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steveinscarlet · 20 days ago

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I tried to scan the main ol' crazy eyes Joe picture but he was too big to properly fit in the scanner so this is the best I could do

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BRINGING UP BABY

Joe Elliott doesn't want children - he's got enough on his hands nursing a billion dollar baby called Def Leppard. Mat Snow hears why arguably the world's most successful rock 'n' roll band can still stroll down the street without being recognised. Pictures by Peter Anderson

BY THE time you read this, you'll know something that was on the cards a couple of weeks ago but by no means a dead cert.

That is whether the British Phonographic Institute, in all its majesty and wisdom, opened an envelope at the black tie, gala dinner and announced that the award for Rockin' Pneumonia, Boogie-Woogie Flu And All-Round Fabness goes not to Brother Beyond, Yazz, nor even Bros, but to a bunch of blokes who won't see 25 again and who play guitars, drums and stuff often quite loud.

Yes, you will know now what Def Leppard's Joe Elliott and I didn't know then whether there will be a BPI BRITS Award for Best British Band decorating his parents' mantelpiece.

"Def Leppard winning anything is hilarious," he chuckles. "It's nice to be nominated, but we're never going to win anything. We're a stick-in-the- mud heavy metal band - Long 'air and jeans: we can't vote for them, can we?"

JOE ELLIOTT is in mellow mood. After nearly three months off, following the highly lucrative but tiring 14-month Hysteria tour, he at last has time to chew the fat back home in a beautiful bay just outside Dublin, where he is spending his 'year out' of the UK for tax reasons.

Unlike the other four Leps, who get itchy after only three weeks off the road, Joe needs the time to lounge around, catch up with his listening and watch a few videos.

"I've been revelling in the fact that I've been able to get a sore throat and it doesn't matter!"

A week in the sun apart, Joe has not been neglecting his career as the mouthpiece of arguably the most commercially successful rock 'n' roll band in the world today.

There will be rehearsals for the new album. (Robert 'Mutt' Lange, the so-called 'sixth Lep', will not be producing). Hopes are high that it might be in the shops sooner than 1991, given that their two previous albums, 'Pyromania' and 'Hysteria', have been beaten only by Michael Jackson in terms of how long we've had to wait between releases - and how many copies we've gone out and bought. But, right now, Joe has the luxury of reflecting on his place in the scheme of things.

It seems that what he ultimately craves is to be recognised as one of the true rock greats, on a par with the people who turned him on in the first place, back when he was a soccer- crazy, only child growing up in Sheffield, when he was a bored youth maintaining stocks of grinding wheels and oil rags for Osborne Mushet Tools.

Back then, people like Alice Cooper, Jethro Tull, T Rex and, especially, Mott The Hoople kept him sane. Def Leppard's record company, Phonogram, have signed Ian Hunter and it's the best news Joe's had all year.

His list of heroes includes just about everybody who made a raucous noise in the '70s his years of yearning to escape the humdrum world of work and home. That need is still Joe's guiding force so he won't be taking a cue from his friend Jon Bon Jovi's 'New Jersey' and calling his next album 'South Yorkshire'. "Can you imagine it?" he guffaws.

"Ian Hunter summed it up brilliantly in his book Diary Of A Rock 'N' Roll Star - 'I left my heart in Watford?' How can you sing about Scunthorpe or Huddersfield?

"Let's face it, everybody would say, Fair play for doing it - but they'd laugh at it whether they were fans, journalists or friends. I remember when Saxon had this song called 'Northern Lady', and it just stank. Leave it out! Jesus Christ! Flat caps and Yorkshire pudding is the impression people get, even though we all know it's not like that. "They don't all keep pigeons, which is what a lot of people south of Nottingham seem to think. There's no romance, no beaches in Sheffield. A car chase in San Francisco is always going to look better than one through Hackney. But then they could never have Sherlock Holmes in America. It's a different world.

"I'd sooner go for the British approach, which is totally ambiguous: it doesn't say anything, it doesn't mean anything," Joe goes on. "I can't even describe what half the bloody songs are about; they just sound alright. You are what you listen to. You explain what T Rex's lyrics are about. If you can figure his out, then you can figure mine out. 'Hub-cap diamond star halo' means more to me than 'I went down to the river', I'm afraid. People can relate to that Springsteeny thing but, to me, T Rex made your imagination work harder.

"If I wrote from experience, I don't think it would sound very good me singing about the last five-a-side soccer game I had.

"Whenever I sing about women, it's always invented," says Joe, rebutting the charge of sexism which, in fact, I hadn't levelled at him.

"Who's to say that the honkytonk woman ever existed? It could have been a complete figment of Jagger's imagination. I used to write from personal experience don't think I never have.

"On the second album, we wrote about all sorts of stories; Steve (Clark) once hijacked a taxi in Paris and tried to write a song about it. But it just sounded like a piece of shit, so we scrapped it, rewrote the lyrics, made them up, and it was a lot better."

SO, IF not 'South Yorkshire', S perhaps 'Catatonia'? 'Schizophrenia' (a double- album)? Or (Bob Geldof's suggestion) 'Paranoia'? Another psychological disorder, surely?

"Probably," reckons Joe. "It was a complete coincidence, the last two. 'Hysteria' was an idea Rick (Allen) came up with. It was after all the stuff with his accident. The first time we ever seriously experienced it was on the '83 tour, and it got pretty close to it two days after his accident - the reception area of the hospital was teeming with newspaper reporters and kids. And, because we weren't all that popular in England at the time, it made it appear more massive. Rick was on the front page of the Daily Star - and there were all these journalists, like Rick was The Queen or lan Botham. We had to be snuck in through the f***in' laundry chute to go and see him! "I always imagine that Fish - and I'm not knocking the guy - has everything worked out in advance: This is the album title, here's the sleeve - now let's go write the music. The last thing we have is the album title; we panic so much. "Hysteria' was going to be called 'Animal Instincts' at one stage: then we thought that sounded really stupid. We had the sleeve ready, so that was four grand down the drain. It just wasn't right - so we used it for the book instead."

Having repeated, even exceeded, the success of the hard-to-match 'Pyromania' album with 'Hysteria', Joe has found that the way to cope with sky-high expectations is to ignore them.

"I have no doubts about the next album," he declares. "I'm not 100 per cent sure that it'll be as big as the last one, though it may be a better record. Much of it is down to timing. I don't believe success should be based on sales. But everywhere you look it's figures, figures, figures.

"Success should be judged on the sound of the bloody thing. I'm not worried about it. We'll make a record and put it out, and it'll do whatever it does."

What about the live act? "We've had a few approaches from the States to go back and do some shows this summer. Believe it or not, 'Hysteria"s gone back up in America the album's doing better now than when we were out there. It's been 'Top Five in three different years - '87, 88 and now '89.

"Anyway, I was talking to Adam Clayton about it the other day, and he said, You've got to be careful because where do you go from stadiums? What do you do go back to clubs? "That's why we have managers. We have opinions, but we don't have our finger on the pulse like they do. We're too busy trying to sing in tune, play the songs and look cool like a pop band is supposed to do and still keep an eye open so you don't get ripped off. But you can't be a master of all trades.

"When does a spectacle become untoppable? It doesn't. You do a gig on the moon and put the PA on Pluto... Satellite gigs? Hologram gigs? Put the audience in the middle and us outside!"

ON TOUR, the Aerosmith, Guns N' Roses and Love And Rockets albums never left cassette deck. Back home, the Irish magazine Fresh has asked Joe for a fan's-eye view of the new releases.

"I played the Lou Reed album ten times and, in my opinion, it ain't 'Transformer', it ain't 'Sally Can't Dance', it's not 'Coney Island Baby' and it's definitely not 'Berlin'. Every song's about f***ing New York! All about some guy with needles in his arms! "But I grew up with 'Transformer', which came out when I was 12. And 'Berlin' was really depressing but great to listen to in the bath. The new one sounds like demos, which has a sort of charm, but some of it's a bit weird. That song, 'Last Great American Whale' I can't make my mind up whether it's a piece of shit or it's genius. He just talks it he makes Mark Knopfler sound like the guy out of Foreigner. Very strange."

Fine Young Cannibals' "The Raw And The Cooked' gets short shrift from Joe: "I'll never forgive them for slaughtering the Buzzcocks". As for Blondie's remix album, 'Once More Into The Bleach', it's "awful".

The new Supremes compilation is another matter: "F***ing brilliant," Joe raves. "To hear 'Nathan Jones' the way I remember it, not the way f***ing Bananarama slaughtered it. I got my first snog to that song, under the stairs at the Top Rank in Sheffield in 1971, Saturday morning youth club."

Joe advises me to check out The Hooters and The Quireboys; I recommend The Replacements - right up his street. But Joe (29) is of an age to get his real kicks from the stars of yesteryear.

"I've met Jagger at the studio. He was great he kept stealing our f***ing newspapers! Have you got the Daily Mirror? I want to do the crossword.

"Robert Plant came to see us in Chicago. He was great. When we played in the round we used to go on in laundry baskets. His tour manager bet him ten dollars he wouldn't push one out. So he put a hat on, pair of shades, stuffed his tour jacket full of jumpers to make him look fat, and pushed it out to the middle of the stage, right through the audience! "It's funny because he's a Leo as well, and Jagger. All frontmen are Leos," Joe muses. "Those detailed analyses of your star sign tell you things you often don't like to hear. 'Capable of being childish' - I suppose I am. 'Always has to be the centre of attention' well, when it suits me. "Sometimes I just like to bury myself, but that's what my gig is, that's what everybody wants: a big, loud, bloody... you know. "But Jagger's the best; he's got the lips of an elephant on the body of a dwarf. Brilliant. The ultimate frontmen are those you can caricature in cartoons - Jagger, Steve Tyler, Rod Stewart, Bowie, Townshend, Meat Loaf, Alice Cooper... You couldn't really draw me but it doesn't seem to have hindered our success.

"To be honest, once you're as big as we are and you don't have those sort of features, it's nice. I don't have to send the maid out to buy the News Of The World. I can walk down Oxford Street."

So what is the secret of Def Leppard's success?

"Most people in bands have got families, and maybe that's the reason we have the success we have: nobody's married or got kids," reasons Joe.

"I can't see Phil (Collen) starting a family when he hasn't even got a home. And I definitely have no desire to be a father.

"The only times I've ever thought about it have been provoked by TV documentaries like World In Action. I seriously think I would rather adopt an eight-year-old Brazilian kid and give it a real good start in life.

"There's enough kids without me bringing another one into the world. And to be quite honest, after my mumps I don't know if I can!

"I can miss out the nappy stage, which I'd detest. And I don't like the idea of a nanny bringing the kid up because you might as well not bother; you might as well buy one. "I don't want a kid; the band's too much of a bloody baby!"

#def leppard #joe elliott #sounds magazine #my scans

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myxomat0s1s · 2 months ago

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Schoolhouse Rankings: Part 2

The 11 Where It Starts To Get Good

Symbol key: ⭐"big one" most popular song of the season 🟩highest ranking song of the season 🟥lowest ranking song of the season ⚡seizure warning! prevalent flashing lights 👍i have an interesting fact to share ✖multiplication rock 🇺🇲america 🖥computer💲money 🖋grammar 🧪science

38. 🇺🇲I'm Gonna Send Your Vote to College👍

The 30th anniversary special of Schoolhouse Rock! And it's... alright. Like, I'm not a huge fan, and I can honestly see why it's so commonly put in people's bottom fives. It's a bit tough to pinpoint why it's so middle-of-the-road, but when I think about it, that's because everything's off. The instrumental is good, but the rest is shaky. Jack Sheldon's delivery is stilted and at times offbeat, and you can tell in his voice he's aging. I forgot to mention it in Presidential Minute, and it was especially bad in that song. The animation is also pretty stiff sometimes. The biggest flaw in this song, though, is there's too much going on. There's so many sound effects and prominent characters and random shit going on that it's really muddled. I hear that complaint all the time with Busy Prepositions(more on that later), but I think it's worse here because no one and nothing is really introduced, everything sort of just meanders in a well-meaning but clumsy way. That's not to say this short is devoid of good qualities, though; I find Boothy endearing as fuck. Like, besides Scooter and Mr. Chips, he's the first leading guy I actually really vibe with. I would get him confused with Bill all the time when I was little, which is weird because they're very dissimilar in a lot of aspects, but I knew what was going on as a kid because I liked him then too. He also has a couple of really smoothly animated moments, such as when he pulls the screen back like a curtain with his little hook. I will say, it really does drum up hype for the 30th anniversary, becaue it's big and overwhelming and bloated. Grandiose and indulgent, maybe a little too much so, but still. My last comment is that this song was the only one of the entire series that taught me literally nothing as a kid. It's not like I straight up didn't remember it like Tax Man Max, but I watched it several times and had no damn idea what the electoral college was afterwards. I don't know if that's just because it's a tough concept to explain to children, or if it really did fail to educate, or if I was just a stupid child, but even nowadays I think how they explain it is a little confusing. It really get swept up in the clutteredness of the rest of the song. A whirlwind, for sure.

-Fun fact! This is the only song in Schoolhouse Rock to consistently go over the three minute limit. All Scooter Computer episodes are three minutes minus their intros, and Three Is A Magic Number and My Hero, Zero, while initially being more than three minutes, were cut down due to false information and time constraints respectively. Since this episode wasn't aired on TV, it was able to go over three minutes.

37. 🖋Lolly Lolly Lolly Get Your Adverbs🟥

Very quaint setting, and I enjoy the premise. The adverbs store makes for some elaborate visuals despite the limited color palette. I also enjoy the little interludes between verses where the owners film their TV commercials, very cute. A classic in these aspects, but oh god the chipmunk vocals… I initially didn’t find them too annoying, but they wear horribly quickly. Don’t even care how packed and fun the lyrics are because I just dislike the vocals so damn much. The characters also aren’t too compelling, which holds it back further because I honestly don’t care much for the Lolly family. Finally, I’ve heard lots of people praise the instrumental, but I don’t quite get it, as it’s sort of just the standard Schoolh

-Lowest placement in Grammar Rock

36. 🖋A Noun Is a Person, Place, or Thing

I heard someone describe this song as "harmless" once, and yeah, that's a good way of summing it up. It's definitely one of the most generic Schoolhouse Rock songs. It does not instill much emotion, but it's definitely not bad! In fact, I think this is where the songs start truly getting good. It's pretty breezy and blows by quick. There's some cool instruments used, like when you can hear kazoo in the Mrs. Jones verse, or a flute in the ferry verse. It's dynamic enough to be praised, but not so dymanic that it's truly standout. Animation is simple, but not great or bad. The characters are okay. Those are both middle of the road. I will say, this is one of Lynn Ahren's best deliveries. I'm not a big fan of most of her songs, or at least most of her deliveries, but I like this more relaxed one from her. She's not pushing herself too hard, and that's good for a song like this. That's really it, it's good, but not great enough to stand out from the crowd.

35. 🧪A Victim of Gravity 🟥👍

This song would probably be higher up if I was a fan of the doo-wop style it goes for. It really does sound nice, don't get me wrong, but this is probably the only song very heavily skewed based on preference. Your mileage may vary. It's a pretty fun animation though! Like, really, I don't have much on this song besides that the greaser guy is fun and the rest is not for me.

-Fun fact! This is the only Schoolhouse Rock song to be primarily sung by a preexisting band- Performed by The Tokens -Lowest placement in Science Rock

34. 💲Walkin' On Wall Street

Another entry from newcomer Money Rock, Walkin’ On Wall Street has a few attributes that are nice, but don’t do too much to set it apart from the crowd. The most obvious thing is the artstyle; I love how experimental they got with the SHR art style in this season, and this is one of the more radical changes that goes over pretty darn well. I like Lester and Leroy, they’rw a fun duo, and the newsboy is fun although mor as iconic as Fireworks’ newsboy. The instrumental is nice and jazzy, and that’s about the end of my praise. Dave Frishburg has a distinct voice when he wants to. In his other song, $7.50 Once a Week, he’s got a nice Bostonian accent that makes the way he stretches his words more interesting, but he supresses not just that, but also a lot of his range. He doesn’t have much of one in his other appearances, but $7.50 had a lot more variety in his tones. Same with instrumentals. Not to compare too much, but it never changes a lot and it’s a little boring when lots of other songs from Money Rock have better style. The style points from the animation are big helps, but it falls a little short sonically, and since that’s what I’m mostly basing this on, this song places lower.

