#it’s why Taylor wears so well and also why sometimes she is jarring on first listen. You can just hear the dissonance (for me too)

[chocolatemin]

word count: 6.15k

contains: college!au, fantasy, fluff, angst, cursing, mutual pining, gn!reader, slightly suggestive remarks

synopsis: Does it really require pixie dust and magic to feel sparks, happiness, freedom, and comfort all at once?

ana’s note: ahhhh this is the first full-length fic i’ve ever written for jisung and i hope i did well for this one ;-; and this was inspired by the very obvious, just by looking at the title, taylor’s sparks fly and also peter pan. i hope you enjoy reading <33 

Fairies, of course, it is no secret that fairies do exist and sometimes disguise themselves as humans to go out and mix themselves on night festivals during spring, even the one celebrated in your university during mid-spring. You cannot blame them though, the mid-spring festival was always the most anticipated by the people, everyone is welcome too but the biggest difference is that everybody is wearing a costume which makes things more enjoyable. You could dress up as a god or a mythical creature or even a fairy, but of course, no one dares to dress up as a god.

The first time you encountered such fairy was at 3 AM. You shouldn’t be awake at that particular time of the day, people say that it’s either you encounter a good one or a bad one. The elders say that meeting one could either bring you good fortune or bad luck, and in the worst case scenario, make your life miserable. Why? Because it will never leave you alone. In your defense, you were finishing a project due at 9 AM that day and you were barely thriving on the amount of workload. Just like the saying, ever since that day, the fairy hasn’t left your side. So far, the fairy hasn’t made your life miserable but rather made your day more tolerable, but as of now, you want to take that back.  

“Minho, can you please stop whining like a kid? I have this due tomorrow at eight!” You sent a glare to the fairy sprawled out on your bed and he just rolled his eyes at you. 

“Let’s go out please!” He raises his voice to a pitch similar to the annoying girls in your class whenever they talk to their crushes.

“You’re so annoying!” You give your temples a light massage and sigh deeply, “God, when the elders say meeting a fairy could bring bad luck, I didn’t know it was this bad.”

“That’s rude!” Minho suddenly transported himself beside you to slap your arm jokingly.

“I swear if you don’t shut up, I won’t take you to Changbin’s.” You shove your phone to his chest before pushing him away, “Go entertain yourself and remind me when it’s 9:30.” 

“Not the texts and gallery!” You added.

You push the door open causing the bell to chime and garner the attention of the boy behind the counter as Minho trailed behind you. You flash the barista a soft smile before dragging Minho by the sleeve of his shirt. 

“Hey,” The man in front of you returns the smile, “What would you like to order?”

Scanning the menu, you picked the first thing you saw, “Caramel Frappuccino, extra shot please,” nudging the boy beside you as the barista punched in your order, “What’s yours?”

“I’ll have the same.” Minho tenses beside you, you forgot that he always gets the same drink. 

Before you could hand in the cash, the barista beat you to it, “Don’t worry, it’s on the house tonight.” 

“Chan, I insist.” You shake your head, handing him the money.

“It’s because your bags look like they could beat me anytime.” Chan chuckles as he pushes back your hand and you let out a small huff.

“He’s not lying though,” Minho snorts beside you causing Chan to give him a fist bomb. As if they really knew each other.

“Yeah, sure.” You roll your eyes playfully, “Thanks grandpa, you’re the best.”  

Chan shakes his head as you ushered Minho to a seat as you wait for your orders. 

“So, tell me, how did you meet Chan?” Minho places his hands on his pockets and leans on his seat.

“Oh, are you interested in him?” You looked up from your phone.

“Yeah, maybe we could join forces and annoy you non-stop.” Minho smiles at you and you threw a napkin at him.

“Idiot,” You chuckle at his unexpected answer, “Well, he was a senior of mine in the university but we became close because Jisung’s from the same department, he introduced Chan and also Changbin, the owner of this café.” 

“Ah yes, the crush.” Minho smirks upon the mention of Jisung’s name.

“Oh my god, stop,” sighing in annoyance, “Don’t.”

Before Minho could tease you more, you heard Chan yelling your names. This isn’t the first time you took Minho at Changbin’s so Chan didn’t have anymore the need to ask the name of your company tonight. The two of you headed over to the counter and grabbed your drinks, thanking the cute barista and slid an extra tip on the jar before leaving the café. 

Just moments after you left the café, the bells chimed once more, indicating the entrance of another customer. 

“Hey, Sung.” The older smiles, “What will you have for tonight?” 

“The usual.” Jisung hands him the money and leaves a large tip upon receiving his change.

“Y/N just left,” He could see the teasing face of the older despite having his back turned from him as Chan made his order.

“And?” Jisung replies with a lazy voice contrary to his actions. His heart skipped a beat hearing your name.

“They’re with another guy.” Chan raises his brows and Jisung just coughed, “Someone’s jealous.” Jisung ignored Chan’s remark, earning a laugh from the older. “Aw, come on, they only like you,” Chan spoke as he handed him his order.

“As if they would.” Jisung frowns. 

“Trust me. They only have their eyes on you.” Chan gives him a reassuring smile.

“Well, that’s creepy but that’s better than having their eyes on another guy.” Jisung jokes to lighten up the mood, taking a sip from his drink, “See you later.”

Chan nods and he watches the younger head to the exit, a huge grin etched on his face. 

 “They’re idiots.”

“Do you guys wanna hang out this weekend?” Felix glances up from his food and turns to look at you and Jisung.

“Sure, I’m free on Saturday,” You take another bite of your lunch, “Movie?”

“I can’t,” both eyes turn to Jisung, “I have to meet my old friend in middle school, she’s transferring to our university next semester.” 

“Oh, we’re supposed to look for our costumes,” Felix nods, trying to hide the disappointment in his voice, “I guess it’ll be only me and Y/N.”

“I’ll try to catch up with you,” Jisung grabbed his coffee and abruptly stood up from his seat beside you, “I should get going now, my class is in twenty.” 

“See you later.” You wave at Jisung and he flashes you the smile that never fails to send the sparks bursting inside your chest before leaving you two in an awkward atmosphere.

“I can’t believe he chose his friend over us!” Felix dramatically places his hand over his chest, pretending to wipe his invisible tears.

“Spring break is within the next two weeks, Lix. It must be important.” You gave the boy across you a pat on his hair.

“But they could’ve scheduled it the other day! He knows that it is our costume-finding day!” Felix pouts, poking his food aggressively. You know that every second Saturday of February is special for you three since you became best of friends in high school and this is the first time Jisung declined.

“Don’t be sad, it’ll still be fun.” You smile at him assuringly. 

After your last class, you received a text from Jisung saying your and Felix shouldn’t wait for him since he has to meet his friend. On your walk to the dorms, Felix couldn’t stop complaining on how Jisung chooses his other friend over you two. You feel sad but you understand that Jisung’s time and space does not revolve only within your friendship, what makes you upset is that it’s a girl, thoughts like “What if it is one of his past crushes?” lingered in your mind. Since finals are coming up, you decided to distract yourself from the heavy feeling in your chest by diverting your attention to studying and you are glad that you successfully got rid of the thoughts for a while. However, it’s been hours and you still kept on turning sides and shifting positions on your bed trying to fall asleep yet the feeling inside your chest doesn’t seem to go away.

“Minho, are you there?” Your voice cracked, making you cringe but there is no response. You tried calling a few times and Minho in his pyjamas with a grumpy look appeared beside your bed.

“What do you want?” He groans.

“Can’t sleep, do you have any magic that can make me fall asleep?” You drag the blanket up to your chin.

“Are you still upset?” Minho’s voice softens but you do not answer his question, making him sigh as he sits at the edge of your bed, “I have something cooler to show you, come on,” Minho extends his hand over you.

“Huh?” You ask, staring at his hand.

“Get up, I’ll show you something.” Minho drags you out of bed despite your protests. Snapping his fingers, you suddenly got transported to what seemed like Minho’s room. You know it is his because it smells just like him—cat, he does own three cats so it isn’t new to you. His room felt cozy yet mystical, the things in his room are made of wood, leaves, vines and flowers and the room erupted with fresh leaves and scent of lilacs, and let us not forget, cats.

“Why am I in your room?” You turn to Minho who is taking a small chest from his nightstand. 

