#tech boulevard

[respectthepetty]

GND Studio, the people behind My Damn Business, are delivering Close to You which is four shorts about unrequited love, or so the trailer said. The first two are complete and include colors, so I'm giving a quick recap:

"Riding a Bicycle" deals with two color-coded best friends.

They are about to head off to college and worried that they won't be as close (or as special to each other) and will eventually lose touch with each other.

But even more, the Black Brooder seems to be clearly in love with Heavenly Human as he wears his white color, yet they are both sleeping on the other's pillow, so the love doesn't seem to be one-sided.

They decide to go for a long bike ride in the freezing cold to the perfect spot.

And when the Heavenly Human, in his adorable earmuffs that the Black Brooder gave him, asks why they came to this exact spot, the Black Brooder says it's because the Heavenly Human liked it on Instagram, and he wanted to do something together before they go their separate ways.

Then he gives the Heavenly Human a hug as to say goodbye (and even their shoes are color coded!).

But the Heavenly Human won't let this be the end and tells the Black Brooder that they'll be back, together, and the Blinding Light of Love emerges.

FOR BOTH OF THEM!

"Friendship Bracelet" is about a man realizing his rainbow bracelet has the ability to turn back time after he drunkenly confesses his feelings to his friend.

He not only told his longtime buddy that he is love with him, but that he also wants to sleep with him.

But in an effort to distract his friend from rejecting him, he shows his friend the friendship bracelet his friend gave him years ago.

He thinks he can pull on his friend's heartstrings by reminding him that they are best friends, so even if he confessed, they can remain best friends.

The best friend is not amused nor open to this idea.

But then the guy begins to nervously play with the bracelet and moves it around on his wrist which causes time to revert by ten minutes.

Upon seeing the red string missing, he quickly realizes that he will lose a string each time he goes back in time, so he has limited chances to get this right.

But first, he gets a good kiss in!

After using up all his chances, he finally decides to just own the fact that he is love with his best friend and accepts his fate.

But as he goes to walk out the door and out of his friend's life, his friend tries to stop him by grabbing his wrist, which triggers the final loop.

AND NOW THE FRIEND HAS THE BRACELET!

But he immediately understands why he has it because before he gave it to his friend all those years ago, he used it to confess he was in love to his bestie SIX TIMES, but in the final loop, he decided not to confess, which prompted him to give the bracelet to his friend.

And they kiss at the realization that they are both in love with each other!

Oh, there is also a guy in the background having tech issues that perfectly align with the guys' issues who stumbles upon the bracelet at the end!

There are two more stories, "The Last Diary" and "Sunset Boulevard," and I think both might also involve colors, so I'll be back in this tag in one month with more stories about requited love!

[mariacallous]

The year was 1998. Walking down Pushkin Boulevard in my native Donetsk, I listened to English lessons on my Walkman and dreamed of America—a country I would soon call home.

At age 20, I couldn't form a sentence in the language of the USSR's arch-enemy; my teachers, who didn't speak English themselves, made sure of that.

Born and raised in Ukraine, I had just graduated from Donetsk State Tech University, but I couldn't speak Ukrainian either.

Russian was my native language; though it wasn't me who chose it, Russian colonialism did just as it chose to plaster the names of Russian chauvinists, like Pushkin, all over my city.

I was gaslit by the evil empire, and so were you. Let me correct this: So are you.

In the fall of 1982, I remember the nannies at my kindergarten weeping over the death of "our dear leader," Leonid Brezhnev. Perhaps I cried, too. The earliest childhood memories are notoriously faulty.

But in 2024, I hold no illusions about Russia: What it has done, what it seeks to do, and what will happen if the Free World fails to stop it.

Rewriting History: A Soviet Mirage

It took me a lifetime to un-dim the metaphorical lights—to escape the unreality Moscow constructed for the peoples and lands it colonized.

It all started with a perverted version of history that provided all the answers but left no room for questions.

For example, when did World War II start? Sorry, my mistake—the "Great Patriotic War," as it's called in Russia. Everybody knows it began in 1941 when Nazi Germany invaded the USSR.

Except it didn't. Adolf Hitler's betrayal of Joseph Stalin didn't start the war—their secret pact to invade Poland did.

What the world remembers, and what Russia tries desperately to forget, is that Europe's worst calamity began with the unholy alliance of two evil regimes hellbent on colonization.

Growing up in the USSR, doubt and skepticism, at the heart of the Western intellectual tradition, were out of reach.

It took me decades to understand that the Soviet Union was never truly a country, but rather an oppressive Russia Empire by another name.

When the "brotherhood" of 15 nations is praised and celebrated all around you, it is almost unimaginable that one of those "brothers" was prepared to kill, rape, and torture in a zealous pursuit of its imperialist ambitions, which, in Russia's case, always took categorical precedence over human life.

The Victory That Wasn't

When the Berlin Wall came down and the Cold War order crumbled before our eyes, many in the West mistook it for a victory. But who exactly did we defeat?

During the 70 years of the USSR's existence, the evil of communist ideology was merely layered atop the evil of a Frankenstein state, one that desperately wanted the world to see it as a nation.

By 1991, Communism was gone, the USSR fell apart, but the revanchism and a deep-seated fear in Moscow—that the Russian Federation would collapse under the weight of its own contradictions—remained.

Empires thrive on perpetual expansion, as vividly demonstrated by Russia's invasion of Ichkeria, Georgia, and now Ukraine.

Caught in a relentless cycle of conquest and domination, Moscow's legitimacy and stability hinge on the constant acquisition of new territories, the appropriation of other nations' histories, and the subjugation of their peoples.

Suppressed History Is a Harbinger of More Violence

In seventh grade, we studied the "Great Famine" of 1932-1933 and learned about the "kulaks" hiding grain and how the righteous Red Army was fighting the imperialists who wanted the Soviet project to fail.

But did I know what role Stalin's monstrous and deliberate policy to starve millions of Ukrainians by engineering Holodomor had to do with my own life story?

Why did everyone around me speak Russian in Ukraine at the tail-end of the twentieth century? How did my Armenian father, born and raised in Georgia, end up coming to Donbas—the Soviet Union's promised land of his youth?

Colonialism is the answer. Moscow knew that to bury the Ukrainian dream—escaping the empire's yoke—required repopulating the land with outsiders to prevent even a possibility of a grassroots national movement rekindling.

Finding myself both complicit in Russia's imperial project and its victim was as confusing as it was unsettling.

Raphael Lemkin, the man who introduced the concept of genocide to the world, recognized Moscow's Holodomor as a systematic effort to destroy the Ukrainian nation, culture, and people through starvation and repression.

Yet, as I grew up, his name and his views existed in a separate realm of knowledge and awareness from the one I inhabited. The two were meant never to cross.

Had I not escaped the morass of endless lies sustaining the evil empire, I would've never understood that we are witnessing another genocide attempt and that history is indeed repeating itself.

A Breath of Fresh Air

The year was 1998. Walking down 900 East Street in Salt Lake City, Utah, as a fresh-off-the-boat American, I had much to look forward to and little to reflect on.

Between naïveté and arrogance, I managed to strike both with the thought that my individual journey was forerunning the path Ukraine was to inevitably take: From the dark past of oppression and suffering all the way to freedom and prosperity.

I didn't think much about Russia at the time. Surely, it must have wanted the same thing for itself, but it was for the Russian people to decide their future.

When I swore allegiance to the U.S. flag in 2005 and began my career in international relations, the rose-colored glasses started to come off. The straitjacket of lies that had enveloped my mind since childhood showed signs of wear and tear as it came into contact with history books that weren't Russian propaganda.

Not only did I start to understand the past, but Moscow was also unmasking itself fast in real time—murdering thousands of Chechens for defying their colonizers, meddling in the affairs of Ukraine and other neighboring states, and reverting to ruthless authoritarianism after a brief flirtation with democracy in the nineties.

Meanwhile, Ukrainians were rejecting a rigged election and uniting in what became known as the Orange Revolution, demanding accountability from their government.

It was evident that Russia and Ukraine were on different paths, but I was unprepared even to imagine the magnitude of this difference.

From Public Service to Global Diplomacy

After five years of U.S. government service, working on development projects from agriculture in Moldova to renewable energy in Mongolia, I applied for a graduate degree in Public Administration at Harvard.

For a kid from Donetsk, a son of a coal miner, getting an admission letter felt like something out of a fairytale.

Arriving in Cambridge, MA, I delved into the mechanics of democracy and governance; conversations with professors and peers sharpened my vision. I saw more clearly than ever how Moscow had twisted its colonial history and appropriated or perverted histories of the lands it controlled.

My education was no longer a means to an examined life; it was to become a weapon against the empire of lies that had once claimed my allegiance.

My next stop was the World Economic Forum in Geneva, where I covered regional affairs for a portfolio of countries including Russia and Ukraine. Moderating panel discussions with ministers, activists, and opinion leaders often revealed deep historical tensions.

Ukraine faced significant challenges on its path toward Europe, with freedom, prosperity, and nationhood at stake.

What remained obscured to me at the time, however, was the extent to which Russia would resist and sabotage Ukraine's progress at every turn.

The heir to the bloodthirsty tsars and commissars, the Russian Federation was firmly set on a trajectory toward totalitarianism, oppression, and, ultimately, fascism.

With hindsight, I realize that my gaslit mind mistook a bit of situational awareness for enlightenment. Back then, though, I believed—indeed, I knew—Russia couldn't invade Ukraine.

Now, I can see that for the Moscow-centered empire, colonial conquest was all but inevitable.

The West Deliberately Refuses to Understand What Russia Is

Pick up any map, and you'll easily spot a vast country called Russia. But make no mistake—this is no nation; it has no national interests, only imperial ambitions.

Bizarrely, we justify Moscow's criminal actions eagerly at our own peril, despite the threat it poses not just to Ukraine, the Baltics, Poland, etc. but to the entire world and, paradoxically, to the population of Russia too.

Don't take my word for it, ask the people of Tatarstan, Bashkiria, Dagestan or any other Eurasian folk Moscow had colonized. The veritable prison of nations spent decades, if not centuries, attempting to erase their identities, languages, and cultures.

Our stubborn refusal to face the facts is confounding.

What is holding us back from processing the lessons of Russia's bloodstained history, from believing Russia when it tells us it plans to commit what I see as genocide? Why can't we act decisively on this knowledge?

Given an opportunity to restore deterrents, rebuild our credibility, and reassert our commitment to the values we profess, we flounder time and again.

To help Ukraine defeat the aggressor is not charity, it's in our strategic interest. Any other outcome creates a much more problematic future for each of Ukraine's allies individually, and all of us collectively.

The Peril of Inaction, Cloaked in Excuses and Laced With Cowardice

Gaining clarity of vision and decolonizing my mind has been a decades-long process, still ongoing.

I finally learned Ukrainian, and I no longer speak Russian. After all, Moscow used the pretext of "protecting" Russian speakers in Donbas to justify its invasion.

As an unhumorous joke goes, no matter where you are or who you are, if you continue to speak Russian, the motherland will come to "save" you one day.

Reflecting on my journey, I see much of it mirrored in the painstakingly slow and reluctant awakening of the Free World to the realities of Ruscism (Russian Fascism).

But we can't afford decades of incremental enlightenment; we must now recognize that the policy of "with Ukraine as long as it takes" has failed. From the start, it was grounded in our misunderstanding of Moscow.

History makes it clear that Russia responds to indecisiveness and weakness by raising the stakes, but when faced with strength and determination, it retreats.

The humiliating defeat of the Tsarist Russia by Japan in 1905 is one such example. More recently, In 1989, a nuclear-armed superpower—one of only two in the world—was forced to withdraw from Afghanistan after another devastating loss.

Its equally violent successor, the Russian Federation, has claimed victory in every conflict it initiated since, with the consequences all too obvious.

We, in the Free World, can no longer afford to be willfully gaslit by Moscow's lies. The stakes are too high, not just for Ukraine but for every democratic nation.

Our moral and historical obligation extends beyond thoughts and prayers; it demands decisive action. We owe this to the generations before us, and even more to those who will follow.

The time has come to end incrementalism and commit fully to Ukraine's victory, securing not a temporary ceasefire–certain to boomerang back as a yet more dangerous war–but a lasting peace for Europe and the world.

