#but if i had to guess i think its because they delude themselves into thinking 'tdlosk has problematic things in it' means 'tdlosk is bad'

[oceanwithouthermoon]

i hate when people can't acknowledge that their interests or favs have faults... like wdym "well 🤓 there actually was not any fatphobia in saiki k, the jokes in those episodes were that she was unhealthy, not that she was fat-" the entire joke is that she gets fat. thats the entire joke, and you KNOW that thats the entire joke. you can enjoy those episodes and find the rest of the humor in them funny while also acknowledging that its weird that the whole joke was that she got fat.

and dont even get me started on people defending what they did with mera in the island arc... why cant you just say "yeah thats really weird and we shouldnt condone it" and move on instead of going "welllllll! actually 🤓☝️ they did nothing wrong!"

[kanmom51]

Hi! I love reading your posts so much so I would like to know your thoughts on this:

https://x.com/smol_kia/status/1550222383075586048?t=1QUT02cleCrXVULBEegSjw&s=19

I saw some of us on X thanking this person for manifesting the toothbrushing scene which was funny but at the same time i am super confused on how jikook really did exactly the same as the fan art (the plaid pyjamas especially)! Do you think this was purely coincidence or one of them saw it and went 'let's make this to reality'?

English is not my first language, so I'm sorry if my ask is all over the place :) love ya!

Let's start with the end here why don't we?

JM and JK are the real thing. They have a real actual relationship unlike the dreamt up needing to lean on made up fanart relationship that Tkks delude themselves JK and Tae have.

That is the starting point.

Jikook are the real deal. A real life long term loving couple. TKK are not. Not a couple. Friends yes. At times closer at times not so much, but always and only friends.

So, let's talk about that fanart. It's from 2022. 22 July 22 to be accurate. I am literally feeling sick to my stomach at the moment, but I will share the photo, cause I'm going to be making a point here.

*At least they kept the JM in place (although they probably are deluded as to it's meaning...).

So, why is the date so important, you may ask.

Because that is the day ITS Friendcation came out.

And guess what we got in that first episode of the show.

Only the four friendliest of friends in their matchy plaid pj's.

Basically what we had was TKK's in their hazed daydreams wishing that instead of Tae sleeping together with his squad, to which a one Jeon Jungkook does not belong no matter how much they want to twist it (same crew that left JK at the ski resort by himself while leaving together), instead of Tae waking up with Wooga and their match plaid pj's and brushing teeth together, it would be JK there with him.

Like I say, dream on.

That fanart of theirs, is a dream not a reality, and they can scream until they are blue in the face, it won't change the fact that the one brushing his teeth with JK at the moment is JM, not Tae, by choice. JK choice. JM's choice. They both wanted it. They both planned it. They both worked towards it. And they are both living it right now.

I find it kind of funny how TKKs keep on screaming that JM and JK's travels are for the camera, not genuine, all for the buck. If that was true, if Jikook were indeed the 'fanservice' couple for BH, if Jikook were a money maker as a unit for the company, how is it that this cash machine has never been properly utilized. It always amuses me to hear this from them all while most of Jikook's interactions are off camera, not for us to intentionally see. This one unit that has never come to fruition officially (until now, and there is a reason for that and a reason why we are getting more now, none of which are them being 'faked' for the camera in order to make money).

I love how they twist everything to fit a constant changing narrative. I actually don't know how they keep up with themselves. It would be so exhausting.

I saw Mina's tweets. Will not share them here. I will not give that hateful ***** a platform here. All I will say is that it must be so very hard for her right now. Reality is hitting and it's hitting hard. I guess it's a last hurrah, an attempt to cling to their fantasy. Basically acting like a belligerent child having a tantrum.

If I didn't loath her and her kind I would actually pity them. They are going to be so very miserable in the upcoming months. Not to mention after they are all back from the military.

I guess these weirdos need to be reminded that JM and JK's Tokyo trip back in 2017 was not for the cameras. A trip eternalized with JK's GCFT, a trip they could not stop talking about, a trip they continued to talk about in their book under the title Real love.

I won't remind them of just how fondly JK was talking about their trip and the show, nor will I bring up that shining sun of a smile he had when JM says he'll hug him later, cause you know, these are basically fans that have no interest in what the idol they supposedly love (yeah, no love there) says or feels. It's about what they, as fans, want to feel dreaming about buff JK the fuckboy, bad boy, man handler and his dainty weak boyfriend Tae (with their love hate toxic jealousy drama filled relationship).

Excuse me for a sec...

I also guess they need to be reminded that not all of JM and JK's time together was filmed, not all of it was for the cameras, as they love to put it. Not in NY, and definitley not in Tokyo 2023. Funny how two people that were working on enlisting together and got to fulfill their wishes and make sure that the 18 months of their military service they are inseparable, even if that means a tougher placement than if they enlisted separately, still wanted to go on these trips together. I think that by now any claim that this was forced on them - the trips, the show, the enlistment - have been long disproved.

And for a couple that the company are 'trying to push on us' it's really funny how silent they have been since their enlistment. But yeah, these people will continue to say what they want because otherwise their dreams are dead. Kind of like Larry's that still think those two are a thing.

You know what else that fanart comes after, btw?

Not only the ITS friendcation, but also after this:

JK directing LGO MV choosing the couples pj's, choosing to have JM walk out of the bathroom brushing his teeth JK waiting for him in the bedroom.

Fanart is art (not that some of the fanart out there would be considered art by myself, but you know, that's a personal taste, or distaste, and that btw includes some Jikook fanart as well). It can replicate or express reality but it can also be an outright fantasy.

In this case it's TKKs seeing the reality (Wooga and Jikook) and expressing fantasy (their ideas or wishes applied onto TKK), lol.

And now we have JM and JK on their trip wearing these couples pj's.

What a blow that must have been for TKKs. And this whole scrambling thing they are doing, that this is "the company" copying their fanart. Absolutely hilarious.

Jikook have shown us over the years that they love plaid. Not gonna add pics here cause there is no end to them. JK, JM alone, together, plaid is something they have been doing. Specifically? Not necessarily. But it's something they wear.

Jikook themselves have worn plaid pj's in the past for LGO MV (and the live as well - do I remind you guys of JK's joke about why he decided to have JM brushing his teeth?). Director JK. Their choice.

The fanart TKKs are squealing about was not an original piece of art that a TKKer came up with. They literally copied the pajamas worn by the Woogas in ITS Friendcation inserting JK into their fantasy.

If people would watch original content they would know that Jikook, both of them, tend not to wear pj's at home. Not around the house and not in bed. We saw JM in ITS 2. We saw JK in his bed live (in which I would love to remind TKKs how flirty and naughty he was with JM all while being half naked in bed, nagging JM to do a live with him, all his choice, all knowing that the company will not be happy with him, lol - still waiting for that Jikook live, you know from the company's "for the cameras" couple). Oh, and we also have the LV live. Yeah, that was an interesting one. Seeing that not only did we hear from JM and Hobi that JM walks around in his undies at home but that JK is in charge of the soundtrack... I guess while he's in his undies as well...(JM's reaction to Hobi's slip up was priceless). Point being that those two don't do clothes for sleep. But clearly they couldn't go 'au natural' for the show, so they chose to wear pj's.

And just like the other clothes that they chose to wear throughout their travels, that we will get to see in the show, they chose to wear these pj's.

Couple pj's.

This is not a photo shoot. This is them coming from home with their own clothes wearing what they want to wear, what they feel comfortable in. And they chose to wear those pj's knowing EXACTLY how it will be perceived.

And just like Wooga chose to wear the plaid pj's, which btw were all identical, like the rings they wear, probably as a symbol of their friendship, all while NO ONE ever dared to claim that they were dressed by stylists or forced into wearing them or that the creators of the show even suggested the idea to them, JM and JK chose to wear these pj's that are not identical but seem to be perceived as couple's pj's.

Pajamas sold out of course, the company's caption at the bottom being: "How about watching the show together in couple pajamas?"

Their choice.

Their decision.

Filming themselves brushing their teeth - their decision.

I want to make something clear here. They have said it and I will repeat it. This is not a scripted show. This is them travelling, experiencing, enjoying themselves (you cannot fake those smiles and giggles), filming themselves. That angle, the camera in the bathroom, that is a camera they placed there, they wanted us to see this just like JK wanted to show us JM brushing his teeth and coming out to him in the bedroom.

Do I remind you what happened when a camera was placed in a room when they didn't want us to see what they were up to?

This is not 2018 anymore. This is 2024 (well, filmed end of 2023, and may I just note that after the new contracts were signed, and I do think this is highly relevant as to what we are going to be getting in this show, what we will be allowed to see, the level of candor). No more hidden cameras in rooms (I think the company had realized that was a dangerous game they were playing at), and their artists control over what will be filmed and what not.

Their choices, their decisions, not some company executive. Them. The two of them.

I will end this by saying that I doubt that Jikook are even aware of this TKK fanart.

But if they were, then this wouldn't be them copying the fanart trying to create the illusion they are a couple.

No need for an illusion when you ARE the real deal.

If, by any chance, they were aware of the fanart then I would say that any connection to it would be them saying a big FUCK YOU to TKKs and their delusions.

But yeah, I do doubt they were even aware of this pic.

JK's search logarithm is Jimin based. Not TKK. So keep dreaming TKKs, cause not only are TKK not the thing you so very much want them to be, the thought of that thing, them as a couple, you as a fan group, your art and fantasies, all those aren't even a blip on JM and JK's radars.

