect with your ass. You look back to find Shawn grinning and biting his lip as he admires your figure from behind. You roll your eyes and continue on your way.

Once you two make it inside, you’re tugging your hair to the side, silently asking him to unzip your form-fitting dress. His hands dance up your sides and you feel his breath fanning against your neck as he slowly pulls the zipper down. You reach down to pull your sleek stilettos off but Shawn’s hand quickly grabs your arm.

“Keep the heels on.”

You raise your eyebrows but decide not to say anything, standing back up. You smirk as you turn around, making your way into your bedroom. You make quick work of your dress, pulling it off of your body, followed by your bra and panties. You discard them haphazardly on the floor.

You crawl onto the bed and sit back on your heels as you wait for him. Your breathing is quicker than normal, exciting anxiety coursing through your veins. You simultaneously love and hate the anticipation he’s forcing you to endure but you remind yourself that it would pay off in the end. He always left you satisfied.

After a few minutes of silently waiting, you finally see Shawn’s tall figure emerge into the dimly lit room. He’s still dressed in his tight slacks, fitting his toned legs perfectly, and his white button-up. His left hand is behind his back and you press your legs together tightly as you watch him approach you. He makes his way over until he’s stood right in front of you, gripping your jaw tightly, making you look up at him. His warm fingers press into your skin firmly, making heat pool between your legs.

“Gonna be a good girl for me?” he murmurs deeply.

“Yes,” you whimper.

“Yes what?” his grip on your face tightens and he furrows his brows at you.

“Yes, daddy.”

“Good.”

His tone is dark and seductive and it sends jolts through your chest. He reveals what he has hidden in his hand behind his back; silky red ribbon. Your eyes widen as your mouth drops open ever so slightly. He smirks at your expression, making his way around the bed silently and crawling up to kneel behind you. He firmly grabs your hands that are still placed politely in your lap and moves them to sit behind you. You feel the soft ribbon wrapping tightly around your wrists and sigh at the feeling of the smooth fabric rubbing against your skin.

You feel him finish off the knot off and press a kiss to your shoulder before he makes his way in front of you again. Your eyes trail up his figure as he watches you. You feel your core aching as you take notice of the outline of his hard cock in his tight slacks. You sigh and wiggle a bit on the bed, getting impatient for his next move.

“You look so pretty like this,” he murmurs while his eyes take you in. “Tied up and waiting for me.”

His fingers start unbuttoning his shirt as his eyes remain on yours. His gaze is unfaltering and intense; confidence dripping off of him. He shrugs the white material off his shoulders and reaches for the buckle of his belt. He tugs the band off of his hips and places it on the bed next to you. You hold back a groan as he slowly unbuttons his pants and tugs them down his legs, revealing his flushed member.

“Like what you see, princess?”

“Mhm,” you nod quickly, wanting him to get to it. He smirks at your response.

He steps closer to you, your face level with his cock. He’s rubbing himself in front of you as he smirks down at you, cockily. Your heartbeat is thumping in your ears as you drown in anticipation.

“Wanna see those pretty lips wrapped around me,” he whispers, pushing the tip to your slightly parted lips.

You press a kiss to his slit as you look up at him. His hand is still rubbing his member as you kitten lick the tip of his aching cock. Shawn’s other hand makes its way into your hair, resting on top of your head and tugging you forward gently. You take his hint and wrap your lips around his tip. You press your tongue to the underside of his warm cock and swirl it around. His brows are furrowed as he watches you suck on his sensitive tip.

His grip on your hair tightens, signaling that he wants more and who are you to deny that? You inch your mouth further down his length until he’s just about to your throat. You bob your head, sucking your cheeks in and moaning against him. His head is thrown back and beautiful sighs leave his lips.

“Come on babygirl, I know you can take more of me than that,” he suggests, gently pushing your head further down on him.

Your fists are clenched behind you as you focus on relaxing your throat. You feel his cock stretching your throat out and you stay there for a moment. He groans at the feeling of your tight throat gagging slightly around him. He pulls out for a moment, letting you catch your breath before he shoves himself back inside.

“Gonna let me fuck that pretty face?” he grunts as he starts to roll his hips. The sounds of your slight gags fill the room as he shoves his cock down your tight throat. His gaze is fixated on your eyes as you look up at him through your lashes. His cheeks are rosy and he groans at the sight of your eyes watering while drool drips down your mouth onto the bed. What a dirty sight.

He continues his thrusts for a few moments before he pulls you off of him quickly. You gasp, trying to catch your breath after his brutal treatment. You chuckle breathlessly, smirking up at him as you lick your lips. His thumb comes down to wipe at your wet chin, tugging your lip in the process.

“Such a good girl,” he trails, staring at your fucked face.

He comes back behind you, untying your wrists and rubbing at them gently to soothe them. He tosses the silk ties to the side, deciding he wants you to feel him tonight. All of him. He rubs your tight shoulders for a brief moment as he kisses your neck. You relax at the feeling of his warm lips dressing your neck in wet kisses.

“I want you to lay back for me,” he whispers in your ear, sending a chill down your spine, “spread your legs.”

You comply quickly after he shifts on the bed, standing up. You relax back into the mattress and bring your knees up a bit and spread your legs wide for him. You lick your lips and wiggle on the bed a little bit as you watch him walk to the end of the bed, eyeing you like you’re his pretty. You catch his eyes trailing up from your stilettos up to your center.

He’s crawling up the bed, eyes fixated on your wet core. His normally bright hazel eyes are clouded and lustful now. When you catch sight of his hungry eyes, you giggle at him. You feel a slight cockiness fill your head when you realize how weak he really is for you. His face doesn’t move but his eyes flick up to you, glaring at you, wondering what you find so funny. His dark eyes stay trained on yours, squinting a bit as he lowers himself onto his stomach and starts pressing kisses to your warm stomach. Your muscles contract at the feeling of his teasing kisses trailing down towards your center, dripping for him.

His warm lips trail across your stomach, hip to hip, and his breath fans lightly against your skin. You sigh and close your eyes as you feel him tease you.

“What do you want princess?” he inquires, knowing damn well what you want. You decide an attitude is far from what he wants though and conclude that if you just be good, he’ll give you exactly what you want.

“Your mouth, Shawn” you whimper, “please.”

“Mmm, what was that?”

“D-daddy,” you stutter, realizing your mistake, “I want your mouth, Daddy.”

You glance down at him and see him smirking up at you.

“Mmm, that’s right, dear.”

His teasing continues only for a moment before you feel his hands reach the fold of your knees, pushing your legs open even wider for him. He presses a few kisses to your aching clit before inching his tongue out to slide against you. You whimper and feel your stomach clench at the sensation.

His tongue is rubbing wet circles against your sensitive nub and you’re absolutely reeling. Your back arches as Shawn’s lips suck your clit up into his mouth and pop it out a few times before he returns to flicking at it with his tongue. Moans vibrate against you as he grunts at the feeling of your hands pulling at his wild curls. He can’t help but rut his hips slightly against the bed as he focuses on pleasing you with his mouth. Even though he was fully in control, his goal was only to please you.

“Love this pretty pussy,” he groans, detaching his mouth from your core to stare down at it in amazement, “all mine.”

You whine, “All yours.”

He’s quick to dive back in and you’re absolutely lost in the feeling of his mouth, completely unaware when his long fingers wedge themselves inside of you. Your whimpers have turned into full-fledged moans, choking out into the quiet air. Shawn’s digits curl up and thrust into your spongy spot as his mouth continues to work you. You’re tossing your head around as you wither at the pleasure, unable to keep your composure.

He feels you tightening around his fingers, silently signaling to him that your high is approaching and he pumps for a few more moments before pulling off of you completely. He watches in amazement as your core clenches around nothing.

“Mmm, babygirl, you’re throbbing,” Shawn mewls, his eyes divulging in the delicious sight.

You’re whimpering and trying to pull him back to you with your heels, aching for your stolen orgasm, but he’s got other plans for you. He sits back on his knees before he wraps his strong arms around your legs, tugging you closer to him. Your thighs are rested upon his as his hands rub your hips as you lay on your back.

“P-please daddy,” you plead, grabbing at your breasts, aching for the release he’s so torturously denying you.

His lips have crashed against you, all tongue and teeth, moving in time with yours.

“Please what, love?” his nose grazes the shell of your ear, nipping at your earlobe. You shiver at the contact. “What do you want?”

You grumble, rolling your neck and pouting, suddenly frustrated with his teasing, “You know what I want, now give it to me.”

“Mmm, now that’s no way to talk to Daddy, hm?” he says turning his head and squinting his eyes down at you. A hand snakes up to your neck, gripping just beneath your jaw and pressing into your skin. You moan out as a delicious pressure fills your head as he squeezes gently.

His grip on your throat tightens a bit and you feel him rut his hips into yours, creating a beautiful shock of friction.

“I thought you said you were gonna be good for me? Naughty girls don’t get what they want,” he whispers, darkly into your ear. You shudder at the feeling of his grip. “Lay on your stomach. Now.”

The proposition was a demand, not a request and you knew that. You flipped quickly on the bed, feeling him straddle your thighs. Shawn’s hands took purchase on your ass, pawing at you, firmly. He squeezed your cheeks in his hands and spread you open. A growl leaves his chest as he looks down at you.

“Love this ass,” he says, “Too bad I’m gonna have to spank it.”

Your breath hitches as you realize what he’s doing. A storm of butterflies has festered in your stomach as you anticipate the first smack. His large hand raises and slaps across your right side. You tense up, groaning into the blanket beneath you. You feel your wetness dripping onto the bed and you wiggle your ass for him, prompting him further.

“Mmm my dirty little girl likes to be spanked, doesn’t she?” he murmurs darkly, squeezing you in his hands.

“Fuckin’ love it, Daddy, keep going,” you beg.

“You’re not supposed to enjoy your punishment but since you look so damn sexy, I’ll let it pass.”

He alternates hands for the next few minutes, slapping your ass red. Each one hurts a bit more but you love the painful bite. You feel his rock hard length pressed against the back of your thighs as he continues your punishment, eventually coming to a stop after he’s satisfied. You sigh as you feel his weight leave your thighs.

His hands grab your ankles, just above your heels and yank you quickly so you’re flipped back onto your back. You giggle in surprise and he smiles down at you as he crawls up your body. Your smile sends electricity through his soul and he swears his knees go weak for a moment.

“Love that laugh, dear. You’re so fucking gorgeous," he whispers into your lips, pressing a deep kiss to them. You hum and rub your hands up his bare chest, feeling his light dusting of hair and eventually settling your arms around the back of his neck.

His body leans into yours, effectively pushing his length against your center. You whine a bit, suddenly impatient to feel him. He continues to rut his hips against you, effectively teasing you. You almost slip up and tell him to get to it, but you decide to bite the words behind your lips. After a few moments, his desire overpowers his wish to ease and he finally pulls away to sit back on his heels and slide his pink tip against you. He swirls it around your clit for a moment, wanting to hear you beg for him. You choke out a moan at the sensation and grab aimlessly at him.

“What do you want?” he mutters; his voice raspy and deeper than normal and suddenly very close to your ear, “Beg for it.”

“I want you to fuck me,” you whine, wiggling against him, “God, please fuck me, Daddy.”

“Mmm, you want me to fuck you, babygirl?”

“Fuck, yes. Please, please, please,” you pant as his tip moves faster against your clit.

You gasp as he slams into you without warning, bottoming out instantly. Your stomach clenches at the tight fit and your eyes widen. He gives you a fraction of a moment to adjust to his size before he starts rocking his hips into you. His pace isn’t slow, but it’s not particularly fast either. Shawn wants to make sure you feel it all tonight. He wants to make you feel good. He wants to remind you.

You sigh at the feeling of him slipping in and out of you and close your eyes. His hands are gripping your hips firmly, holding you in place as he slowly picks up his speed. The sound of his hips slapping against yours echoes off the walls and the groans leaving both of your mouths blend with it to create a sinful harmony.

“Such a good girl takin’ all of me.” his voice disrupts, “That’s my pretty girl,”

His hands leave your hips in favor of moving to your tits where he squeezes you tightly. Shawn’s hips don’t stop rutting into for a second as he smacks your chest, watching your tits bounce against his abrupt slap.

Sweat is gathering on his forehead and his flushed chest. His cheeks are rosy and his mouth is hanging open slightly as he moans into the air. Your eyes stay on his rosy cheeks and those damn lips. They were pink as ever and if he wasn’t fucking you so well you’d be attached to them right now.

His abs contract as he slams into you at a brutal pace. You’re whining mindlessly, not particularly making any sense. Your breathing is jagged and you roll your head around, drunk on the pleasure Shawn is providing.

“That tight little pussy is squeezing me so good,” his dark stare bores into your eyes, “I wanna fuck it all night.”

“Do it then, Daddy.” you say playfully, “Love the feeling of your cock filling me up.”

“Gonna make you come over and over on my cock, babygirl. Sound good?”

There’s no time to respond as he switches his angle slightly, making a high pitched yelp fall from your mouth as his tip hits your sensitive spot. You nod your head quickly, words failing to slip out of your mouth.

His hands slot under your knees and throw them over his shoulders. He grunts at the feeling of your stilettos scratching against his back.

“These heels are so fucking sexy. You’ve been driving me nuts all night, kitten.”

“Mmm that’s the goal,” you giggle, biting your lip while you arch your back.

Shawn throws his head back as he feels you clench around him, his adam’s apple protruding deliciously. You prop yourself up on your elbows and peak down at where the two of you meet. His length is glistening with your juices as he slides in and out of you with ease.

“Look how pretty that pussy looks, takin’ my cock,”

You whine at the sight of his hand reaching up to rub your clit quickly. The added friction was just what you needed to go hurdling towards your release. He lowers himself to dress your neck in hot kisses, dragging from your shoulder to your ear. Your senses are overcome with all of him. In this moment, he is everything.

“Gonna cum, babygirl? Cum on daddy’s cock, give it to me” he chants into your ear, encouraging your impending release.

You let go at the sound of his smooth voice praising you. His pace falters slightly as he feels you throbbing around him but he’s determined to hold out longer for you. He told you that you would cum multiple times tonight and he was always a man of his word.

Your eyes rolled back into your head as you embraced the euphoric feeling. Choked moans left your chest incessantly and Shawn could feel his cock throb at the sound. His thrusting eventually slows a bit after he helps you ride it out, and he pulls himself out of you, giving you a moment to collect yourself.

You’re lying on the bed, absolutely spent. Your breathing is slow and deep, trying to come back down to earth. You close your eyes for a moment but are interrupted by Shawn tapping your hip.

“Lay on your side. Now.”

You comply and quickly roll onto your side, still a bit lost in your bliss. One elbow props you up and you look behind your shoulder as Shawn slots himself next to you, spooning your body.

“Leg up,” he demands, cupping your thigh with his hand and propping it up. He grabs his member and swiftly slips in back inside of you. You whimper at the little pop it takes for him to slip in. He grunts and hisses once he’s slotted all the way inside of you, “Fuck, baby, you’re so tight I barely fit.”

“Mmm, you’re so thick, daddy.” you whimper as he begins his strokes again.

“This pussy is what dreams are made of, Jesus fucking Christ. Could die like this, babe.”

The angle he’s working you at is surprisingly heavenly. His body fits perfectly against yours and he feels so close. His thrusts aren’t quite as fast this way but they feel intensely intimate. You can feel his breath fanning across your shoulder as he slots his face in the crook of your neck. Warmth radiates off of his body, transferring to yours.

The world has fallen away and you’re completely relaxed against his strong body. His long fingers have made their way back to your clit again, swirling wildly. His sighs are close to your ear, sending shivers down your spine. His lips continue working against your neck and he nips at your earlobe.

“Love you so much, babygirl,” he whispers, “don’t forget it.”

You melt further into him, his sweet words sharply contrasting the filthy situation.

“I love you too, Shawn”

His nose nuzzles into your hair and you close your eyes, listening to the sounds falling from his lips. He’s trying so hard to hold out for you, wanting to prolong your pleasure. He shifts a tad, finding that spot again and quickly sends you over the edge.

You wiggle against him, your second orgasm hitting you like a tidal wave. The sound of your cries takes his breath away and he’s determined to hear it at least once more tonight. Pleasure pumps through your body for a few moments and he’s quick to get you on your knees the second you’re done. He shows absolutely no mercy as his tip rubs against your sensitive core, getting ready to slip in once again.

“Shawny, I’m so sensitive,” you whimper, pulling away from him slightly.

His hands grab your hips and roughly pull you back to him.

“You’re gonna give me another one, sweetheart. I gotta remind you who makes you feel this good.”

So that’s what this is about.

Fuck, he’s hot when he’s jealous.

A hand slaps across your ass and you flinch at the feeling, body jolting forward a bit. Shawn’s fingers slip down to rub against your over-stimulated nub and you go weak in the knees. You fall forward, face mashing against the mattress as his fingers spiral against you.

“Sound good, love? Gonna cum for daddy again?”

You nod quickly, your cheek pulling against the mattress you were laid out on. Another slap meets your skin and you groan.

“I need you to say it, baby.” he searches for your verbal consent.

“Yes, Shawn,” you whine, eager to feel him again, “Make me cum on your cock again, please.”

That’s all he needs to bury himself back inside of you. The position you were in made you feel a bit tighter and you winced for a moment as he started moving. Soon, the pain subsided and his pace picked back up to an unbelievable speed. Your jaw was slack as his hips collided with yours. His hands were situated on your waist and he was holding you as-if you would disappear at any moment. His composure was beginning to falter and his moans slowly turned into choked mewls.

You turned your head to attempt to look at him and the sight was beautiful. His head was thrown back, exposing all the valleys on his long neck. His adam’s apple protruded through his smooth skin and his lip was tucked under his straight teeth. His mouth falls open as he picks his head back up to look where the two of you meet. The sight of your wetness soaking him sends chills down his spine. He can’t believe how lucky he got with you.

He catches your eyes and smirks at you before he slaps your ass.

“Like that? Does my good girl like to get fucked from behind?”

“You feel so fucking good like this, daddy, fuuuuck” your voice bounces as his body collides with yours.

“You get so tight after you cum. You feel like fucking heaven.”

You start to meet his deep thrusts, tossing your hips back to meet his pace. He maintains his efforts for a few moments but eventually lets you take what you need of him. He’s absolutely beside himself as he watches you work him.

“Fuuuck, babygirl. That’s it, fuck yourself on my cock,” he growls, “you look so gorgeous like this.”

Shawn lets you go on like this for a bit before he snaps out of his daze. He’s determined to stay in control tonight. He’s determined to remind you who you belong to. Nobody could make you feel this good.

His hips double down, somehow rutting into you even faster than before. You fall silent for a few moments, unable to process how amazing he’s making you feel. Your legs are shaking slightly but his large hands hold you in place, firmly. His mind is consumed by you. Nothing could ever take you from him. No one. He knows he doesn’t have to prove himself, but God is it fun.

“Gonna cum again, baby? I can feel it,” he grumbles while his hands rub your hips and waist. Your words don’t seem to form as high whimpers tumble off of your lips.

“Who makes you feel this good?” he growls, thrusting harshly.

“You do, Shawn,”

“That’s right, only I can fuck you like this,” his dirty words fall out of his mouth like silk, “only me.”