[kivrin]

I met some friends in NYC yesterday, and thought about joining them for a matinee of Sunset Boulevard, but it was at 3 so the timing was going to be tight to get back to Penn Station to catch my train home. So I scrolled through the Theatr app and saw a $50 ticket for Love Life at the New York City Center.

And I did a cursory search and learned that it's a (the only) Alan Jay Lerner/Kurt Weill collaboration, and I am precisely the nerd to say "Alan Jay Lerner deep cut, HELLO."

It's a deeply weird, deeply dated show, and I really enjoyed getting to see it performed. The central characters (husband and wife and two kids) move through American history from 1791 to 1948 without aging and seemingly without anyone noticing that they never age. (READ SOME SCI FI, ALAN) Between scenes of family life there are vaudeville numbers. There's a lyric titled "I Remember It Well" that Lerner revised for Gigi. There's no original cast recording of Love Life because of a recording tech strike at the time, so it makes sense he felt okay revisiting the idea. The musical highlight for me was a trio in act 2 called "Susan's Dream" with ravishing harmony.

The leads were Brian Stokes Mitchell and Kate Baldwin, but the entire cast was excellent, as was the orchestra (on stage, so it was fun to watch them too.)

[thesimscurator]

Sim File Share Hack

Hi, friends!

I'm sure that by now, many of you have heard that Sim File Share, the site where I and many other creators keep our Sims files for download, got hacked. Some people's files have been infested with rider viruses that get downloaded at the same time as the file, so please use caution when downloading anything from SFS and check for riders, especially .exe files.

I went and downloaded all the current versions of my own files to check them, and can confirm that as of now, the two current versions of Career World (Horse Ranch and For Rent) are both virus-free, and so are the career chart and the Dream Town Makeover save file.

I did, however, find a rider on the list of study abroad opportunities, of all things, so I have deleted that file from SFS. For those wanting to know what study abroad opportunities I have baked into Career World, here's the full text of that list:

Career World: List of Study Abroad Opportunities

Selvadorada: there are two study abroad programs based in Selvadorada! Firstly, the Archaeological Base Camp runs a summer archaeology program for large groups of budding historians and those who want to adventure deep into the jungle. The other option is a woofing opportunity for a solo student: working at the llama ranch at the topmost hill overlooking Puerto Llamante, where you’ll learn the traditional arts of llama husbandry and textile making.

Willow Creek/Newcrest/Magnolia Promenade: “rent” MercuCorp Parcel #2 with your study abroad group, then actually stay at the Hotel Barat in Pendula Row South. Enjoy the many local flavors of greater Willow Creek, including soul food, music clubs, gambling, and even dabbling in the occult. Who knows: you may discover talents—or powers—you never even knew you had.

Oasis Springs: Foxbury students interested in tech have a unique opportunity through their alumni network in Oasis Springs, where prestigious gaming entrepreneur Dirk Dreamer runs a summer internship program at FutureSim HQ just for them. Only one student a year bags this coveted internship, and can spend their summer doing a home stay in his guestroom and working in gaming or robotics, as appropriate to their interests. UBrite students would be better off doing a home stay somewhere else, or maybe just doing some desert camping at Bedrock Strait.

Windenburg/Forgotten Hollow: have your group rent out the old Peteran monastery in Olde Platz, then explore the many historical buildings in the area and have fun partying your time abroad away at the many pop-up parties around Windenburg. If archival research is more your thing, consider visiting the Forgotten Archive in Forgotten Hollow—who knows what strange histories you might unearth?

San Myshuno/San Sequoia: in this vibrant city, real estate is at a premium, so if you want to study here you’ll just have to do a home stay with a local family—if any of them can find space to spare. If you’re attending UBrite, our alumni network would be happy to connect you with esteemed lawyer Rebecca Clarke, who is always happy to host UBrite students in her guest bedroom. Foxbury students, you’re on your own. Of course, there is always the just-outside-the-city option of the Hotel San in Anchorpoint Wharf, but it costs a mint.

Brindleton Bay: there are plenty of rooms at the Seaside Bed & Breakfast for college students as well as for the owners of sick pets. Get some rooms for your group, enjoy the views of the lighthouse, and start exploring this quaint seaside community!

Del Sol Valley: get some rooms at the Plumbob motel for you and your fellow study abroad companions and then head downtown to admire the walk of fame on Starlight Boulevard, take in a show at the Starlight Theatre, attend the vintage cinema (or its newer competitor), or head up into the Pinnacles to see the Celebrity Mansion Museum. Movie shoots are, unfortunately, closed-set.

StrangerVille: spend your summer abroad attempting to unravel some of the weirdest mysteries anywhere. Start your summer of scientific field research by setting up camp at the old crash site, then follow your own intuition and sense of curiosity to strange discoveries galore!

Sulani: there are two different study abroad programs running in Sulani! If you are scientifically or ecologically-minded, consider joining the Mua Pel’am Conservation group’s volunteer abroad program. In this program, you and your companions stay on your own tiny island at the Mua Pel’am campground, learn about the volcano, participate in beach cleanups and other ecological restoration work, and hopefully leave the area looking better than you found it. If you are more interested in learning about island culture, Ohan’ali Town elder Keala Hoapili will happily put you up in one of the several tiny houses in the intentional community she runs with her granddaughter as a home stay. She’ll teach you all about the islands: the plants, the celebrations, the community, how to cook using a traditional pit BBQ, and most importantly how to make and share kava!

Evergreen Harbor/Moonwood Mill: explore alternative lifestyles and sims’ relationship to nature in a unique homestay with the Moonwood Collective, a commune whose practices make them very close to the natural world. They have lots to teach about living in harmony and healing the land—lessons that you’ll then put in practice down the mountain in the more developed areas of Evergreen Harbor by constructing found-object art pieces at the Evergreen Arts Center; growing natural, organic, healthy food at the community garden in Sprucewood Square, and learning about eco-friendly architecture among the recycled shipping container tiny homes of Port Promise.

Mt. Komorebi/Glimmerbrook: from the cutting-edge capsule hotel where you and up to two companions will be staying, to the tranquil traditional tea ceremonies you’ll take part in, to the epic slope-shredding you’ll be doing and the heated bathhouses you’ll relax in afterward, a summer abroad in Mt. Komorebi offers incredible variety to the adventurous and respectful student. Emphasis on respectful. Learn to bow and shower before you get in the onsen, or expect to find yourself stuck on the first bullet train back home.

Henford-on-Bagley: if woofing is your thing and you’d rather raise crops, chickens, and cows than llamas, consider a solo gig abroad as a farmhand on the Watson farm. In this unique home stay, you’ll be expected to be up at the crack of dawn every day milking the cow and tending to the crops and chickens. When the farm chores are done, you might have time to explore the village of Finchwick or venture into the Bramblewood. Maybe.

Tartosa: a unique woofing opportunity lies on the breathtaking coast of Tartosa, where you and up to five companions can pitch in for a very special home stay helping the Villareal family revitalize the vineyard and nectary on their rocky hilltop. Learn to raise fruits and make nectars in the extensive underground cellars, where you’ll also be sleeping. In what, you ask? Don’t worry about it. But don’t touch anything you may stumble across in the catacombs, or you may be doing more than sleeping down there.

Chestnut Ridge: if you want to learn all about the riding and tending of horses, horse trader and native elder Tallulah Heiheiwuti would be happy to put you up in one of several guest rooms in her New Appaloosa homestead. With both adult horses and foals to care for and train just steps from the equestrian center, this is a great study abroad opportunity for anyone interested in learning about these beautiful animals and the native community’s connection to them.

Tomarang: study abroad in Tomarang is a real group affair—in this program, you and up to seven other students will stay in a youth hostel at the top of one of Morensong’s most storied buildings: Ro Kaya Rockside in the former red light district. Here, you’ll sleep, shower, party, explore the famous night market, eat street food, sing karaoke, get bubble tea, try out Tomarani fashion, tour temples, and learn about the culture from the locals—and that’s all before you head over to Koh Sahpa to see the tiger sanctuary and explore the fabled cave! This study abroad opportunity, perhaps the purest of its kind, is all about immersing yourself in the local culture.

Stay vigilant, stay safe, and happy simming!

[love-and-deepspace-wiki]

Linkon Subway: Line 11

Organization Name: Linkon Metro Supervision Service

Website: www.linkonsupervision.ccm

The Linkon Subway is a frequent mode of transportation showcased throughout the game. The in-game world has a vast system of railway lines, stations, and terminals throughout the Linkon City area.

Line 11 of the subway runs from the Coelum Express Terminal to the Linkon Botanical Garden, it's first availability is at 5:00 AM and it's last stop is at 11:55 PM.

Warnings & Signage:

Here are all of the legible signage/information I spotted on the subway. Overall, it seems to be a very accommodating service!

"Please do not get on or off the vehicle when the door light is flashing"

"Disabled-friendly carriage is available. Please contact the staff if you need any help"

"Please pay close attention to the interchange schedule if you want to transfer to other lines."

"We stop selling tickets three minutes before the last train arrives."

Details:

The specific subway the protaganist boards in "Late Night Encounter" is subway 18. She mentions it's a subway she takes every day. That particular night, she boarded the train from the Garden West Station. At the time, it's announced as the last subway to Linkon Botanical Garden that night.

When the subway circles back to the same departing station again, the opened doors show a glimpse of signage listing the other stops along Line 11. It lines up with the known terminals of this line as well as the next stop shown on the display. The only mismatch is the sign shows the stop before Garden West as "Newtown Avenue" while the internal subway display says it was "Metro Boulevard". The text is pretty hard to make out, but I'll list what I've deciphered so far:

In descending order, it lists:

Linkon Botanical Garden

South (?) Resort

Ch(?) Town

Linkon South Station

(?) Highway [if I squint, it kinda looks like "Alkaline"?]

Estate World Theme Park

Jiajang overpass bridge

Linkon No. 3 Hospital

Pioneer Village

Bohee Tech Park

Garden East

International Exhibition Hall

Garden West [the station where protaganist boarded]

Newtown Avenue

Linkon Library

University of Linkon

Commerce Harbor

(?) [the first word kinda looks like "Public" and the last word looks like "Center"?]

Moonrise St.

River Bridge

Jayden North

Duke's Bay

Cloud Train Terminal (likely an unintended artifact before the name "Coelum Express" was finalized?)

After defeating the Wanderer, the subway station they exit from has another sign identifying Line 11 and a sign indicating the following locations are nearby:

Garden West

Central Park

Century Center

Other Linkon Subway Lines:

In a few scenes, we get a glimpse at the map of subway lines. I was unable to gather any useful details from it. But if you spot something, pls holler lol.

Funny Details:

If you look closely, you can spot a couple of misspellings in the signage:

Instead of "Next Stop", the display reads "Nest Stop"

In the message about disability carriages, it tells you to contact the staff if you "need any hel"

[nyxlaufeyson]

Slut!

Loki Oneshot Masterlist - Main Masterlist

POV: Second

Ship: Loki x Reader

Type: Fluff + Angst

Wordcount: 7,082

Song: Slut (Taylor's Version) [From the Vault] by Taylor Swift Listen Here

TW: There is a lot of insecurity kinda going on with the reader, and also some alcohol usage that probably isn't healthy but it's not that bad.

Synopsis: You see Loki at a pool party and can't get him out of your head. More meetings happen. Insecurity happens. And then, finally, confessions happen!

A/N: Okay so I don't know why there are way too many parties in this fic but idc because it works out for what I was going for. Enjoy this, and sorry for not being as active life really is crazy and it's abt to be tech week. My theatre people, you get me.

Also, the reader turned out to be more fem this time, sorry, it just worked out that way. Not too many mentions of gender though.

Flamingo pink, Sunrise Boulevard

The first time you saw him in-person was at a pool party you and your dad had been invited to. You were the child of a prominent businessman who had several connections with other rich businessmen. Which, given the nature of these men, meant that you had to attend a lot of parties. 

It wasn’t the type of party you were used to attending, because it usually consisted of a bunch of people drinking, crappy music, and people dancing right up on each other. This party was toned back, with the guest list significantly reduced. This was due to the fact that the party was a celebration for a business deal between your father and the billionaire Tony Stark. 

Since it was a more private affair, you felt like there was a lot more attention on you. The Avengers were there, which still put you to awe, even if you had seen them at several parties. This time, however, some of them actually came up to talk to you.