-Lowest placement for Dave Frishburg

33. 🇺🇲The Shot Heard Round the World

I have a love-hate relationship with this song, as in I both love and hate everything it does. Bob Dorough's voice is stern and aggressive at points, which is great for the feel it's going for and the subject, but it makes for some really bland deliveries. The animation is a fun twist on the Schoolhouse Rock style, and I like how the people look, but a lot of really stiff, stilted moments. The instrumental is consistently strong, but there's not enough fluctuation. I'm really hot and cold on this song. On a good day you could see this around the mid twenties, and on a bad day this could be in the bottom ten. I dunno, ask me tomorrow and my ranking will probably change.

32. 🧪The Greatest Show on Earth/The Weather Show ⚡👍

The episode that was almost lost... A.K.A. essentially the precursor for Tax Man Max. It's definitely a more developed version of that Broadway feel, not in style, but actually format. It's divided into a three-act structure, which is a pretty endearing way to structure it. I'm a fan. As for sound, though, it's nothing special really. Instrumental is alright, but I'm not a big fan of Bob Kaliban's voice. Not that it's bad, it's just not great like Dorough's or Sheldon's, or even interesting like Patrick Donovan's or Dave Frishburg's beyond the I'm gonna assume British accent he's got. But the character he's attached to??? So fun. I love the little broadway guy, he's so bouncy and goofy and great... I often see Greatest Show on Earth ranked way down with Tax Man Max, usually right next to it, and a common reason between the two is that no one likes the Weather Show guy or Max. That's one of the only aspects I find consistently stellar between the two. Weather Show guy is so awesome. The ladies he performs with kind of look like fish, though. Not a fan of how they're stylized, but the singers attached to them are serviceable. There's specific sections I really like about this song- the opening and closing segments sandwiching the acts come to mind, but the rest is just okay. Coloring is also pretty good here! It keeps up the respectable trait of Science Rock that is a lack of plain white backgrounds, which I'm glad for. Comparing the various aspects of this song is like a rollercoaster: Lots of highs and lows, but unlike a rollercoaster it's not super exciting.

-Fun fact! This song was pulled from airing during a copyright dispute with the Ringling Bros. over the phrase "The Greatest Show on Earth," a term trademarked for their circus. The episode remained unaired from then until it was changed to remove any mention of the phrase, including the title, which was changed to merely "The Weather Show." I personally listened to the original version for this ranking, though there isn't much difference.

31. 🖋Unpack Your Adjectives

This is a far more chipper tune than Figure Eight, which initially may seem like a negative when you read the feedback I had on Blossom Dearie's ghostly, creepy doll-esque delivery, but she works just as well as a cheery little girl on her way back from a camping trip. Yeah, the premise here is pretty cute, big fan of Molly the camper and her little turtle guy. Love their little camping adventure and how it ties into the way they label everything with adjective signs. I think adjectives, despite them literally being describing words, thus conveying things such as physical traits that'd make the animation easier, are one of the hardest parts of speech to make an entire song around. You can make it, but making it compelling is the thing. Giving a little bite-sized story along with the facts. And this definitely held 4-year-old me's attention. The flute really shines in the instrumental, which is really cool because this song has a strong lightweight feel that goes very well with everything else. And the animation is colored in the watercolor style Elbow Room had, but taken up a notch further; It looks like whiteboard markers at some point. The simple, airy colors finish off this very consistent, overall good song. Cute, but as much praise as I've given it, it's not great, and definitely not my favorite. Dearie's deliveries still aren't as great as they are in Figure Eight, and a few sections such as the section on comparisons fall a little short of the podium. I also would have liked a little more color, as the white patches make the coloring look half-finished.

-Highest placement for Blossom Dearie

30. 🧪Do the Circulation

Great song, don’t get me wrong, but you have to be in the mood for it. This is another touchy one for me, because everything ties into the premise super well. Which is great! I love that it truly embraces the creativity! It's going for a dance craze type thing, hence the title, and it's exactly what you think when you hear it. I'm shocked that the women singing, Joshie Armstead, Mary Sue Berry, and Maeretha Stewart, weren't already performing together before this, because they have great synergy. There's a few times where they harmonize and it doesn't sound great, but for the most part they're pretty great. The song keeps its pace very well, like by the halfway point it barely feels like a minute has passed. Characters are mostly cool too! Though overall the animation is a little plain. It's sort of like A Victim of Gravity, where I'm overall just not the world's biggest fan of this sort of style. There's days where it'll hit hard and I'll listen a couple times, and days where I don't wanna be anywhere near it, so I think near the middle of the list is where I'd average it.

29. 💲Where the Money Goes

The artstyle of this short falls somewhere in the middle of the more faithful Money Rocks and the experimental ones, where it definitely keeps the spirit of old Schoolhouse Rock, but it features a choppier framerate with thinner lineart and chunky shadows/highlights. I'm a fan of it, and I love the dad and his little tuba kid, Red(as confirmed in a design sheet shown off on the DVD!). They're such a fun duo, and the ending where Red can't even fit into the bus with the tuba did get me to chuckle. Since this is about family finances, it takes place in a more domestic setting, but it doesn't utilize that in a particularly outstanding way like, for example, The Tale of Mr. Morton. Rather than focus on details, the backgrounds are simple gradients, which is a little disappointing since this came out after that short. They don't really run away with the subject either, which totally makes sense and isn't really their fault as it's a pretty grounded concept, but it's not very replayable because of that. A good showing from Money rock, but there's better coming up.

28. 🧪Electricity, Electricity ⚡👍

Holy crap is this song a bombshell. This is top 15, possibly top 10 sonically. Zachary Sanders has a hell of a voice, and he doesn’t flex it too much here, but there’s a few little vocal flairs here and there that are so endearing. The delivery of “Turn that generator by any means” still has me closing my eyes and humming contentedly. The recurring utterance of “Electricity, eeee-lec-tri-city!” every ten or so seconds never gets boring no matter how repetitive it is, and it’s such an earworm that no matter how little I used to think about the show, something as simple as flicking on a lightswitch would make the melody buzz around in my head for a bit. It’s sticky in a really stellar way. The instrumental is bouncy and really helps carry things along, and it’s not my fave but a few stray guitar strums keep my ears open. The music does a bangup job of carrying this thing, which is good, because the animation really brings it down… It isn’t too special at first. The main overalls guy and the sheep are cute and kinda funny sometimes, but they aren’t my fave characters. The fatal flaw of this short, however, is the rapid flashing of “ELECTRICITY” onscreen every time the word is said. It isn’t small like in Telegraph Line, or short like Tax Man Max or The Check’s In the Mail, but it takes up the entire screen and can last upwards of four seconds at a time. If you aren’t epileptic, you’ll probably have a headache by the end of it. I know I get one sometimes. I was scared of this short as a kid because of the flashing lights. The fact that maybe a third of this animation is just “ELECTRICITY” in yellow and black flashing at my sensetive little blue eyes is not sliding. Killer short with a killer flaw.

-Fun fact! This song is why I have the epilepsy/eyestrain warning symbol. It was sort of just a booby prize for this song, as the flashing lights were so common and large, the Disney+ version slows down the lights. This happens in most others with the lightning bolt emoji next to them, but those are lesser instances; The slowed lights make the Disney+ version of this song actively worse, as parts are slowed in a way that leaves some animation sequences incomplete. -Lowest placement for Zachary Sanders

#schoolhouse rock #review #had to split the middle into 2 parts cuz ugh writing this took a longass time #mind your p's and queue's

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kujo1597 · 8 months ago

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I’ve been watching my friend liveblog her rewatch of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (great show) and it looked really fun to do. And she’s also doing this to get into writing SPOP fanfics and as some of you may remember, I have a Jem fanfic called Unbreakable that I really do need to finish. So I figured I would blog my rewatch of Jem. I wanted to watch the show again to get my creative juices flowing and figured why not.

Because I know the show backwards and forwards due to watching it five or six times my posts will probably largely focus on the characters and traits they have that I incorporate into the writing. I’ll talk about Jerrica’s relationship with Rio and why it’s so dysfunctional and concerning.

I’m also going to be a fucking weirdo and keep track of the crying because a character trait of Kimber’s I find really interesting is how private she is with her tears compared to the others. But this will be kept in a folder of its own and I won’t dwell on it.

I won't be putting all of these into the fandom tag because I worry that I'll be deemed "too active" by Tumblr and my posts will stop showing up in the tag. So I guess if you're interested in keeping up with these keep track of the "Kujo Watches Jem" tag.

Man I love this show’s first intro song and the animation. It’s largely rotoscoped and looks really nice.

The show starts off with a look at Jem and The Holograms at a premiere and it’s a cool way of introducing the characters. They make it very clear who’s who.

Aja

Shana

I love how they just fukkin’ throw Kimber out of the car. This is a good time to mention that the animation in the first five episodes is pretty janky. They’re stitched together seven minutes shorts that were part of the Super Sunday block on whichever channel this aired on. So we’re kind of watching a proof of concept right now.

And of course they show Jem as this cool and mysterious woman as she shrugs off her sheer veil in front of a cheering crowd. Reporters ask Jem a bunch of questions.

Then we hear our protagonist, Jerrica, start narrating.

She tells us that her story begins after her father's unexpected death. And they establish later in the show that this funeral is on or around Jerrica's birthday. Which is really awful. I feel bad for her.

I remember Eric being kind of creepy at the funeral but always forget just how creepy he is. Especially because I’m fairly confident that at this point in production Jerrica is meant to be an older teen. Like, 17 or 18. I don’t blame Rio for dragging her off.

But oh man, let’s just add this to the “Jerrica apologizes for Rio count.” It’s a recurring thing.

Now we cut to a shot of Starlight House and the characters working to fix it up. This also has cool details like a design table, Shana is into fashion design as we’ll learn later.

Uh, I need to point out this bird cage. You’ll see why later. But I need to point it out.

I wonder how long Ashley’s been living here for. Because she comments on the house being a dump as if she’s just moved in. Also she broke that chair. She tried to flop onto it but it broke.

Now we meet Mrs. Bailey who helps take care of the kids. Nice lady. She informs Jerrica that her dad, Emmett, would get money to fund the Starlight House’s upkeep from his music company. So Jerrica goes over to the office. She sees a new receptionist, walks past her and enters her dad's old office.

Eric continues to call Jerrica “darling” and talks about how he’s hired a new band called The Misfits. And they ride in on these extremely toyetic motorcycles. I don’t think they ever did get released though. But man, this screams “toy commercial show.” Jem is way more than just that though.

We get the first song of the series and it’s great. Fun imagery. And it’s funny seeing them play their instruments because Stormer is playing this weird boomerang guitar. I seriously do wonder when they finalized what instruments the characters play. Aja was messing around with drumsticks earlier in the episode and spoiler alert, she’s not a drummer, like, at all.

Jerrica calls The Misfits trash and insults Pizzazz. Then they talk about Eric holding a rigged battle of the bands competition. Which obviously Jerrica doesn’t approve of.

We then cut to Jerrica in her bedroom on a stormy night. Jerrica’s mad about Eric ruining the good image of her dad’s company. Then Kimber points out the jewellery box addressed to Jerrica. It contains earrings, very familiar earrings. Everybody wonders who they came from. Aja figures it was Rio.

Then thunder and lighting, and a mysterious woman who looks like she walked out of an exercise tape addresses Jerrica in a slightly ghostly voice.

And then Jerrica very rudely puts her hands in this woman’s belly. Jerrica! Personal space!

Understandably the mysterious woman leaves. In a flash of light.

Everybody follows the directions left in the earring box and meet up with the woman in Starlight Drive-In. She walks through a wall and they follow her in their van, the Starlight Express.

A quick aside, I was talking to my friend who’s only seen two or three episodes of Jem because of me kind of going, “Well, these episodes are very silly. I think it’d be fun to watch them with you.” Anyway, I was talking about the show and because of the fact that everything has the word Starlight in the name he asked if Starlight was Jerrica’s last name. And yeah, I get why he would think that.

Anyway, the woman introduces herself as Synergy and explains that she’s a highly advanced entertainment system made by Emmett Benton. We get shots where the characters split off and look at their interests, Shana at clothes, Kimber at the musical instruments, and Aja at the car, the Rockin' Roadster.

Seeing Synergy’s ability to make realistic holograms along with all the instruments gave Jerrica an idea.

Oh neat, we’re seeing a performance by a band that sounds… not great. I guess the rigging is going well.

And then we hear some more music, this time a song building up.

And that song the first one performed by Jem in the series. It’s a very solid one! A good note to start the band on.

Obviously everybody loved this band, they sound great! Eric gets all worked up and demands to know what they’re doing here because the contest is invite only. Jem points to Jerrica and announces that she was sent there by Jerrica.

And then Jem totally inconspicuously runs off of the stage and behind a tree. Then turns into Jerrica. She meets up with Eric on the stage and they’re caught arguing on the mics. I actually forgot that Eric was the one who put control of Starlight Music up as a stake in a new competition. One just between The Misfits and Jem and The Holograms.

A film producer named Howard Sands happened to be in the crowd and he promises a movie, and a mansion to the winner of the new battle of the bands competition. Six months from now.

Jerrica accepts the challenge having full confidence in herself and her sisters.

The Misfits are rowdy trouble makers so they steal Jem’s equipment and drives off with it in their van. The rival band gives chase because that’s their stuff and they need it. Musical equipment is not cheap. We get this thrilling chase where Roxy and Stormer throws things at the car Aja’s driving to try to get them to crash I guess. And uh

That’s a cliff. They’re heading right off a cliff. And Aja hit the gas judging by the sound effect.

Good work.

You can kind of tell this was the end of the short, especially when they come back from commercial and replay the chase scene.

Jerrica’s not dumb. She sends a hologram of Jem out to get help. The hologram meets up with Rio and tells him where the car is. Rio saves them.

The paper reports on this and gives Jem and The Holograms a bunch of publicity.

The Misfits don’t see much of a problem with this because they can still win the competition and of course

winning is everything.

I just, look at this GIF.

Okay I needed you to see that. The music video is a wonderful flavour of silly.

Now back to Starlight House. We see the girls putting money into the Honor Jar. It's a communal fund that the girls contribute to in order to afford things for Starlight House. They’re trying to buy a new fridge. Before adding the funds to the jar they have to announce how they made the money.

Ashley questions the jar which really adds to the feeling that she’s new here.

Also, it’s weird hearing Deirdre being voiced by Samantha Newark. She’s voiced by Patricia Alice Albrecht in her later appearances. The same VA as Pizzazz, Samantha Newark is Jerrica’s by the way.

Meanwhile Eric phones a thug and tells him to make Jerrica uncomfortable.

I need to know where this place is located. It’s in the middle of a forest or something. And I swear that’s a river behind it. Is that safe when you have twelve kids? The youngest is eight so maybe we don't have too much to worry about.

Anyway, Ashley steals money from the Honor Jar and Jerrica catches her. And then says something that never sat super right with me.

“There’s no room in Starlight House for girls who steal and lie.”

Like, hm, I dunno, I can’t articulate exactly why it bothers me. I feel like it would kind of breed dishonesty. Like how controlling parents often end up with kids who are really good at sneaking around them.

But Jerrica is a teen herself and taking care of twelve kids so I can’t be too hard on her. Especially because her dad did recently die so there is going to be some adjusting to the new role as foster mother.