“Close your eyes,” you obey as he said and you feel something powder-like stick on your skin, “Don’t open your eyes yet,” you feel Minho’s fingers brush against your forehead, then your brows, your eyelashes, your nose, cheeks, lips and lastly, your chin; his fingers felt like cotton against your skin– gentle and light.

The thoughts were cut off by his voice, “You may open your eyes now.”

“Wow, what is this?” You inspect the shining dust on your skin and clothes.

“That’s pixie dust.” Minho confidently answered. 

“Wait, it’s real?” Your eyes went wide from the excitement. 

“Duh. Did you really think those were all made-up?” He scoffs at the bewildered look in your face. 

“Where are we heading to?” You jump excitedly, making him laugh at your child-like behavior. 

“It’s a secret.” With that, Minho snapped his fingers once more and you were transported outside his house, specifically on his roof, “Are you ready to soar the night?”

“Hell yeah!” You throw your fist in the air, laughing. 

“Take a deep breath, think and believe that you can fly.” You do as he says, mumbling ‘I can fly’ to yourself repeatedly. “Now, take a step forward.” 

“You could’ve just told me to jump off your roof.” You shake your head and jump off his roof, you feel your stomach drop as you fall but you are quick to remember that you have to think and believe that you can fly, feeling yourself stop mid-air and float. 

“Cheesecakes, I did it!” You grin as you fly back up, stopping in front of Minho.

“Wow, didn’t think you were the hardcore type.” Minho chuckles as he spreads his pretty wings that sparkled against the moonlight and fly above you, “Come on! We’ve got an exciting adventure to do!”

You flew here and there, Minho holding your hand in the first few minutes until you got used to flying. His wings fluttered against the gentle night breeze and you suddenly had the urge of wanting to touch his wings, curious on how it would feel against your fingertips. You spent the time flying around the Land of Fae, Minho being your tour guide for the night. He felt happy seeing your eyes light up as he showed you the cool places in his hometown, compared to your dead-looking eyes while you tried to distract yourself from the pain by studying and he promised to bring you again next time for another adventure. By the time you transported back to your place, it was already three am, so you immediately dive on your bed, face first and thank Minho before dozing off, the pain definitely forgotten.

“Y/N! You look like you didn’t get much sleep, what happened?” Felix grabs the sides of shoulders, leaning in to take a closer look at the dark circles under your eyes. 

“It’s just, I didn’t see the time ‘cause I was reviewing my notes on Hegel’s.” You lie, you cannot tell him you just flew all night. 

“Morning,” You feel an arm wrap around your shoulder, making your heart skip a beat. You knew whose arm belonged to, even if you didn’t hear his voice.

“Good morning, Sungie.” You turn to look at him but you are surprised that he was closer than you expected, you smile at him before turning your head away from his face, the tip of your ears getting red. 

“What are you two discussing without me?” Jisung feigned a frown.

“You should tell Y/N not to stay up too late. Look at those eyes! It’s terrible!” Felix points at your face. 

“Hey, it’s not that bad, you still look pretty though.”Jisung brushes a stray hair on your forehead making you flustered while Felix looks at you with an amused reaction. 

“Oh, Y/N, don’t let that get in your head.” Felix laughs. 

“You’re insufferable.” You push Felix before turning to Jisung, blowing a kiss to his direction, “Thanks, babe.” 

Jisung feels like he could ascend anytime from the name you just called him, even if you two exchange flirty remarks on a daily basis, he’s getting used to it to the point that he doesn’t even know if it is still all jokes or means something else.

“I’m getting tired of you two! Ugh!” Felix walks away causing you two to erupt in fits of giggles before catching up to him.

The day was almost great, until Jisung had to leave first again to meet his friend, leaving you and Felix alone for the second time. 

“Aww, Lix, come on, I’m here,” you playfully poke his side, “I bet I’m funnier than Jisung.”

“Oh my god, Y/N! You are never funny!” Felix pushes you away from him and starts walking faster, leaving you behind.

“Don’t you want to hear any of my jokes?” You elbow him, “What does the cell say whenever it takes a picture?”

“What?” The tone of Felix’s voice is flat, obviously unamused at your attempt.

“Cellfie!” You are literally howling at your pun, clutching your hand over your stomach and failing to notice the annoyed look on your best friend’s pretty face.

“That’s so bad, Y/N!” Felix runs away while you are dying of laughter from your terrible joke.

Weekdays had passed and the three of you became busier than ever with all the finals coming up, you could barely hang out with Jisung during lunch and vacant periods, but since you and Felix are taking the same course, you didn’t feel lonely with his presence, the only day you are looking forward to is Saturday, which is today.

You agreed to meet up with Felix at the mall without mentioning that you brought another company with you today, so you weren’t all surprised to see Felix with a panicked face as soon as he sees you. 

“Hey, Felix, I hope you don’t mind bringing my friend with us today,” You smile looking over to the man beside you, “Minho, this is Felix, my best friend.”

Minho extends his hand in front of Felix for a handshake which he accepts despite his flustered state, “Felix, this is Minho, my fair– friend, yeah, friend.” You awkwardly chuckle, nodding to him. 

Thankfully, Felix didn’t raise any suspicions on the two of you but he asked how you became friends, because as far as Felix knows, you really didn’t have any friends aside from him and Jisung, you barely even talk to your classmates. You decided to eat first before proceeding to your real agenda and surprisingly, it was Minho’s treat– which never happens when it’s only the two of you. What a two-faced fairy.

“Y/N, the truth is, I don’t have any ideas for our costume,” Felix scratches his nape, “All I know is we have to match.” 

You are about to answer but Minho beat you to it, “Why don’t you all dress up as fairies?” He says with a proud look at his face, “You can even customize and add details if you’d like.”

“Impeccable.” You mocked, you can see Minho’s hidden intention.

“That’s perfect! We’ll dress up as fairies then!” Felix chirps, your eyes wide from the declaration.

“Huh?”

“Fairies are cool, Y/N.” Felix places a hand on your shoulder. What a great ego-boost to Minho.

You glance at Minho quickly and you see the tiny smirk planted across his lips, “They are not, besides, how do you know? You haven’t met one.”

“Neither do you,” Felix retorts before dragging you to the costume store, “Now, shut up, we’re gonna be the best fairy friends ever!”

To be honest, you did not expect searching for your outfits will still be fun without Jisung. Speaking of Jisung, he sure doesn’t know what costume you three are going to wear so you decided to send him a text.

You: hey, ji. we’re dressing up as fairies, should we choose for you?

Sliding the phone back to your pocket, you went over to the accessories and decorations to pick something to add on  your costume that will definitely make you look more like a fairy. Your eyes dart toward a green headdress decorated with crystals and flowers.

“Wow, this is really pretty.” You are interrupted by the vibration from your pocket and you quickly fish out your phone to see a reply from Jisung that made your lips curve into a smile.

Quokka: can you pick my costume for me? i don’t trust felix geez

You: should you really trust me? 

Quokka: baby, your choices are better

You: well then, i shall not hear any complains when you see it

Quokka: thanks, love. don’t have too much fun without me ;(

You feel your heart burst just from the way he addressed you but it was quickly replaced by a heavy feeling upon remembering that he’s with his friend right now. Sighing heavily, you grab the headdress before walking, tapping the shoulder of your best friend from behind.

“I’m picking Jisung’s clothes.” Felix turns to you with his brows furrowed.

“I already picked his!” He shows you a forest green tunic paired with grey braies, you admit Felix absolutely chose a great outfit this time.

“You picked a decent one for the first time!” You happily hum, “All that’s left is his accessories.” 

The day wouldn’t be complete without games, so the three of you went all out on arcade. At first, Minho didn’t know how the buttons and joysticks worked and you had to teach him first before you three went into competitive mode. Felix was almost skeptical about Minho and it isn’t a surprise for him to come up with a believable lie, you were glad that Felix and Minho got along. You even saw them teaming up just to piss you off coming. By the time you parted ways with Felix, the sun was already setting and the skies were tinted with orange and pink hues.

Feeling lonely albeit the presence of your mystical fairy beside you as you typed your essays, you decided to text your friends.

You: do u guys wanna come over to study?

Sunshine:  u r heaven sent y/n

Quokka: i’m really busy tonight

You: does that mean u cant join us?

Quokka: yeah…

Sunshine: don’t worry sweet cupcake y/n, i’ll bring over snacks

You: yuck, i’m not sweet and i’m not a cupcake

Sunshine: but u like it when sungie calls you pet names

You: just get ur ass here dumbass

Quokka: ofc, thats MY y/n ;)

Sunshine: i want to puke

You shake your head while smiling to yourself, despite Jisung being the busiest among the three of you, he never fails to lighten up the mood, and your overreacting friend, Felix, that is always there for you, you are really grateful for these two dorks.