You froze up as The Black Widow approached you, unsure of what to do or say. “Cute swimsuit.”

She just complimented you. The Black Widow just complimented you. How were you supposed to process that?!

“Uhm- thank you!” You said, looking down at your flamingo-pink swimsuit. It was flattering on you, but it made you feel exposed. Unfortunately, you didn’t have time to get a new swimsuit before the party, and it was the only one that still fit you. “Do you really think so?”

She nodded, sitting down in a lounge next to you. “Of course.” She offered you a drink, and her smile felt refreshing. 

You took the drink, thanking her. You made introductions, and began to talk.

“What’s it like being an Avenger?” You asked, and then immediately felt repulsed that you would ask her a question she probably had to answer hundreds of times. “Sorry-I’m sure everyone asks you that-”

She waved her free hand. “Don’t worry about it, it’s okay to be curious.” She paused to take a sip of her drink. “Honestly? It’s hard sometimes, with everyone always on your back. Everyone expects you to be perfect.”

I nodded. “I get the feeling. Not that I have that level of pressure, of course, but I still feel like I’m supposed to be perfect all the time. This one time, when I was eight, I stole a chocolate egg. I knew it was wrong, and my dad caught me and made me return it, but the media was on me for weeks. ‘Eight-year-old criminal executes heist despite being rich.’ I don’t get it. I was eight, and made a mistake. Shit happens, you know?”

She agreed with you, and you continued conversing. You got to learn some interesting things about her, and she learned some things about you. You were sure that yours were boring in comparison, but she didn’t make you feel inferior. 

As you were talking, more people arrived and the sun began to set. You turned towards it, gasping. “Holy shit, look at that!” The sky was a beautiful mix of oranges, pinks, and purples. It definitely was one of the best sunsets you had seen. 

“It’s beautiful,” Natasha said, “There’s a reason they call this Sunrise Boulevard. There’s an excellent view for a sunrise or a sunset.”

Clink, clink, being this young is art

You smiled, admiring the sky before the sun would inevitably disappear. Natasha raised her glass towards yours, and you clinked them together. “To sunrises,” she said, “and new friends.”

New friends. You couldn’t help but grin a little wider. 

Aquamarine, moonlit swimmin' pool

Suddenly a man with a microphone-Tony Stark-amped up the music and yelled, “Alright ladies and gentlemen, let's get this party started!”

With that, several people whooped and hollered, and a man with long blonde hair hopped up and ran into the now-moonlit swimming pool. “CANNONBALL!” He screamed before jumping in, and making a splash that couldn’t have been made by a human. When he came up from the jump, you recognized him as Thor.

Natasha chuckled, and then stood up. She held her hand out to you, and she helped you up. “Have you gotten the chance to meet the others yet?” 

You shook your head. “No, I haven’t. I’ve met Stark briefly, but it was more of a formal, business introduction.” 

She smiled at you, dragging you in the direction of a small cluster of people. “Well then, let’s introduce you.” 

Your eyes went wide, and you tried to pull back. “Uh, I’m actually going to go use the bathroom. I’ll be back!” You said, turning to leave. It was one thing when someone cooler than you comes up to you and makes introductions, but going up to them and introducing yourself? That was something you couldn’t do. 

Unfortunately, Natasha caught your bluff, and pulled you back towards her. “I can see right through you. Don’t worry, it will be fine, they’re not going to judge you.” 

“But you guys are the Avengers. You’re literally superheroes! I look like a loser next to all of you.” You didn’t know where all of this was coming from, but you felt comfortable enough in Natasha’s presence to voice your feelings. 

She sighed, putting a hand on your shoulder. “Trust me, it is all in your head. Don’t let the anxiety get to you.” She managed to steer you back towards the group. “Plus, you have me here to introduce you.”

Although your anxiety was still there, you let her pull you up and introduce you to several of her teammates. You recognized several of them from clips you had seen of them on TV, and you were most certainly overwhelmed when they started to shake your hand. 

You had been introduced to a number of the Avengers, when a wet Thor walked up to the group, not noticing you at first. “Has anyone seen my brother?”

Tony shook his head. “He’s probably moping inside the lounge and plotting ways to kill us all, or whatever he does in his spare time.”

Thor nodded, picking up some grapes from a nearby table, and when he came back, he spotted you. He stretched out a hand, and you shook it. “I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Thor Odinson.”

You introduced yourself to him, and you talked for a short while until you sensed the air tense around you. The faces of your new acquaintances had gotten stiff, except for a few people who seemed not to care. Still, even they shifted their gaze behind you. 

What if all I need is you?

You spun around, confused, and saw a gorgeous black-haired man make his way outside. You vaguely recognized him, but you couldn’t pinpoint where from. He was wearing swim trunks and a tight shirt that left little to the imagination. 

Natasha mistook your staring silence for fear, and started to assure you. “Don’t worry, he can’t hurt you here. He’s got limited magic, and has supposedly ‘changed.’ If anything were to go wrong, we are all here to protect you as well.” 

You nodded, not registering her words as the man met your gaze. He had the most hypnotizing green eyes, and after you realized that you were blatantly staring, you turned away. “Uh-yeah, yeah.” 

Got love-struck, went straight to my head

You chastised yourself for being so starstruck from the simple sight of a man. Sure, he was beautiful, but you hadn’t even had a conversation with him.

It took you a few seconds to sort out your mind and absorb the words that Natasha had said to you. It clicked in your brain who the man was. It was Loki, Thor’s brother, the man who attacked New York.

Of course, this all came to you as you had taken a gulp of champagne to recalibrate. So, you did the most flattering thing you could think of, and choked on your drink.

You managed to pass it off as your drink going down the wrong way, excusing yourself to go get some water. This might have been the most eventful party you had attended thus far.

~~~~~

Got lovesick all over my bed

The next day, you sat in your bed, questioning your entire life. After you had gotten back to the party, Loki had been gone. You didn’t know where he had gone, and you didn’t know why you were disappointed.

Despite the fact that you hadn’t talked to him, or seen him for more than a few minutes, you couldn’t get his green eyes out of your head. Whenever you closed your eyes, you saw them, and whenever you saw them, you felt giddy. 

Love to think you’ll never forget

You wondered what he had thought of you, that moment when you had locked eyes. Did he think you were pretty? Or did you disgust him? You rolled your eyes, pressing your head into your pillow. You could lie to yourself, but you knew that he most likely forgot all about you. 

You didn’t understand your feelings. You had never felt this way with anyone before, not even your ex. You groaned as your mind brought him up. A few months ago, you had broken up with  your ex-boyfriend after a two-year relationship.

Memories of you and your ex flashed through your mind, and now you missed the green eyes that you had recently tried to get out of your mind.

Handprints in wet cement

There was this one time you and your ex had come across a pavement that had just been filled with wet cement. You instantly had remembered a cute couple's photo you had seen, and made him put his hand next to yours in the wet cement.

If you could go back, you wouldn’t have done that. Now you had to face the fact that your handprint was out there somewhere next to his until the pavement got redone.

You got up and made your way through the house, grabbing your bag and headphones. Whenever something was plaguing your thoughts, you would venture outside and listen to music. 

This time, after taking the subway, you found yourself in the heart of New York City. Your dad was always too busy with work to know or care when you went out, so you enjoyed taking advantage of that.

Even though most people would see this as freedom, you never truly felt free. Sure, you could go wherever and buy whatever you wanted, but you felt restricted when it came to doing things. Anything you did would be questioned by everyone if it got public-and the media was everywhere. 

Adorned with smoke on my clothes

You coughed as a particularly potent wave of cigarette smoke hit you. There were several times when you would go home with your clothes smelling of smoke just from being out in the city.

When the sun began to set, you made your way back to the subway. You boarded and found a seat next to a man with a vibrant green shirt. The exact shade of green of Loki’s eyes. 

This, along with the music and strolling you had done through the city, took your mind off of your ex and back to the mysterious man who you had seemingly become obsessed with.

Why he was plaguing your thoughts, you didn’t quite know. Especially when you hadn’t even talked to him.

Lovelorn and nobody knows

You wanted to talk to someone about it, but you didn’t have anyone you could trust with this sort of information. You had friends, sure, but you didn’t want to have to explain this feeling to them. You didn’t think that they would understand. And that was before mentioning that the man in question had tried to take over the world.

Love thorns all over this rose

On one hand, it was nice to feel like a giddy teenager again. Love-not that you would call this that-had a way of making you feel all fuzzy and warm inside. But on the other hand, you were completely perplexed and confused as you tried to understand your feelings. 

It was all stupid, really. You hated that you kept thinking about this man despite not having a conversation. It was unsettling how you couldn’t control your own thoughts and feelings.

You wrote it off as you missing the feeling of being in a relationship. That, and Loki was hot. So it was fair enough that you felt attracted to him, no matter how weird and silly it might be.

I'll pay the price, you won't

~~~~~

Another month, another party. However, you couldn’t help but find yourself more excited than you would have been before the pool party on Sunrise Boulevard. For starters, you had more acquaintances at the party. Friends, even. Natasha had kept in touch with you via text, and you even went out for coffee a week or so ago.

There was another reason too, as much as you didn’t want to admit it. You ignored it. The weird flutter in your stomach that happened when you thought about running into Loki at the party was nothing short of a childish reaction to seeing a pretty boy.

But if I’m all dressed up

You were wearing a long-sleeved black dress that stopped a little above your knees. It was beautiful, filled with rhinestones. You paired it with some jewelry and a matching clutch.

They might as well be lookin' at us

It was a little more flashy than you would usually wear to one of these parties, but you couldn’t help it. Someone caught your eye, and now you wanted to catch theirs. 

And if they call me a slut

You were slightly worried, since the dress’ front was a little lower than the cut you typically wore. Now, a normal person in a normal life might get away with nobody noticing. Unfortunately, that would most likely not be the case. 

Would the press notice? Probably. Would they spin articles speculating why you were being ‘sluttish’? Likely.

You know it might be worth it for once

But maybe they wouldn’t. And even if they did, who cared? They did it all the time. If wearing this dress would heighten the possibility of catching a certain someone’s eye, you would take your chances.

“Ready, sweetheart?” Your dad called from downstairs. You made your way down the stairs, grabbing a light coat just in case you got cold. He smiled when he saw you. “You look pretty.”

You returned his smile. “Thanks, Dad.” You made your way out the doors and into the car that would lead you to the heart of New York City, and towards the Avengers Tower. 

When you arrived, you had to make your way up an elevator and through a lot of security before getting to the place where the party was being held. As soon as you got in, your dad was off to go talk to some of his business friends, leaving you on your own.

You sighed and walked over to the bar, ordering a drink. The great thing about Stark’s parties was that he provided an entire bar so people could order their own drinks.

The barista handed you your drink, and you thanked them. The taste was exactly what you wanted.

A hand on your shoulder startled you, so you whipped around to see who was touching you. To your surprise, and relief, it was Natasha. “Natasha! You startled me.” 

“We need to work on your spacial awareness then, hun.” She ordered a drink and took a seat next to me. “How’s life been since I last saw you?”

You took another sip of your drink, considering her question. “It’s been fine, rather uneventful. Which is a good thing, it means that there isn’t anything incredibly bad happening.” You paused, pondering whether or not to tell her more. You decided to very briefly graze a more emotional response. “However, I've been struggling with some feelings that I don’t quite understand.”

She looked at you, intrigued. She was about to say something, probably to prod for more information, when Thor and Steve walked up. They seemed to remember you, saying their greetings. 

“We’re going to play a round of poker, you want in?” Steve asked Natasha, who nodded, taking a final swig of her drink before finishing it. Steve then looked towards you. “How about you?”

Captain America had just asked you if you wanted to play poker with him and the Avengers. Normal day, normal day indeed. 

You took a sip of liquid courage. “Sure. I’m going to get another drink, I’ll meet you guys over there.”

They nodded and walked off towards a table where people were gathering to play. Your eyes scanned over who was there. Other than Thor, Natasha, and Steve, you recognized several faces that you had met that day at the pool party, including him .

And if I'm gonna be drunk

You turned back towards the bar, ordering another drink, this time something stronger. If you were going to make it through this game, you were going to need a lot more alcohol.

I might as well be drunk in love

But hey, maybe being slightly drunk would help you make a move.

You found yourself a seat in between Natasha and Wanda, right across from Thor. And Loki. Bruce shuffled and dished out the cards, as he preferred to be the person outside of all the action.

