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youareinlovees · 3 years

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Taylor and Joe in 2022

January 2nd – The local media spots Taylor’s jet in Tahiti and publishes an article about it.

January 7-8th – Joe and Taylor depart Tahiti and briefly stop in Atlanta and London before heading to Cornwall. (x)

(Since it’s rumoured that they recently stopped renting their place in Belsize Park, it’s possible that they’re moving to Cornwall but we don’t know for sure.)

A few years ago, a fan talked about being mutual friends with Joe’s best mate’s fianceé and said Joe and Taylor had gone on a couples trip with their friends to Cornwall. (x)

(Joe saying that it’s his favourite place in July 2021:)

January 12th – Taylor’s 2nd jet also goes to Cornwall from Nash, and it’s fairly likely that it’s her family visiting them.

January 13th – The main jet flies from Cornwall to London and then to Nashville, presumably to park.

January 28th – Joe and Taylor leave the UK for New York City. It’s possible that they went because he has to be there for CWF-related reasons, especially since he liked co-star Sasha Lane’s post about being in NYC.

January 30th – Taylor, Joe and Patrick are spotted having dinner at Dowling's at The Carlyle in NYC.

Via lilystewartttt on TikTok:

“And he sends me this, [Taylor’s] eating with Joe, he’s not in this picture. There she is! Obviously my friend wanted to say hi, get a photo and whatever, but he was respectful of her space. Also, her security was staring his ass down but he had to snap a pic for the girls”

February 9 - At the Hulu TCA panel, Joe is asked about the themes of polyamory in his upcoming show, Conversations with Friends, and responds

I think people should do whatever makes them happy. I’m obviously happy in a monogamous relationship.

February 18 - ET Online shares an article describing the dynamics of Taylor and Joe’s relationship to respond to the engagement rumors. According to the source, most likely Taylor’s publicist, Taylor and Joe ‘have been enjoying their time as a couple [and] have spoken about their future together and feel very secure about their relationship.’

March 10 - Alex Cameron, Jemima Kirke’s partner, thanks both Taylor and Joe in the liner notes of his new album and later tweets about it.

March 13 - Taylor and Joe are spotted having dinner with Dylan O’Brien at One White Street in New York City.

March 27 - Taylor and Joe are spotted at the pre-Oscars party hosted by CAA, Joe’s agency. According to a source at ET Online, they hang out with Hailey Bieber and Zoe Kravitz. (x)

They were super cute together and looked very in love. Towards the beginning of the party, they hung out by the bar for a bit and were talking to people and being very friendly. [Taylor, Joe, Hailey, and Zoe] all stood together talking for around a half hour as a group.

April 19 - In an interview with Elle Magazine, Joe says it is ‘not a plan of [his]’ to continue writing songs under his pseudonym.

April 20 - In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Joe responds to engagement rumors: (x - this article is from People Magazine, since the WSJ interview is paywalled)

If I had a pound for every time I think I've been told I've been engaged, then I'd have a lot of pound coins. I mean, the truth is, if the answer was yes, I wouldn't say, and if the answer was no, I wouldn't say.

He also addresses their privacy and mentions spending early quarantine in LA, before confirming the origin story of the William Bowery pseudonym. It is a tribute to his grandfather, William Alwyn, and to the Bowery Hotel, where he ‘spent a lot of time when he first came to the US.’

Screenshot via @cages-boxes-hunters-foxes

April 30 - Joe’s new interview with The Guardian comes out. He discusses a few aspects of their relationship, starting with their privacy and Taylor’s fame.

“It’s not something I think about, unless I’m in situations like this, and someone says, ‘What’s it like?’ and I have to think about what to say about it.”

“It’s just not for other people, and I don’t say that with aggression.”

I tell him I watched a nine-minute compilation on YouTube that collected everything they had said about their relationship in public into one handy video. “Well, I hope that was illuminating,” he says, drily. It wasn’t, actually. “That doesn’t surprise me, because I don’t know what people would be going off.”

“I don’t know how best to talk about it. I mean, I’m aware of people’s … of that size of interest, and that world existing. It’s just not something I particularly care about, or have much interest in feeding, I guess, because the more it’s fed, the more you are opening a gate for intrusion.” He is aware that this makes him sound guarded. “I think that’s just my response to a culture that has this increasing expectation that everything is going to be given. If you don’t post about the way you make your coffee in the morning, or if you don’t let someone take a picture when you walk out of your front door, is that being private? I don’t know if it is. So I just don’t really feed that”

“If you and I were having a conversation, and having a shandy in my house, and it wasn’t being recorded, then, of course, other things would be said.”

[when asked about if he and Taylor mutually decided on a party line due to the similarity of the quote above to Taylor’s interview with the Guardian in 2019]: “Erm. It was just like, well, why? There are more interesting things to talk about and I just think it feeds into a weird part of the culture that I’m not really interested in being a part of.”

He also discussed their musical collaborations and his Grammy win:

“That was a surreal bonus of lockdown. That’s an understatement.”

“It wasn’t like, ‘It’s five o’clock, it’s time to try and write a song together.’ It came about from messing around on a piano, and singing badly, then being overheard, and being, like, ‘Let’s see what happens if we get to the end of it together.’” He liked it because there were no expectations and no pressure. “I mean fun is such a stupid word, but it was a lot of fun. And it was never a work thing, or a ‘Let’s try and do this because we’re going to put this out’ thing. It was just like baking sourdough in lockdown.” But not everyone’s sourdough resulted in a Grammy. “The Grammy was obviously this ridiculous bonus.”

May 6 - In an interview with Graham Norton, Joe gets asked about winning a Grammy.

I have no idea [about the Grammy credit rules]. I don’t know. I think if you’re a part of it or part of something to a certain percentage of the album, then the Grammy’s on the way to you.

He also mentions childhood trips to Cornwall and the Beatles documentary Get Back. Taylor previously wore merch from the movie in her New Year’s TikTok.

#taylor and joe #swiftwyn #joe alwyn #taylor swift #jaylor #finally got around to doing this yasss

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dropofgoldensun · 3 years

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omg hiiiii i am here from cat (@luvdsc) wondering if you could offer any advice about college apps 🙏 especially about the uc piqs? thank you so much i hope ur doing well!!!!!!!!

yes yes hello friend !! 💝 miss cat directed you to me because i did my college apps last year !!! (yikes one year passed already?? why does that feel ages ago 🤧)

first of all, congratulations on making the decision to apply to college !! i know it’s been hard for a lot of people our age to figure out the college situation recently, so i’m proud of you for choosing to take the extra step this summer to buckle up and write those essays 💞

i’ve compiled a few tips on answering the PIQs (i was actually in the middle of typing this up when i received your ask haha), but some of them can be applied to other essays, as well !! they’re all under the cut (because, unfortunately, being brief is not my forte) 😊

(and for reference, the prompts i chose were #2 (creativity), #6 (subject), #7 (community), and #8 (anything) !!)

tip #1: understand the prompt.

before you even begin writing, it’s important to understand what the question is really asking. for the UC PIQs, this will look different depending on which four prompts you decide to do.

in question one, for example, they want to know about your skills in leading others, but notice that they’re also curious about your resolution abilities and teamwork experience. or in question two, they don’t want to know that you paint and that you love painting—they could be asking how resourceful you are, how you think outside the box when you have an idea.

once you know the question you’re going to be answering, you can move on to brainstorming!

tip #2: write down three (3) key takeaways.

these are like the most basic, not-even-a-sentence answers you would give to each question. so for me, in response to question eight (“what do you believe makes you stand out as a strong candidate for the UCs?”), my answers were perseverance, courage, and character. i had a story about that, so i wrote about my experience with martial arts.

i recommend you do something similar. decide on three things that you want to communicate to your audience, and write them in the footnote of your document. your goal is to cover all three points so that, if anyone were to read your essay, they would walk away understanding those three things about you.

i found this strategy really helpful for keeping my essay streamlined while writing—if a sentence didn’t relate to any of those main points, i would cut it since those words would take up valuable space in the word count. stay focused on what needs to be in this essay, and if you have extra words left in the word count later, you can add those details back in.

and once you’re done with your essay, make sure to refer back to your takeaways and check that you covered all of them sufficiently!

tip #3: highlight your stories.

i sent cat an ask a couple days ago with a few pictures of my response to an end-of-year college counseling survey that referenced this tip (you can find it here). basically i said that, when choosing what topics to write about, pick things that interest you! if you get excited talking about it, your audience should get excited about reading it, because they’ll pick up on the passions you have and then everyone’s excited !!! :D

i’ll tell you a secret: everyone you meet, everyone you see, has countless unique experiences that few others may have. me? i spend hours making mashups out of kpop songs. i earned my black belt years after a traumatizing experience during training. i get russian harry potter and spanish dr. seuss books from the library. and i created a collaborative online google photos album for my classmates that now has thousands of entries. although these aren’t necessarily unique to only me, they’re still special enough to the point where, when you put them all together, you get a better image of the person i am, and what i value.

so find a story, a habit, a hobby that makes you different, because i believe that everyone has them. give them some food for thought, or that one-liner that sticks in their brain and won’t go away. and remember: these stories don’t all have to be extraordinary—they should be about people or moments of special value to you, because that’s what matters.

personal tip: when i was brainstorming ideas, i decided that the best way to get ideas out there was to go on a rant (because sometimes it helps to just have a conversation with yourself !!) and i recorded myself, so i could replay what i said !! this was so so crucial to me finding my own voice for writing essays. notice the way you word things when you talk—a good line or two may make it into the final draft :)

i found it helpful to read sample essays as well! they give a lot of great ideas on the kinds of topics people write about. (also, it’s kind of fun, because who doesn’t love a good story?)

but the people reading your essay won’t be there to just enjoy your story; what they really want you to do is to tell them what you learned from your experience. they want to know whether you’re teachable and willing to grow both as a student and as a young adult. so make sure to take note of the life lessons you learned, experience you gained, character you built, etc.

minor tip on ending your essay: if you’re telling a story that happened in the past, then close with what you learned and how you can apply that to your life moving forward. if you’re telling a story that has no definite end yet (like a passion or dream you have), you probably don’t have everything figured out (and you can say that in your essay!), so it might be better to close with your hopes for the future.

tip #4: ask your family for help.

peer-editing is one of the most effective ways to detect errors and inconsistencies in your writing, because, after staring at your essay for so long, you might gloss over glaring contradictions. for all of my essays, i printed them out and asked my parents to help me revise them. we’d meet every other night (or every night, depending on how much time was left) to review and discuss improvements.

i actually kept some of those printed drafts (only the first and the final ones for comparison), and let me tell you from experience—you’re probably going to have a lot of drafts (i think the most i did was seven? but you don’t need to go that far!). this part of the process does take some time, so remember to be patient and kind to yourself :) these essays won’t happen overnight!

enlisting the help of others also helps keep you accountable. one of the struggles many seniors face while writing essays is just... setting aside time to do them. and even though the constant reminders from your parents will definitely get repetitive and a bit stress-inducing, i can tell you from personal experience that i’m so glad they did; otherwise, i don’t think i’d have my essays done in time :’)

while writing college essays is challenging, your family will be there supporting you each step of the way. chances are that they’ll have their own pointers to pass on to you, since they probably remember doing this process themselves! and, out of everyone in your life, they probably remember the most about you (because you probably don’t remember much when you were four or five), so they might have a couple starter ideas for topics when brainstorming. you can rely on them for their advice and their experience.

tip #5: self-editing.

here’s the part that takes the longest time.

use action words. this is probably something you’ve heard all throughout elementary school where they didn’t like you to say “said” because it was “boring”… but honestly, the difference between “doing my own version” and “infusing it with my personality” could go a long way. also, use words that you would actually use in an essay—then it’ll have your own special flair, and not sound like it’s taken from some stuffy 80s textbook!

here are some of the words i used (once again, you shouldn’t use these words if they don’t sound like something you’d write/say): potential, overlay, wrestle, launch, analogous, weave, infuse, experiment, outlet, revel, fascinate, satisfaction, pursue, expand, distinction, capture, range, archive, engage, beyond, build, adversity, cultivate, preserve, commit, explore, convey, naturally

also, be on the lookout for repeated words. i once wrote an essay without noticing that i used “hope” three times in the same paragraph. don’t do that! use synonyms :) personally, i tended to run short on synonyms, so i always kept a tab or two open on my computer reserved for searching up new words.

side note: unfortunately, during my search for synonyms, i discovered that thesaurus.com just didn’t give me what i was looking for. i highly recommend using wordhippo instead; it has so many more options and they’re grouped by the different definitions of your word! i found the synonyms i needed really quickly and it was very satisfying!

avoid the passive voice! my teacher gave me this tip for theses or any other college-level writing. here’s an example of the passive voice: “there was a large part of me that wanted to turn back.” that’s twelve words taking up precious space in your word count! instead, say something like, “i considered turning back.” you’ve just freed up eight words :)

tip #6: final revisions.

this is the step where you fine-tune your essays. meet that word count.

read your writing out loud. does it sound like you? it should. every writer has a different voice, and you need to ensure that yours is pervasive throughout your essay. feel free to use contractions—not only do they reduce your word count (this was a good thing for me, since i had a problem with getting under 350 words), but they also give a more casual tone to your essay, as if you’re telling a story to someone in the room.

next, pretend to be an admissions officer and have someone else read your essay to you. do you get excited hearing about this student who shares your name? if you do, there’s a good chance the real admissions officers will love your essays, too. this also gives you a chance to review to your essay as a whole. pay attention to the overall flow. is there a clear beginning and end? do you resolve the issues and overcome the trials you brought up? listen to it as if it’s a story, and take this time to enjoy what you’ve written. you worked hard!

final thoughts / encouragements.

oh my goodness, did we make it to the end? honestly if you did, thank you so much 🥺

okay but despite my relatively optimistic tone throughout this post, i’m still going to be honest with you—the college essay writing process is difficult. it requires you to look inside yourself and analyze the “why” behind some of the things that you love, and that isn’t easy to do at all. it’s intellectually and emotionally challenging, because not only do you need to use so much energy writing, but you also have to dig deeper to understand yourself, and that’s not easy, either.

but i wanted to encourage you, too. no matter what you may think of yourself at 12am, 2am, 4am writing these essays, believe you have a personality that others love and will love when they meet you. you are an interesting person with unique experiences who deserves to share your thoughts with others. you have so many people behind you, supporting you during these next few months. and when you find that you can’t write any more, remember to take time to care for yourself. have a warm shower. go to bed early. i could go on and on about why sleep is good for your brain but i’ll spare you the details in this post 😉

one last thing: keep the bigger picture in focus. remember, by december or january, you will be finished with most of the application process. that’s no small accomplishment. you can do it. 💝

i really hope you found tips that you were looking for, and that they’re applicable to your own PIQs and other essays !! if you have any other questions, feel free to send in another ask (i promise my response won’t be this lengthy LOL) 💘💓

oh, and if you feel comfortable enough reaching out about anything in particular, i’m only a DM away 💕 i wish you the best of luck on writing your essays and i hope you enjoy your final year of high school !! 💗🌸💟💖

#asks #college tips

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ooc-but-stylish · 3 years

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freezedive:

I think I said it in one of your other beautiful posts, but I thought I’d mention it again. All of the ridiculous cutscenes did give us a golden nugget of information on Luna that most of us who are brutally critical of her (like you and me), suspected all along: Luna openly admits to Gentiana that she doesn’t think she has anything to offer Noctis outside of being an oracle. And Gentiana makes it worse by speaking in fancy words by saying some bullshit about her being the oracle is her being human or something and that she is fulfilling her true calling and that is what Noctis needs? Idk but it reeked of emotional manipulation.

I hold little to no regard for Ravus because there’s evidence Luna was being brutally beaten right under his own nose while he was busy being the Emperor’s lapdog thinking it could maybe give him the power to save his sister? The man should have opened his eyes and defended her against the men that kept them jailed

I happened on this reply to roxainn’s post while trying to recapitulate all my other FFXV critical posts and reblogs on the way to making new ones.

Crawling back to find anything about this point, I find that it was posted 3 years ago. But at least I reblogged the reply to it.... and missed that it was literally @ ME. Goddamn did I slack.

But here’s my reply, 3 years late, which should elaborate on where I stand on this.

