only the ocean and me !

[meetmelmel]

hctheaded·: 

alex eyes them hesitantly, opening his mouth to answer their question when they’re quick to keep speaking…and don’t stop for another few minutes, and once they finally do, he raises a brow and waits for a second to see if they’ll do it again before actually speaking up this time. “…right…sounds to me like you might need something strong for…all of that.” he gestures vaguely at the…everything about them, but he wouldn’t lie, there was something about the other that also reminded him a little bit of riley so he decided to play nice this time, or, well…his version of nice. “…i’ll see what she’s having and send her another and say it’s on you.” he decides, gesturing to the girl they had mentioned with a tilt of his head. “that way she’ll come to you and i’ll make something to help with…the rest of that.” he makes a face as he says the last bit but it’s not as biting as it usually is.

♡

“Strong? I don’t know, I don’t drink a lot...” Melody was afraid if they had too much, they’d make a fool of themself. An even bigger fool than usual. They’d rather take it slow, but he also might’ve been right. They needed to get completely out of their head. “You would?” Their eyes lit up, stealing a glance in her direction before looking back at him. “That would be so cool! Oh, gosh, do you think she’ll actually come over here? And talk to me?” That would be the point, right? But the idea of being approached in thanks, they probably wouldn’t even be able to form words if they didn’t relax at least a little. That would be completely embarrassing . Even more so with a witness. “Gosh. Okay. On second thought, maybe I do need something strong.”

[draumas]

KIERSEY CLEMONS 2022, ph. Cass Bird for Madewell

[meetmelmel]

No matter how many times they went to bars --- which was not many --- it never seemed to get any easier. It was just not their scene. Hand shooting into the air, as if they were a child in the back of class, Melody waved the bartender down. “Can I ask what you recommend? I don’t drink very often, but I want something that will make me loosen up enough to ask the girl in the red over there for her number, or at the very least say hello without forgetting my name and, like, I don’t know, everything about me the moment I open my mouth.”

@hctheaded​

[coralinej]

open starter location: colinsport mall

Coraline figured a change of scenery was good for her. She didn’t know why changing her scene from Coolsville to New Salem sounded like a brilliant idea, but hey, brilliant ideas only came to her in moments of extreme pressure. Right now, there was no pressure though. Sure, she was still trying to get herself together after her last Bedlam sighting, but she was determined to do something normal for once in her life. So shopping was something. This mall was a little…lame, but hey, there had to be some gems around there somewhere. As she walked through the mall she sighed, thinking that she spotted someone she knew, but really wasn’t too sure. Instead she just kept walking, trying to tell herself that it was nothing, but as she looked again and thought she saw the familiar jet black hair and sinister smile she turned quickly and ran right into someone. “Shit! I’m sorry I thought I saw….I don’t even know anymore.”

[meetmelmel]

It was weird to be here. It was weird to be anywhere but Echo Creek, really, and not feel like they were going to be scolded like a child for it. There was so much to explore in the nearby cities, and Melody wanted to see it all. They were overwhelmed in the best of ways with several bags hanging off of their left arm, chowing down on a cinnamon sugar pretzel in their right, not even noticing Coraline until she was walking directly into them. “It’s okay!” They were quick to assure her. They didn’t have a mean bone in their body, but they certainly couldn’t be mean to a pretty girl. “I don’t mind at all. I mean, not that I’m like... some weirdo that likes getting ran into or anything!” Now they were laughing nervously. “I just... gosh, hi, hello, don’t even worry about it.”

[tweedlety]

OPEN for anyone WHERE: wonderland

New Year’s had come and gone in a blur. Tyler had gone a bit too hard partying, as expected; in his haste to escape any sort of drama or risk dwelling in one too many sickening sugary thoughts, he turned to what he knew better. He got hammered. He couldn’t even remember who had been his new year’s kiss – though he was positive he’d had one, the only lingering memory from that night being of sneaking away from someone’s bed before the sun rose.

It didn’t matter, anyway. He wasn’t a superstitious man and he never cared for these silly traditions. He only cared for the fact that everyone else was also getting some that night, so he might as well join the fun. Now, the hangover was heavy on his shoulders, a weight he carried even a few days later as a distant ache on his left temple. It didn’t stop him from taking his shifts dancing at the club, and it certainly didn’t stop him from joining patrons at the bar afterwards, eyeliner smudged under his eyelashes and nursing a new drink in hand.

“Enjoyed the show?” He teased whatever poor soul had made the mistake of crossing eyes with him, smirk lazy on his lips. “I’ll pose for a photo, it’ll last longer.”

