#dj lighting packages | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

hunterthecharmer · 23 days

Text

Unexpected - Part 2

Sorry for the delay everyone. Here's part 2! Hope you all like it :)

Summary: You work for an events company and end up being assigned as a talent handler for a 2 week long convention. Your co-worker ends up assigned to Glen Powell, but you catch his eye. Can you remain professional and keep him from knowing you're actually a pretty big fan of his?

This is my inspiration for the outfit he’s wearing :)

Part 2

It’s the middle of the week, and every day has been spent coordinating with Dylan O’Brien’s team to get every piece of his schedule nailed down. He only had one assistant in the office currently which made your job a bit easier. Savannah, on the other hand was sipping her lattes with her feet kicked up in the corner of your office while you took your meetings each day as Glen’s assistant sent everything over via email or text, to not fill her day up with Zoom meetings.

“This probably means he’s a control freak.” Savannah muses, chewing on the end of her pen as she notates an email from his team. “Look, we both have our work cut out for us. Have you opened your package yet from his team?” You ask, waving your mailer in front of her with a grin. You already knew she was going to want to swap one of the items.

“Wait, what? No! What did they send?” She grins, tearing open the envelope to pull out a large autographed headshot of Glen. Some pens, a lanyard and a handwritten note from his assistant come tumbling out with it. Savannah pouts, immediately shifting her eyes to the one you’re holding. “C’mon, don’t make me beg! Let me see it!” She’s giddy as she shakes your arm, and you giggle as you dramatically remove it from its sleeve. “Trade ya?” You wink at her, before you both search the hall for some empty frames and get Jim from IT to help the two of you hang them up in your offices.

As soon as he’s finished, Savannah comes tapping on your door. “Thanks for trading. Dylan is my man! I hope he’s nice, I don’t know how I’ll feel if he’s rude..” her voice trails off, and you pat her on the shoulder. “He’ll be great. Don’t stress it! You’ll do a great job keeping him on track.” She smiles at your reassurance. “Sooo, are you going to pack your Longhorn hat?”

You gasp at her, crumpling a nearby scrap of paper and throwing it at her. “Listen, that hat is my only one that’s black, it goes with everything, and…yes, it may or may not have only been bought because of Glen. BUT, of course it’s coming. You never know what Tennessee weather will bring!” You smirk at her before flipping off the lights in your office, following Savannah down the hallway to the parking deck.

----

“Wow, it really is beautiful here.” You mutter to yourself as you climb into the shuttle taking you from the airport to the event location. The sky seemed a richer hue of blue, and the large trees shaded the vehicles the entire trip. You allowed yourself to breathe as you stepped into the large auditorium building. All the months of hard work and planning had finally paid off. Seeing it with your own eyes was a real treat that you rarely got to enjoy with this job. Hundreds of staff members were busily setting up chairs, tables and last minute details together before the talent would arrive that evening. The welcome party was going to be a blast - glow sticks, a DJ, boujee appetizers and twinkling lights. It would be the perfect way to welcome the talent and allow everyone on location to get ready for the weeks ahead.

After doing your makeup and spraying some texture spray in your hair, you take one last look in the mirror of your little cabin and smile. You felt confident in your all black outfit. Black levi jeans, an off the shoulder black long sleeve with some gold jewelry and some hoops. Your hair was curled, and the leather boots were keeping your feet warm from the winter chill outside. You plop down on the edge of your bed and take in your home away from home. Everyone had their own little log cabin, it was basically a studio set up with a queen sized bed in the middle of the room, chandelier above it and of course a bathroom and lounger with a big window. It was charming and cozy, and you couldn’t imagine how much nicer the talent’s must be if this was how lovely yours was.

One last spritz of texture spray to your hair and you were out the door, jumping on your personal golf cart to ride down to the warehouse.

“Over here! Over here!” You hear a high pitched squeal from across the gravel as you put the golf cart in park. You swivel your head to the left to find Savannah fastly approaching, one hand waving you down, the other holding her skirt from dragging across the ground. “Finally, you’re here!” She wraps an arm around you in a tight hug. You giggle as you steady your balance, hugging her back. You knew she had to be so nervous to meet the talent, because you weren’t the type to get starstruck and your own heart was hammering in your chest.

“We’ve got this! We aren’t the only ones meeting them for the first time tonight. Just remember that! I’m sure Glen will be lovely. I promise I will try to nonchalantly get Dylan to meet you tonight too. Deal?” You both pinky promise before heading inside towards the loud music.

You squint your eyes at the glowing white orbs on each high top table, not a single chair in sight other than at the bar. The DJ had many of the guests up and dancing while others socialized amongst themselves. Everyone was dressed casually, probably changing minimally after their plane rides. You and the other workers were definitely dressed up a little more, which instantly put you at ease. Feeling more put together and confident, you lead Savannah to the sign in table. Glancing around as you wait in line, you watch the other girls and guys check over their packets, taking in who their responsibility will be for the next two weeks. Reading what their pick up and drop off schedule will be like, and all the other fast facts about their assigned celebrity; allergies, preferences, etc. As soon as your packet about Dylan is in your hands, you find an empty table and start reading over it. You nonchalantly do a sweep of the room, the different colored lights illuminating everyone’s faces. Some of your favorite actors are in this room, and you couldn’t believe it. After a few moments you spot Dylan at the bar, the lavender backdrop and blue lights behind the stools accentuating his all white outfit. He runs a hand through his shaggy brown hair, mid conversation with another actor you didn’t recognize. You quickly glance down at your paper, making notes with your pen. You get through about three pages before Savannah appears in front of you, slamming her lanyard down on the table. “Did you introduce yourself yet?” She whispers, rummaging around in her bag for her lipgloss. “No, I’m letting him finish his conversation first. How’s Glen?” You ask, smirking at her. “He’s a dream. He literally made a beeline for me through the crowd to introduce himself! I have to bring him his schedule, apparently no one had it in their rooms when they got here so that’s awkward. Strike one on us.” She bites her bottom lip. You feel your eyes widen. “What?! That was supposed to have been done days ago! The girls from scheduling said they had it under control..oh well. I guess it’s a nice ice breaker for us to approach them. Wait, did you say Glen came up to you? How’d he know you were his handler?” Savannah raises a hand to cover her mouth before moving around the table top to grasp your forearm. “Girl! You know how they sent us head shots of the talent? Apparently they received one of us too! Isn’t that wild?” She giggles, taking in your reaction. “So, that means Dylan already knows I’m here probably. Great..” You let your voice trail off before closing your folder and grabbing your lanyard to place around your neck.

“Let me go say hello, then!” You flash Savannah a nervous smile before heading to the bar, Dylan’s eyes immediately drifting from the man he’s talking to over to you. He places a hand on his shoulder and says what you assume to be a quick goodbye before turning on his heel toward you. “You’re the lucky lady who's stuck with me, yeah?” He grins, extending a hand to you. His brown eyes are friendly, twinkling beneath the lights dancing around the room. “I’m Dylan, so nice to meet you!” His handshake is firm, and you take note of how strong his cologne is. “I promise to get you everywhere on time these next few weeks. It’s great to meet you!” You return his smile, moving closer to him as a crowd of people brush past the two of you toward the buffet, the DJ announcing to everyone that dinner has been set out. Dylan leans down to your ear so you can hear him better. “I’m so stoked to be here, did you have a hand in all this?” He shouts above the music, gesturing around him to all the decor in the warehouse, fake pink and magenta flowers are strung up through the rafters, flameless candles were dispersed throughout the room, you were proud of the vibe in here for sure. It was kind of like a club but classier. “It took a village for sure, but I’m really happy with how it turned out! Oh, here’s your schedule by the way-” You continue to babble on to him about the whole event and the planning that went into it, and start going through Dylan’s schedule with him. He listens intently to you, his focus a hundred percent on what you’re showing him. Out of the corner of your eye, you catch Savannah pointing you out to Glen, his eyes peering at you from beneath his black Texas Longhorns ballcap before he looks away. You feel heat rush to your cheeks as you tear your gaze away from him. You and Dylan exchange some more info, and decide to meet out front by the golf carts in another hour or so. You meander towards the back of the space, your stomach growling at the sight of all the warm food placed ahead of you. Before you can grab a plate, you hear Savannah call your name, “Hey, wait up!” You spin around, her arm locking with yours to pull you away from the buffet line. “Where are we going?” You whine, turning your head back towards the food. “The food is that way! I’m starving.” Savannah shoots you a sympathetic smile as she continues to drag you through the crowd until she sits you down at a round table in the corner of the room. “Unfortunately, that food’s not for us.” She frowns, before leaving you to disappear behind a door and reappear moments later with two foil covered plates, two large water bottles under her arm. “Savannah…what’s on those plates.” You wearily question, grabbing it from her. You both count to three together before ripping the foil cover off, revealing a hamburger, bag of chips and the tiniest cup of fruit you’d ever seen. “Guess they had to cut corners to save money somehow.” You pout, pushing the plate away from you as you grab the bag of Lays.

“Here we chose the best menus each night for them, thinking we too would get to enjoy them, but no. We have to eat like kids.” Savannah complains as she bites into her burger. “What, lost your appetite?” She frowns at your plate. “I don’t eat burgers. Actually, I can’t eat red meat at all.” You reply, shrugging your shoulders. You slump back into your chair, disappointed that you’re missing out on the all you can eat sushi bar the talent is currently enjoying right now.

Savannah inhales her food as the two of you chat about your schedules for tomorrow, trying to find overlaps. Your conversation is cut short at the sound of a male voice in front of you. “Excuse me, sorry to interrupt but, do you ladies happen to know where the restrooms are?” You both snap your gaze upward to see Glen standing in front of your table, the only celebrity in a 300 foot distance. You take in his outfit- his cap you noticed earlier, his dark black jeans, crisp white t-shirt and grey cardigan that fits him perfectly. He’s extremely handsome in person, even more so than on screen. You open your mouth to speak, but you realize nothing is coming out of your mouth. You quickly wet your lips with your tongue, eyes deferring to Savannah, since he probably came over here to ask her. She is his handler for the weekend, after all. Savannah’s mid chew on the last piece of her burger, looking at you expectantly. “Oh, uh, they’re behind the DJ’s set up, there’s a little hallway back there with the bathrooms.” You meet his gaze again, his green eyes locked onto yours before they drop to the plate in front of you. The sides of his mouth tugs up into a smirk. “Not hungry?” He points to your untouched hamburger, his watch catching the light. You take a mental note of your stomach doing backflips over this accessory, as watches have always been kind of a thing for you. A turn on, if you will. You shake your head and laugh, admitting that you can’t eat it. “I’ll be out of commission if I eat that.” Glen’s playful expression turns to one of confusion, pointing over his shoulder to the extensive spread of food behind you. “You want to trade? I didn’t see that as an option. Where’d you find that?” Savannah giggles, waving her hands in front of her as she finally speaks. “No, no, the burgers are just for us little people. You guys get to enjoy the good stuff.” She winks at him, and you nudge her beneath the table. Not exactly the best way to put it…

