#based off those promo photos

[harmonizingsunsets]

Anthony before marrying Kate at any inconvenience

Anthony after marrying Kate at any inconvenience

[kanmom51]

PJM2 is coming

MUSE

I literally cannot contain my excitiement.

Sitting her, at work may I say, putting these words on paper, so to speak, because f***ing hell, wtf JM?

Where to start?

The colour concepts? The choice of name? Choice of font (That JM popping to eye)? The flower? The links to TTU (notes sheet and flower)? The whole play with Closer than this? The dropped lyrics?

This man is a friggin genius (not that we didn't know this already)...

There is so much to talk about, and he hasn't even started with the promotions, and we haven't even seen the concept photos or the album and the songs. Name, colours, 2 lines of lyrics and we have our hands full already. They certainly know what they are doing.

Before I jump in, I want to, once again, state very loudly and clearly that everything written here are my opinions, which are based on what we've been handed so far, and could change the more we are shown.

So, let's get it...

JM fetching this from the purple locker (which we don't see are purple off the bat and only when the lights turn on). Notes for The Truth Untold.

His wittle thumb with his crescent moon.

The notes title : La lettra - The letter. Hmm... interesting.

And then this:

We have the flower:

and this that makes me believe that yes indeed, it is the silhouette of a Smeralso.

Some of this I am yet to see where is going. like the referencing of "the letter", The truth untold, the flower... (she says, all while thinking of the choice this Festa to stream LY Seoul final with said song and the changes that JM and JK chose to make to it)...

All that and more in one little short clip.

And then we have that little 'chat' opened up by BH, and those lyrics. Oh, those lyrics.

All references that indeed can be connected with army. I mean, that's what JM is king of.

All also a clear reference to a one Jeon Jungkook, if you are only willing to look and see.

Rain

Snow

Crying

We have this:

Which they have BOTH chose to bring up once again in 2023, JK happening to do so during JM's Face promos, not to mention the rain reference in SNTY (and of course, goes without saying Still with you, but that's back in 2020, while they have both managed to bring it up and reference it once again in 2023).

Remember this?

Oh, and what about this?

And then we have these:

Remember JM tearing up after winning MMA for BS&T ?

JM getting emotional and crying only followed by JK tearing up.

*If you haven't seen this one yet, go watch the full live.

And who can forget JK during MOTS ONE as well, seeing JM crying, distress clearly showing on his face, just waiting for the moment he can go and comfort JM.

If these are actual lyrics for a song to come or lyrics that were dropped, one thing we know, and that these words, these lines, they were written by JM, and he made a clear choice to share them with us.

And in doing so, sorry, I'm still not believing this all while sitting here gushing and knowing this was coming (no, I didn't know this specifically was coming, but the feeling that they were going big or going home, that I've had ever since July 2023... took some time and many tribulations, but we are getting there folks). Sidetracked as I always am, lol.

Back on track.... in doing so, JM is basically standing on a rooftop screaming at the top of his lungs:

Not 1, not 2, but 3 JK references in that little shared piece of lyrics clearly written by JM, for an album we are yet to see and hear.

Anyone, and I mean anyone that is a BTS army, that has seen original content, that has followed their Twitter account or seen older tweets, that are open and willing to see it, will KNOW that these lyrics are JAYKAY!!!!!

And let me backtrack a second here...

Cause I did mention that these references could be understood as if they are made for army, right?

So yeah. Army references or JK references? I am going to say both, leaning very much to the JK side of it. Cause that's how they do it. Time after time after time.

Let's mention the colour choices as well.

We have the background colours.

We have the yellow.

And then we have the album concepts.

2 concepts.

Blooming

and Serenade.

Which happens to be Yellow, same colour threaded through Serendipity.

And we even have purple thrown in there too.

Notice how all the lockers are painted purple. The colour of army you may say, but also JK's colour (so again, army and JK?).

And he's pulling out the music sheet from this purple locker.

Those lockers representing his inspiration for his music perhaps?

Giving us these lyrics, then telling us the album is called Muse (or telling us the name of the album and it's meaning and then dropping those lyrics, take your pick regarding the timing, cause basically, same same), showing us the music being extracted from those purple lockers... ya think his muse is that entity he's talking about in those lyrics perhaps (even more so if we see the references as both for army and JK)?

Rhetorical question, btw.

And then we have the mint green.

Perhaps this is what JM was talking about when he told us in his birthday live, if memory serves me right, about going to the starting point, or more so starting from the beginning trying to figure out himself as an artist?

Also, cannot help but think of this image here:

I cannot wait to see his concept photos, and where this is all going.

We talked about JK being so loud during 2023 (well, he's had his super loud moments before that, but 2023 and his lives were smoking). And JM, well it felt (and I say felt, cause it's not really true, and I'll explain why) was quieter, more subdued, especially during JK's Golden promotions.

But here's the thing.

JM and JK have their own special oh so different ways of being loud and showing us themselves (and it shows even more so seeing that JK, for whatever reasons he had for it, did not write his songs for Golden - not saying he did not have influence on the lyrics or choice of songs with lyrics he wanted). JK did it through his choices in his photo shoots and styling for his songs and album. He did it with his lives and his total fanboying over JM. And JM, he does it through his art, which includes also but not only his lyrics.

Those two are both loud as fuck. And JM, well if these sneak lyrics are a promo of more to come (which, they probably are seeing that we have Face to fall back on as an example), then he's as loud as a frigging foghorn.

And last but not least, before I go:

Lookie here...

D-31

[notafragilething]

Late Night Buck & Tommy Ramble: I'm Feeling Good About Thursday

I know I haven't posted one of these in several days, I had a super busy weekend with lots of fun events. But I'm back now and super excited about the stills that dropped today. With only about 46 hours left until the finale, I'm feeling really excited as a BuckTommy fan.

Now, I know there are a lot of people out there saying that BuckTommy is bones or saying Buddie is happening but I'm fairly confident that is not happening. In fact, I think a lot of people have the timeline wrong. Please keep in mind that everything I say here is speculation and I may be wrong. But I spent a lot of time today looking really closely at these pictures in an attempt to put a timeline together.

So let's get into it:

Let's start with my timeline of events, that is pretty different than what most people are going with. I've seen really heavy speculation that the date is the opening scene but based on the end of episode 9, all the stills we have, behind the scenes photos and the promo? I think that's wrong. It simply does not work with the timeline.

I think the episode starts with Athena waking up in the hospital, talking to an unconscious Bobby in his hospital room and then taking off to find Amir and try to solve who started the fire. Note that we don't see her with any of the other characters in the hospital. She's likely gone before they show up.

I think after that, we're going to jump to Eddie's house that morning. He's clearly wearing a different outfit than what he got caught with Kim in. I think those stills of him and Buck talking in the living room are him explaining to Buck what happened. After that I think his parents will show up and we find out that Christopher called them the night before and they flew in. That will lead to Eddie telling his parents about Kim and showing them a picture in the kitchen. Buck will interrupt because he will have gotten a phone call about Bobby (the still of him entering the kitchen from the living room with his phone) and the two will take off.

Next we'll get all the hospital scenes that we've seen. I actually think this is going to be shorter than we expect (kinda similar to bachelor party and the medal ceremony). I think people who said it's Bobby waking up in the promo and trying to remove his breathing tube were correct. Everything we've seen from the hospital has those four in the same outfits. There is a no second day there. I think he wakes up sometime that afternoon. Pretty sure Bobby waking up super early is one of the many twists we're getting and is meant to throw us off about what is really happening this episode.

Which means I think the Buck and Tommy date? It happens after the hospital when Buck gets home. I was initially thrown by Buck looking so happy but if Bobby had just woken up? He'd be happy. Similar to how we see Hen, Chimney and Maddie looking really happy in other stills from this episode that clearly happen after the hospital. So I actually don't think we're going to see Buck leaving this date early.

In other good signs for Buck & Tommy moving into season 8:

The official instagram posted 4 stills from this episode not that long ago. Of the four, one of them was Buck and Tommy. It was also the first one so it shows up first for everyone. That most definitely was not accidental and is another shift showing they're using BuckTommy to promote the show.

The Reel of the BuckTommy hospital kiss is about to hit 1.5 million. It was at 1496k when I checked it. It's currently the 5th most viewed reel out of the 147 on the account.

This isn't BuckTommy related but I'm very intrigued that the Kim/Eddie boat BTS reel has hit 10 million. Which is a crazy outlier for this show when it comes to reels. I think it's because they invented a new technique to make it look like they were sailing on the water and it's cool to see the technical side of things so it likely got shared by a lot of people in the field. Very cool thing to see.

That's it for now. I'll definitely pop in tomorrow and let you know if there is anything new. Since we got the photos a day or so early, I'm really hoping that means they have something in store for us tomorrow as well.

If you have any questions or just want chat send me messages. I have so many thoughts and feelings that I'd love to talk about.

[airgiodslv]

Jeff Satur Cinematic Universe - A WIP Primer

aka, Jeffcest. This is a work-in-progress, compiling info for the JeFFFFFFFFest 2024 exchange. Please feel free to add and amend!

Overview: Jeff Satur's music videos tell stories with interesting characters. Over time, some of those characters have reappeared and begun interacting with each other. Here are a few of the most common you’ll run into!

Sunshine - gifset by perths

Sunshine made his first appearance in the Dum Dum MV. He has blue hair and “Sunshine Moonshine Love Die” tattooed on his neck and chest. Sunshine later appeared in the Space Shuttle No. 8 Asia Tour Promo Trailer in a pale blond wig alongside another Jeff.

When Jeff was called on to do a sexy version of Dum Dum on Chuang Asia, he said he was too shy and that he would have “another [him]” perform it instead; he performed as Sunshine. During Space Shuttle No. 8 in Bangkok concerts, he had a body double in Sunshine’s wig onstage with him, and sang ‘Stranger’ to him. Sunshine also appeared in projections during the concerts, along with the quote:

Sunshine noun.  a god who honestly feels emotions, never lies to themselves, and will stay forever in your soul.

Jeff confirmed that Sunshine and Moonshine are different characters with similar appearances. In Dum Dum, one of them has a metal attachment over his arm when they appear onscreen together. There’s a third Jeff, sometimes referred to as ‘Businessman Jeff’, who is killed and then gasps back to life at the end of the video.

