#according to Kate bush at least

[unkreativstermensch]

Thinking about how the whole second half of Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love album is a conceptual narrative (called The Ninth Wave) about a woman lost at sea fighting to survive and how she has to keep herself awake. And how she wishes she had her radio to “tune into some friendly voices” in order to not fall asleep and how there’s all these people trying to tell her to wake up and how, as some kind of spirit, she watches all her friends and family but they can’t hear her. And how her own future self comes to visit her to tell her not to give up…

And all that…just strikes me as a little too coincidental.

[chrislaplante]

random chris facts.

• he does not drink. it started off as him following doctors’ instructions, given his meds. but then he got wasted once & hated it. so now, he simply doesn’t.

• he does not smoke. he used to. it’s been about five years now that he quit smoking.

• he does not drive. he can, he knows how to drive. he’s not allowed to, however. he takes anti seizure medications, and in order to get his license he must go at least three years without seizures (well, in his case, “seizures”, I.e., demon attacks), without taking the medications. a conundrum, if you will. he hasn’t been able to legally drive since high school.

• he feels far more comfortable around women than men. chuck it to trust issues that came from posthumously finding out certain— potentially serial killer-y things about his dad. thus crushing the image he had of him growing up, whom he considered his best friend.

• he tends to forget to eat. he tries his best to remind himself he should eat something, but some of his meds give him both nausea & suppress his appetite. this leads to days where he feels “off” & suddenly realizes he has eaten absolutely nothing & it’s the middle of the night already.

• he sees things. he cannot tell the living from the dead (ghosts, spirits, entities, demons, etc), until he realizes he’s the only one who can see them. he’s not used to it, even tho it’s been this way since he was sixteen. after college, he began to understand he wasn’t just “seeing things” due to his diagnoses. they weren’t hallucinations, they were very real.

• he recognizes the entities by now. the ones which inhabit him. he can tell them apart by the way he senses them and the way they make themselves known to him.

• he loves 80s goth, post punk & new wave. the cure, depeche mode, the smiths, joy division, echo & the bunnymen, eurythmics, the jesus & mary chain, inxs, the cult, xtc, siouxie sioux & the banshees, kate bush, shakespeare’s sister, etc. as far as newer music goes, he’s more selective. lebanon hanover, the horrors, dua lipa, placebo, imogen heap, etc. he does listen to heavier stuff from time to time, tho not often.

• he has a goth soul. according to his girlfriend. he’d love to be such, ever since his teenage years. his interests & likes, finding beauty in the darker things. it all fits as one would expect, he’s never thought of himself as “cool enough” to pull it off.

• he’s afraid of the dark, but likes the night. no, i don’t understand it myself. you’ll have to ask him.

• he’s not fond of horror movies… but he’s slowly making his way into becoming a horror fan. by now, he’s seen some of the classics but not much more than that. he only started giving horror a chance after college.

• he does not have social media. this is something he’s avoided since college, when reddit true crime weirdos found him & recognized him, they began to ask questions about the atrocities involving his dad. much like that incident with a reporter when he was fifteen. his mom got a call, he was hyperventilating.

this is also a big reason…

• he changed his look. in order to be unrecognizable. he’s had plenty of unsavory experiences throughout the years, having dealt with “fans” of his father, or wanting the “inside scoop”. he wants none of it.

• he self medicates to drown out what he sees & hears. abusing prescription pills (sedatives for his “night terrors”), over-the-counter sleeping pills, etc. sedation & drowsiness make things feel less real. dream-like. in his thinking, it’s easier to deal with. nevertheless, he’s highly embarrassed by it all.

[eightfifteen]

The reason i like to analyse character's music taste isn't because i care what it is that they listen to, but more how their music reflects their personality and experiences.

It's the eighties, which means that the only ways to be introduced to music are through the radio, by the people around you recommending stuff or by actively going to a library/music store to look for new things.

The radio

The party doesn't seem to care about music at all. Dustin has nothing of note hanging in his bedroom suggesting there's any band or whatever that he likes, and in season one they refer to Should I Stay Or Should I Go as 'that weird song'. This suggests that Dustin and Lucas and Mike even probably just listen to the radio or whatever music their parents play.

When Mike is with El in s3, they're just listening to the radio, and that's the music Mike's familiar with as he starts singing along. it's the only time in the whole show Mike shows any interest in music at all.

2. influence of the people around you

Will's influenced by Jonathan. He himself is not the kid that goes into music stores because he's a kid and prefers to spend his time with his friends. But Jonathan, on the other hand, doesn't have friends and probably does go to the music store to find new music similar to the ones he likes. More importantly, he has the time and interest to curate the songs he copies off the radio.

Will cares about Jonathan's opinion at first because it's a thing they have in common and because he doesn't really know what else to listen to anyway. And that influence clearly sticks with him because he has a positive association with these bands and this style.

Mike on the other hand, clearly doesn't care about his parents' opinions and would automatically reject their music, and he's also not going to listen to what Nancy listens to because they have that typical sibling relationship where everything your sibling does is automatically bad.

If there's one person that would influence Mike, it's Eddie in season 4. But still, we don't see him being into Metal music, and i think that's just not his style at all. I think Mike would nod and pretend to like it because he wants Eddie to like him, but it's not something he would genuinely enjoy.

3. Going out to explore music on your own

In season 4 in California, Will clearly went out to explore music of his own because we can see that he likes new bands like The Cure, and that he has a record player now.

Jonathan was distant, and he didn't have any friends anymore, so he was either influenced by his classmates/new environment and/or went out to music stores or libraries or whatever to find new music on his own. He also has a lot more time now, like Jonathan, to just sit in front of the radio and record songs he likes from Californian radio stations, meaning he's exposed to a whole new variety of music, and actually gets to chose the songs he likes of his own accord.

Still, the fact that he got a record player and the new poster suggests he at least had to go out to a record store, because you can't copy those off the radio.

It represents him growing older and into his own person, and also how being in a new environment is influencing him/shaping him, and yet how he tries to stick to something that binds him with Jonathan. But also music is in turn influenced by his inner feelings. How he looks for music to represent him and as a genuine hobby/distraction rather than just something to passively turn on for background noise.

We see the same with Max, where she suddenly has her walkman and a variety of tapes with her at all times. Music is a way to cope for her, and as the alternative is being in the trailer park alone, I'd see her go out to music stores to search for new songs plenty. It represents her looking for an escape and a distraction, where music is no longer just something to dance to but also something to grief with and to just get lost in. But her music choice (Kate Bush) in turn also reflects how she's feeling, because her feelings influence her taste.

[ravenquingvax]

Thinking about how what I associate Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush with is pretty different from the story Kate reportedly was telling.

According to this source, at least, the story is about a man and woman in a relationship full of love but insecurity and misunderstanding as well.

The woman wishes she and her partner could switch places to understand each other better, but in reality it can never actually happen and the woman knows this.

It would have to happen through an act of divine intervention; a miracle.

Whereas I associate the song with unconditional love and the idea of being willing to sacrifice it all for the one you love most of all - taking their place so they never suffer again, dying in their stead.

Thanks, Stranger Things + Vax'ildan & Vex'ahlia!! (:

I love how media works.

Interpreting it is so fun.

(half serious, half upset, all joking)

[finnicus-gayicus]

Eddie fix-it fic I'm working on because I can't cope with him being dead. (PT 1)

Some things in life are simple, easy. The year was 1986, late August. It had been about five months since the fight with Vecna/Henry/One. Max was still comatose, and according to the doctors, essentially braindead. Eleven had tried everything to get her back, but she couldn't find her. It was as if her mind had been erased. Lucas kept visiting her nearly every day, insisting that one day she'd wake up and he wanted to be there for her when she did. School had started a week ago, and now the kids were juniors in high school. Jim Hopper, Joyce, Jonathan, and Will Byers were back, although Hopper remained hiding in his old cabin. He had explained that it'd be difficult to come back and explain where he'd been for the last eight months. Everyone that had remained in Hawkins had welcomed Joyce and the boys back with open arms of course, but the town was basically in ruins. Some buildings still functioned, trying to work as if the massive earthquake hadn't happened five months ago, dividing Hawkins into four pieces. But moving on was hard. So many homes had been destroyed, so many lives lost. Many former residents deemed Hawkins irreparable, and simply moved on, starting new lives in different cities. The residents that did stay, try as they might, continued to live normal lives. As normal as it could be. The massive trenches from the "earthquake" were deemed too unstable to build over and there were fences surrounding them, preventing people from getting too close to the perilous edge.

At least it didn't glow anymore.

The Upside Down gate seemed dead, the orange and red hues not making an appearance since three days after it had formed and Hawkins was showered in the ash. No one had been able to figure out why the ash had fallen, luckily many people assumed it was just ash from the fires that had been spread. But the group knew better. It wasn't a good sign.

It had been five months, though, and nothing else had happened. When she wasn't in the hospital trying to find Max, Eleven tried nearly every day from the safety of Hopper's cabin to find Vecna, but her efforts were fruitless. If it weren't for Will, they would've assumed everything would be ok. But Will kept saying that Vecna was still alive, still fighting. He could feel his presence. Mike was unfortunately in denial, saying that since El couldn't find Vecna it had to mean he was dead. That had led to a massive fight, unfortunately, and the results had divided the party. It seemed that their party was over. With Lucas glued to his seat in the hospital next to Max's bed playing Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush on repeat, Will and Mike's fight, El trying every single day to find someone, Dustin had no choice but to try to do something. He'd tried to keep the party together, tried to get Mike to get his shit together and apologize to Will, tried to be supportive of El by bringing her snacks and comics as a way to help her relax somewhat, sitting with Lucas for a few hours at a time. But his efforts seemed futile.

The only ones who seemed to be somewhat normal and had their shit together was the teenagers. Nancy and Jonathan were still together, although the relationship seemed strained. Robin and Steve refused to date, most likely because Steve was being too much of a little bitch to actually ask her out. They both had lost their jobs at the video store, due to it collapsing into the Upside Down. They now worked at the grocery store, volunteering on their days off to help with the disbanded party. Steve kept his babysitter role and was very serious about it. He and Dustin seemed to be the only ones trying to keep everyone together. He and Dustin unfortunately didn't hang out much anymore, Steve always making excuses to be alone. Even Steve couldn't get through to Mike, and had given up trying months ago. It seemed like Steve had given up on a lot of things, but tried to be there for everyone all the less. It seemed like everyone had given up.

"Vecna would want us to be separated!" Dustin had insisted. "That way we couldn't help each other-"

"Oh my god Dustin!" Mike had yelled outside Hopper's cabin. It was April, about a month after everything had happened. "Vecna is dead! He can't come back, he won't come back!"

"How do you know that?" Dustin had demanded. "Will says-"

"Fuck what Will says! El can't find him, so he has to be dead!"

"Mike, you weren't there! Steve and Nancy and Robin all said that there wasn't a body. He's still out there." Dustin was getting angry now. Everything was stupid. This whole situation was dumb. They shouldn't be fighting like this, they had to stick together.

"Maybe he crawled off and died?" Mike had insisted. "El can't find him. According to Nancy he had been lit on fire and she shot him like a dozen times with a sawed off shotgun. No one could survive that! Hopper said that he killed the demodogs with a gun, Vecna couldn't have survived."

"Mike! You. Weren't. There. You were hiding out with Will and El in a pizzeria, you didn't even go to the Upside Down. Things work differently there. If Will says he can still feel Vecna then that means he's still out there." Dustin was getting fed up. Mike and Will needed to make up, Mike needed to get his head out of his ass. As much as Dustin would love for Vecna to be dead and for them to live their normal lives again, it didn't look like that was the case.

"Maybe Will was just sensing the demogorgon, or maybe the Mind Flayer. El can't find Vecna. If he was there she'd find him." They were just going around in circles.

"Mike-"

"No, Dustin. I'm done. I'm going back and sitting with Eleven." Mike had then turned around and went back into the cabin, slamming the door shut and leaving Dustin standing alone outside, the chilly spring air clinging to his exposed hands and face.

That was four months ago. Mike refused to talk to Dustin, barely tolerating his presence when he came by to hang out with Eleven and check in on her. Dustin tried to talk to Will, too, but even he didn't want anything to do with the old group. He had locked himself in his room, and according to Jonathan didn't even leave his room unless it was for the bathroom or grabbing something to eat. Even then, though, Jonathan had said that most of the time he'd only eat if he or Joyce brought him something. They had moved into a different house, the old one having been destroyed during the splitting.

Suzie was still a safe space for Dustin, the two of them still talking every night on the radio. Most of the time it was just Dustin venting about his friends and the shitty situation, leaving out some details. He didn't want her to get sucked into their shit show. She would give logical, sound advice that Dustin completely agreed with, but he knew his friends didn't think the same way. Tonight, however, Suzie wasn't able to talk for very long. She apparently got in trouble for skipping her chores and her radio time was going to be limited to once a week for a month. Dustin didn't know how he was going to manage. They were only able to talk for a half hour before she had to go, leaving Dustin alone in his room.

The silence was unbearable, so he had taken his mom's record player into his room. He was slowly gathering a small collection of vinyls, mostly some popular songs as well as a few metal ones. The metal ones being thanks to Eddie Munson.

Eddie…

Eddie had died in the Upside Down five months ago. He had given Dustin the most metal concert ever, playing Master of Puppets by Metallica to distract the demobats and draw them away from Vecna's house while Steve, Nancy, and Robin attacked him. Unfortunately, despite the awesome job they did of fortifying Eddie's trailer, they weren't able to seal everything off. Dustin had managed to get through the gate, but Eddie had stopped, slicing the rope and gaining the attention of the demobats. He had saved Dustin, saved Hawkins from the demonic beasts. Giving his life in the process.

"I love you, man."

The words ached in Dustin's chest. He got up from his bed and siffted through his record collection, deciding to forego his vow of silence on a school night. He found the record he was searching for, pulling it out of its sleeve and setting it up. He hit play and his room was filled with heavy guitar riffs, drums beating methodically. He sat on his bed and closed his eyes, remembering just how awesome it had been with Eddie standing on top of the trailer, putting his soul into the instrument. The red lighting, the vibration from the amp tickling his feet and spreading up through his body. The pure energy that filled the air and himself. Listening to the vinyl didn't have the same effect on Dustin as it had when Eddie had played it, but the song made him feel somewhat closer to him. But the song wasn't the only thing he and Eddie had.

He reached over to his bedside table and opened the drawer, sifting through it until he came across a polaroid. It was a picture of the Hellfire Club, the members posing and smiling at the camera. He stared at it fondly, his eyes stinging with tears as a couple silently fell down his cheeks.

"Never change, Dustin Henderson. Promise me?"

The tears came harder, dripping down onto his lap as a soft sob wracked his body. His hand holding the polaroid trembled. His chest aches, his eyes stung, his throat was tight. Everything hurt.

A soft knock came from his door. "Dusty?" His mom's soft voice came from the other side. "Dusty, sweetie, are you ok?"

"Y-yeah, Mom." He so blatantly lied, his voice thick with tears as his shoulders shuddered.

"Are you sure? Do you want to talk about it honey?"

"N-no. I just… I just wanna be alone." He managed.

"Ok sweetie. If you need me I'll be in the living room. Goodnight baby." He could hear his mom's footsteps quietly leave. He sat there, turning his attention back to the picture of his friends. He wished he could go back in time, go back to when he had first joined the Hellfire Club. He wished he could go back even further, to when he and Mike, Will, and Lucas had been fighting the demogorgon, with the only consequences being their characters losing HP. He still needed to give Will those comics.

Suddenly his bedside lamp flickered. Once. Twice. Three times. Dustin wiped his face off, his eyes wide. His heart stopped, and he scrambled to grab his radio from his desk as the light kept flickering. Not again. Not again.

He was about to speak into the radio, his eyes trained on the lamp, when he paused. The light stopped flickering. Then it started again.

Tap tap tap.

Pause.

Tap, tap, tap.

The three flicks were drawn out.

Tap tap tap.

Then went back to being quick.

There was another pause, before the light started flickering again. Three quick taps, three drawn out ones, then three more quick ones.

Morse code.

SOS.

Dustin blinked as the light kept flickering, buzzing. He set the radio down, walking slowly over to the lamp. The taps continued, pausing each time after spelling out SOS.

"... Eddie?"

[tulipfromtheinternet]

17 questions, 17 people (no one tagged me, I just thought it seemed fun🍊)

Nickname: Tulip

Zodiac: libra

Height: 5'1

Hogwarts House: the badger one I cant remember what it's called

Last thing I googled: thyrotropin

Followers:

Song stuck in my head: nothing at the moment

How much sleep: not sure. I havent really been sleeping lately.

