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#I already have some ideas that aren’t duets
running-tweezers · 6 months
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Trying to brainstorm songs for my “cover musical theater songs for different Redacted Characters” idea. And I’m realizing that a lot of the ones I want to do are duets.
Which means I either need to rope my husband/friends into this OR sing them with myself. Fully prepared to do either.
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whyoneartheven · 5 months
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What head canons do you have for the LU boys? (Yes, this is a request for you to ramble about them)
aaaahhh hello! Thanks for asking, but wow, goodness me
this will take some thinking XD
umm
ok a lot of these are a lil generic or just other people’s ideas I kinda adopted but here goes!
also I didn’t expect it when I started but this got long…
for Legend, I really like the idea of him drinking tea and still having an apple orchard. And also having honey bees! (These aren’t mine originally lol) Also I feel like post LU (this ofc may change depending on the ending) he fell into depression a little bit before digging himself out with Ravio and Zelda’s help… he cut his hair during this time. idk I just feel like that would happen. I like the idea of him having a good singing voice. (merperson stuff but also even beforehand. He definitely sang lovely duets with Marin once she taught him how) Also I feel like he’s one of those people that’s always cold! So he secretly likes to cuddle :)
with Wild, I feel like… he definitely doesn’t use recipes! This is based off how I am in his game and irl, as I just throw things together and never go back to see how I made things before, but also I feel like it just fits his personality! I think it would be hilarious if he named his horses at first after anything that had an impact on him so like, one horse is named Zelda and another is Stir Fry. Or smth XDDD Also based on my experiences in game (to an extent), I feel like he doesn’t actually care about legitimately looking fashionable… it’s more that he likes wearing things that looks crazy XD
on to Hyrule! Ok this isn’t as much a headcanon as a ship but I really ship him and Aurora; I feel like they’d be absolutely adorable together but he’s really private about it! I like to think Hyrule can sew? And I think he’d love to run around barefoot on fresh grass! And just, be in love with nature in general! And maybe he doesn’t have an eye for color; he can’t tell if colors clash or actually match. Also is it just me or does he feel like out of the entire chain he could easily be a Studio Ghibli protagonist? Just me? Idk lol
Time! I like the idea of Time and Malon having a running joke that the other is color blind, and the chain eventually picks it up! And then Time keeps mistaking one color for another (on purpose or not? We’ll never know), and every time the others go wild XD (this may or may not be based on a joke my parents have irl hehe). When Time first met Malon he was very very lactose intolerant. And drank it anyway, of course! also I feel like Time really likes flowers? Idk why! And finally, if Time was in the modern world he’d be the guy who’d be eating food months to years past the expiration date…
Four, my beloved! Umm this is kinda a design idea more than anything but I like the idea of him growing his hair out and wearing it in a ponytail post LU! (provided he doesn’t die…) I don’t think of him as having voices in his head or being a system but I still like the idea of him talking to himself sometimes XD! Also this is just something canon I don’t see talked abt a lot but I love he and Twi’s relationship sm! Four totally has RBF and definitely stares at people accidentally when he’s thinking… also I saw a crack fic somewhere where Four was already married to Dot and had children and the chain were shocked; it was hilarious, and while I don’t think he would actually have kids yet, I think it’d be hilarious if he and his Zelda are already quite far along in their relationship (as I ship them lol)
the man, the myth, the legend, WIND, is next! This man has Opinions. I feel like he’s the kind of person so have opinions on things he’s only heard of two seconds before, like automatically deciding he will like a food or deciding the other way round. (And yeahhhh I’m basing him on my brother lol) I’m definitely not the one to come up with this but Wind is probably the one with the best (and most opinionated) fashion sense (most of the others are just hopeless in varying degrees so it isn’t hard)! Maybe older him bonded with young Wars in the War of Eras over this (bc I love the idea of older wind being there), Idk XD! Also he definitely braids Aryll’s hair and is generally very responsible (I mean he’s a big brother he’s gotta be XD); he starts off almost treating LU as a bit of a vacation! Nothing will go wrong, his family is safe, and he gets new friends :D
Warriors, the wonderful man, is next! I feel like he’s very nostalgic and a little sappy. Like, just in general. He likes to look back on his happy memories! Also (once again not my idea) but I like the idea of Warriors growing up either orphaned or really poor, and living in the less palatable portion of Castle Town. (Therefore he played pickup soccer as a kid; he just feels like he would lol) I definitely ship him and his Zelda (ok tbh I ship ALL the Links with their Zeldas lol). I feel like at the point of LU they’ve talked abt it but Warriors isn’t ready (thanks to Cia and maybe just all the barriers in his mind about being inferior to her or smth) Also, give this man the craziest accent you can find and I am here for it; whoever first came up with that is a genius. Ok yeah you can probably tell I love Warriors angst
XD Sky!!! My bestieeee!! If Sky was in modern times he’d be one of those people who gets sleepy when they drink coffee, fs! He is definitely the artistic one, and maybe during LU he discovers a bunch of mediums besides woodworking that he loves (and maybe he makes a bunch of art for Sun, who knows!) This next one is based off @margindoodles2407’s Forger from her loz AU but the idea that his parents died in a house fire and he lived with Gaepora and Zelda until he was older is so cool to me! And bc of this I feel like he’d really hate being around fire (to the point of panic attacks? Maybe, maybe not). Finally, hopeless bird lover Sky is a beautiful thing. As a bird watcher myself, I cannot blame him.
Last but not least is Twilight!! This guy totally holds conversations with animals all the time and it freaks people out (they can never tell if he actually understands them)! Twi definitely has a lot of respect for kids too and talks to them like they’re adults (by using the same vocabulary and tone, not by talking about things that aren’t good for kids to hear XD) and I feel like he would write painfully cheesy love poems? Twi definitely can’t cook but I feel l Ike he also cares the most about food? Idk? ALSO LET THIS MAN QUILT. IDK I THINK HE’D BE TERRIBLE AT IT BUT STILL TRY AND IT WOULD BE FUNNY
ok, and that’s it!!! Wow, that was a lot…
and I could definitely come up with more lol
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evilhasnever · 2 years
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here’s some fluffy xiyao drabble prompts! i hope one of them strikes your fancy ☺️
xichen meeting rusong or something to do with a sleepy rusong)
something to do with spice tolerance or a gift of unliked food (not alcohol)
one of them has never done X—the other one is surprised, and seeks to remedy this immediately
one of them finds out about an unusual/uncharacteristic hobby the other one has
modern AU: xichen loves being festive for ANY holiday, and wants to do something ayao thinks is just so, so cringe
modern AU: xiyao goes swing dancing (look up aerials for some inspiration 👀)
modern AU: xiyao goes to daiso/the dollar store
I zeroed in on swing dancing immediately 👀 (but I might come back for the other prompts later!)
Modern AU - Connection
“I’ve been thinking we should pick up a new hobby. Something we can do together.”
Jin Guangyao smiles and rubs his husband’s nape with a light hand, eyes still glued to his laptop. “We do yoga, play tabletop and play duets sometimes. Don’t we have plenty of activities we do together, ge?” 
“But they aren’t traditional couples activities,” Xichen insists, his ears pinkening, “for couples.” Ah, so that’s what it is. Married life has made Lan Xichen more inclined to show off, much to Jin Guangyao’s delight. 
“I will gladly review my husband’s proposal, please submit it by noon tomorrow,” Jin Guangyao replies in a pretend-formal tone, knowing he will say yes no matter what oddball activity Lan Xichen chooses. 
If he is to be honest with himself, he’d expected Lan Xichen to choose something sweet, creative, and slow paced. Pottery class would have been his number one guess. 
Instead, he is sweating his balls off on a dance floor, wearing what his husband enthusiastically deemed “compulsory swing dancing attire”. They got rid of the vests about ten minutes in, but the long pants are a little stuffy nonetheless.
They’re not the only gay couple in dance class, but they are probably the only first timers. His husband only smiles brilliantly and recommends he just have fun, but Jin Guangyao has already sized up the athleticism and general coordination of the other guys, and is fairly certain they can show them up from the get go. None of them has ballet training nor Lan Xichen’s preternatural comfort in his body that makes him good at just about any sport. They’ll grind them to dust by the end of the session.
Jin Guangyao is no show-off, but he enjoys being very damn good at things. Visibly, demonstrably good at things. And though he gave up ballet as a teen, years of dutiful yoga stretches were not for nothing. He’d kept up with it for the sex, to be honest, but he suspects that flexibility will be equally convenient when he has to flip a leg over Lan Xichen’s shoulder to fold himself into a scarf. As soon as they’re done with steps and stomps, anyway. 
The teacher lavishes praise on them - “Incredible connection!” - and Jin Guangyao lets himself preen a little. “We’ve been together for a while,” he says, making Lan Xichen flush and glow with pride. “We’re a well oiled machine.” 
The first challenging exercise comes in the form of aerials. They’re not quite ballet lifts, but close enough in his estimation. It’s all about landing right. 
Now, Jin Guangyao has always preferred to have his feet firmly on the ground. He’s not afraid of heights, but he likes to know where he stands at any given time. So when he and Lan Xichen run through basic throws, he is skeptical at first that he will enjoy this - though he is willing, because Lan Xichen’s absolutely glowing joy whenever he throws him in the air is palpable. 
Obviously, Jin Guangyao watched countless videos of aerials for beginners last night. He did not care for the frog jumps the teacher is intent on making them do, but the idea of wrapping his legs around Lan Xichen’s neck is an appealing one.
Lan Xichen, both sturdy and fluid, his anchor and the rubber band that propels him back and forth, moves with him with ease. It feels good to stick to him. It feels hot. 
While they take their third break of the evening, Jin Guangyao carefully adjusts his yoga pants and chugs water, but the sight of his husband absolutely sweat-sodden and positively flooded with endorphins does not help in dousing his flames. 
“Gege,” Jin Guangyao says, crooking his finger to pull Lan Xichen aside while some couples return to the dance floor, and others amble towards the exit. “I think we can call ourselves satisfied for today, don’t you?”
Lan Xichen, damn his stamina, has the gall to look surprised and a little put out, lips pursing in a conflicted manner. “Of course, A-Yao. We have been practicing for a while. Were you not enjoying yourself?” 
“That’s not it,” Jin Guangyao assures him, draping his towel around Lan Xichen’s neck to pull him down and encase him in a warm, private dark space where their noses touch. “My knees do need a bit of a breather, but I think we can continue practicing our connection at home.” Horizontally, ideally.
Lan Xichen’s eyes widen in rapturous enthusiasm and he nods, leading him to the changing rooms with a gentlemanly hand on the small of his back. Jin Guangyao makes sure to say goodbye to the teacher while he exits with maximum dignity. They’ll be back to effortlessly upstage those uncoordinated newbies next week.
(The Scarf is the first move in this video - probably not a first day kind of exercise, but they’ll get there in no time.)
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stargazer-sims · 2 years
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Senjirō: *sings softly* One thousand paper cranes…
Keigo: Are you working on your new song already?
Senjirō: Our new song. It’ll be a duet.
Keigo: Hmm… I like that. Been a while since we had a track with just us two singing.
Senjirō: We have to work on whatever it is that we’re going to write for Haru, too. I’m also thinking about that.
Keigo: Know what I think?
Senjirō: What?
Keigo: I think you’ll do much better with both once you’ve had some rest.
Senjirō: And some cuddling. You know, for inspiration.
Keigo: Oh, of course. I mean, you gotta find the right imagery. Like, how the protagonist of the song takes his love in his arms, and they close their eyes and wait for the magic, but they both fall asleep waiting. Then, they have the same dream of being cranes and flying above the valley, and when they wake up, they both remember every detail of the dream exactly the same way.
Senjirō: And you said I’m the hopelessly romantic one. But I love where this is going, though. They both realize it was only a dream and that they can’t really fly to a perfect place, but it’s okay.
Keigo: Is it?
Senjirō: Yes, because they suddenly understand that the magic didn’t come from the senbazuru. It’s something they created themselves, and as long as they’re together they’ll always find their perfect, safe place, and they’ll always be able to fly together in their dreams.
Keigo: People are going to need tissues when they listen to this song for the first time, aren’t they?
Senjirō: If I do it right, yes.
Keigo: Are you going to ask Taiji to help you with the composition?
Senjirō: No. I want to do it by myself. I might ask him to arrange it, though. He’s way better at that than I am. I love his harmonies.
Keigo: He says you’re the best songwriter of the group.
Senjirō: Really? Somebody besides you thinks I’m the best at something?
Keigo: You gotta stop selling yourself short, Senjirō. You’re amazing, and loads of people think so.
Senjirō: I wish that was true.
Keigo: It is, I promise. You know when we perform live and thousands of people scream and cheer? They’re not all just a bunch of Haru fangirls, you know. They’re there for all of us, including you. I mean, you’re responsible for so many of our best songs, there practically wouldn’t be an ‘us’ without you, so they’re definitely cheering for you.
Senjirō: I love that. The cheering. It’s easy to feel appreciated when I’m out there. It’s between times that I forget, especially when nothing’s going the way I want it to and I feel like my friends aren’t even my friends any more.
Keigo: You mean Haru?
Senjirō: Yeah. He treats me like crap.
Keigo: He treats you like a brother.
Senjirō: If that’s what having siblings is like, I’m glad I don’t have any.
Keigo: I can’t imagine life without my siblings. My two biological ones, plus my four adopted ones. And just so you know, Haru loves you.
Senjirō: How do you know?
Keigo: He wouldn’t treat you like that if he didn’t. He’s a dumbass, but he never meant to hurt you. He told me to tell you he’s sorry.
Senjirō: He did?
Keigo: He heard you crying, and he was really upset. He wanted to hug you and apologize to you himself, but I told him to leave you alone until you felt better. I didn’t think you’d go for being squeezed half to death. You know how Haru hugs.
Senjirō: And he always says I cling like a koala. Stupid Haru.
Keigo: *laughing* You behave just like a brother toward him, too.
Senjirō: I do not!
Keigo: Yes, you do, and it’s cute.
Senjirō: Do you think he means it?
Keigo: That he’s sorry? Yeah, I do.
Senjirō: So, I should talk to him.
Keigo: When you’re ready.
Senjirō: I’ll see how I feel about it after some sleep.
Keigo: Good idea. Want me to sing you to sleep?
Senjirō: No. Tell me a story. Tell me about the man who wished to be a crane, and what he sees and hears when he flies to his secret place.
Keigo: Once upon a time, there was a man who folded a thousand paper cranes — senbazuru — because he wanted the ability to fly away from everything terrible in the world and be at peace…
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alicecrax · 2 years
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random ideas for if already existing jd coaches end up reappearing in other maps
liv and blake (originally from bring me to life):
this is the reason why i made this post. i need them to return and if they do, please make the song all the things she said by t.a.t.u. i need lesbians in just dance i fucking need
(this post is rlly long and i don’t want to clog up the jd tag so click the keep reading thing if you wanna continue with my silly little ideas)
ann g. lina & luke cypher (originally from magic and disco inferno respectively)
the fact that magic and disco inferno take place at the same theatre is really cool and i really wish they did more with that. like maybe have something like save your tears but instead of love it’s just “FUCK YOU”.
unfortunately the first song that came to my mind when i originally thought of this was abcdefu by galye uhhh-
let’s just go with bad blood by taylor swift ft kendrick lamar cause that’s the best i can think of
mothigan (originally from good ones):
my girl was done kinda dirty she deserved lore who was in that coffin i need to know
idc what song she returns in, i need more lore about her, tell me everything just dance
wannabe trio & without me trio:
i think some sort of superhero duet with these coaches would be nice. something like majesty except they aren’t fighting eachother they are fighting crime together
for the song, maybe little violence by waterparks. seems like it would fit the vibe
amanita (originally from without me extreme version):
on the contrary to what the wannabe and without me coaches were doing, i wanna see amanita DO the crimes
i did something bad by taylor swift would probably work for her.
ruben and polo (originally from mood/danger high voltage):
make em gayer. that’s it. we know they’re probably gay but just make it even gayer.
beedabop (originally from heat waves) & video killed the radio star:
the two tv heads in just dance
i want them to interact with eachother bc i love them sm
idk if this song would fit the vibe but i think that i can talk by two door cinema club would be a cute song choice for them
thats all i can really think of for this one ty for reading have a nice dayy
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kohatoyas · 2 years
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VBS Archive 6 thu ????