“Only you, Shawny.”

Moans fill the air as you both reach your final highs of the night. Your center throbs around him, milking him for all he’s worth. His chest heaves as he empties himself inside of you. The sound of heavy breathing soaks into the air as you both come down from your explosive highs.

His hands rub across your back as he pulls himself out of you. You sigh at the loss, feeling your juices dripping out of you and down your legs. His fingers spread you apart and his hungry eyes divulge in the dirty sight. You giggle innocently as you push some of it out. It takes everything he has to stop himself from making you go for another round. He smacks your ass playfully and you lower yourself onto your stomach.

Shawn slips off of the bed and makes his way into the dimly lit bathroom for a moment. You bite your lip as you observe his naked figure walking back into the room. He notices your stare and giggles, “Eyes to yourself, pervert,”

“Mmm, rich coming from the man that just made me cum 3 times.” you wittily reply.

“Damn right I did,” he smiles cockily. “Lay on your back, open your legs.”

“Just can’t get enough of me can you?” you giggle, turning over for him. He rolls his eyes and crouches down onto the bed.

“Just wanna clean you up.”

He gently wipes up your mess, paying special attention to be careful with your sensitive core. You smile down at him as you observe his tender care. A kiss is pressed into your tummy before he moves to toss the cloth into the hamper. He stops at your dresser, snagging one of his big t-shirts for you along with a pair of panties and some boxers for himself.

He quickly slips into the black boxers, stumbling over to the bed. You’re still laid across it, spent after your session.

“Can you sit up for me, love?”

You comply and sit up, pressing your lips out and silently asking for a kiss. He smiles and delivers, giving you a soft peck.

“Arms up.”

You lift your arms and he slides the shirt down your arms and over your head, draping you in his favorite shirt. He has you lay back and he tugs a clean pair of panties on you and quickly plops himself on top of you.

His arms squeeze your waist as his head burrows into your neck. You hum at the feeling of his weight on top of you, providing you with a sense of comfort. He melts into your embrace as your small hands run up and down his back. He always gets so soft after the two of you finish; a stark contrast to his dominant demeanor in bed.

“Bubba?” you chirp quietly.

“Hmm,” he hums into your neck, suddenly sleepy.

“You okay?”

“Mhm,”

You frown a little, shifting under him to prop your head against the headboard. He stirs on top of you, avoiding your gaze by staying buried in your neck. Your hand slowly comes to a stop on his back as your mind became preoccupied.

“Are you still upset about Matt?”

He sighs.

“I don’t know, I guess.”

Your frown grows and your hand moves to continue rubbing his soft skin in a feeble attempt to comfort him.

“Yeah?” you inquire, prompting him. He hesitates, still buried in your neck. He feels like he could die of embarrassment if you look at him.

“It’s dumb.” he sighs, trying to avoid the topic.

“If it’s upsetting you, it isn’t dumb.”

His grip around your waist tightens.

“You’re just mine,” he starts. You wait a moment, seeing if he’ll explain further, “I don’t wanna share you.”

“You don’t have to, baby. I’m yours.” you reason, threading your fingers into his hair and pressing a kiss to his forehead.

“I know, that’s why it’s dumb. I don’t want you to think I don’t trust you or anything. I just didn’t like seeing him touch you like that.”

You hum, resting your face on his head. His legs are tangled up with yours as he pecks your neck.

“He was just drunk. I’m sorry though, bubby. I didn’t think it would happen.”

His head pops up suddenly, his brows furrowed as he shoots you a confused look. Your eyebrows raise, confused by his sudden movement.

“You don’t have to be sorry for anything,” he blurts, concern lacing his soft voice. “I’m the jealous asshole boyfriend. I should be the sorry one.”

You giggle at his serious tone, smacking his bare shoulder lightly, “whatever,”

“Seriously! I shouldn’t be jealous. I trust you completely. I just got a weird vibe. I don’t know,” he trails off at the end, laying his head back down in your neck.

“I know you do. I love you more than anything and there’s nothing on this earth that could ever take me from you.”

He smiles against your skin, cheeks warming up immediately.

“I love you. Forever.” he murmurs, lifting his head to press a kiss to your lips.

“I love you too. Forever.”

The moment slows again, your bodies resting against the other. The conversation shifts, the two of you decided there was nothing to really talk about. You know he trusts you, and you know he’s not truly jealous. He just got a little territorial and you couldn’t blame him.

“So, what happened to that ribbon you used to tie my hands?” you giggle, switching the conversation.

His eyebrows raise at your question and he blushes, getting worried that you didn’t enjoy it. It wasn’t the first time you’d done anything like that but he still got a tinge of worry.

“Um, I just wanted to feel you,” he slowly states, “w-was it okay?”

“Mmm more than okay. So sexy,” you giggle, stroking his hair. “Just thought you’d use it again.”

“Maybe I will sometime,” he hums, dressing your neck with kisses.

His kisses trail your skin lazily, “Mine.”

“Yours.”

#Shawn Mendes #shawn mendes imagine #shawn mendes x you #shawn mendes fic #shawn mendes fanfiction

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messagefromtheveins · 5 years

Text

Curious Bodies [Part 4]

A/N: So, this is Part 4 of my Curious series. But you don’t necessarily need to read the other parts to understand this (I’d appreciate it though)

Words: 3.5k

Pairing: Shawn/reader

Warning: smut. first time awkwardness

Being half naked around Shawn when the two of you managed to get some alone time had definitely become the norm lately. Ever since you had started exploring each other and had become more and more intimate and comfortable it just felt unnecessary to wear too many clothes when it was just you two. Even if it only ended with cuddles, both of you enjoyed feeling the others skin so much that he was usually left in sweatpants- or sometimes even just boxers- while you only had a pair of panties and your T-shirt left on your body, though usually the T-shirt was pushed up so high that you might as well have taken it off.

Shawn's parents were out of town and his sister was having a sleepover at a friend's place. You had absolutely no idea how he had managed to convince them that he could be left alone for the night, though you definitely didn't complain about it as his hand rubbed random patterns over your bare thigh.

Your eyes were glued to the screen, not noticing that Shawn was watching you instead of your favorite movie. A soft smile was playing on his lips as he took in your features, from the way you were barely blinking because you were so fascinated by whatever was currently happening on the screen, to the way you mouthed along some of the lines. Tightening his arm that was wrapped around you, he grinned as you immediately snuggled closer to him.

"Hey?" he murmured, placing a lingering kiss on your temple.

You absent-mindedly patted his stomach, barely taking notice of his surprised chuckle. "Hold on, this is the best part," you whispered, still not looking at him- even though now you were actually aware of the fact that he was watching you.

He wanted to let you watch your favorite movie, he really did, but he had to get the words out. "I love you."

Whenever he had tried to find a way to say it out loud these past few weeks his heart had raced in his chest and he had lost the courage before he could actually tell you. But now, having you cuddled into his side, face free of makeup and only one of his T-shirt covering your body, he really couldn't stop himself anymore. And he figured the fact that he wasn't nervous and he was as calm as it could get- his heart had only started beating the slightest bit faster, but it wasn't close to jumping out of his chest like all the other times- was a clear sign that this right here was the right moment. He was finally sure of his feelings for you.

You quickly looked up to him, eyes wide as you stared at him- trying to figure out if he was serious or if he regretted saying it already. But when he gave you a soft smile and tucked your hair behind your ear you couldn't stop yourself from grinning, the movie long forgotten as you shifted to tightly wrap your arms around his neck. His hands came to rest on the small of your back as he held you close to him, your fingers playing with his curls. "I love you, Shawn," you whispered, feeling his grip around you tighten before he released a breathy laugh.

Maybe interrupting your favorite part of the movie to tell you those three words had been perfect. That way whenever you thought of the movie or that specific part or even watched it you would always be reminded of this moment.

–—–—–—–—–—–

Cleaning up downstairs before you went to get ready for bed together felt so domestic that you found yourself wishing that every night would be like this.

The bedside lamp was still on by the time you were cuddled up in bed, hands lazily caressing the others body while your lips met in tender kisses over and over. He didn't give you the feeling like he was dying to take things further with the way he was tracing his fingers up and down your spine beneath your T-shirt, but you knew that both of you were aware of how perfect the timing was- after all, you would be alone until sometime in the late morning when his sister would come back home.

It wasn't until you wrapped your leg over his hip and noticed that he was getting hard under his boxers that you pulled away from his lips. "Hey, Shawn?" you whispered and tilted your head back as he pushed his face into the crook of your neck.

He hummed while leaving little kisses behind on your skin. "Yeah?"

You bit your lip as he found the especially sensitive spot near your pulse point, his lips parting against your skin before he licked over the spot and then lightly sucked on it- he had learned a while ago that it made you weak for him. "I'll be really bold here for a second," you breathed and swallowed back a little moan as he started nibbling on your earlobe, "did you get condoms?"

He chuckled softly and placed a kiss on your jaw before he pulled back to meet your blown eyes, his hand raising to run it through your hair. "I did," he nodded and cupped his hand around the side of your face. Your mouth opened as his thumb slowly brushed over your bottom lip, tugging in an almost playful way for a second before he looked into your eyes again. "But you know we don't have to do anything just because we got the house to ourselves for the night, right?"

"You don't want to?" you whispered.

He grinned widely and shook his head, a hand reaching down to adjust your leg over his hip before he rolled you over. "Fuck, you have no idea," he murmured and leaned in to kiss you, hands bracing on either side of you to keep part of his weight off you. Arms reaching up to wrap them around his neck, you lightly scratched your nails over his scalp in the way you knew he loved and released a soft moan into the kiss as he rocked his hips against yours in return. The feeling of his hard length pressing down against your core made your heart beat faster, one of his hands reaching down to grip your hip as you lifted them off the bed to grind against him once more. "Just don't want you to feel pressured," he mumbled, lips tracing along your jaw while his fingers slowly snuck beneath your T-shirt.

You were so glad that the two of you had spent so much time over the last few weeks and months to slowly work up to this part, so having him on top of you like this while he slowly took your T-shirt off wasn't making you nervous anymore. You didn't feel insecure anymore once the T-shirt was off and his eyes greedily trailed down your body.

And yet having his lips exploring your chest was a different kind of exciting than all the other times, the way his fingers traced over your torso even more intense. You let your eyes fall closed as he mouthed at one of your nipples while his hand snuck beneath your panties, immediately finding your most sensitive spots. You played with his hair and caressed the back of his neck and his shoulders while you completely concentrated on his- by now skillful- touches and the way his teeth gently nipped on your chest.

You were absolutely wet by the time he lifted his head to look at you again, a thoughtful expression resting on his features. "Am I supposed to get you off first?" he wondered, his fingers still tracing over your clit in all the right ways.

You grinned and cupped his face in your hands, your head lifting off the bed to capture his lips in a soft kiss. "I don't think you have to."

One of his eyebrows raised in a way that made you giggle, despite the situation you were in. "Do you want me to?"

You thought about it for a moment before you shook your head. "Not this time," you said, "you know how sensitive I sometimes get after coming."

"Okay," he breathed before he leaned in for another kiss, his fingers slowly leaving your core in favor of tugging your panties down your legs. You didn't hesitate to return the gesture, fingers hooking into the waistband of his boxers and pulling them down. Your hand wrapped around his fully hard cock as you let him deal with kicking the piece of clothing off his endlessly long legs.

His groan was almost surprised as you brushed your thumb over his leaking tip, his head shaking as he reached down to tug your hand away. "I'm so worked up already, honey," he grinned a little breathlessly, but you could see that his smile wasn't genuine- he was annoyed.

Cupping his face in your hands, you gently forced him to look at you, his features dropping a bit as he realized that you had noticed something wasn't right. "Shawn?"

He sighed deeply before he crawled off you and dropped to lay flat on his back beside you, your heart heavy in your chest. "I'm just-" he brought a hand up and rubbed it over his face before he combed his fingers through his hair. "I want this to be a great experience for you too, you know?" he said and turned to look at you, the tight feeling in your chest slowly easing up as you realized what was going on. "But when you touched me right there it felt like I'm like, 10 seconds away from coming and that's just... bullshit," he sighed and tugged on a loose thread on the sheets.

You smiled softly and shook your head, turning to lay on your side and reaching out to trace your fingertip over the scar on his cheek- something that always made him smile. "Hey?" you whispered and patiently waited until he looked at you with still frustrated eyes. "I love you," you reminded him, immediately seeing the way his features shifted into something more affectionate, "and this will be a great experience for me, no matter if it only lasts for a minute or ten."

He inhaled deeply. "But I want this to be perfect."

"But it will never be perfect if you put so much pressure on yourself," you told him, his gaze not meeting yours. "Look, Shawn. All those other firsts we've had lately, they were far from perfect. We always fucked up in any kind of way and yet it was always a great experience, even with all the things that didn't go to plan," you said, a little smile spreading over his lips, "and just like we did with all those other things, we're going to learn from our mistakes with this, too. We're going to work on making things better and getting you to last longer also falls into that category. It's just a matter of practice, I guess."

His gaze hesitantly met yours. "Promise you won't be disappointed if I don't last long?"

"I promise," you whispered and gave him a reassuring smile, "there's really nothing you need to worry about."

He seemed to be in thought for a moment longer before he returned your smile and leaned over to give you a quick kiss before he turned to pull one of the drawers of his nightstand open. The whole reality of the situation only crashed down on you once you spotted the box of condoms in his hand, but instead of being nervous like you had expected you might be you were strangely excited.

Sitting up, he ripped the box open with slightly shaky fingers and pulled one of the foil squares out. "We never practiced this part," he giggled and tossed the box on the nightstand again.

The sheets rustled as you also sat up, holding the covers up to your chest while he turned the little square in his fingers. "You know how to use that, right?" you asked and placed a soft kiss on his shoulder.

"Only in theory," he mumbled and ripped it open, hesitating for a brief moment before he shoved the covers down. He cursed himself for actually blushing, reminding himself how many times you had seen him naked before as he carefully rolled the condom over his length, his teeth digging into his bottom lip in concentration.

He turned to look at you once he was sure that he hadn't done it wrong, a smile spreading over your lips as you noticed his flushed cheeks. Stretching up, you placed a kiss on his jaw before you laid back down and immediately reached out to him again as he followed your example.

Neither one of you bothered with the covers that laid forgotten at the foot of the bed as he moved back on top of you, your legs instinctively falling open for him to settle down in between. The feeling of his nude body against yours was euphoric, your hands eagerly tracing over the exposed skin while he kissed you passionately.

"What if I hurt you?" he mumbled after breaking away from your lips to instead kiss along your jaw.

You smiled softly and combed a hand through his hair. "Then you just stop and give me a minute," you responded in a whisper. His head lifted, blown eyes meeting yours and holding your gaze for a long moment until you shifted your hips beneath him, hoping that he would get the hint.

Pushing himself up on one hand, he wrapped the other around himself and let his gaze drop before he looked into your eyes again. "Do you think you're wet enough? Because I also got lube, just in case," he murmured, his cheeks flushing once again, "or I could go down on you."

Shaking your head, you pulled your legs up so they were bent at the knee and your feet were flat on the mattress. "I think it should be fine."

He swallowed heavily before he nodded, looking down as he lightly traced his tip over your clit. Meeting your gaze again, he couldn't hold back the little smile as you immediately nodded like you had known what he was about to ask. His heart raced in his chest as he shifted, his teeth digging into his bottom lip as he positioned himself before he looked into your eyes once more- and then moved his hips forward.

It was just a very unfamiliar feeling for a moment before it started stinging, your eyebrows furrowing in slight pain before you could try to act like you were okay. He immediately stopped moving, eyes frantically searching yours. "What? What is it?" He whispered and combed his fingers through your hair.

"Do you think we could maybe use a bit of lube?" you mumbled and blushed heavily. He grinned softly and pecked your lips before he pulled out again and stretched over to the nightstand, quickly retrieving an already used bottle of lube.

He bit his lip as you raised an amused eyebrow and gave him a smirk. "Don't even pretend like you wouldn't have been curious too," he chuckled and poured a good amount over his length- too much actually, as drops of it landed on your thigh. "Fuck, sorry," he sighed and wiped it off as much as possible with his hand, which only made it worse.

Settling down on top of you again, he didn't waste much time before he slowly pushed into you again. Your first reaction was to hold your breath, which he noticed and immediately stopped moving again, a worried expression settling on his features. "No, keep going. Sorry," you giggled, a little grin spreading over his lips before he pushed a bit further, slowly spreading you open around him. Taking his hand off his cock, he braced his forearms on either side of your head and gave you a loving smile, closely watching your features and barely concentrating on himself.

It wasn't until he was buried deep inside of you and you released a soft sigh of pleasure that he allowed himself to take his eyes off you, his head dipping to rest in the crook of your neck as he released a soft whimper. "Honey-" he mumbled and pulled his hips back before he thrust into you again, his mouth dropping open as your walls immediately clenched down around him.

Your hands frantically grasped at his back and shoulders. "Give me a second," you pleaded, meeting his blown wide eyes as he lifted his head to look at you.

"Sorry," he whispered and tried to stay as unmoving as possible as he captured your lips in gentle kisses. Truth to be told, he needed a moment to catch his breath, too. He had figured that it would feel overwhelming, but he hadn't been prepared for how overwhelming it would be- his length was heavily twitching against your walls as he tried to calm himself down, knowing that it wouldn't take much more before he would come.

It didn't take too long until the slight sting of the unfamiliar stretch faded, giving him a sign to keep going, on which he didn't act immediately. Instead he kissed you a few more times, lips lingering longer and longer before he finally started moving again. His pace was slow and gentle, perfectly matching his kisses until he broke away from your lips with a breathless gasp. "You okay?" you whispered, receiving an immediate nod from him.

"Yeah," he swallowed heavily as he came to a stop inside of you again. "You just really can't imagine how good you feel," he chuckled and tightly bit his bottom lip as his eyebrows furrowed in pleasure. You could see how much he was fighting to hold back and as much as you loved him for trying to make this last, you also knew that you most probably wouldn't get to come this time- which was fine. Brushing his messy hair back where it was starting to cling to his sweaty forehead, you cupped his face in your hands and gave him a soft smile. But before you could get a single word out he spoke up. "Honey, I'm so close already," he sighed, silent apologies written all over his features.

"It's okay," you smiled and placed a kiss on the side of his head as he nuzzled his face into the crook of your neck, your arms wrapping around his shoulders. "Let go."

It only took four more slightly sloppy thrusts before he whimpered against your skin and shuddered on top of you, hips twitching in shallow movements before he exhaled heavily and came to a complete stop. A beautiful rosy flush had spread from his chest up his neck and filled his cheeks as he pushed himself up on shaky arms, carefully pulling out of you and immediately reaching for you as you grimaced in discomfort. "Sorry," he murmured and caressed a hand over your thigh.

"No, it's fine. That was just a very unfamiliar feeling," you explained and gave him a genuine smile that eased his worries.

He gave your thigh a gentle squeeze before he climbed off the bed, running a slightly trembling hand through his hair. "Be right back," he mumbled and grabbed his boxers from the floor before he stepped out of the room. You took a deep breath before you grinned widely, sitting up and just crawling off the bed as his voice reached you. "How do I get rid of this without risking that my parents see it in the trash?"

