#and its o.c. nonsense

[rainybraindays]

Me after writing something that upset me

[serialee]

◈ Dream - Small Flower: Kept Secrets

°° a lonely, orphaned noblewoman and a prince find themselves in love soon after a royal ball. join their journey in figuring out what is love … and its end.

genre: sfw - royal au [6.5K]

pairing: prince.yunho x fem.reader || 2 o.c cousins.

warning: melodramatic || temporary death || dark places || angst

author's note: my first ever fic i've ever written!

Dressed in a flowy, light as a feather white nightgown she stood in the middle of the top floor hallway. There wasn’t much to the building she was in. Dark and dimly lit as if a storm in the middle of the day was about to arrive, which she guessed as much when she heard the sounds of the howling winds.

“Ah, no … it’s about to rain again when this house isn’t ready for another” she thought.

The house existed since many many years ago, as old as some castles. Unfortunately, it did not keep up as nicely as those beautiful castles. Parts of the ceiling had spots of black mold that disturbed the white colour scheme of the hall. She walked down the stairs, when it started to pour.  Heavy rain coming down. Inhaling and exhaling, she shook her head and took out her phone and called for her father.

“Dad, when are you coming back? The ceiling is leaking rain again!”.

“Don’t worry, i will be home shortly. Relax yourself yeah?” her father replied. She did not mean to but she took a quick glance at the singular streams of rain coming down off the wall from the ceiling. She didn’t like it. There was something icky about the sights of leaking roofs. There was something  about leaking liquids in general she did not like seeing. She did not like the rain in general.

“Always making a mess. Also always playing with people’s emotions”, she thought. Being in a dark space where heavy rain is pouring is not something she enjoyed. Deep down it scared her. She has no way of knowing what could happen to her and if something did happen, how would she handle herself when she was all alone? ‘Alone’ a soft voice whispered; but not one of comfort.

“You’re thinking too much. Enough nonsense and wake up!” she commanded herself.

It’s light now. A tint of brown and orange to the light in the building. The early evening perhaps? She looked down to herself and saw that she was still in the same wear; her white nightgown.

“Was I dreaming?” how could she be dreaming when she was in the same nightgown, at the staircase just standing there, facing the wall. She shook her head and stepped into the small lounge area. On the ‘L’ shaped of the dark blue royal sofa sat her 2 cousins. One older than her and one younger. The 3 sisters of the family. She looked at them and smiled to herself.

One being occupied with reading and the other … attacking her body with freshly made home-baked cookies. She liked baking. It served as a therapeutic activity she can enjoy while not caring about other things that bothered her usually. Coming up closer to her cousins, she asked “and what are you guys doing here?”.

She liked having her cousins around, so her tone was light and joking. She was the only child of her parents. She and her cousins were never far apart for long periods of time. Even if they had nothing to speak about, they manage to find comfort and joy simply in each other’s presence. She won’t lie, she did envy the 2 sisters for always having each other no matter what.

The eldest of the trio looked up from the magazine and replied, “would you like to accompany us in an event we are attending?”

Tilting her head slightly signaling to elaborate on the event, “it is almost like a ball but for business purposes. Although I do think it was announced that the royal family would be there. So, what do you say? Care to join?”.

The middle sister was iffy at first. As much as she enjoyed spending time with her 2 cousins and entertaining whatever shenanigans they might have up their sleeves, showing up to a formal event and socializing with people using small talks was not something she is used to. But wherever is the fun in being left alone? So with a heavy sigh she nods her head “why not! I guess it could be fun every so now and then.” she grins. 

The sun had set, disappearing to the other side of the world where it would be morning there, but night here. As soon as the carriage stopped at their destination, the footman assisted the ladies in opening the door of the carriage and holding it so it would not slam into their faces.

One by one the ladies stepped down from their seats. The glistening jewels, the hairdo, the gowns they had on and the sound of their heels click clacking announces their arrival to those who spread outside at the entrance foyer, without them needing to say a word; as they calmly made their way into the venue, the train of their gowns felt the tiny puddles of the after rain on the stone pavement.

The gown she had chosen to dress in was one she absolutely adored. She had many gowns but this one holds dear to her heart. Simply because it was the first tailor made gown she had designed herself.  She remembers the surprised yet impressed and proud face her mother had when she finally showed the design she had been working on for a while.

So on that same day, both mother and daughter made their way to their local tailoress to have her gown fitted! Since it was a special gown, her mother thought it could be even more special by making a complete set with a pair of dangly earrings, a necklace, a bracelet, a ring and a custom design tiara. 

Classical music from a live orchestra was being played, sounds of drinking glasses clinking can be heard and soft talks and muffled laughter from the ladies in beautiful dresses and the gentlemen in English tailored suits filled the room. The trio of sisters made their way into the bigger room that would seem to be the main ballroom of the night.

The ballroom was beautifully decorated in a matching colour theme of white, gold and burgundy. The outline of the room itself was inspired by an oval handheld mirror, like ones some ladies would carry around in their purses. On the other side of the room, where the ‘stem’ part of the mirror would be was a platform with 2 staircases on either side. On the platform itself were 2 thrones, no questions about it, it served as confirmation that indeed, the royal family would be attending.

Breaking the grand ballroom ambience, she heard the voice of a man announcing the arrival of the royal family, Most importantly, the king and the queen. On the right walked down the king and on the left walked down the queen, the royal couple looking dashing as ever. With a drink in her hand, she hears the same man speaking up the name of a gentleman she had never heard of. Out comes a short stubby man who appeared to have a beer belly, walking up to the king and queen as a greeting as he bowed to them.

The same greeting happened for several other men. Who they were she would not be able to answer, for her attention was long gone from the room and whoever or whatever.

“This is boring! When will we get to sit down and feast? I came for that … I was promised that!” she frowned at her elder cousin.

The youngest nodded her own head in agreement. The eldest could only do so much and sighed, “when the greetings are over, we shall eat. Now behave please. Pick up that smile and do not lose composure.”

She was getting restless and she knew that. She had to have something occupy her mind or else she will most likely have that frown plastered on her pretty face for the entirety of the event. In the presence of the royal or not, she wanted her food. Food was one of the few things that brought her comfort when she needed it the most. And it certainly showed in her cubby arms and slightly puffy face. She was not fat to the point where it would be considered unhealthy, but she was not skinny or slim either. She was healthy, comfortable and confident in her body.

She was bored out of her wits and was not paying attention to the greetings, that is until the herald announces the name of a man. A man, who unlike the previous men who were of average height with surely un-kept body and faces she would like to not meet again, this man was anything but and more.

He was tall, one of the tallest man in the room present for sure. Even through his outfit, she could tell that his physique was godly, not over worked but well - toned.

“He has long legs…wow” she noted to herself.

She did not realize it but she had an underlying thing for legs. She would be appreciating people who she thought had really nice legs, no, not in a creepy way.

“His legs are nice…especially his thighs…wow” she thought again.

His thighs, a gift from heaven sent down to earth, sculpted by only the best heaven had to offer and boy oh boy, it was one of a kind indeed. God help her if she ever said that aloud! He carried himself impressively as he walked down the ballroom to greet the king and queen. It felt like he could command an entire room without much effort, something he was doing already without anyone really realizing it.

It could be possible due to his broad shoulders. It made him seem almost intimidating, if it weren’t for the natural smile on his face. A charming man indeed. Most of the ladies’ eyes were glued on this man and she was no different. Now she wasn’t one to drool and lose touch of her lady-ness over a man that easily, but it certainly seemed like she was about to over this man!

“Ah darn it! I didn’t catch his name” she spoke to herself.

As if the youngest of the trio sensed something, she spoke up “Yunho. Yunho Adrian Jung. Don’t say, you know not of him?”.

Seeing her blank and guilty face, the youngest of the trio gaps “oh my word! Well then, I think it’s safe to say it’s time for you to get to know him! Don’t you agree sister?” asked the littlest one to the eldest.

The eldest smiled and nodded in agreement, “I don’t see why not. He is a nice man after all. Would you like that?”

“Uhm, maybe not? I’m sure a gentleman like him wouldn’t spare seconds towards a girl like me. I’ve nothing to offer I bet.”

The eldest noticed how her cousin was playing with her silk glove, tugging and putting it back on while her eyes stayed put to the marble flooring of the ballroom. The eldest knew all too well what was going on in her cousin’s mind. She knew her cousin was thinking that she wasn’t as pretty as the other girls present or the girls who seemed to flock themselves around Adrian.

She knew her cousin was thinking how insecure she would be in socializing with a member of the royal family because unlike the other ladies, her cousin didn’t do well with small talk. The eldest knew that her cousin can also be incredibly shy around men around her age range, especially if she found them rather attractive. Yunho was very much an attractive man, no doubt about it. If he wasn’t attractive visually, he was attractive physically and even if that was not it, it was his manners that made him attractive. As they say, ‘manners maketh man’.

“Alright, listen to me. The others are others and you are you. Whatever you have that makes you, you, that is everything you can offer to someone. It depends on the receiving party but never say you’ve nothing to offer! We worked on this before, haven’t we?” the eldest speaks up as she tries to not make her voice very loud. She really does remind one of their mother.

“At the very least, you will walk up to him and greet him. Introduce yourself. He is still part of the royal family after all”.

“He is what? He is of royalty? Oh great! Now that makes it even harder for me to make myself known!” she whines, rather faux dramatic exasperation.

“Worry not my dear. We, as your cousins will be right near you. So if anything unruly is to happen, we will save you from it. You trust us don’t you?”. She closes her eyes and lets out a subtle groan, finding difficulty not to stomp her foot and be seen throwing a tantrum.

After sometime of calming her racing heart, she caves in and musters up courage to walk up to the man named Yunho Jung. Sir Yunho Adrian Jung.

“What is he even? A prince? A duke? A viscount? Do I address him as ‘your highness?’” she wondered as she was walking from the near the entrance of ballroom from one of the tables to end of the other side, near the platform where the king and queen sat.

She was walking alright, although her facial expressions seemed to be stationary. Her eyebrows furrowed together almost bringing them in unison, her lips pursed and her eyes were looking; or were they? God only knows. It was a miracle that she actually stopped in her tracks and not bump into the attractive man and few others that were making talk with him.

So how is she supposed to approach this situation because she knows he had seen her by now. Shall she pretend to not know who he was and act as if he was just some random lad who so happened to wear the crest of the royal family, identical to that worn by the king and the queen. Anyone else would disagree and opt to introduce themselves and ask how they shall address him.

But not she! Nay! In fact, she followed suit exactly what the voice in her mind told her to: pretend she knows nothing and say hello. With a tight smile on her face,

“Good evening” she greeted the people of the table. She looked into the eyes of everyone and eventually her eyes fell on the royal member. He too was looking at her. No, she was not going to shy away! She introduced herself with her name, leaving out who her parents were. They did not need to know.

“Evening milady. I'm Yunho Adrian Jung. You can call me Yunho if you’d like” he welcomed her.

“Good God even his voice is heavenly! Dear God, if you are listening, please listen, if you are listening, why on yourself did you ever decided to produce a voice so beautiful as if he was the ground earth and the sun itself!” she silently prayed, while still smiling, hopeful no one caught on to her.

“Your highness! You rarely let anyone call you such” one of the voices spoke.

“Well, if I so wish to let someone call me by my name, so be it, yes? I’m pretty sure only I have control of that” he responds, sending a rather intense look to the voice who dared to speak, as if saying question him again and he will gladly show you your place, that one of below him in status and power.

He is a prince after all. If the prince had so much given her ¼ of the same stare he had given that voice, she wouldn’t know how to act herself. She might even have to call for the aid of her 2 cousins. Would that work against a prince like him? Oozing power and all? She could only hope so, after all, they spoke of him as though were friends with the handsome prince.

She didn’t know why she didn’t register that information as soon as the saw the crest of the royal family on his right chest. It was not as if it was a tiny part, it was a quite the size if she was being honest. The few people that were with the same table as she began to take their leave and move away. She didn’t know why. Her emotions going from one to another.

Either feeling relieved she was no longer under the judgmental stares or feeling rather worried for now she was alone with the prince. When the small audience were at a considerable amount of distance away from her, she asked

“Why have they suddenly taken leave? Are you about to busy yourself my prince? Shall I do the same?” earning a gentle headshake from the prince.

“No need. Actually, I silently signalled for them to leave. I’m not sure if you noticed that” he said.

“Oh, well my apologies”. It went silent for a while, neither of she nor him knew what to say.

“So, should I too be taking my leave?”

“No no! Uhm, actually I thought it would be rather nice to speak to you without extra ears. You did seem to be a little taken back earlier” he pointed to when that one voice spoke out of turn.

She liked the fact that the prince was being considerate of her, so in return she gave a light laughter.

“My prince, has any one told you that you have a rather naturally charming personality?”.

Where was this confidence coming from? The prince’s expression went from not knowing how to handle an awkward encounter to one that had one of his eyebrow raised, suddenly feeling more secured with himself.

“Really? No, never-” lies...which lady of this land in their right mind not say anything of praise when it comes to the prince?

“Your highness please, let’s not kid ourselves.” She laughed.

He liked the sound of her laughter. It wasn’t one of those haughty laughter many of the ladies carried around him. He didn’t know if she was being genuine or not, but he liked her laugh. It reminded him of a small, tiny flower. A tiny flower fit for a princess.

So the prince musters up courage to ask the lady if he could call her ‘small flower’. She questioned why call her other than the name she introduced herself with. Prince Yunho did not have an answer. He asked without much thought, perhaps he should’ve rechecked his options. The prince had not ill intentions to do with the lady but it did make her blush a pretty crimson.

“Had he noticed? Who on earth would say such a thing so…absentmindedly?” she thought to herself.

“My prince, what would happen if anyone here overheard us – overhead you calling me ‘small flower’”? T

he prince took several seconds before replying “then leave it be! You shall be addressed as Lady Small Flower!” he joked.

Brave enough to handle her situation she gave the prince a mocking laughter, “instead of that, mayhap you would want to save it for someone who really mattered to you. Who knows what’ll come of the future” she shrugged.

Aside her 2 cousins, she was not used to be called by nicknames or pet-names. Even though her parents had one they used to call her, now it is a rare happening. Not that it bothered her, rather it was almost a foreign feeling. The same feeling, she felt when she saw her dearest mother smile and call for her: warm, love and adoration.

