#they can dance together so making music together could be done easily as well I reckon

[castawavy]

bands in the sims would fix me if im honest

[bunnliix]

Misunderstandings and Surprises

This was a very fun fic to write, and was also created/brainstormed with the help of the lovely @potatomountain, who I credit with me writing this with Hongjoong instead of Seonghwa hehe. Plus giving me lots of inspo with many pictures of Hongjoong.

Pairing: Hongjoong x reader Summary: You're fed up with your boyfriend putting work ahead of spending time with you, and confront him about it. wc: 1.9k AU: n/a Genre: Fluff/Angst warnings: yelling, fighting, crying, angst with a happy ending, threats of breaking up

You had been at odds with your boyfriend for almost a week now, after he had continued to cancel your dates and time together in favor of hanging with the rest of Ateez or working in the studio for the past couple weeks. You just wanted an hour with your boyfriend, but you only got him when he woke you up while he climbed in bed beside you. You knew what you were signing up for when dating an idol, but this was just too fucking much.

You decided enough was enough, and paid a visit to the company while you knew the boys had dance practice, so you knew he wouldn’t be in the studio where you couldn’t get in as easily. After saying hello to the front desk receptionist and showing your pass allowing you access, she waved as you walked towards the elevators to head up a couple floors to the dance rooms.

The ride up, though quick, only made you more pissed off and upset that you even had to resort to doing this. Once the doors opened, you were on a mission and staff who saw you coming moved out of your way as you headed straight towards the room that was blasting Ateez’s music. Not caring if you interrupted, you pushed the door open and shouted, “KIM HONGJOONG!”

The man in question abruptly turned around and focused on you, the blood draining from his face momentarily at your tone before all emotions were wiped off his face. “Why are you here, interrupting practice?” He asked you calmly.

“Because I’m done with not being able to see my boyfriend.” You said in response. 

“We’ve seen each other lately, what do you mean?” He asked you, confused and concerned at your words.

“If you’re counting you waking me up while I’m in bed, sure. But I have barely seen hide nor hair of you otherwise Hongjoong. And I can’t do that anymore. So either you figure out a better work-life balance, or we’re done. I need a boyfriend that doesn’t disappear on me for days at a time.” You said, your voice breaking at the end as tears welled up in your eyes, before you couldn’t take it anymore and left the room, heading back the way you came.

“Wait! Come back here!” You could hear Hongjoong yell after you, but you couldn’t face him. Before you could make it to the elevator, your wrist was grabbed.

“Please, can I explain? Don’t walk away from me, from us.” Hongjoong pleaded with you, though you refused to look at him, knowing if you did, you’d break down and give in.

“Hongjoong, I need a boyfriend who isn’t going to disappear and be unreachable, who will make me the priority sometimes, at the very least. This is just the breaking point, I can’t do this anymore if it continues like this, I’m sorry.” You replied, looking away from him.

He turned you around to face him, but you wouldn’t look up at him, keeping your gaze trained on the ground in between the two of you. This frustrated your boyfriend to no end, and you could tell by his clenched fist.

“Look at me, please.” Hongjoong begged you while you shook your head.

“Why should I?” You asked him.

The idol didn’t answer you, instead pulling you into the elevator as it opened and people got off, punching the button for the floor that held his own studio. He pulled you behind him, you lacking any will to do anything but let him do what he wanted, and once you were both in the room, he shut and locked the door, before placing himself in between the door and yourself. You plopped down on the sofa in the room, sensing that you wouldn’t be going anywhere.

“Will you let me explain? And please, can you look at me, just once?” He asked, repeating himself from earlier.

“Why? So I can look in your pretty fucking eyes and give in and let you explain again and again why you couldn’t see me for so long? Why work comes before everything else, including me, your partner? Hongjoong, we’ve been together for three years, why is it that recently you’re so occupied with work? You’ve never been like this, and I can’t see why you’re like this now. You’ve been on the go almost all year, and finally when I think you’re home, you can’t find the fucking time to spend with me?!” You rambled on and on, your voice growing louder and louder until you’re shouting. Hongjoong had tried multiple times to interrupt you, and without realizing it, you had angered your boyfriend with your rambling.

You felt fingers grip your chin tightly, and your head was forcibly turned to look at him, but you still averted your eyes.

“Look at me, darling. Now.” You heard him growl, anger the only emotion in his voice. It’s what made you give in and look at him, your eyes making contact with his own.

“Thank you. Now, if you had only let me explain, you wouldn’t have gotten yourself so worked up.” He said, almost treating you like a child.

“I got worked up because I felt that my boyfriend was ignoring me!” You retorted back.

Hongjoong took a deep breath, pulling away from you as clearly you were too upset right now to have a normal conversation. “How about we both take a couple deep breaths and have a conversation and talk honestly about our feelings?” He proposed to you, and you reluctantly agreed, still feeling the anger simmering underneath your skin.

“Can you explain to me why you’re feeling the way you’re feeling, darling?” Hongjoong asked you, his eyes pleading with you to talk to him.

“I felt like I was being pushed aside in favor of your work or time with the boys. I know it’s not fair or healthy to make you only focus on me, but these last couple of weeks have felt so lonely. I feel like I haven't seen you lately Hongjoong. I only get to have you around me when I’m about to go to bed, and you’re usually gone in the morning. I don’t feel like I have a boyfriend.” You explained, eyes welling up with tears once again.

Hongjoong’s face fell, and you could see tears gathering in his own eyes. You were slightly confused at why he was getting so upset, until he opened his mouth to speak.

“I’m sorry for how my actions have caused you to feel hurt like this, dear. I never meant to make you feel this way, and I’m sorry I have. Can I explain a bit of why I was gone so much?” At your nod, he continued, “I have been occupied with work and hanging out with the members, but it’s also partially been an excuse to keep you from wondering why I’ve been gone so much. In truth, the boys were helping me plan something for you, something that honestly was a long time coming.” He told you, getting up from his chair to move to grab something from one of the desk drawers.

He turned around to face you again, a box in his hand, before talking once again , “The boys were helping me design something for you, as well as plan it all out. I wanted to make it perfect and a surprise, but I think it’s better for me to come clean about it now.” He knelt down on the ground in front of you, looking up at you with love in his eyes, love for you, before opening the box to show you a ring inside. 

“I’ve honestly wanted to marry you after six months of dating you, but I never could find the perfect ring, or the time to plan everything out. I wanted it to be perfect because I needed you to know how special you are to me, how much you matter to me. I love you, you’re my entire world, darling. I know this is horrible timing and honestly I wouldn’t get upset if you told me no, but would you marry me?” Hongjoong asked you, sincerity in his eyes.

You didn’t expect this to be why your boyfriend had been almost a ghost lately. You never even had the thought and you felt so bad now for assuming the worst, for assuming that he was putting work and the group ahead of you. He wanted to make it perfect for you, and now you had gone and made him change his plans. Tears rolled down your cheeks, and Hongjoong panicked, putting down the box in favor of moving to cup your cheeks, wiping away your tears with his thumbs.

“Baby, why are you crying? Talk to me, love,” he asked you, tears once again appearing in his own eyes.

“I thought the worst of you, I thought you weren’t making me a priority in your life but you were planning to propose to me! You wanted to marry me and I was thinking that you weren’t even thinking of me!” You cried out, sobbing as your boyfriend moved to wrap you in his arms, shushing your cries.

“I get where you’re coming from, baby, and I should have communicated with you better. I should have been clearer that I wasn’t putting you behind my work or my friends, and I’m sorry for not communicating with you and reassuring you.” Hongjoong apologized to you, kissing the top of your head.

“I’m sorry,” you replied, as he told you again that you didn’t need to apologize.

“I think we both need to be a bit better at communicating.” He said, waving away any more apologies you tried to make.

“I wanna marry you too!” You blurted out, not having planned on saying that, but it came out anyway. “I know I said I was ready to leave you but knowing everything now, it only makes me love you more. You did all of this, for me. You roped the boys into helping you, and into deceiving me, cause they knew about this and still said that Ateez was just busy!”

“I asked them not to say anything, I wanted to make it a surprise. I’m sorry that it ended up like this.” Hongjoong explained further, explaining his plan and how he wanted to have asked you.

You wiped the last remaining tears from your eyes and tried not to sniffle, but failed, before speaking once again. “If you aren’t mad at me, would you mind asking me one more time?” You asked your boyfriend.

Hongjoong smiled softly at you, before getting down on one knee, his original plan completely out the window. “Will you marry me, and make me the happiest man?” He asked you, looking up at you.

Nodding, you softly said, “Of course I will, if you will take me, my stupid decisions and all.”

“You stupid decisions are what make you, you. I wouldn’t have you any other way, I want you to be yourself and no one else.” Hongjoong told you, as he slid the ring on your finger.

You pulled him up for a hug, before he pulled you down onto the couch, with your head laying on his chest. He leaned down to kiss your forehead, as the two of you laid there.

“I love you, darling. So very much.”

“I love you too, Kim Hongjoong.”

Later that night, a picture was posted to Hongjoong’s instagram of two hands, his own and yours, with matching engagement rings on both. A simple caption accompanied it, “Forever yours.”

Taglist: @bethelighthalazia

[applesaucesims]

One afternoon, when Louis and Dayton were hanging out together in Louis's room, they could barely focus on their games, with the ruckus happening in the room next door. Curious about what was happening, the two of them sneaked down the hallway, where they found the girls' door wide open.

Inside, there was a chest surrounded by all kinds of clothing items, with the girls stood next to it. They were wearing funny hats and dresses to make them look like princesses, and had even attempted putting on their mother's makeup for a more convincing look. However, there was not playing going on. Instead, Ruby and Dorothy were arguing about which of them would be the princess in their game, as apparently there was only room for one. Of course, it could not be a proper fairy tale without the evil stepsister.

Dorothy insisted that she would get to be the princess, since she was the first to say so, but Ruby hated the idea of even just pretending to be evil. Louis knew it was time for him to step in as a big brother and figure out a way to diffuse the argument. Otherwise, they would never actually end up playing their game. He looked around the room, until his eyes rested on the costume chest.

There were more than enough costumes and accessories for all of them to dress up, which meant that the girls could easily both be a princess in this case. Louis would just have to be the stepsister in this case, the answer seemed pretty obvious to him.

The twins jumped excitedly at the idea that they would get to dress up their brother, and the two girls got to work on it quickly. Soon, Louis was sat on the chest in a barely fitting baby blue dress and a matching bonnet, while Dorothy painted his face with lots and lots of makeup. He actually did not mind it, in fact, he almost felt pretty, although he knew his sister was not the most skilled at what she was doing.

Even Dayton, who had simply thrown on a scarf as a makeshift cape and a paper crown, had to admit that the outcome was quite convincing. Had he not known any better, he could have thought Louis was a lost third McGregor sister. Speaking of whom, Dayton put on his smoothest prince voice to flatter the twin girls as best as he could. If he was going to be their prince, he was going to try his best at it, too.

With no music player in the room, the four children made up their own ballroom songs, as they danced around laughing. Dayton even took upon the role of announcing the next dance that would be coming up each time, while the other three came up with songs matching the increasingly absurd themes.

They kept playing for a while, until all of them were too tired to continue, and Dayton had to go home. All arguments were soon forgotten about, but it sure was a princess ball to remember.

[TRANSCRIPT]

Dorothy: "No, we can't both be the princess!"

Dayton: "Sounds like they're in a bit of a pickle, eh?"

Louis: "Let's see what's going on!"

Dorothy: "One of us has to be the evil stepsister!"

Ruby: "But I don't want to be evil, Dottie."

Dorothy: "Well, I chose first!"

*Louis clears throat*

Louis: "Hey, girls! What's the issue?"

Dorothy: "We're playing fairy tale princess ball. But stupid Ruby doesn't wanna be the evil stepsister!"

Dayton: "What's with the bear?"

Dorothy: "Why, that's the beautiful prince, of course!"

Dayton: "Naturally."

Louis: "Hmmm... Maybe I have an idea how we can fix this."

...

Louis: "Are you finished?"

Dorothy: "Hush, art cannot be rushed."

Dorothy: "Aaaand... done!"

Louis: "So? How do I look?"

Dorothy: "You look lovely!"

Dayton: "More like you're ready to meet the wonderful wizard of Oz!"

Louis: "Is it bad?"

Dayton: "I don't know. Dorothy's pretty, too, no? You could make a pretty girl. You know, if your dress actually fit."

Louis: "Oh, thank you, your maaaajesty!"

Dayton: *flutters eyelashes* "Of course, not as pretty as the beautiful princesses I'm meant to meet tonight at the royal ball!"

Ruby & Dorothy: *giggling*

...

*singing incoherently*

[ninigummysmile]

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 - 𝐉𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐞

Summary: The five times Jennie almost said she loves you + when she finally does

Jennie x Fem!Reader

Category: Fluff

Important: English is not my first language so, please, forgive me if there are any mistakes

Words: 4.161

Zero

Jennie has always been an independent woman, who knows how to get by on her own and who doesn't necessarily need to have a partner to be happy.

When you started dating, you saw more and more of her beautiful interior, sweet as honey and a smiling girl.

It's hard for Jennie to open up to others, to be intimate. She doesn't show affection that easily, which is ironic since she often overflows with love and care for those she cares about.

After a frustrated relationship, in which she already had to hear many things that weren't true, including that her intense way was often irritating, she had to learn to keep her feelings and plug that well of hers so that it wouldn't overflow again and scare someone else. That is until you arrived, you were patient and determined enough to get her to start talking and expressing herself, and now she doesn't know if you already feel the same way as her or if it's too soon, but every time you show her in small ways how much you care, it's hard for her not to say those three words…

One

You finish checking the meat in the oven and start preparing the mashed potatoes. You know how much your girlfriend loves homemade food, despite the fact that most of the time she wants to order food for delivery claiming that the time you have to spend together she won't leave you cooking.

Her kitchen is spacious and complete, at first you didn't feel good cooking alone in the big space, but now that you're more familiar with it, it's relaxing to be able to cook while listening to music and leaving your thoughts a little aside, focusing only on the task of prepare a meal.

The front door unlocks and you hear the keys lock it again. Footsteps approach the kitchen and you turn to greet your girlfriend.

“Hey, baby. How was today?” you ask a clearly tired Jennie, giving you a brief peck.

“It was exhausting, we're training a lot for the next concerts” you make a move to hug her, but she soon stops you. “I'm sweaty, love. Let me take a shower first, okay?” she gives you another peck and with dragged steps goes upstairs. Not that you mind sweating, she knows that, but you figure dancing and singing all day nonstop to make everything perfect makes the only thing you want when you get home is a nice and long shower.

The oven beeps and you finish preparing the dinner and setting up the table. A few minutes later Jennie appears with a towel over her head and her eyes heavy with sleep, you stifle a chuckle at her cuteness as she practically walks around with her eyes closed in her fluffy pink pajamas.

“Let's eat so you can rest” you put the plate in front of her.