Ghost & Husband - gifset by guzhufuren

Also called Clone, Ghost appears as the titular character in the Ghost MV, who is revealed to be a clone of another Jeff (commonly ‘Husband’ or ‘Military Jeff’). Clone/Ghost has implants down his spine. He was captured by the military (specifically, Military Jeff) and freed by Military Jeff's Wife at the end of the video.

In the Yellow Leaf MV, it’s revealed that Clone/Ghost doesn’t age. He still has the same appearance many decades later, after Husband has died. Husband/Military Jeff is implied to have spent time during the Ghost MV in outer space (there’s a rocket launch at the beginning of the video). There's a love triangle between Husband, Clone, and their Wife (she accepts a different wedding/engagement ring from each of them).

Rain God - gifset by laurenkmyers

Jeff held a fanart contest for Halloween 2023, and the winning entry depicted him as a rain god. He posted a photo/video shoot on his Instagram dressed to match the fanart. There was a joke on the Black Tie set that Jeff was a rain god, because the rain for the courtyard scene began when it was time to film and ended once they finished shooting it.

Black Tie - gifset by guzhufuren

Jeff in Black Tie is sometimes referred to as ‘Black’ or 'Red' depending on what he's wearing. He has a bow tie tattooed across his throat. He appears in black-and-white when alone, and in color when shown with other people–which includes his own reflections in mirrors. He may also be able to control other people's movements when they're shown 'mirroring' him.

Lucid - gifset by guzhufuren

Lucid is the titular character in the Lucid MV. He might be one of the fae folk, or a lost boy from Neverland. He appears injured and wild in someone’s bedroom…or possibly their dream. He has long hair and anachronistic clothes, with a cut across the bridge of his nose. At the end of the video he’s seen at the base of a tree (possibly dead), almost completely covered in flowers.

Steal the Show - gifset by whitecerberus

Jeff appeared along with Shaun in the Steal the Show MV. They have a passionate rivalry and/or flirtation. There’s a lot of imagery in this video, including Jeff hanging off a giant birdcage which Shaun is separately seen trapped inside. This character has been referred to as ‘Thief’ and ‘Passion.’ Shaun’s character is referred to as ‘Reason.’

00008 - gifset by guzhufuren

In an effort to give his fans heart palpitations, Jeff released the Dum Dum Unchained Live MV. He appears chained on his knees in a basement or warehouse, wearing a lace blindfold, with finger-shaped bruises around his neck. There are additional bruises all over him, and a tattoo that reads ‘00008’ below his left collarbone. The number is now believed to refer to Jeff’s first album, Space Shuttle No. 8.

SS8 - gifset by guzhufuren

The Space Shuttle No. 8 Asia Tour came with its own promo trailer, in which a dark-haired Jeff and a pale-haired Sunshine (from Dum Dum) face off on a train in outer space, which has “departed the Saturn hemisphere” and is “now en route into the unknown.” On the train are references to many of Jeff’s previous songs and videos, including Highway (a flower), Loop (a clock), Lucid (a flower crown), Black Tie (a photo on the front page of a newspaper with the headline “Jeff Satur: Escape…From Earth!”), Complicated (a bloody hammer), Fade (a record player), and Comedy (playing in the background).

Other Jeffs

During the Space Shuttle No. 8 in Bangkok concerts, Jeff wore a black feather cape that spread into wings for his cover of ‘Feeling Good.’ (You can see a glimpse of Bird Jeff, as well as his body double Sunshine, in this Est Cola video.)

The Fade MV shows him being reincarnated through several different time periods, always connected to the same person, up to the present day. (In the present, his name is Jeff, and hers is Trinity.)

The Scar MV with bodyslam shows him levitating into the scene, and at the end he crosses into a portal. There’s a lot of imagery in this video as well.

For his Siam Halloween Concert 2023, Jeff dressed up as a vampire, in a corset with blue contact lenses and fangs.

During The Kingdoms concert, he was referred to as the ‘King of Darkness’, mentioned being in hell, and was shown in promotional materials and projections with a (small) eagle.

Additional Jeffs include (but are not limited to) the astronaut in a space bar in the Far MV with Silvy, the caged fallen angel in Law of Attraction from Call Me By Fire, the imprisoned/enthralled therapy patient in Animal World from Call Me By Fire, and the bystander caught up in gang-related violence in the Complicated MV.

[nortism]

Nor's Ultimate BBC Ghosts Fic Recommendations

I decided to put my obsessive AO3 bookmarking to good use and recommend you all some of my favourite ghosts fics (not all, there will likely be a part two). I tried my best to include a variety of fics centring different characters and ships as well as lesser known fics. Please feel free to reblog this post and add your own recs (self promo very much allowed). I've tried to add tumblrs were applicable but if you wrote one of these fics or know who did, please let me know and I'll edit the post. Happy reading!

It by Scriblit

Rating: M

Ships: Mary/Robin, Julian/Robin

Summary:

You lose three mates, ten babies, both parents, all your siblings and then every friend for scores of millennia and still entertain the concept of being 'sweet' on a dead woman still consumed by her own pain. Doing It never had much meaning to Robin, even when he was alive. Now that he's dead, it's really just something to while away all the years. At some point, he's asked most of the ghosts if they want to do it. Some said no, some said yes. His only rule is, they have to genuinely want to do it, too. And, they mustn't be too sad. One of the ghosts was too sad, for so long, so he waited. And waited.

Notes: The first two chapters of this fic are an amusing exploration of caveman sex and the boredom that comes with eternal purgatory but the last chapter is where it gets really, really good. Genuinely one of the most poignant and devastating explorations of grief I've ever read, I cannot recommend it enough.

The Curse by Scriblit

Rating: T

Ships: Robin/OFC, Humphrey/Sophie

Summary:

Over the years, the centuries, the millennia, the residents of, and visitors to Button House and the land it's built on have experienced strange things, and heard strange tales. Multiple mysterious, macabre deaths. Unruly electrics. Blurry shapes in photos. St Elmo's Fire. Burning smells, a mysterious, singing voice in the cellar. Rumours of witchcraft, an ancient amulet and visions of Satan himself. Is the land truly cursed? Or is this just a place of 250,000 years worth of human sadness?

Notes: I only wanted to include one work from each author but I couldn't take this off my list. The only way I can describe this fic is clever. It's one of those things you just have to experience for yourself. Criminally underrated. Just read all of Scriblit's work, I'm their biggest fan.

Family, Family, Family by MadameReveuse

Rating: T

Ships: Primarily gen with side Julian/Robin

Summary:

Green Party Fundraiser Time! Rachel Fawcett comes to Button House, despite struggling with her feelings regarding a certain extremely unfortunate death there. Ghosts and the living alike are thrown into turmoil, especially when it begins to look like someone at the event may be attempting to harm the up-and-coming young politician. Can Julian stand idly by? Well, he's a ghost, so yeah, he has to.

Notes: This fic has it all; father/daughter bonding, a murder mystery and plenty of tory bashing. My entire perception of who Rachel Fawcett is comes from this fic, I was almost glad we never met her in canon as the author does such a fantastic job characterising her.

Ten friends total by notupforpolo (@notupforpolo)

Rating: G

Ships: Mary/Annie

Summary:

After the initial shock of dying wore off, Kitty was so excited to have Mary and Annie as friends. Kitty would notice how they spoke and gossiped just like Eleanor and her friends would do. They were potential friends until they just became friends. Then, when Annie was sucked off, Kitty was there to comfort Mary. Until Mary followed.

Notes: There is a severe lack of both Kitty-centric and Mary/Annie fic in this fandom and this fic covers both bases. Just a really excellent Kitty character study and a great exploration of grief

House Share by Sheepyblue (@ginevralinton)

Rating: G

Ships: Alison/Mike

Summary:

In which Mike makes a New Year's Resolution, with varying degrees of success (Or, a story of Mike spending time with the ghosts)

Notes: I've read a few variants of Mike spending time with the ghosts but I really like this one. My favourite chapter was definitely the Humphrey one, I won't spoil it but it's very funny. This author has far too many Ghosts fics for me to include in this post so I'd recommend you look through their other works

...And A Rainbow! by Spineless_Lobster (@spineless-lobster )

Rating: G

Ships: None

Summary:

Alison buys the Captain some pride merchandise, Kitty gets very excited that an entire room in the house is covered in rainbows. The two ghosts decide to have a sleepover to celebrate the (gay) occasion.

Notes: For all my Cap & Kitty lovers, this is pure fluff. Made me giggle.

Nothing Like a Round on 'The Krypton Factor' by neverfaraway

Rating: T

Ships: The Captain/Pat

Summary:

Wedding season approaches at Button House and, for once, everything is going off without a hitch. Of course, there’s the slight issue of Pat’s recent epiphany about his sexuality, Kitty’s determination to get her hands on as much badly-written erotica as possible, and the peasants becoming decidedly revolting. Still, if only the ghosts can refrain from murdering any of the builders, Alison is fairly sure they can pull this off. Or, Pat and the Captain negotiate coming out, even if it's only to each other.

Notes: Even if you, like myself, aren't a Patcap shipper, this fic is worth the read solely for the the subplot about the Plague Ghosts staging a leftist uprising. The perfect blend of comedy and heartfelt moments, this fic feels like it could have been an actual episode of Ghosts.

Don't Let The Good Life Pass You By by Impossibly_Izzy (@impossiblyizzy)

Rating: M

Ships: The Captain/Pat, Alison/Mike, minor Robin/Julian

Summary:

When the ghosts are mysteriously resurrected, life at Button House only gets more chaotic. Asking, how do you live in a world that wasn't built for you? How do you find meaning in a cold uncaring universe? And what does the Captain eat for breakfast?

Notes: Crack treated seriously is one of my fav AO3 genres and this fic is the cream of the crop. Despite being a Patcap fic, all the characters reactions to living in the modern world were explored in a detailed and hysterical way. I think about the scene where the whole gang goes to the pub constantly.

Queer Eye (The Captain Edition) by swimmingfox

Rating: Not Rated but I'd give it T

Ships: Past The Captain/Havers

Summary:

In a miraculous world where they have the ability to see ghosts, the Fab 5 descend upon Button House to transform the Captain (and, well, everyone).

