#Eternal Summer Stage (Fan Event) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mamsieur · 6 months

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Evil Twin | Jake "Hangman" Seresin x Floyd!Reader

Summary : Who would have guessed that sweet and discreet Bob had a twin sister who was his opposite ? Not the Dagger Squad, that's for sure.

TW : mention of past abuse, mention of abusive relationship, mention of alcohol, mention of sex, angst and fluff, angst with happy ending

Length : 6980 words

AN : Bob is the sweetest and I'm sure he's an overprotective brother.

posted on AO3 July 22, 2023

You were the quintessential of the pop-rock star. You had a lot of problems with the press, both concerning your love life and the setbacks of your ex-band.

The first problem was that you were often seen leaving hotels with different partners : the press loved that you didn't settle down and always made a big deal out of it. You didn't really care, you knew the tabloids always twisted the truth just to sell more garbage. What bothered you was that your mom kept calling you about it, wondering why you couldn't be discreet and serious, have a normal job like your twin; the perfect little Robby, pride and joy of the family. He was in the navy, serving the country, and your father liked to remind you that Robert was doing something useful, something great. Yet, you didn't care what the public and your family thought of you. You just wanted to play your songs, have fun on stage and in the studio. It was your cop-out after some traumatic experiences you went through in high school.

As for your problems with the band, it was a different kettle of fish.

You were the lead vocalist and guitarist. You loved being on stage, it made you feel powerful, in control. You were backed by three talented but lazy guys about your age. It was your agent's idea to put you in charge of them. And what a great idea. At first it was fun, you had a good time. But as time went by, their excesses slowed down your rise in the charts. And they wasted all their time, energy and money on the wrong things. Every day, the press had a scoop about them doing something illegal or immoral. The last one on their list was being seen exiting a bar with underage fans.

Those recent events forced your label to give you a choice; either the whole group was fired or you could continue as a solo artist; your producer and staff knew that you weren't really a troublemaker, so it was a once in a lifetime opportunity for you. You didn't even hesitate to sign your new contract ; and that led to a new scandal in the press, creating false drama between you and your ex mates. But as much as you were determined to make a name for yourself, you also needed a break from all the “scandal” that was going on. You made a deal with your producer and new agent: you had one month to come up with at least two singles, while you could go anywhere you wanted to find inspiration and relax.

And what could be more relaxing than the seaside ? The beach, the sun, the salty air, the feeling of being in an eternal summer ? It was perfect. You booked your flight to San Diego and rented a small beach house on Airbnb. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, maybe running into your twin brother at the local bar.

The Hard Deck seemed like a pretty chill place and the owner, Penny, was really nice. You spent some evenings there, trying to come up with some lyrics over a Coke. She was curious and you were happy to share what you were working on, even though you hadn't made any progress. She had that reassuring aura, and talking with her was like talking to an old friend that you knew all your life. She was genuinely interested in what you had to share, and gave you some advice when she could. She also was curious to hear your voice and tried a few times to get you at the piano. You refused politely each time, feeling strangely shy.

It took you a week and a half to work up the courage to go to that piano.

The bar was rather empty, which was unusual for a Saturday night but made it easier for you to convince yourself that it was okay. You discreetly started to warm up your voice and started a version of Your Song - Penny confessed to you it was one of her favorite songs.

In a corner of the bar, by the pool table, a group of pilots were surprised to hear the piano playing at this hour. "Looks like someone stole your seat, Bradshaw," a tall blond man sneered. "Looks like it, Seresin." Bradley raised an eyebrow and leaned over to see who had taken his place at the piano. The others gently urged him to join them; after all, he was the musician among the squad. He pretended to be annoyed by their request and joined you for the last chorus. You were surprised, but smiled quietly and finished your "performance" with him. You made room for him on the little bench, and with a look of approval, you moved on to another song of his choice: Ain't no mountain higher . The patrons of the bar, who had become more numerous, were delighted to have a private mini-concert. Some of them started to dance, others joined in singing. It was a fun experience.

After the end of the song, you smiled and shook the hand of your partner of a moment and let him enjoy the piano by himself. You made your way back to your stool and asked Penny for a glass of water. You felt a presence next to you and turned a little to see who was there. You easily guessed it was a navy man ; the uniform - talk about obvious -, the perfectly styled hair. You grinned at the tall blond man in front of you.

“So, does that pretty voice have a name ?” asked Jake with a smirk. You rolled your eyes at his flirtatious tone and his pushed Texan accent. “Well yes actually, I’m-” “Y/N ?” You frowned, immediately recognizing the voice that had spoken your name. You easily spotted his surprised face among the other navy people that were close to you and Jake. "Robert?" "Don't tell me you're his girlfriend..." "What? No!" you shouted at the same time, making a few of the others giggle. "Gross!" you pretended to vomit. "She's my sister, Hangman," Bob sighed. "Twin sister, to be exact," you precised.

You couldn't help but giggle at the shocked looks on the faces of who you assumed were his colleagues. He was suddenly flooded with questions, and you enjoyed watching him turn redder and redder. Then they focused on you. "You two don't look alike at all," Reuben said, scanning you in detail. You rolled your eyes and smiled, leaning against your brother as you poked his side. "Robert took the height and brains, I took the charm and talent."

Your brother sighed and ran his hand over his neck, slightly embarrassed. His teammates were happy to meet you, especially happy to annoy Bob, and Natasha seemed to realize something. "Your voice sounds familiar... I've heard it somewhere before... in a band, right?" " Nemesis ," you smiled and nodded, mentioning your old band, "but I'm solo now. Kept the stage name though." "Quite a few scandals with that band..." your twin mumbled. You decided not to pay attention to him. Like your parents, Robert had never understood your career choice, arguing that you were brilliant at school and could have done anything else. Of course you were pretty intelligent but you had fallen in love with music as an outlet for your pain. But your family didn’t seem to accept your way of coping with your traumas.

The rest of the evening went off without a hitch. You got to know your brother's second family. They all had their own personalities, but that's what made them so endearing. Jake invited you to join them the next day, since it was their day off and they wanted to relax at the beach. You gladly accepted.

Robert didn't say much to you, the atmosphere between you was cold and tense. Natasha noticed it, so she joined her WSO to chat. "What's wrong, Bob? Your sister seems nice and yet you're here, not saying anything to her." He sighed a little as he watched you chatting and having fun with the others. "I'm worried about her," he confessed, "she… she hides herself in that personna… that Nemesis …” “Aren't all artists ? I mean, they wouldn't take a stage name otherwise.” “I guess… but I’m scared she’s losing herself…” he said softly, glancing at you. He grumbled when he noticed that Jake was flirting with you; and you didn't seem to refuse his advances either. Natasha let out a soft “damn” when Jake slid his arm around you and Bob almost jumped off his seat, mumbling an irritated “that’s it”.

You felt a strong hand gripping your wrist and you were drawn out of Jake’s embrace and out the bar. “The hell Robby ?” you scoffed once outside, “I was in the middle of a conversation !” “No you weren’t, you were flirting ! With one of my teammates !” “First off, he initiated it ! And second, in what world is that your business ? We’re grown ups, I can handle some flirting !” “Well, first off , you’re my sister and second , Hangman is… he’s not the type to settle down !” he tried to explain himself but you just rolled your eyes. “Oh my god, you sound just like dad ! Why should I settle down ? I’m having fun, I’m happy that way !” You pinched the bridge of your nose, annoyed. “Stop trying to father me, I’m doing fine since I left !” “Yeah, you seem real good in the local news,” he mumbles, putting his hands in his pockets. He didn't even look at you as he said those words. You hated it when he did that, always half-assing his thoughts. You couldn’t help but let out a nervous laugh, tilting your head back. “And now you sound like mom. I can handle my life just fine Robert. I don’t need your concern, let alone your judgment ! I’ve never been better, ok ? Leave me the fuck alone !”

You were lying. You both knew that. He could read into you so easily, it made you sick. Call it ‘twin magic’ or ‘sibling intuition’, you still hated the way his blue eyes looked at you with worry and questions in them, knowing all too well that you were not fine.

You passed him, going back to the bar to get your stuff and pay Penny. Out of spit - and mostly because you wanted to - you handed your number to Jake and left with a smirk. You could hear the squad gently hassle Hangman who proudly showed off the piece of paper you gave him.

A little fun won’t kill you, would it ?

The next day, you joined the Dagger squad on the beach, near the Hard Deck.

They were playing a strange football game ; dogfight football , attack and defense at the same time, Natasha explained to you. You watched their first round and second, it seemed fun. At least, Bob seemed to have fun. You remembered he was not a teamsport guy younger. He actually hated the fact that your dad made him go to the tryouts for the football team in high school. To his misfortune, he got in. You smiled and sighed remembering those days. Sometimes, you missed the time you were close to your twin, when you could tell him everything, before it all fell apart in junior year. A cold shiver ran down your spine while you thought back about it. Your life changed so much at that time, you didn’t like to remember it.

Crouching in front of you, Jake snapped you out of your reverie. “Hey there darlin, care to join us ? We’ll be gentle, promise.” he said with a playful grin. You arched an eyebrow and sneered. “Oh please, don’t be, I can handle it.” He laughed and helped you up. You were put in his team against Natasha, Bob, Bradley and Reuben. You were - to your own surprise - pretty fast and efficient. Javy and Jake joked around saying that being stealth had to be running in the family.

You really had fun, even laughing with your brother. You didn’t know who won but you scored the last point of the game, and Jake put you on his shoulders to celebrate before tossing you in the water. “You’re a dead man, Seresin !” you shouted, before laughing. Robert helped you out the water and gave you a towel without a word. You silently thanked him and you all took a water break while deciding what to eat.

Reuben and Mickey volunteered to go get the pizzas and while they did, Natasha proposed a volleyball match. She decided that Bob and you would be in her team and you smiled. Bob couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle ; the two of you loved that sport when you were kids. When you went to your grandma's house for the holidays, you used to play against your cousins. Of course, you kicked their ass. They called you the Evil Twins. Once your heads were in the game, you were unstoppable. And Bradley, Jake and Javy would soon understand why you and Bob were so happy to be on the same team.

The two of you didn’t even need to talk to understand the next move of the other. Even Natasha didn’t really understand what was happening. You won the first, then second, then third match. You laughed at the exasperation of Jake and Javy, Bradley on the other hand was just tired of running around. He quit with Natasha, leaving Jake and Javy to find a strategy to strike Bob and you down. “Like the old times huh ?” your twin smiled, giving you a bottle of water. You returned the smile and nodded. “Let’s show them. Evil Twins ?” “Evil Twins.” He clapped his hands with yours with a grin. Oh, the other two weren't ready for the beating they were about to get.

Javy called it quits after the third set. They lost them all and he was getting tired. Jake was pouting while you jumped on your brother’s back. “Evil Twins for the win !” Natasha laughed. You giggled, while Robert ran around like a doofus, you on his back, taunting Jake. "Don't tease him too much, you know he's a sore loser!" sneered Bradley. "Nonsense!" sulked Jake, "I always accept my defeats, except they never happen.” The rest of the team rolled their eyes, both annoyed and amused.

Reuben and Mickey returned with the pizzas, and the rest of the afternoon was less athletic. Some went for a swim, others played cards in the shade of an umbrella. You chatted peacefully with Natasha and Jake, Robert never too far away. Strangely enough, you were glad he stayed close. Sometimes he would join in the conversation, but he remained Bob, preferring to watch and listen rather than talk. It was a nice afternoon, you felt like a teenager on holiday with a bunch of friends. Bradley and Javy started a water fight by grabbing Bob and throwing him in the water. You and Natasha ran at the boys to avenge him and one thing led to another and you all ended up in the water, friendly fighting each other.

The sun slowly got low, the afternoon ending peacefully. You stayed at the bar with the squad, learning more about each one, more about your brother’s ‘new’ life. They told you about their life on base and about the bird strike that Natasha and Bob had suffered from. You scolded your twin because he never told you about it. He defended himself by saying that it was not that big of a deal, but by the looks on the others' faces, you knew he lied.

Part of you was jealous of him. You both left home around the same time, and he seemed so happy now, away from your parents and their intrusive presence, away from your father's demoralizing, degrading and demotivating comments. You couldn't understand how he could be doing so well when you were struggling to find yourself, to be happy. This question echoed in your head and made you feel too much in the room. You excused yourself and went outside for some fresh air. You were pale and shaking, and anxiety was getting the better of you. You tried to ease your breathing and closed your eyes to focus on the sound of the waves in front of you. You could hear the laughter and indescribable conversations in the distance, mingled with the music and singing. It was somewhat peaceful and yet you couldn't calm the flood of painful memories that invaded your mind. Every laugh reminded you of your ex's, every burst of voice a little too loud made you cower. You didn't want to think about it anymore. You wanted to forget everything. You just wanted it to stop. It had to stop. You had to get away from it all. You had to-

“Y/N ? Are you ok ?”

Your brother's gentle voice made everything disappear. You felt yourself breathe again. But you knew it would only be temporary ; because seeing him worried would make you weak and anxious again. You took a deep, shaky breath before turning to him. You tried to hide the tremble of your voice, and put on a fake smile. "It's okay... I... I have to go home. Thanks for today, it was fun!" You passed him in a hurry, still pale and scrapie.

He sighed and bit his lip before summoning his courage. "What are you running from? You... you looked like you were fine, and then all of a sudden you're running away. " "Robby, please-" "What happened?" "Nothing, I-" "Did someone say something?" "No! I just-" "Did I say or do something wrong? Tell me!" "Then let me talk for god’s sake !" you clenched your fists then sighed. "You didn't do anything wrong, Robby. It's just that... I can't..." your voice cracked a little and you leaned your head back to hold back your tears. Bob's head tilted in concern and he stepped towards you. "Can't what? You can't do what?"

You didn't answer, shaking your head. You couldn't put into words the confusion you felt. You searched for words and began to pace back and forth. "Can't do what Y/N?" Robert insisted gently. "I... fuck... fuck."

Your voice and your whole body were shaking. It was getting harder and harder to hold back the tears. How could you tell your brother that you envied him and hated that feeling ? How could you envy him for building his life, a life filled with healthy loved ones that were there for him? How could you hold a grudge when he was the one who got you out of your abusive relationship at the risk of his acceptance into the naval academy ?

He took another step towards you, reaching for your hand, but you stepped back. "Hey, come on, tell me-" "I can't get over it, okay?! I-I can't figure out how and why you managed to grow up and I'm stuck at 17! Why do I always feel like I'm in pieces, alone, like he 's still running my life, like he 's always there, over my shoulder, no matter what I do?" "Y/N... it wasn't your fault-" "I know!!! I fucking know it wasn't my fault!!” you cut him, almost screaming, “I know he 's the one who did this to me, who pretended to love me, who beat the shit out of me and abused me every single day for months! I know all of that ! Then why am I still stuck there ? Why am I the one still struggling?! Why am I the one who feels like a complete failure ? Why can't I let it go?!" your bottom lip was trembling as tears rolled down your face. “Why can’t I just move on ? Why do I always hear dad saying ‘told you so’ or mom sighing every time I mess up ? Why don’t they ever want to talk about what happened but they urge me to just forget about it ?! Why don't they support me ? Why don’t you ?!”

You gasped, trying to catch your breath, before you whimpered and cried like a baby. Bob stood still for a moment before pulling you into his arms and hugging you. He suspected that the events of your past were still haunting you, but not to this extent. And you felt that he didn't support you... he felt like shit. How could he neglect your feelings so much, how could he act the way he blamed your parents? He let you cry against him for a long moment, swallowing his discomfort. He was the one to blame, and he had to focus on you. "I... I'm sorry, Y/N. I... I didn't realize that my behavior was hurting you… I'm just worried, and I didn't show it the right way. I'm an idiot." "A big idiot," you mumbled, sniffling. "Yes, a big idiot. And I'd really like you to let me help you. We... We have contacts with some really good therapists for post-traumatic stress and stuff... I could give you their numbers?" You just nodded, your tears finally stopping. "I'm sorry I yelled at you..." you mumbled. Bob smiled and pinched your side. "Don't be, I deserved it. I’m sorry I tried to interfere between you and Hangman…" “He’s actually a sweet guy behind his smug facade, y'know ?” you smiled and chuckled to his falsely doubtful face and the little 'meh' he let out.

As promised, Bob put you in touch with the therapists he'd told you about, and negotiated a longer return period with your agency. You had a full month and a half more. You started to really work on the singles, and your sessions with the therapist were helping. You knew you'd have to keep seeing one when you got home. But going wasn’t something you wanted to think about. As the days went by, you didn't want to leave San Diego. Your brother and the Dagger Squad were stationed here permanently, and you needed him in your life.

Him and Jake.

You always thought that the two of you were just a fling, that you or he would get tired of it and move on. But neither of you did. You spent more and more time with him, he'd crash at your Airbnb - uninvited - every now and then with a movie or dinner. The more time you spent with him, the more you fell for him and you didn't want it to end as a one-night stand, you knew that much.

As you got to dig beneath his proud, cocky, arrogant facade, you discovered a gentle man full of insecurities. He talked about his father, who was not exactly the ideal role model and the fact that he didn’t have the best of relations with him. He talked about his mama, and with the look he had in his eyes, you knew he worshiped the woman ; based on what he shared, you figured Mrs Seresin was more than strong and dedicated to her children. He told you about his sisters, both of them a couple of years older than him, and his nieces and nephews. He loved the munchkins - his terms, not yours - and you saw in his eyes how much he meant it. They were his whole world, but he’d never admit it.

You tried to take your time with him but he had a strange effect on you ; you found yourself opening up to him, faster than you thought. You'd never told anyone about your abusive relationship - except Robert. And Jake had listened to you without judgment or interruption. He sat there, ready to absorb any information you wanted and were able to share.

So you were torn between your desire to get back to the recording studio in New York, to get back to work, and your desire to stay in the peaceful everyday life you'd created in just a few weeks. You had to go back. You had obligations to keep. Maybe after you fulfilled your part of the contract, you could negotiate and come back to San Diego? This thought was the only thing that kept you working hard. You succeeded in writing three more singles than the agreed two. You were quite pleased with yourself.

And sooner than you realized, you had to go back to New York.

Natasha, with the help of the rest of the team, had organized a little surprise going-away party at the Hard Deck. Penny was in on the secret and had given them the bar to themselves. You loved the surprise and the evening was unforgettable. Bradley had insisted on karaoke, and you dragged your twin along. Robert rolled his eyes, but played along. You had the time of your life and enjoyed every second of this last night with your new friends. They made you promise to call them whenever you could, to think of them and to come back as soon as possible. They took you home and spent a few more hours with you before letting you rest. But just when you thought everyone was gone, you found Jake on the couch, waiting for you. You felt butterflies in your stomach as you saw him there, his eyes anchored in yours. You detailed his face, as if to remember it after you'd left; his slightly wavy blond hair, those beautiful green eyes, his perfect jawline, his cocky smile. That damn smile that made you weak in the knees like a teenager. God, you hated that smile as much as you loved it.

"Enjoying the view?"

You didn't realize that he had stood up and was now so close to you. A deep blush spread across your cheeks and yet you couldn't take your eyes off him, your gaze locked with his. You bit your lip and grinned. "So what if I am, big boy?" you teased. He huffed, amused, and his hand slowly reached for yours, your knuckles brushing. His other hand reached for your cheek, his thumb stroking it tenderly. You leaned into his touch, feeling yourself melt under his gaze. He said nothing, his eyes never leaving you. "What?" you whispered, your heart beating a little faster. "That's how I want to remember you." "Like what? Tipsy and tired?" you laughed a little. "Na. Happy... relaxed... you look beautiful." Jake whispered back, his cheeks taking on a rosy hue. Your stomach fluttered and you found the courage to interlock his fingers with yours. "Sounds like I have you under my siren's spell, Lieutenant..." you teased, biting your lip. "You certainly do, ma'am," he whispered again, the gap between the two of you only a few inches. You felt your confidence slip from your fingers, your eyes on his lips.

