#and it's been a while since I've sung something that was just supposed to be fun and silly

[musical-chick-13]

Tfw I was GOING to write a fic for my event, but maybe I make a parody song instead.

[slowd1ving]

Kim Dokja with a Sung Jinwoo!Reader and their supporting constellation is Six-Eared Macaque

BAKHT ⁺ ✦ KIM DOKJA

"An existence as lonely as yours... chance has not been kind to you, it seems." It was neither choice nor good fortune that flung you into the rift that divided worlds: suspended in a limbo not of your own making, in a world with no dungeons like yours but 'scenarios' instead. Only the Story reaching its [◼◼◼] and you protecting the protagonist would guarantee your return, but how were you supposed to do that when the 'protagonist' you were meant to protect kept dying? honestly it's been a while since I read both solo levelling and orv so the plot is a bit hazy. I told myself to focus more on the actual interaction so it wouldn't snowball into storybuilding like the rest of my works... but alas... honestly this ask was extremely interesting like I've never read journey to the west but a sung jinwoo/six eared macaque collab??? damn me when I focus on tense first encounters rather than the lovey dovey aspect of relationships.. jokes aside it does get somewhat soft at the very end fun fact bakht refers to fortune in arabic, or rather finding luck in 'chance'; which unfortunately our reader doesn't seem to have a lot of... art by @ 1L9l2Aa8UCL0IGJ (blackbox) on x! pairing: kim dokja + sung jinwoo gn reader warnings: canon typical danger, mentions of death, also they're not really on the best of terms initially?? quite graphic depictions of blood wc: 2.7k

ORV MASTERLIST

MASTERLIST ・゜・NAVIGATION

Tonight, the wind carried only premonition in its whispers. It started like all the stories did—the ones that reached your ears, at least. Beginning as a gentle breeze, the songs twining past and future turned coarse as a gale once they encountered the pixelated appendages that seemed to have a life of their own: six downy auricles that were unable to decide whether to stay in the virtual realm or materialise themselves. 

Most of the time, they hid in the umbrous kingdom—much like the rest of your shadows. When you donned the façade of the humans from Planetary System 8612, the tales you could eavesdrop on were mere gossip slinking in from the future and the bygone past—tidbits of paltry information that were perhaps divine retribution for not proudly donning the Six-Eared Macaque’s ‘crown’, as he seemed to put it. 

But tonight was different. Tonight, the mellifluous litany of your flute was sharper than usual as you idled the time away. Tonight, with only the vast night shielding you and the countless shadows skulking on the rooftop, their dance appeared wilder. There was frenzy in the air, and prophecy tainting the cold, canorous wind. 

It tasted acerbic. 

‘Danger… horizon…. Dokja….’

The frequency soured the melody that brushed past the fur of your six-ears, and they flicked, irritably. 

[The Fake Monkey King warns of something afoot.]

“I know,” you bitterly commented. Something was always afoot when it came to this world in which you did not belong. Falling past the veil separating a dungeon from nothingness wasn’t meant to happen. Your system subsequently trapping you in this limbo until you reached [◼◼◼◼◼], too, wasn’t meant to happen either. Let the Story run its course and protect its ‘protagonist’, and this dimension will naturally collapse just enough that you’ll fall through back into yours. 

Kim Dokja, you’d repeated like a mantra while you lost your mind—over and over while your system glitched and protested in this limbo. Over and over, while he died and died and died some more. You’d bought and earned and fought for various potions, weapons and clothes to help him with his scenarios—leaving them in his vicinity where you knew he’d stumble across them—but it was all so fucking futile. 

Each time, he returned past the veil; each time, you sank into a deeper mire of restriction. You hadn’t spoken to another soul in months: imprisoned in the very shadows you controlled. It wasn’t as bad, initially: you could still talk to people uninvolved in the ‘Story’, the poor souls dubbed as extras—so long as you didn’t cause any ripples with your actions. If Dokja was accounted for through both the soldiers in his shadow, and the whispers that reached the six ears that fanned out behind your head, it would be fine. 

‘Hazard… kilometre north of Dokja’s camp….’

A kilometre. You’d be quiet. You always were. 

Dokja. Dokja. Dokja. Your face soured as you exchanged places with Beru: ready to silently act as his guardian shadow, though if he was determined to sacrifice himself… Both of you would pay a price.

The silence in the city was razor-sharp and just as deadly, to the point you could hear the ionic buzz of your summoned demonic knives. Their ozonic scent bitterly filled your mouth, which only amplified the acerbic profanities mingling on your tongue as you glanced around for the danger. What danger? You’d be damned before you were sent back to that empty desert to reflect your wrongdoings. There was no chance to gain anything there—just endless time, chipping your sanity away and stirring up derision for the one who couldn’t solve anything without dying. 

Because in the end, both of you would pay the price, and he didn’t even know it. He became a constellation, while you were shackled to a prison that was never of your own making. 

Examining the wreck of this urban landscape that felt too much like the Seoul you knew, you came to the abrupt conclusion that there was nothing. Even when your six-ears flicked this way and that, it was too silent. Not a whisper, nor any trace of danger lingered in this space; such an occurrence was nigh-impossible in the scenario-laden dome of this city. 

[The Prisoner of the G◼◼◼en Headband expres◼◼◼◼ his mistrust.] 

Sun Wukong. A flash of hatred that was not your own wracked your body, complete with a burning envy and something far more insidious than anything you’d ever experienced, 

Crackling messages began interfering with your system screen. You’d only seen this once—when you accidentally intruded on the fringes of the ‘Star Stream’ as an ‘unauthorised one’. An anomaly if you ever saw one. 

“There’s nothing,” you muttered callously, scraping the tip of your blade against concrete ruins. If it had been a false alarm, then it was time to leave before you risked paying the penalty. Your job was simple—keep watch of the ‘protagonist’ from the shadows, and make his life somewhat easier. 

[A nameless constellation argues that advertisements are simply a part of life, and that it’s not a big deal to build suspense.]

That’s weird. The messages were getting clearer, but the warning signs that typically appeared in the system windows weren’t there. 

Your own supporting constellation was far too quiet as you sheathed your knife in the shadow dimension—the darkness cradled the weapon softly before it vanished, though the familiar whish could not soothe the unease that distorted your mind. Never had the six-ears failed to pinpoint hazards, as close to omniscient that they were.

“Got you,” something—someone—whispered from afar, the moment you stepped on the next broken slab of pavement and triggered a tripwire. A paltry toy, golden string that was incandescent in this darkened city, wrapped tightly around your body; right before you were shoved against a concrete wall. “You’re not the only one to see the ‘outcome’.”

Stand down, Igris, you commanded as the stranger continued to press into you; you could sense the turbulent shadows growing even more agitated at your position, though all of them could feel the ease with which you could’ve snapped out of the rope that was no more than a thread. The stream was eerily silent, while the glassy window only you could see kept its cold azure colour—nothing like the glaring scarlet that informed you of your penalty. 

Who is this? 

In the darkness, you made out the shape of a mouth pressed into a thin line. Dark hair partially swept over the stranger’s eyes, while a long white coat draped itself over his shoulders. But it wasn’t the garb, nor was it the features that alerted you of just who this was. 

It was the umbrous cloud of his soul, the very one you’d been tracking all these weeks. 

“Kim Dokja,” you greeted, half-placidly, half in intrigue. If he could bend the rules of life and death to suit him, you supposed that bending some more rules wouldn’t hurt. The interest was quickly replaced by irritation—for this was the very charge that had continuously shackled you to the in-betweens of the Seoul dome. Not quite a human from this planet, nor a monster—just an abominable anomaly that didn’t belong in this ‘Story’ at all. “I wasn’t expecting this.”

There was a polite smile on your face, but he only scoffed in disbelief. “What the hell are you playing at? Who are you? You think leaving all those materials for me to find will somehow increase your chances to survive? Why are you doing this?”

Incredulity laced each syllable. The Ugliest King stared hard at the face of the Shadow Monarch, though he didn’t know it. 

You sympathised, you really did. Having someone trail after you (though he hadn’t mentioned your shadows—did he even notice them?) and leave you useful items might have been convenient to some, but chronic overthinkers (as Beru had reported to you from his shade) wouldn’t see it as such. 

But it wasn’t like you had a choice not to, either. 

“I just want to get back home.” For the first time, there was a hint of the welling annoyance that seeped through the cracks in your courteous expression: in your grinding molars, in the slight squint of your eyes. Babysitting this guy should have never been part of your job.

Don’t affect the story.

You pressed your lips together to avoid the tide of complaints that swept in. Why do you keep dying? Do you know how much it sucks whenever you do? Why the fuck was I put on babysitting duty?

“Just take the things,” you gritted out instead; to which a sharp blade stung the side of your neck. Quick, but not quick enough to pose a true threat to you. “They were annoying to farm, you know that?”

“I never asked for them, nor do I need them to reach where I want to be. You were never in the original— I can’t exactly trust you now, can I?” he scowled—more ill-tempered than Beru had included in his periodic reports. In a mere second, you surged: as fluid and fast as quicksilver, slamming the guy you’d grown to abhor into the cold, harsh asphalt. There was no apology dripping from your lips this time, only a snarling, bloodied grit of teeth when the penalty began etching into your skin as a direct consequence of laying hands on the ‘untouchable’ protagonist. 

Sensing your distress, the six-ears materialised around your face—like they were countering the drip-drip of sanguine that slinked from your nose and onto the shirt of the man beneath you. You watched as you sullied the protagonist you were forced to stay away from—tainted in a way that was sure to finally end you. His dark eyes, too, traced the motion of each crimson rivulet: chest rising and falling desperately as he felt the very real, razor-sharp edge of his own knife lightly against his jugular. 

“Listen, I never asked for this either,” you hissed. “Believe it or not, I too want you to reach the conclusion of this shitshow so I can get back home. You need to stay alive for that. I’ll wait.”

The pressure in your head intensified. 

“I don’t know how you got past the restrictions on me—” Your grip on his shirt loosened as carmine began seeping into the system window. “—but I can’t stay here any longer without repercussions. Neither can I interfere with the story nor escape this hell—” Dark spots began floating in your vision, and the blade sliced into the concrete a hair's breadth away from his neck with a low-resonating chime. Maybe this was your only chance to make your job easier, without the loss of sanity that came with rule-breaking. “—but if you can’t trust me, trust that your accomplishment of your goal will allow me to get back to my own world as a result.”

“Wait–” Your body swayed as you stood, feeling the familiar frequency of the Stream boot up against the fine down of the six-ears. I don’t have time, you wanted to say, but iron was beginning to leave your lips too. 

[The Prisoner of the Golden Headband complains loudly that fraternising with the enemy is a horribly stupid move, pulling out his hair.]

[The Demon-like Judge of Fire is unsure of this development, and would like to be filled in on this stranger’s connection with the Prisoner of the Golden Headband..]

The Star Stream was… clear. Not filled with static like it had been before, but cogent enough that you could observe each message coherently. 

[The Star Stream has its eyes on you.]

A terrible foreboding surfaced, while your chest constricted with the sudden onslaught of red that assaulted your eyes—a cacophony of warning signs, all targeted at you. 

“What is that?” A hand that wasn’t yours reached for the crimson glow, and you jolted as the cerise shattered: reverting back to the familiar blue interface. The ache in your head, too, vanished—yet the buildup of fatigue was still present in your hazy mind. Though, the only thing you could register was the change in his voice as he observed the screen, an inkling of understanding as he watched the characters fade from existence:

Protect the ‘protagonist’ Kim Dokja. Let the Story run its course, and you will be able to return to your home world. 

{The Fourth Wall quietly observes the remnants of its meal.}

Gone, in a wave of his hand. That same hand, now held out to you as if it hadn’t just erased weeks’ worth of strain from your body: long, deft fingers reaching out to you. You could only stare as the world grew dim around you, as a faint voice brushed past the soft fur of your six-ears. 

‘Error… error… due to unprecedented actions ◼◼◼◼ taken by the protagonist, the system has now… updated to provide for a deuteragonist model… consi◼◼der standby… updating… updating… ◼◼◼◼◼◼   ◼◼◼◼ objective updated… reach the [◼◼◼◼] alongside deuteragonist Kim Dokja to catalyse homecoming.’

“What the hell… did you do?” you slurred. The misguided loathing towards him had dissipated into a tumultuous state of frenzy; you could feel the shadows within stir with the agitation of your mind, though you fought to keep your cards at bay. Rather than the hilt of your familiar sword, you thumbed the worn edge of your flute in a last bid to stay calm. 

“‘Reach the [◼◼◼◼] alongside deuteragonist Kim Dokja to catalyse homecoming’, huh?” The incredulity you felt at him repeating the words that only you ever heard was overshadowed by the bone-deep exhaustion you felt. 

“Was… being honest,” you mumbled for the last time, fully expecting to feel the frigid asphalt as you collapsed and your eyes came to a close. The lingering penalties had finally taken effect, yet you didn’t quite hit the hard concrete like you anticipated. Rather, you collided against a wiry frame that, despite its initial gauntness, was far warmer than anything you’d felt in these apocalyptic weeks. “I might’ve died if I continued interfering.”

“You won’t die.” The words ghosted over your ear as he stared down at the person in his arms who’d been tracking him for weeks. They’d been a constant pain and irritated him to no end, especially with all the gifts he received that he’d never read about in TWSA; and there was nothing he hadn’t read about in TWSA save for the epilogue. “I won’t let you.”

His very headache was now slumbering in his arms, with only the ambition of going home on their mind. 

What a lonely existence. 

Maybe you heard him. Maybe you didn’t. All he knew was that he was crafting an epilogue that would shake this very world to its roots, and perhaps there was a small, you-sized shape cut out just for the person snoozing their little heart out. He had a feeling he had only breached the outermost layer of you; peeling back only the very dermis to reveal someone far too overpowered to compete with most of the dome. 

Dokja’s thumb traced the bloody lines staining your face. You could faintly feel them; then, abruptly, the citrus smell that lingered on him grew sharper. Closer. A soft pressure applied itself to the crown of your head: fleeting, silvery. What was that?

It was everything that had been forcibly taken from you after you were brought past the void. 

With something that was suspiciously close to a smile, your mind drifted away in the arms of someone who both damned you and saved you. 

　⁺ ✦

“If Igris and Yoo Joonghyuk fought, who would win?” 

“Igris,” you answered without missing a beat. There wasn’t a hint of hesitation in your face as you opened your mouth, and it was so strong that he almost believed that your Commander could beat the true ‘protagonist’ of this world. “And if he lost, I’d win for him.”

This! This was his chance to get back at that squid bastard! 

“...Want to test your hypothesis?”

[jinusajas]

08/10/24; 04:00pm

sung jinwoo x reader / sung jinwoo x cha hae-in

{ oneshot - angst to fluff }

- the academy arc -

{ we can’t be friends | but i’d like to just pretend | you cling to you papers and pens | wait until you like me again | wait for your love | love, i’ll wait for your love… }

perhaps you were destined to suffer with this unrequited love, you think to yourself while sneaking glances at jinwoo, watching as he turned the pages of his textbook while jotting down notes within the confines of his notebook.

currently, you were both studying for your upcoming college entrance exams. jinwoo had invited you over to his place, and you were settled within the quiet sanctuary of his room. surrounding you were pieces of jinwoo that made your heart turn even softer for him, and you swore you would never get used to how his scent seemed to permeate at the air. taking a break from your own studying, you decide to admire the various trophies he had won during his time spent on the track team.

of course, such winnings came as no surprise for you, since he had always been shockingly athletic. that fact has never changed-

however, his reasoning for joining track in the first place was what made your heart clench painfully within your chest. you recalled that day like it was just yesterday...

it was the first day of high school, and you recognized jinwoo from your elementary school years. gathering your courage, you decided to sidle up to his desk, earning a smile from him when you disclosed your identity to him. as you struck a conversation with him (reminiscing on old times), some rambunctious guys began heckling jinwoo while they surrounded both you and him. they made you incredibly nervous, and as one of them reached out to you, jinwoo immediately stopped them from grabbing you, standing from his seat as he spoke in a stern tone.

"leave her alone. if you want to get to me, then talk to me directly."

your eyes go wide when the boys seem to freeze up before moving stiffly away from you, their steps shaky and uneven, like they were puppets being controlled on a string. seconds later, they were all tumbling into the hallways, making your eyes go wide. a soft chuckle was heard coming from jinwoo, and once you looked back, you saw the secretive smile on jinwoo's face.

you may have had a crush on him at that very moment.

after that day, you cling to jinwoo like a lost puppy, having stars in your eyes at the mere sight of him. you comment on how much taller- on how much braver he had gotten since you had last seen him. while you gushed on him, he simply gives you a kind smile in response.