Jerrica tells Ashley that the other girls are going to decide on her punishment because they’re the ones running the Honor Jar. The punishment is to raise $30 which is ten times the amount Ba Nee raised by the way.

I get a kick out of Samantha Newark trying to sound like a tough girl, possibly from Jersey. What do I know? I’m Canadian. Now I’m kind of wishing they kept her as Deirdre’s voice actor. We do get more "tough girl Newark" later in the series though. In an excellent episode.

Later on during the night Rio’s explaining that the power’s still out and offers to stay over. But Jerrica turns him down. They lean in for a kiss.

And hear a bunch of giggling which is cute.

Jerrica turns to them and says, “Jealous?” before kissing Rio.

I like this dynamic between Jerrica and her girls.

Later that night the thug Eric talked to, Zipper, awkwardly breaks into the house. It takes him a couple tries to break the window. Still better than what I could do.

One of the Starlight Girls, Marianne, never named in the show, alerts Jerrica to there being a noise coming from downstairs. So Jerrica takes her sisters with her to check out the noise while the kids stay upstairs and safe.

Because there’s no power and it’s the middle of the night Kimber’s holding a lantern with the biggest damn flame I have ever seen.

Zipper having been caught pushes past Kimber and knocks the lantern out of her hands. And sets the house on fire.

Like, crazily on fire.

And this is where the episode ends.

I would love to do more but this took even longer than I expected and I haven’t been getting enough sleep so I’m quite tired and dizzy. So bedtime for me. I’ll pick this up later, possibly tomorrow.

#Jem and the Holograms #Kujo Watches Jem #Well that took almost three hours #Next episode will have less screenshots. I mostly wanted ones that show the characters when they get introduced #The screenshotting took the most time #I can't wait for the Honor Jar to stop being a thing. I have to consciously make an effort to spell it without a u

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primatechnosynthpop · 5 months ago

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Ok since @urineedward asked here's the vision I have so far for my Mel Venkman au (that's what I'm calling it even though that wouldn't actually be her legal name in this concept... also despite me calling it an au it's not not canon compliant, technically)

Mel's mom realized too late after having a brief relationship (or possibly just a one-night stand) with Peter that he was kind of a creep and a jackass and generally not good father material, so she didn't tell him she was pregnant (he didn't reach out to her again either; if he had she might have told him) and generally wants nothing to do with him

Mel starts asking if she has a dad and if so who and where he is basically as soon as she's old enough to grasp that most children have two parents. Her mom is pretty evasive, but that only drives Mel's curiosity further

When the Ghostbusters' commercials start airing on TV, her mom would always sigh and change the channel, which got Mel's attention (she'd be about 5 or 6 at this point). She feels oddly drawn to one of the men in the commercial, and would loudly protest that she wants to see. After finally getting the chance to see their commercial in full, staring right at the screen totally blissed out the whole time, she proclaims that she has a crush on Dr. Venkman and wants to marry him. Upon hearing that, her mom is like ohh ok I need to nip THAT in the bud before things get really weird around here, so she finally sits Mel down and explains the situation

Of course as soon as she knows the truth Mel immediately insists on meeting her father. Her mother argues with her about it, but Mel ~always gets what she wants~ and so her mom reluctantly agrees to take her by the firehouse to meet the ghostbusters-- but acting like Mel is just a random kid who happens to be a big fan, NOT telling Peter or any of the others the truth

It's kind of a secret test on her part to see if Peter is worth giving another chance, not romantically but in terms of being a part of Mel's life. Unfortunately he fails this secret test miserably by A) not remembering Mel's mother, and B) smoking and making rude jokes around the small child. Mel's mom vows to never take her back there again, but for Mel it's one of the best days of her life

Just as Mel and her mom are leaving Janine comes in and says "aww who was that Dr. V? Your niece?" and when Peter says no, it's just some strange weirdly clingy kid, Winston narrows his eyes and is like [mystery fan mode engaged] "y'know I wasn't gonna say anything but she does look a lot like you" at which point Ray gets a worried look and goes "uhh yeah Peter I think I recognize that woman, didn't you go out with her once?" And ok I've seen conflicting headcanons on this but if Egon knows about Callie at this point he's sweating through the whole conversation. And when Peter goes "what, no, if we had a kid together the lady obviously would have told me" Egon kind of wants to strangle him

Over the next several months Mel keeps trying to meet her dad again any way she can, from making phony calls saying her house is haunted to trying to jump out of her mother's car and run after the Ecto-1 if she sees it on the street

Between GB1 and GB2 when they're shut down, Mel's mom tells her something like, "see? I told you he wasn't a good person. He and his friends were just scammers trying to take advantage of people" but Mel is NOT having it because in her father-stalking efforts she's seen them at work and knows they were legit. During this time she watches World of the Psychic religiously

When Mel hears the former ghostbusters are available to book for birthday parties she jumps at the chance. When Ray and Winston show up instead of her dad she's sooo pissed off and tries to blow them up with her mind, but for them this basically confirms the theory that she is in fact Peter's daughter or at least really thinks she is. They tell him to try talking to Mel and her mom but Peter is like "what am I supposed to do? Show up at this woman's house unannounced? Or would you prefer I tried talking to her ten-year-old daughter in private, on the schoolyard maybe?"

...Alright I haven't really nailed down how it would go from here-- maybe after the events of GB2 Mel's mom finally comes around after seeing that Peter really has grown and changed; maybe something happens to Mel's mom (possibly even orchestrated by Mel herself) and she ends up in Peter and Dana's care; or maybe nothing changes aside from Mel slowly gaining more freedom as she grows up. One way or another, they form a more reciprocal father-daughter bond over time, but it always stays a bit messy (because really, how could it not)

Mel came to resent her mother for keeping her away from her dad (willfully ignorant of her mother's very valid reasons) and latches onto Dana as a sort of replacement mother figure in her teenage years, although not quite to the extent of a full-on stepmom. She doesn't really form a familial bond with Oscar, but she does babysit for him a fair bit, and is jealous of him getting to have her father as a stepdad

I feel like this goes without saying but Mel studies psychology because she's inspired by her dad <3

Peter gives her tips on how to seduce people which she uses on Doug when she meets him. When he gives her these tips he does not realize that Mel has her eye on someone considerably older than her and is not happy when he finds out. He never really gets over this and continues to hope that Mel will wisen up and leave Doug eventually

Mel talks to her dad on the phone about the conchords like "...and one time I snuck into their apartment and went through their cupboards and guess what? Bret has a mold collection <3 isn't that sooo cute? Just like Dr. Spengler!" And Peter is like *melancholy slightly bitter sigh* "yeah just like Spengs huh... well listen, if those kiwi boys of yours ever start going on about how the world's going to end, you get the hell out of there, okay sweetie?"

It's absolutely imperative that Jemaine and Bret have no idea who the ghostbusters are. Mel introduces them to her father and they're just like "??? Who's this guy?" Both Peter and Mel are obviously scandalized; Mel is like "umm excuse you he literally saved New York in the 80s!!" to which the conchords point out they weren't in New York in the 80s, they were in New Zealand

(Murray thinks he knows who the ghostbusters are but he's actually got them mixed up with the men in black. Dave absolutely knows who they are though-- Dr. Venkman was his idol growing up-- and he's almost as scandalized as Mel that the kiwis don't know about him)

Idk exactly how close Mel would be to the rest of the team especially since this is movie verse and the ghostbusters as a business were never around for all that long in the movie timeline the way they were in the cartoon or the comics... but I think she's at least enough of a figure in their lives and vice versa that she convinces Ray to attend a FotC concert at some point. He ends up loving it and becomes their second biggest fan

#hmm y'know what i think this deserves to go in an organizational tag if nothing else #fotc #(...i don't really want this showing up in the gb tag though... it's really more about my made up backstory for mel than anything)#anyway thank you for inviting me to talk about this. it turns out i do in fact have quite a lot of ideas

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leafdebrief · 1 year ago

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planes guns & automobiles

(part I: "planes")

let's talk about cars.

rather, let's hear a story about cars.

actually let's tell stories about cars, and guns, for action. but first let's talk about airplanes. bigger examples make bigger points (it's just math) and stories are so exciting with planes and guns.

so here's an airplane:

(Wrong Right Wright Flyer; 1903)

she's not much of an airplane by today's standards. but boy she flew! it was the first sustained flight by a heavier-than-air powered craft. you better believe that shit was miraculous to watch, like the miracle of life itself. those flappity biplane anhedrals, flippity flapping away in the hopefully-not-too-blowy-breeze. Orville and Wilbur's eager little newborn doe, with a the weight of exploration visibly too heavy for the little creature's natal leg strength... and there she was, delicately hovering over real life water.

our brave little girl took her first dangerous steps, and her parents knew that only they were qualified to bring her home from that journey safely. they knew that it was the most important thing.

and they went with her for those first steps, ready to die for her.

but they didn't want to. they were ready to die to make sure it did not happen.

that was our little girl too. for better or worse, we raised her, and she was never meant to be perfect but she flew so well right there and then, that she might as well have been really actually perfect. she's still perfect when we remember her like this, even if she was reckless and required constant supervision.

because, of course she was reckless. she was only a child. she didn't need to die young. but her parents were just doing their best, with their whole lives, to protect her from the danger of that first flight.

but because of her, we learned to fly. and we learned to fly so well that we forgot that we were ever meant to be grounded. injury became so unheard of that death by flight became a joke. her sacrifice and that of her parents was so great that her children could fly without fear of death, and her grandchildren could fly without fear of injury, and then her great-grandchildren could fly without fear of anything at all.

we raised these girls. we raised them to fly safely and give a better hope that one day the number of people that die flying is zero, year after year, forever.

now let's fast forward 100 years:

(Boring Boeing 737; 2003)

wait a sec, are these the same invention? that top thing looks like you'd have to hold on for dear life and bolt down your lunch, whereas this looks like a metal tube you've maybe stood inside yourself!

try to remember if you have: did you feel like you had to hold on to not fly out of the pressurized cabin? were you worried that your entire vessel would buckle at a strong wind and go crashing into a city below, killing you and possibly hundreds of others?

or did you feel at ease—peaceful, even—as you reclined in a cushy seat while being reassured by a safety-trained professional where all the emergency features are in the almost unheard-of case you need them?

now let's go back again, exactly 100 years—again. let's take a look at another invention:

(Ford Model A B C T; 1903)

here is a car. moreover, here is the first commercial car that was meant for "ordinary people" to buy and use.

like the Wright Flyer, we can see a couple of crucial design issues already: first, the inside doesn't offer much in the way of protecting the driver or passengers. yikes. on top of that, the outside is sharp hard metal that we're designing to send speeding alongside unprotected people at velocities that could easily kill them if they were struck.

so now, back to 2003:

(Ford Death150 F150; 2003)

ok, that's an improvement alright. the insides look well protected not just from wind, but from flying debris, animals, clouds of smog, lightning... i'm starting to feel a little closer to the airplane comfort in this thing.

but wait a second... we should take a good look at the death toll for aviation accidents. maybe we shouldn't get so excited yet?

(Statista page; "Number of worldwide air traffic fatalities from 2006 to 2021")

gosh, over a hundred dead almost every year? looks like 2017 was a pretty decent year for minimal human death toll, i'd want my planes to look closer to that. or zero!

at least there's a clear delineation with regard to which direction the number is trending: down every year. at this rate, i have a lot more confidence that number will continue to improve every year!

well what's the death toll for these car things in 2003? surely it can't be as bad as a hundred (or god forbid more), right? surely not a thousand?

(2003 in obscured table; 1,473 driver fatalities)

over a thousand?? what kind of death trap are you asking me to get into? if it's that fatal for drivers, at least they surely must've fixed that pedestrian death problem. maybe all those smooth contours and the plastic body instead of metal did away with that nasty little detail!

(Full chart; total 2,778 fatalities 2003)

.............you've got to be pulling my leg, right?

you mean to tell me that in the 100 years that airplanes became one of the statistically safest transportation methods, cars couldn't get the number of humans they stripped from the world under 2000 for one year?

(top of cited page from Canadian Gov; data from Transport Canada, 2003)

JUST FROM CANADA???

so let me get this straight: out of the 31.64 million people living in Canada in 2003, 21.4 million of those people—nearly 68%—decided that over 2000 of you dying was totally acceptable odds?

ok, never mind cars. i'll stick to my pulse, thanks.

well, i don't know about you, but something that seems maybe self-evident to me at least is that there were some design flaws in the Wright Flyer that would have killed a lot of people, and those design flaws appear to have been all-but-eliminated in the course of 100 years. the Ford Model A, conversely, seems to have undergone some minor design tweaks that modestly improved the chance at life for anyone inside, and did nothing to improve it for those outside by 2003.

...and that was still considered an improvement??? man, i need to sit down (no it's cool, you take shotgun, i see a bench over there i'll grab near the bus stop).

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rubykgrant · 2 years ago

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Tagged by @grand-romantic to share 4 albums that I am currently fixating on… and this is hard, because I listen to the same stuff over and OVER, plus most of my CDs are movie soundtracks and mix CDs my best friend made me that are full of all the groups/artists that only have a couple songs I like. So, I cheated a bit, one group of CD albums in which I like basically all of the songs, so I can listen to the whole thing. Also, one group of CD albums from movies or shows that I also enjoy throughout!

First group (on the left); Gorillaz the Singles Collection (2001-2011). I liked the first bit I had seen of Gorillaz, way back in the day when the Clint Eastwood animated music video randomly aired with no context. Over the years I actually kept hearing various songs on the radio, but didn’t even realize how often it was Gorillaz! It wasn’t until I was in my 20s, and got to see more of the animated music videos, that I realized “Oh, they actually have a LOT of songs, and a LOT of talented music artists!”. I found the singles collection in a store when I was about 24, which happened to be all my favorite songs, so I got it! Fun fact- my mom actually really likes Gorillaz too, and she borrows this CD from me a lot

TLC Fanmail; This was one of the first CDs my family ever owned, initially bought specifically because me and my mom loved the song No Scrubs. Once we listened to the whole thing, we loved just about every song on here! We still listen to it in the car, and I put it in my player when I ride my bike a lot. My favorite is still No Scrubs, but Unpretty is a close second. Later, we also got Crazy Sexy Cool because we loved Waterfalls, and again enjoyed the rest of the songs as well. Fun fact- other other CD my family owned was Smash Mouth Astro Lounge, before we eventually had several dozen. These were ye olden days, and also my family is about 5 years behind tech anyway haha

The Beach Boys Sounds of Summer; I grew up listening to my parents’ cassette tapes, which contained what most people would call “oldies”, but that was just what we had! I knew darn near every one of the songs from the Beach Boys by the time I was 7, and my favorites are probably Get Round/California Girls/Wouldn’t It Be Nice. The only reason I have this CD at all was because when I was 14, I was left alone one evening, saw a commercial to order this album, called it, talked to a real person about how to pay for it, sent in my own money, and got the CD in the mail! My parents were very surprised, and maybe would have been worried about how easy it was for a 14 year old to do this, but were thankfully happy to listen to a Beach Boys CD (also, it was my own money, so I didn’t get in trouble). Fun fact- me and my mom went to a Beach Boys concert in 2019! We listened to this CD in the car on the way there. Then heard all the songs again at the event. Yes, we’re crazy like that

Zach Callison a Picture Perfect Hollywood Heartbreak; one of the “newest” albums I own (still 5 years late to everything). One friend played this in the car, I liked how the songs sounded, got my own copy, let a different friend borrow it, and they liked it a lot, so I let them keep it and got myself a new copy! This is a good angst album, and I especially enjoy Interlude 4, that song will smack you right upside the head. Because I still share everything with my mom, she initially thought it was a “weird” CD, but then borrowed it for a 2 weeks, and now she likes it haha. Fun fact- when my mom was ordering her OWN copy, she kept mis-remembering the title as “Hollywood Homicide”, and got an entirely different search result. I had to help her find what she actually wanted on my computer

Next group (on the right); The Muppet Christmas Carol soundtrack. I love the Muppets, I love a lot of the songs in Muppet movies, but the Christmas Carol one is ESPECIALLY good. I mean, these songs are beautiful. I’ll listen to it while riding my bike even when it isn’t close to the holiday. One little detail I like is the song Marley and Marley, because they used lines from the original book as lyrics, and it just works so well. Other detail, I didn’t appreciate the Love is Gone as a kid, because the scene itself moves kinda slow… but as an adult, it hits me really hard seeing Michael Caine singing along to the song he ignored as a young man, his emotions that he’s buried taking over in a subtle and heart-breaking way. Fun fact- I have this CD because one of my younger cousins gave it me as birthday gift!