I've been thinking a lot about the future of vbs archive and here are some predictions/ideas I've had:
so so so we're more than likely getting anhane for the next one and im assuming theyre using songs from the first anniversary campaign. i thought itd be cool if both pairs did GUMI covers but i want to be your heart and haikei doppelgänger aren't really vbs's genre so i dont think theyll do those. which sucks bc i really would have liked to hear anhane i want to be your heart... anyway so that leaves meltdown and butterfly on your right shoulder so i think the next one will probably be one of those and honestly im leaning more towards butterfly lol 
from there im purely hoping for things. I think vbs needs to cover some 25ji songs bc id love the idea of akito being annoyed about having to ask ena to show him some of their songs. I think since when they did the leo/need songs they only did covers, that they'd continue to stay away from the commissioned songs. I also think this would be a good time to do akihane and antoya 
so i have a desperate need to hear akito and kohane cover MKDR. I can already imagine akito belting out those lines and holy fuck i think itd be so good. for an and toya i wanted to give them a mafuyu/mizuki song bc akito and kohane got kanade and ena but i dont think they'd pull off otome dissection very well especially since i dont think the 25ji cover's good in the first place. Usseewa is way to heavy for them and while i think they could pull off bocca della, i fear that its also too heavy for vbs. this leaves villain which I think would sound pretty good so I'm gonna give them that. (totemo itai itagaritai was also an option that I think would sound cool hhhh)
SO after 25ji i think itd be really cool if they went back and did some of their own covers but swapped the singers. anhane doing akitoya songs and vice versa. Unfortunately there arent a lot of anhane songs to pick from. Odo's the only duet they have and there there are only a handful of them with the virtual singers.
i think the obvious choice would be to give anhane fragile. (anhane kamawanaide 👀👀👀) um and in keeping with the time area, maybe akitoya could do bring it on bc i think that would slay. ive also considered the option of them swapping ifuudouou and paIII. sensation hehehe
okay okay and the next part will NEVER happen BUT i think it'd be cool if they did solos and this is where id like to bring in mmj and wxs! i think that since kohane and an are friends with minori and haruka, they'd each cover a mmj song. id really like to see an do nostalogic. as for kohane,,,,, i really want to say she'd do one of minori's songs like love trial or marshmary but i also think she'd rock the shit out of romeo and cinderella
as for the boys: they get the wxs songs. I think toya would go for a song that tsukasa did! my top two options are fixer (the comfort song uwu) or nonsense bungaku. as for akito, he doesn't really have ties with anyone in wxs so he's got free reign. I think he could also do nonsense if toya doesn't but other big options are king, dappou rock, and chururira. hhhh actually i think dappou rock would be perfect for akito
so my predictions are:
VBS Archive 6: Anhane covering Butterfly on Your Right Shoulder (or meltdown) VBS Archive 7: Akihane covering MKDR VBS Archive 8: AnToya covering Villain (or totemo itai itagaritai) VBS Archive 9: Anhane covering Fragile (or ifuudoudou) VBS Archive 10: AkiToya covering Bring It On (or PaIII. Sensation) VBS Archive 11: Kohane covering Love Trial (or Romeo and Cinderella) VBS Archive 12: Akito covering Dappou Rock (or KING) VBS Archive 13: An covering Nostalogic VBS Archive 14: Toya covering Fixer (or nonsense bungaku)
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theblacklupins · 3 years
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Wolfstar is musically talented change my mind
- Remus is super good at playing the guitar
- like hand him a guitar and he’ll be able to play any song you’ll ask, and make up a few of his own along the way
- he plays for the Marauders in the common room as they’ll all huddle near the fireplace, kind of like a camp
- he’ll strum the guitar strings gently, as though it was something fragile, which makes Sirius fall in love with him more
- after Sirius gets the letter from his parents telling him that he’d been disowned, Remus played him every comforting song he knew, and before they knew it, it was already dawn and they were still huddled up in Sirius’ bed, awake
- Remus’ singing also deserves a mention
- like have you heard him
- he sounds magical, straight out of a Disney film
- at first, he’s too shy to sing along as he’s playing the guitar, but the Marauders get him out of his shell and convince him to sing a full song for them
- and they’re left awestruck
- and Sirius had to stop himself from combusting
- guitar playing + singing = a lethal combination that would kill Sirius
- okay but enough about Remus
- it’s Sirius Black’s moment now mfs
- he plays the piano because his parents forced him as a child, so now he doesn’t like playing it just to spite them
- doesn’t change the fact that he’s bloody amazing at it
- but one day, Remus is down from the full moon nearing, so Sirius brings them to the Room of Requirement
- a piano is in front of them, smack in the middle of the room
- so Sirius plays for him
- and the two of them snog after but details, details
- Sirius can also play the flute
- a rather weird combination if you consider Remus’ guitar but ykw they’re in love idc
- they attempt a duet
- it goes horribly but they’re laughing anyway, because god are they so infatuated with each other and there was nothing else they’d want rightt then
- but somehow they manage to get some kind of weird melody and it sounds like the theme of an alien invasion set in a cowboy-themed movie
- am i getting too much into details
- anyways
- they enjoy the time spent together
- so they do it over and over again
- just having a grand time making bad music
- and then Sirius’ gets the best idea
- he’s going to compose a song for Remus’ birthday
- so he’s up all night in the Room of Requirement, scratching on parchment paper and crossing out lines
- after a few days it’s done, just in time for the birthday
- after all the partying and whatnot, Sirius and Remus cuddle up in bed and Sirius gets out his flute, head ducking down shyly
- (“I wrote a song for you. There aren’t any lyrics, just the music, but—")
- Remus presses a kiss to his lips to stop his potential rambling, and then smiles, endeared
- Sirius plays him the most beautiful song
- it’s a song made up of joy and love and special moments and everything Remus loves
- oh god they’re so in love
- and the last time Remus strums his guitar is at Sirius’ grave, as he cries out his heart in loss of his lover
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brookecuzyes · 3 years
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three years of you. — tear myself apart
Damiano David x GN!Musician!Reader
Main Masterlist — 3yrs Masterlist
Summary: it’s only been a couple of days, which were full of tears and regret. however, that regret wasn’t on their part until a simple comment was made. (Part 3 of a series)
Word Count: ≈3.4k
Warnings: cursing, alcohol intake, angst (Anyone drinking alcohol in this chapter is of the legal drinking age in the United States, which is 21.)
A/N: thank y’all for reading! this has already gained a lot of readers and so i am happy about that. love you guys sm 💕 songs included in this fic are not mine. any characters mentioned are not mine, and belong to their respected owners. and ofc, i don’t own the celebrities either. i do check comments/reblogs, so please be respectful!!
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You’ve got this, you can do it.
You tried consoling yourself. Normally, he would be here to help calm you down— or at least call if he could physically be there. He’d be there if you were about to have a panic attack, he’d be there to make sure that you were OK.
But you aren’t.
An entire audience full of strangers who listened to the songs, who listened to your heartbreak. Now, they get to watch your heart break live.
He wouldn’t— no, couldn’t— be there to comfort you. He couldn’t be there to tell you that everything will be fine. He fucked up, he’s the one who messed up that relationship…
“…then why did you show up?”
——
Glasses clinked. Chatter was taking place all around. Honestly, it was a little overwhelming.
You sat down at the booth with the whole band. Saturday had rolled around, which you hadn’t noticed since you were lost in an almost depressive state where time was non-existent. However, the karaoke bar definitely woke you up.
“Alright, guys,” Luke, the lead guitarist, said, holding a couple of drinks in his hands. “Tonight is the night! The tradition kicks in once again, and Monday we start recording. Let’s celebrate and relax.” Julie, the lead singer and the girlfriend of Luke, followed behind him, setting more drinks down on the table. Flynn, the unofficial manager of the band, let out a loud, “woo!”, making everyone laugh. All of you grabbed a glass and clinked them together, all taking a sip at the same time. Your face crunched when you processed the drink.
“Jesus, Luke, what is this?” you questioned.
“Alcohol,” he said blatantly.
“Yeah, no shit,” you shot back, shaking off the effects.
“I just said that we’re relaxing— that’s exactly what alcohol does!”
“Or maybe you're just an alcoholic?” Alex joked, taking a sip of his drink.
“I don’t drink that much.” Luke defended.
“That’s what an alcoholic would say.” The whole band started laughing at the ongoing banter. It isn’t often when Alex made witty remarks like that, and everyone always enjoyed it when he did.
On another note, you felt as if you absolutely needed this drink. Given what’s been going on this last week, you felt like you deserved it. Though, you knew you’d regret this tomorrow. You knew Alex was keeping an eye out for you. The rest of the band didn’t know yet, they just knew that something happened, which is why you left Italy so early. They were all confused, but didn’t ask upon it when Alex glared daggers at them when they tried. So, thankfully, they did back off. But, it doesn’t mean that they weren’t concerned.
You had been talking, making it seem as if everything was fine, but Alex’s heart broke when he picked up on it. However, with the alcohol about to course through your veins, it would be harder from him to be able to pick up on whether you were drunk or going through it. Regardless, he was going to make sure that you were having fun and not thinking about your ex.
“Hey,” Flynn said, “why don’t we start the karaoke? I think we all have enough alcohol in our systems to do this.”
“I vote for Alex to go first!” You said, raising your hand. “Do Micheal Bublé.”
“Woah, hold up, I never even said-“
“It doesn’t matter. What I say goes. Now go.” He sighed, laughing as he stood up from the booth. He went over to the guy and told him what song he wanted to do. They got everything set up, and Alex got on stage.
“Let’s go, Alex!” You cheered on, making him smile and blush just a bit— though that wasn’t entirely visible from where you guys decided to sit.
The song started playing, and Alex started singing. It took you a few seconds to recognize the song but you figured it out.
“Oh, he’s singing Feeling Good. I love that song,” you whispered to Reginald, the bassist, who was sitting next to you. He looked to you over his shoulder, smiling. He hadn’t seen you so “out there” since you got back. It was nice to see you getting back to normal. Though, he didn’t actually know why you weren’t normal to begin with.
And I’m feeling… good.
You cheered Alex on again, dancing along to the beat with the whole band. Alex didn’t sing much, but when he did you cherished those moments. That’s why he songs Now or Never and Stand Tall on the band’s very first album are your favorite.
“God, I love his voice,” Reggie said, as if he read your mind.
“Yeah, and look at him,” you pointed out the way his body is moving with the music. The way he was just lost in a musical haze. It was enchanting. “That’s what his anxiety covers up.”
Alex soon finished, hopping off of the stage with an embarrassed smile on his face.
“Oh, don’t be embarrassed, babe,” you said, noticing his expression. “That was the best performance tonight by far. Not even Julie could compare to how amazing that was.”
“Thanks, Y/N,” she said, drawing out the ‘thanks’ in a sarcastic way. You raised your glass to her.
“Anytime, Jules,” you replied, raising your eyebrow and taking a sip. She laughed, letting the comment you made slip— for now at least.
“Hey, I have an idea!” Flynn exclaimed. “How about we take a couple photos and post them to our accounts? Y’know, to celebrate this very special moment.” Everyone collectively agreed. Pictures were taken left and right— and others were taken throughout the night, too— and each person had a different photo that they were each going to post. You had decided that you were going to post yours now, not wanting to forget later on tonight or tomorrow.
You captioned it:
Just continuing a small tradition tonight with music and alcohol. maybe if he lets me, i’ll post Alex singing Feeling Good 😏🤍
It was perfect and you posted it, after letting everyone see it to make sure it was OK. Within minutes people already saw it and were liking and commenting. You made sure to turn your phone off before it started going crazy. Julie and Luke decided to go up and do a duet with each other. They choose Little Do You Know. Their voices were beautiful singing the song. They mashed just so perfectly. You recorded them, knowing that you would 100% show them this at their wedding. (They aren’t engaged, but it’s bound to happen sooner or later.)
You weren’t paying attention to the notifications spamming the top of your screen, though you did look back once to see if the camera was aligned with their bodies. That’s when you saw a specific notification. One thing that you absolutely forgot when you posted that photo was that Måneskin could still see your posts. The only reason you remembered was because Victoria responded to your post.
Ahhh you look amazing!!!😘
The second you saw it, you put your head in your hands, mentally slapping yourself. If Victoria saw it, then the rest of the band is going to see, meaning Damiano would see it. Fuck, you thought to yourself.
“Hey, Y/N, are you alright?” Alex asked, placing a hand on your arm. You looked up at him showing him the comment. “I don’t understand.”
“Victoria commented. Meaning Damiano’s probably gonna see it.”
“Not if he’s blocked.”
“I didn’t block him, we’re still mutuals.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, Alex. Maybe I just haven’t gotten to it yet.” You realized the angered tone in your voice, not meaning to be rude to Alex. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap.”
“No, it’s okay. Hey, maybe if he does end up seeing it, he’ll just be jealous. Damiano will see everything he’s missing out on.”
“What is Damiano missing out on?” Julie asked, sitting back down with Luke.
“Oh, it’s nothing-“ Alex started, but you cut him off.
“I left Italy because Damiano was talking to another girl. It caused too many problems, so I left.” Everyone went silent. Everyone’s eyes softened at you, unsure of what to say.
“Y/N…”
“It’s fine. I’m here now. It doesn’t matter.” Silence fell once again, especially on Alex’s behalf. He knew you weren’t fine, he knew it mattered— whether you said it or not. “Sorry if I kinda killed tonight’s vibe.”
“N-No, you’re fine,” Reggie said. “You did nothing wrong.”
“Yeah, you didn’t ruin anything. I am glad that you told us, though. We’ve been worried.” Luke said, putting his arms on the table and leaning forward just a bit. You felt your phone vibrate but didn’t think anything of it— probably just another person on Instagram.
“Sorry that I made you guys worry. I just wasn’t sure how to bring it up. It’s just been a hard couple of days. This shit isn’t easy,” you explained, mumbling the last part. Everyone stayed silent, none wanting to make something worse.
“Luke, why don’t you and the guys go grab some food?” Julie suggested, placing a hand on Luke’s back, turning her attention back to you.
“Oh, yeah. Guys, let’s go,” Luke said, getting the hint. The boys got up and left, each giving you a sympathetic look. The girls, on the other hand, all stayed behind.
“Alright, listen up,” Flynn started. “Tonight is not the night to mope around. You can do that tomorrow when you’re hungover.”
“Right now,” Julie jumped in, “you’re gonna forget about that asshole, get your ass out there, and sing your heart out, dammit!” Your eyes widened at the girls’ sternness. A smile started creeping from your lips, Julie and Flynn following behind you. Soon enough, the three of you started laughing your asses off.
“Ok, ok, I’m convinced. I’ll have fun tonight. Thanks,” you said, trying to shake off the laughter so you can speak. You grabbed your drink, taking a sip of it. It was the same drink Luke got you earlier. Damn it, Luke. You shook your head to shake off the kick the drink had. Flynn chuckled at your antics, taking a sip of her, not as strong, drink. The guys soon came back with some snack-type items in their hands.
“Are we all good now?” Alex asked, setting down the plate on the table and looking your way.
“Yep, we’re all good now,” Julie answered, taking a sip of her drink. You chuckle at her, reaching for some of the food on the table. “But, Y/N’s about to sing for us.”
“Woah, wait, now?”
“What did I say? You’re gonna sing your heart out.”
You groaned, slumping back in your set in a joking— yet, not entirely joking— way. “Julie, I didn’t realize that you meant right now.”
“Ok, so? Get up there, Y/N! C’mon it’ll be fun.” You contemplated. I should go, you thought, it could be fun.
“Fine, I’ll go,” you announced, getting up from your seat. Reggie and Flynn got up from theirs so you could get out. When you got up, you turned to Reginald.
“C’mon, you’re doing this with me,” you said, grabbing his arm and dragging him over to the guy supervising the karaoke.
“I didn’t really wanna sing right now. Nerves, y’know?” Reggie explained.
“So? Reggie, I get that nerves are real, but there’s no way in hell I’m doing this alone.” You opened up a book full of songs, and was going through the selection.
“Why couldn’t you just get someone else?”
“Because I think our voices clash very well together.” You turned your head to him and gave him a smile. He shyly smiled back. You looked back at the book and held it up to Reggie. “What about this one?” you asked, pointing to a song. Reggie read it and smiled.
“Yeah, let’s do it,” he said, grabbing the pen and marking off the song and writing your names. You stood back, waiting for him to finish. When he did, he turned around.
“Alright, I’ve got us down. Wanna head up?” He asked, holding his hand out with a playful smile.
“Let’s do it,” you said, grabbing a hold of his hand, him taking you up the stairs and into the stage.
When you walked up, you saw the screen in front of you turn on, switching to the lyrics of the song. The lights were bright, but it wasn’t anything you weren’t used to. You saw some people stare at you, but it was mainly the rest of the band. Reginald walked to the microphone set up on the far left, you took the other. The song started playing, immediately relaxing you. Maybe this isn’t as bad as I thought. The song you chose was a favorite of you and Reggie— Meet Me At Our Spot. Of course, the band loved it too, but they got bored with it after a while since you two were always blasting it wherever you went. You actually had some inspiration from this song and wrote a little tune, but you had no lyrics at the moment.
When I wake up
I cant even stay up
I slept through the day, fuck
I’m not getting younger
——
“Victoria, you don’t understand-“
“No, you don’t understand, Damiano!” Victoria raised her voice at him. They never argued. They’ve known each other since childhood and nothing had ever caused an issue, except for this.
“I did nothing wrong.”
“Really? ‘Cause it looks to me that you broke your lovers heart.”
“Y/N left me,” he said, trying to reason.
“They might have physically left, but, Damiano, you were gone a long time ago.” She started towards the front door of his house, grabbing her keys.
“Where are you going?” Damiano asked.
“Home. But, let me tell you something first, Dami.” She put her hand on the doorknob. “It doesn’t matter how you try to defend yourself, you fucked up. You broke Y/N’s heart. You were talking to someone else. The damage is done. If you’re gonna try and get them back, you’re gonna have to try really damn hard. You want to get Y/N back, right?”
Silence followed. Victoria gave him a second to compose himself, but ultimately feared the worst. “Dami…”
“I mean, yeah, but-“
“No buts. You shouldn’t be saying ‘but’, you have no reason to.” Damiano just looked at her. “Wow… unbelievable.” Victoria opened the door and walked out, slamming the door behind her. Damiano walked up to the door and locked it. He headed back to the living room and heard his phone ding. He picked it up and saw that you had posted a photo.
Just continuing a small tradition tonight with music and alcohol. maybe if he lets me, i’ll post Alex singing Feeling Good 😏🤍
He sighed. He unlocked his phone, and went to go see the photo you posted. You looked nice. Happy. What was the tradition again?
Right, karaoke. The weekend before the band records an album, everyone goes to a karaoke bar. He scrolled down a bit and saw a comment. He saw Victoria’s comment.
Ahhh you look amazing!!!😘
He figured that she saw the post before she pulled out of his driveway. He debated on what he should do.
Yeah, he fucked up. But, it really wasn’t that bad. It’s not like he cheated. It was just talking. He wanted to tell you that you look great, but wasn’t sure how you would feel about it. Like Y/N would care what I think, he thought to himself. You never broke up, though. Plus, he needs to know what’s going on, how you’re doing. He’s concerned. Couldn’t be the worst thing— it’s not like the internet knows yet.
Ok, I’ll just just comment.
——
Caught a vibe
Baby, are you coming for the ride
I just wanna look into your eyes
I just wanna stay for the night, night, night
You and Reginald were jamming out to the song, as per usual. Everyone was loving it, even the rest of the band. It was the most fun you’ve had in a hot second.
When we take a drive
Maybe we can take the 405
Hypnotized by the light
Man, this must be the life
As the song ended, everyone cheered you two on. You went over and hugged Reggie on his side, him giving a small hug back. You guys walked back to your booth, the whole band full of excitement. Alex got up from his seat and let the two of you in, you sitting in the corner of the booth.
“That was amazing!” Luke exclaimed.
“Thanks, we had fun,” Reggie said, practically reading your mind.
“Definitely.”
“Your voices go so well together,” Flynn remarked.
“That’s exactly what I said!” you said, hitting Reginald’s shoulder so he knows your point is proven.
“Ok, we don’t have to be violent about it,” he joked, smirking just a bit.
“Yeah, whatever. I’m gonna go to the restroom real quick. I’ll be back,” you said, waiting for Alex and Reggie to stand up so you can go. You grabbed your phone, stood up, and made your way to the restroom. When you got to the restroom, you went to one of the stalls but checked your phone before you did anything else. However, you almost immediately regretted it because you saw that Damiano had commented on your photo.