Lucky number: 3

Dream job: midwife

Wearing: black pants teal long sleeve shirt black and white cozy sweater

Favorite Song: wuthering heights by Kate Bush

Favorite Instrument: the accordion, the guitar, the harmonica, the drums

Favorite Animal Noise: whale and elephant noises

Favorite Author: Catherine Fisher

Aesthetic: I have been told I dress like a music teacher (I do not teach and I do not play any instruments 😂) I like bold clashing colors and patterns, eclectic. Maximalist I think it's called. At least according to what comes up when I put it on pinterest!

Something Random: avocado ice cream exists, in case anyone didnt already knows this. It's good for a few bites but it's an acquired taste for sure 😆

If any of you would like to do this! No presh😊 @northisnotup @mistmarauder @buckbuckley @buckactuallys @homerforsure @pirate-tink @oneawkwardcookie @novemberhush @renecdote @queerfeministdork @johnbroutledge @chunkytilapia @fireladybuckley @firemedicdiaz @fleurdebeton @meduseld @sonseulsoleil @starry-eyed-guttersnipe

If you see this and want to do it too please do! And show me🥰🌻

[yoonia]

About Time // Part 19

Character: Jungkook x reader / Jimin x reader (feat. BTS)

↳ Type/Genre/words | Angst, Fluff, Alternate Universe (Time Travel!au/Time Leap!au, Soulmate!au), Eventual Smut / 13,5k words

↳ Prompts | “What if you find your soulmate… at the wrong time?” - Lauren Kate, Passion

↳ Summary | Be careful for what you wish for, because you may never know how to deal with them once it comes true. What would you do when your wish for a second chance actually came true? But was it really a fulfilled wish? Too many questions lie when it actually happened. Were they real memories? Or perhaps a part of a past life? Was it only a dream all along? Will everything be different this time?

↳ Ratings | Mature/+18 and up

↳ Warnings | this chapter contains multiple smut scenes: involving public sex, first time sex, thigh riding, explicit scene of sexual intercourse and intense foreplay (finger fucking, f receiving), mentions of cancer, (probably) inaccurate medical and law terms

↳ Author’s Note | If you find a few scenes within this chapter that seem a bit familiar, perhaps it’s because you have read it before in a different form. The final scene for this chapter was taken from a short drabble that I created during a muse game for this story, with a few adjustments on the scene itself to make it seem more fitting into the timeline. I do hope you’ll enjoy this one. I know there are lots of you who have been waiting for this moment to come :) 

↳ ⤎ Previous Chapter | Series Index: About Time | Next Chapter ⇢

Song Companion | Live - Lightning Crashes

—Present life, year 2017—

Jimin had become silent ever since the two of us left the pub. But my mind had never been so loud as it was at the moment and it had been this way since I stepped out of that place, leaving behind the memory of his altercations with Jungkook earlier.

Questions after questions kept coming while the events and pieces of the conversation they shared back at the pub continued to replay themselves inside my head.

While Jimin kept his eyes locked on the road, his posture was tense and his grip on the wheel remained hard and tight that I could see his knuckles turning white. I could even begin to faintly hear the sound of its leather cover cracking and pulling beneath his palms. Yet I kept quiet beside him, letting my mind wander as I had my eyes looking away and out the window. I had no idea what to say to him or how to react, while at the same time, I was trying to ignore the way his tension and rage kept rolling out of him in waves as he drove us further and further away from the pub.

Between being afraid that any word I said would come out with accusations, or perhaps being called crazy if I should talk to him about my predicament or to hurt him if I admitted to him why I kept being pulled to Jungkook for some reason, I decided to give him some time and space to calm down. Hoping that maybe once he did, he would be able to talk about it and I would be able to question him.

The silence thickened as each second ticked by, until a deep sigh came out of him, breaking the stillness that had grown between us.

“I’m sorry,” he suddenly said to me. His voice was soft, and I could feel his remorse lathering every word he said that I could not help but to turn to look at him.

“Sorry? What for?”

He gave me a rueful smile as he glanced my way, briefly, before looking back on the road. “I’m sorry you had to witness that. I shouldn’t have let him rile me up the way he did.” He sighed. “I must have ruined the mood for tonight.”

I opened my mouth, ready to argue and try to make him feel better. But I held my tongue, knowing that the words might come out wrong and I would probably be pushing his guilt further instead of urging him to move on.

Shaking my head, I told him all that I could say at the moment. “It’s—whatever. It’s fine,” I said, even though there was a huge part of me that begged to understand. But must this night be filled with wondering and analysing things?

Did I really want to know the answers?

Did I really want to know what those words meant? The words Jungkook said which had brought out dizziness that silenced everything running through my head at the point of hearing it?

I may have said that it didn’t matter, but my mind betrayed me by voicing out the questions once again.

Why would he say something like that? Why did they seem to hate each other? Have they met before aside from the night I introduced them together? Or did they know each other before?

Thankfully, neither of those questions had ever slipped my mouth. It was close enough to, but his soft chuckled came out before I could speak and it was enough to silence the voices in my head. Especially when this time, the small smile he was giving me finally reached his eyes even if I could still see his remorse coming out clearer in them. “I promise. I’m not always like this,” he said. He took a hand off of the wheel and rubbed his palm over his face.

My chest tightened when I saw the distress on his face, and the words just came spilling right out of me before ie realised it.

“I know you’re not.”

His eyes grew wide at my words and his gaze came back to me before his smile returned a bit wider. And he was giving me the one smile that was familiar to my eyes, one that was honest and free. The same exact smile that had me falling in love with him in a different lifetime. With its presence, my heart clenched tight the same exact way it did the first time I fell for him. It felt stricken with longing and despair, while at the same time, it was making me feel warm inside.

“And how would you know that?” he asked me.

While there were lots of different answers that I could choose from, one of them being something which could reveal the secrets that I had been keeping away from him, I held my tongue once again. Keeping things to myself before I could ruin this moment.

But I didn’t hold back from reaching out. I rested my hand on his thigh as I whispered with a sigh, “Because I know you, Jimin.”

I felt his body growing tense under my touch for a brief moment, before he easily softened into my touch. So I carried on, telling him what I needed him to hear. Something that according to my memory was the one thing that I had failed to say to him.

“I know that you are not a violent person or anyone who has any vile intentions,” I told him, while images of Jimin confronting Jungkook at the pub blended together with the sight of him fighting Jungkook at a hospital, something that had come into my dreams more than once. “Anyone else would snap when confronted and riled up the same way it did to you. I’m not putting the blame on anyone but the situation, but you had handled it really well.”

His shoulders fell down with relief and I felt lighter, glad to be able to somewhat reassure him and change the mood after he was feeling down ever since we left. Before I could pull my hand away, Jimin placed his hand on mine and gave it a squeeze. “Thank you for believing in me.”

Laughing a little, I squeezed his hand in return and tried to lighten the mood further. “Now, I also believe that someone had promised me a good night.”

He chuckled without looking away from the road. Though his eyes glistened with a promise and hope in them. “That I did,” he hummed softly, taking my hand to his lips. He pressed a kiss on my wrist before letting me rest my palm on his thigh once again. “I’m taking you to a place that I know you would love. At least, I hope you would.”

“I trust you. As long as I’m with you, I know I’d be happy,” I told him truthfully, knowing that it was exactly how I felt whenever I was with him.

The conversation felt lighter once Jimin had gotten everything that was bothering him out of his chest.

As he continued to drive, we talked about how the whole day went—about his day in campus and his practice, about my job interview and the day I spent with his cousin—sans the part about my meeting with Taehyung since we avoided bringing up any event regarding the pub earlier once again.

The drive felt far and long. The night was getting late, yet I didn’t mind being out so late at all when he made me feel completely safe when I was with him. This trip reminded me of the night he took me out to the city park on new year’s eve, where he took me up to the hill overlooking the city. Except that I knew the destination we were heading tonight was going to be further away from the place where he first kissed me and asked me to be his girlfriend.

It seemed like a long time ago when in fact only months had passed since then. It sure felt like I had been with Jimin for a lifetime when everything just seemed right when we were together.

I kept my hand resting on his lap as he drove on, letting him brush against it once or twice as we talked during the drive. The city passed by alongside us. We had somehow passed the main roads from the city and into the highway, and he kept on driving until the city lights became few and far in between, the buildings that had filled our view out the window were replaced by trees. Then he drove out of the highway, until we were surrounded by nothing but dirt and rock and the asphalt road slowly turned into gravel pathways with scrub bushes lining up on our sides.

“Where are we?” I asked him curiously as the terrain we were passing by turned rough, joined by a few bumps over ruts and ridges as we drove away from the main road and the path started to ascend to a higher altitude.

“Someplace quiet,” he simply said, giving me a secretive smile as the mirth in his eyes grew stronger.

I should be worried or concerned to find us driving to a strange place outside of town. But I only grew curious. The excitement came over me just as the road in front of us cleared out to an opening. The car had been driving further up until we reached to a certain plateau located right at the top of the rocky hills, way higher than the place he had once taken me to look over the cityscape. Way higher than any place that we had ever gone to. As Jimin slowed the car to a halt, I looked out to see the lines of trees and the edge of the cliff opening up to a broad sky over the horizon, the blanket of city lights covering the lower ground was nothing compared to the bright night sky above and the sparkling stars that seemed to welcome our presence.

“It’s not perfect or glorious, but I know that this is the place that you would love the most. A high place, quiet, where you could watch the wide sky above and the stars painting the sky—”

Before he could finish his sentence, I turned to him, finishing his words with a grateful smile and with my heart swelling in warmth, “—an open space where I could breathe the clean, fresh air.”

He turned to look at me. The warm gaze he was giving me spoke a thousand words. The questions were still there, hanging right at the tip of my tongue, but I brushed them away.

Enjoy the moment, I remembered Taehyung said. Enjoy the present. You will find your answers there.

“You were right. You knew exactly what I’d love.”

Jimin leaned in, pressing his lips against mine. His kiss was gentle but enough to bring forth the heat in my belly to want more. But he pulled back before I could have my fill, handing me a blanket to carry.

“Come. We haven’t seen the best part of it yet.”

My eyes grew wide. “We haven’t? You mean there’s more other than you taking me to a secluded place where you could hide me and nobody would find my body?”

Jimin’s head fell back as he laughed. “That sounds tempting, though you were right about this place being secluded,” he said, teasing me with another kiss that was gentle and chaste, letting me have a quick taste with a promise for more. “It’ll be nobody here but us.”

“I bet,” I whispered against his lips. I brushed my hands on the blanket he gave me, just as he reached for another that seemed thick enough for us to lay on top of. “Don’t tell me that we’re going to camp out.”

“Close, but not quite. I remember promising you dinner too,” he teased, giving me a wink before he reached out to the backseat, pulling a whole bag of groceries onto his lap, filled with snacks, chocolate bars, two bottles of mineral water, and best of all, microwave heated mini-market bought lunchboxes. “Our fancy dinner.”

I laughed and kissed him on his cheek. “Perfect.”

This side of the mountains would probably have been scorching hot under the sunlight if Jimin had taken me here during the daytime.

Tonight, however, the sky was clear enough to show all the bright stars overhead. The air was a bit cold and windy, but not so much that it would make me wish we were cuddled up inside his warm car instead of out here in the open air.

Jimin kept a tight hold of my hand as he led me tramping around the landed bushes, jumping over and around a few rocks that we came upon on our path, before we reached the embankment that Jimin had pointed out to when we first arrived in this place. Jimin climbed ahead and pulled me up with him. There was a flat rock on the top, wide enough for us to sit and lie down on, and safe enough to set out our small picnic without being afraid of getting too close to the edge.

This far high up, I could see the plateau over the edge, a wide flat space between hills and valleys, with sparkles of lights coming from the houses and small buildings located down there. I was filled with all nerves and anticipation, the joy of being up and above was mixed together with the fear of falling. But then I looked up at Jimin, and it made me feel all better knowing that we were here together. That he would be there by my side, ready to catch me before I could ever fall down.

We straightened the blanket on top of the flat rock and laid back, looking up at the sky above.

Being there under all of those stars made me feel small and insignificant, as if everything that I had to face and deal with, all the concerns I have had, they all meant nothing. Just a small blip in the universe. A mystery to unfold but never a necessity as we continued to exist.

As if being thrust back into the past had no significant value compared to everything else in this whole universe.

Being under the wide open space overlooking a small part of the universe really brought me to look at things in a new perspective, and suddenly, everything that Taehyung had told me finally made sense.

There was no point in dwelling in the past or the future that had been supposedly written for me or what I was trying to rewrite for myself. What mattered was now, this moment. I looked to my side to find Jimin lying on his side, looking at me. While it felt like I was the only person in the world when I looked up at the sky with all of my concerns weighing me down, looking at him made me feel less lonely. We could be the only two people in the world, and I found there was no need to change any of it all.

“You have that look again,” he mused softly, holding back a smile as he kept his eyes on me.

“What look?”

The smile broke through, and his eyes were filled with mirth when he answered, “The kind of look that tells me you are overanalysing things that are happening.”

I couldn’t help but return his smile, all while holding back from leaning in and kissing his plump lips the way I wanted to. “Do I make that look a lot?”

He merely shrugged. “Sometimes. I’d usually let you because I like seeing all the expression you make.”

There was an emotional tug happening inside my chest. I had gotten used to it at this point to know that it only happened whenever he was around. Whenever I was with him.

“Didn’t know that you’ve been pretty observant,” I could only muse as he grew closer. Our shoulders touching as he leaned in.

“It’s not hard,” he said. “All I had to do was pay attention. A lot of attention. And it’s easy to do that when I’m with you.” He licked his lips when he stopped talking, looking down on mine before meeting my gaze again. “You’re the only one I want to look at the whole time.”

Everything around us was dark, but for some reason, I could still see his face, as if the moonlight and all the stars above had served like multiple spotlights to illuminate him for me. He was probably seeing my face the same way, with limited lights helping him to find me. I could feel his warm breath before I noticed just how much closer he was.

“Will I miss if I try to kiss you right now?” he jokingly whispered to me when his lips were practically brushing against mine already.

I couldn’t help the laughter that came out so easily. “It is pretty dark around here,” I told him, whispering as I tried to reach out, finding his jaw with the tip of my fingers. The night did seem to grow darker at this point. Or perhaps it didn’t feel this way before when he weaved his way through the pathway, using only the flashlight from his phone to guide us. “Should I reach for the flashlight?”

He hummed. “There is no need,” he whispered, before pressing his lips at the tip of my nose. “I can always find you, even in the dark.” Then his lips finally found mine, and I welcomed him with a sigh as I sank down against him on top of the blanket.

His mouth felt like home. His kiss was warm, enough to help me forget about all of my concerns, all of the questions that had been circling in my head. None of them mattered anymore, when he was here, he was real, his hands moving gently up and down the curves and lines on my body over my soft sweater while he slowly pulled me to him, deepening the kiss in the process.

I was breathless when he pulled away, giving me a moment to take a deep breath and control my heartbeat. My palms had somehow found their way onto his chest, pressing down on where his heartbeat was pacing to the touch and the warmth we shared.

The wind blew across the valley, passing us both to remind us about the cool night air. So he pulled another blanket around us, covering us both from the chill autumn breeze. Only to have me grounded further later as he swiftly moved on top of me, his mouth making a trail of kisses from my lips, down to my jawline, then he slowed down as he traced the column of my throat.

His hand made its way to the hem of my sweater, tugging and pulling before he pulled it up so he could touch my bare belly beneath it. While his hand kept tracing upward, finding the elastic band of my bra, his lips continued tracing downward. He laid his head on my chest for a moment, closing his eyes as he listened to my heartbeat. He looked up to me after a moment and he kept his gaze on me when he pressed his lips on my covered breasts, capturing the covered tip between his mouth, releasing it when I sighed only to move to the other.

Weaving my fingers through the strands of his hair, I arched my back, giving him more as his hand slid in and tweaked a nipple from beneath my sweater. In a flashing moment, my sweater was gone, and nothing was getting in the way for him to finally taste my skin. I cried out as his fingers and his mouth worked together, pinching and biting, tuning my whole body as if he knew just which buttons to touch, to play with, to tweak, just to thrust me into the peak of my pleasure.

It didn’t take long before he brought me there, surges of bliss rushing all over my body, centered right at my core where the pulse felt the strongest, where the heat of my body pooled together into a puddle.

His eyes found me again when he brushed away the lacy front of my bra, pushing it down so he could reach more skin. My body was moving against his, my hips rolling in circles in the same rhythm as the pulse that kept rising between my legs. With my legs spread, I pressed my center against his thigh, searching for release by brushing myself against him and I could feel his muscles tensing against me as he pressed himself back to me for a short moment before he continued to move down. My fingers had somehow found their way back through his hair, where I clutched him tight, keeping him close to me at all times even as he was crawling down on me.