She takes a deep breath and a lazy smile appears on her face. “I really like it when you cook, especially this kind of food”

“I know” you laugh. “This is why you should let me cook more”

You talk about how each other's day went and after your girlfriend's second yawn, you decide that you're going to do the dishes tomorrow and that as soon as you get into bed you'll pass out.

You see her sitting on the end of the bed removing the towel from her head and you think she won't have enough strength to comb her hair. With a styling product in your hands, you stop in front of her and start towel-drying her hair.

You sit behind her and start applying the product by lightly massaging her scalp. At that moment, Jennie feels her body melt against yours and her eyes close in satisfaction, it's in those little moments that she wishes she could live forever.

Brushing and untangling her hair, you feel her calm breathing and limp body and for a moment you think she slept in that position.

When you're done, you place a kiss on her neck. “Ready to sleep?”

“I've been ready for a while” she murmurs and you smile at her short sentences when she’s sleepy.

“Then get under the duvet” you direct her and let her lie down comfortably while you brush your teeth and do your nightly routine.

You lie down on the bed and turn off the lamp, Jennie hugs your torso and you hug her so she can lay her head on your shoulder. Soon you are enveloped by sleep and everything around you becomes distant.

Your girlfriend feels warm inside after a nice dinner, from your fingers combing her hair and from your body fitting hers so well when you go to sleep. She almost said how much she appreciates your gestures, how much she wants more nights like this one, but maybe it wasn't the right time, maybe it was just tiredness taking over. She knows it's not tiredness, she knows that what she feels is real, but she was afraid that you would think that was it.

Two

You finish editing some work documents on your laptop when Jennie walks into the room.

“Hi, how was your meeting, love?” you take the object off your lap and place it on the empty space of the bed.

“Well, nothing new” she places a kiss on your cheek and walks into the bathroom. You realize that maybe the meeting didn't go so well and she needs some time to herself.

The house was silent for the rest of the day, as if no one was inside. You know your girlfriend tends to keep things to herself, but every now and then you make an effort to let her open up when she feels comfortable, not so much that her emotions explode all at once, but enough so that she feels good to talk.

You make prepositions of what might have upset her, it might be a small problem and you don't even need to worry, you also don't want to cross any barriers and meddle in something that is none of your business.

By night, you believe she's doing better because your little conversations seem light and without any apparent problems.

During the week, she didn't seem to care anymore about what was perhaps bothering her, but you know her very well and you know that despite her pretending everything is fine, something isn't right.

You set the bags on the kitchen counter after coming in from the market and go to the bedroom to announce your arrival, pausing in the doorway when you hear sniffles and sobs.

You take a deep breath and knock on the door, not wanting to startle her. “Baby, is everything okay?”

“Yes, I'm coming” her voice full of sadness breaks your heart and you slowly open the door seeing her quickly wipe her face sitting on the floor with her back resting on the bed.

“Hey, what happened?” you kneel beside her.

“I can't take it anymore” she hugs you with her face buried in your neck.

“It's okay, my love. I'm here” you wait for her to calm down, but she doesn't break away and doesn't even look up in shame.

“I'm sorry”

“Why are you apologizing?”

She shrugs.

“You do not need to apologize. Tell me what happened?”

“I thought it would get to a point where I didn't care anymore, but it seems to affect me more than I realize”

“Tell me what I need to do to help you, I will solve it”

“You can’t solve”

“Why?”

She pulls away and lowers her eyes before answering, not daring to look you in the eye because if she does, she feels like she's going to cry again. “It’s these hate comments”

You feel your heart sinking in your chest to see her in this state, you've always been aware of the absurd amount of comments she receives, many of them being disrespectful comments and your blood boils knowing that they come from people hiding behind a screen of cell phone, because if you saw someone say that in front of you, you would not be responsible for your actions.

“Look at me” you ask holding her face and making her look into your eyes. “Nothing they say is true. I know that I can say a thousand nice things to you, but that if you read a mean comment on a bad day, it will stick in your head and erase all the good things I said to you. I know it's hard to ignore and that it's easier to say you don't care than to really not care. But you have me and I'm always open to talk, it doesn't matter if it's about just one bad thing or ten, we're not always going to talk about nice things and I'm willing to listen to you, you don't have to hold everything and think you're disturbing me”

Jennie stares at you without saying anything. If it was her old relationship, her ex would tell her to stop the drama and that these comments only affect her because she looks for them and keeps reading them. She hates comparing you to her ex, but unconsciously her brain does that, because she can't believe that someone like you, who has so much patience with her, who always demonstrates to be willing to solve whatever is needed, who always knows what to say at the right time is with her and that above all understands not only her busy life, but also her deepest feelings.

She wants to say how grateful she is, she wants those words to just slip out of her mouth so she doesn't have to say them so precisely. But that doesn't happen, instead she just lets your words of comfort flow through her mind and nods her head as a sign that she understands what you mean.

“Great” you smile. “I bought popcorn, how about we watch cartoons?”

“I think it would be perfect”

“Then let's go” before getting up and extending your hand for her to accompany you, you place two kisses on her forehead and gently wipe her nose with the sleeve of your shirt.

Three

If it weren't for the countless times your girlfriend has said she misses you over video call, you wouldn't be getting on a plane right now. For the few minutes of the call, you could see the rush and preparation for the third consecutive day of concert, imagining the stress of all the team to fix the last details.

You've quickly packed a small bag for travel, as the concert is taking place in a nearby town, and after dropping your belongings at the hotel, you stop at a coffee shop near the stadium to buy Jennie's favorite sweets.

You send a message to a staff you befriended once while backstage letting her know you're coming and as soon as she spots you, she helps you get past the security guards leading you to where your girlfriend is.

“Decided to come at the last minute?” she asks as she shows the access card to another security guard.

“Yes, I decided to surprise her” she smiles.

“She will like it, we had some problems in rehearsal and stage preparation today and not everyone is in a good mood”

You leave the sweets and a bouquet of flowers on a table behind the stage, and stepping onto the large platform, which overlooks countless seats, you see Jennie at the end of the catwalk, much smaller than she is because of the distance.

You greet your friends who are also part of the group closest to you on the stage and start walking around the huge platform.

She has her back, giving you the opportunity to hug her. “Hi, love” you say in her ear and she gets tense for a few seconds, but then relaxes when she hears your voice.

“What are you doing here?” she asks in surprise, turning her head slightly to check that you're really there.

“Ouch, is this how you receive your girlfriend who came from another city and stayed on the plane for hours just to see you?” you ask jokingly with mock offense.

“You know what I meant!” she pouts and you kiss her.

“Yeah, I know. Since you can't live away from me, saying you missed me so much, I decided to come stay with you” you chuckle as she pats your arm rolling her eyes.

“If you're going to tease me, let's stay in separate rooms at the hotel” you know she doesn't mean it, she turns into your arms with a smile on her lips.

“Right” you laugh and seal her lips. “But I’ll let you know that I brought my camera and I’m going to record everything”

As she finishes rehearsing on stage, you take countless photos. It's not like you've never been to a concert before, but seeing her so happy and comfortable in the place she was born to be, makes you smile for hours until your cheeks hurt.

You go to the dressing room so she can get ready and you hand her the bouquet and a bag of sweets. She radiates happiness and you can't resist pinching her cheeks as she chews on one of the macarons.

Jennie has already received thousands of flowers, but when you give them, the feeling is much more special and her heart skips a beat.

She tries to hide her emotion as she eats and hopes you didn't see her eyes fill with tears. She really missed you, even though you texted or called her every day, she couldn't wait to come home and be with you. She knows it's not easy to take a last minute break from work, find a flight and spend the day doing practically nothing during rehearsals. And yet you did it without a second thought and with a beautiful smile on your face, going on and on about how cool she looks on stage.

She thought about confessing her deepest feelings before going onstage, so that she wouldn't have to look you in your eyes if you didn't return them yet, but the only thing she was able to say was “thanks for coming”.

Four

One of Jennie's hobbies, and one that she hasn't done in a while, is cooking desserts. She always liked to make cakes, pies, waffles and many others simply for the pleasure of making them and many times some of them stayed in the fridge for weeks until you could eat everything.

In an afternoon with nothing to do, you saw a video of stuffed cookies on your cell phone and showed it to her. She soon got excited about making them and you wouldn't expect that she wanted to make them right away.

Searching the cupboards and fridge for ingredients, she places them on the counter and begins reviewing the recipe.

You simply stand beside her, waiting for some instructions on what to do, she soon tells you what you have to do and you get in tune while working.

You ask a few times to try the stuffing, but she denies saying it's not ready yet. Some time later you see her with a spoon in her mouth.

“Hey, you said it wasn’t ready yet!” you accuse her indignantly and she laughs in your face.

“It wasn't ready at that time, now it is” she mocks and starts stuffing the cookies.

“Jennie Kim, if I were you I would be careful how you talk”

“Why? What are you going to-” her sentence is cut off as you take flour in one of your hands and throw it in her face.

Laughing uncontrollably, you lean against the counter and your stomach starts to hurt from laughing so hard. She processes what just happened for a few seconds and you almost swallow flour when she takes her revenge, laughing out loud of your face when you run to the sink to spit the ingredient out of your mouth.

You've never seen her laugh so hard, her laugh is infectious and you start having a fit of giggles as you dirty each other up.

Jennie always thought you were extremely beautiful, with your eyes that always seem to have that unique sparkle and a laugh that could light up the entire planet. Before she can say anything, you've pulled her into a shower while the cookies get cold.

A small sound coming from the back of her throat makes it clear that she is enjoying you shampooing her hair. You repeat the process and apply conditioner, securing her locks in a bun.

When you go to start washing your hair, she takes the shampoo out of your hands and does to you what you did to her. Jennie smiles at how stunning you are, with the water coursing through your body, with your eyes closed feeling her fingers on your head and the orange light of the sunset illuminating you.

Jennie must be the luckiest person in the world to be able to experience paradise while still on Earth. If when she arrives at the gates of paradise and finds anything less than that, she will believe that everything they imagine about this angelic place is a lie and she will want to go back immediately. Why is it possible that a place known as the best place to be, with peace, joy and an indescribable feeling doesn't have you in it?

Five

The summer breeze makes your hair fly in the wind as you walk with your dogs. Each leading one on a leash, you make your way to the park that you always go when the weather is nice for a walk.

You stop at an ice cream parlor and you order your favorite flavor and Jennie chooses a different flavor every time, claiming that her new favorite flavor might be out there and she won't find out if she doesn't try it.

You sit on a bench in the park and you feel Jennie staring at you. “Something wrong, love?” you ask already knowing the answer.

“I didn't like that flavor very much” she confesses and you exchange your ice creams, giving yours to her.

“What flavor is that?” you ask with a little ice cream in your mouth.

“Rainbow” she laughs at your grimace.

“And what should that taste like? It has almost no taste, it feels like I'm drinking water” you laugh.

After she is happy having your her ice cream, you move to a more open space and let go of the leashes, letting the dogs run and play freely. You run, jump and throw the toys for them to fetch while Jennie watches you sitting on a picnic blanket.

You decide that's good for today and it's time to go home. When you go to bend over to put the leashes back on, she bends down at the same time and you bump your foreheads. She was going to pretend she got hurt so she could get a peck on the forehead, but she sees you laughing and starts laughing at your reaction.

In the middle of the park, with two dogs watching their owners and laughing at something so silly, you look like two idiots in love. You two are idiots in love. Who laugh at the dumbest things, who watch their partner with love and a smile on your face, with a look that says it all at the same time.

Jennie will tell you. Not today, not this time. But she's determined to take that step and put all her fears and insecurities aside because if you haven't walked away by now, if you've been with her through her ups and downs, if you've seen her cry, laughed, heard her secrets and goals she wants to achieve in the future, all of them including you, it's because you're going to stay in her life as long as she allows it and that means forever.

With butterflies in her stomach, she intertwines your hands and you walk back home in a comfortable silence, talking only with looks and smiles.

Six: when she says the three words

It wasn't a good day for you at work today. Everything seems to have gone wrong, starting with your alarm clock that didn't go off and you were late, your boss who is almost never at the company but coincidentally was today and noticed you were late, thousands of emails to answer, short deadlines for document delivery and an extremely boring meeting that you barely paid attention to. On the way back home, a car almost hit yours for trying to overtake you at a red light and you almost had to rummage through your bag in the driveway because when you left for work, you just threw the object in your bag and you was frustrated that you couldn't do something as easy as finding the keys.

There are days and days. There are days when few things shake you, it's very difficult for you to get upset, it's easy to forget the problems and carry on as if nothing had happened. And there are days when your sensitivity is at an all-time high and a single hair out of place makes you want to cry with rage.

Despite being tired, you agreed with Jennie that this week you would be the one to do the laundry. If you said you weren't well, she would immediately tell you to lie down and do the chores for you, but you think it's good to do something to distract yourself.

You change and start taking the clean clothes out of the machine to put the dirty ones. You sort the clothes carefully so as not to make the same mistake as your girlfriend who once missed a red sock in the middle of the light clothes and turned everything into pink.

You put the clean ones in the dryer and for a moment you sit on the laundry room floor watching the laundry being done. Jennie frowns when she finds you on the floor and crouches down to your level.

“What are you doing there, doll?”

“Waiting for laundry to do” you mutter. She looks at the machine's dashboard that says the laundry will be clean in an hour.

“Are you going to wait an hour here?” you shrug and she strokes your hair.

“Bad day?”

“Bad day” you confirm.

“Get up” she extends her hand for you to take. “I'm not going to let you sit on the cold floor for an hour because of a bad day. Your back will thank me later”

You get up and she walks you to the kitchen. You stop in front of the counter, where her cell phone is and she puts it on a playlist, you immediately recognize the song. You don't know it, but she made a playlist with all your favorite songs, so when she's far away, she can feel close to you, whether it's the lyrics, the melodies, the memories you have sung through the songs or just because you likes a song is enough for her to like it too.

She places her hands on your waist and you place yours on her neck, lightly caressing the back of her neck. You lean your head on her shoulder and you start swaying lightly to the rhythm of the music. She makes circles on your back, not because you're crying or because it hurts, but to comfort you from the bad day you've had to go through.

You listen to her hum the lyrics and close your eyes to feel this moment as much as possible. You might feel a little better with that small gesture, as if the world doesn't exist, just the two of you dancing in the kitchen, in a parallel reality belonging only to you, where nothing bad can reach you because you're in the arms of your love, in the arms of the person who makes you feel safe, in the arms of someone who cares. And that's enough to make you feel good.

“I love you” Jennie finally says. She doesn't have to say it with her eyes closed or wanting to run away. She says every word. She faithfully clings to those three words that mean the world to you.

And a tear escapes your eyes, a single tear. It's not sadness or anger. It's for being able to hear this and being able to know what it's like to feel loved. To be loved by someone you love too, to be loved by someone who knows and accepts your flaws. Being loved by someone who would kill and die for you is the best thing you could ever feel in your entire life. To be loved by Jennie.