She wouldn’t let him know, there isn’t a reason for the prince to know. So she brushed it off and the 2 continued their chatter well off into the night; her 2 cousins never far away from her. For the first time in a while, she was proud of herself. Proud of herself for not staying as quiet as a mouse nor speaking a word over annoyance.

They talked about what they find joy in doing if not for work. They talked about the dessert served at the ball and how it could improve. They talked about how silly it was of her not registering the royal family crest immediately. The topics of choice didn’t seem that much, however the constant chatter and astounding elaborations made up for it. Anyone who daringly took a glance at them would think these 2 were more than ‘first meet’. The 2 cousins couldn’t agree more.

Hours turned into days, days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months and months turned into years. The handsome prince and she had already known each other for well over a year and few months. Their bond grew unlike any other. They didn’t have to had the most luxurious dates, nor the fanciest of feasts or grand-scale socializing, no.

There were even days where they just spent their time together without needing much to say, simply enjoying each other’s company. If Prince Yunho came to her after a tiring day, she would lay him down and he would watch her as she waltzes around the kitchen baking whatever page of her recipe book she was on and he found joy in that.

If she came to him to talk about her feelings, he would temporarily abandon his paperwork and take her on a stroll watching the swans as she rants and rumbles on about herself. They fancied each other. So much so that on the 7th month of friendship, the prince told his lady about his feelings. Any maids of his residence would be able to tell you how nervous the prince was on that day leading up to the actual confession. He wouldn’t have his breakfast!

The eldest of maids who was very close to the prince had to convince him to eat something and Prince Adrian caved in and had a small chicken pie. He didn’t plan anything fancy but a special feast for his lady. A feast his prepared himself! Well – prepared himself with ��� plenty help from the head chef of his kitchen that is; she need not know! Would he cook again? Perhaps, if his lady would bless her presence in the kitchen with him as well.

Though, there was one other thing the prince had to confirm and that was which dessert his lady would like the most? There was an almost endless list to which dessert it could be! He settled on for something he knew she would enjoy most, as it was a combination of several delights she already loved. Chocolate pecan pie. The prince would’ve baked it himself if it weren’t for the fact that he almost dropped the precious chocolate mix.

Prince or not, the head chef was having none of that nonsense and hushed the prince out of his kitchen, assuring the prince he would not disappoint the beautiful lady. As the sun beautifully painted the evening sky with a dark yet soft orange and a light tint of pink and purple, the 2 just returned to the stables from their horseback riding. She would have changed into a dress but the prince wouldn’t let her. What need was there? Such a hassle.

They feasted under the night sky and when she sliced into the chocolate pecan pie, she found a ring. A beautiful pearl cut Citrine stone. From him, he wished her a happy and healthy life ahead of her. A happy lady she was!  

Weeks pass by in a blink of an eye. The trio sisters were enjoying their shopping day with bags and bags of items they had purchased dangling on their forearms. It had been a while since they last shopped till their hearts content. She wasn’t one to spree on dresses or jewelries or decorative materials. Her mother always taught her that simple is best! Unless it was something of urgent need, there was no need for her to purchase anything.

With that being said, once a blue moon shopping spree wouldn’t hurt. It was prime time she had a change to her wardrobe and her living space. She acquired several baking utensils, new riding wear, one or two headpieces and a burgundy velvet box that had a pretty flower in the middle of it. She would make this small box her ring box. To put the Citrine ring the prince had given to her when he proclaimed his love of her.

The only time she took her ring off was when she had to start baking delights that required her using her hands; when making bread for example, she would need to knead the dough with her hands, so she shall take the ring off and safely keep it in the velvet box. This way, it would be kept clean. She smiled to herself, remembering how happy and loved she felt when she once again had someone who was willing to be hers and stick by her no matter the odds. She told him her biggest insecurities and wishes and dreams and rants and whatever not, yet there he was, Prince Yunho took it all; just as she did same for him.

She understood his princely duties took a lot of time and mental strength just as much as physical strength, so being the lady her parents taught her to be, she patiently waited. Her interactions with her prince had died down little by little. One would not notice it, but she did.

Less were the times where they met up and spend time together and as a result, calling each other made up for it. Albeit that too reduced to messages. As of late, the lady hadn’t spoken to her prince in many days. Normally she would fret if someone she cared for did not reply to her in a matter of time.

This time it was different. She trusted him, for there were little no secrets left behind between the two of them. If it was one thing the ever charming prince learned of his beloved, was that she did not like secrets being kept from her. She may not be able to handle whatever it is immediately, but she prides herself on having determination to keep strong. She must.

“It would not happen again” said her inner voice. Nevertheless, she admits that missed him. She missed seeing his face with a smile, she missed hearing his voice even when it was low due to tiring schedules. She missed the warmth he provided her and she missed his choice of words, for that was what made him charming. She held her sight up to the sky that was turning grey.

*Thunder* – boom! The sound of the thunder introduced itself. *Lightning* – zap! Was to be seen by whatever creature flew up in the airs.

“It will rain again...” the young lady sighed to herself, “no matter, it would make the perfect excuse for me to be baking some warm and delicious apple cinnamon pie with a side of black tea”.

“Will you two please keep up? I’ve had the pleasure to grace this part of the ground for more than 5 minutes you know! Or would you like to be bathed in rain water?” she huffed as she turned around the call for her 2 cousins, a little back than she was.

“Yes yes we are coming…dearest me hold your horses will you” the youngest hollered back.

Eyes of bystanders on her, but she couldn’t less. She watched as her 2 cousins waddled themselves up to her, she turned around and continued to walk to their vehicle. She was graciously gifted a car by her prince and she handled it with care. She didn’t always require the engines of the car to go from places to places, she would much rather ride her stallion and feel the breeze hitting her face softly and entangle her neatly combed hair and brush through her light dresses. However, she was bringing home along 2 cousins and plentiful shopping bags so riding her stallion would be ill advised.

“Actually, would you mind dropping us off to our home instead? We shall put down the bags and head out somewhere” the eldest requested.

“And just where that ‘somewhere’ could be?” she was getting suspicious of her cousin’s behaviour.

Normally, they would love to come crashing at her home after a long day out and wait for the delicious meal their cousin could whip up in no time, so she had reasons to question why. Her cousins let out faux laughter and try as they might to brush it off,

“Oho, you know, just … visiting another dear friend of ours…at the hospital…”

“oh really? Very well then, I shall tag along. After all, the more the merrier no?” she smiled tightly.

“We could drop by the florist first and see which bouquet would be best for them. The florist should know which flower conveys which message, so we can leave it up to them.”

The two sisters looked at each other and landed their eyes back onto their cousin, who still held her gaze strong. What could they say? It was meant to be kept a secret from her, they promised!

“We don’t think you would want to meet up with him when he is in this current stage. Perhaps some other time? When he feels much better?”

“Nonsense!” her 2 cousins just stared at her.

“At the very least I shall drop you off there.” she said defeated. That did not ease the minds of her 2 cousins, she sensed it. She gave them a questioning look; they too understand she does not like secrets being kept from her.

“Dearest…” the eldest of the trio trailed, “before anything, above all else, you do know we mean best for you right? -”

What on God’s earth is going on?

“– so please promise us, you would not leave an ounce of hatred towards us after this”

“Alright, enough! Tell me.”

“The Royal Medical Centre. We are visiting Prince Yunho in the royal hospital” as soft a bristle brush came the answer to her wonder.

Her mind no longer on which flower was best to bring. Her mind no longer on how she would prepare the apple cinnamon pie. Her mind no longer on what she was looking at. Her mind no longer on how she deep she inhaled, barely breathing out. Her mind no longer to where she was. Her mind no longer on how she carried herself.

“No no no no no no” over and over and over again her mind chanted that word turning it into a prayer almost. It can’t be.

“No!” she refused to believe what she had just heard.

It didn’t take long until the middle of the trio started letting out shaky breathes and displaying trembling hands and saying jumbled up words under her breath.

“No!” her yell startled the 2 sisters.

Only God knows how apologetic they were towards their cousin as they see how she reacted to the news they delivered.

“Go there” the voice in her heard told her.

“Why…why have you been meeting him all this time without letting me know?!” she screamed to her 2 cousins. Worry and anger accompanied her beautiful serene face.

“Had you not remember in those head of yours’ just how much I despise having secrets kept from me especially if they involved me?!” cried out the middle of the trio.

All of them knew why she hated being kept in the dark, alone and yet, they broke her promise and her trust. They know not if they could ever regain that same trust from her again. She wanted to claw at her 2 cousins right then and there, but the voice in her head told her to just go. She heeded the pleas of her mind and drove off at the speed of lightning.

She was driving the car but her mind could be less about the road. Fortunately, she hadn’t broken any law nor crashed into anything or anyone. She was safe. As hazed as her mind was, she knew all the better that driving recklessly would do no one good. If she had crashed, she wouldn’t get to meet her prince. She would not get the answers to her questions.

She sees the royal hospital in view and drives into the front entrance. She didn’t care if she was properly parked or not, she hastily got out and just threw the keys to the poor boy who looked confused. She quickened her pace once inside the medical building. Knowing all too well the space, it was as if she had been there before. The sounds of her heels clacking on the stone glass flooring. She spared no time to entertain the registry ladies and pressed the lift button.

Top most floor. The royal hospital was made for royalties and was incredibly secured. Different floors and different wards allocated for different royals and rankings. Only a selected group of elites other than royalty were accepted to ward at the same hospital as the royals. The top most floor only allowed for the King, Queen and the immediate Princes and Princess. Prince Yunho was the first prince.

“Could the lift go any slower?!!” she let out.

The door of the lift finally opened and she ran out to the end of the building. She could hear the attendants call for her but she ignored them. She not once stopped her pace, not even was she was in front of this specific ward, not even when the men in armored suits tried to stop her. It seemed like the one in charge of guarding the front door kept shouting words at her, but she was not listening.

Since her cousins told her that her prince was in the hospital, her body and mind went on fight or flight mode and she chose fight. She stomped onto the feet of all the men outside guarding the door,

“let me through!” she fought and threw it open.

On all 4 corners of the bed, were 4 bodyguards in the same armored suits as those outside. There were 2 other men in long white coats and 4 female nurses behind the doctors, head bowed down glued to the floor. Her breath still rapid and she was barely thinking properly. Devastation and fear overthrew her ability to communicate with the people inside the room.

What she saw brought sadness, hopelessness, desperation and her deepest fear up to the very surface of her once vulnerable self. Countless needles, patches, wires, flows, monitors were all on the face she knew to be the very man she fell in love with. Anxiety pooled at her feet and mind when she saw that her beloved Prince’s eyes were closed shut and that he was not moving, simply laid on the hospital bed.

She ran straight for him and kneeled at the side of his bed, pushing away the 6 people that bothered her path. She brought up her shaky hands to hold his face and she felt more sadness and fear. He was cold. She needn’t utter a single word. All she had to say raced through her mind.

“Why was he here in the hospital and laying on the hospital bed? What sickness had attached itself to him? How long has he been the ward for, when did he even get admitted? Why hasn’t he recovered? Why is he not kept warm?”.

All these questions she had pounded at her heart, cracking it into pieces, but one question completely shattered her heart to fine dust, “why did he not tell me?”.

At the very last question, the first tear finally rolled down her left cheek. Every person in that room noticed that the lady was crying silent tears and decided it was best to let them have space. She cried her heart out. The memories coming back. Those very same memories she had worked on with her father to keep back in her unconscious mind, however, to no avail as the sight in front of her was the only trigger it needed to bring those memories forward. She was a strong lady.

No matter how terrifying those memories where, she held her ground and not once let her knees collapse. A piercing continuous singular sound filled the room and she was found no longer at the bed of her prince, but held back by 2 of the guards. Her eyes bulged open in a grimacing manner to anyone who saw her. Multiple doctors and nurses all off kinds scurried into the ward of the royal member, trying their absolute best to recover the flatline of Prince Yunho Adrian Jung.

Amidst the now chaotic emergency situation is to be heard the most primal animalistic sound no man could ever make on will. It was almost impossible. She yelled and shouted and trashed against the hold of the 2 guards. Kicking and punching and biting and scratching them to let her loose so she can hold her prince in her arms, but to no avail. In her currently emotional state, they were very much stronger than her.

“No no no please! God please no! Please God this cannot be happening! Please I beg of you please!!” she wailed.

Long gone was her composure, she collapsed onto the floor that seemed more than welcoming to swallow her up whole, as if she was a sacrifice. The medical staff were doing everything they could to bring back the Prince his beating heartbeat and all she could do was watch. In pain and in fear.

No one knew yet how long it had been.

At long last, ‘beep…beep…beep…beep’ sound was heard.

The Prince had returned! Her face lit up with much brightness and full of hope. She slowly died down her sobs and pushed the doctors away with any might left in her. Her stare never once left the prince and his face. She loved him and feared too much of losing him if she so once diverted her gaze. She managed to stand up and was beside the prince, who still had his eyes shut.

“His heart is beating again, so no matter. All is well” she thanked God. She couldn’t bring herself to hug him or touch him, in fear she would hear a second flatline, when she just managed to hold onto him.

The medical staff had settled the situation well and all seemed peaceful again. It had been a few hours since the happening and her cousins eventually caught up to her. With the help of her cousins holding her, afraid she may fall again, she made her way to the guards of the front door and sincerely apologized for the physical injury she gave them.

They accepted her apology, completely understanding how she felt. The trio sat down on the sofa of the ward, just opposite of the prince’s bed and the eldest ruffled her purse and took out an envelope. A letter. The eldest revealed to her to that the prince had been sick for a while since she and him met. Once he knew of her secrets and worries, he held his secret back from her. He hadn’t wish to bring her the same pain she once felt.

He knew how difficult the path to recover was for her. He wanted his beloved lady to only know him with happiness, joy and health, so that that will be the only thing she remembers of him. She read the letter, not noticing she was already crying the moment she saw the royal emblem of the letter. Her heart tugged at the words her prince tale his story. She hates him not. She bears no ill emotions towards her prince. She was only thankful and filled with more love for him than she thought she had.

At the last word of the letter, as she was about to settle it down on the coffee table, she hears a soft voice crying out for her, a voice she knew all too well, a voice she had missed dearly and wanted nothing more than to run to wherever it called her from, the voice of her prince that she loved,

“small flower”

and that was the only words she needed to hear, as it was long engraved in her heart, before smiling the brightest smile mankind would ever see. She hugged her prince with much joy, love and gratitude. Thanking him for coming back to her endlessly. She was his small flower and he knew he had to say something soon, but let it be not anyone disturb his hug with his beloved small flower.