[vnamps]

THE PERFECT PAIR ㅡ hwang hyunjin

summary: all throughout your life, you've had feelings for hwang hyunjin, but he resented you. what happens when you two enter high school and he found himself doing the opposite?

authors note: usage of y/n!! this is a writing to make up for the prince hyunjin fic I did NOT finish wtf but this is kinda cute I think? enemies to lovers skz>>>

in school and life, some would say you have everything good for you. You had friends, you were likable, funny, pretty and much

more. To you, it was quite the opposite. No matter who liked you and who you liked back, none of those people's opinions seemed to matter as much as your neighbor and classmate, hwang hyunjin's did.

Back then and now, Hyunjin was quite popular in any setting he stood in, even catching the eyes of you as a young child, one that didn't seem to care for much other than their toys and favorite television shows that were scheduled at the same time each day.

He was your first crush, first love even and everyone could tell which caused them to always tease you both. Hyunjin, who was quite young at the time found discomfort in your affection and always openly was rude to it.

"boys are rude when they like you, its how they express themselves" was a line you've heard multiple times on repeat, deluding yourself into believing it was true and continuing to be very affectionate always- well at least until he finally blew.

You both sat on a bench whilst in middle school, in silence you enjoyed, silence that was uncomfortable to him which caused him to finally speak.

"why do you keep following me?" he asked, causing you to smile that he actually started speaking to you, and he was the one who took initiative.

"mmm, 'dunno I just thought maybe you'd need some company?" your big smile irritated him. why were you smiling? what was there to smile about?

He had a stare that bored into your soul as he sighed loudly and rolled his eyes, causing you to jump, smile faltering.

"I don't want you around me, you're weird" it was a mood killer indeed as you could feel your face warming and heart beating faster as you felt embarrassed.

You couldn't find yourself to be able to muster up words so you just stood up and slowly walked away, a despairing look on you face which hyunjin tried not to see.

It was high school now and for hyunjin, you'd been long forgotten only sometimes creeping in his thoughts late night but never very prominent for you to have been his roman empire.

It was announced there'd be a new student, y/n l/n. the name sounded familiar, it only clicked as he watched you walk into the classroom, smile on your face.

It was you.

Hyunjin's eyes widened as Jisung gave his shoulder a small hit. "isn't that the same one who had a huge crush on you? woahh they're gorgeous. I guess getting rid of stress really does make you beautiful" Hyunjin side eyed Jisung for the joke, rolling his eyes but he couldn't deny the fact that you had really gotten prettier, if that had even been possible

His eyes fell back onto you as yours fell onto his. He could tell you remembered him by the way your eyes slowly widened a little before you shifted your gaze and continued to smile.

Your seat had been placed just behind his so you'd been forced to have to come in close contact with him, causing him to turn to where you had just sat down, slightly waving.

In response to his wave, you'd just sighed and looked away. Ouch even Jisung could feel that burn as Hyunjin stared dumbfounded.

Before, if he even seemed to be looking your way you'd be ecstatic but now, it seems as if you felt the same way to him as he did to you all those years ago.

"they're not still hurt about it, are they?" Jeongin asked, scrunching his nose a bit.

"still? I mean you don't just forget it when your first crush basically humiliates you because you're kind to them" Jisung says, leaning back into his chair, his arms crossed over his chest.

Hyunjin thinks for a second, becoming defensive. "I wasn't trying to humiliate them, I was just -" his voice trails off as he tries to find an excuse, ultimately failing.

Jisung laughs and shakes his head. "It doesn't matter anyways, it's not like you wanna talk to them anyways"

yeah he didn't so why would this matter?

Overtime, Hyunjin found himself constantly staring at you, reminiscent of the times in which you'd come up to him with bottles of water or yogurt or just anything you'd like to share; those memories now being made with someone else in your class, lee felix.

Hyunjin wouldn't admit he felt jealous that you were giving all of your attention to someone else, attention that should be for him. You were basically his, so why were you giving that loving smile to felix instead of him?

Hyunjin couldn't say or pinpoint how or why he felt like this, especially since he remembers how he so rudely pushed you away back then but he felt the opportunity to clear his mind. And what better way than going to the upcoming party hosted by Chan, the school's biggest party host, and a close friend to both Felix and jisung.

Hyunjin wasn't much sure what he should expect from a party so big and he wasn't much surprised once he saw that you were there with felix, again.

He felt his jaw clench once he saw you there, once again smiling and it wasn't for him.

why does he feel like this?

time passed on as the party began to die down and then rage again at every switch of a song and he began to feel a bit nauseous and decided to make his way outside onto the patio to which he saw you by yourself, enjoying the peace.

He grew quiet, standing still as he watched you. And maybe he was a bit too intoxicated, maybe that's what caused him to open his mouth to speak.

"why aren't you with felix?" You flinched , turning back as you hadn't expected anyone else to be out on the patio with you.

"What?" you heard what he said you just needed a few seconds to process.

"Felix. Why aren't you with him? Weren't you just following him?" His tone was a little harsh. it shouldn't have been, why did he care?

"I wasn't following him."

"You were like his shadow."

you furrowed your eyebrows, scoffing and shaking your head. "You seem to be obsessed with the whole following trope, very good to see you've never changed." You roll your eyes as he sighs

"I'm not obsessed with anything but if you're going to follow someone it should be me." he blurts out causing you to back track

Your eyebrows were furrowed in question as he spoke again.

"It's not fair that you're punishing me for something I said when I was a stupid kid."

"punishing you? I think it's not fair that you expect me to be friendly to you after you couldn't have the decency to apologize once."

he becomes defensive.

"Maybe i'd apologize if you would stop hanging out with him."

"What does he have to do with this"

"I don't know." His voice is soft as his head hangs low, a soft sigh escaping his lips as he walks closer to where you stand at the railing.

You look at him concerned, resting your forearms on the wooden railing as you glance at him.

"What's going on?" you ask as he also rests his forearms on the railing, looking down.

"I don't know... I don't know what's happening... I feel so weird." His gaze is stuck on the grass below strong enough to maybe cause a forest fire.

"What do you feel like?"

"I know, I know I was mean to you and that I told you I never wanted to see you again but I can't help but want to see you again. It's not fair that Felix gets the special treatment from you, the special treatment I want" It was shocking to both of you how bold he'd been as he ranted, a small smile dancing on your lips as he continued to compliment you and spoke about how he was wrong for not accepting your advances.

"I'm sorry. I took you for granted and I shouldn't have." He's looking at you now, eyes sincere and broken.

"I want you to like me, y/n." He says and you can't help the smile that forms on your face.

"Because I like you."

You look away, clearing your throat as he tilts his head trying to get a better look at your face.

"Well..." His eyes become hopeful, meeting yours.

"I like you of course; I always have. It's just I don't think we know each other that much and of course, i'd like to get to know you better if you would as well..."

He nods, a smile on his face.

You two spent the rest of the night talking and asking questions about each other finding that you two are really compatible and with that, some would even say you two were the perfect pair.

[themostradicalconceptussy]

Quick reminder in light of the recenent situation with Neil Gaiman

You can (and should) condemn Mr Gaiman without condoning TERFs. At the end of the day, regardless of if the report is biased by the nature of the political leanings of its reporters, we as leftist feminists (or what I see most of us self describing as anyway) preach about believing victims first and yet some of you refuse to because you disagree politically with victims. We have no evidence that this is a smear campaign, and you are all for believing victims until its a guy you have a parasocial Tumblr relationship with. Neil Gaiman is not your friend. He's not your buddy Neil, he's a random man in his 60s you've (most likely at least) never met in your fucking life. You do not know him, so don't delude yourself to think you do.

If you love or hate trans people, SA is SA, abuse is abuse. Whether he was, at best, an irresponsible BDSM partner who misused his status as a writer, or, at worst, an outright abuser, or something in between, he is not defensible here. It is of course a complex situation, and not clean cut, but we need to practice what we fuckin preach.

If we don't believe or value the experiences of victims of abuse, or other forms of crime, based on their political beliefs, that is discrimination, and contradicts everything that the community he had cultivated on Tumblr claimed to stand for. If a conservative woman was beating abused, she's still a victim and we, even as staunchly leftist progressives should listen to her, no? You don't have to agree with everyone's opinions to acknowledge their plight.

At the end of the day, what has happened is wrong, and his response was half arsed bullshit that reflected the reality presented in the allegations, and did nothing but serve to make him look worse, much like the earlier situation this year with Wilbur Soot that you may have seen me reblogging about. Bad people are bad people, and the proof is in the pudding, in this case the half arsed responses that serve only as unintentional admissions of guilt.

As for the nature of the publication, I imagine as a heavily radfem anti-trans page, it was more than happy to be the first to break the news of the bad character of a prominent trans activist in television/literature, as it fits their "TRANS = ABUSER" narrative. I do not deny that. However, the victims themselves, as far as I can tell, are evidently former fans, who present actual evidence as confirmed by Mr Gaiman's statements, and thus we know this wasn't, at least on their end, done as a TERFism motivated career assassination. If the publication took this under the guise of causing ill repute for TIRFs and progressive politics, we cannot prove that, and it does not negate the nature of what has occurred.

I'm not here to argue with TERFs, or anyone else, about the nature of gender. That's not what I want to incite, I simply want to acknowledge the glaring hypocrisy from certain people in this online space. A victim of abuse that is a radfem is still a victim, whether you want to acknowledge that or not. I can acknowledge that, because guess what? Me disagreeing with someone doesn't make them subhuman dirt that doesn't have rights. What I'm really saying in this part is, don't bring gender politics into the reblogs, I do NOT want that and I will simply block anyone trying to incite needless arguments with me or anyone else.