Pokemon the First Movie soundtrack; I mean, Pokemon itself is a whole central point to my childhood, and seeing this movie in theaters as a kid was a BIG event. I love that maybe half the songs on here only kinda-sorta relate specifically to Pokemon in some way, and the rest are just various rock/pop/hip-hop songs, but each one is awesome! If Brother My Brother doesn’t make you FEEL THINGS, than I don’t even know what to say. Some of the songs on here are just plain cute, while others are intense. I’ve shared the music here with other people by playing it in a car, or on trips, and when they ask what CD this is, I get to see the confused look on their faces when I explain it is Pokemon album. Fun fact- before I got the CD, I had the cassette tape, and when I bought it, that accidentally came with an extra Pokemon poster!

The Prince of Egypt soundtrack; another movie that was amazing to see in theaters when I was very young. Like, that was an EXPERIENCE. It still holds up beautifully, and so do the songs! Sometimes I just listen to it on my headphones to relax, sometimes I listen and let my mind wander to emotional places… I also had a cassette for this, and really had to hunt it down to find a CD. For whatever reason, when I was first looking online, all the copies I found were just WAY too expensive. Then I randomly lucked out by finding it at a thrift store, and it wasn’t even all scratched up! I still have this CD, and still listen to it often. Fun fact- once when I was visiting family in Las Vegas, I was waiting in line for a ride at the Luxor, the only kid there, I started singing the Plagues song quietly to myself, and 5 other people joined in!

Phineas and Ferb soundtrack; These songs are ICONIC. They’re fun and joyful, and catchy as heck. I don’t care who you are, there is at least ONE Phineas and Ferb song that would get stuck in your head. In general, Busted might be my favorite, but I also love all the songs from Dude We’re Getting the Band back Together! This is a very good CD to imagine Scenarios to… all kinds of daydreams with characters and stories. I was also lucky to find this one, because on the store shelf the price listen was little high for what I had, but then I saw it was on sale! Fun fact- I’ve played this CD at family functions, and by skipping some of the “specific” songs, I triecked everybody into thinking it was a normal party CD haha

#tag game #music album #grand-romantic

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siempre-bucky · 2 years ago

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mirror

Javy 'Coyote' Machado x Plus Size!Reader

summary: Javy catches your distasteful look at your reflection, so he makes sure you know you're pretty in every language he knows.

wc: 1.1k

a/n: this turned into a self indulgent fic and low key character study about him? I'm here for it. Enjoy!

Plenty of things made Javy’s heart plummet to the pit of his stomach, blossoms of sadness sprouting in his soul. One millisecond of a ASPCA commercial made him weep uncontrollably, the panicked words he could hear from the crackling comms in his jet haunted him. Yet seeing you looking at yourself with distaste in the mirror was the type of sadness he hated the most.

It was your legs this time, he noted. His deep brown eyes burned holes into the skin he craved to touch. He watched your eyes stare daggers at your poor reflection, your hands gripping and pulling as if you were trying to tear it off your bones. Javy's lips turned downward, even furthering their descent as he spotted the red marks left by your fingertips.

"Ready to go?" He asked as he entered the room, his hands finding their resting spot on your biceps.

You formed a smile, a mask, cracked from years of wear. "Yeah," you responded simply, letting your short dress fall back into place. The tremor in your voice couldn't hide from him.

"Baby, what's going through your head? It's too pretty to worry," he whispered, his lips on the crown of your head, eyes looking at you in the mirror's reflection.

Your lower lip began to tremble, and in response, you bit down on the skin inside just below—so hard you began to taste iron. Javy's hands, careful and calming, slid down your arms until he lightly pressed on your hips.

His touch was gentle yet possessive as if to ask your plagued mind: "How dare you?" The light material of your sundress felt suddenly hot as his fingertips danced along the delicate floral print. "What brought this on?" He questioned.

Silence hung in the air, full of self-loathing and ready to burst.

Javy spoke again, "Meu amor." Your eyes flicked upward, releasing your lower lips and allowing your lips to lightly part.

It was rare when he slipped into the native tongue of his father. He did it because that's what Carlos Machado would do for his mother. He remembered once when Nikole Machado was self-conscious about her arms one morning, Carlos would come up behind her, stroke her arms, and whisper sweet nothings in Portuguese, always starting with a tender: "Meu Amor."

He reminded her that those arms rebuilt their beloved New Orleans home after Katrina destroyed it, then helped rebuild countless others. Those arms held their children with every ounce of love she possessed, and hugged her husband when she was the only one that knew when he felt troubled. “They jiggle, one day I won’t be able to fit them into sleeves, Carlos,” she once huffed.

“Mais para amar,” he dismissed, holding her arms and kissing her cheek. She rolled her eyes and he would stop telling her until she looked at him with understanding. It may have taken a while but they got there.

Javy swore to himself when he found the woman of his dreams that he would spend his whole life telling her how beautiful she was, and there you were like his wildest dream come true. "My knees," you mutter, your body starting to relax into him, "they look ugly and the dress is too short. Everyone will see them." Your lips closed before the flood could come.

"And?" He prompted. The tall man guided you backward until he sat back on the guest bed, his muscular legs open for you. You sat and felt his hands trail from your hips to your thighs, stroking the skin like it was the most interesting part of your body. To him it was, he loved touching you.

"That's it, Javy."

His eyes looked at your reflections.

"Mon cheri," he spoke against your neck, his tone telling you how unconvinced he was.

He knew how to get you talking. His voice was always softer when he spoke French, just like his mom. Javy always had a swagger to him and the way he spoke: charming, pulling you into his current. When he switched to French, he was calm and comforting; a heat never failed to rise up your neck even though you had no idea what he was saying, but you had an inkling with that sincere look in his eyes and loving smile.

He took a page right out of his mother's book. She always knew how to help someone love themselves. Before the confidence and the muscles, Javy was a scrawny gangly thing. The way she handled his last growth spurt was ingrained in his mind. He remembered standing in front of the mirror, staring sadly at the small stretch marks on his sides and near his pecs. A bitter reminder of his growth. “Mon cher,” his mother cooed as she caught him. She allowed him to put on a shirt before she put her hands on his arms. “What’s the matter, cher?” He smiled at her thick New Orleans accent.

“I’m ugly, mama. I’m too tall… I got stretch marks,” he shook his head, refusing to meet her knowing glare.

Nikole swatted his arm and narrowed her eyes, “You’re still a boy, Javier,” she scolded, “you shouldn’t be worried about those things.”

“What if I look like this forever—and no one loves me?”

She reached up and cupped his face, “You are gonna find your true love,” she stated firmly, wiping his teary eyes. “And when you do, you’ll both do everything in your power to make the other feel beautiful because that is what you are. Understand, mon cher?”

“Yes, mama.”

“You still with me, Javy?” you asked him, seeing how his face softened. You turned around to straddle him, leaning back on your heels and hoping you weren’t crushing him. As if he could read your thoughts, the man pushed you down further onto him. He finally nodded.

“Mienne,” he whispered, kissing the skin where your neck met your shoulder. “Tout à moi.”

Mine. All Mine.

Your heart fluttered as you managed to translate (his mom had tried teaching you after meeting her side of the family) and leaned into his embrace. Your worries had started to subside as he finally kissed you, soft and so full of love. Javy’s hands found the outer part of your thighs, giving them a gentle squeeze. This time, you didn’t feel like tearing off your flesh to make them smaller and you didn’t worry about how your knees looked. You melted into his touch.

“Jolie,” he murmured as he kissed your lips, squeezing your thighs—“Bonita.” he squeezed your love handles—“Pretty.” He cupped your face.

“I don’t deserve you,” you laughed, kissing his knuckles.

He helped you stand and held you close, your face pressed perfectly into his chest. “I should be saying that to you.”

“Still wanna go out?”

Javy pulled back and grabbed your hand, twirling you and making you giggle. “And miss an opportunity to show off my girl? No way, the night’s young, baby.” He kissed the back of your hand and led you out the door.

#javy machado #javy machado x reader #javy machado x you #javy machado x plus size!reader #coyote x reader #coyote x you #coyote x plus size!reader #top gun #top gun maverick

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nasa · 4 years ago

Photo

NASA Spotlight: Astronaut Mike Hopkins

Michael S. Hopkins was selected by NASA as an astronaut in 2009. The Missouri native is currently the Crew-1 mission commander for NASA’s next SpaceX launch to the International Space Station on Nov. 14, 2020. Hopkin’s Crew-1 mission will mark the first-ever crew rotation flight of a U.S. commercial spacecraft with astronauts on board, and it secures the U.S.’s ability to launch humans into space from American soil once again. Previously, Hopkins was member of the Expedition 37/38 crew and has logged 166 days in space. During his stay aboard the station, he conducted two spacewalks totaling 12 hours and 58 minutes to change out a degraded pump module. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Illinois and a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering.

He took some time from being a NASA astronaut to answer questions about his life and career! Enjoy:

What do you hope people think about when you launch?

I hope people are thinking about the fact that we’re starting a new era in human spaceflight. We’re re-opening human launch capability to U.S. soil again, but it’s not just that. We’re opening low-Earth orbit and the International Space Station with commercial companies. It’s a lot different than what we’ve done in the past. I hope people realize this isn’t just another launch – this is something a lot bigger. Hopefully it’s setting the stage, one of those first steps to getting us to the Moon and on to Mars.

You served in the U.S. Air Force as a flight test engineer. What does that entail?

First off, just like being an astronaut, it involves a lot of training when you first get started. I went to the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and spent a year in training and just learning how to be a flight test engineer. It was one of the most challenging years I’ve ever had, but also one of the more rewarding years. What it means afterwards is, you are basically testing new vehicles or new systems that are going on aircraft. You are testing them before they get handed over to the operational fleet and squadrons. You want to make sure that these capabilities are safe, and that they meet requirements. As a flight test engineer, I would help design the test. I would then get the opportunity to go and fly and execute the test and collect the data, then do the analysis, then write the final reports and give those conclusions on whether this particular vehicle or system was ready to go.

What is one piece of life advice you wish somebody had told you when you were younger?

A common theme for me is to just have patience. Enjoy the ride along the way. I think I tend to be pretty high intensity on things and looking back, I think things happen when they’re supposed to happen, and sometimes that doesn’t necessarily agree with when you think it should happen. So for me, someone saying, “Just be patient Mike, it’s all going to happen when it’s supposed to,” would be really good advice.

Is there a particular science experiment you enjoyed working on the most while aboard the space station?

There’s a lot of experiments I had the opportunity to participate in, but the ones in particular I liked were ones where I got to interact directly with the folks that designed the experiment. One thing I enjoyed was a fluid experiment called Capillary Flow Experiment, or CFE. I got to work directly with the principal investigators on the ground as I executed that experiment. What made it nice was getting to hear their excitement as you were letting them know what was happening in real time and getting to hear their voices as they got excited about the results. It’s just a lot of fun.

Space is a risky business. Why do it?

I think most of us when we think about whatever it is we do, we don’t think of it in those terms. Space is risky, yes, but there’s a lot of other risky jobs out there. Whether it’s in the military, farming, jobs that involve heavy machinery or dangerous equipment… there’s all kinds of jobs that entail risk. Why do it? You do it because it appeals to you. You do it because it’s what gets you excited. It just feels right. We all have to go through a point in our lives where we figure out what we want to do and what we want to be. Sometimes we have to make decisions based on factors that maybe wouldn’t lead you down that choice if you had everything that you wanted, but in this particular case for me, it’s exactly where I want to be. From a risk standpoint, I don’t think of it in those terms.

Can you describe your crew mate Soichi Noguchi in one sentence?

There are many facets to Soichi Noguchi. I’m thinking about the movie Shrek. He has many layers! He’s very talented. He’s very well-thought. He’s very funny. He’s very caring. He’s very sensitive to other people’s needs and desires. He’s a dedicated family man. I could go on and on and on… so maybe like an onion – full of layers!

Star Trek or Star Wars?

I love them both. But can I say Firefly? There’s a TV series out there called Firefly. It lasted one season – kind of a space cowboy-type show. They did have a movie, Serenity, that was made as well. But anyway, I love both Star Wars and Star Trek. We’ve really enjoyed The Mandalorian. I mean who doesn’t love Baby Yoda right? It’s all fun.

How many times did you apply to be an astronaut? Did you learn anything on your last attempt?

I tried four times over the course of 13 years. My first three attempts, I didn’t even have references checked or interviews or anything. Remember what we talked about earlier, about patience? For my fourth attempt, the fact is, it happened when it was supposed to happen. I didn’t realize it at the time. I would have loved to have been picked on my first attempt like anybody would think, but at the same time, because I didn’t get picked right away, my family had some amazing experiences throughout my Air Force career. That includes living in Canada, living overseas in Italy, and having an opportunity to work at the Pentagon. All of those helped shape me and grow my experience in ways that I think helped me be a better astronaut.

Can you share your favorite photo or video that you took in space?

One of my favorite pictures was a picture inside the station at night when all of the lights were out. You can see the glow of all of the little LEDs and computers and things that stay on even when you turn off the overhead lights. You see this glow on station. It’s really one of my favorite times because the picture doesn’t capture it all. I wish you could hear it as well. I like to think of the station in some sense as being alive. It’s at that time of night when everybody else is in their crew quarters in bed and the lights are out that you feel it. You feel the rhythm, you feel the heartbeat of the station, you see it in the glow of those lights – that heartbeat is what’s keeping you alive while you’re up there. That picture goes a small way of trying to capture that, but I think it’s a special time from up there.

What personal items did you decide to pack for launch and why?

My wedding bands. I’m also taking up pilot wings for my son. He wants to be a pilot so if he succeeds with that, I’ll be able to give him his pilot wings. Last time, I took one of the Purple Hearts of a very close friend. He was a Marine in World War II who earned it after his service in the Pacific.

youtube

Thank you for your time, Mike, and good luck on your historic mission! Get to know a bit more about Mike and his Crew-1 crew mates Victor Glover, Soichi Noguchi, and Shannon Walker in the video above.

Watch LIVE launch coverage beginning at 3:30 p.m. EST on Nov. 14 HERE.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

#launchamerica #nasa #spacex #crew1 #astronaut #rocket launch #space #science #STEM #Air Force #us military #hope #resilience #Spotlight

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waitimcomingtoo · 3 years ago

Text

Pattinson

Pairing: Tom Holland x Actress!reader

Synopsis: Tom gets jealous when you reveal your celebrity crush on Robert Pattinson

Masterlist

“Okay I saw these on Tik Tok and I had to get them for you.” Zendaya grinned as she slid a small black box towards you.

“What is it?” You eyed her skeptically as you accepted the box.

“Just open it and look.” She smiled and rubbed her hands together.

“No.” You gasped as you opened the box. “Team Edward underwear?”

You picked up a pair of lacy black paintings and held them out in front of you. The phrase “Team Edward” was stitched in bold white letters right over the crotch.

“Oh my God.” You burst into laughter. “What are these?”

“They’re just panties.” She said innocently. “I thought you’d like them.”

“I do but I cannot wear this around Tom.” You laughed and set them down. “He’ll think I’m insane.”

“Them wear them when he’s away.” She shrugged.

“I cannot believe you bought these.” You shook your head at her. “Or that someone made them. Or that I want to wear them more than anything.”

