#but i would completely zone out for the entire second verse so it took me so long

[nahyeon]

every time i listen to chill kill i zone out for the last few songs

[moldisgoodforyou]

i’ll be waiting (part one)

disclaimer: this would never actually happen and is NOT canon to my lil charlie & jj verse that I’ve created. but I needed to get it out of my system. 

part two here!

warning: cursing, breakups

wordcount: 1.6k

____

She was supposed to be enjoying her vacation, but instead she was doing anything but. Three million thoughts raced through Charlie’s mind as she sat out on the porch of her family’s rental house in Savannah, staring out on the beach. It was supposed to be one last vacation with the Walker family all together before she moved all the way across the country to work in Berkeley, California. 

“What’s going on, Charlotte? You’ve been spaced out all week. We’re supposed to be celebrating your graduation.” Her dad interrupted her thoughts as he stepped out of the house. 

“Nothing.” She barely got out, her voice cracking. 

As she glanced up with teary eyes, he frowned right away and took a seat next to her on the steps. He nudged his knee against hers. “Tell me what’s wrong, Charlie.” 

She fidgeted with the hem of her sleeve as she spoke. “I think I need to break up with JJ.” 

Her dad reeled in shock, leaning away for a moment. “You need to - what did he do?” 

“Nothing. That’s the problem. He’s perfect.” She sighed, burying her face in her hands. 

He wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders. “Talk to me, kid. I don’t understand.” 

She lifted her head after a moment, leaning into his touch. “I just...I don’t think I’ll be able to be there for him like I should. After I move, I’m going to be so busy with work, and the time zones, and it’s expensive to come all the way home or for him to visit and -” 

“Hey, hey, slow down.” Her dad chided gently. “You’re scared?” 

She nodded, tearing up again. “I’m scared. He deserves better. It’s not fair to him.” 

He frowned, squeezing her shoulder. “You think he feels the same way?” 

“No, not at all. He’s going to hate me.” 

He laughed. “He won’t hate you, the boy is in love with you.” 

“He will!” She cried out, nudging him away. “But I need to do this, I can’t hold him back. He needs someone that can be there for him, all the time.” She sighed, a look of defeat crossing her face. “And I can’t do that.” 

Her dad dropped his arm from her shoulders, shaking his head. “I don’t think you’re right about this, kiddo, but if you’re really meant for each other, it’ll work out.” He got up, knowing she was too stubborn to change her mind once she had a set idea in her head. “Just make sure you’re absolutely sure about it, okay?” 

“I know.” She nodded. “Can...can you just tell mom to give me some space today?” 

“Your mom’s gonna be heartbroken about this.” He joked, trying to ease the tension a little. 

Charlie just shook her head, resigned. “It’s not going to be easy.” 

“It won’t, you’re right. So just make sure.” Her dad left her with those parting words, heading back inside. 

_

A day later, she called JJ, her stomach twisting in knots just as she dialed. She had hardly texted him throughout the week, trying to distance herself to make the call marginally easier on both ends. JJ picked up right away as she expected, his voice bright. “Hi Charlie! How’s vacation?” 

“It’s good. Um. Are you busy?” She tried keeping her voice neutral as possible. 

“No, what’s up? I miss you.” He replied, some concern seeping into his tone. 

“I - oh god.” She breathed out, deciding to just rip off the bandaid. “I need to talk. And I just want you to listen. Please.” 

Back in his room in Columbia, JJ slowly sat on the edge of his bed, completely unaware of what was about to hit him. “Okay...what’s wrong, sweetheart?” 

Just hearing the pet name was like a stab to the heart, a reminder she would never hear that again if she followed through with it. But apprehension still clouded her brain and Charlie pushed forward, steeling herself. “I...I think we should break up.” 

Silence. 

JJ’s knuckles on the hand wrapped around his phone grew white and he just stared ahead, not believing his ears. Charlie bit her lip so hard she drew blood as she waited for his response, tearing up as she braced herself. After a couple minutes, she spoke again. “J, please say something.” 

Her words shook him out of his trance - no, he felt like he was living a fucking nightmare. Or a cruel joke. “You don’t think that.” 

She frowned, knowing he would protest. “I do.” Charlie heard the jingle of keys in the background, and stomps down the familiar creaky Beta house stairs. “What are you doing?” 

“I’m coming to Savannah.” JJ replied firmly, his other hand curled in a fist so tightly he was shaking. 

“No, J - that’s two and a half hours, and it’s getting dark, that’s not safe -” she pleaded, but was cut off quickly. 

“No. I’m coming to Savannah and I’m going to talk to you, in person, because you’re clearly fucking delusional right now.” JJ bit out, a harsh edge to his tone. 

“J. Please.” She was clearly crying now, anyone could hear it through the phone. 

“I’ll see you soon.” He hung up on her, determined. Surely she didn’t mean it. She was drunk, or high, or on molly or possessed by a fucking demon. He grasped at any explanation to understand why Charlie could possibly say that, but came up empty. He nearly bent the key as he jammed it into the ignition, driving out of the parking lot feeling a range of emotions. Two and a half hours was just enough time for him to come up with an argument to convince her otherwise, he decided. 

Down in Savannah, Charlie stared at her phone that was now covered with her tears, disbelieving of the conversation that just occurred. That was exactly what she didn’t want to happen - but also exactly what she expected would happen. Of course JJ wouldn’t accept no for an answer, he was going to make her say it to his face. So she took an unsteady seat out on the edge of the dock and waited - following his tiny dot on the Find My Friends app the entire way there to ensure he made it safely.  

He made it in two hours and five minutes, foot like lead on the gas the entire way as he zoned out. (It was a miracle he wasn’t pulled over.) He pulled up to her house, parked, and slammed the door loud enough that she could hear the echo from down on the dock. Charlie didn’t dare turn around, knowing she would give in the second she saw him. 

JJ stormed down the dock toward her, stopping a few feet away. “Charlie.” 

She took a deep breath, swallowing hard, then slowly turned. “JJ…”

His face was unreadable. “I thought you loved me, Charlie.” 

She bit her lip hard, trying her best to keep her composure. “I do love you, J. That’s why I’m doing this.” 

He threw up his hands in exasperation, angry. “That doesn’t make any fucking sense! Talk to me!”  

She cracked at his yelling, tears starting to stream down her face. “I - I don’t think I can do it, with long distance. I can’t be there for you like I should.” 

JJ crossed his arms, though he wanted nothing more than to reach out and comfort her. “Well I’ll be excellent at long distance. So why does it matter? We’ll call, and facetime, and we can visit each other too.” 

“It’s not the same, JJ!” She hiccuped, pressing the heels of her palms hard against her eyes. He took the moment to step forward, going to wrap his arms around her  - but she stepped out of his reach. That was enough to crack his anger. 

“Charlie.” He faltered just on her name and swallowed hard. “Work with me, sweetheart, please. I’ll do anything, we can make it through this.” He pleaded brokenly. As she shook her head, his face crumpled and he allowed a few tears to fall. 

“I’m sorry, J, I really am.” She apologized, blinking hard. 

“Can I just -” He started forward again, arms outreached. She took a hesitant step forward, gently slipping her arms around his waist, and he wrapped her in a tight hug, starting to shake as he cried harder. He buried his face in her hair as he cried, trying to take in every last second of the hug. 

She clung to him, nuzzling her face into the base between his neck and his shoulder. “Please don’t cry, hon. This only makes it harder.” 

“My girl is leaving me,” he muttered. “How would it be any easier?” 

“I don’t - I don’t know.”  She mumbled, tears streaming down her face. 

He just held her tighter. 

Charlie lifted her head to meet his eyes, trying to take in his piercing look. “I can’t be here for you, J. This is it. You deserve better.” 

“Fuck that.” He shook his head insistently. “I hardly deserve you as it is.” He pressed a firm kiss to her lips, needy. “I love you, Charlie.” 

She barely puckered her lips back, trying to keep her resolve. “I love you too. Always.” With that, she stepped out of his grip, though JJ fought it. “I should go.” 

“I’ll be right here.” He promised. “When you change your mind, I’ll be waiting.” 

Charlie nodded, biting her lip as she took in the sight of him, illuminated by the moonlight. “I’m so sorry.” 

He shook his head, unwilling to hear it. “I’ll be waiting.” 

With that she walked away, leaving behind the better half of her heart - completely shattered. 

[tinumiel]

Time for the tea aka I just finished Rule of Wolves

Spoiler alert...I...was kind of really disappointed by it :/

NEEDLESS TO SAY THERE’S SPOILERS OVER SPOILERS FOR KING OF SCARS AND RULE OF WOLVES BELOW THE READ MORE...Also a long ass essay no one asked for, I just needed to vent.

General Impression.

I was kind of disappointed, because the duology was sold as a Nikolai Lantsov duology, and while I definitely felt that was delivered in King of Scars, I feel like in Rule of Wolves he just sort of became a secondary character to the stories of others like Nina and Zoya (which don’t get me wrong, I love that they gain protagonism, but then why sell the whole thing as Nikolai centered?). That said, I loved Nina’s entire storyline and really enjoyed the Shu Han plot (which I think sets up quite nicely for a new, independent storyline).

Things I DID NOT like.

First I’ll speak of things that I didn’t like but more because of personal preferences. That is, things I didn’t like, but I can see why other did enjoy.

Zoyalai. I guess this has a lot to do with the fact that I am a Nikolina shipper first and a human being second and it’s hard for me to let go of a ship once I’ve invested myself in it. I wanted to like Zoyalai, and I did for the majority of King of Scars, but in Rule of Wolves, it suddenly started to feel kind of forced to me. I think they have a lot of things in common, but differ in very fundamental aspects that on the long run simply wouldn’t make them work. But more than that, I felt like their entire lovestory in Rule of Wolves was basically some kind of Nikolina AU in which everything that a very large chunk of the fandom wanted to see with Nikolai x Alina, was given to Zoya x Nikolai. It almsot felt as if Leigh Bardugo said “Oh well, the fans really wanted to see this, but since I gave the character they wanted to see in it a different ending, I’ll just give it to them but with a different character” and Zoya was just the one available for the plot. They did have some cute moments and I definitely do enjoy their relationship, but more as confidents and friends than lover interests.

Zoya’s storyline. I feel like Zoya was done dirty in Rule of Wolves, which is kind of ironic considering she ends the story with pretty much everything she dreamed of and more. But i felt like in King of Scars, Zoya went through a very interesting journey. She was always this character than sticks almost stubbornly into a certain way things should be, she doesn’t like stepping out of her comfort zone because she likes to feel in control. And in King of Scars she went through a journey in which she gradually learned to step outside the box. But I felt like for the most of Rule of Wolves, she simply reverted back, completely ignoring her changes in the previous book, until the very last minute in which she has this sudden epiphany moment about letting go, which seemed unnecessary to me since she had already experienced it in King of Scars. Secondly, on a similar note with the whole Zoyalai being a Nikolina AU with a different character, I felt like in Rule of Wolves Zoya was simply shoved into the alternate role many of us hoped to see Alina in. Not just as Nikolai’s partner, but as a person. Think of it, she gained this power no one else possesses, she becomes pretty much one of a kind, she becomes a queen that represent reunification. It’s basically as if she became a version of what Alina could have been, but with a different personality. A soldier queen? Alina was a soldier. A grisha queen? Alina was grisha. A suli queen? Alina was not half suli, but she is half shu, which are pretty much equally discriminated against. And finally, there’s this part in which I think it’s Nikolai refers to her as “Soldier. Summoner. Saint”. Sounds familiar? Because it’s the exact same words written on every cover of the Shadow and Bone trilogy, referring to Alina. It makes me very upset that they gave Zoya this discarded storyline for Alina instead of building up her own storyline (Not to mention: it did Alina equally dirty because she lost all of those conditions because Mal couldn’t handle being in the shadow of someone extraordinary, but that’s another story). 

Not for things I didn’t like, but for much more rational reasons.

The Darkling. When I finished reading King of Scars, I thought bringing him back was a pretty good plotwist. But it was also a tricky choice, because it coul fall into the “He was such a appealing villain tor readers in the first trilogy, I’ll bring him back to have the same success” trap. And that’s exactly what happen. I feel like if a villain (or any character really) is going to be brought back, then they have to fill in a different role from the one they originally occupied. The Darkling is basically the same. Even his conditions aren’t fundamentally that different once he gets his powers back. All the Darkling really needs are his powers, his tongue and a group of people desperate enough for someone to follow. And he had all of those things in Rule of Wolves, so it was simply repetitive. It was like the Darkling, but in rags.Plus it didn’t feel so much as a storyline, but more like a constant reminder of “LOOK HOW EVIL HE IS HE NEVER CARED FOR ANYONE. THAT QUOTE YOU PEOPLE LOVE SO MUCH ABOUT CHANGING THE WORLD IS ACTUALLY MEANINGLESS LOOK HOW MUCH HE SUCKS”. Like, I don’t need to be reminded he’s a bad guy, I am fully capable of knowing this and still liking his character. He’s a fictional character, I don’t need to be reminded of it. I’m capable of rational thought. Not to mention his ending felt like a huge nothing. “And he impaled himself to a tree”. It just felt like more of an excuse to set up for a Six of Crows #3 book. It’s just disrespectful to the fascinating character from Shadow and Bone. It basically took away everything that made him such a good character.

David dying.Fine, not much rational reasons here. It’s just doing my baby dirty. Why, oh why is Mal still alive, boring, toxic Mal who spent most of his time putting his love interest down; while David, sweet David who compromised and made an effort to do things that would make his wife happy even though it was hard for him, dies? It’s just cruel. 

All in all, I felt like the Ravka storyline pretty much fell apart in Rule of Wolves. I almsot felt tempted to skip it if it wasn’t because I didn’t want to miss any Nikolai quotes. I felt like Leigh Bardugo doesn’t really know what to do with the characters, and it became pretty obvious to me during the titanium heist with the special guest starring of the Crows. In like two chapters, I felt like Kaz, Jesper and Wylan were more smoothly written than any of the Ravkans. Which was really sad for me, considering how Nikolai is my favorite character in the entire verse, and Zoya was such an amazing character in the original series (and in KOS too).

What I DID LIKE.

Nina’s storlyine. Just, all of it. It was exciting, and dynamic, and you could perceive Nina’s character arc while still never straying into ooc territory. The way her griedf was treated, her loyalties, her desire to fight, her desire for revenge but also her desire to honor Matthias’s memory. All of it was so flawlessly written. I thought I’d be bored with her stuck in the Ice Court, but it was the storyline I actually enjoyed the most. The Fjerdan intrigues and political battles, and Nina in the midst of it. trying to do what was best for her country and the people she loved.  I love what was done to her character.