Notes: Exactly what it says on the tin. Just pure hijinks, I can't fault it. Don't let the script format put you off, the author has done an excellent job of characterising everyone's voice

Fabrications by SwaggerStick

Rating: T

Ships: The Captain/Julian

Summary:

"It's true," said Julian. "You lot couldn't lie to save your lives." The Captain took personal offence at that statement. So, apparently, did Pat. "Oh give over," he said. "Like you can do better." ---------- The ghosts decide to figure out which one of them is the best liar. Competitively.

Notes: Another fic that really feels like it could be an actual episode. Very funny and also provides an explanation to the ghosts' pee turning to dust thing that has been bothering me since last Christmas so honestly you should just read it for that. Ship content is minor if Julicap isn't your thing (it's not really mine either)

Good Boy by Ailendolin (@ailendolin)

Rating: T

Ships: Mike/Alison

Summary:

"I’ve been thinking – Robin saved my life, didn’t he? Last week when I was out in the storm.” “Because of the stupid bear,” Alison couldn’t help but remind him. “Yeah, whatever,” Mike said with a roll of his eyes. “So when he redirected the lightning I saw him for a brief moment and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that.” Alison felt her eyes soften. “Oh Mike, why didn’t you say anything?” “No, it’s not like that,” Mike waved her worry away. “I know we’ve thanked him for what he did but with the gatehouse burning down and the whole insurance mess it feels like we haven’t really appreciated it enough, you know?” Mike and Alison plan a surprise for Robin.

Notes: Very sweet addition to the season 4 finale. Would have loved to see something like this in season 5 but this is almost as good.

fieri sentio et excrucior by oui_oui_mon_ami (@sunshine-soprano)

Rating: T

Ships: The Captain/OMC

Summary:

It all begins when the Captain meets the Roman centurion ghost next door.

Notes: An absolute fandom classic, I couldn't not include it. Not normally a huge fan of ocs but this one is vey well done. You can tell the author is very passionate about Latin and roman history which I always enjoy seeing (the passion not necessarily roman history).

The Moneypot by someplsloverobbierotten (@caps-clever-girl)

Rating: T

Ships: Julian/Robin

Summary:

Julian bet Robin a tenner over Heather getting sucked off. He of course tries squirrel his way out, but Robin’s not letting him off that easily. OR: Robin and Julian like their bets, but what's a ghost to spend imaginary money on?

Notes: Another fic that is basically canon to me. The author absolutely nailed Julian's voice. Overall just a fun read with some genuinely sweet moments.

Thanks, Skipper by NaughtyBees

Rating: G

Ships: None

Summary: Button House gets a visitor, someone specifically looking for Pat.

Notes: No 1 trans ally Pat Butcher, what more could you ask for? The definition of short and sweet

smoke gets in your eyes by sidelined

Rating: T

Ships: Alison/Mike, The Captain/Havers, minor Julian/Robin

Summary:

Alison and Mike move into Button House and, completely unintentionally, teach the ghosts valuable lessons about love. (In which Alison worries about a first date, Robin and Julian discuss marriage, Thomas accidentally humbles himself, Kitty discovers that romance can live everywhere, and the Captain ponders his loneliness

Notes: A really sweet set of vignettes about the ghosts and love. The Mike and Alison first date scene is canon to me, the author nailed Mike.

[ausssbutlershortstories]

Vanessa Hudgens :

So I wanted to make this post because looking on all the platforms I use to follow Austin Butler himself and/or other fan pages, I can see a lot of you are bothered by Vanessa saying that Austin helped her find her now husband.

I like to start off that I like Vanessa , anyone who follows me on IG will know that. I think him and Vanessa made a lovely couple. He genuinely seemed very happy with her. You can tell they really were down bad for one another. I say this because I don’t want to come across as some fake hypocrite. Posting pictures of him when he was with Vanessa and then turning around to make this post.

However , over the last few years that they have since broken up, she obviously has been throwing shade. Commenting on post making fun of his voice, saying things in interviews, and some of the memes she post to her stories on IG.

I don’t like when she does that. I think it’s annoying and quite rude. I find crazy to that she does this to this very day , even after being married to her supposed “soul mate”.

Vanessa to me comes across as a hurt woman. I don’t condone her throwing shade the way she does , however I feel if she did find her special someone , why keep bringing up your ex? A lot of fans seems to think she is trying to keep her name in headlines. And while I do agree to some extent , I think it goes deeper than someone looking for attention.

Vanessa was with Austin for a decade. They went through a lot together. Her dad passing, his Mom passing. She was in his sister’s wedding, which says A LOT. Not only was she close to Austin , she clearly was tight with his family as well. We seen how happy she was when he got the part of Elvis. I remember her seeing when she was speaking with Ryan Seacrest and how stoked she was telling him the story about how she told him he should play Elvis.Austin has told that story more than once too. Vanessa even had promo photos on her IG for when he finally got the role that she still has up on her profile all these years later.

I honestly feel bad for her in a way. Yeah as Austin’s fan I don’t like her shading him, but I don’t necessarily think she is a bad person based off that alone . To have a relationship as long as they had just end. Not sure exactly what happened with the break up, but from the outside looking in it seems to have ended abruptly.

That has to hurt…like. Especially seeing another girl be attached to his arm during his Elvis press . Someone who in my opinion don’t deserve to be reaping anything beneficial from that. I’m sure she thought that those were moments that they would share. And not because it would get her some level of clout but because that was her man. Vanessa to me seemed like one of those “my man , my man, my man” kind of women when she was with Austin. She saw a future with him I believe . Especially after hearing how on a podcast she stated how when she first met Cole she asked if marriage and kids were important to him. And i remember watching that and the look on her face seemed sad. Like she was reminiscing on something. Like maybe perhaps that’s what she wanted with someone else but didn’t get . To me I think she saw herself marrying Austin one day and having his children, the whole white picket fence shit. Hollywoood edition lol!

The fact that she keeps bringing him up is very telling . You a whole married woman and still throwing shade at your ex. Us a women , I feel like when we really find our someone after kissing a few frogs we could careless about wtf our ex got going on. Not calling Austin a frog , just speaking in general.

As fans I feel like we gotta be like 🤷🏾‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️. I know it’s annoying , but sis is still clearly stuck on him. Which to me says alot about how he was a boyfriend. I’m sure they had their ups and downs but it probably was a good relationship overall. Because who gonna be out in these streets missing someone who was a complete headache and toxic as hell? Especially if they feel like they finally found the person who they feel like was heaven sent….

Austin has been nothing but kind during this too. He can easily throw shade back , but he stays humble and minds his business. Which Vanessa needs to do too smh. Vanessa needs to go heal whatever broke her when her and Austin ended. She has a husband now , marriage is forever.

I’ll end this with I hope as a woman myself she finds peace within herself . I obviously am not for her ass saying the stuff she did , but I don’t dislike her. We have all at one point of time thrown shade an ex. Said some snarky shit. It happens . It’s one thing for some troll to throw shade to Austin, but an ex he was with for years on end….Like I said in the beginning, her acting that way goes deeper than someone looking for attention. Vanessa might have not done anything super duper huge since HSM but she’s still pretty well known. She doesn’t need to throw shade to stay relevant .

[luci-in-trenchcoats]

In Plain Sight (Part 6)

Summary: The reader’s birth mother has reached out for a reconciliation but both she and Jensen think she’s up to something. And a trip to the park for some photos has Crew revealing another secret he’s been harboring...

Masterlist

Pairing: Jensen x daughter!reader (with lots of daughter!reader x OMC)

Word Count: 5,700ish

Warnings: language, mention of family angst/bad parenting

A/N: So much going on in this one!

______

“Y/N,” said your dad, catching you before you headed to bed that night. “Come here a sec.”

You followed him down to his office, watching him open the bottom drawer of his desk and take out a box.

“I was thinking since Crew is spending Christmas with us and it’s his first one in a while, I wanted to give him something he’d really like.” He took off the lid and pulled out a photo album book, one of those one’s you could make from an app on your phone. “I know you could have made one that looked nicer-”

“Dad he’ll love this,” you said, flipping through the book. There were a number of pictures from set last year and this one, ones from nights out during the promo tour and private dinners and days off with the cast and crew. A few more pages in you saw one of yourself and Crew in the distance, both of you laughing way too hard. 

“I thought that was cute. I didn’t have a lot of the two of you but I snuck in as many as I could.”

“This is a great present dad. He deserves to have someone looking out for him.”

“I know he does, honey bun. Holidays are hard for him so he’ll probably be a bit quiet when we go up to the cabin, maybe want to be by himself a bit. We should give him his space when he wants it but make sure he knows we want him included.”

“Of course,” you said, handing him back the book.

“You’re okay with that? Crew doing family things with us?” You rolled your eyes. “Just checking.”

You turned to leave, his finger curling in the back of your hoodie, stopping you in your tracks. “Father…”

“Daughter. Talk to me,” he said, patting the top of his desk. You pursed your lips and sat on top, crossing your legs. “Anymore nightmares lately?”

“Nope.” 

“You sure?”

“Yes. I know I freaked out but-”

“Hey,” he said softly. “It was a scary night and we both know that can make the nightmares come back. I’m just asking if you’re good.”

“Yes…” you trailed off, his expression cautious. Did he know about you and Crew somehow? “Dad. What aren’t you telling me?”

He sighed and lowered his head. “Abigail was released yesterday. She got parole.”

“She what?” A flood of anger rushed through your veins, your dad standing and hugging you where you sat. “How the fuck does a child kidnapper get parole after only eighteen years? She’s supposed to be in there sixty. She’s not supposed to be out.”

“I know,” he said quietly, kissing the top of your head. “I know. I found out last week she was being let out. I didn’t want to ruin your Thanksgiving or work promotion.”

“Why are you telling me? You would hide this from me,” you said. 

“She made contact through the lawyers. She wants to meet us both. Apologize.”

“She can shove her apology up her ass.” He nodded, holding your body tight for a moment, neither one of you breathing. “Is she going to bother us?”

“The lawyer has concerns.” You dropped your head against his chest, breathing deeply. “Her parole was triggered based on some advocacy group doing work for a number of…it doesn’t matter. The law says she should have been placed in an institution, not a prison. That didn’t happen so she goes-”

“Is this because I didn’t testify?” 

“No, baby,” he said, running his hand over your head. “She’s just very good at being who she wants people to think she is.”