Glen’s eyebrows furrow slightly, head tilting to the side. “That doesn’t seem fair. Tell you what, I’ll bring you back a plate of whatever you want if I can devour that burger on your plate.” He flashes you a grin, and you’re enthusiastically nodding before you can think twice about it. “Yes, please! I’ll literally take anything you can gr-” you begin, but Savannah cuts you off. “She loves sushi, Glen.” They exchange a smile as he points to her before wading through the crowd. You turn to your coworker, mouth open in disbelief. “Umm, is Glen Powell bringing me a plate of food right now?!” You let out a tiny squeal, hitting her on the knee. She props a hand on her cheek, “I know right? Isn’t he so nice? Where the heck is Dylan?” She responds, squeezing your shoulder. “It sucks we have to act like we don’t know them. Like, at all.” She huffs, crossing her arms across her chest. “He’s over by the dessert bar, why don’t you take a quick walk by? He won’t even notice! He’s quite the social butterfly tonight.” You wink at her encouragingly, and she actually stands from her chair. “You know what, you’re right. Be right back!” She’s giddy as she weaves through the crowd, and in her wake you see Glen reappear, a plate full of sushi in tow. He sticks out his tongue, clearly proud of his selection. “Here we go, I got a little bit of everything for ya.” He presents the plate to you dramatically, flicking his wrist to emulate a waiter as he drops it on the table. “You’ve outdone yourself.” You grin, placing a hand over your heart to match his energy. “And in return…” You reach for the plate, lifting the burger to his hands. He shakes his head, instantly grabbing the burger out of its sleeve and taking a huge bite out of it. “I’m Glen, by the way.” He mumbles, his mouth full. You swallow thickly, Savannah’s reminder echoing in your head as you introduce yourself, acting as casual as possible. You lift your chopsticks and dig into your food, not having realized that Glen’s attention is on you. The two of you continue to eat in silence, hunger clearly winning here. “Guess we were hungry.” You laugh, pushing your now empty plate away from you. Glen throws his head back with a chuckle, nodding in agreement. “Guess so. It was a long travel day.”

Suddenly, you remember why he approached your table in the first place - the bathroom. “Wait, did you ever find the restrooms?” Your tone has a hint of worry in it; what were you thinking, sending him off to get you a plate of food? You were sup[posed to be serving the talent, not the other way around. You suddenly felt embarrassed, nervously tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. Glen’s mouth turns into a soft smile, his expression playful again. “Oh, I knew where the bathrooms were.” His words hang in the air as you process his tone, taking in his facial expression. Was he..flirting with you? There was no way. You were delusional. Before you can respond, he stacks his empty plate on top of yours and slides them back toward him, leaning over the table a bit to make sure you can hear him. “Nice doin’ business with you.” He shoots you a quick wink before he tosses the plates into the trash can and disappears into the crowd. You’re aware of the cheesy grin on your face that you can’t wipe off, your teeth sinking into your bottom lip as you fidget with your bracelets. Savannah soon returns, waving you toward her. “C’mon, let’s get to our carts and wait for the boys! We have an early morning tomorrow.” ANd with that, you grab both of your bags and follow her to the gravel lot outside, the exchange with Glen replaying over and over in your mind.

Dylan strides up to your golf cart right on time, his eyes glazed over. “Man, that was fun! You guys killed that. I’m dead tired though.” He raises his hand for a high five, and you happily oblige before driving him to his personal cabin. Agreeing on a wakeup time, you wait for him to get inside before driving off.

You snuggle into bed that night replaying how amazing the event space looked, relieved that Dylan was kind and, so far, not a diva. You were looking forward to getting to know him a little better and look out for him the next few weeks. And then there was Glen…you had to try and downplay tonight’s interaction. He was just being nice, his parents clearly raised him right. That’s all it was. Did he seriously wink at you? Maybe you dreamed that part. Maybe he isn’t as nice as he seems, and just a charmer. He could have a girlfriend for all you know!

“I need help.” You mutter to yourself.

You shake your head and sigh; you were here to work. You needed to be professional and short with all of the guests here. End of story. You let yourself fall asleep to the sound of the wind blowing outside your cabin window.

#glen powell #glen powell fic #glen powell x reader #glen powell fanfic

70 notes · View notes

nomagicartz · 3 months

Note

Pleaseeee tell us more about your TC lore :3c it's been a delight to see old mc art in this day and age and the middleschooler in me is having a blast

cracks my knuckles . chat ur in for a long one and this is just basics

TC lore okay basics . world works like if minecraft and real life were combined . game things yknow . think mcsm .

World is split up into three sections, the main lands (occupied by players), the oceans (occupied by various aquatic races), and the farlands (occupied by elves), as seen here,

Elves are quite uncommon in the main lands ! Most fled to the farlands when notch ascended to godhood or whatnot

TC's story mainly takes place in the main lands !

got that cool okay now for actual tc things

TC is a sort of special group sent on various missions to keep the main lands safe. Sometimes they are in battles and sometimes theyre just off to go meet some king or smth

For a majority of the story, several aquatic nations are at war with many land kingdoms. The war started right after a major virus outbreak (zombie infection if you will, taken from Endstone and the older Truemu stories)

Okay time for the actual team in . Almost oldest to youngest order (Except for ssun and husky)

Ssun is the 'leader' of tc, being the second eldest and the one with the most combat knowledge. He's pretty against anyone else going on combat missions, this guy is a boydad . Unfortunately his eyes are sensitive to light, so hes rockin shades all the time to help

Husky is the healer, being the eldest he prefers to be out of direct combat. They're the glue that keeps the team from falling apart, being the one that has the braincell .

Mitch is the best up front fighter for the team! He's literally coded to be a fighter, and good lord does he get even better once he gets his fancy sword (as seen in the Warzone music video). He is the one token straight, and is very brutal with his words

Jerome is the second best fighter ! He is a heavy hitter, switching between an axe and a mace for fights ! hes the family dog and weighted blanket /j

Sky is the second team 'leader', despite his lack of braincells, hes pretty good at quick thinking! They keep the morale up and often is the "face man" ! this guy just fucking rocks shades for no reason . adhd central pt 1 over here

Ty is. well . hes there. Hes there to look good and to chew gum and hes all out of gum /j (Ty and sky are a package deal)

Jason ! He's the mechanic (and the dj)! Fuckin guy made his own spacesuit and weapons ! Everyone else out here using swords and bows this guy is using literal guns ! His suit doubles as mobility aids (Specifically his lower half, his boots / leg pads have support and compression sleeves built in :]) adhd central pt 2

Seto ! this guy is the youngest of the team, often put outside of combat both because hes not built for it and Ssun will not let a kid fight. He uses his magic to help defend and distract the enemy! this fuckin guy is autistic as hell, but thats okay his spinterest in magic and elven history helps alot

okay time for out of context fun facts that i may expand on more later someone remind me to do that

there are two types of players, born and spawned (Age is based on body age, not how long one has been conscious), all mobs and elves are born, but not all players are spawned (or human)

Jason, sky, ty and seto are all under the trans umbrella ! Trans rights and wrongs

Jason was trapped in space for 4 going on 5 years . its where he taught himself how to build suits (Even with many failure)

Ty is somehow the most mentally stable team member

no one here is fully human. the one closest to being fully human is like . Jason i think

They r one big happy family chat trust me

#feel free to send more asks i really love talking about my silly guys ive done so much world building and timeline-ing #i have gods and magic systems and respawning and command blocks all thought out #team crafted #im not tagging all of them this is for my own silly little things #also i didnt backread any of this and its 2am so im sorry for any mistakes

16 notes · View notes

cosmica-galaxy · 9 months

Note

I hope you don't mind one last one for now but this ask has been in the back of my mind forever. I saw the weaponsmith!human ask & I fell in love with the idea. Based on John Wick 2 where the Baba Yaga goes equipment shopping & meets the Sommelier, picture this:

Cameron, DJ, Vee & Veteran were called down to the armory by Doc to see something. Upon arrival, the doors opened to reveal Doc & greeting them upon arrival & the human, who was wearing a fancy looking butler uniform & tuxedo with gloves, was polishing a paralyzer rifle with a cloth. They then put it back on the rack & turn to face their friends & caretaker.

"Good afternoon guys. I'm glad you all could come here today for what I like to call a, 'tasting'. Now then, let's get started. Cameron, Vet. Now I know of both of your fondness for the paralyzer rifles but, I can whole heartedly endorse this new upgraded version (hands them both each one). A higher frequency output for longer stunning duration against normal & larger opponents, a built in plasma ballistics knife for close quarters combat, a laser function for blasting stronger toilets to dust, & I know & hope you'll both appreciate the custom design & your names signed by yours truly of course. I've also, (pulls out two cases from under the display counter & opens them, revealing pistol variants of their rifles), made these more compact breed with the same power as their larger counterparts but with much better handling & mobility."

Now then, DJ. I've noticed that while you're race is more then capable in the knife-fight-distance & self defense with your soundwaves, there's one small key area that's lacking a little bit. Range. Now don't get me wrong I've seen your matriarch, her brother & your titan blast their knives with their soundwaves & no doubt you can do the same, I've always felt you could do more. Which is why, after a ethical thumbs up from Pal, I made you this (hands DJ his new gun). The cardiac pulse blaster. Functionally very similar to a speaker mimic's blast, albeit not as strong as the real thing. But it can penetrate headphones and disrupt a foes' cardiac rhythm, however it doesn't fully kill the unit. Instead, let the stress of the battle kill those toilets. No doubt it will up your kill count my friend.

And of course, I can't forget about you Vee. I would say you arguably have the most solid combat package. But I know for a fact that it can be perfected even more. (Takes out two wrist blasters with TV remotes sticking out to form their barrels) Should your TV light not work on whatever Skibidi you encounter, these blasters should come in handy. One blast will infect the toilet allowing you to mind-control it. And of course, (takes out a custom box with his new blades in them) the finest cutlery. All freshly stemmed & designed by me. The electrical obsidian material & the remote charging feature through the pulses of your own core that these have will allow you to cleave through metal & porcelain. The "reaper" shapes they have helps for better directional swings.

Now with that said, I really do hope you guys enjoy them & find them effective."

What are all their reactions?

P.S: Sorry this is so long.

If there's one thing the alliance members LOVE, it's getting new weapons. The camera units, both Vet and Camron, each explore the new guns frames and magazines before walking over to try them out in the shooting range that was built for testing such things. The first round of shooting enabled the pair to discover that they find that the guns were nimble, smaller, and still packed a PUNCH, judging from how badly singed the dummy's further into the range fared. Plus, the dummy that appears in front of both Camron and Vet was reflexively stabbed by both in their disgusting fake neck. Cleaving through the thick-skin material like warm butter. With a brief glance of excitement towards one another, the pair give the guns an approving thumbs up. DJ is excited to finally get a weapon that fits his faction a lot more. Knives are nice, but they are VERY close range and need multiple hits to kill...as a result, DJ has to be careful and lacks a kill count that's worthy of boasting about. However, the new gun in his hands felt amazing. Upon taking it to the shooting range and lining up a headphone-equipped dummy, he fires the first blast. The recoil was there, but it wasn't horrible. Plus, he finally understood how the gun could penetrate the headphones...the plastic that the headphones were made out of cracked and crumbled from the force of the blast...as well as the entire dummy's posture changed. It even skid back a few feet! DJ lets out a whistle sfx. He LOVES this new gun! Vee was a little apprehensive of exchanging his precious combat knives, but the sheer sleekness and reaper-like design of the new ones swayed him over nearly immediately. The biggest problem the TV units have is the glasses that the enemy uses to resist their powers...if this weapon can bypass such a handicap, then the battles would become easier to win. With a quick exchange of his knives and a wiring of the new weapon into his core-line, he heads over to practice with the new ones. The first was obvious, he needed to test these knives. As soon as the round started, skibidi dummies appear in the training area and he unsheathes his new scythes. With a swing, they cut through even the thickest of material with gliding accuracy, then with a flick and rotation of his wrist, he swings cleanly in the opposite direction. Nailing the dummy that appeared behind him. He swings again and again, ripping, shredding, and demolishing the dummies. Then, he saved the last one for long range as the remaining toilet dummy was a ways away. Of course, this would need a live subject, so all he could do was check the range on the weapon. Which was...quite a distance, surprisingly. Once it was all said and done, he retracts his scythes and nods in approval.