Tags: @yungidreamer @vocalyunho @hanatiny @galaxteez @twancingyunhoe @little-precious-baby @seonghwaskitten @latte-fairytaekwoon @illicit-roses @yunhoiseyecandy @atzsslut @choisans-dimples @seacottons @jonghos-love @suni-ho @a-soft-hornytiny @treasure-hwa @woahhwa @shangri-woo @rvse-miingi

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↬ My other works will be listed under ‘dreamland’. (now neverland)

Net: @k-library​

[kingsuckjin]

The Enigma of Bunny |Pt.1

Pairing: Jungkook x reader, Jimin x reader, Yoongi x reader, Jin x reader, Taehyung x reader(later)

Genre: alternate universe!au, fluff, smut(later), horror, mystery

Words: 5.8k+

Warnings: eventual yandere themes, mention of mental illness, hints of possible abuse. The O.C. is so kind and naive she's basically a doormat right now and its a bit sad.

Notes: this is my first time writing on tumblr so please be kind ❤ sorry for all the mistakes

Synopsis:

You find a very sick young man in an alley and out of the bottomless barrel of kindness that is your heart, you decide take him home. only then do you realize this stranger doesn't speak, but that's not the only strange thing about him by far. Who is he? Where did he come from? What happened to him? And why can't he remember anything or even speak?

Prev // next

---

Who said rain was relaxing?

It was pouring and you couldn't be mote distraught right now, but you had done it to yourself.

You listened to the sound of the rain beating on the roof and let out a huff as you opened the refrigerator.

Yup. You were definitely missing ingredients for tonight's dinner that you had craved so desperately.

You wanted to slam the refrigerator door closed in exasperation but it wasn't really the appliance's fault you ate all the eggs for breakfast.

You paced the kitchen floor for a moment deciding whether or not just to order take out when you heard thunder roll.

No, you would feel too bad having someone deliver you food when there was a store just right up the street, plus it was definitely cheaper. It's not like a little bit of rain would kill you anyway. Not to mention you had been on your computer working and stuck inside anyway, it was about time you left the apparent, rain or shine... or terrible storm.

You donned a rain coat, rain boots and your yellow and blue polka dot umbrella before stepping out into the hall of your apartment building.

A scoff from behind you as you were double checking to make sure your door was locked.

You turned around to see your black haired, pale neighbor on his way back to his apartment.

Even though he seemed to always be irritable for no reason towards you, his eyes with their shape and upward tilt at the ends and his overall face reminded you of a cute cat.

You were snapped out of comparing his features to a feline as he looked at your umbrella and rolled his eyes.

"What?" You furrowed your brows at him. You knew he thought your umbrella was probably childish or stupid looking or something that wasn't up to his cool standards so as soon as you asked you slightly hid it behind your back a little.

"Nothing. Here’s your mail, it was overflowing and getting all wet and it looked ugly. Had I known you were coming out anyway, I would've just left it." He said and handed you the slightly damp stack of envelopes.

"Oh thank-" you went to say but he was already retreating to his apartment.

That was Min Yoongi for you though, occasionally doing nice things for you without you asking but acting like it was just a big inconvenience anyway making you wonder why he even bothered.

You headed down the stairs only to be met with another neighbor and your sort of friend, sort of crush, Jimin, who was just coming in from back outside the building as well.

"Look who finally decide to come out of their apartment! And in the worst weather of the week too." He gave you a smile as he closed his umbrella with rubber ducks all over it. It dripped water all over the tile floor and you hoped no one would slip on that later.

"Nice umbrella." You said without even a hint of sarcasm. He glanced at yours and returned the compliment.

You were just glad you didn't have to feel ashamed of your own with the bright yellow birds pattered across his.

"Yours is cute too. Hey, you want to maybe do a movie night sometime this week if you're not still too busy?" He sifted his fingers through his blonde hair with a smile. Both gestures combined along with his question were enough to make your knees feel slightly weak.

"I-uh-yeah! My place again or..."

"Yeah, that would be great. Your sofa is so much more comfortable than mine."

His sweet smile showed in his eyes and your heart melted to combine with his water puddle on the floor from his umbrella.

"I- I like my sofa too." You were nervous and scrambling to pull yourself together. He just chuckled at you and your stupidity. You were probably making this weird and you knew it would be best if you just split before you uttered anymore nonsense. "I- I'll text you later, okay? Promise." You told him and then realized you really didn't need to through the promise in there, probably.

"I'll hold you to it." He gave you a wink as he headed inside his apartment.

"Okay." You answered quietly but you knew he was already inside.

You stepped out of the doors of the apartment complex into the downpour and thunder.

You popped up your umbrella and began to walk as your thoughts were consumed by the first and last movie night you had with Jimin.

He had looked so disinterested in the movie he had picked out that near the end he was just sighing and yawning and saying he wishes he was at his house so he could just lay down, and that he was tired. So you didn't understand why he would want to make it at his house this time if he had felt so uncomfortable at yours even though he had just now told you differently.

To you he was such a confusing person with his stylish attire and yet he owned a cute little duck umbrella. You wondered how was he able to not get made fun of about his cute umbrella and you did. You wondered how often attractive people got made fun of or if people thought everything they did no matter what it was just made them more attractive.

You had to stop thinking about Jimin once you entered the store and focus on the things you needed because you'd rather starve before making a second trip out in this.

Not only did you pick up eggs but you decided on a few snacks too just to be safe from eating the ingredients to dinner again before dinner.

As you were ringing up you heard a voice behind you.

"Oh hey! I knew you looked familiar."

You took your change and turned around to see a man's chest and broad shoulders. You looked up to see the man you had a crush on all through out university... and apparently you still did.

"Oh! Hey Seokjin! It's been a few years hasn't it?" You smiled at him warmly as he smiled back at you widely with his plump lips.

How many attractive people were you going to run into today looking like you just crawled out of the gutter?

"It has! You look like you've aged quite elegantly."

Your smile almost faltered at his comment.

Aged? It had only been three years since you graduated, in fact, he was two years older than you. You did your best to try to take it as a compliment because that's what he meant by it, obviously. Right?

"Thank you! You still look really, really good." You looked him over again but realized you were very obviously checking him out. You felt like slapping yourself for saying too much like usual. Fortunately he dodged it all just like he did in the university days, blocking out completely that you were awkwardly, nervously, and unintentionally flirting with him.

"I know, I work hard to stay this handsome." You had never been able to tell if he was joking or not when he said things like that, but you had always internally agreed. "What do you do now a days?"

You felt he might be judging your sweatpants that you didn't bother to change out of for what was supposed to be a quick trip to the store. You looked at his dress pants and white button up shirt that seemed to be wet around the shoulders from the rain.

"Marketing." Was your only answer. You didn't know what else to say about your situation and you couldn't really tell him you were pretty much a shut in, now could you?

"You?" You decided to deflect the question away from yourself.

"Just... business, you know? The same boring stuff we went to school for." He replied as he paid the cashier for his things and was handed his bag.

"Are you walking too?" He was probably judging by your rain coat and you were attempting to juggle your umbrella and bags.

You nodded.

"Which way?"

You pointed to the left.

"Ahh, darn. I'm heading right. Well, it was really nice seeing you again. Maybe next time I'll have more time and it won't be raining and we can maybe catch up."

His words gave you a hopeful smile.

"That would be nice." You agreed.

"Bye Soomin!" He gave you a smile and wave as he walked the opposite direction. You raised your hand to return the wave and lifted the corners of your mouth in a smile before heading to the left.

That wouldn't have been so bad...

had Soomin been your name.

Seriously, you had been pretty good friends with him for three whole years until he graduated, how had he not remembered your name? You use to help him with his papers and everything, you've even met his parents before.

You felt a little hurt, a bit broken and even more so when you remembered Soomin was one of the many short term girls he had dated while friends with you. Seokjin had always done that. He had to know you liked him back then but he had never once spoke about it. Truthfully it wasn't even all that great being his friend because he always-

You were suddenly snapped out of your thoughts by a groaning and a strong cough coming from one of the alley ways you were about to pass right before you got to your apartment.

You peeked in worrying that maybe someone was hurt or something.

You saw sneakers poking out from the other side of a dumpster with it eclipsing the view of the person.

It was probably some poor homeless person trying to get out of the downpour but you really hoped it wasn't someone hurt or something.

You took out a little bit of money in hopes that it was just a vagrant seeking shelter and started towards the still coughing person.

He didn't look homeless, was your first thought. It was a guy only a few years looking younger than you and his jeans and t-shirt didn't look dirty or ripped or like he had worn them for days, just wet.

He sat against a brick building with his head to the side and his eyes closed. He looked sick... or drunk? You didn't see any wounds on him but you thought it might be better to just ask.

"Sir? Are you alright?"

His reply was just mutters that didn't even seem to be words with his eyes still closed not bothering to even look at you. You were beginning to get pretty convinced that he had just had one too many drinks before another terrible cough ripped from him. It had that chesty rattle to it like maybe it could be pneumonia or something.

Concerned, you knelt in front of him and looked at how pale he was but his nose and cheeks were slightly pink. His face reminded you of a poor little defenseless bunny rabbit. Water droplets ran from his soaking wet, strands of deep chestnut hair and down his face. He let out another groan and you couldn't help it anymore.

You reached forward and touched the back of your hand lightly his forehead head. Despite the cool rain on his skin, his head was burning up.

You were now very worried.

Maybe you should call the police? But you wondered if they'd even do anything. You couldn't just leave him here, right? It simply just wasn't in your nature.

You decided to try to half pack, half drag the stranger the little bit of the way left home.

The good news was, he seemed a little less out of it once you got him up off the ground, but not by much, you still had to pretty much take all his weight with his arm around you along with carry your groceries, umbrella and make sure he didn't fall.

The bad news was, he was much, much heavier than he looked and was very hard to get up the stairs to your apartment and through the door. You hoped none of your neighbors would pop on back out and witness what looked to be you kidnapping a drugged looking young man. To your first piece of luck of the day, no one saw you.

You were aching, wet, tired and sore by the time you pretty much got him to your sofa where you let go of him and let him fall back.

Once down, he was back out instantly, groaning and coughing.

You managed to put the groceries away and get some medicine down him basically by shoving it down his throat, but you had to so the fever would stop.

You then rummaged through your closet until you found a pair of pink pyjama pants that would fit his slender frame and you grabbed a thick blanket and a towel too.

You were apprehensive as you peeled his wet shirt off his fevered groaning body, it just felt so wrong. You knew you had no choice but to undress him even though he was pretty much unconscious, you had to get him out of those completely soaked clothes before he got any worse.

You looked the other direction and struggled quite a bit, mumbling a string of apologies as you did your best to keep any inappropriate areas covered with the blanket.

You had dressed and wrapped him up in a blanket before drying his hair and propping his head up on a sofa throw pillow.

"I'm so sorry for all this, but at least you can rest now out of the rain."

He seemed to sleep more peacefully now, he groaned a lot less, but you kept checking up on him as you made dinner anyway.

It felt hopeless to get him to eat or drink even just a little, he just couldn't be be awake long enough to and he didn't seem aware at all.

You forced some more medicine down him before bed and felt his head after he let out another atrocious cough. His fever felt like it was gone for now so that was a plus you guessed.

He laid there helpless and sick as guilt throttled your heart.

You simply just couldn't help but brush some hair from his closed eyes to get a better look at him.

His lips were slightly parted showing a bit of his front teeth which you pinpointed to be the reason you thought he might look like a bunny. He had a strong nose, pretty eyelashes and a freckle right under his slightly cracked lips. Not only was he cute but actually very handsome.

"I hope you bet better soon so I get to hear why you were out there in the rain like that. I'm kind of curious. Anyway, I better get to bed. I'll see you in the morning bunny boy." You said hoping he was too out of it to actually hear you before you stood and walked off towards your room.

You didn't know whether to close and lock your bedroom door or not. On one hand he was a stranger and might panic with waking up in an unknown place. But then again, what if he woke up and needed you for something or got worse in the middle of the night?

You decided to close it but leave it unlocked.

You didn't hear the footsteps throughout the house, but what woke you up was the doorknob to your room turning and the door squeaking open.

You sat up in bed disoriented for a moment but as you looked towards your door you gasped. There was a figure standing in the doorway not very well lit by the very beginning of sunrise filtering through the curtains in your bedroom.

The figure audibly gasped too.

As you looked at it for a split second longer, you remembered.

"Are- are you finally awake?" You muttered and started getting out of bed but the guy quickly took off running.

"Wait!" You called after him and raced from your bed to chase him, your feet pattered fast but still tiredly against the wood floor.

There was more light in the living room and you watched as he stood in the middle of it looking around with wide eyes like a trapped wild deer, pink pyjama pants and abs on full display.

"Its okay." You said reassuringly as you crept towards him hoping he wouldn't take off again or fight you. Your arms were out, palms facing him as if to let him know you meant no harm. "You're probably scared and I would be too. I found you nearly dead in an alley." You tried to explain but he began coughing hard again and you winced practically feeling the pain of the strength of it shaking his muscular body.

He let you tiptoe close enough to guide him by the shoulders back to the sofa and set him down. His smooth skin was beginning to feel overly warm again.

"Do you want me to get you a drink? Are you hungry?"

He just looked up at you with big brown doe eyes as you awaited his response.

"I'll- I'll just get you something anyway." You decided after a moment.

As you scoured your refrigerator, you couldn't help but think about how odd he seemed. Was he so sick he lost his voice? Maybe he was deaf? Maybe he was just scared and thought you kidnapped him?

You thought that if he thought you had kidnapped him or something wouldn't he have left already instead of waking you up? Not to mention with muscles like that he could definitely take you in a fight.

You doubted he saw you as a threat, he was just confused.

You made breakfast of pancakes for the both of you.

Juggling two plates, two glasses of milk and a bottle of syrup you went back into the living room to see him waiting patiently for you on the sofa.

You were honestly surprised he didn't just sneak away while you were cooking, you probably would've.

You handed him his food and sat down with him to see him just staring down at his plate.

"Do you not like pancakes? Is it weird I'm feeding you?" You questioned and when you spoke he looked at you with those big confused brown eyes, but he never responded.