“Let’s meet her.” He pulled back, his head already shaking. “She doesn’t get to control our lives anymore. She was the bad one, not us. The show is done filming next week before winter break and you and I can fly out to LA for a few hours to meet her. We can make it very clear she needs to stay the hell away from us.”

“We can’t threaten her. She’s served her time. If it got back to her lawyer-“

“I’m not saying we do that. I’m just saying we tell her she has no place in our lives and we judge her reaction. See if she’s still obsessed or not. It’s better than staying here and being afraid.” He sat down in his chair, taking hold of your hands when you held them out to him. “Dad. I know you wouldn’t tell me unless you were scared of her coming back. So let’s go find out.”

“I don’t like it.”

“Neither do I. But she doesn’t get to have control over us anymore. Hire some security to be there undercover to make you feel better.” 

He bit his bottom lip but nodded. “I need to know. Otherwise I’m going to want to keep a guard on you for the rest of your life and I know that’s not realistic.”

“Maybe she’s different,” you whispered. He raised his head, green eyes meeting yours.

“People like her don’t change,” he said, lightly touching your cheek. “I’ll go. You stay here.”

“Daddy. You aren’t seeing her alone.”

“Why are you calling me that?” he whispered, voice raw. 

“Because I need you to listen to me. She hurt us both. She violated you. If you don’t let me go, then mom will and mom will knock her ass on the floor before she even has a chance to open her mouth because we aren’t letting you go alone.”

“You have a point,” he chuckled, nodding his head. “Okay. You have as much of a right to make this decision as I do. But if you change your mind at any time, you can walk away.”

“So can you.” He smiled, letting you slide off the desk and pull him to his feet. “We should tell mom we’re going.”

He winced, suddenly dragging his feet. You got behind him and pushed, walking him down the hall. “We could always wait until morning?”

“Nope. We’re telling her our decision so you don’t chicken out on me in the morning.”

“Mom is scary,” he said just as she rounded the entrance to the hall, hands on her hips. 

“Why exactly am I scary?” She glanced between the two of you, eyes narrowing. “What are you up to?”

“Dad would love to tell you, wouldn’t he?”

“Traitor.”

Saturday

“You’re sure it’s safe?” asked Crew after your photoshoot session with him. He’d known about you and your dad’s trip to LA next Saturday since Tuesday but without fail, he brought it up every day, leery of you going.

“Crew Taylor Foxe. For the last time an armed bodyguard, two of them, will be with us when we meet her. It’s very safe,” you said. He slipped his hand in yours as you entered a secluded trail in the park, running his thumb over your skin. Soft little giggles started to leave his lips, your hand touching his forehead. “Please tell me you don’t have heat stroke or something.”

“Taylor huh? Did someone go on my IMDB page?” he laughed. 

“I was doing research on your past headshots!” you said as he kept on giggling. You took off his ball cap and attempted to give him a noogie. Only Crew easily kept you at bay, pulling his hat brim down over your eyes and proceeding to tickle you. “Crew!”

“Oh you knew it-” The rapid fire of a camera shutter made you both freeze. “Hey!”

“Just doing my job, man,” said a male voice. There were footsteps and you felt shade on you, Crew moving in front of you while you kept your head low. “Who’s the-”

“Delete the photo or I’ll have you arrested.”

“You can’t have me-”

“State law. It’s illegal in Texas to take voyeur style photos, like those from someone hiding around the corner, without the subjects consent. Fucking google it. Now,” Crew demanded. The man was silent, Crew moving a few steps away from you. 

“Mr. Foxe I have a job I-”

“You want pictures of me? Take them at promotional events where you have my permission for use. Take another picture of me in this state without my explicit permission, which you do not have either of ours, and I’ll sick every damn lawyer I have access to on you and whatever agency you work for.”

There were footsteps and Crew walked further away. You spun around, putting a hand over your face as your back was to them.

“I deleted it, alright?” said the paparazzi. “You can back off.”

“Go back to LA. I see you again, I’ll charge you with stalking.” Crew’s hand was quickly on your lower back, walking you back the way you’d come. “I am so sorry.”

“Crew it’s fine. People have been taking pictures of me without permission forever. And he should know the law. It’s different here than in Cali.”

“I know. Your dad told me about it when I moved here. But we have a problem. That pap might not have a picture but he has a story to tell.”

“Fuck,” you said, stopping in your tracks. “He’s going to leak that you have a girlfriend. Or…we just let him say what he says and anyone that asks we call him a liar. He’s sketchy anyways right?”

“But he’s technically not a liar,” he said. “Crap. I didn’t realize it’d be this hard to keep it a secret.”

“I have an idea if you trust me.” 

“You don’t even have to ask.” You gave his hand a squeeze and quickly walked the two of you back towards where the paparazzi was, currently wiping off the sweat on his forehead. “Hi.”

He jumped at the noise, watching you lift the brim of Crew’s hat. “Wait. You’re Ackles kid. You two-”

“Do you like photography?” He blinked a few times as you held up your camera from around your neck. “Do you like photography?”

“Uh, yeah. Obviously.” You stepped closer, still holding it up. “I said I wouldn’t take a picture. But this is a story I can sell.”

“Show me the best photo you’ve got on your camera.” He stared and you turned yours around, showing him a picture of Crew being goofy when you were setting up shots earlier. “This is the best one on mine right now. Subjectively speaking. There’s much better ones but this is my favorite. What’s yours?”

He waited a moment before pressing through some buttons on his camera, showing you the screen. It was of the Austin sunset over the city, bats flying out from under one of the bridges. 

“That’s a gorgeous shot,” you said. He nodded, letting his camera rest against his torso again. 

“Sorry kids but I got bills and shit like this doesn’t get me a paycheck.”

“I understand. But your talent is wasted on taking blurry pictures of celebrities. You could easily do still work. You work in freaking LA. There’s countless studios that need them.”

“And there’s a million more guys like me that want those jobs. In the real world, this is how I get paid.” You nodded, going back to Crew. “Why’d you show me your face?”

“Because before I was a faceless woman. Now I’m Y/N, a real person that you telling this story will affect. So sell your story. Go ahead. Call your boss or whoever right now. Just have the decency to look me in the face like a man when you make money off of me and someone I care about.”

His gaze lowered as he wiped more sweat off of his brow. “Alright, alright. I won’t say shit. Happy?”

“Very. Oh and word of advice? Shop that picture around to some of the galleries in town before you leave. Some rich bastard would love to have something like that in their fancy ass loft apartment downtown.”

“I ain’t going to make more than a hundred bucks on something like that,” he said.

“Dude when’s the last time you did research on the market? That picture on large scale canvas or printing with marketing rights to the owner? You’re looking closer to five hundred minimum. There’s a ton of food places that would love a shot like that too. Do a time cost analysis and you’ll see you’ll save time and make more money doing your own work rather than taking pictures of people for cash.”

“You’re serious?”

“She had a very successful photography business in Atlanta. It’s possible if you put in the work,” said Crew, grabbing your hand.

“You’re not just bullshitting me so I don’t sell your story right?”

Twenty minutes later you were walking away from Jake, Crew shaking his head and smiling as you. “What?”

“How the hell did you get that guy to not only not sell a profitable story but also develop a rough business plan with him for his own startup in less than thirty minutes?”

“You get further with honey then spice.”

“Yeah but you’re spicy honey, kid,” he chuckled. He squeezed your hand before dropping it, voices in the distance carrying down the trail. “I mean it. You’re kind in a way people need more of in their lives.”

“I’m not always kind, Crew. I’m just deeply protective of the people I care about. Sometimes you do that with a battering ram, sometimes with a gentle touch.”

“I could learn with doing that gentle touch more often,” he said quietly. You shook your head, Crew fixing his hat you still wore. “I got angry when he took that picture of us. And I’m angry with the idea of your egg donor being near you again. I just…I need to know you’ll be safe.”

“Your protectiveness is an attractive quality, Crew. There’s a difference between anger and violence. People forget that. You were not violent with that pap, only angry, only protective. My dad would never let me near her without knowing I’m safe, that we both are. You might not think it but you are simultaneously the most gentle and strong man I’ve ever met.”

“Ever?” he asked. You hummed. “Even your dad?”

You bit your bottom lip, looking up coyly under the brim of his hat at him. “You really are awful at flirting.”

He started to laugh, smiling as you shook your head. “Yeah, I am. Let’s bring cocky Crew back to save me.”

“What would cocky Crew have said to that?” you asked, Crew tapping his chin with a devilish smile.

“Oh, he’d probably say something like looks like you got a new number one man in your life.” You rolled your eyes, Crew giggling. “You put me on the spot!”

“He’s number one dad love. You get number one…” you trailed off, swallowing thickly. Crew quickly grabbed your hand, pulling you off the trail and into the treeline behind a bush. You stared up at him, his dark brown eyes boring into yours. “Crew.”

“Don’t freak out on me,” he said. He leaned in close, brushing his lips over yours. “I love you. It’s not puppy love. It’s not a crush. I know what this is and what it isn’t and I love you, Y/N. I miss you every day when I’m not with you. I miss you when I’ve spent the whole day with you. When I saw you for the first time, I was gone. I knew exactly who I wanted to be with forever and I know it’s insane and you probably think I’m insane and you’re going to run away and think I’m a freak but-”

“God we need to work on your self-esteem. Now stop talking and fucking kiss me because I love you too you nervous idiot.” He slammed his lips to yours, hand gently gripping the back of your neck as you moved your mouths together. He was warm, tongue slowly devouring you, gently teasing before finding it’s confidence and taking ownership of the kiss.

“I might be an idiot but this idiot caught you,” he grinned, brushing his nose against yours, tickling your cheek with the back of his knuckles. “Unless you’re too proud to admit it.”

“You caught me a long time ago, Crew,” you whispered. 

“Good,” he murmured, lips pressed against the shell of your ear. “Cause you caught me the second I laid eyes on you. It’s about time we were even.”

“Such a dork,” you laughed, heart swelling up and instantly easing as he embraced you in his arms. “Honey?”

“Kid.” He hummed, squeezing you tighter.

“I’m so proud of you for risking your heart again after everything you’ve been through. I’ll be gentle with it, I promise.”

“I trust you,” he whispered. “You have all my pieces and I know it’s because you’re the one that’ll keep them safe.” He smiled, shaking his head. “God, I can’t believe I just said that.”