[avocado-writing]

Omggg i hear your requests are open again??? Yayyy so excited so excited. I’ve been thinking ab smth angsty with Crowley where the reader has serious abandonment issues and Crowley accidentally triggers them. I would love it to be angsty but fluffy at the end bc I don’t want Crol to be sad :(

Tysm and i hope you have a fucking great week💕✨

notes: a phenomenal meme, thank you. I hope reader seems in character enough for abandonment issues!

pairing: crowley x reader

rating: T

He’s gone, and you’re worried it’s forever.

He’s had to go and do some work. Some demon work. When the two of you properly began getting together he had to tell you about his true nature; you were surprised and secretly a bit thrilled because, well, how many people have a demon in love with them? It made you feel very special indeed. And Crowley does love you so very deeply, you’ve never had a love like it before. Which made it sting all the worse when he had to go.

You were bickering about him leaving. He had to go to bloody Spain to perform some sort of temptation, and he knew you couldn’t get the time off work to come with him. You were begging him to stay, he was insisting he couldn’t, and as neither of you could see the other’s point of view voices began to get raised. It ended with him leaving you in your flat, slamming the door behind him in frustration.

You’ve not seen him for a week. It’s been driving you mad. He’s gone, hasn’t he? He’s gone forever. Just like every other person who’s walked into your life with claims that they love you only to disappear when things got difficult. You are unloveable, you are not worthy of anyone’s time. You do not deserve to experience anything other than heartbreak.

When he comes home he knows he’ll need to apologise. It doesn’t come easily to Crowley, admitting that he’s wrong, but he’ll find a way to force it out of himself for your sake. He shouldn’t have left how he did. It was unkind. Petty. A relationship shouldn’t be about trying to get the last word in an argument, and he feels very small indeed.

He knocks at the door to your flat and, when it isn’t answered, he miracles the lock open and walks in. Maybe he can get started on dinner. Maybe coming home to the smell of cooking and him being all grovelly will make things better.

This plan is stopped in its tracks when he finds you curled up in a blanket on the sofa. You look terrible. Tired, miserable, and ever so small. You take one look at him and recoil.

“What do you –”

“I’m sorry,” Crowley says. It’s not forced or uncomfortable as it usually is when he’s made to apologise, but sincere. An apology is not a plaster, though, and you still look raw and wounded as he sits on the opposite end of the couch. You wince as he reaches out to touch you.

“I thought you weren’t coming back,” is all the explanation that you can muster.

“Oh, darling. I’m…” he wracks his brain for something that’s a suitable apology, but can come up with nothing better than another “I’m sorry.”

Tears begin to fall down your cheeks and you seem furious at them, wiping them away with the edge of your blanket, but still unable to get them to stop.

“I thought you were done with me. That you hated me.”

“Come here,” says Crowley, bundling you in his arms and pulling you onto his lap. You cry a little, at him, at yourself, at being so stupid. “I don’t hate you. I’d never hate you. I think it’s impossible, actually. I was just being a twat. I’ll even do the dance if you want me to.”

You laugh into his shirt and he’s relieved.

“No, keep that dance for Aziraphale. I think he’d be annoyed if he found out you did it for me.”

You look into his eyes, and he moves his sunglasses up so he can meet your gaze properly.

“Don’t leave me,” you whisper, voice trembling a little.

“I won’t. I swear.”

Taglist: @angiestopit @dazed-soul @foolishprincipalitee @smile-eywa @staygoldsquatchling02 @underratedboogeyman @specter-soltare @cool-ontherun-world @emilynissangtr @willbedecided @cool-iguana @this--is--music @ilyatan @lxsm2 @clarina04@wtfhasmy-lifecometo @mrgatotortuga@wereallbrokenangels @night-affiliate @kimqueenofhell @chewbrry @bajablast23 @h3k3t @am-i-obsessed---maybe @bakerstreethound

[fryingpansareswag]

Welcome back to the annual yap session about hangster! :)

So I listened to I Bet You Think About Me by Taylor Swift featuring Chris Stapleton for the first time the other day and absolutely fell in love with it and immediately thought about Bradley and Jake (Miles Teller is also in the music video).

I had to tell someone or would actually start tweaking out about it so you guys get to hear about it! I’ll be analyzing the whole song based on hangster (I will be including my own headcanons btw). This was also from Jake’s point of view with some lyrics more about Bradley.

Get a nice blanket and some hot chocolate (its a long one)

3 AM and I'm still awake, I'll bet you're just fine

Fast asleep in your city that's better than mine

After they broke up, Jake moved back to Texas and Bradley moved back to Philadelphia (I personally think Bradley lived in Philadelphia in his early childhood, moved to California after Goose died, and moved back after his falling out with Mav [just stay with me okay?])

And the girl in your bed has a fine pedigree

After they broke up (B was the one who broke the relationship up), Bradley started to just get with people to fill the hole he lost when he broke up with Jake.

And I'll bet your friends tell you she's better than me, huh

Well, I tried to fit in with your upper-crust circles

Yeah, they let me sit in back when we were in love

Pheonix was always nice to Jake when he and B were dating but when Bradley broke it off she never talked to him after. He texted her but left him on read.

Oh, they sit around talkin' 'bout the meaning of life

And the book that just saved 'em that I hadn't heard of

But now that we're done and it's over

I bet you couldn't believe

When you realized I'm harder to forget than I was to leave

And I bet you think about me

Even though Bradley is getting into a new relationship every week, Jake knows that he can never forget about him. They went through so much together and experienced so much together. How could Bradley forget and not think about him?

You grew up in a silver-spoon gated community

Glamorous, shiny, bright Beverly Hills

Bradley never got into detail about his childhood with Jake and from only seeing his childhood home in San Diego, he believed B came from a pretty wealthy, happy family. Jake knew nothing about Carole, Goose, or Maverick.

I was raised on a farm, no, it wasn't a mansion

Just livin' room dancin' and kitchen table bills

Jake's childhood consisted of living on a farm in Texas, he was a Mama's boy. Sometimes when he was little he would sneak downstairs to watch his mom and dad dance in the living room together after they thought all the kids went to bed.

But you know what they say, you can't help who you fall for

And you and I fell like an early spring snow

When Jake and Bradley first met, they almost immediately fell in love. There was nothing "casual" between each other. Even though Bradley was pretty reserved and timid with being in a romantic relationship, they connected easily and said they loved each other pretty quickly.

But reality crept in, you said we're too different

Bradley broke up with Jake stating that he was not ready for a relationship, he wasn't ready to open up, and--of course-- they were too different and would never make it.

You laughed at my dreams, rolled your eyes at my jokes

Mr. Superior Thinkin'

Do you have all the space that you need?

Bradley: "We need space. This isn't going to work."

I don't have to be your shrink to know that you'll never be happy

Jake watched from afar as Bradley dated other people (he stalked his Instagram account). Bradley never looked truly happy like he did with him.

And I bet you think about me

I bet you think about me, yes

I bet you think about me

Bradley thinks about Jake 24/7. Everything he does is for Jake.

Oh, block it all out

The voices so loud, sayin'

"Why did you let her go?"

Bradley regrets it every day that he broke up with Jake. They could've made it work. Bradley just couldn't open up like Jake wanted him to. He couldn't explain to Jake his past. He feared that Jake would leave him because of how miserable he actually was. Jake made him feel safe and loved for once.

Does it make you feel sad

That the love that you're lookin' for

Is the love that you had

Bradley really thought that he would eventually get over Jake. He'd find a nice girl he could settle down with, have a family, and live a happy life. Now he's thirty-six.

Now you're out in the world, searchin' for your soul

Scared not to be hip, scared to get old

After he lost Jake, Bradley became self-conscious and scared that everything he did would eventually lead to his downfall.

Chasin' make-believe status, last time you felt free

After Bradley and Jake broke up, Bradley put all of his attention into his work. Work would at least distract him from breaking the love of his life's heart.

Was when none of that shit mattered 'cause you were with me

Nothing mattered when Jake and Bradley were together. They were happy and that's what mattered.

But now that we're done and it's over

I bet it's hard to believe

But it turned out I'm harder to forget than I was to leave

Jake nor Bradley never forgot about each other. They always think of each other. Even when doing the most mundane tasks.

And, yeah, I bet you think about me

I bet you think about me, yes

I bet you think about me

I bet you think about me when you're out

At your cool indie music concerts every week

I bet you think about me in your house

Jake practically lived at Bradley's house at the height of their relationship.

With your organic shoes and your million-dollar couch

I bet you think about me when you say

"Oh my God, she's insane, she wrote a song about me"

I bet you think about me

Jake and Bradley never forgot about each other. They'd eventually see each other again, a mission that would change both of their lives.

Also here's the song if you'd like to take a listen :D

[jigujellee]

ATTENTION -> got a secret, can you keep it? [ request: Jennie and Y/N (a backup dancer) relationship is a secret. Jennie found out on one of Y/N's friend that another dancer is having a crush on Y/N. Jennie got jealous and it's up to you what will happen next. Hoping for a fluff ending ]

jennie x reader fluff w very, very minor angst (dw tho) word count: 2.8k warnings: none

a/n: thank you for this request! it was really fun to work on :D i'm not gonna lie tho, i kind of struggled with the ending a bit bc i really just wanted to get it done ljdkhfaf but alas, here she is! this is slightly proofread, so pls don't mind any mistakes but i hope you enjoy it nonetheless <3

you’ve always admired private, lowkey relationships.

as you scroll through pinterest and instagram, you often come across photos of couples who don’t show their faces but they make it very clear that they’re together. the notion of being private but not a secret was something you’ve always wished to try with someone.

and for 4 years, you somehow managed to keep a private and secret relationship from the entire world.

when you first started as a backup dancer for yg’s best selling, record breaking, and globally known girl group otherwise known as blackpink, you knew that a relationship with the any of the members would and should not go any further than a work-friendly relationship. but that idea was thrown right out the window when the jennie kim, blackpink’s main rapper and lead vocalist, had made her move on you the moment you stepped into the dance studio for the first time. she was starstruck by the way your body easily flowed to the music, hitting every beat with such precision and power. what started out as just being coworkers evolved into a lovely friendship, and eventually into a relationship that you never knew was even possible in the first place.

but you were also aware that dating an idol had its drawbacks.

though you weren’t too big on pda, it would’ve still been nice to go up to jennie and give her a hug or a kiss on the cheek during work hours, especially when you knew she was exhausted after practicing non-stop. however, you were aware that your position as their backup dancer and the fact that you’re a girl dating a girl (wow shocker) would cause an uproar amongst the public. knowing this, you restrained yourself and maintained a strictly professional relationship between you and the girls. outside of the yg building, you and jennie are inseparable but once you step foot inside, all interactions with her cease unless there’s something to discuss about work. it’s been nearly 2 years since their last comeback, so you’ve been able to have jennie all to yourself; you’ve travelled together and attended her other schedules with her without causing too much suspicion. but now that the comeback has been confirmed and announced, it was time to return to work and act like jennie was nothing more than your senior.

you weren’t gonna deny that it felt good to be back in the studio again. you’ve always had a passion for dancing and you were glad that you could pursue something you actually enjoyed. not only did it pay well and provided good benefits, but it allowed you to meet the love of your life despite having to keep it a secret from the world.

when you walk into the studio, your eyes are met with mirrors that stretch across all the walls, speakers sitting in the corners beside a computer and sound control system - it all felt so comfortable to you. but when four familiar faces come in just minutes after you do, then that’s when everything really starts to feel like home. you bite back a smile when you make eye contact with your girlfriend, who does the same thing towards you. she always managed to make the simplest outfits look expensive. you couldn’t help but stare at how her white tank top accentuates her abs, and how she managed to make a pair of black jeans look designer. while you did your stretches, your gaze constantly shifts to her every once in a while but your view is soon obstructed when your friend and coworker, dany, shows up in front of you.

“hi y/n! it’s so good to see you again. i haven’t heard from you as much, how are you?”

“hi dany, i’ve been good. i decided to take a bit of a break from social media, just really take the time to wind down and relax” you say as you bend over and stretch to reach your legs. dany just laughs and gently rests her hand on your back.

“you didn’t miss me at all?” dany jokes, or so you thought. but you responded in a jokingly matter anyway.

“not at all, i was actually glad to be away from you” you smile.

“hey, you’re so mean!” she starts playfully hitting you, and you laugh as you try to get away from her until you’re interrupted by the sound of the choreographer clapping their hands together, indicating that it was time to start practicing.

“time to get started everyone!”

-

“okay, let’s take 10 then we’ll run it from the top”

it’s been a month since you’ve started rehearsing for the girls’ comeback, and you had to admit that you don’t have as much stamina as you used to. when the music stops and the choreographer calls for a 10 minute break, you attempt to catch your breath while desperately trying to find your water bottle from your bag, but it’s nowhere to be found. jennie notices you rummaging through your bag and grabs her own bottle to give to you, but to unfortunately, dany beats her to it.

“you should really bring your own water, y/n. you always finish mine”

“i never ask for yours just in case there’s any poison, but thanks” you joke. dany fake scoffs and acts offended but she’s glad nonetheless. after nearly inhaling all of the water, you felt a drop run down your mouth and you lift your shirt to wipe it off, along with the sweat that was drenching your face. instead of pulling up the collar of your shirt like a normal person would, you grab the hem and lift it up to expose your toned abdomen. dany’s eyes immediately gloss over your lower body and jennie doesn’t miss the way her eyes widen and sparkle at the sight.

“damn y/n, have you been working out these last 2 years? you look so good,” dany compliments. she manages to swiftly slide her hand over your abdomen, causing you to flinch and immediately back away.

“hey, watch it! i’m ticklish there,” you defend. despite your protests, dany chases you around the studio to try and tickle you. you fail to notice a pair of cat eyes that were burning onto you and dany as the two of you ran around like children.

jennie’s chest becomes a bit heavier and she subconsciously tightens her grip on the bottle that was still in her hand. she’s noticed how awfully close dany was sticking to you during practices, and it was becoming hard to watch. she bites the inside of her cheek, almost hard enough to bleed until another backup dancer approaches her.

“jeez, what a bunch of children. imagine being in your late 20s and you still try to get your crush’s attention by chasing them around and trying to tickle them” the dancer says, clicking their tongue and shaking their head almost disapprovingly. but nothing they said registered in jennie’s head until the word “crush” was mentioned.

“crush? what do you mean?”

“oh didn’t you know? dany has liked y/n for some time now. me personally, i think they’d make a pretty cute couple. a very loud couple but still cute, don’t you think?”

jennie’s eyes nearly roll at the thought of you and dany being together. “i don’t think dany is y/n’s type in my opinion”

“well, dany says that y/n is definitely her type so i’m sure she’d find a way to make it work”

the cat eyed girl clenches her jaw. what the hell was she even supposed to say to that? it’s not like she could explicitly defend your relationship since no one knew you were together. but wow, did it bug her to her core. is this what other people were thinking? did other people think that you and dany would be a great couple?

dany still tried to cling onto you and you desperately tried to get away from her, while jennie didn’t want to bother looking in your direction for the remainder of practice. the members, however, immediately noticed the change in jennie’s mood. when another 10 minute break was called, they decided to intervene.