His lips spoke of promises and sin, and he revels in the sounds I was making to every bit of ministration he was giving me.

I felt it through his warm breath that came trailing down my skin as he continued climbing lower, his grunts coming out softly with each kiss he gave on my skin. His fingers kept dancing down my curves, as if he wanted to engrave every inch of my skin into his mind, even all the goosebumps that came out from the mixture of his warmth and the cold air around us.

He kissed his way down along my hip bone, his hands were getting busy to unbutton my jeans, freeing me further from any restraints. I lifted my hips when he tugged the waistband lower, only so that he could push my pants away. He swiftly moved his hand between my legs, delving into my panties, until he finally found the source of my pulsing heat.

His fingers danced their way down teasingly at my mound, before he found the cleft and gently spread them open for him, letting him touch me where I needed him the most. His fingers moved around the bundle of nerves hiding between my folds, circling around it until I could hear the slickness of my arousal as he gathered every drop with the tip of his fingers. Each gentle brush he gave sent fireworks through my body, the pleasure kept on rising more and more.

I cried out when he pushed a finger against the slick opening. His thumb pressing down on my throbbing clit as he inched deeper, pushing slowly through the pulsing walls. I barely felt him pushing my jeans and panties lower, exposing me to him. Then his soft tongue licked down between my folds, tasting my essence just as he continued to work his fingers inside my walls to make me release more.

“Jimin!” I called out when he took my swelling clit between his mouth, doing it so before I felt a hint of pressure when he added a finger into my pussy, pushing in and pumping softly. He stopped when he found restraint, pulling back only to push back and reach further inside, letting my walls clench tight around his digits.

“Relax for me, baby,” he grunts against my hot cunt, placing his free hand on my belly to push my hips back down when I had been pushing myself up against his mouth, tensing my muscles at the same time.

Opening my eyes to look down, I found him looking at me with a heated gaze. Hunger and lust were mixed together with the kind of look which had my heart turning warm. I released a deep exhale and let my body relax beneath him.

“Good girl,” he whispered to me, before he came back down, planting his mouth right between my legs again and expertly finding my clit for him to devour. “Now, don’t hold back on me, love. Let go and let me taste you.”

With that, his mouth came back to my nether lips, another finger came to join the others as he worked them in and out of my pussy, sending my legs trembling around his head, my fingers tightening on his hair to hold him down. My hips moved in circles, swivelling and dancing with the same rhythm he made on me to chase the surge of pleasure that continued to rise.

He kissed, licked, bit, all the while pumping his digits continuously against the sweet spot right through the hot entrance of my cunt, and I was instantly thrust into the edge. My climax came to me like a wave of warmth slowly building from my center and flowing around my body. Enveloping me with pure pleasure that had me screaming out into the wind.

A whisper of the cold breeze came upon me just as I shuddered into his mouth, an instant reminder of where we were.

I opened my eyes just as I had his fingers locked tight inside me, my pussy clenching him tight, his mouth locking tight around my clit. As I saw the ocean of stars above our heads, a surreal moment came upon me. It felt like I was flying high, drunk in pleasure and bliss with the stars around us and the moonlight lighting us both.

The sinful thought of him pleasuring me under the wide sky above and of being exposed to the universe pushed me back into another climax, thrusting me off the precipice of my orgasm that I couldn’t even cry out for it being too much for me to handle.

With a gasping sound, I embraced the pure pleasure. Letting myself to be brought up high with his touch, feeling free and elated at the same time as my orgasm came to me in smooth spasms, humming through my body, giving me the most beautiful feeling I have ever felt in the world.

Once the spasms of my release waned down to a shiver, Jimin gathered me in his arms. His touches soothed me as he gently tugged my jeans back in place. He pressed his kisses on my skin as he pulled my sweater back down, covering me from the cold.

“Should I get you warm? Or should I take you home?” he whispered, his lips brushing on my temple before he looked down at me, his eyes glinting with his desire. The haze in my head dissipated under the one word that had me clutching his shirt tight, anchoring him to me to let me know that I was not dreaming.

Home.

Glimpses of my dreams came back to me just then, and once again, I was swamped by a flood of warmth. Hope and love filled my heart, and the answer was clear.

“Take me home.”

—Present life. Jimin’s Apartment, year 2017—

His studio apartment had always felt warm and cozy.

But this night, it felt different. The good kind of different. No matter how often I had spent my time here, sleeping here almost every night instead of back in my dorm, it never truly felt like home unless he was there with me, holding me tight to him. Because he was my home. And though this place was every bit of his, I would still need him as my anchor.

Over the past few months, I had been leaving my things behind, marking my territory in his apartment. Tonight, as we entered his home with his arms wrapped around me, his kisses distracting me from looking around us, I found that the air was filled with the scent of my perfume. It washed over me so suddenly that I broke away from the kiss only to glance around, making sure that we were actually in the right place.

“What’s wrong, baby?” he whispered huskily as he caught my jawline with his mouth simply because he couldn’t stay away.

“Nothing,” I whispered in return, pressing my palms on his chest as I looked around for a few more seconds, sighing dreamily as I caught the sight of the foot of his bed on the far corner before finally letting myself melt into him. “I just—”

I looked up to him, catching his eyes looking down at me with wonders in them. “Your room smells like me.”

Jimin chuckled. “It does. And I love it,” he whispered, giving me a soft peck on the lips before he sheepishly confessed, “Sometimes, when you’re not sleeping here, I’d spray a bit of your perfume into my pillows so it would feel like you were there. I let your perfume sticks around more than mine because I want to feel your presence here.”

I gave him a dubious look. “Oh, Jimin,” I laughed. “That sounds a tad bit creepy yet also endearing I don’t even know how to feel.”

He laughed with me, his head falling back when he did. “Yeah, I know. I’m sorry.”

I placed a palm on his cheek, urging him to look at me again before I could kiss his cheek. “I actually like the fact that I’ve marked your place not only with my things but with everything else too.”

He caught my lips in his for a brief moment. “You’re welcome to do more than marking,” he said, suddenly looking a bit hesitant to continue.

“Really?” I asked him, teasingly feigning innocence to him. “Is this your way of asking me to move in with you?”

His lips twitched but he held back his smile. “Would you?”

“Would I what?”

His grin slowly came back, even if his eyes kept glancing away with uncertainty before he finally spoke. “Move in with me.”

I felt my eyes sting. There was something about all of this that made me want to cry. Like there was something inside me that was slowly coming together. Which was why the answer came out easily. “I’d love to. My home is with you, Jimin.”

He breathed a sigh of relief, his gentle smile came back onto his face and I couldn’t stop myself from brushing my lips over his. The quick peck on his lips turned into a hungry kiss when he pressed me tightly against him and kissed me back. I felt his chest rumbling with a deep grunt just as my knees started to turn into jelly. What held me up were his arms around me, keeping me pressed to him before I could even attach my arms around him.

“Take me to bed, Jimin,” I said, breaking the kiss with a sigh.

When I pulled back to pull him into his bedroom, he groaned and refused to let me go. With his arms tightening around my waist, he carried me up, making me kick off my shoes and wrap my legs around his waist as he began to take me into the bedroom, hastily kissing my lips on the way there.

Jimin was almost breathless when he laid me down onto the bed, then climbed up to follow me after kicking his own shoes off. He didn’t wait long before capturing my lips on his again, pinning me right at the center of his bed as if he was afraid I would run away.

“Are you tired?” he asks me softly as he nipped on my jawline, giving me a moment to breathe.

“Kinda. Why?”

He sighed. “I just—you are so irresistible.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Who? Me?”

Instead of answering me, he lowered his head, kissing the side of my neck and I felt all the goosebumps forming on my skin. It was almost the same as they did when he touched me under the clear night sky. Except that it was no longer windy and I was still terribly sensitive to every touch he gave me. “I want to make love to you so bad,” he whispered, not bothering to wait until I responded when he bit down playfully on the exposed skin right above the neckline of my sweater.

He splayed his hand on my stomach, the warmth of his touch seeping through my sweater. Then his hand slipped under the hem, stroking my bare skin, sending tremors through me as he reminded me of how he touched me before.

“You already gave me so much pleasure and made me cum under the stars,” I said to him, my voice shaking and breathless as I arched against his palm.

“I certainly did—” he said, giving me a lazy grin. There was a hint of pride glowing in his eyes, no doubt reminiscing on how he brought me up to bliss right at the top of the hills, where only he and I existed.

Already, my body grew hot with need, calling him to touch me again. His delicate fingers tracing along my belly and up to my breasts felt good, but it was nothing compared to when he slid his fingers down, drifting lower until he could slide under the waistband of my jeans and under my panties so effortlessly as if he already knew every curve and every ridge of my body to find his way.

Jimin pressed his lips at my ear, nibbling gently as he pressed his fingers into my folds, spreading me open. My breath became a rush of short pants as I rocked into his touch and he began stroking me, giving me long, firm thrusts that sent electric shocks up my spine and liquified my bones almost instantly. My hips rolled against his hand and the pleasure peaked incredibly fast, as I was still too sensitive after the intense pleasure he gave me tonight, after what we had shared back on the rocks, after what he made me feel. My panties were still wet, and it was about to get even more drenched as he kept touching me with all the right ways he knew just exactly how to.

“Oh god—” I moaned while my body kept moving on its own accord, seeking release to the mounting pleasure rising inside me. “Jimin, please—”

“So sweet. You always look so pretty when you cum. When you release your climax on my fingers or my tongue,” he murmured while scraping his teeth on my skin, tasting me. “I want you so bad, _____.”

He pushed his fingers inside, pressing his thumb on my clit, and I gasped and shuddered as white pleasure came shooting through me. It came in waves, much softer than the one he gave me before, but it was still enough to send my body quaking in his arms. As I came down, I found myself lying on my back. Jimin was hovering on top of me, licking his fingers clean with a few soft moans rumbling from deep within his throat. Each sound he made rocked something inside me that I felt the urge to touch him.

So I pulled him down on me, kissing his lips hungrily before muttering softly. “Take me, Jimin.”

I kissed him again before he could say a thing, relishing on the taste of his mouth on mine. He had been giving me so much pleasure that I wanted to give it all back to him, to get him naked and vulnerable the same way he did to me on the rocks, or any other times I was with him. The idea of touching him until he would be lost in his pleasure sent shivers down my body. I remembered the beautiful look on his face that he would make when he embraced his pleasure, the wonder in his eyes and the smile that it brought him, and I wanted to see it all again.

Then he suddenly pulled back, his eyes lost in wonders already as he took me in silently. His eyes looking so dark and deep that I felt him embracing me with his gaze.

“What are you thinking?” My voice was hoarse, already deeply affected by him.

“I’m thinking—” he whispered, licking his lips as he ran his gaze down on me one last time before meeting my eyes again. “—that I’m going to take off your clothes, piece by piece.” He reached out to tuck my hair behind my ear, something that I had found to be the small gesture that he loved to do when he touched me, then trailed his fingers down my neck, feeling my pulse pacing beneath his fingertips.

“I’ll kiss you everywhere, taste every inch of your bare skin. And then I’m going to sink inside you so deep you will remember me being a part of you.” His palm rested on my cheek and he leaned in. His eyes were hooded when he looked at me, letting me see the clear desire burning in them when he whispered huskily, “And then, when you come, I’ll make you feel so good that the only thing coming out of your lips would be my name. In fact, I’ll make sure that everyone will hear you when you call my name as I make you come.”

“Jimin—”

My heart raced inside my chest. My whole body was throbbing with excitement, but there was a bit of fear between them as well. I have waited for this moment for a long time, yet the fear of making all the same mistakes, the fear of losing him, everything had always come together to send me to the borders of pain that were so intense that I had always kept holding back.

And now, as he kept telling me everything he wanted to do to me, all the sinful things he wanted to show me as he showed me what he truly felt for me, I knew then that I needed him more than ever.

Jimin lowered his mouth to my exposed neck when I couldn’t find the will to speak, sucking on my pulse, pulling me back to the present while chasing away all of my fears. I knew that I loved him. I always had. And every kiss that he gave me reminded me of that feeling, while he showed me just how much I could trust him. With every kiss he gave me, I slowly began to relax, relishing on the gentle current of pleasure that was beginning to grow stronger inside me I could no longer feel anything but.

His hands dropped to the hem of my sweater and skimmed up to my ribs. As promised, despite the filthy thoughts he placed into my head, he was gentle. Moving so slowly while never looking away, keeping his gaze on my face, on my eyes, as he continued to read through my expression to see if he was crossing the line that I was not ready to go over. That was when I knew that he would always take care of me, just like every single time we were together.

Through my memories, I knew that he had always put me first above all else. The days that I had spent with him had always shown me that he was still the same, so I trusted him for putting me first tonight as he reached up, caressing my breasts through the flimsy fabric of my bra.

His gentle touch played with my mounds until I felt a tight ache forming right at both tips, while at the same time, his kisses traced my pulse along my neck, sending heat pooling between my legs.

“I love touching you like this,” he whispered, making me moan as he slipped my bra down and his hands were on my bare breasts, stealing my breath as he pinched the nipples one at a time. With his touch, the electric currents I felt instantly picked up, rising from my breasts and down to my core.

Then he started peeling my clothes off—my sweater, my bra, making good of his words while kissing every inch of skin that was exposed to his eyes. His lips were soft against my skin when he returned after tossing my clothes away, making me sigh at the connection as he kept climbing down to my chest. But as he licked at the tip of my breast, taking a nipple into his mouth to suck, I arched into his mouth, wanting him to take more.

His hands traced down as he continued to nibble on my sensitive bud and tugged at my jeans. Through my hazy mind, I felt him pulling them off and down my legs, together with my panties, until I was finally completely bare beneath him.

He bent over me, kissing his way down, brushing his lips over my belly, lightly tracing his hot kisses until he reached to my thighs.

“Jimin—I need to touch you,” I whispered, reaching out to his shoulders to let him know just how much I needed to feel his body on mine.

He looked up to me with hooded eyes and a lazy grin. He pushed himself up and began to drag his shirt off, revealing his bare chest to me. He stepped back and climbed off of the bed so he could slide his jeans down his hips together with his briefs, and I immediately lost my train of thoughts. His cock jumped up, bumping against his belly when he straightened himself up. The sight of his length bare and twitching made my core throb. I knew he could see what he did to me when his grin returned and he stroke himself for me.

Jimin opened his eyes to the sound of my soft moan, locking his gaze on mine, giving me his devastating half-smile when he saw me reacting to the sight of him touching himself. He reached over to grab a condom from his pocket, deftly tearing the foil open and swiftly slipping it on before coming back to me.

He leaned over me, stretching his body over mine, and my mind went blank for a moment before I blinked and realised that it was truly happening. His arousal that was pressing hot against my belly became proof that this was real. That he was real.

“You have no idea how beautiful you look, lying naked under me,” he softly whispered, brushing his mouth over my cheek, my jaw, then coming back onto my lips. “Are you sure you want this? Are you sure you’re ready?”

“I want you, Jimin. I want this,” I practically begged him, whining when he pulled back and his lips left my skin.

I’ve wanted this for so long. The words rang inside my head, but I bit my lips to stop myself from saying it out loud. But he must have seen something in my eyes that was telling him just how much I meant every word I said, because I felt it when he finally let go every bit of his inhibitions, and something else grew in his gaze.

Looking deep into my eyes, Jimin made me a promise that had me almost crying. “I’ll be careful. And do things gently so I won’t hurt you.”

Blinking the tears away, I reached out to cup his face. “I’m not made of glass, Jimin.”

He smiled, looking both sad and relieved when he sighed and whispered, “I know you’re not.”

Jimin kissed me again, taking it slowly and gently this time. Then he was pressing into me, his hand reaching between us to guide himself at the center of my heat. He kept whispering my name as he slowly pushed in, spreading me apart as he slid deeper, stopping briefly to kiss my lips to distract me right before he suddenly gave a little push, filling me up entirely with his girth. It was shocking and painful and amazing at the same time that I couldn’t even make a sound. The only thing that came out of my lips was a breathless cry, and my body arched towards him instead of moving away. Soothing me from the shock, Jimin began kissing my neck, my breasts, my mouth, until I finally began to relax and the pain began to fade. I felt full and hyperaware of his existence inside. The thought of our bodies joining together made me clench around him tightly. As if my body wanted to keep him there.

“How are you doing?” he asked me, his voice sounded strained as he held very still on top of me, afraid to move and to hurt me by moving too soon.