Picking your T-shirt up, you pulled it over your head. "I don't think you should get rid of your dick, babe," you called back.

You giggled as he groaned. "You know that's not what I meant."

"Wrap it up in toilet paper," you called, hearing him hum softly in return.

Minutes later when both of you were cleaned up and dressed again you found yourself pressed up against his bare chest, one of his hands under your T-shirt lightly caressing your back. "Everything okay?" he murmured and placed a kiss on your head. "Did I hurt you?"

You shook your head and left a lingering kiss on his collar bone before you shifted until your head rested on the pillow right beside his. The lights in the room were turned off, but the blinds were only halfway pulled down, so you could make out some of his features in the darkness. "You didn't," you whispered and returned the smile he gave you, "you were perfect."

He snorted and rolled his eyes, making you giggle. "Yeah, sure. Go ahead, why don't you just lie to me," he responded sarcastically, feeling one of your hands place on his chest.

"Shawn, I'm serious," you said, a certain firmness in your voice that had his heart skipping a beat, "of course there's stuff we can work on. But I think considering that it was our first time and we both had no idea what the hell we're doing it was pretty damn great."

S.Mendes+Team Taglist: @justanotherfangurl272 @alone-in-madness @waitonmedarling @shawnase @rechema @mendesromano @stradivariusbitch @desire-to-live @alinashawn @lifeoftheparty74 @particularstrings @liliane106 @herbeautifuldarkness @havethetimeeofyourlifee @pastelshawns @delightfullyspeedyearthquake @aargyy @adelaidebaby

Curious Taglist: @vintageroses1014516 @shawnsparticulargirl @hannahlouiseee @nervousyouths @marveloushawn @messy-cassy

(feel free to message me if you want to be moved/removed)

#shawn mendes #shawn mendes imagine #shawn mendes blurb #shawn mendes smut #shawn mendes fluff #shawn mendes fanfiction #shawn mendes fic #shawn mendes x reader #shawn mendes writing #shawn peter raul mendes #writing

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shawnstoriesx · 5 years

Text

Bear Pt 1

hello! this is my first time writing so I hope you enjoy it ! any feedback would be appreciated!

I also rlly like angst so this is a lil angsty lol

YN parked her car and started on the short walk to her shared apartment. It was late in the evening on Friday, YN choosing to stay behind at the university library to finish up her notes and start on an essay instead of going straight home. It was only Week 2 of the her 2nd year and she was already being bombarded with assignments. All she wanted to do was recuperate over the weekend, take a much deserved nap nap, spend the Friday night in watching Netflix.

However, as soon as she pushed the door to her apartment in, YN was met with loud music and the sight of her roommate and 3 other girls she didn’t recognize running around the room, putting on makeup and pregaming. They were dressed for a night out in shorts and tank tops and were already in the mood, dancing along to the music Upon hearing the door open, Alexa turned around and gave YN a warm grin before pulling her towards the small group of girls, urging her to dance with them.

“Go out with us YN! You deserve a night out!” Alexa yelled as she pretended to grind up on YN.

YN chuckled before giving her friend a playful shove. “Nah I’m drained I’d rather spend the night in. You guys have fun though” YN responded.

After a couple more minutes of Alexa unsuccessfully trying to convince YN to come, Alexa and the other girls left while YN was sitting on the couch, trying to decide what movie to watch.

YN and Alexa had just met this year after YN responded to Alexa’s post about needing a roommate to split the apartment rent with. They had different personalities and interests but were still able to get along fine, instantly clicking with each other when they first met up to decide whether or not they were a good match. YN was definitely more reserved and introverted while Alexa was very outgoing and loved surrounding herself with people. Everywhere Alexa went, she always had a group of people following her. They seemingly worshipped Alexa and why shouldn’t they? YN’s roommate was kind, funny, inviting, and not to mention drop dead gorgeous. Alexa was a natural beauty. She really was the total package and YN was grateful that she was able to find such a great roommate.

After finally finding a movie and reheating last nights dinner, YN made herself comfortable on the couch. Just as the movie was starting, she heard a ding from her phone. It was a text from Shawn, her childhood best friend.

“Going to the club tonight w some friends. Wanna come? I’ll pick u up”

They’d been inseparable since middle school but with YN attending university and Shawn taking a gap year to travel before going to community college, they had seen less of each other. This didn’t affect the friendship at all though. They still talked regularly and were still the bestest of friends. YN just missed seeing his face but now that he was finally starting community college nearby, the two planned on seeing each other much more often.

Just as YN was about to respond no, Shawn sent another message.

“Hoping to find a girl tonight ;-) need my wingwoman”

YN’s heart dropped just a little bit. YN had always had a teeny tiny crush on Shawn. And why wouldn’t she? Shawn was handsome and kind and treated her like no other guy ever had. The crush she had was never serious though and she knew that she and Shawn were too good of friends to ever see each other in that way. Regardless, YN couldn’t help but get jealous whenever he talked about one of his previous girlfriends and every once in while imagined herself to be the person receiving all of Shawn’s affection. That couldn’t hurt right?

“no lol I don’t think me being there is gonna help you get a girl. I can’t work miracles” she responded. She could already imagine the laugh that Shawn probably let out after reading that text, deep and warm.

Shawn and her quickly caught up through text until he suddenly stopped responding mid conversation. That was odd. Even when he was busy or at a party, Shawn would always respond to her texts as soon as possible. Or at least with just a “ttyl”

“His phone probably died” YN thought and she resumed her movie.

As she was getting ready to go to bed early, another notification popped up on her phone. Thinking it was Shawn, YN rushed to her bedside where her phone was charging.

“Oh” YN couldnt help but let out a disappointed sigh. It was just a text from her roommate.

“Bringing home a guy I met at the club. Text me if u have a problem w that”

“Great...” YN thought. She was a little uncomfortable with it but it wasn’t that big of a problem, at least Alexa asked her beforehand.

“Yea no problemo. keep it down tho ;-)” she quickly typed before falling into her bed and was fast asleep within 10 min.

The next morning, YN woke up refreshed and alert. Wanting to make use of this energy, YN quickly brushed her teeth and changed into her workout clothes, a gym tank and some running shorts. YN hadn’t worked out much before (okay she didn’t work out at all outside of PE) but freshmen 15 really did a number on her and since then, YN has made an effort to exercise more often. She speed walked out of her room and to the kitchen to grab a banana and her keys, barely noticing the person standing in the kitchen until she heard her name.

“Y/N?” a familiar voice called out.

She looked up to see the confused face of her best friend, Shawn Mendes. standing in her kitchen. in nothing but boxers. with hickeys all over his neck.

“What the fuck are you doing in my apartment?” YN shouted, confusion and bewilderment obvious in her voice.

“Uh well...” Shawn started sheepishly, a blush creeping up in his cheeks, before he was cut off by Alexa opening the door with a box of bagels in her hand.

Suddenly, everything was making sense to YN. Alexa came home with Shawn last night. Her Shawn. And they had sex with her sleeping peacefully in the next room. To say YN was completely and utterly shocked was an understatement.

It’s been a couple weeks since that morning and Shawn was a common sight now in the apartment. But he wasn’t there to hang out with YN. He was there for Alexa. They started seeing each other after that night and although it wasn’t official, it seemed that Shawn only had time for her, not for his best his best friend of 8 years. First it was cancelled hangouts. Then he just stopped responding to her texts. And now, they were lucky to even exchange anything beyond a quick greeting whenever YN came home after a late night studying to see Shawn and Alexa curled on the couch together.

“You wanna grab some boba really quick YN?” Shawn asked. Shawn and Alexa were headed to the movies later tonight but Alexa got caught up at work and was going to be an hour late and he was already at the apartment.

“Nah I’m busy” YN said begrudgingly. And she really was. She had to catch up on her readings but she also really didn’t feel like talking to Shawn right now after he had so easily forgotten about her after meeting Alexa.

“You’re always too busy now, we never hang anymore” Shawn whined, walking behind her and wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug.

O so now he has time for YN now that Alexa isn’t here.

“I’m not the one who’s been cancelling our hangouts to spend time with his girlfriend” YN retorted, her voice tight as she tried to focus on the textbook in front of her. She felt Shawn shift his body and could tell that he was trying to get a read on her face.

“Hey...that was mean. And that’s not true, you cancel because you’re busy with your classes too you know” Shawn replied. A frown was obvious on his face as he tried to figure out why YN’s mood changed so quickly.

Believing it to be a result of stress from her workload, Shawn grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of her chair, enveloping her in a big hug. YN tried to fight her way out but it was no use. He was too strong, his broad arms wrapping around her frame completely. The smell of his cologne relaxed her and she gave in, resting her head in the crook of his neck and wrapping her arms around his waist.

“I miss you, YN. Please come with me” he whispered sincerely, lips ghosting over her ear. I mean, when he asked like that, how could she ever say no. A slight blush bloomed on her cheeks as she slowly nodded her head, eyes not meeting his.

YN quickly found a table in the crowded boba shop while Shawn ordered and paid for their drinks at the counter. Within a few minutes, Shawn was seated across from her. Taking a sip from their drinks, an awkward silence loomed over them.

Eager to break free of the silence, YN spoke first, hoping that her tone masked how sad she was that YN and Shawn were no longer talking as easily as they had before. “So how are you and Alexa?”

At the sound of Alexa’s name, Shawn instantly piped up, a smile growing across his face. “She’s absolutely amazing YN. I don’t know why you didn’t tell me about her before.”

He went on and on about how great Alexa was and YN couldn’t help but feel sad. But she was happy for him and Alexa nonetheless. At least they were happy together, even though she was still alone.

“And I still can’t believe she’s just as into Harry Potter as we are. You and Alexa are like the same person.”

A confused look took over YN’s face. “Wait what?” YN cut in.

“O I was just talking about how similar you two are. You share all the same interests: Harry Potter, Hozier, hiking.”

That was definitely odd. When she and Alexa first met up, YN distinctly remembers that they didn’t share many interests at all. “Maybe Alexa picked up those interests along the way while trying to get to know YN. Alexa was sweet like that” YN thought.

“Are you okay YN” Shawn said. The concern in his voice bringing YN back to the present

“O yea sorry lost in thought.” YN chuckled.

“O okay then..”Shawn started. “I wanted to ask you a question.” His voice took on a serious tone. “How do you feel about me asking Alexa to be my girlfriend?”

YN choked on the pearls she was drinking. She and Shawn both shared a nervous chuckle.

“I’m asking because we’re best friends and it must be kinda weird for me to date your roommate and...”

“I’m fine. Why would it bother me. Happy for you two” YN quickly retorted, giving a shallow smile.

Shawn gave one of his goofy grins where his entire face seemed to be smiling. His eyes crinkled and his face just lit up and it made YN’s heart race.

She missed that smile but this time, Shawn wasn’t smiling because of her. He was probably thinking about Alexa. And that crushed YN. She didn’t know why. She had never been this jealous with Shawn’s girlfriends before. Maybe it’s because this time, YN personally knew the girl. Maybe it’s because this time, YN knew that it only took Shawn one night at the club to fall for Alexa while it’s been nearly 8 years with YN and he’s only ever seen her as a friend.

YN could feel the tears pooling at her eyes and she quickly tried to hide them by bringing the sleeve of her hoodie up. But Shawn was already staring deep into her eyes and noticed the tears right away.

“YN are you okay? Honey...”

Honey. That was his childhood nickname for her ever since they made far fetched plans in 3rd grade to live in the forest together. YN would be a gardener and collect honey for Shawn, her pet bear. She was his Honey and he was her Bear and they used to refer to each other with these nicknames whenever possible, mostly as a joke because of how domestic it made them feel. But upon hearing this nickname again, YN suddenly realized how it’s been a long time since she last heard him call her that. Ever since he met Alexa.

Her body turned cold and her face became stiff at the thought. She stopped tearing up but her eyes were still glossy. “Yea I’m fine. Just tired.” she sighed.

He stood up and cupped his large hands around her face, holding her face under the deep gaze of his chocolate brown eyes. “Cut the crap YN. What’s up? You’ve been distant and Alexa and I are worried about you.”

Avoiding his eyes, her gaze fell on the door of the shop just as Alexa came in, looking fresh and bright in a short dress. A stark contrast to YN’s hoodie and jeans combo with dried tears. Of course Shawn would fall for Alexa and not her. Alexa was perfect. Perfect personality. Perfect looks.

Alexa quickly spotted the two, with Shawn’s hands cupped around YN’s face. YN didn’t know if she was imagining it but she could’ve sworn that she saw Alexa’s eyebrows raise and a look of contempt or hate cross her face before it was quickly replaced by a perfect smile.

“I’m fine Shawn. Alexa’s here and I really should go.” YN responded dryly. She pushed away Shawn’s warm hands, cheeks instantly feeling cold from the loss of contact, and collected her things.

“Whatcha doing?” Alexa chirped after landing a quick kiss to Shawn.

“I was just about to leave. You two have fun.” YN said quickly, already walking away before she had completed the sentence.

YN could hear Shawn calling out to her and imagined that he was running up to her, about to pull her into one of his big bear hugs that never failed to lift her spirits. But that daydream was quickly cut short by Alexa’s whining that they were going to miss the movie. YN continued to walk back to her apartment, still hoping that Shawn would run up to her any minute to check on her and make sure she was alright. By the time she reached the door to her apartment, YN turned around. Just to check if Shawn was a little behind from her brisk pace. But the walkway was just empty.

YN was just alone.

#shawn mendes #shawn mendes fanfiction #shawn mendes au #college!au #college!shawn #shawn mendes x yn #shawn mendes angst #angst #shawn mendes x reader #bestfriend!au #bestfriend!shawn

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rosebudmendes · 5 years

Text

After Everything (Shawn Mendes Blurb)

A/N: this took me so long to get posted, but I hope you enjoy! Feel free to send in any blurb requests you have!

Description: Shawn had recenty confessed his feeling for best friend y/n but they didn’t feel the same.

Warnings: Rejection, mention of fainting, not much esle

Word count: 1,417

Masterlist | read with me!

It had been three months since Shawn confessed his true feelings for you. Which subconsciously forced you to avoid him as much as possible. Shawn was sweet and all, but you knew that once your relationship wasn’t platonic he would have more gumption to leave you. When you and Shawn were in middle school, and experiencing insane body changes, a promise was made that no matter what happened, you two would remain friends. Platonic friends. Now both of you are seniors in high school and have clearly defined your roles as students, friends, and siblings. There was no room for romance. Admittedly, there was some inconsistency within your relationship. All you wanted was the tension to fizzle out. It was your senior year and you wanted to spend every second with your best friend, before it was too late. Throughout your high school career you realized how important giving back was in all sizes. You were the cofounder of the volunteer club and often spent time reading to mentally troubled students. It was a rewarding hobby, for you and whoever you were helping. Shawn has come to a few events in the past. He always wanted to show support in everything you do. This afternoon you were holding a blood drive for the local health clinic. The school had agreed to let the volunteer club run it, and you were absolutely thrilled. Giving blood was one of your favorite ways to be charitable. It could literally save a life, and knowing it was going to a good cause fueled your purpose. It was now lunch period and you headed to his usual table to try and check up on him. When you walked out of the photography room, three of your fellow club members stopped you. “Hey guys, what’s up?” The tone of your voice was perky and upbeat. Even if you felt uneasy from Shawn’s distance, you didn’t want them to know. “We need help preparing the posters for the blood drive. Freddie over here deleted the draft we had prepared.” Alice was her typical intellectual self, speaking with grimace in the back of her mouth. You simply nodded and agreed to forfeit your lunch for this afternoons event. By the end of the day you had handled countless mishaps that ranged from volunteers dropping out to machine malfunctions. You had to overcome this bump between your friendship. You missed Shawn. You missed the way he protected you from the mean things that people whispered, or how he knew your little anxious ticks. Shawn knew you better than anybody did and all you could think about was the way he smelt liked fresh linen on a cold winter day. Secretly, you weren’t really mad about the entire situation. It was sweet of him to be honest with you. It was endearing how much he cared about you. You knew in that moment, that you were not in the same place as Shawn. Shawn had agreed to help out during the blood drive, but this was before everything. Since you hadn’t seen him all day, you assumed he changed his mind. So, to keep yourself busy, you hustled right into getting everything set in place. You had managed to scrounge up a dozen of volunteers by bribes of free tutoring, and community service hours. The gymnasium was practically finished set up, and people were starting to line up outside the double doors. “Everyone ready?” The volunteers all nodded their heads, and you pulled open the doors to see around 30 people ready to donate. Seeing the turn out filled your heart with happiness. Although, part of you wanted to see Shawn standing there ready to put your differences aside for the moment. But, you were glad to have an opportunity like this regardless. For the first two hours everything was running smoothly. People were getting their paperwork entered correctly, nurses had no issues with the medical procedure, and you even managed to get the school photographers to document this process. There was around 10 patients left and still no sign of Shawn. Years prior, you both had give blood as a symbol of the everlasting friendship you guys’ possessed. It represented the pain and the loss that comes with being in a devoted, platonic, relationship. This year you planned on being the last two to donate, as a way to show that even when things end you have each other to lean on. It definitely hurt that he didn’t show up. Even after everything, you still loved him. You both promised to stay best friends, no matter what. Nevertheless, you where here to make a difference. So, you climbed into the chair and prepared yourself mentally for this process. You knew you reacted to needles in a negative way, you always have. But today, you didn’t warn the nurse. There was nothing in you that was able to voice anything related to weakness. You were able to put this entire event together with minimal problems, you were not about to lose it because of some friend drama. It was stupid of you to not tell the nurse you were a high risk fainter. But, you didn’t want to be treated as the weakling you felt like. So, you powered through and tried to stay stable. Of course, you fainted almost immediately after the needle was inserted. The memory was a little fuzzy, and you woke up already in your bed at home. How did I get here? You thought. You noticed a cup of water and a granola bar on your night stand. You were too weak to grab the water, even though your throat ached immensely. A note fell onto your bed when you moved your comforter, creating a breeze. “Text me when you wake up. -Shawn” Something inside of you told you to ignore it, to let him figure out for himself that he should have been there for you. That no matter his feelings, he shouldn’t have given up that quickly. You were never one to have strong will power, though. So in a matter of 5 minutes, Shawn was in your room helping you sit up and forcing you to drink water. “I was just walking into the gym, you know.” Shawn’s voice was deep and empty. Like a ghost was hiding out in his throat. “I didn’t forget about our promise, y/n.” This statement stirred that same emotion that you had when you saw him in the hallway. Shawn had weaseled his way behind you, and had your back resting against his torso, legs on each side of your body. It was so nice being this close to him. This was a normal position for the both of you, and it just hit you that you weren’t totally put off by the idea of kissing him right now. “Shawn?” You felt like you were yelling but it was more of a whisper in reality. You managed to gather enough energy to turn yourself to face him. “I do love you.” His face turned white and his eyes began buzzing between your eyes and lips. He wanted to kiss you, and for the first time ever, you wanted to kiss him to. Both of you tried to ignore these urges. He awkwardly coughed, sighed, even messed with his hair all in attempt to shake the tension. What was between you guys was too big to ignore, though. Slowly, you started to lean into him. Inch by inch you moved your lips to hover on top of his. You could feel his breath on your saliva coated lips. He acted like he was going to pull away, but before he had any chance of giving up you planted your lips on his. It wasn’t a feeling of fireworks, or time stopping like movies demonstrate. It was something even better than that. In that split second of first contact you saw all of your dreams coming true. Dreams you didn’t even know you had, you felt them. After separating for air, and repositioning yourself the second contact made you tingle like a delicious piece of chocolate cake does. As weird as it was to be kissing your best friend, you didn’t regret it. Shawn always felt like home to you. He desperately cared for you, and was always there to pick you up when you fell, literally. And now you were falling right into him, and here he was holding you up all the while.

