#End of stage 1/start of stage 2 (TURN ON CLOSED CAPTIONS)

[ask-post-ii17au-box]

……

[moonstrider9904]

Pretty Thoughts

Part 3 of the Urban Flora mini series

Part 1 | Part 2 | Cross-posted to AO3 | Series Masterlist

Summary: You awaken to two truths - you are unmistakably in love with Crosshair, and you are both the main story on a popular gossip blog. Although this screams destruction for your reputation, what if it's a blessing in disguise?

Tags: Smut (18+ only), alcohol consumption, gossip, confrontation, female masturbation, vaginal sex, oral sex, creampie

Word count: 5.7k

Playlist: Pretty Thoughts by Alina Baraz

A/N: I've had the most fun writing and posting this series! Thank you to everyone who's read, commented, and shared! You are all the best. I hope you like the ending to this mini-series!

The nearly incessant beeping from your holopad woke you up after a night of heavy sleep. You were in that stage between your dreams and consciousness where you were just starting to make sense of things, and you reached to your nightstand for your holopad as you let out a groggy groan. When you unlocked it, your eyes widened at the screen, disregarding its glow on your pupils.

You had over 200 notifications among your messages and socials, and you quickly decided that couldn't be good.

You sat up on your bed and turned on your lamp - the sun was just beginning to rise outside, and the blinds in your bedroom blocked most of whatever light could come in anyways. You crossed your legs and held your holopad in front, and you opted to check your direct messages from any friends. First, you checked the messages from your closest friend, Pen, whom you rarely saw, but you could always confide in, and your heart nearly leapt from your chest when you saw the picture of Crosshair wearing the outfit he had on the day before, looking at the camera with a hint of confusion, but still composed and handsome as he normally was, and you recognized the area he was standing in as the street just outside the motel you had visited the day before.

Below the image, Pen's text read: Daaayum! Are all clones this fine? Why didn't you tell me you were seeing someone?

You closed out of her conversation and went onto your ongoing conversation with a different friend, Eloise, the daughter of the Senator from Corellia: Heads up, you and your mystery man made it to Scandal Gal.

Below, she had attached the full screenshot of the blog post, and below Crosshair’s picture, you read the caption:

Wakey wakey, high society: Sweetie's mystery man appears to be a silver fox dream. My sources say he was spotted entering a hotel with Sweetie and then leaving it, with our damsel of the moment seen leaving earlier than him, apparently glowing. While we may be left to fantasize about the happenings within the motel's walls, what I'm more interested to know is if this handsome young soldier is willing to introduce any of his brothers to us poor, starving gals. Consider me first in line.

With your heart pounding in your chest, you did what you knew you shouldn't have done and went over to Scandal Gal's blog and read the comments, though to your surprise, none of the comments were dragging you. You'd half expected to be called a slut by every commenter, but most of the thirsty girls in the blog were fawning at how handsome Crosshair was. You didn't particularly like a horde of girls digitally cat-calling your man, but you preferred that over a ruined reputation.

Overnight, you had become a phenomenon. What started as a picture with a few comments speculating about your encounter at the opera was now a full-fledged story that easily hundreds of people around the east side of Coruscant were following. You read multiple comments talking wonders about Crosshair, others talking wonders about you, very many admiring your relationship and how attractive you both looked together—and a few comments here and there dragging you and/or Crosshair, as expected, but overall, you and Crosshair had taken over the holonet for all the right reasons.

You wanted to laugh, but a part of it freaked you out as well. You’d never made a high profile of yourself. You’d always enjoyed your spoils in life in as private a way as possible, and the few times you’d actually made it to Scandal Gal had been because a dress you wore somewhere was beautiful, not because of your love life.

And only then, it hit you—did Crosshair know about this? And if he did, how would he take it?

Catastrophizing wouldn’t get you anywhere. You got up from your bed and put on your bathrobe, which rested on the armrest of the cozy chair next to your bed. You opened the blinds of your bedroom and took a moment to admire the Coruscant skyline with the sun making its way up the sky, dancing with a few clouds against the light blue hue. You exited your bedroom and headed past your living room with your holopad in hand, towards the kitchen to brew your coffee. As the coffee brewed, you opened the blinds to the rest of your apartment and basked in the morning peace far away from any whispers of scandal that lived in your holopad. You figured that was the bright side of it all—whether it was good talk or bad talk, it only lived in your holopad, and it wasn’t going to make its way into your calm morning.

The calm was interrupted when the door to your apartment flew open, and your mother seemed to glide inside, letting the door close behind her. Her eyes scanned the apartment until they found you, and you couldn’t decide if she was angry at you or not. At the sight of you, your mother sighed—even in her apparent disappointment, which you wouldn’t pretend not to know the cause of, your mother had a regal stance worthy of the senator of Coruscant, with her dark beige suit and her expertly done hair; even her floral scent that commanded respect.

You tried to be as nonchalant as possible, gesturing at the coffee brewer with your hand and raising your eyebrows. Your mother sighed again and shook her head, and instead, she gestured with her chin at the holopad that rested on your counter.

“Have you opened that thing this morning?” She asked you.

“Yes,” you uttered.

“Darling, what were you thinking?” Your mother now seemed more worried than angry at you. “Do you at least know this man well enough?”

“Well enough to know I’m head over heels for him,” you admitted.

“And then there’s that ridiculous gossip site,” your mom continued. “I tell myself it’s no big deal, just a little source of entertainment for spoiled rich teens with nothing better to do, but I can’t fathom the fact that now they’re picking on you. I’m too nervous to read any of the posts or the comments thinking about all the horribly unkind things everyone’s sharing about you… people can be so cruel.”

You sighed. “I know, but, Mom… as far as I’ve checked, the things Scandal Gal and the readers are saying aren’t that bad…”

“Meaning?” She inquired.

You couldn’t help but chuckle. “They love him. They’re saying he’s devastatingly handsome and fawning over him, some of them even want to go stand outside the clone bar to see if they can get boyfriends.”

“But what are they saying about you?” She asked.

“I’m a hero. They like my dress, the scarf I wore, and the man I’m with. I think there’s an ongoing wager as to whether or not I’ll marry him,” you delivered blankly.

Your mother’s eyes widened, and you held in your laughter at her reaction.

“Mom, relax,” you said. “I’m not saying I will. But I do really like him. And all things considered, I expected mayhem, and even if there are a few mean things here and there, they don’t compare to how good most of the responses are.”

“That’s rare,” your mother admitted. “And I suppose you’re right, you can’t control what everyone says.”

“And I won’t try to,” you agreed. “I’m just saying it could be a lot worse and if it’s not as bad as I thought it could be, I’m gonna embrace it.”

For a split second, your mother looked at you in plain disbelief. Regardless, she sighed, straightened her back, and gathered herself, and she met your gaze again with understanding.

“Alright, now tell me, who is this man?” She asked.

“He’s the sniper who took out the assassin who tried to kill the Chancellor,” you said as you poured your cup of coffee.

Your mom raised her eyebrows. “Oh.”

“Oh?” You raised your eyebrows too, pouring another cup for your mother.

“I met him at the start of the opera,” she explained. “I even invited him to our box, but he said he already had one, he didn’t want to refuse it and seem rude.”

“Yeah, he was invited because of his efforts,” you said. “In fact, I… I met him during the final intermission at the opera. We got to talking and he’s just… fascinating.”

Those were all the details you’d give to your mother about that night.

Your mother’s demeanor seemed to soften as she drank from the coffee you’d given her. With a soft exhale, she set the cup down on the counter and pressed her hands together in front of her chest, avoiding your gaze for a few moments.

“Sweetie, I don’t want you to think I’m exploiting your relationship with this man,” she began.

You tilted your head. That was one of the last things you’d expected her to say.

She then met your gaze. “But this is actually a very good look.”

“What, for you?” You asked.

Your mother chuckled. “I have spent months collaborating with Senator Chuchi to pass a clone rights bill. When your… boyfriend…”

You chuckled. “Crosshair.”

She nodded slowly. “Right. When Crosshair saved the Chancellor’s life, we got a lot more support, but we’re not quite there yet. Too many people view the clones as vessels bred for combat, not as actual human beings with human emotions and human needs. And, as triumphant as Crosshair was in saving the Chancellor, his effort was still that of a soldier, hence why we’re, as I said…”

“Not quite there yet,” you continued. “And… you think that if I’m public with him, so public that people are talking about relationships and gossiping like they do with anyone else in our society, he’ll look more human.”

“And by extension, the rest of the clones,” your mother added. “It just might shift the tide in favor of finally giving them some more rights.”

You smiled softly and took another ship of your coffee. “I love the sound of that. I just don’t know how I feel about scheming regarding Crosshair.”

“Be honest with him, then,” your mother suggested. “If you’re not on board, be as private as you possibly can, I won’t hold it against you. It was just an idea. And now that I think about it…”

You looked up at her again, waiting for what else she had to say.

“We do have that art gala coming up tonight,” she suggested. “Why don’t you invite him?”

You nodded slowly. “I’ll ask him. I wouldn’t mind getting all fancy and seeing him, but for starters, he needs to want to go.”

“He went to the opera, didn’t he?”

“Well, yes, but that was an invitation of honor,” you answered. “And he didn’t seem like a fish out of water, but I can’t help thinking this just isn’t what he’s used to.”

Your mother gazed at you sincerely. “Don’t you cage him into the label of a soldier, too. If you like this man and you want to be with him, you’re going to have to realize he’s more than that.”

You raised both of your brows. You knew she was right, and to have heard that coming from your mother, it meant volumes. You barely ever approached what she did inside the senate, but you pondered on how much her words made sense based on what little she’d shared with you about her efforts with the Pantoran senator. And even if she wasn’t trying to pass a clone rights bill, she was still right—Crosshair was a living, breathing man, and even though you knew he was a soldier, you hadn’t met him as such. You’d seen him at a high society gathering over drinks. You’d shared coffee and bantered with him, kissed him under the rain, made love to him time and time again until you couldn’t get him out of your thoughts.

As soon as your mother left, you reached for your holopad and ignored the multiple notifications you had, heading straight for Crosshair’s frequency number and typing out your message at least three times before sending it, trying to find the most chill way to invite him to the art gala. You sent the message and waited for the reply, frantically scurrying to your holopad anytime it vibrated. For a while, he didn’t answer, and before you lost hope, you finally saw the notifications coming in from Crosshair.

Can’t resist another little encounter with me, can’t you, Sweetie?

You chuckled, but you felt nervous at the same time. That obviously meant he’d been, in some way, exposed to Scandal Gal too.

How fancy do I have to dress? His next message came in shortly after.

You chuckled at your phone and typed back: Fancy enough to knock everyone dead.

Instantly, Crosshair replied: ’Kay. I’ll be there.

After you texted him all the details of the event, you went about your day with a twinge of excitement sprinkled over your every move. The sun made its way around the sky until it was time for you to get ready for the event, and for this occasion, you chose a dark purple dress paired with long black gloves and no necklace, since you’d be wearing your hair down your shoulders. The dress’s top had a black ribbon outlined in the shape of a triangle, with the base at your waist, and it was filled with discreet black sequins. On the right shoulder, where the dress’s top met your sleeve, you placed a dark gray brooch that your mother had given you on your eighteenth birthday, and looking at yourself in the mirror, you were almost ready to go. You did your makeup and grabbed your purse, and then you went out the door to the nightlife of Coruscant, where your mother was already waiting at the bottom of the building with a vehicle.

Your pulse was racing for the whole ride, knowing you would meet Crosshair there. You clutched your purse with both hands over your pressed thighs, and you could feel beads of sweat forming in your palms, having to take deep breaths from time to time to keep yourself steady. The vehicle finally arrived at the gala and parked just in front of the red carpet you were meant to walk on, and only then it dawned on you that multiple pairs of eyes thirsting for scandal would be on you. But you wouldn’t back out, not now, not when you were the very image of elegance in society about to meet with your Silver Fox Dream, as Scandal Gal had put it.

You resolved to knock them all dead too.

The door on your side of the vehicle was opened by an usher, and you stepped out, straightening your posture and taking in the scenery of flashing cameras and excited partygoers, and confident as you looked, your heartbeat hadn’t calmed down in the slightest. You looked around, scanning for the only person you were interested in seeing.

And soon enough, your eyes landed on him. His attire was possibly better than the one he wore the night of the opera, with a slim fit pitch-black suit and shirt, adorned with a burgundy vest under the coat, and rich red rose in his breast pocket. Crosshair’s watchful eyes gazed back at you, and as you remained still in front of your vehicle while your mother got out, Crosshair made his way to you, letting you behold every detail on him as he got closer to you, and when he was finally right in front of you, you took in all of him.

Crosshair was strikingly debonair, undeniably gorgeous, charming in his pride and confidence. He even smelled incredible. His tall figure seemed to loom protectively over you, complimenting your lack of height when you stood next to him, and you both made such a perfect pair you almost hoped that gossiping teenage girls were in proximity to behold your beauty, perhaps even eat their hearts out as a treat for you.

“Miss,” Crosshair greeted as he took your hand and brought it up to his lips, placing a soft kiss to your knuckles.

His gentle kiss ignited every inch of your skin as you briefly remembered the moments of passion you’d already shared with that man. You gave him a demure smile, taking one step closer to him, wishing with every fiber of your body to wrap your arms around his neck and pull him in for a kiss not unlike the one you’d had under the rain the day before, but perhaps it wasn’t the time or place for such a public display. Moreover, as Crosshair was lowering your hand down from his gesture, your mother exited the vehicle and appeared at your side, smiling at Crosshair.

He acknowledged her and gave her the hint of a smile, taking a slight bow. “Ma’am.”

He held out his hand, offering her the chance to be greeted in a similar way as you, and to your surprise, your mother obliged.

“It’s wonderful to see you again,” your mother said to him. “I didn’t know you’d met my daughter until this morning.”

“She’s a wonderful lady, ma’am,” Crosshair responded without a hint of hesitation or insecurity.

You were in awe at how easily he was getting along with your mother as the two continued to make small conversation, and soon enough, your mom went ahead and entered the building, with you and Crosshair following behind, your arm linked in his. Camera flashes on you weren’t scarce, and in the distance, you could hear high-pitched cries of “There they are!” and “They’re so hot together!”

You couldn’t help but laugh softly at yourself.

“Basking in your triumph?” Crosshair broke the silence between you.

“What do you mean?” You asked.

“That was a bold move, inviting me here, introducing me to your mother,” he continued, his features holding the sternness they usually did, but you picked up on no disgust on his behalf.

“Yeah, well…” You said. “Overnight, we kind of became public figures, you and me. There’s this gossip site that’s been following me around for a while, nothing major, but when you and I started talking at the opera, we got popular.”

“Ah, Scandal Gal,” Crosshair mused. “Yes, I was approached and stalked by a teen.”

You nearly snorted trying to hold in your laughter. “What?”

“The picture of me that’s on that site was taken by a sixteen-year-old girl,” Crosshair said, smirking. “Somehow, I’m more afraid of gossip-hungry teens than I am of tactical droids.”

You chuckled. “They’re formidable, alright.”

“So… you’re feeding them what they want by bringing me here?” He continued the conversation.

“No, not exactly,” you replied. “That’s a side effect. Because of Scandal Gal, my mom rushed over to my place this morning panicking a little, but I explained to her that… well…”

You and Crosshair had just reached the bar of the opulent salon where the gala was being held, and you both took a seat on your respective stools. Crosshair eyed you with intrigue as you trailed off, prompting you to speak up, and you realized why you’d stopped yourself from saying what you wanted to say.

But this was Crosshair. He was a dream incarnate, and you were already there with him, a striking and attractive couple that commanded everyone’s attention, and you found yourself smiling at him as your pulse rose once more.

“That I… I feel a lot for you,” you said. “That I really like you, Crosshair, and this isn’t a meaningless fling for the sake of shock value to me.”

Crosshair maintained eye contact with you, and his features softened ever so slightly, so discreetly that an untrained eye wouldn’t have been able to notice. He broke eye contact with you to gesture at the bartender and order drinks for both of you, and then he turned back to you, with his lips curving to a smirk.

“Well, well,” he hummed. “How touching.”

It was good that he didn’t appear repulsive at your sentiments, but your poor, racing heart would need a more precise answer. Then, Crosshair’s smirk widened, and he looked down at his knees, letting his inner softness glow through if only for a moment.

“It’s not meaningless for me either,” he replied.

You smiled brightly and exhaled the tension from your chest. “Really?”

“Really,” he answered.

“Then… there’s something else you should know,” you said.

And you then explained how your mother wouldn’t use you both, but that you were supporting her cause in the senate, how him being exposed to something other than the front lines would put clones in a more human light, at least to the members of the senate who were still on the fence. You even gave Crosshair the opportunity to back out immediately if he felt like his strings were being pulled, but all the while, Crosshair remained with that serene smile at you, and when you were done talking, Crosshair reached for your hands and held them in his.

“Does this bill mean I’ll get paid more?” He asked.

You laughed openly, and he chuckled in return just as the drinks he’d ordered were placed beside you by the bartender.

“Sweetie,” he said to you. “I don’t care much about the other things. Not Scandal Gal, not the Senate, although that bill sounds decent. I came here to be with you because I can’t get you out of my brain. You’re not what I pictured a high-society woman to be, and… well…”

You smiled softly at him, and now it was your turn to prompt him to speak.

“Now that you’ve introduced me to your mother,” he said, “I hope I get the chance to introduce you to my brothers too.”

Your smile widened. “You’d do that?”

He nodded, smiling softly at you. “You’re a smart girl, you can handle it.”

You laughed and reached for your drink, an Urban Flora cocktail that could have been an exact replica of the one you drank when you first met Crosshair at the opera. You took a sip of it without breaking eye contact with Crosshair, and when you lowered your drink, you raised a brow at him.

“But can you handle the Coruscant high societal scene?” You asked.

Crosshair took a sip of his own drink, the smoky, rich Corellian whisky he loved so much, and he leaned in closer to you, close enough for you to smell the smooth, luscious drink on his breath.

“Try me, Sweetie,” he purred.

You giggled, and you both gently bumped your glasses together, and you went on to continue talking about whatever sparked your interest as you finished your drinks. Crosshair told you about his missions, his brothers, even a couple of anecdotes of when he was a young cadet. In turn, you told him about your days as a schoolgirl, your plans for the future, what you liked to do in your spare time, the planets you longed to visit all over the galaxy. And then, when the glasses were empty and the conversation was fulfilled, you and Crosshair stood up from the bar and went around the room, and you greeted most of your friends and acquaintances as well as introduced Crosshair to all of them. Crosshair was a flying success with everyone, and you couldn’t help but gawk at him just a little. The night wore on as smoothly as velvet, until it was getting late, and you were bound to return home.

You directed a look at Crosshair, a look that was filled with allure, and he reciprocated. Quick goodbyes were said, and soon, you were sitting with Crosshair at the back of your vehicle as the chauffeur flew you home. As you sat together, you were in silence, and though Crosshair was great with words, you’d learned he was far better with his actions, and he reached for the rose on his breast pocket and handed it to you. You smiled at him, slightly flustered, and for the remainder of the ride, you scooched closer to him and leaned your weight on him, eager to arrive at the privacy of your apartment.

You had no intention of waiting. After you and Crosshair had left the vehicle, the moment the elevator doors closed behind you, you were both on each other. Your hands ran all over his back as you both locked lips, hungrily devouring each other in that small space, and you then let your palms rest on his chest. Crosshair took each of your hands and tugged gently at your middle fingertips, enough to hold onto the gloves you wore as you slid your hands down and the delicate fabric came off, exposing your skin. You heard Crosshair shudder softly before he took you into his arms again, kissing you as passionately as before, and you both felt the elevator pulling to a stop.

You gathered yourselves—there was no need to surprise someone waiting for the elevator with a steamy scene—but when you found there was no one there to see you, you and Crosshair held hands as you made your way over to your penthouse, and the moment the door closed behind you both, you were on each other’s lips once more. Your wandering hands removed his coat and his vest, and he found the zipper at the back of your dress. He lowered the zipper, causing the dress’s blouse to fall limply around your silhouette, and you took a step back, wanting him to watch as you wiggled out of the dress and let the fabric fall gracefully on the floor, leaving you to step out of it.

Crosshair eyed you hungrily as you approached him. Your breasts hung freely at your front, and he didn’t miss the hickey he’d left on your ribs the day before. On your hips, there was a pair of lace black panties, but the top prize was easily taken by the stockings that covered you from the middle of your thighs to your toes, which he couldn’t make himself tear his gaze from. You chuckled and took his hands, leading him slowly into your bedroom, and he followed you blissfully until you were at the foot of your bed.

You let go of him and sat back all the way to your headboard. You pressed your legs together and slowly slid your panties away from you, tossing them aside, and you spread your legs to show him, never once breaking eye contact with him. Your gaze was alluring, slightly teasing, and Crosshair watched. He watched as you spread your legs and took your hand to your inner thigh, teasing your skin, until your fingers finally brushed fully over your folds and your clit. You let out a playful gasp, smirking at him and taunting him, and as he watched, Crosshair began to undress. Your smirk widened, and you continued to touch yourself in the way you most liked, delighted by the sight of him losing the clothes that covered him. Your cunt was wet and swollen, pulsating and sensitive, all you needed to do was increase your pace ever so slightly and you’d tip yourself over the edge—as Crosshair crawled onto the mattress, you decided to give him the full show. Making sure his eyes were still on you, you applied more pressure onto your clit and used your three middle fingers to rub, and looking into his eyes, you finally got to enjoy the waves of your orgasm.

You reveled in how hungry Crosshair looked, pleased and aroused by the little show you put on for him. Crosshair couldn’t help but take his hand over to his cock, pumping slowly as he watched you pleasing yourself, until your orgasm faded, and your moans quieted when you removed your hand. You found Crosshair’s gaze and pouted at him, holding your hand in front of you and curling your finger, beckoning him to come to you. With a smirk, Crosshair obliged, and he positioned himself between your legs, planting soft kisses around your inner thighs before brushing his tongue lusciously over your folds. He moaned into your skin, and you whimpered in return, dazed and sensitive after your antics.