TLDR; BELIEVE VICTIMS AND DONT BE SELFISH DICKHEADS WHO PRIORITISE THEIR OWN ENJOYMENT OF MEDIA OVER REPERCUSSIONS FOR ARSEHOLES AND CRIMINALS BECAUSE YOU THINK THAT THE WANKER IS YOUR BESTIE AFTER HE REBLOGGED YOU ONCE. WHERE THOSE INVOLVED STAND ON GENDER POLITICS DOESNT CHANGE THE NATURE OF UNRELATED IMMORAL/CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR THEY INSTIGATED/WERE VICTIM TO.

[xjoonchildx]

Yeah I totally agree as to how writers are leaving. I agree. Why are they leaving you think?

me figuring out how much trouble i wanna get in tonight

lmaoooooooooo

okay, listen. i have thoughts. i have observations. and i’m going to share some of them with you.

in my experience, most writers have been leaving for one of these three reasons:

1. engagement (rather, the lack thereof)

yeah, yeah i know, writers post about this a lot but here’s why: it’s true. readers on this site, for whatever reason, don’t interact with fics as much as they used to. even some fics that get a lot of likes may only have one or two comments, maybe a couple of reblogs with no feedback.

for what it’s worth, i’ve always felt that for the size of my blog (and how flipping long it takes me to post something) i get wonderful reader feedback and engagement. but i see so many writers struggling out in these tumblr streets, posting really great work that gets very little feedback and it’s discouraging for them. i get it.

i will also be transparent and say that as a writer who biases a “less popular member” it kills me when amazing stories about him (and other “less popular members”) just fall flat.

one of the best hobi stories i ever read had 20 notes when i found it by accident. twenty. it had been posted for some time. in my mind, that was a crime—that story was an absolute masterpiece and it had 20 notes (!). i sent it to every person i knew short of my mama because i was offended that people hadn’t recognized its brilliance. sadly, that writer left tumblr and took her masterpiece with her which brings me to my next point:

2. drama and writer-on-writer crime

phew y’all, there’s just so much of it. i don’t know what it is about tumblr that makes some people lose their absolute minds but they sure damned do. i’ve been here for a minute and i have seen it all.

writers mounting anonymous hate campaigns against one another (this happens a lot). writers mounting anonymous hate campaigns against people they pretended were friends (this one happens a lot a lot). writers sending themselves a boatload of hate anons to get sympathy and attention on the dash (this one happens a lot a lot a lot).

popular writers going out of their way to befriend up-and-coming writers only to then turn around and start nasty whisper campaigns about them when the up-and-coming writer’s blogs and stories eclipse their own in popularity.

insecurity is a hell of a drug.

there are some writers who get on here and they’re cool and they stay cool and they enjoy success and guess what? they’re cool about it.

and then there are the writers who get a few thousand followers and a bunch of notes and delude themselves into thinking they’re real-life celebrities. to those writers i would say: pick the fanciest restaurant in your city, call to make a reservation on a friday night and if they don’t have a slot make sure you let them know you’re really big on tumblr. let me know how that works out for you, okay?

it sounds stupid and it is stupid but this happens on this site all the time. what makes me sad is that it drives people away. they take their personalities and stories and contributions to this insane little space we have here with them, which sucks. the author of that amazing hobi fic? deactivated her account over tumblr drama.

so if you have a blog here and you are so wrapped up in jealousy and insecurity that you feel the need to harass someone off the site (including “friends”), log off and seek help.

3. life (adulting, sigh)

this is the boring one, but it still tracks. this community blew up when covid hit and we all had a lot more time to muse about what kim namjoon would look like in his underwear. but so many people had to get back to the grind after a while, and that meant less time for tumblr and for writing in general (wait is this entire one about me oops)

when i started tumblr i wasn’t working full time. then covid hit. so i had a long stretch where i could dedicate a lot of time to writing and posting. and YES i was still slow, so go ahead and throw that tomato lmao but STILL. it really does impact the number of stories going up and some people who joined during the pandemic just don’t have the time to go back to this like they had before.

so yeah, that’s what i’ve personally seen and experienced on this site. the good news is that for every nasty, insecure writer on this site there are dozens of great people telling great stories. i’m going to stick around for them and i hope you do, too 💕

[smahell]

otaku fm sinful sounds - the disappointing reply to the fans' outcry.

this morning i wake up to a notification from the obey me! official channel - a new otaku fm episode? celebrations. fantastic. i'd been waiting ever since i saw a photo of kada and yamashita back in the iconic studio. we hadn't received a new otaku fm episode for roughly two years, and of course, when a new one is announced there's going to be expectations surrounding that. expectations that will originate from the previous seasons and episodes.

so after watching the one which came out today, i was just genuinely disappointed.

"that's it?? that's the episode?"

you might even notice that the episode doesn't stay loyal to its usual 35-45 minutes format. in fact, anime and chill had the longest episodes, and is what I'd call "peak obey me™". these episodes are half that length. and i'm expecting the newer ones to be even shorter.

sinful sounds (ss).. was never advertised to be as short as almost the otaku fm mini series with the side character's vas-

even worse? the twenty minute time frame was meant to be shorter. they went overtime.

i'd totally understand if it was labelled 'otaku fm mini - sinful sounds', but this was meant to be a return to formula. with the abundance of paid content coming from solmare recently, this was meant to be something that those without dispensable income could actually enjoy. yes, it was also stated that listening to the asmr would "make the episode that much better", but assuming that i'd enjoy it regardless is an overstatement. whether you listened to the audio drama or not, this was just a disappointing way of coercing people who don't use twitter to listen to it. and another disappointing reminder of what obey me has become.

be warned - i talk about the actual episode here. so maybe go listen to it first before reading on.

yes, hearing the voice actors come back.. of course i'd love that. that's one of the main reasons i wanted it to come back. they even acknowledge how long it's been since the last time they did, but then it goes straight into "what is ASMR??"

like.. the fanbase is full of deluded white women /j .. i think we all know what it is!!! i guess it's helpful nonetheless, but then they're like:

"let's listen to a clip!!!"

hey...what?!?

(and said clip takes up a good chunk of the episode..)

my point is.. it's not really them gisting about anything. the whole thing just feels scripted and stiff. i don't feel that liveliness that i feel from rewatching previous episodes. sure, yes, asmr is meant to be calming and relaxing.. but that's not what i think of otaku fm. they're spoonfeeding me a product like it's baby food.

it's just a 20 minute ad. really.

some could say "well duh, that was the point of otaku fm, to advertise obey me and give more fan content!!"

then tell me, genuinely. did this episode give you any fan content of the vas or character that you've either already heard before OR content that really satiated you.

let's use anime and chill as an example. the anime and chill series was made to advertise the anime, but they didn't spend all the time talking about it. and you didn't exactly need to have the money to watch the anime to enjoy the whole thing. the voice actors themselves are performers. they're used to taking the reins on a project and creating an entertaining experience, which is why even though a segment is based on asking one question, we learn so much about them on a personal level. if a radio episode can make me feel like i'm chatting with two friends, then its done its job. this episode felt like watching two unskippable ads in a row on youtube. end me.

for me it's bringing up the question - all this paid content might just turning more fans away rather than bringing more in. i'm suspecting they've ben losing money since the decline in popularity after lockdown.

it's just making me think, well, five years in the future, will obey me as a game even survive? because trust me, after this disappointing episode, i'm starting to turn to ex and bee as my lord and saviour.

this isn't a diss at the voice actors at all. they were told and paid to do this, and they've done it perfectly well. this is more at a poke at the higher up executives calling the shots for this. because it always is- /hj

think i'm the only one who hates it? read this other post from another person on youtube who's also another avid fan of the voice actors. i might be repeating one or two of their points, but i saw this before i ever listened to ss, and trust me, it was a red flag for what was to come.

again, i'm not making this post because "arghhh i hate solmare i hate the vas".. no. i'm doing this because i can see that in another universe, this new series could've been amazing. it just falls flat. and i feel like it will continue falling flat until the developers and higher-ups behind this game acknowledge the scraps and and shreds of a fanbase the game has left.. i'm disappointed.

before you even begin praise this episode, listen to every single episode featuring sumi shinya, miura ayme, and/or takuhei yamamoto, laugh your heart out, then come back to this post. and mourn what has been taken from you.

[ichinoue]

"Well guys, it's 2023 and here's another dolt ranting about pronouns in the lust arc, just like the IH Fail essay that ended up being a fail in and of itself."

No its 2023 and people are deciding to keep ot real with you instead of deluding themselves and changing fhe narrtive to cater to a ship.

Respectfully, lets not speak on a language we dont know shit about, lmao.

Ichigo omits the pronoun when he tells rukia 'i've come to save you' in soul society that's because he was literally speaking to her, had been bickering with her from the previous page and had already told her he was there to rescue her back on the bridge - so he didn't need to specify to her 'who' he'd come to save: this is a typical example of "japanese omitting pronouns because they're obvious"

in the lust arc, ichigo is quite literally unconscious and unaware of his surroundings: in order to make it clear to the readers that ichigo recognized orihime, a pronoun (actually not even, he should have used her damn name like ichigo always did when he thought about rukia in ss) **needed** to be there without it, especially coupled with the fact that he speaks in broken japanese from that moment to the end of his transformation (i.e. he uses a mix of kanji and katakana, the latter of which is only used for foreign words, robots or - in bleach's case - hollows, and usually to signify that the speaker is just muttering sounds and doesn't understand the actual meaning of what they're saying), and the fact that he literally quite literally proceeds to throw orihime off the dome with absolutely no care for her well being, it's damn obvious that he had no idea who was yelling at him, he was only aware of the fact that someone was asking for help and got triggered by the word 'save'

"I mean this is just hilarious to me. Here's Orihime and Ichigo, literally placed together in side by side panels as Ichigo continues to chant about protecting...And ichiruki shippers are like, "hmmm well, it's not super clear who he's talking about because there's no pronoun so...I guess we'll never know 🤷‍♀️."