[meetmelmel]

It wasn’t their usual scene. Melody didn’t drink much --- as if they needed alcohol to make them awkward and uncomfortable in social situations. Truth be told, they were just feeling a little bored and lonely. With the passing of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years, it seemed like life was starting to feel normal again, and they were going to use that as an excuse to celebrate. They didn’t care much for the holidays, they didn’t really have family to celebrate them with, but there was still a buzz in the air that had came and gone, and it seemed to have taken all of Melody’s friends with it seeing as she hadn’t seen them since.

At least one of them was standing right in front of them. “I did, actually,” they grinned, lowering their own drink from their lips. They’d only taken two sips from the glass, and they’d been sitting there for... an hour, maybe an hour and a half. They hadn’t came to Wonderland for the drinks or the entertainment, truthfully, they’d only came in hopes a little socialization would get them out of the little funk they were starting to dig themselves into. But it would be weird to sit at the bar and not drink. So here they were.

“If you’re offering to be my muse, you could at least make it exciting.”

[meetmelmel]

“Heyyy, you!” Finger guns? Really, Melody, finger guns? They wanted to kick themselves for not waving like a normal person and instead doing finger guns as a greeting when they spotted Eric standing nearby, but it wouldn’t be a party if they weren’t being unnecessarily awkward. “Fancy seeing you here!” They couldn’t shake this fear that he knew more than he’d led on, or that he’d at least figured out they were lying about the whale they claimed washed up on the beach at the bonfire to cover for the weird thing they’d brought up being them sprouting a tail in the ocean. “You, uh, you ever find out anything about that whale? Awful situation, really, just... so sad...”

@ericccoulter​

[meetmelmel]

“Do I look silly? I feel like everyone’s gonna laugh at me.” Melody had tried their best to put together something elegant and stylish for the party, but they couldn’t shake the worry that there was something that would make them stick out like a sore thumb. Events like these had never gone their way. They would always say or do something stupid, and no matter how small it may seem, it was embarrassing. They’d only just arrived and they swore they could feel eyes on the back of their head. “Is that girl over there staring at me? Am I sparkling too much? Do you think she thinks I’m cute or, like, a train wreck?”

@ocnsdaughter

[meetmelmel]

b-utonium·: 

Coulter Beach was one of the prettier coastlines Bex had seen since finally venturing outside of Townsville, and she couldn’t help but keep coming back to it. The water, the air, the sand, everything was just so clean and felt so safe. Almost magical, in a way. She wanted to bring her sisters here, one of these days, had half a mind to share in the beauty, maybe even make a day out of it with all of them and their father. She was even welcomed by one of the beachgoers this afternoon, them turning and looking over at her with a wide, dazzling smile. “ Well hey yourself, ” she greeted in return, smiling her famous half-smile. She’d never ignore a pretty girl. “ Nothin’ but the sand, marchin’ band. ” Oh, that was stupid stupid. But it was just the most natural thing that fell out of her mouth. Quickly, they recovered, nodding to the other’s hand and the pretty shell they’d picked up. “ What’cha got there ? ” they asked as they continued to approach, the epitome of casual and cool.

♡

Melody laughed, admittedly a little harder than they should have. The rhyme caught them off guard, and it didn’t help that it came from the mouth of someone so... attractive. For a moment after the giggling died out they sat silently, unsure how to respond, seemingly forgetting how to make words until they were finally able to pull themself back to earth and function again. “What do I what? The--... oh, the shells? Just some seashells,” they informed Bex, pushing the bag closer to them. “Do you wanna see? You can see! They’re not perfect, but it took me all day to find ‘em all. They’ll fit quite nicely with my collection.”

[meetmelmel]

ericccoulter·: 

Eric let out a laugh at their exclamation. “Melody, what a pretty name.” They seemed to freeze a bit at the mention of the bonfire, though he had no idea why. Had he said something wrong? “No, nothing weird, why? I was kind of helping work the event, since my family owns this beach,” he admitted, gesturing to the sand before them, “and I’ve hosted beach parties before. Is there something I should’ve known about? Not that it really matters now that the party is over and I can’t really do much about it anyway.”

♡

Melody would’ve thanked him, but they were too busy trying to figure out how to get their foot out of their mouth. Why had they asked if he’d seen anything weird? They should not have asked if he’d seen anything weird. “Your family owns the... wow, that’s crazy, you can own a beach?” They shook their head, blurting out he first thing they could think of. “Nothing, no, nothing important, I just... heard some kids talking about a whale washed up on shore.” They were a horrible liar. Hopefully he wouldn’t notice. “But they could’ve been playing around, you know. Weird thing to play around about isn’t it? Ah, kids these days, being weird like that.”