You began to introduce yourself to those who you hadn’t met, including Loki. He scrunched his eyebrows when you introduced yourself, but he promptly shook it off and responded. “Loki,” he said, “Pleasure to make your acquaintance.” 

Well, it was a start. You flashed him a smile and took up your cards that Bruce had passed you. You were no expert at Poker, but you knew how to play and were decent. 

The game went on, and you could quickly tell who had good poker faces and who didn’t. Natasha, for example, gave no indication as to what her cards were. As would be expected for a spy. On the other hand, Sam was easier to read because he smiled too damn much whenever he got a good card. 

But Loki? You couldn’t quite tell. He wasn’t entirely blank as Natasha, but gave subtle indications to his cards. Something told you that he did this on purpose, though, and wasn’t actually giving hints towards the truth. 

Apparently he noticed you staring at him, and he caught your eye. You blushed, immediately looking back down at your cards. Way to go, me, you thought, wanting the floor to come and swallow you up.

After that, the rounds passed by rather quickly, since you were so focused on what Loki might have thought when he caught you staring. Eventually everyone called it quits on the game, Natasha won, and instead circled over to a sitting area. People were beginning to clear out from the party, since it was getting late. Your dad was chatting away with some of his friends, so you took up an empty spot next to Loki. 

You had drunk several more drinks, so your common sense wasn’t really working for you. Loki gave you a weird look when you sat down, but you ignored it.

Thor called your name, so you turned your head towards his. “I believe I heard you mention that you like to read, no?” 

Your eyes widened in delight, nodding. “Yes! I do. In fact, just earlier today I purchased a few more novels from a bookstore.” 

Thor smiled. “Loki enjoys reading as well. He always seems to have his nose in a book.” Loki glared daggers at him, and was about to say something, when you interrupted. 

“Oh, really!?” You turned towards Loki, the topic of conversation overriding your nerves. “What is your favorite book?” 

Loki faltered, closing his mouth. He pondered the question for a moment before answering. “That’s a difficult question,” he said, “but I suppose if I had to choose I would go with Hamlet. What about you?”

Your smile widened. “Hamlet, an interesting choice indeed. I can totally see you as a Shakespeare guy, though.” Dear god, did I just say that? “And I can’t actually choose a favorite book, there’s just too many, where to start? Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, my childhood favorites, or more classical books like A Study in Scarlet or Pride and Prejudice? ”

You began to ramble on and on about some of your best reads, and you didn’t realize until it was too late that he probably didn’t want to hear about literally everything you’ve read. “Oh my god, I’m sorry, I’m rambling, aren’t I?”

“No, please, go on, I don’t mind at all. I understand being passionate about reading.” Loki said, causing you to blush. 

The two of you continued your conversation, while Thor smiled into his drink across from the two of you.

That night was a success. You made it out of the party with not only having had a conversation with Loki, but also with his number. You had never been so proud of yourself for being a nerd.

~~~~~

Fast forward a few months, and you and him had practically become best friends. You hung out all the time, and texted each other whenever you couldn’t be together. You had never been this happy in your life. 

Unfortunately, that was all you were, friends. There was flirting, sure, from both ends, but neither of you took the step to initiate something. You were sure there was something there, but you were afraid it was one-sided. So you made peace with just being his friend, as it was enough for the time being. 

On one particularly bad day, there had been a nasty article written about you. The press had caught on to your friendship with the god of mischief, and they were ecstatic that they could spin some atrocious stories on it. You were called a slut, a whore, all for being seen with someone of the opposite sex. They used photos of the two of you holding hands, even though it had only been a friendly gesture. 

Perhaps it wouldn’t have been so bad if it hadn’t been for who you were with. The press wasn’t exactly fond of Loki, given his reputation.

Send the code, he's waitin' there

You shot Loki a text reading ‘Fairytale.’ It was the code word for whenever one of you was feeling stressed or overwhelmed, and you needed the other to come and help you escape from whatever situation you were in.

Making your way towards the Avengers tower, you couldn’t help but let a few tears escape. You tried never to let the media get to you, but the article hurt. It wasn’t just the fact that they were spinning nasty rumors and words about you, it was the fact that you wanted some of them to be true. Not the ones calling you names, but you wish that there was, in fact, something going on between you and Loki.

When you got to the tower, you made your way to the elevator. Security didn’t stop you, since they already knew who you were. You had been to visit frequently enough to where they knew you by name and greeted you. They probably could even tell that something was off, since you only briefly greeted them. On most days, you would stop and ask some of them how their day had been going. But, you didn’t have time for that today.

Once you reached the floor of the Avenger’s common areas, also where Loki’s room was, Loki was standing there, waiting for you.

The sticks and stones they throw froze mid-air

As soon as you saw him, everything somehow became a little bit better. You rushed into his arms, and he hugged you.

Everyone wants him, that was my crime

Some of the stories had only talked shit about you, and not Loki. Forums online called you names, while praising Loki. You weren’t ignorant to the fact that despite everything he had done, Loki still had loads of fans that would defend him and get jealous of anyone who actually got close to him. That was how fangirls and fanboys worked. Also, people were just misogynists and loved to put the blame on women. 

The wrong place at the right time

Maybe you weren’t supposed to be here. Maybe some of the articles were right, you were in the wrong place by being here in Loki’s arms. But damn the articles, because you felt safe here.

And I break down, then he's pullin' me in

He brought you through the halls and into his room, where you both sat down on his bed. “What happened?” He asked.

Had he really not seen the articles? You opened your mouth to talk, but your emotions got the best of you and you started to break down.

Loki pulled you into his lap, resting your head under his chin. “Hey, hey, shhh.” He coaxed, petting your hair with his hand. “It’s okay, I’ve got you.”

See? How was there not something there? Were you going crazy?

In a world of boys, he's a gentleman

He continued to coax you, and eventually you fell asleep in his arms.

~~~~~

The next morning, you woke up with arms around your waist. This wasn’t new, you had slept-in the literal sense-with Loki on several occasions whenever one of you needed emotional support. It did hurt that it was always as friends, but it was better than nothing, and you would take what you could get.

Loki rustled beside you, and you turned to face him. He looked so peaceful in his sleep, and you instinctively reached out to brush a loose strand of hair behind his ear. His eyes opened at your touch, and your face went red. 

“Sorry, I-” He hushed you, smiling at how your face was heating up because he caught you.

“Don’t apologize, there’s nothing to apologize for.” He took your hand, and finished tucking his hair behind his ear with your hand .

You cleared your throat, slipping out of bed. You noted that he had magicked you into some pajamas sometime after you had fallen asleep.

He slowly sat up, his hair falling loose once more. “I’m going to get into the shower.” He said, and you nodded. 

“I’ll go out and see if anyone’s making breakfast I can steal.” You said, and he chuckled.

The Avengers were used to your presence at this point, and you were friends with them. You were even invited to their movie nights and poker nights, events that were exclusive to just the team and occasionally their friends, such as you. 

They were relatively surprised that you and Loki had become such good friends, but nobody really said anything about it. You got a few warnings to be careful, but for the most part, they trusted your judgment.

Thor was especially happy that Loki had made such a good friend. He would always tell you how much he appreciated you being there for Loki. He must not have quite understood just how much Loki was there for you as well.

Scents of eggs and bacon wafted into your nose, and you grinned when you found Clint in the kitchen. He saw you, smiling. “Hey there, Brownies.” He said, offering you some breakfast. 

Clint, along with some of the other members of the team, had begun to call you ‘Brownies’ after you got into a stash of edibles that some of them kept for whenever they were particularly stressed. Of course, you had thought that they were normal brownies and ate several of them. You had ended up throwing up multiple times that night.

You scarfed down the food, and Natasha walked in and sat next to you. When Clint left to go for a morning walk, she turned to you with a raised eyebrow. “So?”

You looked at her, confused. You had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. “So what?”

She rolled her eyes. “Did you and Loki finally confess to each other?” She said, without batting an eye.

You choked on your orange juice. “What?!” You hadn’t told a single soul about your crush on Loki, but it wasn’t too hard to figure out. Honestly, it didn’t surprise you that she knew about it, but it did surprise you that she would ask you so passively like it was idle talk.

“Don’t look at me like that.” She took a bite of her food before continuing. “Literally everyone knows that you and Loki are pining for each other. It’s blatantly obvious, Sestryonka. Maybe you two won’t admit it to yourselves, but ask anyone else in the tower.”

At that moment, Sam walked in to grab a few pieces of bacon. “Hey Sam?” You started, and he looked towards you. “Do you think that Loki likes me?”

Sam raised his eyebrow. “Aren’t you two dating?” Once again, you choked on your orange juice. “I’ll take that as a no. But yeah, he likes you.”

“Did he tell you this?” You inquired. How were other people so sure?

Sam shook his head. “No, but it’s obvious.” He grabbed a water bottle from the fridge. “Gotta go meet with an old friend, see you around.”

Natasha gave you an I-told-you-so look, and you just sat there, stunned. “I think I need to go home. I forgot that I told my dad I would go with him to some business meeting.” You lied, and Natasha most definitely saw through it, but she didn’t say anything. “Tell Loki whenever he gets out of the shower.” 

She nodded, and you left to go back to your house.

Got love-struck, went straight to my head (Straight to my head)

Could Natasha and Sam be right? Could Loki really recuperate your feelings? It wasn’t entirely impossible, but you didn’t want to get your hopes up. 

All the times that you thought he had been playfully flirting with you, what if it had been real? The moments flashed through your mind, and suddenly the line that separated you and Loki as friends became a little more blurry.

Got lovesick all over my bed (Over my bed)

When you made it home and to your room, you fell into your bed, emotions overflowing. You didn’t know what to do.

Love to think you’ll never forget

You had to just be a friend to Loki. He would live thousands of years after you died, your life could never compare to his. He would move on with his life, and forget about you. It was bound to happen sooner or later.