On the same note, I love Nina and Hanne. This, unlike my problem with Zoyalai, is a case in which, while I adored an original ship, I actually ended up enjoying the new one. Matthias and Nina were perfect for each other. But I loved how Hanne came to offer a new love. (I’m not sure if I should refer Hanny as she or he, so I’ll just use they until I get a better notion of what pronouns the character identifies with). It genuinely felt  like they were not a replacement for Matthias, or an upgrade. They were a love interest on their own, with their own story, not a “what if” version of another love story. Plus, Hanne is just objectively great.

The Shu-Han storyline. I didn’t even know I needed it, but it was so fascinating to read about the Shu. I find there is a lot to unpack and I really hope in the future, Leigh Bardugo will write a new series  following those characters. I loved Mayu and Ehri and grandmother Leyti. Plus, Mahki would make a great antagonist. And it would suppose a new colorfun addition to the countries we already know well, like Ravka and Fjerda, plus the city of Ketterdam.

The Crows. I know it was probably pure fan service, but I love just how well written they are, how you can really tell that Leight Bardugo has the complete hang and understanding of the characters. Plus, it’s always nice to see how my babies are doing.

FINAL THOUGHTS

All in all, I felt that the book had some highlights, but some decisions just pretty much ruined it for me. I hope the good parts are picked up and carried on in different sagas, and the rest...well, I guess I’ll keep on pretending the Ravka story finished when Alina and Nikolai were watching the stars fall and from then on, imagine they got marries, became an awesome power couple, and were the godparents of all of Genya and David’s beautiful, clever children. While Zoya looked upon all of them like “These are a pack of idiots but they are my pack of idiots and I am so proud”.

If you read this rant until the end, you’re awesome. If you liked Rule of Wolves, damn you are so lucky and I am glad you enjoyed it like I wish I had. But at least we can all join together under one common thought: Jarl Braum is a little bitch.

[polar-stars]

Greetings @wishingforatypewriter ! If I’m not mistaken...today’s your birthday right? At least you told the Birthday Bot in the SoRina discord server that it’s the 15th of February and today is the 15th of February! 

So, I drew you a little something for this occasion 🎉 You’re without a doubt one of my favorite writers within the SNS-community and I really enjoy your work and also connect some really fond & strong memories to a few particular ones. (Remember “Cherry Red and Green with Envy”? Yeah, I read that in a lovely summer night in Italy, on a balcony. And gosh, the sheer joy I felt that day. I send the thing to my best friend instantly and kept gushing about the work through multiple audios shdfhf And well, that’s just one examplel) Generally speaking, it’s always interesting to hear your headcanons or learn more about your characters!

By all means, if you ever publish that novel you occasionally mentioned...Please tell us the title of it. I will order it all the way from the US, shipping costs be damned!

Furthermore, I’m not the only one who drew you something. @takoyakitenchou also has a treat ready for you! She also brought up the idea to collaborate on a small fic as well & what it would be about. I’m going to post the first part of it right here and she will be posting the 2nd part a little later. 

All in all, I hope you’re going to have a really good day ahead of you ☺️ And now, after all of my rambling (I just had to get some stuff out shdh), here’s Pt. 1 of the tenchou & Lea adventures, a little fictional verse where there’s no pandemic and only good vibes:

誕生日おめでとう (part 1) 

in which tenchou has no regard for time zones but birthdays must still be celebrated

8:00 PM EST, February 13th (2 AM CET, February 14th) If the takoyaki store manager had had enough brain cells to promote Germany to the forefront of her nonexistent timezone awareness, she most likely would not have called Lea at two in the morning central European time. Lea picked up with a weary “Hallo?” and was all the more confused as she got an English reply back. She reached out a hand to the nightstand and the lamp that could be activated with just a touch, hoping that the light would bring more clarity to her tired mind. But instead, she just blinded herself. Completely oblivious to Lea’s predicament, the tenchou said cheerfully, “I got you a plane ticket.”

“Sorry?” “A plane ticket,” she repeated as if she were talking about the weather. “From Brandenburg Airport to JFK. It leaves in two hours. Unless I did the math wrong, you’ll be in New York by nine in the morning eastern on… the 14th. I hope.”  “Was zum Teufel?” Lea choked out. The tenchou paused for a split second. “Is this not a good time for you? I can call you back.” “Reina, it is two in the morning over here.” “I think you’ll live,” she replied, and Lea could clearly visualize the offhand wave on the other end of the line. “Three coffees should do the trick. You might wanna start packing, though.” Lea sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. It seemed she wasn’t getting out of this anytime soon. “You know how deranged you sound right now?” “I know, it’s crazy! I live in California but we’re meeting in New York.” Lea briefly debated telling the tenchou that her present location was not, in fact, the point, but she did not currently have the mental capacity to do so. She settled with a long sigh. “What’s this for?” A moment and a half later, the tenchou said, “You know whose birthday is coming up on the 15th?” “Yeah, of course.” “Do I need to explain further?” “Ohhh,” Lea said, finally understanding. “See you soon.” Reina grinned. “I sent the plane and hotel info via Discord. Have a safe flight.” Then she hung up. It was going to be an interesting weekend.

9:30 AM EST, February 14th By the time Lea arrived at JFK’s international terminal, Reina was waiting with a triumphant, very poorly spaced welcome to fuckin ny scrawled on a massive sign. It was pretty obvious that the tenchou was still slightly out of it from jello shots with her Juilliard homies the night prior, but there was business to be tended to. “What are we doing?” Lea asked as the tenchou took her carry-on. “I was thinking we’d collaborate on a gift.” “Art? Or… a fic?” “Either. Both. What if I started a takoyaki store in NYC and gave her exclusive access?” “That seems nice,” Lea said agreeably, noting not for the first time that the store manager was probably missing a few brain cells. “But maybe not a good idea.” “Oh, you’re right. I’d have to get a building and everything.” Reina gave a lopsided smile. “Maybe we’ll do that next year. So… art and a fic it is, then.”

10:00 AM EST, February 14th “You need a coffee,” Lea decided once they were sitting at a local cafe. “Let me buy,” Reina said quickly. “It’s the least I can do after dragging you here from Germany. What do you want?” Fair enough. Lea nodded as a sign of gratitude and replied, “Latte macchiato, please.” Five minutes later, Reina brought eleven coffees to the table. Lea gawked at the tenchou. “Are you…” she trailed off. “Insane? No. Caffeine dependent? Very.” She passed Lea the latte and organized the ten iced coffees in two neat rows in front of them. “I’ve been trying to lower my consumption this week. Normally I’d get a dozen double espressos, so this is actually pretty major progress for me.” “Subtracting two cups doesn’t seem like progress,” Lea said dryly. “These are all americanos,” Reina explained defensively, like that solved everything. Lea gave a doubtful eyebrow raise. “Oh? How many espresso shots in each?” Resenting the fact that she’d hit home so accurately, Reina muttered, “Three.” Lea decided not to press the matter further — the tenchou was pissy enough as is — and instead watched with mild concern as the tenchou proceeded to chug the first five coffees without so much as a breath in between. “Now that I’m partially functional, you wanna get started?” Reina asked. “You and I can both do an art piece and we’ll collaborate on a fic together.” “Hmhm.” Lea reflected on the offer in her head. For a short moment she considered asking if she could take just about 10 writing courses beforehand, half-joking and half-serious. But she decided against it. With a brief look at the clock and the knowledge that it once took her an entire year to update a two-part fanfiction, she knew that if they needed it done by tomorrow they’d have to get started soon. “Interesting idea,” she therefore said. “But what would the fic be about? I have the writing pace of a turtle, so it might be better if we come up with something real quick.” Reina finished her sixth cup of coffee before raising an eyebrow at Lea. “By the way, when are you gonna update—” “Not even God knows when I will update anything,” Lea sighed. “But I’ll give Tuesday or Wednesday a try. Right now, I have to focus on the collab instead. So, do you have any ideas already?” “So… Tuesday as in this coming Tuesday? Or next year Tuesday?” Lea politely declined to comment. “I wrote part of the fic while I was in line for the coffees,” Reina said, pulling out her laptop. “Want me to share a Google Doc or—” “Google Doc,” Lea cut in. She had heard many times of the tenchou’s wackass habit of writing all her fics in direct messages with fellow writers and then copy pasting them onto whatever platform was most accessible at the time. “Discord is more convenient,” Reina deadpanned, her mouth on the rim of her seventh americano. “But alright. Google Docs it is.”

[heartlessconviction]

Making Sense of the Yugioh Timeline (Post Arc-V)

Alright so if you have seen some of my speculation pieces before, you might be aware of my original piece centered around the Bootstrap Paradox. A Speculation piece around the scientific theory that Yusei Fudo is the pioneer of Accel Synchro, due to the fact Zone had to learn it from his research for him to indirectly teach it to Yusei in the course of events we see in the Anime.  This predicament is also known as “Who wrote Beethoven’s 5th.”  We know that this act created an entirely different timeline from the original line of events, simply due to Z-ones Historical records. We see in the original timeline that Yusei participated in tournaments with Aki and Hunter Pace something that does not occur due to Z-one’s interference. My conclusion to this speculation was the following, due to Z-one’s Meddling he completely altered the original line of events, in which Z-ones future took place in the original vision for Yugioh 5Ds with Rua being the 5th Signer and Crow inevitably becoming the final boss in the Dark Signer arc, a plot in motion before Blackwings blew up in popularity.  This also explained Jack Atlas’s absence in the historical records as the final triple duel against Goodwin wouldn’t have occurred leaving Jacks character development unfinished.   Now that I’ve got that out of the way lets delve into the timeline.  First things first we know for a fact the Yugioh Timeline pre V-rains looks akin to this: DM- GX - 5D’s - Zexal - Arc-V No its not intentional that this is in the order of release, that is the timeline; we can safely say now that there is no split. How? Zarc. Due to Zarc possessing all 4 summoning mechanics in the UNITED timeline before everything was segregated we can now confirm that Zexal takes place After 5Ds and not in a split timeline. Clearwing Synchro Dragon and XYZ Dark Rebellion Dragon cannot co-exist in a universe if both 5Ds and Zexal took place segregated from one another, note this is in the UNITED timeline before the dimensional split not after. If Zexal and 5Ds were split through a timeline then only one of those monsters could be in the possession of Zarc not both.  We also know Zexal has to take place After 5D’s and that the old Man isn’t Yugi Muto, how do we know this? Tetsu Trudge. Trudge is the embodiment of the confirmation as he is the same Tetsu that bullied Yugi Muto, if Zexal took place BEFORE 5Ds and after GX Tetsu would either have recollection or the XYZ summoning mechanic would have existed in 5Ds.  So this begs the question, why are Synchro’s absent in Zexal? I have a few theories based on actual events in the series that aren’t rooted in wacky time loops, and I will present a few of these below.  1. The old Man in Zexal is not an indication of 5Ds taking place in a separate timeline. This one is pretty easily debunked, the old man is a teacher and he crafts a new statue for every student that concludes their training. For all we know the amount of students he has taught can be linked to how many statues exist in that room aka not many.  Its entirely plausible that due to the sheer amount of legendary monsters whom exist in the anime verse, he just hasn’t gotten round to crafting a Synchro Monster or Stardust Dragon. We see so many monsters that represent many different legendary duelists from the first 2 eras, from Yugi, Kaiba, Joey, Judai, Ryo etc. We can’t confirm the existence of history through a man who enjoys crafting statues, especially when later information comes out supporting the fact that 5Ds and Zexal have to take place within the same line of events.  2. The Synchro mechanic was abandoned/outlawed.  Theory number 2 is my personal opinion as to what I believe actually took place and it does have some merit towards it. This theory takes place after the events of 5Ds, Yusei’s Fortune program succeeds in preventing a second Zero Reverse sparing the World from Z-ones fate. However due to the constant looming danger of Z-ones original future, as a precaution overtime the Synchro mechanic was abandoned. We know this is possible simply due to the fact it has already happened before; in Z-ones original future Antinomy was outraged at the decision of Synchros becoming outlawed, passionately proclaiming what Synchro Summoning stood for under Yusei Fudo.  In short we have seen this very situation occur already in the series so this is what I truly believe to be the case, as this would pretty much confirm why we see no mentions of Synchro’s in Zexal and the absence of culture such as Riding Duels which are synonymous with the Synchro summoning mechanic; out of fear that the end of the world could be the result in the continuing utilization of those monsters.  This allows Synchro’s and XYZ to co-exist later down the line in the united dimension, the mechanic being rediscovered and brought back over the course of a few decades-centuries. Which leads me to my final point. 3. Synchro’s were merely lost to time You know how we never see Rituals in 5Ds? Does that mean Ritual summons never actually existed? No, in this circumstance we could always see a future were the Synchro mechanic simply faded away in favour of XYZs or they were deemed obsolete.  The point of this piece is to simply convey the following: Just because they make no mention of these things in the future series doesn’t mean they didn’t occur all in one timeline. We cannot be certain just how wide the gap of time is when it pertains to how these series all link up with one another, for all we know Zexal could take place centuries after 5Ds in which case a lot of things can change throughout that gap; we also cannot say for certainty that these drastic theories of time loops and split timelines are canon when future evidence straight up contradicts these and states them to be false.  Yes, all of my theories are grounded by comparison. However they are tailor made to support and are foundered on past events we already know to be true from the previous series, such as the outlawing of Synchro as per Z-ones original future. Overall they have much more credibility and evidence behind them that supports the united timeline speculation than the general misconception of “Zexal and 5Ds are two separate timelines.” Something we now know has to be false thanks to the existence of Arc-V.

[elmidol]

Error: Program Not Found - Two

Summary:  You are in charge of programming the droids that work most closely with both General Hux and Kylo Ren. Unbeknownst to you, each of these two men have it in their heads that your relationship extends beyond the workplace. This causes things to escalate quickly when your two apparently secret boyfriends compare notes on their respective partner who is far too similar for their liking.

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“If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.” -Dalai Lama

Two: Chastisement

Once aboard the transport shuttle, you instructed TeeArr to plug in so that he could return to a fully charged state. Meanwhile you took the seat that was directly across from General Hux due to having the understanding that the pair of you would converse regarding what had occurred in the meeting. For starters, the man was debating whether or not a line of assassination droids wouldn’t benefit the First Order. It did have merit, you agreed, and would not be entirely different from some of the training droids that you had programmed in the past. The targeting programs were familiar to you, while anything else you would have ample time to research. On top of that, you would be provided an appropriate team should the First Order make the decision to follow through with the project. That brought him to the second thing: TeeArr’s behavior. Now that the droid was in a powered down state, General Hux did not have to concern himself with unwanted input during this discussion.

 “A free thinking droid can be as detrimental as a human with loose lips,” he said. His eyes narrowed a fraction, however you knew that he wasn’t glaring at you so much as replaying in his head some of the comments that had slipped from the protocol droid.

 You hummed your agreement with this assessment. Inwardly, you admitted that you were not completely on the same page as him. The droid’s ability to improvise did come in handy. The issue, in your opinion, rested with the time-delay for TeeArr to recognize situations wherein lies were necessary. You could not expect exact humanoid reasoning from the droid, but that did not mean improvements couldn’t be made. You would tinker with the programs later, and slowly find the happy medium that allowed General Hux to accept TeeArr’s occasional flaws.