You hear a loud knock and a yelling causing your eyes to dart over to the door. You immediately stood up from your seat, nearly dropping your laptop, and grabbed Minho’s arm, who is lying on the couch lazily beside you, “You have to hide!”

“Why? Can’t you just tell him that I came over?” Minho shakes your hand off his arm.

Deciding that you will not make up anymore lies to your best friend, you snake your arm and carry him with his back facing you, “Hide or you get out!”

“Y/N?” You turn your head to the door with shock and horror painted on your face, standing on your doorstep is Felix with a box of pizza and ice cream carrying on his hands, “Were you and Minho sleeping together?!” 

You let go of Minho causing him to fall, butt first on the floor and earn a groan from the fairy.

“No, it’s not what you think!” You rush over to Felix but he takes a step back.

“What is this then?” Felix raised his brows.

“Y/N, just tell him the truth.” Minho says as he stands up from the floor, massaging the part where it hurts.

“What truth?” Felix narrows his eyes as he glances over you then Minho.

“You see, uh, how do I say this,” sighing, “Minho is my–”

“Your what?” 

“Let me finish, brat,” you glare at him, “Minho is a fairy.” 

“The fuck are you saying, Y/N?” Felix walks past you, placing the pizza on the table and putting the ice cream in the freezer.

“I’m not lying!” You argue as you close the door.

“He does not have wings!” Felix raises his hand in frustration.

“Of course, we’re not in the Land of Fae!”

“Quiet down! You don’t want them to know you have a fairy in your room, do you?” Minho shushed the both of you.

“Sorry,” you glare at your best friend, “Believe me.”

“You guys are making this up, right?” Felix’s eyes darted at the two of you, “Tell me you’re joking.”

“We’re not,” Minho answers for you, “Do you want to see me fly?”

“Sure, why not.” Felix jokes but as soon as he sees Minho floating with his legs crossed, his mouth fell agape, “You aren’t fucking kidding?!”

You slap his shoulder as a reminder to tone down his voice.

“I think I’m going to faint-” Felix places a hand over his forehead before dramatically falling down on your couch–on the top of your laptop. Wait, what?

Out of instinct, you pushed Felix before his body could crush your laptop, so he fell on the floor face first instead, “What the hell, Felix! You almost broke my laptop!” You glare at him.

“Do you really have to push me though?” Felix sits up as he rubs his forehead.

“Whatever,” you roll your eyes, “Are we gonna study or…?”

“Yeah, right, sweet cupcake Y/N.” 

Monday. You loathed Mondays, take note on the emphasis. It was just the second period but you are already tired. You are about to open your locker when you hear footsteps coming towards you.

“Good morning, Felix. What do you want?” You lazily put your textbooks inside your locker before closing it shut, “By the way, did you see Jisung?”

“Wow, Y/N, I’m here yet you’re looking for another guy.” Felix scoffs.

“Stupid,” you shake your head lightly, “I just haven’t seen him this morning.”

“He didn’t tell you?” The question made turn your head to face him rather abrupt, your brow raised and Felix cannot help to notice how badly you are inlove with Jisung, “Nothing, I don’t know either, he didn’t even respond to my text.” 

“Ugh, Felix, you’re so annoying!” Felix just laughs at your irritated reaction.

The walk towards the university cafe is too quiet and you didn’t mind, you wish Jisung could join you for lunch but it seems like he’s really busy and has no time for you, reasonable enough since he probably has lots of work to finish before the due date and it’s already the finals next week, his assessments are different than yours and Felix’s, having your majors in Philosophy. Majoring in Music Production sure is tough and that is one of the reasons why you admired Jisung, aside from his personality. He is hardworking and dedicated, you could see him just goofing around but his grades are always above the average. He tends to joke a lot but when he starts talking about his passion, you could see his determination in his eyes.

Your thoughts are cut off by Felix, sitting across you, “I think you should ask Minho to come with us more often.”

“Who’s Minho?” Jisung is standing beside your table, panting heavily as if he ran all the way here just to see you two.

“Y/N’s friend. He went with us on our shopping.” Felix hums.

You hand Jisung his costume inside the paper bag, your fingers brushing against his slender ones, causing you to stutter on your reply, “Y-yeah.”

“Too bad you didn’t meet him, he’s hilarious! Little did I know, our Y/N has a gorgeous friend.” Felix winks at you but Jisung stood unfazed. To you, Jisung is more gorgeous than Minho and you don’t really care about Felix’s stupid teasing. 

“Whatever, I won’t be coming with you guys later, I’ll have to see Wendy.” With that, Jisung left you dumbfounded. 

“He just came to get his costume?” Felix coughs in disbelief and you just nod. 

Jisung can’t help the jealousy that’s why he left just like that, his insecurities are slowly eating him up again, leaving no parts behind. It would be impossible for you not to have another guy friend, you are attractive as hell and fun to be with, and Jisung thinks you’re out of his league. He just blurted those words as an excuse for him to leave early but he realized that if he leaves you and Felix alone again, you might actually invite Minho with you which isn’t good for the jealousy that is eating him inside.

“Oh, Jisung, I thought you’re with Wendy.”  You stop on your tracks upon seeing Jisung leaning against the railings outside your classroom, probably waiting for the dismissal of your last period. His back facing the sky and the golden streaks of light casting from behind made him look strikingly unreal, with his hair parted and slicked back on the right, is absolutely taking your breath away. He looks up to meet your eyes and you feel the rapid thumping inside your chest intensify. Jisung is going to be the death of you. 

“I told her I have important matters to do.” Jisung walks up to you, his bangs swaying along with his movements. You thought the slowing of time when your crush walks up to you only happens only in dramas, but you were wrong. You realize that they just dramatized it because in real life, time just passes rather quickly without you noticing it since your attention is completely taken by your loved one.

“S-sure.” You mentally slap yourself for making yourself look like a fool in front of Jisung. 

“Wanna have dinner together?” He slings an arm around your shoulder while his other hand clutched around the strap of his bag. You almost forgot that Felix is still with you.

“Of course! We barely had time together the past week.” Felix walks beside Jisung.

“I won’t pass,” you flash him a shy smile, “I missed your loud voice.”

“I don’t know whether to take that as a compliment or what.” Jisung snickers while Felix made gagging sounds. 

You are surprised to see a familiar brown hair at the entrance of the university.

“Hey, Y/N. Isn’t that Minho?” Jisung feels his enthusiasm drop upon hearing the fairy’s name.

“Y/N!” Minho jogs over, stopping just in front of you, “Felix!”

“You must be Jisung,” Minho extends his hand for a handshake which Jisung unwillingly took, “Y/N never shuts up about you.”

You sucked in your bottom lip in annoyance, throwing Minho a death stare, “Why are you here?”

“I was heading home but I figured I could say hi.” Minho feigns a smile, he knows you knew his real intentions.

“You know their schedule?” Jisung finally breaks his silence.

“Not really, it just so happened that my timing is right.” Minho sends you a knowing look. 

“Ah, is that so?” Jisung nods, “By the way, we still have to go somewhere else. See you later, man.” Jisung drags you and Felix away from the scene and you are confused by his sudden behavior.

“Wow, Jisung, didn’t know you’re that territorial.” Felix mused, surely liking the situation. 

“I just didn’t like him,” Jisung turns to you and shrugs, “There’s just something I feel from his presence, y’know?” 

“Ah, yes, jealousy,” Felix speaks in a mocking tone, “That’s something hard to ignore, y’know?”

“Someone wants to sleep outside tonight.” Jisung smirks, making Felix take back his words.

You are disappointed with the short amount of time you spent with Jisung, the day after you ate together, Jisung became busier, if that’s still possible, he rarely responds to your messages and if he did, it is short. His ‘meeting’ with Wendy became more frequent and you tried your best not to think of it and let jealousy consume the best of you. Despite the exams coming up, you found yourself flying around on your nightly trips with none other than Minho–but that is after you finish studying; it became some sort of reward to you. You did forget Jisung and Wendy during your adventures but the longing slowly became terribly agonizing. Even with the use of pixie dust and magic, your heart still feels empty at the end of the day.

It is the last day of finals and spring break is just over the corner yet you feel numb and drained already. 