"thanks... i guess you could say i've worked out a little bit since i've grown."

"a little bit? jinwoo, you practically tower over everyone here! you must have plans to join an athletic club or something, right?"

jinwoo ends up considering your words with a hum before smiling back down at you. "i suppose i'd like to give track a try... after all... there's someone i'd like to meet."

his admission makes you stop dead in your tracks, your heart clenching just the tiniest bit when you see the warmth within his stormy gaze. he was clearly thinking about someone achingly special to him... and that made your throat close up as you struggled to get the words out.

"oh really? who is she?" you were surprised at how even your voice came out, unsure of why you were feeling this way over meeting an old friend again. jinwoo meets your gaze from your periphery and gives you a kind smile. "she's someone that's special to me... and i've waited a long time to meet her again."

that final confession was what ultimately stops you in your tracks, your heart aching at the fact that you would never get such a chance to be with jinwoo, especially when his heart had already been captured by another.

he notices the way you stop walking next to him and stops as well, eyes appearing wide when he asks if you were okay. you manage to let out a forced laugh, not wishing to admit the truth to him when you told him how you forgot you had a meeting with an advisor (a lie you had made up on the spot).

jinwoo ends up believing your lie and nods, walking closer to you so that he was now settled directly in front of you. amusement was seen in his gaze, and you could feel your breath become taken away by the sheer beauty and kindness of his smile. his large hand reaches out to you, and he ruffles it before stepping back, "okay, i'll see you tomorrow then. i'm going to head to the track field and talk to the coach about joining."

you nod and lift up your hand in a wave, watching jinwoo as he walked away from you with a heaviness felt in your chest.

since then, you tried to avoid him, or at least, tried to put some distance between you and him, yet jinwoo could never seem to take the hint. ever since that first day, he had already deemed you his best friend, further trapping your heart with the tendrils of love and affection you felt growing for him.

you spent the next three years remaining by his side, studying with him while supporting his efforts with each tournament he attended. yet instead of growing out of your crush for him, it grew to genuine feelings of love for him.

and this fact did little to hide the pain and envy you felt each time he answered her calls or eagerly replied to her texts, sometimes even going as far as meeting her during weekends to take her out on cute little dates-

looking back at him now, you felt your heart ache with the sheer amount of concentration was seen on his face. he was working so hard to be with her, to build a future with her-

a future that you were certain you could never be a part of.

in the midst of your reveries, jinwoo meets your gaze and gives you a smirk, "what are you looking at? is there something on my face?"

you shake your head and look back down at your textbook. since jinwoo admitted his feelings for this young woman named cha hae-in to you, you threw yourself into your studies and managed to make incredible grades. due to your own heartache, you decided to study abroad to get away from south korea, wishing to attend university in the united states, within the city of new york, to be exact.

you didn't think they would accept you, yet by some miracle, you were chosen to spend 4 years at a university there, hence why you were currently studying up on english grammar. however, there was a catch-

you had yet to tell jinwoo about your plans for college.

letting out a deep breath, you give your best friend a tiny smile before beginning to speak.

"jinwoo, i'm so sorry, but there's something i have to tell you."

he ends up frowning at your choice of words. "okay, what is it?"

with a heavy sigh, you shut your books and tell him, all while stuttering along the way, "uhm, w-well, you know h-how our school offers a s-study abroad program for u-universities we wish to a-attend?"

jinwoo's frown seems to deepen. "yes, i know about it."

"w-well, i signed up for the program a-and got accepted... i'll be moving to america soon."

hearing the news makes jinwoo drop his pen in response. "w-what? you're going to america?"

you could feel the anxiety coursing through your veins, "y-yes... i got accepted into a university in new york city and plan to leave near the beginning of january."

"NEW YORK CITY?!" jinwoo suddenly jumps out of his seat, his eyes widening so much that it seemed to bulge against his features, "t-that's so far away from here... why did you choose to go so far?"

to be as far away as i can be from you and the woman you love. but you don't tell him the truth, choosing to tell him a half-truth of sorts when you answer, "i've spent my whole life here, jinwoo. i think it's only natural for me to wish to expand my horizons and experience new things."

"y-yeah but... it's four years... what if you decide to never come back here?" jinwoo's voice becomes quiet all of a sudden, with his fists remaining clenched against his sides.

you let out a soft laugh, packing up your belongings one by one into your backpack. once everything was neatly in place, you stand back to your full height and meet with jinwoo's gaze. "it's okay... i'll be sure to keep in touch by texting you or calling you... but, i-i hope you'll forgive me if i forget or am too busy to call..."

an unreadable expression was seen in jinwoo's eyes, and for a brief moment, you could have sworn that his eyes flashed purple before going back to its original slate grey hue. not wishing to cry in front of him, you cling to your backpack and quickly excuse yourself, not even able to find the words to apologize to him for telling him such news of your departure so suddenly.

while you made your escape from his room, you were unaware of how jinwoo's intense gaze focused on your shadow, seeing loyal, glowing purple eyes looking back at him in understanding...

{ ... }

why was jinwoo such a mess now that you were no longer here?

after working so hard to pass the entrance exams for the last few months, he had plans of spending some time with you before you left for america... yet when he arrived at your place, you were nowhere to be found as your parents had told him that you had already departed for new york-

it had only been november at the time-

so you had lied to him as well?

and why did jinwoo's heart felt like it was on the verge of breaking?

your sudden departure coupled along with your obvious deception made jinwoo's heart clench with an unknown emotion. here you were, thousands upon thousands of miles away from him, leaving jinwoo feeling like he was drowning.

all of those shared laughters and inside jokes-

the times you spent remaining by his side during each and every one of his track meets-

and those late nights spent studying together, falling asleep together within the comfort of his bed-

had everything been all for naught?

with your absence drilling a hole within his heart, he found that not even hae-in's calls and texts could bring him out of this slump. jinwoo admits to how her beauty and awkward kindness had once ensnared his heart, making him think of nothing but meeting her again once he reset his timeline-

yet now, with you so clearly gone from his life, he found that he could not focus on anything but the memories he had of you-

memories of your smile and the way you would snort each time you tried to hold back your giggles while in class-

memories of how you would hide your face within his shoulder each time you watched a horror movie together, as if trusting him to shield you from all the monsters-

memories of how he could spend hours on end simply watching you sleep-

and it was only when you left him that he realized the truth of his feelings-

that you were the one he felt the most comfortable with... that by the end of the day, he would always need you and you alone...

with thoughts of you pushing him forward, he decides to finally come clean to hae-in one late afternoon on christmas eve. he wears his usual coat with a dark pair of jeans, expression forlorn as he felt conflicted with potentially breaking her heart. while walking across the streets of the city, he stops walking, already sensing her presence when he turns around to face her.

hae-in's hands were outstretched, bewilderment painting her beautiful expression. "there you are." jinwoo manages to smile at her, making hae-in take a step back as she brushes a hand across her golden strands of hair.

"it's like you have eyes in the back of your head, jinwoo." she hums and steps closer to him, "you took your college entrance exams last month, right? congrats. are you still going to the university you chose before? you got really good grades, so why are you set on going to that university?"

that was when things began to feel awkward on jinwoo's end. he coughs and was unable to meet hae-in's curious gaze. looking away from her, he shakes his head, "no, unfortunately, my plans have... changed since then."

hae-in seems taken aback by his confession, and jinwoo feels a wave of empathy coursing through his veins when he notices her expression, "i-it's not because of a woman, is it?"

jinwoo tears his gaze away from her, unable to give her a truthful answer without hurting her. yet, it seemed as though his silence was more than enough, making tears fill at her grey eyes as realization dawns within her tearful expression. "o-oh..."

with a shake of his head, he steps closer to her, "i'm sorry, for breaking our promise so suddenly. i thought... i thought i knew what i wanted... but... looking back on it now, she was the one who was by my side from the start."

hae-in's shoulders began to tremble in response, further filling jinwoo with guilt. "she was my best friend... and... she left me to pursue her dreams in america. now that she's not here, i feel... lost without her..."

"y-you wish to follow her?"

jinwoo closes his eyes before giving hae-in a nod. "i do."

a sob was heard escaping from hae-in, and jinwoo could feel the way she shoves him away from her, body trembling as she ran back home. his expression was filled with regret, watching hae-in running away from him. the soldier he had placed within her shadow lengthens in response to her movements, and jinwoo knew that she would be protected even if he wasn't around.

{ ... }

there was an odd sense of freedom felt coursing through your veins when you moved into your dorm, ready to start the semester. you were still surrounded by suitcases that held each and every one of the items you had deemed important to you.

as you took out each item from your suitcase, your eyes go wide when they saw a thick photo album you had no recollection of packing. taking it out, you watch as a note fluttered out of it, recognizing your mother's handwriting as it read:

i just wanted to pack you a little surprise; memories of your home, of family and friends who wish for nothing more than to support you. come back home and see us soon. love, mom

with tears filling your vision, you open up the album and flip through the first few pages, laughing at each picture before turning the page once more-

this time landing on a photo that had you and jinwoo smiling at the camera.

seeing his handsome face makes your heart well up with emotions you thought you had tossed aside. as your fingertips shakily trace at his handsome features, a sense of guilt filled you. you had purposely ghosted him, wanting nothing more than to leave south korea, just to put some distance between you and the man you had always loved-

a man who you believed with all your heart would forever remain an unrequited love.

unable to handle the pain of seeing jinwoo's face, you slam the album shut and let out a shaky breath. hot tears were felt streaming down your face, and your sadness was so potent- so palpable that it made the blood rush to your ears.

in fact, you were so distracted that you didn't hear the knocks at your door for several minutes. you gasp and look toward your front door, taking shaky steps toward it as you unlocked it.

"s-sorry, i was distracted, are you my roommate?" you spoke in english, earning a grunt from the person you assumed would be your roommate.

a deep hum was heard, "damn right i am." his face was covered by a huge box in his hand, and you saw the way his long legs kicked his suitcase inside, with your head tilted in response. you notice how he also spoke in english, yet there seemed to be a hint of an accent in it. a strange sense of familiarity fills you, and when you close the door was when your roommate puts down his box-

revealing himself to be sung jinwoo.

your breathing comes out in uneven breaths, with you taking a step back while meeting jinwoo's annoyed gaze. "jinwoo?!" you speak to him, reaching out to him with trembling hands. "t-there's no way... is it really you?"

jinwoo remains silent, simply taking casual steps closer to you, effectively trapping you against the wall. "who else would it be?" his reply was casual, and you flinch slightly upon feeling the way he brushes back your hair. with both hands settled against the wall, jinwoo prevents you from moving as he looks down at you, grey eyes shining with amusement.

your heart was felt pounding within your chest, making the heat travel all the way up to your cheeks when you shakily ask, "w-what are you doing here? aren't you supposed to be with hae-in?"

the jerk had the nerve to smirk at your question! he ends up humming in response, taking a hold of your hand to press a kiss against the back of it "are you jealous?"

you end up sputtering in response, "are you teasing me?"

he hums, "and what if i am?"

before you could answer, jinwoo ends up taking you directly within his embrace, chuckling as you struggled to get out of his powerful arms. "jinwoo!"

he simply hums once more before settling himself on the couch with you, hands already delving themselves into your hair as he leans in to give your cheek a kiss. such a sudden display of affection was enough to make your head spin as jinwoo tightens his hold on you. "when you left was the moment i realized you had taken a part of me with you... a part of me that i never wish to have returned."

his words manages to stun you, all coherent thoughts ceasing as pure and utter hope fills your gaze. he smiles down at you in a loving manner, choosing to frame at your face while continuing, "it hurt me, realizing how you chose to leave so suddenly without even telling me goodbye... but shockingly enough, it was thanks to your absence that i realized the reasoning for your departure was because of me all along."

"jinwoo..." tears fill at your vision, making jinwoo slowly lean down to press you against the couch in response. his gaze was intense, and he brushes back your hair before telling you, "you left because you loved me... yet i was too stupid and blind to realize it... until now..."

your breathing hitches when jinwoo leans down to capture your lips in a searing kiss. you eagerly respond to him, kissing him back with a fervor (pouring all of the yearning and heartache you felt for him building up within those 3 years). jinwoo groans against your parted lips, deepening the kiss momentarily before pulling away from you.

jinwoo's handsome features were all you could see when he smiles down at you, and you allow his large hands to delve themselves into your hair when he kisses your forehead once more, "i love you... i realize that i cannot live without you... so please... will you promise to remain by my side and never leave me again?"

his question makes you giggle, eyes filling with absolute adoration for him when you lean up to press a kiss against his lips all while reassuring him, "i promise..."

that was the moment the years spent yearning for him (along with your heartache) vanished completely as jinwoo captured your lips in another breathtaking kiss, swallowing the sounds of your laughter completely…

end notes: this is so self indulgent for me (⺣◡⺣)♡ but it was so worth writing. currently unedited, but i'll make any necessary changes once this is posted. once again, i don't trust tumblr to keep my drafts for long 😭 🙌🏻

all stories are written by rei; please do not repost, plagiarize, or translate my works!!

[starzgaze]

ARCHIVED: annoyance [unfinished]

pairing: sjw/archivist!reader

unreliable synopsis: [y.name] tries to discreetly follow jinwoo but they fail so badly that jinwoo played them lmao

a/n: [y.name] whole job is from an oc so if you need a bit of context on how they work you can check my oc ophion because this is a self indulgent piece huhuhu.. also shit english and its unfinished so yeah erm

[y.name] stared down the intricately detailed paper in front of them. It honestly looked like something straight out of some fairytale but [y.name] knew better. It was a personal announcement stating where there's a bit of information that's incorrect or not processed correctly in their archives.

They sighed in irritation.

The archivist crumpled the piece of paper and then threw it aggressively to some wall, letting out an annoyed groan.

"AGH! This rarely happened before even in past timelines?? It only happened when he—" [y.name] ranted before shoving their face into their hands and let out an irritated groan again. They genuinely started to hate this job that was forcibly imposed on them.

And that job was being an archivist to archive everything that happened in this world for the purpose that their now dead boss, the absolute being, could look through the records [y.name] made if they got bored of the monarchs and rulers fighting and went off somewhere else. [y.name]'s job was supposed to made easier because information from the future and past would be forcibly injected into their head like some sort of epiphany because the movements of everything that the absolute being made was predictable. Which means they don't have to manually archive it.

That is until Sung Jin-woo came in.

That... man... almost drove [y.name] into insanity. Right after the dungeon incident, [y.name] ordinarily archived whatever happened to Sung Jin-woo in the dungeon and assumed he would have an average 'Second Awakening' and nothing more.

But when [y.name] archived it they were immediately greeted with an announcement that the information they archived was incorrect. [y.name] rose a brow at this.

They were rarely wrong so how can this be? The last time they archived something wrong was the time where Antares did something so out of character or Ashborn constantly doing decisions that even the existing predictions couldn't match his choices. [y.name] was definitely confused at this but they didn't pay that much mind to it.

They simply adjusted it and tweaked around until it approved the information [y.name] archived then after this [y.name] thought they'll never encounter this ever again for a while.

Until it repeated.

and repeated

repeated

repeated......

....aaanndd repeated......

...

"oh my god I think I'm gonna bald from stress" [y.name] whined as they gripped the folder in their hands and narrowed their eyes at the profile in the folder. The archivist gritted their teeth at the sight of the hunter.

S-rank hunter, Sung Jin-woo.

"Just how the hell did you become this strong?!!?"

The folder flew into the air as [y.name] threw it as they covered their face exasperatedly. The only thing that was haunting [y.name]'s days was Sung Jin-woo, the very reason of why they stay up at night and grovel at the thought of.

Ever since his sudden rise in the rankings in Korea, [y.name]'s work as an archivist doubled. They had to manually archive every little decision Jin-woo made in his life that'll affect the world or even the universe with how powerful he's getting. It was difficult for sure, especially when they're trying to not seem like a creep discreetly following the hunter around trying to jot down whatever Jin-woo is doing because now this magical force that helped them archive doesn't work on him.

"Eugghhh. How many days left before this guy is gonna figure out I've been following him for the past few months" [y.name] sighed as they turned their head over to where the folder fell. Their eyes hardened at thr sight of the folder, annoyance bubbling inside of them. Sung Jinwoo is seriously making their job harder than it should be.