 “I will work on things. There are several notations that I made in regards to TeeArr’s behavior both prior to and during the meeting with the senator. I apologize for some of its comments.”

 Droids were always a work in progress, and this was something that General Hux was aware of. Thus how you phrased your apology did not anger the man. Others may have pressed an issue with you having stated only some of its comments.

 The man nodded in acceptance then moved onto voicing his annoyance with the senator’s implications as to where the credits were going. You hummed out a noise in acknowledgment, although you were only half listening to him. Your feet were aching. You reached down to rub them. So engrossed were you in your pain that it took you a moment to catch what he had just said. You blinked, repeating it in your mind.

 “I will order lotion to for that. You did well today with your input.”

 You were rather surprised by the offer, as you considered the lotion to be more personal than business. As General Hux continued to speak, he began to use his datapad to order the lotion to be delivered. His words of praise meant as much as the gesture. He was not one to hand them out so lightly. That was not to say that he was one to berate you, or that he did not comment that your work was satisfactory. It was simply precisely that, he used that word: satisfactory. The very first time he had done so, you had offered an I’m sorry? This had left both of you stumbling over your words, one of the few times that you had ever witnessed the man thrown off his game, so to speak.

 As for the lotion, a small part of you wanted to object due to its cost and the nature of the item. In the end, you were not too proud that you would deny yourself such a luxury. Not to mention that you had worn the heels on his insistence. You bit back a small smile and felt your cheeks heating up. It had been a little since last you had been pampered. Work had kept you busy, to top off the fact that you had been more withdrawn since the incident that had resulted in you separating from ‘that woman’. Throwing yourself into work was what helped you to recover as you had. It kept your mind busy and your walls up.

 This was one thing that did make working with General Hux and Kylo Ren more enjoyable, that neither man pressed to know more about your personal life. Everything was strictly business.

 “Should we follow through with the TR8-0R line, modifications will need to be made to differentiate between them and your droid.” He could be meaning cosmetic, however you were thinking more along the lines of personality-wise. A combination of the two might be nice. Nothing too drastic, though, otherwise the senator that you had just left would have questions.

 The thoughts and the occasional comment from the ginger-haired General filled the remainder of the trip back to the Finalizer. As the shuttle landed, you could not help but notice that a rather familiar black-cloaked figure was hovering nearby. TeeArr remained in a powered down state, which was for the best since you doubted that General Hux would want to chance having to deal with both the droid and the Knight. It would be your droid that suffered if it came down to it. Not that droids could exactly feel pain, however they could nonetheless be damaged or destroyed.

 “The training droids have been less than satisfactory,” Kylo Ren said as he stepped nearer. His boots were loud on the floor, and this was intentional on his part. Always one to strike fear in others, he was quite the presence in any room. The rivalry between the two men was well known. Getting caught in the middle wouldn’t be fun. “They are already in pieces following a single training exercise with some of your officers.” You did not miss the ‘your officers’ portion, and neither did General Hux. The two men liked to claim that their orders took priority, however if mistakes were made they were just as quick to shove the offending individuals as being under the other’s command. Typical.

 You sighed after recalling that you had worked recently with a new batch of training droids that had hardly met your own expectations. Given that you had other, more important, projects to fulfill, you had been ordered to reassign the task to another programmer and technician. Clearly they had not had a chance to properly carry out those orders. Datapad in hand, you powered on the device to bring up the old reports and check whatever other modifications may have been made. Some programming could be done on this device and uploaded to the droids after you arrived at their physical location.

 After enduring accusations from the senator, General Hux was in no mood to argue with Kylo Ren. The redhead gestured towards you. “Return command of the droids over to our Programmer. If the issue is beyond her expertise, she is familiar with our technicians and suppliers.”

 You were already making a mental note to reassess the shields on the droids’s shells and what they were capable of projecting. If an officer could destroy them, the Knights of Ren would take less time to do even more damage. Caught up in your thoughts, you failed to immediately notice that the masked face had turned your way. Only when you felt something boring into you did you jerk back to the physical world. The mask tilted ever so slightly to the left in what could be curiosity or exasperation. Like droids, helmets did not emote very well. Still, like droids, you were better versed in their stoic language than others. This was how you deduced that Kylo Ren was wondering how the hell someone could zone out when in his presence, because he was not someone to be taken lightly and was a force to be reckoned with.

 In the corner of your eye, you caught sight of General Hux staring at you in a similar state of disbelief. “Ah, sorry,” you said with a forced smile. “I was thinking of some quick solutions on the fly.”

 “It would serve me better if you thought of them while walking.”

 Feeling a little deflated at the admonishing words, you said nothing in protest and simply gave a nod with a yessir prior to dismissing yourself from General Hux’s presence to attend to these duties. You opened a second program on your datapad, this one linked to TeeArr, whom you ordered to awaken and accompany you. He would be an extra set of hands. On top of that, you did enjoy his company. The droid’s metallic footfalls echoed down the ramp of the transport shuttle. They were an interesting contrast to the harder bootsteps that came from Kylo Ren, who had apparently decided to chaperone you.

 You reflected on the fact that the Knight had opted to be present during other tasks that he had assigned to you, although this had in the past been due to the fact that he had already planned to utilize whatever room you were in. There was more than one training facility that he could use in this case. You chewed on your lip when considering addressing him and obtaining a proper mood check. You had seen the aftermath of his poorer moods. It was generally best to leave him to his violent outburst while taking shelter then returning at a later time after he had left the vicinity.

 The risk you ran with speaking to him was that you could be the cause of his ire. To top it off, TeeArr was beating you to the punch. Let the droid lose a limb. You could repair that a lot more easily than reattaching one of your own.

 “Master Ren, you will be thrilled to note that your assessment of the senator was quite accurate. Although seeing that General Hux was able to obtain increased funding, Supreme Leader Snoke may find more favor with him for going. Your absence may in fact prove to be folly.”

 There was something inhuman about how quickly Kylo Ren was able to move. Knowing that TeeArr would have struck a nerve with his words, you had begun to turn to ask forgiveness on the part of your droid. Last you had seen him, the Knight’s lightsaber had been on his hip. Now it was in his hand, fully ignited, and severing TeeArr’s arm. You jumped back with a gasp. That you did not fumble with your datapad had to do with an assortment of occupational hazards experienced in the years since you had first started to work with droids. The droid stopped walking. Its head turned so that its eyes landed on the man that had damaged it.

 “As a protocol droid, it is my duty to ensure that you learn from behavior that can harm your career. Master Ren, I meant no insult to--”

 “I have no need to be scolded by a droid,” Kylo Ren said, his voice deeper than it had been when he had spoken to you. In unison with talking to TeeArr, he had raised the lightsaber so that its glowing tip was in direct line with one of the droid’s optics. “See to it that your droid remembers this.” The red blade disappeared with the press of a button, however the tension in the hallway remained. You nodded quickly as a means to prevent the man’s irritation from growing.

 Mentally cursing your beloved TeeArr, you considered that General Hux’s comments in regards to reducing the droid’s ability to think freely held more merit than you had previously given it credit for. TeeArr bent forward to pick up its limb. He had fallen, thank the Maker, silent. The droid carried his arm while the three of you resumed the journey to the training room in which the broken training droids were kept. As soon as the door slid open, you took stock of the scattered pieces of droids that laid before you. Some of them, like TeeArr, could be repaired quite easily in terms of cosmetics. Others were in far too many pieces to be considered anything more than scrap. Yet scrap, too, could be useful.

 “TeeArr, join the pile on the left. I will have maintenance come to assist. You will be dealt with first.” It was a pitiable sight that greeted you as you watched your droid obey. Poor TeeArr was setting the jagged edge of its severe arm in line with the portion that remained attached to its larger body. They did not meet up properly. Lightsaber damage had a tendency to do that. Melting and cutting. Such a lethal design, you understood why many beyond Force users also fancied them.

 You wondered if Kylo Ren would accept constructive criticism from someone made of flesh and blood. Someone that was your height. Someone that was, well, you. Watching TeeArr clank his arm against its stump again, you decided that you were rather attached to your own limbs and would forgo informing Kylo Ren that he was hindering your ability to work by damaging TeeArr.

 Maintenance would have had to be called in anyway given the state of the majority of the training droids. You were reminded why it was that you had been less than satisfied with them when they had arrived. Sometimes manufacturers were cheap, cut corners. Whatever supplier the First Order had gone with, you would suggest to General Hux that the First Order either cut ties or make known their disapproval of the subpar products. The scorch marks on the casings came from blasters and scythes. They were not the appropriate size to have come from a lightsaber, which would have scrapped the droids entirely. Kylo Ren worked regularly with training droids, and that gave you the impression that he would recognize this the moment he stepped into a room with the heaps. It allowed you to better understand why the man had approached General Hux. The issue at hand was not a simple fix the droids and move on.

 There was a chance that Kylo Ren had had an especially cumbersome mission prior to entering the room with the wrecked droids. His intentions could have been to blow off some steam without wrecking something of substance or cost. You doubted that he had been in a position to deal with someone such as the senator that General Hux had been forced to endure, however that did not mean the frustration was any less valid. Your superiors had rather poor luck, didn’t they? You found yourself feeling badly for them despite what Kylo had done to TeeArr, and so you spoke up to lighten the mood.

 “I was considering proposing that the First Order invest in some droids to assist with physical therapy for wounded stormtroopers and officers. Nothing that would push them beyond their limits or discourage proper healing. A combination of programming from a medical droid and training droid would better monitor the individual’s health and progress. There are exercises to be done, stretches that the droid could assist with. The body of the droid would benefit from a design such as TeeArr’s. I wouldn’t quite refer to it as a nurse. Finding the balance would be key.”

 “Lest the droid tell the officer that they are doing a good job while they bleed out on the floor.”

 “You have a rather grim perspective,” TeeArr commented, the droid clearly not having learned from its previous actions that it was risking damage. This assessment from the protocol droid did not earn it another beating. Instead a noise escaped the helmet that sounded like amusement. You felt yourself begin to smile a little. A sense of humor was not something all droids could appreciate, which sometimes left you feeling lonely when your interactions with organics was limited. Because of his mask and the way he covered his entire body, sometimes Kylo Ren gave off the impression that he was droid-like. A lack of emotions, no real empathy, just a shell of a person carrying out the program Snoke had installed in his drive. It was nice to have proof that this wasn’t exactly true.

[goofygomez]

Hallelujah - Clouis OneShot

Hey y’all! I’ve decided to repost all my works onto Tumblr for those of you who might not have heard of them or just prefer reading on this site. I will be shooting to post one per day starting today. I hope you enjoy. (Also, comments and reblogs are greatly appreciated <3)

Description:  After having a nightmare, Clem finds Louis alone in the music room, and he shares something personal with her.

Wordcount: 3029

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Clementine jerked awake, covered in a pool of her own sweat. She’d been having nightmares again after what happened. This nightmare, however, did not concern the McCarrol Ranch, but Marlon’s untimely death, and the person who’d pulled the trigger. Ten days were certainly not enough to forget what AJ had done. She looked around and took in her surroundings. All the little trinkets she’d collected decorated the room, and gave it her own little touch. She looked at the deer skull on top of the door and grinned. It looks awesome, she thought to herself.

Fortunately for them, the rest of the kids had let her and AJ stay, at least until after the raider attack, which didn’t seem to be coming any time soon. It certainly had everyone on edge.

She scrubbed the grogginess from her eyes and lifted herself from the less-than-comfortable bed. She took a sad glimpse at the sleeping form of AJ. He’d been getting stronger, but still not strong enough. He’d never been shot before, and she had hoped that had stayed the case for a while longer. On their makeshift nightstand stood the wildflowers she’d found on that bench, though now their purple color had faded somewhat into grey.

“I’ll have to water them or AJ’ll have my head when he recovers,” she said to herself, frowning at the thought. If he ever recovers, that is.

“No, stop it Clementine,” she scolded, “He’s gonna be fine.”

She didn’t know how long she’d been talking to herself, but she estimated it had been around three years. Was she going crazy? No, she just needed someone other than AJ to talk to, that was all. She decided that she wasn’t helping anybody by standing around, so with a swift motion she grabbed her trusty hat and made her way to the courtyard.

Looking around, she couldn’t find a soul, which was strange. Maybe it’s earlier than I thought, she reasoned. The sun was barely scraping the roof of the school and yesterday really had been an exhausting day. Clearing the debris from around the school had not been an easy task, so everyone had volunteered to help in one way or another.

On a hunch, she turned around and walked into the admin building. Walking around the place seemed odd, like she didn’t really belong there. Of course, that much was true. She and AJ were merely outsiders to this place, guarded so strongly for close to nine years. And now it was preparing for a war with a group of raiders who were ready to take kids for their own battle up north.

Before Clem could delve further into her own thoughts, a soft, sweet sound caught her attention and she stood still, trying to pinpoint where it was coming from. She rotated slowly on the spot, until she realized there was only one place that sound could be coming from. Sighing, Clem walked down the hallway and opened the door to the music room, which was ajar.

Inside, she saw the hunched figure of Louis sitting on the piano stool, playing a soft melody that seemed to envelop the entire room as he played it. Clementine leaned on the doorframe for a moment, admiring Louis’s music. After a few minutes, Louis stopped abruptly and stiffened. Clem took a step forward and let out a breath,

“Hi, Louis,” she greeted lamely, hoping against hope that she hadn’t been the reason he stopped playing.

For a moment, Louis didn’t stir. He sat on the stool, perfectly still, looking at the keys with a sunken look in his eyes. The girl was about to talk again when he turned around and smiled at her. A real, genuine smile. It was the first one she’d seen him wear since that fateful night ten days ago. A silent, grieving Louis was much sourer than a happy, gleeful one, Clem gathered.

“Oh hey there, Princess,” he said with a wink in her direction, causing her eyes to roll and the beginnings smile to form on her lips.

“I hate it when you call me that,” she warned, trying as hard as she could to fight off the urge to keep smiling. She moved closer and sat on a small chair beside the piano stool, facing Louis.

“Yet here you are,” he rebuked, turning his attention back to the piano and pressing a couple of keys with no real pattern to it.

Silence fell between them once again as Louis started playing the beautiful song again. It filled Clementine with a joy and serenity that she hadn’t felt in a long time. It was as though, while that song was playing, everything that was going on outside came to a standstill. Time stopped for the two of them, and the only thing in the world was this room.

Then, to both Clem and Louis’s surprise, he started singing. It was a beautiful sound, Clementine decided, and the words seemed to roll off his tongue so elegantly, as though he’d sung that a thousand times over. She had the overwhelming urge to close her eyes, almost as if that would bring the lyrics closer to her heart.

“I’ve heard there was a secret chord

That David played and it pleased the lord,

But you don’t really care for music do you?