“hey grumpy, what’s with the face? you look like you’re about to murder someone,” rosé says to her bandmate, who’s been trying to tie her shoes for the last 3 minutes or so.

“it’s nothing, i just really wanna finish and go home so i could sleep. i’m getting really tired already” jennie brushes it off. the other three girls all eye each other, knowing she wasn’t telling the truth but they silently agreed to not pry any further and just give her supportive pats and rubs on her back.

while waiting for the choreographer to get back, another backup dancer takes over the sound system and puts on attention by newjeans just to fool around and freestyle a little bit. the studio is suddenly filled with cheers and screams as a number of dancers made their way to the middle of the dance floor. when the chorus comes on, jennie rushes to the center without even thinking and starts dancing. the girls scream loudly as they cheer on their friend, who was literally sulking not even a few minutes ago.

“okaaay, get it jennie!” lisa shouts out. jisoo and rosé pull out their phones to record her and you do the same for you to watch later and laugh about it with jennie. you watched your girlfriend through your phone screen as she danced with so much energy, and when you look up from your phone, her eyes are already on you. jennie’s gaze doesn’t falter from yours as she continued to move to the music, lip syncing along to the lyrics.

one thing’s for sure

i know you’re the one

you got me looking for attention

the smile on your face doesn’t leave until dany makes her way to the centre and takes the spotlight away from jennie. you watched jennie stop dancing and noticed how annoyed she looked.

“watch me y/n!” dany screams over the music as she starts to dance, which caused jennie to slowly back away towards the girls. you put your phone down and just smile as you watched dany dance, who eventually starts making her way towards you and even had the audacity to press her back against you but you push her away while laughing nervously. in the background, jennie watches the whole thing unfold and if she was annoyed before, well now she was fuming. she hates it when other people try to make their move on you or when they're just too close to you for her liking, but what pisses her off the most is knowing that she can’t rightfully claim what’s hers.

practice continued for practically the whole day until late into the night. once it was finally over, the two of you met at jennie’s house and you noticed she was being very quiet for your liking.

“jen, you alright? you haven’t sa-”

“what do you think about dany? be honest with me”

“babe, you don’t need to worry about dany. she’s just really clingy, that’s all”

“you’re not answering my question. is there something you’re not telling me?”

“no no no no, it’s not like that. what do i think about her? well, she’s cool, very talkative for the most part but i think she’s a great dancer and i have a lot to learn from her”

“do you think she likes you?”

“where did you even get that idea, love?”

“people think you two would make a good couple, so it was just a thought i guess”

“that’s only what people think, but it’s not the truth”

“you don’t know that”

“okay, fine, i don’t know that. but what i do know is that even if dany does like me, it doesn’t mean anything,” you say before making your way towards a pouty jennie and wrapping your arms around her slender waist.

“i’ve known you for 6 years and i’ve been with you for 4. i had to watch sleazy photographers, fansites, and sasaengs ogle you up and down whenever you’re up on a stage and i always just want to go up there and claim you as mine. i know it’s hard to keep hiding in the dark babe, but i can guarantee you that i wouldn’t want someone else in your place”

jennie looks up at you with a pout still evident on her face, her eyes somewhat filled with tears but not enough to start falling.

“but wouldn’t things be easier if you were with dany?”

“i don’t need things to be easy, i need it to be you. it always needs to be you”

jennie pulls you for a long and warm embrace, and the two of you stay like that as you gently sway back and forth. jennie’s ear is on your chest and she listens to your heart beating so gently, and a smile slowly creeps onto her face knowing that your heart only beats for her. you both knew it would be difficult once you decided to be together, but with jennie, everything was definitely worth it and you'd do absolutely anything to keep the woman in your arms all to yourself.

-

you’re back in the studio the following morning, and you can tell jennie is in somewhat of a better mood compared to yesterday, but it changes yet again once dany walks through the door.

“good morning y/n baby!”

“ew, don’t call me that”

“awww, does my baby not like the name?”

you fake gagged and try to laugh it off as you change into a more comfortable pair of shoes for practice. dany rolls her eyes and sits down beside you, resting her head on your shoulder.

“you smell really good y/n”

“i know i do” you dryly reply as you try to tie your shoe. when you finish tying the last knot, you bring your head up and dany takes this chance to try and plant a kiss on your cheek but you push her away immediately.

“dany, what are you doing? we’re at work”

“oh come on y/n, one kiss shouldn’t hurt right?”

jennie gets up from where she’s sitting and makes her way towards you two. the studio suddenly goes quiet as they watch her march from one side to the other, silently wondering what jennie was gonna say next.

“hey dany, how about you learn to respect people’s personal space?and while you're at it, try not to go for people who are happily in a relationship” jennie snides.

“huh? what are you talking about? y/n isn’t in a relationship”

“yes she is”

dany gets bold and challenges jennie, crossing her arms and making her way towards the cat eyed girl but jennie doesn't back down.

“oh yeah? with who?”

“with me,” jennie says sternly as she pushes pass dany and grabs you by the collar to plant a kiss on your lips for everyone to see. when she pulls away, you look at her in shock and you whisper, “jen, what are you doing? we’re gonna get in trouble!”

you back up slightly, waiting for your girlfriend to explain her irrational behaviour but before she could speak, the girls' manager shouts out in joy which gave both you and jennie a confused look on your face.

“ha! i told you! you all owe me $50!,” he shouts as the rest of the staff groan and start fishing money out of their wallets.

“wait, you guys made a bet? on what?”

“on who would be the first one to expose your relationship. everyone thought it’d be you but i had a strong feeling it would be jennie, and i was right!” he exclaims in glee.

“so wait, we’re not in trouble?”

“well you two have been doing a fantastic job at keeping it a secret from the public, so we agreed to let it continue and we’d only intervene if things got out of hand”

“but how did all of you find out in the first place if we never said anything?” jennie asked. the manager and a few staff members pointed at lisa, who puts her hands up in defense.

“okay hey wait a minute, before all of you start pointing fingers i just wanna say for the record, jennie’s not exactly the quietest person when she’s on the phone with y/n”

jennie playfully glares at lisa, but you just stood there smiling. you thought you were being discrete about your relationship with jennie in fear of getting in trouble with the company, but as it turns out, people already knew and supported you in secret. you turn to your girlfriend who was ready to beat lisa up for exposing her, and you can't help but plant a soft kiss on her cheek because you didn’t have to completely hide your relationship anymore. the studio is filled with oohs and awws from everyone around you, causing jennie's cheeks to show a slight tint of pink.

“alright alright, enough chit chat! let’s get back to work everyone, we have a lot of preparations” the manager finally says after receiving his winnings from the bet.

before practice officially began, jennie pulls you in for a kiss once again.

“keep up the good work my favourite dancer”

[look-at-the-soul]

The Photoshoot - When we were young

(Golden Globes special edition)✨

Request: by my dear @zablife as part of my Adele challenge but also + Grandma’s series ♥️

The Photoshoot 2014, 2015

Lee, when you sent in the “When we were young” song I knew right away it would be one of the most special parts of this series, I knew I wanted them to go back in time but I still wasn’t sure where/when/how to add it to the series as it could easily fit into any part. Then when things happened, I remembered I had your requests in my drafts, I knew I had to add some Grandma into the mix, as it’d give me a different approach 🥰

If you don’t read this series, don’t worry! No spoilers!! You just need to know that Yael Murphy is a photographer and Cillian just won his first Golden Globe award.

Word count: 1,175

Based on Adele’s song “When we were young”

Knocking on the door, Yael looked at her husband, a smile growing in her lips.

“Your social battery is still low huh?”

Everybody loves the things you do

From the way you talk

To the way you move

Cillian chuckled and moved on the bed to make room for her.

“How do you know?” He accepted the cup of hot chocolate she was offering him, grateful for the warmth the cup was providing.

“Well you’re hiding in your old bedroom while everyone is downstairs.” She pointed out resting her head on his shoulder.

After the Golden Globes win, they flew back to Ireland and Cillian wanted to go straight home, but one look later from his wife and they were on their way to his parents house for a little family gathering. The Murphy family wanted to celebrate the award with him, but he was worn out, and not because of the jet lag.

Everybody here is watching you

'Cause you feel like home

You're like a dream come true

“You’re adorable, I swear.” Yael teased stealing a quick peck.

Cillian chuckled in response, she knew him so well. He wanted to hide underground after being exposed to cameras, the press and all the people gathered for the awards.

“No matter what you say, wining that Golden Globe it’s huge, and I’m so fucking proud of you and all you’ve done.” Something on his lap catching her eye. “You look just like her.”

Cillian shot her a look, surprised by her words. “It’s my grandma, you think…?”

“Totally, same nose, lips, her eyes were bigger but it’s the same kind, if she didn’t have curly hair I’d thought it was you dressed as a woman.”

A content sigh escaped Cillian’s lips and his eyes went back to the photograph he had found in that old album. His grandmother was wearing a floral dress while holding his mother as they stared at the cake. He had been looking at the albums his Mum had been showing everyone earlier and he couldn’t help but let his mind wander back in time, to his childhood around his Ma.

“She was adorable.” He added with a hint of nostalgia, his mind and heart going back in time too the townhouse property, where he spent a huge part of his life. “I remember being so nervous about a stupid prom thing, so one afternoon she was knitting something and I asked her if she knew how to dance…” Yael saw the way his eyes lit by the memories, his soft voice murmuring the little treasure he just remembered, “she stopped and almost threw the needles and yarn, and went straight to the living and started playing music, she showed me where to place my hands, how to guide-you know, lead the way… she made me hear the beat, but she said you need to feel the music.” He added mimicking a femenin voice with a chuckle.

“That’s beautiful.”

But if by chance you're here alone

Can I have a moment?

Before I go?

“She somehow is responsible of who I am today, you know? Those early years while my parents were working all day…” his voice went dry, “she was with me, we went together to the grocery store, we cooked together, the park, she even took me to church.”

Yael chuckled and made a funny face at his last statement.

“That was probably the last time you showed up.” She teased.

Her heart filled with even more love as she saw how tender his expression grew by the memories.

“When I started acting, she always asked me for the script so I could rehearse with her.”

Yael nodded, thinking how much it meant to him.

“And when I did this film The wind that shakes the Barley, the post office released some commemorative stamps, she went and bought a bunch and she’d say to her friends this is my Cill, my grandson.”

You look like a movie

You sound like a song

My God this reminds me, of when we were young

Yael got lost in his velvety voice, it was so immersive, driving her into the memory lane with him.

“The movie had a huge impact in her, since her father passed away in that very same war, trying to defend Ireland, she never got to meet him.”

“I guess in a way, you portrayed that for her, and gave her a closure.”

Cillian tilted his head towards his wife. “You think so?”

“Absolutely sweetheart, books, movies and music, have a way to heal us from the pain we didn’t even know we were carrying…” She squeezed his hand.

Let me photograph you in this light

In case it is the last time

That we might be exactly like we were

Before we realized

Turning on the next page, Yael stared at an image of a woman leaned against a convertible.

“The quality of these photos it’s incredible.” She couldn’t help but admire not only the beauty of the shoot, but the angle and background.

“This must be from my grandparents honeymoon.” Cillian frowned removing the film that protected the photographs. “Yup… I recall grandma saying they didn’t have a budget to go in a trip somewhere ese, so my grandad drove all around the coast.”

“That’s lovely.” Yael murmured placing the photo closer to have a better look. “They’re together in that one.” She then pointed out.

“That’s why they wanted to go back to Kerry every summer.” Cillian sighed. “He built a small house later and I remember staying over there for the holidays every single time, they had to sell it though.”

“Remember when we went? That was a long time ago.” Yael moved her hair away. “Haven’t been there in ages.”

“Time to plan a little holiday?” Cillian gave her his signature eyebrow raised.

“Should I start packing?” She teased, knowing he was eager to disappear for a couple of days. “I’ll book us a place.”

We were scared of getting old

It made us restless

It was just like a movie

It was just like a song

Moving onto the next page, Yael found the cutest photo from all times.

“Oh man! I can’t believe this!” Cillian laughed out loud, dimples showing.

“How come I’ve never seen this one?!” Yael’s cheeks hurt from smiling so much. “You’re the cutest little boy! Look at you!”

You still look like a movie

You still sound like a song

My God, this reminds me, of when we were young

She looked at her husband and then back at the photograph.

There he was, with the biggest smiles of them all with half his body inside of a vintage mailbox.

“I love every bit of this photograph. It’s perfect.” She beamed at her husband’s portrait. Pure joy and love oozing from every fiber of him.

He looked so carefree and happy.

Let me photograph you in this light

In case it is the last time

That we might be exactly like we were

Before we realized

“Wouldn’t it be amazing to bottle up that little one?” Yael expressed, thinking of her own childhood. “I loved spending the weekends at the cottage with grandma, she played a huge part in my recovery, always looking after me so my Mum could take care of everything else.”

Scrolling through her phone, she found a photo her Mum shared over the holidays.

As a child she loved playing dress up with her cousin, Val.

When we were young

“I remember the very same day my grandma made this dress for me.” Cillian offered his hand to her, to stare at the photo. “She made it out of a nightgown she loved.”

“Is that a Polaroid?” He asked looking back at his wife.

“Yes, my grandpa carried his everywhere.”

“Isn’t it great? How a photograph can take you back in time all the way down?”

Yael smiled proudly.

“That’s the magic of photography… in just one click, you can turn something into a lifetime memory.”

***

Thank you for reading!!

I hope you liked this ✨♥️

Photo inspiration :

And yes, the part of the stamps is real, I read it somewhere and I loved the idea of his grandma buying Cillian’s stamps 💝♥️

Tag list @lyarr24 @garrison-girl-08 @lespendy @onlydeadcells @fastfan @winchestergirl22 @stevie75 @prettylittlehoneyeyesxoxo @esposadomd @strayrockette @forbidden-forest-witch @elenavampire21 @forgottenpeakywriter @heidimoreton @thenattitude @moral-terpitude @babaohhhriley @queenshelby @ange-thoughts @shelbydelrey @shaddixlife @sloanexx @cilliansangel @rangerelik @already-broken144 @alessioayla @paprikabadger @dolllol2405 @conversationpits @itsilvermorny @lafell @imichelle-l-rigby @yrli8 @cutecurly-hair @mrkdvidal1989 @cillspropertea @hyperfixationsonshuffle @sydneyyya @abbymcguire @shelundeadxxxx @elk96 @pono-pura-vida @lovemissyhoneybee @slimeantha @kmc1989

[herearedragons]

Cold Water (chapter 3: Footwork)

AO3 | chapter 1

“Can I tap in?” Selene asks.

For a second, Edér’s attention is split between her voice and the rush of water in his ears, and then the meaning of her words makes it through. She means tapping into his thoughts, the way she does in combat, or when she needs to understand something better.

