#my dad took me to a record store and when I’m w other people I’m not as silly or talky :

[cloneboywonder]

Goodnight we are all in Patrick world together I’m kissing all of you

[yeoandmoon]

you are now listening to graceland too by phoebe bridgers! ( yeosang x f!reader )

fluff, burnout!yeosang, bassist!yeosang, writer!reader, childhood friends 2 lovers but also idiots 2 lovers, yeosang and reader run away, seongjoong are engaged, wooyoung + yeonjun have a band, there is only one bed, yeosang has a nose ring, it’s implied reader has a bad relationship with her mother, wc is 3.1k

NOTE: happy yeosang day! this was a doozy to write, but i hope you all enjoy it! its based off one of my favourite phoebe bridgers songs! :)

There’s a mural on the wall of the hotel lobby. It’s a warm toned painting of a forest, with a hint of a bright blue sky peeking out from the top of the trees. There’s a moose standing at the forefront of the mural, and a little fox sleeping on a rock towards the bottom, surrounded by colourful flowers and leaves.

The mural confused you, if you were being honest. The hotel you worked the night audit at was situated in the busy downtown centre of the city you lived in, and there were barely any forests for miles around the city - let alone any wildlife, like moose or foxes. Hongjoong said it was to make guests feel more ‘in touch with nature’ and to help people forget about the ‘problems of the real world’, while Yeosang claimed it was ‘just another scam in the tourist trap’.

You, on the other hand, was sure the mural was put there to torture you. You would spend nights having staring contests with the moose (which, to your surprise, you always lost), or you would spend hours on Google with Hongjoong trying to find out what species of fox the sleeping fox was (you were sure it was a cape fox, while Hongjoong swore up and down that it was a gray fox). The blue sky between the trees teased you; a reminder that most of your days were spent in the library at your university, or in this dimly lit lobby.

Sometimes, it felt like the only time you saw the sunshine was when you were with Yeosang.

Despite the occasional burnout and the lack of seeing sun most days, you didn’t mind the job. You were always more of a night person, and your classes were always later in the day so you did manage to pull in some sleep. Due to the late hours, you usually only dealt with customers in the first hour or two of your shift, and most of that was just directing confused Ubereats delivery people and pretty Tinder dates to hallways and rooms. It was the perfect job to work on your writing, and get your school work out of the way without listening to your mother cry about how you’re throwing your life away like your sister.

Plus, you could think of a hundred worse people to spend the night shift with than the nighttime valet, Hongjoong. Hongjoong often kept you occupied with his latest reforms and art projects, and stories about his fiancee, Seonghwa & their friend, Yunho (who he kept insisting you needed to go on a date with).

“Your emo boy is coming.”

Well, you could think of ninety-nine worse people to spend the night shift with than Hongjoong, who sat next to you at the check-in desk.

You scoff, “He’s not my emo boy.” You mumble, glancing at the street entrance to see Yeosang walk in with an ice coffee on hand.

Despite your words, Kang Yeosang was your person (you wouldn’t quite use the term ‘emo boy’, even if it did fit), and he had been since your family moved in next door to his family when you two were children. Although your friendship lately had been reduced to these late night meetings while you two were on break on your respective graveyard shifts (you at the hotel and Yeosang at the convenience store down the block, of course) and occasional meetings in the garden when you were both running errands for your families, you still considered Yeosang one of your dearest memories.

It was hard not too, you suppose. He had been there for many of your firsts, and was always cheering you on. Yeosang always made you feel powerful and important - like a powerful heroine, and not his bratty next door neighbor who cried on his doorstep after being dumped by her first year partner. He always made you feel wanted.

Yeosang grinned at you as he stepped into the lobby (if your heart fluttered in your chest, you ignored it). He had on a backwards dad cap, and he had recently changed his nose ring out for the gold hoop San had bought him for his birthday. You could just faintly see his birthmark peeking out from where his bleach blonde hair curled under the hat.

“Hello, Sunshine.” He greets you, setting the coffee down on your desk.

You set the pen you were holding down, “Hi Yeosang.”

Upon first glance at Yeosang, you can tell he’s buzzing about something. He’s leaning over the check-in counter and chewing on his lip while making small talk with Hongjoong about the tourist season.

You raise an eyebrow, sipping your coffee as Yeosang turns back to you, “Do you remember Wooyoung and Yeonjun?”

You nearly choke on your coffee at the mention of your other neighbor and ex-boyfriend. Wooyoung had moved onto your street a few years after you had, and quickly became apart of the little bond you and Yeosang had formed. He moved to the coast with Yeonjun, your ex, the first chance they had gotten, but Wooyoung’s family remained in the neighborhood.

“I babysat Woo’s brother the other day…” You watched your friend, “Did something happen? Mrs Jung didn’t say anything the other day.”

Yeosang grins, and it’s his scheming grin, “Their band got signed,” He tells you, “They need a new bassist, and Wooyoung showed them that video you took of me from that show last month. Their label wants me to come down; play a few shows with them, record a couple demos. See if we have chemistry, basically.”

Your eyes widen - both out of excitement and fear. You were happy and excited for Yeosang! This is the opportunity he had been wanting for years, but you were also terrified.

You were terrified in a horrible, selfish way because you knew if Yeosang left to join Wooyoung and Yeonjun, he’d never come back to you.

“That’s… That’s great, Yeo!” You manage a grin whilst trying to shove the selfish thoughts away, “When do they want you there?”

Yeosang’s smile falters, just for a moment but you still catch it, “Monday.”

“F-Five days?”

He nods, “I’m leaving Saturday morning, so I can be there Sunday afternoon.”

You can see it in his eyes; he’s terrified too.

Before you can say anything else, Yeosang leans over the check-in counter and presses a chaste kiss to your forehead, “I have to get back to work, Sunshine.” He tells you, his voice quiet as if he’s giving you a secret, “I’ll see you later.”

He’s already halfway down the lobby when you swear and move out of your chair, you quickly call his name as you move out from behind the desk. You rush over to where he’s standing, and look up at him. He’s confused.

He opens his mouth to say something, but the words die in his throat when you pull him into a tight hug, “I’m proud of you, Yeo.”

Yeosang wraps his arms around you, pulling you closer to him. His chest is warm, and you’re sure you could spend hours here. He smiles, pressing another kiss to your head, “I know, Sunshine.” He pulls away, his hand on your arm, “I really do have to go, though. I’m already late for work.”

You nod, wrapping your arms around your torso as you watch him leave the hotel and turn down the street to go back to the convenience store. When you turn back around, Hongjoong is watching you with an amused look on his face.

You glare at him as you walk back to the desk, “Don’t you have a fiance to call, or something?”

----------------

You were tired.

Friday nights were always busy, but tonight was draining and loud and you could only take so much of Miss Liu’s incessant phone calls about mundane things at 3am. All you wanted to do was go home, and fall into your bed and sleep for hours.

Hongjoong didn’t help your mood either. It was an innocent question about Yeosang, asking if you’d seen him since he visited you on his break but it pushed your mood down to a low point. You had been so busy the past few days, and if you were being honest with yourself, you had been avoiding Yeosang.

You weren’t ready to see him leave. You knew it was selfish, but you figured avoiding Yeosang was easier than admitting you didn’t want him to leave you behind. You would just simply watch his life through Instagram and consider the ‘what-ifs’ in your life.

You shouldered your tote bag after clocking out before yelling a good-bye to Hongjoong. You could see the beginning rays of morning sun hitting the other buildings in the downtown core as you stepped out the employee doors, and then you were hit by the sight of Yeosang leaning against one of the pillars.

Your eyes widen, “Yeosan-”

“Come with me.”

You stop. Your words are left in your throat, “W-Wh… Go with you? To the coast?”

Yeosang nods, “Come with me,” He steps forward, taking your hands in his, “What do you have here? A degree you don’t care about? A job you hate?”

You frown, running over his words in your head, “I-I have my mom. And… I have Hongjoong!”

He raises an eyebrow, “Y/N, Sunshine… Your mom will barely notice you’re gone, and Hongjoong can visit us.” He cupped your cheek.

You’re so busy having an internal crisis you hardly notice the usage of ‘us’. You’re considering the logistics in your head. Yeosang was right; you didn’t care about your degree, and all it would take was an email saying you quit for them to find a new front desk person. Your mom would be upset for a few weeks. She’d probably make some passive aggressive Facebook posts about you before acting like your best friend again.

“Yeosang…” You look up at him, your hand coming up to circle around his wrist.

“Your sister is there, and you could write everyday.” Yeosang adds on, “I did the math, Y/N. Between the two of us, we’d have 6 months to figure it out. 6 months, and we’ll come back here if nothing works out.”

You stay silent for a moment.

“Sunshine, I promised I’d show you the stars, didn’t I?”

You gasp at the promise. It was a silly promise he had made when you were both kids; something you’d almost forgotten about.

It hits you quickly: there’s no one else you’d rather run away with. There’s no one else you’d trust to run away with.

You look up at Yeosang, “Yes.”

He grins, “Yes?”

You nod, “Yes, Yeo. I’ll go with you.”

----------------

An hour. An hour was how long it took for you to turn your life upside down for Kang Yeosang.

In an hour, you had emailed your program advisor and told them you wouldn’t be returning for the next semester, and you had called your manager and told them you wouldn’t be coming in for your next shift, or any shift after that (which was promptly followed by a phone call from Hongjoong, who seemed more excited about this than you were). You had packed up most of your clothes and important belongings, and they were loaded into the back of Yeosang’s shitty car. You left a note for your mother, and before you knew it, you were sitting in the passenger’s seat of Yeosang’s car.

----------------

You had fallen asleep barely an hour into the car ride. 

The rolling hills and fields outside your window made your eyes feel heavier, but you tried staying awake to keep Yeosang company.

“Go to sleep, Sunshine.” He tells you, “I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Yeosang’s promise was all it took for you to succumb to your exhaustion.

You don't usually remember your dreams. Though today, there are flashes of a beach, and a smile that takes your breath away. There are blue skies and if you try hard enough, you can just faintly smell sea salt.

You wake up hours later, smiling. True to his word, Yeosang is still there when you wake. He’s wearing a pair of sunglasses, and tapping his fingers to the beat of the song on the radio.

Yeosang smiles when he notices you’re awake, “I talked to your mother.”

Your eyes widen, “You talked to who?”

He laughs, “You didn’t answer your phone, so she called me.”

You frown, glancing at your phone in the free cup holder. You could imagine the amount of calls and texts that were in there.

“She wasn’t very happy.” Yeosang continues, “She wants you to call her when we get there.”

You nod, “Thank you, Yeo.” You say softly, looking over at him.

Yeosang throws you a smile, “Of course.”

“Not just for talking to my mom…” You watch him, “For not leaving me behind, too. Thank you.”

Yeosang reaches over, taking your hand, “I’d never leave you behind, Sunshine. You’d have to try really hard to get rid of me.”

----------------

The car ride was long, and full of Yeosang’s early 2000s emo playlist & fast food. You called your sister, who was ecstatic to hear about your plans and had immediately offered you and Yeosang her beach house. She made a comment about how ‘she always knew you two would end up together’, and it made your heart flutter when you glanced at Yeosang.

Yeosang told you about Wooyoung’s band, and how excited he was to play with Wooyoung. You smiled, listening to him fondly talk about your old friends and their music.

It was getting late though, and you could see it in Yeosang’s face that he was getting tired.

“We should stop for the night.” You tell him, “You’ve been driving since 6am, Yeo.”

He huffs, “We could drive through the night.” He proposes, “We’d make it to your sister’s place in a few hours.”

You frown, “Or... We could stop for the night, shower, and then leave first thing tomorrow morning. We'll get there by noon tomorrow.”

Yeosang glances at you, going to protest. He ends up yawning instead, his nose wrinkling slightly, “Fine.” He pouts.

You laugh, reaching for your phone to google the closest hotels. There's a comfortable silence in the car, filled with the occasional beat of Yeosang’s fingers on the steering wheel. You feel at ease, even if it's just for a moment.

“There’s a motel off the next exit.” You tell him, stifling a yawn of your own.

----------------

Sure enough, there had been a motel off the next exit. It was small and slightly rundown, but cheap and had an available room. You waited in the car while Yeosang went into the check-in office, promising to be back in a moment.

He came back dangling a key in his hand, and a slight frown on his face as he opened the car door to let you out.

“So... There’s only one bed.” He broke the news, a blush growing up his cheeks, “It’s all they had, unless we wanted to drive another hour down the highway.”

Your eyes widen, “O-Oh.” You glance at the key, and then back up at Yeosang, “I’ll sleep on the floor, or something.”

Yeosang frowns, shaking his head, “We can share for one night, Sunshine. I think it’ll be okay.”

Which leads you to here; lying almost nose to nose with Yeosang. Your hair was soaking wet from a shower in the tiny bathroom and the small motel bed wasn’t comfortable, but you didn’t seem to mind as you took in the man in front of you. You pushed the strands of bleach blonde hair out of his face, and your fingers softly lingered on the birthmark next to his eye.

His breath stuttered, “Y/N,” He says, his voice a mere whisper, “We’re free.”

You let your hand rest against his cheek. Your eyes lingered on his lips before you caught yourself, moving your gaze back up to his eyes.

Yeosang only smiled at you. He gently held your wrist as he tilted his head and placed a soft kiss on your palm, “I’m going to kiss you now, Sunshine.”

“Yes please.”

You felt every nerve in your body light up when Yeosang kissed you.

A small part of your brain told you that this is where you’re meant to be: in Yeosang’s arms.

You felt this way the first time Yeosang had kissed you too, all the way back on that roof in 11th grade. You two had been talking about the future; about your writing and Yeosang’s music. You looked up at the hazy night sky, and you asked Yeosang if you’d ever get to see the stars.

He smiled at you, telling you that he would show them to you one day before he kissed you so sweetly.

Yeosang still kissed you sweetly. He kissed you like you held the secrets of the universe in your hand for him to take.

You pulled away, “I think I love you.”

He smiles against your lips, rubbing soft circles into your wrist, “I think I love you too, baby.”

—————-

You had this assumption that the next morning would be awkward; that you would be stuck for the next 6 months with someone you could barely look in the eye because of a late night confession.

Instead, you awoke to Yeosang kissing your head and placing a bagel & ice coffee down for you. He had quickly ushered you into the shower, before you put on a change of clothes and were quickly led out to the car between bites of your bagel. This all happened over Yeosang telling you how you only had a few hours before you reached your sister’s beach house, and he wanted to try and make good time so you could enjoy the beach today.

You giggled at his antics before settling into the passenger’s seat for the last few hours of your journey.

You sipped your ice coffee as you watched out the window. The countryside on the highway zoomed by you, and the car was full of sunlight from Yeosang’s sunroof being open. There was a Fall Out Boy song on the radio, and you felt a sense of calm brush over you as Yeosang took your hand in his.

The sunshine had never felt so nice on your skin as Yeosang pressed a soft kiss to the back of your hand.

taglist: @vanishingboots @sunsethw4​ 

[nataliedanovelist]

GF & MvsM - Wanna Talk About Dinos?

This crossover was inevitable. It just works too well. Maybe one day i’ll write a fic about how the folks at Gravity Falls handled the robot-apocalypse. Probably shrugged it off. “Eh. We’ve had worse.” Haha! What if Stan and Ford, cuz they were out sailing, had no clue what happened and when they came back they were like, “Wait, what?”

For now, please enjoy this fic of Aaron making a new friend...

(credit goes to @stephreynaart for her OC Jacob) ~~~~~~~~~~ “Hi, would you like to talk to me about dinosaurs?”

Aaron asked this question more times than he could keep track of, but that wasn’t going to stop him from asking it. It started as a dare from his big sister two years ago, but now it’s a fun hobby. When fifth grade isn’t overwhelming him, scaring him with mountains of homework and horror stories about how hard middle school is going to be, and when he’s run out of YouTube videos to catch up on, he is on the hunt for fellow giant-lizard-lovers like a hungry Ceratosaurus.

“No, okay bye.” But it did get a little tiring to always cross out names and phone-numbers on the phone book with red ink. Hey, a dinosaur of a way to find phone-numbers was appropriate. He read the next number, dialed it, and after a ring or two he asked, “How would you like to talk with me about dinosaurs? No, okay thank you.”

Aaron crossed out another name and sighed, taking a break since he reached the end of a line of numbers. Maybe he should just be grateful for Abbey and accept that no one else wants to talk about the Jurassic Period. Or the Cretaceous Period. Or the Triassic Period. But then a big, old, gray-tinted ad distracted him. He grinned, thinking it would at least be fun to give them a call, and he dialed the number.

Private home phone-numbers were fun, but businesses were also fun! Poor, bored workers would gladly talk to him rather than crabby Karens, and they got paid for it! So Aaron smiled as the phone rang, and he grinned when someone picked up.

“Thanks for calling the Mystery Shack, you’re talking to Mr. Mystery himself! How may I befuddle or bewilder you?”

“Hi! How would you like to talk with me about dinosaurs?”

“Oh, dude! I’d love to, but I’m scheduled for a tour of the Oddity Museum in three minutes.” The man said, and Aaron grinned continuously, because it sounded like Mr. Mystery really wanted to talk with him about dinosaurs. “But hey! Can you hold on for one minute, I think I know a guy!”

“Yeah, sure mister!” And Aaron was greeted by the sound of a catchy jingle about buying t-shirts and mugs and snowglobes. He smiled and wiggled his feet along to the music as he looked outside at the beautiful late-fall afternoon, entertained while he waited.

~~~~~~~~~~

Soos was on the hunt. He planned out the house in his head. Abuelita was taking a nap upstairs, Melody was organizing the upcoming tour, and Stan took Jacob out for ice cream, so he might be…

The owner of the Shack grinned when he stopped at the doorway and saw the man he was looking for, sitting in Stan’s chair, reading a book.

“Uncle Ford!”

The old sailor smiled up at the young man. “Yes, wh-...”

“Do you think you could answer the phone for me? I have a tour and I think this customer’s request is right up your alley.”

“Uh… sure, but w-...”

“Thanks, you’re the best!” And Soos was gone before he could address Ford’s confusion.

Ford was a bit lost, having little to no business with business, but he had learned at this point to trust Soos, so he picked up the phone beside him and was immediately greeted with a sweet, “How would you like to talk with me about dinosaurs?”

Ford grinned and closed his book. “I would love to! All three periods are equally as fascinating to study, but the Triassic contains some of my favorite dinosaurs!”

A young voice gasped on the other line. “Mine, too! Everyone thinks the Jurassic period is so great, and it’s pretty cool, but the Triassic gave us Plateosaurus and the Brachiosaurus!”

“That’s very true! You know, it’s very interesting, maybe depictions don’t include feathers at all, which is a bit frustrating, but perhaps after the news has spread they will incorporate more feathers on merchandise and textbooks.”

“YES! That’s what I wanna do when I grow up, help draw better-accurate dinosaurs!”

~~~~~~~~~~

The phone rang on Sunday. The Shack was closed today, so Stan lazily answered it and was greeted with, “Wanna talk about dinosaurs?”

“Sixer, phone for you!”

Ford ran into the living room, elbowed his twin out of the chair, and took the phone. “Hello again, Aaron! Now, where were we? Right, so Australopithecus. … No, I don’t think… Oh! No, homo habilis was erect, Australopithecus was never fully erect.”

“Maybe he was nervous.” Stan groaned, getting to his feet.