It goes like this: the fourth, the fifth

The minor fall, the major lift

The baffled king composing,

Hallelujah.”

Although Clem was clearly enthralled by the words being sung by Louis, the boy stopped singing and glanced at her, careful to keep playing the tune. She was so beautiful when she didn’t know she was being watched, Louis thought. The way her curly brown hair rolled over her face from behind her hat; the way her lips curled upwards as the muscles on her face relaxed and became accustomed to the music. There was really only one word to describe her, Louis gathered: breathtaking.

After a few moments of not hearing any singing over the piano, Clementine opened her eyes and eyed Louis quizzically. He was staring at her with a smile on his face. What was he looking at? Did she have something on her face?

“Why did you stop?” was all she could say when she realized the song probably had more than just the one verse.

Louis thought hard about the next words he said, before settling for, “would you like me to teach you? I am the best piano teacher in the world, currently,” he finished with a cheeky grin.

At the request, Clem’s golden eyes lit up with a sparkle that Louis figured had been lost long ago. He didn’t know why he knew this, but her demeanor around other people suggested she hadn’t had such a fun time growing up. Well, who had, anyway?

“You could do that?” her words cut through his thoughts and Louis put on his signature smile back on.

“Of course,” he assured her, “c’mere.”

Nodding, Clem sat beside Louis on the piano stool and set her small hands hovering over the keys. She eyed the piano with hesitancy, as if it was about to come to life and eat them both. Louis swiftly took her hands in his and moved her fingers to be over the C key, the E key and the G key.

“You know, for a walker killing machine you have the softest hands,” he commented before finishing the final touches to her hand placement. Clem couldn’t help but blush at his comment, though the reason for it was a mystery to her. Why was she embarrassed about that of all things?

“Uh, thanks?” she said uncertainly, her eyes darting from her mentor to her right hand forming the C chord on the piano.

“You’re very welcome,” he said, still smiling that devilish smile that seemed to light up the room more than the sun streaming from the high windows. “Now, you’ve got the placement down. Just press those three at the same time,” he instructed, pointing at her right hand.

She did as he said, and smiled at the sound that she had created. It wasn’t anything special, obviously, but it amazed her nonetheless. After trying a few times and perfecting that chord, they moved onto the other two. It took less than half an hour to learn the rest of the sequence, by which time Louis was ecstatic.

“You’re a damn natural, Clem,” he kept saying whenever she managed to string all four chords together. “Now it’s starting to sound more like it,” he encouraged, which made Clem smile.

She didn’t know what it was about him, but at that moment, she felt safe. Thoughts of the impending raider attack were pushed from her mind completely, and the horrors she had experienced lately were greatly diminished while they were in each other’s presence.

Louis felt his face hurting from smiling so much, and wondered how it was that he could be this way after what had happened barely ten days ago. Of course, he knew that already. He was with Clem. There wasn’t much to it, and he knew the reason he seemed to forget the world when they shared time together.

While Clem kept playing the four chords over and over, Louis cleared his throat and started singing again, this time starting with the second verse.

“Your faith was strong but you needed proof,

You saw her bathing on the roof

Her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you.

She tied you to the kitchen chair

She broke your throne, she cut your hair

And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah.”

Clementine must have zoned out somewhere during that verse, because before she realized she had closed her eyes and kept on playing from memory.

“Look at me, Louis!” she called enthusiastically, careful to keep her eyes closed as her fingers gracefully moved from a C chord to an Am chord.

“That’s great, Clem, I knew you were a natural,” he exclaimed. Only he wasn’t looking at her hands, but at her. The way her face lit up when she realized she could play with her eyes closed could have illuminated the courtyard, had it been night. Her cheeks were flushed with excitement, and she was laughing.

A genuine Clementine laugh was not something Louis got to experience often, so he soaked it in while it lasted. After a few seconds of hearing no more feedback, Clem opened her eyes and glanced at Louis. The question that had been forming in her mind finally made its way to her lips.

“Louis?”

“Hm?” he questioned, turning to the girl sitting beside him.

“Why were you here today?”

Boy, was that a question. Louis’s featured contorted into a frown and he looked away for a moment. It was no use hiding it from her; she had a way with faces, he knew.

“I wanted to tickle the ivories once more before the raiders come knocking,” he said nonchalantly, but frowned when Clem’s concerned parent look locked onto him. Sighing, he looked down at his hands.

“I just… wanted to play that song again. It’s been a minute,” he confessed, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

As she stopped playing, Clem placed a tender hand on his forearm and looked up into his chocolate eyes. Those damn, beautiful eyes. What’s wrong with you, Clementine? Be there for him, she chastised herself.

“How long has it been?” she asked him softly, turning on the stool to face him fully.

“Last time I played it, it was on Marlon’s fifteenth birthday,” he told her, looking away again, fighting tears that threatened to break surface with his eyes.

“Oh,” was all Clem could muster when he shared that information. She knew Louis hadn’t been himself lately, and that was entirely because of the lack of one very important person. Marlon had been his best friend, his brother, and Clem and AJ had taken that away from him as quickly as two days after they’d saved them.

“Yeah,” he replied lamely, looking into her eyes with a sad smile on his face.

Before she realized, Clem opened her arms and embraced the boy in the most motherly hug she could muster. She cursed herself for being so awkward, but Louis actually leaned into the hug, wrapping his long arms around her and sniffing softly. They stayed like that for a few minutes before breaking apart and straightening themselves.

Louis was the first to recover from the wave of emotions that overtook both of them after that rather personal exchange. “Thank you, Clementine. I know I’ve been a dick lately, and I’m sorry. Haven’t really been the amazing companion I usually am. I just needed some time, you know?”

Clem shook her head and smiled at the boy, “you have nothing to apologize for. You had every right to be mad. I would have been, too,” she confessed, knitting her brows together in concern for Louis.

A soft chuckle left Louis’s lips, and Clem thought she was making progress. He raised his head until they were face to face and at that moment Louis realized something. He would have to stop sitting on his ass, and start acting. The past was gone, and he had to think of the future. With a long sigh, Louis straightened his shoulders and cleared his throat.

“Um, Clem?” he said softly. Such a smooth talker; damn it Louis, he cursed himself.

Her golden eyes scanned his hard features slowly before settling on his eyes. She looked deep in thought as well, though what thoughts troubled that beautiful mind of hers, Louis didn’t know. She nodded for him to continue and he did.

“Okay, I’m gonna get serious for a moment,” he began, nodding along as he said the words he’d rehearsed over and over in his head.

Clem’s eyes opened wide and she quickly placed the back of her hand on his forehead. “Oh my god, Louis, are you feeling okay? Should I get Ruby?” she mocked him, making a sizzling sound as she removed her hand.

“Ha ha, hilarious,” he laughed, rolling his eyes. “I thought I was the jokester here.”

“I know, I am too,” she reminded him, though she could sense he was actually being serious when he didn’t laugh at that. “Right, sorry. Continue.”

“I’ve been battling with myself for the last two weeks, and it hasn’t really been easy,” he started, fumbling over his own words and frowning at his awkwardness. Clem encouraged him with a smile and he sighed.

“Okay, I’m just gonna say it. I like you, Clem. As in, like-like you,” he explained, topping it all with a cheeky smile that contrasted with Clementine’s shocked expression.

The following seconds were a blur of emotions in Clem’s head. The first of which was astonishment. Louis likes me? Likes me, likes me? she kept thinking. She started grasping at the pieces of the puzzle and understanding took over her features. It all made sense now.

The senseless flirtations at every possible opportunity; Louis’s insistence that she come with them on hunting trips, even though they weren’t really speaking at all; his stupid query about her ever having had a boyfriend. Louis really liked her.

She racked her brains for something to say back to that, and came up empty. The truth was that she liked him too. As much as she hated to admit it, even to herself, she had grown quite fond of Louis in the past two weeks. Not only that but, even if Louis hadn’t told her, she knew he’d been the one to help AJ up after Marlon pushed him onto the ground. That had been the first time someone other than Clementine came up behind AJ and came out uninjured. She realized then that AJ must have really looked up to him to trust him the way he would trust Clem.

She couldn’t really lie, either; she did think he was cute. From the moment they met, that fact had been in the back of her mind almost constantly, but now it flew right past her eyes in front of her and screamed at her to go forward. Louis’s voice cut through her thoughts like a knife.

“Oh no, I’ve made it awkward,” Louis exclaimed, “whelp, gonna go throw myself into the river and never come back,” he started to get up but was yanked back down by Clem, who took a moment to look into his chocolate brown eyes before doing something she’d never done before.

She kissed him.

It was a sweet kiss, filled with the underlying feelings they were both feeling as they embraced. She felt as though she was sitting on a cloud, and she never wanted to come down. She couldn’t actually describe the feeling, though. It just fit.

As they broke apart, both panting from the intensity of the situation they now found themselves in, Louis searched her features for any indication that that was real. He thought he might be imagining things, but he could have sworn she was grinning with her eyes closed. She kissed me? was his only thought.

“I like-like you too, Louis,” she finally said, breathless. Even after that kiss, Louis was still baffled that those words had come out of her beautiful mouth. He took a second to savor the moment before saying,

“Wait, so when you said you had feelings for someone back at that game, you meant me?”

Blushing, Clem pursed her lips and looked away. “Yes,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Holy shit, it’s me!” he exclaimed, eyes wide as plates as he took in this new-found information.

Another kiss from Clementine shut him up for good. They embraced tenderly sitting as close to each other as the rickety piano stool would allow them. After a good few minutes, Clem broke apart from him and glanced at him quizzically.

“By the way, what was that song called?” she asked, the twinkle in her eye making her even more beautiful. As if that was possible, thought Louis with a grin.

“Hallelujah,” he said, embracing her again.

[nomnomsik]

In Sync | Pt. 1

Summary: The dance teacher and choreographer, Jung Hoseok, appears as a guest for UNDER 19, a judge for the showdown round, with only half of all the trainees qualifying for the next round. Despite his intimidating manner, his interest in you, a trainee, must mean he wants you to qualify to the end, right? What happens if he wants something else from you, completely unrelated to dance?

Pairing: Dance Teacher!Hoseok x Trainee/Idol Fem!Reader

Genre: Slow-burn, Idol!AU

Word Count: 4.6K

Trigger warnings: yandere-themes, manipulation, profanity, possessive tendencies, and panic attacks. Please read with caution. 

≿————- ❈ ————-≾

The squeak of about fifty pair of sneakers echoed throughout the whole room, dozens of teenagers staring at their reflections in the mirror as they monitored each move and expression. From fierceness to elegance etched in their face, arm to leg movements that swiftly carried them throughout the room, the entire space was filled with harsh breathing, pants, and the fluttering of clothing. 

The door to the large dance room creaked open, some of the trainees halting in their tracks as they stared at the door through the reflection of the mirror, while others turned around in nervousness. Your movements slowed down as you came to a stop, your eyes fixated on the door from the mirror. You stood up straight, arms crossed with sweat riding down your forehead. As you took labored breaths, your legs cried out, begging to sit down but you firmly stood in place. 

“Good morning, everyone.” 

“Good morning!” The class roared in unison, bowing in a straight 90-degree angle before snapping their heads up. 

Following the director, stood a man in black hair, his piercing eyes scanning each student, some flinching back in fear. As his intense eyes met yours, you held your gaze, your eyes staring straight back at him. As the man kept his gaze on you, he continued to walk to the middle of the room, before giving you a smirk and breaking eye contact. 

“Everyone, line up.” The director’s stern voice caused a quiet shuffling as you lined up behind your own team members. “Today, we have a special guest who will be teaching all of you for a week.” 

Some of the trainees squealed in excitement, instantly recognizing him as you stared curiously at the young gentleman, who was probably not older than 25. His black cap sat on top of his head, sunglasses joined at the front of it with his hair tucked underneath his hat. 

“Some of you may recognize him.” The director acknowledged, before instructing his hands at the guest. “Please introduce yourself.” 

“Hello, everyone. My name is Jung Hoseok. It’s a pleasure to meet you all.” His sweet voice echoed off the walls and carried a hidden tone underneath, almost threatening and viperous as his eyes seemed to meet each trainee. “I can’t wait to see all of your abilities. Please do your best and intrigue me.” You watched as his wet and pink tongue slipped from out his mouth, swiping and licking his lips before hiding back in. 

“Today’s objective and the round will be ‘Outside the Box.’” 

The director stepped forward, his hands folded together as he quickly explained the rules. “You will be trying out a different style of dancing, all assisted by Mr. Jung here. In the end, you will be versing someone from another team. However, each member is evaluated individually, no group performances, and not the same choreography for an entire group. The only thing is that the group must have the same dancing style. Half of you will be eliminated by Mr. Jung.” 

A large gasp erupted from the trainees as murmurs quickly filled up, overpowering the director’s voice. Shuffling of sneakers and disbelief coming from the mouths of the trainees overwhelmed the director as he tried to bring their attention back. 

A loud whistle sliced through the room as all the trainees hushed, bringing their attention back to the center of the room. Hoseok stood there smiling, his slender fingers coming down from his mouth as he clapped his hands together. 

“Now, are you all going to pay attention or not?” 

His booming voice stood over everyone as a warning, as most students cowered in fear, lowering their heads down to avoid his dangerously sharp eyes. “Now that’s better.” Hoseok smiled again, his voice seeming to mock all the students. 

He took a step toward the several lines, looking at the leaders of each, his eyes once again meeting the determined look that you held. “Five minutes. Decide what each one of you will be learning in five minutes. I’ll give you a quick lesson for each.” 

All the rookies huddled together, whispering as they worriedly looked at each other. 

Five minutes?! Is he crazy?! Does he think this is a joke? How can we decide in just five minutes?

You ignored the complaints coming from the other groups as you quickly sat your group down, everyone sitting in a circle as the tension began to build up. “So what are we doing?” A girl squealed from your group, looking at you for guidance. 

“Hip Hop?” You questioned, not sure yourself. What was outside the box for you? “We can try something new, I guess? What does everyone think?” You inquired, trying to suppress the worry that was growing in your body, anxiousness building up as you tried to put up a facade of confidence. 

“Yea, we can do that!” 

“I agree!” 

Your group came to a general consensus, with only some members muttering that it didn’t fit the objective well. As your members stood up, Hoseok’s eyes perked up at the first group with an idea. He took slow strides, his chin up in an intimidating banner as his arms folded across his chest. 

“Well, what will your group be learning today?” 

“Hip hop.” You collectively spoke, looking up at him, trying to stay strong despite his suffocating aura. His eyes dulled out for a second, a sort of unhappiness lacing his expression as he nodded and directed you to the mirrors. It was an instinct that shot through your body as Hoseok brought you to the mirrors. He was disappointed, but why? Was he expecting something more? Was hip hop too-

“You.” He called out, your eyes meeting in the mirror. 

Was he talking to you? 

His face seemed to suggest that as his voice, laced with seriousness spoke out for almost all to hear. “Are you zoning out? You better focus.” 