“No! I - uh - I mean,” he scrambles for an excuse, “Best to just learn through your feet.”

She shrugs.

“Alright.”

Saved for now.

With that out of the way, he’s left to figure out the main question - that is, teaching Selene how to dance. How do you go about something like this?

Edèr tries to remember how he learned to dance, but that just brings up a heap of blurry memories of Woden and his parents and Reapings long past - all things he really doesn’t want to think about, right now - and nothing that would help her.

Well, he’ll just have to use his common sense, then. What’s the main thing to keep in mind about dancing?

Another heap of blurry memories, this time of women scolding him for stepping on their toes.

Right. Distance, and not messing up your steps.

“So, you’re gonna stand about an arm’s length away from me, like this - “ he takes a step closer - “and your hand’s gonna be on my elbow. Yeah, like that.”

He can just barely see the crescent moons on her arms glowing through her sleeves.

“...Your other hand can be doing whatever; you can wave it around or put it on the shoulder of whoever you’re dancing with. Just keep in mind that when you’re switching partners, that’s the hand you’ll be using to catch the next person.”

“Wait - you have to switch?”

“Well, yeah - usually you dance with a couple different people before the song ends. Don't worry, it's simpler than it sounds.”

“...Oh. Alright.”

Did she sound disappointed just now? Does it mean she wanted to dance specifically with - no, no, no, shouldn’t even start going down that road, it’s not going to help anything.

She doesn’t mean it like that. She’s just asking. She’s just asking.

“Okay,” he says, “Let’s start simple. When I step forward, you step back, and the other way around.”

It doesn’t take her long to figure it out; the moment they start moving, she doesn’t fall out of step even once, even though there’s no music to keep count for her. Once it seems like she has the back-and-forth down, Edèr does his best to remember the footwork of her part of the dance; he’s pretty sure he’s got at least part of it right, and Selene fills in the gaps easily enough.

By the time they’re done, he’s downright impressed.

“Well, damn, you’re a natural at this,” he tells her. “You sure you weren’t tapping into my thoughts at all?”

Selene responds with a little laugh, brushing her glowing hair out of her face.

“Well, with you it’s easy,” she says. “We’ll see how I do with literally anyone else.”

Alright, well, he’s definitely not imagining this. The thing she just said. There’s no way he’s reading into it too much, is there? What could you even mean by that if not - 

“...It’s easy with me, huh?”

He tries to sound as smooth as possible. Gods, he tries.

She shrugs:

“Well, we fought together; I have your gait memorized.”

Turns out there was, in fact, something else she could mean by that. The embarrassment nearly sends him straight to the Wheel; Selene, though, seems none the wiser.

Looks like they’re both clueless in their own way.

[kostnyan]

I love all Kalim ships equally, I do really, but there's just something about shipping Kalim with the Octovinelle trio... They're so silly together that I just can't explain it lol. Not to mention extremely interesting with exploring each character and how their dynamic would work with each other! Each relationship brings forth a different aspect of each character that I truly think should be explored. I know octo trio x Kalim is considered rare pair status in the en fandom(and in the jp fandom to some extent (Azul)) but I think more people should open their eyes to their potential!

For Azul x Kalim you have so much to work with! Azul canonly wants to get on Kalim's good side or have Kalim owe him a favor in order for him to build business relations with Kalim's father. Kalim's family are highly influential, and I love a point someone made about Kalim and Azul as characters; Kalim isn't the type to hold over deeds and actions he's done for people over them, while Azul sees the world where no one is doing something for free without a catch, and Azul doesn't want to be caught in a situation where he owes some. Kalim would 100% introduce Azul to his father no coercion needed, but it's so much funnier to imagine Azul making a long convoluted plan to get to meet Kalim's father that ends with him and Kalim married with three kids(it's all part of the plan baby, this way Kalim can't back out this situation so easily! They've started a family together! It's totally not like he's accidentlylost sight of his original goal, totally) and Kalim going, " babe, you do realize that I would have introduced you to my father without this whole 2000 step plan, right?" and Azul sweating bullets. Jokes aside, I do think their personalities would be very interesting to mess around with! Azul acts very mature and highly intelligent, and he is! But he does have his childish side, tending to be a bit of a cry baby and childish in other regards. Kalim on the other hand, though he seems very air headed and silly, he can be quite mature? I think they complement each other wonderfully.

Jade X Kalim is also interesting as well! I remember seeing someone saying something along the lines like " that the Leech twins probably look for someone who reminds them of their siblings in their partners, " and I can totally see that. That being said, on a surface level, Kalim is very similar to Floyd, but he's a little easier to handle compared to Floyd and his mood swings(though I don't think Jade minds them that much though lol). I do think Jade would probably be interested in Kalim at first because of this, but falls for Kalim as Kalim. Kalim is interesting in that since in the fact that he really doesn't see the worst in people, and he's hopelessly optimistic. The same could be said about Kalim as well, looking for someone who reminds him of Jamil(though the same thing could be said about Azul I suppose lol). I do think Kalim would try to find the similarities in both boys, but would find out quickly how different they are. Jade can definitely use someone who wouldn't see the worse in him till the bitter end, and I think that could lend to a lot spicy and angsty content if you're willing to get brain works like me! Jade is weird and obsessive in a way that just makes me go crazy.

As for Floyd X Kalim? I think surface level wise, they're a very feel good ship to me! They're both very high energy in different ways that can bounce off of each other, plus they share a few similar hobbies, like dancing and music( I remember reading some where that Floyd plays the drums(among a numerous assortment of other instruments lol) and I can't stop thinking about that??? They both play drums??? Holy shit) that I think it'd be rad to see them dance and jam out together. But at the same time they both have a depth to them that I think should be explored. I do think Kalim would be the calmer of the two, and would be able to mellow out Floyd to a certain degree if they were to get into a relationship. I also feel like regardless, they'd still be an extremely chaotic duo. I can just see the type of noise they'd get up too... They'd be like one of those super artsy fartsy space case couples you see on tv and such that are all over the place but are madly in love with each other.

Regardless, I love the octovinelle trio with Kalim... Especially because I know it'd just fuck with Jamil, regardless with who he ends up with. I like seeing Jamil suffer in the stupidest ways possibly. Like making Azul Kalim's boyfriend and never hearing the end of it from him. Absolutely awful(for Jamil that is, Kalim is obviously, and Azul would be a smug bastard). And don't get me started on the Leech twins...

[reigningqueenofwords]

Charlie Brown

Word count: 1,207

Read on AO3

Part 7 of Looking for the Captain

Steve had actively avoided Bucky when he got back. He didn’t want to get into it with him at the moment. So, he asked JARVIS where his best friend was as soon as he got back. Knowing he was with Tony in Tony’s lab made it really easy to just not go there. Wondering how things were going with you, he made his way to the kitchen. 

As he neared, he was amused at your choice of music. Once at the door, he realized you were also singing along. The music sounded really…old. Not him old, however.

Charlie Brown, Charlie Brown

He's a clown, that Charlie Brown

He's gonna get caught, just you wait and see

(Why's everybody always pickin' on me?)

You were dancing around and singing, making him not want to bother you. He simply leaned on the doorframe to watch. It was obvious you were really enjoying yourself. 

You’d been surprised when JARVIS started playing music from well before you were born, but didn’t argue. It had a good beat, and it didn’t take you long to start dancing around and singing along. A lot of the songs had been added to your new playlist, and you planned to look them up later. You were really curious when these came out! 

Feeling eyes on you towards the end of Charlie Brown, you turned and let out a small scream before you realized it was Steve. “What the hell?!” You managed. “JARVIS, you can st-”

“You don’t have to stop on my account.” Steve grinned. “And what are you listening to? It’s not my kind of old, but I know it’s old.” 

You blushed slightly. “I’m not sure. I just told JARVIS to play something fun and upbeat, something I probably haven’t heard before.” 

“That was Charlie Brown, by the Coasters, Miss.” JARVIS informed you just as it ended. 

“Add it to my playlist? Thank you.” You went back to finishing up lunch. “Did you need something? Lunch is almost done.” You told Steve. 

“Just wanted to see how lunch was going, and to ask how things went with Buck.” You both had strong personalities, and it was clear you butted heads. He moved to lean on the counter, watching you move around. 

“Not well.” You chuckled. “I think he forgets I’m an adult.” Which was really annoying. 

“How so?”

You quickly explained what happened. “So. Yeah. He didn’t like the idea of us dating, didn’t like what I wore to the club, didn’t like me wanting to leave with that guy…but he’s really hung up on us.” 

Steve nodded a bit. “He’s not wrong. I am a lot older than you.” He pointed out. 

“You were also on ice for 70 years, so you’re really not that much older than me.” You shrugged a shoulder. “And you’d think he wouldn’t mind as much because he knows you. He knows you’re a good guy. Wouldn’t he want me with someone that he can trust?” That made the most sense to you. “Instead of just some guy who could turn out to be abusive, or just a bad person?” 

“You’ve thought about that, haven’t you?” 

“Not until he pointed out the age thing, honestly. Before that it never even came to mind. You’re just Steve to me.” When you looked at him you didn’t see him as Captain America, your father’s best friend, or someone born in 1918. “The guy who helps me study, keeps me company, and makes me laugh.” 

He didn’t know how to respond. He was torn. You were Bucky’s daughter, but neither of you had seen Bucky in years. Bucky hadn’t raised you, and Steve didn’t know you as a child. Surely that changed things. He watched you easily work on the last touches of lunch. “Can we talk later?” He asked, wanting time to think things through. “Maybe after dinner?” 

“Yeah, we can do that. Meet in my room with some ice cream? We can put on a movie, too.” That way if Bucky came to “check” on you, he’d see the two of you watching a movie. 

He smiled. “Perfect. Want me to help you bring this to the table?” He asked, motioning to what you made. 

“Please.” You nodded. “JARVIS, can you let everyone know lunch is done?” 

“Yes, Miss.” 

All through lunch and dinner, Bucky watched you and Steve together. He planned to corner his best friend after they finished eating, as he’d been avoiding him all day. If you and Steve weren’t together, why was Steve avoiding him? That was suspicious. 

The way you looked at Steve made it clear to Bucky you had feelings for him, but he couldn’t tell if Steve felt the same way. 

Finally, everyone was getting up, and it was Steve’s turn to clean up. “I’ll bring up the ice cream in a bit, doll. Pick a movie.” He told you. 

“Scary? Funny? What kind?” You asked, finishing up your drink. 

“Okay, how about anything but SAW. I am not watching anymore of those.” He chuckled. You’d conned him into watching it a couple weeks before.

You playfully pouted. “So mean. There’s a lot of them.” 

“I can’t see how you like watching them.” He made a face. “Pick a less disgusting horror and I’ll be fine.” 

“Fiiiine.” You got up. “And can I get whipped cream and sprinkles on my ice cream? Tony got me princess sprinkles.” 

He laughed and nodded. “Deal.” He agreed before you walked out, giving Bucky a half wave. 

Bucky had watched and listened to the interaction. The two of you were clearly close. But how close? “Do you have a thing for my daughter?” He asked. 

Steve sighed. “Do you have to word it like that? She’s her own person.” He pointed out, moving to carry the plates into the kitchen, knowing Bucky was following. “And an adult.” 

“She’s still my little girl.” He ground out. “And off limits.” 

Putting the dishes in the sink, he turned to him, arms crossed over his chest. “Look, Buck. You’re my best friend, damn near like my brother.” He started. “But this is between me and her.” He hated pissing off Bucky, but this wasn’t his choice. “And she made some really good points earlier.” 

“Like what? What the hell could a little girl possibly say to make you think it’s okay to be with her?”

Steve glared at him. “She is an adult. She is legally able to buy alcohol. She’ll be 22 soon!” He reminded him. “And I’m technically not that much older than her. I was on ice for 70 years , Buck. There’s only a ten year difference when you factor that in.” He let that sink in for a moment. “She also pointed out that you know me . You know I’m not a bad guy. I’m not abusive, I’m not a dick. You can trust me. Can you say that about any guy walking around the city out there?” He moved around him to get the cups from dinner. 

Bucky swallowed as Steve spoke. He hated that you were right. He hated that you made some good points. Ones that he just couldn’t counter. Him just being uncomfortable with it just wasn’t a valid reason. 

[toast-tales]

Cursed Cravings, Chapter 11: Ad Libitum

In which Danny gets a clearer glimpse of high society...and of Christopher. Contains: 3.8k words | Chapter 1 | Read this story on A03!

Ad libitum, adj: In music, performed with free rhythm and expression; improvised and without restriction. 

* * * * * * * * * *

“Sam. What the heck is this?” 

Danny stared at the thing on her nightstand with open-mouthed shock, trying to understand what it was she was looking at. 

The lamp next to it flickered on, a flame dancing back and forth in what could have been an amused chuckle. “Well, you made a mistake last week. You got Christopher excited about something.”

“I said I was curious about what rich people did for fun. I didn’t expect him to…” Something clicked in her mind, both incredibly obvious and utterly improbable. “Wait, is that what those measurements you took were for? Did he make this?” she exclaimed in disbelief, holding up a corner of the elaborate pile of ruby-colored fabric that appeared to be a gown made for her size. She’d hardly even seen clothing this fancy before, much less touched it with her own hands. 

“Yep. You should have seen him, he was going absolutely nuts all week trying to sew it, tearing out his hair and going on about the size of lace and buttons and stuff. I’ve never seen him so dedicated to something before.” The flame danced about before shrinking back down. “Uh, don’t mention I said anything about all that. But you’ve gotta try it on.” 

Danny scowled slightly—not in distaste of the idea of wearing such fancy garb, but to hide her embarrassment at the fact that she wore little fancier than her everyday, much more simple dress. “Uh…where…how do I even…”

She was almost caught off guard by the silk curtain that had been wrapped around the bedframe coming undone to reach over and hold the dress, as if the delicate fabric was actually a pair of hands. “I could help you put it on, if you’re alright with that?” 

It was odd to think that Danny still had no idea whether or not Sam was a man or a woman, and was frankly hesitant to ask, even in this situation. She found that she didn’t actually care all that much—Sam was Sam, as far as she was concerned. “...sure. Yeah, you can help.” 

Sam gently directed her in how the dress was worn, showing her the different parts of the dress as they explained each step. An hour passed easily by the time they were done—not just with the dress, which fit her surprisingly well. Sam had even managed to help put her hair up in a fancy updo, which held together even without the help of any sort of pins. They left briefly to fetch “a surprise,” which turned out to be a few tiny white flowers made of silk, small enough to entwine into her hair—probably plucked from the decorative vase in the front entry.

She looked at herself in the small handheld mirror that Sam held up for her, turning this way and that. It was like she was looking at a stranger—a beautiful stranger, one draped in a lovely shade of red that flowed around her like the delicate petals of a rose. The stitching, while somewhat unwieldy and larger due to the nature of the giant thread it used, was still executed by a neat and careful hand. She’d never even dreamed of wearing clothes like this before—even if they were made by giant hands and missing a few of the details that normal formal attire might have had, it was just as magical to her—if not more so.