#bl1tzm1k3 #haxorus imp #cosmica galaxy #hax speaks #cosmica-galaxy #skibidi tag

27 notes · View notes

mariacallous · 4 months

Text

When poet John Keats wrote in “Ode on a Grecian Urn” that “beauty is truth, truth beauty,” he probably didn’t have AI influencers in mind.

Perhaps he should have. Back in April, Fanvue, an AI-infused creator platform that falls somewhere between OnlyFans and Cameo in terms of services, launched what it’s calling the “world’s first beauty pageant for AI creators.” On Monday, the World AI Creator Awards announced the contest’s 10 semifinalists. Drawn from a pool of more than 1,500 applicants, they are vying for the chance to make a liar out of Keats—and a prize package valued at about $20,000.

Amongst those 10 finalists, you’ll find Seren Ay, a stunning Turkish redhead who is sometimes pictured doing jobs traditionally held by men in her country, like electrical lineman or firefighter. (She’s also a time traveler, posting “photos” with velociraptors and the first Turkish president, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.)

Then there’s Aiyana Rainbow, a Romanian biker babe/DJ whose creators have decided is queer—something they advertise through both her name and her shock of perfectly ruffled rainbow hair—and Kenza Layli, a hijab-wearing influencer from Morocco who already hawks everything from personal hygiene products to local tourism. (This makes sense considering that a recent study found that almost half of Gen Z respondents in the US and UK were “more likely” to be interested in a brand if they knew it had an AI spokesperson.)

While Fanvue’s finalists run the global gamut in terms of origins, they’re also all capital-B beautiful, each possessing a supernatural combination of a buff (but not too buff) body, a stunning face, and the kind of effervescent personality that only really exists in influencer culture. Their hobbies and pet causes (Fashion! Inclusion! Travel! Hormonal imbalances!) are blandly interesting enough to make them palatable to followers and brands alike. Their image captions—some of which are written by actual humans and some of which are written by AI—are generally full of platitudes about how cool life is.

While all that might seem surface-level at best, these totally fake beauties aren’t all that different from real-life pageant participants, especially in 2024. Hilary Levey Friedman, a sociologist who studies beauty pageants and whose mom was a former Miss America, says that she doesn’t think the idea of an AI beauty pageant is a big deal considering “the long-standing practice in pageants of enhancing what you have,” whether that means surgery, hair extensions, fake tans, petroleum jelly teeth, body contour, or “chicken cutlets.”

In social media posts and headshots in particular, Friedman says, pageant contestants often use airbrushing and camera tricks to make their images pop, something that’s never been seen as a negative in the industry. When push comes to shove, though, there’s still a physical human behind that account and on that stage, living and breathing under all those lights and filters.

What makes an AI pageant different, Friedman asserts, is that Fanvue’s contestants are products of their creators. “They’re drawing on all these stereotypes that we have about what a ‘beautiful woman’ is,” she says, “and people who tend to use AI might have a different idea of what an attractive woman might be. She might have pink hair, but she’ll still be within the realm of traditional beauty, with a thin body or not a lot of moles on her face.”

For the record, Fanvue’s contest, like human beauty pageants, will anoint a winner based on more than appearances. Unlike some of those contests, though, the World AI Creator Awards are looking for things like “social media clout” and how well their creators used prompts to create their contestants. Winners are set to be announced later this month.

Berat Gungor, one of Seren Ay’s creators, says that “in AI, you actually can’t create an ugly face,” though he’s careful to note that no human faces are ever truly ugly. While it’s easy enough for image-generating newbies to end up with blurred features and weird hands, Gungor says his experienced team was able to create an initial pool of 300 beautiful women in Stable Diffusion, ultimately picking Seren Ay’s face from the crowd because “she looked like a real person.”

Fanvue’s pool of thin, beautiful, mostly light-skinned finalists reflects what The Washington Post found when it tasked Dall-E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion with creating beautiful women. Stating that the programs tended to “steer users toward a startlingly narrow vision of attractiveness,” the Post reported last week that in the thousands of images it generated, almost all were thin, light- to medium-skinned, and young. (Just 2 percent of the “beautiful woman” images showed visible signs of aging.)

In some ways, those images are reflective of the pool they pull from. “How people are represented in the media, in art, in the entertainment industry—the dynamics there kind of bleed into AI,” OpenAI’s head of trustworthy AI, Sandhini Agarwal, told the Post.

But if mass-market images of thin, beautiful women yield AI-generated images of thin, beautiful women, who then turn into thin, beautiful AI-generated influencers, creating pictures that just feed back into the collective media stream, isn’t the snake just going to end up eating its own tail? And what does that mean for those of us who aren’t traditionally beautiful, whose bust-waist-hip proportions can’t live up to Barbie-like online standards or who just can’t afford the upkeep on a head of perfectly coiffed hair?

More than anything, it means the rift between human influencer and AI influencer gets deeper. Aiyana Rainbow’s multicolor 'do, for example, exists to attract attention. (Also, generative AI seems to love giving queer people colorful hair.) Creating someone with mousy brown hair or a 50-year-old gardening mom, for instance, wouldn’t have provided the visual hook needed, no matter how unrealistic or stereotypical that hook might be.

Aiyana Rainbow isn’t 100 percent perfect—her face, her creators note, isn’t entirely symmetrical—but any quick-scrolling fan would be hard-pressed to notice any sort of flaw.

Brands, certainly, aren’t interested in rolling the financial dice on creators whose images aren’t as perfect as possible. And while in recent years there has seemed to be a general love of celebrities who are “authentic” online (see: the relative success of “give no shits” actors like Renee Rapp, Nicola Coughlin, and Dakota Johnson on press tours, for instance), that doesn’t mean that carefully curated influencer lives—real or AI-generated—aren’t being rewarded all the same.

Fanvue cofounder Will Monange says his service currently has “thousands of monthly earning AI creators” on its platform, a number that’s seemed to grow exponentially over the past year. AI influencers like Aitana Lopez, whose creators are judging Fanvue’s contest, are doing similarly well, with hundreds of thousands of followers interested in Lopez’s virtual likes, interests, and lingerie pics. (She even plays Fortnite online.)

Seren Ay’s creators say their online doll gets queries looking for relationship advice, which she’s more than happy to provide, and Kenza Layli, the Moroccan contest finalist, gets about a 5 percent engagement rate on her posts, a number most marketing professionals would froth at the mouth for.

It doesn’t hurt that they’re beautiful on top of all of this. Or it does, but in the same way it hurts that society values one specific standard of beauty, whether on a human being or on some AI creation. In a world where millions upon millions of people follow hot influencers that they know, consciously or not, they’ll never meet or form a meaningful connection with, an AI pageant like Fanvue’s is a symptom of a larger issue, not a harbinger of impending doom.

9 notes · View notes

thesinglesjukebox · 4 months

Text

NEWJEANS - "HOW SWEET"

Breaking up: it's like sugar sometimes...

[6.69]

youtube

Rachel Saywitz: NewJeans has found a comfortable home in the production of DJ and electro-trot producer 250, whose musical style has become so singular that I'd start putting him up there with some of the other K-pop producing greats like Brave Brothers, the late Shinsadong Tiger, or Sweetune. His method continues to work well on "How Sweet": adding a little shimmering twist to American club genres (Miami bass in this case), seamless transitions from section to section, and the light vocal touch of every girl's vocals. But, as with the greats, I sense a slight loss of luster with the constant repetition. How many underground genres is 250 going to fish out of the Western world's murky waters to can up and ship out with a shiny new label? The catches are going to dry up eventually. [7]

Kayla Beardslee: NewJeans’ early singles smashed, bringing them ridiculous and unprecedented success for a first-year K-pop rookie group, because they delivered masterfully crafted pop songs in deceptively simple packaging. "Hype Boy" plows through enough memorable hooks for an entire album in a minute and a half, yet sounds so breezy and youthfully optimistic that the music doesn’t feel like work at all. Beneath the soft swells and whispers of "Ditto" is an instrumental that has a beautifully subtle touch with intimacy and a topline that stays in constant motion even as it tantalizingly holds itself back. In comparison, “How Sweet” is more of an underachieving graduate of the Tortured Poets school of songwriting. In each section of the song, they pick one melody with a limited dynamic range, hammer it into the ground, then tick the box and move on. For a Coca-Cola ad, it’s pretty flat. [5]

Mark Sinker: Chirpy song about how breaking up with u is great and also v easy bcz u suck and I never liked u! Happily the real-world backdrop (MASSIVE INDUSTRY DRAMA pitting label against manager) cannot possibly ground this as a metaphor. The delivery turns the tale of the change from oops non-allegory into smilingly blank-faced stonewall. [7]

Iain Mew: They stretch simplicity as a virtue further than ever, relying almost entirely on immaculate floaty vibes. The almost is crucial, though; the "...now that I'm without you" kicker adds just enough bitterness to keep this from feeling completely blank. [8]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: "How Sweet" is one of the most powerful kiss-offs we've had in years because it treats the end of a relationship as something so effortless, so natural, "like biting an apple." Even when lines are acerbic ("toxic lover, you're no better"), they are delivered with the exact amount of lift needed to signal both disgust and nonchalance. NewJeans do not care about this ex anymore, and they wield their restraint with grace; this is living well as the best revenge, and the song is potent because it feels like mist on a hot summer day. Producer 250 has always known how to excavate the potential of a minimalist pop song, and he's found an especially strong avenue here with the skeleton of an Atlanta bass track. The regional style (and specifically the Ghost Town DJ's track "My Boo") has had a large impact on K-pop since "Body Party" got big, but 250 makes it a more congenial affair: the hi-hats are low in the mix, the handclaps have more pop than the kick, and it all feels muted so the bubbly synth melodies and percussion—the latter approximating the "Triggerman" sample used in bounce classics—can flutter about. "How Sweet" is the most everyday that NewJeans has sounded, and it's all the more biting for it. [7]

Ian Mathers: It's devastating enough to get a "I'm doing better without you" message delivered with such nonchalant cool, but to make it a bop too? Really drives the implied "I probably didn't care that much in the first place" home, ouch. [8]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: A very NewJeansian take on the break up-come down song; it's a harder feeling to make sound giddy, but they pull it off here. The fragments jutting out from the sing-talk ("like biting an apple"; "no drama, it's good karma"; "little demon in my storyline" most of all) are thrilling and deranged, the kind of phrases that become involuntary mantras and mutterings when you make your way out of something all-consuming and are faced with the shock of the new. Most of the writing about NewJeans centers on their musical trappings, but the Miami bass riffs here are more perfunctory than their prior dalliances with drum-n-bass and Jersey club. That's not to say that it's a bad song — that bassline itself, rubbery and grooving, is gorgeous — but that it shares less with the perfect grooves that "OMG" and "Ditto" than first appears. [9]