As Crosshair continued to please you with his skilled tongue and lips, you suddenly felt his fingers finding yours. You spread your hand before interlacing your fingers with his, holding him as he brought you closer to another release. Your body squirmed harder than it had the first time around, the white-hot ecstasy seeming to explode within every fiber of your body. You didn’t hold back with your moaning, letting his name escape you many a time, enticed by the velvety texture of his tongue contrasting with the raspiness surrounding his jawline.

When Crosshair emerged from between your legs, you tugged on him, prompting him to rest at your eye level. You wanted to feel him close to you, and Crosshair knew what it was you desired. With your legs still spread, you rested back and let him take the lead, feeling as he slowly inserted himself within your tight, warm walls. You both moaned in unison and stared deeply into each other’s eyes as he began his thrusts slowly, luxuriously letting you feel everything. Your lips begged for his, and you perked your face up to kiss him as you felt your body gently bouncing on the mattress in his rhythm. Crosshair’s kisses made you float higher and higher, and drenched in pleasure and ecstasy, you felt like you were in paradise. Crosshair was truly capable of taking you there.

Crosshair paused his kisses on your lips and lifted himself to look at you, his gaze stern and seductive as he increased the snapping of his hips. He grunted as he hammered into you, shuddering and twitching inside you in anticipation, soon unable to contain soft groans and whimpers. Crosshair looked straight into your eyes, flooded by adoration of you, until the pleasure was too much for him to keep his eyes open even as much as he wanted to gaze into you. His eyes shut and the rhythm of his hips became unfathomably fast, and so too, you descended into bliss for the third time that night. You smiled amidst your orgasm, chiming his name in a delicious moan, your hand still securely holding his as he released inside you and fell limp on the mattress beside you afterwards.

You both panted, each your own dazed and flustered mess as you made futile attempts to recover, but as much as you were both unable to do much else, you remained holding each other’s hands. As time passed, you soon felt Crosshair’s thumb brushing delicately up and down your finger, and you watched him with a tender gaze. You felt you’d fall asleep right there, and if you did, you knew you would want for nothing. You knew you’d have nothing to worry about for as long as you were together, and the pain of temporary separations would be worth it if it was Crosshair you would wait for.

And there on your mattress, filled with love, resolve, and exhaustion, you drifted off into sleep.

A gentle sunlight and the song of birds woke you up. You noticed the space beside your bed was empty, and you didn’t waste time getting up and placing your robe over you as you sought out your lover. You walked over to the living room and your attention was drawn to the balcony, where he stood with his back turned on you, shirtless and wearing his pants from the night before, gazing out at the scenery.

You took a moment to admire him and the way his skin appeared golden under the morning sun, contrasting almost artistically with the green plants on your balcony, the blue sky, and the skyline ahead. With soft steps, you approached him and stepped out onto the balcony, and you wrapped your arms around his waist from behind, pressing a soft kiss on his shoulder blade. Crosshair delicately shuffled and brought your figure next to him, draping his arm around you, and you both stood in silence for a few peaceful moments, watching the scenery.

“What are you watching?” You asked him, knowing it was in his nature to observe.

His amber eyes scanned the scenery, and he almost looked humbled. He had the face of an innocent life being beholding the universe ahead of them, realizing how small they truly were in comparison to the greatness of creation itself.

“Out there, as soldiers,” Crosshair began, “it often feels like we fight because it’s all we know. We were made for it. Myself, my brothers, more obviously bred for different purposes, all to serve one war. But aside from why we were created, we never really stop to think what we’re fighting for.”

You looked up at him, watching his features soften in realization as he spoke. Crosshair then angled his body more towards you, and he held you tighter, pressing you to the warmth of his skin, watching you with the most tender gaze you had ever felt on you.

“I won’t forget this next time I’m on the battlefield,” he continued.

“You mean, Coruscant?” You asked. “The Republic, these people, this skyline… peace?”

He smiled. “I mean you.”

You smiled at him, devoted.

Crosshair chuckled. “All of that, too, but, mostly you.”

“Oh, Crosshair,” you wrapped your arms around him and perked on your toes, requesting a kiss.

Crosshair obliged and kissed you gently, almost carefully, feeling as the sunshine draped over his skin. He wished he could remain there longer, but he had a duty, a duty that had brought him to you, and a duty that he had to fulfill in order to one day be with you more properly. He knew that, with you on Coruscant waiting for him, he’d always have a reason to return, and a reason to keep fighting. He’d never thought of a life besides being a soldier, but if you were in it, it couldn’t be so bad.

And out there, on that balcony, Crosshair held you close to him until the very last moment he could spare with you, until he had to leave again to be a soldier, always with the promise of returning to you.

*

This just in: Sweetie and Sniper Man are still together and far more public now that I and my loyal sources have done our job ;) I do think we have a power couple in our midst, and the next time these two show up at a fancy event dressed to impress, you’ll hear about it from none other than yours truly. I certainly wish the happy couple all the best, and my challenge towards Sniper Man to bring forth more eligible men from the fine and respectable GAR still stands. Help us gals out, Sniper Man, we all love you so much, and we can’t let Sweetie keep all the spoils!

Yours truly!

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[dreamofbona]

rewrite the stars - sim jaeyun

summary: Choi Y/N has always dreamed of being an idol, and now her dream is coming true. As part of monster rookie girl group MAJ1K, she’s topping the charts, performing incredible stages, and feeling love from fans. She’s willing to do anything and everything to live her dream as an idol, and following the dating ban isn’t supposed to be an issue. She cares more about being an idol than she cares about love… until she meets Jake. From bumping into each other in company buildings to congratulating wins to eventually becoming MCs, she starts dreaming of something else. 

alternatively: can anyone resist sim jaeyun? + he likes you back. except you’re idols so drama.

pairing: jake x idol fem!reader

other characters: enhypen, kim chaewon, huh yunjin, jang wonyoung, txt, other hybe + starship artists

warnings: swearing, management is kind of evil so maybe threats of sabotage (will edit as we go along)

word count: 4.2 k

Chapter One:

“Hello everyone, today we are here with the group that has cast a spell on the world with their music and charm, MAJ1K!” you and your band-mates smile and wave as Sunghoon announces you.

“How about we introduce ourselves?” asks Wonyoung, Sunghoon’s co-MC and your group’s maknae.

“1, 2,” starts Chaewon, before you all join in. “Cast a spell! Hello, we are MAJ1K!”

“MAJ1K have made a very successful debut and stolen everyone’s hearts with their debut song ‘Magic’. How does it feel to have this magical, mysterious concept?” asks Sunghoon.

“It’s very refreshing,” says Chaewon. “In IZONE, I got used to doing more defined concepts, the kind that many groups do, like cute, elegant, girl crush. In MAJ1K, we’re making and exploring our own unique concept, so I’m having fun being creative.”

“Yes, yes,” agrees Wonyoung. “How have MAJ1K’s newer idol members enjoyed the stages?”

It’s Yunjin’s turn to answer. “It’s a lot of fun. I am really enjoying putting on beautiful stages for our fans. While training to debut, I always dreamed of performing on a stage like this. I got to experience it a little bit on Produce 48, but since then I’ve been in the practice rooms, so it’s nice to perform for fans again like this. It encourages me to become the best artist I can and put on a really good performance.”

“Yes, performing for fans is my favorite of the experiences I’ve had as an idol,” says Sunghoon. “This last question is one I’m sure a lot of people are curious about, especially W1ZARD and MOA.” 

You laugh, already knowing what he’s gonna ask you.

“Y/N-ssi, how is it to be under the same company as your older brother?” asks Sunghoon.

“Ah, it’s pretty amazing to be honest,” you respond. “I’ve always been close to my older brother, as we are the closest in age out of all of our siblings. He’s been giving me good advice and encouraging me throughout my training and now that I’ve debuted, he tells me what I’ve done well and gives me advice for improvement. I’m really glad to be part of HYBE because it lets me see him often.”

“That’s so sweet. You and Soobin sunbaenim have an enviable sibling relationship,” says Wonyoung.

“Thank you MAJ1K for talking to us today,” says Sunghoon, ending the show. “Make sure everyone to give MAJ1K a lot of love and support for their debut.”

“Thank you,” you and your band-mates say together, and the interview is over.

“Congratulations again on your debut,” says Sunghoon. He bows, polite as always, and walks away, likely to change and leave for the day.

“You did amazing,” Yunjin says to Wonyoung. “I’d already watched some of your interviews but coming in person was a different experience.”

Wonyoung blushes, “Thanks unnie. It was strange to be both an MC and an interviewee today.”

The four of you walk to your green room, changing into comfortable clothes before getting in the van to head to your dorms, done with promotions for the day.

You pull out your phone, opening up Weverse, quickly posting a selfie you’d taken earlier, with a caption thanking fans for their support. Then you open up Twitter, wanting to know what the public’s thoughts were on your group. You knew it wasn’t a good idea - having been a fan yourself, you knew that Twitter was a toxic place - but you couldn’t help it. 

You opened up Twitter on your junk account, one you’d made purely for keeping up with news.

@majikdaily: MAJ1K have successfully ended promotions for the day. Spotted leaving Music Bank.  Pictures were attached of you and the girls leaving the building, covering your eyes to block flash from cameras, otherwise waving and smiling.

@queenchae: chaewon talked about izone CRYING

@wolfgyu: y/n and soobin’s relationship sounds so sweet CHOI SIBLING COLLAB WHEN?

You laugh at this one. You’re sure that you and Soobin will do some TikToks together at some point to promote your respective groups. You make a mental note to talk to him about it.

@penguinhoon: they’re so obviously using enha for clout #BoycottMAJ1K

You frown at this one. It’s not true, and you’re wondering where this person got this idea. You quickly find a thread by another account, listing ways that they believe your group is using ENHYPEN.

@enhalover: They debuted a week before ENHYPEN’s anniversary. They’re under HYBE, so they must’ve known that the biggest rookie group of the year was approaching an anniversary, but they purposefully took all the hype for themselves.

@enhalover: They’re gonna make people forget about ENHYPEN’s one year.

@enhalover: This group was made to replicate ENHYPEN. They’re also under a joint venture label.

You laugh. This is ridiculous. If MAJ1K had been created to replicate ENHYPEN, there would be seven members in the group, not four. And you were under a completely different label, a joint venture, yes, but a joint venture between two Korean companies, not a Korean company and a Japanese company like with ENHYPEN. You see tweets in response to these claims saying just that, that this account is out of its mind, that it’s absurd. MAJ1K is its own group, and it has nothing to do with ENHYPEN.

You’ve never known what to think of ENHYPEN. You knew Heeseung because of Soobin, and he was incredibly kind and talented. The rest of the members, you didn’t know much about. You hadn’t watched I-Land, too busy training for your own debut, and while you’d listened to some of their music, you weren’t actively up to date with them.

You hoped that what their fans were saying wasn’t a reflection of them. You felt ridiculous for it, but part of you started to dislike ENHYPEN - their fans were ridiculous, and it’s not like they were that incredible of a group. Were they incredibly successful? Yes. But they were also a boy group under a major label that had debuted without competition - the only real competition ENHYPEN had was TREASURE, and that group was so inactive they didn’t really count. ENHYPEN were rookies and only had to compete with rookies, and it wasn’t all that impressive that they did well. They were the only consistently active Big Four rookie. It would’ve been more impressive if they had flopped.

You sigh to yourself, trying to push the negative thoughts away. It’s incredibly hypocritical for you to think this way about them considering you’re in the same boat, you tell yourself.

“Does it bother you?” Yunjin’s voice startles you. She laughs, “Sorry.”

“No, it’s fine,” you say in response. 

“Does it?” she glances at your phone, before glancing at you.

“A little? It’s annoying above everything else. Fans need to calm down.” You respond. “ENHYPEN aren’t even that big of a group - yeah, they’re successful, they’re going to be one of the big groups of the generation, but they’re a year old.”

Yunjin laughs, “Don’t say that to their fans, they’ll tear you apart.”

You laugh, “Yeah, they would. I’ve never seen people so upset about the date an artist debuts on.”

“They have nothing better to do,” says Yunjin, agreeing.

Soon enough, you reach your dorms, and head inside, taking turns showering and getting ready to go to sleep.

“Good job today everyone,” says Chaewon, yawning. “See you tomorrow.”

---

The next day, you have another promotion, this time at Inkigayo. You get to the building in the morning, walking to your green room and putting on your outfits for your first stage. MAJ1K is promoting two songs, the title track and a b-side, at each broadcast station until you drop the music video for the main b-side, after which you’ll promote that. 

You sit in your chair, stylist fixing your hair before moving to your makeup. You put on your outfit, and you’re the first one done so you sit in a random chair in the room, looking through your notifications. There are texts wishing you good luck from family and friends, texts from random school peers who are desperate to get into your good graces now that you’re famous, and notifications on Weverse from fans, ranging from “You’re so pretty” to “Sleep well” on your selca from yesterday. 

Pretty soon, it’s time to perform and you all walk down the hallway to the stage. You perform. Fans cheer. You change. You wait. You perform. Fans cheer. You do an interview. You change. You leave. You shower. You sleep.

It’s the same cycle, day after day for a few weeks, until promotions finally end. Along the way, you win a few awards, do fan-signs, and get gifts. And it passes by so fast.

“I’m so tired,” says Wonyoung on your last day of promotions. “I’m also kind of sad though.”

“I get what you mean,” you respond. “It was exhausting and I’m ready for a break, but it was fun and we’ll never have this again. Like, debut MAJ1K promotions. Next time it’ll be a comeback.”

---

And so your break begins. It’s not that much of a break - content has been pre-filmed for the fans, and plans for a Season’s Greetings, comeback, and New Years Eve performance are being discussed. MAJ1K is more successful than Tunez expected it to be, so they’re ramping up plans, trying to increase appearances and put you four everywhere. You have the potential to be the 4th gen girl group. 

“We have to make everyone interested in them,” says the head of your PR team. “Their only real competition for 4th gen are Itzy and Aespa. And I’m sure we can defeat both groups.” He goes on, talking about making sure your concept is more creative, interesting, and cohesive than those of the groups he’s just mentioned. He talks about maintaining a clean image - no dating, no foul language, no offending anyone. “Be the most neutral group you can,” he instructs. “MAJ1K should have no flaws.”

That shouldn’t be an issue, you think to yourself. You’re not interested in dating, and you always do your best to respect people and avoid foul language in public. This isn’t something I have to worry about, you decide. 

---

MAJ1K is booked for the New Years Eve concert. ENHYPEN, TXT, SEVENTEEN, and FROMIS_9 are also performing.

“Y/N, there you are!” you spot Soobin and wave to him. You’re backstage, in a hallway, getting ready to go on. Fromis are currently performing (and doing amazing, you’ve always loved their music) and you make quick conversation with your brother while waiting. “Are you excited? First concert.”

“Yeah, I’m super excited! It’ll be fun! I’ll have my fans and hopefully yours as well cheering me on!” you respond.

Soobin laughs, “I told them to cheer for you. Maybe your fans will cheer for me too.”

“I’m sure they will,” you say. You hear Fromis end their last song, and are gestured to the stage by your manager. “Well, it looks like it’s time. See you afterwards.” You give your brother a quick hug before joining your members backstage.

MAJ1K performs three original songs and a cover at the concert. You cover WJSN’s ‘As You Wish’, a suggestion by a Starship representative on your team as a way of cementing the fact that MAJ1K is equally HYBE and Starship. Your team is insistent on making sure everyone knows, as it’s beneficial for the group, HYBE, and Starship, encouraging fans to explore. The last song you perform is a ballad from your album, and you walk around the stage, waving to fans. You notice a MOA with a slogan with your and Soobin’s faces on it, and you smile and wave to them. You also notice some fansites of yours, and send some smiles and finger hearts their way.

You try to wave and smile at most of the audience members, but you can’t help but avoid the ENGENEs you see in the crowd. You can’t see very much anyways - the light is on you, and the audience is dark - but when you see ENGENE bongs, you turn away. 

MAJ1K’s set ends, and you and the girls walk off stage after bowing and thanking the audience. 

“You did amazing, Y/N,” says your brother. TXT is next, and he’s adjusting his in-ears, making sure his hair is neat. You know the fans are going to go wild when they see him - his blonde hair is incredibly popular. 

“Good job, Y/N,” say the other TXT members. You grin, thanking them. The other TXT members are like brothers to you - back when they were all trainees, they came to your house often to hang out with Soobin. The five boys are tight, and they all refer to you as their younger sister.

“I bought a slogan of yours,” says Huening Kai, holding up a slogan.

You roll your eyes, “I didn’t know you were such a big fan.”

“I am,” says Kai, grinning, before handing it to you and moving to get on stage.

TXT perform and do incredible as usual. They’re a force to be reckoned with in the industry, and you know they’ll go down in history as one of the boy groups. They perform six songs, from ‘Crown’ to ‘Run Away’ to ‘Blue Hour’ to ‘Lovesong’, as well as two b-sides. You smile as you watch from backstage - you’re so proud of your brother, you’re so proud of these five talented boys who you have the privilege of knowing.

“They’re incredible, aren’t they?” you jump, startled. It’s an unfamiliar voice, and you turn to come face to face with an ENHYPEN member. Jake. You hate that you know that.

“Yeah,” you say, keeping your response short, curt.

“They’re so inspirational,” he continues, eyes on the TV playing their performance. “BTS made me want to become an idol; TXT motivated me to stick with it.”

“Cool,” you say, not knowing how to respond. Why he’s telling you this is besides you.

“They’re all so cool as well. So good at performing, they write great music, and they’re amazing with the public. Making appearances and whatnot.” 

“They’re not that cool,” it slips out before you can control yourself. You can’t help it - this is your older brother and his crazy friends that Jake is talking about. 

“Oh, right, you’re siblings, right? Soobin hyung’s your brother,” Jake says. “That’s cool - you have someone on the inside of the industry.”

You furrow your brows, making eye contact with him. Mistake. His eyes are melted chocolate, and you see both sincerity and a spark of humor. Most of all, you see life. He just looks so alive in a way you can’t explain. You close your eyes, refusing to let him get to you. He’s just like every other male idol, he has to be attractive, it’s part of his job. “Are you calling me a nepo baby?” you counter. He’d mentioned having someone in the industry. It’s infuriating. You don’t like him. He implied that you’re only here because of your brother, so you don’t-

“What? No,” he responds, looking horrified. “No, I’m sorry if it came across that way. I was just saying that it’s probably nice to have someone who knows what it’s like. Being an idol can be lonely, like my family is so supportive but they don’t know what it’s like. No, I mean you’re obviously not here because of him; you’re here ‘cause of you. I saw your performance, you’re so talented. I was blown away.”

Now you feel bad for him. You feel bad for wanting to dislike him. Shit. You’re supposed to dislike him. 

You raise an eyebrow, “I didn’t know the mighty ENHYPEN watched a rookie girl group’s performance.” You try to ignore everything he’s just said - he’s just a kind idol. It was cute though how fast he tried to explain himself… No. He’s just a nice person. You still don’t like him.

Jake blushes, laughing. He looks at the ground, before looking back at you, “You’re in my company. I have to know your music. And it’s really good.”

You’re quiet for a moment, and Jake raises an eyebrow.

“This is the part where you say you like our music too.” he says.

You laugh, “Isn’t the point of compliments to say something nice without expecting something in return?”

“Do you like our music?” Jake asks.

“I like what I’ve heard.” you answer. 

“What have you heard?”

“The title tracks. Also ‘Let Me In’ and ‘FEVER’.” you respond.

Jake shakes his head. “Disappointing.”

“I’ll listen to your albums in full sometime,” you say, trying to appease him. Despite your dislike for ENHYPEN, you don’t want to offend one of your seniors.

“Next time I see you, I hope you’ll have heard more.” he says. You nod. “Alright, well I’ve gotta go now. We’re up next. Nice talking to you, though.”

You nod, and he walks away. Should you have said it was nice talking to him, too? You shake your head, it wasn’t nice. Even if it’s the polite thing, you’re not doing it. If their fans aren’t polite to you, you don’t have to be polite to them.

---

“I saw you talked to Jake sunbaenim,” Yunjin says, teasing, wiggling her eyebrows. You’re at the dorm after the concert. All four of you are in your pajamas, eating takeout at the kitchen counter.

“He came up to me and started talking to me. I have to be polite, he’s a senior.” you explain yourself. “It was honestly so annoying.”

“You didn’t look annoyed,” says Chaewon.

“Well trust me,” you say, “I was.”

“I don’t trust you. You’re lying to us, but you’re also lying to yourself.” says Yunjin. 

“Why would I lie about this?” you ask. Yunjin shrugs, continuing to eat her meal. 

Dinner continues, talking here and there, mostly eating. You’re all tired from both performing and the mental stimulation of interacting with so many artists. Besides talking to Jake, you’d also hung with TXT, conversed with SEVENTEEN (you were surprised you survived that), met Fromis (you screamed), and even talked to some of the BTS members. Jimin congratulated you and the members on your debut, and you froze. 

That night, you have a hard time falling asleep. Are you lying to yourself? Do you dislike ENHYPEN or have you tricked yourself into thinking you dislike them? And most importantly, why does Jake from ENHYPEN have such pretty eyes?

---

The next morning, you wake up to Yunjin frantically shaking you. “Wake up, Y/N.”

You frown, rubbing your eyes, “What is it?” You stretch, trying to wake up.

“Get ready as soon as possible,” there’s an indecipherable look in her eyes. “Management wants to talk to us immediately. There’s an issue.”

You drag yourself out of your bed, brushing your teeth and picking an outfit in record time. You settle with a crewneck and jeans. You brush your hair before slipping a beanie on, hoping it’ll hide the fact that your hair is kind of a mess. You grab your phone, check the time, and then see that you have a lot of notifications.

“Is something happening?” you ask the girls, walking into the kitchen. “Why do I have so many notifications?”

“Don’t look at them,” says Chaewon. “Come on, let’s get going.”

Now you really want to look at your notifications. You still obey your leader, however, tucking your phone in your pocket.

The ride to Starship’s building feels like forever. Today’s meeting is being held there because it’s closer to your dorm. The van is silent, no one saying or doing anything. You and the girls are aimlessly looking around, except for Chaewon who’s staring at the floor.

You’re relieved when you reach the building. The four of you walk inside, heading to one of the meeting rooms. You pass some of the Monsta X members on your way in - Jooheon sends a sympathetic smile, and Shownu looks worried - and you’re getting a really bad feeling.