What the hell does he want?
You read what he had commented, and, honestly, you wanted to laugh.
You look great tonight, as you do every night, amore
You couldn’t believe it. Amore, really? you thought to yourself. You looked up from your phone, looking at the stall door. You contemplated what to do next:
For starters, keeping the comment wouldn’t be out of the norm for your followers. They knew about you and Damiano. However, if you deleted (which you really wanted to do), everyone would notice. People would speculate. Or, you could just go off on Damiano privately. That would be too harsh. But, this is your account— your decision. Do you want to have your cheater boyfriend compliment you the way he did?
You know what, do it later, you thought, turning off your phone and finally, actually, using the restroom.
Once you finished, you exited the stall and walked over to the sinks. You washed your hands, not able to get that damn comment off of your mind.
You walked out of the restroom and back over to the booth, but you didn’t sit down.
“Alex,” you said, standing next to him. “Can I talk to you?” He looked up at you, unsure of what you wanted to talk about, but got up anyway. You grabbed his hand and pulled him outside.
When you two got out there, you sat down on a bench, Alex following your move.
“Is everything alright?” You opened your phone and went to Instagram, showing Alex to comment Damiano left. “Oh.”
“Yeah. I just don’t know what to do, and it is tearing me apart. Do I delete it? Do I keep it? Do I argue with him?”
“Delete the comment, and, Y/N, please, block him on social media. You don’t have to block his number, but you should block him everywhere else.”
“Why not his number,” you asked.
“Because you need closure. At some point, you’re gonna want to text him or call him and try to get some understanding as to why he did what he did. You haven’t actually broken up yet. Maybe that’s how you finish off?”
After a moment of contemplation (again), you nodded your head slowly.
“Ok. Yeah, ok, I’ll do that.” You lowered your head and searched through your following to find Damiano’s account. You clicked the three dots at the top, and looked for the block button.
“You sure this is the right thing to do?”
“Yes. Want me to do it?”
“No, no, it’s fine. I can do it.”
You looked at the button for a second. You’ve never even thought of blocking him before. I’m your mind, he was the one. Now? Well, you’re blocking him because he cheated on you, so obviously your idea of him completely shifted.
I can do this.
Your hands started shaking slightly, your heart was beating like crazy.
I can do this.
Slowly, you moved your finger over the button.
Click it, it’ll be fine.
And, so, you did. You clicked the button.
You felt free.
———————————————————————-
Taglist for 3yrs — i’m so sorry if i couldn’t tag you!*
@mywritingonlyfans @nientedaridere @pingpongchamps @fairysums @kkjk @blackbluerose666 @thatmeganthing @teenyweenynightghost @ccweasley @lilchickie @katyldamusic @fanfictioncafe @tiaamberxx @butkutee @aboredassho @story-scribbler
*(for those who want to be tagged, please have stuff posted onto your blog and make sure that your blog isn’t censored <3)
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d-criss-news · 3 years
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The Glee star and Emmy winner for The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, Darren Criss, 34, will be releasing his first album of Christmas songs, titled A Very Darren Crissmas (October 8). It includes duets with Adam Lambert, Evan Rachel Wood and an original song, “Drunk on Christmas,” featuring Lainey Wilson.
What was your goal with this Christmas album?
To reintroduce familiar songs in a new way. But I also wanted to take lesser-known songs and make those feel more familiar. And, most importantly, I wanted to take songs that people don’t associate with Christmas but I do—like Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”—and try to make them feel like Christmas songs.
What inspired you to write “Drunk on Christmas”?
It’s about the end of Christmas when everything’s been done. There’s wrapping on the floor, you’ve cleaned things, the in-laws have left and there’s nothing else to do. It’s two people having a sit-on-the couch moment, sipping a glass of cocoa with some SoCo [Southern Comfort] in it.
What is it about Christmas music? Why did you want to do the Christmas album?
Christmas or the holiday season is something that, whether we like it or not, we experience every year, and that comes with a litany of wonderful songs and music that again, whether you have been proactive about listening to it or not, it’s pretty hard to avoid. It’s permeated our cultural consciousness for our entire lives. So if you happen to be someone like me who consumes music at a hyperactive level, I’ve always adored Christmas music.
People say this because of the way that it makes them feel and the things that it reminds them of. There are so many layers to why people enjoy Christmas music. It’s nostalgic, it is very romantic, at least in the true dictionary meaning of the word romantic. And to me, I’ve always loved it for a much more anthropological reason, which is for one month or several weeks out of the year we suddenly subscribe to a certain sentiment that the other 11 we don’t really dial into. We want it all, then we want it to just go away.
What makes Christmas songs different?
As a musician I’ve always loved that Christmas music can employ certain musical elements that otherwise aren’t very popular. To me, it’s incredible that without a doubt the estates of many artists are guaranteed placement on the radio even though many of them have been deceased for many years. The pop charts are dominated by whatever contemporary, awesome artists there are nowadays, but in December you can guarantee that Burl Ives and Dean Martin will be on the radio with the best of them. I find that so charming. It’s because people really, really love this music.
And those songs don’t sound like the sounds that we’re hearing on the radio, sonically, harmonically, rhythmically. They employ a lot of “classic” sounds that evoke the feeling of Christmas. I’m a self-proclaimed genrephile—this is a term I use for myself throughout all the stuff that I do. I can’t help but be so enchanted by this idea that artists have license, and by license I mean an excuse to do things that you ordinarily wouldn’t be encouraged to do, or that audiences wouldn’t necessarily be as quick to absorb.
So, when you’re talking about classic Christmas writing, for lack of a better word, you use clichéd Christmas terminology, you use certain chords, and harmonies, and instrumentations that you just wouldn’t do throughout the year. It leans on the slightly more sophisticated, slightly more musical, and that is really exciting for someone like me.
How much does the fact that your last name is Criss play into this?
If you play music and your last name is Criss, every year someone says, “You know what you should do?” as if they’re the first person who’s ever thought of this idea. So I’ve always wanted to do this; it was just a matter of time. And I also didn’t want it to be phoned in, I didn’t want it to seem like, “Oh, here’s some songs that you know already.”
I wrote this in my liner notes that my favorite thing to do with art, but particularly music, is curate, interpolate, create and personalize. That’s my main thing. I’m an OK singer, I’m an OK musician, but what I really think I have a yen for is trying to interpolate something new that people didn’t know before.
If you think about a song like “Jingle Bells,” it was not written for Christmas. It was a song from 200-something years ago that bears no mention of Christmas whatsoever, but we associate it so heavily with Christmas. Lately I hear Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” come up on Christmas playlists. I think it must have something to do with the Christian angle of the song and the reverence of the word “hallelujah,” but there’s no mention of Christmas.
So there’s a lot of different things that can make people feel like Christmas if you arrange it a certain way, and that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted this cocktail of songs that people didn’t know and I might be able to introduce to them in a really new, interesting way.
You duet with Adam Lambert, Evan Rachel Wood and Lainey Wilson. These people couldn’t be more different. How did you select your song partners for this?
Honestly, people are busy, so I leaned on friends of mine. The album is called A Very Darren Crissmas, and I wanted to make it just that. Songs that are very, very me, doing things that are very me, and using the talents of people who are legitimately in my life. Adam has been a pal for a long time. We’ve known each other from just adventures in Hollywood, but he, of course, was on Glee with me. Evan Rachel is a dear pal of mine; we’ve done some things together. She’s played my festival, and I’ve done comedy sketches with her and stuff. These are all extraordinarily talented singers. As I told them when I asked them to be a part of it, “I’d be very lucky to have you on this record.”
I had not met Lainey Wilson before I started this. But when you’re in Nashville, you are in the Olympic tent of USDA certified prime country singers. And that’s a bit of a blind spot for me as far as who’s on the up and up, who’s somebody that can really give a level of authenticity, legitimacy to a more classic ’50s Nashville sound, which is the song that I wrote called “Drunk on Christmas.” My producer Ron Fair, who has been living in Nashville for a while, suggested Lainey and we got on like a house on fire. She’s an extraordinary talent and I was happy to have her. These were all people that were part of this grassroots friend to friend thing. That’s how I got them and I’m very lucky that they’re on the record.
There are hundreds of Christmas songs. How did you choose what to include?
Choosing was extremely hard. I had a list of about 100 songs. I’m not done; this record is only phase one in my mind. There are so many songs that it will make your head spin. If you go, “Did you think about this song?” The answer is yes, and I absolutely had to deliberate which ones I had to triage out of the sequence.
I even said no to “The Christmas Song,” which is on the album. I didn’t want to do it because I was like, “Everybody knows it; it’s perfect by Nat King Cole,” and Mel Tormé [who wrote it] is one of my favorite artists of all time, much less songwriters and musicians. So I was like, “I don’t want to have to do that.” And on the day when we were there, we just had a guitar and said, “Let’s just do it for fun,” because I love singing that song. But I was like, “It’s been done perfectly too many times, I really don’t want to have to put myself up against that.” But we had a nice take, it’s live in the room. And hey, come on, it’s Christmas. So I left it on there.
If we were to come to your house during the holidays, what would you be listening to?
I’d probably sit you down and play you my favorite songs that you’ve never heard that I think are great Christmas songs. But what’s nice is I’ve now put those songs on this album, hopefully, in a perhaps delusional effort to standardize these songs in the Christmas pantheon. There has to be an air of delusion to being an artist in the first place. If one of these songs that no one’s ever heard before catches on with a family or a person and becomes part of their Christmas playlist every year, then I will have succeeded in my efforts.
What did the Emmy you won for The Assassination of Gianni Versace do for your career?
Although the Emmy has just my name on it, the number one thing that I’m most proud of is it’s more symbolic and representative of the work of the whole team. It is a validation and celebration of the really hard work of people that I spent a lot of time and energy with creating this role.
You have a couple voice roles coming up—in Trese and Yasuke—but what are we going to see you in next, not just hear you?
I don’t know. Let me know if there’s any opportunities. A huge reason for why this album was made was because I had the time. Making records takes a lot of time, and I’m envious of people who are just singers. I don’t know how people do that, that’s just not who I am. I’m a producer, I’m a writer, I’m a musician. It takes so much out of me to make a body of music because someone doesn’t say, “OK, here are the songs, show up on a Tuesday, you sing it and then you leave.” Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Some of my favorite artists can do that and are blessed enough to be able to just do that. I can’t.
It takes so much time for me to really get in the weeds, arrange, edit vocals, edit instrumentation, mix tracks, really getting in the jungle of music production. I can’t function any other way and that takes an extraordinary amount of time. Even when there was a global pandemic, I still had deadlines that we could barely make to finish this album because that’s just how my brain works.
So I haven’t been able to act. I haven’t had an acting job in almost two years. That’s not entirely true. I’ve had little bit things during the pandemic, but no big series or films or anything like that. It’s just been mostly working from home and being as proactive as I can be. I started a weekly podcast with a friend of mine, I put out an EP. I’ve been extremely busy with high output and low visibility. I’m waiting for the next thing, but I’m not one to sit still. If you give me time, I’m going to fill all the spaces out. So I did that with music this past two years.
Are you going to go back to Broadway now that it’s opening again?
I don’t want to say anything that is not perhaps confirmed 100 percent, but I will say with full confidence that I have always had the intention of going back exactly where we started. I’ll let them announce what’s happening because every show is in its own unique holding pattern. But, yes, right before the shutdown I was doing American Buffalo in New York, and talk about the actor’s dream, that is right up there. Doing a great American play that I’ve always wanted to do. I’ve had a long history with that show, and I finally get to do it for real with two of my favorite actors—Sam Rockwell and Laurence Fishburne. They are two acting heroes of mine.
So I was in rehearsals for that. We were about to go into tech, and things got shut down. But we’re in a very fortunate position where you’ve got two huge movie stars, you have a very well-known play and you have a fixed set and just three guys. There are musicals that have orchestras, big choruses and huge set pieces, and the overhead and upkeep of these productions is quite complicated. And a lot of them, for that reason, fell by the wayside during the pandemic, and it’s an awful tragedy. But our set and our billboard and our posters are exactly where we left them. It’s kind of a trip. If you go to Circle in the Square, I keep telling people it’s the longest I’ve ever been on Broadway because it’s just sitting there dormant, waiting to be resurrected.
I think all of us are planning on going back. I think the show is scheduled to reopen almost to the day that it was supposed to open in 2020. We’ll see how the schedule ends up, but you have three guys whose heart and soul is the theater. I don’t want to speak for the other two guys, but I’m almost positive that all three of us would rather be doing that play on Broadway than anything else. So when I say I haven’t had an acting gig in two years, it’s been a comfort to know that that was waiting for me on the other end. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we’ll be able to do it. We’ll have to make sure that everything is hunky-dory with theater audiences, et cetera, et cetera, but that’s the idea.
How did Ryan Murphy casting you in Glee change your life?
I said during my Emmy speech that actors are only as good as the moments they get. I used to say actors are only as good as the parts they get. Take that with a huge grain of salt, obviously, it’s not entirely true. But in context of that moment, certainly you can understand what I meant. Acting is a proactive craft, but in many respects it’s a passive career, where you have to hope and wait for a benefactor, a patron, a supporter to say, “OK, all right, kid, you’re up. I think you can do it.”
I think any artist’s life is a constant compromise between knowing what you can do and what you want to do, and having other people, audiences and creative authorities alike, have an idea of what you can do. You have to have that balance of somewhere in the middle, where hopefully you can rise to an occasion that you know you can do, that somebody’s going to give you the opportunity to do. But you’re not in control of that relationship, and so you have to sit and hope and pray that someone is going to give you that moment and that opportunity. That was something that I’m fully indebted to with Ryan.
Because he did say, “All right, kid, you’re up,” and gave me that shot. We talked about the The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story series for years before we did it. I didn’t think he was ever going to do it. By the time we started shooting, he probably mentioned it to me three or four years prior. And I kept asking about it like, “Hey, you still want to do this thing?” I think he was just always obsessed with the fact that I was half Filipino and that I bore a certain resemblance to the guy. Age and everything, it seems pretty spot-on. But he was a man of his word, and he really did end up making it. So I’m incredibly indebted to him and I’ve always been very effusive about that.
Now that you have this modicum of fame, what would you like to use it to accomplish?
For me, there are so many things that I love in this world that I don’t think other people are familiar with. One of the things about having a modicum of a platform is hopefully embracing that to use it as a gateway drug for stuff that people might not be familiar with. I don’t know if they’re going to like it as much as I do, but I’m looking at this track list and there are songs that I guarantee that you don’t know.
These are all things where I go, “OK, I have this moment of people’s attention, hopefully, this is a fun way to have them have eyes on something that I think is deserving of eyes, and not because of me, but because of other people who have made something amazing.” And, hopefully, they have the same proactive curiosity that I had growing up where I look at the liner notes and see who wrote the songs and where they came from. But we’ll see. We’ll see if people have that reaction.
You’ve accomplished so much. What’s the dream going forward?
The dream is to keep doing me, really. I think all you can do is be as true to yourself and try and do as accessible and as valuable work as you can. And, hopefully, in so doing, represent people, giving them visibility and encouragement towards their own place in the cultural conversation.
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canary3d-obsessed · 4 years
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Restless Rewatch: The Untamed, Episode 23, second part
(Masterpost) (Other Canary Stuff)
Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!
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Nature Abhors a (Power) Vacuum
Jin Guangshan, Nie Mingjue, and Lan Xichen have gathered to decide what to do about the remaining Wen people and also what to do about the Yin metal. They have not invited Jiang Cheng to this discussion, or blowhard Clan Leader Yao, despite those clans having been hit particularly hard by the Wens in the course of the war. 
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The three of them have a conversation about what to do with the Wen captives, showing their different attitudes towards killing.
Jin Guangshan: Killing is awesome, particularly in project management. It's just so efficient. Nie Mingjue: Killing is necessary, and a little bit fun, too. Lan Xichen: Killing is necessary, sadly, but we can randomly spare some women or old people, as a token sign that we’re not monsters. Kind of like when you have a fancy dinner and include a tofu dish for the vegetarians. Nie Mingjue: Nobody likes tofu, Xichen.
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Jin Guangshan says he's looking for the Yin Iron and that they can't let any Wens or "ambitious people" get a hold of it. By ambitious people he means Wei Wuxian, not himself and his murder kid. Lan Xichen realizes this right away but doesn't, you know, do anything to contradict him.  Jin Guangshan says he's asked "A-Yao" to look into it. Which is smart, because A-Yao is already in cahoots with Xue Yang, who actually has the piece of Yin Iron they're looking for.
Getting Jiggy With It
Then Jin Guangshan introduces Meng Yao, now renamed Jin Guangyao, in a weird twist on generation names. He has given him the name of a sibling or cousin of his own generation (starting with Guang), rather than a name of the next generation (starting with Zi). JGS says that JGY just recently learned about about being related to him, although we know perfectly well that's not true. 
And they both talk like he appreciates JGY's efficiency and helpfulness, but that's not why JGS has him at his side. He has taken him in because he is a steel-eyed murder bot, not in spite of it. 
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(OP does not believe that Jin Guangyao could have been a good person if only his dad had let him hold Jin Ling that one time, as some have argued. Dude killed his own child because there was a chance he might be disabled in a way that could lead to gossip. Dude is a stone cold killer.)
(more after the cut)
In the language of CDrama costume (which is not, precisely, the language of actual historical clothing), Jin Guangyao has chosen to dress as a minister instead of as a chevalier. This is partly an artifact of his mother's ideas about a gentleman. It also suggests that he’s content with the sort of career that's available to a bastard of a noble house--not inheriting the noble title, but having enough favor to rise in power. 
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It may also be a ruse to make him seem like he's not a strong cultivator and not a strong fighter, when in fact he is both, at least by the time he’s throwing death chords at Jiang Cheng, much later in the show. 
Mingjue makes all kinds of grumpy faces and snarky remarks to let everyone know that he fucking hates Jin Guangyao.  Xichen agrees to his “nice refugee camp with only a little death” plan, with no qualifications.
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Now we get to see Jin Guangyao's manipulation of Lan Xichen. Lan Xichen says that Nie Mingjue wants a plan that’s more killy, because he believes in punishing evil. JGY deliberately misunderstands this, pretending that Lan Xichen said he, JGY, is evil, kind of forcing LXC to reassure him and take his side in an argument that isn’t actually happening. 