Taglist: @tearsofstainedglass @stockholmshawn @bluerroses@yellowmendes@itrocksmysocks @accioarmenian (let me know if you want added or taken off!)

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zankivich · 6 years

Text

Teacher’s Pet: A College AU Chapter 10

So some slight angst and as a result tons and tons of fluff from Shawn. I just really love the progression of this story and it gives me all of the feels when writing it. I never plan things out and just write to write, so I have zero clue how many more chapters it’ll be, but it just makes me happy so... yea. Let me know if you like plzzzzz.

TW: mentions of panic attack

Chapter 10

Shawn was taking his family to airport when you went to campus. Dr. Edwards was in her office, and you needed to know what the damage might be. He had his meetings with the music exec people coming up and you had decided not to tell him a single thing until at least after that. Dr. Edward’s was much more than a professor, she was your mentor, and the hope was that she could be there for you emotionally before it would get too far.

You knocked on her open door seeing her sitting at her desk with her wild, messy curls piled up high in a bun. Her glasses where on her forehead but she moved them back onto her face when she noticed you.

“Come in, come in! What are you doing here on a Sunday?” She smiled.

“I--I wanted to talk to you for a minute.”

You closed the door behind you and your mentor’s usual happy, go lucky attitude stilled.

“Oh no, what’s wrong?”

She closed her laptop and pushed it to the side giving you her full undivided attention. You plopped down in the seat across from her desk and kept your gaze on your hands which were twisting fitfully in your lap.

“It’s my fault. I just want to start with that. I knew what the consequences could be, and I--I didn’t stop it.” You started.

“Y/n, you’re scaring me. What’s going on?”

You swallowed at the lump in your throat feeling tears of frustration and anger burn at your eyes. You hated crying in front of people.

“I can’t…I can’t like tell you all of it right now, because I have to protect him but...I’ve been seeing someone from our class. I did everything that I could to stay away from him, I did but I’m in love with him.” You whispered cheeks flaming. “I love him, and I couldn’t stay away. It’s not just sex; it never was. We’re just like...good for each other. And I don’t want to end it”

“Sweet Jesus.” Dr. Edwards sighed sliding down in her chair. “I am too old for this shit. Why are you telling me this now, half way through the semester?”

“Someone is blackmailing me. They sent pictures of us kissing and hugging. They won’t tell me what they want but… I figured I should confess.”

Her eyes became alarmed. “Now wait just a minute. No matter what fucked up thing you’ve done, someone can’t just blackmail you. Have you reported it?”

“Did you miss the part where I said I’m sleeping with a student? No, Kate, I didn’t report it!” You huffed.

“Alright, just calm down. Let’s just go through our options here. How involved are you at this point?”

You winced. “He practically lives in my apartment….There is no practically. I can’t remember the last time he back to his place.I just met his family for the first time. We’ve done the ‘I love you’s’. We’re as involved as physically possible.”

“And you’ve what… given him test answers? Helped him with assignments?”

“No! No, absolutely not. He’s learned more in class than even I can believe considering where he started. Sure, sometimes he comes to office hours, but I don’t help him more, or less,than any other student. And when we grade papers, I purposely put his in your stack. I only know his grade because he likes to gloat. I’ve done everything that I can to make things as fair as possible.”

She sighed spinning around rapidly in her chair and peering up at the ceiling. The only thing keeping you from a nervous breakdown was that she hadn’t kicked you out of the program yet.

“Shit, y/n.”

You hiccuped trying to keep the tears at bay.

“Am I gonna get kicked out of school?” You whispered.

“I...Don’t know. I honestly haven’t read up on that policy in years on account of me not sleeping with students.”

You rolled your eyes. “Funny. You’re being funny right now.”

“Sorry,” She smiled. “Look. Let’s take some time. You go home, focus on your research, while I do some digging. In the meantime, I’m gonna have to ask you not to come to class. I have to cover my own ass here too.”

You nodded keeping your eyes on your hands. “That’s fair.”

“And do not contact whoever sent you those pictures. Just keep it at bay for now, until I find out just how big of a mess we’re in.”

She led you to the door giving you a hug that reminded you of your mom. When you left your heart was heavy in your chest. Your love for Shawn was incredible and it was great, but your master’s was all that you had to be taken seriously in your field. Getting kicked out would ruin you without a doubt. Not that you didn’t think about this before dating the guy, but there just wasn’t any staying away from him. And on top of that you really didn’t fucking want to.

You got back to your apartment before Shawn had made it back, crawling out of the clothes you’d thrown on to be somewhat presentable and into one of Shawn’s hoodies before sliding into bed. The curtains were drawn, the room dark, and you were fully spiraling into the sadness. As far as you were concerned the world was ending. You didn’t know who you were without your education. It had become your passion and your life, and the thought of that being taken away was terrifying. You could have gotten angry at Shawn. Afterall you both had not entered into the relationship with the same risk, and you told him time and time again that it was dangerous. But, when you were lying in bed crying your eyes out there was only one person in the whole world you wanted comfort from and that was him.

“Hey babe, I’m stopping at the bakery we found last month? The one with the little cinnamon donut holes you like? I should be back soon in twenty though.”

You had given yourself a pep talk to stay cool, calm, and collected for about fifteen minutes before calling Shawn, and this tiny bit of information only sent you sprawling head first into tears all over again.

“A--Are you crying? Hey? Hey, what’s wrong?”

You heard him shuffling around and the bing of a door as he assumedly left the bakery.

“This is so gross. Crying is the worst.” You huffed wiping angrily at your cheeks.

“Baby talk to me. What happened?”

“It’s nothing. I mean it’s not nothing but...I just want you to come home. Please.” You sniffled.

“I’m coming now.”

“Wait, Shawn!”

“What, what?” He exclaimed at the sound of your voice.

You bit your lip voice softening drastically. “Will you bring the donut holes please?”

He sighed heavily. “Jesus, y/n. Yes. I’ll bring the donut holes.”

“Thank you.” You whispered.

“I love you, just give me a minute alright?”

“Okay.”

Time passed impossibly slowly without him. You cried into your blankets, holding the pillow from Shawn’s side of the bed to best absorb his scent. This is how fucking gone you were, weeping into a pillow like a fucking child. Oh how the mighty fall.

Your face was shoved into his pillow when you heard the familiar sound of the door opening. You listened to him drop his keys on the bed side table and kick his shoes off of his feet. It was always your favorite sound in the world because it meant he was there, he was staying, with you. This time was no different and you quickly shifted your face out of his pillow to tackle him into the bed and hide your face in his chest instead.

“Woah there.” He murmured wrapping his arms tightly around you. “I’m here. I’m right here.”

More tears escaped, and Shawn just seemed to know exactly what to do. You sat in silence, you crying, and him rubbing your back in a soothing manner. His fingers came to rest in your hair pulling the wild curls out of your face and holding it in a makeshift ponytail. It took forever for you to cry yourself out and having him there did make it easier as long as you didn’t have to look at him. When the tears had come to a halt and your body was hiccuping in exhaustion, you finally lifted your head from his chest and peered up as he was handing you a box of tissues off the nightstand.

“Have you been jerking off in my bed?” You sniffled grabbing tissue. “I don’t keep those there.”

He snorted. “No. We have sex like twice a day, who has the time or the sperm? I picked some up on my way home. Figured you could use ‘em.”

You blew your nose multiple times, Shawn holding his hand out to take them from you.

“I am not putting my snotty tissues in your hand right now. I want you to still want to have sex with me after this.” You muttered, throwing them onto the table instead.

He grabbed at your chin tilting it so that your eyes met and smiling softly at you.

“I’ll always want to have sex with you, no matter what you do.”

You hiccuped and pushed your hand against his dumb, perfect face not in the mood to get lost in his eyes at the moment.

“Sure.”

“Are you ready to talk about it yet?” He murmured hands rubbing soothingly at your back.

You peered up at him over red rimmed eyes, your whole body tensing.

“I can’t tell you.”

He frowned. “What do you mean, you can’t tell me?”

“It’s not a big deal. I--I don’t want you to worry.”

“Y/n I am now a hundred times more worried than I was before you said anything. What is going on that you won’t tell me? You promised you wouldn’t let things get on top of you.”

“I did! I did. I’m reaching out. This is me reaching out instead of pushing you away. I just can’t tell you what happened. I’m doing this for you.”

He shook his head in confusion. “I don’t want you to do this for me! I want to help. Why aren’t you letting me help you?”

“Look it’s my shit to deal with; it doesn’t concern you!”

“You concern me! You’re my girlfriend; it all concerns me. Just…” He groaned looking up ceiling and taking a deep breath. “I’m not trying to start a fight. I just want to be there for you.”

You crawled out from under the covers moving to straddle his waist and wraps your arms around his back. Your face fit perfectly into his neck and you kissed him in reassurance.

“You are. You always are. You’re perfect. I just . . . don’t wanna hurt you.”

His hands found your hips rubbing circle sinto the flesh.

“Then please just tell me what’s going on. You’re scaring the shit out of me.”

He wasn’t letting it go and honestly it was all getting to be a little much. You were suffocating under the weight of it all and you didn’t know how you were going to come out of it in one piece. So, you reached behind you and dug into your pocket for your phone swiping it open to get into your messages. You pulled up the first picture and handed him the phone, deciding that now would be the perfect time to dive into the donuts.

“Holy fuck.” He mumbled.

“Yep.” You nodded around a cinnamony piece of confection.

“W--Who is it? How could you not tell me about this? How does this having nothing to do with me?!”

“So...I don’t know who it is. I got the text at dinner after your recital and I didn’t want you to be stressed out again after everything that you went through rehearsing. I wanted you to just focus on meeting with the big time music people. There’s nothing you can do about it. It’s my fault, and I’m the one who’s gonna have to deal.”

“Your fault? We’re together. We’re--We’re in a relationship. We just love each other, we aren't hurting anyone. That’s not wrong.” He chastised. “There’s no fault to be had.”

You rolled your eyes running your fingers consolingly through his hair. Your soft hearted, gooey Canadian would of course take it that way.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to insinuate that our relationship is a mistake. It isn’t. And I love you. And I don’t regret anything. But, i’m in really deep shit right now and there’s not much you can do to get me out of it.”

“They wouldn’t kick you out. You’re the best person they’ve ever had.” He mumbled wrapping his arms tighter around you as if his hodl alone could protect you from the world.

“I appreciate that, but I think you might be a little biased.”

He sighed peering into your eyes and holding his face in your hands.

“I won’t let them kick you out because of me. If it comes down to it, I’ll fix it. I promise.”

And he really did look so confident in what he was saying. As if there was nothing that would get in his way when it came to you. It was sweet and endearing and crazy because your whole body ached to believe him.

“How?” You mumbled eyes straying to his chest.

He tilted your face back up to his, eyes firm in their stance.

“I’ll do whatever it takes. Tell them I pursued you and you wanted nothing to do with me. Those photos don’t show the whole truth. They just show whatever story we tell them. I would never let this end your career. I know what it means to you.” He whispered.

It was certainly a lot to think about. Shawn stayed propped up against the headboard, letting you stay curled up in his arms as you shared the donut holes that he’d brought home. The quiet was nice after all the stress of the morning. It was odd for you how much you craved the comfort of his body. You’d never been so needy in your past relationships. And yet, something in you just wanted to crawl in his arms and never face the world again. He was warm and perfect and he smelled like home. He slipped his hands under your--his--sweatshirt and traced shapes on your back soothing you until your eyes felt heavy and you sunk deeper into his hold. Maybe things would be better when you woke up.

***

You sat in your bed watching Shawn get ready for his meeting. You weren’t allowed to go, they were sending a car for him and everything, so all you could was make sure he looked like a God on his way out the door. Shawn was making this harder than ever considering the perfect canvas you had to work with.

He collapsed onto your bed throwing one of his shirts to the ground to join the other several that had been thrown in your attempt to dress this man child.

“Fuck it. I’m not going.” He muttered hiding his face in his hands.

“Like hell you’re not.”

You scooted over behind him wrapping your arms around him from behind to lean your head upon his shoulder.

“What’s going on? Talk to me.”

He pulled at his hair in frustration and glared at the wall.

“It’s stupid. This is stupid.” He mumbled.

You smiled at him because a grumpy Canadian was quite the adorable contradiction.

“Do you remember the time you sang for me in one of the practice rooms?” You asked running your fingers along his bare chest.

“Yea...You had a bad day and you came to see me during my independent study. We went to dinner after.”

You nodded. “Bad day is kind of an understatement. I had a panic attack that day in the middle of a presentation for the Dean of liberal arts. It was really bad. And there was no one there to hum in my ear. I spent forty-five minutes in a bathroom unable to breathe. We had to reschedule.”

He turned over his shoulder to stare at you.

“You never told me that.”

“I know. Bad with sharing emotions, remember? Still working on it.” You smiled warmly. “Anyway, when I came to see you my nerves were frazzled. I was a fucking mess. And you were practicing that song you’d written a long time ago.”

“Never Be Alone?”

“That’s the one. You sang it for me in just that tiny little room with the echo and it felt like resurfacing. Like I’d been outside of myself for a long time, and it brought me back to my being. I knew then that you were special. If you can do that for me and my stubborn, emotional ass, I know you can do it for others. You’ve got this Shawn.” You murmured emphatically into his shoulder. “I know it.”

You kissed at his neck and settled your fingers in his hair as he let out a breath he must have been holding in forever. The tension was back in his neck and shoulders, but he was nodding and letting your words sink in.

“I’m scared.” He admittedly finally. “I don’t want to let you guys down.”

“The only way you could ever let me down is if you weren’t your true self, and if you didn’t go after what you wanted in life. You don’t get signed and I’m still gonna be madly in love with you. And I’m still gonna come to every gig and rock the fuck out with you. Don’t do it for us, do it for you.”

You sat in silence for a while, the weight of your words slowly absorbing. He put his hands on top of yours and took some more deep breaths before ultimately sighing.

“Is motivational speech giving part of your master’s program?” He asked dryly

“Very funny. Get your ass up, you have a meeting to get to.”

You climbed off of his back in order to go to your closet where his clothes were quickly over taking yours. You went shopping together a lot because your boyfriend was sexy and you liked to dress him up and he liked to let you. You pulled a black floral button up off the hanger. It had short sleeves and would show off his arms. In the large scheme of things, maybe it didn’t matter, but he’d be confident if he knew he looked good and damn would he look good.

You held the shirt out to him and watched with knowing satisfaction as he slid it on. He peered at you with heistant eyes wondering if this was the right one. This man was driving you up a wall, and if you didn’t get him to chill the fuck out asap he would never make it to his meeting.

You slipped your palms under the fabric of his shirt reaching up to tweak at his nipples which were always ultra sensitive. He blushed crimson and tried to back away but you quickly grabbed at his belt loop to pull him forward.

"Babe what are you--"

"Maybe if my mouth is on you, you won't be able to think about nervous?"

You pressed your lips to his left nipple feeling the goosebumps appear across his skin. He closed his eyes and sighed quickly becoming putty in your hands. You licked and sucked at the skin until it was erect and wet.

You had wanted to play with his nipples ever since you noticed just how sensitive they were. Sometimes they would simply brush against you during sex and the sensation alone would be enough to make them hard. Given the look on your boyfriend's face this was something you were definitely going to have to explore more in depth.

You pulled your mouth off of him and blew at the skin causing him to moan and slip his fingers around the back of your neck doing nothing but simply gripping the skin. It was a little dominant and a little messy and you loved it.

"Remind me to do that again later." You grinned moving to button his shirt for him.

"I....I can't say I hate you cause I don't, but you really kill me sometimes. I have a sneaking suspicion you’re kinkier than I could ever imagine."

You fluttered your eyelashes at him in mock innocence, which only seemed to propel him further. Unfortunately he did kind of need to get going.

"I love you." You murmured letting your eyes rest on his. "You're gonna do great."

He nodded softly and kissed your lips one, two, and three times which wasn't helping the whole not wanting him to leave thing. Eventually, guitar case in hand, he was out the door and you were left to your research, and definitely not to count down the hours until he came home. Definitely.

***

Shawn’s p.o.v

He placed his guitar case against the wall and kicked off his shoes, placing them against the wall next to her smaller ones. He sniffed at the air as his stomach rumbled and the scent of home cooked food settled deep in his nostrils. There was movement in the kitchen, and along with the glorious smell of food he found himself practically floating towards it.

“Babe?” He called out catching her just as she was pulling a pan out of the oven.

She groaned turning to face him.

“You weren’t supposed to be back this early! I didn’t even get to change yet.”

“What’s all this?”

“It’s your ‘congratulations for meeting with a record label’ dinner.” She murmured blinking her big ole eyes at him in innocence. “I asked your mom for her roast recipe. And I...I made cookies cause whether the news is good or bad, you need cookies. So…”

A smile so big his face felt stretched appeared on his lips and he quickly ran around the island to get to her. Her lips were like heaven on his, and the passion that was radiating from within him felt overwhelming and completely necessary all at once. No one had ever done something like that for him. He’d only told her about roast dinners one night when they were lying in bed trying to talk about the things that mattered to them. It had been when they were still getting to know each other, and for her to remember that felt like something special, and something to take note of. He was sure in that moment that no one had ever cared for him like her. And as a result, the hold that she had on him tightened, and the need to be with her and to belong to her only got tighter.

She still had oven mitts on as he gripped her hips through the apron running his tongue along her lip. Instead of granting him access like he wanted, she pushed softly against his chest until he got the hint.

“Not that I don’t love your lips and everything, but I kinda want feed you before the food is cold. And I want to look more presentable when I do it.”

“You’re beautiful.” He growled defiantly, digging his hands into her hips for emphasis. “I don’t need you to dress up for me. I’d much rather this apron be the only thing I have to take off of you later.”

She raised an eyebrow at him a smirk forming across her soft lips. He managed to convince her to bring the roast to the table and sit on his lap while they ate. It was the sappiest, most ridiculous thing ever, but he wanted to be close to her and he didn’t wanna wait through a whole meal to do it. The food was good as hell, and he made a mental note to deny, deny, deny if his mother ever asked him whose was better. In the deep pits of his mind, he remembered being sixteen and swearing that he’d marry the woman who could cook a roast like his mom. She looked at him with gentle, kind eyes, and just in case she could read his thoughts he shook his head and looked down as his cheeks warmed.

“So… Either the news is so good you’re stringing me along or I’m gonna have to go apeshit on some music exec’s face.”

He chuckled. “The funniest part about that statement, is that I know you would go apeshit without hesitation.”

“Of course.” She shrugged. “Now tell me.”