Jin-woo can't miss how a figure would tail him whenever he was in public and most definitely whenever he's in a high ranking dungeon for some reason.

He would occasionally catch them at his peripheral vision but when he actually turn his head and try to see who it was they would magically disappear. Jin-woo could easily of course appear in their shadow but this figure hasn't posed a threat to him or to anyone he loved.

"My leige, they're tailing your trail again. Do you wish for me to dispose them?" Beru reported as he materialized behind Jin-woo. He raised his hand and waved it dismissively. "No need. Let them be"

In truth, Jin-woo recognized the figure. He was sure that the elusive stalker he has doesn't recognize them anymore but Jin-woo does.

[y.name], one of the few who didn't laughed behind Jin-woo's back but instead encouraged him and served as someone of inspiration for Jin-woo.

To be fair, Jin-woo used to have a small crush on [y.name] before but he forgotten about it when he was going through his grueling training of the system. This mostly became the reason why his feelings for [y.name] dwindled but it quickly resurfaced when they started trailing him around.

[a-friendly-fangirl]

"I Can't Hear It Now" is a CaitVi song (and I can prove it)

Ok, I know how this might sound, like I'm trying to make everything CaitVi related and I have no respect for Cait's loss and her feelings.

I promise though, that this might actually make sense... and if it does, then it's gonna be heartbreaking.

FIrst of all, I'd like to say that Freya Ridings' "I Can't Hear It Now" has been my favourite song since the very beginning of Arcane's second season, shattering my soul in enough pieces to make a challenging puzzle. The words and the way they're sung are heartfelt and moving, taking us through the kaleidoscope of feelings Cait experiences during her mother's funeral.

I'm a sucker for good music adding meaning to a show and its scenes and Arcane is exactly the kind of show that'd do that, so I've been eager to fully explore each song in the show's context, starting with this one.

When I first listened to it, I immediately thought that it was Caitlyn pleading Cassandra for guidance through her grief and her sense of guilt, because, as Cait herself admits, her mother left a huge hole in Piltover's political scene and in her own family and she has no clue as to how deal with it.

"Just tell me how to keep breathing while pretending I'm not drowning" seemed to me as something one would ask to their parent, were they a person with an important political role, having to constantly keep up appearances. Caitlyn, young and in mourning as she is after her mother's death, is also left alone to face publicly the loss, because her father is clearly in no condition to do that and she doesn't know what she's supposed to do to be a good replacement for both of her parents. I think everyone would understand, if she were to pray her deceased mother for help.

With time, though, I started rethinking my whole interpretation, because a few elements seemed off. Two are the ones that matter the most:

To be a song about a Piltovan dealing with grief by conversing with her lost one, it would've been weirdly spiritual. Although I don't know much about the city's lore, a quick research clarified that Piltover doesn't seem to have an official religion or religious belief and, in my experience, talking to a deceased person and asking them for guidance is something deeply rooted in spirituality and religion. Of course, when mourning everyone can talk to their lost ones as a form of coping mechanism, but in the song it is explicitly stated that the person Caitlyn is talking to can see her (Where you watch while these dreams gently float away), which is something we never hear from her. Caitlyn, actually, believes exactly on the contrary, which is that her mother has left a duty she doesn't know how to fulfill and she can't turn to her to find her way; in fact, she never appeals to Cassandra in any fashion. She remembers her, probably wonders whether she's proud of her or not, but she never reaches out to her directly. Long story short, then, the lyrics seem directed more to a living person than to a dead one;

Some lines simply don't apply to Cassandra. Look, I know I shouldn't take every word literally, but here some things wouldn't make any sense anyway. Like the way your voice always sounds when you sing to me doesn't appear to me as a line I could ever imagine Cait addressing to her mother. Cassandra, even though she wasn't a terrible mother, was still an estimated Councillor and head of one of Piltover's richest and strongest families. She raised her daughter hoping some day she'd take over and sit proudly on her seat at the Council table. Caitlyn was educated as an aristocrat without wanting to be one ("I know you doubt the merit of your birthright, Caitlyn"), which sparked several arguments between them. Cassandra, despite loving her daughter, could never fully accept or understand her and her upbringing and position probably made everything worse. In other terms, Cassandra wasn't probably the kind of mum that'd sing Caitlyn lullabies. Also, again, the verb is conjugated in the present tense, as if the person addressed in the song was still alive. Just tell me how to keep breathing while pretending I'm not drowning sounded pretty odd to me as well. While it is undoubtly true that Cassandra was probably a professional pretender because of her social position, what Caitlyn is asking for is something much deeper: she's asking to be pulled out from a black hole of sorrow and hatred. It takes experience to put on a good poker face when given such a challenge and, even if we don't know much about Cassandra herself, I could guess that she'd have lacked that sort of knowledge.

Going briefly back to the funeral scene, we can all recall that, while Cassandra and Caitlyn were both in colour, there was also another character highlighted as the heart of that moment: Vi. Vi, who, as it is made perfectly clear through the whole second season, is Caitlyn's anchor. She's the person she relies on the most, starting a war to save her father and letting go of the person she despises the most for her. She goes through her plan with her, asking her what Jinx's fate should be. Vi's the person she turns to when she feels like breaking down instead of her own dad. In other words, in such a desperate moment, if Caitlyn needed someone to talk to, she'd go to Vi.

And that's when the song starts making even more sense:

. There is an ocean so dark down below the waves/ Where you watch while these dreams gently float away: while Caitlyn's saying goodbye to her mother, Vi... watches. Almost like a worried guardian, she keeps her distance while empathising with her girl's feelings, literally watching while their dreams of peace, love and freedom leave with the coffin;

. And there is a silence so soft it's only memory/ Like the way your voice always sounds when you sing to me: this is such a CaitVi thing to me. Do you remember the wind chimes scene? Her thought of Jinx makes the wind grow furious just like her, while the thought of Vi calms her down. When Cait is tormented by the terrifying noise of Jinx's laughter breaking the silence, Vi comes in and restores it. It's no accident that the only music we can hear in the end is Vi's singing, a soft humming;

. But I can't hear it now/ Just tell me how to keep breathing while pretending I'm not drowning: to enjoy silence and not feel suffocated by it, your mind must be at peace. At the very beginning of the season, Cait's isn't. Her anger, her sense of guilt scream loud enough to drown Vi's voice. Still, Caitlyn turns to her, because Vi's the only person in her life that knows what she's going through. In fact, when Caitlyn's losing it, because she has no idea of how to fill the hole left by Cassandra, it is Vi that replies: "It gets smaller, but you never fill it".

So here it is, I rest my case.

[purgemarchlockdown]

Lyrical Repetition in Purge March

So I've been thinking a lot about repeating lyrics in Milgram MVs. Since Milgram will often repeat lyrics to create a relationship between the two scenes. The relationship could be Anything, contrast, parallel, irony, etc. The purpose is just to associate the scenes together using the lyrics.

I think it's really fun to check out what the lyrics and scenes are since I like seeing what connections Milgram is making and what it says about the story and characters.

So with all that preamble out of the way let's talk about Purge March!

So Purge March has this whole repeated sequence in it, but I'm splitting it up for ease.

So this lyrical repeat features a fun thing Milgram likes doing with them, perspective change! The first time these lyrics are sung we are looking at it from the perspective of Amane Punishing Herself and the second time is Amane being Punished by Her Mom.

Milgram is establishing a connection here between her Mother's abuse and the way Amane treats herself, it's being portrayed as Similar. There's also an additional layer of that the Lyrics are referring to Different People in these scenes. The first is referring to Amane Herself as the scum. As the Marching Band leader "erases" this Amane for not being able to get the performance right. She can't be helped so she must be erased.

Note that this scene still humanizes this Amane to the audience, showing how terrified she looks and how she didn't mean to make that mistake. It was an accident.

The Second Scene, however, is referring to Amane's Mother as the scum. And we aren't shown her face at all, just her hand as she's about to Taze Amane.

This completely removes any and all sympathy you could have for her. There's No Person you can latch onto, just a hand that Tazes Her Daughter.

In both cases we are encouraged to sympathize with Amane. However the first case has some Internal Justification from Amane that the abuse was "warranted" in some way because she Did "Mess up". While the second completely gets rid of that idea and showcases how truly cruel and and awful these punishments are.

Moving onto the other lines in this sequence. This continues the change in Who the lines are talking about but this time we also have a change in Role.

Instead of the one being Punished, Amane is now the Punisher. She's the one enacting punishment on the sinner. Initially she was the one who's eyes Needed to be crushed. She was the one who was corrupted and sinful. But now its her mother who needs to be crushed, her mother who Killed a Cat who did Nothing Wrong. Who broke cult rules and thus should be punished. That's how this works, that's how this Always Worked.

They never stopped treating her like that just because she was a Child.

T1 VD:

Es: Also, your dislike for being treated like a child… I never really noticed it up until now, but just looking back on it makes me angry. (sigh) You did something very unlike Milgram. From now on, I will treat you like a murderer with full awareness of their actions, prisoner no.8, Amane. Amane: Yes! I am very grateful for that… Hm?

So why should she stop just because she's her mother? Or because she's more "righteous" than her? Or because she said sorry?

That sorry doesn't matter.

The rule was still broken, after all. (Note that, unlike a lot of the other shots. The scene where the line about hopelessness first appears is in the Real World while the second scene is in the Marching Band World, unlike most of the other shots that are reversed. I don't know how purposeful this is but I think it's interesting!)

Related to all of this is how the hopeless sorry line is used to Transition between Amane's intention, there's a few lines right before it gets repeated about how Amane's mother broke the vow and how if she breaks her vow, Amane is supposed to punish her.

Right after this we have the lines where Amane is Noticeably Angry and Upset that her Mother Never forgave her even though she cried and screamed and Tried her best and how much she wants her mother to die.

The "hopeless I'm sorry" is used to transition between those two ideas. Amane punishing her mother because she broke her vow and Amane killing her mother because she Hates Her and Hurt Her.

This is a two minute and thirty second song and In One Sequence we can gather This Much Information, that's just Good Storytelling.

And that's not the Only repeated part in Purge March.

So second repeated part in Purge March. This sequence recites the main doctrines we are presented with in Purge March while also playing this line in the background.

If you become a bad girl, monsters will come out This is the magic that stops that from happening

We are associating these lyrics with each other and for good reason. The Doctrine is the Magic, if you follow that then the monsters won't come out.

We see those monsters, after all, Amane broke a Rule.

They even have the line about the magic stopping it from happening On the scene where Amane is helping the cat. A lovely bit of visual irony since this action is what they use as an excuse to punish her.

Dramatic Irony is when the audience knows more than the character and we know More than the character, we know she gets caught, we we're told what happens next, and we Can't Do Anything.

Except, the lyrics is Presenting us with a solution. Follow the Doctrine, that's the Magic. You'll be safe if you do. Amane didn't and that's why this is happening.

Now of course that isn't true in the slightest and her abusers would of found a way to abuse her no matter what.

But the point is we're being put in the shoes of this girl who wants to be good so bad it's going to kill her through the usage of Dramatic Irony and Lyrical-Visual Association. It's Good Storytelling and I think it's incredibly cool how Purge March Does That with such little time.

Those are the two scenes where lyrics are repeated in Purge March (unless I missed one somehow.) This was really fun to write and a lot of the other MVs are super cool about this too, Cat especially is fantastic at this and I might write more about it if I ever have the time. Hope you enjoyed reading!

[321spongebolt]

For my depiction of Background Singer as Oogie Boogie Background Singer, I thought Oogie Boogie's theme song from "The Nightmare Before Christmas" could be covered by my OC not surprisingly. In fact, for how I would make my own version of the episode, "A Christmas Plotz", Oogie Boogie Background Singer makes his debut after Wakko disappears. Babes Bunny I thought would be depicted as a vulture with a Thurl Ravenscroft voice. Earlier, the vulture would've sung "You're a Mean One, Mr. Plotz" (a cover of "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch", no less) just before Wakko sings his Ghost of Christmas Past song. Babes would still stick around when Background Singer appears as Oogie Boogie Background Singer.

And since this whole episode is suppose to be a nightmare like the original "Christmas Carol" story is depicted as, Dot as the Ghost of Christmas Present is the wife of Oogie Boogie Background Singer. For their first appearance, after the CEO finds another present on his desk and pulls the tag off, ghouls and demons fly out of it and have Mr. Plotz's hands tied behind his chair. And down below are the lyrics for Oogie Boogie Background Singer singing his theme song.

[LYRICS]

(As soon as Mr. Plotz unties the ribbon, an instrumental plays for 14 seconds while dark magic covers the whole office. Then on a trumpet blare, Dot and Oogie pop out of the box.)

Dot (Mad): Who are you calling a fruitcake? (Turns visible)

Oogie Boogie Background Singer: (Steps out of the box) Well, well, well! What have we here? Mr. Plotz, huh? OH! I'm really scared! So you're the one everyone's been hating for so long! (Evilly laughs and starts to speak to the music)

Oogie Boogie Background Singer (Spoken): ��You're joking! You're joking! I can't believe me eyes!♪

♪You're joking me, you've gotta be! This can't be the right guy!♪

He's ancient!

Oogie Boogie Background Singer (Deep voice): He's ugly!

Oogie Boogie Background Singer (Normal voice): I don't know which is worse! I might just split a seam now if I don't die laughing first!

♪Mister Oogie Boogie says there's trouble close at hand. (Grabs Mr. Plotz by his chest and lifts him up to his height)♪

Oogie Boogie Background Singer (Mad) (Spoken): ♪YOU BETTER PAY ATTENTION NOW! 'Cause I'm the Boogie Man!♪

Oogie Boogie Background Singer (Sung): ♪And if you aren't shaking, there's something very wrong!♪

♪'Cause this may be the last time, you hear the Boogie song. (Turns to his demons) Whoa!♪

Demons: ♪Whoa!♪

Oogie Boogie Background Singer: ♪Whoa! (Opens a box, unleashing Dot's pets.)♪

Dot's pets: ♪Whoa!♪

Oogie Boogie Background Singer: ♪Whoa!♪

High-Pitched Vultures: ♪Whoa!♪

Oogie Boogie Background Singer, Dot, and his army: ♪I'm/He's the Oogie Boogie Man!♪

Oogie Boogie Background Singer (Spoken): ♪Well, if I'm feeling ANTSY (When Oogie yells "ANTSY!", ants fly out of his mouth and land on Mr. Plotz' face.) and I've nothing much to do, I might just cook a special batch of Snake and Spider Stew!♪

♪And don't you know the one thing, that would make it work so nice A roly-poly Mr. Plotz to add a little SPICE!♪

Dot, Oogie's Henchmen, and Vultures: ♪Whoa!♪

Oogie Boogie Background Singer (Sung): ♪Whoa!♪

Dot, Oogie's Henchmen, and Vultures: ♪Whoa!♪

(Oogie Boogie Background Singer evilly laughs)

♪Whoa!♪

Oogie Boogie Background Singer: Yeah.

Oogie Boogie Background Singer, Dot, and his army: ♪I'm/He's the Oogie Boogie Man!♪

Mr. Plotz (Mad) (Spoken): ♪Release me now, or you will face the dire consequences!♪

♪The Warners are expecting me, so please! Come to your senses!♪

Oogie Boogie Background Singer (Spoken): ♪You're joking! You're joking! I can't believe me ears! (Spins Mr. Plotz around)♪

♪Will someone shut this follow up? (Kicks him to the floor)♪

♪I'm drowning in my tears!♪

♪It's funny! I'm laughing! You really are too much!♪

And now with your permission, I'm going to do my stuff.

Mr. Plotz (Scared): Wha-what are you going to do?

Oogie Boogie Background Singer: I'm gonna do the best I can.

(During the jazzy instrumental, Dot steps out of the box to introduce herself.)

Dot: I'm the Ghost of Christmas Present. It’s a pun. Get it?

Vulture: Ha! Yes!

Oogie Boogie Background Singer (Sung): ♪WHOA! The sounds of rolling dice to me is music in the air! (Throws five dice blocks onto the floor, four of which reveal Mr. Plotz' face.)♪

Oogie Boogie Background Singer (Spoken): ♪'Cause I'm a gambling Boogie man, although I don't play fair!♪

(Oogie pours the dice back in the cup, and magically pulls out a long chain.)