“Well? What do you think?”

She hadn’t realized she’d gone on without saying anything for a while, still quite overwhelmed with her drastic change in appearance. “I…it’s…wow. It’s amazing.” 

“Then let’s go. He’s got more to show you, you know.” 

“He what?” Danny exclaimed. The rolling cart that Sam often controlled pulled up next to the nightstand she was on—one of its handles bent up towards her, like a hand extended to guide her onto it. 

She barely suppressed an amused smile as she placed her hand atop the handle and stepped down onto the cart, carefully lowering herself to a seated position as it gently rolled out of her room and towards the main entryway.

“What exactly does he have planned?” she whispered, a little bit more uncertainty stirring in her gut as they approached. 

“Just wait and see,” the cart whispered, sounding as if it barely held back a grin as it did.

She complied with silence, looking around nervously as they emerged into the mansion’s grand entrance room. It was twilight—the room was cast in the shadows of the day’s end, the lights not yet lit inside. It was empty, as far as she could tell, with no sign of Christopher yet. 

The cart stopped in front of the huge, marble staircase. “Wait here,” Sam whispered again, and Danny could almost hear the whoosh sound as their presence swept from the cart to somewhere else in the room. 

All at once, the lights on the walls blazed to life, and the crystal chandelier overhead sparkled with a million tiny lights within it—bathing the place in a warm and inviting glow. And just as the room was illuminated, she heard the footsteps from above. She rose to her feet instinctively as she saw Christopher appear from around the corner and begin to descend the steps, adorned in a more formal suit than his usual attire—a long, dark blue tailcoat with elaborate golden stitching all along it, lace peeking out from the collar and the sleeves. He carried himself with all the poise and grace that was to be expected of nobility, walking with a slow and steady gait as he made his way down towards Danny. 

His eyes fell on her—and though it at first made her feel as if she was being appraised, wondering if she looked as out of place as she felt, her unease began to fade as he gave her a gentle smile. 

He bowed towards her like a gentleman. “You look lovely, Danny. I’m glad the dress fits you so well.” 

She couldn’t do much more than laugh slightly, shaking her head. “I still can’t believe you went through the trouble of making it. That can’t have been easy, with your big-ass hands and all.” 

His composed air broke as he barked out a laugh. “You have such a way with words, doll. But you’re correct, it provided plenty of…unique challenges. And unfortunately, I couldn’t replicate many of the other essentials you’d normally wear to an occasion like this. The dress is also…rather simple, but it was the best I could do with limited materials.”

“Simple?” she gasped. “You’ve got to be joking. This is easily the fanciest fucking thing I’ve ever seen.” She grabbed a few handfuls of the fabric and waved it about. “I bet it’s probably more expensive than all the clothes I own put together. It's beautiful,” she gushed, temporarily forgetting that she was feeding directly into his ego.

He chuckled, clearly quite pleased with her admiration of his handiwork. “Well then, I’m glad you enjoy it.” 

She gave him a funny, ever so slightly suspicious look. “What’s all this about, anyways?” 

“You wanted to know what people like me entertained ourselves with. So I want to show you what a ball is like.” 

She raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been to balls?”

“Well, I’ve…read a lot of books on the subject,” he admitted, with a slightly sheepish grin. “As far as I’m aware, this is what the upper class tend to concern themselves with. Truthfully, I’m interested in trying out some of the things I’ve read.” 

The giant gestured widely around the room with a sweeping motion of his arm. “Now, you have to imagine a lot more people in here—all of them dressed in beautiful gowns and whispering amongst each other. There’s noise everywhere—noise and color and life.” He gave her a sideways grin. “...at least, that’s what the books say.” 

“Uh-huh.” Danny tilted her head to the side. “So what do you do at things like this?” 

Christopher shrugged. “They’re mostly an excuse to show off your home and your status. There’s a lot of socializing, making connections, keeping face—they’re much more dull than you’d expect. But outside of all of that…” 

Christopher looked to the side and gave a short nod, meeting Danny’s eyes again with an excited gleam about them. “...generally, you dance.”

The sound of music began to fill the air of the grand room as a violin that had previously been resting on a nearby table came to life, its bow pulling itself across the strings in a lively, bright rhythm. 

Danny laughed in surprise. “Sam can play the violin?” 

“They’ve picked up a lot of things over time,” Christopher said with a smile. “Unfortunately they can't replicate a full band—they can only control one thing at once. But the violin is their favorite.”

He took a few steps forward towards the middle of the floor, turning back to look at Danny. “This music is called a waltz.”

Christopher began to step in time to the rhythm, moving with graceful precision from one foot to the next as he danced alone, demonstrating the steps clearly. He spun and held his arms out, as if he held an invisible partner within them, but his eyes always came back to rest on Danny. He smiled wide, clearly enjoying himself.

“You seem like a natural,” she remarked, absolutely fascinated with the way the giant moved. Christopher always moved with such an oddly delicate poise, but the way he danced took it a step beyond—it was a fluid sort of grace that made it hard to look away. “Are you sure this is your first time dancing?”

He chuckled slightly as he continued. “I’ve practiced a time or two. Like I said, I’ve read a lot of books.” 

The music’s tempo increased slightly, and Christopher’s steps became a little faster and more complex to match. She wasn’t sure if this was still a waltz or a different dance entirely, but as it went on, Christopher seemed to get lost in it, flowing with a natural ease and vigor from each step to the next. 

As he executed another spin, she caught a glimpse of something on the side of his head—or at least, she thought she did. She’d always written off the twists of hair on the sides of Christopher’s head as part of some fancy rich person hairstyle she wasn’t cultured enough to know about, but she swore in that moment she saw the hint of something…within them? A bit of his hair slipped further, revealing that they weren’t quite simple braids at all—instead, his hair was wrapped around something just as dark, but quite solid all the same. 

It almost looked like…

She waited until the music slowed down and the giant had seemingly finished his routine before she found the courage to ask. “Hey, Christopher?” 

The giant was still smiling, seemingly oblivious to the hair that had fallen out of place as he strode back towards Danny, slightly out of breath. “Yes?”

She gestured to the side of her own head. “Do you have…something—”

His face immediately fell, his eyes wide as he reached up to feel the twists of hair on each side of his head at once. His fingers moved quickly to adjust the fallen strands back into place. “No, no, it’s just my hairstyle. I’m afraid it might have slipped a little while I was moving.” 

Now she was curious, because while she knew Christopher had a tendency to be somewhat dramatic, she doubted his immediate, almost frightened reaction to his hair being slightly out of place was warranted. She tried to give him a somewhat encouraging smile, tilting her head inquisitively. “You don’t have to hide anything from me, you know. I’m just curious.” 

He hesitated for a long time before he spoke again, looking as utterly apprehensive as if she’d asked for him to strip down in front of her. “...are you sure?” 

She nodded. “Show me.” 

His lips set into a tight line before he gave a slow nod, hesitantly reaching up and beginning to fiddle with his hair. He undid a strand from the elaborate updo he wore, and began to unwrap it until it fell loose past his face, still holding a delicate curl.

On the side of Christopher’s head, where the hair had hidden it before, was a ridged, ebony-black horn, almost blending in with the shade of his hair except that it reflected the light of the chandelier along its edge. It laid close against his scalp—seemingly leaving enough space to wrap his hair around to hide it, but close enough that such an effort would have been effective had it not slipped. 

He mechanically undid the other side of his hairstyle to reveal a matching horn on the other side. Both curved back but didn’t extend beyond the back of his head. 

Danny’s eyes widened. She admittedly knew quite little about giant anatomy, but she’d just assumed Christopher was a large human that didn’t need to eat, and maybe had hearing a little better than most. This put things into a slightly different perspective, to see him adorned with such blatantly non-human features. “You’ve had horns this whole time?” 

Honestly, she was just impressed that he’d managed to hide such a glaring thing from her for a week. But why did he care?

For perhaps the first time since she’d met him, Christopher seemed genuinely embarrassed, tucking the strand of hair he’d just unfurled behind his ear and looking down at the ground, away from Danny. “I try to hide them. They just…remind me that I’m…not human.” 

“I mean…” Danny paused, trying to think about how to handle this topic delicately. She hadn’t heard Christopher ever express disdain for his own nature like this. And “delicate” wasn’t exactly her strong suit.

“...you’re not. But that’s okay.” She gave him an encouraging grin. “Personally, I think they look kinda cool. Way better than that funny hairstyle.” 

His head snapped up. “Funny?” he gasped, almost offended. Then he regarded her more curiously, a little blush coloring his cheeks. “...you…like them?” 

She laughed, finding something very amusing about the hundred-foot-tall man’s chagrin. “Yeah. Like I said—you don’t need to bother hiding stuff from me. I don’t care that you’re a giant or whatever. I literally talk to a possessed house everyday, you having horns is probably the least weird thing about all of this.” 

“Hey! I’m a whole-ass mansion, at least.” 

Christopher seemed to contemplate her words for a little longer, something like awe dancing in his expression. A little of the light from above seemed to reflect in his dark eyes even more than before, and a wide smile crossed his face. 

He extended a gloved hand towards her as he bent forward in a gentlemanly bow. “Would you care to dance, Danny?” 

She gave him a strange look. “...huh?” 

“It’s not half as fun without a partner, doll.” He remained bowed, grinning a little further. “I can’t just show off and impress you all night. You ought to try it too.” 

Danny stared at Christopher’s hand like it had grown another finger. “Um…I mean, sure, but um…how are we going to…I mean, I’m not really a huge fan of getting stepped on—”

“We’ll improvise,” Christopher said, and he extended his other hand towards her as well, to hold her hand between his fingers to guide her onto his palm in the same manner that Sam had guided her onto the cart earlier.

Dumbfounded, she couldn’t help but laugh slightly at the absurdity of the whole situation—even so, she held onto one of his fingers as she took a few steps onto his palm. He slowly raised her up closer to his chest as he stood again, holding both of her hands between his thumb and forefinger. 

She did her very best to remain upright and try not to think about how far down it would be if she tripped over the long hem of her new dress and fell to her death. 

She clearly hadn’t contained her worry well enough, because Christopher gave her hands a gentle squeeze. “I won’t let you fall, Danny. Trust me.” 

“A-ah-okay,” she mumbled, swallowing nervously and forcing herself to look up and meet the giant’s face instead of looking down. It helped, somewhat. “So…now what do we do?” 

Christopher’s face was soft, even as it was now framed by the newly revealed horns. “Just hold on, and try to get a feel for the rhythm.” 

She held onto his fingers tighter as he began to take long, sweeping strides across the floor, muttering quietly in time with the music as he did—one, two, three, one, two, three.

“Normally, yes, this dance is done with a partner of the same size, and there are a lot more hand motions involved,” he explained as he moved. She could feel even from her vantage point how graceful and practiced each motion of his was, as if this was truly second nature to him. He held her incredibly still as he danced, keeping his palm relatively even. It was enough that she didn’t even feel nauseous from the movement, if she kept herself focused only on his face, and the new horns her eyes kept getting drawn to, and not the giant room that spun around them.

Unfortunately, she did eventually make the mistake of glancing to the side, and felt a sudden rush of vertigo flip her stomach over. She squeezed her eyes shut and bent over slightly. “Oh, god—”

Christopher slowed to a stop, suddenly sounding concerned. The violin paused in its playing as well. “Was that…too much? Are you alright?” 

Danny took in a deep breath and forced her eyes to open again as she gasped for air. “I-I’m fine, it was just…we were moving so fast…”

“I’m sorry,” he murmured gently. “I didn’t take into account how disorienting it must feel at your size.” He looked thoughtful. “Maybe…I’ll move a little slower. I could try taking smaller steps.”

She nodded wearily. “Much appreciated.” 

He nodded towards the violin again, which resumed the music at a slightly slower tempo. This time, Christopher took steps about half the size of the ones previously, moving in a much smaller circle as he stepped along to the music. 

This was, indeed, much more tolerable. Danny was tempted to look down towards his feet to see what the steps were and try to copy them, but she was not feeling brave enough. Instead, she began to sway slightly to the music, keeping the same rhythm that Christopher whispered. One, two, three, one, two, three.

“This is the part where you’d twirl around,” he said with a smirk, slightly adjusting the way his fingers held her hands to be positioned above her head as he stood still. “Go ahead and try it, doll.” 

The nickname had dwindled down from a source of massive irritation to nothing but a mild annoyance at worst—it felt more like the same kind of playful tease she and Nathan would exchange. She sneered back at him. “Yeah, sure, bastard.” 

She complied with his request, holding very securely to his fingers as she carefully, very carefully, turned around in place—certainly not the most graceful motion, but she prioritized not falling to her death over grace. 

Even so, it prompted a wide smile from Christopher, who resumed the steps from earlier—every now and then pausing and lifting his fingers slightly to encourage her to twirl. They both began to get lost in the steps and the music, Danny turning every ounce of her focus to the moves. Once she got used to it and realized that she really was unlikely to fall while Christopher held her—or perhaps she’d simply forgotten about the floor below her entirely—Danny found herself laughing, filled with a carefree sort of joy as she let Christopher demonstrate the dance, and joined in with what little ability she had to contribute. 

Later, the memory of this evening would be but a swirl of motion and color, the dark blue of Christopher’s suit and the glint of his horns in the candlelight, the faint echo of a violin—but it would not be something soon forgotten, perhaps not for the rest of Danny’s life. 

She would remember that rush of ecstasy—the feeling of a true friendship beginning to be kindled in the most unlikely of places, with the most unlikely of people. 

When the music finally stopped, reaching its crescendo before one last, drawn-out note faded to silence, Danny was out of breath—but she didn’t want to stop now. She didn’t want it to end, not yet.

Christopher bent his head down as he continued to hold onto her hands, only slightly out of breath himself and grinning widely with his eyes closed. “Did you have fun?” he whispered, between breaths.

His low voice was much closer to her than before, almost close enough to raise the hair on the back of her neck. It surrounded her like a blanket—comforting, in a strange way. She normally didn’t like people getting close to her, but for now, she’d make an exception.

“I…I did,” she admitted with a laugh. “Thanks for not dropping me.” 

His head bent even further down until his forehead rested ever so gently against the top of her head. She could feel each soft exhale across her skin as his breathing began to even out. It was such a foreign experience that she found she couldn’t move or react at all—she was stuck, breathless, in awe of the way that Christopher was so utterly huge and all-encompassing, yet so gentle at the same time.

“I told you that you can trust me,” he whispered, almost…affectionately.

All of a sudden—like the soft silence in the air had been sliced with a knife—she could feel the giant’s entire body stiffen around her, and he drew his face away from her quickly, as if he hadn’t realized how close he had gotten. His face seemed slightly more pale than before.

“Are…you alright?” she asked, cautiously trying to determine what had startled him to such a degree.