Ford shot him a look as thankfully the young boy on the other end didn’t catch that and happily shared some more fun-facts about homo habilis.

~~~~~~~~~~

While most college students were excited for Spring Break so they could get drunk or lose their virginity, Katie was excited because her family had planned a special secret roadtrip. She was careful to keep up with her family and talk to her parents and brother frequently, but Aaron had a hobby he wasn’t talking about that his parents found out and were thrilled about. Aaron had made another friend.

Rick and Katie did some research and the tourist attraction sounded right up their alley! In the middle of the woods, tons of weird stuff, and a fun roadtrip filled with diners and attractions. They decided to surprise Aaron, and they made up a lie that they would spend Spring Break in California with Katie so she could show her family around San Francisco, when in actuality they would be traveling up the state to the Redwood Highway and see the oddity place, and maybe even allow Aaron to meet his new pen-pal. Or, um, phone-pal.

So after bombarding Katie with hugs the Mitchells threw her luggage into the car and drove off. Aaron turned to Katie and excitingly asked, “So where are we going first? Can we go fix the Golden Gate bridge by painting it gold?”

Katie laughed and ruffled his hair. “Maybe later, right now I wanna show you guys this fun store right outside of town. Here, check out the videos I made for my classes!” And she pulled out some airpods and gave one to Aaron.

“Cool!”

Rick and Linda smirked at each other as they drove north. By the time they reached a little diner in Redding, CA, it was very clear to Aaron that they weren’t in San Francisco anymore. “Come on, just tell me where we’re going!” The boy begged as he fed Monchi a fry.

“The best kind of prizes are the surprises.” Linda quoted.

“Eric, Deborahbot5000, where are we going?”

“Sorry, Aaron, we cannot give that information.” Eric said, he and the other robot sitting politely in their seats, happy to be a part of the social interaction.

“Yes, Mother will bury us if we disobey.” Deborahbot said matter-of-factly.

“What?! No I won’t, sweeties.”

“Won’t you ground us?”

The family laughed and Aaron let the topic go; if he was honest, he loved a good surprise. The big family stopped in a motel just at the California-Oregon border, and the next morning after muffins and coffee and orange juice they were on the road again, passing dozens of trees that made Rick feel at home. Katie happily recorded the trip, trusted to be the documenter for another fun roadtrip, with hopefully not as much mortal peril.

Aaron watched as they left the highway for a simple road, and they passed a big sign. The boy gasped and caught what was happening. “No WAY! Really?!”

“You know, I hear this Mystery Shack even has a Sasquatch.” Rick commented while Linda pulled out a pamphlet from the glove box.

“It says here it’s full of odd things you’ll never see anywhere else, even a dinosaur footprint…”

“Wasn’t there a rumor of there being a Bottomless Pit?” Katie asked, pointing her camera at Aaron to get his reaction.

“Thank you thank you THANK YOU!!!” Aaron cheered, hugging his Dad’s neck and kissing his Mom’s cheek.

“Hey, no worries, buddy.” Rick eased, fixing his shewed glasses. “We wanted to see this place, too!”

“Why don’t we eat a quick lunch and then we’ll take the backroad for the attraction? There’s a coupon in here for a diner made from a giant log!”

And so after being served by a pretty blonde teenager at Greasy’s, they drove through town to get to the backroad. Signs made them confident that they were going the correct way, as well as Eric and Deborahbot5000’s GPS. Then as they turned a corner, a big triangle-shaped building came into view. Aaron grinned at the giant sign with a missing letter. People were already leaving, arms full of souvenirs and one or two already wearing their new hats or t-shirts. Once Rick parked in the Free Parking Lot, Aaron spilled out of the car and ran for the shack, but he stopped.

Katie caught up to him and patted his back. “You cool, man?”

Aaron shrugged, holding his hands in front of him and his shoulders up to hide his face a bit. “I-I dunno… What if… What if he doesn’t like me?”

“Hey, I get it.” Katie admitted. “When I first met my friends I was really nervous. I had talked to them online for weeks and I was worried it wasn’t gonna be what it was all cracked up to be, but it was. Your system worked! You found another dino-lover! You earned this moment. Just take in a deep breath and be yourself, cuz you’re a pretty cool dude.”

Aaron smiled up at his big sister. “Thanks.”

Trusting Eric and Deborahbot5000 to watch Monchi and make sure he used the bathroom, the Mitchells went inside the shack. On the porch there was an ice cooler, a sign reading schedule times for tours of the Oddity Museum, a Help Wanted sign, and two rocking chairs with a game of checkers between them.

Inside the store a few customers filled up the gift shop, alongside t-shirts, snowglobes, a vending machine, a door beside ti that read Employees Only, a bookshelf full of comic on one side and old newspapers claiming alien sightings on the other, a fish tank holding a monkey-mermaid, and barrels full of spaceship keychains and dino claws. A new section called Camping Stuff caught Rick’s eye, selling backpacks, lanterns, flashlights, batteries, canteens, and compasses. Katie opened a comic called Lil’Stanley and laughed at the swears, taking a pic and sending it to her friends’ group chat. Linda looked into the barrel full of patches and grinned at all the fun designs, while Aaron stared happily at the mer-monkey.

The Employees Only door opened and closed and Rick watched as a man in a suit, fez, and eyepatch walked up to the lady at the register and kissed her cheek. The woman smiled lovingly and left while the guy who resembled a gopher checked a customer out. Rick waited until the buyer left to approach the register, leaning an arm on the counter.

“Welcome to the Mystery Shack, dude!”

“Thanks! So, this is gonna sound weird, but my son Aaron talks to a guy here about dinosaurs…”

“No way!” The owner interrupted excitedly. “Good to see you, dudes! I’m Mr. Mystery! Wow, you guys came a long way, huh?”

“Nah, only from California. My daughter is attending art school there.”

While the men chit-chatted and Linda joined them, Katie noticed a guy walking up to Aaron and looking at the mer-monkey. She smiled and tried to read the comic without being too nosy, but she kept her senses on her brother.

“Hm, quite fascinating, isn’t it?” The man in the blue hoodie said. “But I think my favorite is the fossilized footprint. Could be Nanuqsaurus hoglundi.”

“The Polar Bear Lizard?” Aaron clarified, touching his chin as he looked at the dino-print, his back to the man he was talking to. “Maybe, but they’re from Alaska. It’s possible plate tectonics did cause some fossils to be relocated here, but it could also be a Nanotyrannosaurus lancensis footprint.”

“The Dwarf Tyrant? Could very well be. Would you like to talk about dinosaurs after your tour?”

Aaron’s eyes widened as the voice was finally familiar to him. He turned and looked up to find an old man smiling up at him. He had fluffy gray hair with a white stripe running around his scalp, wrinkles by his eyes due to smiling, a cleft chin, glasses, and wore a blue hoodie with a maroon sweater underneath. His hands were behind his back and he smiled down at Aaron warmly, while the boy was jittery and overly-excited. He took in a sharp breath and had to fight every muscle to keep from leaping through the screen door. 

“H-H-Hi…” He peeped. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Y-Yeah, sure! I’d love to! I’m Aaron! Er, wait, you already knew that.” And he held out a hand to shake.

His phone-pal, Ford, chuckled and got on one knee to be eye-level. “Greeting, Aaron! It’s nice to formally meet you.”

Aaron shook his hand and noticed something. He had six fingers on his right hand. A quick glance told Aaron he also had six fingers on his left hand. Aaron grinned with sparkling eyes at his new friend, while the old sailor smiled warmly at the boy that reminds him of his niece and nephew when they were young.

[karen-elaine]

Hey guys!

So I’m currently on vacation! My family and I are doing a cross country trip! For reference, I live on the east coast and had never ventured away from the east coast. This has now obviously changed and among our many stops was LA. While there my dad and I decided that it was crucial we stopped by the iconic Amoeba Music located on Hollywood Boulevard.

I did my fair share of shopping around, got some cool stuff, and overall had an epic experience. So, I figured I’d talk about it on here!

THE STORE

Here’s the store itself just chilling on the corner living it’s best life. It’s not super grand or anything from the outside, you get most of that wow factor when you walk inside. Still super cool though and they had some super chill employees hanging out right outside the door to welcome people in and chat with the customers.

When you first walk in to the store this is what you’re greeted by! It’s this awesome, colorful, record mural with those nice LED lights in it. I didn’t take anymore pictures once inside, but it was huge! There were rows and rows of records, cassettes, CDs, band tees, and equipment for listening. It was crazy and there was so much stuff to look through! If it wasn’t for the limited time we had due to the parking meter, I could’ve spent forever in there just looking through everything.

ARCTIC MONKEYS - FAVOURITE WORST NIGHTMARE

First of the many records I got today is Favourite Worst Nightmare by the Arctic Monkeys! I got one Arctic Monkeys album a couple of months ago (Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not) and now I’m on a mission to get all of their albums. Needless to say, I was super excited to stumble across this one at Amoeba.

This record has a very epic song list! In total it contains 12 songs including:

Brianstorm

Teddy Picker

D Is For Dangerous

Balaclava

Fluorescent Adolescent

Only Ones Who Know

Do Me A Favour

If You Were There, Beware

The Bad Thing

Old Yellow Bricks

505

I believe this one just to be pressed on a black vinyl, but I won’t be opening it until I’m back home.

ARCTIC MONKEYS - A.M.

Yes I got myself another Arctic Monkeys album because why the heck not? In my defense though I never see these two at my local record shops, so that’s my excuse!

This album is a classic and I find a staple in many people’s collections. It features many of their big hits and is overall just an iconic record to own. With that being said, the song list is pretty awesome. A.M. features 12 tracks:

Do I Wanna Know?

R U Mine?

One for the Road

Arabella

I Want It All

No. 1 Party Anthem

Mad Sounds

Fireside

Why’d You Only Call Me When Your High?

Snap Out of It

Knee Socks

I Wanna Be Yours

Once again I do believe this to be on a plain black vinyl. Either way, my best friend is super excited that I got this one.

BIKINI KILL - REVOLUTION GIRL STYLE NOW!

Last time I came at all of you with a Bikini Kill record it was Pussy Whipped. This time around though I picked up Revolution Girl Style Now! which is pretty great! The “B” section of my collection is really starting to bulk up and I’m not mad about it!

As always the songs on this album are most excellent. This one has:

Candy

Daddy’s L’il Girl

Feels Blind

Suck My Left One

Carnival

This Is Not a Test

Double Dare Ya

Liar

Ocean Song

Just Once

Playground

Sticking with the common theme here, I’m assuming the vinyl is just a standard black pressing.

BIKINI KILL - YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH

Yes I got another Bikini Kill album! I swear this is the last one of multiple from one artist. It’s just Arctic Monkeys and Bikini Kill this time around.

Any who, this is another classic album of theirs with many great, well known songs from them. This includes:

White Boy

This is Not a Test

Don’t Need You

Jigsaw Youth

Resist Psychic Death

Rebel Girl

Outta Me

George Bush is a Pig

I Busted in Your Chevy Window

Get Out

Why

Fuck Twin Peaks

Girl Soldier

Not Right Now

Once again, I’m assuming that this is just a plain black vinyl. I don’t even think there is any colored pressings of Bikini Kill, but I could be wrong. Who knows?

FALL OUT BOY - TAKE THIS TO YOUR GRAVE

Here we have an artist I’ve been looking to add to my collection for a while now, Fall Out Boy! I can never seem to find their records in person, but today at Amoeba Music they had this one and Save Rock And Roll. That one was super expensive though with a lot of extra stuff. I was not looking to drop $40 on one album today, so I decided on this one instead!

The song list on this one is sweet. It features 12 songs all of which I’m pumped to listen to once I arrive home:

Tell That Mick He Just Made My List of Things to Do Today

Dead On Arrival

Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy

Saturday

Homesick At Space Camp

Sending Postcards From a Plane Crash

Chicago Is So Two Years Ago

The Pros and Cons of Breathing

Grenade Jumper

Calm Before the Storm

Reinventing the Wheel to Run Myself Over

The Patron Saint of Liars and Fakes

Such a great album and it’s also such a great pressing! This copy of Take This To Your Grave is pressed on the limited edition silver vinyl which is super sweet.

MELANIE MARTINEZ - CRY BABY

I wasn’t even planning on this one but when I saw at the store I couldn’t say no! This album was my favorite in 6th grade and I was such a hardcore Melanie fan then. This album and Melanie herself is so iconic and I knew I had to get it.

All of Melanie Martinez’s packaging is always stunning too! I know this one has a whole picture book in it with a page for each song that connects the whole album in to one story. Super cool stuff!

This record contains 13 sweet songs including:

Cry Baby

Dollhouse

Sippy Cup

Carousel

Alphabet Boy

Soap

Training Wheels

Pity Party

Tag, You’re It

Milk and Cookies

Pacify Her

Mrs. Potato Head

Mad Hatter

This is the standard black pressing, but as I said before, the packaging for this is great so it’s all good! I’m super excited to give this guy a listen when I get home! My favorite through middle school was Mad Hatter so that’s going to be so fun to hear on vinyl.

MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE- DANGER DAYS: THE TRUE LIVES OF THE FABULOUS KILLJOYS

Final record purchase of the day is by none other than My Chemical Romance! I got their album Danger Days: The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys and I’m super excited about it!

This record marks my second MCR vinyl in my collection, other than this one, I have The Black Parade which is another awesome album.

As always he have a very epic song list consisting of 15 tracks including:

Look Alive, Sunshine

Na Na Na

Bulletproof Heart

SING

Planetary (GO!)

The Only Hope for Me Is You

Jet‐Star and the Kobra Kid/Traffic Report

Party Poison

Save Yourself, I’ll Hold Them Back

S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W

Summertime

DESTROYA

The Kids from Yesterday

Goodnite, Dr. Death

Vampire Money

As shown in the image, this is not a standard black pressing! I got the fancy picture disc which was the only available option and I’m definitely not mad about it. Super cool, and my very first picture disc. Can’t wait to spin this one!

T-SHIRT

While I was there I also had to pick up some Amoeba merch to take back home with me!

They had a really epic graphic tee section. Some of which were for various musical artists while others were for the store itself. They had so many too!

I ended up going for this simple, black, logo tee with this super cute pink logo in the center. I think it’s adorable and I’m so looking forward to styling it back home.

PIN

As I was chilling in line I spotted the pins display and took a quick look at that too. I ended up grabbing a little rainbow pin with the Amoeba Music logo in the center. Once I’m home I plan to put this on my denim jacket that I’m currently trying to fill with cool pins and patches. It’s definitely going to be a really cool addition to my jacket. Unfortunately though, no pictures because I reached the max number of pictures. Very sad.

[rmtndew]

All I’ve Ever Known ~ Chapter 4

Summary: Fiona’s life is a shattered fraction of what it used to be. She’s trying to navigate her new normal when she meets Detective Marshall, who gives her something more to look forward to.

Pairing: Marshall and OFC.

Rating: PG

Warnings: Mentions of death, cancer.

A/N - This was intended as a short drabble but it got out of hand and became a multi-chapter story instead. It’s my first Marshall fic and the first fan fic that I’ve written in over a decade. The title comes from the song ‘All I’ve Ever Known’ from Hadestown: ‘I was alone so long, I didn’t even know that I was lonely. Out in the cold so long, I didn’t even know that I was cold. Turned my collar to the wind, this is how it’s always been. All I’ve ever known is how to hold my own, but now I want to hold you, too.’

Tag list - @hollydaisy23​​, @readings-of-a-cavill-lover​​, @onlyhenrys​​, @omgkatinka​​, @speakerforthedead0-blog​​, @gearhead66​​,  @thethirstyarchive​, @oddsnendsfanfics​, @littlerinoa, @agniavateira​, @aaescritora​,

If you’d like to be added to the tag list, let me know!

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5

I woke the next morning ten minutes before my alarm went off. At first I couldn’t figure out why and tried burrowing back into my warm bed to get my last few minutes of sleep back, but then my phone alerted me to a new text and I realized that’s what had woken me up. I sighed. I knew it was Darcy. Sometimes she woke up early with big ideas for her store and texted them to me, asking my opinion. She met me when I was working in interior design and any time she entertained the idea of having a dine in section, she’d send me pictures of what she wanted and ask how feasible it would be. Most of the time they were way too grand to fit into her pre-existing building. Other times she’d talk about a small coffee shop to encourage more people to come in and pick up their own orders and cut back on our deliveries. But I couldn’t see how renovating a portion of the store, buying new equipment and hiring extra employees to run a coffee shop would lower costs just by maybe cutting back on some deliveries. 

I was planning on ignoring the text until after I’d actually gotten up, but when another came through I knew it was best to just go ahead and nip it in the bud before she sent me an entire magazine’s worth of photos. But when I hit the home button on my phone I saw that the texts hadn’t come from Darcy. I had to squint against the brightness of the screen to make sure I saw the name right. Marshall.

I sat up and turned on my lamp, then looked at my phone again, reading the texts from their previews. 

Hey, it’s Marshall. I had a great  time yesterday. Sorry I was falling asleep on you. Can I make it up  to you this weekend?

Sorry. You’re probably sleeping. It might take more than coffee to make it up to you now. Dinner?

I suddenly felt wide awake and was no longer irritated by my few minutes of missed sleep. I would have gladly given up several hours for those texts. I decided not to reply to them right then, though. I wanted to make sure I’d had enough coffee to formulate a comprehensible reply and not look like I was drunk texting him, which I had a history of. My conversations with Darcy at five in the morning were proof of that. 

I got up and went about my morning routine like usual, trying not to wake Mom. When I made my way downstairs, I poured a cup of coffee and sat at the table. I sipped it, thinking about what to say to Marshall. I wrote and rewrote the text half a dozen times before finally having something I felt okay with, then I sent it.

Hey Marshall. I had a great time, too. You don’t have to make up for anything but I’d still like to have dinner with you. What day did you have in mind?

My heart was thudding from nerves and excitement. I was so focused on trying to calm myself down that I almost didn’t hear Mom when she walked in.

“Morning, sweetie,” she said, grabbing a coffee cup.

“Good morning,” I replied, then jumped slightly as my phone vibrated on the table. I tried not to look too enthusiastic as I grabbed it. 

Does Saturday work for you?

“Darcy again?” Mom asked, pouring coffee for herself. 

“Um...no, actually.” I tried biting back a smile but it didn’t work. “It’s Marshall.”

Her eyes went wide and she smiled back. “He’s writing to you at six in the morning?”

“He actually wrote me earlier. He asked if I wanted to have dinner with him Saturday.”

She sat down at the table beside me. “What did you tell him?”

“I haven’t replied yet. I don’t want him to think I’m just waiting by the phone for him.”

She looked at the phone in my hand. “Isn’t that exactly what you’re doing, though?”

“Yes, but he doesn’t have to know it.”

She laughed then blew on her coffee. “I’m glad this whole texting business wasn’t around when I was dating your father.”

“Even if it was, you’re a lot more forward than I am. You wouldn’t have had a single issue with texting Dad first, or answering him right away,” I said. My phone made another sound, reminding me of my unread text and I finally opened it, then replied. 

Saturday is perfect. What time  would you like to meet? 

“Well, there was only room enough for one coy person in our relationship and Rodger called that role,” Mom said after I put my phone down. 

I laughed. “I don’t think ‘coy’ was the right word for Dad. I think socially awkward was more appropriate.”

“He was too smart to be a social butterfly, too. He had to have a couple of flaws.”

“He couldn’t set the timer for the coffee pot, no matter how many times I showed him, and he thought that the Sharknado movies were amazing. He had his flaws,” I joked.

“This coffee pot is confusing.”

“He was an engineer!”

My phone buzzed in my hand and that time I didn’t wait to open the text. I read it right away. 

Would you let me pick you up  instead? Around six?

“Well, what does he say?” Mom asked.

“He wants to pick me up instead of me meeting him.”

“Are you going to let him?” 

I looked at her and she was smiling at me. I shook my head at her, laughing again. “You want him to come here so that you can see him, don’t you?”

She shrugged. “You keep talking about how handsome he is.”

“He is handsome. And it’s an awfully gentlemanly thing to do…” I bit my lip for a moment, pretending to think it over.

“Just tell him yes. We both know you’re going to.”

I gave another laugh. “Fine.”

I would like that, thank you. And  I’m curious, what does Detective  Marshall eat when he’s not eating a  cuban sandwich and plain chips?

I put my phone on the table. “What are your plans for today?” I asked, then took a sip of my coffee. 

She gave me a cheeky grin. “Changing the subject.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not changing the subject. I’m asking what my mother is going to be doing while I’m out earning the bread for this family,” I joked.

She snorted. “You don’t earn the bread, Fi, you just bake it.” She nodded at my arm. “And burn yourself in the process.”

“That’s the first time I’ve burnt myself in a year and a half. I’d say that’s a pretty good record.”

“That’s true,” she said. “And if you must know, I was thinking of going down to Valley and talking to Georgia about starting music lessons again after the new year. I think by then I’ll have recovered enough to be able to teach at least a few days a week.”

“You’re going to put yourself around snot nosed kids in the dead of flu season?” I asked dryly.

“I’ll be teaching teenagers, not little kids, and I’ll wear a mask,” she said. “I’ll make sure to clean everything between students and have them use hand sanitizer when they come in. I’m not going to be immunocompromised forever, and I’m not going to live in a bubble until then, either.” She gave me a smirk. “Besides, I can’t let you be the only one that earns the bread around here.”

I laughed at her but it was cut short when my phone buzzed again. 

Stuff that’s probably not very  good for him. Like Italian.  How does that sound?

Just when I thought I couldn’t be any more attracted to him, he confessed to liking my favorite type of food. I couldn’t stop my train of thought that went to me one day making an Italian dinner for him as a date. But my mind’s eye set up the imaginary dinner in my old apartment and I knew that would never happen. I let that thought go and took a deep breath, trying to focus my attention on the present moment.

That sounds great. I love  Italian food.

I sent it and sat back in my seat. I tried not to let my mind wander too far down the road with Marshall. I’d been on a lot of first dates in my life with guys that I’d thought were great who turned out to be jerks and I knew what that disappointment felt like. And even though I couldn’t imagine Marshall disappointing me in the same way they had - he’d proven at our coffee date that he was far more respectful, even while he was tired - I wanted to remind myself that I needed to take things one step at a time. 

Perfect. I’ll see you  Saturday at six, then.

I must have looked pretty gooey eyed over the whole thing because Mom reached out and touched my wrist gently. When I looked at her, the teasing tone was gone from her face and she was smiling at me. “I’m happy for you, sweetie. I really am.” 

I was a ball of nerves all Saturday morning and afternoon. More than I’d ever been on the day of a first date. But nothing with Marshall fell into my ‘usual’ category. There was something about him that made him different from any other man I’d gone out with. And maybe that was it: He was a man. Not some boy masquerading as one. He was quiet, and fierce, and protective. He thought before he spoke. And even when delivering a threat - like he had to that creep in the bar - he’d done it calmly and with authority. He exuded confidence, not cockiness, and there was honestly nothing more attractive than that. 

I was nearly ready, just zipping up my boots, when I heard a crash downstairs. I rushed down and found Mom in the kitchen, trying to pick up the broken pieces of one of her giant coffee mugs.

“I’m - I’m not sure what happened,” she said. “I just lost my grip.”

“It’s okay.” I took a step towards her, trying to avoid the pile of porcelain. “Let me clean it up.” 

“I can do it,” she said, sounding flustered.

“I know you can but you’re in socks and I’m wearing boots.”

She stood her ground for a moment, then finally sighed and relented, taking a step back. “Okay. I’ll get you the broom.”

“It’s fine. I’ll get it. Just watch your step.”

I went to grab the broom as she threw away the large chunks of her broken cup that she’d been able to pick up with her hands. I could tell she was frustrated. 

“You know, if you didn’t like that mug, you could have just gotten rid of it, you didn’t have to break it,” I joked, taking the broom and dustpan from the broom closet. “Or were you afraid I wouldn’t take the hint and buy you another one if I thought it just went missing?” 

She gave a small laugh but I could tell she was still embarrassed. “I actually liked that coffee mug a lot.”

“I’ll get you a new one.”

“You don’t have to do that. I can -” 

The doorbell rang and she stopped mid-sentence. We both froze, my eyes flicking to the clock on the stove. It was 5:53. Marshall was early. After a moment, Mom took a step towards me, holding out her hand to take the broom from me. I shook my head.

“You’re wearing socks,” I reminded her. “I don’t want you to cut your foot.”

Her eyes grew wide. “So you’re going to clean up after me while I go meet your date?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She brushed her hand over her barely there hair, trying to collect herself, then let out a breath. “Okay, I’ll go let him in.”

“Don’t be too charming. He might have a thing for cougars and I don’t want to have to fight my mom for a guy.”

She smiled for real, the embarrassment of having her daughter clean up after her letting go enough that it was no longer plainly visible. “No promises,” she joked, then left the kitchen to answer the door. 

It didn’t take long to clean up. Even though the cup had shattered pretty good, its bright white color stood out against the dark wood of the floor, making even the tiniest pieces easy to see. After making sure I’d cleaned it all up, I threw away the pieces and put up the broom and dustpan, then went to find Mom and Marshall. 

They were standing in the entryway. Mom was saying something about teaching at Valley and Marshall stood in front of her, his hands clasped behind his back, and a look of sincere focus on his face as she spoke. Mom was a small woman but next to him, she looked comically tiny. 

I paused for a moment, taking him in. His hair looked a bit more controlled than any other time I’d seen him, his curls tighter and not quite as messy. His beard looked like it had been trimmed, giving it a purposeful look instead of the ‘I’m too busy to shave’ vibe that I’d gotten from him previously. He wore a thick blue sweater that made the color of his eyes pop when they drifted over to me. It was brief, maybe less than a second, before concentrating on Mom again. But he had a slight smile and it was enough for her to notice. She turned and looked at me. 

“There she is. I guess I’ll stop talking your ear off and let you two go,” she said. 

Marshall smiled at her, then at me, bigger that time. “I didn’t realize I was early. I apologize.” 

“No, don’t. You’re fine,” I said, moving to grab my coat. “I’m ready, I was just cleaning up a broken cup. I’m basically like Cinderella around here.” 

Mom snorted. “Hardly. Cinderella was made to do chores. You’re the one who won’t let me lift a finger,” she said. “Besides, I think she sang while she worked.”

I raised my eyebrow at her as I put my coat on. “Do you want me to sing?”

She shook her head. “No. No one wants that, sweetie,” she said, making Marshall laugh. She looked at him. “Fi spent a good portion of her teenage years screaming along to music in her room. I didn’t even know you could make ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ sound angry until she proved otherwise. Needless to say, her father and I encouraged her other interests a bit more enthusiastically.”