You shrugged it off and put syrup on your pancakes before digging in.

You became very aware he was just sitting there watching you eat.

"You should eat. I promise they're good." You urged.

He picked up a pancake from the stack with his hands and with no syrup, just crammed the whole thing into his mouth.

At least he was eating now.

His cheeks comically bulged as he chewed and you'd be laughing if you didn't think that something just wasn't right again. No, it would be borderline wrong to laugh, he didn't look to be joking to you.

You had a feeling he could hear, just maybe not talk. Maybe he was mute?

You decided to test that theory later but to try not to stress him too much now. It was a miracle he was letting you even sit this close to him with how he had dashed away from you when you had woken up.

You didn't know what you were going to do with him, it was still raining outside and he had still been coughing all morning. You couldn't just release him back out into the rain, unless he wanted to go that is.

Who knows what had happened to him anyway. He was definitely a strange one.

You watched him still shoving food into his mouth with his hand and ignoring the utensils that you had provided.

You picked up your glass and took a drink with him eyeing you with this new movement. He then picked up his glass and tipped it to his face too sharply making the milk splash out from the sides and onto his face and down his bare chest.

"Oh!" You were surprised by the milk now dripping off his chin. He looked confused covered in the milk and seemed to be looking like he was wondering where he went wrong.

You felt so sympathetic towards him and you wanted to tell him it was okay and just an accident as he looked from the glass of milk back to you, but you didn't think he'd understand.

You patiently took the glass from him and set it on the coffee table before taking both empty plates to the kitchen and returning with paper towels.

You tried to hand him the paper towels so he could clean himself but he just looked at them in your hand.

You sighed and crouched down in front of him, wiping at the milk on his face and felt yourself blush as you cleaned his chest.

"All better." You looked up at him with a smile and you were surprised when he copied yours.

Your heart fluttered, it was sweet.

You quickly stood to your feet and he let out another harsh cough as you discarded the paper towel.

He picked back up the glass of milk and tried to take another drink only for him to spill it on himself again.

You sighed before going to get more paper towels and this time kept the whole roll in the room for any more accidents.

For most of the day you stayed in the living room getting some work done on your laptop while he watched whatever you had turned on for him.

He looked pretty into the drama show, just gazing at the screen with his mouth slightly parted.

You began to think about what to do with him when he got to feeling better. He obviously couldn't talk for whatever reason and doing basic everyday things were hard for him. Maybe he was mentally disabled?

You finally decided upon taking him to the police station when he got to feeling a bit better and when the weather improved.

You watched as he tilted his head at the screen as he watched a dying man in his bed with a woman taking care of him, refusing to leave his side.

"Noona, why do you care for me so much? You need to go out and live your life, not spend it on me. I'm dying, and you've done enough. Forget about me, be free." The actor said dramatically.

"I can't! I would never! I will be here until you pass. I love you!" Tears streamed down her pretty face.

He looked so enthralled in the show, did he understand what they were saying?

There was a knock at my door making the still shirtless guy jump in his seat a little and look at it with wide eyes of surprise.

I closed my laptop and got up to answer it.

"Hey!" You perked up upon seeing Jimin's lovely face.

"Hey, you never text me last night so-"

He caught a glimpse at the man on my sofa behind me.

"Oh. You're busy. I'm sorry, I'll just-"

"No! No no! That's um... that's just my cousin. He decided to make a surprise visit from Busan last night. That's why I forgot to text you."

Jimin eyed the guy in the pink pyjama bottoms. "Hey" Jimin waved to him with a friendly smile, but Jungkook didn't return it, he just looked at him with indifference.

You wondered for a split second if Jimin knew sign language before deciding against that specific lie.

"He's- hes uhh..." you leaned in and lowered your voice so only Jimin could hear. "He's special needs."

"Ohhhhh." Jimin let out along with a nod of understanding. "Well its nice you're caring for him right now. Well when does he go back to Busan?"

"Uh soon. Soon. My aunt should come get him." It was a lie, but you didn't know what else to say.

"Well text me and we can just reschedule, alright?"

You nodded.

"See you soon then." He gave a little wave.

After you closed the door you turned to look at the man on your sofa in the pink pajama bottoms with dried milk still on them.

You had to get him to get dressed... somehow.

Thankfully he was able to do so himself but unfortunately decided to do so right there in front of you when you had handed him his now clean, dry clothes he had come here in.

But at least thankfully he could go to the bathroom on his own and did so as he pleased.

He mostly just watched dramas the whole day and when you went to make some dinner he followed and just sat down on the kitchen floor and watched you like a hungry puppy.

You idly chatted to him as you cooked but of course he never responded.

"What should I call you? You won't tell me your name. You thought for a moment as you looked at him.

"I guess I'll just call you Bunny for now until I can get you to the police station and see if anyone's looking for you."

"I wonder how old you are, twenty two? Twenty three?" You now asked "I'm twenty four, you can't be too far off from my age."

When you were done you sat him at the table and you sat on the other side.

You went the extra mile and made sure his noodles were cooled just in case before setting them down in front of him.

He went to reach into the bowl with his hands. Though they weren't hot, you still felt like it was important to teach him the proper way to eat.

"Bunny, Bunny, no." Your voice stopped him. You picked up and handed him his chopsticks which he struggled with like a hard level puzzle before you saw it best to get him a fork which he still struggled with but not nearly as badly.

You had put a straw in his cup too this time and one in your own to show him how to drink from it.

It made you think about how was he eating and surviving before? How did he not know how to eat and drink but he could change himself and go to the bathroom? Did whoever care for him before feed him themselves?

"So you really like those dramas, huh?"

He glanced at you before going back to eating. "Have you always liked them?" Of course you got no response again but he did acknowledge my voice and you knew he could hear the dramas he had been watching because sometimes he would respond to what they were saying with a head tilt. He wasn't deaf, you were positive now. But did he know what you were saying?

"Bunny." You waited a moment and tested him. He looked up at you. Did he understand this was what you were calling him? He looked at you expectantly for a moment before going back to his food once again.

Okay so you figured he was smart enough to learn his nickname already.

"Bunny." You waited once more and repeated for the entertainment and to be sure. You could only smile not only as he looked at you again, but put down his fork to show you you had his attention.

"Well I guess that name stuck pretty well. How did you get it so fast? Do you understand what I'm saying?" You asked and he just looked at you before his eyes shifted around the room.

He eventually went back to eating,

You went back to your food too thinking you might be confusing him with all this testing.

After dinner he went right back to watching his dramas. When you finished working you decided you wanted to watch a movie. You thought you might scream if you were forced to over hear another over reacted out episode of whatever drama had captured his attention so much.

"Can I have the remote Bunny? You've been watching your shows all day." You held out your hand for the remote he was clutching tightly. He looked at your hand and high-fived you.

You rolled your eyes.

"No the remote." You pointed at it. He looked down at it and clutched it to his chest.

"I understand you're a guest, but I'd really like to have a turn before bed." You said and went to grab it and he jerked it away from your grasp.

"Bunny! I want to watch tv!" You almost yelled at him. He made a discontented noise of objection.

"Please?" A heavy sigh came from your chest. You were attempting to hold out on the verge of getting upset with him again. He pouted but placed the remote in your hand and looked to sulk about it.

You felt bad about it only seconds later, but this was your house, and you were so use to living alone and not having anyone to have to share things with. You really were on the verge of loosing it with all those dramas.

You flopped down next to him on the sofa and flipped through the stations until you settled on a zombie movie just getting good.

He gasped and stared wide eyed at the creatures on the screen.

When someone started to get eaten he began to yell loudly and scramble for you.

"Hey! Hey! It's okay! Its alright, Bunny!"  You comforted as he attached himself to your arm. He yelled every time there was a scary moment so you just turned it back to his dramas in defeat. Had something happened to him maybe? You had noticed he seemed so anxious all the time.

Not long after you switched the tv back to what he wanted, there was a knocking on the door making him squeal and jump in his seat again dramatically.

As you stood to answer it and he clutched onto the blankets on the sofa for dear life.

"Uhhh hey." Yoongi stood outside my door rubbing his neck.

"I heard some yelling and I wasn't asleep yet but are you okay?" He asked and I watched as his eyes flicked to Bunny on the sofa the back to me.

"Yeah, someone was just getting a bit scared. I- uh-"

He gave me a strange look.

"So your boyfriend was the one making all that noise?"

"He's not my- I don't even-" you didn't know how to explain it. "You have a second?" You asked and he gave you a confused look but nodded.

"Stay here Bunny. I'm not leaving." You told the man on the sofa before stepping out into the hall and closing your apartment door behind you.

Yoongi was probably going to judge you and you knew it already, but you needed advice and it was better than asking your crush.

"I don't know him." You whispered.

His eyebrows shot up.

"What do you mean you don't know him? Why is some random guy you don't know in your apartment?" He was rightfully a bit shocked and you began to explain to him the story making him sigh once you were done.

"So he's like special needs and you felt bad? He could be violent for all you know. Why haven't you been to the police? Was it just because the rain and him being sick?" He was obviously trying to understand.

"I don't know but its supposed to be nice tomorrow, I'm taking him then. I don't know, but he acts like he didn't even know how to eat." You told him and watch his brows lift in shock once more.

"I'm kind of scared to find out where he was from, what if they didn't treat him so well? You know? What if something traumatic happened to him."

"Why do you care so much? You don't know him." Yoongi said rather bluntly but you shrugged.

"I just do I guess. I care about a lot of stupid stuff."

"I noticed." He muttered. "Listen, you can't just keep him though like a pet, hes probably got family. Taking him to the police station is the right thing to do."

"Yeah, I know."

"Well let me know how it turns out."

"Oh! If you see Jimin from downstairs in 3A and he brings up my cousin from Busan just... I told him... I had to lie. This is kind of a weird situation, you know?"

"Why would you care enough to make up a lie about it?" Yoongi scoffed.

"I- I just kind of like him so..." You admitted as you fiddled with your fingers. "Anyway, thanks for the advice and understanding."

"Yeah, if you need help with anything or whatever I guess... like I just live right there. Or like if he decides to go full crazy and hack you up tonight or something..."

"Uhh thanks?" You furrowed your brows trying not yo imagine that scenario.

"Yeah. I'll see you later. Good luck with uh, him." He said and he walked back off next door.

There was a knock from the inside of apartment and you opened the door to see Bunny standing on the other side. You headed back in locking it back up behind you.

After a little bit he looked to be nodding off on the sofa so you left the tv on and headed to bed.

Once you got into bed though Yoongi's dark words about Bunny hacking you up played in your head.

You decided that if the stranger wanted to kill you already he probably would've, not to mention he couldn't even drink from a cup properly let alone possibly murder someone. To you Bunny seemed kind, he had big, gentle eyes, a warm smile and the cutest teeth you had ever seen, and that's what reassured you enough to sleep.

"Noona?" You were startled awake in your pitch dark room.

"Noona."

You had never heard the voice before but it was soft and sweet.

Who was this noona? Was this the sound of Bunny still watching tv?

Why did the voice sound like it was in the room with you?

"Noona." You looked around to see Bunny standing just feet from your bed.

Was he speaking?

You couldn't understand for a moment and just looked at the dark silhouette, unable to see his face.

His voice was so sweet, soft and gentle like a breeze.

You attempted to shake off your awe struck demeanor to get back to the fact he was waking you up for some reason.

"What is it? What's wrong?" You pushed your blankets off you and sat up in concern.

He took a gentle hold of your arm with his warm hands large enough to completely encircle your wrist, and led you from your bed and off through your apartment.

[dustedmagazine]

Jennifer Kelly 2020: I’m done expecting next year to be better

Not to belabor the point, which has been covered everywhere, but 2020 sucked. My last live concert was on March 7th. It was 75 Dollar Bill in a beautiful reconfigured industrial space on the Amherst College campus, and I already had questions about whether I should be there or not. The show was worth it, absolutely riveting, and no one I know got sick from it, but a couple of weeks later, Amherst College shut down and then, basically, the world.

When I think about 2020, I think about bands that don’t fully make sense unless you see them live, and how, this year, no one got to see them live. I think about musicians who were barely making it before, now cut off from concert revenues and, in a lot of cases, day jobs at restaurants, coffee shops and bars. I think about six-digit medical bills from multi-week COVID-19 treatments, and how my insurance will only cut that to low five figures. I think about the constant spew of bile and nonsense, the willful destruction of American institutions and the persistent sense that we will never recover from any of this, and I look for refuge.

Most of the time in music. Because the music kept coming even when everything else shut down. Even the artists who were holding back for better conditions ended up releasing EVERY ALBUM ON EARTH starting about September 18th. There was always music, good music, interesting music, beautiful music, and while that doesn’t compensate for a terrible year, it was something.

Here are 10 albums I loved best from 2020, with links to reviews or other articles I’ve written about them.

1. Gunn-Truscinski — Soundkeeper (Three Lobed)

Soundkeeper by Gunn-Truscinski Duo

A gorgeous exploration of mood and tone, this double CD set includes two extended live cuts and ten more recorded just down the road in Easthampton, Massachusetts. (And I thought nothing ever happened up here.) “Pyramid Merchandise” punches the hardest, John Truscinski balancing rock solid beat keeping with abstracted sculptures of percussive experiment, while Gunn finds the sweetness and the growl in his blues-touched guitar sound. But “Ocean City” is pure lovely respite, with big rounded notes dropping slowly and with grace through wavering transparencies of sustained tone. Long, searching, “Soundkeeper” will rekindle your longing for live improvised music, while the closer ���For Eddie Hazel” vibrates with supercharged intensity, the notes and the steady rhythm too bright and beautiful to look at straight on.

2. Six Organs of Admittance — Companion Rises (Drag City)

Companion Rises by Six Organs of Admittance

Chasny imbues the down-home with wonder and the inexplicable with natural grace in this album inspired by stargazing. The album’s name references the way Sirius appears close to Orion, and the rollicking “The Scout Is Here,” commemorates the appearance of the Oumuamua asteroid, but this is no squiggle-y space opera. The music is mainly made of clean, all-natural picking, blues bends, and rambling jangle, though ruptured, periodically, by rushing, whooshing, amplified electronic sounds. Warm, simple clarity is tipped with awe in finger-picked “Black Tea,” while mists and mysteries predominate in evanescent “Worn Down to the Light,” but the joy comes in the balance between the ordinary and the unknowable shimmering like stars in a black sky.