Yes, the flashback that gets triggered by a random creepy little girl in Tenebrae is about Luna and Gentiana. Somehow the little girl knew about that conversation even though she wasn’t there to witness it first-hand? Or maybe Noctis was imagining what the conversation would be like between Gentiana and Luna off of the vague suggestion from the girl, and it’s just him telling on himself that his imagination of Luna says all that? Otherwise the not-altogether-tinfoil-hat theory says it’s Gentiana in the form of a little girl, telling Noctis something that IMO should piss him off but just makes him sad and guilty because Luna loved him so much, don’t you see. She loved him so much that after wrapping her entire life around him, she’d just want to keep that going for the rest of their lives!

Gentiana opens the conversation with, “At first, the father had mourned the fate of his chosen son. Yet in Tenebrae, the two found solace. It was not the Oracle who assuaged their fears. But the girl…she holds…the true power.”

Then Luna replies, “I have little to offer a king, other than the voice afforded the Oracle. Nevertheless…” She turns to look at the wedding dress. “And—I’m afraid he might find this foolish… But…to be together with Noctis again, even if only for a short while… It…would mean the world to me. I do not seek to guide him, merely to stand beside him.”

The exchange is all types of fucky.

First off, she was twelve. What comfort could she have offered Regis and Noctis? What comfort was she capable of when Sylva was right there, an adult with experience of an Oracle and a personality thanks to a presumable full life not hampered by grooming of the gods?

Second, every other scene of Luna as a child is of her telling Noctis his duty, and that it was her duty to see it through. Did that assuage his fears-- the fears he didn’t have at the time since he never knew the entire meaning of his fate and was being told a saccharine, embellished version of it by Luna right there? Did that comfort Regis, knowing a little girl would also die to protect his son if the gods wanted it, but that she wouldn’t have the will to avert their fates whatsoever?

Third, even she thinks Noctis would think her desire to be with him is foolish. So... was she expecting that Noctis himself didn’t have feelings for her or want to spend time with her of his own volition for reasons outside of her job? She was looking forward to a marriage with no emotional security, where her desires are one-sided and unreciprocated, and the man she cares for think she’s worthless outside of her powers? She would’ve been willing to put herself through that, given a choice?

We know what we know and think what we think, but the fact that this was placed right in the vanilla game and no one thought that was wrong, and instead they doubled down on it in patches, is pathetic on their part.

Moreover, what does The Girl have, that was separate from The Princess and The Oracle? Every facet of her being wrapped around Noctis since age 4. She was nothing but her duty by the time Noctis met her; they had no scenes where they acted as children would. Even supplemental/promotional art for other XV media and related locales cement that. Little Luna serves Little Noctis pastries, she’s not seen eating with him. Luna teaches Noctis how to play piano, she’s not playing with him. Dawn of the Future came out with its own art, and Noctis is afforded the liberty to sit in a chair, and his son(?) sits on his lap, while Luna and her spitting image child(?) are both on their knees, looking up at the dudes.

In most of their art together, Luna and Noctis are either not meeting each other's gazes, she's bending or kneeling to him, or he's supposed to be holding her close but he hover-hands her, or there’s that one time where they took a selfie and the picture was of their Pocket Edition versions. They’re still not looking at each other in that one. And it’s not canon.

Anyway yeah, any conversation Gentiana has with Luna about Noctis is emotional manipulation on Gentiana’s part, but the writers manage just enough to make everyone involved seem creepy and reprehensible in their own way.

In DOTF, Luna has a death soliloquy that confirms she sunk into the water at the end of the game’s Chapter 9, but the soliloquy is about how she was prepared to die even at the age of 12, and she put on a smile and resolved to be strong for Noctis’s sake, so that he wouldn’t remember her having a look of despair. There’s a line there about how she would cry herself to sleep but Gentiana would wipe her tears. Gentiana does nothing else except allow her to cry and wipe her tears afterward, and makes no effort to save her from her fate or at least take her out of terrible situations so that she would cry fewer tears. But there is cut dialogue from the game, and used in the novel, where Gentiana revealed herself as Shiva when Luna was <16 (probably still 12 at the time), when she thought she was being held back from forming the covenants, so there’s that. And Luna still somehow ignored that this meant Shiva allowed Sylva to die, and thanked this useless goddess for her nonexistent generosity.

For whatever reason they had to add a passage where Luna superimposes the image of an eight-year-old Noctis onto the adult version-- quote, "the image of him as a child, burned into my eyelids, overlaps with his now-grown face"-- even though Noctis has canonically sent her photos of him as a teenager (15-16, around the time he met Prompto in high school, see: Brotherhood). Granted, that's a translation from Luna's voice actress reading an excerpt as if it were first person POV. The English version says she sees the child image first, then the adult version is superimposed. Then not much after that there's a passage where Noctis smiles as his child self and it was "that smile she loved that had been in her heart all these years, giving her strength, always and forever".

So she was groomed and turned into a shell since age 4, believes she has no value outside of her job and turned her grooming on a similarly vulnerable child, and her strongest image of him, the one she fell in love with and kept in her heart, is of the helpless boy that promised her the world without knowing the cost. The smile of the carefree boy that didn't know his journey would end with his soul annihilated. It couldn’t have been that hard to have her see an image of him as the 30 year old True King of Light that he would become. At least she'd sound a little less like a weirdo who continually places herself (and is placed by the narrative) as below him, unworthy of him, etc. but also has strong feelings and memories toward a goddamn child.

Re: Ravus: you already got a reply to that, but for real? Ravus was also shafted by the plot and beaten down by terrible, amateur writing. The narrative shits on him as if it’s written by a high schooler or otherwise emotionally arrested adult trying to push a Mary Sue Protagonist. The modus operandi for those stories is that everyone who disagrees with the protagonist in any way has to suffer tremendous humiliation including but not limited to death, because the Protagonist Is Just So Good And Perfect And Always Right.

Nothing Ravus does justifies his treatment in-game or in-fandom like he’s a one-note out-and-out villain who wanted nothing but to kill Noctis and disrespect his sister, to the point where his corpse is defiled multiple times in Chapter 13 and he’s twisted into a perversion of himself that begs to die.

Chapter 13 has Noctis land next to Ravus’s corpse and all his letters to Luna, and Noctis has piss all to say about it, either out loud or to anyone. He looks at the Sword of the Father, glances at Ravus, and without a word takes the Royal Arm and lets the Magitek arm-- still dripping, still gross-- fall onto Ravus’s body and doesn’t even move it.

He had no way of knowing beforehand that Ignis and Gladio knew of Ravus being killed. WE didn't even know they saw security footage until Ch13V2 was added in. Noctis happening on his late fiancée's dead bro sounds, I don’t fucking know, like something you’d want to tell everyone else about later. Along with the letters he wrote evidencing that he intended to return the Sword of the Father to Noctis!

An aside: The Letters from Ravus are just weird to behold; it isn't 100% clear whether Luna ever received all of those letters. She had to have received the first one, at least. But the idea that Ardyn intercepted even one other letter so that Luna never heard from her brother between Tenebrae and Altissia is farfetched. He shouldn’t be able to intercept those messages as if they were delivered conventionally. Luna has a pair of magic space-bending Shiba Inu that send letters instantly across continents. If she’s sparing their use to send Noctis one-liners and stickers but can’t afford that for Ravus to send her discrete updates on Noctis’s status, she’s a piece of shit.

They do meet in Tenebrae as Ravus wanted her to, and they have the conversation where he gets on her case about her “throwing [her] life away” for Noctis. So chances are higher that Ardyn only got a hold of all three letters after Luna received them and no sooner, but then he shouldn’t be tossing letters from Ravus at the dude’s body when it makes more sense for him to toss down letters to Ravus, since the writers wanted to make a point of Ardyn having a vicious streak. It makes way more sense for Ardyn to deprive Ravus of Luna’s writing, then insult him with them post-mortem, unless Ravus’s notes were really all he could acquire, meaning Luna never once wrote back to her brother.

The Doylist explanation is that the writing team sucks and couldn't be assed to think of anything for Luna to say because they didn't think of her at all. The Watsonian explanation is that Luna’s a piece of shit and that tracks with her in Kingsglaive watching her brother burn alive in response to the Ring, but ignoring him and running to Regis’s aid instead, but then the rest of the plot presents her as morally pure through her white clothing and “unconditional, self-abnegating love” for Noctis.

Back to the topic: I don’t know, maybe I’m being old fashioned, but Noctis should’ve given more of a shit that his dropping the Magitek Arm on Ravus’s body was probably what turned him into a mutated abomination begging to die, and he thought so little of Ravus that the dude isn’t even in the glimpse of "people who helped me get this far" in the Beyond. Ravus doesn’t even get a spot to wish Noctis and Luna well on their afterlife wedding, not that it makes any sense for any of them to have words to say since Noctis is already dead, no one was there with them, and none of the bros expressed any sign that they knew that Noctis was bound to get married after his sacrifice (he sure doesn’t mention it in the final campfire scene and that’d be a better place than any). But anyway, Regis is in the Beyond at Noctis’s side even though he never told Noctis a damn thing and still never spoke to him from within the Ring, but Ravus? Nah, he’s the real asshole somehow and doesn’t deserve any recognition whatsoever.

The only other characters I know of that have a remotely similar dynamic to Noctis, Luna, and Ravus (lovers, but the girl has a straight-edge protective brother working for the bad guys) is Nero, Kyrie, and Credo (see: Devil May Cry), but as much as I think the writing in that series is hokey as fuck, at least the writer(s) for DMCs 4 and 5 had enough sense to make the love story simple and based it from a line from Amagasaki City-- “I love you, so I love the city that you love.”-- and opted against portraying Credo as an outright villain because if Nero killed him, Kyrie would resent him for it even though she knew Credo was working for the same Order that threatened her life.

Shouldn’t Noctis care about the shit Luna cares about even if he has no personal investment in it or it’s inconvenient to him? Shouldn’t he care about Tenebrae and its prosperity? or about Ravus? Nah, it’s okay, Noctis doesn’t have to respect Luna’s love for her brother or her kingdom because for all intents and purposes, she doesn’t care for Ravus or for Tenebrae as much as she loves Noctis. Her love for Noctis and her looking forward to the wedding is what matters here.

The yaaaas queen vicious clapback from Kingsglaive!Luna about how Ravus is the Empire’s dog is especially rich coming from her when she’s fellating the gods all through the game even though Eos’s equivalent of The Holy Bible says the Hexatheon’s Revelations destroy cities and that undoubtedly means people are killed by the gods, and their summoner is complicit, because there’s no such thing as a perfect evacuation. See: "Revelations left great devastation in their wake, with entire cities being laid to ruin," noted in the Cosmogony long before the True King even exists.

Luna herself didn’t see a problem with this and helped in the effort, with no regard to the collateral damage she would cause with the summoning: bonus points for the part where Leviathan is hostile to humanity and threatens to eat every living being if Noctis fails! She had even less regard to the damage Niflheim would cause in their attempt to kill the gods even though she was first-hand witness to them sacking Insomnia. Waking and defeating Titan deprived Lestallum of the meteor they derived power from. Waking Leviathan destroyed Altissia. Luna’s refusal to leave Insomnia when told to by Regis led to her being used as bait and taking the whole of the Kingsglaive out of Insomnia in time for their Face Heel Turn and Insomnia being destroyed. Everything else leads to the eventual World of Ruin where people also die.

All because she killed herself prematurely from the covenants and didn’t hold back the longer nights as she promised to the public’s face and on her honor as Oracle she would do. Her dying words in Chapter 9 were her being completely satisfied with her fate because “[her] prayers were answered, [her] calling fulfilled”, even though the calling requires that she dies and she should’ve known better than anyone that her death, even if it was for Noctis’s ascension, would endanger the rest of the world for 10 years and helped the Starscourge spread. But instead of fighting for her own life to stem the plague for as long as possible, she let herself die under the belief that "Noct can handle this" to give him the chance to be the revered King of Light. She also didn’t make a single appearance on the world of the living in her spirit form during those ten years until Noctis needed help with a piddly imitation of the Magic Wall, only then does she come down in her ghost form with seemingly all of her power intact, and summons five of The Six as if Noctis can’t easily do it himself.

But Ravus is the lapdog? Luna’s the one with her “ends justify the means” behavior and what looks like general neglect for actual human beings.

Anyway, Ravus stabs Caligo in the back and kills him, and that move only makes sense in light of the idea that Caligo was manhandling Luna as seen in the Dawn trailer. Ravus was 16 when Tenebrae was overrun, and there’s no reason to believe he was magically immune to institutional abuse, so there’s a high chance that he was abused by the Empire too, held resentment of that, and waited for the time he’d be able to retaliate with no repercussions. Gentiana as a goddess is 1000000% more on the hook about letting Luna be beaten than Ravus is, since he saw his mother die in front of him while Regis ran away. Regis had the power of the Ring and could have used elemancy to put out that fire, or void magic to banish Glauca and his MT army, didn’t do that, but he totally spares enough magic during the treaty signing to toss around Thunder spells straight from his hand, cast barriers, and summon some Royal Arms straight at Iedolas, and that’s bad enough. Gentiana who’s been the Fleuret family attendant since Luna was born and also is Shiva who can freeze people with her fingertip had even less excuse to let that fire rage, to let Sylva die protecting her son, and to stand by and allow her ward(s) to get thrown around by some random Imperial soldier.

#freezedive #ffxv critical #ffxv criticism #lunafreya critical #gentiana critical #regis critical #lunafreya nox fleuret #ravus nox fleuret #regis lucis caelum #ravus deserved better #long read

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whatiwillsay · 4 years

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off topic - let’s talk about gaylena 👀

selena gomez is one of taylor’s oldest and bestest friends and given that she is in the 22 liner notes, a huge part of taylor’s life, and maybe fruity herself it seems like possibly we don’t talk about her here at the blog enough!

i don’t want to do a timeline of selena and taylor’s friendship - you can read more about that here, but they met back in the day when they were both dating jonas brothers and to me this idea of finding a real friendship in the midst of these contrived promances is pretty adorable.

ofc most of y��all think taylor is a fruit basket but i think there’s a good chance that selena is too! i’m not saying she is for sure but y’all know me. i’’m here to make a compelling case that everyone and their dog is gay so let’s gooooo!

Part I - At least one fake rs!

Selena “dated” Taylor Lautner in 2009 and he’s definitely gay. Of course, that doesn’t mean she is, it could just be PR, but y’all know I gotta note everything! We stan our fruity bffs dating the same gays 😍

Part II - Selena x cara delevingne

i feel like there’s a chance they met through taylor but everyone in that squad adjacent circle knows one another. cara dated michelle rodriguez for the first half of 2014 and then got with annie clark in March 2015 but it feels like it’s possible something has gone on between her and Selena from summer 2014 - early 2015? ...maybe something casual on and off a bit?

August 2014 - Steamy pics surface in Saint-Tropez, France

Selena and and a freshly single Cara vacation together in part to celebrate Selena’s 22nd birthday.

They party together and look cozy!

Pictures such as this surface and spark rumors around the two:

Selena apparently loves the rumors and gushes about being shipped with Cara.

Quote:

You say Selena drag queens were the true measure of success for you. But isn’t it true that you’re not truly famous until you’ve been the subject of a gay rumor? And last year, the tabloids had a field day with photos of you and Cara Delevingne. I’ve made it!

How did you react to those rumors? Honestly, I loved it. I didn’t mind it. Especially because they weren’t talking about other people in my life for once, which was wonderful. Honestly, though, she’s incredible and very open and she just makes me open. She’s so fun and she’s just extremely adventurous, and sometimes I just want that in my life, so I didn’t mind it. I loved it.

Notice she doesn’t deny them? Now of course she could just be being cool, if she freaked out about it that might be even weirder but hey, it’s still kind of interesting.

Then she admits to questioning her sexuality???

Have you ever questioned your sexuality? Oh, I think everybody does, no matter who they are. I do, yeah, of course. Absolutely. I think it’s healthy to gain a perspective on who you are deep down, question yourself and challenge yourself; it’s important to do that.

(Selena btw, this is cool and all, but not everybody questions their sexuality, maybe you’re just gay 👀)

November 1 - LACMA Art + Film Gala

they even left the event together 👀

and they hung out earlier that day as well:

They were seen the next day partying for Kendall Jenner’s bday singing to her:

a few weeks later Cara tweets Selena’s lyrics!