We’ll pay the price, I guess

~~~~~

It had been a solid month of you ignoring Loki. Your thoughts had spurred you into insecurity, and you figured that it was best that you disconnected yourself from Loki. He would be fine, he would move on, but you wanted to spare yourself the hurt for when that did happen.

Turns out, ignoring him wasn’t easy. First of all, he called you daily and messaged you several times a day for the first week. You couldn’t keep yourself from reading the messages.

Lokes ♥️: Natasha told me you had to go to some event. Have fun 🙃 Lokes ♥️: Are you okay? You didn’t respond to my last message.  Lokes ♥️: If you need anything, please let me know. Lokes ♥️: You’re worrying me. Lokes ♥️: Darling, have I done something wrong? I know you're online, you sent Thor a funny dog video, he just showed it to me and said you sent it. Please tell me if I’ve done something that displeases you.

You were surprised you were able to make it a month without breaking your resolve and writing him back. You didn’t want him to feel that he did anything wrong, but you couldn’t risk your heart being shattered any further.

Unfortunately, your dad was making you go to another party. And, lucky you, it was at the Avengers tower. Just how many parties did Tony Stark have to host?

You walked into the party, confident that you had enough willpower to keep away from Loki and make it through the party unscathed. 

Knowing you would need some alcohol, you made your way to the bar. Natasha was there shortly after. “We haven’t seen you around in a while.”

You hadn’t visited the tower since your decision to ghost Loki. While you normally would hang out with the others, you knew you couldn’t risk the chance of bumping into Loki.

“Yeah, I’ve been… busy.” You knew Natasha wasn’t stupid enough to buy your lie. 

She took a sip of her drink. “Well, we’ve missed you. And for the record, I think you’ve been going about this the wrong way. I don’t know what’s going on with you and Loki right now, but it doesn’t seem that Loki wants this. He’s not been the same since you stopped talking to him, he’s always moping around even more than usual.” 

Your heart squeezed. “Still? It’s been a month. Surely he’s got some other friend, girlfriend even-”

Natasha cut you off with a laugh. “You are blissfully ignorant, aren’t you, Mishka?” You were about to excuse yourself to use the bathroom, because you needed to get out of here. “He has literally come to me every day asking if you have texted me. Hell, I didn’t ever think that I would feel bad for the little bastard, but seeing him like that nearly did.”

You locked eyes with Loki, who was across the room. As soon as you did that, you could feel your walls of built resolve crumbling down just with the look in his eyes. 

You could hear Natasha still talking next to you, but it was drowned out. You quickly made your way opposite from him, trying to find an exit before you broke down.

A hand pulled you around to face him . The one you had been avoiding. Your breath caught. He looked tired and sad, with eye bags under his eyes. Had you being away from him done this?

But if I'm all dressed up (If I’m all dressed up)

The dress you were wearing was the same black dress from the night you had finally introduced yourself to him. In fact, you weren’t far off from where you had talked about your favorite books. 

Loki breathed your name, and looked at you like you were a fleeting memory about to disappear.

They might as well be lookin' at us (Lookin' at us)

Suddenly, you couldn’t care if the entire world was watching as you glanced down to his lips. You took a step towards him. “Loki.”

“Where have you been?” He sounded heartbroken. “I’ve called you, texted you, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve laid up at night-”

You silenced him by pulling down the collar of his shirt and kissing him. Was it the most logical thing to do? No. But maybe it would answer some of his questions. 

“I’m sorry.” You said when you finally pulled away. You waited for him to say something, anything, but he pulled you in for another kiss. Maybe that was better than words.

And if they call me a slut (If they call me a slut)

Consequences be damned, you were going to enjoy this kiss while it lasted. You could deal with the press later.

You know it might be worth it for once (Worth it for once)

You knew that it would be worth it anyways, since Loki’s lips against yours felt like pure nirvana. It was the best feeling you had ever experienced in your life.

Eventually, you both needed to breathe, so you pulled apart. After catching your breath, you gestured to the bar. “Let’s get a drink.”

And if I'm gonna be drunk

You had a lot to explain, and you were going to need a shot or two to get it all out. You already felt less nervous than you did originally, considering the kiss. 

I might as well be drunk in love

After taking a shot, you turned to him. “Loki Laufeyson, from the day that I met you, I’ve felt this inexplicable feeling. I didn’t know what it was at first, but I knew that I needed to get to know you better.” You took a deep breath. “And once I realized what it was, I got scared. When the possibility of something happening got too real, I got insecure. That’s why I didn’t contact you. I thought it would be better for both of us.”

He stared at you for a long moment, and you felt a tear drip down your cheek. He reached out to catch it with his finger. “Oh, love.”

He kissed you, this time in comfort. “I’m just glad you’re back.”

Slow clapping filled your ears as you leaned your forehead against Loki’s. You whipped around to find Natasha with a smirk on her face. It wasn’t just Natasha, it seemed that the majority of the Avengers were now staring at you. Nobody looked shocked.

Thor wore a huge shit-eating grin and walked up to Loki, clapping him on the back. “See, Brother, I told you it would all work out!” 

Loki huffed and rolled his eyes. “No thanks to you and your advice.” 

You tilted your head, confused. “Advice?” You turned to Thor. “Thor, what is he talking about?” 

Thor’s smile didn’t falter. “Well, my lady, my brother here inquired for advice on how to woo maidens. Since I am well-rounded on the subject, I gave him my best advice.” 

Loki’s usually pale face had now turned red, and you could feel your cheeks getting hot as well. “Did he really?” You said, teasing Loki. 

“I was desperate. Next time, however, I will most definitely be more straightforward.” He kissed you on the forehead. “We wouldn’t want you running off again, now, would we?”

~~~~~

Half asleep, takin’ your time

Loki pulled you closer to him in a half-asleep state. You squinted at the alarm clock, reading the time. It was 10 in the morning. Last night, you had told your dad that you were going to spend the night with Natasha.

“Loki.” You whispered, shaking him gently awake. He groaned, tightening his hold on you. “Loki, we should get up.” 

In the tangerine, neon light, this is luxury

The sun cast a tangerine-colored neon light into the room, and it highlighted his features beautifully. You couldn’t think of anywhere else in the world you wanted to be other than right here in his arms. It was a pure luxury that you would cherish forever.

“Can’t we just stay here?” He whined, and you were tempted to agree and fall back asleep against his chest. But you knew that you had things that needed to get done that day.

You traced lines across his chest, slowly. “Nope, we gotta get up. Come on.” You pulled the blankets off of him, and he grumbled but sat up. 

He looked like he was about to complain some more, but he stopped himself when he saw you. “You’re beautiful.” He breathed, like he was seeing something magical. 

“Yeah, okay, silvertongue.” You got out of bed, and scavenged through his closet to find some of his clothes to steal. 

He came up behind you, kissing your neck. “I mean it, darling.” You blushed. How were you ever going to get used to this? 

You're not sayin' you're in love with me

He hummed on your shoulder, hugging you. Neither of you had blatantly stated your undying love for each other, but it was heavily implied. Every action either of you took was filled with passionate love for the other. 

But you're going to

And it was okay if you didn’t acknowledge your love quite yet. Taking things slow never hurt anyone. It was okay. It would happen. Eventually. Right?

You wanted to say it, to say those words: ‘I love you,’ but you were too afraid that you would be taking things too fast and scare Loki off.

Half awake, takin' your chances

“Darling?” He said, and you tilted your head up as you grabbed one of his sweatshirts. “I love you.” 

Had he been reading your mind? You froze, unsure of what to say or do. He seemed to have only been half-awake, but when he said those words, he fully woke up.

“I didn’t mean to- I wasn’t think-” You shut him up with a kiss. 

You smiled into the kiss. “I love you too, you big idiot.” He relaxed at this and helped you put his sweatshirt on. 

It's a big mistake, I said, "It might blow up in your pretty face"

“Although, loving me might blow up in your pretty face.” You said, rustling your hands in his raven locks.

He leaned into you. “If I’m with you, nothing else matters.” He grabbed some clothes for himself. “And I’m flattered you think my face is pretty.” 

I'm not saying, "Do it anyway" (Do it anyway)

You knew then and there that he wouldn’t care about the fallback from a relationship with you, no matter how bad it might be. Loki’s never been one for caring about his public opinion, anyway. 

“Are you sure?” You tried, still slightly insecure about the entire thing. “Won’t you get bored?”

But you're going to

He laughed. “Darling, with you, I could never get bored. You’ve shown me so many things about this world that I never would have thought possible. You’ve helped me through my emotions, and didn’t run away when it was ugly. You didn't go away when I attempted to shut you out.” 

He pulled you into his embrace. “You’re everything I didn’t know I needed all balled up into one soul that I finally have found. I wouldn’t be able to get bored of you even if I tried.”

You felt hot tears stream down your cheeks. Never had fate been this good to you, and you finally felt like you belonged somewhere without a doubt. You belonged here, in Loki’s arms.

And if they call me a (Slut) You know it might be worth it for once And if I'm gonna be (Drunk) I might as well be drunk in love

Tag List (Comment or inbox me to be added/removed; along with what to be tagged for): @michief-dream @iceeericeee @fandxmslxt69

Hope you enjoyed! Comments and notes are always appreciated. I hope I didn't add to many scene changes/focus too much on the reader, it just kind of turned out that way.

[veyren-city]

Streets and Districts of Veyren City.

As the title implies here is a list of streets: residential streets, main roads, connector roads and districts! (Animated purple and white divider made by @/cafekitsune)

Ashwick Avenue - A historic ave with old buildings, dimmed streetlights, and a lingering mist.

Cinder Row - A narrow street with a mix of small businesses' and fading neon signs knowns for it's quiet timeless feel.

Vale Street - A long winding road that always seems slick with rain, lined with cafe's record shops and a teahouse that refuses to die out.

Halloway Road - A street that curves through the heart of the city, known for its mix of modern and decayed architecture

Lockewood Drive - A semi-industrial road where tech startups and small shops co-exist.

Whitmoor Street - An area known for its old-world charm, bookstores and flower shops still hold against time.

Novastra Boulevard -

Main Artery of the pulse district. Holographic billboards and glass skyscrapers tower the streets

Notable places:

Veyren Grand Station - The Cities central train hub, packed at all times.

Astrocorp HQ - A cooperate tower belonging to a mega-conglomerate that controls most of Veyren's digital infrastructure

Synthwave Café - a 24 hour coffee shop with neon lit walls and robotic baristas

Project Dome - A massive curved screen, displaying ads, weather, news, and the latest fashion trends in real time.

Orion Street -

A shopping and entertainment hub where the latest tech and fashion is sold.

Notable places:

Oblivion Club - One of the biggest night clubs in Veyren with floors that light up as people dance. The drinks are never ending as well as the friendly company.

Neon Arcade - A retro futuristic arcade where old school gaming collides with VR and newer stylistic games.

Hyper Mart 24 - A fully automated department store with robotic assistance. You think it? They got it!

Starlight Records - A hidden vinyl record shop that still exists despite the digital age

Helix Road -

A tech and business center, home to high end offices, and digital marketing firms.

Notable Places:

Zephyr Towers - A sleek black skyscraper that's a hub for cyber security firm.

Neurolink Labs - A company experimenting with brain-interface technology.

Flux Lounge - High end, invite only social club where executives discuss business over cocktails.

Astra Bar - A bar with digital bartenders and waiters and drinks that glow under blacklight

Stratos Avenue -

Known for media, fashion, and high energy night life.

Notable places:

Veyren Broadcast Center - the city's largest media headquarters, airing new and digital influencers.

Runway 99 - An avant-garde fashion district where models walk beside holograms of the fashions creators.

Pulse plaza - A futuristic square where massive events take place and ads are projected into the skies.

The Grid - A rooftop lounge balcony with a stunning view of the cities skyline.

Synapse Alley -

A gritty underground area filled with hidden bars, black market tech, and cybernetic enhancement shops.

Notable Places:

Echo Bar - A secret jazz bar that Tristan visits from time to time. The only semi-safe place in the alley.

Bytes & Bites - A hacker café where people don't just sell coffee, they sell digital secrets.

The Raven Room - A speakeasy accessible only through a glitched billboard. Where people drank and talked shop over the latest illegal tech.

PawnXchange - A pawn shop for illegal tech, and stolen data drives.

Rainmere Street - A quiet hidden street, nothing to spectacular there home to three story walk ups.

Halloway Lane - A lesser known street where only locals wander, known for its "old world feel"

Wrenford Alley - old abandoned shops with swinging wooden signs and cobblestone road. A relic from the older days.

Bellrose Street - Home to Tristan and his bookshop~!

Dunhaven Street - Home to a small park with a pond and a playground, really only the "natural green" around these days without leaving the city.

Draycott Lane - A small street lined with homes and a few antique and second hand shops.

Easton Bridge - Pedestrian/vehicle bridge leading from the Pulse District to the residential district.

Lennox Street - A bustling road lined with chain food restaurants.

Verity Square - A plaza full of street vendors leads to Synapse alley.

Halloway Underpass - A tunnel beneath the train station where rain water pools beneath flickering lights. Leads to Holloway Road.

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazil’s X ban drives outraged Bolsonaro supporters to rally for ‘free speech’

Supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro began flooding Sao Paulo’s main boulevard for an Independence Day rally Saturday, buoyed by the government’s blocking of tech billionaire Elon Musk’s X platform, a ban they say is proof of their political persecution.

A few thousand demonstrators, clad in the yellow-and-green colors of Brazil’s flag, poured onto Av. Paulista. References to the ban on X and images of Musk abounded.

“Thank you for defending our freedom,” read one banner praising the tech entrepreneur.

Saturday’s march is a test of Bolsonaro’s capacity to mobilize turnout ahead of the October municipal elections, even though Brazil’s electoral court has barred him from running for office until 2030. It’s also something of a referendum on X, whose suspension has raised eyebrows even among some of Bolsonaro’s opponents all the while stoking the flames of Brazil’s deep-seated political polarization.

“A country without liberty can’t celebrate anything this day,” Bolsonaro wrote on his Instagram account Sept 4., urging Brazilians to stay away from official independence day parades and instead join him in Sao Paulo.

Continue reading.

[thyunnoticedsposts]

The importance of Donnie's location in the trailer

Call me a nerd, but when it comes to location, I go all Matpat and begin to do a research. I like to use location and some canon aspects with my fictional story, for the sake of world building.

I have a feeling Donnie is the first or second character they will focus on because hes the one in the background after the trailer ends. Also, the idw comic ended with him in a way, so it's a beautiful way to start this series

So, the location of Donnie on that train is super important for his character arc. Where is Donnie? Let's look at the picture and analyze it.