But I was no longer hurting.

As the pulsing pain began to form into something else entirely new, something else that felt wonderful, I gave him a reassuring smile to stop him from worrying. “I’m okay. You can continue now.”

My answer made him chuckle, then he exhaled softly before beginning to shift. His hands were pressing onto the bed, then one moved to my hips to hold me as he began pulling out, pushing back inside, moving steadily slow at first before the muscles inside my walls allowed him to move more easily.

“You feel so good, ______. So fucking good around me,” he grunted, and his pace began to pick up.

With each drag of his hardness inside me, the pleasure mounted gradually. A throbbing, maddening pulse began to rise from the depth of my core, rising along with the pressure coiling around my middle, sending me breathless, my brain was muddled as it was thrust into a certain height of bliss.

As my body adjusted and I was slowly getting used to the rising rush of pleasure, my hips were lifted against him and I clutched at his back, drawing him deeper inside.

“Fucking hell, _______,” he cursed as I clenched, gritting his teeth before he increased his pace, pumping his cock in and out of me more frantically until my head spin and his body grew tight against me.

He was close, I could feel it. Just as I was coming close to my own end.

Kissing me again, Jimin tried to make it last by kissing my nipples, my neck, taking my mouth again to swallow the moans that I didn’t even realise I was making. I must have been calling for his name in the midst of crying in pleasure because I could feel him smiling into the kiss.

“You drive me fucking crazy, _____,” he whispered against my mouth while continuing to work on his hips, pounding gently into me even though his pace had grown more rapidly than it did before. “I don’t know how long I could last. You’re so tight around me.”

“I—I think I’m close. Come together with me, Jimin.”

He thrust his cock inside me again and again, every time he came back it felt better than the last when the tip of his shaft pushed through my walls until he reached so deep, right the hilt. Jimin let out a moan and rolled his hips while I continued to move mine, chasing him and chasing our release together.

He rocked inside me, going as deep as he could reach until I cried out his name. I clenched tight around his cock and he pounded straight into me, hitting all the right spots, sending me jolts of pleasure with each thrust which then became my undoing.

Sparks came shooting up from my core just as he began twitching between my clenching walls. The feeling of him quaking inside me set me on fire. The flame of my pleasure burning me deep inside before I finally plunged over the edge. My orgasm must have triggered his own to come, as the moment I cried out his name with each intense pulse of my climax, he erupted inside me and into the condom with a deep groan, a soft whimper following behind as the spasms of his release rocked him to the core.

It took a while until the waves of my climax began to come down into smaller spasms. It took his soft touches and his gentle kisses to bring me back, to help me open my eyes until I saw him. Somehow, I must have blacked out. Because he was already lying on my side, his heartbeat still rapid as I rested my head on his chest, while my own body was still humming with the remnants of my climax.

“Are you okay, baby?”

I closed my eyes, refusing to let my tear drop when the first thing he did after our first lovemaking was to make sure that I was doing alright. Sighing contently, I looked up to his face and gave him a smile.

“That was amazing,” I whispered to him, pressing my lips on his bare chest while pressing my body tightly against him, just so I could feel his warmth around me.

I felt his lips brushing against my temple. “I didn’t hurt you?” he asked me as he tilted my chin up, making me return his gaze.

“No, it felt so good.” I swallowed deeply, making sure that my voice would stay steady when I said the words that had been hanging right at the tip of my tongue ever since the moment he claimed me. “I love you, Jimin.”

He sighed deeply. “I love you too, _____,” he whispered. Then he kissed my lips, gently, before finally letting me go once he realised just how exhausted I was. “Go to sleep, _____. I’ll be here when you wake up,” he promised me, kissing my face as he bid me goodnight and started pulling the blanket to cover our bodies, still naked and entangled on his massive bed.

With my body growing lax, the exhaustion engulfed me like a tidal wave and I began to slip away into slumber with his arms around me. Too tired to even say goodnight to him, I kissed his palm when he ran his fingers through my hair. The last thing I felt was his lips pressing gently on the top of my head. I barely heard his voice, already falling into my dreamless sleep when he faintly whispered to me—

“I’ve waited for you and for this moment for a long time.”

—First life. St. Vincent’s Hospital, year 2027—

“Are you sure you will be okay with this?”

I tilted my head as I waited for his answer. Jimin merely gave me a meek smile, his eyes were drooping lazily as he returned my gaze. Funny how the situation had turned around. When only a few weeks ago, he was the one who first came into my room, asking for my permission to join me in my bed. Tonight, I was the one waiting for him to invite me in, while he was the one who needed the companion.

“I’m sure,” he whispered softly with his voice sounding low and hoarse, as if he needed everything in him just to get those words out of his lips. “In fact, I’m sure you will only make it better,” he chuckled lightly as he patted the side of the bed.

I looked away, following his dainty hand, thin and sickly pale that it almost matched the colour of his linen sheets. The sight nearly broke me down that I had to close my eyes before I could look into his eyes again. Just as our gazes met, he must have seen the hesitance building up inside me, because he slowly began to shift on the bed and scoot backwards, leaving a small space beside him just enough for me to squeeze in.

His movement was careful, doing his best to shift around under the restraint of the infusion tubes attached to his arm. Settling on his side as he waited for me to climb on top of the bed, I could hear him breathing heavily, letting me know just how much that subtle move had already drained enough of his energy.

“Come here,” he said, patting the empty side of the bed once again to beckon me close. “Don’t worry, they change the sheets every time they have a chance to.”

I gave him a light scoff, chuckling softly on his effort to make a light joke. As if I had to be reminded of the hospital’s routines when I had to endure and witness all the same thing as well. Jimin’s eyes kept forcing themselves to close, yet he was persistent, holding back from dozing off just to make sure he would see me come to bed with him. So I gave in. With a sigh, I set up the IV stand that I had dragged along with me all the way from my room to be next to his bed, before I crawled on top of it. It was a struggle to climb up, as I had to maneuver everything from locking my wheelchair in place, to pushing myself up and onto the bed. My flimsy pyjamas kept getting in the way while my stiff back made it hard for me to move easily. I was glad to have taken enough painkillers to numb down the pain, even if it was just a tad, or else I wouldn’t even be able to move at all with how strained my spine had become for the past few weeks.

“Be careful,” Jimin whispered when I let out a hiss the moment I pulled my legs up. I responded only with a smile and a soft murmur of, “I’m okay,” as I held back the pain and settled down beside him, trying not to make him too worried about me when he already had too much to deal with in his current condition. It took me a while, with careful shifts and turns, before I finally managed to lie down next to him.

As we laid on our sides, facing each other with our hands entangled together, I let myself get lost in his eyes while he kept his gaze locked on me. For a moment, everything else around us seemed to disappear, just like how it always had been whenever we held on to each other like this. Every painful moment of our battles against our demons, the illness that was eating up our souls from within, seemed so far away. His painful treatments and therapies, the forthcoming life-threatening surgery I was set to deal with within the next few weeks, all seemed irrelevant.

All the fright and pain seemed insignificant compared to his warmth and comforting touch, but I still held his hand tightly in mine, afraid that he may disappear once I let go.

Being in this hospital for a long time, everything around us had become redundant. We had somehow gotten used to the scents, the mixture of antiseptics and drugs, all the voices coming from the hallways even as we were asleep at night, and the chill temperature in our rooms that had always felt like ice picking into our skin. Even the pain that we both had to endure became a part of us, expected but never welcomed, as if they would always be there, the eerie reminders of why the both of us had ended up in this place together.

Yet everything became bearable because of Jimin. Because we had each other.

By now, the nurses and doctors no longer found it odd to find us sleeping side by side at night. A few requests had even been made to have us being roomed together to make it easier for us to be with each other, since the night trips down the hallways to each other’s rooms had started to become obstacles that were getting in the way of our recovery.

But every trip, even with its pain and exhaustion, had been worth it. Our nights together had kept us strong. They gave us both hope, something to look forward to.

Even when the days like this one would come, when either one of us would be taken away for our special ’treatments’ and ‘test runs’, before we were returned into our rooms only half of what we were before we had left.

“How was it?” I bit my lip the moment I realised that I was questioning him the one thing I knew he would be most reluctant to talk about. I knew how hard the day had been for him, because I had been there too. Despite my worries, I wasn’t sure if making him relive everything that he had gone through today would be a good idea, but sometimes talking about it helped, which was why it came almost instinctively for me to let him talk about it.

When his gaze was shadowed with disdain, I instantly regretted for even asking. Yet, he quickly smiled, chuckling lightly with his eyes closed before he answered, “It was marvellous. Astounding, joyful, completely relaxing. My whole body feels light, just like air, and now I am as strong as ever.”

The last words he said was accompanied by a bitter chuckle. When he opened his eyes again, they were glowing with unshed tears, and my chest tightened.

“It was that bad, huh?” I could feel my throat tightening, my voice cracked as I held back my tears. I hated what his treatments would do to him. Nobody should wake up early in the morning only to face an entire day of painful procedures. The only reprieve I could have about him getting through them was knowing that these procedures were the ones keeping him alive, giving him more time to fight as they tried their best to find the exact cure to free Jimin from his demons.

“I survived. There is nothing more fun than having people pricking and poking on your skin, and needles being jabbed through your tailbones,” he stopped, his lips twitching as he grimaced in defeat, as if he could still feel everything happening as he was talking about it. “At least I didn’t have to see it when they drew the blood from my be—”

I stopped him from finishing the sentence by pushing myself forward and landing a kiss on his lips. It startled him at first, before he sighed and returned them. Our dry lips meshed together into one in a delicate manner, too afraid to add any more pressure as either of us refused to hurt the other, even if we were desperate for one another.

His smile was present when I pulled back. His gaze softened as he opened his eyes, the pain and anger he felt almost gone when he looked at me. I didn’t move too far away, staying close with my hands on his chest just to feel our bond.

“I’m sorry for asking,” I told him, lowering my eyes to avoid his gaze. The next thing I felt was his chapped lips pressing on my forehead.

“It’s okay. A kiss can always make it better,” he said to me with a grin. My shoulders started to fall with relief, my fingers tracing the collar line of his pyjama top absentmindedly until I grazed his skin, and felt his prominent collarbone under the tip of my fingers.

“Don’t—” he hissed, surprising me enough that I started to pull my hand away with guilt. Except that he caught my hand before I could and kept it there. As I looked up into his eyes, I knew that he was not talking about how he didn’t want me to touch him. I didn’t understand it until he reached out to me, brushing the tear that I didn’t realise have made its presence on my face.

A sob finally escaped me, while he gave me a sad smile as he kissed my knuckles.

“Don’t,” he whispered. “Don’t feel sorry for me. Don’t feel sad for me.”

“I’m not—” I sobbed, clutching his hand that was holding mine so desperately. “It’s not that. It’s—”

He raised his eyebrows as he looked at mine, which he later kissed to make my frown go away. I relaxed against him when he kept his lips pressing there, giving me a chance to find my voice again before I could continue to speak. “I feel sorry for both of us.”

Jimin pulled me closer and let me rest my head on his shoulder. He did everything ever so gently, knowing that he would risk pulling the infusion tube that was attached to my forearm if he had tugged me too hastily.

“It will be over soon,” he whispered. I could feel his lips pressing on my thinning hair, his breath falling on my temple. He still had his hand holding mine in one, as the other was rubbing my back. The pyjama top I was wearing suddenly felt too thick on my skin. His touches felt too delicate that they were barely there.

“Soon, there will be no more of these cables, tubes, needles. No more nurses and doctors poking our bodies or running those tests on us. No more nauseating drugs and stale hospital meals. And there will be music around us instead of the sounds of the steady heart monitors we keep hearing from down the halls,” he kept whispering to me in a soothing voice. His body, his touch, his kisses, and his words started to replace the cold temperature in the room as I relaxed further in his hold.

“Soon, we will be sleeping in our comfy bed, in our own bedroom instead of these suffocating hospital rooms. And we will be able to walk and run freely with our heads held high without having to lean on the walls or being pushed on wheelchairs wherever we want to go. Soon, we will be walking out of here, our bodies strong enough, our face less pale, and our hair thickens. And I will be holding your hand as we do so.”

I kept my eyes close as I listened to him, picturing everything in my head until they all felt real. “That does sound nice. Every single one of it,” I told him with a sigh, pressing my cheeks on his chest to listen to his heartbeat. “Where should we go first after we leave here?”

“Hmmm—” his voice was soft with the familiar hum which I loved when he thought about it for a moment. “First, I will take you out on a date. I will make up for all the dates I had promised you and missed. The list is already so long, so I know we won’t be done with each and one of them in one day.”

“Obviously,” I chuckled.

“We can start light. I can take you to a fancy coffee shop. We will find the hippest one in the city, the one that youngsters love to hang out in. Because I know how much you love your panini.”

“Um,” I moan playfully, earning a deep chuckle rumbling from his chest. “Yes, I do.”

“And then we could go to the movies. No horror movies, just some of those drama flicks you like most. And then we’ll go shopping, and we could go sightseeing in the city—” he continued. I could clearly see his eyes glazing when I looked up to him, lost in wonder, and it was much better than the usual painful look they usually emitted at the end of his treatments. So I said nothing, opting to listen to his words instead and joined him in imagining us going through every part of his plan.

In our minds, we were healthy. With no restrictions in our bodies to hold us back from walking and running, and laughing together while we were at it, as we were enjoying our lives together just the way we had planned them to.

“What if we run out of places to visit just in the city alone?” I asked him. “Pretty sure we would be bored with going to the malls and the zoos after a while. I’m okay with sitting in the park during our free time and the frequent trips to the coffee shop, but what then?”

“Hmmm,” he hummed, closing his eyes. The wondrous look in his gaze returned when he opened them a little bit later. “I really want to take you to other places, of course. I would love to take you for a whole weekend down the beach.”

“The beach?”

“Yeah,” he grinned. “Wouldn’t it be nice? I mean, I love going to the mountains and all, but the beach would be a really good idea after we spend weeks inside these walls without the sun falling on our skin, don’t you think?”

“The warm sun does sound more lovely compared to this,” I answered him while snuggling closer, searching for the warmth that I could barely acquire from my pyjamas and the hospital’s blanket alone. Jimin tightened his arm around me, either knowing that I needed it and also needing to warm himself at the same time.

“We can stroll down the beach, the white sand slipping between our toes. I would chase you down as we run with the waves, probably dunk you into the water once I catch you,” he said, chuckling when I swatted his chest.

“You know I hate wearing wet clothes,” I protested with a pout, making him laugh.

“Who said we’ll be wearing full clothes on?”

I looked up at him with a frown. “What are we wearing then?”

Licking his lips, he looked down to stare at mine. “We’ll be in swimming suits, of course. You’ll be wearing the bikini you once showed me, the yellow pair you wore in your photos from college, and I’d wear a trunk that is just as revealing as yours.”

I started picturing us in the same way he described it. Before I could even stop it, I felt my smile fading, as my own insecurities blanketed me.

“What? What’s wrong?” he lifted my chin gently so that I was staring straight into his eyes. And I realised then that I was mirroring his frown. Although when his face was showing curiosity, mine was giving him something else.

“Nothing,” I whispered.

He shook his head. “Don’t lie to me.”

“I just—” I could only sigh, hating the feeling I was having, dreading the lump that was stuck in my throat. His imagination and his dream were all beautiful. But I was not. “Look at me. I look ugly. I can’t imagine myself wearing those outfits again, revealing myself to you like that. Everything about me has changed so much since I got sick. I could never return to how I was before—”

“Stop saying that. You are beautiful,” Jimin scolded me, stopping me by pressing his thumb on my quivering lips. His eyes were dark, but his voice was soft. And it only got even softer when he spoke, “I don’t care if you will look different, if the bikini won’t fit you anymore. You are beautiful.”

I lost every word that I was going to say, not having a chance to answer him when he leaned in to kiss me, drowning my thoughts and insecurities and replacing them with comfort as he pressed his lips on mine. He never stopped until I stopped crying, until I returned the kiss with my own and stopped with a content sigh. He pulled away with a gentle smile on his face, looking at me just as I mirrored his smile. The terrible, painful thoughts no longer bothered me as much as they did. Not when he was looking at me the way he did. Like I was something special.

But then I began chastising myself for being so vulnerable. This had been such a tough day for Jimin, and I was supposed to be the one comforting him by coming here. Not the other way around. Again, as if he could read my thoughts, he pulled me back to him by tilting my chin up and forcing me to look at him instead of avoiding his eyes and getting too lost in my head.

“Do you want to know what I think about when I picture myself taking you to the beach?” he asked me all so suddenly, and I nodded.

“I do want to know. What do you have in mind?”