In December 2014 they are travelling together in texas:

in january 2015 they get cozy at the golden globes together!

and they leave together again:

January 19th/20th a bunch of gay nonsense happens

They post this gay shit with matching shoes and linked fingers:

then they say this to one another:

Enty says they were hooking up!

then we don’t get any more content that i can find for about six months! perhaps they had a fling from summer 2014-jan 2015 and then it ends, Cara gets with Annie in March? Then after half a year apart Selena and Cara resume a friendly relationship? Perhaps! Selena is seen with Justin a bit off and on during this time but this was in their Style/Heat Death Era imo (tbh i probably shouldn’t give a hetty pairing including Justin that designation 🤢but y’all get what I’m saying - it’s fully possible Selena was hooking up with both of them!

Now I’m not super familiar with Selena’s discography so y’all lmk if I’m missing anything major - lyric wise that point to her not being straight.

Selena’s album Revival that comes out after this relationship has a few songs with some vibes, even though I get the feeling a lot of it is probably about Justin, allow me to reach. The title track could be translated as someone coming to terms with their sexuality (among other things):

I feel like I've awakened lately The chains around me are finally breaking I've been under self-restoration I've become my own salvation Showing up, no more hiding, hiding The light inside me is bursting, shining It's my, my, my time to butterfly

Good for you, imo, is too sexy to be about a man even if it’s not super queer lyrically it’s a vibe ok?

Me & My Girls might be a bestie anthem a la 22 (oh wait, no 22 was gay too) but I mean...could be about a girl gang of lesbians too!

And if we want it, we take it If we need money, we make it Nobody knows if we fake it You like to watch while we shake it I know we're making you thirsty You want us all in the worst way But you don't understand I don't need a man

Quinn Fabray indeed!

Nobody feels probably like a retrospective on Justin 🙄but...there is a hint of sapphic craving in there! Saying this particular lover loves them differently than everyone is a bit 👀 plus this stanza:

No oxygen, can barely breathe My darkest sin, you've raised release And it's all because of you, all because of you And I don't know what it is, but you've pulled me in No one compares, could ever begin To love me like you do And I wouldn't want them to

Is Perfect about some bitch Justin started dating? Probably but bear with me here this song is actually pretty fucking gay. Gay enough that I’m gonna add it to one of my gay playlists. Could this song actually be about Cara moving on to Annie?

Ooh, and I bet she has it all Bet she's beautiful like you, like you And I bet she's got that touch Makes you fall in love, like you, like you

I can taste her lipstick and see her laying across your chest I can feel the distance every time you remember her fingertips Maybe I should be more like her Maybe I should be more like her I can taste her lipstick, it's like I'm kissing her, too And she's perfect And she's perfect

Part III - Selena x Julia Michaels

Julia Michaels is a singer/songwriter known for her song Issues. I don’t know her sexuality but she at the least has gay vibes! It seems they met around this time perhaps because Julia wrote on Revival.

They have a friendly enough friendship for a few years, liking one another’s posts on IG from time to time, posing for a photo a time or two and then they seem to get swept up into this very intense friendship in 2019. They write some music together and Julia goes whole hog in promoting the shoe brand Selena is hawking this time 😭

2019 - The Superior Sapphic Jelena Timeline:

It starts, for some reason with a lot of shoe promotion:

chill, chill

more shoes

but more gayness?

this homo shit

ok...

Then we go into the REALLY GAY NOVEMBER OF 2019:

Then they perform together:

And...actually kiss...on the mouth on stage???

Sure it’s just a peck but still...if that were a guy people would say they were dating.

Somehow kissing on the mouth isn’t the gayest thing these girls do over this period because these fucking dykes got matching tattoos. I’ve read enough Larry blogs to know this actually means they’re secretly married. All jokes aside this is fruity behavior.

From their IG stories:

Selena gets Julia a very nice christmas gift:

Covid sets in and content drops off but god damn! It’s possible they just had an intense friendship but if a man and a woman collabed on music together, kissed in public, and got matching tattoos everyone would say they were dating!

Selena, as far as I can find, didn’t have any public boyfriends around this time so who are some of these love songs about?

Rare comes out in January 2020 and perhaps has some gayish songs?

Don’t tell me why but boyfriend lowkey, has a gay vibe. Don’t ask me to explain it but it’s just the musicality of it.

Crowded Room could be a love song for Julia? (or by Julia for Selena, since they’re collaborators?)

Baby, it's just me and you Baby, it's just me and you Just us two Even in a crowded room Baby, it's just me and you, yeah

These are general gay vibes, our secret moments in a crowded room tease

It started polite, out on thin ice 'Til you came over to break it I threw you a line and you were mine

It would have started out polite between them, since they worked together for years before whatever 2019 was happened. And throwing someone a line first of all makes Selena sound like the aggressor but also “throwing someone a line” could be a reference to writing songs together.

Yeah, I was afraid, but you made it safe I guess that is our combination Said you feel lost, well, so do I So won't you call me in the morning? I think that you should call me in the morning If you feel the same, 'cause

Lots of people are afraid at the beginning of a gay rs. Treacherous tease 👀

In summation!

Selena does gay stuff like fantasizing ab kissing other women in her music, getting very touchy with famous dykes on vacay, hangs out with Taylor Swift, has chronic mental health issues, dated a jonas brother and a twilight gay, has admitted to questioning her sexuality, and loves being shipped with women. Is she gay? I don’t know! But all she’s missing from her celesbian bingo card is a suspiciously intense friendship with a Glee Cast member! What do you guys think? Selena fruity or just weird?

Edit to add: so apparently I missed an entire ship and Selena supposedly acted really gay all the time with her backup dancer Charity Baroni. Exposing SMG has posted a lot about all that.

Also Selena has been cast in a gay role! edit to add: @bisluthq went and found this for me - julia is indeed a fruit queen

#selena gomez #gaylena #taylena #gossip #cara delevingne #julia michaels #lesbian #sapphic #of interest #taylor's fruity friends

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jwillgoose · 4 years

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The record is finished... what now?

We finished our fourth album last week, so I thought it might be interesting (spoiler alert: it probably isn’t) to do a quick post about what happens once a record is ‘finished’ these days, and why it can seem to take so long between an album being completed and actually being released.

Before I stumbled upon a career in making music, my attitude would’ve been similar to that of many fans, I imagine - why not just put the record out as soon as possible? It’s done, you spent (presumably) ages on it, surely you just want people to hear it and shower you with praise and damning reviews? After all, that’s what Radiohead and Beyoncé seem to do, and they don’t mind if the vinyl follows several months later.

Well, Radiohead are Radiohead and Beyoncé is Beyoncé, and both of those artists (and only a handful more) releasing records is Big News in and of itself. Smaller bands and artists need to use their new record as something to build around, to try and fight desperately for attention in a very competitive industry, to route tours around, even simply to remind people that you still exist (often, admittedly, to their distress). Otherwise it’s all too easy to put something out only to see it burn out very quickly, for it to fall to the bottom of people’s ‘recently played’ streaming algorithms and swiftly fall out of the public consciousness pretty much altogether.

That's why it’s better for 99% of bands and artists to wait until everything is ready and to try to go for one big, focused ‘bang’ (often still a whimper, admittedly), rather than trying to hit the front page of Pitchfork with a near-instantaneous release. And the main thing we’re all waiting for these days, especially with its continued resurgence and importance to artists, labels and fans, is vinyl.

Vinyl lead times pre-pandemic were already a bit ridiculously long because a large number of the pressing plants from back in the day went under or severely reduced their capacity, so we’ve been left with a relative handful of potential suppliers and an awful lot of demand from all corners of the music industry. I think The Race For Space (released Feb 2015) was mastered at the end of October 2014, so made it out there in just over 3-and-a-bit months, and that was with two test pressings after the first failed. By the time Every Valley rolled around (released July 2017) we were already at four-months-and-counting, and don’t even get me started on the White Star Liner EP (tail end of 2018, and the vinyl was late because of test pressing issues).

Anyway, you get the picture, and that’s all pre-COVID, which obviously has done precious little to improve any aspect of the economy, besides enhancing Jeff Bezos’ already undignified / obscene wealth. We were initially quoted 7 months for this album but have managed to get it down a bit from there - still, you’ll no doubt have noticed a lot of delayed releases recently and I am taking nothing for granted, on any level, with this record.

We might seem like a modestly successful band but we are also still very much a small team of people. The sheer amount of work it is to get everything ready, besides ‘just’ the music itself, necessitates a bit of a delay between completion and release. Even now, the artwork, liner notes, credits, administrative aspects (PPL IDs and so on) are queueing up for attention; that’s to say nothing of band photos, press releases, updated bios, pitches for various media features (often with ridiculously long lead times of their own), music videos, remixes, instrumentals... in short, a lot.

Then for a band like us there’s the whole tricky chicanery of designing, building, programming and rehearsing a quite fiendishly complicated live set, all while navigating the risks and uncertainties of doing so during what we hope is the tail-end of a pandemic. It normally takes me about 2-3 months to get an album ready to play live, and that’s just the music side of it - then I need to edit videos to run concurrently, give various assets to Mr B so that he can have more to play with than just an on-rails video, then all get together in a room to see what works (hint: not much) and what needs more work (hint: nearly everything). Mr B also needs a lot of time - justly so - to put together his fiendish set creations as well as creating a lot of original video output himself. Popping up on the radio to do a quick session somewhat belies the amount of work it takes to get new material ready for that stage (should it arrive - we certainly don’t assume it will).

But the main thing, still, is to try to garner as much attention, wake as many people as possible up to the fact that yes, you still exist and yes, you’re still flogging the dead horse that is your band and creative output in a perhaps vain attempt to try to prolong an unlikely career and yes, you can order the Amazing New Record soon in at least 5 different colours to ensure its safe arrival in your homes at the very second of its official release. Hello! We’re still here! Hello! We have a new record! Er.. anyone?

Anyway, that’s just a few items from the very long list of things preoccupying me and the other denizens of PSB Towers between now and release. Hopefully everything will run smoothly, the record will come out when we say it will come out and we can even entertain modest hopes of another reasonably-well-charting album. On that note, a brief aside - chart positions are still incredibly important, if only within the record industry itself. A high chart position makes a lot of people sit up and take notice - bookers, agents, festival promoters and so on - which is another reason why it’s important for those of us who aren’t in Mr Yorke’s merry gang to try to get everything out all at once (in its right place, if you will) rather than staggering digital / vinyl release dates.

Hopefully you found this mildly diverting. It’s mostly served as a nudge in the ribs for me to remind me how much I still need to get on with, so without further ado, off I will go, and on with I will get.

Yours pre-releasedly,

J. Willgoose, Esq.

(PS I’d like to make it clear I love Radiohead, and none of this is even a mild dig at them. They are one of the most wonderful musical outfits ever, and they also have the rare privilege of being able to do what they want, when they want to, which really must be lovely.)

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bubblyani · 4 years

Text

Bail Out: 06

(Bruce Wayne x Reader)

A Bruce Wayne Multi Chapter Series

Chapter 06: The Wall

Summary: One fateful, drunken night gets you arrested for assault. However, once you get bailed out by Billionaire Socialite Bruce Wayne, surprising obstacles get in the way, forcing you to question all your choices in life, career, and in love.

Word Count: 5400+

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Violence

Author’s Note: Another challenging chapter but it was quite an experience indeed. Hope the wait was worth it. Enjoy!

CHAPTER LIST

Never were you so reluctant, to hear your own name being called out loud. Never ever. No one would, when it was simply an invitation to one’s own funeral.

A constant ringing noise lingering in your ears was a horrifying reminder of the gunshots that were fired rapidly and generously before, threatening and murderous at the same time. The noise questioned your sanity as you heard your own breathing in slow motion for a few seconds. However, time and speed returned to normal the moment his piercing voice called out for you for the second time. That voice, which were the bells of death in your heart.

“I KNOW YOU’RE HERE!”

Slender yelled, his voice and expression displaying equal forms of madness. Truthfully , his attitude tonight surprised you. Being the calm and collected assassin he was the last time, he certainly was expressive in access. Quiet as a mouse amongst the buzz and worried chatter of the crowd, you prayed his patience would run thin and hopefully give up.

“Playing quiet, am I right??” He began, with a slight amusement, “Well, suit yourself cause...If you don’t give yourself up now...I think I’ll take down everyone here until you do...” he added, “...one...at a time...”

His menacing decisiveness brought fear to the crowd, including yourself. It was fast as being splashed by a bucket of cold water. Speechless, you prayed for a mental reflex action. Looking at everyone, you saw the young folk holding onto each other. Their loved ones, their friends, their humanity. Being a woman of your position, you bore the responsibility for the well being of an entire work force in a billion dollar enterprise. Therefore, these strangers should not be treated any different. Even as a citizen, shouldn’t responsibility of life be of importance to you as well?

“NO?”

Slender inquired, effortlessly raising his gun, “Well...”he said, pointing at the crowd, his finger resting on the trigger, “...then you leave me no choice-”

“WAIT! WAIT!!!”

You heard yourself yell for your life, cutting him off. With both your hands raised up, you slowly rose up from the crowd, “It’s me! I’m here I’m here!” Your voice may have been loud, yet the control was evident, “No need to go that far...I’m here!”

With your hood pulled down, you took careful steps to walk towards Slender. A low groaning sound crept in to your ears out of nowhere as you walked. The closer you got to Slender, the clearer his appearance became.

Seemingly a young hispanic, subtle freckles filled his face while his head was home to curly black hair, tied up in a tight ponytail. If it were not for his black leather long coat and eye liner, he would have taken resemblance of an amiable youngster in a gentrified neighborhood. As you finally stood within his reach, you were prepared for a reaction. Except he surprised you, as he looked you up and down with utter confusion.

“Almost didn’t recognize you without your work clothes…” he remarked with genuine curiosity. Looking down at your attire, you sighed with relief. Suppose curiousity does not indeed discriminate amongst the good and the bad. The mysterious groaning emerged once again, hinting to be coming from close by, which confused you.

“Yeah, I get that a lot” you said, with a shrug, surprised by your relaxed attitude, “This makes me look younger apparently-Look!”raising your voice slightly, you finally captured his attention “ Now you’ve finally got me…” you continued, “Can you PLEASE…PLEASE let the others go? But most importantly…” taking a deep breath, you added, “…can you please…let me help that old lady out?”

You said, motioning your head towards your right. Slender turned to his left to see a female figure that lay face down a few feet away from you. Given the gray hair, attire and the wooden cane, you easily guessed where those mysterious groaning sounds came from.

“She seems to be hurt…” You said calmly, “Let me just take her over to the crowd…” you paused, “And then I’m all yours…But only if you promise to let them all go…” you demanded.

Your hands remained raised up high, it started to hurt. But you chose to keep it so in order to gain his trust. You wondered if you had to go further in order to do so, only to find him nod slightly.

“Fine…” His answer was quicker than expected. Relieved, you felt his gaze on you as you tip toed over to the woman. With shoulder length gray hair, the woman remained crouched, thus identifying her proved to be difficult. However, the tired groans continued.

“Ma’am?” You addressed softly, kneeling right next to her, “Here, let’s get you up, okay?” You said, slowly holding her by the shoulders. They seemed stronger than expected.

“T-thank you” her shaky, aged voice uttered, as she began to kneel alongside you. Leaning forward, you hoped to take a good look at her for any injuries, for not seeing her face made you more curious.

“That’s it...” You said, “…there we g-What?”

Your eyes widened upon what you just witnessed. It was no old woman. Frankly it was no woman at all. All you saw was pitch black. A sudden kick on your shin, caused you to land hard on you back with a yelp.

“Ow!!” Grunting in pain, you opened your eyes, “Ah-”

Gasps left you the moment the figure hovered, grabbing you firmly by the neck to hold you in place. With one hand, it skillfully pushed off the gray wig, and unbuttoned the baby pink coat, only to reveal it sporting black military gear and black chest armor. But what caused your pulse to race, was indeed the black skull mask it wore on its face. If Slender’s voice was the ring of death, this figure simply was the living embodiment of it.

“You got her, Alpha?”

Slender’s voice emerged, forcingyour eyes to wander. He stood next to the figure with a knowing smile on his face. All the sudden, he was not the raged maniac he was a few minutes earlier. The calm and controlled persona you remembered was finally back.

“Yes…it was so easy”

Alpha replied, the voice seemingly modulated through a voice changer. It was deep, unrecognizable and horrific. Before you could even begin to question, the leather grip on your neck began to tighten, you were being chocked.

“Who?-what?-why are the-?” breathlessly, you struggled with many questions.

“The more you try to talk, the harder it’s going to be for you...” Alpha answered calmly, proceeding to strangle you, “…not that I should care...” it said, shrugging with amusement, “Now…let’s see here…” it said, taking out an old phone from it’s pocket.