“See?” She smiled proudly. “I knew you’d like them.”

“I do.” You admitted. “But Tom can never know they exist.”

You put the panties away in your drawer that night and forgot about them. It wasn’t until a few weeks later when you were a guest on the Graham Norton show that your love of Twilight was brought up once again.

“Now, Y/n, I hear you’re a big Twilight fan.” Graham began.

“Yup. Last time I checked.” You nodded, purposefully quoting Jacob Black.

“Are you really?” Graham giggled.

“I cannot tell you how many times I’ve seen those movies.” You shook your head. “Especially the first one. Everyone few months I just sit down and shot gun the series.”

“Were you Team Edward or Team Jacob?”

“Team Edward all the way.” You said immediately. “This is so embarrassing, but I used to leave my window open when I was in middle school so Edward could come in.”

“That’s some dedication.” Graham laughed. “Did he ever come?”

“No. He never did.” You pouted. “13 year old me was really disappointed.”

“I hear you even got a tattoo.” Graham raised his eyebrows, making you hide your face in shame.

“I do.” You laughed behind your hand. “I got too drunk halfway through Eclipse and got a tattoo.”

“You have to show us.” Graham insisted.

“Okay but don’t laugh.” You laughed in defeat and rolled up your sleeve. You held your arm out to the camera, showing off your tattoo that read “Robert Pattinson” in tiny letters on your arm. The audience and Graham laughed at the randomness at the tattoo as your face heated in embarrassment.

“Look at this, it’s not even Twilight related”. Graham laughed. “It’s just Roberts name.”

“I wanted to get to the point.” You shrugged, earning some laughs.

“Why this font?” He wondered as he stared at the tattoo.

“It’s helvetica.” You deadpanned, making Graham cover his face with his cards as he laughed.

“It looks like you’ve just typed this out on the computer.” He pointed out.

“I was drunk.” You rolled your eyes playfully. “And it felt right in the moment.”

“You’ve never met Robert, right?” Graham asked. “You haven’t showed this to him?”

“No, I’ve never met him”. You sighed dramatically. “And he will never see this tattoo.”

“Well then you better cover it up.” Graham said as he looked behind him. “Ladies and gentlemen, Robert Pattinson.”

You furrowed your eyebrows and looked behind Graham as Robert Pattinson came out from back stage. He was in a navy suit, looking as beautiful as ever as he walked towards the couch.

“Oh My God.” You covered your face with your hands as the audience became deafening. You could hear Robert and Graham greeting each other over the sound of your heart pounding in your ears. Slowly, you took your face away from your hands and sheepishly looked up.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Rob.” Robert smiled as he looked down at you.

“Hi.” You smiled weakly as you stood up. Robert shook your hand and kissed your cheek to say hello, making you die on the spot. You let go of him and sat down on the couch, never taking your eyes off Robert.

“This is…” Graham gestured to you a few times, reminding you to say your name.

“Y/n. Sorry.” You blinked a few times. “It’s so nice to finally meet you. I’m a big fan.”

“Are you?” Robert asked as he sat down. “You a Twilight fan?”

“No, I haven’t seen it.” You lied as you collected yourself.

“You just said-“

“I love all your other movies though.” You cut Graham off. “I really admire your work. Your acting is phenomenal.”

“Thank you.” Robert smiled at you. “I’ve seen some of your work as well. I’m always very impressed.”

“Are you?” You squeaked.

“I am.” Robert chuckled. “You’re very talented. I hope we get to work together someday.”

“I’m surprised you two haven’t met before.” Graham cut in. “Y/n, Rob was in a movie with your boyfriend, wasn’t he?”

“With my what?” You asked as you stared starstuck at Robert.

“Your boyfriend.” Graham repeated as the audience laughed. “Tom Holland?”

“Right.” You laughed awkwardly as you continued to stare at Robert. “Him.”

“Yeah, we were in a movie together a few years ago.” Robert answered. “And we’re going to start filming another one soon. It’s called the Devil All The Time.”

“Right.” You remembered. “He told me about it. I was so jealous that he’s getting to work with you for a second time.”

“I’m sure you and I will share the screen one day. Playing lovers, perhaps.” Robert joked as he nudged you.

“Perhaps.” You squeaked.

“We’re gonna cut to commercial.” Graham announced. “More with Robert Pattinson and Y/n L/n after the break.”

After the interview, you ran back to your dressing room with a huge smile. You had not stopped smiling since Robert had walked out on stage. You walked into your dressing room and saw Tom sitting on your couch, making you let out a squeal.

“Ahh! Did you see me?” You gushed. “Did you see me with Edward?”

“Edward?” He chuckled as he hugged you. “You mean Robert Pattinson?”

“Yeah. Him.” You clapped your hands. “He shook my hand and kissed my cheek. I almost passed out. I’m in love with him.”

“I didn’t realize you were such a big fan.” Tom laughed awkwardly as you danced around the room.

“Are you kidding me? I’ve been in love with that man for over ten years now. I’m never washing my hand again.” You held out the hand he shook. “Or my face. God, he’s so beautiful.”

“Yeah. I’ve seen him.” Toms smile slowly faded. “We worked together, you know.”

“I know. You’re so lucky.” You sighed. “Did you hear him saw he wanted us to play lovers in a movie? Can you imagine if that actually happens?”

“No.” Tom said flatly. Before you could notice his indifference, someone knocked at your soon.

“Op. Someones at the door.” You said as you twisted the handle. You opened the door to reveal Robert leaning against your doorframe, knocking the air out of your chest.

“Hello again.” Robert smiled at you.

“Rob!” You stammered in surprise. “Hi.”

“Nice to see you again, Tom.” Robert said as he looked behind you. “How you been, mate?”

“I’ve been good. You?” Tom asked as he stood beside you. He wrapped a protective arm around your shoulders, not liking how fond you were of his former costar.

“Can’t complain.” Robert shrugged. “I’m excited to start filming though. I’ve been working on the accent but I’m not sure I’ve gotten it yet.”

“I’m sure you’ll do great.” You told him. “You’ve done great accents before.”

“Thank you.” He winked at you. “You should come to visit us once we start filming. I’d love to see you again.”

“Of course.” You nodded repeatedly. “I’ll be there.”

“Great.” Robert grinned. “I’ll let you guys get back to it. Bye.”

“Bye.” You enthusiastically waved to him.

“Oh, and Y/n?” Robert said before walking away.

“Yes?” You asked hopefully.

“Close your windows.” He joked, calling back to your story from before. You felt your face heat up and gave him an embarrassed smile before nodding.

“I will.” You told him. Robert firmly squeezed your shoulder before walking away. As soon as you shut the door, you let out a scream and jumped up and down.

“Did you hear that?” You asked Tom. “We have an inside joke. Edward Cullen and I have an inside joke.”

“You do know his name is Rob, right?” Tom said, less than amused. “Not Edward.”

“He’s Edward to me.” You rolled your eyes playfully. “I’ve never been this close to getting a vampire boyfriend. Ah, I’m so happy.”

“You already have a boyfriend.” Tom reminded you as he slumped on your couch. First he had to watch you and Robert fawn over each other on Graham’s couch, and now you wouldn’t stop talking about him. Tom was more than jealous at this point and it was starting to get to him.

“I know.” You chuckled as you sat beside Tom and laid your head on his shoulder. “And I love you. Even if you’re not a vampire.”

“Wow. Even if?” He chuckled sarcastically as he wrapped an arm around you. You leaned up to kiss him, making him feel better. You may be a fan of Robert, but Tom was the one you were kissing.

As promised, Tom brought you with him to the set of The Devil All The Time. He left you in his trailer early in the morning when he left to film, but you were nowhere to be found by the time he returned at the end of the day. Tom pouted when he found his trailer empty and went for a walk around the set to try and find you. When you didn’t turn up in any of the places he checked, he returned to his trailer in defeat.

“Darling?” Tom asked as he walked into his trailer. “Are you in here?”

“Where the hell you been, loca?” You asked as you threw your arms around Tom.

“What?” Tom laughed as he hugged you back, just happy to have found you.

“It was a Twilight reference.” You explained before kissing him hello. “I’ve been trying so hard not to make them around Edward all day.”

“You’ve been with Rob all day?” Tom pulled away, his mood dropping quickly.

“Uh huh.” You nodded in excitement. “I was helping him run lines in his trailer. Can you believe he asked me to help him?”

“Good for you.” Tom grumbled as he flopped down on his couch.

“What’s wrong?” You asked when you noticed Toms tone.

“Do you have feelings for this guy or something?” Tom asked. “Cause it’s starting to seem like you’d rather be with Rob.”

“What?” You laughed. “Tommy, don’t be silly. Of course I don’t have feelings for Rob.”

“Really?” Tom raised an eyebrow. “Because you’ve spent all days running lines with him instead of me, your boyfriend. When he’s around, he’s all you talk about Y/n. And I remember you saying you were in love with him multiple times.”

“I’m not in love with him, silly.” You insisted as you took a seat on his lap. “I’m in love with Edward Cullen. He was my comfort character growing up. I didn’t have a lot of friends in school, so I read books. Sometimes, it was nice to pretend a gorgeous vampire was willing to risk the Volturi to be with you.”

“The what?” Tom asked.

“It’s like the Vampire Supreme Court.” You replied.

“The what?” Tom repeated.

“Oh, right. British.” You remembered. “They’re just the most powerful vampire coven, okay? They make all the rules. You’d know them if you saw them. It’s Charlie Seen and that bitch from Cat in the Hat.”

“What does this have to do you liking Rob?” Tom whined.

“Right, sorry.” You waved your hand in dismissal. “I don’t have feelings for Rob. I don’t even know him. I’m just projecting the character I loved growing up onto the actor who played him. You’re telling me you didn’t geek out the first time you met RDJ?”

“I did.” Tom admitted.

“Exactly. He was your childhood hero and Edward was mine. That’s all this is.” You smiled and patted his cheek. “Nothing to worry about, Tommy.”

“Okay. I’m sorry.” Tom pouted and rubbed your back. “I shouldn’t have accused you of anything.”

“It’s okay. I can see why you got a little jealous. I have been talking about him a lot.” You admitted. “But I promise you, when I look at him, all I see is Edward. Just straight up baseball uniforms and spider monkies.”

“What the hell goes on in those movies?” Tom mumbled under his breath.

“Well, the last two are pretty much an abortion debate.” You began. “But they’re also about Bella being willing to die for that vampire dick.”

“In a vampire movie?” Tom wondered.

“Yeah. But the first one is a baseball movie.” You told him.

“What the fuck?” He whispered.

“You’d understand it if you saw them.” You shrugged.

“I don’t think I would.” He said skeptically.

“I also don’t think you would.” You realized. “But you’d finally understand why I call you my “monkey man” sometimes.”

“That’s a Twilight reference?” He gasped.

“Yeah. A lot of things I say are Twilight references.” You chuckled.

“Well if my darling loves them that much, I might have to give them a chance.” Tom smiled as he leaned in to kiss him.

“Mmm.” You hummed against his lips. “You wanna watch 10 hours of Twilight with me?”

“Absolutely not.” Tom laughed against your mouth. He slowly laid you down on the couch as he hovered on top of you, never break the kiss. The kiss got more heated as you gripped his shirt while his hands slid down to your pants. As his hangs found your zipper, you realized something terrifying.

“Oh no.” You gulped.

“Whats wrong?” Tom wondered as he pulled away.

“Um...” you gulped and looked down at your lap. “You’re not gonna want to do that.”

“Why?” Tom raised an eyebrow, eyes darting down to your zipper skeptically.

“Daya sent me underwear a while ago.” You began. “Um, special underwear.”

“Did she?” Tom smirked as he tugged the zipper down.

“Not that kind of special.” You quickly moved his hand. “It um, it has a slogan on it.”

“Okay?” Tom said slowly.

“You’re not gonna like it.” You told him, only making his curiosity grow. Tom looked at you curiously before tugging your pants down. You covered your face with your hands as he gasped in horror.

“Team Edward?” He yelled. “Your underwear says Team Edward?”

“It was all I had!” You protested as you tugged your pants back up.

“You’re telling me you happened to be wearing these the day you come to visit Rob on set?” Tom pointed an accusing finger at you.

“What are you implying?” You asked as you swatted his hand away. Tom ran his hands through his hair and gave it a stressful tug. He didn’t want to take his insecurity out on you, but the underwear had crossed a line.

“Did you think something was gonna happen between you guys?” He mumbled without looking at you.

“What?” You laughed in shock. “Do you seriously think I woke up this morning and thought “hm, might fuck Robert Pattinson today. Let me make sure I put on my underwear that references a character of his from ten years ago!””

“I don’t know!” He whined. “I can’t believe you’re wearing those.”

“I didn’t mean anything by it.” You laughed as he stormed out of the room. “Tommy, come back.”

“Why are you laughing?” He pouted, face still red from jealousy.

“Because you’re upset over my underwear.” You tried to hold back your laughter. “You know, you could solve this problem by taking them off.”

“No.” He stamped his foot. “You don’t want me. You want you Edgar Curtain and his killer vampire penis.”

“It’s Edward Cullen.” You corrected. “And yes, I do want that.”

“Oh my God.” Tom rubbed his face, making you laugh again.

“Edward would never treat me this way.” You teased. “He would have sex with me and then get scared that he hurt me so he just plays chess with me the rest of our honeymoon.”

“Would he now?” Tom seethed.

“Tommy, please calm down.” You chuckled as you cupped his face. “It’s just an unfortunate coincidence that I was wearing these. I promise, you don’t have anything to worry about. You’re the only one I want.”

“Really?” He asked skeptically as you stroked his cheek with your thumb.

“What can I say?” You smirked. “I’m Team Tom.”

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#tom holland x reader #tom holland x you #tom holland fluff #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland x actress!reader #tom holland blurb #tom holland imagine

1K notes · View notes

uncpanda · 3 years ago

Text

Weird

Prompt 9: Hands on a baby bump

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Reader (no pronouns used for reader.)

Warnings: Pregnancy

Requested by: @doctorsteeb

“I should be home in time for your doctor’s appointment. I’ll drive straight to the house from the air strip so we can ride together.” Your husband’s voice is matter of fact. It’s a plan. But Spencer, better than anyone, should know that plans don’t always work out. And with his job, more often than not, plans go out the window.

“Spencer. You should know better than to make plans at this point. Every time we make one they get interrupted. Watch some huge storm blow in and keep you grounded for a week now.”

He laughs, “Sweetheart, I’m a man of science. You know I don’t believe in that.”

“You don’t have to believe in it. I’m just saying, more often than not it happens. Remember when you were going to meet my parents for the first time? You told me in no uncertain terms that you would be there and be early. You laid out the route you were going to take, what you were going to wear, and when you would arrive. And then a serial killer struck in Montana and you didn’t meet my parents for another six months.”

“That doesn’t count.”

“I’ve got at least six more examples.”

He sighs and you laugh. Your hand smoothes over your twenty-one week baby bump. You and Spencer hadn’t planned on kids so soon. Your little bundle of joy was a surprise. But the two of you had been ecstatic at the idea of a little baby that was half you and half him.

So far, he’d made it to each of your doctor’s appointments. It was a point of pride for him. But you also knew he was nervous about being a dad. He’d never had a solid father figure in his life and that made him worried about parenthood.

You’re just about to reassure him, when you feel it. The little oof that comes out is automatic. You go quiet and wait a second, and sure enough you feel it again.

You hear Spencer call your name and tune back in, “I’m here.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah . . . The baby kicked.”

“WHAT?”

You move your hand to where it last happened, and sure enough you feel it on your palm. You’d been feeling flutters for a few weeks now. “I can feel actual kicks. Like on the outside. This is so cool.”

“I . . . I can’t believe I missed it!”

“Well, from what I hear, it’ll keep happening through the rest of the pregnancy.”

“But this was the first time!”

“Spence.”