Jimin’s lips curled into a sly grin. His glazed eyes filled with mirth as he held my hands, pressing them on his chest when he spoke,

“I want to lay you down on the sand when night comes, hold you close to my chest as we look up at the stars in the sky, the sound of waves running in the background would be the perfect music for our night together. And then I will kiss your lips—” he stopped, leaning down to give me a chaste kiss right on the corner of my lips, “—and your nose.” I laughed softly when he kissed the tip of my nose, teasingly pressing his kiss a bit longer before pulling away so he could continue.

“I will continue kissing you, down to your chin and then to your neck. I will probably lick your collarbones, finding the sensitive parts where they tickle,” he said, grinning wide when I laughed.

“You know which spots they are,” I told him, earning his wide smile in return.

“I do know,” he said. “And I will kiss them all, before I continue lower.”

I raised my eyebrows, curious to listen to his plans even more. “How much lower?”

Jimin bit his lips. His eyes slowly turned away from my face and he looked down between us.

“I will start from your breasts, although I might have to take your top off first,” he said, keeping his eyes on my chest.

A gasp came out of me and I instantly pulled my hands away from him, crossing them over my chest and looked away when my face felt hot. “But—they no longer look the way they used to, and—”

“And perfect for my small, skinny hands,” he cut me off while prying my hands away and held them close to his chest again. He lifted my face with his finger on my chin and said, “They are the softest thing in the world, ____. And I love to admire them. To touch them, to kiss them.”

And he kissed me. Right on my lips, before I ever got a chance to respond. “I remember you being sensitive there,” he whispered, keeping his forehead pressed on mine while his hand brushed gently on my covered breasts from over my pyjama top.

“I’m sensitive everywhere. Whenever you touch me,” I whispered. My heartbeat started racing as I felt his palm kneading my breast softly, moving carefully so he wouldn’t hurt me. His touch made me shudder, and I almost failed to process his words before he moved his hand to my back, pulling me closer to him, while his other hand stayed behind, pinching gently on my hardened nipple until I gasped against his lips. I could barely question how or why this conversation had suddenly led to this, and I could only guess where he was leading this to. I knew because his eyes were telling me all of his intentions as they looked at me with darkness behind their sleepy glow.

“So would you let me touch you then? Without anything getting in the way, I mean. Would you let me kiss you there?” he asked, practically begging me softly with an adorable look on his face that I just had no choice but to nod. Smiling to me to show how my response had pleased him, he leaned in, tracing my jawline with his kisses while he whispered, “I will take my time, taking one peak and lick it, bite you tenderly until I feel the tip of your breast hardening in my lips. And then I will do the same to the other—”

“Jimin—” I gasped. And my body suddenly started heating up all over, from my chest and down to my core. He pressed his lips on my neck, right where I pulsed for him, and I almost came right away just from listening to his words and feeling his gentle kiss alone.

“Are you going to push me away?” he asked me, nipping at the tender skin on my neck when he felt me shuddering against him.

“N-no—” I shifted on the bed, moving my legs and started pressing them together to tone down the intense pulse rising inside my core.

“Good, because then I can continue kissing you,” he whispered, pressing his lips on mine before he pulled me in until our chests were pressing each other. “I will kiss every part of your skin until you arch your chest, pressing your body to me. Then I will continue lower, kissing down your stomach, licking around your navel until you reach down to pull my hair. Just don’t pull me too hard, I might lose the hair that I have grown by then.”

I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. Appalled to how he could still throw a little joke in the middle of his sweet yet sinful talk. “Stop, you’re being silly.”

“You love me being silly,” he immediately responded. His lips turned to a smirk when I glanced up, making me want to kiss it away. But he had my body pressing close to his, making it hard for me to reach up. All I could reach was his neck, and that was where I let my lips rest, making him chuckle before he grunted softly when I nipped at his skin playfully in return just before he continued to whisper, “And I bet you will stop thinking that I am being silly once I reach your bikini bottom and start lowering them down your legs.”

I hid my face on the nape of his neck as I groaned desperately, the heat between my legs making its appearance once more. But I didn’t stop him.

“I will shift between your legs, never stop kissing you until I am there—licking, and sucking, and drinking every drop of your release until you scream my name.”

“Oh, Jimin,” I gasped. My body reacted before my mind could even process it. I was pressing my whole body onto him, my legs rubbing each other in desperate need to press the intense throbbing that was happening between them.

“Would you like that?” he whispered, sounding breathless when he spoke to me. His own desire was coating his words and I felt him trembling against me.

“Hmm—” I sighed, not even minding that he had one of his legs slipping between mine and I was practically grinding on his thigh. “Yeah, I would like that a lot.”

Jimin fell silent for a moment. But I could feel his eyes on me, studying my face while I had my eyes closed, embracing the warmth that was throbbing inside me, started deep within my core before it began to spread all over my body. I hummed softly as I was enjoying the warmth coming out of his body, when I focused on his thigh that was pressing down the heat between my legs. I waited until my heartbeat steadied and opened my eyes.

“Do you think I would stop there?” he asked, smiling gently as he watched me slowly falling apart.

“Oh? You won’t?”

“No, that’s just the beginning, my love,” he shook his head, pressing his thigh harder onto my heat. The pressure hit right where I needed him and I instantly started grinding against it while his words came flowing as if he was guiding me into making love to his body. And I complied with my eyes closed, my body dancing through his words, my hips kept swivelling with the same rhythm of his heartbeat under my palms.

“Once you come down from your climax, I will lift your legs, open them apart so I can move between them. I’ll keep touching your skin and kissing all over your body while I crawl on top of you. I won’t stop kissing you, and I will only look into your eyes when I make love to you under the stars and the moonlight. The sky and the universe as our witness. You will keep your eyes on the night sky, at the bright stars lighting us from above when I am deep inside you, filling you up until all you could see is more stars. I will bring you pleasure, the kind that you had never felt before, until your body explodes to another climax while you are in my hands.”

And that was it.

His words pushed me right into the edge, my hips moving voluntarily as I pictured him making love to me, his hands strumming my whole body the way his words did it to me. With each throb of need, I pressed my hips down, pressing myself harder onto his thigh while my hips rubbed against his covered hard-on. We moved together as I continued to swivel, rolling my hips against his body, thrusting my pulsing heat against his thigh, chasing my end. His voice started fading out when my whole body shuddered, the rush of pleasure came climbing up steadily until it reached to the peak, and I came apart with his arms around me. I kept whimpering his name, gasping for breath in between as the electric waves of bliss came coursing through my body. He never let go of me as he kept whispering to me sweet nothings, kissing my face gently until I was coming down from my high and I started to calm down.

“That was—” I gasped, when a few small spasms of my orgasm ran through me with his hands rubbing on my back. I gave him a smile which he returned with his own. “All of it, it all sounded beautiful.” I licked my lips, and let out a soft chuckle. “And completely unsanitary.”

Jimin laughed, sounding delighted and relieved. And then he kissed me, as gentle as he possibly could, yet still deep and intense. It felt like giving me my release had him letting go of his own apprehension. I was beginning to dread the fact that he had pleasured me while I failed to help him reach his end, until I felt his soaked pants and saw the dark stain forming between his legs that had proven otherwise. I was breathing a sigh of relief when he tilted my face up again.

“Will you do it with me one day? Run away to a place where we could be alone, together, just the two of us? Make love to me under the stars?” he asked me while looking deep into my eyes.

“I’ll go anywhere with you,” I answered him without ever looking away so he could see that I meant what I said. “You know that I’ll be happy as long as I’m with you, Jimin.”

Jimin’s eyes widened for a brief moment. I could see through them glints of happiness, hope, and joy, before they all disappeared in a blink and he was breaking down in front of me again. He pulled me into a deep hug, just when I felt myself breaking down with him. Neither of us could allow ourselves to pull away, to see the unspoken truth that lingered between us, that was shown through our eyes when they finally met each other again.

And then, as he gently pressed his lips on the top of my head, I felt him smiling through his tears.

“Everything will be okay,” he whispered. It was never clear whether he was trying to convince himself or to calm me down, but I took it all in, allowing the hope that was coating his sentence to reside in my chest.

“We’re going to be okay,” I said then, as I kept breaking down silently with tears.

“Yes, we are.” He kissed my forehead, repeating the words over and over again until his voice started to sound heavy with sleep. A sign that his medicine had finally taken effect on him. That our little tryst was enough to make him feel a bit more relaxed than he was before.

“Go to sleep, Jimin,” I told him as I wrapped my arms around him, feeling myself being dragged into the darkest of night at the same time, when my own body started to give in to sleep. I was halfway into my dreams when I heard his voice speaking softly to me,

“Thank you, ______. Good night.”

That night, I dreamt of us making love under the stars.

The ground and the plateau around us became nothing else but a blanket of darkness, overshadowed by the bright night sky above. Nothing else mattered but us, together, joined as one. Everything else became insignificant when all I could see, and feel, was him. And I could never look away from him as he made love to me, making me whole again while he brought me pleasure. Nothing else could make me look away, for he was the most beautiful star in my eyes, and he was the only one who could mend every piece of my broken soul until I was completed once again.

—  © 2020 Yoonia, all rights reserved. reposting/modifying of any kind is not allowed. translations are not allowed.

[protectoroffaeries]

7, 25!

7. three songs you didn't expect to like but eventually loved

Wuthering Heights - Kate Bush 

First few times I heard it, I did not like Wuthering Heights at all, Kate Bush is definitely doing some unusual stuff vocally here. But this was my top song this year according to Spotify. 😂

I Miss Having Sex But At Least I Don't Want To Die Anymore - Waterparks

Started listening to this because it was a big Tiktok song, then I liked it ironically, now I really like it unironically.

MEGALOVANIA - Toby Fox

I am not a big fan of vocalless music generally, and I also turn the music down when playing video games. In fact I only know this song because I watched my sister beat Sans. But I really like it! (Still kept the music down for my own Undertale playthrough, though.)

25. three favorite songs of 2017

That's What I Like - Bruno Mars

I love this song. I would've guessed it was older than it is before I was looking for songs to answer this question. 

Nancy Mulligan - Ed Sheeran

Look, I think this whole album (÷) is good.  

Something Just Like This - The Chainsmokers and Coldplay

My sophomore roommate said that only straight people listen to The Chainsmokers, and I still haven't recovered from the heat of that roast. Still think it's a good song even if it makes people erroneously think I am heterosexual. 

[aktiophis]

Get to know me

tagged by @jbird-the-manwich

name/nickname: Adam

gender: Male

star sign: Aries

height: Around 5′8″? I think

time: 2:19pm

birthday: April

favourite bands: I don’t really listen to many bands as it turns out. Apart from Florence and the Machine and Fleetwood Mac which aren’t exactly unique choices, apparently according to Spotify it’s The Pretenders, The Oh Hellos, and The Crane Wives

favourite solo artists: lol idk Kate Bush? Is she still alive?

song stuck in my head: “Don’t Get Me Wrong” by the pretenders bc I just had to check what artists I listen to

last movie: The New Borat Movie like before Christmas.

last show: CAOS season 4. I am so, so glad that train-wreck is done but I had to finish it out of principle. JFC that season was terrible.

when did I create this blog: 2015/16? maybe?

what I post: not very much, shitposts mainly

last thing I googled: "metres to feet and inches”

other blogs: apocrvpha is where i dump the non useless shit, and also whatever random crap i think i might want to look at again, for some reason

following: too many but they’re mostly dead

followers: 800 ish I think

average hours of sleep: 8-10 hours

lucky number: 7

instruments: I went to Piano lessons until I was 17

what I am wearing: a hoodie and pyjama bottoms bc I have no intention of leaving the house

dream job: rich widower

dream trip: right now? I just want to visit tradwells tbh, seems like a vibe

favourite food: 

nationality: Irish

favourite song: rn there’s this cover of 99 Luftballons by Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox that I sort of like lol

last book I read: Rn I’m finally reading Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, before that, I’m gonna hedge my bets and say something about occultism probably. maybe a book on John Dee

top 3 fictional universes I would like to live in: The Magicians tv show seems doable, can’t really think of much else tbh. and even then like the world ends at least once a season so that’s iffy.

tagging @ivycrownedwitch and @toverijenspokerij, genuinely not a clue who has or hasn’t been tagged already lol

[dr-gene-ray]

I’m bored so here’s a quiz with a bunch of sensitive personal information I’m giving up willingly. The ABC's of mreeeeee

• a - age: 28

• b - birthplace: Princeton, NJ

• c - current time: 11:17pm

• d - drink you had last: strawberry flavored sparkling water

• e - easiest person to talk to: probably evan or kato

• f - favorite song: according to spotify stats, Moving by Kate Bush. Other candidates are Awaken by Yes or Denki by Mishio Ogawa I guess. This is an impossible question

• g - grossest memory: my dad’s cold cum rolled down my arm once cause I pulled a condom out of a trash can at the ripe young age of 6-8

• h - horror yes or no: of course

• i - in love? Nah

• j - jealous of people? Used to be, sometimes it can happen. Not in a sex or attention way, that’s all fine with me. Do whatever. Just in a please don’t abandon me abruptly way

• k - killed someone? I bet I’m indirectly responsible for at least one murder

• l - love at first sight or should i walk past again? When you know you know. Some are lucky enough to know right away

• m - middle name: starts with a K

• n - number of siblings: two older brothers, one older sister

• o - one wish: this scares me I don’t like it

• p - person i called last: my mom

• q - question you’re always asked: “who let you in here?”

• r - reason to smile: when someone tells me they like my art

• s - song you last sang: hidden place by Bjork. Oh and I was just humming the super mario 2 theme

• t - time you woke up: 7:59AM

• u - underwear color: I just got out of the shower so none. Black earlier tho

• v - vacation: I usually use all my time off to visit my parents. I’ve never left the country

• w - worst habit: phone scrolling, snacking too hard sometimes

• x - xrays: left arm, right leg, mouth

• y - your favorite food: Doro Wot or some kinda Thai curry

• z - zodiac sign: sun/merc/venus in gemini, moon in leo, libra rising

Tagging no one

[newstfionline]

Friday, November 6, 2020

Biden sees path to 270; Trump attacks election integrity (AP) With his pathway to re-election appearing to shrink, President Trump on Thursday advanced unsupported accusations of voter fraud to falsely argue that his rival was trying to seize power. “This is a case when they are trying to steal an election, they are trying to rig an election,” Trump said from the podium of the White House briefing room. The president’s remarks deepened a sense of anxiety in the U.S. as Americans enter their third full day after the election without knowing who would serve as president for the next four years. Neither candidate has reached the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House. But Biden eclipsed Trump in Wisconsin and Michigan, two crucial Midwestern battleground states, and was inching closer to overtaking the president in Pennsylvania and Georgia, where votes were still be counted. It was unclear when a national winner would be determined after a long, bitter campaign dominated by the coronavirus and its effects on Americans and the national economy.

Win or Lose, Trump Will Remain a Powerful and Disruptive Force (NYT) If President Trump loses his bid for re-election, as looked increasingly likely on Wednesday, it would be the first defeat of an incumbent president in 28 years. But one thing seemed certain: Win or lose, he will not go quietly away. At the very least, he has 76 days left in office to use his power as he sees fit and to seek revenge on some of his perceived adversaries. Angry at a defeat, he may fire or sideline a variety of senior officials who failed to carry out his wishes as he saw it. And if he is forced to vacate the White House on Jan. 20, Mr. Trump is likely to prove more resilient than expected and almost surely will remain a powerful and disruptive force in American life. He received at least 68 million votes, or five million more than he did in 2016, and commanded about 48 percent of the popular vote, meaning he retained the support of nearly half of the public despite four years of scandal, setbacks, impeachment and the brutal coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 233,000 Americans. That gives him a power base to play a role that other defeated one-term presidents like Jimmy Carter and George Bush have not played. Even if his own days as a candidate are over, his 88-million-strong Twitter following gives him a bullhorn to be an influential voice on the right.