3. Gil Scott-Heron and Makaya McCraven — We’re New Again (XL Recordings)

When the estate of Gil Scott-Heron asked Chicago composer, percussionist and hip hop chopper Makaya McCraven to reimagine the artist’s last, most personal album, McCraven jumped at the chance to tackle its themes of black struggle, black family and perseverance. McCraven surrounded Scott-Heron’s words with shimmering, post-jazz arrangements that incorporated some of his father’s recordings (his dad is jazz drummer Stephen McCraven) in an ongoing tribute to the blood relatives who shape and equip young black men for a challenging world. The music is wonderful, very different from the original, spare, blues-based arrangements, but they open out the master’s words in an illuminating way. I like, especially, the hustling, shuffling movement of “New York Is Killing Me,” which summons the city’s energy as clearly as the feel of heat rising out of a subway grate in August.

4. Obnox — Savage Raygun (Ever/Never)

Savage Raygun by Obnox

Obnox’s psychedelic mayhem roars like a California wildfire, setting a torch to rock, soul, hip hop, jazz and punk with fuzz-crusted abandon. Icons like Hawkwind flare out and curl into white-hot ash, while even Neil Young’s lick from “Southern Man,” is consumed in the all-encompassing heat of Lamont Thomas’ onslaught (“Young Neezy”). A double album, Savage Raygun covers a lot of ground, but in such a kinetic rush that it seems like one entity that stretched from end to end.

5. Anjimile — Giver Taker (Father/Daughter)

Giver Taker by Anjimile

Anjimile sounds beautifully comfortable with their new vocal range in this second full-length, which follows a gender transition. Pitched low and warm, their voice effortlessly navigates subtle melodies, integrating complex, African-leaning rhythms into songs about love, identify, family friction and the possibility of redemption through embracing one’s authentic self.

6. Osees — Protean Threat (Castleface)

Protean Threat by Oh Sees

John Dwyer has fronted bands called The O.Cs., The Ohsees, Thee Ohsees and now just Osees, evolving from a one-man bedroom pop outfit to a gleefully slopping garage pop project to a droning, krautrocking motoric monster along the way. This newest iteration takes a little of this, a little of that, from the repertoire, putting Dwyer’s best Bo Diddley-esque stomper in years (“If I Had My Way”) next to a wiggy psychedelic freak bomb called “Toadstool” which is adjacent to the dub-scented, narcotic head trip called “Gong of Catastrophe.” The mix works because Dwyer and his band commit to all of it, sequentially and within tracks. It’s the best Osees in years, all the good things in one package.

7. Sam Amidon — S-T (Nonesuch)

As always, Amidon starts with traditional, mostly folk and blues material and, as always, he transforms it into something more adventurous, spiritual and faintly otherworldly. With Shahzad Ismaily and Antibalas’ Chris Vatalaro to back him up, he breaks down the unyielding contours of pre-modern banjo tunes and porch blues, finding steady drones and complex afro-beat syncopations in their steady melodies. You can hear “Cuckoo Bird” a million times in a million different voices and never hear it as luminous and open-ended as here.

8. James Elkington — Ever Roving Eye (Paradise of Bachelors)

James Elkington is always pressed for time, maybe because he works regularly for so many other people’s bands (Richard Thompson, Jeff Tweedy, Spencer Tweedy) and collaborates with others (Steve Gunn). And yet his second solo album brims with balm and solace; he finds time in the interstices between warm, jazz-scented, Pentangle-esque verses and intricate flurries of picked and strummed and electric guitar. Even “Nowhere Time,” which exhorts “It is time for you to move,” has an ease and calm to it, while “Moon Tempering” is as still and lovely as winter starlight. Ever-Roving Eye is an album that assures us we’ll get it all done somehow, but just stop for a minute and listen.

9. Jehnny Beth — To Love Is To Live (Arts & Crafts)

This riveting solo debut from the Savages frontperson is both quieter and more intense than her full-band compositions, juxtaposing incendiary spoken word with the hedonistic thump of the dance floor. Guests are varied—Joe Talbot of IDLES at one pole, the actor Cillian Murphy at the other—but the music never drifts from Jehnny Beth’s singular viewpoint. Compare her to PJ Harvey or Beth Gibbons or Bobby Gillespie as you will (I did), but this is her 100%, and there’s nothing else like it.

10. Cable Ties — Far Enough (Merge)

Far Enough by Cable Ties

Australia churns out quality punk bands like the Hershey factory makes kisses, and Cable Ties, formed in Melbourne by four young rebels, ranks as one of the best to surface here in America this year. “Tell Them Where to Go” is the money track here, all rust-crusted bass crunch and ragged estrogenated vocal energy. But let’s not put them in the “girl band” ghetto. As I said in my review, “The easy thing would be to compare McKechnie’s vibrato-zinging vocals with those of Sleater-Kinney’s Corin Tucker or her verbal agility to Courtney Barnett, but the blunt force and agile violence of the music, brings to mind post-punk bands like the Wipers, Protomartyr and Eddy Current.”

Honorable mention

I also really enjoyed these albums in 2020.

Lewsberg — In this House (12XU)

Damien Jurado — What’s New Tomboy (Mamabird)

Bill Callahan — Gold Record (Drag City)

Mike Polizze — Long Lost Solace Find (Paradise of Bachelors)

Destroyer — Have We Met (Merge)

Decoy w/ Joe McPhee — AC/DC (otoROKU)

Thurston Moore — By the Fire (Daydream Library)

Tobin Sprout — Empty Horse (Fire)

FACS — Void Moments (Trouble in Mind)

Elkhorn — The Storm Sessions (Beyond Beyond Is Beyond)  

Howling Hex — Knuckleball Express (Fat Possum)

Wendy Eisenberg — Auto (BaDaBing)

Xetas — The Cypher (12XU)

Califone — Echo Mine (Jealous Butcher)

Chouk Bwa & The Ångströmers — Vodou Alé (Bongo Joe)

Shopping — All or Nothing (Fat Cat)

Bonny Light Horseman — S-T (37d03d)

Tashi Dorji — Stateless (Drag City)

The Slugs — Don’t Touch Me I’m Too Slimy (2214099 Records DK)

Dr. Pete Larson and his Cytotoxic Nyatiti Band — S-T (Dagonetti)

[retro-roulette]

Retro Roulette #80: Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (SNES, 1994)

A long, long time ago...25 years ago, to be exact:

The 90s were a great time for adding “Super” to the names of things to indicate they were better than other things - you had Super Metroid, the Super Soaker, and the Christian ska band the O.C. Supertones:

This was especially true in the case of feel like about a quarter of my SNES library starts with the word “Super” - there are seriously so many of them. An entire trilogy of those “Super” games was based on the original Star Wars trilogy. Each one generally follows the plot of the game on which it is based, with a mix of platforming and Mode 7 shooter/racing levels. The games do a good job of feeling like Star Wars - the presentation is very good, down to the opening title scrolls:

Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi is, as you’d expect, the last in the series. It seems to have tried to learn a bit from its predecessors in a number of ways - the Empire adaptation is notoriously difficult, to a rather extreme degree. This one tones things down quite a bit (though it’s still pretty unforgiving at times). Because it’s later in the series, Luke also starts the game with a lightsaber and some cool force powers - in Super Star Wars, it takes several levels to get these, making the opening ones a bit uninteresting. Jedi also has some really sweet and intense boss battles, such as this one against some sort of frog guy:

One of my favorite thigs about this game is that there are several different characters you can play as, and that each level has a different group to choose from. For instance, you can play as Leia on Tattooine, or as Han Solo when traversing the Sarlacc Pit...

...but when the time comes to fight the Emperor, there’s just one choice:

That fight absolutely sucks, by the way. While I can’t deny that they’re cool and enjoyable, I feel like the games in this series, Jedi included, struggle to make the leap from “good” to “great.” While the level of action and variety in the levels is great, the Mode 7 stuff feels noticeably weaker overall, in part due to some serious framerate issues when there’s a lot going on (this is an issue in some other levels as well, but it’s worst in the Mode 7 stuff).

The levels are also sometimes utterly huge, which is a bit of a double-edged...er, lightsaber. In some instances, I was shocked at the vertical size of a level - I’d slip off a small platform and begin to fall, certain that I’d eventually just die, only to find that there’s a lower area 10 screens down that I can traverse instead. It’s fun to explore some of these areas, though with the game’s overall difficulty it can also be quite frustrating to have to start a big level over.

If you’re a Star Wars fan, or just want to try some interesting and challenging platformers, this is certainly a series that’s worth checking out. I recommend starting with the original Super Star Wars and taking it from there - Jedi is a solid starting point as well if that’s the one you come across. They’re all pretty affordable, too, since the whole trilogy was re-released near the end of the SNES’s lifespan. Nintendo released a “million seller” version of Super Star Wars in 1996, while THQ re-released the other two to coincide with the theatrical release of the “Special Editions” a year later. You know those, the ones that everyone liked?

Oh, right. Maybe they should’ve just put “Super” in front of the titles.

Next week’s game also has “Super” in its title, though it’s much, much older nd simpler than all of this weird ‘90s nonsense. See you then!

[jennaschererwrites]

How TV Is Putting the ‘B’ in LGBTQ — And Why It Matters – Rolling Stone

“Mom. Dad. I know you don’t want to talk about this, but I do. I might get married to a man, like you so clearly want. And I might not. Because this is not a phase, and I need you to understand that. I’m bisexual.” That’s Rosa Diaz (Stephanie Beatriz), Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s resident no-nonsense detective, pouring out her heart to her parents in the show’s landmark 100th episode. To which her dad (Danny Trejo) stoically replies, “There’s no such thing as being bisexual.”

Beatriz, who is bisexual herself, wrote in GQ: “When does it end? When do you get to stop telling people you’re bi? When do people start to grasp that this is your truth? …When do you start seeing yourself reflected positively in all (hey, even any?) of the media you consume?”

There’s a real cognitive dissonance to identity erasure. You can be standing right in front of someone telling them exactly who you are, and they can just look right through you, and intone, like a Westworld robot, “That doesn’t look like anything to me.” Nevertheless, it’s a daily reality for LGBTQ folks, and bi- and pansexual people in particular. (The term pansexuality, which has come into wider use in recent years, intends to explicitly refer to attraction to all genders, not just cisgender people — or, as self-identified pansexual Janelle Monae put it in Rolling Stone last year: “I consider myself to be a free-ass motherfucker.” However, many in the queer community define bisexuality the same way. You can read more about that conversation here.) Until recently, sexual and gender identities that existed outside the binary have been anathema to mainstream culture — and often, even, to more traditionalist branches of gay culture.

For a long time, people who identify as bisexual or pansexual didn’t have a whole lot of visible role models — particularly on television. But as our understanding of the LGBTQ spectrum has become more diverse and nuanced over time, there’s been a blossoming of bi- and pansexual representation. In the past few years, characters such as Rosa on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, David Rose on Schitt’s Creek, Darryl Whitefeather on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and Leila on The Bisexual — to name just a few — have been at the forefront of a bi- and pansexual renaissance on the small screen.

But it wasn’t always this way. Even after television began to centralize gay characters and their experiences — on shows like Ellen, Will & Grace, Queer as Folk, and The L Word — the “B” in that alphabet soup fell to the wayside. Bisexuality was seldom mentioned at all, and if it was, it existed chiefly as a punch line — an easy ba-dum-CHING moment for savvy characters to nose out someone who wasn’t as in the know as they were. On Sex and the City, Carrie Bradshaw called bisexuality “a layover on the way to Gaytown”; and on 30 Rock, Liz Lemon dismissed it as “something they invented in the Nineties to sell hair products.”

Even some of the earliest shows to break ground for queer representation didn’t factor bisexuality or pansexuality into their worldviews. The designation basically didn’t exist in the gay-straight binary world of Queer as Folk, and was largely seen as a phase on The L Word. Buffy the Vampire Slayer gave many TV viewers their first-ever depiction of a same-sex relationship in 1999 with the Wicca-fueled romance between Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan) and Tara Maclay (Amber Benson), but the show too neatly glossed over Willow’s years-long relationship with her boyfriend Oz (Seth Green) as a fleeting step on the way to full-time lesbianism. Or, as Willow succinctly put it in Season 5: “Hello! Gay now!”

Characters who labeled themselves as bisexual were considered to be confused at best and dangerously promiscuous at worst. On The O.C. in 2004, Olivia Wilde’s bi bartender character, Alex Kelly, appeared as a destabilizing force of chaos in the lives of the show’s otherwise straight characters. On a 2011 episode of Glee — a show which, at the time, was breaking ground for gay representation on TV — Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer) savagely shot down his crush, Blaine (Darren Criss), when Blaine mentioned that he might be bi: “‘Bisexual’ is a term that gay guys in high school use when they want to hold hands with girls and feel like a normal person for a change.” By the end of the episode, Blaine assures Kurt that he is, don’t you worry, “100 percent gay.”

One of TV’s first enduring portrayals of nonbinary sexual attraction came with the entrance of Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) into Russell T. Davies’ 2005 Doctor Who reboot. (Davies also created the original U.K. Queer as Folk.) The time traveler swashbuckled into the series to equal-opportunity flirt with the Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) and his companion Rose (Billie Piper), because, as the Doctor explains, “He’s a 51st-century guy. He’s just a bit more flexible.” Captain Jack went on to feature in his own spinoff series, Torchwood.

Then came Callie Torres on Grey’s Anatomy. Portrayed by Sara Ramirez (who came out as bisexual herself in 2016), Callie had a seasons-long arc that spanned from her burgeoning realization of her bisexuality in 2008 to her complex relationships with both men and women over the years. Callie’s drunken rant from the 11th season would make a great T-shirt to wear to Pride if it weren’t quite so long: “So I’m bisexual! So what? It’s a thing, and it’s real. I mean, it’s called LGBTQ for a reason. There’s a B in there, and it doesn’t mean ‘badass.’ OK, it kind of does. But it also means bi!”

Once the 2010s rolled around, representation began to pick up steam. True Blood’s Tara Thornton (Rutina Wesley), The Legend of Korra’s titular hero (Janet Varney), Game of Thrones’ Oberyn Martell (Pedro Pascal), The Good Wife’s Kalinda Sharma (Archie Panjabi), and Peep Show’s Jeremy Usborne (Robert Webb) all were portrayed in romantic relationships on both sides of the binary. But these characters’ sexual orientations were seldom given a name.