Oliver Maier: Unusual for NewJeans both in that it is kind of a retread (think "OMG" 2: Not As Good) and that the performances are really quite listless. The thing about girl groups from anywhere in the world is that their songs tend to implode the moment it sounds like they aren't having fun. [5]

Jonathan Bradley: There's not the great shock of the new provided by genre experiments like "Super Shy" or "Ditto," but the R&B-lite of "How Sweet" gets some extra mileage from burbling percussion runs and photon-light electro textures. Switching between English and Korean lines in the hook is smart songwriting as well as smart globalization; it adds variation to a melody that threatens to run out of ideas after a mere three-and-a-half minutes. [6]

Michael Hong: Initially put off by how weary the vocals sound -- NewJeans have always been low-key, but they've never sounded so spent. But it starts making sense when you consider that NewJeans are just as much about the experience of sharing these milestones as they are living them. Backed by a laser show of synths, "How Sweet" is about convincing yourself that you're okay after a heartbreak and proving it to your friends. This exhaustion makes the sharper moments more effective: the wistfulness of "it's like biting an apple" longs harder, and the snarky "I'll see you out" that closes the track is a truly satisfying line read. With every chorus, the bitter tartness lessens and the the sweetness pops brighter. [7]

Alfred Soto: The relaxed sensuality is what I wanted from this week's Tinashe track. The melodies are sticky and sweet. [7]

Nortey Dowuona: The drum programming is a bouncy, yet flimsy kick snare pattern full of glittery lasers and clinking closed hi-hats. At first, it overwhelms you, with the rising hit arriving every four bars and doubling during the post chorus, but once you pay attention to the looping, ghostly synth melody, you feel toward a handhold in the wind. [6]

Isabel Cole: I get so excited by the aliens-attacking space-laser sounds at the beginning, and then it all mellows out to make room for an uninspiring vocal line delivered uninspiringly. Things perk up a little in the chorus (I remain a sucker for handclaps!), but unfortunately the actual melody continues to be the worst part of the song, to the extent that I think I'd prefer an instrumental version. [5]

Katherine St. Asaph: The melody on the verses sounds like something off PinkPantheress's Heaven Knows, which is some real influencer-becomes-influenced ouroboros shit. But "How Sweet" settles into a chorus that's undeniably itself, frenetic but small: kind of like "Let the Music Play" recreated by one of those miniscule Helmacron ships from Animorphs in tiny zaps and little plinks. And I do mean "settles": there's less fizz in the pop than there could have been, and NewJeans' vocals range from effortless to affectless, unbothered to unengaging. [6]

TA Inskeep: I'm absolutely here for NewJeans giving us a little bit of ecstasy. If this kicks off a revival of second-wave freestyle, I'll be very happy. (Someone call Sabrina Carpenter to the white courtesy phone, stat!) [8]

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: “How Sweet” is the most subdued and pedestrian newjeans have sounded. The beeps and blorps and percussion taste sweet, but the vocals are bitter and dull. But when the production has so many dynamic flourishes, and the meta-narrative around the group is so interesting, the score floor is high. [6]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

#newjeans #music #k-pop #music writing #music reviews #music criticism #the singles jukebox #Youtube

15 notes · View notes

maggie-004 · 1 year

Text

(Un-) Lucky coincidence – 4

Jenna Ortega x Fem reader

Summary: After Jenna stays at y/n's apartment, they bond over music, and y/n offers to teach Jenna DJing. Later, Jenna surprises y/n by suggesting she join the cast of the upcoming movie as a set nurse and audition for a role, leading to a heartfelt moment of gratitude between them.

Words: 1032

“Uhm y/n, can you spare me some comfortable clothes? My suitcase is with my driver and I just got a message that he’s in Munich to get the rest of the cast tomorrow.” Jenna asked me. “Yeah sure, no problem, come with me” We got up from the couch in my living room an went into my room. I opened up my walk-in closet. “Feel free to chose whatever you’d like to wear” My closet is very basic, mostly consisting of Black and white. There are a handful of light blue, grey and beige pieces. “You have such a cool style, I love it. Oversized tomboy style, That’s literally my streetstyle I swear.” Jenna said. She took out my favorite shirt, it’s a beige shirt from the collection of RevedTV, Antonia, it has like a dark green angry cartoon computer as motive with the inscription `Tonis Computer club` and she took the matching black RVD (Reved’s brand) sweatpants. “those are literary two of my favorite pieces they are from my Best friends collection, Antonia, you remember, I told you earlier about her. She sent me literally everything out of her store five times, so my closet is mostly her brand” I explained laughing because I remembered when I got that huge ass package without knowing what is inside. “Oh she has her own brand? That’s so cool, so she’s like famous right?” Jenna asked me. “Well not famous like you, but like famous in all the German speaking countries. She is indeed the first female streamer in Germany who reached a million subs on twitch”, “Woah that’s really cool, are you on twitch aswell?” Jenna asked me. “Yeah but I’m not that active there, I have 900k subs but I only stream twice a week. Mostly I do late night sets with Toni.” I explained. “That’s so cool tell me your artist name I want to follow you”, “Okay my artist name is on all the platforms the same it’s DJ y/A/n. I know not very creative to put a DJ before it but well.” I said. “Oh wanna know something cool?” “First of all I don’t think it’s stupid, everyone knows by looking at your name that you’re a DJ and yeah sure tell me.” Jenna smiled. “I got booked for next Coachella festival next year, it’s my first live performance” I happily said. “Oh my got that’s so cool, I am there next year as well. I’ll be there with my sisters.” “Oh that’s so cool, so we’ll meet again. Amazing but hey do you wanna get changed and come to the balcony afterwards I’m heading out for a smoke. I suppose you don’t smoke right” I said suddenly feeling the need of a cigarette. “We are honest with each other, aren’t we.” Jenna asked. ”Yes of course, why”, “I do smoke sometimes, but this can’t get any attention by the press.” Jenna said all serious. “yeah no of course not, everything that happens here stays here, promised”. “All right thank you, well don’t you wanna change in more comfortable clothes, I don’t mind you staying here while I change, we’re both women”. “Yeah you’re right.” I grabbed some RVD sweat shorts and a black RVD shirt. When I took off my shirt I could swear I saw Jenna glancing over form the side of my eye. But again I could just imagined it. But I’ll be honest I took a few glances at her as well. I hope she didn’t noticed. When I was done changing I threw myself on the bed, not facing Jenna because I got red as a tomato. I can’t help it, she is fucking gorgeous, who wouldn’t have a slight crush on her?

-Jenna’s view-

I swear she was glancing over at me, but touché I guess. I sure glanced at her a few time myself. I can’t help it, this women is way to stunning. I hope I don’t fall to bad for her, because to be honest, I would lie if I’d say I don’t have a little crush on her. I finally was changed and laid down next to y/n. “So you’ll teach me a few DJing things later? You know I really love music, and Daft Punk, oh my god they have my heart.”, “Yeah sure if you’re still up for it, why not and I love Daft Punk as well they are just amazing.”

-y/n view-

That’s when Jenna’s phone rang. “Oh sorry I got to take this, It’s Tim Burton.” She explained. I gave her a thumbs up and went out to my balcony. On my way there I grabbed my headphones an blasted music on them. Well long story short, One cigarette turned into three, and Jenna taped me on the shoulder 20 minutes later. I know normal people would flinch if someone taps them on the shoulder, when you can’t hear them, but I’m not easy to scare. “Well hello there, you want one?” I asked her while holding out my pack. “Sure thanks” she said and light her cigarette. She sat down next to me and started to say “well I just had a talk with Tim, the director of Wednesday, and well, you can say no if you want to but I suggested to bring you with me to Romania in two weeks as a set nurse… and I also mention that you always wanted to be an actress. We still have an open spot for a role that matches your description like 99%, so if you want we could record a casting scene later. Because Tim said that it would be perfect. Of course only if you want to”. Wow what the hell is going on. “Oh my god, that.. would be amazing. The part as the nurse I would love to take, and I also would love to audition. Wow thank you Jenna. That’s amazing and perfect timing. I have my graduation next week. Thank you Oh my god. Wow. Honestly I don’t know what to say” I just hugged Jenna. My good karma is still on track. I’m so glad I helped her earlier. “thank you” I mumbled into her shoulder.

A/N: So another part, let’s see how this goes on. This isn't proof read yet. FYI English is not my first language. I still hope you like it. :)

#jenna marie ortega #jenna ortega #jenna ortega x reader #jenna ortega x you #the fallout #actors #wednesday

50 notes · View notes

djdrentdjserviceingurgaon · 4 months

Text

Dj prices in gurgaon enquiry now 09625975001 https://sites.google.com/view/djdrentdjserviceinroad-gurgaon

#dj sound in gurgaon #dj light rental in gurgaon #dj packages #djdrentgurgaon #best dj in gurgaon #dj sound #cocktal party #djdrent #party dj

0 notes

mayamiwynwood · 4 months

Text

Nightlife in Miami: Mayami Wynwood Night Clubs, Bars & Party Place

Miami is a city that never sleeps, renowned for its pulsating nightlife, chic venues, and vibrant party scene. Among the city’s top hotspots, Mayami Wynwood stands out as a premier destination for those seeking an unforgettable night out. Located in the heart of Wynwood, Miami’s eclectic arts district, Mayami Wynwood offers an unparalleled nightlife experience, combining cutting-edge design, world-class entertainment, and a lively atmosphere. Here’s why Mayami Wynwood is your go-to spot for the best night out in Miami.

Electric Nightclubs

Mayami Wynwood is home to some of the most dynamic nightclubs in Miami, each offering a unique vibe and energy. The clubs feature state-of-the-art sound and lighting systems, creating an immersive environment where the music and atmosphere come alive. Whether you’re into electronic dance music, hip-hop, or Latin beats, the DJs at Mayami Wynwood spin a variety of genres to keep the dance floors packed all night long. Special guest performances and themed nights add an extra layer of excitement, ensuring there’s always something new to experience.

Chic Bars

For those who prefer a more laid-back but equally stylish setting, the bars at Mayami Wynwood are the perfect choice. Each bar boasts a unique ambiance, from sleek and modern to cozy and intimate, catering to all tastes and moods. Our bartenders are mixology maestros, crafting innovative cocktails that are as visually stunning as they are delicious. Whether you’re enjoying a classic mojito or one of our signature creations, the drinks at Mayami Wynwood are sure to impress. The “Wynwood Mule,” a refreshing twist on the traditional Moscow Mule, is a must-try.

Vibrant Party Atmosphere

At Mayami Wynwood, every night is a celebration. The venue’s vibrant party atmosphere is contagious, drawing in a diverse crowd ready to revel in the night. From bachelorette parties to casual nights out with friends, the energy at Mayami Wynwood is always electric. The spacious dance floors, stylish lounges, and outdoor patios provide plenty of options for mingling and dancing, ensuring you’ll have an unforgettable time no matter where you are in the venue.