‘The whole world waits’ with unease as drawn-out, contested election batters America’s global image (Washington Post) As the world reckoned with another day of uncertainty over the result of the U.S. presidential election, Trump’s premature victory claim, unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud and the threat of legal challenges continued to overshadow the drawn-out vote count, from which no clear winner has emerged. The indecision was met with deep unease around the globe over what lies ahead for the U.S. political process—and more than a little glee from America’s traditional adversaries. In Canada, lawmakers have been relatively silent on the aftermath of the vote, but election coverage continued to dominate the country’s largest newspapers, to the point that they nearly resembled U.S. dailies. The Toronto Star described a “nagging, palpable sense of dread” that no matter who prevails, Canada has never felt “so far apart” from its southern neighbor. “America has represented optimism, looking forward and ideas,” said Tatsuhiko Yoshizaki, chief economist at the Sojitz Research Institute in Tokyo. “And yet, over the past four years, we have come to see the dark side in the United States.” The same sentiment was echoed in Europe on Thursday, where Germany’s left-leaning Der Spiegel newsweekly compared Trump to a “late Roman emperor” who has “set a historic standard for voter contempt.” In Britain, some commentators responded with disgust—with the left-leaning Daily Mirror calling Trump “a liar and a cheat until the bitter end”—while other papers turned to humor, especially over the slow pace of the vote count. The front page of the Metro newspaper read: “Make America Wait Again.” In China, a number of publications used the election to highlight shortcomings of the American system. Still, China’s vice foreign minister, Le Yucheng, voiced hopes on Thursday about repairing bilateral relations after the election. “I hope the new U.S. administration will meet China halfway,” he said, according to CNBC.

US sets record for cases amid election battle (AP) New confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the U.S. have climbed to an all-time high of more than 86,000 per day on average, in a glimpse of the worsening crisis that lies ahead for the winner of the presidential election. Cases and hospitalizations are setting records all around the country just as the holidays and winter approach, demonstrating the challenge that either President Donald Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden will face in the coming months. The total U.S. death toll is already more than 232,000, and total confirmed U.S. cases have surpassed 9 million. Those are the highest totals in the world, and new infections are increasing in nearly every state.

Riot declared in Portland as protesters smash windows (AP) A riot was declared in Portland, Oregon, and protesters took to the streets in Seattle on Wednesday as people demanded that every vote in Tuesday’s election be counted. Hundreds were protesting in both cities against President Donald Trump’s court challenges to stop the vote count in battleground states. The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office at about 7 p.m. declared a riot after protesters were seen smashing windows at businesses. In the interest of public safety, Gov. Kate Brown activated the use of the state National Guard to help local law enforcement manage the unrest, according to the sheriff’s office. Portland has been roiled by five months of near-nightly racial injustice protests since the police killing of George Floyd.

Tired of blue state life, rural Oregon voters eye new border (AFP) As a hotly contested election highlights the United States’s deep divisions, rural voters in liberal blue-state Oregon have approved a radical solution—splitting off to join neighboring deep-red conservative Idaho. Two conservative counties voted in favor of a non-binding measure to “Move Oregon’s Borders” during Tuesday’s polls, which also saw their northwestern US state predictably vote for Joe Biden in the race for president. “In the United States, the differences between liberal and conservative... there’s hatred there,” said chief petitioner Mike McCarter, of the votes in Union and Jefferson counties. “Populated urban areas are controlling the mass of everybody,” the 73-year-old retired gun club manager told AFP. Oregon—whose politics are dominated by the liberal city of Portland—has not voted Republican in a presidential contest since 1984, while landlocked Idaho to the east last chose a Democrat in 1964. But the high desert and mountainous swathes of eastern Oregon—where resource-intensive industries such as timber, ranching and mining prevail—are far more conservative than the environment-minded coastal stretches of the state. McCarthy said his movement’s goals rings true for outnumbered rural conservatives across a nation in which most states apportion their electoral college votes—to choose the president—on an all-or-nothing basis. “It’s a definite clash between blue and red,” he said. “Indiana and Illinois have got the same issue because Chicago controls all Illinois. In New York (state), New York City controls all New York. There’s a constant rub going back-and forth on life values between urban and rural.”

Eta brings heavy rains, deadly mudslides to Honduras (AP) Eta moved into Honduras on Wednesday as a weakened tropical depression but still bringing the heavy rains that have drenched and caused deadly landslides in the country’s east and in northern Nicaragua. The storm no longer carried the winds of the Category 4 hurricane that battered Nicaragua’s coast Tuesday, but it was moving so slowly and dumping so much rain that much of Central America was on high alert. Eta had sustained winds of 35 mph (55 kph) and was moving west-northwest at 7 mph (11 kph) Wednesday night. It was 115 miles (185 kilometers) south-southeast of La Ceiba. The long-term forecast shows Eta taking a turn over Central America and then reforming as a tropical storm in the Caribbean—possibly reaching Cuba on Sunday and southern Florida on Monday.

Arce’s opponents go on strike in Bolivia (Foreign Policy) Conservative opponents of Bolivian President-elect Luis Arce will begin a two-day strike today in the department of Santa Cruz, home to Bolivia’s largest city, in order to voice their opposition to the results of October’s presidential election. Governor Ruben Costas has asked Bolivia’s electoral tribunal to audit the result, but the tribunal rejected the request, citing the election’s certification by outside groups such as the Organization of American States (OAS). Arce is set to be inaugurated as president on Sunday.

Pix (Rest of World) Brazil’s Central Bank will launch a national instant payment system called Pix, which will be free to use by its citizens and mandatory for major banks to implement. It’s required for the 34 banks with 500,000 clients or more to roll out, and that group serves 90 percent of the 175.4 million Brazilians with bank accounts. As a result, this change could revolutionize digital payments in the country. Right now, fast money transfers cost 10 Brazilian reais in fees, or about $2. Pix will be effectively free for consumers: the Central Bank charges banks 1 Brazilian centavo, or $0.0018, for every 10 transactions. The five largest banks in Brazil make $440 million a year from same-day money transfer fees. The free price point of Pix will likely undercut their offerings.

In Spain, coronavirus puts the poor at the back of the line MADRID (AP)—Erika Oliva spends at least three hours a week standing in line at a soup kitchen. She spends a couple more at the social worker’s office with her 8-year-old son, who has autism. She waits on the phone to the health center or when she wants to check if her application for a basic income program will get her the promised 1,015 euros ($1,188). So far, it hasn’t. “They are always asking for more papers but we still haven’t seen a euro. Everything seems to be closed because of the pandemic. Or you are told to go online,” said Oliva. She managed to apply online, but others in her situation don’t know how to use a computer or simply don’t have one. “Poor people queue. It’s what we know how to do best,” Oliva said. Lower income families around the world have often suffered most from the pandemic for several reasons: their jobs might expose them more to the virus and their savings are typically lower. In Spain, their situation has been worse than in much of Europe due to the big role of hard-hit industries like tourism and weaker social welfare benefits. “The pandemic is extending and intensifying poverty in a country that already had serious inequality problems,” said Carlos Susías, president of the European Anti-Poverty Network, which encompasses dozens of non-profits. He says insufficient welfare spending, too much red tape, lack of access to technology and a resurgence of the pandemic are likely to widen what is already one of the developed world’s biggest gaps between rich and poor.

Pope Francis: A Day Without Prayer Is ‘Bothersome,’ ‘Tedious’ (Breitbart) Pope Francis insisted Wednesday on the centrality of prayer in a Christian’s life, declaring that prayer has a way of turning all things to good. Prayer “possesses primacy: it is the first desire of the day, something that is practised at dawn, before the world awakens,” the pope proposed in his weekly general audience in the Vatican. “It restores a soul to that which otherwise would be without breath.” “A day lived without prayer risks being transformed into a bothersome or tedious experience” where “all that happens to us could turn into a badly endured and blind fate.” Through prayer, the many occurrences of every day—both good and bad—take on new meaning, the pontiff suggested. “Prayer is primarily listening and encountering God,” he said. “The problems of everyday life, then, do not become obstacles, but appeals from God Himself to listen to and encounter those who are in front of us.” “Consistent prayer produces progressive transformation, makes us strong in times of tribulation, gives us the grace to be supported by Him who loves us and always protects us,” he said.

Greece orders nationwide lockdown to curb COVID surge (Reuters) Greece ordered a nationwide lockdown on Thursday for three weeks to help contain a resurgence of COVID-19 cases. Under the new countrywide restrictions to take effect from Saturday, retail businesses will be shut with the exception of supermarkets and pharmacies. Civilians will need a time-slot permit to venture outdoors. Primary schools will stay open, but high schools will shut.

Debt trap? (Nikkei Asian Review) China has lent large amounts of money to many developing countries, and critics contend—though China disputes—that this is in pursuit of “debt-trap diplomacy,” where a powerful country offers money to a less powerful one, and when the less powerful one defaults, the powerful country will take important resources like ports, natural resources, or infrastructure. China’s loans typically have interest rates of 3 percent or more, compared to International Monetary Fund and World Bank loans where the interest is about 1 percent. Critics point to the China-Sri Lanka relationship—where Sri Lanka signed a 99-year lease on the port of Hambantota in 2017—as a key example, and there are others. Regardless of the broader motivations, lots of African nations are in the hole to China, and the pandemic has exacerbated default risks. Zambia—home to voluminous copper reserves—is a particularly interesting case, as the country owes $12 billion in total, of which $3.4 billion, or 29 percent of its external debt, is to China, up 8 percentage points from four years ago.

China blocks travellers from virus-hit Britain, Belgium, Philippines (Reuters) Mainland China has barred entry to non-Chinese visitors from Britain, Belgium and the Philippines and demanded travellers from the United States, France and Germany present results of additional health tests, as coronavirus cases rise around the world. China has temporarily suspended entry of non-Chinese nationals travelling from the United Kingdom even if they hold valid visas and residence permits, the Chinese embassy in Britain said, in some of the most stringent border restrictions imposed by any country in response to the pandemic. Starting Nov. 6, all passengers from the United States, France, Germany and Thailand bound for mainland China must take both a nucleic acid test and a blood test for antibodies against the coronavirus. The tests must be done no more than 48 hours before boarding.

Japan’s expensive oranges (CNN) How many mandarin oranges can you buy with one million yen—or roughly $9,600? For one fruit-loving buyer at an auction this week in Japan, the answer is just 100. A single, 20-kilogram crate of 100 Japanese mandarins (also called mikan) hit the auction block on Thursday at Tokyo’s central wholesale Ota Market. It was the year’s first auction of satsuma mandarin oranges, a famous citrus species from Ehime prefecture, on the island of Shikoku in southern Japan. Nishiuwa is one of Ehime’s mikan-producing regions and its semi-seedless citrus species of oranges is known for its good balance of rich and sweet flavors, its easy-to-peel thin skin as well as its melt-in-the-mouth texture. It wasn’t the first time the sweet mandarins fetched such a staggering price in an auction—the highest bidding price last year was also in the million range.

West Bank village razed (Foreign Policy) Israeli forces have demolished a Palestinian village in the West Bank, leaving 73 people homeless, in what the United Nations reported as the largest demolition operation in years. The demolition brings to 689 the number of structures demolished across the West Bank, the highest number since 2016. The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem said the mass demolition was likely an opportunistic move by the Israeli government while the eyes of the world were focused on the U.S. election.

[sharpnothashtag]

The Good Ship CrushWay, Chapter 30

Author’s Note: I needed some time away from that last story.  Call it a mid-season break, if you’ll allow it.  Now, for something I’ve wanted to do for literal years. (Yes, the stardate is going to be inaccurate because as much as I want to care about it, I don’t.  Two years have passed since chapter 1; six months have passed since chapter 29.  That’s all you need to know.)

Seven is walking through the corridors, nodding at doctors who smile at her.

Seven: Personal log, stardate 97770.33.  Admiral Paris has called myself, Captain Janeway, B’Elanna Torres, Tom Paris, the Doctor, and a few people I have not yet met to an early morning meeting.  It is rather inconvenient timing, as I was beginning to incorporate a new aspect to the filing system that would improve its efficiency.  Now, until I am permitted to return to my duties, the system will remain in its current state of disarray.  

Seven walks up to a door.  She rings the chime. 

KJ: Come! Seven: (enters, it’s a conference room.  KJ is seated near the head of the table. Seven nods in acknowledgement.) Captain. KJ: Good morning, Seven.   Seven: How was your sleep? KJ: Beverly woke me up snoring.  (drowning her yawns in coffee.  ...) Since when do you care? Seven: The Doctor and I have been talking about little talk.  It seems an inefficient way of communication, but the Doctor tells me it is seen as polite. KJ: It’s called “small talk,” Seven.  And I am perfectly fine to sit in silence--my restless night has left me rather cantankerous this morning.  (Seven nods in acknowledgement.  They have one more moment of silence before Tom and B’Elanna enter.  They see the way the Captain is chugging her coffee and decide not to comment.  They have a seat as well.  AP enters, smiling warmly.)

AP: Good morning, all.  Tom, would you mind bringing the Doctor up on this panel so we can begin? Tom: Yes, sir.  Will there be anyone else joining us, sir? AP: Yes, but I need to brief you all on your mission first. Tom: Understood, sir.  (He goes to the panel, presses a few buttons, and the EMH appears.) EMH: Good morning, Lieutenant Paris.   Tom: Good morning, Doctor. AP: Good morning, all.  I’m so glad to see you all again.  You all know I don’t like to beat around the bush, and there isn’t much time before you need to leave.  I’ll be brief.  We’ve managed to narrow down the location of the Voyager crew to a section of M class planets toward the border of the Delta and Alpha Quadrants.  We’ve not been able to communicate, but the homing signal they sent finally reached us.  According to his report, there were several minor injuries, but the planet they landed on had a benevolent species that took pity on them and helped them get to a stable position.  They, as far as I know, are waiting to be rescued, as the escape pods were very badly damaged in the landing.  We’re giving you a ship to bring back your crew. (brings up an image.  smiling)  Friends, this is the USS Ohana. KJ: (smiling) Family.  Family means no one gets left behind. AP: She’s intrepid class, just like Voyager.  She should have more than enough space to get all of you back in one piece. KJ: She’s beautiful.  When do we leave? AP: Well, as soon as your new crew members get here. Seven: New crew members? AP: Yes.  First, (pulling up a headshot) your head of security and first officer, Lieutenant Commander Tasha Yar.   KJ: Yes, she can cover that and tactical until we get to Tuvok.  That still leaves Ops, assuming that Tom will be covering the helm. AP: Your new Ops officer, Ensign Ro Laren (headshot).  I will warn you, Captain.  Both women are extremely opinionated and headstrong. KJ: Outspoken, are they?  They’ll fit it well.  (as if on cue, the doorbell chimes.) AP: Come! (Tasha and Ro enter.) KJ: (to Tasha) Commander Yar, yes? Tasha: Lieutenant Commander, but yes.  Tasha Yar.   AP: Report to cargo bay 4 in 2 hours.  Dismissed.  Tasha: (to KJ) Good to meet you, sir. KJ: Just “Captain” is fine.  I’ll be calling you “Number One.” (They all walk toward the Turbolift together.)

Tasha: I am honored.  Captain Picard used to call Commander Riker that. KJ: You served aboard the Enterprise? Tasha: Yes, many years ago.  I left for another position on a smaller ship that had the opportunity of advancement; Captain Picard gave me his blessing, as he and Captain Anton Farley were in the academy together. (smirking) He said I could learn a good deal from him. KJ: It’s a long story, but I became “Number One” after Commander Riker left for his position aboard The Excalibur. Ensign Ro, is it? Ro: Yes, Captain.  Thank you for using my proper name. KJ: No need to thank me for common decency. Commander Chakotay taught me well.   B’Elanna: Speaking of Chakotay, where is he? Seven: He is on an extended spirit quest.  He left messages with Starfleet Command that he would be back in a few months.  Admiral Paris felt it best to respect his religious practices and appoint you instead, Commander Yar. Ro: Now, Chakotay, why do I know that name? B’Elanna: It’s been a long time, but he and I fought with the Maquis against the Cardassians. Ro: But you aren’t Bajoran. B’Elanna: But Starfleet sure as hell didn’t give a damn.  We knew what needed to be done, and so we went to help, no matter what that meant. 

(Tasha and Ro share a look.  They’re uncomfortable and that is clear.  They certainly aren’t going to acknowledge what’s bothering them here. The turbolift comes and we are back with KJ and Bev.)

Bev: You’re going to call me every day at lunch, right? KJ: Of course.  I looked at the coordinates briefly--it doesn’t seem like it will be that long of a trip as far as navigation goes.  The species Tuvok has befriended seems docile and willing to learn from us according to his report.  I’d say I’ll be back in a month. Bev: Every day, Kate. KJ: 1200 hours.  We’ll keep up.  And when I get back, you’ll get to meet my crew. Bev: When you get back, can we tell your mom about us? KJ: (stopping dead in her tracks) Tell my mom? Bev: I don’t have parents to tell that I’m happy.  My closest friends and family already know you, especially since Wesley finally came to see me and you met him.  It’s time for your mom to know. KJ: I know it’s time.  I’m just worried that if we tell her, she’s going to fall apart.  It’s only been 6 months since Phoebe died. Bev: Her daughter is happy.  How could she “fall apart” over that? KJ: I don’t know.  I guess I’m just scared.   Bev: We’ll make a trip to see her and tell her in person.  It’ll be fun!  Plus I’ll finally get to meet Molly and Rocco.  I’ve been excited about that for a long time. KJ: Molly and Rocco will love you, and so will my mom after knowing that you’re my girlfriend.  (leaning in to kiss her) Just like I love you now.  (in each other’s arms) You’re the most loving, loyal, positive, funny, and sarcastic person I’ve ever known.  I love you. Bev: I love you, too.   KJ: I need to go. Bev: Do you have to? (starting to go in for another kiss)  KJ: I might have 15 minutes or so...(going in for a kiss on the neck) Bev: Good.  That’s just enough time.