"Kiss me..."

It's an almost inaudible beg that escaped you, and you didn't even have time to be embarrassed that you felt him on your lips. The kiss was sweet, tender. You squeezed his hand into yours, and his free one slid around your waist, holding you close. You wanted the kiss to last forever. With amazing ease, Jake lifted you against him, his hands going under your thighs. You wrapped your legs around his waist and your arms around his neck. He carried you into the bedroom, his lips exploring yours, your jaw, your neck and your collarbone. Your fingers brushed through his soft hair and soon you felt your back against the mattress. Your clothes ended up chaotically thrown around the room as you undressed and kissed each other. The moon gave you just enough light to never lose sight of him. His eyes devoured you before his hands discovered your body. He asked you if you were okay every step of the way, and you never thought being asked for consent could be so arousing.

That night was the best sex you've ever had. It was slow and tender at first, and when you were both comfortable enough, it got rougher, in a good way. You fell asleep curled up against him, rocked by his heartbeat.

The next morning you woke up alone in bed. Jake left a note on the nightstand, saying he had to go to work early. "Call me when you can, have a safe flight. PS: Gonna miss you. PPS: If anything happens to you on the flight, I'll hunt the pilot." You chuckled and tucked the post-it into your notebook. You quickly got ready and Robert took you to the airport.

The ride was rather quiet, neither of you wanting to be separated again. He helped you with your luggage and waited with you until you finally had to go. You hugged him tightly and thanked him for the past weeks. "Call me when you get there, okay? And don't forget to hydrate. And eat. And..." "Ok Dad," you joked with a smile, "I'll call you, don't worry. Love you, Robby." "I love you too. Be safe."

8 months.

You have been stuck in New York for 8 long months. You did a lot though. A new album, some concerts, some interviews and photo shoots. The 'scandals' in the press disappeared and the journalists finally focused more on your songs. You video called the Daggers as much as you could - almost every day - and texted a lot with your brother, reassuring him that you continued to see a therapist and that you were doing well under the stress. But the one you called and texted the most was Jake. Every day you had a sweet good morning text, and every night you had an equally sweet good night text.

You missed him.

You missed them all, of course. But Jake Seresin was under your skin. And as hard as it was to admit, you loved him. You couldn't wait to see him again. Of course, no one knew you were together. Natasha seemed to have doubts, and sometimes Bob was somewhat suspicious too but as long as they didn’t ask you didn’t say anything.

8 months of hard work and your agent agreed to let you go to San Diego as he made an arrangement between a recording studio and your label. You told no one but Penny. You wanted to surprise the team. You had one last show to do in New York and then you would catch your flight to California.

Before the concert, you called your brother, knowing that he would probably be at the Hard Deck with the others, since it was almost 7:00 p.m there. As soon as he answered, you could hear the team around him. "Wow, look at you Nemesis! You look great!" Natasha said, smiling broadly. You laughed and thanked her when you heard the other whistle and complimented you. "Not too stressed?" Bob asked as the others calmed down. "Well, it's the last show for at least six weeks. I’ll try to make it fun!" "Of course you will," said a voice you recognized immediately. "Hangman, you look good," you teased as you saw him appear on the screen. You noticed the slight blush on his cheeks as he spotted you in your dress and makeup. He didn't have time to reply that you had to go on stage. "Ok bye guys, gotta go, love you!" you hung up and had time to see a text message on your phone : 'You better keep that dress'. You smiled. You may have fallen in love with Jake, but you also knew you had him wrapped around your finger.

The show went smoothly, and after a celebratory dinner with your team, you went back to your soon-to-be-outdated apartment. All your things were packed and ready to go. You couldn't wait to move to San Diego. Your flight was at 3 pm in New York and you were scheduled to land in California at 6 pm. Bless the time zone difference, if you were lucky, you could get to the Hard Deck before the team and wait for them.

But since nothing ever goes exactly according to plan, your flight was an hour late. That wasn't too bad, you could still surprise them, you just had to change the way. You contacted Penny and asked her if she could manage to distract them. She agreed and gave you permission to use the back door to be more discreet when you entered. Your excitement was through the roof, you felt like a child on Christmas Day. By the time your cab reached the bar, your heart was pounding in your chest. You couldn't believe you were finally there, finally where you felt at home. But you had to be reunited with those you considered family to feel completely at home. You almost ran to the back door of the bar, re-reading the instructions Penny had sent you: she'd distract the Daggers by asking them to bring back some heavy beer packs and other beverages, and you could hide discreetly by the pool table.

The perfect plan.

You did as she said, a smile forming on your lips as you heard your friends in the distance. You were stressed, but not in an anxious way, you just couldn't wait. You picked up a pool cue to keep your hands busy. When you finally heard them coming, you bit the inside of your cheek to keep from screaming ‘surprise!’. The first person to spot you was Mickey. His eyes widened and he stopped dead in his tracks, almost tripping Reuben, Natasha and Javy. They didn't have time to grumble before Mickey pointed at you, speechless. A small laugh escaped you as they froze in front of you, one after the other. Only Jake, Bradley and Robert were missing. Bradley and your twin were chatting, a little bit behind, and you soon heard Robert's voice.

"Are you guys okay? You look like you've seen a ghost..." His voice became almost inaudible at the end of his sentence, as he realized they were all staring at you. You smiled at them and tilted your head. "Are we playing, or are you afraid of losing?" you asked with a bit of a laugh. Natasha couldn't hold back her laughter and almost ran to hug you. "It's good to see you again, Mini Floyd."

The others came right after to greet you, hugging you and sometimes lifting you off the ground. You laughed, happy to see them again. Your twin was still frozen, not believing his eyes. You scooted up to him and pinched his cheeks. "Good evening Robby, did you-" You didn't even have time to finish your sentence before he pulled you into his arms. You smiled and hugged him as tightly as you could, small tears of joy escaping from both of you. "It's good to see you," he finally said, "Missed your stupid face.” "Oh I know you did, you can't live without me dearest brother !" you chuckled. You caught up with everyone, admitting that you were on a break, but not telling them that you were here for good. You wanted everyone to be here to make that announcement but someone was missing.

You paid for your round of beers - and sparkling water for Bob - and went looking for Jake. Why wasn't he here? Penny grinned as she noticed the look on your face. "Don't worry Y/N, he's just on the phone with his sister. One of his nephews' birthdays, I think." "Thanks Pen- Wait, what are you-" "I know everything dear, he talks too much for his own good if you ask the good questions." "How did you find out?" you whispered, making sure no one was listening. "Well, it wasn't really hard. Some of your interviews or shows have been aired," she pointed at the old TV, "and the calls you made ; he just had that look in his eyes. I can tell when a man is head over heels. He certainly is."

You blinked and shook your head in disbelief. Of course she'd guessed; Penny knew the squadron like her own children. She chuckled and handed you another beer. “Go surprise him.” You smiled and nodded, heading to the front door. Your heart fluttered when you finally heard Jake’s voice. It was hushed but you could feel his smile through his soft laughter. You waited for him to end his call, still hidden by the door. You bit back a chuckle when you heard him saying goodbye to the kids with a baby voice. It was ridiculously adorable.

“Hello stranger, does that pretty voice have a name ? ”

He was a bit startled and turned to you hastily, not believing his ears. A surprised expression appeared on his face, but a flirtatious smile quickly took its place. "That's my line, baby." "Oh really? Supposed I forgot," You grinned proudly and took a step towards him, "Did ya miss me, big boy?" He grinned and grabbed your waist, sending a sweet shiver down your spine. "Not as much as you missed me." You rolled your eyes in amusement and set the beer you had brought him aside. You took a moment to just drown in his green eyes, the light of the sunset making them look surreal. How could he be so handsome ?

He was quite speechless to have you here, it made you smile. Jake was always so talkative, it was strange to have him so quiet around you. "Cat got your tongue, Seresin?" He chuckled and stroked your cheek. "Why don't you check?" You smiled and finally kissed him. You had waited 8 months for this feeling and it was just so good. His soft lips against yours, his strong hands on your waist, fingers digging lightly into your flesh. You put your hands on his neck, parted your lips to let his tongue reach for yours. One of his hands slid up to cup your cheek and you leaned into his touch as the kiss ended. "I have to admit, I missed that," he whispered with a grin, his forehead pressed gently against yours. You huffed and rolled your eyes, "Told you I had you under my spell." He laughed and kissed the nape of your neck, holding you close. You smiled and stroked his hair before stepping back. "Let's join the team before ‘Tasha gets suspicious."

You took his hand and headed inside, eager to tell your friends the big news.

You missed the atmosphere of the Hard Deck. The soft songs from the jukebox, the always nice patrons, your favorite people at the pool table or playing darts... everything was so comforting. Your smile widened when you reached the Daggers, dragging Jake with you. "Look who I found outside," you teased, "good old Hangman.” "Ah, you should have let him out," Bradley sneered, sipping his beer. “Real funny Bradshaw, I know you already missed me.”

You let the two men fight like two children and when you noticed Natasha's eyes on your hand in Jake's, you blushed a little. She grinned and whispered something to Reuben. You could read a little 'damn it !' on his lips as he frowned. "Okay guys, Javy and I won! The bet is over!" "What? No!" Bradley was outraged. He grumbled and handed Natasha a bill. "Wait a minute, what bet?" your twin asked. "Well, my dear Bob, it seems that our little Jake and your sister... are together." You blushed and wanted to hide, not knowing how your brother would react. Jake was already arguing with Javy, telling him he was a traitor for betting on it, since he had confided in him on the subject.

"Oh, I've known for a while," Robert said simply with a smile. "What?!" you huffed, letting go of your boyfriend's hand to face your twin. "What do you mean you knew?" "Well, for starters, Jake stayed with you the night before you went back to New York. And you hid the hickey he left on your neck badly. Then I got suspicious when every time we ended our video calls, he got one in the next two minutes; and he's not the most discreet when he's on the phone. But I knew it when he bought that really nice necklace and asked me, of all people, for advice. A week later you were wearing it. So yeah, I knew," he shrugged with a smile, laughing a little at your expression. "What? I just thought that neither of you were ready to tell anyone? But you seem happy so it's okay."

You were surprised. You didn't think he'd take it so well, but you weren't going to complain.

So the evening began with a secret revealed. You didn't hesitate to stay close to Jake, even ending up on his lap when the bar was full. You listened to their adventures from the last few months - at least what they were allowed to share. It was good to be with them again, to find that comfort. After Mickey bought his round, he turned to you. "Well, let's ask the burning question: how long are you staying?" "To tell you the truth... I'm not leaving. I'm moving into my little house 10 minutes from here tomorrow," you smiled. "And you didn't tell me?!" said Jake and Bob at the same time, making them blush under the laughter of the others. "I wanted to surprise you! I've got a new deal with my label, so I can stay here." "Cheers to that! To the definitive return of Y/N Nemesis Floyd," Bradley decreed, raising his beer.

You all laughed and toasted each other, happy with the news.

All was finally well.

You had finally found your place, and you wouldn't change it for the world.

#top gun maverick #top gun imagine #post movie top gun maverick #twin brother!bob floyd #robert floyd #jake seresin x reader #jake seresin #bradley bradshaw #natasha trace #penny benjamin #javy machado #mickey garcia #reuben fitch #pov second person #angst with a happy ending

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ilovecupcakesandtea · 1 month

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Chapter one Chapter six My master list

Title: Chapter five

Word Count: 1614

Archive Warnings: Smut in future chapters. Slight angst. Alcohol misuse.

Rating: E

Pairing(s): Eddie Munson/Steve Harrington Robin Buckley/Chrissy Cunningham

Character(s): Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington, Robin Buckley, Chrissy Cunningham, Benny, Uncle Wayne & The Party

Tags: Smut. Angst. Steddie. Buckingham. Steve Harrington. Eddie Munson. Robin Buckley. Chrissy Cunningham. Band AU. TW Alcohol use.

Summary (optional): Two different styles of music, two boys that really don't like each other. What could possibly go wrong?

Beta Reader: Thank you so much to my beautiful beta readers @slippy-slip @ladydarklord & @dontwasteyourchances

Art link and credit: Art is by the wonderfully talented @pink-luna-moth (as is the banner)

Fic link and credit: Ao3 Link

AN: First off thank you to Alex for the art and being just amazing to work alongside. Thank you to Slip for dragging me back from the edge so many times over this. I really am so excited to have this out here!!

I wrote this for the @strangerthingsreversebigbang event and had a lot of fun doing so!!

Divider links: reblog and music notes

Graduation came and went, and before they knew it they had a regular Friday night slot at the Hideout. The Spitfires had been playing weekly there for a few weeks now and each week it felt like they got better and better. More and more people seemed to be there each week and last week, they had stepped off the stage to a small crowd of fans waiting for them.

The music they were writing together felt like it was getting better too. It turned out that as the four of them, they could each see things in a song others couldn’t. Steve was constantly trying to find the beat in the song and moving words around to fit that beat better. Robin was great with the linguistics of their writing and changing words as needed. Chrissy was the best at making sure the whole thing flowed perfectly, and Eddie was primarily the songwriter, spending many a sleepless night hunched over his notepad until the sun started to rise and he had to grab a couple hours of sleep before school. Since they had all graduated, time not spent working their summer jobs was spent together, either practice or writing time.

One Friday at the end of their set, they were greeted off-stage by Benny himself.

“Great set as always,” He said “Come with me a second?” he asked before walking off to his office.

“So I’m friends with the manager of Healer in Indy. I’ve had a word with her and got you a spot next Friday. Not headlining, but on before the headliners. You lot deserve to be playing at a bigger place, give you a chance of getting more fans.”

“Seriously?! That’s awesome, Thank you so much, man!” Steve exclaimed, grinning ear to ear.

The band spent the rest of the night celebrating and talking about the future. How they were going to spend their first million and such.

A week later, the band was backstage at Healer. A nervous energy flowed through each of them. The venue was packed and the band that had gone on before them had been amazing.

“How are we meant to follow that?” Chrissy asked, panic only just being disguised from her voice.

“Oh bunny, you’re going to be so good up there on stage, god I wish I could be in the crowd just so I could watch you up there.” Robin soothed, pulling her girlfriend close and kissing her softly.

Steve and Eddie stepped away, closer to the stage allowing the girlfriends a moment alone.

What felt like both fleeting seconds and an eternity later, the band was on stage. The lights were bright and hot, hitting them all in their faces immediately. This was a new level for the band. So many more people than they were used to playing to and a much bigger venue.

“Good evening beautiful people! My name is Eddie, this is Chrissy, that's Robin and the half-naked dude on the drums is Steve.” Eddie said into the mic, pointing to everyone in turn. “We’re The Spitfires”

40 minutes later, the four walked off stage, physically drained but mentally flying high. It was the best gig they had ever played. The energy they had got back from the crowd was immense. Loud cheering at the solos they played and even shouts for an encore when they left the stage.

Heading to the small green room, they all got freshened up, changed, and went to mix with the crowd. It felt so good to have people seeking them out to let them know how much they loved the set, wanting to know when they were next playing and where, asking if they had any music recorded and released yet.

They had all been chatting and dancing for a while when a guy walked over to Robin and started to dance with her. She moved away from him and the guy followed.

“Leave me alone please, I’m in a relationship and don’t want to dance with you” Robin shouted at him over the music.

“Aww come on sweet thing, he’s not here right now, come dance with me. One dance won’t hurt.” The guy replied, grabbing Robin and pulling her to him.

“Get off me!” Robin screamed, catching the attention of Steve straight away.

“She said no, leave her alone” Steve growled attempting to pull the guy away from Robin.

“Awww your boyfriend came to your aid, how very knight in shining armour of him.” The guy snickered,

“I’m not her boyfriend. But the lady said no so go the fuck away before I make you.” Steve responded.

“Make me,” came the reply before the guy moved forward, only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

“I don’t know what the fuck you think you’re doing but I think you should leave, now” the voice of Eddie came from behind him.

“And who the fuck are you? A second cock for this slut?” the guy spat.

“I’m the guy that’s getting your ass out of here for speaking about one of my best friends like that.” Eddie seethed, pulling the guy away from Steve and Robin.

“Get your hands off me, let me go” the guy shouted at Eddie.

“Absolutely fucking not, you utterly vile excuse of a human. You are exactly the reason women are scared to go out alone. You’re lucky I’m in a really good mood or I’d cut your dick off and force it up your nose.” Eddie shouted as he threw the man to the ground outside the club.

“That was so fucking hot” Steve breathed heavily as he pulled Eddie down into an alleyway and pressed him against the wall. “The way you stood up for Robin, the way you manhandled him out of there, so fucking hot.”

“Oh really big boy? Like the idea of me being all manly like that, hmmm?” Eddie asked, raising an eyebrow before leaning forward and kissing Steve tentatively at first.

Steve pressed him further into the wall and deepened the kiss. Grabbing Eddie's shirt, soft fabric in his fingers, and the slight grazing of skin under his palms, Steve pulled the other man towards him. Tongues chased each other and breaths mingled, thoughts of anything but each other stopped.

Moving from kissing Eddie's lips to his neck Steve continued to kiss down, exposing more of the other's body. Sinking to his knees, he undid Eddie’s belt and pulled his trousers down just enough to be able to take his dick out of his underwear.

“Fuck” Steve whispered, almost to himself, as he freed Eddie from the confines of his tight jeans.

“Just going to stare, or do something with it hmm, princess?” Eddie questioned, looking down at the boy in front of him on his knees.

“God you’re so fucking insufferable, you know that right, Munson?” Steve bit back, starting to stroke Eddie slowly.

“Either use that bratty mouth of yours for some good or don’t, but you’re the one that initiated this. Might I remind you we are outside.” Eddie quirked an eyebrow and smirked slightly.

Taking the base of Eddie’s cock firmer in his hand Steve stroked harder and quicker. Looking up at the other man through his eyelashes he ran his tongue on the underside of him before taking the soft head into his mouth and swirling his tongue around and taking more into his mouth.

“Shit, sweetheart, if I’d have known your mouth was as good at sucking dick as it is mouthing off, I’d have had you on your knees ages ago” Eddie sighed, taking Steve’s cheek into the palm of his hand.

Taking more and more of the dick into his mouth and then down his throat Steve moved his hand away from the base and down to the balls, taking one in hand and massaging them.

“Fuck sweetheart, taking me so well, look at you, so fucking pretty with a cock in your mouth, much prettier when you’re not being an insufferable brat” Eddie said, reaching down and taking a fist full of Steve’s hair pulling his head back slightly. “Want me to cum down your throat, sweet thing? Keep things cleaner?” Steve nodded the best he could in response, not breaking eye contact; he could feel his eyes getting wet and his vision was becoming a little blurry around the edges from lack of oxygen. That heady feeling and Eddie looking down at him with pupils blown was all he needed to cum untouched, a whimper on his lips the best he could.

“Stevie baby, did you just cum from sucking me off? Jesus, you really are something else.” Eddie panted, thrusting his hips slightly.

Steve’s glazed-over look, a blush on his cheeks, and his eyes so blown Eddie couldn’t tell you the colour was all he needed to spill down the other man's throat with a grunt.

The two walked back into the club, grabbed fresh drinks from the bar, and went in different directions.

Heading to the bathroom 20 minutes later Eddie saw two people pressed close in the small hallways very clearly making out. It wasn’t until he got closer that he realised that it was Steve pressed against the wall. Eddie went numb; this just proved to him that whatever he felt for Steve was completely one-sided.

“How do I taste?” Eddie asked, thinly veiled mania in his voice.

“What?” The guy attached to Steve replied.

“I asked how the IPA tastes here?” Eddie responded, smiling.

“I don’t know, I’m busy here so fuck off”

“Yeah, I can see that, have a good night, Stevie” Eddie said, walking off and leaving the club.