“I’m going to die,” a sigh escapes past your lips, “I want to sleep for a whole day.”

“Aww, Y/N, you can rest all you want but we have to take the remaining subjects.” Felix pats your hair gently.

“Thanks, Lixie, I know you’d do well!” You smile at him before taking your phone out of your pocket.

You: hey, love, good luck on your final assessments. <3 

Quokka: thanks, y/n. good luck to you too, i know you studied well /(￣3￣ )/

Jisung’s short encouragement was enough for you to go through all your remaining tests and you were satisfied with your answers too. Just like you said on the last day of finals, you really did spend the succeeding day sleeping. You woke up the next day to see your notifications blown up from Felix and Jisung’s texts. It took you almost thirty minutes to read the entirety of the messages and reply to it. 

You became all giddy and impatient with the fact that you’d be attending the festival next next week. You were excited, nonetheless you still spent the first week of spring break either by yourself or with Minho’s company. You tidied up your dorm since you basically live there even during the short breaks from school. You didn’t have a house to come home every spring break because your parents are working abroad and all busy with their work, plus they don’t have spring breaks at work, so it’s you travelling to another country every December just to be with them. 

The day you’ve been waiting for has finally arrived and your heart has been pounding the moment you wake up. 

“Where are you going?” You ask Minho who is heading for the door.

“Felix asked me for some help.” You nod at him and go back to making final adjustments on your costume. Over the few weeks, Minho became disgustingly close to Felix to the point where Minho knew everything about him too but that’s because Felix promised not to tell anyone your friend’s not-so-little secret and Minho trusted your ball-of-a-sunshine friend. What you didn’t expect is for Minho to become friends with Jisung, looking back on the way Jisung acted upon meeting Minho for the first time, it seemed impossible for him to trust your friend. You spent the remaining time watching cute cat videos and reading theories in Philosophy that made you curse a lot and almost regret taking Philosophy as your major during your freshman year. 

Taking one last spin in front of the mirror, you excitedly head to the university gate to meet Jisung and the others but little did you know, your friends had other plans. They decided that they’ve had enough of your pining on each other albeit all the teasing and flat-out hints. 

“Jisung, where are they?” You try to brush off the rowdy butterflies in the pit of your stomach. The pair of tunic and braies gave Jisung an extreme makeover, he looks just like a real fairy, which also coincidentally matches with your olive green fairy costume–to put it short, you look like a couple.

“Didn’t Felix come over to your dorm?” Jisung shrugs, fiddling with the hem of his forest tunic, you can sense his nervousness.

“Minho told me Felix asked him to lend a hand,”  Your eyes widen in realization, “They left us!” 

“I shouldn’t have trusted those two!” Jisung mutters under his breath. 

“What are we going to do now?” You bite your lip, analyzing your surroundings; a fair amount of people have gathered outside the university and the others have already entered the gates.

“Just forget them,” Jisung grabs your hand, “Let’s just enjoy the festival even with just the two of us!” 

Jisung and you went from stall to stall, spending a huge amount of money and eating an unhealthy amount of sweets. The two of you are now sitting beside each other on one of the benches, feet sore yet contented. You can see the diversity in everyone’s costume and everybody is having a great time, smiles plastered across their faces as they celebrate with their friends and loved ones; making your heart feel warm at the rare sight.

“Y/N,” Jisung snaps you out of your trance, “The fireworks are starting soon.”

“Really?” You unlocked your phone, showing the cute wallpaper you had set, which is you three on your first mid-spring festival, “So much time had passed already?”

“Yeah, are you tired?” Jisung places his hand over yours and it felt natural to Jisung.

“I mean look,” you raised your phone to his vision, “Three years had passed and we’re all still friends.” 

“Isn’t it a great thing?” Jisung squeezes your hand lightly. 

“Yeah…” You couldn’t finish your sentence, you cannot just straight-up tell him ‘And we’re still not together, so it’s not great’, your insecurities just don’t agree with you. 

“Did you have fun today? You’re too silent.” Jisung’s eyes searched for yours.

“Of course!” You exclaim, averting your gaze within seconds.

“Good to know,” Jisung smiles as he thumb rubs circles on your knuckles, “I wish this day won’t end though.”

“What do you mean?” It is your turn to face him.

“We have to go home sooner right?” You nod at his words, “Can I ask for something before we leave?”

Ignoring the loud palpitating inside your chest, “Go ahead.”

“May I kiss you?” Jisung is too jittery to mind his choice of words, anxiousness consuming him as he anticipates for your answer.

“Of course,” Feeling slightly confident, you even smiled at him. His eyes marveled from your eyes to your lips and you felt the tiny hairs on your nape stood up when Jisung placed his free hand to cup your jaw while the other held your hand. Just as his lips touched yours, you heard the sound of fireworks spreading across the night sky and everything felt perfect and magical. Seconds passed and you feel Jisung’s lips parting away from yours and you wished it didn’t have to end.

“Hey, Y/N, I know I don’t have supernatural powers nor wings to take you on nightly escapades,” Jisung gazes oh-so-lovingly at your teary ones.

“How did you know?” Your ears perk up, waiting for his response.

“Minho told me,” Jisung smiles, taking a deep breath, “but I can love you with all my heart.”

“I love you too, Jisung.”

You don’t need any pixie dust and magic to feel sparks, happiness, freedom, and comfort all at once; all you need is Jisung and his love.

[bravadoseries]

All the evens for Audrey and all the odds for Margo!

thank you!  this got super long so i’m putting it under a cut hehe

audrey: 

2. why is your oc problematic?

audrey is problematic because she has no clue what she’s doing when it comes to anything and when it comes to being a hero, she relies almost entirely on trial and error.  

4. what crossovers with other ocs have you talked about?

i have talked about crossovers with you for leila, @emiliachrstine​ with jacqueline, and @notaboutcat​ with grace barnes!!!  

6. if your oc were to have superpowers, what would they be? if your oc has superpowers, what are they?

so audrey has super soldier strength as her primary superpower, and also there’s some other stuff that will be revealed during the thor: tdw arc

8. alright, be honest—whether or not they get the chance to prove it, is your oc worthy?

so i think that audrey does become worthy eventually during endgame, but i think that all the avengers are.  

10. what’s your oc’s fight song? (e.g., immigrant song for thor, just a girl for carol)

girls just wanna have fun!!! i think is the biggest one.  but i have actually picked out songs for the main fights in all of the movies audrey is in: 

avengers battle of new york: “mama talking” by parov stelar

moscow fight against bucky: “bad guy” by billie eilish which i know wasn’t technically released yet but it’s okay

thor: tdw final fight: “big god” by florence and the machine

tws final fight: “seven nation army” by the white stripes

avengers: aou battle of sokovia: “glass & patron” by fka twigs

captain america: civil war airport scene: “bad blood” by taylor swift

angels of mercy final fight: “tomboy” by princess nokia

thor: ragnarok: “the future’s so bright, i gotta wear shades” by timbuk 3 

avengers: iw: “yellow flicker beat” by lorde

avengers: endgame: “girls just wanna have some” by chrormatics and “lights up” by harry styles and “boys wanna be her” by peaches 

12. what was your oc like in high school?

audrey didn’t officially go to high school because she was tutored privately until she started just going to college but she was generally bored with her tutors.  when she went to high school in the 80s, she was jarred.  even though she’d gotten several degrees by that point, she was like freaked out by being with other people and having to have a social life because in college she just didn’t talk to anybody.  so she was nervous and quiet but she did have one good friend!

14. your oc meets thanos. what’s their first move?

omg audrey’s first move is to spit on him, i think, and then she just like attempts to tackle him and scratch his eyes out ngl

16. your oc gets married. which canon characters are in the wedding party?

yesss braudrey wedding time!! natasha is one of her bridesmaids, tony is the officiant, and both steve and darcy walk her down the aisle.  steve and darcy have a young daughter by this point who is a flower girl with morgan, and they’re super cute.  i could talk about the braudrey wedding for so long though i have so many little plans

18. what are your oc’s bad habits or vices?

audrey loves sweets, i think is one of her vices. she also tends to know she’s making bad choices but go through with them anyway. 