Exclusive VIP Experience

For those looking to take their night to the next level, Mayami Wynwood offers an exclusive VIP experience. VIP guests enjoy access to private areas, personalized service, and premium bottle packages. The VIP sections are designed with luxury and comfort in mind, providing an ideal setting for special celebrations or simply indulging in a lavish night out. Our dedicated staff ensures that every detail is taken care of, allowing you to enjoy your night without any worries.

Artistic and Trendy Setting

Wynwood is known for its artistic flair, and Mayami Wynwood perfectly encapsulates this spirit. The venue is adorned with striking murals, contemporary art installations, and stylish decor that reflect the creative energy of the neighborhood. This artistic setting creates a unique and visually stimulating environment, making Mayami Wynwood not just a nightlife spot but a cultural experience. The blend of art and nightlife attracts a hip and trendy crowd, adding to the venue’s overall allure.

Live Music and Performances

Adding to the nightlife allure, Mayami Wynwood regularly hosts live music and performances that elevate the party experience. Local and international artists take the stage, delivering captivating performances that range from live bands to solo acts. The live music nights in miami are a perfect way to kick back and enjoy top-tier entertainment in a lively setting. For something truly unique, don’t miss our themed performance nights, where the entertainment is paired with immersive decor and special effects.

Convenient Location

Situated in the heart of Wynwood, Mayami Wynwood benefits from its prime location amidst Miami’s most exciting attractions. Before hitting the clubs, you can explore the nearby art galleries, boutiques, and restaurants that make Wynwood a must-visit destination. The central location also makes it easy to continue your night at other popular Miami spots, though once you experience the magic of Mayami Wynwood, you might not want to leave.

Experience the Best of Miami’s Nightlife at Mayami Wynwood

Mayami Wynwood encapsulates everything that makes Miami’s nightlife legendary—dynamic clubs, chic bars, live entertainment, and an unbeatable party atmosphere. Whether you’re a local or a visitor, a night out at Mayami Wynwood promises an unforgettable experience that captures the essence of Miami’s vibrant nightlife. Ready to experience it for yourself? Join us at Mayami Wynwood and discover why we’re the ultimate destination for nightlife in Miami.

#best cocktail bars in miami

4 notes · View notes

wormworker · 7 months

Text

HH: Dirty Angel Face (Between My Legs and Knicker Lace)

{Angel Dust, Hazbin Hotel playlist}

This ended up being autobiographical as well, since I personally find the character very relatable. I hope others experiencing the same might find some healing catharsis in these songs.

Many of the songs in the first chunk ("A Side") are lighthearted, but the ones below the intermission ("B Side") are much darker.

CONTENT NOTES: Hypersexuality, trauma, abuse, substance dependency, sexual abuse.

Links:

YouTube playlist version

Full list of songs and content warnings

Highlights:

{ SIDE A }

Red Light (by Siouxsie and the Banshees)

Blowing Up Your Mind (by Lords of Acid) NSFW

Slippage (by Goldfrapp) NSFW

Wasted Time - Lap Dance Mix (by My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult)

Fuck the Pain Away (by Peaches) NSFW

Crystalline Green (by Goldfrapp)

Flower (by Liz Phair) NSFW

Pictures of You (by HMLTD)

Twist (by Goldfrapp) NSFW

Masseduction (by St. Vincent) NSFW

Boy (by Viktoria Modesta)

Fresh Blood (by Eels)

Breathe (by Puscifer)

The Hollow (by A Perfect Circle)

Fuck With Your Head (by DJ Rap) NSFW

Professional Widow (by Tori Amos) NSFW

The Only Time (by Nine Inch Nails) NSFW

Beat It Upright (by Korn) NSFW

Wild Thing (by The Creatures) [CN: domestic abuse]

{ SIDE B }

Stinkfist (by TOOL)

Keep The Streets Empty For Me (by Fever Ray) [CN: sex worker abuse]

The Package (by A Perfect Circle) [CN: substance dependency]

Ocean (by Goldfrapp) [CN: abuse]

Laurel (by Goldfrapp)

Mr. Self Destruct (by Nine Inch Nails) NSFW [CN: substance dependency]

Army Of Me (by Björk) [CN: abuse]

Prison Sex (by TOOL) NSFW [CN: sexual abuse]

Ticks & Leeches (by TOOL) NSFW [CN: abuse]

Eve White Eve Black - Live at The Royal Albert Hall (by Siouxsie and the Banshees) [CN: abuse, screaming]

Christmas Kids (by Roar) NSFW [CN: domestic abuse, substance dependency]

Big Man With A Gun (by Nine Inch Nails) NSFW [CN: sexual abuse]

DO YOU DOUBT ME TRAITOR (by Lingua Ignota) NSFW [CN: sexual abuse, screaming]

#hazbin hotel #angel dust #playlist #Spotify

5 notes · View notes

edogawa-division · 1 year

Note

It was early morning when Kaoru received a notification on her computer that a package had been delivered. Despite it being her birthday, she was currently alone at home since Yuriko had to work, and Kanra had school. Frowning slightly, she checked the house's security cameras and looked as, on the front porch, boxes and containers had been seated neatly. And a delivery man had just walked off, not bothering to wait for a signature as he tried to avoid waiting at this house longer than necessary, due in no small part to Yuriko's deadly nature, Kanra's abnormal strength, and ADA's defense systems.

Sighing, the computer hacker stopped what she was doing and walked to the front of the house. Opening the door, she looked around briefly before looking down at all of the boxes. Sighing again, she picked up one before bringing it into the house. She then brought in the next, then the one after, until finally all of them were in. Though only a few of them were fairly light, the computer hacker still felt slightly exhausted by the ordeal.

"I need to work out with Yuriko and Kanra more," Kaoru thought as she let the AC cool her off. Once it did, she got to her favorite part of her birthday: unwrapping gifts. Picking up a random one, it felt far heavier than the others. Unwrapping it, she opened the box and veered as to what was inside:

Kaoru's eyes grew wide as inside was a DJ beginner's dream: a vinyl turntable as well as a programming station. A slight smirk appeared on her face as she thought of only one person who would go out of her way to get her something like this. Pulling out both pieces of equipment, she found a letter situated at the bottom. Reading it, her suspicions were confirmed as she saw who had signed it.

'What up, Miss Strategist? Heard today was your special day, so I thought I'd send you some gifts to celebrate! I remember you mentioned once at band practice that you wanted some DJ equipment to 'fine-tune' our sound. So, yours truly decided to go out of her way to get you some! You'd better be grateful! And I expect you to know how to use those things at our next practice! See you then, girl! And happy birthday!

Signed,

Aranai'

Kaoru chuckled, shaking her head at the Yozakura leader's antics. She had only known Aranai for a year or so now, but she still didn't know what the former biker was thinking sometimes. Still, she was a badass gift-giver! Kaoru was looking forward to trying this equipment in her lab later.

Setting them off to the side, she picked up the next box, which was, thankfully, far lighter than the first one. Unwrapping it, she looked inside and her eyes, again, grew big at what was inside:

It was a... birthday cake. But what made it so impressive was the cake was designed to look like the motherboard of a computer or something akin to it. It was covered with bits and pieces, which, thankfully, were edible. To top it all off, it had a 'Happy Birthday' sign on it which was lit up. How exactly, was unknown.

The computer hacker found her mouth watering as she stared at the sweet confectionary. Even covered in plastic to keep it from smearing or getting torn to pieces, Kaoru could still smell the icing coming off of it. Carefully pulling it out of the box, she set it down on the kitchen table, eager to bite into it as soon as she was done. Going back to the box, she looked as a letter was attached to the bottom.

'Happy birthday to you, Kaoru. Yuriko-san mentioned in passing that your birthday was today so I decided to make you a cake to celebrate. Sorry if its not as good as the ones I sent Kanra-chan. But I hope you enjoy it, regardless. Again, happy birthday and I hope it is a good one.

Sincerely,

Luis Kōkyū'

Kaoru smiled as she had a feeling that the Hispanic chef would send her something. Frankly, she would have been a bit disappointed if he hadn't, especially since he had sent Kanra something for her birthday. As much as she enjoyed her sister's baked goods, Luis's had a special place in her heart. Maybe it was because she only got to eat them once in a while, whilst she had Kanra's baked goods almost every day. She really hoped that in the future the two of them didn't have a competition between them. If they did, it was going to be hell choosing whose sweets were better...

Promising to herself (and the cake) that she'd be back later, Kaoru went back to the last package she had. This one was quite possibly the lightest of the three, which was good for Kaoru. Like the last two, she opened it and looked at what was inside:

It was... a bouquet. A bouquet of... lupins, if she weren't mistaken. Kaoru wasn't an expert when it came to botany, but she did recognize these flowers. How exactly? Because... because, she recalled that they were her mother's favorites. Though she wasn't as close to her as she was to her dad, Kaoru still remembered things about her. And she definitely remembered these. Her mother had pots of these flowers all throughout her old house, making it smell sickeningly sweet.

If that was all that was inside the box, then it wouldn't have been so bad. But... tied around the pot containing the flowers was something else:

It was a silver necklace with a cross at the end of it. Though it appeared plain and simple, it... it somewhat resembled the one that her mother used to wear. Untying it, Kaoru held it in her hand, her mouth open as she looked at it. Looking back at the plate, she saw there was, like the previous gifts, a letter attached. Opening the envelope, she looked as it read:

'A most joyous and blessed day to you, Kaoru-chan! Aranai-chan informed me that today was your birthday, and I refused to miss gifting you something this year, as I did the last. Though I did not know her as long as I wished, your mother, Shizuka-san, was a very nice and charming woman. I truly wished I could have gotten to know her more before the Lord called her home. I know this gift may not be the best that you receive today, but I hope that you enjoy them, nonetheless. Your mother enjoyed lupine flowers the most. They symbolized, not only intelligence but also transformation and renewal. I know thinking of her may hurt, but I pray that you do not forget her. And remember, if you ever need an ear to listen to, my door is always available.

May you enjoy your birthday, and may you be blessed with many more.

Sincerely,

Shisuta Heisha.'

She had barely gotten through the middle of the letter before the computer hacker's eyes grew blurry and wet as repressed memories of her family came flooding back to her mind. She knew that they were gone; they had been gone for years now. ...But that didn't make missing them any easier on her...

When Yuriko and Kanra arrived home they weren't prepared for music to blare loudly from the house. They especially weren't ready for the scene when they opened the door. Kaoru was in the middle of the living room her brand-new DJ set up in front of her. She was dancing to a song she was remixing. Yuriko and Kanra could only describe the song that she was playing as pure Kaoru. Chaotic and frankly a little weird.

“Oh hey!” Kaoru welcomed them as she noticed them. “So what do you think? Cool right?”

“It's…something alright.” Yuriko decided to settle on.

“Sounds like a mix between a fever dream and going days without sleep.” Kanra bluntly told the lavender-haired woman to her face.

“Oh wow, rude. How do you even know what that's like anyway?” Kaoru questioned.

Kanra seeing the cake that Luis had made frankly ignored her older sister and made a beeline to it. The desire to consume it was evident in her eyes.

“Oi! Kanra do not eat my cake! I swear to Athena!” Kaoru shouted racing towards Kanra and tackling her to the floor before she could touch the cake. The two of them were now rolling around on the floor.