#eddie munson #steve harrington #stranger things #steddie #robin buckley #steve x eddie #stranger things reverse big bang #stranger things fanfiction #steddie fic #steddie fanfic #steddie fanfiction #smut #tw smut #tw alcohol #buckingham

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whatsonmedia · 9 months

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Thrilling Thursday Extravaganza: 10 Summer Fest Frenzy!

Celebrate the kaleidoscope of life as July unfurls its vibrant petals, revealing a symphony of music festivals, mouthwatering gastronomic wonders, and mesmerizing cultural fiestas. This month is a kaleidoscope of possibilities, ready to paint your memories with an eternal brushstroke. Step into the rhythm of the festivities, savor every delectable moment, and let the enchanting allure of July's magic whisk you away on an extraordinary journey. Get ready to dance to a tune only July knows, for this month promises a symphony of experiences like no other! Elrow Town 22 July Photographer: www.lukedyson.com Awarding-winning Spanish super clubbing brand Elrow hosts one of its famous mega summer outdoor parties. It's likely to be a sell-out event where 25,000, party-loving people all up for an epic time this weekend. The party is taking place in the UK's capital city for one big marathon dance extravaganza where no expense has been left-out on the production set up, that includes mammoth stages, elaborate décor, stellar entertainers and also, so much more, ensuring Elrow Town is one of the unforgettable dance music parties for the summer of 23, and one that is not to be missed on your dream clubbing bucket list. However, Elrow Town fans know this is one of the stand-out festival, where the party crowd like to go all out on dressing up to the nines. Festival golden tickets holders can expect a carnival clubbing atmosphere like you've never experienced. Everything is OTT from this prestigious super-club event brand. The DJ line-up is off the chart with DJs flying in from all over the globe and also includes some of the finest UK DJ royalty such as Gorgon City, Patrick Topping, Armand Van Helden, Alisha, Toni Varga, Dj Yoda, Ariel Free, Bamboleo, Bastian Bux, Ben Hemsley, DJ Paulette, Florentia, Nicolas Caprile, Oh My God Its The Church, Raw Silk, The Brothers Macklovitch are just a few to mention of the vast list of entertainers.For Tickets & More Info> elrow.com On The Beach When> 22 July The annual dance music pilgrimage is back by demand. The truest dance music lovers are heading out from all corners to take Brighton by storm this Saturday to see one of the biggest and legendary king of the DJ turntables. Carl Cox takes over Brighton’s famous pebbled beach setting the south coast on fire for one of the biggest beach parties in the UK this summer. The last two beach parties were so successful they both sold out in record-time those that missed out on this golden ticket event were begging and blagging to get their mitts on these special tickets.Carl Cox has a reputation that has seen him travel the globe 10-fold for his non-stop DJ touring road-trip making him a superstar in a league of his own. What he brings to the turntables and dance floor is a party where you keep dancing all night-long. And to make this open-air music feast the best it can be is for the sun is shining high in the sky again this year to give it the Ibiza festival feel. It’s another golden ticket event for Brighton On The Beach summer series that has become a highlight on the festival calender. And the DJ master on helm of the wheels of steel won't be going solo this Saturday as Carl brings some of his best DJ friends to make this one unforgettable dance events on the beach. The line-up also features the one and only Franky WAH, Syeeta, Keeq, Russell Small, Sasha & John Digweed and maybe a few surprises. It’s going to be a big one!For Tickets & More Info> carlcoxbright.com Nozstock The Hidden Valley 20 – 23 July Nozstock The Hidden Valley is one of the best festivals of the summer season. Held in the rural outback of Herefordshire, the festival features a relaxed vibe and a lineup that includes a mix of big named music artists and up-and-coming talent. The music genres range from pop, ska, folk, funk, soul, indie, drum and bass, psytrance, and house music. There is truly something for everyone at Nozstock The Hidden Valley. The festival also features a wide variety of food and drink options, as well as plenty of activities and events to keep you entertained. From circus acts and theater performances to comedy and dance, there is something for everyone to enjoy. Nozstock The Hidden Valley is the perfect place to let loose and have a good time. Dress down or dress to impress, but a little bit of glitter wouldn't go amiss! 2023's lineup is so huge, it's going to be off the charts in terms of music entertainment. The lineup features a host of UK and international music artists, including Sister Sledge, Andy C, Bill Bailey, Gentleman's Dub Club, Submotion Orchestra, The Craig Charles Funk & Soul Club, Ibibio Sound Machine, Calyx & Teebee, Lx One, Flava D, Dirty Dike, DJ Sammy, Huey Morgan, Stanton Warriors, Dillinja, 24HR Garage Girls, Mollie Collins, Nicky Blackmarket, Kanine, Randall, Levela, Total Science, Nu:Motive, Utah Saints, Sonny Wharton, Dark Arts Club, Dom Kane, Phil Kay, Dity Secretz, and Sonny Wharton. The festival is sure to be a great time for everyone, so don't miss out!For Tickets & More Info> nozstock.com Latitude Festival When> 20 - 23 JulyWhere> Suffolk Much more than just a music festival. Expect colorful sheep roaming the tufty fields, opera on the lake, clowns under canvas, dance troupes, and a huge children's area. Who> George Ezra, Kiefer Sutherland, Mimi Webb, James, Paolo Nutini, The Kooks, Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott, PulpMore Info> latitudefestival.com Standon Calling When> 20 – 23 JulyWhere> Hertfordshire Beautiful boutique festival, in beautiful surroundings, which hosts a stella line-upYears and Years, Self Esteem, Bloc Party, High Contrast, Faithless, LF System, The Human League, Anastacia, Confidence Man, Dylan, Katy B, KT Tunstall, Groove Armada. Scouting For Girls, Django Django, Caity Baser More Info> standon-calling.com Tramlines When> 21 – 22 JulyWhere> Sheffield In its 15th year, Tramlines has become one of the best sell-out festivals in the region of Sheffield. It's a festival that packs a punch, delivering on all the festival expectations and beyond. Moving to its new destination at Hillsborough Park for 2023, the festival is a firm favourite created by its big atmosphere and the mega artist line-up outdoing itself each year. This is one of the festivals that reaches a capacity sell-out. So, get your tickets quick The line- up features Richard Ashcroft, Courteeners & Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott, DMA'S, Blossoms, Kaiser Chiefs, Sugababes, Bloc Party, Sea Girls, Circa Waves, The Enemy (Special Guests), Pale Waves, Beabadoobee, Kate Nash, Katy B, Reverend and the Makers, The Zutons (Special Guests), Black Honey, Spector, Omid Djalili, Jonathan Pie, Paul Smith Scott Bennett, Raul Kohli, Myq Kaplin, Harry Stachini and more More Info> tramlines.org.uk Junction 2 When> 21 – 22 JulyWhere> Brentwood London Hosting the most iconic stage productions Junction 2 returns to its birthplace for the ultimate two-day festival packed with all the festival features in the heart of the UK summer alongside one of the best festival line-ups that dance music and festivals fans could wish for. Taking up the ante this is one festival that sounds out in a crowd. The line-up features Underworld, Adam Beyer & Cirez D, Asch Pintura, DJ Tennis, Charlotte de Witte, Dixon, FJAAK, Hessle Audio Trio, Jeff Mills, Skin on Skin, Margaret Dygas, Sonja Moonear, Midland, Mona Yim, Nina Kraviz, DJ Stingray 313 More Info> junction2.london Bluedot When> 20 – 23 JulyWhere> Cheshire After a two-year break, this unique festival is an experience that offers a full-on program of music, science, arts, technology, culture, and film, similarly to no other open-air event around the globe. Expect off-the-chart live performances, DJ sets, conversations, workshops, hands-on experiments, exhibitions, and new experiences.The weekend line-up features 2ManyDJs, Adam Buxton, Annie Mac, Belief, Big Joanie, Black Country, New Road, David Holmes, Divorce, Django Django, Grace Jones, Gwenno, Leftfield, Matt Winning, Max Cooper, Max Richter, Nihiloxia, Nish Kumar, Nubya Garcia, Pavement, Roisin Murphy, Supernature Disco and many moreMore Info> discoverthebluedot.com Penn Festival When> 21 – 22 JulyWhere> Buckinghamshire Taking place in the quintessential Penn village, the camping family-friendly festival with one of the best boutique festival DJ line-ups and top music artists to keep you having a top weekend. Throw together workshops for the curative types, and upmarket food stalls to this returning festival with a cracking atmosphere. The line-up features 24 Hour Garage Girls, Artful Dodger, Bad Manners, Bastille, Brandon Block, Corinne Bailey Rae, Craig Charles, Dj Fresh, Dj Luck And Mc Neat, Ellis Dee, Embrace, Gaz Coombes, Johnny Marr, Jumping Jack Frost, Kenny Ken, Mr. C, Mr. Wilsons Second Liners, Musical Youth, My Nu Leng, Noel Gallagher, Not3s, Sub Low Hz, The Cuban Brothers, The Skinner BrothersMore Info> pennfest.net Truck Festival When> 21 – 23 JulyWhere> Hill Oxfordshire Truck Festival has announced its lineup for 2023, with Royal Blood, Two Door Cinema Club, and Alt-J headlining. Other acts on the bill include The Wombats, DMA's, The Vaccines, Self Esteem, Maisie Peters, Everything Everything, and Beabadoobee. Truck Festival is a three-day camping festival that takes place in Hill Farm, Steventon, Oxfordshire. The festival is known for its diverse lineup, friendly atmosphere, and relaxed vibe. Tickets for Truck Festival 2023 are on sale now.More Info> truckfestival.com Read the full article

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annarellix · 1 year

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A Kelly Society Christmas by S.K. Andrews (The Kelly Society #2)

Vivien Kelly’s Christmas list: Pick up Christmas tree—check, buy Christmas gifts—check, order pumpkin pies—check, save my friend Josh from Krampus the Christmas demon—check! After killing a demon and saving the modern world, paranormal cleanser Vivien Kelly only has three days till Christmas. She scrambles to buy gifts, grocery shop for holiday feasts, and get a Christmas tree. She’s on track when suddenly, her young friend Josh calls the wrath of Krampus, the Christmas demon. Can Vivien buy gifts, cook Christmas dinner, decorate the tree, and also save Josh before Krampus drags him to an eternal hell? Vivien must call upon the most frightening goddess of all for help—Hel, goddess of the underworld.

Universal link for the book on Amazon

My Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this well plotted, compelling, and highly entertaining story: it made me laugh, kept me turning pages, and had fun. It’s the second in a paranormal romance series but it can be read as a stand-alone as the author explains who the characters are and what happened. I loved the Christmas atmosphere, the realistic and well developed characters, and the world building. Krampus keeps some of its original characteristics and it’s an interesting and well-developed bad guy. The author made it a character of the Nordic mythology and referenced that mythology in the world build. As a matter of fact, Krampus is a character of the Alpine tradition and the book talks about Krampus Nacht and how the previous events made this story possible. This mix of different traditions could sound a bit weird but I liked the world building and liked the creative use of different elements joining them in a intriguing setting. I want to read other stories in this series, this one is recommended. Many thanks to S.K. Andrews and Henry Roi PR for this digital copy, all opinions are mine.

The Author. When S.K. Andrews wasn’t swimming in the Pacific Ocean in her hometown of Laguna Beach, California, she busied herself by writing fantasy stories and acting on stage. Having grown up watching Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone and Night Gallery shows on TV, S.K. quickly fell in love with paranormal tales with a message of wisdom and love. Also, being a fan of romance novels and non-fiction ghost stories, she decided to marry the two and write paranormal novels of suspense, adventure, and intrigue with a strong romantic foundation. The sense of adventure inside her came from summers of camping with her family in Mexico (Baja California) and walking along beaches with no other footprints but hers, as her family members unpacked the camper and got ready to collect clams right off the shoreline for dinner. After attaining a B.A. degree in Theatre from University of California, Irvine, and a Professional Acting Certificate from LACC Acting Academy, an idea sparked for interviewing actors to help student actors entering the theatre arena. Her non-fiction book The Pursuit of Acting; Working Actors Share Their Experience and Advice was published by Praeger Publishers. In The Kelly Society book series, S.K.’s heroine, paranormal cleanser Vivien Kelly and her team are in a race to rid the modern world of deadly Celtic creatures. Bay of Darkness and A Kelly Society Christmas (July 2022) are the first two books in the series. Bay of Darkness won the Finalist prize in 2019 from N.N. Light’s Book Heaven and also placed Finalist with Readers Favorite in 2020. The beautiful Hudson Valley in upstate New York is where S.K. calls home.

https://www.skandrews.com https://www.facebook.com/starra.andrews https://www.instagram.com/starraandrews/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP6dzir_I6LhEIWOYCJQFCw?disable_polymer=true

#paranormal romance #christmas story #Blog Tour #Henry Roy PR #humorous fiction

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pillowfort-social · 4 years

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Community Update: September 2020

Hi Pillowfolks! It’s time for another Pillowfort Community update where we let you know what Staff have been doing behind the scenes, happenings within the community, and a preview of what’s in store for the platform.

Since July 2020 we have…

Added NSFW Labels to Communities

Added CAPTCHA technology to our payments page (details here)

Added a new filtering ability to filter posts from guest users.

Added the ability to ‘Like’ Comments.

Added Unfollow Button on the Followers Page.

Added Optional E-mail Notifications for Community Moderators.

Created Better Warning Pages for blocked content.

Made improvements to both the Site Moderator and Community Moderators Panel.

Fixed a bug that caused posts to be missing on Home Feed.

Fixed the Report button in search results.

Community Stats:

As of September 2020, Pillowfort currently has over 99,900 registered users and 8,160 communities.

Welcome New Users!

Welcome to Pillowfort. We are so glad you are part of our community. If you haven’t yet, check out Pillowfort101 Getting Started Guide.

Developer Update

Our team held a meeting at the end of September to discuss our current developer pipeline. Like other small companies, we were met with unexpected challenges in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our founder, Julia Baritz, also had to briefly step away in the summer from their developer duties due to a family emergency. This changed our trajectory slightly on our upcoming site updates. In spite of all of the obstacles our team is still aiming for public release by the end of 2020. This is possible thanks to the generosity our community continues to provide. We are confident in launching free registrations for everyone as we finish developing our Premium Features Suite (this includes a separate portal for our Customer Service team to handle Premium Features Suite inquiries and a tool calculating & applying credit for users who have sent in donations in addition to the features themselves) which will enhance the user experience on Pillowfort.

In August we asked for feedback regarding our site-wide UI redesign. The response was loud and clear: our proposed changes did not align with what our community envisioned for user sidebars. We take your feedback very seriously. Our team is working with our designer to create another round of mockups for user sidebars. The revisions have put a slight delay on the launch of our site-wide UI redesign, however, it is important to our team that the proposed changes benefit our users. It is very possible the site-wide UI redesign may launch after official public release.

Our moderation team is in the final stages of finalizing our training program for volunteer moderators. We will make another announcement soon with a definite date of when the volunteer moderation system launches.

In addition to the volunteer moderation system our team will also be releasing two-factor authorization, additional CAPTCHA technology, improvements to deactivation & deleted accounts, and a portal throttle daily registrations in the event of an overload to Pillowfort’s server capacity prior to public release. We will be announcing our site updates as they are released on the platform. Stay tuned!

Upcoming Site Update

We are planning at least one more Site Update during the month of October. This update will include further improvements to community moderation, additional privacy settings, and additional bug fixes.

Our team will be releasing a small revision to our Terms of Service to help bring clarity for our community on one of our adult content clauses. We will elaborate how this clarification will be applied in our moderation decisions and address in advance some of the common concerns we anticipate in a separate announcement soon.

All questions regarding our Terms of Service can be sent to [email protected]

Help Us Keep the Lights On!

At Pillowfort, we do not receive any funding from venture capital or other outside investors because we are committed to keeping our user experience a priority, and not being beholden to outside interests. Pillowfort has been entirely user funded since the beginning. Because users are no longer required to pay for a registration link, we are largely dependent on donations to help us pay the bills until the release of our Premium Features Suite which is still in development. We need your help. If you would like to support us, you can make a one-time or monthly payment to Pillowfort to help keep the lights on here. Any money donated to us now will be applied as a credit to your account when we release Pillowfort’s Premium Features Suite.

Interact with Pillowfort Staff, ask questions, plus learn about upcoming features and more on social media. We have recently launched an official Instagram page and plan to increase our social media activity this fall and winter.

Pillowfort: Staff Facebook: Pillowfortsocial

Twitter: @pillowfort_soc

Tumblr: pillowfort-social

Instagram: pillowfort.social

Coming Soon

Here’s a look at some of the exciting features, in no particular order, that our team is planning to make available before the end of 2020:

More Community Privacy Options.

Volunteer Moderation System.

Official Public Release!

2 Factor Authentication.

Complete Site-Wide UI Redesign.

Coming in 2021:

Here’s a look at some of the larger scale improvements for the first half of 2021 & beyond

Search & Tagging Improvements.

Improved Mobile Browsing.

Premium Features Suite.

Media Kit Page

Monthly Donation Goal Page.

Multiple Account Management.

Queue & Drafts.

Improved general functionality & usability of the website.

A Special Thanks

Thank you all for your support and patience as we prepare to launch our platform for public release at the end of 2020. We recognize the importance of making Pillowfort readily available to everyone while other social media platforms continue to roll out further restrictions and are working around the clock to make this a reality.

As a reminder: Pillowfort is committed to creating a safe, user-friendly community for creators & fans alike. We do take all feedback to heart. Our team is constantly watching for feedback & suggestions within the BetaUsers community and on other social media channels in addition to the feedback we receive in e-mail. Thank you for continuing to share your feedback to help make Pillowfort even better.

Our team is eternally grateful for all of our users, both old and new, who have made Pillowfort their home in these uncertain times. Stay tuned for new features and improvements coming down the pipeline very soon!

Best, Pillowfort Staff

#pillowfort #pillowfort-social #pillowfort.social #pillowfort community update

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Upcoming Marvel Movies Release Dates: MCU Phase 4 Schedule, Cast, and Story Details

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A bold new era for the Marvel Cinematic Universe began in 2021 on Disney+ with the wildly successful WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but Marvel Studios certainly hasn’t been resting on its laurels in terms of upcoming cinematic blockbusters. Not only does it have Black Widow (finally) ready for theatrical release, but we’ve also got Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness all in various stages of production, there are also TV series on the way for the likes of Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, She-Hulk, and more!

Well, if you’ve been a little confused by Marvel’s shifting dates and streaming priorities, never fear! We’ve got a comprehensive release calendar for you here detailing all the forthcoming MCU projects, so you’ll always be able to find the latest updates when you need them.

Let’s take a look at everything Marvel has in store over the next few years…

Loki

Release Date: June 9, 2021

Tom Hiddleston will reprise his most famous role, as Loki finds himself on a heist through time and space “as he steps out of his brother’s shadow” after the events of Avengers: Endgame! Oh, and based on this trailer, there’s all kinds of time-travelling weirdness awaiting, including the return of Heimdall, some other Asgardian hijinks, DB Cooper (yes!), Owen Wilson playing an obscure character based on a beloved Marvel Comics writer, and…Loki possibly running for President!

Tom Hiddleston stars, of course, and the cast also includes Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sophia Di Martino, Wunmi Mosaku, and Richard E. Grant. Michael Waldron is head writer and Kate Herron is directing.

Black Widow

Release Date: In theaters and on Disney+ with Premier Access Friday, July 9, 2021

The Black Widow movie was heading for a May 1, 2020 release before the pandemic, but Disney and Marvel decided to delay it until the industry’s infrastructure was back to some semblance of normal. They seemed absolutely committed to keeping Natasha on a theatrical release rather than sending her to Disney+, but eventually semi-caved in March as it was confirmed that Black Widow would hit both streaming and theaters simultaneously in July.

Here’s the official synopsis:

“Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.”