“We have multiple things to discuss today,” says your manager. “First off, the performance last night.” You’re expecting a “well done” considering all the compliments you’d received both from other artists and your fans. “Pathetic. We looked at the official recording, and the live to lip sync ratios were awful.”

You frown, “I thought we mostly sang live?”

“Did I ask you to speak?” he asks, and you shake your head, looking down at the table. “That’s what I thought. Chaewon did the best, with a 90% to 10% for singing live to lip syncing. Yunjin was 80 to 20. Y/N and Wonyoung were both 60 to 40. You two need to improve. Immediately.”

You’re starting to get annoyed. You’d had the New Years performance a mere week after promotions for your debut had ended, and your voices had gotten sore. It didn’t help that you were running on low sleep and a weird idol diet. You don’t bother saying anything, however, knowing it’ll probably do more harm than help.

“Second item of business,” your manager continues. “We made it clear that this group has to have the cleanest public image in the industry. Be neutral, be friendly, be kind. Don’t start things.” He’s looking directly at you now. “Y/N, everyone noticed how you were ignoring ENGENEs. You’re really lucky that ENHYPEN were nothing but kind on their live last night.”

“What live?” you ask. Did they talk about you? 

“They had a live,” your manager says, sighing. “They were asked about you guys, one of them said he had a good conversation with you and that you were funny.”

“Oh,” you say. Jake mentioned you. On a live with his fans and members. The room is starting to feel really hot all of a sudden. Are you blushing?

“That appeased the fans,” continues your manager. “Be careful in the future, treat everyone the same. I don’t care what issues you have with who - as an idol, you are kind and welcoming to everyone.”

You nod.

“Last thing: we’ve decided that you’ll be having a comeback on February 14th. The album will be called Love is Magic. Preparations will start soon, so be ready. We’ll have you all go in the recording booths in a few days, and then start with choreo and shoots. We’re also planning a fan-con for mid January as a way to promote you before your comeback.”

All four of you nod. Internally, you’re kind of upset. This is a very fast comeback. Usually there’s a longer break between comebacks. You’re also kind of upset that you weren’t even asked, you were told. 

“Will we be able to write for this album?” you ask. Your manager rolls his eyes, looking annoyed.

“Maybe in the future,” he says. “This album is too important. It’s your first comeback after an incredibly successful debut. If you want to cement yourselves as the fourth gen girl group, you’ll have to leave it to us. We have professional writers for a reason.”

You nod, disappointed, but not surprised.

The ride back is louder than the ride to Starship. Yunjin voices her disappointment about not being able to write, Chaewon agreeing with her. You say that they were unnecessarily harsh about lip syncing, and the other three agree. Wonyoung looks agitated, and you feel bad for her. She’s been an idol since, what, 13? 14? She’s been living such a fast, high-profile life for years, and she’s not getting a break even now, after so much hard work. Instead, she’s being treated like a newbie, like she doesn’t know what she’s doing, which may be true for you, but not for her.

You get back to the dorm and lie down on your bed. Now is when you pull out your phone, scrolling through your phone, looking at Twitter.

@jakejake: she’s so rude. Completely ignoring us. I feel bad for jake - he had to talk to her

@applehee: there’s always that one bad sibling. this time it’s choi y/n

Admittedly, that one hurts your feelings. Comparing you to your brother, that’s low. You can’t help but to think it’s true, and that hurts more.

Some people do come to your defense, however, and that makes you feel better.

@y/nismyqueen: yall need to cut it out. Jake literally said she was funny and that they had a good convo. She’s probably scared of looking at you guys because yall are insane.

@maj1cian: feeling bad for y/n. Her brother’s super popular, and she’s constantly being compared to him. It doesn’t help that engenes have it out for her - enha said good things abt her and yall are jealous and making shit up

You continue scrolling, eventually finding clips of the performance from last night. There are sweet captions and descriptions, fans talking about how “MAJ1K slayed” or “y/n’s vocals have me screaming” and eventually you’ve forgotten about the hate.

You can’t help yourself, and you find yourself looking through the ENHYPEN hashtag, before eventually looking for Jake-specific content. There are pictures of him, fan-made edits, quotes, and rants from fans about how much they love him. 

There’s also a really funny, cute thread discussing the similarities between the idol and golden retrievers. 

You eventually find yourself opening Spotify, following ENHYPEN, and pressing play. 

They make good music.

taglist (send an ask/dm/comment):

copyright: this is my original work, so don't steal it. thank you for your cooperation on this matter.

[not-majestic-bluenicorn]

Cravity’s League of the Universe Theory UPDATE

Season 3 Hideout: Be Our Voice & The Awakening: Written in the Stars

Hello! My name’s Ori and I write k-pop theories and fanfics and today I’m revisiting my Cravity theory cause apparently I didn’t update for Hideout Season 3 even though I thought I had lol This is going to be a mini update since there isn’t much to add, but let’s get right into it.

Arc 1: Hideout Season 3 Main Plot Points

During the prologue of Season 3 we finally get to see more about Woobin, Seongmin and Minhee. At the beginning they hear their names being called by Wonjin, who’s probably using his power to convince them to meet the others. Then we get to see a little of their private lives.

First Woobin is studying in his room when he spots a dead butterfly and revives it. He then tries to take the elevator to leave his apartment building but he ends up getting too scared and gives up; the instagram account also confirms his fear of elevators. He then presumably leaves to spend some time at the arcade. From Minhee, we get to see how carefully he cleans and takes care of his room, making sure even the smallest object is in place, before his alarms sound and he has to get ready to leave. 

[Gif: Woobin picks up a dead butterfly, the scene cuts and we see the butterfly flying again.]

Seongmin is at the bus stop at night, waiting for it. We know from the Instagram posts he doesn’t want to go home so ends up choosing to go to the arcade and he forgets his cellphone. Minhee finds the cellphone and upon touching it discovers Seongmin’s plans and goes to meet him there. At the arcade, Seongmin struggles to play with the dart, but when he closes and opens his eyes again, suddenly he’s nailing every single shot.

[Gif 1: Minhee picks up Seongmin’s cellphone at the bus stop and has a vision of Seonming playing with darts and failing all his shorts.

Gif 2: Seongmin is at the arcade playing darts, he closes his eyes and after he opens them he does a perfect shot.]

Minhee arrives during this and gives Seongmin his cellphone, which is when they notice they both have similar stones. Woobin also notices this and joins them. They notice Seongmin’s injured hands and Woobin heals him, revealing his power to them.

[Screenshot: Woobin standing with his back to the camera. His arm is up as he shows Seongmin and Minhee his stone.

Gif: Woobin grabs Seongmin’s injured hands in his and his hands start to shine as he heals Seongmin. The scene fades to white with the light coming from his hands.]

After a cutscene, we see the other six at their hideout. Wonjin is explaining that Seongmin and Minhee are a year younger than them and that Woobin is his and Hyeongjun’s classmate. He also mentions already calling them and Allen adds that he’s dreamt of them as well. Finally, the three of them arrive and introduce themselves.

[Instagram screenshot: A picture of a table with pictures of Minhee, Seongmin and Woobin sprawled on it. The caption reads “The friends from Allen’s dream that he talked about. Friens that Allen introduced to me. I’m sure they could hear my voice will they? Finally today! #photo taken by Hyeonjun

Screenshot from Epilogue: The nine members sitting around a table in their hideout.]

In the epilogue, they’re all spending time together at the hideout. Wonjin and Taeyoung are talking. Seongmin is repairing something for Hyeongjun. Serim, Jungmo and Minhee are with Revue when Jungmo tests Serim’s power by asking him what is the color of the third cloth in his wardrobe. Serim correctly guesses it’s a purple hoodie. We also confirm Jungmo’s ability to communicate with animals. Finally, Woobin is asking Allen if he can predict which team will win tomorrow’s game, to which Allen responds that’s not how his power works, before they’re interrupted by Seongmin asked to be healed by Woobin.

The scene cuts to them playing a board game. Taeyoung tries to cheat by freezing time but Hyeongjun discovers and stops him. Suddenly, Allen looks up and all the lights around them begin to turn off before they look at the camera and the final light goes out. Then, Allen wakes up to Woobin calling him. Finally, in the Hidden Film we see all but Seongmin and Minhee celebrating their graduation.

[Gif: The members look around as the lamps they were using for light start to turn off on their own.]

What is happening?

Before we update the character profiles let’s talk a little bit about what’s going on. First of all, they’ve finished reuniting and Hideout is over just as we had predicted. This means the stasis stage of the story is over and now we need a trigger. While I think that The Awakening: Written in the Stars is sort of a little break while they work on the next part of the story, because we didn’t get any films or updates on the Instagram account, I also think that the title has more meaning to it than that.

First of all, the simple phrase “the awakening” already feels like a trigger because the word itself alludes to the start of something. I also think it might be literally referencing Allen waking up from the vision he has in the Season 3 Epilogue. Yes, I’m pretty sure the whole last scene is a vision, and while it’s a little different, it does preserve that 4th-wall-breaking aspect we’ve seen in some of his visions before, so it’s not a stretch.

What does this mean for them? Well, simply put, danger is coming, and whether they like it or not, they might have to start learning real soon how to better use their abilities. To be honest, I’m still not sure Starship is gonna go full superhero on them, because most of their powers are very passive, but we’ll see!

Updating the profiles

Now that we know a bit more about our last three characters, let’s summarize what we know and then make a list with their powers.

Minhee

He is an extreme perfectionist, to the point that every single thing must have its place and it seems that he has a very detailed routine to keep order in his room. We can also see that he has quite a lot of alarms that establish the order of his day. He doesn’t seem to have an adverse reaction to disorder though, and simply seems to enjoy the act of keeping his space clean and perfect, because we don’t see him do that with the hideout.

[Instagram screenshot: A picture of a perfectly organized shelf with the caption “Neat and tidy. Finished cleaning up my room.”]

Seongmin

Seongmin hates being home, to the point we don’t even get to see his house in any of the videos. He doesn’t mention it in the videos but he’s pretty verbal about it in the Instagram posts. It is quite likely he has a bad relationship with his parents and he seems to wander around a lot. He is also extremely prone to getting injured apparently. Someone help the lost puppy.

[Instagram screenshot: A picture of Seongmin sitting on a bench at a bus stop with the caption “Not yet... don’t wanna go home like this, should I go there again?”]

Woobin

Woobin lives in an apartment complex and he seems to be a good student. The one thing that definitely stands out about him is his fear of using the elevator. It’s still unknown if it comes from any particular elevator-related trauma or if maybe he has major claustrophobia caused by something that isn’t specifically related to elevators. However, he’s pretty terrified of them and although he’s been trying to overcome it, it hasn’t worked for him at all.

[Instagram screenshot: A picture of Woobin’s hand as he presses the button to call the elevator with the caption “Please, just for today...”]

The powers

Finally, the list:

Serim - People-focused psychometry, he obtains information about others, seemingly by accessing their knowledge and memories. So far his ability has only been seen with the members.

Allen - Precognition through dreams, he has dreams in which he’s able to see the future. All dreams seem to be tied to the members so far.

Jungmo - Animal Telepathy, he’s able to understand and communicate with animals.

Woobin - Accelerated Healing, so far we’ve seen him heal small injuries and bring back to life small creatures.

Wonjin - Telepathy, he can communicate with others through the mind, even if they’re far away. So far his ability has only been seen with the members.

Minhee - Future-focused psychometry, this one is still in doubt since we’ve only seen him use it once, but he seems to be able to see the future of the person who last touched the object.

Hyeongjun - Legit, no idea, what is your deal, child?

Taeyoung - Time stopping, he’s able to completely stop time for everyone else except Hyeongjun. He can continue moving and doing things normally when he does it.

Seongmin - Enhanced accuracy and precision, again this one is still in doubt since we’ve only seen him use it once, but he seems to be able to perfectly nail every shot he makes.

Conclusions

Cravity might actually be in danger, depending on what Allen’s vision meant. One thing is for sure though, the story is starting to move forward. On the other hand, someone help me with Hyeongjun, I accept suggestions.

[swiftgronmasterpost]

Late Stage Swiftgron Part 1

Update from November 2021 - I really don’t believe much of this is meaningful at all.  I don’t think they’re sitting around referencing one another on social media or anything but some of Dianna’s interactions with Karlie are interesting Dianna shows up explicitly in Taylor’s life a couple more times so I’m leaving these sections here.;

From here on out everything but the 2014 AMAs and Dianna’s somewhat shocking appearance at Taylor’s 2019 SNL performance are just odd social media shenanigans (or subtweets) between the two, and Taylor appearing to release at least one more song about Dianna (Babe in 2018) (and let’s be honest you can make a strong argument for The 1 being about Dianna as well other post 1989 songs.)

Some of this might be complete crack or coincidence but as you all know I want this to be the most thorough Swiftgron document possible.  

If anything it proves they both certainly still have similar interests and they really do seem to be in touch.

There are some interactions claimed by others to be Swiftgron related that I’m not going to include because they’re just a bit too reachy for me (though I completely support the theorizing!) but in general, if I personally can see the hint of a Swiftgron connection, I’m going to include it here. Draw your own conclusions and take everything, particularly the alleged subtweets/social media shenanigans, with a grain of salt.

And yes there’s tons of Kaylor and other Gaylor/Gaygron content that will be left out of this segment because this masterpost is focused on Swiftgron.  Someday it would be cool to make a giant masterpost/timeline that documents all of it, but for now it’s just going to be Swiftgron stuff. August 26, 2014 - Dianna tweets, and then deletes “Withdrawals, clearly…we had fun.” 

There’s no screen shot of this tweet but some retweets/responses of it remain:

If Dianna is indeed referencing the song Clean (in which their relationship is compared to an addiction hence, “withdrawals” from it) then Taylor would have had to give her advanced knowledge of the song since 1989 did not come out until October 2014.

Taylor did claim she ran 1989 by the muse that inspired it and they were both in LA in late August 2014. Maybe this is when.

November 1, 2014 - Taylor posts about Clean

November 19, 2014 - The 2014 AMAs Kaylorgron Explosion Extravaganza:

Taylor, Karlie, and Dianna are at the event.  Taylor and Karlie are clearly on a date and Dianna is there to present Sam Smith’s performance of I’m not the only one.  Dianna seems a bit out of her element/gloomy when interviewed on the red carpet and Taylor flexes Karlie hard, dancing with her throughout the night and even sitting on her lap during an interview.

Click here for photos, video, gifs, and a live L chat reaction to the night.

December 28, 2014 - The writer for the tv show The Originals, Carina Mackenzie, tweeted that 1989 was about Dianna:

It’s of course notable that someone in the industry is “confirming” Swiftgron on main (particularly before gaylor went mainstream with Kaylor being so obvious in 2015/2016) however what’s even more interesting and notable about this tweet is that an actor named Michael Trevino was on the show The Originals and he dated Jenna Ushkowitz from 2011-2014.

Not only that but Michael was at Dianna’s 26th birthday when Taylor was in attendance as well.

It’s possible that Michael witnessed Swiftgron in real life and spilled a bit to the writer of the TV show he was on.

January 5, 2015 - Taylor likes a Swiftgron related post on Tumblr of Dianna saying she’d go on the road with Taylor and carry her bags at the Giffoni Film Festival in 2012:

February 9, 2015 - Style is released as a single

February 13, 2015 - The Kaylor “Best Friends” on a road trip Vogue Spread comes out.  You’re probably familiar with it but if you aren’t google it.  It’s incredibly romantic and pda filled.

The Style music video is released on this day as well.

We don’t have to go through the whole video but one egg I just have to note is the cave pictured in the MV is in Morocco the same country Dianna seemed to flee to after Swiftgron was outed:

February 14, 2015 - Dianna tweets 143 remember those days (for some reason it has not been deleted) seemingly in response to the Kaylor vogue shoot:

143 is a code that means “I love you” that originated from Mister Rogers.  Both Taylor and Dianna have publicly shown that they are fans of his.  Taylor has even made certain songs 3 minutes and 41 seconds long seemingly referring to this number and wore a Mister Rogers pin on a jacket for a photoshoot once.

Here’s a bit more in depth analysis on the significance of the 143 post.

This tweet is how we know that it is 100% in Dianna’s character to occasionally subtweet Taylor and why a lot of this social media analysis has been done.  

February 16, 2015 - Just two days later Dianna attends a fashion show in which Karlie walks and is noted to “have kept a smirk on her face” during.  Dianna doesn’t clap at the end of the show and looks miserable in photos of the event:

February 17, 2015 - Taylor releases Wonderland

I’m going to pause here and discuss the song Wonderland for a brief moment because it is some of the most incredibly airtight evidence for Swiftgron available.

Dianna’s favorite book of all time is Alice in Wonderland.  She brought it up in interviews all the time, tweeted about it, auctioned off a signed copy of it for charity, her private Tumblr and instagram account are called whosirmesir which is a reference to it, her private Tumblr is filled with reblogs about Alice, and her public Tumblr was called fell down the rabbit hole.

So the fact that Taylor writes an entire song describing a relationship through the lens of and packing full of references to Alice in Wonderland is incredibly interesting.

Let’s take a look at some of these lyrics:

Flashing lights and we, took a wrong turn and we Fell down the rabbit hole (literally Dianna’s tumblr name and url)

Didn't you flash your green eyes at me (Dianna is famous for her beautiful almost hypnotic green eyes and yes they are green)

Haven't you heard what becomes of curious minds (queer coded)

Too in love to think straight (queer coded)

But there were strangers watching And whispers turned to talking And talking turned to screams (seems to reference when they were outed) You searched the world for something else (Dianna very publicly went travelling around the world right after April 2013 when they seem to break up)

Taylor literally put Dianna’s Tumblr URL in the song.  Frankly I’m kind of shocked she released this song at all it is so obviously and clearly about Dianna.  Truly a Swiftgron anthem!

Back to the timeline...

March 8, 2015 - Taylor posts Flamingos for her dad’s birthday:

The caption was “Happy Birthday, Dad. Thanks for all the unconditional love, sarcastic comments, and interesting Christmas presents.”

May 1, 2015 - Dianna posts a flamingo for her birthday (post is now deleted):

The caption was “This is 29. Spoiled rotten. Funny enough, at work they were painting the hallways white and the roses (hallway doors) red, then I actually went to Wonderland (@AliceUnderLdn) and came home to a surprise flamingo. Here we go. Another year around the sun…feeling lucky and loved and loved and lucky.”

Taylor also gave Emily, another rumored ex, a flamingo bandana for her birthday.  i also think it’s odd that Dianna mentions Wonderland specifically in the post.

January 15, 2016 - Dianna’s engagement to Winston is announced and Kaylors notice Taylor is liking sad posts on Tumblr including several posts related to Clean:

November 7, 2016 - Lorde’s birthday party where Kaylor is together in public for the last time for 20 months.

January 5, 2017 - Claire (who is still very close with Taylor) comments on one of Dianna’s Instagram posts):

March 2, 2017 - Dianna posts her James Dean inStyle UK photo to Instagram:

This is actually the second time she has posted this as a throwback photo.  She also posted it on February 4, 2016 with simply the caption “TBT” and did not include the “rebel without a clue” bit which is a reference to James Dean (Rebel Without a Cause). She’s never posted the same TBT photo twice before or after this (as of the writing of this post in October 2020).

It I may be permitted to go real far out on a limb here it’s almost as if she wanted people to connect that photo of her in the UK InStyle magazine to James Dean.  James Dean is of course the way Taylor describes her lover in the song Style.  

At any rate it’s very odd that it’s the only photo she’s posted twice whether it’s related to Taylor or not.

April 25, 2017 - Fans notice Dianna is having her script tattoo removed:

This is significant because a part of the tattoo was dedicated to Alice in Wonderland - it said “We’re all mad here” 

Tattoo removal is a years long process:

So it’s possible she started getting it removed around the time that Wonderland came out.

It’s also possible part of the tattoo was dedicated to Lea (the part that said “here I am”) so this whole removal situation is very interesting.

In 2019 she was still getting it removed and commented this at a Cafe Carlyle session:

"i was like i don't know i wanna explain all my tattoos or the one that i'm getting removed on my side...you know you're like...WHATEVER we're stopping we're moving on"

February 13, 2018 - Dianna attends the Carolina Herrera fashion show, so does Karlie. Dianna is introduced to Karlie by Derek Blasberg and very audibly calls Karlie “gorgeoouusss” as they meet. 

Kayda play “Gorgeous” by Taylor Swift.

Click here to keep reading!

[reddeux]

Hydra

Overview: It’s nearing the Cultural Festival and you have been thinking of a way on how to answer a confession that you received from your crush, Shoji. One day, you heard this very lovely and endearing song that Jiro shared to you with the caption, “It reminded me of your voice”. Then it hit you.

Pairing: Mezo Shoji x Singer!Reader

Warnings: Just full on Fluff and overflowing emotions. Nothing major.

A/N: Take it easy on me please, this is my first fic. I hope you like it though. Also, credits to Google for the Gif and Myth & Roid for the song used in the fic The song title is “Hydra”. Lyrics translation came from lyricstranslate. Enjoy everyone!

“You don’t have to answer immediately. I can wait.“

You let out a sigh as you sit in your darkened room listening to music and your face flushed.

“Seriously, it came so out of the blue.“ You mumbled to yourself but you can’t help but be happy at the same time knowing that the person of your affection feels the same way you do.

You have been crushing on the tallest but gentlest guy in your class from the moment you laid eyes on him upon opening the classroom door. You felt your face suddenly burst hot and your knees weaken when he talks to you or just greet you a good morning. 

One time, you almost embarrassed yourself in front of him when Shoji greeted you good morning first with a smile when you entered the room. You felt your knees buckle and if it weren’t for Jiro and Hagakure standing behind you, your ass will be meeting the floor. But you also immediately composed yourself and with a very flushed face, greeted him back. Also that was the time all the girls discovered your infatuation towards the six-armed male.

You also have to admit, always thinking of him while practicing your quirk gives you a little boost to do better. Your quirk is basically based on songs. You can convey whatever feelings the song has to yourself, other people, or objects by humming their tunes. Double power and effects when you sing it, words and all. 