20. your oc wears the gauntlet (without any detrimental effects on their health) and gets one snap to wish for anything they want. what do they ask for?

audrey asks to destroy the infinity stones, i think most likely.  she doesn’t want that energy to be condensed into such a powerful form because that’s like a nightmare.  i think it changes from film to film, but by the end, her final wish is for everyone to not be so powerful all the time

22. what does your oc’s bedroom look like?

audrey’s apartment is very minimalist, because it’s easy for her to get overwhelmed.  before she moved into the tower, she was a workaholic because she would get so bored with her freetime that she always had case files everywhere.  once she joins the avengers though and kind of like starts building a life for herself, she starts to settle into her place more and have details that reflect her life more—photos on the walls, little things that she collects from good memories, and a lot of books on the shelves!  audrey likes big windows and keeps them open, but the space is mostly like white with dark blue accents.  

24. which characters from other movies or shows is your oc a combination of?

excellent question!  so audrey reminds me a lot of like the most chaotic combinations of mike schur main ships?  she’s both chidi and eleanor, and both jake and amy.  she’s anxious but also impulsive, awkward but also extremely loving, strong but also scared.  

26. which canon character would they go to for advice? why?

audrey goes to different characters for advice about different things!  with moral problems, she goes to steve.  with fighting advice, she heads to natasha, obviously.  with relationship advice, she heads to darcy.  and later, post aou, audrey actually spends a lot of time with wanda and pietro becoming more politically active.  

28. what’s your oc’s biggest flaw?

audrey is scared of everything! i think is her biggest flaw.  it’s hard for her to overcome that fear.  

30. what movies or shows is your oc featured in?

audrey is in agent carter, she has cameos in iron man 1+2, thor 1, captain marvel, and captain america: tfa.  she’s a main in avengers, thor 2, tws, avengers: aou, captain america: civil war, thor 3, and avengers iw and endgame!

margo: 

1. how did you pick your oc’s name?

margo is short for margaret! i think peggy is kind of an old-fashioned name (technically so is margo) but margo is cute and short too 

3. besides their main ship, who else do you think they would work well with?

i think margo could have a relationship with magnus (thor and jane’s older son) but it probably wouldn’t be super healthy.   also i think she and calliope could have had a cute relationship which coulson would have lost his mind about lol.

5. what’s a crossover with another oc that you’ve wanted to do, but haven’t officially discussed or planned?

i feel like it would be cool to talk about margo with @cassercole​‘s queve family ! i think an audrey and q crossover would just slap in general because i think it would be angsty and cool and i can imagine q being like . i did not sign up to be a stepmother, but thanks, but then the two of them actually becoming friends eventually.  

but anyway, i can imagine bonnie and tristan teasing margo and making them call her aunt and uncle but them all getting along well and hanging out at family reunions and getting into trouble . having a vision of the three of them stealing a blunt or something from tony’s jacket pocket at thanksgiving and then all of them being high and paranoid about getting caught by steve. 

q catches them and margo is like please don’t be mad and please don’t tell my mom and q just rolls her eyes and closes the door to the room they’re all in after telling them dinner’s in 10 minutes, and she won’t tell but it’s up to them not to get caught.  

7. rank their compatibility with the marvel teams: avengers, guardians of the galaxy, agents of shield, defenders, runaways

okay so: 1) avengers, because they’re her family.  2) gotg, because she thinks they’re all super weird and cool.  3) runaways, because i think she’s scrappy and has a similar sheltered background to them.  4) aos, just because found family time.  5) defenders.  super brutal and she’s just like ummmm i am scared . 

9. which other mcu characters would your oc really get along with?

i think gamora and margo would get along super well.  also margo’s close with carol because she likes how she’s not too serious about herself as a hero.  i think she’s also probably gets along well with wanda and pietro.  she’s super close with her dad, also.  

11. post a snippet of the next chapter of an oc’s fic!

okay to be honest i have not written any of margo’s fic yet so i will have to pass 

13. what’s a secret about your oc that they would never admit? feel free to be as angsty or as silly as you’d like!

margo would never admit it but she has a slight schoolgirl crush on thor, who is one of the strength instructors slash english teachers at the academy.  

15. if your oc has a costume/were to have a costume, what does it/would it look like? what colors? cape or no cape?

no cape, but sometimes she ties a towel around her neck and dances in her dorm room.  margo’s costume would probably look a lot like helena bertinelli’s costume on arrow—very classic, infinity mask, etc. 

17. after a battle, how does your oc recover?

she cries into her pillow for several hours and enters a period if intense self loathing and eats ice cream.  

19. what were some other faceclaims you considered for your oc?

when audrey was shipped with pietro, margo was played by josefine frida petersen!

21. if your oc survived the snap, who do they miss the most?

in an au where audrey has margo before infinity war and the snap, margo would be devastated to grow up without her mother

23. what’s their love language? what’s the love language of the character they’re shipped with?

i think margo’s is words of affirmation, and leo’s is quality time! 

25. which characters annoy your oc? why?

margo gets annoyed with her mom, a lot.  audrey and bex are really close and so she feels left out of that relationship.  i also think that margo doesn’t get along super well with pepper because she thinks pepper doesn’t like her.  she doesn’t like peter quill that much, even though she likes the rest of the guardians.  and she never meets loki, but i think she would absolutely hate him.  

27. what’s your oc’s biggest strength?

i think her biggest strength is her big heart!  she feels a lot and she’s kind of intense but she’s a very loving person.  

29. team cap, team iron man, team i don’t care, or team please stop fighting?

team please stop fighting!! she’s like why is my life an episode of family feud . i know she doesn’t exist then but she looks back on it and brings it up sometimes and they’re both deeply embarrassed about it in hindsight and also like . okay BUT and she’s like okay nevermind!!!!

[jo-the-schmo]

Traveling... Ch.2

Traveling Chapter 1

A/N: Listen, I know this took forever. No, I haven’t given up on the story. I’ve just been really sad lately so I haven’t done anything. Sorry not much happens in this, this chapter is just for fun I guess.

Wordcount: 2071

Warnings: Language?

Tags!!!!:  (I will be tagging everyone from the original series, tell me if you no longer want to be tagged! I will also be tagging some of the new people who were asked to be tagged!) @midnightokieriete @renae-writes @deltablue202  @literally-melonkitty @meunicorn @favouritefighting-frenchman @demigod-runner-who-potter @gum-and-chips @sweaterkitty-fluff @littlemissshortcakes@pinkyiger7 @unprofessional-inhumanbeing @fandom-panda-221  @hummusandchips @spoopy-piineapple @ashwolfcub @myself-and-the-madman @sweet-fate @superwholockbooknerd526 @frozengal2013 @itsmikayblr @sarmar29 @arya-durin-51 @phantastic-fandoms @hoshihime98@shinigamired @martapetrovic @robotic-space @tayahqr  @asprinkleofmermaids @satellitesuga @rose-coloured-nihilism @okie-dokie-artichokeme @pandartist @apandawithcookies @kitcatgirl2016

Traveling to Now

The man sitting at the desk raised his head, revealing his face that was covered by his hat. He had warm skin and dark eyes, looked like he hadn’t slept in days. There was another man in the room, he had lighter skin, a noticeable strong jaw, and short, dark hair. The air in the room was serious and skeptical. Oh no, did I come at a bad time?

“May I help you?” The man wearing the hat asked. You just noticed that he has a gap between his front teeth. Oh geez, that’s adorable…

“Who in God’s name are you?” The dark-haired man asked before you had a chance to answer the first question.

“I’m fairly certain I answered both of those questions when I first came in. My name is Titania Taylor, and I am offering my knowledge to your troops.” You heard loud footsteps approaching, John and Alex practically fell into the tent on either side of you.

“General Washington! Forgive us, we tried to stop her!” John huffed, clearly out of breath. He was looking at the man sitting down with the cute gap tooth, saluting him. Oh, so this is our first president… OH MY GOD THIS IS OUR FIRST PRESIDENT!

“That is quite alright, Lieutenant Laurens. I am more concerned with who exactly this tenacious young lady is.”

“Again, I already answered this…twice actually.”

“Your Excellency, Miss Taylor has revealed confidential information…both our own and General Clinton’s.” Your eyes flitted back and forth between Washington and Alex. They had stopped talking but it felt as though the conversation was still going. Washington cleared his throat, something’s up for sure.

“What has she requested, Alex?” It’s really weird to hear someone else calls him that…

“She wants to be a nurse, sir.” George seemed to think over what Alex told him.