We see that inside of the underground train station, the architectural design is square shape and a bit narrow. The train stations choice of light bulbs is the linear fluorescent light bulb or, simply put, the lamp type. After some digging I found out that The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system that serves four of the five boroughs of New York City, namely : the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens

At first, I thought it was Nenvins St Brooklyn. Because there, Thearthe Shakespear was nearby. Mikey would love it there. But it didn't fit the picture at all. I hear you thinking, but what about the graffiti?

So I did a bit more digging for specifically train stations that had or still have graffiti art on the wall, and I found this

This is the Sutphin Subway entrance.

It's possible that Donnie is at Sutphin Boulevard station (IND Queens Boulevard Line) instead of Nenvin.

New York City Subway station in Queens The Sutphin Boulevard station is a local station on the IND Queens Boulevard Line of the New York City Subway. Why does this matter?

Take a look at the Google maps. We'll well well, what do we have here?

BINGO! A museum of science. It's also right next to the Zoo! We all know what happened to the Zoo animals in the movie, when Suplafly mutated. It may not be the same Zoo, but it's an interesting detail!

I live in Holland, so I am new to the train stations in NY, but I'm positive that the reason Donnie is on that train is related to the science museum. Donnie is smart and usually is the one that comes up with plans, and once he's at the science museum, he will discover his love for science and slowly become the tech genius we know and love

An honorable mention is the subway station, Washington Hights in Manhatten. This is the deepest and the most dangerous subway station tunnel. It's filled with amazing graffiti art, and I can only imagine the amazing fight scenes that could take place here.

All in all, it's just a shot in the dark because it's a theory, and I could be wrong.

[lakelewisia]

“Tell me a story,” she asked, and the old maintenance tech told her a story from when the building was young and still unfinished, how he would find little hand prints left in the fresh primer on the walls, and where she could still see one of them that never got painted over. “Tell me a story,” she asked, and the creature in the half-finished supply closet told her a story from when the ground had not been broken yet, how there was a tunnel among the roots of a tree, and what his little hands had dug up before concrete hid it again. “Tell me a story,” she asked, and the old fragments of roots that were slowly upheaving the lunch patio told her a story from when their tree had been a sapling, how they burrowed around the wide underground boulevards of a sunken city, and why the people there had not minded what happened above them when there was still room to dig down.

[stlivingla]

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[david-goldrock]

So at the entrance to my Moshav there's a new sign and on it is written: "Hello! you arrived home! slow down!" And every time I read it, inside, I die a bit I have no real logical explanation And the sign is right, it is definitely important, And with most seriousness It's just that each time I read I want to die a little A kind of need to puke And I think it is also related to the playground

I went there with my dog, just when it was built A new playground, impressive, flaunting in quality The swing doesn't creak, and even the carousel has a safety belt This is a prestigious building, directly from the catalog Designed to the satisfaction of the parent who's got no time to worry And while I'm there with the dog between slides and swings Just in me all of a sudden worries rose It's just that - until recently, there were woods here instead of a kindergarten So I couldn't not wonder - where this year will we be doing... Shavuot? Or the Ash Layla - when the older kids kidnap the younger kids - where is this able to be done now?

Now that the youth club has a busy schedule so Between spinning course to equipment Pilates, does anybody think of the younger fellas? And understand, I am one who accepts change as a blessing I just don't get in what way did they decide to build a sidewalk here And while I sink in wonderings, a parent passed across me with his toddler son

I waved hello, in order to fulfill one's obligation, but my dog, he didn't understand, that they are from the square It roared towards the kid in a usual energy burst in order to give the kid the traditional "lick to the face" greeting, but the father got scared, and preached in a solemn voice "Is this your dog? how come it isn't tied up? look at the sign! don't you know it's not allowed" I tilted my head across my neck in an involuntary twist I told him "excuse me, sir, since when is this moshav so bourgeois?" and suddenly it hit me

Yes Feelings that sit in the stomach for years It's you - the people of the square You had ruined us from the inside, you turned all of us to a bunch of pricks A slowing bump in front of a public playground?! we all fell victim to the same ruse!

For, ever since the beginning this probably was the plan, no? a dirt road turned to a boulevard, a tractor turned to a company car, It can't be that all that happened coincidentally when you came to the moshav

The bikers. They are no longer children, cycling back from the sea through the fields, but 30-year-old high-tech guys in dry fit and sunglasses that say "I have enough money not to be dazzled even when I'm doing sport"

You lured, you lured us, the people of the square, just like the story of Adam and Eve, and the tree of knowledge was sold, to the highest bidder, not for the fruits, which one can eat from, but for THE GROUND THE TREE SITS UPON. We sold our souls, the simplicity's gone, a neighbor became a stranger

And now, former Tel Avivians, demand we'd attach every dog a collar?

Say, why did you come for anyway?

I know, you wanted a silent surrounding, so you left the city, 'till now, legitimate, a completely reasonable situation, but here - ended the change in your life, when you forced the moshav, to fit itself, to you And like every colonial conqueror in his coming to a distant continent, you forced upon us a foreign and disconnected culture A loud culture, that simultaneously demands silence

"Hello, you arrived home! Slow down!" I KNOW, I need to slow down! And I, I see all now is clear - Not for a shouty and punchy sign, and not for an excessive and retarded slowing bump either, I know that I need to slow down, because in the Moshav, there's no reason to go quick

Moshav, is not a city, after going down from the highway, when the smell of the cowshed goes up in the air, it's time to turn the pot to a low fire, and to shed one's worries, to let the body unfreeze in front of the banana plantation view It's a bit difficult to explain - a moshav is different. It's free dogs, it's an unfinished road, and every hole in it rocks the car like a baby in its crib

To live in a moshav is not paying entrance fees, it's not a municipal matter that can be found on one's ID, to live in a moshav meant to give oneself to meaning Leave the dog alone, what about the kid? does he not deserve a childhood?

There's no need for slowing bumps and signs when one knows the neighbors, the laws are, unnecessary, punt the playground back to the land of the bourgeois, let your kid get the ability to invent devices for himself

That he'd fall down on his face, that he'd open his chin, that he'd cry, that he'd laugh, that he'd will face it, that he'd rant; That he'd be intrigued, that he'd get in danger, that he'd *unintelligible*, that he'd roll over, that he'd sneeze, that he'd get in trouble, do you understand?

What matters isn't where do you live, what matters is how

All that, wasn't said, obviously, I was satisfied with mumbling "yes yes, of course" but, I felt as if the message comes through.

We parted our ways, the dog by my side, the banana plantations in the background, silence, twilight. and in a passing glance between me and the dog it told me with its eyes "The time has come for them to put a sidewalk here, my legs hurt"

[tanyakennedy1899]

Garage Heathen "About Dystopian Debugger." Sept 10th, 2024

tl;dr Dystopian Debugger is, for now, cancelled, because it was too difficult to make technically and gameplaywise. However, the demo for Last look along Woodward Boulevard will soon be accessible.

Dystopian Debugger after yesterday's teaser there has been some confusion in regards to a game that I have been working on before, called Dystopian Debugger.

The game was well into its development, I have arranged a Steam Page and a Public Playtest. The main systems were functional, there was a story in place as well as the main 3d assets. A lot of work and love has been poured in this project.

In Winter 2023, I've made the decision to halt the development. There were several reasons behind it.

First of all, this was a very challenging project in two major aspects - tech and gameplay. To me, making a functioning programming language and a "compiler", even with help of libraries like ANTLR was difficult task which took a lot of time and resources. I did manage to create it, but it took a lot more time than, for example, the systems in Who's Lila.

Secondly, the gameplay. The main challenge and goal of Dystopian Debugger was to turn programming into a game - not just ant programming, but debugging other people's code. Additionally, there was supposed to be several different programming languages, based on concepts like Japanese Haiku, music, probability theory, etc. What I have been too late to realise, is that these more creative languages would completely outshine the tedious c-like language.

This is where the main inner conflict took shape. I've spent an enormous amount of time making this c-like language (and had a lot of fun in the process). When you spend so much resources on a game aspect, it naturally evolves to be the central part of the experience. The most interesting, more creative languages would then become secondary. But they still needed to be implemented.

Finally, from the feedback, I've noticed that people were (naturally) much more interested in "side-content" - the story and secondary languages. Many have described the main language as "work before going to the interesting part", [of] the story.

At the time, this felt wrong. In my projects, I attempt to make the majority of [the] game engaging to play, only adding intentionally tedious bits where I feel the experience demands it. Here, half of the game felt tedious - to me as well. At the time, I was lost in this project. I wasn't sure where this should go.

There was still an enormous amount of work to be done and, before locking in, I wanted to be sure this was not going to be a boring game. It's bad enough to take a long, long time creating a game, but it'd be a catastrophe to end up with something subpar afterwards. So, I took a month-long break. Then, upon return, I've realized that I couldn't handle this project right now.

Meanwhile, all this time, the idea for another game, which is now called Last look along Woodward Boulevard has been forming. I knew it would be easier to make. Like DD, it's larger in scope than what I've been making before, but here the scope is at least visible, if that makes sense. Therefore, since February, I am focusing on this project, as it is not as technically challenging and I can be sure to give you something playable sometime this Winter.

Does this mean the end for Dystopian Debugger? No, absolutely not. I'm sure I can make these mechanics work in the future, albeit in reduced scope and different configuration.

tl;dr Dystopian Debugger is, for now, cancelled, because it was too difficult to make technically and gameplaywise. However, the demo for Last look along Woodward Boulevard will soon be accessible.

Thank you for your patience, situations like these are why I prefer not to take your money though Patreon/Boosty/etc, haha.

Take care! Garage Heathen

[legolasghosty]

Okayyyyyy so This Post happened earlier today, and @girlstuffnorp, @floating-in-the-blue, and @1mnobodywhoareyou got me thinking about Willex (as I often am). So here you guys go! Not edited at all, I'm sorry. It's late. Enjoy!

-----------

Alex poofed into the museum, stumbling a little over a random plank of wood on the ground. Sure, he'd already checked here twice. But he had to find Willie somehow, and this just felt right. He hadn't found the skater on Sunset Boulevard, or at the park they'd met up at a couple of times before. And Alex knew better than to go anywhere the Ghost Club.

Now when it was too late.

But maybe there was a chance. Julie's plan might work. But they needed Willie to pull it off.

The guys had offered to help Alex look, but he'd turned them down. He had to do this on his own. And well, the last time he'd taken them to find Willie, it hadn't ended well.

So here he was, on his own, trying to follow the odd tugging in his chest that had led him to the skater in the past. But he just kept ending up here. And Willie wasn't-

"Alex?"

Alex nearly jumped out of his insubstantial skin at the voice and spun around to see Willie standing a few yards away, board clutched to his chest and a startled look on his face.

"Hey," Alex said, raising a hand awkwardly. He wasn't used to this uneasy tension between them. Willie was there, but he felt so much further away than he had before everything went down at the ghost club.

"Is everything okay?" Willie asked, taking a careful step closer.

"Yeah, yeah," Alex said quickly. "Or like... not any less okay than before."

Willie let out a relieved chuckle. Just one. Alex missed his full laugh. "That's... good. I think?"

"Yeah it is," Alex agreed, his eyes falling to the skateboard in Willie's hands, unable to meet his eyes and see the discomfort there. He hated that he'd caused that hurt, even if it wasn't on purpose. Then he remembered why he was here in the first place. "Julie sort of has a plan."

Willie's frown deepened. "What kind of plan?"

Alex took a deep breath. "A plan to play the Orpheum."

"Wait seriously?!" Willie exclaimed, the hopeful note in his voice giving Alex the courage to meet his eyes again.

There was too much happening behind the dark irises for Alex to decipher in an instant. But he knew there was hope. And worry. And sorrow. And suddenly it hit Alex square in the chest that if this worked, if they played the Orpheum and crossed over, then that would mean saying goodbye to Willie. For good.

"That's awesome, how are you pulling that off?" Willie continued. He came a step closer and the knot in Alex's chest loosened a bit.

Alex glanced around and spotted the bench they'd moved together the first time they came here. He nodded towards it, then sat down himself. Willie hesitated. Alex felt himself crack just a bit more. Willie had never put distance between them before Caleb. In fact, he'd always been crossing it, grabbing Alex's hand or bumping their knees together or shaking him by the shoulders. There wasn't any of that anymore.

But then Willie sat down, leaving a few inches of space between them, but closer nonetheless. Alex exhaled.