“I could probably catch an earlier flight home. If I go commercial.”

“Don’t you dare. I’ll see you tomorrow morning. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

You’re in the middle of breakfast the next day, when the front door suddenly bursts open. You watch as your husband stomps in, gently closing the door, and tossing his bags to the side. You go ahead and spoon another bite of cereal into your mouth, waiting to see what happens next. He smiles the moment he sees you and makes a beeline over to you.

“Welcome home.”

He presses a kiss to your lips before dropping to the floor. His hand immediately go to your belly. You bite back a laugh. “Spencer, what are you doing?”

“Waiting for a kick. I felt Henry kick once. It was fairly creepy. I want to see if it’s still creepy.”

That wasn’t the answer you had been expecting. You continue munching on your cereal. Nothing happens, and by the time you’re finished you find Spencer glaring at your belly.

“The baby is doing this on purpose.”

“The baby is tiny and not moving all that much. The kicks come very sporadically.”

“Any certain area.”

You sigh and reposition his hands on your bump where you’ve felt the most kicks. He keeps them there as you take your dishes to the sink, and as you brush your teeth. He’s forced to remove them when you get dressed, but the moment you’re done his hands return. Then the two of you sit on the couch until it’s time to go. Your husband stay hyper focused on your belly and the baby, while you read a magazine.

You’re five minutes away from having to leave when it finally happens. The kick connects with Spencer’s palm. You watch his eyes go wide. You smile, “Is it still weird?”

His lips purse, “Incredibly weird. But it's a good weird. A we made a person weird.” You can only laugh at that.

#spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid reader insert #spencer reid and reader #criminal minds #criminal minds reader insert #criminal minds fanfic #criminal minds fanfiction #cm fanfic #cm reader insert #cm imagine #cm fanfiction

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handsomelyhiddleston · 3 years ago

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Smitten - Tom Hiddleston x Curvy Reader

Filming sex scenes wasn’t the easiest task. There are weird nude undergarments or socks or tape or sometimes just a nude co-star…With Tom, though? There were nerves and feelings and a deep down hope that he couldn’t tell that you were incredibly turned on as he mimed fucking you twelve ways to Sunday.

“Cut! That’s a wrap on today. Great work guys!” the director called.

Tom collapsed onto your chest, laughing as the tension left his body. “These never get easier.”

“I don’t know” you teased, playing with his hair as everyone left the set so you two could leave the bed with some of your dignity. “It’s a lot easier with you.”

Tom held himself up on his elbows. “Don’t tell me your past romantic co-stars have been less than gentlemanly.”

“Not all of them.” You shrugged. Being a ‘larger than the Hollywood standard’ actress had put you in some…not very flattering roles in the start of your career. Sure, now you were the romantic lead with a conventionally attractive male actor, but lets just say you’ve dealt with a lot to get here.

“Well, I hope you know you deserved better.” Tom kissed the back of one of your hands, rolling off of you.

“Coming from you, I may actually believe it.” You laughed, gathering the sheet around you as you left the bed, grabbed your robe, and started walking towards your trailer.

The two of you filmed the movie…Where you’d usually fall asleep in one of your two trailers watching other movies…

The two of you attended interviews…Where Tom would almost always defer to you and even stuck up for you when a few interviewers were borderline sexist or would comment on your appearance…

The two of you even walked a few red carpets together…Tom’s hand always placed at your middle or on your hip or in one of your hands...

He invited you out to eat with him before or after any shindig the two of you went to…

He’d walk you to your hotel rooms with kisses left on your cheeks…

He’d even tried to convince you to spend the week before the premiere in London with him…

In your mind, Tom was just too nice. He was nice to everybody. It all seemed very friendly…Until…

You hadn’t been watching the interviews as they’d been posted. Some interviews you did together with Tom and others you’d been split up and put with other actors from the movie.

Your phone pinged…

*best friend* - HAVE YOU SEEN TOM ON FALLON?!?

Before you could reply, your phone started blowing up.

You scrolled through the texts until you saw Tom’s

Tom – Darling, I hope you know how much you mean to me. Regardless of what your answer is, I’d never want to lose your friendship. It’s not every day you get to work with one so incredibly kind and thoughtful and talented and beautiful and…every moment I’ve spent with you has been a privilege. Please put me out of my misery and let me know you’ll at least let me see you again.

“What the fuck?” you asked yourself, opening your laptop and googling “Tom Hiddleston and Jimmy Fallon”

You saw that the Fallon YouTube channel had just posted Tom’s segment of tonight’s episode…

“How are you doing, buddy?” Fallon asked, pulling Tom into a tight hug.

“I’m doing incredibly well at the moment, actually.” Tom answered, sharing that the movie you two had filmed together had done extremely well on its opening weekend just a few days earlier.

“I know! It was amazing. I’ve seen it twice!” Fallon replied, always enthusiastic.

“I’m so glad you liked it. Y/n is incredible, right?” Tom turned to the audience, loving that they cheered when he brought you up.

“Oh my god, you two are so good together. I kind of thought maybe you two were…you know…” Fallon waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Tom threw his head back laughing, fidgeting with his tie and avoiding looking into the audience.

“Come on, you can’t tell me you two don’t have SOME sort of real chemistry. I saw the movie.” Fallon gave Tom a look like *Don’t lie*

“Well, perhaps we’re just incredible actors and you’re simply complimenting our craft.” Tom shrugged, trying to look anywhere but at Jimmy.

“Well, yes. The acting in the movie is amazing, but I don’t think that accounts for this.” Jimmy turned and pointed to the screen. It was a series of clips pulled from Tom’s interviews where all he did was gush about you.

“I missed being home, but it’s hard for anyone to stay upset when they’re around Y/n. She just lifts the mood in any room she’s in. You could say she makes anywhere feel a bit like home.” Tom had answered when a woman asked him if it was hard being on site away from home for 5 months.

When another interviewer asked Tom what his favorite line in the movie was, he answered, quoting one of your lines. “When she delivered it for the first time, it kind of took my breath away. I felt very unprofessional. I had to apologize and ask to start over. I couldn’t remember what I was supposed to say next. She tends to have that effect on me.” Tom laughed, a slight blush on his cheeks.

The final clip was one of an interviewer simply asking Tom how his day had gone. “I feel all out of sorts, if I’m being honest. Y/n isn’t here today because she woke up not feeling the best and with Covid still being an issue, she didn’t want to risk getting anyone else sick.” Tom answered with a sad smile on his face. When the interviewer shared that they hoped you would be okay and feel better soon, Tom answered with “I’ll make sure to pass on your sentiments when I bring her food later on.”

“COME ON!” Fallon laughed, throwing his arms up.

“I know, I know. I’m not very good at hiding how I feel, I guess.” Tom admitted, leaning back against the couch and laying his arm across the top. The crowd went wild.

“So, you admit it! Are you two together?!” Fallon asked, sitting on the edge of his seat.

“Unfortunately, not.” Tom answered, ducking his head as his cheeks flushed.

“Why?!” Jimmy asked. “You’re clearly smitten!”

“Hey, it’s not my fault!” Tom rebutted, looking to the audience for support. “I’ve tried!”

“Aww, now I feel bad for bringing it up.” Fallon chuckled and looked at the audience as they collectively ‘aww’ed. “How could anyone turn down this?!” He gestured towards Tom as the audience cheered.

“Well, if I’m to be completely honest I guess I haven’t actually TOLD her how I feel.” Tom confessed.

“Wait, what do you mean?” Jimmy paused.

“Well, I thought she’d catch on. I assume she has.” Tom laughed, fidgeting in his seat. “I’m pretty sure everyone else that knows the two of us can tell I’ve fallen completely head over heels for her.”

“Tom, Tom, Tom.” Jimmy shook his head.

“What?” Tom asked, nervous about what the answer would be.

“I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but I think you may just be horrible at flirting.” Fallon said with a straight face, the audience busting up laughing after.

“Do you think?” Tom replied, eyes gone wide in exaggerated surprise.

“I mean, I think you’re just so nice.” Jimmy laughed, trying to stay serious…“that everyone thinks you’re flirting with them…Which means, when you’re trying to flirt it just blends in.”

“Well, how would you suggest I stand out then?” Tom asked, putting his elbow on his knee and leaning his chin on his fist like he was really paying attention.

“I mean…” Fallon slowly pointed towards the camera. “You gotta shoot your shot, right?”

The audience went wild at the suggestion. “Oh, dear.”

“I can scrap this and we can just talk about the movie.” Jimmy offered, making sure Tom knew that none of this had to go on the air.

“I mean, if it’s truly that obvious to everyone what have I got to lose, right?” Tom answered.

“That’s what we like to hear!” Jimmy cheered with the audience.

“Well…Y/n.” Tom paused, a soft smile on his face. “I don’t quite know where to start. I feel as though I may have been remiss by not just telling you how I feel. The consequence of such is that now I’m doing it in front of all of these people *gestures to the audience*…and I’m sure you’re laughing at how red I’ve gone and how flustered I am so I’m going to get to the point. Darling, you’re an incredible woman. I could list a million reasons why, but hopefully later you’ll give me the time to tell you them in person. What I really want to tell you now is that you make me happy. You inspire me. You make me want to be the best version of myself and you even make me believe I can achieve it. I’d be honored if you’d give me a chance.”

Fallon had tears in his eyes and most of the audience did, as well. “I…That was so beautiful. I think we need to go to a commercial break.” He was all choked up and stood to give Tom a hug.

You pulled up Tom’s text, your fingers hovering over the keyboard. “Are you still in New York?” you text him. The two of you were there for interviews. You were even staying in the same hotel.

“I am.” He text back, but the ‘typing’ bubble stayed. “Did you watch it?”

“I did.” You answered. “Come over?”

You saw the ‘typing’ bubble pop up and then disappear a few times. Instead of a text, you heard a knock at your hotel door.

“So?” Tom asked when you opened the door. He looked nervous, a look you didn’t often see from him. He had his glasses on and his hair was an adorable mess. He was even already dressed in his night clothes.

You didn’t answer. Instead, you stepped forward and placed your hands on each side of his face, pulling his lips gently to yours. He quickly reciprocated, his hands finding your hips as he walked you backwards into your hotel room.

“And to think, I could have been doing that for a whole year already.” You teased him, connecting your lips again.

“Don’t worry, my sweet.” Tom answered, pressing kisses across your cheek and down your neck. His lips paused at the shell of your ear and his voice dropped. “It just means we’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”

#Tom hiddleston #Tom Hiddleston x reader #Tom Hiddleston imagine #curvy #loki

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becomingbts · 4 years ago

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Time heals (sometimes) - 1

Summary: 6 years ago, (Y/N) thought that she was finally taking her life into her hands, leaving behind a toxic and abusive relationship with a man who taught her she’d never be worthy of love. However, it became hard to ignore his words when she met her seven soulmates who rejected her without even giving her a chance to prove herself. It took (Y/N) 3 years to realize that it wouldn’t be her end. She would live on to prove them all wrong; she would become what they all thought she wasn’t: someone worthy of love. And as she stands proudly on the stage, under the burning spotlights and the applause and the cries of the delirious crowd, she feels alive. Alive, just like the bond she believed to be broken.

Pairings: Y/N x OT7

GENRE: Soulmate AU!, Idol Y/NAU!, semi social-media AU!, ANGST (mainly), fluff, romance, maybe smut in the series.

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Warnings: The series is going to be heavy with a lot of personal experiences mixed into the fiction, so this is going to be kind of therapeutic for me. Please, consider not reading the series if you are not comfortable with: abandonment issues, anxiety, panic attacks, depression, self-harm (not descriptive and only part of MC’s past), suicide thoughts (in the past), toxic behavior, toxic and abusive relationship (in the past), depreciating self-talk and low self-esteem, a lot of curse, physical and mental pain, near death experience situation (in the past), and maybe smut scenes (happy ending though, but it will probably be quite the ride).

NOTE: So hello everyone, welcome to Time Heals (sometimes). Thank you so, so much for the warm welcoming, it has been my first time getting so many asks, I was honestly overjoyed. I still don’t really know what to call this part; is it a teaser? A note? A full chapter? I believe we’ll get some snapshot of memories like this one throughout the series because there is going to be a lot to unpack on both sides. I think it will be a chapter nevertheless because I have to establish some kind of order as to which parts should be read first, and I think this one is extremely important.

Thank you for reading,

-Dolly

Profiles #2 - here - part 2

Her scream pierced through the air while cries broke in the frenzied arena while a single blond-haired man froze, emptily staring at the stage. It felt like his senses heightened; his skin was shuddering, his eyes were frantically searching for one specific figure while his voice was lost in his throat. The screams resonating in the stadium would have been too loud for his voice to be heard anyway.

Jimin knew he shouldn’t be there.

Namjoon had told them more than once that none of them should try to go to one of (Y/N)’s events. It could be dangerous and they could be overwhelmed; anything could happen to them and they would still remain a nobody who fainted in the howling crowd. Would they want to take this risk? No.

So, Jimin would have had to admit that going to her very first concert in Seoul since the pandemic sounded like a very, very, very bad idea. And to be honest, it still didn’t seem to be a bright idea now that he was actually there.

But he still went because he needed to see her for himself; to see how she was. He had so many things he dreamed about asking her. Are you okay? Are you sleeping well? Did you eat before coming to the arena? Are you nervous? Do you... remember me?

Maybe he was torturing himself. He kept on watching her lives, following her on all social media, always made sure to leave a sweet comment, and never miss any of her new updates... Maybe he even had a folder of pictures of her on his phone but he’d never admit it to any of his mates. Taehyung would probably take his phone away from him and delete everything and Jimin couldn’t let that happen.

He felt like it was cheating. Don’t take him wrong though. When he thought that, he was not really thinking about the boys. They did collectively agree not to follow her activities as an artist but it was getting harder and harder with how popular she got anyway. Moon was everywhere. In commercials, on the radio, her songs were on the TV… Even if she was known for refusing most of the promotional contracts that were offered to her, her image was still constantly in the media despite her avoidance of it. Ironic, but the media were trying their best to find anything about her, be it positive or negative. One day she was seen on her bike, the next, she was in a coffee shop, and it kept on going on, overstepping on her privacy as if it was just a meaningless word.

The lockdown had admittedly played a major part in Jimin’s obsession. Being in their apartment meant quickly running out of activities, and his job as a dance teacher was not really filling his free time (a lot of his classes were also canceled). It was also during that time that (Y/N) truly blew up as an independent artist. Advertisement on YouTube started being around her channel and her music, the recommendations he kept on seeing were about also her… Jimin’s resolve honestly broke easily. It was hard not to be curious about his lost soulmate even though he didn’t feel like he had the right to be hurting.

Anyway, to come back to his main point, if Jimin felt like he was cheating; it was mostly for her. After all, (Y/N) had no means of letting the curiosity get the best of her, to know what they were doing; to simply see or contact them. He had, at first, not really thought about that. Watching her content seemed a very innocent thing to do in his opinion; billions of people were watching her content, why should he prevent himself from doing so? Yet, Jimin could still remember one of her live she did soon after that interview she had given on this damned radio show where she had revealed who her title track ‘TIME’ was about… She had gone live the next day-Jimin had jumped on his phone because of the notification-and one fan had asked her what would she do if she knew that her ‘ex-soulmates’ (and those words left a very sour taste in Jimin’s mind) were watching her. The question had silenced a previously restless Jimin, replacing his initial excitation with dread while a lump formed itself in his throat. He had not even noticed it; he was so focused on her live and her upcoming answer that Jimin had completely missed the sound of a glass breaking in the apartment. Jimin had been home alone, so even if had indeed heard it, he probably wouldn’t have bothered to check what had happened, thinking that the wind knocked it over or something. Jimin had been so absorbed by what he had been watching that he even got surprised a few hours later when Seokjin came home and yelled at him for breaking something when he had been clearly innocent, engrossed in (Y/N)’s live (not that he could tell his soulmates about that part, but yeah). (Y/N)’s live would always be more important than some random glass breaking again in their apartment. Every object was doomed with Namjoon living here anyway.