Oogie Boogie Background Singer (Sung): ♪It's much more fun, I must confess, when lives are on the line! (Throws the chain at Mr. Plotz, tying him up.)♪

Oogie Boogie Background Singer (Spoken): ♪Not mine, of course. But yours, old boy! Now that'd be just fine!♪

Mr. Plotz (Spoken): ♪Release me fast, or you will have to answer for this heinous act!♪

Oogie Boogie Background Singer (Spoken): ♪Oh brother! You're something! You put me in a spin! (Pulls the chain, and spins Mr. Plotz around.)♪

♪But you aren't comprehending, the position that you're in!♪

(Oogie's demons and Dot's pets surround Mr. Plotz and slowly walk closer to him from all angles)

Oogie Boogie Background Singer (Spoken) (Off-screen): ♪It's hopeless! You're finished! And you haven't got a prayer!♪

Oogie Boogie Background Singer (Spoken) (On-screen): ♪(Opens his folded wings that say "OOGIE" on each wing) Because I'm "Mr. Oogie Boogie", and you ain't going nowhere. (Evilly laughs and turns to his wife)♪

Let's finishhh him off.

(Just then, bouncy upbeat music begins to play, with Dot and Oogie dancing while holding hands.)

Oogie Boogie Background Singer and Dot: ♪Thaddeus Plotz, you mean old man! Causing pain wherever you can, it's all about to hit the fan, you greedy C.E.O.!♪

♪You're guilty in the first degree of causing pain and misery!♪

(Dot and Oogie throw Mr. Plotz in the box and Dot dives in after him)

♪Now it's time for you to see, so hang on, here we go!♪♪

Oogie Boogie Background Singer (On the final note of the music): Hey! (Oogie flies into the box)

[04dissection]

hi, for ask game~ 1, 3, 4, 11, 16 for Muu and 2, 5, 7, 8 for Fuuta, please 💖

HI ANON!!!!! Thank you so much for the question! This gets hilariously long so under the read more it goes.

Content Warnings: Discussions of suicide

Muu Kusunoki

1. favorite song lyrics?

I think it'd probably be these lines from After Pain.

"If you're going to make me the villain / It's okay to ignore me / If it's endurance, I'm used to it / It's just having another taste of it."

With the added context of It's Not My Fault, and with After Pain being very solidly about events after It's Not My Fault, I suppose you can say this is a part of Muu's difficulties with ascribing fault to herself- actually, since you asked me about both of them, I find it so intriguing T2 seems to exemplify a sort of contrast of fault and guilt that 0304 as a duo has. Muu doesn't feel guilty nor at fault, Rei deserved it because of what she did to her, while Futa does feel guilty and admits fault(or at least seems to), and, in a way, you can make their motives similar: they did what they believed was right. Sorry, tangent over, continuing on.

I just personally love this line because of how it's sung and how it somewhat subverts us expecting to her to hit a higher note(it's been forever since I've actually done any music theory, so I don't know the terms).

To include a line from It's Not My Fault, I really like this one! (Using the translation from Fandom as much as I... dislike using it since I couldn't find who made the translation originally and as we know It's Not My Fault's official translation is... rough).

"Don’t ever hate me, and don’t look for what lies “after and from” the pain. / Wait, wait, it’s not my fault! / You get it, right? It’s you, after all. / What a relief. Can’t be helped. Since I’m always meant to be pitied-"

I adored her referencing After Pain here, and telling us not to look into it- literally telling the audience 'don't look into me <3 you said you don't hate me! so you don't have to look into me!' I specifically always like 'I'm always meant to be pitied.' This line really says a lot about Muu, and especially of how she acted in T1- though that was also partially and probably mostly from fear.

I need to mention, though, Muu's not a manipulator. Even if she tries to, her personality will get in the way of it. The thing with her is that she sees relationships as purely transactional and that the right thing to do is just to let people get their way. It's not that she doesn't care about Haruka, it's that to her, his threat was what he wanted to do, so why should she get in the way?

She wants us to pity her because we, the audience, made pity mean forgiveness- so if we fit that into her framework of relationships, wouldn't that mean that the transaction is her making us feel bad for her in exchange for being voten forgiven? I hope that's something that will come up in T3.

3. favorite non-mv official illustration?

I can just say the cake art, but I actually really like the third anniversary art- which is my profile picture.

But I adore it. It's a very unsettling piece, what this the spotlight lighting and all, and her expression is so wonderfully creepy. I love this art set a lot, it's great.

4. favorite minigram episode/moment?

Episode 22! Specifically the third panel on this page: (x)

It's such a funny little minigram and I adore this single frame of Muu holding Jackalope so much. I like to imagine that she had wanted to hold him since he popped up in the interrogation room during her first voice drama. And I can agree, rabbits are really nice to hold on your lap as long as you aren't stressing them out too much.

Fun fact, actually- the minigrams associating Muu with plaid(31 and 38) is actually the reason why I have the my blog background as the squares. They made me associate her with those square patterns.

11. what are your favorite points about their story and the narrative surrounding them?

Definitely how both her and Rei caused the downfall of the other, in a way. Both repaid aggression with aggression, with one case leading to months of intense bullying and the other leading to a murder. I'm not saying that these are equal, but that doesn't make either good things to do. Muu and Rei both turned that hourglass on the other.

I don't know, it gets to me how much they seem to have torn into each other and the length of time they did. Rei wasn't some completely innocent girl, and neither was Muu- They're both messy with ugly emotions and ugly truths and ugly actions. In the end, both were hurt and more than likely both dead because of the abuse they suffered at the hands of both each other and their peers.

16. how do you think they actually sing in regular life?

I haven't seen what she says on the karaoke cards so if I'm wrong I'm wrong- but I think Muu is an alright singer at best. Her range is.... abysmal to put it nicely and her voice can be rather squeaky at times. If she is able to stay in her range though, she has a rather pleasant singing voice. I imagine she used to sing more and used to have a better voice, but once she began to get bullied she slowly just stopped.

Fuuta Kajiyama

2. favorite mv moment/frame?

Something really gets me about this moment in Backdraft. Something about watching yourself repeat your mistakes, and remembering how gleeful you were doing it- you really just become sick from the joy you derived from awful things. At least that's my interpretation of it.

...As a weird aside, I ended up spending like, half an hour trying to see if there was a word in psychology for what I meant. I'm still figuring out a new search engine over google(playing with a bunch of different ones) so my results are definitely different feeling. But it did remind me of flashbulb memories, so I guess it wasn't for nothing.

I also should mention I love the fact that Bring It On is 4:04 minutes long. As you probably know, that's an error code!

"The server cannot find the requested resource. In the browser, this means the URL is not recognized. In an API, this can also mean that the endpoint is valid but the resource itself does not exist." (x)

5. favorite voice drama line/moment?

Braze You! at the start is just 4 minutes of Es tearing into Fuuta and it's beautiful. I think it's just nice to see Es having a good time, even if that's from harassing Fuuta.

But that's not my favorite moment- Braze You! is definitely very fun to watch, but Baptism of Fire is absolutely one of the best VDs we've gotten so far- with Fuuta calling Es out on the hypocrisy of our previous votes- why WAS Kotoko innocent and him not? While personally, I'd argue that it was dependent on how both were framed in their videos, Fuuta doesn't know about those. And anyways, he's right. We ARE doing this all for fun. Even if he got entertainment out of cancelling people, we're still not that much better than him- in his perspective at least. At the end of this day, Milgram is a work of fiction. There's a degree of separation from the events we can give ourselves, even if the characters attack the fourth wall with all their might.

7. favorite relationships with another character if they weren't in milgram, the way you'd imagine or would like them to be?

Oh this is a difficult one for me... I'll go with Fuuta and and Yuno. She likes messing with people a lot and I think it'd be funny. I adore when characters mess with other characters in a playful way. Yeah this is short, but Fuuta doesn't exactly give me a lot of lee-way with how he talks about everyone.

8. what is your theory for their crime? if there is general consensus on it in the fandom, do you have any other, not-so-widely-accepted thoughts on it?

I generally do believe in the consensus that Fuuta was part of some sort of online 'purist' group- named 'the dark triad,' very ironic name you guys- and seemed to start a campaign on Killcheroy that led to her death- with him doxxing her at some point due to how close she lived to him. I'm not entirely sure on the importance of Rumerie as of now, but I can say for certain that he is important- I mean, the graffiti in Backdraft is literally both Fuuta and Rumerie's online names intertwined- but he's important in some aspect that I just haven't figured out yet.

...While I don't have much evidence for it, I think my major divergence from common consensus is that Killcheroy did not commit suicide. If there's anything that's been obvious symbolism in this series, it's that it uses the practice of taking off your shoes before committing suicide to convey the action- please note that with Mahiru's boyfriend, Hinako, and Muu(Haruka does not participate in this, but he does have his atrocities against shoes). But notably, in Undercover:

Killcheroy Es has both their shoes on.

Undercover is a music video that definitely needs more examination(There originally was a Mikoto derailment here, but that's a different post), and this is one of those things- because Undercover doesn't lie- it might dramatize, such as showing Mahiru strangling Es while they stand in for her boyfriend, but that's in a way, right- Mahiru is here for the fact she directly led to her boyfriend's suicide. While you could argue and say that Fuuta has no idea what happened- and as such doesn't know if she committed suicide or not, as he says in Baptism of Fire:

I believe this is jumping to conclusions. We have to remember: Undercover is not Fuuta's song. It isn't even Es' song, they're just the conduit. This is the song of Milgram itself, I believe. And Milgram definitely is not restrained by real world law and theory. So far, all the bodies of Es as the victims roughly match to what happened- even Mikoto's, who is just plain unable to access the memory. So why would Fuuta's be different?

That argument aside, while I currently don't have a lot of basis for it as I'm still figuring out a lot of the details in Fuuta's case, I believe Killcheroy died from health complications exacerbated from stress- presumably a heart condition, as a lot of the blood in the Undercover art looks like it came from approximately the chest area. My evidence right now is that I made it the fuck up, sorry, but it's the main one I can think of since I really don't think she committed suicide.

[feisaru]

Some silly little lore about one of my drawings: it contains lyrics from a song that was sung during a singing circle at the festival.

The festival was an attempt from my aunt to make me open up a lil' more, which only worked semi-well, but the singing circle did indeed do something for me. I just let my voice drop low while singing without getting embarrassed about it because it was drowned out in an ocean of other voices anyway. That was the most natural I have ever gotten while singing. And that was freeing. I think my voice, in some situations, is just deeper than what others would find acceptable. I've been trying to force it higher, especially while singing, since basically forever. Younger me wanted to hit high notes so bad because they thought that was the only way to sound good and never succeeded. I've been forcing it higher when with others involuntarily for a long time. Not modifying my voice around someone was an indicator for trust, once. I don't want it to be that way any longer. Now that I noticed it's that way, I'm trying to unlearn it but I suppose that will take time. I'd really like to sound more like me when talking to whoever

[allthemusic]

Week ending: 29th November

It's not often you get a week where both new entries eventually reach Number 1. On paper, it bodes well. But I've said before and I will say again, the British public's taste isn't a surefire metric of "this is a good song". So I guess we'll see?

Tower of Strength - Frankie Vaughan (peaked at Number 1)

It feels like it's been ages since Frankie graced the charts, but in reality it's only been maybe a year. It just feels like quite a lot can happen in a year. Still, Frankie is still Frankie, it seems, and so we've got a cover here, this time of an original by R&B artist Gene McDaniels. Who seems to have been quite the popular artist in 1961 - while we've not heard any of his original versions, he was also the singer behind A Hundred Pounds of Clay, as covered by Craig Douglas not that long ago.

Like many of the songs Frankie ends up covering, there's a slight cheesiness to it, a lot of big, bold claims. I kind of like the conceit, though - it's like one big fantasy of how Frankie wants to leave his lover. If I were a tower of strength, I'd walk away, he sings, I'd look in your eyes, and here's what I'd say. And he goes on and launches into a whole spiel about how he doesn't need or want them. There's a nastiness to it that Frankie seems to be relishing, spitting out the lines about how you'd be down on your knees / You'd be calling to me, or about how I'd laugh at your tears and tell you goobye. But then, the kicker. Because a tower of strength is something I'll never be. This is all a hypothetical. Frankie would leave his lover, if he could, but for now he's simply not strong enough, and so a song about being a "tower of strength" becomes, ironically enough, a confession of weakness.

They're cool lyrics, but the main attraction here has to be the performance, and just the sheer energy and oomph Frankie throws at it. It's a song that bursts through your front door and demands you pay attention, from the blaring sax intro, to the high almost falsetto notes Frankie periodically hits, to the little squawks ("doo-oor!") and growls ("buuuuut"), to the dramatic pauses hre drops in periodically ("something.... I'll never be!") I doesn't feel like the coolest or the subtlest song, but my goodness, it's compelling. You get a real sense of showmanship from it, Frankie as a proper showbiz entertainer.

Moon River - Danny Williams (1)

And then, from the jazz and fireworks of Frankie, to something altogether more chill, a lullaby of a song that you probably know. The original is by Henry Mancini, and was featured in the film Breakfast at Tiffany's, a film that I haven't seen, but that I am assured is about a free-spirited but naive young socialite striking up a relationship with a writer. The song, in the film, is sung by this young lady, Holly Golightly, as played by Audrey Hepburn, with only a guitar as her accompaniment. Danny Williams, a South African-born singer who was apparently dubbed "Britain's Johnny Mathis", picks up some more strings, but there's still a simplicity to it, a sleepy sort of comfort.

Notably, it doesn't completely make sense, if you look at the lyrics. Moon river, wider than a mile, Danny sings, I'm crossing you in style some day. And then, we've got a dream maker, you heart breaker / Wherever you're going, I'm going your way. And then, suddenly we've got two drifters, off to see the world / There's such a lot of world to see, Danny acknowledging that we're after the same rainbow's end, waiting round the bend / My huckleberry friend, moon river and me. All this is quite vague, dream-like in its language. Where's this "moon river", and what's a "huckleberry friend"? And what kind of relationship is Danny supposed to be singing about? You could easily read it as romantic, but it doesn't necessarily have to be, it could just as easily be a song about friendship, or even just the appeal of a shared dream, of wanderlust and the desire to see the world, to live life, to indulge your curiosity. It's a song about travel, and about wanting to travel. And like a real rainbow's end, there's an ambiguity to it - is the end goal, the "moon river" somewhere they can ever really reach? Or will it forever remain unattainable? And is it a problem, if it does, or is this a song about the longing, as an end in and of itself? The song doesn't quite ever decide, and it's all the better for it.

Add to that the melody, the harmonies, the performance - all of it coming together to make a perfect storm of nostalgia and wistfulness. Whoever branded Danny as the British Johnny Mathis was bang on the money, he's got a lovely, smooth, gentle voice, but at the same time he's really able to sell the desperation of it all, the grand, ambitious, achingly sentimental sweep of it. And all that without ever sounding like he's going too big, reaching too far - it took me a few listens to really appreciate the intensity Danny brings, because it's not showy like, say, Frankie Vaughan. It's subtle, but it's effective - I really didn't come into this song expecting to feel so many emotions about it, but it's left me feeling real misty-eyed, and has made me want to up and book a flight somewhere. Which is probably the intended outcome, honestly.

I did enjoy both of these songs, and I don't mind either of them making Number 1. But only one of them made me want to get Skyscanner open and see where's cheap to travel to. I came into this knowing Moon River, but I'd never really thought about the lyrics of it, or the meaning behind them. I'd just assumed it was a straightforward love song. But it's really about wanderlust, isn't it, with the romance woven in as a bonus. Marvellous stuff.

Favourite song of the bunch: Moon River

[mashitandsmashit]

AGT Season 17: Live Shows 3

11: XOMG POP. Catchy, yet...annoying...I can have a soft spot when it comes to girly bubble-gum pop, but with an already-established pop star managing them, they do come off as...manufactured...

10: Mia Morris. This girl is very talented, and she has the means of recording a good track...But live, it is quite the mess...Also, maybe she should move away from 2002, since I don't think she was even born yet back then...

9: Jojo and Bri. (I wonder if Jojo went into the audience to meet the other Jojo managing XOMG POP...) Once again, a very cute chemistry and strong harmony...I suppose Bri would make a good solo singer as well, but for now, they were mostly just nice and somewhat forgettable...

8: Cline Twins. Again, some impressive tricks, but not much that stood out from their audition...They felt rather swallowed up by the stage...It's a shame, because I did have some ideas in my head on how they could expand the act for the live stage...Still, gotta give them credit for not dropping the pucks (or the sticks) once...