“Very well, take her in to see the Head Nurse. Thank you for joining our cause, Miss Taylor.” He stated bluntly. Well,…that was different than I expected… Alex nodded, turned to you and gestured for you to follow him. You were too confused to not go along with it. The two of you stepped out of the tent. I’ve only ever seen Alex when he’s older, I could see why women would swoon over him. He looks so lively…not tired and worn out from all this bullshit.

“Alex, I think we may have started off on the wrong foot. I didn’t intend to-”

“Alex? Did you just call me Alex?” Shit…I need to get used to this.

“I apologize, I did not intend to do that. May I call you Alex?” You kept your voice a bit softer, peace is the easiest hand to play.

“I suppose, I’ve never heard a woman be so forward and call me by a nickname.” It was a statement, but it sounded more like a question.

“I guess forward is a word you could use. Forthright is what I typically hear.” You chuckled, you could see a small grin on his face.

“Miss Titania-”

“You can just call me Titania, saying ‘Miss’ is too formal.” You corrected.

“Titania… You mentioned before that you ran away. I do not mean to pry but seeing as though you will be on our grounds, I feel as though I must know these things.” Must he know these things?

“Why is that?”

“Well, it is more of a safety precaution than anything else.” What does that even mean? You were about to ask him again but he stopped before you could. You were in front of a long, white tent, women were running in and out, carrying different supplies. “This is your stop, Titania. Perhaps we may chat later.” He chuckled and flourished into a bow before promptly turning around and walking away. This is such a busy time… You looked on at the tent and suddenly felt out of place. Okay, I need to get in there before my anxiety makes me think about it too much. You did your best to avoid bumping into the rushing women but sometimes it was inevitable. You were relieved when you finally made it inside but the current of bodies moving through wasn’t any better. There was no way you’d be able to find the head nurse in all this chaos, it was way too overwhelming. That’s when you felt a hand on your shoulder.

“Are you looking for someone, missy?” You turned to find an older woman. You couldn’t quite explain it, but she seemed so familiar to you. She gave off this comforting energy, it made you feel safe for some reason. Her clothes were all white but a few grass stains covered it.

“Um…Yes, I’m looking for the head nurse?” The woman let out a loud laugh when you answered.

“You are a lucky one, aren’t you? I’m the head nurse!” She put her hands on her hips with a wide smile on her lips. “Think someone my age would be here if she wasn’t in charge?”

“Oh, thank goodness, I didn’t think I’d ever figure out who was who!” You let out a deep sigh. “My name is Y/N, it’s nice to meet you.” You smiled, she raised an eyebrow.

“Interesting…Well, people around here just call me Mama. An old lady like me builds up a reputation pretty quickly!” She couldn’t be any older than 50, she wasn’t that old. Why did she seem so confused about my name?

“Well ‘mama’, I’m here to help. I do not actually know what I’m supposed to be doing…” You thought you might as well be honest with her.

“That’s quite alright, missy. None of my girls really know what they are doing just yet. I’ll put you on the stock until you get settled.” Her eyes were so gentle and loving, you immediately trusted her, which was something you never did. She pointed you over to a large stack of wooden boxes. “In those are some of our supplies…I need you to count them out and record how much of each item we have…organize them.” Her voice sounded disappointed by something. You nodded and made your way over to the other side of the tent. The wall was only a little taller than you, at least the closest part of it was. You plucked off the top box and set it down on the ground. There was straw inside of it to keep its contents safe from breaking. You pulled it out and were confused by what you saw. There hardly anything in the box at all. You pulled out a small bottle with a thick, yellow liquid inside. It read ‘Lavender Spirit’ in neat cursive on the label. Lavender oil? Is this supposed to calm them down? You set it back down onto the wooden bottom and grabbed a glass jar on the other side. It was filled with white powder, the label said, ‘Cream of Tartar’. Another bottle had a cork top, it was a sickly brown, coppery color. ‘Calomel’? Isn’t that mercury?! You went and grabbed another box, setting it down next to the first one. There was hardly anything in that one as well. Laudanum? Paregoric? Isn’t that just opium? There was a black rimmed, glass cup. What the fuck even is this?! You checked more and more boxes, they were all like this. Two to four supplies, the most prominent being bandages. My professor wasn’t kidding, this shit is awful! It also bothered you that these boxes had hardly anything in them. Why have this many boxes for so little supplies? That’s when it hit you. It’s a morale tactic. It makes it seem like there’s a lot of supplies when there isn’t. And most of these things don’t even work… You took inventory of what you could and tried to make at least some level of order.

You tried to count out the number in your head. 12,000 men and there can’t be any more than 100 nurses…The death rate was low but that’s still pretty brutal… I haven’t even seen the doctor yet! After you had finished, Mama came back.

“Nice job! Now that that’s all sorted out, it’s time to get you sorted out.” Your head tilted a bit to the side.

“Hm?”

“Uniform, a place to sleep, food, perhaps?” She suggested.

“Very well, I believe I've finished anyway.” Mama led you out to a new tent where there were several cots lined up. They're really trying to make room, aren’t they? She went over to a large crate, picking a sack out of it and handing it to you.

“Go ahead and change into this, I will get you some food. Just meet me by the last tent, people will be filing into there, can’t miss it.” She gave you one last smile before pointing toward the opposite side of the tent where a privacy curtain hung from the ceiling and then left you to be alone. You took the sack and stepped behind the curtain. Taking off the blue jacket that you were accustomed to working in and the top layer of your dress. You pulled the new cloth out of the sack and were a bit shocked. It took you a second to realize that Mama was the only woman wearing white, most likely so she could be pointed out in a crowd. The fabric was a thick, black material, not quite suitable for this kind of weather. You pulled it over your head, getting your arms through the long sleeves. It was a bit loose, but you could fix that later. You buttoned the four white buttons on the torso and straightened out the white collar. There was also a dark grey ribbon in the bottom of the sack. This must be to tie my hair up? You pulled your hair back and tied it off with the ribbon, it took you a few tries to get it right but you got there eventually…kinda?

You exited the tent and immediately picked up on where you were supposed to go, due to how many people were coming in and out of the overflowing tent. You clutched the sack, now holding your old jacket and over-layer, when you spotted Mama off next to the tent. Picking up the edge of your skirt, you hurried to her, the heat already seeming to be too much for how hot it was. You finally made it over to Mama, she handed you an already prepared plate.

“It’s beef today, tomorrow will most likely be turkey. Heard some of the boys messing with them earlier.” She chuckled to herself. The plate held a dry piece of beef, some sort of bread and a small bowl of uncooked potatoes. You tried to take a bite of the bread…you immediately regretted it. Hardtack…of course…how could I be so blind?! Mama snorted at the face you were making. Suddenly, a savory smell wafted through the air. Sweet time travel, what is that smell?! It was coming from the opposite side of the tent. Mama looked at your longing eyes and tapped your shoulder. “Follow me, missy.”

You made sure to keep close behind her to ensure that you wouldn’t get separated. She led you to where the heavenly smell was coming from and were greeted by some familiar faces. Alex, John, and Hercules were sitting on some cut-down logs, surrounding a fire with a pot hanging over it. The smell was obviously coming from the pot. Herc is the first to notice you and Mama approaching, his face literally lit up.

“It’s always a good day when Mama pays a visit!” He exclaimed, the other two men instantly turned their heads with huge grins on their face. Wow, Mama is really popular, isn’t she?

“Hello, boys! Our new little miss caught a whiff of what you were cooking. You wouldn’t mind her joining you, right?” John and Alex looked skeptical but Herc was more than hospitable.

“Of course! I tried to have a pleasant conversation with her earlier, but somebody just had to interrupt!” Herc gave Alex the side eye. SHAAAAAADE! Alex groaned, it made this even more comical. Herc patted the seat next to him and you happily accepted his invitation. Mama excused herself, saying that she had to go take care of something.

Well…now I’m alone with them…shit what the hell am I supposed to talk about?! 

[docmurph12]

Ok. So two parter on CATS coming up. POSSIBLY a three parter depending on how long it takes to get through background. Here we go......

So my first request review comes from my good friend. I'm not sure how this is going to go, because I'm going whole hog on this one, again in the interest of pure objectivity.