Cate Shortland directed the film, and Scarlett Johansson stars, with Florence Pugh and David Harbour alongside her. One of the movie’s villains is Taskmaster, and we wrote a little bit more about him right here.

Natasha Romanoff will get a prequel movie of sorts here, as we catch up with Widow right around the events of Captain America: Civil War. Will the plot affect her character’s ultimate fate in Endgame? Do not count on it.

What If…?

Release Date: Summer 2021

The beloved comic book series that tells tales of how things might have turned out differently in the Marvel Universe is becoming an animated series on Disney+!

Here’s the official synopsis:

“What If…? flips the script on the MCU, reimagining famous events from the films in unexpected ways…Marvel Studios’ first animated series focuses on different heroes from the MCU, featuring a voice cast that includes a host of stars who reprise their roles.”

We know that at least a couple of these roles include Chadwick Boseman’s final performance as T’Challa as well as the return of Hayley Atwell as Agent Peggy Carter!

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Release Date: September 3, 2021

Simu Liu has been cast as the titular Shang-Chi and Tony Leung as The Mandarin (hey, that name sounds familiar! But this time, we’re getting the real Mandarin on screen). Destin Daniel Cretton is directing from a script by Dave Callaham. Given its “Ten Rings” title, Shang-Chi should be steeped in Marvel lore, going all the way back to the first Iron Man film!

Hopefully this will be Marvel’s most action-packed movie yet. The trailer sure makes us think so.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage

Release Date: September 17, 2021

Andy Serkis (Mowgli) steps behind the camera for Venom 2, which now boasts the catchy title of Venom: Let There Be Carnage. The first film, buoyed by a terrific showing at the Chinese box office, made an absolute ton of money, despite being released to mostly scathing reviews.

Venom: Let There be Carnage will follow up Sony’s 2018 Spider-Man-less spinoff film, but will likely be more connected to the MCU this time around, thanks to a renewed deal between the company and its Marvel Studios partners. Tom Hardy will return as Eddie Brock, of course, and as you can probably guess from that title, he’ll be facing off against Woody Harrelson’s villain, Cletus Kasady aka Carnage!

We wrote about all the cool Marvel stuff happening in the above trailer right here.

The Eternals

Release Date: Nov. 5, 2021

Acclaimed Nomadland helmer (and Oscar winner!) Chloe Zhao is directing Marvel’s Eternals from a script by Matthew and Ryan Firpo. Marvel described the film as an “epic story, spanning thousands of years” that features “a group of immortal heroes forced out of the shadows to reunite against mankind’s oldest enemy, The Deviants.”

The cast features Richard Madden as Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Lia McHugh as Sprite, Don Lee as Gilgamesh, Angelina Jolie as Thena, Gemma Chan as Sersi, and Kit Harrington as Dane Whitman, the Black Knight. We meet all these characters in the trailer, which we wrote more about here.

This one was another victim of the release date shuffle, but we’ll finally get to see Jack Kirby‘s wildest creations soon enough!

Spider-Man: No Way Home

Release Date: Dec. 17, 2021

The next Spider-Man movie looks like a big one! Spider-Man: No Way Home will once again take place in the MCU since Marvel and Sony solved their differences, good sense prevailed, and Tom Holland’s Peter Parker will remain a vital part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

This one, well…this might be a live action Spider-Verse movie from the sound of it. Jamie Foxx will reprise his role as Electro from the maligned Amazing Spider-Man films and Alfred Molina will return from the Raimi era as Doctor Octopus.

Wait. Are they trying to make this a multiversal Sinister Six movie? Because…we could be down for that.

Hawkeye

Release Date: Late 2021

Jeremy Renner returns as Clint Barton to train his replacement as Hawkeye, Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop! Apparently based on the brilliant run of comics by Matt Fraction and David Aja, Hawkeye will also prominently feature Lucky the Pizza Dog, one of the great canines in Marvel Comics history.

The cast also includes Vera Farmiga as Eleanor Bishop, Fra Fee as Kazimerz Kazimierczak, Tony Dalton as Jack “Swordsman” Duquesne, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Alaqua Cox as Maya “Echo” Lopez, and Zahn McClarnon as Willie Lincoln. We wrote more about all these new characters here.

Ms. Marvel

Release Date: Late 2021

Ms. Marvel is finally coming to live action! Here’s the official synopsis for the series…

“Ms. Marvel introduces Kamala Khan—a 16-year-old Pakistani-American growing up in Jersey City. “A great student, an avid gamer and a voracious fan-fiction scribe, she has a special affinity for superheroes, particularly Captain Marvel. But Kamala struggles to fit in at home and at school—that is, until she gets super powers like the heroes she’s always looked up to. Life is easier with super powers, right?”

The cast includes Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel, Aramis Knight, Saagar Shaikh, Rish Shah, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Matt Lintz, Yasmeen Fletcher, Laith Naki, Azher Usman, Travina Springer, and Nimra Bucha. Episodes are directed by Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah, Meera Menon, and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.

This is going to be a big one, folks, because Kamala is going to be a significant player in Captain Marvel 2. How significant? The title of the movie is now The Marvels!

Morbius

Release Date: January 21, 2022

Spider-Man spinoff Morbius is Sony’s next big Marvel wild card, and it’ll officially be the first spinoff to properly connect to the MCU (even if Marvel Studios still isn’t officially acknowledging it in their own promotional materials the way they are with Spider-Man: No Way Home). Here’s the official synopsis for the film…

“Dangerously ill with a rare blood disorder, and determined to save others suffering his same fate, Dr. Morbius attempts a desperate gamble. What at first appears to be a radical success, a darkness inside him is unleashed and transforms this healer into a hunter.”

Safe House‘s Daniel Espinosa directs from a script by Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless, Art Marcum, and Matt Holloway. Jared Leto stars as the vampiric title character, and the cast also includes Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Al Madrigal, and Tyrese Gibson.

Read more about the character of Michael Morbius here.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Release Date: March 25, 2022

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness looks like it will open up the storytelling possibilities in the MCU like never before. And that’s just based on the name alone. Scott Derrickson was scheduled to direct, but bowed out because of “creative differences” with Marvel. But the good news is that Marvel found a suitable replacement in none other than Sam Raimi, who of course has plenty of superhero experience thanks to his Spider-Man trilogy in the early 2000s!

This one has loads of connections to the wider MCU. Elizabeth Olsen will be here as Wanda Maximoff post-WandaVision, and the film will also connect to Spider-Man: No Way Home and its own multiversal ambitions. There are also a few rumors doing the rounds that Jericho Drumm aka Brother Voodoo could be introduced in this sequel. We’ll keep an eye on that and update this if there’s any substance to them.

Thor: Love and Thunder

Release Date: May 6, 2022

Taika Waititi, who gave us the delightful Thor: Ragnarok, will return to write and direct. Chris Hemsworth will be back. Natalie Portman is your new Thor (yes, you read that right, Jane Foster will wield the hammer…just as she did in the comics!). Christian Bale has also joined the cast as the terrifying Gorr the God Butcher. Not only that, this movie will finally put Olympians in the MCU with Russell Crowe as Zeus. Can Hercules be far behind?

Oh, and did we mention that the Guardians of the Galaxy will be along for the ride, too?

Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever

Release Date: July 8, 2022

Black Panther 2 is now called Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Marvel has made it official that after the tragic, untimely death of Chadwick Boseman they have no intention of recasting the role of T’Challa, which is absolutely the right move.

Ryan Coogler will return as director, but there are no other details currently available. Interestingly, Coogler is also bringing a Wakanda TV series to Disney+ at some point in the future, too, and something tells us this Wakanda-centric title for the sequel is a sign of things to come.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Sequel

Release Date: October 7, 2022

Is it technically an MCU movie? Nope. But with all the legal weirdness going on between Marvel and Sony, and this franchise’s very multiversal concept, who’s really to say that it ISN’T an MCU movie either, right? In any case, the sequel to the best Spider-Man movie of all time is coming in 2022 with Avatar: The Last Airbender mastermind Joaquim Dos Santos directing and David Callaham writing.

There’s also an “untitled Marvel movie” still technically scheduled for this date but…that is almost certainly not gonna happen now. Expect whatever that project was to move to one of these below dates or to some other currently unspecified date on the calendar.

Captain Marvel 2: The Marvels

Release Date: November 11, 2022

WandaVision writer Megan McDonnell has been tapped to write the screenplay for Captain Marvel 2, which now boasts the title of The Marvels. You know what else is really cool? Candyman‘s Nia DaCosta will direct!

We have no idea where we’ll find Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) in the sequel to her hugely successful first standalone MCU entry. Will she be fighting to loosen her former Kree pals’ iron grip on a pre-Avengers galaxy? Or will the follow up film see her fighting for justice in the present?

In any case, we know that she’ll be facing off with Zawe Ashton as a currently-unnamed antagonist, and WandaVision‘s Monica Lambeau (Teyonah Parris) will also return in her superpowered state after the events of that game-changing show. Considering that Monica was once known as “Captain Marvel” in the comics, that title of The Marvels becomes more appropriate. And even MORE appropriate when you realize that Kamala Khan, Ms. Marvel, will also be making her big screen debut.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Release date: Feb. 17, 2023

Peyton Reed will return to direct the third installment of the Ant-Man saga, making him the first director in MCU history to complete a trilogy…perhaps the most unlikely trilogy in Marvel’s entire arsenal. Paul Rudd will return as Scott Lang, and you can certainly expect Evangeline Lilly to return as The Wasp and Michael Douglas as Hank Pym.

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The villain of the film? That will be Kang the Conqueror, who will be played by Lovecraft Country‘s Jonathan Majors. The inclusion of Kang opens up all kinds of interesting possibilities for the MCU, and may even tease the arrival of the Fantastic Four down the line! We wrote more about those possibilities right here.

We’re also going to need fast confirmation on Michael Pena’s return as Luis, though. Luis is key…

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Release date: May 5, 2023

After a tumultuous period which saw James Gunn fired and then rehired as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 director, he will finally return to complete his spacefaring trilogy for the studio. However, Gunn can’t even begin filming Guardians 3 until he finishes production on The Suicide Squad for DC, as well as an HBO Max Peacemaker prequel. Once those projects are finished, he’s free to return to the MCU.

Avengers: Endgame left the team in an interesting place. We broke down some of the story possibilities right here.

And then there are still some dates that Marvel has announced that they have yet to match projects to. Those dates are…

July 28, 2023

Oct 7, 2023

Nov. 10, 2023

Some of those dates could very well be good fits for the following films…

Fantastic Four

The MCU Fantastic Four movie is finally happening! Marvel seems to be hinting that Fantastic Four will be their next priority after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. So is it possible that we’ll see it on July 28, 2023? That sure would be a great piece of summer blockbuster real estate to launch what might be the most important piece of the MCU going forward!

Marvel’s first family will join the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a film directed by Jon Watts, who did such a wonderful job with the first two MCU Spider-Man movies. That’s all the information that’s out there at the moment, but as soon as we have more, we’ll update this. It also appears that WandaVision started to set up the Fantastic Four, so stay tuned. We have our own theories on why Marvel went with the Fantastic Four before the X-Men, but that’s another story.

Blade

In 2019, Marvel announced that they will be rebooting the Blade franchise with Mahershala Ali playing the titular daywalker. Ali’s True Detective co-star – and former Blade villain – Stephen Dorff is excited to see what he can do with the character, and so are we.

Could Marvel decide to drop this in that Oct. 7, 2023 release date? Considering that’s the Halloween season and Blade is, y’know, a vampire hunter, they’d have to be foolish not to, right?

Captain America 4

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier showrunner Malcolm Spellman is co-writing a currently-untitled Captain America 4 with another FWS alum, Dalan Musson. Those are pretty much all the details that are currently available on this one at this time, but at least we know that Anthony Mackie will return as Sam Wilson in that incredibly badass Captain America costume they gave him for that show. We wrote some more about the potential story possibilities for this one right here.

There’s no date or director for this one yet, so even 2023 seems like it might be a longshot.

Deadpool 3

Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Loeglin will be the writing team tasked with bringing the Merc with a Mouth to the MCU. What a Deadpool 3 could look like in the interconnected Marvel Cinematic Universe is, of course, anybody’s guess, but if anyone can crack wise about the follies of this kind of corporate synergy, it’s Ryan Reynolds.

And then there’s the lingering TV stuff, at least two of which will arrive in 2022, with the balance likely to arrive in 2023…

She-Hulk

Tatiana Maslany will play Jennifer Walters, a lawyer who ends up with her cousin Bruce’s gamma-irradiated blood. Hilarity certainly ensues. Kevin Feige has promised that since this will be a courtroom show, you never know who else from the MCU could show up.

It’s possible we’ll get She-Hulk on Disney+ in 2022, but nothing is confirmed at this stage.

Moon Knight

Oscar Isaac will play Marc Spector, a disturbed fortune hunter who also happens to be the avenging avatar of an Egyptian moon god. Oscar Isaac is already training hard for the role, and the series is now officially in production, so we wouldn’t be surprised if we see this one on Disney+ in 2022.

Ironheart

The first of two series that will explore the legacy of Iron Man and Tony Stark in the MCU, Ironheart stars Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams, a teenager at M.I.T. who creates her own suit of armor to right the wrongs of the world.

Armor Wars

Don Cheadle will reprise his role as Rhodey and will have the solo spotlight in the War Machine armor in a series that deals with a nightmare scenario for the MCU: what if Tony Stark’s Iron Man technology fell into the wrong hands and was getting duplicated by villains? Based on a classic comics run, Armor Wars promises big action and lots of obscure bad guys. We can’t wait.

Secret Invasion

Samuel L. Jackson will return as Nick Fury alongside Ben Mendelsohn as Talos for a series about the shape-shifting Skrull infiltration of Earth. Kingsley Ben-Adir is apparently playing the villain of the series. Olivia Colman, Emilia Clarke, and Killian Scott also star.

On directing duties are Thomas Bezucha (Let Him Go) and Ali Selim (The Looming Tower) while Mr. Robot vet Kyle Bradstreet is the head writer.

Secret Invasion could be the biggest thing to happen to the MCU since Endgame.

Wakanda

Very few details are available on this one at the moment, but Ryan Coogler will develop at least one Wakanda-set TV series for Disney+. Could this have anything to do with that Wakanda Forever title for Black Panther 2? We wrote more about some of the implications of this here.

We’ll keep updating this with new information as it becomes available!

The post Upcoming Marvel Movies Release Dates: MCU Phase 4 Schedule, Cast, and Story Details appeared first on Den of Geek.

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tomorrowxtogether · 4 years

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K-Pop’s Tomorrow X Together on Promoting During a Pandemic, Advice From BTS

Tomorrow X Together (TXT) entered the K-pop scene last Spring and has had a whirlwind of a first year that included touring the U.S. and sweeping up rookie trophies at year-end Korean music award shows. The group — comprised of members Soobin, Yeonjun Beomgyu, Taehyun, and Huening Kai — is the first to be formed by Big Hit Entertainment, home to BTS, in six years.

TXT’s second EP, “The Dream Chapter: Eternity,” was released last month, ahead of KCON, the annual K-pop and Korean culture event. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, KCON went digital for its 2020 event “KCON:TACT 2020 SUMMER,” and Tomorrow X Together has found new ways to connect with fans virtually. Variety spoke with the quintet via Zoom.

You performed at KCON New York last year, making this your second appearance at the event. This time around, the world is very different from what it was like last summer…

Taehyun: That was our first time performing in front of such a large audience overseas. We were really excited but also very nervous. Since then, we’ve been able to perform more often so I think we don’t feel as nervous. The main thought we have is to enjoy each performance.

Beomgyu: Additionally, these days we aren’t able to meet in-person with our MOAs [TXT’s fandom name], so we try to give our 100% and 200% so that our energy can be received and they can see how hard we have worked.

These days, it’s much easier to connect with fans with all of the online resources available, and you have been holding virtual fan meetings as well. Are there any memorable moments that stood out to you?

Yeonjun: Recently we did an online fan sign event and I could tell that the fans were sad that we couldn’t meet them in person. However, it was still fun and really cool that we were able to do the event and meet with fans via video. I really enjoyed it.

Taehyun: There were some fans who were still very nervous and shaking even though we weren’t meeting in person. I remember telling them that it’s okay to calm down and relax so we can enjoy our conversation.

It’s been a month since your EP was released and I’m sure fans were excited to get new music amidst various stay-at-home orders. How has promoting new music during this time been?

Taehyun: Of course, I can’t say that it’s been the best. Considering we are able to perform better with the energy and cheers we receive from the fans who are present, it was a little disappointing, but it’s also a huge relief that we’re able to connect via video and release new content for our fans.

“Maze in the Mirror,” the fourth track from “The Dream Chapter: Eternity,” was co-written by all of you and Beomgyu had a hand in producing as well. What was that experience like? Do you plan to write and produce more in the future?

Beomgyu: We collaborated on “Maze in the Mirror” during our hard times. Our month-end evaluations during our trainee days were extremely tough. We wrote the lyrics with those feelings in mind so we were nervous for the song to release, but it was a good experience. All the members are currently working on producing, so we have plans to showcase our voices more going forward as well.

How has each member matured or changed over the past year as TXT has also grown?

Taehyun: I think the members have matured a lot on the outside, but I think we’ve improved significantly in trying to convey our emotions when we act. This time when we filmed our new videos, I think we were all much better at acting and delivering the feelings that we wanted to express.

Beomgyu: Also, compared to last year, we’ve all become a bit more relaxed. Last year, when going on stage or any broadcast, we were very nervous and focused on presenting everything we prepared perfectly. This year, I think we’re able to show off new charms while still being able to showcase everything we prepare, making us a bit more professional.

Soobin: This time around, we tried out concepts that were new to us and I think people were surprised to see new sides of Tomorrow X Together. For what’s left of 2020 and for 2021, we want to show different sides of us and a wider variety of charm.

Do you have any individual goals you’d like to achieve in the coming years, big or small?

Yeonjun: This is actually a group goal, but we haven’t had our own official concert yet. We were disappointed that this year, due to the current situation, we weren’t able to do one, but we’re hoping that next year, the situation improves and we can hold a TXT concert with our fans.

Beomgyu: Also, I hope the situation improves significantly next year so we can meet with our MOAs and perform for them on a huge stage.

When Variety met with Big Hit Chief Bang Si-Hyuk last fall, he mentioned that one of TXT’s challenges is that it’s hard to showcase growth when compared to the astronomical success of BTS. Do you find this to be true?

Taehyun: It’s true that there is pressure, but I believe in myself and believe in our group members, so I think we’re able to overcome these pressures.

He also mentioned how storytelling is a major element in Big Hit’s philosophy. Do you enjoy the storytelling and the universes that are expanded with each music release?

Taehyun: I think storytelling allows us to deliver our message in a fun way, so I really enjoy it. I think it makes everything more memorable and lets us create fresh music videos.

You’ve shared several pieces of advice from BTS that you’ve received over the years, like how member J-Hope said to never feel intimidated and to always show your true selves. What have you done to follow their advice and are there any milestones set by them that you hope to achieve?

Beomgyu: I think because they told us to show everything we can on stage, we always keep that in mind and always try our best.

Yeonjun: Last year, before we went to the U.S. for our showcase, they told us that when they first started out, they tried to bring overflowing energy to each performance. I think we took that to heart and really tried to put on powerful performances.

K-pop fans are experts when it comes to giving nicknames. Do you each have a nickname that you like the most?

Soobin: Mine is “Giant Rabbit.” I look like a rabbit and I am tall so I noticed fans calling me that. I think it’s cute, so I like it.

Taehyun: “Director Kang.” Our fans gave me that nickname when I first wore a suit, saying that I looked like a company Director.

Yeonjun: Fennec Fox or “MoJukMoSal,” something I’ve heard more recently. It means “to die for MOA and live for MOA,” so I like that nickname.