"So basically we're going to get the opening band to have some kind of tech issue this weekend," Alex began, "and then throw up our video in the producer's office right after they find out. No time to find a replacement? Well lucky for them, we're right there."

Willie laughed, a little closer to his normal one this time. "Julie is a genius!" he declared, pulling one knee up to his chest. Then he smirked. "What are you gonna do to the opener?"

Alex huffed out a nervous chuckle. "Therein lies the issue," he admitted. "We have yet to agree on anything that isn't going to cause physical damage to the band, will get them out enough, and we can actually do."

Willie nodded, expression turning thoughtful. He didn't say anything for a minute. Alex took the opportunity to check out the green eggs on his socks. Would it still be called sunny side up if the yolks weren't yellow?

But he also thought about what would happen to Willie, to them, if this worked. And what would happen if it didn't. Would Willie be okay without Alex? Would Caleb take his anger out on the skater over losing Sunset Curve? Would Willie miss him? Or would he forget he existed, just a tiny blip in his long afterlife? Alex knew he wouldn't be forgetting Willie any time soon, even if he ceased to exist. Maybe Reggie had a point about never forgetting your first ghost.

On the other hand, what would happen if he took Caleb's offer? If he stayed at the HGC, playing music he didn't love for someone who owned his soul for an eternity? It wouldn't be fun. But then they could stay together. Alex could keep Willie safe from the magician. They could dance together in the club and it wouldn't matter who could or couldn't see them. They could just be. Forever.

But that would mean losing Julie. And his freedom. And probably his friends, because there was no way Luke was going to take the bait. Reggie would be caught in the middle, but he'd probably stay with Luke and Julie. So Alex would have Willie, but he wouldn't have his friends, or his music, or his soul.

Was it bad that he was still tempted?

"Okay, I'm going to handle the opener," Willie announced, startling Alex from his thoughts. "Not sure how yet, but I'll get you guys on that fancy sign."

"You mean the marque?" Alex clarified.

"I thought that was a fancy French dude," Willie retorted. "Like that one guy in Hamilton."

Alex shrugged. "I have no idea what a Hamilton is, but I think it's the same word?"

Willie laughed again. "I need to teach you the ways of sneaking into Broadway shows," he teased. Then his face fell. "Or... I guess not," he added in a softer voice.

The ache in Alex's chest, almost more painful than the occasional jolts now, returned full force. "Yeah," he sighed. He bit the inside of his cheek. "Unless..."

Willie's eyes shot to his, but the severity in his gaze was an unexpected stab to Alex's soul. "No, no way," the skater said firmly. "You're not taking his deal. I promise... It's not worth it."

"But what about you," Alex burst out. "If we leave and Caleb finds out you helped us, even just a little bit, he'd destroy you! You said it yourself! But if I stay then-"

"No I'm not going to let you do that, Alex!" Willie cut him off, one hand latching onto his. "I made my choice, okay? It was a stupid one, yeah, but it's done. You haven't! You can cross over and not have to deal with any of this anymore! And if Caleb wants to destroy me for-for caring about you, then okay. I'm okay with that, I've made my peace with the fact that my afterlife is probably going to be ended because of him at some point anyways. At least you would be safe and free."

Alex wanted to cry. He wanted to pull Willie close and hide him away somewhere no one could ever hurt him again. He wanted to hold him and get as far away from him as possible and just sit here with him forever all at once.

"I just want you to be happy," Willie murmured, running out of steam. When Alex met his gaze again, there were tears forming in the corners of his eyes. "As long as you're okay, that's enough for me. I got to know you and be your... friend for a bit. I'm not going to regret that, even if it's the end for me. I'll be okay as long as you're safe."

Alex reached out with his free hand and cupped Willie's cheek. His thumb brushed away the first tear that slid from the skater's eyes. "I don't want to leave you," he admitted softly.

"Me either," Willie breathed. "But you have to."

"I know," Alex sighed. "I'm sorry."

Willie shook his head without dislodging Alex's hand. "No being sorry. It's just how life is sometimes."

"We're literally dead already," Alex pointed out wryly.

"Details details," Willie dismissed, squeezing his hand. "Just promise me that, whatever happens, you'll do everything you can to cross over."

Alex squeezed back. "I promise," he responded, his heart cracking down the middle.

And only a day later, he would be reminded of that promise as he stared across the Hollywood Ghost Club at Willie, leaning against the back wall, as he missed a beat in Caleb's song in favor of the one calling to him from outside. Willie's gaze met his and he nodded once. Go, he mouthed.

I promise, Alex mouthed back, before leaving the club behind and flying to Julie's side.

[hollywood-love]

🎬 Living, Visiting, and Working in Hollywood: A Surreal Experience

Hollywood isn’t just a place — it’s a vibe. Whether you're walking past iconic landmarks like the Walk of Fame, catching a glimpse of a film set on your morning coffee run, or simply stuck in traffic with the Hollywood sign in view, there's a constant feeling that something big could happen at any moment.

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🎥 Visiting? Here’s What to Know: Hollywood is touristy, yes — but it’s also legendary. Go beyond the Boulevard. Hike up to Griffith Observatory, catch a classic at the TCL Chinese Theatre, or spend a night sampling the food. There’s always something happening, from street performances to film festivals.

💼 Working in Hollywood: If you're in entertainment, tech, media, or even hospitality, Hollywood is more than glitz — it's grind. Networking here can happen anywhere: on set, in coffee shops, or at a rooftop mixer. It's competitive, but it's also collaborative. Everyone’s chasing a dream — and some are making it happen.

Whether you're here for a week or building a life, Hollywood has a way of leaving a mark on you. ✨

#HollywoodLife #LosAngeles #FilmIndustry #TravelCalifornia #WorkAndWander

[smkkbert]

Time for a story - Fighting Fire with Fire

Her call for help must have spread like wildfire, Felicity thought, overlooking the crowd that was growing bigger and bigger with each minute that passed. There were so many people here now that Felicity had needed to climb onto the roof of a truck, so she could oversee the crowd. Goosebumps spread all over her skin while she was taking them in.

Starling City was truly united. How else was it possible that people of different age, different socioeconomic status, different religion, different ethnicity and whatever else had gathered here with the same aim. Felicity could see an old man with his cane, and she could see a girl that could be barely older than twelve years, surrounded by a group of young adults. There were some of the homeless that came to warm up down in the foyer of the Science Center in winter as well as people Felicity usually only met during formal charity events. There was a man wearing a kippah and a woman that was holding onto her cross neckless. She could see thousands of different people and different groupings. They had all come here to keep Starling City safe.

Oliver had started this mission in an attempt to punish those who had betrayed it. Along the way, he had noticed that his mission, their mission had to be more than this. Now this was what it had become.

“Felicity?”

Turning her head to Bruce, she saw him holding out a tablet to him. She took it, finding live footages from half a dozen places within the city there. Those six places, all central to the city and yet somewhat spread all over it, were where Blood Rose and her henchmen would wreak havoc tonight. Their opponents were already gathering together there.

“We have to split in seven groups.”

Felicity said it quietly, so only Bruce and John who were standing next to her could hear. Lifting her gaze, she looked at John’s face, seeking his approval. Only when she nodded, she felt like this was indeed the right move.

“Time’s running,” Felicity said out loud, addressing the people that had come to fight with them tonight, “and Blood Rose has made sure that there will be attacks all over the city, so we need to split.”

“Lyla and Curtis are leading a part of you to St. Walker’s Hospital in South Boulevard.”

Although the crowd of people wasn’t easy to overlook, a part of the people just followed Lyla until they felt like it was like a seventh of them. Felicity wondered how they would make it to South Boulevard. It would take them too long to walk. She instantly remembered that Lyla was an A.R.G.U.S. agent though and knew that she would know what to do.

Everyone on the team would find their ways to their destinations. With so many heads working together, there was always a way.

“My brother Nick is joining the next group to North District.”

Felicity continued to split the group. She sent Tommy to Pennytown. Laurel joined a group at the Warehouse District. Roy was sent to The Triangle with another one. There was one more group that had to go. The rest would stay here with her. Here was where Blood Rose would attack, the seventh location.

“B-“

Felicity needed to stop herself. After she had called everyone by their real-life names, she needed to remind herself that Bruce still wore his mask. Everyone who could count to three could probably tell that he was behind the mask. He was the one link that they had to Gotham City. As long as there was no definite proof, nothing would happen to him though.

“Batman will-“

“-stay right here with you.”

Turning her head back over her shoulder, Felicity looked at John. She had thought that he would stay by her side here in the Glades.

“When Blood Rose really comes here, you need help with the tech,” John said, “so I’ll go.”

John was right. Taking on Blood Rose by herself was too dangerous. Felicity needed technical assistance, and Bruce could offer that. She nodded her head in agreement and turned back to the crowd that was left.

“John will go with you to Lamb Valley. The rest of us will stay here.”

As soon as John and his group were gone, the others stepped closer towards her. They gathered around the truck she was standing on. They looked at her, expecting to give directions and tell them what to do. It was so much easier doing so when she was behind her computers and the people that received her directions were well-trained vigilantes and not just the common people from the street. With her team, Felicity knew their strengths, their ways to go, their limits. She knew who she needed to assign which task because she knew what they were capable of.

The people she was looking at now were strangers to her. She didn’t know how much they could take. She was scared to tell them something, knowing it could lead them into their deaths.

“Blood Rose is dangerous,” Felicity told them, “very, very dangerous. We aren’t completely sure yet what she is capable of, but we know that she is a mastermind when it comes to technology. She will try to manipulate it, so make sure to stay away from it and certainly don’t rely on it. Other than that, we are just as clueless as you are. Everyone needs to be careful.”

A young man stepped forward. He was holding a baseball bat in his hand and twirled it around playfully. He didn’t look too worried about what was going on. He looked like someone who was ready to fight.

“What can we do to help you take her out for good?”

He definitely understood that tonight’s motto was all or nothing. They needed to go all in and stop this once and for all.

“Although we don’t know who Blood Rose will come with, we are almost sure that she won’t come alone. If you make sure that we can focus solely on Blood Rose, that would be great.” She made a brief pause. “If you need us, we will be there though. Keeping you safe is more important than taking her down. We will find a chance to do so anyway, so please tell us when you need help.”

Felicity hoped that they got the chance to take down Blood Rose tonight. If she escaped and disappeared, it would be incredibly hard to track her down again. Who knew what terrible things she would be able to do when they weren’t on to her.

They needed to take her down tonight. Felicity could only hope that they achieved that without losing anyone on their very large team tonight.

→ → → → →

They didn’t have to wait very long for the fight to start. Soon enough, alarms from cars and houses had gone off. The noises of shattering glass and shots being fired had broken the silence. The team they had left here had spread to fight the people that attacked the city. Since some men and women from the military and the police were on board, Felicity hoped that everyone was somewhat safe.

Bruce had gotten into the active fight too. Felicity had asked him to, so the people in the Glades knew that this neighborhood hadn’t been left to fall yet again. She knew that she wasn’t much of help going into a physical fight because her training had been meant to defend herself and not to go into the offense too much.

She knew a lot of people that were out there tonight didn’t have any training and they threw themselves into the fight nonetheless. Felicity couldn’t say that that thought didn’t bother her. It did bother her that she had asked people to help while she was crouching in some dark alley, working on her tablet.

Their main goal for the night, she told herself though, was to catch Blood Rose. That was her primary task, so that was what she needed to be working on, even if it meant staying out of the battles that were fought all over the city already.

Felicity switched back and forth between all surveillance cameras in and around the city. She looked for everything that looked even the slightest bit unusual. Doing so, she could also get a look at the fights that had started everywhere now. Right now, it looked like making their team this big for the night had been the right decision. They were holding their own against Blood Rose’s henchmen.

“Where are you?” Felicity whispered to herself.

This was personal for Blood Rose, especially tonight. Oliver was locked away where he couldn’t help. The city was a battle zone. Felicity was right in the middle of it and in the Glades. Oliver had put so much time and heart into making this neighborhood into what it was now. Blood Rose had to attack here.

For a split second, Felicity wondered if she was wrong. Blood Rose wanted to make it as personal as possible. She could attack the kids too. Then again, Felicity doubted that Blood Rose could possibly understand what being a parent felt like. Felicity doubted that Midas would have wanted kids, so he certainly hadn’t programmed a motherly attitude to Blood Rose’s character.