So being places together in panels side by side means he's referring to her? May I remind u he's just raised from the dead, and orihime is shocked as she processes what's happening. Those panels were to emphasise that. Not only have u attempted to educate me on the Japanese language and failed, you've now tried to say side by side panels somehow equates to the fact that he's referring to her? 💀.

"You think Kubo drew this^ entire page, at such a pivotal moment, to show that Orihime's...wrong? Like some sort of gag? She's just *imagining* that Ichigo rose up for her, but it's not actually true? That's...certainly an interesting way to interpret things lmao."

This was orihimes own perception of the situation. Orihime isn't a fact page, she's her own charecter with her own dialogue and thought. The fact she perceived it that way doenst mean its the case. She didn't imagine anything, it jsut looked that way too her, may I remind you she was the one screaming. She knows she's the person the screams belong too, ichigo doesn't. So of course she's gonna think it's here fault, common sense people.

You also proceeded to bring more asspulls and try and say how the databook confirms its about orihime when it was in third person.

"The readers aren't the ones who bound Ichigo to Orihime's screams (especially not you, anon, since you keep insisting it had nothing to do with her lmao). Kubo did that. That's how he meant for this scene to be interpreted: that Ichigo was bound to Orihime's screams. But you're still here fighting against it for some reason lol."

Did kubo tell u that he meant for the scene to be interpretated this way? Or did some angel come to you in ur dream and tell u that? If thats true, kubo wouldve simply added confirmation that hes talking about orihime by adding pronouns or her name. Instead he doesnt do that and has ichigo propell her away

He was bound to her screams, it's just that he didn't know the screams belonged to her, as long as those screams belonged to someone, he's gonna get up... that's who he is. It could've been anyone else screaming there and he would've stood his ass the fuck up, that's his charecter and what he does. Lmao you think this would go without saying, but the lengths ppl go for shipping is hilarious.

"Ichigo did know she was calling out to him. It was part of his internal monologue, as she's screaming, before he hollowfied. Whether the pronoun is there or not (because again, the pronoun for her doesn't *need* to be there to make it clear who he's talking about when she's clearly the only person screaming, placed directly next to a panel of him rising him up...) he could hear her voice. He could hear her calling him. He ruminated over ORIHIME'S screams and was bound to ONLY that purpose. Only her. "

He could hear her voice, he just didn't know it was her. Just that it was somebody, it's not that hard to grasp. There's nothing wrong with ichigo not knowing it's orihime but since shipping has rotten yalls brains, it has to be about the Princess hime, and not about ichigos own charecter, because everything has to be about orihime, right? (💀).

Your opinion on this probably won't change, that's granted as a deluded shipper. What also won't change, is the fact that this isn't an ichihime moment. U attempted to educate me on the japanese language and failed, I recommend doing more research time. I also reccomend not bothering to reply to things like these if ur arguement is just gonna end with "well ichihime is canon, deal with it" because it makes u look silly to say the least, and has nothing to do with the convo.

how i sleep knowing ichigo literally rose up from the dead for his future wife 🥰

[calamitaswrath]

Cal Lucia plays Fire Emblem Path of Radiance: Chapter 14

A couple of story beats in Begnion, and. . . well, I can't really say much on them. Ike standing in for Elincia is nice moment, and my first impression is "Ah, that's how some people delude themselves into thinking that Ike and Elincia could be an implied couple". But really, what stands out more than anything is Oliver being there, cause I have definitely heard about him. Something about his obsession with beauty, him being a slaver, but also being a playable character?

It's a good thing though that I had some time to let the story beats of this chapter so far simmer a bit because I didn't get to play, cause that gave me time to let them Sink In. Begnion strikes me as the type of decadent but powerful nation that is so caught up in its own safety that it doesn't really acknowledge the threat of the antagonists until it is too late. To compare it to something, it brings to mind the High Entia Empire/Alcamoth from Xenoblade 1. Which is to say, I could also see some story beats similar to Xenoblade 1 taking place, like corruption which runs deep in the nation, or an unexpected attack from the main antagonists catching Begnion off-guard and forcing them into action. Considering that Oliver is an official here, I can definitely see the former being a thing.

Also, something about that tower in the capital. I vaguely remember hearing that the final boss fight of Radiant Dawn takes place here? I think?

New base conversations!

Marcia being from Begnion is addressed, which is nice. She's honestly pretty minor of a character, so seeing her search for her brother and all that being acknowledged is. . . I don't wanna say nice again, but it just is.

Stella's background getting explored, which I suppose is to be expected. She literally just joined after all, so there is stuff that needs to be acknowledged. Still not sure if I'm going to use her moving forward. . . the fast exp growth is nice, but I'm already having trouble deciding on who to deploy as is.

Gatrie ogling the woman, expecting Ike to join him. Yeah, I do not think that that is going to happen.

A conversation with a maid, who seems to hint at a lot of stuff. A laguz that doesn't transform back. . . is that gonna be a boss, or a new recruit? Either way, it's funny that Ike doesn't say a single word throughout that entire conversation.

Unlocked the support between Jill and Mist! I heard that getting this one is important, and it's a nice one. . . but also really short.

Well, some bonus exp usage later, let's continue the story.

Five days spent here already? That's the third time already where the game gives me instances that make my writer brain go brrrr. There's a timeframe to fill.

God, I love the sibling interactions between Ike and Mist

Ah, this has all the framing of a filler chapter. Important but slow stuff is happening here, so go somewhere else and have a battle.

We're supposed to stop merchants? That sounds like something that bandits would do. Are we the baddies?

. . .Oh. Those kinds of merchants. Yeah, we're not the baddies.

Ah! Serene's Forest? Now that is a name that you can't get around hearing when you're a Fire Emblem fan. So this is where it originates, eh? And references to a massacre, too. . . juicy little story bitses.

And there's a certain guy named "Makalov" on the enemy side on this map. I have heard of him. What I have not heard of him are good things.

Huh, a named character in the bottom left house. . . already forgot her name, but judging by the fact that she is named at all, I wanna say that she turns up later.

Makalov talks about his sister. . . ohhhhh, Marcia is his sister! I thought I'd need to talk to him with Ike. Well, that frees up my strategy by a lot.

You know, for enemies that are called "untamed ones" in German, these enemy laguz are surprisingly tame. Not even aggressive when I get into their range.

Boss talking about having nobles as his costumers. I guess that's how Oliver gets brought into this.

. . .Ike, how are you still not putting together what these merchants are working with.

­*Twirls hair* Hiiiii again Miss Tanith

Uhhh, another animated cutscene! And it's not ruined by voice acting

Oh, is this a meeting between Laguz kings? Interesting. Some actual politics, tensions, and worldbuilding!

Ah, so Nasaela's just ambitious. Still seems a bit greedy to go for such small fry as a random Daein commander who chases after Elincia, though.

I actually remember something about Reyson, I think! Wasn't there a scene later on where he punches somebody, but because bird Laguz have hollow bones like actual birds, he breaks his own arm doing so, but he doesn't regret it anyway because it felt good?

And a mention of "Lehran's Medallion". . . gee, I wonder where that could be. Good thing that that part being obvious doesn't actually answer why Mist has it, and what its signifance is.

Well, that was a lot more story-heavy content for a chapter that I was initially dismissive of. Colour me satisfied!

[ohmygoly]

Elves and Guilt

Something that actually really annoys me in the Lost Cities is the sheer denial of the main characters that someone could do something bad because their mind would break from guilt. Especially with the Neverseen, if an elf thinks that what theyre doing is right and therefore has no reason to feel guilty, then their mind won't break from doing said bad thing. Since elves aren't on the moral high ground they think they are we can even take human experiences of abuse, genocide, and slavery and realize that a lot of those people felt it was their right ("blacks are inferior so I'm entitled to their labor") or duty ("protect the German people by killing anyone we can that disrupts are society by bringing them to camps") to perform those atrocious acts so they wouldn't have felt guilty about it. This means that a lot of elves are just as capable of terrible things as humans are and it's so infuriating when a character denies the possiblity of it occurring. I wish I had a proper example but it comes up in quite a few of the characters' conversations with each other. Its especially annoying when theyre trying to guess the Neverseen's next move and they dismiss the possibility of them doing worse because of the broken mind thing.