My understanding of CATS is this. It was a Broadway musical based very loosely on T.S. Eliot's "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats". My friends in and fans of the theater community have told me there isnt really an intended overriding plot. The Wikipedia page I found begs to differ, but they insisted it really is just a collection of vignettes, told through the perspective of a cat. Simple enough? I believe so. Now, I also understand this stage musical to have been adapted a number of times, largely for Broadway and for specific actors and actresses, with the noted exception of the film CATS (2019). Yes that one. Yes I intend to watch it. On purpose. But wait there is more. The 2019 film was trashed nearly universally but everyone before they finished the trailer and after the film was released and viewed. Most people said the performances were fine but visually it was recieved as, to put it simply, fucking wierd. I saw one review that said it was released unfinished, with a CD character model floating into the middle of a scene out of context and with no animation, a mess with texture rendering (apparently Ian McKellan has a scene where his fur just doesn't show. Like the texture is flat. Like it looks like it was published on a floppy disk alongside the original Doom). Not to mention the myriad questions that seem to come up in conversation about the character design choices as a whole. Jesus, how bad is this thing??

My resources tell me a BUNCH of super important contextual things about this one, most important of them being that this is SUPER META Broadway at it's best. Like this is the most Broadway that has ever Broadway'ed. This could be a good thing (one of my favorite musical pieces is fucking everything from Les Miserables), or it could be a bad thing (anyone that knows me knows that with notable exceptions I am NOT a big fan of musicals AT ALL, which is strange for me given my proclivity for weirdness, good storytelling, and music). This is going to be fun for everyone I think so strap in folks. This is going to be a wierd ride through furry land with a guy that wants nothing to do with it, lol. (SCORE, looking like 2 parts)

First I'll be looking at CATS (2019), because I am a glutton for punishment, and my wife says that the best way to get through this is to chew through the shit sandwich first, and then to get through the good stuff, so the good stuff is what sticks. I'm not sure I am going to enjoy either part, but I am open to it so here we go. I'll try to keep my writing as live as possible, per usual.

RIGHT AWAY, as I'm completing the Amazon rental purchase, this cast is fucking loaded. Taylor Swift, Jennifer Hudson. Judi Dench, Jason Derulo (wait, he acts too? Maybe his part is the worst part in this, I hate his music worse than I dislike Taylor Swift), Idris Elba, Ian McKellan, Rebel Wilson, and more. And that doesnt even include any love for people I am not familiar with that might carry some star power over from Broadway. So this thing is loaded for bear with acting heavies. That said, I really don't understand the comic appeal of Rebel Wilson. I don't think she is funny. You already lost me with Taylor Swift and Jason Derulo. All that said, this cast roster looks expensive.

Ok I am a minute and 47 seconds in and my first thought already is what the hell am I listening to? If this was originally put together in the 80s, and its either loved (ironically I guess?)or reviled, why would you stick with the same musical choices as instrumentation is concerned? I'm guessing I am going to have more on this later.

So completely inconsequential to the actual review the word jellicle as it relates to cats is totally ruined thanks to my learning of a word not in may people's vocabularies. Farticles. Thanks to my cousins for that one.

Alright, so full disclosure. I am not a fan of Rebel Wilson. I enjoy aspects of characters she plays, and she can be funny at times, but when your whole act revolves around one aspect of you (in her case it is that she is a large woman. Seriously its like every joke in all 3 Pitch Perfect movies) it says a lot about your ability to tell a story or joke. That said, it is so nice to not hear Rebel Wilson tell fat jokes. She is genuinely talented. It's hard to watch her in this cat suit (? Cat body? Cat war crime? More later), but it's interesting to see someone explore another side of their craft.

The sound design is...off. I'm not sure how else to describe it. You can LOUDLY hear body parts hitting set pieces. Footfalls, people jumping and grabbing on things. Like seriously you can hear it over the music. It sounds like someone got lazy in the mixing room, or they were trying to make it feel more like a stage production. News Flash. It doesn't make it feel like a stage production. It makes it feel like nobody in the production staff cared as much as the actors. I am beginning to suspect that ALL the money on this movie was spent on casting. And concept art.

I am genuinely confused by the choice to have only a couple cats wear clothes, and when they remove them, their fur looks exactly like the clothes they removed. I'm finding myself looking at things they did that wasted money. Money that could have been spent anywhere else to improve this thing.

All things considered, I could watch Idris Elba play the title character in Jaws, and enjoy it.

I'm pretty impressed by the entire cast's commitment to everything they picked up from their movement coaching. It is obvious that they were trying to incorporate a lot of typical feline movement and habitual aspects, even going so far as utilizing ballet movements for some of the dancing (probably because it is more "feline", to use the word again.) Nobody has really slipped yet. It's pretty impressive.

I think the thing that has me most surprised throughout is that this thing has the ability to elevate some (Rebel Wilson, Jason Derulo, Francesca Hayward, Jennifer Hudson, the VFX artists) and drag others through the dirt, (Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Idris Elba, the VFX artist team), most times in the same scene. It's crazy how on one hand someone truly can astound you with their performance, blow you away with a wonderful rendition of a song some people know well, and on the other hand you see wonderful, well established actors really putting their asses into a performance that has no way of doing them service because there isn't anything there. For comparison, look at Ben Kingsley in Ghandi, or Lucky Number Slevin, versus his performance in Bloodrayne. It's really hard to watch these respected thespians work their asses off for something that won't ultimately pay off for them because it doesn't have the capability to.

Ok so halfway verdict here:

This was a fucking mess. Now I didnt see the original theatrical release, so I have no idea how truly barrel bottom things got here. I CAN say, that I can see the bones of what this is supposed to be buried in the mess of cat shit (see what I did there????).

The concept of the costuming is essentially what I imagine it is for the stage show, but seeing it in it's execution is.....disturbing. The movement coaching was pretty solid and worked well with the dance choreography, but in combination with the actual character design there is an implied sexuality in the feline-ness that makes you uncomfortable, but not in the thought provoking way, just in the "forced to look at naked people covered in cat fur for an hour and a half" kind of way. Like I was even kind of into Idris Elba's performance of Macavity, until he took off the hat and trench coat and now I'm just watching a naked Idris, but with cat ears and a tail. To be honest seeing this throughout the film really took you out of the immersive aspects of it. Not to mention that while lighting was ok, the actual character models pasted on the motion capture actors moved strangely, sometimes the faces were disjointed with the heads, sometimes textures looked unfinished (not as bad as I thought it would be but I know people that could do better than that on their computers at home.) Just a jarring experience visually overall.

The score was ugly and dated too. Or maybe not the score, so much as the instrumentation. Sound design was atrocious throughout, it seemed like the intent was to make it feel more like a stage production, but if that's the case, why go the route they did in terms of set design and all that? Being able to hear hollow flooring under heavy footfall, or people loudly slamming hands into bars they need to grab to catch themselves, or the piss poor choice in instrumentation, the whole thing feels like B roll for the DVD extras. You know what actually did great in updating the music for a more immersive experience? Aladdin. Check my first review out for more on that one.

So halfway verdict? I say a rough D. I dont see myself going back for this one, but I'm not unable to see the appeal. I just am sort of anticipating the 1998 Broadway production (part 2 of this review) so I can see what this is really SUPPOSED to be. Watch for part 2, coming later!

[yuehouzi]

Really  LONG  CHARACTER  SURVEY.      RULES.  repost, don’t reblog !!      TAGGED.  no one in particular.     TAGGING.  anyone and everyone.

BASICS.

FULL  NAME : Yueliang Wukong NICKNAME :  Yue, Little Thief AGE :  8 BIRTHDAY :  August 9th ETHNIC  GROUP : Vacuoan NATIONALITY :   Vacuoan LANGUAGE / S* : Common tongue, Vacuoan -- a mixture of the main city’s dialect and the one spoken by her parents. SEXUAL  ORIENTATION :  ??? ROMANTIC  ORIENTATION :   ???  RELATIONSHIP  STATUS :   Single as a pringle. For this and the previous two questions, she’s a child. If anyone is interested in me answering them in the verses where she’s older, I guess I can do that. Otherwise, no. SOCIOECONOMIC CLASS :   Lower middle HOMETOWN / AREA :   Vacuo CURRENT  HOME :   Vacuo, main city / the city that surrounds Shade Academy. PROFESSION : Student, eventually a huntress-in-training.

PHYSICAL.