You can sing better and you can convey more emotions whenever you think of singing love songs to him. You create more destruction whenever you sing powerful songs with the though of punishing whoever hurt him, and you feel extra sadness singing songs with the thought of him not returning your feelings.

You are becoming better because of him and what you didn’t know, he’s also becoming better because of you. So when the day came that he asked you to meet him outside the dorms 10 minutes before curfew and dropped the confession, you are super elated and over the clouds. 

But instead of screaming and jumping for joy and giving him the biggest bear hug like you planned, you just stood there. Stunned, face red and mouth slightly open with no words coming from you. Of course, this sent a different message to Shoji.

“You don’t have to answer immediately. I can wait.“ He simply said when 10 minutes passed and you still haven’t said anything.

So now, a week before the Cultural and 2 weeks after the confession, you still haven’t said anything. You still talk to Shoji. Although now, there is a somewhat awkward atmosphere between you and the entire class is super aware of it. The girls asked you what happened and you almost had a brain hemorrhage from all the shaking Mina and Hagakure did. You defended yourself and they understood after a very long explanation, contemplation and admitting how stupid you are for just standing there.

You’re still sitting in your room when you received a chat notification from Jiro. You checked it and saw a link to a video.

“Reminded me of your voice. Thanks Jiro.“ You said and played the video

It started with a very soothing vocal and the tune is very smooth and you can feel the singers intent with every lyric. You quickly opened your eyes, you didn’t know were closed and stood from your bed.

“Feel the emotions... Song...“ The thought sank into you and you quickly ran to Jiro’s room

When you arrived, to your relief, all the members of the band are there making finishing touches for their performance.

“Y/N? What are you doing here?“ Jiro asked on her bed holding her guitar.

You lifted up your phone with the video playing and panted.

“I need your help guys.“

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🖤

The main performance of 1-A is already finished and the dancers all went down stage to originally clean up the gym when the audience leaves but some of them are puzzled when the band is not leaving the stage.

“Thank you everyone for listening to our song. But the show is not yet over. We still have one more song for you guys. More specifically, for a certain guy.“ Jiro said playfully and looked down at Shoji.

Said male just raised an eyebrow and the rest of the crowd started to erupt into murmurs. Jiro looked somewhere at the back and nodded. Then to everyone’s surprise, you came out  and hugged Jiro.

“Thanks for doing this.“ You whispered to her

“Of course. Anything to save your love life.“ Jiro said and stepped away from the mic.

You scanned the audience as you stood there and when your eyes landed on Shoji, you smiled widely at him for the first time again after his confession.

“This is my answer to you. Sorry it took so long. You know who you are.“ You said and you can hear all your girl classmates down the stage squealing and nudging Shoji

You looked back at the band and nodded. Jiro quietly counted to 3 and you sang the song.

Hametsu sae itowanaide (Even if I were to come to ruin please don't loath me)

Nē, imada kono te ni nokoru kakera datte (Hey, even the fragments that still remain in this hand) Anata no mono (Belong to you)

Nanimokamo nakushite mo (Even if I were to lose just about everything) Sasageru mono ga aru no (I would still have something to give to you) Mirai datte inochi de sae (Be it even my future or even my very life)

Yake tsukita kanjō mo fumōna inori mo (Even my burnt out emotions and my fruitless prayers) Sugaru buzama mo mitsugu gu kamo (Even the ungracefulness I cling to I will even present you my foolishness) Yanda koe mo yogoreta ryōte mo (Even my failing voice and even both my stained hands) Kizu de fusagareta kokoro mo (Even my heart that is covered in wounds)

I have been wishing for nothing but your happiness , over and over

Nani mo kono te ni nakute mo (Even if there is nothing in these hands)

Jikan ga mada aru no nara (If I still have time left) Nan do mo kurikaesou (I would repeat it over and over again) Muimi datte muda datte ii (It's fine even if it's meaningless and even if it's pointless)

Tsumiageta hibi ga muzan ni chitte mo (Even if the days we spent were to be ruthlessly dispersed) Omoi ga noroi ni kawatta toshite mo (Even if my desires were to turn into curses) Mukui mo naku torō ni owatte mo ii (It's fine even If I won't be rewarded and even if it will end in vain) Mō anata shika mienai (I can no longer see anything but you)

Kuraku kagetta kono michi no saki de wa (Everything ahead of this road has turned completely dark) Donna hikari mo yagate tsuieru deshō (So no matter what kind of light I have it would probably die out soon enough) Unmei ga sō nara ... (This seems to be my fate...)

Kibō matsu yōni ikiru yori (Waiting for that hope) Kotogotoku shikiru no ima o (I completely devote myself to you from the day I was born and I still do)

Yake tsukita kanjō mo fumōna inori mo (Even my burnt out emotions and my fruitless prayers) Sugaru buzama mo mitsugu gu kamo (Even the ungracefulness I cling to I will even present you my foolishness) Nanimokamo ga dō natte mo ii (No matter what happens) Subete anata sasageyou (I shall give you just about everything)

Nothing would make me happier than if I could be with you forever

When the song ended, not only are you in tears, but the entirety of the people and your classmates are as well. Heck, even Bakugo’s eyes are a little moist. You sniffled a little and looked towards Shoji to see him smiling widely under his mask and his eyes full of love, happiness and unshed tears.

He felt it. The sincerity of the message in your song and you didn’t even use your quirk when you sang. You want your true feelings to be heard from the song without using your quirk. And it did reach everyone’s heart, especially Shoji’s.

Your lips were quivering when you ran towards the edge of the stage and jumped towards Shoji. He quickly caught you in a hug and spun you around two times before stopping, but not releasing the hug.

“I love you so much.“ Shoji whispered to you behind his mask as his face is buried in your neck

“I love you as well.“ You answered and pulled away briefly to press your foreheads together 

You were looking into his black eyes when you decided to be a bit bold. Think of it as a sorry for taking too long to admit your true feelings. You slowly reached to slide down his mask and pressed a kiss to his lips. His eyes widen a bit before going clam and closing it to kiss you deeper.

The crowd and your classmates were cheering wildly at the background but you couldn’t care less. This moment is yours and Shoji’s alone, and nothing can take it away from you.

[anothersievefistedfind]

Live photo taken on 4/6/2001 by anonymous

Fugazi, Ogden Theater, Denver, CO USA 4/5/2001 (FLS #0982) & 4/6/2001 (FLS #0983)

Between April 5 and April 21, 2001, Fugazi embarked on their “Four Corners” tour of the United States to kick off the 2001 tour itinerary with 15 shows in as many as 10 states (Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Missouri, Indiana and Pennsylvania), their longest string of shows in 2001 and about half of their total amount of gigs that year (32 shows).

The Ogden Theater in Denver, Colorado turned out to be the first stop of the tour and hosted two shows on consecutive nights. According to an article titled “Ten of Our Favorite Concerts From the Ogden’s 100-Year History” by the Westword Staff (“The independent voice of Denver since 1977”),

“The Ogden was built in 1917, and it was opened as a theater in 1919 by John Thompson, who also ran what is now called the Bluebird Theater. Originally home to organ recitals, lectures and vaudeville acts, including Harry Houdini, the space became a movie theater in 1937. In the early ’90s, Doug Kauffman of Nobody in Particular Presents turned the Ogden back into a music venue. In 2006, NIPP leased the venue to AEG Live, and the Ogden has continued to be one of Denver’s most vibrant concert halls, with everyone leaving a mark on its stage, from just-breaking-big bands to fan-favorite nostalgia acts and singular one-offs from musical icons.”

Being back in Denver sparks memories for the band, as Guy reminisces, “it’s been a very long time since we’ve been to Denver, does anybody remember, not the last time when we played the Fillmore [formerly the Mammoth Events Center] but a few times back when we played here and we had this idea that we were gonna have a can drive, a food drive, remember that, I think it was like four or five bucks and then a can of food and then we were gonna distribute the food to people, but then it turned into this big riot and all the kids in the street started throwing the cans at windows, do you remember this, it was seriously fucking nuts, just a pleasant memory from the scrapbook for you all.”

I spent some time with the recordings of both Fugazi gigs at the Ogden Theater these last couple of weeks, and enjoy these a whole damn lot. The band hadn’t performed live since concluding their Scandinavian run some 6 months earlier, on October 10, 2000 and while both performances surely include a handful of shaky transitions and the occasional missed chord or hiccup, the band’s musicianship, work ethic and ardor come out on top. As such, both recordings essentially portray a band that found its bearings rapidly, came out swinging and had the welcoming audience eating out of its hand.

The recording of the first night includes a total of 28 songs, taken off of The Argument (6) (at the time not yet released), Furniture EP (1) (at the time not yet released), End Hits (5), Red Medicine (2), In on the Kill Taker (6), Steady Diet of Nothing (2), Repeater (3), Margin Walker EP (1) and 7 Songs EP (2). This includes some rare live renderings for 2001 such as Full Disclosure, Give Me The Cure or Cassavetes.

Some of my highlights here are Sieve-Fisted Find, Cashout (considering Ian very often introduced this one, it is clear he takes the subject to heart, “we came into Denver yesterday and as we drove around we saw one million housing projects like people building condominiums, condominiums, condominiums, town houses, town houses, town houses, and, you know in Washington D.C. it’s the same thing, it’s like everywhere you look there’s houses being built, houses being built, prices are going up so this is a song about where exactly people are supposed to live at this fucking point”), the live debut of The Kill (Guy’s eerie guitar play sounds fantastic while Joe is still coming into his own on this one, “we’re trying something new, I haven’t got it down totally, give me a break”), Last Chance For a Slow Dance, Arpeggiator (with Jerry Busher on second drums), Blueprint, another dubby version of Promises (reverb on the snare, distortion on the vocals and a thunderous thump on the kick drum) or Sweet and Low (the reverb on the guitars is just mesmerizing).

The recording of the second night showcases another 27 songs, taken off of The Argument (4) (unreleased at the time), Furniture EP (1) (unreleased at the time), End Hits (6), Red Medicine (4), In on the Kill Taker (4), Steady Diet of Nothing (1), Repeater (2), 3 Songs 7” (1), Margin Walker EP (1) and 7 Songs EP (3). This includes a bunch of rare live performances for that year, such as Turnover, Stacks, Suggestion (the band has to start over after Ian singles out and addresses a couple of guys for fighting), Break-In, Bad Mouth, Instrument, Walken’s Syndrome or Forensic Scene.

Overall, this one has the better flow and more exceptional set list in my opinion. Still, some personal highlights include the fast-paced, flawless opening string of songs up until the first interlude, Turnover, Burning (with additional percussion by Jerry Busher), Argument into Blueprint into Instrument closing out the main set, Strangelight, a dub-injected version of Target (which has the audience participating in some double time hand-clapping) or Forensic Scene.

There is some fun banter by Guy as well, leading into Oh, “while we were driving out, we drove straight to Denver from D.C., it’s the first place we’re playing, on the way out, these guys were listening to the radio in the van, and there’s this show on NPR called ‘Money Talk’, are you familiar with this show, they started using a fragment of one of the songs we played a while back [plays the ‘Morse’ intro notes to Facet Squared], that’s like the theme song to ‘Money Talk’ now, and ever since they’ve been using this without our permission, the economy has been in a tailspin, the show about the markets uses a Fugazi song, the economy crumbles, let’s hope they play a few more of our songs on the radio.”

Footage of the second night at the Ogden Theater, shot up-close from the audience, is available through YouTube.

The sound quality of both recordings is easily really good and highly enjoyable, the vocals and instruments clear and well balanced in the mix, the guitars laid out nicely in stereo, even though the volume levels are slightly wavering occasionally, particularly during the louder parts. There are some marginal cuts between tracks on both nights, but nothing disruptive.

The set lists:

April 5, 2001:

1. Intro 2. Ex-Spectator 3. Sieve-Fisted Find 4. Reclamation 5. Interlude 1 6. Full Disclosure 7. Long Division 8. Rend It 9. Interlude 2 10. Cashout 11. Smallpox Champion 12. Merchandise 13. Interlude 3 14. The Kill 15. Last Chance For a Slow Dance 16. Closed Captioned 17. Arpeggiator 18. Nightshop 19. Bed For The Scraping 20. Give Me The Cure 21. Waiting Room 22. Public Witness Program 23. Argument 24. Blueprint 25. Encore 1 26. Break 27. Number 5 28. Oh 29. Promises 30. Encore 2 31. Target 32. Five Corporations 33. Cassavetes 34. Sweet and Low 35. Outro

April 6, 2001:

1. Intro 2. Break 3. Place Position 4. Facet Squared 5. Do You Like Me 6. And The Same 7. Interlude 1 8. Oh 9. Cashout 10. Interlude 2 11. Turnover 12. Interlude 3 13. Stacks 14. Recap Modotti 15. Burning 16. Suggestion 17. Break-In 18. Bad Mouth 19. FD 20. Argument 21. Blueprint 22. Instrument 23. Encore 1 24. Strangelight 25. Interlude 4 26. Epic Problem 27. Arpeggiator 28. Walken’s Syndrome 29. Great Cop 30. Encore 2 31. Target 32. Furniture 33. By You 34. Forensic Scene 35. Outro

[becomewings]

Sea

BTS Universe Elemental Series : Water

“There is something about the sea that makes me well up with emotions. ...

The next minute, we were all looking out onto the sea and shouting our dreams. … Each of us cried out a story that would never reach any destination. … All of my senses came alive. The others' voices became entangled and formed an intricate web with the somewhat fishy but refreshing scent of the sea and the strong breeze winding round my fingers. Before I knew it, I was screaming out onto the sea. Amidst the thundering drilling sound, I couldn't hear what my dream was.”

— JungKook, 12 June Year 19. The Notes 1.

〰〰〰꩜〰〰〰

“Beyond them was the sea, and above the sea was the sun. The entire scene looked like a still frame. …

We’d all met again, sprung JiMin from the hospital, and returned to this same beach. It was all unplanned. ...

‘It was June 12.’ I remembered it exactly because the photo we had taken on this beach was marked with the date. I sometimes took it out and stared at it. I didn’t tell anyone, but I felt on that long-ago day that I had finally found a real family. Real brothers.”

— JungKook, 22 May Year 22. The Notes 1.

〰〰〰꩜〰〰〰

“After returning from the sea, we went back to our solitary lives.”

— SeokJin, 13 June Year 22. The Notes 1.

〰〰〰꩜〰〰〰

I’ve been feeling pretty discouraged lately, especially after witnessing in real-time how much greater the reception is for new/topical content compared to older/more comprehensive content like this blog (this was within my own content on different blogs, to be clear!). It feels like an uphill battle sometimes, so I am deeply appreciative of all of you who have shared my works, and especially to those of you who also sent in supportive messages recently. I’m not giving up yet. Thank you for joining me on this journey. ♡

This is the first entry in a multi-part Elemental series, which will in turn be broken down into several subseries (Water, Fire, etc.). I know my most recent post featured a lot of sea imagery and I do usually try to space out similar themes, but this felt like a good place to start!

A little behind-the-scenes peek at my process (and inevitable misadventures), if you’re curious... I’ve been steadily compiling screenshots from every BTS Universe MV to help myself organize and plan themes, but I still have a few to go. I knew there was a shot, somewhere, with a rippling effect over the boys by the car at the sea. However, I didn’t have a screenshot of it in any of my folders, and after skimming the list of videos I was convinced that I must have missed it from one I’d already completed. As I skimmed through older MVs and it failed to turn up, I began to wonder if I’d made it up. While seriously contemplating that I’d lost my mind, I happened to check Epiphany, one of the MVs I have not captured yet, and... lo and behold, there it was at the end. Serves me right for procrastinating on the capturing. :’) I decided to splice that clip together with the original appearance of that scene/footage from the Prologue because I was already making tough choices while paring down to 10 images. It’s a little grainy, but I spent a ridiculous amount of time working on the first spliced version, scrapping it because I wasn’t happy with the alignment, redoing it from scratch with better scaling between the two, and creating the crossfade. All for just 1/10th of this set!

As I’m focusing more on gifs now and have learned very basic coloring with some practice sets on my side blog, I do want to state that I am (currently) making the decision not to color these BTS Universe sets, aside from small level edits and contrast boosting so the gifs turn out a little cleaner. I recognize that this is not the most aesthetically pleasing choice and that most creators harmonize color palettes when compiling sets from multiple videos. It is my personal intention on this blog, however, to represent the selections as close to their original versions as possible. This better demonstrates how the aesthetics and artistic decisions of the MVs themselves have developed over the lifetime of BTS Universe. Also, despite the lack of color alterations on my part, I do try my best to achieve a composition that is both narratively and visually cohesive, striking a balance between story and art. (I don’t know if anyone has caught onto me yet, but I quite enjoy “reflections” in my image layouts.) And of course, this doesn’t take into consideration all the time I spend gathering the Notes quotes and planning out whether they are more appropriate as captions or in the body text.

Anyway, if you think that I’m making a terrible decision, please feel free to yell at me in my ask box. Or if you have something nice to say, you can yell that in there too. ♡

I Need U (Original Ver.) [1] HYYH On Stage: Prologue [2-5] Epiphany Comeback Trailer [3] Run [6] Love Yourself Highlight Reel '起承轉結' [7] Euphoria : Theme of Love Yourself 起 Wonder [8-10]

[uwua3]

Hello! Sorry to spring another request at you so soon, but those jealousy headcanons you wrote for me have got me hooked! Would it be possible to write a redemption/forgiveness focused "part 2" to those 3 HCs but years later, showing that they've both grown as people and wind up with happy endings together? (And heal my bruised ego, j/k 😆) If you would rather not revisit those stories, I completely understand + will think of something else 😁 TY once more for your immaculate creations 🙌🙏

yes! this will be the pt. 2 set years later from the first jealousy hc~ i know everyone’s a sucker for happy endings so i’ll try my best! aLSO YOU KNOW WHAT’S FUNNY!!! i remember when i got sent this ask and i just wrote immaculate in one of my writings omg!!! we are Connected

summary: time heals and people move on, for better or for worse

author’s note: this was less redemption, but more for forgiveness. sometimes, you can’t forget what someone did but forgive them after becoming changed people. being the bigger person, moving on, and being the best version of yourself is the sweetest revenge possible + taichi’s was the longest, i am the most proud of his!

there are some situations where it’s best to leave a person out of your life if they hurt you more than anything ♡ don’t feel like you are missing a part of yourself without them, you’re more than someone’s s/o; you’re you!

word count: 4,042 (total) — 1,297 (kazunari), 868 (tenma), 1,877 (taichi)

music: i don’t want you back – aj mitchell (kazunari), you could have been the one – coasts (tenma), wish u the best – blackbear (taichi)

jealousy (pt.2)

🌻🎨 miyoshi kazunari

it kept raining, but kazunari refused to let that stop him anymore

kazunari stood drenched for so long but his umbrella was by his side this entire time (he covered himself and watched the stormy clouds part to reveal streams of the sun)

kazunari wanted to love himself first, and then maybe he could come back to loving you

so he attended therapy. learned how to openly commuicate his feelings without constantly seeking attention. made real friends with a theatre company named mankai. found passion in another art form: acting!

kazunari grew as a person, developing into his full identity and he finally knew who he was. kazunari stopped forming unhealthy attachments onto people who showed any form of interest on him and even had a few successful relationships because of his mindset

(all of them ended maturely, respectfully, and without any of the drama being a teen had. it felt nice to be an adult for once)

kazunari was content with his own body, for once. he practiced taking breaks and understood his own limits (not weaknesses, his therapist reminded him, just boundaries). kazunari even started posting online again, making enthusiatic blog posts that were genuine this time

kazunari stopped obsessively checking comments left on his selfies and just deleted any that were negative. but most times, he didn’t even see them because he was proud of how far he came. it could only go up from here

kazunari was happy!

but, you weren’t. you lost your best friend who eventually stopped sending random late–night texts. the one who always had an adventure up his sleeve and always made you laugh. where did he go?

it wasn’t until you spotted an advertisement that had his name in the bottom part of the cast. you didn’t even know kazunari was interested in drama, though he did have the flair for it

(you were too busy with your partner to even come to his water me! debut)

when you attended the summer troupe’s second opening night, you couldn’t recognize the man standing before you on stage

kazunari wasn’t that meek barista who shut down every time he made a mistake. now, when he flubbed the script, he simply did improv and didn’t let his mistake hold him back. he matured to be an accomplished young man with the talent to boot and all the charisma in the world

when kazunari’s sight glanced past you, he barely noticed your presence. he just nodded and spared no more attention towards you, focusing on the play and giving it his all

to you, kazunari was a stranger. to kazunari, you were just somebody he used to have good times with, that’s all

after that, you left and didn’t bother seeking contact with him again besides the occassional congratulations to be civil. he didn’t need you anymore, it was painfully obvious how happy he was now

(much happier than when he was best friends with you)

kazunari didn’t notice and put his energy into becoming someone he was proud of, gaining popularity online for his infectious happiness and wonderful, creative edits

kazunari stopped trying to love himself so you could love him. he did everything for him because he wanted to

after seeing you in the crowd, kazunari accepted you weren’t the same person he became best friends with and that was okay. he had 20 best friends who he shared a house with, what more could he ask for?