7: Funkanometry. From one young male Canadian duo to another...These guys pretty much suffered the same problem as the last entry, in that they didn't take full advantage of the big stage or production...But they still have an amusing personality that said previous entry severely lacks...It makes for a fun high school talent show performance, but it's not a Vegas act...

6: Amanda Mammana. I'd say this was a decent step up from her audition, but still not enough to bowl me over...That said, I like her passion and nice, soothing voice (that again works through a disability).

5: MPLUSPLUS. While this was far from the best light-up act I've seen on this show, I feel that they deserved more credit than Howie gave them...There were still enough unique effects to keep me both interested and entertained...

4: Hayden Kristal. Something about this lady gave me a fairly hearty chuckle this time! Best of all, it wasn't ENTIRELY about her condition, and still managed to be relatable (even for someone like me who never even owned a dog...)

3: Sara James. I'd probably go out on a limb and say that Sara is the best overall vocalist of the season! What's more, she has a great stage presence! And she took the Angelina Jordan approach by doing such a unique take on an Elton John song! (Best cover of “Rocketman” since William Shatner!)

2: Nicolas Ribs. Is he the BEST magician we've seen on this show...? Not really...I thought Yu Hojin's trick last week was a little more slick and compelling...(And let's not even GET into comparing with Shin Lim!) But it IS telling that I consider this trick at the same LEVEL as the one last week! Once again, he used a little table projection, which concerned me as I wasn't that impressed by it last time...But he seemed to up the sleight-of-hand, along with an animation that reminds me of the classic Flash animation with the stick-figure battling the cursor! I actually kinda forgot about the thing with Terry's card, and like Heidi said, his accent was a little hard to understand...BUT! (I'm giving quite a few “buts” in here...) BUT! ...It was cool, slick and well-presented! It's ironic that after last season I felt just about done with magicians...Because I actually wouldn't mind having TWO in the Finals this year! (Just PLEASE, don't let either of them win! They've been great and all, but I want to see something DIFFERENT win this year!)

1: Celia Munoz. Well, I knew we would be hearing this song sooner or later this season to pay tribute to ONJ...But I certainly wasn't expecting it to be sung THIS way! This lady...is brilliant! I never imagined that watching a woman just sitting down and eating popcorn could be so funny and entertaining! I think she may be a real contender in this game, and I REALLY hope she makes it through tomorrow!

For all of my criticisms, this WAS a strong show! Everyone in here had SOMETHING enjoyable to their performance! ...Blah, blah, blah, two acts, blah, blah, blah, terrible format, blah, blah, blah...

So let's guess how they'll rank tomorrow...

Ranking Prediction:

11: XOMG POP

10: Mia Morris

9: MPLUSPLUS

8: Jojo and Bri

7: Cline Twins

6: Funkanometry

5: Amanda Mammana

4: Hayden Kristal

3: Nicolas Ribs

2: Celia Munoz

1: Sara James

Tomorrow, Kodi Lee returns with yet more musicians that only HE could rise to perform with!

---

Well, I must say, the whole results show was pretty much going EXACTLY as I had mapped out in my head...I called it with the Top 5, I called it with the Top 3, and I called who would get sent through first...But I guess I got my hopes up that Celia would be sent through over Nicolas...I suppose it WAS naive of me to think the magician wouldn't be in the Top 2...At the end of the day, America still has its obvious draws to certain kinds of acts that it always votes through WITHOUT FAIL!

Sad to see Celia go, but I said I wouldn't mind Nicolas joining Yu in the Finals, and I stick by it! Both of them truly have performed neat tricks that rival Shin Lim...As for Celia, I'd say she's the most fitting choice so far as the wildcard act for the Finals...

Kodi is always great, though I'd probably say the other singer (who kinda looked like a bald Post Malone) overshadowed him here...Didn't get to hear much from Journey's guitarist either...

(Current Edit: Reading "bald post malone", I had to look up who it actually was, and sure enough, it was Teddy Swims before he hit it big!)

So this is the part where I WOULD make my early predictions for next week, except they didn't show who was gonna be ON next week...And since I still can't access the proper resources to see who to expect, I guess I'm not gonna know until then...

So I'll see you then!

[yanderes-galore]

Hi Panther !

Is it possible if you make another continuation for Foxy ? 👉👈

I want to read more of him please ~

THANK YOU ❤️❤️❤️

Hiiii! Sure, I can try! Name is based off the FNAF song of the same name as I felt it was fitting. Animatronic or android, does not matter. This is a scenario based off the end of my Foxy concept (You can find it in the FNAF Masterlist). A continuation, if you will.

I went until I ran out of ideas- I hope this satiated your craving for now. I can already tell people are going to want a sequel so I guess I should start thinking. I didn't want it to end like the Bonnie one.... If you guys have an idea where I should guide it, I'm listening.

Noticed

Yandere! Foxy Scenario

Pairing: Romantic/Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Yandere behavior, Possessive behavior, Kidnapping, Manipulation, Threats, Mentions of violence.

Ever since Foxy was fixed by you, he felt indebted. For the longest time he could only sit back and watch in the day. All stuck in his small cove with no place to go.

For years he was broken down, only able to watch the kiddies from afar. The band sung their usual songs and he never got to join in. It was a lonely time for the captain with no crew....

Then you were hired. A mechanic meant to be assigned the job of making the fox who he used to be. He will admit is was refreshing when you took him out of the cove and sat him on the repair table.

For a good long time that became his new home. Although it was not nearly as cramped or lonely. You came by everyday to see just what else needed to be fixed.

Piece by piece the pirate fox saw himself become good as new. Once done he was speechless. You did most of this all by yourself....

Finally Foxy could go back to having a full crew. Interacting with the other band members, going on adventures with the children....

But you never left his memory. Ever since you were officially assigned in his database after his repairs. At night in his cove he found himself replaying the recording his data kept for future repairs.

"I'm (Y/N) (L/N), A mechanic for Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Got that?"

He heard you loud and clear, yes.

Although after his repairs he never got to see you much after that. You were only around for repairs.... You must be so busy.

But like a pirate, he's selfish and yearns to see you more.

He went from seeing you everyday to seeing you never.

"I wonder how me best mate is doing...."

Your chats may have been small but he remembers every single one of them. You saved him from disrepair and treated him well!

You noticed him.

How could he not look forward to seeing you?

While resting in his cove, looking over his delightfully new paw and skin, the fox overheard something important.

"Night guards are complaining about the generator not working. We'll have to call (L/N) again."

The pirate's ears perk up, utterly overjoyed.

His best mate was coming back and nothing could prevent you from looking at the fox!

Excitement sparked in the bot as he waited for the day to end. Kids even noticed the fox's more delighted mood during his performance. It made his entertainment even better.

Once night faded in he heard the door open. You quietly walked in before entering the 'Parts & Service' room. Yellow eye glowing in delight, the pirate departs from his stage and heads in to confront you.

He didn't get why you hid from him, however....

"Matey! I've been waiting for ye, come, let's chat at me cove!"

You kick and scream when he drags you out from the table. There's no need for that! He just wants to see you again.

"Foxy! You're supposed to be off! Please, you've gotta be malfunctioning!"

The pirate drags you into his cove before blocking the entrance with his body.

"Malfunctioning? Matey, ye know better than anyone about me servos! This ain't a malfunction!"

You press yourself against the wall, the fox's eye staring into you.

"Yer never around no more, matey. How am I supposed to function without me best mate!"

Foxy chuckles, mouth gaped open in a smile.

"I'm just a mechanic, Foxy-"

"Yer a mechanic who fixed me when no one else would, matey."

"I have other duties...."

Foxy didn't look impressed.

"Ye noticed me, (Y/N). I can't have ye ignoring me after that. If I can't speak with ye, I will make ye speak with me."

The large metal hook of the robot pushes your chin up. Any sudden move would gouge you.

"Admit it, ye want to chat, too. Why not swap jobs?"

You felt insane speaking with the bot holding you captive.

"Even if I wanted to...I can't."

Again, the bot didn't look impressed and pressed the hook harsher. Luckily it wasn't the sharp end.

"Why?"

"There's no open day shift jobs-"

"...I could always make one."

Your blood runs cold.

"What-"

"Ye know what this jaw of mine is capable of, (Y/N). One, little, 'accidental' snap...."

As if to make a point, Foxy snaps his jaw closed with a jolt, making you jump.

"Or me hook could work, too. Either way, it'll just be a 'malfunction'."

"Foxy, please don't-"

You didn't want the bot to start harming people because you didn't want to 'speak' with him. Who would believe you?

"If ye don't wish for that to happen, listen to yer captain...."

You hush yourself quickly. The fox narrows his eye before going back to smiling.

"Maybe I could keep ye here, instead...."

Foxy hums to himself a small tune while thinking. You feel like a rabbit before the mechanical fox. One wrong move from you could cause someone to get hurt, you or others.

"Sadly, I'm not sure how that'd work. The cove wouldn't be big enough for the two of us. They'd surely find ye, too...."

If you got out of here alive, you'd be sure to find a way to reprogram the pirate. This behavior was not suitable for kids... or anyone!

"But if ye leave... ye may never come back. But...I could always just start hurting people if ye decide that."

"Fine! I'll come by every day...."

That same old yellow eye snaps back to you again.

"How can I trust ye...?"

You think deeply for a moment. True...how could he?

"I...."

"Ye think ye can outsmart a fox? I applaud yer bravery but it ain't that easy."

You sadly slump back against the wall.

You wondered how long this talk would take, or how long you'd be trapped here.

Maybe there was a reason he was never supposed to be noticed?

[spaceorphan18]

Glee Musical Retrospective: My Life Would Suck Without You

Sung by: Rachel Berry feat. New Directions Original Artist(s): Kelly Clarkson

I really adore this number. I have no idea if they knew when they made it if they'd be picked up for the Back 9 but if they hadn't been, this would have been the closing number for the show. And while there would have been some definite loose ends not tied up - musically, I think this little number was a perfect way to end the first stretch of episodes.

Story Analysis

So, this song about a dysfunctional relationship is really being used to service the two major story lines not only of this episode, but of the series so far.

The first is the relationship of the glee club and the varying relationships and dynamics found throughout the group --

'Cause we belong together now, yeah Forever united here somehow, yeah You got a piece of me and honestly My life (My life) would suck (Would suck) without you

The language in the song is very informal - and very apt for a bunch of teenagers to be singing it to and for each other. And I think it's the perfect sentiment for this group of kids to be singing to each other after everything they've been through.

Coming into the group, even the popular kids, their lives did suck. And then they found a place to belong with each other. Even long after glee club is over - they will have a little piece of each other, because they've bonded in an experience only they know about.

I also find the 'forever united here somehow' line interesting, too, on a meta level. This cast of young people are forever bound by this show -- and not matter how far they grow from it, they will be united for all of television history because of the impact the show made on everyone. Of course, they didn't know it at the time of making it, but it's an interesting after effect.

The second story it services (and maybe to a greater degree?) is the Will and Emma romantic plot - which has been simmering to this point since the beginning. Something I find amusing is that while both stories can take the chorus, the verse fit the Wemma story really well.

I know that I've got issues But you're pretty messed up too Either way, I found out I'm nothing without you

Being with you Is so dysfunctional I really shouldn't miss you But I can't let you go

Even though I could easily highlight all the lyrics - I think these really hit the nail on the head for Wemma. Unlike the kids who are still navigating their youth - Will and Emma have lived a bit -- and through their stories they've both acknowledged that even though they're adults, they can be pretty screwed up to. But the point is that in finding each other - they've made each other better people.

And really - we've had 13 episodes to see how much Will and Emma's lives do suck without each other. And throughout this song - the message of the song really hits at Will as he wistfully think about Emma leaving. Likewise - Emma is in the same headspace, she doesn't really want to go, but sometimes (especially because it's TV) you just need a moment to get your priorities straight.

As an aside - this might be the most functional I've ever found Wemma? And probably their most beautiful moment on screen together. The song building to their beautiful first kiss in the hallway is really one of the sweetest moments on the show -- and the song underscores it perfectly.

Life is a bunch of dysfunctional relationships. But man would it suck without them.

Technical Thoughts

The song is a little heavy on the autotune - and I always find it a little distracting in songs that are supposed to be sung live. (The audio on this clip also seems a little out of whack - but that might just be YouTube.) But - I still think it sounds good. It's a fun and upbeat song and you can tell the cast is, seemingly, having a good time with it.

The thing that really stands out to me -- something I don't think they ever really do again -- is utilize choreography from nearly every other number they did. And thankfully - someone else did a break down so I don't have to!

The New Directions' beginning formation and opening choreography is just like Hair/Crazy in Love from Hairography.

The New Directions doing choreography with cowboy hats from Last Name from The Rhodes Not Taken.

Mercedes on top of the chairs, just like in Hate on Me.

Kurt, Tina, and Brittany performing their dance routine to Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) from Preggers.

Quinn, Santana, and Brittany performing their dance routine from I Say a Little Prayer from Showmance.

The boys doing moves from It's My Life/Confessions Part II while the girls doing moves from Halo/Walking on Sunshine, both from the episode Vitamin D.

The New Directions doing a move from Sit Down You're Rockin' The Boat from Pilot.

The New Directions performing the choreography from Keep Holding On from Throwdown.

The boys clapping their hands over their heads while the girls slap their thighs like in Push It from Showmance.The New Directions also does a couple other moves from Push It.

In a scene that's cut, Tina slaps her thighs like in I Kissed a Girl from Pilot.

Santana does her iconic hip drop like in You Keep Me Hangin' On from Throwdown.

Brittany does hair flips from Hairography.

Artie rocks in his chair from Proud Mary.

I think that makes this one of the most unique and fascinating numbers in the whole history of the show. It's so cool to watch everyone and try to pick out what dance move is from where. It must have been a pain to both work it out and edit it -- but it's so worth it -- as it highlights all the previous performances in the Front 13.

I love this number so much!

Also, I'd like to add that everything that went into doing the Wemma kiss at the end was brilliantly done. The colors and the hallway and the way the shot was lit. It's really beautiful - and despite my mostly disinterest in the storyline, they crafted this moment with such care. It's so wonderfully done.

Glee Live

Well, this is super cute! Though the video yearbook thing is a little weird, though. Something interesting - the fact that in the show version - the girls' voices stand out more, but here, you can definitely here the boys' voices come through. The balance is nice, actually.

Also, unsurprisingly, they don't do /all/ the choreography. That would have been somewhat insane to try to recreate everything they did for the show. But the cast looks like they're still having fun jumping around everywhere.

vs. The Studio Version: I always think the mixing is stronger on the studio version. The balance is better -- intentionally so, as you're more focused on the music over the visuals. I think Cory and Lea sound better blending together -- Cory sounds a little strained in the show version. Plus, they're still doing that thing where it sounds like they're doubling the tracks. And, as usual, there's about a minute of added song - where we get to hear Tina's verse!

vs. The Original Version: Oh my goodness, look how young Kelly Clarkson is here. Also, I think it's kind of fitting that they use a song from the original American Idol season. I mean - Glee premiered after American Idol - and part of the reason it shot to popularity so quickly is that it did, in a way, tie in with the reality show. So, it seems kinda fitting that they'd use a song that is attached to it.

The arrangement is pretty much the same - other than Glee using more back up vocals, they made it pretty close to the original.

And, interestingly, the way the video portrays a somewhat dysfunctional love relationship - with a pair of people who have grown up together - seems about right, fitting in thematically with the show. It's one of those things where Glee is not only able to really capture the spirit of the original song but make it its own in an iconic kind of way.

[itsuki-minamy]

"CRUSH ON BABY" (PART 4)

NOVEL: REI RAIRAKU (GORA) / ILLUSTRATION: HIROKO UTSUMI

TRANSLATION: NARU-KUN

* List of Chapters

"You said it had nothing to do with me. It's true that your life has nothing to do with me. What matters now... Hibiki asked you to compose a song, right?"

Yozora widened his eyes.

"Why...?"

"I heard the live concert staff talking about it. It seems that Hibiki wants to sing a song that someone else composes. The other party is a friend of a former pianist. Yozora Kamijo. You were at the last concert, right? You were with the friend from Hibiki, a hairdresser. If Hibiki's desired partner is not you, just say no."

When Yozora fell silent, Miike laughed.

"I see. After all, it's you."