I grabbed my purse. “I should have let you clean up your own mess and answered the door myself,” I joked before kissing the top of her head. “Bye, Mom.”

Marshall smiled again. “It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Sparks.”

“Likewise, Detective Marshall. You two have fun.”

We left the house and after a few steps down the walkway, he jabbed his thumb back at the door. “She’s funny.”

“She can be,” I agreed. “She’s a spitfire, though, that’s for sure.”

“I like it.”

“Yeah, I like it, too.”

We walked to his truck and he opened the door for me. “You look gorgeous, by the way,” he said as I got in. 

I felt myself blush instantly, caught off guard by the compliment. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he said, closing the door for me. 

We’d only made it to the driveway and my stomach was already doing somersaults. He made me feel like a teenage girl, all giddy and excited, and I loved it.

He went around the front of the truck, then climbed in the driver’s side. I tried to sneak a look at him while he was putting on his seat belt but he caught me. He smiled as I snapped my head straight ahead. 

“Sorry, I just, I was…” I tried to think of an excuse but I couldn’t think of anything that didn’t sound lame. I let out a sigh. “I was checking you out,” I admitted. “I can’t lie. There’s no point. Sorry.”

“That’s the least offensive thing a woman has ever apologized to me for,” he said with a laugh, starting the truck. He leaned forward enough to catch my eye, making me instinctively turn my head towards him. He grinned. “Did you see anything you like?”

My blush deepened and I couldn’t hold back a giggle. “Maybe.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I mean, that is a nice sweater.” 

“Oh, so you were checking out my jumper?”

I shrugged. “It brings out your eyes.”

“Does it now?”

“It does. And you have very lovely eyes.”

“Thank you,” he said. “But my daughter bought the jumper, so I can’t take credit for it.”

“She did a good job,” I said, forcing my eyes to look up front as we pulled out of the driveway. Even though I’d already admitted to checking him out, there was a difference between looking and leering and I didn’t want to come off as creepy. “I take it that this wasn’t your weekend to have her?”

“It was supposed to be but she was invited to a Halloween party with some of her friends so she asked to do that instead. She’ll be with me tomorrow.”

“What did she dress as? For the party.”

“A cowgirl.” 

“Does she ride horses or did she just like the costume?” 

“No, she rides. She took lessons when she was a bit younger. And she and I go riding some weekends.” 

“So you’re Detective Marshall during the week and cowboy Marshall on the weekends? Does that ever cross over? Do they have mounted police in the homicide unit?”

He shook his head as he laughed. “No, not that I’m aware of.”

“That’s a shame.”

“Is it now?” he asked, and his tone made me blush all over again.

“I’m actually not going to answer that. I’m going to wait until we get a little further from my house to fully embarrass myself so that when you fake an emergency to get rid of me, my ego doesn’t get too crushed.”

“Do you really think I’d do that?”

“I hope not, but I’ve been excited about having dinner with you, so I’m going to try not to mess it up.”

“I think you’d have to try pretty hard to mess it up,” he said as we stopped at the end of my street. He glanced at me. “And I’ve been excited about it, too.”

[bittybattybunny]

☕that one silly ay were ru is a monster under the bed? If no then wave breaker? or any other :3

I think I posted all i had for that au and I don't have wave breaker typed up, its actually in a notebook I need to transcribe over eve;; *has been writing in their notebooks at work and being lazy about typing*

*looks around* uhhh hrm. Enjoy this one of “Lost Nightingale” it’s all I have typed for it so far (as a treat since I didn't have what you actually wanted). Basically it’s a non magic based one where Eclipse is an ex-idol who had an injury to her neck and Ru is a fan who’s younger sister is in the hospital!

“No no no!!” he panicked as the cd fell from the case and began to roll down the street. He chased after it as he saw someone bending to grab it, “Ah! That---” he gasped when he tripped on his shoelace and went toppling into her.

“Ow…” he winced as he moved to get up. He looked down at the poor girl he’d accidentally tackled as she stared up at him with large black and blue eyes. He gulped as she pushed up on his chest. People began to gather and murmur.

“Y-You’re causing a scene.” her voice was raspy and quiet. If he hadn’t been so close he may not have heard her. 

He blinked and gasped, scrambling to stand up, “S-Sorry!” he held a hand to help her up. She dusted her violet scarf off and smoothed her skirt. She looked at the cd with a frown.

“It’s all scratched. Sorry.” she held it to him as he looked at it with a big sigh.

“Damnit… It was so hard to even find this…” he hung his head sadly, he bit his knuckles he stared at the unreadable disc. He furrowed his brow as he grumbled.

“Was it important?” she asked seeing his face. “I know an old record store. May have it. What CD is it?” she coughed and pulled a bottle of water out, “sorry talking is rough on my throat.” she apologized.

“It’s a Nightingale ---” she spurt the water and coughed making him gasp, “A-Are you okay?”

She wiped the water from her chin, “F-Fine. Caught off guard. You don’t hear that name often.”

“Oh well..” he turned red, “I really liked her when she came out and I listened to her a lot but I wore out my CD and my sister wanted to listen to her but it’s hard to find them.” he scratched his cheek sheepishly, “like all her music is offline and her music is hard to find in store.” he sighed, “that CD took me forever to locate. I just wanted something that could help harriet in the hospital...”

She sighed, “I know where you can get one. If it’s that important.” she took his hand and began to walk, “Nightingale pulled her music because it’s painful.” her hand pulled on her scarf as she led him down the street towards the subway, “you’re lucky I was heading to Dead Bird already.”

‘Oh um!!” he blinekd confused as she shoved him onto the train and swiped her trian pass. He held his bag confused as she stood by the door and fumbled with hsi scarf.

“They should have a box of them. What album was it?” she asked as the train went along the tracks. She chewed her nail.

“It’s the live album from her last concert.”

“They have those for sure. A box.” she sighed as she pulled him off the next stop and lead him towards the back allies and down some steps. He stared at the very much not looking like it was a shop or even open store as she pushed the door open.

“DJ-- Conrad!” she coughed as she raised her voice, “I’m here!”

“Ah, Ammy!” A tall man grinned as he heard her, “how’s your throat?” He apused as he noticed the young man and raised a brow.

“We still have ‘nighitngale’ cds in back right?” she asked using air quotes.

“We do, I don’t really wanna get rid of them. I thought---”

“His got scratched. He wants it for a sick kid.” she sighed and waved him after her.

“You work here?” Arulius asked as he followed her.

“Oh. no. he’s just my dad.” she explained with a dry laugh. She pushed the back door open, “Conrad.” she nodded to the short man who was moving some crates around. 

“Hey lassie… who’s this?”

“Rando, he scratched his CD so I’m replacing it, where are the nightingale boxes?” she did the thing with air quotes again as she said nightingale. Arulius tilted his head confused.

“Do you not like Nighitngale?” he asked.

She turned and looked at him with a small pout, “Far from it. I just find it depressing she can never sing again.” her hand went to her scarf and she scowled, “Never ever will the caged bird sing.”

“W-what i thought she was just on a temporary leave?” he gasped as she grabbed a box to rummage through.

“N-o-p-e. Do you not keep up? Her agent put it out. No more singing for her. Ever.” she held up a cd case, “here.”

“Lassie she can still sing, it just won’t be the same.” Conrad frowned.

“And that’s why i say she won’t sing again.” she sighed.

Arulius took the cd with a frown, “should you just be giving this to me?”

“It’s her box to do as she wants with.” Conrad shrugged and shook his head side to side.

“Oh.” Arulius looked at the cd with a big grin, “this is going to make hattie smile a lot.” he grinned.

She smiled as she looked at him, “then that’s good enough. I hope she enjoys it!” She paused in thought and held her hand out, “actually. I have a signed on upstairs, let me swap that.”

“W-what?! Really?!” he gasped, “no way?! You’d give that to a stranger?!”

“Mmhm.” she took the cd back and headed up stairs leaving him with conrad. He pulled his phone out to text his parents as he grinned.

“Ya like Nighitngale?” Conrad leaned on the boxes.

“Love her! I went to her last concert actually. I wish I had paid the extra for the meet and greet but I didn’t know it was her last.” he sighed in regret.

“No one knew.” Conrad huffed, “Car accidents do that.”

Arulius’s eyes went wide, “I-Is that what happened?”

“Aye. Semi. took out the lassie’s father, mother and injured her and her brother.”

“Here.” she hopped back down with the signed cd, “Enjoy.”

He looked at it with a girn, “thank you!!!! Ah do you um mind if I took a picture so my sister can know who gave her this?”

She blinekd confused, “i’m just a random girl?” she alughed but sighed, “Sure.”

“Great! Well Hattie would give me lots of questions if I didn’t is all. She does it everytime I bring something from someone.” he explained and pulled his phone out. He leaned back as she stuck her tongue out and gave a peace sign as he took the selfie. He chuckled. “Thanks so much! Oh! I’m Arulius Law!”

“Amaris Grooves.” she shook his hand as he grinned and carefully put the cd in his bag. He checked the time and gasped, “I-I gotta run! Visitor hours at the children hospital are weird! Thank you so much!”

He ran from the shop as DJ headed back with a huff.

“Seems like a weirdo.” He noted as the door slammed shut. He looked at the teen as she took her scarf off and the scar around her neck showed, “you really fine with giving out one of your cds?”

“It’s for a sick kid. I don’t mind. It’s gonna collect dust and and I doubt he’s gonna black market it.” she shrugged. She coughed and rubbed her neck, “if I can make a kid happy with that caged song so be it. Do you want help in the shop?”

“Why don’t you go make some tea first. Then we’ll work.” Conrad laughed.

[jeongyunhoed]

Two Mutants are Better than One

Chapter: 1 / ?

Member: San - Mutant/Metahuman!San, Hitman!San Genre: Mystery / Fantasy 

T/W: Mentions of murder, possible mentions blood and gore. Possible mentions of graphic violence. Possible. Still, just keep that in mind! Content: EXTREMELY Multi-fandom, but it mostly centers on San and the main character. Replace the OC with y/n if you wish! 

A/N: I’m trying this again after not posting any of my works online for a while (out of frustration). So, here I go again. This is under my very very wide superpowers au (you can find the entire AU on my Ao3: yeojasamho). Please keep in mind that this chapter is quite lengthy because I wanted to give readers an idea of who the characters are and some events that have occurred even without going into the rest of the stories in the au. I hope you all like it! 

Summary: Mirae is forced to revisit her past when her half-brother San shows up at Bermuda Investigations. As the two of them try to establish a relationship that they never got to have, a case pushes them to work together while realizing that they have a lot more in common than they expected.

Lee Mirae was sitting in her office at her record store that she now owned with her adoptive brother Park Jihoon. It was just another day at the store, and another day in the mostly-quiet offices of Bermuda Investigations. It had been quite some time since she was last on a case, since she was last on a mission. Her colleagues and friends Jaehwan, Chanyeol, and Hyuk decided to go on a trip together with Jaehyun, Changmin, and her boyfriend Younghoon, partly a way for them to bond and take a break and act like normal guys for once. 

Normal. That word took on a different meaning around here. 

They were mutants, all of them. People that had abilities beyond what was once humanly possible. To a few people she knew, they were the next stage in an evolved humanity. To one person she remembered, they were oddities of nature that should’ve never existed. But nevertheless, they did, and they lived quietly among the rest in South Korea, trying to make a living, act like normal, upstanding citizens. 

But Bermuda Investigations also gave that word a different meaning as the cases they took as private investigators were at spy-levels, or even, dare she think it, cases only mercenaries were equipped to do. Then again, Mirae practically was one given her abilities and capabilities. She had the ability to manipulate energy, specifically turning potential energy into kinetic light energy, that often came across as explosive. Anything she touched could turn into a projectile that could cause an explosion. She also channeled this ability of hers through her card-throwing, and her staff that Junhong made for her. The amount of energy she could charge her staff with was enough to destroy a building, something that was proven during the Seoul attack. 

She also spoke several languages, after unknowingly being able to understand people in whichever country she went. This capability was part of the assassin program she went through when she was interned in the sanitarium by her parents. She was brainwashed and transformed into a killing machine by people who would later make themselves out to be her adoptive parents, cult leaders Lee Miran and Go Changseok. But after an extensive reframing by the powerful psychic Lee Sangyeon, the trigger no longer worked on her, but it left her with a strengthened psychic block, making her mind impenetrable to telepaths. 

As she was turned into an assassin, she was a master fighter, knowing all the fighting forms even as far back as the days of the Hwarang, much to her memory. Anything she touched potentially turned into a weapon, and everyone around her who knew about it were convinced that no one could surpass her. This motivated Jihoon to learn how to fight as he wasn’t a mutant, but he wanted to protect her just as much as she fiercely did for him. Should she be wounded, her healing abilities would take hold, and it was her healing abilities that made her almost immortal, aging very slowly compared to the rest of the people her actual age. 

Unusually, the Bermuda mission also showed a newfound ability within her, and it was that of taking a person’s soul and trapping them in the cards should it touch them. It manifested whenever her eyes would turn black. It also resulted in a white streak in her hair that she never bothered coloring to have covered up. 

She heard a knock on the back door that was the entrance of Bermuda Investigations. Mirae got up, closing her laptop to pass through the store and towards the offices. “It’s open, come in” She announced, closing the other door behind her. As the door opened, her expression fell, and her eyes widened at who was standing behind it. 

It was a man, his face incredibly familiar to her, with small, upturned eyes, a prominent jaw, and he had a few purple streaks in his jet black hair that was slicked back. “Mirae? Noona?” He said. She said nothing, and instead tried to study his face. “It’s me, San.” 

“San? San...Choi San?” She said, and he nodded. Mirae was still quite taken aback at the sight of him, and instead stepped aside. “...Come in.” San went inside and she closed the door behind him. “So, what are you doing here?” She asked, leaning against a desk. 

“I just came to see you, and now I finally found you, it’s been a very long time since we last saw each other-well, I was just about to stop by here to ask for help to find you” He said quietly. 

“Almost two decades later,” Mirae said. “How did you know I was here?” She asked. 

“I asked around where I was, and they said if I needed to find someone, I had to come here because the private investigators are good. I just never thought you’d be one of those investigators” San replied. 

“Judging by what looks like the end of a harpoon gun on your back, are you planning to kill me?” Mirae asked. 

He shook his head frantically. “No, no, that’s unrelated, completely unrelated, I kind of do the same thing you do now, I guess. Only I get my jobs in another way” San explained, almost a little hesitant to reveal much. 

“...You’re a hitman, aren’t you? A harpoon gun being your signature weapon, then?” Mirae asked, figuring it out. 

“Yeah, after I ran away from home when my powers first came, I wanted to find you, and I asked the sanitarium where you were and they said you were discharged, and I was looking for you in between jobs,” San said, making Mirae look even more taken aback. “Yes, I’m a mutant too. See?” 

His eyes and fingertips began to glow yellow, and he picked up the pencil from the nearby desk and threw it towards the curtain, the pencil glowing and disintegrating with a boom just before it hit. Mirae stared at him. The door leading back to the store opened and Jihoon rushed inside, looking alarmed. “What happened? Did something hit?” He asked, but stopped when he saw San. 

“Nothing happened, I just found out that my own half-brother is a mutant too and he showed me his powers,” Mirae explained quietly. “Jihoon, this is Choi San, my half-brother, we have the same father. San, this is Jihoon, my best friend and little brother” She said, introducing the two. Jihoon looked a little taken aback, and so did San. “Jihoon and I go way back, at the sanitarium, and I take care of him now” She explained. 

“Yeah, which says a lot compared to someone who is actually related to her” Jihoon glanced at him. 

“It’s not his fault, he was a kid at the time, and if I have a problem, it would be with my birth parents, not him” Mirae patted Jihoon’s shoulder. She turned back to San. “...So now that you’re a mutant too, you’ve come to find me, now what?” She said, a little unsure. “...Do we celebrate?” 

“I was thinking more of getting dinner somewhere. I know we’ve never been close and I’ve never been able to do anything for you, but seeing as we’re both on the same page in our lives, I was thinking maybe that could change now,” He replied. “Make up for the time we lost, I suppose.” 

Just when Mirae was about to speak, there was another knock on the door. “Yes?” She called out, and the door opened. She turned to Jihoon. “Go back inside, I’ll see you later” She said quietly, and the younger boy nodded, leaving the room to go back into the store. 

In came a postman, who brought in several boxes. Mirae signed for the boxes and San helped place the packages on the breakroom table. “Where are the other people you work with?” He asked curiously, looking around. 

“Oh, uh, Chanyeol, Hyuk, and Jaehwan went on this trip together. They’ll be back in a few days. Juyeon’s busy with his shifts at the restaurant, though but I’d rather not disturb him for now” Mirae replied. 

San nodded in understanding. “I see. Well, at least now that I’m here and we’ve finally met after all these years, let’s get lunch” He said. 

“Okay, where do you suggest we eat?” Mirae nodded. 

“What’s good to eat around here?” San asked. 

Mirae shrugged. “We can go to Viva Polo, Chanyeol’s mom’s Italian restaurant. It’s right next to his dad’s live cafe” She said. 

He smiled. “That sounds good. My treat.” 

~ 

They got themselves a table at Viva Polo, with Chanyeol’s parents immediately greeting them and Mirae introducing San to them. They were seated at their usual table she would be whenever the four of them gathered for an after hours dinner every week. “So, I guess there’s no other way else how to start...How did you get your powers?” Mirae asked curiously in between ordering their food. 

“My powers came in high school, or just before I got into high school. Dad always kept going on and on about how I needed to be top of the class so I can make it into med school. He wanted me to become a doctor like him, can you believe it? But when it happened, I realized I didn’t care for that anymore, so after my first year, I decided to pack my bags and run away.” 

“You really dropped out? Dad must’ve taken you to a private school anyway” She raised a brow. 

“Yeah, and I had good grades and all, but I was still trying to figure out my powers, you know?” He said with a chuckle. ��I never want to go back to that time in my life when it first came.” 

The server came in moments later and brought in their food, setting it down in front of the two of them and walking off. “So, I doubt dad did not take you running away very well when it happened,” Mirae said as they tucked in. 

“Definitely, you of all people know how he can be,” San replied, twirling his pasta noodles around his fork. “But it is nice to see that you’re here, and out of that place he put you in.” 

“It’s been years since I was discharged, and a lot has happened since then, from the Seoul attack, the Utopian cult, the Bermuda mission, the Kang mob, the Sharks…” She recalled. 

Her brother’s eyes widened. “You were in all of those?” He asked. San remembered seeing the news of those events on television and even on the internet. “Really?” He asked. “That really changed everything, you know.” 

Mirae nodded. “The Utopian cult hits home most of all, I guess. When I was discharged, I was adopted by this couple, who turned out to be the leaders of that cult, and put me through the assassin program while I was in the sanitarium,” She explained. “Imagine, turning you into an assassin while under drugs, and they kept subjecting me to electroshock therapy that wiped out a lot of my memories in doing that… at one point I couldn’t remember a lot of people, except Jihoon, of course.”

San’s expression fell. “...What happened to the cult leaders?” 

“I...I killed them. It turns out that those instincts of mine came out when they used one word on me. I nearly killed my friends, you know, but eventually, after some help and two weeks of falling unconscious, that trigger was removed. But it kind of made my mind even more unreadable” She shrugged. 

He looked down at his food then up at her. “...Knowing what happened to you, makes me wish I did something to keep you from getting taken away. I’m sorry.” 

“Now you’re feeling guilty?” Mirae raised a brow at him. “What could you have done? You didn’t understand much of what was going on. If I was going to resent you for suddenly showing up, I would’ve told you to leave the moment I remembered who you are.” 

“That’s true. But even then, I wanted to see you, make up for lost time, be actual siblings than strangers to each other” San looked down at his half-finished plate. “

“I appreciate you wanting to find me, though. But I doubt both our parents would never want to know that you came to see me,” Mirae said. 

“How would you know I still contact them?” San raised a brow. 

“You’re especially close with them, the favorite boy, even with my mom” She pointed out. “You could never lie to them, I know that. At least I think I know that. I bet they even know that killing people under orders is what you do for a living.” 

“That’s what you think,” He said. “They have no idea, I haven’t spoken to them after I joined this group of people who do what I do.” 

“What do you call yourselves? I’m guessing you guys have a name.” 

“Sleepers. Corny, I know, but there’s no other way to describe putting someone to sleep...permanently,” San replied, a slight smirk crept up on his face. 

Mirae shrugged. “I guess you’ve made billions of won by now, haven’t you?” She asked. 

“Oh yeah, totally, but I’d rather keep that part on the down low. Harpoons don’t come cheap and I think I even need a permit for each one” San pointed out, lowering his voice so as not to be overheard. 

“Seeing as you’re here, I’m guessing you’re taking a break from jobs, aren’t you?” Mirae said, taking a sip of water. 

“You could call it that. Things have been quiet, a little too quiet, around here.” 

“That’s never a good thing” She shook her head. “At least in my experience, it isn’t. It just means the bad things know how to hide.” 

San stared at her. “To me, people are just becoming more aware that people like us exist. Sooner or later, more people will come for us, just as the people you dealt with did” He finished his food. 

“I know, and if it happens, I’m not sure how I’ll handle it. If my powers were taken away by the Sharks, I would’ve been dead by now, and you wouldn’t see me like this, if you got to see me anyway” She muttered. 

A silence ensued between them, and they turned to each other. “...Well, that got dark” San tried to lighten the mood, and Mirae just smiled. “Do you still have work to do?” 

“I have to stay until closing time at the store and at the office,” Mirae replied. “Are you heading back to wherever you came from?” 

“No, I figured I could stick around, and…” San looked a little hesitant to say what came after. “Well, you see, I had to move out of my apartment-” 

“You need a place to stay?” Mirae raised a brow, and he nodded. “Well, I don’t think there’s an extra unit on my floor, but I’ll have to see if there are vacancies upstairs or downstairs.” 

San looked surprised. “You own a building too?” 

“The landlord passed ownership to me. He passed away.” Mirae replied. “Heart attack.” 

“Heart attack?” 

“Yeah, just a heart attack. I didn’t kill him if that’s what you’re implying” Mirae pointed out. 

“Of course, of course, I didn’t mean to-” 

“I may have been turned into an assassin, and whatever probably happened during the time I was one, I can’t remember anymore,” Mirae cut him off. “The trigger is out of my head, San. I don’t do that, anymore at least if I did anything.” 

“I know, I know, I’m sorry if I made it seem like you did-” 

“The difference between us is that I’ve made a life for myself doing what a normal person does. You do what you do and you’re aware of what you do,” Mirae snapped. 

“I do what I do because it’s the only thing I am damn good at,” San argued back. “But please, don’t get off your high horse.” 

“You say that like you don’t know the things I had to do to atone for my mistakes when I just told you a few minutes ago what I’ve been up to,” Mirae countered. A brief silence ensued between them. “...Maybe this was a bad idea,” She looked up at the clock. “I need to go back, San.”

San stared at her, and fished out a wad of bills from the pocket of his bag to pay for the meal.

~ 

Mirae and Jihoon were in the separate office going over the money made for the day. “So, what happened with San?” Jihoon asked, watching her write down everything on a thick wad of paper. She didn’t answer. “...Did you two fight?” 

She didn’t answer again and instead kept writing. Jihoon’s brows furrowed and he covered the paper with his hand. “Well? Did you?” 

“We got snippy with each other, well, me more than him. He implied that I killed the landlord” Mirae said softly. 

“That’s impossible, the maintenance guy was the one who found him,” Jihoon recalled. “He even went up to us and we had to call the police about it.” 

“Exactly. I think he’s got this impression that I’m still what our adoptive parents turned me into, trigger or no trigger,” She said with a sigh. “But honestly even just seeing him reminds me of what my dad did, what my parents did. I can’t even remember what they look like anymore, I just remember what they did.” 

Jihoon patted her shoulder. “It’s kind of unavoidable isn’t it? No matter how much you try to convince yourself that you don’t resent him, you still kind of do because of what your father did to you” He said softly, and she nodded. “What are you going to do now that he’s suddenly back into your life?” 

“Find him a place to sleep. He moved out of his apartment” Mirae replied. 

“He can sleep on the couch” He suggested. “Or even in the breakroom or something. There’s a bathroom by the big computer upstairs anyway” Jihoon shrugged at the thought. 

“Yeah, he’ll have to stay on the couch for a while. At least until he finds a new place or something, or until we find ourselves a new place” Mirae said. She frowned. “I guess I’m going to have to do the whole making up for lost time bit with him. We’re practically strangers to each other because he was so young when I left…” 

“Well, there’s nothing much you can do. It’ll be nice to have another brother, who also fights just as well as you do...He does know how to fight, right?” Jihoon raised a brow. 

“Yeah. He’s a hitman, he’s still one” Mirae said. 

“Oh, but at least you two will be able to really bond this time. Both of you hate your father, so there’s something you can build on” Jihoon said wisely. 

She ruffled his hair. “Smart guy” She teased. Jihoon laughed. “Come on, we’ve done enough work for today and San is waiting in the other office” She said, and led the younger boy out and into the back door that led back into the offices. San was already lying down on the couch, his bags and harpoon gun already next to him. Mirae sighed, making him sit up. 

“Hey, you’ll stay with us,” Jihoon said right away. “You don’t mind sleeping on the couch, right?” 

“No, not at all, I was sleeping on a sofa bed in my apartment,” San shook his head. “There was a guy that came by and asked that you call them, it’s about a murder or something, I couldn’t understand much, he was talking fast like he was in a hurry,” He pointed to the slip of paper on Hyuk’s desk. 

Mirae reached over and looked at the paper. It had the person’s name and number. “Park Cheondung?” She read it aloud and reached over for the phone, dialing the number that was written on it. “Hello, may I speak to Park...Cheondung? This is Lee Mirae from Bermuda Investigations- Oh,” Mirae paused when she learned it was the guy. 

“I need you to come by and investigate. My father, he was found in his study...dead… come to this address” Cheondung told her. 