You squinted, when Alpha captured a photo of you, blinding you with its light. “Sorry about the flash…” Alpha said, casually apologetic whilst handing the phone to Slender, “but makes a convincing crime photo, ya know?”

You wished to reply, but how could you when its grip tightened even further. Holding its hands with your own, you made desperate attempts to take in as many breaths as possible. However, the warning signals your mind issued suddenly were pretty imminent. The signals literally begged you for one requirement only: air. It seemed pathetic when you could hear nothing but your own ghastly attempts to maintain a steady airflow when barriers are being set. Strange, how you heard nothing else. No screams of panic. Before you could even question, it was already answered when your eyes widened with shock. Every single person held hostage, all appeared slowly within your eye line, surrounding you, providing a human frame to your view of the Gotham sky that you were forced to stare at. Wearing blank expressions, not a trace of fear nor surprise was instilled in any of their faces, as they all stood there, watching you struggle for your life. Even the young man who was shot earlier, stood bloody without a single cry of pain. What was going on?

Overwhelmed, your body began to panic even more as you kicked your legs in desperation. In a hypothetical situation such as this, it was expected of the protagonist to be defeated in a loud and chaotic instance. But in reality, it was purely silent filled with your own desperate attempts to cry for help. Your vision began to blur out slow, could this finally be the end?? The more it was understood, the more you realized all that you regretted. You regretted not calling your family often. If only you made one single call to them tonight. You regretted not hugging your mother enough, for even if you were a grown woman, you were still her little girl. Loudly gasping for air, you regretted not telling your friends and coworkers of your constant appreciation. Ali, Lillian, you wished you told them how they were like your family.

You regretted not living the life you should have lived, when you felt the final remnants of your air exiting your lips.

Until the sound of a Heavy Explosion reached your ears.

“SHIT!”

Slender yelled. The surprising effect forced Alpha to loosen its grip on you. Looking around, the crowd began to buzz with curiosity and gasp upon what they witnessed. Arming himself with his machine gun, Slender began fire to his right, a bullet rain possibly pouring down. Turning to your left, you were grateful as the crowd parted as you saw the bullets hit a certain humongous, black vehicle. Silence finally took over as the bullets finally ran out and the vehicle remained unaffected. All that everyone could do was to look around.

But not when Slender jolted as a sharp black throwing star hit him in the thigh.

“Alpha! IT’S HIM!!” Slender cried out in pain.

Him? For a moment you could only pray for that to be the one you expected, your savior. And as you found a dark familiar figure gliding from one building to the other across your eye line, a sense of safety came over you. It truly was him: Batman. No! Bruce Wayne, your heart cried out.

Like a swarm of bats, the crowd began to disperse in an instant, causing massive confusion to anyone who laid eyes on the street. You managed to catch the sight of Slender pulling out his exotic sword before charging towards Batman. Regaining air to breath, you hoped Alpha was intimidated enough by the entire scenery to be distracted. However, the moment you felt yourself being gripped tightly once again, it was evident it was not done with you yet. Smothered by its leather fingers digging in your flesh, you let out shaky gasps in sheer desperation, for the strangulation grew stronger and more aggressive. Moving your body in every way possible, you faced your biggest struggle. All the while you tried your hardest to look out for the caped crusader, who was in a heated battle. However, from what could be seen, Batman seemed to be winning.

“I didn’t want to do this but-”

Alpha’s voice made you shift your eyes back, as you found it taking out a small knife. Your heart sank. Could it be a possible surprise attack at Batman?

It was not. Instead, you felt it pull out your right arm, only to slash your inner wrist with much force. Before you could yell out, Alpha’s hands reunited with your neck, exerting much pressure on its grip, suffocating you while you were forced to watch blood spray out of your own hand like a garden sprinkler.

“LET HER GO!”

You heard Batman bellow. And as soon as an excruciatingly painful cry exited Slender, Alpha looked behind, only to disappear within a huge puff of grey smoke before Batman could even reach it. With Slender defeated, and Alpha gone, the street was quiet once again. Except all was not well. Especially when you began to question your pulse and the rest of your blood flow.

“YOU OKAY???”

Batman growled, appearing before you within lightning speed. His growl was desperate. Gripping your wrist, his palm pressed on it tightly in order to stop the bleeding. However, you wondered if it was too late. There was barely any form of life within you.

“Ba-” you began weakly, “Bat….” you inhaled with difficulty.

“SAY SOMETHING!” He cried out.

Suddenly all appeared darker than usual. The loss of air and the loss of blood certainly was taking a toll of you. Yet, through his black mask, you managed to trace out his eyes, those beautiful hazel green eyes, reminding you of the love you possessed for the man who owned them in the first place.

“M-Mr. Wayne...I-” You breathed softly. The moment those words exited, you realized your other biggest regret: Not telling Bruce Wayne how you truly felt about him.

Amidst his cries of your name, you found yourself being swallowed in to the black hole of life, where nothing was seen nor heard.

You were dying, you knew it.

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

You may have been slow dancing with death earlier, but as it turned out, not anymore.

With your eyes fluttering open, you felt yourself inhale gently, slowly becoming aware of the presence of your entire being once again. The night sky did not greet you, but a beautiful high ceiling instead. The surroundings were exquisite and familiar. The mattress that kept you rested definitely proved itself to be the best mattress you have ever laid on. It was definitely the Wayne Penthouse.

Stirring slowly, you were surprised to have enough energy to sit up. Involuntarily drinking in the beauty and class, your heart felt alive the moment you turned to find Bruce Wayne to your left.

Sitting on the floor by the gigantic windows, he remained in his Bat Suit, with his cowl in hand, staring at the Gotham skyline. To find him in this position was certainly was a sight to see.

“Hey…”

You breathed. Though you were soft, he managed to hear you, turning to you in a flash.  

“Are you alright?” He inquired, to which you nodded gently. “Yeah...think I blacked out over there”, you answered shyly, rubbing your neck with your left hand. Finally you were aware of the immense pain that was inflicted in the neck muscles and your throat, bringing back the horrid memories for a millisecond. And as you bowed your head down, you finally caught the sight of your right hand, falling victim to injury once again as the wrist was bandaged, “ I must have been a mess huh?” You inquired in return.

“Certainly wasn’t what Alfred expected when I brought a girl home…” Bruce said. You chuckled.

“Poor Alfred” you murmured, getting up slowly. The image of Wayne bringing back a bleeding woman to the penthouse must have been horrifying.

“How did you know?”

You froze at his inquiry. You were no fool. It was evident what he really meant. Clearly it was justified for him to wonder how on earth you were certain to address him by his real identity in the time of crisis. Truthfully, it could not be helped, for death awaited you. Bruce did not sound cross. Taking a deep breath, you shyly took steps towards him. As your feet grazed from the fur rug to the polished cool tiles, your hands tied behind your back for you were deep in thought.

“Remember when that guy broke your mask?” You asked, forcing him to look at you with slightly wide eyes. “I thought I told you to go…” Bruce said with concern. “You did...” You answered quickly, “and I did leave…but” paused, you looked down,”Not exactly”. Still looking down embarrassingly, you drew circles on the floor with your big toe, “ I wanted to help, so I called the cops...” you said, “I-I didn’t mean to see it happen...it just ...it happened, I guess” you added softly. Chuckling softly with amusement, Bruce turned to the window once again, “It must have been a surprise” “Oh...” you began with a laugh , “…the biggest one so far, for sure...” You assured. Silence comfortable took over whilst you sat next to him with your legs crossed. The chill of the floor penetrating through your leggings. Revealing one’s secret identity in a position such as his, never was a safe move. You were compelled to provide some assurance. No one asked you. But you knew it was necessary. “Do you know what they call me at work?” You found yourself inquiring all the sudden. Bruce looked at you. “The Bruiser?” Shaking your head, you chuckled. “Now you’re being predictable...” You teased, bringing him over to chuckle town, “no…apparently…” your laughter vanished, “…they call me ‘The Wall’…Heh! Lillian told me that” You added. Though your eyes admired the view from the window, you managed to catch him watch you with curiosity. “Cause no matter what they disclose, it doesn’t go anywhere through me” you declared, “as if I’m the safest place anyone’s secret could ever be…”. You turned back to him, giving a reassuring smile, “…the same goes for you too, Batman”

Nodding mutually, you both resumed to watch the night sky. Whether your speech amused him or comforted him, you did not know. As long it protected his conscience, you did not care.

“But now that I think of it…” you began “…you bring a whole new meaning to an All Nighter, huh?” You jested, watching Bruce guffaw all the sudden. The more you laughed alongside him, the more it came to your realization as to how much you relished it. But as you began cough in effect, your laughter died down. The pain is your neck resurfaced once again. The smell of those leather gloves haunted you. And the moment you caught Wayne’s eyes, you could sense guilt and anger living in them.

“Who the hell was that ??” You breathed, referring to the incident earlier. “Possibly a group of assassins hired by Henderson” Bruce stated, “And that includes the two previous attacks” “That’s what Officer Blake told me” You added, to which he nodded “Do you know who they are?” You inquired curiously, still rubbing your neck. “No…” You were speechless. That answer was definitely a surprise, even from Batman, “ ...there’s nothing specific to tie them to any group” He said, “…they seem to appear completely anonymous” “The leader…” You said, bringing your knees to your chest, “…He was called Alpha or something....” “A temporary name to communicate, perhaps…” Bruce said, looking down at his cowl “I’ve never seen anyone like this before...” Given his genuine concern, You knew he was being truthful. With all the any villains he has faced, this certainly was a first. Sighing, you found yourself rocking back and forth. “Everything was just orchestrated so well...”you said, scoffing “…even the people seemed to have been planted ” you shook your head, “all that...just to kill me?” You inquired yourself, completely in disbelief. “Angering Henderson doesn’t really help anyone...” You heard Bruce reply, “I knew that well...”

“What do you mean?” You asked, as he kept his cowl on the ground and leaned against one of the sofa chairs.

“According to Gotham’s underworld, whenever they got a ‘clean up' job from Henderson, they knew someone has pissed him off…” He said. “Shit...” you breathed. Embarrassment sprayed over you as you covered your face with your hands. “The moment he didn’t press charges, I knew something was up” Bruce added. You looked at him. “So.. you knew” you muttered in amazement, “hehe…no wonder you were there every time. But…” you paused, “ …you didn’t know where I was...” You said with confusion. Bruce smiled softly, the smile that warmed your heart every time. “Guess I had to find ways to keep an eye on you...” he said. Those words, they held you by the hand, leading you to a road of memories that lived deep in your thoughts wondering. “The Black Box...” you began, raising your index finger, “…was that-” “A tracker? Yes” Bruce said, completing your sentence.

And with your eyes on a constant wide stance, you were in complete surprise when Bruce Wayne played storyteller without any hesitation. Answering questions that were not even asked, leaving nothing behind for it was evident you deserved an explanation. Your jaw dropped.

“So that means..” you began seriously, rousing his curiosity, “... at the Charity Ball, you didn’t have to tinkle…Hehe! Stalker…” you said cheekily, making him chuckle. “I was not-” “I’m kidding…” You assured him, “I’m not mad, really” you kept chuckling, “…not especially when you trying your hardest to save my life...” You said, the chuckles disappearing soon after. It was true. Why would someone as powerful as Bruce Wayne, bother looking out for someone such as yourself? That was when that poor heart of yours began to nudge you, poked at you to remind you of a matter of importance. A matter that would help you clean out a compartment of your heart and be done with it. Turning to him, you began: “Mr. Wayne-” “Bruce...” Gently, he cut you off, “just…Bruce...Please” “Bruce…” You uttered, after a deep breath. Funny how it seemed so challenging to address someone by their first name. But the moment you said, it seemed as effortless as feeling a gentle breeze leave your lips. “Tonight...” you said, “I was closer to death than I had ever been...” you breathed in deeply, “Truthfully I almost died, so that counts,” you added, feeling your neck and your wrist, “And I will regret with every inch of my body if I didn’t tell you this...” Why did facing death seem easier than this very moment? This very moment, was more horrifying than any test or any interview. With your pulse on high speed, you looked down. You stared at your hands that were on a wrestling match of their own. Slowly, you were compelled to take several breaths. “You okay?” You heard him utter with concern. “Yep! yep! I’m good” nonchalantly, you answered without looking up, “ I just-”

Exhaling deeply, your shoulders hunched up before slowly looking up. Surprised you were to find his amused face staring at yours, as if you were a child attempting to confess stealing a candy bar. You smile shyly with tight lips. Guess it was now or never.

“Ever since the day I met you…” you began, with your legs crossed once more, “I-I…” you chuckled, “ I couldn’t help but feel…things for you”, taking another breath, you continued, “I liked you…I-” pausing, you smiled, “I still like you…very much. I couldn’t help it, especially when you were completely not what I expected from Bruce Wayne. The way you were with me, all the time…I-” chuckling once again, “You know, Batman may be the hero to everyone…but” you said, nodding, “I would chose Bruce Wayne over Batman any day…” you said, looking straight into his eyes, “Because you were my hero…my hero without the mask”

With the weight finally off your shoulders, you quickly looked down in embarrassment. “That’s it! That’s all I wanted to say. I-”

You were interrupted the moment you felt him grab your right hand. A touch of spring was birthed in your body that reeked of winter. Bruce gazed at your hand with focus, for it was the hand that punched Henderson, the hand that bled. You would be lying if you did not acknowledge the chills that traveled down your spine when his thumb ran over your hand.

“Alfred...he...” Bruce began, “…he asked me…why I was so concerned over someone who punched Henderson in the name of Wayne”

“Exactly...”you said, smiling, “Why would you?” You inquired softly. The manner in which his eyes caught yourself, urged you it was no laughing matter.

“Cause that night… I didn’t see The Bruiser…” he said, “…I saw you” he added, “My very own savior” he breathed.

Suddenly the circus made its victorious return to your stomach, its power strong enough to expand to your heart. Those hazel green eyes confirmed the seriousness of his words, causing your heart to dash into an eternal sprint.

“And every time I met you, I couldn’t help but feel protective…” he said, “…or even...something more...” He added, “...something to hope for”

Those words were akin to warm honey to your ears. Disbelief was all you could be. And all this time, you were blaming yourself for feeling all this by your lonesome. The circus fueled you, and you were ready to fly over to the top of the world. At that moment, nothing else was of importance.

“But it’s just impossible...”

You froze upon those words. Suddenly you felt yourself trip from the peak, tumbling down thousands of feet. Patience and concern clouded you as he let go of your hand.

“What?” You said, “What do you mean?” Squatting worriedly as you continued. However, the moment you inquired, it was easily answered. Putting one’s loved ones in danger, seeing them suffer. Your incident clearly proved it all. Looking down, Bruce turned to his cowl.

“Men like me...” He began, “We just don’t get the luxury,....”

The luxury to be a free man, the luxury to love without boundaries and worry. They were the most luxurious indeed. On any other day, you would willfully empathize and understand this opinion. But tonight, you were tired. You were exhausted in every possible way. Your mind had finally decided to take a break while your heart took over. Scoffing softly, you shook your head.

“There’s no such thing...” You said in refusal. For your heart did not agree. You simply could not accept. Bruce chuckled.

“In whose world?” He asked. You swore, the sprint in your heart skipped to an extra mile.

“In mine...”

You breathed, voice almost breaking as you did so. For that was when you believed in it so deeply. And before you knew it, you found yourself doing the unthinkable, which you only dared to imagine in the deepest corners of your heart.

Kneeling, you moved towards him. Balancing yourself with one hand on the floor, you managed to wipe the loose strands of hair from his face, his beautiful face. All the while you studied it closely. Those captivating eyes of his, they exuded exhaustion, they exuded pain. Your fingertips bravely grazed his cheek, inciting shaky breaths between one another, all before you dared to press your quivering lips against his own for a kiss. Finally.

When you kissed him, it was gentle, akin to pressing one’s lips against velvet. You made sure all your love, all that was sincere and appreciative were included. Suppressing your greed, you provided yourself with only a few seconds. Pulling away, you pressed your lips, hoping to seal this kiss forever. Pulling away, your eyes was in a dire attempt to express the same. For you knew, you would regret for the rest of your existence if you did not. For regrets were what you did not wish to keep with you.

But when you felt Bruce pull you back by the waist, settling his hungry lips on yours, it was clear he did not wish to regret either.