Yozora was in a state of being cornered in the back because he had gotten into the counter. Cautiously, he asked, "So, what's up?"

"How's the progress?"

"Eh?"

"Are you making it? A song for Hibiki."

"No, I've given up on music..."

"Do not be silly!"

Miike, who had been muttering up to this point, suddenly became furious.

"They're looking for you though! You're talented! You're a human who can become anyone! Everyone wants it and you throw it away like trash!"

Miike screamed with a sore throat. At the same time, the door to the bar was flung open as a thud of footsteps was heard.

"Yozora!"

It was Hibiki who jumped. The two of them widened their eyes when they saw Yozora and Miike facing each other.

After a few seconds of silence that left everyone speechless, Minase was the first to speak.

"What are you doing? The inside of the counter is not a place for customers to enter. Please get out of there first."

Minase spoke in a low and calm voice, but Miike didn't look at Minase. He was turned towards Hibiki, and his expression trembled a lot, reflecting confusion. His eyes clouded with impatience, his confidence distorted as if he was scared, and a forced smile appeared that seemed to deceive him.

"Hey, Hibiki..."

"Minase is right. Get out of there."

Hibiki let out a forceful voice, but Miike shook his head tearfully.

"No, Hibiki, you don't have to worry about a thing. Because I can make your wishes come true. I will bless Hibiki."

Miike took a step towards Yozora with a ghastly look in his eyes.

"Promise you'll make a song for him."

"Stop!"

Hibiki raised his voice like a howl.

"I have no intention of making him do it. Stop being stupid."

"Hibiki! It's my fault you weren't satisfied with my song! I thought of Hibiki so much when I made it! You said you didn't want it unless it was Kamijo Yozora's song!"

Miike's breathing became rough and his shoulders rose and fell.

"I've been playing the piano with all my might. Ever since I was little, I've practiced for hours every day. I've endured strict instruction! But if Yozora Kamijo was present at the competition, the prize would always go to Yozora Kamijo. Even after graduating from a music school, I couldn't find a job in music, and when I was asked to perform from time to time, I had no intention of doing it, I was just trying to use it for free... What the hell happened with my early 20s playing the piano?!"

After yelling for a while, Miike suddenly calmed down.

"But then I discovered Hibiki's song. At first I thought rock music wasn't real music, but after hearing Hibiki's song, I changed my mind. There's something about music that moves people."

Even Yozora agreed with the last part of Miike's words. Hibiki's songs are intensely up-tempo and you can feel a ray of sadness and sweetness. Sung in Hibiki's mysteriously colored voice, it seems to appeal to the emotions of those who feel they lack themselves.

"Blessings to you, who was supposed to be someone, now you are nothing."

Miike muttered a passage from Hibiki's song lyrics.

"I couldn't be anyone. But Hibiki's song gave me a blessing. So this time, I will bless Hibiki. Hibiki's success is my success."

Miike's melancholic eyes fixed on Yozora, closing the distance.

"Do it! Make a song for Hibiki! It's the duty of someone with talent!"

Miike's hand grabbed Yozora's neck and shook it.

Miike's expression resembled that of a crying child. Sound obsession. He was jealous of Yozora. Resentment for the current situation. They were scrambled and bursting.

Hibiki moved as Yozora was shaken.

He kicked the swinging door of the bar and went inside to stop Miike.

"Enough, idiot!"

Hibiki pulled him back and his hand released from Yozora's neck. Inside the narrow counter, Hibiki and Miike crouched on the floor. At that moment, Miike's arm hit the knife holder.

A small knife used to cut fruit slipped from the knife holder, falling on Hibiki and Miike, who were on the ground.

"Ah.", a small voice was heard to escape.

At that moment, Yozora felt as if the world had gone into slow motion.

He believed that he could hear the sound of blood coming out of his body and could clearly see the trajectory of the spinning knife as he fell.

Yozora desperately reached out and grabbed the knife that was about to fall on Hibiki and the others.

"Oh!"

He was unable to grasp the handle of the knife. However, he was able to catch it by grabbing the blade.

"Yozora!"

"Yozora-kun!"

Hibiki and Minase yelled at the same time.

Yozora threw the knife into the sink and yelled at Hibiki and Miike, who were still struggling on the ground.

"Don't do things that hurt people who are making music! You, idiot!"

Hibiki and Miike were together for a moment in Yozora's sword curtain.

"Eh? Did he scold me too? No, I mean, you did something that hurt Yozora!"

Hibiki immediately came to his senses, pushed Miike aside, jumped up, and grabbed Yozora's wrist. A small pain welled up in the palm of his hand.

"I'm fine. It's just a little cut on the palm of my hand. It's a scratch."

Yozora looked at Miike, who had sunk to the ground. Miike was stunned and looked towards Yozora, letting Minase pull him off the counter.

Yozora sighed and withdrew the hand that Hibiki had held, looking at his wounds again. The part where he struck the blade was a thin blood-red streak, but a large band-aid was enough.

Yozora said to Miike as he took out a first aid kit.

"I can't play the piano like I used to."

Miike's reaction was slow, but he felt the eyes of Hibiki and Minase looking at Yozora.

Since they met again they had never asked him why he stopped playing the piano.

They chose to stay close to him without stepping on the soft inside of Yozora.

He put a Band-Aid on the wound on his palm and gently pressed his left arm with that hand.

"When I was in college, I had a more serious injury than a scratch like this. It wasn't a major scarring injury. I've recovered to the point where I can go about my daily life without any problems. But… my fingers don't move like before."

They all held their breath and remained silent. Yozora looked at his left arm. There's nothing wrong with living a normal life, but he can't move his fingers enough to play like he used to.

"If only I could play the piano, I could still play. But the coveted pianist Yozora Kamijo can't play anymore. That scared me, so I threw everything away and ran away."

The world of pianists is tough. A large number of piano students graduate each year, but among them, only a handful of people, such as sand, can earn a living as performers. Like Miike, many people who wanted to make a living from music couldn't find a way to do it and drifted away as if they were nothing.

Yozora was aware that he was a lucky pinch. That's why he suddenly fell from there and got scared.

Still afraid, before he was hurt by facing reality, he had let go of everything and run.

He stopped all acting activities, dropped out of college, cut off all the friendships he had, and set out to disappear. He started working in a bar so he could hide at night and live in silence.

"What's that?"

Miike let out a hoarse voice.

"What's up... that... uh, but... they're still looking for you..."

Sobbing all the while, Miike whimpered. Minase let go of the hand that was holding Miike.

"I understand how you feel."

Miike raised his tear-stained forehead and saw Minase. Minase had a calm expression.

"I also played the piano. My mother wanted me to be a pianist. I grew up with the obsession that I had to be someone at the piano. But I couldn't become anyone."

Minase smiled and extended a hand. Miike grabbed Minase's hand with a swinging motion, as if he was possessed, and stood up.

"Even though you couldn't become a pianist, you still wanted to be someone. Did you think that if you could become someone who gave songs to professionals, you would find value in yourself?"

Minase said with a kind smile.

"But you won't get any blessings as long as you curse yourself that you are nothing."

Miike shook his head, leaning helplessly against the wall and bowing his head.

Yozora looked down with mixed feelings.

"Ah."

Suddenly, he let out his own voice, different from the voice that Minase addressed to Miike.

"Ah, are you alright with the time of the live concert?"

"Damn, no."

Yozora was startled and looked at the clock. There were only about two minutes left before the scheduled live performance start time.

"Idiot! What are you doing?!"

"Why?!"

As Yozora and Hibiki trembled, Minase looked at Yozora and said.

"Yozora-kun, can I ask you something?"

With Minase's words, Yozora remembered that his basic transportation was a motorcycle. However, he wondered if he should dismiss that situation and turned his gaze to Miike, who was still leaning against the wall. He nodded to Yozora.

"Ok. I'll keep him here."

"T-thank you! Wait downstairs!"

Yozora ran up the stairs inside the store to the top floor. The upper part was a warehouse, and served as a liquor and food store, as well as a place to store personal belongings. He took the motorcycle key and helmet from the desk, pulled out the spare helmet from the back of the room, and headed down the outside stairs.

He tossed one of his helmets at the waiting referee and started the motorcycle's engine.

"On board!"

Hibiki immediately got behind Yozora.

He shifted into gear, twisted the throttle to increase engine speed, and started the motorcycle. He ran the shortest route to the concert venue, where there wasn't much traffic.

"Yozora!"

In the wind, he called out to Yozora with a loud voice.

"What?"

"I'm sorry!"

His voice sounded like he was shouting because he wasn't beaten by the wind, but he could tell from his tone that he was unusually depressed.

That was an incident caused by one of his fans. It wasn't unreasonable, but it can be said that it happened because Yozora and Miike had a connection in the past. Half of it was the case with Yozora himself.

It was impossible to talk about it while he was running, so he chose silence for now. Hibiki said "But..." with a serious voice.

"I won't ask you to compose a song for me. Yozora, if you don't think it's funny, it's meaningless."

Fun.

Yozora felt strangely aroused by those words, which seemed to come naturally.

It was a very small and important relief, like waking up from a long, heavy sleep and seeing the sunrise through the window.

The motorcycle arrived in front of the live concert venue before Yozora could reply. Hibiki said "Thank you!" and he ran across the living room, jumping two steps.

Yozora straddled his motorcycle and looked up the stairs to the basement where Hibiki had disappeared.

"Because it's definitely a lot of fun."

From the depths of his memory, the voice of an elementary school boy emerged.

The time when he simply enjoyed playing the piano was the time before he became a promising young pianist, when he spent his time playing to the sound of the piano without worrying about being perfect. Composing music was fun back then, and he was glad to see that the set of sounds he created could move people's emotions, so he made several songs. He even performed his own songs in small recitals.

Somewhere in the waiting room of a recital, a strange boy came and told him. He believed that he told him that he was going to make music. He was so dim that he couldn't remember if it ever happened or not.

Yozora did not take the boy's words seriously. He didn't even remember how he got it. However...

― Do you remember ten years ago? I started playing music that day when I heard your song. Make me a song.

Hibiki remembered that sound from ten years ago.

He really started playing music, after playing music for ten years, he still touched many people's hearts.

Now that he thought about it, the person Hibiki wanted to compose music with wasn't the rising star Yozora Kamijo, but a 15-year-old boy who enjoyed playing his own music.

++++++++++

The case of Shuichi Miike's escape was solved by putting him in the hearts of the four people who were there.

Hibiki rushed to the concert venue on Yozora's motorcycle, and it seems that Minase, who remained at the venue, had a long conversation with him.

It is said that Miike's behavior after that was calm and he even apologized, perhaps because his head had cooled down and he had calmed down, or because Yozora and Minase's words resonated with him.

Just in case, they asked him to take a picture of his ID card with his cell phone to keep his identity, but he said he probably wouldn't use it.

"It's the first time the three of us have met outside, right?"

Tuesday of the week following the incident. Hibiki said that as he waited for Yozora together with Minase in the plaza in front of Shimokitazawa station.

The three of them promised to go out to eat on the regular holiday of the Beauty Salon where Minase works. As an apology for the incident, Hibiki planned to treat them to a feast and made a reservation at a highly recommended Italian restaurant.

"Well, the shop I made a reservation at is on the first street, so even if you don't have to meet me in front of the station, you just need to wait at the bar and I'll drop by."

"Yozora-kun was the one who suggested we meet, right?"

"So..."

For a moment, the two of them silently gazed at the scene in front of the station. You can also see people handing out fliers for theater companies and people playing guitars in the street. Shimokitazawa is a city where many artists who love and nurture their own world gather.

"Minase, you don't play the piano anymore."

Hibiki said that in a low voice.

It is up to the individual to continue or stop doing something. It wasn't his intention to intervene, but remembering the tears he felt when he faced Miike, the words came out of his mouth.

"Yes."

Minase nodded slightly.

"That day, ten years ago, I decided to stop aspiring to be a pianist."

Hibiki opened his eyes and looked at him.

The expression on his face was very calm and serene.

"I went to the same piano class as Yozora-kun. I knew Yozora-kun was a genius. But that day was the first time I was there when Yozora-kun performed a song that he did himself in front of a lot of people."

Minase looked up at the sky with eyes that seemed to see something dazzling. In the darkened sky, little by little, they began to appear.

"It was a shock. I knew Yozora-kun's acting skills were amazing, but that's not all... I felt like I was punched in the head because I played the piano with such joy. When I saw how much he liked to do sounds, I realized that it was difficult for me to play the piano."

Minase smiled shyly.

"Originally, becoming a pianist was not my dream, it was my parents' dream. It was inevitable that I would get tired of facing the keyboard without feeling. Listening to Yozora-kun's recital, I realized that I could never be like him and In a way, I felt relieved."

"I see."

"But that's why I was glad to see Hibiki, who heard the same performance, decide to start making music. I felt like you were picking up what I let go, albeit selfishly."

― Strive you.

Even now, Hibiki remembered what he said in a thoughtful voice.

"Next time, come visit us. Because I have a piano. It might not be bad to play the piano without anyone forcing you, you know?"

"Fufu. That's right."

As Minase laughed softly, the sound of the piano echoed in the plaza.

Sounds danced in the air.

Hibiki widened his eyes. Colorful sounds danced in the air. Hibiki knows the flow of that throbbing sound.

Hibiki and Minase looked at each other. The same guts that Hibiki had floated on Minase's forehead.

The two looked towards where the sound came from. A street piano installed under a building with pictures of musicians painted on the walls. Facing that, Yozora sat down.

Hibiki held his breath and quietly walked over to the piano. In order not to disturb the performance, in order not to interrupt the music, he gently approached.

When they got to the point where they could see Yozora's profile, Minase took a deep breath. Yozora's eyes shone like stars in the night sky as he danced his fingers across the keyboard. Not as innocent as ten years ago, but certainly the seed of someone who enjoys music.

What's playing is the song that Yozora first played at a Christmas restaurant ten years ago. The memories that had faded were revived by Yozora's performance, taking on a lively form.

Hibiki narrowed his eyes and his entire body was bathed in Yozora's music.

When Yozora finished playing the last note, applause broke out. Before he knew it, people had gathered and were clapping enthusiastically.

Yozora stood up and bowed in embarrassment.

"As expected, my fingers don't move like before. There are also blank spaces."

When Hibiki couldn't say anything, he moved closer to him and laughed.

"But it looked fun, Yozora-kun."

Yozora lowered his eyes and nodded, "Yes.".

"I liked to play the piano."

Yozora muttered as if he was going to chew it.

Did he remember the promise? No, either way, it was fine.

"Hey, Yozora. Make me a song."

Wanting to expand the range of his own music, looking for new possibilities for the band, those things were impressed, Hibiki raised the corners of his mouth and laughed, saying that like a child.

"Because it's definitely a lot of fun!"

[aptericia]

thanks for the tag!! I’m tagging uhhhh @vellatra and anyone else who wants to play!

I answered these questions for myself here

Here are answers for Trace and Signe! The story doesn’t have a lot of characters overall, and many of them aren’t fleshed out enough to answer these for ;-;

Are you named after anyone?

TRACE: Not that I know of. That isn’t very common where I live. SIGNE: Of course I am. My name is a demon’s, and it’s said to curse anyone who speaks to its bearer… Not funny? Heh, well. I have no idea.

When was the last time you cried?

TRACE: I’m not much of a crier, so I don’t really remember… (<- he’s lying, it was less than a week ago) SIGNE: You’ll just have to imagine.

Do you have kids?

TRACE: No. I’m not good with kids, and I wouldn’t have time to care for them anyway. SIGNE: No. I’m not good with kids, and I wouldn’t have time to care for them anyway.

Do you use sarcasm?

TRACE: Hmm, I try not to, but sometimes it slips out. SIGNE: I’ve never used sarcasm in my life. Certainly not when answering this question.

What’s the first thing you notice about others?

TRACE: I try to note what mood they’re in and determine if they want anything from me. SIGNE: Let’s just say… I already know everything about you, friend.

What’s your eye color?

TRACE: Dark brown, almost black SIGNE: Just the opposite—light blue, almost colorless.

Scary stories or happy endings?

TRACE: Happy endings I suppose, as long as they’re not just immature. SIGNE: Mmm, the story matters more than the tone to me. But I’ll say happy endings.

Any special talents?

TRACE: I… feel like I had more talents when I was younger. I used to do well at music, math, and writing… But these days, my job doesn’t require much talent, so I’ve left those to wither. SIGNE: I could probably kill you if I wanted to.

Where were you born?