“Don’t be embarrassed, Crew.” He rested his chin on your shoulder.

“I’m not. I can tell you anything. But it’s so strange. You’re the only person in the world I feel like I could say the stupidest, dumbest, most cliche shit and you’re not going to think I’m a loser.”

“You’re a loser because you’re a fan of the Kansas City Chiefs, not because you’re open with your feelings.” He chuckled, the deep rumble of his chest reverberating through your body.

“Being a romantic? That’s a plus but my football team is what is questionable?” he laughed.

“We’re a Cowboys family, Mr. Foxe. You best learn that,” you said, Crew picking you straight up so you were eye level with him. 

“Oh I’ll convert you. I can be very convincing,” he said, pressing his lips to yours. “Plus I won’t ever let you down if you don’t say Chiefs are the best team in the history of the universe so…”

“There’s the fatal flaw in your plan, Crew. I happen to like the view up here,” you teased. He immediately set you down and peeled himself away. “No! Not fair!”

“Shouldn’t have told me what you like, kid,” he laughed, taking hold of your hand. “I suppose you can like that awful team. I can’t expect you to be completely perfect after all.”

“God no. Perfectionism has no place in this relationship. It’s like you and your enjoyment of, what was it you were trying to get me to eat last night?”

“Excuse me but cow tongue is delicious when prepared correctly.” You stared at him, shaking your head. “It’s amazing.”

“You’re psychotic but I love you anyways,” you said, Crew grinning like an idiot. “Oh? Does someone like when I say that?”

“Yeah, he does.” He slid his hands down to your hips, tilting his head. “Stay over tonight.”

“Okay.” You leaned up and kissed the tip of his nose. “Crew.”

“Next year. I’m still nervous about going to Christmas in the first place. If we tell Jensen and it gets awkward, I don’t know if I can handle all of that at once.” 

“Hey. I’m all for waiting until we’re both comfortable. It’s our business and no one else's. Just wondering if you still wanted to hit up the brewery today?”

“Yeah and then I want to take you to dinner at this hole in the wall place I found. Matt, our key grip, he was telling me about it. I’m pretty sure even you don’t know about it,” he said, proudly turning his chin up. 

“Oh well let’s see if it lives up to the hype, hm?”

“I don’t think you have to worry about that.”

One Week Later

“What’s the name of this place again?” asked your dad as you walked through the airport in LA. You fixed your backpack, your dad’s slung over one of his shoulders. 

“Asador. It’s a little taco place and it is officially in my top three tacos I’ve ever had.” 

“Damn. It must be good then,” he said as you approached a familiar pickup spot in the airport, multiple drivers standing around holding signs or ipads with names on them. You both paused, glancing the line before you saw your name. You took a step when he caught your backpack, gaze going to meet his. “Are you sure you want to see Abigail? I can do this on my own.”

“I’m sure,” you said with a nod, even if your stomach felt queasy. “It’s not for a few hours right?”

“No,” he said, walking over to the man holding up a sign. You followed him outside to where two different SUVs were parked, large men in plain clothes inside. He held up a finger to the driver with a smile, the driver nodding and leaving you alone. “I promised my agent I’d get a lunch with him in person and go over a few opportunities. It’s probably going to take a little while and be boring as hell. Why don’t you take my card and go shopping?”

You glanced over your shoulder at the second SUV, the man behind the wheel sporting sunglasses and a flat expression. “Dad. Tell me you didn’t actually hire private security for this trip.”

“I won’t tell you then,” he said, patting you towards the car, slipping his credit card into your jeans pocket. “Go have fun for a few hours. The guys will drive you to meet up with me when we talk to Abigail.”

“Fine.” You pointed a finger at him, poking him in the chest. “But only because you have them too it looks like and I know you’re overprotective and this makes you feel better.”

“Honey bun.” He smiled, his face soft. “It’s not just so I feel better. You don’t have to feel scared for a second while we’re here, okay?”

“Okay,” you said, closing your eyes, slowly opening them. “Will they take me wherever I want to go?”

“Yup. They are there for peace of mind only.”

“Maybe we’ll go to the beach, let me take some shots,” you said, reaching into your backpack, pulling out your camera bag.

“Knock your socks off. I got to run, sweetie. I’ll meet up with you soon and then we’ll go, alright?”

“Later,” you said as he pecked a kiss to your temple and hopping into his SUV after you’d opened your back door. Inside there were three large men in jeans and t shirts, one wearing a light hoodie. “Hi.”

“Ms. Ackles,” said the other one in the back, reaching out a hand to take your bag. You handed him your backpack and slid inside, taking a deep breath. “Is there anywhere in particular you’d like to go?”

“The beach maybe. You guys have any good suggestions for places to take some good pictures?” you asked, holding up your camera. They seemed to communicate silently before the one in the driver’s seat cracked a smile. 

“Yeah, I think we can come up with something.”

“This is great,” you said, standing on the roof of the guy’s building. Their agency was a few floor downs but you had an amazing shot of the skyline and hollywood sign. Gratefully the air was clearer than usual and you were able to get some gorgeous pictures of the city from above. 

When you were finished you stood up, stretching slightly, turning to find them sat up on top of some ledge, laughing to themselves. You snapped a quick picture of them, all three suddenly tensing. “Don’t worry, bodyguards. I’m not going to do anything with it but send you a nice picture of you guys in an email.”

“Worrying is kind of our default state,” chuckled Rodger as he hopped down to the roof with ease. 

“Even on safe jobs,” said Tony, Kit rolling his eyes. 

“We all know we’re here cause your dad is the worrier,” he said to which you hummed. “See? She knows there’s no danger.”

“We still act professionally in front of a client, Kit,” said Rodger who if you had to guess, was the one in charge of this little group. All three looked to be in their mid thirties and as fit as any male celebrity and then some. “Ms. Ackles-”

“No. God no,” you said, shaking your head. “Y/N please. And my dad already told me you guys are just here to make us both feel better so please don’t be formal. I’m stuck with you guys for a few more hours so I’d rather it not be incredibly awkward, you know?”

“I’m with her,” said Tony. “It’s an easy job for once. We’ll do an appropriate amount of worrying, Rodger, and show Y/N around to a few places to take pictures like she wants. Sound good?”

“As long as we stop and get some lunch from somewhere along the way, it’s good with me,” said Kit. 

“My treat. Where do we want to grab lunch?” you asked. Rodger sighed but smiled. “Your pick, buddy.”

“Alright. Alright. I suppose I could go for a bite.”

Three Hours Later

“Kit.” He hummed from behind the wheel. “Do you know where we’re supposed to meet my dad? I think we need to meet my…meet Abigail soon.”

The cheery mood in the car evaporated, all three of them suddenly closed off.

“Guys?” You turned to Rodger sat beside you, his gaze hidden behind a pair of dark shades as he stared out the window. “What’s going on?”

“Mr. Ackles instructed us to accompany you today,” said Kit. You narrowed your eyes, checking the clock on the dash.

“And that’s what you’ve done and now we need to go meet my birth mom.”

“We were instructed to drop you off at Santa Monica Pier at five.”

“But the meeting with Abigail is at three.” None of them looked at you as you put a hand on the door. The sound of it locking echoed in the small space. “Someone tell me what’s going on now. Where’s my dad?”

“Perfectly safe with his team,” said Tony. You growled, Rodger lifting the shades off his head, giving you his full attention.

“Your father was set to meet with Abigail shortly after your flight landed. The team has been sending us updates. He is perfectly safe. The rest is for him to tell you.”

You breathed hard, shaking your head. “You three are not here for his peace of mind or mine. You’re fucking babysitters so I didn’t go to that meeting.”

“We are private security to a client that hired us for peace of mind. We are not your babysitters.”

“Then take me to this meeting right now.”

“It’s over already.” You huffed, crossing your arms as you glared out your window. “Kit. Take us to the pier.”

“Hey kiddo.” You wiped your eyes from where you sat on the sand hours later, camera settled by your side. The guys were close by but giving you your space, Kit only daring to come over once to bring you a bottle of water. Your dad sat beside you, sighing and stretching out his legs. “I understand your anger and that I hurt you.”

“I am not a little girl. I am a grown woman. I have a job and pay taxes and have sex and orgasms and drink and swear and I’m a damn adult,” you spat out, whipping your head around, surprised to see him smiling. “What are you so happy about?”

“You’re strong. I’m proud of that.” You lost some of your fury, lowering your head to your chest. “I know you are not a child and I’m sorry if you think that’s what I was doing today.”

“What exactly were you doing?” you shot back. “Going to see that awful woman alone? Was that your genius plan?”

“My job as your father is to protect you and that doesn’t stop just because you’re an adult. And trust me, as much as I want to protect you from it all, I can’t and don’t. You need to make your own mistakes, have shit happen to you so you can learn from it. But Y/N, I need you to understand that while I respect you as an adult that makes her own choices, I swore I would never let you near that woman again. You want to be pissed, go right ahead but I will take a pissed off daughter that is safe over one that is scared and could get hurt any day.”

You sighed, lightly punching his arm. “I’m not stupid, dad. I know you’re trying to keep me safe. But you’re the one she was obsessed with. You shouldn’t have gone by yourself.”

“I wasn’t. I had about five guys with me.” You glanced over your shoulder, Rodger and Kit talking with a group of similarly jacked looking guys. “I didn’t tell you everything. Parents do that.”

“Dad. What happened today?” He leaned back, palms digging into the sand as he took in the warmth from the setting sun. “Is it over?”

“Yup,” he said, popping his ‘p’. “You don’t have to worry about Abigail again.”

“Please tell me the truth? I think I’m owed that for being left in the dark.” 

“Y/N,” he said, closing his eyes, tilting his head back. “I’m sorry for tricking you today, honey bun. But you are as stubborn as me and it was the only way I could guarantee you were okay.”

You sat back and rested your head against his shoulder. “You’re not going to tell me, are you.”

“I met with her along with an undercover detective posing as a friend. She said some things that confirmed our suspicions. Those things in turn were a violation of her parole. The detective and lawyer said it’ll be revoked and she’ll need to finish her original sentencing.”

You turned your head up, his eyes still closed. “She had to have done something really bad today, something illegal.”

“She did something bad when she got out…and she was planning to do something bad today. She doesn't like either one of us very much.”