(even when he saw your long instagram post about your engagement, he liked it and left a happy comment. there was no jealousy over what could have been, just complimenting the ring without any hard feelings)

kazunari knew he would never see you again, that you were intimidated by his self–love. kazunari wasn’t too sad, just posted a group photo with the caption: “my best friends ✨”

kazunari moved on easily, knowing there was no point to get hung up if you were happy. who was he to get in the way of a happy relationship?

so when you sent him an e–mail asking him to be the best man at your wedding, it didn’t phase him as bad as he thought it would. maybe, just a little surprise. kazunari didn’t hesitate to request practice off and click to confirm his rsvp

(maybe, this could have been his last opportunty to be your best friend)

if it was possible to outdress the couple, he did. kazunari showed up to the wedding in his best suit, gladly chatting up the party

(he knew he looked good, and because of that, he didn’t flinch every time he was mistaken as the groom)

(he didn’t want to be, anyways)

kazunari met up with you in your dressing room, watching you pace as you had pre–marriage jitters. but you looked pretty, beautiful even, but you didn’t look like his bride. that didn’t hurt him, he just smiled and offered his arm

“you ready, best friend?” kazunari asked and the smile on your face reflected his: hollow, but somewhat sad. you both knew you guys weren’t close like before, the same people before. you two were almost unrecognizable, but the love as friends was still there

kazunari couldn’t deny you made his life better at some point, people just change and that was that. he couldn’t fault you for that

he couldn’t blame you for his fear of confessing his feelings, his avoidance of any type of serious relationship. that was on him, and he accepted that a long, long time ago

he was gonna walk the first love of his life down the aisle to another person, and kazunari smiled, knowing this was for the best

kazunari was happy the person you met all those years ago was your soulmate, you deserved that

as the double doors opened, you two gracefully walked down the aisle as he noticed the person at the end was crying tears of joy. they were so in love with you, and you had the same look on your face

kazunari didn’t even react like that, just smiled and gave you a thumbs up

this was definitely for the best

as the room stood for you, you glanced at kazunari and whispered something that had no effect on him whatsoever

“i liked you, before all of this.”

kazunari just looked forward, feeling the rain finally come to an end as a sunny, summer blue sky was shining with puffy white clouds

the rain was gone for good, and 19–year–old kazunari finally had his closure

“i did, too.” kazunari simply said and you didn’t react. it was clear, you both moved on

before giving you away, kazunari smiled, making some joke about being careful with his “daughter”

the room laughed, and he did, too (he meant it)

kazunari was happy for you as he watched you two exchange vows. maybe his past self would’ve selfishly wished that was him, object when the officiant asked, and steal you away

but kazunari knew you were happy

(best man kazunari stood up at the dining banquet to deliver his speech, holding the mic up to his mouth and he shared happy memories between the two of you)

(kazunari almost talked about how gorgeous you looked in golden hour back then, but stopped. that was a memory only his teen self should have, and instead made a toast)

(“for forgiveness, moving on, and best friends!”)

kazunari watched you have your first dance and looked outside. it was golden hour, and you were just as gorgeous as before

but, kazunari didn’t have to be your #1 anymore. because in his heart, he was his own #1, and that would never become a joke

the rain ended, and wouldn’t come back as long as he lived in the sun

🌻☀️ sumeragi tenma

you and tenma were cast in the same movie years after your public break–up

it was an easy job and guarenteed summer blockbuster for best lead actor, tenma

he was entering university now for acting, keeping a clean image as the media slowly forgot about his playboy past as he shifted his efforts to more time with his true friends and being a regular, casual teen

(even previous co–stars admitted his personality did a full 180 and it was refreshing to see the young actor turn over a new leaf)

tenma decided after you, he deserved real love that wasn’t fabricated by a company

he left his label with a rip to the contract, flipped them off with both his fingers, and became an independent star that rose to popularity due to his honest and brash interviews on the industry

he took on projects he loved and tenma’s parents slowly came to respect him as an actor, giving him the freedom to do whatever mattered to him

(tenma even started reclaiming back his missed childhood, lowering the expectations he forced upon himself and letting himself make mistakes. he started trying again and again, refusing to give up for the sake of his team)

tenma expanded his talents to both on screen and stage, and found himself becoming more of a team–player who was confident in his abilities to lead and be taken seriously

mankai taught him love wasn’t just romantic. he received love everyday from his close friends and pushed himself out of his comfort zone to express his feelings and appreciation without feeling uncomfortable

as a result, tenma was loved for who he was, not some idol image

tenma loved himself all because of his love for acting, and knew he wouldn’t have been able to do it if it wasn’t for you, weirdly enough

you were the breaking point. you set off the chain of events that let him take back his own life and pursue real, authentic things. tenma was still a kid at heart, but he grew up

the next time he saw you on set after providing food for the cast to practice showing apprecistion, he towered over you and had to look down

this time, it seemed like he was the one who ruffled your hair and treated you like his younger sibling

you hadn’t realized it, but tenma wasn’t the little kid you liked making fun of. now he was a strong, independent, opiniated firecracker who wasn’t afraid of telling it how it is

tenma wasn’t scared to tell you when you messed up, but this time, he offered advice. he was a natural leader who provided multiple effective solutions and was interested in working with the directors and producers to make the best possible cut

tenma wasn’t some egotistical, self–centered jock his company portrayed him out to be. he was a childish, fun–loving, aggressive firework who was unapologetic about his true self and put his entire self into acting

it was a particular scene that involved romance, and you had to act as a couple with tenma, having a practice read as you went through the lines

“i’m sorry, i loved you so much, it would have killed me if i didn’t say something.” tenma recited, emotionally looking into your eyes as he made his voice shake. it almost felt too authentic, and you cleared your throat, continuing the line

“i did too... but you,” you glanced up at him, and suddenly you realized tenma wasn’t that young brother you thought he was. you regretted ever treating him like some dumb kid, he had grown so much

“you were so young... i judged you too quickly and never let you have a chance. i’m sorry, tenma.”

tenma didn’t break character, but he just shook his head and put his hand out, knowing you didn’t follow the script

“it’s okay. it is what it is.”

you shook his hand, and you never realized how well his hand fit in yours

from that moment forward, you two had easy chemistry and became friends again. but as you began to see him as a man, he always reminded you that it was never going to work out even if he forgave you

he made it especially clear when you guys came back to that one arcade. its games never changing and it felt like you went back in time. when he caught you giving him the same look 16–year–old tenma gave you back then, he sighed and stared at you with firm determination

“i get it, i’m different now. but you gotta give up, don’t even think about it. i forgive you, but we’re friends. that’s all we’ll ever be.”

tenma was older now, and he was grateful for all you did for him, but he already had real love

he didn’t need fake love, especially from you

after playing games in the arcade, it was tenma this time who commented how fun it was and you could call him up any time for acting advice. he saw you as a younger sibling

you watched tenma grow up, but didn’t realize maybe you were the one who was still stuck in the past

🍁🛹 nanao taichi

taichi, grew up

he refused to ever let anyone hurt him the same way for the rest of his life. he couldn’t believe he was so desperate for love that it blinded his view on common sense. taichi never wanted to feel like he was used, kicked, and abandoned ever again

taichi never wanted to see you again, you didn’t deserve to see him after all this time

taichi began to build up his self–esteem, knowing whatever happened, wasn’t his fault anymore. he loved himself, he was the best you ever had and you left him for someone you ditched later that week

in a way, he won. taichi was happy, confident, and grew up to the best actor possible as he was surrounded by the mankai boys who supported him to be content with life

so taichi forced himself to stand taller, started looking people in the eye, and being direct with his boundaries. taichi learned more about what he could handle, and it was amazing to see how having self–respect meant people backed off, knowing he wasn’t a victim anymore

taichi learned his self worth and moved on, his love for himself was greater than anything he felt for you

(during times when he relapsed, sometimes he re–read the love letters he wrote you. you would leave them behind, not even opening them. they were so honest, so vulnerable, it physically hurt him to know he exposed his heart to the public like this)

(he’d read but at the end, he’d always laugh at his stupidity. you didn’t deserve to have such nice things like his heart)

taichi became even more extroverted, making countless friends as he realized making lasting relationships was meant to be double–sided and not just an one–way effort. as a result, he made contact with people who actually liked him and valued him as a friend

taichi put out good energy into life, and he got it back in the form of fun, friends, and his family

taichi liked making connections with people in theatre troupes on veludo way, always staying back to applaud at street acts and exchange contact information

one day, he came across a recently up and coming troupe that nearly fainted when they caught sight of the bright red hair that distinguished taichi

(amongst troupes, taichi was even better than god troupe. taichi was a resident star that was so nice that everyone loved him)

now, they were his closest friend group outside of the mankai boys and noticed their street act, rushing over to congratulate them

“you guys did amazing! i’m so proud!” taichi fake–sobbed, running over and throwing himself onto one of them with a tight hug as the group of friends released a tight laugh after the nervewrecking performance

“ah taichi~ you have to stop before i fall in love with you!” someone said, pushing taichi off jokingly as he pouted like a puppy.

taichi was older now, less naive and innocent to the dating game, his heart didn’t flutter like it would’ve before when he was 16

taichi just laughed it off, and it didn’t affect him like before. he didn’t fall in love, he learned to tell the difference between friendly affection and true love

(but sometimes, taichi closed himself off in a room, listening to the playlists he made for you on loop for hours. but in his moments of weakness, taichi listened and listened and listened. he scoffed, you never even liked the songs to begin with. he felt silly for wasting his favorites on you)

(slowly, eventually, the songs sounded less like you. he began to enjoy them on the radio and sang along freely, your existence blocked from his train of thought)

taichi added to the conversation, putting in funny jokes everyone laughed at and it felt nice to be involved in other groups. they didn’t ignore him, or try to take advantage of his obvious need to be popular

(it was funny how taichi naturally became popular the moment he loved himself, like being happy was all it took)

he wasn’t clinging for the validation anymore, taichi knew he was funny. he was worth it. he was the best version of himself possible

the topic changed to the troupe’s show being premiered this weekend. taichi gladly accepted the ticket, promising to come and cheer on the cast the loudest he could

(he knew they’d do the same when autumn troupe performed. in fact, they did. it was so cool to see all the troupes on veludo way band together and support creativity)

taichi received a promotional poster, thanking the group as he headed back to the dorms. taichi glanced down at the names, nearing the door before skidding to a stop

your name was in bold, big letters. taichi almost didn’t recognize it, he nearly repressed you in his memory

taichi thought back on the love letters he stayed awake to write, nearly falling asleep as he forced himself to share his feelings honestly. remembered how you didn’t even look at them, how it looked like you’d rather do anything than try to understand him

taichi heard the playlists in his ears all at once, his favorite songs being dedicated to you and you hated them

taichi nearly opened his notebook to pen a letter for you, was about to start shuffling through the playlist before he stopped

he read your name. said it aloud. but that was it, taichi just stuffed the poster in his bag as he strolled in after his first year of university

you didn’t deserve any space in his mind after what you did, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t come support his friends

taichi refused to ever let you have the privilege of controlling any aspect of his life anymore, he was going to that damn show and would yell as loud as possible

taichi knew he wasn’t coming for you, but for people who actually liked him

when taichi went inside, he smiled as his friends greeted him enthusiastically. he was so lucky to be who he was today

on saturday night, taichi was on the edge of his seat as the play reached its climax. your acting, he hated to admit it, was almost on par with his. you were dominating the stage and then some, your energy easily bouncing off your cast mates. it’s like you were born for the stage

16–year–old taichi would have been insecure over his own abilities, sunk into his seat and reconsidered everything he did. maybe would have thought he should practice more, get advice, fix who he was

but 19–year–old taichi was older, wiser, better. just because you were good, didn’t mean he wasn’t any good. in fact, taichi smiled contently, he was sure he was just a bit better

(just a little, and his ego actually believed it)

taichi jumped to his feet to applaud rambunctiously when the cast came out to have a bow, whooping as he swung his arms around to get his friends’ attention

they all turned and waved, sending comedic air kisses as you finally recognized him, your face paling and hands shaking as you didn’t do anything

taichi just smiled, waiting as the audience cleared out and he was let into backstage only to be embraced by the sweaty, hyped cast

“taichi~ you made it!” they cheered and taichi grinned, ruffling the younger actor’s hair as his heart soared due to being seen as a mentor to the rookies. he noticed the way they admired him, wanted to be like him

(and for once in his life, taichi liked being his own person, too)

“of course! anything for my friends!” taichi returned the hug, being the last person to pull away as he individually greeted everyone with just as much excitement. backstage buzz was real and got everyone in the best mood ever

except, you

when taichi reached you, your face was nervous. almost, fearful. you looked wary, ready to bolt at any moment he opened his mouth

(and taichi realized he had the power. he could’ve exposed you right then and there. tell everyone what a manipulative, toxic, evil person you were for breaking his heart. for cheating on him when he did nothing but be loyal to you. you were trash, the gum at the bottom of shoe, and he could easily destroy your career if he just told everyone. they would trust him, you’d be over)

(if he was 16, he would’ve ended you. he would’ve shared all the awful, terrible, low things you did and you wouldn’t be anything anymore. the revenge was almost too good, he would actually win)

but... the hurt that was in him before, the pain that would’ve pushed him to have the upper hand, it wasn’t there. he didn’t feel anything towards you except he was sorry you weren’t with him anymore

(he was the best you ever had, he knew that)

instead, taichi smiled even bigger. he pulled a boquet of flowers from behind his back, the flowers he remembered were your favorite

“hey! long time no see!” taichi quickly pulled you in for a hug, your rigid posture against his chest as you awkwardly put your hands around him. taichi realized it was the first time you actually hugged him back, but he didn’t feel anything

taichi pretended that you stepped on his foot, pulling away with a dramatic “ouch!” as you widened your eyes, about to profusely say sorry before he waved it off

“come on, you don’t have to apologize for what happened! i forgive you, you know. we’re good.” taichi pretended to be talking about the minor issue, gesturing to his shoe as he handed you the flowers. but you understood he meant much more than that, and your eyes were brimmed with tears

“hey~ don’t cry! it was just a little boo boo, nothing time won’t fix.” taichi sympathetically pat your shoulder, knowng you didn’t deserve it. you were the one who wasn’t worthy this time, even you couldn’t believe taichi forgived you for all you done

but one smile and you knew he wasn’t lying

(even after all this time, he couldn’t hide his emotions. his heart was on his sleeve, but it was protected. it recovered. it healed)

taichi stood tall. stared you in the eye. stopped trailing after you like a lost puppy. you stepped back as the crowd took him back, inviting him to the afterparty as he happily agreed, knowing he was the life of the party

taichi didn’t even look back at you, like he completely forgot all about you

taichi didn’t talk to you for the rest of the night, but when he did, he was always the bigger person, acting like nothing ever happened

he really moved on, and he felt so sorry for you he had to forgive you

(you had texted him later that night, wanting to meet up to talk. taichi opened the message, almost laughed, and closed his phone. he left you on read, he deleted your number again)

taichi was his own person now; he wasn’t in love with you anymore, he was in love with himself

and he was enjoying himself

taichi didn’t look back, not anymore

[chrisevansbabymama]

The Break Up - Part 1

Part One

Y/N was sure of it. Chris was doing this to rub it in her face, to show how happy he was without her; and how his family was happy too. Whilst everything had been going south for her since they’d broken up, it seemed he was also siding with the world against her. She’d been watching the Insta stories of her close friends and family, never flipping past anyone because they were all people she knew intimately. Then Chris’ played straight after, before she even had a chance to skip it. They hadn’t unfollowed or blocked each other yet on their socials, of course this was down to their persistent publicists who’d decided it was best to not give the press any leverage on their break up.

In true Chris fashion, he hadn’t uploaded in a while - he wasn’t even an avid Insta user, so her theory that he was doing this to taunt her made sense.

Home is where the heart is, he captioned a picture of him and the family that seemed to have been taken candidly. Everyone looked so happy. Had this been taken almost six weeks ago, she would have been in there nestled somewhere between him and Dodger.

She’d lingered too long on the picture, smiling back at the faces she’d known as her second family in the last year and a half since they’d met. Then the next one played, and she didn’t want to skip it. She didn’t care if he saw her on the viewers list, she had nothing to lose now anyway.

“Happy birthday ma,” his Bostonian accent boomed, the video showing Lisa sitting at the kitchen counter in a robe scrolling through her phone as he walked up to her.

“Christopher Robert Evans!” She whined, extending her hand towards the phone, trying to block him.

“Whooooaaa,” He laughed, that laugh that she loved so much, “Wow! C’mon, just say ‘hi’ birthday girl,”

“It’s too early for this Chris,” she looked away.

“Why are you up so early on your birthday?” he asked hugging her, then the video cut off after the 15 second allowance.

Y/N had played it over and over again, each time noticing something new; his beard had gotten longer and hair darker. He’d lost weight: he wasn’t as bulky as she remembered him in her arms. But he looked so happy, so it couldn’t have been a post-breakup weight loss. The other times she’d noticed the small details that only she or his friends and family would know; how his nephew had shot up in height, Lisa had painted the kitchen in ecru and rearranged the pantry.

She knew she had to speak to Lisa and wish her a happy birthday. They still talked even after the break up, Lisa was always confident that it was temporary and that he would come to his senses. Y/N doubted it; he’d said some pretty mean things, she’d said some pretty mean things too and she wasn’t sure how they were going to, if ever, recover from that. Even though her heart was going against the grain of her resolve, challenging everything she stood for: to not be taken for a fool by a man. But feelings are a funny thing, and she loved Chris. Despite how he’d taken her for a fool, she still wanted it to work and this to be all over.

But Lisa didn’t pick up Y/N’s call that afternoon. Not even the second one either, the over-thinker she was, Y/N drew to a conclusion that Lisa was too busy with her family now to talk to her. Nor did she even want to talk to the woman that had hurt his son. And that too hurt because he had hurt her.

But the truth was, she wanted Lisa to pick up so she could hear his voice in the background. Even if it was muffled, it was her favourite sound.

“Hi Lisa, it’s Y/N...I uhm, I didn’t want to leave a message of course but I know you’re super busy with the family around. I just wanted to say Happy Birthday! I hope you have an amazing day with everyone. I miss you, sorry I haven’t been in touch much this week, I’ve been super busy. But I hope we can catch up sometime, okay, bye. I love you,”

And just like that, Y/N had spent the whole day glued to her phone endlessly refreshing her Instagram and Twitter hoping for an update. She’d lost the privilege of knowing the intimate details of what he was up to, so if it meant grasping 15 second bursts on Instagram, then that was fine too. She was like one of them now – his followers, only getting the vague and general stuff, and not the direct messages or memes sent directly to her like she used to. That realisation hurt her especially because he hadn’t been posting anything, and the one time he resurfaces he’s with his family, flaunting his joy and life without her. She had posted a lot, (too much even) since the break up, and if she were to be honest, it was for his attention. She wanted him to see how good she’d been looking, the mini dresses, the short shorts, the haircut, the mysterious male hand in her food snaps and the melancholic love quotes. But he hadn’t watched any of the stories, much to her dismay. Scott had, and he would call to check in on her. But he wasn’t Chris!

“Lisa,” Y/N answered later that evening as she settled on the couch with a glass of wine after dinner, resigning from her social media stalking because if she knew Chris well, she knew he wasn’t going to post anymore intimate moments with his family. And if anything, it would be something to do with Dodger or repost something about NASA and the moon and stars.

“Happy birthday!”

“Y/N, sweetie, hi. Thank you so much, how’re you?”

“I’m good Lisa,”

“Sorry I missed your call, it’s chaos over here,” she laughed. “I haven’t had a chance to catch a break since morning,”

“I can imagine. Always keeping you on your toes,” Y/N chuckled softly. “How’s your day been?”

“It’s been busy and full – but so lovely. They sent me to get a massage this morning, then they all cooked lunch. We’re just coming in from dinner. I got your present, you are too kind and generous Y/N. Thank you so much, I really wasn’t expecting it,”

“Oh you’re welcome, I hope you enjoy it,”

Lisa paused, “I uhmm...was hoping you would show up. I really thought when they sent me to the spa that I’d come back home and you’d be there as a surprise. I kept waiting for that opportunity for you to pop up and surprise me,”

Now it was Y/N’s turn to pause. But nothing came out, shocked that Lisa was thinking of her at all on her special day when she was spending it with her family. Even worse, was the gut wrenching feeling in her stomach as Lisa’s words sunk in reminding her how easily she could have been there today, had she maybe just swallowed her pride and parted ways with her inhibiting principals?

“It’ll be okay Y/N. You and Chris, this is just a rough patch,” Lisa reiterated the same song she’d been singing the last few weeks but Y/N no longer believed it.

It’d been weeks. No changes or sign that he was even going to come back. He’d barely fought for the relationship then, so why would he now?

At this point, she was starting to realise that she needed to graduate from the grieving stage of denial and anger to bargaining, and with some time acceptance.

“I don’t know Lisa, I thought so too but, I don’t know,”

“This isn’t right, you two love each other,” Lisa said, almost to herself more than anything. “Why can’t you both see it?”

“Uhm, Lisa I have to go,” Y/N said quickly, awash with emotions that she didn’t think she’d confront today when she’d woken up in a good mood.

No matter how friendly she was with Lisa, this was his mom, so she couldn’t be too reckless and as honest as she wanted to be, but her son had really hurt her and it wasn’t fair that she was painting a picture that both of them were being stubborn. Y/N needed to save the rant for her mom who was used to the late night phone calls and tears. But she loved Lisa too much to lose her by weeping over and ranting about that annoyingly handsome son of hers.

“I’ve got company, sorry. Can I call you tomorrow?” Y/N lied.

“Of course, I better go too, they’re waiting on me to start the movie,” Lisa laughed, both women knowing that she could read through Y/N’s lie.

But Lisa had a way of working her coulda-been-daughter-in-law; she knew the right words to say and a way to speak to her to get her to open up. Tonight wasn’t the right time, especially with her culprit of her son in the room next door and the joyous occasion.

“Ma! Come. On!” Y/N could hear Carly yelling in the background.

“See what I mean?” Lisa laughed.

“I see,” Y/N laughed. “Goodnight Lisa, and don’t worry about Chris and I. Enjoy your birthday,”

“Goodnight honey, we’ll resolve that,” Lisa said. “I love you,”

“Kay, I love you too,”

Y/N chewed on her bottom lip, pensive, sad, wistful, her heart longing for the Evans’ family company, and attention from a certain Evans. If she was there, she and Chris would have snuck out halfway throughout the film and gone for a walk where they would share intimate goals and aspirations. Or they would go on a long drive and end up in a parking lot with mellow background music and heating on in his car, eating McDonald’s off their laps and stealing each other’s fries and dips. Chris would teach her about the constellation. They would make a new playlist together and drive back, sneak back into the house sometime around 2AM and make a messy freakshake that they would have found on Pinterest. They’d stay up in the lounge, whispering quietly with Family Guy in the background and melt into each other as they made out. They’d ultimately end up in his childhood bedroom, squeezing in on his bed. It was a good excuse to cuddle all night long. Chris would wake up with a dead arm but the pillow talk made it worth it.

By the time she’d drowned her third glass of the red wine, her memories and visions of him got blurred and not so pleasant. The vision of the last time she saw him, the day that they broke up kept haunting her but in parts, so she decided to call it a night and waddled up to her bedroom and threw herself on the bed, falling asleep straight away. She didn’t hear her phone ringing and vibrating downstairs.