He wasn’t trying to like…KISS me or something, right? That would be so awkward, oh my god, I should have told him I’m not interested in him that way—

“I’m fine,” he replied stiffly. He put on a charming smile—but something about it seemed only skin-deep, not reaching his eyes. “I think it might be time to retire for the night, though.” 

Without another word passed between them, Christopher carried Danny back to her bedroom and set her down on the bed, giving her a short bow of his head before he turned to leave.

“Hey!” 

Christopher stopped, but didn’t turn to face her.

She stared at the giant’s back pensively, a little worry beginning to creep into her. “Thank you, for tonight. It was fun.” 

He was still for a moment before he turned halfway towards her, the ghost of a grin tugging at his face. “I should be thanking you for indulging me. I had a wonderful time, truly.” She noticed his grin falter only a little before he turned away again. “Sleep well, Danny.” 

She stared after the door that closed behind him. What's wrong with him?

She would not get an answer to that question for another week—unbeknownst to Danny, an entire week past Christopher’s self-imposed deadline to keep his curse at bay. 

It was not enough time for either to prepare for what would happen as a result. 

* * * * * * * * * *

Next chapter ->

Thank you for reading! Now things are going to start ramping up.

Next week, Chapter 12: The Beast.

[sunskate]

CPom on This Week in Skating Podcast, March 13, 2024

(highlights, or at least what struck me)

C: it's really exciting and such an honor to be 2nd in the US, such a strong skating country. but this season, we're really not focused on results, scores or outcome -we're just focused on skating to the best of our ability, and we know that's enough to get us where we want to be ... with those skates we would have been happy regardless of where we would have ended up. and really we went into that week wanting to skate those programs like we know we can

about their coaches: A: Madi is one of a kind ...the influence she's had on our team is a lot. i don't think i can imagine training without her. and Adrian and Scott, the 3 of them together, they're just fantastic

C: we're so happy with our coaches. we've created such a good team dynamic. Madi- she's everything, i love her so much ... i don't think we'd be having the seasons we're having if it wasn't for them. the plans they've created for us, the programs, the way we interact with each other, it all comes together really easily and works really well, so we're really happy with where we are

the strain of back to back Nats and 4CC: A: it's draining to be on top and focused for 2 weeks straight... but overall we're really happy. the coaches did a very good job preparing us. our runthrough plan was set so that we wouldn't even peak at Nationals, we'd peak at 4CC ...so there was more fatigue at the performances in Columbus. fun experience but extremely tiring and draining

C: ...when we got off that 17 hour flight, it was unreal (laughs)... it was a good learning experience. we got to Nationals and practiced Tuesday, finished Saturday night. we flew Monday morning to China. then practiced from Wednesday, finished competing Sunday. Sunday was just a crazy day - i swear we lived 3 days in one day- we had the competition, the gala the banquet, it was never ending. it was a really good and really fun 2 weeks. just very draining emotionally. physically we were fine- the runthroughs were easy-ish (laughs) just emotionally a lot

did you get some time to come down after those 2 weeks? C: we landed Tuesday morning at 6 am and we were on the ice Thursday morning

asks about Perfume - C: watched Anna Scherbakova's short to Perfume -the music was eerie but beautiful a different vibe - i really liked it. sent it to Anthony, then coaches. Adrian loved the music, had wanted to do a program to it himself. the next day- they played the music on the ice and we did our spin to the music we currently do our spin to, and everyone was like ooh this might work

(Anthony hasn't seen the movie yet) - did you come up with your own story instead? A: so there were mutiple options still on the table and the coaches hadn't [picked Perfume definitely], and Sam Chouinard came into town, and we decided to play around off the ice and make a short movie just exploring the story and possibilities, and we came up with one about the 5 senses... we played that movie for the coaches, and that was the pushing factor in choosing the free dance

what did you think of the 80s for the RD this year? C: i think it's really fun...the style of movement is really different from what we've done A: overall a great success

how did you choose Stevie Nicks? C: Sam brought us a whole playlist... we had a few ideas and we wanted to see what he was inspired by, and that was one of the pieces. he had a different way of moving to it, and the combos he made were really cool, we really liked them. it was really different from what we were used to, so we thought that could be a good direction for us that would push us in the intensity...

A: it comes back to that one week with Sam which is so special. both programs are heavily influenced by him, it was an honor to work with him this year, it was a lot of fun

(Sam came to Komoka for their week)

thinking of MTL Worlds - Christina, you're from MTL - what are you looking forward to the most C: it's nice bc a lot of my family can come and watch. the Bell Centre - it's so cool we get to skate in that - i saw a hockey game, i saw Stars on Ice, i would go see Disney on Ice - getting to skate in it is really cool

places to eat near the Bell Centre - C: i'm geographically challenged, idk where things are. Anthony's usually the one that gets me places. but anyplace in MTL is good, you can't really go wrong

A: i definitely recommend the biodome - Zak Lagha took me to that - there are 4 different habitats with a bunch of animals- capybaras -

C: you have to go see the capybaras!

how's training going for Worlds? C: we tweaked what we wanted to tweak, so now ramping it up (this was around Feb. 19) just started runthroughs today

A: we started our competition season end of July, so we're looking forward to finally ending this one

[zimulacrum]

Total Drama Camp Island au

Fuck it. Au where Camp Wawanakwa is a Theatre camp. Chris is the director, Chef is the technical director. Mixing Gen 1 and Gen 2, the cast and crew splits up like this:

(PS, if two people have the same role, it’s just double cast.)

CAST

Alejandro - Joined because he enjoyed theatre as a class. He easily gets roles, though his charm is sometimes seen as an unfair advantage to others so he doesn’t audition much.

NOTABLE ROLES

the Phantom

the SQUIP

Emmett Forrest

Rocky

Kenickie Murdoch

Sierra - Joined because OBVIOUSLY she wants a place to nerd out! She gets good roles because she’s one of the only people who put all her emotions and being into her lines AND songs.

NOTABLE ROLES

Sandy Cheeks

Jenna Rolland

Columbia

Ronette

Delia Deetz

Duncan - I can’t decide whether he joined as a joke, or if his parents forced him to hang out with other teens. Maybe both. But surprisingly, he’s a good actor—AND can, surprisingly, do an incredible Mr. Krabs impression. He also constantly fights with crew to not wear a wig, keeping his mohawk onstage.

NOTABLE ROLES

Mr. Krabs

Jake Dillinger

Eddie

Orin Scrivello

Beetlejuice???

Tyler - Joined because he thought it would be like High School Musical. His roles are never big, but he has fun with them and always treats them like they’re the lead.

NOTABLE ROLES

Patchy the Pirate

one of the businessmen that purchases an Audrey II

Harold - He WOULD be a threatre kid if he could. He auditions with rapping EVERY TIME. And it works for him.

NOTABLE ROLES

Sheldon J. Plankton

Kevin G

Riff Raff

Geoff - Joined as a dare, and ended up loving it. He’s super chill about cast lists, and whatever he ends up with, he makes sure it’s including Bridgette.

NOTABLE ROLES

Patrick Star/Larry the Lobster/Gary the Snail

Damien Hubbard

Heather - She likes being in the spotlight. She expects roles, and she gets roles. .. not always. She’s typecast as the mean girl.

NOTABLE ROLES

Chloe Valentine

Regina George

Magenta

Vivian Kensington

Betty Rizzo

Lindsay - Loves movies and musicals and wants to be like that!! But she usually forgets her lines… and when she does, they’re all from Mean Girls. Even if she’s doing Rocky Horror, she’ll say her Karen Smith lines. Oh well.

NOTABLE ROLES

Karen Smith

Paulette Bonafonté

Frenchy Facciano

Leshawna - She has a big voice, so she’ll join to get big roles. Although, she’s never really cast in dance heavy roles…

NOTABLE ROLES

Pearl Krabs

Janice Ian

Audrey II/Chiffon

Elle Woods

Owen - He thought theatre camp could be fun! He has a surprisingly nice voice, and is just really good at embodying characters.

NOTABLE ROLES

SpongeBob SquarePants/Patrick Star

Michael Mell

Noah - “Joined as a joke”. He secretly really wanted to. He has the gay theatre kid energy here… his voice is also quite pleasant.

NOTABLE ROLES

Squidward Tentacles

Adam Maitland

Brad Majors

Warner Huntington III

Trent - Joined for fun since he had a free summer. He always brings his guitar, and sometimes plays it for script read throughs.

NOTABLE ROLES

an Electric Skate

Aaron Samuels

Cody - Family got him to join. They hoped he could get really cute roles, and he acts like he doesn’t care. He does.

NOTABLE ROLES

SpongeBob SquarePants/Old Man Jenkins

Seymour Krelborn

Bridgette - A friend suggested she signed up, so she did—tries to get a couples role with Geoff ever since they got together.

NOTABLE ROLES

Mayor of Bikini Bottom

Brooke Lohst

Janice Ian

Brooke Wyndham

Courtney - She’s done every subject and activity, of COURSE she’ll try theatre! She’s destined to be a star! She takes everything extremely seriously. And if she doesn’t get the role she wants… it’s scary.

NOTABLE ROLES

Christine Daae

Jenna Rolland

Gretchen Weiners

Vivian Kensington

Barbara Maitland

Crystal

Katie and Sadie - They picked a summer camp they wanted to do together, chose this, and auditioned for EVERYTHING together. They don’t really do roles that aren’t a duo.

NOTABLE ROLES

the Delta Nu girls

Justin - Decided to join because he assumed he’d get roles IMMEDIATELY for how he looked. He did not.

NOTABLE ROLES

an Electric Skate

Kyle the delivery man

Cameron - His mom suggested he joined a theatre camp because it felt “safe”—plus, he can actually sing and dance pretty well, since he grew up with his mom’s disco music.

NOTABLE ROLES

Seymour Krelborn

Anne Maria - She REALLY wants a shot at being a lead in a musical, but is painfully… tone deaf. But she’s pretty good at dancing, actually!

NOTABLE ROLES

Cha-Cha DiGregorio

Mike - His psychiatrist suggested he take a theatre camp, since his excuse for his switches is that he just “likes to act”. In reality, Mike… doesn’t really like acting. He’ll take one role, but all his others are usually done by… not. Him.

NOTABLE ROLES

Jeremy Heere

Beetlejuice (Mal)

Danny Zuko (Vito)

Zoey - She actually loves musicals! Big theatre kid! She can make her own costumes and knows way too much about the shows she’s in, but barely says anything about it because she’s nervous about appearing as weird.

NOTABLE ROLES

Karen

Christine Canigula

Cady Heron

Chutney Wyndham

Janet Weiss

Lydia Deetz

Sandy Olsson

Lightning - Joined by accident. He doesn’t know where he is. He likes the attention, though.

NOTABLE ROLES

an Electric Skate

Brick - He was too nervous to join theatre at school, so he tried a summer camp no one had ever heard of… and it was perfect!

NOTABLE ROLES

Perch Perkins

Dr. Scott

Scott - Joined as a joke. Auditions as a joke. Usually tries to get someone to mess up a line or say the M word onstage…

NOTABLE ROLES

Rich Goranski

Dakota - OOOFF COOUURRSEEE she has to be center stage! Of COURSE! It’s not Broadway, but this’ll do!

NOTABLE ROLES

Brooke Wyndham

Miss Argentina

Dawn - (is usually crew)

NOTABLE ROLES

Audrey

CREW

DJ - paints sets!

Eva - helps with exercises and choreography!

Gwen - head of makeup!

Izzy - she does the practical effects/special effects/visuals!

Courtney - she has FOUGHT with Chris and Chef to be allowed to act and do crew at the same time. she does lights. do NOT let her be stage manager.

Ezekiel - also pants sets!

Beth - assists in costuming!

Cameron - prop master!

Mike - when he can avoid acting, he helps Cam!

Dawn - she’s an assistant stage manager, and always knows who’s playing what before the cast list gets written somehow…

B - to save money on hiring various companies for flying or using other big machinery, he handles that himself.

Sam - sound master!

Brick - when he’s not acting, he works on being head of costumes!

Jo - stage manager!

PPS. I know most of these are adult shows, but do you think Chris gives a shit

[zarvasace]

7/11/23

dazzling diamond danger (5/6)

Yay! We have an end goal! I think this will end tomorrow! :) This chapter is about 2.3k? Anyway I'll post it under the cut because of AO3 being down, though it'll go there when things calm down. You'll miss out on some italics, and there will be extra spaces between paragraphs, but oh well. Enjoy for now! EDIT: got it up on AO3, here's the link for future reference

---

Warriors couldn't relax. The clock in the corner ticked on, as if to remind him over and over that three Heroes were missing. 

Wind, Legend, and Four had a room in a separate portion of the castle, which made Warriors nervous, but he hadn't pushed because the staff was already harried with the ball and other guests, and with so many people around, he'd assumed that the three wouldn't be targeted as related to him. For all the work he'd done to clear out traitors and assassins, he knew a few sleepers remained that hated him. 

He could only hope that those three hadn't run afoul of anyone like that. 

As much as Warriors enjoyed socializing, balls could be difficult. He was a public figure, and generally copied Zelda at these things, staying rather aloof from all the guests with a glass of wine in his hand that he rarely sipped on. The glass made it harder to sign, but it also kept people from asking him to dance, where it was impossible to sign. He only enjoyed that with people he knew and trusted.

He didn't want to dance right now, anyway. A pit burned in his stomach. Those three wouldn't have gone down easily, but no guards reported hearing anything like a fight. 

"Wars," someone said, and Warriors turned to see Twilight and Hyrule, who had volunteered to do some investigative work. His heart rose, then fell at the expressions they wore. 

"We found this." Twilight raised the fabric in his hand, a pleasant spring green hat. 

Warriors made a face and took the hat. Legend's. He glanced up at Twilight, eyebrows raised in a question. 

Twilight shrugged. "Nothing else. It was shoved under a couch in a little parlor. Wolfie tracked them down to tunnels under the castle, but there was only a single path from there to the dining room."

"I think they're outside the castle," Hyrule added. He looked rather nice, if Warriors could say so. Warriors himself had handpicked nearly everything that Hyrule wore, though Hyrule had vetoed a few things based on texture and fit. The lavender and red didn't seem like they would work together, but Hyrule's complexion brought it all together. 

His news didn't make Warriors very happy. Warriors nodded and pressed his lips together, thinking. He handed the hat back to Twilight and his glass of wine off to a servant. 

'We need to find them, sooner rather than later. The others?'

"We need to find them, sooner rather than later," Twilight repeated for Hyrule. He nodded. "I agree. Time and Sky are off questioning people, and Wild's wandering the castle halls."

'Alone?'

"He has Impa with him," Hyrule added, anticipating the worry. 

Warriors let out a breath. He nodded again. 'There isn't much else we can do right now,' he signed, with Twilight echoing him out loud. 'Someone needs to stay here in case they get back.'

"Twi and I can go back to the tunnels," Hyrule volunteered. "Find Wolfie again, maybe, and see if there's another clue."