HAIR : Thick and golden blonde with a silvery white lock near her bangs. EYES :  Deep brown. NOSE : She has one.  FACE : She has one.   LIPS :  She has them and they’re thin. COMPLEXION : Dark tan. BLEMISHES : Some birthmarks scattered on her arms, on the inside of a knee. SCARS : Some light scarring on her knees. A white mark on her cheek. TATTOOS :  None HEIGHT : 3′8″  WEIGHT : 41.43 lbs BUILD : Slight, with some lean muscle.  NOTABLE FEATURES : A simian’s tail, with golden fur.  ALLERGIES : Pollen ( unknown since it’s not a problem for her in Vacuo ), dust mites. USUAL  HAIR  STYLE :  Layered, approximately chin-length, with the ends angled to frame her face. If her hair gets long enough, there may be a tuft of a braid.  USUAL  FACE  LOOK :  Keen interest. She’s constantly observing her environment, picking out the interesting people / objects.  USUAL CLOTHING : Sneakers -- think chuck taylors. shorts or capris. a short sleeve or tank top under a sleeveless hoodie, which has her brother’s emblem on a breast pocket. a square scarf. If her mother dresses her...count on more traditionally feminine styles and colors. She absolutely refuses to wear skirts and dresses of any kind.

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR / S : She’ll proudly say none. However, after seeing the fall of Beacon unfold on a live broadcast -- Grimm start making occasional appearances in nightmares. Every day that goes by without hearing from Sun adds to her worry that he’s dead or missing. ASPIRATION / S :  To have an interesting life, experience as much as she can. After the fall of Beacon, she begins considering a future as a huntress.  POSITIVE  TRAITS :  Curious. Intelligent. Fiercely loyal and compassionate towards her family and friends. Inventive. Independent. NEGATIVE  TRAITS :  Mischievous. Impulsive. Stubborn. Smug. Prideful. Manipulative ( to a degree ). MBTI :   ENFP-A ZODIAC :   Leo TEMPEREMENT :  Sanguine SOUL  TYPE / S :   Performer ANIMALS :  Rooster VICE  HABIT / S : The occasional case of sticky fingers. 

FAITH : Self declared atheist, privately interested in agnosticism. GHOSTS ? :   No. AFTERLIFE ? :   Not sure. REINCARNATION ? :  She’ll say no, but she’s curious. ALIENS ? :  Maybe. POLITICAL  ALIGNMENT :  N/A ECONOMIC  PREFERENCE : Not sure about preference, but she and her family are lower middle class. She’s happy the way things are, but with the amount of time she’s spent around her parents’ workplaces and markets / bazaars -- she’s starting to realize that money is power and she’s beginning to capitalize on that with her swear jar. SOCIOPOLITICAL  POSITION : Look -- I’m a government / international politics student and I have no idea what’s meant by this. Are we talking political alignment or views on social policy / issues ? Those don’t necessarily align. Anyways -- she’s eight aka she has none of her own and doesn’t know much beyond what she hears others talking about. EDUCATION  LEVEL :   Primary school

FAMILY.

FATHER :    Tián Wukong MOTHER :   Mei-Xing Wukong SIBLINGS :   Sun Wukong EXTENDED  FAMILY :   Maternal aunt, uncle, and cousin in Mistral; paternal uncle in Vacuo NAME  MEANING / S :  The Wukong family has names relating to the sky and celestial objects. HISTORICAL  CONNECTION ? : Not so much history as philosophical / religious. Sun is clearly based on the Monkey King in Journey to the West. She and Sun are a representation of the Taoist principle of yin-yang.

FAVORITES.

BOOK :  She’s not much into reading. Comics always catch her eye. She’ll occasionally look at magazine articles if they have pictures that interest her. If she’s being read to, she’ll listen to almost everything. MOVIE :  Anything action related ( that her parents permit or don’t know about ). Documentaries may catch her interest, but on a case-by-case basis. 5  SONGS : She listens to whatever is playing on a scroll speaker. If there’s live music in a market / bazaar, she stops to listen -- especially if the music is coming from an unfamiliar instrument.

DEITY :  Privately, she’s interested in most deities. Since she was young, her mother has told her that she was blessed by the moon and the silvery streak in her hair is proof. Yue doesn’t buy it, but she does wonder. HOLIDAY :  a celebration of the New Year. MONTH :   Any that don’t bring cold weather. SEASON :   Summer. PLACE :   Her home city in Vacuo. She’s very interested in Shade Academy and while she’s not allowed outside the city boundaries alone, she loves to travel. WEATHER :   Bright and sunny or clear and moonlit, with a slight breeze. SOUND :  The hum of a crowd with music woven in. SCENT / S :  Petrichor. Fresh fruit. The lingering scent whenever she steals Sun’s shirts or jackets. TASTE / S :   Food. She likes food and isn’t picky.  FEEL / S : None in particular. ANIMAL / S :   Nearly all.  NUMBER :   None. COLORS :  White, blue. Anything bright.

EXTRA.

TALENTS :   Running cons. Memorization. Getting under people’s skins yet somehow still being adorable. Climbing. Arguing. BAD  AT :  Being sensitive to the needs and feelings of others. Subtlety. Anything that requires patience. Knowing when things don’t need her comment. TURN  ONS : She’s a child. TURN  OFFS : She’s a child.   HOBBIES :   People watching and eavesdropping. Gymnastics. Running cons. Hidden object games ( ironically ).  TROPES :  Animal Stereotypes. Annoying Younger Sibling. Brown Eyes. Badass Adorable. Jerk with a Heart of Gold. Kick the Dog. Little Miss Badass. Little Miss Snarker. Mystical White Hair / Power Dyes Your Hair. Only Known by Their Nickname. Pint-sized Powerhouse. Tagalong Kid. AESTHETIC  TAGS :  none yet. QUOTES : (1) “I would rather die of passion than of boredom.” (2) “She decided a long time ago she didn’t want to be a careful person, that she didn’t want to live her life constantly worrying about what other people thought of her. Of course she does worry, she does nothing but worry, and all her lack of care amounts to is that she offends people constantly and tests them with her inappropriateness and expects them to love her for it.” (3) “If you think you can grasp me, think again.”

FC INFO.

MAIN  FC / S : Pudding Fong from Tokyo Mew Mew. ALT  FC / S :  None, but searching. OLDER  FC / S : None, but searching.  YOUNGER  FC / S :   N/A VOICE  CLAIM / S : None, but searching. GENDERBENT  FC / S :  N/A

MUN QUESTIONS.

Q1 :   if  you  could  write  your  character  your  way  in  their  own movie ,   what  would  it  be  called ,  what  style  would  it  be filmed  in ,  and  what  would  it  be  about ? A1 :  Ooh boy, I have no idea -- I enjoy films but I don’t have enough knowledge to be confident in answering this. 

Q2 :   what  would  their  soundtrack / score  sound  like ? A2 :  Something that evokes feelings of mischievousness, happiness without a care in the world, then transitions to more serious and uncertain. Finally, something suited to action. Personally, I listen to to the klk soundtrack when I want to write action for her.

Q3 :   why  did  you  start  writing  this  character ? A3 :  looks at @brightlikewukong. Because I told them about my ideas and they didn’t stop me. I also have a habit of getting deep into developing characters and plots for them and Yue has me wrapped around her little fingers.

Q4 :   what  first  attracted  you  to  this  character ? A4 :  Mm. Maybe the fact that she’s so young and I haven’t written someone like her before. Not to mention, Rai’s Sun is a gift and I feel that both Sun and Yue have grown in their interactions with each other. 

Q5 :   describe  the  biggest  thing  you  dislike  about  your  muse. A5 :   c: I work with kids and ooh boy do they sometimes know just how to grate on my nerves c: On the one hand, I understand they’re children but on the other, sometimes you just know when they’re being little shits on purpose. 

Q6 :   what  do  you  have  in  common  with  your  muse ? A6 :   Um. We will fite for the people we care about. 

Q7 :  how  does  your  muse  feel  about  you ? A7 :  Simultaneously unimpressed and impatient.

Q8 :   what  characters  does  your  muse  have  interesting  interactions  with ? A8 : In terms of actual interactions, with her brother ( brightlikewukong ) and their parents. She’s also managed to insult Neptune and Scarlet, much to her amusement. In terms of future interactions or ones that haven’t occurred on here, I’d love to see her interact with any muses from Vacuo ( they seem to be in short supply here ). There are a few NPCs that she’ll interact well with, namely her friend Zarrin Ahmar ( currently a student at Shade ).

Q9 :   what  gives  you  inspiration  to  write  your  muse ? A9 :   Anything that Rai talks about or posts in relation to Sun. The klk soundtrack as well. And sometimes, the things I see at work.

Q10 :   how  long  did  this  take  you  to  complete ? A10 :  Several days, since I did it in chunks.