“She’s going back to prison for sure?”

“The second she contacted me I called the lawyer and we called the police here. They’ve been watching her all week. They could have made a case on what she did but it was stronger by having me go to the meeting with her.” He sat up, wrapping his arm around your shoulder. “We’re okay, I promise.”

“If it was truly that bad-”

“Y/N.” He sighed deeply. “She wanted to try a ransom again and that is as much detail as I am ever giving you. Please respect that.”

“Okay,” you said, holding up your hands. “I just…”

“I know. I wouldn’t have done what I did today unless it was perfectly safe.”

“Might I ask why that one bodyguard guy back there looks a hell of a lot like you?” He groaned, throwing his head back. “It wasn’t safe, was it. That guy pretended to be you at the meet.”

“That one is actually a cop,” he said, running a hand over his face. “Fine. Yes, they didn’t want me to meet her in person for safety reasons. But they got what they needed and she’s back behind bars. It’s airtight.”

“It’s not entrapment?”

“No. That was one of my first questions. Just…just forget today happened. She’s gone and you never have to think about her again.”

“What about when she’s like ninety and gets released and she’s still psycho?” you asked, half-joking.

“Then I’ll get you some really hot bodyguard in his twenties to follow you around and make your husband jealous.” 

“I’m okay with this,” you said, your dad chuckling. He pulled you into a hug, holding on tight. “Promise me if you won’t talk to me about the whole truth you’ll tell someone?”

“Mom knows but yeah, I can promise that.” He inhaled sharply, running his thumb over your cheek. “I’m so sorry Abigail turned out the way she did. A woman that doesn’t want to be a mother is one thing. Being cruel is another. You didn’t deserve that.”

“You didn’t deserve to be taken advantage of or hurt like you were. We can agree she’s awful and never waste another breath on her.”

“I second that,” he said, tucking your hair behind your ear. “So. I got us a reservation for dinner at your favorite restaurant before our flight back just in case you were still pissed.”

“You’re a smart man,” you said as you stood up, brushing yourself off. 

“Food always fixes your mother right up when she’s mad,” he laughed. “Did you do anything fun today?”

“Oh yeah,” you said, handing him back his credit card. “You bought my Christmas present today.”

He froze, narrowing his eyes. “You went to the Nikon store again, didn’t you.”

“Don’t you wish I liked heels?” you teased before grabbing his hand and heading towards the guys, your backpack still with them. “It’s the Sigma ultra wide angle, F2.8 aperture-”

“Well you can’t have it until Christmas,” he said. 

“But think of all the wonderful pre-Christmas memories I could make with it if I had it now?” you asked, your dad’s jaw tight. “Please? For being a liar liar pants on fire today?”

“First off, I made the right call. Second, now that I know you really want it, I might have to hoard it until your birthday.” Your jaw dropped, turning his grimace into a smile. “Be good for Santa and maybe you’ll get it Christmas Eve.”

“Fine. But Santa could throw in some money for my photoshop subscription to appease me?”

“Such a needy child,” he laughed. “Yeah, he can swing that. Anything else you want?”

“I’m good. But we should get Crew something nice, his first holiday and all,” you said, a little grateful you had some time alone today to do some shopping for him without any watchful eyes.

“I got Crew’s present handled. You find your own,” he said, ruffling your hair. “He’s your best friend. Just ask him what he wants. That’s what I told him to do for you when he tried to pick my brain.”

You had to hide your blush at the idea of Crew trying to figure out what to get for you. 

“You want to grab dinner now?” he asked, shaking you from your thoughts. 

“Yeah. Sounds good to me, dad.”

_______

A/N: Read the final part here!

[discluded]

I was wondering if you'd have any opinions on why MileApo haven't done any fan-meetings yet (just purely them in a hall/arena with fans only doing a qna, playing games etc.)? I know we've seen them do promotional lives, the world tour, they did the FanStar event in Vietnam, ManSuang promo, Dior etc. But I would have hoped they would've done one by now. I might be projecting since I follow a lot of kpop etc. but I was thinking about it and wondered why, could a duo fan-meet not be worth planning?

Hi! they actually did do a fan meet last year.

It was in November and in collaboration with a Line Friends promotional event.

if you remember these outfits.

I can't find the announcement press release, which was in Thai anyway, but it was at Central Pattana mall (what I tagged it as) and called Embracing Happiness 2023 (what @nattaphum tagged it as) if you want to look through our tags for it. It should turn up quickly with a search.

This fan meet didn't require tickets and the turnout was genuinely huge... so I'm guessing you mean something else? I looked up some variations on what a fan meet vs. fan sign vs. concert is for kpop just to try to get an idea of the nuance you're looking for I'm missing... if you're talking ticketed event where they play games and take audience questions, the Woody interview was fairly close to that. Mile had a fan sign to make up for missing the KPWT send off (it's tagged under mile send off on my blog) but those were from random raffle winners and not available through buying tickets. The Planet of Stars event in Vietnam had more of the concert element and I think they were supposed to interact more with fans who bought certain levels of tickets but that was, um, kind of a mess.

maybe you can clarify what specifically you qualify as a fan meet? I'll answer based on what I'm thinking right now anyway:

1) financially, I think doing events with sponsors makes more sense for them. it's not as intimate for fans, but it does allow more people to attend events, which is better for sponsors. additionally opening it up to a larger audience avoids the element of fan scalping / reselling tickets at absurd prices for fan meets (which was an issue with some of the man suang showings with actors in attendance).

2) for foreign fan meets, the logistics are challenging and BOC isn't really sized to scale to handle that.. for various reasons. working with a third party to coordinate is risky: see Planet of Friends concert and the JeffGameplay fanmeet in France that didn't include Jeff in the end, and the sponsors made off without even hosting the meet.

3) The air is poisonous right now. there's already been instances of fan photos or fan engagement where the person invited up was openly nasty to Mile or Apo (see: Woody interview when Apo invited up a greeny rose, or a recent fan photo event where an apc was openly hostile to Mile). why open the door to more of that?

I mean, look at Bible's fan meet today... I really sympathize for him right now. He doesn't deserve this for his first fan meet and no one deserves to be treated like an accessory to someone else's career. (I'm not posting it but check @blramblingx2's blog. they posted it because I sent it their way...)

but we'll see! I wouldn't mind seeing a large scale fan meet like embracing happiness again. that was fun... for me... mile and apo were going through it in those 3 layers of sweaters and jackets 😂

[barananduen-blog]

New drama "Bell Ringing" 《你的岛屿已抵达》 Info Post

Genre: modern pastoral island romance, with ancient costume part Format: short length; twelve 20-25min episodes Starring: Li Daikun 李岱昆, Amber Song Fangyuan 宋芳园, Miao Weilun 苗维伦, Yu Yilei 余逸蕾, Russell Zhuang Yuan 庄源 Platform: Mango TV Booting ceremony: 2023-10-13 [Source] Wrapping ceremony: 2023-11-01 Premiere: 2024-02-22 Filming location: Changde Peach Blossom Spring, Hunan Province [Img Source]

Drama info (plot, characters, location photos) + more pics (including booting and wrap ceremonies) under the cut.

Updated 2024-02-24

Booting Ceremony

October 13, 2023

[Source] No, I do not know why they're wearing those plushies on their jackets.😂

Sources: [-1-] [-2-] [-3-]

Drama Information

[Source] Google-translated into English on the left, and the original Mandarin on the right

Note! I don't know Mandarin, so please take this with a grain of salt, but what I gather, summarizing and piecing the parts together (and doing this as an attempted service to anyone else who is interested but also doesn't understand the language), is this:

Plot & Character Summary Five hundred years ago, Chi Ye 迟野 (played by Li Daikun) was a ruthless, cold-blooded killer, but his life changed when he met and fell in love with Shen Qi 沈七 (Song Fangyuan), an unassuming orphan. However, a tribal war broke out, and, to end it, she died by his sword. The two are reunited in the current timeline, in which Chi Ye is the immortal guardian of the rural Silver Bell Island, and Shen Qi has been reincarnated and lives a carefree life, until others pressure her into getting married. Qi Yang 齐杨 (Miao Weilun), a humorous guy, is a veterinarian and the only doctor on the island (Note: So he treats humans, too). He treasures love above all, and his life is disrupted by the arrival of a woman. Luo Fei 罗菲 (Yu Yilei) is a citywoman who goes to the island on vacation/sick leave. She becomes Shen Qi's confidant and advisor - based on dramas they watch. Due to an incident where she destroys Qi Yang's medicinal herb garden, she's forced to work again to pay off the damage. Xiao Cai (Zhuang Yuan) is Chi Ye's personal assistant, and knows the secret he keeps.

If any Mandarin speakers are willing to correct/amend, please do! Thanks in advance!

Note: Edited to fix some details post- drama premiere.

Li Daikun: "Modern drama! But there are also costumes!😱" [Source]

Filming Location

常德桃花源 - Changde Peach Blossom Spring Changde Prefecture, Taoyuan County, Hunan Province

According to [wikipedia], Changde's Taohuayuan, or Peach Blossom Spring, is a famous tourist location, known for its beautiful scenery and its peach blossoms (which we're in the wrong season for, sadly).

The name comes from a fable written by Tao Yuanming in the year 421, and the phrase has come to mean "an idealistic place of beauty and repose, although it is sometimes used to refer to an unrealistic dream" [Source], which feels fitting for this drama's plot and mood.

Miao Weilun and Zhuang Yuan have posted some photos of it:

Sources: [-1-] [2 & 3]

They took boats to the filming location every day. Source: [Miao Weilun comment] on [this post]

Other Official Promo Images

[Source]

More Photos

Uploaded by Miao Weilun, who we thank for posting so many pictures. [Source]

Wrapping Ceremony

November 1st, 2023

More at [Source] I've reached the per-post limit

All the best wishes for the cast and crew! Looking forward to the drama!

Follow-up Post

Includes trailers and more photos

[5sosfanfictioncatalogue]

Sick!Luke Masterlist

Fighting The Gravity (ao3) - stelleshine michael/luke E, 2k

Summary: Luke's sick and miserable in Japan and Michael breaks the rules to snuggle him.

floating then drowning (ao3) - lovelymuke michael/luke T, 9k

Summary: As Luke stands over the bathroom sink and swallows one of the pills, he knows that this is it. There's no turning back after this. As long as he can make the bottles of pills he has stashed in the bottom of his suitcase last until the end of the promo run he’ll be fine. So he doesn’t worry. Instead, he just knocks back the second pill and walks out of the bathroom to his waiting boyfriend. He’s going to prove that he’s still worthy of being in the band, that he can hold himself together.