“Yea so...It was Island records. There was this guy named Andrew and he had a couple other people in the room. They found my stuff online and he just played it for them while we all sat around this very clean, glass table. And then they asked me some questions about the type of music I wanna make, and I sang for them.”

“Okay...AND?!”

He grinned teasingly at her. “And he asked me to come to a studio in LA. Wants to introduce me to some music people. Said we could have a serious conversation about him being my manager, if I wanted.”

She leaped from his lap like a dolphin hopping out of the water, and it was as impressive as it was incredibly adorable.

“Are you fucking me?! He wants to manage you? Just like that? I told you. I said my baby’s a fucking icon, and everyone’s gonna love you and what happened, sir? One fucking meeting and you already have a record deal!”

Something about her praise and her acceptance made it all feel much realer than it had felt in the moment. Maybe it was just knowing that she fully supported him. And it wasn’t his mom or his little sister or his best friends. She didn’t have to love his music at all. But, she had from the moment they met and that made him much more confident in what he was creating. She’d never believe him if he told her that he couldn’t have done that meeting without her, but it couldn’t have been more true. His cheeks were now flaming under her praise and he pulled her back into his lap to hide the evidence in her hair.

“It’s not quite a record deal yet. Andrew was saying it could take months to actually solidify a deal. Him being my manager wouldn’t necessarily mean Island would sign me.”

She rolled her eyes at him with so much sass, his heart nearly burst from his chest. So. Fucking. Cute.

“Boy will you just bask in the greatness for a minute. Bask in it!”

She kissed his cheeks as if to say, “you were born red, get used to it.” and fed him pot roast to his heart’s content. And then she took him to the couch and put on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban while she rode him into the couch with nothing but her apron on. Some might say it was the best nice of his whole entire life. And they just might be right.

Tag List:

@nevermindmisha

@alltoowhalee13 @glader-groupa-sub8

@begginyouformendes

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earwaxinggibbous · 5 years

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Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 2018

As I geared up to make the list of hits for 2018, I was prepared for difficulty, and I wasn’t wrong. Hence why there are a few little cheats here and there. Really anything that even had the potential to be a hit got on this list because the Hot 100 was fucking barren and I figure I’d rather give some exposure to some good artists that didn’t get what they deserved.

I do discuss alcohol/drug use briefly in my number 9 + 6 and abuse in my number 4. Let’s get this shit on the road.

10. Mine - Bazzi

This song is dumb. And I love it.

Mine by Bazzi, who no doubt will not show up on the charts next year, is a song that all of you know even if you think you don’t, because it’s the one with the memes.

You so! Fuckin! Precious! When you! Smiiiiile!

Yeah, it’s that one.

There’s not much to say about this one. It’s a quick and easy listen at only a little over 2 minutes. Bazzi has a nice enough voice, and the production manages to stand on its own. Honestly the reason it’s here is because the lyrics are adorable.

It feels very teenage, but not in the obnoxious way that Lucid Dreams is. It’s just very innocent despite the second line being about hitting it from the back. It’s a kind of innocence I can enjoy mostly unironically.

Like, whatever man. Just enjoy life.

9. Betrayed - Lil Xan

So I wasn’t actually sure when this song charted. I believe it was either late 2017 or early 2018, possibly with some crossover, but I’m counting it because I love this song so much.

Betrayed actually shares a lot of similarities with Juice WRLD’s Lucid Dreams. They were both towards the bottom on each respective list, they both have videos made by Cole Bennet, and they both have a sneaky anti-drug message.

Ironic considering his name is Lil Xan. Also I lied it’s not very sneaky at all. Which is good, if you’re gonna be anti-drug then just fucking do it. The beat is chill, the bars are chill, it’s all super chill. That’s probably in part due to the fact that Lil Xan has a super calming voice. This is weed music. Like Car Seat Headrest. And good weed music can be enjoyed when you’re sober, which Betrayed can be because it just sounds nice.

A good chunk of Betrayed is about the pitfalls of the rap game, and how suddenly everyone turns on you and wants your money, which is kind of neurotic but not entirely inaccurate.

This was actually the plot of a Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake song called Holy Grail from a few years back. And I hate to say it but this song does it way better, because it’s not trying to make fame out to be some horrible demon priestess who’s sucking your soul out of your ass, but rather, more of a lifestyle with very different complications.

Which is what it is.

So Jay-Z got outdone by a 12-year-old with face tats named Lil Xan, and if I heard about that my ego would be deeply, deeply bruised.

The only reason it isn’t higher is because, uh.

Oof, Lil Xan. Come on now.

8. King’s Dead - Jay Rock ft. Kendrick Lamar, Future and James Blake

So a lot of people actually didn’t like this song. Which... I kind of get.

Also apparently this was on the Black Panther soundtrack. I never saw that movie, but a lot of the lyrics on this, at least according to lyric genius, relate to that movie. Which I guess is why I have no clue what it’s about other than the average rap music cliches. The only thing I knew about King’s Dead for god knows how long was this gif of Kendrick eating corn in a palm tree.

I feel like the best argument against this song (other than Future’s high-pitched sampling of Slob On My Knob that made me lose my shit) is that there’s nothing really special about it. I mean yeah, Kendrick has a voice that’s smooth like butter, but King’s Dead has a generic beat and bars that just don’t stand out.

But I don’t know. I just love it.

This is just a nice fun song to chill out to. I can put it on, throw myself into bed, and let the cares of the day shloff off of my body as Kendrick whispers to me in the language of the ancient ones. This is nowhere near his best work, not even remotely close to it. All it is is nice and small and easy to listen to without being completely boring.

Maybe I also just like it because it’s been forever since a rap song really sounded like one. This is partially the fault of Future, who is on this song, and doing the same shit he usually does, but at least the rest of the song sounds like words. It feels like it’s been a whole decade since rap music wasn’t just an autotuned jumble, and while I’m easier on mumble-rap than most, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss good old fashioned regular rap.

Regardless of whether it’s blind nostalgia or some level of actual quality, I enjoy King’s Dead for what it is. It may just be a rock and not a diamond, but it’s my rock and I love it.

7. In My Blood - Shawn Mendes

So like, what the fuck happened with Shawn Mendes? He just kind of got really good all of a sudden. Like when every genre, every artist, every newcomer and every single is shitting the bed, it’s Shawn Mendes of all people to bring it home. That’s like if Charlie Puth turned out to be the savior of music. It’s like if Chingy developed into a rap legend. And this song, In My Blood, is about something we all wanna do! Giving up.

Okay, so that’s not exactly what it’s about. It’s about the feeling of wanting to give up, but refusing to, in a very chronological way. With the verses representing the low points and the chorus representing the swell of energy that forces one to get back on their feet. It’s an incredibly well put-together song where Shawn’s voice is actually put to good use instead of him gargling pus like he did on Treat You Better. I’d be lying if I said he didn’t emote wonderfully on this.

I haven’t heard any of the other singles he’s released around this song, but I’m definitely interested in doing so because In My Blood is an experience, kind of in the same way that like, a really good Panic! at the Disco song is. It just punches you repeatedly. You ever been punched by a song? It feels great. I wish more songs would punch me.

In a lot of ways In My Blood is also nostalgic for me, since it brings me back to an era where I actually got excited about pop music because it was important to me some-fucking-how. And I don’t mean like, I was interested in pop like I am right now. When I was littler my parents basically raised me on old alternative music and jazz, and while I definitely enjoyed it I had literally no idea what other kids at school listened to. The first pop song I remember hearing was Pokerface by Lady GaGa, I was on the school bus, and it sounded like nothing I’d ever heard before. Over time my sister began playing the radio so that her friends at her new school would stop goofing on her for not knowing any pop artists, and hearing all this new music was kind of an experience. Of course after awhile we both moved into individualized tastes and neither of us really listen to the radio unless it’s during the holidays, but hearing In My Blood somehow reminds me of a time when being a hit actually meant something.

It’s a song where you put it on and it just owns the room despite its minimalism, and with tons of easy listening alt-crap hitting the stations nowadays, it’s nice, albeit surreal, to know that Shawn Mendes is the one who gives a shit.

6. Genius - LSD

In case you didn’t know, LSD is the combined efforts of rapper Labrinth, singer Sia and producer Diplo. I hadn’t actually heard of this group until pretty recently, and I wish I had because if you know me, you know about my wretched obsession with Sia. Maybe I’m too forgiving, but I can’t remember a single bad track she’s put out. And Genius is no exception.

Lyrically this song’s a bit lacking, despite the title. But soundwise it sticks like gum, with a layered production. I always say that they should have Sia work with one of these sing-rappers, so having it finally happen is proof that god might be listening to me.

It’s like bubblegum for your brain, it’s sweet, it tastes good, it’s fun and it sticks. Even after only one listen I couldn’t get the tune out of my head. And god knows I just want the charts to be fun for once. No, I don’t think this song charted, which is an absolute shame. LSD should absolutely have the star power to hit the top 100, but I guess this just wasn’t a good year for them.

Regardless, I have heard that LSD plans to do a full project, and after listening to the rest of their short album I am more than excited. The only reason this isn’t higher up is that, judging by the group name I was expecting it to be way more of an acid trip soundwise. It’s definitely hard to compare LSD’s Genius to any other type of pop in recent years, but I feel like that’s moreso because Diplo and company have taken all sorts of elements from all sorts of pop music and sneakily fused them together.

Regardless, Genius is a highly enjoyable listen. Sia’s at top performance as per usual, Labrinth sounds really nice beside her and Diplo’s production is solid. Also I seriously recommend the music video. It’s super weird. I wish animated music videos were more common with pop, to be honest.

5. Better Now - Post Malone

I almost feel like I’ve sinned putting a Post Malone song above a Kendrick Lamar song, but god do I love Better Now.

The Post Malone conversation is still very much underway, with a lot of people saying they hated Psycho because it was boring (which I can get even though I don’t agree) and that they hated Jackie Chan because it was just really really stupid. But, much like Candy Paint, I have yet to hear anyone say they dislike Better Now. And I do honestly believe that he hit it out of the park on this one.

This one’s sort of the reverse of Genius. It has pretty basic trap production, but really nice lyrics. Possibly building on the story from I Fall Apart, though with a slightly more mature outlook, Post talks about an ex-girlfriend who he misses, trying to drown his feelings in alcohol, drugs and expensive stuff in the wake of the relationship.

A total bummer, but Post sells it pretty well.

Like damn. That’s a detail right there.

I mean, I could argue that nobody has a specific drawer for socks they don’t like, but who cares really.

Anyway, unlike I Fall Apart, which was a turn-off for a lot of people because it felt spiteful and juvenile, Better Now doesn’t really place the blame on Post or his ex, which is a much more realistic scenario. Because really, his ex isn’t at fault for no longer being in love with him, but Post isn’t at fault for pining. He’s only human. Judging by the lyrics, the story is that Post was dumped for being a druggie in this song.

Though Lyric Genius also argues this is a reference to the death of Lil Peep, who was close personal friends with Post Malone in real life. If this song is somehow in a weird roundabout way an ode to Lil Peep, honestly it does feel like it’s a good send-up to him from another rapper. Like yeah, a love song might seem weird as a tribute to a dead friend, but it definitely does feel like a mournful, sad song about longing for a close person who’s gone for the long run.

Whether this is a tribute to Lil Peep or just a breakup song, it definitely carries the weight of the emotions, partly since Post just generally sounds sad all the time. And in a year full of pissy break-up songs, this is the one that hits home more than any other for me. If Post is going off of past experience, it shows, and if he isn’t he’s just a really good actor I guess.

4. Freaky Friday - Lil Dicky ft. Chris Brown

This song is the bane of my fucking existence.

Why do I laugh at this? Why do I laugh at jokes about Lil Dicky having a small penis still? Why am I losing my shit at the idea that a white guy in a black guy’s body would immediately wonder if he can say the n-word? Why am I, a grown man with presumably mature tastes, going ‘hee hee hoo hoo’ over the phrase “I’m DJ Khaled! Why am I yelling?” And why the fuck, in the year 2018, am I actively enjoying a Chris Brown song?

Lil Dicky I have a soft spot for. We’re both Jews, we’re both stupid, we both look dead inside in every photograph taken of us. We’re basically like long lost twin brothers. Plus I do think he’s a skilled rapper, with his greatest track easily being Professional Rapper featuring Snoop Dogg, and if it had been my choice, that song would’ve been his first big hit. But no, it had to be Freaky Friday. A song that, for all accounts and purposes, is about as funny as an early Your Favorite Martian song, and yet still makes me roll into a screaming fit laughing my ass off.

I’m not gonna sit here and pretend I’m over the Chris Brown drama just because there’s plenty of worse artists charting right now. Forgetting it would be an offense to everyone involved. Do I think he’s probably matured since? Maybe. But that doesn’t excuse or explain away what he did. But for me to pretend I don’t enjoy this song would be disingenuous, and it breaks my heart to actually enjoy a Chris Brown song. In 20-fucking-18.

Everyone hates this song. And they’re valid, honestly. I just like the chorus, maybe? I don’t know. It’s hardly Lil Dicky’s best work, but fuck me. Of course I had to be the one suffering with the curse of enjoying Lil Dicky’s Freaky Friday to the point that I put it above a ton of songs that are probably objectively better, all because I laugh at dick jokes and love a catchy chorus.

But I will give it credit, this is the first popular comedy song in a long time I’ve been able to get down to. Selfie and What Does The Fox Say made me wanna scoop my eyes out with a melon baller, but of course the fucking Chris Brown comedy song makes me shriek in body-wracking laughter as if I’ve never heard a joke before.

It’s been at LEAST a year since I felt this shitty for enjoying a song, but that’s life I guess. Just enjoying bad music by bad people for bad reasons.

3. High Hopes - Panic! at the Disco

How is it that we’re having a Panic! at the Disco hit in 2018? Whatever, I’m not mad.

I mean, come on. A swelling Brendon Urie anthem about finally being able to achieve your dreams and shit? That’s really all I need on a bad day, isn’t it. Thanks 2018.

I don’t even remember if this song has good production or not. It’s really loud. Everything is loud. Do you think I care if it sounds good? I mean, Brendon sounds good, but like. Biz Markie’s Just A Friend fills me with emotion and it sounds like it’s being sung by a donkey. My standards are not high. Maybe I’d need higher standards to not like this song.

Frankly, I don’t care if the production is bad. Because this song is just good mood music, and I like that it’s loud. I want Brendon to scream in my ear about having high hopes. Do you think I care how it sounds?

No but really. It’s a perfectly well-built song, Brendon performs well on it. Bless this shit though. If there’s anything that represents hope in my mind, it’s Brendon Urie skittering up the side of a building while singing about having high hopes and his mama and whatever whatever. In a year full of dour break-up songs and people dying and abusers getting famous, all you can really have is high hopes. And that’s all there is to it.

2. Neva Lavd Yah! - Dusty Ray Bottoms

Can we all agree RuPaul’s Drag Race is kind of a hack show at this point? I mean, Season 10 was a disaster and so far AS4 has been a disaster too. I’m not even sure why I still watch it at this point.

Anyway, this is kind of a cheat. Neva Lavd Yah! charted on Billboard LGBT, and actually charted pretty high. Not the actual Hot 100, but do you think I care anymore?

So we’re all mad that rock music is dead, and that the only remnants we have of it is Imagine Dragons and other similar garbage. But don’t fret (unless it’s on a guitar) because Dusty Ray Bottoms, queen of my heart, is here to solve that problem. Full electric guitar and drums. No autotune. Just pure Dusty Ray on the track here to kick ass.

I guess Neva Lavd Yah! is a generic “fuck the haters” anthem, but for once I actually believe it. Maybe it’s because it’s being sung by a 50-foot-tall gay man with dots all over his face. Maybe it’s just because, with every drag queen doing techno music, Dusty Ray has done something completely different. God knows I was sick of every drag queen doing overproduced electronica about nothing at all.

Neva Lavd Yah! isn’t polished or clean. It’s screaming and loud and full of passion. Sometimes you’re just a 50-foot gay who wants to yell, sometimes you’re a 5-foot gay who wants to yell. Maybe you don’t feel like yelling right now, but you’ve probably been in that mood before. Neva Lavd Yah! is for when you wanna chill in a garage with an electric guitar and write songs and then scream with your shitty garage band and it’s the 90′s and you’re gay.

Damn right.

And before we move forward,

let’s hit those honorable mentions.

I Like It - Cardi B ft. Bad Bunny and J Balvin

This song really did almost get on the list, and I mean it was like a baby dick’s length away. I almost feel bad that I let Mine on instead. Cardi I am so sorry.

Nice For What - Drake

This was the only good song Drake released this year, and while Drake talking about “strong women” on the same album as I’m Upset seems like bullshit, I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t at least kind of a banger.

Now or Never - Blair St. Clair

This was the only other big drag queen hit I remember this year. It was released in the wake of Blair St. Clair coming out about a sexual assault, and while I do think it’s an empowering song, I don’t like the way it sounds that much.

Pray For Me - The Weeknd ft. Kendrick Lamar

How I liked King’s Dead more than this I can’t even explain to you. The beat on Pray For Me rocks my tight ass though. Plus let’s be honest, The Weeknd and Kendrick are a fucking dream team.

I Love It - Kanye West ft. Lil Pump

I can’t hate this. Fucking look at it. They’re in roblox costumes!

Famous Prophets (Stars) - Car Seat Headrest

Not a hit, which is the only thing that kept it off of here. Consider Song of the Summer by Remo Drive, Humanity by Gorillaz and When You Die by MGMT also in this spot.

On to number one, and if you know me you probably know it already.

1. Kamikaze - Eminem

Listen. I don’t care if this didn’t chart. I don’t care if it didn’t get close. I don’t give two fifths of a fuck if Eminem isn’t as good as he used to be. I don’t give a single rat’s ass.

Because I fucking love Kamikaze.

(The song.)

The album was fine, I wasn’t huge on the whole “call out everyone” angle it took. Sure sometimes it landed, but other times, like with the Tyler the Creator diss, it was completely pointless and kind of petty.

But the title song? It bangs.

The lyrics are good, obviously, it’s an Eminem song and he hasn’t been struggling with lyrics since... Revival I guess. The production on Kamikaze is interesting, the chorus is catchy. I just love it. It puts me in a good mood for reasons I cannot explain using words of the English language.

Maybe I just love Eminem too much. But in a year of stolid depression like 2018, all I wanted was for my favorite rapper Eminem to say “fuck” and yell a lot and just be kind of motivational in his weird way. And he did it. And I understand if people don’t enjoy Kamikaze (the song or the album) but I just can’t not love it, it makes me so excited every time I hear that intro. I feel like a child almost.

I saw Eminem live for the first time this year at Governor’s Ball. It was an experience. My feet were killing me because to get good spots, my sister and I had to sit through Chvrches. (Didn’t like them very much.) It was loud and crowded. It started raining, I was cold as shit and tired and this enormous drunk guy in a wifebeater nearly elbowed my head clean off of my shoulders just due to a lack of spacial awareness. And I didn’t even give a shit until it was over.

The music ended, and I realized I was freezing my ass off. And that’s what good music does to a guy I guess. And being able to download a new, really good Eminem song was like capturing that moment in a bottle. A bottle of white boy spite, but a good bottle nonetheless.