Mirae frantically wrote down the address on the piece of paper and her eyes widened at the location. “Yes, yes, I got it.” She repeated the address again. San and Jihoon looked puzzled until she showed them the address. They gaped at her. 

“Come quickly!” Cheondung said, and hung up. 

She put the phone down. “Whoa, high-profile case,” she said, staring at the address Cheondung gave her. “He wants me to come down there right now,” she added. 

“Then what are you waiting for? We have to go now!” Jihoon said, and Mirae and San quickly picked up their bags, hurrying out of the building as well.

“Do we have time for a stopover?” San asked as they were outside. 

“We? This is my case,” Mirae raised a brow at him.

“You’ll still need help, no matter what that is,” San pointed out. “If there’s anything I’ve learned about my stakeouts is that-” 

“I know, but as you can see, my friends aren’t here, they’re on vacation, which means I’m doing this alone” Mirae argued. 

Jihoon rolled his eyes. “Just let San go with you, you said yourself you two need to do the whole making up for lost time thing, this is where you start,” He said, giving Mirae a look. “San, just put the rest of your bags in the lobby, but bring your harpoon, you’ll probably need it,” He said, and rushed into the parking lot. 

San followed suit and Mirae sighed as she followed the two boys back, moving ahead to the parking lot where they parked the car. “A murder in a place like the one we’re going to, must be a prominent family” She read the address again and got into the driver’s seat. 

“It has to be otherwise they would’ve called the police” San suddenly spoke, having heard them as he got in the car. 

“Yeah, let’s hope this is nothing like the Kang mob, or else I’ll have to kill some people,” Mirae drove them out of the parking lot. 

“Wait, that was you too?!” San was surprised. “I mean, yeah you did say Kang mob earlier but I didn’t think it was that same mob?!” 

“Yeah” Mirae glanced at the address again. 

San looked amazed. “You’re like a superhero then” 

“Doubt it, no one knows it was us,” Mirae shook her head as she drove. “I’d rather it stay that way, for everyone’s sake like you told me earlier” She added. “Jihoon nearly died because we tried to stop them, and so did many other people we love.” 

“Hey, don’t forget how I fought a few,” Jihoon pointed out, beaming at the memory. “It’s still one of the times I’m so proud I got to fight back!” 

San chuckled as he fastened his seatbelt. “I heard they had their own private army.” 

“Yeah, and now most of that family’s in maximum security under solitary confinement” Mirae pointed out. 

“The only girl and the only other son testified against her brothers and her father. What happened to the mother?” San asked curiously. 

“She’s under witness protection, or something like it. I’m not sure, but she’s never shown her face again, hopefully,” Mirae explained. “I’d ask Jaehwan about it but he might not want to say anything, after what happened to Jinyi…” 

“I’m sure Jaehwan hyung’s okay enough to say something now, it’s been two years” Jihoon assured her leaning over to hers and San’s seats. 

“Jinyi?” San looked puzzled. 

“The daughter who testified,” Mirae pointed out, and her half-brother nodded in understanding. “Jaehwan dated her. Months later, she went missing and then she died… that’s pretty much it,” She muttered while she drove. “He came back from that worn out.” 

“She was his case. He had to find her also for her brother’s sake, but when he came back, Hyuk hyung found out and they knew something did happen to her,” Jihoon explained quietly, frowning as he recalled what happened. 

It was the night after Hyuk went on his case, and the four of them met up again at Viva Polo after being away from each other after some time. Mirae came back from her vacation with Younghoon, and Chanyeol was busy with the restaurant as they found out. They later told it to the rest. 

Kwon Hyuk was a powerful telekinetic that also had telepathic abilities. He ran his own entertainment agency, TRBL Music with his best friend Woo Jiho, and was producing for the groups they had; AB6IX and Silver. He was also Mirae’s longtime best friend as he previously worked in Mirae’s store before leaving to pursue his music. He released his albums, but decided to work behind the scenes instead. 

Park Chanyeol was a pyrokinetic, but created fire as well. He could turn himself into a fire being if he needed to, and if he was one, he could fly and was even invulnerable as any projectile thrown at him would melt from the temperatures. With his ability, he was also able to withstand extreme heat. He worked with Mirae back in their days at the Center of Paranormal Research and was one of the few who made themselves known to be alive following the Seoul attack. He helped in his family’s restaurant and live cafe as a server and occasional chef. 

Kim Jaehwan, had extremely enhanced senses. He could see and hear things far away which made him extremely good at tracking down people. He was also gifted with super strength, which made him invulnerable in hand to hand combat. He signed onto TRBL Music after his graduation, which was when he met them and helped in stopping the Utopian cult. His best friend in college, Kim Dongyoung or Doyoung, was also an artist in TRBL Music, where he returned after quitting to try and become an investigator full-time. Like Hyuk, Jaehwan was once an artist that released some albums, but chose to work behind the scenes as well. 

Mirae pulled up in front of a large, white gate that had the name of the community on it in gold letters. Whisper Heights. The guard stepped out of his post and went up to the window that rolled down. “Yes?” 

“I’m called for by,” Mirae reached for the slip of paper. “Park Cheondung, I’m Lee Mirae of Bermuda Investigations” She showed the guard her official ID. 

“One second please,” The guard took her ID and went back inside his post. A few moments later, the guard returned and gave her back the ID. “Thank you, you are expected,” They said, and pressed the button to open the gates. 

She thanked the guard and drove on. There seemed to be an eerie silence within the suburban village. All the houses were separated by huge vacant lots, and some were built on top of hills. To them, it looked like no one made under a million won a month in the district from how lavish the homes were. Even the smaller houses had luxury cars parked in front of them. Jihoon and San gaped when they saw one particular house. It was so big it was almost like a resort. “You think they’re old money or new money?” San asked. 

“Probably new money. People who come from old money live in older and probably smaller houses that aren’t in here,” Mirae replied, pulling up to a cul-de-sac road that was lined with cars from small limousines to sleek, black vehicles. They stopped at the house and got down and noticed that the small gate was open. 

“They really are expecting us” Jihoon said as they approached the gates. San slung his harpoon on his back, while Mirae’s fingers were poised over the silver object that was in her bag. 

[sabinefm]

( bruna marquezine , cis female , peach ) welcome to aida&stefano , SABINA REUBE ! thank you for choosing to stay here. in this form it says that you go by the SHE / HER , you’re TWENTY THREE years old , you’re originally from SAN FRANCISCO , and you’ve been staying here for ONE YEAR . it also says you’re known to be + RESOURCEFUL , but also - SELFISH. that really shouldn’t be a problem though. check in at the front , hope you enjoy your stay ! (the click of heels, hot sand under your bare feet, chocolate covered strawberries, the imprints a bra leaves on your skin, red lipstick staining your fingertips )

ABOUT THE MUN.  i hope this email never finds you 

hello all, my name is pepper and i have never been on time for anything, ever in my life sdjkdskj this is especially true today, rip. no but honestly, i never thought i would actually get accepted into this beautiful rp so i stalled checking acceptances cause i’m a Scaredy Cat and that made me really late, and then i ended up taking the rest of my coworker’s shift cause she had to go and thus ended up coming home even later than i thought which has made me really really late... BUT against all the odds i’m here! and ready to party! and tell y’all about my bby sabina! but first a little bit about me, i am twenty four (ew), i can’t cook (rip), and i currently spend most of my lonely quarantine days either watching anime or scrolling through tiktok. i am canadian but every canadian that meets me thinks i’m american and i don’t know why. when i was a child i had an irrational (or yk very rational) fear of sharkboy from sharkboy and lava girl, and tbh it has never left me. i was also afraid of gill from kim possible so you can imagine my horror when that fish f*cking movie won an oscar?? when i was younger i also thot god looked like king triton from the little mermaid cause he was white and he had a beard yk. it fit in my little brain. and finally i just recently discovered girl in red and therefore feel like i finally got my bi girl card,,, feeling validated in this chillis tonight. and if that doesn’t tell you everything you need to know about me idk what will. anyways, that’s officially enough about me onto who we’re all really here for, ms sabine!

BIO.  the lengths i would go to to both get attention and avoid it... astounding  tldr ; daughter of a guy who created a dating site + app, came to a&s after leaving her husband to be at the alter after catching him cheating with her mother, wants to be a bad bitch, sometimes succeeds. 

THEN.

sabina came into the world the child of a mediocre stay at home mom and a penniless entrepreneur so it goes without saying that she had very little. her dad had a lot of passion and a lot of drive but no one would really give him a chance, and her mother kind of only married the man because she was expecting him to make it big enough for her to never have to work another day in her life so? yeah she was hella disappointed tbh 

but not sabina! she looked up to her father so much as a child. while her mom was kind of ~emotionally unavailable~ her father was too, but like at least he had a dream he believed in, yk? he wanted to help people fall in love and sabine being the big romantic she was as a child had never heard of anything so noble. her daddy was her hero. sabina honestly had big daddy’s little girl vibes until she was like 22 tkjsdkjd

one day when their family credit card got rejected one too many times sabina’s mother called it quits on yk the whole mother gig. she left sabina on a bench outside of the grocery store while she went to go home and ‘get some cash’ which even at seven sabine knew was a damn lie cause they were too broke to have any damn cash. and yeah that was the last sabina heard of her for a long ass time. it was a reverse ‘dad went to get some cigarettes’ situation but just as traumatic honestly. 

although not as much for sabine’s dad. that man literally saw his wife leaving him as a minor setback and moved on. he threw himself harder into his work, to the point where sabine barely saw him. this was the start of sabine desperately trying to compete with her father’s business for even a sliver of his attention. this was a battle she usually lost. 

sabine raised herself for a while there, since her father yk remarried his job and her mother was following the jonas brother’s cross country. she became both very independent and very lonely for a child, which was an odd combination that both haunted sabine for pretty much the rest of her life after that point and lead her to make most of her worst decisions. but that’s a story for another time, because right when all hope was lost sabine’s father won the lottery. literally. 

all at once they were five million dollars richer. they went from nothing to everything real quick. and this marked a change in the reube’s lives in a way sabine couldn’t have even imagine at the time. 

sabine’s father hector used the money to fund his business and that shit blew up! he created a site by the name of loveisblind that was in the ring with the likes of match.com and christianmingle yk, one of those dating sites. everyone on loveisblind is set up on blind dates based on the information they fill out on their profile and are only allowed to see each other when they reach a certain point of emotional intimacy. the site had wild success rates, and got very popular, blah, blah, the point was the reubes? suddenly rich af!

and you think that would give hector more time to spend with his daughter right? no. it gave hector the money to hire nannies for his daughter. 

yes, somehow despite hector no longer having to work himself to the bone, sabine saw him even less. tragic really. she really became that lonely rich girl trope real quick, and this is what unfortunately got sabine into the habit of seeking the attention she wasn’t getting from her father in other men and women, which she is not proud of. 

that unfortunately didn’t fill the void that sabine had but you know what did? making the loveisblind app so her daddy would love her. basically around the time that tinder started gaining traction and getting popular, people stopped going on the loveisblind site and started instead turning to apps. her father was trying and failing to get into that market, and sabina, being yk, actually a lot more intelligent than her father ever gave her credit for, created the app for his site and pitched it to him over his lunch one day. it was honestly one of the first times sabina can remember her father really paying attention to her in the longest time. it was also the proudest she’s ever seen him. 

the app was a big success! a whole new generation was using it and finding love, including one ms sabine reube. in the early days of the app launch sabine met her prince charming, christopher ‘kit’ johannson. he swept her right off her feet, and she fell HARD, and when they debuted their relationship it wasn’t long until they kind of became the face of the app?? like sabine’s father was the creator after all, the fact that his daughter found love on the app too was big news for a while. people followed their relationship and strived for something like that for themselves. sabine didn’t know it at the time but they were basically a walking advertisement, and her father was LIVING for that.

fast forward a bit and your girl went to yale for computer engineering and business (did her daddy’s status and money ease the way? maybe man, nepotism am i right) whilst kit went to harvard, they were long distance for a bit before they graduated and kit very publicly proposed (the whole thing was well recorded too, gotta get that gram), and then both sab and kit moved in together and both started working for their families respective companies. it was around then that sabine started to understand just how much and how often kit was cheating on her. it was a real wakeup call. 

sabine ended up breaking down to her father about her suspicions, and he basically ended up telling her to suck it up and think of the business. the fact was sabine and kit, the face of their new generation and one of the first successful couples from the app getting married and living happily ever after was amazing for the company. and the two of them calling the whole thing off just because of a little infidelity just wasn’t going to cut it. 

now once again, this is where sabine’s deep desire to be loved and accepted really bites her in the ass. this was one of the first times sabine’s father had ever really asked her for anything so... she did it. or at least she did her best to do it. she lasted until the wedding day around the time where she caught kit and her own mother (who she only invited out of a deep rooted need to actually know the woman who gave birth to her again) going at it in the coat closet of their wedding venue. yeah, at that point sabine pretty much snapped, blacked out, smashed a whole wedding cake over kit’s head, and took their honeymoon to venice on her own. she arrived at Aida&Stefano with running mascara in a ruined wedding dress trying to ask about a honeymoon suite. it was a whole mess, but you know what so is sab so at least she was on brand. 

NOW.

after sabina arrived she spent about a week mourning her failed almost-marriage and yk, destroyed family before she decided to fuck it all and reinvent herself. she desperately wanted to become someone new, someone unrecognizable from who she was before, even if it was only on the inside. so she cut her hair (the first step to every transformation) hardened everything soft about herself and made the irrevocable decision to become a bad bitch. she (mostly) succeeded. kind of. 

sabine basically curb stomped out the soft, hopeless romantic people pleaser in her and decided to become someone more unsympathetic. someone who puts her own needs first instead of burning herself up to keep others warm (cause what good has that ever done her before?). someone who people would be afraid to hurt but who wouldn’t even feel pain anyways. and to sum it up that person is a heartless bitch. or at least she tries to be.

i’m gonna stop here because this is already a lot longer than i wanted it to be and i haven’t even got to the other sections yet rip but you get the point i feel

PERSONALITY.  *feels nothing* mmm, don’t like that *feels something but like too much* mmm not a fan of that either 

most of this is tbd because i’m still developing her but

VAIN. the kind of girl who will file her nails or check herself out in the mirror while you’re talking to her. will reapply her lipstick in the rearview mirror of her car while she’s driving. checks herself out in any reflective surface, i mean i would too if i looked like bruna but Still 

KIND. even though sab tries to be a hard ass she’s probably the most loyal, generous, kind person you would ever meet deep down. like she puts on this persona of being heartless, but if anyone needs her she will be there for them. kind of hates that she’s such a softie sometimes but she can’t help it. 

EMOTIONALLY UNAVAILABLE. doesn’t want to be hurt again and will do pretty much anything to avoid that. tries to keep people at arms length especially romantically. loves making friends though, and will indeed spoil them. 

HEADCANNONS.  who wants to hire me as their maid i’m not gonna clean im just gonna wear a cute maid outfit dust like 6 things and bend down a lot

has the vibes of that drunk rich aunt that’s always smoking like sexily as she looks far into the distance and wears like a super luxurious coat. will gossip with you. will buy you things your mom won’t. will cuss out your toxic father at the dinner table. that’s her energy.

unfortunately actually does smoke. i hate 

okay fun fact, the only reason sabine went to university for computer programming and business was because she felt her father wanted her to. she honestly has no real passion for the subject and just wanted to use her talent to make her father as proud of her as he was on the day she debuted that app to him. but now that making daddy proud isn’t like the only thing occupying her entire brain sabine like is like ??? wait what do i actually want to do with my life ??? and it took her a while to figure it out but after a while she fell back on one of her passions, art. she’s actually making a graphic novel aimed towards young adults about a modern day hades and persephone vibe, kind of about a girl who falls in love with the grim reaper and the lengths she goes to to chase after her (yes it is a Lady Reaper) into the depths of hell,,, it’s wild. she’s very proud of it but also kind of shy about it tbh. her go to critic is georgio, because she knows that little shit will be honest and yk what she respects that. 

but when it comes to making actual money your girl turns to cam work most of the time, because well. at the very least it’s quick, easy, and semi discreet. and sometimes she gets something out of it too. she figures it’s a win win, and she’s been doing it for about a year now, mostly because she absolutely refuses to use any of her father’s money. 

is allergic to cucumber. 

has a different 'relationship’ like every week or so, along with a few one night stands peppered in. unfortunately still attracted to people who are bad for her (kit for example was an asshole and a cheater and DEFINITELY conservative like she messed up on that one), but is also very afraid of falling in love again and letting herself get hurt, so she normally doesn’t let things last too long before she starts self sabotaging. 

if you ever catch sabine with like... her nails growing out or her nail polish chipped, something is wrong. like something is deeply wrong. sabine will have her nails done in the middle of the apocalypse, the only reason they would be less than perfect is if she is having a breakdown. always has colour on her nails, and usually it’s a shade of red, purple, or black. 

always has wild ass stories to tell about her tinder dates or one night stands and will tell them without shame for your entertainment. is a great storyteller honestly, a talent she got from her mother but she doesn’t want to admit that. 

fun fact, her mother mariah was PISSED when hector got rich AFTER she left him and tried for years to sue him or something but no dice. she was so angry and vengeful over the whole thing that she took the opportunity of being invited to her daughters wedding to get back at her husband where it hurt, his business. thus sleeping with kit. didn’t really think about how her daughter might feel about the whole thing because she was yk blinded by rage, but that’s just how mariah is so i mean,,, rip sabina. 

shops when she’s sad, or happy, or angry, or confused sdkjdsj will use any excuse to shop, and at this point she has more clothes than she knows what to do with. her style can be kind of out there at times, but she will let you borrow things though. 

she has a cat named momo. yes that is inspired by her being the peach skeleton. also has a parrot named poe i think. i also have the urge to give her a snake but... i will resist. so sabine wants a snake for sure 

her favourite colours are black and red

she is a horrible terrible driver. don’t drive with sabine unless you’re an adrenaline junkie or like want to die tbh 

her dad 100% set up the relationship between kit and sabine as a pr stunt, but sabine doesn’t know that yet and when she finds out her father used her like that ooh boy things are gonna get wildt. as it is now sabine just thinks she disappointed him and it’s kind of eating her alive. half the reason she’s staying here is because she doesn’t want to face him or yk her old life anymore. her father is so caught up in the shame she caused him that he hasn’t even tried to call her after the whole thing and the one time sabine got hella drunk and called him all he did was tell her what a disappointment she was and ask when she was coming back to work so we love ~parenting~

WANTED CONNECTIONS. girls will “🥺🥺🥺🥺” their way out of everything

close friends please and thanks, best friends also please, uh, can i get some awkward one night stands that avoid each other at all cost, can i get a neighbour who’s ear sabine is always talking off in the hallway between their rooms even tho they just want to go home but can’t because sabine is Oversharing, maybe a flirtationship, but also i would love an enemy (it could be for a ridiculous reason or a completely valid reason but either way please give it to me), someone she goes out dancing/partying with at piccolo, a sibling like relationship, a confidante, someone who she trusts to read her comic and maybe even do some linework, and absolutely anything else okay my brain is fried rn but i want it all! please like this and i will slip and slide into your dms <3

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #274

“now i can hear the marching feet / they’re moving into the street”

What color was the last swimsuit you wore? I only have a black one. Is your dream job attainable? I mean define “dream job.” I’d ideally be a meerkat biologist if I was willing to live in Africa and could handle even mild heat, but I can’t/won’t do either of those, so it’s not obtainable to me. I’d also love to be a paleontologist if I could travel and handle heat once more, but again, I can’t. My only *attainable* dream job is being a photographer, which I am aiming for. I’d LIKE to focus on nature/wildlife photography, but that’s unlikely to be able to support me, so. Do you have to go to school or work tomorrow? N/A Have you slept for longer than usual today? Yes, but only because of my nightmares. I tend to take at least two (though sometimes one) hour-long naps during the day because if I wake up once during the night, as I usually do, I’m fucked because I’m very likely to have an intense nightmare. It seems like the medicine I’m on wears off with consciousness, I guess. I only allow myself to sleep an hour at daytime because my mother has noticed if I have a nightmare, it’s usually no earlier than one hour into sleep. Even then I still have them occasionally. Have you ever taken classes for a musical instrument? Recorder in elementary school was necessary for whatever stupid reason, and then I played the flute for years. Out of school, I took guitar lessons for a while. I got semi-decent (at best I could do the intro to “Crazy Train” at normal speed, I think), but it didn’t last because it was annoying/time-consuming to build up the calluses that make playing painless, I was really bad at overthinking where my fingers were, and I just wasn’t invested quite enough. I’ll tell you, it gave me mad respect for guitarists, that shit isn’t easy by any means. Have you ever been on vacation with someone other than your family? Yes, though it was brief. I was a kid (okay, pre-teen, w/e) still in my separation anxiety from Mom phase and it was literally because of me we had to go home. I still feel shitty about it, though no one seemed upset at me. How old do you think you’ll be when you move out on your own? Who the fuck even knows anymore. Do you have a job? If so, where do you work? If not, do you want one? No; N/A; yes ultimately but no at the current moment because I have to keep watch over Mom. If you wear make-up, which brand of foundation/powder do you use? N/A Would you call yourself a “people” person? Nope. What is one change you need to make in your life this month? Just one??? What’s been tugging on your heart lately? My PTSD plus self-image has been very, very bad. What is the last thing you did that made you feel guilty? Mom had to clean up my cat’s projectile vomit even though she’s supposed to stay away from this kinda stuff through chemo. I literally cannot fucking touch vomit, never mind what came out of him that night. I felt like absolute fucking shit and I still do because WOW I’m a great adult right!! Do you have any physical traits that are bothering you lately? Like, everything. What kind of dog is your favorite? I’m biased to beagles. What was the last thing you received in the mail? A book. What is the last thing you wrote? Like, physically? My signature at the doctor’s office. Do you still care about the person you first kissed? Way fucking more than I should. Do you require a lot of private time? Definitely more than most people. Do you have any songs currently stuck in your head? I haven’t listened to it in forever for ~reasons~, yet “The Mortician’s Daughter” is stuck in my head badly and really needs to fuck off. What was the last song you downloaded? I dunno, I went on a download binge a while back. Have you ever read a really funny book? I remember at least one. “Bite Me” by IDR-Who. Some vampire satire. Have you ever done something humiliating while drunk? Never reached the point of being drunk. How would you react if your celebrity crush came to your door? fuckin YIKES I am NOT attractive rn go away Has your mom/dad ever walked in on you kissing or anything more with someone? HAHA my mom has always had the decency to knock, not so much his mom a;lwkejrewoei but the answer’s still no. What electronics are in your room? (DVD player, CD player, etc) This laptop, my phone, a Nintendo DS, my iPod… Do you have a box anywhere with special items you'll to keep forever in it? Yes, actually. Grew up calling them “treasure boxes.” Do you have any pictures of yourself on your bedroom walls? Lol no, I’d definitely prefer to not see myself as much as I can. That sounds melodramatic, but I’m being serious. It either depresses me or makes me angry. Does your dad collect anything? The Cleveland Browns’ football team stuff, for one. Maybe Carolina Hurricane stuff, too? Idk. I don’t live with him and don’t go in his “man cave” at his house often ha ha. What's better, a desktop or laptop? Explain. A laptop. Portable; that’s all the explanation ya really need. Do your parents still hide chocolate eggs around on Easter for you? Nah. What do you typically do on Easter Day? We go to my sister’s house to watch the kids do their egg hunting and open their gifts, then we usually go to Ashley’s in-laws’ for dinner. Is there anyone you literally need to exist? Apparently not. Thought so. Never let yourself into that state of mind. What would you prefer to get from a guy/girl: flowers, a hand-written poem, a picture he drew of you or a nice night out? Oh, a hand-written poem would wreck me, yeesh. Or a drawing. But any would be very sweet. Do you remember why you made the last mistake you did? I don’t know the most recent mistake, but probably because I’m just in general a terrified person who second-guesses or overanalyzes everything. Did you check how many calories the last thing you ate had? Yes. I’m back on my calorie-counting obsession again. Are your nails long or short? Short, always. I can’t keep them long. What is your favorite kind of cookie? Just the ordinary chocolate chip is fine. What was the last compliment you received? I don’t know. Who will be the next person you kiss? I normally delete this question because the answer should be so obvious, but I feel like just pointing it out that no one fucking knows who they’re gonna kiss next. It’s a dangerous mindset. Don’t make assumptions about what you’ll have even tomorrow. Have you ever made your own icon? Yeah, on many sites. They’re just about always