In some cases, this felt quietly revolutionary. On post-apocalyptic CW drama The 100, for example, set a century and change in the future, protagonist Clarke Griffin (Eliza Taylor) is romantically involved with both men and women with no mention of labels. Because on the show’s nuclear fallout-ravaged earth, humankind has presumably gotten over that particular prejudice. On other series, however, not putting a name to the thing seems like a calculated choice. Take Orange Is the New Black, a show that has broken a lot of barriers but steadfastly avoids using the B-word to describe its clearly bisexual central character, Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling).

A few years ago, though, tectonic plates began to shift. On Pop TV sitcom Schitt’s Creek, David Rose (co-creator Dan Levy) explained his pansexuality to his friend via a now-famous metaphor: “I do drink red wine. But I also drink white wine. And I’ve been known to sample the occasional rosé. And a couple summers back, I tried a merlot that used to be a chardonnay.”

Bisexuality got its literal anthem on the CW’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend with “Gettin’ Bi,” a jubilant Huey Lewis & the News-style number sung by Darryl Whitefeather (Pete Gardner) about waking up to his latent bisexuality as a middle-aged man. “It’s not a phase, I’m not confused / Not indecisive, I don’t have the gotta-choose blues,” he croons, dancing in front of the bi pride flag. Darryl’s exuberant ode to his identity felt like someone levering a window open in a musty room — a celebration of something that, less than a decade before, TV was loathe to acknowledge.

For Hulu and the U.K.’s Channel 4, Desiree Akhavan (Appropriate Behavior, The Miseducation of Cameron Post) cowrote, directed, and starred in a series picking apart the subject, titled, aptly, The Bisexual. In it, Akhavan portrays Leila, a thirtysomething woman coming to a dawning awareness of her bisexuality after having identified as a lesbian for most of her life. The show navigates the tricky territory that bisexuals inhabit when they’re misunderstood — or sometimes outright rejected — by queer and straight communities alike. Akhavan, a bisexual Iranian-American woman, has said the idea for the show came to her after repeatedly hearing herself described as a “bisexual director.” She told Vanity Fair that “there was something about being called a bisexual publicly — even though it’s 100 percent true! — that felt totally humiliating and in bad taste, and I wanted to understand why.”

As Leila shuttles her way between sexual partners and fields tone-deaf comments from friends on both sides of the binary, The Bisexual offers no easy answers. But it also never flinches. “I’m pretty sure bisexuality is a myth. That it was created by ad executives to sell flavored vodka,” Leila remarks in the first episode, unconsciously echoing 30 Rock’s throwaway joke from a decade ago. Except this time, the stakes — and the bi person in question — are real.

The next generation — younger millennials and Gen Z kids in particular — tends to view sexualityas a spectrum rather than the distance between two poles. Akhavan neatly encompasses this evolution in an exchange between Leila and her male roommate’s twentysomething girlfriend, Francisca (Michèlle Guillot), who questions why Leila is so terrified to tell anyone that she’s started sleeping with men as well as women. When Leila tells her it’s complicated because it’s “a gay thing,” Francisca responds, “So? I’m queer.” “Everyone under 25 thinks they’re queer,” says Leila. “And you think they’re wrong?” Francisca counters. Leila considers this for a moment before answering, “No.”

Representation matters, and here’s why: Seeing who you are reflected in the entertainment you take in gives you not just validation for your identity, but also a potential road map for how you might navigate the world. For many years, bi- and pansexuals existed in a liminal place where we were often dismissed outright by not just the straight community — but the queer community as well. Onscreen representation is not just a matter of showing us something we’ve never seen before, but of making the invisible visible, of drawing a new picture over what was once erased.

[packerfansam-blog]

Just about everything about this list is spot-on, God bless.

‘Game of Thrones’ should have been listed at number one, but even still. It addresses the unjust and nonsensical plot twists for characters like Daenerys Targaryen and Jaime Lannister.  And other things like the apparent total ignoring/abandonment of several events in the series leading up to the last season.

‘Killing Eve’ could have had a truly fascinating and enjoyable final season. The premise of Villanelle finding her faith could have made for a very interesting dynamic, and where the previous season ended for the main characters had true potential for a really exciting conclusion. Instead, the show (unintentionally or not) seemed to end up going for ‘gotcha’ blasphemy, falling back on cliches, making at least one or two previously great characters rather unenjoyable, culminating in an abrupt and depressing ending.

‘Gossip Girl’ went from being at its best with the introduction of the Dair storyline before taking a complete nosedive into being overall garbage. Including but not limited to a rush back to Chair-centric plots. And the premise of Dan being GG still makes no coherent sense.

By the end, ‘Gilmore Girls’ had in many ways become a drag and Rory, once a very likable character, was thoroughly disliked. And he behavior carried over into the follow-up limited series. Which is probably even more annoying because she was older, more experienced and should know better by that point.

‘The O.C.’ should never have done away with Marissa. And the writers never should have thought that Taylor would be suitable replacement as a love interest for Ryan, or in the group dynamic overall. Not to mention that the final season was actually quite insulting at times of the grieving process and of people who cannot bounce back after losing somebody they love in a time frame that others dictate and have no business doing so.

I actually didn’t mind the end of ‘Lost’ as much as some others did. Though I strongly believe that the dog should have been with the group in their closing moments of the show.

https://www.cbr.com/best-drama-shows-dropped-bad-final-season/

[lindyhunt]

The Best On-Screen New Year’s Eve Looks to Inspire you Before the Big Night

Say what you will about New Year’s Eve (It’s expensive! It’s overrated! It’s not worth the hype!), but if there’s one thing it’s undeniably good for, it’s pulling out all the stops, style-wise. What other holiday provides the perfect excuse to stock up on all things sparkly? What other occasion actively encourages wearing glitter in your hair? Whether you’re spending this year’s countdown swaddled in a blanket on your couch or packed onto a dance floor with a crowd full of strangers, there’s no better time to be exceptionally overdressed and bedazzled.

Another perk that comes with dressing up for New Year’s Eve? There’s no shortage of style inspiration out there from the big (and small) screen. Click through for our favourite New Year’s Eve looks from TV and film.

1/10

new years eve on-screen looks

Sally Albright in When Harry Met Sally

It’s an unfortunate truth that most of us could spend hours tirelessly wrapping our hair around the barrel of a 3/8 inch iron and still not look as cool as Meg Ryan. Those spiral curls paired with a peachy lip and off-the-shoulder gown might not be look we think of when it comes to When Harry Met Sally (hey, it’s hard to compete with that deli scene), but it’s still nothing to scoff at.

2/10

new years eve on-screen looks

Fran Kubelik in The Apartment

Shirley MacLaine’s character spends most of her time onscreen in The Apartment clad in boyish collared blouses and prim buttoned-up jackets, but it’s the styling in her final scene that steals the show (can we talk about that coat?). We could watch the flirty delivery of her famous last line on an endless loop—the only thing cheekier is that choppy pixie cut and fluttery lashes.

3/10

new years eve on-screen looks

Robin Scherbatsky from How I Met Your Mother

It’s not until the later seasons of HIMYM that Robin’s personal style really comes into its own. We start seeing her in sleek, tailored ensembles that perfectly match her no-nonsense personality. Maybe that’s why catching Robin in all her mid-aughts glory—the awkwardly layered haircut, the shiny purple frock—is sort of charming. Granted, it also helps that this episode contains one of those rare moments where she’s not ripping Ted’s heart to pieces.

4/10

new years eve on-screen looks

Carrie Bradshaw in the Sex and the City movie

Leave it to Carrie to somehow make a night spent in front of the TV look like the most glamorous New Year’s Eve activity possible. From slurping back ramen while decked out in layered strands of pearls to hitting the streets of NYC in a massive fur coat, sky-high heels, and silky pajamas, it’s all classic Bradshaw (right down to the hat that makes her head look like a disco ball).

5/10

new years eve on-screen looks

Linda Mason in Holiday Inn

Giving us all unrealistic standards for New Year’s Eve since 1942: Linda Mason (played by Marjorie Reynolds), who kicked off the New Year hanging out with Bing Crosby and dancing the night away with Fred Astaire. Considering that it’s a sort of unspoken law of fashion that every New Year’s outfit isn’t complete without glitter, hers has to be the mother of all New Year’s Eve gowns.

6/10

new years eve on-screen looks

Linda Seton from Holiday

It doesn’t get any better than watching Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant dancing into the New Year to the soft tinkling of a music box. Add that black dress, red lip, perfectly groomed brows, and brushed-out curls to the mix and you’ve got the strongest case in history for sticking with a classic look on New Year’s Eve. We can even get behind the oddly draped ribbon on her shoulder—the whole look is just that flawless.

7/10

new years eve on-screen looks

Monica Geller from Friends

The piecey high ponytail. The beaded gold (or is it brown?) tank top. The multiple chokers. The flared black jeans. The chunky heeled boots. Could Monica’s look be any more aggressively ’90’s? Regardless of your feelings on the retro trend, take note: if there’s one style lesson to be learned here, it’s that a good New Year’s Eve outfit is, first and foremost, made for dancing.

8/10

new years eve on-screen looks

Rachel from About a Boy

First: take a moment to recover from the fact that Rachel Weisz has seemingly not aged a day since this scene was filmed over ten (ten!) years ago. Second: appreciate the glory of Rachel’s prom-style updo and glitter-covered gown that looks not unlike a wearable version of a Christmas tree ornament. Third: try your hardest not to secretly wish that you could have a meet cute with Hugh Grant at a New Year’s Eve party.

9/10

new years eve on-screen looks

Norma Desmond from Sunset Boulevard

While Gloria Swanson’s character might not have the best approach to snagging a kiss at midnight (we’re guessing tricking your date into attending a party that doesn’t exist still won’t fly in 2016), we can definitely get behind her more-is-more approach to New Year’s Eve style. If you’re looking to copy Norma’s look, her general M.O. seems to go a little something like this: when in doubt, add more diamonds.

10/10

new years eve on-screen looks

Marissa Cooper in The O.C.

If you consider yourself a millennial and have ever felt vaguely disappointed in the outcome of your New Year’s Eve festivities, there’s a 90% chance you can blame it on having watched the famous O.C. countdown scene. While Ryan’s swoon-inducing kiss tends to make everything else in this episode feel unimportant (albeit rightfully so), you’ve gotta give beauty credit where it’s due. Marissa’s sleek French twist ponytail hybrid is a serious departure from her signature surfer girl hair and it somehow still works.

[martynamic]

THE OTTERS CAMPAIGN

SCRIPT

EXT. FOREST

Start with rustling sounds heard from two otters who are trying to get the camera working. Screen goes on and off from completely black to moving images of the forest. As otters are struggling with the camera…

MAIN OTTER:

         Keep it still!

As camera goes to sides a few more times it evens out and we can see clearer image of a MAIN OTTER close to the screen.

MAIN OTTER:

         Is it working?

Camera pans away from the otter as they move further to the background. Main otter is fully seen on screen. They climb up on the big rock and starts talking with its little paws moving around as they do.

MAIN OTTER:

This is to all people out there who think that they can just ruin our lives and get away with it without consequences. We decided to create our own campaign so that it would be easier for you people to understand. We are ready to do anything to save our species! Do you know that all of your trash and nasty chemicals that you dumb in the river doesn’t disappear? It all accumulates here and ruin our lives! We’ll prove you that we , the otters, need help. Here I’ll show you.

Main otter moves closer to the camera as the camera moves and we cut to black. Sounds of walking through leaves and grass are heard. Then camera turns back on to reveal…

EXT. RIVER

Background of a narrow river with otters swimming in it and walking on the shore or on rocks. Main otter moves on screen and points at the river.

MAIN OTTER:

Our river, our home supposed to be so much bigger, but because of dam construction and drainage of wetlands that you people are responsible for, our river might completely disappear. But rivers getting smaller is by far not the only problem.

Main otter moves further to the river and disappears behind the rocks. Camera follows it. We cut to black with footsteps heard in the background. Then camera turns on again with a closer view to the river with main otter on the shore looking at the camera. Camera pans closer to the otter and river. There’s a lot of different kinds of trash on the shore and in water. Main otter pulls out a plastic bottle.

MAIN OTTER:

Look at this! River is full of trash dumped by people! Do you know what plastic does to our river? It depletes dissolved oxygen in the water. And because of all of that there’s less fish  of which mainly eels and salmonids, our main source of life! Every year there’s less fish because of how polluted the water is. But let me show you how it really is…

EXT. UNDER WATER

Cut to otters swimming under water with all the trash in the way. As camera is swimming showing otters…

MAIN OTTER

And that’s how we suppose to live every day.

As big bottle blocks the screen we cut to…

EXT. NEAR THE OTTERS NEST

Family of otters with mom otter, holing one of her little children, vide on screen with her little children otters in the back near their nest.

MOM OTTER (in a worried voice):

It’s hard to feed all of my babies since there’s much more otters living around. I don’t know if there will be enough fish for everyone in the future especially if river will still be dirty like that.

MAIN OTTER O.C

So as you can see, it is not easy for everyone.

Cut to the river bank, camera pans closer to water where an otter comes out of the water on shore. Their fur is all dirty with black substance (oil). As camera is kept observing the otter…

 EXT. NEAR THE RIVER

MAIN OTTER O.C

Although rubbish in water cause a lot of trouble it’s not the only way you people pollute our water. There’s oils and chemicals appearing in water as well.

Camera cuts to black then cut back to show an otter who just came out of water all dirty.

DIRTY OTTER:

This is nonsense! Water is no place for dumbing all of this nasty waste in! Do people realize that they use this water too? We are not the only ones affected by this. They will poison us and then themselves!

 Then cut to very ill looking otter

 EXT.  ON THE ROCKS

ILL OTTER:

Water is nowhere near to how it should be. I’m not even 3 years old, but I already feel like an old otter. This poisoned water completely ruined me. And it’s not only me there’s lots of otters who struggle from the same fate.

Cut to black. Then camera turns on following the main otter from the back along the river bank.

EXT. RIVER BANK

MAIN OTTER:

So you see, the water is so polluted that almost every otter gets a disease from it and dies at an early age. And we can’t do anything about it. See for yourself…

Camera cuts to black then cut to the shore where river ends. Camera pans closer to the several dead bodies of otters laying on the ground, there’s pieces of rubbish around it as well. As we move through this scene…

MAIN OTTER O.C.