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They have a little handholding while bowing, and then after Lan Xichen leaves, Jin Guangyao puts on his evil face and has all the prisoners killed behind the big closed door.  
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This is done in such a violent fashion that the blood apparently flows up several stairs to the door, and over the tall raised threshold, before flowing downward toward the camera. Some evil is so extreme that even traditional Chinese doorway architecture can’t stop it.
Run To the Rock
Then we go outside to where Wei Wuxian is standing on a rocky outcropping, thinking it would be a good strategic spot to choose if he's ever in a battle where he wants to commit suicide right quick.
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Lan Wangji comes to join him and admire the view, not knowing yet that this view, or one a whole lot like it, is going to be seared into his memory for most of his life.
Lan Wangji is becoming more and more committed to Wei Wuxian, more and more inexorably joined to him, but he still doesn't agree with him. So they each have this comfort in each others' presence at the same time as being massively in conflict.
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Wei Wuxian asks him what he thinks of all the politicking and murdering. Who is good and who is evil? LWJ doesn't answer because WWX is leaking black smoke, so he grabs him and tells him to concentrate.  Lan Wangji is, incidentally, wearing Princess-Leia quantities of lip gloss.
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Lan Wangji asks if Wei Wuxian would like to learn a new tune, "Absterge" according to Netflix. The fuck? [op looks it up in the dictionary]. "To cleanse, especially by wiping." Also known as aftercare. Netflix. Honey. This word is MIDDLE FRENCH. Will you knock it the fuck off?
So anyway, instead of answering his question about who is good and who is evil, LWJ asks if he wants to learn a song called "Cleansing." Wei Wuxian says “hey babe, are you fucking kidding me?” 
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His actual words are "you doubt me too?" meaning "you think I also took the missing 4th chunk of Yin iron to make my ugly tiger amulet, rather than obviously having used that giant sword I pulled out of the turtle?"  
Lan Wangji mentally replays Wen Ruohan's questions in his head--the questions he barked at Wei Wuxian right before choking him unconscious--which Lan Wangji also feels entitled to know the answers to. Fuck you, Lan Wangji. He answers WWX with "when did you forge your amulet?" Which is his way of saying "yes, I doubt you."
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Wei Wuxian kindly refrains from saying "while we were on a break, bitch" and instead tells him the exact truth--I found a yin iron sword in the turtle--but says it in his patented "make it sound like a lie" way. 
LWJ keeps grilling him, eventually coming out and saying dude, you knew the sword was Yin iron, why did you need to use it?
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This is the crucial question--why WWX broke his first promise, to Lan Yi, which was to try to get rid of the Yin Iron. He won’t tell anyone the answer, which is that he needs to use it because he can't cultivate normally, because he lost his golden core. He made a lot of promises before that happened, and he probably expected to keep them. But without his core, everything changed; without his core, he’s a different person, so it’s maybe not fair to expect him to honor his previous promises. 
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I’m reminded of my grandfather, who was the oldest son of an old southern US family, with lots of expectations as the firstborn. He went off to WWI as a soldier, expecting to die. He didn’t die, and so from that point on, he regarded his life as a gift. He felt could do whatever he wanted with it, and let go of expectations from before the war. He moved to Paris and took up with a glamorous divorcee 7 years older than him (my Grandma, eventually). 
The actual point of that story, other than OP having cool grandparents, is that when you think you’re going to die, and then you don’t die, your ideas about what you owe to people can change quite a bit. Wei Wuxian expected to die in the Burial Mounds; he expected to die at Nightless City; he expects it, over and over, and each time he doesn’t die, he gets further and further from being what everyone else wants him to be. And--a lot like soldiers returning from a war-- NOBODY in his life knows how to talk to him about it. 
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Wei Wuxian tells Lan Wangji to back off, Lan Wangji says why aren't you letting me help you, and they are once again on the edge of the same fight they keep having. Lan Wangji does some impassioned arm holding while Wei Wuxian says he's not like Wen Ruohan. 
Romantic Duet #1
The argument is interrupted by screams and killing, so they go to check it out, and find the Jins hunting down some prisoners for sport. They arrive in time to save two people. Yay?
Jin ZIxun acts like a jerk, as always. The new element is that per Jin Guangshan, anyone concerned with Yin Iron shouldn't be alive.  He says that the Lan and Nie clans agreed, and challenges Wei Wuxian. Lan Wangji stops him from responding, grabbing his wrist.
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The Jins leave and Wei Wuxian refers back to their earlier conversation, saying there will be more resentful spirits now and that "Rest" is the music to play, not "Cleansing."
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He gives Lan Wangji a long look and then pointedly removes Lan Wangji’s hand from his wrist, by holding his hand, which is some next-level mixed signaling. Lan Wangji totally deserves it at this point, though. He keeps pushing and pushing WWX about his cultivation method, but he refuses to discuss the underlying morality of it, or the morality of the killing going on right in front of them. 
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WWX walks off, leaving LWJ to stew in his own juices surrounded by a bunch of fresh corpses. 
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Lan Wangji fails his saving throw against the guilt trip, and sits his ass down to play Rest, just like Wei Ying told him to. So switchy!  Wei Wuxian, out of sight but not out of earshot, hears him and accompanies him on Chenqing.
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This scene is slightly ridiculous and a whole lot sublime. Ridiculous because it's their first time playing music together, so it's a super slow, romantic, extended scene, but they're surrounded by corpses. And not the helpful, friendly, third-wheel-on-a-date type of corpses.
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It's sublime because the occasion of their first beautiful, literally magical duet is an argument. And they are joining together to play beautiful romantic music - as a service for the dead. And they are doing it while they are on literally opposite sides of a literal killing field. And Lan Wangji is sitting literally in the middle of a wide open road; the sort of road that they will both reject, metaphorically, later in the show. There is so much about their conflict and their journey that is encapsulated in this one musical moment.
Lan Wangji, by playing the song Wei Wuxian said was needed, is telling WWX that he took his words to heart, that he is listening, even though they're at odds.
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WWX, by stopping and playing with him, is acknowledging this. And by settling the dead souls together, they are both reinforcing their dedication to doing what's right even as they both struggle with knowing what that is.
When Other Friendships Have Been Forgot, Ours Will Still Be Hot
Now we have the sworn brothers thing. I understand, plot wise, why this has to happen, but why would Nie Mingjue ever agree to this? Lan Xichen's puppy eyes are just that persuasive?
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If they ever crack your spine, drop a line If they ever cut your throat, write a note If you’re ever in a mill and get sawed in half, I won’t laugh (HA HA HA HA)
Tedious Party Time
Now there's a cultivation party, which is about as excruciating to watch as it would be to attend.
Everyone is lining up to praise Jin Guangshan. To be fair, he did provide shelter for most of the smaller clans while the war was going on. So being grateful is appropriate, but Clan Leader Yao practically breaks his own neck kissing Jin ass. Yao says JGY’s contribution was the greatest of the war, adding, "fuck Wei Wuxian; everything is his fault."
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The Jiangs show up wearing mourning belts that show off their itty bitty waists, and Jin Guangshan makes shifty eyes like a cartoon landlord when he sees them arrive.
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JGS praises Jiang Cheng, and asks when his fancy clan-leader ceremony is going to happen. Jiang Cheng says he's still in mourning so it's not appropriate. JGS is like “Oh...yeah," as if he totally forgot about all the Yunmeng slaughter, and talks up his friendship with Jiang Fengmian. He acts comforting while WWX manages not to barf.
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Then the Lan clan shows up and there is nice encouraging chit chat between LXC and JC...
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...and just, SO MUCH mournful staring between Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian.
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Then the Nies arrive.  Jin Guangshan tells Nie Mingjue he's late, and that everyone's waiting for him. That might be true in the script but it’s clearly bullshit on the screen, where the Lans and the Jiangs are still milling around looking for the coat room.
Nie Mingjue--who, let's remember, JUST swore to be brothers with Jin Guangyao--looks at him like he's something that fell off a garbage truck.  Lan Xichen jumps in to maximize the discomfort by pointing out that Jin Guangyao should address Nie Mingjue as Big Daddy Da-ge from now on.
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Then the Jins offer Nie Mingjue the giant fire throne because...he's the leader of the Sunshot campaign, I guess? Of course it's all a manipulation tactic, designed to make him say he won't sit there, so that JGS can elevate himself to head cultivator, or something? And sit in front of the throne but not on it? Cultivator succession seems kinda arbitrary. 
I swear to god, it wasn't until I was clipping this episode that I realized Wen Ruohan had two thrones and they're in different rooms from each other.
Finally everyone goes to sit down, but because there hasn't been enough fucking awkwardness, JGY stops WWX to ask him what's on his mind. WWX asks him why he's not carrying his sword, which made me laugh and laugh. Wei Wuxian must have been just waiting for a chance to ask someone else that question for a change. 
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Jin Guangyao says he threw it away, because it was just a random sword, but he really means he had it made into a sneaky murder belt, that he will be using again in 13 to 16 years. They both fake-laugh and trade Mean Girls insults pretend to like each other. 
Everyone wanders around toasting each other. Lan Wangji goes to find Wei Wuxian, after first making sure that his hair looks good.  
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Wei Wuxian is lying around on the steps, sprawling and drinking wine, and not, incidentally, looking for Lan Wangji. He continues to not seek him out and Lan Wangji continues to chase after him.
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Wei Wuxian says "how about playing Cleansing?" but Lan Wangji says he's learning a new score. It looks like it's going to be another argument, but then Wei Wuxian smiles and kind of praises Lan Wangji for being stubborn. 
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Awkward Marriage Proposal
Just then everyone inside starts cheering for Jin Guangshan to give a speech. Jin Guangshan is making a move to marry Jiang Yanli to his son, which is a big time power grab, given that the Jiang Clan is 1. vulnerable and depleted 2. has control of the Yin tiger amulet.
We get a very rare glimpse into Jiang Cheng’s inner mind, where he thinks that saying yes isn’t a great idea, but isn’t sure what to do. This marriage would make his sister happy, but could destroy the Jiang Clan's independence.
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Fortunately, Wei Wuxian joins the party just in time to fuck up Jin Guanshan’s plans. Will this teach Jin Guangshan not to invite Wei Wuxian to parties? It will not.  
Soundtrack: Friendship, by Cole Porter (from “Anything Goes”)
Bonus:
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245 notes · View notes
eisa96 · 3 years
Text
Aokaga Trivia
I would like to compile some of the canon facts about these two basketball idiots. Some many not come as surprising to others but there are ones that I like to add.
Here we go! 👏🏻
* means I added new points in the trivia
Their first meeting is at the basketball court. Kagami already got the gist who Aomine Daiki is from other GoM members but this is the first time they officially met.
In the manga, Kagami for the very first time felt unsure of winning against Aomine and has been sitting at the basketball court for quite some time. Aomine’s play affected him. *
Aomine seeks Kagami. It was not a coincidence that he found Kagami at the basketball court. He got the information from Momoi and knew from the very start that Kagami is still injured from his previous match. He’s interested in Kuroko’s new light. *
Kagami thought Aomine is an idiot and parrots Aomine’s infamous “the only one who can beat me is me” line in a mocking, playful tone.
Aomine showed genuine interest in Kagami during their first match together. Opposite from when he tries to measure Kagami’s strength as Kuroko’s new light in their first meeting.
Aomine is been a bit too friendly placing his arm around Kagami’s shoulder which Kagami returns some times later (in the manga/anime) . His way of paying back.
Aomine is one of the biggest driving force for Kagami to practice harder.
Kagami is the first person who was seen not feeling dejected after losing to Aomine. Instead he was livid and brimming with determination.
Aomine is the first one to sense Kagami’s presence at the door that only Kiseki no Sedai can enter. *
Kagami respects Aomine and acknowledges him as an amazing basketball player. Different from when he felt utter frustration moments ago. Different from other players who had faced Aomine.
Kagami went from “I want to beat Aomine” to “This time, I will save him.” He sees something in Aomine. *
Kagami was the first one to stop Aomine from scoring. The first one that intensely reads the other’s movements and knowing the outcome. *
They both have “animal insticts” *
Kagami is also the first one to bring back Aomine’s animal insticts back. *
If Aomine didn’t stop Kagami from doing the formless shot, there is a high chance that Kagami succeeded in doing so. The only reason why it didn’t go in is because Aomine’s finger grazed the ball. *
Kagami is the first person who got into the Zone, playing against Aomine.
Aomine for the very first time was seen smiling and enjoying his match. Different from his Interhigh match. He genuinely felt joy playing against Kagami.
Kagami was the first one to make Aomine go full all out, he sees the potential within the other. *
Aomine openly complimented Kagami. “You’re the best!”
Both of them could go full on out with each other, unleashing their full potential against one another without holding back.
Kagami reaches out to Aomine, something that he has never done to other GoM members. He reassures the other that they could play with each other again and will be waiting for him.
Kagami’s words pierce into Aomine’s heart and from that day on, we could see him slowly getting better. His eyes shine again.
Kagami is the one Aomine is looking for. *
Kagami is Aomine’s light.
It has been hinted that Aomine wanted to give his (expensive) shoes to Kagami right from the very start.
Aomine gave points to Kagami about the Zone, subtly reaching out for him as well.
Aomine talks about Fate. An unusual behavior coming from Aomine who rarely talks about his feelings and thoughts. Fate=Kagami.
“From now on, I only want to watch Kagami.” Aomine told Momoi this with or without him realizing. *
In the manga, Kagami has a small flashback where Aomine teaches him about the Zone during the Rakuzan vs Seirin match. He was shown listening attentively. *
Wakamatsu said this very lines to Aomine, “Aren’t you supporting Kagami way too much?” *
Out of all the characters, Aomine is been shown the most proudest when Kagami got into the Zone. *
Aomine knows what Kagami is thinking just from watching him from the crowds. *
Aomine openly supports Kagami (& Kuroko) when they are in the verge of giving up. Again, an unusual thing coming from him. Kagami was surprised by Aomine’s actions.
Kagami is one of the few people that Aomine willingly listens to. (the audio drama cd, anyone?)
Kagami remembers their first meeting and remembers Aomine liking crayfish.
They have friendly banters with each other and get along quite well.
Aomine went to Kagami’s house twice now on his own accord. *
Kagami asked for a one-on-one again and Aomine is (lowkey) happy. (nintendo 3ds game) *
Kagami never gave up on wanting Aomine to see that basketball is interesting. (the same scene from the point above) *
Kagami likes teasing Aomine and vice versa.
Aomine is a bit in love with Kagami’s cooking.
Kagami is pleased (happy) to be complimented by Aomine.
Aomine only has his eyes on Kagami. *
They share the same passion and love for basketball. Crowning them as the “basketball idiots”
They have two duet songs in which they sang about their match and complimenting the other.
Their birthdays are in the same month. In the beginning and at the last month of August.
They are quite similar but different at the same time.
They are two sides of the same coin.
Aomine willingly goes to help Kagami twice in the Last Game movie. Without no one telling him to.
Kagami is still wearing the shoes Aomine gave him.
Aomine was visibly upset over Kagami’s departure to America and made a sudden decision to go there as well. (Mind you, Fujimaki-sensei was the one who create the idea of Kagami leaving Japan to pursue his dream in America and thus Aomine’s behavior here is canon)
Kagami only cares in beating Aomine in the popularity polls and only have Aomine in his thoughts when it’s time to give his speech.
Both of them don’t want to lose to the other the most.
Aomine enjoys getting a reaction from Kagami. And is genuinely happy around him. (the official merchandise, the ED cards, illustrations)
In the mini drama, Kagami gave two of his burgers to Aomine to persuade him for a one-on-one. Aomine was reluctant and not in the mood to play but he followed Kagami to the court in the end. *
Aomine can recognized Kagami’s laughter but couldn’t pinpoint where he had heard that voice before. (festival audio drama cd) *
Aomine is seen to invade Kagami’s personal space and both of them are seen to sit/stand close to the other, despite making it seems like they hate each other.
There might be more but these are the ones that came into my mind 😅
83 notes · View notes
imagines-r-s · 3 years
Text
sticking it - j. farabee
chapter 8
a/n: idk why this chapter took so long, but here it is. it’s very domestic and wholesome, so enjoy it. honestly i’m sad we’re so close to the series ending, but there will be more y/n and joel from the sticking it au i promise. and as always, lmk what you all think
taglist: @butgilinsky @barbienoturbby @sunsetholland @lovenhlboys @sortagaysortahigh @hockey-racing-fubol @oopsiedoopsie23 @iwantahockeyhimbo @dreamsndior @itsurgirlgracie @heartshapedkissxs @lwstuff
warnings: more high school musical references, a sprinkle of angst, friends fighting, idk if it counts as an innuendo or suggestive content, but some of that (not a warning, but Adrian content and ‘no thoughts, head empty’ Joel)
sticking it masterlist
wc: 6.1k
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  “All I’m saying is that it doesn’t make sense that she’s the only one standing, singing to Troy about scoring a basket. Like what if someone showed up to the game late and didn’t get the memo to twist the signs around and stay seated, you know? And it’s not just Gabriella standing up,” you said, grabbing multiple outfits to choose from for the movie night that you had been invited to. 
“Well, I don’t think that it was really an ‘ok, everybody. One person is going to be staying up, but everybody else stay seated and lift your sign’ sorta thing. I feel like it was just a heat of the moment thing,” Joel replied as he walked out of the bathroom. 
“Yeah, but it still doesn’t make sense. And I’m curious to know if that mid-game duet actually motivated Troy or if he was just annoyed or something.”
“If you sang to me mid-game, I would honestly probably throw a stick at you. Out of love, obviously.” 
“That’s sweet of you, not really, but I’ll take it,” you said, turning towards Joel, “I don’t know what to wear to movie night.”
“It’s not really like you have to try to impress anyone, it’s just movie night,” Joel said, as he scrolled on his phone, “but you look hot in anything, so I’m chilling.”
“You’re definitely just saying that,” you said, rolling your eyes.
“Yeah, you’re right. You in the mornings is kinda concerning, not your best look,” he said, pointedly.
“That was not an opportunity for you to say something like that, I will throw a chair at you.” 
“That’s concerning, but well deserved. I’m sure it would be out of the kindness of your heart, so I respect it.”
“You better respect it, Farabee.”
“Oooh, the last name. I’m shaking in my boots,” he said to which you immediately shot a glare his way, “actually, you’re very hot when you’re mad, not gonna lie.”