On her side of the screen though, (Y/N) had seemed taken aback as she had read the question and had gritted her teeth gently. She had seemed to be pondering about her answer even though a lot of people in her chat were telling her to forget about the question if it made her uncomfortable (a lot were even scolding the person who asked). Yet, sighing softly, she had looked up at the screen:

“I’d appreciate it if you could refrain from asking questions on this topic. It’s not taboo but I’d rather not remember everything that comes with it. However, to answer this-hopefully-last question about it, I’d ask them to turn off my stream and to stop watching any of my content. It would only be fair after all. I’ve been denied access to their lives six years ago, why would they get a free pass into mine now?” She had not smiled nor had she seemed hurt by her own comment, yet Jimin’s heart had shattered in pieces, unable to press the cancel button.

Her voice had slowly faded into background noise while her words had been stuck in his head.

I’d ask them to turn off my stream and to stop watching any of my content.

How could Jimin ever do that? He realized that he truly should. Namjoon would even agree with you, as ironic as it sounded for Jimin. Namjoon had been one of the most adamant ones about rejecting your bond, after all. Jimin was shaking with bitterness while ‘Moon’ continued her stream peacefully with music. Jimin could only try to gulp his anger down as he remembered her crumbling features on that fateful day.

“You’re not our soulmates. This name on our arms means nothing to us. You are nothing to us if not a hindrance. Leave us alone.”

If Jimin could go back in time, he’d prevent Taehyung from spatting those words at her. Yet, he couldn’t do anything. Playing the scene over and over in his mind wouldn’t change anything. It wouldn’t change that she probably hated them. It wouldn’t change the song she made about them.

And worst of all, it wouldn’t change the fact that Jimin had let himself believe that their choice had been for the best, trying to console and reassure himself, even if he had already known that it was wrong. Tears were pooling up in his eyes even if none escaped as he finally caught a glimpse of her on the stage. Suddenly brought back to reality after his subconscious memory trip, Jimin finally connected back to the world, looking around while he was still frozen on his spot. People were still screaming around him and he wondered if he looked like an intruder. Because, after all, wasn’t that what he exactly was? She said it herself that she didn’t wish for them to watch her; so what was he doing here?

Jimin couldn’t help but stare; she looked ethereal, dressed like a queen in the middle of a sold-out arena. People were screaming her name as she yelled her infamous ‘hi people’. It was an opening sentence that Jimin heard way too many times in her vlogs and suddenly hearing it in real life seemed surreal.

Jimin could only watch in awe, entranced with her everything.

Screw the boys and what they would think once he’d be back from her concert.

He had been the one to find her six years ago anyway. He had been the one to bring her to their home six years ago, hoping for the boys to change their mind once they’d meet her.

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Uploaded : 09/04/2021

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ashintheairlikesnow · 3 years ago

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Learn to Fly

CW: Self-loathing, some internalized victim-blaming, references to parental death and grief, VERY vague reference to past noncon once or twice

Note: I made a decision to switch a little of the timeline around, so Laken and Chris’s breakup at this point happens after the original conversations about the Speak Out Arc start happening but before the Olympics themselves. I’m folding this bit into the larger Speak Out Arc.

Follows Time Apart and It Doesn’t Work As Well As You’d Hoped

He curls up on the couch in the coffeeshop, sipping something warm he barely tastes. It might have coffee in it - he feels a little drowsy, and that usually happens when there’s just a little caffeine.

Maybe that’s just because he hasn’t slept since Jake was hurt, not really. And he’s slept even less since... since he and Laken broke up.

Outside, there's unseasonable heavy rain. The clouds are low and heavy, a deep gunmetal gray that blocks out the light and has the streetlights on at 9:30 in the morning. The raindrops seem less to fall than to slam into the ground with terrible violence.

The baristas talk in low voices about how grateful they are for the rain, burying the wildfires outside the city in a deluge the heat can’t overcome. Chris likes the rain, too, if only because it reflects the inside of him, suggests that the world can tell he is a storm within himself and reflects it to him.

He takes another sip.

He hasn’t showered in three days. His hair is dulled with it, like a penny left too long in the dirt. He’s dressed himself like he used to, back before when he was still learning he was a person and not a pet - in one of Jake’s hooded sweatshirts over his compression shirt, so oversized on him it’s nearly a tunic, and a pair of mesh basketball shorts. His knees still look knobby, he thinks.

He can see the ghosts of the bruises there that used to never quite heal before his Sir sent him to his knees and made new ones to lay over them. He can see a couple of scars, some from training when the baton would crack into the backs of his legs and send him dropping like a stone, some from gymnastics, some from just being a kid.

Chris’s eyes lower, to look at his own hands holding his coffee cup. He put star stickers on his nails last night, and a few of them have already peeled off. Those that remain glitter, just a little.

Something about the sight of it - the memory of when he put star stickers on Laken’s cheekbones at a concert until they sparkled under the starlight, laughing, a blur of bright eyes and dark hair - makes his throat nearly close, sends a new rush of tears to burn hot behind his eyes.

He has to close them to hold them back.

“You’ve had a hard time of late, have you, then?”

The voice is a rumble, cracked with decades of cigarettes and too much liquor, but Chris remembers it, anyway. At least, he remembers it now.

He turns to look up at the old man, in his shirt and slacks, a bit bent with age. There’s a merry twinkle in his slightly rheumy eyes, though, that shows that a young man is still there, under an old man’s experiences. There’s a slight smile on his face, warm and welcoming.

Chris swallows, struggling to find the words. They flit away from him, he has to chase them down, but eventually he manages to clear his throat and says, “I, I, um. I know you. You, you, you knew my dad.”

“I did, at that. Worked with him for years.” The old man settles onto the other end of the couch, giving Chris plenty of space, a nice wide berth for safety. “What’s got you looking like a television commercial for depression, hm, Tristan?”

No one calls him that.

Chris feels his heart twist, a little.

By the time they saw the meteor, Tris, it was already too late for anything but a blink or two. When it touched down into land, it was so big the end of it was still in space. Can you imagine anything so big? Can you?

No, Dad.

The earthquakes alone would have been immense thousands of miles away. Imagine, you’re eating leaves, living your life, and you see a shadow - and then in an instant, the world is shaking and you’re breathing glass. How does life go on after that?

I, I, I don’t know, um, um... how how does it?

It just does. That’s what’s amazing, Tris. It just goes on.

“Nothing. I, I, I broke up with my, my partner is all.”

“Hm, that nice young person who comes with you to the shops?” The old man nods, slowly. He’s got his own cup of coffee, plain black, steaming gently into the air-conditioning. Outside, the rain creates a curtain that walls them off from everything else. Chris can’t even see all the way across the street. He can barely see a woman with an umbrella racing from her car into the nail salon place off to the side.

“Yeah, them. I’m, um. It wasn’t anything they they they did.”

It’s something I did.

It’s something I am.

It’s something I’ll never stop being.

“Well, breakups do happen now and again. Usually the one who does the leaving isn’t the one who does the moping about and staring at rain, though.”

“I didn’t want to.” Chris sits back, keeping his coffee cup in one hand. The other drops to his stomach, to tap, soothing his nerves at being so close to a man he knows and doesn’t-know. His memories are there, fuzzy and hazy from being overwritten by fear and pain, but they’re there. He knows this man, Mr. Malley, who would watch him sometimes when his parents went out, or when his father needed to stop by work.

The memories are there, but they still hurt.

His head starts to throb, a pulsing pain behind his temples.

“I didn’t-... I, I love them, I d-didn’t want to.”

“Well, now, that’s a conundrum, isn’t it? Are you moving, then, Tristan?”

It hurts to hear his name, but it hurts in a way that feels good. He was that person, too, before he was Chris. He hums, low under his breath. “No. I, I, I just… you know, um, I’m just. I’m… hard. Difficult. To, to, to, to be with, to, um, to-... there’s a bunch wrong with-... with me.”

“You sound like your dad.” Mr. Malley laughs, a deep chuckle that rumbles more in his chest than out of his throat. “You know that? You sound just like him.”

Chris ignores the pain in his head and he turns, now, to look fully at Mr. Malley, blinking rapidly. “My, my, my dad?”

“Yep. Paul was a good man, and a good dad, but before he was that he was a scared boy with a baby on the way and a plan that might not work.” Mr. Malley sighs. “A scared boy who’d always had it a little rough, trying to make the world work for him when it did nothing but work against him. You were always his spitting image. He’d probably be tickled to see you still are.”

There is a sense, in Chris’s mind, of a blurry man with short red hair, sitting near him but not quite touching him, speaking with animation about how there are dinosaurs that lived closer to human beings than they did to other dinosaurs.

He remembers a man whose eyes sparkled with animated focus when he talked about the world millions of years ago, who loved him by sharing the information he held within his own mind.

He and his dad had understood each other, in ways that no one else did but his mother, and Chris was beginning to see that it had been her determination to know him that had fueled his mother’s actions, her endless support. The same way Jake and Nat were determined, and stubborn, and kept trying even when they got it wrong.

Everyone gets it wrong sometimes, but that doesn’t… that doesn’t mean they aren’t trying.

Maybe he got it wrong.

“He never broke up with your mom, but oh, he thought about it. You know, when he came to work with us, he had a plan. But plans… they have a way of going off the road and into a ditch. He worried he couldn’t make it work, he worried that it would be too hard for Ronnie to be with him and have a child, too.”

Ronnie.

Chris’s throat closes up, and he closes his eyes.

All right, Tris, I got you these so the noise won’t bother you so much. We’re going to have a good day at the parade, okay?

“Her family never liked him, for one. That’s a rough spot to be in, I think.” Mr. Malley is quiet for a moment, sipping his coffee and watching the rain fall. “Ronnie didn’t see it that way, of course. That woman was a freight train and God help anyone who got in the way. My late wife, God rest her soul, helped Ronnie with some things when her own family wouldn’t. She’d come over big as a house, eyes sparkling. You were a kicker, she used to say, kept her up all hours of the night. Just a girl, still, your mom, but she had a steel spine and she wasn’t going to live any life but the one she wanted. But your dad… he worried, that it would be too hard on her.”

“Having, um, having me would?”

“No. Having him. Paul was a smart man, you know. He knew his job would be trouble. He gave her chance after chance to go, if she wanted. But that’s the thing, isn’t it? She didn’t.”

Chris looks at his phone, lying on the little table in front of the couch. There’s some text messages he hasn’t looked at. Couple of voicemails he hasn’t listened to.

“Maybe he, he, he didn’t want to keep hurting her,” Chris whispers.

“Hurt’s a part of living, lad, take it from someone who’s given out his fair share of it and more.” Mr. Malley hums. Outside, a car pulls up, almost bumping the curb. “Perhaps you’re meant to separate from your young partner, Tristan, perhaps not. It’s like I told your dad, way back in the Stone Age. You choose if you love someone, to be sure, but they choose if they love you back. You can’t decide that for them.”

“But, but I’m-... but, but I’ve been… what I am, it’s-”

“I know what you’ve been made to do,” Mr. Malley says gently. “You don’t have to explain, lad. We knew.”

Chris’s lips tremble. He doesn’t want his coffee any longer. He sets it down next to his phone, on the little table. The baristas talk quietly about a date that one went on the night before, there’s a low sound of machinery. It all filters into Chris’s mind, a cacophony of sound he picks apart or doesn’t. Right now it’s hard for him to think around all the sound, but he tries. “Then, then, then why… if you knew, um, why… didn’t you-”

He can’t finish the question.

Why didn’t you save me from it?

“We couldn’t. It’s shite, is what it is, but we couldn’t. And by the time we could, you were with that nice young man who you live with now. I’m sorry for the time you lost, Tristan, and sorrier still I can’t give it back to you somehow. You’re your dad’s child through and through, but you’ve got your mother in you, too. You know what Ronnie did when there was something she couldn’t get through?”

Chris turns to look at this man, who knew his mother and father in ways he never could have. He swallows. “What?”

“She went over it. Or around it. Or blew it to smithereens and went through the wreckage. Whatever it took. They tried to kick you out of school when you were a wean, she fought them ‘til they realized they’d never win against her. They tried to tell her you wouldn’t read, she told them to go, well, to go sit on a thing or two and not to tell her what her boy could or couldn’t do.”

Chris thinks of Nat sitting next to him on the floor, patiently encouraging him to keep trying to turn the letters into words, despite his headaches, his tears, his certainty he’d never get reading back.

You will, Chris. I know you will. Just keep fighting for it. They won’t take anything from you forever, I won’t let them and you won’t let them either.

Don’t let them keep you from yourself.

“They told her she’d never have a happy life, having a wee one so young, but she built that happy life anyway with her own two hands and dared anyone to try and knock it down.”

“Someone… some, someone did, though.” The gunshots, his mother’s eyes going dull and blank, her whispered I love you so much, Tris…

“Sure. Yes.” Mr. Malley’s expression goes serious, and sad. “But it took breaking into her house at midnight and bullets to stop her. You’ve got plenty of your mom in you, lad. Plenty of your dad, too, he was always a stubborn git himself. Do you love this person you’ve broken up with? Hm?”

“Yes.” The answer comes without hesitation, even though his voice shakes and his heart races. “I, I, I do. That’s, that’s why I don’t want to-to keep hurting them by, by, by by being messed up from what, um, from what happened to me, I don’t… I don’t want to keep h-hurting them-”

“Let them decide how they feel about that,” Mr. Malley says, voice gentle and low. “Plenty of people are hurt and find their way forward together after.”

Jake and Kauri, laughing in the kitchen as Jake spins Kauri around in a circle, dips him backwards, presses a kiss to his nose that has him giggling.

Antoni at the stove, sighing but with a smile on his face, watching them. Being pulled into the hug not quite against his will, all three of them laughing then. Kauri bright and sparkling, Jake a deeper harmony, Antoni soft and genuine.

“Maybe it won’t last, maybe it will - but don’t let a hard past keep you from the people who love you. I’ve seen many ruined by believing you may only be loved if you’ve no pain inside you. We’ve all got pain, lad. Carrying it together’s a sight easier than trying to go it alone.”

From the car parked right outside, an elderly man unfolds himself, opening an umbrella to shield from the driving rain. Mr. Malley looks up and smiles. “Ah, right on time, must be ten sharp. That’ll be Cilly. D’you remember Cilly, lad?”

Chris looks as the man shuffles his way inside, pushing open the door. The little bell over the top jingles and the baristas cut off their conversation, standing up straight to call out a familiar greeting to a regular customer.

He squints.

“Not… not very well,” He confesses, a little ashamed.

“Ah, well, that’s not a problem. He and I’ve known each other a long time. I was an angry man for a while after my wife died, you know. Seemed a crime that I should outlive her, when Christa deserved to live to a hundred and six if she so wished. Cilly helped me carry that anger when I needed to be angry, and he helped me put it down later on.”

He gives a wave to the man - to Cilly - who looks at Chris and then back to Mr. Malley with clear surprise, then heads towards the counter to make his own order.

“Be angry, Tristan,” Mr. Malley says, a little heavily, leaning over to him on the leg as he pushes himself, with a grunt of effort to his feet. “You may need your anger, in the days ahead. But if you’ve a love to help you carry it, who wants to help you carry it and who will be angry right there with you, and you love them back… well… don’t let the wickedness of others keep you from the happiness you could have. You’ll be a poorer person for it.”

Mr. Malley walks away without another word, leaving Chris by himself again on the couch, tapping at his stomach, thinking. He keeps looking at his phone, thinking about all the texts he hasn’t read, the way he’s refused to call them back when Laken kept trying to reach him.

He leans over to reach out.

He stops, hand hovering just above the plastic with its colorful case, the sensory sticker on the back of it that Laken had bought him.

What happened after all the dinosaurs died, Tristan?

I, I, I don’t know, Dad.