Huening Kai: I like “Huening Dwijeok.” I think it fits with my image well. When I make mistakes, I tend to fumble around a lot. I think it’s a nickname that fits me perfectly. (Dwijeok means to rummage around or fumble in Korean.)

Beomgyu: I think up until our latest release, I’ve always been called teddy bear, but recently our fans have been saying I look like a Maltese. I think I’m starting to see it when I wear white clothes too, so I like that nickname as well.

#txt #tomorrow x together #200623 #twitter #variety #interview #soobin #yeonjun #beomgyu #taehyun #hueningkai

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x--daughters-of-darkness--x · 3 years

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Employed To Serve are putting British metal back on top

For the past decade, Justine Jones and Sammy Urwin of Employed To Serve have helped elevate British rock and metal both on and off the stage, from Album Of The Year releases to their championing of new bands. Now, with fourth full-length Conquering on the horizon, the pay-off is being felt across the entire scene…

Some years ago now, at the end of her last job in retail, Justine Jones made a decision. Providing she could eat and had a roof over her head, she wasn’t, she told herself, going to spend her life doing anything that was “un-fun”. Instead, Justine decided, she’d navigate the world by working hard on the things she loved and that she truly believed in.

“I’ve never been content to be a cog,” she says. “I’ve always wanted to be like a very heavily involved person. I like having a say, I guess. I’ve never liked having a manager, in terms of work. I have got that childish, rebellious thing, like, ‘Don’t tell me what to do.’”

Employed To Serve are not cogs. Nor are Justine and guitarist Sammy Urwin ones to sit around and wait for the lights to go green. With what the singer calls “our Hatebreed, perseverance attitude”, a self-starting, hands-dirty, DIY ethos that’s as much about enthusiasm for music and building a scene as it is firing up pits, they have become one of the most exciting British metal bands of the past decade. When Oli Sykes invited them to join the Bring Me The Horizon-curated All Points East festival two summers ago, he noted that they were “one of the few heavy bands around who I actually like”.

Kerrang! had got there before him, mind. In 2017, we crowned Employed To Serve’s second album, The Warmth Of A Dying Sun, our Album Of The Year. Its follow-up, 2019’s Eternal Forward Motion, was awarded a full 5K rating and a spot on our front cover, their second. When they gave us the nod a while ago that they were about to drop the first single from their brilliant fourth album, Conquering, coming this September, we didn’t even need to think about giving them a third.

Like Oli’s band, there’s an energy to Employed To Serve, an orbit around them that feels like it’s pulling in other bands, linking seemingly unlinked outfits together through sheer enthusiasm. Beyond the band, offstage, Justine and Sammy run Church Road Records from their home in the Surrey commuter town of Woking (a place notably annihilated by Martians in H.G. Wells’ War Of The Worlds). Through this, they can sign and put out music by bands that they like: the only real signing policy amounting to “bands that excite me”, says Justine. There’s as much gratefulness towards the artists they release – Svalbard, Palm Reader, Cruelty, to name but three – for trusting them to look after their records, as there is to anyone who gives their own band the time of day.

“As cheesy as it sounds, we’re lifers,” says Justine. “I love music. I love releasing it. I love that I do it for a full time job. I love playing live. First and foremost, we are music fans. Obviously, we love being in a band and stuff. But we just live and breathe music.”

As with so many things for so many people, the depth of this dedication was thrown into sharp focus as COVID took hold last year. At the end of 2019, Employed To Serve were on a winning streak. Eternal Forward Motion was one of the year’s most acclaimed releases, they band had spent a month on the road with Bury Tomorrow in Europe and the UK, and on New Year’s Eve, Sammy and Justine put a bow on their long-term relationship by tying the knot. In March 2020, just before lockdown ended touring for everyone, the band’s UK headlining run just about snuck in, and saw them sell out London’s Camden Underworld, a show that ended in chaos with the audience onstage triumphantly carrying Sammy on their shoulders.

When things ground to a halt, the gap left was palpable. Once source of reflection came in taking stock in what the band had achieved, while also having to find a replacement for guitarist Richard Jacobs. It’s an exercise the pair are admittedly used to, to the point where Justine says, “We probably look like dictators, like it’s the Sammy and Justine show.”

To wit, keen observers will note that they are the only members of Employed To Serve to be on both this Kerrang! cover and the last one. There’s no bad blood anywhere – Richard left to move to Japan with his wife, drummer Robbie Back has become a dad, bassist Marcus Gooda went on to focus on other things – it was simply the wage of getting older in a band. When life’s forks come up, you have to make a choice. For Sammy and Justine, the choice just happens to be to stay the course. Three new members have been drafted into the band – guitarist David Porter, bassist Nathan Pryor and drummer Casey McHale – but it still provided a moment of reflection for what was actually important.

Another, more serious bit of stock-taking came last September, when Justine resigned from her job as a label manager at Holy Roar records, after serious assault allegations were made against the label’s owner. Soon after, that label folded entirely.

But in both cases, where events could have sown doubt or caused serious damage, things instead bloomed. And so, Sammy and Justine turned Church Road – a small concern of Sammy’s for years already – into a full-time occupation and livelihood, taking on Holy Roar releases already on the slate and pressed, and releasing them herself. In the case of their first release, Svalbard’s When I Die, Will I Get Better?, there was barely a month to move everything over, and yet it still hit the shelves on the day it was always intended to. Because, looking back, it’s almost like there was no other consideration than to carry on.

“When everything happened, I thought, ‘Maybe I could go to a bigger label or something.’ But that’s not where my heart is,” says Justine. “My heart is in finding bands in tiny little venues and then helping them grow into their second hours and stuff. And it’s just more fun. Obviously, it’s very scary [running your own label], and I’ve spent a lot of this past year very stressed. But I don’t have to answer to anyone – I just do the best I can for the bands because I love them. My favourite thing is sitting on Bandcamp with a coffee or a beer, and going through each genre finding the best bands of that day, or going through Apple Music or Spotify and finding new bands. It has been like that since I was a kid. So doing a record label just makes sense.

“Obviously I wish it was under better circumstances, but COVID has been almost like a blessing for this band, because it’s helped us regroup,” she continues. “It made us take stock of all the cool shit we’ve been lucky enough to do. Because sometimes when you get caught in the rat race of everything, you’re never really living in the moment. And then COVID happens, and you think, ‘What do I miss?’ Friends, family, playing shows. And I’m like, ‘Cool, I’m doing the right thing. Let’s get back to it.’”

For Justine, this meant becoming the boss. For Sammy, already a music obsessive with an apparent addiction to both old-school death metal and playing guitar in as many bands as possible as a member of Renounced and Motormouth (as well as playing in Glorious with Justine), it was an opportunity to dedicate his life to his passion even further. A gardener by trade, he’d lately found himself wondering what was beyond it.

“I was doing gardening work on and off for the last 10 or so years. I enjoyed the work, but sometimes I would kind of find myself being a little bit like, ‘What’s the five-year plan?’” he says. “I’ll always do the band. But we got a few members going off and doing other stuff. I knew I had to find something else to do, because I wanted to do something in music that also fit around being in the band. I just knew I wanted to be with like-minded people talking about music all day.”

Sammy and Justine talk about music a lot. Get Sammy started on metal, and his enthusiasm quickly runs away with him. For Justine, their impending gig at Download Pilot a couple of days after our interview is as much about watching everyone else as it is their own show. Though one of the heaviest bands on the line-up, as a showcase of the breadth of rising talent the British rock scene has, appearing on the same ticket as Enter Shikari, Trash Boat, Creeper, Boston Manor, Neck Deep, Loathe and Conjurer is a large-scale version of what they’ve been driving at for years.

“It’s so funny, because it kind of sounds weird, but within the British scene, it makes total sense,” says Justine. “It’s a very rich scene at a minute, and it’s for all spectrums. You have bands like Orchards and Gender Roles on the Big Scary Monsters label, but equally, there’s loads of heavier bands, too. Everyone knows how hard it can be being a British band, because it’s hard to get over to America. And now, unfortunately, it’s gonna be hard to get to Europe [after Brexit]. So everyone’s got this thing like, ‘We’re this little island here and we need to stick together and support each other.’ It’s a nice collective, and a moment in time to be a part of.”

“Even though we’ve written a more metal record [with Conquering] for us, that’s definitely not a statement of us closing the door,” says Sammy. “Obviously we’d love to tour with Gojira or Lamb Of God or something like that. But if Creeper came to us and said, ‘Do you want to tour with us?’ we’d say yes.”

It was on such a line-up that Justine first appeared on the cover of Kerrang!, alongside Becky Blomfield of much-missed alt.punks Milk Teeth, with whom ETS were touring at the time. It not only showed two rising talents in the British scene, but also how well such different ends of it slotted together. Which was kind of the point.

“We were like the little metal sandwich in that tour,” says Justine. “But we worked well, because it was an example of this sort of British scene that’s going on at the moment.”

“People turned up who would be wearing ETS T‑shirts, and then singing along with Milk Teeth and vice versa,” says Sammy. “That’s so cool to see. Obviously there’s still a little bit of gatekeeping going on in the world of metal. But, for me, that was a really good sign of a shift.”

“It makes total sense. I don’t know why it’s not more of a thing, having mixed bills like that,” says Justine. “Everyone in our generation grew up listening to Slipknot and blink-182; two polarising bands, but it makes total sense. I listen to both of them religiously. So that actually kind of makes sense in a bill. It’s literally a music fan’s show. I remember Thursday opening for My Chemical Romance at Wembley on The Black Parade tour when I was 14, and Reuben opening for Billy Talent as well. I literally got to get into heavier stuff from those mixed line-ups.”

Put it to either of them that between their music, DIY attitude and simple lust for wanting to marshall a scene without walls, Employed To Serve could be called leaders, or at least the setters of examples for others to follow, and it’s a compliment they’ll take, but also something that they don’t want to take too much credit for.

“I mean, it’s for others to say, isn’t it?” says Justine. “We just have mental to-do list of stuff we want to achieve. And if that inspires people, that’s sick. It’s never like we try to be the leaders or anything.

“At the end of the day, I love the idea of kids getting into metal because of us and vice versa.”

As such an entry point, Conquering is a very good one. Ultra heavy and explosive, it leans even further into Sammy’s love of death metal OGs like Morbid Angel and Death, plus classic thrash, with shredding solos everywhere, as well as more vocals from the guitarist. And not even changing three-fifths of the band since their last album has had anything other than a sharpening effect. Fundamentally, Conquering is exciting, full of energy, and powered by a deep-set love for simply doing it.

“The floodgates have been opened, I guess, in terms of wearing our influences for this record on our sleeve,” says Sammy. “I like to think we still maintain the ETS that was there before, but it’s obvious that during lockdown and leading up to this record, for me it was about early Machine Head and Testament and Exodus and stuff. I feel like this is our chance to show that side of us a bit more.”

“It’s where I feel at home, as well, because I grew up listening to early Lamb of God and ’90s-era Roadrunner Records bands,” adds Justine. “Straight-up metal, but not straight-up metal in the sense that we’re doing it by numbers. We sound like us, but there are more choruses and solos.”

“Lyrically, it’s similar to Eternal Forward Motion and touching on some pretty bleak stuff, but for the most part we tried to put a positive spin on it,” says Sammy. “I wanted put all of that energy into something positive. I didn’t want to say the same things again, because I didn’t want to make it sound like it’s the same record. I’d say it’s an even more positive record than before.”

The day we meet for this interview, long after the tape recorder goes off, conversation about bands and music continues into the small hours. Three days later, at Download, as Sammy chucks himself into the crowd at the end of the band’s set and Justine alternates between roaring her head off and smiling her face off, the delight in all this is self-evident. Employed To Serve are one of the best metal bands in the country – one of the best bands full stop, in fact – but on a broader scale, they also act as a reflection of an emerging wave of bands for whom being in a band is an act of joy, of doing something with your life, of not settling for things that are, as Justine says, “un-fun”.

“Stuff in the band does get to you sometimes and you do get grouchy or whatever,” admits Sammy. “But we realised that we’re also very fortunate people who have played with people that have become our best friends. It’s about taking stock and being like, ‘This is fun.’ That’s what the album is about. It’s about not letting things in your life get the better of you. Because sometimes they do, and you find yourself getting all aggy, and you’re only doing yourself a disservice at that point, really.”

“I think Henry Rollins said, ‘Tenacity over talent,’” says Justine. “We work hard, but it’s tenacity. You could be the sickest guitar player but just sit in your bedroom and never play a show. No.”

“I mean, I do set myself up for it, where I’m kind of pulling my hair out,” adds Sammy. “I’ve had times where I’ve had three or four band practices a week. And there’s a gig this night, and a gig that night, and I’ve got to do this, that and the other. But you’ve gotta be in it to win it. And when a cool gig comes about, or cool tour comes about, or you’re just really happy with what you recorded, that’s when you know it’s worth it.”

As they say themselves, Justine and Sammy are lifers. As other members leave to start families or move abroad to begin the next chapter of their lives, rather than feeling left behind, it’s almost made them realise even more quite what a special thing they have.

When it brings you as much happiness as doing this clearly does, what else do you need? And anyway, it’s worth it to not simply be a cog.

#Justine Jones #Employed To Serve #2021 interviews

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avengersfilm · 5 years

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SDCC 2019: All of the Marvel Studios News Coming Out of Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con

Natalie Portman will return for Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love and Thunder, joining stars Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson. Taika Waititi returns as director, and he confirmed that Jane Foster will become the Mighty Thor, goddess of Thunder. Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love and Thunder will arrive in theaters November 5, 2021.

Marvel Studios’ The Falcon and The Winter Soldier! Anthony Mackie (The Falcon) and Sebastian Stan (The Winter Soldier) came on stage to greet the fans, and it was revealed that Daniel Brühl will return as the villain, Baron Zemo. Marvel Studios’ The Falcon and The Winter Soldier will come to Disney+ in the fall of 2020.

Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings starring Simu Liu in the title role. Appearing alongside Liu will be Awkwafina in an undisclosed role and Tony Leung as the (real) Mandarin. Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will be directed by Destin Daniel Cretton. In theaters February 12, 2021.

Marvel Studio’s WandaVision, an original series starring Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany, reprising their MCU roles as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch and Vision. Costarring with them is Teyonah Parris, whom Feige revealed would be playing the adult Monica Rambeau, who was introduced as a child in Marvel Studios' Captain Marvel. Marvel Studios’ WandaVision will arrive on Disney+ in the spring of 2021.

The MCU's favorite trickster Loki will also make his way to Disney+! Marvel Studios’ Loki, an original series starring Tom Hiddleston, will see the god of mischief causing even more trouble starting in the spring of 2021.

Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange with Scott Derrickson returning as director. But joining Doctor Strange this time around will be the Scarlet Witch, played by Elizabeth Olsen. In another twist, the events of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will connect with the Disney+ series Marvel Studios' WandaVision. Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will cast its spell in theaters May 7, 2021.

The legacy of the WHAT IF...? comics will be adapted for the screen! Marvel Studios’ What If…?, the first animated series in the MCU, will star Jeffrey Wright as the voice of The Watcher -- many actors from across the MCU will reprise their roles as voice talent. What If…? will present alternate realities in the Marvel Universe that are set to warp your world in the summer of 2021, exclusively on Disney+.

Another character from the MCU will appear on the small screen: Marvel Studios’ Hawkeye starring Jeremy Renner, who joined Kevin Feige onstage share more details about the show, which will introduce Kate Bishop, who has been hitting her mark in Marvel Comics. Marvel Studios’ Hawkeye will come to Disney+ in the fall of 2021.

Marvel Studios’ Black Widow starring Scarlett Johansson reprising her MCU role. She will be joined by David Harbour as Alexei AKA The Red Guardian, Florence Pugh as Yelena, O-T Fagbenle as Mason, and Rachel Weisz as Melina. Cate Shortland is directing. Marvel Studios’ Black Widow will come to theaters May 1, 2020.

And if all this massive Marvel Studios news wasn't enough... Kevin Feige introduced Mahershala Ali as Blade! Not only that -- Marvel Studios' Blade will also slash its way into theaters!

Marvel Studios’ The Eternals starring Richard Madden as Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Lia McHugh as Sprite, Don Lee as Gilgamesh, and Angelina Jolie as Thena. The Eternals, which will be directed by Chloé Zhao, will come to theaters November 6, 2020.

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dreamsister81 · 4 years

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In Memoriam: Jeff Buckley By Dennis

It was one of those nights that makes a difference in your life, when you don't give a damn anymore what the rest of the world thinks, as long as they're thinking it about you, and not just the image you project out of fear, or a desire to be liked.

Our subway stop brought us directly beneath the church, St. Ann's of the Holy Trinity. It was hot. I was sweating, and my head pounded, reminding me how much I loved and missed my air conditioner. When we turned the corner, toward the front doors of the church, we were met with a beautiful spring-like breeze, and a small camp of mourners. It looked the way old churches in even older cities are supposed to look; black and imposing against a bright summer sky, making you feel like you owe somebody, somewhere, something . . . maybe praise. Who knows?

We waited and talked amongst ourselves, sharing cookies and memories. We spotted the black shoes, black pants, black belt, shirt, sunglasses, hair and goatee running across the street, toward the church's side entrance, and immediately knew Nathan Larson, of Shudder to Think. He looked less happy than the building crowd, and obviously had greater reason. He was a friend.

When the doors opened, we worked our way into the line of "Jeff Buckley: Eternal Life Mailing List" members, who were unfairly ushered in before those who'd waited longer, but lacked a modem. But we'd waited, and we've loved long enough to mourn, and two among our group of four were list members. So we entered. A disco ball hung from the arched ceiling, and a movie screen showed a still of Jeff beside a mirror. Kazoo's, guitar picks, and programs were handed out at the door. We later learned the guitar picks were the remnants of a cancelled order for the next tour, and the kazoo's . . . well, read on.

We found our seats and upon them fans, like the kind a geisha would use, or perhaps parishioners longing for air conditioning. We waited with the plaintive cries of Reverend Al Green on the sound system to console us. On the stage, sat the urn holding Jeff's ashes, beside his signature Fender Telecaster.

Fr. Lewis Marshall spoke of Jeff, of his love for the church, and the church's love for him. He spoke words of consolation, but he never tried to explain Jeff's death away. He said no belief system he knows of "could make sense of such a senseless" event. He asked that we make the world a better place through the energy and love and creativity that is, not was Jeff Buckley.

"Not all of me is dust, Within my song,

safe from the worm, my spirit will survive."

-Aleksander Pushkin

Jeff's aunt, Peggy Hagberg, was the first of many to tell us about Scotty, and that she'd only ever called him Jeff once. She read a poem she'd written for his 30th birthday, recalling the intrusion he was when born, "that baby my sister was having." But he soon became plaything, then playmate, then friend. She lamented the loss of her special child to the dual person he'd become in manhood and fame. She read from her paper the words "My Scotty . . ." and nodding toward the still on the movie screen, she weeped "that Jeff" and quietly walked away.

His brother Corey Moorehead, and sister Ann-Marie Huck, the children of the stepfather who raised him (Ron Moorehead,) approached the microphone next. Ann-Marie told us about Jeff's life growing up, about his meeting with Tim when he was 8 or 9, about how he never put his guitar down after that meeting. She told us about Tim's overdose, and how it affected "Scotty", and about the time they went to see "Rose", and how upset "Scotty" was when she overdosed . . . they had to leave the theater. She said "Scotty" always held a dark portion of himself away, a part she could never touch. She cried as she spoke to him, saying she hoped he'd finally found peace in his father's arms.

Corey read a poem Jeff had written sometime in the last five years. I believe it was called "Momma dogga". It was a beautifully written, funny poem from a child's perspective, on the love of a dog and a boy, and it lightened the mood. The poem urged us all to learn to live dog-a way. To hear it, you'd really understand.