“Better watch yourself, Beezer, you’re on thin ice,” you said, jokingly.
“Good thing I know how to skate, babe,” he retorted, making his way towards you. 
“You’re annoying,” you huffed as Joel wrapped his arms around you in a bear hug, “Bee, you better stop.” He lightly pecked the top of your head before stepping back, “wait, what was that?”
“What? The hug or me kissing the top of your head?”
“Both?”
“It’s called a display of affection. I know you aren’t familiar since you show your love by threatening to throw chairs at the people you care about, but that’s what that was.” 
“Oh, it was nice,” you said, which caused Joel to chuckle.
“God, I love you,” he paused for a moment, clearly contemplating something, “this is kinda random, but have you ever thought about posting about our relationship? Or is that a no in the gymnastics world?”
“I mean, yeah, I have thought about it. I just haven’t because I didn’t know how you felt, but if you want to post it you can.”
“Why don’t you post it first?”
“Why don’t you? You brought it up?” you questioned. 
“You confuse me so much sometimes and I’m usually confused, so it makes it kinda worse,” he said honestly.
“How about whenever we get back here tonight, we post at the same time?” you offered.
“Sounds okay with me. Come on, we have to go if we want to make it on time,” he said, softly. 
…..
“Hey, it’s Short Stack and Beezer,” Travis said, as he opened his front door.
“I still don’t know why you of all people call me Short Stack, Tiki Bar,” you said to which he simply shrugged before opening the door more to let the two of you in. 
“Ooh, Short Stack, Karly has something for you. I think she went upstairs,” you sent a confused look to Travis, “it’s nothing bad, just go.” You rolled your eyes as you made your way up the steps.
“Karly?” you called as you walked closer to her and Travis’ room.
“I’m in here,” she called. As you walked into her room, you quickly noticed her shuffling through the things in her closet, pulling out a box that had clearly been wrapped in a hurry. 
“What’s that?”
“Just open it, I hope you like it,” she rushed. 
“Um, alright,” you tore off the wrapping paper and opened the box to reveal what looked like a regular denim jacket, “a denim jacket?” you said, earning an eye roll from her. 
“Take it out of the box, Sunshine.” You picked up the corners of the jacket to see that there were multiple patches with the flyers logo and bees on the sleeves, turning it around to see a number 86 and Farabee on the back.
“Karly, wha-”
“Look, I know you and him haven’t announced it officially yet or anything like that, but I figured that you would like it. I even got the bees on there for obvious reasons. I wouldn’t be upset if you didn’t wear it out, but you needed one,” she said, gently.
“I- Wow, I love it, Karly. Thank you,” you said, giving her a quick hug. 
“You should wear it downstairs or at least show him at some point.”
“Oh no, I was just going to keep it in a bag in my closet for a while until he inevitably finds it,” you said, sarcastically.
“No need for the sass, Sunshine. You should try it on though, I want to see what it looks like,” she suggested, her smile only growing as she saw that it looked amazing on you, “oh yes, the bee patches really add to it. Definitely a great choice on my part.”
“Always the humble one. Come on, we have to start the movies eventually.”
“Wait, you’re wearing it downstairs?” she asked, to which you simply nodded as you walked ahead of her down the stairs. 
Travis was the first to notice your arrival downstairs as he talked to Joel, smiling as he saw that you were wearing the jacket that his girlfriend had stressed over for days, “hey, y/n, I’m really liking this new look.”
“Hey man,” Joel started as he had his back turned towards you, quickly turning around after hearing that you arrived downstairs, “watch yours-” He immediately recognized that similar jacket that many of his teammates significant other wore to games, a perfect sign showing off their boyfriend or husband. “Wait, hold up.”
“Yes,” you answered, already knowing what he was going to ask.
“Swag,” he answered simply as he walked closer to you to examine the jacket. “Are those bees? Why are there bees?”
“Hmm, no idea. They’re just randomly there,” you retorted. 
“Beezer, did you get knocked in the head at practice or something? I’m very concerned, dude,” Nicole asked from beside Nolan. 
“Why are there bees? I don’t understand,” he asked, frantically.
“He’s hopeless,” Nolan whispered to Nicole.
“Bee, did you forget your own name?” you asked.
“Bee,” he paused, “ohhhh, that’s me. Those are for me, wait, turn around,” you rolled your eyes as you turned around to see the back of the jacket, “oh, that’s my name.”
“Yeah, no shit, Sherlock,” Kevin said, concerned from the whole exchange. 
“He’s just having one of his moments. Be nice, Kev,” you said, holding back a laugh as you turned back towards your boyfriend who looked like there was something wrong, “Bee, you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, I just- you got my name on a jacket. You usually aren’t this nice, but this is something nice, so I’m just worried something is wrong with you,” he said, genuinely. 
You visibly gaped as the guys around you howled in laughter as Karly spoke up, “technically, I got her the jacket, she’s just wearing it.”
“Ohhh, okay, that makes more sense.”
“Damn, y/n/n, how badly do you treat the poor kid?” Scott asked from the couch.
“Better watch yourself, Scotty,” you said, shooting him a glare. 
“Let’s just get the movie started before Short Stack attacks someone,” Travis added. 
Drawing names to see who would pick the movie, Nicole picked out the movie, Stick It, which had always been one of her favorites. It was expected for people to be getting up during the movie, but when you noticed Nicole missing from seeing her favorite movie, you became worried that something had happened, “psst, did you see where Nicole went?” you whispered over to Joel. 
“No, did you see where Nolan went?” he asked you, which caused you to grow suspicious as you noticed both of them were gone. “Maybe they’re just making out in the kitchen or something?”
“Why would they be making out? They’re just friends.”
“Dude, they’re still friends in the same way you and me are still friends.”
“No, because if something were going on she would tell me and I think it would be obvious.” 
“Look, I know I’m oblivious, but you choose to ignore a lot of obvious details just because.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
“Fine, if we get up and find them together or doing something romantic? I don’t know, but either way, you have to post that we’re together first, but I choose the caption.”
“Is that a bet?”
“Yes,” to which the two of you shook on it. 
“Hey guys, how many of you think there’s something going on with Nolan and Nicole?” Joel asked the group. 
“Oh, yeah, I’ve noticed for months, they just haven’t done anything about it out of fear of what y/n will think,” Karly said like it was some simple statement. 
“What do you mean that they fear what I would think?” you asked, causing everyone to look at you. 
“Short Stack, you are literally this little spitfire that could attack at any moment, they just don’t want to upset you,” Travis added just as the pair walked back into the living room, “ah, here’s the two lovebirds now.” 
A flash of panic crossed Nicole’s face as Nolan blushed, “no, I just needed help getting drinks and Nolan was right there.”
“Okay, then where are the drinks and why does Nolan have a hickey?” Scott pointed out. 
“I forget them in the kitchen and Nolan burnt himself with a curling iron,” she offered. 
“Karly, did you leave your curling iron in the kitchen again? Silly goose,” Travis said. 
Joel quickly noticed how quiet you were from beside him, “hey, babe. What’s wrong?”
“I’m okay, I’m going to go and get a drink really quick,” you said, softly smiling before heading into the kitchen. Everyone’s eyes followed you as you retreated back to the kitchen, Nicole sighed, the guilt of not telling you finally hitting her. 
“Do you want me to come with you?” Nolan offered.
“No, this is definitely between the two of us,” she answered before following you, “y/n/n, look-”
“Nicole, it’s fine,” you said, filling a cup with ice. 
“It’s obviously not, I know you better than that,” she said, gently, waiting for a response from you, “look, this honestly hasn’t gone to anything serious yet because I knew I needed to tell you. I know I shouldn’t have kept it from you and that you would have been fine with it, we just didn’t want anyone to know. No one really knew, Karly just picked up on it because she’s Karly and everyone else figured it out. And I know you knew something was going on, you just didn’t want to accept it.”
“I don’t have an issue with it, I would have rather you just tell me straight up what’s happening, but I had to find out because Joel made a joke and you couldn’t give Nolan a hickey where it wasn’t visible,” you said honestly, filling your cup with water. 
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to offer, there wasn’t really another reason other than we didn’t know how you would react,” she said, leaning back on the kitchen counter as you stared at the cup in your hand, “y/n/n, please say something. I’ll break it off if-”
“I would never make you break things off with him and you know that. How long has this been going on?” 
“Uh, we’ve liked each other for a while, but didn’t do anything about it until you had to go back on crutches, so maybe a few weeks.”
“Gotcha, gotcha.”
“Are you mad at us? It was my idea, Nolan said we should just tell you, but-”
“Nic, please. I’m not mad, I knew something was up, I was just more focused on other things. Does he make you happy?” you asked, looking back up at her, smiling at the small blush that had rushed up to her face. 
“Yeah, he really does.” 
“Then, I’m chilling. Come on, you already missed half of your favorite movie making out with Nols,” she laughed as the two of you made your way back. 
“You good, y/n/n?” Kevin asked as you sat by Joel again, who wrapped his arms around your shoulder. 
“Maybe you should ask Nicole, just to make sure y/n/n didn’t attack her,” Scott added. 
“Eh, I’ve known her for years, I have a few strategies,” Nicole said, simply. 
“Oh, shut up, Nicky,” you said, jokingly rolling your eyes. 
“I know damn well that you did not just say Nicky,” she said, shocked. 
“Oh, did I?”
“You want to take this outside, babe.”
“Hmm, maybe tomorrow.” 
“I’m concerned, but this is entertaining,” Travis said, to which everyone else agreed.  
“I’ll record it and post it on world-star,” Joel added. 
“Thanks, babe. Oh and Patty Lapone, if you hurt her, I will bust your kneecaps,” you said, faking sweetness.
“Understandably, so,” Nolan said, honestly. 
“Glad we’re on the same page. And Nicky, don’t hurt him either.” 
“Noted,” Nicole said.
“Hey babe, you know you have to post us first now, right?” Joel said, smirk growing on his face, “and I get to choose the caption.”
“You’re letting him choose the caption?” Karly asked, “good luck, Sunshine.”
…..
“So, do you know what picture you’re going to post? I have mine picked out,” Joel asked you as you finished your night routine. 
“I’m still upset that you won that bet, but probably the picture of us that’s my wallpaper,” you said, patting your face dry. 
“What picture?” Joel asked, confused as to what you meant. 
“Oh, Karly took a bunch of pictures the day we were at the lake and the one that’s my wallpaper is the one where you’re about to throw me in the water and I’m laughing at you. Or I might post one of the pictures Nicole took of us where I’m wearing your jersey,” you explained. 
“Ok, one, why haven’t I seen these and two, why didn’t you send me them?” 
“Oh, I don’t know, you never asked.”
“I never knew.” 
“Same thing?” you offered before walking out of the bathroom to sit on your bed as Joel grabbed his bag to start packing for the next day.
“Ok, well get the post ready and I’ll caption it,” Joel said, holding his hand out. 
“Please keep it reasonable, I am an example to tiny humans.”
“Kids?”
“Same thing,” you said, handing your phone over to him, already open to instagram. 
Joel had been thinking about what he would caption this post for the rest of the day after you had talked about going public. Quickly typing up the caption and tagging himself, he posted it, “okay, all done.”
“It didn’t take you that long?”
“Yeah, I know. I kinda figured it out earlier,” he said, shrugging and handing you back your phone. As you saw the notifications for the post, you opened it to see the picture of you two captioned ‘the bee to my honey’. 
“That is so incredibly cheesy and adorable,” you said, smiling at your phone, “Karly already commented upset that you didn’t give her photo credit though, but she said the caption wasn’t terrible.”
“Yeah, I’m so good with words, babe. We’ve established this.”
“You’re truly something. Wait, are you captioning yours ‘the honey to my bee’ because that way it’s just in reverse?”
“Yeah, we’re just that cool,” Joel said, handing you his packing list, “will you go over this with me to make sure I have everything?”
“Superstitious King, ok, um, your garment bag with your suit?” you continued down the list as you heard him respond to everything you said, “Glasses? Glasses? Why do you have glasses on this list?”
“Because I need them to see?” he said, confused by your question. 
“Since when have you worn glasses?”
“A while actually, I just don’t wear them all that often,” he shrugged. 
“Wait, what do they look like on you?” you asked, watching as he contemplated showing you before reaching in his bag and grabbing his glasses case. 
“If you make any jokes, I will never wear them around you again,” he said before putting them on. “Ok, one joke, and that’s all.” He was shocked by how quiet you were, “y/n/n, please just make the joke already while I’m prepared for it.”
“Oh no, I actually don’t have a joke this time. You look really good in glasses.” 
“Oh, a compliment?”
“Ha ha, yeah, I can be nice sometimes. But no, you genuinely look hot in those, you look hot in general, but like, now especially,” you continued rambling. 
“Awe, you’re being nice and I made you nervous,” he cooed. 
“You don’t make me nervous, Farabee,” you said, rolling your eyes. 
“Oh, I don’t? Okay,” he took steps closer to you standing in front of you and placing his arms on either side of you, smirking as he heard your breath hitch, “you sure I don’t make you nervous?”
“Y-you don’t,” you replied, watching his actions closely as he leaned his face closer to yours, placing his hand on your thigh before leaning beside your ear. 
“Okay, then,” he whispered before standing back up to finish packing, a smirk lacing his features. 
“That was rude,” you pouted, to which he simply shrugged. “Yeah, that’s not going to work, babe. Karma is a real thing,” you said, watching as he furrowed his brows.
“What do you mean?” 
“Karma,” you said, before just grabbing a longer shirt of his for pajamas and heading to the bathroom to change. Coming back minutes later to see Joel in bed, leaning against the headboard, already looking your way. 
“y/n,” he said, cautiously, “please say there’s something underneath my shirt.”
“I don’t know, Bee, is there?” you asked, pulling the comforter back on your bed as you laid down for bed. 
“I don’t like this game, it’s not that fun,” he said, moving down to lay his head on your chest, your hand instinctively going to his hair. 
“Karma is karma, pretty boy,” you said, chuckling when you felt him start to trace patterns on your thigh, obviously looking for a way to tell if you had shorts on. “You have to be up in a few hours and Kevin and Nol will barge in here tomorrow morning if you aren’t on time.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Are you going to answer my question?”
“You didn’t ask a question.”
“You’re really annoying sometimes. Are you going to answer my statement?” 
“You still love me though and I won’t answer your statement,” you said, softly, knowing that he was ready to fall asleep. “Goodnight, Bee.”
“Goodnight, babe.”
The alarm for the start of Joel’s day went off way too soon, but he knew he needed to get up. Quickly turning off his alarm to avoid waking you up, he got up to get his shower and get dressed for his day. 
After getting a text from Nolan that they would be at your door in about 5 minutes, he decided to tell you goodbye, “y/n/n, baby, it’s time for me to go.”
“You don’t have to go, tell them you can’t go,” you said, half asleep, barely even realizing what you were saying. 
“As much as I wish I could, it doesn’t work like that, babe.”
“Well have you tried to see if it would work?” he chuckled at your question. 
“I love you and I’ll see you in a few days, alright,” he kissed the top of your head before grabbing his bags and heading out to the living room to wait on Kevin and Nolan. Taking a seat on the couch as he waited, he heard the bedroom door open with footsteps following, “you should go back to sleep.”
“I have to go to PT in a few hours, so might as well be up,” you said, “plus, I kinda want to say bye to Kev and Nols.”
“You have PT at noon, it’s almost 5am. Once we leave, please try to get some sleep.” 
“Awe, Bee, you worried about me?”
“Unfortunately I’m always worried about you and you’re such a chaotic person that it’s reasonable and the concern only ever grows.”
“That’s true, I am kinda chaotic,” you said, causing him to chuckle. 
“Just a tad.”
The sound of the key turning and door opening drew yours and Joel’s attention away from each other for a moment, “sup, bitches,” Kevin’s voice rang out. 
“What the fuck, Kev?” you asked, grabbing a blanket from your couch, wrapping it around you. 
“Rise and shine, y/n/n. Hope you slept well, now we have to leave, so say bye to your boy,” Kevin added, turning back to leave again. 
“Ok, I have to get going, shawty bae. Go get some sleep, text me how PT goes, and tell Adrian I said hi. Bye, babe,” he kissed the top of your head once more before grabbing his bag and heading on his way. 
…..
“So, no lover boy today?” Adrian asked as you stepped into his office. 
“No, not today,” you said, sitting down on the bench, “him and the boys have an away game tonight, so they left this morning and will be back in a few days.” 
“So, I assume things are going well?” he asked, rolling his chair over to you. 
“Yeah, things are going very well. We posted about us being together officially on instagram last night.” 
“Oh, wow. Instagram, that’s crazy,” he said, sarcastically. 
“Hey, shush. It’s a bigger step than you think.”
“Oh, yes. The power couple that you two athletes are, hmm. Forgot about that.”
“Stop, it’s not that crazy. It just kinda is a big step in my opinion.”
“Well, I am happy for you and I’m also proud of you for actually listening to me and staying off your knee.”
“Hey, that rhymed,” you softly interrupted. 
“Ha ha, so funny. Anyways, with how it looks now, I say you’re good to start training again,” he said, taking the time to examine your knee. He could tell that you had actually listened to what he had told you, just like he hoped you had. He was excited to see you back to where you needed to be. 
“Like training training? Or just training?”
“Training training. Just be careful and don’t overwork yourself. I am aware that there isn’t much time before you have the U.S Championships, but don’t rush it. Take your time. Quality over quantity. Okay, Superstar?”
“Yeah, yeah, of course,” you said, excitedly, jumping off the bench to hug Adrian, “thank you.”
“Hey, I didn’t do anything, this is all you. But if anyone can do this, you can. Just take care of yourself, alright? I don’t want all my work to go to waste,” he said, jokingly. 
“Wow, I see how it is. I see how it is.”
“You know I’m joking, Superstar. Don’t even.”
“Do I, Adrian? Do I know that?”
“Just leave already,” he joked, “you have a lot of work to catch up on. Good luck, y/n/n.”
Knowing that the boys were either at lunch, wrapping up morning skate, or getting settled, you shot Kevin a quick text to call you whenever he had the chance; your phone rang only a few minutes later. “Hey, is everything okay?” Kevin’s concerned voice rang through.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. Adrian cleared me to train again.”
“Aye, let’s go. Alright, so you have like, what? Two weeks before you leave for the U.S. Championships?” 