As you can see because of your rubbish that you dumb into our water without thinking many otters lose their lives. And most of the time very, very early. Most of us can’t even survive 5 years when normally we should live for about 15.

Cut to different background with similar view. Main otter is on screen as well.

MAIN OTTER

I’m sure that there’s different ways of getting rid of the waste that humans can use without harming the environment and ruining our lives. The worst thing is that you people do this without thinking and knowing of what you actually do to the lives of other species. By poisoning water you not only ruin only our lives, but also your own since we all need water to survive.

Rustling sound is heard coming from the background. Main otter reacts with quick head movement towards the sound. Camera moves to that side as well showing some bushes.

MAIN OTTER O.C.

What was that?!

As sound is becoming louder. Then camera is dropped with screen tilted on side. We see two otters giving last glance to the direction that sound is coming from.

MAIN OTTER:

Run!

Then two otters quickly runs away as camera view gets distorted and then cuts to black.

THE END

[snowmadien]

Secret Dragon

A/N HI @darkmagicianknight I am your Secret Santa! I hope you enjoy this Fraxus one shot! I am so sorry it is a bit late, please forgive me and enjoy! I have never written Fraxus much less any m/m pairing so please forgive me if anyone sounds a bit O.C I tried to capture them and make them, them in this story.

Pairing: Fraxus

Rating: PG 

Word Count: 2911

Secret Dragon

Laxus looked down at the paper not sure whether to be secretly happy or a bit annoyed that once again Mira had rigged this year’s Secret Santa. He didn’t know how she how she did it or how that every year she still is in charge of doing the Secret Santa but somehow she did it.

Mira had an innocent smile as the floated around the room holding out the hat which contained the names. He saw both happy and embarrassed red faces when someone pulled a name out of the hat.

He looked down then quickly shut his hands again as the scarlet red cursive name flashed in his mind.

Freed Justine.

For the past three years, Laxus had been secretly harboring feelings for the dark rune mage but wasn’t sure if Freed held the same feelings from him. Yes, it was clear to him that Freed had long admired and respected but wasn’t sure if that meant he likes Laxus in another way.

Sighing he stood up and took the back entrance out of the guild hall; he better start looking for a gift since Christmas was in a few weeks. He thought for a moment of what to get Freed. A light pen would be nice, but he knew that Freed already had a drawer full of them and did get the recent model as well. A book but what kind? Just like Levy, Freed was a known book hoarder but didn’t have quite the grand scale of books that Levy possessed. Nonetheless, he was a book hoarder, especially of anything that was old and ancient.

“Maybe one of those old books that he’s always talking about and wanting to add to his collections,” Laxus thought to himself as he walked home through the light snowfall. He smiled, that would be the best gift, especially one in a language that Freed had never heard of.

Grinning Laxus quickly went home and began to compile a list of every bookstore that he knew Freed frequented.

Laxus couldn’t believe it, Christmas was tomorrow, and he still hadn’t found a single present for Freed. He had gone to every bookstore that he knew the rune mage frequented, but none had any books that would be perfect. Twice he had found one, but they were priced beyond reason, and the lightning dragon had to pass.

Today he had decided to go to Corcus, the only city he hadn’t tried yet. He stuck to the back allies and less frequented districts in the hope of finding a bookshop that wasn’t well known and thus contained unfamiliar books. Just as he was about to call it quits Laxus looked up and saw a rainwashed, sun-battered sign hanging from the building saying Auntie June’s Books.

Inside the store was dusty and cluttered filled from floor to roof with books, some looking newer than others. The dusty shop was only lighted by candles as a few lacrimas scattered around the place. However, the store did have a festive feel to it; with strings of holly, pine and cranberry branches placed delicately around the shop.

“Hello? Anyone work here?” Laxus called out.

“Yes, yes give me a moment!” An old sweet lady’s voice rang out.

He heard the rolling of wheels on the hardwood floor and saw a tiny old woman riding around on a library ladder with several books in hand. She was a plump little witch, with a black hat, and black coat. Silver hair pinned tightly back into a neat bun while grey spectacles donated her nose.

“Well, well this is the first time a dragon has come to my shop! Welcome to Auntie June’s Books! My name is June, what can I help you with?” She asked as the gracefully leaped off the ladder and placed the books on a stack.

“Well I’m looking-” He began

“For a book for your friend? One written in a language he doesn't know?” She finished with a twinkle in her eyes, her voice filled with excitement.

“How did you-?”

“My magic is clairvoyance, I can see the future and have very accurate predictions on it,” she explained as she began to throw books behind her back casually. The books only floated in the air around, and if they had faces, Laxus swore that they had the most unamused look on them for their treatment.

“Now then where is it? I know of one you’ll like dragon, it’s a good mystery no one has been able to open it in centuries, even the magic council has given up on it.” She smirked.

“I think that might be a bit too hard for him?” He knew Freed was by far a powerful mage and extremely smart but a book like that might be a bit hard plus no one has ever opened it up who knew what it contained.

“Nonsense! This book will be the perfect thing for the two of you! Besides you do like him, no? Then this will help the two of you” She chided and lightly laughed at the pink singeing  Laxus’ face.

“Here it is! The book of dragons!” She yelled with joy! She didn’t allow Laxus to look at it and summoned paper and twine to wrap the book up.

“Well,” Laxus paused a bit taken back by her demandingness, “then I guess I’m taking the book then,” He laughed, if this old lady were clairvoyant she would exploit every and any way to get the right future to get him to take the book.

“How much-” The bookkeeper held up her hand.

“Not a penny, this one is on the house. But please do come back and tell me what you both thought of it!” She smiled sweetly handing the warped book to Laxus.

And with that Laxus said his farewell to the old lady and went on his way.

“Gosh that old lady is weird,” he laughed, but he had a good feeling coming off her he looked down at the wrapped book and smiled maybe Freed would like it though he did have to question what she meant by it’ll help them both.

As soon as Laxus got home, he opened up the package to rewrap it in a slightly more festive paper. Unbeknownst to most of the guild, Laxus was a fantastic present wrapper, and only those in the Thunder Legion knew about it.

The book was made of thick red leather that shows signs of wear and tear, but on the cover, it was encrusted with beautiful bronze and precious stones forming a dragon that looked ready to fly off. The title was written in gold and a strange language, a perfect mystery for Freed. He ran his hand over it admiring its beauty but yanked back as one of the stones shocked his hand which was strange since he never got shocked.

“What the-” He muttered but was stopped as a strange feeling erupted through him. His whole body felt as if it was on fire, his vision began to blur, and his head swam. His body began to glow, and in a flash, there was nothing left but his clothes laying in a pile on the ground.

Freed knocked once on Laxus door before entering his home.

“Laxus? I’m here to help make the cookies-” He stopped as he felt a surge of magic and then it disappears.

“Laxus?” He asked again this time with his hand on his sword. He slowly ascended the stairs, and looked into Laxus’ reading room, there laying in a pile on the floor was his clothes and a strange red book lying on his desk.

“Lax-” He stopped as something moved under the clothes, he readied his sword.

“Freed?” A muffled Laxus came from under the clothes. Freed dropped to his knees and slowly began to pull the clothes away and stopped at what he found.

“Freed when did you get so big?” Laxus asked he felt wobbly and he couldn’t walk right and felt off.

“Umm L-Laxus, I didn’t change a bit. You-you-” He stuttered he pointed to the mirror behind Laxus. Laxus looked back and let out a horrified scream.

“I’M A DRAGON!? WHAT THE HELL KIND OF BOOK DID THAT OLD WOMAN SELL ME!?” Laxus screamed. He was all gold with patches of black lightning running along his body, he had two legs and a set of wings but was the size of a tiny baby rabbit. However, he wasn’t lean and well built instead he was a little cubby angry dragon.

“L-Laxus what kind of book did you get?” Freed asked as he looked over at the one on the desk.

“It was for you. I got you as a Secret Santa and thought it would be a good gift for you since you like figuring books out,” He said looking away.

Freed couldn’t help but let out a light laugh as he looked down at his best friend who looked angry and sad at the same time. Freed nearly squealed with delight, Laxus seemed so cute as a dragon despite being tiny.

“That was kind of you sir, but sometimes books like these are best kept locked away.” Freed thanked, as he scooped up the tiny dragon. He had to keep the urge not to scream out how adorable Laxus was a small cubby dragon that could fit in the palm of his hand. He just wanted to cuddle the small dragon.

“You alright Freed?” The tiny dragon asked. As his friend stared at him in amazement.

“Pardon me sir but, you are the most adorable tiny dragon I have ever seen, almost like a tiny toy dragon.” Freed apologized as he lightly patted the top of the dragon’s head with a finger. Laxus bit back the urge to snap at his friend’s finger.

“I’m not a toy!” He yelled back, his face turning pink from the Rune Mage’s comment. He wanted to kill that old lady this wasn’t how he wanted to spend Christmas much less the rest of his life as a tiny dragon being fawned over by anyone.

Freed and Laxus turned their attention to the book in the hope that it could give them a clue to reverse the spell. Freed gently placed the dragon on his shoulder to allow him a better view of the book. The tiny dragon took the advantage to snuggle close to Freed’s neck savoring the warmth and the citrus shampoo that Freed used that Laxus secretly loved. Freed had to stop from both laughing and his cheeks were turning pink. Never in his life had he very had Laxus get this close to him.

“That’s odd the dragon on the over is gone,” Laxus said, even the bronze that ornate it was also gone, leaving an old worn down leather book.

“A dragon?”

“Yeah on the cover there was a dragon along with some bronze lining it,” The tiny dragon explained.

“Hmm, maybe that was one of the spells hidden in the book?” He suggested.

Freed was a bit hesitant on opening the book if there was already a spell on the cover that turned Laxus into a dragon who knew what would be waiting inside.

Carefully and slowly Freed began to open up the book.

“It’s blank!” Freed’s eyes widened in horror. He put his hand down on the yellowed pages but felt no magic coming from them.

“What do you mean it’s blank?” Laxus clumsily jumped down on the book.

He struggled to walk falling every few steps, tripping over his tail and wings.

“There is no magic emanating from the book Laxus. I can try a revolving spell and see if that works.”

Laxus leaped off the book and climbed onto an ink bottle and watched his friend perform the spell, but when the light died down the book was still blank.

“Damn it! There has to be something in that book to change me back or at least make me bigger than this!” Laxus groaned, leaping off the ink bottle. Behind him the bottle began to teeter and slowly began to fall, the cap that wasn’t closed correctly fell off, spilling the jet black ink everywhere.

“Laxus be careful-” As Freed dove quickly to protect the book. Laxus was covered with ink, leaving small paw prints and tail marks everywhere.

“Are you alright Sir?” Freed asked as he began to pat the ink of the dragon with a tissue

“Yeah, I’m fine but is the book alright!? Freed?” Laxus asked as his friend was staring at the book.

“Do you have any more ink?”

“What?” Laxus asked perplexed.

“Ink Laxus! That’s why we couldn’t see it!! I need ink to see the writing!!” Freed excitedly explained. Laxus was a bit slow at taking in what Freed was saying but quickly dove behind several of the books on the desk and dragged out another bottle of black ink. The tiny dragon was super proud at about his achievement, handing the bottle off to the run mage.

“Perfect thank you!” Freed opened the bottle and carefully poured the contents on to the pages. Instead of running off the page, the ink was redirected and absorbed, giving rise to words and pictures.

“This is incredible I have read about books enchanted like this but have never seen one in person!” Freed gleed as he began to read through the pages. Laxus smiled softly; he was happy that Freed was enjoying the book but secretly was still pissed about being the size he was.

Freed stopped on a page with a tiny dragon drawn on it, it seemed like this was the right spell, but as he read he slowly began to feel his heart leap up into his throat.

“So what does it saw? Can you change me back?” Laxus asked.

“Well yes but the only way to break the spell is-is,” Freed began to stutter, his cheeks began to redden, and his heart wouldn’t stop pounding in his chest.

“Is what? Come on Freed tell me!” Laxus begged.

“It’s true loves kiss, that’s what breaks the dragon curse.” The rune mage whispered. The world around them was silence; neither one could say a word at what Freed had just said.

“Laxus is there anyone that you love that I can take you too so we can break the spell,” Freed asked, breaking the silence.

The lightning dragon’s face turned scarlet, he had to confess, he wanted to scream that it was Freed, but his pride and ego was not letting him.

“Laxus?”

“You.” Was all the little dragon uttered and hid his face under his wings.

“I beg your pardon?” Freed was taken back, looking down at the tiny dragon who was obviously beyond embarrassed.

“I’ve always liked you Freed.”  Was the muffled answer that Freed got. Freed felt his heart nearly stop at the response. After years of pinning after Laxus could it be that Laxus did like him in return?

“Well, sir, to be honest, I’ve always liked you too ever since we were teens,” Freed admitted.

“For that long, you’ve liked me? Why didn’t you tell me sooner!” Laxus asked.

“I didn’t think you were into men. I’ve seen you have your fair share of women so I assumed you would never think about being with a man.” He explained, Laxus looked a bit hurt, but his eyes told Freed that Laxus understood what he meant.

“I never cared about women, my dad always told me that I would find the right one, but none of them felt right. I didn’t realize why until three years ago when I realized that for all this time I’ve always liked you too.”

Without a single word Freed picked up the tiny pudgy dragon and cradled him in the palms of his hands. Laxus even in dragon form was still the fiercest, most handsome person in the world and Freed couldn’t be happier.

Freed gently placed his lips too Laxus cold, scaly ones, in strong flash arms were enveloped around him and cold, scaly lips were replaced with warm, lightning ones.

“Did I ever tell you Freed how much I love you,” Laxus whispered into Freed’s ear.

“No, you sir you haven’t,” He laughed “This is by far the best Christmas gift anyone could have ever given me.”

“Me too Freed. Me too.” Laxus laughed as he held Freed tightly to him. He never wanted this man to leave his arms ever, not even if it meant going to hell and back just to rescue him. After all, he was a dragon and dragon’s protect what is theirs.

[gudlyf]

Bereft The Cushion Of Wealth [Short Screenplay]

Owen and I worked really well on this one. We’re both really proud of it and hope you enjoy it.