P.S. now I'm just thinking of all the potential troubled households that are slipping under the radar because everyone's deluded themselves into thinking it cant be that bad otherwise the aggressor's/abuser's mind would be broken. Cassius and Gisela are both great proof otherwise and Keefe, Tam, and Linh cannot be the only elves in the entire Lost Cities dealing with this kind of thing

[phoenixfangs]

COME HERE. answer my emojis four about feiga

🌹 🍷 🥀 🩸

WAGGING MY TAIL AND RUNNING AROUND IN CIRCLES WHEEEE THANK U MAX!! ❤️

🌹 what does ur oc find attractive in other people? are these traits found in their friends and/or romantic partners? are they found in themselves? | HMMMMMMMM this is an interesting one to consider. because Primarily the features she finds attractive are: whatever rizas features are JFLKDJLGKJDFJ. physically, she meets a woman, beth, who looks remarkably Like riza once she escapes drachma and gives up being an assassin, and is immediately stricken with her just based on that alone (they date and fall in love more naturally after some time, but the Beginning of their relationship is really um Not Especially Healthy because theyre both using the other as a substitute/supplement for someone/something else: feiga is using beth as a riza stand-in, and beth is Letting Her because she knows of riza Separately from all this and wants what she has so bad, to be as pretty and smart and competent and Wanted as riza is. theres all kinds of beth lore too thats too much to get into on this feiga post jfdklsjfldksajdfklas). i guess physical traits she finds attractive then are short, soft/curvy women with long blonde hair and tits the size of her head FJDKLSJGL, all traits that feiga decidedly does not have, being tall, angular/skinny with purple-black hair, and mosquito bite boobs ❤️ (im working on her reference sheet and EVENTUALLY i will have a drawing or sketch of her that is acceptable in my eyes to post. i need everyone to see her and behold her with their eyes)

personality type stuff, feiga is very attracted to women who she deems strong in an emotional sense, women with conviction who are fighters and Winners. she values honor (even if she doesnt have any/tries to delude herself into thinking she does, and has to work to actually Have any honor after she becomes a fugitive/refugee), and eventually once she is Shown it, she finds kindness and mercy to be very appealing. and these are all traits she doesnt think she has, or has enough of, but yearns for

oh also important to note that Of Course feiga is a lesbian

🍷 does ur oc drink? what kind of alcohol do they enjoy? what are their drinking habits? what kind of drunk are they? | she is fantasy russian so ud Think that she could take three fingers of whiskey like its nothing but shes actually so baby. she has not trained her tolerance very well because being drunk is Not Great when u have to track and kill a mark, so she doesnt like drink recreationally or anything. she needs her wits about her, she HATES not feeling in control, so stumbling around or slurring her words or not being able to handle a rifle are things that would make her itch. shes also just naturally a lightweight because of how skinny she is, a lot of drinks will just hit her like a fucking truck lmao. but shes not like straight edge or anything, she Has drank before and she probably will again after she flees drachma, but not super often—if only because, again, she is so baby. she will be three sheets to the wind after like A Drink, and she gets Sleepy and Hiccupy and Babble-y and will probably need to be carried cutely to bed, where she will mumble and murmur and make cutie kitten noises in her sleep. and then shell wake up with the worst migraine/hangover anyone on the planet has ever had, and throw up so hard her face is pulled three inches off her skull because she didnt have any water while she was drinking ^_^ because shes so fuckign stupid ^_^

🩸is ur oc squeamish? are they disturbed by the sight of blood? have they ever been in a situation where they had to overcome being squeamish? | i think she was probably squeamish as a little kid but she had to get over it Real fast with the way her family lived. not only having to see and also deal with her siblings getting hurt/sick/dying in varying degrees of bloody ways (because again, her parents did Nothing to try and heal their children, and when it was time to bury them that responsibility would often fall on feiga), but living in the middle of buttfuck nowhere, they had to hunt for their food. im thinking this is something she would do with her father, and then when it was time to clean/process the meat, she would do that with her mother. very bloody jobs, very bloody childhood in general for her—and adulthood! since she goes Immediately from the cabin in the tundra to her assassin training, like shes roughly 14ish? when she starts her training (shes an exceptional shot). literally she is plucked up out of her childhood home and becomes an assassin, there is no point in her life where she isnt being confronted with blood and gore and death. and ofc there are jobs where sniping a mark may not be the best option, so she has had to kill with her hands, up close and personal. she is no stranger to this stuff, and it doesnt bother her at all, it hasnt in about two decades

🥀 answered !

[the1975attheirverybest]

The amount of people voting the AfD in germany is fucking insane. We used to be (sane people still are) all "never forget" and "educate our youth, don't let history repeat itself" but we are FORGETTING that nazis are not an OPTION like. People argue that its the "only acceptable party" when its NOT its fucking not. History is repeating itself and we are LETTING IT.

Literally anything else is better. AfD literally put out a calendar, like one of those ones that you flip over every month that had anti-immigrant slogans on each page and called it the "Abschiebe Kalendar" (deportation calendar)

The members are disgusting. People of color, queer people, immigrants, all working AGAINST their own community because they believe they themselves are the ultimate exception. That their laws won't affect them because they have "immunity". Our own citizens are also deluded enough to think this somehow????

Prime example: Alice Weidel. Politician, married to a woman of color from Sri Lanka and i'm pretty sure they have young children. Guess which party she is a LEADING member of? The AfD.

Worst part is, she doesn't even live in Germany. Her own beliefs and what she fights for/the laws her and her coworkers want to pass do not affect her and her wife. Girly lives in Switzerland. Fucking despicable i'm ashamed of my own country.

soz for the rant but. needed to be said. Halla you don't need to post this if you dont fancy it x

No that’s totally fine and thanks for explaining! I just watched this earlier today

And was baffled by the idea that like….they have captured young people’s votes???

Wait is Alice Weidel the queer person who support anti queer legislation ? Cuz I think I read about a candidate like that but didn’t catch the name? It’s fuckin baffling.

I do see that with some gay republicans and I’m like???? Are you sincerely voting against your own damn interests???? So wild.

[madamemachikonew]

Thoughts on Baizhu's Story Quest #1 - Changsheng the Corruptor

Some thoughts about Baizhu's story quest

↓ ↓ spoilers below ↓ ↓ 

When Xiao said he sensed the presence of evil spirits, does anybody else think he meant Changsheng as well as the god remains? Because, even after he knew the poison was there, he still clearly didn't approve of her leeching off mortals to prolong her life artificially. The adepti are technically not immortal or invulnerable, they simply have longer lifespans than mortals. I wonder if this was why she drifted from the adepti; it crossed an ethical boundary for them. Then erosion took its course and by then she had already been with several generations of humans which increased the rift further. So many of the other adepti stories are of them dying fearlessly to protect mortals and Liyue, not squeaking out evil promises in their final death throes.

People both criticise and admire Baizhu for pursuing immortality - an act of selfish selflessness for the greater good - but for me the selfish and deluded one is Changsheng. She knowingly enables her hosts' self-destruction while they carry their patients' suffering, yet she frames it like a choice so she can shrug and say 'it's not my fault, don't say I didn't warn them all - they all entered the contract of their own free will, whoops another one's dead, guess I'll have to suck the life out of their successor now'. She deliberately targets those of a pure heart, knowing that the more altruistic they are, the more they will be tempted to destroy themselves in the name of healing others. She says she is at peace with the idea of dying, knowing that they won't be able to bear to let her die. The contract requires two parties and she had the option to refuse to offer/accept it, even if Baizhu had tried to insist. He would have been obliged to respect his patient's autonomy. For me, Changsheng is a corruptor.

Baizhu in some way is keeping her honest - because he won't be handing her over to another successor she knows she has to help him stay alive because if not it's the end for her too. He is containing the 'poison' of her power by imprisoning her malevolent presence in his contract and preventing her from ever accessing another host. And it's true that if it wasn't for her secret arts he wouldn't be the miracle worker we see now.

But my god, I wish they'd never met.

[bellatrixdulac]

It's been some time but with Loucha big debut in HSR I was reminded of Otto's orribile end. A story, especially one where the enemy is actually pulling all the strings since hundreds of years before, is really just as good as its villain. And they dropped the ball so hard with Otto.

I liked that at end he was too deep into being a villain to ask even Theresa for help and had to manipulate them to the last second even to be killed. I mean, that's very Otto. But the absolute nothing they actually needed HoV/Sirin for made the story so far so pointless. It was either a mega big brain move from Otto knowing that he needed the power of void to use on the imaginary tree *years before talking with Kevin* (and knowing how the tree worked) which wasn't the case, or just a case of the whole plot being dropped in favour of a last second plan shoved in there to make sense.

The plan was to use the gem of Death that he put into Kiana, and to do so he had to create a human Herrscher. All the BS about negative power or whatever was such a last minute addition it was embarrassing. Even using the HoV power to jump realities/brenches would have made more sense considering the cosmic juggernaut existing.

Not to mention that, no matter how you spin it, he didn't save Kallen. If he had saved Kallen in this reality, nobody would exist anymore because he would have changed history. He just created another Kallen, probably one of hundreds in the tree? What was the point.

It's so infuriating because Otto's distinctive characteristic was that he was a genius and that he was dedicated to save his Kallen. Let's be honest, it really wasn't about Kallen existing in the imaginary tree (because she did in other branches), it was about his Kallen from his brench not dying. Or he would have been content hopping into a dying bubble universe to save a random Kallen to put back into his universe. It feels like both Otto and the writers knew time was running over and deluded themselves into thinking Otto's objective was achieved.

Also Tesla and the rest of Anti Entropy deserved to throw a punch at him at the end. Kiana & Kiana deserved it surely but also AE, Hua and so many others did. Even Theresa considering how she was "born" and immediately thrown into a battle royale, even just for that, not even touching the Cecilia storyline. Except Mei, the kids in AE and Rita and I guess everyone deserved some payback.

[joshuaalbert]

16, 6, 3?

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

i think like canon vulcan touch telepathy is interesting enough it fulfills its narrative purpose and I’m sure people have done some really cool and thoughtful stuff with it in fanworks but there’s a fanon version of it that I personally just don’t find super interesting. I enjoy a first contact meme as much as the next guy but taking seriously the idea that any time vulcans so much as brush hands with anyone they’re fully making out kind of flattens the culture by demanding an exact human equivalent imo. like, it’s interesting to think about because it can’t be placed on our specific cultural context, so trying to draw a direct equivalency makes it less interesting to me I think. (also iirc like. the two finger touch thing was supposed to be more similar to holding hands than to kissing? so I’m not even sure the starting place for that comparison is a fair one) (although I could be completely wrong on that)

6. which ship fans are the most annoying?