“Kaoru! Kanra! Stop fighting or else I’ll put you through training that would make U.S. Marines balk!” Yuriko ordered.

Unbenowst as the family continued to squabble the translucent figure of a woman with a silver cross around her neck appeared next to the bouquet of lupins Kaoru had been gifted. A smile formed across her face as she watched the scene unfold in front of her.

“Happy Birthday Sweetie.”

Thank you for the gift!

#hypnosis microphone #hypnosis mic #hypmic #hypmic oc #hypnosis mic oc #shinozaki kaoru #kuromiya yuriko #akemi kanra #aranai norikoru #luis kōkyū #shisuta heisha #happy birthday kaoru 2023 #kunnaki

9 notes · View notes

callsign-magnolia · 2 years

Text

I Hope You Dance // Ch. 41

MATURE CONTENT (18+)

A/N: This is cross posted to my Wattpad, so if this seems familiar that is why!

TW: Mental abuse, emotional abuse, slight physical abuse, death and loss.

Description: When Caila meets Rooster, sparks fly. But, she's already married, to a man who she thought loved her, and won't let her go. Rooster will fight for her, he just has to convince Caila to fight for herself.

Word Count: 7.0k

Chapter 40 | Masterlist

It was a warm and sunny day in San Diego, perfect for viewing venues. I pulled the Bronco up next to Penny’s Porsche, her and Mav leaning against it and talking. “There she is! The Bride-to-be!” Mav yelled as I got out, wrapping me up in a hug. Once he let go, Penny hugged me. “So, how’d you find this place?” She asked, turning to look at the victorian home in front of us. “Passed it on the way back home from looking at that last hotel.” She nodded as we walked onto the porch. I caught sight of the Kingston Estate as I sat in traffic coming back from the last venue I checked out. When I looked online they had a garden in the back, as well as a hillside that gave you a view of the ocean, perfect to get married in front of. We walked inside as a woman in a suit walked up to us. “Hi, you must be Miss Motley.” I nodded, shaking her hand. “I’m Margaret, will your fiancé be joining us?” I shook my head. “He’s currently deployed. He’ll come back in April.” She smiled and nodded. “Well here. These have our package options, we offer catering, a photographer and videographer, and we can even make your cake in house.” I raised my brows as she went over everything they did, and the prices on the sheet weren’t that bad.

“Now let me show you the ballroom.” “Oh, can we actually see the garden and the outdoor space first?” She nodded, having us follow her outside. We walked out a large set of gorgeous french doors, leading into a large open space. “Now this is where you would have the ceremony outside. We supply chairs as well as an archway that you can decorate as you, please. If it is too windy that day, we can move it inside, but hopefully we wouldn’t have too.” It was so open and spacious out here, the grass was soft and green, and you could smell the flowers from the garden when a breeze blew by. “You think Bradley will like it?” I turned to Mav who nodded. “Oh yeah, this is something he’d enjoy.” I smiled, nodding. “Okay, let me show you the garden.” We followed her around the corner and all kinds of flowers in many different colors invaded my vision. “Oh wow!” Penny gasped as we walked around. Rows on rows of flowers were everywhere, and there was even a small pond with fish inside. “I really really like this.” The smile wouldn’t leave my face and my muscles were aching. “Would you like to see the inside now?” I nodded and we followed behind her. “Okay, this is our main ballroom.” She opened the double doors to reveal a large room with white and black tiled floor. Tall windows allowed for the sunlight to pour in which made the room seem so warm.

“This is where your reception would be. We provide tables, chairs, a screen for pictures or videos, and space for a band or DJ. We can decorate however you wish. A lot of people these days like the bright neons, but we do have some warm yellow lights that we can hang.” I nodded. “Warm lighting for sure, I’m not a fan of a club element at weddings and neither is Roo.” She nodded. “We have a list of bands and DJ’s that have worked with us, and we recommend as well.” I nodded, just amazed at the room. “Against this wall here we have the bar. You don’t have to use it but if you do you have the option of an open bar or guests paying.” I nodded still mesmerized by the room. The gold chandelier hung over the center of the floor, the morning sunlight bouncing off it. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you to our bridal suite and our grooms suite.” We followed her up the grand staircase, the windows showing a beautiful view of the ocean. She took us to the right, towards the groom’s suite, swinging the door open and allowing us into the large room. There was a pool table, a wet bar, a large bathroom with a shower, darts, a large couch and a few chairs and a tv. “There is a bedroom through here, many grooms decide to stay here the night before.” She opened the door to see a smaller bedroom that had a queen size bed. I nodded, as we looked around. “We also have a large closet with a steamer for tuxedos.”

It was nice, nicest I had seen yet and the best price for what we were getting. “Now, the bridal suite.” I was excited to see this, almost skipping behind Margaret on the way over. She swung the door open, and I gasped. Everything was white, bright and beautiful. Tall windows like the rest of the house with sheer white curtains around them, plush white carpet, a wet bar, tv, a living room set up, and a few vanities spread throughout the room. “The bathroom has everything the groom’s suite does, as well as a king-sized bed in that room.” We walked over and it looked so plush and soft, white blankets making it look crisp and clean. “Here we have a hook that you can hang the dress on, a lot of women love to have pictures of just the dress. These are bow windows, and they look beautiful at any time of day, and they make for great pictures.” The excitement was building in my chest. “What do we think?” I asked, turning to Mav and Penny. “Rooster is obviously going to like whatever you like,” Mav said as he tossed his arm over my shoulder. “But I genuinely think he will love this.” I nodded as Penny stepped up next to him. “This screams you guys. It’s classic but not super formal, I can see you guys getting married out there.” I nodded and we followed Margaret down to her office.

“So, what do we think?” I nodded. “I like it, a lot. It’s just screaming at me, but I do have to talk to my fiancé before I book anything.” She nodded, clicking around on her computer. “Okay, well we book out fast and far. When do you talk to him next?” I looked at my phone, looking for the date. “Tomorrow actually.” She nodded, looking up at the clock. “I have four more couples who are looking today. If they all book with us, this can book us out another five months because we already have stuff booked for next year.” My face fell at her words, I was worried we wouldn’t have the short engagement we wanted. “Is there any way I can hold a spot?” She pursed her lips, looking at her computer. “I’m not supposed to, but I’ll tell you what. The next available day we have for a wedding is Saturday December thirty-first. If you put down a deposit on that day, I won’t let anyone else book it. You can talk to your fiancé and call me, but if you don’t call me by Monday, you won’t get that deposit back.” I nodded, whipping out the cash I kept in case I found a venue. “If you do book on the 31st and hang around till midnight there will be fireworks.” I smiled as I handed her the money, nodding. “Thank you so much, Margaret.”

As we got outside, I couldn’t help but do a little dance. “Ah! I found a venue!” Penny and Mav laughed. “It’s really great, Magnolia.” Mav said and I couldn’t help the sigh that escaped me. “I know, and I can’t wait to talk to Rooster about it! I’m gonna go home and email him all the info!” They smiled as I got into the Bronco, tearing down the road, joyful as ever. I was surprised when I got home to find a small SUV in the driveway and an older woman standing on the porch. As I pulled in, she turned to me, her facial expression being unreadable as she did so. “Hi, can I help you?” I asked slowly, a little nervous as to why she was here. “Is Bradley here?” She was snippy, rude even. “No, he’s not. But I’m his fiancé, can I help you?” Attitude was dripping from every word as I crossed my arms over my chest and my hip popped out. “You-you’re the fiancé?” She asked, pointing a chubby finger at me. “I am. And you are?” My eyebrow raised as she seemed to huff. “I’m his aunt Matilda, but he calls me Tilly.” So this was his aunt Tilly, I haven’t seen pictures but she was not what I was expecting. “Well, why don’t you come in and I’ll make lunch.” I said as I walked by her, unlocking the door. She seemed a little stunned at my actions but soon turned and followed me.

The dogs were happy I was home, but they were even more excited that Tilly was here. “Oh! Oh! Good doggy.” She said slowly backing away from Dahlia. “Dahlia. Bed.” She slowly turned, ambling over to her bed before flopping down on her side. Sadie had herself propped up on Tilly’s leg, expecting attention. “Sadie.” She got down, looking at me with a side eye before crawling into Dahlia’s bed and curling up next to her. “I’m sorry. Everyone is so used to them that I forget that some people aren’t fond of dogs.” She seemed to calm down once the dogs did, her shoulders visibly relaxing. “Mangy mutts.” She muttered, making me stop, and turn around. “I’m sorry?” She gave me the fakest smile I had ever seen. “Beautiful dogs.” I huffed, getting fed up with this woman already. “Thank you. Bradley has quite the relationship with them, especially Sadie. The little one.” She followed me into the kitchen, a confused look on her face. “Oh no, my Brad Brad is scared of dogs.” I cringed at ‘my Brad Brad’, pulling out some chicken to cook. “Mm, no he’s not. At least if he is he has an odd way of showing it seeing as the dogs’ sleep in the bed with us.” I was getting frustrated wit her. She shows up to our house, being rude and acting like she knows everything.

“Sleep with you? Do you live here?” It sounded incredulous. I nodded as I pulled out some veggies. “Yes, I do. Bradley and I share a house, a bed. We live together and we love it.” She scoffed, leaning back from the island that she leaned on. “In this house? My sister’s house? Which doesn’t even look like her house anymore! Bradley would never make these changes so I can only assume you pushed it on him! Disrespecting my sister and brother in laws memory!” I slammed my knife down, turning to her as she jumped in surprise. “Shut up! The renovation was Bradley’s idea and yeah, I had some input, but for the most part this was him! And disrespecting their memory?” I stormed back out to the living room, pointing to the pictures placed around the house. “Does this look disrespectful to you? Putting pictures of them and Bradley around the house so he can always see them? I dug these out, making sure that they had a special place in this house.” I stormed over to the fireplace. “Their wedding picture, this is Bradley’s favorite and I wanted him to be able to see it whenever he wanted. So don’t come into our house and start talking shit about how we’ve done things.” She seemed taken aback by my words.

“I can’t believe you would talk to me like this! Bradley wouldn’t stand for it!” “Oh, I know all about your relationship. How you shamed him for following his mother’s wishes and all but abandoning him at seventeen. You’re a piece of fucking work and at this point, you’re not welcome in my house.” She was shocked at my words. “I told him not to marry you! You broke his heart too many times! I don’t trust you!” I laughed as I swung the front door open. “I don’t give a fuck if you don’t trust me. Bradley knows I’m not going anywhere. Now, leave.” She huffed before walking outside. “I’ll just come back when he’s home. I had some stuff to give him anyway.” She was fuming as she stormed towards the car. “Well then see you in April, he’s deployed.” She glared at me before huffing. We stared each other down for a minute before she sighed. “Can I at least leave this stuff here? It’s the rest of his mom and dad’s stuff that was at my house.” I pursed my lips. I couldn’t let my feelings towards her keep Roo from getting stuff that means a lot to him. “Of course.” I helped her tote everything in before setting it in the living room. “Thank you.” I nodded at her. “I’d never stand in the way of what he wants.” She sighed, standing up straight. She turned towards the door, grabbing the door handle and swinging it open, gasping when she saw Maverick standing on the other side with his fist up. They stared at each other for a moment before she spoke up. “Pete.” There was so much malice in her voice, it almost made my skin crawl.