“Yeah, Marcus and Michelle already figured out all my travel arrangements months ago, so no worries there. I’m just worried about the fact that I have about 12 practices, but Marcus will probably worry and have me practice less, so about 10 practices? And what if-” you rambled. 
“No, we’re not doing the ‘what if’ conversations right now. Or anytime soon for that matter. You’ll get it. And if you have to simplify it for now, then that’s how it’ll be, but you stressing out right now is not going to change the number of practices you have or how they go. Only you can be the one to determine how practices go.”
“Since when did you get all wise, Kev?”
“I read this really inspirational fortune cookie earlier, it caused me to have a whole epiphany on life. Same old, same old.”
“Alright, wasn’t expecting that one, but I’m here for it. What are you guys up to?”
“What are we up to? Or what is Beezer up to?” Kevin asked, knowingly. 
“I was honestly just asking in general, but since you brought him up-” the two of you took a little bit of time to catch up. Him filling you in on how morning skate went and how the lineups for the game were looking. He also told you how the team was looking good this morning and that if they played how they needed to, they could easily win. 
You were still on the phone with Kevin by the time you pulled into the gym parking lot, “hey, I have to talk to Marcus about training, but I’ll probably talk to you after the game. Tell Bee I’ll talk to him later too. Bye, Kev.”
“Stay safe, be careful, make wise choices. I’ll talk to you later, y/n/n.”
Walking into the gym this time was different, almost similar to your first time back after everything, but right now you had the ability to train and to work how you needed to. You just needed to get back into your element. 
Knowing that the only practice going on was for the younger kids, you made your way up to Marcus’ office. Knocking gently on the door, you opened it to see him and Michelle sitting near his desk. “So, what’s the verdict?” Marcus asked, expectantly. 
“Well, there’s two weeks until Championships and I need to get this dismount,” you said, watching as the two of their smiles only grew. As the three of you went over everything that Adrian said, the three of you planned out the next two weeks. 
“Alright, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning practices, you can spend the whole practice on beam, drills, and conditioning, but afternoon practices you need to do other events.  Then, Tuesday and Thursdays will be working on other events, and Saturdays is just a markthrough day for routines,” Michelle explained easily, which showed that they had already thought of this beforehand. 
“And we’re going to ease into it again, but this time from doubles. We both know you can easily get back to where you need to and we also believe that with how determined you seem right now, you’ll be fine. If you do okay with doubles, we’ll move onto triples as soon as we can. If anyone can do it, you can,” Marcus said, honestly. 
…..
Checking his phone after the game was over, the smile on Joel’s face quickly grew at all the encouraging texts he had gotten from you. Quickly replying, he looked up to see most of the guys sharing knowing looks, “what?”
“Nothing, we can just easily tell who texted you from the way you looked at your phone,” Nolan pointed out. 
“You don’t really hide it, so it’s kinda obvious,” Carter added. 
“Well yeah, I don’t have a reason to hide it. My girl makes me happy,” Joel said, turning to see Kevin giving him a pointed look, “okay, maybe one reason to hide it.”
“Didn’t she have a PT appointment today? Any updates?” Scott asked, walking towards the younger guys.
“Oh, yeah. She got cleared and starts training again tomorrow,” Joel answered, causing all the team to smile.
Rushing to finish getting ready, so that he could FaceTime you, he grabbed his bag and made his way to an empty hallway to talk to you. The phone rang only a few times before you picked up, “hey, baby. You did really good at your game.”
“Thank you, thank you. I was thinking of you when I scored,” he said, watching behind you to see you walking around the apartment. 
“That was really cheesy.”
“Yeah, I realized that after I said it, but it’s the thought that counts,” he retaliated, causing you to chuckle, “did you get everything figured out with your coaches to start practicing again?” 
“Babe, you just won a game and you’re worried about my PT and training schedule?” 
“Well, I don’t have an explanation, but I get hockey 24/7 for the next few days, so I kinda want to hear about your life and gymnastics,” he said, honestly, which only made you smile. 
“Yeah, we got my training schedule figured out. I start practice again in the morning, but luckily I was able to work it out to where I have a day of just beam work to mostly do the dismount and drills and then the rest of the week is for other events. But I will have to travel for this meet, which I haven’t had to do in a while.”
“Oh, it’s in Texas? Right?” he asked, causing you to hum in agreement, “and how long before you leave?”
“Well, I leave the Wednesday night before, podium training on Thursday, and then, competition Friday and Sunday. And then I’ll be back Monday.”
“Ah, so I get to know how you feel when I’m on the road.”
“Yep, and you’ll know much it sucks,” you said, rolling your eyes. 
You were happy that Joel was happy and playing the sport that he loved, but him being on the road often threw off the routine that the two of you had with each other. Waking up next to each other; either making or getting breakfast; him driving you to practice before going to his; jamming out to music as the two of you prepared for your day; the list goes on. 
“Awe, you just miss me so much. It’s understandable really.”
“Don’t get cocky, Farabee,” you said. 
“It’s okay to admit that you-”
“Bee, I will hang up on you,” you threatened.
“Babe, you would miss me too much,” he said, making you roll your eyes once again. 
“Bye, Beezer,” you said, hitting the end call button. 
He simply smiled at the action, knowing well enough that if he called back you would decline and that you were too stubborn to call him back. Quickly sending you a goodnight text, he made his way back to the locker room, not missing all the chirps the boys had to say in response. 
…..
You spent the Monday and Wednesday of that week working on drills to be able to do the dismount. With the boys still gone until Friday, you spent your practices wisely and used any extra time that you could at the gym. Your routines were getting back to where they needed to be and you couldn’t have been happier. The drills that you were doing to work your dismount were also working out very well. 
“I want you to try a few triple dismounts. Just a triple and by tomorrow I want you to go for the 3.5 twist. The drills you’re doing aren’t really doing anything at this point, you’ve basically mastered them. So, I do believe if you really work towards it, you could get the quad twist by Olympic Trials, you will compete a 3.5 for U.S. Championships, but with the way practices are going I firmly believe the quad is only a few tries away from you,” Marcus told you as you did your beam warm up.
“Marcus, I-”
“You’re doing the dismount,” Michelle added as she passed by. 
“Just go for a triple, that’s all I want to see today. Once you do one, you’ll get back in the groove of things and you’ll be able to do more than one today. You got this, y/n/n, I know you can, you just have to get past the mental block.”
You knew he was right. As you thought about the skill, you knew it was basically a step away from you. If you went for it, with the way the drills are looking, you would have it. And from there, it’s just the 3.5 and then more work towards the quad. You knew you had the skills, you just had to remind your body of that fact. 
Taking a deep breath, you started your beam routine. Hitting all the skills that you had, you made your way back and forth on the beam until you got the the start of your dismount. “C’mon, y/n, you got it. Just breathe,” you heard Marcus as you took another breath before starting the dismount. Going for the roundoff, you started for the twisting part of the dismount, watching and twisting three times, you opened up, shocked when you landed the dismount. 
“Twinkle Toes,” Marcus beamed, “you did it.”
“Huh?” you said, realizing what you did, “wait. I did it.”
“You did the triple. I knew you could. I need you to do a few more, just to create the habit. Land at least five and then switch to bars.” 
“Alright, yeah,” you answered, quickly realizing that you were one step closer to your goal. Doing the next five took a little bit of time, but you were getting used to the landing and the skill itself. After finishing, you moved onto bars. 
“Did I see a triple dismount?” Nicole asked as you walked over to the chalk box.
“Maybe you did, maybe you didn’t,” you said, shrugging. 
“Does that mean you’re trying the 3.5 again soon?”
“Most likely tomorrow. You will be seeing it soon, I promise.”
…..
When Joel noticed that he got home early enough to come surprise you at practice, he jumped at the chance. Quickly dragging Nolan and Kevin with him - considering they were his ride - he asked them to head to the gym. Once they entered, they got settled in the overhead seating area, he quickly found you standing with Marcus near the beam. 
“C’mon, Twinkle Toes, in order to get the dismount back, you have to get on the beam,” he heard Marcus say. 
“Look, trust the process. I’m mentally preparing for it before I go for it.”
“Are you actually going to get on the beam at some point today? Or will you still be mentally preparing by the end of practice?” 
“Shush, it won’t take me that long, I promise,” Marcus sighed. 
“Just get on the beam, that’s all I need.”
“Alright,” you got onto the beam, walking towards the end as you prepared for the dismount. 
“Ok, just keep the same habits, just twist faster and open up a little bit later, you got it,” Marcus reassured you. Taking a deep breath, you prepped for the dismount. “C’mon, Twinkle Toes.”
Joel and the boys watched closely as you went through your habit of mentally visualizing first, watching you go for the round off and start twisting. “Wait, she’s going for the 3.5,” Kevin said. The three of them all held a breath as they watched you go for the dismount, letting out the breath when you landed it. 
You landed it. “Wait, I did it. Marcus, I did it.”
“I told you so, your boys are watching by the way,” Marcus said, causing you to look up to see the boys smiling to which you simply waved, “I need you to do some more of those either today or tomorrow, but you can go see your boy.”
Rushing over to the stairs to go see Joel, he met you at the bottom of the staircase, “hey, honey.”
“Hey, Bee.”
“You did the dismount,” he said, smiling. 
“I did the dismount,” you reiterated, matching his smile as he picked you up and spun you around.
“I’m so proud of you, you have no idea,” he said as his lips met yours. 
73 notes · View notes
moonbeamsung · 4 years
Text
Serendipitous Synergy
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“I can’t believe I got stuck with you, of all people, as a dance partner.”
“What? Scared I’ll steal the spotlight?”
“In your dreams, Lee.”
member: haechan
au: dance partner and rival!haechan x gn!reader
word count: 4.9k
genre: angst, suggestive, fluff
warnings: talk of insecurities and thoughts of self-doubt, a house party, stubborn reader, smug haechan, mentions of ‘sexual tension’ in the context of a dance, kissing, slight innuendos
author’s note: As a dancer myself, this idea came to me after we learned the choreography for Thriller in class one day! And yes I know Halloween was weeks ago but shhh. It’s my first time writing an enemies to lovers au, so I would greatly appreciate any feedback about things I can improve on in the future. Without further ado, I hope you enjoy!
network tags: @neo-constellations
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“...You’ll be partnered with Haechan.”
The words of your instructor seem to swallow up the dance studio you’re standing in, echoing off of the walls with a piercing sound that makes your ears ache, your gut twist, and your blood boil.
This could not be happening.
Said boy seems just as averse to the idea as you are, the corners of his mouth downturned in displeasure.
Your teacher, however, continues to rattle off the rest of the pairs, some of them a little surprising but none nearly as unexpected as the two of you being put together.
Eyes narrowed and gazes sharp as daggers, both you and Haechan turn to stare each other down.
The standoff makes everyone else in the studio uneasy, and though the other dancers aren’t unaccustomed to your endless rivalry, they fear the potential hostility of your reactions. But to their astonishment, it never escalates beyond these stinging glares directed at one another. You’re surprisingly professional about it on the outside, not letting a single swear word slip out from between your lips, while he bites back a snarky insult.
On the inside, though, you’re a mess.
Haechan has been somewhat of an enemy of yours for as long as you can remember, though by no fault of his own. No matter what you did or how hard you tried, ever since you were both young students struggling to find your footing in the artistic world, he’s always been better than you. At everything.
If you managed to nail a double pirouette, he’d step right up and do a third like it was nothing. You finally got your split? He’s already had it for a month, at least. It just wasn’t fair. You both had started dancing at the same age, at the same time, with the same amount of experience: zero.
In all honesty, Haechan had done nothing wrong. The combination of poor timing and better luck had worked against him all those years ago to brew these bitter feelings inside of your heart, rising to the surface whenever you would set foot inside the familiar studio.
These constant sentiments of inferiority took their toll on you, making you fear being compared to him above anything else. It was childish, but you couldn’t stand to be reminded of feeling completely and utterly incompetent next to him. Whenever you performed, you were grateful for the large amount of other dancers occupying the stage, leaving little opportunity for the two of you to be noticed in conjunction with one another.
Now that it’s going to be just the two of you under the bright beams of light cascading down from the rafters, dancing in close proximity, this worry is at the forefront of your mind.
You would do anything to be able to go back to your first year at the studio, when you were young enough to recognize that his skills seemed to outweigh yours, but as a carefree child you remained largely unbothered by this fact. As you got older, it was like a switch inside of you flipped and made you extra aware of each and every thing that you did. Perhaps it was the heightened self-consciousness that puberty brought combined with the already stressful lifestyle of a dancer, but something changed one day, and it was all you could think about when you saw him.
Your internal doubts always translated into being eerily quiet during practice, asking a question to clarify the movements only when it was absolutely necessary. Even your teacher noticed a shift in how you danced. Your gestures and steps lacked their usual precision, and all the confidence you had built up for so long vanished into thin air.
Not sure how to interpret your sudden silence, Haechan took it upon himself to get a word out of you in whatever way that he could, with comments and jokes and even the occasional compliment on your technique. It hardly helped, though. In fact, your constant failure to respond to his attempts created a sort of resentment in him as well, one not generated by envy or insecurity, but simply by confusion and frustration.
During practice one afternoon, you had become so fed up with him trying to talk to you that you lashed out, pushing him away with surprising strength. “Just leave me alone!” You had shouted at Haechan, but you instantly regretted it when you saw the way his eyes welled up with shiny tears, full of hurt after his genuinely good intentions had been totally rejected by their unwilling recipient. Your guilt, however, failed to overpower your stubbornness.
This sent Haechan into his own spiral of the silent treatment before he started to channel his feelings into a similar bitterness. From that day forth, you each became the other’s arch-enemy, challenging one another in any way that you possibly could inside the studio and on the stage. Your instructor, choreographers, and fellow students quickly became tired of the implicit competition that always existed between you, but what on earth could they do to stop it?
At the present moment, they’re contemplating this exact idea, along with just why your teacher thought pairing you with each other would be a good idea. She had done it with the intention of putting a long overdue partnership into action and hopefully eliminating your immature rivalry. Selfishly, she’s also very eager to see how your mutual contempt translates into movement, inwardly predicting that the tension levels will be off the charts.
Not long after, you’re dismissed from practice for the day, but not without a warning look from Haechan. Against your better judgment, you join him by the doorway once everyone else has filed out of the studio.
He clearly called you over for a reason, but you cut him off without even waiting for him to speak.
“I can’t believe I got stuck with you, of all people, as a dance partner.”
Oh, so this is how you’re acting? Two can play at that game.
“What?” He snickers, “Scared I’ll steal the spotlight?”
“In your dreams, Lee,” you scoff, already tired of his taunting attitude.
“Anyway,” his voice is stern before doing a complete 180, now a bit more gentle, “If we’re going to be dancing together for the next few weeks, we might as well be on speaking terms, don’t you think?” The expression Haechan wears on his face is the softest you’ve seen it in a long time, which is definitely saying something.
“I suppose.” Answer short and tone abrasive, you huff a lousy excuse for a goodbye before marching out and into the hallway, but he’s faster than you. You spin around to shrug off his hand from your shoulder, and it gives him the chance to tell you one last thing.
“Look, if you’re going to be like that, it’s not going to make working together any easier. We’re not little kids anymore. You can go back to hating me once this is all over, but can we at least try to put our differences aside and just cooperate for once?”
You nearly split your lip as you bite down on it, holding back a burst of aggravation at the situation you’ve been put in. “Fine.”
You have no idea how you’re going to get through all the practices and all the shows while simultaneously dealing with the boy, but one thing’s for sure: you’re going to prove that you are just as skilled, and just as talented a dancer as he is.
The next time you see him is two days later, at your first rehearsal for this dance. Your studio has always had a Halloween-themed showcase, but it wasn’t until this year that you were old enough to finally be cast in a more exclusive number. The fact that you’re no longer a part of the large group routine, always performed to the same upbeat tune and with the same easy steps, is one of the few silver linings that your duet with Haechan presents.
Faces lined with fatigue and eyes still heavy with sleep, you both arrive at the studio in the morning, duffel bags in hand, the comfy slides on your feet dragging across the hallway carpet with every step. Loud music blares from inside the room, brightly lit despite the early hour. Beside you, Haechan instantly recognizes the tune to be Michael Jackson’s Thriller, and perks up a little at the sound. Too tired to poke fun at his near obsession with the singer, you let his little celebration of the choreographer’s song choice slide.
It’s not your usual instructor that’s going to be teaching you the movements to go along with the piece, which means you have the added challenge of adapting to a different set of preferences, expectations, and choreographing style.
It’s certainly a dance that’s unlike any you’ve ever learned before.
The rehearsal starts off well, and both of you quickly catch on to the basic steps that are somewhat like those of a waltz, except they have a more sinister feel to them in order to match the spooky time of year. Facing each other but standing on opposite sides of the room, you step forward, to the side, to the back and then to the side again. On each accented beat you throw your heads back sharply, mimicking the way the neck of an inhuman creature might snap under any sort of force.
In the next section of choreography, your gazes are supposed to meet once you tilt your heads downward, slowly this time, but it’s difficult to maintain eye contact with Haechan for more than a few seconds. Maybe it’s the way he doesn’t even hesitate to stalk towards you in this part of the dance, which calls for you to circle each other like a hungry predator and its timid prey. Maybe it’s the animalistic glint in his irises that throws off your balance and makes you stumble when you see it. Or maybe it’s the fact that your rivalry with him has been entirely disregarded at the moment, brain focused solely on absorbing all of the new information and ingraining the movements into your muscle memory, nothing else.
What frightens you even more than the things that go bump in the night is that all those years you spent... well, not hating, but strongly disliking him could go to waste. It usually takes a lot of time for you to get over things like this, and in a way, you feel like you would be disappointing yourself if you let all of the agonizing feelings of self-doubt go, just like that.
These thoughts swirl around in your mind as you listen to the choreographer’s next words.
“Okay, put your hand here.”
“Like this?”
“Yes, now you’re going to drag it across him, from there to there,” she directs you with a finger, “And then he’s going to pick you up in a scissor lift.”
You’ve never done one of those before, but with some helpful guidance, you begin to have a small bit of faith in yourself that you’re capable of pulling it off. The music starts and you go from the top all the way to the part you were just taught, taking a deep breath in preparation for what’s about to happen.