Tasha is packing.  Ro enters.

Ro: Tasha, are we not going to talk about this? Tasha: There’s nothing left to talk about. Ro: Yes, there is.  We’re going to rescue some former Maquis. Tasha: Former Maquis who then became Starfleet officers. Ro: (sitting down on the bed) Tash, I need a friend right now. Tasha: A Maquis wanting to befriend a Starfleet officer? Ro: Will you just shut UP about that?!  (Tasha takes a deep breath and sits down next to her.) I defected to the Maquis, yes.  That’s only because I saw my people suffering.  I saw myself as a little girl again.  I couldn’t watch other people watch their fathers die like I did.  I just couldn’t.   Tasha: Listen...I’m sorry.  I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.  I was hurting for a long time.  You and I were really happy, and then you defected.  It felt personal. Ro: You know it’s not. Tasha: I saw the way you were looking at that Kira Nerys.  Don’t tell me that had nothing to do with it. Ro: That’s just it!  Kira had nothing to do with it. Tasha: Bullshit. Ro: Ok.  But not in the way you’re thinking.  She understood my passion for Bajor.  She knew that Starfleet couldn’t help me with that. Tasha: And that’s where the problem really is--you think that I didn’t understand, or that I couldn’t.  I grew up outrunning rape gangs, Ro.  I know what it’s like to have an unsafe, miserable childhood. Ro: But you don’t know what it is to have someone else understand that and be able to help you through that.  Be able to give you something to do about it. Tasha: ...I thought I did.  I really thought I did. (Tasha gets up from the bed and starts to finish up her packing.) Ro: Tasha. Tasha: Dismissed, Ensign.  (Ro sighs.  She looks at Tasha longingly one more time.  She leaves.)

Seven is in the Medical facility.�� It’s clear she’s stressed out. Erin: Annika, just let me take care of that while you’re away. Seven: My name is not Annika any longer. Erin: What should your designation be, then? Seven: Seven of Nine is more than appropriate, even if it is a bit vague. Erin: Seven, please.  Just let me take care of the records while you’re gone. Seven: You won’t know what to do. Erin: Yes, I will. Seven: (stops what she’s doing) Show me. (Erin does the same sequence of events Seven has been doing.) You have forgotten to capitalize Biquv’s name under “assigned counselor.” Erin: But is the rest of it up to your standards? Seven: It is...passable.  Thank you, Erin. Erin: You’re welcome. (Seven starts to walk away.) I was wanting to talk to you. Seven: (Stops, turns on her heels.  slightly annoyed.) Proceed. Erin: We didn’t get the time to be mother and daughter.  When you return, could we start getting to know each other? Seven: When I return, I will have many things to do.   Erin: But you have to eat.  We could at least eat together. Seven: (taking a deep breath) We will attempt conversation once a week. Erin: Five times. Seven: Three. Erin: Sold.  Now hurry--your mission can’t wait.

[migleefulmoments]

"I was trying to think of an example of a couple who hate each other and still film hots scenes." On One Tree Hill, Sophia Bush had to act with Chad Michael Murray for several years after their divorce. Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic played in love on Castle but in reality couldn't stand each other.

YES- Chad and Sophia.  I didn’t know that about Nathan and Stana- I looked it up. Sounds like maybe nobody liked Nathan if this is to be believed (X).

I Googled “TV couples who. can’t stand each other” and look who came up as #1

1. Mark Salling and Naya Rivera, Glee

Noah Puckerman and Santana Lopez on Glee | AMC

Puck and Santana were hardly the romantic focal point of Glee, but their love-hate relationship certainly heightened the dramatic tension on the series from time to time. The same can be said of the actors who played the football player and cheerleader, Mark Salling and Naya Rivera.

The two reportedly got involved during Glee‘s first season — and the relationship didn’t exactly end amicably. After Salling began seeing other women, Rivera allegedly worked through her jealousy by keying and egging his car. Time definitely didn’t heal the wounds between the two, either. Salling was arrested in 2015 on child pornography charges, and in Rivera’s 2016 memoir she made a point to let the world know she wasn’t surprised at his abhorrent behavior.

3. Chad Michael Murray and Sophia Bush, One Tree Hill

Chad Michael Murray and Sophia Bush on One Tree Hill | The WB

Sometimes, when there’s a spark between two characters on-screen, that’s because there’s also something going on between the actors in real life. For One Tree Hill‘s Chad Michael Murray and Sophia Bush, that was the case — at least for a while.

While their characters, Lucas and Brooke, were navigating the rocky waters of young love, the actors also formed a bond. They dated for just five months before marrying in 2005, but the relationship quickly fell apart. In 2006, Bush filed for an annulment, which was denied, and the two later divorced.

After that, they were considerably more icy toward one another on set. While no specific reason has ever been given for their split, Bush later said that the two had “no business” being married to one another. Unlike their characters, who remained friends even after their split, Bush has no qualms about reminding fans that she and Murray no longer get along at all.

4. Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic, Castle

Beckett and Castle | ABC

The love-hate relationship between Beckett and Castle was a “will they or won’t they?” for the ages. Unfortunately, Castle‘s two stars skewed toward the hate and not the love when it came to their off-screen relationship.

Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic definitely proved their salt as actors on the series, because according to most reports, they couldn’t stand one another. The animosity between them became so severe that Katic ultimately ended up leaving Castle. Despite rumors of their on-set friction, both Katic and Fillion remained professional in the public eye. Her representative denied the rumors that she’d left the series because of her dislike of Fillion, and he tweeted out a message of support to his co-star after her exit.

5. Lauren Graham and Scott Patterson, Gilmore Girls

Lorelai and Luke on Gilmore Girls | The WB

When it comes to TV love stories, there are few that have been as fun to watch unfold as Luke and Lorelai on Gilmore Girls. It was a slow-burn relationship, and one full of smart and snarky banter and a whole lot of love.

But fans might be disappointed to know that according to some, the real-life relationship between Lauren Graham and Scott Patterson wasn’t quite as rosy. Some reports claim that the two never entirely warmed to each other, a theory that Graham bolstered in a recent interview.

When asked if she and Patterson were best friends, she answered with a resounding “No.” That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re enemies, though — they’ve both dispelled those rumors. It just means that there’s a very firm line between fiction and reality as far as these two are concerned.

6. Charlie Sheen and Selma Blair, Anger Management

Charlie and Kate on Anger Management | FX

Charlie Sheen is no stranger to controversy, and his relationship with Anger Managementco-star, Selma Blair is no exception to that rule. They played rival therapists and eventual lovers on the series until early in the second season when Blair was abruptly dropped from the cast.

Rumors flew that her dismissal was Sheen’s doing, and that he was upset that she’d complained about his work ethic on set. Sheen swore that her exit was due to changes in the direction for Anger Management. Blair’s team, on the other hand, reported that she had learned she was fired via a text message from Sheen. Wherever the truth lies, it’s pretty clear that the Anger Management set was far from peaceful.

9. Jason Alexander and Heidi Swedberg, Seinfeld

George and Susan on Seinfeld | NBC

Seinfeld never shied away from introducing its viewers to characters that were equal parts engaging and annoying. Susan, George’s on-again-off-again girlfriend and eventual fiancé was more the latter than the former, but at the very least she kept things interesting in his life. That is, until she died after licking too many poisonous envelopes.

Fans may have thought her departure at the end of Season 7 was a bit abrupt, but it turned out to be due to the fact that Jason Alexander found it “impossible” to work with actress Heidi Swedberg.

It wasn’t a case of clashing personalities so much as different working methods, according to the actor. Nevertheless, he — along with other members of the Seinfeld cast — hated doing scenes with Swedberg so much that they asked Larry David to write her off the show.

10. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, The X-Files

The X-Files | FOX

For many TV fans, Mulder and Scully are about as close to soulmates as a fictional pair can get. And it’s clear that these days, actors David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson truly enjoy working together, given their commitment to last year’s series reboot.

But back in the ’90s, when the series was reaching peak popularity on Fox, the actors had a hard time even being in the same room. According to Duchovny, there was a point at which they were so sick of one another that they argued all the time and “couldn’t stand the sight” of one another. He chalked their contempt up to long working hours and the amount of time they had to spend together, and acknowledged that high emotions can come from just about any close relationship.

Follow Katherine Webb on Twitter @prufrox

Check out Entertainment Cheat Sheet on Facebook!

Sometimes, when there’s a spark between two characters on-screen, that’s because there’s also something going on between the actors in real life. For One Tree Hill‘s Chad Michael Murray and Sophia Bush, that was the case — at least for a while.

While their characters, Lucas and Brooke, were navigating the rocky waters of young love, the actors also formed a bond. They dated for just five months before marrying in 2005, but the relationship quickly fell apart. In 2006, Bush filed for an annulment, which was denied, and the two later divorced.

After that, they were considerably more icy toward one another on set. While no specific reason has ever been given for their split, Bush later said that the two had “no business” being married to one another. Unlike their characters, who remained friends even after their split, Bush has no qualms about reminding fans that she and Murray no longer get along at all.

[bbbrianjones]

another tag :D

i was tagged by the fabulous @piecesofmybackpages and the always amazing @bohemian-brian !! thank you so much to you both lovelies !! truly the best !! there is a lot to unfold so if you’re interested keep reading under.

I’ll tag; @leftiststardust @gingermoonrising @bluemauriat @lividbiscuit @anuknowha @sydkeithbarrett

Music Questions

Favourite Band(s): 

the rolling stones (no shit really??)

pink floyd

the reels

the kinks

the church

along with many many more 

Favourite Musicians:

brian jones (emmi, you’re a bag full of surprises)

nick drake

rick wright

ronnie lane

vashti bunyan

again, there are so many more

Favourite Song(s): 

according to my heart by the reels

road by nick drake

crazy horses by the osmonds

nights in white satin by the moody blues

train song by vashti bunyan

this is at the moment cause like wtf how dare you !!

Favourite Album: quasimodo’s dream by the reels (it changes a lot though)

Favourite Genre: new wave, 60s folk and the ye-ye girls of france !!

Favourite Instrument: definitely the piano or keyboards

Favourite Era of Music: 60s, 70s, 80s

Favourite years of music: 1965, 1977, 1981

Favourite Broadcast Concert: NME’s 1965 concert featuring literally all the best bands ever

Least favourite genre: west coast rock (like fleetwood mac or the eagles), i can’t stand that kind of music

Been to any concerts?: yes, a lot, not to brag hehe

Any Upcoming Concerts: no, not any yet

Second: 10 songs and tag 10 people

happydaystoytown by the small towns

i’d like to walk around in your mind someday by vashti bunyan

days by the kinks

gloria by laura branigan

tin soldier by small faces

worm bay by worm

army dreamers by kate bush

calling occupants of interplanetary craft by klaatu

schoolgirl by the hollies

my love, my life by abba

[dweemeister]

My alternative 91st Academy Awards

As always during 31 Days of Oscar, I partake in an annual fantasy. What would the Oscars look like if I stuffed the ballots - choosing every single nomination and choosing every single winner? It always would look a lot different. Fans of Black Panther and Bohemian Rhapsody and Vice? Come at me.

91st Academy Awards – February 24, 2019 Dolby Theatre – Hollywood, Los Angeles, California Host: None Broadcaster: ABC

Best Picture: ROMA

BlacKkKlansman, Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, Raymond Mansfield, Jordan Peele, and Spike Lee (Focus)

Burning (KOR), Lee Joon-dong and Lee Chang-dong (Pinehouse Film/Now Film/NHK/CGV Arthouse/Well Go USA Entertainment)

Eighth Grade, Scott Rudin, Eli Bush, Lila Yacoub, and Christopher Storer (A24)

The Favourite, Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday, and Yorgos Lanthimos (Fox Searchlight)

Mission: Impossible – Fallout, J.J. Abrams, Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, and Jake Myers (Paramount)

Roma (MEX), Alfonso Cuarón, Gabriela Rodriguez, and Nicolas Celis (Netflix)

Shoplifters (JPN), Matsuzaki Kaoru, Yose Akihiko, and Taguchi Hijiri (AOI Promotion/Fuji TV/GAGA/Magnolia Pictures)

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Avi Arad, Ami Pascal, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Christina Steinberg (Columbia)

A Star Is Born, Bill Gerber, Jon Peters, Bradley Cooper, Todd Phillips, and Lynette Howell Taylor (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Warner Bros.)

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Morgan Neville, Caryn Capotosto, and Nicholas Ma (Focus)

Wholesale changes in this category compared to real life. The best three films of 2018, to me, were Burning, Roma, and Shoplifters -- none of these were in the English language. Films I tossed for Best Picture were Black Panther, Bohemian Rhapsody, Green Book, and Vice. I don’t think any of those four films have any business being in this category. In their place are the likes of Eighth Grade, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, and one of the most technically marvelous action films in decades in Mission: Impossible -- Fallout. Yes, an M:I film (superb editing, setpieces, and audacious style that finally wakes the franchise up).

But I’m going for an unexciting pick according to some with Roma. To use an oxymoron, it is an intimate epic -- one crafted beautifully, daring to comment on relations between ethnicities and the sexes at a certain time in Mexico. 

Best Director

Lee Chang-dong, Burning

Alfonso Cuarón, Roma

Hirokazu Koreeda, Shoplifters

Christopher McQuarrie, Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Paul Schrader, First Reformed

If you’re scratching your head, yes... Paul Schrader was nominated for Director in my ceremony, but First Reformed is nowhere to be found in Picture. I tend to do this for one Best Director nominee every year.

Best Actor

Christian Bale, Vice

Ryan Gosling, First Man

Ethan Hawke, First Reformed

Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody

Yoo Ah-in, Burning

The real-life Best Actor category this year is the most dire slate in a while. So here is your palate cleanser. 

Best Actress

Yalitza Aparicio, Roma

Glenn Close, The Wife

Olivia Colman, The Favourite

Elsie Fisher, Eighth Grade

Lady Gaga, A Star Is Born

It is not so much acting, as inhabiting. And, as a non-professional actress, Yalitza Aparicio has it. And I believe that, in my alternate Oscar universe (yes, I’ve drawn up and thought about it for many ceremonies past... I’ll reveal those some day), Aparicio would be the first indigenous woman to be awarded an acting Oscar.

Best Supporting Actor

Mahershala Ali, Green Book

Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Josh Hamilton, Eighth Grade

Tim Blake Nelson, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Steven Yeun, Burning

Ali is good, don’t get me wrong. But, compared to the movie Moonlight and his performance in it, it looks like he is about to get a second Oscar for a far worse movie and a lesser role. Ali is fourth or fifth in this lineup for me. Grant is fantastic in Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Best Supporting Actress

Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk

Emma Stone, The Favourite

Marina de Tavira, Roma

Rachel Weisz, The Favourite

Michelle Yeoh, Crazy Rich Asians

This comes down to the fact I couldn’t separate Stone and Weisz’s performances in their saucy movie. Nor could I find the argument to give de Tavira or Yeoh the Oscar. This is a bit of a default choice, I hate to say.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott, and Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman

Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Barry Jenkins, If Beale Street Could Talk

Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini, Leave No Trace

Spike Lee would have at least one or two Oscars in my alternative universe by this point! The difference between the screenplays for BlacKkKlansman and Can You Ever Forgive Me? is far slighter than you think.

Best Original Screenplay

Bo Burnham, Eighth Grade

Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara, The Favourite

Paul Schrader, First Reformed

Alfonso Cuarón, Roma

Hirokazu Koreeda, Shoplifters

Not even a contest if you asked me. This category is something else if I consider The Favourite and Roma bringing up the rear. But Koreeda’s drama about a found family that does what they can to survive is the culmination of what he has done in his career thus far. This is his Oscar.