Bruce Wayne was certainly tired of the torturous waiting, and his kiss translated it perfectly. Without a doubt, you could heartily empathize. With your weight on him, you managed to put your hands on his shoulders, only to wrap them tightly around his neck whilst straddling him with ease.

For a moment you wished this kiss had a better backdrop. If only he could have kissed you in your beautiful, white dress. You wished to be the lonesome beauty standing on the hotel balcony, only to find him rushing over to you breathlessly, pouring his heart out in confession, kissing you with passion. What a sight would it have been, especially with his hands roaming over your curves, feeling the softness of the silk dress, while the pleasing sounds of the water fountain below infuse with the jazz piano inside.

But then again, the reality brought the comfort you never expected. The reality that both of you had shared tonight. First kisses do not exactly magically spawn on the most climactic points of anyone’s lives. It could unexpectedly spawn on the most random moments. Most importantly, on the moments you chose to have it. With you in your leggings and hoodie, and him in his bat suit, both tired and convincingly injured, in the most intimate moment whilst tearing each other’s barriers down, taking the opportunity to display each other’s affection, all in each other’s privacy. Truthfully, the reality was certainly more perfect than any fantasy imagined.

Bruce kissed you long, yet they were sweet. With you in his arms, you felt treasured, for his touch was gentle. As if you were a porcelain doll. His lips may have been desperate, but his touch proved his empathy to your body’s current weak state. And it certainly strengthened your greed for him even more. His kisses intoxicated you, to the point they could be your home for eternity. But the sudden ring of your phone proved otherwise. Pulling away with a groan, you dug into your hoodie pocket.

“Ali?” You answered breathlessly, frustrated to part from his lips. Especially when he watched you, panting.

“Sweetie? You okay?” Ali called with concern: “You’ve been gone for longer than an hour…And I was starting to freak out-”

“Ali! Ali…I fine…” you cut her off, “really…” you chuckled. The fact you still remained comfortable in Bruce’s lap suddenly caused you embarrassment. Mouthing an apology to him, you attempted to get off during the call. But his iron grip on your waist, kept you firmly in place. You blushed instantly. His look of desperation could easily be translated to his fear of losing you somehow, or even to his fear of never indulging in your touch ever again. You did not blame him. The wait all this time was equally cruel for the both of you.

“I’m fine. I just had a detour, that’s all” you told her, “In fact, I’m perfectly safe…safer than ever actually” you added, eyes desperately holding on to his. Deliberately lost in his gaze, you admitted they were dangerous magnets, along with those lips of his that you were tempted to revisit always.

“Sweetie, you’re being very dramatic, you okay?”

“Huh?” You said, awakened by Ali’s inquiry. Clearing your throat, you continued, “Yeah I am, I’ll see ya later, okay? Bye! ”

Hanging up, you sighed, looking down shyly as you put your phone back.

“I should get you home…” Bruce muttered deeply, to which you shook your head quickly.

“No! it’s okay…” You said, “You need rest…” Stressing it, you added,“I’ll get a cab-”

You were instantly silenced the moment he cupped your face. And it was no issue at all. For his touch had power over you. Great power.

“At least…” he began, “…let Alfred drop you…” “Of course…”

Before he released you from his touch, you were tempted to kiss him once more. And you did, ever so gently. And your heart ignited with a gentle flame the moment he reciprocated eagerly.

“Now…” you began, as you got up, “…as much as you look real sexy in that…” You said, pointing at his Bat Suit, to which you both chuckled, “you should still freshen up…”you advised, “…get some sleep…”

Smiling warmly, he nodded in agreement. When you smiled back, your liberated emotions finally managed to reflect through your gaze, finally. After all this time. “Goodnight, Bruce ” “Goodnight...”

A greeting that finally contained true emotion. For it was true. You truly wished him safety, you truly wished him a well deserved rest. You truly wished him peace. For now you knew, and he knew that you knew.

You could not stop smiling as Alfred Pennyworth walked you to the Rolls Royce.

“I know I’m asking for a lot but…” you began, “… could you make sure Bruce gets some rest tonight?” You said, looking at the elder man. 

“Not at all, Miss”Alfred answered warmly, opening the passenger door, “I’m happy to oblige, for Master Wayne’s sake”

A shared understanding between the two of you brought you relief, as you got into the car, ready to head on home.

“Oh! Alfred…I need a favor...” You said, as he started the vehicle.

“Yes, Miss?”

“Do you mind if we stop by an ATM?”

——————————————————

Chapter 7 HERE!

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caainhurst · 3 years

Text

THE HISTORY OF CRISPIN GLOVER’S BIZARRE DEBUT ALBUM

POSTED BY WITNEY SEIBOLD ON SEPTEMBER 20, 2017 VIA NERDIST.COM

Actor, artist, and lovable weirdo Crispin Glover first caught the public’s eye in 1984’s Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, when he did a spasmodic dance to Lion’s “Love is a Lie.” The next year, he was George McFly in Back to the Future, the highest-grossing film of its year, and deeply entrenched within the geek canon. He also retained a good deal of street cred by appearing in River’s Edge, the film to win Best Picture at the Independent Spirit Awards in 1986. It wouldn’t be until 1989 that Glover would return to film. It was during this very brief hiatus that Glover, perhaps possessed by the muses, decided to explore his capacity for writing books and performing music.

For many young, upcoming stars, this is a rite of passage. Remember when Lindsay Lohan released two studio albums? Hailee Steinfeld is currently finding her feet as a pop sensation. Crispin Hellion Glover, however, wasn’t concerned as much with pop, and is not known for his dulcet singing voice. Even at the time, Glover was known for being a jittery weirdo; many may remember his infamous appearance on Late Night with David Letterman when he appeared as his fictional character Rubin Farr, answering every question with a non-sequitur. Rubin Farr was to eventually appear in 1991’s Rubin and Ed. In 1987, it made no sense.

So of course, Glover’s studio album debut was one off the most oblique, abstruse pieces of pop ephemera to come out in the ’80s. In 1988, Glover recorded and released THE BIG PROBLEM ≠ the solution. The Solution = LET IT BE. (complete with that punctuation), which is, to date, his only record. I own it on CD. Yes, it’s every bit as strange as one can imagine.

THE BIG PROBLEM, released by Restless Records, is a 13-track concept record that includes a few singles stand-alone songs, and multiple readings of strangely worded poetry set to dreamlike, atonal electronic or accordion music. Glover hooked up with famed novelty musicians Barnes & Barnes (Bill Mumy and Robert Haimer), who performed and recorded all the album’s music. Well, almost all the music. One of the accordion tracks,“Selected Readings from OAK MOT, part III” featured “Weird Al” Yankovic, who’s credited for a wild accordion solo. But fans of Barnes & Barnes likely hear the duo’s influence all over the record. It has the same sexually frustrated, echoey, strained vocal quality as the best of Barnes, and the same willfully simplistic, near-emetic tone. Glover and Barnes were a great pairing, and they amplified each other’s strangeness.

THE BIG PROBLEM was part of a larger multimedia art project that also incorporated two art books that Glover published that same year. Both books, Oak Mot and Rat Catching, were disturbing books of impenetrable poetry which repurposed existing books into nightmarish photo collages; Rat Catching was more or less an 1896 textbook that he re-drew page by page. Unsurprisingly, images from Rat Catching appear in the opening title sequence of the 2003 remake of Willard starring Glover. Glover toured with the books, giving live readings that were accompanied by slide shows and selected tracks from his album.

The album’s poetry readings are hypnotic, but the songs are outright comedic. There’s a rap about masturbating (“Auto-Manipulator”), a wonderful, wonderful, screeching, crying rendition of “These Boots Are Made for Walking,” and the big hit, a song about a clown called “Clowny Clown Clown.” Part of that track was featured on David Letterman until the annoyed host cut it short. The video, as you’ll see, also features Rubin Farr, whose photograph is in the record’s liner notes.

THE BIG PROBLEM feels like a prank, something that should not have been allowed to happen. There are no hints to its intentions, and no solutions to the titular problem. Well, that’s not entirely true. There was a hint. On the back of the album, Glover slipped in the inscription “All words and music point to THE BIG PROBLEM. The solution lay within the title; LET IT BE. Crispin Hellion Glover wants to know what you think these nine things have in common.” He left a telephone number so you could call up and give your own theories: (213) 464-5053. I called it, but it’s been disconnected. I’d love to know what was on that tape.

What do you think? I have no hotline, but I’d love to hear your theories.

#crispin glover

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wovenstarlight · 4 years

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YWBK update: chapter 26 + liner notes

yesterday will be kinder has updated! you can read chapter 26 here, or start from the beginning here

as always, commentary below the cut

Yoojin🐉😊

watch this space....

In preparation for it, Han Hyunjae temporarily requisitions Yoojin’s laptop and combs through the internet looking for photos of the Hunters that he thinks his family should know about in advance. He goes down one too many internet rabbit-holes, takes way too many screenshots, transcribes a summary of the notes in his future diary, then painstakingly puts everything together into a neat little presentation for them.

picture HHJ reading his fifth article wondering where the sung family heir has disappeared to and being like 👁️👁️👁️👁️

had a little giggle to myself about “future diary” that phrasing was definitely on purpose. will exclusively be referring to it as this now

“Right,” he starts, clapping his hands together, after Yerim’s been sent off to play with Hohyoung.

LHH is so much of a background figure.... i want to see more of himself but he likes his privacy.... he’s got his girlfriend and his baby sister and yoojin who’s wormed his way into his good graces by way of Living In Same House but that’s kinda it....... he’s always lurking in the background instead of showing up on screen. come here hohyoung oppa i just wanna talk

Even if Yoojin’s right, Han Hyunjae still has to protest. [...] But he can’t keep it up when Jiyeon looks at him like that.

KJY has the world’s best Stern Mom Voice and Disappointed Mom Glare and to her great delight they work even on fellow adult HHJ. she will use this power For Evil

The other S-ranks are Moon Hyuna, leader of Breaker Guild, and Bak Mingyu of Hanshin Guild.

OK FOR THIS PART I STRAIGHT FORGOT ABOUT HANSHIN GUILD AND I WAS COUNTING UP ON MY FINGERS LIKE WAIT... IF YERIM WAS THE EIGHTH KOREAN S-RANK WHO WERE THE SEVEN BEFORE HER.... (for those curious they were 1. sung hyunjae, 2. han yoohyun, 3. moon hyuna, 4. song taewon, 5. bak mingyu of hanshin, 6. choi sukwon of MKC, and 7. yoon kyeongsoo of soodam. but. i forgot about the last three altogether.)

“Oh, blond guy,” Yoojin says, unimpressed. “Yeah, I’ve seen him on the news and stuff.”

Top 10 Funny Yoojin Moments (I JUST THINK IT’D BE REALLY FUNNY IF HAN “HAVE I MENTIONED IN THE LAST 5 MINUTES HOW HANDSOME SUNG HYUNJAE IS” YOOJIN DID NOT GIVE TWO SHITS ABOUT HIM IN THIS TIMELINE....)

Han Hyunjae takes a moment to double-check that he really doesn’t have Noise Resistance (L), and looks back in time to see Yoojin rubbing at his eyes and glaring at the screen.

HEHEHE...... A SECRET TOOL THAT WILL HELP US LATER

“Hyunjae-yah,” Jiyeon says, looking at the photo of Sung Hyunjae on screen, “this man looks—” “LIKE A PIECE OF WHITE BREAD,” Yoojin bellows. [...] “HYUNG THINKS HE LOOKS GOOD? [...] Oh, god, he kinda does, [...] but like, in a trashy romance novel cover way.” [... Jiyeon] gives the computer screen an assessing once-over. “He looks like the models in cologne advertisements.”

this part of the chapter was planned waaaay back in august 2020 and i actually crowdfunded these descriptions from the s-class server dshblksjdfkblsdfb. the original suggestions (thanks to server members for these):

“bland whitie potato with a slap-on seme personality”

“tacky valentine’s day/mom’s cologne advertisement”

“the face of the dude on the cover of all my mom’s trashy romance novels”

and tbh HYJ does think he genuinely looks good but like, disgustingly good, you know... also Hyung Likes Him so [19 gun emojis]

also me handwaving moment of mild homophobia because like. jiyeon doesn’t know yet AND homophobia is a thing in this world BUT i don’t really wanna do, All That (we already did it with HYJ once), so.

“Do S-ranks get rich?” Yerim asks as she enters, because apparently everyone’s coming for his life today. Han Hyunjae closes his eyes and lies down on the bed while Yoohyun calls out an affirmation over his head. “Then I think— oh! He looks nice!” He cracks open an eye just in time to see her nod. “I think ahjussi should marry him for the eye candy and the money.” She beams very wide. Han Hyunjae closes his eyes again and tunes out the loud conversation going on around him. And wishes, not for the first time, that he’d picked literally any other name when he first got here.

yerim says gay rights cuz she’s like 12 rn and she straight up does not really care. but says it in, like, the most frustrating way possible.

sometimes you just need to lie down even as the world keeps throwing shit at you. just lie down and nap for a little bit. especially when the shit in question is the alias regret you had literally back in chapter one of your 25+ chapter story. this is gonna come back to bite you in the ass Very Fucking Soon babe!!!!

You Oh this is like the 17th one I got wrong I swear this course is trying to kill me

me, flicking on that EPSON brand projector,

(i have. been having a Time of it.)

[Yoojin🐉😊 called you (21:35)]

that’s minutes and seconds babey... you can pretty much guess the content of call from context :(

well, uh. most of call. some internal plot and Realizations happening right at the end of those 21 minutes, 35 seconds. namely:

Yoojin🐉❤️

:-)

or i dunno you can be my roommate and we can both leech off my rich and prosperous baby brother!

[extremely sad voice] heehoo... they... care each other....

YMW’s parents are kinda shit ngl. they care about him, but unfortunately, that does not show through in their care for him, ykwim? if they just paid attention to what he was actually talented at and encouraged him in his efforts.................

well, he wouldn’t have met HYJ in canon. but he would also have been a lot happier!! and YMW deserves to be happy!!!!!!!! YMW fucking rights!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You When you came with me to drop off Jihui’s standee.

they finally remembered her name sjfbklsjdfbl

Yoojin🐉❤️ OH right i was talking to one of my new commissioners about their piece realized they were an old friend of hyung’s

HEEHOO.... HONKS MY LITTLE CLOWN NOSE yoojin forgot to ask about pronouns but that’s okay they’re figuring that stuff out still

Yoojin🐉❤️ it’s getting late the kids are going to bed i have to turn off the lights

you can take the caregiver out the role of caregiving but he will still think of his baby siblings as his kids

Part of that is changing his behaviour. Hyunjae and Yoojin sit side by side and watch as Suk Simyeong gently coaches Yoohyun on how to interact with others and present a neutral, if not friendly, exterior.

[same voice as ingredience] neurodivergence.....

try and look them in the eye, or at least look somewhere on or near their face, if eye contact is too much

yoohyun, who’s the type to look people in the eye without blinking until they inevitably look away because then they don’t try that eye contact shit again later:

tbh i kinda made up shit for the Training In Formality section i don’t know shit about being Formal and Polite. hope i got it right :pensive:

“He’s not good with touch,” Hyunjae cuts in. [...] “Sorry,” [Yoojin] says apologetically to Suk Simyeong, crossing the room and gently pressing a hand against Yoohyun’s back. The kid slowly stops rocking and leans into the touch as he talks.

he’s not good with touch, Usually..... there are exceptions :-) every time i think about this being canon i go insane. wow. love and trust and faith.

Suk Simyeong nods understandingly, giving the closed door a considering look. “If that’s the case, perhaps he can take over part of the preparations,” he offers.

SSM who’s frothing at the mouth wanting to know more about this dude who apparently did some killer business deal with the head of Dungeon Task Force who all the dungeon people are gossiping about on their phone calls while they cart around unassuming A-rank businessmen: PLEEAAASEE fucking involve him PLEEEEASE make him involve himself in business with me

Still, Yoojin’s work is fairly repetitive and boring, so Hyunjae and the women pull out a pack of UNO cards from somewhere and start playing while he works, not paying much attention to either of the boys.

plugging my Han/Bak family playing UNO art here, please reblog like and subscribe,

He stares down at Yoohyun’s hair. Yoohyun’s wavy hair sits there judgmentally. Yoojin bemoans his budding career as a stylist and admits, “This… isn’t working.”

i’m sorry sweetie... hair isn’t your forte :( you can still do fashion if you try really hard

(fun fact about this whole scene, yoohyun not being able to straighten his hair until he could control flame resistance is Certified Canon!)