Spoilers: Once again, when outside my true comfort zone, I go with animation. I knew Owen would be in agreement and have more fun that way as well, anyway. He of course came up with “Ottoman Empire” and it was too good not to go with.

(Click the arrow in the upper-right to see it larger, same with my other scripts here)

The prompts and limitations we had for this one:

Genre: Drama Location: A used furniture store Object: A lollipop

Time limit: 48 hours Page count: 5

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FADE IN:

INT. CHARITY THRIFT STORE - DAY

A few patrons browse the rows of used living room furniture here -- sofas, chairs and the like. We concentrate on one particularly large SECTIONAL SOFA.

The sound of an AGITATED CROWD begins to fill the air.

PRESIDENT PLIPLI (O.C.)

Order! Order!

INT. SECTIONAL CITY HALL

Hundreds of COCKROACHES gather within the darkened interior of the sectional sofa, facing a rather plump roach, PRESIDENT PLIPLI, who stands at a PODIUM.

EMPEROR MEHMED, a remarkably thin roach, stands amongst the crowd with his WIFE, who holds the foreleg of their CHILD.

EMPEROR MEHMED

He'll listen to me. He must understand we're all into this together. We're equals, all of us.

MEHMED'S WIFE

Honey, you know I admire what you're trying to do, but he's not going to listen. He's fat and he's greedy like the rest of them.

The President interrupts.

PRESIDENT PLIPLI

Emperor Mehmed! Step forward please. I must say, your request comes as rather unorthodox. The Ottoman Empire has served your insects well for many months, yet you seek to move them here? Explain yourself.

The Emperor steps out from the crowd.

EMPEROR MEHMED

President Plipli, it's our food stores, sir. They've all but run out. Our insects are close to starving.

PRESIDENT PLIPLI

That is not a fault of ours, Emperor. You should all do better to conserve.

EMPEROR MEHMED

But, sir, there was nothing to conserve! We were lucky to have what little had fallen from human shoes! The food supplies within Sectional City are legendary. Surely you can spare room for the few of us left? Are we not equals?

Mehmed's frail wife steps forward, holding the foreleg of her gaunt child.

MEHMED'S WIFE

Sir, we beg of you! Please. We're desperate for food. Anything. There has been word you even have stores of the fabled golden triangles here. The Doritos.

Oohs and aahs from the crowd.

PRESIDENT PLIPLI

Nonsense! Lies. Mere stories.

An older, bearded cockroach, AMBASSADOR DAVENPORT, steps forward from the crowd, raising a foreleg.

AMBASSADOR DAVENPORT

Sir, if I may. We would gladly accommodate the residents of the Ottoman Empire at the Land of Love Seat. All of you, in fact.

(Hushed.)

Our land once sat within a heavily-used home movie theater.

The crowd again oohs and aahs. Mehmed's elated.

PRESIDENT PLIPLI

Silence! Ambassador Davenport, your offer is denied, as is your request, Emperor Mehmed. Our laws have always been clear and nonnegotiable. Your lack of food stores are not the concern of others. Equals, you say? There are those who conserve and those who do not. We are not a charity.

EMPEROR MEHMED

But ... We are in a-

PRESIDENT PLIPLI

Next order of business!

President Plipli burps. Mehmed turns to his wife, crestfallen.

INT. CHARITY THRIFT STORE

Focused on the sectional.

CUSTOMER (O.C.)

We'll take the sectional. When can we pick it up?

MANAGER (O.C.)

Well, give us some time to clean it up a bit. Never know what might still be inside these things. Let's say an hour or so?

CUSTOMER (O.C.)

Sounds good. See you then.

A hand slaps a large PURPLE "SOLD" sticker onto one of the sectional's arms.

INT. SECTIONAL CITY HALL

A DEEP BOOMING noise echoes throughout the chamber. All cockroach eyes and antenna are skyward.

INT. CHARITY THRIFT STORE

An INDUSTRIAL VACUUM CLEANER rolls into view.

INT. SECTIONAL CITY HALL

A CITY GUARD runs to an old, discarded and crusty IPOD and presses a button. An ALERM SOUNDS from the iPod's HEADPHONES. Cockroaches SFREAM and skitter about in a panic. The guard runs to the podium.

CITY GUARD

This is a Code Purple, insects! Code Purple! Evacuate at once!

The LARGE TUBE of the vacuum descends upon the hall floor and begins to inch closer to the scattering crowd as it devours discarded COINS and CRUMBS OF FOOD in its path.

CITY RESIDENT #1

Our food stores! The bank!

Roaches run in every direction from the approaching vacuum, with the slower, fatter ones getting sucked up, screaming, into the depths of the tube.

One cockroach breaks from the crowd, headed for a CUSHION ZIPPER. As he pulls at the zipper, the vacuum sucks him off his hindlegs. The cushion FLIES OPEN, and dozens of DORITOS come flying out and up into the black abyss.

CITY RESIDENT #2

The legends are true! Triangles of gold!

CITY RESIDENT #2 and others, blind with greed, run for the flying Doritos, grab onto them, and are sucked away to their doom.

Plipli is panicked. He is tossed around in the crowd as he tries to escape. He trips backward over the STICK of a discarded LOLLIPOP, falling into its sticky candy. As he struggles and the vacuum continues its approach, Mehmed with his wife and child run by.

PRESIDENT PLIPLI

Someone! Please! Help me!

The Emperor stops dead in his tracks. His wife and child eye him in disbelief.

EMPEROR MEHMED

Go on. We'll catch up.

MEHMED'S WIFE

Mehmed!

EMPEROR MEHMED

Go!

As his wife and child run off, Mehmed runs to Plipli's side, grabs onto his ANTENNA and pulls several times. Seeing no progress, Mehmed executes one last pull with all his might, finally freeing the President.

EMPEROR MEHMED

We have to get out of the city!

INT. FLOOR OF CHARITY THIRFT STORE

Along with other surviving roaches, Mehmed and Plipli exit the underside of the couch, away from the Manager and his vacuum.

AMBASSADOR DAVENPORT

Everyone! With me!

The panicked crowd scurries across the store floor, away from the sound of the menacing vacuum.

INT. LAND OF LOVE SEAT BANQUET HALL - MUCH LATER

Hundreds of elated cockroaches celebrate and eat at a makeshift BANQUET TABLE piled with mounds of POPCORN and bits of CANDY. MUSIC plays from an old ZUNE. One cockroach works a KEYCHAIN FLSHLIGHT, passing its light through the red and blue lenses of some CRUSHED 3D GLASSES.

Mehmed's wife and child dance with others. The President, Emperor and Ambassador sit together, away from the others.

PRESIDENT PLIPLI

Our laws are wrong. I was wrong. I should never have turned you away, Emperor. The fool I am. You should not have saved me. I am unworthy.

AMBASSADOR DAVENPORT

We're in this together, Mr. President. Every empire. Every city. Every land. Hunger and disaster will strike. We can't know when or where, but we can be there to help each other.

PRESIDENT PLIPLI

Well, food conservation be damned, I say. We all are and always shall be equals.

Mehmed takes a big bite of popcorn, then pats his own thin abdomen.

EMPEROR MEHMED

Not equal in all ways, sir, but I'm sure we'll all be there soon enough.

FADE TO BLACK.

END.

[okimargarvez]

REVERSE - 1

Original title: Reverse.

Prompt: Penelope is the new girl on the BAU team and Luke tries to treat her cold.

Warning: A.U., possible OOC.

Genre: drama, romantic, family, friendship.

Characters: Luke Alvez, Penelope Garcia, BAU team, Derek Morgan, O.C. Sam Cooper’ team, Roxy.

Pairing: Garvez.

Note: oneshot 62 in Garvez collection.

Legend: 💑😘👓🔦🐶❗🎲🎈👻🎬🎵.

Song mentioned: Amici per errore, Tiziano Ferro.

Reverse- Masterlist

GARVEZ STORIES

Note: I written the whole story in just two days; yeah, I’m not normal. It was funny (but also not so easy) re-writing their main scenes and dialogues imagining that the situation was reverse: she the new girl, he with the team since… the beginning.

1 # In no way I would like to be elsewhere, that’s why I’m still here

About a month had passed since Christine left to follow her husband to another city. He couldn’t really blame her without feeling selfish: in her place he would probably have done the same. Not only had Rich risked dying from one of the madmen they were chasing (as had happened to Hotch, with a less positive ending), but at that moment she was actually pregnant. It had hurt him, that she hadn’t told him, to have to find out in such a brusque way. He was her best friend after all. Perhaps for a while, before Rich, he had even hoped for something more.

Her absence was not only noticeable in his heart, but much more practically when it came to solving a case. Hotch had called Kevin Lynch, with whom they had collaborated in previous years, but who for some reason he had never really liked him. Then, about a week ago, however, the man had announced that he was needed elsewhere and so his historic ex-girlfriend had replaced him (in the Bureau the gossip went wild, there was no concept of privacy): Penelope Garcia, the star of the behavioral analysis team led by the unscrupulous Sam Cooper.

Of course, he had already heard of her, not just through rumors. She was definitely the best in her field (as much as it bothered him to admit it, because he seemed to be doing wrong to Chrissie). Probably the best in the entire FBI or perhaps even in the world, without exaggerating. Someone said that CIA has banned her from its archives. Top level hacker, like any good computer technician. Even Agent Oller idolized her in a way he never really understood, since they were almost peers. Not before he meets her in person.

But there were other voices circulating, of another kind. Epic stories, almost to compete with the Arthurian and Carolingian cycles. With a co-star: Derek Morgan. The nicknames they had given themselves (and that people had added, as the wireless phone tour continued) were wasted. Her lines were at least as famous as her speed in finding the address of a suspect found untraceable. It had happened to him sometimes to meet Agent Morgan at the shooting range. He had wondered what was in her and was about to find out, at his price.

The elevator doors open halfway. The solitude in which Luke Alvez has taken refuge is about to be broken by a blond hurricane. -Hello!- Garcia exclaims enthusiastically, getting on board and positioning herself too close for his tastes. It is as if the lone wolf that was before joining the BAU had returned after Christine’s departure. Although his eyes remain fixed on the reflective steel surface, his nostrils cannot avoid capturing her perfume. The first time he saw her he was bent over studying a file; Hotch appeared on the balcony, calling them to the meeting. And he glimpsed at her backside, beginning to understand Morgan. Then the big boss made the presentations one by one. She was dressed in such an indecent way… not so much for the clothes, even JJ occasionally allowed herself something low-cut… and also Chrissie. But for the bright colors. He remembers what he thought at the time. But it would have been proven wrong more than once. Because her perfume is not at all exaggerated, strong and annoying as expected. Indeed, it seems an almost natural and damn stimulating aroma.

He erases the last thought and forces himself to be at least polite. His mother and grandmother would otherwise scold him, even if they have no way of finding out. -Good morning.- he replies, with a cold, distant and professional tone.

Because of the silence he can hear Garcia take a breath before opening her mouth. But he knows she won’t be able to hold herself; she can’t help it. She is certainly the least formal creature of the FBI. And Chrissie would love her. -How was your week-end?- here she is. Luke remembers how difficult it was to be grumpy and unkind when he shook her hand. Surely it would have been easier to hate Lynch for no reason… but he was a man. The overlap was not working.

He feels the woman’s gaze on him. Those brown eyes so dark and penetrating, as well as so large and apparently innocent, covered by a pair of fuchsia glasses, naturally paired with the flower in her hair and the three-quarter jacket. He cursed himself for being so adept at noticing a great deal of detail in no time. He may even feel her expectation while she is patiently waiting for him to answer. -I don’t see why I should talk to you about it.- he chooses to continue with the farce of professionalism. But then, despite Garcia continuing to keep quiet and good, he feels driven by an external force to add a detail. -But if you really insist…- he turns for the first time towards her, instantly catching her eyes. -I stayed with my girlfriend, who is beautiful and loves me.- inside he laughs deeply, because she can’t know he’s talking about his dog. It doesn’t seem to have been added to his file.

-Oh, fantastic!- her reaction, sincerely enthusiastic, confirms that she has fallen for it. Naivety is another of the things she is famous for. This often made her the victim of her team’s (light) jokes. He feels a little bad in taking advantage of her weakness, but if it helps to make her understand that with him he doesn’t work, that she won’t be able to become his friend… Garcia looks at him again, without any shame. -And you stayed at home or…- apparently not, he will have to play it heavier. He sighs.

He doesn’t even shake his head. -No, we went for a walk in the park.- he smiles maliciously, reflecting on how easy it is to exchange Roxy for a woman. -She loves it.- he adds. -What about your weekend?- he asks, considering that only one floor is still missing before they reach theirs. But has this elevator always been so slow, or is it doing it on purpose? Everything conspires against him.

She speaks with much more tranquility. Of course, she hasn’t lost her best friend. -I stayed at home with my boyfriend.- Luke feels a pang of annoyance at that answer, but doesn’t want to believe it’s the thought that she can’t have an affair. Kevin is proof of that, isn’t it? It seems to him that they have been together for about five years, back and forth. Of course it was JJ and Chrissie who talked about it all the time, they love the internal gossip. He has never been a superficial type and Garcia has all the credentials; her curves certainly don’t leave men indifferent. -It helped me improve my fingering techniques…- she continues, then realizes the way he is now looking at her. Eyes wide open and narrowed in amazement. Yet he knew it would happen. She is also the undisputed queen of double meaning. It seems that this time however it was not wanted. -On my clarinet!- she then adds, almost screaming. She defends herself with too much emphasis, the skin of the face even paler. -I swear, I meant the musical instrument.- finally, she seems to succumb and he is even sorry.

But not from the outside. Luke, on the other hand, chuckles, nodding, amused by the situation, he can’t help. As he wonders if Agent Morgan has ever been able to test the skill of her fingers. -There is no need to get agitated.- he says, but it doesn’t sound reassuring at all and in fact he didn’t want to be. -Whatever you do in your spare time, this is only about you.- he is amazed at the ease with which such nonsense comes out. Then he feels the cell phone vibrate in his pants pocket, just in time, even if he hasn’t programmed it. He extracts it and looks at the familiar message. -And, sorry- how damned fake he is! -but we have an important case.- without looking at her once, he goes down the elevator first. Really not very gallant. -Have a good day.- he adds as compensation.

-Wait!- she shouts after him. He hears the sound of her heels as she tries to reach him. -I can also play the ukulele.-

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