You flushed in embarrassment, muttering a small apology as you lower your head in shame. The other girls in your group gave a worried stare, feeling sympathy as you hung your head, ashamed. Even though everyone was in a dancing position, Hoseok relaxed, standing up normally even those the other girls had their knees bent on his instructions.

“Where are your manners? Look me in the eyes and apologize.” 

“I-I’m sorry…” You whimpered, barely holding your gaze. He turned back to the mirror as you listened to hushed laughs and scoffs behind you as you dejectedly followed his directions. You couldn’t believe he just embarrassed you with the cameras on, your cheeks flushing red as you suppressed the tears pricking at your eyes.

As he dismissed your group, you furrowed your eyebrows, trying to forget the embarrassing accident.  

Was that it? It didn’t seem very difficult. The few moves he taught, certain techniques for body rolls and ways to position your feet for better posture, weren't as complex as you thought they would be. 

“Pff…” A laugh erupted from behind you as you turned around, only to roll your eyes. “You should be ashamed, y/n, really.” 

“Ugh, shut up, SuAh, before I clock you.” You glared at the smaller girl, turning away from her.

“Try it.” She challenged, huffing. “I’d love to see you kicked out, you piece of-” Her team member grabbed onto her as she tried to lunge herself at you, throwing a tantrum right in the other girl’s arms. 

Your relationship with the annoying kid, fitting for a 14-year-old, and your 4-year difference made you frustrated and annoyed with her antics. Not only was she one of the youngest trainees in the program, but she was the opposite of the word, humble. She boasted about her age, bleeding everyone’s ears as she paraded around in the hallways of the dorms. She was a brat, to sum it up, making unnecessarily rude comments and making fun of other peoples’ misfortunes or mistakes. 

What made you absolutely erupt in anger was when SuAh decided to mock the trainees who were unable to pass the next round, getting kicked from the program. As she sat in the lounging area, sucking on a lollipop in the most annoying way possible, her legs obstructing other people’s way, you couldn’t stand more than five minutes of her yapping. 

And she knew. 

She noticed the way you shot her a nasty glare from across the room when she had some unnecessary comments about other trainees or the way she objectified male trainees, from their looks and skills, believing she was never in the wrong. 

“Can’t you ever just shut up?” You had spat, forced to be in the same lounging room as her. 

“What are you jealous that I’m more popular based on fan voting? Ha, I knew you would be.” 

You took a deep breath, refusing to lift up the book you were reading and launch it right in her face. SuAh scoffed, knowing she was right, which infuriated you even more because she wasn’t. At all. You wanted to crush this girl into pieces, teach her a few things, but you knew the consequences if you did. You trained hard to become an idol, yet SuAh’s existence made you sometimes question how hard you should work. 

Just tolerate the stupid 14-year-old, y/n. Be the mature one. 

“What’s going on?” Hoseok interrupted, coming between the two groups. He shot an intense glare at SuAh as she immediately calmed down, her member releasing her as she hid behind her back. SuAh had the nerve to point at you, her arm shaking as if to shift the blame on you. Your mouth widened as you took offense to her short and stupid finger. 

“Are you serious?” You deadpanned, shaking your head in disappointment. Hoseok took a look at the two females, tapping his chin. You wouldn’t be surprised if he was planning a death game between the two of you, from his curled up lips and the elation in his eyes. “Oh boy…” You sighed, giving yourself a mental reminder to forget SuAh’s existence the next time you come into practice. 

“I’ll be deciding who you face off against,” Hoseok stated as a matter of factly, earning the attention of all the trainees in the room. “And the first showdown with be the two young ladies here.” 

You expected a worse punishment, but upon hearing his words, you sighed in relief. The eased looked in your face struck a nerve in Hoseok’s body as irritation began to take over. He licked his lips ready to call you out, but turned the other way, walking from the commotion. You thought it was going to be easy? He had a surprise for you.

For the next couple of days, you ate and slept in the practice room, only getting kicked out when you were forced back to the dorm. Every second of your life involved dancing, not only to go to the next round but to also wipe that disgusting smirk off SuAh’s face. 

As you stood in front of the mirrors, the practice room filled up at the busiest part of the day, Hoseok stood next to you, giving you a few pointers before he had to move onto the next student. 

“Keep your back straight!” He shouted over the other voices in the room, his arms coming up to your back, pushing it forward. “Stick out your chest. You need to be more confident.” He demonstrated as an example, his arms coming up to display his perfectly straight back and chest. 

You breathed heavily, sweat running from your forehead, drenching the back of your shirt, and rolling down your neck. With a loud thud, your feet collapsed onto the floor as you took a thirty-second break, Hoseok hovering above you. 

“Your stamina is weak.” He stated bluntly. “You’re going to have to put more effort if you want to impress me.” 

You sent him a glare from the ground, to which he chuckled, feeling no intimidation in your dirty look. Thirty seconds on the dot, you stood back on your two feet, practicing over your choreography as Hoseok watched every movement like a hawk. He smiled as each arm movement and facial expressions was executed perfectly, a satisfying feeling building up in his stomach, watching in greed to train you on his own. 

“Good. Good.” He nodded, following along. He gave you two claps before moving onto the next student. 

Every day was carried the same, Hoseok watching over you for a few minutes, before moving on. Even though you didn’t notice at the time, he spent more time with you than any other student. He would try to hide his disinterest with the other trainees, wanting to focus more time into sharpening your skills. You were too enamored in your practice to notice his preference in you, assuming he spent the same amount of time with all the trainees. 

The week flew by as the day for the showdown approached. Every snarky comment that came out of SuAh’s mouth was filtered immediately, to the point where she was growing frustrated. There was only one thing she hated the most: being ignored. If she couldn’t get herself into other trainee’s minds, there was a disadvantage for her. So as you stood in front of the studio mirror, stretching your body and cracking your neck and back, she felt on edge.

You walked toward the center of the room, eyes closed and arms at your side, waiting for the upcoming introduction of your chosen song. 

Pumping your chest and arms to the heavy beat and bass that vibrated throughout the studio. Hoseok sat at the table, pen in hand ready to mark the paper that sat in front of him, his eyes analyzing every facial expression, foot placement, and body movement. The amazed gasps from the trainees did not faze you as you continued to synchronize your body to the rhythm. There was a slight bounce of Hoseok’s head to the beat as you challengingly met his gaze. 

The rush of adrenaline riled you up as you worked through the intricate footwork and the snap and pop of your muscles. 

Your body ached as you had to survive the last minute of your complex routine, large shifts of altitude, from down to the floor to springing yourself up, you struggled to control your breathing. But when the satisfying last note echoed in a bang, you pumped up your fist in triumph, knowing you killed the performance. 

A round of applause met you as you looked back up, a wide smile on your face as you waved to the several cameras in the room. When you looked back at Hoseok, he was buried deep into his sheet, marking and evaluating your performance. You bowed, walking over to your team, giving several satisfying high-fives, and sitting down to watch the next performance. 

It was SuAh’s performance. She chose ballet, definitely something the trainees have never practiced for. You didn’t know the criteria for ballet, so you watched in confusion, unsure how she was being graded. But, you could see Hoseok’s eyes examine every move she made. In your opinion, you could tell it was not the most graceful thing you’ve ever seen, but her pointed feet were impressive. 

It was obvious she had done before. 

When her performance came to an end, she also earned a round of applause as you walked to the center of the room to join her. The two of you stood in front of Hoseok, your hands folded as you patiently waited for his remarks. SuAh took a glance at your face, slightly irritated at how calmly you stood, how your straight back exuded a subtle confidence that she despised. 

Hoseok looked at both of you, his pen repeatedly tapping his chin as a camera smile graced his lips. Something about how fake he was on camera made you sigh internally. 

“So, for our first round. I was disappointed and surprised at both of your performances.” 

Both of you nodded, ready for his critique. Hoseok continued on. “For y/n, I was disappointed in the concept you picked but was surprised how precisely executed it was. So well done.” 

You let out a soft “thank you”, a small smile gracing your lips. 

“For SuAh, I was disappointed by the lack of moves, but I understand that technique in ballet is difficult. I also was surprised you were daring to even pick that concept, so well done.” 

She gave her fake camera smile even though you could tell she was not happy with his evaluation. Any critique towards her dancing always seemed as worthless criticism. If it wasn’t completely positive, SuAh was never happy. Her fists were clenched as she held in her anger, aware of the cameras recording her. 

“So,” Hoseok began, placing both papers on top of each other. “My evaluation is that-” 

“Y/n, you will not be advancing to the next round.”

Time stopped as your wide eyes stared at him, a hidden smirk that seemed to be masked under his face as he showed a smile to the camera. His statement seemed to mock your breathlessness as the room burst into cheers and groans, seemingly to split in half. 

SuAh jumped up in joy, a wide smile on her face as she sprinted into the arms of her team members. 

“I did it! I won! I won!” 

You slowly straightened your legs out as you brought both hands to your chest, trying to stop the crushing pain that constricted tightly. You desperately sought out your team members as they too, stood frozen, just staring at you with pity. You were out and you not only lost the showdown, but also a moral battle between the most despicable trainee in the entire show. 

Walking with your head down, not sure whether it was embarrassment or shame, your group accepted you back in, one of the girls bringing their hand up your face. As her hands caressed your cheek, only then did you realize you were crying. Realizing how devastating the defeat only made your throat constrict harder as more tears streamed down your face. The girl frantically tried to wipe all the tears, rubbing your back soothingly.

“You did your best. Just know that.” 

You zoned out for the rest of the program, unable to watch and cheer for your own members, completely engulfed in sadness. Many of the members who failed just like you did cried out in frustration, joining you by the back of the room. You swore you could feel SuAh smugly looking at you from the other side of the room. 

I guess she’s the better dancer then. 

As the cameras slowly came to a close, staff bowing and waving their goodbyes for the day, your body sagged against the wall, the other trainees who had also lost, slowly rising to their feet. Yet, you sat there, staring off into the distance at nothing in particular. It was until a blob of black colors appeared in your vision that you looked up, only to be met with the eyes you had grown to hate. 

“Are you disappointed that you lost to SuAh?” 

You had expected his voice to mock your defeat, but instead, he stood in front of you like a respectable teacher, trying to guide a student. 

“I’m surprised I lost.” 

Hoseok hummed, shoving his hands into his pocket as his gaze shifted to a demeaning look. “Overconfidence?” He questioned, almost as if he was explaining the exact reason why you lost. 

“No. I danced better than her. I know I can dance better than her. I am the better dancer. I worked so much harder!” 

“But you lost.” 

“Oh, I wonder why.” You rolled your eyes, huffing in your spot on the floor. 

Hoseok erupted in laughter, turning the other way to suppress his smile. “You didn’t even follow the objective of the match, and you’re mad?” 

Before you could argue your point that what you did followed the task, Hoseok cut you off. “You lost when you chose hip hop. This round was meant to challenge you as a dancer, to do something you’ve never tried before. Also don’t lie to my face saying, ‘oh but I really never danced in the hip hop style.’ because we both know that’s so not true.” 

Hoseok continued. “Whatever the other person’s name was, she wasn’t as good in technique, but that wasn’t the point. The concept had to be an interesting factor.” Hoseok continued, your confidence dropping lower and lower. 

“But…Y-you…” You looked away ashamed. “You approved it and told me I was doing well!” 

"Oh, you thought I'd let u win because I've been showing an interest in you? Cute of you." Hoseok taunted, causing you to rise up from the floor. 

“That’s not…!” 

Hoseok rose his palm in the air, silencing you and continuing. "As much as the industry cares about influence and power, often biasing a certain individual, which I guess you had the right mentality going in, my decision is final.”  

You were in a loss for words as Hoseok’s hand came up to your chin, tapping it playfully, his face shooting you a confidence smirk before letting you go. He turned on his heel, leaving you alone in the dancing studio, giving a nonchalant goodbye wave. You had expected to be defeated again, but instead, rage burned through your body at the man who continued to insult you in every sentence he put out. 

As Hoseok stepped outside, he grinned to himself as he pulled out his phone. After waiting a few seconds for the other line to pick up, he chuckled.

“I have a proposal for you.” 

≿————- ❈ ————-≾

“BigHit?” 

“Yes! We will send up a follow-up email to you about the details. But we would love to give you a tour around the company's facility and hopefully get you signed as a trainee! Have a nice day!” The bright sound of the women’s voice died out, as the phone clicked off. 

After the recent airing of the showdown episode, you had expected to receive a few calls from companies, scouting you to become a trainee under them. However, the only and last company to contact you was BigHit. It was demoralizing for you to only receive one company. Yet their eagerness to sign you as a trainee made you feel a bit better. The image of an amazing trainee was slowly diminishing within each passing day. 

So as you walked over to the building, the fall weather coming out, chilly winds passing by as steam escaped from your lips, you noticed a difference. Maybe it was the nice weather, or maybe it was the warm welcome from the staff, but you really liked the resources given you to. 

From artistic freedom to a range of teachers to be taught under, you had quickly signed to be one of their trainees that day. 

You met a few dance teachers, each explaining their specialty, with BigHit encouraging you to pick the teacher that best suited your style. You appreciated their concerns and all the dancer teachers seemed skilled. However, as your guide entered the next room, you were with the familiar black blob of hair. 

“Hello-” 

You gawked, staring at the one-week dance instructor, who had not only humiliated you on television but also made the decision for your loss. Hoseok stood in front of the set of mirrors, stretching. As you both made eye contact, Hoseok slowly smirked, recognizing you immediately. It was a devious look that sent a bad feeling through your mind. 

“Wait outside,” Hoseok commanded at the person standing next to you, the guide hesitating and flinching as he spoke to him. But when Hoseok shot him an intimidating glare, the guide scrambled out of the door. 

Hoseok waltzed over to you, a baggy white tank top revealing his biceps and slender arms. From his oversized grey sweatpants to his red and white Nike Air Jordans, you hated to admit that he looked handsome. You could even tell that he was working out prior to his damp hair that fell in front of his forehead.

“Well, well, well, I can’t believe I have the honor of meeting you here.” He smiled. 

“You’re crazy if you think I’m going to train under you.” You spoke irritably.

“I didn’t even say anything, angel.” He grumbled. 

“Don’t call me that...” You muttered, rolling your eyes. 

“What if I said it’s because you dance like an angel?” Hoseok smirked, anticipating your reaction. You tried to suppress the way you wanted to gag, but Hoseok only found it endearing.

“Just...stop…” You sighed, squeezing your eyes in cringe.

However, as you opened your eyes, Hoseok’s forehead connected with yours. His piercing eyes stared deep into your soul, his arms coming up to firmly plant you into the floor. 

“I want you to train under me.” He growled as if it was an order. 

“What?!” You almost shrieked, trying to push him off. “You’re the one that failed me and you want me to be your student?!”

Hoseok grunted, maintaining his tight grip on your shoulders. 

“I failed you so you would come to BigHit. I failed you so I, me, Jung Hoseok, could train you.” 