Just like you had been instructed moments ago, you step very close to Haechan, right behind him, actually, and place one hand on his shoulder as you trail the other across the front of his chest, fingernails scratching the skin underneath through the flimsy t-shirt he’s wearing. You step around to stand in front of him and continue the motion, peering at him with a hesitance that melts away and into an assertive gaze once you see the apprehension in his own eyes. His skin crawls a little, not out of fear but an odd satisfaction and excitement at the feeling of you so near and the sight of your eyes bright with so much determination and dominance, lingering touch tracing the base of his neck and stimulating his nerves from head to toe.
You yelp slightly at what he does next even though you knew it was coming, your self-assured exterior evaporating only moments after it appeared. Haechan turns around and sweeps you off of your feet to hold you in his arms. In the blink of an eye, he helps you hook one of your knees behind his head as he tosses you into the air with seemingly no effort whatsoever, flipping you around to face the other way and catching you immediately after. The complicated lift makes your heart leap to the front of your throat with exhilaration, and you mentally applaud yourself for succeeding on the first try.
Haechan finds it odd that you were so willing to do this lift in the first place, since trust is a key component of partner work in dance. He can’t explain it, and neither can you, quite honestly. A small part of him, however, is glad you didn’t object to the prospect of him being directly responsible for your safety for even the most instantaneous of moments.
“Alright, so for this next part, I’m sure you’re aware of that fact that Michael Jackson was famous for his pelvic—”
Okay, that’s enough, you’ve heard enough. Tuning out the conversation and whirling around to face away from the floor-to-ceiling mirror, you twiddle your thumbs while the choreographer teaches Haechan one of the iconic dance steps in Thriller, and your evident shyness at her unabashed explanation makes him smirk. Thankfully, she has a different set of movements prepared for you.
Since when are you ever shy around him, though?
You still can’t bring yourself to watch your reflections in the glass when you practice the new part together, since he gets so into the provocative motions. His eyes seem to taunt you with the smugness they hold, and you hate the way he’s testing you. You can’t stand it, you can’t stand him, you can’t stand those eyes for all the times they send a shiver down your spine, for all the times they come alive with a beast-like glow. Those eyes can go from soft and sympathetic at times, although the moments are rare, to something else entirely. His mocking stares make your stomach turn, reminding you of why you’ve felt this way about him for so long.
But you’re scared that a new and different feeling is developing inside of you, one that’s telling you he’s not so bad, that you should give him a chance. Haechan has noticed a similar one within himself, and he begins to regret the way he immaturely perpetuated your own resentment for so long.
Even if you do end up making amends eventually, he’s not sure he’ll be willing to abandon all of the playful glances and teasing remarks with flirtatious undertones he sends your way. Do you even notice these things? If your periodic blushing is any indication, then the answer is most definitely yes.
You spend another couple of hours under the choreographer’s direction, stopping only when you had been taught each and every step from the piece’s beginning until the end. Though a Halloween-inspired performance, there’s a surprisingly large amount of eerily romantic undertones within it. You don’t have enough fingers to count the number of times you ultimately caress some part of the other’s body in a forbidding manner, with locked eyes and threatening, fiery glares.
The two of you also have a second but more simple lift, in which you jump and Haechan catches you by the legs to pull your torso against his, while you cling to him tightly like a koala. He supports your weight fully, and never once does the possibility of falling cross your mind. It’s strange how your body is so trusting of him, much more so than your mind.
Towards the end of the song, the lyrics mention something about cuddling close together, the timing of your movements intentionally mirroring the words. Haechan walks in a circle, still carrying you in his arms, and unlike when you’re standing on your own two feet, he actually has to look up slightly to meet your gaze with his own. Something doesn’t feel quite right, though, both of you sensing that you should be putting more effort into the eye contact between you right now.
“No, no, no! Stop for a second.” Your choreographer looks frustrated.
“You have to look at each other like you really mean it,” she corrects. “Just imagine that you’re two lovers on Halloween night, clinging to each other for dear life as you’re being surrounded by every kind of monster imaginable.” Even Haechan flushes a deep red at the descriptive picture she paints in your minds, hoping to inspire you. “Try again, please.”
Putting every necessary emotion into your expressions, you both stare each other down as he lifts you up again, this time with a never-before-seen passion burning in your eyes that could only be described as crazed, lustful desire.
Haechan has always admired your skills, although internally these days, ever since he met you, especially your ability to easily adapt to the message or tone of a piece. Happiness, sadness, anger, whatever your instructor asked of you, you could embody the exact feeling on your face, not to mention in the way that you moved to the beat. Out of all of the scenarios your choreographer could have illustrated, this one is something he never would have expected you to be so ready for. He’s taken aback by how smoothly your facial expression transitions from sheepish to seductive in no time flat.
You wish you could say that you’re not flustered by how well he matches the look in your eyes with his own tantalizing gaze, but alas, that’s not the case.
It’s undoubtedly a dance with a more mature theme than either of you are used to, but you’re both such naturals at it that she compliments you once Haechan sets you back on the ground.
“That’s exactly what I want to see! Keep it up, you two. Are you sure you’ve never been in a piece with any sexual tension before?”
You’re glad you hadn’t quite taken a sip from your water bottle yet, because you definitely would’ve spit it out from pure shock and embarrassment at the bluntness of her remark. Haechan was not so lucky.
The two of you run through the dance almost endlessly, and by the end of your rehearsal your legs are threatening to give out at any moment. “Last time,” she alerts you, “And then you’re done for the day.”
A chorus of some minor corrections but mostly proud affirmations meets your ears as you practice the piece for the final time. “Other foot, Haechan... Strong arms! Good... And lift! That’s it...”
About to collapse from exhaustion and grimacing at the disgusting feeling of sweat on every inch of your skin, both of you thank the choreographer once she dismisses you.
“You two did a great job today, now go home and rest. You worked hard.”
Fishing your car keys out of your bag, you hear her packing up her things inside the studio before she exits the room and strides into the hallway, flipping the light switch and shutting the door behind her. “I’m going to recommend to your teacher that she should partner you up more often. I was really surprised by how well you collaborated.” She chuckles a little, “And to think she told me that you might not get along.”
Exchanging questioning looks, you both nod and smile at her before she makes her way down the hallway, leaving the building through the staff door.
“What was that all about?”
“No idea,” you reply to Haechan with nervousness in your voice, not sure if this is the right time to apologize for several years’ worth of constantly being at each other’s throats.
The moment passes before you can make a decision, and Haechan bids you farewell with a “See you around” over his shoulder. You can’t get the choreographer’s comment out of your mind as you drive home.
But she’s right: your chemistry with each other is unbelievable. Each time you practice this dance in front of them, the rest of your friends stand wide-eyed and open-mouthed at how you move in perfect unison, leaping and turning and touching at all the right moments. Your instructor is sure her jaw is on the floor. Sure, she was expecting something powerful, something fierce, but nothing like this.
The weeks leading up to the Halloween showcase are hectic, as they always are, filled with the rush of adrenaline and last-minute preparations being made, ensuring that everything would be ready for those long nights spent on waiting behind the curtains, moving amidst the stage fog, and dancing below the bright spotlights.
You think you’ve spoken to Haechan more in the past 4 days than you have in the past 4 years. He doesn’t know if it’s just his imagination, but it seems like you’ve gotten more comfortable performing with him as time has gone by. Maybe he should be paying more attention to the steps instead of the way you lean further into him as he clutches your form in his strong arms, torsos pressing into one another and the crevices of your bodies aligning with ease. Maybe he shouldn’t get distracted by the closeness of your lips to his forehead, by the distance that always seems to decrease each time you run through the dance. One day he’s sure he’ll feel their delicate curve against his skin, or maybe they’ll slip down a little to be more level with his. Either way, Haechan isn’t complaining.
The rehearsals that spill over from their scheduled time slots into the late hours of the night leave everyone in the show drowsy after the intense quantities of repeated exertion, running piece after piece over and over again until just standing up is a feat within itself.
And then, all of a sudden, it’s the day of the first show. Costumes have been tailored, makeup has been applied and hair has been done up with an ungodly amount of products and pins.
It can’t be much longer until it’s your turn to perform, so you’re not sure why you find yourself grabbing Haechan by the sleeve of his intentionally tattered shirt, meant to look like that of a zombie, and pulling him into a dark, secluded corner of the backstage area.
“We’re on in 5, what are y—”
“Can I apologize?”
He blinks a few times, processing the word he never thought he would hear leave your lips.
“For... huh?”
“Everything.” You’re thankful that the lighting is minimal back here, concealing the glistening water drops that are beginning to gather at the rims of your eyes.
Voice nearly breaking, you can’t articulate why it feels like the right time to say all of this. But here you are.
“I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry for so many years of unexplained anger and outbursts towards you, I’m sorry that I’ve been acting so immature even after all this time. I’m sorry for blaming you and making excuses to justify my actions and my feelings, I—”
You have more that you want to say but the words are no longer coming out, and maybe it’s because your throat feels like it’s burning from all of the emotion it just conveyed in the span of just a few seconds. Maybe it’s because you’ve somehow lost your voice even though you hadn’t been speaking above a whisper. But the most probable cause of them all, is this: maybe it’s because you’ve been rendered speechless by Haechan’s own apology that he delivers by messily crashing his mouth into yours, any further thoughts melting away against his soft lips.
For once, you don’t mind being cut off by him if it’s like this.
His heart begins to sink when you pull away after only a few seconds, but a small smile graces his features once again as you lean in so that your lips hover next to his ear.
“You better not mess up my makeup, Lee Haechan.”
“Donghyuck, actually.”
“What?” Quizzically, you arch an eyebrow.
“My name. My real name.”
“So why do y—”
“Shh, no time. Kiss now, talk later.”
You can’t argue with that. Not when he’s beholding you with a long-awaited forgiveness and a fondness long-concealed in his eyes. Not when the thrill of a time limit has your brains going a mile a minute, an electric buzz erupting over the expanse of your skin his hands are grasping.
You kiss him like it’s the only thing in the whole world that you know how to do. The setting is far from picturesque, with the tangled technical wires littering the floor at your feet and leftover stage equipment haphazardly leaning against the wall, but neither of you really care. Taking care not to snag the fabric of your costume, his fingers find purchase on your waist and his lips on the dip of your collarbone. At first they dotingly imprint fleeting pecks onto the rise and fall of the skin there, but when their pressure and his haste starts to escalate, you know you have to stop him before he starts something you can’t finish.
“Hyuck!” The abbreviation of his name makes his head snap up, bewildered but pleased.
“You can’t leave marks, I told you...” you trail off. “Hey, why are you smiling like that?”
“Please never call me anything else, ever.”
Donghyuck brings you in for one more kiss, well aware that a stagehand could turn the corner at any given moment. Drinking you in, he captures your lips between his, letting your body press his back into the wall behind him, and a few sharp inhales later, you break apart.
You fix his hair while he adjusts your clothes, and you’re just in time because a technician spots you and urgently gestures towards the stage. “You’re up!”
Positioning yourselves on opposite sides of the large performance space, the lights go down and you hear the rush of air from the heavy curtain opening as it glides past you. The thick artificial smoke partially obscures his form, but you can see his eyes clearly, nearly glowing in the darkness.
As the music starts, slow and quiet at first, you step to the rhythm just like you practiced. When a loud, electronic chord blares, you both pick up speed, launching into that waltz step you first learned many weeks earlier. For the first time ever, you’re able to look into his eyes.
Anyone could see that your movements complement each other effortlessly, but only your teacher picks up on the shift in mood after the countless times she’s seen you perform in the studio. Only she notices the shift in both of your gazes. You look... happy. Focused. Confident.
Donghyuck was able to bring you out of the shell you retreated into so long ago. You don’t feel subordinate as you’re dancing next to him, or being held in his arms. You move as equals, two parts of a whole.
When he picks you up, you can’t help but allow a small smile to stretch your lips. Donghyuck tries to remind you that you’re supposed to have lustful looks in your eyes by narrowing his own at you, but it’s no use. Your slight grin is contagious, and it ends up taking over his face as well.
You finish the piece smoothly, ending in a pose with your backs pressed together and hands clasped. Applause erupts from the audience, and a few cheers come from the rest of the performers waiting in the wings, shielded from the view of the crowd sitting in the seats below.
Needless to say, as you pass other dancers in the halls and receive countless congratulations and compliments, all you can think about is having Donghyuck’s lips on your skin again.
One long heart-to-heart and dozens, no, hundreds of kisses later, all is right with your world. It’s foreign territory to you both, not wanting to pounce on each other at every waking moment. But it’s something you’ll explore together, figuring out how to make up for lost time and just how to go about this newly-repaired relationship.
Exiting the empty dressing room, you take his hand in your own and head backstage once again to watch the rest of the showcase from the side, with your head leaning on his shoulder and his arm pulling you close.
At the party held for all the members of the show’s cast that night, it’s far too loud for your liking, and there’s no room to properly dance with Donghyuck. Despite you all being professional dancers-in-training, everyone else seems to have reverted to the mindset of your average high school student, thinking that jumping up and down repeatedly qualifies as dancing. You disagree, but whatever. It’s not important.
What is important, however, is the fact that the two of you would much rather escape the suffocating crowd of young adults. You would much rather slip out through the sliding glass door that leads to the house’s backyard, marveling at the fading sunset that melts into a deep blue night sky dotted with splashes of clustered lights. The stars are nature’s spotlights, shining down on you as Donghyuck takes you in his arms, one hand finding yours and the other resting on your side, somewhere between your hips and your waist.
Swaying in the silence with only the noises of the evening as your soundtrack, the boy that you would’ve sworn was the devil incarnate a month ago looks so angelic, so lovable. You can’t believe this is what you’ve been missing out on.
“So, should we start over?”
“Definitely.”
There’s no one else in this world you’d rather dance the night away with.
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aftertheskyy · 4 years
Note
Okay okay. But headcanons for dance team!Knights 👀 if that hasn’t been done already?
Canon or modern, but the knights either have a competitive team and they do competitions or they have a secret dance club. I can’t decide which idea sounds better skskkekeke
Sending you love ❤️💕❤️💕❤️
THIS TOOK ME SO LONG SJFHSGF IM SO SORRY BB
I’m wheezing at this idea omg I just want to imagine them all ballroom dancing with each other😩
So you know how football players sometimes learn ballet to help them in their performance?
The knights do that
Except to help them fight better
Leon introduces the idea because he read that dance is good for agility and grace
(He was looking at Gwaine when he said “grace”)
Anyways all the knights are like “No❤️”
So Leon starts practicing by himself in the armory before practice
(Sometimes Gwen will join him. “And plié, 2, 3,4. Tendu, 2, 3, 4.″)
Arthur is really confused because within a week, Leon’s balance and coordination becomes better than anyone else’s
And Leon, Leon with the happy golden retriever eyes, just excitedly says, “Dancing!!!”
And Lancelot looks up with the utmost confusion
But is willing to give it a try
So Leon starts teaching all the knights the basics of ballet
“Point your toes, Elyan.”
“Gwaine, those aren’t the arms for third position.”
“Stop rolling your eyes, Arthur, you saw how much I improved.”
Sometimes when guards or other servants pass by the armory, they’ll hear all the knights yelling, counting up to 8 (the occasional muffled crash or “oomph” is heard)
Arthur has one rule about the dance practice: Don’t tell Merlin
So of course, they tell Merlin
He and Gwen go to watch and sometimes are looped in to practicing with them
Gwen is a wonderful teacher
Meanwhile, Merlin catches on to everything almost instantly
(He’s doing pirouettes and fuettes within 3 days)
Merlin also brings a tambourine sometimes to help keep everyone to the beat
Gwaine is a klutz at first but he’s fantastic at arabesques
Gwaine will also try to incorporate the week’s dance lesson into battles
They might be fighting some bandits and Gwaine just leaps across the woods, landing perfectly, only to pose, and strike the next bandit with his sword
Elyan is also a phenomenal dancer
Percival gets super into it-- he and Gwen have duets complete with lifts.
Arthur...tries. Poor lad tries so hard to get it.
He does after awhile!
It takes time, but he’s good (Merlin coerces him into jazz hands every now and then)
Dance practice is always in the armory-- out of sight from the rest of the castle
And it’s a mess at the end of the day, but totally worth it
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purpleyellow · 4 years
Text
Super duo
TXT 6th member
Minji’s masterlist
“The start of Minji and Yeonjun working together” 
a/n: Feel free to share your thoughts with me. Requests are open! 💚
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Minji had a jump in her step as she walked from school to the practice room, her bag swinging on her shoulder as a new melody blocked out every noise from outside of her earbuds. Tossing her belongings on the floor, the girl sat on the ground to tie her shoelaces without looking at anyone around her. 
She wouldn’t consider herself shy, the thing is nothing exciting had ever happened when she was around the other trainees that sparked a good conversation so maybe they did see her as so. Nonetheless, Minji was just there every day, sometimes she would talk with Beomgyu but he hadn’t shown up at school so the chances of him being there that day were minimal. 
The peak of the song got cut short by some tapping on her shoulder and the left earbud being pulled off making her head spin around looking for the culprit. Choi Yeonjun, the boy who appeared to be very nice despite being every trainee’s standard, was smiling sheepishly at her while two of his friends stood behind him and waved at her.
“May I help you?” The girl mumbled, a little lost as to why he was sitting crossed legged next to her.
“Dropping formalities already?” Yeonjun chuckled playfully and she frowned tilting her head while wracking her brain only to correct herself still confused “May I help you... Sunbae?” 
“Maybe not that polite” He joked trying to spark a reaction but her face was still staring blankly at him “Did you check the news board already?” His question had a lightweight tone to it and the girl shook her head without a word making him sigh before continuing “Well, we’re having a surprise evaluation late tonight”
Nodding uninterested, Minji looked around the room clearly waiting for him to get to the point, random checkups were not that big of a deal considering they didn’t really affect the ranking boards or how close one was to debut. One of the trainees behind him laughing at the situation but stopping as the other nudged him with his elbow.
“Well, it’s going to be a duet. And Beomgyu is apparently sick, so I thought you might want a pair. Here I am” Extending both his hands in front of himself as if he had just presented a brilliant idea, Yeonjun smiled excitedly as she rose one eyebrow eyeing him down.
“Don’t you prefer to do this with one of your buddies?” Minji nodded to the two watching them before turning around to see the room almost filled “Or, I don’t know, any of your friends”
“Most of them are already in pairs. And I figured we could have fun and maybe push each other out of our comfort’s zones by working together”
“Why?” Minji’s question caught him by surprise and Yeonjun squinted looking around trying to find the answer she might like to hear.