Baaaaby

Missed Call (2)

And then pinging with message alerts.

Baaaaby: hey Y/N, it’s Chris

Baaaaby: hope you’re ok?

Baaaaby: Call me when you can

Baaaaby: Please*

[jiminieloved]

Ultimate Jikook Timeline PT 42

HYYH1 Era Pt 11:

1. August 25, 2015:

a) BTS Gayo Track 2

Light skinship

b) Asta Magazine Behind the Scenes

2. August 26, 2015:

2015 BTS LIVE 화양연화 on Stage’ DVD

3:00-3:08 JM appears in the background while JK is talking and then jumps in front of camera.

5:49 JM is talking about the scene while slightly holding JKs forearm and JK is boxing

7:52-7:57 JK climbing stairs behind JM

17:29 iconic Jikook moment. JM jumps on backs of hyungs JK jumps behind JM grabbing his waist

22:04 JK looking at JM singing tadpole song

23:46-23:58 JK talking about how the night is cold with JM

26:00 JK is asleep in van sitting next to JM

26:27-27:23 JK and JH talking about video location and JM joins them

27:53-28:02 iconic Jikook moment. They are lying in the bed of a truck Jk on JM arm JM rolls to hug JK

31:46 -32:03 JM watches as JK starts to shoot his part in the video

32:33 JK stands next to JM with arms outstretched

32:46-32:53 iconic Jikook moment: JK starts to put his arm around JM then hesitated and pulls back, JM then stands very close to JK

35:08-35:10 Jikook is in bed of truck putting on shoes

36:30 JM is acting like a pirate in the bed of the truck with JK beside him

jikookerie

38:06 JM is talking with Jin Then JK walks up right behind JM unnecessarily close

39:49-40:07 Jikook are in bed of truck. JK is talking JM is in background taking selfies. Then JM turns camera on JK

52:41-53:25 standing next to each other taking group pictures

53:08 JK massaging JM back/shoulder, JM is holding JKs forearm

Note: I don’t have the exact date for this, but it was around this time

3. August 28, 2015:

Incheon Airport departure to Hong Kong

4. August 29, 2015: 

The Red Bullet Concert in Hong Kong

Jimin cutely translates what JK and Namjoon say

Fansites:

Fancam:

00:30 very intense moment and afterwards they seem to be glancing at each other throughout the performance

5. September 1, 2015: 

Jungkook’s Birthday

a.) Jungkook’s Birthday Vlive

JM’s mind seems to be on kissing JK for this entire vlive. Sits on his lap. When asked what he will give JK for his birthday, JM responds “Kisses!” and the other members try to drown out/redirect what he said. Very weird.

b.) Jimin Twitter Videos

Jimin Video 1 

Caption: Jungkook ah Happy Birthday #KookieHappyBday

Trans: JM: Jungkook ah happy birthday JK: Thank you

Jimin Video 2

Caption: Jungkook ah what do you want to eat #JIMIN #KookieHappyBday

Trans: Jimin: Jungkook ah what do you want to eat for your birthday?

Jungkook: duck meat

Jimin: manager hyung you heard that right

Jimin Video 3

Caption: Jungkook ah what do you want to do #KookieHappyBday

Trans: Jimin: Jungkook ah what do you want to do for your birthday

Jungkook: want to play games

Jimin: games

Jimin Video 4:

Caption:  Jungkook ah what do you want to get #KookieHappyBday [JIMIN]

Trans:Jimin: Jungkook ah what do you want to get

Jungkook: plain T-shirts plain T-shirts

Jimin: how many of it?

Jungkook: 50

Jimin: you wanna die?!

Jimin Video 5:

Caption: Jungkook ah PPOPPO* ( *T/N : Kiss) #JIMIN #HappyBdayKookie #End 

Trans: Jimin : Jungkook ah Jungkook ah PPOPPO* (* T/N : Kiss)

Jimin Video 6:

Wish fulfilled

#JIMIN

#KookieHappyBday [JIMIN]

Trans: Jimin: Eat lots today, Jeon Jungkookie

6. September 4, 2015:

Incheon Airport departure to China

7. September 9, 2015:

Gayo Track 3

1:35 JK starts itching himself and JM hits him while laughing (I don’t get it...)

8. September 10, 2015: 

Incheon Airport departure to Indonesia

9. September 11, 2015: 

Fanmeeting in Jakarta

10. September 12, 2015: 

RM’s Birthday, Vlive

00:37 JK keeps his hand on JM’s back, again at 1:06, 1:20 they both are looking into the viewfinder, 1:30 JK stands uncomfortably close behind JM 

11. September 13, 2015: 

a) BTS At Press Conference Show Champion Special

b) Bighit Twitter Post

c) Show Champion Special Backstage

JK follows Jimin and calls him at 0:20

d) Show Champion Backstage

Jimin gushing over JK’s abs throughout most part of the video

12. September 15, 2015:

Star1 Magazine

13. September 21, 2015:

Incheon Airport departure to the US

14. September 22, 2015:

BTS Gayo Track 4

5:22 JM singing cute song, JK staring really intensely at him, after JM stops singing he looks intensely back, JK breaks eye contact

15. September 27, 2015:

Tae Fancafe post

16. September 28, 2015: 

Jimin Twitter Post

Caption: We appeared on ISAC who’s watching it #JIMIN

17. September 29, 2015:

BTS at Pearson Airport in Toronto

Information compiled by Shan and @lagalaxiedemochi

previous...next

[cateringisalie]

Hi! I am a reader of yours, and I was just curious about how you felt about the FF7R ending? It seems everyone is pretty divided on it (I personally didn't like it) How do you think it could effect the future story?

SPOILERS (obviously)

Not wild about the ending either!

I mean, my number one biggest fear of the Remake would that it would somehow resurrect Zack. I just didn’t expect it so soon or via the apparent reality merging/timeline mangling we got. So that was fun for me! …I did at least know that a whole week early because I was certain I wouldn’t like the game whatsoever. That notion has been proven wrong - I deeply, deeply enjoyed some parts of the Remake, but alas, the ending puts a downer on everything:

Zack being effectively the most important character in universe is outright nightmarish as a concept and I dearly hope that’s not how it’s going to turn out (but the visuals are somewhat difficult to interpret otherwise). (I have issues with Zack) Sephiroth being simply portentous and vague isn’t great either. I know we had no idea of his plan at this stage of the OG but that was right as the game opened up, not as it came to a close.

(and I am hanging onto the increasing likelihood that the Remake has to be an alternate universe entirely and every change stems from that situation)

For now, I see three possibilities - in increasing order of likeliness for the future:

1) the game reverts back to the OG plot and carries on in a familiar fashion. I would be very surprised after bringing in the Whispers, alternate futures, Aerith’s fore-knowledge and critically - as above - the apparent resurrection of Zack. The focus on some inhabitants of Midgar, the confirmation of Biggs’ survival and the hint at Jessie’s in the ending are clearly marking we’re in for some changes (also that final caption of an unknown journey).

2) Part 2 remains in proximity to Midgar and throws a number of alternate reality bubbles into proceedings. Somewhat like how Final Fantasy XIII-2 worked. Venture into different timelines and learn things, find out what does/doesn’t work. See ALL ships executed in some fashion. I’ve been calling the Remake a stealth XIII Remake for a while, so this would fit given the new found focus on destiny and altering time (also potential and clunky retcon at the start if necessary). Allows gratuitous assest recycling (Midgar took them a long time - are they going to ditch the whole thing so easily?), might help make sense of the ending, allow the player to explore the what-if scenarios and AUs the writers are curious about

3) the OG plot is torn up and reassembled like so much paper mache. You can see the bits and pieces of the original but its mushed up and reformed into something decidedly other. It should probably be painted over. This one gives the writers the most latitude in advancing the story. Whole locations can be dropped, shuffled, relocated and rearranged along with relavant characters.

Yuffie is going to be fairly important given the amount of time devoted to inciting war with Wutai (for reasons) - and that’s going to tug on Don Corneo’s plot. Cid too is likely to turn up sooner rather than later given the nudges at the Shinra space program. And hey, we already had Cait Sith’s first appearance (for… some reason) in addition to Reeve. Expect a stronger focus on Rufus and the various Shinra executives given the more explicit assuming command scenes and the amount of trouble taken over their introductions for ultimately so brief appearances.

As with option 2, I suspect we might not be as done with Midgar as people might like. The place is very detailed, very expensive, and it would seem to be a shame to just ditch it now. There’s the option of a far later return - but unlike the OG this is being done in real-time as the project runs and leaving the assets alone runs the risk of even more work done to them when the inevitable switch to the PS5/the need to support a PS5 version occurs.

Plot-wise I would also expect the ending has left the cast in yet another parallel time-stream or a merged time-stream; Zack is upright, there are seemingly two Clouds - and if that vision was of the appropriate moment - the implication Midgar has changed significantly and said changes occurred before the Remake start. So, there might even be two Aerith’s as a result (two of everyone?). Or its just going to dovetail Zack and Cloud into the Remake universe - they’ve crossed over from a “happier” timeline and will now impact Remake’s future. Biggs, Marlene and Marle certainly have roles to play. Jessie might be alive - and Wedge’s death is far less certain than it seemed. And again, timeline messing but with the plot taking direction purely within the diverged time-stream.

Expect the Deepground lab to play into something as well - otherwise that’s a really blatant bit of game padding.

[shawnpetermuffins]

Misery Business (decode 2)

A/n: and the much requested part 2. Part 1 is in my masterlist under my song based fics. This will be the final part.

Summary: Shawn's finally starting to realize what this relationship has done to him.

Warnings: angst, swearing, the usual

Word count: 2.2k

***

I should be happy. My career has never been better, my singles are doing pretty great on the charts, I'm in the top 5 most listened to artists on spotify, and I'm getting loads of publicity hanging with Camila. And don't get me wrong, she's beautiful, hourglass figure that every guy wants, I guess. There's just something wrong and it's this, she's not y/n. I thought our relationship would withstand anything my career threw at us, I really did. But I should have known that she wasn't okay with this. I knew that there was always some kind of underlying territorial battle between her and the girl that's currently holding my arm while we walk down the street, but I ignored it for the sake of a few extra views on a music video, for a few extra streams.

This publicity thing has taken y/n away from me and no one seems to notice, or care, because the songs are doing so good. Since she walked away that night no one has talked about it. No one asked what was the final straw, it was just never brought up. And all that's going around Twitter and Instagram are these God awful, staged photos of me and Camila acting like we're so in love when in reality I am heartbroken and on the verge of a nervous breakdown in most of them. 

"They're looking," she says into my arm. "Kiss me now." She's been telling me to do that a lot more often recently and I'm starting to feel just how wrong it is for us to be doing this. She knows about the breakup, but it seems like she couldn't care less. She parades me around town and follows me on tour, adding a little too much tension between me, Brian and Connor who have barely spoken to me since y/n left. It's clear that they weren't on my side in this situation, but that didn't matter to Camila. She was eating the attention up. She loved knowing that people were talking and that they were talking about her, it apparently didn't matter in what context. 

"Andrew," I grab my manager's attention one night before he goes into his hotel room.

"Yeah, bud?"

I clear my throat, glancing over my shoulder to make sure no one was still out wandering the hall, listening. I lower my voice anyway, "How much longer do Camila and I have to keep up this PR game? The fans are starting to notice it's fake."

"We have to keep it up at least until the stadium show."

"What? What happened to it ending after the VMAs?" 

He shrugs, "Sorry. We need to sell more."

"The stadium's already sold out, what do you mean we need to sell more?!"

"Shawn, you said you were okay with this. What's going on?"

I lost the best thing that's ever happened to me because of this stupid game. That's what's going on. But I just sigh, "Nothing. Nothing, guess I'm just worried. I don't want the fans to lose interest. I can't keep ignoring the question."

"Well you can't talk about it. We're under contract. Now it'll be over before you know it. So for now, just enjoy it. Enjoy the publicity. You need it. Gets people excited for new music."

You know what else gets people excited for new music? Promotion.

---

I'm scrolling through Instagram, seeing all the photos fan accounts are posting of me and Camila, becoming more and more emotionally drained with each passing second. But then I see something that catches my eye. It's a photo of me and y/n, one of the only photos she allowed me to post of us. Except it's split right down the middle. I hurriedly look at the caption.

Fanaccount Is no one going to talk about the fact that we don't know how, why, or WHEN y/n and Shawn broke up??? Did we all just forget that they were together for 2 years?? What happened to our girl? 

Then I start reading the comments, which I shouldn't do, but I can't stop myself.

Fanaccount2 Idk if it's true but someone said she was still on tour with him up until like 2 weeks ago…

Fanaccount2 Do y'all think Camila had something to do with it?

She had everything to do with it.

fanaccount3 Who cares? He's with Camila and she's better.

Fucking liar. 

fanaccount4 I know we don't know what happened, but if it's because of C that's fucked up. Y/n deserves better. Shitty PR to sell a song that's already been at #1 for weeks?? If he lost her to this I feel bad for him. 

     Fanaccount5 But what about her? She had to watch all this go down? It was a really dick move for him to even think it was okay to do this.

   fanaccount6 Okay but look how happy he is with Camila. He clearly doesn't feel bad, so why do you???

Fanaccount4 THEY WERE TOGETHER FOR 2 YEARS! and now he's sucking face with his "best friend" come on. That's shitty and you know it.

I don't even realize that I'm crying until I can hardly catch my breath. I'm panicking. I haven't had to deal with a panic attack alone since y/n came around, but this is the third one I've talked myself out of since she left, and I've had to go back on my medication. I never realized that she was the main thing helping me through.

My phone buzzes with a notification - a message from Andrew. 

It's a screenshot of my spotify account and it reads: #2 baby!!

I want to hurl - my phone or the contents of my stomach, I'm not sure. Maybe both. But I guess, we've got the fans where we want them. 

But like we always do, in true Hollywood bragging, we post the screenshot to our Instagram stories. And Andrew to his feed and twitter. It's all working so well. They're buying it - the relationship, the song, everything. But when I look at my follower count and see I'm down at least 100,000… maybe not everyone is buying it.

---

We're in her hometown and every part of me wants to go see her, wants to make sure she's okay. Because I have the day off and it would be so easy to just drive out to her and make things right. But Camila won't leave my side and I'm going insane.

"Shawn, pay attention to me!"

And I snap. "What do you think I've been doing these past two months, Camila?! I've been paying attention! Jesus, fuck, give me just two minutes of alone time."

"Whoa! What's up your ass?" She crosses her arms over her chest.

"You!" I scoff, throwing my hands up.

"You've been moody all week. Do you want to talk?"

"Not to you," I mumble, but she hears me.

"You're serious? This is about y/n? It's been a month, Shawn. It's time to move on."

"Move on? How am I supposed to move on when she was the literal best thing to happen to me? When I lost her because of this stupid PR move that is in no way helping me anymore, Miss number two!"

"Now I don't deserve to be number two? Really?"

I don't say anything else, I just take my phone and wallet from the coffee table and leave without another word. I don't know where I'm going until I'm there at her doorstep, breathing heavily and running my clammy hands through my already ruffled hair. Before I can talk myself out of it, I knock on the door and wait, my hands in my pocket.

"Can you get that?" I hear her say to someone inside, but I'm not expecting it to be my own best friend.

"Brian?" I say, confused.

"What are you-?"

"Bri, did you? Shawn?"

"Connor?"

"Guys, who's at the…" she stops cold in her tracks when she sees me.

"Y/n," I sigh. I can't read her face. She could be any number of things, but shocked is probably the most accurate.

"Babes, can y'all give us a second?" Her arms cross defensively over her chest while the guys retreat to the kitchen. When she walks further into the living room, I let myself in, closing the door behind me. "What the hell are you doing here, Shawn?" 

"I miss you," I say desperately. "I - I know I fucked up. Severely fucked up. I put my career ahead of you and I said I'd never do that. The numbers became more important and it shouldn't have been that way. I'm so sorry. Just… please give me a second chance. Let me prove to you that you're first. Always."

"A second chance isn't going to do anything for you, Shawn."

"How do you-?"

"Because you're still pretending with her! If you're even pretending at this point! I can't be with you like this because if the numbers were all that mattered two months ago, who's to say they're still not going to matter three years from now? Your entire career revolves around them and I'm not going to be your number two. That isn't what I signed myself up for. Not to mention my Twitter mentions right now are your fans calling me a whore for standing in the way of 'Shawmila's true love!'"

I flinch, "I'll fix it."

"You can't!" She screams and I see the guys slowly make their way into the room. "Jesus, don't you get it? It doesn't matter what you think you can fix because I can't forgive you! I'm done. I'm over it. I don't want this!" She gestures between our bodies. "You don't want me, you want the familiarity. Well, why don't you teach her how to calm down your anxiety attacks. And tell her how you like your eggs in the morning, and how you'll only get out of bed after at least ten minutes of silent cuddling.

"And you go around town acting so fucking innocent, which no one believes, by the way. Teach her how to be your girlfriend, and how to do it right because clearly I wasn't doing it right," her voice cracks at the last part of her sentence and it breaks me in half. When the first year falls, I want nothing more than to take her in my arms, but I hold back, knowing damn well she doesn't want me near her.

"Y/n, it's not the same without you. The concerts aren't as fun, the days between drag on forever. I thought that being seen out would make the numbers rise, and yeah it has, but I'm losing more than im getting."

"That's not my fault. You did that." She wraps her arms around her, holding herself together. Just like I've always known her to. I notice that the tears aren't falling anymore either. She stopped then just as quickly as they started. 

"This isn't how I thought we would turn out."

She bites the inside of her cheek, her clear sign that she's distraught.  "You know, it's funny. It took me so long to realize that I was watching your dreams come true. Selling out arenas and winning awards and putting out awesome music. I watched all of those dreams come true. Not once did you say I was a reason for it. You always avoided the questions about if the songs were about me. I was - I was never part of your dream, Shawn. And I put mine on hold to watch you live yours. It's my turn," she looks at me with some type of fire in her eyes. "Its time for me to go for my dreams and watch them come true. I thought it was you. You were my dream for so long, but that's just not it anymore."

I suck in a shuddery breath, "no. Y/n, baby. Please."

"You need to go."

"Y/n," I reach out for her but I'm stopped quickly by my best friend.

"She told you to go, Shawn."

"I'm not leaving until we fix this."

"Just let it go, man. She doesn't want you anymore." Connor says from his same spot, only this time with y/n in his arms, her head buried deep in his chest. Seeing her in the arms of another makes me crazy and I lunge for him, but Brian pushes me back again. 

"You need to go. I'm not saying it again," he's practically dragging me out the house.

I point an angry finger at Connor, "You're fired."

"That's fine," he says. "Good luck with the rest of the tour." He shoots me a glare and then his attention is back to my sad ex-girlfriend. And I'm out the door before I realize it.

"What am I supposed to do?" I ask aloud because I feel Brian standing behind me, making sure I don't get any ideas to go back inside.

"Sounds to me like you need to reevaluate your priorities. You chose this career, and up until recently you were able to balance love and music. Find that again. Now go back to the hotel. I'll see you for soundcheck tomorrow." The door closes once again. But this time it's closing on everything that was and everything that could've been. I know I'm not getting her back. I chose the music business,  but now it's the misery business and there's no way to get out of it.

***

Tags: @curlyshawny @anamariel2301 @shawns-badreputation @bbellbagel @turtoix @ivegotparticulartaste @tomshufflepuff @dino-16-avocado @sleepybesson @lifeoftheparty74 @shawnssongs @luvluvxx

I hope you enjoyed it. I'm sorry for the angst. Like, reblog, and leave feedback!! 💙💙

[captainillogical]

Devil’s Ballroom ch.1

A year after the events from the earth’s final attack, Little Homeworld is finally complete, and there’s a new jazz bar where gems and humans mingle and drink. - As you’re typing back a reply, someone pulls the stool out next to you and takes a seat. You see a sliver of pink out of the corner of your eye as you try not to actually Look. Oh god. It’s her. God can’t help us now.

Spinel/Reader

collab with my lovely wife @firstofficertightpants

Beach City was a small, lovely town, where pretty much everyone knew each other from the inner city to the boardwalk. You've lived your whole life there, and you loved it. It was home. It was also a really strange town, and you're pretty sure the world almost ended like six times in the last 4 years. Although honestly, you never had to worry about that much, since Beach City was also home to the Crystal Gems, and that Steven Universe who just always managed to save the day. So you’re told. Steven was a fun kid, and grew to be one of your good friends (he’s so insistent on being everyone’s friend. It’s very charming and you love him for it), but you’ve mostly spent your time at work this summer.

One of the easiest jobs to get is Funland, since that always tired Mr. Smiley is chewing through people constantly as the pay is shit, the hours are long, and it’s so hot. Like Mr. Smiley says, "Funland is funderstaffed". You feel like he says that to mock you a bit, since there’s just the two of you here. You really only cared to work there on your off season to help dad out with bills, and to see your best friends. Except THIS summer you guess, since all (2) of your best friends had to go out of town for summer either because of family get togethers or romantic getaways. Those bitches. And you were finally of drinking age this summer. You weren't about to let that get you down, or ruin any plans you’ve made yourself in the next upcoming weeks though.

You’re on the last forty minutes of your shift doing the work of four people. Emptying tills around the food court, cleaning tables, emptying trash cans, and jesus christ this task list seems longer today. It feels ever so fucking slow. And warm. You’re melting, you feel disgusting, and you just want a shower. Thank god it’s payday and you have the next two days off, because you seriously wanted to go out and unwind. See, there’s this newly renovated piano bar you’ve wanted to go to for weeks here locally in town, and you had planned on going with your friends.. but. You know what? Screw waiting on them. You’re going tonight. And besides, who knows! Maybe you’ll meet some new people and make a friend, or show your best friends that you can finally get a girlfriend!! Haha.. or at least get drunk enough to ignore the growing loneliness you’ve been feeling as of late, and desperately trying to ignore.

Funland never truly got busy, so you quickly closed the food court that had been dead for hours down. The last 15 or so minutes you spent sitting at the ring toss booth, and very thankful for the protection from the beating sun on your face. 

"YOOOOO (Y/N)!!!" You hear a familiar voice shout from your left. You put down your phone (obviously looking at memes) and lean over the counter just in time to see Amethyst, accompanied by Steven, jogging over to your booth. 