just edits, though, not truly original work. What color is your computer mouse? It’s black. Have you ever been sung to on your birthday in a restaurant? Yes. Do you like black olives? I don’t like olives period. Do you actually think there will be a zombie apocolypse? Personally, no. I do think it’s scientifically possible, we already see this in insects, but I just don’t imagine it happening to humans before we’re our own downfall. Do you like the person you’ve become over the past years? Fuck no. Have you ever gone to church just to get a significant other? … No…? Have you ever punched a wall out of complete anger? No, that shit is terrifying. Are you really ticklish? YES don’t fucking touch me. How do you decide what you're going to eat each day? I just follow what I’m craving that day. How are you similar to your siblings? Different? Compared to Ashley and Nicole at least, I can’t think of any real similarities off the top of my head. They’re intelligent, motivated, outgoing, successful, yada yada, then there’s me. What's your favorite type of non-fiction literature? Autobiographies by people I’m actually interested in. Do you believe in souls? Soulmates? Souls, absolutely. Soulmates, no. It’s fairytale ideation to think your soul has a perfect match with another, hate to break it to ya. Favorite soundtrack? BITCH don’t make me choose between Shadow of the Colossus and Silent Hill 2. Fucking masterpieces. Pianos or guitars? *shrugs* Depends on the music and my mood. Did an animal ever bite you? Never seriously. How many languages do you speak? Only English fluently. I’m poor at German by now. Wiggly worms or bumble bees? Worms gross me out, bees are Good Boys. Religion? I don’t really identify with any. I just believe there’s some form of ultimate intelligence and essences beyond just the body, and that’s all I even pretend to know. Fog, thunder, or rain? Fog gives me that Silent Hill Vibe *Italian kiss* What regret keeps coming back to haunt you daily? The way I treated Jason after the breakup. If you could cure yourself of one allergy, what would it be? Damn pollen. Do you know anyone else with your name? Yeah. What would you be most afraid of happening if you were to visit Africa? Viruses or botflies. Where are you tempted to move to sometimes? I very legitimately want to live in Canada by now, but I won’t because I’m not moving that far from family. Who seems like they have the perfect life? I try not to make that assumption of anyone. Do you ever take pictures of negative moments? Does taking pictures of roadkill count???? lmao probably Do you think it would be a good idea to post photos of negative moments as well as positive? Well… I guess it depends. Like ngl, the pictures some people share of them having panic attacks to just show how fucking real they are definitely touch you, as do those depicting poverty, etc., BUT I really do think there are limits and also differences in motivations. What time zone are you in? EST. Would you ever post a picture of yourself crying on social media? Wow, speaking of. No. ^Why or why not? I am an UGLY cry-er, my man. But I also just don’t want people to see that, and it’s definitely not on my mind to take a picture during a breakdown. What was the last thing you cried about? My life. Have you ever held a newborn baby? Yes. Do you know anyone who has twins? Yes. Where do you buy calendars from? I don’t. Do you shop at the dollar store often? Not *often*, but we’ll stop by for a snack or something sometimes. Are you following in the career path of any family members? No. Do you feel you missed out on a lot as a kid? I guess in some ways. Who was that best friend you ever had? Sara. What color is your laptop? Black. What are five careers you think you’d be good at? My work history has shown I can’t do shit right. Are you thriving in your life right now? lmao no one is in 2020. Who do you have moral support from? My family, doctor, and a few friends. Who encourages you to go after your dreams? The same as above. Do you have people in your family who want you dead? Wow, I hope not. Do you have a walk-in closet? No, but my room at the new house will. :’) Not that I need one, it’s just pretty cool. How do you feel about people like Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Jeff Bezos having so much power and control in the world? Do you believe that any one person should have so much power? Let’s be real, in our current world, money is power, and no one should have that much control of the world, especially if your intentions are bad. NOW I don’t know jack shit about any of those are far as morals go, but just saying. It’s dangerous. Has your anxiety alone ever prevented you from doing something you wanted to do? This is ACTUALLY the story of my fucking life. Do you enjoy reading stories and novels that are heavily stylistic, poetic, or unconventional or do you prefer your prose to follow a familiar grammatical structure? Okay, I LOVE those, like Johnny Got His Gun and The Handmaid’s Tale that’s kinda like, run-on writing. Just letting a train of thought go. Those are two of the most powerful books I’ve ever read and they’re both written in a unique fashion. Have you ever fallen for any sort of Internet-based hoax? (e.g., fake celeb death, satire news article…) I’m sure at some point, especially as a kid. Do you tend to read reviews before you watch a movie or read a book? What do you hope to get out of doing so? NO. I don’t wanna have any precognition. When you go to a concert, how far must you travel for the most usual venues you visit? Most are on the other end of the state, and NC is long, so. We’re lucky if they come to Raleigh. Do you rent movies frequently? I never do, really. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Take pictures or swim. What’s your favorite meal to cook? I don’t cook. What movie has been taken WAY too far, as far as sequels go? Oh, I’m sure there are some, but none immediately come to mind. I’m not that into movies. Do you refuse to eat certain foods because of what they look like? Yes. I am VERY poor at getting past how a food looks. What are you listening to? NSP’s cover of “Don’t Fear The Reaper.” It’s fuckin gorgeous. How much homework do you have tonight? N/A Are you wearing any bracelets? Yes; one that Sara got me as well as an ovarian cancer awareness one. What's physically wrong with you right now? JINKIES I just feel really lethargic like always. Do you take any medications daily? Ha ha thanks for actually reminding me I need to now. When was the last time you moved to a new house? Two years ago, and now we’ll be moving to a much better place by the end of this month/early September, finally. When it comes to relationships, are you the jealous type? Nah. Which gift cards do you have in your wallet? Idk actually. It’s not like I use it a lot. Can you remember the last time you felt ill? What was wrong with you? A few nights ago. I was extremely hot, dizzy, and pretty nauseated. I was fine, though. If you wear make-up, do you take it with you, to reapply throughout the day? Does your make-up stay for a long time after you first apply it, or do you find that you need to reapply often? Are you wearing any make-up atm? I pretty much never wear makeup so have never really had a reason to reapply it. I’m definitely not wearing any now. Does your kitchen have a theme? No. Do you like ice cream sandwiches? GIRL yes. Do you prefer earbuds or headphones? Earbuds. They’re more comfortable imo but more importantly block out exterior noise very well. Are you a fan of any independent films? ngl, I don’t know exactly what that is and I don’t feel like looking it up. Could you possibly write a successful novel? I very genuinely think some of the RP stories I’ve taken part in are novel-worthy, yes. I wanted to make them books when I was younger, but now I no longer do mainly because there are areas that are just way too fucking dark that I don’t wanna put out there but play massive parts in the stories, so like… Do you regularly watch the news? I never do. Facebook is my “news” source lmao. Who was the last person you video-chatted with? I don’t remember for sure, maybe some doctor? What do you want the theme of your wedding to be? I don’t really think about this, seeing as my mind has changed enough, and it also depends on what my partner wants, too. Have you ever been caught passing a note in class? Noooo, I absolutely hated passing notes because I was genuinely a good student. I only did so very, very rarely if another friend started it. Have you ever had dandruff? I have dandruff AND a dry scalp. It’s a wonderful mix. Have you ever gone through a phase of crushing on EVERYONE? Definitely not. Do you have any clothes with spikes/studs on them? I have a spiked choker, and I might still have gloves with studs? Can you remember what you last clapped for? My mom’s birthday! :’) Have you ever given a pet to someone else? Yes, with cats; we had to do that quite often when I was a kid because we had so many cats, none which we could afford to fix. Then we’ve done it with two dogs we just couldn’t handle. Oh yeah, I gave my iguana away too because he was too high maintenance for me, but also because he DESPERATELY needed a much bigger terrarium, which we couldn’t afford. I absolutely could not watch him in that tiny tank. I miss him a LOT, but he went to a wonderful home! The lady who adopted him sent me pictures upon pictures months after taking him in. Do you know anyone named Walter? No. What's your least favorite ice-cream flavor? Strawberry is fucking disgusting. And that’s coming from someone whose favorite fruit is strawberries. What's your least favorite song by your favorite artist? I’m not sure. There’s a handful that just don’t grab my attention that I don’t even remember them. What was the last good news you heard? I can FINALLY talk to my psychiatrist tomorrow. Who’s your favorite singer of all time? Probably Freddie Mercury. What airline do you fly most? Idk, I don’t really pay attention. I haven’t flown very often though anyway. Do you have a dog that is destructive? I don’t have a dog. What’s one TV series you’ve seen every episode of? Meerkat Manor is the most obvious, ha ha. Maaaaany times. Assuming you have Facebook, who last left you a wallpost? Probably my friend Sammi. Assuming you have hair, how are you wearing it today? It’s too short for me to “wear” it any particular way. It’s just… there lmao. Assuming you're not homeless, what kind of living arrangements do you have? I live with my mom in a house she’s renting. Have you or have you ever considered messing around with the same sex? I’m bisexual so you can guess I’m not opposed to it. Are you particular about any brands of food you will or will not eat? Are there any restaurants you refuse to go to? Brands, no. I don’t eat Chick-fil-a because they’re run by fucking homophobic bigots that monetarily support conversion therapy and other anti-LGBT projects. I’m not giving you any fucking money. What was the most current dream you can remember about? Do you generally dream every night, or hardly at all? It was actually last night, when I dreamed about accidentally running into Jason where I last knew he worked, and he was really hostile. If I don’t take my medicine, I always have nightmares when I sleep.

[fandima-moved-read-pinned]

Would it be awesome to see you do all 100 asks? Yes. Will you do them? We shall see.

Wanna bet 

1: when you have cereal, do you have more milk than cereal or more cereal than milk? - More cereal than milk! 

2: do you like the feeling of cold air on your cheeks on a wintery day?- No, actually. I hate the cold ^^' And if there's cold air on my cheeks then it's on my nose and that's no good 

3: what random objects do you use to bookmark your books? - Usually a post it note! Not very random, but it's normally what I have on hand. 

4: how do you take your coffee/tea? - Depends on my mood! Sometimes I'll take my coffee black, other times ill add a fricc ton of creamer, whipped cream, and sugar. Also sometimes I mix coffee with hot chocolate and it's amazing. 

5: are you self-conscious of your smile? - Very. 

6: do you keep plants? - Always. I still have the carnations from Valentines Day (which surprisingly haven't died yet) 

7: do you name your plants? - Nope. 

8: what artistic medium do you use to express your feelings? - just a mechanical pencil or a graphite pencil. They usually end up being sketches. But if I like how it looks I'll go over them in pen. 

9: do you like singing/humming to yourself? - Yes and no? I'd do it more often but I don't want anyone to hear me. Especially my mom. 

10: do you sleep on your back, side, or stomach? - Side, always facing the wall. 

11: what’s an inner joke you have with your friends? - The only one I can think of off the top of my head is *slap slap slap* *jumps out window*. No I will not explain. 

12: what’s your favorite planet? - Pluto! Or Make Make. Make Make used to be my favorite because me and my brother would pronounce it wrong on purpose. But Pluto is ver pretty. 

13: what’s something that made you smile today? - seeing my brother's reaction to his birthday present from me! I made a little felt monkey with bushy eyebrows (I needle felted it) 

14: if you were to live with your best friend in an old flat in a big city, what would it look like? - Probably very messy. But also it would constantly smell like food! 

15: go google a weird space fact and tell us what it is! - Mars is shrinking. It is Smol. 

16: what’s your favorite pasta dish? - Fettuccine Alfredo with Shrimp! It's what I usually ordered at Olive Garden until I found out that it was expensive and was probably stressing out my parents. 

17: what color do you really want to dye your hair? - Don't laugh okay but pink! I want to dye the bottom half of my hair bright freaking pink. Like hot pink. 

18: tell us about something dumb/funny you did that has since gone down in history between you and your friends and is always brought up. - That time I slapped a guy twice for picking me up. That guy was my best friend. He picked me up from behind and I sorta whipped around and slapped him. The first time he didn't put me down, he just laughed. So I slapped him again. He got the hint. 

19: do you keep a journal? what do you write/draw/ in it?- I don't. I tried a while back, but I figured it would be easier just to talk to people about my issues instead of writing them down. 

20: what’s your favorite eye color? - Green. Or dark brown. 

21: talk about your favorite bag, the one that’s been to hell and back with you and that you love to pieces. - Not sure what this means, sorry. I've got this pencil pouch that has a tree print on it that I've used for a few years now even though it has a hole it it. Does that count? 

22: are you a morning person? - No. I wake up at 5:30 am on weekdays and usually don't get out of bed until I have ten minutes to get ready and leave. 

23: what’s your favorite thing to do on lazy days where you have 0 obligations? - Stay in my room and draw! Although I don't have lazy days. Every time my mom comes upstairs I immediately start cleaning because if I don't she'll yell at me for being lazy. 

24: is there someone out there you would trust with every single one of your secrets? - Yes. Take a look at who sent this ask. Also my other two online friends! One of them I spam with worms on a string and the other I just know I can trust and I don't know why. 

25: what’s the weirdest place you’ve ever broken into? - the only place I've broken into is my own house. I had to climb the backyard fence to go through the back door because me and my brother forgot our keys. 

26: what are the shoes you’ve had for forever and wear with every single outfit? - My plain black tennis shoes. I need to get new ones because these ones are old and barely fit but every time I mention it, it's like I never said a word. 

27: what’s your favorite bubblegum flavor? - Candy Cane! 

28: sunrise or sunset? - Sunset! I get to see the sun setting behind the Rocky Mountains and it's really pretty. 

29: what’s something really cute that one of your friends does and is totally endearing? - exist 

30: think of it: have you ever been truly scared? - Yes. I'd rather not talk about it. 

31: what is your opinion of socks? do you like wearing weird socks? do you sleep with socks? do you confine yourself to white sock hell? really, just talk about socks. - socks can burn in hell for all I care. I hate socks. I only wear them if I have to (like while wearing shoes) 

32: tell us a story of something that happened to you after 3AM when you were with friends. - I remember being at a sleepover a few days before I moved (this was in South Korea) and I woke up at 3:34 am (yes I remember the time don't ask why) because one of my friends was playing Megalovania on the keyboard. Then she turned around and asked who the hell took her pretzels. They were under her pillow. 

33: what’s your fave pastry? - c w a s o a n t (with jelly inside!) 

34: tell us about the stuffed animal you kept as a kid. what is it called? what does it look like? do you still keep it? - I still have this stuffed animal now (I have all of my stuffed animals. I haven't brought myself to get rid of them). It's a little pink blanket with a bunny head named Squeek. Not Squeak. I didn't know how to spell that. 

35: do you like stationary and pretty pens and so on? do you use them often? - No. I don't have any. 

36: which band’s sound would fit your mood right now? - https://youtu.be/7TqLXIBG-6g   not a band but still

37: do you like keeping your room messy or clean? - Messy! It may sound strange, but I can't find anything when it's clean. It also feels empty unless I've got stuff all over the floor. 

38: tell us about your pet peeves! - When I tell remind someone of the rules and they say "okay" and continue breaking them. Like we aren't supposed to put pans in the dishwasher because it ruins the pans. Yet my brother always puts them in there. I remind him and take it out, and he says "okay" and puts it back. I also hate it when I ask someone to stop doing something (usually when it's making me nervous or upset) and they ask "WhY?" in a really annoying tone and keep doing it. I ALSO hate it when I'm in charge and yet no one listens to me. 

I also don't like it when no one says thank you. It makes it seem like they don't appreciate me. 

39: what color do you wear the most? - Grey. I want to wear colorful clothes but the last time we went clothes shopping and I asked for pastel colors, I walked out of the store with grey, light grey, brown, and dark blue clothes. 

40: think of a piece of jewelry you own: what’s it’s story? does it have any meaning to you? - I have a locket that I made for my seventh birthday. It has little charms in it (a rose, my first initial, a heart key, and a birthday cake) and it's gold. I love it and I don't know why. 

41: what’s the last book you remember really, really loving? - There's a book series that I don't remember the name of but it's about a girl who is forcibly turned into a siren by three other sirens. She has to eat human hearts to live. It's kinda gorey, kinda romantic, lots of action. I love it. 

42: do you have a favorite coffee shop? describe it! - Unfortunately no, I usually get coffee at a gas station ^^' 

43: who was the last person you gazed at the stars with? - My dog Freyja! Whenever I take out trash, she comes with, and when the sky is clear I like to point out the starts with her before we go back inside. She's very sweet. But I can't stargaze for more than a minute. 

44: when was the last time you remember feeling completely serene and at peace with everything? - Last year I went on a trip to Florida to stay with my grandparents for a week. I remember waking up one morning with a beautiful view of the ocean and the sound of waves crashing onto the shore. My grandparents have an apartment of sorts that faces the Atlantic and you can literally go down the stairs and go swim in the ocean if you want to, it's like a two minute walk, not even. I love the ocean and the sound of waves and seagulls is always calming to me. But my house is very loud and there's no peace here. 

45: do you trust your instincts a lot? - Yes. When I have a bad feeling about something, I address it. It's not always true, but I don't want to risk anything. 

46: tell us the worst pun you can think of. - Sorry, I don't know many puns. I guess I'm just not a pun-ny person. 

47: what food do you think should be banned from the universe? - fucking macaroni with bread crumsb that shit is nasty af 

48: what was your biggest fear as a kid? is it the same today? - Storms, especially tornados. Now my biggest fear is death. Whether I'm the one dying or its someone I care about. 

49: do you like buying CDs and records? what was the last one you bought? - Not really, I don't have money to buy anything ^^' Even when I do have money, I spend it on art stuff. That reminds me that I need to fix my radio. 

50: what’s an odd thing you collect? - Fabric. I have so much and I don't even use it. But when I see a nice fabric, I get it (if I have money). 

51: think of a person. what song do you associate with them? - 'Old Timer Rock and Roll' (probably not the name of it) always reminds me of my dad. One day we were driving in his Jeep, just us two, and I mentioned that I wasn't a fan of the music on the radio. We ended up compromising and that song was the first one on the radio station that we switched to. 

52: what are your favorite memes of the year so far? - I am unfortunately not up to date with the memes. Although the ones where it's like "you've mc-ed your last Donald" or "you've ratted your last tatouille" always make me exhale aggressively. 

53: have you ever watched the rocky horror picture show? heathers? beetlejuice? pulp fiction? what do you think of them? - None of the above! I've been wanting to watch Heather's though. I just never get around to doing it. 

54: who’s the last person you saw with a true look of sadness on their face? - My brother. Not the same one from before. 

55: what’s the most dramatic thing you’ve ever done to prove a point? - nothing, sorry. I'm not very dramatic. 

56: what are some things you find endearing in people? - when they pour their heart out about a certain subject that they love. I know a lot of people tend to bottle up their opinions but when someone trusts me aniugh to tell me all about it, it's just sorta nice. 

57: go listen to bohemian rhapsody. how did it make you feel? did you dramatically reenact the lyrics? - I just sorta spaced out for the first have then did a little dance for the rest of it. I love the line "I see a little silhouetto of a man" and it's more upbeat and the music just makes me dance a little 

58: who’s the wine mom and who’s the vodka aunt in your group of friends? why? - bold of you to assume I have a group of friends 

59: what’s your favorite myth? - There's this one I heard as a kid that involves a faceless girl on the side of a highway who tries to steal faces. 

60: do you like poetry? what are some of your faves? - I can't think of any off the top of my head, but poetry is nice! 

61: what’s the stupidest gift you’ve ever given? the stupidest one you’ve ever received? - I don't really remember. I try to only give gifts that are meaningful. 

62: do you drink juice in the morning? which kind? - nope! I usually drink milk! 

63: are you fussy about your books and music? do you keep them meticulously organized or kinda leave them be? - I usually leave my music to its own devices, but all the books are organized by series and genre. 

64: what color is the sky where you are right now? - Blue! Just any other afternoon sky. 

65: is there anyone you haven’t seen in a long time who you’d love to hang out with? - My older brother. We don't get to talk much. 

66: what would your ideal flower crown look like? - Colorful, with a few white flowers! 

67: how do gloomy days where the sky is dark and the world is misty make you feel? - Those are usually the days that I don't feel anything. 

68: what’s winter like where you live? - The weather is all over the place. A little snow, then the next day, it's like 60°F. Not even joking. It snowed Friday and Saturday was warm. 

69: what are your favorite board games? - Monopoly and Battleship! 

70: have you ever used a ouija board? - No, but I really want to. But my dad won't let me. 

71: what’s your favorite kind of tea? - I don't really drink tea, sorry! 

72: are you a person who needs to note everything down or else you’ll forget it? - Nope. I'll forget it anyway. I usually set alarms for certain things but then I don't do it. 

73: what are some of your worst habits? - Biting the inside of my cheek and scratching/pinching my arm when I'm nervous. 

74: describe a good friend of yours without using their name or gendered pronouns. - kind, a good listener, talented, and understanding 

75: tell us about your pets! - We have four dogs. There's Emrys (the dog I've posted pictures of before), Cirilla (a husky German Shepard mix, very sweet), Cayde-6 (a Rottweiler mix I think, super energetic, loud, and steals food off the counter even when someone is watching), and Freyja (a German Shepard mix, puppy, also very sweet! She knows the phrase 'give hugs' and she always comes with me to take out the trash for whatever reason). I also have a Guinea Pig (who I want to get a friend for because she's lonely, but my parents keep saying no) names Neo. 

76: is there anything you should be doing right now but aren’t? - Working on my Someconsious series, cleaning, and probably checking in with some friends. 

77: pink or yellow lemonade? - Pink 

78: are you in the minion hateclub or Fan club? - Hate club. I don't like them. They're just annoying and bright and their language is stupid to me. 

79: what’s one of the cutest things someone has ever done for you? - One of my exes surprised me with a cars and roses out of nowhere. It wasn't Valentines Day, it wasn't my birthday, he just went out of his way to do something nice for me when I was having a rough week. 

80: what color are your bedroom walls? did you choose that color? if so, why? - They're a sort of off white. I want to paint them light lavender or pale blue but my parents have only painted the living room and refuse to paint anywhere else for whatever reason. I know we can afford paint, I know we have time. They just stopped caring. 

81: describe one of your friend’s eyes using the most abstract imagery you can think of. - Not sure what it means by abstract, but I'll try. Her eyes are similar to the bottom of a small river. The brown in the middle with green rings on the edges remind me of a river I used to go fishing in back in Oklahoma. 

82: are/were you good in school? - I'm okay. I have all A's and B's, but I have easy subjects that aren't very hard. 

83: what’s some of your favorite album art? - I don't really listen to albums, my music taste is mostly individual songs. Even then I don't really pay attention to the art. 

84: are you planning on getting tattoos? which ones? - I want to get a quote of sort on my ankle. Something in another language so I can tell them it means something mysterious and deep when in reality it's the description of a toaster oven that hasn't been cleaned since 1995.

85: do you read comics? what are your faves? - I read a few webcomics if that counts! I like Castle Swimmer a lot! Gay fish bapeys are best fish bapeys. 

86: do you like concept albums? which ones? - I don't know what those are, sorry 

87: what are some movies you think everyone should watch at least once in their lives? - The Princess Bride and the Last Unicorn. But I'm biased because they're both a part of my childhood. 

88: are there any artistic movements you particularly enjoy? - not in particular! 

89: are you close to your parents? - I'm only close with my dad. My stepmom can go fuck herself. She just told us that's she'll be making a schedule for the next two weeks because there won't be school. One of the weeks was spring break anyway! We aren't missing much! 

90: talk about your one of you favorite cities. - I like Palm Beach in Florida! It's fairly quiet, right next to the ocean, and filled with retired people who are all really nice. 

91: where do you plan on traveling this year? - Nowhere, we don't travel much. I really want to go to Florida again though. 

92: are you a person who drowns their pasta in cheese or a person who barely sprinkles a pinch? - I don't add cheese at all! It sort of ruins the texture for me. Especially the grated sprinkle cheese stuff l. I hate now it feels. 

93: what’s the hairstyle you wear the most? - I just keep my hair down. I don't like it in any other way. 

94: who was the last person you know to have a birthday? - My brother. His birthday is today! 

95: what are your plans for this weekend? - cry a lot cry some more lose feelings for a few hours draw watch YouTube art videos then try not to yell at my mom like I did last week

96: do you install your computer updates really quickly or do you procrastinate on them a lot? - I just get it over with so I can do whatever needs to be done. Or I schedule it for when I'm not going to be using it. 

97: myer briggs type, zodiac sign, and hogwarts house? - INFP-T/Mediator, Scorpio, and Hufflepuff 

98: when’s the last time you went hiking? did you enjoy it?- A few weeks ago. And no, I did not enjoy it considering I was supposed to be working on an important project that day. 

99: list some songs that resonate to your soul whenever you hear them. - Where We Started, If You're Going Through Hell, and We Like to Numb (a mix of We Like to Party and Numb) 

100: if you were presented with two buttons, one that allows you to go 5 years into the past, the other 5 years into the future, which one would you press? why? - Future. In five years I plan on being in college and I want to see what I should be prepared for and if my interests have changed. 

This took me at least an hour and a half. Thank you though! I 

[thirteen-beaxhes]

Our Last Words - Epilogue

Summary:  In a universe where the last words your soulmate speaks to you are printed, Cyrus Goodman wants nothing more than to never meet them. And he definitely doesn’t want it to be the blonde-haired boy in his class.

ALL LINKS IN REBLOG