“You, what?!” 

“Your talents should be enriched under me!” He raised his voice, a sort of desperation underlying his words. “I wanted you to myself. I wanted to use your talents and determination. Your work ethic is what I want from my students.” 

Hoseok sighed, almost in pleasure. “When I look at you, I see so much potential. So much potential to force this disgusting industry to accept you. You want that too, right? I know you do when I see that look that burns in your eyes.” 

“Second-rate trainees looking for the short way out will never make it. I’ve seen them and I’ve even trained some. They’re all pathetic. But when I look at you, there’s so much the future holds for you.” His hand caressed your cheek. “I’ll make sure it does.” 

You stood speechless as Hoseok stood in front of you, not as a dance instructor, not as the man who humiliated you, but as a person who had seen first-hand and experienced this dreadful industry. His words were real and honest. He cared enough about you to tell you the truth, his heartfelt words revealing his truth and genuine intentions.

“If you accept to be trained under me, you will undergo so much pain. Your body will be scorched like you've never felt before, but you will reach the top, I promise you that.” 

“W-why me?” You whispered, your fingers bundling the cotton of your shirt as you stared fearfully at Hoseok. “There must be other people like me, who are determined just the same, right? But why...” Your voice slowly trailed off as Hoseok looked like he was about to laugh at you. 

“Is it wrong to want someone to succeed? Someone who reminds me of myself back then?” He gave you a tender smile, his lips curling up at the top of his teeth peaked through his lips. “I can see your passion. It’s not for fame and fortune but it’s because you like to sing and dance.” 

“There is also a part of me that wants to succeed with you. I lost my chance back then to debut. People would say I’m too old now. Nowadays, kids debut in their teens.” His voice trailed off, a calming atmosphere coming over the two of you.

His arms released you, his feet slowly backing away from you as both of your eyes locked with each other. 

“So, will you be trained under me or not, angel?” 

[Part 2]

[basketofverbiage]

Yoongi’s Christmas Carol

Otherwise known as How the Maknae Line Drove Yoongi to Write a Christmas Song from Playing “Last Christmas” on Repeat. Dedicated to @elizabeth-buchanan who gave me the idea. 

Yoongi’s quest to write the perfect Christmas song was not based on inspiration. It was based out of frustration. The maknaes had been playing varying versions of “Last Christmas” on repeat for the last four days and if he had to hear it one more time he was going to scream. So he locked himself in his studio to try to prove that he could write a much better song than that. As he was sitting at his computer pondering over where to begin, his phone rang.

“Hey Jin-hyung. What do you need?”

“Yoongichi, I just want to spend some time with everyone individually before we get insanely busy. So, let’s have dinner in an hour.”

Yoongi had to admit that he and Jin hadn’t had time to just talk and be together like they used to. And Yoongi would never ever admit it, but he missed the heart to heart talks they used to have when they were roommates. Yoongi had an hour before time with Jin, but he was able to get a basic rhythm down for the track before Jin knocked on the door.

They went to a nearby Korean barbecue restaurant where the owner knew them, so they’d have a bit of privacy. When they went out, Yoongi and Jin would always take turns manning the grill. It was so relaxing to Yoongi to just be able to be present and talk with his hyung about everything and nothing at all. It always soothed him so much to let go of his responsibilities and trust his hyung to catch him if he fell too far; while it wasn’t something that happened often, it was still nice to not have to maintain control.

“Hyung, what do you think of when you think of Christmas?” he asked.

“Ah, Yoongichi. Christmas means family to me. When I was younger, my family didn’t really go overboard with gifts and all that, but we made sure to always take the time to just be together. My mom and I would cook together, and we would all sit down and eat together. I think that’s why I enjoy getting all of us in the kitchen together, just cooking and laughing and eating together.”

Even after they went home, Yoongi pondered a bit over how Jin brought a little bit of Christmas magic to the rest of the group. Just before he fell asleep, he wrote down a line in his notebook. Thank you for bringing Christmas magic all year long.

The next morning, Hoseok woke him up with a smile. “Come on, Hyung. We have to get going to the studio. But I made you some coffee to take with us.”

Yoongi thanked him and took a sip. It was perfect, just the way he liked it. He quickly dressed and brushed his teeth before topping off his coffee and climbing into Hoseok’s car. Since just the two of them had things to work on, they had opted to drive themselves instead of calling a car.

“Hobi, what’s the thing that stands out to you most about Christmas?”

“Hmm…that’s a good question, Hyung. I think the way Christmas smells. Like everything smells like cinnamon and pine and like baked things.”

Yoongi just nodded and jotted down some notes down about smells of cinnamon and pine. Somehow, he just felt like he needed to include a piece of all his brothers to make this Christmas song the best it could be. They broke off into their own studios after parking the car and agreed to leave around 4:30 that afternoon. He instantly pulled up computer and added to the track he’d begun the night before and was so in the zone he didn’t realize that someone had knocked on his door until Jimin touched his arm and Yoongi nearly jumped out of his skin.

“I’m so sorry, Hyung! I just wanted to bring you lunch. Jungkookie sent you lamb skewers.”

“It’s okay, Minnie. I just didn’t hear you come in. Thank you for bringing me lunch.”

They chatted for a few minutes and Yoongi asked Jimin to stay and have lunch with him. Jimin chattered a bit about the dance that he and Jungkook had been practicing to tape for ARMY. After they had finished, Jimin had his hand on the doorknob and was about to leave to go back to the practice room when Yoongi stopped him.

“Before you go, Minnie, I have a question. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Christmas?”

“I love to give presents. That’s my favorite. I love picking the perfect thing for someone and seeing them light up like a firefly when it’s the exact thing they wanted. I love that.”

Light up like a firefly got added to his list of notes for the Christmas songs. That was an interesting visual for a Christmas song. Yoongi cleaned up a bit after lunch before jumping back into the track. He was at a bit of a standstill on the beat when Namjoon strolled in.

“Hey, Joonie. Can you take a listen to this and see what’s missing? I’m writing a Christmas song.”

Namjoon put on the headphones and gave the track a listen. “I really like it, Yoongi-hyung. What if you added a bit of trumpet in the background?”

“That might be perfect. I didn’t want to add bells because that seems like it’s too cliché.”

“A trumpet might add a bit of atmosphere.”

“Thanks, Namjoonie. What is your favorite part of Christmas?”

“Honestly, I love the decorations. The lights and the tree and even the mistletoe. There is just something so aesthetically pleasing about it and it makes me so nostalgic.”

Yoongi added some notes about aesthetics and light to his notebook. He was starting to see some of the lyrics come together. And Namjoon was right. The trumpet rounded out the dull edges of the track perfectly and gave a bit of a Christmas flair without a bunch of bells. He saved the track and shut down his computer since it was time to meet Hoseok to go home.

When they got back to their flat, Yoongi curled up on the sofa beside Taehyung. Taehyung was curled up against one arm of the couch playing a game on his phone with Tannie in his lap. When Yoongi sat down, the little ball of fluff jumped out of Taehyung’s lap to come nose at Yoongi.

“Hi, Tan-ah. Did you miss hyung while he was away?” Yoongi baby talked to the little dog as he gently scratched his ears.

“Did you write something fun today, Yoongi-hyung?” Taehyung asked, smiling softly at his interactions with Yeontan.

“I’ve actually been writing a Christmas song. I got tired of hearing ‘Last Christmas’ over and over again,” Yoongi admitted.

Taehyung laughed heartily at that. “Well, I’m glad that we were helpful.”

“TaeTae, what do you like the best about Christmas?”

“That’s easy. I love watching my younger siblings and how in awe they are of the season and how excited they get about the presents. Their excitement makes the entire holiday worth celebrating. Just the way their eyes light up at everything.”

Yoongi just nodded and added a new note to his notebook. He jotted about the light in babies’ eyes near his note from his conversation with Jimin.

Before he could delve any further into the potential lyrics, he heard Jungkook call down the hall. “Hyung?”

“What?” he, Taehyung, Hoseok, and Jin all replied from varying parts of the flat.

“Oh. I meant Yoongi-hyung,” Jungkook replied.

Yoongi got up and immediately went back to Jungkook’s room.

“Did Jimin-hyung bring you the lamb skewers at lunch?” he asked.

“He did. He stayed and ate with me in the Genius Lab. Why didn’t you come bring them? Jiminie said you bought them for me.”

“I had planned on it, but Adora-noona asked me to come help her lay down a demo track for a new song she’s writing.”

Yoongi nodded and hugged Jungkook. “That’s okay, Jungkookie. You and I will just have to go out for lamb skewers soon.” Yoongi paused, looking at Jungkook’s shy smile, before adding, “Kookie, what says Christmas to you?”

Jungkook thought for a second before replying. “That’s easy, Hyung. It’s love. Everyone shares so much love near that time of year. Families spend time together, people donate to charities and to people who need help, and I get to spend time with all the people I love.”

While it wasn’t the answer Yoongi expected, he realized that Jungkook and his answer linked all the other parts of the song together. He sat down on the end of Jungkook’s bed and wrote the entire set of lyrics for the song within about 15 minutes.

The next morning, Yoongi got up early and headed to the studio. He laid a demo track of him rapping the verses and doing a basic version of the singing part of the chorus and bridge. He actually was there two hours before they had a dance practice session, so he saved the demo to his laptop and headed to the practice room. The others came in, some of them still a bit sleepy, but they all perked up at seeing Yoongi standing in the middle of the room with his laptop open.

��I wrote a Christmas song, and you all inspired it. Want to be the first ones to hear it?” he asked gently.

They all nodded, and he pressed play on his laptop. The soft and happy expression son their faces as they each heard the lyrics that were inspired by their favorite parts of Christmas. In that moment, Yoongi completely understood what Jimin had meant by watching the people he loved light up like a firefly as he watched each of them light up in their own ways. It made the song that much better to him that they loved it so much. And if you asked any of them, they would all say that Yoongi’s Christmas Carol was definitely better than “Last Christmas” because his heart was painted all over it.

[phandomphightclub]

Phinal Round, First Place Match: @reallydumbdannyphantomaus vs. @heyheyitsstillgay

The ring was repaved. Vic and Tali were back in their seats. Tucker had finally gotten some decent food.

Finally, finally, everything was ready for the final battle.

“Bug versus Anri, huh?” Tucker asked.  “Is it too late to place bets?”

“Who would you bet for?” Danny asked in return.

“Probably Bug, honestly,” he said after taking a big bite from his burger.  “They might be a pain, but they’re apparently pretty good.  Not a ton of ghosts can get the whole duplication thing down.”

“I’d still vote for Anri,” Sam argued.  “They’ve got more raw power.  Plus it looks like they have more abilities than they let on.”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out who’s gonna win!”  Tali said brightly as the two ghosts once again entered the ring.

“Our phinal match here, pholks!  Winner gets all glory, honor, bragging rights, and a year’s supply of free Denny’s pancakes.”

“Really?”  Danny perked up at that.  The Denny’s might not have the greatest food, but their pancakes were pretty good.  And a year’s supply of free ones?  He might enter the tournament next time for that.

“Really!  So let’s get this phight started!  From the Observant’s Keep, a ghost who once tried to eat fake grass out of an escape room, we have Reallydumbdannyphantomaus!”

“That was one time!”  They shouted up at Tali, who just laughed.

“And their opponent from Nightmare Valley, a ghost with memes so dank they can’t be seen by the mortal eye, Heyheyitsstillgay!”

They waved to the crowd with a staff made entirely out of Danno faces.

“PHIGHT!”

Bug extended their PowerPoint staff like a lightsaber, red glow and all.  “Ready to finish this, binch?”

“I died ready.”

They two ghosts clashed over the freshly-paved center of the ring.  The Danno staff squealed each time it made contact with Bug’s PowerSaber.

“Is that, like, gonna burn your face too?”  Tucker asked Danny.  “Like some kind of voodoo or something?”

“Shut up, Tucker,” Sam said offhand, her entire attention glued to the fight.

Anri brought her Danno staff down in a heavy overhand blow, putting more of their extra-dense weight into the attack.  Bug blocked, using all four of their arms to hold up the PowerSaber.

“You… have strength, I’ll give you that,” Bug said through gritted teeth.  They couldn’t have blocked that attack if they’d used any of their energy on making duplicates; this was going to be tough.

“I’ve got more than that. I’ve been around longer than you can imagine,” They said, their face inches from Bug’s.  “My core is ancient and fueled by things you’ve only seen in your nightmares.”

“Your… core, huh?” Bug asked, getting an idea.  Twisting and diverting Anri’s staff, they slipped one hand free to punch them in the gut.  Anri grunted and gave Bug an opening to dart away.

“You’re not gonna break my core that easily,” Anri said, spinning her staff and coming back in swinging. Bug snapped theirs into two halves, blocking with one red-glowing half and striking Anri’s side with the other.

“I don’t plan on breaking it.”  Bug smirked. Then they plunged one half of the PowerSaber into Anri’s unprotected stomach.

Anri stopped for a moment, stunned at the wound – but then, as Danny knew would happen, the dark energy began coalescing around it.

“What’s Bug thinking?” He asked.  “They know Anri can’t be beat like that!”

“Why not?”  Sam asked.  That’s right, she and Tucker weren’t there for that match.

“They’ve got a special power.  Instead of being fueled by ectoplasm, the inside of their form is – well, just watch.”

The memes began to trickle from Anri’s stomach as they pulled out the Power Saber.

“You’re in for it now.” They grinned ominously.  But to their surprise, Bug grinned back and stabbed the half of the PowerSaber they had left into the ground.  The projector screen unfurled from it, casting blinding light onto Anri.

“That’s not going to—”

But blinding wasn’t what Bug had in mind.  The two halves of the saber created a link – one that siphoned the memes from Anri’s form and projected them onto the screen.

“What – no!”  Anri shouted, feeling their form begin to droop as it lost its power.  Bug folded two hands behind their back, using the other two to point to the presentation.

“And if you’ll look at this diagram, you’ll see the different types of memes that Anri contains broken down by type and percentage.  I would draw your attention to this slice of the pie chart, which depicts the percentage of bad Danno edits.  It’s unusually high in comparison to the other types of memes, though they are all equally impressive…”

“You can’t just – my memes – my PowerPoint slides – how can you take them from me!?”

Bug pointed to the half of the saber that Anri still held.  “You did that to yourself, my good binch.  You should’ve kept your hands to yourself.”

“NOOOOO!”

And with that last shout, Anri’s flesh prison deflated completely.  We won’t describe what that looked like, because we’re sure it’s already frightening enough, and probably wasn’t suitable for children to watch.  However, the Denny’s does not have insurance for psychic and/or emotional damage caused by exposure to any of the phights, so hopefully everyone could deal with it on their own, or had officially-licensed, non-Spectra therapists who could help them cope.

“Dude, are they gonna be okay?”  Tucker asked.