'Check back in here in an hour,' Warriors told them. 'So if someone else goes missing, we'll know quickly.'

The other two left, dodging dancers and serving people. The orchestra played beautiful music that lilted over everyone's heads, but at the moment, it grated on Warriors's ears. 

Damn it all. He'd wanted to give them a nice evening, with an excuse to dress up, eat some indulgent food, and forget about fighting for a while. Instead, three of their brothers were missing, and nobody could relax. 

A determined-looking young woman in a sky blue dress stepped around a nearby group of nobles, and Warriors hurried to go get more wine from the servants around Zelda. 

---

When Wind and Legend heard Four's call, they opened the closet door to see Four sitting on top of one of the noble Darby's bodyguards that had stayed behind to guard them. The bodyguard's chest rose and fell, but he didn't move. 

Four, now full-sized (for him), smiled up at them like a cat, though Wind didn't think he'd appreciate the comparison. "Your bag's on the hook there, Legend," he said, pointing. "Can I get my chair back, please?" 

"Yeah." Legend put his hand on the textured wallpaper to steady himself as he reached up to pick his bag off the hook by the closet door. He rummaged inside. 

They were very lucky it had been dumped so close by. Wind had worried for a bit there. He went to check the bodyguard's pulse. 

"You got him good," Wind said. Strong pulse, oozing head wound. 

"You'd be surprised what lengths someone will go to to get a mouse out of their hair." Four sounded distracted, and accepted Legend's help getting back into his wheelchair. He didn't often use the buckle across the hips, but he did them up tonight. 

Wind smiled. "That's what you did?" 

"Harder than it sounds," Four laughed. He tugged the tie out of his hair and ran his fingers through it, smoothing it down somewhat. "Where to now?" 

Legend shook his cane out of its collapsed state and pointed down the dim hallway. "There's noise the other way, so I say that this way is a study. We need to be stealthy."

"Oh, don't worry," Wind said as they started to move. "We're so stealthy. Did you put your cane in your bag, too?"

"Right before getting grabbed, yeah, I didn't want them to take it or break it. I put way too much effort into these enchantments."

"At least we have one weapon," Four sighed. "I'm such an idiot for leaving my sword. I should have realized that I wouldn't be able to keep my mind off of it."

Wind reached into his jacket and pulled out one of his knives, the one he'd purchased in Skyloft. It had a beautiful handle inlaid with cloud-shaped opal. "Two weapons."

Legend tucked his cane in his belt to rummage through his bag. "What do you want, Four? Fire rod? Oh, wait, Wars still has that." 

"I thought we decided against arson anyway."

"We decided against heavy arson as a solution," Wind said. "A bit of fire won't hurt."

"Boomerang?" Legend asked, pulling out a yellow one. 

"Sure." Four took it, hefted it, and Wind was scared now. 

The three of them crept through the mansion, mostly following Legend's lead. Wind wasn't familiar with big houses like this, with dark wood paneling and themed rooms, but he figured that Legend had a bit more experience with them, since he chose doors and hallways confidently. 

Wind had worried a little about Four's wheelchair being loud, but he shouldn't have. The noise came from a few jingling bits and squeak of the wheels, no more than Legend with his cane charms or Wind with the wooden click of his foot. 

His stomach rumbled. He smiled sheepishly at the halfhearted sharp look Legend sent him. 

They seemed to be alone in the mansion, or at least in this part of it, so Wind dared to speak. 

"Hey. Legend. You mentioned a cake in your bag for a week," he whispered.  "Why did you carry a cake in your bag for a week?" 

"Got caught up in a fetch quest for a witch," Legend whispered back. 

"A witch wanted a cake?" Four asked. 

"No, she wanted frogs."

Wind grinned. Legend had a lot of stories, but he could very, very bad at telling them sometimes, especially when distracted. Like right now. "So why did you have the cake?" 

"Hilda made it."

"Legend," Four sighed. "Could you start at the beginning?" 

Legend glanced at him, eyes shining with a bit of mischief. "I was born on the day that cherry blossoms—"

"Legend!" Wind covered his mouth to keep in his snort. 

"Okay, okay. Hilda made a cake for Zelda. Some girl friendship thing, I don't know why. I was on my way to deliver it when the witch of the woods landed right in front of me and said she needed frogs, or she'd turn me into a frog. Now, it's a documented fact that I dislike being small animals without hands—"

"It is?" Wind asked, confused. 

Legend barreled on. "—and that witch can be nice but also fickle, so really, I had no choice but to leave the cake in there for a week while I found her the requisite number of frogs."

They approached a large, dark wooden door carved with stags. 

"That's a fun story," Four said. "But I'm confused about the, and I quote, 'documented fact that you hate—'"

"This is the study." Legend interrupted, putting his hand on the brass door knob and turning. "We'll find our evidence in here."

Wind and Four exchanged a look. They'd press him later. 

The study was dark, like most of the house, and not just because of the light. The decor itself seemed to exude an aura of malevolence, for all that it was deer- and nature-themed. Wind would have thought that it would be pretty and cute inside, but the paintings were all a bit gory, and two taxidermied deer heads hung on the walls. That in itself wasn't bad, but combined with everything else? Weird. 

Legend lit the oil lamp on the desk.

"I'll check the desk," Wind said as the door closed behind them. 

Legend headed for the back wall. "I've got the cabinet."

"So I'll look at everything else." Four started on the chest of drawers by the door. He opened one drawer, then picked out something tan and threw it at Wind, who caught it with his face. It smelled like coffee. "A bag to throw everything in."

Wind pulled the fabric off his face and gave Four a dirty look, receiving another catlike smile in return. With a shake of his head, Wind unfolded the conveniently-shaped tote bag and sat down in the very fancy leather armchair to look through the desk. 

He saw a lot of old pens, miscellaneous scraps of paper, a few logbooks… and lots and lots of suspicious-looking receipts. He ended up piling as much as he could into the bag, feeling it get heavier and heavier with paper. Legend dropped a stack in there, too, tied with a bit of twine. 

"I think that's all I can carry," Wind said once the pile in the bag reached the lip. He looped both straps over his elbow. Heavy, yes, but not to the point he couldn't carry it. 

"I didn't find anything immediately incriminating." Four shut a trunk under one of the gory deer paintings and shot a distrustful look up at the frame. "Besides these. I'm weirded out."

"Let's go, then," Legend said. He left Wind with the bag and opened the study door again. 

A woman stood on the other side, dressed in a servant's uniform, with narrow shoulders and a sharp chin. Her hand hovered over where the doorknob had been. She and Legend stared at each other for a moment, and then her eyes roamed around the study. 

Legend slammed the door in her face and threw the deadbolt, swearing. 

"Roberts?" Four guessed, his voice a hiss. 

"Yep. Great timing." 

Wind's heart rate rose, and he swallowed. The motion scraped up against the bruises. "Other door, then." He spun around and threw open the smaller door to the side, revealing a wide servant's staircase down to what looked like a door to the outside. 

"Actually?" Wind said. "Score. We're out."

"Stairs?" Four winced, looking down. 

Legend bumped the hand of his cane against the doorframe, collapsing it again, and he shoved it into his belt. "Wind, hand Four the bag, we're grabbing his chair with him in it."

"Uh…"

Wind nodded, seeing what Legend did: they didn't have time to do anything else, and Four was light enough that it would work. He dumped the bag in Four's lap and squared his shoulders. 

Four engaged the brake levers on the front, locking the wheels in place, face pale but set. He wrapped his arms around the bag in his lap. "Be careful."

The big door to the study behind them clicked as, presumably, the woman worked the lock with a pick. 

"Ready," Legend said, finding things to hold on the back and bottom of the chair. Wind did the same and nodded. "Go."

They lifted. The whole thing was heavier than the bag alone, but manageable with handholds and a partner. Wind had to step carefully, looking where he placed his feet. Legend called out every stair step so they descended evenly.

With two steps left, the door above them opened. Wind glanced upward to see the woman thief, Roberts, standing at the top of the stairs, face twisted. She started down the stairs after them. 

Wind swore, just a bit louder, and he and Legend fell out of sync for the last few feet. Four grunted as they all but dropped him. 

"Sorry, sorry," Wind said. "We gotta go."

"At the risk of sounding cliche and rude," Four said, pulling his brakes off, "duh." 

Legend pulled out his cane again, yanked open the door, and shuffled the two of them out into the courtyard. Wind grabbed a nearby garden chair and wedged it under the door handle to buy them a bit more time. 

"Come on, come on, come on!" Wind called, and the three of them dashed across the grassy courtyard into the dark stone city, a probably-murderous thief that abetted insurance fraud right behind them, her white servant's bonnet floating in her wake like a bird. 

[lonesome-witching]

Stay With Me

Thank you for the anonymous prompt of Nancy trying to figure out how to say 'stay with me' without saying 'stay with me' to Robin. This is one of two versions of the prompt because I got a bit carried away and had many different ideas, although they all were slightly similar.

You can always send me prompts here.

It hadn’t been a conscious decision. They had gotten out of the Upside Down, covered in blood and sweat and Upside Down goo which smelled like death and decay. They were hurt and tired and feeling the loss punch into them. They had to leave Eddie on the ground. They hadn’t had time to drag him to the gate. Dustin had screamed and cried, Steve had to lift him up and push him back to safety. As if any place was safe anymore. The world had been destroyed, Eddie was dead and Max was… Max was alive, and that had to be enough for now.

And so none of them had decided to go back to the Wheeler’s house. No one had made that decision, they had just been dragged there. Nancy was okay with it. They snuck in through the back door, careful not to wake up Ted or Karen or worst of all, Holly. Nancy had pushed Dustin into the bathroom first, throwing in some of Mike’s clothes after him. When he came out she told him to sleep in Mike’s room, no one would mind. Steve showered next. Quick and quiet, not saying a word when he came out in his battle outfit, ripped and dirty. But his hair was wet and his skin was clean. He had made his way back down the stairs and into the basement without needing to be told. 

And that left Nancy and Robin. The two of them performing a seemingly choreographed dance of who got to shower first. Maybe if either of them had been brave enough or if either of them had been more of a coward, they’d have showered together.

“Go ahead.” Robin pointed at the open bathroom door. 

“You can go first if you want. You are the guest.” Nancy shot back easily, taking a step back to emphasize her point. 

“Well, I think you should go first.” 

Nancy sighed. She could feel the coat of dirt becoming a second skin and couldn’t wait to shed it. So, she nodded and walked into the bathroom. The water was hot but she didn’t mind. She scrubbed and scrubbed until the dirt had been flushed down the drain and the skin below was red and raw and sensitive. When she got back into the hallway, dressed in a pair of pajamas that felt too thin, making her vulnerable, Robin was no longer there. Nancy felt her body return to crisis mode, her muscles tensing up and her mind hyper aware of every single sound in the house. She could hear her dad snoring and Dustin crying and a music box with a twirling ballerina in her room. 

“There you are.” Nancy entered her room to find Robin holding her music box like she had done just a few days ago. 

“There’s a little ballerina in here. I just can’t get over that.” She laughed and closed it. “My turn?” 

“Yes, do you need some clothes?” 

“I’m not sure what to reply here, Nance. Last time I borrowed your clothes was torture to the highest degree.” Robin held up her hand as Nancy opened her mouth. “Yes, I’m aware of the implications of that comment but you do not realize how hard that bra was pinching my boobs and that blouse was so itchy.” A shiver ran down Robin’s spine as she spoke. 

“You are exaggerating. And frankly, it is hurting my feelings.” Nancy smiled brightly as she spoke. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, Nance. I didn’t mean to say anything that could possibly inflict even the slightest of negative emotions on you.” Robin fell to her knees. “Is there any way a poor girl like me could be granted your forgiveness?” 

Nancy laughed, slightly too loud, way too carefree. “I’ll grab you something to wear. Now, get in the bathroom, you’re filthy.” 

Robin got back up to her feet, saluting Nancy before rushing toward the bathroom. Nancy could hear the water running and Robin softly humming. She grabbed a shirt that Jonathan had left before he went to California and a pair of sweatpants that were slightly too big on her. The door to the bathroom stood ajar. Nancy swallowed, calming down her shaking hands as she entered the room to place the clothes next to the shower. And then she waited. Sat on her bed, staring at the music box, thinking. Thinking about Max in a hospital bed, fighting for her life. Thinking about Eddie on the dirty ground of the Upside Down, covered in bat bites. Thinking about Barb, covered in vines, shouting her name. 

“These clothes are much better. No complaints this time.” Robin stepped into the room, staring at the shirt she had on. “I’m assuming I’ll be sharing the basement with Steve?” 

And Nancy wanted to shout no, wanted to ask her to not go downstairs, wanted to ask her to stay. “Sure, do you have everything you need?” 

“I think so.” Robin smiled. “Thanks for the clean clothes, I don’t know how Steve is going to cope sleeping in his battle outfit.”

“He probably won’t. When we were dating he used to sleep naked.” 

“Ew, no, I don’t want that picture in my head.” Robin grimaced and Nancy smiled. 

“You could stay up here. I have some extra pillows.” Please say yes. Please stay. Stay with me. Don’t leave me. 

“I wouldn’t want to impose.” She stretched out the last word. 

“You should know that the basement is quite cold though.” Oh God, she was being obvious. 

“I run hot when I sleep so, I’m sure it’s fine.” 

But she didn’t want it to be fine. She didn’t want Robin to leave her alone in this pink room, with her too big bed and the posters on the wall staring at her. She wanted Robin to stay with her, crawl into bed with her, hold her until the morning forced them apart. “Are you sure you don’t need anything else? A glass of water or something?” 

“I’ll pass by the kitchen on my way down.” Robin shrugged. 

“Okay, good. Great. Goodnight.” Nancy stared as Robin turned around. She was starting to leave the room. Two more steps and she’d round the corner and walk down the stairs and Nancy wasn’t sure why she needed Robin to stop and she definitely wasn’t sure why she couldn’t just ask her to but both of those things were true. 

Please, turn around, she thought. Please, stay with me. I don’t want you to leave like everyone else has left me. Like Jonathan left me when he went to California, when he didn’t return to Hawkins for spring break. She might have pushed Steve away and the kids and her own parents but she had always had Jonathan and now that he was gone she felt so alone. She had felt so alone until Robin stood by her side, listened to her ideas, held her hand. And now Robin was standing in the doorway and she was about to leave too and Nancy needed her to stay. 

Robin stopped. She stood in the doorway, facing the hallway, seemingly debating what the best course of action was here. And then she turned around. “Are you okay though? Is there anything you need?” She asked. 

“I-” Nancy just looked into Robin's deep blue eyes. I need you. 

“You know you can ask for help too, right? You don’t always need to be strong, you are allowed to let down your guard, let others comfort you for a change.” Robin took another step into the room. 

“Do you think you could stay?” She wasn’t sure what she was asking. She wasn’t even sure what she wanted. But she did know that Robin was the only person that understood her, the only person that could take this loneliness away.  

“Of course. I’ll stay as long as you want me to.”