~~~~

Green - Cavetown

As the days crawled on, the pain dulled. It never went away, Cyrus didn’t expect it to. But, with each passing day, it got a bit easier to get out of bed to go to school. With each passing day, Cyrus smiled more, bit by bit becoming himself again. And whenever it started hurting again, Andi, Buffy and Jonah were right there for him through it all.

He never forgot TJ. At first, he desperately tried to. But eventually, Cyrus realised that the memories they had shared were some of his best ones, ones he always wanted to keep close to him. And so he treasured them, writing about as many as he could in a journal that he kept in his bedside drawer, always close by. Soon enough, a picture of Cyrus and TJ found a permanent place in Cyrus’ things, wherever he was. It just seemed right.

The years of high school afterwards carried their own kinds of pain. Cyrus always saw TJ at the basketball games between their schools. And TJ always caught a glimpse of Cyrus around town. But soon, these glimpses turned from painful to rueful but comforting moments. But that didn’t make them any easier on Cyrus’ heart, a piercing pain still thrilling through it when he would see TJ on the court, his eyes focused on the ball. TJ still felt his breath catch in his throat when he spotted Cyrus through the window of the Spoon.

Leaving for college made things much easier. Cyrus got into an Ivy League college of course, but against the predictions of the fortune teller at his Bar Mitzvah, he also graduated from one, much to the pride of his parents. The moment he walked onto the stage at his graduation to receive his diploma was one of the best moments of his life. He had felt on top of the world.

College is also where Cyrus met James. Sweet, environment-loving, funny James. It had taken him a while to even consider falling in love again, still not ready for heartbreak. But, soon enough, James came along with his charm and his jokes and Cyrus didn’t feel so scared anymore.

James still hadn’t met his soulmate, but he knew Cyrus wasn’t that person. He only found out about Cyrus’ soulmate experience a year into their relationship, a story that had been told over a glass of wine and Cyrus desperately keeping himself together. He knew that Cyrus would never stop loving the boy who was in the picture that sat on the shelf where he kept his most prized possessions, but he was okay with that.

“It would be crazy if you didn’t love your soulmate even after all this time,” James had said with a smile, cupping Cyrus’ cheeks in his hands to ease the worried look from his eyes.

“Are you sure?” Cyrus had asked, worried.

“Of course I am. I wouldn’t want you to stop loving him. He’s still really important to you.”

“Just as long as you know that I love you,” Cyrus had replied, pulling James in for a kiss.

“I know. I love you too.”

*

“Do you think the Spoon is a good location? It has ambience, seating and food,” Cyrus said, walking down the street with James as he held his hand.

“Cyrus,” James said, stopping to make Cyrus look at him. “I love you, and I would do anything to make you happy. But we are not getting married in the Spoon.”

“But why? It’s my favourite place,” Cyrus whined, pouting.

James just glared at him. “Yeah, no. The pout isn’t gonna work this time.”

“Damn it,” Cyrus huffed, dropping the pout. “That usually works wonders.”

James laughed, bringing Cyrus’ hand up to kiss it softly. “You’re forgetting we’ve been together coming up on five years. I know all your tricks, babe.”

Cyrus lasted all of 2 seconds of seriousness before cracking, wrapping his arms around James’ neck.

“Well then. Aren’t I lucky I’m marrying you then?”

“I think I’d argue that I’m the lucky one,” James said, leaning in to press a light kiss to Cyrus’ lips.

They continued ahead, hand in hand as Cyrus pointed out the various locations in Shadyside, Utah, recounting all the stories hidden in the cracks of the walls. And all the while, James listened eagerly, hanging on Cyrus’ every word.

“And that’s the Red Rooster, where Jonah had many a performance that ended in varying levels of success,” Cyrus said, gesturing to the record store ahead. “Andi’s dad still works there.”

“Sweet! Oh wait, that reminds me,” James said, turning to Cyrus. “When are Buffy and Andi coming down?”

“In 2 days or so. Andi’s waiting for the school year to end,” Cyrus said. “Art Teacher and all, you know?”

“Do you think they have forgiven us for the wedding fiasco?” James asked, looking nervous.

“Psh, believe me, they’ve probably forgotten about it,” Cyrus said, waving his hand dismissively.

James just looked down at Cyrus. “You better be right, or else they’ll object to us getting married.”

Cyrus just laughed, putting his arm around James’ shoulders. “Babe, it’s gonna be okay. Besides, we made up for it by giving them the best wedding gift ever.”

Cyrus stopped walking and turned to James, cupping his cheeks. “Look, I know that’s not what you’re worried about, so I’m just gonna cut to it. They really like you. They’d be crazy not to. And even if they don’t, I love you, okay?”

James smiled gratefully at Cyrus, looking ahead. Suddenly, he realised something and immediately whispered to Cyrus, “Hey, isn’t that the guy?”

“What guy?” Cyrus asked, laughing slightly.

“What was his name?” James muttered to himself. “Oh yeah. TJ.”

Hearing that name sent Cyrus’ heart racing, his palms growing sweaty. “W-What?” James just pointed ahead to a man rummaging through the records out front. Cyrus followed his finger and he froze, his heart practically stopping.

“It’s TJ, right?” James asked in a low voice.

“I see him,” Cyrus replied, suddenly finding it hard to speak.

“Whoa,” James said, getting a better look at TJ. “He looks a lot meaner in person.”

Oh, the déjà vu. Cyrus took a deep breath, a sense of calm coming over him. “Yeah well, don’t let that fool you.”

James looked over at Cyrus with a small smile. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I am. Don’t worry about me,” Cyrus said, bumping his head with James’ as a reassurance. “Come on, let’s keep walking.”

James complied, grabbing Cyrus’ hand and walking ahead, taking in the town. Cyrus just watched his fiance’s excited demeanour, falling more in love with him.

They walked past the Red Rooster, Cyrus narrowly missing TJ’s shoulder by an inch. James stopped at the nearby shop to see something that had caught his eye. In the meantime, TJ had crossed the road, and as he turned back, he caught a glimpse of-

No, it couldn’t be, he thought but looking again, it was really him. Cyrus.

Cyrus caught TJ’s eye, his breath hitching as he saw TJ looking at him from across the road. After a moment of shock, TJ smiled, his face all lit up. Cyrus couldn’t help but smile back, a small laugh escaping his lips.

TJ looked over Cyrus’ shoulder at James, who was talking to the store owner, his eyebrows quirked. Cyrus just looked back at James and then down at his left hand, the one that had a plain silver ring on the ring finger. He looked back up at TJ, who was trying to piece everything together. He saw the realisation hit TJ, a soft smile spreading on his face as he could feel TJ silently congratulating him. Cyrus simply shrugged in response, unable to control his happiness.

“You ready to go, babe?” James asked, snapping Cyrus out of his silent moment with TJ from across the street.

“Yeah, I am,” Cyrus said, looking back to see TJ walking away, turning around to look back at Cyrus. Their eyes met, smiles on their faces as they said goodbye as best as they would without words.

As they walked away, Cyrus realised that the interaction with TJ had left him warm. Content. Seeing him that day was like revisiting your old childhood movie. That keen sense of nostalgia wrapped up in pure comfort. It had left him feeling happy, peaceful.

Maybe that’s what having a soulmate really meant. It didn’t mean the one person you’re supposed to spend the rest of your life with, or the one person who was absolutely perfect for you. Maybe it meant that person who, when you met again, gives you that sense of nostalgia, that peaceful pause. That person who you would always love in a different way to any other person you may love. Not in a romantic way, or a platonic way. But in a way that couldn’t be described as anything other than unique. Maybe it meant that person who when you would meet again after the words had been said, would mean you were still connected with some hidden knowledge, an inside joke of sorts. Maybe that’s what it really meant.

But what would we know? The universe is full of mysteries. And soulmates are its most elusive.

But as he walked down the street with James, Cyrus realised he didn’t mind not knowing.