Of course I’m biased. God knows if this song is actually better than something like In My Blood or Genius, but I love this song too much to put it any lower than number one.

Whenever I need motivation or I’m just really pissed, this song is here for me to listen to, so I can lose my shit by the side of a man who I’ve literally begun referring to as my dad at this point. And that’s just what I want. A song that I can feel next to. A song that can feel with me. And as good as some of these other songs are, I don’t feel with them like I do with Kamikaze.

See you next year, I guess.

#top 10 #top 10 list #top 10 best hits of 2018 #year end countdown #panda posts #positive review #pop song review

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riverforasong · 6 years

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What’s So Great About: The Undertaker vs HHH at Wrestlemania 28

Hey, I wrote a thing. It’s pretty long and probably boring if you’re not a wrestling fan, but if that doesn’t bother you, here’s a whole bunch of stuff on in ring story telling and why this match did it so well.

It’s difficult to put forth just how meaningful The Undertaker is to Professional Wrestling as a whole. Starting out as just another monster heel in the early 90’s of neon, silly characters. The Undertaker transcended the gimmickiness of his… well, gimmick. At the beginning, he was, and I say this with no irony, or hyperbole, a zombie. He was a dead man, who by some form of magic unbeknownst to us, came back to life to wrestle handymen, dentists, and garbage men. As wrestling matured, and entered the attitude era, as did the Dead Man, becoming less of a zombie, and now adding demonic hell spawn to the game. He had powers of control and explosions, he had a brood of men and women waiting to do his dark bidding, he would sacrifice women, hang men from cells, you could not control The Undertaker, you could only hope to contain him. As the Era wound down, he switched to a Sons of Anarchy style biker. He became the conscience of the WWE, he had a code, and if you broke it, he would destroy your very soul, all while coming to the ring to the tune of, and I shit ye not, Limp Bizket. The early 00’s were hard on all of us.

As he got older, he moved away from the more magical aspects of his character, appearing less and less frequently, taking on only the best, and being called upon only when he was needed. He became like that of an old west gunslinger. An aging sherif who knew his time was almost up, but when it did, he would go out swinging. Sooner or later, God’s gonna cut you down.

The lasting mark of The Undertaker is known as The Streak. His longevity, in combination with his talent, led Undertaker to an untouchable 21-0 wins streak at Wrestlemania. 21 years he went undefeated at the Granddaddy of ‘em all. By 10 and 0, only the best, the bravest, and the foolish challenged him. They all wanted to be the one to finally end The Undertaker. Our story begins in 2011, at this point The Undertaker is 18 and 0 when it comes to the streak. His opponent, is Triple H. The King of Kings, the Cerebral Assassin, the Creator, and the Destroyer, The man with far too many nicknames, now that I have to type them all out. Triple H challenged the Undertaker to his Wrestlemania match, much to the horror of his best friend and former tag-team partner Shawn Michaels. See, Shawn Michaels had spent the better part of two year trying to take the dead man down. His final attempt, costing him his career as he was forced to retire upon losing his match. Triple H had always wanted to be seen as the top of the company, the man that everyone held in such high esteem, the man people would call “The Greatest of All Time.” But he never was, never has been, and never will be. Why? Shawn Michaels. Always living in the shadow of his best friend, he wanted to do what Shawn couldn’t. What nobody could, he was going to be the man to best The Undertaker.

But he didn’t.

Coming to the ring to the tune of Ain’t no Grave by Johnny Cash, In an absolute knock down, drag out, no holds barred fight, The Undertaker once again reigned victorious, raising his streak to 19 and 0, and staying on top where he belonged. But this time was different. He won, sure, but he couldn’t stand up. He had taken so much punishment, going through tables, getting hit by chairs, and by steel stairs, repeatedly landing on concrete, that he was no longer able to leave the ring under his own power, collapsing on his way out. Medical professionals were brought out and carried Undertaker out on a stretcher.

10 months pass.

Things are a little bit different now. The Undertaker hasn’t been seen since, HHH has taken hold of the corporate side of things. His marriage to the Boss’s Daughter, Stephanie McMahon, essentially makes HHH the uncrowned CEO of the company. He wrestles significantly less, wears suits instead of tights, wields a pen instead of a sledgehammer. Then on January 30, 2012, the unthinkable, the infamous bell tolls, and amongst the fire and minions comes The Undertaker once again. Undertaker was dissatisfied with how his last Wrestlemania ended. Being unable to walk out on his own showed a weakness that he can’t let by. A weakness that in his mind, needs to be corrected. This time, he’s calling HHH out. One more time, ‘Taker is offering HHH one last chance at immortality. He waits one week for HHH’s answer.

HHH refuses.

See in Hunter’s now corporate mind, the 19-0 Wrestlemania streak is a brand in and of itself. Even non-wrestling fans know it, it’s a cash cow that’s waiting to be exploited, and he’s not going to be the one that ends it over an old grudge. Putting his own ego and pride aside for what he sees as the better future for WWE. Enter Shawn Michaels again, this time, Shawn is adamant that he try again, he was too close the last time to not give it another shot, and Shawn would do any and everything in his power to help him win. Once again HHH refuses. The Next week the Undertaker responds. In an attempt to goad HHH into accepting he calls him a coward, a corporate cronie that’s to afraid to be a man and step up to the challenge. All of which H takes in stride even though it grates on him every time it gets repeated, even the crowd begins to chant it.

“I’m sorry but the answer is no.” and as HHH walks away, seemingly victorious, The Undertaker picks up the mic once again.

“You know Hunter, I just figured it out. You know that you can’t do, what Shawn Michaels couldn’t do.

Because deep down, you know Shawn was always better than you. ”

HHH is apoplectic, he looks the Undertaker in the eye and says that while this has nothing to do with who’s better between him and Shawn, he knows for a fact he can beat The Undertaker with one more try, and he accepts. Under one condition, he wants and end, No Uncertainty, no excuses, He wants it in Hell in a Cell.

For those of you just joining us, Hell in a Cell is where careers go to die. In immense 20 foot tall, five ton cell made of chain link mesh. Introduced in 1997 by The Undertaker himself, this match has ended or drastically shortened the careers of Mankind, Shawn Michaels, Edge, CM Punk, and of course, The Undertaker and HHH themselves. It breaks bones, lacerates skin, and in a couple of scenarios, knocks out teeth and breaks the rings. In summation, this match is not to be fucked with, or taken lightly. It is the last stop when it comes to serious feuds.

In addition to this, HHH also establishes a special guest referee: Shawn Michaels. This is for two reasons, number one, and the one most people pick up on, HHH has never lost a match where Shawn was the referee. But the second one is a little more sinister, Hunter has always had this one sided feud with Shawn, even during there Tag-Team days there was always this underlying tension that HHH wanted desperately to be seen as the better one, and it just wasn’t happening. This was his moment, he was so sure of his ability to beat the Undertaker at Wrestlemania, so sure that he was going to do the impossible, so sure that he could do what Shawn could not, that he demanded Shawn be there to count the pin. One last knock-out blow in a fight that only one person really knew they were having, maybe then people would finally see HHH at the top of the mountain. He would see himself be better than Shawn, even if he had to die to do it.

Wrestlemania 28. It was time. The Cell lowers around the two men. The smoke of the pyro clears, the two of them stare directly into each others eyes, as if daring the other to strike first. The bell rings, they drop back to their corners, circle one another for only a second and start trading blows. A physical, intense, and violent beginning that carries itself through the remainder of the match. Every shot loaded with a burning hatred, and desire to either end the streak, or to prove you haven’t lost a step. The brawl spills to the outside, into the waiting cell, as Undertaker, who’s dominated the beginning, tosses HHH against the steel cell wall as if he was nothing.

The story in the early part of the match comes from the Undertakers domination early in the match, finally overcoming his obsession with making up for his last performance, and HHH’s slow realization that he had, once again, booked himself in over his head. The turning point of this match however, comes from Shawn Michaels. Now, logic would dictate that, being his best friend, Shawn would be on HHH’s side, and of course, that’s what HHH intended. But in his previous 2 matches with the Undertaker at Wrestlemania 25 and 26 respectively, the last of which costing Shawn his career, Shawn had grown immense respect for The Undertaker, and also The Streak. Their begins an internal struggle in Shawn’s mind whenever a pinfall attempt occurs. Does he assist his friend. Or assist the man he respects above all else. You can see it begin to well up when the two men are on the outside, and The Undertaker is just beating away at the chest of HHH, there comes several points where Shawn looks to stop him, but knows that he has no jurisdiction to do so inside The Cell, and must watch as his friend is beaten repeatedly, while ignoring his pleading looks.

About half way though the match, after a solid 15 minutes of getting his ass handed to him on a plate, HHH finally gets some sort of upper hand by hitting The Undertaker with a Spine Buster on the steel steps that had been slid into the ring earlier. As he attempts to pin him, he gets reversed into a triangle choke known as the Hell’s Gate, the same move that beat him last year. Using every ounce of strength he had left, he heaved the 300 pound dead man into the air, and slammed him to the ground. Breaking the hold. HHH. now sick of this shit, slides out to the apron, and brings back a Steel Chair. A heavy shot to the stomach, followed by a sickening shot to the spine, HHH now finds himself well and truly in control of the match. HHH. now using both Chairs and Stairs to his advantage cause Shawn some unease. You can see, as HHH sets the stairs up vertically into the corner, Shawn asking him to think twice about it. Even though it’s completely within the rules of the match, Shawn doesn’t want to see too much damage come to the Undertaker. HHH of course, ignores this completely, throwing Undertaker into those stairs like he were a lawn dart.

As Undertaker attempts to get to his feet, he gets another chair shot to the back. And then another. And then another. And then another. The steel warping more and more as it makes contact. Ever shot, Shawn looks more and more distraught, to the point of actually attempting to physically stop him all while saying ‘Taker’s had enough. HHH shoves him out of the way delivering another five shots to the back and legs before Shawn knocks the chair away, saving The Undertaker a further beating. This is when HHH gives his friend the Ultimatum:

“You want this over, you end it!”

HHH’s game fully revealed now, he doesn’t just want to beat The Undertaker, he doesn’t want to just beat the Streak, he doesn’t just want the world to know he’s better than Shawn Michaels. He wants Shawn Michaels to be the one to tell the world. Not satiated by simply pinning the man, he wants Shawn to call the match a Knockout.

‘I can’t call it, you know he isn’t going to quit!“

HHH picks up the chair again as Shawn begs him off one last time to go check on The Undertaker. He asks him if he can still continue, and when he doesn’t say No, HHH clatters him with another three chair shots to the back.

“You want this to end! You end it! END IT OR I WILL!”

Shawn makes his way over to the now broken body of the Undertaker, but before he can get a word out, The Deadman speaks.

“Don’t stop it, don’t stop it. Do not...Stop it.”

Taker, using the ropes to steady himself, attempts to make it to his feet as HHH shouts from behind him “Stay down! Stay Down!,” But he doesn’t, he makes it to his feet and gets a hard chair shot to the gut for his trouble, followed by another shot to the back to knock him prone once again.

Shawn is beside himself at this point, visibly distraught and confused as to what he’s seeing, he goes down to count the pin as HHH covers Undertaker who by some miracle, kicks out at 2 and a half. He attempts another shot with a chair, but Shawn throws it out of the ring, as he goes to grab something else, HHH notices something, a small thing, but it only increases his frustration. Shawn is checking on the wellbeing of The Undertaker. His best friend is now taking care of his sworn enemy.

“END IT SHAWN! END IT OR I WILL”

Shawn doesn’t end it, so HHH brings out the Sledge Hammer. King Arthur and his sword, Thor and Mjolnir, HHH and his Sledgehammer, they’re synonymous with one another.

“Come on man, you don’t need that”

“I DON’T CARE, END IT OR I WILL, YOU WANT TO SHOW COMPASSION THAT’S FINE, BUT I’M NOT”

“He can barely walk”

“I don’t care Shawn, I’m ending this one way or another.”

Shawn makes his way over to The Undertaker who’s made it to his feet but just barely.

“I’m ending this match”

“No”

“Come on let me end it”

“No”

“Please let me end it! Please!”

Shawn, absolutely begging The Undertaker to throw in the towel, for safety sake, but the dead man isn’t having it. And he gets a sledge hammer upside the head for his trouble,

And he kicks out. 2 and a half, 2 and 3 15ths

The crowd loses it’s mind. HHH is in shock. Shawn just wants it all to be over. HHH takes his hammer once again, as The Undertaker attempts to rise to his feet again. He raises his hammer over his head, like he’s about to slam down on the railroad spike that is Undertaker’s head, before Shawn runs in and rips it from his hands.

“You end it then Shawn. END IT”

Shawn makes the move to call for the bell, he attempts to ask Undertaker but he’s unconscious,

“DO IT”

Shawn notices The Dead man stirring and goes over to check on him. He reaches down, but the Undertaker in his daze thinks he’s HHH and hits him with the Hell’s Gate triangle choke. And refuses to let go until HHH comes in with another sledgehammer shot to the head of The Undertaker breaking the hold. HHH showing remorse to his friend goes to check on him for a second, sledge hammer still in hand. With the referee out cold, HHH goes to railroad spiker Undertaker’s head one more time, but on the down swing he’s caught in the Hell’s Gate, Choking the life out of him, HHH makes a couple of futile attempts to break away, or use the Sledge Hammer again, but he can’t find the strength, and passes out from the pain. Now normally this would be the end of a match, but Shawn is still out cold from the earlier attack. So Undertaker releases the hold to try and rouse Shawn to his feet. Another referee makes his way to the ring to bring some order to things as HHH makes his way to his feet, but is caught by The Undertaker in a chokeslam. The new referee goes for the count, but only gets a 2. Undertaker is enraged, and grabs the new referee by the throat, hitting him too with a Chokeslam.

All three men slowly rise to their feet, Shawn included, as Undertaker looks to end it with the tombstone piledriver. He picks up HHH who riggles away and pushes Undertaker forward into a Superkick by Shawn, in retaliation for the earlier Hell’s Gate, in his stupor Undertaker stumbles backward into HHH, who hits him with a Pedigree. Both finishers, back to back. Undertaker is out cold. HHH goes in for the pin.

and in a second,

in a hiccup,

in a heartbeat,

Undertaker kicks out.

Shawn is beside himself. The second he landed the kick he regretted it, the look on his face after Taker kicked out is a mix of fear, anguish, and relief. He knows that if he had been one second faster, he would have cost The Undertaker The Streak. HHH makes it to his feet once again, grabbing the Sledgehammer at his side. Shawn goes to stop him once again, but HHH throws him outside the ring as he careens into the steel cell wall. The emotion overcoming The Game as he turns around and sees the Undertaker sit straight up. Fueled only by anger and a will to fight, Undertaker hits HHH with a big boot to the face. Several punches in a full out assault. Clotheslines, lawn darting him against the turnbuckle, another big boot to the face. And then finally, the Coup de Grace the Tombstone Piledriver.

And HHH kicks out. Undertaker’s face falls into disbelief. No one kicks out of the tombstone man, it’s just not done. His eyes are wide in disbelief. Shawn is an emotional wreck. HHH his best friend, immense respect for The Undertaker and he’s caught in the middle. Both men aren’t even to their feet, and Undertaker hits HHH with a headbut. Both men on their knees trading blows one after the other. We’ve done everything else so now they’re just going to punch the shit out of each other until one of them is smart enough to stay down. Both punch drunk make their way to their feet, uneasy steps, using the ropes for leverage, continue to rain punches on one another, until HHH gains the upper hand with a kick to the stomach, and yet another Pedigree. And yet again, The Undertaker kicks out. It takes 40 seconds at least for both men to find their feet. Undertaker is first up and reaches for the chair that HHH used earlier, HHH, still on his knees finds his sledge hammer. He goes to pick it up, but Taker finds it first, stepping on it. Destroying HHH with chairshot to the head, and then several to the back. A bookend to the beginning of the match. Chair shot after chair shot trying to keep the Game down, Eventually Shawn begs him to stop just as he did HHH earlier in the match, only this time, Undertaker obliges, throwing the chair out of the ring, pinning HHH, but only getting a two count out of the ordeal.

HHH is exhausted, angry, and out of ideas. He can barely make it to his feet, as the Undertaker just watches in a sort of awe at the poor sumbitch who just won't stay down. He makes his way over to the corner, sledgehammer in hand and attempts to make it to his feet, as the Undertaker shouts at him to “Stay Down!” HHH makes it to his feet, attempts a half hearted swing of the sledgehammer but is stopped immediately by the Undertaker, who simply shakes his head.

It’s over. Everyone knows it, even HHH. He’s got nothing else left, and The Undertaker has far too much. He shoves him forward and collapses in the corner, barely staying standing. Shawn can’t even really look at him anymore. He tries to muster up some words to say, but he can’t. It’s all been done, it’s all been said. He’s got nothing left to prove to anyone. But he’s gonna try it anyway. One last act of defiance as HHH does the DX Crotch chops, and makes a lunge for The Undertaker, who cracks him upside the head with his own Sledgehammer. HHH tries to use The Undertaker as leverage to stand up, but he doesn’t get the chance. Tombstone Piledriver

It’s really over. The Undertaker is now 20-0 at Wrestlemania. Both men collapse to the canvas, every ounce of energy left in the ring. Couldn’t give more if they tried. Undertaker tries to make it to his feet first, but he can’t quite muster the strength. His biggest fear has come to pass. He once again can’t leave the ring without medical help. His eyes dart around hoping for some help or some miracle to help him to his feet. A Miracle he finds, in the form of Shawn Michaels, stretching out his hand, he helps the big man up to his feet, and raises his hand for the 20th time in a row at Wrestlemania. He but there’s still the small matter of HHH, still unconscious on the mat. Even after all he’d done, after all the jealousy, after all the taunting and assaults. Shawn and Undertaker help the man to his feet. They all walk up the ramp heads held high, after a match of the year contender, three men of the old guard could finally find the time to rest. It was truly the End of an Era.

youtube

Match available on the WWE Network:

http://network.wwe.com/video/v31294231?contextType=wwe-show&contextId=wrestlemania&contentId=66743670&watchlistAltButtonContext=series

#wwe #wrestling #the undertaker #hhh #triple h #Wrestlemania #wrestlemania 28

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shirlleycoyle · 4 years

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How to Get (Back) Into Biking During the Pandemic

Among everything that is happening as society grapples with an unprecedented pandemic, there is one small, potentially promising trend: more people are riding bicycles.

Bike traffic across New York City's bridges is up 50 percent, while Citi Bike rides jumped 67 percent. Philadelphia's already-popular multi-use paths more than doubled in ridership—even quadrupling in some stretches—leading the city to convert a major roadway into pedestrian and cycling-only traffic. Chicago's bike share program, Divvy, saw twice as many rides during the first 10 days of March compared to last year.

This surge in cyclists and people pursuing alternative modes of transit—a small silver lining in an otherwise grim, stressful and uncertain time—is not without consequence. As with grocery stories, pharmacies and other businesses deemed "essential" by local governments, bike shops are also slammed as people rush to try to either buy a brand new bike, or get one they haven't touched in years properly serviced.