Michael Tighe and Parker Kindred (guitar and drums from Jeff's band) walked on stage with Nathan Larson (guitar/vocals, of Shudder to Think, Mind Science of the Mind) and Joan Wasser (violin, of the Dambuilders, and Mind Science of the Mind.) They played a beautiful instrumental piece, with breathtaking violin from Jeff's former lover, and deeply emotional playing from his friends. They walked off as silently as they'd walked on.

Michael Tighe was scheduled to speak next, but the church's creative director took his place and told us how much Jeff loved everyone and wanted us all to love him. She spoke of the way he made us all feel we were special because we all had a place in his heart. She read a poem from Lou Reed, as a way to tell us Jeff was our mirror, to remind us how beautiful we really are, when we forget.

There was a presentation from Columbia Records, showing interview segments, and video clips, revealing live footage, and tales of the recording of Grace.

Rebecca Moore, a longtime friend and lover sat at the piano, and admitted she was shaken by the video presentation. She related the tale of Jeff and her cat, how Jeff made it his mission to make this cat love him. She came home one night to find Jeff with his hands around the cat's neck screaming "Love me!" She said that was the way Jeff wanted the world. She performed, and sang a terribly emotional song, and walked off as quietly as all the others.

Jeff's mother followed, and let his cousin, Kelly Hagberg, speak first. She told us about Jeff's sense of humor, and his undying need to create music. He would imitate every character in Saturday Night Fever, do Steve Martin's "Wild and crazy guy" better than Steve Martin, play Nintendo with her little brother, or a song on a Fisher Price guitar. Jeff believed we should make music every chance we got, so we played "You Are My Sunshine" on the kazoo's we were handed at the door. Once for practice, once quietly, and once to blow the roof off.

His mother, Mary Guibert, was amazing; composed and eloquent. She was a natural speaker who drew from us both the sadness and jubilation we'd felt throughout the night. She helped us see the reality in his death that none of us could imagine merely as fans, but she comforted us as well. She loves her son, and she loves us because we do too. Mary told us about the program, that the note from Jeff was one she'd found years ago, that she kept on her bulletin board for inspiration. And she told us about the keys, and the guitar pick strewn about the note. They were the items found in his pockets when his body surfaced, on June 4th.

She urged us to make a Golden Promise.

"A Golden Promise is one that must never be broken. It is made in one's heart to another heart that's just departed this life."

She asked us to "commit 'random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty' ... demonstrate the courage to follow your bliss . . . maybe, just maybe, together we'll be able to repair the damage done to this lowly little world by the untimely passing of this gentle minstrel."

We were shown a full concert from the Metro in Chicago, from 1995; nearly 2 hours long. There were pictures on a wall in the backroom, and a poem by Jeff. Michael Tighe, Parker Kindred, Mary Guibert, and Jeff's siblings mingled in the room, graciously taking time with well-meaning fans.

We left that night, feeling like we had a higher purpose, that things did matter. We left with songs in our hearts, and on our lips. We played our kazoo's on the streets of New York as Mary had asked us too.

Life will not go on as it always had. Life will go on as it always should have.

with love from the delphil

-dennis via mojopin.org

#jeff buckley #23 years ago #mylove #supremebeing #favorite #music #st. anns memorial service

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kiwikipedia · 1 year

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I decided that I better post the first and second ascensions before I went insane and did the third fully. Circe’s staff is a placeholder, but once I have all three I’ll post this again lol

Anyways, did you know that there’s almost zero muscular guys with their legs showing fully? I worked with Caligula but it was still a bit of a trial. There’s a lot more of guys who wear armor and leg coverings than you’d think!

I used and edited assets from Summer Robin Hood, Summer Blackbeard, and Waver (shirt), Rider Da Vinci (ponytail... hair not uh, horse tail), Summer Marie, Kiara, and Kiyohime (hat and flowers) , Caligula (as stated above), Summer Costume and Alter Emiya (Torso and cooler), and Lancer Arturia Alter (horse ears). Saddle bag and towel were hand done and everything else was taken and edited from Chiron’s own assets.

Not including the Draft Layers, Two Ascensions end up close to 400 Layers which seems like a lot but when you factor in the combination of color, lineart, shading and the shirt’s texturing, its a lot. Fate’s sprites are all cut up so you gotta make sure it all fits, yeah?

Anyways (again), I have a general plot line for the Summer Event with Caster Summer Chiron (tentatively called Eternal Summer Stage / Lost Summer Stage) and also the individual sets below the cut as well as the taglist

In general, I’m thinking that kinda like the Hawai’i event, this one takes place in Greece, but things are really different — either the nation’s been condensed or it’s impossible to tell where you are in Greece, even for the Greeks.

The premise is that something or someone is creating an influx of energy there, causing an unbalance or some shit but while the threat level is low, allowing for you to take your time (as all Summer events do), it still needs to be dealt with.

Chiron is your main companion Servant though he’s not the welfare one. He, alongside of a rather enthusiastic Li Shuwen and unmasked Berserker Lancelot— both of which are also Summer Servants for the first half wave (Li being either Saber or Berserker) and Lancelot being a Lancer but still Berserker’s more mellowed and gloomy character.

(Costume dress Servants are still up in the air but I’m weighing more on Hans Christian Biggerson and Geronimo, with the long overdue Hawai’i Cu, and Medusa)

Upon arrival, there’s all sorts of plays and performances going on up and down the coast and further inland where there’s a large village up against a Mountain. Both myth and man are mingling, to which Medusa and Chiron both note to be something much out of an ancient sort of tale (hence why Chiron can take his true form and no one cares).

The first half of the event is mostly solving the mystery of what this influx of energy even is— which is where you meet the second Summer Servants for the first half. Technically not Summer in terms of Class change, Ching Shih is the first you meet, dressed in that event’s other Costume Dress for her summer look. She’s happy to help, though there seems to be something a bit off about how easily things start to pop up after that. Plays pertaining to [ ] and other tales, along with even more heroic legends being spun and told. At night, you often run into an unknown woman who sits and chats with you about things as well.

All the while, Chiron seems to become more and more troubled as time goes on.

One night, however, you wander outside the inn because you can’t sleep only to get attacked by rouge Servants. This is when the second meeting happens— and it’s the “Dark fellow” that Ching Shih has been talking about. None other than Sir Agravain of Iron is here.

Though he recognizes you, he doesn’t say much on the matter, simply defeating the rouge Servants and sending them back to the Throne mercilessly. Post fight, Chiron arrives with Ching Shih and Li Shuwen and Agravain is formally introduced.

(There’s an entire thing about him wearing black armor and then you get his costume dress for free)

After that, the reveal that there’s all sorts of half-phantom-half-servants or rouge servants hiding about is finally confirmed though you’ve been fighting shadows and monsters before, the real task is at hand.

In general throughout the farming periods, the Servants will state that they are splitting up to investigate the area, kinda like the very first summer event where each location is a little bit of a sub story (Lancer-lot and Cu are at the shore investigating traces of magical energy with Geronimo, Li Shuwen and Medusa are investigating the plays and performances with Ching Shih, Biggerson and Agravain are in the town investigating there) so that’s there to get the rest of the costume dresses in the shop (Ching Shih, Cu, Medusa, Biggerson, Gero, etc)

The second half has much more to do with Chiron than the first, though he’s your companion for the first half.

Achilles joins the group, though like Ching Shih, he seems a bit odd, but he arrives and arrives with startling news which kicks off the second half of the event— the mountain against the town is Mount Pelion, the Birthplace of Greek Heroes.

This, of Course, has Chiron absolutely of kilter because suddenly he’s home. Ching Shih admits that she feels like a majority of the Singularity’s power is coming from the Mountain but didn’t want to risk going there because it’s crawling with phantom-servants— which only spurs Chiron to restate that he should still go to investigate there.

Everyone decides to go after that, because Chiron clearly isnt about to just up and let it go.

As you go through the mountain you learn a bit more about it from Chiron and Achilles, and Medusa inputs some that she knows. Agravain and Lancelot get into a minor fight, but it’s settled by Hans mostly, the usually in-between stuff.

Oh and did I mention that during this time there’s also cutscenes and non battle story from an unknown person’s POV within another space? Because there is.

In general, I’m still working out the middle chunks, but the ending is pretty much the arrival at Chiron’s Cave, only to be met by the mysterious woman who you’ve been talking to at night. It turns out that she’s Chariclo and she admits— or seems to admit— that she’s been summoning Servants from between the lines of history and Servants that normally have been gotten overlooked for some reason or another due to either being seen as not heroic enough, prejudiced factors, or they’ve simply been forgotten.

Some other stuff happens, and right when she’s about to say something pretty important you’re interrupted... by you.

Another version of you has arrived and it turns out that while Chariclo has been summoning and maintaining Servants, it wasn’t her choice. The other You has been having her do so in order to find [ ] and you know who that is— how could you not?

An argument breaks out, the other You is convinced that Chariclo has already summoned That Man, and while she doesn’t deny it, she states she can’t let the Other You into the Cave because it’ll ruin things. the Other You is determined, and perhaps a bit irrational with obsession to see That Man again and orders the Shadows to attack.

While almost every Servant is there for support, Achilles is not, and when the battles are done you realize why as Achilles stands by the Other You.

Chariclo is firm, continuing to refuse entry into the cave, and the Other You has had enough. Achilles is revealed to have not been Chaldea’s Achilles and apologizes before he’s ordered to kill Chariclo. Obviously, Chiron’s not about that, and takes the blow, severely wounding him.

Of course, this causes a chain reaction, as Li Shuwen and Agravain immoderately go for the kill on Achilles— the Other You makes a move for the Cave, you intercept Yourself because even though Chariclo might not have been a full alley, she had protected the Cave vehemently, Medusa and the others hold off the others are still fighting the shadows, before the mountain shakes.

While not dead, Chiron’s blood on Chariclo’s hands is enough to pull her from her passive state and forge a temporary contract with you. In combination, you and Chariclo stop the Other You and there’s a long conversation about grief and letting go before You and the shadows leave— either fading away or just leaving.

Once gone, Chariclo immediately has you bring Chiron into the cave so she can start healing him.

This is where you meet your welfare— none other than Romani Archaman himself. He’s weak, of course, but there and its a big reunion moment only to be interrupted by the Singularity destabilizing now that the Other You is gone.

There’s conflict, of course. Chariclo wasn’t lying when she said that Romani was too unstable to bring back. Similarly, the only reason she was able to appear, that she knows of, is because they are at Mount Pelion meaning she too is too unstable to follow a Rayshift. Unless a Holy Grail is used.

A choice is presented that you have to make, but all your choices are Romani, no matter how much you or Chiron want to bring Chariclo back as well. When you make your choice, Chariclo will present you a Grail and admit she didn’t use it on Romani at first because she was terrified what the Other You would do when Romani was stable.

With Romani Stabilized, everyone moves to head back down the Mountain for a rayshift back, but Chiron lingers. There’s grief, of course, but the two must say goodbye once more.

... Only, upon arriving in Chaldea, it turns out to not be the case.

Upon Chiron’s injury, Chariclo’s Noble Phantasm, “Lifeblood of Pelion”, quite literally used Chiron’s blood as fuel upon it being soaked into the ground. While they’re not the same as Ryoma and Oryou, as they’re separate Servants, Chiron and Chariclo’s origins linked and allowed for her to exist in Chaldea as another Caster. it’s a bittersweet ending, as Ching Shih and Agravain did not follow— but it’s no worry. Ching Shih stated that she’d see you again, and Agravain, while he didn’t say so, simply nodded in response.

( * Basically Ching Shih and Agravain are added to the permanent summon pool with Ching Shih being a 5* Rider and Agravain a 3* Assassin )

Chaldea Achilles remains extremely put out that he had been the one to harm Chariclo in the Singularity— and also annoyed he couldn’t go because he was busy making sure that Herc didn’t go off the rails.

Post event, the usual collection of the other 4 copies for the np5 welfare are unlocked along with a costume dress for Romani. Who is a Shielder class Servant.

So yeah. That’s basically the bare-bones of the idea. I don’t quite remember where the Shielder Romani idea came from but I saw a post on it and filed it away in my brain forever. The only reason Medusa, Cu, and Gero aren’t full servants is because I really couldn’t think of good classes for them. The only ones I can really think of for Gero is Avenger, and Medusa has alts for lancer and avenger, and Cu has alts for saber caster and berseker... also there’s the Servant pool of Ching Shih, Agravain, Chariclo, Chiron, and Li Shuwen, which is a hefty number even if the first two are perma summon.

If Third Asc Chiron doesn’t obliterate my soul then I’m probably going to work on Summer Li Shuwen next, or the Costume Dress trio of Gero, Medusa, and Cu. Then we’ll see about making those sprites where there’s no character base to use at all.. I might die (jk)

But when I do post the third ascension I’m going to include hatless Chiron because he’s got a lil bow hair tie and the horse ears are CUTE as hell

Anyways, Tag list below. Good god if you made it this far congratulations I know I ramble and make zero sense half the time

Taglist Form or feel free to ask me to get tagged (just DM!):

@jedifisto @spaceydragons @purgetrooperfox @spacerocksarethebestrocks @insanelytomato @babygirljoelmiller @certified-anakinfucker @d3epfriedanger @genifer-championofpaldea @thecodyagenda @babygirl-leon-kennedy @txtalnyx @jawajawas

Please tell me if you want to be taken off of the list as this is no longer just Star Wars art

Additional Tags for those who have been interested in Summer Chiron the past few days (i hope you dont mind):

@300iqprower @bitterrosebrokenspear @random-senpai

#Penguinkiwi Creates #fgo spoilers #maybe not but better safe than sorry #im going to die though my eyes are watering #fgo chiron #Chiron #fate chiron #fgo fan singularity #fgo fan event #fgo #fate go #fate grand order #fate #archer of black #FGO Male Swimsuit Event #FGO Male Servant Alt #Kiwi Creates #Eternal Summer Stage (Fan Event)

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chimmycharmed · 4 years

Text

nevermind (one-shot)

Title: NEVERMIND (alt: I love you, hyung) Words: 5,619 Ships: Yoonmin, slight Yoonjin, implied Vmin. Synopsis: Jimin thought love meant staying, so when Yoongi left he thought love meant coming back. But love is more complicated than that. Genre: Rapper!Suga x ContemporaryDancer!Jimin, exes au, angst, implied smut. Warnings: Heartbreak, cheating, abandonment. Author’s note: Listen to Mean It (stripped) - Lauv ft. LANY while reading.

PART I: I DON’T MIND

Love never meant staying. Park Jimin never knew what that meant until he met Min Yoongi.

It was summer at the time. He was a contemporary dancer that was just dragged by his best friend to an underground rap scene because he was a fan of it, Jimin on the other hand, couldn’t care less.

“Taehyung-ah, you really go to these events?” A whine Taehyung knows all too well.

“Events.” Taehyung scoffed, dragging Jimin by the arm in the middle of the crowd so they have a perfect view of the next challenger. “It’s a rap battle, Jimin-ah. It’s not that formal, aish.”

Jimin never understood his best friend’s fascination with rap and hip-hop. For one, Taehyung was a classical musician. He plays Bach and Beethoven on the violin, piano, and sax. That’s even how they met, he was part of the orchestra to one of his ballet pieces.

They found themselves near the front row, the MC known to the fans as RM called the next challenger and that was the first time he saw him.

Bleached blonde, pale but not sick, sporting a smug look on his face. He looked like he could walk the talk judging by the way he dressed: shirt, jersey, a snapback, and a couple of piercings on both ears.

“Ayo Suga!” RM exclaimed as the rapper made his way to the stage. “What’s your motivation for challenging j-hope today?”

“We have a score to settle.” For a small guy, he was intimidating Jimin thought. J-hope on the other hand just laughed at his contender. Not the kind of laugh where he thought this Suga guy was pathetic. Just laughed like he was making a joke. He seemed like the guy to laugh at everything.

“Okay, and the rap battle begins in 1... 2... 3!” The MC started the countdown.

It was j-hope’s turn first, he rapped like he was mocking his competition. “Ya, j-hope’s really good at this type of rap, and his flow change? Don’t get me started.” Taehyung explained with his boxy smile, his eyes glued to the stage.

Then it was his turn. Suga rapped so many syllables so fast Jimin really stood there shocked. It’s as if he gave j-hope no time to rebut, he ended him right then and there. Everyone could feel the tension, j-hope was walking towards Suga looking pissed off.

“Wait, are they going to fight?” Jimin was both scared and concerned. He was just looking at Suga. Tae just had a smug look on his face, and then Jimin saw why. RM looked like he was stopping j-hope from going too close to Suga but instead, he too rapped. The two competitors began laughing, and it dawned on him: it was just a ploy.

All three rappers were now facing each other in a circle, spitting fire, and Jimin didn’t realize it now, nor will he admit in the future: they were good, scratch that, they were amazing. “Ddaeng! I fucking love this track so much!” Taehyung squealed like the fanboy he is.

“Wait, so they were just playing the audience?” Jimin asked, confused.

“Dude literally everyone here except you knows they’re the best of friends. The best rapline in Seoul if not in South Korea.” Taehyung explained, suddenly dragging Jimin by the arm to take him to the side of the stage. “Come on, I’m introducing you to them.”

“You know them?” As much as Jimin was surprised, he immediately shut up when he was face to face with the trio.

“Hyungs! I want you to meet my best friend and soulmate, Jimin.” Jimin rolled his eyes mentally, he always asked Taehyung not to call him soulmate in front of new people because it more often than not gives the wrong impression.

“Hi! I’m Namjoon.” RM said, Jimin was surprised on how formal he got all of a sudden, was this the same rapper on stage a while ago? He extended his hand and he shook it.

“I’m your hope, but you already knew that by now.” J-hope smiled. “I’m Hoseok.” It was his turn to shake Jimin’s hands.

“What’s the use of having a stage name when we just give out our real ones?” Suga whined from the side. “Well, I’m Yoongi. I guess.” He still looked so cool while shaking his hand. They all did, Jimin thought but Yoongi... There's just something about his presence.

“Nice to meet all of you, hyungs.” Jimin even did a slight bow as a sign of respect which made Yoongi smile.

“Are you staying for drinks, Taehyung-ah?” Yoongi asked.

Namjoon and Hoseok looked at each other in surprise, Jimin didn’t know what that meant. “Hyung, you know I don’t drink.” Taehyung laughed. “But Jimin is quite the drinker so he can drink for the both of us.”

“Ya, Taehyung.” Jimin scolded.

“What? Let’s stay a bit longer. You don’t have any practice tomorrow right?” Tae pleaded to his soulmate. Jimin knows he couldn't say no to that.

“Yea, stay a bit longer.” Jimin felt Yoongi’s gaze on him, it felt alluring, it felt right.

“Okay.” How could he possibly say no now?

There was a bar area in the scene, Namjoon, Hoseok and Tae were looking for a table while Jimin was with Yoongi since he asked to accompany him in getting drinks.

“You drink soju?” Jimin nodded to answer. “I’ll order 5 but between you and me, I think they’ll just share one bottle.” Yoongi laughed as he gave Jimin 2 bottles then proceeded to carry the other 3 on his own.

“Why is that?” Jimin raised a brow.

“The 94 liners aren’t that much of a drinker.” Yoongi answered. “How old are you?”

“I’m a 95 liner, like Tae.”

“Ah, your soulmate.” Yoongi nodded, sounding dry.

“It’s not like that, we’re just eternal platonic friends,” Jimin explained getting flustered not knowing why. “It’s an inside joke.”

“So you’re available then?” Yoongi cocked his brow.

“Huh?” Jimin was surprised by his straightforwardness. But he couldn’t continue to answer as they made their way to their table.

“So Jimin, what do you do?” Namjoon asked, now fixing the table for the bottles to be placed.

“Oh, I’m a contemporary dancer.” Jimin said, sitting beside Tae while Yoongi sat beside Hoseok.

“Okay, Namjoon pay up. I told you he was a fancy dude like this one.” Hoseok nudged Tae, teasing.