He was glad that, of all people, his soulmate was TJ Kippen.

~~~~~

THE END

that’s it folks, the last update. I can’t believe that i actually finished this. My first chaptered fic oof.

Thank you so much to anyone who has ever read this fic. Whether you came back with each update in real time, or you binge read it in one night, thank you so much. I love all of you so much. 

Well, bye for now!

[ofgeneration]

━ ✧ ( nico mirallegro, 26, he/him ) did you hear about generation’s new record ? it’s totally bitchin’ ! isaac carberry was killing it as lead vocalist. people who have interviewed him say they’re really quixotic & convivial, but they can be sort of impish & ungovernable if you catch him at a bad time. a mischievous grin, northern grit, your ex-record label’s offices looking like a jackson pollock after getting your revenge in the form of vandalism.

hello, my loves! — i’m jess, i’m 22 and over in rainy england. i’m recently done with university which gives me a lot of downtime until i find a job so hopefully i can dedicate a lot of that downtime to this fuckin’ rp because it’s gonna be lit i just know it. i’m a huge stone roses fan and 80s/90s-music-obsessed in general so getting to play this character is super exciting for me, so without further ado, meet my trash son: mr isaac carberry. PLEASE HMU FOR PLOTS!

BACKGROUND

born 14th april 1960 in manchester, england to a normal working-class family, isaac was the first born child of james & rose carberry, with a younger sister coming along a few years later. the little family of four lived fairly happily, but struggled financially just as many people did in northern england at the time. 

when isaac was five, his father lost his job as a result of coalmine closures, and times were tough. however, the family kept their spirits high by keeping close-knit, as well as listening to a whole lotta’ music. music was key in the carberry household. it was all around you at all times.

when times would get particularly bleak, his dad would pick up an guitar and play to the kids. he wasn’t very good but watching someone play an instrument and have fun with it sparked something in the eyes of isaac carberry.

tw violence, corporal punishment — during his teenage years, he was a problem child. he was the kid that always got pulled out of class by the headmaster to receive the cane in his office. he could never sit still, was always cracking jokes when he should’ve been doing his schoolwork, etc. it wasn’t talked about at the time, so it went unnoticed, but what isaac was probably dealing with was undiagnosed ADHD. despite this, though, he was a clever child. he had a way with words and looked forward to english class every week, where he would take great pleasure in writing exercises, especially poetry. 

writing was a dreamy, escapist haven for isaac, and this extended to his life outside of school, too. the works he was producing were mostly tongue-in-cheek, light-hearted stories and poems with a recurring “stop taking life so seriously” theme. when he turned 16, however, these poems began to turn into songs. this started to take up a lot of his time especially when he finished secondary school at 16 and went onto sixth form college, where he took music alongside english.

isaac desperately wanted to learn to play guitar, so that he could form some structural melodies to these songs, but struggled with honing the skill of learning an instrument. luckily, when he was 18, he made three friends who could do just that. the four kids would bounce ideas off of each other and hold jam sessions in the tiny little basement of isaac’s family home, but things never went much further than that (at least not yet, anyway.)

isaac decided against going to university, mostly since his family lacked the funds, and instead picked up a full-time job in a grocery store to help out his household’s shared income. 

in 1979, margaret thatcher came into power as the UK’s prime minister, and times got even bleaker. money was even tighter and the working-class situation became an even harder one to be in. the carberry family started sending isaac out on the street after work to sing some of his songs for tips. 

in 1983, aged 23, isaac was in a dark place. no opportunity, no degree, no wealth in the family to fall back on. he ‘rallied up the troops’ so to speak and practically begged his friends to start a band with him. he had plenty of material, after all.

to his relief, they said yes, and were determined to make it work. they were hungry for attention and throwing themselves at any gig opportunities they could get, to get them a bit of money into their pockets. that was it, GENERATION was truly alive and kicking.

at a show supporting another band, generation were noticed by a fellow musician, who took a shine to the band and booked them to support his upcoming uk tour. thus, the band were rising to prominence. fast forward a year and before isaac even had the chance to process it, generation were shaping up to be the biggest band in the uk. isaac could finally give his family everything they needed to better their situation and was having the most amazing time ever doing what he loved.

after independently releasing their own singles, the band got themselves a record deal in early 1985 and released their first full record, a self-titled album. their management wanted to introduce them to US audiences, and thus — that’s how we find ourselves here. 

PERSONALITY

ok sorry for that LONG ass background here’s the nice lil fun part where we can just dick around lmao hey meet my baby boy chaotic aries who is a lovable mess and i will protect him at all costs

literally so much of his personality is inspired by myself lmao we love an aries legend with ADHD but also i owe some of his characterization to the stone roses’ ian brown so if you ever want a look into isaac, watch some interviews or smth because Big Isaac Mood. the last aesthetic in his app references this video

nice, but a fuckin firecracker of a man. intense boi!! he’s a Lot

on first impressions he’s cool and collected and laidback but when you get to know him he can be very exhausting to be around, talks a lot, never tires of energy, etc

has that lopsided, wonky grin that you can’t help but love

lowkey isn’t really overwhelmed by the fame at all, he’s kind of narcissistic in the fact that he??? just feels like it’s really deserved? he knows hes talented jfjhgfjkghf

lowkey maybe highkey a sweetheart

a favourite with the ladies but not good w commitment

has slept around a lot. ladies, fellas, you name it. probably has it in him to settle down someday since he likes the idea of falling in love, but just hasn’t found it as of yet 

charisma literally oozes from him

tw drugs & alcohol / dOeSnT LiKe To sHoW eMoTioNs but then will literally cry w u and pour his heart out if you’re close enough to him or if he’s hella drunk or high on ecstasy 

Reyt fokin’ northern accent, yeh get meh?

man i dont even know can i just post this dumb shit already because this is getting LONG

WANTED CONNECTIONS

ex-girlfriend / groupie — i have this as a wc on the main

best friends will prob be taken by his bandmates but at the time of writing this only one other spot is taken so maybe ill branch out

give me some ppl who just DONT fucking like him

hookups / ex-hookups

someone he can be a bad influence on

someone who is a bad influence on him

someone he’s had beef w in the industry, maybe they said some shit about his band in an interview or something

a slow burn love interest plot................. listen.... gimme the one person he’s falling for and would consider being tied down for. i’d be so soft for that

gimme anything and everything my babies

[queens-floyd]

Drummer Girl pt. 5/Holiday Special

Masterlist

A/N: the beginning is eh angsty but it gets really fluffy ;) it’s a “Christmas special” a day late. Oops. Also I’m sorry to the people in the tag list I forgot to add one on pt. 4. Forgive me!

Roger Taylor x OC

Warnings: Language, alcohol

Lavender’s POV

It was that time of year again. Christmas Eve. Honestly, I haven’t had a real Christmas since my dad left. Before, we would throw parties and have feasts, see all my cousins and relatives, it was my favorite holiday. After that, we stopped going to family gatherings all together. They didn’t want to see us and we didn’t want to see them. My mum’s side of the family lived in another country and since my dad left, we couldn’t afford to visit them. My mum and I tried to celebrate Christmas as much as we could, but times got hard and eventually we stopped the traditions completely seeing we both started working and earning money was more important than celebrating.

Now, I’ve completely forgotten what it’s like to celebrate Christmas. It’s just a normal day for me. I ordered take out from one of the last stores open and enjoyed my lovely alone time. I ended up felling asleep on my couch with some half eaten chow fun on my chest.

I slept peaceful until I felt some sort of ball hit my head. I sat up suddenly expecting to have spilt my noodles all over myself, but I wake up in a different sofa... in my old house. I look around to see who threw that ball and I see two young children sprint past me. I look around some more and I see dozens of people, adults and children. I shake my head and realize these are all my relatives. There are lights and food, so much food, and a giant Christmas tree by the window I would use to practice guitar. I sat there in confusion for a while til a voice pulled me out. I felt a hand on me and I flinched.

“Oh honey, you’re finally awake.” The voice says. I look over and I see my mum.

“W-what? What is h-happening?” I said shaking. She is here. Right here in front of me. Touching me. I feel tears well in my eyes. “Mum?” I say shaken.

She looks healthier from when I last saw her. More full of life. Her beautiful long hair was curled and put up into a messy bun and her makeup is how she would do on holidays. She was wearing a gray wrap dress and low black heels. She looked so beautiful.

“Honey, are you okay?” She says looking concerned.

“I think she’s just disoriented from taking such a long mid day nap.” A voice behind her says. A hand reaches to her shoulder and a face all too familiar appears. A face that I haven’t seen in a very long time.

“D-dad?” I say, not caring that nothing makes sense.

“You shouldn’t be napping kiddo. It’s Christmas and your cousins wanna play with you.” He says laughing. Kiddo. He use to always call me that and I absolutely hated it. Now, it is so relieving to hear it come out of his mouth. He is wearing the ugly Christmas sweater I bought for him when I was eight. It was the first time I bought something on my own.

I jump up and hug both of them tightly. Just to make sure they’re there. They both are shocked at first, but they hug back tightly.

“Woah there kiddo, you’re gonna put out my back.” My dad says. We all laugh and hear one of my aunts call everyone over to open presents.

As I walk to the tree I see the feast of food layed out on the table. My mouth waters. I haven’t eaten food like this since forever. My mum was a great cook and we would always cook together before she got sick.

We got to the presents and my parents handed me a large, wrapped box with little reindeer on the paper and a big green bow. I took it and they smiled widely as I opened it. I tore the paper and underneath there was a suitcase.

“Well, go on open it! We hope it’s what you like.” My mum says.

I unlatch the two latches and slowley open it. Right as it fully opens all other sounds drown out and a loud ringing is heard. Then banging. Then more ringing. It sounds like the doorbell to my apartment. A few more rings and bangs, everything disappears. I rub my eyes and when I pry open my eyes again, I see I’m still on my couch with noodles all over my pants. I was all a dream. I sigh as I hear the doorbell again, then a few pounds at my door. I slowly walk over to my door, upset at whoever woke me up. I go to unlock the door when I hear muttering from behind the door.

“Come on she isn’t home. It’s Christmas Eve she’s probably with family...” a voice says

“One more time then we’ll leave”

I open the door to reveal the four infamous members of Queen and Mary. All of them understandably surprised and Roger with his fist up, about to pound on my door.

I look at them wide eyed not expecting this sudden arrival when they all shout out, “Merry Christmas!”

“Huh?” I say really, really confused.

“Uhh she might not celebrate Christmas...” John says from the back. They all look guilty and slightly cringe at themselves.

“Oh no, I do.” I say, “well, I did...”

“You don’t look like you’re celebrating” Freddie says. I look at myself in my week old pajamas, noodle stains on my pants.

“Well I don’t celebrate anymore.”

“Why not?” Brian says as I step aside for everyone to come in.

“No one to celebrate with I suppose?” I shrug and go to clean up my mess.

“That’s sad.” Freddie blurts, “Well now you’ve got us, and we are taking you to a Queen Holiday Extravaganza! And I am not taking no for an answer.”

“Okay...” I say hesitantly.

“Excellent! Let’s go find you something to wear!” Freddie says as he he waltzes into my bedroom.

“Freddie! Don’t go in there with out her permissi- ugh!” Mary says as she looks back at me sympathetically and chases after him.

I look around and John and Brian are examining my guitar collection. Then I feel a light tap on my shoulder. I turn around and it’s Roger with a large box wrapped in little reindeer wrapping paper and a large green bow. It looked vaguely familiar.

“I got you something... I thought the boys got you something as well, but I guess they didn’t get the memo.” He said rubbing the back of his neck.

I laugh and shake my head, “you idiot, you shouldn’t have gotten me anything.” I lightly punch his arm and take the present. Honestly, I was really happy and greatful for this gesture. I haven’t gotten a Christmas present in a very long time, so this really meant a lot to me. I rip open the gift and open the cardboard box inside. I remove the tissue paper and see a t-shirt. I pull it out and it is probably five times too big for me. I peek out from behind the shirt and raise my eyebrow at Roger. He is wearing a huge smile on his face as he motions for me to flip the shirt. I flip it and the first thing I see is his face, prominent on the front. It shows all the boys and the word ‘Queen’ and their logo. On the shirt there is a big red heart drawn over his face and smaller hearts around it. I glare at him again and he is doubling over laughing. I go over to attack him when he holds up both his hands.

“Woah woah woah, there is one more thing in there.” He says trying to defend himself.

I look back to the box and toss the remaining tissue paper. I pick it out and see that it’s Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’ on vinyl. I look closer and see the signatures of Roger Waters and David Gilmour.

“Oh my God. You didn’t” I scoff

“I think I did” He says crossing my arms and peeking at my astonished face.

I let out one more loud laugh and tackle him to the floor in a hug.

“Roger!” I screamed at him as he held me on top of him. We were both laughing hard, “how did you know?”

“Well, when I was doing your laundry after your whole... incident, I stumbled upon all of your Pink Floyd memorabilia. You seem to take a liking to another Roger who isn’t me.” He says offended.

I laughed and hugged him once more before rolling over next to him on the floor. I hold up the record to examine it once again. “This is awesome. How did you manage to get this? It hasn’t even been released! And how did you get them to sign this?”

“Did you forget? I’m famous, love. I met up with them and that Roger is apparently a fan on this Roger. They wanted Queen to take a listen, ya know from one band to another.” He says turning over to me. I tackle him into another hug.

“Ok I found a dress for you Lavender!” Freddie yelled from my bedroom, “it took us ages to find a suitable dress in that mess you call a- woah” all the attention shifts to me on top of Roger and I jump off of him quickly, elbowing him in the stomach in the process. He groans in pain and John, Brian, and I snicker at him.

“Well, whatever was going on needs to take a break because we need to be at this party by 6:00 and it is currently 6:15. I do like to be fashionably late, but at this rate we’ll miss the good booze so... chop chop love birds.” Freddie says as he tosses me a small red dress that I haven’t worn in ages.

I hold it up to reveal the tiny fabric, “Uh... this will definitely not fit me. Can’t I wear some jeans and a shirt?”

“Squeeze yourself into it love, it’s a Christmas Banquet so you must present yourself nicely my dear.”

“Whatever.” I say rolling my eyes to squeeze myself into this dress. I somehow get my body into in and look at myself in the mirror. I could care less what I wear as long as I can drink alcohol in it. I put on a leather jacket and motorcycle boots and walk out of my room.

As soon as I walk out all the attention is on me. Roger’s mouth waters and I throw my pajamas shirt at his face.

“I brought you some booties Lav,” Mary says handing me some heeled boots. I cringe at the sight of heels knowing from experience that alcohol and heels don’t go well together, “don’t worry they’re more comfortable than they look.”

I sigh and stick the on and get use to the new height.

“Very well. Should we go?” Brian says.

We leave accordingly out of my apartment. Freddie and Mary holding hands and Brian and John close after. I grab my purse and start to exit. I feel Roger come up behind me,

“You looks spectacular Lavender.” He says close to my ear. His hand rests on my hip and gets too low. I glare at him while he has a nasty smirk on his lips. In my quick temper I punch him in the gut as he doubles over in pain and groans loudly.

“Try that again drummer boy and next time I’ll aim lower.” I say grabbing my purse and walking out, “Merry Christmas my friend!”

“Damn.”

Bonus:

The party was quite fun. The most fun I’ve had in a while, in fact. I got a handful of glares here and there seeing my close affiliation with Queen, but I could care less. I danced with all the guys and Mary and I drank my usual amount, so I was quite drunk and I dance with a few random men. We all had fun, Freddie got his attention, I got my drinks, Roger found a good looking blonde, things were good.

At one point I was apparently getting too close to this one bloke and Roger had to pull us apart.

“Come on man, he was pretty good looking to me!” I whined at him, “how come you get to have women rubbing themselves at you and I don’t get to have one dance with a guy I choose?”

“You’re drunk. You can thank me later.” He said.

“Uh oh!” Freddie yelled from across the room. He runs over close to us, “I spy two little hotheads under my special Christmas decoration.”

We simultaneously look up and see a mistletoe.

“Shit.” I say. Roger looks at me with wide eyes.

“You don’t have to kiss me if you don’t want to. I’m not gonna force you.”

“Well I am. It’s the rule.” Freddie says taking a sip of champagne.

“Fred! Come on you know she doesn’t...” Roger keeps complaining at Freddie as I look around and pluck a drink from a random person’s hand as I mutter a quick ‘sorry.’ I down the whole drink quickly. I grab his face mid-sentence and place a chaste kiss on his lips. He quickly catches on and deepens the kiss for a few seconds and puts his hands on my hips as I pull away. Freddie cheers and everyone follows along. His hands are still on my hips and looks at me shocked and slightly impressed.

“What? It’s not like you haven’t kissed half the people here.” I joked at him. Many people in the crowd nod including Freddie and Brian.

“It’s true. I know!” Deaky says from the edge of the room. Everyone shares a quick laugh and disperses back to the party. I attempt to walk away as Roger grabs my arm.

“Hey, we’re not gonna be weird about this right?” He says

“I’m not weird about anything. But, no. It’s fine, it was just a mistletoe kiss. No harm done.” I say grabbing two shots from a passing waiter. Roger looks at me as if I were going to give one to him.

“Oh these were both for me.” I say downing both, coughing at intensity of the liquid, “...strong” I say between coughs.

“That’s what you get for double-fisting Freddie’s special tequila, love.” He said laughing at me. “Well, I’ll leave you to it. And just letting you know, you are a marvelous kisser.” He says pinching my butt as he walks away. I was so ready to knee his balls, but I was busy choking on “Freddie’s special tequila.

“I’ll get you back Taylor!” I wheeze at him.

“Sure you will. Merry Christmas!”

Tag List: (some people it wouldn’t let me tag) Let me know if you would like to be tagged!

@isabella-bby @overcastskeleton7 @childishslytherin @2ptonpt @cosmiclunas @rain-must-fall @anamcg317

[scottfraserphotography]

“The Road to Rock n’ Roll - Guitars” Date: March 14, 2019 © Scott Fraser Photography

Dedicated to Rod Coulter. The first guitarist in my life.

In 1971 legendary guitar player and song writer Alvin Lee wrote the song “I’d Love to Change the World”. I was born in 1970, so it’s before my time. But I did grow up listening to it, thanks to three amazing uncles. In 1994, the Sunset Strip based band, L.A. Guns released a cover of it on their album Vicious Circles. With all respect to Alvin Lee, I prefer Tracii Guns’ version of the song. It’s got an edge to it. It touches my soul. Tracii’s chops, his notes, pure, clean, defined, at times ethereal, and delivered with a punch - I can’t help myself, but smile. I end up air guitaring to it every time. In my head I see his fingers on the fretboard, and his other hand as he strums and picks. I see the body of the guitar, the pick-ups, the dials. In my head while I am listening, Tracii is playing live on stage, and I am front-row right in front of him, soaking up with every sense, the moment.

But let’s back up a bit.

1975 was a seminal year for me. It was the year I decided I wanted to play drums, and it was the year I took an active interest in photography. I was five at the time. Thanks to the music of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, and a couple of photographers named Linda McCartney and  L.A. based photographer Greg Papazian.

Uncle Art was cool enough to allow this little kid, hang out with him and his friends. CHOM FM would play in the background while Art and his friends would flip through rock magazines. Here I was this five year old kid hanging out with a bunch of fifteen to twenty year olds, while they chilled, played cards and listening to music. I loved it, it was my sanctuary. I would sit quietly out of the way, and just listen as they talked about the music playing, and the photographs in the magazines. They would discuss for hours on end the merit of this song, or that song. Who played it better? The meaning of the lyrics, how “deep” a note went, the crunch of the electric guitar. How cool so and so looked in that shot. And they would ask me what I thought, including me in the conversations. They were teens in the mid seventies in Montreal, had long hair, and cool clothes. Leather jackets and denim, like their heroes in the bands they listened to. That bedroom in that little house on the east end of Montreal is where my rock n’ roll journey began.

In the fall of 1975 I would buy my first albums at a local record store. I knew I wanted a Beach Boy album, and I had enough money saved up to buy a second album. I had hoped that Art would come along to advise me as to what to buy because I wanted something that wasn’t my mom and dad’s music. I wanted something like the music I heard on the FM station and like what Art and his friends listened to. I ended up purchasing a K-Tel album with a bunch of different bands playing songs on it. I figured it was the best way to own new music.The first song I fell i love with on that record was “Smoking’ In The Boys Room” by Brownsville Station. I had hoped when I bought the album that I would have new songs to play my drums along to. But it was the guitar playing that caught my attention. The twang, the rhythm and the way it sounded. Yeah, I loved the drums in it as well, but it really did catch my attention because of the guitar. It’s a balls out blues tune done rock n’ roll.

The music photography of the early seventies until the late1980’s would show case some of the best photography ever done. Before the internet and modern social media, bands and musicians used photographs in magazines to define their image and look. The record labels had long ago realized you could sell more records if your band was being showcased in a music magazine. It was also the era of the fanzine as independent writers, journalists and photographers documented the local scene. It was the era as a teen that you hung posters of the bands you loved on your bedroom walls. And many went a step further, like myself, cutting photos out of magazines to pin to on our walls. Punk and Metal came of age, and Generation X grew into teens and young adults. Raised on the photographs, posters and the FM waves we grew into young adults as we searched for our own identities. Static images had been our visual medium of consumption, that is until video came along and killed a radio star.

As a teenager I got five dollars a week allowance, so it would take me three weeks of saving to buy a new album which was anywhere from ten to fifteen dollars. Birthday, christmas or any gift money went towards music. In a month I could save and buy one album and one to two rock magazines. Babysitting and odd jobs were a means to an end. It was an era where a lot of the time that meant I bought an album without hearing more than one song on it. Other times you bought because you had liked the artwork, or photos on the album cover. Or maybe your friends had talked about it, or you had read about it in Circus or Hit Parader magazine.

My friends and I would make agreements as to who bought what album so that we could get together and share them. I’d buy Metallica, Rod would buy Ozzy Osbourne, Jay would buy Def Leppard. My friends and I would trade albums with one another so that each of us, could get a chance to hear new music. You went out and bought the albums for yourself so that you could look at the photos, the artwork, and the credits and if you were lucky, the lyrics while listening to the album play. You went to concerts and bought T-shirts, posters, back patches and tour books and when you got home from the concert, you’d share it all with your friends the following day.

Back to the guitar…

I’m a Randy Rhoads guy. Yes, I appreciate what Jimi Hendrix did. But I prefer the sound, the tones and the classical influence of Randy’s playing. Randy was a metal/hard-rock/classical guitarist. Those iconic photos of him with his Les Paul and Jackson V are forever burned into my memory. That first time I heard Crazy Train by Ozzy off of the Blizzard of Ozz album, I was blown away. In that moment I knew I would never ever play that good, and I was okay with that. I didn’t have to. I knew right then and there, I wanted to either play in bands and with people who could play like that, or somehow be part of the scene. Maybe I would be a roadie, maybe a guitar tech, maybe a lighting guy. I didn’t care what I did, as long as I was part of it. Over the years I played in bands, worked as a lighting tech, help promote shows and gigs, created gig posters, designed album covers and T-shirts, and have done roadie more than I care to admit.

To this day I can’t play guitar to save my life. That is on me. I have owned some beautiful guitars over the years including a 1986 USA made Kramer, but I never put the time and effort in to really learn. There was always something else I wanted to do, and I liked singing, so I would work on vocals. I did however fill my life with guitar players. Starting with Rod Coulter who had been a childhood friend and it has continued to players like Benny Kemp who plays in a rising speed metal band Roadrash. They are my friends, they are people I call Brother and Sister, they are my Rock n’ Roll Family. They have been my mentors and others have been my protege. We’re a family and I am so grateful for that.