Just as Hurricane Sandy forced a lot of people to suddenly consider riding a bike, the coronavirus is doing the same but arguably on a much more profound scale. With cities enforcing social distancing measures through shelter in place orders, riding a bike is not only one of the few viable ways to get around, but also one of a few ways people can find respite from spending most hours of the day stuck inside their homes.

And that, understandably, leads to a lot of questions. How do you make sure your bike is safe to ride? If you don't have a bike, how do you go about buying one, and how do you know which one is right? If you're starting to ride for recreation, how do you make your bike more fun to ride? Where do you ride? Or, if you absolutely can't leave your home, how can you ride inside?

The good news is that when it comes to bikes, unlike the many uncertainties we're facing during this extremely upsetting and stressful time, there are clear and good answers. Consider this your pandemic cycling guide. Here, we'll get you up and rolling so that you can not only function, but hopefully find ways to, briefly, ride away from the all-consuming dread and anxiety.

Is it safe to go to a local bike shop?

If you're reading this, you're likely in one of two camps: you either do not own a bike, or you own a bike but the unstoppable march of time has seemingly rendered it unrideable. Both very stressful situations if you're looking to start riding a bike, but nonetheless very solvable.

In either case, despite how busy they might be right now, you should strongly consider working with a local shop and try to avoid online shopping as much as possible.

"There's nothing better you can do right now for your local community, and your cycling community, than buying from a bike shop," says Shawn Wolf, co-owner of King Kog and Sun & Air, two Brooklyn-based bike shops. "And even if you buy a bike online, you'll still need to have it assembled or tuned up at a bike shop anyway."

There's something to be said for establishing a relationship with your local shop; it makes regular repairs and new bike purchases an easier experience as you and your mechanic get to know each other. But bike shops also hold an important role as community centers, hosting events and clinics, serving as meeting points for group rides and advocating for policy changes that protects and promotes cycling. If they disappear, so does the local cycling community.

So yes, although most shops are extremely busy—and visiting one is creating one more in-person interaction in a time when we should be limiting our in-person interactions—there are some steps you can take to work with a bike shop while still keeping you and the staff safe.

How to wash your bike

If you have a bike and want to get it tuned up, the first thing you should do is wash it. This is partly for health reasons (you don't want to pass off a contaminated bike), partly for courtesy reasons (even outside a pandemic, it's considered not a nice thing to do to drop off a dirty bike to be serviced), but mostly because you'd be surprised just how many issues a good cleaning can fix. Annoying creaks, crunchy gears, sluggish shifting, and even rust vanishes once you've rid your bike of months, possibly years, of dirt and grime.

Image: Steve Rousseau

All you need to clean your bike is some hot water, a bucket, dish soap, a scrub brush, and some rags or towels you don't mind getting dirty. (If you have access to a hose and some simple degreaser, awesome. If not, just fill up a bucket with soapy hot water and bring it outside with your bike.) It's going to feel really great afterwards, trust me. There are few joys in life like a clean bike.

First, give the chain, cassette (that's the collection of gears at the rear wheel) and the crankset (those are the gears at the front), a good spritzing of degreaser. If you don't have degreaser, soapy water works just fine, too. Really soak that stuff. Let it sit for a minute or two, then grab your scrub brush and scrub it all down. What I usually do is hold the scrub brush on the back of the cassette while spinning the pedals backwards to run both the chain and the cassette through the brush. What you're trying to do here is loosen up and scrub off all of that old, dirty lube stuck to the chain. Once you've scrubbed, rinse it off. Everything should look all nice and shiny. If it isn't, soak the chain again with degreaser or soap and scrub again.

Next, lather up the rag with some hot soapy water, and wash the rest of your bike, starting from the top and working your way down. Pay special attention to the underside of your fork, and around the bottom bracket (that's where the cranks attach to the frame) as that's where dirt tends to accumulate. Give the wheels a good washing too, focusing on the brake tracks and, if you can reach, the contact surface of the brake pads. Clean brakes stop better! Wipe down the chain, this time with the rag, until it stops picking up dirty lube. Rinse it all off and then wipe down the chain one more time with a fresh rag until it's dry. Awesome, now you have a clean bike.

Once it's dry, give it a once-over. If you can, pump up the tires and inspect the sidewalls for any bulges or tears; take a look at the tread, taking note of any sizable gashes or holes left, and try to remove any noticeable pieces of embedded glass or other road debris. Spin the wheels to check to see if they're true and not wobbly. Go over the rest of the bike looking for any cracks or wear that might need a second look at the shop.

If the bike is rideable, give it a quick test ride. Maybe everything is fine! In which case, you likely don't need to see a shop at all! If anything feels off—the shifting isn't smooth, the brake levers have too much throw—pay attention to the sounds the bike is making, where it's coming from and whether it happens when you're pedaling or coasting. With those three pieces of information most mechanics can pinpoint the issue pretty easily.

Image: Steve Rousseau

If something is wrong and needs to be fixed, the best thing to do is to pick up the phone and give your local shop a call. Most shops right now are trying to navigate a tangle of local government orders and recommendations from public health experts, and you shouldn't (and in some cases can't!) just roll into the shop. Let the shop know what's up with your bike, and they'll let you know when you can come by to drop it off.

To give you an idea of how things ideally should work with your shop, Arleigh Greenwald, owner of Bike Shop Girl in Denver, has a process that's been approved by an ER Doctor, her wife. Everything in her shop is done by appointment only, either over the phone, email and text or through her website. A customer comes to her shop, locks up the bike they want worked on outside. Greenwald sanitizes the bike, services it, and when it's finished she invoices the customer via email, and locks it back up outside where the customer can come pick it up. It's obviously not as quick as just coming into the shop for some quick adjustments, but it's enough to keep Greenwald and her customers safe.

Not all shops work this way. King Kog's doors are still open, but customers are required to sanitize and are offered latex gloves, but expect to take some extra steps beyond just rolling into a shop with your bike and expecting it to be fixed immediately.

"We're going to try to continue business as usual as much as possible and schedule out our repairs," says Wolf. "It's just going to take a little bit longer and we just ask everybody to have some patience and you know, be mindful that the system is slow right now."

When you come to pick up your bike, ask your mechanic if they'd prefer to be tipped in cash or through an app like Venmo. Given that shop workers, like most service workers at the moment, aren't being given hazard pay, consider tipping at least 20 percent of your repair bill. For a standard tuneup that's about 20 bucks, but if you're getting more comprehensive work done—suspension serviced, new groupset installation—consider tipping a more.

It's OK to buy a new bike, but it's not ideal

Ideally, buying a brand new bike from a shop requires a lot of in-person interaction. A shop would get a sense of what your needs are, show you some options that might fit those needs, and let you test ride a few bikes to see what's right for you in terms of fit and feel. All of this of course runs in the face of basic social distancing practices.

That doesn't mean you should entirely put off buying a bike from a local shop. You can accomplish 90 percent of the bike-buying process with just a phone call. Heck, most bike shop staff can not only help you find the right bike—and believe me, they want to, there's nothing Wolf hates more than selling someone a bike they'll probably grow to hate—but they can figure out what size will fit you over the phone with nothing more than your inseam height.

If you're looking for something more than just getting around, and want to jump into more recreational riding with a road, gravel, or mountain bike, then you can still safely buy a new bike from a shop, but just expect that you're likely going to have to adjust the fit on the bike yourself.

Normally for a proper fit you would spend at least an hour pedaling on a stationary bike in front of an array of sensors measuring your hip angle, pedaling circle and all kinds of arcane geometric measures in real-time, as a bike fitter makes millimeter adjustments here and there for optimum comfort and power output. But I'm afraid that was in the before-times. It's simply just not safe to spend the required hour-plus in close contact with someone else, especially an overworked, stressed-out bike shop employee to get a fit.

The good news is that you can probably give yourself a "good enough" fit with one weird trick: properly adjusting your saddle height. I know this, because in the before-times I paid hundreds of dollars for a number of professional bike fits—thinking that I'd need everything on the bike swapped out to fit my body—and the biggest change the bike fitter made was raising my saddle a few centimeters. So trust me when I say that setting your saddle to the right height will likely get you 90 percent of the way there.

Setting your saddle height is very simple and easy. Get on your bike, and put one foot at the bottom of your pedal stroke, then shift your foot forward so just your heel is resting on the pedal. If you can't, then your saddle is too high and you need to lower it. If you can reach the pedal, but your leg is still bent, you should raise your saddle. What you're looking for here is a comfortably straight leg; you don't want your knee to be fully locked out, but you don't want it too bent either.

Once you have this rough approximation, pedal around and see how it feels. If you find yourself bouncing around, the saddle is too high. If pedaling feels "cramped," like your leg should be extending more, then raise it. Keep in mind that there is no "perfect" saddle height, find one that feels comfortable, and feel free to change it.

Ride safe

Now, with a working bike that fits reasonably well, the only thing you have left to do is to ride it. Thanks to decades of city planning that has almost-exclusively catered to the automobile, how easy it is to ride varies greatly depending on where you live. I am not going to lie to you and say that you can do things that will completely eliminate the threat of sharing the road with 3,000-pound boxes of metal and plastic. 2019 was the deadliest year for New York City cyclists since 2000. Even as someone who has been riding bikes in cities almost every day for the past 7 years, I still have close calls with drivers almost every time I ride.

That said, there are a number of things you can do to mitigate the risk of riding a bike. Because it's worth it! It's fun! It's a great way to stay fit, explore the place you live and ultimately points you towards being a more self-sufficient person.

The most important thing you can do to stay safe riding a bike is to expect that everyone and everything is going to kill you. I know it sounds extreme, but in practice this is mostly just assuming that every car and pedestrian is going to do something stupid. They're not going to stop at a stoplight. They're not going to signal their turns, They're going to drift into the bike lane. They're going to abruptly pull over in front of you, and just as you're about to pass them, the driver is going to swing their door open right into you. It does suck that it has to be this way, but expect the worst at all times and you'll, hopefully, never be surprised.

You can try to stick to roads with bike lanes, but don't assume that some paint makes you invincible. If you find yourself on a road without a bike lane, or have to exit one because there's something blocking it—more often than not a parked car—then ride in the middle of the road, known as "taking the lane," to prevent other cars from trying to squeeze around you. They might get angry and honk, but they can go pound sand. Better that they get mad than letting them take a chance with your life.

If you're still new to riding, and don't really know your way around, Google Maps has a bike routing option if you're just looking to get from point A to point B—it more or less sticks to bike lanes and avoids busy multi-lane roads.

A wheel-on trainer. Image: Steve Rousseau

If you're wondering where you should ride to get some exercise in, a good place to start is Strava, a social networking site for athletes. While yes you can use it to add your friends and upload any rides you've done, Strava's route-building tool is one of the best ways to find the good roads in your area. Pick a starting point, and place waypoints on roughly where you want to go, and Strava will use every ride that's even been done in that area to route you along the most popular roads for cyclists. Additionally, you can pull up a heatmap overlay to see this data for yourself, allowing you to see where people are riding, and where they aren't. You can also check with your local shop to see if they have any routes for you to check out.

You can use the Strava app for real-time route navigation, but ideally you want a GPS device, like a Garmin or Wahoo, to not only give you an easier way to look at directions, but also to record your ride and any data from a heart rate monitor you might be wearing or power meter on your bike.

Given that you probably have a lot more time in the day now to go ride, a fair question to ask is, well, How do you get faster? How much is too much? How do you ride bikes "right"?

And honestly, if you're just starting out, the simple answer is to just ride.

Start with an hour-long easy ride. Bump it up to 90 minutes once you feel like an hour isn't enough. Try to go hard up the hills every once in a while. You don't have to ride every day to get fit. If you wake up one day and you're not feeling too stoked on riding your bike that day, then don't ride. It might sound flippant, but honestly, jumping straight into a structured training routine is a great way to burn yourself out.

If you're curious, and want to learn more about the science of getting faster on the bike, I highly recommend picking up The Cyclist's Training Bible—a canonical text amongst amateur bike racers, and a really good starting point after you feel like you want to turn your bike rides into more focused, interval-based workouts.

The only specific advice I'd keep in mind in terms of training is that you don't want to increase the amount you're riding from week to week, known as volume, by more than 20 percent. If you're riding 5-6 hours a week, then the following week you don't want to ride more than 6-8 hours, then 7-10, 8-12 and so on. You're not going to physically injure yourself—the great thing about riding bikes is that they're fairly low-impact—but if you try to ride more than your body is used to, you run the risk of overtraining. You'll feel tired and hungry all the time, and you'll start to hate your bike. Which, especially now, is not something we want to happen.

Also, if you plan on riding a lot, invest in a few pairs of cycling bibs. A chamois, the padding in the crotch that makes you feel like you're wearing a diaper, is much more effective at making things more comfortable compared to more padding on your saddle. (The difference is that a chamois moves with your body, while a saddle does not). Also, the suspender-like straps on a pair of bibs keeps the shorts from falling down, and thus the chamois, in place. Do not get a pair of cycling shorts without the straps. They are not good. And if you're worried about looking like a weirdo in lycra, you can just wear them under normal shorts or pants, it's fine!

Social distancing on the bike

One thing to keep in mind through all of this is that even though you're on a bike, you should still follow social distancing measures. Don't go on group rides with friends. Try to stay six-feet away from everyone at all times. Regularly sanitize all the touch points on your bike—saddle, handlebars, shifters, pedals.

Another aspect of social distancing on the bike is learning to become a little more self-reliant in terms of taking care of your bike. As we mentioned earlier, bike shops are overwhelmed at the moment with people either trying to buy new bikes or get old ones fixed. Learning some basic bike maintenance—fixing a flat, lubing your chain, adjusting your shifting—will help free up shops to handle jobs that actually require their tools and expertise. All you really need to get started is a basic cycling multi-tool, an adjustable wrench, some tire levers, a floor pump, and YouTube. (Park Tool has some really great basic maintenance tutorials that I still regularly reference when I'm working on my bikes.)

In addition to not overloading your local bike shop, you also want to consider not overloading your local hospital either. Ride with an extra air of caution, knowing that getting into a crash will only add to a healthcare system that is already running past maximum capacity. Take it easy down fast descents. If you're going to ride hard, do it on roads that you know are safe to do so, like climbs and other long, uninterrupted sections of road with wide shoulders. If you're hitting the trails on a mountain bike, think about skipping technical features you haven't cleared yet. And yes: please wear a helmet whenever you're riding and use lights when it's dark outside. Also consider getting a bell for your bike. It'll make navigating, and maintaining social distance so much easier on crowded streets—people respond better to a bell than you constantly saying "on your left."

If you don't want to take the risk, there's always the option of riding inside—and if you already have a bike you don't need to drop thousands of dollars on a Peloton to do so. A wheel-on trainer will work with virtually any bike, and you can get a used one online for less than $100. Strap on a $40 speed sensor to your bike, plug in an ANT+ dongle into your computer and now you have a setup that can run virtual cycling game Zwift.

If you do plan to stick to riding inside, there are two things to keep in mind. First, invest in a good fan. When you're riding outside, the air naturally cools you more than you think. Without a fan you're going to struggle to ride more than 20 minutes without overheating. Second, even with a good fan you're still going to absolutely drip sweat, so get a towel and drape it over your handlebars—it's incredible just how good your sweat is at corroding your bike.

Despite everything going on right now, it's actually a really great time to get into riding bikes. You can try to set the fastest time up your local hill. You can learn how to fix things. You can strap a bunch of bags on your bike, stuff them with gear and snacks and go camping. You can just ride to your local park and hang out on a bench. There's just an incredibly wide spectrum of ways to ride, skills to learn and things to just spend hours nerding out on.

How to Get (Back) Into Biking During the Pandemic syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

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shawnmendesdream · 7 years

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Actor

Request: Hi :) I freaking adore your Fanfictions 😍😍 It would be amazing if wrote one where Y/N is a famous actress who has to do a film with a super hot actor... Of course her boyfriend Shawn gets jealous 😉💁🏼 He visits her at set and stuff like this and gets very pissed off seeing her with him. It all ends with a passionate making out. Love you 😘💁🏼

A/N: This is a LONG ONE BEWARE (that sounds wrong I’m sorry)

Masterlist

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- - - -

“I’ll be on set in about 10 minutes.” You say on the phone to your manager who’s waiting for you. “Yes! I’ll be there! Don’t worry, okay?” She’s extremely impatient and worried, which you understand is a good thing, as she only wants the best for you and to keep you on track. “Bye… yeah I get it. Okay bye.”

“Who was that?” Shawn asks you in his morning voice as he rolls over in bed to face you. God, he looks so good in the morning.

“Umm… my manager.” You reply slowly, with your teeth gritted as you know how Shawn will react, as he heard part of the conversation, and what he’ll say. However, he surprises you, as normally he would force you out of bed to do your job and encourage you, but today it seems he doesn’t want you to leave the underneath of the warm, comfortable duvet

“It’s alright, Y/N. You said you’ll be there in 10, therefore you have 10 minutes to stay here close to me.” Shawn runs his hand up and down your arm with a smirk on his face, and pulls you in tighter into his homely embrace. He laughs to himself and tries to get you to laugh as well, but you find this situation a lot more confusing than humorous.

As he plays with your hair, braiding it which also makes you wonder how he learnt how to do that, you say, “What’s up with you today? Are you just overtired?” You roll over on top of him and look down into his eyes, attempting to suss him out. He stares at you like he’s trying to commence a staring competition without telling you and his smirk gradually turns into a large cheesy grin; as you collapse onto his bare chest laughing when you can’t take each other seriously.

“I’m not overtired no; I just want you here with me today. Theo can go a day without you.” Shawn gazes at you intriguingly and tucks your hair behind your ear.

It suddenly clicks – he’s jealous.

“Well I’m sorry, Shawn, but I now have…” You look at the clock on your bedside table which makes you shocked enough to sit upright, “4 minutes to get to set.”

You jump right out of bed and don’t care that you’re literally stark naked. He’s seen it all before, and Shawn can enjoy it a bit more before you leave. You turn around to look at him again quickly before you leave the door to your bedroom and go round the corner. He smirks again as he takes everything in and looks longingly at you. “See ya, Mendes.”

About 10 minutes later you leave your house, literally sweating as you had to move so fast to get ready. The Uber you ordered comes up the road towards you, and you hurriedly climb in to try and avoid being any later than you already are. In the car you turn on your phone again and see 14 texts from your manager, and as you scroll through them you can see that they get progressively angrier. Tapping vigorously on the screen, you type an apology message back to your manager, as this time you will definitely be there in 10 minutes.

Eventually, the Uber driver pulls up outside the film studio whilst you briskly undo your seatbelt and pick up your black bag from the seat next to you. “Thank you so much!” You tell them, as you plaster a large forced smile on your face and wave them away.

There are people running around everywhere inside the film studio, it’s so hectic and busy that if you didn’t carefully look at everyone around you, you’d surely get pushed over. The first person you see is your manager in the distance. She frantically waves her arms around to grab your attention, and then beckons you over in her direction where you normally get your hair and makeup done.

“Y/N! What happened this morning?!” She asks, and you just shrug your shoulders to her annoyance. “It was Shawn wasn’t it.” You look down at the ground sheepishly, trying to hide your face as it turns red, but she leans in closer to you and you know that she knows. “I wasn’t born yesterday, Y/N.” She laughs as she speaks and you walk over, still looking at the ground, towards the hair and makeup table where you’ll be prepared for your scene.