“No, shit, don’t get up.” Yoojin flaps his free hand at him distractedly. Hyunjae and his need to do everything himself, jeez. “I mean, like. The iron is not. Straightening.”

“hyunjae and his need to do everything” says the man who a few paragraphs ago wanted to be hair makeup clothing and management all in one

“Okay, but why is it not working, though? Is the iron not turned on?” Wow. Wow! Yoojin wonders suddenly if Yoohyun ever felt as homicidal towards him as Yoojin’s currently feeling towards his big brother. If he ever had, then it’s frankly stunning Yoojin’s survived as long as he did. “Do you think I’m stupid,” he snaps. “It’s plugged in.” “Yeah, but did you turn it on.” “You know what, why don’t you touch it and see?” Yoojin unplugs the straightening iron for a minute so that he can take it over to Hyunjae, presenting it to him with a flourish. The heat will hold on for the few seconds this takes. “Come on, touch it right now. I dare you.”

zmur put this into words better than i can, she described this part as “the feeling when elder siblings doubt your intelligence”--

“What if you used a regular iron. Like for clothes,” Hyunjae says, completely ignoring Yoohyun. Yoojin hums thoughtfully.

--and this part as “THEY ARE RIGHT TO DOUBT IT !”

“Killjoy,” Hyunjae mutters so only he and Yoojin can hear.

(should doubt your elder sibling’s intelligence too, once in a while. keep them on their toes.)

“HAN YOOHYUN YOU TAKE YOUR HAND OFF THAT RIGHT NOW,” Yoojin and Hyunjae and Jiyeon holler in perfect unison.

parental instinct for particular phrasings of commands

“Flame Resistance,” Yoohyun reads out. “S-rank.” It’s not heat resistance, but it’s pretty close, so it probably still applies.

hum hum the flame skill works on heat as well, huh

Yoojin’s watching Hyunjae idly when the flickers start up at the edge of his vision again. He blinks, rubbing his eyes idly, and looks back up in time to see, just for a split second—

HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE VISION PROBLEMS WAS IT? RUBBING HIS EYES WAS IT??

“Eh? It didn’t? I’ll… I’ll try it again, one second.” Nothing, for a second— but no, there is, pale flashes here and there. Yoojin shakes his head and blinks. They die down, then start up again. Fainter, this time. Why?

gonna say this here because i accidentally set it up as a Thing there’s. there’s no reason. whether the message shows up or not is pretty much random error.

“Ahjussi has an L-rank skill?” Yerim demands. “That’s so cool!” Jiyeon and Yoohyun and Yoojin stare at Hyunjae in silence as he returns Yerim’s eager high-five. He cowers when he notices them.

these three are already so mad and they don’t know that between S and L there’s SS and SSS. they’re gonna be SOOOOO mad. anyway yerim remains the chillest in the room

“So, say you needed to cauterize a wound in an emergency, and you didn’t have access to healing items or Hunters. You could drop the Resistance there, set it on fire, and just… sear it shut.” Yoohyun blinks, an intrigued look coming into his eyes, and looks down at his own forearm. “That’s true, I could probably…” “Yeah, food for thought, I suppose.” “What the hell?!” Yerim yelps. “Though it’s up to you if you want to try it. I still think your hair is fine as is, we don’t have to—” “That’s horrifying,” Yoojin blurts. “No, I should know how. In case something happens like you said. How do I do it?” “Now hold on a second,” Jiyeon says, voice rapidly rising in pitch.

sometimes i think about how dungeon stuff made yoojin significantly more chill with violence and murder and self mutilation in some cases. and how he comments specifically (i think this might be in a slightly later chapter, possibly unreleased) that people like myeongwoo who don’t have those extra years of immersion in the dungeon culture still reject and avoid violence and killing whenever possible. really makes you think

anyway! i saved some extra commentary for those okay with spoilers. continue reading at your own risk. extra large warning in case you’re skilling

SPOILER WARNING FOR THE BELOW CONTENT!!!! IT DRAWS ON INFO FROM UNTRANSLATED CHAPTERS, POST-170S AT LEAST!

“How many of these people did you personally know?” “Not many!” “So one, then,” Yoojin concludes. “You don’t know that!”

HE DIDN’T SAY THAT YOOJIN WAS RIGHT, THOUGH..............

“Why did you pick his name out of everyone’s! I thought you weren’t in touch with S-ranks. I thought you picked a friend’s name!”

they wanted some kind of bedroom decoration for a family member, counting sheep or something, i forget

a sheep, for a family member of one of han hyunjae’s old acquaintances, is it

#star.txt #work: yesterday will be kinder #writing commentary #my writing #some family antics to make up for what's next #more and more i feel like i need to write a timeskip. i'm so tired of early guild and dungeon management.#i need to write insanity. murder. kidnapping. classic s-class stuff #AND OF COURSE SUPERPOWERED FAMILY ANTICS WHICH IS SO CLASSIC S-CLASS STUFF IT'S BCE

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thebeatleaesthetic · 4 years

Photo

SEASON OF GLASS (AND IT’S COVER)...

I used a photo I took of John’s blood-stained glasses on the record cover. The record company called me and said the record shops would not stock the record unless I changed the cover. I didn't understand it. Why? They said it was in bad taste. I felt like a person soaked in blood coming into a living room full of people and reporting that my husband was dead, his body was taken away, and the pair of glasses were the only thing I had managed to salvage – and people looking at me saying it was in bad taste to show the glasses to them. "I'm not changing the cover. This is what John is now," I said.

– “ONOBOX” by Yoko Ono.

''What was I supposed to do, avoid the subject? ...A lot of people advised me that I shouldn't put that cover on the record, but I really wanted the whole world to see those glasses with blood on them and to realize the fact that John had been killed. It wasn't like he died of old age or drugs or something. People told me I shouldn't put the gunshots on the record, and the part where I start swearing, 'Hate me, hate us, we had everything,' which was just letting those feelings out. I know if John had been there, he would have been a lot more outspoken than I was. He was like that.

''My bedroom was right on 72d Street and on the night of the death, the fans kept playing this one record of John's. I was like a zombie, just lying there and hearing him sing 'Imagine' over and over and over. For about 10 days, it went on like that...”

– “YOKO ONO ASKS, 'WAS I SUPPOSED TO AVOID THE SUBJECT?'” by Robert Palmer (The New York Times, 1981)

John was killed, and it was very important for me to show that to the world, and for people to remember. Because I think that all of us are responsible of his death, of course including myself and both John and I were always trying to make a peaceful world. And it’s very ironical that John who loved peace so much, died in a violent way.

– Yoko Ono, Ina France television interview (1981)

…I’ve seen a floor with a pond of blood. And that was the reality. And this was like a very, very, mild expression of that. And I was totally amazed that people felt that I was exploiting him. It wasn’t that at all. I felt the oneness with him and we were saying, `Please look at me. This is what you did to me.’ I mean, that’s what John wanted to say, I think.

– Yoko Ono, “Ono--Oh Yes!” by Jody Denberg (The Austin Chronicle, 1997)

…I would stick by it. That made that album not commercial and the record company called me and said, “Look, you have to change the cover otherwise we can’t put it out because all the shops say they’re not going to carry it.” And I said, “Well, we’ll just have to take a chance.” To have those glasses on the cover was important because it was a statement and you have to understand that it was like John wanted you guys to see those glasses. Because that was what was done to him. I saw what was done to him. It was worse than that cover shows. I’ve seen the worst of it and that cover was just like a very mild statement, a little message to you from John.

-- Yoko Ono, “Who the Hell Does Yoko Ono Think She Is” by Tom Hilbert (Q Magazine, 1988)

When I started to sing I noticed my throat was all choked up and my voice was cracking. I seriously thought maybe I should quit making the album because, as some people had advised me, “It was not the time”.

But the question was, when would it be the time? I thought of all the people in the world whose voices were choking and cracking for many reasons. I could sing for them. I could call it a “choke” or “crackle”. Well, wasn’t that what the critics had been saying about me for all these years anyway? That gave me a laugh, and it became easier. Many amazing things happened during the recording session. All I can say is that John was right there with me, busy trying to arrange things for me. That is why this album is not dedicated to him. He would have been offended. He was one of us.

– Yoko Ono (notes on the album)

...Ms. Ono, 80, posted on her Twitter account four antigun messages with an image of the blood-splattered glasses that Lennon was wearing when he was gunned down outside their Manhattan apartment building on Dec. 8, 1980. With the photo, once used on a 1981 album cover and in a 2000 antigun billboard campaign, she wrote: “The death of a loved one is a hollowing experience. After 33 years our son Sean and I still miss him. Yoko Ono Lennon.”

...She also used the image of the bloodied glasses on billboards that she paid for to help carry her message [of ending gun violence] in New York, Los Angeles and Cleveland. She used language similar to what she posted on Twitter this week on some of the billboards: “Over 676,000 people have been killed by guns in the U.S.A. since John Lennon was shot and killed on December 8, 1980.”

– “Yoko Ono Details Why She Posted Lennon’s Bloodied Glasses on Twitter “ by Jennifer Preston (The Lede)

John Lennon’s name isn’t mentioned in any lyric, but his presence is everywhere — from the cover photo of his shattered eyeglasses to Ono’s moving liner notes, which explain that the album wasn’t dedicated to Lennon because “he was one of us.”

– “Season of Glass” by Stephen Holden (album review for The Rolling Stone)

[Season of Glass] marks the point in time when we all lost a legend and not only encapsulates Yoko's sadness, but the world's. But more than her sadness, Season of Glass displays Ono's remarkable strength through this period.

– Ryan Schreiber

"Season of Glass was the salvation for me," Yoko said of her 1981 album. "I had gone into an uncharted period in my life, with no reference points... Music was the most natural thing I could think of. It was part of our life." The album's cover is a photo of John's blood-spattered glasses. As painful as it was to take the photo, Yoko knew that only she could "get it right."

– “Yoko Ono: Collector of Skies” by Nell Beram, Carolyn Boriss-Krimsky

For an artist who always had been uncompromisingly candid in her work, Ono's 1981 album Season of Glass, produced and released in response to Lennon's murder in December 1980, served as a deeply emotional--and inherently public–catharsis.

...And ultimately, Season of Glass offers heartbreaking testimony, not only through its wrenching music content, but directly on its face: Ono's photographic still life of Lennon's broken, blood-stained glasses next to a half full/empty glass of water on their apartment windowsill.

– “Yes Yoko Ono” by Alexandra Munroe, Bruce Altshuler, and Jon Hendricks

A glass half empty. Her dead husband’s eyeglasses smeared with his blood. The window, the camera lens. All glass. Transparent. A misty rainy-day photograph viewing the New York City skyline through several gloomy horizons – taken from their bedroom window above Central Park. Their home. The city that John loved.

This was Yoko’s fragile world in December 1980.

...On the album cover, Yoko shares her nightmare – illustrating what the world had done to John and to her. Yoko reflects the horror right back on society, just as Jacqueline Kennedy wore her blood-stained Chanel suit in public for the remainder of the tragic day that she experienced the exact same trauma of seeing her husband killed in front of her. Yoko lets us see through the shattered window of her world and hides nothing – as always.

-- “SHATTERED. SEASON OF GLASS“ by Madeline Bocaro

‘spring passes and one remembers one’s innocence summer passes and one remembers one’e exuberance autumn passes and one remembers one’s reverence winter passes and one remembers one’s perseverance

there is a season that never passes and that is the season of glass’

– Yoko Ono (1980)

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wocfics · 5 years

Text

Eyes Of An Angel

Part 2

Arranged Marriage Series

Masterlist

JJK x Poc Reader

Warnings: Angst, Fluff, SMUT. Idk why but this shit right here...whew

Word Count: 4.4k+

“Cute.” Jungkook clasped his hands together as he and the rest of the boys met up with their wives before heading to the award show. You were dressed in a short black dress, the back opened but extremely sheer and see through. As much as he didn’t like the idea that some other guy would look at you, he knew your style by now. You liked to feel comfortable knowing that you could wear what you wanted, within limits, around Jungkook. Your dress stopped a few inches above the knee and the front of the dress was bodycon like with a slight dip at the neck. Your hair was in it’s slicked up ponytail with a side part and you wore a pair of black red bottoms. A small wing liner and a brown lip, so it didn’t take away from the look and Jungkook wore black from head to toe, with his new haircut and dyed tips.

He kissed your cheek and grabbed your hand as you got into the vehicle to make your way to the event. The past few months, Jungkook came around more, he even had to let you know that your cooking was starting to mess with his diet but that was one of the first arguments that you two had gotten in. It’s not that you were trying to make him fat, but something about him being at the gym longer and coming home sweatier than he usually was, just did something to you. Of course other women would look at him, so it was safe to say that the other half of the reason was that you were in fact, trying to ruin his diet. You couldn’t help it.

He explained to you that you two were married and that as much as he loved when you would make Flan or Arepa, he had a diet he needed to stick to in order to keep up his figure. You’re only argument was that you wanted to make sure he was eating enough to keep up his energy, but he knew why you were doing it. In the end, you both ended up being pouty babies for a half hour before you caved in and apologized and now your punishment was to go to the gym with him every time he went, which sucked, a lot. You hated getting up early and he would make you both jog on the treadmill in the gym for a half hour.

Back in the car, you stared at the tattoos on the back of his hand while he spoke to Taehyung until they got to the venue. Once there, you had gotten out behind him and you took pictures together and as a whole group, you were already being seated.

You both kissed the back of each others hands when he was told to head backstage. You two both agreed that making out in public wasn’t it for you. The first time Jungkook kissed you was on accident when he was trying to wake you up in the morning. He was too close to your face and was gonna scare you until you quickly turned around and brushed lips with him in the process. Instead of freaking out he just simply pecked your lips before telling you to brush your teeth and you wanted to body slam him except for the fact that your body was sore from the workout the day before.

During BTS’ performance, you grinned the entire time, even though the cameras were panning over to you and the other women, you kept your eyes on the stage, dancing in your seat. You and Taehyung’s wife sat next to each other and chatted back and forth in between speeches. Throughout the show, you two had exchanged numbers and even agreed to meet up for coffee since the boys would be flying between here and the states.

After the show, you headed to the after party where most of the idols met up, drank, danced and chatted as well as some networking. You and Jungkook clung to each other the entire time, him moving around to chat with different people and introducing you while you kept your arms wrapped around his one. As the night progressed you saw Namjoon storming out with his wife in clutch and Jimin’s wife leaving in a hurry with Jimin on her heels, she looked upset and soon Jungkook was letting you know it was time to go. Finally. As much as you liked to mingle, you were ready to get out of these heels and dress and into some sweats and one of Jungkookg’s hoodies.

It felt good to step inside your home, kicking your shoes off and sighing heavily at the feel of your feet touching the floor. Jungkook undid his tie and cufflinks in the car on the way home and was now taking off his jacket and finally pressing a kiss to your lips. It was a long day so finally being able to relax and kiss as much as you wanted was a relief. He had both arms around your neck, smothering you into him while yours went around his waist. The kiss was moderate, him repeatedly pecking at your lips until you nipped at his bottom one and ran your tongue over it until he granted you access to his. He groaned into your mouth before pulling back and looking down at you. “You did a good job tonight.” You broke the silence and removed your hands from around him.

Although you two had been living together for the past three and a half months, he still wasn’t ready to have sex with you yet, he wanted it to be at a good time and considering their busy schedule, he always had something to do the next day which meant he was always tired.

Placing a kiss on your forehead, he smiled. “Thank you. You looked beautiful tonight. Now, let’s get some sleep.” Yawning, he walked into the bedroom while you sighed heavily and tried not to sigh too loud from frustration. As much as you wanted to just jump his bones, you didn’t want to do that while he was still so tired from practice and recording. You had to be patient...even though it had been three months, it had to be worth it right?

After you and Jungkook had gotten ready for bed, you didn’t realize house tired you were until you instantly fell asleep a few minutes later. It had to be from both the sexual frustration and the events leading up to the award show. This lifestyle was more hectic than you thought and with their flight coming up in a month, you had to be ready to be home for a while without him. The first time you’d be in the apartment by yourself and to be honest, you were nervous.

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

One Month Later.