"Oh, thank god. Finally some human interaction." You responded to the purple gem as they reached your booth. Steven smacked down some tickets for the game and grinned.

"Just spending some time away from the temple". He says, and you nodded as you handed him two stacks of rings. He joyfully pulled them towards himself as Amethyst snickered. 

"He means to say his A/C broke, and Pearl got tired of hearing him groan about it so she kicked us out." The short gem elbowed Steven playfully. 

“Us? Why’d she kick you out too?” You say, giving Amethyst a pointed look. “That’s because Amethyst brought up like 7 of the junk fridges from her room to try to create some sort of.. open fridge cold air whirlwind right in the middle of the living room. It didn’t work as intended at all, though. I’m pretty sure those fridges were really old, or something, because 3 of them caught on fire and now we have scorch marks all over the floor. Anyway, Pearl was pretty mad about it. Sooooo, now we’re here!” Steven says while laughing, and attempting to toss the rings onto the obviously not rigged bottles. 

"So anyway," Amethyst turns to you and leans her elbow on the counter. "Any big plans for tonight?" She steals half the stack of rings from Steven and starts chucking them in the most violent way possible without actually breaking anything. She somehow gets 3 perfect.

 “Ughhh, yeah actually. I sort of convinced myself I’d go out and drink tonight.” You say with a tired grin. “I’ve been kinda daydreaming about not being here all day, and I’ve been wanting to try that one place.. the uh.. piano bar. That new one.”

“Isn’t that the place Bismuth helped fix up, and now bartends at?” Steven says to Amethyst. “She said this place was 1930’s themed with a stage, a spotlight, a piano and everything! It sounds like fun and I want to go.. a lot of the gems from Little Homeworld hang out there. Bis says I’m too young.” “Yeah,” You say, “You’re what, 17? You’re still just a baby, dude. If you want, I can try convincing Bismuth to let you in sometime just to sing.” You say to him and wink. Amethyst bursts out laughing. “You can try!! Bis won’t even let Peridot in!” She laughs. “She says her maturity ain’t the right fit. Whatever that means. She lets Lapis work there sometimes though when she wants, and Peri is still mad about it.”     You watch Steven miss every single shot. How can this kid be the person who saved the planet? His aim is terrible. Amethyst also misses the rest of her shots. 

“Have you guys actually ever won anything here?” You say out loud. “Only when Amethyst cheats.” Steven says. “And anyway, I really want some food. Amethyst. Pizza?”

“Duuuuuuuude. I could eat at least 10 pizzas right now. PLEASE.” She slaps her hand down on your booth. “Y/N. Go out tonight. Have some fun for the both of us, because it’s my turn to clean the kitchen, and if I skip out again Pearl WILL make me do my own laundry.”

“Wooooow, jeez, it must be so terrible to be self-sustaining and clean your own shit,” You’re smiling while chiding her, “and yeah, I will. Maybe next time come with me?” “And leave me all alone!?” Steven whines while starting to walking away. “Go hang out with Connie, you turd. At least you HAVE a girlfriend!” You reply. “You’ll find one eventually Y/N!! Maybe tonight!!” He yells back while waving before they both disappear from your field of vision.

“I really fucking doubt that.” You say to yourself, alone.

You busy yourself cleaning up, and walk over to the main building to clock out. You check your phone, and it looks like the group chat pinged. It’s Harper. FINALLY. Harper has been MIA for the last week. Well, not missing, per se, but she’s been on a roadtrip with her girlfriend of 6 months and didn’t invite you..or your other best friend, Alex. And yeah, you would’ve had to decline because your dad needs you to pick up some slack while he’s out on business, but.. STILL. Shit kinda hurts. But it seems like she finally got service and remembered you guys exist. It’s actually just a selfie with her and her girlfriend with a mountain in the background. She captioned it “I wanted to dive right into mt st helens but she wouldn’t let me get close enough.” You grin and decide to reply with, “Maybe next time Leah won’t let you pussy out”. Honestly, you really didn't mind being the 'single' friend most of the time, but sometimes you wished you could finally meet someone. Then you could also be sending cute couple pictures to your idiot friends, and finally feel like maybe you’re worth someone’s time.

Alex just responds to the chat with 14 flame emojis in succession. Before you can send any knife emojis back, your phone lights up with a call from your father. You answer on the second ring.

“Hey dad. What’s up?” “HEY KIDDO!!” Jesus. Your dad is enthusiastic and as loud as ever. “HOW ARE YOU TODAY, my sweet, dear offspring?”

“I’m chill. Getting off work. You?” You smile to yourself while grabbing the rest of your things to leave for home.

“Just got out of like, my fifth meeting today. It’s awful. I think they’re trying to kill me over here? I’m pretty sure they only paid for the plane ticket because they’re going to reap my organs after they LITERALLY bore me to death. I’m 100% sure my presence isn’t even needed for any of this.” He rants into the phone.

“Dad. You’re the lead project planner. You have to be there. It’s like.. your entire job.” You laugh into the phone. “I thought my entire job was so sit there and look pretty?” “Really? You think they’d choose you for that when they have Brian? Dad, come on. You know how beautiful he is.” You hear your dad sigh wistfully. “Yeah, that gorgeous bastard. Anyway. I’m real sorry in advance, but they’re extending my stay for another couple of days, and instead of being back tomorrow, I’ll be back next thursday.” He says, sounding apologetic.

“Oh, okay. That sucks.” You try not to sound disappointed. “Kiddo I’m sorry! If I could come home tonight I would get on that plane in a heartbeat. I hate this as much as you do.”

“I know. And it’s alright. I’m going out tonight anyway, and I’ll hold down the fort until next week yeah?” “You know you’re my favorite kid, right?” He says. “Dad, I’m your only kid.” You scoff into the phone. “That YOU know of! Love you!” and he hangs up. You roll your eyes, stuff your phone into your pocket, and head out.

Your house wasn't very far from Funland, meaning you could walk home alone safely even at night. Not that Beach City was ever an unsafe town.. if you conveniently happen to forget the aliens trying to destroy the town several times. 

Within minutes you were unlocking your front door, toeing off your work shoes, and heading up into your room. You drop all your shit onto the floor, and flop on your bed. You wonder to yourself, should you be putting more effort into your appearance tonight? Steven did say it was 1930’s themed.. you don’t have very many dressy clothes. You feel like the only color you look good in is black, so you get up and open up your closet. Flowery dress.. God no. Overalls? Noooooo. You swipe through too many sweaters, honestly. There’s a couple decent things in here to put an okay outfit together, or.. wait. Ha! There. That cute black dress you wore 2 years ago for your aunt’s funeral. It’s the best you’ve got, you admit to yourself. And you even still have those black flats! Look, like basically zero effort involved.

You head to the bathroom with your things for tonight and take a shower. It feels nice to scrub off the layer of sweat and grime that come specifically from working at Funland. Oh and, not having to smell like carpet deodorizer and stale caramel popcorn is always a plus. Once out of the shower, you dry off and get into your clothes. You style your hair in your favorite way, and just put on a small bit of makeup. You know, small efforts help to feel less like a paper bag. You look nice for once, you admit to yourself. 

You head downstairs, stuffing your phone and wallet into a small shoulder purse. Grabbing your keys, you put your shoes on, say goodbye to your cat, and walk out the door, making sure to lock it behind you. With your keys safely stored in your bag, you headed into town. The bar was roughly ten to fifteen minutes away, so you decided to hoof it. No need to waste money on a taxi when you had two perfectly toned legs, ya’ll.

[angrylizardjacket]

and everything that goes with it; i thank you all

A/N: So........ ash v. social media v. borhap cast i guess??? no-one asked for this, but i love them.

[aydtd]

It definitely starts as a joke.

“Hey, Ma Rocket?” Joe’s filming on his phone during a costume trial. With her arms crossed, Ash is partially hidden by Rami who’s spinning, the frills of his shirt fanning out around him. She’s frowning, thoughtful and pensive, but when Joe calls, she turns to him, eyebrows raised and expectant.

“Aye?” She’s not smiling, mind obviously still pondering over the fit of Rami’s costume, but it’s a clear enough acknowledgement that Joe’s response is clearly spoken through a smile.

“You responded; you’re the on-set mom now.” He declares. Ben laughs from somewhere off camera. “No takebacks.” Joe follows it up with, but Ash is already wearing a longsuffering look of resignation. The video cuts off before she can flip him off, but her movements are too deliberate to be misconstrued as anything else. The video is released almost a full year later, once the NDA has been lifted on the movie and Behind the Scenes pictures and videos start flooding out, but at that point the joke had moved beyond being just that.

Ash is not hard won; kindness and respect win her loyalty easily, it’s just that those traits are sometimes hard to come by in this industry, and she’s often dismissed because of her age, especially by younger performers. Bohemian Rhapsody is different, of course in part because they all know who she is by virtue of who they’re playing,

Joe’s not her favourite, not officially, and neither is Ben, much to his quiet disappointment; officially her favourite is Karen, and everyone else is tied second, but each of them holds a very special place in her heart and soon that begins to bleed into her social media, as well as some of theirs. Ash gets Instagram at Joe’s behest, only a month before the world premiere of Bohemian Rhapsody. It’s not as if she’s lived her life in obscurity, but come the turn of the millennium, her time at the edge of the spotlight had mostly come to an end, and she had been able to continue her work behind the curtain of pop culture for almost twenty years. This was all new, and unexpected, but she tried to take it in stride.

So she follows the cast, of course, follows Roger and Brian and the Official Queen page, as well as any of her friends or former clients she can find, and much to their horror, her children. Okay so her son isn’t horrified since he’s a public figure and he doesn’t use it for personal photos, but both her daughters have posted pictures of themselves in bikinis, and they thought they’d be safe since Roger followed them after the photos were posted, and at least he never went back and liked any of their old photos. Ash likes every single photoeach of her children has even posted, and all three are a little horrified.

That’s a cute one of us at Bonfire Night!! Is one of the many comments she leaves across the entire timeline of Astrid’s Instagram history, this particular one being from a 2014 photo, and so Astrid herself posts a screenshot of her mother blowing up her notification on her story.

@joemazzello what have you done

Joe subsequently posts a screenshot of a set of DMs between himself and Astrid on his own story.

Yesterday @ 3:47am

@astro_winnie: then tell him to change his oil

@astro_winnie: what a heathen

Today @ 1:21pm

@astro_winnie has mentioned you in her story

@joemazzello: What exactly are you accusing me of here?

@astro_winnie: mum didn’t have an Instagram yesterday 🤔🤔

@astro_winnie: I don’t know how but this is your fault

@joemazzello: she’s just having fun 😂😂

@astro_winnie: SHE LIKED MY BIKINI PIC FROM 2 YEARS AGO IM DYINg

The whole conversation is captioned ’Well anyways, go follow Ma Rocket @rockettaylor49’. The following picture on his story, posted ten minutes later, is a clarification that he isn’t actually Ash’s son, that it’s just a nickname. Even so, Ash’s actual son gets a photo with him at the premiere and caption it ‘brother from another mother (probably) @joemazzello’ and it goes viral on both Tumblr and Twitter.

Ash’s first official post is a picture of herself and Freddie, a Polaroid of the two of them aged beyond belief, taken in 1969. It’s the only photo she had when she was still in uni, and even she seems surprised to see it. Roger finds her staring at it, expression blank as she looks at where they keep it, pride of place, over the mantle. Without even asking, he understands, and he presses a kiss to her temple.

’@rockettaylor49: My favourite client helped me with this caption, he said I should remind you all that you can have more than one love of your life, and that that love isn’t necessarily romantic. To me, Freddie was family from the moment I met him, and I love and miss him every day. Freddie & Me. 1969.’

The post is flooded with love and support and more heart emojis than you can shake a stick at, and it’s not long before she’s amassed a large following. The only outlier in the initial comments comes from her second daughter, Cate.

@cate.astrophy: @rogertaylorofficial got upgraded to favourite client. nice.

The entire rest of the family, as well as a few random unknowns, like the comment.

Ash’s aesthetic is surprisingly clean; old photos from back in the day, old initial costume designs in sketchbooks, the paper gold with age and colours faded, but still with her initial notes scribbled neatly around the edges. The only modern things she posts are photos of shopping bags filled with fabric she’s just purchased, and photos of her friends and family.

There’s only one selfie on her page. Its Ash, poorly framed if only to keep Joe in focus behind her where he’s leaning against the door to a trailer and double over with laughter, with Ben glaring through the window at both of them.

’@rockettaylor49: Trixie gave me a selfie stick and Ben tried to confiscate it when he heard me say 'selfie’ so he was locked out. Usually I was with Roger on the other side of the door back when Deaky was locking us out of places… What a terrible influence he was!! But anyways here you all go, my first selfie. Me & Trixie featuring My Disrespectful Boy, Ben. 2018.’

The way the cast call her ‘Ma’ definitely started out as a joke, mostly between Joe, Ben, and Ash, but it slowly spreads to the others.

“Where’s The Golden Boy?” Ash calls on set, holding a cap for Rami, who was warming up. It’s rather endearing, the way he jogs to her wearing a smile.

“Here, Ma, what do you need from me?” 

“Hat.” Is all she says, presenting it to him. They’ve always had a soft spot for each other, having worked together on Night At the Museum and it’s sequels for several years. He was one of the last to pick up the habit of calling her ‘ma’, after spending so long calling her Rocket, but he’s grown into it, they all have. Even some of the crew have taken to using the nickname, or some variation.

And maybe she leans into it, leans into her age and her wisdom, and they know they’re sort of telling her story too, but there’s a disconnect when they look at her, at her greying hair and the deep laugh lines around her mouth, and they forget who exactly she is. Though sometimes, rarely, they’re given sharp reminders.

There’s a video on Gwil’s phone that he later puts on Instagram once he has her permission, and the NDA has come to an end, of Ash on the set of Live Aid. She’s sitting on the edge of the stage, legs hanging over the edge, and Roger’s in front of her, at the perfect height to rest his chin on her knees. 

“Do you think you can still do that impression of yours?” Roger’s voice is barely audible, but he’s grinning, and Ash cards a hand through his short, white hair.

“Which- oh, the Freddie- oh Christ,” she laughs, “this’d be the place for it, aye?” And she starts clearing her throat, about the time that Roger spots Gwil and his curious camera.

“Sorry, was just trying to catch a video of the empty stadium,” Gwil’s voice can be heard, and Roger laughs, which causes Ash to turn. Seeing Gwil, she smiles, and nods at the camera.

“You’re gonna wanna get a video of this,” Roger grins, nudging Ash’s knee, and she turns an amusing shade of pink, struggling to her feet. Gwil rushes forward to help her up, but Ash brushes him off.

“I used to do this with Freds to help him warm up, and whenever I was side of stage,” she says, a strangely fond smile on her face as she reminisces, “I’m no singer, never have been, this is probably as close as I’ll get,” she warned, looking straight at the camera.

Taking a deep breath, she clears her throat, and belts out ‘ay-oh’. As if being summoned by a siren, everyone who can hear her, responds in kind. Smiling, pleased, she continues with the bit, as does everyone else, slowly gathering around her. It sounds uncannily like Freddie, and she holds an arm out to Rami to join her in leading the gathered crowd, which he agrees to with a bright grin, which ends with him yelling ‘hey, hey, hey, Hammer to Fall!’ and Ash, as well as the rest of the crew, bursts out into laughter.

The video’s posted with the caption ‘Ash Mercury in her prime’. All three of Ash and Roger’s kids comment about how they hadn’t heard her do that in so long, and not for the first time, Gwilym finds himself marveling at what it would be like to have Ash and Roger as actual parents.

Once the camera’s off, Ash  talks quietly about how she and Freddie used to practice it, because he couldn’t teach Ash to sing to save his life, but he’d be damned if he couldn’t teach her this.

“He was like, an actual brother to her,” Ben says quietly when he and the other three boys are gathered together, checking in before they finally started filming.

“Yeah, it’s crazy to think some times; she took his last name for a full fifteen years," Rami muses, and there’s something that warms in his heart whenever he catches Ash’s wistful gaze as she watches them perform, quietly grateful.

There’s a few videos here and there from set from Ash, little moments she finds endearing, usually set to music;

She catches her son, Barney, and his partner dancing to Seaside Rendezvous alone in the makeup truck, joyful and bright, they sway together to the beat as her son sings along, and his partner laughs fondly, pressing their smile against his chest as he tries to make kazoo noises.

When Cate, her middle daughter, comes to set, she takes a seat by the piano and plays the opening for Seven Seas of Rhye.

“That’s the one he wrote for you, isn’t it?” She turns, beaming, and Ash sits beside her. Again, Cate plays the opening, and Ash hums along, out of key, and Cate swallows her own gentle laughter, instead singing along.

Karen Gillan has a perm in order to play Ash, but unlike Joe, she appears to have no trouble in it, actually takes great pride in it. Ash has caught the rest of the cast, on several different occasions, using it to take photos of themselves with a stunning, ginger beard, which amuses her to no end, as it was something Roger was want to do on occasion when he got bored back in the day.

On the night of the Oscars, at the afterparty, Ash uploads two videos in the same post, one from set, and one from that night. They’re simply captioned ‘Me & The Champions. 2018/19′.

The video from on set is from the final day; Ash’s hands are shaking the camera slightly, but her voice is loud and clear, ringing throughout the set; 

“Where are my kids?” And like clockwork, Ben, Gwilym, Rami, and Joe all come out from various places, followed by Lucy and Karen, all giving her fond looks.

“Oh man, I’m gonna miss my set-mom,” Joe looks like the thought genuinely pains his heart, and as the realization dawns on the others, there’s a fond and faintly forlorn expression mirrored on all their faces. Joe’s the first to go in for the hug, despite Ash’s faint ‘oh Jesus Christ, Trixie’, but they all soon join.

The second video is from right after the Oscars awards ceremony, when most of the cast and crew who’d been attending are doing photo opportunities, and while Brian and Roger are already with them, Ash had hung back.

“It’s so good to see all my kids in the one place!” She calls, and Joe’s expression lights up as he hears her voice.

“Ma, we won!” Rami holds up his Oscar with delight, already a little tipsy, as were the rest of them as they crowd Ash, all wrapping her up in a group hug. Someone’s humming We Are The Champions. Ash suspects Joe. But she takes delight in the moment anyways, pride flaring bright in her chest.

[lokis-lady-death]

The King of Gods Pt 7

Tom Hiddleston/Loki x reader

Lady Death: This is a sequal to the Interview with a God series I completed a few months ago. This picks up months after the original story ends. If you haven’t read IWAG, HERE is a quicklink to Part 1 or you can find it on my Master List !

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

The King of Gods Part 7

The night life of the city was one of the main reasons you lived here. Neon lights lit the windows of night clubs and bars down the popping Main Street, beckoning to the hip crowd to come party there. Poison was just one of the many places tailored to the party goers, but it’s main distinctive factor? That it was considered low key, supposedly only known to people who were able to be fortunate enough to hear about it by word-of-mouth.

The truth? Everyone and their mother knew it existed.

The main entrance to the night club was originally a side entrance, left unmarked and unspectacular, normally only accessed by the staff. However, it became just the hole-in-the-wall millennials appreciated. The only marker of the entrance was the large set of metal doors with two large bouncers .

As the car pulled into the parking lot, you could already make out the mile long line of people waiting to get into Poison to see the newest rock sensation. “This was a bad idea,” you croaked, getting cold feet. “I should’ve stayed home.”

“Nonsense, you need out of your apartment and this band is gonna be awesome!”

“Who exactly are we here to see, anyway?”

“Mount-N-Do-Me.”

Your eyes narrowed, sure she was joking. “No way.”

Her shoulders shrugged while all she offered was, “You know these bands never keep their startup names. Eventually a manger will scoop them up and fix it, I’m sure they came up with it when they were twelve. Anyway, they’re not what tonight’s about!”

Carmen turned in her seat to look at you while she started, “We gotta find you someone to make you forget pendejo.” She shot you what was meant to be a reassuring wink but it did little to soothe your nerves.

After finally finding a suitable parking spot, Sue fussed with her hair in the mirror as Carmen dug around in her bag. “Here,” she ordered, reaching back to hand you four vials of lime green liquid. She passed another one to Sue and held onto another. “A toast to y/n!”

“Why do I have so many?”

“Because this is your salvation, y/n! We are here to liberate your soul!” Sue decreed with a fake accent that might have been meant to sound dignified but came out as a southern preacher. “This is to clear your mind of all bad you’ve felt since what’s-his-face broke your heart and left you all alone!”

“But mostly it’s to help loosen you up so you can rub your butt on strangers.”

Shaking your head, you couldn’t help but comment, “You’re both ridiculous.”

“Maybe,” Sue accepted, popping her vial’s top. “But I promise, this is going to be a night to remember.” She and Carmen held their drinks out, beaming as they waited for you to join.

You sighed, popping the top off one of the four vials. Lifting it up, you donned a weak smile. “Cheers.” The vials made a soft clank together before all three of you chugged it down. The drink was obnoxiously sour like an apple candy with only a slight sting of alcohol. After a week of binge drinking, it was tame aside from the sugar rush.

“Now, you gotta finish,” Carmen instructed with a stern expression. Sue nodded in agreement and you did as you were told. One after another, you choked down the green shots.

After you finished, Sue clapped her hands together. “Alright, now for the rules-”

“Rules?” you repeated.

“Rule One, don’t interrupt the rule maker.” Your eyes rolled, but you did it with a smile. “Rule Two, don’t speak of he-who-shall-not-be-named.”

“Um, is that a Harry Potter reference because his name is Tom like Tom Riddle?” you genuinely wondered.

Sue glared at you as Carmen pulled yet another vial from her purse and passed it to you.

“How many of these do you freakin’ have?” She shrugged so all you could do was throw your head back. Smacking your lips, there was a flutter from either the alcohol or the sugar deep in your stomach. “Anything else?”

“Yes, Rule Three, don’t go home alone.” She made her eyebrows jump as she did a little shimmy in her seat.

You scoffed, “I’m not hooking up with some random guy at a bar!”

“It doesn’t have to be a guy,” Carmen iterated with another wink. You let out a flustered laugh, your cheeks flushing without your consent.