Trick question, buddy. They didn’t. Paul’s eyes, bright and vibrant, gesturing to a bird in a tree nearby. Nothing stays the same and lives forever except alligators and sharks.

Right because, because they’re perfect.

Exactly. Dinosaurs died, sure, but they didn’t die, too. They just changed to suit the world after the one they knew how to live in was gone. Imagine, Tris.

Imagine what?

Imagine the world destroyed and in darkness, buried in ash. Everything you know is gone, ruined, wrecked beyond repair. And imagine… imagine that you learn to eat seeds and little mice instead of big animals and leaves. Imagine you become smaller and smaller. Imagine that your arms turn to wings, that your bones hollow out to carry you higher above the piles of ash that turn to grass and to life again.

What? I, I, I don’t, um, I don’t understand-... Dad, um, I don’t, I don’t... know what you mean.

Right, sorry. Just... imagine you’re a dinosaur.

He’d laughed. Okay.

Now imagine your dinosaur family is gone, and you have to become something else. What do you become? Being a dinosaur means dying, right?

Um. Right.

So imagine that you look at death and say, no thanks. No, you’re not going to be over. This isn’t it for you. Even a meteor the size of the entire sky can’t end you. Instead of dying out, no, you look at history, at geological time, and you say…

Paul had trailed off.

Say what? What, what do I say?

Don’t tell your mom but-... you look at the end of the world and you say... fuck this, I’m going to learn to fly.

Chris picks up his phone, finds Laken’s name and photo in his contacts. It’s a photo of the two of them together, Chris and Laken smiling and laughing as he smears whipped cream on their nose and they smear a cross of fluffy white into his forehead.

He dials.

They pick up on the third ring.

“Chris? Oh my God, Chris, are you okay? Are you-... are you okay, baby?” Their voice shakes, and he closes his eyes.

This time, he lets the tears slip out and run down his face. “H-Hey, Laken, um, I, I, I-... I’m… I wondered if you, um, if you could, uh… are you busy?”

“Am I-... Chris, where are you?”

“The, um, the coffeeshop-”

“I’m on my way. Don’t you dare fucking move.”

At their usual table, at their usual time, Cilly and Sean Malley start to talk amicably about the week ahead. But he keeps an eye on Paul’s boy, where he speaks a few sentences and then hangs up the phone, looking out the window at the rain.

It’s twenty minutes before a new car pulls up outside, and umbrella-less, the partner Sean has seen with Tristan before comes racing inside, a blur of black clothes and black hair and brown skin. Paul’s boy stands, and his partner throws themself at him so hard the two of them fall backwards onto the couch.

They start laughing, and shortly after to cry.

Their hands come up to either side of Tristan’s face, and they lean forward to kiss the scar on his forehead. He can’t hear what they say to each other, but he doesn’t need to.

Ronnie, he thinks, would like this spitfire person that Paul’s boy is so in love with.

That’s one wrong put right, at least for the moment.

One more to go.

Sean smiles and sips his cooling coffee.

@burtlederp @finder-of-rings @endless-whump @astrobly @newandfiguringitout @doveotions @pretty-face-breaker @gonna-feel-that-tomorrow @boxboysandotherwhump @oops-its-whump @cubeswhump @whump-tr0pes @downriver914 @whumptywhumpdump @whumpiary @orchidscript @nonsensical-whump @outofangband @eatyourdamnpears

Just Go On from Kimmy Schmidt

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iovnyu · 3 years ago

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3:31am

content: boyfriend! jake lets you see the beauty he sees in you (female reader)

disclaimer: body insecurity, weight, binge eating, body shaming (?)

a/n: hello!! this was requested by anon but i realized anon requested the opposite of what i wrote but i already finished it before i noticed! please know that this can be really triggering for some so if i do happen to be to aggressive/over the top, let me know and i’ll take it down! i didn’t know how to end it so i just left it as it is .... remember to look at the request guide here before you ask for one !!

it was normal to hear comments and jokes about your body from your family. you get it. you grew up knowing your body wasn’t the standard for your culture let alone for the rest of society. you spent an unhealthy amount of time searching on the internet, trying to find workouts and food plans to have that perfect body. flat stomach, defined jawline, and skinny legs that doesn’t flood the chair when you sit down.

it hurts. it hurts knowing that your family have been brainwashed into thinking that skinny is pretty and belly fat is ugly. it’s sad how that mindset was forced onto you ever since you were a kid. by all means, you loved your family and you would do anything for them. but, whenever the topic of food or buffets is brought up -- the first thing that comes out of their mouths is, “be careful around y/n!!” over the years, you learn to just smile and laugh -- hiding your emotions until you are by yourself.

but today, everything seemed to be going wrong. you didn’t know why out of all days, today was worst, you couldn’t put on your favorite pair of shorts so you settled with skinny jeans that showed how big your legs were. maybe it was because of your period that you started to become more self conscious of how you looked in your clothes.

but, that didn’t matter as you were at the boys’ dorms, sitting on the couch with jake right next to you. he was scrolling through the channels on the TV while you laid on his lap, absentmindedly staring at the screen while you ate some lemon chips out of the bag. it wasn’t until he stopped on a channel that had a commercial for the weight lost journey of those who went on a healthy diet with a company.

you stared at the bag in your hand and how it only had a few chips left in the bag. “maybe i should do one of those.” you said out loud, scared how jake would react. would he agree? would he laugh?

“what?” jake said, adjusting his position and sitting upright. “what do you mean by one of those?” you lifted yourself off his lap and looked at him. he had an unreadable expression but you saw how his eyes looked hurt.

“a diet. what else?” you shrugged your shoulders and broke eye contact, staring at everything else but jake.

“why would you do that?” jake didn’t understand why you think that stressing yourself out about what to eat would benefit in any way. “food is good for your body, why would you want to cut it out?”

you stared at him in disbelief. “are you kidding me? how is this --” you waved the empty chip bag in the air, “good for me? i ate this whole thing just sitting here. i literally eat any substance that is in front of me, jake. i hardly agree that this is something my body wants.” you said getting up and throwing away the bag into the trash can.

jake followed you from the couch and stood at the doorway, he knows that you hated when someone would stand behind you. “you don’t need a diet y/n! you are beautiful just the way you are.”

you whipped around, “you don’t get it jake! how do you not see that i need to lose weight? my thighs practically fill a whole seat.”

“y/n you don’t need to lose weight, why are you saying these things?” jake said, walking up to you, seeing that your eyes were glossy and tired. “y/n you are perfect no matter what.”

“jake, i don’t think i am good enough for you. you deserve a woman who is eye-catching and looks good in anything she wears. i don’t want you to go through a difficult time when you are with me.” you said, looking into his eyes. both yours and his were red from the tears falling down your faces. he shook his head, grabbing your hand and leading you into the restroom where a full-body mirror stood facing both of your figures.

“do you see her?” jake said, staring at you through the mirror, wiping your tears. you stared at your body’s reflection, going over every insecurity. he held your chin up so you made eye contact with yourself, “she is one of the most beautiful person i have ever laid eyes on. and it just so happens that i have her in my arms right now.” he smiled at you through his teary eyes. you smiled back and held onto his hand that was on your waist.

“i love every single part of her. like how her eyes light up when she sees an furry animal or when she still looks amazingly beautiful after a long day. she might think that she doesn’t deserve anything but, the reality is -- the world doesn’t deserve her. and i don’t know how i can help you see that, but i will be sure to do everything i can to show you.” jake turned you to face him.

“and i don’t want you to let people bring yourself down, your worth much more than what they say y/n.”

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doctorstethoscope · 4 years ago

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Fighting Crime || A. Hotchner & Reader

Back at it again with another one shot for @ssahotchswife ‘s soft Hotch Saturday! No smut this week sorry folks.

Warnings: alcohol consumption, canon-typical mentions of kidnapping/violence, pregnancy, suggestive content

Word count: 1.7k

You finished your paperwork first, which wasn’t unusual. Gathering up your files, you trekked up the steps and knocked twice on the door to Aaron’s office before letting yourself in.

“This is done,” you said, extending the folder towards him. “And luckily for you, I left out the logs of what exactly occurred in my hotel room between the hours of 12:38AM and--”

“Trust me, my memory is plenty fresh on that.” He smirked up at you.

“JJ and Penelope have called for a celebration of our heroism at the bar tonight,” you informed Aaron, who peeked over your shoulder at the clock hanging on his office wall. It was 4pm. “We can have a couple drinks and still get Jack for dinner. It’ll be good to have some non-work related adult time.” You told him,

“I think that if you refer to the log of what happened in your hotel room at 12:38AM, you’ll find my preferred non work related adult---”

“Aaron!” You cut him off with a laugh, and your smile seemed to relieve some of the tension in his jaw.

“You go ahead,” he tells you. “I’ll see what I can do here. Either way, I’ll come pick you up and we can get Jack together.”

“Okay boss,” you smiled, leaving his office to go check on Spencer, who usually finished around the same time as you.

“I’m going to be a little while longer,” he sighs. “Why don’t you go to the bar and grab our booth?” He suggested, and you took his advice.

It had been a long case, but a successful one-- the unsub confessed, and none of the hostages were hurt, so it was one worth celebrating for sure. You walked over to the team’s normal spot, enjoying the warmth of the DC sun on your face. Jimmy, the bartender, spots you as soon as you make your way into the bar.

“Hey, princess!” He calls out to you with a smile.

“Hi Jimmy,” you greet him as you slide into a barstool

“What are you doing here all by yourself?” He asks as he slides you your usual-- a vodka tonic with lime.

“I’m just getting a headstart. The rest of the team will be here soon, so I’m going to grab our booth before it gets crowded.” You explain to him.

“Okay doll, I’ll be by to check on you in a little bit.”

True to his word, Jimmy swung by with another vodka tonic about fifteen minutes later, and JJ walked in shortly afterwards.

“Damn, you beat boy genius!” You congratulated her.

“I know, it has to be a new personal best,” she agrees with a laugh as Jimmy reappears, placing two shots on the table for you both.

“Cheers to a successful case” you smiled, extending your shot glass in her direction. She bit her lip.

“Oh, I’m not drinking tonight, actually,” she tells you.

“You’re pregnant!” You exclaimed, downing your shot.

“How did you know?” She asked, laughing as she passes you her shot.

“Well, I didn’t, but it was a good guess.”

“I’m not really ready to tell the whole team yet.” She tells you shyly, and you’re quick to reassure her.

“Of course, Jayje. They won’t hear it from me.”

“Thank you. Now take that, because they’re coming and they need to think I drank it.” She says, gesturing to her shot. You downed it quickly before the rest of the team could make it to the table.

“Ladies, ladies, you started without me?” Derek grinned as he slid into the booth next to JJ.

You were pleasantly surprised to see Aaron slip in next to you. You took his hand and squeezed it in your own before kissing the back of it. “I thought for sure you’d be holed up in your office to avoid this,” you confessed.

“Yeah, well, my girlfriend is a cute drunk,” he said, leaning in to press a kiss to your cheek and taking advantage of the proximity to whisper, “and I caught you drinking for two.”

You and Aaron were coming up on a year of dating, and had told the team a few months back. There was a novelty to being a couple in front of the people you loved most, somehow even more exciting than the sneaking around them, that hadn’t worn off yet. Aaron wrapped his arm around your shoulders and you put a hand on his thigh as Spencer and Emily went to get another round of drinks.

“No one knows yet,” You whispered back to Aaron, but you knew he would keep JJ’s secret. He was good like that.

You attempt to keep up with the flow of conversation, but between the cocktails and the shots, you’re beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol, particularly on your empty stomach. Emily and Spencer return and pass you another vodka tonic, and you make a silent determination to nurse this one more slowly. You tilt your chin up towards Aaron, who is listening to Penelope tell Spencer about the new frozen yogurt place that opened up by her apartment.

“You okay?” He asked, lowly, so no one else would hear.

“Yeah,” you smiled back up at him.

“You’re drunk.” He states, chuckling at you.

“Noooo,” you argued, drunkenly. Luckily, Derek saves you from yourself.

“Hotchner, you can’t monopolize her just because she’s your girl now. We all remember who took care of her when she first got here.” He teases Aaron, and you laugh. It was true. Aaron had been hard on you at the beginning, but Morgan took you under his wing. He took good care of you. “Come on pretty thing, we’re dancing.” Derek extends his hand towards you, and you see Emily and Penelope waiting for you as well.

You sat up, untangling yourself from Aaron before giving him a quick peck, grabbing your drink, and practically racing the three of them to the dance floor. It felt like college, in all the best ways. The job was so stressful, and you didn’t let yourself get away from it nearly enough. Throwing your arms up in the air with Emily, letting Morgan catch you when you stumbled, and laughing with Garcia as she brought you another shot of who-knows-what, it felt like the Friday night after you turned in a term paper. Total bliss, fuck the consequences.

“Guys, we have a case. It’s urgent, and it’s bad.” JJ came to pull you all off of the dance floor.

Well, so much for fuck the consequences. You put a hand on Morgan’s wrist, a silent sign for him to support you-- you weren’t even sure if you could make it back to the office without stumbling. He placed a hand on the small of your back and guided you out of the bar, where the team was waiting in the street. You reached for Aaron and linked your arm with his. Even with his support, you stumbled at the brisk pace and the uneven ground of the cobblestones downtown.

“You can’t work like this,” he said once you were back in the elevator at Quantico. He wasn’t judging you or being mean-- but as both your supervisor and your boyfriend, he was concerned. “Maybe Jess can swing by and take you home, you can read Jack his bedtime story and sleep some of this off--” He said, as you all stepped out of the elevator and back into the office.

“Noo, Aaron!” You whined. “I want to fight crime!” You protested, pouting. If there was any doubt that you were drunk before, it was gone now. You heard Emily stifle a laugh from somewhere behind you.

“Hotch, you’re going to send her home just to have her take a nap to sober up and then meet us out there? That doesn’t make any sense,” Morgan argues, but there’s no bite behind it.

“Yeah, plus you need me to help you fight crime,” You add helpfully as Aaron directed you to your desk and all but placed you in your chair.

“It’s a four hour flight. She can sleep on the plane,” JJ suggests as she brings you a cup of coffee, which you sip on gratefully.

You could tell, even in your drunken state, that Aaron was torn, and you felt bad. As your supervisor, he knew he should send you home. As your boyfriend, he would certainly feel better if you were nearby, not to mention the fact that leaving you here meant you’d have to fly commercial to Montana the next morning, not on the safety of the team’s jet. He took a deep breath before making a determination.

“You are going to eat something now, when we brief, and then you are going to sleep on the plane. You will not go into the field or to the crime scene until I say so. You will go straight to the police precinct, talk to no one, and start on the geographic profile with Reid. Is that clear?”

“Yes sir,” you squeaked out, and the team erupted in giggles.

“Good girl,” he whispered for only you to hear.

45 minutes later, you had all but inhaled the fast food that Reid had brought you, and you were following Aaron out to the jet. You were the first ones on, and Aaron led you over to the couch, foregoing his normal spot for one where you’d be more comfortable sleeping. He pulled your favorite throw blanket out of your go-bag and covered you up, your head in his lap and your legs splayed out over the other end of the couch,

“I’m sorry,” you mumbled, and he pushed a stray piece of hair out of your face.

“You don’t have to be sorry,” he tells you. “You didn’t know we would be called on another case.”

“I know. That didn’t make it any easier on you, though.”

“You shouldn’t worry about me so much,” he’s quick to correct you.

“Says the man who’s letting me sleep my drunkenness off on an FBI jet so that he doesn’t have to let me out of his sight,” you teased him.

“Well, you wanted to fight crime so badly. How could I say no?” He smiled down at you.

“I love you.”

“I love you too, sweetheart. Get some sleep.”

#soft Hotch Saturday #aaron hotchner #hotchner x reader #hotch x reader #hotch x reader fic #hotch x you #hotch x y/n #criminal minds #criminal minds fic

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