Being alone in the apartment had its ups and downs, you invited Tae’s wife over more often and you two talked for hours on end about your passion for art and your husbands, Tae’s wife expressed how they wanted to start a family very soon already and you weren’t at all shocked. Seeing how her and Tae interacted with each other was adorable. They looked mysterious out in public but you could tell they were completely infatuated with each other just from how they looked at each other.

The only way to keep up with Jungkook while they were all in America was through text and Facetime. You noticed the photo the boys took with Ariana Grande and you had to roll your eyes because you knew she was Jungkook’s celebrity crush. Damn her and her cuteness she had over your husband. You made a mental note to stop wearing high ponytails after seeing the picture.

You did keep up with your workout routine even though you had to do it alone and getting up was hard without Jungkook there to literally drag you out of bed. Right now, you were in the middle of making a stir fry when you heard the door unlock and Jungkook coming in with suitcases and bags in tow. Rounding the corner, you leaped onto him, forgetting about cutting up the vegetables and wrapped your legs around his waist as he held you up. You kissed all over his face, mumbling to him in Spanish about how much you missed him while he was away. It ended with you kissing his lips while he laughed at how antsy you were.

“I’m making some dinner, I know you’re hungry after that flight, don’t worry it’s healthy but...I did make some Pastelillos but only a few because I know you’re hungry.” His eyes lit up at the mention of food. “Let me take the bags in the room and change and I’ll come back out.” He gave you a final kiss before disappearing into the room. Tonight had to be the night, he was happy to see you, and you finished up dinner, besides, you were wearing lingerie under the pajama shorts and oversize shirt you had on. A black lace bra and matching panties that had a little bow on the front. The bra had satin ribbon that you wrapped around your midsection and tied in the front as if you were a present.

After he sat down at the table and ate with you, talking about his tour, he jumped right to it. “We were rehearsing for the Grammys and that’s how we took the photo with Ariana. She was so sweet and kind, she gave us all hugs and said she loved my voice when I sang.” He was grinning from ear to ear and you hated it and where this conversation was going. Standing up to clear the table while he spoke, you straddled over his lap and sat down, facing him and kissing him before he pulled away after a while and patted your hips. “I have to get up early for rehearsals for the tour. I’ll have some days off next week.” He whispered. You peeled off your top and leaned back to let him see you, he looked down and back up at you. “Y/N...please wear this again when everything is right. The flight was exhausting and as much as I would love to, rip all of this off of you, I don’t have the energy.” He watched your face drop and your eyes lower before covering yourself with the shirt and nodded.

He didn’t want you to be upset and he could tell that you were. Rolling your eyes, you remove yourself from on top of him and clear your throat. “You should go and get ready for bed now, so you can get enough sleep for tomorrow.” Putting the shirt back on, you walked into the kitchen to put everything up. Jungkook rubbed his face and sighed while standing up. “I’m sorry, Y/N. You know that right?” He asked. You shrugged and went to clean the dishes. “Jungkook, go to bed. It’s fine.” You glanced at him over your shoulder before returning to the dishes in the sink. Of course you were upset, and admittedly a little jealous. All you wanted was to show him how much you missed him but he spent all of his energy talking about his trip that he practically had none left for you.

You knew it had nothing to do with the way you looked, you were always confident about your appearance, you knew he was tired all the time but you just wished he had some time for one on one time that was way overdue.

After turning off the lights in the kitchen, you walked into the bedroom to see Jungkook peacefully sleeping under the comforter. You noticed the suitcases that were still packed and shrugged, not wanting to put his stuff away that he could do himself. He could get Ariana Grande to do it for all you cared. Taking off your pajamas to remove the lingerie underneath, you tossed it into the hamper and put your shorts and shirt back on and climbed into the bed. Jungkook immediately cuddled up behind you and wrapped an arm around your waist.

The next couple of days were spent with you not saying more than a few sentences to Jungkook. You woke up earlier than him to get a workout in and handed him his lunch on his way out. He knew you were still upset about the other night, which he had to talk to you about because he did not like tension.

The pressure was building up all week, luckily he was coming home so late that you were already asleep so you couldn’t talk about it. It wasn’t until one day, during his first day off, you came back from working out to him leaning against the kitchen counter with his arms crossed over his chest. Rolling your eyes, you went to take your shower and washed your hair, leaving it down to dry and pulled on sleep shorts and another oversized shirt when he came walking into the room.

“Y/N, seriously? This attitude you have needs to stop, you’re getting worked up over nothing and it’s been going on all week. I know you’re mad at me but this is getting ridiculous.” He spoke. Putting the brush down after brushing through your hair, you placed a hand on your hip. “If it bothers you so much then go tell Ariana Grande.” You pushed past him to go and get some water. “Pequeña cola de caballo con perra.” You mumbled while grabbing a water bottle.

Jungkook went to his phone to translate what you said. ‘Little ponytail wearing bitch’ was what was brought up and he growled before stalking out towards you. “Y/N! This has nothing to do with her. Why are you so jealous all the time? Of Ari?” You paused mid drink and narrowed your eyes at him. “Wow. Ustedes dos deben ser mejores amigos para que le den un apodo!” You laughed and shook your head. “Whatever Jungkook. Go be with your celebrity crush that you talk about all the time. I’m sure she’ll be enough for you to want to take your pants off for.”

Sighing in frustration, Jungkook gave up and lost his temper. “OH MY GOD Y/N GET OVER IT. I DON’T LIKE HER LIKE THAT AND YOU BEING JEALOUS IS STARTING TO PISS ME OFF. YOU DON’T THINK I GET MAD WHEN YOU HAVE ON LOW CUT SHIRTS AND SHORT SHORTS WHEN YOU GO WORK AT THE BAR SOMETIMES?! GET REAL! JUST BE QUIET AND TALK TO ME IF IT’S BOTHERING YOU, YOU KNOW I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE SAYING WHEN YOU SPEAK SPANISH.” He never raised his voice like that and you just paused, staring at him.

For some reason he was way more attractive now than you ever saw him before. Something about him asserting dominance made your knees slightly weak and your insides heat up. You bit your lips as you watched him, his chest rising up and down after his outburst. He was staring at you too. “Whatever.” You rolled your eyes, walking past him when he caught your arm and quickly backed you into the wall near your bedroom. His large hand gripped both sides of your jaw and brought his lips down to yours in a heated kiss.

Anger was still boiling inside of you, but that didn’t stop your hands from reaching out to tug on his shirt, forcing him to press his entire body into yours. “I’ll make you talk.” He grumbled into your mouth, forcing his tongue past your lips to seek out your own. Your eyes closed but your eyebrows were still pulled together in frustration. His hands moved from your face down to the collar of your shirt and in one swift motion, he effortlessly ripped it into shreds, a gasp escaping your parted lips. “You ripped my shirt!” You bit his lip and he growled, pulling you away from the wall and slapped your ass, lifting you up at the same time and wrapping your legs around his waist. “It was my shirt, anyways.” He pressed you back into the wall again.

Moving his lips down to your neck and biting the flesh there, leaving purple bruises over your neck and collarbone. “Don’t start something you can finish, Jungkook.” You breathed out, looking down when he pulled away from your chest and stared up at you with those big brown eyes of his. “Now you have something to say huh? Such a brat.” He carried you into the room and tossed you onto the bed, landing on your back. You scoffed and sat up, falling back down when he grabbed your ankles and pulled you to the end of the bed.

“Who the fuck are you talking to? You can’t call me that.” You shoved him and he smirked, pulling off his shirt and stalking over to you, pinning you down on the bed with your hands on either side of you. “You’ve been stressing me out all week, ignoring me and rolling your goddamn eyes and now you want to speak?” Your eyes glanced down towards his upper half, and he cocked an eyebrow at you, going back to attach his lips to your upper chest, brushing his thumbs over your already hard nipples.

Keeping your hands on either side of your body, you stared down at him, keeping your bottom lip between your teeth even as he pulled off your shorts while making his way down your body. How was he making you angry and turned on all at the same time? You had never seen him this riled up before and if you were honest, it was beyond sexy.

His lips moved back over your chest once again, sucking each nipple into his mouth one at a time, twisting the other between his fingers when his mouth wasn’t on it. You sighed heavily, wanting him to do more, you hated teasing. As if he could read your thoughts, he trailed his kisses down your torso, nipping at the side of your waist while looking up at you as you tsked at him.

Spreading your legs apart, he stood up and looked down at your dripping wet core, you suddenly feeling self conscious. You tried to close your legs but he was stronger than you and kept them open, chuckling at your attempt. “Don’t even think about it. This is what you wanted, baby.” His voice huskier as he groped your inner thigh, immediately placing his thumb onto your swollen clit and began rubbing it, lowering himself down on his knees.

Your eyes widened before closing at his touch, sending a light chill up your spine. The moan that left your lips surprised you, your eyes darting open and your head snapping down at Jungkook between your legs, his lips attached your pussy, making out with it and rolling his tongue over your clit. “Fuck..” You pushed his hair from his forehead, locking eyes with him as he bore into yours. Wrapping his arms around your thighs, he pressed his tongue into your clit more, moving it down to prod at your entrance, loving the sounds that were coming from you as he closed his eyes and hummed in satisfaction.

Your body shivered, heating up from the pleasure he was bringing you. Sliding two fingers into your dripping hole, he sucked your clit into his mouth while slowly sliding his fingers in and out of you, your back arching and you hissing from the stretch. “You’re gonna make me come…” You groaned, moving your hands up to grip the blanket beneath you. He pumped his fingers faster, moaning against your pussy as your own wetness made it easier for his fingers to glide back and forth, the squelching noises from his fingers being inside of you making him work that much harder. “Oh baby, you’re so tight...you gonna come already?” He moved back to flick his tongue rapidly over your clit, a louder moan leaving you as you rolled your hips into his face.

You were so close, he just needed to keep going at the pace he was going, his fingers and his tongue working in unison to bring you to your high until it was ripped away from you when he removed both his mouth and his fingers. You cursed and glared down at him.

He kissed your inner thighs, pulling down his sweats and standing up, wiping your juices from his mouth and leaning over you to kiss you, sliding you tongue into his mouth and tasting yourself on his lips. “Flip over.” He demanded and stood back up, watching you turn over onto your stomach and onto your knees. He grinned and began kneading your ass, getting onto the bed behind you and spreading your cheeks apart, guiding his dick between your folds and quickly thrusting into you.

Hissing, you folded your arms and rested your head against them, squeezing your eyes shut at the slight burn he brought from the girth of his cock. He wasted no time in gripping your hips tightly and setting a brutal pace, huffing and keeping your ass cheeks spread apart, watching you suck him in each time he pulled out. Your mouth fell open in a silent scream, fingers gripping and twisting the blanket in your hands as your hair fell into your face. You flipped it back and grunted when he grabbed a fistful. He made the sweetest noises you had never heard any man make before. His fingers digging into your hips as he continued to piston his hips into yours.

“Make me come...please...Kookie…” You whimpered, shocking yourself with what you were saying. He moaned at your words, letting your hair go and placing his hand back on your hip, making your legs spread even more which allowed him to go deeper. “Oh baby...fuck.” He slapped your ass, the sting causing you to bury your face in the blankets as he continued leaving hand prints all over your bottom, knowing you’d feel it the next day. It only added to the pleasure you felt building up.

His hips smacking into your ass at the speed he was going, jerking your body back and forth, had you tightening around him. He could feel you doing this and grunted, tossing his head back. Your moans got higher and higher, your legs trembling. “K-keep going, j-ju-just like that. I’m coming...oh fuck.” You squealed, squeezing your eyes shut and rocking your hips back into him as you climaxed, wanting him to reach his high as well. Feeling you flutter around his cock, he looked down, holding you up as you almost collapsed. “Oh...shiiiit.” He dropped down on top of you as your legs straightened out, pumping you full of his seed as he breathed into the back of your neck, his chest covering your back.

You closed your eyes, a smile tugging on your lips as you felt him fill you up. He was heavily breathing into your hair, nuzzling his forehead into you before sitting up and pulling out of you. “Don’t move.” He breathed out, walking into the bathroom and coming back with a warm cloth. You turned you around to clean you up and went back into the bathroom to splash his face with cold water.

You laid on your back, watching him walk around the room to grab the clothes that were thrown while he was still naked. He was about to put on a pair of shorts and you cleared your throat. “Stay just like that and cuddle me.” Your voice was a little hoarse. He winked at you and went to get you both two glasses of water. When he returned, you took a glass from him and drank half of it before placing it on the table by the bed.

Placing his glass down, he moved over to you and rested his head on your chest, rubbing soothing circled over your waist and hip. You pressed your cheek to his forehead and sighed heavily. “I’m sorry, for acting like such a brat and being a jealous wife. You were just so happy talking about Ariana Grande that all I saw was red.” You looked down at him when he shifted to look up at you. His turn to hold you, he wrapped his arms around you and softly kissed your lips. “Y/N, the boys hate when I bring up your name in any conversation. I talk about you more than anything and anyone. Yeah, Ari is a nice girl but I don’t look at her the way I look at you, okay? You’re beautiful, stubborn but smart.”

He looked at the bruises on your neck from him and grinned. “Do you really get upset at the way I dress when I go to work?” You asked and he chewed on his lip while shrugging. “Depends on what you wear but I’m not going to tell you how to dress, especially if you were already dressing like that but, I know how guys are, I want to be the only one seeing you in those kinds of clothes.” He was jealous, you could tell. Possessive but not to the point of trapping you in the house.

“How about we go shopping later on this week and you can help me pick out some work clothes. I have to make tips so maybe something cute instead of super sexy.”

“Y/N, you don’t have to do-”

“I’m doing it for us, Kookie. I don’t want anyone questioning you about me because of the way I dress, okay? You’re important to me.” You snuggled into his arms and stared across the room at the window. “It’s still morning time. Are you hungry?” You asked. Upon asking that, you heard his stomach growling and laughed while sitting up. “Come on, I’ll make something healthy. I know you have a comeback to look nice for.” You spoke while throwing on one of his shirts and putting your hair up in a bun.

He followed you out into the kitchen and wrapped his arms around your waist from behind, resting his chin on top of your head. “I’ll help cook. I’ll make some smoothies.” He turned you around and cupped your face gently between his hands and placed sweet kisses on your lips. “I could just eat you all day.” He spoke against your lips. You hit his chest and moved into the kitchen. “Such a perv.” You laughed while he wiggled his brows.

This was going to be a long day.

#arranged marriage #jeon jungkook #jungkook #jungkook imagine #kookie #jk imagine #bts jungkook #bts jk #bts x poc #bts poc #kpop poc #kpopimagine #latina #latina reader #jungkook x reader #bts smut

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anaise · 3 years

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A Short but Unforgettable Trip

Photo Source: M.studio - stock.adobe.com

Note: Pictures aren't mine because the camera that was used on this trip was burned when we experienced a fire accident way back in 2018.

It's been so long since I last travelled but I can still remember the trip that I had enjoyed. It was February, me and my aunt decided to visit Baguio, this wasn't my first time going to Baguio, in fact I've went there with my family way back. I picked this trip because I've barely remember the trip that I first had in Baguio and my memories from this trip is more fresh in my mind.

It was dawn, so early in the morning. Me and my aunt are getting ready so we're not late for our long ride. Its very important not to miss this because we are to ride a public transportation for our trip, and there's only two bad things that could happen if you miss your allotted schedule: first is you completely miss the chance of going on a trip and second you made it late but find yourself stuck on an unmoving bus because of traffic. The moment we arrived at the bus station (Victory liner) the ticket line was so long, thankfully we had already reserved our bus beforehand, that way our trip will be less hassle and it would go smoothly.

Being in the bus I remembered that listening to music and watching outside the window had kept me distracted and not bored. I'm a type of person who feel nauseous in moving vehicles that's why I'm really thankful I had prepared a long playlist while we're on the road. There are some stops for bathroom breaks in between the trip. I can't fully count how many stops we've had before arriving but every time we have to go out of the bus I always make sure to make the most out of it because the ride is very long.

At exactly lunch time we've arrived at Baguio, as I remembered, it took us 7-8 hours of travel just to get there. Since the same bus terminal that we rode was near the hotel, in fact there's even a shortcut from the bus terminal to the hotel's open restaurant, I just knew that fact by the time we're off to go back home so this information will be much of help on your first day. While leaving the bus, outside there will be people who will offer you a place to stay, I can't entirely suggest what best place to stay but our stay in the hotel was comfortable and there's a buffet every morning.