I don’t really have a genuine answer for this bc like any big ship is gonna have its subset of people I disagree with on stuff but I just kinda block them or keep scrolling or whatever and try not to lump the vast majority of fans in with them. that said. I do have mild beef with spock/chapel fans in that when I named cralbert I was trying to come up with the absolute worst ship name and ngl they seem to have done it organically. hurts to see someone else living your dream.

3. screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

I was gonna say like with the previous question I don’t want to go after anyone specific but then I remembered that one time someone commented “glory to cardassia” or some shit on a post i made about dead bajoran characters and I went to his blog and this dude had pictures of his face alongside his opinions on how women in the workplace were just deluding themselves into thinking they could be competent. so. I guess his entire deal was up there with the worst takes I’ve seen.

[stopeatingwhales]

the 1995 brits x damon albarn & liam gallagher

hhhiiii I'm here with a very cute little fic about the brits!! the idea of writing something with Damon and liam fighting over someone was requested quite a long time ago (sorry it’s taken so long omg) but I loved the idea!! I do hope you all enjoy it as I enjoyed writing it a lot hahah xx

Pairing: 90s damon albarn & 90s liam gallagher x reader

Warnings: nothing, just a little bit of bickering n dat

Word count: 3.057

Requested by anon x

༉‧₊˚✧

Being a part of the madness that adapted the name ‘Britpop’ was truly an experience. Paparazzi at every corner you turn, equipped with the brightest, flashiest cameras, also having the most annoying click noises to the point that after one image you’ve earned yourself a migraine that would last the entirety of the day; parties that would last entire nights, bearing millions of different kinds of drugs - some that hadn’t even been given a name yet, but you’d still give a try anyways, since you’re so high and drunk that you simply lose the intellectual capability to construct decisions, you say fuck it, and get so high to the point that you’ve blacked out in a booth in a bar, with the owner asking you to get out since you’ve been inside for one too many hours after closing time; as well as constant press coverage. With your name plastered over literally every newspaper and music magazine known to man, as well as having your entire life consistently dictated for the entire nation to read about every Sunday morning and indulge themselves into as a form of entertainment, it was what being famous delivered, right on your doorstep at 7 in the morning. Any earlier and you’d feel rude not to give them a cup of tea as a form of dignity and respect towards their sublime dedication to the job. Although it was fun being associated with it all, my band in particular gaining a different form of calidity due to it being a female fronted band, by the time that the entire nation was hooked on this ‘Blur vs. Oasis’ rivalry, it was as if every other britpop band had been washed away from existence, due to eight boys arguing as to whom had the better music. And the better looks, according to Liam Gallagher.

Tonight was the night of the Brit awards, perhaps the most prestigious awards ceremony for music. To be awarded a Brit was probably the largest achievement possible in British music in the form of an award, and it was definitely either going tonight to either Blur or Oasis. The chances that another band, say Pulp, were to get the award, would not only be extremely amusing to see the reactions of the two biggest names in the Britpop game, but would also cause the largest uproar in the nation. It’s either Blur or Oasis. “Their drama is so silly,” laughed Emily, the guitarist in our band whilst flicking through the latest edition of the Sun, the cover of the newspaper being, of course, Liam Gallagher. “They’re literally bickering about who looks the best. How do people find this interesting?”

“Because of how silly it is, people never leave their secondary-school-like selves. Just a bit of fun I guess.” I replied, fixing up my hair in the mirror in front of me. We were currently getting ready to go to the award show, and needing to look your best was an expectation. Though I wasn’t dressed in anything that would result in jaw’s dropping, it was important that I at least appeared somewhat admirable - the entire nation always had their eyes on us, but tonight they were going to see us all, live. Perhaps the reason why bands like Oasis and Blur are so obsessed over nowadays, since all they’ll do is turn up in some flimsy Adidas t-shirt and call that fashion. I suppose scruffy was the new elegant.

“Who do you think they’ll give the award to?” she questioned, still aimlessly flicking through the recycled pages of the magazine. “I think Oasis. Their music is so much better than Blurs.”

“Really? I’d say Blur. They won on top of the pops, so the likelihood of them winning the Brit award is highly likely,” I answered, shuffling away from the strong reflection of myself towards Emily, my eyes quickly scanning the page that she had her eye on currently. “Gosh Liam’s so full of himself.”

“He’s got his eye on you, you know,” She said, shoving the paragraph she had just read in my face of Liam boasting about his little crush he had supposedly gained from watching our latest performance on top of the pops. “Thinks you’re ‘well fit’.”

Scoffing in response, I mumbled back to Emily. “If he thinks that he’s sleeping with me, he’s very deluded.”

By the time we had arrived at the venue, you weren’t able to walk into the entrance without at least 50 cameras blinding your eyes and the shouts of so many begging for you to quickly turn your head and grin - the price for the photo would reach the many thousands. Once walking in, it was less crowded, only having select people by the ground floor, dedicated for musicians and bands, with the occasional interviewer walking past to every circled table, adorned with white cloth and champagne glasses, asking questions about how they’re feeling, who they think may win, and what they thought of the music throughout the past year. What was nice was that people didn’t have that much interaction with one another, just with their groups. It created a sense of formality in the space, which made me feel a bit at ease from the idea of some random row happening in the middle of the floor, most likely between Liam and Damon. The past year in music was truly something. Britpop was at its peak the entirety of the year, with songs like Parklife and Supersonic pouring out of every radio station in Britain that by the end of the year, you had ditched casual radio music and began blasting the classical station. It was a nightmare. Since the fall of grunge subsequent to Cobain’s death the previous year, the talk of any other genre in Britain apart from Britpop didn’t occur. It was as if we were living on this mystical island, miles away from any other music and culture, whilst adorning and obsessing over our own. What was nice about Britpop was that it was a pure celebration of English culture, whether it be a simple Sunday roast, or going to school, they all carried the same ambience of nostalgia and pride - also disregarding whichever band wrote what song.

“Free champagne… Yes please,” said Madeline, the secondary guitarist of the band, whilst heading to the first seat she could sit on, then quickly indulging herself with the first taste of the rich drink. “Oh my gosh it’s heavenly!”

Laughing at her reaction, the rest of the band took a seat around the table and took their first sips of the champagne, which we would all come to find to be indeed heavenly. Small talk was shared here and there with the rest of the group, but overall I stayed silent. In all honesty I found attending award shows was quite boring because if you didn’t end up getting an award, you would essentially be sitting there for two hours doing nothing. Even if you did win an award, it’s simply a minute of glory with the speakers blasting your music, and another minute of all eyes piercing into your soul as you make sentences about your gratitude towards those who had helped you along the way to earn such an achievement. I doubt anybody genuinely liked attending shows like these.

“The champagne is good, yet we don’t get enough for our table,” I complained, grasping my now empty champagne glass and waving it around in the air. “I’m gonna head to the bar to get a refill, anybody want anything?”

After receiving a handful of nos from the rest of the band, I took myself out of my seat and wandered over to the bar, which was empty, perhaps due to the venue not yet being completely filled with all the artists that were set to attend the night. “Just a refill of the champagne, please.” I asked politely, handing the bartender the used glass I had kept in my hand. Whilst waiting, I noticed that Damon was on the other side of the bar, who also didn’t notice me there, until he caught eyes with me.

A grin broke out on his face as I walked over to him. “You alright?” He asked me, quickly thanking the bartender for his drink and turning back to look at me. The height difference between us was evident, but it wasn’t the case of something so dramatic that he was the height of the empire state building and me, just a measly common tower in the city. He looked quite content, his hair scruffy yet neat, along with his outfit being just as I had assumed: a white shirt with jeans, a used pair of Adidas for shoes.

I smiled back at him and nodded. “Suppose you have high hopes for the award tonight.” I said, simultaneously receiving my refill of the beverage I had ordered, followed by my thanks. We stood adjacent, although there was enough distance between us to establish our relationship - mutual acquaintances whom had met every now and again, since they’ve both been dragged into this wormhole of madness. He was quite the opposite in comparison to his rivals, though he himself could be quite bothersome occasionally, he still had a grasp to what those may call sensibility.

“Oh well we’re better than them, aren’t we love?'' He chirped, his head now cocked to the side in a teasing manner. “I’ve heard that you’re rooting for us this year.” He added, a little smirk pasted on his face.

“Do you read every paper you see?” I questioned, my face turning away from him in slight embarrassment. Between us, there was no shared intention for a relationship to stem, though there was definitely a flirtatious tension that followed between us wherever we had met. Whether it be a random photoshoot for a magazine double-spread, or backstage at top of the pops, we always managed to share a chat with one another, and nothing else followed on from then. It was quite sad, because once you’ve established a connection between something you either both disagree or agree with in terms of societal views, something in the press, or life in general, you’re instantaneously cut off and asked to hop onto stage to record a meaningless three-minute performance with fake, plastic instruments which practically mean nothing.

“Well it was nice seeing someone else's face on the papers for once.” He replied, downing his drink, then ushering at the bartender for another. A thing that we both realised was that, between our conversations, we indirectly indicated that we were both there for each other, because we both had a complete understanding towards what may be happening to the other person. It was stressful being in the limelight constantly, and for someone who was the frontman of a band so large, with his face plastered on every magazine cover imaginable, things were bound to be stressful.