Best Animated Feature

Incredibles 2 (Pixar/Walt Disney)

Night is Short, Walk On Girl, Japan (GKIDS/Toho Company)

Ruben Brandt, Collector, Hungary (Mozinet/Sony Pictures Classics)

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Columbia)

Tito and the Birds, Brazil (Bits Produções/Shout! Factory)

Longtime followers know that I have unorthodox opinions about animated features. The only Animated Feature Oscar I’ve handed to Pixar/Walt Disney Animation Studios since beginning this tradition in 2013 was for Inside Out. I thought Ralph Breaks the Internet was a painful addition to the Disney animated canon, so it is not here. Nor is Wes Anderson’s culturally insensitive Isle of Dogs or Mamoru Hosoda’s sloppy Mirai. At the end of the day? No boat-rocking this time, except in some of the other nominees.

Best Documentary Feature

Free Solo (National Geographic)

Hale County This Morning, This Evening (The Cinema Guild)

Minding the Gap (ITVS/Kartemquin Films/Hulu/Magnolia Pictures)

Three Identical Strangers (CNN/Channel 4/Neon)

Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (Focus)

Shoulda been nominated! Shoulda won! But in the spirit of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, these are all great documentaries. Minding the Gap is a close #2.

Best Foreign Language Film

Burning, South Korea

Capernaum, Lebanon

Cold War, Poland

Roma, Mexico

Shoplifters, Japan

Best Cinematography

Alfonso Cuarón, Roma

Caleb Deschanel, Never Look Away (GER)

Rob Hardy, Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Matthew Libatique, A Star Is Born

Łukasz Żal, Cold War

Best Film Editing

Barry Alexander Brown, BlacKkKlansman

Jay Cassidy, A Star Is Born

Tom Cross, First Man

Eddie Hamilton, Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Yorgos Mavropsaridis, The Favourite

Best Original Musical*

Julia Michels, A Star Is Born

Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, Mary Poppins Returns

Sia, Greg Kurstin, Scott Walker, and Margaret Yen, Vox Lux

*Best Original Musical – known previously as several other names – exists in the Academy’s rulebooks, but requires activation from the Academy’s music branch. To qualify, a film must have no fewer than five original songs. This category was last activated when Prince won for Purple Rain (1984).

Best Original Score

Michael Giacchino, Incredibles 2

Justin Hurwitz, First Man

John Powell, Solo

Alan Silvestri, Ready Player One

Brian Tyler, Crazy Rich Asians

The Star Wars universe is in good musical hands when John Williams leaves after Episode IX!

Best Original Song

“All the Stars”, music by Kendrick Lamar, Sounwave, and Anthony Tiffith, lyrics by Lamar, SZA, and Tiffith, Black Panther

“Nowhere to Go but Up”, music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Wittman, Mary Poppins Returns

“The Place Where Lost Things Go”, music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Wittman, Mary Poppins Returns

“Shallow”, music and lyrics by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando, and Andrew Wyatt, A Star Is Born

“When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings”, music and lyrics by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Best Costume Design

Alexander Byrne, Mary Queen of Scots

Ruth E. Carter, Black Panther

Sandy Powell, The Favourite

Sandy Powell, Mary Poppins Returns

Mary E. Vogt, Crazy Rich Asians

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Cindy Harlow and Camille Friend, Black Panther

Göran Lundström and Pamela Goldammer, Border (SWE)

Jenny Shircore, Marc Pilcher, and Jessica Brooks, Mary Queen of Scots

Amanda Knight and Lisa Tomblin, Solo

Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe, and Patricia Dehaney, Vice

Best Production Design

Hannah Beachler, Black Panther

Nelson Coates, Crazy Rich Asians

Fiona Crombie, The Favourite

Nathan Crowley, First Man

John Myhre, Mary Poppins Returns

Best Sound Editing

Benjamin A. Burt and Steve Boeddeker, Black Panther

Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan, First Man

James Mather, Victoria Freund, and Nina Norek, Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl, A Quiet Place

Richard Hymns, Gary Rydstrom, Cameron Barker, and Doug Winningham, Ready Player One

Best Sound Mixing

John Casali, Paul Massey, Tim Cavagin, and Niv Adiri, Bohemian Rhapsody

Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Ai-Ling Lee and Mary H. Ellis, First Man

Chris Munro, Paul Munro, Lloyd Dudley, and Mark Timms, Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Michael Barosky, Brandon Proctor, and Michael Barry, A Quiet Place

Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic, Jason Ruder and Steve Morrow, A Star Is Born

Best Visual Effects

Daniel DeLeeuw, Jen Underdahl, Kelly Port, Matt Aitken, Dan Sudick, Avengers: Infinity War

Christopher Lawrence, Michael Eames, Theo Jones, and Chris Corbould, Christopher Robin

Paul Lambert, Ian Hunter, Tristan Myles, and J. D. Schwalm, First Man

Roger Guyett, Grady Cofer, Matthew E. Butler, and David Shirk, Ready Player One

Rob Bredow, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan, and Dominic Tuohy, Solo

Best Documentary Short

Black Sheep (Lightbox Entertainment/The Guardian)

End Game (Netflix)

Lifeboat (Spin Film/RYOT Films)

A Night at the Garden (Field of Vision)

Period. End of Sentence. (Guneet Monga)

My omnibus review of this year’s nominees is coming soon (check this space later).

Best Live Action Short

Detainment (Twelve Media)

Fauve, Canada (H264 Distribution)

Marguerite, Canada (H264 Distribution)

Mother, Spain (Apache Films/Caballo Films/Malvalanda)

Skin (New Native Pictures/Salaud Morisset)

My omnibus review of this year’s nominees is coming soon (check this space later).

Best Animated Short

Animal Behaviour (National Film Board of Canada)

Bao (Pixar/Walt Disney)

Late Afternoon (Cartoon Saloon)

One Small Step (Taiko Studios)

Weekends (Past Lives Productions)

My omnibus review of this year’s nominees can be read here.

Academy Honorary Awards: Cicely Tyson, Lalo Schifrin, and Marvin Levy

Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award: Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall

MULTIPLE NOMINEES (24) Eight: The Favourite; Roma Seven: First Man; A Star Is Born Six: Mission: Impossible – Fallout Five: Black Panther; Burning; Mary Poppins Returns Four: Crazy Rich Asians; Eighth Grade; Shoplifters Three: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs; BlacKkKlansman; First Reformed; Ready Player One, Solo Two: Bohemian Rhapsody; If Beale Street Could Talk; Incredibles 2; Mary Queen of Scots; A Quiet Place; Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse; Vice; Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

WINNERS 4 wins: Roma 2 wins: First Man; Mary Poppins Returns 1 win: BlacKkKlansman; Black Panther; Border; Can You Ever Forgive Me?; Cold War; Crazy Rich Asians; First Reformed; If Beale Street Could Talk; Marguerite; Mission: Impossible – Fallout; Shoplifters; Solo; Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse; A Star Is Born; Weekends; Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

19 winners from 25 categories. 39 feature-length films and 15 short films were represented.

[aenariasbookshelf]

Darcy and Jane’s Post-Apocalyptic Road Trip, part six

The continuing road trip adventures of a Jane Foster attempting to avoid the US Government and a heavily pregnant Darcy Lewis just keep expanding.  

Technically this fic takes place in an alternate universe offshoot of The Incrediblesverse, but you don’t have to read those fics to understand this one.

(parts one and two) (part three) (part four) (part five)

At some point I’ll edit this thing up and post it properly to AO3 (and get a proper title...and chapter breaks...you know how it goes.  This story seems to have taken on a life of its own).  Until such time, however, this story will live here on Tumblr…

I’ve started posting the story on AO3 here.  I’ve only got the first part up there, but it’s been expanded greatly, so I do recommend checking it out.  Someday soon I’ll put the rest up there as well.

Infinity War spoilers ahead…

Part Six: in which the women spend some time on the road, ask a few questions, and maybe a little explosion or two.

I’ll admit, I’m not as thrilled with this chapter as I’ve been with others, but it’s at the point where it’s not worth holding back and fiddling with anymore.  And, if I post it now, then I can move on to the next chapter which is where things are going to get a bit more interesting...

This chapter does refer to something about Darcy that’s been brought up in the Incrediblesverse numerous times, though not in this spin off...until now.  Any questions, you should probably refer back to the original story line, or ask me - I’m more than happy to answer your questions. :)

**********

It's hard to talk with a stranger camped out in their backseat, even if that stranger has been vetted by Steve and was specifically sent there to keep them safe.  Still, she did get Darcy out of a sticky situation back at the store, and she trusts Steve's judgement.  "Soooo...why archery?" Darcy asks, twisting around in her seat to look at Kate.

Kate's busy sorting through her cache of new arrows, sorting them into stacked piles that mean something only to her.  "It's one of the few acceptable rich kid hobbies," she replies, not looking up from her handiwork.  "At least according to my dad.  Not like he paid much attention anyway.  He barely even blinked when I told him I was heading out to Iowa to train with the best archer around."  She looks up, rolling her eyes rapidly.  "Actually, no, what he asked was why the hell would I even want to head out to Iowa?  Said that there's nothing out there but corn."  She shakes her head.  "Yeah, he's one of those."  

"Is bodyguarding something you do often?  Or is this just a side job for you?" "How much of an answer do you really want to that question?" Darcy sighs, pressing her fingertips against her temples as her eyes fall closed.  "Oy vey." Kate leans in closer, poking her head between the two front seats with a smirk.  "All right, my turn to ask questions - how do you know Captain America?" "I bought him a slice of pie once." **********

Of course, of course one of the tires on the SUV has to blow, right after sunset, in what's probably the most middle of nowhere place Darcy's ever seen.  Even the tumbleweeds seem lonely, she thinks, exiting the car and stretching her legs a bit, staring off across the gloom, towards the rainbow of colors lining the far off horizon.  It's surprisingly warm out, even though there's still a chill in the air.  Desert nights are very strange, she's learned over the years.  "Please tell me we've got a spare," she asks, peering around the corner of the car where Jane and Kate are attempting to clear a space in the trunk compartment.   "Just one, but it should be enough."  Jane wipes some sweat off of her forehead, and readjusts the little headlamp perched there.  "We'll be fine as long as we don't lose any more tires." Kate hops onto the back bumper so she can get a better look at the roof rack.  "We can probably stash a few spare tires up here, if we can find a place tomorrow that still has any." "We can put the dead one up there first - I've got more than a few bungee cords back here."  Jane grunts, then there's a scratching noise and a solid thump, the sound of the spare tire hitting the ground with a cloud of dust puffing up after it.  "There we go.  Do you see a jack in there also?" "I think so?  I hope so." "Well, you two have fun sorting that out.  I'm going to go find a boulder to pee behind." Darcy knows not to wander too far into the desert, not at night and especially not after the apocalypse, but it's good to get out for a bit.  To shake the dust off of her feet and her skin and soak in the night air.  She turns her face up to the sky - out here all the stars are visible, twinkling down like everything on Earth is as usual and all they have to do is shine on.  But she knows that's not the case, from the tale that Steve had told her and the feeling inside of her bones that something is deeply, profoundly wrong in the entire universe right now.  A lazy elbow from her baby glides across the inside of her stomach, pulling her back inside her body, and she runs her fingertips over the little protrusion, feeling him push against the pressure.  "We're gonna get through this, baby," she murmurs. The baby kicks at her again, and Darcy shakes her head, smiling.  "All right, let's find a place to pee before you kick my bladder open." ********** "So, what makes you so special?" Jane doesn't startle or drop the wrench at Kate's blunt question, though it's a very near thing.  "Excuse me?" Kate taps her fingers on the tire that she's holding upright, and shrugs nonchalantly.  "It's not every day that Captain America reaches out to a retired fellow Avenger to get two people out of the country, especially when the world's gone to even more shit than we've ever seen before.  So...why you?" Jane continues loosening up the lug nuts of the tire, taking her time to think about the question.  She likes Kate well enough, but they've only known each other for a few hours, and Jane's not one to trust easily, not after everything she's been through.  And nobody but Darcy and Steve really needed to know just yet that she'd had one of those damn stones inside of her once upon a time and lived to tell the tale.  "I'm an astrophysicist," she settles on.  "I specialize in Einstein-Rosen bridges; wormholes that will let you travel between two otherwise unconnected places in space.  Given that this whole shitstorm was caused by crazy aliens from outer space, I guess the Captain thinks I can help them get out there to figure out more of what happened and get the Earth back to some semblance of normality."

“If we can even get back to what we once had,” Kate says with a heavy sigh.  “This may be our new normal.”

“Not if I can help it,” Jane says, grunting as she removes the final lug nut.  “All right, I can do this,” she mutters under her breath.  “I can build high tech, sensitive equipment to monitor the outer reaches of space, I can change a damn tire.”

**********

Darcy doesn’t go back to the car, not just yet.  Out here, under the desert night sky, it almost feels like the world hasn’t changed from a few weeks before.  Like if she just turns around and goes home, her mother will be there waiting with Steve so they can go to her next ultrasound appointment.  But that’s not the world anymore.  Hell, given the state of the world she doesn’t even know if her baby will have the opportunity to grow to adulthood, which is the scariest thought of all.

A shiver goes over her skin, making her feel even more unsettled than usual.  The sky’s gone fully dark now, but the moon is there, a glowing partial circle that manages to illuminate things here in the middle of nowhere.  And it looks...so innocuous.  Happy little stars and wispy little clouds that flutter past the moon.  But the rest of the universe is dealing with the same shit that Earth is also, if she understood Steve correctly.  

Half of the entire universe was obliterated in the blink of an eye.

Maybe there’s a universe next door that they can escape to for a little while.

There’s a rustling off to the side of her somewhere, low and alarming.  Darcy stiffens up, head whipping around to try and pinpoint where the noise is coming from.  Dammit, shouldn’t have lingered, she thinks.  

The rustling happens again, and before Darcy can even think about running away she feels energy swell up under her skin, and a bright light flashes behind her eyes.

**********

“What the hell?” Kate says, spinning to try and see where the flash of light, followed quickly by a small cracking noise.  

“Darcy?” Jane calls out, dropping the wrench and straightening up.  The tire’s mostly done anyway, so she runs out into the desert, headlamp bobbing along, trying to follow where she’d last seen Darcy wander off.

“Dammit, Foster, wait up!”  But Jane’s got bigger things to worry about, namely making sure that Darcy hasn’t been injured by whatever they just saw out there.  If her suspicions are right, however, Jane’s fairly certain that light wasn’t something that was harming Darcy.  A minute later Kate catches up with her, arrows in one hand and bow in the other, ready to kick the ass of anything that gets in their path.  “I can’t,” she pants as they run, “protect you if you don’t wait for me!”

“Too bad!”

They run behind a boulder and then skid to a halt, because Darcy’s there, one hand on her belly and the other over her heart as she breathes heavily.  “Are you okay?  What the hell was that?” Kate asks.

“Yeah.”  Darcy waves her hand at the scrubby bushes, motion at the twisty little tracks in the dirt.  “I got spooked by a snake.  Sorry for freaking you out.”

Kate shakes her head, hefting her bow up high.  “That still doesn’t explain the flashy thing, or the noises.”

“Just drop it,” Jane sighs.

“But - “

“Let it be.”  Jane shakes her head.  “We don’t have time to linger.  Our goal is to get to Alice by dawn.”

The look Kate gives her is highly suspicious, but she doesn’t say anything because Darcy begins walking back to the car, leaving the other two to scramble after her.  Just before they reach the car, however, Jane pulls Darcy to the side, out of the earshot of Kate (she trusts her, she really does, but there are some things that Kate doesn’t need to know just yet.  “That was a flare up, wasn’t it?” she asks in a low voice.

Darcy nods, chewing at her lower lip.  Both women were all too aware of the sudden onset of Darcy’s explosive energy issues after their adventure with the Dark Elves, and while Jane hates to use the word magic because that implies there’s no cause or rationale behind what has happened, they haven’t found a satisfying scientific explanation yet.  Not even Thor knew what had really caused this in Darcy, though he was able to give Darcy some of his mother’s books on magic to at least help her channel the energy as needed.  

“There really was a snake,” Darcy says.  “I got spooked, and then bam.”  She flicks her eyes in the direction of the car, where Kate is settling down in the backseat.  “Once she’s asleep I’ll look at some of Frigga’s texts to see if I can find anything to help with this.”

“We can ask Thor once we see him also,” Jane points out.  “Maybe he’ll have some new ideas.”

“I hope so.”  Darcy runs a hand back through her hair, then over her stomach where even Jane can see a slight rippling where the baby’s moving inside.  “I feel better, but I can still feel the energy inside me wanting to come out.  It feels like...like it likes what’s happening in the universe about as much as the rest of us do right now.”

“So in other words, not much.”

“Yep.”  Darcy takes another deep breath, like she’s trying to center herself back on Earth and come down from the stars.  “Okay, you drive, and I’ll see if I can meditate so I don’t blow up another damn tumbleweed.”