[peachambrosia]

CLOSED STARTER FOR @meetmelmel & WILLOW VANDERQUACK

With this being the first year that Willow could celebrate the holidays of any kind, she was ready to go all-out for it. All of the baked goods she’d been making over the course of the last few weeks were themed to the wintertime, her last big essay for school before the break was all about the history of Christmas, and all of the music she’d been listening to had been festive. She did much of it on her own time and personally, as she didn’t want to upset the eldest of her house, but the cold weather and the frost that she often woke up to on her windows in the mornings only added to her excitement. All she needed now was a sweater. It had to be like the movies - gaudy, gauche, absolutely decked out, laughably ugly but with just the right amount of charm. She knew that some store sold pre-made ones, but the idea of making one herself just filled her with joy. So, her day thus far had been spent buying supplies for her crafty adventure, and now all she needed was an actual sweater. The blonde was perusing the racks of one of the local thrift stores when she came upon it. What she thought was just the most perfect sweater for her idea. Dark green and fluffy, long sleeves, a blank canvas for her to really jazz up. Looking over the rack, she spotted someone, someone a little familiar to her, one who was dressed very pretty and looked like they had good opinions on things like this. “ Hey. ” It was sweet, curious. “ Does this color say ‘holiday time’ to you ? ” She held up the sweater on the hanger for them to see. “ I’m going to make it an ugly sweater, but I don’t know if this is just cute and I like it, or if I could pull off a theme with it. ” Like it was dire and imperative, like they were the only one who could help her. And while not exactly life-or-death, the familiar stranger was someone she was looking for.

[meetmelmel]

The holidays were never a big deal for Melody; they didn’t have many friends, no family, no parties to go to. The employees back at home would decorate and they’d participate because it was fun, but that was all it was. Not meaningful, not their favorite time of the year. Icing sugar cookies and hanging ornaments on the tree was about the extent of their Christmas spirit. But they did love the hustle and bustle around town, the change in music playing in the stores, and the way everyone seemed to be... happier, albeit stressed and rushed.

They were in search of a good gift for one of the cooks; something special and unique that he couldn’t find on a regular old store shelf. Humming Jingle Bells under their breath, it took half a second to register the sweet voice nearby. “Wha-- who---? Me?” Mel glanced around to ensure Willow was actually talking to them before a bright smile lit up their face, thrilled to be asked for input, even if it was on a subject they knew very little about.

“An ugly sweater? How do you do that? What for?” Their eyebrows lifted, curious why someone would want to make something they were going to wear ugly. Too many times they hadn’t fit in because their clothes weren’t cute enough --- or at least, that was on the list of reasons --- so someone striving to do the opposite was... news to them. “I’m not sure about making it ugly, but it says holiday time yes!”

[meetmelmel]

seabxtch·: ·

Vanessa had seen this person before, but she could not place why that mattered to her. Their face was so familiar and it reminded Vanessa of something that made her blood boil, but she just couldn’t name it. She wasn’t going to be rude outright because that would not help her image at all, but the thought of helping a rando with their bike made her skin crawl. “I don’t, I’m sorry, sugar,” she said with as much fake earnesty as she could manage. “I got a car though. Do you need a lift?”

♡

“No, no, it’s okay. I’m not too far, I’ll just... push it home.” They didn’t want to burden some poor stranger over their carelessness. This was a lesson they needed to learn: if you’re going to leave the house, leave the house prepared. “You know what they say,” they grinned, “a few miles of uphill walking a day keeps the doctor away. Or something like that.” God. Why did they always have to be so weird around pretty women?

[ericccoulter]

continued from here for @meetmelmel​

“You want to jump in, in this weather?” he asked them, looking over with a brow raised and a laugh. “I’m kidding, I would still do it, too, if I didn’t risk hypothermia.” Eric had noticed them a lot more around the beach before since this summer, and had been meaning to say something before. They reminded him of Ariel a little, and he could tell that they had some sort of adventure in their spirit, much like he and Ariel did. “I’m Eric, by the way. Coulter. I’ve noticed you around here since the bonfire that was over the summer, right? Sorry if that sounds creepy, I just kind of like to take note of who comes around the beach. It’s always nicer to walk the boardwalk with a friend, in my opinion.”

[meetmelmel]

“Well, yeah, but that’s what’s stopping me! The weather!” It was a good excuse, and they would stick to it since he seemed to think so. “It’s nice to meet you, Eric! I’m Melody.” They smiled, though it froze in place a moment later when he brought up the bonfire out of the blue, the rest of the conversation forgotten about. They felt the hair on their arms stand up, suddenly worried they hadn’t been quite as secretive about their little dip in the ocean as they’d thought. “You did? I mean, yeah, you did,” they nodded. Play it cool, Mel. Play it cool. “Did you... notice anything, uh, weird that night?”

[meetmelmel]

herhotness​: 

“Ooo shells?” Lindsay perked up, looking at them with interest. “I’m sure you got, like, the prettiest shells. This beach is always so good for them!” She had never actually listened to the ocean before. At least, not intentionally. She was sure she’d heard the sound before though, right? Her and water had a complicated relationship after TDI, but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t gonna give it a proper shot. “What does the ocean sound like? I don’t think I like, ever really listened to it before.”