“Matilda.” There was just as much venom in his voice. “What are you doing here?” She asked, her hand on her hip. “He came to discuss wedding stuff with me. He’s been a big help since Bradley is deployed.” She huffed, looking up at him. “You will never be able to replace Nicholas.” Mav seemed shocked, so I stepped in. “Okay. First off, he’s not. Rooster asked for him to assist with the wedding while he was gone. No one could ever replace his dad and Maverick is not trying to.” “You don’t know what he did while my sister was sick.” It was taking a lot to bite back my anger at this point. “You mean like how he took care of Bradley while you bitched about Carol’s wishes?” I asked as I took the door from her. “You don’t know anything!” She yelled. “I know enough. Now, please leave. I don’t want to have to force you out.” She stormed past Mav, almost knocking him over in the process. “Have a nice day, Matilda.” Mav yelled after her. She just gave him the middle finger before tearing out of the driveway. We just laughed as I let him in. “Why was she here?” He asked and I motioned to the boxes. “She wanted to drop the rest of the Nick and Carol’s stuff off for Roo. I don’t know what’s in here.” I said as I walked over and opened the top box, gasping when I saw what was inside. “Carol’s wedding dress.” Mav looked at it as tears sprung to his eyes. I grabbed the pile of tulle on top, lace lining it on the outside. “This is her veil.” It was soft and Mav helped me pull it out completely. “I forgot how long it was.” He chuckled before wiping his cheeks. “You think Rooster would let me wear it?” Mav seemed surprised by my question, but a soft smile graced his features. “I think he’d love that.”

Mav originally came over to retrieve a pair of shoes Penny had loaned me, and he stayed to help me hash out a few small wedding details. It was nice to spend this time with him, I’ve known Mav my whole life, but since being out here he really feels like family. The next morning, I sat at the island, my computer in front of me as I sipped my coffee. I emailed Rooster all of the information on the venue yesterday in hopes he got to read it, and now we were about to finalize a few decisions on this call. I opened the kitchen windows while I sat here to let the warm breeze in as well as listen to the waves crash on the beach just out back. The call was loading, all Rooster had to do was pick up on his end. After a few minutes, the constant swirling circle on the screen disappeared and the face of my handsome fiancé replaced it. “Hey, pretty girl!” The screen was a little grainy but I could tell his smile overtook his face and his eyes had a certain glimmer to them. “Hi honey!” I said excitedly. “How’s your morning?” I smiled, picking up my laptop to show him the windows. “I have the windows open, there’s a warm breeze, and I can hear the waves crashing on the beach. Perfect for a Sunday morning!” He gave me a dopey smile, resting his face in his hands. “God, I love you.” I giggled as I sipped my coffee. “I love you too.” I grinned. “So, I did get to look at the venue and the pictures look amazing.” I nodded excitedly, grabbing the paperwork. "It’s even more amazing in person! They have Bridal and Groom’s suites so if one of us wanted to stay there the night before, we could. The ballroom is beautiful, with room for everything. The gardens are magical almost, I figured we could sneak in there right after the ceremony for a few minutes. Just to take a breather and be with each other for a minute before we dive back into the madness.”

He nodded, listening intently to me. “I think that’s a great idea.” I nodded, writing it down. “Okay, so she told me she would hold the one available date they had if I put down a deposit. I can call her after I talk to you, and if we want it it’s ours, and if we don’t she said she would refund us. She’s not supposed to do that but she’s making an exception.” He nodded. “So, what’s the date?” I sighed, not sure he would be on board with it. “December thirty-first.” I bit my lip, staring at him. “Of this year?” I nodded. “Book it! Take it!” He yelled out, making me giggle. “We wanna get married on December thirty-first of this year?” He nodded, and I jotted it down on the notepad in front of me. “I know it’s not the shortest engagement like you wanted, but I’m excited to get to marry you this year.” I shook my head. “I’ll wait a hundred if it means I get to marry you in the end.” His hand flew to his chest, clutching his heart as he leaned back. “It’s so sweet, I’m gonna die.” I laughed as I looked at the paper with notes I took with Mav last night. “So, you know how we were trying to figure out a second color for the wedding?” He nodded. “I was talking with Mav yesterday and I mentioned that, and he had quite the idea.” He raised an eyebrow. “What about Navy and Champagne?” He raised a brow in surprise. “Mav came up with that?” I nodded. “Sure did.” He chuckled. “I’m impressed, and I really like those color ideas.” I nodded. “So, JJ is gonna be the ring bearer.” I nodded, my bottom lip jutting out. “He’ll be able to walk by then.” Roo mimicked my face before laughing. “I don’t know how you can look so cute like that.” I shrugged with a grin at his words.

“I considered asking Amber and Kim if Anita and Isabella could be flower girls.” He sighed. “The only thing is, Anita is super shy. How’s she gonna act if all these strangers are staring at her?” I pursed my lips. “I had thought about that. Maybe have Jake sit up in the front row, that way if she gets overwhelmed, she can run to him. These ceremonies can be long for kids, so I don’t really expect them to stand with us. They can go sit in the front row if they want.” He nodded. “I considered having Jake be a groomsman.” I raised a brow. “I know you guys are getting on a lot better now, but I didn’t expect that.” He shrugged. “We’ve been emailing back and forth while I’ve been deployed, and we’ve just been getting closer.” I nodded. “Either way, he’ll be at the end of the aisle if Anita gets overwhelmed.” He nodded. “You know, I joked with Coyote, Bob and Payback that they would be flowers boys.” I laughed out. “I think Harvard, Yale, Fritz, and Omaha would be a better fit for that. I was gonna ask Coyote, Bob and Payback to be groomsmen.” I pursed my lips. “Who says we can’t have flower girls and flower boys?” He laughed. “We’ll work that out closer to time.” I nodded. “Okay, so I think that’s it. We will figure out food, flowers, photographers and everything when you come home.” He nodded. “But I was thinking we could do the engagement party not long after you get home. Do you have an idea of when you’ll be home?” He shook his head. “Just April. That’s all I know.” I nodded, my smile falling slightly. “Well then, we’ll just plan it for the first weekend in May to be on the safe side! Penny offered up the bar for anything we needed, and I may take her up on that for this party.”

I looked up, to see he had that dopey smile back on his face. “You’re so cute when you talk about our wedding.” A laugh escaped me, loud as I threw my head back. “You’re so cute with that dopey smile on your face.” He chuckled as Dahlia padded over, propping her legs in my lap so she could see the computer. “What is it? You hear daddy?” Her large nose almost covered the screen as she sniffed it, very confused as to why she could see and hear him but he wasn’t here. “Say that again.” I raised a brow. “What? Daddy?” A large grin grew on his face as mine heated up, the blush creeping up my neck. “Rooster, you’re nasty.” He shook his head with a laugh. “I mean, I was the one thinking about how when we have kids that’ll be my new title. You’re the one who made it dirty.” It’s like someone turned up the heat, I started feeling even hotter at his words. “Speaking of daddy.” I said as I reached behind the computer, grabbing the stick. I held it up, showing him the bold negative in the tiny window. “Wait, did you think you were pregnant?” I nodded. “I had the flu this past week and some of my symptoms could’ve been pregnancy related. Natasha was the one who suggested I take a test.” He sighed, leaning back. “I wanted to talk to you about it though. I think we should stop trying.” His face fell in surprise. “Not permanently. Just until after the wedding. I don’t wanna have to move our wedding around if I do get pregnant because I’m not walking down the aisle with a baby bump.” He nodded, still looking sad. “I also don’t think I’m ready to give up flying yet. My eye doctor told me I’d be lucky to fly after thirty-five anyway, and I want to do it as long as I can.” He bit his lip, looking down at his hands that were folded in front of him. “I forgot about your eyesight deteriorating.” I nodded. “I’m just not ready to give it up, Roo.”

“And I’d never ask you too. But if we did have kids, we would make it work. But I agree, maybe we should stop trying until after the wedding.” I nodded with a sigh as I propped my head on my hand. “So back to condoms, and I’m gonna get on birth control. I have a gynecologist appointment in a few weeks, so I’ll ask then.” He nodded. “Sounds good, pretty girl.” He looked just behind his computer sighing. “One minute.” I pursed my lips. “I love you, and I’ll see you on our next call. One more and then you’re home.” He nodded. “I know, I can’t wait.” I bit my lip. “You know when you come home, we’re gonna be in bed most of the time.” He nodded. “Oh, I know, trust me. It’s all I think about some days.” I smiled at him. “Bye, Roo. I love you.” He gave me a big smile, leaning back in his chair. “I love you too, pretty girl.” With that the call ended. A few tears slipped from my eyes as the call ended. “Fuck.” I muttered, wiping my eyes. Dahlia whined as she propped her head on my leg. “I know, baby. I miss him too.” I said as I pet her head and played with her ears. “Okay, now to call and confirm the venue.” The words alone made my excited. I paced the kitchen as I called Margaret who was ecstatic that we were booking for the thirty-first. As soon as I hung up, it settled in me. I was actually getting married to Bradley Bradshaw. The excitement was so much, I thought my chest would burst open. “I’M GETTING MARRIED!” I screamed as I danced around the kitchen. “I’M GONNA BE MRS. BRADHSAW! FUCK YEAH!”

That week I called mom, telling her we had a date and a venue, which she raved about. Almost more excited than me. I told the rest of the team the date, and they were excited as well. “We should grill out to celebrate.” Payback said as he stood from his seat. “We can do it at my place, tonight. I have all the food.” They nodded. “But we’re cooking. You shouldn’t cook for your own party.” I held my hands up in surrender. “I’m a-okay with that.” After we all finished our hops for the day, we went to the locker rooms, showering and changing into more comfortable clothes before heading out. “We’re all gonna drive back to our places and just ride in one car, so we’ll be behind you.” Payback said and I nodded. “Well, Coyote, Bob and Phoenix rode with me this morning.” Jake said just as I pulled the Bronco door open. “Well, if any of y’all wanna ride with me, you’re more than welcome too.” Phoenix immediately crawled into the backseat as Bob took passenger. “I see how it is.” Hangman huffed as I cranked the engine. “I love you, baby.” Phoenix said, blowing him a kiss. We pulled out and off base, taking in all the warm air that whipped around us. As we went down the road, Hangman passed us, blowing his horn as Coyote waved from the passenger seat.

“Guess they’re gonna wait in the driveway.” Bob chuckled. “Nah, we have a key. Rooster gave it to me just before he left for Texas. It’s on Hangman’s key ring.” I nodded. “They’ll probably let themselves inside, raid my cabinets for anything to cook.” The rest of the drive was spent with the radio filling the silence between us. Some seventies station Rooster keeps it on. As we pulled into the driveway, we saw Hangman and Coyote standing on the porch, staring at the front door. I furrowed my brows, getting out and grabbing my bag. “Figured you two would’ve been inside already.” As they turned around, I saw the door was open. “Did you open that?” Jake shook his head. “It was open when we got here.” My heart was racing. I probably didn’t shut it all the way, that had to be what happened. I stepped onto the porch reaching for the door handle when Hangman stopped me. “Hey, Magnolia, you don’t wanna go in there.” I furrowed my brows in concern. “It’s not pretty and the police are on their way.” My heart was thumping around in my chest. “Hangman I need to go in there. My dogs are-“ I stopped, realizing how quiet it was. “Oh my god.” I dropped my bag and shoved the door open. There was glass everywhere, pictures were smashed, the teddy bear Rooster sent me for Valentine’s Day was shredded and all over the floor. “Dahlia?!” My voice cracked, worried I was gonna walk up on my dog dead in the floor somewhere.