At fourty-eight years of age, I still love my music loud. I love my punk more than ever, and am still listening to my metal. I still air guitar along to the songs I love. If I know the words odds are I am going to be singing along. I still think of putting a band together form time to time and recording album, maybe one day I will. These days though, I am happy to be the Photographer. I love photographing musicians and their instruments. I am an editorial music photographer. I’m there to document the moment and in the process make the musicians look good. I am shooting first and foremost for the musicians. I am also an artist, so i want to have something that means something to myself as well as the musician in question.

At this stage in my life my photographs have been published in music magazines, used as album covers, album art work, promo posters and T-shirts. I’d like to think I have my own style, and I thank my mentors for taking the time to teach me how to do what I now do so well. Thank you Mike, Scott, Greg and Frank - my shots wouldn’t be what they are without your tutelage.

Guitars the photographic series, is my tribute to the instruments first created by Leo Fender and Les Paul all those years ago. It’s about the players and the instruments that define rock music. The photographs within the series is for the musicians who play the notes. It may just be “a piece of wood, with six metal strings” but in the hands of a musician who knows how to play, it is tool of magic. It’s my attempt as an artist to create a visual representation of the moment, the energy, the sound being played. To capture in colour and monochrome, the feel of it all, at that moment the music is playing. The use of noise and grain to match the distortion and saturation of the Marshall amps. It is my humble attempt as an artist to say Thank You.

You can look at the photographs without music playing, but it’s better if you have the song turned up.

Playlist: L.A. Guns - I’d Love to Change The World https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSog8WmD6uQ

Brownsville Station - Smoking’ In The Boys Room https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K59EMGgrUA

Kiss - Detroit Rock City https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZq3i94mSsQ

Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy1V5LHXWbg

Ozzy Osbourne - Mr. Crowley (live 1981) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3LvhdFEOqs

April Wine - Don’t Push Me Around https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWiU8rkA_yU

Alvin Lee - Detroit Diesel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXedZ_EsI_4

Savage - Handful of Rain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7EeM2AK1gA

Toccata - Carpimus Noctem https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOANxP5ZvuY

Megadeth - Tornado of Souls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lcm9qqo_qB0

Joe Satriani - Always With Me, Always With You https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VI57QHL6ge0

Social Distortion - Prison Bound (live) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIWHlIhvt3Y

[jiemba]

Title Fight Chapter 2 - Feathered Beast (Teen Sanvers AU)

So sorry for the wait on this! Life’s been a bit rough lately but I’ll try to post more regularly. 

On AO3 here. 

In the worst dreams, she can’t remember what he sounds like. But when she wakes, the memories of him are everywhere, familiar and grating, the way she can never quite get sand out of her bed.

In the early weeks, she’d collapsed at her sister’s feet under the lightning crack of her own wail, finally asking her in hitched wet chokes if people believed in ghosts on Krypton. Kara told her no, that spirits went to live in the stars after, to be closer to Rao - and Alex was left with no explanation for why she felt him everywhere, why she could smell his coffee in the mornings when she first woke up, why she could literally hear him sometimes. No explanation except that she was losing her mind.

The idea of him being among his favourite constellations is a hollow comfort. He’s not there, but this ghost that lives in her house isn’t anything like him. It’s far too dark, brutally gutting, dulling every star in every night. It smothers her and cradles her in one embrace. It is a quiet tyrant. A feathered beast.

She throws herself into the water, the early morning cold sucking all the breath from her body. A crack of broken light spills blood between clouds and over her skin as she paddles her board faster, further, until it’s hard to breathe. She used to think he was here, in this ocean. She had researched how long it would take for a body to decompose in saltwater of this temperature. How far the smaller bones would carry with deep sea currents, how far the larger. She had approximated how much there was left to find, each day another part of him dissolving. His shoes would take the longest. She’d hated him - for tainting the one place she came to think, for staining the water with his own blood so she could never swim in it again. But quickly the morning pilgrimages became obsessive. She could hear his voice, sometimes. A “Nice one, champ” between the collapse of two waves. An “Easy, kiddo” when she lost her footing. A muscle memory fading too fast from her mind, the way a record gets scratches the more it is played. She knows better now. He’s not here. Today, the water tumbles, and the birds roll together in spirals diving for prey, and other surfers call to each other in the lulls, but beneath that, nothing. Her body folds at the waist, her face falling into her hands, a shuddering sob scraping out of her lungs as she keeps herself from crying out for him. Dad. Daddy. The ocean seems to know. It cradles her with an intimate familiarity that she’s known almost as long as she knew him, rocking her as if to soothe a child. When she was small, she would pretend to fall asleep on long car rides, just to feel her father hold her like this. He always carried her to her room, even when he knew she was faking. She doesn’t remember when she got too big for it – only the feeling of loss when he started waking her up. How she longs for that now – for him to wake her up.

She comes home just as Kara’s body slams into a wall. “Alex!” “I’m coming,” she calls, bounding up the stairs and almost slipping over. “ALEX!” “Jesus, Kara, what’s wrong?” In their room, the younger girl is reeling from being wrenched back into her body, her limbs curling inward as she visibly shakes, face red with sweat and tears. “Alex…” “Hey…” she murmurs, rushing to kneel before her little sister, checking her over. There’s a dent in the wall, a not uncommon side effect of Kara’s nightmares while sleep-floating, but she’s unmarked. Just startled. “Hey, it’s OK. You’re alright.” “You w-weren’t here.” “I’m sorry -” “I woke up and you were gone.” “Hey-” “You left me alone.” The girl looks impossibly smaller than her frame, curling tighter into a shaking ball as she hides her face from her sister. “I was just surfing. Just over there, see? You’re not alone. You’re not up in space. You’re here. You’re OK. Just keep breathing.” “A-Alex,” she sobs, over and over, breath coming out in thick chokes as Alex tries to hold her. “Kara, you need to calm down.” She can’t help the edge in her voice – the nerves and frustration. “Please. Mom’s probably sleeping. You have to be quiet, OK?” Kara immediately stiffens at the words, biting her lip to quiet herself into softer whimpers. She wipes her face with her sleeve. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.” “I know.” “The wall… I’ll get you in trouble.” “It was an accident,” Alex seethes, forcing herself to keep her touch soft, when all she wants is to hit something. She takes a blanket, dabbing the sweat from her sister’s forehead. “Look, let’s get you cleaned up, OK? Come on. Quietly.” The younger girl nods, eyes downcast, letting Alex lead her to the bathroom. While she’s in the shower, Alex braces herself as she treads through the house, still wet herself, salt crisping in her hair, but the rage doesn’t come. The only trace of her mother is in the kitchen. An empty bottle of wine and an unfinished plate of dinner in the fridge. Fifty dollars on the table and a note. Gone to lab. Kara needs some school things. Will be back late. Alex scrunches the note tight in her fist before she can cry over it. This is the sum of their communications, now. This is the best she can hope for, now.

It’s while she’s cooking pancakes - Kara soothed and clean and cautiously petting Streaky at the kitchen table - that the doorbell rings. Alex groans. “Who the hell -” “It’s J’onn!” Kara exclaims, and in a flash she’s already opening the door, scooped up in a hug by a man twice her size, and Alex has to look away. “How are you, girls?” “OK. We’re going school shopping today.” “How about you, Alex?” he presses, a little softer. She barely looks up from the stove. “Fine. I thought we weren’t training til 4.” “I heard distress this morning. I came.” “Kara’s fine. I took care of it.” “She’s not the only one I heard, Alex.” She shoots him a quick glare. “I told you to stay out of my head.” “Sometimes it can’t be helped.” She rubs her bleary eyes with the back of her hand, swallowing a yawn. “Well sit down, since you’re here.” “I can cook, Alex,” he murmurs as he approaches her. “You haven’t slept much, you should rest.” “Yeah well, I have to buy Kara’s things and patch a hole in the wall before my mom notices, so we don’t always get what we want.” “Alex, I’m sorry -” “It’s not your fault, Kara.” J’onn nods slowly, leaving Alex to pace over to Kara, who’s still petting the cat. He reaches a hand out to the creature, smiling slightly at its texture. “Hello, friend.” “Don’t tell my mom I let him in, she’ll freak,” Alex mutters, scooping some more batter into the pan. J’onn nods. “We don’t have to train this afternoon, if you’re too tired.” “I’m fine.” “Eliza says it’s a good outlet for her anger.” “God, shut up, Kara.” “Alex, don’t talk to your sister like that.” “Don’t talk to me like you’re my dad,” she spits back, tears burning in her eyes, and for a moment it all stops. J’onn waits for the thoughts in her mind to quiet before he approaches her, sighing as he leans against the fridge. “Alex, I know I can never replace him in any way. And I don’t want to. But I made your father a promise -” “I know,” she interrupts. A tear slips down her cheek, but her hand comes to smear it with a speed that almost rivals Kara’s. “I’m still trying to find out what I can at the DEO. As soon as I know where his body lies, I will bring him home to you. I promise.” “You’ve been saying that for months. There’s nothing more to know.” Her whole body shivers. She grasps the edge of the countertop with both hands, closing her eyes. “There’s nothing.” A strong hand comes to grasp her shoulder, and she lets him pull her close, desperately pushing from her mind the memory of the last man who held her with this kind of care. “I also lost my father, at Mars’ end,” he murmurs into her hair. “I know.” She sniffles into his shirt. “Does it go away?” “It eases.”

It occurs to Alex then, that all three of them are fatherless - how grief had spared none of them, swiping at family trees and breaking branches. She uncurls herself from J’onn’s body, wiping her face as she turns to Kara. “I’ll call Mr and Mrs Li to see if you can hang out with Kenny while we’re training.” “I want J’onn to teach me to box too,” Kara grumbles in exasperation. Alex scoffs. “You’d kill someone.” J’onn shoots her a look. “I didn’t mean it like that,” she relents, swallowing guilt at the sight of her sister timidly withdrawing her hands from the cat. “Just…you know what Dad said. Showing yourself just puts you at risk. Us too.” And you already lost me my Dad. “Alex,” J’onn warns her, clearly having heard. “Go lie down for a moment. I’ll finish breakfast and drive you both to get what you need before training.” She doesn’t bother replying – just pushes past him to curl into a ball on the couch, digging into her pocket for her mp3 player and blasting Offspring’s ‘Gone Away’ as loud as she can bear it. Loud enough for J’onn to hear it in his own mind, to sense how he makes her feel pain and need all at once.

Of all the things on Maggie’s to-do list before school starts, finding a job ranks towards the top. It’s crucial that she makes as little a dent in her Tia’s life as possible – that she shrinks herself to the point of being barely there, lest she be too outspoken, too daring, too young ever again. Back home, she’d babysit for the neighbours’ kids and feed their chickens before school - until it happened. Later, the best she could do was stack boxes on weekends at her Tia’s work, just cash in hand - until the other thing happened. At least here, no one knows. There are more than a handful of stores. And a lot of people look like her, more than she’s ever seen. The mall near the apartment has a movie theatre, and a food court, and two whole floors of stores, and it takes hours to go door to door. She tells the bookstore about how she helped at her Aunt’s job. Tells the pet store about Hugo and Dante. Tells the taqueria that her Abuelitas had her helping in the family Cinco de Mayo feasts since she was five. She tells them all she’ll do any job. That she’s a good girl, who speaks good Spanish (not the best Spanish), and doesn’t mind how early she has to wake up or how dirty her hands get, and just wants the chance to make a few dollars to help her family. She tells none of them about her injury. By mid-afternoon, the new phone number scrawled on the inside of her arm has blurred into a vague smudge, but her hand remembers how to write it on forms without thinking. There’s only one place to go after that, a note from her Tia guiding her down a track of back alleys and over a bridge to a warehouse devoid of any colour, save for a weather-worn sign across the front wall declaring it a fighters’ gym, sun flaring on the road under her feet. It’s ten degrees hotter inside – so many men swinging and jumping rope and grunting that the gym itself feels like a breathing thing, a Public Enemy soundtrack seated under a constant pattering of thuds and clangs and sounds that would be groans of pain if they weren’t quite so breathless. It’s a dodge between bodies to get to the back office, but she immediately understands why he’s tucked away in there, cocooned from the disciplined chaos outside. “Can I help you?” he asks her as he picks videos from a bookcase, voice raspy like it’s spent years shouting over noise like this. “I…” she starts, before she knows what to say. “My aunt called, she said you had a youth program? She told me to stop by.” He peers at her over his glasses. “Margarita, right?” It’s the first time a stranger’s ever pronounced her name correctly, but she still shakes her head. “Just Maggie.” “Hector. Would’ve noticed you in here before. We don’t get a lot of girls.” He squints at a tape, rubbing his eyes before he hands it to her. “What year does that say?” “1985.” “Damn it,” he grumbles, setting it aside. “You box, Maggie?” “I can fight.” “Not what I asked.” Maggie digs her hands into the pockets of her shorts, eyes finding the floor. “We have strict rules here,” Hector tells her. “Fighting stays in the gym. I don’t want to hear about you smacking some poor kid in math class.” “It’s not like that,” Maggie insists. “I don’t do that stuff, it’s just…” “Just what?” he mutters, voice clipped. She tries to steady herself as she looks him over, something about the shape of his eyes reminding him of a Tio back home. “I just moved here from Nebraska,” she admits. “The kids there…they didn’t like me. And… I dunno, Tia thinks this’ll be good for me, I guess. ” The unsaid things hang suspended, but he nods like he doesn’t need to hear them. “We have classes through the week, and youth-only open training is on Tuesdays and Thursdays 4-7. Any other time you need to drop in to lose your cool, do your homework, whatever, you just drop in. Nobody’ll bother you.” “I…” she starts, trying to let the too warm air settle in her chest, the heat filtering into her cheeks anyway. “Lo siento, no tengo mucho dinero.” “That’s fine, mija.” “I can work for you if you need. I can clean the gym for you, or help you sort through your office, or -” “No hay necesidad. You just focus on school. And our youth classes are sliding scale.” “What’s that mean?” “Just pay what you can. If it’s a dollar, it’s a dollar. Just show up. I’d rather you kids be here than off doing drugs someplace. I just need your parents to sign these before you start,” he explains, handing her a waiver. She baulks a little. “Vivo con mi Tia. Eso esta bien?” He gives her a sad smile, his eyes wrinkling around the edges. “No problem.” Maggie exhales slowly, unable to lift her eyes to his as she accepts the paper, her father’s pride still etched in her bones. He takes off his glasses, looks her over. “How old are you?” “Fifteen.��� “You look younger.” She squirms a little. “Just small, I guess.” He looks past her shoulder, letting out a whistle too loud for the room. “Hey, Hank!” Behind her, Maggie sees a man tilt his head but not his body, eyes fixed on a fight between two boys  of about 17. She’s never seen someone command so much space by doing nothing at all, arms crossed tight over his chest, standing tall like a tree that doesn’t bend. “Yeah?” “Your girl’s 15, right?” That has his attention, and as soon as his eyes find Maggie, he’s coming her way. “You here to train?” “Yeah,” she replies. “You have other girls here?” “Your age? Just the one.” He extends a hand, and it engulfs hers. “Hank Henshaw.” “Maggie Rodas.” It’s hard to tell what to make of his smile – tight, but warm, strictly polite but reserved like he’s trying to figure her out. “I’ve been training Alex for a couple months, but all the boys here are too big or young for her to spar with. She could use a partner, if you’re up for it.” “Yeah, sure,” Maggie lets out, and it’s all moving faster than she expected, but in the corner of her eye, there’s a flash of reddish-brown hair coming from the water station. A girl in running shorts and a tank top, a little tall for her age, is setting her bottle on a windowsill, shaking herself out in front of a mirror before lifting her fists to fight herself, shadowboxing with the flow of someone who breathes like water, and instantly, Maggie knows she’s seen her before. She looks different on land. Harder. Tired, but pushing, like she’s running from her own shadow, scrambling to exorcise something from under her own skin, and again Maggie feels the sensation that she’s not supposed to be watching her,  yet the grace of her movement is hard to pull away from. “Danvers,” Hank calls out, and the girl’s tugged from her battle, her pale skin gently flushed as she jogs over. “This is Maggie Rodas. She’s joining the gym.” “I’m down to train with you, if you want,” Maggie tells her. “Hank said you need a partner.” The girl nods, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand. “Yeah. I’m hoping to start sparring in local club comps by in the next couple months. How long have you been boxing?” “Well, technically I’ve never boxed…” “Great,” the girl mutters, not trying to hide that she’s unimpressed, and Maggie feels a competitive edge twist in her gut. “But I can fight.” “Oh can you?” she scoffs, raising her eyebrows. Maggie tilts her head, smirking a little. “Life experience.” It seems like Alex doesn’t know how to take that. Maggie watches her glance at Hank, who nods almost imperceptibly. The girl’s shoulders lose some of their tension. “Look, I grew up watching matches on TV with my dad,” Maggie continues. “I know what makes a good fighter. It’s just that my parents wouldn’t let me learn, so I never got taught.” “What, and they just changed their minds?” They changed their minds about a lot of things, she thinks to herself, swallowing hard, and beside her Hank shifts slightly on his feet. “Something like that,” she says. Hank tilts his head to face Alex. “I know she’s a little small for you -” “A little,” the girl teases lightly, making Maggie scoff and shake her head. “But if you plan to keep up your training diet it may not matter so much.” “Hey, I don’t mind putting on a little weight,” Maggie teases back, a smirk tugging at her lips. “I’m new in town, Danvers – know any good burger places?” The glare the girl shoots her is hard as a punch, and Maggie almost laughs out loud. “The point is,” Hank interrupts, “Alex, this would be good for your training. It’s about time you fought someone closer to who you’ll be up against.” Almost mirroring Hank’s posture, the girl stands and breathes for a moment before lifting her eyes to Maggie’s. “I prefer to train alone. And hard. Think you can keep up?” “Played soccer for six years. Bet I could beat you in shuttle runs.” The corner of Alex’s mouth cocks up a little. “That a challenge?” “Scared you’ll lose, Danvers?” Maggie quips, already walking past her to the doors.

They pound the alley pavement like they want to see it bleed. Alex’s legs are longer, but she’s pushing harder than she’s had to in a while, running back and forth between dumpsters until her heart pumps acid, stomach clenched tight as a fist. She’ll give it to her – this girl is fast – and when Alex sees her flick her head back, dimples flashing as she smiles, she knows the game is up. “Fine,” she pants, slowing to a jog. “What was that?” the girl coaxes, a breathless laugh escaping her as she steadies. “We can train together.” “Knew you’d come around, Danvers.” Alex watches her tie up her hair in one swift movement, wiping the light sheen of sweat shining over her throat. The sun suddenly seems excessively hot. The girl seems to notice the gaze, her flick of a glance sending a gentle flush over Alex’s skin with an expression that is half question, half answer. “Thursday?” Alex swallows, nods. “Thursday.” The girl smiles at the ground and shakes her head a little, and Alex instantly gets the sense that she never had a chance. “I should get back to Hank.” “Sure.” “I’ll see you,” she mutters, lifting a hand to shield her face from the sun as she heads back in. “Oh Danvers?” “Yeah?” “That running got me all sweaty. Think I might go get some ice cream.” “Yeah you do that, Rodas.” “Or maybe a milkshake…” “Asshole.” The girl lets out a full laugh, still watching Alex as she begins to walk backwards down the alley before she turns away. “See you round, Danvers.” Alex watches her jog all the way to the corner and disappear, but she doesn’t know why.

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think so far : )

Spanish translations (apologies for any mistakes):

Lo siento, no tengo mucho dinero - I'm sorry, I don't have much money No hay necesidad - There's no need Vivo con mi Tia. Eso esta bien? - I live with my aunt. Is that OK?

[chanyeolsdeepvoice]

170811 - Meeting Monsta X at Starbucks in Berlin

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I met Monsta X on the streets of Berlin yesterday. Or at least two of them, my bias and bias wrecker, Jooheon and Kihyun. Nice. Basically. My friend (from the Czech Republic) and I (from Sweden) had wandered around all day, visiting the kpop store and all that. Then we were standing by a pedestrian crossing, waiting for the green light. And suddenly this guy walked up to my side and I had to take a double take bc, 'Is that Kihyun???????'. My heart dropped and I turned to my friend and was like "IT'S KIHYUN IT'S KIHYUN OMFG IT'S KIHYUN." BC HOLY SHIT HALF A METER FROM ME STOOD THE ACTUAL YOO KIHYUN!!!! Sorry I'm still freaking out holy shit. He looked like a f**king god, looking all artsy in his round golden glasses and big camera. Plus: no make-up!Kihyun is 👌 👌 💕 👅 👅 😭 💖

Kihyun then waved to someone on the other side. We thought it was his manager bc what would he be doing all by himself in Berlin when his concert is just in a few hours?? Suddenly the light turned green and he went ahead of us, and since we thought that it was his manager on the other side of the road (we couldn't see the person he was waving to yet) we didn't want to ask for his autograph since they usually aren't allowed to do that.

But then we saw who he was waving to. J O O H E O N!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He was also standing by himself, wearing slippers, shorts and a wind jacket. He looked so fluffy and smol and okay imma stop talking. So now we had to make a decision in 0.1 second, are we going to follow them and ask for their autographs or just go back home? 

We decided to follow them, walking about 100 meters behind them. After only a minute or two they went into a Starbucks and we stopped outside. After about two minutes of freaking out we decided that our last chance was to also go in, just look at them and then leave without bothering them. So now my friend was literally standing right next to Jooheon (who ordered an iced americano for Kihyun and a coffee with milk for himself bc that's important information). When he'd ordered he stood beside Kihyun who were waiting for their orders. Then one of the cashiers recognized them and asked for a photo, and they actually agreed to take the picture so yeah. My hands were shaking so bad when I payed for my drink but I'm proud of my friend and I bc we actually managed to act like any other customers in the café (where are our Oscars?).

While we were waiting for my friend's drink, the boys left the café and we were kind of sad bc yep they're leaving and we're not going to follow them. But then they sat down at a table outside! At this point a total of five girls + a really kind dad had noticed them. So we looked outside and saw that they actually signed autographes to the girls! So they basically only sat down to make those fans happy and sign their stuff (stan monsta x) And now we freaked out again bc neither one of us had a pen nor a piece of paper. But when we walked outside a girl let us borrow her pen and paper so that was really nice of her (I owe her my life).

While my friend was doing something else, I walked up to their table, Kihyun to my left and Jooheon in front of me. I just said that I was "so so sorry for disturbing them but can I please get an autograph?" Kihyun made his "pftttth" laugh with his eyes looking like half moon crescents (y'all know which one I mean), but he took my paper and signed it. Since Kihyun was to my left I couldn't really look him in the face that well, so when I spoke I mostly looked at Jooheon. I was stuttering like an idiot in the beginning but I was shaking so much while trying to act cool and look calm lmao. I basically told them that I was "really excited for the concert tonight" to which Jooheon replied with an "oh really?~" AND HIS DIMPLES ARE SO FREAKING DEEP MAN I SWEAR TO GOD THAT BOY WILL BE THE DEATH OF ME. . So yeah I basically managed to keep eye contact with JH for like 15 seconds and then I just said “thank you so much and sorry for disturbing” to which Kihyun replied with a “It’s alright” then I  left so that I wouldn't disturb them more than I already had.

A short clip of me saying the last sentence and Kihyun replying with “it’s alright”. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czvAkLV6-Kw

The video was recorded by smallestnose

So yeah, in totalt there were five people plus my friend and I who noticed them that time. Everyone was really respectful and left as soon as they got their autographs. My friend and I left (shaking like idek) and when we looked back when we had walked about 300 meters, we noticed that the boys had left. So yep that was the first time I met an idol and talked to one. Also, you should know that I've always thought that I would be one meter taller than every mx member (I'm 175 cm [5'8 ish inches?]) but both Kihyun and Jooheon were taller than me. They looked 300x more beautiful in person and both of them were tanned and just yeah. Kihyun looked like a photography student who just walked out of class while Jooheon looked like a fluffy 22 y/o who just woke up, hair in a mess. 

So now I own a paper with their autographes (jh signed w J-honey i mean yes i'm dead) and I'm just so so so so grateful that they took their time to make their fans happy. A plus is that the concert also was bomb af. Basically: never be one of those fans who tries to search for the location they last were seen, just walk around, do your thing. And if it happens it happens, ya know? 

@xiao-dan @this-is-entertainment @chim-kookie