TRACE: In the southeast of Salina, near the coast. It’s a surprisingly different place from here on the western border. SIGNE: Hell :)

What are your hobbies?

TRACE: Reading and cleaning, though I guess those are more ways to de-stress. Sometimes I go to concerts or sporting events when I have time. SIGNE: Woodcarving, but it's been a while since I've done any. Messing with people is always a good pastime, though.

Do you have any pets?

TRACE: No, but my older sister once rescued a lizard and kept it against our parents’ wishes. I think I played with it sometimes. SIGNE: Ha, where I would I keep something like that? And anyways, animals are too wary of me.

What sports do you play/have played?

TRACE: I’ve never played any sports… I’m not exactly weak, but my endurance has always been pretty bad. SIGNE: A handful, but never seriously. Track, shooting, cycling, and martial arts come to mind.

How tall are you?

TRACE: 5’11”, although my whole family is on the tall side. SIGNE: Just under 5’1”. Short, especially to the giants around here.

Favorite subject in school?

TRACE: Math—particularly the subjects with practical applications, like statistics. I did well in most classes, though, and I also sung in the school choir. SIGNE: Assuming I went to school, hmm? …Well, I did. Never cared much for any subject, though. I guess I could say history.

Dream job?

TRACE: Er, my dream job? …Well, my current one pays well enough, so I guess I have no complaints… SIGNE: I wouldn’t say I have one, not anymore. But it'd be fun to have a job that lets me travel all over the world.

15 Questions Tag

Super duper thanks for the tag @maskedemerald

Rules: Answer the 15 questions as your OC or yourself. Tag up to 15 people.

Tagging: @raichana @kyuponstories @aptericia @the-down-upside-finch & @mister-writes

Teach me more about your characters! Please!

Also, my answers are gonna fudge details because some of these questions are not suited for fantasy projects!

Are you named after anyone?

CAS: Aye, Castowen the Brave. Naming kids after folk heroes is pretty common where I'm from. CONORIC: I cannot answer for my real name... my birth name, but apparently Conoric is the name of a folk hero from the same tales as my brother. SARABONNEY: I should hope not! In the ancient customs of my forefathers, my name translates to 'dead flower' to confuse evil spirits. Everyone's got names that mix good and bad things. HUGHWEN: Not as far as I know. There's only one Hughwen Shelborne. GWYNNEN: I believe a great-grandfather on my mother's side. FRYSZKA: Not that I am aware! I have many names that were sponsored by relatives but to my knowledge, I am the only Fryszka I know of! PENTOS: I cannot see that is any of your business.

When was the last time you cried?

CAS: Not since my mother was still around, Lady keep her. That woman could brings tears from a statue! CONORIC: I cannot recall. (He can) SARABONNEY: A long time ago, probably. I'm not so easy to startle, you know. And besides, why does it matter? HUGHWEN: Oh, I can't tell you that! It's a good story though! GWYNNEN: I don't know if it was the last time... but it certainly is the time I remember the strongest. It was the day I decided that I needed to change things. FRYSZKA: Ooh, I'm afraid quite recently. I can be quite tearful! PENTOS: I do not believe that I... cry. (He is correct)

Do you have kids?

CAS: No, not me. If thing'd gone differently, I'd probably have 2 or 3 by now but... my calling was elsewhere. CONORIC: No. Someday... perhaps. But no. SARABONNEY: Are you joking? I've got my hands full with all my brothers and cousins! I don't think even I could handle any more mites running around needing attention! HUGHWEN: (chokes) I... cannot say for certain. I certainly cannot rule that possibility out, if you understand my meaning. GWYNNEN: Not as yet but... I have my eyes on a certain lady... so perhaps someday..? FRYSZKA: No, but when that time comes I want to have so very many! Especially girls! (she trails off, daydreaming) PENTOS: I cannot imagine anything more repulsive.

Do you use sarcasm?

CAS: Not likely. That kinda talk is liable to land me in some pretty hot water. Not that I need the help, mind you. CONORIC: No, I find it rather tiresome actually. SARABONNEY: I don't... mean to, but... people can be so frustrating. You must understand, I know it's frowned upon and all, but some days being sarcastic is preferable to... the alternatives! HUGHWEN: Does a bird have wings? ;) GWYNNEN: I find that I sound more flippant or sarcastic when faced with challenges and challengers who test my patience. FRYSZKA: Sometimes! If the spirit takes me~ PENTOS: What do you think?

What’s the first thing you notice about others?

CAS: It's hard to put in words... Generally, how they carry themselves. There's a lot to take in about a person when you first meet them. CONORIC: Where they look, if they make eye contact and that sort of thing. People often look towards that which interests them, giving me ample time to study them. SARABONNEY: I think I notice their eyes first. I tend to look there and... I dunno, I guess I just get a feel for people! Especially if they match my gaze! Which isn't all that often actually... HUGHWEN: Oooh, I shouldn't say.... All right, if you insist. I notice where they keep their money... and typically how much of it they carry. GWYNNEN: Their posture, especially their hands. In my line of work, it helps to be ready for any kind of trouble... even from the most unsuspecting of souls. FRYSZKA: They're outfit! You can tell a lot about a person by how they choose to present themselves, you know! PENTOS: Voices. They often draw me out of my thoughts...

What’s your eye colour?

CAS: That kind browny-orange that a lot of Ethelians have, right? CONORIC: They're a kind of dull red, I suppose. SARABONNEY: Oh, they're orange. Do you like them? HUGHWEN: They're orange, wouldn't you say? GWYNNEN: Dark brown. A strong Ethelian colour, or so I'm told. FRYSZKA: They a shade of pinkish red! In my native tongue, it's called 'py' and it's a colour that symbolises life and passion! Beautiful, isn't it? PENTOS: Amber, I suppose you'd call it. I really do not care.

Scary stories or happy endings?

CAS: Happy endings. If a story doesn't end well then what's the point in reading it? CONORIC: It really depends on the story. SARABONNEY: Are those my only choices? That's not very many... if pressed, I suppose I'd have to say 'scary' stories. If it all ends too happy that it just feels... I dunno... fake, I guess. HUGHWEN: Who doesn't love a happy ending? GWYNNEN: Happy endings all around. FRYSZKA: Ooh! Ohh! I have to say both! I love happy endings, especially in romance stories... but I also love being thrilled, scared and sad... especially in romance stories. I think I just romance stories. PENTOS: I prefer text books. I have no time for children's stories...

Any special talents?

CAS: Like all Ethelians worth a penny, 'm a pretty good cook. CONORIC: Nothing to boast of, I'm afraid. SARABONNEY: I know my way around all the plants and flowers in my neck of the woods. And if you've been there, then you don't need me to boast about how impressive that is! HUGHWEN: Coin tricks and gambling, mainly. Although, if you ask some of the women I've know, they might be able to add to that list. ;) GWYNNEN: I count myself as a skilled horseman. FRYSZKA: Well, I don't mean to brag, but I know my way around any marketplace and know all the typical prices of fabrics, jewellery, food and luxury goods off by heart. I'm really quite dependable! PENTOS: I have many. I was raised to be highly efficient. I know all the plant-life that grows naturally on the Eastern continent, I'm fluent in all known languages and some ancients ones (he continues on and on)

Where were you born?

CAS: Walbury, in Ethelia. It's a big town with too much going on. CONORIC: In a manor largely devoid of anything I care to remember. SARABONNEY: The tiny village of Asterwood just off the Bear King Forest. You probably haven't heard of it, it's not on many maps... HUGHWEN: Can't remember. GWYNNEN: In the manor of Canbury in the north of Ethelia. There's no place quite like it. FRYSZKA: You must'nt think ill of it, but I was actually born in Sal Rega, in Santcria. I know that all that place is known for is those poor 'Children of Sal Rega' but honestly, there is more to my home town that just tragedy! PENTOS: Kyros. You'll need permission for anything more specific.

What are your hobbies?

CAS: Woodworking and whittling. I'm pretty handy with a knife. CONORIC: I find reading quite comforting and I've been quite taken with writing down my thoughts of late. SARABONNEY: Oh, I love to cook like any proper Ethelia, but I also like to do pottery and art. I design all my jars and pots myself! (she proudly presents some of the ugliest looking pots & jars known to man). HUGHWEN: Gambling and spending money. The same as any right thinking man, don't you agree? GWYNNEN: I'm afraid I have little time for hobbies these days. My work is my life. FRYSZKA: Just a little pursuit of mine to create perfumes! I haven't made anything yet... I'm, um... studying. (she has, she is not, and the reek). PENTOS: (scoffs) You mean besides filling in asinine surveys? I suppose card games for one would count as a hobby, yes?

Do you have any pets?

CAS: Can't say I ever have had a pet. I'd love one though, a great big scary thing. CONORIC: Not unless you count messenger birds. SARABONNEY: Well... Steen's not exactly a pet, but... I do feed him and take care of him. Steen's more of a helper... he pulls the carts for me when I got to town, but... well, he's the closest thing I've got to a pet. HUGHWEN: Never had time for pets. GWYNNEN: Indeed. My household has always kept dogs. My own dog, Bron, is as eager as puppy despite getting on in his years. FRYSZKA: I have an albino snake that I take with me everywhere, her name is Petrissa! She's so tiny, sometimes I forget where I put her! PENTOS: No.

What sports do you play/have played?

CAS: I used to play a lot of street games when I was a lad but now that I'm grown, the only sport I lay claim to is the sport of Monster hunting and prying squabbling farmers apart. CONORIC: None, I'm afraid. My condition makes me rather... ill-suited for such activities. SARABONNEY: We didn't really have sports growing up... I think we just made up rules for games we only knew the names of! HUGHWEN: There's a Mizani pastime of throwing knifes and darts at targets. It's not gentlemanly to brag, I understand, but I hold a few records in some cities across the sea. GWYNNEN: Horse-racing and jousting. Not the best but by no means the worst either, mark you! FRYSZKA: Ahaha, oh dear no. I was far to inflexible and clumsy for sports. I have always enjoyed watching them though! PENTOS: Sports are a fool's activity.

How tall are you?

CAS: (He checks) So... 175cm... what's that? Like 5'9''? CONORIC: 163cm at last count. SARABONNEY: I'm 161cm, which I know is short but honestly, I can manage just fine! It's not my fault everyone else is taller! (she is of a quite average height and will not hear otherwise :/) HUGHWEN: Guess? ...no? What a shame... I'm 177cm. GWYNNEN: 185cm by my reckoning. Quite tall for an Ethelian or so I've heard. FRYSZKA: Me? I'm just a tiny little 154cm! And I truly love it! PENTOS: I am exactly 195cm, which, I believe, is 6'5''.

Favourite subject in school?

CAS: What makes you think I had a favourite subject? (laughs) I was a rotten brat of a student, never paid attention to a thing! CONORIC: History, I gather. I was rather reclusive in my studies. SARABONNEY: I'll tell you now, I wish I was reading. Would've made my life a whole lot easier... but no, I believe I was most interested in art and cooking. HUGHWEN: Oh, I found learning about chemistry quite fascinating. Do that surprise you? GWYNNEN: History and law. The two go hand-in-hand, I feel, and have shaped a lot of what irks me about that way things are today... FRYSZKA: Mathematics! Oh, I love numbers so much! It's so reassuring to have something so unifying across all of the world! PENTOS: (scoffs) All of them. The pursuit of knowledge is not something one can simply put half their heart in.

Dream job?

CAS: Oh, a dream job, is it? I think if all things settled down then I'd like to keep my duties as a Castleguard Captain. Feels good to help others and prepare the next generation too. CONORIC: I really haven't considered what the would even be... SARABONNEY: I'm not sure... I just know that I haven't found it yet. I want to do something that keeps me active, learning and helping others. Suppose that applies to a lot of jobs, doesn't it... HUGHWEN: A rich drunk? That counts as a dream job, wouldn't you agree? GWYNNEN: I once held lofty ambitions of being a county judge... a way to enact change and make life better for everyone... Ah, but these days I think I would settle for the job of beloved husband and father. FRYSZKA: Oh, you know what I would truly love? I would love to own a dress shop by the sea! PENTOS: Botanist. Thus, my studies.

[xneens]

side to side

Warnings: swearing

Word count: 4.6k

Summary: In which you're performing your hit single in front of your fellow Avengers cast-mates and Chris can't seem to take his eyes off of you, catching the attention of a few cameras.

"I'm here with the biggest pop-star of this generation, and she plays the very talented daughter of Tony Stark," the interviewer announced your name, smiling brightly at you as the camera panned your way. The hundreds of thousands of fans at home screaming when your face appeared. "How do you feel with all your nominations tonight?"

You smiled at the camera, giving a small wave at the people watching at home. "Honestly, I'm just glad I was even considered for these nominations. I mean, my girls Taylor, and Billie...they're amazing and I'm so happy to be put in the same category as them."

The lady grinned at you, her eyes twinkling. Or maybe it was her sparkly dress, the fabric nearly blinding you with how it shined under the lights. "If you ask me, you've got a pretty good chance at winning. I mean, your hit single—Side to Side—surpassed, like, a billion views in just a month? That's impressive."

"Well, I couldn't have done it without my fans." you replied, winking at the camera.

It was that time of the year again, where every artist, actor, and YouTuber hit the stage for the People's Choice Awards. With your crazy schedule, and the lack of sleep, you had planned to skip the award show until your friend, and co-star, Chris Evans—Captain America himself—convinced you otherwise. Even with the categories you've been nominated for had been more than a handful, but it was the begging and constant complaining from Chris that made you get off your tired ass and put it into a tight dress.

Your hit single, Side to Side, had everyone anticipated for your performance, unsure if you would be performing until the producers had put your name into the advertisement, making fans blow up Twitter. You were sure they had advertised your own song, along with your movie nominations, more than you ever had.

With nominations of Movie of the Year (Avengers: Infinity War), Action Movie of the Year (Avengers: Infinity War), Female Movie Star of the Year (Amara Stark), Female Artist of the Year, Song of the Year (Side to Side), Music Video of the Year (Into You), Beauty Influencer of the Year, and Social Celebrity of the Year, you had your hands full, which had only made your manager glow with happiness.

"Of course!" the interviewer agreed, glancing at the teleprompter filled with tiny words. "It was rumored that you wouldn't be coming, and a lot of us were upset, including me. Was that just a rumor or..."

"Actually, it's not that far off. I'm fucking—oh, shit—oh no!" you gasped, covering your mouth before anymore foul words could come out on live television. Instead of correcting you, the lady laughed, patting your arm softly. "Can't say that on tv. My bad. I, uh, with everything going on, I've been really tired, and I haven't slept in a week. I just wanted to chill, and accept my nominations at home but someone convinced me to come. So, if I say or do anything ridiculous tonight, I'm blaming him and my lack of sleep."

She nodded, clapping slowly. "I think that's fair. Is that someone, your onscreen father, RDJ?"

"He was one of the many people who unsuccessfully changed my mind, but no, it was Chris Evans. He promised me a day with his adorable dog, Dodger, and I couldn't refuse." you said, grinning at how his face had changed from hopeless to cocky as soon as he brought up Dodger.

"If I'm remembering this correctly, Chris Evans is that very handsome man you had kissed in your music video earlier this year. Into You, right? How do you feel kissing one of your co-stars outside of the movies your working on?"

"Technically, it was still acting, and I have kissed him before, so it wasn't awkward at all." you answered, glad Chris had accepted the role. Not only had it sky-rocketed the views and streams, but it made you feel better that it was his lips you were kissing and not a random model's. Yet, it didn't feel as professional as it had before when you pulled away after a take.

In scenes where you had to kiss the Boston actor, it was as professional as kicking Anthony Mackie's ass in Civil War but the kisses you shared on the set of the music video was definitely more personal. At the time, you had brushed it off as Chris being recently single, but now that you had broken up with Henry, you started questioning it again.

The interviewer nodded, squinting once more to read the words off the teleprompter before asking you another question that would certainly make the headlines. "I've been reading up on all those juicy tabloids and I've got one question that would satisfy my curiosity. Was Into You written about Henry Cavill or Tom Ellis?"

Usually, that type of question made you change the subject or altogether avoid the matter but this time, you wanted to joke about your failed engagement. "Henry, but Side to Side was written about Tom since I wanted more Grammy's considering the last album I put out won me a few. But this time, I'm gonna do it without an engagement."