“Okay, I thought you were an underground street dancer.” Namjoon reached for a bill and gave it to Hoseok.

“How come?” Jimin was surprised at the observation.

Yoongi replied instead, “You stand like a dancer, we just didn’t know what kind.”

“I told Namjoon that if you were an underground street dancer I would’ve heard of you by now.”

“Unless you’re not good.” Yoongi scoffed. “But I don’t think that’s possible.” Did he just wink at me? Jimin thought.

The night went on filled with shots and laughter. Yoongi was right, they ended up drinking 2 bottles each because Namjoon and Hoseok tapped out early. Tae had to go home earlier because he forgot he was going to an art gallery out of town the next day. Jimin insisted on staying, he was having so much fun.

Jimin never liked going home, it just wasn’t a place he’d like to stay. He was always at practice or out on a bar trying to have fun with his friends. This wasn’t like the regular stuck up dancer crowd he’s used too. They were fun. They were unpredictable, it made him loosen up. That must be the reason he stayed tonight. It was that.

Or the fact that Yoongi’s hand suddenly rested on his knees after sitting beside him after Tae left. Good thing he was intoxicated, he could use that as an excuse for blushing profusely.

“Shall we call it a night?” Namjoon asked his hyung. Jimin found out quickly that he was the leader of the trio despite not being the eldest, during their stories over drinks.

“Let’s.” Yoongi said, standing up. “I’ll drop Jimin at his place.”

Everyone in the table knew where this was headed, if Tae was here he would’ve known it too. Jimin had his fair share of one night stands. He was a looker after all. He knew the drill. The guy will offer to give him a ride home, he’ll ask if he wants a drink. They go up to his place and things happen.

And that’s what exactly happened with him and Yoongi. Except that, it wasn’t just all physical sex. They shared laughs while figuring out who’s bottoming, and Jimin knew Yoongi wanted to top, so he let him.

He was good at it, Jimin never knew he could cum that hard. Twice for that matter. The first by Jimin discovering what tongue technology actually meant and the other by him topping.

After that Jimin knew that the guy will probably say goodbye and will never show up again. But Yoongi was the exact opposite. He asked if he could stay the night. And in the morning, Jimin woke up to him cooking breakfast.

“You’re still here?” It was more of a question than a statement.

“I was thinking you’re hungry.” Yoongi smiled, putting the eggs on Jimin’s plate. “Do you think I’d just leave like that?”

“Yes.” Jimin answered quite honestly.

“If I just left, it would be awkward wanting to see you again would it?” Yoongi said, sitting beside Jimin. “Unless I overstepped and you don’t want to see me anymore?”

“I never had a fuck buddy before.” Jimin’s innocence made Yoongi chuckle, he forgot he was younger than him after all.

“Then I guess I’ll have to date you then.” He flashed his teeth towards the younger lad. “Is that okay?”

A smile crept on Jimin’s face. “I don’t mind.”

PART II: CHANGE YOUR MIND

Jimin never meant to find a home in Min Yoongi, but when autumn came he found himself moving Yoongi’s stuff in his place. Not everything, but small things: his toothbrush, his favorite pair of sweats, his noise-canceling headphones.

Small things that meant Yoongi will stay in his life. Things were going well. Whenever Jimin had a performance, Yoongi always bought him roses. After practice, Jimin always went to Yoongi’s underground performances even without Taehyung.

Sex was great, but their companionship grew stronger. This must be what home felt like. This must be what love means.

“Are you sure about this?” Yoongi asked Jimin who was sitting on a chair of a tattoo parlor. He looked nervous but sure.

“I really like your song, and I want it tattooed on me as a birthday gift to myself.” Jimin had a wide smile on his face.

“You like me too, why not have a tattoo of my name?” Yoongi joked.

“Only if you tattoo mine on you.” Jimin teased.

“I’m good with piercings, tattoos aren't just for me Jiminie. You already talked me into dying my hair this shade of green.” Yoongi will never let Jimin down for it, but Jimin thought mint suited him well.

“You’re just chicken, hyung.” Jimin rolled his eyes to which Yoongi snickered.

“Ya, you’re disrespecting your hyung now eh.”

“No. I love you, hyung.”

It was an unconventional first ‘I love you’ from Jimin, he never expected it to be in a tattoo shop waiting for his turn. But Yoongi was there. And he just needed to say it. And he thought he needed to hear it by now. And that was all that mattered.

“I love you too, Jiminie.” He said before kissing him fully on the lips.

“Ehem.” The tattoo artist finally arrived with the needle and ink, if Yoongi remembered it correctly his name was Jungkook – the youngest tattoo artist in the area that got acclaim in some TV show.

“Sorry.” Jimin was embarrassed, but Yoongi sat beside him.

“Let’s start?” Jungkook received a nod from a shaking Jimin.

“Hyung, hold my hand?” Yoongi entwined his fingers with Jimin’s. And he didn’t let go until it was done.

Just like that, Yoongi’s song was a permanent fixture on Jimin’s body and life. They went home that night happy.

“Aish, Jimin stay still so I can put on some ointment.” Yoongi holding up a shirtless Jimin in bed. He acts his age sometimes.

“It’s so itchy.” He whined.

“Well, that’s part of the healing process. You wanted this right?” Yoongi smirked.

“You’re so mean to me, hyung!” Jimin was silenced by a more passionate kiss compared to the one in the tattoo shop.

“If I could kiss it better, I would.” Yoongi rested his forehead on Jimin’s.

“Just kiss me instead.”

That night, they made love while reminding each other how much they meant to each other. Jimin knew that he could live like this his whole life.

But winter came one year, and Yoongi left. Like he disappeared into thin air. Jimin was just coming home from practice. Yoongi wasn’t texting. Jimin was calling and he couldn’t reach him. He came home and Yoongi wasn’t there. But everything he owns was still in place.

Little reminders that Yoongi stayed, little reminders that Yoongi left.

Jimin went to Yoongi’s apartment, and his landlady doesn’t know where he is. He went to the underground rap bar where they first met, Hoseok was just shocked. They too couldn’t contact him.

Jimin was going to have a panic attack, he knew that. He couldn’t just leave, he can’t. They loved each other. Right? Namjoon pulled Jimin to talk to him at the parking lot.

“Jimin.” Jimin was already crying, panicking. Namjoon had to put his arms on his shoulders to calm him down and have him stay still. “It’s Jin-hyung.”

This was the exact time you could hear Jimin’s heart shatter into pieces. Namjoon didn’t need to say anything else. He knew who Jin was to Yoongi.

He was the first person Yoongi gave his heart to. Yoongi was never clear why they broke up, but Jimin knew that there was a hole in Yoongi’s heart when Jin left, and now his looked the same with Yoongi gone.

Jimin went home that night breaking down to an empty bed filled with Yoongi’s stuff. In the next few weeks, Jimin couldn’t eat, he couldn’t get up, he couldn’t go to practice, let alone perform.

Taehyung had to physically manhandle him to take one bath after a week.

“Taehyung-ah, what did I do wrong?” Jimin sulked in the bathtub while Tae just sat on the toilet seat cover, hurting for his friend.

“Jimin, you didn’t do anything.” He tried to comfort him, his heart was just as hurt as his soulmate.

“Then why am I the one left alone?” He cried again, Tae just hugged him. Tight.

After a few months, Jimin got back to work. But he was downgraded to a backup dancer again, he knew it was coming after not showing up for months. He should be thankful the company gave him another chance.

Months went on like he did before meeting Yoongi. He went to work, he went shopping with Taehyung, he went home, and repeat. Yoongi’s stuff was placed in a drawer he never dared to look into again.

Then Jimin’s birthday came, and Taehyung threw him a small party with his dance troop. Taehyung wanted to rid Jimin of memories of Yoongi, it was his birthday after all. It was all about him. Tae wanted Jimin to stay at his place so he won’t be alone, but Jimin wanted to go home to his apartment.

He was tipsy and tired, until he found Yoongi sitting in the middle of his living room. His hair now dyed black.

“Hi.” He said, softly already looking apologetic. “Happy birthday.”

Jimin’s mind must be playing tricks on him. Memories played back in his head. The first birthday spent with him, getting a tattoo of his song. The next birthday where Yoongi cooked for him and threw him a party, the third one where they took a trip to Busan.

This was supposed to be his first birthday without him, but here he was on the living room sofa looking like the love of his life. “I’m sorry.” Yoongi began to tear up. “I need to explain a lot to you, I know. And I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Jimin walked towards him and Yoongi was prepared for the worse, for a good hearing, for a fist on his cheek, but Jimin’s arms were suddenly wrapped around his neck, his face buried in his chest. “You’re here. You’re real.”

“Jimin, I’m sorry.” Yoongi finally broke down, and Jimin did too.

“If I forgive you, will you promise not to leave me again?” Jimin was shaking as Yoongi pulled back to look at him in the eye.

“I won’t make the same mistake.” And Jimin felt his lips on his once more.

He thought about the last time they kissed and how he was so devastated that it didn’t last longer. But Yoongi came back, and he knew the feelings never really went away. It was just buried beneath all the effort to make him seem okay again.

That night they made love for the first time in a long time and Jimin didn’t want to fall asleep until Yoongi reassured him that he wasn’t going anywhere. He woke up with Yoongi making breakfast for him again. Like he never left.

“We need to talk.” Jimin said as he sat down at the dining table, he was happy he came back but that meant he left the first place.

“We do.” Yoongi sighed, placing some fried eggs on Jimin's plate like he did the first time they spent the night together.

And so the tale began, on how one night Jin came back and asked for another chance and how Yoongi wasn’t sure all of a sudden what to do. How Jin asked him to let him prove it to him, how he asked Yoongi to come with him to Busan for a film fest he was a part of since he was an actor, how they stayed there for a while to see how things go.

How Yoongi realized he couldn’t do this to Jimin, how everywhere he went in Busan reminded him of their trip on Jimin’s birthday. How he only realized that he just missed Jin, but didn’t really love him anymore. Not in the way he loved Jimin. How he called it off and mustered the courage to go back to Jimin, not knowing if he’ll accept him.

“How do you plan on making it up to me?” Jimin said with his eyes closed, thinking hard.

“I don’t know, but if I have to make it up to you my whole life I will.” Yoongi placed his hand on top of his, before entwining their fingers together like he did when he comforts him.

“Did you expect I’ll just be waiting here for you until you came back?”

“I was hoping you would, but I would understand if you didn’t.” If honesty can be heard, this must be what it sounds like.

“But I did.” Jimin finally opened his eyes to look at Yoongi, gripping his hand a bit tighter – a signal to return back the comfort he was given. “I don’t know how you’ll make it up to me, but I know that includes not leaving me again.”

“I love you, Jimin.” Yoongi assured him with a soft voice. “I’m sorry this had to happen for me to realize that. I never stopped loving you.”

“I love you, hyung.” The gap between their faces was growing smaller and Yoongi looked at Jimin to seemingly asking for a silent permission. When Jimin closed his eyes, he knew the answer.

They shared a kiss, another first of many kisses since they got back together. Jimin finally thought he could be happy again. But they had a long way to go, not everything fell back to place. Taehyung was frustrated that Jimin just let him back into his life. They had a bit of a falling out, and Jimin didn’t have the energy to work on that, he was already working hard to fix things with Yoongi.

Jimin suggested they finally move in together, but Yoongi was still hesitant. He was always vocal about wanting to have his own space. Fights about Yoongi leaving him still ensued. There were pockets of happiness during these years but Jimin began to think if these small moments were enough to be defined as happiness.

He knew he couldn’t control Yoongi, love shouldn’t do that. But he could control what he felt, what he did. He chose to look at their lives in rose-colored glasses. And he decided to take matters into his own hands.

That meant he bought a ring. Placed it in his drawers he knew Yoongi wouldn’t look into and waited for the right moment. Jimin wasn’t sure of the timing, but he was sure about Yoongi and that was enough. He thought if it was time, he would know.

But days went on and they both got extremely busy with work but Jimin was fine with that as long as he went home to him. But even when they were together, he felt like Yoongi just wasn’t there. He knew something was wrong, but he chose to trust Yoongi.

Until one winter, Yoongi came by again with a bag, sporting a serious look on his face. He plopped down on the sofa, sighing. “We need to talk.”

Jimin knew where this was going, he couldn’t say he was surprised but he just really hoped for the best, he really hoped this wasn’t an option. “Did you change your mind?” He asked.

PART III: OUT OF MIND

Jimin imagined 2 scenarios of the cause of their impending breakup. First, is that Yoongi found someone else, I mean, that’s what happened the first time right? The second was Jimin himself finding someone else, but knowing how much he loved Yoongi, that was highly unlikely. But here they were, spending a few minutes here during the calm before the storm.

It was a vague question, Jimin knew that when he asked. However, the fact that Yoongi did not answer and just waited for Jimin to sit beside him, he knew the worst is about to come.

And so Jimin sat beside him and Yoongi moved slightly to face him. “You didn’t answer, so I guess that means yes.” Jimin continued.

“Are you still happy?” Yoongi shook his head while asking.

“You’re not.” This time, it was more of a statement than a question.

“We haven’t been okay since I came back.” He admitted. “And I think you know that.”

“Well, maybe you shouldn’t have left in the first place.” Jimin glared, Yoongi looked away uncomfortably. “And now you’re leaving again, huh?”

“You told me if I forgive you, will you promise to not leave me again?” Yoongi said calmly. “Did you? Forgive me?” He was met with silence. “So, don’t put this all on me.”

“Are you fucking serious, Min Yoongi?” Jimin spat, his body began to tremble. “You left, without a warning. To try again with your ex. And you expect me to be okay with it?”

“I don't, but if you’re not okay with it then why accept me back?”

“Why are you acting like it’s a bad thing that I accepted you back?!” Jimin’s voice began to rise.

“Jimin, it’s been 4 years and I know you still haven’t forgiven me.” Yoongi pointed out. “I’m doing my best here too, you know. Yes, I left. It was wrong, I hurt you but in these 4 years didn’t I ever make it up to you? Not even for a bit?”

Jimin couldn’t answer that. He was so stuck in his own hurt that he never thought he was hurting Yoongi. “Yoongi. When you left, all I could think about is what did I do wrong? Why was I not enough? Not even enough for you to say goodbye?” His voice began to shake.

“That was on me, Jimin.” Yoongi held his hand, but Jimin didn’t want to feel his comfort knowing he was going to leave again. “We’ve been through this narrative time and time again. Aren’t you tired?”

“Of course I am, but I choose to look at the times when we were happy.” Jimin began to break down in tears. “That kept me going even when I wasn't."

“You’ve always been the stronger one in this relationship.” A tear began to fall on Yoongi’s cheek. “You’ll be okay.”

“I wasn’t okay when you left, why do you think I’ll be okay now?” This must be the Anger part in the 5 stages of grief, Jimin thought.

“Because I’m leaving you so we can both be happy!” Yoongi’s voice rose, trying to talk sense into Jimin. “I don’t want us to end up hating each other. I love you so much-.”

“THEN WHY ARE YOU LEAVING?”

“BECAUSE I’M NOT HAPPY!” The screamfest ended as quickly as it began. “Don’t you see how frustrating it is? To love you so much but not feel happy?” Yoongi let go of him to run his finger through his hair in frustration.

“That doesn’t make sense.” Jimin coughed a laugh, he knew he was fucked – laughing and crying at the same time.

“I know it doesn’t. But I know it’s selfish for me to stay in a relationship unhappy.” Yoongi looked at Jimin once more, letting him know how genuine he felt. “I know this is selfish too but we tried to make it work right? But nothing happened and it’s been years.”

Jimin began to speak slowly, carefully choosing the words he was about to say. “How long?” He stated, “How long have you’ve been feeling this way?”

“I don’t know, but one day I realized I was just dragging myself to see you. How I needed you because I was used to you because I love you.” Yoongi didn’t know if these were the right words to not hurt Jimin, but he knew he would hurt him whatever he’ll say. “You don’t deserve someone who just forces themselves to be with you.”

“Is Jin back?” Jimin wanted a logical explanation for this. So this must be the reason, right?

“No.” Yoongi answered straight, and Jimin knew in his heart that it was the truth.

“You know I always thought that if we were going to break up, it’s because one of us cheated.” Jimin was just throwing his thoughts unfiltered. “I never thought we would end like this.”

“Then let’s be thankful we didn’t end up like that.” Yoongi tried to suggest.

“You know the funny thing about this?” Jimin snickered. “It’s the fact that I have an engagement ring tucked in one of my drawers waiting for the right time.”

“I know about it,” Yoongi admitted slowly to Jimin’s surprise. “I was looking for my hoodie one time, and I saw it.”

“When did you see it?” Jimin didn’t know whether he wanted to know the answer.

“Last month.” Yoongi breathed.

“So.” Jimin was crying again. “You really thought this through.” He was breaking up knowing that Jimin was planning on proposing.

“I did.” Yoongi broke down this time. “I’m sorry, Jimin. But I can’t be the one you need. I can only love you, but I think we both know that’s not enough.”

“You have to choose me to. But you chose yourself.”

“Then choose yourself too,” Yoongi suggested. “You’ve worked so hard on us, it’s time we think of ourselves.”

Jimin wanted to stop him. He really did.

He thought about all the times they were together. All the rap scenes he went to support Yoongi, all the recitals Yoongi gave him flowers, all the times they explored different hair dyes - the orange one, the pink, the grey.

All the meals Yoongi cooked for him, all the music equipment he bought to surprise Yoongi, all the arguments about him leaving or them not having enough time for each other.

That one argument when Jimin blamed Yoongi for him being downgraded to a backup dancer again because he skipped practice due to his depression when he left.

All the birthdays they spent, especially the one where Yoongi came back. How could Jimin forget that?

How could Jimin forget Yoongi in general?

The way he never wanted anyone else to know he cared, but he really did. The way he would take care of him when he was sick. The way he would scold him if he practiced too hard to the point of exhaustion.

The way he shared his secret love for piano, a secret Jimin was proud that only he knew. The way Jimin shared his abandonment issues with his family and how relieved he was that Yoongi was his home now.

The way his hand engulfed his. The way he would slightly open his mouth when they kiss so his tongue can enter. The way he would feel above or beneath him. The way he would feel content whenever he says I love you.

He wanted to ask Yoongi if he thought of all of these?

What he was saying goodbye to?

Their past? 7 years of being together. Jimin literally grew up with him.

Their future? What about the plans of Jimin singing for one of his tracks because Yoongi discovered he had a talent for it too? And he just loved his voice.

Jimin wanted to ask all of these. But he realized like Yoongi, he was also tired.

The only thing that escaped from Jimin’s lips was. “Okay.”

Besides, he knew he couldn’t handle Yoongi’s answer. May it be a yes or a no. At least this time, he has the guts to say goodbye. What a morbid consolation prize, right?

“You know what sucks?” Jimin continued. “I still believe you when you tell me you love me.”

“Because I do.” Yoongi had a slight smile. “I really do.”

“I do too.” A vow without rings, a truth without commitments. “I love you, and I have done everything to make this work except for letting you go. So this is me, letting you go.”

“I’m really sorry. I wish I could be more for you but I can’t right now.” Yoongi pulled Jimin to hold him tight. “Maybe in the future, when we’re both okay...” Yoongi’s mind began to wander but Jimin pulled him back to the present.

“Maybe. But you’re right. Right now we have to be okay on our own. This is why we’re breaking up, right?”

“I love you, Jimin.” Yoongi was proud that Jimin understood him, but still devastated that it had to come to this.

“I love you, hyung.” Jimin repeated throughout the night, unknowingly making it a keepsake for Yoongi even if they’re not together anymore.

They shared their last kiss, their last moments in bed. Yoongi packed the remainder of his belongings in his bag, and they hugged until it was time for Yoongi to leave. Out of sight, out of mind, Jimin thought.

EPILOGUE

Love never meant staying, that was what his mom always explained ever since his dad left them to work abroad and never came back. His mom always assured him that his dad loved him dearly, that he worked hard for Jimin to go to university.