“Well, you’re really good at -” Looking at her while talking, he stopped as soon as he noticed the tiny playful grin forming on her face. Sighing entertained, the boy leaned back tilting his head “You’re playing with me, aren’t you?”
Giggling, the girl shrugged while pulling her things away “It’s just an evaluation, we have them every month, all you had to do was say” Clearing her throat, the girl did a terrible impression of his voice “Hey Minji, I’ll be your partner for the surprise test everyone pretended not to know about”.
“Well, I have vocal training right now” Yeonjun stood up laughing at the change of behavior “But after I’m done we can meet and discuss what we’ll present to them”
“Okay” Nodding with her head down, Minji put away her things as she heard the trio leaving. Beomgyu had said multiple times it was nice talking to the guys and she should put a little more effort into it but she honestly couldn’t care as much. 
The girl was certain that when he finds out she’d been partnering up with Choi Yeonjun, especially after spending the first week commenting how weirdly he acts, Beomgyu would spend the entire day laughing at her face.
After she had been done with the dance class, Minji grabbed her stuff and went off to find the boy. They hadn’t decided on one spot to meet at, which made her sigh at the thought of running through the hallways but luckily one of the boys from earlier crossed her path and indicated the room he had gotten for them to practice at.
That day, Minji found out that Choi Yeonjun not only took his training very seriously but that he has an envious work ethic. As soon as she made it into the small studio, he had already chosen three completely different songs that could help them showcase their voices and said she could pick whichever one she was more comfortable with. A very nice change from her and Beomgyu fighting for half an hour before settling on one if you asked her.
“Ah, you’re so much nicer to work with than a few of the other trainees” Yeonjun sighed leaning back on his chair once they had run over the song twice “At least you don’t stop me every five seconds to ask something unrelated to the topic”
Humming in agreement, Minji stretched herself on the chair as she stole a glance at the clock on the wall, they had a lot of time left until the evaluation, yet she felt like he might not give in and give them a break.
“Chung Minji, I might make you my official partnering person. How does that sound?” Yeonjun joked getting her attention back and the girl shrugged “Sure, I’m cool with whatever, Choi Yeonjun Sunbae”
“Okay, but you don’t have to make this Sunbae stuff a thing, you know”
“Sorry, you know, I’m Australian. The whole formalities thing is still a struggle” She said smirking and the boy laughed at the acting.
“Whatever. Let’s go back so next time you can be closer to overtaking me in the ranking”
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Text
More and longer theory chatter with @flash-the-geist with guest stars who popped in. This one is longer since it’s theorizing but turned into something Flash affectionately named the ‘Esprestissimo AU’ which I am keeping because I love it so much.
Most of this mainly features Duet thoughts and then shenanigans ! The most I did was add a missing thing in my own comments for clarification or that my brain skipped over when typing it before, or where I adjust the order of the messages for cohesiveness
please enjoy jdjd
flaaaash — Today at 4:35 AM
hmmm what if the note-taker is Duet, taking notes about "Solo"? that implies they're two different people
Arthur — Today at 4:36 AM
that's what i was thinking-- that the ‘He’ in the note is reverb, and this note is in reference to reverb, but also a comment on Solo, and the Duet 'wrote' this character profile as like-- a case file if they're in charge of the organization
so duet is like 'solo' claims she still needs to study him for research in a note on the file he's taking on reverb or something like that
flaaaash — Today at 4:37 AM
this might be my deep, unfortunate familiarity with bureaucracy talking, but- if the person in charge is also the one taking notes, it's a very small organization
Arthur — Today at 4:37 AM
oh yeah
i imagined it was tiny personally
tempo seems on the smaller side so if it's all based there, i was imagining it was relatively small
flaaaash — Today at 4:38 AM
not international then, perhaps
adkjfakjf oooh now I want to make a little card for Flash
Arthur — Today at 4:39 AM
yeah no-- at least since the name tempo of the town following the motif like seemingly implies it's based in/related to the town since if follows the reference style
or that's my thinking anyways?
flaaaash — Today at 4:39 AM
very true
imagine if Tempo is just Like That and the rest of the world is totally normal
Arthur — Today at 4:40 AM
i personally think vivi didn't grow up in tempo now more tho-- because i think if she did and there is an organization, they woulda gotten wind of her and she probably would've been recruited since she's smart and clearly into that kind of thing
and if she was in the org and knew what she was doing, i don't know if she would've gone to the cave if she was at all in the Know 
flaaaash — Today at 4:40 AM
or they would have tried to study Mystery?
Arthur — Today at 4:41 AM
that too!!
even if they brought her in just because of mystery i imagine they would've brought her in
flaaaash — Today at 4:41 AM
maybe that's what the "her research into "REDACTED" is referring to. Research into mystery?
it all does seem to come back to him
Arthur — Today at 4:42 AM
or maybe she's relatively new to tempo still, and duet gave her a job because they intended to bring her in at some point but hadn't yet
like there were steps to take and like-- the cave happened before things could get fully underway
i mean at my job i applied in like-- march, and i didn't get an interview until may, and then i didn't get any training until november, and then i didn't get brought in to learn the job until december. so it'd be easy to imagine that if there was a reason, bringing her in could be a slow process 
flaaaash — Today at 4:43 AM
that might also explain why there were all these "go back" signs in the cave
clearly someone with English language skills put the signage there
Arthur — Today at 4:43 AM
that too! it definitely felt like it was to warn off people and keep them from tresspassing
but the gang were kids and also ghost don't haunt the places that aren't super scary and dangerous! so of course they gotta go in!
flaaaash — Today at 4:45 AM
maybe they weren't expecting someone like Vivi at all
she was a wild card that popped up and threw a spanner in the works accidentally
Arthur — Today at 4:45 AM
yeah!
i can imagine her just coming in and completely bamboozling everyone
duet is like 'okay we'll get her in on this but we'll take some time to sort everything and judge where she's at skill wise since we have time and it's not like she can get into any danger with all our protective me--oh no'
flaaaash — Today at 4:48 AM
that calls Duet's motivation into question a lil bc - there's at least a significant amount of time between Lewis dying and them finding him again
since their search is reasonably extensive and Arthur's had time to heal up. So why didn't Duet do anything during this time?
Arthur — Today at 4:50 AM
hmmmm--- well we know it's been less than a year since the cave happened at least, and i think the way Ben talked about it  sounded like it was a relatively short time table of only a few months, so maybe they wanted to give them recovery time or they weren't sure how to broach it-- i'm not sure. maybe the comic will give some kind of insight hopefully if the case is that vivi came in like that
i feel like it'd be interesting and make more sense given what she has available magic wise and mystery-wise if she wasn't in town until much later in life to explain why she wouldn’t already be working with the organization. but i'm still like hmm
because you do have a point that there would be a fair bit of inaction, unless for some reason vivi's memory issues or something was a problem or something happens in the prequel to explain or hint
tho now that brings into question if duet knows Lewis is dead, how are things not being managed better
i mean i've had arthur say in the past and i've said once or twice that like-- i think arthur was already working with prosthetics. so he could've had an arm mostly built and just had to make a more functioning one so that could've been fast. so hopefully maybe the prequel comic is set a bit before and might explain duet helping or something in a way that could make sense of it?
especially given he did make galaham's wheels already and such. he might've already built one but needed to make a new one set up for him
flaaaash — Today at 4:54 AM
I'm fairly sure people would at least know he's missing
I guess it's possible that the 'memory magic' thing that makes Vivi forget - it could affect everyone except Arthur and Mystery?
Arthur — Today at 4:56 AM
that's possible--
we have only seen mystery and arthur in the world seeming to know what's going on, so we don't know who knows what. just that vivi doesn't know lewis
but maybe nobody else does either to some degree
flaaaash — Today at 4:56 AM
Arthur being possessed at the time, and Mystery being a magical being himself. We don't have any evidence that anyone else remembers Lewis, although he seems to still be in pictures
Arthur — Today at 4:57 AM
people did seem confused arthur was freaking out in the store in the comic and like
idk. if i knew he lost his best friend i'd be more sympathetic/not look at him like he was crazy. I’d assume something set him off but probably feel bad for him if i knew what happened in the last year?
because i would imagine mental health is in the toilet after going on a trip and losing a friend even if he was only 'missing'
and the way arthur mentioned lewis and when vivi forgets he's just like 'nevermind'. if no one really remembers Lewis, then maybe giving up trying to explain is because he’s used to no one knowing who he means
flaaaash — Today at 4:58 AM
yea h
Arthur — Today at 4:58 AM
what if arthur only remembers lewis? (and mystery does)
Don't forget to take your meds ❤ — Today at 4:58 AM
In fairness most people would be confused if they saw someone having a panic attack in public, no matter how much was known about the person
flaaaash — Today at 4:58 AM
also if Lewis looked like himself for a moment just before dropping Arthur - does that mean Lance saw him?
or did he only see skele-version and thus didn't recognize him as Lewis
Arthur — Today at 4:58 AM
hmmmmm--- i lean to skele vision. he turned back pretty quick iirc
flaaaash — Today at 4:59 AM
I'm torn between analysing between a storyteller perspective and an in-world perspective
Arthur — Today at 5:01 AM
por que no los dos?
also
hmmm-- i think given people were like 'what's up with that guy', it seemed either not knowing what was going on with him or what it could stem from, but if lewis disappeared in a small town i feel like a lot of the details would've spread. so they might assume it had to do with that instead-- so it feels like maybe most people don't know
which seems strange in a smaller community because stuff gets around
flaaaash — Today at 5:01 AM
especially since the Peppers own a restaurant
Arthur — Today at 5:01 AM
yeah-- in a small town place a restuarant is usually a social hub of sorts
so if lewis disppeared i'm sure people would talk given he was a waiter and thus kind of a face for the restaurant
flaaaash — Today at 5:02 AM
also if they think he's missing and not dead, his family would be looking for him too. which means missing persons pics and all that
Arthur — Today at 5:02 AM
yeah and we didn’t see any. and some people not knowing or visitors i could get, but everyone seemed surprised by arthur freaking out, and if they knew lewis was missing and lewis and arthur were friends, it feels odd to like-- none of them to even look sympathetic
i would imagine if they knew lewis was gone they'd assume arthur would be more emotionally reactive than usual-- unless they have no idea that something is going on with arthur because you know-- lewis is erased jdjd
i mean the reason we know vivi doesn't remember is because her eyes glowed as lewis got phased out of the photo
but who knows maybe him being phased out was in general and that just meant she was affected too. everyone gets amnesia
flaaaash — Today at 5:03 AM
also slightly cracky theory but - if they ended up accidentally in the research facility during Ghost, that would explain why Vivi found a fully-stocked fridge alkja;gl
Arthur — Today at 5:04 AM
DSJDDLJSDLFJDSJL
that would be hilarious
lewis is his own scp in his tantrum mansion
they just keep an eye on the lot
flaaaash — Today at 5:05 AM
well what else are they gonna do with him??? xD
Arthur — Today at 5:05 AM
dslsdjdsfljdsfd
''welp no one knows who this guy is soooooo manor in the middle of nowhere time'
flaaaash — Today at 5:06 AM
"so the waiter turned into a vengeful spirit?" "oh uhhhh ok put him in a box i guess until we figure something out?"
ok theory- Duet knows Lewis is dead, but is trying to figure out a way to help/break the memory magic on Vivi, and that's why he's in the mansion/cave for a while before Ghost?
Arthur — Today at 5:06 AM
i like it! i think them knowing and approaching arthur in the comic and using 'rancid vibes' as an excuse would make sense
flaaaash — Today at 5:07 AM
"so that Vivi person wandered in again somehow and now the vengeful waiter ghost is loose?" "for fuck's sake you had ONE JOB-"
Arthur — Today at 5:07 AM
they know what's actually going on but they kinda act like everyone else while also getting arthur something that might help him in that book that i think will be important in the plot of the prequel
DL;G;HDGSAL;HKGSDHL;DGS
flash you have the biggest brain
 flaaaash — Today at 5:08 AM
,kadjgalgkj
"also there was this killer tree-" "I do not care about the tree, one problem at a time"
Poor Duet is having A Week
but the mental image of them trying to avoid Arthur and Vivi investigating, while trying to find ??? and re-capture him while shoving Lewis in a box is hilarious, and then they run into Shiromori and just throw their hands in the air like "can u not????". And then Murder Mystery shows up and they just quit
Arthur — Today at 5:10 AM
dlaajldkljjdl;dldjlfkfd
duet is just like
on their tenth cup of coffee
Don't forget to take your meds ❤ — Today at 5:10 AM
Arthur: Those are rookie numbers
Arthur — Today at 5:11 AM
they see murder mystery and go back inside the shop like 'can you add like 5 espresso shots to this'
flaaaash — Today at 5:11 AM
explains why they're like "Arthur pls your vibes. Do you KNOW what I've been dealing with"
Arthur — Today at 5:11 AM
asdl;;dfslhsdahg;as;dghkghsdllhsgd
flaaaash — Today at 5:11 AM
"five extra shots and a red bull chaser please-"
Arthur — Today at 5:12 AM
(also just still crosses my fingers for medium/spiritually-sensitive!arthur to be canon but if not it will live on in my fannon)
dsldjllssfdf
they just start shoving coffee grounds directly into their mouth
flaaaash — Today at 5:12 AM
this series has a lot of antagonists
akjdalgj just crunching beans down whole
Arthur — Today at 5:13 AM
i need-- to draw duet
looking tired with a coffee
flaaaash — Today at 5:14 AM
Duet with a giant cup of coffee, staring at Murder Mystery with a deadpan stare and going "Absolutely not, I forbid it, there is not enough coffee in the WORLD."
Arthur — Today at 5:14 AM
flash and will if i share this chatter on tumblr would you be okay with it ? or would u rather i block out names if i do
i feel like some of this is hilarious and people need to experience it
flaaaash — Today at 5:14 AM
akdflaf no go for it
I will out myself as a sham of a storyboarder
Arthur — Today at 5:15 AM
duet is that gif of the ghost busters lady going 'mmm nope not today, room full of nightmares'
and turning and walking away
duet is doing their best and needs a nap
tired as Arthur
flaaaash — Today at 5:15 AM
Duet walking around the corner to see the gang facing down Murder Mystery: swivels on one foot and goes right back the way they came
Arthur — Today at 5:15 AM
ldjldljd EXACTLY
Don't forget to take your meds ❤ — Today at 5:16 AM
Heheheheh
Arthur — Today at 5:16 AM
like look at this person
look at their eyebags
they are Tired
they have deal with this bullshittery
they have sass to provide
but they also are Tired and done with this shit
flaaaash — Today at 5:16 AM
I want Duet and Arthur playing a game of caffeine chicken
Marshy — Today at 5:16 AM
Huge massive sigh as they see the whole bullshit situation go down and turns around to go back to the bookshop
flaaaash — Today at 5:16 AM
just lined up at the cafe bar, espresso shots in rows down the counter as they lock eyes-
who shall win- the CAFFEINE-OFF?
Arthur — Today at 5:17 AM
flash
pls if you right that i will pay you money
or maybe art
Marshy — Today at 5:17 AM
It's me I'll win
flaaaash — Today at 5:17 AM
SLFKJLKGS
Arthur — Today at 5:17 AM
dlasd;sdgkd;djslj;dags
i'm rooting for you take those nerds OUT
flaaaash — Today at 5:18 AM
"Duet gives him a look of Supreme Weariness and Nopery. Arthur counters with a double eye-roll of Resignation and Angst. In the true synchronicity of the Absolutely Done, they each take an espresso shot and slam it down."
Arthur — Today at 5:20 AM
djdasd;ds;lsda;ldj;lkdsl;jkdsj;lkasljkdjlkdg
they clink the little cups together first before taking their respective shots
flaaaash — Today at 5:21 AM
they do the thing where they turn it upside down to prove it's empty
by the fifth they're trying to outcompete each other with anecdotes
by the tenth they've moved onto toasting each other
Arthur — Today at 5:21 AM
Bonding!
Don't forget to take your meds ❤ — Today at 5:22 AM
The anecdotes get concerningly similar to each others
flaaaash — Today at 5:22 AM
by the twelfth, Arthur begins weeping. Duet pats him in solidarity and knocks the next shot clean off the counter due to caffeine-induced twitching
Arthur — Today at 5:22 AM
DSGLAHGLDGHDGHAAHDSGDG
EXCELLENT
i
want them to be friends now
flaaaash — Today at 5:23 AM
by the thirteenth, the barista stages an intervention and starts giving them decaf
by this point, they don't notice 
Arthur — Today at 5:23 AM
asdlaadjsdsajd
thank you they owe you their life
they could taste the difference if they weren't vibrating into the 28the dimension atm
flaaaash — Today at 5:24 AM
after the fifteenth shot, the counter is clear and they're both full of sympathetic outrage for the other's plight. They sprint from the cafe, steamroll right over Shiromori, and punt the colours right out of Murder Mystery in a fit of industrial-strength caffeinated indignance.
Don't forget to take your meds ❤ — Today at 5:24 AM
Hahahaha
Arthur — Today at 5:25 AM
h;lsadlf;dsldj;fsljl;dfsajdfsa
flaaaash — Today at 5:25 AM
The newly Monochromatic Mystery has to then help Vivi contain the pair before they wipe all paranormal activity off the face of Tempo.
Arthur — Today at 5:25 AM
that's how the fifth video ends
flaaaash — Today at 5:25 AM
Lewis narrowly escapes by hiding in a box. THE END
Arthur — Today at 5:25 AM
dsal;gsdhldgsa;dgsdgs;hldgs;lhdsa
beautiful thank u flash
i owe you my life
flaaaash — Today at 5:25 AM
you're welcome it's my magnum opus
Arthur — Today at 5:26 AM
A+ story telling
i'm including it in the post
flaaaash — Today at 5:26 AM
ALKJGAGK
it's okay I don't have a reputation to ruin xD
Arthur — Today at 5:26 AM
dlasdl;dhsgldgdgs
this is a callout for flash being the funniest person alive--
or undead
flaaaash — Today at 5:27 AM
dead-
sfkjga
l
Arthur — Today at 5:27 AM
djdjdjdj
i thought about it and corrected myself xDD
flaaaash — Today at 5:30 AM
ok I have no idea if anyone will get this pun, but I dub this the Esprestissimo AU
Arthur — Today at 5:36 AM
djalsd;ldsjdsjldf
i LOVE THAT
music puns but espressos EXTRA ESPRESSOLY
flaaaash — Today at 5:49 AM
xD
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