The woman faked a laugh, surprised by the blunt honesty of your answer. "Um, you certainly do have a thing for British men, eh? I don't want to keep you up, but one more thing, for the fans. They've been dying to know if there's anything going on between you and Chris Evans. Any tea you wanna spill?"

"There's none to spill. We're just friends but it's always amusing scrolling through Twitter to find these edits of us." you replied, fidgeting slightly with the hem of your dress. Like usual, you had wondered if you should've worn something less extra but you had let your stylist play dress up with you for the past few months.

"Of course. Well, good luck to you, and I can't wait to see your performance." she said, giving you a little pat on the shoulders before announcing your name once again.

You got off the little platform, immediately taking Chris' awaiting hand, holding onto it as you climbed down the steps in your dangerous stilettos. Sighing, you leaned on him, trying to avoid the blinding camera flashes. "That was more exhausting than I thought it would be. You need to get me some caffeine after this is over because there's no way I'm making it to the after show without at least a few cans of Red Bull."

"So dramatic." Chris grinned, childishly sticking his tongue out as he guided you down the red carpet, stopping when told to take a picture. He let go of your hand, only to wrap it around your waist as you posed for the pictures. "Are you going to the after party?"

Posing seriously for a few seconds, you let your smile back on your face, facing the man beside you. "I was thinking about it, take a few photos, and head back home. Aren't you?"

"Actually, I was thinking we could ditch it and just hang out. You know, I did promise you some time with Dodger and you could waste a couple hours sleeping." he replied, his hand tightening ever so slightly on your waist. Flashing you a shit-eating smirk, he nudged you a little, pulling you away from the blinding flashes. "What do you say?"

You opened your mouth to answer only to be cut off by your manager, Alexandre coming out of nowhere to rip you away from Chris' arms. The latin man sighed in annoyance, glancing at his watch while giving you the look you've seen too many times before. "You're supposed to be in wardrobe right now. Get your ass backstage, and change before you miss your own performance. As for you, Mr. Evans, Megan wants your ass in a chair."

"I'll see you after." you say, getting dragged by your manager, winking at the actor before walking towards the changing area, the cameras following you until they couldn't enter the area.

Getting ready before a huge performance always calmed you down, maybe it was the smell of makeup or the feel of designer clothing made especially for you, but something about it made you feel comfortable and cozy. It was like a routine, especially with all the music videos and movies you had to film, the makeup, the hair.

They made you sit back, giving you your phone like a child while they made you even more sparkly than before, making sure you'd stand out against the flashing lights during the performance. A performance you made sure no one would ever forget. Smiling, you let your thoughts drift back to a certain super soldier as you were pampered.

—

"Welcome to the People's Choice Awards!"

The room darkened, the blue and pinks lights focusing on the stage as cameras all turned towards your shadow. Making sure your mic was set properly, tried to see past the darkness, to see a familiar face or two but with the headache coming on from the tight half-ponytail didn't help your case. The music started, the beat vibrating, you flipped your hair, and started.

"I've been there all night

I've been there all day (Nicki Minaj)

And boy, got me walkin' side to side (Let then hoes know)"

You rode the bike, belting out in your microphone, the attached headset limiting your movements a little. Gripping the handles, you made eye contact at the camera to your left, winking at it as you pedaled.

"I'm talkin' to ya

See you standing over there with your body

Feeling like I wanna rock with your body

And we don't gotta think 'bout nothin'

I'm comin' at ya

'Cause I know you got a bad reputation

Doesn't matter, 'cause you give me temptation

And we don't gotta think 'bout nothin'"

As you had sung, your eyes had adjusted to the bright spotlight focused on you, seeing a shadow of the one person you wanted to make you walk side to side. While you had answered the reporter's question, you hadn't been completely honest. Some of the lyrics had been written for the Bostonian; or to be more exact, your sex fantasies. With the chorus coming up, you let go of the handles, trying not to fall on your ass as you clapped your hands above your head, the claps matching the beat.

"These friends keep talkin' way too much

Say I should give you up

Can't hear them, no, 'cause I..."

Trying to be bold, you stared at him, his face in particular. The spotlight had blinded you so much that you couldn't see what his reaction was—or anyone's for that matter—but maybe it was a good thing. After all, his gaze always made you blush no matter how hard you tried not to. Pedaling faster, you threw your head back, hoping the motion would draw everyone's—Chris'—eyes on your chest.

"I've been here all night

I've been here all day

And boy, got me walkin' side to side

I've been here all night

I've been here all day

And boy, got me walkin' side to side"

With the help of a shirtless dancer, you got off your bike, taking the sheer jacket from him, and putting it on as you walked towards the front of the stage, moving your hips in to the beat of the song. Resting a hand on a shirtless dancer, you positioned yourself so you were grinding your ass against his crotch, throwing back an arm around his neck.

"Been tryna hide it

Baby, what's it gonna hurt if they don't know?

Makin' everybody think that we solo

Just as long as you know you got me

And boy, I got ya

'Cause tonight I'm making deal with the devil

And I know it's gonna get me in trouble

Just as long as you know you got me"

Sashaying to the little balance beam at the front of the stage, you made sure your hips swayed more than usual.

"These friends keep talkin' way too much

Say I should give you up

Can't hear them, no, 'cause I...

"I've been here all night

I've been here all day

And boy, got me walkin' side to side

I've been here all night

I've been here all day

And boy, got me walkin' side to side"

A few seconds after your note ended, you strike a pose on the balance beam, posing for a few more seconds while the cameras turned their attention away from you and onto the queen of rap herself: Nicki Minaj. The leather, pink bodysuit was identical to yours except for the color, her attitude fitting the badass outfit. She began to walk towards the stage, never breaking eye contact with the camera in front of her while the men pretending to work out to the choreo.

"Uh, yeah

This the new style with the fresh type of flow

Wrist icicle, ride dick bicycle

Come through yo, get you this type of blow

If you want a ménage, I got a tricycle

All these bitches' flows is my mini-me

Body smoking, so they call me Young Nicki Chimney

Rappers in they feelings 'cause they feelin' me

Uh, I-I give zero fucks and I got zero chill in me

Kissing me, copped the blue box that say Tiffany

Curry with the shot, just tell 'em to call me Stephanie

Gun pop, then I make my gum pop

I'm the queen of rap"

By the time she had finished her verse, you had caught up with the multitasking of both working out and singing, able to use your full singing capabilities for your high note. Nicki joined you on stage, hyping up the crowd while you built up for the high note, almost every camera pointed at you except for the one focused on capturing the headline-worthy expression slapped on Chris' face.

"These friends keep talkin' way too much

Say I should give em up

Can't hear them, no, 'cause I...

"I've been here all night (Been here all night, baby)

I've been here all day (Been here all night, baby)

And boy, got me walkin' side to side (Side to side)

I've been here all night (Been here all night, baby)

I've been here all day (Been here all day, baby) (Ooh, baby)

And boy, got me walkin' side to side (Side to side)"

Both you and Nicki motioned for the dancers to come towards you, curling your index finger at the sexy men. Singing the refrain, you both made them drop to their knees in front of you, as if they were kneeling at your command.

Just as the last note was sung, everyone clapped, the majority standing up, and more cheered. You noticed Chris hadn't done either, still sitting in his motionless while two camera men pointed their cameras at him. Your eyebrows furrowed, thankfully after the spotlight had shifted over to the miniature stage where the two hosts were babbling about nominations.

You were ushered off the stage along with the queen of rap herself, taking a few backstage photos before quickly returning back to your dressing room to change into your tailored dress. Your mind had wandered to why Chris hadn't applauded—not that he was obliged too, but a little something would've nice, especially with all the days put into the performance.

Taking a deep breath, you entered the big room, filled with your co-stars and other A-list celebrities. Little did you know you'd find out the reason to your question in the morning.

—

The loud ringtone woke you up, the sound obnoxious and borderline abuse to your ears. Beside you, Chris groaned, rolling onto his stomach, trying to muffle the sound of the call with his arm draped over his head. Putting him out his misery, you lazily reached for your phone, pressing the green button with dread, seeing the name across the screen.

"Hello—"

"You're trending on Twitter." Alexandre announced, happy with the results of the previous awards show. While it wasn't something as big as a Grammy or Oscar, judging by the amount of awards you had taken home, you became the people's favorite. "Hold on, lemme rephrase that. You and Chris are trending. Number one, world wide."

Glancing at the man sleeping beside you, you sat up, confused by the information given to you. You blamed Chris for making you stay up so late for your confusion. "Um, why? Did I accidentally have another nip slip?"

"What the hell?" Chris mumbled, rolling onto his back, his arm grazing your bare stomach. He immediately took it back, sitting up to look over your puzzled face. "What's going on?"

You shrugged, putting your phone on speaker so Alexandre could explain. Your manager chuckled, knowing you had stayed the night with Chris. He was just waiting for the day you'd finally have the guts to speak about the growing sexual tension. "Okay, Alex, explain."

"As much as I would love to go into full detail, I have other stuff to do so, I'm going to give you the basics. Chris' reaction to your performance went viral, people are shipping the both of you, and there's been thousands of memes made." Alexandre replied, a smile evident in his voice. "Anyways, I have to go. Got some interviews to schedule. Have fun getting your way out of this, Chris."

Your phone screen went back to the home screen, a picture of your family dog, Buster, smiling widely. Looking at Chris, you saw his eyes widened, his hands coming to rest of his face in embarrassment as he fell back onto the bed with a bounce, his head nearly hitting the headboard. "Oh, fuck."

"Are you going to show me what your face looked like or do I have to scroll through Twitter until I find it? Oh! Maybe they edited it in my performance." you thought out load, tapping on the YouTube app. You hadn't trusted yourself enough to log into your official account, knowing you'd probably make a mistake so you opted for having a secondary account where you could watch cat videos without the anxiety of posting something stupid.

Chris' hand snatched your phone away, tucking it in his pocket, the sweats he had slept in was somehow wrinkled, and his shirt damp from the warmth. "You wanna get some food? I'll cook some bacon but you'll have to make the pancakes 'cause the last time—"

"I wanna see your reaction." you whined, reaching across his stomach for your phone. Chris turned his body away from you, shielding the phone from your reach. "Chris!"

He waved your attempt away, rolling off the bed, his feet hitting the floor before you could fall back on the mattress.You poured, getting on all fours, crawling towards the edge. Chris took a step back, brows furrowing. "It's not important. Let's get you some food."

"Fine." you mumbled, an idea making you light up. Rolling off the bed, you glanced at his phone on the nightstand, exposed and easy to take. With quick reflexes, you grabbed his phone, rolling back on the bed until you reached the other side, making it impossible for him to reach for his phone back.

"Hey!" the Bostonian shouted, launching himself on the bed in attempt to get his phone back. He made a noise as you rushed out of your room, locking yourself in the nearby bathroom, laughing evilly when he threw himself at the door. He yelled out your name, his fist banging on the door. "I'm serious! Don't!"

Ignoring his begging, you opened his phone with your thumbprint. How ironic how much he didn't want you to look at his phone when he was the one who insisted you have the password to it. His arguments became louder as you opened up his Twitter, immediately heading to the trending section, seeing both your names at the number one spot.

"Damn, I look hot." you joked out loud, making Chris silent for a second before pleading for you not to continue. You smirked, scrolling through the tweets, trying to find his reaction. "Jesus Christ, what the hell happened to you? Did you fall on your face or something?"

Chris groaned, banging his head on the door in defeat as he heard your almost inaudible gasp, that quickly turned into little giggles. If he wasn't so embarrassed, he would've broken the door down to hold you in his arms. "Oh, no."

Bursting out into hard laughter, you fell into the large bathtub, hitting your head on the wall but you couldn't care less. The expression on his face during your performance had been borderline comical, the wide eyes, the jaw hanging open, the open hand resting on his chin while his eyes stayed strained on you the whole time, never wavering from your body, the sexy choreography making his jeans tight.

Cackling like the Wicked Witch of the West, tears ran down your cheeks, your stomach cramping from the maniacal laughter. Lifting yourself up from the tub, you stumbled to the door, your loud laugh ringing out towards the whole house. You let Chris in the bathroom, his phone quickly taken from your hand but it was too late. The blush on his cheeks wasn't going away anytime soon. You leaned against him, your head resting on his chest, while you panted out a question. "Why did you look like you were trying to attract flies in your mouth?"

Chris groaned again, covering his eyes with a hand while the other rested on your back. "You're not going to let me live this down, are you?"

"Oh, God, no." you giggled, wiping the tears away, beginning to calm down. Glancing up at him, you noticed everything above the shoulders was gleaming red, the embarrassment too unbearable for him. "Chris, you looked exactly like the first time we were forced to share a bed together."

"Yeah, you have that affect on me."

"You gonna tell me why you looked so ... shocked? Or do I have to search through Twitter and go with whatever fan theory makes the most sense?" you asked, unable to keep the smug grin off your face. Chris closed his eyes, wishing he hadn't made you come to the awards show in the first place. You raised an eyebrow, fingers itching towards his phone. "You know I'll do it, Evans."

The man raised his hands, taking them off of you as he paced around the bathroom, deciding if this embarrassing moment was the right time to finally confess. "It's just, you know, the dance was so ... sexual and hot that I probably wasn't the only one looking at you like that. You can't exactly blame me for being shocked, watching the girl I'm in love with—"

Chris stopped as you be watched the colors drain out of your face, immediately freezing when he realized what he had said. Both of you stared at each other, eyes wide, not moving a muscle, barely blinking; the atmosphere so tense neither of you were breathing, waiting for the other to talk. But neither of you wanted to go first, terrified.

It wasn't until you started to feel dizzy that you realized you hadn't been breathing, letting out a huge breath, trying to relax while Chris did the same, his hands shaking, a nervous tick he got whenever he was anxious. You got the courage to speak first.

"What?"

It was better than nothing.

Chris was so nervous he nearly ran out of the room. There wasn't some kind of handbook or script he could read, helping him tell one of his best friends how head over heels he was for her. So, he said what his brain was stewing. "What?"

"What—what?" you replied, unsure if he even said the L word, so lightheaded by the sudden confession.

The actor stilled, eyes widening even further, while his eyebrows shot up his forehead. "What?"

"What?"

"What?"

"Say what one more time, Evans, and I will make nothing but mac and cheese for the rest of your stay." you threatened softly, getting tired of not having an answer to your one-worded question.

Chris took a deep breath, hands trembling as he clasped them together, hoping to find the right words, hoping his inner thoughts would come out clear, giving you the answer you asked for. "I'm sorry. What do you want me to say?"

"What you were saying before. You know, before you looked like you saw a ghost and almost stopped breathing. I think that would be a good start." you replied, backing up to take a seat on the plush chair. Chris mirrored your actions, putting down the lid to the toilet before sitting down.

"This isn't the way I wanted you to find out." Chris whispered, his blue eyes trained on the emotions that flashed on your face. Your uncertainty of the situation didn't help his anxiety.

"Okay, um, were you going to tell me in the first place?" you asked, playing with the hem of your shirt—it had been a borrowed Patriots shirt from him. Looking back, you realized all the little things he'd done hadn't been because his platonic love for you. "Or were you just going to keep letting it be this way?"

Fidgeting with his hands, Chris peered through his eyelashes, seeing the hurt flash across your face before you quickly composed it. "Scott was hyping me up, trying to convince me to tell you before you got into another relationship. Do you know the real reason I broke up with Jenny? It hurt like hell when you announced you were engaged. Fuck, I couldn't even pretend to be happy because you were going to have the life I wanted with you, with someone who wasn't me. It was selfish and I got really mad at myself for being a dick."

"But—"

"And then the horrible, horrible relief I felt when you called off the engagement." Chris continued, his heart clenching. "Truth to be told, that was the day I found out I was in love with you, breaking things off with Jenny. Of course, I wanted to wait until you moved on, hoping to be the friend you went to but with my schedule, that was impossible. So, you seemed out comfort in Henry fucking Cavill."

"You're in love with me?" you whispered, hoping this wasn't some kind of cruel dream. If it was, you wouldn't mind staying.

The actor nodded, waiting for you to call him names and rush out. "Yes. You can leave or slap me or whatever you want to do but I love you."

You got up, running a hand through your hair. "Okay."

Chris' heart sank, wishing for any other kind of reaction, wishing you'd do something. Taking a deep breath, he got up. "Is this a goodbye?"

Frowning, you walked up to him, taking his face between with your hands, pressing your lips softly to his. You could feel his heart beat, the little organ beating so hard. You pulled away before he could recover from his shock, before he could kiss you back.

"Hello."