“Carmen and Sue hopped out of the car as you took a deep breath. ‘This is normal,’ you thought, trying to convince yourself to add pep to your step. ‘This is how we move on.’ Sue opened your door and you slinked out.

“Alright, I have my press badge to get us in, so while I’m interviewing the band, you guys can start scoping out the specimens.” Looking out at the masses of people at the door, you pushed yourself to keep pace with the others until coming up to the set of bouncers checking people in.

“Hiya,” Sue charmed, holding out her badge . “I’m here from people’s magazine, ya’ll shoulda gotten a call?” One bouncer eyed the press pass then looked back at the three of you.

“It takes three women to interview a band?”

Sue let out a sharp huff while pressing her hands to her hips. “If you must know, Carmen is here to take pics of the boys on stage and y/n here is my trusty assistant.” You cut your eyes at her, certain you wouldn’t have come out if you knew she was going to pull such a scheme. But when Carmen pulled a camera from her bag, you couldn’t help but be a little impressed.

This was certainly not their first rodeo.

“Hey, wait, I recognize you,” the second bouncer started as he leaned closer to your face. “You dated that bad guy from that superhero movie. What’s his name? Tim something?”

“Tom Hiddleston,” you corrected, immediately stricken as the name left your lips.

Swallowing, you went to correct that you weren't seeing him when the same bouncer commented, “Who knows, she could up our presence on social media. Get a few good pics of her out on someone’s page, it’ll spread like wildfire.”

The first bouncer rolled his eyes, passing the press pass back to Sue. “You ladies can go on in then.”

Carmen and Sue smiled as they walked in, but you kept your eyes low, hoping they were wrong and no one else would recognize you. Dating a celebrity had its perks, but being seen as just some extension of someone was never your goal. Tom himself liked hiding from the limelight, enough so that you didn’t get harassed too often. Nearly every day, Dave would drive you to and from work, and if the two of you ever went out for a date, the facility would be called in advance to ensure the place was clear of any paparazzi. As a journalist for a magazine that focused on making famous people’s privacy public, you knew first hand the damage that could be to a normal person.

The entryway was so dark you wondered if a light had gone out. With just a thin set of twinkling string lights lining the walkway, you followed the girls until you reached another set of doors. Sue stepped forward and, after shooting one quick wild grin, she threw them open to release a booming sound of rock music. Drums keeping the rhythm, the bass speeding up as the main guitar sent electrical power waves through the air. Out in front of the stage, you could see a crowd jumping and hollering to the music, either singing along or just screaming. Red and White strobe lights lit the dance floor while most of the space was dark, only lit by more twinkling lights against the baseboards. Just opposite of the stage set a raised deck with the bar which was lit up in multi colored neon lights that lined the glass and mirrored liquor shelves behind it.

“This place is a little loud, don’t you think?” you yelled over the music to Sue.

“I know, ain’t it awesome!” she yelled back with a wild grin.

You looked over towards the bar and, as if reading your mind, Carmen looped arms with you. “Ready to party?”

You didn’t think you were, but a small flutter in your head from the shots gave you just enough liquid courage to say, “Let’s do this!”

*****

It was just as generic as any social media post a girl would make: all three women’s faces crammed close together making the signature kissy face, sultry face, silly face looks with the caption, “Out to forget you loser chollos ;D”

Elliot didn’t have a hard time figuring out which club the three of you were at, seeing the Press Pass clearly in two of the images. It also didn’t hurt that he had been to every bar and club in the tri-state area. Looking for a buzz, chasing a high, paying for a lay, but mostly trying to feel something, anything, other than this miserable melancholy. In the months following Hela’s death, Elliot had an immense void in his life that, despite his most valiant efforts, he couldn’t fill. Where once he felt thrill in diaviant behavior, now nothing gave him satisfaction. Alcohol, drugs, sex, nothing settled his emptiness. It was like everything in life had lost meaning, like his own senses were gone.

It wasn’t until his uncle Jared sought him out that he was able to get a grip on himself and slow down the self destruction.

Putting his car in park, he looked out at the line formed outside the entrance to Poison. Checking his reflection, he pocketed his keys and made his way to the door, ignoring the grunts from patrons still waiting to get inside.

“How are my boys tonight?” he spoke through a sly grin, “Looks like a lot of fine asses showed up for the show tonight.”

The first bouncer held out a fist to Elliot and they bumped knuckles. “How it goin, Stranger Danger, what’s got you out on the prowell? I thought you might be dead in a ditch somewhere after the last time I had to boot you outta here.”

A few women standing in the front of the line snickered as Elliot simply shrugged it off. “Ya know, I think I just had a little too much that night-”

“That's what they all say,” the second bouncer rebutted as he crossed his arms. “So what can I do for you tonight?”

“”Hoping to check out the new band, heard they’re the newest up and comers in the industry. Ya know, gotta stay on top of the newest, hottest people if I wanna get back into the celebrity gossip.” When they didn’t look convinced, he thew in, “Well I used to write for Rolling Stones, so I thought maybe if nothing else I could get something on these guys and try to get all of us some recognition. Cause that’s what this is about, right? Getting the band’s name out?”

The first bounce raised his brow while the second one shrugged. “Well, we did already let those magazine chicks in earlier…”

“Yeah, see, just trying to stay in the game,” Elliot tried to convince. “Come on, Drake, what’s the harm? Let me in?”

Letting out annoyed grunt, he stepped aside while the other opened the door. “Go on, but I’m only warning you once, Stringer. Don’t make me throw you out.”

“I’ll be on my best behavior,” he promised through a toothy grin.

*****

You and Carmen had barely made it to the bar before a short man offered to buy a round of shots. While you tripped over your words, Carmen gave the man a flirty giggle and accepted. Once he passed her the tray of tequila, she handed you one then took one for herself. “Salud!” she commanded in Spanish.

“Sa-lood?” you asked dumbly.

“Salud! Drink!”

You initially wanted to argue, knowing that letting a stranger hand you free drinks usually meant he wanted something in return. But you choked back your inhibitions and swallowed it down. Unlike the sweet apple drink from earlier, this burned. You smacked your lips as Carmen handed you another glass, again calling out, “Salud!” which you repeated back. After three more, you held up your hands in surrender. Carmen passed the tray back to the short man who looked at you both confused.

After you were out of ear shot, you said, “You know he was probably expecting us to at least talk to him.”

With a very serious expression, Carmen stopped walking to face you. “I don’t care if chollo buys me a house, if I don’t wanna talk to ‘im, I ain’t finna talk to ‘im. Besides, that pendejo still had his wedding band on.”

Her arm linked with yours again as she pulled you into the crowd. People were singing and dancing to the music, mostly jumping in place with hands up as they screamed the lyrics to the cover band’s songs. Carmen pulled you closer, loudly speaking into your ear, “Let loose, compa! It’s about letting go!” She pulled back, her red lips curling just before she went on ahead and burried herself in the sea of bodies.

Taking a deep breath, you plunged in after her.

*****

Elliot had been looking for a few minutes when he turned just in time to see you disappear into the crowd in front of the stage. Huffing while he straightened out his shirt, he walked out onto the dance floor. Shrugging his shoulders one last time, readying to dive through people, he made his way towards you.

*****

The alcohol was sitting on you just right, making you feel more and more relaxed by the second. You were standing beside Carmen in the middle of everyone, arms up and screaming as you got lost in the music. Bodies bumped against each other, hands pressed and pulled at each other, but you were so lost in the moment you didn’t mind. Sharing smiles with Carmen as you both screamed out, you couldn’t help but feel a sense of euphoria as the pain got pushed to the back of your mind. Closing your eyes, you breathed in this feeling.

It was right at that moment that you felt a set of hands land on your moving hips. You gasped, but didn’t pull away. People were so crammed you didn’t think anything of it until they started moving with your movement. Your heart sped up and for a split second you contemplated saying something.

But something stopped you.

The realization that you were, in fact, a single woman out dancing with friends, came into your mind, and rather than say or do anything, you divulged. You let the hands stay, felt them rock with you, whoever they belonged to behind you dancing at the same beat to keep up with the motion. A part of you wanted to divulge, back against him, dance like there was no tomorrow, maybe even drown in each other for the night. Just the suggestion was enough to send a shiver down your spine, though it was not out of pleasure.

The thought of dancing like this with him, knowing it wasn’t your Loki, sent a pin into your chest. Even worlds apart, knowing he was moving on with his life, you couldn’t move on with yours. At least not now. Not like this. Taking a deep, sobering sigh, you felt a wave of guilt, though you couldn’t place why.

Feeling you begin to slow your movements, the fingers curled against you, moving upwards to scrape across your exposed sides. That was too much. You pushed the hands back down to your hips, even more annoyed when your obvious objection was ignored by the hands moving back up and even taking a stronger grip on your waist.

“Lo0k, buddy, cool it with the touch-feeling, ‘kay?” you shot over your shoulder loud enough that they had no excuse not to hear.

To your disdain, the hands went right back to your sides. You turned with a jerk in time to lock eyes with the man , but rather than take him it, it was the one behind him that got your attention.

“Elliot?”

Your old coworker put a hand on the man’s shoulder, pulling him back from you as he leaned close to his face. “I think the lady said she’s done dancing with you, buddy,” he threatened before cutting a lott your way, “Just better hope she doesn’t tell her boyfriend on you, unless you wanna get thrown out a window.”

The man took the cryptic message at face value and stomped out of the crowd, while everyone else was still dancing, ignoring the scene.

Your eyes were still locked on Elliot when Carmen came and threw her arms around his shoulders. “Elly!”

“Don’t call me that!” he spat. When she pulled back, her fist came crashing against his arm. “Ow, what was that for?”

“You don’t call, don’t answer texts, don’t answer your Facebook messages for two months, you get punched.” Carmen’s brow furrowed, adding, “I was worried, stupido, your landlord said you packed up and moved off.” When all he offered was a shrug, she punched him again.

“Shit, ow, okay. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ghost you, I just had some… soul searching to do. But I’m back in town,” he answered, looking apologetic. “Think you can forgive me?”

She narrowed her eyes before planting a big, red stained kiss on his cheek. “I guess. So, what, you’re here to party with us? Y/n and cholo broke up, so we’re trying to cheer her up.”

“Broke up?” he echoed, looking down at you. “Oh, I hate to hear that.” His expression was hard to read, but his tone was less than sympathetic. “No, actually, but I am here to talk to y/n. It has to do with a mutual friend.”

Your eyes widened as you tried to think what he could possibly have to say, but Carmen already put a hand on your back to push you towards him. “Fine, but I expect nena to be returned to me in one piecec, amigo.”

He smiled at her before taking you by the arm to lead you away from everyone else. When there was no one left to move through, you snatched your arm from his grasp. Just as he went to speak, you slapped him, hard.

“You’ve got some nerve.”

“And you’ve got some muscle in that little body, damn that fucking hurt! ” he sulked, pressing a hand to his face to soothe the sting. “Shit, was that necessary?”

“You helped Hela! The entire time you were helping her! Even after she drugged me, you…” the words wouldn’t manifest, and you realized your eyes were watering up. Angry that you would cry simply out of pent up rage, you put but hands out and shoved him. “God, Elliot, you’re such a dick! And a liar! And just a fucking terrible person!”

“Yeah, you’re right. And I’m sorry.”

You were too stunned to speak, expecting him to provoke you further so you could unleash more, but his flaccid response was enough to dull the fire.

Subsiding your anger for confusion, you instead went on, “Well, I’jm glad we agree on something. Now, if you don’t mind,” you turned to leave but he caught your wrist.”

“No, serious, y/n. I am sorry for everything.”

The words struck you and left you momentarily silent. In a million years, you never expected to hear him actually apologize.

“And I need you to come with me.”

That was enough to snap you back, narrowing your eyes as you spat, “Yeah, no. I don’t trust shit from you, Elliot. Whatever you have to tell me, you can just go talk to a wall.”

“Even if I told you it’s about Loki.”

Your shoulders tensed while you swallowed, trying not to look as excited as you were just at hearing his name.

“What about him?”

“I may have a way for you to talk to him.”

Even as loud as the club was, it all went silent at the words he spoke. You felt your heartbeat quicken, the idea floating around in your head before you realized who it was you were dealing with. You rolled your eyes, cutting back, “Why the hell would you help me?”

Leaning down to speak into your ear, he elaborated, “Cause I know when Hela was away, it felt like I was a heroin addict that couldn’t get a fix. I know how painful being away from him is for you and how you feel numb to everything else with him gone.”

You pulled back from him, needing to look him in the eye when you asked, “That doesn’t explain why you would do this for me.”

Sighing, he rolled his eyes exaggeratedly to go on, “It’s really a long story and I don’t know everything, but Elsa called my uncle-”

“Elsa?” you repeated, “Elsa Hemsworth? Called your uncle?”

“Look, like I said, it’s complicated,” he got out quickly as he felt her get ready to just keep questioning him. “So what’s it gonna be, you coming or what?”

*****

By sun down, a dark cloud rolled over Asgard. While the people had dealt with minor rain showers before, this was no ordinary drizzle. Lightning flashed as golf sized drops came crashing to the ground, thunder roaring into the night sky like a lion on the hunt.

Yet the people of Asgard only had to be momentarily concerned, easily becoming distracted by Odin's invitation to a banquet in honor of Loki. They all crowded into the main hall of the palace, singing, dancing and drinking in the name of their future king.

The only issue? Loki was nowhere to be seen.

A couple of hours into the evening, food was being brought from the kitchen and laid out for all the guests. A few of the Asgardians asked when the crowned prince would come.

Finally the king was sick of waiting.

"Fetch him. Now," Thor overheard his father command Baldur. "They're here to see him, he needs to at least make an appearance. The people need to know everything is alright, with all of these… tremors. They need the reassurance of a smiling face."

Baldur made a hasty retreat with Thor ready to pursue him until Elsa caught hold of the back of his armor. "Where are you off to?" she asked, suspicious of how he tried to back away without her notice.

"I'm going to check on Loki with Baldur," he offered, pulling back from her hand to kiss it. "I'll be just a minute, Love."

Her eyes narrowed but she waved him away. She caught sight of him one last time before he tucked out of the grand room.

Baldur was quick up the stairs, brushing past servants still tending to the palace chores as he zipped down the halls to Loki's bedroom.

Just as Baldur got to the door and began knocking, Thor caught up to him.

"What are you doing?"

"What are You doing?"

"I'm getting Loki for Allfather-"

"I guess that I'm also getting Loki then-"

“I can appreciate your attempt to assist, but it is not necessary, you may go-”

“Oh, no, I think someone is going to need to bare witness to this.”

Both men went silent when they heard the disembodied voice from the other side of the door call out, "Come in."

Baldur and Thor both straightened up before finally opening the door. Neither moved at first until Thor shoved the slightly smaller advisor in ahead of him.

"He's here to retrieve you for dinner," the god of thunder announced, disregarding Baldur’s sharp blue eyes cutting at him.

"Yes, well," for the first time he looked out into the room to Loki lounging on a chaise with his face inside a book. "Allfather requests your presence downstairs for the-"

"I'm not going."

The air was stale as Thor looked between the two of them, his fingers twitching while he waited for someone to speak.

"I'm sorry?"

"I said," Loki reiterated, turning the page in total disinterest,"Im. Not. Going."

Thor watched Baldur inhale and wondered exactly how the two most well tempered men in Asgard would proceed.

It wasn't what he expected.

"Your father asked that you make an appearance,” Baldur started, stepping over towards Loki’s chair. “That's not too much to expect considering all he is giving you. Just go down, shake hands, reassure the people that you are their king and will care for them-”

"I told Allfather I wouldn't parade around for him,” Loki answered simply, still not looking up.

Baldur’s jaw tightened. “He is still your king, Loki. You may be the crowned prince, but he is still your ruler, and your father. You should show him respect and see to him.”

He looked like he would go on but went quiet at the clap of Loki’s book closing. “I should show him respect? I should see him? Should I also fall in line like the rest of you sheep, bring him offerings of good tidings in hopes of gaining his favor?” Just then, a loud crash of thunder sounded right outside the veranda of Loki’s room. He stood, looking into Baldur’s eyes as he went on, “This is him doing whatever he damn well pleases without my regard and you shouldn't be cross with me for not wanting to participate in his show. You should be grateful I'm even staying."

Baldur swallowed hard while Thor looked between the two of them.

Taking a deep breath before he spoke, the advisor knew he would be crossing the line when he asked, "Is this all over your little Midgardian girl? Just because you, what, want to go live out HER days? You want to return to watch her die, is that it? Or did you forget you live over a hundred of her lifetimes?"

Loki shook his head at the comment, arguing, "You don't know what we had, Baldur. We were in love-"

"Love? Love!" Baldur turned to speak to Thor, throwing out his arms as if he were surprised, "Did you hear that, Thor, they were in love! Well, what a true travesty for you that you have to put aside your own feelings for someone who will die in the blink of your eye to save your eternal home from destruction!"

"Don't mock me, little brother," Loki spoke in an unsettlingly soft tone. "Or you will regret it."

At that Baldur narrowed his eyes. "You asked Thor why she left? Your y/n?" he started. "I'll tell you-"

"Baldur," Thor interjected quickly, only to be cut off.

"You should have seen how that poor girl begged to leave, Loki. Said she had been under your influence all this time and only recently became aware of it herself. As soon as you got away from her, she sought an escape."

The god of mischief froze in place, his face losing color at hearing his worst fear. "You're lying."

Baldur spoke louder, his face red as he spat the words, "She just couldn't wait to get away from you, even called you a freak and a monster! Said her life was so  blissful until she met you! Pleaded for Thor to protect her from the evil, no good, demon that was savage enough to slay the only person who ever cared about him in his long, miserable life!"

Loki's rage subsided, hurt obvious on his face. "She was my mother, too, Baldur, and y/n knows that's not what-"

"She was Not your mother, she was Mine and you Slaughtered her!"

"Enough!" Thor bellowed as he saw Loki's fists tighten at his sides, his eyes dark and his face scrunched in barely controlled wrath. "Stop this, we are not here to fight. We're brothers, we must-"

"I assure you, he is most certainly no brother of mine," Baldur bit back with a cold stare.

That final strike made Loki change stance. His head tilted to the side while he glared at Baldur. "Look at you. Poor, pitiful, forgotten Baldur. You're so jealous you can hardly see straight," his voice slightly shook as he did all he could to calm. "You think you can just take your frustrations out on me because I'm not hot tempered like Thor, because you don't think I'll reach out and take your throat in my grasp and just squeeze? " he stepped closer, looking Baldur straight in the eyes. "I think you've forgotten I am the one Allfather chose because I am powerful enough to contain his powers. And you? What powers have you that make you worthy to try and speak like this to me? You, no more than an imputent runt of the litter, one that was so worthless to everyone in the family that he didn't even step foot on Asgard until Thor decided to stay on Asgard?" Another thunder boomed outside, but no one flinched.

Baldur's eyes were glassed over while his teeth grinded, taking in every last from Loki before finally speaking. "You think I don't know I'm not as powerful as you? I'm very aware of your strength, Loki. It's your lack of sympathy to your people that is so hard to watch. They’re scared, they need to see you to know they’re safe. It’s how you care so little about the rest of us that you're just resigned to make your own existence here miserable. And you know what? I'll have no part of it." Just then, Elsa tentatively pushed the bedroom door open, not meaning to make herself known but was taken off guard by the tension as Baldur was turning to leave. “Consider this my resignation, your highness. I won't be a part of this kingdom or this family any longer." He kept his pace even after he realized Elsa had heard him. Her mouth opened to speak, but he left too quickly for her to form the words, brushing gently across her shoulder on the way out.

"What? What's going on?" She looked back towards Thor who was about to speak but Loki, who ignored Elsa’s entrance, looked to him now.

"And you!"

"Me?"

Loki stepped towards the god of thunder, his voice harsh, "I wouldn't even be here if not for you! I would still be home, I would still be with y/n!"

"Oh, so it's my fault-"

"You were his first born son, this unbearable place was meant to be yours, his powers were meant to be yours, but you went off and started a family-"

“I can’t help what happened, Loki, if I knew this is how things would play out-”

“You’d what?” Loki asked with fire behind his eyes. “You’d trade places with me? You would have stayed in Asgard? Exactly what would you change because from where I stand, you are, once again, the only person in this entire damned place that is getting what he wants!”

"Shut up, both of you!" Elsa snapped, stepping between them. In their fit, both men had gotten less than a foot apart, steadily becoming more heated. "You don’t need to fight, please…"

Loki closed his eyes and stepped back, taking a breath to try and steady himself. "Thor, I never would never have agreed to this if I didn't want you to be with your family back on Midgard. I hope you don't waste my sacrifices by hanging around this place any longer than you have to." He sat back down on his chaise, picking up his book at where he left off, "And in case my meaning is unclear, let me be perfectly clear: I'm telling you to leave.” Going back into the same pose he was in before the interruption, he finished with one last jab, “After all, you’re quite good at."

With that, Thor gently led his wife out of the room. After closing the door, he expected Elsa to be angry, or in the very least upset, but instead she looked at him with something else in her eyes.

"You…"

He swallowed hard, “Yes, my love?”

Elsa's eyes watered up while her lips threatened to tremble. "Thor, you're a god. The god of thunder, feared by many, loved by all. Even living as a Midgardian you've managed to recreate this whole new persona of yourself as, well, you, but not just as a god: as a hero. And yet at every turn, you keep making these decisions… to do nothing."

"And what would you have me do, Elsa? You know my hands are tied-"

"Anything, Thor!" she shouted, "Anything at all! But this? Doing nothing? It's almost as bad as pulling the strings!"

“I’m trying to get us home!”

“You’re acting like a coward!”

Thor was quiet and for the first time, she really believed he felt the guilt of what he had done. “I don’t know what I can possibly do. If I help Loki I damn my family. If I do nothing, I damn him. What will you have me do?” he asked genuinely, bringing her hand to his face without looking away. “Tell me what to do?”

She really considered his words, really wondered if they held true value. 

Elsa’s eyes searched Thor’s for a moment before she resided that even if the drama of his family was clouding his morals, there was more to what was going on than just asking Loki to take the crown. Breathing in, she held onto his hands to ready him for what she was about to say.  “Actually, before I tell you that, there’s something I need to tell you... about these dreams I’ve been having.”

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