“Yes it was Shawn. He’s acting kind of strange right now.” You explain to her, flicking your hair off of your shoulders. You don’t want to know why Shawn is acting strange right now, but you know you do. He has absolutely nothing to be worried about after all. You’re just acting, and this is your job that you’re being paid for. But it really doesn’t help that Theo is incredibly hot though, and any girl who works with him probably falls in love with him. Not you though.

You listen to your favourite songs whilst your makeup artist and hairstylist simultaneously prepare you. Shawn’s newest single comes on your playlist and you begin singing along loudly to it, not caring what everyone else in the room thinks. Everyone knows that you are basically your boyfriend’s biggest fan, and he finds it hilarious but also the sweetest thing ever.

Eventually they finish working on you, and you get up swiftly and walk to where you’re needed. Theo is there waiting for you, along with the massive camera crew and team working on the film.

“Hey! How are you?” He says with a large charming smile as he adjusts the collar of his leather jacket.

“I’m good thank you, are you ready to shoot this scene?” You ask him nervously, as you both know what day today is - the day of the kissing scene. You’ve been worried about this for a while and not because of yourself. You know that you can do this but you’re apprehensive about Shawn’s reaction to it, because he obviously trusts you, but it’s weird kissing someone who isn’t your boyfriend.

He smiles at you, “Y/N, I know what you’re thinking. Don’t worry, it will all be fine.”

“I’m glad you understand why I’m slightly concerned.” You respond, anxiously playing with the hem of your shirt and avoiding eye contact.

The director walks behind the camera and calls out, “Right, positions everyone!” You walk over to the bench and feel the breeze of the fan blowing on your face that’s pretending to be wind. “3, 2, 1, Action!”

Theo puts his hand in yours and rubs his thumb over your knuckles gently. “I don’t want anyone else but you.” He gazes into your eyes and you know what’s coming, as he leans in to kiss you. He puts his other hand on your face and caresses you, and then your lips come together. It feels so real, and that’s the point of this. The chemistry between you both has to be believable: believable enough so that you even believe it when you’re on set.

“And… cut! That was great, well done guys.” The director says clapping.

“You were so good.” Theo tells you, looking quite impressed. He gets up and looks at the time on his watch, “It’s nearly time for our lunch break. Do you want to go and grab a bite to eat together?” He asks you.

Just as you were about to reply, you see out of the corner of your eye a familiar figure standing in the distance in the shadow of the lights on the set. “I’m sorry, one second.” You respond, looking curiously over in the direction of the figure and slowly traipse over there. As you go into the shadows too, you can make out who it is.

Shawn rolls up the sleeves of his denim jacket before he spots you coming over to him, “Hey, Y/N.” He moves closer to you too, and then when you’re in reach he pulls you in tightly into his warm and homely arms. “I missed you too much already, I had to come and see you.”

“Please tell me you didn’t just see all of that.” You grit your teeth as you wait for his reply, because that would be the worst thing possible that a jealous Shawn could see.

“I wish I could lie to you, darling, but yes I did see you kiss someone else other than me.” He pouts and makes puppy dog eyes that make you feel guilty, even though it’s just your job. “I’m going to have to have a word with Theo over there.”

You honestly cannot tell if he’s joking or not, because you know he’s making jokes, but you also know deep down he’s doing that to try and hide his jealousy that’s overwhelming him. “You don’t need to do that, Shawn… come onnnn,” You say laughing and holding his arm, acting clingy now, “I love you… a lot. Thank you for putting up with me and all this.” You say gesturing to all of the props and scenery around you.

Shawn smirks and says, “I love you too… a lot. Are you done here for today? Can we go home now?” He sounds like an impatient child who’s waiting to go home from the supermarket, and whining when he doesn’t get the new toy that he wants. He wraps his arm around your shoulders and strokes your shoulder underneath your shirt.

“Not quite yet.” You tell him.

Shawn looks at you longingly, “Well is there somewhere we can go and be alone?”

You look at him feeling quite shocked, “What are you implying, Mendes?” Your mouth hangs wide open, exaggerating how stunned you are. “I’m working!”

“Never mind, you don’t need to tell me where. Follow me.” He grabs your hand without giving you another choice and leads you away. You know this set now like the back of your hand, but you are extremely curious as to where he’s going. Shawn has only been here twice before, so how does he know his way?

“In here? Really?” Blushing and chuckling, Shawn takes you into the prop closet and closes the door. It’s very dark in there, and you’re glad because he can’t see your rosy cheeks. He always makes you like this and you hate it, but he adores how your love for him makes you do this. Whenever he blushes too, you always revel in the feeling as it shows you that your feelings are shared.

You love how Shawn makes you act rebellious, even though he doesn’t seem it in his nature. He gets swept away and caught in the moment sometimes, and it makes you feel so free and exhilarated. He starts by delicately moving your hair off of the side of your neck, and he begins to kiss it lovingly. You don’t feel ready for this, and you feel guilty because you’re at work, but in this moment you have no cares.

He works his way up your neck, reaches your jawline, and then kisses your lips tenderly. Shawn rubs his hands up your back, which sends shivers up your spine and causes the butterflies in your stomach to go crazy. Moments like these make you realise that Shawn is the only one for you, and kisses like the one you shared with Theo earlier mean less than nothing. Shawn is all you want; Shawn is all you need.

A/N: You can send me requests here.

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mechagalaxy · 5 years

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Sten Hugo Hiller - 627184: Mecha Combat #960 -April 3346 Mountain of Fire

(By Sten Hugo Hiller - 627184) Mountain Climbing Mecha Combat #960

Brought to you by ANN

Highlighting the April 3346 Mountain of Fire

From time to time the gaming authorities hold an event where one (or more) weapon types dish out additional damage. This time they decided to boost flamers.

No problem here, but if they had wanted to make it interesting, boosting Lasers and Missiles could have added a twist as Commanders would have to choose between heavy damage from Lasers/Missiles or high speed from Icers/Shellers and especially Flamers.

One have to admit I was more than a bit addled from the iMech event and the resulting party. Not a good time to get to war, but my mental faculties were so disconnected that they never noticed. My crew were summoned, and we stumbled toward the arena where I somehow managed to sign us in. The mountain were full, but there was some room out on the plains for us to set up a camp. As my aching head and queasy stomach absolutely not was up to loud sound and hard maneuvers I told my crew to relax for a bit while I got some much needed sleep.

Waking up refreshed, I noticed the scramble was approaching. My formation was of course still out on the plains, and I started scanning the opponents up on the mountain.

Then I did a double take. The power levels were scary high, how could that be? A closer examination showed we had actually entered K2, where the regular contestants had licences 35 to 140 higher than mine. The smart thing to do would probably be to just sit quietly and leave without any lumps (or Medals), but I had already gotten a string of 3 medals, and a fourth would grant me a special gift of 30 Niodes.

Question was if any of those already on the foothills could be beaten.

I set my sights on Joseph White from the Spirit of Bunny. As he had a licence 80 + higher than me and out massed me by nearly 600 tons, the fact that we beat him came as a big shock. But as we had succeeded in one try, why not try once more? Andy Morris from The Brotherhood BlackWatch was the next intended victim. Despite a 50+ licence advantage, his formation was actually slightly lighter than mine. After a couple failures my forces displaced him, and we were on the lowest slope. As there is no real difference between placing 2nd and 5th (or 3rd/4th for that matter) when it comes to prizes, it was now a question of whether: a) someone on the foothills would knock me out. b) none below were awake, so I would get a Silver c) I could manage to roll on my success and take the top.

Option c) seemed really good to me, and all we had to do was blow Mike Wach from the Brotherhood of Arcane Dragons up.

That his formation outmassed mine by almost 900 tons was a minor problem. The fact that his licence was 96 higher than mine was much worse. That ment his top tier Mechs would have 32 weapons more each than my similar models, and would be carrying a third more armor to boot. But what was the worst that could happen? That he beat us off?

Which he did by laughable ease. My whole formation managed to get four shots off (two missed) before his formation turned us into scrap. That was an untolerable insult. I gathered my supers and started a methodic series of attacks from various angles.

Thirty-nine failures later the light flashed and it was over. But at least we had managed to eliminate one or more of his Mechs eight times, and had actually eliminated his first line once.

In addition, the flailing gun cameras on my Mechs as they were blown to pieces had caught enough glimpses from the other tops that I could determine that the winners this time had been:

Div 1 310+ (25 Commanders): Dexter Berry, Warlock (1m,50s) 2: Fabio Favaro 3: Bernard Johnson 4: Terry Cole 5: Ben Rail 6: Jaime Beltran 7: Jeff Haas 8: Gary Muenzel 9: David Buchanan 10: Shawn Wretham Div 2 -309 (21 Commanders): Mike Wach, B.o.A.D. (22h,25m) Div 3 -206 (17 Commanders): George Warren, Northwind Dragons (23h,4m) Div 4 -162 (22 Commanders): Jelloshots Suckeddown, Northwind Dragons (8m,43s) Div 5 -127 (29 Commanders): Spike Shepard, T.B. BlackWatch (2h,14m) Div 6 -97 (19 Commanders): Fred Smith, Black Star Bandits (15h,45m) Div 7 -77 (35 Commanders): notwillard, Ronins (8m,19s) Div 8 -57 (20 Commanders): Cora Soco Hiller, today and tomorrow (27m,1s) Div 9 -41 (14 Commanders): Don Rafael, *R.V.* (13h,52m) Div 10 -28 (21 Commanders): Nick Fuller (14h,29m) Div 11 -17 (17 Commanders): Iain Bryce *R.V. 2.0* (5h,52m)

Total Contestants: 240 Total medals claimed: 164 (of 165 possible)

Compared to the iMountain event we just had, the number of fighting formations was increased by fourty-seven. But the normal imbalance between the divisions was still present, albeit to a lesser degree, and one of the Bronzes from K9 ended unclaimed and were returned for resmelting.

The last half-hour saw four Golds changing hands at least once. The other seven Golds were all held for at least two hours. Souds like a somewhat laid-back event, but perhaps it was just the winners being superstrong? To try and figure it out we take a look at the number of medals held for more than 30 minutes in this event:

.............Silvers......Bronzes Div 1 ....0 of 4.......10 of 10 Div 2 ....3 of 4.........9 of 10 Div 3 ....4 of 4.......10 of 10 Div 4 ....3 of 4.......10 of 10 Div 5 ....4 of 4.........9 of 10 Div 6 ....4 of 4.........9 of 10 Div 7 ....3 of 4.........9 of 10 Div 8 ....2 of 4.........6 of 10 Div 9 ....3 of 4.........6 of 9 Div 10 ..4 of 4.......10 of 10 Div 11 ..4 of 4.......10 of 10

Pretty laid back indeed. Ten of forty-four Silvers and eleven of hundred-and-nine Bronzes got new holders. Three tops without a single successful medal attack. The most active top was K8 where seven Medals got new holders, and the most intense fighting was on Mount Olympus where all the noble medals was in play.

The only clan to bring home multiple Golds this time was the Northwind Dragons. They triumphed on both K3 and K4. None of the iMech winners got a follow-up Gold. Unaligned Nick Fuller took his so far 10th Gold on K10: Will some needy Commander get him signed up in time for the war?

Upcoming event: King Chrono

Here we have an unlimited event again. This time it is not a sudden death ending. The top prizes goes to those who have accumulated the highest score by being high on the list for most of the score rounds. So what are you waiting for? Sign up NOW and start accumulating Points.

Event ends April 19 between 1300 and 1330 New York Time

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creativeprompts · 7 years

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14 Books Every Writer Needs on Their Shelf

Here is a list of fourteen books on writing every writer needs on their shelf.

I was going to say you should have. But the only thing I would “should” you about is not a book, but a verb. You should write.

(And you should have a cat, or two. I have six, and seven litter boxes.)

These books are the actual books I have on my shelf. I didn’t go buy new books to make myself look smart.

Some of these books could be used as a reference to solve a specific problem, like “Form the possessive singular of nouns with ‘s.” That answer is on page one of The Elements of Style.

Or maybe you have a dragon called Resistance every time you try and sit down to write and you need to read The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. Or maybe you need to figure out how to make the reader care about your villain, and you need to read Save The Cat by Blake Snyder.

If you are a writer, you write. Right?

Writers should be writing, but sometimes you need to read and learn from other writers.

14 Books Every Writer Needs on Their Shelf

There are all kinds of books on writing out there, each covering some different aspect of the craft. I’ve listed fourteen of my favorites below. I’ve categorized them based on which aspect of writing they deal with so that you can easily find the ones that will be helpful to you.

Here are fourteen books every writer needs on their shelf:

1. For Fiction

The Modern Library’s Writers Workshop: A Guide to the Craft of Fiction by Stephen Koch

Joe Bunting suggested I read this book. A good suggestion, Joe. The book is full of wisdom from Koch as he shares insight and techniques from several great writers. Stephen Koch used to chair Columbia University’s graduate creative writing program.

(What a funny way to say someone was in charge of something. I am the chair of my cats.)

Art is long and life is short. Except for the miraculous times when it doesn’t, everything you write will take longer than you think it should. —Stephen Koch

2. For Formatting

The Chicago Manual of Style: The Essential Guide for Writers, Editors, and Publishers from the University of Chicago Press

All the rules you will ever need if you are a writer, editor, or publisher. And in this world of self-publishing, you could be all three.

This book’s shipping weight is 3.2 pounds. I can’t find my scale to weigh my copy. If this book were a steak you wouldn’t be able to eat it in one sitting.

In the absence of electronic files, the author should provide the publisher with two identical paper copies of the manuscript; one may be a photocopy. —The University of Chicago Press

3. For Fun

Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss

Words are fun. Life is fun. This book reminds me language is beautiful and words are fun. They rhyme, they dance, and Mr. Brown is out of town.

Leave room in your day for laughter and play.

PAT CAT Pat sat on cat. PAT BAT Pat sat on bat.

—Dr. Seuss

4. For Goal Setting

The Freedom Journal by John Lee Dumas

This will give you a detailed plan to get your book finished. It is one thing to say, “My book will be written at the end of the summer.” But what are you going to do every day to get it finished? Dumas gives you daily action steps to actually finish.

Actually is such a great word. Goals and actually, they need to go together. The word “goal” is on page 564 in my dictionary, and “actually” is on page 14.

Now, I actually need to use this book, or I will never get my book finished.

“If you don’t put time constraints on your goal, the time to accomplish it will expand indefinitely. —John Lee Dumas

5. For Grammar

The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White

A small little book with rules to help writers with their craft. I carry this book in my messenger bag (I don’t carry a purse) to read while I am waiting in line to buy cat litter, or when I am waiting at the veterinarian’s office. It’s a quick read to help you write better.

Or is that write well?

I suggest you read the whole book and not just use it for rule reference.

“Omit needless words. —William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White

6. For Memoir

The Memoir Project by Marion Roach Smith

If you want to write about your life, read this book. Hmmm, now I am sounding bossy. I have read this book three times, not because I didn’t understand it the first time, but because it is so full of good information and fun stories. I read it for pleasure and to learn.

We all have stories to tell. This book will help you write your story so someone will want to read it.

In any decent game of chance, you must be present to win. That’s also true with writing what you know, where paying attention is the skill you need to succeed. —Marion Roach Smith

7. For Resistance

The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield

Here is one battle writers need to win: the inner creative battle. The War of Art will give you the weapons to fight and win the battle to create. Don’t waste your life doubting your ability.

If you only have one book on your bookshelf, make it this one. Read the rest of the books at the library and buy this one.

The danger is greatest when the finish line is in sight. At this point, Resistance knows we’re about to beat it. It hits the panic button. It marshals one last assault and slams us with everything it’s got. —Steven Pressfield

8. For Screenwriting

Save The Cat by Blake Snyder

This book is about screenwriting. However, no matter what you write, you have to be able to tell me what it is about. This book helps you answer two essential story questions.

First, what is the logline for your story?

Second, why do you need to save the cat?

If you can’t tell me about it in one quick line, well, buddy I’m on to something else. Until you have your pitch, and it grabs me, don’t bother with the story. —Blake Snyder

9. For Self-Doubt

You Are a Badass: How To Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero

This book talks truth with a few cuss words. I almost didn’t buy the book because Sincero said “badass” in the title. However, being a badass means loving yourself and not listening to lies other people tell you about who you are.

Seriously, don’t doubt your greatness. Live an awesome life.

You are perfect. To think anything less is as pointless as a river thinking that it’s got too many curves or that it moves too slowly or that its rapids are too rapid. ―Jen Sincero

10. For Self-Publishing

APE: How to Publish a Book by Guy Kawaski and Shawn Welch

You don’t need permission from anyone to self-publish a book. However, you do need to know how. This book is a complete guide to self-publishing. I have not only read the book, but studied it. We can have total control over what our books look like.

Whitman, for example, self-published (and typeset!) Leaves of Grass. Self-publishing could change from stigma to bragging point—maybe we could change the term to “artisanal publishing” and foster the image of authors lovingly crafting their books with total control over the process. —Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch

11. For Self-Editing

The Story Grid: What Good Editors Know by Shawn Coyne

When you write, it is important to be able to self-edit. Shawn Coyne, an editor for over twenty-five years, tells you everything he knows in this book and on his podcast, The Story Grid Podcast.

Without an Inciting Incident, nothing meaningful can happen. And when nothing meaningful happens, it’s not a story. —Shawn Coyne

“When nothing meaningful happens, it’s not a story. —Shawn Coyne

12. For Story

Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee

Robert McKee’s book Story is about the principles of screenwriting; however, he explains clearly what makes a good story.

Some people have a long bucket list. The only thing on my bucket list, besides driving to Canada to see my mom, is to attend one of Robert McKee’s Story seminars.

A story is a series of acts that build to a last act climax or story climax which brings about absolute and irreversible change. —Robert McKee

13. For Submitting

The First Five Pages: A Writer’s Guide to Staying Out of The Rejection Pile by Noah Lukeman

Lukeman gives very specific information about story submission, from point size to margin width. Don’t give an editor an excuse not to read your story because you didn’t know how to properly submit.

“Your creativity should be expressed through your writing, not your font. —Noah Lukeman

14. For Words

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language edited by William Morris

Words are beautiful, and you can discover their origin and meaning. I know you can find definitions online; however, on a screen you cannot see the words that come before and after the one you are looking up. A dictionary is like a family reunion: the words are all related.

By knowledgeable use of the dictionary we should learn where a word has come from, precisely what its various shades of meaning are today, and its social status. —William Morris

Stop Reading and Write

Reading books on writing can help you write. But no matter how many books you have on your shelf, the only way to get better at writing is to write.

Write is a verb. Go do it.

What book or books would you add to my list? Let me know in the comments section. I would love to know what books you recommend.

PRACTICE

Write for fifteen minutes about a writer who keeps buying books on writing and never writes. Or just share what book you think every writer must have. I gave a list of fourteen books. If you could have only one book on writing, which one would you pick? No, wait, your top three. Or your top fourteen. It wouldn’t be fair if I got to list fourteen and I only let you list one. Now would it?

Source: The Write Practice

#writing resource #books writers should have

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