“Oh, Anri?”  Tali laughed.  “Don’t worry, they do that about once a century.  They’ll replace those memes with even worse ones and come back stronger than ever.  Kind of like molting, or something.  But in the meantime everyone can press F to pay respects.”

Danny looked down and saw a tiny button labeled F on the armrest of his chair.  He pressed it.

Tali blew her kazoo to the tune of Never Gonna Give You Up.  Every verse.  All three minutes and fifty-six seconds of it.  The crowd listened with their arms raised in a respectful dab.  Danny figured he might as well dab too, and eventually even Sam caught on to the mood and obliged.

When the song was over, Tali finally said the fated words.

“Heyheyitsstillgay is unable to battle!  Reallydumbdannyphantomaus wins!”

XXX

“Tucker!  Sam!  Wait!”  A voice called as Danny was about to fly them out of the Denny’s.

“Oh great.”  A resigned glare slid over Sam’s face as she turned to the ghost.  Of course, it had to be Bug.  The one ghost she’d wanted to see get their butt kicked, and it never even happened.

“What do you want?” Tucker grumbled.  “Come to make fun of us again?”

“No, well, actually…” Bug ruffled their blue hair with one hand, two others fidgeting in front of them. “I came to make up.  Here.”

With their last remaining hand, they held out three CDs, one for each of the friends.  Sam took hers with a critical glare.

“Exactly what you think?”  She read the title.  Bug’s signature was scrawled below it.

“It’s the song I wrote for the phinal.  As a friendship gift.”

“If I wanted some lame music, I would’ve gotten something signed by Ember.”

Danny elbowed her, and her she winced.  Okay, maybe it wasn’t fair to hold a grudge for something Bug said one time.  It wasn’t like they had to go out of the way to give them something.

“Sorry,” she muttered. “Thanks.”

“What song is it?” Tucker asked, a little more brightly. He’d never learned to hold a grudge like she did.

“You’ll see!”  They grinned.  “But if you want to know just how lame my music is before that, come watch the closing ceremonies of the Phight.”

“Closing ceremonies?” Danny asked.

“What, Tali didn’t tell you? She does forget a lot.  Anyway, we’re holding it out in the ring in a few minutes, if you’ve got time!  See ya!”

They flew back out of the Denny’s, leaving Danny, Tucker, and Sam confused.  They shared a glance, but figured they already knew what they’d be doing.

“So… who’s up for one last blast in the ghost zone?”

XXX

A few minutes later, the stadium was packed again, this time with ghosts holding candles over their heads. As Danny didn’t have a candle himself, he settled for lighting the tip of his finger and swaying it in time with the music that Bug began to sing.  Tali backed them up on kazoo, putting her soul into the tune’s melancholy air.

Oh Danno boy The phights, the phights are calling From den to den and through this portal side The show is on and all the blows are falling Tis you tis you must go and I must bide But bring ye back when Denny’s is reopened Or when the ring is hushed and in limbo It’s I’ll be here in sunshine or in shadow Oh Danno boy oh Danno boy I love you so.

Danny turned at the sound of sniffling.

“What?”  Tucker asked, drying his eyes on his beret.  “It’s a very emotional song!”

Sam sighed and patted his shoulder, to which he mumbled a thank you.

Then slowly and more orderly than they had after any of the phights, the ghosts began to filter away. Almost like they too were mourning the end of a tournament that they’d all enjoyed.  As they left, Danny pondered the lyrics.

“Does this mean… the Denny’s is closing?”

“Only physically,” Tali said, suddenly appearing beside him.  “But in our hearts, the Denny’s is forever.”

“I’m not sure if that was sappy or ominous,” Sam said.

“Both.”  Tali smiled.  “We’ll still be around, but we’ll be on the downlow until the next Phight.”

“When’s that?”  Tucker asked.

“Next year, probably. It’s a lot of work to run a Phight Club on nothing but a few pancakes and the money we conned out of Vlad.  But don’t worry, it’ll come sooner than you know it!”

And somehow, in spite of all the crazy things that had happened in the past month of watching the Phight, Danny looked forward to it.

[rkpjy]

⭐️TRC PRIVATE AUDITION vocal performance of sucker by jonas brothers (00:00-02:00) may 5th, 2019

although he did it with winning in mind, he doesn’t expect his name to be called nor is he surprised when he isn’t.

he decided to take on the challenge on a whim, a drunken whim to be more precise, so the outcome is probably one he deserves. he accepted it and got ready to leave when tiger jk himself came to thank them all for participating and names a few more people. jinyoung’s reaction was delayed. it took someone pat his back to congratulate him for him to finally get out of his daze and realize what was happening. he’s satisfied to have left an impression of course, but it’s not really something to brag about. it’s just like any other audition he’s taken part in before. it requires a lot of preparation and leaves very little chances of actually getting in.

but he once again felt like he had something to prove to himself and he had to see the end of this no matter the outcome.

during his stay at nova, the trainers often scolded his stiffness, advised him to find a way to let himself go when  needed. he can’t always be in control, or lose focus as soon as he isn’t. they say despite being an obvious hardworker it sometimes felt as if he wasn’t passionate about what he’s doing. since he tends to get too much in his own head, he forgets to put his heart on the table, show vulnerability.

and he did make one promise to himself for this year: to be more unpredictable. so instead of barricading himself in his bedroom to practice without pause until the day of his audition, he schedules it right near the end of the allowed period of time and shares an idea with mina. “i want to leave with you for two or three days.” she’s surprised to say the least. she knows her boyfriend and expected him to take the audition (if he wanted to do it) very seriously and methodically. of course she doesn’t oppose to the idea. because park jinyoung always knows what he’s doing, right? and they leave for her jeju hometown in the following days.

it’s during this well-needed trip that slowly emerges the idea of his audition song. he wants to get a little bit out of his comfort zone by performing an english song. he’s nowhere near fluent but has been told his accent is very good for someone who can only sustain a basic conversation. plus years of singing and acting experience probably help with pronunciation. the couple spends almost the entire trip on the beach, mina resting her head on jinyoung’s lap as he sings to her. it’s all the practice he needs during that time. with her around it can only come from the heart, and he understands a little bit better what the nova trainers wanted to teach him.

after coming back he’s more than ready to take this audition on, and uses his time wisely. his analytic nature does have him go through the lyrics hundreds of time until he gets the right intonation every time, but he pays just as much attention to his posture, facial expressions and emotion when singing. because they should be able to understand the kind of message he’s trying to convey even if they don’t understand the lyrics. that’s what music is all about.

he’s a bit nervous on the day of his audition, but he takes it as a good sign. it means he’s taking enough of a risk for all of this to be worth it. he didn’t play safe, and they’ll see that he’s ready to give them everything he’s got to offer. sucker’s pitch is higher than a lot of male artists’ songs, and even though it isn’t filled with dozens of incredible adlibs it still showcases a lot of vocal technique. there’s a groove to it he didn’t show during the triple threat challenge, and he’ll also be bringing his guitar to accompany himself.

he greets the panel, introduces himself and the song he’ll perform, before strumming the first chords.

We go together Better than birds of a feather, you and me We change the weather, yeah I'm feeling heat in December when you're 'round me

they started dating on the very last day of december, his girlfriend and him. when they heard the song for the first time they couldn’t help but relate to it instantly. it’s different from musical acting: when he’s playing a role it’s easy to channel emotions he wouldn’t otherwise feel, or empathize with experiences he hasn’t gone through. but when it’s his own guts that need to be thrown on the table, jinyoung has been struggling with it forever. to show his true self without restrain.

I've been dancing on top of cars and stumbling out of bars I follow you through the dark, can't get enough You're the medicine and the pain, the tattoo inside my brain And, baby, you know it's obvious

I'm a sucker for you You say the word and I'll go anywhere blindly I'm a sucker for you, yeah Any road you take, you know that you'll find me I'm a sucker for all the subliminal things No one knows about you (about you) about you (about you) And you're making the typical me break my typical rules It's true, I'm a sucker for you, yeah

he didn’t smile during overcome, the song being serious as it is, but he does this time. he’s having fun and it shows. every time he closes his eyes it’s mina he sees, and the wonderful three days they spent together far from this city. they both know it was probably their last trip for a while so they made the most of it. and while being unaware of the true reason behind of his happiness, there’s no doubt he’s singing for someone, whether it’s someone from his past, present or future. mina really making the typical him break his typical rules. if his younger version ever knew he would fall for a girl like her... but she completes him in the best way.

Don't complicate it (yeah) 'Cause I know you and you know everything about me I can't remember (yeah) All of the nights I don't remember When you're 'round me (oh, yeah yeah)

he’s playing with them, flirting with them. he’d never dare do it if not for this song. while they keep a neutral face, he can’t help but wonder if they’re secretly grooving to it as much as he is. after this last verse, he repeats the pre-chorus and chorus one last time, and finishes with a few seconds of whistling before his two minutes are up. when he gets up to bow, the serious and introverted jinyoung is back in action.

[lefandomimagines]

take care | boh rhap! brian may x reader

Pairing: Boh Rhap!Brian May x Reader

Word Count: 1835

Request: Could I please please please request a BoRhap x reader fic that’s super angsty and fluffy at the end? Maybe the reader is dating one of the boys and they’re mad at her for seeming distant so she tries to be there 24/7 but ends up passing out in the studio and then they feel bad? Basically just all of the angst and the all of the fluff.

Warning: mentions of fainting/hospitals

A/N: Thank you so much for all of your love & kind feedback for my last Boh Rhap Fic & first post back after a long while, it means a lot 💖 Please keep the requests coming!

The past month or so had been a pretty intense time for both queen and yours and Brian’s relationship. The band was under a great deal of pressure from both the label and their fans to release new music and fast. This meant that most of the time you spent with Brian was also spent with Freddie, John and Roger along with dozens of other employees of the studio where you worked. Not only had the huge workload increase put a strain on your relationship, but it had put quite the strain on your own health. Your boss, who was known for being quite overbearing, was pretty much constantly down your neck to get things done in inhuman amounts of time; it didn’t help that half of your colleagues were constantly slacking off and leaving the bulk of the work to you. That was all on top of your ridiculous flatmates being absolute nightmares with not cleaning up literally ever or not covering their side of the bills. You hated to be a burden on anybody though, so allowed it all to just bottle up and be shoved to the back of your mind in the hopes that it would all just go away eventually.

“Y/N...Y/N!” Brian’s voice suddenly broke you out of your daze, you took in a sharp intake of breath, leaping into action.

“Sorry.” You apologised, rubbing your eyes with your hands in an attempt to make yourself a little more alert “Let’s go again from the second verse.”

You let out a heavy sigh as you pressed the record switch, jumping a little as the loud instruments suddenly kicked in.

Brian’s brows furrowed slightly as he looked up at you in the booth, sat in a total daze.

As you sorted the final touches to the track they had been working on that day, Brian made his way into the small booth you spent many hours of your life holed up in.

“Hey, Y/N. We’re going out for drinks tonight to celebrate Miami signing on as our manager. You in?” Brian spoke hopefully as you rushed around the booth gathering your things together.

“I’d love to Bri, but tonight isn’t really the best time.” You replied sadly with a sigh; you wanted more than anything to join them all, but your boss had decided it would be a great idea to put you on a double shift so you were stuck working through the whole night with some student band wanting to be the next Queen.

“You said that last time...and about seven times before that. I feel like I barely see you anymore” Brian sighed in defeat.

“I know Bri, i’m sorry, I just can’t right now.”

With that closing statement, you scooped up all of your possessions into your backpack, standing up on your tip-toes to give Brian a quick kiss on the cheek as you walked past to exit the booth.

That night had been absolutely torture for you, after being in the studio with Queen from 9am-7pm you ended up with the student band from 9pm till 3am meaning you didn’t make it home until gone four in the morning. Brian’s statement about the distance between the two of you had been playing around in your head all night; of course you felt awful that you had to do it to him, but your job was your lifeline and you couldn’t put that at risk, sometimes he did tend to forget that you were just a regular person, not a worldwide famous rockstar absolutely rolling in cash. You had another studio session with the lads at 9am the following morning, so you tried to make an effort to wake up a little earlier to run down to the coffee shop by the recording studio. Of course you had to grab yourself a triple espresso or you’d never make it even to the afternoon running on three hours of sleep (which wasn’t exactly a rarity these days); but you made sure to grab Brian’s favourite coffee and a slice of his favourite cake which he would constantly rave about to no end.

You made it to the studio for ten to nine, setting down your things in the booth only moments before John arrived with an unsurprisingly hungover Roger, that man really did not understand the meaning of ‘just a couple of drinks’. Brian arrived not long after looking pretty glum, a slightly shocked look on his face as he noticed the coffee and cake sitting on the drum stand by his guitar.

“Just a little token of my love.” You smiled, a weight lifting off of your shoulders as a smile broke out on Brian’s lips as he pulled you into a tight hug.

“I mentioned this cake like once in front of you, how did you remember?” He chuckled

“Bri, you talk about it literally everyday. You actually never shut up about it.” You laughed in response, both John and Roger shouting in agreement with you.

Your conversation was cut short by Freddie bursting through the door at quarter past nine.

“Punctual as ever Mr Mercury.” You called out on your way into your booth, earning you a round of chuckles from Brian, John and Roger.

“Looking awake and chirpy as ever.” Freddie shot back with a knowing look. He had certainly noticed the amount of makeup you caked over your dark circles every day, how your hands shook more violently than an earthquake because you were practically living off of espressos and how you constantly zoned out of what was going on.

Taking a sharp intake of breath, you pressed down on the microphone button “Okay guys, Another One Bites The Dust from the beginning for me.”

By the time lunch came around it felt as if there were a literal ten story building on your shoulders and weights on your eyelids. You weren’t sure how much longer you could keep up the perky, happy go lucky act, bouncing around with Freddie as he sang and generally having a laugh with everyone.

“You seem a lot different today.” Brian commented with a smile, wrapping his arms around your body from behind you.

“Only the best for my favourite guy.” You spoke softly with a sad sort of smile that Brian was completely clueless to. “So, drinks tonight? First round is on me.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice!” Roger called out, far too enthusiastically as he rushed to gather his things with Freddie hot on his heels and John just chuckling half in disappointment half in amusement. Honestly, you would need a miracle to make it through the night with the state you were currently in.

Everyone eventually finished gathering their things and after a quick change of clothes (barr Freddie because he was always runway ready) you were all ready to head off.

“One sec guys, I just need to grab my apartment ke-” You turned to reach out for your key on the table beside you as the world suddenly began to spin, your boyfriend and three friends soon becoming colourful blurs. The last thing you heard was Brian calling out your name as you stumbled for a moment before everything went entirely black, Brian only just managing to catch you in his arms before you could hit the ground.

Quite a few hours had passed before you eventually came to, you could feel a light pressure on your right hand before you fully awoke. As your eyes eventually fluttered open, you noticed that the pressure you felt was Brian holding onto your hand as if you were about to fly off, a deep look of concern his face. His face was honestly whiter than the walls of the hospital room you found yourself in.