No, everything about Blood Rose had been formed around Midas.

Felicity continued to switch between the footage of the different cameras when one of the alarms that she had set up went off. She checked the alert message and perked up her eyebrows. Her system had noticed a particularly high use of electricity in Brook Street, near the clock tower. Calling up a map, she located the spot even more thoroughly and frowned. The increased use of power could be tracked back to an ice rink. That wouldn’t be too suspicious if Felicity didn’t know that the small ice rink was closed from April to September.

Blood Rose needed to be there to charge her batteries. Every once in a while, those robots needed to charge despite the super-battery that Midas had provided for them. Before a fight like this – a fight that she would possibly need all her energy for – she had definitely felt the need to recharge her batteries.

Felicity needed to get there. Even if Blood Rose wasn’t actually charging her batteries there, Felicity was sure that she wanted to bait her. She wanted her to come there and end this fight just between the two of them which was good because that way nobody else would get hurt.

Of course Felicity wouldn’t go there all by herself though. She was smarter than that.

Pushing her tablet under the leather jacket, Felicity hurried to the plaza in front of the Science Center. Bruce was involved into a fight with a dozen of armed hulks. He handled himself well, not that Felicity had doubted that. She was just glad to see that despite the enormous number of people that Blood Rose had recruited – even more than they had suggested – things were still going alright.

Pressing her lips together, Felicity considered her choices. She could stay and wait until Bruce was free to join her. She could also call him and risk that he got distracted talking to her, but he might also be able to free himself from his opponents and come with her. If she waited too long, Blood Rose might change her plan and come here though. That would endanger everyone that had agreed to come here and help out even more.

Felicity knew it was dangerous, but sometime you had to take risks. This one was a risk she could take because she could calculate it. She was a good hacker, a great one even. She trusted her abilities when it came to tech, just like everybody else did. When they went out on the field blindly, relying on just her abilities, she could do the same.

Although she was already turning around and heading towards the clock tower with quick steps, Felicity couldn’t help but think about what she would be thinking and doing when Oliver would head into a battle alone. She had watched from behind her monitors how he had done that uncountable times. When he had had good reasons, she had always understood it. She had always told him that it was okay and that he had no choice. If there had been another way though, she had asked him not to go alone. She had begged him to accept help.

Without stopping in her steps, Felicity checked her tablet and made sure that the unicorn emoji that was supposed to show her position did indeed move on the map. Seeing that it did, she pushed the tablet back under the thick leathers and quickened her steps once more.

She wondered what Oliver would say if he knew what she was doing. Would he understand it? Would he support it? Would he trust her abilities to keep her safe like he knew they kept him safe?

Felicity pushed that thought away. She couldn’t think about that now. She needed to focus because whatever Blood Rose had in store for her, Felicity knew that it would require her entire focus.

Once Blood Rose was taken down and the city safe again, Felicity would think about how to get Oliver out of prison. There was no way that she would just go on with her life and allow the love of her life to be locked away without her. There had to be a way.

→ → → → →

“They said it might go all down tonight.”

“My source outside told me the fights are worse than ever.”

“Look, I don’t give a crap about this city, but my family is out there.”

“I bet you a hundred bucks that the people out there are our people. The Richie Rich guys certainly won’t move a finger to save this city.”

“I wish I was out there to mingle in all of that. Sounds like a lot of fun.”

“Apparently that Bloody Rose Girl brought a bunch of henchmen into the city. My brothers are out there tonight. I hope they spank her ass.”

Oliver walked up and down in his cell nervously, trying to take deep breaths. With all the trauma he had been through, his senses were advanced. It had saved his life a lot of times. The open structure of the prison block did the rest. Oliver could overhear almost every conversation that the inmates had. Tonight, it was all about what was going on in Starling City while they were being locked in here.

He didn’t know if he should be grateful that he had been relocated to this block where he had contact to others, or if he should hate it. Most people here weren’t hostile towards him. They didn’t even seem to be too interested that he was here, so it didn’t really bother Oliver to be here. Tonight, overhearing all those conversations, he almost wished that he was back in his solitary cell where he was only tormented by his own thoughts and fears, not everyone’s around him.

At the end, Oliver guessed it didn’t make much of a difference which cell he was in. He hated that he was in prison tonight, knowing so many were out there right now. That Thea, John, Felicity and basically all of their friends and family were out there only made it worse. He had always been the first to throw himself into a battle, knowing that he couldn’t ask of them to do something that he wasn’t ready to do. Now he couldn’t help at all.

There had been a couple of times before, a quite small number of them really, when Oliver hadn’t been able to get out in the field. He had been hurt most of those times, and he wouldn’t have been of much help. Back then he had at least been involved by pacing up and down behind Felicity’s chair and offering advice when it was needed.

Tonight all he could do was pacing up and down in his cell while everybody else was out there, risking their lives. They could handle themselves, but-

A loud bang made Oliver’s thoughts stop. It had sounded like an explosion and judging from the alarm that went off somewhere in the building, he was sure that it hadn’t only sounded like one. It had been an explosion. The prison was under attack.

Oliver stepped to the bars of the cell, looking down towards the room where the prison guards were usually sitting and overlooking the security cameras of the block. One of them was on the phone right now, looking over the other guy’s shoulder at the monitors. The expression on their faces told Oliver that he was right. They were indeed under attack.

Taking a quick look around, Oliver noticed that he wasn’t the only one who had caught up on this. In most cells, the prisoners had stepped forward to the bars and were watching what was happening while more and more of the prison guards were gathering together. Whatever they were seeing on the monitors, it didn’t seem to be too good.

Another bang. Another explosion. While the first explosion had just drawn attention, this one called for panic. The guards were starting to run into different directions, most of them towards the door to the south block. Oliver guessed that was where the attacks were taking place.

At the same time, the inmates were showing their panic in form of anger. They jolted at the bars of their cells, shouting in anger.

“Let us out! Let us out!”

“If they come here, we need to fight them! We can help!”

“Yo, we don’t deserve to die here! If there is a fire, we need to get out!”

They were ignored though. That only made them angrier. Their shots grew louder. Some of them started throwing their toilet paper after the guards. Others just shouted or even screamed. It was bizarre.

Oliver continued watching what the prison guards did. Most of them were moving, talking on their radios while they were doing so. One of them – Officer Lewis, a young guard that Oliver had encountered a couple of times and that had appeared rather nice to him – wasn’t moving though. He was standing on the lowest area, speaking into his radio. His gaze was flicking back and forth between the floor and Oliver.

Whatever he had been talking about on the radio, Officer Lewis obviously wasn’t satisfied with the result. He looked at Oliver intently for a moment longer, then he turned away and hurried back down in the direction he had come from. He had barely taken five steps when he suddenly stopped. He clenched his right hand to a fist, opened it and clenched it again. When he turned around, he had scrunched up his nose and his forehead was wrinkled into a deep frown. He had made a decision.

Oliver wasn’t surprised when Officer Lewis stopped in front of his cell. He grabbed his keys from his belt and started looking for the right one to manually open the door. Doing so, he didn’t look at Oliver.

“Look,” he said, still looking at one key after the other although Oliver was sure that he had already checked each key at least once, “I might lose my job with what I am doing here because I was specifically told not to do it. I know that we need help outside though because these guys are trying to break out the prisoners in block C, and we don’t want those back on the streets. So I am letting you out… to help us.”

He eventually lifted his gaze, looking at Oliver. He hit the key against the palm of his hand repeatedly, waiting for Oliver to agree with him. He needed Oliver to confirm that his feeling was right, and he could trust him.

Oliver nodded his head. “I am helping you and you can lock me back up. I promise.”

Officer Lewis hesitated for only a moment longer. He then nodded his head and unlocked the cell door. Beckoning for Oliver to follow him, he hurried into the direction of block C. Some other officers they saw, shot them glances, but neither of them said a word.

“There are seven people. They carry guns and explosives. The explosives aren’t too strong, but the two explosions did damage a wall at the north side of block C. They are trying to get in through that.”

“I need my bow and arrows,” Oliver said.

“They aren’t here. They are-“

“One of the prison guards will have a quiver and a spare bow,” Oliver said.

Officer Lewis looked at him doubtingly. “Why would anyone-“

“My brother-in-law gave one to one of the officers,” Oliver said, “in case there was an emergency.”

“I doubt that anyone-“

When they stepped through the double door system into block C, Officer Gemmings stepped into their way. He straightened his shoulders and looked Oliver up and down pejoratively. Oliver hadn’t missed that Gemmings wasn’t a fan of him.

“Look,” he said, lifting his hands, “I don’t want to cause any trouble. I just want to help keeping the prison safe.”

Gemmings narrowed his eyes at Oliver slightly, chewing on his gum. He nodded his head slowly and nodded his head towards one of the doors.

“It’s a good thing, Nick gave me a bow and arrows for you then. You will need them.”

Oliver guessed he should be surprised that Nick had trusted Gemmings with that. On the other hand, Gemmings looked like someone who just came here to do his duty. If he could make some extra money, he’d take the chance.

“Come on.”

Officer Lewis led Oliver to the room that Officer Gemmings had shown to them. It was a small storage room with cleaning materials. The quiver and bow as well as one of Oliver’s suit were barely hidden in one of the shelves. Oliver put on the jacket for a little protection, put on the quiver and grabbed the bow.

He looked at Officer Lewis. “All I need is a door out, and I will chase them away and cover the damage.”

“Chase them away?”

“We can’t wait for the police to pick them up. With what’s probably going on in the city, they will have their hands full.”

“Well, we have some nice cells,” Officer Lewis replied, “and I think it’s safer to have them locked up here than out there in the streets.”

Officer Lewis was right. If they needed to be held captive for a while, they could just get a taste of what was ahead of them.

“I will take them out, so we can lock them up,” Oliver said, “and then I’ll get back to my cell.”

This time Officer Lewis didn’t seem to have any doubt that Oliver meant what he said. He grabbed the right key instantly and pushed it into the lock.

“According to the cameras, these guys are at the fence to the yard. They are probably trying to get in through the back.”

“The watch towers?” Oliver asked.

“Unoccupied. We are short-staffed tonight.”

Oliver nodded his head. “Don’t worry. I will take care of it.”

He let Officer Lewis let him out. Oliver stepped out of the prison building, his muscles tense and his fingers wrapped around the spare bow tightly. The people of the city where out there, protecting the city against the attackers. Now Oliver would make sure that they wouldn’t have to handle even more of those than they had to already.

→ → → → →

Blood Rose was nowhere to be seen, but Felicity could feel her presence. It was just a feeling, one she couldn’t even describe. She didn’t know where it came from or what it felt like exactly, but she knew it was there.

Using the binoculars that she had taken with her, Felicity looked around. She had taken up position in the clock tower. From there, she could overlook her surroundings. No matter how thoroughly she looked, she couldn’t find Blood Rose though.

Felicity shook her head. She knew it was irrational, but she trusted her feelings more than she trusted her senses. Blood Rose just had to be somewhere.

She lowered the binoculars and grabbed her tablet, checking the footage of the local security cameras. None of them showed Blood Rose which didn’t surprise Felicity. Her alarms would have gone off if she had been on the records.

The increased use of power that Felicity had noticed in the ice hall had stopped shortly before Felicity had arrived here. She was sure that Blood Rose was keeping an eye on her and had noticed that she was on the way to meet her. If that was true, Blood Rose would come here eventually. Felicity could just wait.

Hugging the tablet to her chest, Felicity just looked out of the window. From here, the city looked almost calm. Apart from the faint noises that could as well come from a construction area, there was no sign of the fights that were happening everywhere.

Sometimes it was still weird how much this city meant to her. It had never been supposed to be like that. Starling City had always been supposed to be just a little stop on her way to greatness. She had wanted to work here for a couple of years, gather experience and then leave to take the next step in her career.

All of those plans had just changed when a blood-covered vigilante had been hiding in the back of her car. With that, she had found another purpose. She had found love. She had found family. She had found a home.

Starling City was her home, and she wouldn’t allow anyone to hurt it. For all it had given her, she needed to give the city that protection. She-

Goosebumps spread all over her skin and interrupted her train of thoughts. Blood Rose was here. She could feel it. With a loud thud, a knife landed in the wall right next to her head, telling her it was true. The final showdown would start now.