He never understood how people who leave can still love. He never understood why, until the day Yoongi went away.

He also realized he can’t find a home in a person, so he will build his own.

Jimin didn’t know what was harder, being left the first time or the second time. But all he knew was he needed to be better. He owed that to himself. He strived harder until he got the lead dancer position again.

He rekindled with Taehyung and it was as if nothing happened, maybe that’s what soulmates are supposed to be. A place you can always go back to, home or not.

“You’re not as devastated as the first time.” Taehyung pointed out while they were playing Mario Kart at Jimin's place.

“I listed all the things that reminded me of him,” Jimin explained. “I planned to steer clear of them but some things I realized he can’t take away from me."

“Like what?” Taehyung asked.

“Like winter.” Jimin paused the game. “Winter is my favorite season, but that was when he left me. Both times. But I can’t unlove winter because I was hurt right?”

“I’m proud of you, Jiminie.” Taehyung nudged his long-missed best friend.

“And you too.” Jimin pointed out. “You introduced us to each other. I can’t unlove you.”

Taehyung smiled at him. “I can’t unlove you too.” He rolled his eyes. “Even if you’re stupid sometimes.”

“I often wondered when would looking at my tattoo stop hurting, but now I sometimes forget it’s there. It didn’t remind me of him anymore, it just reminded me of me - a guy who wears his heart on his sleeves, or in my case, on my rib.” Jimin admitted before continuing “It’s been a year now, and he actually texted me if we can meet again.”

“Oh?” Taehyung raised a brow.

“But he said that I should be ready when we meet.” Jimin continued.

“Are you?” Jimin shook his head. “What did he say then?” Jimin knew he was okay in a way, but a big part of him wasn’t ready to meet Yoongi again. He pulled his phone from his pocket to retrieve the last text Yoongi sent.

He handed it over to Taehyung, and it just read “Nevermind, then.”

#bts fanfic #bts fanfiction #fanfic #yoonmin #park jimin #min yoongi #bts

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herochan · 5 years

Photo

Marvel Studios Phase 4 Details Revealed at SDCC

Today at San Diego Comic-Con 2019, Marvel Studios took to the stage in Hall H to reveal the upcoming movies and TV shows from the studio – including the next chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and what’s planned for Disney+.

Fans can look forward to these titles below over the next few years:

To kick things off, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige announced Marvel Studios' The Eternals!

Next up was the first show coming exclusively to Disney+, Marvel Studios’ The Falcon and The Winter Soldier! Anthony Mackie (The Falcon) and Sebastian Stan (The Winter Soldier) came on stage to greet the fans, and it was revealed that Daniel Brühl will return as the villain, Baron Zemo. Marvel Studios’ The Falcon and The Winter Soldier will come to Disney+ in the fall of 2020.

Next up is a classic Marvel Comics character making his movie debut -- Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings starring Simu Liu in the title role. Appearing alongside Liu will be Awkwafina in an undisclosed role and Tony Leung as the (real) Mandarin. Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will be directed by Destin Daniel Cretton. In theaters February 12, 2021.

It was also revealed that someone from Thor's story will return to the MCU -- Natalie Portman will return for Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love and Thunder, joining stars Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson. Taika Waititi returns as director, and he confirmed that Jane Foster will become the Mighty Thor, goddess of Thunder. Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love and Thunder will arrive in theaters November 5, 2021.

It looks like we're going to find out a lot more about Natasha Romanoff! Marvel Studios’ Black Widow starring Scarlett Johansson reprising her MCU role. She will be joined by David Harbour as Alexei AKA The Red Guardian, Florence Pugh as Yelena, O-T Fagbenle as Mason, and Rachel Weisz as Melina. Cate Shortland is directing. Marvel Studios’ Black Widow will come to theaters May 1, 2020

And if all this massive Marvel Studios news wasn't enough... Kevin Feige introduced Mahershala Ali as Blade. Not only that -- Marvel Studios' Blade will also slash its way into theaters.

#mcu #sdcc #san diego comic-con #marvel #news #marvel studios phase 4 #comic-con #comics #marvel studios #kevin feige #marvel phase 4

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obsidiancorner · 5 years

Text

Celebrity Overnight- Chapter 1

Obiyuki Bingo 2019

Celebrity

Words: ~3400

Outside the heavily tinted windows of the limousine, she could see reporters and paparazzos lining the gallery behind long bands of scarlet rope and gilded posts. It was the most ridiculous tradition built into blockbuster premiers.

The familiar sense of dread that always accompanied such events began to creep under Shirayuki's skin. It crawled all over her body, tucked between flesh and muscle like the scarab beetle from that one scene in that one movie her father's company had made years ago.

Premiers and awards shows were a part of Hollywood fame and fortune she had never gotten used to. There was little to be done about attendance when her father owns Mountain Lions Studios, though. She grinned and beared it. But they never got more comfortable for her. She hated being in the public eye when all she wanted to do was study to become a doctor.

A warm hand wrapped itself around hers, squeezing slightly before twining its fingers with hers. She looked to her left to find questioning amber eyes blinking back at her.

"I'm fine," Shirayuki said. "I've just never gotten used to these things."

"Me neither," Obi replied, squeezing her hand once more.

The reassurance was nice, if futile. Butterflies began to flutter in her stomach, making her feel as though it would be an act of divine intervention if her dinner didn't make its own appearance at the premier, right there on the red carpet, as well.

Her stomach flopped heavily as the slow roll of the limo came to a stop. A third squeeze hugged her fingers and his comforting presence was gone. His door shut quietly behind him but the sound was deafening to ears dreading the guaranteed upcoming onslaught of shouts of her and Obi's names, camera flashes, and fussy ushers moving everyone along.

What was she doing attending the premier of her father's movie with the leading action star? She had no business being the woman on his arm. The man dated top tier fashion models and A-listers in both film and music . She was just an heiress with a dream of helping people. She was far from his type.

This wasn't a pairing that would be even remotely believable. What was she thinking?

No, what had her father and Obi's reps been thinking? And why was he going along with it?

No… Really... What was she thinking?

She wasn't. That's the hard truth. Her father had asked her to go and, along with Obi's team of 'people,' had orchestrated some extra publicity by having Obi be her escort and, because it was her father, she had obliged without really thinking it through. She willingly stepped into the eye roll worthy scheming of Hollywood politics.

What better way to drum up some extra buzz than to have the action star show up with the daughter of the film’s production company's owner on his arm. Talk of their "relationship" was guaranteed to be the talk of every gossip mag published within the week.

Couple that with well-staged photo ops of them at predetermined locations on predetermined days, where the paparazzi just "happen to be" in the right place at the right time to hit some perfectly angled shots of the two of them being cozy with each other, and Obi and her father's film, by extension, would be locked in as the talk of Tinsel Town for the duration of the summer.

Shirayuki dropped her head into her hands and groaned into her elbow-length gloves. Hollywood was a nightmare. The next few weeks dating an actor of all people would be a living hell. No wonder her mother had worked tirelessly to keep her out of the limelight when she was younger.

Her door opened and the roar of the gathered vultures was matched by the clicking of their camera shutters. Obi's hand and smiling face filled her vision. For a brief moment, she contemplated swinging the door closed and telling the driver to get her out of there as fast as he could.

"It's alright, Miss. There's nothing in your teeth, your dress is stunning, your makeup is flawless, your hair is still glued in place with hairspray, and I promise I won't let you fall." He flashed his brilliant white teeth at her, a smile full of confidence and charm.

She chuckled, relaxing slightly. At least he was smooth enough to say the right things to put a woman at ease before facing down a flock of cameras that truly do tell no lies. The last thing anyone should do is step out looking unsure.

With a deep breath in, she swung her legs out onto the pavement. She stood before she exhaled, smile plastered on her face like she was a debutante at her ball.

"Mr. Nanaki!"

"Shirayuki!"

The calls came from everywhere. All the way to the end of the horde, people were yelling their names. It was nothing any training could ever truly prepare someone for and, make no mistake, they did train celebrities for this sort of event. But she wasn’t really a celebrity.

She wound her arm around his proffered elbow and they began walking the handful of steps to the first of the photogs. They both stopped, working in tandem. Moving their faces and body positions from right to left, posing for each camera for a picture before taking a handful of steps and repeating the pattern.

She had gone through the same event training as the celebrities. She knew how it worked. She was just out of practice, having successfully made excuses to not attend premiers or awards for since she was sixteen.

Shirayuki's shoulders were stiff, muscles seizing and aching under the pressure of pulling off a faux romance. She kept reminding herself it was all political- a ploy for free movie publicity. She just needed to smile through it. It was a half hour of media pleasantries, then a movie.

It wasn't helpful. Just a stark reminder of the stakes should her own acting chops fall flat under the microscope. The only purpose it served was to increase her nerves, heart rate, and breathing.

Beside her, Obi leaned down, mouth near her ear. Somewhere in the distance, the cameras shuttered furiously, but she barely heard it over the warm breath fanning over the shell of her ear. In another context, it would have been intimate. Here, on the red carpet, it was a lifeline to sanity.

Shirayuki fought the urge to let her eyelids fall closed at the sensation- to focus solely on him. It had been a while since a man had been this far into her personal space. His muscles in the arm she was holding tensed under her fingertips as she squeezed lightly, hugging her hand between his arm and the side of his chest. She leaned in a little further, to play up their ruse. They were supposed to be a couple, afterall.

They’d never been seen together in public, so it would certainly have people wondering how long they’d been an item. After a well-placed brief pause to make the reporters speculate over what he could be saying to her, he whispered, “Picture them naked.”

That startled a laugh out of her. If comedy was how they would make it through the gauntlet before they could take their seats, she would be perfectly fine. Comedy she could handle.

She changed their position, dropping his arm so he could wind it around her waist and she could step closer to him. She tipped her chin up to so her lips were next to his ear, like his had just been near hers. "You do realize that isn't as helpful as it sounds, right?"

Okay, so maybe she couldn’t do comedy. But the many eyes on them made it thinking of witty retorts on the spot quite the challenge.

As expected, the more time they spent laughing and joking- dutifully playing the role of a smitten couple, the more speculative whispers and observant eyes followed their every move. Disembodied voices in every direction bellowed one of their names followed by "over here" or "look here."

Pause. Pose and smile. Right to left so everyone gets their picture. Walk. Repeat.

"Shirayuki! Let us see the back of the dress!"

Obi removed his hand from her waist, letting his fingers drag against the skin of her mostly exposed back before reaching down to once again hold her hand as she slowly turned. She peered over her shoulder, demure with the shy teasing smile she'd been taught years ago. She felt naked to the world. Unprotected. That brief moment of exposure seemed to last an eternity.

"Beautiful, Shirayuki. Thank you!"

"We're almost there, Shirayuki. You're doing excellent," Obi whispered in her ear, as she turned back to face forward so they could walk to the next group.

"I feel faint, like I can't breathe," she admitted.

"Well, if you decide to pass out, I'll be sure to catch you," he teased before smiling and waving toward another camera as he pulled her in just a little closer. "Don't worry. We're almost done out here. Then, we just have to tackle the interviewer in the lobby."

Oh, crap. The interviews.

A nervous chuckle burst out of her, just shy of an awkward volume, and the heat of a blush slowly crept its way over her cheeks, nose, and down her neck.

It'd be a miracle if people didn't notice her sudden redness. Maybe they'd just assume he had said something risque to her, she thought. It was immediately followed by regret when her ears then began to burn.

Oh, that was worse. That just added fuel to the fire blazing from her hairline to her exposed collar bones.

"Talk to me," he whispered, way closer to her blushing ears than he had been not even a second before.

"Just… nervous… about the interview," she managed to say around a breathing speed that was nearing hyperventilation.

His hand at her waist squeezed reassuringly. "Don't worry. You have the easy part."

"How do you figure?" She didn't mean to sound snappish but that commented grated on her nerves. Amid panic, she was in no mood to be patronized.

To his credit, he just shrugged it off and replied, "You know how Hollywood is. Sexism still rules here, shameful as it is. I'll get questioned about the movie and they'll undoubtedly ask you something stupid like, 'what designer are you wearing tonight?' or something stupid about your underwear."

He was right. That is exactly how these things typically went. Despite the actresses calling out sexist questions in recent years, they still always got questions about being working moms, if they were able to wear underwear under certain costumes, and what designers crafted their ensembles.

It was enough to ease the flare of her temper. It wasn’t his fault. He was just speaking the honest truth. There was nothing left but to return to there banter. "Aww, you don't think they'll care who designed that suit or want to know whether you’re wearing boxers or briefs?"

“Not standing next to you and that dress, they won't." His smile was blinding and surprisingly honest. Then he winked at her and she stopped moving.

He winked at her.

“Hey, Shirayuki," he said, eyes locked on hers.

The summer night air was cool against her back where his hand had been as he looped her arm back into the crook of his elbow. She was staring. She knew she was. He was so handsome and how exactly had she gotten here again?

A small hum was all she could manage, lost in his eyes as she was. Somewhere deep inside she balked at how cliche she was. The rest of her, though, was becoming a little more at ease with the situation.

"We made it passed the vultures.We’re almost free. Let's get the interview over with. Shall we?"

She nodded sharply as they turned the corner, fake-genuine smiles back in place.

Up ahead, standing on a raised platform two steps off the ground, Mukaze stood with her adopted younger brother, Kazuki, and an interviewer that looked like a frat boy film student who needed extra credit and had been stuffed unwillingly into the discomfort of a suit for the pleasure of a vindictive professor. Probably some pitiful intern who had been roped into doing a senior staff member’s job so they could rub elbows with the rich and famous.

"Ah, the man of the hour himself! And my daughter, too!" Mukaze called, gesturing for them to join the interview already in progress.

Obi placed his left hand over her hand still nestled into his elbow and gave it a small squeeze as they made through the throngs of onlookers from socialite heirs and heiresses to other big name celebrities that were loitering by the mock stage.

Shirayuki sucked in a quick breath- a vain attempt to calm her nerves. Interviews were worse than the mindless gossip mag zombies out front. At least out there she wasn't expected to give intimate details about her underwear or something else equally as intrusive.

“I'm here. I've got you," Obi said again. The same type of affirmation he'd been whispering into her ear since they had arrived.

It was actually comforting coming from him. He wasn't condescending. He never made her feel as though he was a glorified babysitter that, at the ripe age of twenty-three, she was way too old to need. He was just strong and sturdy and in trapped just as deep in this charade as she was.

He stepped away long enough, to bow down just a little and offered her his hand to help her up the steps. She took it, trusting him not to let her fall in the stupid heels Yuzuri had insisted she wear because, "my goodness, Shirayuki, he's so tall!"

He followed her up the steps, once again settling a hand on her waist as he stepped closer. He really was quite the actor, never letting a single detail slip. Impressive, really.

"We were just talking about you, my boy," Mukaze said, reaching around both Kazuki and Shirayuki to give Obi a sound thump on the back.

Obi grinned his thousand-watt smile at them all. "All good things, I hope."

"Indeed. Indeed," said the reporter. "Mr. Lyon here said that you were wonderful to work with, often doing your own stunts and nailing them in one take."

Obi chuckled. "That is true. I guess I just prefer the production crew not needing to worry about switching camera angles to avoid the use of a stunt double being obvious. I prefer a hands-on approach."

"I think I see your film's leading lady coming up behind you so unfortunately that's all we have time for," the interviewer said into the mic. "Enjoy your film."

The man let Mukaze and Kazuki leave. Shirayuki began to follow but the man held Obi back a moment.

"Hey, bud. Have fun getting 'hands-on' with the producer's daughter tonight."

Obi laughed… sort of. Not the type of laugh that spoke of humor but the annoyed chuckle an offended person lets out while they're deciding how to handle the situation. "Yeah..."

Obi's pause was disconcerting and, despite it sounding less than amused, her mind immediately jumped to the worst case scenario. 'Yeah?' What does that mean? Did he have more plans for them than she had agreed to? Why

Every little girl grows up learning to be vigilant. Men aren't always what they appear to be. They're usually superior in height, weight, and strength- especially when you're a short and slender woman like she is. Her brain began a self-preservatory run down of options.

There were cameras everywhere in the lobby and more outside. Escaping through the front would be impossible, not without causing a scandal anyway. She could possibly sneak out a side exit or something. Maybe the bathroom had a window? If they get seated near her father, she can just go to the family estate with them instead of Obi dropping her off at her apartment but...

"Yeah… Yeah. What's your name?"

Obi's voice cut through the cluttered, rapid-fire thoughts of escaping a situation that wouldn't turn out well for her and she turned to look at him.

His eyebrows were pinched together, nostrils flaring just a bit. Oh. Oh… 'Yeah' was the word of barely disguised disgust as Obi's line of patience was stretched thin and then pushed beyond its breaking point.

"Uh.. umm.. Gary?"

"Gary what?"

"Ha.. Hatfield?"

All Shirayuki could do was stand there. The whole display was unfolding in whispered tones. Anyone looking on would see nothing more than two guys talking quietly, but the kid's mic was still recording.

"Hollywood Tonight is the show with exclusive rights to tonight's pre-premier festivities, correct?"

"Yes?"

With that, Obi straightened and clapped the kid too hard on the back of his shoulder. "Excellent. Good luck with work come Monday," he said casually as he turned back to Shirayuki. "Sorry about that. Let's go find our seats, shall we?"

He took her, gently but firmly by the wrist, taking shorter steps than her own so he could pull her back to his side. As soon as he had her close to him, his arm wound around her back and his hand found the dip of her waist again.

When they were well out of earshot and beginning the slopes descent into the theater proper, Shirayuki finally found her voice again. "What was that? Were you a bodyguard in another life or something? Maybe a knight who would defend a woman’s honor?"

She tried to keep her voice light, teasing almost. That was nothing more than Hollywood's usual crap. Girls come easy and boys get what they want without repercussions. But she knew she failed, sounding more awed than amused. She was a bit annoyed with herself though. Everything had happened so fast but normally she was much better about sticking up for herself.

Obi laughed heartily, letting his head fall back and stopping forward motion so neither of them tripped while he wasn't watching where they were going. Several people turned around in their seats to see what was causing the commotion. Shirayuki flushed again and tapped his hand to bring his attention back to where they needed to go.

She couldn't wait for the lights to go out. She needed to be able to disappear for a while.

"Possibly," he mused as he spotted Mukaze saving seats for them and he began steering her toward her family. "But who's to say?"

She hummed a response as she thought back to the interview. "What's going to happen to him on Monday?"

"I wonder."

They sat down in the open seats next to Mukaze as the lights dimmed and brightened three times in succession signaling one minute to the start of the movie.

"What took you two so long," Mukaze teased, looking entirely too pleased with himself. Kazuki, off to Mukaze's right, also wore a suspicious smirk but Shirayuki didn’t have the emotional capacity after the last half hour to try and decipher what they were so happy about.

"Oh, you know, the usual. We thought we'd stop by the liquor store to pick up a few bottles of tequila... maybe find some drugs and a washed out rock star to do them with."

Shirayuki was the one to laugh this time, relief at having made it through the last half-hour of wasted time and energy without too much headache making everything feel lighter. Even breathing was easier now that she was seated with Obi and her family.

The fact that Obi had managed to say that with a completely straight face just made it that much funnier. Mukaze laughed, too. Clearly they had spent some time together on set over the previous summer and knew each other’s sense of humor.

"Is that all? Well, just make sure you're able to survive the after-party," Mukaze said, still chuckling, as the lights dimmed and the opening cinematics started.

The blood drained from Shirayuki’s face. All the breath wooshed out of her like she had been punched in the gut.

She'd forgotten about the after party.

#ObiYukiBingo2019 #celebrity #ObiYuki #in which Obi is an action star and Shirayuki is the producer's daughter and they get roped into a fake dating scenario #and attend a hollywood premier of Obi and Mukazes new film

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