If he needs medication to do that, no one needs to know.

Hold You Tight Straight Through The Daylight (ao3) - harrehsbutterfly G, 890

Summary: Drabble about Luke being ill, based off a photo I saw, where he basically looked really pale and shaky.

i belong with you, you belong with me - @sup3rbloom (haveufoundwhaturlookingfor) OT4 T, 12k

Summary: Luke presents as an omega during their Youngblood promo. It's a rollercoaster of emotions, but the boys have his back in the end.

i'll be damned (ao3) - prettyluke (parting_ways) luke/ashton T, 8k

Summary: Luke is sick, and sometimes Ashton feels like he's the one who can't breathe.

it’s like a go-gurt (ao3) - orphan_account G, 905

Summary: What if Luke actually drank the tzatziki sauce?

love me like you do (ao3) - dracomalfloy michael/luke E, 4k

Summary: “I kinda like it,” Luke admits as Michael scoops up some more soup with the spoon.

“What?” Michael asks, one eyebrow lifted, as he holds out another spoon for Luke. He takes it and swallows before answering.

“You, feeding me. It’s quite nice,” Michael chuckles and rolls his eyes, shoving the spoon into Luke’s mouth, shutting him up. “Don’t get used to it,” he winks.

Or

The one where Luke gets sick and everyone just can't wait to take care of him. Especially Michael.

Luke's.Stomach Bug (ao3) - 5SOSxQueen T, 13k

Summary: Luke ends up getting extremely sick before a concert, but has to push through his illness. Just how bad does it need to get for him to be able to rest?

magnetic, everything about you. (ao3) - spicylarrie michael/luke G, 676

Summary: luke's sick so michael wants to make him feel better.

Maybe this is where I'm meant to be (ao3) - qeut luke/ashton G, 1k

Summary: 5 Seconds of Summer have been overworked, Luke is beginning to get sick on tour, and Ashton looks after him.

Maybe You Should Stay (ao3) - pilotmikey michael/luke M, 7k

Summary: Luke is sick and Michael feels like home.

Only You Can Cure My Sickness (ao3) - Jay_isnotokay michael/luke M, 1k

Summary: “You can’t be sick and horny, it’s against the law I think.”

“Well, lock me up and throw away the key ‘cause I’m definitely both of those things.”

perfectly fine... (not) (ao3) - lovelymuke michael/luke T, 7k

Summary: In which Luke is sick, stubborn and trying to deal with his problems on his own. Michael is unaware, exhausted and honestly kind of, just a little bit, sick of Luke’s shit.

Run Away With Me Anytime You Want (ao3) - mukeinruins michael/luke G, 1k

Summary: Luke gets sick and Michael's the one thing that makes him feel better

Throat Massages (ao3) - smol_whale michael/luke G, 8k

Summary: Where Luke comes stumbling into Michael's room in the middle of the night and his boyfriend gives him a neck massage like earlier on TV.

___________

The story of how Luke was sick the other day featuring (obviously) a day of sick Luke, a lot of Muke cuddles and sassy Ashton.

to save me from tears (ao3) - ashtonsbabygurl luke/ashton G, 702

Summary: it's christmas and luke is sad because he's sick, so ashton cuddles away his hurt.

Tummy Troubles (ao3) - MichaelTheMicrophone G, 1k

Summary: Luke gets sick on a recording day.

with your love, nobody can drag me down (ao3) - prettyluke luke/ashton G, 4k

Summary: Luke is sick and won't tell his boyfriend. Everyone is a big piece of shit.

[harrumphingtons]

Alright, moving on to theories that aren't about Jamie (my long list of Jamie theories is here):

This is something random and probably not important, but we got way fewer promo pics for this episode? It's only 5 this week, while:

- E1 had 8

- E2, E5, & E6 had 9

- E4, E9, & E10 had 10

- E3 & E8 had 11

- and E7 had 13

Now, E7 was a pivotal episode, as that was where Richmond turned things around and started building towards the ending, in the sense that they got things together as a team. But I don't think that means E11 will be not as important of an episode. The opposite, actually: I think maybe this is an episode where they're trying to give away as little as possible? As much as I'm rambling about my theories for this episode, the promo pics aren't really all that... telling. So perhaps they're trying to keep the plotline of this episode a surprise?

About the picture of Ted and Rebecca with a projector behind them: I might just be thinking everyone looks like they're about to cry in this episode, but Rebecca looks like she's tearing up??? I'm guessing this is a team movie night situation and maybe Ted and Rebecca are having a quiet conversation in the back, and it's probably about something important, and she tears up a bit because of it?

Speaking of Rebecca and her and Ted having conversations, in the second-to-last episode of both season one and two, Rebecca came down to Ted's office to tell him something important -- S1, that she'd been trying to destroy the club, and S2, that she'd had an affair with Sam. In that scene in S2, Ted even acknowledged that their situation was reminiscent of the past year, and one of them, I think Rebecca, also even said, "See you next year." So it's pretty heavily implied that we're getting another iteration of that scene. For the purposes of narrative symmetry in terms of placement in the season, it would make sense for that to happen this episode. However, I can't think of anything Rebecca would be confessing, this time. I know the Tedbecca shippers are hoping it'll be a confession of love, or something, but based on how things have been going, I'm pretty sure canon will be sticking to platonic relationship between those two through the end. Maybe, instead, this season Ted will be the one telling Rebecca something big, to keep that pattern but switch things around a bit? Maybe this will be when Ted decides he's going to head back to Kansas, to be with Henry? Which, by the way, I'm not entirely sure will be the ending of the show anymore. It's still pretty likely, but (and maybe this is just misplaced hope) I could also see Ted staying with Richmond.

The picture of Keeley, Rebecca, and Higgins sitting up in the box watching the game is kind of stumping in terms of why it's even there. It doesn't seem to be very important? Rebecca's smiling, Keeley's kinda smiling, and Higgins looks a bit annoyed, and they're clapping. So telling. But judging by the angle of Keeley's and Rebecca's heads/eyes, they're not looking down at the pitch, they're looking a bit further down in the stands. Higgins is looking... off into the distance, I don't know. But maybe Keeley and Rebecca are smiling because they're waving/saying hi to some person from a distance? I don't know who this hypothetical person could even be, but. Yeah. That's all I'm getting from that photo.

Ok, then there's the picture of Keeley leaning/sitting on the back of a couch. That could be Jamie's mum's living room, since we do know she (and Roy and Jamie) are going to end up there at some point during the episode, but I think it's more likely that that particular room is a hotel or something? I don't know, the lights in the background and the armchairs and the couch seem kind of... modern... style? Not the type of thing I'd expect to see in Jamie's mum's house, especially considering that since stuff from Jamie's childhood is still up in his bedroom, she's likely lived there at least since he was a teenager. I just think her house would be more cozy and homey.

And finally, the picture of Ted walking down (what I think is) the alley his apartment building lets out into. I really don't know what that picture is. I can't find anything significant in that one. He's just. There. But this does add in to my theory that they're actively trying not to tell us anything with these promo pics. The less we can theorize, the more hard-hitting it'll feel, I guess.

[walker-extended-universe]

I keep thinking about these photos from the season finale and how much they look like sort of a "celebration".

I really don't want to believe they'll kill tom. I'd want to believe that because of her experience with not being believed by her friends when she told them about shane- plus everything she's come to know about tom so far- abby would give him a chance to explain himself, but that doesn't seem the case. (aiming a shotgun at him and all).

maybe I'm just in denial but a part of me doesn't think she will actually shoot him. I think she's just angry because she's thinking tom shot gus and also upset by tom's seemingly betrayal (having liam's diary and the t. davidson meeting thing).

maybe between moments during their fight, tom will slip in some sentences about the truth? maybe abby will ask him some questions (because despite everything I think she'll want to know why "tom killed liam").

anyway, I want to believe these stills don't mean anything bad for tom, especially because so far a lot of my theories that were based off stills and promos were proven to be wrong & promos and stills always make things seem otherwise, but then things have been going too good (and by too good I mean mostly the fact that tom was proven innocent to the audience) that I wonder if this is the one time I'll be let down and they'll take a whole different direction.

maybe the group will have this whole confrontation with tom but end up letting him go or something and then they have this little celebration or something, and hopefully they'll get renewed for another season and we'll have tom joining the group 🙏

I just have so many thoughts and I am so scared for tom. I truly hope they don't kill him off because he's a great character. on top of that, greg hovanessian is a fantastic actor, and it will just be a huge disappointment if they kill tom off considering the whole development tom has done so far (and also I personally think that it will be really sad if tom ends up getting killed because of something that shane did. I mean, throughout his life tom has suffered a lot because of shane's mess and mistakes, and now he might get killed because of shane too? that's heartbreaking).

anyway, sorry for the rant. I hope you'll have a nice weekend!

Those photos do look like a celebration of sorts but it's hard to tell with no other context. Very often the promo photos don't tell us much of anything

I really don't think they will kill Tom. I just think they've given him too much development to kill him off like that. If they did, I think they'd be playing it safe in case they didn't get a second season.

Tom is at a crossroads in his character development. He's committed to his family but he's also found room in his heart for Independence and the people in it. He wants to do right by both of them but when their interests conflict, that's when his true character will come out. Just killing him when there's so much still to explore with that character is just wrong.

[zee-has-commitment-issues]

Did you see that bts camera photos with Wille In it? People saying Wille sad. :(

I have seen them!

I think it’s ridiculous to assume he’s sad based on a picture of them while they’re in between takes though lol. We don’t even know what they were filming. For all we know, those were promo shots. That’s what they started with for season 2. They all went in for promo shots and a promo video. So they might not have even been filming anything for season 3 in those pictures.