Sighing, I turned to face him again. Despite the fact that before I had the ability to respond, our conversation was cut short from a voice shouting my name from behind. “Well if it isn’t bloody Y/N.” the voice said, and from then I instantly knew it was Liam’s. Turning my face away from Damon’s, I locked eyes with Liam. As always, he was dressed in the usual: a parka, with casual jeans. Oh, and don’t forget the Adidas shoes. Even though he and Damon practically hated each other’s guts, they always seemed to have similar fashion senses, but I could never picture Damon in a parka. And I don’t think I even want to.

“How’ve you been love?” He asked, swinging his arm around my shoulder in a warm, but nonchalant manner. Me and Liam had a similar relationship to that of mine and Damons, simply just minusing the sentimentality of it. We were friends, and had come across each other at random parties, which opened the gateway for us to drink and get high together many a time. While he was quite the idiot, he was also a very fun guy to be around, but I knew Damon would never understand that. “And why’re you letting this twat chat to you?”

A laugh escaped Damon’s throat. “I think you’re the only twat here, Liam,” he began, a sigh leaving my mouth as I was trapped in a situation that I could only pray didn’t gain much traction from the rest of the attendees. “Me and Y/N are friends, don’t suppose we’re getting jealous are we?”

Liam’s grip on my shoulder tightened as I stared at his reaction to Damon. I felt quite small in this situation, due to me needing to tilt my head a good amount to properly look at Liam, and knowing if I left it would just erupt chaos and make it worse. “No need for me to be jealous when I know that she wouldn’t want to spend a minute with you in bed you bastard.”

“And you’re so sure about that are you?” Damon replied, amusement laced in his words. “Because you’ve totally spent a minute with her haven’t you?”

“Well I’ve got my arm around her haven’t I? And she’s not stopping me,” Liam argued back, a smirk entwined on his lips. Reaching for my hand, Liam grasped it lightly, then then brought it to his lips, kissing it, before holding it gently. Method of intimidation, perhaps, and though it was sweet, there was a time and place. And this was definitely neither the time, or place. “Who’s the jealous one now, eh?”

“The last I recall, she had hoped that we were winning this year, not you,” He boasted, moving the contents of his drink around whilst grasping it firmly. Whilst it would be something that would offend Liam, he was simply the type of person to not take criticism regardless of whomever it was coming from. I respected him for that. “So much so for a healthy relationship.” Damon mocked, staring into my eyes as a small laugh escaped my lips.

Granted that I had found the argument shared between the pair of them to be extremely silly, it was good entertainment as the time passed before the award show would begin. Watching them both, attempting to throw insults at one another, each one trying to cut a little deeper than the one previous, made me almost laugh at the both of them right there. “You know, it’s so silly that you both think you know me so well to think which one I’d pick from the both of you,” I said, detaching myself from Liam’s embrace and snatching my half-empty glass of champagne. “At this point, it’s neither of you.”

Walking back to my band’s designated table, I quietly took my seat as the show began. “Saw you chatting to Damon,” Emily whispered, raising her eyebrows. “Also saw you grinning like a madwoman.”