“Y/N, thank heavens.” Brian sighed in relief, squeezing your hand lightly, rubbing the back of your hand with his thumb.

“How on Earth did I get here?” You questioned, your voice hoarse.

“We were in the studio about to go out when you just started stumbling everywhere and hit the ground. The doctor said it was from exhaustion, that you’re seriously dehydrated and malnourished. What’s been going on?” He spoke, concern lacing his tone.

You sighed heavily, playing with the blanket that lay over your body as you attempted to form an answer.

“Things have just been really tough lately. My boss is constantly down my neck to get things done in impossible timeframes, i’m stuck working with a team that but about 20% effort in so i’m having to run around after them too and my flatmate is being an absolute nightmare with her side of the bills so I’ve been working the night shift too every night for the last three weeks. I guess all thought of self care kind of drifted from my mind.” You replied, a look on your face similar to that of a young child getting a scolding from their mother.

As you looked up at Brain, your heart broke at the look of sadness and guilt on his face, tears pooling in his eyes.

“Y/N, i’m so sorry. It’s all my fault you’re here now, I pushed you too far, I was selfish and an idiot, not realising what you’re going through right now.” He spoke rushingly, running his free hand through his curly mop.

“Bri-no, please don’t feel guilty this isn’t in any way your fault. It’s only mine, I should’ve said something when things started to pile up on me, you shouldn’t have to be running around after me to make sure i’m okay twenty four seven.”

“But that’s what good boyfriends do, I’m meant to take care of you and help you when things aren’t going to plan.”

“And you do Bri, you do so many incredible things for me and I genuinely cannot think of anyone else I would rather be with in this entire world than you.”

A smile soon broke through the look of sadness on Brian’s face as you spoke.

“Just please promise me Y/N, remember to take care of yourself and come find me whenever anything starts to get too much. I don’t care whether its two in the morning or if I’m in the middle of a song on stage, if you’ve got a problem, please come find me.” He spoke softly, placing his other hand on top of your joined hands.

“And as for your ridiculous flatmate.” Brian began to speak as his hand fumbled around in his pocket, pulling out a shiny gold key, your brows furrowing in confusion as he placed it on your lap. “Come live with me, i’ve been meaning to ask you for ages but I could never work out the right time. But like they say, there’s no better time than the present. So?”

“I promise Bri.” You smiled

A huge smile flooded across your lips as you picked up the key “I would love nothing more.”

[rkmeiqi-archived]

⭐️ —  sn project: month two, week two  — ⭐️         now playing: heartbeat by 2pm (2009)           line distribution || dance || outfit || hair              ╰ ft. @rkkaeun & @rkyngsun

what they're doing this week is risky. meiqi knows it; kaeun knows it; yongsun knows it. but sometimes, you need to be willing to give up everything in order to get something in return (at least, that's what meiqi learned from watching avengers: infinity war last year—god, should she be taking advice from someone as ugly as thanos?).

yongsun was right last week when she had said that they really had nothing to lose. meiqi had been apprehensive then, perhaps a side effect of the lingering disappointment from the previous month's evaluation. with the successful performance in the first week of the second month of the sn project, some of her original confidence had returned.

the dance is something right up meiqi's alley. it's not simple like the previous one, and while that soothes her heart in the sense that she'll be able to showcase her strength, it also requires more work to practice balancing breathing, singing, and dancing all at once.

“cam, have you ever wondered what i would look like if i was a boy?” meiqi asks the digital audience one day, walking in front of the camera with her hoodie over her head, concealing her hair. it’s even tied in a bow right under her nose. her voice comes out muffled. one tug on the string unravels it and her hood falls to reveal a dark, short wig. meiqi does her best to imitate a smouldering look. “what do you think? from today, tell people that i’m your boyfriend.”

with a darker concept like this one, meiqi feels much more at ease than she had the week before. channeling fierce angst comes naturally to her, or at least she likes to think that it does. meiqi has had her fair share of dark times and, as a dancer, she also has excellent control of her facial expressions while performing, knows how to change them to fit different moods according to the song style and lyrics.

her first lines are easy enough. all meiqi's doing is speaking (if she somehow manages to fuck that up, it would be a travesty and a sure elimination). but then, she's doing something new. not exactly uncharted territory, yet definitely something foreign.

meiqi takes the second rap part right after kaeun.

it takes the coaches by surprise the first time she approaches minsoo for help. who wouldn't be flabbergasted by such a bold move from someone who, one month ago, could not even manage to remember the lyrics to her rap? that had arguably been the worst week of meiqi’s entire 20-year-old life.

she had been reluctant, but ultimately, yongsun's words to meiqi began to ring louder in her head than hyun bin's critiques: "you need to prove hyunbin and everyone wrong. practice makes perfect." and she's right. why should meiqi cower, take hyun bin's comments and succumb to them? she should use them to improve herself and to get out of this stupid fucking red vest. she can be just as good as sunmi, if not better! she's younger, has more energy and youth...

she can do this.

they start with an introductory dance that sets the stage, playing air violins and twisting their limbs like puppets, and then they fall to the ground. meiqi has bruises littering her body underneath her stage outfit from all the practicing and accidents, but she doesn't even wince anymore upon hitting the stage floor. the pain kind of feels nice.

                                          the heart that you trampled down and left is                                                                     still beating                                                               even towards you

when her rap is nearing, meiqi slowly eases off the floor. it's not a difficult couple of lines, per se. it's kind of like talking very fast, but it took her a lot of time to memorize each syllable properly. she spent hours with minsoo, speaking the rap with a pencil in her mouth to clear up her pronunciation. at one point, she had even sat in front of a camera and watched herself do it, just to see how stupid she looked (and boy, it was worse than she thought).

                                              why am I still acting like such a fool?                              i know in my head, but why is my heart acting on its own?                                                    i grabbed you and can't let go

but the practice pays off. meiqi remembers the lyrics, executes them clearly while following the flow of the song, and finally, yongsun takes over without any accident. it takes everything in meiqi not to smile proudly at her accomplishment; they still have an entire song to do.

                                   no matter whom I meet, there's a place in my heart                                     i can't open it so that I keep leaving it open for you

her voice is stable while singing her first vocal verse. meiqi doesn't have to move much, so she can focus on each note that she lets out, and how to deliver them to get the impact that she wants.

meiqi feels comfortable when she sings. she's worked hard, and she knows that yongsun is there to offer her vocal support when she needs it, just as they had practiced. and, meiqi thinks belatedly, maybe she doesn't need it as much as she thought. however, it's a nice safety net just in case.

                                            she doesn't know that I'm waiting and                                                                she's doing well                                she's already forgotten about me, completely erased all                                                            why can't I do that?

it definitely isn't easy, singing and dancing at the same time when the choreography is demanding. meiqi is grateful for the fact that the dance break is at the end, and by then, she can pour everything left in her body into executing it perfectly.

which she does. it's exhilarating, to say the least, different from when they practiced. the pyramid that the three of them form is sturdy, and rolling off of yongsun and kaeun's thighs is... more fun than it should be.

when kaeun steps on meiqi's chest, pushing her down with the flatlining sound in the song (kaeun looks pretty even from down here, meiqi notes), the performance ends.

she catches yongsun's proud smile and returns one of her own, then winks at kaeun above her. no way can hyun bin, or anyone, say that they belong in the danger zone after that performance.

[bookblogbake]

The annual end-of-the-year survey is hosted by Jamie at The Perpetual Page-Turner. I’m so glad she puts the work into making this every year because it’s always a highlight to look back over my reading and blogging for the past year!

**2018 READING STATS**

Number Of Books You Read: 94 Number of Re-Reads: One. Wow. I thought it was more than that, but apparently not. My one re-read was THE GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO VICE AND VIRTUE, which I re-read twice. Genre You Read The Most From: YA contemporary. That wouldn’t be surprising normally, but especially considering I judged round 1 of the YA Fiction category this year for Cybils.

1. Best Book You Read In 2018?

Overall favorite 2018 release: Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake

Best middle grade: Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World by Ashley Herring Blake (. . . sensing a pattern here?)

Best adult fiction: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Best Comic/Graphic Novel: Check Please! Book 1: Hockey

Best Middle Grade

Best adult fiction

Best 2018 Book Overall

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

Allegedly by Tiffany Jackson. To be fair, this came out in 2017, and I read Jackson’s 2018 release, Monday’s Not Coming, first. Allegedly was a let down though because I loved Monday’s Not Coming so much, and Allegedly didn’t quite stack up for me.

3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?

Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram. Based on the summary, it didn’t look like my typical kind of book, but I thought it was beautifully written and I loved it. A rare five star read for me.

4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?

Sadie by Courtney Summers. I tend to push Courtney Summers books anyway but Sadie seems to be an easy sell (and for good reason–it’s FANTASTIC).

5. Best series you started in 2018? Best Sequel of 2018? Best Series Ender of 2018?

Best series started-Check Please!

Best sequel/companion – Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire

Best series ender– The Way I Finally Won by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2018?

Well, considering she wrote my overall favorite book AND my favorite middle grade of the year, it’s safe to say that’s Ashley Herring Blake.

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough. I don’t typically like novels in verse, but this was FANTASTIC and fierce and moving and emotional and ugh, I loved it.

8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

I stayed up waaaaay into the night to finish Monday’s Not Coming.

9. Book You Read In 2018 That You Would Be MOST Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

Well I always like to start a new year by re-reading my favorite book of the previous year (that’s why The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue was my one re-read of the year), so clearly that would be made Girl Made of Stars. But just so I don’t answer this book for every single question, I’ll also mention I’m very likely to re-read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2018?

I’m sure some people would find this one off-putting because of the bright yellow, but I love the cover of Pulp by Robin Talley and how vintage it looks!

11. Most memorable character of 2018?

I have to go with Sadie from well, Sadie. I just found her fascinating.

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2018?

Oh man, this one is hard. I think I have to go with Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram.

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2018?

Ghost Boys by Jewel Parker Rhodes

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2018 to finally read?

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters. I only read one Sarah Waters book this year, but more will definitely come in 2019 because this book was excellent.

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2018?

Even girls made of stars are captives, bound at the wrists and traded like property. Even girls made of stars aren’t asked, aren’t believed, aren’t considered worth the effort unless they can offer something in return. Even girls made of stars buy into those lies sometimes.

Yes, it’s from Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake, aka the book that has been my response to at least 50% of these questions.

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2018?

longest– Green River, Running Red by Ann Rule

shortest- The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O’Neill

17. Book That Shocked You The Most

I think it’d have to be I Stop Somewhere by TE Carter (a completely underrated book, by the way)

18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)

(OTP = one true pairing if you aren’t familiar)

Jack/Bitty from Check Please!

And then, not quite OTP status but romantic relationships I rooted for in books this year: Alice/Takumi from Let’s Talk About Love and and Steffi/Rhys from A Quiet Kind of Thunder.

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

I really loved the relationship between Clara and her dad in The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo.

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2018 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

I have a couple: Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire, Ghost Boys by Jewel Parker Rhodes, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, and Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli.

Best adult fiction

21. Best Book You Read In 2018 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure/Bookstagram, Etc.:

Well, I would have never read it for it not been for Cybils judging, so I’m going with Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram.

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2018?

Don’t have any! Maybe if I had read more adult romance. . .

23. Best 2018 debut you read?

I’m going with Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough for this, but just know Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram was a very close second.

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

I’m going to say the old-school Hollywood glam setting in The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was very vivid.

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?

So for me I think graphic novels really took the cake here this year. Yes, Check Please! which I’ve mentioned several times, but also The Tea Dragon’s Society by Katie O’Neill and Moonstruck volume 1 by Grace Ellis.

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2018?

I have two, both of which have featured heavily on this survey so far, not surprisingly! Those are Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake and Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram.

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

Okay, since I don’t want to say Girl Made of Stars yet again, I’ll have to go with. . . Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World. Yes, by the same author as Girl Made of Stars. I had favorites this year, y’all.

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram. I know, I know, it appears once again!

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2018?

All of This is True by Lygia Day Penaflor. I did not necessarily enjoy it, but I can say it was very unique.

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?

Okay, so first I was going to say The Perfect Sister by Jessica Knoll, which I did NOT enjoy one bit, but then I thought about it, and. . . The Universe is Expanding and So Am I by Carolyn Mackler. I’m particularly mad about that one because parts of the books are good, but I find the entire premise flaw and really upsetting. Also, it deals with a sister coming to terms with the fact that her brother committed a rape, and it’s hard when my favorite book of the year had a similar premise and dealt with it SO MUCH BETTER.

1. New favorite book blog/Bookstagram/Youtube channel you discovered in 2018?

I’m ashamed to say that going back over my subscriptions, none of them were new this year.

2. Favorite post you wrote in 2018?

I mostly wrote reviews (and I really want to get back into doing discussions and other features!), but I’m really proud of my review for Blood Water Paint.

3. Favorite bookish related photo you took in 2018:?

Again, something else I didn’t do very much of this year!

4. Best bookish event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, etc.)?

I didn’t really get to participate in any bookish events this year, but hopefully 2019 will change that!

5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2018?

I have to say being a round 1 Cybils judge! It was a lot of work and reading, but it was such a worthwhile endeavor.

6. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?

Just finding time! I haven’t been nearly as active as I wanted because I graduated grad school, which I THOUGHT would give me more time, but then I moved from one end of Texas to another, started a new job, got settled in, etc. It’s just been a LOT.

7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?

Well, my most popular post was from a few years ago: What do Do with Books You Don’t Want Anymore. My most popular post actually written this year was my review of Girl Made of Stars, which is not surprising since I’ve basically been yelling about this book for months.

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

I posted one Saturday morning cup post this year, and I definitely wish that one had got more loved.

9. Best bookish discover (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?

Hmm, well, I got to visit The Strand in New York City for the first time so that was definitely a fun bookish discovery/adventure!

10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?

I didn’t really set any challenges or goals, and I’m glad because this year was busy enough without those!

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2018 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2019?

The Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Weir. Not because I’m super excited about it (I mean, I want to read it, but it’s not a book I was anticipating), but because it’s due back to the library in eight days.

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2019 (non-debut)?

Well, considering two of her books were two of my favorites this year, I’m gonna have to say The Mighty Heart of Sunny St James by Ashley Herring Blake.

3. 2019 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

I have two: I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver and These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling.

4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2019?

In A Wayward Dream by Seanan McGuire. I’ve loved every installment in the Wayward Children series, so I expect this to be no different (and perhaps one of my goals this year will to be re-read the series).

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2019?

Blog more! I’ve missed it.

6. A 2019 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone (if applicable):

I’ve only read an ARC of one 2019 release, but I do recommend it! I read We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia and was enthralled.

2018 End of the Year Survey! The annual end-of-the-year survey is hosted by Jamie at The Perpetual Page-Turner. I'm so glad she puts the work into making this every year because it's always a highlight to look back over my reading and blogging for the past year!