But I was relieved to hear a deep bark from the kitchen. I sprinted over, tossing open the laundry room door and there they both were, safe and sound. “Hi girls.” Tear rolled down my cheeks as I bent down, both rushing to me. “What happened? Huh?” Dahlia licked my face as Sadie nuzzled into my hand. “Okay, come on.” They both turned for the living room, but I caught their attention and sent them out back so they wouldn’t step on the glass. “They’re okay.” I said as I walked back through the living room. There was so much glass everywhere, it looks like all the windows in the house broke. “Who the hell would do this?” I asked to myself as I walked over to the mantle. The pictures of Goose and Carol, and pictures of my parents were fine. But any picture that involved Bradley and I were destroyed. “Magnolia.” I turned to where Phoenix had walked over to the piano. She was crouched on the floor, swiping some glass away. I walked over, careful not to step on any frames on the floor. “Dammit.” I muttered as more tears streamed down my face. I bent down next to her picking up the frame with my pregnancy test in it. The test was gone, and the frame was destroyed, the picture was scratched up from the glass. I wasn’t upset anymore, I was angry. I stood up, rushing up to the bedroom, seeing the same thing in there. Pictures were destroyed, the bedding was ripped apart, even a few of his Hawaiian shirts were ruined. I quickly rifled through my jewelry box, seeing that all the jewelry he gave me was still there.

I sighed, looking around the room. It was absolutely trashed and I had no idea who could’ve done this. I walked downstairs, running my hands through my hair. “This has to be tied to Aaron somehow.” Phoenix tossed her arm over my shoulder, pulling me close. “You think so?” I nodded quickly. “If any random stranger did this, that big ass tv would be gone, all my jewelry would be gone, hell they probably even would’ve taken the dogs! But all things relating to Bradley is destroyed. A few of his shirts are torn upstairs and someone shredded the bedspread. I’m just glad I managed to put away all the stuff his aunt brought over the weekend. If it was laying out, who knows what they would’ve done if they found that stuff.” I heard a car pull up and groaned. “Is that the cops?” Jake nodded as he walked outside. “What did she bring?” Bob asked, using his foot to sweep some glass away from the door. “Mostly stuff of his and his parents. His mom’s wedding dress was in there.” I heard a low whistle and turned to see the same two officers that showed up the night I saw someone sneaking around. “Miss Motley.” They nodded at me, looking around. “So, what happened here?” It was obvious but I knew it was a question they had to ask. “We showed up and the door was open, we peeked inside and saw the place was trashed.” Jake said as the officers wrote it down. “I came home and walked in and saw everything, I’ve walked the house and our bedroom is trashed as well.” They nodded. “If you guys can wait outside, we’re going to do our own walk through.” We all nodded, walking outside as they went around the house.

“Oh my god.” I groaned as I stood in the front yard. “I can’t believe this.” It felt like one thing after another. “I’m just trying to figure out who could’ve done this for Aaron if it was him.” I shrugged. “He has so many connections, and he’s in a federal prison, so he’s probably got some free reign. I’m sure he’s gotten a hold of someone.” Jake nodded. “It’s just so violating. This creep went through the house finding anything to do with Bradley and I, and destroyed it.” I sniffled, trying to keep the tears at bay. Bob came over, hugging me tightly. “You think they took that pregnancy test?” Phoenix asked and I shrugged as I leaned back on Bob. “I don’t know. What would they want with an old positive pregnancy test?” Just as I said that the two officers came out, a manila envelope in hand. “Okay, we haven’t found any clear evidence of who did this. We have a crime scene unit coming in to dust for fingerprints and things like that. But we did find this, it was under one of the pillows on your bed.” He handed me the envelope, and I popped it open. I felt sick to my stomach at what I pulled out. Black and white photos of me leaving the house, out at the hard deck. Rooster in the Bronco, even of him pulling the airstream. There were a few of us through the windows, one of him carrying me inside after the Halloween party. This guy has been watching us for months, and that scared me.

“This person seems to have been watching you for months.” Jake snatched the stack of photos, flipping through them, his face tensing more and more with each photo. “Once the CSI team gets in here, they will take a while to go through everything. We are going to go around and ask your neighbors if they saw anything, once the team is done then we will let you back in.” I nodded. “And what about after? She has some creep stalking her and you’re just going to leave her here all alone?” Jake snapped. “We will have an unmarked patrol car parked out front of her house for a few nights, see if we see anything and we will be making rounds through here during the day.” The officer nodded. “Damn right you will.” “Okay, you’re walking away.” Phoenix said, taking his hand and pulling him over to his truck. “Now do you believe me when I say someone has been creeping around my house?” I asked. “I'm sorry. What?” I squeezed my eyes shut at Jake's voice. “Yes and we'll do our best to catch this guy.” I nodded. “Look, my suggestion would be to go and get some food. We’re gonna be here a while.” I agreed and gave the officer my number before turning and getting in the cars as Payback and Omaha drive up. “Change of plans, we’re going out to dinner.” Payback nodded before I turned. “As soon as we get to the restaurant you’re spilling everything.” Jake snapped before opening the jeep door for me. I just nodded, not wanting to argue. There was a fire in his eyes that almost scared me. I had never seen him this angry and I never want to again. I got in, Bob joining me and we took off for a restaurant. We arrived at some Mexican place that smelled divine and that's when I realized how hungry I really was. Once we got inside and sat down, that’s when the grilling started.

“Does Rooster know someone’s been sneaking around the house?” Hangman’s questions triggered everyone else’s questions. ‘What?’ ‘When did this happen?’ ‘Should someone stay with you?’ I was grateful for their concern but I didn’t want everyone worrying about me. “No he doesn’t, and I would appreciate it if no one tells him. I’ll tell him when he comes home, cause I don’t want him worrying about me while he needs to be focusing on his mission.” I didn’t eat him to be distracted. Distractions cause accidents. “You’ve been keeping too many secrets from him.” He huffed and I scowled. “I’m telling him everything when he comes home.” Hangman crossed his arms in front of his chest. “You could’ve told him at Christmas.” I scoffed at the thought alone. “Yes, because on Christmas, after he proposed I was supposed to say, ‘Hey, by the way, your buddy Buck pinned me to the wall and kissed me and I got into a fight with him after.' No, we were enjoying our time together.” I snapped. “Look, just promise me you’ll tell him eventually and we will all make sure you’re taken care of till he comes home.” Everyone agreed, giving me soft smiles. “Okay. I’m gonna look into getting a security system as well.” Everyone agreed that was a good idea.

We had a good dinner, even had a few drinks before we went back to my house. They apparently found some finger prints but it would take time to run them through the database. Once they left I went back inside to the mess. It was now seven o'clock, and I knew I wouldn’t have this all cleaned in an hour. “Want our help?” Bob asked, leaning against the door frame. I just shook my head. “No, it’s not your responsibility.” He scoffed and I looked at him in surprise. That’s very out of character for Bob. “It’s not yours either. Someone forced their way in here, it’s not like you made this mess yourself. So let us help you.” I sighed but reluctantly agreed. Soon everyone came in. Halo helped me clean up my room while everyone else cleaned downstairs. “Whoever did this really hates Rooster.” She said as she yanked the bedding off. “Either that or they were paid to destroy everything relating to Rooster.” I said as I looked at his shirts. I wasn’t sure if I had the sowing skill to fix them. I just hoped and prayed they weren’t some of his dad’s. Halo helped me make the bed, making sure the new sheets and bedspread we put on was nice and clean. Once that was done we went downstairs to see everyone cleaning up the last of the mess. “I um, kept all the pieces of the bear he sent. I didn’t know if you’d wanna try and fix it.” I nodded. “I’m gonna try, I’m also gonna attempt to sow some of his shirts back together. My mamaw taught me well but it’s been years since I’ve had to sow anything.” She nodded before everyone plopped down onto the couch. “It’s getting late, I’m sure y’all wanna go home and get in bed.” Everyone just shook their heads. “We’re not leaving until that officer shows up.” Fanboy said and I nodded, opting to sit between Coyote and Phoenix.

I held the shredded bear in my hands, realizing I couldn’t tell what pieces attach to which. Tears sprung to my eyes as I stared at it. Phoenix ran her hand through my hair, leaning her head on my shoulder. “Let it out, Magnolia.” Her words were like an earthquake causing a dam to break. Sobs racked my body as my cheeks got soaked with salty tears. Coyote pulled me down to his shoulder as Natasha adjusted herself. Her arms wrapping around my torso and her head on my chest as Javy held me close. “Why me? I just want to live my life and people keep messing it up!” I sobbed. Javy shushed me as Natasha squeezed me. “I know, I know and I’m sorry.” Her own tears covered doused my shirt as she cried with me. After about twenty minutes I had calmed down and the officer showed up. “I’m officer Watson. I will be parked just a few houses down.” He handed me a business card. “That has my direct number on it. If you hear anything, see anything you can call me, and I will come running.” I nodded. He seemed nice enough, but he also seemed young. “Thank you.” He walked back towards his car, and I turned back to everyone. “Well, now, we will leave you.” Fritz said as he stood, pulling me into a tight hug. “We’re all going to keep our phones on tonight. So, if you need us, you can call.” I nodded as he squeezed e one last time. Soon everyone went outside except Hangman and Phoenix. “Are you sure you’re gonna be, okay?” He asked and I nodded. “I still can’t believe they didn’t believe you.” I sighed and nodded.

“Well, I had a manic episode, and I was hallucinating from lack of sleep. I’m just glad they seem to now.” He nodded. “You sure you’re gonna be okay?” Phoenix asked, taking my hands in hers. “I’ll be fine. If I need you, I’ll call.” She nodded, hugging me tightly before stepping outside. “We’re a phone call away.” Hangman said before hugging me as well. Once they left, and I shut and locked the doors, I noticed how dark and eerie the house could be. I let the dogs out one more time before double checking that all the doors and windows were locked. Once I did, we went upstairs and got ready for bed. As I laid there, staring at the ceiling, I couldn’t help but think how this creep touched my bed, how he destroyed it simply because Rooster and I share it. When I realized I wasn’t gonna sleep much that night, I grabbed my phone, pulling up my email. Quickly I typed out a very short email to Rooster. ‘I love you, and I can’t wait for you to be home.’ Once I sent it, I felt a little better, but not enough to make me sleep. “You’ll let me know if you hear anything, right Dahls?” She just huffed as I ran my fingers down her spine. “Atta girl.” With that, I laid there, hoping for sleep, knowing it may not come.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Taglist: @mak-32 @rosiahills22 @dhwanishah09

#bradley rooster bradshaw #rooster fanfic #rooster top gun #rooster #bradley bradshaw #robert bob floyd #bob floyd #i hope you dance #jake hangman seresin #hangman #jake seresin #phoenix #natasha trace #top gun maverick #pete maverick mitchell

25 notes · View notes