“Oh shut up you,” I replied, looking back at the bar to notice that both parties had left, assuming back to their places. “There’s nothing going on between me and Damon- Liam too in fact.”

~~~

As the ceremony went on, the boredom got to us. Even the amount of drinks I had didn’t entertain me, but what could we do, we were stuck in the middle of an award show celebrating music, even though I had largely doubted that the majority of those attending were enjoying themselves. I had no clue who the awards were going to be handed out to, and whether that somebody may be us in a category, but we all knew Blur were going to win something. Yes, Oasis had gained a lot of fame and had become one of the most famous bands in the music scene at the minute, but by the way things had gone for Blur after the release of Parklife, things only seemed to go further up from there. And that was only proven to be truthful, after Blur had left with four different awards.

After Blur had received their fourth award for best British group, we all knew that there was nothing left for Oasis. “They’ll get it all next year, they only debuted this year you know.” I said to the table, who were staring at the four smiley boys on stage as they trotted up to receive their award. I admired Damon as he said his speech, then also turning to look over at Liam, who looked quite evidently pissed off. He was practically drooling in anger from the sight brought to him at that particular moment, and I couldn’t blame him - their band hadn't gone home with one award that night, but neither had ours. “They’ve taken four awards home, isn’t that like, the most anybody has ever taken?”

“Indeed it is,” Madeline replied, taking a sip from her drink. “Must be a good year for them then, eh?”

As I watched the band leave the stage in absolute glee, I stared at Damon as he walked back to his designated seat for the short remainder of the evening. Despite the fact that my band had been sat in our seats the entire evening in complete boredom, just like Oasis and so many other acts that had been nominated for pointless awards, it would be a lie to say that I wasn’t proud of how far Blur as a whole had come and evolved through their music, and especially Damon. From beginning as young, bowl-cut boys only charting so far on top of the pops, to creating songs and melodies that could unite our entire nation, it was impressive.

Damon was the face of Britain at this very moment, and a very good looking one. Once I watched him sit down, he scanned the room for a while until he was able to find where I was sitting, which was parallel to his seat, merely a couple metres away. He connected eyes with me as soon as he found me, also accompanied with a small smirk painted on his expression as he raised his eyebrows and sent me a wink. I simply smiled back at him in response before turning away abruptly, disrupting the little moment we seemingly shared, and though I felt my heart flutter a little, he’s definitely not winning me that easily.

[mypoisonedvine]

Seeing Red | bodyguard!Bucky Barnes x reader (part 7)

(part 1) (part 2) (part 3) (part 4) (part 5) (part 6)

series summary: bucky used to brag that he didn’t have a celebrity crush, or really care about famous people at all, which is what made him the perfect person to start working for a celebrity like yourself.  except, of course, it’s just his luck that he’d fall for you.  

word count: 2.5k

warnings: um just implied smut and fluff and a reference to bdsm I guess?? but it's pretty chill overall

Liked by starkcosmetics and others

y/n.y/l/n okay first of all, it takes an act of god to get a picture of this guy smiling, but it’s always worth it.  he really changed everything for me and I can’t thank him enough for that.  so happy ❤️ 

View all 9,208 comments

caroldanvers 😍😍😍

flowercrowny/n oh my god this is so sweet i’m gonna cry

1 HOUR AGO

He smiled as he stared down at the post you’d made, remembering how much effort you’d put into finding the perfect picture (in your opinion; he thought he looked kinda dopey in it) as well as writing and re-writing your caption.

The speed at which your post gained likes and comments was inconceivable to him; even more impressive was the speed at which gossip rags were picking up the story.  Sure enough, his phone’s alerts to new headlines about you were not only going off like crazy, but had started to include news about himself as well.  

Y/N Y/L/N Shocks With Romantic Instagram Post, Confirms Dating Rumors

You’ll Never Guess Which Hollywood Starlet Is Dating Her Driver

Who is James Barnes?  Everything We Know About Y/N Y/L/N’s New Beau

Skimming one of the articles, he was impressed at how much information they’d managed to get without actually getting anything from you or him.  Born in Brooklyn, disabled Army veteran, worked a list of odd jobs before becoming your driver and bodyguard.  ‘No social media presence, prefers to keep a low profile’ one of them said; you can say that again, Bucky chuckled to himself when he read it.

He found another from People and didn’t particularly appreciate that it spent half the time going through all your past exes and rumored partners (turned out ‘rumored’ is a fancy word for ‘a bunch of fans deluded themselves so hard that it somehow turned into news without any proof necessary’).  But he still smiled when he got to the part that was actually about you and him.

‘The relationship is pretty new but they’re so happy together,’  a source close to the couple reported.  

Close indeed; that statement came from your publicist, who he’d never even meet.  

‘He’s a very private guy and she’s got this huge following, so they’re sort of an odd couple in that way, but she knows her fans are respectful and will let them have their own life outside of the spotlight.’ 

Bucky wasn’t sure that the respectfulness of fans was such a given here, but he hoped you were right.  To be fair, they’d been very sweet on your original post insofar. 

However, when he scrolled to the bottom of the celebrity magazine articles and realized they had their own comments section, he discovered that they were a little less forgiving than the ones on your Instagram.  

Is this the best she thinks she can do?  So sad tbh :(

a military guy…. yikes, she could get any guy she wants and she goes for a murderer. 

He looks like a hobo that found a coupon for a free haircut lol

I don’t buy it, I know she’ll always love Pietro!

Pietro being your former co-star that so many of your fans were convinced was actually your soulmate.  From what he’d heard from you, those speculations had made things so uncomfortable between the two of you that it killed your friendship.  Those were nothing, though, compared to the comments about someone you actually had dated.

she’s obviously not over sam… they were so good together

He’d better watch out for her ex, he still likes tweets about her and they have so much chemistry

Wait, she’s not still with Sam Wilson??  I could’ve sworn they’d been dating for, like, five years.

You were scrolling through your phone with a smile as you walked past where he was sitting on the couch, and he just couldn’t help himself from asking even though he knew it wasn’t the best idea.  “Do I need to worry about this Sam thing?” he blurted out, trying to play it cool and not sound too anxious.  “People are really obsessed with you two…”

“Sam and I…” you sighed, staring off into space for a second.  He made himself anxious imagining what you were thinking about in that moment.  “I haven’t talked to him in… years?  I think it’s just because our relationship was so public that people are still talking about it.  And it had a lot of gossip material— we did a movie together, people thought it was sweet that we got together during production, it was great promotion for the picture… and from the outside, we made a lot of sense for each other.  But he has his own problems.  I loved him, but… he wasn’t ever going to be a one-girl kinda guy.”

“But you’re not just any one girl.  You’re… you know, you,” he emphasized.

“You’ve been reading too many headlines,” you shook your head as you sat down beside him.  “Please don’t turn into one of those guys who thinks of me as a celebrity first.  Before that—” you pointed to your own name where it was bolded on his screen in the trending topics page of Twitter— “was popping up on movie posters and in gossip magazines, it was just my name.  And I’m not perfect.  Not even close.”

Bucky sighed and wrapped his arms around you, pulling you into him and holding you tightly.  “And before I knew you were famous, or rich, or incredibly talented, I was totally obsessed with you just for who you are.”

“You’re too fucking amazing,” you sighed as you held his face and gave him a gentle kiss— the kind of kiss that instantly melted his heart and banished his worries.  When you pulled back and looked up at him with a smile, it was like everything else just… faded away.  “Don’t read the comments, okay?  None of them matter.”

He smiled and brushed his thumb over your cheek, overwhelmed by not only the softness of your skin but of your spirit as well.  In all his life he’d never been handled so… gently, with so much care.  “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me,” he mumbled, not even really realizing he’d said it aloud until you gave him a beaming smile.

“I can’t believe you’re my boyfriend,” you giggled pridefully.

“Seriously?  I can… very easily believe it,” he scoffed.

“I just mean… you’re so…” you searched for the words.  “You’re actually good to me, that’s the thing.  I’m not used to that.”

“You deserve the world,” he assured.  “I’m just gonna keep trying to give you as much of it as I can find.”

He watched his hand trail over your face, down your neck and to your chest where he played with the hem of your t-shirt.

"It's odd to know there are millions of people who are jealous of me,” he admitted quietly, remembering some aggressive comments from some very angry dudes who had apparently also watched your nude scene a few too many times.

"Do you like it?  Do you like how it feels to know you're making them angry every time you touch me?"

"Couldn't care less," he refuted.  "Nobody else matters when I'm touchin' you."

“Do you maybe wanna… touch me a little more about it?” you smirked, opening your legs slightly in invitation.

“Always.”

//

Bucky had, thankfully, not let the newfound fame get to his head.  In fact, he had demanded that the two of you hunker down in the house, since he feared that going out would lead to being recognized.  What he apparently hadn’t anticipated was that that might not be enough.

“Will you get that?” you requested when the gate buzzed, too wrapped up in the book you were reading to answer the intercom.

He hopped up and held down the button to communicate with the gate speaker.  “Who is it?” he asked.

“I’ve got a delivery from Anjappar Chettinad on 23rd?”

Bucky didn’t even reply before hitting the green button and granting access to the driveway.  BEEP BEEP BEEP! you heard the gate signal its opening, and the car pulling around up to the door.  Bucky didn’t open it until there was a knock, greeting the delivery guy with a smile and the necessary cash.

“I’ve got a lamb korma, hyderabadi mutton dum biryani and an order of— woah,” the man suddenly stopped, staring at Bucky’s face.  “Are you—?’

“Hungry?  Yes,” he frowned.

“You’re the guy dating— holy shit, congrats man,” he beamed, smacking Bucky on the shoulder pridefully before leaning in with a mischievous smirk.  “Say, is she a freak or what?”

“She is,” you piped up from the couch, making both men turn their heads; but one was chuckling while the other looked mortified.  “You better not have forgotten my paneer pakora or I’m gonna chain you up and whip you.”

“Uh, I— no, I got it right here,” he promised weakly, handing the bag over to Bucky and starting to dash away before Bucky grabbed his arm, making the smaller man whimper fearfully.

“You forgot the money,” Bucky reminded him gruffly, stuffing the bills into the driver’s front pocket.

Finally, he let go, and the delivery man instantly pulled away, rubbing his arm and looking a bit like a kicked puppy as he went back to his car and drove away.

“You didn’t need to scare him that bad,” Bucky chuckled.

“I could say the same to you!  Grabbing somebody with the metal arm like that will put the fear of God into them pretty fast.”

“I didn’t mean to grab him that hard,” he admitted, examining the prosthetic hand as he came back to the couch with the bag of food, handing it to you while he focused on watching his motorized fingers curl and uncurl.  “I think I need to get this thing recalibrated… it’s been bugging out lately.”

“I dunno, it was working just fine last night,” you smiled, remembering how delightfully cool those fingers felt inside you.

Bucky seemed to miss it entirely, though, as he stared off into space.  “I can’t believe I got… recognized.”

“You’re a star,” you winked.  “And not just with random delivery drivers.  I’ve had a lot of press requests, everybody wants to be the first one to get nice pictures of us together— we’ve had a dozen event invites as a couple.”

“Seriously?!” he scoffed, snapping back to reality slightly enough 

“Yeah, and look what came in same-day mail this morning!”  You leaned over to shuffle through the mail on the side table before finding and handing him a letter in a gold-embossed envelope, watching him read what you knew was inside.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association extends an invitation to Y/N Y/L/N and James Barnes to the annual Grant Banquet in support of the Young Artists Fund.

“It seems like a good first event for us,” you explained.  “Relatively small and low stakes, it’s for a good cause…”

“Are you sure I’m ready to be, you know… seen?  By people?” 

You scoffed, hardly believing how insecure he could be sometimes.  “You look great, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Will I have to talk to anybody other than you?” he asked, grimacing as if that were a form of brutal torture.

“Probably,” you admitted.

His frown deepened.  “What if I say the wrong thing?”

“I’m not that worried about you,” you smirked.  “You’re a lot better at this stuff than you think you are.”

“I don’t have anything to wear…”

You smirked, a little too proud of yourself, when you remembered the email your publicist had forwarded to you just this morning.  “Hugo Boss will pay you $1500 to wear one of their suits on the carpet.”

“They’ll pay me to wear free clothes?” he repeated with wide eyes.

“Yeah, that’s one of the cooler things about fame,” you laughed.  “I make a grand every time I wear this watch outside!”

“I guess I should send them my measurements then…” he trailed off.  “Any chance I can get in on that watch deal?”

“No, but you can make $50 by getting papped at Jamba Juice.”

He paused for a moment, scratching the back of his neck as he thought.  “Is the smoothie comped?”

“I don’t know.  Do you want me to ask?”

“...kinda…” he admitted with a shy smile.  

“Well, I will, and I’ll RSVP to this invite saying we’ll be there next week,” you decided as you started to open up the food, but Bucky stopped you by reaching for your hands.

“Are we really doing this?” he asked.

“If you want to,” you mitigated.

“Of course I do.  I guess I have to accept that you’re actually willing to be seen with me,” he chuckled.  “It’s just sort of hard to believe.”

You leaned in and kissed him; it was meant to be a casual, reassuring peck but he held you closer and you melted into him, moaning softly at his touch as you started to climb into his lap.

“The food’s gonna get cold,” he reminded you with a mumble against your lips.

Unfortunately, your literal hunger was a bit too strong to ignore, even with the growing intensity of a metaphorical hunger for Bucky.  “Alright,” you relented, getting off of him and returning your attention to the meal on the table.  “Just know that I really, really want to be seen together, in public, just in case anybody missed the news about us already.  I’m not embarrassed by you or afraid you’re going to do something dumb.  I…”

One of those words that can’t be unsaid started to bubble up in your throat and you coughed, banishing the thought.

“I really like you.  I think we have something special.”

He smiled gently, giving you one more kiss on the cheek.  “I think so, too.”

//

Since this was slightly less of a big deal than a premiere or press tour, you had managed to convince your styling team to let you dress yourself, which was why he was laying on the bed and talking to you through the bathroom door while you put on your gown.

“Do you want me to hire a new driver?” you prompted him, voice muffled slightly as he imagined your head covered in the fabric, trying to navigate through the dress.  “I don’t want you to feel… I don’t know, like a servant?”

“A servant?  You’re still paying me,” he reminded you.  “You are still paying me, right?”

“Yes,” you laughed, “but still, I would hate it if you felt like staff.  You’re my boyfriend!”

(His heart still fluttered every time you said it.)

“No new driver,” he decided.  “I can drive just fine, and considering how things went between us… let’s not open the door for anybody else,” he smirked, making you laugh in that way you did when he made a stupid joke but you still liked it somehow.

“Okay, sure, but what about being my bodyguard?  Is that too weird?” you continued.

“God no,” he scoffed, “if anything I’m gonna be better at my job than ever.  As your boyfriend, keeping you safe is my job, but since keeping you safe was already my job… it’s, like, doubled-up now.”

He lost his train of thought when you opened the door.

“How do I look?” you asked as you stepped in and gave him a spin in your new dress.  Your whole body was draped in red silk, with the exception of your back which was almost entirely exposed, as if it were begging him to run his fingers down your spine.

“Like everything I ever wanted,” he blurted out before he could stop himself.

And it was so odd that you questioned his desire to drive you, because those moments where he could steer with one hand and rest the other on your thigh, when he could catch a glimpse of you looking out the window at the city rolling by, when he got to listen to you ramble about something to kill the time during a drive; those were his favorite moments, and he wouldn’t trade them for anything.

After a relatively brief trip, you arrived at the venue, and all of a sudden he was doing what he’d fantasized about more than he’d like to admit: escorting you down a red carpet.  It was almost overwhelming— yelling, chattering, reporters speaking into camera, flashes going off in every direction—

“Hey,” you whispered, bringing your hand up to his cheek and instantly taking all his attention.

“Hey,” he returned.

“Just follow my lead,” you instructed.

“That was the plan.”