♡

“It’s the best place to find them,” they nodded eagerly, as if there was any point in saying that. Of course it was the best place to find them. Where else would shells be? “Really? You’ve never listened to the ocean? It’s like... it’s relaxing and it just... it’s like a woosh, but not quite. You’ll have to come listen a night sometime when there’s not people around, it’s so pretty!”

[meetmelmel]

ocnsdaughter·: 

“Honestly, I’d pick comfort over fashion so when you get both it’s like unbeatable. I have these pair of canvas shoes and they’re so ugly but they’re the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever worn!” Not to mention they were perfect for slipping on and off when she was working on the beach. The amount of sand that ended up in her shoes after a day of work was enough to make a person beach in her own backyard. When it came to the arcade though, she was less versed. This was a place she’d only explored once or twice but never enough to get a good grip on the games. Growing up in Atlantica meant electronics were a wonderment and here they could play any of them in seconds. “I’m terrible at all of them so I’d say let the professional pick,” she said with a smile, motioning for Melody to pick first. “I’ll pick second, after I get warmed up, you know,” she said laughing. 

♡

“Who doesn’t want to be comfortable?” Looking cute was great, but it wasn’t really worth giving up comfort. Maybe once in a blue moon, for some really special occasion, but otherwise they would also choose comfort over fashion. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!” They laughed. Melody had some of their own clothes that were questionable, but they were too attached to to get rid of. “Don’t leave the decision to me! I’m the worst at decisions! I’ll flip a coin!” They joked, taking a quick sweep around the room to figure out what was calling their attention. “Okay, let’s give the racing games a shot. I’m not gonna say I’m the best at them, but they’re a lot of fun, and we can get warmed up together.”

[meetmelmel]

"You handled it beautifully." -Ariel

“I handled it awkwardly,” Melody corrected, letting out an exhale that felt like it would last forever. It was so embarrassing trying to socialize sometimes, especially when attempting to talk to a girl that had caught their interest. They stumbled over their words, couldn’t maintain eye contact, forgot their own name. It was even more embarrassing Ariel was there to witness it this time. “I’m a mess,” they whined, dropping their head into their hand. “I’m a mess and I’m never going to get a girlfriend.”

@ocnsdaughter

[meetmelmel]

herhotness​: 

Lindsay beemed. “Great! Thanks!” She set out her towel properly and leaned back a little bit once she sat back down. She really loved the sun, did she mention that already? “It’s soo nice to meet you, Melody! That’s such a pretty name. It’s like…the same name as music. So cute.” She closed her eyes for a moment while she let herself stretch. “I’m Lindsay! You can call me Linds if you want. A lot of my friends do. Are you here to soak up the sun too? Or just enjoyingthe nice day?”

♡

“Oh, thank you.” They felt their cheeks growing warm at the compliment. “I like your name too. Uh, y-yeah, both, I guess. I’ve been collecting shells.” Hopefully Lindsay didn’t think that was stupid. There was nothing spectacular in their little bag, but they thought they were pretty. Some of them odd shaped. “And listening to the ocean,” they added after a second. “It’s so mesmerizing, you know?”

[meetmelmel]

ocnsdaughter·: 

Having people around her was sometimes the only way she got by. Ariel missed her family. Even though she knew she had to go and that this was the right decision for her, she thought about her father and sisters often. She wondered what they might be doing and wishes she could tell them all the amazing things she’s discovered. If only she were able to be two places at once but if she had her voice she couldn’t touch the sea, a sacrifice Ariel felt like she needed to make. This was her home now and she could only hope they understood that. Melody was amazing company, someone who understood Ariel right away. They were easy to be around and their offer to come to the arcade was cause for an immediate yes. Ariel didn’t mind waiting, off in her own little world as normal. “Don’t even sweat it, I was looking at all the cool games anyway, didn’t miss anything,” she said with a smile. “Glad to know no sea life was harmed in the finding of the shoe though and they are extremely cute.” Ariel giggled, looking down at their shoes and thinking of whatever might’ve happened. “All that matters is your here now!”

♡

“Aren’t they? They’re comfy, too!” Melody spun their foot around, staring down at them with momentary admiration before laughing and looking back to Ariel. There were so many burning questions on their tongue, but they had a feeling they’d swallow them down like always, never knowing where to start. Even so, they would still have a good time playing the games. Ariel’s energy seemed to perfectly compliment their own, and they’d always be happy to see her, even if she wasn’t the direction Morgana had pointed them in. “Alright, what do you want to play first?” Melody asked, leaning against the machine they were closest to. They’d played most of the games before, but always on their own, so they weren’t actually sure how good they were, but they’d still put on a front. “You ready to get your butt kicked?”