Photo Source: https://www.wyndhamhotels.com/microtel/baguio-city-philippines/microtel-by-wyndham-baguio/overview

Accommodations aside, as a person who grew familiar of Manila's climate, Baguio feels so new and so different, it made me feel the same chills I had when I first arrived there. It was sunny but the temperature was not as hot as it looks, it's cold enough to compare to Manila's temperature when it's raining. Aside from a greener environment, uphill and downhill roads the scenery was not so different from the bustling environment of Manila's everyday look, maybe it's because we stayed on Baguio's more "modernized" part, where there are buildings, restaurants and shops everywhere, making it all too familiar and not so different.

Our first destination was Burnham Park , we decided to go there after eating our dinner in the hotel. The park at night was as lively as i expected it to be in daylight. It's a fun place to stay together with your family and friends, the park was full of people but not too crowded, a perfect place for picnics and night walks! There are also some entertaining stuff you can do in the park like riding a mini boat on the lake or riding a small car. We also stumbled upon a vendor who is selling taho, what really amazed me was that they sell strawberry flavored taho, and it is delicious, what tops it is that they sell it hot even if it's already night time, making it a perfect treat to eat when strolling in the cold night park in Baguio.

Photo Source : https://makanpamore.wordpress.com/2015/10/18/taho/

My aunt had some business to do in Baguio so we mostly stroll when its afternoon and night time, on our second day we decided to check the night market, it's not my first time visiting the night market but it definitely feels like a first time experience once again. True to its name the night market only exists when the sun is out, there's this big street that become a place bustling with tents and carts by the time vehicles aren't permitted to use the road. Seeing once again how people wait for that time and as they started to build this market one by one never seizes to amuse me. The night market is a good place to go if you're thinking of buying any items you need or taken a liking in because the prices there are very affordable.

Photo Source: https://baguiocityguide.com/after-re-opening-yesterday-baguio-city-mayor-suspends-night-market-operations/

On the third day my aunt and I decided to make the most out of that day, because by the next day we'll be going back home. Our first itinerary was to visit a rose farm but we hadn't had the chance to, because it rained and public transportation was a lot harder to find, it might took a lot of our time for that day so we change our plan and decided to wait for the rain to stop and walk on the streets of Baguio instead. While walking we stumbled upon book stores, art stores and of course souvenir shops. I know these stores aren't that different from what people are used to seeing in Manila but the stores there has that authenticity feel to them, and despite of being a common shop it feels as fascinating as Baguio itself. The book shop (Mt. Cloud Bookshop) has stacks and stock piled of books in them and that familiar smell of books and their pages is pungent, oddly enough it feels inviting and cozy.

Photo Source: https://lemiapp.com/card/5cf6a27d3c3db042273206d9

As afternoon came me and my aunt went to a famous place (Good Shepherd) that sells well known peanut brittles, Lengua and best selling jams, flavored in strawberry and ube. Even though we have to wait for our order (because the line was so long) it was worth it and its perfect for gifts! I also suggest that you should buy as many strawberries and honey if you happen to visit Baguio because they sell them fresh and cheap there.

Photo Source: https://shopee.ph/atsiiscd

By night time we ate on a restaurant called Good Taste it's a very famous restaurant recommended to us as well, as the restaurant's name suggest the food there was not just good but amazing. For our dinner we ordered Baguio's delicacy Bulalo Steak and Buttered Chicken (the restaurant's best selling food) The food was superb! The food wrapped up our day happy and feeling good.

Photo Source: https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2021/05/14/good-taste-founder-dies/

By the time we have to take our leave the same measures are done, we scheduled our departure ahead of time and wait patiently for our bus. The trip in Baguio was quite short , not all too many tourist spots mentioned in my travelogue and that's because our trip there was not really for visiting tourists spots but to unwind and feel a new environment for a change. I really wanted to share the common and everyday places in Baguio because I had felt a different sentiment out of all the supposedly common places there. It all felt familiar but different at the same time, it's not as grand or as long but its unforgettable. This trip was a fun trip for me and every time I reminisce about it I can't help but be happy and feel satisfied.

#short trip #baguio #common places

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marueonmain · 4 years

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WINDFLOWER

part eight ~ the chance to pipe ~

(part one) (part two) (part three) (part four) (part five) (part six) (part seven) (part eight)

A/N: We are in it now; thank you for sticking around. Messages/Asks are open and greatly appreciated.

Summary: Alex seeks Will’s support and advice for how best to shoot his shot with Y/N. He also takes his first shower in 72 hours.

Pairing: imallexx x reader

Warning: Language.

Word Count: 2.6k

He arrived at Will's apartment, still wearing the mindless grin that Y/N coaxed out of him. Alex walked through the unlocked front door and straight to his friend's bedroom. It was bright, not near as cave-like as his own, and there was the lingering scent of a candle burned recently. Will sat at his desk: a second chair set-up next to him: scrolling through the youtube analytics for his most recent video.

It seemed that CPM was up – good news for the video and its one-million views. Will cleared his throat, causing Alex to freeze just two steps inside. Without lifting his head or dragging his attention from his screen, Will said with a flat and ominous tone, "I warned yous."

"What?"

"About being late." Spinning his chair, Will revealed the blue spray-painted plastic bat sitting in his lap. He kept his stern face for another five seconds before breaking into his usual toothy smile and laugh.

Rather than scrambling together a witty remark in return, Alex chuckled along. To that gag as well as the other usual playful abuse about his laziness and tardiness. Will finished the last one-liner he had prepared in the extra time he was made to wait for Alex to arrive, and his expression faltered. Not that he did not appear cheerful anymore – the smile remained – but it relaxed as a single eyebrow raised.

Will asked, "What's got you all giddy?"

Looking down at his hands, Alex chuckled again, though it sounded more akin to a humorous scoff, and gave no answer. He buried his hands in his pockets and took the seat next to his friend.

"What is it?" Will pestered on. "James Charles unblocked you, did he?"

Alex punched him in the arm as hard as he could (not hard). "Fuck off."

Will rolled his eyes before turning to the camera. He hit record and, putting on his boisterous presentation voice, shouted, "Right! Hello, welcome back to the second channel – welcome back to oddly satisfying. It's been a..."

Top posts for that month included photos of symmetrical flower arrangements, videos of tape-peelings from miniature canvases, woodworking gifs, beautiful block calligraphy, slow-motion capture of a sewing machine, and animation to fulfill the desire to sharpen a pencil to a perfect point every time. Alex gave out ratings of nines and tens like he had a quota to fill. As the video continued, Will argued the scores with him more and more. None so much as he did with the seven Alex gave to a real shit submission of ping-pong trick shots.

It was not an average filming session (unbeknownst to Will); it was a game where with each passing minute, Alex was building up his courage for what he wanted to talk about after the video was over. George had been the one person in the friend group he told about his feelings for Y/N, and that had not gone over well. But Alex thought he might now be able to explain it better – explain himself better – and be supported. Will was, after all, behind the act of snakelike behaviour, a very caring person who had held Alex's hand while he fixed himself several times over.

"What do you give the paw-print painting then, Alex?"

"Hm?" Torn from the bed of his subconscious thoughts into the waking world, Alex darted his eyes to the screen and to the camera. "Uh, ten. Definitely a ten."

"Right. Anyway, we'll end on a good note. Be sure to hit that like button for more reddit videos and go subscribe to Alex's channel—"

"It's really epic!"

"—link will be in the description. And we'll see you guys later!" Will gave a terse salute to the camera and, once the outro was finished, dropped his voice to normal and asked, "Care to do a second one while we're here?"

"Why not?"

Springing from his chair to his feet, Will crossed the bedroom to his cupboard and began to change. Giving the illusion of there being a more significant passage of time between filming. Taking off his beanie revealed his dark unruly hair, which he covered again with his 'crisis actor' hat.

"I was wondering if I could get your advice on something?" Alex began not moving from his seat at the desk. Neither did he turn his attention much from the screen, to give Will some privacy.

"What's that?"

"There's this girl— Well, um, this woman rather, that I am interested in approaching – romantically – and—"

"Why you talking like an android?" Will stripped himself of his black and green shirt. Interestingly enough, the same black and green shirt as Ethan wore when he last had the sidemen member over for a video. "Could you be normal for a minute?"

"I like her. Ok? What now?"

He pulled on a shovel hoodie and grabbing another turned to Alex. Gesturing to the pink zip-up jacket, he asked, "You have a decent shirt under there or want to borrow one of these?"

"I'm fine. But about the girl. Should I even bother?"

"How do you mean? If there's the chance to pipe – you got to take it."

"No. Like if I just end up fucking it up, why—?"

"Stop thinking about the end. We're at the beginning, alright? You're a good-looking lad, even got a decent trim for once in your life." Will ruffled Alex's hair as he returned to the seat beside him. "You're verified. All you got to do is slide into the lass' twitter DMs, and you're in."

"I'm not verified," he said with a bit of a huff. "You're verified."

Will shrugged. Pulling his phone from his pocket to check messages. "Whatever. You ready to record?"

"Not yet. What if she has a boyfriend?"

"Chin him."

"I'm being serious."

"So am I. If there's not a ring and a date...well...it isn't really all that important, is it?" Will scrolled through the next ten posts on r/oddlysatisfying, before changing his mind, scrolling back up, and switching to another subreddit. Adding to his previous comment, "Unless it's Mia we're talking about."

Alex sucked his teeth. "Unfortunately, it is."

"Shut it. I'm having none of that." He pushed Alex's shoulder with one hand and wagged a jokingly accusatory finger. "Let's get back to it."

"Alright. Alright."

Will turned to the camera and, as quickly as he had dropped it, picked up his presentation voice, shouting, "Right! Hello, welcome back to this incredibly ad-friendly youtube channel. Instead of rating sand-cutting and slime, today we're gonna be rating dogs again. So this, welcome to r/aww. There should be some decent content here..."

It was nice sifting through the top posts of the week: a golden retriever taking care of baby bunnies, deer fawns sleeping under lawn furniture, an albino skunk, and a lot more ducklings and birds in general than Alex remembered being popular on the subreddit. Their last filming was full of constant challenges and debates, but when Alex gave nine and ten ratings for animals Will agreed whole-heartedly – save for a single dispute over a cat picture. It was cute; Will just was not terribly fond of cats.

Alex simultaneously commentated for the video and pondered – now that he had his friend's blessing – how best to shoot his shot with Y/N. He beamed with excitement and energy, and the evidence was in the light blush of his cheeks. It was not soft happiness like he felt when sitting on the rooftop of his apartment building, with a sausage roll in his stomach and a decent buzz. It was sharp happiness like the entire world had been dragged into photoshop and had the contrast shot right up to one hundred. All the dust from the corners of his mind was gathered, swept up, dumped in a bin, and set ablaze.

Before Alex could think of anything, it was the end of the video.

"Thank you very much for watching! Hope you enjoyed. Check-out Alex's channel and the WillNE main channel, links in the description, and we'll see you guys later." Will stopped the recording, dropped the act, and pulled out his phone again. There were dozens of messages; his fingers flew across the keyboard, shooting off response after response. "Thanks for helping out the cause."

Alex returned Will's fist-bump. He stood from his chair just to walk the single step and sit on the edge of Will's bed. Any distance would do in helping him ease into the details of his situation; after all, it was not just any woman that he was after.

He started, attempting to sound casual, as if the topic was organic, "What do you think about Re—?"

"Red and Sammy?" Will asked distractedly. Believing he had finished the question how Alex meant to, he took it upon himself to answer it as well, "Haven't met Red to be fair, but Sammy is a solid bloke."

"You think?"

"Yeah, Gee wanted to rearrange some furniture, and Josh and I were useless. I rang Sammy, he came round, practically moved everything himself – even brought beers. You did well good picking him, Lex."

At what was likely intended to be a genuine compliment, Alex felt himself shifting a single step closer to his internal self-destruct button. Of course, Alex knew. He knew that it was not healthy for his mind or mood to be so fragile or rather so easily swayed, but there he was – fuming with misplaced anger.

How could he tell Will? How could he explain he wanted a chance with one of their mates’ girlfriends without coming off as a bad person? Was he a bad person?

Did he care? When he came into the world running a race where he was made to wear sandals while everyone else got trainers. Alex stood from the bed and readied to leave.

Attempting to lighten the mood despite likely not knowing why it dimmed, Will added, standing to throw an arm around Alex's shoulders, "And who said you have no friends?"

"You do."

Will chuckled. "Huh, I must be dead smart me."

"Alright, well..." He intentionally trailed off, ducking from under his friend's arm.

"Are you off?"

"Yeah, I'll sees you later." Alex left the bedroom with quicker and heavier steps than was his usual gait; the difference, however, was not enough for someone outside himself to notice. It was frustration. It was: a set jaw. : an unnatural heat rising from his core to all his extremities. : and a mouth pinched smaller than what seems humanely possible.

If he were a 2D cartoon character, as comments under all his videos would suggest, his irises would be redrawn in the shape of flames. Steam might have even come from his ears.

George likes Sammy. Will likes Sammy. James (or at least drunk James who met him) likes Sammy.

And Alex wanted to steal his girlfriend. Fuck.

He raced through the flat to the front door; just through the threshold and into the hall, he stopped. Waiting to hear the latch bolt behind him. Like the clap of a hypnotherapist bringing their patient back from a breakthrough session – the sound drained him of his anger.

It was not helpful to him to be angry at the situation: angry with himself.

Alex walked the hall to the lift and stepped in. During his descent, he looked at the warped reflection of himself in the metal doors: the prickle of hair on his upper lip, the trim which was different but somehow identical to all his previous, a picture in pink – and also red.

It was the reflection of a man. Despite how his followers portrayed him in collages and fanfics, he was an adult man. Confronting that distorted image altered his perception: what he knew himself to look like: his conscious image.

How interesting he must look in the strange light of an average person's perception. How confused. How tired.

DING of the sliding doors opening, ripped his warped reflection in half. Alex exited half-expecting for Y/N to be there on the other side, considering she was everywhere recently. Luckily, she was not. But that fleeting thought of Y/N snowballed as he walked the hall to his apartment. Outside the door, he stopped and stood Blair Witch style facing it but not moving to unlock it or get the key from his pocket just yet.

Y/N. Alex thought of Y/N. Thought of first meeting her with her cute ears and flushed face. How she doted on Sammy. Thought of speaking with her in the foyer with her calm aurora and chin-hugging top. How he wanted nothing more than to be cute with her – for them to have a song.

Thought of when she was making waffles with shaking hands and a little wrinkle between her eyebrows. How she dodged his questions. Thought of ~the dream~ and how different he would act if it were real.

He rummaged through his pockets to find his key. When he did, he shoved it in and pulled it out the lock with an equal amount of unnecessary force.

It was late.

Alex had been awake over twenty-four hours, and he wanted – needed – he just needed it to stop. Unable to handle consciousness much longer, he dragged his feet along the straight shot to his bedroom. And into his bathroom.

Not particularly a nighttime shower type of person, Nor a morning shower type of person, Alex was more a when-I-want-to-or-remember-to-shower type of person.

During slight depressive slumps, however, the more accurate category for him would be a once-the-grease-starts-to-drip-off-my-hair-that-is-when-I-will-shower type of person.

Stepping under the showerhead, the warm water wrapped around him. Pelted down on the pale skin of his shoulders and back, relaxing the muscles there. Slender fingers racked shampoo through his tangled hair: it smelled like almonds. Like artificial almonds designed by chemists who had never seen or smelt an almond before. It was nice.

He ducked his head to rinse out the suds and lost his balance, falling forward a bit. Catching himself with his hands on the wall in front of him; it jolted him out from under his somnambulism spell.

Hopping out of the shower, he dried off and wrapped his single towel around his waist. There in the mirror above the sink were those little prickles of a moustache. Alex stepped up, took his razor in his right hand, grabbed the shaving foam off the counter with the left, and looked to his right again to find he had dropped the razor in the sink. His brain was too exhausted to focus on more than one thought – more than one task at a time.

With less than six flicks of the wrist, his upper lip was clean-shaven, and he was trudging along to his bedroom. Alex let his towel drop to the floor; he tugged on a clean pair of pajama bottoms and pitched himself from the other side of the room onto his bed.

"Ow," he muttered to his aching bones. Alex closed his eyes, and for the first time since ~the dream~ appreciated the contemplative silence of his bedroom – and of his head.

Taglist: (message to join!) @angelbabyivy

#imallexx #imallexx imagine #imallexx x reader #alex elmslie #alex elmslie imagine #alex elmslie x reader #eboys #commentary crew #internet sensation #willne

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