I think people need to relax lol. We can’t assume what’s going on with Wilhelm in the show based solely on the way Edvin is standing off camera in between takes. Like maybe he’s just tired guys💀

[anime-chick]

@ the new YYH netflix promo poster - IT'S FINE.

i understand the negative reaction to it (yes, okay, i admit hiei's hair could be better and kurama's needs a blowout), but h o n e s t l y ?

it's fine. amazing shows have less-than-encouraging promo posters all the time (i'm thinking about hannibal and, boy, i tell ya, those pre-s1 posters were rough).

what i'm getting at is, i'm not going to judge the show based off of a bad poster. the trailer should be dropping next week and that's going to tell us a lot more than an awkward photo ever will.

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

rambly fashion rant incoming... I don't know if I'm your fashion anon, maybe A fashion anon? But I had some observations/thoughts. 1. Your comment that the Dior show was boring. Mostly, I agree. I think the sportswear inspired thing that Jones is trying works much much much better as a S/S collection than it does as a F/W collection. Without the interesting color palette and playfulness that is more expected from a S/S season, it just felt very Drab. Balmoral castle in the pouring rain. The callbacks to traditional Scottish attire/fabrics both on the top and bottom were well noted but all I thought flicking through the vogue slideshow was that I'm pretty sure I've seen this exact collection done by Ralph Lauren and that ilk several times over. I still want one of those grey tweed skirts for myself, the fabric looked like it would have great texture up close.

But menswear is always boring. Very very very rarely does a menswear collection make big splashes. I'm waiting on it all to wrap up before I pass my verdict, but if you're looking for drama, Comme des Garcons is always fun, I was really impressed by Lemaire this season, and Rick Owens always puts out a Rick Owens collection which if you're familiar with his work is pretty consistent, but at least it's different. Everyone else seems to have just done variations on loose-fit suiting. I'd love to hear if any of your other anons have opinions on the season as a whole.

2. Jihope's fits specifically. I love the sock-boots so we're going to have to agree to disagree there, but I do agree with the maybe vague consensus that Hobi's fit was a lot more interesting? What I will note though that maybe a lot of people may have missed is that I have a half-suspicion that Hobi's addition to the crew was relatively last-minute. Jimin's jacket fit him /perfectly/. Like- perfectly. Made for him perfectly. I wouldn't be surprised if he'd been to a half dozen styling appointments to get it right. I could talk at length at how bad soo many of the BTS suits are, and Jimin especially has a difficult frame to get right with off the shelf suiting. Hobi's fit was more fun, but someone very well could have grabbed it off a rack, steamed it, and thrown it at him this morning and the effect would have been the same.

3. On the security team/lack of photos/maybe presence at the after party. It did seem to me like the security team was necessary - even Hobi had a pretty significant one, but what I think people are maybe missing is that Jimin very obviously had a meeting right after the show. Do people think he went to the Dior store just to hang out? That was probably a scheduled meeting for him to meet with both his styling team (I saw at least one prominent Hybe stylist with him) and the Dior team to go over the pieces they expect him to wear/present options for the rest of the year based on the collection they just had. That shit is top secret until after the show is over and global ambassador means global team. They could have shot promo too, given his outfit change. The Lunar new year is on Sunday. I wouldn't be surprised if both he and Hoseok are on the next plane back to Incheon tomorrow morning (3 hours apart, can't have those airport photos crossed). He simply did not have time to hang out backstage and take photos like Hobi did. A shame? Definitely. But I don't think it's a conspiracy. As to whether he went to any afterparty? Hoseok obviously went to some LV events last night, his own ig story posts prove that. And yet nothing on the timeline. Just because we don't see something doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

Alright, let me unpack this one by one. Thanks for splitting the thoughts into sections, it helps.

1. I read a bit about the concept for Dior's collection and how it's some tribute to YSL and his work during the early 60s when he was the designer. Either way, I really get your Balmoral comment. I knew it reminded me of something: posh boys with a dash of Brideshead Revisited. It was definitely an interesting choice to have a collection based mostly on sportswear for fall/winter, but what do I know? It does look a bit bland, although some items can work, but it depends on how they're styled and who wears them. For example, I'm thinking of Jimin's outfit from yesterday and if he only had his jacket suit on without anything underneath, it would have looked a bit more eye catching, especially given the color palatte.

I agree that sometimes, compared to women's fashion, menswear can be a bit boring, but not all the time and definitely doesn't apply to all designers. I saw the Rick Owens show. I get it. It's a signature. Good for a show and to have everyone talking about it. I understand its purpose.

Have you seen Saint Laurent? It's my favorite collection of the entire week. It's not some extraordinary, one of a kind, never before seen, but its simplicity (not blandness) and elegance got to me. It's classy and I loved the fabrics they used. This is a case in which I also have to disagree with you about the bad tailloring. I'm not saying it's not happening with some brands (I see it more as aesthetic choice), but what I saw for SL was quite the opposite of that.

Also, have you seen Ten Lee and Jeonghan attending the show? I was mesmerized. Such good choices.

Not gonna lie, I would have loved to see Jimin wearing those clothes. He would definitely have me in a chokehold. But I'm not dismissing Dior. This is just the beginning anyway.

2. Yes, Hobi's fit was a bit more interesting than Jimin's, but I guess that skirt is what makes the entire outfit. And I have to agree, I also thought that Hobi was a last minute addition, but he also attended Hermes today, so maybe he's doing a tour and he did get the invitations way before? Either way, as much as people fawn over him and his presence yesterday, I do think we can agree that this was Jimin's time as guest and it showed. In all matters. No point in having childish fandom debates.

3. To me, it was obvious from the beginning that Jimin going to the Dior store immediately after was part of a schedule. I didn't think about the details, as to choosing the items he would wear in the future, but it was definitely part of business. I also heard he's leaving Paris tomorrow, so that explains it.

4. Lastly, I don't know how you perceived it, but I got the feeling the fandom was quick to conclude that Jimin is not attending any after party. As if they would know. Maybe it's because they have a certain perception about him and they didn't want to see anything similar to the Celine after party back in June. I don't know, it's just a hunch. But what I do know, is that if someone wants to be as private as possible and not have his whereabouts known, that is doable. And nothing would show up on the timeline. Privacy is always an option if one wants it.

[dankusner]

Katy Perry Is Stuck in 2016

We used to know who Katy Perry was.

A good Christian girl gone wild, shooting whipped cream out of a candy-cane bustier, cruising in her Jeep, and getting freaky on the weekend.

A beach babe in search of good times and cheap thrills.

Over a decade ago, in the aftermath of the Great Recession, Perry satisfied our national appetite for youth, frivolity, and hedonism.

She represented pop music as a sweet escape, producing some of the best, most era-defining songs of the 21st century.

Teenage Dream, her smash 2010 album, tied Michael Jackson for most No. 1 singles; half of its tracks went Top 10.

If called forth at karaoke, basically everyone can sing, verbatim, “Last Friday Night,” “Firework,” and “Teenage Dream.”

Who is Katy Perry now?

A recently retired American Idol judge, the wife of movie star Orlando Bloom, a new mom, the designer of a whimsical shoe line stocked at Macys.

She’s a proud liberal who wears “PERSIST” armbands to the Grammys and remains committed to empowerment politics even though its integration into her music — “purposeful pop,” as she has branded it — precipitated her plunge.

Most of all, she’s a 2010s relic, a faded pop star frantically attempting to clamber back to relevance, only to be thwarted by her inability to tell up from down.

Did you know she released an album during the pandemic?

Probably not.

Well, Katy’s back, and everything about the rollout for her new album, 143, reeks of desperation.

Bidding for lowest-common-denominator gay fandom, she’s busied herself resharing tweets calling her “mother”;

she enlisted YouTube-controversy machine Trisha Paytas to react to her album.

At Paris Couture Week, she dragged a 500-foot-long train emblazoned with lyrics for the album’s lead single, “Woman’s World.”

She’s so pro-woman, in fact, she rehired Dr. Luke, the embattled producer behind some of her biggest hits, whom she had ceased working with following allegations that he sexually assaulted Kesha, once her friend. (Dr. Luke denied the allegations and countersued for defamation; he and Kesha settled their long-running legal battle last year.

“I never drugged or assaulted her and would never do that to anyone,” he wrote in a statement last month.)

What’s going on?

Each 143 teaser has told a different story.

At first, it seemed like the California Gurl was going Bushwick, based on an initial promo photo of Katy as an Arca-style femmebot in a white bikini top and giant robo-legs.

But, a few weeks later, 143’s cover art dropped, and she is now some kind of woo-woo mermaid teleporting into another dimension.

“SLEEP TIGHT FOR TOMORROW THE PORTAL OPENS,” she tweeted. (143, for smartphone-natives, is ‘I love you’ typed on a pager.)

She’s been dodging the press — and fans pressing her on why she’s working with Dr. Luke — while previewing songs directly on Instagram Live.

What the streams reveal: vacant lyrics, ill-advised guests, very obvious samples — an album that will almost certainly flop.

As confirmation, today we have “Woman’s World,” a paint-by-numbers pump-up anthem about how girls are geniuses, saints, blessings sent from heaven.

“She’s a sister/She’s a mother,” Perry sings, as if those are the only two identities she can think of.

“Open your eyes, just look around and you’ll discover.”

In the music video, Perry dresses up as Rosie the Riveter, boobs bouncing in a stars-and-stripes bikini; she shows off a vibrator — not the most subtle product placement — and douses herself in “Whiskey for Women.”

A crashing anvil indicates that it might be satire, but then we are back to bedazzled vagina ornaments.

At the end, Perry hangs off a helicopter, brandishing a ring light stolen from a TikToker that’s miraculously transformed into the female gender symbol.

What?

Perry is like Barbie in Barbie Land, stuck in a la-di-dah dimension in which Hillary Clinton is still the Democratic presidential nominee, “Male Tears” mugs make bank on Etsy, and the most transgressive thing a celebrity can do is sing “Fight Song.”

(Coincidentally, as if bat-signaled by murmurs of a new female presidential candidate, Rachel Platten announced a new album this week.)

In an interview with Zane Lowe, Perry guessed people recognize her mostly for “songs with a message, songs that are captions on T-shirts and stuff,” betraying a fundamental misunderstanding of her appeal.

She’s always been at her weakest when she comments on capital-S society, as in her “wake-up sheeple” manifesto “Chained to the Rhythm.”

What people want from Katy Perry is fantasy, escapism. In the end, “Woman’s World” comes off so forgettable, so cringe, that it overshadows the blatant hypocrisy of having an alleged predator produce it.